Despite supposedly having a connection through an initiated bond, Minseok finds it nearly impossible to locate Jongdae. It's as if the man evaporated. Every time he tries to reach out and feel their tether, he is shocked with pins and needles in his skin. He settles for walking on foot and trying to find him, but he isn’t in his own home, nor any of the homes of his friends, nor his workplace. Even searching the woods around the village yields no Jongdae. And with increasing difficulty in finding him, there is increasing annoyance and frustration, as well as concern.

But that concern is more likely due to the bond.

When light starts to part the sky in the east, Minseok knows he’s run out of time. He does not want to risk Yixing dying, especially when he’s still so dear to Junmyeon, and their bond still needs severing. After the test, of which Yixing no doubt failed, Minseok will once and for all confirm Yixing as a false Guardian. He will then present this to the head Elder council, and use his own blundering with Jongdae as an appeal to the Elders that it was the humans at fault, not the Guardians for mistakenly initiating a bond. And with support from Elder Sebil, the Elders will forgive Junmyeon and Baekhyun and renounce their silencing.

Minseok is making his way up to the single story house, identifiable by its diverse flower and herb garden wrapping around the sides and back of the foundation. Oddly enough they look lively and supple. Minseok also notices the shutters flung open, and the contraption Yixing rides around in is parked before the house. Minseok’s steps slow as his mind processes those few details again. Then, in the corner of his eye spies a shadow moving across the window.

“Not possible...” Minseok mutters, slowly progressing to the white painted door. His ears catch the clink of dishes and whining of cabinets under the breath of wind and rustle of bushes. He turns the doorknob, dread spooling through his intestines when it swings out to allow him through. He takes in the gaping dark stain on the wood floor, the footprint puddles leading to the bedroom, the wicker dining table, the kitchen. He sees him, soaked to the bone and black strands clumped about his face but not frozen.

Nothing frozen, not his arms or his legs or his angry frown. Minseok breathes with the blink of those simmering brown eyes.

“Not possible...” Minseok whispers, absorbing the pale wetness of Yixing’s skin. His stare hardens on Minseok, as if it will open up his skull and expose something to the Doctor. Minseok has to break the stare, the roaring in his head overwhelms anything he would have thought to say. Impossible. It’s impossible. It can’t be that he’s, Minseok clenches his fists as his eyes close, wheezes barely withheld to deep breaths. The test, he was to fail the test and now, now, now, now-

Yixing’s hand clamps onto his shoulder, startling Minseok. He unclenches his fingers as something wet and hot seeps between them. Minseok fixates his gaze on the long work table at the back of the house, with all its glasses and jars and cloth sacs. The heat leaves his face. Yixing must be looking there as well.

“In ten minutes, we leave for the castle. You will be in the vehicle when we do. And we will not utter a single word to one another.” Yixing releases him and pushes open the door with his foot. Dazedly, Minseok notices the small crate in his hands as he sets it in the middle of the bench, likely intentionally.

So many thoughts wish to erupt from him, questions upon questions mixing with his disbelief and confoundment. And yet, the finality of that command, the unyield of it. Minseok’s lips curl. He pushes the door back open and marches for the Doctor. His mouth widening in a half sneer, the words “how did you do it?” seconds from spewing out, dying when Yixing walks past him. Not even a glance is spared.

Minseok blinks at the empty vehicle, swings back around to stare at the closed door. His fingers curl again, but the sting from the earlier cuts is enough to stop him with a flinch. He takes more deep breaths. If there is one thing Minseok knows, it is that letting himself be upset over petty things will never allow him to move forward. And he needs to move forward. In regards to his plan as well as Elder Sebil’s. Her threat lingers once again. You do not want to fail me Minseok. For Baekhyun and Junmyeon’s sake, with the power I hold over their futures, as well as yours. Do for me what I ask, and I will do for you in return.

All his work, all his effort ruined by his own negligence and in a last minute attempt to amend himself, he still fails. It would be humorous if he wasn’t so angry. Some way, somehow, Yixing escaped the ice. Minseok considers this to not mean the obvious. Except that the obvious is the more probable not to mention the only logical explanation. He sighs through his nose, runs the possibility of someone else with magical abilities melting the ice for him. Doubtful without a legitimate reason to see the Doctor in the late hours of the night and early morning. Not to mention the lack of any magical beings in this area. He immediately throws out the chance that it melted from the summer heat. His ice is no ordinary ice. It is magic hardened will. Only another will could melt it. Which again leaves him at the obvious conclusion.

Minseok huffs, rings the fabric of his trousers, huffs again with the slightest undertone of petulance, and stomps the dirt beneath his feet. He has to corral the urge to throw something, has to force himself into the automobile as Yixing instructed.

When the Doctor returns, he’s changed into a dry summer outfit and black shoes that twinkle in the glare of the sun. As it turns out, keeping silent is an easier task than Minseok anticipated. He finds himself too angry every time he looks at Yixing to focus enough on real words. And when he replays the previous night, he is flustered and upset in a kaleidoscope of ways. The further they get away from the village, the more upset Minseok can feel himself getting. It becomes extremely difficult to focus his thoughts on rationale and problem-solving. By the time they are at the creek where Junmyeon is waiting to take them, Minseok hovers within a neutral space, thoughts moving between his anger at Yixing, Jongdae, Sebil, and himself.

If he had been asked, Junmyeon would have said he was worried. Where he should have been rumbling with joy, he was stiff with dread.

