* Flashbacks are in italics *

*

                Wooyoung stood idly in the elevator. He was exhausted, but content. Leaning back as the doors opened, he smiled.

                “Master.” Taecyeon said, surprised.

                “No need for formalities anymore.” He said and let his eyes trail over Taecyeon’s muscular form. Formal business suits only accentuated how handsome he was.

                “I’ll still use it.” He said as he came to stand beside him. “Is there something you need of me?”

                He sighed, “yes, I wish for you to be Chansung’s company tonight.” He said and pulled out his phone. He looked over his calendar. “He is meant to entertain Nichkhun at one of his galas. But I wish for you to attend with him as his date.”

                Taecyeon gaped at him, and appeared to want to decline. “What?”

                “I know this is the second time you have done this today. Perhaps I kept you too late last night.” He said and pressed a hand to Taecyeon’s forehead, although he didn’t need to. “Or maybe not long enough.”

                Taecyeon’s eyes darkened and he edged closer. “Don’t say things like that, Master. You know what it does to me.”

                “You’re so cute,” he chuckled. “I am happy you feel more at ease around me.”

                *

                “I’m not so easily wooed, like you.” Chansung reprimanded him, and smacked his shoulder lightly.

                Wooyoung couldn’t help but laugh and he kissed him tenderly. “I know. I do love that about you.”

                “Where’s this ‘love’ sentimentality coming from? I should feel lucky to have someone like yourself so taken with me I guess.” Chansung teased lightly.

                Wooyoung ran his fingers down his cheek tenderly. “I feel the luckiest. I have a very good partner beside me.” He watched Chansung’s eyes close and kissed him once more.

                “I kind of like it when you use that word...” He admitted softly. “Love. Reminds me of being human.”

                “I feel like even I’m beginning to understand. Or maybe, I had refused before and now accept what has happened, accepted many things about this life.” Chansung was staring up at him quietly, eyes bright. He couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. “I’m blurbing nonsense to you. See what you do to me, you...”

                Then, Chansung was grinning and holding him close. Wooyoung allowed himself to indulge in the emotions he roused within him.

                *

                “Who’s the one who fell in love with an idiot who couldn’t even admit it himself?”

                Wooyoung couldn’t help but smile, “you.”

                “You frustrate and irritate the hell out of me. I wandered so much because you led me in and then...didn’t commit, Wooyoung. You always got so in’ bothered with my wandering and I want to say, ‘well I wouldn’t need to if you just’...” Junho shook his head and leaned back against the table. “You’re not leaving until you change the mark, are you..?”

                Wooyoung grinned, “I like what is mine to stay mine.”

                Junho groaned softly. “You mess me up really badly, do you know that?”

                “Mm, how about this time you do the taking and I’ll receive?” He bargained, which made the mage go red instantly, and he couldn’t resist laughing. “That’ll definitely fix things.”

                “You better eat the chocolate first!” Junho said, breathlessly.

                “Will you be sharing with me?” He couldn’t help but ask.

                Junho’s soft groan and his arms tightening around him comforted him like nothing else. “You’re so cruel...”

                “Chocolate...” He whined playfully and attempted to reach behind him. Junho grabbed them both before he could though and kept them out of reach. “Junho...”

                “Shush, honestly,” he said amused and handed over a piece. “I still don’t forgive you.”

                *

                Wooyoung slid his arms around Nichkhun’s waist and pressed his lips to his cheek. Nichkhun tensed in his arms but didn’t push him away. “Although I can never guarantee complete happiness, I would rather see you free of this place...”

                Nichkhun smiled and looked over his wrists, restrained with chains. “Free...I would become chained to you...”

                Wooyoung shook his head. ”No...”         

                “You and I both know the fate of an intended.”

                Sighing deeply, he rolled him onto his back. “You know only of what they teach you. We can make the bond however we wish, let you have whatever you wish. You can break it in the future if you so choose, and leave me.”

                “That sounds too good to be true.”

