--

12

--
Seungho and Myungsoo stared at each. Myungsoo had no idea what Seungho wanted to talk about. Well, he had a few ideas, but none of them were anything he particularly wanted to share at the moment, especially if they concerned his decisions involving you.

“So. How’s life?”

Myungsoo blinked at him a few times. “How’s life? You dragged me out in the morning to ask me how my life is going?”

“I didn’t drag you. You came willingly. And in my defense, I did say ‘let’s talk’.”

Myungsoo rolled his eyes and sighed, sinking down into the chair and closing his eyes. “Well. Life is just peachy if I ignore the future.”

“Peachy. Any reason you used that phrase?” Myungsoo sighed. Seungho was trying to steer this conversation towards you, and not doing a very good job of hiding it. Or maybe he wanted to be obvious, Myungsoo didn’t know. He was really too tired to play games with him.

“If you wanted to ask me about her, you should’ve just said so. I’m a little bit tired right now,” Myungsoo said, opening his eyes. Seungho sat back in his chair.

“I’m thinking maybe it’s the other way around. Why don’t you ask me about her?” Myungsoo was taken aback, and his surprise was apparent on his face. He didn’t really have anything he wanted to ask Seungho about you. Anything he wanted to know, you would probably tell him without hesitating. Unless... Unless it was something you didn’t know.

Seungho saw the cogs working in Myungsoo’s mind.

“Does she know exactly what being the Arch Mage means?”

Seungho stared at Myungsoo.

“If she did, then do you think she’d be wasting time with you?” That comment stung a little bit. Myungsoo wouldn’t know what to do if you considered spending time with him a waste, which he knew you didn’t, but the very thought of it...

“I’m not trying to be mean or anything but...”

“Why aren’t you telling her everything then?” Myungsoo asked, cutting off Seungho’s sentence.

“I just want her to be happy. She deserves that much, doesn’t she?”

Myungsoo sighed.

“I mean, how would you feel if you were mistreated for years of your life, then you get saved just to find out that you’ll have to battle the land you came from, and fight your only family left to keep balance in the world? You know the Prophecy.”

Myungsoo pursed his lips before he started to recite what had been drilled into his mind during lessons as a child. “And such is, the inevitable clash between the living and the dead. Two halves of a whole will fight to keep balance between the lands. Tragedy will strike, and bonded, they will bring peace to the world.”

Seungho watched as Myungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed. He sat up in the chair. “What makes you think this will actually happen on this round of Arch Mages and Arch Priests? We’ve gone centuries before without anything happening.”

“Just a feeling. I have a feeling,” Seungho said, looking off towards the covered portrait in his office. “She told me so.”

--

These days, you saw less and less of Myungsoo. And when you did manage to see him, he looked troubled, tired, and like he was holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. You heard from the others that he was training mercilessly, pushing himself to his limits and beyond, sometimes collapsing.

You always went to go see him in the infirmary when you heard he collapsed, but he would always be sleeping, and he looked so tired that you didn’t want to bother him. You spent a lot of time with Dongwoo and Sunggyu, but it became clear to you, and them, that your feelings for them wouldn’t develop beyond friends.

Dongwoo was the first one to tell you he was going back to his land. He said that he’d been playing for too long now, and as much as he enjoyed your company, he had work to do. You saw him off at the gates, getting a kiss from him on your forehead as he left you with a small charm bracelet with a emerald jewel.

He said it was an elemental stone, to help give you a power boost when you needed it. You hugged him one last time before he bid you goodbye and left to go back. Myungsoo came to see him off as well, but didn’t say much before going back to his training with only a single glance to you.

With Dongwoo gone and Myungsoo always busy, you divided your time between Sunggyu and Woohyun. It was still awkward spending time with Woohyun, but at least the two of you could be in the same room without you feeling strange.

You noticed that Woohyun was working hard on controlling his powers. When the two of you went out, he held you hand often, and you noticed that he didn’t have a death grip on it anymore. The two of you talked of pleasant things, and he didn’t try to do anything that made you uncomfortable.

--

“You know, Myungsoo,” Byunghee said at training one day, “I’ve heard that she’s getting pretty friendly with Woohyun lately.” Byunghee had to run away from the blast of flame that came from Myungsoo.

