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Chapter Text

"What? Another one?" Haechan hears from where he's being held face down on the floor by three pirates. "Where do all these stowaways keep coming from?"

"Sorry, Captain. I don't think he was a stowaway though. He was awfully protected." If the eighteen locks they had to cut through and the shield they had to bash down was any indication. "Just like the last one. We keeping him, too?"

Rough fingers grab Haechan's face and his head is forced up, then calloused fingers are pushing his hair out of his face, and then everything Haechan's feared since the warning siren started blaring comes true: he's face to face with the most fearsome pirate in the Seven Skies.

And Haechan can see the exact moment the captain recognises him too, because unease fills his face. "Fuck. We have the Emperor's son."

"Which emperor?" the lackey that has hold of Haechan's right arm asks.

"What do you mean, which emperor? THE Emperor. As in, we're all fucked even if we let him go."

"Let's kill him and dump him on a moon."

"Hit him in the head and leave him on his ship? He has no idea who we are."

"I know exactly who Suh Youngho is," Haechan whispers, not even bothering with Johnny's pirate name.

"Fuck," the captain says again. "Hit him in the head and we'll figure something out later. We gotta scavenge and go before imperial ships show up."

And then the lackey on the left does exactly that.

*

When Haechan wakes up, he's not surprised to find that he's in a pirate ship's brig. He's more surprised that there's soft whimpering from the other side of the small room, and he has a small flare of hope that some of his crew has been spared. Unlikely, but since Johnny knows it's him, there's a chance.

He reaches out with his foot and nudges a lump of ragged blankets and dirty robes.

The lump stops making noise immediately.

"I know you're awake. Who's left?" Haechan asks, sitting up. His head gives a little throb, but he ignores it; he doesn't have time for minor inconveniences like concussions and brain damage.

The lump remains unresponsive, so Haechan sighs and tugs on the blanket, revealing a skinny boy that he's never seen before; Haechan was really hoping it was one of his crew but he can work with this, too. "No, it's okay," he says when the boy finally moves in order to pull against the bars of the brig. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The boy shivers and turns towards Haechan, and immediately Haechan curses under his breath when he recognizes the worn insignia on the boy's dirty robes. Just his luck, kidnapped by pirates and locked up with a member of the enemy's court on his twenty-first birthday. What. A. Celebration.

"When did he catch you?" Haechan asks, switching to the common tongue.

The boy shakes his head. "I don't know how long I've been here," he croaks, his words careful, like he'd never been very good with the common tongue to begin with, and disuse has made him rustier. "Weeks? Months?"

"He kill the rest of your ship?"

"Wasn't on a ship." The boy shrugs and doesn't follow up, just curls more into himself.

"They treat you alright?"

"They've left me alone until now. Thought they forgot I'm down here."

"Up. We're definitely near the top of the ship," Haechan mutters. When the boy glances at him, he continues. "Can't feel the vibrations of the engine. If we were in the depths of the ship where they wanted to forget about us, that's where they'd put us, near the engines so they can't hear our screams. We're probably near the Captain's Cabin." Which doesn't make much sense to Haechan; why would they want their prisoners in easy reach unless they were planning something? He reaches out to touch the bars of the brig, feels the rush of the force field racing along the steel.

"Do you know a lot about ships?"

"Basically grew up on them. I can take them apart and put them back together like any mechanic in the fleet. What's your name?"

He looks wary, like he probably shouldn't be giving away that much. "Taeyong."

"Taeyong, like the Three Jewel's future second-in-command that's been missing two years?"

"Has it been two years?" Taeyong asks, frowning.

"Think so. The temple leader blamed us, thinks we have you in one of our dungeons back in the Seven Skies. Started another war."

Taeyong blinks. "A war was started because of me?"

"Nah, because of pirates kidnapping you, apparently. It's okay though. We pushed you guys back just as quick as you started." Because even though the two systems have been feuding for five hundred years, no one on Haechan's planet has seen them as a real threat in generations.

Taeyong looks worried. "A war started and ended since I've been gone?"

"More than that. Three, maybe? It's been a rough couple of years," he starts tapping his knuckles against the parts of the wall that he can reach, rhythmic, careful, quiet enough not to disturb. "You know, kidnapped kids, space pirates, everything that's happening here, basically. They gonna feed us anytime soon?"

"Maybe? They send food whenever they think about it, not on a schedule."

"Or maybe they just want you to think it's random. I find it really odd they have so much leverage sitting below deck and they can't even remember to feed you regularly."

Taeyong looks slightly panicked. "They don't know who I am."

Haechan laughs a bit louder than he intends, then grimaces as he stretches to feel the seam between the wall and ceiling. God, his head. When he gets his hands on that lackey... "They know who you are. You think pirates just leave captives sitting around doing nothing? They haven't put you to work or sold you or killed you, and they've had you two years? You're one of those kids they keep in their temple, aren't you? Sheltered."

"Keep in the temple?"

"Yeah, you know. Monk training or whatever they call it. Shaved heads, white robes, weird face tattoos, holes all over. Kept away from the real world."

"You know both a lot and nothing about my system."

"You guys don't like visitors, so we mostly rely on grainy surveillance video that we take from pirates. Maybe if we haven't been at war my entire life I would know more about your facial alteration obsession."

Taeyong touches one of his ears full of metal. "They're sacred, so even if we weren't fighting, I probably wouldn't tell."

Haechan inclines his head before touching the door one more time. "Hey, okay. I know it's sacred, but can I borrow that bar in your ear?"

Taeyong looks wary but unscrews it and hands it over.

*

Something not many people know is that this isn't the first time Prince Haechan's been kidnapped. It's happened twice before, once when he was just a child by someone looking for political gain, and a second time when he was a teenager by someone looking to hurt his father.

If not many people know about that, even less know about the fact that Haechan's father hadn't bothered sending out armies to look for his much beloved son either time; he'd just waited until Haechan had gotten bored and short wired whatever ship he was being held on, a beacon of sparks and colour in the sky, before swooping in. The emperor had plenty of practice trying to reign Haechan in, and while Haechan is typically well behaved and responsible towards the Seven Skies, sometimes Haechan shows exactly how he earned his nickname that's whispered across the galaxy in disbelief.

A thing that even less people know, is that Captain Johnny, most fearsome pirate of the Seven Skies, knows all this, and yet still leaves Haechan locked in the brig without a guard.

Which Haechan finds very fortunate. Especially when he disables the surveillance camera with Taeyong's earring and then wedges himself between the ceiling tiles and squirms out into the open hall using the plate their dinner had come on to prevent himself from getting electrocuted.

Taeyong looks on in shock. "Who are you?" he asks.

Haechan dips into a mocking bow. "The Terror Prince, at your service. Now, are you coming?" he asks, popping the door open like it didn't even need a key.

"Where are we going?" he asks, a bit apprehensive, like maybe following a crazy prince out into a ship full of pirates might not be the best course of action.

Haechan smiles, showing off his dimple. "We're going to leave this ship."

The boy gulps and lets himself get led to his doom.

*

"I was wondering if you would drop in before commandeering one of my pods," Captain Johnny says calmly. He's got his boots propped up on the console in the great cabin and he's flicking through something on his comm tab. "You're getting sloppy. You didn't disable the second camera."

Haechan grins. "I figured I would leave the one only you know about. You know, so you have something there for your next hostage until you admit your tech can't fix the one I dismantled."

The captain snorts. "Thank you for that, your highness."

"Now, we can make this easy. You can point me towards your pods and then turn a blind eye as I escape, or I can light this ship up like a Christmas tree and you can have everyone in the Seven Skies after you."

"Yeah, yeah, like I really have a choice," the captain says, reaching into his console and pulling out a taser. Taeyong gasps when the captain casually throws it towards Haechan. "Keep my name out of your father's ears and don't kill any of my crew."

"You know my father has forgotten your name entirely. I'll try to keep it that way even though you killed all of my crew." They exchange a long look before Haechan sighs. "I'm taking the boy with me."

"The boy?" The captain raises a brow. "He's older than you, you realise."

"Is he? He seems younger." Less capable. But well, Taeyong had grown up sheltered in a temple and Haechan had grown up with soldiers. He glances over his shoulder at Taeyong who is drawn in on himself. "I'm still taking him."

"By all means, your highness. Maybe that will stop one of your petty wars, rescuing their next temple leader."

And Haechan has never been more suspicious in his life, because why would pirates keep someone safe for two years and then just let him escape with their enemy? Haechan could do anything in the world to Taeyong if he wanted and blame it on Johnny's crew and who could stop him? "Told you they knew who you are."

Taeyong just shrugs.

Haechan turns back to Johnny. "We're going now. Tell Jaehyun he can still come home whenever he's ready."

"Not me?"

"You don't want to come home."

"No, but it would be nice if the option was there.'

Haechan snorts and turns towards the door, and almost misses Johnny's farewell. "Safe travels, your highness."

"Yeah. Whatever."

*

"What was that about?" Taeyong asks as Haechan is strapping him into the pod they've chosen.

"We're not talking about it," Haechan says, putting coordinates into the mapping system. He fiddles with some of the controls before popping a panel off the wall and disabling the tracker field. The ship slowly starts the pre-flight countdown.

"I've never been in a pod before," Taeyong mentions when the pod starts to vibrate loose from its connection to the ship.

"Right, temple kid. How'd they get a hold of you? Didn't think Johnny was the type to condone temple raids."

"That was the second set of pirates that's had me. It was the first set that did the temple raid."

"Temple raid, and yet it was blamed on us. Interesting." He shifts a couple of gears and then pushes a button. "Alright, hold on." Haechan counts to three in his head to make sure everything is as it should be before pressing a lever and the pod shoots off into space.

Taeyong holds his breath until the pirate ship fades out of the viewfinder. "That was so much easier than I thought it would be."

"What? He said he'd let us go."

"Yeah, but he's a pirate. Can't trust them and all, I thought."

Haechan laughs. "Can't trust anybody anymore. Everybody will stab you in the back, given the chance."

"Then why did he keep his word? The ransom he could have got for you..."

"For me? Nah, my father wouldn't pay it, and Johnny knows it. I got myself into this mess, I've got to get myself out, just like any other soldier. You on the other hand? They offered us more money than I thought your system had, and you're not even the prince, just a weird temple kid with sixty holes in your ears. Hate to think what they would have offered if we had your prince."

Taeyong is quiet for a moment. "You know I'm slated to be his Second. Or. I was. They probably started grooming someone else for it by now."

"Yeah?" Haechan flips a switch idly. It's weird to think that in a few years, the two of them could be leading wars against each other. "Didn't know temple leaders were so important they get first access to the king's ear."

"Yeah, well, like I said, you know both a lot and nothing about us. We're supposed to cool the king's passion."

"Does it work?"

"Not usually. Can't talk the King out of most wars with your planet, can we?"

"Maybe you'll have more luck with your prince."

"Maybe," Taeyong agrees, but he doesn't sound like he believes it.

Haechan's inclined to agree with Taeyong's assessment; princes are a hard bunch to work with.

*

"You're really just going to let him go?" Jaehyun asks as they watch the pod Haechan's chosen leave the bay. "After all this time?"

"Which one?"

"I meant Haechan, but Taeyong, too, now that you mention it."

Johnny scoffs. "We already know that Haechan doesn't stay anywhere he doesn't want to."

"Did you ask him if he wanted to stay? Maybe he didn't know it was an option."

"He couldn't stay. Princes don't belong on pirate ships."

"Temple leaders don't either, but that didn't stop you."

Johnny waves a hand. "Set a course to follow them, but keep our distance and don't let the crew know they've escaped."

