“Jinyoung…”

“Hey…”

“Wake up, Love…”

Jinyoung's eyes fluttered open, blinking a few times before his vision cleared and landed on the man lying next to him, his bright eyes sparkling in the darkness and a sweet smile playing across his lips.

“Love…” Mark started quietly. He turned his head to the side, “Look.”

Confused and disoriented from being woken up at what seemed like the middle of the night, Jinyoung slowly turned to look in the same direction. It took a moment, looking out the window, to realize just what he was looking at.

And all at once, he felt his heart drop and his whole body go into panic mode.

Fire.

The palace was on fire.

He ripped the covers off and bolted to the window, taking in the sight with wide, horrified eyes. The entire palace was engulfed in high reaching flames and, now that he was more awake, Jinyoung could hear the horrified screams in the distance along with the panicked shouting of the townspeople in the nearby vicinity.

Heart feeling like it was beating at a million miles per hour, he spun around, glancing briefly at the nonchalant man lazily reclining on the bed like everything was A-ok before he moved from the window and sprinted down the stairs.

Nothing else mattered as he ran as fast as he could toward the only home he'd known his whole life, not the people he was pushing past, not the prospect of getting recognized, not his bare feet, painful from bearing down on the stone roads. Not Mark. Nothing aside from what was potentially happening at the palace. To the people he loved.

If it was just a random fire, Yugyeom would have put it out before it got to this point. And even if it did get out of hand, his power was more than enough to extinguish the flames.

But no. This wasn't just any fire. This was Jaebeom. This was him ‘changing’ the way they lived and making a better life for the less fortunate by getting rid of the court. And it seemed that he didn't care who else got caught in the crossfire.

It all suddenly made sense. Mark didn't mislead Jackson just so that he wouldn't find Jinyoung, he did it so that the palace's defenses would be substantially lowered. Add to that Youngjae's absence and the two youngest princes were screwed. The court wouldn't be of any help against an elemental, BamBam's power would most likely only be used for defense and, although Yugyeom was powerful, he was still growing into that power and hadn't yet learned how to fully harness it.

It was all a cunning plan. Everything. Everything was set up to eradicate the palace and the entire elemental royalty regime. And Jinyoung wasn't sure if they planned to let anyone live. Himself included.

A crowd of people had gathered in front of the wide open, unguarded palace gates, staring at the fire like it was some sort of spectacle. Jinyoung pushed through the crowd, slowly realizing that he had no idea what he would do once he got there. He just had to get to the two princes before it was too late.

Running around to the courtyard in the back, he turned a corner just in time to see Yugyeom drop to his knees, clearly exhausted. Jinyoung ignored his painful legs screaming at him not to move anymore and made one last sprint for the Water Prince, dropping down next to him.

“Yugyeom, hey…” He called quietly over the sound of the roaring flames, gently patting the younger's face. His eyes were unfocused and glazed over, on the verge of unconsciousness, “Hey… Gyeom… stay with me.”

Yugyeom glanced tiredly at the man he had considered a brother his entire life. He managed a small smile before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell forward, completely limp in Jinyoung's arms.

“Yugyeom! Wake up!” He called desperately, shaking him more harshly, “Yugyeo--”

“You can't just stay in the open like this!” BamBam's voice cut him off and Jinyoung looked up to see the earth elemental rushing toward them, “You’re gonna get you both killed.”

Looking past the Earth Prince, Jinyoung caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette and glowing, fiery red eyes through the smoke before his vision was obscured by a wall of dirt, stone and fauna as BamBam erected a protective dome around the three of them.

The younger man panted as he sat on the ground ungracefully, clearly not faring much better than his unconscious friend. He suddenly turned a glare on the Prince of Darkness and Jinyoung recoiled at the sheer amount of hatred shining in his eyes.

“You… This is... your fault.” BamBam gasped out between wheezes, “Because… you just couldn't be happy… with your perfect life.”

“I… I didn't mean for this to happen…” Jinyoung squeaked out weakly, “I didn't know what… I… I'm sorry…”

BamBam closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. It felt like an eternity before he finally opened them again and Jinyoung noticed the fear and sadness in his eyes that had replaced his previous anger.

“You know…” The younger started, “Yugyeom was so convinced that you hadn't us. He kept saying that you would never do that. You would never leave us without a good reason.” he dug in his pocket and pulled out a familiar, crudely made envelope, tossing it onto the floor as he crossed his legs. “I read your letter. And I guess it makes sense. But it still seems to me like you acted incredibly recklessly. Allowing them to incapacitate Jackson Hyung was so careless.”

