-=-=-=-

Chanyeol the Fire Demon was easily bored and there was only so much enjoyment he could get out of torturing Hellseekers and waging endless war against his arch-nemesis, Chen the Storm Demon.  Well, the two demon lords were more like frenemies, too alike in personality to get along peacefully.  So Chanyeol took to spying on the Living World for idle entertainment through Kai's shadows, quite frequently because Kai the Reaper was constantly going up to the Living World to drag back Tainted Spirits through vortexes he created in his shadows.

And then the Fire Demon fell in love.  With Kai's own arch-nemesis, of all people.

It was Baekhyun, the Light Guardian who was sent from Heaven to watch over the humans and try to purify Tainted Spirits, instead of letting them get dragged down to Hell by Kai.  Baekhyun and Kai were always at each other's throats, competing to win over the Spirit, but the one time Chanyeol was busy with work and unable to secretly admire the Light Guardian as he bickered with Kai, a particularly spiteful Tainted Spirit dragged Baekhyun down with it into Hell.

The Light Guardian, a Loved One since he was created and loved by God, after all, vanished during his Fall, which was what Kai later told Chanyeol, managing to express a little sympathy for his demon friend despite always having given the Fire Demon a lot of crap for crushing on his enemy.  Since Baekhyun was no ordinary Loved One, it was certain he would not have perished in flames or suffocated from the miasma, so he had to be alive somewhere in Hell.  Chanyeol surmised that another demon must have gotten his hands on Baekhyun during his Fall, and given that the Light Guardian would have been able to put up a substantial fight, it had to be a demon of at least lord level.

After Baekhyun's disappearance, Chanyeol frantically searched for him, asking around his demon lord friends if they had picked him up or heard any news about him, but he could not find a single trace.  Whoever was hiding the Light Guardian was doing a damn good job of it, and if the Fire Demon ever found out who it was, they would not get away with just a session with his phoenix.  And if it turned out to be demon lord Chen, Chanyeol would set his whole territory ablaze and that would just be the start of it.

Before Baekhyun, Chanyeol never cared about Loved Ones but rather avoided having to do anything with them, just like most other demons, since Loved Ones tended to be a hassle to take care of if they survived.  But ever since he lost sight of the Light Guardian, Chanyeol made it his personal goal to find Loved Ones first and help them survive here in Hell.  And he found that though they sometimes were self-entitled because they were used to being loved, they were infinitely more interesting than the lesser demons that lived here.

-=-=-=-

"Well, that's pretty much what I heard from Onew," Luhan finished relating the story to Xiumin as they left the rock field behind and continued towards the Forsaken Forest.

Onew was apparently another Artifact, a chicken's foot that, when placed inside a glass of alcohol, could magically keep it filled and make the alcohol taste even better.  When he was alive, he was the prized pet chicken of a bar owner and he was locally famous for loving alcohol, serving as a curious attraction for the bar guests who would pour a little of their own drinks into his bowl and watch in amazement as he thirstily it dry.  A jealous competitor who owned a bar across the street had stolen Onew one night and fed him to his ferocious dog, then took his foot that was all that was left of him and threw it into the fireplace, damning him to Hell.

Onew was picked up by Chanyeol during his Fall and had ever since kept the Fire Demon company during his nights of solitary drinking, often being the only one to listen to the demon unload his worries and sentimental thoughts in his inebriated state, since Chanyeol didn't like to keep Lesser Demon servants at his mansion.  But Onew didn't have to tell the other Artifacts how much the Fire Demon still pined for the Light Guardian, since they were with him through all the nights he spent standing at the window, sighing and staring out into the sky, the murmur of "Baekhyun" trapped in his lips.

Xiumin tried not to gross himself out by imagining Chanyeol sipping a drink with a chicken foot sitting in it, but the thought of the fire demon sitting there talking to the chicken foot in his drink was absurdly amusing not to imagine.