Last night, it was Minseok whose name lit up his stone. All the other guardians had gathered. He believed Minseok's cry to be an indication of harm coming to him, but the rest thought differently. The same event had occurred when Junmyeon found Yixing, leading them to believe that Minseok has now found his soulmate, in turn, adding who knows how many more complications to the matter of their unapproved bond initiating. They collectively poured over the possibility of it, Minseok accidentally or intentionally initiating a bond, to what end, and what they should do in response. Their discussion had dissolved into arguments, leaving Junmyeon to be the sacrificial goat and confront Minseok.

Part of him still wishes that Minseok was crying for help. He can’t imagine what Elder Sebil or the head Elders will do if Minseok committed the same act as himself. At least with a cry for help, there is Yixing to protect him... although, how likely Minseok is to receive that help is questionable.

Junmyeon is worried. Worried because he does not know which situation is better, and the only thing that can help is seeing Minseok in the flesh. He does not know how ready he is to do that. He’s still sore from Minseok’s rejection of Yixing, still annoyed by Minseok’s belief in his enticement. But maybe, maybe the week, and however many more they have will cause the change of heart needed to save all of them.

Because as upset as Junmyeon is, he wants his brother back more. He misses Minseok’s soft smiles and consoling hand squeezes. He misses the days when he could turn to Minseok for advice and an open ear as the eldest, as their leader. The fears he’s yet to share with the others, the thing that keeps him from sleep into the late hours of the night.

It is easy to be angry, because it is harder to be scared and longing. Junmyeon knows it’s not in his nature to stay angry, let alone resentful. Even the week, in all its briefness, was difficult for him and their brothers. They’d all become so accustomed to Minseok as their center, they needed Minseok at the center. But now... what will he be?

He catches sight from the river bank a black vehicle advancing up the road, and attempts to smile. He moves forward, stopping just before where the road curves to his left. They pull close enough for him to make out their outlines. Junmyeon’s tight smile dwindles when he senses the animosity between them. It collapses into a frown when he reads the stony expression on Yixing’s face. And Minseok... Junmyeon gasps quietly at Minseok. He’s never seen his brother that discomforted before. The sheen of sweat makes him look nearly sickly, and the rapidly blinking eyes suggest a storm of thoughts instead of his characteristic blankness. His mouth is pinched down and to the side, like he’s eaten something sour he can’t spit out.

Junmyeon questions who he should greet first as the two remove themselves from the automobile. Despite the pull towards his soulmate, his brother’s off-kilterness draws out an ingrained need to soothe. His head moves from Yixing’s approaching face, slowly morphing from chilly to grateful, and Minseok’s downturned head, curling more and more within himself. Junmyeon’s instincts to console overwhelm him, and despite his own heart, he reaches out to Minseok first. Junmyeon catches the way Yixing’s hands fall after he started to raise them. Junmyeon reaches out, grasps Minseok’s chin.

“Welcome home brother. I have missed you.” Junmyeon feels the cold sweat on his brother’s lips when he pecks him. The response is so slow, so not like his Minseok. It makes the crater of worry in his gut deepen to fear. Minseok in a breath, and pulls his chin away. He walks past Junmyeon to the bank and jumps into the water. Junmyeon hears the splash as if from a great distance, his eyes meeting Yixing’s. They look so sad, and he, Junmyeon feels crushed, completely unthinkably crushed by it.

He garbles out, “I missed you too, my savior.” Yixing sighs, heavy and overdrawn. He doesn’t speak, but his arms open back up, and Junmyeon falls into them. Their embrace is tight and teary, fingers digging into waists and backs, feather light kisses drawing up cheeks to settle into one deep, hard, desperate kiss on the lips. They stay pressed together, still only for the feel of each others skin. Like a balm, Junmyeon’s heart slows. They seperate but remain hand-in-hand.

“What will you do about the vehicle?” Junmyeon gestures with his head to the automobile behind them. Yixing turns a glance at it but shakes his head. He squeezes Junmyeon’s hands. “I’ve got the crankshaft jammed. Anyone tries to start it, it will shoot off and likely break their thumb. In addition this area’s more known for animal attacks than housing thieves. If I am vehicle-less upon return tonight, then I’m sure another night or two together won’t hurt us.” Junmyeon smiles bittersweetly at that. He prays to the God of the sea that the vehicle be ransacked and pieces upon return. Gesturing behind him to the river, he tugs on Yixing hands and hushes, “are we off then?”

Yixing looks out to the deeper water where Minseok stands. It crests just under his shoulder blades, contrasting light blue to his pale ivory skin. A hot flush works its way up his torso, gritting his teeth beneath pursed lips. He nods without looking at Junmyeon. “Lead my little water sprite.”

After retrieving the crate, they join Minseok in the deepest part of the river, and with a breathy exhale, whisk away against the current. Junmyeon’s pearl glows brightly beneath the water’s surface as his skin mimics the sheen. It’s a blur of wind and water when they come to a break in the woods to their left and a giant waterfall at their front. Junmyeon deposits them close enough to stand knee deep, then they splash up the rest of the incline onto the sandy beach.

Two lines of trees overhang a dirt path, and in the distance Yixing spies the castle cresting above their tops. It looks like a hill is their only trek before coming onto the entrance. For a short moment he wonders why the protective shield didn’t stop him, and then recalls the tepid turquoise in his belly. Minseok storms ahead of them to quickly vanish beyond the curve of the road. Junmyeon remains with Yixing as he makes his slow advance up the hill, crate over one shoulder and hand clutching his soulmate. They are quiet as they walk, Yixing absorbing all the life energies around him like the village square chatter on a market day, and Junmyeon absorbing the man beside him in all his ways.