Jinyoung felt smaller than he ever had his entire life. It wasn't just the fact that it was BamBam - notoriously childish BamBam - that was scolding him like he was a toddler, it was the realization that the Earth Prince was right; this was his fault. He could have prevented all of this if he had just stayed in the palace, followed the courts orders, married Jackson and continued rebuilding the elemental race. Sure, he could make excuses for himself - he and Mark were automatically drawn to each other by forces more powerful than simple attraction, he couldn't help that - but there was so much that he could control. Mark didn't hold him at knife point and force him to leave his life behind, to follow him, to be with him, to ignore everyone else who meant something to him, as long as Mark was happy.

Jinyoung made that choice of his own free will and that was a hard pill to swallow.

“Our only hope…” BamBam continued weakly, “is Jackson Hyung showing up right about… now.” He put two fingers on each side of his head as if harnessing some sort of psychic mind powers and then chuckled bitterly and let his arms fall back to his sides when nothing happened, “Oh well…”

The Prince of Darkness felt his heart sink at how defeated the younger man seemed. He turned his gaze to the young prince in his arms and felt even worse. There really was nothing they could do at this point. If Jackson had been around, he and Yugyeom together definitely could have overpowered Jaebeom. But Jackson wasn't there.

And, again, that was thanks to Jinyoung.

A harsh tremor vibrated on one spot of the earth dome and both princes turned to look in that direction, fear intensifying immeasurably. Another tremor, like somebody was pounding on the other side. Another. And another. And another. Rocks and bits of dirt fell as the dome started giving way and, with one more hit, a hole was created. With a bit more tinkering, the opening grew wider until there was a crude, makeshift window.

Jinyoung didn't think his heart could break any more than it already had, but seeing Mark peek through the hole and smile sickeningly sweetly at him destroyed every last bit of himself.

“Love,” the light elemental started gently and Jinyoung felt his stomach turn at the affectionate nickname, “Please come with me.”

The Prince of Darkness gulped as his mind raced, trying to process how to respond to this man who he had been so deeply in love with only a few hours earlier.

“No…” was the most coherent answer Jinyoung could give in that moment.

Mark tilted his head, eyes softening, “Jinyoung… play with me.” he beckoned as something flashed in his eyes, “Or I'll have no choice but to… play with your friends.”

“Don't you dare.” The prince replied shakily, on the brink of bursting into tears, “If you touch them I swear I'll ing kill you.”

“Hmm… is that possible?” The other man wondered out loud, leaning on his elbows, “I think we'll be pretty evenly matched, don't you? Have we ever done that? Used our powers at the same time?” He chuckled and shrugged, “Oh, of course we did. The other night… right before we made love.”

Jinyoung felt like he was about throw up.

“Light and darkness compliment each other. So what do you think will happen if they clash? If we clash?” Mark continued, eyes locked intensely with his other half. A small smile crossed his lips, “Shall we try, Love?”

“You're insane…” the Prince of Darkness breathed out.

“I might be.” The other man replied, letting his eyes flutter closed as a strange kind of euphoria washed over him, “But admit it… the thought excites you, doesn't it? You feel it in your fingertips, that urge to push against me. To mix light and darkness together and marvel at what comes from it.”

He hated that Mark could read him like a book.

The light elemental's smile fell and he opened his eyes to look at the other man once more, unusually serious, “Jinyoung. I'm really sorry things had to go this way. I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything.”

“You're not sorry about anything…” Jinyoung hissed.

“I am. I'm sorry I hurt you.” The other man insisted, “Everything I said to you, everything I felt for you, that was all real. I love you.” he stood straight and took a step back as his lips pulled into an almost sinister smile, “That being said…”

Before Jinyoung could fathom what was happening, all he felt was intense heat and, a beat too late, he realized that the fauna protecting them had been slowly drying out and fire had started spreading rapidly through the entire dome.

Panic reaching a new height, the Prince of Darkness shifted his position to hold Yugyeom's unconscious body more securely before attempting to stand up, crumpling back down as pain shot through his legs, made almost unbearable by the extra weight.

“BamBam, help me get him out of here.” he called to the other man.

The Earth Prince shakily got to his feet, coughing a little from the smoke. He took a step forward only to recoil violently and frantically pull up a few spiked pillars from the ground, as if he were attacking someone that wasn’t there. His eyes darted around the dome, clearly fearful of something.

“BamBam!” Jinyoung repeated more desperately, “What are you doing?!”

The younger opened his mouth to say something, only to immediately turn and put every last bit of power he had left into attacking the dome itself, creating a large opening in the wall. Right next to Mark.