"You know what I can't imagine, though, is the guy being somber, let alone in love and heartbroken," Xiumin added in his thoughts.  Actually, he didn't think demons were even capable of loving someone else, thinking it would be contrary to their existence, but he'd learned a lot about demons ever since coming to hell and most of it belied his expectations. "So that's who Chanyeol's searching for, huh. A Loved One, from heaven at that."

"Yeah," Luhan replied with a sigh, "he'd be overjoyed if we could find so much as a hint about where the Light Guardian could be. I doubted it at first, too, but over time, I realized just how serious Lord Chanyeol was about his feelings for Baekhyun. And now it's sorta become my dream.. to find Baekhyun for Lord Chanyeol. I know how impossible it sounds, but it'd make him so happy.. it'd make me happy, too."

Xiumin wondered if Luhan sounded just a bit sad, but the antlers hastily denied it and drew the snowball's attention to the scene in front of them.  Or rather, above them.

"What in the world..." Xiumin gaped as his eyes traveled up to the massive hunk of land floating high up in the air.  In fact, it was several chunks of rocky earth floating in the air, but the largest of them commanded the center and the whole complex was probably big enough to be a city of its own. "What is- How did we miss this?"

"Actually, I think we saw it from the rock field, but we thought it was the mountains behind the forest, when it was actually Lord Kris' palace that was closer to us," Luhan explained steadily.

"Wait, you mean, you know this place?" Xiumin asked in shock.

"I didn't recognize it earlier, but now that we're almost right under it, I can feel the familiarity of this location, because I've been here before when Lord Chanyeol was visiting Lord Kris."

"Okay, and who's Lord Kris? And he actually lives up there?" Xiumin studied the giant mossy boulders embedded on the underside of the floating land formations, thinking they looked entirely too heavy to just be suspended in the air without swaying in the slightest, despite the dusty wind whipping past them.  The snowball didn't want to admit it, but the more he stared, the more he feared it would all just drop down on him and squish him into a puddle.

"Don't worry," Luhan chuckled, "Lord Kris is a Wing Demon with the power of flight, and he's incredibly strong so he's keeping his palace afloat with just a tiny bit of his power, easy."

"So all of this is his palace?" Xiumin asked, curious about the smaller land formations surrounding the center one.  They were now standing directly under one of the smaller ones, and Xiumin really had to crane his neck to look up at it.

The sky was dark and so were the undersides of the land formations, so Xiumin couldn't see it at first, but all of a sudden he realized that something was falling towards them from above and falling fast.

"Uh, I don't think it's falling," Luhan spoke tensely, "It's moving too fast. I think it's flying at us... Xiumin? I think right now would be a good time to run."

Not even bothering to respond, the snowball immediately began to glide away in the direction of the forest, but the small fistful of snow could only cover so much ground before whatever it was hurtling towards them swooped and landed heavily in front of them.

Xiumin hadn't shook in fear even when he first encountered the Fire Demon, but every snowflake of his being was now quaking uncontrollably, as he looked with dread upon the winged beast that towered over them menacingly.  It had a tremendous body of a lion with dark, feathery wings, but it had a human-like face with gleaming golden eyes and razor-sharp fangs that it bared at them in warning.

"Wait, hold on," Luhan murmured with realization, "it's a sphinx. Lord Kris had them in his palace."

The antlers called out to the creature that looked just about ready to pounce for the kill. "Excuse us! You're from Lord Kris' palace, aren't you?"

The sphinx paused, only to growl at them, "No, I'm not. And you're not excused for being here, so get ready to be torn to pieces."

"Wait!" Luhan pled, "We're friends of Lord Kris! I was here before as a guest!"

The sphinx merely scoffed, "Lies. Lord Kris would have alerted us if he was having a guest over, especially one that could not fly on its own."

"But it's true!" the antlers insisted. "If you could just tell Lord Kris that we're one of Lord Chanyeol's Artifacts and a Loved One, he would let us through!"

