「 our strongest 」
Legends: The Chosen TwelveLay frowned in concern, looking to everybody in the room with him. He let Chen cuddle up to his side still holding his hand, knowing that the younger was worried about his other friend as well as the other three in his homeland. Suho sat right next to him on the floor with his back leaning against the bed, resting. Staring across the room, he watched as Chanyeol fell asleep on Sehun’s lap, the wind user the former’s hair lovingly. Even Baekhyun was taking a nap, mentally and emotionally exhausted from the memory revival.
Luna and Amber made it back safely, hiding themselves in the bathroom so the men could converse all they wanted.
“Will they go to the gates?” Sehun softly questioned, not looking up from Chanyeol’s exhausted face, “Will the queen explain why all of this happened?”
Shaking his head, Lay shifted his gaze down to the back of Suho’s head, which seemed to be tipping forward as if to fall sleep. “Unless Tao can look into the past, we might never know.”
Tao sighed, looking up to the prince. “Only Kai was able to see into the past, and it was only once. I do not have such a power.”
“Then, we wrestle it out of her,” Sehun resolutely said, squaring his gaze on the prince, “We will obtain it from her by force.”
“What if it’s something you don’t like, Lay?” Chen softly questioned. Lay thought he was asleep.
“It must be a very good reason either way.”
A blanket of silence fell over them as they were left to their thoughts. Sehun knew Chanyeol was still trying to heal himself, his body temperature was still higher than normal, and he knew that Baekhyun wouldn’t be able to do much in the fight with his mental status. He looked back to Lay who had been staring at him. Suho was still trying to recover from healing Luna as well.
“Are you healed, prince?” Sehun softly questioned, eyeing the other’s facial features to see any signs of exhaustion in them. He saw quite a few.
Lay gently smiled, shaking his head. “No.” He chuckled at the frown he got. “But I will be fine on my own. I am the Land of Day’s prince after all. I am made to last for days healing the people of my land.”
The youngest smirked, looking back down to Chanyeol before trying to maneuver his way out from under him. Tao watched curiously before looking back to Lay who was climbing out of the bed with Chen. “Prince, is this a good idea?”
The elder simply shrugged, making sure not to wake Suho in the process, “Are any ideas involving Luhan and fighting a good idea?”
Tao simply chuckled, fond smile coming to his face. “Most of the time – no.”
“Watch over them, please,” Sehun quietly said, leaning down to kiss Chanyeol on the temple. Tao nodded, watching as Lay kept his gaze on Suho’s form for a few minutes.
“Your calling will come soon enough, Lay,” Tao said, eyes slightly turning grey in the process, “Yours and Chen’s will take a little bit more time.”
Chen looked at him slightly shocked, before he bitterly chuckled. “That is if we survive this. Kai is a lot stronger than he looks.”
“I cannot see the true future,” Tao started off, Baekhyun whimpering in his sleep and moving in closer to him, “You are still able to change it with your course of actions.”
“Well,” Sehun muttered, cautiously opening the door with the other two behind him, “That gives us reassurance.”
Tao simply chuckled as they quietly left the room. He looked around, eyes starting to glow around the edges as he tried to see into the future voluntarily. He hoped everything ended well.
xxx
“General!” a guard shouted out from behind the glass doors.
Kai’s father looked to the doors in panic before looking to Kai who stilled at hearing the other intruder’s voice.
“Do you need backup?! Why is our general’s son fighting you?!”
“What have I told you?!” the general screamed out, launching forward with his sword to bring Kai back into the fight, “Wait for the others and do not come near us!” His eyes widened when Kai teleported and looked to the guard, stilling in a crouch. He quickly turned to his friend, “Leave! Now!”
The guard’s eyes widened as Kai immediately teleported to him before punching him in the gut. He curled in on himself, hearing the glass to the room shatter just as Kai took out the sword from its scabbard on his belt. “Get away!” The guard’s eyes widened as he looked up to Kai’s bright lavender ones before he was stabbed right under the ribs. He choked.
The general’s eyes widened as he ran forward to try and hit Kai. He cursed when his son let go of the sword and teleported away from them and the room. He looked around once before he fell to his companion’s side. “Come on, my friend,” he urgently said, knowing better than to pull out the sword, “Stay alive.”
“General…”
He held the other’s face in his hands, watching with sad eyes as the other breathed out his last before slumping down in his arms. His eyes hardened as he quickly took out the sword before lying the man down on his back. “You were an honorable warrior, my friend.” He looked around the room again, wondering where his son went. “We need to end this, son,” he tilted his head back to look at his passed friend, “Before more die.”
xxx
Luhan grunted in sudden, unknown pain. Raising a hand in the air, he erected crystal balls in the room with the queen and Xiumin. He turned around dutifully while taking quick looks in all of them, as the queen circled the ice user curiously. “My dear Luhan,” she softly called out, reaching up to poke the boy’s cheekbone, “What do you know of our past?”
“Only what Chanyeol informed us earlier, my queen,” the other quietly responded back, brows furrowing as he saw Lay, Chen, and Sehun walk outside of the castle, “Why, may I ask?” He didn’t think they would attempt this so soon.
The queen hummed, stepping away from Xiumin but still keeping her eye on him. “How strong is this man’s power?”
“He is a user of ice, queen. He is indeed strong,” Luhan turned to look at the queen’s back, “He is able to protect you if I cannot for the time being.” He watched as the other nodded.
“My late husband’s parents forced our family out of the Land of Night, long before Lay was born,” the queen answered back, turning around to see her guard’s expression, “We were exiled because we wanted to rise to the throne.”
Luhan frowned, using a little more of his energy to break into the queen’s mind, “Is that so, queen?”
The queen nodded, turning back to look at Xiumin, “I heard rumors that it was because my late husband married me that we were thrown out, but that could not be true. I simply wanted to rule a kingdom that would prosper.”