Jinyoung didn’t miss the serene smile that crossed the light elemental’s face as BamBam stumbled forward, looking confused and disoriented before he fell to the ground, near unconsciousness.

Realizing that things were turning dire very quickly, Jinyoung's panic made him hyperventilate, causing the thick smoke to fill his lungs rapidly. He coughed, struggling to catch his breath. The rational side of his mind knew that he had to get out of there or he would die of asphyxiation, but every fibre of his being was telling him that he had to get the two younger princes out first.

He owed them that much.

This was his fault…

“Jinyoung.” Mark called from outside the dome, “Get out. Now.”

“Help me get them to safety!” Jinyoung shouted back, eyes burning and tearing up from the smoke.

“No.”

“Goddammit, Mark, please!”

With a frustrated huff, Mark carefully stepped into the dome and grabbed the Prince of Darkness’ arm, yanking him away from Yugyeom “Jinyoung.”

“Mark… please…”

Pain flashed briefly in the light elemental's eyes at the helpless desperation of his other half. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when a stream of fire burst through the window, missing the lovers by an inch and setting BamBam's clothes alight, causing both him and Jinyoung to scream.

Mark grabbed Jinyoung around his waist just before the Prince of Darkness could make the impulsive move to reach out for his younger friend. He forcefully dragged a failing, screaming, wheezing, somewhat faint Jinyoung to the opening in the dome, carefully kicking away some flaming debris and pulling him out. They managed to stumble a good distance away from the dome before Jinyoung's body gave out and he fell to the ground, pulling Mark down with him.

Getting to his knees, the light elemental lifted Jinyoung to do the same, gasping in shock as the other man clutched onto Mark's shoulders, still wheezing and hyperventilating.

Mark cupped his face with his hands and coaxed the prince to look at him, “Breathe, Love.” He demonstrated taking long, deep breaths and exhaling and the Prince of Darkness did his best to imitate him, forgetting momentarily about his mixed feelings for the man due to his survival instinct kicking in. All that mattered at that point was getting oxygen into his lungs.

Gradually, his breathing evened out and Mark dropped one of his hands to gently rub Jinyoung's upper back, “Breathe.”

No longer under the threat of asphyxiation, Jinyoung plunged straight back into the emotional pain of what just happened. He fell forward slowly, too broken to fight against his instinct to bury his face in Mark's shoulder for comfort. In response, the light elemental wrapped his arms around him, pressing soft kisses into his black hair.

It was a strange feeling. Being in Mark's arms was always so calming, even when Jinyoung had every reason to push him away and never talk to him again.

The serenity was short lived, however, as a loud explosion made both men jump in shock. Jinyoung spun around to look at the dome behind him, only to see fiery remnants of earth falling to the ground where the dome stood.

That was it. They were gone. He killed them. Both of them.

Jinyoung felt like he'd gone numb. Like all the sound had been muted and the color had drained away and all he could see was the orange flames. He didn't know how long he sat there on the floor, staring at nothing with Mark still holding him close, but he had lost every ounce of will to do anything.

He turned his head, spotting Jaebeom standing next to them, blowing gently on his palm and, all at once, his senses came rushing back to him and he had the overwhelming urge to do just one thing…

Getting to his feet, with Mark protesting, Jinyoung walked slowly towards Jaebeom. He paused as he reached him, locking eyes with the fire elemental who smiled infuriatingly calmly at him. Before he could really think about it, Jinyoung reeled his arm back and punched Jaebeom straight in the face, catching him completely off guard as he stumbled backwards.

“Wow…” the fire elemental chuckled, gently tapping his lip to see if it was bleeding, “I guess I deserved that, huh?”

“You used me... You both did…” Jinyoung managed to squeak out, “You lied to me… about everything…”

“Ok, that's not true.” Jaebeom argued, lifting a finger, “I mean, we used you, sure. You helped us get into the exact position we needed to be. But neither of us have ever lied to you. Everything I told you about the princess, about my family, about the elementals; that was all true. I even told you straight up that Mark was going to stall Icey. I told you that he wasn't going to hurt him and he didn't.” He leaned in closer to the other man, voice dropping low “I've never lied to you, Prince. You knew everything that was going on and you chose to stay with us.”

“Shut up!” Jinyoung shouted, pressing his palms over his eyes, “Shut up! Shut the up!”

Jaebeom sighed, “You hated this elemental royalty thing, you told me that yourself. And now you're throwing a fit because we actually have the guts to do something about it?” With a click of his tongue, he walked past the other man, bumping their shoulders in the process, “You're a coward, Prince. You're spoiled and want everything your way without having to make any sacrifices or doing any work.” He paused, back to back with the Prince of Darkness, “So you stay here and sulk. The rest of us will work our way to a conclusion.”

