Only Thing I Need
Suho/Chen, 3511
Warning: contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Awakening
Jongdae thinks he could travel a thousand years and never find anyone quite like him. (Written as a Fire Emblem!au for exocollab.)
Tendrils of lightning curl around his wrist and fingers as he flexes his hand. He can't sleep, not when the only thing he sees behind his eyelids is a body-one he knows well-hitting the ground with a heart-stopping thud. He always wakes up after that, sweating and panting, looking around himself to make sure that it hasn't happened yet, that everything's okay, that he's still alive. He's been practicing-that's what he's doing right now-but that worries him all the more. Sure he's gained control, but his abilities have also increased tenfold. He's seen what happens to the bodies of enemies that fall into his path, and he worries that if someone gets in his head, there will be nothing to stop him from doing the same to-
A head peeks past the flap of his tent opening and he goes still, veins of lightning sizzling before they disappeared into the air.
"Jongdae," the man says, looking pensively around the interior. There's not much, just books, robes, and swords that he still fumbles with. "Are you ready?"
Jongdae looks around. This might be the last time he sees this tent. "I suppose," he murmurs, standing and walking out. He can see that the others are already pulling their tents down, leaving no sign of their having been here. Jongdae merely continues to walk beside the lightly armored man. He's no good at putting his tent up or taking it down-the others say it's less work doing it for him than attempting to help him.
"Minseok, where's Sehun?" Jongdae merely asks to be polite, he knows the answer will be long. The ones regarding Sehun always are.
"He's with Minerva," Minseok says with a fond smile. Minerva, Minseok's wyrven, is really something else. Taller even than Chanyeol's pegasus, the mighty animal will not accept the company of anyone other than Minseok. Sehun, more out of hard-headed ness than courageousness, has been trying to befriend the mighty beat for weeks now, and has been unsuccessful so far.
"Oh?" Jongdae hums. "And how is that going?"
"They fell asleep arguing," Minseok practically coos. "Both of my little warriors," he whispers jokingly.
Jongdae frowns. No one really knows if Sehun and Minseok are a good thing, but it's better to do this now rather than later, Jongdae thinks. Who knows how long any of them have left.
"We're moving out!"
Jongdae starts at the shout and Minseok runs off without a farewell. He needs to fetch his wyrven and his swordsman.
Jongdae merely heads to the head of camp, where there are already a few people standing. They grin at him when he nears, heavy cloak brushing the dirt.
The head of the group, a man rather short for a fighter-but Jongdae knows from experience that the man fights well enough to make up for his height-grins at him when he nears. Jongdae thinks of that grin going lopsided and bright, brown eyes going dim and his stomach drops.
"Are you ready, Jongdae?" He asks with a grin, like he knows the answer is going to be yes.
But it's not. Jongdae is the farthest thing from ready.
-
They march past the city and to the castle. Minseok, Sehun, and Chanyeol seem to be having a conversation about their steeds while Kris trots along with a smile on his usually straight face, directed of course to the clumsy knight who keeps a steadying hand in his steeds mane as they walk. He's said that it's calming to both of them, and Jongdae has more than once seen Kris with his hand buried in his steed's mane, a pensive look on his face.
A bit further up, Luhan and Jongin are speaking with Kyungsoo and Tao, the latter of which is walking, for once, his loose, exotic silks billowing around him as he regards Jongin's gauze outfit, lifting pieces of cloth until Kyungsoo slaps his hand away with a cross frown. Tao's expression crumbles and he falls into a crouch, body rapidly growing bright until there's a pop and a thin dragon is in its place. The scarlet creature winds itself around Kyungsoo's neck, tucking a head beneath his shoulder plate and the armored man heaves a sigh, hand coming up automatically to pet the scales of the shifter. Jongin looks on worriedly, probably wondering is he's done something wrong, but he relaxes when Luhan settles a hand on his lower back.
Baekhyun and Yixing are, as usual, the loudest of the bunch. It's odd, because Yixing is the calmest and quietest of them all. But the former thief can quickly have them both arguing at the top of their lungs in no time. Even now, Jongdae can hear a slightly annoyed you stupid, pigheaded human before Baekhyun's boisterous laughter.
Jongdae is marching by himself, eyes trained on the dark-haired armored Prince and the slight, shorter girl by his side. She's a direct copy of the man, which makes sense, since she's his daughter.
