Prince of Blood

7. Land Ahoy

Smut starting towards the end of the chapter

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It took Seungyoun, the man in the black hat and black coat a while to get back out to them. When he did, he looked impeccable, not wearing any reminders of what had happened between him and Hongjoong at all. There was no clue to go by as to what they had done behind closed doors, but from how Seonghwa knew Hongjoong, it had been undeniably something to do with sex.

Seungyoun also did not mention it with another word. Instead, he was polite enough to ask them if they as humans felt any weird changes in their bodies or brains ever since coming here. When they told him about their unease about the unnatural character of this realm, it still seemed far more harmless than what Hongjoong was going through. Seonghwa made sure to watch him like a hawk.

"'ow do ye perceive this world? As a demon it looks different, does it nay?" Yunho was unsurprisingly the most at ease with talking to their new friend. They were all standing at the tip of the ship and awaiting their arrival.

It was odd, being on a ship that did not need its sails reefed or anchor weighed. But then again, what in this world was not odd?

"It does. But it's not as if I see different creatures or landscapes. What you see is the general gist of it. We, however, we see the energies of things. Energies, that are too powerful for your human brains to understand, thus just viewing them as earthly things, or not at all. I see you not with faces and bodies, but as mere specks of colour, like auras. I can see that you don't belong in this realm."

Yeosang nodded thoughtfully where he was standing next to Seonghwa and twirling his overgrown hair in his fingers.

"So it's similar to Hongjoong, but he is kind of stuck in between. He sees odd colours, but still the shapes of things."

Seungyoun nodded his red hair that looked like molten copper painting dark streaks in his face.

"Indeed. He is an odd mixture of a creature from this realm and yours; thus gaining some supernatural abilities to his inherently human ones. The magic in his veins is stronger than yours."

Hongjoong coyly grinned as if he was proud of the weird being he had become after returning from the dead. Seonghwa was glad that he took it with humour and did not feel any residue discomfort from it.

How was it that Hongjoong was such a strong person? He was everything and more, standing with pride and tireless might while Seonghwa barely fought for himself.

Seonghwa averted his eyes from his husband once more, concentrating on the nearing black coast instead.

"The person you are meeting chose a good place to fight in. Her magic stems from here."

Wooyoung nodded his chin at the castle, already looking ready to fight again.

"Can we destroy it an' weaken 'er or something? Be that a possibility?"

Seungyoun gave a curious hum and then stepped away from the railing to lead them back over the Agony. His long legs carried him over to the plank in the time the ship turned and threw the wood down as if lifted by an invisible hand. With a wet slap, it landed in the dark sand.

"I don't know. But I would like to see you try." With that, he rose his gloved hand to gesture for them to go first. Hongjoong did, not hesitating a second before his heavy steps thundered down the plank followed by his loyal crew. As usual, Seonghwa went last so he could keep an eye on them all. His hands rested on his weapons tensely as he passed Seungyoun and joined the others on the sand.

Especially Yeosang would have liked to look around for a bit longer, but Hongjoong urged them to hurry. There was no time to be spent exploring these unsettling surroundings. They were here on a mission.