The Head Guard closed his eyes, trying to breach into the queen’s memories without actually touching her in any way. “But that is what you accomplished here, queen,” he softly commented, brows furrowing at the memories she was reliving.
The younger queen looked appalled as she faced their late king, raising her voice and asking him what happened. She looked to the then king and queen of the land, asking why they would exile them even though the man is their true and eldest son. Luhan quietly gasped, seeing the king explain that he committed a crime that would cause their exile.
“Luhan,” the queen called out, turning around to see Luhan’s eyes focused on hers, “What are you doing?”
“My queen,” the younger instantly said, falling to a knee and crossing an arm in front of his chest as in the form of a silent apology. He quickly retreated from her mind and bowed to her, “Is what I saw true?”
The queen smiled softly down at him. “Curiosity really gets the best of you some times, my dear.” She walked over to him before bending slightly to place a hand on his shoulder as a form of acceptance, “He never told me what crime he committed. When I asked the king and queen later, they informed me that he committed no crime, but that I did.” She watched as the younger raised his head to look up at her. “They said he was trying to get us thrown out of his kingdom voluntarily because of my want to take over the throne. Why would he want to be thrown out if he was assured the future kingdom?”
“The king chose to be exiled from his own home – from his own people.”
The other nodded, eyes flashing dangerously for a split second. “That’s what the old royalty tried to inform me.”
“But you two had your own kingdom here,” Luhan trailed off, brows furrowing the slightest in confusion, “If I may, my queen, why did you order me to assassinate the king then?”
The queen gave him a soft smile that looked too reminiscent of one completely hidden with ill intentions. “Because he was in my way of ruling the complete land.”
Luhan kept his guard up, looking into the queen’s eyes. It really was her true intent, then and now. He only broke eye contact when he heard Lay shouting out loud in the room.
“Luhan! Are you not going to come to me?!”
The Head Guard swiveled onto his other knee, holding a hand out for the ball to come to him. He looked into it to see Lay staring straight up at him. “Tell your ice companion to follow me, Luhan,” the queen ordered, walking away to go to the gates, “We will take care of them. Continue to control the teleportation user.”
Suddenly feeling a bit helpless at the situation, he watched as the ice user followed the queen out before the door closed next to him. He simply stared at it before he grunted, leaning forward more onto his knee as he felt his heart clench tightly painfully. He grabbed at his chest, not knowing why he kept feeling the throbbing spasms. His irises unconsciously became speckled with amethyst flecks as he turned to his crystal balls, watching as the queen walked briskly through each one.
xxx
Seeing his land coming up, Kris flinched in pain, his grip on D.O. tightening the slightest bit. He ignored the other’s wince and gaze of concern as he concentrated on getting them safely within their own gates and to the tower he always flew to whenever he was around.
D.O’s eyes were wide and unblinking as he removed his gaze from Kris’ pained expression to take in his surroundings and see the night sky littered with stars and dark clouds. He observed everything he could lay his eyes on, amazed with the people fishing in the large lake below him and the children playing in the streets with women and men walking around and talking about happily. This looked more like a home than his own home.
Kris wanted to ask what the younger was thinking about, but he couldn’t help but focus on the task at hand, looking up briefly to greet the moons laying low above the horizon. He missed this.
“Kris!” somebody suddenly called, causing him to look back down to see Suho’s father waving up at him, “Kris! Hurry!”
The other nodded minutely, diving in faster as D.O. tightened his grip around his neck. He didn’t expect to be unable to stop until his eyes widened in shock and he shielded the smaller male in his arms as he hit the balcony, wings coming to wrap around his body and D.O’s, before they rolled and he hit his back on the wall.
“Kris!” the water user called out worriedly, coming out from the room to check up on the younger, “Are you okay?” He looked at the other male curiously as he tried to get Kris to release his hold on him.
“Kris?” D.O. muttered out, wincing instinctively before realizing he didn’t feel hurt at all. His eyes widened, looking up to see the other’s suddenly pale and pained expression. “Kris!”
“Are you D.O. by any chance?” the other man questioned, still trying to separate the two, “My son Suho has told me you would be venturing here to try and help us.”
The youngest looked back at him, eyes widening naturally before he nodded. “I am.” He turned back in front of him to look at Kris worriedly. “Kris, can you move?”
Kris wanted to shake his head no, but he felt too exhausted and hurt to do so. He just felt a wave of spasms overcome his body and instantly curled in more on himself, accidentally bringing in the younger as well.
“D.O,” Suho’s father softly said, waving a hand in the air to gather the moisture there before touching Kris’ arm to try and feed him some water, “What happened to him?”
Grunting at the exertion, the younger finally broke free of Kris’ grip, rolling out of the way and accidentally hitting Suho’s father’s crouched form in the process. He frowned, sitting up, before looking around cautiously. “I apologize, sir. Xiumin started freezing him from the inside out, starting with his heart.”
The other’s eyes widened in surprise, dismissing the apology and looking down to Kris who seemed to be relaxed enough to simply be lying there, “Why would he do that?”
“The man controlling Kai is also controlling Xiumin.” D.O. looked back to him then. “Can you heal him like your son?”
The other shook his head, features full of regret as he just tried to feed the flight user more water from the air. “I am not like my son, neither is my wife. Xiumin has never harmed another being before. If he did, it was on accident, and Suho could easily heal the affected.”
D.O. frowned but nodded, gaze sweeping the large balcony again. “Where is Kai?”
Suho’s father analyzed the newcomer, wondering if he was truly as strong as his son said. He definitely didn’t look like he could pack a punch, but even the smallest of fighters had the strongest of powers. Xiumin is the same way. “I have no worldly idea, earth user.” He flinched when he felt a hand suddenly grip his ankle. He looked down to see Kris trying to speak.
