Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a warm sunrise, the one showing face. Except Yeonjun had no time to appreciate it, not when the stone lion almost ripped his right leg off.

“Can you please not get killed?" The elf in the gazebo screamed at him.

“Excuse me? We're trying to save you!" As he jumped out of the way of the lion, he caught sight of Beomgyu trying to climb the gazebo.

The elf tried to shoot another arrow at the giant lion, but it just bounced off one of the columns. They moved, there was no way he could get a clean shot. “It's my job to keep the prince safe. My head is automatically off if something happens to yours."

Yeonjun stood, astounded. This made no sense. The lion was pacing fifteen feet away from him, between the pavilion and the prince. It seemed to be in a more defensive stance than an attacking one. Yeonjun took the chance to recover some breath. They had been trying to bypass the dumb stone animal for half an hour now, but it was impossible.

On the other hand, the elf was getting on Yeonjun’s nerves.

“Friend, I think some of your ideas might not be in the correct order. If you die now, there's no point trying to protect me. And I could die after that too, so try to live, will you?"

He received no response. Yeonjun couldn't get a clear view of the gazebo, the lion was standing right in front of it. Why was it so big too? Why was a lion statue in the middle of the forest? Or the damn covered bandstand even? Yeonjun felt a thought in the back of his head like he knew the answer, but it couldn't be reached.

The statue also registered the lack of an answer. The lion was turning around when Yeonjun decided that dying for one of his people was not a bad way to go. He ran to the creature, full speed, his sword to a side and rising.

The roaring deafened him from one ear, but the statue stopped mid-coming down. Yeonjun let go of the attacking stance as the lion turned around and ran back to the gazebo.

It was almost comical, but Beomgyu was trying to rip the elf out of it, pulling him by his armpits. An invisible force field was making it impossible: it covered the openings. However, little by little, the elf slid out. By the time the lion arrived at the structure, the elf was out of the invisible cage, having been dragged out by Beomgyu. The latter was laying on the entering steps and had enough time to raise his hand towards the lion. Ivy shot from the ground, tying the creature in place until it was hard as stone again.

Beomgyu let his head fall back, breathing heavily.

“I've only met you for two days and I’ve been closer to death than in the long years I’ve been alive," Yeonjun said as he neared the other two, warily eyeing the statue. It was fiercely carved into stone, a lion rising on his back legs.

“Ha, you’re old,” Beomgyu sure knew when to make those comments.

“I still don't understand how you do that. Or why couldn't you start with it." While lending him his hand, Yeonjun couldn't avoid the questions.

Beomgyu turned around after standing.

“A thank you would be lovely, don't you think?" He glanced at Yeonjun with an arched eyebrow.

Yeonjun lifted his hands. It was not his place to be grateful for his life having been saved. The prince didn't mind dying there. He watched in the direction of the elf instead.

“Yes, thank you, whatever," the elf mumbled, reaching for the arrows that had slid out of the gazebo after bouncing on the invisible walls and the pillars. “But do answer, please. What happened?"

Beomgyu stretched, his hands reaching for the sun. He smiled at the lion as his back relaxed.

“Well, the ivies didn't stop it, it was the fact that the cage was empty once again. It can only move if it has something to protect. And you, dumbass,"—pointing at the elf—“walked right in there."

He was embarrassed. Yeonjun could tell by the nape scratching and the attempt to turn, so his face couldn't be seen. The prince walked up to the elf, trying to soften Beomgyu’s forwardness.

“Well, who are you? The least we could do is introduce ourselves. I'm Choi Yeonjun, the prince, second in line to the crown."

The elf nodded.

“I know. I'm Soobin. I was sent by your brother to keep you safe during your quest."

Ah. His brother. The king. Yeonjun's frown deepened.

“You sure did a good job at it, friend," Beomgyu added, giving Soobin a soft punch in the shoulder.

The next thing Yeonjun knew, Soobin had maneuvered Beomgyu to the ground, an arrow to his forehead. The elf had skipped the bow, he meant to stab him directly with the projectile.

Yeonjun noticed it hadn't been the first time he thought of a solution like that for Beomgyu's big mouth, but it was still a bit of an overreaction.

“Who are you? What are your intentions?" Soobin was fast to go back to his royal guard persona. However, the ears...

“Are you really the one asking the questions? We just saved your ass, elf. Speaking of, how come the king allowed someone like you to be part of his lines, huh?"

Oh god, Beomgyu was getting himself killed. Yeonjun stepped in and grabbed Soobin's trembling hand, the one with the arrow.

“Hey, it's ok. He saved me as soon as I set foot in this place and has done the same for you. I would think that's enough to spare his life for a day or two."

The strength in Soobin's hand remained for a couple of seconds until he let Yeonjun grab the arrow. It was one of the royal ones, with silver details. Yeonjun had never seen Soobin before that day, but he could tell his affiliations by his suit and weapons.

Soobin removed himself from Beomgyu and sat by his side. The prince remained standing, watching over the two.

(Yeonjun tried not to laugh when he heard Beomgyu’s tiny “My savior,” as he placed his hands on his chest.)

Beomgyu turned around and lay watching the sky. The sun was at its highest point. He had suggested walking to the gazebo to see the sunrise given that Yeonjun couldn't sleep. They never imagined they would be faced with so much action as soon as the sun showed.

Weird that he would suggest going to an area they couldn't access without triggering the lion's guarding system. Yeonjun tensed up but said nothing.

Since meeting Beomgyu, everything had been suspicious. His training told him to run away, that he was too dubious to let wander about... yet his instincts said he should stay by his side for the rest of his life.

Royal survival training was very clear about which instincts one should listen to.

“I'm Beomgyu, by the way," the long-haired man said. The spikes in his back were longer than the night before. Yeonjun hadn't asked about those yet, but he made a mental note to do so soon. “I make sure the forest is safe. I'm a protector of a sort like you are of your prince," Beomgyu ended, a mock to his tone. “A guardian, if you will.”

Yeonjun could tell he would have to rip Soobin off Beomgyu again soon.

“Well, you are not good at your job," Soobin noted. “I've been trying to get out of that place for hours now, I didn't sleep at all."

“I protect the forest, not any stupid soul that wanders in here. Unless you mean to harm these trees, in that case, I would have to ask nicely for you to leave." The sweet smile on Beomgyu's face was terrifying. Spiky branches like rose trunks were starting to grow from the ground around where his hands hovered.

Soobin was unimpressed.

“If that's so, why are you letting him in?" He was pointing at Yeonjun.

Beomgyu redirected his eyes to the prince, confused. Yeonjun had not been that straightforward about his intentions with everyone and it was about to bite him in the ass.

“Yeonjun?"

He saw the nervousness in the way Soobin's shoulders tensed up. He was surely noticing the trouble he had just pushed him in. Soobin's hand was closing to one of his arrows, without looking at his quiver. Yeonjun, standing beside him, could see how the grass was pushing Soobin's weapons away from the elf.

As a leap of faith, he too let his sword fall, as he sat with the other two.

“I told you, I’m here to prove my name." That was the bigger truth. Not all of it, but if Beomgyu didn't insist, then he wouldn't have to—

“How?" Well shit.

The prince had the eerie feeling of having already told this story.

A deja vu.

Yeonjun was the second child to a second child. His father was the second son of the king, and Yeonjun's uncle had been the king after the previous ruler died. When Yeonjun’s father died with the rest of the town, the kid was adopted by the king and raised as a younger brother of the heir to the crown, Youngjae. He knew from very early on that he would never get to rule. Not the kingdom at least. And so, Yeonjun had postponed worrying about his future as long as he could, dedicating himself to learning the arts and the lore of the land. Cherishing the few friendships he could get within the royal guard. Sometimes, he even trained.

And then... Then he stepped out of the castle.

It is hard to find out that being able to do so much, holding so much knowledge and abilities, having the title you may or not be called by, people don't know about you. The few that did would fall into one of two categories: they were either pitiful towards him for having lost his parents at such a young age, or they were prone to roll their eyes at the mention of the lazy prince. All the wasted possibilities… He was on the older side, he should've been out to society years ago, out on quests or leading the guard. But nothing.

It broke Yeonjun the first time he heard those voices. Then, the guard suffered an attack on a mission, where almost all of his friends... He was alone and useless to the eyes of society.

So he requested an interview with the king. He introduced a simple idea: he would enter the forbidden forest and slay the monster hidden within.

Everyone knew about the monster. A big loud animal, one of its claws could send a trained grown man to visit their ancestors in the wink of an eye. It was the fear of the monster that earned the forest the forbidden state... and yet, as he was making eye contact with Beomgyu, trying to explain all of this, Yeonjun could tell he had forgotten something important about the forest. He just couldn't place his finger on what.

“My brother didn't like the idea of me coming here on my own, but he truly couldn't do anything to stop me, except perhaps lock me in my chambers... and well, I guess sending a spy to have my back," he ended wearily, eyeing Soobin. The elf shrugged.

