Rise Apocalypse: Chapter 10
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In the morning, as with the dawning of every new day, the lights came on throughout Jiscada. They’d burned Donghwa’s body while it was still dark and the extent of his wounds couldn’t be made apparent from the harsh glare of the daytime flourescent lighting. Although they tried, neither Hae nor Hyuk slept at all. Instead, they waited in silence for the night to end, side-by-side but without touching. When at last the darkness turned light, they rose in silence, gathered their things and pressed on. Instead of going West, as Yesung had instructed them, they found themselves going East in slight rebellion.
After an hour of walking, they began to realize that the city was getting increasingly more dangerous the further East they went. The alleys grew darker, the corners shadier. Windows were smashed to jagged teeth of glass, doors sprayed with rough, crude graffiti. The streets were choked with secrets, silently watching the two intruders with intimidating, wary eyes. Ipsuren on the sidewalk stopped to stare. Some ran inside and others spat on the ground in defiance, of what Hae didn’t know.
“This is weird,” Hyuk said, breaking the hour long silence between them. “Maybe we should have gone West, like Yesung said.”
“No.” Hae’s voice was too harsh and Hyuk flinched at the sharpness of it. Softer, “There’s obviously been a raiding party through here, that much is clear. Do you know of any gangs in this part of the city?”
Hyuk shook his head. “There are survivors, so it wasn’t the Pekas Geldina, and the destruction is too organized to have been Eislinn. I don’t recognize any of this graffiti.”
Suddenly, it appeared. STOP. A voice in Hae’s mind, probing the outer walls. When Hyuk froze, Hae knew he’d heard it, too.
Take another step and you’ll be crawling through life on your hands and knees.
Hae reached out and touched Hyuk’s arm, stopping him from responding in any way that could potentially prove detrimental.
“We mean no harm!” Hae called out, verbally. Without knowing who he was communicating with or where they were, he couldn’t speak telepathically.
Who are you?
“Donghae,” he said. “This is Eunhyuk. We’re from Garahim, in Lower City.”
There was a pause in the exchange, Hyuk’s insecurity flowering impatience. Hae reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together for comfort. When he caught Hyuk looking at their entwined hands in surprise or curiosity, he squeezed tighter.
From a nearby roof, someone spoke, the voice from before made audible. “Whatchyu want?”
Silhouetted against the light, the details of his features were a mystery, but his posture was defensive. Rigid, he stood legs spread, arms crossed. Hae and Hyuk had to shield their eyes as they looked up at him, squinting.
“We want to take your town’s Lift up to Disanji.”
After a while, the okji turned and disappeared from sight. Hyuk pulled away, disconnecting their hands to shove his in the pockets of his pants. They were still wearing Cronian clothing, flowing silks and soft pants that were baggy at the thighs and tight around the shins, but covered in blood. His brother’s blood. Hae had it crusted under his nails and sticky between his fingers and the lines in his palms. He was trying not to look at his hands and was doing a pretty good job.
“We should just go,” Hyuk said, reminding Hae an awful lot of how he had been the night before.
“Go where, Hyuk?” He couldn’t keep the venom out of his voice. “Back to Yesung?”
“No, obviously not.” They were going to start fighting and they couldn’t, Hae didn’t have the strength to keep it up.
Thankfully, the stranger from the roof appeared through one of the doorways on their left, but stopped as soon as he saw them up close, eyeing the blood on their clothes dangerously.
“That’s not your own,” he said.
“It was my brother’s,” Hae said. “He died on our way here.”
“You killed him.”
“No,” trying to keep the fury down. “It wasn’t me.”
“Who?”
Hyuk stepped forward, bleeding anger. “Look, are you going to let us use your Lift so we can get out of here or not?”
The break in conversation stagnated as they stood, staring each other down. This new okji had thin eyes, slanted and set on either side of a wide nose. His face was angled and sharp, the push of his shoulders back was meant to challenge, but Hae and Hyuk were good at that, too. The air around the three of them grew stale and thick until, finally, the stranger accepted his defeat with a loud exhale. He was outnumbered and he knew it.
“Yeah, you can use it.”
Hae relaxed.
“But first, let’s get you fixed. Disanji’s been taken over by Timechasers and they’ll kill you on sight if you go up there like that. They came through here yesterday.”
“Timechasers?” Hae felt idiotic for not knowing who they were, even more so when he was given a look of surprise and disgust at his ignorance. “Is that what happened here?”
“Yeah.” They began to walk further into town. “I’m Jay, by the way. I’m in charge here.”
An old name for a new face, although not one much friendlier.
“What is your organization?” Hyuk asked, irrelevant to Hae, although he realized it probably should have become an obvious question by now.
“No organization. We’re just trying to get by.”
“Then why the raid if you’re not a threat?”
“Timechasers are notoriously vindictive. It’s possible someone looked at one of their soldiers wrong in a bar once, or insulted their honor. They’ll use any excuse to chop off a few heads.”
The low population was bothering Hae, had been bothering him since they first crossed the sect lines. The town was eerily dead, only a sparse collection of life glared suspiciously at him from doorways and window frames.