“He… He’s Kai’s… calling…”
The eldest male’s eyes widened in surprise, quickly looking back to see the true speckled flecks in the youngest man’s eyes. “You are? Truly?”
D.O. nodded, small smile coming to his face before it quickly disappeared when a scream was heard. His and the other’s eyes widened, the water user slowly standing to his feet. The earth user turned towards the entrance to the castle, softly asking, “Who is that?”
Suho’s father frowned, eyes tinting blue before lifting his arms up and looking towards the sky. He commanded it to rain, trying to numb out the pain in his side and hoping a message will come to him in the water falling. “My wife,” he softly answered.
xxx
Suho’s mother winced, snakes of water wrapping around her free arm as she tried to stop the bleeding in her side with the other. She panted slightly while taking cautious steps away from Kai even though she knew it was futile when he could easily teleport next to her. She felt the first few drops from the sky before it became a gentle rain. She quickly let go of her side, eyes hardening as she turned and waved her hands in the air in the form of a dance, creating a thick barrier of water around her.
“Why won’t you speak, Kai?” she questioned loudly, now assuming her defensive stance as she moved away from him and kept the barrier up around her, “Come out of it. You are hurting the ones you love.”
Luhan frowned, causing Kai to do the same.
“This is not you.”
She started to breathe heavily, knowing she was bleeding out. She eyed Kai warily for a few more seconds before she started to dance around the balcony again, shooting out blasts of water one after the other in hopes of knocking him down.
“Kai,” she called out again, gaze quickly averting to see an unknown man with large eyes appearing in the large entranceway, “You are like my own son, Kai. I do not want to fight one of my own.”
Luhan immediately retreated back, giving the other the same message to fight as before, as he bit his lip in uncertainty. His queen was nothing like that woman who looked at Kai with true care and maternal love in her eyes. He looked back to the crystal ball that monitored the front gates to see the queen already arriving there with the ice user right behind her. He winced at the pain in his heart coming back tenfold before he left everything to go join the fight.
Suho’s mother grimaced again as she tripped on her own feet and stumbled a bit to the side, Kai taking his chance to attack her once again. He didn’t flinch as he immediately teleported away again the moment D.O. threw part of the metal railing at him to save her.
“Jongin,” D.O. called out, eyes hard as he tried to divert the other’s attention away from Suho’s mother, “Jongin!”
“Are you his calling?” Suho’s mother panted out, erecting the barrier around herself again as she tried to effectively stop the bleeding this time. She received a slight nod in return before asking her next question. “How is Kris?”
The earth user bit his lip, taking another piece of the railing again to throw it at Kai only to have him appear in front of him immediately and grab his neck, lifting him off the ground easily once again. An eye instinctively shut as he held onto the wrist in front of him to try and lessen his own weight. He gasped, as they were both teleported to another place on the balcony.
Suho’s mother’s eyes widened as she quickly turned to see the earth user struggling in her water barrier. Kai stayed safely outside, making sure he wasn’t in the process of drowning too. She quickly took down the water, D.O. coughing and struggling as he tried to aim a kick to Kai’s torso. “Jongin!”
“Kai! What are you doing to your calling?!” she called out right after, reaching forward only to have Kai disappear again, “Kai!”
D.O. winced as the grip around his neck tightened, irises glowing as he kept both hands to his side. He hoped some part of this balcony was made of earth. He closed his eyes, focusing his power, before he suddenly threw his hands up next to him, opening an eye in relief when parts of the balcony beckoned to his will without touching it and hit Kai’s arm. He fell to the ground before coughing, glaring up at his love. “Jongin,” he rasped out, watching as the other blankly looked down to his bleeding arm before facing him again, “Jongin! I thought you could snap out of this!”
Suho’s mother took this as her chance. She threw her arms out in front of her, slamming Kai with two walls of water before trying to keep him captive in the liquid box. She frowned when he simply teleported out of it next to D.O. and kicked him.
“Jongin!” D.O. yelped out, quickly rolling away before planting his hand on the balcony and pulling it out to slam it into his boyfriend. “Go to your husband!” he yelled out at the woman who looked conflicted before he shouted at her again, “Go! Kris is there!”
The other nodded, quickly leaving the scene as rain still poured around them.
xxx
Luhan arrived to see Lay arguing with his mother as Chen took care of distracting Xiumin. He watched as the queen moved forward to attack only to have Sehun push her back with his winds. He couldn’t help it when he felt his heart clench painfully again, specks never leaving his eyes. “Lay!” he called out, immediately surprising everybody there.
“Luhan!” the queen gasped out, moving away quickly so none of the others could sneak an attack on her, “What are you doing here?!”
“I need an answer,” is all the other rasped out before walking over briskly to them, “From you too, queen.”
Lay smirked before he turned his attention back to the queen and ran for her. The queen’s eyes widened as she turned out of the way and slashed down on his arm. The former flinched, quickly turning to try and kick her. He was never good at physical attacks though. He always had Luhan with him.
Sehun ran between them then, pushing them both back as he took on the queen while his friend healed himself. “Heal yourself, prince. I have this.”
Lay watched in amazement as Sehun distracted the queen long enough to have Chen move around Xiumin and shock her into quick submission. He diverted his gaze over to his ex-boyfriend, if he could call him that now, only to see him wincing before falling down to a knee. “If your calling dies, Luhan, you do not die with him,” he slowly said, watching as the guard lifted up his head to stare at him, “Your heart simply hurts until you have learned how to numb the pain.”
“I do not have a calling,” Luhan rasped out, pain subsiding long enough for him to stand and face the prince still healing himself, “You know I don’t.”
The prince gave him a sad smile, watching the bright flecks swirl clearly even from the distance between them. “You do have one, Luhan.”
“I do not!”
“Luhan!” Lay shouted back, eyes glowing brighter as he tried to get the idea through to him, “Your eyes are not reacting to mine! You can see that!”
