For Peace

28. No Prayer

Warning: Character Death

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Seonghwa slipped on the grass stained with blood when he arrived by Mingi's side. After a rough fall, he crawled the last part of the way, uncaring whose blood it was that stained his hands. He tentatively reached out for Mingi's shoulder, not daring to touch him. With crossed arms, Hongjoong hovered behind his back to stare down at the witch.

Mingi lay curled around his injured flank. Shallow pants made his chest tremble as his grimace gave away how each of them sent pain stabbing through his body. His hair lay in a disarray around his head, leaving bloody red smears on his skin where it had touched the tainted earth.

"Mingi," Seonghwa whispered, dreadful of all the blood. His stomach churned at the iron scent, but he held out, too terrified of what was happening to care about himself.

Despite the villain Mingi was, and despite the terrors of their past, Seonghwa was horrified to see him like this. Down on the earth, all pride gone, as he wound himself with a pale face.

"Ah, the damned priest. I didn't get far enough to flee your suffocating presence, it seems."

Hurt, Seonghwa reeled back. When he remembered the gravity of the situation, he forced himself to stay in place, no matter the witch's venom.

"What happened? How did you..." Seonghwa helplessly beckoned at the injury. It didn't heal under Mingi's fingers as it was supposed to, and his life drained from him every second, making it hard to speak.

Hongjoong crouched by their side. His fingers dipped into Mingi's blood, only for his tongue to lap it up. He grimaced at the foul taste.

"He's weak from the healing spell. He couldn't cast his magic properly and as we were busy protecting each other, no one had an eye on him. Even now, he is too limited to heal his wound."

Regret washed over Seonghwa. Mingi's stubborn silence was disrupted by his rattling breaths. Fléau slinked from the grass to press against his side, meowing pitifully as she felt her master die.

"Can't we do something? He is weak because he healed me; we can't let him die!" It was Seonghwa's fault. No matter what Mingi deserved for his foul deeds, a dishonourable death after saving someone he despised was not it.

Hongjoong shook his head.

"Nothing in our capability. Your white magic has healing properties, but not to someone like him. Unless you tell us which flowers to pluck to make you a magical ointment, witch?"

Mingi chuckled his sinister laugh at them.

"You are fools to think death means the end to me. I have met him more times than you can count and I am no stranger to wandering his plane. This is rebirth."

Despite the witch's will, stubborn tears quelled up in Seonghwa's eyes. No matter the circumstances, someone was dying. Someone Seonghwa knew.

"But... Can't we help you? We can bring you back to the shrine. There is so much magic, surely it helps you?" He begged, desperate for a solution. Did he simply not want another death to his name? Did he truly wish for Mingi to live? He couldn't tell.

Mingi's eyes were glassy. His lips could barely move anymore, as numb as his tongue. His tension evened out, the ridges of his abdomen relaxing, as he didn't feel the pain any longer.

"I don't want your help, damned priest. You might be ludicrous enough to befriend me, but I loathe all that you are."

He coughed, body seizing with the cramps of his heart trying to keep him alive. Seonghwa pressed his hand to his lips. He ached at the sight and at the utter lack of power to help.