The beast narrowed its eyes for a moment, seeming to have recognized the Fire Demon's name, and after judging that the tiny antlered snowball looked like it would hardly pose a threat, it glowered at them, "If you move even an inch from there, I'll hunt you down myself and make you wish you were roasting away in the Pits."

With that, the sphinx sprinted away and spread open its wings wide, leaping into the air to fly up to the center land formation.

Xiumin let out a shaky breath and calmed himself to regrow some of the snow he had lost in sweaty anxiety.  He wanted to move away from the puddle that had formed beneath him, but he definitely didn't want to risk inciting the sphinx's fury so he stayed put.

"That was quite close, wasn't it?" Luhan laughed nervously.

"Yes, and I hope this Demon Lord will really let us through like you said he would," Xiumin added.

"Uhh, about that," Luhan's voice grew uncertain, "I'm not a hundred percent sure things will go that smoothly."

"What?!" Xiumin couldn't believe his snowflake ears. "What do you mean you're not sure? Didn't you say you visited here with Chanyeol before? Aren't Kris and Chanyeol friends?"

"Ehhh, maybe not quite friends?" Luhan admitted sheepishly, "I mean, it's not like they're trying to kill each other, like with Lord Chen, but the last time we were here, it did seem that Lord Kris was quite unhappy to see Lord Chanyeol, and.. uh.. we sorta got kicked out."

"Oh my god, we're gonna die right here, right now," Xiumin mumbled to himself, shaking his head. "We found a dead Artifact- no, scratch that, we found an ornament for your antlers and now we're going to die in a puddle and splinters without having done anything else. Or maybe the thing'll just eat me, swallow me whole and I'll just be like a thirst-quencher, and I'll just have ended my life here hydrating some bird-lion-human freak-"

"Xiumin!" Luhan interrupted the snowball's hyperventilating before it got any worse. "Look, I don't think it'll come to that, but even if it does, and the sphinx decides to swallow you for some reason, I'll make sure you don't just melt away. The worst thing would be if it tries to smash us, because I'm not sure how much pressure I can withstand, but again, I don't think Lord Kris would order the sphinx to kill us. Let's just hope luck's on our side and wait and see, okay?"

The snowball was about to give a begrudging reply, but the dusty wind around them suddenly begin to intensify.  It grew so strong that it formed a visible column of swirling dust that was moving towards them, but then it suddenly died down as fast as it had appeared.  A second later, they saw the sphinx from earlier approach them and beat its wings to land smoothly on its padded paws.

"Glad to see you're wise enough not to test my wrath," the sphinx spoke drily, "but unfortunately you've already proven yourselves fools by lying to me."

"W-what do you mean we lied to you?" Xiumin was barely able to squeak out.

"You said Lord Kris would let you through if he knew who you were," the creature tilted its head with a ghastly smirk, "but he told me to tell you that neither Lord Chanyeol nor his little friends are welcome here."

The snowball begin to tremble all over again.

"But the magnanimous Lord Kris had instructed me to give you a test, and if you are able to pass it, I am to take you to him. But if you fail," the sphinx hissed, "I am to deal with you as the intruders you are."

"A-alright. W-what's the test?" Luhan shakily asked, trying to sound brave.

"I have a riddle for you," the beast rolled back its lion shoulders and sat on its haunches. "You have only one chance to answer it. What is the creature that has one voice and yet becomes four-footed, and then two-footed, and then three-footed?"

Xiumin immediately spoke up in his mind to Luhan, asking him in a panic if he knew what the answer was, but the antlers didn't know either.

"What could it be?!" Xiumin racked through his head, trying to think of anything that would fit the description, but he was freaking out so much that all he was drawing was a blank.

"Um.. M-maybe it's 'man'? Because they crawl as a baby, walk as an adult, and then need a cane when they're old?" Luhan suggested through his thoughts, but he quickly shot it down himself. "No, that wouldn't be the answer to a riddle in Hell. Uhh.. Um.."

"You don't want to test my patience," the sphinx drawled threateningly and stared down at them over its nose.