Luhan growled at him, waves of power radiating off of him as he slowly walked forward, “My eyes are normal. I do not have a calling.” He looked to the queen, the woman water user’s words suddenly invading his mind. “Do you see me as a son, queen?”
“Of course I do!” the other exclaimed back, trying to move from the ground, “My son.” It sounded like a lie.
Lay frowned, shifting his gaze back to Luhan. “Your calling is slowly dying, Luhan. That is why you feel throbbing pains every few seconds.” He watched as a lone wave of power exuded itself from Luhan’s body at his shout.
“I do not have a calling!”
Sehun grunted, queen surprisingly getting back on her feet fast enough to try and attack him instead while Xiumin and Chen were busy. “I had no idea you came from their land,” she muttered out before her tone sounded like she was taunting him, “I suppose you fit our buffoon’s ideal type though.” She sneered. “Scrawny.”
The youngest simply glared at her, gusts of wind swirling around him before he directed an attack towards her. He knew he couldn’t come back to her taunts, always having Kai sticking up for him in the past. So he did the only thing he knew how – prove himself through his power. He closed his eyes briefly, only to have the fuchsia glow outline his eyes instead. “You have no right.”
The queen scoffed, eyes glowing with the intent to kill. “I wonder what Chanyeol will feel when I end you.”
“Not if I kill you first.”
The other grinned evilly, dodging a blast of wind in her direction. “This will be fun.”
“Lu,” Lay calmly said, standing his ground as the other approached him, “Do not make me do this.”
“My calling is not going to be some Night warrior!” Luhan shouted back, about to go into hysterics from controlling both Xiumin and Kai, especially in a land miles away from them. He didn’t want to accept the fact the queen could have been using him all this time. He walked up to Lay, grabbing onto his shirt. The other looked at him with slight worry in his eyes, wondering if he was truly the one who manipulated him long ago. “I want my calling to be you! Ugh!”
The prince’s eyes widened as Luhan doubled over, instantly catching him. “Luhan,” he softly said, waiting for the other’s pain to pass, “You cannot change who fate decided to put you with.”
“It’s not fair!” the other breathed out, managing to look up at him, “I won’t allow this!”
“Luhan!” the queen suddenly shouted out, feeling the temperature around them start to drop several degrees, “Control yourself!”
“No!” Luhan exclaimed back, his mental state slowly deteriorating as he accidentally commanded Xiumin to drop the temperature even more, “Stop commanding me, queen!”
“Luhan!” both of the royal family shouted out, surprised. Lay winced as Luhan’s power started to spiral more out of control, causing him to breathe rapidly at the various changes in pressure around them.
The Head Guard’s mind started to unconsciously expand into all those around him, Xiumin’s mind trying to fight itself to get out of the hold he has on him while all Chen thought about trying not to hurt him like he did once before. Sehun’s mind was a flurry of thoughts he couldn’t keep up with as he continued to keep the queen preoccupied. His mind invaded Lay’s, mentally seeing and hearing the thoughts of the younger. The prince knew he was the one who killed his father.
Tears formed in Luhan’s eyes. “I’m sorry, my prince,” he mumbled out, falling to the ground in sudden exhaustion, “I made you kill your father.”
“Luhan!” the queen shouted out, eyes wide before running away from Sehun to get to him, “Stop talking this instant!”
“I will divest us of our powers,” Lay softly said, looking down at the guard, “Including the queen’s. It will be a just punishment that is irreversible.” His eyes widened when Luhan suddenly flung out at him again, moving to dodge the attack. He didn’t know how unstable his ex-boyfriend was.
“No! Get away from me!” he yelled out before doubling over again in pain, “Make the pain go away!” Lay’s eyes widened as he was suddenly flung back along with everybody else, only realizing he wasn’t hurt when a wall of water caught him and brought him in gently before bringing him back to the ground.
Sehun grunted when a hard body caught his mid-flight. He looked behind him to see Chanyeol’s caring yet tired expression looking down at him, and sighed with relief. “Why did you come out here without us?” the fire user questioned softly, wings of flames bringing them back slowly to the ground, “I’m on your side, remember?”
“You needed to rest,” Sehun easily explained, grunting again when another wave of power hit them full force. He looked over to see a crater slowly forming in the ground underneath Luhan as Tao kept Baekhyun behind him behind the gates and Suho kept up a water barrier in front of Lay. “What’s happening to him?” Tao immediately froze time within their land so their people wouldn’t see what was happening right outside their gates.
“I was afraid this was going to happen,” Chanyeol murmured before looking to Xiumin who resumed his place of fighting Chen despite being thrown off balance. “Chen!” he called out, earning a quick unidentified shout in return, “Get him back! Xiumin is trying to fight his way out!”
“I don’t know how!” the other responded back, eyes wide as he instinctively gave the other a shock large enough to knock him down to the ground. He immediately ran over to him, grabbing his face in his hands as they skidded from another wave of power. “Minseok,” he called out, placing his hand on his chest to give him another softer shock back to life, “Minseok, come back to us. Come back to me.” He grunted when they were pushed back some more. He turned around, eyes lit with a dangerous glint as he looked to his side to see Lay. “Prince!” he called out.
Lay nodded immediately, waiting for the next wave of power to pass before he ran around to try and get to Luhan. “Luhan! Calm down! Listen to me!”
“I’m done listening to everybody!” he yelled out, hands coming up to grip at his head. Suho immediately ran up behind Lay to give him some sort of protection. Luhan’s eyes were closed as he shouted out again, “Kill him, Kai!”
“No! No, Luhan!” Baekhyun suddenly shouted out in fear for D.O, running for the other as well only to get pushed back instantaneously.
“Kai, do it!” the other shouted back desperately, still trying to control the other in his head.
“Luhan!” Lay yelped out, wincing when another wave hit him and felt a couple of his ribs crack within his body, “Luhan, get a hold of yourself!”
“No! Yixing!”
