Chapter Text
Choi Han sat in front of the newest grave a little ways from the Super Rock Villa.
"Good morning, Raon-ah" He says, placing a warm bowl of soup in front of the headstone. It was black porcelain, lined with golden leaves right below the rim. With gentle white and red flowers intertwined with its vines.
A few birds chirped and flew overhead, circling and dancing around each other with joyful tunes.
"I made you breakfast."
He waits and stares at the name, the beautifully carved letters engraved into the solid marble- this is by far his best work, and Choi Han has had a lot of practice throughout the years.
His smile strains, "What's wrong, Raon-ie? "
"…"
"You don't answer me anymore."
"…"
"Why don't you answer me anymore?"
Choi Han sits in silence for a minute more, before laughing, reaching out to stroke the headstone, petting Raon, just like he used to.
"Don't worry about it, I can wait. Just tell me what you think when I come back. Okay?" He smiles, getting up to walk to the graves beside Raon.
The black dragon's grave was situated right beside his closest family members. With Ohn and Hong by his side, and Cale behind them all. Watching out for them, just like always.
"Hong-yah," He says, "I've brought you some soup."
"…"
Choi Han's eyes crinkle as he smiles- his face youthful despite his age, with no crows feet to be seen. Or wrinkles. Or smile lines. He looked like he was in his twenties at the very least- not that he'd know anymore. He covered the mirrors around the villa a long time ago.
"I've improved a lot since Beacrox passed," Choi Han sighs, brushing a stray leaf off Hong's headstone.
"He never did teach me his steak recipe before he left… But I promise, four hundred and fifty-seven years of practice and our youngest as my taste tester has brought me leaps and bounds."
He lets out a small hum, gently positioning the spoon towards the gravestone. Hong's bowl was black on the outside and white on the inside, with gold vines- identical to Raon's, stemming from the bottom of the bowl, with bluebells and roses growing across it.
"…"
"I know you and your sister are still salty about the bitter tofu I left a few years back, but I would like a response sometime." He says, chuckling slightly.
He takes a few steps to Ohn's grave, tracing the letters on the marble instead of petting her- her ears were always particularly sensitive as she grew older, head pats were only reserved for Cale and her siblings.
"Ohn-nie," He says, his voice teasing and playful. "I brought you your favorite soup!"
Choi Han places her bowl down, smiling as his fingers run over the rigid lumps on the side.
He smiles, "Even after all these years, you still use this one, huh?" He says, stirring her soup and using the spoon to cut chucks of meat into smaller pieces- she was struggling to eat the bigger ones, the last time they had a tea party.
Ohn's bowl, unlike Raon's and Hong's, was a lumpy mess of pottery. It's sides were uneven, the designs barely distinguishable.
"Raon and Hong tried their best, but it still ended up quite ugly," He sighs, "Yet, you still smiled and accepted the gift like it was the greatest thing in the world."
"…"
Choi Han smiles bitterly, "Even when they gave you better ones, this was still your favorite as well."
A soft breeze passes them by, and the swordmaster sighs.
"I'll be going to Cale-nim now, take care of yourself, okay?" He says, walking away.
"…"
Behind and slightly elevated behind them all, was Cale's grave.
Unlike the rest of everyone else's graves, it didn't have a headstone. Instead, what stoo in his place was a large, magnificent tree. With red leaves and sturdy branches, it watched over the rest of the family, much like Cale before it.
Choi Han slowly approaches the tree, kneeling in front of it.
"I'm back, Cale-nim."
He sets a bowl of soup in front of the trunk, before moving to sit down beside it.
"…"
"The kids have grown so much, you know?" He says, "Yet I feel as if I have to protect them from the events happening in this world, even as they've left."
"…"
Choi Han leans his head back, jet black hair knocking against the sturdy tree.
"A town was built around Super Rock Villa," He starts, "They don't really perceive it to be there, instead thinking it's a giant mountain that must be preserved at all costs- they've had protests about it, even!"
A small laugh leaves Choi Han's lips, "This area is unfortunately not covered by the same barriers, Raon went to you before he could do it."
Choi Han smiles, "Well, that only gives me more of a reason to protect you until my dying breath, Cale-nim."
"…"
"…Roan Kingdom is currently going through a drought." He says, quieter now, "I didn't want to take away from the other people who needed food, so I only got enough for soup."
Choi Han lets out a dry snort, "I gave the others their food already, Beacrox almost looked offended at the fact that I only brought soup."
"…"
He stares at the bright red leaves- illuminated by the sunlight.
"…You'd have hated it if you saw him."
The leaves shake in the wind, a leaf flying out of his place and slowly descending towards Choi Han- who holds out his palm patiently.
He smiles as the leaf lays itself down flat on his palm, thumbing the edges while he brought it close to his chest.
"..Thank you for the answer, Cale-nim." He says,
The tree shakes again.
He throws his head back and laughs, "I'm sorry! Ah, I'm really sorry Cale nim, it's just been a while since one of you responded to me."
"…" No more leaves drop, but the branches rustle, a bird chirps as it lands on top of one- before flying away just as fast as it came.
Choi Han hums in contentment, fully leaning on the tree trunk and closing his eyes.
"I'll see you when I wake up, Cale-nim".
Eun Basil was a man who did what needed to be done for the sake of a paycheck.
The count wanted to expand the land, with the drought quickly sapping resources and the limitation of not being able to cut down the hill in the middle of town. Really darn nice hill Eun thinks so himself.
Anyways, a week or so a go, a group of the mayor's hired scouts came along with a land near the hill they could cut down. The only drawbacks were that there were a ton of massive trees in the way of the potential path, and that one of the scouts was pretty sure there was a grave smack dab in the middle of the area they scouted too.
Both minor issues, so far as anyone was concerned. No one owned the land, and the Henituses had sold the governing authority over to them in order to focus on improving their local economy.
Again, pretty neat, pretty solid. And now their town had a chance to expand themselves in the midst of all this drought and famine.
"You sure this is the way Sydney?" He gruffs, brushing a branch out of his face.
"Uhh- yeah!" the scout says, glancing back and forth between their map and the dense forest ahead of them.
"Or at least I think so…" They mumble, furrowing their brows.
Eun takes a deep breath, sighing.
The town would probably get expanded after the drought, with how many days this fellow guided them around in circles.
"Let's go back, it's getting dark and we already made more progress compared to the previous days." He says,
Sydney turns their head towards him, "Oh! Sure, just let me pack my stuff."
Eun makes a face, watching Sydney ruffle through his backpack- magazines, drawings, notebooks, randomly scattered gum wrappers and-
What the.
Was that a picture frame of a person in the dark??
He squints closer,
The person was in a dark room with no visible lighting, the only highlighted feature was their obscenely white teeth and-
Sydney shifts their arm to the side slightly, humming to themselves.
-and a pair of bloodshot eyes.
Wow.
okay.
A shiver runs down Eun's spine, turning around quickly.
Gah.