“So you planned to enter this forest, the one I told you I protect from outsiders, and slay the monster at the other end?" Beomgyu's expression was unreadable.

Yeonjun felt like he should deny it, but he nodded. Being truthful now that he had been discovered was the least he could do to preserve the little respect he had earned from the pretty boy, even if that had vanished the moment Soobin exposed his mission.

Beomgyu laughed. He laid back down, hands behind his head.

“You should've told me, we were walking the exact opposite way from its cave."

Wait a minute.

“You don't mind?"

Beomgyu closed his eyes, some wind moving the hair on his forehead to reveal unpreoccupied eyebrows.

“Look, I don't mess with what lives in the forest, as long as they don't mess with the trees and the water and whatever that belongs to the land. The monster is not native to here, so I have no trouble leading you to it. Just tell me and we can head there as soon as you want to go. It should take us—" Beomgyu opened his eyes and counted a couple of his fingers, “—two to three days."

“Yes, please. I have no clue where it is, or what it is. Only that it is scary and can kill with a flinch of their claws."

“I can take you there, I can't help you against it. I helped save this one," —pointing at Soobin— “because he seemed to need it, and as far as I know, he was not inflicting any harm to the forest. But if you go looking for trouble with someone that has never given me it, then you're on your own, prince."

Yeonjun nodded.

“Ok, I accept that. Do guide me there, please."

Beomgyu smiled, eyes closed again.

“Sure. Let me just retrieve energy, maybe even have breakfast, and then we can go."

Yeonjun sighed and stood up, willing to go look for fruits or something. He had learned the past days from watching Bemogyu that, as long as he asked nicely from the trees and the bushes, no branch would suddenly fall on his head and murder him on the spot.

He hadn't been two feet away from the clearing when Soobin was already at his heels, worryingly asking him if he was okay. Yeonjun calmed him enough about his state to figure Soobin was worried about Beomgyu and not his mission.

“Why? He's been... well, he's not exactly been nice, but he hasn't done anything against me nor you, why are you worried?" Yeonjun was grabbing blackberries from a tree, while Soobin kept glaring in Beomgyu's direction.

The lion statue, still standing in its back paws, roaring to an enemy they couldn't see, was being lightened by the morning sun. The gazebo behind it, pale marble in the light, was stunning.

“Don't you think it's weird he's just... here? And he... what? He protects the trees…? That's odd. He moves plants!"

“And your ears are pointy," Yeonjun answered. He didn't understand the complexities of magical creatures, their politics, cultural relationships, even less the magic prejudices. He had a slight idea from his readings, but he would never understand it fully because, at the end of the day, he was but a mere warrior.

The comment, however, seemed to knock Soobin out of his insecurities about the forest's guardian. They were making their way back to Beomgyu, arms filled with fruit when Soobin spoke up again.

“It's not... something people know at the castle."

Yeonjun suspected that. Magical creatures, they existed, he just hadn't seen one ever.

“How come I've never seen you?" If there were elves in the guard, he thought it was weird he never noticed.

“My family... actually, all of us—" and then he covered his mouth.

Beomgyu, who had sat up to start nibbling at the smallest berries, smiled.

Yeonjun knew he was missing something. He wondered if it was because he was human, or because he was royalty. Maybe even both.

“The water that covers the tree leaves has rained from the lake that surrounds the Magic Island in the middle of the forest," Beomgyu said. The other two turned back to him, confusion washing every other expression out of their faces. Beomgyu let a small giggle out before clarifying: “It washes off glamours."

Soobin's “Oh" took a second.

From the books, Yeonjun knew a glamour was like an illusion, an image overlaid with something else. Magical make-up. He would consult the witch of the town when he made it back.

Yeonjun also decided not to push Soobin on what he was about to say... “His family," and “all of us" could very well be something Yeonjun had no business knowing about. He could understand that.

When he looked up, a newfound appreciation towards Beomgyu had been born in Soobin. Yeonjun wondered how long it could last.

“We're all going to the monster's lair, right?" The question was aimed at the prince.

Soobin turned immediately.

“I can remain hidden, but I would very much like to walk along with you." The elf was pouting.

Yeonjun wondered where the line was in that statement between being loyal to a cause or a mission, and the fear Soobin could be experiencing from so foolishly having wandered inside the gazebo, being trapped by the lion's statue, and being rescued by the very same he had to protect (plus Beomgyu, which also felt like an uncomfortable debt to have, Yeonjun knew.)

“I mean, I don't mind," Yeonjun answered, turning back to Beomgyu.

The guardian was nibbling at another berry. He looked up, surprised to be consulted.

“Sure, it'll be easier to save him if we keep an eye on him."

“You little—"

Beomgyu dodged Soobin's smack and stood up in the same motion.

“Shall we?"

Yeonjun stuffed a bunch of berries in his mouth and stored the rest in the little leather bag hanging from his belt. He grabbed his sword and nodded.

“Let's go."

Soobin followed them, pouting.

“You know, this place tends to be very quiet most of the time." Beomgyu sounded cheeky as ever while saying that, a demeanor that did not correlate to the act of cleaning tears he was currently performing.

Yeonjun's eyes were also flooded. Soobin had stopped trying to shoot arrows after the tears affected his aim.

“What's going on?" The elf directed the question to Yeonjun as if he could know.

He did know a lot of facts about roses and stories and legends, but what was going on right now, he had no clue. He turned to Beomgyu, who was taking the thorns out of his forearm.

“Welcome to the rose garden, friends."

That's what it was, for sure. From where they were, they could only see a wall of bushes, higher than Soobin by a couple of feet. There were no roses in sight, but they had attempted to climb the wall once they heard a scream coming from the other side. Goes without saying that it had been a bad idea.

“It noticed we meant to go in and it's defending itself. I should've noticed sooner where we were," Beomgyu added, scratching his chin. He shrugged and took the last thorn from his skin. He winced and then contemplated the small blood-stained point. Yeonjun couldn't avoid the thought that he looked nostalgic, for some reason. Beomgyu met his eyes and smiled, the yearning evaporating away from his irises. “Shall we?" He asked, pointing behind him, at the trees. “I'm pretty sure we can go around it, the detour won't take that long."

Yeonjun and Soobin met eyes. Then, they turned back to their guide.

“We can't leave them there," Soobin said.

“I'm pretty sure we can..." Beomgyu started arguing, but as soon as Yeonjun said that “It's not right," he shut it.

Beomgyu had been overruled by the majority. Yeonjun wished he could console him somehow, but it was not the time for that.

“How do we get in there? Will thorns come our way no matter what we do?"

Beomgyu sighed and sat on the grass.

“Come here," he said. Yeonjun walked toward him with determination in his stride, whereas Soobin doubted but neared him too in the end. Beomgyu twisted his left wrist and pointed up, as vines started intertwining, building another wall. Beomgyu's stood parallel to the rose garden one.

“Look, if we go in there I won't be able to do much. So I'll tell you now." He tied his hair back as he took another peek over his shoulder. “There was a queen once, and she loved her roses. They were so beautiful that the kids of the town would always jump over the walls and steal them. The queen tried everything to stop them. She reformed the garden enough so it became a maze of a sort. And when she died, the plants within went on carrying her spirit."

Soobin looked terrified. Like he was watching the ghost of the queen in front of him as Beomgyu told the story. Yeonjun, on his end, couldn't shake the thought of knowing the story. Yet, he could not foresee how it would end. Also, Beomgyu's hair updo was incredibly suiting for his face, it framed it perfectly.

“Entering and leaving is the hardest part. And we don't know what is the state of the person inside, I have no idea what could've retained them there. As you see, the forest is more about keeping the stuff that wanders in instead of hurting them."

Soobin did not like the mention, but he nodded. He had been unharmed until he tried leaving the lion's cage.

“I've covered us because our best chance at entering is without being noticed by the outer wall."

“You mean... a surprise attack?" Yeonjun didn’t think that was manageable.

Beomgyu nodded, his lips pursed.

“I tell you, leaving is not such a bad option. The wall hid the roses so we wouldn't know where they were. That is if we were after the flowers. The bitchass garden just wanted an excuse to throw thorns at intruders." He looked offended, which Yeonjun found endearing. Beomgyu massaged his right shoulder, deep in thought. Soobin was also frowning at the gesture, both the guard and the prince hadn't seen him receiving an impact in that area. Again, the feeling of forgetting something. “We would have to run at the wall, preferably at different spots of it, so we can cover a greater area once we're inside."

“Didn't you say it's a maze? Wouldn't going different ways be counterproductive?" Soobin made an excellent point.

Beomgyu nodded.

“Yes, but we don't have that many options. We can guide ourselves with our voices. It’s rectangle-shaped and we’re at one of the shortest sides. If we cross it, spaced enough between us, we’ll encompass the biggest area possible."

“Won't the roses attack once we're inside?" Yeonjun had no idea how the inside of the garden worked.

