Minwoo never liked to be woken up at the middle of the night, Eric mused as they neared the warlock's flat. He knew the man for quite a few years, and it never changed : but they also had a very pressing matter at end, so he would not change them into frogs ? Maybe ?

Andy didn't seem to mind so much. He moved as if he knew the place by heart/

« Do you come here often ? »

The vampire rolled his eyes.

« Don't everyone ? »

Well, he was kind of right. Minwoo had the tendency to care way too much about other people. And as he had been the High Warlock of Korea since forever, he was the man everyone, vampires, werewolves, warlocks alike, wanted to have as a friend.

 

« Minwoo helped me deal with Camille's murderous streak. »

The infamous accident which probably lead this man to take over the clan. He seemed really young, but as he was a vampire, we wouldn't dare to make an estimation. He could be as old as Minwoo.

They ringed.

The door opened, way more quietly than they were used to. Immediatly, they were overwhelmed by a feeling of dread : something was definitively wrong.

They entered the warlock's home, ready to jump out and fight at any moment. The wards were still up when they pushed open the door of the appartement.

 

« Minwoo ? Minwoo, are you there ? »

He was there, looking disheveled and worried. He immediatly came to them.

« Is he...dead ? »

Eric shaked his head.

« No, he is... »

« Then you should've gone to Catarina's... »

« Magnus ! I think you should see that. »

Andy helped Eric to bring the young werewolf over to the warlock's sofa. Eric layed him down carefully and exposed his neck, were the skin was still looking green.

The warlock set his drink down, and examinated the wound carefully. The two men waited, leaving him as much space as he could.

Minwoo was reciting spells under his breath, moving is hands over the youngster's body.

 

It was always something to see, Minwoo working his magic : over the years, Eric learnt to recognize differents types of magic : the blue of healing, the green of elementary spells, the red of angry magic, and the purple. Purple was not a color they often saw, but it meant that the man's heart was wavering. His mind was taking him somewhere else.

It took him sometime, but finally, the wounds on the young man's neck closed and his skin was back to normal. Minwoo, on the contrary, looked drained. Andy leapt in to help him sit on a chair.

« He'll probably be exhausted, but he'll be fine. »

« You look awful, to do you want me to fetch you a cup of water ? »

« Thank you. »

 

Andy was gone and came back in a flash. Feeling suddenly exhausted too, Eric settled close to the wolf on the sofa.

« What did you find out … ? »

« Nothing good, I fear. »

« Does it have anything to do with the thing that's troubling you ? »

When Andy spoke up, Minwoo looked surprised. « How did you know… ? »

« I'm just looking. »

Eric piped up. « It's not very difficult to make out. »

 

They stayed in silence as Minwoo made his mind about telling them what was bothering him.

« I'd have to tell you anyway. » He took a deep breath. « The seelie clan was slaughtered tongiht. I just came back. »

« What ?! »

Horrified, the two people froze.

« I don't know how, but it seems like the shadowhunters have decided to take the offensive. »

« That filthy rat ! »

« Is there no survivors ? »

Minwoo shaked his head.

« That's where it's complicated. The prince disappeared. The Queen is dead. I fear Valentine'd want to use him to lure us or even worse... »

Andy finished his sentence for him. « Use his Mark. »

« It won't be long until they discover what he can do, judging by all the dead shadowhunters we found. »

 

Minwoo got up and started pacing. Eric knew what it was like, to feel powerless while someone you loved was in danger. Eric didn't really know the Seelie Prince, as he did not leave the Court, but he knew Minwoo and him had been longtime lovers before, and where still best friends. Valentine was hitting on Minwoo's only weak point.

« The werewolf had yin fen in his veins. Demon's venom. »

« How ? I thought yin fen was unobtainable since the 1900's ? »

« I don't know. But if someome can produce yin fen, we have to stay in our guards. He is probably trying to start a war within our ranks. Make sure your clans are safe, stay out of the city for a while if you can. »

« What are you going to do ? »

« I'll wait. »

 

[….]

 

« Just wait here, okey ? I'll be fine. »

« You're really going to enter the City of Bones and hope to find him ? What are you going to do when you reach him ? »

« First, I'll make sure they're not torturing him. And then….I don't know, I'll try to talk with him ? »

Dongwan was definitively not taking it. There was a very good reason why they were forbidden o enter in the City of Bones alone.

Unfortunately, when Junjin wanted to do something, he was just not able to hear or understand anything else, he knew Dongwan knew that very well, and without waiting, pushed the gates to the City of Bones.

 

The place was definitively not the kind of place you would want to live in, and yet, the Silent Brothers were living and working there all day everyday...They were once shadowhunters, who decided to take the oath, and to undertake a special training. While the shadowhunters runes only ressembled black tatoos on their skin, the Silent Brothers, changed their physical apparence, making them look like statues with black vortex-like eyes and stitched lips. The name « Silent Brother » was definitively not a cute nickname.

As they lived forever, they had the mission to watch over the shadowhunters remains, and the nephilim archives. They always creeped Junjin out.

 

If only he wasn't so curious…

Creeping in the hallways, Junjin came eventually face to face with the angel Raziel statue. Just like in his memories, it was still towering menacingly over him, holding the cup, the sword and the mirror. The Mortal Instruments.

Raziel's beautiful face was judging him. Junjin read the phrase carved in the stone : « Facilis Descensus Averni » The descent to hell is easy. Quite reassuring.

