「 to the end 」
Legends: The Chosen Twelve
Kris watched as lightning surrounded them, tilting his body left and right to avoid bolts that were hitting a bit too close to his wings. He frowned, diverting his focus from his vision to his ears, listening for any sounds coming from his other friends, “Chen. Control it more.”
Chen didn’t respond back. He simply gulped again, stare hardening up towards the sky as he tried to think of a signal his friends would recognize. Instead of little streaks of lightning passing through his irises, flecks of black streaks appeared, acting as dark lightning, causing one blue streak of light to pass through the sky.
The other’s mouth fell open at what he saw, instantly tilting his head back to see what his friend was doing. Once he saw the black streaks in his goldenrod irises, he smirked proudly before turning back and increasing his speed towards the gates, “That’s how you do it.”
xxx
Luhan frowned as he stood on top of a tall building near the gates, arms crossed and staring at the approaching storm. He’s never witnessed a storm like this in his entire life, and it’s making him wary about who or what could be causing it. They rarely have storms in the Land of Day, only having light rain showers where they could still see the sun create different spectrums of colors in the sky.
He started chewing on his bottom lip when he thought about D.O. He honestly didn’t think that his queen would torture his friend, but he had told her the truth about Kai and what he was remotely capable of. He was sworn as the head guard of the land and was even given special classes about the kingdom that only the royal family should take while he was dating Lay. He knew he was important. He could only guess it was because the queen completely trusted him and saw something in him she might not have seen in her own son.
He grunted. Even though he and Lay had their differences and ended up parting ways in their romantic relationship, the queen still trusted him to do his job and stay close to her son. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that he fell completely and wholeheartedly in love with the prince, and he still wished they were together, but Lay knew how to act and what to do based on feelings and reason. They were perfect together as a healer and a protector, but maybe that’s why they failed.
“Luhan!” Baekhyun called out, running up to him with D.O. and Chanyeol in tow, “How much farther?!”
Luhan looked down to see none of the others with them instead. He raised a brow, “Where’s the water and teleportation user?”
“Lay decided they should stay behind,” D.O. called out before Luhan jumped off of the building and rolled, landing on his knee and hand, “Distance.”
“About seventy miles, give or take,” Luhan simply said before looking up to Chanyeol, “Where is he?”
“He’s resting,” Chanyeol responded back before his wings appeared and he grabbed Baekhyun’s hand. “Tao will protect him,” was all he said before he slowly flew upwards, bringing Baekhyun up with him to stand on top of the wall.
D.O. nodded before turning to stare at Luhan, “He reminded us to tell you to bring whoever is in that storm to our interrogation room unharmed,” and then stomped on the ground to propel him up and flip in the sky before landing on the ledge of the wall.
Luhan frowned, lifting himself up after them, “I’m not going to kill them.”
“Chanyeol almost killed that one man, and you flung out Kai and his partner when they first showed up here,” Baekhyun deadpanned, looking to the storm.
“Luhan,” Chanyeol quietly said, turning to face him over D.O. and Baekhyun.
Luhan nodded instantly, “I’ll protect you.”
They all watched as a strike of blue lightning pierced the skies, D.O.’s brows furrowed at the unnatural phenomenon. They continued to watch as the storm grew closer but the rain seemed to lessen each meter it arrived closer to their land. Another strike of blue lightning appeared before Chanyeol’s wings expanded behind him, “I’m going in.”
Luhan nodded as Chanyeol beat his wings down once before jumping forward, speeding towards what looked like a man with white wings approaching them. His eyes widened, “It’s you!”
Kris looked at him surprised as he quickly turned and tried to avoid the other’s sudden blast of fire at him, “You can’t use fire in a storm!”
“Don’t tell me anything!” Chanyeol shouted back as he cursed when Kris flew upwards some more.
Chen shrieked at the sudden movements, lightning around them stopping as he instantly fell forward to wrap his arms around Kris’ neck, “What are you doing?!”
“Shock him down!” Kris ordered instead, Chen quickly tilting his head back to see who was attacking them. His eyes widened at the smirk on the other’s face before holding a palm out towards him and shooting a lightning bolt in his direction.