“I don't think so, once inside they wouldn't want to hurt other roses. They're more likely to use their roots than their thorns. So don't stop moving," Beomgyu said, a finger up as if giving a lesson, making sure they would retain the information. “Also, we will continue to cry."

“What?"

“I don't know, maybe I'm allergic, but the pain of the thorns was not enough to make us cry, so something else in the environment caused that." Beomgyu went quiet after they heard another scream. This time it was softer, almost like a cry for help from someone who wasn’t expecting to be saved. “So, don't stop, don't damage the roses, and beware of the roots. If you see something, let's say, the ghost of the queen or something, ignore it. Find the person in trouble, then jump the nearest outer wall again and run to the trees before you become a humanoid hedgehog. Understood?"

Yeonjun grabbed him just as he was about to leave them behind the vine hideout.

“No, no, come back here."

Beomgyu turned to him, nervous, and shot him a smile.

“Did I misheard or did you say ghost?" Soobin was pale.

Beomgyu sighed.

“Look, I never went in the garden, I have no clue what goes on inside. But I heard some of the people that did enter speaking with someone or screaming for mercy. One of my guesses is that it’s the ghost of the queen, given she already left so much here, but I could be wrong. It's not out of place to maybe warn you against... specters. Legend says they’re near foggy areas, and this place is that if you hadn't noticed."

Yeonjun and Soobin were silent.

“Anything else you would want to add about this or will we learn it once we enter?" Yeonjun asked, worried. He had already retained all that information as long as he could, who knew what else was the forest protector not telling them?

“Well, for once, don't look at me like that, I didn't want to go in in the first place," he pouted. Then, he looked at Yeonjun. He must've seen something in his eyes because he was back at being serious in a second. “I don't know all there is to know about every place we go to. I just make sure the forest is safe from outside threats. What happens within is barely any of my business."

“That's a shitty policy," Soobin said.

Beomgyu shrugged.

“Maybe. Now, we should get moving, before the sun sets. There's a lot of places that become harder to soar through in the dark."

Yeonjun nodded.

“I'll go right, Soobin go left. Beomgyu—"

“Head on, gotcha."

“If anything happens, don't forget we can hear you above the walls," Yeonjun said, the doubt in his voice erased by the effort to say it loud enough for the others to hear. He had read about magical gardens. It would be extremely easy to go through this one if they could hear each other. That didn't seem right. “Let's go!"

At the same beat, the three of them ran towards the wall, covering their faces with their arms. Not every thorn made it through the leather armors or the drapes of their capes. Almost at the same time, the three of them jumped and climbed the slightly taller walls.

Yeonjun understood where they had gotten it wrong. The walls rising at each side, the ones that made the maze, looked taller than the one behind him, even when he made sure that wasn't the case by turning around and inspecting the joints. It was probably a visual effect caused by the fog surrounding it all. And the floor... it felt uneven.

“Don't forget to move or it'll swallow you!" That had been Soobin, on the further end of the garden. It sounded distorted. As soon as Yeonjun tripped he understood the reminder: the entire floor was made of the roots of the rose vines... and they moved.

The prince ripped the foot that had already been swallowed by the branches and started running ahead. He could hear Soobin's and Beomgyu's shouts for the person they were trying to save.

The halls of the maze were narrow enough so Yeonjun could pass through avoiding the thorns. And the roses... oh they were beautiful. They were bunched up by color, making an ombre effect as one would move forward.

When the turns were necessary, he turned left. The idea growing in him was to get close to wherever his friends might've been. Going their separate ways had not been an idea he was fond of, ever. His parents and brother died when they were sent through different passageways out of a castle under attack.

Another scream sounded ahead of him, to the right. Yeonjun stopped, looking at the left wall, in the general area where Beomgyu should be. They had come in for the screaming voice though.

At the next split of ways, the prince took the right path. Soon after, he arrived at a merry-go-round. The shock of finding the attraction stopped him enough that the roots of the roses caught his left ankle. He left a small grunt and started pulling himself out. The rest of the moving floor was no help.

“Hello?"

The voice came from somewhere ahead of him.

Yeonjun noticed he kept forgetting they were looking for someone. Also, at some point, he started crying. He suspected it had been when the memory of his family was summoned to the surface of his mind.

The prince wiped his eyes and tried to find the owner of the voice. Between the tears and the fog, it was a hard venture, and the root holding him in place was starting to cut the blood flow from his foot.

There, between the unicorn and a weird-looking bird ride, in the merry-go-round. A black-haired mop over two tear-filled eyes was peaking.

“Hey!" He claimed. The person hid behind the unicorn, their hands visible. “Wait, wait, we came to get you out!" He explained, taking his knee and pulling. His other foot was at risk of being caught too so, although it was starting to hurt, Yeonjun pretended not to care and used extra strength in the action.

“You're real? You're really here?" The person, a boy, peaked again.

“Yes! We heard you from the forest and—" right then, Yeonjun could set his left foot free. It hurt, but he could move again. He limped his way to the merry-go-round, trying to face the person and let them know that he meant no harm. “My friends and I, we came to get you out. Are you hurt?"

He finally reached the boy behind the unicorn.

“I'm— not hurt. I mean, I am, but it’s not serious, I can move. But I can't stop crying, I keep seeing them..."

“Who?" Yeonjun looked around. No one was there. The floor next to the merry-go-round was made of concrete, so there wasn't the pressing matter of escaping the roots hurrying the conversation.

More tears flooded the eyes of the other man. He looked younger than Yeonjun, but not by much.

“The people I've lost. My family… the family I know are dead." He sobbed.

“C'mon.” Yeonjun offered him a hand. “It's this place. It won't let us leave, so we have to try. We can talk outside when we're safe."

The guy observed Yeonjun's hand with doubt... but then he took it, and nodded.

Yeonjun faced the other side and raised his voice: “I found him! Get out now!" Then he ran forward, where the maze continued.

“What was that?" The guys asked, looking around and confused. He looked terrified to be entering the maze.

“I came with two other people. I'm letting them know that we can leave now. As I understand, it won't be an easy task." The sounds of agreement behind him made him wonder if perhaps... “Have you tried it yet? Leaving?"

“No," the guy said, signaling up. “My people, we take the stars as a guide. And the fog won't let me see anything. I don't even know where it's north or south, where I entered from, or why."

“I see." Yeonjun focused upfront. If they kept running, even if they didn't know which turn to take, they were sure to find the outer wall sooner or later.

He thought he heard more screams from aside, and he hoped those were signs that his friends were both alive and nearing a way out.

The sound of ruffling started coming from behind them, as they ran following each turn that appeared to them. They couldn't avoid the thorns anymore. The hallways were growing narrower.

“Is it me or are the walls growing taller?" The guys asked.

Yeonjun looked up, only to find that was precisely what it looked like. Then, he looked down.

“It's not the walls, it's the ground. It's digging itself and us down. We must be close to the outside." Then, he peeped at a treetop, like the ones he had seen outside. “There!" He pointed at it.

The ground was swallowing them in and even if the wall in front of them was the one they were looking for, there was no way they would be able to jump over it. Yeonjun started to feel the nervous sweat of not knowing what to do when, suddenly, hands under his armpits. He felt them hug him across his chest and a voice in his ear: “Hold tight!"

The next thing he knew, they were flying over the wall, barely making it above it. He felt a thorn or two sticking to his pants.

“Wait, try to make it to the trees!" Yeonjun felt the guy nodding by his head but then, they fell with the full intent of gravity.

They rolled with the fall's impulse in the trees' direction.

Yeonjun lifted his cape to cover them from the rose garden wall's view, given they hadn't fully made it into cover. The thorns kept coming.

“Go, go, hide behind a tree—" he pointed to the guy. He went silent once he saw the wings. They were white and big. One of them had blood splattered across it, and several thorns could be seen between the feathers.

Yeonjun watched astounded as the winged being crawled behind one of the trees in front of them. How had he not seen them before? He followed, letting out a sigh as soon as he could drop the cape.

“I'm Yeonjun."

The other guy let out a laugh. “I'm Kai, nice to meet you."

Their pants filled their ears for a minute or so. Then, a scream. It sounded victorious too.

Yeonjun dared to take a look around the wide trunk. He managed to catch sight of Soobin's boots entering the tree sea, on a side of the square-shaped garden. Immediately after, the screaming for a “Prince?" started. “Did you make it out?"

“Yes, follow my voice!" Yeonjun screamed. Soobin didn't sound far from them, and he shouldn't be if Yeonjun's perception of depth was still intact. “I found the screaming person," if he doubted when designating him, Huening Kai did not look like he noticed or cared. “There was a merry-go-round inside there, can you believe it?"

“Yeah, I found a weird tent, but before I dared to go in you called us out." Soobin stepped around a tree. Besides scratches on his cheek, surely made by more thorns, he looked fine.

The relief of meeting again with the elf was only diminished by him being alone.

“Wait, Beomgyu's out, right?"

