Yixing has a moment of panic, when he wakes up and sees gold, rather than faded wood or blue sky. Glancing around at the extravagant furniture and lavish colors, it all rushes back to him- the strange night before, where two young maids had led him to a guest room (alhtough if this was for guests, he could not imagine the rooms for those who actually lived here.) He had stared at the strange bed, laden with silk blankets and pillows and wondered exactly what he was doing here.

To be quite frank, he still isn't quite sure, although he has his suspicious that Kris has more connections to the human side of things than he had suggested earlier. Throughout the night, Kris had been tight-lipped, quietly making plans with Lili over dinner to meet with this mysterious Chanyeol the next day. As it turned out, Lili, despite her quirks and dulcet tones,  They had eaten at a small tavern, fancier than anywhere in their hometown but nothing compared to the palace. Over the meal of rice and pork, Kris had stubbornly refused to answer any questions concerning the matter.

"There's more to this than you know." Kris said vaguely, "It'll hopefully help in your quest too." He added, silencing Yixing's protests.

At least, Yixing muses, he had drawn out a promise that everything- everything and not one bit missing, as Kris had said- would be explained tomorrow. And now, he realizes with a rush of excitement, it's tomorrow.

There's a note slipped unher his door, he notices, and he reluctantly leaves the warmth of his bed to retrieve it. The graceful calligraphy gives him directions to the "East Dining Hall" where at half past eight Kris supposedly will be waiting for him and Luhan, who had been brought to a completely different section of the palace. His thoughts turn to Luhan, anticipating the laughter over the luxury of this strange place. Sparing a glance at the fancy clock on the nightstand, Yixing realizes with a jolt that it's already eight..He hurriedly tosses off the silk pajamas that the maids had given him and throws on his simple tunic and pants, almost laughably simple and out of place. Still, Yixing thinks disgruntledly, it's not like he asked to stay here. If they give him odd looks, so be it.

The directions are clear and precise, and Yixing quickly finds himself in a large open room, with wooden tables laden with fruit and porridge. He ignores the porridge and goes quickly for the fruit. There are berries and other strangely colored ones that he's heard of but never tasted. Their little town only has a few apple trees, and fruit is a luxury he could rarely afford.

He spots Luhan sitting near the corner, and he hurries over.

"How was your night?" He asks with a half smile.

"Interesting," Luhan replies with a small smile. "Who knew baths could be so complicated?"

Yixing breaks into a laugh, recalling the vials of oils and scented rose water that had been drawn up. He plops down across from Luhan and picks at his food.

"Have you seen Kris?" he asks.

"Not a sight of him yet." Luhan replies, "So we have some time to eat. Any idea what's going on?"

Yixing shakes his head. "No clue. This has turned into some adventure, hasn't it?"

Luhan murmurs in agreement. "At least we should take advantage of it while we can. All these new sights and food- we might never have a chance to see them again."

They hear Kris come in, rather than see him. Surrounded by a flock of lavishly-dressed ladies and looking distressed, he hurries towards Luhan and Yixing.

"My apologies," Kris says, bowing to his admirers, "I'm terribly busy today."

"Let's go." He mutters towards the giggling Yixing and Luhan. They hastily make their way to the large wooden door.

Once they're outside, Kris pauses.

"Finally," he says and sighs in relief "They're gone."

Luhan an eyebrow towards him and snorts.

"What?" Kris says, "They just fall head over heels for me because I'm so attractive!"

"Oh," Luhan lifts an eyebrow, "there's not something magical about you that young maidens hearts flutter or anything."

Yixing wonders when Luhan got so many guts.

No, Yixing corrects himself, When did he get so insightful? He's known Luhan had guts ever since the boy accused him of murder.

"Well, that's true too, I suppose." Kris laughs, looking mildly impressed. "Dragons do have some manipulative ability."

"So we're going to meet Chanyeol?" Luhan asks, as they walk towards the main section of the palace.

"Yes." Kris says. "He's, well, eccentric, I suppose. You'll see. But he's useful."