As if on cue, a cold chill travelled through the previously warm air. Jaebeom watched, with heightening excitement, as ice slowly crept up the burning palace walls and extended out to the courtyard, getting rid of every trace of fire until the entire palace was encased in solid ice.

Jinyoung looked around wildly, wide eyes searching hopefully for the one person he needed right now. He glanced passed Jaebeom and felt the first glimmer of hope well up inside him at the sight of the Ice Prince taking slow, calculated steps toward the trio.

“Jackson…” the Prince of Darkness breathed out, hesitating for a second before rushing to his fiancé, ignoring his stinging feet because Jackson was there and he would make everything ok somehow and there would be nothing to worry about and--

He ran head-first into what felt like a solid wall, recoiled from the impact and stumbled backwards into another wall. Pain spread through his skull as he gripped his head, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds to steady himself before opening them and taking in his surroundings.

He was trapped. There was a large box of thick, almost glass-like clear ice encasing him on all sides.

Vision clearing from the probable concussion, he looked out for some sort of explanation, his confused mind not putting it together instantly.

His eyes finally landed on Jackson.

And the ice-cold glare he received, along with the sight of him slipping the very easily recognizable black ring off his finger and letting it fall to the ground, was enough to shatter what was left of his already broken heart.

It made sense that Jackson would hate him. Jinyoung had him, cheated on him. He was told straight up about Mark leaving Jackson in the middle of nowhere and he did nothing. He felt no urgency to help him.

No.

His new life was more important than his best friend. His fiancé. The man he had loved for years.

With a deep breath, Jackson tore his gaze away from the Prince of Darkness to focus on the intimidating man directly opposite him. Jaebeom's expression was a complete contrast to his opposing elemental’s, eyes wider than usual and an almost maniacal grin on his face.

The excitement was electric. This is what he'd wanted for the longest time; a one on one fight with the man who, according to Jaebeom's instinct, shouldn't exist.

He was more than happy to make that happen.

“So…” the fire elemental started, crossing his arms, “We meet again.”

“I knew I should have killed you that night.” Jackson replied, voice dripping with venom.

Movement behind the prince caught Jaebeom's eye and he glanced past him, catching a brief glimpse of the healer before being forced to jump out of the way as a glacier shot out of the ground toward him.

Jaebeom whistled, “Wow. I didn't realize you play dirty.” He stretched, “I guess it's time I do too then.”

Jackson tilted his head to the side as stream of fire blasted past him from behind, singeing the tips of his hair, “I'm not here to play games. So are you ready to get serious or should I just kill you where you stand?”

“Let me savour this moment, Icey, I've been dreaming about this for years.” He smirked, “But you're right. I don't think dragging out the is necessary.”

He took a step forward. Then sprinted at full speed toward the other man, sparks pouring from his body as he picked up speed. Bracing himself, Jackson dug his heels into the dirt, lifted his arms and covered them in ice just in time to block the impact from Jaebeom's fiery fist.

As soon as the ice melted, Jackson grabbed the other man's wrist and, almost instantly, Jaebeom lifted a leg and rammed his knee into his jaw, the Ice Prince's teeth mashing painfully together as he stumbled backwards.

Jaebeom tsk'ed, placing his hand over where Jackson had held his wrist, the deep red frostbitten skin creating an unfamiliar burning sensation on his hot skin. The more they toyed with each other like this, the more superficial injuries would pile up until one of them gave out and Jaebeom was not willing to win like that.

He was going take him out with a bang.

Taking a step back, he grinned as he twirled his finger round and round, rings of fire circling around the prince, surrounding him in a tornado of flames. He felt the other man using his ice to try and put out the fire, as he assumed he would, and just doubled down on the intensity.

He suddenly gasped and hopped backwards, just a second too late to avoid the barrage of frozen daggers speeding towards him. He hissed as they pierced through his skin, most of them in his right arm and one managing to lodge itself in the side of his neck. The pain was more intense than anything he’d experienced before; stab wounds mixed with frostbite hurt like hell but Jaebeom didn't have time to worry about that because he knew that Jackson would most likely attack again while he was off guard.

Quickly melting the bits of ice in his body, he placed a hand over the wound in his neck, gritted his teeth and burned the hole in a desperate attempt at cauterization to stop the bleeding.

Spinning around, he just barely managed to lift his blood drenched arm to block the kick aimed at his head.

When had the prince gotten behind him?

