Fifteen – Ekleipsis

There’s much greater war out there than the war that he should be fighting right now. Time is ticking, and he mustn’t waste any second of it. Sehun, Chanyeol and Chen, they’re part of this greater war and he shouldn’t meddle with it, Baekhyun realized. He felt bad for putting so much on the Chanyeol’s shoulders, when he was already suffering so much.

How hard must it be to be stuck inside that nightmare of a forest? And now that he is free, he’s trapping him with a task that he shouldn’t be minding. Baekhyun scolded himself upon realizing this. The Aeri, in the end, had made up his mind so he wouldn’t bother them anymore.

Also, Sehun has found the people that connect him to his own quest. No doubt that he would stay.

But Baekhyun wouldn’t. He wouldn’t let Jongin be alone in the hands of Daevrics.

And so before the dawn cracked, Baekhyun left the Garnlok Empire bringing a pocket of hope and courage with him.

He wasn’t sure where he would go, but one thing he’s sure of is that, the Daevric Empire is located near the Lupus Volkkan—the largest sleeping volcano of Cepherus. They said that it’s been asleep for a hundred years, and the last time it erupted, it was when the Daevrics stole the crown of Cepherus.

The Aeri didn’t waste time landing for more than half an hour. He kept passing the clouds, the harsh breeze of the wind and even soared with the lightning when he passed a thunderstorm. With every flap of his wings, his mind was filled with worry for his friend. “Hang in there Jongin… I’m coming for you.”

∞ ♡ ∞ ♡ ∞

Time could only go on, walking nonstop into the future and live the present every second. But as he spent his days traveling on it, much like his feet walking on the water, he realized that there must be a reason why.

There would be a great war in the future, one that will last for almost a hundred year. Innocent people will die, children will suffer, kingdoms will fall, each race will fight for survival, yet one would only do it for power.

It was quite saddening to see the future, but they said that only you in the present could change it.

As one of the Celestial Children chosen to take care of Cepherus, he did his best to find a way to help. One might think of it as utterly reckless and dangerous, but, Ahn knows he’s stubborn enough to do everything he could to gain what he wanted.

Sitting there on his favorite cloud, his legs pretzelled under his silk dress robe, he closed his eyes and let the energy around him shift. It was dark at first, silent save for the wind brushing the shells of his ears, before he saw that small light at a distance.

There was it, the door—

And at the end of what seemed to be an endless pathway to the light, he found him bound with broken wings, chained inside a dark and small cellar.

Ahn went closer, heart clenching at the sight. He reached out a hand to lift the man’s blood smeared face and their eyes met even through the veil. Anger filled his heart at the sight of his future. Helpless, weak and lost. Chen was right—there’s no way they could win the war if he won’t meddle with time.

“Y-you…” the future stuttered.

“Fight.” He hissed at him. “Fight and show them their rightful place.”

“W-Who a-are you---“ the future coughed out blood, his eyes clouded with confusion but the image suddenly disappeared.

“Baek Ahn!” an irritated voice came from the background, snapping his connection with time. Jaws locking, he took a deep breath before opening his eyes and glared at the direction of the voice, not that the owner would see how deadly his gaze was right now.

“It’s time!” said the voice again.

“You sneaked in again didn’t you? Come out and stop hiding, you brat.” Ahn sighed, standing up from his seat. Before he could even prepare himself, a puff of smoke appeared in front of him, before an image of what seemed to be a five year old kid replaced it.

White hair, just like his, sleepy eyes glowing bright silver, plump lips, tan skin,—what an everynight eyesore, Ahn thought.

“You promised that we’ll fly around tonight. ” the kid pouted, disappearing into the air before coming back, now sitting on Ahn’s shoulders, his hand on his veiled head.

“Alright, let’s go.”

The kid squealed, “That prince will be jealous, I bet.” He giggled, hugging him.

“Stop fighting with Chanyeol, Arnkai.” He told the Astral Child.

∞ ♡ ∞ ♡ ∞

The Aeri shook himself awake, panting as another weird dream came to him. But what happened in the said dream suddenly disappeared when he realized he fell asleep longer than he should. Good thing that it’s still night or else, it would be hard for him to travel in broad daylight. He wouldn’t want anyone to see him.

A few more hours and he found the volcano appearing in the horizon. Against the star studded sky was the silhouette of smoke. The indefinite shapes of canals around its body were filled with hot lava. Baekhyun couldn’t be mistaken. It’s the entrance to th