Xiumin had actually thought Luhan's answer made a lot of sense, but if that wasn't it because they were in hell, then maybe...

"I got it!" the snowball shouted aloud. "It's 'demon'! The answer is 'demon'!"

The sphinx stared down intensely at the snowball. "Why?"

Xiumin screamed internally.  He didn't know the beast would ask for a reason and he didn't think that far, so he had no idea if his guess would be the right answer. "Uhh.. because.. demons c-crawl on all fours when they're young?"

Luhan excitedly told Xiumin through his thoughts, "You're right! Demons that are newly created are unsteady on their feet and need to crawl at first!"

"And?" the sphinx gruffly asked.

Xiumin was more certain this one could be correct since he's seen the Fire Demon. "A-and then they walk on their two feet when they're grown?"

"And?" the sphinx scowled impatiently.

"And..." Xiumin now felt hopeless because he sure could not imagine old grey-haired demons shuffling around with canes.

"I know the answer!" Luhan piped up to the beast, but the beast snarled viciously and snapped back at him, "You will stay silent. The Loved One is the one answering this riddle. And don't you dare try to tell him the answer telepathically, because I can see you talking to each other through your minds!"

"Wha- How?" Luhan tried to ask but was shut up with an intimidating glare from the sphinx.

So now it was really up to Xiumin.  Seeing as how the beast hadn't already pounced on them, his answers up to this point must have been right.  He just needed this one last answer, but their fate rided on it and he had no way of knowing if what he was about to say was correct.  But since he could only think of one obvious difference between man and demon that could serve as the extra leg, he had no choice but to gamble on it.

"So, why do demons become three-legged?" the sphinx prompted Xiumin.

"B-because..," the snowball tightly shut his eyes, in case he was wrong and would be devoured the next second, "their t-tail? Older demons use it to walk?"

Everything was silent for a moment, and Xiumin thought he had surely answered wrongly and that the beast's jaws were probably just about to clamp down on him, but then he heard a huff and the sphinx said reluctantly, "I suppose that's close enough."

Xiumin's eyes popped open in astonishment. "I'm right?!"

The beast rolled its eyes with a sassy toss of its head. "I said it was close enough. You answered that older demons use their tail to walk, but while they can use it to walk, older demons would normally make much more active and violent use of it. We call them 'three-legged demons' because their tails kick harder than even their actual feet. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir- ma'a- yes, I do," Xiumin stuttered and lowered his gaze to the ground.  Luhan, still scared that he might anger the sphinx if he tried to speak to Xiumin telepathically, cautiously asked the beast, "Um, so, we passed the test, right?"

"You're still alive right now, so there's your answer," it replied, frowning. "I gave you the easiest riddle, as Lord Kris ordered, but who could imagine you would have so much trouble with it!" the sphinx scoffed. "I would have expected you to catch on sooner, telepathic Artifact. You're not even new to Hell. What a disappointment."

"Sorry," Luhan quickly apologized, but hesitantly questioned again, "But can I just ask, how did you see us talking to each other telepathically?"

"Of course you wouldn't know such a basic thing," the sphinx sneered, but nevertheless answered, "Your antlers glow brighter when you speak to the Loved One through your mind. The Loved One also made it quite obvious with his facial expressions."

"Oh, I see, that makes sense," Luhan answered thoughtfully. "Since being able to communicate telepathically is a magic power in itself, my glow is connected to using the power to talk to you, Xiumin."

The snowball didn't reply but thought to himself how embarrassed he was about making their telepathic conversing so apparent and determined to train his poker face.

"Ahem, if you're done with your self-discovery, I am to take you lot to Lord Kris, now that you have passed the test," the sphinx declared boredly and without giving any notice, swooped over to pick the antlered snowball up in its mouth and took off flying into the air.

