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Magic in Aredrinnor

Chapter 337: [6 Days Left].

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Myungjun

All available guild members who weren’t unreachable overseas or tied down with other important affairs were called to Dragon Blades so their guild leader could give what would probably be the most important speech of his reign.
Dragon Blades didn’t have a lot of members as they only recruited the brightest and the best but the tavern was still packed.

The Dragon Knight neatly summarised the rising threat and told everyone to pick a job from Hani’s list. There were positions available for helping with the evacuation of the city, working at the healing stations, distributing food and clean clothes to soldiers, helping to imbue armour and weaponry with light and dark magic or fighting on the battlefield beside the guild leader and his son.

“I will offer you the choice to leave with the evacuation to one of the safe zones if you wish.” Mr Kim fought back a smile as he said it, knowing exactly what the response would be.

Protests rose up around him.

“Leave? Don’t make me laugh!”

“If you think I’m missing this fight you can think again!”

“Only cowards would take the easy way out!”

“This guild is our home, if we fight for anything we fight for this!”

It was clear not a single member would leave and Myungjun watched proudly from the sidelines. This was his second family right here and he was immensely grateful at this moment that he’d decided to accept his fathers invitation all those years ago. He knew he would have never felt this happy and safe in the hands of any other guild.

When his father’s speech came to an end there was a great rush of noise as everyone moved to the bar to sign up for the jobs they wanted to take. Myungjun waited patiently until everyone was done before making his way over to the bar himself and looking down at the sheet. It was his responsibility to send everyone off in the right direction for their chosen assignment and he got to work.

As expected, plenty of people had volunteered to fight so Myungjun directed them towards Jinwoo who would take them to train alongside the King’s soldiers. Myungjun gave out the addresses of the areas for evac, the healing stations that were still under construction and would need help getting prepared, and the restaurants who were staying open to feed the army.

Lastly, he rounded up the three other people who had signed up to help with enchanting weapons and armour and told them to follow him. They were also heading to the castle alongside Jinwoo’s group where Gabriel was waiting in the armoury.

*

The tall man was his usual warm and welcoming self when they arrived. The glowing tattoos on Gabriel’s body were brighter than usual today and stood out nicely on his dark skin. He thanked them all for coming and wasted no time in getting to the point and explaining what exactly they had to do.

The spells were simpler than Myungjun had imagined but it was hard work; not so much for him with his abundance of magic but for the others who had to be mindful with not using too much magic and spreading themselves too thin. There was a lot to get through. Myungjun cracked jokes and told wild stories as he worked to lift the mood and soon felt right at home amongst all the leather and metal. The smell of the place reminded him of Donghan, it was a great comfort and Myungjun couldn’t wait to see him later as planned.

The armoury was adjacent to the courtyard where Leo’s generals were hard at work and Myungjun watched through one of the large windows as Jinwoo weaved around them and the soldiers giving tips and adjusting the positions of arms, legs and weapons and being his usual encouraging self.

Shadow arrived at the courtyard midway through the morning and caused a stir as she summoned a great number of demons to act in place of the void monsters, but Myungjun’s attention was immediately stolen again by his husband who had decided to reveal all and transform in front of everyone. It had to be done at some point, the soldiers had to get used to seeing Jinwoo’s unnatural form if they hoped to fight beside him with no distractions when the time came.

But there was something different about Jinwoo this time and it took Myungjun a few seconds to realise what.

“On the Deity.” He whispered to himself in disbelief, completely forgetting about the chest-plate he was supposed to be enchanting in his hands. It clattered to the floor and even from halfway across the giant, dusty courtyard Jinwoo heard the noise and looked quickly in his direction.

*Are you okay, Sunshine?*

Myungjun opened the window and beckoned him over, preferring to talk aloud than in their heads.

“I’m just taking a five minute break.” Myungjun called to Gabriel over his shoulder before leaping out of the window.

Jinwoo was still a hundred metres away but made it over in a flash to catch Myungjun around the waist and steady him.

“What’s wrong?” Jinwoo asked. The worry in his eyes was absurd to Myungjun given the circumstances.

“I should be asking you that!”

Jinwoo just looked at him confused.

“Your tail, JinJin, It’s gone!”