The girl from the future had been extremely helpful at the start, more than willing to offer her superior swordsman skills to her father's ragtag group of soldiers. But then, one day at camp she had pulled Jongdae and Joonmyun, her father, aside to tell them that, in her time, her father had died when she was a babe, not even older than a year.
Joonmyun was crushed by the news, Jongdae could easily tell. The Prince's wife had died during childbirth-Jongdae had been there to comfort the man, holding the newborn princess in his arms as Joonmyun wept-and the baby they had left behind would be turning a year old in mere months.
Then she had stopped to cry, bottom lip trembling as Joonmyun pulled her into his hold, rocking his daughter to and fro as Jongdae watched on. As soon as he had stepped forward, the girl had fixed him with a fiery glare and announced that her dad had been killed in battle, by his closest friend.
Joonmyun has been rather unnaffected by the news. He still walks with Jongdae alone, stays up with him and watches the sun rise as they talk about what on Earth they will do when all this is over. Sometimes, Jongdae sees the man staring at him with a lost expression before it clears into a smile and the next thing Jongdae knows, he's being tackled to the ground by the Prince. Their childish play fights always end quickly, with their legs entwined and hands usually near, because Joonmyun fiddles and he enjoys playing with Jongdae's "magic hands." For his part, Jongdae always finishes with his head strategically placed over Joonmyun's heart, lulled by the comforting sound of heartbeats.
More than once, Joonmyun has expressed his disbelief in his daughter's prophecy, looking at Jongdae with eyes so trusting that the latter always feels like he might throw up.
Jongdae believes the Princess. How could he not, when he's seen his Prince die a thousand times by his hand, behind closed eyelids.
-
"What's the plan?"
They're all hidden behind the front wall of the castle. They don't know how many men are in the front, or inside. It's most likely the country's entire army, and they'll be ready for the attack, but they won't be as well-trained. That's always something Jongdae knows for a fact.
They need to get past the front with little to no effort and then, once inside, Jongdae needs to find the doors leading to the King's chamber. He relays this to the rest and they nod in understanding.
The cut through the meager guards in front with little trouble, Chanyeol striking down most. Kris looks extremely proud, and wastes absolutely no time in mussing the wild hair of his favorite soldier, Chanyeol laughing in delight.
That's Jongdae's favorite thing about these men. They'll stop during a battle to sneak a kiss (Luhan), banter about petty things (Baekhyun), or even heft a fighter onto their steed (Minseok). They each have an other half to fight beside-save for the Princess, who happily fights alone until she meets her equal-and Jongdae prays that there will never be a day when their twelve falls to en uneven eleven. He can't imagine the pain of losing the only person who could be trusted by his side-well, he thinks, watching Joonmyun cut down the last soldier guarding the door, maybe he knows what that feels like.
Behind the doors is a long hall that leads to the King's chamber. The regal doors and carpeting leading up give it away. It couldn't be anything but.
Jongdae feels all eyes draw to him, waiting for orders.
"Jongin," he begins, eyeing the mass of guards, "Do you think you could draw their eyes to you?"
The dancer nods, fixing his clothes do that they sway as he walks, leaving little to none of his body covered by anything thicker than gauze.
Jongdae instructs Minseok and Sehun-who is on the back of Minerva while Minseok is at her taloned feet-to cut down any other guards that arrive while making sure that none in the room can flee. To Baekhyun, Yixing, Tao, and Kyungsoo, he tasks with clearing a path for Kris, Chanyeol, the Prince (and, by proxy, the Princess), and himself.
When Jongin steps out, Jongdae realizes he had forgotten to tell Luhan his part of the plan, but it's an unnecessary worry. The man is drawing his bow and positing the first arrow before Jongin even begins to dance.
Luhan and Minseok come from the same region, a large and unheard of Kingdom in the north. They're fantastic fighters and very smart, able to put feelings aside for the moment and focus on the task. Jongdae thinks that's the only reason why Luhan is able to wait until the first line of soldiers are almost touching Jongin before he looses his arrows, not even grazing Jongin, who trusts the archer more than anyone else and would probably allow the man to shoot at him, blindfolded, knowing that none would hit.
When all the men are down, Luhan runs forward and reaches Jongin just as he pulls a dagger from his clothes to protect himself from the next wave.
Baekhyun is a good fighter, and ever so cautious Yixing-the last of his kind-makes up for his carelessness, stopping soldiers in their tracks with a swipe of his large paws, ears rotating on his head before he darts to the other side of the former thief and saves his neck for the nth time.