“I mean, he answered for longer than you did, but right before you told us to leave I heard him scream." He sat in front of Yeonjun and began inspecting his ankle. Soobin looked like he couldn't care less about Beomgyu's fate.

Yeonjun didn’t agree. He must've looked nervous because Kai asked.

“Is he important to you?"

Yeonjun winced when Soobin made pressure on the side of his foot. That was not a good sign. Also, he did not want to explain why Beomgyu's absence felt as heavy. Even when he could unravel answers for Kai, it seemed like that was not the correct reason.

“He was leading me to the monster's lair."

“Oh, I heard of it! Why would you want to go there?"

“To make my life complicated," Soobin huffed.

Yeonjun slapped him lightly on the arm.

“No, I'm trying to free my town from the fear this forest cast upon them."

“Right, and do they know that?" Soobin was as salty as ever. His frown was directed at Yeonjun's wound, however.

The prince had no patience to explain how quests and honor worked... but he didn't have to. A grunt interrupted the conversation.

They all turned, slowly, so as to not trigger the wall's defense system. A big lump of fabric was about to cross the tree line. Soobin stretched and moved it, only to reveal an almost unconscious Beomgyu. The grass, strand by strand, was carrying him to them.

It was almost automatic. Soobin grabbed Beomgyu and carried him into the thickest part of the forest, away from the sight of that damned rose garden. Yeonjun struggled to stand up and followed suit, accepting Kai's help once he caught up intending to move.

“That was awful. I'm gonna need water and a four-day vacation," Beomgyu said between his teeth.

Soobin's ears could catch sound at an incredible distance and that's how they ended by the river.

Beomgyu was out cold.

Deciding what to do was hard. Their guide was unconscious and the elf-healing-knowledge had been a thing Soobin didn't think was important to learn.

They were almost done removing the thorns from Kai's wings when Beomgyu came back to himself, early the morning of the next day.

Yeonjun had spent the night admiring the deep cuts and scratches on his face. He had to be covered in bruises too, but they didn't check.

The first thing Beomgyu did right after emitting sound was to roll to the side and fall face-first into the river.

Goes without saying that the other three panicked for a good stretch before seeing his head emerge again. He looked refreshed and almost happy.

“Next time let's not go into a place that has a grudge against me."

“Did you kill the queen or something?" Soobin's tone had been mocking, but the way Beomgyu's face fell was enough to worry them all.

Then, he was laughing.

“Of course not." His hair had gotten out of his updo and was starting to unstick from his face, in soft waves. His cape had to be heavy, but he did not attempt to remove it. He even placed it correctly, covering both his shoulders.

Beomgyu grabbed a handful of water and washed his face. The blood ran out, revealing pink scars. New, but way more advanced in the healing process than what they should be.

For all that Yeonjun didn't dare to ask, both Kai and Soobin would not keep it in.

“Woah, how did you do that?" and “You move plants and also heal fast?" sounded at the same time.

“You move plants? That's so cool!"

“You saw the grass carrying him yesterday," Yeonjun mentioned.

“Oh, right. I must've erased it already. Traumatic memories." Kai had a point.

Beomgyu smiled at him and sat by his side after stepping outside of the water.

“You must be the one that screams right? Fairy?" He was watching his feathers, confused and entertained.

Kai nodded, happy to be identified.

“Yes, precisely. I got lost after... I entered the forest but I couldn't find anyone. I thought there would be a lot more life inside of here."

“Yeah, it can be like that." Beomgyu seemed to be regretting the inherent loneliness as if he had anything to do with that.

“Well, I perceived flowers and..."

“Oh, my friend!" Beomgyu passed a dripping hand over Huening Kai's shoulder, a comfort-providing gesture. “Never the roses. You can't trust roses."

Kai huffed.

“I know now."

“Good. Now," Beomgyu turned to the others, “we're still set on getting to the monster?"

Yeonjun nodded, but before he could speak up—

“Wait," Kai said.

The other three turned back to him. From his bag, the fairy pulled a book out. Yeonjun heard someone swallowing, but he couldn't pinpoint who. He was too entranced by the new appearance. It was bound with brownish leather and it had something eye-like shaped in the cover.

“I found this not long after entering the forest," he said, opening it. He showed them the first page. “I think someone's in trouble."

Right there, a “help me, mag isl" written with something that could very well be blood.

“Hell no." Beomgyu stood up and shook the water off him. He grabbed his cape, without taking it off, and wrung the ending length.

“You always say that," said Soobin. Yeonjun could bet he wanted to go, just because of how much Beomgyu didn't.

“And look how I ended up after you overruled me!"

“You look in perfect state, now take us there." Soobin was standing too.

“Kids," Yeonjun said. He was a prince, not the father of these two. Sadly, he needed one and couldn't get rid of the other one so he demanded they get along. “We can chat it before saying yes or no," he clarified, sending a pointed look at each of them. He turned back to Kai. “You just found it on the ground?"

“Yes. I thought it was weird because it was soaked. I waited until it dried to open it, I was already in the garden, before seeing the— anyways, it just says this. It's the only writing in it, the rest of the pages are empty."

“They're not," both Soobin and Beomgyu said. They stared at each other surprised. Beomgyu was faster to react: he waved a hand, allowing Soobin to take the word. “It's a warlock's book. They need it to shape their magic. Whoever's the owner, they must be desperate if they used their book to send a message."

Beomgyu nodded.

“It checks out too, they wouldn't be able to use magic on the island."

Wait.

“It's called Magic Island but you can't use magic in it?" Yeonjun had never heard of the place, but it wasn't the first time Beomgyu had mentioned it.

“Yes, yet another reason not to go there, don't you think?"

“They wrote it with blood," Kai said, emphasizing the last word. He was pointing at the message too, trying to get to the heart of the guardian.

Beomgyu closed his eyes, head leaning back. The silence was nice, not absolute since the river and the birds were singing too, unaffected by the discussion of the people by the shore.

“You don't know anything about it yet you want to go there... sure, why not." Beomgyu shrugged and picked some of the berries Soobin had collected at the last sunset.

Yeonjun smiled.

“Well, it's not like we'll go blindly in, we can make a proper plan this time."

Beomgyu seemed uninterested.

“Sure. That'll make a difference." When he received Soobin's hate-loaded glare, he added: “Besides, it's on the way to the cave."

That had to be a sign.

It probably was. A sign that they should stay out of it.

The plan had half worked half... well, they were improvising now.

Magic Island was a small piece of land in the middle of a quiet lake. When you're in the land and halfway across the lake, if you have magic, it stops working. They could only count on Soobin and Yeonjun's shooting and fighting skills. Kai was in charge of carrying the people there.

In the middle of the land, there’s a tower. They could only assume the warlock was in there. The prince would climb while Beomgyu would cover his back. Soobin, who was a better asset at distance, would remain on the other side of the shore, in case anything arrow worthy surfaced.

The thing is, it did. And also, the stuff they knew was not enough.

Kai was a magical creature. Emphasis on magical. He flew carrying Yeonjun halfway through the water mass to the island, and they both fell. The catch was that Kai couldn't swim. So Yeonjun stood by his side until both Soobin and Beomgyu reached them. Beomgyu carried most of Kai until they could touch the ground, then Soobin took the fairy back to the forest shore. Beomgyu then swam back and together with Yeonjun neared the island.

The other thing, well...

There was a dragon. Like set off by an alarm of some sort, as soon as Yeonjun touched the first brick of the tower, the flying reddish creature surged from the water.

Yeonjun had no time to ask Beomgyu if he knew about it because the dragon went directly for him. Yeonjun could swear he heard Beomgyu say an “I fucking hate it here" before being snatched away by the flying creature.

Now, it was a matter of taking on-the-moment decisions.

Yeonjun decided to climb the tower the same, given the dragon was not attacking him nor nearing the island. As he made it higher with each brick, he could hear Beomgyu speaking. His voice sometimes went higher in pitch, when the dragon took a hazardous turn, but Beomgyu was keeping his chill... either that, or he was terrified beyond boundaries and just as he was loud when calm and comfortable, he was quiet when afraid. That thought weighed heavily in Yeonjun's chest, but he shook it off and entered the tower through the only visible window.

There was a sofa in the middle of the round room. In it, a red-haired cloaked-up guy was resting. The fact that he hadn't been awakened by the dragon's roars or Soobin screaming on the shore was impressive.

Yeonjun neared him. He couldn't hear him breathe. If he said he panicked as he kneeled in front of him and took his shoulders, that would be correct. His heart jumped twice when the eyes opened and the guy screamed. Yeonjun screamed too, because of the shock. Also, one of his eyes was black, with a white pupil.

“Who are you?" The guy shook Yeonjun's grab off and jumped back, standing at a safe distance with the sofa acting as a wall between them.

“I am Yeonjun, we came to save you."

“We? How did you do with the dragon?" Another one of Soobin screams acted as an answer. “I see. I'm Taehyun."

Yeonjun smiled at him and turned around to evaluate the scene.

