cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

three

Mark was leaning back against the far wall of the lair, tapping his foot and worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he waited. About an hour had passed since Jeno had entered the portal, and Jaemin had told him to expect to wait much longer. Time might pass by differently in the new world, he explained, and it was possible that Jeno spent a long time between the worlds when he traveled. They had no way of knowing for sure, so the only thing they could do was bite their tongues and wait.

After another thirty minutes had passed, the portal started to glow with more vibrancy than before. Mark and the guards beside him froze, staring down at the glowing abyss in anticipation. Jaemin and the sorcerers continued to hold hands in their summoning circle, clearly concentrating on using their magical abilities to keep the portal open.

Then, two figures emerged from the portal in the ground, springing up and landing in a heap on the stone floor still drenched in potion. Everyone gasped, and John and Jisung rushed forward to examine who had arrived.

There was Jeno, lying on the floor on his back, and laying across his chest was a young looking boy nobody recognized but whose scent was so potent that it filled the entire room. It smelt sweet, like honey and sugar, and Mark felt his breath catch in his throat.

Jeno had found him an omega.

The sorcerers dispersed, backing away from each other and the two people lying in the middle, and the portal started to slowly close as a result. The stranger—the omega—lifted his head and looked up just in time to see the portal shrink to the size of a coin, and he let out a wail as he tried to leap forward to prevent it from closing all the way. It was useless, and the boy just landed in a puddle of the potion, his knees knocking against the hard stone.

"No!" The omega sobbed, his head falling between his arms as he crouched in the place where the portal had been.

Jisung rushed forward to help Jeno stand to his feet, while John slowly crouched down next to the omega. John was probably the best person to talk to the small boy, Mark thought—he might be tall and intimidating, but he was naturally gentle and friendly, and he had always had a knack for making people feel comfortable around him.

"Hey, are you alright?" John asked softly, placing a hand on the omega's shoulder. The boy flinched horribly, whimpering and backing away from the touch. John understood, and respectfully let his hand fall back at his side. "What is your name, omega?"

The boy finally looked up at everyone else in the room, his red eyes darting around wildly before he locked eyes with Mark across the room. Mark cleared his throat, cautiously starting to inch closer as well.

"Where... where am I? What is going on?" The boy sniffled, going to wipe his face with his hand before realizing that it was drenched in the potion. He cringed, resigning to just keeping his hands planted in front of him on the floor.

"You are in the Neo Kingdom," John said, keeping his voice as soft and gentle as possible. Everyone else in the room stared at the small omega silently, clearly in awe. For a lot of people in the room, this was their first time ever seeing a real omega in person, and it was clear that everyone was holding their breath doing their best not to startle the poor boy, which Mark was incredibly grateful for.

"The Neo... huh?" The omega murmured, turning around and looking behind him, staring up at the large stone wall in a mixture of confusion and fear. His upper body trembled visibly. "Where... where did the fountain go? How did I...?"

"You are no longer in your world," Jaemin spoke up. The omega whirled around to look at him, his eyes widening in alarm. "You went through a portal, and now you are in our world, The Neo Kingdom. Forget about whatever you left behind, because it is gone."