--

Another full moon came, and you sat up in bed with a yawn, rubbing at your eyes. You could feel something tickling at your shoulder and turned around to see small, white, wispy lines outlining what looked like wings on from your shoulders.

You blinked a few times and reached out to touch them, shivering slightly when your hand brushed against them, and you could feel it, despite the empty space that was there.

“Cool, huh?” You jerked out of your thoughts and turned to see Joon leaning on your bed with a smile on his face.

“What are these? They’re not wings... right?”

“I guess you could say they’re the start of wings. Seungho says they’ll fill out as time passes by, and soon you’ll be able to fly.” Your eyes widened.

“Fly?”

“What else are you going to use them for? Dusting?”

--

This full moon, Woohyun claimed the whole day with you. He found you waiting for him in the garden, marveling over the plants that bloomed even brighter in the moonlight. He approached you quietly and squatted down behind you, reaching out to pick the flower next to you and placing it in your hair.

You jumped in surprise, falling back against him as he caught you. “I’m sorry, did I scare you?” he asked softly as you blushed.

“I was just a little bit surprised, that’s all,” you said, getting up quickly and brushing off your dress. Woohyun saw the faint outline of your wings and smiled, reaching out to brush them gently. You wiggled away from him, still unused to being able to feel with something you couldn’t even see yet.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?” he asked in alarm when you pulled away from him. You shook your head.

“No, I’m just not used to them yet,” you said, turning to stare at the wispy outline over your shoulder. “Anyway, what did you want to do today?”

“Whatever you want to do.” You turned back to meet Woohyun’s gaze and sighed. Whenever you spent alone time with him, it was like he was a completely different person. You couldn’t understand how the cold, aloof man you saw ruthlessly training with a reputation for being the strongest in the land could look so... so... innocent. It was like he was back to the little boy you used to play with in the middle of the night at Armalis.

Maybe this was the Woohyun you were supposed to get comfortable with. Woohyun the boy, not Woohyun the man.

--

You took Woohyun’s hand and dragged him through the streets of the town and the market place. He followed you in curiosity as you ran, one hand in his and one hand holding up the front of your dress so you wouldn’t trip over it.

People greeted the two of you, you greeting them back with smiles and a laugh while Woohyun just nodded. You noticed there were still a number of people that shied away from him, but that couldn’t be helped.

You eventually stopped in the clearing in the forest and let go of his hand, taking a few steps forward. You looked up at the shining moon and smiled before glancing back at Woohyun over your shoulder.

Woohyun wasn’t lacking in the looks department. He was only a couple years older than you, two or three at the most. His eyes glowed a soft yellow, and the moonlight made him look impossibly flawless. He watched in confusion as you wandered over to him with your hands behind your back, a smile slowly appearing on your face.

He raised an eyebrow at you as you stopped in front of him with a grin.

“Tag! You’re it!” He stood there, utterly confused as you laughed and started to run away from him. Woohyun snapped out of his daze as his eyes narrowed, and he started to chase after you.

“That’s not fair! I wasn’t ready!”

You stopped and gasped when he suddenly appeared in front of you and tried to tag you, but you moved out of his way and ran in a different direction. “No using powers! That’s cheating!” you yelled as you ran.

“How else am I supposed to catch you?” he yelled, looking after you in disbelief. You turned out and kept walking backwards as you stuck your tongue out at him. He scowled at you and appeared in front of you again.

You dodged his hands again and turned to keep running. “I don’t remember you being this bad at tag.”

--

You ran until Woohyun’s laughter joined yours. And even when yours became breathless, Woohyun was still laughing. He managed to tag you a few times, but it didn’t take you long to tag him back. He even tried to call no tag backs once, but you pointed out there were only two people playing.

Woohyun disappeared again, and you crept through the clearing quietly, keeping your eyes, ears, and other senses open for him.

“Gotcha!” You squealed and jumped as you felt arms wrap around your waist. You accidentally knocked Woohyun off balance, and the two of you went tumbling to the ground, Woohyun breaking your fall with his body.

You started to laugh again, your stomach and face hurting. You hadn’t gotten that much exercise or laughing in your life since... well, ever.