Finally Jinwoo understood, as slow as ever, and let Myungjun’s waist go so he could turn around and show him the damage. Only a burnt stump was left behind and Myungjun made a sound of distress at the sight of it.

“What happened? When did it happen? Why didn’t you tell me? Does it hurt?”

“I cut it off that day in the forest. I didn’t have any other choice if I wanted to get rid of the beetle. It did hurt a lot but the shock of what happened to Dongmin overrode it a bit. It doesn’t hurt so much anymore, it’s just very…frustrating because I keep thinking and acting like it’s there when it’s not. I need to get used to not having it very quickly.”

Thinking about how painful it must have been and how much of a loss it was for Jinwoo made Myungjun feel terribly guilty that he hadn’t noticed sooner. He knew he didn’t have to feel this way because he’d been busy trying to keep their friend alive but still, Jinwoo must have suffered a lot and was clearly still struggling with it.

“Will it grow back?”

“Eventually. I’m an adult now so my regenerative powers are slow, it will take a while.”

“Why don’t you let me try to help? I have a lot of experience tending dragon injuries because of our Baby. I want to try at least.”

Jinwoo turned back around to face him properly and smiled. “I’d like that. Let’s focus on our work now and try later, okay?”

“Okay.”

They looked wordlessly at each other, neither really wanting to part ways just yet and Jinwoo was the first to move, stepping forward to gather Myungjun up in his arms again. He looked down at Myungjun’s lips—as desperate for a kiss as Myungjun felt deep down.

“I miss you, Junnie. Being separated from my tail I can handle, but being apart from you is torture.”

“I know.” Myungjun agreed quietly. He sighed and rested his forehead against Jinwoo’s shoulder. “I want to forgive you, I want to move past it and go back to how things were but I can’t. Because everytime I think about how you lied to me and broke such an important promise I just get so mad all over again. Maybe I’ll feel better when Cain is finally gone and Sanha is truly safe again, I don’t know.”

“And what if you don’t ever feel better?” Jinwoo asked sadly.

Myungjun pulled away from him. “I don’t know the answer to that either. But I do know that we’ll never find out if we stand around here wasting time. I’m going back in now.”

Before Myungjun could leave, Jinwoo pulled him back and kissed him softly on the forehead. “I love you, my Sunshine. Work hard and I’ll see you at lunch.”

Jinwoo left first, flitting away and coming to an abrupt stop in front of a soldier nearby who yelled in shock at Jinwoo’s sudden arrival.

“Don’t expect either of us to kiss you like that.”

Myungjun turned with a grin at the sound of the man’s voice and watched as Donghan, Minhyuk, Rocky Jr and a dozen other thickly muscled males and females approached from around the side of the armoury.

“You made it!”

“I gathered some friends to help with the repairs and improvements.” Minhyuk said happily before gesturing for the other smiths to go ahead. They disappeared inside leaving Minhyuk to ask; “Where’s Sanha? I thought he’d be here helping out with his dark magic.”

“He’ll be here tomorrow. He’s spending time with mother today, helping her transfer supplies from the hospitals to the healing stations.”

“And how is he?” Minhyuk asked, the worry evident on his face. Rocky Jr garbled something that sounded sad beside him. “Is he still on his suicide mission?”

Myungjun sighed and looked up at Donghan with a small smile as the man’s giant hand landed on his shoulder for comfort. “He’s about as fine as we can expect him to be right now, Hyuk. And yes, he’s still adamant that he should just leave but that's why mother got involved and took him with her today.”

“She's trying to talk some sense into him then. Do you think it will work?”

“I hope so. There’s only so much we can do to keep him here without crossing some lines that shouldn’t be crossed.”

“I’d cross every single line if it meant keeping him safe.” Minhyuk said firmly. His son nodded resolutely beside him.

“You sound just like Jinwoo.” Myungjun shook his head. He did not want to go back down that route of conversation again. “Let’s just get to work, there’s a lot to do.”

*

Hello, Myungjun.
I’m writing to give you the good news that Dongmin can now have visitors, although I’d advise just one at a time for now to not overwhelm him. Also, if it’s not too much trouble, could you please bring Bin some clothes and toiletries as he’s refusing to leave and get them himself and frankly, he stinks. (Don’t tell him I said that).
Hope to see you soon, mainly for the sake of my poor nose.
Doctor Kim Namjoon

*

When Myungjun arrived at the hospital later that day, breathless and excited to see his friends again, he could immediately understand the urgency in Namjoon’s note.