Chanyeol’s and Luhan’s eyes widened before the latter tried to cover and pull the former away from the attack. It wasn’t quick enough. Chanyeol grunted as he flew away from them, left wing beating barely, as Baekhyun and D.O. assessed the situation.
“What are we going to do?” Baekhyun questioned, eyeing the other two behind the one with wings and the lightning user, “It seems like he was the one who struck down Suho. He might be against them.”
“Then why would Tao suggest him to greet the storm?” the other asked back, watching as the ice user skated down to the ground with the wind user landing behind him.
“Because they’re important to him,” Luhan finalized before he looked to Baekhyun, “Shoot down the flier.” Chanyeol frowned as flames random parts of his body as he healed himself from the lightning user’s attack. He watched as Baekhyun shrugged and held out a palm, calculating where the other would fly before aiming at the empty space and shooting. He smiled as he hit the other’s wing, causing him to spiral before reaching out and embracing the lightning user in his arms before hitting the ground hard.
D.O. looked worriedly at them before looking to Luhan, “Remember Lay’s rule.”
Luhan shrugged him off, “I know,” before turning to him, “Lock them up. We’re bringing them in. Underground.”
D.O. bit his lip and nodded, crouching before moving about and stomping his feet down, hands coming up before three cages locked the four users in. They all looked up alarmed, the ice user easily breaking it before D.O. reinforced it. He knew the lightning user’s power wouldn’t be strong against earth before he jumped down with Luhan following him.
“Go back to the castle,” Luhan called out over his shoulder, “We’ll be in there shortly.”
Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked to each other before they shrugged again, the latter extending his arms out to the sky and letting out bursts of flame to evaporate the water still falling from the sky. D.O. quickly looked up before turning back to glare at his friends. He punched the air towards Chanyeol before he was suddenly thrown off the wall by a small pillar.
Baekhyun laughed his head off as Luhan rolled his eyes, walking up to the wind user and crouching down to be eye-level with him, “You’re back. Possibly for your friend?”
The other grit his teeth before his eyes sparked and Luhan was thrown back from the force of the winds. Luhan grunted before his own eyes turned amethyst, planning to crush the other inside the earthen cage.
“Luhan!” D.O. shouted out before he made all of them including the other fall underground where he instantly created a pathway ahead of him towards the castle, “Lay’s law!”
Luhan growled at the wind user before looking to D.O, “You know I don’t have to obey him.”
D.O’s eyes hardened as he quickly spun and slid on the ground, pushing all three cages forward, before walking over to Luhan and standing next to him, facing opposite directions, “He said he would end your life if you disobeyed him this time.”
Luhan’s eyes narrowed as he quickly turned and punched the wall next to them, creating a little crater in the earthen structure. He heard a crack before turning around to follow D.O. and the prisoners to their castle.
xxx
Kai and Tao watched as the storm slowly dispersed, brows furrowing as they saw flames appear in the sky. “That’s probably Chanyeol,” the latter muttered out, trying to see what was going on. They continued to watch in silence before they saw Chanyeol and Baekhyun flying their way back to the castle. Kai looked to Tao inquisitively before the latter just shrugged back, “Let’s wait for them here.”
The other frowned, waiting for them to show up, before they felt the castle start shaking underneath their feet. His eyes widened in panic before looking over to Tao who was just balancing himself calmly and then Lay who groaned, waking up. “Why did they choose to go underground?” the healer mumbled out before reaching out and placing a palm on top of Suho’s beating heart, “There must be more than two with them.”
“Lay, what are you doing?” Kai managed to get out before he fell to his knees and then the shaking stopped.
Lay sighed before his eyes and hand started glowing, putting a little more energy into Suho, “Speeding up his healing process.”
“Lay,” Tao softly said before his door opened and Baekhyun burst in.
“The prisoners are downstairs,” he looked to Lay and Suho’s glowing body, “Is he okay now?”
Lay groaned, closing his eyes and stopping his healing, “No. But I helped him out some.” He tilted his head back to look at Kai and Tao, “Take Kai with you downstairs.”