Xiumin froze in terror, eyes wide at the sight of the beast's fangs nearly poking through Luhan's protective barrier.  He tried calling to the antlers through his mind, but he heard no response and he looked up in worry.  But instead of being able to see the antlers, he was presented with a view that was both terrifying and thrilling at once.  From the beast's mouth, he could see that they were circling in from above towards the center land formation, and only now could he discern the palace of this so-called Wing Demon.

It was no wonder they thought it was a mountain from afar, because the whole palace was made of dark-colored twisting stone that blended right in with the dirt and rocks that formed the floating ground, and the top of the palace was decorated with sloping spirals and smaller jagged spikes, like a treacherous mountain peak.  The smaller floating land formations were similar in appearance, dotted with stone structures that Xiumin could see housed many more sphinx guards like the one whose jaws he was precariously riding in.

Their transporter sphinx swiftly landed (quite graciously compared to what Xiumin expected) in front of the palace and released the antlered snowball from its bite, dropping them onto the ground.  Only then did the antlers find its voice and filled Xiumin's head with incessant babble.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I kind of passed out there for a moment, partly because the sphinx bit into me and partly because we suddenly jumped into the air and I just couldn't handle it. Did anything happen? Apart from the sphinx nearly swallowing us and flying hundreds of feet above the ground?"

Xiumin found himself chuckling at Luhan for once. "No, not really, he- she- it brought us to the palace safe and sound and you just missed out on the view of the whole place."

The sphinx, who was already half up the steps to the entrance, stopped to turn around and give the antlered snowball a pointed look before continuing into the palace.

Xiumin dared to ask the creature, "Wait, didn't you say you weren't from the palace?"

"I'm not," came the haughty reply, "I'm the head of the outer guards stationed outside the palace. It's an honor Lord Kris bestowed upon me because he viewed my talents highly."

"Ah," Xiumin withered, having failed to catch the sphinx in a mistake.  They glided in past fierce-looking sphinx guards stationed on either side of the grandiose front doors of the palace and silently followed their own guide through halls lined with painted portraits of other odd winged creatures.  Some looked to be of dragons and phoenixes, but Xiumin couldn't be sure, because the renditions were.. creative, to be generous.  He could swear some of the paintings looked like they were of sheep with elongated necks, but he had no idea what creature they depicted.

"Alpacas. They're alpacas," Luhan enlightened him. "Lord Kris is a Demon Lord of all winged mythical creatures, but for some reason, he has an obsession with alpacas, though they don't have wings."

"Oookay," the snowball retorted, not without a bit of derision, since he really couldn't take all these demon lords very seriously.

They soon reached giant doors adorned with bas-reliefs of green-gold dragons (that actually looked like dragons) and Xiumin nearly melted out of shock when he saw the pictorial embellishments breathe out real fire across each other.  Thankfully, the sphinx simply had to announce himself and the guests for the doors to swing open and allow the antlered snowball to enter without being roasted by the two-dimensional dragons.

Xiumin couldn't help but gape in awe at the impossibly high ceilings of the hall they entered.  Everything was made of dark grey stone, but the way the lit torches along the walls highlighted the natural curves and random juts here and there brought the place alive.  But nothing could be more noticeable than the living alpacas that were strewn across the hall.  Two alpacas in particular stood with their neck stretched high on either side of a winged throne and they wore odd triangular black hats and pink jackets.

"So you passed the test," a deep voice growled from the throne.  Xiumin realized a demon was sitting there, wings folded behind himself and legs crossed in a leisurely fashion.

"With as much leeway as I could give them," the sphinx interjected, "as you ordered, Lord Kris."

"But they did pass, given your leeway, is that right?" the demon inquired sternly.

"Yes, my Lord, they did indeed pass," the sphinx answered and crept back into the shadows.

"Alright," the demon turned his attention to the antlered snowball, "what is your business with me?"

Luhan was finally back to his daring self again. "Lord Kris, we are friends of Lord Chanyeol. But, we just wanted to pass through your territory. We don't ask anything of you, only to let us pass through peacefully."