                “Every decision will come with happiness and pain, Nichkhun. Everything has its price. It’s up to you what you wish to face and how...what you wish to focus on. No matter what happens it is your decision.”

                *

                “Why don’t we all have a grand adventure?” Helios said with a smile. He began to murmur an incantation and the ritual activated.

                “Junho...” He said softly.

                His mage turned slightly and met his gaze. “Yes?”

                “No matter what happens, stay strong, never falter. I swear, I will fix this.”

                Tears brimmed Junho’s eyes and he tugged him closer. “Don’t let this happen again...”

                He smirked, “still have faith in me?”

                Junho closed his eyes, his tears flew down his cheeks. The glyph flared to life around them. “You told me to never belittle my life. I chose to stand next to you,” his eyes opened, “and I always will. Please remember that, Wooyoung.”

                “I won’t forget. And...” He smiled at him. “No matter what happens, I will find you all again. Stay strong.”

                Light shot up and flared all around them. Screams sounded all over the room. They dropped. Junho’s grip remained tight on his hand.

                “I promise, Junho! I love you!”

                Everything began to fade away.

                “I’ll be waiting...Wooyoung.”

                *

                Wooyoung’s eyes shot open and he bolted upright. Breathing heavily, he shook his head and buried his face in his hands. Sweat rolled down the skin of his back and his neck. He felt filthy. He felt like all the air had vacated from his lungs and he desperately tried to inhale. He ran from the comfort of the bed and out the door. The only thing that stopped him from falling to the snow-covered ground below was a railing. He collapsed and gasped in cold, frigid air. Pain like nothing he’d felt before gripped his chest and hot tears rained down his face. “I-I’m sorry...Junho...” He cried and gripped the railing tightly. “I’m so sorry...”

                “209 years...Chansung. How can we make this last?”

                Chansung looked up at him. That same fire and drive resided in his gaze, shielded by experience. “I thought this game went on forever...”

                Wooyoung nodded. “You’re always so right.”

                “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen...” He sobbed and rested his forehead against the wood. “I...” He clenched his fists in the dense snow. “I’m so weak...” He murmured. “I should have been able to tell this was all false, that Helios...” He choked on saliva and shook his head. “I’m so pathetic.”

                Nichkhun smiled. “You can’t free me from everything, Wooyoung.” He said softly. “And...you think I’m chained to you, but aren’t you also to me?”

                What was he supposed to do? They were scattered everywhere, and now he had to try and convince Chansung, who might be totally against him, to assist him? Helios was doing everything possible to attain something Wooyoung didn’t even understand, something he couldn’t even remember. Mind beginning to spin, he collapsed back into the snow, and back into darkness.

                *

                Waking again, Wooyoung found himself surrounded by warmth. He was back in the bed, but it was dark now. He looked about the room and noticed the little sprites floating aimlessly about. The gentle smell of cinnamon filtered through the air. He was no longer in pain. His mind drifted back through all the memories, those his mother had given him, and those he recollected from the previous dream. He had been carrying too much for too long, and he was finally beginning to understand why things had happened the way they did. In the new memories, he couldn’t help but be wrought with despair. Chansung and Junho seemed so...different. They were not troubled, not like they were in the dreamscape.

                A flicker of light caught his eye and he turned. His mysterious ‘saviour’ sat beside a single candle, with small clusters of sprites along his shoulders. A book rested in his hand. His eyes widened. He knew that posture all too well.

                Sitting up, he groaned as he was hit with a dizzy spell. This caught the man’s attention and he chuckled, “you’re quite troublesome I hope you realise.”

                “How long have I been asleep?”

                “Just the day...” He answered, but didn’t move to light more candles.

                Wooyoung realised then that he still wore the mask. “Even now you still hide from me...”

                “Only because I don’t know what your intentions are.” He said softly. “You should continue resting. You weren’t in the cold for too long, but you are not well. Both in mind and in the energy of your aura…”

                Frowning, he lay back down. “Why do you stay here and not with the other Elves?”