They get halfway before Junmyeon cannot contain his questions. Easier to try with Yixing than to drag it out of Minseok when they’re alone. “I know something happened. I figure now is as good of a time as any to ask for your side. I can only imagine the bias in Minseok’s - no matter how he might try to dispute the claim.” He was hoping to appear courteous if somewhat playful. But Yixing’s drawn face does not relax. In fact, he doesn’t even try for a smile. Junmyeon’s gut tightens. “If I am to tell you all the things you wish to know, it will hurt what remains of your relationship with Minseok. And I tire of being the bleeding heart. You will not hear it from me, but from his own mouth.”

Junmyeon’s grip on Yixing’s hand slackens. He his lips, tries to process what that loaded message conveys, and what he can extrapolate. “Surely if it was that bad you would tell me? You’ve had another misunderstanding and his words have gone too far? I can’t defend him nor would I want to but-”

Yixing squeezes their interlocked hands tight. This time, he turns and meets Junmyeon’s gaze. “From Minseok’s lips, not mine Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon tries again, his hands starting to sweat but whether out of heat or nerves is debatable. “But really Yixing, if it’s serious I need to know about it, you shouldn’t-”

“Not. From. Me.” His voice is soft, so soft like when he would wake Junmyeon up in the mornings during his three days escape from the dwelling. And yet, nothing is soft about his face. It’s a clear and resolute wall. “Yixing...” Junmyeon’s hand releases his completely, and as he blindly feels for their tether he realizes the graveness of the tone. A week should not be enough time to undo the intimacy they’ve shared the past several months and yet... he tugs on his side of the bond.

Yixing turns away from Junmyeon and proceeds up the path. They’ve come close enough for the large ironwood doors to take up their immediate sights. The doors are open wide, with Minseok already exchanging welcoming pecks from his other brothers. Along the side where the courtyard benches stand, Yixing sees some of the Elders. He ignores the welcoming expressions from Luhan and Baekhyun, and the cautious stances of Zitao and Kyungsoo, even the mild interest of Elder Ohm, Winguard, and Sebil. Yixing's focus is trained to the amused smile making its way up Elder Reign’s face.

When he is before her, he says “we must talk privately at once.” She does not dally. “As I expected.” If he was looking behind when he followed Elder Reign into the outdoor tunnels, he would have seen Junmyeon still standing outside the entrance, waiting for the answering tug from his side of the bond.

But he doesn’t look. He follows quietly and dutifully up the stairwell, down the hall of colorful floor paintings, up another two stairwells, and right into the medical ward. She knew the items in his crate were for Chanyeol without him having to say. He assumes that her little smile means she knows a good deal more than that. Or maybe she is just unusually perceptive?

Yixing beelines to the bed furthest right, Chanyeol asleep and comfortable in his tomb of light green. He places the crate on the floor beside the bed and starts to remove items. First his clothing, a compiling of trousers, smocks, suspenders, socks, underthings, a night shirt, his coat and even a pair of leather boots. Below that he withdraws two unlabeled books, one the color of fire and the other of the deep sea, placing both beneath Chanyeol’s pillow. Following these he removes a worn and holed linen sheet to drape over Chanyeol’s body.

Yixing’s third pull reveals a pencil and parchment. Only then does he address Elder Reign. “I know looking at the stomach and shoulder wounds that he is not fully healed, but I would ask all the same that you wake him so we might write a letter. His friends and family desperately wish to hear from him, and I promised to try.”

Elder Reign sits crossed-legged at the bed opposite Yixing, watching him. She had been wondering what this ‘talk’ of theirs would entail. She’s only slightly disappointed it isn’t something more dramatic. “You can very well ask him yourself. He is awake after all.” This of course, spoken in their clear and discernable language and not of the Guardians, brings out a timid sigh and the slow opening of Chanyeol’s copper eyes. He stares warily into Yixing’s shocked hickory ones. “Knew that woman could tell. Yifan’s right Xing, I really am a terrible actor.”

Yixing tries to process the realization that Chanyeol is awake. His eyes rove over the laceration marks closed and purply across his upper torso. “Chanyeol...oh my word, aren’t you in pain? What, I mean... how long have you been awake?” Elder Reign answers for him. “I would say the better part of two weeks give or take a few days, now don’t give me that look Yixing certainly not when you were around. I made sure of that.” Yixing’s glare doesn’t soften even with her buffers. They do quite the opposite of placating him. “You knew he was awake and chose not to tell me?” Yixing huffs.

Elder Reign shrugs her shoulders. “Better he here and out of the eyes of certain human-scorning Elders, wouldn’t you agree Yixing? Besides, he’s been more occupied than you think.” At Chanyeol, she directs what he assumes is a conspiratory wink, but the message flies over his head while the color very clearly drains from Chanyeol’s face. He watches as his friend even gulps. Oddly enough, the movement stops before it reaches his neck. “Chanyeol...are you okay? What does she mean?”

Chanyeol sighs even more deeply before. “I’m fine if only I could move my body. Everything else above the neck is in splendid shape. Can I assume that if you two are friendly she isn’t the one trying to kill us?” Yixing nods, then seems to hesitate a half second before confirming it again. Chanyeol huffs. “Oh wonderful, that’s really reassuring Xing.”