Kris pushes open a large mahogany door, leading into a dim hallway lit by lanterns with another large door at the end. It sets Yixing There's an odd, dank smell in the air, but that doesn't dissuade Kris from striding to the door and swinging it open.

"Chanyeol!" he yells. There's a loud thump and then the sound of shattering glass. A foul odor hits them like a wave. Yixing gives Kris a worried glance, but the dragon only rolls his eyes.

"Don't worry," Kris says, "this happens every time."

Ying shoots Luhan a glance, but the other boy doesn't seem fazed at all, so Yixing timidly follows them in. The room inside is a mish-mash of glass vials filled with liquids of various hues, odd contraptions and bits of metal and wire twisted together. Large windows bathe the room in soft white light, and Yixing blinks as his eyes adjust to the new lighting. Luhan had immediately rushed down the table, glancing at each and every object with side eyes, but Yixing is more concerned with the huddled mass across the room.

"Chanyeol," Kris says, "I brought some visitors."

This Chanyeol stands up and Yixing is taken aback by how tall he is. The man has a mop of curly hair and a slightly crazed expression.

"Welcome to my workplace," The man calls out. Yixing and Luhan murmur their greetings in response and bow. "I'm Chanyeol, as you know. It's nice to meet you."

"Chanyeol," Kris interrupts, "is the official royal scholar of the kingdom. He controls the networks of scholars of Languardia."

Ah, Yixing realizes, so this is what Kris meant when he said it could help me.

Chanyeol offers to take them on a tour of his workplace, an offer that Kris looks like he's about to reject before Luhan eagerly interrupts and accepts. It's interesting, Yixing will admit, and filled with things that he's heard mentioned in science class but never really bothered to understand. Luhan, on the other hand, drinks it all up, asking question after question. Chanyeol seemed to have taken a liking to him, offering to let him come by later and show him some of the newer innovations.

"We've got all sorts of new-fangled ideas being worked on in the back. Even something called electricity that we modeled after the lightning bugs." Chanyeol grins brightly.

Luhan nods eagerly. "That's amazing."

Chanyeol laughs, a bright piercing sound. "It's not really as grand as it sounds. But we have been making some great discoveries as of late."

"To face some great problems." Kris adds, and Chanyeol's brow furrows.

"Well, that's true, too." He says slowly. "So what brings you to this place?"

"Not quite sure," Luhan says lightly, "but Kris promised to explain when we came."

Chanyeol shoots a questioning look towards Kris.

"About the situation," he emphasizes and Chanyeol's eyes widen.

"Well this will take some explaining," he sighs, "Why don't you all sit down."

"It's a long story," Chanyeol begins, "but so are most stories. The good ones at least. This begins with the white plague that originated with the dragons. No one's quite sure where it came from before that; even the dragons cannot seem to recall."

Kris stares stone-faced, as Chanyeol describes the symptoms of the plague- deteriorating scales, collapsing while flying, and inability to hunt effectively. They wouldn't die immediately, but slowly, the plague would weaken them until they didn't wake up one morning. Yixing almost feels bad for him, but he still wonders, exactly, why this is relevant.

"In short, it managed to reduce the dragon population almost a thousandfold, as I'm sure Kris has told you. What is kept more under wraps-" Chanyeol glances at Kris, as if asking for permission.

Kris sighs. "They can be told. A combination of my persuasion and Tao's premonition convinced the King it was necessary to share the information."

Luhan looks just as confused as Yixing feels by this mention of the King.

"Okay then," Chanyeol says, "the truth is that this plague has recently been found in humans. There've been reports of sudden collapses and sickness from people who are still fit and healthy. Most of them are in stable condition, but none of them seem to be getting better. Our hospitals are filling up."

Yixing's stomach drops, when he recalls his father's collapse and how his skin had looked so sallow and dull.

"Do they always die?"

"We've had a few so far." Chanyeol says, "But according to the accounts, the sickness takes a week or two to truly come into effect. Fainting is usually the first symptom."

"Are you working on a cure?" Luhan asks, voice steady.