They make it to the door quickly, Chanyeol and Kris promising to keep anyone else from entering before Joonmyun opens the door and Jongdae follows him inside.
The robed man frowns. "Where is your-"
"She's back with Minseok and Sehun. I was worried that if she came with us, she would try to..." He trails off, fixing a forced smile onto his features. "Never mind."
Oh. The Princess has, on more than one count, expressed her desire to kill him, but he wasn't aware that Joonmyun knew. But then-he lays a hand on Joonmyun's armored shoulder. "If it even looks like I am not in control of myself, I want you to kill me."
Joonmyun gapes. "Jongdae, I could never-"
"Promise me."
The Prince looks into Jongdae's eyes and sighs. "Well, if that is what you truly want, then... Yes. I will."
"Oh, how touching."
Jongdae feels like he's moving through a dream. He doesn't register anything the dark man dressed in purples and blacks says, only the anger expressed by Joonmyun. And then his wrist is being held.
"Your time is up," Joonmyun states, giving Jongdae's wrist one last squeeze-for Jongdae's sake or his own, the Mage isn't sure-before he draws his sword.
"Hmm. If that's what you want, foolish Prince."
And then a beam of purple hits Joonmyun square in the chest and the man is falling back.
Jongdae jumps into motion, contorting his hands until he has a ball of lightning that he throws at the man, knocking him back a step. Joonmyun, already recovered, charges forward and gets a hit to the man's arm before he has to duck a hit.
It quickly devolves into utter chaos.
Jongdae stops drawing magic, because he can no longer tell the difference between his prince and the caped King in the thick cloud of dust generated from all the missed blows that take a toll on the walls and ceilings.
The dark man aims a ball of energy at Joonmyu and Jongdae quickly deflects it, earning an attempt on himself that he disappates almost too late.
Joonmyun looks up and Jongdae follows his gaze and sees a row of loose stones. He shoots his arm up, into the air and a bolt of lightning flows out, hitting the row dead-on. The sorcerer notices too late, shouting as the rocks bury him.
"That won't hold for long," Joonmyun remarks limping as he runs over to Jongdae. His shoulder plate is broken and he has blood marring the gentle features of his face. "Jongdae, what should we do?"
The man is weak (so are they, but Jongdae is going to ignore that). They need to land a few more hits to his core and he'll be done for. "I'll throw something at him when he gets up. You go in and try to hit him, but get out of the way quickly." Joonmyun nods and then there's a heart-stopping shout and the pile of stones are thrown into the air. Jongdae ducks and is hit by debris, but Joonmyun doesn't move fast enough and grunts when a stone is launched into his chest.
Jongdae springs up, magic already thrumming in his veins as he concentrates it into a stream and throws it at the recovering King. Joonmyun is right behind, both hands on the hilt when he brings the sword down, a smooth motion that has the weapon stabbing through thick layers of cloth and skin. Joonmyun utters a grunt as he pulls the sword out just as quickly, darting to the side.
With a push so violent is send him back a step, Jongdae forces all the magic he has left into a tight ball of energy, hurling it at his target.
The man grunts when it hits, but stays standing though severely weak. He grins right at Jongdae and the latter's stomach drops. It wasn't enough.
With a loud cry, Joonmyun lauches himself forward, catching the enemy by surprise as he buries his sword in the man's back and twists.
The result is instantaneous. The man's skin erupts into purple flame and Joonmyun jumps back just in time, sword in hand. He stand next to Jongdae and grins, so obviously pleased with himself despite his heavy limp and dirt-encrusted skin. If Jongdae were anywhere else, he would tease the man-but behind him, the sorcerer is pushing himself up onto one arm, raising the other. One glance at Joonmyun tells him that the prince doesn't notice, and he sees the beam of light before he hears a garbled this isn't over yet!
Both of his hands are on Joonmyun's chest and he pushes. The last thing he sees before his vision goes bright and his chest tightens in pain is Joonmyun's warm eyes wide open in confusion.
Jongdae can see. He can see, but he can't move. Which is just fine because Joonmyun is just pushing himself up from where he had fallen and running over to Jongdae, one hand under his back as he pulls him up into a seated position against his chest.
"We did it," he cheers, motioning to the pile of robes and ash in the corner. "Thanks to you, he won't be bothering us anymore," he says with a grin.
