“It’s no trouble, prince.” The priestess bowed politely, her low voice audible for the first time. “It is always an honor to serve the house of Exo.” As she turned to leave, her eyes met Baekhyun’s gaze for a split second. He flinched, looking away in embarrassment. What was he doing, looking at a holy woman like that? Priestesses were religious figures, not idols to be stared at…

But now she was walking towards him, looking interested. Baekhyun gulped. Surely he wasn’t that attractive? He was far from the best-looking man in the room. As the woman approached, he noticed her gaze was far from romantic; in fact, she looked more shocked than anything else. “Um, yes?” The Prince of Light managed to choke out as she stopped in front of him. Now what? Was she going to slap him for ogling her? It would sting, but he probably deserved it. He was lucky that the gods had yet to smite him with holy lightning from the heavens for checking out a priestess. He felt his face heat up. Should he stand up from his chair? Bow? What the hell was he supposed to do?

The priestess bowed, and he bowed as well. He felt so stupid right now, but there was nothing but conviction on her face. “Well met. I am led to believe you are the Prince of Light. Am I correct?”

Baekhyun seized up. So priestesses were so sensitive to mana that they were capable of discerning the nature of their powers from a mere glance? He would have been impressed if he wasn’t so flustered from being caught staring at her. “Y-Yes,” he responded nervously. He could see the other princes looking at him, some interested, some wondering what on earth a priestess would want with him. “That would be me. And you are?”

The priestess smiled softly. “My name is unimportant. What matters right now is that the fate of the world rests in your hands.”

Several heartbeats passed before his brain processed her words. “…what?”

“It was an honor to meet you, Hero of Light.” She bowed again, her smile fading away into a guarded expression. “I look forward to seeing you rescue our land from darkness.”

She turned and walked away, her sandals striking the floor loudly with every step. And as he watched her leave, he felt his heart fill with trepidation for what was to come… the destiny of the ‘Hero of Light’. Priestesses were the prophets of Exolia – what they prophesized came true. But this was one prophecy Baekhyun was not eager to fulfill.

He looked at the cooked fish once again, suddenly understanding how it felt to be on that plate. Dead meat.

This is a story of fantasy, of a world where the lines between reality and fiction are blurred. All events and personalities of characters in this work are not to be confused with the real world, although inspiration may be drawn from actual events/people. There's no point in reading a fable if you wish to compare it to the world outside the book.

That said, I hope you enjoy reading this. This is my first (published) EXO fan fiction, and my second SNSD fan fiction, so I may appear inexperienced at first. Constructive criticism is appreciated, especially on the personifications of EXO members. I'm very new to the EXO fandom, so bear with me if I mess up something!

P/S: lux et tenebrae means 'light and darkness' in Latin.