[bəʊn]

any pieces of hard whitish tissue making up the skeleton in humans and other vertebrates

The bone is a mixture of carbonated hydroxyapatite and collagen. It is lightweight, sturdy, strong, well structured and renewable. The perfect naturally occurring resource.

If not for the pain.

At that moment, he felt as though he knew all too well how a mother would feel as she enveloped her arms around her new child. It was like drinking water after an endless thirst, the relief after months of painful longing. In Donghae's case, There was also an undertone of resentment and grief for this child was not his, no. It was akin to an adoptive child. Of course, it would still be loved as unconditionally as though it were his own, but he would never experience the wonder of actually bringing it to life.

Because someone else had stolen that privilege from him.

Donghae marveled as he ran his palm smoothly over the arc of its neck; feeling the silky curve of its feathers. Jungsu quivered beneath his touch and nibbled at his ear affectionately. And that was when Donghae felt it.

The faintest of sensations. It was a little puff of air against his cheek like a kiss from a little child. That was the moment he realised just how real and alive Jungsu was. Donghae threw his arms around the duck and pressed his face against its plush chest; hearing the strong thrum of its heart and the faint warmth that radiated through.

He felt like sobbing from both grief and delight. For the loss of a child he was to have and the gaining of one he had helped create. Those two Jungsus were completely separate from one another and to think that he would never again see the old Jungsu made his chest hurt in such an unimaginable way.

"I'm sorry." He choked as he held the duck closer, just remembering himself and how Donghae had sprinted across the field; recalling the man's expression fade from delight to confusion as he threw himself, not into the other's arms, but to the duck at his feet. "I know it's rude to have ignored you but I couldn't help myself- I couldn't stop- I couldn't belie-"

"It's alright, Donghae." The man's voice was rather soft and pleasant and he towered above them, his face silhouetted by the sun, "Don't worry, I understand. It's just like every other time." He gave a bitter laugh and crossed his arms. "You never do remember, do you?"

"I thought I lost you." He mumbled to Jungsu, giggling softly as he felt the vibrations against his cheek with each loud quack the latter huffed out. "I thought I'd never see you again."

After several more minutes of coddling, Donghae finally forces his gaze away from Jungsu and looked up at the man still standing above them. The ends of his cape were trailing amongst the flowers and wild growth and the soft sunlight made his face appear to glow. He had been staring at Donghae the whole time; an expression so intent and focused that Donghae wondered how he could have missed the heat of his gaze on him.

"Was it you?"

"Was what me?" The man brushed his blonde hair from his eyes and Donghae caught the faintest hint of vanilla and hyacinths with the action.

"You were the one who brought Jungsu to life?" Donghae scooped the bird into his arms; now clearly feeling the difference in the warmth and quiet stirring, "Only the greatest wizards could do that. I thought only my brother had mastered the spell, but here I find that you've done it as well."

"I didn't do that." The man flicked his head to the side and his hair drifted back over his eyes. He tucked it back behind his ears in annoyance, "That was entirely your own magic."

Donghae stared in affront. "No it wasn't!" He protested loudly, "I can hardly do any magic, let alone to this advanced stage. In fact, I'm not even sure that I could cast any spells at all! Apparently all the magic I've performed wasn't actually my own and I'm about to go crazy trying to figure out exactly who or what I am."

"It was." The man contradicted, "Just because you don't believe it doesn't change the fact that you were the one who breathed life into this duck."

Donghae breathed in heavy pants, still reeling from his outburst and scowled at the man who looked back at him mildly. "This is a cruel joke! I've spent my whole life unable to do anything of significance with my magic and now, you're telling me that I could do this kind of spell? I'll never be able to reach this stage in my who-"

"Then why did you put so much effort into making him?" He interrupted. "If you really believed that you couldn't do it, you would never have begun this project. You knew." He reached out his hand and pulled Donghae to his feet; Jungsu hooting in surprise as he was dropped to the ground, "You knew that you could do this."

"I can't." Donghae knew he was being stubborn, but he simply couldn't believe that he had cast a spell of this magnitude and not have even realised it. "It's probably cast by that dark aura Suzy told me about. That's not my own magic."

The man shot him a slightly frustrated glance and showed him his hands, palms facing upwards. Just as Donghae was about to ask what of it he was supposed to impressed by, the man clasped his hands together tightly and Donghae felt as though the ground had shifted beneath him though his sight showed that nothing had changed.

"What just-"

His eyes widened as the man flung his arms apart; a sudden red haze filtering through their surroundings as though he was looking through a tinted lens. He could only see his surroundings in tints and shades of red. His skin seemed to blaze as well and just as he was about to turn to the man to beg him to take them back to whatever universe they had come from. To take him anywhere but here, he caught sight of his own outstretched arm and screamed in horror.

His arm was blue and as his gaze shifted lower, he could see that his whole body glowed with the hue; lines of bright electric blue tracing his veins like a highway. It glowed dimly and he could barely see the end of his nose shining with that same colour as he crossed his eyes. Jungsu squatted in a particularly thick patch of grass, glowing in the same electric hue with vivid blue mapping out the lines of his veins as though Donghae were looking through his own skin and bone.

"Do you see now?" The man's voice was in his ear; the scorching heat brushing his cheek but Donghae couldn't find the will in him to jerk backwards. Instead, he leaned closer like a moth draws close to an open fire. "The very essence of your magic runs through that duck's veins. Each spell caster has his own aura and yours has imbued your doll so completely, the question of its creator is not debatable."

"You can tell?" Donghae asked quietly, though he knew the answer in his mind now. It was irrefutable information. Jungsu was his.

"I can."

The red light suddenly flickered away and Donghae blinked at all the green around them. He turned around to see the man quivering as he clenched his fist; mild burns colouring his fist an angry red. His brows were drawn together and as he slowly shook the sleeve of his cape over the wound, his eyes met Donghae's. They were burning red like the heart of a fire and Donghae found his mouth go dry as they faded to a simmering glow and back to a familiar glassy darkness.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." The man said shortly and though Donghae felt as though he were being lied to, he didn't press the matter, "I'm fine."

The rest of the day was spent in the most relaxing manner that Donghae could hardly remember what troubles had faced him before his arrival to this place. The man (Eunhyuk, Donghae had discovered, was his name) showed him around the place which seemed to stretch on for an eternity. He had revealed to him a narrow rocky path on which they could walk instead of having to trudge through the tall grass but Donghae had insisted on straying from the path; running cheerfully like he never had before as Jiyong had forbidden it in fear that Donghae would trip over.

Eunhyuk had laughed as he watched the brunette leaping through the greenery with Jungsu waddling and flapping after him, but they later found themselves accidentally rolling down a particularly steep hill together. Donghae had been so enthra