Bin was hunched over in his chair beside the bed in Dongmin’s private room, fast asleep and still wearing the clothes that were covered in his husband’s blood. He looked a state with his lank, greasy hair and dark-rimmed eyes.

Even Dongmin, the actual patient, looked a lot healthier as he beamed Myungjun’s way amidst all the bandages and drips.

“I’ve bought some much needed supplies.” Myungjun whispered, shaking the bag in front of him.

Dongmin looked relieved and cleared his throat softly. “Binnie?”

The sleeping man woke immediately with a snort. “Was hapnin’? Minnie, baby? You need anythin’?” He slurred, still half asleep as he rose shakily from the chair. He woke a little more when he finally noticed Myungjun in the doorway. “Hyung.” Bin said the word with emotion.

Myungjun smiled and held out the bag of his stuff. “Thank me for saving him later. Just do us all a favour and get cleaned up. It’s a wonder they even let you in here with how filthy you are. Go on, go. We haven’t got all day.”

After some extra encouragement from his husband, Bin finally slouched off out of the room with a quiet thanks and shut the door behind himself leaving Myungjun and Dongmin alone.

The tears from them both came quickly and Myungjun hurried over to hold his friend’s hand. It no longer had the icy touch of death. Instead, Dongmin felt positively warm. Alive. It truly hit Myungjun then that he was going to be okay and the relief made him sob.

“I’ll never be able to thank you enough.” Dongmin choked out. “I really thought it was the end for me, and in a way I could have accepted that at the time because at least Bin was okay. But now I know how ridiculous that was. Binnie would never be okay again if I died for him and he’d probably never forgive me for it either. And we have you to thank for not allowing that to happen. You’re an angel, Myungjun, a guardian angel, truly. You’ve saved me and Binnie so many times over the years I’ve lost count. We owe you so much.”

Myungjun waved it off. “You don’t owe me a thing. I’m the one who chose to become a healer and I’m just doing my job. I’m so happy you’re okay. I really thought I wouldn’t be able to fix you, I thought I’d reached my limit and that I’d have to watch you die. It was so awful.” He clutched Dongmin’s hand tighter and reached out with the other to push Dongmin’s hair from his face. It was fluffy and clean, like someone had washed it recently for him. Probably Bin. “The fact you’re still here feels more like a miracle than anything I did. And it wasn’t just me either. It was Gabriel and Dongie too.”

“I’ll thank them when I get the chance.” Dongmin said before his face changed into an expression of seriousness. “But first I want to talk to you about something. I haven’t told anyone else yet because I don’t want them to think I’m crazy, and if I told Binnie he’d probably only worry more.”

“You can tell me. I’m well versed in crazy these days.” Myungjun joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere a bit. The way Dongmin was staring at him was making him feel a bit unsettled.

“I keep having these strange thoughts, like memories that I never experienced but feel so real it’s almost impossible to deny that they’re true.”

Ice slithered down Myungjun’s spine. Not again, not another person. First Myungjun, then Donghan, then the countless reports from the dark guilds that Shadow reported and now Dongmin? All of them getting these ‘memories’ back? There was only so much Myungjun could ignore and deny.

“I meant what I said earlier.” Dongmin continued. “About you being an angel.”

“What do you mean?” Myungjun asked.

If what he says has any links to what Juronan forced into my head…

Dongmin chewed on his lip, probably wondering how much he could say before sounding like he’d truly lost it. “In these...memories, or disturbed thoughts or whatever, you have wings. Six of them, golden and bright. And there’s string too. Lots and lots of red string, some of it tied to you before…” He frowned. “I can’t remember. But I do remember that I always addressed you the same way.”

Golden wings and red string. Something was tugging at Myungjun’s mind and he let go of Dongmin’s hand to play with the necklace around his throat. It was the pink crystal heart Jinwoo had given him when he’d asked Myungjun to be his boyfriend and it was still one of Myungjun’s most cherished pieces.
“How did you address me?” Part of him already knew and was just waiting for it to come.

Dongmin blew out a breath. “Seraphim. Prized child of Eden. I know it’s crazy, but it just feels so real. And it’s not just you either. There are others.”

“Donghan?”