“Why can’t he move Elder Reign?” Yixing asks. She opens to answer, and then gets interrupted by a yawn. He tries not to feel annoyed but somehow the motion comes across as intentional. “As I said before, keeping Chanyeol out of trouble seemed a better move than letting him walk free. Of course, if I can have your word to behave and follow the instruction I give you, then you are welcome to explore Chanyeol.” At this, Chanyeol nods to her, and so she directs a flicking wrist towards him, and the green energy encasing his body disperses, along with it, the wounds and scars littering his body. Yixing gasps, while Chanyeol responds in a string of panicked ‘woah’s', drawing his hands over the parts where he’d just seen red and inflamed skin. They both turn back to Elder Reign. “What? Elder Reign you-”

“Calm Yixing, another trick of mine in case one of the other Elder’s came. If he was healed and I was absent, I could very easily see them enchanting him into servitude and using him as leverage against you.”

“Aren’t you already doing that now? My guardianship was enforced solely by blackmail during last week’s trial.”

“Ah, to be technical Yixing your guardianship is being determined by a test, not blackmail. Unless of course your week proved successful? With those nasty looks from Minseok and Junmyeon’s devastated expression, I was led to think otherwise.”

At the reminder, Yixing’s gaze hardens and his fists clench. Chanyeol sees it and finds his confusion over what they are speaking about become replaced by concern. “Yixing, hey, what are you two discussing? What trial? Test? What is this guardian thing?”

Yixing ignores him. He is focused only on the barely withheld smile on Elder Reigns face. She knew. Of course she knew exactly what Minseok would do. And she didn’t tell me. “About that... Minseok tried to kill me Elder Reign.” Chanyeol gasps, an appropriate reaction after nearly surviving their last brush with death, but Elder Reign’s smile deepens, the little witch.

“Whatever do you mean?” She blinks her soft tan eyes at him, as if she doesn’t really believe him. Her warm brown skin and bright blond spirals make her appear angelic. And yet the depth in her voice and the of her head reminds Yixing of a wolf. “I mean exactly that. He froze me within an ice prison.” Yixing expects her smile to slide right off with those words.

And still, nothing. Not even an eyebrow raising in question. “And yet you are here, meaning you escaped completely unharmed.” Yixing’s frustration is plainly apparent. “I hardly think that’s a reason to justify trying to kill me. It was agony. I couldn’t move, or breathe, or think. I just suffered in there until I was sopping in my own clothes, and even now I still can’t get that cold out of me. How can you stand there smirking like this wasn’t attempted murder. This is cruelty beyond-”

Elder Reign tsks, withholding her laugh to the best of her abilities. It is exactly as she thought it would be. She wonders still whether the test was Minseok’s idea or Sebil’s. She can only imagine what she promised him in return if the idea was Minseok’s. “Much worse is to come I assure you. Better get used to it as that chill will be a constant. No different than what the other Guardians feel. Besides, you should do well to remember Yixing that as a Guardian you cannot be killed by a simple ice chamber.”

“Worse to come? Are you insane? Did you even hear what I said?”

“Cruel, yes I suppose by your standards Minseok was being cruel but what else does he know? I’d imagine he was probably trying to confirm something and thought that the quickest way to do it. Not that it matters, as you’re all well. And per Guardian code, Minseok is forbidden from killing without absolute necessity. Perhaps you should be spending more time determining how you will keep yourself from ending up in that situation again instead of complaining to me about cruelty.”

“Junmyeon told me you could be evil, and somehow I didn’t believe it. I think I’m starting to now.”

“Good. I’m not your friend after all, I’m your mentor. And this can be your first lesson in Guardianship. Yixing, you are new and untested, and many might be eager to see how much you can bend before you break. Start by showing them its in bad interest to try.” Elder Reign stands up, moving gracefully to the cabinets above her worktable. From them she pulls a vial of a colloid containing red gel interspersed with yellow specs. She turns back and hands the mixture to Yixing, who snatches it. “This will help ease the chill, but know Yixing that it will never fully go away. All the Guardians keep a little bit of one another within them. You must come to embrace it if you wish to stay here.”

“If things continue the way they have, it is debatable if I even should. I’m coming to understand that Minseok will never embrace me, no matter what I am to him or Junmyeon.”

“Ah yes, your water lover-boy. I assume you’ve spoken to him about this same matter?”

“No. In fact I’ve refused to discuss it. I know exactly how he will react, and it will help nothing at all.”

“And if he is to find out through some other means? What are you going to do then?”

“If so, then we'll talk. But as I’ve said, I know what he will do, and it won’t improve things. Either Minseok will tell him, under-embellishing as he sees fit, or he will never know.”

“Careful Yixing, things have an ironic way of working themselves out.” Yixing is turned away from the door, instead watching Chanyeol write his letter. But Elder Reign isn’t. Her eyes are trained on the entranceway into the ward, where in the shadows Junmyeon hides.

Knowing he has been spotted, Junmyeon moves silently from the corridor back into the stairway. As he makes his way down he replays the way Yixing’s words trembled over Minseok’s assault. He couldn’t recall a time when he had sounded that wary, that frightened. Even when rescuing Junmyeon from Elder Sebil that night she tried to kill Yixing, he hadn’t sounded like that. Junmyeon, who through a joint training regimen had been subjected to one of Minseok’s ice capsules, can empathize. But Junmyeon the Guardian had expected it, been readied and trained for it. Yixing the human had not.

