The Man with the Crown of Flowers

The Eternal Flower
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

---

 

As the others ask each other what the moon's going on and why they're all glowing, Luhan glances down at a worried Minseok who looks right back up at him.

 

Minseok, his own, and the others' bodies seem to be emitting a strange sort of radiation right now; with their clothes and shoes looking orange and purple, and their skin in shades ranging from yellow and orange to pink, purple, and white.

 

"What is this, Lu? Do ya know?" Minseok asks while the others panic around them.

 

Luhan quickly shakes his head no but then offers to scan his face to see if there are any clues as to why they're all glowing. Minseok nods, and so Luhan lifts his hand to gently cup Minseok's left cheek and tells him to keep his face as still as he can before he begins to quickly scan from Minseok's hair to his shoes and back up again.

 

Minseok blushes as he does this, and ends up glancing at his lips before in his own lower lip a bit, and Luhan marvels as the light orange of Minseok's cheeks turn to a soft yellow. A few seconds later, Luhan finishes scanning and as his mind processes the results--he realizes that the others' conversations have stopped.

 

But, before he can even glance over at the others, the results finally appear in his mind and his eyes widen. Minseok and the others then ask him what he found, and Luhan ends up smiling with relief at the simplicity of his results.

 

"So um, it seems that--that something in this cavern is granting us all the ability to see our own bodies' heat signatures," Luhan replies.

 

"But, why though?" Baekhyun asks, eyebrows furrowed. "Why would the ancient Dwemer need this kinda thing?"

 

"I-I'm not sure."

 

"Ahh," Jongin says, and the others whip their heads to look at him. "So, that's why Chanyeol's glowing the brightest while Minseok's like the complete opposite!"

 

Luhan then looks back down at Minseok's currently orange face and instantly feels differently. To him, even with this strange thermal vision that they've all been granted--Minseok still shines the brightest to him more than anyone else.

 

"So...does this mean we're actually safe for now then?" Yifan asks, and they all turn to look up at him. "'Cause this lift's really starting to cramp my in' style."

 

Luhan and the others just look at him with a bit of amusement at that. And so, after Luhan does a quick search of the area for any traps and spots none, the eight of them finally decide to leave the lift and do so slowly and carefully. Yifan then closes the lift's golden gate behind them and most of them flinch as the cogs start rapidly whirring before they all watch as the lift starts to ascend.

 

"Why's it look like it's movin' faster now that it's goin' up?" Baekhyun asks.

 

"I dunno--probably 'cause none of us are weighing it down anymore," Chanyeol replies, looking completely calm now.

 

Then, once the lift's too far up for them to see it anymore, they all look at each other with various expressions of anticipation, determination, and worry.

 

"Alright," Kyungsoo starts, pushing up his currently purple glasses a bit and looking at each and every one of them. "There's really no turning back now, you guys."

 

He then looks like he wants to say more but nothing seems to come. Jongin pouts a bit and reaches for his hand to hold again before he looks at the others and speaks for him this time.

 

"Um, I think what Kyungie's trying to say is that um, he's so thankful and glad that we've all made it this far together. And that um, no matter what happens...you all are the best companions that he could've ever asked for."

 

He then glances down at his husband to ask if he said that right while the others let out Aw's and such and Kyungsoo chuckles a bit and says, Yeah, baby. Then, Kyungsoo asks everyone else if they're ready to go, and everyone more or less choruses out a Yeah.

 

"Let's go then," Kyungsoo says with a determined grin.

 

And so, the eight of them begin their walk down the long, golden paved path.

 

-------

 

Kyungsoo doesn't know how long they've all been walking. Might be a few minutes or might be several, but either way at some point they all finally come upon something new in this blue cavern.

 

That is, two large, wrought golden gates lie at the end of the path with a pale Elven-like being (judging by their incredibly pointy ears) guarding the front, and a black swirling portal of some sort at the other side of the gates. The guard's dressed in a heavy gold and brown armor with their black hair in a high braided bun, a beautiful golden shield in one hand and a long golden staff in the other. Their face isn't emitting any sort of thermal energy like Kyungsoo's and the others' still are though, and that scares Kyungsoo more than anything else right now.

 

Fortunately, Yifan and Chanyeol are guarding the front as they walk, though once they're all actually in the guard's vicinity, the guard (that's about Jongin's height) takes a more prepared stance and seems to order them all to do something in Dwemeris.

 

Kyungsoo can't automatically translate the words that the guard just said, but by reading their body language, he and the others immediately know to stop walking. A grimace is set on the guard's face now as they glare at the eight of them before they tilt their head a bit and speak in Dwemeris again. And this time, Kyungsoo actually gets the gist of what they're asking, which is, why they're all here.

 

"For...flower," Kyungsoo responds back in Dwemeris.

 

Instantly, the guard's eyes widen and they lean their head back a bit before they say something else. It seems to be them saying for him to repeat what he just said.

 

So, Kyungsoo repeats himself, now stumbling over his pronunciation a bit, and amazingly then finds himself having a short conversation with the guard. He only understands the rudimentary words though like How and Why and kinda infers from there (and feels a bit of pride build up inside when he hears Yifan whisper Holy as the others watch this happen).

 

And at that, the guard quickly furrows their eyebrows and stops chatting. Kyungsoo's eyes widen at this and he and the others watch as the guard lifts up their staff before they speak some sort of chant into it. They then direct the staff towards Kyungsoo and his eyes widen before he looks from Jongin to the others and back to the staff.

 

The guard then tells him to speak, and so Kyungsoo glances up at Jongin again, who slightly nods his head, before he nervously opens his mouth and speaks the first thing to come to his mind in Dwemeris. That is, the word 'flower'.