"How, exactly, am I supposed to do that?"

"You'll figure something out. You always do. That's why you're first mate."

Jaehyun does not look convinced.

*

"Where are we headed?" Taeyong asks after they've been silent for two hours, watching stars pass the pod.

"The Seven Skies. I'll get a convoy to take you home from there."

"How long will it take to get to your home?"

"A week, if we don't run into any trouble."

"Are you expecting any?"

He sees Johnny's ship at the very edge of the pod's radar, carefully keeping pace with the much slower pod. "No. But we are in pirate air. Any other ship will probably see Johnny's emblem and keep their distance, but nothing is guaranteed." He nods his head towards the taser Johnny had given them that's been thrown on the console. "Any idea how to work that thing?

Taeyong shakes his head.

"Right, temple kid. Let's just hope Johnny's reputation holds them all at bay."

Taeyong looks curious, like he wants to ask something, but wisely ducks his head and curls in closer on himself and goes to sleep.

*

Haechan wakes Taeyong after he's been asleep for close to five hours. "It's your turn to keep watch. Just keep an eye on the screen. If another ship shows up, wake me up. The computer's already set."

"What about that?" Taeyong asks, pointing to where Johnny's ship still hovers at the edge of the screen. Haechan wanders if Johnny knows how far the pod's radar reaches, or if he's accidentally giving himself away.

"Broken pixels. Stupid hunk of ancient machinery. Couldn't they at least steal ships that are up to date?"

*

Haechan doesn't really sleep, even though he should.

He's never been very good at sleeping in pods, legs too long to curl up in his seat, the movement too jerky when he's used to the smooth sailing of large ships. He listens to Taeyong's breathing, how it catches every so often, like maybe he'd like to cry while he's alone but is too used to stopping himself.

The whole situation makes him uncomfortable, settling in skin a size too small, exactly how easy escape had been. Not that he'd really expected Johnny to try and keep him, no that would have been foolish for everyone, and Johnny's always been smart. But the fact that he'd had other hostages that he pretty much gave away... yeah. That makes him nervous.

But then again, if he'd accidentally gained Taeyong from a raid, what other way would he have had to send the boy home without incriminating himself?

Johnny's not into trafficking, so maybe he just got in over his head and couldn't find another way out. But two years is a long time to try and figure out how to get the kid home.

It's been years, so Haechan doesn't know anything anymore, and pirates have their own codes, but Haechan can't help the sinking feeling in his gut.

*

"I always wanted to go on adventures when I was younger," Taeyong says when Haechan stops pretending to be asleep. "The sky always fascinated me, how anything could be out there. I remember watching ships slow down as they passed us and thinking, that'd be me some day, venturing out into nothingness."

"Why didn't you join the fleet?"

Taeyong shrugs. "The sky was never in the plans for me until I was kidnapped. My father wouldn't have stood for it, let alone the king. Now I know, I belong on solid ground."

"No one belongs on solid ground. Haven't you ever heard that saying? We're all made of stardust?"

Taeyong rolls his eyes, but he smiles for the very first time since Haechan was dropped into his cell. It's very charming.

"How's space travel treating you?" Haechan asks. "Is it everything you expected?"

"It's a lot more staring at nothing than I thought."

"We're surrounded by nothing! Isn't that the appeal?"

"Is it for you?

"Partially." Haechan sighs. "When I'm flying, I'm treated just like everyone else. It doesn't matter that one day I'm going to lead the Seven Skies. I'm just like any other rookie in the fleet causing problems."

"Causing problems? I've only seen you fix problems. With earrings and broken wires."

Haechan gives him a cheeky grin. "They call me the Terror Prince for a reason. I'm always ruining something for someone."

"I always thought the Terror Prince was much older than I was. Or a myth. I used to tell my prince bedtime stories about you."

"Really? All the way out in your system? I didn't realise my infamy went that far."

"Oh yes, my prince used to be terrified you were going to break into our palace and make him your slave, and we would never be able to get him back because he was going to end up one of thousands under your command."

Haechan frowns. "We don't have slaves in the Seven Skies."

"No? Then what about all those red shirts that are always running around?"

"You spying on us?" Haechan grins. "They're foreign dignitaries, people just visiting the Seven Skies. It's a color of respect, not something we put slaves in."

"Oh," and then Taeyong snorts. "The prince refuses to wear red."

*

"Can I ask you for a favour?" Haechan asks when the shape of his home planet shows up on the viewfinder.

"Of course. You can ask for anything. You're the reason I'm free," Taeyong says.

Free from pirates, but Haechan can't help but feel like Taeyong escaped one prison for another. They've talked a lot during their seven day trip, and Haechan can't help but feel that Taeyong's new prison will be full of face tattoos and holes everywhere with an annoying prince as his warden. "When they ask you who had you, can you say you never heard their names?"

That's obviously not what Taeyong was expecting. "What?"

"Not the first set. Tell them whatever you remember. But Johnny. Can you not say his name?"

Taeyong looks at him for a long moment, like he's slotting things into place and weighing his words. "You used to be... close?"

Haechan bites his lip and then starts flipping switches on the console. "You know how you're geared to be your prince's second? Johnny was always going to be mine. He was born on one of our planets, but then grew up in the palace once I was born. He left when I was sixteen. To find purpose." Like protecting the Seven Skies wasn't purpose enough.

"And you're still protecting him? Even though he left to be a pirate?"

"I know." He gives a deprecating chuckle. "It doesn't make sense, but it is what it is." Haechan knows it's asking a lot, asking Taeyong to keep quiet about the men who kept him away from his home for so long, but they hadn't mistreated him, so... "Right now, the Seven Skies just want him in prison for treason and avoiding his responsibility, but if they find out he had you so long, the council would send him straight to the block."

"We're enemies. Wouldn't they give him a medal?"

"The Seven Skies is against slavery and hostages. It wouldn't matter who you were."

Taeyong takes a shaky breath. "I won't say anything."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Haechan. No one will know but us."

*

When the pod lands, it's on the roof of Haechan's favourite restaurant because the bay is full of fighter ships and the courtyard is full of hushed subjects.

"Couldn't we have just landed in a field outside the city?" Taeyong asks.

"We could have, but my subjects always love a good show. Still all in one piece?" Haechan asks as he finishes unbuckling himself and starts in on Taeyong's restraints.

"Of course. You are an excellent pilot."

There are cries of "your highness!" already crowding around the outside of the pod before Haechan even finishes getting Taeyong untangled, but it isn't until he hears someone calling his actual name that he starts pulling at the latches on the door like he actually wants to get out of the pod.

"I'm so glad I left you behind," Haechan says, pulling someone tightly against him. "I never would have forgiven myself if you'd been on that ship."

"And here I was, not forgiving myself for not being there with you. I thought I had let you get killed!"

"You know my luck better than that!"

"It won't hold out forever. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to you when we're all least expecting." The boy separates himself from Haechan. "Oh, hello. Who's this?"

When Haechan turns around to introduce Taeyong, he knows everything is now different. Taeyong's posture is different, his back too straight and his head held high. It's nothing like the meek boy Haechan's grown accustomed to, someone who sometimes doesn't even finish his sentences. Instead, a world leader stands in his place, intimidating and fierce; even in his faded, dirty temple robes, he doesn't look like someone to trifle with. "This is Taeyong. I've rescued him. Taeyong, this is Jungwoo. I rescued him, too."

"Just like you, Haechan, go missing and turn back up a hero. What did you rescue him from?"

"Pirates," Haechan answers, quickly, like maybe if he dismisses it enough, he can just brush it off and no one else will ask. "When we get back to the castle, I need you to start planning a trek out of the Seven Skies. We'll need all the usual waivers filled out, maybe some other ones, too."

"I don't think your father is going to let you leave again so soon. He's been pacing for days."

"I wasn't even gone as long as planned. I was home literally two weeks ago."

"Still long enough for everyone on your ship to get killed by pirates."

Which, yeah. Haechan bites his lip. "Everyone?"

"We matched bodies for everyone but you. No idea how you made it out of there alive."

"You know me. Hard to keep me pinned down for long."

Jungwoo laughs, bright, and then turns to help Taeyong step out of the pod. "I'm sorry, I don't know which customs to follow. Where are you from?"

That's when Haechan realises this whole conversation has been in his mother tongue and Taeyong hasn't been able to follow any of it. He switches to the common language. "He's not from the Seven Skies, so you haven't learned his customs."

"Ah, the trip out of the Seven Skies makes much more sense now," Jungwoo prattles, switching easily. He speaks the common tongue better than anything else, still gets tripped up on all the vowels the Seven Skies's language thrives on. Haechan sometimes likes to listen to Jungwoo speak his own mother tongue, get frustrated because it's all getting fainter and fainter in his memory as he becomes more at home in the Seven Skies. "Welcome to the Seven Skies. You're going to love it here. I do."

"Jungwoo is from the Edge," Haechan explains, subtly nudging Jungwoo to the side and helping Taeyong get out of the pod himself. "He'd been kidnapped as a child by one of those traveling circuses. We shut the whole thing down, but Jungwoo never wanted to go home, so we've kept him." With the red shirt and how Jungwoo fawns, Haechan doesn't want Taeyong to get the wrong impression. Not a slave, just devoted.

"Your Second?" Taeyong asks.

"I don't have a Second anymore. I have a council." Because that's what it took to replace Johnny; Haechan wasn't putting all his eggs in the same basket again.

Taeyong inclines his head. "I'm feeling rather faint, your highness. Might there be someplace I can rest?"

Haechan flinches at the 'your highness' because Taeyong hasn't done that before, neither of them putting much stock in the other's title, but he thinks he gets it. Jungwoo isn't the one to pretend in front of (he's still learning about the Seven Skies customs and thinks all their wars are silly) but otherwise Taeyong is surrounded by people who are, essentially, the enemy, people he was raised to fear and hate. He would probably put on a show himself if the situation were reversed.

"Of course. Can you make it through the crowd, or should we sneak you through back?" Taeyong hasn't been around anyone but Haechan in the past two years; he's probably terrified of all the eyes on his face, but it would be quicker through the crowd.

"Which ever will be easiest for your highness." And Haechan doesn't like this at all, how they seem to have lost their easy camaraderie just because Jungwoo is there.

"We'll go through the courtyard. It's better to go straight through the gate than get bogged down by all those locked doors. Everyone will keep their distance. If not, just snap at them. They'll back off."

Taeyong does not look impressed.

*

"Where did you find him? He looks scary," Jungwoo whispers as they start down the stairs.

"I think he's kind of cute," Haechan doesn't even bother lowering his voice. Taeyong seems too focused on being on actual stairs again to worry about what anyone is saying; he's careful, like he's forgotten what real gravity even is.

"There's a spike in his nose."

"Sacred or something. He's shy about it."

"Shy?" Jungwoo glances back at Taeyong who has a hand outstretched, trailing along the stone wall.

"Yeah. He's not been around many people. Maybe ever."

Jungwoo's face darkens. "Where did you find him?"

"Pirates had him for a while. It's messed him up. Leave him alone about it," because if there's one thing Haechan knows about Jungwoo, it's that he'll wheedle his way in until he figures out everything he wants to know. "His people will help him get through it after we get him home."

"Do they know he's been rescued?"

"Not yet. We'll send a call out. I'm sure everyone will be glad he's home." Everyone except Haechan and Taeyong.

*

Taeyong wilts as soon as Haechan shuts the door of his guest suite behind them, Jungwoo sent off to find clothes too small for Haechan that Taeyong can wear. ("Why your clothes? I could just go to the tailor?" "I know it's hard to tell, but he's kind of an important person on his planet, and he probably wouldn't accept anything new because of who he is." "If you're sure, Haechan. I just think keeping out of your closet would be best.")

