Firstly, sorry this took so long to upload. I got really stuck on part 2 (and now I’m trying to flesh out part 4 because it’s being stubborn) and I lost my USB for several days. I’m also a huge procrastinator so I’m hoping that posting the first part will make me stop putting off writing the rest… I hope.

Secondly, prepare for angsty Hyuk and moody Hakyeon.

Thirdly, it’s longer than I expected because I kept fleshing things out that weren’t supposed to be in the story. I started writing the continuation about 3 or 4 times before deciding not to do a one-shot and just include it all. Parts will ‘probably be 1400-2000 words’ I said. Ha, try 2000-3000 with things that were removed.

I really wish I’d named the countries back at the beginning… that would make things easier. *Sigh* Enjoy the way I skirt around putting names to them *rolls eyes*.

Part 1: A Hidden Pain

“You’re really not going to fix the hole?” Jaehwan asks when he arrives at the house.

He lets himself in through said hole and stands awkwardly in the middle of the lounge room. Cat-Leo, who had been the one to bring the ex-guard here, abandons Jaehwan in favour of climbing onto Hakyeon’s lap. Hakyeon’s fingers begin to massage between his ears out of habit, trying to ease the horrible mood he’s in, and Leo pretends he can’t feel the slight shakiness Hakyeon’s hands now have.

“No,” the ex-sorcerer answers. “There’s no point.”

“You don’t plan on ever coming back?” Jaehwan wonders, turning a little to look around.

He’d only been here once before, years ago, on business for the prince. He’d magicked his way through the front door only to end up kissing the floor of Hakyeon’s bedroom.

“No,” Hakyeon says again.

Jaehwan huffs his annoyance at receiving such short answers and takes a seat on the couch. “Did you ever figure out how to release the spells your teacher put on the house or did they break when you lost your magic?”

Hakyeon lets out a long sigh and Leo butts his head into the ex-sorcerer’s chest in comfort. “I broke them before I even went to the palace.”

“Oh,” Jaehwan mutters in surprise. “But I thought you had trouble breaking them for years.”

“I figured them out a long time ago.”

“But… then why did you never break them then?!” he demands in outrage, he had literally kissed the floor that time because of those spells.

Hakyeon looks like he really doesn’t want to be talking about this and gives the ex-guard something close to a glare. “With all the sorcerers that came through this house it would be suspicious to tell them that I knew how to break the spells and then leave them going when it was supposed to be just me here. In the end they were there to keep Leo safe.”

He’d loosed up the rules surrounding the spells once, when he’d had his first apprentices here, and the result had been a disaster on everybody’s part. If he’d left the spells going properly they would have never been able to kidnap Leo. Hakyeon hates that his mistake and naivety had almost gotten Leo killed and thinking about it does a good job at making his bad mood worse.

Jaehwan’s eyes drop down to eye Leo who is staring flatly back, he doesn’t know why they’re being so y when they were finally leaving today. It had been a week since Hakyeon had lost his magic and in that week Jaehwan had wanted nothing more than to leave the palace quickly. However, the week had been used to prepare for their travels with the biggest hurdle being money.

Ravi had more money than the rest of them combined and he’d been quick to offer it up to be exchanged for the currency they could use in the other countries. He’d sent it to Jaehwan via Leo and the ex-guard had pulled a final favour from Minho to get it exchanged.

“When are we leaving?” Jaehwan asks suddenly.

“Whenever the kids get a move on,” Hakyeon snaps, sliding down in his chair so he can hold Leo closer.

Hongbin and Ravi were mostly ready to go and had come over earlier in the day with their bags prepared. They were now helping Sanghyuk who was taking his sweet time and if he didn’t hurry up then Hakyeon was going to drag him down here with or without his bags.

“Why doesn’t Leo have to carry a bag?” Sanghyuk demands as they gather in the garden.

All of them are carrying two bags except Leo, who is empty handed despite being human now. His eyes flash up to meet those of the youngest and Sanghyuk backs down almost instantly, knowing that Leo was in a bad mood because he was hungry – they were leaving later in the day than intended thanks to how long it took to pack and arrange things – and because Hakyeon was in a bad mood.

“Because he’s carrying all of us,” Hakyeon grumbles. There were two things that had made Hakyeon cranky. The first was Leo teleporting them around, the second was the only thing that made him reluctant to leave but had taken a back burner until the first issue was dealt with.

He hadn’t wanted to use Leo’s ability to travel, he especially didn’t want the Anyethi to have to carry all five of them plus luggage. It was going to be exhausting for him. However, Leo had complained the most about having to walk the entire way to another country, something that would take weeks or months, and in the end they’d compromised. Leo would teleport them into the country but after that they would walk.

Maybe it’s because he’d spent his entire life as someone that enforced the laws, but Jaehwan can’t help the mumbled, “It’s illegal now.”