You pushed yourself up so you could get a good look at his face. Woohyun looked happier than you’d ever seen him since he appeared at the introduction ball. You smiled fondly at him while you tried to catch your breath.

“You cheated,” you said, giving him a stern look. Woohyun rolled his eyes and squeezed his arms around you.

“I don’t care. Cheating well worth it,” he said, smile on his face. You rolled your eyes as he sat up, pushing you off of him gently. He kept an arm around you as you slid onto the cool grass.

“That was fun,” you said, turning to stare out at the clearing. The grass rippled in the breeze as the moon shone down on it, making it look even more like waves.

“Have you been to the ocean before?” you asked absentmindedly. You stared for a moment before turning to look at Woohyun.

“I have,” he said. “It’s a nice place to be. The beach especially. Have you been?”

You shook your head. “I haven’t been anywhere besides the castle of Armalis and Rivedon, the town, marketplace, and here.”

Woohyun frowned. “But there’s so much more to Rivedon than just this,” he said, looking around at the grass clearing.

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t mind, though. What I’ve seen is beautiful.”

“I’ll take you around Rivedon then. Show you the sights. There’s lots of beautiful things here, and not just you.” You chuckled at his words and sighed, turning your gaze back up to the moon.

Woohyun didn’t know what came over him. Maybe it was the way the moonlight was shining down on you, how content you looked sitting there next to him, but he reached a hand up to brush some stray strands of hair away from your face, letting his fingers brush against your jawline.

You looked down towards him again and caught his eyes. You two froze for a moment until Woohyun blinked a few times and leaned closer to you. He tilted his head and closed his eyes as your eyes fluttered closed.

It felt like an eternity until your lips touched. The kiss was soft and tentative at first, until you kissed him back. After you kissed him back, he got bolder, and pulled you even closer to him so that you were sitting on his lap, your hands bracing yourself on his chest.

You felt yourself run out of breath again, much more quickly. You pulled away from Woohyun and took in a deep breath, trying to stop your vision from swimming.

“Are you okay?” Woohyun asked quietly, his face still unbearably close to yours.

“I- Yeah, I’m fine. I just... a little bit tired from all the running.”

“Do you want to go back? I can carry you.”

--

Myungsoo was on his way to see you before the morning. He felt bad that he hadn’t gotten a chance to properly spend time with you since he was so busy with training. The more he trained though, the more he felt like he was coming up short. In a short time, you were already almost as strong as he was, you only lacked the energy to sustain it.

He tried to tell himself it was because you were the Arch Mage, and that you were supposed to be that strong, and getting even stronger than that. What kind of man would he be if you were the one protecting him and not the other way around? He needed to get stronger.

But when he rounded the corner, he stopped at the sight in front of him and took a few steps back to hide. He peeked around the wall and saw Woohyun carrying you into your room, Joon holding the door open.

You were asleep on Woohyun’s back, snoring softly as Joon said he’d be back in a moment to get you ready for bed. When the door closed, Myungsoo made his way towards your room and stood outside. Joon noticed him standing there and raised his eyebrows.

“She’s starting to fall for him, isn’t she?” Myungsoo asked quietly. Joon just shrugged and left him alone with his thoughts.

Woohyun placed you down gently on your bed, and you groaned, rolling over and grabbing onto one of the pillows. Woohyun smiled and leaned down to kiss your forehead.

“I know I’m not the only one for you... but you’re the only one for me.”

--

Myungsoo was leaning against the wall across from your door when Woohyun left, closing the door gently behind him. Woohyun turned around to see Myungsoo staring at him. It wasn’t the usual look of dislike that Woohyun had become accustomed to, but a pensive look, like he was considering something.

“What?” Woohyun asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He didn’t want to ruin the good mood he was in because of a look Myungsoo gave him. He spent the entire night with you, and now he just wanted to rest with only those thoughts in his head.

“Nothing,” Myungsoo said, before turning down the hallway to leave.

If I have to give you up, at least let it be to someone that can protect you, and be someone that you could learn to love.

--

Seungho was pleased with your progress, both in your lessons and in your training. You passed the days away with the company of whoever was free or just by yourself.

You felt yourself being shaken awake again in the middle of the day, and saw Joon hovering over you with a cloak. Instantly, you were wide awake, pulling the cloak on and following after him as he made his way quietly down the hallway.

