Fearless, Like the Stars (Chp 6/6 + Epilogue)
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Chapter 6 “Libera te Tutemet Ex Inferis”
- Inscribed on the walls of Carcere, translated to ‘Save yourself from hell’
Baekhyun coughed, trying not to inhale the dust from the fallen debris and rocks that surrounded him.
When he had woken up, he had been surrounded in pitch darkness. He had tried to search for the lightstone that he had been carrying earlier, fumbling and crawling in the dark, fingers brushing against the rough, rocky surface - but he could not find it.
In despair, he had sat back down on the ground. He didn’t know where to go, which direction he had to go. Without any light, he was lost.
“Be fearless be fearless don’t be afraid,” Baekhyun muttered to himself. “Come on Baekhyun, think of the light, don’t think of the dark, don’t think of things in the dark oh shit it’s still dark--” His fingers scrabbled against the rough surface in panic as he closed his eyes and pressed back against the wall, trying to stay calm.
He breathed in deeply, before exhaling slowly. Repeating this a few more times, it took him a while before his heart stopped pounding and trying to leap out of his throat.
He cracked open one eye, and found that he was still surrounded by pitch-black. Wrinkling his nose, he closed his eyes, even though the act was probably pointless, and tried to push down his rising panic again.
“Think, you dumb moron,” he said to himself. He had lost his lightstone, and his lamp had accidentally been left back at home, but he could figure something out. He thought of his lightstones, and the way they had lit up when he had held them the first time.
Could he do it again? He remembered telling Minseok - when he had asked Baekhyun how he had made them - that it was a family secret, but the truth was that he didn’t know. He knew that his grandfather could form tiny spheres of light in the air. It was a trick that he had shown Baekhyun when he was younger, but no matter how hard Baekhyun had tried, he couldn’t do what his grandfather did. The only time he could make something that resembled the light tricks were when he held onto something, like a rock--
A rock. Baekhyun wanted to slap himself on the head. How could he be so dumb? He was surrounded by rocks! He slowly crouched, one hand still pressed against the walls, and reached out with the other hand to feel his way around on the ground.
His fingers soon found something. It felt like a small pebble, no bigger than his thumb - but it would do for now. He held it in his hands, and took a deep breath, his fingers slowly stroking the surface, as he tried to concentrate. He thought of light. He thought of the lights that his grandfather had formed, the bright spheres that had circled him. He thought of how it had felt, warm against his fingers when he had reached out to touch one of the spheres.
Baekhyun thought of light. Nothing but light. He could sense something at the edge of his mind - a faint pulse, so faint that he had to strain to reach for it, stretching until he felt the pebble growing warm under his fingertips.
He opened his eyes to find that it was glowing.
Baekhyun almost let out a shout of elation. He had done it! He could see the wall next to him now, and the ground that he was crouching on. It wasn’t much, since the source of light was so small compared to what he was used to working with, but it gave him enough confidence to get to his feet and look for a way out. Using the newly formed lightstone, Baekhyun made his way through the tunnel, occasionally reaching out with his hand to touch the walls for assurance that it was still there.
After what felt like hours of walking, he could hear voices echoing from the distance. His ears perked up. He must have doubled back somehow and found himself in one of the older tunnels that wound back into the colony.
A soft laugh drifted down the tunnel. Baekhyun’s heart lifted. It had to be it. The colony.
Baekhyun could see the faint glow far ahead. He felt a sense of elation. There it was, his way out. He exhaled in relief. He was going to see Minseok, and talk to him. He would demand for Minseok to tell him the truth about everything, and then he would see if it was worth forgiving the other man.
And then Baekhyun would kiss him, and tell Minseok that he loved him.
Inspired by this and the eagerness to see Minseok, Baekhyun increased his pace, heading towards the faint light. It began to grow larger and larger, and he could see the opening up ahead, and then--
Baekhyun stumbled into the unfamiliar room and found himself standing face-to-face with a man he had never seen before.
* * *
Minseok leaned back against the wall, watching the way the flame flickered inside the lamp.
It had been some time since they had found the lightstone. With Lu Han’s help, they had managed to move some of the stones blocking the way into the tunnel Baekhyun had gone into, leaving a gap large enough for them to squeeze through.
Joonmyun had nearly fainted at the sight of Lu Han lifting the stones with nothing more than a flick of his hands. It had taken Minseok some time to explain telekinesis to him. In the end, there had been no choice but to reveal everything to Joonmyun: Minseok’s past along with the reason he had ended up on the planet.
The colony leader had kept quiet the entire time Minseok was talking. Only after Minseok was done, Joonmyun had glanced at Lu Han, who nodded, confirming that Minseok had been telling the truth. Joonmyun had let out a resigned sigh. “Had you told me that the first time we met, I wouldn’t have let you stayed,” he had admitted to Minseok. “But now, I’m glad you didn’t.” He had patted Minseok on the shoulder. “I know Baekhyun cares for you, and you do for him. We’ll find him.” Minseok had nodded, feeling a sense of relief that Joonmyun hadn’t been too angry.
They had walked deeper and deeper into the tunnel, looking for Baekhyun, or a sign that he had been there. Lu Han insisted that he had been there; he could sense his ability, having recently been used, lingering in the air. That had brought about another round of questioning from Minseok: how was it possible for Baekhyun to show traces of an ability that only existed in planets far beyond Earth?
Lu Han had no answer for him, which frustrated Minseok even further.
They were forced to take a break after a while. Joonmyun had had the foresight to bring a waterskin, and they stopped to rest, passing the pouch around and taking sips from it.
Minseok blamed himself. He should have gone after Baekhyun earlier. Instead, he had allowed himself to be distracted by Lu Han’s sudden appearance. Worse, they had lost even more precious hours after that by waiting at home, when they should have been out looking for Baekhyun. When Minseok should have been out, looking for him.
“Minseok,” Lu Han asked, in a low voice. Minseok looked at him. “What you said earlier. Are you’re really serious about staying here?”
“Yes.”
Lu Han hesitated, and then added, “What if we don’t find him? What would you do then?”
“We’ll find him,” Minseok said firmly. He had to find Baekhyun, to apologize, to explain everything to him.
So he could tell him Baekhyun that he loved him.
Lu Han’s intentions were genuine, and Minseok knew that he was worried for him as his friend, but Minseok wasn’t ready to accept that he would give up. “We should keep moving,” he said abruptly, before getting to his feet.
The others traded glances before following suit.
Lu Han fell into step next to Minseok. “I should apologize,” he said softly.
Minseok sighed. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You wouldn’t have come to a decision like this lightly. A person might change over the years, but that doesn’t change who they are inside. Especially the determination they have for someone they love.” Lu Han let out a quiet chuckle. “Besides, I should have known that you’d fall for a pretty face in the end.”
Letting a small smile form on his lips, Minseok elbowed Lu Han slightly. “Better than that tentacled Kandoran you thought was your soulmate, at least.”
“I thought that was her hair,” Lu Han protested. “How was I supposed to know those were tentacles?”
Behind them, Minseok could hear Joonmyun’s frantic whisper of Tentacles?? at Jongdae, and tried not to laugh.
After walking for some time, Lu Han started talking again. “I’ve been thinking about it, trying to figure it out. No one’s been sent to Earth from Xeia in centuries,” Lu Han remarked. “It seemed strange that they would send you here when they had the new maximum security prison on Mars.”
“Not so strange,” Minseok murmured. “Senator Yang requested for me to be transferred to the Earth prison.” The senator had been Woojin’s father. He had made no secret of his hatred for Minseok after Woojin’s death.
“I heard the same thing too. But it still made no sense, until I dug around, and found out that there was no prison here. There hasn’t been any for almost a decade.” Lu Han snorted. “Another one of the Tribunal’s secrets.”
Minseok frowned. “Then what was the purpose of sending us here? I wasn’t the only other prisoner on board. There must have been close to a dozen more.”
“Fifteen prisoners,” Lu Han corrected. “All bound for Mars. Only two of you were to be sent to Earth, however. You and another Adept.”
“Another Adept?” Minseok’s ears pricked up at this. “There was another Adept?”
Lu Han nodded. “He was banished from Xeia. Same conditions as yours.” He gave Minseok a strange look. “Do you remember seeing him on the transport? He was in the Academy with us. The one that was caught for killing his oath-brother last year.”
Minseok stopped, suddenly. “Wait. What was his name?” He remembered something, at the edge of his memory. A soft laugh while he had been on the prison transport from Xeia, drifting from the cell next to his between murmured conversations. Which would have not been unusual, except there was only one person inside that cell.
It was also the same laugh he had heard before the ground had opened up under his feet, sending him into the tunnels the first time.
Lu Han’s brow furrowed, as if he was trying to recall the name. “Kyungsoo,” he said, finally. “It was Kyungsoo.”
* * *
“Hello,” the man said pleasantly. “My name is Kyungsoo.” He tilted his head. “What’s yours?”
“Uh, urm. It’s Baekhyun,” Baekhyun answered hesitantly.
“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo repeated, smiling. There was something strange about his smile, but Baekhyun couldn’t quite place what it was. “Hello, Baekhyun. Where did you come from?”
“I--I came through the tunnels,” Baekhyun replied. “Wh--where is this place?”
“This?” Kyungsoo looked around him, and then dropped his gaze back towards Baekhyun. “This is my home, of course.” The smile widened. “Do you like it?”
The light here was dim, but there was enough for Baekhyun to see parts of the room, if not all of it. The room they were in was empty, save for a few upturned chairs and broken tables. Rusting metal boxes lay in one corner, and in another, an odd lump of clothes were stacked on top of one another.
“It’s… cozy.” There didn’t seem to be anyone else around. It was too quiet.
“It can get a little lonely.” Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun. He still hadn’t stopped smiling even once. “Do you like games, Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun almost said yes, but he stopped short. There was something about the man’s expression that made him rethink his words, and he slowly took a step back, warily. “Uh, no.”
“Why not?” Kyungsoo asked, taking a step forward. “I like games. They’re fun to play.” Kyungsoo frowned. “Problem is, no one ever wants to play with me.”
“I’m--I’m sure they do.” Baekhyun swallowed. Something was very, very wrong here. “I, ah, I’m bad at games. You wouldn’t want to play with me.” He took another step back, and almost stumbled backwards when his foot landed on something wobbly.
He glanced down to see what he had stepped on, and sucked his breath in sharply.
It was a severed arm. He stared at it in horror. The stink of rotting flesh filled his nose, and he backed away, nearly throwing up.
“I asked them,” Kyungsoo said sadly, pointing at the pile of clothes. Suddenly, they didn’t look like clothes anymore. Baekhyun felt his stomach coiling from revulsion. “I asked them, and they said no, and then they tried to hit me.” He looked at Baekhyun. “You’re not going try to hit me, are you?
“N-no.” Baekhyun’s heart was beating loudly in his ears, and he could feel the sweat that was beginning to pool around his neck. “I won’t... I won’t do that.”
“Good.” Kyungsoo stopped advancing on Baekhyun, and the smile grew wider. “So let’s play a game. Do you want to hear the rules?”
Baekhyun nodded quickly. He could feel his stomach coil from revulsion.
“They’re very simple. All you have to do is to tell me where the Adept is.”
“The what?” Baekhyun blinked in confusion. “I--I don’t know what you mean.”
The smile wavered. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you to never lie?”