"Are you okay?" Haechan asks, catching Taeyong by the elbow.

"I will be. Just. Overwhelmed."

"Got it. I know my father will want to meet you, but maybe I can put it off until tomorrow?"

"Are you sure it's going to be alright?"

"Yeah. You're not going to end up in one of our dungeons. Not worth the war it'll cause."

"No one knows I'm here. Your follower has no idea who I even am. There wouldn't be a war even if you beheaded me at dawn."

"Behead? Where do you think you are, the Edge? We don't behead people."

"I still think it could go very wrong."

"Probably, but I'm going to protect you either way."

"You think you could save me from your father's wrath?"

"I think he's just going to be relieved that his heir still hasn't been killed. And he indulges me pretty well. I will get you home, Taeyong."

Taeyong sighs and sits carefully at the edge of the bed. "I know you'll do your best and try."

"It's going to be fine." But suddenly Haechan wishes that he'd bypassed his planet entirely and gone straight to Taeyong's home, even if it meant getting captured himself; he has experience escaping most prisons, afterall.

*

"You're a crazy bastard," Doyoung mutters under his breath when Haechan's done giving his council the short, abridged version of what happened, late, late that same evening.

"Oi," but it's half-hearted at best.

"It's true, Channie. You're a crazy bastard, who else steals a ship from pirates that have two different members of royal courts captured? And also rescues their enemy? You're lucky they didn't snatch you back up and cut you into a thousand different pieces. You're lucky he didn't cut you into a thousand different pieces while you were asleep."

"I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Leave him there? With pirates?"

"I would have," Yuta says. "I would have snuck out while he was asleep like I'd never even been there. I might have stabbed him with one of his stupid spikes first. I wouldn't have even felt guilty about it."

Haechan rolls his eyes, because yeah, Yuta probably wouldn't feel guilty about it. Yuta could probably raze entire civilizations and not even have a second thought about it. Then again, Yuta hasn't met Taeyong yet, so he can't say that he wouldn't fall for Taeyong's big, sad eyes and tiny whimpers.

Doyoung hits Yuta, halfway subtle, just under the edge of the table. "Normal people don't behave that way," Doyoung reminds him.

"What? It's not like anyone would ever know. What are the chances he'd last much longer on a pirate ship?"

Haechan blinks. "Taeyong has been missing for two years. Chances are, he could have been there two more years with no one ever finding him."

"They had to be planning something, and you just took their bait away. Are you sure they didn't follow you home?"

"What would it matter if they had? He's home now. We'll protect him."

Haechan smiles at Jungwoo. "Yeah. Jungwoo will protect me."

Doyoung sticks his tongue out.

"What did the emperor say?" Yuta asks, suddenly very serious.

"He's not happy, but he's going to let me take Taeyong home."

"Of course he is. Your dad knows better than anyone else that if he tries to stop you, you're just going to sneak off in the middle of the night in a broken down pod that doesn't even have a hyper driver. You just bettered an entire ship of pirates single-handedly. The best course of action is to put you on a ship surrounded by the entire fleet and let you do what you want where he can see you."

Haechan rolls his eyes again, because yeah, sounds impressive put like that, when you don't know that the pirates in question pretty much laid out the red carpet and pointed him towards the exit with a neon sign. He hadn't escaped; he'd been passively escorted off the ship.

"When are we leaving?" Doyoung asks.

"What? No. You guys are staying here. I'm going to just drop Taeyong off, shake some hands, maybe try and start a peace treaty, and then I'm going to finish the mission I was on."

Yuta snorts; Doyoung doesn't even blink as he stares impassively at Haechan.

"Do you really think that will work?" Jungwoo asks.

"Not really, but it was worth a shot. Are you guys going to at least let me drop you off before I finish my actual assignment given to me by the fleet?"

"No," Doyoung and Yuta say in unison, Jungwoo shaking his head.

"Didn't think so. You guys are telling my commander, though."

*

Haechan finds himself in Taeyong's suite to get him ready for audience with the emperor before it's even light outside. "Hey, wake up," he whispers, trying not to startle him too much. Not that he should have bothered, because Taeyong reacts to his tiny whisper and rolls off the other edge of the bed and comes up holding the taser Johnny had thrown at them in his hands.

"Whoa," Haechan says, backing up as far across the room as he can. "Hold on there, Taeyong. It's just me. Put it down before you hurt someone."

Taeyong gasps and throws the taser down on the mussed sheets. "Sorry. Just...

"No. I get it, surrounded by enemies. I'd just feel better if I knew you'd hit your enemy and not yourself though."

"Unless you're in the fleet, you never even touch a weapon in the Three Jewels."

"Sounds silly. Probably why pirates did a temple raid and ran off with one of your leaders. You might want to suggest to that prince of yours that more people are combat trained. When did you even grab that taser?"

"When Jungwoo was telling you about your crew all being dead. It made me feel safer."

"Okay, but if you'd accidentally tased my father or a guard, do you really think that would make it less likely you'd be beheaded?"

"I thought you didn't behead people?"

"We don't. I was just using your terminology."

Taeyong slumps back onto the bed, keeping his limbs far from the taser. "I'm going to die on your planet. How is that any better than being killed by pirates?"

"You're not dying on this planet. My father doesn't want the war that would cause. We've already started planning our trip to your planet."

He tenses up. "When?"

"Soon," Haechan says, scooting close and hooking the end of the taser and sliding the safety on before tucking it back underneath one of the pillows. He sits down, reaching out and patting Taeyong's leg, comforting. "We just need to get in touch with someone so they know we're coming in peace and not leading some kind of attack. Wouldn't it suck, getting that close to finally being home, and then getting blown up?"

"Yeah. Blown up."

"We need you to call them so they can see we're not pulling anything funny."

Taeyong looks up, sudden and startled. "I'm not allowed to place calls."

Haechan blinks. "Ever?"

"Weird temple kid, remember? We don't use modern technology. Keeps us pure. I have no idea how to even get in touch with the palace."

"How did you talk to the prince?"

"On his terms, when he wanted to, which wasn't often, he would just show up. He had his own things going on, all the time."

"How were you supposed to be a team if he wasn't around?"

Taeyong shrugs and drops his gaze again.

"If... if I call, could you talk to them to prove you're fine, or could you at least just be on screen?"

"Maybe? I can't remember? I can't remember all of the protocols anymore. What if I can't, and it gets me banned?"

"What happens if you get banned from the temple?"

Taeyong shrugs again.

"If you get banned, call me. I'll come back and get you. I'll sneak in and they'll never even know I was back. They'll think you disappeared in a cloud of pixie dust. Or maybe blame some more pirates."

"Yeah. What would you do with me?"

"You can join Jungwoo and be my personal slave, wear a bunch of red."

Taeyong snorts. "I've never even worn red before."

"It's fun. You'll look like a star."

*

"What are you doing?" Yuta asks when he spots Haechan hovering in the main hall just after breakfast has finished.

"My father wanted to talk to Taeyong by himself."

"So you're trying to spy on them? You know the peephole is in the back hall."

"No, I'm waiting like a good son."

"He's had it blocked, hasn't he?"

Haechan rolls his eyes. "I'm waiting to see if Taeyong needs help."

Yuta considers before stepping closer, waving the two soldiers that had been following him away; they retreat to the end of the hall to wait, careful to keep facing away to ensure their privacy. "What are you going to do if he does need help? Bust him out of another prison cell?"

"I promised I would get him home."

Yuta's face softens, which always makes Haechan uncomfortable. "I want to meet him."

"I'm sure you will, since you're insisting on going to his planet with me. It'd be hard to avoid him for two weeks."

"Two weeks? It's like, three jumps away."

"I don't want to sneak up on them. Slow and steady so they can watch our every move."

"Are you sure this isn't a trap?"

"Wait until you meet him and then ask me."

"Okay," Yuta agrees, and settles down on the floor, his back propped against a pillar. "I'll wait."

*

It's an hour before the doors to the throne room slides open. "Your father wishes to speak with you a moment. Should I wait, or try to find my way back to the room?"

"You're not a prisoner, you don't have to stay in that room until we leave," Haechan tells him as he stops pacing. "Just wait for me. I'll show you around."

Taeyong blinks and glances at Yuta before stepping closer to Haechan and dropping his voice. "I'm not used to being able to wander around."

Right. Locked up by pirates and before that temple life. "Wait for me, but if you need to go back, Yuta will take you. I trust him." Even though Haechan doesn't want to leave Taeyong with Yuta for even a second.

"Yuta?"

"Yeah, let me introduce you. Yuta," Haechan calls to him where he's pretending not to eavesdrop. "He's on my council." He's actually the one that Haechan's father wanted to replace Johnny with, someone who would guide Haechan towards any fight, just like the current Second, but Haechan had refused, wanting Doyoung, who never wants a fight, instead; they'd ended up compromising with the pair of them.

Taeyong bows when Yuta steps forward, and Haechan laughs at the expression on Yuta's face. "Yuta, future Corrector of the Seven Skies, this is Taeyong..." Haechan trails off, suddenly aware he doesn't know Taeyong's official name or title or anything. "...temple boy of the Three Jewels."

Taeyong jerks out of his bow. "You know my title?"

"I... yes?" Haechan stumbles. Temple boy. Just, temple boy. He'd made that up. "Why wouldn't I?"

Taeyong doesn't say anything to that, just inclines his head.

Haechan steps closer to Yuta and drops his voice. "I swear, Yuta, if you do something to him..."

Yuta laughs. "He's safe with me. We'll be waiting right here."

That doesn't reassure Haechan in the slightest, but he turns and goes to his father.

*

"Are you sure he's part of the Three Jewels court?" his father pounces as soon as the door has thudded closed.

"Yes?" But no. What does Haechan have to go on except what he's gathered from Taeyong?

"He's nothing like the vicious monsters we've faced in war."

"We've always faced their warriors, not their temple leaders and peace makers."

His father looks considering. "Can he guarantee your safety?"

"He's not even certain if he'll be welcome back in his temple."

"And you're still going to try?"

"Of course. Men of the fleet keep their promises."

The Emperor sighs. "I've decided you'll be taking the Left Plank."

"What? No! I can't roll up with half of our fleet. They'll immediately start shooting! Just a few ships, even though I don't even want to take that."

"If you had it your way, you'd just take your council and fly blindly into enemy territory with just a prayer."

"That way I wouldn't be risking anyone the Seven Skies needs."

"We need you."

"Like anyone can hold me down."

"One day, son, your luck will wind down."

"One day, when I'm old and wise like you, I won't even need it anymore."

The Emperor rolls his eyes.

(Haechan had to get his complete disregard for How Things Are from someone, after all.)

*

Yuta looks utterly charmed when Haechan steps back into the hall, which he doesn't believe for a single moment, but at least Taeyong doesn't look too traumatised. "We leave in three days," he announces.

Yuta nods. "Good. I can find someone to cover me. Doyoung will probably just bring his work along."

Haechan rolls his eyes. "Or, he could stay. It won't even take that long. We'll be back before he even knows it. Besides, we're apparently taking the Left Plank."

Yuta doesn't look very impressed, but then again, he rarely does. "That's not going to work, Haechan. Doyoung's not going to let you off this planet without him for a while. He blames himself for the pirates."

Haechan rolls his eyes. "They would have attacked the ship whether Doyoung was there or not. He wouldn't have been able to avoid them any better than Commander Lee did. And if he had been on that ship he would be dead."

"You can't know that. Maybe they would have been overcome by his girlish good looks and kept him around."