Baekhyun nodded before beckoning Kai over to him, “Hurry. I don’t know if D.O. can stop Luhan from doing whatever to that wind user.”
“I told him I can end him,” Lay grunted, exasperated before swinging his legs over the bed and standing up on wobbly legs. He turned to glare at Tao, “Watch Suho.”
Tao immediately nodded as Kai ran over to Lay and held him upright, “You should stay here, Lay.”
The other shook his head before looking up at him, giving him a small smile of gratitude, “Can you teleport us?”
Kai’s eyes widened as he instantly looked to Baekhyun, his look mirroring his own. “Um,” he looked back to Lay, “I can try. I’ve only been able to teleport one person at a time. And if you’re not used to it, you can get sick like Suho did. Probably worse.”
Baekhyun gulped in fear before turning back out the door and grabbing Chanyeol’s extremely warm wrist to run their way to the first floor, “We’ll meet you down there! Watch him, Tao!”
Tao nodded as he went over to sit on the edge of the bed next to Suho before looking to Kai and Lay next to him, “You’ll be fine, Lay.”
Lay nodded as he gave Kai permission, “Remember that room where Luhan threatened to kill you? Teleport us into that room.”
Kai rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms around Lay’s torso to stabilize him. He blinked, lids opening to reveal onyx eyes, “Because I totally want to go back to the place where I almost died,” then disappearing in a mist of black smoke.
Tao’s mouth hung open in awe at seeing the teleportation user in action before his eyes lit up and he excitedly turned to Suho, “That was awesome! Wasn’t it?!” He jumped a bit on the bed, “Oh my spirits!” …And then he realized Suho was still sleeping.
“Oh.”
xxx
Kai’s eyes widened when he heard someone screaming before he and Lay materialized into the room, the latter coughing before dry heaving and falling to his knees on the floor. Kai followed his movements and looked down at him worriedly, “Are you okay?”
Lay waved his hand dismissively, clutching his stomach before they heard screaming again. “Let go of him!” came Kris’ voice, causing Kai’s eyes to widen before looking in front of them to see Kris bound by invisible bonds against the wall with Sehun floating in the air and scratching at his neck, trying to breathe. “Chen!” Kris shouted out with a grunt when lightning suddenly filled the area and earth sprung up around him and Lay.
“Go,” Lay grunted out, trying to calm down his dry heaving as Kai nodded, instantly teleporting out and evading all the lightning bolts.
He looked around before spotting D.O. in the corner looking severely conflicted. “D.O!” he shouted out, gaining his attention. The other looked at him immediately before he nodded, stomping in his direction causing a pillar of earth to spring up under Kai and making him fly through the air towards his friend.
“Sehun!” Kai shouted out before he grabbed him in his arms and teleported behind the earthen wall with Lay, who was now just breathing unevenly.
Lay glared at Sehun, “You don’t get sick.”
Sehun was looking around with wide eyes, clutching onto Kai’s shirt and still scratching at his neck with his other hand. Kai held him close, trying to hold back his hand and whispering, “Shh, Sehun. I’m here.” Kai looked to Lay with pleading eyes before the latter sighed again, reaching out a hand and simply patting it down on Sehun’s head before ruffling it, hand glowing.
Sehun gasped, trying to move away from the other when his best friend just held him in place. “Teleportation user!” Luhan shouted out angrily, picking up the lightning user next, “What are you doing here?!” His eyes sparked before the ice user was slammed back against the wall.
Lay coughed again before removing his hand from Sehun’s head and shouting back, “Luhan!” The earth wall suddenly retracted into the ground, Lay standing up and using Kai as leverage, “Luhan! My law stands! Stand down!”
Kai’s eyes widened at the sudden information before Baekhyun and Chanyeol finally burst into the room, “What?”
“K-Kai,” Sehun whimpered, gently touching his neck where all the scratch marks and blood used to be, “Kai.”
Kai immediately looked down to his best friend whose eyes were wide and staring at Luhan in the center of the room. He removed his hand from Lay’s on his shoulder before gently turning Sehun’s head to hide in the crook of his neck and shoulder, “I’m here.”