It does not matter what the reason, Minseok was in the wrong. It is the disingenuity, that is so uncharacteristic of Minseok, that frustrates Junmyeon to no end. He certainly knows Yixing isn’t ready for any type of magical defense or combat. Minseok likely does as well. So how could Minseok be so negligent towards his soulmate? For what purpose? Remembering the way Minseok had greeted him at the river, Junmyeon knows it didn’t clear things up. So what had the idiotic test solved?

It is with these emotions of regret and anger, that Junmyeon spies from the second level outdoor tunnel window into the garden, finding Minseok’s pink head before the winter queen’s statue. He mutters a quick thanks to his own sea god and marches for the nearest stairwell. He is intercepted just before as the door swings open and out walks his own mentor Elder Winguard. Ingrained instincts to hang his head and cower are bit back, in fact he straightens his spine and levels her chilly gaze.

From centuries of training under her, Junmyeon understands one simple thing about his mentor. Elder Winguard prides herself on being successful. She retains many of the characteristics of what Junmyeon thought a mentor ought to be, thus in terms of temperament and personality she is endurable. He need only watch out for things that trigger her. She’d told him stories long ago of a warrior tribe she’d served as a general under before being called to the dwelling, somewhat explaining her bluntness and practicality, but also her mood changes and temper. Back then she was intelligent, diplomatic, stategical, and provided her underlings remained obedient to her, kind. Junmyeon can only assume those traits carried over in her transition into mentorship as an Elder.

Elder Winguard, less concerned with decorum and tradition like Elder Seraph or Elder Sebil, trains Junmyeon as she has her soldiers.

The strangeness of her character exposes itself through her ‘yielding’ tendencies that are uncharacteristic of someone with a background developed from discipline. As long as he meets the physical, tactical, and occupational requirements for his role as Guardian of the Sea, he is allotted many freedoms, greater than any of his brothers. Kyungsoo, with an Elder who sleeps more often than she trains, is restricted bound and otherwise confined to his tasks, even down to the minute detail of when he may eat. Junmyeon’s schedule is very much free to be filled with what he wishes, outside his training sessions or testing hours. Junmyeon is allowed to roam about not only the castle, but the areas around their dwelling and even beyond, unlike Luhan or Minseok. Junmyeon may eat whatever he wishes, a luxury not afforded to Zitao or Baekhyun. Junmyeon is permitted to wander without guards posted at his back or a spell enchanting eyes such that his every move is monitored, something all the other Guardians must subject themselves to. Granted, they’ve learned through the years how to mend and bend these rules, but Junmyeon knows that he won’t be punished for doing so.

The yielding tendencies no longer exist for Junmyeon after his rebellion. Elder Winguard is a mentor about following rules and remaining loyal. By escaping, bonding, and initiating a guardian, he has broken the very core of her trust.

He is paying for it every second since.

And she loves to passive aggressively remind him of it. “I see even sending you to the infirmary for blinding clay is too much of a task. How should I be surprised when my little sea monster never follows instructions these days? Silly me thinking the morning drills wore you thin and liquidy. Perhaps your new scheme is to find another lost Guardian and raise even more hells for me and my sisters.”

Her voice may sound musing but Junmyeon understands the blatant suspicion. Her nickname for him was once an endearing if not ironic title. Given Junmyeon’s docile nature even completing the tasks of hers that have nearly gotten him killed, he was far from monster-like. Now with the newly invented and extravagantly used scorn, he has become a wicked one to her grey eyes.

“I would have interrupted a conversation between Elder Reign and Yixing that might prove concerning to you.” Junmyeon wastes no time in arguing with her. She will think whatever will please her, and he will remain a failure in her eyes. He might as well deflect her attention so that he can prolong training. And deflect he does.

“Oh? Do tell sea monster.” Her hard face loosens, and the crimped waves of her auburn hair rustle past her shoulders when she tilts her head. Junmyeon is distracted for a moment by it, but collects himself. Elder Winguard can do such minor things to look deceptively soft when she wants to, and yet change those same details to become intimidating when the time calls for it. At those times, her features disarm him, and he has to remind himself who he is speaking with.

“Minseok tried to ‘test’ Yixing while they were away. To what end I do not know, but he encased him in an ice capsule. Yixing escaped it but Minseok was upset when they returned, leading me to believe he hadn’t expected him to. Make of it what you will. Elder Rein in response told Yixing to try to ‘prove’ himself. That could mean a challenge to one of the other mentor Elders.”

Elder Winguard huffs, grey eyes closing as she mulls the information over in her head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Elder Sebil put Minseok up to it. She will use any tactic necessary to get her way. And as for Elder Rein, well, she is to become Yixing’s mentor. It is just her style to make a spectacle of the appointment if it serves her purposes. A showoff and a monster who plays with her meals. No matter, she’s not my responsibility. You are. And you are intent on playing mediator if that impatient gaze of yours to the garden is any indication.”

Junmyeon is in fact staring into the garden, shifty eyes and swaying feet during his mentor’s speech. He needs to make sure Minseok stays within the garden while his Elder admonishes him. “Elder Windguard please, today has been enough as is. Can’t we put off the figurative sparring before the actual sparring?”

She hums, both condescendingly and considering, as she moves closer to the window. Without an outright dismissal, Junmyeon is expected to join her. They both peer down into the maze of intricately groomed shrubs hedges and vines, where at different ‘holes’ within the maze a statue can be viewed. Minseok is no longer alone in his own hole for the Goddess of Frost, Luhan has joined him. Junmyeon can note by their stances that they are in an argument of sorts. Don’t get too comfortable Minseok, another challenger is soon to make their appearance. “My job in addition to preparing you for a battle of magic and spells is counselling you on your day-to-day battles Junmyeon. As it stands, you’ve found yourself in the center of quite the altercation.”