Baekhyun felt his chest ache at the mention of his parents. “I’m not lying--”
“Yes, you are.” The pleasant smile was gone, replaced by a snarling face. “You’ve been lying to me since you walked in here, and you’re LYING TO ME NOW--”
Kyungsoo stopped talking. The room was shaking, the ground shifting beneath them. Baekhyun tried not to whimper. He had never been so confused and frightened in his life, but something told him that if he moved now, he would not survive.
Suddenly, everything was calm again. Baekhyun watched as Kyungsoo took a deep breath, before turning his attention back to Baekhyun. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his voice hushed. “Sometimes I get a little... angry.” He let out a sigh. “I don’t like being angry, to be honest.” He started to shake his head, clutching his arms with his hands and swaying his body from side to side. “Kangwoo used to make me angry, but he was supposed to be my brother. Aren’t brothers supposed to make you happy?” He looked straight at Baekhyun. “Do you have a brother, Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun swallowed, shaking his quickly. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
“That’s too bad. Brothers are fun. Kangwoo was fun, but he was always too busy to play games. That made me angry.” Kyungsoo straightened up, and his face brightened up, as if he had an idea. “Let’s play a game.” He took a few steps backward. “I’ll count to five, and you can try to hide. And then I’ll try to find you.” The pleasant smile returned to his face, and now Baekhyun could clearly see the madness behind them. “One…two…”
Baekhyun turn and ran.
* * *
Carcere had been a building once. It had been shaped like a knife, sticking out of the ground - or so they said. Not that Joonmyun had ever seen it - but he had heard the stories.
Right now, as he walked through the dimly lit hallways of Carcere, he wondered about those stories. It didn’t look like a knife - at least from the inside - but a very densely packed series of rooms. There was no one here, which he had expected, since the last earthquake had destroyed and killed almost everyone in the place. Those who had escaped were consumed by the poisonous vapours emitting from the moat which surrounded the colony, according to the rumors.
Here and there, the skeletal remains of its past occupants lay scattered across the floor. Whether they had been picked apart by scavengers or the passage of time, Joonmyun could not tell. Beyond the corridor, the doors were missing from the doorway.
They stepped through it, and found themselves in a large area. Here, it looked as if there had been signs of recent activity. Footprints and scuffled marks were spread across the dusty ground. A table, with traces of food on it. A chair, in the middle of the room, set on top of a platform or some sort, covered in metal-like vines.
“This doesn’t look like a colony,” he heard Lu Han mutter to Minseok. “This looks like someone’s turned it into his own playroom here.” He pointed at where there were strange lumps littered across the ground, covered in bright-orange cloth. “I think we’ve found the missing prisoners.”
It took Joonmyun a moment to realize that they were once bodies.
He turned and vomited. The sight of those people, their headless bodies torn apart, lingered in his mind, and he heaved again. He could hear Jongdae next to him, whispering and rubbing his back soothingly, while Joonmyun continued throwing up the contents of his stomach.
When he finally calmed down, he took a deep, ragged breath. He still felt sick, but there was nothing left for him to throw up anymore. His hands shaking, he lifted his hand to wipe at his mouth, but Jongdae was there, with a napkin that he had pulled out of his knapsack, and he was wiping traces of vomit from Joonmyun’s mouth, the gesture almost tender.
“Are you alright?” Jongdae asked when he was done. His hands were now cupping the sides of Joonmyun’s face.
Joonmyun nodded, and Jongdae exhaled in relief. He didn’t move his hands.
Behind them, Minseok cleared his throat, and Joonmyun jumped, startled. He realized that Minseok was giving him and Jongdae a knowing look, and he flushed, taking a step back.
Joonmyun took a deep breath. “What--what could have caused this?” he asked Minseok. “This is beyond anything I’ve seen.”
“Kyungsoo,” Minseok said. Joonmyun blinked at him in confusion. “Fifth Ranked Adept. His ability was abnormal strength.”
“S-strength?” Joonmyun asked.
“He could lift anything that was at least ten times his weight, and he could crush stone with his bare hands. But he was never violent, not that I remembered at the Academy. He was just a very quiet kid.”
“He kept to himself a lot while the other trainees taunted him or avoided him,” Lu Han added. “His oath-brother was just as quiet as he was. I remembered that he would always hide behind Kyungsoo when they were heading to classes.” He looked thoughtful. “Strange. I used to think that it was Kyungsoo who overprotective of him.”
Minseok grimaced. “Except that last year they found his oath-brother torn from limb to limb in his home. They arrested Kyungsoo soon after.”
Joonmyun’s face was pale, even under the dim light from the lamps. “Why would he do such a horrible thing?”
Lu Han shook his head. “I don’t know. They held him in a rehabilitation centre spaceside for close to a year before he ended up being transferred. His records showed that he was polite and friendly to everyone at first, although he kept quiet most of the time. Until he started hearing voices.”
“Voices?” Jongdae asked, standing next to Joonmyun. “What do you mean?”
“No one understood what he was saying at first, but soon it became clear that he was having conversations. Arguments, with someone he knew - even though there was no one there. It took them a while to recognize who he thought he was talking to.“ Lu Han paused, looking straight at Joonmyun. “It was his oath-brother, Kangwoo, that he had murdered--”
A high-pitched yell interrupted him, echoing through the corridors and hallways within the abandoned prison, filling up the room they were in.
A second later, the ceiling fell on top of them.
* * *
Baekhyun’s yell echoed all around him, bouncing off the walls and filling the hallway that he had ended up in as he staggered back in shock, his hand flying up to his face to where the rock had struck him, while the other hand was held outwards in front of him, the dim glow from the lightstone beginning to fade.
The ground was shaking again. This time, it felt worse than before, as he took a step back, until he found himself pressed against the bars that had blocked his way. He could feel the cold seeping through from the metal bars.
Up ahead, there was a slight movement from within the shadows, followed by the quiet crunch of rocks underfoot as the figure moved closer towards him.
“Rabbit, little rabbit, see how they hop. See how they run.” The voice came from the darkness, singing softly. “Rabbits are cute, don’t you think? But they can never run fast enough.” Another stone came hurtling from the shadows, striking the bars above Baekhyun’s head. He flinched, trembling.
“I’m not a rabbit,” Baekhyun told him. “Please, just let me go,” he begged.
“But we were having so much fun,” the voice told him. “Don’t you like this game? We can play another.” A low chuckled drifted from him, the sound wrapping itself around Baekhyun oppressively. “Kangwoo didn’t like rabbits.” A sigh. “He didn’t like anything. He just liked his books. Only books, you see. Do you like books?”
“N-no.”
“That’s good. Or not. Reading is good. I like to read too. Did you know that if you pull a rabbit’s leg off, it screams exactly like a person?” Kyungsoo’s face came into view as he took another step closer towards Baekhyun, illuminated by the dying lamp that hung overhead. “But I’ve always wondered why if you pull a person’s leg off, they don’t scream like a rabbit.”
Baekhyun felt the cold hand of terror gripping his chest.
Kyungsoo smiled. The light flickered, and the flame went out.
* * *
Jongdae ran through the corridors, sidestepping the debris and broken stones that lay scattered on the ground. The sudden tremor that had shaken the prison had caused the old structure to destabilize, and the ceiling in the room they were in had given way. Had Lu Han not leapt in and used his abilities to create some sort of invisible barrier that protected them from crumbling stones, they would have been buried beneath the debris.
Ahead of him, he could see Minseok picking up speed as the gap between them widened. Lu Han ran next to him, matching his pace easily. Jongdae had heard of Adepts and their remarkable abilities, but he had never met one. No wonder Minseok’s injuries had healed fast, thanks to the change in their metabolism rates that allowed them to withstand the change in their body chemistry to allow the ability to manifest.
He shook his head, and pushed himself to catch up. He would study the concept later, now that he had met Minseok and Lu Han. After they find Baekhyun. If they found him. From all accounts, it seemed that they were up against a violent psychopath.
Suddenly Lu Han slowed down, halting when he came to the end of the corridor, the others following suit. A small opening was visible along one of the walls, and as Jongdae watched, Lu Han held his hand up, tilting his head to one side as his face furrowed in concentration. “He went through this way,” he said, turning towards them. “I can sense him, but he’s not alone. There’s another person, someone else with an ability.”
Minseok said nothing, but his face was drawn up in determination as he nodded, crouching in front of the opening. He took a deep breath, and crawled into the space, followed by Lu Han and Joonmyun. A moment later, Jongdae went through the hole.
He found himself in another darkened corridor. Minseok held up one of the lamps, and he could see that it was a narrow space that ran through a cellblock. The metal bars that lined the cells were twisted, rusted, and there were bones scattered around in some of them. He looked away, shuddering.
Suddenly, a low chuckle echoed all them, and Jongdae looked up to see Lu Han’s gaze sharpen. He traded glances with Minseok, and they began moving towards the sound in determination.
Jongdae kicked against something, and let out a yelp in surprise before he clamped his mouth shut again as Minseok whirled around to glare at him. But it was too late.
A new voice filled up the corridor. “New friends?” A soft laugh. “Are you looking for a little rabbit?” Another laugh, and Jongdae took a step back, fearfully. “Do you like to play games?”
“No games, Kyungsoo,” Minseok’s voice was firm. “Where’s Baekhyun?”
“Minseok?” Jongdae heard. “Minseok, what are you doing here, you shouldn’t be here, this guy is crazy--”
“Don’t call me that!” Jongdae almost dropped the lantern, his ears hurting from Kyungsoo’s shout. Rage trembled in his voice. “I’m not-- I’m not crazy. I’M NOT CRAZY--” The walls shook, followed by the tearing, shrieking sound of metal.
“Get down!” Lu Han shouted just as Joonmyun pulled Jongdae out of the way, a second before before something came hurtling from the shadows, flying through the space before crashing into one of the cells behind them. He landed on his sides, half sprawled across Joonmyun. He scrambled to his feet, noticing that Minseok and Lu Han had landed on the ground across from them. Their lamps had fallen, and one had been extinguished.
Someone came running out towards them. In the light that still remained, Jongdae saw that it was Baekhyun, and he fell on top of Minseok, clutching his arms.
“Minseok, oh gods, oh shit, it’s really you,” he babbled, as Minseok held onto him. “We have to go, we have to get out now before he comes--”
A loud snarl of rage interrupted him, followed by the sound of another cell door being ripped off. Lu Han raised his hands to create another barrier-- but before he could, a loud boom echoed through the corridor as the place shook again. A horrible noise began to fill the air and to Jongdae’s horror, he realized that a jagged line had appeared on the ground towards them.
“Run!” came Lu Han’s shout, as Minseok shoved Baekhyun off him and yanked him to his feet. Jongdae reached out to grab Joonmyun, but he was no longer next to him.
“Joonmyun?” he called out, and then saw that the other man was staggering towards the shadows, towards the direction where Baekhyun had came from. “No, Joonmyun don’t go there--”
“Just go!” Joonmyun shouted back. “I’ll distract him, but you just get everyone to safety!” He was about to turn around when something struck him.
Joonmyun crashed against the wall, before crumpling down onto the ground.
“Joonmyun!” Jongdae’s feet stumbled over each other as he ran towards Joonmyun, gathering him up in his arms. “Shit, shit, wake up, Joonmyun, wake up!” He could feel the steady pulse of Joonmyun’s heartbeat against his chest, but it was weak. Blood trickled from his head, running across his forehead.