"Oh, so escape would have been even trickier, trying to break Doyoung out of the barracks, and that's only if I'd known about him being there in the first place." It would have made life a whole lot more difficult right then because Doyoung probably wouldn't have had any compulsions about singing Johnny's name from the rooftops because even though they'd grown up together too, Doyoung was fiercely loyal to the Seven Skies.

Yuta opens his mouth to argue some more, but Taeyong's the one that speaks. "It's in the past now. We can't say what would have happened. Maybe they wouldn't have put you in my cell at all, and then what would you have escaped with?" and then he tucks his head down, fingering at the row of metal in his ear.

"That's true. Hey, let's go find Doyoung now. Reassure him that I'm still alive and all." Haechan smiles but Yuta's unimpressed expression hasn't changed at all. "He'd probably like the reminder."

"He'd probably like to implant a heart monitor that gets updates sent directly to his comm tab every five minutes, but checking in wouldn't hurt for now," Yuta mutters, but he dutifully trails behind Haechan as he goes off in search of his Mediator of the Seven Skies.

*

Haechan stands all the way across the room. "Taeyong? Taeyong, you awake?" He doesn't whisper but he keeps his voice low, hoping to avoid a repeat of the morning before. "Come on, Taeyong. We need to go." Taeyong wakes up with less fear this time, but he still rolls off the far edge of the bed and comes up taser first. Haechan rolls his eyes because he can see where the safety is off again; honestly, he's surprised Taeyong hadn't shocked himself in his sleep..

"It's just me, Haechan," he soothes, until the confusion on Taeyong's face clears. Taeyong scrambles to throw the taser again, like he can't believe it had found its way into his hand again. Haechan snorts. "You're going to end up a warrior when you get home, as much as you like that taser in your hands."

"They won't let me have a taser. I can't be a warrior."

"We'll see," Haechan says, and this time, when he scoops up the taser off the bed, he thumbs the safety on and tucks it into his belt. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going? Haechan, it's two in the morning."

"Two already? I was hoping it was earlier still. Jungwoo wouldn't go to bed. He's like a hyperactive toddler."

"Where are we going?" Taeyong gets a little shrill when Haechan climbs over the bed for him.

"We're leaving. Everyone in the Seven Skies is crazy. I don't need a whole flank to take you home. I don't need a babysitter. It's stupid and reckless of my father to insist on his best warriors trailing me three jumps away. If they follow me off, who knows what could happen here."

"So we're just leaving in the middle of the night? Without telling anyone?"

Haechan gives him a dimpled smile before shoving a coat into his arms. "Pretty much. I should be back before they even really notice. They'll probably just think I'm sleeping in, and then it'll be too late to catch up with us."

Taeyong shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Staying with the pirates probably would have been less stress on my heart," he mutters, but he puts the coat on over his borrowed pajamas and starts looking for his sandals.

Haechan laughs. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Must have left it back with the pirates."

*

"Are we taking the pod we came in?" Taeyong asks.

"No. Taking one of my ships. Taeyong says my favourite is still being repaired from where Jo... pirates dismantled most of the crystal, but I have a few others that I've rebuilt. That pod is too outdated. I'm actually surprised we made it as far as we did without melting the drive core."

"We could have been stranded. In space. With no one to call for help. Why didn't you tell me that to begin with?"

"The same reason I didn't tell you that the pod had no comm system to call for help with. You'd just worry. We made it safe, didn't we?

Taeyong sighs again. "Does the ship of yours that we're taking have a comm system?"

Haechan shrugs. "It has most of one? Close range only. Can't figure out how to change the scope on it. Older ships have quirks."

"Don't you have a newer ship we could take? One that will get us there safely? You're not exactly leaving a good impression about space travel for me, Haechan."

He snorts. "I like old ships. They have history. New ones are so impersonal. Nothing exciting ever happens to their engines."

"Nothing exciting. Ever happens. To their engines?" Taeyong's steps pause, and Haechan has to reach behind and grab him to get him moving again. "I am starting to think traveling surrounded by the entire Seven Skies armada might be a better idea than this even if it gets us shot out of the sky."

"Come on," Haechan whines. "I've never had a ship stall out that I couldn't fix."

Taeyong looks very resigned to death.

*

Taeyong stops dead in his tracks when Haechan points to a clunker at the end of the bay. "There's my baby," Haechan says, proudly. It's painted seven different colours and has rust spots around the door and several of the windows are missing and have industrial steel plates bolted down over them. It doesn't look like it can make it out of the Seven Skies' atmosphere, let alone across the solar system to the Three Jewels. "Too bad Joh-pirates stripped her down."

"We're not taking that?" Taeyong asks, both hopeful and nervous. If that's Haechan's best ship...

"No. We'll be taking Taeil," he says, pointing closer to where they are, a shiny, honey coloured ship that has absolutely no rust and looks to be in good repair. "Good ship. Strong hull. Computer could use an update or two, but I think it's cute. Doyoung gets annoyed by how... sidetracked he gets, but the hologram is fun."

"The ship... gets sidetracked?"

"Yeah. Forgets where we're going sometimes, kicks into hyper drive by himself, turns off systems. Might be haunted."

Taeyong stops again. "No. Absolutely not. Let's take another ship or we're going to end up in the Edge, with your luck."

"Hey, I have good luck!"

"You were kidnapped by pirates two weeks ago!"

"And I escaped alive, so it all evened out. We'll be fine." Haechan looks exaggeratedly sad for a moment. "Besides, Taeil can probably hear you. Do you want to make him sad?"

"Hear me? Are you an actual crazy person?"

"Probably." Haechan gives him another charming smile before sliding the bay door open, hoisting Taeyong over his shoulder, and climbing into the ship.

*

"There's a person in the cockpit," Taeyong whispers after he throws a small fit and Haechan puts him down.

"It's just Taeil. We'll go say hi in a minute after I get the door secured," Haechan says, pushing buttons by the door. There's a rush of air and then all the locks snicking closed.

"I thought Taeil was the ship?"

"Yeah, but it has a hologram interface. A lot of older models in this line have something similar to interact with the ship, but this is the only one that I've come across that has a physical manifestation."

"So wait. Your ship is alive?"

"No. It's a hologram. Don't worry, he's cute."

Taeyong is not reassured.

*

So Haechan's only partially right; Taeil is lounging in the pilot's seat, eerily solid and fragile both, but Jungwoo is strapped into the co-pilot's seat, every buckle already snapped into place. "What took you so long?" he asks, his tongue stuck between his teeth, concentrating on whatever's on his comm tab screen. "I thought you would have been here much earlier."

"I...what?" and Taeyong does his best not to chuckle at the gobsmacked expression on Haechan's face. "What are you doing here?"

Jungwoo puts the comm tab down and Haechan sees it's some puzzle game; figures. "We're taking Taeyong home? Right?"

"Yeah, but I put you in bed."

"And then I got out of bed. Did you honestly think I didn't know what you were planning? You're not exactly stealthy, Haechan."

Taeil laughs and stands up. "It's a good thing I am, then," and the engine quietly turns over when he runs a finger idly along the controls.

Jungwoo looks minorly indulging. "You're even worse than Haechan. His luck is the only thing that's actually going to get us off this planet without the Emperor finding out. Like, maybe the radar system will be down, or a magic spell will make all the guards sleep."

"Unexplained planet-wide amnesia, maybe?" Taeyong suggests and Jungwoo's face lights up at someone playing along.

And Haechan looks like he wants to argue but knows better; he just pushes Taeyong into the captain's seat and starts buckling him in.

*

"You know Doyoung hates this ship," Jungwoo says when they've finally lifted off the planet. He's got his eyes on Taeil who isn't in one of the chairs and is, instead, crammed in the cockpit window, even though there are plenty of seats open for him to pretend in. Taeil looks at them all, overly sad and jutting lower lip, when Jungwoo says it.

"I know." Haechan isn't even paying attention to Taeil's display; instead he's keeping an eye on the control board because even though Taeil's supposed to be a fully run AI ship, sometimes he forgets crucial steps to the takeoff process. Like pressurizing the cabin.

"He's not happy that you picked it."

"He'll just have to dea..." Haechan trails off and then groans. "Taeil, how many heartbeats are on this ship right now?"

Taeil's gaze slides from the left to the right, like he's looking through the floor and taking inventory. "Five."

Haechan sighs. "Yuta, too?"

Jungwoo smiles. "I'd just like to remind you that you said we could come. It's not our fault you tried to change the terms and we had to adapt."

Haechan rolls his eyes. "Taeil, will you please ask our stowaways to come up?"

Taeil jumps out of the window, salutes, and pops out of existence.

*

"This is such a bad idea," Doyoung says when he climbs in the cockpit.

"Yup," Haechan agrees, flipping one of the switches on the console, not looking up until he hears Yuta crashing in behind Doyoung.

"And that's not going to stop us?"

"Nope," Yuta answers. "Adventure and all. Are you sure you're part of a voyage colony?"

Doyoung just grunts.

"If it helps any," Taeyong says to Doyoung who has thrown himself across one of the open chairs, "I said this was a bad idea, too."

Doyoung smiles weakly. "It helps a bit, but we're going to drop you off and then I'm going to spend the rest of my life being the only person to tell Haechan his ideas are bad. Yuta and Jungwoo tend to just follow him blindly no matter what he says we're going to do. Hey, let's sneak on this barricaded planet, okay. Hey, let's break out 30 well guarded prisoners, okay. Hey, let's steal the Barrier Kingdom's Crowned Jewels in front of one of their diplomats, okay. Ugh. No sense at all between the three of them."

"Hey, in my defense those well guarded prisoners were hostages."

Doyoung rolls his eyes. "And everything else that you do for kicks? Explain that."

Haechan gives one of his dimpled smiles. "You are the one that started calling me the Terror Prince."

"You were four! How was I supposed to know you would grow up and be even worse?"

"Experience?" Yuta mutters. "He's been vindictive like this since before he was four."

"That is true. He's always been a lot of trouble."

Haechan pouts and then turns towards Taeyong. "Hey, let's swing by the Edge and leave Doyoung there. You're a peacemaker, you can take his place on the council."

"Sounds good to me," Doyoung mutters. "The Edge will be less stress." But he shoots Haechan a small smile.

*

"So. A hologram," Taeyong says.

"Yup," Taeil says, making a loud pop. "Does it weird you out?"

"A little bit, yeah. Never been around one this good before. You look like a real person."

Taeil beams. "My programming is really sophisticated."

Doyoung snorts a bit, but doesn't lift his head from where he's reading something on a comm tab; he has three spread out around him and actual ancient technology print outs; Taeyong's never seen real paper before this.

"It weirds Doyoung out a lot," Taeil says, and if he'd been a real person (or had better interpersonal communication software) he probably would have whispered it. "He never comes along when Haechan chooses me."

"Does he choose you often?" Taeyong's kind of under the impression that the council doesn't actually like letting Haechan out of their sight because things like... well, things like getting kidnapped by pirates seems like a common theme in Haechan's life, and Doyoung seems like the type to nag into getting his way a lot.

"Not usually. When he's staying near the planet, he'll take me for a spin when he wants some time alone, but usually, he takes his big ship. It's faster than I am. Better for long distances."

"Time alone? Doesn't the fact that you exist negate him being alone?" Because being aboard the Taeil kind of feels like being watched all the time. Even when Taeil is facing the opposite direction, he can feel the program keeping track of his every movement.

Taeil gives Taeyong a small smile. "I'm not real. Most ships have a just as invasive scanning system. Most ships can talk to their captain. Most ships can manipulate their own protocols. I just have a face."

"It's easier to handle when your ship doesn't have a face," Doyoung mutters.

