-Arc 21-

"Have you seen Gyu hyung? Is he not coming tonight?" Sungjong asked as he flatten the wrinkles in his suit.  Tonight was the night of the Harvest Moon  Festival Dances, but Sungjong knew he was probably not going to have fun.  He needed to be on alert, knowing Beast were probably going to attack tonight, thanks to Jiae's warning.

"I'm not sure, he has been acting extra strange lately and has been going to the council more often than normal.  So do you think something is wrong?" Sungyeol asked.

"How am I supposed to know. I'm the maknae, no one tells me anything. Have you seen Dongwoo hyung?"

"He is helping with the dance set up. That hyung never says know when to say no when someone asks him for help."  Hoya sighed, Dongwoo was to nice for his own good. He always helped someone in need despite how he may feel about the task at hand. 

"I thought he was noona's date?"

"He wanted to be, but Jihoon insisted on being Seomin's date." Hoya crossed his arms as he walked into the room, dresses in a purple suit.

"Don't tell me you are wearing that?" Sungjong asked as he studied Hoya's appearance.

"What's wrong with me wanting to wear a purple suit?"

 "Nothing!" Sungjong lied, not caring is tattoo was stinging.  He could not tell Hoya the truth, that he has no fashion sense.  "I still cannot believe Dongwoo aloud that to happen. Not after he tried to harm her." 

"Why is that bastard her date!" Sungyeol asked. 

"Because his family used to guard the Song family and he feels obligated to protect her tonight. Even though he promised not to hurt the Song sisters anymore, I still do not trust him." Hoya sighed, "I have a bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen tonight." 

"I have that same feeling." Sungjong sighed. "We should get going…" 

 "What about L?" Sungyeol asked.

 "He already left with Eunnie." Sungjong sighed.

 "Wait, L asked Eunmi?" Sungyeol eyes widened.  That kid was smooth and Sungyeol wondered when he asked her.

 "Yes, he asked her.  Do you have a problem with L hyung asking Eunmi to the dance?" Sungjong questioned.

 "No." Sungyeol lied.

 "Sure you don't. I see the way you look at her." Sungjong rolled his eyes as he followed Hoya out of their dorm.

"I don't look at her any different. Stop making things up Jongbie. Hey wait for me." Sungyeol ran after Hoya and Sungjong.

---

"Are you sure you want to be a guard duty tonight? Why don't you enjoy yourself for once, Sunggyu." Tablo sighed as he looked at his best student.

"I am better off keeping a distance, watching from the shadows. After finding out who I truly am, I do not want to be around people when I don't even know who the real me is anymore."  

"Sunggyu, you need to stop doing this to yourself.  Your brothers seem worried about you."

"They are better off keeping their distance from me. They will only get hurt if they knew the truth. I do not want harm to come to them because of my linage." Sunggyu bit his lip, "I should be the one worrying, not them."

"Sunggyu…"

"We should be patrolling the area." Sunggyu was about to walk away, but Tablo caught his arm.

"Hey kid, will you listen to someone for once. You're behavior is becoming reckless lately and you need to start focusing on what is important.  You're linage does not change the person you are. It does not change the job you have to do."

"But it changes the safety of the people I care about." Sunggyu shrugged Tablo's hand off his shoulder.  "I am sorry for being a bit reckless lately, but there is a lot going on, hyung.  My priority right now is protecting Seomin and Eunmi, even if it means avoiding them, by remaining in the shadows."

"Sunggyu…" Tablo called for the young man again, but it was too late.  He was already gone.  

---

"You're worried about him!" Jihoon asked as he lead Seomin into the gardens where the Harvest Festival Dance was being held.  She watched as other students mingled with each other and danced under the sunset.

"Is it that obvious?"

"A little, but I don't blame you.  He has been acting odd lately. Have you two not trained in awhile?"

"No, every time I ask him if he wants to, he tells me he is busy and cannot help.  He seems distracted by something, so I stopped asking." Seomin bit her lip, "Hoya has been helping me with my training.  I have improved a bit."

"That's odd, he wanted to be the one who train you since he doesn't trust others."  Jihoon crossed his arms and looked at the girl.  "This is worrisome and he is not even here tonight."

"He's here, but in the shadows, watching everyone."

"Does that guy have any fun?" 

"He probably has a lot on his mind.  He is a mystery to me, and has so many layers to him."

"You like him don't you?" Jihoon asked.

"I find him interesting."

"Sure, keep making that excuse."  Jihoon smiled as he looked at the Princess.  "Don't lock away your feelings, you highness, it is dangerous and the bad guys can use your feelings against you if they find out."

"I will try to be careful, but it seems like danger always finds me." 