Luhan eyed them as Kai turned to look back at him, eyes reverting to onyx. He scoffed, “So, these are your comrades as well.”
“Luhan,” Lay warned, eyes continuing to glow, “Stand down.”
Luhan shifted his eyes to the other before slowly conceding, releasing both Chen and Kris, causing the lightning user to fall to the ground and the flight user to fall forward. Xiumin immediately got up and ran to Chen to make sure he was alright before Kai looked up to Lay, “Can you stand on your own?”
Lay swiftly nodded before he released his grip on the other’s shoulder, “Luhan. I told you I wasn’t finished with you earlier.”
Kai tightened his hold on Sehun before teleporting them next to Kris, the youngest immediately scrambling out of his hold to help the other up. “Kris,” Sehun whispered, gently touching the other’s wing and drawing a hiss from him. Kai looked at him worriedly before he felt someone come up behind him. He instantly turned around and glared, only to be caught off-guard at seeing D.O. crouch down beside him.
“It is my responsibility,” Luhan responded back, eyes glowing amethyst in retaliation.
“Your responsibility is to protect our land and abide by our rules,” Lay reminded him before calling out his other friends, “Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Go with D.O. and bring the others downstairs in the cellars. Kai’s friend with the colored hair may stay with him.”
“What?” Kai breathed out, completely surprised by the other’s orders.
“Do not make me repeat myself,” Lay ordered, shifting his eyes to him, “Go, now.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Kris growled out before he suddenly beat his wings down and appeared in front of Luhan, “You attacked our youngest and almost killed him.” He instantly reached out and grabbed Luhan’s throat.
“Kris!” Sehun called out before Kai cursed and teleported to stand next to Kris and pull him away from the other. D.O.’s and Lay’s eyes widened when they saw Luhan flinch and in a deep breath right when the other touched him.
Kai immediately tugged Kris backwards before he looked to Xiumin, “Freeze him to the ground.”
Xiumin nodded and Kris’ feet were instantly bound, only a few feet away from the telekinesis user. A crease formed on Lay’s forehead before he called out their Phoenix, “Chanyeol, come with me and bring Luhan with you.”
The other looked to him surprised before Baekhyun pushed him forward, “We’ll handle this.”
Chanyeol frowned but quickly made his way to his best friend and grabbed his arm, only to gasp at the sudden force constricting his throat, “Lu… han…” Luhan’s eyes widened before he looked up completely surprised before stopping his power altogether, eyes reverting back to normal.
“Come!” Lay shouted, turning around and slowly leaving the room, “I trust you three will take care of those four.”
The others nodded as they watched Chanyeol semi-drag Luhan out of the room and the doors closed behind them. Kris growled as he grabbed Kai on the arm harshly, “What are you doing?! He almost killed Sehun! Don’t tell me you’ve joined their side!”
Kai looked at him surprised as D.O. stepped forward, “He did not join our side. He still remains faithful to you and your land.”
“Do not talk to me!” Kris shouted out before Kai gripped onto his wrist hard. He looked down only to be met with onyx eyes glaring back at him.
“Do not threaten or harm him in any way.”
Everybody’s eyes widened as Baekhyun looked to D.O. shocked, lightly whispering, “D.O.”
It took a minute, but Kris finally snapped out of his shock before leaning down and dangerously whispering to his friend, “What would your father say?”
“If you threaten him, you threaten me,” Kai immediately responded back, waves of power flowing off of his body and disorienting Kris into buckling over and dry heaving.
Xiumin’s eyes widened before he quickly moved away from Chen, “Sehun!”
Sehun looked over to him with a confused look in his eyes before he held his hands out and separated them, causing Kris and Kai to fly away from each other from the force of the winds, the former still coughing when he landed roughly on the ground. Xiumin immediately froze both of them to the ground. He looked to them worriedly, “We’re finally back together, and you two are already fighting.” He looked to D.O, “What is so important with him, Kai?”
Kai shivered at the cold temperature, body already becoming accustomed to the warmer temperature in the Land of Day. His eyes reverted back to normal as Sehun made his way to him. He looked over at D.O. and Baekhyun who were looking at him just as confused, “I…” he looked back to Kris and then Xiumin, “I don’t know.”
