Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was a tragedy waiting to happen. Then, many people crowded around it, waiting for it to happen as well, because you never know what you can be missing, you know? It could have just been another lame tragedy, like somebody dying — they would all find it, well… tragic, but it happened every day anyways — or it could have been the next big topic of conversation amongst the elderly.
Sometimes, depending on how horribly the person died, it was both, but just because the elderly were so close to dying themselves that they became experts in the matter. Other times, though, it turned out to be something actually interesting — never-seen-before, original, eye-catching — like a prince, abducted by a dragon, trapped in the tallest tower in the kingdom.
(That didn’t appeal to the elderly though, so they all dispersed, complaining about how people don’t make scandals like in the old times. No one cheats anymore in this hellhole? What happened to fights over which sibling will inherit their father’s decaying, 100-year-old property? There’s never anything juicy to talk about these days…)
“How does one even get stolen by a dragon…?” mumbled the agitated sea of peasants after the official announcement of the prince’s kidnapping, made by a very nonchalant royal spokesman. “And since when do dragons exist in the first place?”
“I don’t believe in this whole dragon thing,” the people said at tea — or coffee — time that evening. “This is just another excuse so they can get away with stealing all our gold. Bunch of rats, those royals.”
“Yes, yes, I agree. Maybe we should do something about it?”
Hesitant looks were exchanged. One or two head scratches.
“Do what? Is there anything we could do about that? I wasn’t aware.”
“Well…”
Wait, wait, I’m getting ahead of myself — and staying behind on the story. See, it’s not easy being a narrator. People are supposed to pretend we don’t exist, but we make mistakes as well. Let’s go back a few hours, shall we?
Earlier that day, just before the official announcement, right when the disappearance of the prince was first noticed, the bravest knight in the entire kingdom was called to the throne room. Our beloved protagonist entered the room with cautious, but firm steps.
Chanyeol was a man of honour — the younger knights looked up to him, and all the ladies admired him — but he was safely engaged to the daughter of a tradesman. Besides, he was soon to be the commander. Everything seemed to be going just fine for him, so why was he sweating so much? Being in front of the king required a bit of uneasiness, sure, but not this much.
Chanyeol was slightly anxious, confused as to why he was summoned; just slightly, though. He wasn’t panicking — he was never a man of panic. (His reputation was rock solid. There was no way the king suspected anything, right? But also, even if the king knew, he couldn’t do anything about it, could he? He is the king… but it is none of his business… but he is the king! …Chanyeol was going insane.)
The knight knew that if his secret was revealed, it wouldn’t cost him much — maybe just a couple extra pairs of eyes judging him — but it would destroy the life of someone he treasured and that he could not afford.
“Your Majesty,” said the knight after a very long and respectful bow, making sure to not break any protocol on accident.
“I called you in for one very specific reason,” the king went straight to the point. “It is of extreme importance. My son, the crown prince, was kidnapped, and I want you to rescue him.”
A sigh of relief escaped the knight’s concerned body, which didn’t seem very polite, taking into account what he just heard of the crown prince, so he pretended that nothing happened. After all, his secret was safe, unlike the prince.
“May I ask the circumstances of the kidnapping, Your Majesty?”
“You mean to say that my son deserved it?”
“No! No! Absolutely not! I’d never say something like that, Your Majesty!”
The king relished the suffering of his subordinates, like any other man enriched by nepotism, once he’d never lived in a world in which his presence wasn’t either horribly feared or dearly beloved. But I digress, and Chanyeol wasn’t even thinking about it. In fact, he wasn’t thinking at all.
“I would advise you to choose your words more carefully,” the king responded, wielding a heavy and haughty tone like a sword, tearing the silence apart. Chanyeol felt like he had swallowed his own heart. “This is a very serious matter. The crown prince was stolen by a dragon.”
Chanyeol tried to make his words sound less threatening when he said: “M-Might I ask, Your Majesty, what… what had informed you that the perpetrator was a dragon?” Turns out he was not able to say how do you even get to that conclusion? in a more civil way.
“It left a note.”
“Oh.”
“My son has been taken by an impetuous beast, Sir Park, whose existence was foreseen in the old legend of the Ghost Tower. Are you familiar?”
There was an awkward silence before Chanyeol remembered to answer the question: “No, Your Majesty.”
“Far away from here, in the ruins of an ancient castle, a single tower remains. It is tall and cold, neighbored by a female dragon — the last of its kind — made hopeless by her eternal loneliness. She is fueled by evil and cunning enough to understand how to bring anguish to humanity.