Kai was still on the ground, moving his wings at a slow speed. Yeonjun assumed that once they got wet they should weigh a ton and take a while to fly again. Hopefully, it was sooner than later. Soobin was being so cautious about throwing arrows that Yeonjun would bet his left foot (yes, the injured one) that he was about to run out of them.

The dragon... Well, it kept flying around, swinging Beomgyu in an attempt—of something. Beomgyu was giving his best impression of a rag doll as he was calmly roasting the dragon. Yeonjun could see it in his face that he had given up all fighting instincts and was just letting off steam in witty remarks. All Yeonjun could hope for was that the dragon didn't understand human languages.

“Who are you guys?" Taehyun had asked while letting all hope seep out of him. He had been peeking out the window over Yeonjun’s shoulder.

“I can see why you wouldn't think we can get you out, but we came and are your best option now, so suck it."

Taehyun pursed his lips but added nothing.

The prince took the sign to proceed.

“The dragon definitely came out when we touched the tower, yet their grudge with Beomgyu must be bigger than the will to keep you here... or maybe they forgot, I don't know. Our best chance is taking advantage of that." Yeonjun saw that Kai's wings were starting to pick up speed in their prior lazy flapping. Soobin was screaming again. “Ah!" Yeonjun turned to Taehyun with a smile. He signaled him to get closer to the window. “The dragon is only flying on this side of the lake. Even if they have their eyes and intentions set on Beomgyu, Soobin's screams keep them wary of moving away. They must've not seen me, somehow."

“So?"

Yeonjun pointed at his back, into the room. “So, you'll swim away on the other side. Then Kai will pick you up and somehow we'll save Beomgyu afterward. Once on land, you'll have your magic back."

Taehyun nodded.

“You guys have my book right?" Yeonjun signaled yes. “Ok, yeah. It's simple, but it should work. I'll need you to carry me out though."

“What?"

“I can't touch the window. Or lean over it. I don't understand why, but I think it's a magic seal of some sort. I can't fully explain it since I don't understand it. But if you can carry me out, that should overrule it." Taehyun was dead serious about it, so Yeonjun didn't let his disgust show. He wasn't a fan of carrying people, something about the prince title and the expectations attached to it.

It was way harder than expected. Yeonjun saw firsthand how Taehyun was thrown back by an invisible force as he laid one single finger on the window frame. So he kneeled and waited until the warlock climbed on his back. The hardest part was not dropping him, because there was no way he could get down without freefalling the rest of the way to the ground. Thankfully, it wasn't a tall tower. Yeonjun's left foot was the unhappy one, but he managed.

Then, it was all about distracting the dragon. Even if the creature had not seen him with Beomgyu at the foot of the tower, it would see him now. The current goal was to figure out how not to give the idea that he had been doing something all along. The question of how Beomgyu was still alive was one to be asked later.

Yeonjun started swimming to the shore, trying to signal Kai to go around the island and fetch Taehyun. Yeonjun was sure that the warlock was their best chance at recovering Beomgyu.

The prince could've gone on without Taehyun, but he needed Beomgyu. It was a duty with his major goal.

The dragon was truly flying around, and from what Yeonjun could hear, Beomgyu was ending with his snake repertoire and starting with the worm one. These jokes seemed to bother the dragon more. Roaring could be heard now, besides Soobins screams (who had caught Yeonjun's message and was doing it on purpose now.)

If only Kai could... oh. The fairy took flight then and did so straight at the prince.

“Go around!" he screamed at his new friend, hoping he would understand. There was no time to remind him about the midpoint wall of magical allowance, he'd known for sure...

Yeonjun held his breath as the fairy nodded and turned right, almost overpassing the halfway point. Yeonjun kept swimming, trying to reach the middle of the lake. The dragon kept flying within the inner circle of the island’s shore. The prince had a second to wonder if that was too a thing that would affect the mythical creature before starting to scream at it too.

It took the dragon a second to notice the new voice and direction, but as soon as he did, he shot straight at him, never mind his aquatic whereabouts.

Yeonjun tried to speed up to the shore, but then, the dragon's roars sounded further away than they should have been accounting for his previous aiming at his persona. When he turned, he could easily decipher that Soobin had shot an arrow to keep the dragon at a limit. Of course, he was watching his projectiles for Beomgyu, but he would shoot nonetheless for Yeonjun.

“Can you not enrage the beast, please?" he heard Soobin's screaming.

“Not until we retrieve our guide!" He answered, still breast stroking.

“Nice to know you worry about me," Beomgyu's comment arrived as if he wasn't being flown around by the creature.

That exchange made the three of them notice that, with a little effort, they were all at hearing distance.

“Don't dragons spit fire?" Soobin asked, the point of his arrow following the creature's head closely.

Yeonjun could feel his arms getting heavier and heavier. His left foot was suspended in a space of non-pain given the absence of gravity in the water.

He heard it, barely, above him, “This one should, but he refuses." Yeonjun wondered if, as opposed to his first set of questions, instead of the dragon understanding human language, maybe Beomgyu knew how to interpret the beasts.

The wondering was cut short by a new appearance: from Yeonjun's right, Huening Kai was carrying Taehyun, in an embrace that supported him from across his chest, like the one he had done to get the prince out of the rose garden.

Taehyun was holding his book, reading something from it as he pointed his extended right hand at the dragon. The creature turned and aimed at the pair but, as soon as Taehyun finished the spell, Beomgyu fell from the grip. Soon after, the dragon landed in the water too. Yeonjun managed to detour enough to catch Beomgyu's hand and keep swimming, desperately trying to get them away from the fallen beast with his weakened left arm.

Somehow, they must've done it. They reached the shore half a minute after Kai and Taehyun did, and the entire crew started running into the forest, trying to enlarge the distance between them and the roars of the angry dragon.

It must've worked because the creature didn't follow them.

They were all lying on the ground, catching their breath after an hour (maybe less, maybe more) of running. Yeonjun had been the first to fall, chest to the ground, his left foot unable to keep his weight any longer. Dust felt funny against his cheek. Then he stopped thinking about that because Beomgyu fell right by his side, except he was facing upwards.

“Well, that was fun," the guardian said.

After another thump, Soobin's voice could be heard: “Shut up." Classic Soobin. Beomgyu’s demeanor fell a notch.

“Who are you, people?" That had to be Taehyun. He was somewhere at Yeonjun's left. He couldn't care about figuring it out, all he could see was Beomgyu's tiredness manifesting in exaggerated expressions.

“I found your book, with your message. All of us, we just met yesterday." Ah, Kai. He sure had no trouble giving away information.

Beomgyu looked worried, but as soon as he met eyes with Yeonjun, the frown went away to allow an unbearably shiny smile. Yeonjun wished Beomgyu didn't feel like he had to mask his not-so-happy feelings. Maybe, in another reality, that could be a conversation they could have, alone.

“That's technically not true," Soobin added, from wherever he was. He sounded south from Yeonjun's current position, trapped in Beomgyu's eyes. He almost lost him. “I knew about the prince from a couple of years ago, but personally only two days ago. That one over there, banshee-looking beauty, I don't know when he was added to the quest, but he's the guide."

A sigh. Beomgyu was smiling at Soobin's terminology. Yeonjun felt like laughing along. He sure was tired.

“So I'm just one of those on-the-road side-tasks in a bigger quest?" Taehyun asked.

The silence that followed was the collective doubt to confirm that suspicion.

“Well, yeah," the brave ones said.

Soobin's slap against Beomgyu's calf was an unsaid call for courtesy.

“Figures."

They kept quiet for a second. As Yeonjun analyzed the pattern of Bomgyu's hair falling, he wondered if maybe they all fell asleep for a while, a communal nap to retrieve energies spent on survival. Then, Kai had to ask.

“What's your story?"

One of Beomgyu's eyes opened, looking in the direction of Taehyun's voice.

“I don't know. I think I got lost from my family."

When he didn't add anything else after a couple of minutes—

“That's all?" Soobin had no patience, Yeonjun thought.

“Yes. I remember living at home. Everything is fine. Then, fire. Then, the tower. I can't explain it, but I think that dragon was trying to protect me, somehow."

The collective agreement on not understanding the warlock manifested in Kai's answer: “I don't get it."

Taehyun laughed. The first laugh after all the screaming from the past two days.

“I don't think I could explain it better either. Like, I hated being trapped there, but I had the certainty that nothing bad would ever happen to me too." That made sense. The security in ignorance, Yeonjun considered. His hand had moved and was now above Beomgyu's hand. How…?

Beomgyu's eyes were on his hand. He looked like he couldn't comprehend that two beings were making contact and that one of them was him. He looked conflicted. At the same time, he was speaking. Yeonjun had to focus hard to get back to the conversation.

“... long have you been there?"

“Not really. It feels like my whole life... but I for sure learned how to read the book from someone else. I just can't remember their faces."

Soobin hummed.

“A time misplacement? I've also been feeling like I'm missing something."

