Chapter 2.

  “Mark. Don’t.” Haechan demanded with one of Mark’s wrists caught in his hand. Mark had pushed Jaemin against the wall, his lower arm pressed to Jaemin’s throat and his fist raised above his head.

  “He deserves it,” Mark spoke through gritted teeth, eyes boring into Jaemin’s. The other looked frightened, but he was intelligent enough to know that he did deserve it. He was only clutching onto the sleeve of Mark’s left arm, instead of trying to push the Damned away. His brown eyes looked pleading, but Mark could see the guilt. It wasn’t enough though, Jaemin looked determined. As if he was guilty for lying, but not for his actions. Mark didn’t know who Jaemin was if Jaemin even was his real name?

  “He saved Johnny’s life.” Haechan reminded Mark.

Mark stepped back when he regained control of his emotions, he realized that beating Jaemin wouldn’t give him answers, and it would do nothing good. Jaemin’s red face went back to its normal color after he had inhaled shaky breaths into his lungs, one hand clutching his throat. He sounded pitiful as his hands were trembling, one of them still clutching a leather journal. Mark recognized it as the one Jaemin always carried around with him.

Mark waited for the other to quiet down. Haechan stood by his side and Mark was grateful for the other’s presence.

  “How dare you?” He asked as soon as Jaemin looked like he had caught his breath. Mark raised his hand up, palm facing Jaemin before the other could reply. Which he didn’t seem like he was about to. “No. More rather, who the are you?”

Jaemin didn’t step away from the wall. His left hand was clutching onto his journal. “I’m Na Jaemin.” He replied, and Mark frowned. Haechan tilted his head.

  “Which clan are you from since you have surnames? That’s been forgotten long ago.”

Jaemin sighed. “Not by us.” He said vaguely, and Mark raised a fist and Jaemin quickly continued. “Where I’m from we continue the norms of the Old Age.”

  “The Old Age had no norms.” Haechan seethed and he looked like he tasted something bad on his tongue. “They were barbarians.”

Jaemin nodded. “That may be right, but some of us are not fond of sword fights and camping trips. They may have been stupid, but I would say they would call how you guys live barbaric.”

Mark frowned. “Camping trips?”

Jaemin sighed and raised his journal up. “We made this.” He said. “We created you.” He then pointed at Mark.

  “Why?” Was all Mark could ask. He was speechless. Jaemin’s blinked got slower, and he seemed to take a moment with his eyes closed before he spoke.

  “So that you’re ready. For what is about to come.”

Haechan frowned. “What?”

Jaemin sighed, but he seemed like he was getting weak. He slid down the wall and Mark ignored the urge to help the other up again. “Jaemin. What is about to come?”

The door opened. Jeno stood in the door, he had few beginning bruises on his face but besides that, he looked okay. “We’re meeting now.” He said, and Mark turned to see that the sky was indeed changing to a lighter shade. The stars were vanishing.

Mark grabbed the front of Jaemin’s shirt and heaved him up. “Take him.” He commanded and Jeno’s eyes grew wide when Jaemin was almost tossed into his arms. The other was weaker now and could barely open his eyes.

  “Let him pass out, but when he wakes up he needs to start talking,” Mark demanded and then they left the room. Jeno maneuvered Jaemin over his shoulder and held onto the journal that had slipped out of Jaemin’s hand.

  “Alright.” He muttered and followed the two to the throne room.

Everyone looked beyond exhausted and few had some wounds that needed extra care, but time wasn’t kind to them. It was ticking away.

  “Now that Se Hun is gone we have lost the option of a smooth transition.” Haechan started. Jaehyun had placed himself on the throne, his eyes glowing a royal purple, but as the sky grew lighter their glow vanished. He was picking at the seams of the velvet that covered the arm of the chair before he looked up at the rest. They had all positioned themselves by the round wooden table.

  “Soon news of our coup will spread.” He said and eyed the city in the distance. “We will have to gather what people that are left in the Last Skyscraper and convince them that I am the True Commander. First, I will have to find my dad’s room and see what he has left behind for me. Those who don’t have glowing eyes go into the city and spread the news that the True Commander has returned, but no more than that. Not how I got here, not why I ran away, nothing but the fact that I am here.”

Ten nodded, looking over at Jeno and Haechan. They were the only ones left. Jaemin weren’t trusted to walk freely.

  “Jaemin needs to be protected,” Mark spoke up from one end of the table. “You didn’t get Lucas, but I am sure he hasn’t gone far. He won’t go home without what he came for.”

Haechan nodded, but then noticed Jaehyun’s gaze upon Mark. Everyone immediately turned and look at Mark.

  “What is it with the South?” Jaehyun asked. “You seem to know a lot about it, which I find odd.”

Mark tried not to get hurt by the suspicious tone in Jaehyun’s voice. “Lucas had a distinct accent, and he was running away from the guards here in the city. He said something about going h