Jongdae looked up and saw that Kyungsoo was standing where Joonmyun had been struck. He was looking at them in amusement, the same way one would look at a group of children playing.
Feeling a cold simmering rage that he had never felt before, Jongdae took a deep breath, exhaling as he looked at the others. Minseok and Baekhyun were next to him, having run over to join Jongdae. Lu Han stood over them, his hand still held out as he faced the shadows, where Kyungsoo was hidden within.
“You have to take Joonmyun back,” he said. “All of you have to go back, and warn the colonists. Make sure they’re safe.” He looked down at Joonmyun. “And make sure he’s safe.
“But Jongdae--” He ignored their protests. He picked up the lamp that he had been using to get through the tunnels. The flame danced merrily inside the shutters. He stood up, turning around to face Kyungsoo.
“Just go,” he whispered, and set off in a dead run, the lamp swinging in his grip as he went straight for Kyungsoo. At the last second, his instincts kicked in, all those years of sneaking into government hospitals and labs to steal their secrets, and he skidded to a near stop and flung the lamp into Kyungsoo’s face.
The lamp exploded as Kyungsoo shrieked in pain.
Jongdae covered his face with his arms to keep the glass from falling onto it, before looking up to see if he had been successful. To his dismay, he saw that there had been no damage, except for a burnt mark on his jaw. The rest of his face was intact, untouched by the flames from the lamp that were beginning to die down.
Kyungsoo looked down at him, and shook his head. Jongdae tried to back away, but Kyungsoo’s hand shot out, gripping his ankle. He tried to kick at the other man, but all he received for his efforts was a strong squeeze that made him cry out.
When he caught his breath again, blinking through the tears of pain that had filled his eyes, he saw that Kyungsoo had both hands on Jongdae’s leg now. His lips curved maliciously, as his grip tightened. “Do you want to play a game?”
He twisted his arms.
The scream left Jongdae’s throat as the searing, tearing pain ripped through him.
* * *
Minseok was surrounded by chaos.
Jongdae was on the ground clutching the stump that had been once his leg, crying out in agony. Next to him, Lu Han had his hands full, trying to keep the barrier up, protecting them as Kyungsoo ripped out the wall and sent large chunks of it hurtling towards the group. Minseok watched helplessly as Lu Han tried deflecting a few of the stones back towards Kyungsoo, but he was no match for the man’s brute strength and speed. Minseok could see that he was beginning to weaken.
“What do we do, Minseok?” Baekhyun whispered. “We can’t just leave them here.” His face was tear-stricken, covered in dust and sweat. There was a cut on his cheek, the blood having dried up now.
Minseok shook his head. He wished that he had his ability now. He wished that he could feel the cold ice, and use it to overpower Kyungsoo. He curled his fingers into a tight fist, closing his eyes. Lu Han had said that it was there. Lu Han, as an empath, could feel his abilities. Minseok believed him. He believed that it was there, that just he had to draw it back out again, except he didn’t know how.
The burning cold hit him suddenly, and he sucked his breath in sharply. It was not the same cold that he had grown up recognizing as his ability, but something else. He could feel it against his skin, against his chest, the heat and ice burning a brand onto his skin--
Minseok reached up instinctively, and grabbed the charm that his sister had given him.
The charm flared to life. His mouth hung open in shock as he felt his ability flowing back into him. Somehow it had been with him all along, hidden in his sister’s charm. He breathed, letting the cold fill his lungs, the sweet breath of life that he had missed.
Frost began to form on the ground and walls around them. The air grew cold. Beside him, he heard Baekhyun gasp. Minseok turned to look at him.
“Your--your eyes,” Baekhyun whispered. “They’re completely white.”
White, like frost. Minseok smiled in relief. He had his ability back.
“If you’re done showing off,” Lu Han called out loudly, as he deflected another stone, “I could do with a little help here!”
Minseok concentrated. It came to him easily, the ice, before spreading out across the ground towards Kyungsoo. He watched as the ice grew and shaped itself into vines that wrapped itself around Kyungsoo’s ankles, binding him to the ground.
He breathed, and the air around Kyungsoo turned colder. Minseok could see Kyungsoo’s eyes widening, his movements beginning to slow down as icy numbness settled into his skin, sinking into his muscles. Kyungsoo’s hand shook as he tried to reach for another stone; it fell from his grip onto the ground.
Minseok raised his hand, intending to create a wall of ice around Kyungsoo to trap him. He could feel his ability begin to waver - it had been too long, and he felt out of sync, but he tried anyway. The veins on his hands stood out against his skin, specks of ice and snow forming across them as he struggled to build the block.
Kyungsoo himself fared no better. He was growing weak, Minseok could see. His movements were slower and sluggish, and he was panting visibly as he struggled against the ice that bound his feet.
Just a little more, Minseok told himself. He could do this, he could finish this off--
With a snarl of rage, Kyungsoo broke free of the ice. Before Minseok could react, he had lifted his foot up, and slammed it onto the ground, causing it to tremble. Minseok stumbled, the hold he had on his ability slipping.
Kyungsoo stomped again. Minseok lost his balance and fell. Next to him Lu Han was struggling to hold up the barrier.
Another stomp. Lu Han fell, letting out a cry of pain as he landed on his knees.
Kyungsoo kept walking towards them. Each step brought another round of tremors that shook the place, keeping them off-balance and unable to focus on their abilities. Minseok tried to send another vein of ice towards Kyungsoo again, but he was prepared for it, and lifted his foot to crush the vines.
Strong fingers wrapped around his throat, pulling him to up his knees. He tried to speak, but his words were caught in his throat. He was choking. Memories of Woojin as he choked Minseok came unbidden to his mind. Of Woojin laughing as he pulled his ability out of him.
Memories of his sister, lying on the hospital bed, drained of her ability.
“You should have been dead,” Kyungsoo hissed at him. “They promised me freedom. Find you, they said. Destroy you. Instead, you survived the transport crash. And then you survived the fall in the cave.” He grabbed Minseok’s head with the other hand, Minseok struggled to pull them away, to bat them away, but it was no use.
“No more running, Adept. This time, you’ll be dead.”
“NO!”
* * *
“NO!” Baekhyun shouted just as Kyungsoo lifted Minseok’s body, his arms tensing, as if he were ready to tear him apart. He moved without thinking, flinging his hand outwards towards their direction, shouting on the top of his voice. “Minseok!”
Light burst from his hand in a single stream, hitting Kyungsoo right in the chest.
Shocked by the sudden attack, Kyungsoo dropped Minseok back onto the ground. He tried to brush the light away, but Baekhyun held on, sending all of it towards him. He thought of how Kyungsoo had threatened to hurt them, had threatened him. Of how he had hurt Joonmyun and Jongdae, and tried to kill Minseok.
Minseok. He loved Minseok, and he’d be damned if he let Minseok be harmed by anyone as long as he lived.
“You wanted to play, didn’t you?” Baekhyun said to Kyungsoo, whose face was covered in spider-like veins of light now, the lines glowing red like embers from burning coal. He took another step forward, his hand still held in front of him, relentlessly sending all the hate and anger and fear that he had felt into the beam. “Then let’s play a game. My rules.” Another step. His powers were singing to him now, elated at being brought forth after being held back for so long. “It’s your turn to run.”
Kyungsoo did not run. He did not even scream. He looked at Baekhyun, his eyes wide open in terror for the first time since Baekhyun had met him, and his mouth hung open, without a sound. The glowing veins on his skin began to expand, just as the beam of light faded.
Baekhyun fell to his knees, his legs weak. He watched as the light grew and grew, surrounded Kyungsoo, the veins pulsing angrily against his skin. Kyungsoo stood there, his eyes no longer there, his face frozen in agony - and, as Baekhyun watched, his body disintegrated, vanishing into the air and leaving behind nothing.
Baekhyun would have felt relief, except that something strange was happening to him now. He could feel his hands trembling, and he looked down to see that the glowing veins had begun to fade, growing dimmer and then flaring up again. He couldn’t breathe. He could hear Minseok calling him, calling his name, but he couldn’t answer. It felt like everything was building up slowly and spilling out of him, and the heat was growing more and more and it was getting brighter, too bright and it hurt--
Minseok, he whispered, Help me.
“Damn it, Baekhyun, don’t you dare die on me!” Icy fingers wrapped around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. He could feel ice on his skin, the frost covering his entire body and sinking into the veins, melting against the heat that was threatening to burst out of him. He struggled against it, against the pain, but Minseok didn’t let go of him. Minseok wouldn’t let go; he kept his hands firm on Baekhyun, containing the searing heat with the cold as the light began to waver and grow dimmer - until it disappeared from Baekhyun’s arms and hands.
Once his vision cleared, he saw Minseok, his eyes completely white and his hair covered in frost as he held Baekhyun in his arms.
He watched as the frost began to fade, the milky white slipping away from his eyes to return to normal, and Minseok, his Minseok, was in front of him once more, and alive.
He saw Minseok open his mouth, looking as if he was about to chastise Baekhyun, probably for risking his life to save Minseok, for trying to go up against a crazy psychopath on his own, or for even running off in the first place and forcing him to go chasing after Baekhyun--
Baekhyun reached up to tug Minseok down towards him, kissing him - and resolved to never let him go ever again.
* * *
The silence stretched, filling up the entire hall.
“It is done then.” It was a question, rather than a statement.
Lu Han bowed his head in assent. “Yes, Eminence.”
“Good.” The third voice sounded satisfied. “Xeia will no longer need to fear such madness again.”
“For now,” the first voice cut in, coldly. “But you have done well, Captain. The Tribunal is grateful.”
“Gratitude is merely putting it mildly.” A fourth figure stepped up onto the dais. “Had the Captain not brought proof to the Tribunal’s attention of stolen abilities being sold to the rebels, Xeia would have had another full-scale war on its hands.” It turned its gaze towards Lu Han, although he could not see a face within the shadowed cowl. “There is nothing to be gained from it.”
“Agreed.” There was a fifth figure standing there now. “You may leave now, Captain. The Hall has ended.”
Lu Han bowed, holding his pose for several seconds, before straightening up. “With your permission, Eminence.” He kept his movements stiff and measured as he stepped away from the Hall, even though he felt his insides wobbling around.
Once the doors had swung shut behind him, Lu Han exhaled slowly. He could feel relief in his bones. It had been the most harrowing experience of his life to date, to stand there in front of the Tribunal, informing them of what had happened on the planet.
All was well that ended well, he supposed. He had used his old Academy connections to dig out more information on Woojin’s illegal activities. Finding the proof he needed took some careful maneuvering, but once he had it, he had gone straight to the Tribunal with his findings. On top of that, he had found out that Woojin’s father, Senator Yang, had been the one to make arrangements for Kyungsoo to be sent to Earth on the same transport as Minseok to kill him. It felt like irony, hearing that the Senator had sought some form of petty revenge for the death of his son who had been a criminal anyway. When Lu Han had shown the evidence to the Tribunal, along with the vast amounts of payments the Senator had made to the prison authorities, Senator Yang had been arrested.
As for Kyungsoo, however, there had been nothing left of him. He had been completely vaporized by Baekhyun, barely even leaving behind a speck of dust.