“An altercation is putting it lightly. This mess I’ve made is something else entirely. I should throw down a cease-fire least things get worse. Hells Elder Winguard they are worse. I have this very bad habit of getting in between people and their desires. But at least my meddling is rightly intended. Elder Seraph and Elder Sebil with all their scheming for power. Sometimes I fear even you have ulterior motives. Something in this place has got to change.” Junmyeon gestures down to Minseok, but really it goes beyond him. He really means all the events that led up to Minseok. He means really the play by Elder Seraph to brew mistrust and disobedience within the Guardians so she might have an excuse to control them. He means really the continuation by Elder Sebil in weakening those relationships by sewing lies into Minseok’s head, or promising things she cannot give him. He means really his reluctance in part to get any more involved than he already is.

Elder Winguard snorts, raises a knuckle up against the stones lining the window and taps it a few times.“It’s a good thing then that questioning my motives is none of your concern. Following my instruction is. I will allow you your moment of mediating only so that you will stop wasting your breath with how futile it is. You’ve done nothing up till now but play between sides of a war. Nothing has or will come of it.”

Junmyeon notes, unsurprisingly, that she doesn’t deny him, and he will not be privy to those plans either. He isn’t worried. Unlike the other Elder’s, Elder Winguard was summoned to the dwelling. Her motivation is thus not based on personal gains, but more likely a sense of duty. If there was reluctance to that summoning, she won’t say. But he can trust that there won’t be selfish or erse masterminding on her end, because once a job is undertaken, she will see to its end. Her own wants be damned. “Yixing and Minseok are not at war. They are a skirmish at best, engineered by a real war of pride and birthright originating from your predecessors. That is the creation story after all. Now if I could just get them to stop being so stubborn about their own feelings to see that, this whole matter could be peacefully dealt with.”

She turns on him then, tall muscular frame hanging over him in the window, trying to make him feel as cornered and small as he is. She knows exactly what the overbearing presence does to him. Knows that he will either rise to the challenge or cower. She expects him not to cower.“Ha, heave the blame on us? How willfully ignorant of you. Put aside whatever politics you think is at work amongst the Elders and focus on the ones that directly involve your brother and soulmate. You are well aware that stubborness is not their issue. I’ve taught you enough to deduce that, and to know exactly how things should be solved. What exactly is your hesitation for?”

When she has risen to her full height and pressed herself this close to him, he has to crane his neck to meet her gaze. It is extremely uncomfortable, but he knows that trying to defend himself is useless if he can’t even look her in the eye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about now Elder Winguard. Please, if you will leave me alone to this then do so. I just need more time for-”

She doesn’t allow him even the chance to finish. Her grey eyes storm, lighting up rather than darkening. Her voice turns cold, metallic and bloody and scarier than before. Junmyeon has to hold himself from stepping back, from trying to retreat into the stones grating his spine. “You’re not truly asking for time Junmyeon. Do you think anyone here will allow you time? You think these years we’ve put you all through is because we were unconcerned about time?”

It feels like his gulp is slow and loud and too noticeable. His voice dry and parched despite making his best efforts to sound angry. “I am well aware of the prophecy Elder. That is the last thing you should be lecturing me about.” He tries so hard to not break beneath the shiny grey gaze. He can feel his skin vibrating, his powers rustling underneath against the mounting energy in the air. For a fearful fleeting second he thinks she’s going to strike him with her blades for the venom in his tone.

Another tense moment passes, then she backs away. A single step, but a yielding nonetheless. “Good, I need not waste my breath. The gods might very well come back today and reclaim their powers if we don’t appease them. And appease them you must, as I can feel the god of the sea whirling within his coral bed. Your actions before the trial brewed anger, and your inaction greatly disturbs him now. A river wishes to flow freely Junmyeon, not rub up every obstacle in its path.”

Junmyeon nearly laughs at that. Yes, because you and all the mentors know exactly what your gods are thinking being holed up in your little temples all the time. “And I’m supposed to do what, fight their fights for them? Let them belittle me and one another to their satisfaction? The great general in all her wisdom has blessed me with this enlightenment? I’ve already done so and I am tired of it Elder Winguard.”

She looks out into the garden again, and Junmyeon’s eyes follow hers. Luhan is disappearing into the tall green hedges, shoulders curled in and arms clutching one another. Minseok remains at the statue. Junmyeon swears, heart stuttering, that he can see frustrated tears in his eyes. But perhaps the light is tricking him. “Dramatics are unbecoming Junmyeon, that is why we teach you lot composure. You shield people entirely too much and that is to be your downfall. Baekhyun and Minseok and Yixing just to name a few.” She says the last part as if she is mocking the kindness. Silly Junmyeon, thinking you’re doing anyone favors.

“Baekhyun has always been delicate. And I fear that Minseok and Baekhyun’s fights before are too similar to Yixing and Minseok’s fights now. He’s never been taught to modulate himself by Elder Sebil. Yixing is still too human, he’s not ready for that part of our world yet. He needs more...” He does not have to look to know Elder Wingaurd's response. He can feel the burn of her glare. He knows better than to bring up one of her sensitive subjects, especially twice in one sitting, but lately he feels like Zitao with how much he has to pay attention to time. Always running after it, always running out of it.