Jackson dropped down and covered his hand in a sharp glacier to create a mock sword, lunging at the other man and managing to just nick him on his side before his weapon was swiftly melted.

The fire elemental stepped back, throwing a streak of flames at his opponent that the other man neutralised with little effort. Clenching his fists, he repeated the action several more times, all to no avail and Jaebeom realized, with a twinge of terror, that he was starting to breathe heavier, his limbs were getting weaker and, worst of all, his power was currently no where near the same level as Jackson's. Confused, but determined, he put everything he could muster into his attacks, still having no effect on the man that was now slowly advancing on him.

Suddenly everything went dark.

It took a second for him to realize that somebody’s hands were over his eyes and he panicked, flailing and elbowing the person behind him hard, turning as they let go and fell. He gasped at the sight of Mark on the floor, clutching his side where he had been hit.

“What the are you doing?” He asked incredulously before turning back to make sure the Ice Prince wasn't about to stab him, only to have his jaw drop in realization.

Jackson was moving as if he were still attacking Jaebeom, throwing ice in the opposite direction of where the two brothers were situated.

“What is he..?” the fire elemental questioned in confusion.

“I changed the composition of the light around him to make it seem like you’re still in front of him. Like a mirror.” Mark explained through the pain, “He’s confused, but he’s probably gonna figure it out soon, so we need to come up with a better plan of action quick.”

“I don't need your help, Mark, stay out of it.”

“You do need my help.” The light elemental argued, “You used up too much of your power toying with those kids. He's going to kill you.”

Jaebeom held his hand out and helped the other man to his feet, “Fine. So be it.”

“Stop being such a hard-!” Mark shouted, “This is about more than just your ego and your need to be superior over him! There's still more that has to be done, you know that!”

“And you know that I was born with an innate need to kill him.” The fire elemental shot back.

“Yes. I do know that.” The other man responded, glancing at the Ice Prince who had since stopped attacking and had his eyes closed, trying to listen for his enemy instead, “And you will. I'm just saying we'll have a much better chance if I hel--”

“No!” Jaebeom interrupted, shoving him, “We're gonna do this one on one and if you don’t drop the light bending or if you interrupt me again, I will send your ed up boyfriend to a fiery grave, I swear.”

Spinning on his heels and leaving a flabbergasted Mark behind him, he stomped up to Jackson with renewed enthusiasm and desire to wipe out every last trace of him. He threw a punch while the prince still looked shaky.

... And suddenly stopped, stock still just before it connected.

In a delayed reaction, excruciating pain slowly traveled up his arm and he pulled back to assess what had happened. Blood poured down his arm as he realized that the other man had cut him down his arm, along his main artery.

Cauterizing probably wouldn't be effective for long, but Jaebeom tried it anyway, half sure that doing that would lead to some sort of internal bleeding. He had to finish this quick, before he allowed Jackson to get in another hit on him.

Instinct kicking in, as if he could feel Jackson’s next move, he spun around, quickly using his power to melt the sharp spear of ice hurling toward Mark just inches away from his face. In the back of his mind, he knew that the Ice Prince going after Mark was only a distraction and braced himself for some sort of impact.

Flinching at what felt like three giant claws slicing open his back, he tried his best to ignore the searing pain made a split second decision to compact all his remaining power into something resembling a bomb and throw it toward Jackson just before it burst, resulting in an large explosion that hit, not only the prince, but Jaebeom and Mark too, sending all three in different directions.

Somehow managing to stay on his feet, Jaebeom stumbled on his weak legs, trying his hardest not to lose his balance. He felt his energy start to wither and his body slowly start to give out until sturdy hands grabbed him and pulled him into an awkward hug.

His confused mind automatically thought it was the Prince of Darkness before quickly noticing the calming aura that could have only been from one specific person.

Panting, he looked up at his savior and flashed him a weak, sweet smile, “Hi…”

Youngjae gulped, pursing his lips together before exhaling and dropping his head forward to lean their foreheads against each other. Instantly, the fire elemental felt the pain in his body ease up, causing him to sigh in relief as his eyes fluttered closed, his hands finding purchase on the healer’s hips. He knew there was a downside to being healed by the prince, he would be physically exhausted, but that was ok as long as his elemental power was back at a hundred percent. Besides, maybe it was because of his healing aura, but just being in the other man's arms like this was a welcome break in the fight with the Ice Prince.

He felt a sharp sting in his abdomen that disappeared almost instantly and he opened his eyes to see what had just happened.