"If it does I am here to protect you!" Jihoon sighed, "Would you like me to get you something to drink?" 

"Water's fine…"

"Are you sure just water?" Jihoon asked, normally students went for the punch because someone has spiked it with soju.

"Just water!" Seomin sighed as she watched Jihoon walk towards the refreshment table. Seomin just stood there, people watching. She could tell he fellow students were having a good time.  They did not need to worry about having the whole alchemy council safety rest on their shoulders.  

Seomin sighed deeply and heard some strange music and started to walk in the direction of the eerie sound. Her mind went blank as she started to walk towards the mysterious sound, into the hedge maze. 

---

"Are you ready?" Myungsoo asked as he looked at Eunmi.  She looked so pretty tonight, and he was glad she wore the black dress he picked out. He watched Eunmi nod and he sighed, "Everything is going to be alright." 

"How can you be so sure. I have this strange feeling that something bad is going to happen."  

Myungsoo stopped and looked at Eunmi, "If something happens, we are here to protect you."

"I know, but this feeling I am getting, it worries me." 

"What are you feeling?" Myungsoo asked as they walked towards the gardens together.

"Something ominous"

---

What is that girl doing ?

Sunggyu sighed as he followed her, but still remained distant as she walked through the hedge maze.  That is when he noticed her eyes were glazed over, almost like she was in some sort of trance.  "!"

Sunggyu tried to hurry towards her, but something stopped him, a force field was preventing him from getting to Seomin.  Why was she always being target?  Eunmi has only been attacked twice, not that he wanted Seomin's sister to be targeted. He just found it strange that the eldest sister has been attacked six time by multiple people.  "Seomin!" Sunggyu shouted her name, but she ignored him. "SEO…" Sunggyu felt a hand on his shoulder and roughly turn him around. He was staring into the eyes of Yoon Doojoon. "YOU!"

"Hello to you to Sunggyu. You are as pleasant as ever." Doojoon smirked.

"How the hell did you get in here."  Sunggyu could feel the anger building up inside of him.

"Easily…" Doojoon smirked as a familiar looking  girl appeared behind Doojoon.

"Hello oppa!"

"Serri? You let them in?" Sunggyu was not surprised. He never trusted the girl; there was always something off about her.

"I did, and this is not the first time I let them in." Serri smirked as she looked at Sunggyu.  "I have been working for Beast as in insider for years, trying to dig up information about the royals.  We knew they were somewhere, but when Seomin and Eunmi  made their appearance here, I knew the others were close by."

"And who do you think the others are?"  Sunggyu asked out of curiosity.

"Like I am going to tell you! You never noticed me anyway. Your focus was always somewhere else."

"Because I have no time for selfish girls like you!" Sunggyu spoke coldly.  "I would advise you to release me, Doojoon."

"I cannot do that." Doojoon smirked as he tried to tighten his hold on Sunggyu, but something was off.

"Then I will make you!" Sunggyu said as his eyes to a silvery-blue color.   The wind started to gust around them.

"My assumptions were correct you really are from one of the six royal families. I should have known, since you are able to harness so much power."

"Do you think I care your assumptions were correct." Sunggyu pushed him back, using the wind element. "I don't care if you know either! My identity was probably going to be discovered soon anyway."

"Didn't you just discover it yourself oppa!"

"That does not concern you!"  Sunggyu yelled. 

"You have always concerned me oppa.  I have always been interested in you, but you constantly rejected me.  At first I thought you were just shy because you were always nice to me and helped me in my time of need, but when I tried to make a move on you, it was ignored.  When she showed up, all your attention went to her, and I could tell instantly, you had an attraction to her."

"It doesn’t matter that I am attracted to her.  My main concern is keeping her safe and away from people like you."

"So you do like her?"

"…" Sunggyu glared at her.  He needed to get to Seomin, but he could not allow Serri to get away with what she has done.

"I think I got my answer, Oppa." Serri smirked. "Doojoon oppa, let's go." Serri turned from Sunggyu and walked over to the man laying in the grass.  "We do not need to be here when the Homunculus is doing our dirty work."

"What about him?"

"It will be to late by the time he gets to the Princess.  Her life energy is being drained as we speak.  She will soon be nothing but a corpse."  Serri smirked as she disappears with Doojoon.

Sunggyu's fist clenched. He needed to get to Seomin before it was too late. Sunggyu did not want to lose someone he cares about, not again.

---

The Homunculus smirked as Seomin appeared in front of him, vines grew from the ground and wrapped around her slowly. He was happy that he was getting the change to meet her again.  "This time you will not escape princess. This time I will be able to feed on your energy and gift it to the Great beast ."

The Homunculus held up his hand with the pentagram on it and was about to drain Seomin's energy when she snapped out of the trance.  "Welcome Princess to your timely end."