 

Surprisingly, the guard lets out a sigh at that and gestures for him to try again, this time pointing with two fingers at Yifan. Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows at that, and the guard seems to be getting more frustrated as he nervously tries to figure this out before Luhan suddenly speaks.

 

"I uh, I-I think that they want you to speak in Common, Kyungsoo," Luhan whispers, and the guard dramatically gestures towards him as if to say Listen to him!

 

"Um...h-hello?" Kyungsoo then says to the staff, and the guard nods their head before they bring their staff up and tap it down onto the gold pavement.

 

"Finally," the guard then says in Commonspeak, and Chanyeol almost whacks Kyungsoo's face in shock.

 

Kyungsoo doesn't even have it in him to glare up at Chanyeol for that and just switches back to speaking in Common as he tentatively asks the guard what just happened.

 

"Oh, do not fear, strange ones. I am not abruptly articulating my words in your language nor you mine. However, with my staff we can all now comprehend each others' ways of conversing and have this exchange be less arduous," they slowly respond, before looking up at Yifan and lifting an eyebrow. "Nice ears."

 

Yifan lets out a stuttering breath at that and the guard roars with laughter.

 

"I was just making a jest hahaha! Well, not about my staff but with the way that I was speaking! Ahahaha, it has been a while since I have seen any newcomers, especially those that would like to see our most precious flower. Tell me, what are your reasons for seeing her greatness?"

 

And so, after getting over the shock of the guard's change in manner and such, they all end up telling them their reasons for wanting to get to the eternal flower, starting from Kyungsoo.

 

For Kyungsoo and Jongin, it's to save their village and heal the ones who got sick from Kyungsoo's mistake. For Luhan, it's to save his mother and heal her from her mysterious illness. For Baekhyun and Yixing, it's to help save their inn from being destroyed (and Baekhyun emphasizes that their inn helps take in any lost and in-need-of-a-home travellers). And for Minseok, Chanyeol, and Yifan, well, it's to help their friends.

 

The guard nods their head as they take this all in and smiles a bit. "That is very noble of you all."

 

"So, um...would you allow us to see her um, greatness then?" Kyungsoo asks, eyes pleading.

 

The guard doesn't respond for a long, tense moment before they finally say, Yes, I shall allow it.

 

At that, the others cheer and Kyungsoo finds himself getting choked up a bit with emotion. Jongin instantly hugs him at this, and Kyungsoo ends up sniffling and takes off his glasses for a moment to wipe at his own tears.

 

"You are almost there, strangest one," the guard says, their tone a bit softer. "Let the tears flow fully once you reach her presence."

 

Kyungsoo simply nods his head and then puts his glasses back on. The guard then taps their staff onto the pavement again, and with a dramatic flourish (and a gust of wind), the golden gates begin to lower themselves behind them and the portal begins to show a faded image of the golden city that they had all seen while on the lift.

 

Kyungsoo and the others stare in awe at this and Minseok then looks at the guard and says, "Wait before we go--I have so many questions to ask you!"

 

The guard looks at him with slightly wider eyes and lets out a laugh. "My apologies, coldest one, but the gates do not stay open for long. Perhaps after you have seen her greatness, you can return and ask me your questions."

 

Minseok pouts a bit at that before the guard gestures for them all to head past them into the city. They all just stand there though, still in awe, before the guard tells them to make haste before the portal closes and they have to open it again. So, with Jongin now holding his hand again, and the others holding onto each others' hands, Kyungsoo and the others slowly walk towards the gate together.

 

"I am really not making a jest right now," the guard says, lifting their staff again. "Hasten your movement!"

 

And so, they all end up walking a bit faster until they're past the guard and right past the gates. They then turn around and the guard quickly taps their staff down onto the ground again to close the gates before they glance at the eight of them.

 

"Our esteemed city lies before you all now," the guard says, looking serious again. "And once you are on the other side, remember to head north post-haste. A man of many years will be able to guide you from there."

 

"Thank you," Minseok says first, giving a gummy smile, and the others echo his statement.

 

The guard's eyebrows lift in surprise before they smile a bit and turn back around to guard the front of the gates again. Then, after Kyungsoo says Let's do this, the eight of them slowly walk into the portal together, and before they can even blink, t

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
reddoll123
7/18--Hey, so I've started cross-posting this fic onto my AO3~! It's under the same user: reddoll123 btw~ Hope ya all are doing well!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Damia_Song123 #1
Chapter 20: such a magnificent story. thank you sm sharing with us ^^
Damia_Song123 #2
Chapter 15: the plot is marvelous. I feel sad it end it just show how good it is <3
WR_Supplier
#3
Congrats on the ad bid feature! Not everyday to see a Skyrim feature!
Ghad20
12 streak #4
Congratulations
Damia_Song123 #5
Such an interesting story. I'm falling in love with it ^^ Thank you for your hard work
Just_alee #6
Chapter 14: Thank you for updating this story!!! I hope xiuhan will get their happy ending.. love love!!
MissRegencape #7
Chapter 14: I really enjoy reading this story so much and I'm genuinely always so excited whenever I see another update! Thank you for your great story :) I'm also very happy whenever I still find another good Xiuhan story, so you really make my days a little brighter <3
Petachi
#8
OOooh found this through KFR on tumblr! I’m very excited to start on it! ^^
sookai-
#9
Chapter 1: i'm a kaisoo enthusiast but your story is always the perfectly balanced ot12 kinda fic and i love it! this is really good and i'm looking fwd to reading more <3 fighting ~ ♥
Chanbaek641 #10
This is really good!!