Suho paused in his steps, eyes wide as he watched Lay go to him. “Yixing?” he questioned softly, immediately noticing the little shiver that ran through the healer’s body.
“Not now, Suho!” Lay yelled back hurriedly.
Tears fell freely from Luhan’s eyes, vision blurry as he saw a figure run up to him. “Kill me, Yixing. I deserve to die!”
“No! No, no, no,” the prince immediately responded back, wincing when he was pushed back a few feet again, “I forgive you, Luhan… I need you to calm down. I forgive you.”
Tao frowned as his vision was coming true.
“Call me by my name,” the guard whimpered, doubling over again, “Why won’t it stop?! Yixing! Free me!” His mind and his heart were both throbbing incredibly.
“Because Kris is dying,” Suho loudly said, grunting and falling to a knee when he felt something inside of him snap. He instantly started coughing, hand coming up to his mouth to see blood. He looked up worriedly to Lay, who looked back at him with wide eyes, before falling onto his side.
“Han!” Lay exclaimed, turning back around and feeling the slight pain inside of him, “Han! Kris is your calling! It can’t be me anymore!”
“It’s not going to be him! I don’t want it to be him!”
“Han!”
“Yixing! I only want– you–”
Lay’s eyes widened as all the waves of power suddenly ceased. The healer looked on in shock, watching as Luhan fell forward into the small crator, a piece of bone piercing his upper back.
Everybody else turned to look at the queen, who managed to stay in the same spot the whole time. Her arm stayed by her side as she staggered over to Luhan to get her forearm back. “If he’s not helpful, I’ll rid him myself,” she muttered in annoyance.
Chanyeol instantly left Sehun to go to his best friend, throwing out a wall of fire to separate the queen from him. Baekhyun ran ahead as well, commanding beams of light to fly through the area before aiming one for her. The lightning user quickly looked back down to Xiumin who started to wake and move against his hands. “Jongdae?” he questioned weakly, earning himself a tight hug that caused him to squeak in surprise.
Lay stumbled his way over to Luhan, looking back at Suho’s form for reassurance. All he saw was the other’s hand waving around drowsily throughout the air to gather all the water he could to start healing himself. “Suho,” he mumbled, flecks starting to swirl in his own eyes as the water user looked back to him in pain, “Suho.”
The water user gave him a wry smile, trying to save his life force. “Go, Yixing.”
That’s all Lay needed to run the rest of the way down to Luhan and pull the bone out to start healing him. Chanyeol and Baekhyun kept the queen busy before the former looked around her to his calling. “Do it now, Sehun!” The wind user looked at him surprised before nodding, running over close to the confused Chen and Xiumin.
“Please watch over me,” is all he mumbled to them before he kneeled on a knee behind them, tilted his head down, and closed his eyes.
Chen opened his mouth to speak only to have Xiumin sit up in a rush and create a barrier of ice when something was thrown their way. The eldest looked in panic to the younger, suddenly remembering his previous actions. “Where’s Kris?”
xxx
D.O. panted, trying to land in attacks while Kai simply teleported around him. “Jongin!” he kept calling out, wanting to bring him back, “Jongin. We are not doing this again.” He continued to talk even though he knew he wasn’t going to get an answer. “It was a draw last time.” He grunted when he was suddenly punched in the stomach. He stumbled backwards against the wall of the balcony. He looked over his shoulder to see the inviting earth meters below them.
“Jongin, come back to me.”
The earth user immediately moved out of the way, turning until he managed to pin Kai against the edge before they were both teleported away again. He grunted when he was pinned to the ground before using up more of his energy to increase his strength and flip Kai over him. “Jongin!” He quickly turned to stand back up, eyes trying to search the blank stare directed at him, “Fight Luhan! You know you can push him out!” He couldn’t even get close enough to kiss his calling.
“Kai!” came a suddenly raspy voice. D.O. whipped his head to the partly destroyed entranceway to see both Kris and the general standing there. Kai simply turned his head slowly to face them. “Don’t be stupid and kill your calling!” Kris shouted out, wincing as he stumbled forward onto his hands and knees from the pain. Kai’s father immediately bent down to help him up.
“My son,” the general tried next, eyeing the other, “Look what’s becoming of your home, of your friends. Come back.”
D.O. frowned, running forward with Kai distracted to try and take him down. He let out a choked gasp when he was suddenly flipped onto his back, Kai’s hand around his neck again. “Kai!” Kris called out, pushing his father-like figure away to run over to them, “Kai, don’t be an idiot!”
“Jongin!” the earth user gasped out, eyes widening when he realized the hand wasn’t going to stop constricting his throat any time soon, “Luhan! Get out of his mind!” He winced when they teleported again away from Kris and he was slammed back to the ground. “Ugh!”
“Kai!” Kris tried again, only to falter in his movements and fall headfirst into the ground.
“Kris!” the general shouted out in alarm, quickly running over to him only to be stopped by a kick to the stomach. He fell backwards, air suddenly knocked out of his system.
Kris grunted, a wave of pain subsiding slowly, “I’m fine!” He looked up to suddenly see waves of conflict as the brightness of Kai’s eyes started to dim in and out. He stared at him confused, gaze dropping down to D.O’s slowly moving form. He was truly strong, physically and mentally, just like his element. He looked back up to his friend, “Kai. You’re still in that thick head of yours, right?” His eyes widened as the other teleported next to him and then kicked him in the side. He was pretty sure he heard ribs cracking where he was hit. He skidded to the side for a second time that day, side hitting against the wall. “Ugh.”
“Jongin,” D.O. exhaled out, struggling to sit up. He definitely felt more bruises forming on his neck. He winced as he spoke. “Jongin. Stop it.”
“I… can’t,” Kai breathed out, causing everybody to look at him in shock.