"We are," Chanyeol says, "We have things here that you haven't even learned of in school." He bites his lip. "But sickness is complicated. The dragons are helping where they can, but even out best at the moment isn't enough, not with the number of people who have contracted this. We have no idea how it spreads, how it even got to us."

There is no cure. Yixing feels sick, stomach churning. He has been damned with magical ability and his father with a magical illness. It's completely irrational, but he somehow blames himself for this connection. If he hadn't come to Languardia, then he could very well go on pretending that his father was simply ill, that he would get better eventually and return to the way things were before. For

"What do we have to do with this?" Luhan says. That, Yixing thinks deliriously, is a very good question. Chanyeol just shrugs and looks at Kris.

"Well," Kris pulls at his collar. "I'm not too sure exactly. But Tao has powers of time and sense, and he seems to believe you'll be of some help. And I myself have an odd premonition."

"You see," he turns to Yixing, "Magic always happens for a reason- this is something humans have trouble grasping-"

"I have to go," Yixing blurts, pressing a hand to his stomach. He races out the room, without regard for Kris or Chanyeol. Luhan grabs his arm on the way, but Yixing shakes him off.

Yixing finds himself sitting on a bench in the palace gardens, with no recollection of how he got there. The bushes are tall and shield him from the world, and he manages to calm himself down while listening to the songbirds' chirps and tree spirits' hums.

One side of his brain is rational and realizes the only thing he can do is go back and do his best to help- whatever help that may be. The other side of his brain wants him to curl him in a ball and shut out all those claims; it wants to scream and shout that these are all lies, that his father will get better, that this is all some elaborate conspiracy and Kris had absolutely no right to bring him into all of this. Unfortunately, this side of his brain is winning, and he's inclined to stay sheltered by the garden.

The rational side of his brain, however, acknowledges that eventually someone's going to look for him. It guesses it'll be Kris, who Yixing really doesn't want to deal with right now.

He's mildly surprised when it's Chanyeol who pops out from behind an oak tree. The taller man gives him a slight smile and sits himself down next to Yixing.

They sit in silence for quite some time. Although they don't talk, Chanyeol doesn't seem to mind; rather, he seems just as much home in the garden as Yixing feels and stares at the tree spirit in the oak, rather than at Yixing.

"Are you okay?" Chanyeol asks finally. Yixing nods, avoiding his eyes.

"You know, magic has done some pretty incredible things." He says conversationally. "Don't you think?"

When Yixing doesn't respond, Chanyeol continues. "Take that tree spirit." He gestures towards the oak tree. "We know of her, but she rarely blesses us with her presence, like now." He grins conspiratorially, as if gossiping about tree spirits was an exciting topic.

"But," he continues, "We do leave her out honey and pure rainwater at night, and in return, she allows us to take her wood. We take this wood, and we examine it. It's tougher and more supple than regular wood, and then we find a way to replicate this on wood from trees that aren't inhabited by tree spirits and save the trees that are home to the creatures."

Listening to Chanyeol talk is sort of like listening to a teacher read a storybook. His tone rises and dips, as natural as the hills and valleys of the earth, and Yixing settles into it.

"Languarida has a history of working with magical creatures. What we do- it's not that different from science. In fact, most of the things we create are derived from magic. But it's eons ahead, complex in a way that humans cannot cope with." Chanyeol continues.

Yixing is quiet for another moment, and Chanyeol lets the silence be.

"I think Kris told you," Yixing finally says, barely audible but Chanyeol gestures for him to continue, "but I'm not quite normal."

"He did." Chanyeol says. "He thinks you're magical. And that," Chanyeol gives a small smile, "Is precisely why Kris thinks you can help us."

Yixing mulls over that thought for a moment. "Okay. I don't know how, but I'll do it."

"So are you ready to go?" 

By the time they head back to Chanyeol's workshop, Kris is nowhere to be found. Luhan sits on a stool, tinkering with some bits of wire.

"You okay?" he asks, shooting Yixing a concerned look when he comes in. "We were so worried."

"I'm fine now," Yixing says, but Luhan doesn't seem reassured. "I really am."

"If you're sure."