Lu Han had been right about Baekhyun’s ability, which had lain dormant, hints of it trickling to the surface sparingly. Minseok had recovered, and so had his ability. Lu Han’s theory was that Minseok’s psyche had sought to protect itself from being separated from him, and it had reacted to Woojin’s transference by retreating as deeply as it could within Minseok, lying dormant within his sister’s charm until Baekhyun’s pendant had triggered it awake.
The pendant was a magnet for their abilities. It had drawn Minseok’s power out from the charm, and later on, from within Baekhyun, allowing him to defeat Kyungsoo. Lu Han had been ready to bring it back to the ship to study it, curious to understand how it worked - but Minseok had been firm in his refusal.
Lu Han made a face at the painting of the first Five that had formed the Tribunal, placed on the wall in front of him. So much for friendship and being ‘oath-brothers’ for life, he grumbled to himself, if Minseok couldn’t even lend him his pretty pendant for a few hours...
“One moment, Captain.”
Lu Han froze in his tracks, recognizing it as the same emotionless voice that had been spoken up in the Hall; the figure that had looked straight at him as it spoke.
He turned around slowly. The cowled figure stood a few feet away. It moved, taking the few remaining steps to reach Lu Han, almost gliding across the marble floors. Its robes rippled around it, the waves of cloth seemingly alive, even though Lu Han could feel no wind against his skin, no breeze to cause them to move. He could feel his heart pounding at the unnatural sight, and he held his breath.
It stopped in front of Lu Han, raising its arms to push back its hood to reveal its face - and Lu Han found himself looking back at the pleasant, smiling face of an older gentleman.
The man’s hair was white, so white that it seemed to glow slightly in the evening light that trickled through the glass ceilings of the citadel. His hair was tied back neatly behind his head. His eyes, previously colorless, had faded back to their original dark hues, and now they were trained on Lu Han, studying him.
“Venerable Lord,” Lu Han greeted respectfully, bowing low. “I did not expect you to leave the Tribunal chambers so soon.” He found that he could breathe again; his heartbeat was still pounding madly, however.
“And miss exchanging a few words with a member of my family, whom I have not seen in years? Even the most soulless member of the Tribunal would be hard-pressed to deny such an opportunity,” the elderly man replied in a normal voice. His eyes were filled with something resembling amusement. “How’s the family?”
“From her last missive, Mother is planning another successful charity event and Father is in the midst of expanding the army,” Lu Han replied automatically.
The hand that gripped his shoulder was firm, but gentle. “Han. I asked how they were - not a member of the Tribunal - but as your great-grandfather.”
Lu Han dropped his gaze to the floor, feeling somewhat chastised. He felt uncertain of how to respond to familiar manner from his great-grandfather. The last time he had spoken to the old man, Lu Han had been a wide-eyed gullible trainee in his first year at the Academy. That had been a long time ago.
“They--they are well,” he replied somewhat awkwardly. “Although Father feels that I should not have involved myself in Xeian affairs. On top of that, he’s not too pleased to find out about my other ability.” That was putting it mildly. His father had been livid to find that his own son was an empath, and it was only when his mother stepped in that he had calmed down.
For the sake of appearances, however, he issued a command to Lu Han to keep his additional ability quiet. It would not do for their citizens to find out what he was while the law against empaths still existed. He had also demanded for Lu Han to return home to his duties.
Lu Zhao sighed heavily. “I had hoped that he would have changed his mind once I had asked for you to be sent to the Academy instead of being placed with the other empaths.” He eyed Lu Han, who was a spitting image of his younger self. “Walk with me for a little while. I would like to hear more of your adventures.”
A familiar shiver ran across Lu Han’s skin, and he could feel it as his great-grandfather wove a sound barrier around them. It was subtle enough that anyone else but Lu Han would have missed it, having not been trained to recognize the signs.
He fell into step, his hands held behind his back. They must have made for an interesting sight, walking side by side - Lu Han thought - the dark robes of the Tribunal member a stark contrast against his mercenary gear.
“I heard about your recounting of the incidents on Earth,” Lu Zhao said casually. “A rather interesting turn of events, discovering the lost piece of our history beneath the mountains. The government is in an state of apoplexy over the news. Seems that you’ve a knack for causing quite a stir lately.”
Lu Han winced. “It was not my intention.”
His great-grandfather waved his apologies away. “It is Xeia that must decide on the outcome. The Tribunal, however, will place sanctions to keep anyone from entering Earth’s vicinity for a while, until the decisions are made final.” He shook his head. “It will take some time, but I fear we will have many casting their votes against bringing them back to Xeia, unless the people elect a new government.”
“I’m not sure they would leave either,” Lu Han murmured. “The colony is the only home that they’ve ever known.” Joonmyun had told him as much, when Lu Han had offered to return to Xeia. “It’s just--” He stopped here, unsure if he would be overstepping his bounds by asking the very question that had been lingering in his mind since he had found out about the displaced Xeians. “How did they end up there?”
Lu Zhao’s expression was regretful. “A very long time ago, on the orders of the Tribunal, Byun Kihyun led a contingent towards Earth to assist with the evacuation of the inhabitants. They were too late to stop the devastation on the planet. Kihyun was caught in the aftermath and lost to us, along with seventeen other ships from our homeworld. The loss of so many, and the shame of a failed mission was too great, and the details were buried.” A look of grief flashed across his face. “I was not elected to the Tribunal yet and was only Fourth Ranked. Kihyun was my oath-brother, and a Light Adept.”
Lu Han thought of the books in Baekhyun’s house - journals filled with pages and pages of Baekhyun’s great-grandfather’s stories about the creation of the colony. The name had been inscribed at the bottom of each of the entries. Byun Kihyun.
He glanced at the elderly man, noticing the way he stood with lingering sadness in his eyes. “He lived for a very long time,” Lu Han said softly. “You would have been proud of what he had accomplished there.”
A warm smile grew on the old man’s face. He raised his hand to grip Lu Han’s shoulder firmly, squeezing it in assurance. “There is one more thing you should know. Before he left, I gave him a gift. A pendant which could be used to enhance our abilities, in order to protect him.” He gave Lu Han a knowing look, before releasing him just as the shield began to unravel around them.
Lu Han saw that they had arrived at the doors leading to the Citadel’s hangars, where his ship was docked. “By the way, I hope you’ll pass a message along to your mother that I’ll be visiting next month,” his great-grandfather added. There was a merry twinkle in his eye. “I expect she’ll make your father’s life a misery over it, but it’ll give him something else to be distracted by while you go off on your next hunt.”
Lu Han found himself grinning back.
Aboard the Skylark, as he watched Jongin teleporting himself all over the bridge, leaving imprints of himself in the air in his wake, Lu Han leaned back against his command chair, crossing his legs lazily. He considered where he would go next. There was that time smuggler who had been spotted in Naedin 6 with a bounty on for his capture worth millions of gold credits. An uprising in the Xufir homeworld, brought about by the appearance of a long-lost heir to the throne, whom Lu Han remembered being tall, uncoordinated and completely devoid of any sense of direction when it came to his flying ability.
For now, Lu Han thought, he had one last thing to do. “Set a course for Mivari, Jongin.” Two messages to deliver: one to his mother, and another, long overdue, to his father.
“Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Minseok watched as Joonmyun stopped to crouch, smiling at the little girl as she tiptoed to place the flower crown on his head. His smile grew bigger as he spoke to her. Whatever he had said must have been amusing to her, because she ended up giggling visibly, before running off, her small legs carrying her as fast as they could back to her mother.
Next to him, Jongdae continued to bicker with Baekhyun over the plans they were reviewing for the colony, shaking his cane at him to punctuate his points. The life-like prosthetic leg that Lu Han had helped obtain from the Syndicate was attached to him now, replacing the one that Kyungsoo had ripped off. When he saw Joonmyun approaching, he turned his attention towards him and opened his mouth, his expression evident that he was about to complain about Baekhyun - but then Joonmyun kissed him in front of everyone and he had said nothing more after that.
Minseok thought of the events that had happened over the past few months. At first, Baekhyun’s discovery of his own ability had left him worried, especially when Baekhyun said that he wanted to use it to power the colony. He wasn’t sure how the colonists would react to the sight of something like that; furthermore, he didn’t know if Baekhyun could control his power well enough.
It had worked out, however. Not only had the colonists accepted his suggestion, but they had accepted his ability too. As the days passed, it became apparent that Baekhyun was not the only person with such a gift: when Sehun showed up at their doorstep, the breeze that he brought with him sent the pages of Minseok’s books fluttering. The young man had kept it hidden all this while, and now Jongdae was looking at ways to use his gift to help the colony. More and more were beginning to reveal their gifts, awakened after laying dormant for so long.
Lu Han had delivered his own news as well. He had revealed Woojin’s activities to the Tribunal, and cleared Minseok of the accusations wrought by the Senator. However, Minseok had killed Woojin, even if it had been an act of self-defense, and the Tribunal could not allow him to go unpunished for that. His sentence still stood, but it had been reduced - furthermore, while he was not allowed to return to Xeia until he completed his sentence, he was allowed to remain on Earth instead of being relocated to the prison colony on Mars.
Furthermore, Lu Han had seen Minseok’s family. His parents had been overwhelmed to learn that Minseok was not only alive, but that he was happy, and they had sent along their messages to Minseok via Lu Han. He also learnt that his sister was beginning to show signs of waking up. Perhaps, one day, he’d be able to see her again.
Arms slipped around his waist, and he felt warm lips brush against his cheek. “You’re thinking again,” Baekhyun whispered in his ear. “What are you thinking about?”
Minseok turned around to face him. He saw that Baekhyun was grinning at him. “I wasn’t really thinking.”
“Hah,” Baekhyun replied. “Your face always looks like this when you are.” To Minseok’s amusement, he scrunched up his face, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips in mock exaggeration. “See?”
“I don’t really look like that, do I?”
Baekhyun snorted, and then yelped, jumping back and rubbing his bottom, a scandalized look on his face. “Minseok! That’s not fair!”
Minseok chuckled as he pulled his ability back, the icy vine he had flicked at Baekhyun retreating within. “Are you done with Jongdae?” he asked. “I thought of heading back to look through another one of the journals.”
Baekhyun huffed. “You’re always reading those things,” he complained, but he slipped his hand through the crook of Minseok’s arm anyway. They started walking up the streets. “Soon you’re going to be as old and dusty as them.”
“Those journals will help the colony,” Minseok explained patiently, “and your great-grandfather’s plans will--”
Baekhyun stopped walking and gazed into Minseok’s eyes, taking a deep breath. “I love you,” he said, “but the fact that you would rather pick my family’s journals over spending time with me makes you a little dry and dusty. Plus, there the problem about you being some sort of fancy Adept who can make ice and freeze things, yet you won’t even make it snow and--”
Minseok kissed him soundly. It was, he had come to learn, a very useful trick when it came to Baekhyun.
“I love you too,” he said finally, when he released Baekhyun from the kiss. “So let’s go home, and I’ll show you what else I can do with the abilities.” Minseok was most gratified to see the blush that crept into Baekhyun’s cheeks.
As they walk back towards their home, Minseok couldn’t help but slide his hand down his hand to entwine their fingers together, feeling his heart grow full, his soul content with his place in this moment.
The future was opened to a thousand possibilities - and he would chase each one of them down - fearless, like the stars.