Terror and panic washed over him as he took in the sight of a line of blood dripping out of the corner of Youngjae's mouth. The healer’s expression remained mostly calm, save for a slight frown, but Jaebeom knew something was very wrong. He pulled back to run his eyes over the other man's form, feeling his breath get stuck in his throat as his gaze landed on the thick, blood stained spike of ice lodged completely through the healer’s middle. The end of the spike was missing and Jaebeom could only assume that it was meant to kill both of them and probably would have if Youngjae was not in the middle of healing him.

Acting on his first instinct, he melted the ice inside the other man and attempted to burn the wound like he'd been doing to himself, to no avail. The affected area was too big and, before long, Youngjae lost any energy he had left in his body and collapsed onto the fire elemental.

Pressing his hand over the wound on the healer’s back, Jaebeom felt his heart drop at the feeling of the warm blood rapidly soaking his palm.

The muffled sound of someone screaming Youngjae's name caught Jaebeom's attention and he glanced to the side, eyes landing on the box of ice housing the clearly distraught Prince of Darkness.

Turning his attention back to the lifeless man in his arms he pulled him closer to hug him, whispering a soft “I'm sorry…” into his unhearing ear before gently laying him down on the ground.

He stood, automatically seeking out the Ice Prince, filled with a new, deeper hatred than he thought was possible. They locked eyes as Jaebeom took a few steps forward then paused. In a swift movement he stretched out a hand and the ice prison was instantly melted, retaining its shape for a second before it all fell in a large splash of water.

Jinyoung immediately rushed toward him, dropping to his knees next to Youngjae and lifting him a little to cradle his head.

“Get a good distance away from here, Prince.” Jaebeom ordered, exhaustion from being healed evident on his face, “It's time we get serious.”

The Prince of Darkness nodded, managing to push past the pain in his legs and lift the smaller man awkwardly, hobbling his way towards the charred palace, the ice having since been melted. Jackson's eyes never left Jinyoung as he ran, staring intently as he fought with himself internally over his reluctance to attack his former lover. Steeling his resolve to rid himself of any and all traitors, he clenched his fist and…

Suddenly Jaebeom was right in front of his face, causing the Ice Prince to stumble back in shock.

“Don't you dare.” The fire elemental warned.

His hand darted out and grabbed Jackson's throat squeezing and burning him at the same time. In retaliation, the Ice Prince latched both hands onto Jaebeom's forearm, managing to pull him away just enough to breathe sufficiently, skin still burning under the other man's fingers.

Ice traveled slowly up Jaebeom's arm, freezing every blood vessel in the process as Jackson's skin boiled from the inside out. Neither were willing to back down, intensifying their powers at similar rates, both trying to one-up the other.

From Jinyoung's vantage point against the wall of the palace, it almost looked like nothing was happening aside from the two elemental's holding on to each other, but the glaciers slowing building up at Jaebeom's feet and the flames starting to circle around Jackson's body gave away the intensity of what was actually going on. It was a strange sight. If he didn't know any better, he'd think their elements had switched.

The fire and ice became more intense around the two men, both elements meeting but staying in their original form as they almost completely overwhelmed each other.

Jaebeom chuckled, cold water vapour leaving his lips as he shivered, “Y-you're gonna die. I'm gonna… burn you up… from the inside.”

“Not if I kill you first.” The prince panted out, breathing heavily with sweat drenching his entire body.

Jaebeom grinned and suddenly a tornado of flames and frost burst forth from the two men, obstructing Jinyoung's view of them as it just got bigger and bigger. The Prince of Darkness held Youngjae closer, doing his best to shield him from the effects of the two elemental's fight.

It was weirdly beautiful. The bright red and orange glow being complimented by a flurry of little flakes of ice that resembled glitter in the soft light of dawn. That beauty, however, was accompanied by power more incredible than anything Jinyoung had ever felt.

It was terrifying.

It was terrifying, not because the Prince of Darkness was worried about being caught in the crossfire, but because there was no possible way that both men would come out of that alive.

The twister grew larger and larger until Jinyoung could feel the weird, unnatural hot-cold mix on his skin. If they continued on like this, they had the potential to wipe out everything. It crossed Jinyoung's mind that maybe that's what Jaebeom wanted all along. Maybe he really was hoping to get rid of any trace of the elementals for good and let the people start anew.

Then...

All at once, everything stopped.

It was as if all the raw elemental power was back into the point of origin like it never happened. The two elementals responsible stood in the same position they were in when it started; Jaebeom squeezing Jackson's throat and both of Jackson's hands gripping Jaebeom's arm, eyes locked intensely in the most equally matched power battle. They stood stock still. As if they were on pause. Jaebeom's skin was a sickly white, almost grey while Jackson's was unnaturally red.

