World unknown

Near encounter!

The two walked inside the nearby pub which Hyunjin was slightly hesitant to follow Marcus into. The two found a nearby table and took a seat, being greeted by the barmaid.

"Well, hello Marcus! Good to see you!" The maid exclaimed, giving Marcus a pat on the back.

"Good to see you too, Kia!" Marcus replied.

Hyunjin stared awkwardly as he was nervous about meeting new people in this world after what had happened just a couple nights ago. Marcus could feel how tense Hyunjin was and placed his hand on Hyunjin's arm, giving a reassuring squeeze which caught him off guard yet he welcomed it as it felt oddly familiar.

"Kia, a round of drinks for me and my new friend Hyunjin!" Marcus said.

"Of course! Any friend of Marcus is a friend of mine!" She replied before walking off to get the drinks for the two.

Hyunjin studied the room, seeing all the different people all gathered in one place. He took notice of how no one seemed to judge and was just having a great time. He could tell when someone wasn't from the area yet none seemed to care and would invite them to come and be merry with them. He smiled, thinking back to when he was with Stray Kids. He sighed, feeling a little homesick which Marcus didn't fail to see.

"Feeling homesick?" He asked.

"A little..." Hyunjin admitted.

"Don't worry, I will help you find a way back to your home," Marcus said to reassure Hyunjin.

Hyunjin smiled, happy to have a friend in this strange new world that he fell into. Hyunjin felt a little restless and decided to get up and walk outside while Marcus struck up a conversation with the barmaid after she brought some drinks. He wandered around the new town which he had come to hear was named Heial. He studied the different buildings and started to sketch some of the ones he found most interesting. He wandered into the market and was shocked to hear all the hustle and bustle of this almost limitless market. He remembered that Marcus had given him a small pouch which he pulled out of his pocket and opened to find quite a bit of the currency of this world.

"Well, dang... Thanks, Marcus." He mumbled as he put the pouch back in his pocket.

He wandered around the market until he heard a conversation that piqued his interest.

"Did you hear? That son of Nekron is running amok ..." He heard a female's voice say.

"Which one? You know he had multiple..."

"The youngest... The most dangerous of them all... His damned namesake."

This caught his full attention as he remembered that the mysterious Nekronos was the youngest of Nekron's children. He listened closely and got a few details on what these women believed the demon's appearance might be.

"I hear his eyes are magical... So black yet the red peeks through like broken glass. He can scare anyone into submission with those dangerous eyes..."

"True... I also hear his hair is as crimson as his eyes... Strange as I don't remember if either of his parents had red hair or not... Yet those genetics are strange... I also hear that without the hat he wears, he's actually quite handsome."

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow at this statement, shaking his head slightly as he chalked that up to being someone's fantasy. He wrote down what he heard in his notebook and continued to walk through the market.

"So... Black and Red eyes that resemble broken glass, crimson red hair ... and apparently handsome? Interesting, yet no matter how I frame this... It still doesn't feel quite right... I'm closer but not there yet..." He sighed after he stopped and took a moment to work on the drawing of Nekronos.

He put his sketchbook away and started to make his way back to the pub after picking up a few new art supplies which he was shocked this world had. He was about halfway to the pub when he heard someone speaking in a strange language.

"Lua... Eshna Keir Donna Kel?" He heard the strange voice say.

He couldn't make out what was just said but he got the feeling that it wasn't meant to be understood by humans. He heard another voice speak up which caught his attention a lot more than the other voice.

"Novanas... Jwansa Ki" He heard what seemed to be a younger, way more powerful voice yet was soft.

"Qwanta del... Nekronos..." He heard which made his heart nearly stop.

"N-Nekronos?! N-Nekronos is here?!" He thought as he tried to follow where he heard the conversation going on.

He eventually saw these three men standing around someone. They looked almost like guards which caught Hyunjin by surprise but he could feel this unnerving presence which he knew had to be Nekronos. He tried to see if he could look in between the guards but couldn't see much more than a slight sliver of the demon's outfit. What he did catch was the colors.

"Black, red, silver, and purple? Like a dark purple? That sounds right... If only I knew what they were saying..." He thought as he leaned in closer to hear the conversation.

He listened to them talk for a minute before he strangely started to hear words he knew... Or so he thought as he was beginning to passively learn the Nekronon language.

"I don't care what happens... I want it done..." Nekronos growled which caught Hyunjin by surprise when he finally realized he understood Nekronos perfectly.

He watched the demons around the prince bow and take off in a puff of smoke before Nekronos was about to turn and leave. Now Hyunjin got a good look at the man's outfit and was mesmerized by how royal it looked despite everyone saying he wore armor. Hyunjin watched the man start to walk away but jumped when Nekronos suddenly turned to him. He quickly hid and listened as Nekronos hummed before getting on his horse and riding away. He watched the flames from his horse's hooves burn the ground.

"That was almost bad... Damn it... I got the idea of his clothing ... But I still know almost nothing of the man... Yet ... How am I able to understand him?" Hyunjin mumbled before he ran back to the pub to see if Marcus was anywhere sober enough to tell him what went on.