D.O. immediately scrambled up, ignoring the pain to go around him and look him up in the eye. They’re still glowing lavender. “Jongin,” he tried again, reaching up to cup his face in his hands, “Jongin. Fight him!” His eyes filled with worry when he saw tears spring into the other’s eyes. “Jongin?”
“No,” Kai whispered, completely still as he looked straight past his calling towards Kris, “Luhan…”
“Kill him, Kai!”
He felt the sudden pain in his head, feeling Luhan suffering a mental breakdown. His hand involuntarily lifted to face Kris’ shocked face, D.O. looking up at him confused before looking behind him. He gasped when he accidentally teleported with his calling, Luhan still half controlling Kai and causing him to move his foot and kick it into Kris’ chest.
Kris gasped, heart stopping momentarily as he stared up at his friend in shock. He couldn’t breathe.
“Kai, do it!”
“Stop,” Kai mumbled, lavender glow fading as he looked down to his dying friend before it sprang back full force, “Kyungsoo.”
D.O.’s eyes widened in surprise before immediately bringing the other down to him, kissing him full on the lips. Kai tried to immediately push the elder away, glow still fading in and out of his eyes. He saw his father move towards them to try and drag Kris out of the way before he heard a scream in his head. He pushed D.O. away from him, screaming as well, as he doubled over and held onto his head.
“Jongin!” the other exclaimed, watching with wide eyes as the younger started to stumble backwards. He immediately ran up to him, putting his hands on top of the other’s to try and lift his head up. He grunted when a small wave of power suddenly hit him. “Jongin? Jongin, look at me.” Tears sprung to his eyes as more fell down Kai’s face, shaking his head insistently trying to get Luhan out.
Kai didn’t realize Luhan would be in so much pain.
“Jongin–”
“Kris is dying,” Kai’s father suddenly stated, worried gaze flitting back and forth between the two parties, “We need to get him healed before any more permanent damage happens.”
The earth user immediately nodded, looking back to Kai. “Jongin,” he softly said, lifting the other’s head up so they could face each other, “Knock him o–” His eyes widened when Kai suddenly fell forward, grunting as he caught him. He looked back to the general who looked similarly confused.
They both stared at each other for a few minutes, not knowing what just happened, before D.O. felt Kai move in his arms. He looked back down, a tear falling in relief when tired, familiar chocolate brown eyes stared back up at him. “Jongin,” he breathed out, laughing incredulously as the other chuckled back eventually.
“Hey, Soo.”
Kai’s father laughed slightly as well, watching as his son fell more onto the earth user. He let them find each other, kissing gently before he tried to help Kris up. “Great to see you’re back, son, but we need to heal him now.”
D.O. broke the kiss, affectionately rubbing his nose against Kai’s quickly before helping the younger stand up again. The latter chuckled at the odd action before his eyes darkened once more and he teleported next to his friend and father. He knelt next to Kris, placing his hand gently on his chest. “I am sorry, Kris.” He watched, as the other could do no more than twitch his lips. He frowned, looking back to the other two. “It’s either the prince or Suho, and I don’t have enough energy to go back there.”
The general frowned as well, looking to his son, “Can you get us to the infirmary?”
Kai nodded, D.O. and his father instantly reaching out to touch his shoulders as he kept his hand on Kris’ chest, before teleporting all of them into the infirmary, scaring the poor nurse working.
“General! Kai?” she immediately looked around them to see their own flight user down. Her eyes widened, “What happened to Kris?!”
The earth user bit his lip, arms instantly reaching out to catch his calling as he fell over. He let the general explain Kris’ situation as he tried to sit down with the younger leaning on him. Blood trickled down Kai’s nose as he panted softly. “Jongin,” he softly whispered, looking up when he saw another nurse hand him a tissue. He politely thanked her before trying to help Kai.
“I’m glad to see he’s back to normal,” Suho’s mother quietly commented, limping up to them with her husband right next to her, supporting her weight. They both walked up quietly before her husband went to try and help Kris to the best of his abilities. “Let me help,” she softly said, water easily enveloping her hands as she reached out to touch Kai’s neck and his arm.
Watching them, D.O. looked up to the general, wondering what was going to happen next. None of them could make it back in time before Kris suffered more irreparable damage. Kai slowly started to stir next to him again when Suho’s father spoke up. “I can’t melt it completely like Suho,” he started off slowly, hand retreating, “But even if I did, it could go into his lungs if I turn the ice to water.” He looked to the general. “He needs Xiumin.”
“But we can’t get there before anything worse happens,” D.O. suddenly stated, looking at all of them with a serious look on his face, “If Kai exerts himself more, then he’s going to have irreparable damage too.”
“I don’t know if traveling by horse is good enough though,” the general commented, worried about his son’s health as well, “It’ll shake Kris too much.”
“Let’s do it,” Kai rasped out, opening his eyes to stare at his friend’s mother, “When you’re done, mom.”
A beautiful smile blossomed on Suho’s mother’s face. Kai really was like a second child to her after his mother passed. D.O. only realized now that she was still injured, some of the blood seeping through the bandages and the shirt she was wearing. “Of course, Kai,” she whispered back, her own husband trying to re-hydrate Kris.
The earth user looked to his calling worriedly, “Kai, you don’t know what pushing past your limits will do to you.”
“If we want to save him, I need to push past my limits.” Kai moved his head to lightly nuzzle the older. “I won’t die. I’m too stupid to die.” D.O. and the rest let out a soft laugh, knowing that much was true. “Dad,” he mumbled out, shifting his gaze to the other, “The Queen of the Day came from our land. She was from here.” He took in a deep breath. “Are there any records of her family lineage or history?”
The general and parents looked at him surprised before the water users looked back at their friend, expressions of confusion on their faces. The former nodded, quickly leaving the room, “Let me go search quickly.”
The teleportation user let out a shaky breath, finally closing his eyes to try and rest a bit.