Jongdae wants to laugh. He wants to laugh long and hard, all the while feeling Joonmyun beside him because the prince is alive. His dreams were wrong and he doesn't kill Joonmyun. Jongdae doesn't care if the pain in his chest blinds him, increases so much he can't breathe, because Joonmyun will be right here the whole time.
"We can rest easy now," Joonmyun continues.
But wait, Jongdae thinks as he lays a hand on Joonmyun's chest, this isn't how his dream ends.
"Jongdae?"
His vision blackens at the edges, the throbbing in his head so loud he can't hear Joonmyun.
"Jongdae, are you alright?"
He feels the magic as it travels down his arm and he almost sobs. No. Jongdae desperately tries to cut it off, but it's like he doesn't have control over it, like it's not his own magic. No. Digging deep into himself, he tries to pull together all the energy he has left, sending it towards his arm as the magic there concentrates itself into a single entity, almost as if he's about to-
"Jong-"
Joonmyun shudders under his palm. Jongdae's vision clears, head ceasing to puns and chest greedily sucking in breath. He watches, helpless, as Joonmyun stumbles on his feet, looking down at the bolt of lightning potruding from his chest.
Jongdae looks down and sees weak veins of lightning dancing around his fingertips-the magic that was too late.
Joonmyun's breathing harshly, eyes on Jongdae but not really seeing him. "This isn't your," he sucks in a gravelly breath, "your fault. Get out of here and find the others." He falls to one knee. "Promise me, Jongdae, that you'll get out of here." And then he falls, body limp on the ground.
Jongdae stifles a sob with his hand. He'd lost. Joonmyun is dead and it was by his hand. It was all for naught; he should have let the Princess kill him when he had the chance. He stares at the lifeless body of his Prince and sobs. It's all too much, he's still weak from the fight and now everything's starting to really hurt, adrenaline rush gone. His head gives one last throb and his vision swims. He's out before he hits the ground.
-
"Jongdae."
"Hey, he's waking up!"
"Someone go get Joonmyun."
Jongdae groans, turning onto his side and and burying his face in the blankets he is covered in. He doesn't know how he got here, but none of that matters because, "Joonmyun is dead."
"My father," the Princess starts, stepping forward, "is most assuredly not dead." And then she smiles and Jongdae's eyes widen.
He doesn't know what's going on, but everything must be okay because she is smiling at him. She's never once smiled at him and the look she is giving him now is something akin to a thank you.
"Jongdae!"
The Mage has hardly looked up before he's being swallowed in a hug. A very warm hug, one that smells clean and woodsy and really, Jongdae could stay like this forever but-"How are you here?" The question escapes him and Joonmyum regards him from a small distance. "I mean, how are you alive?"
Joonmyun settles beside him, lending his shoulder as a place to rest and Jongdae accepts, laying his head on the prince's shoulder. "You know, it's the strangest thing. I felt biting pain, all over. I've felt nothing like it before, and I knew it. That I was going to die." Someone in the back gasps and someone else laughs. Probably Sehun and Jongin. "But then, it stopped. The pain went away and I felt warm. That was you, wasn't it? I've never felt your magic before, but I was sure the latter was you. Though, it really did hurt at first. I don't envy your adversaries one bit." He smiles. "Did you really think you'd be done with me so easily? Although. I was rather dramatic, wasn't I? I want to apologize for that."
"You're always dramatic," Baekhyun moans. Yixing frowns and gives his arm a soft tap.
Joonmyun frowns at the man, but quickly returns his attention back to Jongdae. "But enough about me. I was beginning to worry you wouldn't wake."
In the back, Luhan nods. "You gave us quite the scare when Joonmyun came out of that room with your limp body in his arms. Jongin almost cried." The boy at his side whines at the mention.
Tao peeks his head over Kyungsoo's shoulder. "We've been trying everything to wake you up. Even true love's kiss." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes as the shifter gives a sad sigh. "It didn't work."
Chanyeol and Kris poke their heads into the tent. "We've got meat!" The younger of the two cheers, positively lighting up when he sees Jongdae. "Hey! You're up!"
Kris grins. "Celebratory feast?"
Chanyeol gasps. "Yes!"
Jongdae beams and searches for Joonmyun's hand behind them, intertwining their fingers when he finds it. It's not over-can't be, as long as the Princess is here and not in her own time-but this is nice. Jongdae could spend forever here, his head on Joonmyun's shoulder and their sides pressed together, and ignore every tomorrow.
Joonmyun looks down his nose at Jongdae and smiles. "Comfy?"
