Before We Begin: Um...here? It's not the wedding, but it's the day before.

T-minus 24 hours:

From the outside, the Northern Palace looked as peaceful – if a little beaten and scarred – as it would on any other day of the year. Light still glittered off its tall spires, sending rainbows into Port Flake to cheer up the residents and light their days. People still milled about its large frontal courtyard, many of them taking notes for necessary repairs.

Inside the Northern Palace, however, it was anything but peaceful.

Servants, guests, and other officials breezed the halls of the palace, each with their own agendas that seemed to always outweigh the next person they spoke to. More than once had Kris and Tora been called to disputes among two or more parties, the pair of them having attended the same dispute on a few occasions as well. Sehun and Kai were co-ordinating the outdoor decoration in a smaller secluded courtyard that was big enough to fit in all their friends and the representatives from the other kingdoms and counties that had expressed a desire to attend. Luhan had spent the majority of the day in his room being measured and re-measured by a well-meaning sewing lady who had a terrible case of bad memory.

And Minseok?

“I’m sorry Minseok, but this is not a decision that you have to make. The declaration will be made shortly after you are announced as married to Luhan.”

Minseok was having his world crumble around him thanks to the High Guardian.

The Northern Prince gaped at Suho, disbelief seeming to ignite his entire being. Suho had taken him aside for a little while to tell him something important, but he hadn’t expected it to be heartwrenching and painful for all parties involved. He averted his eyes to the ground, finding words to travel from his shorted out brain to his open mouth. None decided to want to go there.

“I am sorry Minseok,” Suho reached out to place his hand on the Northern Prince’s shoulder, “but it is written in their Attachment.” Minseok twisted away from the High Guardian.

“You can’t do that. Not to me, not to them. I refuse to lose them.” He flicked his head up again, a tiny blizzard enveloping his body in affirmation of his anger.

Suho sighed. “Would you really forfeit your own happiness in favour of keeping your Guardians?” he asked.

“Kris and Tora are more than my Guardians! They are my family, and you cannot make me choose to let them go! If it comes down to it, I won’t marry Luhan. He’ll-”

“Gladly allow his Guardians to bear responsibility of you as well. But once you and Luhan become official, Kris and Tora’s Attachment with you becomes void. They will not be your Guardians anymore.” Suho swept from the room with a stony face, leaving Minseok to fall to his knees despondent and betrayed. Angry frozen tear drops plinked to the floor as he pounded the ground with his fists, feeling the need to beat something and pretend it was the High Guardian’s face. His ire faded after he’d bloodied his fists well, and it was Kyungsoo who found the weary Northern Prince still on his knees long after Suho had left.

“What have you done to yourself?” Clicking his tongue, the Southern Prince helped his Northern counterpart to his feet and into the closest washroom so he could treat the scrapes properly. Minseok remained silent as Kyungsoo dabbed at his wounds with a wet cloth, his eyes averted to the opposite side of the washroom. The Southern Prince pursed his lips as he finished cleaning Minseok’s knuckles, picking up a small bottle of a pale brown tonic that was used to sterilise the wounds to prevent infection.

“Am I allowed to guess what’s got you this way, or will you tell me?” he asked, unmoving when the Northern Prince flinched as the tonic stung his open skin.

“Once I’m married Kris and Tora aren’t my Guardians anymore.” Minseok finally heaved out. The hand dabbing tonic on his knuckles stilled, Kyungsoo’s eyes having widened further than what they were when they were resting. His mouth had fallen open, and it reminded Minseok a little of a wide-mouthed owl.

“What? How-”

“It’s in their Attachment, apparently. Once Luhan and I become official, their contract is voided and they’re out of work.” The Southern Prince slowly returned to patching up the Northern Prince’s hands, his mind turning as he swallowed what he was told. Suho couldn’t do that to the Northern trio. They needed each other; they depended on each other. They couldn’t live without each other, if the events during the siege were anything to go by. There had to be a loophole somewhere that would allow them to remain together. Suho was just a bastard for telling Minseok that only one day before the biggest day of his life.

A lightbulb went off in his head. “Do you keep the Attachment?” he asked.

“I suppose it’d be in the Vault. It was made when I was a baby though, so I don’t know if-” Minseok started to reply, only to be cut off by Kyungsoo grabbing his wrist and dragging him from the washroom.

“We are going to your Vault and you will look at that Attachment.” he declared, marching through the gathered servants with a practised force. Minseok merely followed along, slightly hollow inside but willing to see what the Southern Prince’s idea was.