Yeonjun couldn't avoid perking up at that. It was exactly what he had been experimenting with. When he tried to mention it, Beomgyu grabbed his hand. All the attention on the outside conversation was dropped in honor of looking into those amber-colored eyes. They looked lovely, even if they were hiding a request he couldn't understand.

If they spoke further after that, Yeonjun couldn't remember. He fell asleep.

The prince had entered the forest early enough that no one in the town had seen him do so. The moral contradictions that could come from others witnessing his surrender to the quest were erased by his commitment to the secrecy of it all. Maybe some cowardice hid in there too: if no one saw him start the greatest thing he had ever done for others, then they couldn't judge just how much he could fail.

He could not remember when the forest had stopped being a mere nature space to acquire his “forbidden" status. He knew something had happened, and he had read multiple times about it, it was linked to who he was as a person, but as he stepped in, the memory left him.

He couldn't recover it until the last possible moment.

Yeonjun had always gone last. That was also the reason he had survived the massacre that ended the bigger part of his family name. His mother had refused to leave along her alley, following his father. And so, when it found one, it found the two of them. His older brother had no chance at all: no mercy for teenagers. Yeonjun must've both looked too young to be important or royalty and taken the most awful undignified path away from their castle.

Morning came, he was an orphan knocking on the doors of his uncle, the king. He could remember the bear carved in the wooden front gate, the metal of the guard's spears, and the pity in his uncle and aunts' eyes when they recognized him after getting a mercy bath. They adopted him on the spot.

Running from the grief that would forever stain his name, he avoided ever thinking about the past. His particular past. And so, after a late night out in a bar, discovering the mean jokes about the lazy prince, he decided it was time to snap out of the haze.

He wished he would've thought it through further once he stepped into the forest and was faced with no guidance.

Where was the cave of the beast anyway?

The beast was the first thing anyone in town would think of as enough reason to not head into the forbidden forest. Why was it even forbidden, because of a dumb bear?

Wait, it was a bear?

It lived in a cave, it wouldn't be... where was he? Yeonjun had never been one of those to wander too much into memory. Yet, twenty minutes between the trees and he was lost in his memory and time and legends and fears that were not his own.

“You okay there?"

And just like that, he was snapped out of the trance. A young man, around his age, was cross-legged sitting on a tree branch above him. Long hair and big eyes, a gray cape covering his shoulders.

“Yes. Where's the monster's cave?"

The man rolled his eyes and jumped off the tree. A big fall, but his agility seemed enough to prevent broken limbs.

“Rude. I don't know, friend."

Maybe on instinct, Yeonjun pulled his sword out and lay it on the man’s shoulder, blade pointing at his neck.

“You're sure about that?"

“If I knew, and I refused to tell you, what would you do?"

“Weird that you ask. Probably take you back to our king, he'd decide justice for you."

“Weird that you would assume a king would take your side," the man had said, turning around. The blade stayed on his shoulder, except now he was facing Yeonjun. A turn in the prince's stomach sadly confirmed that he would never slide that sword across. He could never kill a man who was free to refuse him any favor.

Yeonjun took the sword off the man's shoulder.

“He happens to be my brother."

The man laughed as if that was the funniest joke he had ever heard.

“I love that. I know this forest quite well, I can give you a tour if you accept my conditions."

Interesting. Yeonjun had read enough not to accept a deal with a strange man who didn't shudder... then why was he considering it? Maybe because the terms had not been specified yet. Something else was slipping his mind, something he had said.

“What are they?"

Yeonjun woke up, his breathing agitated. Why was meeting Beomgyu a nightmare he was having now? Soobin had said something important. Something about what he was feeling now. For the love of all, the prince couldn't remember it.

“Shall we go?" Beomgyu asked.

Yeonjun sat, confused. How long had it been? The sky was dark, probably the night of the same day. The rest were also getting rid of the slumber. All except Soobin looked like they had a deep refreshing sleep. Yeonjun, of course, even if he looked like that too, knew he hadn't. From his family to... he couldn't shake the thought that Beomgyu had never meant an ill thing, why was he part of his nightmares?

“Will you come with us?" Beomgyu was lending a hand to Taehyun.

The warlock took it.

“Sure, where are you going?"

“The prince here wants to go to the monster's lair." Beomgyu looked entertained by everyone’s winces. All of them seemed to take the monster seriously, yet him... In all fairness, he had not had ill thoughts about the lion, or the dragon. And besides not wanting to head in, he hadn't minded the roses as an evil element of his forest. He sure must've worried about his land.

Taehyun was seriously reconsidering, but after making eye contact with Kai, he made his decision.

“Sure. You guys didn't have to save me, I guess I can tag along."

“I found your book coming from that direction," Kai signaled, pointing at a specific star. “You're sure you want to go back there?"

This was the first time Yeonjun noticed they had been following a star.

“Yes. Maybe I'll remember again if I see the path there." Now Taehyn seemed determined.

Kai nodded. He looked happy to have another one join their group.

“By the way guys, I collected berries while you were sleeping! Come, breakfast... or well, dinner."

Just before Soobin took one, Beomgyu knocked on Kai's hand filled with berries. All of the fruit fell to the floor.

“Why the hell would you—?" Soobin was already standing to start a war with Beomgyu when the guardian just lifted his palm. He pointed at the berries.

“Food." Then, he pointed at Kai: “Fairy. Don't eat the food of the fae." And he started walking, following the star Kai had pointed at earlier.

Taehyun followed him, while Kai started whispering apologies.

“I don't get it," Soobin said, standing at Yeonjun’s side.

The prince patted his shoulder, calming.

“If you eat what the fairies give you, you won't be able to leave." Then, he walked behind his friends.

He heard Soobin's footsteps behind him soon after.

Beomgyu was attentive.

He didn't want them to remain in his forest. That had to be it.

Yeonjun was listening to Kai's story about how he managed to enter the forest as his family died at his back. Taehyun was interested in it enough to hum along with every big moment of the story, but he kept looking around and checking his book. Yeonjun wondered if Taehyun had a way to recall reading in his book, without enunciating proper spells. He could ask, but maybe inquiring how a warlock did the magic was out of magical etiquette he ought to know... Like the fairy thing.

The prince's attention was once again stolen by the guide, who had been weirdly quiet for the last hours of the new day.

It was becoming night once again, and the air was changing. Cold and fog were surfacing. Yeonjun noticed that no one had proposed to stop for the day yet, even though the sun was almost gone.

Soobin was watching their backs, and Beomgyu was leading. Yeonjun was in the middle of the formation, with the fairy and the warlock by his side. They were protecting him if those training sessions had gotten something into his skull about the way to proceed on a hostile path.

But this was Beomgyu's home, it couldn't be hostile. Never mind that it had been, no one had gotten hurt. Or well, yes, himself, but besides his foot...

Yeonjun was impressed by how much Beomgyu could give in. That was something he never had done: if he set his mind to do something, no one would talk him out of it. He wanted to go and kill the monster, he wanted to go and save Huening Kai, and Taehyun too. Beomgyu had refused both of those times, yet he had taken part in the end.

Only saving Soobin had been pushed by Beomgyu. Yeonjun held a laugh, knowing that he could never reveal that to the elf.

The wind was starting to make howling sounds when going in between the leaves of the tallest trees. Kai had been right, there was little life in this forest: no big mammals, no wolves or foxes. Yeonjun hadn't seen a single rabbit or a chipmunk. Only birds, who felt like singing early in the morning.

The song of the trees grew louder, as the wind became strong enough to pull from their clothes into different directions. They had arrived at an unlit clearing. The light was refusing to reveal what was upfront.

“What's going on?" Soobin's voice came from behind, in changing volumes. The sound was being flown away by the coming and going breezes.

Taehyun exclaimed then. The quest had stopped moving forward. The warlock was flexing his knees, trying to keep himself steady on the ground. He was holding his book, his forearms keeping it open by going along under the covers.

“I know where we are! Here's where—!"

He couldn't finish. A tree branch snatched him away, into the darkest part of the forest.

Yeonjun, Soobin, and Kai turned back to Beomgyu. He had been from the start responsible for the plants. He was still facing forward, giving them his back.

Before he could do anything about it, the elf and the fairy were taken by other branches. Soobin's “What the fuck is—?" was the last thing Yeonjun could hear of him, as his figure disappeared into the shadows.

“Beomgyu, what's going—", the prince started asking, turning back to the heart of their crew, “—on?" He ran out of breath.

Beomgyu's cape was flying up and away from him, revealing the growing spikes from his right shoulder. They weren’t new. He had seen the spikes before. Yet he didn’t know anything about them. Why hadn’t he asked before? Why was he reacting as if this was the first he had ever witnessed them?

“Are you ok? What are those?" Yeonjun took two steps forward. He stopped when Beomgyu lifted a hand.

“This is the price I pay. Please," his voice hatched. He cleared his throat, still giving the prince his back. “Please carry on with your end of the deal."

Begging. He was begging.

Yeonjun could tell he should be afraid, but confusion took all of his emotional slots. Not even worrying about the rest of his friends could overrule it.