Jongdae nods and moves closer to his prince.
Warning: contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Awakening
Jongdae thinks he could travel a thousand years and never find anyone quite like him. (Written as a Fire Emblem!au for exocollab.)
Tendrils of lightning curl around his wrist and fingers as he flexes his hand. He can't sleep, not when the only thing he sees behind his eyelids is a body-one he knows well-hitting the ground with a heart-stopping thud. He always wakes up after that, sweating and panting, looking around himself to make sure that it hasn't happened yet, that everything's okay, that he's still alive. He's been practicing-that's what he's doing right now-but that worries him all the more. Sure he's gained control, but his abilities have also increased tenfold. He's seen what happens to the bodies of enemies that fall into his path, and he worries that if someone gets in his head, there will be nothing to stop him from doing the same to-
A head peeks past the flap of his tent opening and he goes still, veins of lightning sizzling before they disappeared into the air.
"Jongdae," the man says, looking pensively around the interior. There's not much, just books, robes, and swords that he still fumbles with. "Are you ready?"
Jongdae looks around. This might be the last time he sees this tent. "I suppose," he murmurs, standing and walking out. He can see that the others are already pulling their tents down, leaving no sign of their having been here. Jongdae merely continues to walk beside the lightly armored man. He's no good at putting his tent up or taking it down-the others say it's less work doing it for him than attempting to help him.
"Minseok, where's Sehun?" Jongdae merely asks to be polite, he knows the answer will be long. The ones regarding Sehun always are.
"He's with Minerva," Minseok says with a fond smile. Minerva, Minseok's wyrven, is really something else. Taller even than Chanyeol's pegasus, the mighty animal will not accept the company of anyone other than Minseok. Sehun, more out of hard-headed ness than courageousness, has been trying to befriend the mighty beat for weeks now, and has been unsuccessful so far.
"Oh?" Jongdae hums. "And how is that going?"
"They fell asleep arguing," Minseok practically coos. "Both of my little warriors," he whispers jokingly.
Jongdae frowns. No one really knows if Sehun and Minseok are a good thing, but it's better to do this now rather than later, Jongdae thinks. Who knows how long any of them have left.
"We're moving out!"
Jongdae starts at the shout and Minseok runs off without a farewell. He needs to fetch his wyrven and his swordsman.
Jongdae merely heads to the head of camp, where there are already a few people standing. They grin at him when he nears, heavy cloak brushing the dirt.
The head of the group, a man rather short for a fighter-but Jongdae knows from experience that the man fights well enough to make up for his height-grins at him when he nears. Jongdae thinks of that grin going lopsided and bright, brown eyes going dim and his stomach drops.
"Are you ready, Jongdae?" He asks with a grin, like he knows the answer is going to be yes.
But it's not. Jongdae is the farthest thing from ready.
-
They march past the city and to the castle. Minseok, Sehun, and Chanyeol seem to be having a conversation about their steeds while Kris trots along with a smile on his usually straight face, directed of course to the clumsy knight who keeps a steadying hand in his steeds mane as they walk. He's said that it's calming to both of them, and Jongdae has more than once seen Kris with his hand buried in his steed's mane, a pensive look on his face.
A bit further up, Luhan and Jongin are speaking with Kyungsoo and Tao, the latter of which is walking, for once, his loose, exotic silks billowing around him as he regards Jongin's gauze outfit, lifting pieces of cloth until Kyungsoo slaps his hand away with a cross frown. Tao's expression crumbles and he falls into a crouch, body rapidly growing bright until there's a pop and a thin dragon is in its place. The scarlet creature winds itself around Kyungsoo's neck, tucking a head beneath his shoulder plate and the armored man heaves a sigh, hand coming up automatically to pet the scales of the shifter. Jongin looks on worriedly, probably wondering is he's done something wrong, but he relaxes when Luhan settles a hand on his lower back.
Baekhyun and Yixing are, as usual, the loudest of the bunch. It's odd, because Yixing is the calmest and quietest of them all. But the former thief can quickly have them both arguing at the top of their lungs in no time. Even now, Jongdae can hear a slightly annoyed you stupid, pigheaded human before Baekhyun's boisterous laughter.
Jongdae is marching by himself, eyes trained on the dark-haired armored Prince and the slight, shorter girl by his side. She's a direct copy of the man, which makes sense, since she's his daughter.