Taeil beams, bright. "No, it's better that I have a face you can argue with. Haechan says you love it."

Doyoung glares.

*

"Does Jungwoo usually go everywhere with you?" Taeyong asks as they're getting ready for their shift to keep watch; Doyoung and Yuta have just crawled into their bunks below deck, but Jungwoo's just curled up in the seat he's been in all day, already snoring softly. (Haechan keeps shooting him fond looks.)

"He tries to, but he does have official duties sometimes."

"Official duties? Is he part of the fleet?"

"No, the court."

Taeyong blinks. "How is someone from the Edge part of the Seven Skies court?"

"We're progressive. We have a diplomat from the Barrier Kingdom also in the court." Haechan tinkers with some controls on the dash before turning to face Taeyong. "Most people think Jungwoo's going to end up the Royal Consort one day, so they cut him some slack."

Haechan doesn't deny or confirm that statement so Taeyong steers clear of it. "Doesn't it make your subjects nervous, someone from the Edge having a say in the Skies?"

Haechan shrugs. "It's a superficial role, mostly, hand holding and formal appearances and wearing suits and giving small speeches. They think his accent is cute. Most of the Seven Skies trusts Jungwoo more than me."

"Maybe because he's not always getting into trouble," Taeyong suggests.

"He is, too. It's just usually because he's following me, though. And when he's not following me, he's usually causing trouble trying to get me out of trouble."

"What a friend."

Taeyong settles down, eyes drooping, and Haechan doesn't say anything when he falls asleep on the job.

*

Okay, so Haechan had an ulterior motive in picking Taeil: the comm system. He's hoping that when his father sees the ship he's taken out, he won't try to send out any messages for Haechan, crowding the airwaves with warnings. He's been keeping an eye out for approaching ships, and so far so good, but Taeil doesn't really have the most up to date thrusters and he's not really in the mood for a high speed space chase; he's always been pretty bad at those.

Taeyong has fallen asleep with everyone else, so Haechan nudges the coordinates a bit and alters course so they're hugging the outer orbit of an abandoned system, hoping to hide their trail a bit and save some fuel so they won't have to make a stop on one of the planets in the Seven Skies. He's not really sure why he waited until everyone was asleep, because Taeil's the only one that would have noticed a change in their track, and he's even less sure why he wants to hide it to begin with.

He just has a feeling he should be secretive about their path, and he's had a lot of life success by following his instincts, so here they are, Taeil watching him with somber eyes while he slowly puts in new coordinates, like the tapping of his fingers against the screen will wake Jungwoo or Taeyong.

"Taeil, tell me, what do you think of the crystal levels in the bay."

"One day, eleven hours, four minutes, thirty two seconds."

"How precise."

Taeil beams.

"We're going to stop at the refilling station on the Aisle. What can we cut so we can make it safely?"

Taeil hums, and Haechan can feel programs shuttering to a stop. The oxygen levels don't seem to dip, so he decides to trust Taeil on what he decided to cut for now.

"Should I remind you that Yuta's not allowed in the Aisle?"

"He's not? Oh, right, the prime minister's daughter fiasco. Well, he'll just have to stay onboard while we replenish."

"We can lock him in the brig."

"Did we fix the back panelling?"

"Would he really know what to look for to escape?"

"Not sure. I've never locked him in the brig. He's usually more the charge in, charge out type, not the let's look over the options type."

"So, a fifty-fifty chance he'll bust out in the middle of you telling the prime minister you haven't got Yuta with you. Maybe less if he's been paying attention to you breaking out of everything ever."

Haechan nods. "I like those odds."

Taeil rolls his eyes; his probability program hurts.

*

"What are we doing down here?" Yuta asks, his voice loud and booming in the cramped underbelly of Taeil the next morning.

"I need your help with something," Haechan says, but he can hear the suspicion in Yuta's voice already. He should have enlisted Jungwoo for this; everyone has a soft spot for his big liquid eyes. "Just over here."

"You're a dick, Lee Haechan," Yuta snarls after Haechan gives him a little shove and Taeil kicks the force field on. "The worst. Conniving and traitorous and deceitful."

Taeil pops into view and rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on, you know as well as everyone else you can't be trusted on the Aisle. How many wars have you almost started here?"

"At least two that I was there to stop. Who knows how many Doyoung's had to stop on his own."

"Couldn't you just have asked me nicely to stay out of sight?"

"Would you have?"

Yuta debates and then curls his lip. "Probably not." He slumps against the back wall, and Haechan can only hope for the best.

*

Haechan loves the Aisle. It's a cluster of asteroids, huge space rocks that have clumped together, in their own orbit around the Seven Skies' sun, wedged between the second and third planets. There are stations posted on them, pods zipping around, homes and businesses and stores, strung out for miles with no atmosphere of their own. Something out of nothing.

Taeyong's eyes are huge as the Aisle comes into view, barren rocks lit up like a festival, sunlight beaming off the metal structures. "What is this?"

"Have you never heard of the Aisle?" Doyoung asks.

Taeyong shakes his head.

Doyoung immediately launches into the history of the Aisle, how they're a vital part of the Seven Skies and that it makes sense the Three Jewels have ever heard of them, hidden almost from the rest of the universe.

They slide almost unnoticed into a docking bay, and Haechan gears up to leave, Jungwoo on his heels. "This is certainly a surprise," he says, following obediently into the anti-lock chamber Taeil's attached to. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing?"

Jungwoo makes an unimpressed noise. "Then why did you hide that we were stopping?"

Haechan shrugs. "I don't know. Just a feeling that I didn't want anyone to know."

"So you didn't tell your council? The men you trust with your life? What are your instincts even telling you?"

Heachan shrugs again. "I don't know, but I feel better that no one, even Doyoung, knows what our next move is."

Jungwoo rolls his eyes but accepts Haechan's word. "Okay. I won't ask any questions about why we're here."

He knows he's being overly paranoid, but he can't shake the feeling that they should hurry up and sneak the long way through the rest of the Seven Skies.

*

"I thought this was a seven day trip," Taeyong says on day six when they haven't even come to the edge of the Three Jewel. It's been nothing but empty space for since they left the Aisle.

"We've gone the longer way," Haechan says.

"So we don't get blown out of the sky?"

"Partially. Are you looking forward to being home?"

It takes Taeyong a while to answer. "It's where I belong."

"That didn't answer my question. What are you looking forward to?"

The only sound is Taeil singing to himself across the bridge, his programmed voice like honey and bouncing off the walls. Taeyong looks out one of the windows, much like he had the first night they'd been in the pod, face forlorn and homesick. "I don't know," Taeyong finally says. "I've spent so long dreaming of being home, but I've never really thought about what I was so eager to return to. Duty, maybe?"

Haechan understands duty, the way his is wrapped around his heart. He loves the Seven Skies, and he would do anything for it, but sometimes Jungwoo doesn't entirely understand his devotion. Only someone else raised with a universe in their eyes would understand. "What if this is for nothing, and there's nothing left for you?"

Taeyong smiles. "How do any of us know if there's something waiting for us at the end of a journey? Why are you so upset at the thought of leaving me behind?"

"You're my duty now." He's embarrassed as he says it, but he meets Taeyong's eyes.

"That's kind, but I belong with the Three Jewels."

"I know. But if you ever need me…"

"I'll learn how to call and let you know."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Haechan."

*

When Taeil finally lands (shaky, with Haechan cursing at the pilot's console,) the dock is crowded by men covered in jewelry and paint. Taeyong takes a deep breath as Haechan unbuckles him from his seat.

"See the man with the blue streak down his face?" Taeyong asks quietly, his body giving a slight tremble. Haechan gives a glance at the viewfinder to see that Jungwoo and Doyoung have already gotten themselves loose and are inspecting the crowd closely. "That's my father."

"That's the Temple Leader, huh?" Haechan doesn't comment on how displeased Taeyong's father looks to be on the receiving dock at all. "It looks like just the Temple has come to welcome you. Don't you think the king should be here?"

"Nah, the Temple will vet you and take you for an audience. They always make sure visitors are safe before taking them to the king. Would hate to bring an assassin into the fold."

Haechan doesn't look impressed. "We always just keep guards in the hall with big shiny tasers to discourage assassination."

"Everyone is too scared of the emperor to even try it. Can you imagine Haechan's wrath if someone killed his father before he was ready to take over?"

Haechan shoots Yuta a dark glare over his shoulder.

Jungwoo ignores Haechan. "He'd probably raze the entire universe."

"Nah, he's fond of the universe. He'd leave Doyoung in charge and go on a revenge mission."

"Not you?"

"Nah. This way Doyoung can't interfere with whatever nefarious things we get up to, and Haechan doesn't have to waste his time pretending to listen to reason when we all know he's just going to do whatever the fuck he wants."

Doyoung doesn't even bother looking offended, he just reaches out and smacks Yuta in the back of the head.

"You know, to be a pacifist, you're awfully violent."

Haechan sighs, loudly, distracting them from the coming argument. "Guys. We haven't had direct contact with anyone from the Three Jewels in five hundred years. Can we at least pretend to act civil to one another and maybe make a good impression so they don't send someone to gun us out of the sky when we leave?"

"They wouldn't gun us down after bringing back Taeyong, would they?" Doyoung asks.

"They would," Taeyong confirms, "If they thought it would give them an advantage."

"So we need to convince them that it's in their best interests for us to make it home and think about treaties, not war, and that starts with you two playing nice," Jungwoo says, poking Doyoung in the cheek.

Yuta sighs. "If we've got to."

*

Haechan's been on a lot of different planets and moons, but as soon as he steps out onto the main planet of the Three Jewels, he can see why Taeyong had so many problems with that staircase when they first landed in the Seven Skies; gravity's weird and he promptly trips on the first step and tumbles down the stairs, taking Jungwoo and Taeyong with him. When he glances up, he notices several men that have to be guards dressed up as monks quickly grabbing for their weapons.

"Ouch," Taeyong says, plaintively from the bottom of the pile. "Way to help me make an entrance."

"Sorry," Haechan mutters, eyes still on a particularly large taser that someone has strapped under their robes, the end sticking out of their sleeve. He helps Taeyong up before yanking Jungwoo to his feet unceremoniously. He's not really sure about customs in the Three Jewels, and Taeyong wasn't really helpful when he'd asked, so he drops into the bow he's seen Taeyong do when introduced to others in front of the Temple Leader just in case that's the right move. Jungwoo, Doyoung, and Yuta gracefully dip behind him, snickering.

Taeyong doesn't say anything, just stands beside Haechan with his head bowed.

"So," the Temple Leader finally says, stepping close and using his ceremonial staff to lift Taeyong's face. "You've finally decided to come home."

"You know I didn't choose to leave, Papa." Taeyong's voice is just a whisper of what it once was, like it had been when Haechan had first rescued him. "They took many of us."

"What of all the others?"

Haechan watches Taeyong shiver. "I don't know. Sold, maybe? Killed? They were pirates."

The Temple leader makes a small scoff and then launches into the Three Jewels' mother tongue, something full of sharp corners and quick turns. He doesn't even sound angry or disbelieving, just removed.

Taeyong blanches and responds in the same rapid speech before turning to gesture at Haechan. "May I present the Crowned Sun of the Seven Skies, Prince Haechan?"

Haechan finally raises up from his bow; he can sense Yuta wavering in his bow. He doesn't even know what to call the Temple Leader so he doesn't say anything.

"You're the one that found our Temple Boy?"

Haechan nods, because Doyoung always tells him that it's when he opens his mouth that he starts getting in trouble, and he's doing his best to make a good first impression, really.

"Where?"