“Lu… Han…”
D.O. frowned, looking to the pained-stricken Kris. They really needed to get back soon.
xxx
“Come on, Lu,” Lay panted out, trying to heal the other to the best of his abilities, “Luhan, wake up.” Tears formed in his eyes, knowing Suho was watching him from behind, but he knew he could heal himself too. He already turned the guard over, eyes already accustomed to the overflow of blood on the other’s shirt on his chest. He looked so peaceful.
“Luhan, get up.”
Tao helped Suho up, eyeing Chen and Xiumin as they got up to protect Sehun from any stray attacks. He didn’t know what they were up to. He winced when the water user coughed up blood again. “Are you going to be okay, Suho?” he gently asked, bringing him over and down to Lay and Luhan, “What else do you want me to do?”
The other shook his head, just coughing up that he wanted to go to Lay.
The time user frowned, wondering how their queen was actually this strong. He watched as Baekhyun and Chanyeol tried to coordinate their attacks, only getting in a few hits before they had to switch up their moves to throw her off-guard. He knew their fire user was still exhausted though. He was barely able to stand on his own two feet let alone produce a flame large and hot enough to cause suitable damage.
“Luhan,” Lay softly mumbled, tears falling down as he felt the other’s life force slipping from him, “Luhan! Stay with me!” He felt a hand gently rest on his back, instantly knowing it was Suho. He expended his energy, body glowing as he tried to heal both men at the same time. He heard Suho gasp behind him before he took his hand away.
“Focus on him first, Lay.”
The prince frowned, doing as told. “Call me Yixing,” he muttered, eyes trained to the area he was still trying to close up, “Have we been called to each other?”
“Yes,” was all the other softly said, own flecks swirling as he winced when Lay shifted suddenly and the ribs in his body cracked again, “Don’t move so much.”
Lay simply nodded, tears never stopping as he moved his gaze up to Luhan’s face. He couldn’t stop the familiar feelings swelling up inside of him. “Lu,” he gently called out, moving his cleaner hand to cup the other’s face, “Hannie. Wake up. Don’t leave yet.”
Suho lightly frowned, not wanting the other in pain any more. He didn’t care if the other still had feelings for the dying user. He knew it would take time. All he wanted was for him to be truly happy.
He looked around, gaze landing on Sehun who was as still as he could be. He furrowed his brows in confusion before Chanyeol screamed, falling onto his side as the queen managed to hit him again. His eyes widened, both he and Tao looking over before hearing Chen scream Sehun’s name.
“I’m fine,” Sehun gritted out as he violently flinched to the side, trying to focus his energy back enough. He had never done anything remotely similar to what he was about to do. He had to pinpoint certain areas for his technique to work. “Chanyeol will be okay.”
Chen and Xiumin simply stared at him before they nodded, trusting him and looking back to the queen.
“Kill the strongest, and the rest will fall easily,” the queen murmured, but somehow still loud enough for Baekhyun to hear. His eyes widened.
“Is that why you made our prince kill the king?”
The queen scoffed, gaze flitting over to Luhan’s dying form. “I made Luhan manipulate my son so he could become stronger. Destroying my husband was merely an obstacle for our Head Guard.”
“What?” Lay gasped, head immediately turning to his mother.
“He was always my favorite out of all of you,” she continued on, glaring at her son, “He was the only one willing to become strong enough by doing whatever means were necessary.”
Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin’s eyes widened in shock as Suho patted Lay on the back as a sign to keep healing Luhan. “What?” the former breathed out at a complete loss.
“Luhan was willing to do anything to protect my son-”
“I am not your son, you monster. We do our jobs justly. That is what we were taught the moment we were born and taken into the castle grounds.”
The queen scowled, watching as Chanyeol tried to get up. Killing him will only strengthen her, just like killing her own calling long ago. “He was willing to kill others to become stronger. He would’ve become the strongest king this land has ever seen.”
“Then why did you kill him?!” Baekhyun yelled out, frustrated with the queen and her methods, “You even tortured D.O!”
“Because he was spiraling out of control if he couldn’t have Lay,” the queen simply said, shrugging and ignoring the second statement. She easily jumped and dodged a blast of water sent her way before throwing a small dagger at him in return. Suho immediately tried to erect a water wall only for it to be thin and to miraculously not be hit. He looked up surprised to see Tao smiling down at him before moving out of the way to pull the dagger out of his back.
“It was not deep,” Tao reassured, watching with a passive face as the queen glared back at him.
“You are not supposed to choose a side, Tao.”
“My calling is on the side of light.”
Baekhyun fought the urge to smile at the double meaning before everybody suddenly turned to see a large wisp of black smoke. His eyes widened at seeing the flight user looking pale before watching Kai fall over from exhaustion, blood dripping from his nose. He looked to D.O. who immediately caught the younger before stomping his foot to throw the queen off balance. The atmosphere was already warping since both Luhan and Kai were down.
“Lay!” D.O. suddenly called out, eyes widening as he fell to the ground at seeing Luhan’s pale state as well. He looked to Suho and Tao whose eyes widened before looking around to see where everybody else was, Baekhyun resuming his fight with the queen while Chanyeol tried to gather more strength. “Is Luhan dead?” he whispered, gaze returning to his old friend.
“No!” Lay shouted out in panic, eyes widening as he refused to let his best friend die, “He’s not dead!”
Suho frowned, trying to walk away from them to go to Kris. “Xiumin,” he gasped, falling forward only to have Tao catch him, “Xiumin, fix his heart.”
The ice user immediately snapped out of his shock, nodding and running forward to pull up Kris’ shirt. He gasped at the darkening skin there. “I did this?” he whispered in disbelief, hand gently caressing the area before his eyes glowed brighter and the ice underneath his hand immediately dissipated. He quickly leaned forward, putting his ear to the other’s chest. “He’s not breathing,” he mumbled, eyes wide with panic as his gaze shifted to the barely living Luhan, “His heart isn’t beating.” He looked at Suho with a gaze full of fear. “He isn’t alive!”