“Yeah...how did you know?”

“Just a guess.”

“Right. Well it’s him and his siblings. And the weird thing is, they called themselves what Cain did. Demon generals. Is that just a coincidence?”

“What about Bin?” Myungjun asked, fighting down the overwhelming feeling in his chest and the pain in his head. The tugging at his mind was getting more insistent. “Is he in your memories?”

“Haetae.” Dongmin said quietly.

That distracted Myungjun enough to make him look up. “What?”

“Haetae, a beast from Eden, protector and law enforcer. Binnie is the angel general of beasts.”

There was a ringing noise building in Myungjun’s ears and lights dancing in his vision. He stood up from where he’d been perched on the edge of Dongmin’s hospital bed and turned away.

“And what about you?”

“I like red string. I give people red string. Soulmate string… but Eden is not my home.”

Soulmates, Myungjun had heard that word from his husband many times over the years, even more so recently. He wanted to ask Dongmin what he meant about Eden not being his home but his mouth had other ideas.

“Jinwoo? Is he in your memories?”

For a few seconds Dongmin was quiet, and every tick of the clock hands on the wall were like explosions in Myungjun’s head. He reached up to press the heels of his palms against his temples.

Pain.

“He’s there but…”

“But?”

“Eden isn’t his home either. He’s...hyung? Are you okay?”

A sledgehammer to Myungjun’s head would have hurt less than the pain he experienced as the world exploded around him. He screamed and fell to the floor, clutching at his head.

~

Golden wings. Myungjun looked down at the fluffy feathers in his hands through a sheen of tears.

“It’s okay. It’s just stress. They’ll grow back.” A bird twittered musically in Myungjun’s ear.

He looked up into the mirror to see a woman staring back at him. She opened her mouth when Myungjun did.

“How long will that take, until I’m not stressed anymore?” She asked, he asked. “I’m collecting the fragments but not fast enough. I can’t remember anything! I can’t remember anything at all! I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER HOW TO BE ME ANYMORE!”

“This is you. You’ve always been June just as much as Myungjun, you know this.” The bird twittered again, trying to calm Myungjun down.

Another figure came into view of the mirror. A woman with the head of a bird. The owner of the nice twittering voice. Her presence was soothing on a better day, but this wasn’t one of those better days.

The mirror shattered as Myungjun’s fist went straight through it.

~

Red string. It was soft and thick and tied around Myungjun’s wrist. Every time he looked at it he felt excitement and anticipation swell in his heart. It was rare to be paid a visit from a cupid, and Myungjun had been sure it wouldn’t happen to him so soon, if ever, but the proof was there. A match had been made. Myungjun had a soulmate.

And it lasted all of four hours.

Myungjun was taking his tea in a garden he adored at the border between Eden and purgatory, dining alone like he was used to, but also never far from his guards. His mind was full of questions about his soulmate.

What did they look like? How old were they? A noble soul like him or a regular soul from purgatory? When would they meet? Would it be love at first sight or something they would build over time?

He was smiling so much he could barely taste his food.

Suddenly, a man came racing through the flower beds causing quite the stir. The man had red string for hair, tied up in two buns on the top of his head and he bowed deeply in Myungjun’s direction from atop the cloud he was riding.

“Seraphim, an honour to meet you. My name is Dongmin, head cupid and matchmaker from purgatory’s house of marriage. Forgive me for not coming down to greet you properly but my legs aren’t working well these days, freak accident you see, unfortunate really.” He mumbled his words in a skittish, borderline manic way.

“That's fine.” Myungjun excused him politely. “What did you come here for, matchmaker?”

“I’m afraid there’s been a mistake.”

“A mistake.” Myungjun repeated, swallowing down his crashing disappointment.

“Yes, very unfortunate that it happened. I will need to remove your red string at once.”

“Why?” Myungjun put his teacup down and held his wrist close to his chest. “How could there have possibly been a mistake?”

The matchmaker looked around awkwardly, noting Myungjun’s guards and lowering his voice. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you but…”

Everything was hazy, Myungjun couldn’t recall the cupid’s following words but when he looked up, unable to watch Dongmin sever the chance of true love from his wrist, Myungjun saw a man amidst the pear trees. Tall and broad. He was clutching at a red string tied around his own wrist but was gone before Myungjun could gather his wits.

