Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

018

I didn't take us long to pack our bags, snuff out the smoldering bonfire and make our way to the edge of the icy cavern where the clear purple sky was looming brightly above the vast landscape of fresh snow that looked almost untouched.

Perfect and soft, I thought. Innocent.

But then I remembered our past experiences with the cold nature of District 8, and I quickly took a step back.

Everyone was wounded and exhausted, but the group had all insisted that they were well enough to keep moving.

And so, that was the plan that we had decided on sticking to.

No matter how slowly, we would just have to keep moving forward.

I held the broken pedestal close to my chest, shivering a little as the cold from the ice burned at my skin despite the thick layer of clothes, looking back at San one last time.

The ice elemental stood a couple of meters away from us, leaning against the smooth icy wall of the cavern with crossed arms.

He kept staring at me with that curious look in his eyes, and I was just as confused now as I had been the first time I saw it.

"Are you sure that you're not coming?" Jongho asked, motioning toward the snowy landscape in front of us, but San simply shook his head.

I could hear Wooyoung mumbling something under his breath about the ice elemental.

I sent a glare in his direction as I mentally rolled my eyes at his childish behavior.

San ignored him, though, getting off the wall before closing the space between us with a only couple of steps, stepping when he was standing face to face with me.

Everyone stayed silent, and he searched my eyes for a couple for seconds before seemingly reaching a conclusion, as if he had been debating something silently with himself.

With a sigh, San placed his hand on the symbol on the side of the broken pedestal that I was holding.

A bright white light suddenly glowed from within, blinding the entire group for a couple of seconds before a wave of cold hit us and a familiar clicking sound could be heard throughout the silent cavern.

I looked down at the pedestal to see that the ice elementals' symbol at the top had split into two halves, giving me a perfect view of the glittering diamond that was resting in the middle of the ice.

The Diamond of Ledus.

"You deserve it," San said, and he apparently noticed how I was about to protest because he immediately continued, cutting me off before I got the chance to speak.

"It's the least I can do. I'll stay here, though, in District 8, that is. I wish you luck on your journey, y/n."

I thanked him, bowing my head in gratefulness before standing up even straighter than before, carefully placing the now-empty pedestal on the ground.

"Stay safe," I told San, and with one last smile, I made my way back out into the snowy landscape of District 8.

Flanked by Mingi, Jongho, Yunho, and Wooyoung, we left the ice elemental behind.

Fate had a strange way of changing our plans.

No matter how hard we tried to make our wishes come true.

No matter how hard we tried to prepare, to plan.

Maybe we weren't meant to be 9, but 8, or maybe even fewer than that if we couldn't convince other elementals to help us either.