Chapter Text
Kallisto was determined to do anything to get the dragon's fangs for his princess, even die (because, in the end, it doesn't matter whether he lives or dies, for he will follow his princess no matter what).
She had said the dragon's fangs would take her home, the home she's been so anxious to get back to since she got here, and even if that would take her away from him (temporarily), he'd do anything for her.
After a battle that seems to last an eternity, heavily wounded and panting, he's finally able to rip the fangs out of the dragon's chest. Unfortunately for him, the dragon's body falls, and he ends up caught beneath its wing.
It takes a moment or two for him to gather the strength to move, and when he finally does, he stumbles out from beneath, cursing. "Oh shit! It's so dirty and heavy." Then he sees a familiar figure nearby, "Hey princess, how are you?" Kallisto asks nonchalantly.
She rushes up to capture him in a bone-crushing hug, and he stumbles back a few steps.
Fuck, I must be injured worse than I thought.
"Did you kill it?" he asks his princess, trying to focus on her but failing as the adrenaline wears off and he starts to feel light-headed.
She responds that she did. Kallisto mutters some praises for her, having a worse and worse time focusing on their conversation.
Penelope seems to realize something is off with him.
"Are you alright, your highness?"
"I'm okay, just a little sore from falling." He says, trying not to make her worry. Then he remembers the reason for the fall and that he still has to give her the dragon fangs. "Here, princess."
"D-did you pull this out?" Penelope asks astonished
"You need it to go back home."
She carefully took it from his hands as he felt another wave of dizziness overtake him, and he collapsed on the ground.
Fuck he was trying to hold on for his princess, but now it looks like he'll die right before her eyes.
"Your Highness, your Highness, what's wrong?" she cries, rushing over to him, cradling his head in her lap.
"I'm fine. Besides, isn't it time for you to go?" Kallisto can feel the warmth of his blood as his wound bleeds out.
"What, what are you talking about?"
"You wanted to go back home, didn't you?" his vision blurs. Is the last thing I see going to be my princess crying so heartbreakingly? he wonders.
"Why? Why now?" his princess sobs.
"It's alright, princess, go back home." He knows nothing can save him now, not even the famed fangs of the golden dragon.
With his last bit of strength, Kallisto reaches up to caress her face, "Go, princess. Forget about everything that happened here. Don't remember anything and focus on archaeology."
"What about you?" she asked quietly, so quietly he almost couldn't hear her.
"I already told you no matter where you go, I'll follow."
"Why? Why are you talking like that? You told me not to go! Why don't you hold onto me anymore?" she cried.
"I love you, princess," he said with his last breath, the sound of her hysterical sobbing fading into nothingness along with his vision.
-----
He heard a rhythmic beeping stirring him from unconsciousness.
Furrowing his brows, Kallisto realized that he had, in fact, not died (like he thought he would), as well as the sharp sensation of pain in his right arm and head. When he blearily opened his eyes, what he saw shocked him.
Kallisto expected to wake up in his room at the palace or even a medical tent, but the sight before him was exceptionly foreign; he was in a white room, lying on a small bed.
Looking around the room, he noticed a small couch beside the bed, a table with a black box on top, and finally, the source of the beeping sound that woke him up, some strange device that had cords coming out of it.
He followed the cords with his eyes only to realize they were attached to him! He was about to rip them off when a woman opened the door. "Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling? Are you in pain anywhere? Can you tell me your name?"
She wanted his name? There wasn't a single person in the Ioka empire that wouldn't recognize him as the crown prince. Then his mind flashed back to Penolpe's words, "I'm not from this world, your highness. One day, I just woke up here."
Had the same thing happened to him? After his death, did his soul travel to another world? That would account for the strange room and this woman's appearance; Her hair was almost as short as his! No self-respecting woman in Ioka would go around looking like that. Not even his princess, no matter how crazy she acted sometimes.
Deciding it was best to play dumb, Kallisto answered her questions. "I don't remember my name. Where am I? Who are you?"
"I'm a nurse at Seoul Hospital. You're a patient here. Your name is Park Dae-Hyun. What is the last thing you remember?"
"Waking up here."
"I see. How are you feeling? Are you in pain anywhere?"
At this, Kallisto decided to answer her honestly. "My head and arm hurt."
"you were in a motorcycle accident. The bones in your lower right arm broke, and you suffered a pretty bad concussion. I'll get the doctor to look at you and call your family."
Kallisto stayed silent at this. He didn't want to pretend to be someone else, nor did Kallisto desire to talk with Park Dae-Hyun's family and act as if he hadn't swapped with the original, no matter how unintentional it had been.
He stayed quiet during the doctor's exam, only answering questions when asked. Soon enough, it ended with the doctor saying Kallisto could be discharged from the hospital the next day as long as his concussion didn't get worse.
A few minutes after the doctor left, three people entered the room, a brown-haired woman who looked to be in her late 40s with a kind smile on her face, a fidgety black-haired man who looked to be about Kallisto's age with glasses on his face and lastly a black-haired girl who looked to be in her mid-teens.
It was the black-haired girl who spoke first. "So you're finally awake. Took you long enough, Oppa."