Xiumin furrowed his brows in confusion before Chen quietly questioned, “Where’s Suho?”
“We need to bring them downstairs,” Baekhyun softly reminded D.O. who just nodded, tapping his foot lightly and making three handcuffs made of earth fly up into his hands.
“He’s sleeping. He exerted his energy healing D.O,” Kai softly explained, waiting for his friend to release him, “He wanted to. Nobody coerced him.”
Kris scoffed before looking to Sehun who was staring at him. He stared back before he sighed, looking over to Xiumin on the other side of him, “We won’t fight any more.”
Xiumin smiled and nodded, hand clenching as the ice melted around his friends’ bodies. Kai shivered again before Sehun helped him up.
“We need to get you three downstairs until Lay is finished and is feeling better,” Baekhyun announced before looking to D.O. who nodded and stepped forward.
“I promise it’s not as terrible as it sounds,” he softly said, waiting for any responses from the others, “The wind user will stay with Kai in the meantime.”
“Why does he get to stay with Kai?” Xiumin questioned, stepping forward with Chen coming up behind him, “What makes him so special?”
“I think it has to do with Luhan,” Baekhyun tried to explain, looking to his friend for reassurance, “Until Lay can control him again, he wants to make sure your youngest is feeling safe and secure.”
“I would too, to be honest,” D.O. added in, looking to Sehun and Kai, “We have no problems with it. As long as you’re with Kai, you can always run from Luhan if he does something like that again.”
“When Lay is finished, he might also be able to heal your wing,” Baekhyun continued, looking to the flight user, “I apologize. I was under direct order from Luhan.”
Kris frowned, lightly growling at him and not saying a word. Chen quietly made his way to Kai, crouching down next to him and warily looking at D.O. and Baekhyun, “Suho is really okay?”
Kai nodded, smiling up at his friend before throwing his arms around him in a tight hug, “I missed you troll face. He really is just sleeping.”
Chen let out a sigh of relief before he wrapped his own arms around the younger’s waist, “I’m trusting you on that, Kai.”
The other nodded, looking to Sehun and then D.O, “We can bring him down once he wakes.”
D.O. smiled and nodded in approval as Baekhyun raised a brow at him, “D.O?”
“We need to bring them downstairs.”
Baekhyun frowned but nodded, turning to look at their ‘prisoners,’ “But they won’t just come willingly.”
“Damn right,” Kris muttered out, weakly moving to try and stand up.
“You promise he’s okay?” Chen questioned again, pulling away to look into Kai’s eyes, unsure of the truth or lie his friend could be telling him.
Kai smiled at him genuinely, nodding the slightly bit, “I promise. He’s truly just resting. You know how he’s not supposed to heal in the first place.”
Chen continued to stare into his eyes before he let out a weak laugh, “I guess you’re right.” He reluctantly looked away before looking to D.O, “You must be someone special,” and getting up to walk over to him, hands already positioned out, “For Kai to defend you as quickly as he did.”
A small smile formed on Xiumin’s lips as he noticed the same thing occurring to Kai and D.O. He quickly moved and followed after Chen, feeling a little flutter in his chest at seeing Chen’s finally peaceful smile at knowing Suho was truly okay with these other people.
xxx
Lay struggled to walk to the kitchen -- it was the closest room they could probably get to before he passed out. He grunted, tripping on his own two feet before falling forward, Chanyeol immediately letting go of Luhan to catch him when the former two realized he stopped midair in suspension. Lay sighed, tilting his head back as Luhan gently guided him back upright, “I’m still not done with you.” Luhan nodded timidly before Lay continued before they were in the kitchen.
“Oh!” one of the cooks exclaimed, evidently surprised at the prince’s presence, “Prince! What are you doing here?”
Lay smiled at him gently, “I’m sorry to disturb you and the rest of the staff, but I need to use this room for a few minutes, if that won’t trouble you too much.”