“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.” - Rumi
~fin~
Chapter 6 “Libera te Tutemet Ex Inferis”
- Inscribed on the walls of Carcere, translated to ‘Save yourself from hell’
Baekhyun coughed, trying not to inhale the dust from the fallen debris and rocks that surrounded him.
When he had woken up, he had been surrounded in pitch darkness. He had tried to search for the lightstone that he had been carrying earlier, fumbling and crawling in the dark, fingers brushing against the rough, rocky surface - but he could not find it.
In despair, he had sat back down on the ground. He didn’t know where to go, which direction he had to go. Without any light, he was lost.
“Be fearless be fearless don’t be afraid,” Baekhyun muttered to himself. “Come on Baekhyun, think of the light, don’t think of the dark, don’t think of things in the dark oh shit it’s still dark--” His fingers scrabbled against the rough surface in panic as he closed his eyes and pressed back against the wall, trying to stay calm.
He breathed in deeply, before exhaling slowly. Repeating this a few more times, it took him a while before his heart stopped pounding and trying to leap out of his throat.
He cracked open one eye, and found that he was still surrounded by pitch-black. Wrinkling his nose, he closed his eyes, even though the act was probably pointless, and tried to push down his rising panic again.
“Think, you dumb moron,” he said to himself. He had lost his lightstone, and his lamp had accidentally been left back at home, but he could figure something out. He thought of his lightstones, and the way they had lit up when he had held them the first time.
Could he do it again? He remembered telling Minseok - when he had asked Baekhyun how he had made them - that it was a family secret, but the truth was that he didn’t know. He knew that his grandfather could form tiny spheres of light in the air. It was a trick that he had shown Baekhyun when he was younger, but no matter how hard Baekhyun had tried, he couldn’t do what his grandfather did. The only time he could make something that resembled the light tricks were when he held onto something, like a rock--
A rock. Baekhyun wanted to slap himself on the head. How could he be so dumb? He was surrounded by rocks! He slowly crouched, one hand still pressed against the walls, and reached out with the other hand to feel his way around on the ground.
His fingers soon found something. It felt like a small pebble, no bigger than his thumb - but it would do for now. He held it in his hands, and took a deep breath, his fingers slowly stroking the surface, as he tried to concentrate. He thought of light. He thought of the lights that his grandfather had formed, the bright spheres that had circled him. He thought of how it had felt, warm against his fingers when he had reached out to touch one of the spheres.
Baekhyun thought of light. Nothing but light. He could sense something at the edge of his mind - a faint pulse, so faint that he had to strain to reach for it, stretching until he felt the pebble growing warm under his fingertips.
He opened his eyes to find that it was glowing.
Baekhyun almost let out a shout of elation. He had done it! He could see the wall next to him now, and the ground that he was crouching on. It wasn’t much, since the source of light was so small compared to what he was used to working with, but it gave him enough confidence to get to his feet and look for a way out. Using the newly formed lightstone, Baekhyun made his way through the tunnel, occasionally reaching out with his hand to touch the walls for assurance that it was still there.
After what felt like hours of walking, he could hear voices echoing from the distance. His ears perked up. He must have doubled back somehow and found himself in one of the older tunnels that wound back into the colony.
A soft laugh drifted down the tunnel. Baekhyun’s heart lifted. It had to be it. The colony.
Baekhyun could see the faint glow far ahead. He felt a sense of elation. There it was, his way out. He exhaled in relief. He was going to see Minseok, and talk to him. He would demand for Minseok to tell him the truth about everything, and then he would see if it was worth forgiving the other man.
And then Baekhyun would kiss him, and tell Minseok that he loved him.
Inspired by this and the eagerness to see Minseok, Baekhyun increased his pace, heading towards the faint light. It began to grow larger and larger, and he could see the opening up ahead, and then--
Baekhyun stumbled into the unfamiliar room and found himself standing face-to-face with a man he had never seen before.
* * *
Minseok leaned back against the wall, watching the way the flame flickered inside the lamp.
It had been some time since they had found the lightstone. With Lu Han’s help, they had managed to move some of the stones blocking the way into the tunnel Baekhyun had gone into, leaving a gap large enough for them to squeeze through.
Joonmyun had nearly fainted at the sight of Lu Han lifting the stones with nothing more than a flick of his hands. It had taken Minseok some time to explain telekinesis to him. In the end, there had been no choice but to reveal everything to Joonmyun: Minseok’s past along with the reason he had ended up on the planet.
The colony leader had kept quiet the entire time Minseok was talking. Only after Minseok was done, Joonmyun had glanced at Lu Han, who nodded, confirming that Minseok had been telling the truth. Joonmyun had let out a resigned sigh. “Had you told me that the first time we met, I wouldn’t have let you stayed,” he had admitted to Minseok. “But now, I’m glad you didn’t.” He had patted Minseok on the shoulder. “I know Baekhyun cares for you, and you do for him. We’ll find him.” Minseok had nodded, feeling a sense of relief that Joonmyun hadn’t been too angry.
They had walked deeper and deeper into the tunnel, looking for Baekhyun, or a sign that he had been there. Lu Han insisted that he had been there; he could sense his ability, having recently been used, lingering in the air. That had brought about another round of questioning from Minseok: how was it possible for Baekhyun to show traces of an ability that only existed in planets far beyond Earth?
Lu Han had no answer for him, which frustrated Minseok even further.
They were forced to take a break after a while. Joonmyun had had the foresight to bring a waterskin, and they stopped to rest, passing the pouch around and taking sips from it.
Minseok blamed himself. He should have gone after Baekhyun earlier. Instead, he had allowed himself to be distracted by Lu Han’s sudden appearance. Worse, they had lost even more precious hours after that by waiting at home, when they should have been out looking for Baekhyun. When Minseok should have been out, looking for him.
“Minseok,” Lu Han asked, in a low voice. Minseok looked at him. “What you said earlier. Are you’re really serious about staying here?”
“Yes.”
Lu Han hesitated, and then added, “What if we don’t find him? What would you do then?”
“We’ll find him,” Minseok said firmly. He had to find Baekhyun, to apologize, to explain everything to him.
So he could tell him Baekhyun that he loved him.
Lu Han’s intentions were genuine, and Minseok knew that he was worried for him as his friend, but Minseok wasn’t ready to accept that he would give up. “We should keep moving,” he said abruptly, before getting to his feet.
The others traded glances before following suit.
Lu Han fell into step next to Minseok. “I should apologize,” he said softly.
Minseok sighed. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You wouldn’t have come to a decision like this lightly. A person might change over the years, but that doesn’t change who they are inside. Especially the determination they have for someone they love.” Lu Han let out a quiet chuckle. “Besides, I should have known that you’d fall for a pretty face in the end.”
Letting a small smile form on his lips, Minseok elbowed Lu Han slightly. “Better than that tentacled Kandoran you thought was your soulmate, at least.”
“I thought that was her hair,” Lu Han protested. “How was I supposed to know those were tentacles?”
Behind them, Minseok could hear Joonmyun’s frantic whisper of Tentacles?? at Jongdae, and tried not to laugh.
After walking for some time, Lu Han started talking again. “I’ve been thinking about it, trying to figure it out. No one’s been sent to Earth from Xeia in centuries,” Lu Han remarked. “It seemed strange that they would send you here when they had the new maximum security prison on Mars.”
“Not so strange,” Minseok murmured. “Senator Yang requested for me to be transferred to the Earth prison.” The senator had been Woojin’s father. He had made no secret of his hatred for Minseok after Woojin’s death.
“I heard the same thing too. But it still made no sense, until I dug around, and found out that there was no prison here. There hasn’t been any for almost a decade.” Lu Han snorted. “Another one of the Tribunal’s secrets.”
Minseok frowned. “Then what was the purpose of sending us here? I wasn’t the only other prisoner on board. There must have been close to a dozen more.”
“Fifteen prisoners,” Lu Han corrected. “All bound for Mars. Only two of you were to be sent to Earth, however. You and another Adept.”
“Another Adept?” Minseok’s ears pricked up at this. “There was another Adept?”
Lu Han nodded. “He was banished from Xeia. Same conditions as yours.” He gave Minseok a strange look. “Do you remember seeing him on the transport? He was in the Academy with us. The one that was caught for killing his oath-brother last year.”
Minseok stopped, suddenly. “Wait. What was his name?” He remembered something, at the edge of his memory. A soft laugh while he had been on the prison transport from Xeia, drifting from the cell next to his between murmured conversations. Which would have not been unusual, except there was only one person inside that cell.
It was also the same laugh he had heard before the ground had opened up under his feet, sending him into the tunnels the first time.
Lu Han’s brow furrowed, as if he was trying to recall the name. “Kyungsoo,” he said, finally. “It was Kyungsoo.”
* * *
“Hello,” the man said pleasantly. “My name is Kyungsoo.” He tilted his head. “What’s yours?”
“Uh, urm. It’s Baekhyun,” Baekhyun answered hesitantly.
“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo repeated, smiling. There was something strange about his smile, but Baekhyun couldn’t quite place what it was. “Hello, Baekhyun. Where did you come from?”
“I--I came through the tunnels,” Baekhyun replied. “Wh--where is this place?”
“This?” Kyungsoo looked around him, and then dropped his gaze back towards Baekhyun. “This is my home, of course.” The smile widened. “Do you like it?”
The light here was dim, but there was enough for Baekhyun to see parts of the room, if not all of it. The room they were in was empty, save for a few upturned chairs and broken tables. Rusting metal boxes lay in one corner, and in another, an odd lump of clothes were stacked on top of one another.
“It’s… cozy.” There didn’t seem to be anyone else around. It was too quiet.
“It can get a little lonely.” Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun. He still hadn’t stopped smiling even once. “Do you like games, Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun almost said yes, but he stopped short. There was something about the man’s expression that made him rethink his words, and he slowly took a step back, warily. “Uh, no.”
“Why not?” Kyungsoo asked, taking a step forward. “I like games. They’re fun to play.” Kyungsoo frowned. “Problem is, no one ever wants to play with me.”
“I’m--I’m sure they do.” Baekhyun swallowed. Something was very, very wrong here. “I, ah, I’m bad at games. You wouldn’t want to play with me.” He took another step back, and almost stumbled backwards when his foot landed on something wobbly.
He glanced down to see what he had stepped on, and sucked his breath in sharply.
It was a severed arm. He stared at it in horror. The stink of rotting flesh filled his nose, and he backed away, nearly throwing up.
“I asked them,” Kyungsoo said sadly, pointing at the pile of clothes. Suddenly, they didn’t look like clothes anymore. Baekhyun felt his stomach coiling from revulsion. “I asked them, and they said no, and then they tried to hit me.” He looked at Baekhyun. “You’re not going try to hit me, are you?
“N-no.” Baekhyun’s heart was beating loudly in his ears, and he could feel the sweat that was beginning to pool around his neck. “I won’t... I won’t do that.”
“Good.” Kyungsoo stopped advancing on Baekhyun, and the smile grew wider. “So let’s play a game. Do you want to hear the rules?”
Baekhyun nodded quickly. He could feel his stomach coil from revulsion.
“They’re very simple. All you have to do is to tell me where the Adept is.”
“The what?” Baekhyun blinked in confusion. “I--I don’t know what you mean.”
The smile wavered. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you to never lie?”