D.O looked sadly at him. Exhaustion wasn’t passed between callings but pain and life could be. He watched as Suho quickly tried to make it over to them, the queen laughing loudly in the background before Baekhyun managed to hit her. “Chen!” Xiumin suddenly exclaimed, quickly looking up to his calling, “Chen! Restart his heart!”
The lightning user immediately complied, switching places with Xiumin so he could watch Sehun. He looked down with a fearful gaze, lips instantly turning into a frown before he leaned down to listen to Kris’ heart himself. “You can restart his heart?” D.O. softly questioned, not knowing what else to do. He’s already too tired and in pain from trying to not get killed by Kai earlier.
Chen nodded, quickly leaning back on the balls of his feet and placing both of his hands on separate parts of his friend’s chest. He concentrated, eyes turning goldenrod before a minute flash occurred in his irises the moment lightning sprung from his fingertips. The earth user watched amazed as Chen instantly leaned back down again, only to curse and look up to Lay across the clearing. “Is Luhan still breathing?!”
Tao instantly turned back around to lean down close to his friend’s mouth. “No!” he called back, Lay breaking out into sobs as he was encased in a heavenly glow, “Han! Come back to us!”
The lightning user frowned, sending another shock through Kris, before simply trying to resuscitate him by pushing on his chest every few minutes after each shock for CPR.
Baekhyun panted, both he and the queen stilling as they glared at each other. “You selfish-”
“You could’ve been the next one,” the queen slowly coaxed, eyes lighting up with an idea, “Luhan was indeed the strongest out of all of you, but you hold the true power of the Land of Day.”
“Don’t you even try!” Baekhyun exclaimed, hand immediately shooting out a light beam towards the queen, “You deserve to pay for all of your faults to your land and your family!” His eyes widened when the queen suddenly threw something at him. He jumped out of the way and tried to counter it when he realized it hit Chanyeol behind him instead. He quickly looked back at him, only to suddenly feel something pierce him from the front. He slowly turned back, still in shock, as he stared straight into the bright glowing eyes of his queen.
Tao grunted in abrupt pain, outlined glowing eyes widening as he quickly looked around Lay to his calling. He eyed another piece of bone sticking out from the back of his love, another forearm. “Baekhyun!” he called out in worry, quickly getting up to go over to them. How was their queen so strong? He didn’t understand.
“Don’t get near her, Tao!” Baekhyun shouted out, grunting when she removed the bone from him. He immediately choked up a cough, blood trickling down his lip as he stumbled backwards. “How?” he questioned weakly falling to a knee, as Tao stayed put. It pierced his lung. He knew he was more important than the rest of them.
“Bone manipulation has many useful qualities,” the queen murmured, eyeing the forgotten bone near Luhan and Lay, “I can even regenerate bone if I use up enough energy.” She calmly walked up to Baekhyun, watching as he tilted his head back to look up at her. “I even have a small amount of healing powers. It is not a wonder how my son is so powerful. Combined with my past husband’s, we could do immense and wondrous healing actions.” She raised her weapon when she was close enough to Baekhyun. “Should I end you too? Lay would not be able to heal every one of you at once. It’ll save him energy in the end,” she gave Chanyeol a brief glance, “Not even our mighty Phoenix has enough energy to heal himself completely by now.”
Baekhyun frowned, trying to put pressure on his wound as his eyes glowed brighter, a brilliant veil of light shooting out around him and covering him in a golden glow, rays of light bouncing off of him. “I am just as strong as the rest of them, queen,” he rasped out, coughing suddenly before glaring up at her, “My power can easily kill you if you’re from the Land of–” He wheezed, the queen slapping his face hard causing it to bleed, as he tried to keep his balance.
Chanyeol grunted, eyeing the queen warily as he ignored the knife in his side and stood up, directing the attention to himself. He glared at the queen when he caught her gaze. “Kill the strongest, and the rest will fall easily, hmm?” he questioned tauntingly. He looked back to his calling before shifting his gaze to D.O. who immediately placed a groggy Kai on the ground and stood up in front of him. They ignored the sudden wave of power over the area, not taking the time to figure out where it was coming from. “Sehun?” he called out, causing Xiumin to move out of the way in confusion, “Are you ready?”
D.O. and Xiumin looked back to the wind user just as Chen used a larger voltage on Kris. “I am, Chanyeol,” Sehun murmured, barely audible even in the stillness of everything around them.
The other smirked, looking back to the queen. “D.O. Provide protection.” The queen raised a curious brow as wings of fire expanded one last time and he flew towards them. “Queen,” he muttered, watching as her eyes widened while she tried to attack him, only to miss and watch as Chanyeol wrapped Baekhyun securely in his arms and an earth box covered each of all the soldiers and warriors in the area except Sehun, “You have yet to kill our strongest.”
a/n: wow. late warning. this is the second to last chapter. the next chapter is the end, but i might do an epilogue depending on comments and everything. (i probably will regardless .___.) i can't believe this story is almost over too ;-; but i'm pretty sure you'd agree with me that it's kinda slow paced already and everything... anyways. it was a lovely story, and i'm proud of it :) this is how i basically pictured everyone's powers and the extents. which is surprising since this just showed today on the overdose showcase. [here]
this is also in commemoration of exo's comeback showcase today! dear god, someone call the freaking doctor.
for those interested, i also have a oneshot in the works (proofreading and everything rn) that is sulay and is actually based off the first teaser picture of lay for overdose. [here]
this is for those layhan/kaisoo fans that i will work on getting out soon (it's a oneshot as well. it will be similar to this story in that they can feel each other's pains) [here]
until the last chapter (which won't take too long, i promise. at the latest, when exo's physical/electronic album drops.)
xoxo, -catalyst (ree)
(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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