𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐒

2# THE ATTACK

hyeongjun was fighting in the front, using his fire as an advantage. he might not be able to melt the earth the soldiers used, but he could quickly distract them with some gushes of flames, till their armor was hot enough to make them worry about not having to die from the burns.

he really did not want to kill. finding gunil was his only goal, and he knew that he was trying to revive jiseok. yet getting there was basically impossible.

they had to hurry, hyeongjun knew he didn't have long anymore. his power slowly started disappearing. hyeongjun knew he either had to give it his all or disappoint everyone.

blue flames destroyed everything around him. his parents were right - the palace will burn under his hands.

getting through the masses of soldiers and corpses, he finally was able to see gunil from afar, hugging jiseok's lifeless body. so it didn't work?

then he noticed the soldier behind gunil, lifting his spear, ready to attack. a gasp left hyeongjun's lips as he made a quick decision.

the loud sound of a lightning hissing right behind him shocked gunil. turning around with tears welling in his eyes, he was barely able to notice the soldier, that was now lying on the ground, dead.

right after someone else collapsed near him. and gunil cried out once he noticed who it was. "hyeongjun!" running towards the firebender, who was now lying on the floor, gunil immediately noticed that something was wrong.

hyeongjun's skin was pale and his body kept twitching. blue blood seeped through the cracks of his flesh as he struggled to look at the elder. "help jiseok" he just hissed. "i'm vanishing... you don't have to see this.."

gunil shook his head. "i can't let you go through this alone, love.." hyeongjun's body convulsed again, his veins lightening up for a sole second. it looked scary and painful, as if his body restrained from perishing.

"it hurts.." "i know, baby, i know..." an arm laid around gunil, startling him. before gunil was able to see for himself, hyeongjun already groaned the name. "jiseok..."

gunil just invented reviving.

the young airbender acted like he himself just wasn't dead for minutes, putting his hand on hyeongjun's forehead. gunil couldn't hold back, one arm wrapping around his brother's body while the other still held hyeongjun's hand. which felt suspiciously heavy.

looking back at hyeongjun, gunil noticed his closed eyes. and jiseok made the last realisation. "he isn't breathing anymore..."

gunil felt the passing in his own body, as if his own heart was ripped apart. just shortly after, he passed away from the pain.

[...]

opening his eyes again, hyeongjun quickly noticed that he was back in the spirit world. what?

unable to move, he looked directly at the life spirit. "hyeongjun" it said, the deep voice resonating in the void. yet hyeongjun was unable to talk.

he quickly realised that he had no physical form anymore. how did it know that he was present?

"you lived a successful life, hyeongjun. but was it fulfilled?"

parts of his life flashed in front of his eyes. his meeting with jooyeon and jiseok, the reunion with gunil, all the adventures.

"there's something missing, don't you think?" the sight of the current events flashed in front of his eyes. jiseok trying to calm gunil's panic in the middle of chaos, blood and corpses.

"a happy ending is missing."

hyeongjun would've looked confused if he could, because it did confuse him. what does that mean?

the life spirit laughed and reached out to cover hyeongjun's sight with its hand. "you belong there, not here. hereby i bless you with the most valuable thing on the earth: a human life."