Chapter Text
He remembered when it started. The two of them were no more than six or seven, and had been outside playing in the courtyard, practicing their fire bending. His younger brother had always been a better bender than him, that was not a surprise, but that….that was something he had only ever read about in books or on scrolls depicting forms that were old and dusty and kept in their library. There was absolutely no way that Jongdae had ever read them, either, given that he had just started reading last year, let alone complicated explanations on bending. Yet it was unmistakeable, the blue tendrils curling from his fingertips as he closed his eyes, solidifying into a small bolt of lightning that streaked across the courtyard and embedded itself in the far wall, causing the stone to crumble as it made impact. Chanyeol had gaped at the boy, disbelief written in his eyes. Even the best fire-benders in the kingdom couldn’t bend lightning, and it was so rare it was considered a lost art.
The sound of the wall shattering a bit made Jongdae open his eyes wide.
“Oh! Did I do that?!” he panicked. “Don’t tell mom and dad, please!?”
“They’re going to find out anyway, dummy, theres a huge hole in the wall! Be more careful next time.” he scolded, crossing his arms and playing off his shock.
“Channieeee! You’re always so mean!” his younger brother’s face fell and he stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.
It was true, Chanyeol was mean. Most of it stemmed from jealousy. His parents showered their youngest with attention and pride in his superior bending skills. Also Jongdae was cute and usually got what he wanted, and Chanyeol was expected to act like the heir to the throne. He sighed in frustration and stomped his foot.
“Jongdae! Chanyeol!” their mother’s voice floated across the open space and they saw her standing on the edge of the grass under the massive archways, waving towards them.
“She’s going to kill us….” Chanyeol muttered, grabbing Jongdae by the sleeve of his rich tunic, and dragging him in the direction of the woman. Jongdae let himself be dragged along, sniffing.
“Did you boys do that?” she asked sternly, pointing to the hole in the wall with her slim fingers.
“Uhhh…” they shuffled their feet and lowered their eyes to the ground, neither one of them wanting to admit to anything. Finally Jongdae mumbled out an apologetic ‘sorry’.
“Jongdae. Was that you?” she sighed and rubbed her nose. “Well, no matter, I’ll see about fixing it tomorrow. Run along inside and get ready for diner. Your father is having some generals over, and you need to look presentable.” she shooed them towards the door, and Jongdae flashed her a toothy smile, happily skipping off, already having forgotten about the whole thing. He was a naturally happy child. It just annoyed Chanyeol even more. He tapped his mother lightly on the shoulder.
“Mother? Can I talk to you?” he looked up at her, his dark eyes meeting hers as she narrowed them down at him tiredly.
“Yes, Chanyeol? What is it? Make it quick, you need to go get ready.”
He took a deep breath. She might not believe him, but he had to tell someone. Clenching his fists, he squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in.
“Jongdae can bend lightning I saw him do it thats what the hole in the wall is from!”
He burst out all in one breath, waiting anxiously for her response. An unreadable expression crossed her face and she knelt down to his level, taking his chin in her hand, making him focus on her. It was times like this his mother scared him, he felt as if he was being sucked into her magnetic eyes.
“Chanyeol, is this true?” her tone was serious and almost icy.
He nodded furiously, beginning to get very afraid and wanting to run back into the palace. She considered him thoughtfully for a moment before nodding slowly and releasing him and straightening, dusting off her robes, expression returning to a neutral smile.
“Alright, thank you for telling me. Run along now.”
He threw open the doors to the great hall, running upstairs to their bedroom, where Jongdae probably already was. Carefully entering, he froze upon seeing his younger brother lying on the bed, the intricate handle of a dagger deeply embedded in his chest, their mother’s dagger. The ruby eye of the dragon glinting at him accusingly as he backed away in horror, stumbling over something and falling backwards into darkness….
He awoke with a start. He had been having the same dream every night for the past week, and it was starting to get to him. He sighed, shoulders drooping. He remembered well the lightning incident. It had been the beginning of…this. A few weeks later Jongdae had splashed him in the face while he was trying to read a book by the fountain in the courtyard. He had jumped up, spluttering in anger, only to find no sign of his mischievous younger brother. Splash.