Baekhyun felt his chest ache at the mention of his parents. “I’m not lying--”
“Yes, you are.” The pleasant smile was gone, replaced by a snarling face. “You’ve been lying to me since you walked in here, and you’re LYING TO ME NOW--”
Kyungsoo stopped talking. The room was shaking, the ground shifting beneath them. Baekhyun tried not to whimper. He had never been so confused and frightened in his life, but something told him that if he moved now, he would not survive.
Suddenly, everything was calm again. Baekhyun watched as Kyungsoo took a deep breath, before turning his attention back to Baekhyun. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his voice hushed. “Sometimes I get a little... angry.” He let out a sigh. “I don’t like being angry, to be honest.” He started to shake his head, clutching his arms with his hands and swaying his body from side to side. “Kangwoo used to make me angry, but he was supposed to be my brother. Aren’t brothers supposed to make you happy?” He looked straight at Baekhyun. “Do you have a brother, Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun swallowed, shaking his quickly. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
“That’s too bad. Brothers are fun. Kangwoo was fun, but he was always too busy to play games. That made me angry.” Kyungsoo straightened up, and his face brightened up, as if he had an idea. “Let’s play a game.” He took a few steps backward. “I’ll count to five, and you can try to hide. And then I’ll try to find you.” The pleasant smile returned to his face, and now Baekhyun could clearly see the madness behind them. “One…two…”
Baekhyun turn and ran.
* * *
Carcere had been a building once. It had been shaped like a knife, sticking out of the ground - or so they said. Not that Joonmyun had ever seen it - but he had heard the stories.
Right now, as he walked through the dimly lit hallways of Carcere, he wondered about those stories. It didn’t look like a knife - at least from the inside - but a very densely packed series of rooms. There was no one here, which he had expected, since the last earthquake had destroyed and killed almost everyone in the place. Those who had escaped were consumed by the poisonous vapours emitting from the moat which surrounded the colony, according to the rumors.
Here and there, the skeletal remains of its past occupants lay scattered across the floor. Whether they had been picked apart by scavengers or the passage of time, Joonmyun could not tell. Beyond the corridor, the doors were missing from the doorway.
They stepped through it, and found themselves in a large area. Here, it looked as if there had been signs of recent activity. Footprints and scuffled marks were spread across the dusty ground. A table, with traces of food on it. A chair, in the middle of the room, set on top of a platform or some sort, covered in metal-like vines.
“This doesn’t look like a colony,” he heard Lu Han mutter to Minseok. “This looks like someone’s turned it into his own playroom here.” He pointed at where there were strange lumps littered across the ground, covered in bright-orange cloth. “I think we’ve found the missing prisoners.”
It took Joonmyun a moment to realize that they were once bodies.
He turned and vomited. The sight of those people, their headless bodies torn apart, lingered in his mind, and he heaved again. He could hear Jongdae next to him, whispering and rubbing his back soothingly, while Joonmyun continued throwing up the contents of his stomach.
When he finally calmed down, he took a deep, ragged breath. He still felt sick, but there was nothing left for him to throw up anymore. His hands shaking, he lifted his hand to wipe at his mouth, but Jongdae was there, with a napkin that he had pulled out of his knapsack, and he was wiping traces of vomit from Joonmyun’s mouth, the gesture almost tender.
“Are you alright?” Jongdae asked when he was done. His hands were now cupping the sides of Joonmyun’s face.
Joonmyun nodded, and Jongdae exhaled in relief. He didn’t move his hands.
Behind them, Minseok cleared his throat, and Joonmyun jumped, startled. He realized that Minseok was giving him and Jongdae a knowing look, and he flushed, taking a step back.
Joonmyun took a deep breath. “What--what could have caused this?” he asked Minseok. “This is beyond anything I’ve seen.”
“Kyungsoo,” Minseok said. Joonmyun blinked at him in confusion. “Fifth Ranked Adept. His ability was abnormal strength.”
“S-strength?” Joonmyun asked.
“He could lift anything that was at least ten times his weight, and he could crush stone with his bare hands. But he was never violent, not that I remembered at the Academy. He was just a very quiet kid.”
“He kept to himself a lot while the other trainees taunted him or avoided him,” Lu Han added. “His oath-brother was just as quiet as he was. I remembered that he would always hide behind Kyungsoo when they were heading to classes.” He looked thoughtful. “Strange. I used to think that it was Kyungsoo who overprotective of him.”
Minseok grimaced. “Except that last year they found his oath-brother torn from limb to limb in his home. They arrested Kyungsoo soon after.”
Joonmyun’s face was pale, even under the dim light from the lamps. “Why would he do such a horrible thing?”
Lu Han shook his head. “I don’t know. They held him in a rehabilitation centre spaceside for close to a year before he ended up being transferred. His records showed that he was polite and friendly to everyone at first, although he kept quiet most of the time. Until he started hearing voices.”
“Voices?” Jongdae asked, standing next to Joonmyun. “What do you mean?”
“No one understood what he was saying at first, but soon it became clear that he was having conversations. Arguments, with someone he knew - even though there was no one there. It took them a while to recognize who he thought he was talking to.“ Lu Han paused, looking straight at Joonmyun. “It was his oath-brother, Kangwoo, that he had murdered--”
A high-pitched yell interrupted him, echoing through the corridors and hallways within the abandoned prison, filling up the room they were in.
A second later, the ceiling fell on top of them.
* * *
Baekhyun’s yell echoed all around him, bouncing off the walls and filling the hallway that he had ended up in as he staggered back in shock, his hand flying up to his face to where the rock had struck him, while the other hand was held outwards in front of him, the dim glow from the lightstone beginning to fade.
The ground was shaking again. This time, it felt worse than before, as he took a step back, until he found himself pressed against the bars that had blocked his way. He could feel the cold seeping through from the metal bars.
Up ahead, there was a slight movement from within the shadows, followed by the quiet crunch of rocks underfoot as the figure moved closer towards him.
“Rabbit, little rabbit, see how they hop. See how they run.” The voice came from the darkness, singing softly. “Rabbits are cute, don’t you think? But they can never run fast enough.” Another stone came hurtling from the shadows, striking the bars above Baekhyun’s head. He flinched, trembling.
“I’m not a rabbit,” Baekhyun told him. “Please, just let me go,” he begged.
“But we were having so much fun,” the voice told him. “Don’t you like this game? We can play another.” A low chuckled drifted from him, the sound wrapping itself around Baekhyun oppressively. “Kangwoo didn’t like rabbits.” A sigh. “He didn’t like anything. He just liked his books. Only books, you see. Do you like books?”
“N-no.”
“That’s good. Or not. Reading is good. I like to read too. Did you know that if you pull a rabbit’s leg off, it screams exactly like a person?” Kyungsoo’s face came into view as he took another step closer towards Baekhyun, illuminated by the dying lamp that hung overhead. “But I’ve always wondered why if you pull a person’s leg off, they don’t scream like a rabbit.”
Baekhyun felt the cold hand of terror gripping his chest.
Kyungsoo smiled. The light flickered, and the flame went out.
* * *
Jongdae ran through the corridors, sidestepping the debris and broken stones that lay scattered on the ground. The sudden tremor that had shaken the prison had caused the old structure to destabilize, and the ceiling in the room they were in had given way. Had Lu Han not leapt in and used his abilities to create some sort of invisible barrier that protected them from crumbling stones, they would have been buried beneath the debris.
Ahead of him, he could see Minseok picking up speed as the gap between them widened. Lu Han ran next to him, matching his pace easily. Jongdae had heard of Adepts and their remarkable abilities, but he had never met one. No wonder Minseok’s injuries had healed fast, thanks to the change in their metabolism rates that allowed them to withstand the change in their body chemistry to allow the ability to manifest.
He shook his head, and pushed himself to catch up. He would study the concept later, now that he had met Minseok and Lu Han. After they find Baekhyun. If they found him. From all accounts, it seemed that they were up against a violent psychopath.
Suddenly Lu Han slowed down, halting when he came to the end of the corridor, the others following suit. A small opening was visible along one of the walls, and as Jongdae watched, Lu Han held his hand up, tilting his head to one side as his face furrowed in concentration. “He went through this way,” he said, turning towards them. “I can sense him, but he’s not alone. There’s another person, someone else with an ability.”
Minseok said nothing, but his face was drawn up in determination as he nodded, crouching in front of the opening. He took a deep breath, and crawled into the space, followed by Lu Han and Joonmyun. A moment later, Jongdae went through the hole.
He found himself in another darkened corridor. Minseok held up one of the lamps, and he could see that it was a narrow space that ran through a cellblock. The metal bars that lined the cells were twisted, rusted, and there were bones scattered around in some of them. He looked away, shuddering.
Suddenly, a low chuckle echoed all them, and Jongdae looked up to see Lu Han’s gaze sharpen. He traded glances with Minseok, and they began moving towards the sound in determination.
Jongdae kicked against something, and let out a yelp in surprise before he clamped his mouth shut again as Minseok whirled around to glare at him. But it was too late.
A new voice filled up the corridor. “New friends?” A soft laugh. “Are you looking for a little rabbit?” Another laugh, and Jongdae took a step back, fearfully. “Do you like to play games?”
“No games, Kyungsoo,” Minseok’s voice was firm. “Where’s Baekhyun?”
“Minseok?” Jongdae heard. “Minseok, what are you doing here, you shouldn’t be here, this guy is crazy--”
“Don’t call me that!” Jongdae almost dropped the lantern, his ears hurting from Kyungsoo’s shout. Rage trembled in his voice. “I’m not-- I’m not crazy. I’M NOT CRAZY--” The walls shook, followed by the tearing, shrieking sound of metal.
“Get down!” Lu Han shouted just as Joonmyun pulled Jongdae out of the way, a second before before something came hurtling from the shadows, flying through the space before crashing into one of the cells behind them. He landed on his sides, half sprawled across Joonmyun. He scrambled to his feet, noticing that Minseok and Lu Han had landed on the ground across from them. Their lamps had fallen, and one had been extinguished.
Someone came running out towards them. In the light that still remained, Jongdae saw that it was Baekhyun, and he fell on top of Minseok, clutching his arms.
“Minseok, oh gods, oh shit, it’s really you,” he babbled, as Minseok held onto him. “We have to go, we have to get out now before he comes--”
A loud snarl of rage interrupted him, followed by the sound of another cell door being ripped off. Lu Han raised his hands to create another barrier-- but before he could, a loud boom echoed through the corridor as the place shook again. A horrible noise began to fill the air and to Jongdae’s horror, he realized that a jagged line had appeared on the ground towards them.
“Run!” came Lu Han’s shout, as Minseok shoved Baekhyun off him and yanked him to his feet. Jongdae reached out to grab Joonmyun, but he was no longer next to him.
“Joonmyun?” he called out, and then saw that the other man was staggering towards the shadows, towards the direction where Baekhyun had came from. “No, Joonmyun don’t go there--”
“Just go!” Joonmyun shouted back. “I’ll distract him, but you just get everyone to safety!” He was about to turn around when something struck him.
Joonmyun crashed against the wall, before crumpling down onto the ground.
“Joonmyun!” Jongdae’s feet stumbled over each other as he ran towards Joonmyun, gathering him up in his arms. “Shit, shit, wake up, Joonmyun, wake up!” He could feel the steady pulse of Joonmyun’s heartbeat against his chest, but it was weak. Blood trickled from his head, running across his forehead.