                “Because of my lineage, they do not like it.”

                Wooyoung shuffled down even more, trying to get comfortable. “Self exile is not always beneficial...”

                “Like I said, they do not like my lineage. I’ll consider your view, but I don’t think you should be lecturing me on this matter, and definitely not in your state.” He chuckled. “Sleep, you need it.”

                A soft sound started. He didn’t know what it was, but it began to lull him to sleep. He felt himself drifting to it and succumbed to a dreamless darkness. When he woke the following morning, he noticed that he had scars from the battle with the witches along his arms. The man showed him where he could wash up and he revelled in the small luxury. He was also given new clothes. Walking through the small residence once he was finished, Wooyoung found he was alone. The sprites were still present and they floated about him.

                He followed some to the kitchen where bread and dried meat were set out on the table. He took up the goblet with water first and chugged it down. He relieved the map from his person as he began to eat and looked over it. The longer he sat, he noticed, the more the little sprites began to settle along his arms just as they did for his host the night before. Smiling softly, he returned to looking over the map. He’d never encountered Elves before in the previous dream. In fact, he wasn’t sure if they existed, and witches did not collect in dense covens either. If the second dream was closer to what he and the others used to inhabit in reality, it was far more mythical and probably enriched with deep magic.

                Hearing the door open, Wooyoung got to his feet and stood in the kitchen entryway. The man set down a pile of wood and entered.

                “Did you eat?” He asked.

                “Yes, thank you...” He said and watched him as he stacked the wood near the fireplace. “You have a very beautiful home.”

                “Thank you.” He said and got to his feet once finished. He tensed as he neared him, but a tender hand rested against his forehead. “You should be fit to travel again tomorrow.” He said and carried on past him into the kitchen.

                “I can’t leave until I find who I’m looking for.” He said and the man sighed.

                “Why is this man you seek so important to you?”

                Wooyoung blushed slightly at the interrogative gaze. “Will you show me your face? It makes things uncomfortable.” He couldn’t help but watch him as he loaded more wood into the kitchen fire and then set a pot over the flames. This man was not an Elf. He carried himself gracefully, but there was a power about him that flickered every so often. “Do you hide from the light, or are you just trying to conceal yourself from me?”

                He sat down and looked up at him, “Not you...” He said softly. The amber of his eye seemed to glow, and the scent of cinnamon grew stronger. He stole away to another room and Wooyoung followed.

                “Who?” He asked.

                “What does it matter to you?” He asked, irritated.

                “Because...I’m intrigued, why else?”

                He sighed and walked to the entrance of his home. “Your intrigue annoys me.” He said and left.

                Wooyoung groaned and crouched down. He paced back and forth for how long he wasn’t sure, but he did not return. Wooyoung began to snoop around and came to a closed room. Slowly, he opened the door. His eyes widened.

                Books.

                Book after book after book rested on the shelves lining the walls. His mind flashed back to him seated in the candlelight, and he felt sure now. He couldn’t dismiss his theory any longer. It had to be him. Stepping into the room, he stepped up to the shelves and looked over the spines, reading those which had titles. Pulling out a few, he sat himself down and began to read. He sat for hours, reading up on alchemical magic and time rituals, and he felt every ounce of nostalgia doing so, like he’d done this before.

                It was early evening when he heard the door open. He rested the book against his chest and looked up into the doorway. There he stood, and he could tell he was still annoyed.

                “Wasn’t this door closed?”

                “You can’t expect me to just sit around and stare into space.”

                “Hn...”

                Wooyoung closed his eyes as longing overcame him. He rose from the chair quickly, set the book down and stormed towards him. “I think you are hiding from me...” He knew his voice conveyed too much emotion this time, but he couldn’t hold back now.

                He sighed. “I’m not-

                “Then show me-

                “No.”

                Wooyoung attempted to reach up but his wrists were caught in a tight grip. “Show me...”

