Paris, 1789

Taemin milled about the headless and mangled bodies of the revolution’s most recent victims. He pulled the fading souls from the shells that they had once inhabited. They fed his strength and heightened his abilities. He took the hundreds of souls and stored them away for him to feed off of later. He was about to take the last soul that hid under the pile of dead bodies when it wouldn’t give. He unearthed the body and found that it was none other than the immortal.

Taemin heaved the body from its resting place and carried it off to another part of the city. He placed Minho’s body on the table and waited for the elder to wake up. Taemin knew that, as an immortal, supernatural beings such as himself could be injured and even killed, but it took some time for them to heal and return to their original state; A fact that he learned the hard way when the population of Salem, Massachusetts found him guilty of witchcraft.

It was only a few minutes later when the body on the table began to stir. Taemin had propped himself up on the nearby counter and watched as the immortal took in his surroundings.

Minho looked at the Collector, “Who are you?”

Taemin smiled devilishly, his lavender eyes sparkling in the moonlight, “Who? Me? Just the person who saved you from being buried alive.”

“I would have had it handled.”

Taemin chuckled, “I highly doubt that.” He hopped off of the counter and stalked toward the immortal, “Now, as for who I am, I’m the one who you wouldn’t give your pesky little soul to nearly a hundred years ago.”

    Minho’s eyes narrowed, “The Collector.”

    The pink haired boy nodded slightly.

    “What do you want?”

    The Collector smiled, “I want to get to know you. I want to learn about the last immortal.”

    “Okay, but first thing is first, I am not the last immortal.” Seeing no way out of his predicament, Minho told Taemin about his people. “We originally lived in the forests of Jeju. We had grown to be a peaceful people, but others knew that we had a power and wanted to exploit it. The greedy and powerful always wanted our abilities. They came and enslaved us, forcing us to fight for them in wars and kill innocent people. They made us do things against our beliefs, but we had no other choice. They tortured those who rebelled and ripped apart families. The worst part was when they broke a man’s leg and held it at a bad angle, causing the limb to heal crooked, essentially hobbling them. They could never kill any of us, only an immortal can kill another immortal. Seeing no other way out, husbands killed their children, their wives, and then themselves. My people died in droves leaving only a few left, the elders and myself. I had hoped that one day we would be able to escape, but the others didn’t. They knew they were doomed. They all came together and helped me to get out of captivity, but one of the elders the rest. He slaughtered them all after I had managed to break free. I haven’t seen him since, but I know he’s still out there.”

    Taemin, silent until this point, asked how Minho knew this.

    “He starts wars, starting with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Minho explained.

    Taemin didn’t find that hard to believe at all. He had had a field day in the ruins after their destruction. He had gathered thousands of souls that day, and he had heard the rumours that an immortal had started their demise.

    The pink haired one thought for a moment and surmised the reason why Minho was in Paris. “You follow the wars hoping to find the immortal that killed the last of your family.”

    Minho nodded, “And I am the only one who can kill him.” He paused, his eyes lighting up with an idea, “As a Collector, you can sense the wars to come. The unclaimed souls call to you. With your help, we can get in front of the rogue immortal and find a way to stop him.”

    Taemin was enthralled by the man before him. Never had he faced a person or challenge such as this. He wanted to help the lonely immortal. He wanted to get to know this man. The pink haired boy was tempted by the offer, he could collect souls, and find a way to help this man who he was so interested in.

    “What do you say, Kitten?”

    Taemin stared at the elder, “Yes, I will help you find the rogue immortal.”

~

    The two men followed the wars through time. They got closer and closer to the rogue, but they never found him. Between the wars, they often got bored. They played games and found ways to entertain each other. Minho was often fond of playing cat-and-mouse, he would take off after the next war, causing Taemin to chase him down. This made the latter get incredibly frustrated, but he was always rewarded after he caught the elder.