Jongdae looked up and saw that Kyungsoo was standing where Joonmyun had been struck. He was looking at them in amusement, the same way one would look at a group of children playing.
Feeling a cold simmering rage that he had never felt before, Jongdae took a deep breath, exhaling as he looked at the others. Minseok and Baekhyun were next to him, having run over to join Jongdae. Lu Han stood over them, his hand still held out as he faced the shadows, where Kyungsoo was hidden within.
“You have to take Joonmyun back,” he said. “All of you have to go back, and warn the colonists. Make sure they’re safe.” He looked down at Joonmyun. “And make sure he’s safe.
“But Jongdae--” He ignored their protests. He picked up the lamp that he had been using to get through the tunnels. The flame danced merrily inside the shutters. He stood up, turning around to face Kyungsoo.
“Just go,” he whispered, and set off in a dead run, the lamp swinging in his grip as he went straight for Kyungsoo. At the last second, his instincts kicked in, all those years of sneaking into government hospitals and labs to steal their secrets, and he skidded to a near stop and flung the lamp into Kyungsoo’s face.
The lamp exploded as Kyungsoo shrieked in pain.
Jongdae covered his face with his arms to keep the glass from falling onto it, before looking up to see if he had been successful. To his dismay, he saw that there had been no damage, except for a burnt mark on his jaw. The rest of his face was intact, untouched by the flames from the lamp that were beginning to die down.
Kyungsoo looked down at him, and shook his head. Jongdae tried to back away, but Kyungsoo’s hand shot out, gripping his ankle. He tried to kick at the other man, but all he received for his efforts was a strong squeeze that made him cry out.
When he caught his breath again, blinking through the tears of pain that had filled his eyes, he saw that Kyungsoo had both hands on Jongdae’s leg now. His lips curved maliciously, as his grip tightened. “Do you want to play a game?”
He twisted his arms.
The scream left Jongdae’s throat as the searing, tearing pain ripped through him.
* * *
Minseok was surrounded by chaos.
Jongdae was on the ground clutching the stump that had been once his leg, crying out in agony. Next to him, Lu Han had his hands full, trying to keep the barrier up, protecting them as Kyungsoo ripped out the wall and sent large chunks of it hurtling towards the group. Minseok watched helplessly as Lu Han tried deflecting a few of the stones back towards Kyungsoo, but he was no match for the man’s brute strength and speed. Minseok could see that he was beginning to weaken.
“What do we do, Minseok?” Baekhyun whispered. “We can’t just leave them here.” His face was tear-stricken, covered in dust and sweat. There was a cut on his cheek, the blood having dried up now.
Minseok shook his head. He wished that he had his ability now. He wished that he could feel the cold ice, and use it to overpower Kyungsoo. He curled his fingers into a tight fist, closing his eyes. Lu Han had said that it was there. Lu Han, as an empath, could feel his abilities. Minseok believed him. He believed that it was there, that just he had to draw it back out again, except he didn’t know how.
The burning cold hit him suddenly, and he sucked his breath in sharply. It was not the same cold that he had grown up recognizing as his ability, but something else. He could feel it against his skin, against his chest, the heat and ice burning a brand onto his skin--
Minseok reached up instinctively, and grabbed the charm that his sister had given him.
The charm flared to life. His mouth hung open in shock as he felt his ability flowing back into him. Somehow it had been with him all along, hidden in his sister’s charm. He breathed, letting the cold fill his lungs, the sweet breath of life that he had missed.
Frost began to form on the ground and walls around them. The air grew cold. Beside him, he heard Baekhyun gasp. Minseok turned to look at him.
“Your--your eyes,” Baekhyun whispered. “They’re completely white.”
White, like frost. Minseok smiled in relief. He had his ability back.
“If you’re done showing off,” Lu Han called out loudly, as he deflected another stone, “I could do with a little help here!”
Minseok concentrated. It came to him easily, the ice, before spreading out across the ground towards Kyungsoo. He watched as the ice grew and shaped itself into vines that wrapped itself around Kyungsoo’s ankles, binding him to the ground.
He breathed, and the air around Kyungsoo turned colder. Minseok could see Kyungsoo’s eyes widening, his movements beginning to slow down as icy numbness settled into his skin, sinking into his muscles. Kyungsoo’s hand shook as he tried to reach for another stone; it fell from his grip onto the ground.
Minseok raised his hand, intending to create a wall of ice around Kyungsoo to trap him. He could feel his ability begin to waver - it had been too long, and he felt out of sync, but he tried anyway. The veins on his hands stood out against his skin, specks of ice and snow forming across them as he struggled to build the block.
Kyungsoo himself fared no better. He was growing weak, Minseok could see. His movements were slower and sluggish, and he was panting visibly as he struggled against the ice that bound his feet.
Just a little more, Minseok told himself. He could do this, he could finish this off--
With a snarl of rage, Kyungsoo broke free of the ice. Before Minseok could react, he had lifted his foot up, and slammed it onto the ground, causing it to tremble. Minseok stumbled, the hold he had on his ability slipping.
Kyungsoo stomped again. Minseok lost his balance and fell. Next to him Lu Han was struggling to hold up the barrier.
Another stomp. Lu Han fell, letting out a cry of pain as he landed on his knees.
Kyungsoo kept walking towards them. Each step brought another round of tremors that shook the place, keeping them off-balance and unable to focus on their abilities. Minseok tried to send another vein of ice towards Kyungsoo again, but he was prepared for it, and lifted his foot to crush the vines.
Strong fingers wrapped around his throat, pulling him to up his knees. He tried to speak, but his words were caught in his throat. He was choking. Memories of Woojin as he choked Minseok came unbidden to his mind. Of Woojin laughing as he pulled his ability out of him.
Memories of his sister, lying on the hospital bed, drained of her ability.
“You should have been dead,” Kyungsoo hissed at him. “They promised me freedom. Find you, they said. Destroy you. Instead, you survived the transport crash. And then you survived the fall in the cave.” He grabbed Minseok’s head with the other hand, Minseok struggled to pull them away, to bat them away, but it was no use.
“No more running, Adept. This time, you’ll be dead.”
“NO!”
* * *
“NO!” Baekhyun shouted just as Kyungsoo lifted Minseok’s body, his arms tensing, as if he were ready to tear him apart. He moved without thinking, flinging his hand outwards towards their direction, shouting on the top of his voice. “Minseok!”
Light burst from his hand in a single stream, hitting Kyungsoo right in the chest.
Shocked by the sudden attack, Kyungsoo dropped Minseok back onto the ground. He tried to brush the light away, but Baekhyun held on, sending all of it towards him. He thought of how Kyungsoo had threatened to hurt them, had threatened him. Of how he had hurt Joonmyun and Jongdae, and tried to kill Minseok.
Minseok. He loved Minseok, and he’d be damned if he let Minseok be harmed by anyone as long as he lived.
“You wanted to play, didn’t you?” Baekhyun said to Kyungsoo, whose face was covered in spider-like veins of light now, the lines glowing red like embers from burning coal. He took another step forward, his hand still held in front of him, relentlessly sending all the hate and anger and fear that he had felt into the beam. “Then let’s play a game. My rules.” Another step. His powers were singing to him now, elated at being brought forth after being held back for so long. “It’s your turn to run.”
Kyungsoo did not run. He did not even scream. He looked at Baekhyun, his eyes wide open in terror for the first time since Baekhyun had met him, and his mouth hung open, without a sound. The glowing veins on his skin began to expand, just as the beam of light faded.
Baekhyun fell to his knees, his legs weak. He watched as the light grew and grew, surrounded Kyungsoo, the veins pulsing angrily against his skin. Kyungsoo stood there, his eyes no longer there, his face frozen in agony - and, as Baekhyun watched, his body disintegrated, vanishing into the air and leaving behind nothing.
Baekhyun would have felt relief, except that something strange was happening to him now. He could feel his hands trembling, and he looked down to see that the glowing veins had begun to fade, growing dimmer and then flaring up again. He couldn’t breathe. He could hear Minseok calling him, calling his name, but he couldn’t answer. It felt like everything was building up slowly and spilling out of him, and the heat was growing more and more and it was getting brighter, too bright and it hurt--
Minseok, he whispered, Help me.
“Damn it, Baekhyun, don’t you dare die on me!” Icy fingers wrapped around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. He could feel ice on his skin, the frost covering his entire body and sinking into the veins, melting against the heat that was threatening to burst out of him. He struggled against it, against the pain, but Minseok didn’t let go of him. Minseok wouldn’t let go; he kept his hands firm on Baekhyun, containing the searing heat with the cold as the light began to waver and grow dimmer - until it disappeared from Baekhyun’s arms and hands.
Once his vision cleared, he saw Minseok, his eyes completely white and his hair covered in frost as he held Baekhyun in his arms.
He watched as the frost began to fade, the milky white slipping away from his eyes to return to normal, and Minseok, his Minseok, was in front of him once more, and alive.
He saw Minseok open his mouth, looking as if he was about to chastise Baekhyun, probably for risking his life to save Minseok, for trying to go up against a crazy psychopath on his own, or for even running off in the first place and forcing him to go chasing after Baekhyun--
Baekhyun reached up to tug Minseok down towards him, kissing him - and resolved to never let him go ever again.
* * *
The silence stretched, filling up the entire hall.
“It is done then.” It was a question, rather than a statement.
Lu Han bowed his head in assent. “Yes, Eminence.”
“Good.” The third voice sounded satisfied. “Xeia will no longer need to fear such madness again.”
“For now,” the first voice cut in, coldly. “But you have done well, Captain. The Tribunal is grateful.”
“Gratitude is merely putting it mildly.” A fourth figure stepped up onto the dais. “Had the Captain not brought proof to the Tribunal’s attention of stolen abilities being sold to the rebels, Xeia would have had another full-scale war on its hands.” It turned its gaze towards Lu Han, although he could not see a face within the shadowed cowl. “There is nothing to be gained from it.”
“Agreed.” There was a fifth figure standing there now. “You may leave now, Captain. The Hall has ended.”
Lu Han bowed, holding his pose for several seconds, before straightening up. “With your permission, Eminence.” He kept his movements stiff and measured as he stepped away from the Hall, even though he felt his insides wobbling around.
Once the doors had swung shut behind him, Lu Han exhaled slowly. He could feel relief in his bones. It had been the most harrowing experience of his life to date, to stand there in front of the Tribunal, informing them of what had happened on the planet.
All was well that ended well, he supposed. He had used his old Academy connections to dig out more information on Woojin’s illegal activities. Finding the proof he needed took some careful maneuvering, but once he had it, he had gone straight to the Tribunal with his findings. On top of that, he had found out that Woojin’s father, Senator Yang, had been the one to make arrangements for Kyungsoo to be sent to Earth on the same transport as Minseok to kill him. It felt like irony, hearing that the Senator had sought some form of petty revenge for the death of his son who had been a criminal anyway. When Lu Han had shown the evidence to the Tribunal, along with the vast amounts of payments the Senator had made to the prison authorities, Senator Yang had been arrested.
As for Kyungsoo, however, there had been nothing left of him. He had been completely vaporized by Baekhyun, barely even leaving behind a speck of dust.