She releases a long and irritated sigh.“Go Junmyeon. Then retrieve the blinding clay as I asked, and meet me at the gully’s outside the southern tower. Kyungsoo will be there and ready to bury you.”

He gives her a terse nod, enough for her to turn and leave him. Once he’s counted the rustle of her slippers down ten or so stairs, he breathes out a heavy punch of air. His whole body sags with the release. When he looks out to the window, Minseok is kneeling at the foot of the statue. It sends a cold foreboding sensation turning his insides to see it. Minseok rarely ever kneels to the statues. He never needed to before. Junmyeon shakes off his concern, tries to chill over his own emotions like Elder Winguard instructs him to. He never feels like it works.

He makes his way down the stairwell, walks out of the tunnel to ground level and turns into one entrance of the hedge maze. Years of navigating it result in the muscle memory of how to reach each statue placed inside. He nods in greeting to the goddesses of fire and air, bows to his own god of water and nods again to the gods of earth and energy before coming onto the goddess of frost. Minseok is exactly as Luhan left him. Up close, Junmyeon can see how pale he looks. When he calls out to his brother, he turns. Junmyeon tries not to gasp at the exhaustion lining his face.

Luhan’s words repeat in Minseok’s head like a resounding gong. The more you push away Minseok, the colder it will get in there. You think we can’t feel it growing inside ourselves? That we aren’t affected? Last night, whether you want to admit it or not, was just another rock to the pile, and yours is getting rather big. The way he’d looked at him, the absence of trust and mounting fear. He can see those same emotions brewing behind Junmyeon’s gaze. Afraid that he will finally break, that he will finally lose control. He is forbidden from losing control. His brother kneels down next to him, grabbing his chin so they might exchange a greeting kiss. Disconcertingly, his brother feels just as cold and dry as himself.

“Come to interrogate me too then?” He barely recognizes his own voice. His anger has abandoned him and left nothing but a husk of despair in its wake. It's so pathetic, even for him, that he would laugh if he could find the effort.

“No,” Junmyeon’s lips purse, and he twists himself away to face the statue. Minseok returns his own gaze to the marble before him, taking in all of her willowy light features. Unlike the other gods and goddesses, she is nearly unadorned. Depiction of a sheer gown as thin and billowy as their loin cloths along with a small tiara of icicles give her any notion of grandeur. There are no animals kissing her cheek or her toes. No plants to brighten her pallor. Even her thin hair hangs like a curtain and pools at her feet. The only speakable detail she has are the cupped hands held perpendicular to her waist. Empty, of course they are. But when winter comes, snow will pile up on her palms. At that time, it will look and feel as if his goddess is right there, making it snow over the dwelling. Minseok imagines that is what Junmyeon is thinking while he stares at her.

“Ah, so you’ve come to chastise me then.” To this, his brother nods. Minseok sighs, wringing and rubbing his hands together. I’m tired of having to beg and beg you Minseok. We all are. What is it going to take to let this anger of yours go, to let us share your burdens? You haven’t been like this in centuries. “I’m afraid Luhan has beat you to it. No matter as I likely deserve a second lashing anyway. Maybe even a third.”

Junmyeon snorts, head shaking and fists tightening above his thighs.“Making light of things means you recognize the severity of your actions, and somehow still expect to be forgiven for it. Minseok, I shouldn’t have to say it, but I will. Yixing is still human. You need to treat him like one. And if you cannot, then you need to stay as far away from one another as possible. Idiotic ruling of the head Elders be damned.”

Stupidly, Minseok feels a jolt of irritation from Junmyeon’s words. Wisely, he bites it back down. “And here I thought you’d be ready to curse and drown me at the bottom of the pool.” Grave, he still sounds entirely too grave.

“I am serious Minseok. Stay away from Yixing. I love him. You can’t accept that, but that doesn’t stop it from being true. I will not lose either of you to this ridiculous feud. I would rather be silenced than have to see either of you hurt.”

The ‘s’ word, like the quick turn of a doorknob to a room already overpacked. He welcomes the swell of outrage. Anything, any feeling is welcome if it means displacing that crater of dark yawning within his core. Outrage does not render him weak. “Are you insane? Do you understand what you’re suggesting right now? You’re going to choose him over your brothers, over Baekhyun’s life, over me?”

Junmyeon returns the volley of indignation with one of his own. He ignores Minseok but his words cut sharp and hard. “I am not suggesting, I am promising. You will not take that tone when you’ve given me no other choice. You won’t give Yixing a chance, in fact you seem more bent on trying to kill him than accept him. Remember brother that we are all losing time here. If you cared at all for me or Baekhyun, you would put aside your pride and honest to gods try with Yixing. But you won’t... In any case I didn’t come here to yell at you. That’s been done plenty. I cam to ask why your stone went off last night.”

The anger so ready to spill, so bloodthirsty and hot is swallowed up by frost again. Minseok feels the slap of last night’s event and blinks harshly at the memories rushing in. Warm tender lips pressed against his, delicate calloused fingers dancing up his skin, unyielding grip pulling the small of his waist in, tiny needle pricks assaulting his body as he trembles, begs not to stop engulfs the roll of thunder and smell of rain- horror when he breaks away doubled when he sees his magic leaving him mixing with this yellow putrid thing it’s wrong wrong wrong. “Nothing. There was no reason. I was emotional. That was all.”