                “No-

                “You love to read...you’ve always loved to read.” He was becoming desperate.

                The man paused, and Wooyoung pressed closer to him. “Now you’re just digging.”

                “No I’m not – you’re running away from me...”

                The air seemed to shift. It was no longer warm, and the room seemed to darken. Then, it was like he was looming over him, his aura dense and weighing down on him relentlessly. He knew this aura all too well.

                “Fine,” Wooyoung said as he snatched his hands back. He couldn’t fight the molten desire within him though. He’d never been able to stop his feelings for him. The familiarity of his aura and the way he looked upon him, Wooyoung revelled in it. “I’m seeking Hwang Chansung, to bring him back to Lunaris. For purely selfish reasons of course, to get the queen off my back, to stop a mad man, and to save those I hold most dear.”

                “That doesn’t sound selfish to me.”

                “Then the man I seek is most selfish.” He scoffed and stood before him once more.

                “Well, now I know why you are in the Wintry Forest.”

                Wooyoung hesitated, but he reached up once more, hands shaking. He undid the clasps of his mask. He did his best to remain composed, and it took everything in him not to falter. As the mask fell away from the beautiful man he’d known for centuries, he couldn’t help but groan softly.

                Chansung was as beautiful as ever, but so different from the one he’d known in the previous dream. Skin sun-kissed and warm to the touch, lips pink and full, and that smell of cinnamon with a bit of something more he’d been immersed in since he arrived became even more alluring. Trailing his thumb tenderly over Chansung’s lower lip, that eye remained focused on him. His dark hair framed the right side of his face, shielding his other eye, which he found to be covered. Before he could reach up and remove the elaborately made eye-patch, Chansung smiled and walked in past him. “There, now you have seen me.”

                Holding his hand to his chest as if burned, Wooyoung tried to calm his heart. “I knew it was you...”

                “There’s no way I’m returning south with you, Wooyoung. Why did you even bother coming?” He asked, voice quiet.

                “Honestly? I have no idea.” He said and walked closer. “Everything is wrong...”

                Their gazes met and Wooyoung felt like everything he was was being laid bare. “I only told you where I was going and why-

                “I was attacked. I got hit by a memory curse. So...I don’t remember anything...” He said and hugged himself.

                “You remember things...” He said.

                Tensing, he looked up and found Chansung standing before him.

                “You’re not the same Wooyoung I knew. You’re different...and far older.” He said and rested a hand against his cheek, “but you are him.”

                Wooyoung smiled and walked forward, burying his face into his chest. “Chansung...” He gasped and arms tightened around him. He let his emotions go. It was truly hitting him now, that this world was not real, and that his life in the previous dream wasn’t either, and Helios was still holding all the cards. “I need to make things right...”

                “And how will that be accomplished with me returning south?”

                “It doesn’t only involve you. I need to get Junho back, and find Nichkhun and Taecyeon.”

                “You still wish to form another alliance with the Baxkos prince then..?”

                Wooyoung looked up. “You don’t agree?”

                Chansung looked troubled. “Something has happened to you, and it wasn’t just a memory curse...” He said softly. “You won’t be able to do anything in the state you’re in.”

                “I don’t have the luxury of time! I’ve already wasted too much.” He murmured and gripped his shirt tightly.

                “What’s happened?”

                “I wouldn’t even know where to start.” He whispered. “I don’t want to think about everything that is wrong right now. There’s too much...”

                “Unless you start talking, I’m going to keep my distance, Wooyoung.”

                He stepped back immediately and made to turn but a firm hand tightened around his wrist, and he was pulled closer.

                “You and I have a dangerous habit of running away in times of importance, Wooyoung.”

                His lip trembled and he lowered his head. “Junho was taken captive...and I came here to bring you back, so that I could go and rescue him.” He tried to free himself but Chansung only pulled him closer.

                “Who put the second Wolf inside of you?”