Silence reigned for a few seconds as Jinyoung watched them intently, hoping to see any sort of movement. And then he noticed it; one lone bead of sweat traveled down one of Jackson's arms, hanging dangerously off the tip of his elbow.

Then it fell.

And as soon as it touched the ground, a massive fire-ice explosion erupted, shaking the ground with the sheer force of it. Bits of earth lifted around the duo, creating a large crater little by little as the dirt raised higher and higher.

And just as quickly as it started, everything fell back to the ground as the aftermath of the explosion faded, leaving behind a beautiful shower of sparks and snow as a calm settled over the palace courtyard.

Jinyoung opened his eyes, moving from where he'd been shielding Youngjae's body with his own to assess the situation. He thought for sure that the explosion would hit them, but he had no injuries aside from the ones he had sustained earlier. The sudden silence was deafening. Even the bystanders outside the gates had gone silent and Jinyoung had the fleeting thought that maybe the blast had somehow bypassed him and reached those people instead.

He looked around him, noticing how the crater ended only a few inches from his feet. It might have been dumb luck, but Jinyoung knew better. He knew, despite the intensity and the anger and hatred, Jackson tried his hardest to keep the fight in one spot, lest he hurt any of the nearby civilians. Jaebeom probably just matched him in that, not really caring about the ‘why’ in those moments.

Jinyoung's eyes widened as he looked at the middle of the crater.

A single untouched platform stood dead center among the upturned earth. And on it stood two figures, hands still locked on each other. Unmoving.

Jinyoung tried to look closer. They looked like statues. If he hadn't seen the past half hour, he would have thought they were sculptures.

Heart pounding, the Prince of Darkness gently sat Youngjae up against the palace wall and stood, turning and walking slowly through the crater. The sharp rocks hurt, but none of that pain mattered when he spotted a small, sparkling object on the ground.

He knew what it was instantly but hesitated to pick it up. Did he really deserve to wear it? After everything he'd done?

With a deep breath and his shattered heart breaking more, if that were even possible, he left the ring where it was and continued forward. Eventually, he reached the makeshift pedestal and used every bit of energy he could muster to climb up.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. Another blast? Them noticing him and moving away from each other somehow? But no.

They were… stuck.

Frozen in time.

They had turned each other into sculptures. Like some sort of petrification. Both were slightly different shades, Jaebeom being a light blueish grey as opposed to Jackson's darker ash colour.

Jinyoung walked up close, scared to touch them incase they were more fragile than they seemed. Cautiously, he reached out and grabbed Jaebeom's wrist, thinking that, if they were just going to crumble, he wanted to remove the fire elemental's hand from Jackson's throat first. It didn't budge. It felt like touching a solid, heavy stone statue and Jinyoung reeled his hand back immediately, as if he'd been burned. Gingerly reaching forward again, he let his fingertips brush over the back of one of Jackson’s hands.

They really were solid. As if they were carved out of a sturdy stone slab.

Despite the confusion, the Prince of Darkness was in awe. It was poetic in a way. All of that intense hatred and violence culminated in the two being locked together for eternity. Jinyoung didn't understand it, but maybe this was also destiny. Maybe this was the universe's ed up way of taking two things that were not meant to be together and making them one.

He glanced at the Ice Prince's face and any admiration for the situation was suddenly replaced with the crushing realization that Jackson was gone. His best friend. His future husband.

Gone.

As his anxiety lowered, the seriousness of the situation kicked in and he felt his eyes finally start to well up. But he wasn't going to cry. He didn't deserve to.

His gaze switched to Jaebeom, feeling more of a stab in his heart than he'd wanted to. As much as he wanted to hate Jaebeom for everything he’d done, there was still a twinge of sadness at losing the man he'd become such good friends with.

A part of him wanted to just sit at their feet and wait until somebody found them, unsure of how else to deal with this situation and just wanting to go to sleep and never wake up. He would have, but movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and caused a shiver to run through his body.

Moving on instinct, he hopped down from the pedestal and rushed across the crater in the opposite direction of where he came from.

If there was one person he wished he'd never met...

Mark sat on the dirt with his head in his hands, trembling slightly. He hadn't been hit with the blast either and Jinyoung wasn't sure if he was happy about that or not.

The prince walked up to him, grabbed his arm and forcefully yanked him up onto his feet. Without a second’s hesitation, his fist connected with the light elemental's jaw, sending him collapsing back down ungracefully. Mark didn't make any move to get up and just lay on the floor, hands over his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Unsatisfied with just one punch, Jinyoung got down on the ground, straddling the other man as he lifted him a little by the collar of his shirt.