Frankly, Leo doesn’t give a whether it’s illegal or not. Teleporting is a part of him and he’s not giving it up. When he finally releases Jaehwan – who didn’t actually care if it was illegal – from his death glare he tries to focus on where it is they’re teleporting to. He’s never teleported that far to somewhere he’s never been before, especially not carrying five people with him. Not only was he going to a new country but a city he only knew the name of and the general location.

“Are you ready?” Leo asks softly when he thinks he’s prepared enough, grabbing the eldest’s hand.

Hakyeon finally pulls his eyes away from the house he’d called home for most of his life only to see the looks on the faces of the younger men. Ravi is looking kind of eager to leave, only outdone by Jaehwan who’d rarely left the palace except to attend meetings as Minho’s guard. Hongbin on the other hand appears to be a little nervous, but he still smiles encouragingly at Hakyeon as if sensing how torn about this the ex-sorcerer was. And Sanghyuk is completely blank. He holds Hakyeon’s arm but ignores any attempts at eye contact. Weirdly it’s the youngest’s lack of snarky comments about him being a sap that makes Hakyeon curious about what’s wrong. He doesn’t ask though, aware that everybody must be getting impatient with him.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Leo squeezes Hakyeon’s hand gently, reassuringly, quickly checks if everyone else is also holding on, and then teleports.

Their landing results in some startled screams, one of which is Jaehwan’s as he lands on the edge of the road and stumbles down into a muddy ditch.

“What the hell, Leo? You couldn’t–”

Jaehwan’s sudden outburst evaporates when he realises that they’re being stared at by everyone.

The road they’d ended up on appeared to be just outside of town and well-travelled, probably a trading route of some kind going by the people on it. Most of the traffic was from large horse-drawn carts but there were quite a few people with just a pack to carry.

Feeling a little endangered by the attention, Hongbin can’t help reaching for his magic out of habit. Leo – who is trying not to show Hakyeon how tired covering this distance had made him – and Sanghyuk turn to frown at the sorcerer. Even Ravi feels Hongbin getting ready to do magic and shifts his bags so he can wrap an arm around the younger man’s shoulders.

“It’s fine,” he assures Hongbin.

The travellers on the road slowly go back to walking but they’re not spared the nervous stares. Not just nervous, Sanghyuk realises, the citizens are actually scared. Was it because they’d used magic to get here when magic was obviously illegal?

Also feeling on-edge due to the stares, Hakyeon clears his voice. “Let’s get going into town,” he suggests, pulling Jaehwan out of the ditch.

“Do you think we’re even in the right country?” Hongbin asks.

Leo kicks him.

Hakyeon separates them quickly and begins to lead them into town. He wants them to blend in quickly and get lost in the crowd and the group quickly realises this. They stop messing around and follow the eldest as he pulls a hungry and tired Anyethi along the path.

“What’s your biggest room?” Hakyeon asks the receptionist.

“Unfortunately all of our family suites are booked out,” she informs him.

Hakyeon glances at the group and sighs, they may as well pair up then. “Can we get three rooms then?”

“Will that be twin singles or double bed rooms?” the receptionist enquires pleasantly. “The only twin rooms we have available are in a separate part of the hotel.”

“We’ll get three doubles then.”

“Very well.”

“Does that mean I have to share with Jaehwan?” Sanghyuk demands.

“Oi, more like the other way around,” Jaehwan replies.

Sanghyuk grins and despite Ravi telling them to knock it off so Hakyeon can pay, they continue to mutter at each other under their breath. It’s the first thing Sanghyuk’s said in a while and while it hadn’t been the nicest thing Hakyeon is almost relieved. Almost, that is. Sanghyuk was the second reason for Hakyeon’s bad mood earlier and seeing Sanghyuk smile and begin to goof around at first made Hakyeon feel relived but then his mood begin to plummet again. For how much longer will he get to see Sanghyuk messing around with Hongbin? Or annoying Leo? Will he ever get to be close with Jaehwan?

With a heavy sigh Hakyeon tries to focus on paying the right amount to the receptionist but Jaehwan and the Anyegi are getting rowdy. It takes a single look from Leo when it’s obvious Hakyeon is getting annoyed to shut the pair up and then finally, after much confusion about the foreign currency, they can head up to their rooms.

They’d managed to get three rooms in a row which makes Hakyeon happy. He collapses onto his and Leo’s bed, feeling exhausted despite the fact he’d done literally nothing today but pack a bag and wait around stressing over it all. Leo sits next to him on the bed and his hair the same way Hakyeon does to him. He wants to lie down too but he knows that once he’s down he won’t be getting back up for a while.

“We’re looking for Ravi’s mum first, right?” Jaehwan wonders once they’ve dumped their bags in their own rooms and infiltrated that of the eldest two.

“Yeah,” Ravi answers. “She told me the area she lived around and when she left me she said in her letter that she’d be going back.”

“Is it close?” Hongbin asks hopefully.

“It’s on the other side of the city.”

Hakyeon’s first question to the receptionist had been the name of the city. She’d given him a look like he was crazy but answered pleasantly, confirming that they were at least in the right country. Leo would never admit he was secretly relieved that his ego wouldn’t be taking a hit today. He was still trying to recover from Ravi, Sanghyuk and Hongbin finding out he’s scared of water.