“Where is everyone?” He asked.
“Clinic,” was Jay’s answer. “Dying or tending to the ones who might live. It’s where we’re headed, now.” He pointed to a white building, charred black around the edges and still smoking. “There.”
When they got there, the building wasn’t that big. Three floors, ten rooms per floor or so. Yet, it was packed to full capacity, the sounds of prokji screaming and crying shooting from wall to wall, the putrid stench of burnt flesh, death and sweat overpowering the acidic tinge of medicine.
“Shisus,” Hyuk breathed.
But it was clear, even Shisus had abandoned these people. At Buomi, Ipsuren learn the art of medicine and develop the ability to heal, but there are wounds that are beyond skill, beyond spirit, beyond education. Infestation grows and spreads, polluting the mind and corrupting the soul, killing the spirit. Then, nothing saves you. As was the case with Jay’s clinic, where bodies were piled upon bodies and those that were alive were missing whole limbs, bleeding from incisions three, four fingers deep. The ground and walls were painted in blood, healers rushed from room to room frantically, but they were so few compared to the wounded.
“Timechasers did this?” Hyuk asked, even as Hae moved to the nearest okji, untended and losing blood from the stump where his right hand had once been.
“I don’t know how to heal this,” Hae was saying, even as he tried, removing his vest and wrapping it around the okji’s wrist. It was turning red fast, soaking up the bood.
“This is so,” Hyuk’s voice, full of disgust as he watched, helpless in his caste level. “Human.”
“Timechasers don’t fight with the spirit,” Jay answered.
Screaming, there was so much screaming. The Okji was green-white and glowing, sticky with sweat and cold.
“They fight with weapons.”
“Like humans.”
“You’re wasting your time, Buomian,” Jay called, but he couldn’t have been talking to Hae, because Hae was saving him, he was. “He’ll bleed out before you can finish tying that knot.”
His hands were shaking, blood dripping from his wrist and for a moment he thought his own hands were gone but they weren’t, they were there, blurry in his watery eyes. When had his eyes gone watery?
“Help me,” he said, “He’ll live if you help me.” Turning, he found Hyuk’s face. “Hyuk, please.”
“Okay,” quietly, Eunhyuk approached and knelt beside him, saying “okay, okay. What do I do?”
“Hold him.”
Hyuk did. Hae tied his wrist off tight while the okji screamed, the veins in his neck bulging as his back arched and his legs kicked out in desperation. Tears were fighting their way down his cheeks, making tracks in the blood on his face, smears of red-orange and crusted brown. Hae’s vest was red where it had been white moments ago, wrapped around the stub in a makeshift tourniquet. Bile was bubbling in the pit of his stomach and Hae was thankful they’d decided to skip breakfast that morning.
“This is a human wound,” Hae whispered. “I don’t know how to treat it.”
Hyuk was looking at him and when Hae met his eyes he saw tears. They were crying, both of them crying, Hae’s entire body shaking while Hyuk let go of the okji in his arms, now passed out from the pain.
“He’ll die,” Jay said again from where he stood, seemingly indifferent to the death all around him. “All of them with wounds like that will die. That brutality, we just can’t fight against that.”
Lingering in the back of Hae’s consciousness, a hint of his past life, was the scent of Morla’s burning flesh as it had been the day they first saw Hyuk in the Gutter. He could still see the glint of Donghwa’s tears against his cheeks, hear the hollow sound of his vomit splashing against the floor. Destruction wasn’t just an affliction against buildings and communities, it could touch the heart and soul, too. Donghae had already been forced to burn his past and his brother. He carried no material possessions, nothing to physically remember the ones he lost. All he had was his dreams and those were turning, quickly, to nightmares. In front of him, Hyuk was rubbing the tears violently off his face. At least Hae had that, had him. He was something Donghae was never going to lose, would die trying to keep.
“Hyuk,” he whispered, reaching out to touch him, needing contact.
Honestly, he wanted to do more than touch his arm, he wanted to hold him, just feel the weight of the other’s body in comparison to his, almost equal as they were in height and stature. But he couldn’t, not there, not then. So he settled for a small brushing of fingertips against skin, merely a teasing ghost of contact.
“What do you want to do?” Hae asked him, needing his friend to take charge.
Hae was so tired. Tired of making decisions, tired of shouldering everything himself. Hyuk reached for Hae’s hair, uncaring that Jay was standing just to their side, watching them. He brushed the bangs, growing longer now, from Hae’s face. They were stringy and clumped with blood.
“Let’s get cleaned up,” Hyuk said. “I’m sick of these stupid, frilly clothes.”
Donghae almost thought he could smile.
Jay took them to a back room on the topmost floor. A janitorial closet, it was small and crowded, with a bare metal sink in the back that they used to scrub the blood from their hands and faces. It was a major downgrade from what they were used to, cold and cramped. In the corner a half-naked okji sat, tied to the piping along the wall. He was smeared with blood and one of his legs was horribly broken, the outline of his smashed bones visible under skin. His naked torso seemed strong, the creases between his abs shaded and glistening with sweat. Obviously, he was in pain and his lips were pale and cracked from dehydration. Behind blonde bangs, dark eyes smouldered, glaring at his surroundings. Hae watched him for awhile, sizing him up, before turning to Jay.