“She steals the leaders of the people, robbing a family of its child, to make up for her own disgrace. But she isn’t tough enough to kill them, so she imprisons them in the Ghost Tower until they become bones and ashes. The only way to stop the dragon is to kill her. The legend says that ‘a young man of humble beginnings, still to be married to a worthy damsel; the strongest knight in the strongest kingdom’ is destined to do so.
“And you are this man, Sir Park Chanyeol”, the king said, looking at him expectantly, but the only thing that Chanyeol could think of was how detailed the legend was. “You will slay the beast and bring my son back. Will you?”
Since it was a question, Chanyeol thought he could answer it.
“Your Majesty,” he started off humble… “I am, as Your Majesty yourself just said, a very good option for…” but he wasn’t very good with words. “...Slaying …duties.”
“Yes, you are,” the king approved.
“But I am not yet entirely sure if one man will be sufficient for the task.”
“I believe it will”, the king didn’t even flinch. “The legend says it very clearly. You are the one honourable man mentioned in the tale; this is how it should be.”
The knight lost his words for a second. The monarch, bothered by the lack of an adequate response — which would be “thank you so, so much for this opportunity to showcase my talent in the art of dying!”, over and over again —, fidgeted a bit in his seat. Then, he added:
“It pays well.”
Ooh, it pays well… but Chanyeol already had enough gold.
“If you refuse,” the king tried one more time. “Another man will eventually step up for the role.”
The knight, then, thought of his colleagues: a lot of them younger than him, eager to fight a war against anything, fascinated by the embellished concept of honour, chivalry, and manhood. He thought of dozens of fellow knights, even friends, who would accept this mission without hesitation, only to die in the hands of a magic creature — or whatever had captured the prince.
Chanyeol thought that, if anyone had the chance to survive, it had to be him. And, in the worst case, if he was to perish, he would. He never once questioned his willingness to die on behalf of his men.
He’d figure it out.
“I will,” Chanyeol finally answered. “I will slay the beast, Your Majesty.”
♠
The knight found himself walking home, all alone, under the threatening light of the ascending evening.
Finding its way between the clouds, the sun seemed to wave Chanyeol goodbye like it was the knight’s last day on earth. He knew it wasn’t, but it didn’t feel much better. If it was his actual last day, though, he could avoid many inconveniences…
“Oh, look who stopped by!” said an annoying voice, flaunting a sarcastic grin as the knight approached his mother’s house. “Sir Chanyeol.”
“Hello, Minseok,” Chanyeol answered, in a state of pseudo-calmness, trying not to lose his mind too much while contemplating murder. Minseok had an infuriating attitude; his words were sharp and harsh, but he spoke very politely. “I’m back to see my mother. And you? What are you doing here?”
“I was here to see my sister, of course”, Minseok replied. “You know, to check if you two have settled in a date for the wedding yet, but it seems like you are indecisive.”
Chanyeol could feel his ears fuming with rage, but he refused to shout at Minseok what he really wanted to. Instead, he said: “We are going to decide on a date soon. It has been barely a month since we announced the engagement.” If only you stopped bothering us...
“Well, you two lovebirds better hurry up, then.” His smile got, somehow, bigger. Oh, he was pissed. “My sister can’t be engaged forever.”
Minseok then left, going past the knight hastily.
♠
The crown prince woke up in an unfamiliar environment. It was a small room, walls and floor made of stone, with only a bed, a wardrobe and a single window. It was dark, but he could see light escaping from the gaps in the wood blocking the window.
He got up, a bit dizzy. He was still in his pyjamas — a very fancy one, by the way, made of royal silk and all — but he smelled like he had expired. The room was very ugly, the sheets in the bed looked like they haven’t been changed in years, and the air had a weird scent of… of barbecue?
It was then that Jongin realized for the first time that he was hungry.
He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He walked up to the window and put his hand over the wood; it was so rotten that it dissolved in his palms without him even putting any effort into it.
But, oh, any effort is an effort; even more, when you have such beautiful prince-like hands — which were dry and rough by the time he finished unblocking the window.
A chill breeze kissed his face, and the barbecue smell intensified. He looked down, only to find two things: a) he was stuck in a very, very, very, very high tower, and b) …was that a dragon?
♠
Chanyeol had to take a deep breath before knocking on the door.
Usually, he would send home a note telling when he’d come for a visit since he lived in the castle and had a very stable schedule. He didn’t like to come up unannounced because he felt like it was rude to disturb the household’s natural order without prior notice. Also, he couldn’t be sure if anyone would be home, except when he met his unlikeable soon-to-be brother-in-law on the way.
