Baekhyun

Baekhyun likes looking out of the window to the west. It’s easily the most beautiful view in the entire kingdom – he thinks, while never having stepped foot below his class-area or near the castle. But from his own west window, he sees the underground river in the distance. Sometimes he can hear the flow, sometimes he hears animals making splashing sounds. Oh, it’s not as if he would want to go there, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.

His predecessors must have gone there, because there are dim, ancient lanterns and vaguely, Baekhyun can see there are pathways when the sun shines through the massive crevice above. But it never became a routine place to go, there are no bridges built there, nor are there buildings. Not even the intricate mineshafts from the lower class go out that way. He thinks, Baekhyun can’t be sure. Sometimes he believes he should be more involved with the working people in the kingdom, but most of the time, he can’t really be bothered.

This morning, however, Baekhyun is distracted from his usual contemplating. Much further down, a little to the north but still inside the city, he sees lava spewing up. Just a little – about a meter, maybe – but it’s enough to make his heart jump. Lava isn’t supposed to come up through the cave’s ground there. Although it’s quite far away, he sees the people surrounding the area flinch and move away quickly. And then, maybe ten seconds after he’s seen it all happen, he hears a rumbling deep down and it sends a shiver down his spine.

Another minute later, Baekhyun is back to minding his own business, high up in the city and far away from the danger.

Though Baekhyun’s pace is quick, his footsteps are barely audible on the tiling of the bridge to the eastern tower. The emerald roofs that are scattered all across his field of vision are so normal to his eyes that he rarely remembers the significance of it all. All the people that came before him, the miners that went even deeper into the earth than his generation is willing to. The lengths they went to, to build a city this deep down, to decorate the roofs with gems and create statues larger than several houses stacked atop each other.

Baekhyun doesn’t even register it anymore. So used to the grandness surrounding him – and yet vaguely aware that it might all come crumbling down. Of course, he saw the lava bubbling up and he heard it happened before as well. The rumbling reaches the tops of the city too – but it all seems so far away.

He doesn’t think of it when he scales the tower, where his teacher will be waiting for him in the library. There’s even a soft spring in his step and he’s not entirely sure why. He looks down, once, to see the slums below. The area is lit up by the lava of the forgery and lanterns that shine much more dimly than the ones up here. It’s a mess, he concludes, with so many people going about their business and trying to make a living in the heat. He continues and pays it no further mind.

“Ah Baekhyun,” he is greeted, his teacher seated on a cushion right in the middle of the top floor of the tower. The small window to the side of the tower lets in little light, only the filtered rays that come from above mixed with the artificial light from the lanterns that light up the cave. “Have a seat.” Baekhyun frowns lightly, this is not usually how these sessions go. Yet he obediently sits down, another cushion already placed down for him. They sit across each other, but a candle is placed in between them.

The atmosphere feels thicker than usual. As if something serious is going on. Not that Baekhyun ever goes near this tower with any other purpose than serious business – his master isn’t one for much fun anyway. Nevertheless, it’s pressing. And then he notices why exactly it feels so weird – the two of them are alone. Jongdae isn’t here, neither is Minseok. Even Sehun, the shy boy who always stands near the door to grab anything their master needs, is absent today. He’d ask about the situation, but Baekhyun isn’t to ask questions. The uneasy feeling only rises. One of the lanterns outside flickers and both men have their attention drawn to it briefly.

“That’ll get fixed soon enough. Baekhyun – there’s a reason why I have asked the others not to come today,” his teacher says, but instead of cutting straight to the point, he reverts back to history. “We talked about the history of our people before, but we should go into a little more detail.” Baekhyun nods, though he’s read the books. Not because he had to, but because he was curious. “The first settlers, what can you tell me about them?” Ah, so it’s a test after all. Baekhyun swallows uneasily because while he knows, he’s not much of a talker.