“Why is this one tied up here?”
“Timechaser whore. He broke his leg in the skirmish and his prokji abandoned him.” Looking up from where he was cleaning bandages, Jay allowed a smirk to show on his lips. “They have no loyalty.”
Hae found a cup on one of the racks, grimy and dusty with disuse, but he filled it with water and brought it to the prisoner, who watched him warily as he approached.
“I,” his managed to get out with deep breaths, his chest heaving with pain. “Don’t want your poison.”
“It’s not poison,” Hae rolled his eyes. “It’s water and I shouldn’t even be giving it to you, after what you did to this town.”
Despite his effort to appear defiant, the Timechaser allowed Hae to pour the liquid down his throat, moaning with pleasure after he’d swallowed it all, his throat spasming. After a moment, he spoke again and this time his voice was a bit clearer, his throat having been lubricated with drink.
“Then why did you?” he asked.
“Because I’ve seen enough death and suffering in the last two days,” Hae admitted. “I don’t want to see any more. What’s your name?”
“I’ll tell you if you answer my question after.”
“Sure. I’m Donghae.”
“Leeteuk,” he winced, readjusting his position on the floor, dragging his leg like dead weight. “Now my question. Why are you here?”
“We’re taking the Lift to Disanji.” Hae was moving without thought, poking at the Timechaser’s broken bone, seeing if it could be set, making Leeteuk howl in pain.
“We control all of that city,” he churned out through tightly clenched teeth. “You’ll be killed upon sight. Making yourself look pretty might gain you a job as a whore, though.”
“Like you?”
“Despite what that creature Jay says, I am not a whore.”
Hae sat back, letting the other gain his breath so he could speak with more ease.
“I’m Kangin’s spiritual advisor.” His eyes grew sad, then, almost misty as he saw things Hae could not, things in his memory. A small smile threatened to break his mask of pain and indifference. “Although, currently, I find myself raising his son more than advising.”
“Kangin?”
The broken okji leaned back to give Hae a look of surprise at his ignorance, but a pleased, knowing grin warped his features. “He’s our King. The King of the Timechasers.”
King? Donghae didn’t say anything as he stood, his face set in a hard mask. He needed to speak to Eunhyuk. He found him waiting outside in the hallway, holding a bag of clothes.
“From Jay,” he said, looking through them. “What did the Timechaser say?”
“Hyuk,” Hae waited until he was as close to Hyuk as he could get, then whispered, “we have to take him with us.”
“What?! Are you out of your mind?”
“He’s the advisor to the King.”
Hyuk pondered this, his jaw working as he weighed the pros and cons. Hae could see why he’d be hesitant, the Timechaser was Jay’s prisoner, they couldn’t just tell him they were taking him back to his people.
“I guess it is the best security we’re going to get up there,” Hyuk relented. “If we bring this King--Shisus, that’s a title--his advisor, they’ll be more inclined to let us through. They might even reward us.” Hae could see Hyuk’s eyes sparkle at that.
“Any idea what we’re going to tell Jay?” Hae asked.
“You think he’ll notice if we just walk out with him?”
Hae leveled a look before lightly slapping Hyuk’s shoulder. “Duh, he’ll notice. Are you stupid?”
The look that slowly crept its way up Hyuk’s face would be considered devious at best. His eyes hit the roof, looking upward as he pondered. Finally, “Unless...”
Hae was prepared for this idea. “Unless there’s a distraction, right?”
Smiling at each other, they realized their thought processes were running on the same wavelength. The smile Hyuk gave him, kind of shy with his head slightly bowed, his lips pulled taught over his large teeth, made Hae feel kind of warm. The warmth was right in his chest, spreading out between his ribs like a sleepy kitten, pawing at his heart. Hyuk was looking at him still, his lips closing, sucking in to curl around his teeth, suppressing that smile. Hae felt himself grinning foolishly as well, so much so that he forgot exactly what it was they were smiling about at all. To him, it was Hyuk. But that wasn’t right, why would Hyuk make him smile? It had to have been something else.
“So,” Hyuk’s voice broke through the weirdness. “About that distraction.”
“I’ll handle it,” Hae interjected, much to Hyuk’s dismay.
He groaned and pouted, which only served to make him look childish. “You never let me have any fun.”
“You know what they say,” Hae was already walking away, down the hallway. “Those of higher caste have more fun.”
Before he turned the corner he heard Hyuk call out behind him, “Who says that?!”