His mother, who was an artisan, often spent long hours working on her pieces; Chanyeol wouldn’t like to appear out of nowhere just to distract her. His fiancée, who had lived with his mother since they announced their engagement, was busy most of the time. Chanyeol seldom knew what she was up to, and honestly, he wanted it to be kept that way.
“Oh, hello, my son!” his mother greeted him, opening the door, surprised to see Chanyeol. “I didn’t think you’d come for a visit this early. Has anything happened?”
He sat down with his mother and his fiancée — both very confused because of his avoidant posture, so unlike him —, and explained to them exactly what had happened. None of them were happy with the news.
“But that's ridiculous!” stated Hyejeong, the fiancée. She had her brows furrowed, big eyes and an angry intonation. “One man alone can’t kill a dragon!”
“How does one even get stolen by a dragon?” the mother asked, her talented hands covering her astonished cheeks. “This isn’t right. They can’t make you do that!”
“It’s going to be okay, mother, I promise” Chanyeol, who had already regretted telling his mother the true nature of his mission, tried to make it seem less deadly. “The dragon isn’t even literal, it’s just code for one very evil man.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just know.”
She was silent for a moment, looking a bit puzzled. “Is it really just one man, not a real dragon?”
“Yes, mother, it is.”
“But it’s a very evil man, you said? Don’t you think that’s still too dangerous?!”
It took some time until Chanyeol and Hyejeong finally made her feel a bit less hopeless about her son’s literal life prospects.
She cried a little, then Chanyeol made her laugh a little, then she scolded him a lot for trying to make the situation funny. Then she laughed again and told him that if he died, she would kill him. He told her she wouldn’t have the pleasure of burying him. She scolded him again for his inappropriate language regarding his hypothetical, but likely, future death, and they all settled in one common sentiment: he’s going to die, yes, maybe, but he may live! Let’s hope for the least bad option.
♠
Before the rising of the sun the next day, Hyejeong woke Chanyeol up. Like many other times in the past, she avidly shook him by the shoulders, disorganizing his thoughts and making his brain ache. When Chanyeol opened his eyes, he thought they were in danger.
“What?! What’s happening?”
“I’ve got an idea!” she announced, a confident smile colouring her face many different shades of happiness. “I almost forgot, dear Lord, I almost forgot... I know how to get you out of this!”
♠
“AAAAAAAAAAH,” screamed the crown prince from the top of the tower, looking down at the giant black-and-yellow dragon that lay in the ruins of what was, a long time ago, a beautiful garden in a very expensive castle.
There were people around the beast, he could see it — they were dots moving around to him, but at least he hoped those were people — and they seemed to be… having a barbecue?
“HELP!” Jongin screamed again, trying to get the people’s attention. Some faces turned up to look at him. “HELP! THE DRAGON KIDNAPPED ME! Oh, my God, it really wasn’t a dream… THE DRAGON KIDNAPPED ME! HELP!”
He waved, but no one waved back. They just looked at him.
“WE KNOW,” someone yelled back.
“What?” Jongin whispered to himself. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?”
Then the dragon opened its eyes, red like blood, ready to kill. It wheezed, lifted its head — Jongin screamed like he was in a heavy metal concert — then, carefully, let out a whistle. A tiny flame escaped its mouth, flying towards the barbecue grill and reigniting it.
“Thanks, Sarah,” one of the people said. “MINHO, WHERE ARE THE CHICKEN WINGS? LET’S PUT IT TO GRILL!”
“What do we do about the other guy, though?” Minho responded. All the people, plus Sarah, the black dragon with yellow spots, looked up at Jongin again.
“I CAN’T HEAR YOU GUYS VERY WELL,” Jongin shouted.
The people shared bored looks with each other.
“Let’s go see him.”
“Wait, but the chicken wings…”
♠
“This is the coolest thing,” said Kyungsoo, his cheerfulness sounding like an offence to Chanyeol but not enough for him to be mad at Kyungsoo. “You’re going to slay that dragon, commander.”
“I’m not a commander…”, Chanyeol tried to explain, but his voice was shallow and low, almost scared.
“Yet,” Baekhyun added, flashing a big smile, his eyes becoming smaller as he tried to protect it from the late morning sun. “You’re going to come back as a commander. No, better! You’re going to be a Grand Cross.”
“That’s a bit too much, I believe…”
“It’s never too much for…” and Kyungsoo was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
The king stood, beside his queen, in front of the heavy crowd but looking at them from above. He waved his hand over them like a blessing. It was all very silent.
So many people were there to bid Chanyeol goodbye.
