Ishihara // ATEEZ ✔

43 |2| Monochrome

All the young masters stand at the landing of the stairs, arms crossed. From the distance they can see two horses making their way back, their steps as tired as their owners. Wooyoung heaves a silent sigh of relief as he sees that they're not visibly hurt. Their faces are sullen as they pass through the arched entrance and Seonghwa is the first to go over to them, followed by Yeosang who's frowning as he inspects their bodies.

Seonghwa goes straight to hugging Akira, mumbling about how worried he was when they found out that both of them went missing. He doesn't care whether the rest of them see them or not, because he's glad that the two are finally back, safe and sound. But she doesn't return the gesture, and her arms only stay still by her side as he pulls her closer and as he asks her what's wrong, she only shakes her head weakly.

San watches from afar. He turns to Wooyoung before uttering, "This was what you wanted, right?" He gives no chance for the latter to answer before disappearing behind the large doors.

Akira wriggles free from Seonghwa's embrace without saying a word and only walks past him, with Yunho joining her as they make their way to the palace doors. Hongjoong, Wooyoung, Jongho and Mingi stay silent as the general and lieutenant ignore them, making no effort in greeting them or explaining where they went missing to. The rest only look on as the two enter the palace without giving a second glance.

In the palace, both of them part ways to their bedrooms silently. As soon as both of them lock themselves inside their rooms, they crash against their beds and their bodies feel like they would break from all that have happened in such a short time.

They are finally free, but it came with a cost.

They lost their friend, and she can never come back.

They made a mistake, and there is nothing they can do to fix it.

---

Flashback, 7 hours ago, Lucida palace

Their steps are heavy as they are about to step out of the palace compound, with this possibly being their last time they are allowed to be in here. The queen had let them go with a warning to not ever come to Lucida again, because she won't allow them to leave the place alive if they ever do come back. It was a difficult one to do so because Lucida was their home, but this was what they came here for. To finally be relieved of the queen's grasps.

How did our closest friend turn into our worst enemy?

Their thoughts become interrupted as there are shouts from the ground, and as they look for the reason of the commotion they see her, bathed in her own blood. White mixes with the brown earth and the green grass; Akira turns back almost immediately, ignoring the warnings they had gotten before. She almost trips as she runs over to the queen, falling over among the letters and she cradles the queen, trying to stop the blood that's coming out of her head.

"Why did you decide to end it like this? After you let us go?" she shouts at the queen who cannot form any coherent words.

It's always the same question. Why?

Akira presses her hand on the wound and shouts frantically at Yunho, who's unmoving, confusion taking over his ability to react. The other royal servants gather around them but Akira thinks to herself, why aren't they doing anything? Why are they only looking at us? She wants to shout at them to ask them to save her, to save the queen, but none of them are doing so. Some of them look lost, some only remain expressionless while some look like they're satisfied with what they're seeing.

Is this what the fate of their queen has come to?

"Emira, why are you doing this to yourself?" Akira says, exasperated. She isn't crying but her voice is breaking. She wants to run and find help, but at the same time she doesn't want to let go of her. "Jeong Yunho, fucking do something!" she shouts again to Yunho, but the lieutenant is still too shocked to register the situation that his limbs aren't responding.