Primary Song: Fahrenhaidt- Lights Will Guide Me

Genres: Fluff, Fantasy

Characters: Chanyeol/ Female OC (Ahn Lyra)

Growing up, I had never realized the glowing ball of white light meant I was special. I had always thought everyone could see it. After all, everyone had a power, so I thought everyone could see the glowing light. It never occurred to me that only I could sense its presence until, at the age of 8, I asked my friend if he could as well. When he looked at me strangely, I knew, at the age of 8, I was the only one who could. I was special.

I never brought up the topic of the light since that incident. I didn't even tell my parents. But because of my secrecy, because of the pent up longing to share the secret with someone, I became more and more fascinated with it. Every night, as I laid in bed, I stared at the ceiling trying to figure out the nature of this mysterious light.

At the age of 13, I figured out that I couldn't summon the light no matter how hard I tried. And I've tried all sorts of methods. I quickly noticed that it only came to me when I was in trouble. Or lately, in danger.

When I was 17, war broke out between my home planet, EXOPlanet, and its neighbors, so once I turned 18, I signed up for the military. There, I excelled in training and quickly honed my pyrokinesis power, and the officers took special attention in me. I was recruited into the Special Forces, a select group of skilled soldiers.

But even in the military, amongst equally or more powerful people, I didn't say a word about the light. I just didn't feel the need to, especially because I myself hardly knew what it was or why I could see it.

It wasn't until I was 20 when I was on the verge of death after a badly went mission did I discover the answers to my questions.

The mission seemed simple enough. Infiltrate enemy bases on the nearest enemy planet. But despite our preparations and plans, the enemy noticed us sooner than anticipated and shot down my team's starship. Five out of our six managed to barely escape. The sixth member, our leader, waited until all of us jumped out before he did. He didn’t make it.

And over time, our numbers- already tiny to begin with- dwindled. One died from severe burns from being close to the explosion of the starship when he jumped while another perished from dehydration. Yet another was captured by the enemy when they ambushed us while the rest of us managed to escape. Eventually, it was just me and my best friend, Baekhyun, but even he soon left me for a girl in a rural village. I was appalled because she was technically our enemy. But Baekhyun, under the strong influences of love, didn’t care and abandoned me.

And so, the mighty EXO-K, a small but powerful group under the Special Forces, had narrowed down until it was just one: me. Park Chanyeol. And what could one man do?

“Stupid mission. Stupid Baekhyun. Stupid leaves. Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I grumbled under my breath as I hacked away at the overgrown undergrowth in my path. It would have been wiser to just make my way under the shade and cover of the bushes, especially because cut undergrowth means someone had clearly been there, but my anger was bubbling from Baekhyun’s betrayal, and if I didn’t vent it out, I would have set fire to the entire forest. It may have been wiser to not cut my way through, but it was safer to just release my fury in a way that was less...catastrophic.

When I managed to slash a path all the way to the end, I emerged from the cool shade of the forest into the unrelenting heat of the sun. Unaccustomed to the blinding light, I blinked multiple times before I realized I was on a cliff with a spectacular view of other mountains. I hadn’t even realized I was on a mountain. The edge, only a few feet away, beckoned me closer, and with cautious steps, I approached until I was one step away from death. With one more step, I’d die.

I lowered myself to sit down with my legs dangling off the edge. Was I scared of falling to certain doom? Absolutely not. At this point, with no one with me, I wasn’t scared of dying. I’ve seen four of my best friends die close up. Why would I be scared of death?

Sighing at the memory of my friends, I laid back onto the surprisingly soft grass, closed my eyes, and allowed myself to enjoy the playful wind and bask in the sunlight. As I relaxed for the first time in what felt like forever, I felt the familiar tug of sleep.

No! My mind told me. You can’t. You musn’t. What if you get caught? Don’t forget; you’re still on enemy terri-

Shh, a new, unfamiliar voice resonated in my head, it’s okay. I’ll protect you. Go to sleep, Chanyeol. You’ve worked hard and been through a lot. You deserve some rest.

Although I didn’t recognize the voice (for it definitely wasn’t mine as it was most certainly a female’s), I trusted it. And like that, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was night. Based on that and the fact that it had been mid afternoon when I fell asleep, I guessed I had slept for a couple of hours. Still lying on my back (I was amazed I hadn’t rolled around and off the cliff), I opened my eyes to the breathtakingly clear night sky. It was almost as though the sparkling stars had been painted by an incredibly talented artist.

Seeing no reason to get up, I made no move to rise until I heard that voice again.

Chanyeol, she whispered. Follow me.