"A pirate ship, sir. They attacked my crew, overwhelmed the captain."

"And they spared you?"

"He's the Crowned Sun of the Seven Skies, Papa. They couldn't just kill him without getting the entire Seven Skies after them."

"Obviously they weren't interested in ransom. They just let the pair of you go?"

Haechan opens his mouth to talk about his reputation not proceeding him, but Yuta interrupts. "The universe calls him the Terror Prince for a reason." Haechan can feel Jungwoo and Doyoung both elbowing Yuta behind him. "What?" Yuta grumbles. "They deserve to know what they're up against."

The Temple Leader sighs, and then extends his arm. "Welcome to the Three Jewels," he says, sounding resigned, like he would like nothing better than to turn Haechan around and put him back on Taeil to leave.

*

The Three Jewels reminds Haechan of the second planet in the Seven Skies, dense rainforests and calm rivers and heat, all under a lush purple-hazed sky. It rains fat, silver droplets against the window of the suite they've put him in, far up in one of the towers of the temple. He knows that they've crowded Doyoung, Yuta, and Jungwoo in the suite next door, can hear the mumble of Doyoung nagging and Yuta egging him on.

He's being patient, but he was escorted into the temple six hours ago, draped with ancient silks of the palace, fed weird smelling fruit, then locked in this suite. He hasn't heard from anyone since then, and really, patience has never been one of the virtues he's known for.

He knows that they've heard of his exploits (Taeyong has asked about some of them, wondering if they were true; most of them were) so he wonders if he's being watched, if there's a camera in his room, a sensor, maybe an AI that Taeyong never knew about, something to keep him in place until they're ready for him.

He runs his fingers along the seam of the closed window as he gazes at far off mountains, the sunset brilliant behind them. It's locked, but he wonders if he could open it himself, if the lock would just give or if it can be pried open. He'd left his favourite taser back with Taeil in a show of good faith, so he can't even blast the lock open.

Besides. He's trying his best to be patient. He shouldn't even be thinking about all the different ways he could get out, sneak next door or scale to the balcony below or even just wander out into the hall where the guards have probably stopped dressing like monks, their tasers out and proud.

It's just, he's not used to this, being so still when not on a ship. Even when he's traveling, he's not this still, locked to one solitary place. The view is nice, but not enough to keep him planted for long, and as the sun sinks down, he sighs.

The Temple Boys knock softly and bring in platters of food and light the oil lamps, but say nothing. They cast curious glances his way, not used to having strangers around. Haechan watches, dejected, as they fluff the bed and bow low before him; he doesn't hear the door clicked locked behind them when they leave, but he ignores it.

He's trying to be patient, but he knows he's not going to be able to last much longer.

*

"Psst, Haechan," Taeyong whispers. He's leaning over the bed, and in a total reversal of when they were in the Seven Skies, Haechan grabs blindly for Taeyong and pins him to the floor when he jolts awake. "Hey! What's that for!"

"Sorry, sorry," Haechan pants, rolling off Taeyong and trying to calm his heartbeat. "What time is it?"

"It's time for the morning ceremonies. They told me to come get you for them." Taeyong's quiet for a moment before standing up. "You've never done that before."

"Sorry. Unfamiliar place." Haechan doesn't really know how to tell Taeyong that he's never really slept around him before, that everytime Taeyong went to wake him on Taeil or in the pod, he'd already been awake and waiting. He honestly doesn't know how he'd even fallen asleep.

"Oh, I understand," and he reaches down to help Haechan up.

*

Haechan keeps his eyes fixed on Taeyong for cues when they stop at the edge of the courtyard. He really has no idea what morning ceremonies are, or why they're including him, or what this could mean after he's been locked up for 18 hours. He wants to ask about his council, if they're still locked up or if they're allowed to roam around or if Yuta's been executed for his mouth. He wants to ask how Taeyong's night was, if they've accepted him back even though he's learned technology, if he thinks he could be safe and sound now.

He wants to ask if Taeyong wishes he'd never been rescued from the pirates because Haechan's never seen Taeyong look so meek and curled in on himself, even when Haechan was mouthing off to Captain Johnny, most fearsome pirate in the Seven Skies, or when he'd been face to face with the Emperor.

Taeyong is still graceful when he drops to his knees in the courtyard, yanking Haechan's arm until he topples. He can feel a few monks glancing at them, but he keeps his eyes fixed on Taeyong, who is sinking even further down towards the ground, his arms pressed into the dirt. He's wearing new robes, cut a little big, like they were made for someone else, and they're too white for Taeyong to be laying on the ground.

He tries to bend in half like Taeyong, but barely can fold forward. Taeyong snickers, and then goes still.

"What are we doing?" Haechan whispers after he's lost the feeling in his feet.

"Shh," a few nearby monks all hiss at him.

Taeyong lifts his head a fraction. "We're communing with our ancestors."

"I don't think mine can find me so far from home; they've not said anything."

Taeyong snickers again. "Maybe they're trying to pretend they're not related to you. You are kind of obnoxious. Wouldn't want to embarrass them in front of all their spirit friends."

Haechan thinks about punching him, but well, punching the next temple leader in front of all the monks on a far away planet probably isn't the best idea he's ever had.

When the feeling has trickled out of his legs entirely, there's a gentle gong from somewhere, and the monks start standing. He starts to heave himself to his feet, but Taeyong's hand is suddenly on his back, keeping him pinned. "We have to stay."

"What? Why?"

"Think of it as an endurance test for you. We'll either pass it and see the king, or we'll fail it and you'll be sent to the dungeons."

"Dungeons?"

"We don't kill prisoners, remember? We'll just lock you up forever."

"Forever?"

"Well, until you escape and steal one of our ships. So like, twelve hours, maybe."

"How long does this endurance test last?"

"It lasts for as long as it lasts."

"How philosophical of you," Haechan mutters, but he settles down and expects to start losing feeling in his torso next.

*

"Are you asleep?" Taeyong whispers.

"Would it disqualify me?" Haechan mutters.

"Maybe? I've never actually seen this ritual done before so I'm not too sure what all the rules are. Maybe you're supposed to fall asleep, but doesn't matter, because here they come."

Haechan glances towards the open archway to see the temple leader and two monks in grey striding towards them. "Do I get up? Do I stay down?"

"Don't know. It's up to you."

Taeyong stays down, but Haechan staggers to his feet, his legs throbbing underneath him; he's never been one to meet challenges while laying down. He inclines his head when the Temple leader stops in front of him, like he would for his father and no one else. He still doesn't know what to call him, so he keeps his mouth firmly shut.

"Sun of the Seven Skies," one of the monks greets him, voice booming in the courtyard. For some reason, Haechan had expected the monks to always be meek and quiet, observant and mild, not these brass, annoyed creatures that they seem to be. "State your purpose."

Okay. Not expecting that. "To return Taeyong to his people."

"No. Not your purpose of being in the Three Jewels. What is your purpose in life?" And yeah. Sassy monk. Maybe he shouldn't have been so worried about Yuta's mouth after all.

"To take the throne of the Seven Skies and be a just leader for my people and the citizens of the universe."

The Temple leader snorts. "No, not what is expected of you. What is your purpose?"

That stumps him. If not who he is to become, what else is there? Who is he besides a troublesome brat still trying to live up to his father's expectations and find his way? He blinks. "I'm just trying to be who everyone needs me to be."

The Temple leader doesn't look impressed and turns his attention away from Haechan. "Taeyong, arise. The prince is calling for you."

The prince. That's interesting. Haechan wonders if he'll be allowed to tag along, meet the other boy that's inheriting this war, but one of the monks grabs Taeyong as he rises from the ground and guides him away. Taeyong throws an apologetic look over his shoulder as he's dragged through a small doorway hidden in the courtyard wall.

When Haechan looks away from the door, the Temple leader snorts again. "We will take you to see the king now."

"What of my companions?" Because there have been very few leaders he's initially met without Doyoung by his side, elbowing him when he starts getting mouthy, guiding him when he's forgotten about certain customs.

"They will still be waiting for you after your audience with the king is over."

"Does he not want to meet them as well? They are my council, which makes them every bit as important as me."

The Temple leader makes a face, like he doesn't particularly think Haechan is important. "If the king deems their presence necessary, we will fetch them. Until then, they will stay put."

Haechan shrugs, because really, what can you do on a strange planet when you have nothing but luck on your side, and goes to follow the monk. His leg crumples underneath his weight and he goes down, taking the monk with him.

"Is this a custom in the Seven Skies?" the Temple leader asks, sounding genuinely curious, but looking too smug for his own good.

Haechan just groans.

*

The throne room is both more and less than the one Haechan is used to in the Seven Skies. It's expansive, going on and on and on with rich tapestries on the walls and huge stained glass windows, but the actual throne is just wooden, stained deep and glossy with oil. Haechan stands before it, completely alone in the cavernous room. The monk had quickly left him and there aren't any guards, and Haechan has never, ever seen the throne room at his palace completely empty before, even when he's snuck through in the dead of night.

He wonders if this is part of his patience test, if they'll leave him here all night, or if they're just waiting to see how long it will take him to wander off. His father, or any of the leaders he's in contact with frequently, would not have left him alone this long in fear that he'd start taking apart the throne for parts or dismantling one of the windows to improve airflow in the throne room.

A bored Haechan is never really a good idea and that's why most people keep him busy, so he doesn't have time for plans.

Besides. He's technically an enemy to this system.

He's just starting thinking about the best way to get up to the rafters (there's a statue of some ancient temple leader that's probably the right height to help him get to the upper window ledge) when a door clicks open.

Haechan assumes it's the king, and no one has told him any fucking thing about any customs still, so he drops into the formal bow of the Seven Skies; if it insults the king, then so be it - Haechan's trying his best.

The king is much, much older than Haechan was expecting, but he's not sure why. He'd always envisioned this war to be between two equals, passed down to sons of the same age, that the king and temple leader would grow up arm and arm like he and his second had. Taeyong speaks of the prince as an awful little brother, so it always seemed they were a similar age.

So the old man and his aide are surprising.

"Prince Haechan," the king greets, and drops into the same formal bow of the Seven Skies, the same one that he can't talk his people into stopping in front of him. The king's aid scrambles to help the king up, but he pushes her away and slowly raises himself up.

Haechan gasps. "How do you know our customs?"

The king chuckles. "The Seven Skies and the Three Jewels have always been two sides of the same coin. Once upon a time, we were one. Of course we share many of the same customs in court."

Which is not something Haechan's ever heard before, in any of the History classes he took in school or military strategy courses, but the king does speak the Seven Skies' mother tongue impeccably. "Oh? Then why all the wars?" And yeah, if Doyoung were there, he'd be digging his skeleton sharp fingers in Haechan's ribs right about then.

The king looks considering. "Values change. Some of us wanted to continue in the old ways, and some of us wanted to infect the entire universe."

"Infect? Are you saying the Seven Skies are a disease?"

The king shrugs, elegant. "Once, we were just two planets to represent two brothers, but now we are ten."

"Which two planets were we?"

"Your first planet, and our third. They still orbit each other, still two brothers, just estranged."

"That doesn't even make sense. Our first planet is barren."

"It is now, but it wasn't always. It used to be just as prosperous as the rest of our system, until one brothers' greed destroyed it, sucking the life out of everything he could."

Haechan takes a deep breath. "I don't understand."

"It's why we're always trying to stop you from leaving our sector. We're trying to keep the Seven Skies the Seven Skies. We've already taken our second and third planet to save them from you. How many other systems do you have your eyes on, ready to swoop in and claim them?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"We've tried for five hundred years to reach out and explain, but you're the first to stop and listen."