Finding Jay, even in a building as chaotic as that clinic, was easy. Standing amongst the horde of destruction and murder, beside prokji weeping openly from pain, he stood strong. He was confident, the way a leader should be, taking charge of the situation and not allowing the grief and despair around him affect his disposition. Unnoticed, Hae stood in the open mouth of the doorway, half in the hall. He knew that with all the disorganization and panic around him, no one would look twice in his direction, but just in case, he lowered his heartrate, keeping his breathing patterns from increasing to a suspicious frequency. He watched Jay shake his head before crouching down to bandage a wounded okji, saying something with forced smiles to make his patient laugh. Hae thought that was admirable and wondered if he, himself, could lead in such a competent, collected manner. Probably not. He cried too easily and besides, he enjoyed leaning on others from time to time. Hae liked unloading and allowing someone else to take care of him, even if it was just for a little while. A partnership, that was what he wanted. He wondered if Hyuk felt the same way. He was more of a leader than Hae was, in any case, which wasn’t saying that much because Eunhyuk could be extremely selfish.
Even though he had acted cocky with Hyuk, he really didn’t have the faintest idea what he was going to do to keep Jay busy while they smuggled Leeteuk up the Lift. He had to do something that would ensure Jay didn’t have time to even consider looking for them until they were already on the Lift, but he also didn’t want to jeopardize the wounded. His eye caught sight of the main entranceway to the clinic, sliding double doors made of thick glass. Collapsing the entire doorway would be suspicious, but it would also trap Jay in for a time. At least, as long as it would take him to clear a path with whatever mind control skills he’d learned. Hae concentrated on the doorframe, the entire structure around the glass. He wanted to collapse just enough to block the entrance, not the entire building. Extending both hands, he mentally took hold of the sides of the door and pulled inwards. It took a tremendous amount of concentration and Hae could feel his hands shaking while sweat gathered in the creases of his skin. He didn’t wait to see how much of the entrance he’d collapsed. As soon as he heard the sound of glass shattering he turned and ran.
He was exhausted from the exertion, but it didn’t keep his fight or flight skills from kicking in and being effective. Adrenalin was coursing through him, pumping through his veins with every rapid beat of his heart. He was running back to the storage room where Leeteuk had been, his feet slapping against the steps and sending shocks up his legs. Outside the storage room, Hyuk had Leeteuk slung over his shoulder and wasn’t looking that pleased about it, judging by the strained look on his face and the sweat soaking the hair around his forehead and ears. Not breaking his run, Hae motioned for Hyuk to join him as he ran past.
“What’d you do? We could hear that crash all the way from up here!”
“Tell you about it when the walls don’t have ears,” Hae shot back. “We need to find an exit.”
“We can’t go through the front door?” Hyuk was trying to keep up and was doing a good job, even with such a heavy load.
“What front door?” A clever response. “Here, back window.”
“You can’t be serious.”
The window was small, but large enough for an okji to squeeze through. The only problem was that they were on the fourth floor. Hae looked at Hyuk and Leeteuk, whose leg was horribly broken, and tried not to reveal his panic. Hyuk could tell, though. Hyuk could always tell.
“Yeah, about that.” Even though his tone read 'I told you so,’ Hae could hear the underlying concern. “What’s the plan now, genius?”
Hae didn’t have one. Frantically, he opened the window.
“Oh, for Shisus’ sake! Put me down!” Leeteuk, pounding on Hyuk’s back.
Unkindly, Hyuk dropped him, without care that he fell limply against the tiled floor with a resounding smack. Not wasting time, the Timechaser began to drag himself to the window, where Hae was watching him, curiously.
“Can’t do anything, can you?” He was muttering to himself as he pulled himself up on the window ledge. “Seriously, what kind of useless prokji are you? To think that my fate is in your hands. Shisus.”
“Hey!” Hyuk called, annoyed. “You wanna go back?”
His threat was empty, they were stuck with him now. Leeteuk was their only way onto the Lift and all three of them knew it.
“Are you planning on breaking both your legs?” Hae asked him, mirroring Hyuk’s irritation.
“Let him.”
Hae shot his friend a glare while Leeteuk lifted himself halfway through the window, head first. Then, he transwalked. The suction pulled at Hae’s hair and clothes, but when he reopened his eyes the Timechaser was outside, sprawled on the concrete and breathing heavily. Hae never would have thought the weakened okji would have possessed enough strength to transwalk, but it was a relief that he did. Turning around, Hae motioned Hyuk to go through.
“Why didn’t you think of that?” Eunhyuk asked, pulling himself onto the window ledge.
Hae stuck his tongue out, making sure his friend saw it before he disappeared.
When all three of them were outside, it was announced that it was Hae’s turn to carry Leeteuk. The Timechaser weighed a ton, most of it muscle mass. In order to take some of the weight off his muscles, he concentrated his spirit towards balancing the load. It was an advantage he had against poor Hyuk, who had had to rely on physical strength alone.
“Do you know the way to the Lift?” Hae asked his burden.
“Yeah, I know the way.”
Luckily, it wasn’t too far. The town was close to Jiscada’s outer wall and the clinic located on the south side, just a few blocks from the Lift. As soon as they approached, Hae all but threw Leeteuk on the ground beside the identification pad.
“How long of a wait will it be?” Hyuk asked, looking up and up into the glare of the manufactured sun.