Junmyeon huffs, intentional in its mocking sound. “You don’t get emotional Minseok. Stop lying and tell me the real reason.” Minseok sighs, the fight is leaving him again and all wishes to do is sleep. Sleep and stave off the cold trying to spread over him. “I’ve told you just as I’ve told Luhan. There is nothing more to say.”

“Then you are a stubborn fool determined to send us all to the silencing jar.” Minseok is surprised by the way the words wobble, and he turns just as Junmyeon wipes away the tears while he stands. He makes his way back out in the direction of the entrance to the hedge maze. Likely Yixing’s room, Minseok thinks. He feels regret seep into his bones alongside all the other torrent of things he’s felt since this trial of his and Yixing’s began, stares back up into the statue’s stone eyes and wishes desperately that he could let it all go: the cold, the frustration, the shame, the hurt, the fear.

He knows he’s far too late, and it’s dangerous to be saying anything with eyes and ears always on him, not to mention futile given the distance his brother’s gone, but still, he lets his voice be heard. “As one brother does, so another follows. I went and initiated a bond with a human Junmyeon. And I fear he is another Lost Guardian.”

He’s traded one idiotic argument for another. Junmyeon will clean every single idol to his sea-god within the bounds of the dwelling if it means he can get through a conversation without it turning into a fight.

“My apologies, dear soulmate. Forgive the ‘poor Yixing’s’ along with the eavesdropping if they are offensive. But seeing as you and Minseok snarl whenever anyone tries to ask you anything, the rest of us have been forced to be creative. I would still think my concern is appreciated regardless of how it comes, but I have learned. No sympathy. No moral support. Just isolation and silence.” He enunciates the last word because their lack of communication, he’s come to realize, has nothing to do with him. Minseok’s minor concession in the garden brought forth so much gratitude he was ashamed of himself. Like a beast being given a sip of water. Talking with him is the least that either one of them can and should do. His conversation with Winguard lingers just behind his present thoughts.

He is very tired of being a mediator.

“I knew this would be how you react. It’s not ‘poor yixing’ ‘poor yixing’, it’s here is what we will do about it. I don’t want to be a victim Junmyeon I want to be a survivor. Not pitied but empowered.” The initial outburst of heat from earlier is fading from Yixing’s voice. Now he just sounds resolved and disappointed. In Junmyeon’s mind, that is utterly comical considering all the things he’s had to be disappointed about regarding the soulmate he won’t speak to. Junmyeon’s hurt is muddled by confusion and he’s having a hard time keeping his tears away. “I don’t understand what you mean! What is the difference if I feel sorry about you versus...whatever else it is that you want? You say I’m not doing something but won’t tell me what it is you want me to do...”

Yixing's sigh is sharp and curt. “Ask Junmyeon. For all the gods ask me what I want. You assume my needs by apologizing for the behavior but not acting to penalize him. You beg Minseok to change his mind like a coddled child and enact no consequences when he doesn’t try. I understand he’s your brother and you’ve got years, gods centuries with him over me, but I am your soulmate. I shouldn’t be standing at this line on my own.”

Ask? Ask! All I have been doing “is asking you to tell me! You are my soulmate you buffoon! Why do you think I’ve been insistent on knowing what happened? I want to godsdamn help but you won’t tell me what it is you need! You say your on some line alone but I am the one with nothing but emptiness around them. Gods I feel like half my soul’s been cut off since you left and you come back and barely even look at me-” Junmyeons tears come so suddenly he can’t get a grip. Yixing’s eyes soften, slightly but still, enough for Junmyeon in his blurry vision to wonder if the harshness was never anger but really just hurt. Junmyeon sighs, pinching his nose bridge.

The knock on the door is startling and loud enough to physically jolt the both of them. They blink at one another before realizing that a knocking door means someone is at it. Despite it being Yixing’s room, Junmyeon answers, a gulp of air and scrubbing away the tear tracks. He’s annoyed to see one of the guards standing there, but swallows it down along with all the other restless emotions coursing through him. “If it’s Elder Winguard you can tell her I will report for my second session shortly. I’m finished up here it would seem...” He glances back at Yixing, but his soulmate is looking off at the wall. Junmyeon bites his lip.

“All Guardians are to report to their rooms for the remainder of the day. Training sessions are canceled, meals will be brought to rooms, and no Guardian will move unaccompanied by a Guard.” Her blank eyes and dull voice contrast greatly with the starkness of her commands. Both Yixing and Junmyeon are baffled. Yixing stands up and moves to the door, Junmyeon reflexively opening it more so that he can stand beside him. “Now what is all this about? Why must we be confined to our rooms all of a sudden?” Yixing asks.

The guard does not look to acknowledge him, but it is easy enough to know her next words are meant for the both of them. “Convening of the head Elders has required the reporting of all mentor Elders to the Sacred Hall. Discussions will follow indefinitely, and Guardians are expected to remain in their rooms until further instructed. Any disobedience will be met with punishment.”

Junmyeon’s confusion mirrors Yixing’s own. “But why? Why would the head Elders want to meet all of a sudden if-” Junmyeon gasps, blood draining from his face and neck. Yixing catches on quickly as he reconsiders the guards previous statements. He feels slightly faint as well.

“Immediate convening of the head Elders as well as confinement of the Guardians was requested by Elder Seraph following her rising this past noon. Her approvals were received within the last hour, followed by orders to the guards to carry out locating and returning all Guardians to their quarters. Guardian of the Sea, you are to come with me to be returned to your room.”

That’s it then, we’ve run out of time.