Crossed Hearts | Stray Kids Royal AU Fanfic

The witch in the dungeon

Zolan = Chan
Zayyan = Hyunjin
Liryo = Wooyoung
Yafaal = Seonghwa
Zephyr = Yeosang
Faye = Yeji
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"filius musicorum" Agatha read out loud on the black scarf.

One left to go and the hardest to get: the prince's.

"I was meant to ask a question. Have you ever lost control?"

Zolan knew he had a lot to learn about witches, yet he couldn't help but ponder about what Otto said.

"I have." Agatha replied nonchalantly.

"You did?" Zolan asked surprised.

"Learning magic was a tiring road to take. I made mistakes and hurt even my mentor. I am sure you cut yourself with the sword before you mastered it. The difference between you and me is that magic came with a bigger price."

"What was it?"

"I lost my mentor along the way. My family left me and I was banished. I wasn't quite traditional. More of a rebellious counterpart of their perfect prototype."

"I can see that. You certainly do not fit any of the legends I have heard."

Agatha chuckled before stopping to look at the castle they were supposed to get in.

"How are we going to get inside? I lost all my privileges after the war ended." The knight uttered.

"With a bit of magic and a bit of fight." The witch snapped her fingers.

Zolan looked down and noticed the expensive attire he was dressed in, similar to the one wore only by royals. With silk and jewels complemented by a majestic heavy cape as red as blood.

"You will claim to be a duke and bring princess Faye a gift."

"What gift?"

"A slave." Agatha flicked her wrist and turned displayed herself in baggy torn layers of sack and cotton, tied around her waist with a rope.

Zolan closed his eyes even before seeing her out of respect. He peeked with his left eye and sighed in relief.

"A maid... That is your plan." He gulped nervously.

"I assume you were thinking of the other kind of slave. It is quite normal that people bought to you beautiful girls for-"

"I did not accept any." Zolan stopped her there.

"How noble of you." Agatha smirked, amused of his flushed cheeks.

"Wouldn't be more appealing to the princess to have a male servant as a gift?"

"You would love that, wouldn't you?" the witch turned herself into a handsome man with a strong jawline, defines chest and beautiful dark strains of hair. He lift Zolan's chin up with two fingers and chuckled.

When she was done tormenting the man, she turned back to her previous form and bit her lip.

"The princess has a soft spot for maids. That is what happened to the last one either way."

"Is that true? How do you know all these things?"

"People told me a terrifying number of secrets during the years I served under the crown."

"Because you were trustworthy."

"Because they all had planned to kill me shortly after." Agatha added. "As you can see, they failed shamelessly."

They reached to the gates of the castle where Zolan played his character flawlessly, even harshly yanking the rope Agatha was tied up with. The guards made way for them to enter. One of them offered to lead them to the princess and the witch had no choice but to put him to sleep.

"We're in. How do we find the scarf?"

"I will search the prince's room since I am familiar to the rooms upstairs. You check the first floor."

Zolan nodded and followed the plan.

At the end of the hall there was a locked massive door. Zolan tried the keys he had stolen from the passed-out soldier until he heard a click.

He gently pushed it open, holding the knob with the other hand. He didn't want the door to screech or worse: to slam against the brick wall.

He found himself in front of a long chain of stairs going down spirally.

He had to check it. It was calling him. Luring him down there. He couldn't explain why, but he felt called there.

He took step by step until he reached the dungeon. The torches set themselves on fire behind him and their warm golden light shown above a cage.

A man was standing there, alone in the dark, hugging his knees and leaning back and forward while humming a children song that Chan recalled from his own childhood.

He started harmonizing with the man as a smile crept on his face. He felt young again. At peace while his fears washed away and sunk into the back of his mind.

The man started clapping his hands on the rhythm in a state of euphoria.

"You know the song. You know the song!" he cheered.

"My mother used to sing it to me before tucking me in the bed." Zolan explained.

"Set me free and we can sing together more songs." he grabbed the bars of his prison and revealed his face to the knight.

He could see his terrified face into those pitch-black eyes. He did not look older than him, yet his hair was grey as the dust. His lips were chewed, almost ripped, His nose was bumpy and big, competing only with his thick eyebrows. He was a walking skeleton, left to starve and find his outdoing there.

However, greater than fear, Zolan felt pity. He could see the skin cut by the chains, the purple marks made by the punishments he received and the dry eyes with no water left to stream.

He tried again the keys and opened the cage, immediately being pushed into the opposite wall and choked.

"Gullible foolish knight." The man left out one of the most macabre laughs Zolan had ever heard.

A laugh that travelled down his spine and stopped his heart for a second. The kind of laugh the parents used to imitate while talking about witches.

"Wait!" Agatha barged into the room with the red scarf wrapped around her wrist.

"Well, well... who do we have here?" the man turned around, letting Zolan fall on the floor and gasp for air.

"Asteria's daughter. I heard about you, Liryo. You've been imprisoned here by the royal family. Serving as their secret weapon."

"Not anymore. I am free to kill as I please." He smiled until his cheeks became soar. "I shall start with this one." He moved his attention back to his victim.

"No! Let him live and I will give you something you desire more than just spilling some unimportant blood."

"What that may be?" Liryo questioned intrigued.

"This." In Agatha's hand appeared a scroll bathed in gold. Any witch could recognize that object and only one could be in its possession.

"Asteria, you said?" Liryo was completely captivated by the item.

"She gave it to me. And I am giving it to you. You can travel the three kingdoms with it. Under no jurisdiction. No laws applied to you. You can see Zephyr again. Even better. You can see your master." Agatha lured him more with every sweet word she spoke.

"Yafaal? He's dead." The man looked up dumbfounded.

"He's alive. Zephyr did it. Take it and leave my companion alone."

"Deal. Good luck on your journey." He smirked, yanking the scroll from her hand.

"You know?"

It was her turn to be baffled. He came closer and whispered in her ear with a devilish look.

"You will succeed and I cannot wait to be a witness to you making history."

He disappeared in a black cloud of smoke, leaving the two behind. Agatha went to help Zolan get up and made sure he was in one piece.

"Unimportant blood?" Zolan quoted her offended by the remark.

"I had to make him see you as threatening as a mosquito."

"Who was that?"

"Liryo. The king kept him here as a punishment for casting a curse on the royal family. He's a powerful wizard and a mad one. The most dangerous kind."

"And Asteria?"

"My mother. Another dangerous figure." Agatha uttered uncomfortably.

They went up and spotted a group of soldiers running towards them.

The woman dragged Zolan after them in a room and told him to block the door.

She got on her knees and placed a series of ingredients on the floor, mixing them with the speed of sound as Zolan was being pushed by the royal guards.

"Hold it!" Agatha yelled as she took off the scarves and formed a circle.

"They are too many." Zolan groaned in pain.

"And you are a royal knight. Far above them. Use that strength!" she yelped before closing her eyes and starting doing an incantation.

The room became darker, her hands were lurking in orange pure energy.

A portal opened slowly on the floor and Agatha took a good grip of its edges and made it wider.

"Get in! Now!"

Zolan let go of the door and took the witch's hand as both of them dived into it.

It was done. No turning back. The journey had begun.

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You can see how the royal family treats witches, especially when the duke is a witch hunter. That's the sad reality of Atorvenna and a big reason of the war.

Thank you for reading!