The girl from the future had been extremely helpful at the start, more than willing to offer her superior swordsman skills to her father's ragtag group of soldiers. But then, one day at camp she had pulled Jongdae and Joonmyun, her father, aside to tell them that, in her time, her father had died when she was a babe, not even older than a year.
Joonmyun was crushed by the news, Jongdae could easily tell. The Prince's wife had died during childbirth-Jongdae had been there to comfort the man, holding the newborn princess in his arms as Joonmyun wept-and the baby they had left behind would be turning a year old in mere months.
Then she had stopped to cry, bottom lip trembling as Joonmyun pulled her into his hold, rocking his daughter to and fro as Jongdae watched on. As soon as he had stepped forward, the girl had fixed him with a fiery glare and announced that her dad had been killed in battle, by his closest friend.
Joonmyun has been rather unnaffected by the news. He still walks with Jongdae alone, stays up with him and watches the sun rise as they talk about what on Earth they will do when all this is over. Sometimes, Jongdae sees the man staring at him with a lost expression before it clears into a smile and the next thing Jongdae knows, he's being tackled to the ground by the Prince. Their childish play fights always end quickly, with their legs entwined and hands usually near, because Joonmyun fiddles and he enjoys playing with Jongdae's "magic hands." For his part, Jongdae always finishes with his head strategically placed over Joonmyun's heart, lulled by the comforting sound of heartbeats.
More than once, Joonmyun has expressed his disbelief in his daughter's prophecy, looking at Jongdae with eyes so trusting that the latter always feels like he might throw up.
Jongdae believes the Princess. How could he not, when he's seen his Prince die a thousand times by his hand, behind closed eyelids.
-
"What's the plan?"
They're all hidden behind the front wall of the castle. They don't know how many men are in the front, or inside. It's most likely the country's entire army, and they'll be ready for the attack, but they won't be as well-trained. That's always something Jongdae knows for a fact.
They need to get past the front with little to no effort and then, once inside, Jongdae needs to find the doors leading to the King's chamber. He relays this to the rest and they nod in understanding.
The cut through the meager guards in front with little trouble, Chanyeol striking down most. Kris looks extremely proud, and wastes absolutely no time in mussing the wild hair of his favorite soldier, Chanyeol laughing in delight.
That's Jongdae's favorite thing about these men. They'll stop during a battle to sneak a kiss (Luhan), banter about petty things (Baekhyun), or even heft a fighter onto their steed (Minseok). They each have an other half to fight beside-save for the Princess, who happily fights alone until she meets her equal-and Jongdae prays that there will never be a day when their twelve falls to en uneven eleven. He can't imagine the pain of losing the only person who could be trusted by his side-well, he thinks, watching Joonmyun cut down the last soldier guarding the door, maybe he knows what that feels like.
Behind the doors is a long hall that leads to the King's chamber. The regal doors and carpeting leading up give it away. It couldn't be anything but.
Jongdae feels all eyes draw to him, waiting for orders.
"Jongin," he begins, eyeing the mass of guards, "Do you think you could draw their eyes to you?"
The dancer nods, fixing his clothes do that they sway as he walks, leaving little to none of his body covered by anything thicker than gauze.
Jongdae instructs Minseok and Sehun-who is on the back of Minerva while Minseok is at her taloned feet-to cut down any other guards that arrive while making sure that none in the room can flee. To Baekhyun, Yixing, Tao, and Kyungsoo, he tasks with clearing a path for Kris, Chanyeol, the Prince (and, by proxy, the Princess), and himself.
When Jongin steps out, Jongdae realizes he had forgotten to tell Luhan his part of the plan, but it's an unnecessary worry. The man is drawing his bow and positing the first arrow before Jongin even begins to dance.
Luhan and Minseok come from the same region, a large and unheard of Kingdom in the north. They're fantastic fighters and very smart, able to put feelings aside for the moment and focus on the task. Jongdae thinks that's the only reason why Luhan is able to wait until the first line of soldiers are almost touching Jongin before he looses his arrows, not even grazing Jongin, who trusts the archer more than anyone else and would probably allow the man to shoot at him, blindfolded, knowing that none would hit.
When all the men are down, Luhan runs forward and reaches Jongin just as he pulls a dagger from his clothes to protect himself from the next wave.
Baekhyun is a good fighter, and ever so cautious Yixing-the last of his kind-makes up for his carelessness, stopping soldiers in their tracks with a swipe of his large paws, ears rotating on his head before he darts to the other side of the former thief and saves his neck for the nth time.