“Stop it you horrible little demon!” Chanyeol shrieked, sending a ball of flame off in a random direction.
There was giggling from up in the tree and he looked to see Jongdae reclining on a branch casually and trying to muffle his laughter.
“YA!” the older growled, shaking his fist at him, only to be smacked again full on with a small ball of water.
That cut off his yelling quickly and he wiped his face in silence before turning around and stalking inside the house.
“Yeolie! Hey Chanyeolie! Come back, I’m sorry!” he heard his brother’s called apologies, but continued towards his room and shut the door.
And then something had clicked and it all started making sense. All the little things he hadn’t noticed or payed much attention to before were crystal clear. Like how Jongdae never got wet in the rain, or how he didn’t have the natural aversion to water proper to most fire benders, or how he could somehow lift rocks that should be entirely too big for him just to look for lizards.
That had been ten years ago, and Jongdae had only gotten stronger. He had somehow managed to hide it from their parents, but Chanyeol had long ago guessed the truth. Jongdae would hold conversations with people who weren’t there, and he would disappear for hours somewhere no one could find him. Although he was by far the best fire bender in the nation, he never showed it. On the one hand, Chanyeol felt he should be honored that his brother had been chosen to be the Avatar; on the other, he had be trained his whole life to hate that exact person, that they were a bringer of destruction. Lately, however, Chanyeol had been far too busy to take much notice of his brother’s odd habits and worry about his misgivings, since his eighteenth birthday was coming soon, and his father had recently been putting more and more pressure on him. But last week, he had accidentally overheard a conversation between his parents late at night. He hadn’t meant to overhear, he had only been passing by the usually empty throne room on his way back from the armory, when the voices of his parents caught his attention.
“I’ve suspected it for a long time, and so have you.” his mother snapped.
“If you suspected so strongly, why didn’t you act earlier?” the irritated voice of his father replied sharply.
“He was a child Donghyuk, I’m not a monster.”
This had peeked Chanyeol’s interest and he had crept up softly until he was right up against the door, peering through the narrow slit to watch the silhouettes cast long shadows across the stone floor, the entire room emitting a red glow that for some reason tonight seemed eerie and ominous. His father paused a moment, considering, before he spoke again.
“Well, he is no longer. And now more powerful than ever. Not even I could stand against the Avatar, even if he is untrained.”
His mother straightened her shoulders, and the young man listening at the door was overcome with a strong sense of deja vu. Her cold, determined demeanor reminded him of how she had first reacted all those years ago when he had told her about Jongdae’s ability to bend lightning. Her delicate white fingers, those same fingers which had always caressed him so tenderly now fingered the dagger at her side with a vicious malice.
“Then we have no choice but to kill him in his sleep.”
Chanyeol gasped softly and fled, running and running and not stopping until he was leaning against their shared bedroom door, breathing heavily. There was no fear of waking Jongdae, the boy slept like a rock, nevertheless, he fought to control his breaths lest he be heard by anyone else. He had never got along with Jongdae, even though the other inexplicably seemed to genuinely like him, but this; hearing his own parents plot to murder their son, his brother, just because he was the Avatar? It was too much. He wanted to cry and yell and scream all at the same time.
His thoughts wandered back again to his telling his mother about Jongdae, and he couldn’t help but wonder if that was when she had first started to suspect. He was suddenly hit with guilt, and every night since then, he had been plagued by this same dream, seeing his brother’s dead body pierced through the heart with their mother’s dagger. He needed to warn Jongdae, he deserved at least that.
He stretched and looked over to see his brother still sleeping soundly. At least he wasn’t dead. Chanyeol shook the thoughts away, yawned and got up, hearing a commotion in the courtyard. It was going to be a long day.
“Dae, get up! You’re so lazy!” he chided, poking the sleeper sharply in his ribs.