"Do you really think I am going to lose so easily this time?"

"No, that is why I had to lure you with the unsound."

"The unsound?"

"It is something that cannot be heard by most humans and alchemist, only special people can hear it." The Homunculus said as he placed a hand on Seomin's cheek,  "I wish I did not have to hurt such a pretty creature." He said as he leaned closer to her face.  "I would not mind toying with you a bit before stealing your energy."

"I see, but do you really think you are going to keep me confined this time?"

"I have taken special precautions.  I know you will not be easy this time, you have been training." He said as he leaned closer to Seomin's lips.

"Your precautions are useless."

"Are they?" He asked Seomin as he continued to lean closer to her lips.  When he was centimeters away he noticed a change in her eyes.   He pulled away and noticed that behind her was a dragon, made of flames.

---

"Eunmi is something wrong?" Myungsoo asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Eunmi…"

Eunmi grabbed onto Myungsoo's jacket.  "L-ah, my sister, I think she is in danger.  I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel her fear."

Myungsoo played his hands on her shoulder. "I will look into it." Myungsoo looked around and spotted Sungjong on the dance floor dancing.  He sighed deeply and spotted Sungyeol sitting at a table, alone, staring everyone down.  Myungsoo knew he was not in a good mood, but he was one of the few people he trusted to protest Eunmi.

Myungsoo bit his lip and grabbed onto Eunmi's wrist, dragging her towards her towards Sungyeol. 

"What do you need?" Sungyeol asked.

"Protect Eunmi for me, I need to find Dongwoo hyung." 

"Why can't you take her with you?"

"Why can't I go with you to see Dongwoo oppa? It's my sister that is in danger! I should be with you when…!"  Eunmi asked but forgot what she was going to say moments later.  Myungsoo placed his hands on her cheeks.

"I know you want to help, but I will not be able to live with myself if anything happened to you." Myungsoo bit his lip, "These feelings if fear may be a way to lead you into danger. Please stay with Sungyeol, I will feel better if I know you are safe."

"Myungsoo…"

Myungsoo leaned forward, kissing her forehead before disappearing into the crowd.

"Sungyeol…"

"Yes, Princess?"

"Will everything be alright? Will my sister be safe?"

"I'm sure she is fine!" Sungyeol walked over to Eunmi, pulling her into a hug. He knew she was upset, and wanted to do everything he can to protect her.  "My brothers and I are always here to protect you!"

Myungsoo but his lip and made his way over to Dongwoo.  He was talking with Woohyun and Hoya. "Hyung…"

"L, what's wrong?"

"Eunmi told me something that is unsettling, something about her sister."  Myungsoo bit his lip. "She said…"

"Have you seen Seomin around?" Jihoon asked as he ran over to them.

"Aren't you her date?" Woohyun asked, "Shouldn’t you know where she is?"

 "I was getting Princess Seomin a drink, but when I returned to where I left her she was gone." Jihoon panicked.

 "Eunmi must be right then…her sister, she is in danger." Myungsoo looked at his brothers.  His eyes widened when he looked towards the hedge maze. "Did you see that?"

"See…" Woohyun looked in the direction Myungsoo was looking and sighed, "Hey kid, don't go in there alone." Woohyun chased after Myungsoo and the others followed.

---

Seomin started to run once she broke free from the vines, after the flamed dragon appeared.  She needed to find her way out of this maze, back to safety, but Seomin could not remember the way. 

What am I going to do?

I'm so scared.

Seomin was not watching where she was going and tripped over a branch.  She was about to get up when a vine wrapped around her ankle.

"Do you really think you could get away from me Princess.  There is no escape, you're mine."  He said as he held up his hand with the pentagram symbol, Seomin could feel her energy being drained from her. 

"Let her go!" 

"You're highness, you decided to join us.  This is going to be fun, I get two royals in one.  Too bad the little sister is not here, I would have hit the jackpot if that happened.  I can steal both your life energy for the great beast."

"Highness?" Seomin looked at Sunggyu. Was he royalty?

"You won't succeed." Sunggyu said as he blasted the Homunculus back, away from Seomin. He was about to attack the horrible creature again, but it disappeared.  Sunggyu sighed and hurried over to Seomin, kneeling in front of her. "Seomin."

"Sunggyu…" She lifted her hand and gripped onto his cloak. "How did you…"

"I was patrolling the area and saw you walking through the maze. When I saw the look in your eyes, I knew you were in a trance. Does anything hurt?" Sunggyu asked as he watched Seomin just stare at the necklace that was hanging around his neck. She reached for the necklace, but Sunggyu caught her wrist before she could touch it.