What?

Finally sitting up, I twisted my body around to see the glowing ball of light in the forest, illuminating the area. It pulsated with magical energy, strands of light flowing out and around it, and like always, I was drawn toward it. I got to my feet carefully and walked closer to the light, but when I was close enough to reach out and touch it, it evaded my fingers and danced around me, taunting me.

Come and get me, the voice teasingly invited.

I took a step back and looked at the light, shocked. Never in my many years of seeing this light have I heard it speak. It wasn’t like it spoke with a mouth or anything. No, that’d be weird. I heard the voice in my head and instinctively, I knew it was from the light.

Come on, Chanyeol. Don’t you trust me?

Could I speak to it too?

Yes, you can, came the amused reply. And I’m a she, not an it.

I almost tripped on my feet and fell in my hurry to take another step back. Wh-what’s going on?

You’ll find out if you just follow me, she said with a tint of mirth. Now come on.

And without waiting for a reply (not that I had one), the ball of light sped away, trails of light drifting after it. I didn’t even stop to think about the dangers. I trusted this ball of light too much to doubt its intentions.

I ran after it, ignoring the scratches and cuts made by the sharp branches sticking out. All the while, I heard the soft laughter of the woman as the ball zoomed on, occasionally weaving in and out and around the tree trunks and branches.

How long did I follow it? I lost all sense of time. It could have been a minute or an hour. But eventually, when it entered a crumbling palace, I skidded to a stop. I hesitated going any further, sensing a powerful aura of magic.

The light, as if it knew I wasn’t following it anymore, returned to where I stood. Why’d you stop?

Is it safe? is all I asked.

Of course it is, she replied, clearly amused. Have I ever led you somewhere not safe?

I knew the answer immediately. No. Never.

So, come on! You wanted answers, didn’t you?

And once again, without waiting for my reply, it re-entered the dilapidated ruins. And this time, without hesitation, I trekked forward.

Though cracked, faded, and hidden by rapidly growing vines and overgrowth, the walls and columns of the palace still gave off an impression of beauty. It was easy to see that this place was once very beautiful and an architectural accomplishment. But time had worn away the steps and dirt covered the walls, adding an atmosphere of ancient allurement.

Awed and lost in drinking in detail, I soon lost sight of the ball of light. But it quickly came back for me once it realized I wasn’t following it. Again.

Chanyeol, she began warningly.

Coming, coming, I sighed heavily, casting one final look at the weathered walls before dragging my feet after the light. Following it to the entrance a courtyard opening up to the brightening sky, I watched the light stop at a broken, worn fountain in the center of the courtyard. When the condensed ball burst into fireworks, I took an alarmed step back, and when the shape of a person took form, I took another frantic step back.

What was happening?

Though the person’s back was toward me, I could easily tell it was a woman because of her long tresses. Even after she fully formed (and thankfully, fully clothed in a light, long white dress), she didn’t turn around. I waited a bit longer to see if she would, but when I caught on that she wouldn’t, I dared to take a step forward.

“Excuse me,” I finally asked. “Who are you?”

Slowly, she revolved on the step, and when she had turned around, she locked her beautiful, brown eyes with mine. With a small smile dancing on her lips, she spoke. And when she did, my legs nearly gave way from shock.

“Hello, my name is Ahn Lyra.”

But it wasn’t the fact that I knew that name even though I’ve never seen her before that shocked me. It was her voice. Her recognizable voice. She was-

“And I am your guardian of light.”

Needless to say, I was very speechless and shocked to the point where my legs gave under and I collapsed onto the ground.

With a gentle hand, Lyra helped me up, both worry and amusement lacing her voice when she apologized and asked if I was okay.

After replying that I was even though I clearly was not, I began asking her about who- or what- she was and why only I was able to see her and why she hadn’t spoken to me until now and-

Lyra raised a hand to stop me around the fourth question. “Whoa there,” she began. “I only understood about half of that. I know you have a lot of questions, but save them until the end.”

“The end of what?”

She raised an eyebrow, amused. “Of my explanation, of course.”

Oh. Blood rushing up to my cheeks in embarrassment, I mumbled, “Oh, of course.”

Smiling not unkindly, she gracefully sat down and patted the space next to her. “It might be a long story, so have a seat,” she offered. And so I did.

It turned out that she was a Luma, a light fairy, which was why she was able to transform into the ball of light and into human form. Lumas, in addition to guiding lost travelers, were assigned a person to watch over and guide personally. I had been assigned to Lyra when she had passed training and become of age, making her my one and only Light Guardian.

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