"Why does it matter what we do? You could have made a treaty with us to leave you alone and we would."

The king looks forlorn for a moment. "There will never be peace in our sector until the two brothers are reunited. The Seven Skies will always yearn for that missing piece that we will never hand over."

"What's your solution then?"

"That's something we can not decide on our own. Two brothers are two brothers. Even when one is led astray, two brothers are two brothers and must be one."

When Haechan is led back to his room, he still doesn't understand, but maybe Doyoung will be able to find something in their library on the sixth planet.

*

"Haechan, Haechan, wake up," Taeyong whispers, shaking Haechan frantically. Haechan's awake, but he's more groggy than he's ever been before. He cracks an eye but otherwise doesn't move; Taeyong looks partially terrified. "Fuck, get your ass up. What are you doing? We've got to get off this goddamn planet."

"Where'd you learn that?" he slurs. He'd been doing his best to keep his language clean in front of the innocent temple boy.

"I spent two years with fucking pirates from the Seven Skies, where the fuck do you think I learned it. Get up!"

"Okay, okay, why are we leaving," he lifts his heavy arm to look at his mini comm tab, "at midnight?"

"You said you'd never ask questions when I wanted to leave, let's go."

Haechan grunts and rolls his shoulders before trying to heave himself up. "We have a small problem with escaping in the middle of the night, though."

Taeyong huffs and grabs at Haechan. "What's that?"

"I think the temple boys have been drugging me at dinner so I'll sleep and stay put, and now I can't move."

Taeyong drops Haechan's arm and lets loose a really colorful stream of curses.

"Yuta would be impressed."

Taeyong just keeps cursing all the way out the door.

*

When Taeyong comes back six minutes later with Yuta and Jungwoo in tow, Haechan's already fallen back asleep.

"Please, Yuta," Taeyong says, his eyes big, but his face tilted towards the floor so Yuta can't even see it. "He promised."

Yuta lets off a few curses of his own before sighing. "I bet he did. That'd be just like him, promise some pretty boy he found the world. He does this all the time."

"Find pretty boys and promise them the world?"

"You've met Jungwoo," Yuta says dryly before roughly prodding at Haechan's face.

"Heyyy," Jungwoo whines and clutches at Taeyong's arm.

Yuta rolls his eyes but reaches back and ruffles Jungwoo's hair. "Okay. Any ideas how we're going to pull this off?"

"Nope," Jungwoo says, "We always look at Haechan and wait for him to be brilliant."

Haechan lets out a snore.

They are so fucked.

*

"I can not believe we promised the Emperor that we wouldn't start a war and then we kidnapped a prince," Doyoung says, dazed, laying on the floor of Taeil.

"We didn't kidnap a prince," Jungwoo responds, mildly.

"No? Who's that, then?" Doyoung says, pointing towards Prince Mark who looks both terrified and enthralled by Haechan falling in and out of sleep in the navigator's seat.

"A prince that was not kidnapped but who decided to jump ship."

"And he couldn't just abdicate?"

"Who would he abdicate to? Next in line spent the last two years with pirates."

Taeyong hasn't said anything since they arrived back at Taeil, just plopped down in the pilot's seat and stared at Taeil until he quietly starts the takeoff countdown, no questions asked.

"We're going to get shot out of the sky," Doyoung moans when Taeil finally lifts off the ground.

Taeyong gives a desperate giggle.

"It's fine," Taeil says. "I'm stealthy. We'll be fine."

Doyoung gives a little shudder and peels himself off the floor before shoving Haechan out of his seat and plopping down, pulling the controls closer to himself. "You are not stealthy. The only thing that's got us this far is Haechan's luck."

Yuta sprawls on the floor, propped up against Haechan but watching Doyoung control the ship with a critical eye. "He's still in the ship, so maybe it'll still be of some use."

Doyoung mutters darkly under his breath.

They've finally slipped through the greying sky, carefully edging around the last guard satellite, when Yuta inclines his head at the prince. "Markie, you tired?"

Prince Mark turns to look at Yuta, eyes wide and overwhelmed, like he has no idea how to address someone who just so casually disregarded his title. "Yes? But I doubt I'll sleep."

"Taeyong, show our esteemed guest downstairs. Make sure you hurry back. We've a lot to discuss on our way home." Yuta gives a smile that shows all of his teeth.

Taeyong's gaze darts between Yuta and Haechan a few times before he stands, gathering Mark under his arm.

*

When Taeyong finally makes his way back to the bridge, Haechan is mostly awake, sitting groggily in the seat Taeyong had vacated. He gives Taeyong a rough grin. "So. Should we have our argument in front of my council or would you prefer to lie to me some more in private?"

"I haven't lied to you," Taeyong says, standing straight for the first time since they'd arrived in the Three Jewels; Haechan had forgotten how tall he really is when he isn't pretending to be meek.

"Really? Convincing me to take you halfway across the universe so you could kidnap the prince of the Three Jewels wasn't premeditated on your part?"

Taeyong winces. "I haven't lied to you about anything important."

Haechan just looks at him flatly.

"I really was kidnapped from my temple in broad daylight. I really have spent the last two years with pirates. I really did need you."

"You really needed me for what, exactly?"

Taeyong sighs and slides down the wall until his legs are stretched in front of him. "You saw what it was like. The Three Jewels is a millennium behind the rest of the universe. Mark is my brother. I had to get him out. I had to show him that war with you isn't the only thing he was born for."

"What did you expect to happen when we got this far?" Doyoung asks, more gentle than Haechan thinks Taeyong deserves. "You know what this is going to do, don't you?"

Taeyong at least has the decency to look embarrassed. "I didn't really think that far ahead. How was I to know that any of this would work?"

Yuta snorts. "I told you he was trouble."

Haechan is inclined to agree. "There's going to be war because of this. Probably the deadliest battle ever seen in this universe. Blood will rain in all the skies of all our planets."

"I hadn't considered that."

Haechan drags his hand over his face, body still heavy from being drugged. "Okay," he finally sighs.

"Okay?" Yuta asks.

"Okay. We'll figure it out."

"We will?" Doyoung asks.

"What other choice do we have?"

Neither of his council looks convinced, but he's right; what other choice do they have?

*

"I wish it could be as easy as he thinks it's going to be." It's been a few hours and the adrenaline has worn off. Taeyong has just gone down to bunk with Mark and Jungwoo is sprawled on the floor, pretending to be asleep like he does when he knows the council wants to talk and it's probably going to be boring.

"He grew up sheltered," Doyoung says, idly watching Haechan as he keeps changing Taeil's course, none of them quite sure where they can hide on this side of their sector. "He knows no other way to be other than optimistic."

Haechan thinks back to his morning with the Temple, the silence and how no one seemed to value Taeyong. How no one at all had seemed to miss him. Haechan thinks about how his court would still reach out their sticky fingers towards Johnny, even today when they all know how many people he's killed since he abandoned them all six years ago.

Haechan doesn't think Taeyong was just sheltered; he was kept in the dark about everything that mattered in the Three Jewels. He wonders if that is something he needs to worry about, if Prince Mark is just as lost as Taeyong.

How had the Three Jewels expected to hand over a war to children they kept in the dark?

"We could always send them back," Doyoung suggests.

"No, we can't." Yuta has his eyes closed, but it looks like he's ready to gear up for a fight if he has to. "The Three Jewels will never forgive this, even if we send them back. This is the end. This is where all of our wars were leading."

War with the Three Jewels is all Haechan has ever known, all his father has ever known, all his grandfather had ever known. They've been at odds for the past five hundreds years, but their animosity has lasted longer than that, stretching back to the early voyage days. He wonders if there's any truth to what the king had said or if it was just more stories, something to make Haechan compliant.

"It's not just us anymore." It hadn't been for a long time. The Aisle and the Barrier kingdom, countless small planets not part of any system, clustered around the Seven Skies and the Three Jewels, standing by to absorb all their fallout. "This is going to destroy our entire sector."

Haechan sighs at Doyoung. He knows it's going to be bad, but Yuta is right, too; there is nothing they can do to stop it.

*

It's probably dawn, back at the Three Jewels, when Prince Mark stumbles up the hatch, bleary-eyed with wild hair.

"Sorry," he says, blushing faintly when he sees Haechan watching him. "I know I'm supposed to stay put, but I gotta use your toilet and I have no idea where it is."

Haechan gives a little laugh. It's weird, suddenly being face to face with his arch enemy for the first time. He always knew he and Prince Mark would come face to face one day, but he always expected it to be on a battlefield, not his beat up little ship that's probably older than their war. Though, Prince Mark does not look like the type to lead an army to victory. He looks too soft, too sweet. Too bed-rumpled. "You're not my prisoner. You can go to the bathroom whenever you want."

"I'm not?" He looks a little shell shocked. "Then can you tell me where it is?"

Haechan pushes himself out of his chair and steps over his sleeping council. If they knew he was about to climb below deck with two members of an enemy court without so much as waking them up… well, he honestly can't even imagine what Doyoung would do. At least he motions for Prince Mark to move aside so he can climb down the ladder first; he's not afraid of Prince Mark, but he's still not leaving his back wide open.

Prince Mark looks like he's very rarely used a ladder before, each step overly careful, his foot fumbling before making contact with the next rung. Then again it could be the gravity field in Taeil; Taeyong always has trouble, too.

"You're not going to fall," Haechan calls up when Prince Mark is only halfway down.

"I disagree, your highness. It's very likely that I'll fall."

Haechan snorts. "We have safety protocols on board. Taeil won't let you hit the ground."

"You shouldn't lie to cute strangers, Haechannie," Taeil says, half visible next to the replicator. "I've let you fall so many times."

"No. You make me fall. You wouldn't let a cute stranger fall."

Prince Mark is fully blushing when he finally steps off the ladder.

Haechan doesn't really remember their mad dash to the ship, doesn't remember what happened once they got aboard, so he's not sure if anyone actually introduced Prince Mark to Taeil. He knows it probably looks rude, and Prince Mark probably has no idea what to think about his weird crewmate, but Haechan just gestures to Mark, ignoring Taeil and turning down a narrow hallway.

He's not even sure why he waits after he shows Prince Mark the door, just casually pops open a panel on the wall and tinkers until Prince Mark is done. He escorts him back to the bridge and waits for everyone else to wake up so they can solve this like two brothers, or whatever the fuck the king had meant.

*

"So. We don't have any ideas at all?" Haechan asks several hours later.

Doyoung looks like there's a lot he wants to say, but keeps quiet, flipping through pages on his comm tab.

"Do you think your dad would be willing to pay off the Three Jewels?"

"Pay off? We kidnapped their prince and his second in command. I don't think that's something that can be paid off."

"How much does your kingdom love you, Markie?" Yuta asks. "Do you think they would follow your lead to overthrow your father?"

"It's more than just my father. It's the temple, too. I don't know that they would be willing to go that far."

They're hiding on the dark side of one of the moon's they've come across, desperate for a game plan before setting out farther, in case that plan needs them close. So far they've come up with nothing useful, and the passage of time makes Haechan anxious. He wants to do something, not wait around and be found.

"You're all being so dumb about this," Jungwoo finally says. He's been quiet since he woke up, which isn't like him. He hasn't spent his life learning to run planets and wars, but he's spent the last three years offering his opinion on everything he can.

Haechan opens his mouth to snap at Jungwoo, but thinks better of it. Takes a deep breath. It's not Jungwoo's fault he grew up in the Edge, outside of real civilization; he has no idea how things work. "Yeah? You have any better suggestions on how to stop an intergalactic war?"

"Yeah. Have you ever heard of an arranged marriage?"

Okay. That's not exactly what Haechan had been expecting.

