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"Jungwoo, please," Lucas begged, clutching the boy's frozen body closer to his beating heart. Of course, he was never going to get a response from Jungwoo, but that didn't stop him from spewing out plea after plea.
"I'm sorry. I love you so much," the man whispered helplessly, letting his lover fall limp with a dull and finalizing thud. Jaemin and Renjun had raced up the stairs upon hearing Lucas' cries and the bump that followed and were faced with a sickeningly beautiful scene. Jungwoo's blue locks contrasted the red dipped glass that glittered against the floor like stars in the night sky, his face pale and serene. The boy that had once held a dangerously red blush on his cheeks now had a different shade of red dripping carelessly down his face, stemming from the large gash on his head that acted as a dam for the river of blood. Jaemin expected horror, maybe even anger, to have been Jungwoo's last expression, but he looked nothing less than angelic and contented as he laid lifeless on the floor. Lucas thought he was an angel before he died, and at that moment, he felt like nothing less than a monster, Satan himself, for killing such a delicate angel.
"I'll be sure to tell Satan you think he's that awful," a voice chided sarcastically. Lucas sighed in an attempt to cool the rage lingering in his heart at the recognition of the voice.
"Are you here to take something else from me? You took my friends, my home, and now my lover. What else could you possibly want from me?"
"Compassion, possibly. But you clearly seem to lack that," she remarked as she eyed the wilting rose by her feet.
"Just leave me alone, Amora," Lucas hissed, facing the witch that caused the majority of his suffering.
"I prefer Enchantress, thank you." She stalked towards him with a scowl on her face, gently prodding Jungwoo's body with her catastrophic heels.
"Get out of my head." Lucas wanted to scream, claw, do anything that would cause harm to the woman he hadn't seen in years. Amora heard his empty threats, but dismissed them, getting straight to the reason for her visit.
"You have one final test," she spoke nonchalantly, adding fuel to Lucas' fire.
"Test? This is all one giant test to you? The love of my life is lying dead next to you and you have the audacity to say that to me?" Lucas snapped, glaring daggers at Amora, who was smiling back at him.
"I'll make you a deal, puppy," she continued, ignoring his expected outburst. "You can have your precious lover back, but you have to trade a life for his."
Lucas stared numbly at the hellish woman.
"Take your pick." She gestured to his servants that had watched the scene unfold. Lucas eyed them all with no expression, no hints at the terrifying thoughts running through his head. Jaemin caught his attention first, the way the candlestick hugged Jeno closer, despite the risk of them both being burned. Renjun was staring right back at him when he got to the sarcastic clock, and he had to physically pry himself away from the object that seemed to read his blank pages. Kun and Jisung were huddled together, and anyone who wasn't looking close enough would miss the way Kun shielded Jisung ever so slightly with his fragile body.
Lucas swallowed the bile rising in his throat and locked eyes with Jaemin, who was shivering with fear despite the warmth he radiated. Lucas nodded at the witch, who grinned maliciously at the choice she believed he was making.
"Good choice. I always knew you we-" Lucas interrupted her praise with a surprising announcement.
"Me, I choose myself. No one's life in this room is meaningless enough for me to barter like a simple coin, except for mine. I deserve it," he mumbled his last sentence, hoping no one could hear the guilt oozing from his words. Amora's grin faltered, a new emotion taking control of her features, one that Lucas pegged as sympathy, maybe even pity.
"I've misjudged you, Beast, but if that is your wish?" She glanced to him for confirmation on his life-threatening choice.
"I'd rather die than have someone else pay for my faults."
Amora nodded her head and raised her jewelry clad hand, chanting unfamiliar words under her breath. The air seemed to stiffen, falling into a heavy and tense silence as she finished her casting. She sent Lucas a pitiful grin before the room was encased in a blinding light, yet, Lucas was the only one who squinted. He assumed this was the process of his death, the cliche white light, and mystical figure, so he was shocked when he felt himself being lifted from the ground by the force of sheer wind.
He fell to the ground with a painful hiss, the shock on his knees rendering him crippled for a few seconds. When he could finally open his eyes, he was surprised to see the same scene he had just desperately tried to escape, but with a different lifeless body. Jungwoo's skin was returning to its pinkish color, his fingers twitching involuntarily as he regained consciousness. Amora, however, laid on the floor.
She had no signs of death, no wound or puncture mark, but she was indeed dead. Lucas could only thank her frantically, holding her pale hand in his own, for saving Jungwoo's life with her own. The body faded away right in front of his eyes, seemingly turning into dust before riding on the breeze from the cold night.
"Thank you," Lucas said one final time, glancing at the iridescent moon.
"Lucas?" Jungwoo called groggily, rubbing his eyes like he had awoken from a deep slumber and not death.
"I'm so sorry, Jungwoo," Lucas apologized. He reached out to touch the boy hesitantly, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt. He didn't deserve to touch Jungwoo the way he used to after getting him killed.
Jungwoo clearly disagreed as he threw himself into Lucas' arms, sobbing quietly onto his shoulder.
"I love you so much," he mumbled through his tears.
"I love you so much more." Lucas removed Jungwoo's head from his shoulder, the blue locks soft between his fingers. He placed a tender kiss on the boys awaiting lips, savoring the taste he would never have to live without again.