Lu Han had been right about Baekhyun’s ability, which had lain dormant, hints of it trickling to the surface sparingly. Minseok had recovered, and so had his ability. Lu Han’s theory was that Minseok’s psyche had sought to protect itself from being separated from him, and it had reacted to Woojin’s transference by retreating as deeply as it could within Minseok, lying dormant within his sister’s charm until Baekhyun’s pendant had triggered it awake.
The pendant was a magnet for their abilities. It had drawn Minseok’s power out from the charm, and later on, from within Baekhyun, allowing him to defeat Kyungsoo. Lu Han had been ready to bring it back to the ship to study it, curious to understand how it worked - but Minseok had been firm in his refusal.
Lu Han made a face at the painting of the first Five that had formed the Tribunal, placed on the wall in front of him. So much for friendship and being ‘oath-brothers’ for life, he grumbled to himself, if Minseok couldn’t even lend him his pretty pendant for a few hours...
“One moment, Captain.”
Lu Han froze in his tracks, recognizing it as the same emotionless voice that had been spoken up in the Hall; the figure that had looked straight at him as it spoke.
He turned around slowly. The cowled figure stood a few feet away. It moved, taking the few remaining steps to reach Lu Han, almost gliding across the marble floors. Its robes rippled around it, the waves of cloth seemingly alive, even though Lu Han could feel no wind against his skin, no breeze to cause them to move. He could feel his heart pounding at the unnatural sight, and he held his breath.
It stopped in front of Lu Han, raising its arms to push back its hood to reveal its face - and Lu Han found himself looking back at the pleasant, smiling face of an older gentleman.
The man’s hair was white, so white that it seemed to glow slightly in the evening light that trickled through the glass ceilings of the citadel. His hair was tied back neatly behind his head. His eyes, previously colorless, had faded back to their original dark hues, and now they were trained on Lu Han, studying him.
“Venerable Lord,” Lu Han greeted respectfully, bowing low. “I did not expect you to leave the Tribunal chambers so soon.” He found that he could breathe again; his heartbeat was still pounding madly, however.
“And miss exchanging a few words with a member of my family, whom I have not seen in years? Even the most soulless member of the Tribunal would be hard-pressed to deny such an opportunity,” the elderly man replied in a normal voice. His eyes were filled with something resembling amusement. “How’s the family?”
“From her last missive, Mother is planning another successful charity event and Father is in the midst of expanding the army,” Lu Han replied automatically.
The hand that gripped his shoulder was firm, but gentle. “Han. I asked how they were - not a member of the Tribunal - but as your great-grandfather.”
Lu Han dropped his gaze to the floor, feeling somewhat chastised. He felt uncertain of how to respond to familiar manner from his great-grandfather. The last time he had spoken to the old man, Lu Han had been a wide-eyed gullible trainee in his first year at the Academy. That had been a long time ago.
“They--they are well,” he replied somewhat awkwardly. “Although Father feels that I should not have involved myself in Xeian affairs. On top of that, he’s not too pleased to find out about my other ability.” That was putting it mildly. His father had been livid to find that his own son was an empath, and it was only when his mother stepped in that he had calmed down.
For the sake of appearances, however, he issued a command to Lu Han to keep his additional ability quiet. It would not do for their citizens to find out what he was while the law against empaths still existed. He had also demanded for Lu Han to return home to his duties.
Lu Zhao sighed heavily. “I had hoped that he would have changed his mind once I had asked for you to be sent to the Academy instead of being placed with the other empaths.” He eyed Lu Han, who was a spitting image of his younger self. “Walk with me for a little while. I would like to hear more of your adventures.”
A familiar shiver ran across Lu Han’s skin, and he could feel it as his great-grandfather wove a sound barrier around them. It was subtle enough that anyone else but Lu Han would have missed it, having not been trained to recognize the signs.
He fell into step, his hands held behind his back. They must have made for an interesting sight, walking side by side - Lu Han thought - the dark robes of the Tribunal member a stark contrast against his mercenary gear.
“I heard about your recounting of the incidents on Earth,” Lu Zhao said casually. “A rather interesting turn of events, discovering the lost piece of our history beneath the mountains. The government is in an state of apoplexy over the news. Seems that you’ve a knack for causing quite a stir lately.”
Lu Han winced. “It was not my intention.”
His great-grandfather waved his apologies away. “It is Xeia that must decide on the outcome. The Tribunal, however, will place sanctions to keep anyone from entering Earth’s vicinity for a while, until the decisions are made final.” He shook his head. “It will take some time, but I fear we will have many casting their votes against bringing them back to Xeia, unless the people elect a new government.”
“I’m not sure they would leave either,” Lu Han murmured. “The colony is the only home that they’ve ever known.” Joonmyun had told him as much, when Lu Han had offered to return to Xeia. “It’s just--” He stopped here, unsure if he would be overstepping his bounds by asking the very question that had been lingering in his mind since he had found out about the displaced Xeians. “How did they end up there?”
Lu Zhao’s expression was regretful. “A very long time ago, on the orders of the Tribunal, Byun Kihyun led a contingent towards Earth to assist with the evacuation of the inhabitants. They were too late to stop the devastation on the planet. Kihyun was caught in the aftermath and lost to us, along with seventeen other ships from our homeworld. The loss of so many, and the shame of a failed mission was too great, and the details were buried.” A look of grief flashed across his face. “I was not elected to the Tribunal yet and was only Fourth Ranked. Kihyun was my oath-brother, and a Light Adept.”
Lu Han thought of the books in Baekhyun’s house - journals filled with pages and pages of Baekhyun’s great-grandfather’s stories about the creation of the colony. The name had been inscribed at the bottom of each of the entries. Byun Kihyun.
He glanced at the elderly man, noticing the way he stood with lingering sadness in his eyes. “He lived for a very long time,” Lu Han said softly. “You would have been proud of what he had accomplished there.”
A warm smile grew on the old man’s face. He raised his hand to grip Lu Han’s shoulder firmly, squeezing it in assurance. “There is one more thing you should know. Before he left, I gave him a gift. A pendant which could be used to enhance our abilities, in order to protect him.” He gave Lu Han a knowing look, before releasing him just as the shield began to unravel around them.
Lu Han saw that they had arrived at the doors leading to the Citadel’s hangars, where his ship was docked. “By the way, I hope you’ll pass a message along to your mother that I’ll be visiting next month,” his great-grandfather added. There was a merry twinkle in his eye. “I expect she’ll make your father’s life a misery over it, but it’ll give him something else to be distracted by while you go off on your next hunt.”
Lu Han found himself grinning back.
Aboard the Skylark, as he watched Jongin teleporting himself all over the bridge, leaving imprints of himself in the air in his wake, Lu Han leaned back against his command chair, crossing his legs lazily. He considered where he would go next. There was that time smuggler who had been spotted in Naedin 6 with a bounty on for his capture worth millions of gold credits. An uprising in the Xufir homeworld, brought about by the appearance of a long-lost heir to the throne, whom Lu Han remembered being tall, uncoordinated and completely devoid of any sense of direction when it came to his flying ability.
For now, Lu Han thought, he had one last thing to do. “Set a course for Mivari, Jongin.” Two messages to deliver: one to his mother, and another, long overdue, to his father.
“Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Minseok watched as Joonmyun stopped to crouch, smiling at the little girl as she tiptoed to place the flower crown on his head. His smile grew bigger as he spoke to her. Whatever he had said must have been amusing to her, because she ended up giggling visibly, before running off, her small legs carrying her as fast as they could back to her mother.
Next to him, Jongdae continued to bicker with Baekhyun over the plans they were reviewing for the colony, shaking his cane at him to punctuate his points. The life-like prosthetic leg that Lu Han had helped obtain from the Syndicate was attached to him now, replacing the one that Kyungsoo had ripped off. When he saw Joonmyun approaching, he turned his attention towards him and opened his mouth, his expression evident that he was about to complain about Baekhyun - but then Joonmyun kissed him in front of everyone and he had said nothing more after that.
Minseok thought of the events that had happened over the past few months. At first, Baekhyun’s discovery of his own ability had left him worried, especially when Baekhyun said that he wanted to use it to power the colony. He wasn’t sure how the colonists would react to the sight of something like that; furthermore, he didn’t know if Baekhyun could control his power well enough.
It had worked out, however. Not only had the colonists accepted his suggestion, but they had accepted his ability too. As the days passed, it became apparent that Baekhyun was not the only person with such a gift: when Sehun showed up at their doorstep, the breeze that he brought with him sent the pages of Minseok’s books fluttering. The young man had kept it hidden all this while, and now Jongdae was looking at ways to use his gift to help the colony. More and more were beginning to reveal their gifts, awakened after laying dormant for so long.
Lu Han had delivered his own news as well. He had revealed Woojin’s activities to the Tribunal, and cleared Minseok of the accusations wrought by the Senator. However, Minseok had killed Woojin, even if it had been an act of self-defense, and the Tribunal could not allow him to go unpunished for that. His sentence still stood, but it had been reduced - furthermore, while he was not allowed to return to Xeia until he completed his sentence, he was allowed to remain on Earth instead of being relocated to the prison colony on Mars.
Furthermore, Lu Han had seen Minseok’s family. His parents had been overwhelmed to learn that Minseok was not only alive, but that he was happy, and they had sent along their messages to Minseok via Lu Han. He also learnt that his sister was beginning to show signs of waking up. Perhaps, one day, he’d be able to see her again.
Arms slipped around his waist, and he felt warm lips brush against his cheek. “You’re thinking again,” Baekhyun whispered in his ear. “What are you thinking about?”
Minseok turned around to face him. He saw that Baekhyun was grinning at him. “I wasn’t really thinking.”
“Hah,” Baekhyun replied. “Your face always looks like this when you are.” To Minseok’s amusement, he scrunched up his face, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips in mock exaggeration. “See?”
“I don’t really look like that, do I?”
Baekhyun snorted, and then yelped, jumping back and rubbing his bottom, a scandalized look on his face. “Minseok! That’s not fair!”
Minseok chuckled as he pulled his ability back, the icy vine he had flicked at Baekhyun retreating within. “Are you done with Jongdae?” he asked. “I thought of heading back to look through another one of the journals.”
Baekhyun huffed. “You’re always reading those things,” he complained, but he slipped his hand through the crook of Minseok’s arm anyway. They started walking up the streets. “Soon you’re going to be as old and dusty as them.”
“Those journals will help the colony,” Minseok explained patiently, “and your great-grandfather’s plans will--”
Baekhyun stopped walking and gazed into Minseok’s eyes, taking a deep breath. “I love you,” he said, “but the fact that you would rather pick my family’s journals over spending time with me makes you a little dry and dusty. Plus, there the problem about you being some sort of fancy Adept who can make ice and freeze things, yet you won’t even make it snow and--”
Minseok kissed him soundly. It was, he had come to learn, a very useful trick when it came to Baekhyun.
“I love you too,” he said finally, when he released Baekhyun from the kiss. “So let’s go home, and I’ll show you what else I can do with the abilities.” Minseok was most gratified to see the blush that crept into Baekhyun’s cheeks.
As they walk back towards their home, Minseok couldn’t help but slide his hand down his hand to entwine their fingers together, feeling his heart grow full, his soul content with his place in this moment.
The future was opened to a thousand possibilities - and he would chase each one of them down - fearless, like the stars.
“Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.” - Rumi
~fin~