“Beomgyu, I don't remember what I promised you. Does this mean we reached the monster's cave?"

Beomgyu's laugh sounded desperate. He couldn't believe it either.

“You don't remember?" He waited for a second, but apparently, it wasn't Yeonjun's answer the one he was expecting. Beomgyu looked left, allowing Yeonjun to contemplate his profile. He was searching in the dark spots of the forest, what was hidden from the moonlight’s beam starting to hit the clearing. “Please, drop the spell or whatever it is you did."

He was not speaking to Yeonjun. Before the prince could ask, a headache like no other overcame him. It was as if the uncertain dream-like veil covering his memories lifted.

The prince fell to his knees, as repressed memories returned to him.

Old legends about a second town, a town he lived in, being erased by the flames and consumed by the forest that had always protected it. The story of a child, a magical child, disappearing from his household. Someone so powerful that the forest was deemed non-livable. Rumors of a creature that would scare people attempting to enter the green desolated hell they were neighbors of.

An “You'll have to kill me," answered with “I could never do that." A soft resigned voice replied, “You're already set on seeing it through."

The distance to the fire, the protection of the forest, chatting with the dragon and hostile roses. Who would the forest hate as much?

Never consume what a fairy gives you, no magic in Magic Island, but the window repelled the warlock, not following the rule. Why could he drag the elf out of the invisible cage, why did the water heal only him?

A never-ending flow of questions had accumulated in Yeonjun's headspace, yet, he was only receiving them now. Why was there a merry-go-round, a rose garden, a gazebo, and a human-built tower in the middle of the forest? Where were the people that made them?

Confusion didn't cease, but the man in front of him did get enlightened by a new light. Call it denial, but Yeonjun didn't even know where to start. The suspicions? The worries? What was even going on?

“Ask." Beomgyu was still not facing the prince.

Yeonjun took a deep breath, organizing thoughts, feeling like they had just delivered a big bunch of letters to him, and he didn't know which to read first.

No, he did know.

He remembered the sun through the leaves and the mystery man in the tree. The condition.

“Are you the monster?"

There was a kid once. Actually, there were two. Yeonjun acknowledged this was the part of the story he didn’t know. During the night the world was on fire, he ran. He followed the path others had determined towards salvation.

Others did not have the same opportunity.

The cave was more like a tunnel, made of intertwined brownish bricks. As Yeonjun understood, it was Beomgyu’s home… it had always been Beomgyu’s home, even then.

“It’s okay, I know you’re a prince and all that. If it makes you feel better, I do have magical abilities. Not the plants but the healing.”

As Yeonjun traced his fingers along the cracks of the walls, he started seeing the drawings. Beomgyu’s spikes acquired shape again once he lit a small fire in the middle of the place. The image of a kid living in this place, be it in the middle of a forest or in the middle of a town, was heartbreaking.

“Then why did you tell us the plants were… if they're not yours then…”

“The plants appear later. Let me tell you the story. After I convince you, you’ll get to kill me or whatever.” Beomgyu wasn’t smiling as he used to, but the tone of his answer resembled the good old teasing he liked so much.

“I heavily doubt you can. Besides, where are the others—?”

Beomgyu perked up before Yeonjun could finish. He looked at the entrance of the so-called-cave, eyebrows pinched.

“I think— yeah, they’re here.”

First Soobin made his way in. As soon as the elf spotted Beomgyu, an arrow was being shot his way.

“I FUCKING KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING FISHY ABO—” and he was shut soon after by a plum being shoved in his mouth. Yeonjun felt a laugh forming inside him, but this was not the moment for it. Vines had entered from the other end of the tunnel, the one still in the dark, at Beomgyu’s back.

Beomgyu was standing, looking smaller than ever with the spikes rising at his back.

“I’m sorry, maybe it’s a good time to disclose to all of you that I don’t control the plants.”

From behind Soobin, Taehyun entered the tunnel carrying Kai.

“Nice to know. You would’ve been way overpowered if that were the case.”

Kai couldn’t walk, but he was conscious. None of them looked hurt beyond scratches on their cheeks and, well, the fairy’s foot. The right one, opposite Yeonjun.

“I see they didn't throw you that far back,” commented Beomgyu, as he closed in and sat near Soobin, initiating a circle of a sort around the fire. “Do any of you carry water?”

Yeonjun got close and provided his water container that hung from his belt. Then he sat, at a wise distance to have them all on sight. The sword rested in his lap, waiting.

Beomgyu neared Taehyun, who looked wary, and helped him lay Kai on the floor. Beomgyu sat by the latter, grabbed his injured leg, and held it in his lap.

“I’ll heal you while I explain.”

Why would he heal Huening and not Yeonjun… although Beomgyu had mentioned a couple of times already about convincing the prince to kill him. Maybe this was part of his plan.

“There was a kid once. Actually, there were two. But I just know the point of view of one… It was me after all. A decade or so ago, I still looked like this.” He raised an arm, calling attention to himself. “I lived in this same place, in a town that no longer exists.”

A chill ran down Yeonjun’s back. He knew this story.

Taehyun was closely inspecting Beomgyu’s hand over Kai’s ankle. Soobin was glaring at the monster while chewing the plum. He’d be able to talk soon.

“I collected matches. They were useful for cold nights. But I messed up—” As Beomgyu choked, Yeonjun wondered if he had ever told this story before to anyone else. “Everything caught fire. And all I could do was hide in here seeing as everything dissolved. The rest of the story I know from listening to the forest.”

“I beg your pardon?” Soobin was angrily biting around the pit of the plum.

“I know how it sounds, but it has life! The earth we walk learns from us too. There was an agreement on mutual survival. The towns could take what they needed from the forest, and the forest would offer protection in exchange.” Beomgyu smiled at Yeonjun when he caught the prince nodding. In his defense, Yeonjun remembered the old treaties he had read back at the king’s castle. His approval was all it took for Soobin to calm back down. “But then the fire came and the fire didn’t distinguish. It burned trees and homes and skin and even stone. A family of Sorcerers tried to calm it down. But fire takes a great power to be controlled, and this family was not trained in it. They had to make a decision: to put everything on standby until they could raise the one to put out the fire.”

“That’s dramatic,” Kai commented in a hushed voice.

“Agreed,” said Soobin.

“Oh, just wait till you hear how they made it.” Yeonjun could bet Beomgyu did not agree with it. “They placed everything on hold. I don’t think they consulted the forest, although, in their defense, they didn’t have time. I’m not sure how that sort of magic works, but I guess something must’ve gone wrong in the spell.” He was eyeing Taehyun, but he couldn’t get confirmation until he explained it fully. “The aftermath was that what was left of the town in fire got blended with the forest around it. Sometimes I hear the trees moping over the people they contain.” As Yeonjun understood it, the forest had been forced to absorb it all.

Taehyun’s “Ah” caught Beomgyu’s attention.

The warlock looked ashamed at interrupting, but he explained.

“They must’ve wanted to create a bubble. But since the fire was within the town, spreading what was saveable into the forest was the most viable option. But forests stand as one when it comes to magic. So they fused.”

Beomgyu nodded. It made sense to him. Yeonjun couldn’t say he understood it. He remembered the fire, but the hallway he took out of town left him pretty much at the doorstep of the neighbor king’s castle. The next time he was allowed to go out, he tried to find the passway but it was gone. Like the rest of the town.

“That’s where the attitude must come from. Too many bored people fused with an earth-old forest.” He took Kai’s foot and guided him to move it sideways, then he looked up at the fairy. Kai nodded: his foot was healed. He retrieved his leg from Beomgyu’s lap. “The sorcerers were taken by the fire. This is where the second child comes in: the youngest warlock in the family was left with the only fire-focused spellbook. The forest took him in and kept him safe, with a guardian knowledgeable in the theme.”

“That’s me I suppose,” Taehyun said.

“You’d be correct.”

Taehyun grabbed his book and opened it, to a specific page. He followed something there with a finger. Then he looked at the drawings on the walls. He nodded.

“The dragon,” he said.

Beomgyu smiled. “Yep. That’s why it wouldn’t let me near you. I ended your family line.”

“Dude,” Soobin said.

“I’m saying it how it is!”

Taehyun didn’t add anything further.

“You were taken to a quiet place where you could learn the magic to bring them back. The fire died long ago. The forest took all the hurt.” Beomgyu looked down and took a deep breath. “They still needed me.”

“Why?” Kai was immersed in the story. He had neared Taehyun and was giving him warmth by proximity. Yeonjun decided not to mention anything about that.

“Because, for the forest to heal, and to buy the fire-learning warlock some time, it had to be left alone. It needed time in solitude. Away from threats. The previous agreements on dual benefits had fallen with the burned city. They needed a way to keep outsiders away.”

The guardian took a pause. A vine had entered from behind him and was sort of petting his hair. Ironically, as this happened, Beomgyu’s face showed pain, a hand reaching towards the spikes in his back.

