Seventeen – Baek Ahn
Infernal Saga (I & II)Seventeen – Baek Ahn
It all started when he mistakenly tapped Ahn’s memories while the latter was meditating. That was a long time ago, and yet, Chanyeol believes that it was the seed that brought him here, right now, in the middle of Daevric Empire, wanting nothing but to destroy Cepherus from here.
He clearly remembered how those series of images brought him nothing but sorrow and pity for the Moon Child. Ever since then, he stopped questioning why Ahn never removed his veil. He stopped acting like a spoiled kid and did nothing but obeyed what Ahn would say and listened whenever he taught him a lesson.
Those images, memories, were engraved forever in his mind and heart. Chanyeol even dreams of it at night. But he never told Ahn that he saw it, he never told anyone. That is why maybe, Ahn thought that his affection was nothing more than adoration for the person who raised him. That it was not love, which Chanyeol believed it was.
Ahn was wrong. Chanyeol knew what he’s feeling. He knew his heart.
He knew that it’s love because he wanted to hear Ahn’s thoughts. It’s love because he wanted to be the one who would embrace him should he break down. Because he wanted to be the one to wipe his tears should he decide to let down his walls, to hear his cries when Ahn realized that he’s the one who would listen and no one else.
Chanyeol closed his eyes and listened to distant cries and screams. Fire stormed down the sky, the clouds gone dark and ash, the Red Sun peeking out from time to time. For a moment he relished in pleasure, because this was what he wanted.
This is retribution.
The ring of his iris glowed bright crimson, his lips stretching into a ruthless smirk. Then he lift his head up, eyes searching beneath the ash and clouds. Stretching his arms wide, he roared, “Do you see this?!” Chanyeol cackled, “This is your beloved Cepherus! This is the world you gods took pride of!”
Chanyeol watch how everything burned below. “It’s so good now that it’s falling apart. Sooner or later, it will be nothing but ashes!”
The sky seemed to answer him by a flash of lightning, but Chanyeol was unfazed by the threat.
“Where are you Dea, the mother of gods? Your people calls for your help! Your children are crying for salvation!” Chanyeol continued. “Are you going to save this world?! Or are you going to let it die, just how you did to your son, Baek Ahn!?”
“Phoenix Prince.”
A soft baritone voice called from behind. Chanyeol turned around and saw a wingless man, floating in the air. He wore ragged clothes and his skin smudged by soil and dirt, however, his presence was heavy with power, and his voice echoed even in an open space. Chanyeol flapped his fiery wings, letting the flame hovered around him as a forewarning of what he could do should the man gets closer to him.
“And you are?”
The man didn’t answer his question, “Stop this right now.”
Chanyeol smirks, “And I should do what you say because?”
“Because Baek Ahn asks you so.”
In a second Chanyeol managed to appear before the unknown man, grabbing him by the collar. “Do not dare command me under his name,”
“I am not commanding you or anything, I’m just doing what he asked me to do!” the man growled and an invisible force came out from him, throwing Chanyeol back to his previous place. “Your anger is out of place, Chanyeol, Ahn is not happy with this!”
“And what do you know?!”
“What I know is that when the eclipse begins tonight, you will no longer have the chance to meet Baek Ahn before the cycle repeats again!” the man snarls. “Isn’t that what you want?! To see him?! What’s the point of you destroying Cepherus, what’s the point of you, yelling at the gods to show what you’ve done?! For all I know, you only wanted Ahn to look back at you and love you the way you love him!”
Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed, but the man continued with his speech, “For whatever reason you have that you want to destroy our world, I ask you to set it aside for now. Baek Ahn is waiting for you in the Hollowing Woods… He wanted to fulfil his promise, he said… so please Chanyeol…” The man’s voice cracked, “Go to him, before it’s too late.”
∞ ♡ ∞ ♡ ∞
The moment he stepped inside the place he called prison for a hundred of years, Chanyeol had never felt so weak his entire life. Once a paradise in the middle of the dead forest, the tree heart was now engulfed with towering flame. All the remaining lives have gone to save themselves.
The glow of the tree was long gone, the sap had dried and the trees turned to autumn sunset. Chanyeol took slow and careful steps as he went closer to it. But even through the flames, he had already seen who was waiting for him all along.
He was sitting between the giant roots, just like how he used to on the first days they’ve been together. His pure white wings were spread wide but one of them was broken and twisted. He was looking at him, but Chanyeol didn’t see hatred from his crystalline eyes. It was just pure love.
“My prince…” he whispered, but Chanyeol heard it just as loud as his heartbeat.
Chanyeol fell on his knees just before the fallen Aeri, tears endlessly traced his cheeks. His chest burned in shame and remorse, for all this time, he didn’t know… he didn’t know Baekhyun was him all along.
“Don’t cry…” Baekhyun reached out to wipe the prince’s tears. “You’ve been crying again, my prince.”
“Ekleipsis…” Chanyeol sobbed, “Why… did you do this?”
“I have…no other choice…” Baekhyun smiled, “But it wasn’t so bad in this lifetime,” he cupped his cheeks, “I remembered myself…”
“Ahn…” Chanyeol threw himself at the Aeri, his face pressed against Baekhyun’s chest as his arms wrapped around his fragile body. “Why did you lie? You said when your twin’s crown was retrieved, you’ll be able to go back…”
Baekhyun combed the prince’s hair with his fingers, his lips pressed against the crown of his head, “ If Luhan comes back, he’ll be able to undo the curse…”
“How so? The only way to do it is to kill the host—“ Chanyeol stopped in the middle of it when he realized what Ahn’s plan was. He pulled away, grabbing the Moon Child’s shoulders and shook him violently, “You…you wanted me to bring back your twin so he could kill you?”
Baekhyun’s gaze softened, “Don’t put it that way…”
“But it is the truth isn’t it?!” Chanyeol said, hysterical, “The curse will be undone, but you will die…”
Baekhyun couldn’t even look at him in the eye, because what he said was the truth. Chanyeol took a deep breath, blinking the unshed tears he’s trying to hold back. “B-but who will, who will hold the power of the moon—“
“I’ll hand it over to Arnkai…” Baekhyun said, “He’s strong enough to handle both the moon and stars.”
The prince’s grip on his shoulders tightened and he shook his head. He couldn’t believe it, he didn’t want to believe it. “Why…?” was all that he could mutter, “Why would you sacrifice yourself for this Ahn…”
“It’s for Cepherus…”Baekhyun whispered.
“It’s not!” Chanyeol roared, and the latter closed his eyes as he didn’t want to see the rage in the prince’s eyes. “It’s for her! It’s for your mother! You’re doing this because you wanted her to be proud at you, to look at you! You wanted her to realize that you’re worthy to be her son! You wanted her to acknowledge you—even to the point that you’d die for it!”
Baekhyun snapped his eyes open, surprise written all over it. Chanyeol didn’t stop though, “I’ve seen it, Ahn. I’ve seen everything. And they don’t deserve this…they don’t deserve you…”
“Chanyeol…” Baekhyun shook his head, “You didn’t—“
Chanyeol punched the trunk behind the Aeri, “She killed you before you were even born! She ripped you out of her womb because she couldn’t accept a half mortal to be her son! She tossed you in a pathetic orb and froze you there, who
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