Finally, something interesting to talk about! The elderly spoke about him like he was already in a casket. Oh, he was such a good man... How sad! May he rest in peace. God bless him, though, because they’re about to meet. The knight couldn’t predict what stories the people would make up once he left, both about him and Hyejeong. Maybe if he looked a little tougher or looked like he actually thought he could win, they’d speak less. He adjusted his posture just in case.
Standing just where Chanyeol could see was Minseok: right next to his sister, glaring at Chanyeol. He knew very well that, with no fiancé, there was no wedding date, much less a proper wedding — and that was a disgrace to the Kims, who thought they’d finally managed to sign their only daughter into a profitable contract. Hyejeong looked pale in worry, her previous confidence dismantled by the approaching reality of their situation. And to her left was Chanyeol’s mother.
She didn’t cry, but he knew she was devastated regardless.
The king cleared his throat — which wasn’t very king-like, but who would point a finger at him? — and proceeded with his speech. A beautiful speech, by the way; it would’ve been lovely if Chanyeol had paid any attention to it so I could transcript it all, in full for your eyes to read, but the knight wasn’t trying to make my job easier.
Chanyeol vaguely remembered the king’s words, but to be quite frank, he didn’t know if that was even real or if he had made it all up. Perhaps his memory was just a shortened and less complicated version of what the speech had been, in reality — “a very evil female dragon, like all females, that does female evil things and need to be slayed by a very male, very brave, male knight, who is in love and engaged to a very woman, woman.” That seemed accurate enough. (Chanyeol also remembers thinking that the queen must had a very hard time trying to have a good time.)
“Do you want us to go get Maverick for you, chief?” Baekhyun asked carefully in a whisper. Just then, Chanyeol realized that everyone was waiting for him to go.
“No, it’s fine, thank you. I can walk up to the horse myself.”
Then, quietly, he departed.
♠
The door handle was violently shaken, startling the imprisoned crown prince. After that, somebody yelled, that’s not how you do it, idiot! I taught you this already! A very steady, delicate hand touched the handle and turned it the right way. The door opened, and a bunch of men entered the room.
“Welcome to the Ghost Tower,” one of them said. “How can we help you?”
“Get me out of here!” Jongin screeched. “I was kidnapped!”
“Well, we can’t help you with that,” the same man answered. “My name is Kibum, by the way.”
“And I’m Yunho,” said the guy who probably was the one to open the door. “These are Minho, Changmin and Junmyeon.”
“Oh my God, you guys are very good-looking,” Jongin stated, a bit taken aback. He was easily distracted. “Are you guys princes?”
“We were,” Kibum answered. “I mean, we still are, technically.”
“Really?!” Jongin shouted, excited rather than horrified this time. “Me too! How did you guys get here?”
“Guess,” said Minho.
Jongin thought for a second. “No…”
“Yes, actually…” Changmin confirmed.
“The beast captured us all?!” Jongin cried. “Oh my God, this is horrible!”
“Hey, don’t talk about Sarah like that!” the guy named Junmyeon called his attention. “She works very hard to provide for us!”
“She kidnapped you!”
“Well,” Minho shrugged. “Everyone has to work, don’t they? It’s not her fault no one cares about princes. It’s how the system works.”
“What do you mean no one cares about princes?” Jongin was beyond insulted.
“No one came to our rescue when we were captured,” Minho explained. “I guess princes just aren’t as popular as princesses…”
“Yeah, everyone rushes to the rescue of a princess when they get captured by dragons,” Junmyeon commented. “But princes are supposed to fight for their lives. Pathetic!”
“Yeah, I’m sorry that happened to you guys,” Jongin said, not really sorry about any of those people. “But that’s not gonna happen to me. My father is going to send a whole battalion to get me out of this place. You guys may be unimportant princes, but I am the crown prince. I’ll be king one day.”
Silence reigned for a bit before Kibum started laughing, making the other princes laugh too. “What do you think we are? Look at us! We’re crown princes too!”
Jongin looked closer: all of their clothes seemed to have been tailored, made out of the best fabrics, designed by the best royal artisans, but, now, it was all very worn out, stained, ripped. Besides, he wasn’t joking when he said they were beautiful. Yes, they really seemed like they were important people once.
“I think you should get used to it,” Yunho told him. “This is your life now.”
“No, it is not,” Jongin retorted. “There will be a whole army here tomorrow, ready to slay that dragon.”
“First of all,” Kibum responded, pointing a finger at the newcomer. “No one slays Sarah. And second of all, your father will not send one man to your rescue. This is the reality of your life, Prince… Prince what? Sorry, what’s your name, dear?”
“Jongin.”
“Oh, yeah, okay. Well, Prince Jongin, this is your life now!”
“I already said that,” Yunho declared, a kind of annoyed tone to his voice. “Matter of fact, that is my official line. We rehearsed, remember?”