"So it's true…" Seomin bit her lip. "What the Homunculus said! Are you really apart of one of the royal families?"

"It's true…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I only found out recently. My memories of that day are slowly returning. Not everything is clear to me yet." Sunggyu looked at Seomin and released her wrist and placed a hand on her cheek.  She looked worn out, and it worried him. He already knew she was going to deny being in pain.

"Do the others know?"

"No, I do not plan on telling them."

"Sunggyu, you should not keep this a secret from them! If you continue to lie to them you will always be in pain."

"For now, I have to." Sunggyu sighed as he leaned closer to her, studying her appearance. She looks pretty tonight, Seomin was always pretty, but tonight she looked extra pretty.  Sunggyu wanted to know how her lips would feel against his.

"Hyung!" Myungsoo shouted as he hurried over to them with Dongwoo, Hoya, and Jihoon hurried towards them.

Sunggyu sighed as he removed his hand from Seomin's cheek and tuck his necklace under his shirt.  "Do you think you can stand?" Sunggyu asked and Seomin shook her head, yes. 

Sunggyu rose to his feet and held out a hand for Seomin to take.  Once Seomin was standing, dizziness took over and she fell into Sunggyu's arms. "You're not alright?"

"I was trying to be strong!" Seomin whispered to Sunggyu as she leaned her head against his chest.

"Hyung, what happened?" Dongwoo asked.

"I need you to inform a professor and tell them that there was a traitor and they need to investigate her friends. Someone needs to go to the council and inform father about what happened here tonight." Sunggyu ordered as he lifted Seomin into his arms.

"What happened?" Hoya asked, as he arrived a few moments after Myungsoo, Woohyun, and Dongwoo.

"Serri is working for Beast and she let them in with the Homunculus."

 "Why can't you talk to him!" Woohyun asked.

 "I'm busy!" Sunggyu said before vanishing with Seomin in his arms.

 "Aish that hyung!" Myungsoo ran his hand through his hair. "Does he think we do not know that he has been avoiding us!"

 "It's because he is keeping something from you!" Jihoon said as he looked at the three members of Infinite.

 "Do you know something?"

 "No, but I know when someone is lying." Jihoon sighed.  "Plus he probably wants to be alone with Princess Seomin."

 "What are you talking about?"

 "Don't tell me you haven't seen it?

 "Seen what?" Dongwoo asked.

 Jihoon rolled his eyes,  "We should inform the professor's what occurred tonight. That is what is important right now."

 ---

"You should not have left like that?" Seomin sighed as she looked at Sunggyu.  She was sitting on the bed in the infirmary. Everyone was at the dance, even the nurses.  Seomin watched as Sunggyu went through the cabinet.  "Sunggyu, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Sunggyu sighed as he finally found the ointment and bandages.  "Do you think you can hide your sprain ankle from me?" Sunggyu kneeled down in front of her and took off the heel that was on her injured ankle.  He was happy that she had a high-low gown on.  He would not have to move her dress out of the way. 

Seomin sighed, "Do I have to get hurt for you not to avoid me."

"I have not been avoiding you." Sunggyu said as he finished wrapping her ankle. "And don't hurt yourself just because you want to see me!"

"Who would want to see an idiot who is lying to his brothers and himself!" Seomin crossed her arms.  

"Don't call me an idiot!" Sunggyu rose to his feet and was about to walk away from Seomin,  but she grabbed onto his wrist, pulling him towards her.

"I will since you are acting like one!  I know finding out that you are royalty is hard, but like you said to me before…" Seomin froze when Sunggyu leaned close to her face again.  "Sunggyu what are you doing!"

"Don't tell me how I should feel." Sunggyu spoke coldly. "If I do not want to tell my brothers about my linage, that is up to me, not you." Sunggyu moved away from Seomin and sighed. 

"Why did I even I worry about you if you are going to act like this towards me. Are we even friends?"

Sunggyu turned his head and looked at Seomin. The are we even friends comment struck a chord with him.  Was he being too harsh?

"If this is your way of keeping me safe, I don't like it.  You promised to train me, but you haven't bothered to help me train for about a month.  When I try to talk to you Sunggyu, you tell me your busy. Do you hate me?"

Sunggyu sighed and made his way back over to the girl.

"What am I doing…."

Sunggyu cupped her face, "You are not doing anything wrong, Seomin.  I am sorry I have been ignoring you, but…"

"But what?"

"I do not want harm to come to you because of me. I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"  

"Letting my feelings for you getting in the way." 

an - Hi everyone, Sorry for another late update. I have been really busy lately and have not been able to write as much.  This is part one of the Harvest Festival Dance.  Part 2 is coming soon, will Yeollie be able to protect Eunnie from harm or will something terrible happen? ENJOY