“Half an hour or so,” Leeteuk said surprisingly cooly, pressing his hand into the surface of the pad.
The atmosphere shook and crackled as he sent and received confirmation signals to the security up above, although Hyuk and Hae were unable to hear what was being said telepathically. Hae was concerned about what waited for them on Disanji. From what he had seen of the Timechasers thus far, they were a force to be reckoned with, and if they controlled the entire city there was no escaping their judgment. They were taking a risk bringing Leeteuk. If he really was who he said he was, the advisor to the King, it was possible this Kangin would be happy to see him. If he was lying or if Kangin didn’t look too favourly upon him, well.
Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, a familiar hand on his lower back. Wearily, Hae leaned back into the touch, resting his head against Hyuk’s shoulder. When the hand on his lower back slid around to his stomach, holding Hae in place, shivers made their way up his spine.
Don’t worry, okay? Hyuk’s voice, touching his thoughts.
I won’t if you won’t.
Caught.
Hae’s smile at that was tired, painted across his lips in soft strokes. The memory of his brother’s death had been a constant pressure on his heart all day, yet still he could not allow himself to feel it. Instead, he concentrated on that hand on his stomach, the warmth seeping from it into his clothes...
“Our clothes!” Hae remembered aloud.
“What?” Hyuk asked, removing his hand as Hae turned to face him.
“The clothes that Jay lent us, in the bag!”
Hyuk slapped his palm onto his forehead, groaning deep in his throat with realization and annoyance. “We forgot them. Great.”
Hae turned to Leeteuk on the floor, propped against the lift walls and breathing heavily, one hand clutching his spent leg. He looked a mess, drenched in sweat and blood.
“I really hope you are who you say you are,” Hae told him. “Or at least that your prokji are fond of Cronians.”
Leeteuk’s smile at that was pathetic, but still revealing the deep indentations of his dimples. “They’re not. We don’t really,” a pause while he caught his breath, “like anyone except ourselves.”
Hae rolled his eyes and heard Hyuk mutter a sarcastic great. They waited for the Lift in silence after that, Leeteuk falling into an awkward sleep, his body hunched with pain. When at last the Lift came, they couldn’t get onto it fast enough, breathing a sigh of relief that Jay hadn’t had the time or prokji to hunt for them.
“Leeteuk,” Hae asked, cautiously.
The Timechaser opened one eye in question.
“Tell me about,” hesitantly, “Kangin’s son.”
Hyuk looked at Hae, curiously. For a moment it didn’t seem like the Timechaser would reveal information of that nature, at least not with them, and Hae was starting to regret asking when both of his eyes closed and he’d seemingly fallen back asleep. But then, he moistened his lips with his tongue and began to speak, softly.
“Kangin doesn’t really,” he stopped. Tried again, “I treat him as if he’s my own blood. It’s hard for the King to find time to raise a keinling.”
“Keinling?” Hae looked at Hyuk. “Isn’t that an Ipsuren child?”
“I’ve never seen one,” Eunhyuk admitted, eyes sparkling at this new development. “How was that...What was it...Is he...”
“His mother died giving birth to him,” Leeteuk said. “Most ohzai don’t survive the process.”
The growing silence signaled to Hae that the conversation was dropped, but Leeteuk surprised him by continuing it, a smile growing on his face as his eyes, once again, misted over with the vision of things only he could see.
“Keinlings grow incredibly fast. Really, double the rate that human children grow. He’s only been in this world for three years, but already he has the mind and body of a nine year old.”
Hae found his mouth was opened slightly and quickly forced his muscles, slack with shock, to close it. Hyuk whistled, a low note. Leeteuk chuckled at that, but the action sent him reeling with coughs that had him doubled over with Hae on his knees, patting his back with an open palm. When finally his wheezing ended and he regained his composure, Hae asked, quietly,
“What is his name?”
The Lift shuddered to a halt and Leeteuk threw an arm around Hae, using his strength to pull up into a standing position, just as the doors hissed open and Hae allowed his question to go unanswered. After all, it really didn’t matter. Getting him out of the Lift was a process that required Hyuk’s help, since carrying him bridal style would probably have damaged any remaining pride the Timechaser had managed to hold on to. As soon as they stepped onto stationary ground the mob closed in, shoving spears and arrows into their faces, keeping them at arm’s length. They were surprisingly well dressed. Longsleeved shirts of silk tucked into brown leather and suede pants. Steel-toed black boots that rode high on the shins with complicated tangles of laces. Most wore their hair short, but not shaved, and those who didn’t kept it out of their face with ribbon and string. Hae and Hyuk stood still, waiting for Leeteuk to act. He waited until a tall, thin okji in a deep velvet longcoat stepped forward, pushing through the crowd of aggressors.
He stared at Leeteuk as if he was staring into the face of death itself. “Tulana-Teukie?”
“In the flesh.”
Hyuk took this opportunity to speak up. “We want to speak with your King.”
The leader, or so Hae assumed he was, noticed them for the first time. Pushing his bright red hair out of his face, he cleared his throat.