 

He jumped like a frightened cat when he heard voices from the end of the hall. Hiding behind the statue, Junjin activated again his earing rune.

« Ok, let's begin. » Aldertree's voice. He could recognize the dialect.

He heard metallic sounds, and raged breath.

« I heard faeries are especially sensible to holy water. If I press on this button, would fell as though to burning from the inside. And since it can't kill you, it can go on…. Forever. Are you going to lead us to the spyral labyrinth yet ? »

Spyral Labyrinth ? Why did it strike him like this ? He definitively heard it somewhere.

A new voice, soft, ringing, but also very angry.

« Just go yours... »

The scream that rang in the entire prison was deafening. Junjin left his inside churn with disgust.

« Stop it ! I don't want to get killed ! »

« Don't worry, the Mark needs angelic power to activate. The adamant walls prevent him to do any magic. »

There was screaming again, and Junjin lost it completely. He didn't think about the consequences, and ran toward the voice, knocking violently into Aldertree, sending him to the floor. When the other man tried to jump on him, he quickly dodged him, changing his body to shadowy fong as he landed hits on them, knocking them inconscious.

He then tried to catch his breath. He always felt really tired after using his power, as he didn't want to use it too much. It was definitively effective, as the men were all laying on the floor, covered in blood.

 

He then looked up toward the man sitting on the chair at the center of the room.

His breath hitched when he discovered the Seelie Prince.

Faerie's beauty was infamous, especially that of the Royal Family, but he never imagined someone like this.

The man was looking like he was in this early twenties, soft blond hair falling on black shimmering eyes, surrounded by a sharp jawline. Junjin noticed the sharp pointy ears and the flowers tatoos circling his face softly. He was not only beautiful, but he was so beautiful he couldn't believe in was real.

 

The man fell immediatly to his knees, when he saw tear streaks on his cheeks. The man tensed when the younger tried to free him. It was impossible, as the chair was made in adamantine. He opted to take the needles out of the Prince's arm, smashing the package of holy water on the ground.

« Are you okay … ? »

It was the dumbest question to ask, but he was definitively not thinking straight.

« I'll try to take you out of there, don't worry. »

Junjin'searched around for a seraph blade. He snatched Aldertree's blade and tried to chatter the rune gleaming on the chair.

He had almost succeded in breaking the chair, when he felt the man tensing under his touch. He didn't realize what was happening until he felt a sharp sting in his neck, pain exploding in his chest. Falling over, he started squirming on the floor when a voice he only heard in his nightmares.

Valentine was hovering over him, pressing a seraph blade on his throat.

« Look what i found here. A little rat. »

His face morphed into a ominous expression.

« I always knew you were bad news. Too bad I didn't kill you earlier. »

He raised the seringue he probably used on him. A green fluid was sitting in it. Junjin reached toward his neck, suddenly out of breath.

« This is...my best invention. It is a poison which will kill you in more or less than six hours. I have the antidote. But if you want it, you'll have to get to know this majesty here, and get him to tell us the localisation of the Spyral Labyrinth. Then, I'll think about letting you live. I think it is quite a fun game to play, right … ? »

Feeling very cold, Junjin growled.

« You're totally mad. »

« And you're screwed. »

 

The man turned and locked the cell we he got the three shadowhunters out.

« I'll be waiting. »

 

[….]

 

Three full hours. Maybe four. He didn't get a call from neither Hyesung or Valentine. Could he have been actually killed ?

He just couldn't settle down and sleep. Eric and Andy had left over an hour ago, and dawn was still a few hours away. He thought about summoning a demon to investigate on Valentine, but he severed most of his ties with hell after the time he met his father, Asmodeus.

 

« Are you okay, Minwoo-hyung ? »

Junsu was standing in the hallway, in his pajamas. His blonde hair disheveled and tired blue eyes helped him ease his nerves a little.

« Hey, why are you up ? »

Junsu has now been living with him for six years. He had first found him on the street, looking way too out of place with other homeless people. He had no memories and didn't know how to take care of himself. As Minwoo always had a soft spot for strays, Minwoo took him in. He also believed Junsu was definitively not human, even if he had searched for years and never found anything about his origins. The man was a riddle, but was definitively not aging. Minwoo had tried teaching him magic, but the type of magic the young man could do had been way too dangerous for him to handle alone.

 

If Ragnor was alive….he would have known.

He sighed and smiled to the young mysterious man.

« It's nothing for you to worry about... »

He couldn't just throw the troubles of the Shadow world at his face. He was way too innocent and fragile, like a baby.

 

As he tried to convince his protegee to go back to bed, his doorbell was ringing again. Who could it be this time ? It was definitively a energy he didn't know.

« Nephilim. »

He got to his door, slaming in it open, and throwing his magic at the man standing before him. The red energy wrapped aroun the man slender arms and neck, maintening him in place. He was alone. Which was definitively strange for one of Valentine's man.

« You're the Kim son. »

The man was way more beautiful he had pictured. The Kim family had been, for as long as he had known them, a bunch of angry and ugly people. But this one's aura was definitively softer. He was young, maybe close to his thirties. He had unglamoured runes running up his neck and soft black hair. He was looking really scared and the warlock's anger faded a little. He didn't even come armed.

He finally released the young man and asked him warily :

« What are you doing here … ? »

 

....

« I need your help. »

 

[TO BE CONTINUED]