Yuta starts cackling. "That's not going to fix anything, Woo. There's not a princess in either court."

Doyoung looks calculating, which never really spells good things for Haechan. "Actually… Half the Seven Skies expects Haechan to marry Jungwoo. What's the difference?"

"What? No, Doyoung. We are not marrying Haechan off to the enemy. They're evil and sadistic. No offense, Markie."

Prince Mark just inclines his head.

"Think of the alliances. Think of the treaties."

"Haechan is worth more than fucking treaties. So is Mark. We stopped doing arranged marriages two hundred years ago. He should get to pick Jungwoo and live happily ever after with him, not be stuck with some stray we fucking picked up along the way."

"I don't want to marry Haechan."

Doyoung and Yuta both look a little surprised. "But…"

Jungwoo shrugs. "It never bothered me that everyone thought that we would. It's just. It wasn't ever going to happen. Isn't it lucky he's found his soulmate in Prince Mark?"

"Soulmate?"

"Yeah, like all those old movies we used to watch. Break the princess out of the castle to show her a whole new world." He hums a little song. "There's a lot of ways we can spin this where our entire sector gets behind us and demands no war."

Prince Mark is looking more and more shell shocked the more Jungwoo talks. "But I'm already engaged."

"To who? Is it true love?"

"No, a noble from the Barrier Kingdom. It's been arranged since they were children," Taeyong says when Prince Mark doesn't say anything.

"Good. No broken hearts that way."

Haechan starts laughing. "Your solution really is to have us pretend to be in love for the rest of our lives?"

"No. My solution is for you to work together to fix this sector. Soulmates don't have to be romantic, you know. You can find your match and never be in love with them. I expect you to be a team."

A team. Sounds nice. "I think my father would be more upset about a loveless marriage for political gain than actually falling in love with the enemy."

"So fall in love. What's stopping you?' Jungwoo shoots back.

"Uh I don't know, the fact that we're strangers? The fact that we were raised to destroy each other? The fact that Prince Mark can barely make eye contact with me?"

"He can work on that," Taeyong says.

"Yong," Prince Mark mutters.

"What?" Jungwoo answers, steam-rolling over what Taeyong's response might have been. "Fix the universe and then get divorced. This sector can't keep living in fear that the Seven Skies and the Three Jewels are going to kill us all."

"We'll find another way," Yuta says. "The Emperor will kill us all if Haechan comes home married." His face is pulled tight.

"It sounds like something Haechan would do though," Doyoung says.

"It is not happening," Yuta says even more firmly. "We will think of something else."

But Haechan's already thinking.

*

There's a lot of things that are fucked up about Jungwoo's plan, but there's a lot that makes fucking sense, so Haechan waits until Prince Mark goes to the bathroom and corners him.

"I think we should do it," he says when Prince Mark comes stumbling out, keeping his voice low in case Yuta's suddenly developed sonic hearing.

"Do what?" Prince Mark asks when he's done panicking about someone lying in wait for him.

"Get married. Fix the universe. Be a team."

Prince Mark blinks, and then blinks again.

Haechan takes a deep breath. "Just, what did you expect to happen once you left the Three Jewels?"

"I don't know."

"Why did you want to leave, then?"

"I… Taeyong said…" Prince Mark trails off. "Taeyong said there's more to life than prayers five times a day and being obedient to the war council."

Which, yes. There's so much more to life, but how would Taeyong even know? Taeyong is just as sheltered as Prince Mark, maybe more in some ways. "And?"

"I've never wanted to fight you. Everyone knows you'll win. I don't know why we keep trying."

Which, also yes. The Seven Skies has a larger fleet, more manpower, determination in spades. Haechan had always been willing to do what he needs to do to protect the Seven Skies, destroying whatever was in his way for their safety.

He's never wanted to fight the Three Jewels, but he wasn't afraid of them and if he can avoid the whole thing, even better.

Prince Mark sighs and looks at Haechan with big eyes. "If this will stop it, why shouldn't we?"

And just like that, they're unofficially engaged.

*

Taeil is the only one Haechan tells, because even though he knows Jungwoo and Taeyong are on their side, Yuta can ruin anything if he tries hard enough, and while Doyoung had seemed supportive, he was probably just trying to rile Yuta up even more. (Which he does sometimes to get his way. To be a pacifist, he's terribly devious like that.)

"Hey," Taeil says as casually as he's able, blinking into existence. "I think there's a leak in the sensor control."

Yuta curses under his breath. "You think?"

Taeil shrugs. "I don't notice where it's coming from, but drag has increased by 6% and pressure has decreased by 15%. Can't think of what else it could be."

"Yeah, I meant to flush the sensory lines, but since I wasn't going to take you far, I thought I had more time. I'll see if we can find something in cargo to plug it and we'll have to stop for new tubing somewhere."

"Uh, Haechan," Doyoung says. "I don't know if you remember or not, but we are currently on the run from the Three Jewels. They could show up at any time, and Taeil can't even jump."

"Look, if we don't stop, we'll be sitting ducks in the middle of the sky. This is a necessary stop."

Yuta sighs. "How far are we from the Edge? Could we trade someone something for tubing?"

Haechan cackles in his head because yes. Yes, that is exactly where they need to go. "Probably. It'd be easy to lay low there for a few days, too. Taeil alter course. I'm going to go see if I can find the leak."

Sometimes he wonders if it should worry him that it's so easy to trick his council.

*

"Are you ready for this?" Haechan asks. He's well-known for hopping feet first into shit and worrying about the details afterwards, but he knows the rest of humanity takes more than 36 hours to make decisions that will warp their (and the rest of their entire universe's) entire life.

Prince Mark nods, and if Haechan wasn't watching him so closely, he probably would have missed the hesitation.

"Mark. We're soulmates from here on out. You can't keep things from me."

"I'm just a little nervous. I've never done anything like this before. I've always followed the rules."

Haechan rolls his eyes. "I've never followed the rules, and it's brought us to the same place."

"I guess we really are soulmates then, yin and yang."

"Probably so," Haechan agrees, punching something into Taeil's main panel before hopping up. "Let's go then, soulmate."

Prince Mark gives a shaky nod but follows Haechan to the hatch.

"Hey, I'm heading out with Prince Mark," he shouts down. "There's a vendor I'm hoping to catch."

"Wait for one of us!" Doyoung immediately shouts back. "Give me three minutes!"

"Nah!" Haechan says. "Don't need you ruining my street cred in the Edge again!" He slams the hatch lid but doesn't lock it. "Now, we run!" He grabs Mark's hand and runs towards the door that Taeil's popped open for them and they spill out into the Edge's main corridor.

Mark stumbles a bit, just like Taeyong does every time he faces new gravity, so Haechan just tightens his grip and pulls him along, ducking into the first transport once they leave the dock.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Prince Mark asks, a little out of breath, once the transport seals closed and shoots off. He closes his eyes tight, his fingers white against Haechan's.

"Yeah, a buddy from Fleet training owes me a favor and probably won't mind pissing off either of our fathers. He's got headquarters here." Which his council will hopefully forget about until they're done.

Prince Mark audibly gulps. "This is really going to make them mad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but everything Jungwoo's said is right. Our families have fucked up our universe for as long as history can remember. It's up to us to fix it, and no one can force us out of the sanctity of marriage. They'll just have to get on board." He thinks back to what the king had said about the two systems becoming one; this probably wasn't what the old man had had in mind.

Prince Mark nods and then the transport slows to a stop. "You know, the Edge is in every history book I've ever read, but I never realized what it was. I always thought it was a planet between our systems."

Haechan laughs, sliding the door open. "It started out as a ship graveyard. No one is really sure who came all the way out here and linked them all together, but honestly it's brilliant."

"Are there really no laws here?"

"Not many. This is where outcasts from both of our systems end up. Just keep your head down and we'll be fine." He ducks into an open doorway and smiles at the girl lurking in the entrance. "I'm here to see Yang Yang."

The girl blinks slowly at them. "Is he expecting you?"

"Well, no," Haechan couldn't risk his council finding out. "But I do have an open invitation. Tell him it's his Fleet Brother."

She blinks slowly again and backs out of the room.

"Fleet Brother? You couldn't just say your name?"

"Look, I trust Yang Yang, but who knows what that girl would do with the knowledge that the Crowned Sun showed up. Besides, how is he to know it's not some stranger impersonating me?" Although really, he wants this to get out, and the best way to try is to make it seem as secretive as possible.

Mark hums just as Yang Yang crashes through the door, throwing himself at Haechan. "You monster, why haven't you been to see me in months? I heard you like, got killed by pirates and now the Three Jewels is calling for your head on every open channel."

Haechan laughs. "You know better."

"I know, but like, a message that you were dropping in would have been nice. I could have had a guard looking for you or something at the dock. Why's the Three Jewels after you this time?"

"Mark, this is The Shepherd." Haechan raises their still linked hands. "Yang Yang, this is my fiancee. We're here to get married."

Yang Yang smiles as wide as he can. "If you're coming to me and not having a fancy shindig on the fourth planet, does that mean you're eloping with your secret lover? What happened to the tall boy that used to follow you around?"

"Jungwoo's still following me around. He'll probably burst in beaming as soon as we're done. He's keeping Yuta distracted currently while we do something dumb."

"Oh? Yuta doesn't approve?"

"What does Yuta approve of?"

Yang Yang's smile suddenly drops. "Wait. Mark? Prince Mark? Like, Prince Mark from the Three Jewels? Haechan!"

Haechan grins at Yang Yang's horrified face.

*

"The Shepherd?" Mark hisses when Yang Yang steps away to get their paperwork prepared. "You brought me to the Flock to marry me? No one is going to recognise this marriage."

Haechan laughs. "You've heard of the Flock way out in your tower of isolation?"

"Of course I have. I know you think I'm some invalid that was never taught anything about the universe, but that's not true. I learned about every threat possible to the Three Jewels."

"The Yang Gang is not a threat to anything."

"The Yang Gang?" Prince Mark repeats, sounding distraught. "We're getting married by the Yang Gang."

"The Three Jewels apparently doesn't agree, but the rest of the sector recognizes Yang Yang as an actual spiritual leader. This will be a valid marriage that my father will have no choice but to accept or be seen as a hypocrite."

"My father won't accept it."

Haechan shrugs. "My father probably wouldn't accept it if it was Taeyong." Not enough training, too much time with pirates. "And we agreed, getting my father behind us first is probably more important. We have a lot more battleships."

Prince Mark sighs before dragging his hand over his face. "Okay, okay. You're sure everyone will accept this?"

Haechan nods. "Yang Yang has travelled all over our sector, marrying nobles. He even officiated my dad's second marriage last year. It will be an official, valid marriage."

Prince Mark takes a deep breath. "Well, I guess if he's good enough for the Emperor."

"Of course I'm good enough for the Emperor, and I'm good enough for you, too, Prince Mark," Yang Yang says, bustling back in with three men dressed all in white behind him. "You're lucky, too. I usually have like, a 6 month wait-list for weddings. But anything for my Fleet Brother, I guess..."

Haechan rolls his eyes and gives Yang Yang a small shove. "You've told me for years you want to officiate for me. Here's your chance."

"I thought it would be in front of a thousand people, not three free people from my flock."

"Like you need the exposure."

Yang Yang makes a face. "I can always use the exposure. Hey, after we're done, can I make the announcement?"

Haechan grins. "No, but you can broadcast it on all open airwaves."

Yang Yang grins back. "Boys, get the big cameras out."

*

(Yuta takes one look at them after he bursts in at the end of their vows and very calmly tells them he's going to kill them. The cameras click off.

Pandemonium in the universe truly begins.)