“Ugh! Yeolie, five more minutes? I’m tired.” the other pouted, rolling over and cocooning himself more into his blankets.
“Fine. Brat. Do whatever you want. I actually have things to do today.” Chanyeol gave him a final shove and sauntered off to get dressed.
Jongdae waited until he heard his brother leave the room and his voice fade down the hall from where he was yelling at some poor servant before throwing back the covers and hopping out of bed. He probably shouldn’t be late for breakfast, but today felt like a lazy day. He wanted to go out to the courtyard and pick flowers, but instead he had to listen to his boring astronomy tutor ramble on about the positions of the stars and whatnot. He ran a hand through his long dark hair, tying it up into a ponytail and nearly tripping trying to get dressed and hurry out the door. He wanted to go watch Chanyeol train for his coming of age ceremony, but he also didn’t want to miss food or else his mother might get angry, and she was terrifying when she was angry. Skipping down the hall, the young prince nearly knocked over another servant carrying a bundle of something.
“Sorry Sheeta!” he apologized to the grumbling elderly woman as she wobbled to regain her balance.
“Here, let me.” he steadied her and gave her a huge smile before continuing on down the hallway. “Have a nice day!”
He didn’t understand why his elder brother was always so short with them; Jongdae himself knew almost all of the servants in the royal palace by name. Then again, maybe he was the strange one, since everyone else seemed to treat them exactly like Chanyeol did. Jongdae frowned a bit at that. Why was being nice different? Shouldn’t everyone be kind? That’s what Yifan told him: that he should always be kind to everyone.
“Good morning father! Mother! Chanyeolie! I’m up!!” came the cheery greeting as the sixteen year old flung open the doors to the great hall. His family was seated on the rich red carpet in the middle around that mahogany table he had once accidentally singed when he had a fight with Chanyeol over the bean buns.
“Hello dear. Come here.” his mother patted the place next to him and he happily sat down next to her and waited for his food to be brought out.
“So Chanyeol, today, you will meet with Master Youngbae: the greatest fire bender in the nation.” his father began, “besides, of course, our little Master Jongdae here.”
Chanyeol tried not to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the beaming smile the compliment drew from his brother. He knew it was wrong of him to envy the younger, but he was the one who was going to be king, he should be the better fire bender. Instead, he swallowed his emotions and gave a nod.
“You have nearly mastered the art yourself,” their father continued, “and tomorrow you will show our people that you are fit to be their ruler. And perhaps, “ a spark of excitement kindled in his eyes, “one day lead them to conquer the world.”
Conquer the world? Chanyeol had never thought about that. The world. That was certainly better than the Fire Nation. He found himself hungering for it, the command, the power, it was like a fire beginning to burn inside of him. He wanted to rule, he wanted to lead, he wanted to win.
“Conquer the world? Why would you do that?” Jongdae looked up from his food and made a face. “I like our country as it is.”
His mother’s clear laugh echoed in the vaulted halls.
“You know nothing of ruling, my son. You’re too innocent. One day, you’ll understand.”
Jongdae somehow highly doubted this, but he just nodded and went back to eating. It was true, he didn’t understand. Why could they never be happy with the way things were? He must have gotten lost in thought because he was startled by his mother laying a hand on his shoulder. His father and brother had already gone.
“Daydreaming again?” she asked with a smile.
“Um…ye—yes I guess…” he shrugged, taking her hand and standing up.
“Well I certainly hope you don’t do that during your lessons. And speaking of which, if you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late.” she ushered him in the direction of the library.
“Alright alright. Can I go out and watch Chanyeolie practice when I’m done?” he called after her hopefully.
“As you wish, but please stay out of his way. He’s got a big day tomorrow.” she replied, before gliding gracefully towards the outer courtyard.
So much for collecting flowers.
Diner was mostly spent by Chanyeol talking excitedly about the ceremony the next day. Jongdae was extremely tired and it took everything he had not to doze off in the middle of eating. His tutor had worked him hard, insisting on having him memorize the paths of at least three stars, and several equations he was fairly certain were useless to him.