"And why should I let you do that?" the demon spit back spitefully with narrowed eyes under his intimidatingly bold eyebrows. "Why should I let friends of someone who still hasn't paid his debt to me pass through my lands?"

"What debt?" Xiumin asked curiously.

The demon scoffed and stretched his scaled wings out to their full wingspan as he stood up from his throne in an imposing manner. "Chanyeol still owes me for the phoenix he begged me to give him. That, and also the time he 'borrowed' one of my griffins in his stupid fight with Chen. Until he pays me back what he owes, neither he nor his so-called friends are welcome here."

Luhan tried to explain, "We're not here for Lord Chanyeol or any of his business, we just mentioned him because we thought maybe we would be allowed to pass through, we don't mean to bother you or anything, we just-"

"We're on a mission to help other Artifacts and Loved Ones," Xiumin interrupted. "See, we picked up this tassel because it's an Artifact, or at least it was. We just want to help anyone who might be in a place where they don't want to be. We want to rescue them and put them in a better place."

The winged demon cocked his head and eyed the tassel dangling from Luhan's antlers. "That tassel is an Artifact?"

"Was," Luhan spoke up. "Well, it hasn't responded to us, so we think it might be dead, but at least we think it used to be an Artifact."

The winged demon considered the tassel appraisingly, a look of intrigue smoothing out the frown that had wrinkled his brow. "Well, even if it's dead, it still used to be an Artifact, so take care of it."

"Of course, Lord Kris," Luhan replied.

The demon nodded and sat back down, returning to a grumpy frown but speaking with a softer tone of voice, "And I'm only going to let this slide once, but since you're here on business unrelated to Chanyeol, I'll let you pass. You can stay here for a night, just until the skies are lighted, and then you be on your way, out of my territory, you understand?"

"Yes!" both the snowball and the antlers answered hurriedly, though only the antlers added, "My Lord, thank you so much! You are so gracious, Lord Kris!"

"Key, take them to a guest room and guard them to make sure they don't try anything funny," the winged demon commanded.

"Yes, my Lord," the sphinx came forth from the shadows and practically pushed the snowball out into the hallway. "Follow me," it said, more like a threat than an offer.

The palace, though large in totality, didn't have many separate rooms, so it took a simple walk straight west of the demon lord's hall to arrive at the guest quarters where they were ushered, or rather thrown, into a vacant room with an elegant bed and a cozy fireplace.  The sphinx promptly locked the door from the outside and Xiumin could hear it sit down heavily in front of the doors and grunt in annoyance, ruffling its feathers.

"So, we made it," Xiumin commented wryly, relieved that they were even still alive at the moment.

"Oh my goodness, I really thought we were going to die like five times on our way here," Luhan confessed and laughed disbelievingly.

"Well, maybe this Kris doesn't hate Chanyeol as much as we thought," Xiumin surmised, adding, "And maybe like Chanyeol, he has a soft spot for Artifacts. Did you see how he changed his attitude after seeing this tassel?"

"Ah, haha, yeah," Luhan chuckled awkwardly. "You never know who might have a thing for Artifacts. But we said the tassel was dead, so Lord Kris probably won't try to steal him from us or anything. Anway, we should take a rest. We're lucky Lord Kris offered to let us stay for the night. The night can get ugly if we're outdoors."

"Hell has night?" Xiumin asked incredulously. "Like, day and night?"

"Sort of," Luhan replied. "We don't have a sun or moon here in Hell, but you know how the skies are constantly a reddish hue? Well, what we count as 'night' here in Hell are the times when the skies aren't even red. It's when they turn pitch black, so you can't see anything. It's definitely not the best time to be exploring unknown lands."

"And how often does 'night' fall in hell?" Xiumin asked further.

"It's a bit random," Luhan explained. "Mainly up to the Sky Demon Lord, Lord Brian, who normally keeps the skies lit, unless he sees his ex, Hwanhee, who was the previous Sky Demon Lord. At least, that's what I heard about it."

Xiumin shook his head. "First, you have demons falling in love. Next, you have demons fighting with their exes. What's new."