They make it to the door quickly, Chanyeol and Kris promising to keep anyone else from entering before Joonmyun opens the door and Jongdae follows him inside.
The robed man frowns. "Where is your-"
"She's back with Minseok and Sehun. I was worried that if she came with us, she would try to..." He trails off, fixing a forced smile onto his features. "Never mind."
Oh. The Princess has, on more than one count, expressed her desire to kill him, but he wasn't aware that Joonmyun knew. But then-he lays a hand on Joonmyun's armored shoulder. "If it even looks like I am not in control of myself, I want you to kill me."
Joonmyun gapes. "Jongdae, I could never-"
"Promise me."
The Prince looks into Jongdae's eyes and sighs. "Well, if that is what you truly want, then... Yes. I will."
"Oh, how touching."
Jongdae feels like he's moving through a dream. He doesn't register anything the dark man dressed in purples and blacks says, only the anger expressed by Joonmyun. And then his wrist is being held.
"Your time is up," Joonmyun states, giving Jongdae's wrist one last squeeze-for Jongdae's sake or his own, the Mage isn't sure-before he draws his sword.
"Hmm. If that's what you want, foolish Prince."
And then a beam of purple hits Joonmyun square in the chest and the man is falling back.
Jongdae jumps into motion, contorting his hands until he has a ball of lightning that he throws at the man, knocking him back a step. Joonmyun, already recovered, charges forward and gets a hit to the man's arm before he has to duck a hit.
It quickly devolves into utter chaos.
Jongdae stops drawing magic, because he can no longer tell the difference between his prince and the caped King in the thick cloud of dust generated from all the missed blows that take a toll on the walls and ceilings.
The dark man aims a ball of energy at Joonmyu and Jongdae quickly deflects it, earning an attempt on himself that he disappates almost too late.
Joonmyun looks up and Jongdae follows his gaze and sees a row of loose stones. He shoots his arm up, into the air and a bolt of lightning flows out, hitting the row dead-on. The sorcerer notices too late, shouting as the rocks bury him.
"That won't hold for long," Joonmyun remarks limping as he runs over to Jongdae. His shoulder plate is broken and he has blood marring the gentle features of his face. "Jongdae, what should we do?"
The man is weak (so are they, but Jongdae is going to ignore that). They need to land a few more hits to his core and he'll be done for. "I'll throw something at him when he gets up. You go in and try to hit him, but get out of the way quickly." Joonmyun nods and then there's a heart-stopping shout and the pile of stones are thrown into the air. Jongdae ducks and is hit by debris, but Joonmyun doesn't move fast enough and grunts when a stone is launched into his chest.
Jongdae springs up, magic already thrumming in his veins as he concentrates it into a stream and throws it at the recovering King. Joonmyun is right behind, both hands on the hilt when he brings the sword down, a smooth motion that has the weapon stabbing through thick layers of cloth and skin. Joonmyun utters a grunt as he pulls the sword out just as quickly, darting to the side.
With a push so violent is send him back a step, Jongdae forces all the magic he has left into a tight ball of energy, hurling it at his target.
The man grunts when it hits, but stays standing though severely weak. He grins right at Jongdae and the latter's stomach drops. It wasn't enough.
With a loud cry, Joonmyun lauches himself forward, catching the enemy by surprise as he buries his sword in the man's back and twists.
The result is instantaneous. The man's skin erupts into purple flame and Joonmyun jumps back just in time, sword in hand. He stand next to Jongdae and grins, so obviously pleased with himself despite his heavy limp and dirt-encrusted skin. If Jongdae were anywhere else, he would tease the man-but behind him, the sorcerer is pushing himself up onto one arm, raising the other. One glance at Joonmyun tells him that the prince doesn't notice, and he sees the beam of light before he hears a garbled this isn't over yet!
Both of his hands are on Joonmyun's chest and he pushes. The last thing he sees before his vision goes bright and his chest tightens in pain is Joonmyun's warm eyes wide open in confusion.
Jongdae can see. He can see, but he can't move. Which is just fine because Joonmyun is just pushing himself up from where he had fallen and running over to Jongdae, one hand under his back as he pulls him up into a seated position against his chest.
"We did it," he cheers, motioning to the pile of robes and ash in the corner. "Thanks to you, he won't be bothering us anymore," he says with a grin.