“Jongdae, honey, you look tired. Why don’t you head on up to bed?” his mother ruffled his hair affectionately.
“Uh huh.” he yawned sleepily, stretching before standing up. “Goodnight mother, goodnight father. Goodnight Yeolie.”
The doors closed behind him as their mother watched him leave with an unreadable expression in her eyes. Finally she turned to Chanyeol suddenly.
“Chanyeol, darling, you have an important day tomorrow. I know you and your brother stay up late bickering, so I think you should sleep in your own room tonight, hmm?” it was definitely an order and not a suggestion, Chanyeol knew, and she was probably right. However, something about the whole thing did not sit well with him. A gut feeling. His eye caught sight of that ruby studded dagger by his mother’s side— he nearly choked on his food.
“Is everything alright?” she narrowed her eyes at him and he nodded vigorously.
“Sorry, yes, that’s a good idea.”
“Good.”
“Mother, father, please excuse me,” he stood up as casually as he could, “I should get as much rest as I can.”
His heart was pounding as he bolted up the stairs towards his brother’s room, pausing just before the door. Would Jongdae even believe him? It sounded a lot like an elaborate prank, and his mother was always so sickeningly fake around him, the kid probably believed she loved him….Then again if he did nothing, his brother would die, and he would have blood on his hands. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and found his brother sitting crosslegged on his bed with his eyes closed as if he was focusing very hard on something. The creak of the door startled him, however, and he jumped, turning to look at Chanyeol.
“Oh. Hi Yeolie.” he started, before noticing his brother’s panicked expression, “What’s wrong?”
“Jongdae, I know we haven’t always gotten along and I’ve been mean to you a lot, but please, you need to listen to me,” he took the younger by the shoulders and looked at him seriously. “Mom and dad know about you. I mean they know about the whole Avatar thing, and Mom is going to kill you. I heard them talking a week ago about it, and I think she’s going to do it tonight. She told me to not to sleep in your room tonight. Dae, please leave. Please, you’ll die if you stay here!” he was practically begging by this point.
Jongdae didn’t say anything for a long time, just looked like he was trying to fight back tears before nodding with a sniffle.
“Jonghyun warned me my life was in danger here, I just….I didn’t want to believe him.” he ended, fiddling with his fingers.
“Well…whatever. Its true.” Chanyeol insisted, tugging him out of bed, “And you’ve got to leave now!”
“Where do I go?!” Jongdae turned to his brother with wide, terrified eyes. In that moment, it hit Chanyeol just how little his brother actually was, how horrible this all must be to him, the people he thought loved him most in the world were the ones trying to murder him. He loved everyone, yet no one loved him.
“I don’t know, Dae, I just…I don’t know.” he ran a hand through his hair, yanking his brother by the hand down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. “Come on, out the back.”
He paused, motioning for his brother to be silent as a night guard passed by. Having been mischievous when younger was now working to his advantage as he led Jongdae to a small hole in the back of the palace courtyard and threw a dark cape over him, tugging it over the younger’s messy hair. Chanyeol took him by the shoulders and his brother gripped onto him tightly.
“Channie wait…” he paused slightly, looking up at the taller. “Do you…do you love me?”
Chanyeol hesitated. Did he? If not, why was he here, now, risking his life—was he risking his life? After all, what did he even have to loose from this? He sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides.
“You should go.”
Nonetheless, Jongdae’s own arms wrapped around his waist, hugging the lanky boy close to him. For the briefest instant, Chanyeol quite nearly went with him. He was young and inexperienced, there was no way he would ever make it on his own. But then his own common sense crushed the spark, and he patted his younger brother on the head before telling him to hurry.
And, just like that, his brother way gone. Disappeared through a crack in the wall. Would he ever see him again? For his own sake, Chanyeol hoped not. But, as he snuck back into bedx, something in Chanyeol told him this was not the last he would see of his brother. One day, Jongdae would come back. After all, that was what the Avatar was supposed to do, right? Return.