“Yes, so, about that…” Junmyeon mentioned. “Is there any way I can get more lines? I feel like I’m being left out from all of the main interactions…”
“Well, you were the last one to arrive, so of course you’ll have less lines, since you have less experience,” Yunho explained.
“Oh, okay… But…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Jongin wailed, hands over his head, making everyone go silent. “I’m stuck with a bunch of mad people! Get me out of here! Get me out!!”
“Your first day and you're already having diva episodes?” Yunho crossed his arms. Jongin was still screaming.
“Yeah, it’s not good,” Minho agreed.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Changmin asked. The new prince-held-hostage stopped screaming, then he said like nothing happened:
“Oh, I am, actually. Can I have some of that barbecue? It smelled delicious.”
“Of course! Let’s go eat, you can continue to freak out later.” Jongin would be offended, but Changmin said that in such a lovely and considerate voice that he chose to ignore it.
He followed them quietly.
♠
Maverick was mostly a calm horse. He was fast when needed but was also very susceptible to slowing down every few seconds. Chanyeol had to keep reminding him to run, lifting a hand in the air or gently kicking him on the ribs. He thought the horse was, somehow, tired or hungry, so he pulled the reins and let Maverick stop.
After a moment of staying completely still, like he got tired of waiting for the knight to do something, Maverick took the responsibility upon himself and, without being requested to, just turned around and started going back home — walking slowly, like he didn’t have one thing to worry about. Chanyeol laughed, truly amused, then pulled on the reins and put them back on their way. (Maverick would neigh and say “well, at least I tried” if he could.)
Instead of continuing through the dirt road directly to the Ghost Tower, like the map he carried advised him to do, Chanyeol pulled Maverick to the side and into the forest. The trees weren’t too close to each other, but Chanyeol believed it was better for them to slow down a bit. Could he even remember the directions Hyejeong gave him?
Straight to the road, but before the mill, take a left, then after how many miles would he be able to see the… oh, wait, nevermind. It was right there; he could already see the clearing.
It wasn’t too wide. Otherwise, it would be visible from the road, but it was bright like it was home to a divine being (or the owner just had a really good lighting tech). As they approached, the small cabin became larger — it was covered in moss, and Chanyeol would’ve found it lovely if he didn’t have a special distaste for humidity.
As soon as the knight got off the horse, hoping it would stay in place as he walked to the cabin, Maverick started following Chanyeol around. It was kind of awkward. Chanyeol stopped and looked at him, a bit confused, a bit embarrassed. How do you tell your horse friend that, from that moment on, they’d have to part ways?
Chanyeol reckoned that Maverick probably didn’t see the difference between that one knight and any other knight that ever took care of him, so he had a bit of separation anxiety or just anxiety in general. (Can you blame him? In this day and age…)
The knight looked around, trying to find something to tie the horse to and finding nothing but trees. Therefore, he tied Maverick to a skinny tree branch and walked away. It didn’t have to hold him down; it just had to signal to him that he was supposed to wait there. Maverick was a gentleman — he would behave.
And of course, Maverick tried to follow him again but stopped when he felt something holding him back. Then, seeing it wasn’t effective, he turned around and tried to return home again, which was very horse-like of him. He was also unsuccessful on that one, so he just accepted his fate and started to munch on some grass to make the time go by faster.
Chanyeol sighed and reluctantly knocked on the cabin’s door. Nothing happened for a minute. Chanyeol looked back at Maverick, who was still eating grass, occasionally pulling on the string that tied him to the tree, annoyed. Chanyeol hoped that the horse wouldn’t be all rolled up by the time he finished talking to the witch, but he could never be sure with such a creature as Maverick.
When the knight was about to knock again, the door opened — but nobody was behind it.
“Oh, I’m sorry”, said a voice, rushing to the door. A tall man with black hair and a black shawl over his shoulders appeared before him. “I have to fix it, it never stays closed. Who are you?”
“Um…” Chanyeol coughed and, not overthinking about it, started speaking: “I’m the knight…”
“The knight?” the man interrupted him. “Are you, like, a ghost? Because if you are, you don't have to knock on the door.”
“...No?”
“No! You can just pass through it, of course.” The man in the shawl smiled.
Silence. It looked almost ridiculous — or worse: cute — Chanyeol, a knight in shining armour, big and strong, feeling so small and out of place over a corny joke.
“I’m messing with you, don’t worry,” said the man, breaking into flustered laughter, red in the face for thinking that the outsider didn’t get his humour. “Welcome, Sir Knight. My name’s Sehun. What do you need from the local witch?”