Thirteen - The Beginning

They should have expected the reaction of the citizens towards Baek Ahn, but the Archmage was still disappointed on how they refused to listen to him and to the Sun Child when they reassured them that he meant no harm. It’s been a few weeks since that day, and the Moon Child still hasn’t returned or even sent a message. Chen had asked Luhan if they should send a dove for him, but the Sun Child told him not to bother Baek Ahn for the meantime, since they wouldn’t be able to offer him a safe place as long as he wore Daevric features.

Chen sometimes felt uneasiness with how the Sun Child keeps to himself. Unlike Baek Ahn, Luhan seemed more headstrong towards his beliefs and had a very high sense of duty to a fault. He couldn’t blame him, because as a Celestial Child, there are a lot of expectations to meet and pressure to overcome, not just from the gods and the domain they rule, but also from the people who had put their trust in them.

What the Archmage was thinking about wasn’t that far from what Luhan has been pondering.

The moment he learned that the reason why the people of Cepherus were suffering was because of the imbalance, that the only cure to save millions of lives was his brother’s presence, he was determined to do anything. The sight of his brother, though in different features than what he used to, had brought him hope. A hope that somehow, Baek Ahn would remember his duty and wake up from whatever dream Chanyeol made him believe in, and face the crisis with him.

But his brother boldly dismissed the idea, even going so far as to brand himself as a half-god.

What half-god?! Luhan didn’t understand. Did Chanyeol alter his memories? What heretic ways had he done to make his brother look like them?

The more he thought about it, the deeper his hatred became.

Because right after Chanyeol was born, he immediately stole the Moon Child, and slowly corrupted him.

Sitting on the clouds, Luhan reminisced about that time when the Phoenix Prince started everything, even if he wasn’t aware of it. After the Daevric Queen gave birth to him, she could no longer bear a child. Despite this, the King didn’t take back Chanyeol from the Moon Child to be the Crown Prince of their empire, because they feared what he could do. The mark of the phoenix on his back was the omen the kingdom dreaded. They wanted to forget he ever existed. They washed their hands even before anything could happen.

Because of this, the King was overthrown and was replaced by his younger brother. The new Daevric King had a son named Kyungsoo, securing the royal bloodline on the throne.

If he wasn’t born, if the previous king and queen only gave birth to a normal child and not something like…him—maybe the future of Cepherus was different than today.

Luhan remembered that day when he visited Baek Ahn in the Moon Temple. He and young Chanyeol were in the middle of an argument, with the Phoenix Prince snarling and making his point on how much he hated the gods.

“What happened?” Luhan approached his brother after the prince ran off.

“I am not really sure. He suddenly became so distant. He refused to talk to me, or even look at me. I tried to sit the issue with him and address what was bothering him, he became angry.”

Luhan took a deep breath, “This is because you refuse to get angry at him. If you only do things the passive way, Chanyeol will not know his boundaries.”

Baek Ahn shook his head, “The whole world, even the heavens, are already hostile towards him. If I do the same, Chanyeol will think that he doesn’t have anyone on his side. I don’t want him to feel alone.”

“Ahn, Chanyeol is growing up. You can’t protect him forever. You have more pressing matters to attend to as Cepherus’ Moon Child.”

Baek Ahn took a deep breath, a moment of silence stretched between them before he whispered, “I know I am the Moon Child brother, but before that, I am also Chanyeol’s guardian. If one day I will have to make a choice between protecting this world and that child, I will do my best to do both.”

“But if you can’t?”

Baek Ahn didn’t even wait a mere second before replying, “I will choose the prince.”

“—What?! Baek Ahn, you are a Celestial, you should think what is best for the majority!”

“And that’s what I am going to do, brother. Taking care of the prince, nurturing him to be a good person, is my own way of protecting Cepherus. Because if you make him hate you, the gods and Cepherus itself, heaven knows what he will do to every living thing that exists.”