“And guilt is awful, guys.”

Yeonjun swallowed.

“So when I asked—?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Yeonjun closed his eyes, feeling dizzy again.

“Well, don’t keep us out! You’re what?” Soobin was straightening his back. His left hand nearing the bow. Yeonjun, eyes still closed, could feel the vine reaching the elf, out of the previous experience not because he was actually seeing it.

“I am the monster.”

Such a tiny voice in such a space. Such a big declaration amid a quest aimed at ending his life. How was Beomgyu so calm? Yeonjun couldn’t understand.

“Sure,” Soobin’s snort followed.

Yeonjun opened his eyes to witness Beomgyu’s fast-dying confusion. He didn’t try to prove his statement.

“What are those?” Huening couldn’t help it anymore, pointing at the spikes.

“Ok, yeah, I guess it’ll be easier if you guys just ask. These are the marks of magic. When you use magic you pay something equal in return right?” Both Taehyun and Kai nodded, one confirming, the other one learning. “I am the guardian of this forest. They lent me in the past the power to wield plant life, to keep outsiders from entering. These are the branches I bear as a price.”

“You said you didn’t control them…” Kai was rubbing his chin.

“I don’t. Even when I could do something similar to what you call controlling them, that just wasn’t it. It was an agreement of some sort. The plants would let me take over them. But the use of magic started manifesting in my body, to a point where, if it keeps going, it’ll break me.” They were pouring out of him like unwanted wings.

Yeonjun suddenly remembered Kai’s clothes. They were sown in a way the existence of wings had always been kept in mind when designing them. They were made to the measure of his wings. In Beomgyu’s case, the spike-like branches tore through his shirt, and probably his skin too. If Beomgyu healed, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to hypothesize that, maybe, he was always doing it, to keep himself from falling apart. It sounded exhausting.

“By then I already looked like the monster I ought to be, so it was for the better. I think that, by then, the forest forgave me.” Yeonjun was remembering the grass carrying Beomgyu out of the rose garden. “But just because the forest grew soft for me, that doesn’t mean that the rest of what once was the town did too. That’s why there were places I didn’t want to go to,” he said, looking at Soobin. The bow and the arrow lay forgotten behind the elf. Yeonjun bit his tongue so as not to confess to Soobin that Beomgyu had been the one insisting on getting him out of the gazebo.

“But they grew more than when we first met you,” Taehyun pointed out. Yeonjun noted that the warlock only joined their quest a couple of days ago, so the growth in Beomgyu’s spikes had to be aggressive. He couldn’t tell, his memory—

“What’s up with our memory?” Four heads turned to the prince, who had finally uttered a word after the entire retelling. “Soobin mentioned it after Magic Island, we seem to be missing… stuff.” He knew the others didn’t hear it, but Beomgyu had asked for a spell to be dropped. He wanted to figure out why.

Beomgyu was pouting.

“That had nothing to do with—” He opened his eyes, getting an idea. “Ah, I see.” He turned to the darkened end of the tunnel, a frown on his face. Then, he turned back to them. The fire was diminishing. “The forest wields an enormous amount of magic, as you probably guessed so far. And it has a mind of its own, it decides what happens here and everything. I am just a threat to the outside perception, but I don’t have a big voice here. The forest must’ve heard about your quest,”—pointing at Yeonjun— “and it decided that there was no way you should be able to add one plus one while you were here.”

“Why?” Taehyun had this expression on his face like he could tell there was something Beomgyu was not telling them. Yeonjun wondered why he hadn’t gotten to that part yet. Guess there was no avoiding it anymore.

Beomgyu scratched his ear.

“Because the prince and I agreed: I’d show him to the monster’s lair only if he’d promise to kill it.”

The silence was so loud. Some wind from outside made the way inside to waver the fire.

“But you’re the monster,” Kai said.

Soobin looked at Yeonjun, his expression blank. Yeonjun could tell he was trying to figure out what the prince’s position was before all of this. Sadly for him, Yeonjun had mastered the art of not showing emotion. It was a prerequisite for royalty. He had also learned to read people quite fast. Soobin, unlike any other moment of the night, was not reaching for his favorite weapon.

“Exactly.”

It was cold.

“Why would you do that?” Taehyun surely understood what Beomgyu’s final goal had been. He was so delicate with his words.

Beomgyu sighed. He looked like he had been waiting for that question.

“This is no life. I carry my guilt everywhere I go. Yes, I was forgiven by this forest, but that’s hardly enough to make up for all the mistakes I made, all the life I took.”

“It was an accident,” Taehyun said.

“Then why am I still paying for it?” Beomgyu was angry and hurt. “I try, day and night, convincing myself that burning it all was an accident. But then there are places I can’t even dare to go near because I’ll be attacked on the spot. My back hurts, these wounds will never close. And there’s absolutely no one to talk about this. No one can explain to me why, if it was an accident and I can be forgiven, I am not. Why am I trapped in the same spot, looking the same as I did ten years ago? It’s like there’s no way out, and somehow, that’s alright, that it’s the right punishment for all my sins.”

The fire was barely there anymore.

“You’re not a monster. Even if that’s what they made of you,” Yeonjun said. “And I will not kill you because then I’d be one too.”

The fire suddenly came alive.

Beomgyu and Yeonjun looked back at it, and after sharing a look of surprise, they searched around. The book was open over Taehyun’s knees, and he was pointing at the flames.

“I agree,” said the warlock.

Soobin nodded.

“Sounds like a story that had no time to be polished.”

“That’s mean,” pointed Yeonjun.

“No, I mean that no one else survived the fire. So this version had no chance to spread around and evolve within the voices of humanity, you know? Right now, by hearing it firsthand from the monster himself, we are deciding how it goes on. It’s unique.”

Yeonjun knew the elves had a great tradition of storytelling. It’s the stories of the world, the ones that go down in history. And this one, this one would fade away as soon as Beomgyu managed the thing he wanted, to tune out of his role. It wasn’t fair either, that he had to stay.

“I don’t have a family,” Kai started. He sounded doubtful.

“Me neither,” added Taehyun. Yeonjun nodded, they were the orphans of the fire after all.

Kai continued.

“I also do think you are a monster.” He stopped when Beomgyu looked at him, with hope in his eyes, while Yeonjun and Soobin frowned, waiting for his point. “You made a mistake and later you were forced to act upon it, taking a role you were too weak and guilt-filled to deny. That’s awful and unfair, but you became the monster, the final boss at the end of a quest that both considers you and doesn’t.”

Yeonjun looked at Taehyun, who had also mentioned the quest thing. The warlock was deep in thought. Soobin seemed to be as lost as the prince felt.

“What are you saying?” Beomgyu looked terrified.

“I mean, what if we don’t end the quest?”

“What?” asked Yeonjun. Not because he was against it, but because he was remembering words he had heard before. Something about accepting the role each had to fulfill, a promise he couldn’t remember.

Slowly, Kai pulled something out of his pocket and left it near the fire.

“You are the monster. But we could be too. That way you wouldn’t be alone with this.”

Oh.

The berries Kai had gathered earlier were in front of everyone, at the side of the fire, and Taehyun’s book.

“No.”

Four heads turned back to Beomgyu.

“I can’t let you do that.” He was dragging himself away from the light.

Soobin looked at him funnily.

“I’m not even sure what you’re suggesting,” Soobin said, turning back to Kai.

Taehyun rolled his eyes.

“If we all eat them, we can stay. Nothing that the forest does to us will be able to pull us away from Beomgyu.” Taehyun took one and inspected it. They were blackberries. “Technically, I must not be that free to leave either. Although, I should confess right now that I haven't figured out how to do the thing I must do. There’s no more fire, and restorative magic was not a thing the manuals in the tower could teach me. I’m too stuck in what others assigned me to do. And they left me without the guidance to do so.”

Yeonjun frowned. He could tell the answer was right in front of him. The answer to what he was forgetting.

What was in front of him was Beomgyu, who had crawled around Soobin and was pleading with his eyes.

“Why won’t you fulfill your promise?”

“What?” From the side, Yeonjun could tell Soobin was tensing his bow… but the prince couldn’t differentiate who the elf was aiming at. Was it Beomgyu or was it Yeonjun?

“You said you’d kill me.” Beomgyu looked to be on the verge of tears. He was begging.

“I can’t…” He couldn’t remember.

Like summoned by the despair accumulating around the fire, a vine entered the tunnel. Taehyun and Kai could see it the most, but both Soobin and Beomgyu were giving it their backs. The latter covered Yeonjun’s sight of the plant, but he felt it when it touched his nape.

And he knew then why he couldn’t comply.

Yeonjun laid his hands on Beomgyu’s shoulders and smiled at him. “I’m not your slayer, because I don’t consider you a monster. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to let you live.”

Beomgyu openly burst out crying then.

Slowly, several hands started patting his back. Yeonjun smiled at the others and, when Kai signaled in the directions of the berries, they all nodded. Even Soobin.

The berries tasted like home.