“You! None of this would have happened if it weren't for you! If you had just not approached me that day in the market! I was an idiot for trusting you.” He hissed.

“Jinyoung…” Mark whimpered, looking completely devastated. Jinyoung had the brief realization that Mark had just lost the only family he had left. But that was Jaebeom's own fault and the Prince of Darkness couldn't bring himself to feel any empathy for either brother.

He let go of Mark's collar, letting the light elemental's head hit the ground painfully. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly wrapped both hands around the other man's throat, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. Mark didn't react. He didn't struggle, didn't fight to be able to breathe. He had just given up and was seemingly willing to accept his fate.

He finally opened his mouth, locking eyes with the prince, “Jinyoung…” he gasped, voice at a whisper due to the lack of air, “I love you…”

“I ing hate you…” Jinyoung whispered back as a couple of warm tears fell from his eyes and onto Mark's cheeks.

Jinyoung's emotions had been a rollercoaster ride the entire night, but nothing felt nearly as confusing as honestly hating and wanting to kill the person he was also so, so deeply in love with. His sobbing intensified as his grip gradually loosened until he was barely even touching the light elemental.

Sitting back, he let his hands rest on Mark's torso, trying to calm his breathing and stop his crying. Mark didn't move, he just waited in that position, feeling a ed up sort of comfort with Jinyoung touching him.

“Go…” the Prince of Darkness finally spoke weakly once he had calmed down enough, “Go back to the town and don't ever come back... I never wanna see you again…”

Mark looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue and just nodded instead, eyes raking over Jinyoung's form, taking in as much as he could in the event that this really would be the last time he saw the beautiful prince.

Jinyoung clenched his fists, balling Mark's shirt in his hands before he abruptly let go and stood up shakily. His eyes lingered on the other man a beat longer than they should have. Spinning on his heels before he broke down again, he walked back through the crater, towards the palace.

It was hard not to stare at the petrified elementals in the centre, but he managed to focus his gaze on the little black and blue ring on the ground, having made a decision. He picked it up as soon as he reached it, slipping it onto his finger immediately.

He was not going to just curl into a ball and give up. He started this whole mess and he was going to make things right as best he could. He owed it to the four princes who paid for his transgressions.

Arriving back at the palace wall, he glanced over at the hill of charred earth in the distance, feeling guilt rush throughout his whole body. Yugyeom and BamBam… they were innocent in all this. They only tried their best to fix Jinyoung's mistakes. And what BamBam said about Yugyeom never losing faith in Jinyoung spoke volumes about how deeply he cared about the people he loved. BamBam too. He had shown a great deal of care and maturity by using every last bit of his power to try and save, not himself, but the other two princes. They were both amazing people.

It never should have ended this way for them.

Jinyoung kneeled down in front of Youngjae, taking in a shaky breath as he reached out and gently cupped his cheek. The Prince of Darkness wasn't a hundred percent sure where Youngjae stood in this whole thing. He was obviously loyal to the court, but he had healed Jaebeom without a second's hesitation back there, even giving his life to make sure the fire elemental was ok. It didn't make the most sense, but Jinyoung chalked it up to the fact that Youngjae's instinct was to help everybody, no matter who they were. One of the many amazing traits the healer possessed.

He leaned forward and placed a light, feather-soft kiss on the younger's forehead.

Trembling harder now and with more tears threatening to spill out, he moved to sit next to Youngjae with his back leaning against the wall.

He wasn't sure when he had started staring at the rising sun, slowly illuminating the courtyard in a depressing reminder that life goes on, even after the worst tragedies. He had the overwhelming urge to see if he could use his darkness to block out the entire sun until he felt at least a little better, but he thought, with a bitter chuckle, that he'd probably been selfish enough already.

The sound of rushing footsteps made its way to his ears and he slowly turned his head to side to see an army of royal guards running up to him.

A sad, defeated smile spread across his lips.

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A/N: And we're (almost) done! There's an epilogue still coming, but this is pretty much the end.
        I usually at writing action scenes, so this chapter was SO hard for me OTL Also, yeah... major character death... I'm sorry TT
       On that note though, AllyxJeon asked if Mark was gonna be the one to die and I wanted so badly to reply because you literally picked 1 of the 2 people that actually ended up surviving, lol. I just thought that was acidentally funny XD

        Anyways...
        I hope you guys enjoyed the fic!
        I don't know if I explained the lore of this universe well enough OTL but I hope you all understood what was happening.
       Thank you to everyone who commented, upvoted and/or subscribed! Thank you guys, those things are what helps me to continue writing <3
       <3<3<3