"Yeah, nothing should surprise you by now," Luhan chuckled. "Anyway, I'm grateful Lord Kris let us live and even stay the night, but I really don't want to stay here any longer than we have to, so don't get too attached to this place. Let's leave as soon as the skies are lighted."

"Is it the height?" Xiumin asked sympathetically.

"That and just being in the air. This ground doesn't feel like real ground," Luhan whimpered.

"I understand," Xiumin responded, thinking about all the empty space that extended below the rock formation they were standing upon.  The snowball sidled up to a window to watch the skies grow dim and then completely black in a matter of minutes.

Xiumin talked with Luhan about all sorts of things, like the other Artifacts in Chanyeol's collection and their back stories, and Xiumin had to agree that it was all very depressing.  In Xiumin's opinion, Luhan probably had the better of it, considering all the ways the other Artifacts got cursed to Hell, and Luhan agreed.  Maybe that's why the antlers seemed more cheery than the snowball expected, but nevertheless, Xiumin appreciated Luhan and his happy-go-lucky chatter, whether it was because the antlers were truly cheerful or were just trying to be.

Before they knew it, the sky began to grow dark red and then orange again, lighting the heavy clouds that hung across the horizon.

A scraping noise came from the doors and the sphinx appeared, having unlocked them and standing tall in the doorway.

"The skies are lighted, so you will be on your way. But before you go, Lord Kris ordered me to pass on something to you. It is extremely valuable, so you better treat it as dear as your life," the sphinx glowered.

Xiumin scurried over to the winged creature, who cradled in its paws something shining a brilliant gold and green.

"Lord Kris, as magnanimous as he is, decided to bestow upon you a precious scale plucked from his wings," the sphinx explained discontentedly. "Why he would give you something so precious, I wouldn't know," he spat through gritted teeth, "but you are to be informed that using the scale grants you the power of flight temporarily. How long it will keep you midair will depend on how high you go, how far you travel, or how heavy you are."

The beast lowered its paws to let Xiumin take it carefully and bury it inside his core.

"To use it, you just need to make a wish to be able to fly," the sphinx explained, but then lowered its voice to a growl, "but you should know that you shouldn't use it unless you are in an absolute emergency. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Xiumin managed to squeak out, and Luhan gave his thanks. "Please tell Lord Kris how grateful we are for this wonderful present! And for his lovely hospitality! We'll be sure to make it up to him sometime in the future!"

"You better," the sphinx threatened, but Xiumin thought he saw a hint of a smile in the imposing beast's mouth.  They were led back out of the stone palace and this time, the beast more gently scooped the antlered snowball into its jaws and flew them down to the real grounds of Hell.

"Now be off with you lot," the sphinx huffed, after releasing the antlered snowball.  Xiumin still didn't feel comfortable going off with the fanged beast to his back, but his heart was put at ease when he heard, "If you happen to accidentally go through this area again, tell whichever outer guard sphinx that finds you to get me, Key the Head of the Outer Guard, and maybe I'll let you through more easily, since Lord Kris shouldn't be bothered with stupid things like this."

Xiumin chuckled, imagining how the sphinx must be rolling its eyes at that moment, and turned around to greet the winged beast, "Thank you!"

Suddenly, Luhan began to chuckle, causing the antlers to shake and tinkle from Chanyeol's bell.

"What. Did I think something funny?" the snowball queried, but the antlers denied, "Oh, no, it's nothing. I was just reminded that we should be thankful to Lord Kris as well."

"Oh, right, of course," Xiumin readily agreed. "He really didn't have to give us such a present, but that was nice of him."

"Yup, nice and handsome," Luhan added, stifling more laughter.

"Huh?" the snowball asked, baffled, but the antlers merely laughed it off.

 

---

a/n: eek sorry this update took forever!

this is what i envisioned xiuhan the antlered snowball (ft. chanyeol's flame bell) to look like (i fail at drawing antlers and force fields OTL)