                He gasped but Chansung gripped his chin tightly. “Your mother...The Queen of Lunaris…”

                “I know better than anyone you did not intend to kill those people that night, Wooyoung. It was not by your choice.” He said and brushed his thumb over his cheek tenderly. “I’m sorry she did-

                “No you’re not!” He finally broke free, but then those arms wrapped around him.

                “Do you want me close or not?”

                Wooyoung sighed but made no move to touch him. “What does it matter?”

                “I truly am sorry, Wooyoung.”

                He didn’t budge, and neither did Chansung. “It doesn’t matter. If you’d rather stay here, far away from everything, fine. That hasn’t changed about you and it probably never will. I may run away, but you run and hide, you bloody coward!”

                The air thickened with tension and Chansung’s hold on him loosened. Wooyoung edged back. “You speak to me so callously, Wooyoung, but you’ve forgotten what happened. So I guess I should enlighten you.” Forced once more to meet his gaze, Wooyoung gripped his arm. “You and I planned to kill the King and Queen of Baxkos together. You, Junho and I were trying to uncover the plot dwelling beneath the surface of Baxkos’ negotiations. None of us saw what was coming, and now – in this very moment...we are here. You because your memory was taken, which in its own right is suspicious, and me because I was being hunted by Helios for some darker plot.”

                Stunned to silence, Wooyoung stared at him frozen with shock. He didn’t understand. “But-

                “Yes, Lunaris was poised to make an alliance with Baxkos, however we were given intelligence that once it was formed Baxkos would assassinate the royal family of Lunaris. Do you know who told us this?”

                Wooyoung shook his head.

                “The prince of Baxkos, because he did not agree, and he has been confined to the palace walls ever since.”

                Wooyoung slowly stepped back and sat down in a chair. “Nichkhun wanted his parents killed?”

                “No, Nichan, because he agreed that Immortals needed respect and was inspired by Nichkhun who had formed many friendly relations with Immortals,” Chansung explained. “However, their true goal was not Lunaris, but seeking Inferna.”

                Surprised, Wooyoung looked over at Chansung as he sat down. “How do you know about Inferna?”

                Chansung shrugged, “why would I forget about the kingdom I am a prince to?”

                Shocked once again, Wooyoung sat back, “You...you’re the prince of Inferna? The…the prince of the underworld…”

                Chansung tilted his head. “Right, you lost your memories. Yes,” he reached up and slid the eye-patch from his other eye and brushed back his hair.

                Staring back at Wooyoung were the same eyes as in the memory his mother had provided him: red and amber. Things began to make more sense, and not just about this world, but the previous dream world. Helios had never wanted him, he wanted Chansung. Chansung was the last Hwang heir –the last member of the royal family of Inferna. If this was true, than the previous dream world had been a reversal of the real world. Why? Because it was Chansung’s family which had been executed in the previous dream, after being hidden. Baxkos and the Hunters had won, the people that Helios had taken over. The Wolves of Luna had always been guardians to Inferna, so it made sense that Baxkos would either try and form an alliance or vanquish them completely.

                “You look like you’ve realised something...”

                Wooyoung returned to staring at him. “Tell me, Chansung, what is your relationship with Nichkhun Horvejkul?”

                Chansung shrugged, “he’s the prince of the kingdom my family was attempting to create ties with. He’s a valuable asset – or he was...”

                Wooyoung sat back and combed his fingers through his hair. “Do you have feelings for him?”

                Chansung’s brows furrowed with confusion and he shook his head. “No, why?”

                Wooyoung rose up. “So...you remember Inferna?”

                “Again, yes...I don’t see-

                “Shut up, this is important!” Remembering the tome, Wooyoung pressed his hand to his chest and pulled it from his body. Chansung looked at it instantly. Opening it, he removed the envelope and the parchment. Looking at the parchment, his eyes widened. He’d never seen a vanquishing ritual like this before. Well, the word vanquish didn’t cut it, more like obliteration, erasing a being’s complete and total existence. Looking down at the tome he flipped to a random page and found endless drafts of vanquishing rituals, life altering rituals, and memory banishment. Continuing to flip through, he found notes upon notes, and imperfect rituals and glyphs.