“Yes. Yes, of course.” He signaled to his mob and prokji rushed forward to take Leeteuk off their hands. “Follow me.”
He led them to a platform where they entered a large vehicular box pulled by a long running cable that, Hae assumed, ran through the entire city. Inside, it was spacious and luxurious, with red leather seats and large glass windows.
“Because Disanji is all one city, travel is conducted by cable car,” the okji explained. “The King resides in his manor in the capital of the city, Altair. That’s where we’re going, now. I’m sorry, what were your names?”
Hae gestured in Hyuk’s vague direction, “Eunhyuk. I’m Donghae.”
“I see. Aldebaran, at your service. My men were sent to pick you up,” his smile grew lecherous. “Or dispose of you, if the situation called for it.”
Really, the city was nothing like what Hae had imagined. He had expected a barbaric setting with open torture being conducted in the streets or something equally as vile. Something, anything other than the reality he found himself faced with. Disanji was nice. It was as human a city as Hae had ever seen, the buildings and shops standing untouched by the destruction that had so marred the rest of Jiscada. Lamp posts stood on cobblestone sidewalks, flames flickering in their glass cages. Merchants leaned against carts displaying their wares, children chased dogs in the streets with sticks. It was quaint and a far cry from the concrete and asphalt Hae had grown accustomed to. The entire city seemed to stay as one, without any real slums that Hae could see. Even when they reached Altair, there was no real difference in the architecture or lifestyle, the whole city more or less merged into one social class, one society.
The King’s Manor was a house of white, all smooth pillars and marble statues and, to both Hae and Hyuk’s awe, a gushing fountain. Enchanted, the water sparkled many colors, changing from blue to green to purple to pink to red and back again. The first thing he did when he got off the car was run to it like an excited child, leaning far over the edge and staring into the mirrored bottom. It wasn’t long before Hyuk joined him and as soon as he did, Hae looked around covertly and made sure that no one was watching. When he was sure Adberon (or whatever his name was) was busy fussing over Leeteuk, he dipped a hand in the cool water and sent a splash in Hyuk’s direction.
“Shisus!” Hyuk exclaimed. “Are you a five year old?!”
Laughing, Hae ran safely back to Albaren before his friend could retaliate and tried to act cool, wiping his wet hand on the seat of his pants. He was overly tired and wanted to cry, but there was something about the setting that made him want to forget everything and laugh. Maybe it was the scent of the air, full of smoke from hearthfires (not burning corpses) and cooking meat that reminded him of Garahim. Up the grand marble steps, the massive foyer presented them with wood and metal. A massive, curving wooden staircase wound down the left side of the room from a jutting balcony, gated with black and silver. Above it dangled a four tiered crystal chandelier.
“Please wait here,” Aldebaran (that was it!) instructed. “I’ll have some refreshments sent down for your pleasure.”
“Refreshments sound nice,” Hyuk admitted as the coated okji ascended the staircase.
“Its been so long since we’ve had anything to eat,” Hae agreed. “It isn’t until now that I realize how hungry I am.”
Hae sat down on the bottom step. His clothes were itchy with blood and he desperately needed a bath. They both did. He hoped that the King would be forgiving of their disheveled appearance. Hae took a moment of their downtime to weigh the meaning of a title such as “King.” From what he’d learned in the books Heechul had forced on him, Kings were human rulers of royal blood. A single man who ruled tyrannically over an entire country. Kings had died thousands of years ago, their reigns buckling beneath the crushing waves of bloody war. Ipsuren had no use for Kings and their Queens, even the humans they had risen from hadn’t had any use for them. By what right did this Kangin call himself a King? Why were the Ipsuren in Disanji even allowing him to continue this farce?
Hae didn’t realize how tense he was until he felt Eunhyuk’s hands on his shoulders, massaging the knots from his shoulders. He had taken a seat next to him at some point during his brooding and Hae’s head was lolling back as he came undone beneath Hyuk’s skilled fingers.
“You need a hot bath,” Hyuk breathed into his ear and Hae groaned at just the thought.
“So do you,” Hae told him, rolling his head so it fell against Hyuk’s shoulder. “We could take one together. Like before.”
Eunhyuk laughed, deep and mischievous, “but you complained so much about the mess we made.”
“Honestly, Hyuk,” Hae began, leaning over to press his nose against the side of Hyuk’s neck, right above where it met his shoulder. “I just want to crawl inside you and never leave. It could be anywhere and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. I’d take you right here on these steps if you’d let me.”
Hyuk hummed and Hae could feel the vibration as it ran down his throat, right against where his lips were opening and closing, tasting the salty sweat on Hyuk’s skin. When he swallowed, Hae felt that, too.
“Hae, can I ask you something?”
Donghae could feel Hyuk’s anxiety in his own body, as if it was his own emotion, borne of his own fears. But it wasn’t, it was just their connection, deep and strong. Hae felt Eunhyuk’s spirit inside his own, sitting under his skin and breathing through his veins. That spirit was anxious now, nervous. Hae sat up and pushed his fingers against the short hair around Hyuk’s ear, roaming upwards to where the hair was longer and thicker.