Jongdae wants to laugh. He wants to laugh long and hard, all the while feeling Joonmyun beside him because the prince is alive. His dreams were wrong and he doesn't kill Joonmyun. Jongdae doesn't care if the pain in his chest blinds him, increases so much he can't breathe, because Joonmyun will be right here the whole time.
"We can rest easy now," Joonmyun continues.
But wait, Jongdae thinks as he lays a hand on Joonmyun's chest, this isn't how his dream ends.
"Jongdae?"
His vision blackens at the edges, the throbbing in his head so loud he can't hear Joonmyun.
"Jongdae, are you alright?"
He feels the magic as it travels down his arm and he almost sobs. No. Jongdae desperately tries to cut it off, but it's like he doesn't have control over it, like it's not his own magic. No. Digging deep into himself, he tries to pull together all the energy he has left, sending it towards his arm as the magic there concentrates itself into a single entity, almost as if he's about to-
"Jong-"
Joonmyun shudders under his palm. Jongdae's vision clears, head ceasing to puns and chest greedily sucking in breath. He watches, helpless, as Joonmyun stumbles on his feet, looking down at the bolt of lightning potruding from his chest.
Jongdae looks down and sees weak veins of lightning dancing around his fingertips-the magic that was too late.
Joonmyun's breathing harshly, eyes on Jongdae but not really seeing him. "This isn't your," he sucks in a gravelly breath, "your fault. Get out of here and find the others." He falls to one knee. "Promise me, Jongdae, that you'll get out of here." And then he falls, body limp on the ground.
Jongdae stifles a sob with his hand. He'd lost. Joonmyun is dead and it was by his hand. It was all for naught; he should have let the Princess kill him when he had the chance. He stares at the lifeless body of his Prince and sobs. It's all too much, he's still weak from the fight and now everything's starting to really hurt, adrenaline rush gone. His head gives one last throb and his vision swims. He's out before he hits the ground.
-
"Jongdae."
"Hey, he's waking up!"
"Someone go get Joonmyun."
Jongdae groans, turning onto his side and and burying his face in the blankets he is covered in. He doesn't know how he got here, but none of that matters because, "Joonmyun is dead."
"My father," the Princess starts, stepping forward, "is most assuredly not dead." And then she smiles and Jongdae's eyes widen.
He doesn't know what's going on, but everything must be okay because she is smiling at him. She's never once smiled at him and the look she is giving him now is something akin to a thank you.
"Jongdae!"
The Mage has hardly looked up before he's being swallowed in a hug. A very warm hug, one that smells clean and woodsy and really, Jongdae could stay like this forever but-"How are you here?" The question escapes him and Joonmyum regards him from a small distance. "I mean, how are you alive?"
Joonmyun settles beside him, lending his shoulder as a place to rest and Jongdae accepts, laying his head on the prince's shoulder. "You know, it's the strangest thing. I felt biting pain, all over. I've felt nothing like it before, and I knew it. That I was going to die." Someone in the back gasps and someone else laughs. Probably Sehun and Jongin. "But then, it stopped. The pain went away and I felt warm. That was you, wasn't it? I've never felt your magic before, but I was sure the latter was you. Though, it really did hurt at first. I don't envy your adversaries one bit." He smiles. "Did you really think you'd be done with me so easily? Although. I was rather dramatic, wasn't I? I want to apologize for that."
"You're always dramatic," Baekhyun moans. Yixing frowns and gives his arm a soft tap.
Joonmyun frowns at the man, but quickly returns his attention back to Jongdae. "But enough about me. I was beginning to worry you wouldn't wake."
In the back, Luhan nods. "You gave us quite the scare when Joonmyun came out of that room with your limp body in his arms. Jongin almost cried." The boy at his side whines at the mention.
Tao peeks his head over Kyungsoo's shoulder. "We've been trying everything to wake you up. Even true love's kiss." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes as the shifter gives a sad sigh. "It didn't work."
Chanyeol and Kris poke their heads into the tent. "We've got meat!" The younger of the two cheers, positively lighting up when he sees Jongdae. "Hey! You're up!"
Kris grins. "Celebratory feast?"
Chanyeol gasps. "Yes!"
Jongdae beams and searches for Joonmyun's hand behind them, intertwining their fingers when he finds it. It's not over-can't be, as long as the Princess is here and not in her own time-but this is nice. Jongdae could spend forever here, his head on Joonmyun's shoulder and their sides pressed together, and ignore every tomorrow.
Joonmyun looks down his nose at Jongdae and smiles. "Comfy?"
Jongdae nods and moves closer to his prince.