                In order for this ritual to work, a balance of equal time and memory must be given. Lifetimes must be sacrificed, to appease the cosmos and unleash the deep magic.

                Wooyoung felt the tome being removed from his hands. “I can fix it...”

                Chansung met his eye. “How?”

                “I can erase Helios from existence and whatever he has impacted.” He said.

                “Do you know how much you would need to give in exchange-

                “Yes, and I think I have enough – or it’s just a part of a plan I’m preparing for, somehow.” He said and rested his hand against his chest. Now he knew why his other self had not only taken the time, but let 2,000 dream years pass. He contained a lot of knowledge now, and this body, the one in the dream, had been collecting experiences and enough energy and life to barter with the deep magic. He, the dream Wooyoung, would disappear. The Wooyoung of the real world wouldn’t remember anything that happened, but, Helios would also no longer exist. He smiled. “With this...I can change everything, so long as we can...” He paused.

                “What, Wooyoung?”

                “If I tell you, will you return to Lunaris?”

                Chansung sighed. “Will this change things?”

                Wooyoung nodded. “You...you may not believe me, but hear me out.” He looked around and found a piece of paper and a writing tool. He drew three circles. “Do you know about dream rituals?”

                “Of course...”

                “We’re in one...two actually.”

                Chansung frowned. “That’s impossible.”

                “I thought so too...” Wooyoung said. “This small circle is where we are right now. This is a dreamscape, created by Helios.” He wrote it in. “It hasn’t been very long since it was set up.” He said and rested his finger on the circle surrounding it. “This...is the first dream. This is where I have managed to accumulate 2,000 years of history and knowledge.” Wooyoung went on to explain the 400-year cycles, his meetings between each of his bonds, the wars with the Hunters, the Luna clan, and the erasure of Inferna. “This...the largest circle, is reality. It is where our bodies have been for…who knows how long, this is where Helios has tried to claim...well...you, and has continually failed.”

                Chansung looked troubled and in great disbelief.

                “I know...I know this seems crazy, but I-

                Chansung shook his head. “Well, no...I guess. If you what you say is true, then things make more sense to me now. In this world, there is no Inferna either, but I know of it, and that is what Helios truly seeks.”

                Wooyoung sat back.

                “You say that there have been wars between the Hunters and Immortals in the previous dream. The Hunters sound like the soldiers we have always encountered from Baxkos. You don’t remember, but Inferna is not vampiric. We are a people composed of Immortal lineages like vampires, Wolves, Mages, and also the beings called Hunters. We people of Inferna, people like you and I, have a strong connection and relation to the first Immortal lineages, in other words, those born from the deep magic. Understanding now that Helios was indeed after the power retained by my family...everything makes sense to me.” He said and covered his mouth.

                They sat back and a heavy silence fell over them. Wooyoung had no idea about the connection between Inferna and the deep magic, or how intimately linked the Immortal history of the world was to that.

                “You do not remember being from Inferna, do you, Wooyoung?”

                He shook his head, “no.”

                “You have imposed on Helios’ plans from the beginning, and have always come to my aid – well, you’re my lover so it was a given. It was more me helping you out though, I think.” Wooyoung couldn’t help but smile at that. “Your relationship with Horvejkul in the previous dream does not surprise me...what I don’t understand, is the relationship between Taecyeon and myself. I have never been close to him. In fact, I’d say he got along better with you and my older brother.”

                Surprised once more, Wooyoung looked down at his doodles and notes. “Well, in this dream the war is between Baxkos and Lunaris, or the Luna clans. Taecyeon is of Luna, and I’ve been told he’s from one of the more ancient families. If he’s not related to you, then he is likely connected to Nichkhun. Why Helios would sever their link is what I don’t understand.”