“You can ask me anything,” Hae told him. “You know that.”
“I know, it’s just.” Hyuk scratched at his nose, thumbed his nostril a bit, eyes looking away. “I know that I might not have turned out...the way you had expected when we first met. I was just wondering if,” he shrugged. “If I disappointed you, I guess.”
“Honestly, Hyuk, when we first met I had no idea what to expect. You are different from what I expected, true, but I expected a cold blooded murderer.”
Hyuk chuckled, his smile teasing, “and what makes you so sure I’m not?”
“You’re not. You are a jerk though.” Hae pushed him, softly, “and a crybaby.”
“I am not! You take that back!”
Hae laughed, falling onto his side on the bottom step, one hand clutching his side. “No, seriously, you do cry!”
“So do you!”
At the top of the steps, someone cleared their throat. “Excuse me.”
Quieting, Hae and Hyuk turned to look at Aldebaran, standing on the balcony above them.
“Not to interrupt,” he said, “but your room is ready.”
They bathed individually in a claw footed bathtub, Hae first and then Hyuk. The water was filled with pine scented bubbles, a scent Hae had never smelled before. His hair was washed until it squeaked between his fingers and his skin was scrubbed hard with a rough, scratchy sponge. It was the cleanest Donghae had felt since Garahim and his skin, pink from the heat, sang with tingles. Afterward, they were taken to a spacious room with a four poster bed and a fire burning in the fireplace. Under the thick, clean blankets they ate bread still warm from the oven with a creamy cheese that spread easily and washed it down with honeyed milk (which Hyuk asked for specifically). They dressed in black and whites; Hae in a silk vest that buttoned low in the middle to reveal his chest and thick, high wristed black gloves. It was comfortable, with cuts in the fabric that defined the shape of their bodies and felt nice against their skin.
The lights were dimming when Kangin sent for them. They would share dinner with him at his table, a long, wooden monstrosity with carved trim and a thin, blood red coverlet down the center to protect the wood from candlewax. The candles were lit when they arrived, but the room was empty. Hae and Hyuk sat across from each other, leaving the high-backed, cushioned chair at the head of the table for Kangin. When he finally arrived, he was in a navy blue blazer and black pants, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses tucked into his breast pocket, right in front of a white hankerchief. He was large in bone structure but not overweight, his dark hair cut short and ever so slightly tousled on top.
Hae and Hyuk stood. Aldebaran, loitering by the King’s chair, introduced them in hushed tones before quickly bowing and taking his leave. It was all very arrogant and Hae was afraid Hyuk would burst out laughing any moment. Thankfully, he didn’t.
Kangin motioned for them to sit. “Please, sit.”
They sat. Almost immediately food was brought out to them, as if the servants had been waiting outside for them to take a seat before serving them.
“We raise our own pigs and cows here,” Kangin stated as the food was displayed. “Nothing has been tampered with, I assure you. We have the technology here to generate our own farmland on the outskirts of the city, right along the wall. We’ve been able to simulate sunlight and climate, at least enough to grow grass and make hay for the animals to feed.”
“And you do that why?” Hyuk asked before shoving a chunk of the very cow they were discussing in his overly bold mouth. Hae wanted to kick him.
Kangin didn’t appear phased by the harsh questioning, “I don’t like the idea of getting anything from Above the Ladder. In Disanji, we are perfectly capable of maintaining a healthy lifestyle without being spoonfed by the Alorian.”
The way their host’s face pinched in distaste was enough of a clue that Kangin clearly had no love for the Higher Ups. Hae was starting to understand why he fancied himself a King, outside of Jiscada’s secretive government. In an attempt to clear the atmosphere, Hae spoke up.
“I would love to see that sometime,” he paused, “um. Your...Your Grace.”
Kangin nodded and Hae’s eyes found themselves glued to his plate, trying to keep them from meeting Hyuk’s face, which he knew was laughing at him in secret.
“Stick around long enough and you will,” Kangin offered. “I owe you a lot for bringing back Teukie, after all.”
Hae wanted desperately to ask where their friend was, if they could see him, but in all honesty Kangin’s face didn’t look nearly as grateful as Donghae would have expected. In fact, he looked fairly bored and disinterested, as if the entire issue was below him.
“Will he be alright?” Hae asked
Kangin shrugged, “We have educated healers here who know how to fix almost any kind of wound or illness. They can certainly fix him and in no time at all.”
The King didn’t seem too happy about that. All thoughts of asking to visit Leeteuk were dismissed. In fact, Hyuk made it a point not to mention the blonde okji again. Hopefully Hyuk wouldn’t, either.
“Where are you two headed?"
The sound of Kangin’s chewing filled the room. It was loud and wet, with breathy sucking noises as the King breathed around his food. Hyuk also ate messily, taking bites that were too big for him to chew all at once, filling his cheeks so they bulged. Hae tried to take small bites so if he were expected to make conversation he wouldn’t have to wait forever until he finished eating to speak. Although Hyuk didn’t seem to care about that. In fact, he spoke with his mouth full. Charming.