When Baek Ahn left him alone, Luhan had searched for the prince. He found him in the gazebo where Baek Ahn meditates. The prince was staring at the blanket of gray clouds and stars against the dark skies.

“Chanyeol, I know this world has branded you as an evil being. But you don’t have to hate everyone and everything.”

“That’s easy for you to say…” the young prince hissed, “You don’t know anything…”

Luhan took a deep breath, “I lived far longer than you, I guess if there is anyone who doesn’t know anything yet, it will be you.”

Chanyeol’s eyes glowed as he looked up at him like he wanted to kill him right then and there. He was nothing but a child, but the power he emits, just from those eyes, could already rival his power as a Celestial. He was more than shocked when he was thrown off of balance by the fire that came from the prince’s hand. He was thrown a few feet away, landing on one of the floating gazebos.

The prince hissed, “The fact that you could tell that to my face while still ignorant of the truth makes me sick. You, Dea and this world… don’t deserve Ahn at all.”

Luhan reached out for the crown, and attacked the hostile prince with his own fire. Chanyeol’s fiery wings shielded him from the attack but it had caused damage to them. Chanyeol staggered, but he didn’t falter. Luhan was surprised when the prince didn’t even flinch from his wound before he ran away.

The Sun Child took time to gather himself before leaving the meditation grounds. As he exited the place, he saw Baek Ahn approaching him.

“Luhan,” The Moon Child called in a soft voice, flanking him, “I know you only mean well. But the next time I see any trace of eternal flame on Chanyeol, I will not take it lightly.”

Luhan’s brows furrowed, “Baek Ahn, Chanyeol is already strong enough to throw me off my feet! Aren’t you a tad worried that he would be strong enough to destroy the heavens once he grows old enough?”

“Unless we give him a reason, he wouldn’t. That’s why please, don’t provoke him anymore. Brother, he’s not the kind of fire you want to play with.”

***

“Your Grace,” Chen’s voice brought him out of trance. Luhan blinked his eyes and cleared his throat, turning to the Archmage with a tight-lipped smile. Chen would always manipulate the wind to carry him over to the clouds. However, back when he was just a young mage who served as Baek Ahn’s right hand man, he had always hated looking over Cepherus from above. Luhan had spent years inside that tree, and maybe there are things that have changed when he was not around.

“I wasn’t expecting somebody to find me here.”

“Sehun worries about you, Your Grace. I figured that I should convey this message. Us, right hand-mans dedicated our whole lives to the Celestials. The time we spent with each other surpasses bonds that mortals deemed precious. If…If you could just rely on us, we will do our very best to serve you. You don’t have to carry all the burden alone.”

Luhan’s lips twitched, a failed attempt to deliver a reassuring smile at the other. “I know that, Chen. Believe me, you and Sehun were the most loyal servants my brother and I ever had. Your loyalty had no bounds. Which is why I am confused why haven’t you…followed my brother when he left the Garnlok Empire?”

Chen’s uncomfortableness with the question was so obvious on the way his face hardened. Nonetheless, the archmage gazed at the horizon of clouds and said, “I do not deserve to walk behind His Grace. I have…failed the Moon Child the moment I agreed to sit idly, while he dies over and over again.”

“Chen, the sacrifice we made, it was our choice…” Luhan explained.

“A choice you didn’t have to make, hadn’t the war started.” Chen’s voice cracked.

Luhan took a deep breath, “It was my fault, Chen, do not beat yourself up for something you have no control of.”

The Archmage’s brows furrowed, “Your Grace, I know the Crown of Sun was stolen from you, but that was not your fault either.”

Luhan shook his head, a bitter smile on his lips, “Chen, do you remember how we cannot call the power of the moon even when the crowns were left to us that day my brother died?” When the archmage remained silent, the Sun Child continued, “No matter who holds the celestial crowns, if they have no celestial power that resonates with it, it cannot be awakened.”

Chen’s brows furrowed in confusion, “But how did the previous Daevric King—?”

Luhan knew that the story that has been passed down to