The cook nodded instantly, turning around to turn off what he was cooking before shouting out orders to put everything on hold and to vacate the room. Lay politely nodded as Chanyeol scurried around the room, smelling and looking at all the delicious foods the chefs and bakers were currently cooking. Luhan nodded in greeting to the chefs, promptly ignoring some other servants as some passed by him to leave the kitchen.
They all waited until every single person was gone. Luhan watched with keen eyes, looking around before a hand was suddenly around his throat. His eyes widened as he looked in front of him and grasped the wrist connected to the hand, “Lay.”
“What have I told you, Luhan?” Lay muttered dangerously, eyes glowing as Chanyeol gulped beside them, partly hiding behind some shelves in fear, “You know about my law yet you still threaten and harm those who come near our land without proper interrogation.”
“The queen had made me guard- ugh!”
“And you allowed her to torture D.O. because you informed her of Kai’s power.”
Luhan glared at him, veins slightly protruding on his neck, “What was I supposed to tell her of how he invaded our land?”
Lay squeezed his hand again, moving to lift Luhan up off of the floor, “I understand your position, but you also need to understand she is not a woman I would earnestly call my ‘mother’ or ‘queen.’” His eyes glowed brighter as Luhan’s body started to shimmer the slightest bit, starting to cough at the lack of oxygen no longer circulating within his body, “D.O. was tortured because of your negligence to his innocence and her desire to conquer other lands.”
“He’s,” Luhan breathed out, one eye shutting at trying to focus into getting more air into his system, “He’s betraying us.”
“His resolve is as solid as his element,” Lay reasoned, “He is not as fickle as others around us,” his eyes flickered to Chanyeol for a brief second before looking back up at Luhan, “He thinks of his own as well as those around him.”
“Lay,” Chanyeol mumbled out, flinching when Lay looked to him again, “…Luhan.”
“You also need to remember my law and abide by it,” Lay demanded before looking back to his ex-boyfriend, “You will not go near that boy again. You cannot harm him.”
“Lay!” Luhan protested, both hands now grabbing his wrist, “Y-You- Your power!”
Lay tightened his grip once more before suddenly releasing him, making the other collapse to the floor and Chanyeol rush over to help him up, “You need to remember that I can end you, Luhan. Whether you like it or not.”
Luhan coughed as Chanyeol slung the elder’s arm around his shoulders, “The queen gave me certain rights.”
The other turned around, making his way to exit the kitchen, “And I have rights to overrule them. There is no longer a king to this kingdom. I have attained rights since my father was assassinated.”
Luhan bit his lip in uncertainty as he watched Lay leave the kitchen. His hand didn’t hurt anymore. He looked up at Chanyeol who just gave him a half-smile, noticing his healed hand, “Come, Lu. He drained you of energy.” He weakly nodded as he let the taller male help him to his room upstairs.
The walk was silent, Luhan still coughing every few minutes and feeling bruises form on his neck from the healer’s brutal grip. He smiled a bit when he heard Chanyeol start to hum randomly. “You trust me. Right, Chanyeol?” he softly questioned, barely above a whisper.
“Most of the time,” Chanyeol gently and genuinely answered, patiently waiting as Luhan tried to pick up one foot after the other to get up the half-winding staircase.
Luhan bit his lip again, now a whisper, “But you’re my best friend, right?”
Chanyeol’s eyes softened at the question, looking up the staircase as they managed to make it up one more step, “To the end, Luhan.”
a/n: /sobs. the friendship between chanlu. anyways. it's zhang yixing's day! (well, where i live now. hopefully it's still his birthday in korea and china). idk what to say. i hope everybody is enjoying this story as much as i am writing it :3
xoxo,
-catalyst
HAPPYXINGDAY.
thank you to those who upvoted :) » foreverthehappyface, thecybercho, blackpenguins, sulaysubmarine, helenee, xp_biteme, bacon_noona
which reminds me. sulay shippers will probably hate me later. fair warning. i'm still working out pairing kinks cause i truly ship all pairings, although some way more than others.
thank you to those 73 who have subscribed and commented. you have given me motivation to continue this story :)!
(Legends): otl. 400 subs?! this is truly amazing ;u; i want to give you guys something in return.. but what?? [02/02/2015]
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