“Well,” he starts, fiddling with his robes and staring at the little flame from the candle, “three hundred years ago, they fled here.” He read the stories so many times that he feels like he was there himself. A young woman led them here, running from a monstrosity that isn’t described clearly. Over time, they built a refuge in the cave that grew and grew, even dividing the people into those that work and those that are worked for. The woman who was the initial leader was crowned a queen and her descendants still rule the city, wearing light blue and teal, almost translucent dresses and robes. All to defy the deep red of the lava down below. And then there’s that mark that he can’t erase from his memory, the mark that’s said to have graced the first queen’s shoulder. There aren’t any pictures drawn of it in the books Baekhyun read, but he has the clearest image in his mind – and instead of telling his teacher all that he’s thinking about, Baekhyun remains silent as he stares at the candle. Thankfully for him, his teacher knows him by now and knows what that look on his face means.

“Yes. Not much is known about the danger they fled from. We do know there’s more life up there than down here.” His words sound like a warning, one that Baekhyun doesn’t know the cause for. “Baekhyun, I have troublesome news,” he then says, sighing deeply and dropping his mentor-role. The younger man snaps his eyes up to meet his teacher’s. “The queen has requested your presence and it’s not for a pleasant cause.” Baekhyun feels his heartbeat quicken and tries to calm himself down. By asking the wrong question.

“Do you know why?” he asks, his voice quiet. He doesn’t instantly get his answer, his teacher hesitates as if he’s maybe not supposed to say anything.

“You must have noticed the rumbling deep within the cave.”

It is with sweaty and shaking hands that Baekhyun arrives at the top level of their society. There’s a gate and a long, narrow bridge in front of him, leading to the castle with its top towers nearly reaching the crack in the ceiling of their cave. It’s the highest place they can go and he has never even been here before. It’s a mistake to look down before assessing the road ahead. It’s incredibly deep, especially now that he’s higher up than he has ever been. Here, it’s not the forgery that he sees, it’s dark where the lanterns don’t reach. So dark that Baekhyun doesn’t know what’s there and what isn’t.

“Ah, we’ve been told of your arrival, Mr. Baekhyun,” one of the guards says as soon as the young man has inched close enough for it not to be weird to be spoken to. Startled, he looks the man in his eyes and the look he receives in return, is equally startled. “Whoa there, nothing to worry about. Please, proceed, but do be careful. A fall down would be deadly.” Right, that’s encouraging, Baekhyun thinks as he inches closer to the bridge and wonders why it wasn’t built with more security in mind. At least at the level where he lives, the pathways are secure, with walls you can’t just fall over. Here, it seems like one moment of unsure footing means certain death.

Maybe the people who built the bridge did so with survival of the fittest in mind. Baekhyun would have to make sure he’s fit enough, at least. The castle itself is dauntingly huge and seems to only grow before his eyes. Why would the queen need to see him? And why did these guards know who he was? They never asked if he’s Baekhyun, they just assumed and then let him through.

The emerald roofs of the towers before him reach up so high that they nearly reach the crevice. For a slight moment, Baekhyun feels even weirder in the stomach at being this close to the world above, a world where he has never been before. None of the people currently in the kingdom have ever seen what the world outside looks like.

And then when he’s about half-way, he hears a struggle behind him that rips him from his daydream. His heart sinks and with the most uneasy feeling in his chest, he turns around. Not because of what’s going on, per se, but because of the height he’s currently at and if he doesn’t pay close attention, he could–

Someone is making a scene. It’s a tall man, muscular, wearing not nearly enough clothes to be of any stature. While the guards are shouting and trying to stop him, the man just knocks them down and Baekhyun watches in utter fear because what if he goes for me next? Baekhyun doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t – the guy pushes past him. Just like that, with the ease of someone who isn’t afraid of heights. Or anything really.

And Baekhyun stands there frozen, looking at the back of a guy who’s running over a bridge that barely fits a person, someone who passed him like he wasn’t even there. He doesn’t know what trickery was used to knock over those guards – they haven’t been put in that spot because they can’t defend the single most important bridge in the city – or how he managed to so agilely pass Baekhyun, but it easily scares him.

What in the depths of the earth is going on today?

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So there's the first chapter c: it's just an introduction, but I hope you got an idea of where we are ^^