blind star // txt taegyu

stars over me

Beomgyu had ended up following Minseon because he was a busy-body that needed to know everything Taehyun was doing. She didn't push him away or tell him off, so he assumed it was okay for him to follow her. Watching her throw around orders and receiving a simple 'Yes, Captain Durandal' seemed admirable to him — albeit authoritarian, she seemed to do her job well, based on how she was trusted.

"We have surveillance on central Seoul," Minseon said, sitting down on one of the chairs and the man beside her quickly turned on the camera view on the large screens. Everyone made sounds of shock at the sight. A building had been pierced with a large ice shard, extending over 30 metres in length. "Property damage, damn it..."

"Is that Mister Doctor Soobin's ability?!" Beomgyu exclaimed in shock. "He said his Scher energy output was weak, but he can do that?!"

"Soobin is generally weak," Minseon affirmed, "but with the extra energy from the Herrscher fragment, he's far more stronger. Hopefully Taehyun doesn't destroy anything like before."

"They're preparing to fight," Beomgyu said, pointing at the screen. Taehyun was visible, as projected by the red and black whisps flowing around a figure on the screen. "He managed to dodge the ice..."

"Soobin can use his primary style as a Scher, which is a bit more dangerous than the Corruption ability," Minseon said. "I suggest we send evacuation teams out. We don't want an excess of traffic as people try to evacuate on their own. Send busses out to Central, and only pick up those within a 3km radius."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Send out body retrieval units," she added. "We probably have a lot of corpses to tidy up. Notify the council of a biological attack on Seoul Central."

Beomgyu watched as people ran out the room hurriedly. "You really know what you're doing, huh?"

"Scher attacks happen all the time — Herrscher attacks, not so much," she replied. "I'm trained for this. It's why we're part of the SCPU, after all."

"How has Soobin held back this entire time if he suddenly... broke like this?"

"I don't know his intentions or how long he's been holding out," she said, "but for the past two months or so, he's been begging me to get him regulated. As his aunt, I can't let him go through all of that. Eden Chambers barely work because the energy recharge is just so fast in a Herrscher. They're truly... unstoppable."

Beomgyu looked at the screen, watching as the ice shard grew slowly. "Scary."

"This is the world we live in, dear Beomgyu," Minseon said, turning around to face him. "All we can do is adapt and defend ourselves as best we can. We may not have the most orthodox methods of... controlling Schers, but there's not much we can do. Herrscher cores are learning — evolving on their own. Soon enough, the world will be faced with the Herrscher of the End, which will probably result in the end of life as we know it."

Beomgyu vaguely remembered and offhand comment Taehyun had made before about such a Herrscher, and in classic Beomgyu style, he didn't pay attention to that detail. "What... can the Herrscher of the End do?"

"The Final Herrscher will be able to control the evolved or modified core inside it completely, having the ability to use every style bestowed upon it," she answered. "While they wouldn't be able to use the power of Pseudos, being able to manipulate time, space and the elements is still something to fear. Fortunately, its creation seems to be outside of our lifetimes."

Beomgyu released a sigh of relief, but gathered that the Herrscher of the End was an inevitable feat, whether for the current SCPU or for those having to defend and contain Schers. "Taehyun seems pretty damn close to the Herrscher of the End."

"Which is what we fear," she muttered, turning around again. "The ability to form a universe with just sheer will is... phenomenal. It's why we are so... careful around him. We obey his orders and demands because he'd overreact if we don't. But you... you're a good control."

"Control?"

"I hate to say it, but we're manipulating him by using you," she answered truthfully. "He loves you, and it's awfully obvious. He'd do anything for you. You're part of the SCPU and you're fighting the good fight — so he'd do the same."

"He's fighting the good fight because he wants to—"

"Kang Taehyun is a Herrscher and he alone could destroy anything if he wanted," Minseon interrupted. "He's dangerous, powerful and a true threat to society. He knows what he's capable of — his will has surpassed hatred. He's in control of that core and won't fall into hatred. He simply has power and he knows what he can do with it."

"Stop pinning him to be some sort of villain," Beomgyu snapped suddenly. "I don't give a damn what you think about him. Point blank, he's here and that enough proof that he cares about humanity."

"Only because you're telling him to not go around and murder people," she added, not even looking at the boy behind her. "People grow tired, Beomgyu. Ideals change. People change. Not even you can convince him to always fight the good fight. He's definitely not a terrible person, but he knows what he can do and will keep us in line by reminding us."

Beomgyu didn't want to admit that she was right and rather remained silent for a moment. "Do you think Taehyun will kill Soobin...?"

"More than likely," she confirmed, "so don't be too upset if he doesn't listen to you. I'll probably lose my nephew tonight, but... hopefully Taehyun taps in to the little bit of humanity left inside him."

"He fully accepts himself as no longer being human, but still hates being a Herrscher."

"Oh, please. He's just saying that so that you feel bad for him," Minseon scoffed slightly. "He's only saying that so that he isn't seen as a bad guy when he kills someone because of his Herrscher power. He knows what he's doing. He knows that he can kill anyone with the snap of a finger. He killed the Sixth Herrscher of Flamescion — a Herrscher we had to hide from the world because of how dangerous he is. He loves being a Herrscher — because now he can feel powerful in a world that used to hate him."

Beomgyu looked at the screen as the three jagged red outlined stars appeared in the sky, slightly illuminating the starless sky. He was worried, terrified and afraid — Taehyun was the sweet boy he had misunderstood and fallen in love with. The boy he had protected. The boy he swore to never abandon or let go. "He wouldn't kill him, right...?"