Cursed Hearts | ATEEZ

045 FEARLESS

The glimpse was quick, a flash of memories more than anything; I found myself in the middle of an autumn meadow, running through the landscape of warm colours, my feet moving on their own, out of breath and laughing so much that my chest hurt as I turned back to look at Wooyoung chasing after me, realizing that his eyes were already locked on me.

My gaze flickered to the sky as I finally came to a halt, a shaky breath leaving my lips as I watched the leaves falling from the trees overhead, surrounding us; crimson the colour of blood, the colour of the sand in the hourglass, I realized.

I reached out to catch one, my midnight skin a stark contrast to the golden landscape around me, slowly turning to offer the leaf to the King next to me, earning a smile that made my heart swell with happiness only for it to be washed away by confusion and then panic as it melted away, changed, broke-

I gasped as I suddenly found myself back in the room with the columns and the eight objects and the endless world of night looming behind the wall across from me. I felt out of breath as I turned to stare at the moon only to immediately turn back to the hourglass in front of me.

It was exactly like my dream. I had been haunted by the visions in that dream for weeks only to realize, just before I almost died underneath the pyramids in Cairo, that I had somehow caught a glimpse of a memory that wasn't mine.

The memory had been Selene's. I knew that now, knew that I had watched her final moments with the Eight Kings of Haelan, watched the very moment the Curse of Clouds and Bone was released, just as I, at that very moment, realized that the glimpse I had just watched was the very same thing.

The hourglass was a gift, I realized, gifted to the Goddess by the King of Autumn himself. I swallowed thickly, feeling like I had just seen something I wasn't supposed to but, at the same time, I felt warm, relieved, happy for the look of joy I had seen in Wooyoung's eyes, knowing that there had been warmth and light in those early days they had spent together.

I slowly turned around to the other columns, letting my eyes travel to the one directly opposite Wooyoung's where a crystal ball was resting atop the marbled surface. I barely hesitated, barely thought twice about it before my feet began to move, barely had time to catch my breath as I touched the cold surface of the glass and closed my eyes-

I stumbled forward into the endless field of lavender, the scent almost overwhelming as I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me as the King of the West reached out to catch me before I fell. Staring up into Yunho's hazel eyes, so similar to Wooyoung's and yet completely their own, I felt momentarily out of breath until I was once again shaken from my thoughts by the bright smile that crept onto my face.

The glimpse was over before I got a chance to see more, leaving me lightheaded and also sad as I realized that all of this was no more, that the goddess was no more. Yunho had never smiled at me like that, never looked at me like that.

I turned to the third column, eyes locking onto an oil lamp glowing like gold in the flickering candlelights, "The King of Summer," I said, reaching out to touch it, this time feeling more prepared, as I closed my eyes and found myself on a sandbank by the shore of a river. The sunset took up most of the horizon, colouring the very sky gold, the same colour as Mingi's hair as he took a step closer to me and kept his gaze trained on the ground, his ears slightly red-

It was the same for the fourth column; the sudden wave of sadness that washed over me as I touched the golden compass, watching the needle spin around before landing on the south as the world turned dark before revealing endless landscapes of mountains and water.