“Up,” he said, although it sounded more like ‘uff.’
Hae was glad he didn’t say ‘Aethere.’ His Majesty didn’t seem too fond of the Alorian and their famed city.
“You should stay here,” Kangin told them once he’d swallowed. “Someone of low caste like yourself? You were lucky Leeteuk got you a ticket in here, otherwise we would have had your head off as soon as you came out of the Lift.”
A pleasant image. Hae resisted the urge to touch his throat.
“Really,” Kangin continued, “you don’t want to travel too far away from friends. Gangs are taking over, cities are divided. It’s a mess. Blood has soaked the higher levels and it runs down the walls, into my city. Filth try to come through here, spread their lies and hate. It’s all very unorganized.”
“What about the Pekas Geldina?” Hyuk asked, swallowing water. The glass made his words echo. “I heard they were moving up the Ladder, taking over.”
Kangin put his fork down and sat back, using a thick finger to pull at some food caught between his teeth. “Pekas Geldina? Where have you been? Almost a year ago to the day they collapsed in on themselves, killing their leaders and fighting amongst each other. It was insane, but good news for the rest of us. They have no power anymore. They’re nothing but a bunch of bed time stories to scare your kids away from gangs and cults.”
Hae watched Hyuk’s face as he absorbed this news, reached out with his heart to feel him. He sucked in a breath with a hissing sound, sitting back and shaking his head.
“What a mess,” he muttered. “Good riddance. They were such a huge, chaotic mess. I guess they liked it that way. What about the Eislinn?”
“Who knows?” Kangin’s face was prying, now, his eyes sharp and curious. “They’re all the same. Savage, untamed beasts with no sense of order and no real goals. They’re doomed, just like the rest of the gangs out there.” He sat forward then, his face serious, and placed his elbow on the table. “At the end of everything, it’ll be the Alorian,” his pause conducted our attention, “and me. The Timechasers. Us against Them. That’s all it is now and all it will be, later.”
He waved a hand around him, dismissive. “All these other prokji scrambling through human rubble. They’ll turn to dust and seep through the cracks of Jiscada, you wait and see.”
Hae looked at Hyuk, who was staring aptly at Kangin, fascination written all over his face. Perhaps there was a bit of admiration there too, dusted in the black centers of his eyes as they moved away from Kangin’s face to study the table. They didn’t meet Donghae’s, not even when he tried to get Hyuk’s attention, reaching out with his heart. He felt as if he was missing something, as if an entire vision of the future had rained down upon him and he was standing dry, beneath an umbrella of misunderstanding. It was a terrible, lonely feeling. One Hae hadn’t felt since before his kani. He wanted, desperately, to understand why things felt as if they’d changed in the span of one conversation, changed for the worse.
Scrambling, Hae tried to find his way back. “Kang--Your Grace. Do you live alone, here?”
Discounting Leeteuk. Leeteuk, it had been made clear, didn’t count.
“No,” The King told him. “I have a son, as well.”
Just then, almost as if he was summoned by his father’s words, the back door opened. It was such a quiet sound, the sound of heavy oak pushing against soft carpet, muffled. From the darkened hall, a soft voice spoke, far from hesitant.
“Dad?”
Immediately, Kangin’s face brightened. It was a remarkable transformation, to see his face go from a blank, serious composition to one of joy and pride. He turned in his chair and held out a thick arm, beckoning the keinling into the dining room. The boy was tall, with scruffy black hair that shined in the candlelight as if it were wet and could probably use some cutting. His cheeks were round and prominent even though he did not smile, his eyebrows thick and angular, cutting across alert, dark eyes that seemed to see everything all at once. They looked at every corner of the room in a split second’s time, tearing their way across both Hae and Hyuk before settling, innocently, on his father. Even though he was a child, that one look had unsettled Hae without words. The keinling had intelligence, sight.
“This is my son, Kyuhyun,” Kangin said, placing a heavy hand on the boy’s sharp, thin shoulder. The boy was thin all over, lanky limbs and a narrow chest. “This is our future; perfect and whole.”
A/N: Who?
No but seriously you guys have no idea how happy I am to be able to write this again. It was really hard, after everything that happened, to be able to get back into a frame of mind that would allow me to be creative and raw again. I'm back in that frame of mind now and I'm loving every second of it. Every word that I write feels comfortable to me, where a week ago every sentence felt like I was tearing my fingernails out one by one.
So here's the deal: I want every single one of you to comment.
I worked so unbelievably mind blowingly hard on this chapter. Many all nighters were pulled. I must have put at least 120 hours into this single chapter (half of which were spent having staring contests with the blank document, all of which I lost). It has come to my attention over the time I've spent with you guys that only 10% of my readership comments. 10%. That is not, under any circumstances, okay. Seriously you guys, even if it's just "this is good keep writing" I won't care. Just take the time. If for no other reason than the fact that I've taken the time for you ;_;
Anyway, it was fun to write Hae in this outfit. This is long. Bye.