-

Ripples flew down the backs of the Dragon and the Serpent, a sign that someone was talking about them. Kris looked over at Tora, who had paused in her search for her ceremonial robes and looked over at him as well. They blinked at each other briefly before Suho entered their room, the stony expression he had on when he left Minseok still in place.

“What did you do?” asked the Dragon. Suho remained silent, but Tora was adept at reading body language.

“You didn’t…” she said softly.

“I did what I had to do.” Suho stated plainly. There was a roar, and Kris found himself restraining the Serpent from not only transforming but killing the High Guardian. He was furious too but not as furious as his partner, clearly.

“You told him about the Attachment!?” Tora snarled, her arms pinwheeling as she made scratching motions, “You’ve decided to tell Minseok today, of all days, to tell him that we’re not going to be his Guardians anymore once he’s married?!”

“Would you have him find out just after he’s officially married?” Suho asked calmly, unfazed by the Serpent’s outburst. Tora could feel the scale mask on her face beginning to spread, so she took several deep breaths to compose herself.

“You had plenty of time between ending the siege and tomorrow to tell him, yet you chose to tell him today. You will be at fault for the atmosphere tomorrow, and no one else.” With an angry flick of orange and black hair, the Serpent buried herself in the wardrobe to continue to look for her ceremonial robes. Kris turned a look on the High Guardian, who still hadn’t dropped the emotionless façade.

“Why didn’t you tell him sooner?” he asked. Suho remained silent, which told the Dragon more than any amount of words could. The High Guardian swept from the room in the same manner as he swept away from Minseok, leaving Kris to tend to an angry Serpent, “What will we do now?” There was silence from the wardrobe for a long time, before a heavy sigh permeated the air.

“Let’s take tomorrow as it comes and see what happens. Nothing will be able to prepare us for the Detachment.” Tora finally replied, “Can you please come here and hug me?” Kris was all too happy to oblige.

-

Kyungsoo stared up at the intricately carved stone door beset with a large obsidian lock in its centre that marked the entrance to the Vault of the Northern Provinces. Six torches – three on each side – lit up the door, many more lining the corridor that led to it. The carvings depicted the movement of magic through the air as it surrounded everything that was present – people, animals, nature itself. He glanced over at Minseok, who was staring at the lock with a determination he hadn’t seen since the siege.

“Do you know how to open it?” he asked. The Northern Prince nodded quietly and raised his hand, conjuring a single icicle. Once it was complete it was thrown into the keyhole of the lock, a loud clicking sound signalling its opening.

“My father built the lock that seals this place long before I was born. He used magic to seal it tight, and he finalised the seal with some of his own blood. All I had to do was use some of my blood to counter the seal.” Kyungsoo looked down at Minseok’s hands, one of which had been unwrapped for the purpose of opening his father’s lock. The stone lock fell to the ground with a loud CLUNK, the door creaking with decades of no use as it fell into the hole below the ground that caged it. Both princes stepped over the threshold into the Northern Vault as soon as the door was gone, Kyungsoo whistling in appreciation of the interior. It was all plush blue and white to reflect the Northern Provinces, scrolls and books and other important valuables stashed in an order that only Minseok seemed to understand. The Northern Prince persued the many shelves of the Vault, reading the titles he found to find the Attachment.

“Found it!” he cried out, pulling a dusty scroll from its place on the shelf, “It’s sealed with my seal – well, the seal of the Northern Provinces, anyway.” He pointed out the snowflake design pressed into the wax.

“Can you open it?” Kyungsoo felt a wave of nervousness wash over him. Attachments were often sealed with powerful magic, so he didn’t know what was going to happen if Minseok opened his.

“It’s my Attachment, so I should be able to.” The Northern Prince pressed a single digit to the centre of the snowflake in the wax, which crumbled from his touch. The two princes watched as the scroll unfurled itself in Minseok’s hands, the ink on the parchment as fresh as it was when it was first written. However, there were large gaping holes in the Attachment at crucial points, as if waiting for someone to fill them in with a careful hand. Kyungsoo read over the information that was written on the parchment, making mental notes of important points within the binding document. Minseok read it over too, his eyes drinking in every word that his father had penned. Both of them looked at each other when they had finished reading.

“I know how you can keep your Guardians.” the Southern Prince declared.

Author's Note: I'M SORRY FOR ANY FEELS I MAY HAVE INDUCED!!!

-GuardianOfTheDawn :'3