“But that was seven years ago, right? She could have moved by now.”

Nobody comments that Sanghyuk is a little too excited about that - why would he be happy that they were going to have trouble finding Ravi’s mum? – because they’re distracted by Hakyeon sitting up with a groan and actually joining the discussion.

“All we can do is ask,” he says. “We can figure out what to do after that if we need to.”

Leo removes his hand from Hakyeon’s head and instead threads their fingers together. He’s known Hakyeon long enough to know when the older man is hiding something or upset and right now Hakyeon seemed to be pretty upset... and he’s hiding something. Leo gives the hand he’s holding a little squeeze before voicing his agreement with the plan.

Hakyeon smiles a little at the Anyethi. “Great. Let’s go wander around and check out the area before we find something to eat.”

Leo’s stomach rumbles enthusiastically at that suggestion.

After aimlessly walking for ten minutes they stumble across a market. It’s getting late so a lot of the stalls are packing up, but that doesn’t stop the group from wandering around for a look. Most of them are fascinated by the weird fruits and vegetables that are for sale but Leo and Sanghyuk’s attention is held by something else. They were walking around freely and nobody was looking at them or trying to catch them. Admittedly Leo got a few looks – more double-takes than anything else – but even then the offenders quickly turned away.

The two creatures aren’t sure how they feel but they wonder if this is what it’ll one day be like in the country they’d just left. How long had integration taken? How long until things were forgiven and lives could be lived peacefully? Was that even possible?

Leo is about to ask Hakyeon what he thinks when the whole market seems to freeze. The sound of yelling draws their attention to one of the stalls near them on the edge of the market and it’s quickly followed by one word clearly shouted above the rest of the noise.

All six of them recognise the word that produces the impact spell and just as they register it several stalls go flying. Hakyeon is already opening his mouth to cast a protection spell on the people in the area when he remembers that he’s not a sorcerer anymore. A weird sense of uselessness spreads through him and only Leo sees it because his first reaction had been to seek out Hakyeon and get him to safety.

Luckily they’re too far away to be affected by the falling stalls and the mostly empty market – even emptier now that many people had sprinter off – seems to be a blessing when the stalls land without hitting anybody else either, only crushing some display tables.

Once they’re certain they’re not in any danger the group is looking back at the woman who had cast the spell in the first place. She’s still yelling, pointing accusingly at a stall owner who has gotten to his feet now.

Hongbin is kind of wondering if he should do something when the sound of boots marching on pavement interrupts any thoughts of doing so. In a matter of seconds the woman is surrounded by a group of guards – apparently summoned by the people that had run before – who all aim their weapons in her direction.

“Are they sorcerers too?” Jaehwan asks, confused by the way the woman backs down, looking threatened as she does.

“No,” Leo mutters because he can’t feel any deliberate magic from them.

Hongbin is about to ask about the strange weapons when one of them is pointed at the sky and fired. They all flinch at the sound, not expecting something so loud from an object so small. It’s like an explosion and it echoes through the market only to leave their ears ringing and the citizens flinching. It is only then that Hakyeon realises that those weapons are the type he’d developed spells against back when he worked at the palace. From what he knew about them they were generally too fast for magic to do anything against.

The woman is not hurt but when they’ve recovered themselves from the shock her hands have been bound and she’s held on either side by two men that dwarf her.

“For the crime of deliberately using magic you are under arrest.”

Everything begins to happen so quickly then. The woman is chained, people are questioned, and eventually the guards begin to leave with their captive.

Hakyeon can’t stop himself from grabbing the attention of one of the guards as they go past. “Excuse me, we’re travellers and we’ve never seen anyone use magic before. What will she be punished with?”

The guard doesn’t seem to doubt Hakyeon’s claim but he does give a resigned sigh. “She’ll be publically executed.”

“What?”

“It’s the only way to ensure the public follow the law. We have a zero tolerance policy on the use of deliberate magic in this country.”

“Oh… well thank you.”

The guard nods and follows after the rest of the guards and the chained woman. Around them the market seems to unfreeze and everybody returns to their business as if nothing had ever happened.

“I thought people would be more equal without magic,” Jaehwan states slowly.

“There are different kinds of power,” Hakyeon replies. “Someone will always have more of it than everyone else.”

He offers no further explanation even though he can practically feel Sanghyuk, Hongbin and Jaehwan giving him questioning looks. Ravi wants to add that a similar law would probably be introduced back home but the eldest interrupts their silence again.

“Let’s go eat.”

They all agree but a weird sort of tension has settled over them.

Yes, the other countries have guns and like that.

One of my rules for this series was ‘no take-backs’. Hakyeon used ridiculous amounts of magic and there is a lasting effect even now that he doesn’t use it; that is why his hands still shake.

There will be no Hyuken in this fic, soz, it didn’t fit in.

Part 2 will be up soon, maybe tomorrow or the day after.