~

The hospital floor and Dongmin’s frantic voice came back into focus. Myungjun groaned and pushed himself back up to his feet. It was hard, his body felt like it was made of lead.

“What happened? Should I call a nurse?” Dongmin was sitting up properly now and the blanket had fallen away from his chest to reveal a thick padding of white bandages.

“I’m fine.” That was only half truthful. The pain was gone, but Myungjun was deeply shaken. No demonic chant had put those memories in his head this time, instead they had come themselves and lined up perfectly with Dongmin’s words.

Is it really possible? Am I really an angel? But why was I a woman in one of the memories? The bird lady told me I was both male and female, what does that even mean? Is it a spell? I can make myself female here, I learnt how to in shapeshifting class. But I was born a man! But then...Camellia...a female companion… Myungjun wobbled over to the chair Bin had previously occupied and sunk down into it to confront the other memory in his head. Soulmates exist? I had one, was given one? But it was a mistake. And that hurt me. And who was that man in the trees? I couldn’t see his face but he definitely had a man’s body. The red string...surely not. He was so close, why did he leave? Tall and broad...almost like Dongie...no. It couldn’t be. Myungjun leaned back in the chair and took a few deep breaths before finally turning his attention to the worried man on the bed.

Myungjun needed to think of something else, anything else so that he wouldn’t go running from the room.

“How is your chest now? Why do you still need the bandages?”

Dongmin studied him critically for a few more seconds before relaxing.
“My chest aches, it feels like everything inside of me was put through a blender, which it was if you think about it.” They both shuddered at the thought. “And the bandages are there just in case I accidentally tear open a scar, the skin is still pretty weak no matter how much magic they pour onto it.”

“You’ll be scarred for life now unless a specialist can help.”

“I wouldn’t want them to. Sure, my chest looks pretty gross now but I want to keep the scars as a reminder of how lucky I am to be alive and how I kept Binnie alive in the process. And in a few days time when the bandages are off and I’m discharged I’ll help as much as I can.”

Myungjun narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean ‘help’? Surely you’re not thinking about fighting again so soon.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Minnie, you can’t! You’re still not anywhere near fully recovered! And besides, aren’t you scared to face those monsters again after this?”

“Of course I’m scared, in fact I’m downright terrified and see that monster every time I close my eyes.” Dongmin replied through gritted teeth. He was clutching the light blue hospital blanket hard. “And that’s exactly why I have to do this, face my fears head on and all that, and not just for me but for Binnie and everyone else. I don’t want anyone else to experience what I had to experience. And if I can do anything to help prevent that then I will.” He relaxed his grip on the blanket. “Binnie is going out there to fight and I can’t stop him, but I can help and support him where he needs it. There is no way in hell I’d let him go out there and get himself killed after everything we’ve just been through. So don’t try to stop me, I’ve made up my mind and you can’t change it.”

They sat in silence after that. Myungjun could see how serious his friend was and couldn’t help but admire his bravery.

Bin came back freshly showered and smelling a lot nicer than before. Myungjun stayed with them for a little while longer before admitting that he was tired and needed to go back to the guild for a good night's sleep before another day of war preparations had to be done.

Seeing Dongmin again, happy and healthy had put Myungjun’s mind at ease and he left feeling better.

But now he had a new issue to face; these memories and what they meant. Believing in them would mean Juronan hadn’t been messing with his head after all, not in the way Myungjun had thought.

And how would he even begin to tell Jinwoo about this? Should he? They had promised no more secrets, but something like this? The line between right and wrong was never clear.

Myungjun sighed and made a decision. He would tell Jinwoo once this threat had passed. For now they needed to focus on the tasks at hand and not be distracted by the question of Myungjun’s sanity.

Notes:

Immortal realm lore summary:
1. Myungjun can also be known as June. He has both a masc and fem appearance but clearly doesn't like being June as much.
2. Myungjun has 6 wings, (i've probably said this before >.>)
3. Dongmin had an accident and can no longer walk, so he rides around on his little cloud everywhere which is honestly adorable ok.
4. Purgatory's 'house of marriage' is where all of the cupids work, with Dongmin as their head.
5. DongJun's soulmate bond was apparently a 'mistake', but Dongmin is also acting very suspicious about it *squints*

Stay safe, love yourself and love Astro<333