Enchanted | KYS

Connection

"Your Highness, we've sieved through every leaf and rock here but found nothing." The minister spoke with a trembling voice, his head hanging low so as not to meet Izar's icy ones. To his surprise, the prince just nodded silently, choosing to walk further before he bent down to touch a patch of grass that was growing on the ground.

"So you decided to run away." He spoke, caressing the grass lightly with his hands till all life was drawn out of it, leaving a shrivelled-up, dry patch. "No worries, I'll find you anyway." He finally lifted his head up, staring straight into Yeosang's eyes. "You can't hide."

Yeosang woke up with a gasp, out of breath, and sweating profusely. The memory of Izar's slit-like pupils piercing into his soul didn't seem to want to leave his brain. How did he know he was watching? That was only possible if the prince possessed powers similar to Yeosang's, and that was impossible considering he was the only one left of his family after his father died. Unless...unless. A vile sort of emotion flowed down the shadow bender's body, his stomach churning at the realisation of what that implied. He rushed to the attached bathroom of his personal chambers, losing the strength in his legs as he emptied his guts into the bowl. His head hurt; it was getting harder to breathe, to the point where his ears started ringing with a noise so shrill that he had to physically cover them and scream at the top of his lungs to try and drown it out. It must've woken the rest of the team up because the next thing he knew, he was in the eldest's embrace as fresh, crisp air entered his lungs, probably thanks to Yunho or Seonghwa, and he lost all consciousness.

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Hongjoong heard the shadow bender with an unreadable expression painted on his face. Sky would've almost thought he was being apathetic about it if not for his clenched fist, which was turning white by the second as he heard Yeosang explain the possibility of Izar violating his father's dead body to get a core for himself. That explained the sheer number of soldiers who had the same powers as the Crescent people. Izar was not only keeping their people hostage and extracting their cores; he was also extracting them from the bodies of the dead. Years ago, Wonderland's king hadn't just killed their people; he had trafficked their bodies off to Amenti for Izar to use as stock for a power boost.

"That's it." Hongjoong stood up from his seat, prompting the other chiefs and council members to get on their feet too. "This just seals the deal. We're attacking Amenti." A murmur of surprise went across the great hall, some in complete agreement while the others still had their reservations.

"Chief." Chan, one of the airbenders, stepped forward. "Do you think we have the strength and resources to go against their army? They are massive now." He reasoned. Sky nodded in agreement. While the army of Amenti was quite paltry compared to the other nations, it was massive in comparison to the number of villagers. Even with the old and children combined, the numbers didn't make up a third of the number of soldiers that Izar had at his disposal.

"That's where strategy would come into play." The water chief smirked, looking almost devilish with the way he stared down the hallway, right in the direction of Granny, who seemed to have caught the unspoken message that the captain was sending.

"Sky." She flinched at the mention of her name, turning her attention to the elderly woman, who smiled kindly at her. "How's your fire-bending training going?"

"Phenomenal, if I say so myself." Wooyoung stepped in to answer for her, with Mingi nodding along. "She's always been a fast learner." He bragged proudly, winking at her.

"Great, that means she can move forward to nature-bender-specific magic." Hongjoong rubbed his hands in anticipation, the devilish smile somehow intensifying even more.

'Your Highness, I dare ask you for permission to teach dear Sky nature magic myself as the only other nature mage left." Granny bowed to Hongjoong with an electric confidence in her voice that could convince even the highest mountains to move out of the way.

"You don't have to ask, Granny. She's all yours." And that's how the training from hell began.

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Sky plopped down on the grassy clearing that overlooked the island. She chugged the last bit of water from her flask, breathing deeply to fill her lungs with the clear mountain air.

"You've been working hard." Mingi handed her a fresh towel to wipe the sweat off her face. He took a moment to scan his friend; it's been a while since he's had a moment alone with her. Ever since Hongjoong announced a war on the kingdom of Amenti, the chiefs have been busy prepping and readying their forces and strategizing their plans. Granny had taken the role of Sky's trainer quite seriously, vowing to pour all that she knew into her before the war started. That resulted in her regime being borderline brutal for the poor girl and leaving her completely exhausted by the end of the day.

"I can't believe it's the last day of my training already." He heard her speak, looking over to the setting sun that was just about to dip into the vast ocean. Mingi nodded in agreement. It's been months since they joined the Crescent tribe, but it all felt so surreal. One moment he was escorting the princess towards her doom, and the very next moment he was sitting here, right beside her, overlooking the ocean as they prepared to go to war against the most powerful army on the continent and potentially her own father. It all felt like a dream, an illusion put on by someone—maybe the robbers they were fearing while crossing the dense forest.

"It's all real." Sky broke the silence that had settled. The sun was now halfway down, its golden residues reflecting off the clouds and painting the entire world in a divine light. "I don't want to believe it either. But it's all real, Mingi." There was a hint of something broken in her voice; Mingi could tell. He knew the girl like the back of his hand—he had grown up with her, after all—and it shattered his heart to hear her voice be so small, like she didn't want anyone else to know how tired she was. That was so like her, though—to not show weakness in front of anyone. He wished she'd open up her heart to someone; she'd trust someone enough to share at least a bit of the burden she'd been carrying for as long as he could remember. It broke his heart to see her fight so hard all alone. He had expressed that time and again, always to be met by that half-assed smile of hers, as if she hardly ever believed that would ever happen. She'll nod and say she felt the same, but he knows deep down she had given up hope. At least until they were confined behind the tall walls of the palace. Ever since they reached the village, after the chaos that ensued after they woke up, some of her real self had started to shine through the multiple layers that she hid behind all these years, and despite it being a tiny, tiny part of her, it was enough. Mingi pulled her in by her shoulders, petting her head as he planted a peck on top of her head. "You've been working hard." He said, still engulfing her in the hug. "You deserve a treat." He pulled her up, dragging her off down the hills that served as her practice grounds along with the setting sun that decided to finally head home after a long day at work.

Wassuuupp. I'm alive! (phew) And have a new story idea!! I'm literally so excited about it too so I'll try to do my best with Enchanted as well!!