When he meets with Kris again, Yixing isn't so sure anymore. The dragon leads him down a small path through the garden, while Yixing plucks up the courage to ask Kris a question that had been burning on his mind.

"Why, exactly, do you think I have actual magical power?"

"Because you do. I," Kris says simply, "am privy to things you cannot comprehend. Luhan is right- I have more than a little control over the emotion of others, more so than most dragons. But this is because I can sense things about their aura. You're screams something of magic- that's why magical creatures aren't afraid of you. The strength of it, however, is greatly diminished." Kris frowns. "Most likely from hiding it for so long. Magic becomes weak if surpressed."

Yixing's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I practically scream magic? He's not quite sure whether to believe Kris.

"I would probably be more help to unlocking your magical ability than Chanyeol." He says.

"Magical ability?" Yixing asks, "What do you mean? I mean, magical creatures come near me, but I can't actually do anything."

"Well," Kris says, "we're going to change that part then."

He leads Yixing to a smaller building, right outside the palace, and tells Yixing to wait as he gets something. Kris appears later, carrying a small limp dog..

"This is Baekhyun," he says, "One of the palace dogs. He collapsed exactly six days ago. The symptoms match that of white plague. There's speculation that this was actually carried through animals, in fact."

"What am I supposed to do?" YIxing asks.

"Focus." Kris says. "Feel the magic. It will come, as long as you do not block it."

Yixing gives him a confused look, wondering exactly what nonsense Kris was saying. Feel the magic, as if magic were something like rain or sunshine against his skin. Kris shoots him look, and Yixing sighs and stills. He waits, not exactly sure what he's waiting for.

Kris sighs after a few moments, instructing Yixing to stop. He tries to give Yixing some pointers, to remove mental blocks and to relax, but all the tries lead to the same result- 

"Stop," Kris says finally.

"Stop what?" Yixing bites, glaring at Kris "I'm not doing anything."

"You're trying, a little, but that's not enough. Stop fighting it."

"What do you mean, stop fighting it?" Yixing's face slowly turns crimson. This was a horrible, he decided. The dog made a pitiful whine, and Yixing glared at him too. "Just because you have this pre-concieved idea that I can actually fix all this, doesn't mean it's actually true! There's nothing I can do to help him."

"Dragons," Kris says, and Yixing's glare intensifies. He doesn't want to hear about dragons. He wants to figure out how to save this dog. And his father. And the hundreds of other sick people who will die. "Dragons are each gifted in different ways. Gifts that rarely appear in any other magical creature, which is why it was so tragic that we died in such great numbers. Me, I can sense auras. Tao has premonitions, almost visions."

"Tao saw something in you that led him to believe that you could save us all." Kris says, as Yixing tries to grapple with this new information. "We dragons have been putting more effort into helping humans with this than many thought possible, for a magical race that is infamous for their detachedness. But we do not want the plague that killed our breathern to make another blow. So we observed you; we studied you. And we believe that Tao is right."

Yixing reels back in surprise, his stomach churning again. This isn't true, he knows. He may be different, special, but there's nothing good he can do about this. He doesn't want to be their false hope; he doesn't want to be the reason that nothing can be healed. His mind tells him to run, but behind him is the stone wall of the building and in front of him is Kris.

"Another thing," Kris says. Yixing wants to block him out, but Kris continues. "That dog collapsed exactly six days ago, and presumably he contracted the disease a month before. According to previous cases, he only has barely a week and a half left." Kris's voice goes soft and sad. "You know why Chanyeol has been working so hard on this, never leaving his workshop even for meals? Because Lili has a sister and her sister collapsed the same day as this dog."

His mind races and counts back the days. His blood chills when he realizes something.

His father had collapsed that same day as well.

A/N: WHAT IS PLOT EVEN UH LESS THAN 24 HOURS LEFT CROSSING MY FINGERS THAT I CAN GET THE NEXT AND LAST CHAPTER DONE

RUSHING

THIS

SO MUCH

I've actually gone back and cut certain things out (like the part where Yixing visits his father at the hospital) because I simply have no time to add these to the plot. Oh well.