“We’re going to see my sister again?” you asked, pulling the cloak tighter around you as you entered the sunlight.

“Yes. Now shush, and hurry up!”

--

This time as you made your way to the border between the lands, you could see your sister waiting anxiously for you at the knarled tree. You hurried up to her, and her eyes went wide before she smiled at you.

“You look even better than you did before. How are things?” You blinked at her. Her smiled faltered before she sighed.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions for me...”

“Woohyun’s alive.” Your sister’s eyes widened as she opened to say something, but it ended up closing without a word. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Your sister lowered her eyes to the ground.

“What else have you been keeping from me?”

“How... How much has Woohyun told you?”

“Enough to make me wonder why you lied to me. Your own sister. Your only family left,” you said, the hurt getting more and more apparent in your voice.

“I didn’t want to, I really didn’t,” your sister said desperately, “but please understand. I was protecting you.”

“Protecting me? From what?”

“From the High Priest! From the rest of Armalis! You don’t know how much they hate you just because of who you were born as.”

“Why didn’t you tell me who I was?”

“What difference would it have made if I did?” your sister asked, eyes flashing anger for a moment before softening. You stared at her and felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness overtake you. “What would’ve been different? What if I got your hopes up and the people in Rivedon never found you? I didn’t... I couldn’t... Would you have been happier knowing you were the Arch Mage?”

You sighed as your sister’s eyes fell to the ground. You reached out and held her hands through your gloves. She looked up, guilty expression on her face. “I wanted to tell you, I did, but...”

“I understand,” you said softly. Your anger melted away at the sight of your sister beating herself up about it. And she was right. What difference would it have made if you knew? You would still be locked in the little closet of a room, the High Priest would still be punishing you if you were caught outside.

“So, some things make sense now. I still don’t understand why you told Woohyun your name instead of mine.” You didn’t have to wait for her answer when you saw a blush appear on her cheeks. “You liked him?”

Your sister sighed. “We were eight, and he was so nice, and he had a nice smile, and I just.. I wanted to hear him say my name, so that’s why I told him my name was yours.”

You were silent for a few moments. “He’s one of my suitors.” Your sister’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What?”

“He’s one of my suitors.” She blinked rapidly a few times before resigning and nodding.

“I guess you should know then, that I... I was the one that suggested to him that he go to the land of the dead to get stronger. I was joking around, saying that it was probably the only way he could get stronger to protect you. I never thought he’d actually...”

“You did what?”

“I didn’t know he’d try to use you to kill himself! I didn’t know that I would be able to bring him back either, but he wasn’t even really alive. His heart wasn’t beating, but he was still moving and thinking, and I was so scared I didn’t know what to do so I sent him away and hoped he’d be okay.” You breathed in and out deeply, trying to take this information in.

“I don’t want to hide anything from you anymore, which is why I have to tell you now. The High Priest is planning an attack on Rivedon. They’re planning to cross the border en mass when it’s daylight in Rivedon.” Your eyebrows furrowed. Only the living in Rivedon could go out during the day.

“They want to take you by surprise when you’re at a disadvantage. The High Priest will be taking me along, but please make sure you can defend yourself. I don’t want you to get hurt,” your sister whispered, looking over her shoulder at the knight conversing with Joon.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re my sister, and I love you. I don’t care what the Prophecy has to say about us fighting. We’re here now, and I’m not feeling murderous. Are you?” You rolled your eyes.

“No, I’m not.”

“The Prophecy doesn’t have to be right. It’s only the people that believe in it that make it come true.” The knight called to your sister, and Joon called for you.

“I’m coming! Be safe, I love you. Good luck with Woohyun?” she said tentatively, smiling warmly at you as you smiled back.

“I love you, too, be safe.” You watched as she walked away, and you glanced worriedly at Joon.

“I heard your conversation. I’ll let Seungho know. Don’t think we haven’t planned for this. We have our own share of living that can defend us during the day.” Your thoughts immediately turned to Myungsoo, and you frowned.

“Don’t worry yourself too much. Seungho can take care of this. You can’t be in the sunlight anyway.” You glanced back at the border between the worlds before hurrying after Joon, back to the castle.