                Chansung shook his head, “because he was trying to form strong relations with Inferna. By making our relationship different in the dream, Helios was trying to get close to me through the prince of Baxkos, and probably through Taecyeon in the previous dream – and he failed twice. Only, it didn’t work, you got closer to him, and then Helios used you. Quite violently too it seems, he still had some link to you, and he shattered all of your bonds making you even weaker. He grew desperate and he fooled you into thinking you had something wrong with you that acted up every 400 years, when in reality, that was just the dream shifting in some way – which is dangerous. So, he either already planned that the dreamscape would change that many times, and we’re here now because the many different scenarios ran out, or he’s just that desperate.”

                Wooyoung sat back and looked upon him unblinking. Zahi was the only one he shared a link with that Helios could have accessed to get to him. However, he never let Zahi into his mansion. Everything seemed even more confusing than before. Was he even still connected to Zahi, really? “Do you know who Zahi is?” He finally asked after some thought.

                “I do. He assisted us several times. I wasn’t ever worried about his tendencies towards you, but he and Junho could never be in the same room.” He chuckled. "I guess he's different again here."

                “So…” Wooyoung blushed then. “Helios used that relationship to his advantage in the first dream though.”

                “Helios was going to try anything to get what he wanted, Wooyoung. He used you, because you were connected not only to me and Inferna, but also now to Baxkos and Lunaris, and thought he could harness the powers from Inferna in that way, but failed. He’s tried several angles, and you always seem to thwart his plans...” He said with a smile.

                “Yeah...but look where it’s got us, a dream within a dream.”

                Chansung gripped his hand. “It just goes to show how strong you’ve been, and how hard you’ve been working to keep Inferna out of his hands, protecting me and my family and Junho, and everyone else.”

                Finally smiling, he laced their fingers together. “You know what’ll happen if I use this ritual...I don’t know if it’ll even work.”

                “It’ll definitely change history...”

                “But I want that, I want the possibility that our lives will be different, that they may be better, even if you hadn’t met me.”

                Chansung frowned. “I don’t want to think of my life without you, and I’m sure Junho would feel even stronger about it.”

                He smiled. “No matter what happens, if I don’t do something I already know what’ll happen in the end, Chansung. I’m going to lose all of you again, and I don’t know what’ll happen if Helios is pushed to the breaking point – what he’ll do, what extreme stance he’ll make if again he cannot attain what he wishes. If...stopping Helios and erasing him, and using whatever I need to make that happen is the way to end this cycle, then I want you and the others to have chances for new stories, new histories, and new futures.”

                “Without you in them? That sounds sad...”

                “Well, we won’t know unless we try, right?” He asked. He had to admit he was scared. He didn’t know what would happen if they actually did this, but there was no other option anymore.

                “Alright...” Chansung said softly.

                “I want to give you a better life, Chansung.” He said as he knelt before him. “I want him gone forever.”

                Feeling those lovely hands against the skin of his neck, he closed his eyes as tender lips pressed against his own. “You’re a dangerous man, Jang Wooyoung.” He said against his skin.

                “Well...” He murmured and brushed their noses together. “I want to protect those I love. I’ve failed so far...”

                “No you haven’t. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here figuring out this mystery, and creating solutions to stop him.”

                Wooyoung nodded. He was exhausted again. “So...will you return with me?” He asked quietly.

                “I’ve let you fight too long on your own, Wooyoung. I will not make the same mistake. I imagine if I’d supported you as you did me…we would have stopped this long ago.”

                He began to tremble and allowed himself to be pulled into his arms. “I’m sure you did, he’s just a cunning bastard.” He said quietly. “I can’t do this by myself anymore though. I’m too tired…and stretched too thin…”

                “You’re not going to fight alone anymore, Wooyoung. I promise.”

                This Wooyoung was sure of. “Stay with me…”

                “I will, no need to fear anymore, Wooyoung. I’m here with you.”

***

Next chapter...A Necessary Recuperation