Do you wish to know how to save your world?
.
Do you wish to have a second chance?
.
Do you wish to meet your savior?
.
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The rays of the morning sun casted on the sleeping figure's face, the light was too bright to ignore, and the man slowly turned to his side to avoid it; however, sleep had already left him the moment he stirred, and his consciousness finally started to wake. Onyx black eyes slowly blinked open and the first thing the man saw was a blur of red against the white sheets, as his vision became clearer, he realized that there was another man that was lying too close next to him.
A familiar face, a familiar color of hair.. This person ..
Cale Henituse.
Choi Han finally jolted awake as he sat up and his fury rose, raising his fist and ready to attack once he realized the identity of the bastard that was sleeping next to him in his room– he paused after that and looked around. This is not his room, it is too lavished and big, the furniture and white marble that surrounded the room is too different from his own. He slowly lowered his hand and rubbed his head, just what the fuck happened?
The last thing he recalled is that he was fighting with that White Star bastard, and he was unfortunately on the disadvantage. That bastard is just too strong and had alliances with strong kingdoms from the eastern continent that the war had dragged on for years and years and yet Choi Han hadn't defeated him. His friends and allies had died and yet Choi Han can't even get his revenge, he had crossed swords with the White star several times and it felt like the bastard was just toying with him at this point. His fight with him yesterday was probably his worst fight, he was not in the right headspace and had thought of just giving up. He slowly sees no point in what he was fighting for, the people he cared for had died and he had closed his heart to get attached to someone just to lose them again.
He had enough.
He was tired.
What's the point of being strong when you can't even protect the people you love?
He knew he had given up the moment that fire sword made contact with his neck and then everything went black. He recalled hearing a voice offering something to him, he could not remember much of it but the moment he heard of a second chance..
Choi Han probably said yes in desperation.
He could not recall much after that and now he had woken up in a strange room in the most fucked up situation, seeing Cale Henituse's face first thing in the morning is something that he did not imagine in his tens of years of existence. He would rather wake up next to a monster than.. Whatever the hell this is.
Why is he here? What is this place? Is this a dream? Another world? Is he on a test?
"Fuck.." Choi Han muttered.
His gaze shifted back to the red-haired man and frowned, Cale Henituse, this bastard who insulted his family in Harris village. A trash of a noble that needed to be beaten up, Choi Han would never forget him and what he said. He was the type of person who could not forget if someone insulted the people that he treasures. After beating this asshole, they barely crossed paths, it seems that Cale Henituse had avoided him and did not get in his way, but every time Choi Han sees him that anger still burns specially since the bastard didn't even apologize. he still continued being his usual trashy way. A spoiled rich noble that does whatever he wants because he can get away from it, other nobles had lost all sense of respect to him and avoided him, common people are driven by fear each time he passes by looking piss drunk with a bottle on his hand. however, this all changed when the Henituse household perished, as the only survivor the man suddenly signed up for the war.
After that Choi Had often had encounters with him yet they did not exchange words nor greetings, everyone had changed at some point, everyone just wanted to end this war. Cale Henituse probably joined to avenge his family or just to put an end to it all, he did not really know. But there is one thing he was sure of, Cale Henituse is dead. He saw him die while fighting the White Star so why is he here? And Cale Henituse looked a lot younger than the last time he had seen him.
This whole situation is giving him some headache that he could not help but groan.
"Choi Han why do you keep moving, you'll wake the human up."
Choi Han flinched when he heard the unknown voice, his fist curled ready to attack as he tried to locate where the voice came from. There was some rustling, and he finally noticed a lump underneath the blanket on Cale Henituse's stomach. It moved and a small black blob of a head peeked out.
A small dragon.
His pupil shook after realizing who it was, this dragon.. How could he forget those blue eyes and look at him with sorrow, pleading to him to end his miserable life. Choi Han felt grief as he strikes his sword to that dragon to end its misery. Yet now those eyes are bright and full of life, so this dragon lived after all.
"He won't wake up unless there's an earthquake anyways."
Another voice quipped, this time a silver cat slowly stretched, Choi Han did not notice they were cats sleeping in between him and Cale Henituse. The red one seems to be still asleep, while the silver one started to paw at the sheets.
These kittens were from the cat tribe? Just what the hell is going on?
"Strong Choi Han, you should head out first, the human will wake later, we all know that" The dragon said while resting his head back down.
Choi Han frowned and stared at them for a while "Yeah" he said before moving to wear his boots and left the room without glancing back at them.
On and Raon looked at each other once Choi Han left and they blinked at this strange feeling, they both seemed to notice that something was off with the swordsman.
"Did he forget to give us a head pat?" Raon asked.
"He must be still sleepy" On added but that look he gave them earlier; it was cold and a little scary she could feel her fur stand and that never happened involving Choi Han before. "It's weird," She murmured to herself before curling back next to her brother, she should mention this to Cale later.
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Choi Han walked in the hallway, this floor that was covered by white marble and fancy decorations seemed empty. There was only one bedroom here, the master's bedroom he presumed. He found the stairs and walked down to the lower floor, compared to the other one this floor had a lot of doors. Choi Han walked in the hallway observing his surroundings, taking note of the number of rooms. the first thing he needs to do is figure out the situation he is currently in and then his surroundings in order to blend in. suddenly the door on his right opened and he instinctively reached out to his hip only to realize that he was not carrying his sword.
"Hyung!"
Choi Han saw Lock leaving his room and closing the door as he approached him, the young wolf had a smile on his face, and it made Choi Han clench his fist. The overlapping image of his treasured friend unmoving and buried in rubble as he drew his last breath made him take a step back.
"You woke up a little late today, did you rest well?" Lock asked him in that innocent and concerned voice that Choi Han missed.
"Yeah.." Choi Han could not even utter a word right now, just seeing Lock is already giving him too much heartache, but despite all the swirling emotions the one that surpassed them all is the feeling of happiness to see him again. He instinctively reached out to give him a gentle pat on the head, this boy that he treated as his younger brother, he missed him.
Lock smiled at the gesture before taking Choi Han's wrist and guiding him to the stairs. "Let's go, they are preparing for breakfast."
Choi Han silently followed him, he had a feeling that he needed to brace himself the more he ventured to this place, if the dragon, Cale Henituse and Lock were alive then the others– his train of thoughts were interrupted when he heard the faint voices from the first floor, he continued to follow Lock as he was led to the dining room and Choi Han's heart almost stopped. The wolf children, Lock's siblings, were setting the table and greeted him good morning. He then took note of the long table at the center, the breakfast was like a feast, and he walked to them giving small pats on the excited kids and stood there looking around a little mesmerized.
"If you are not going to help, move."
The low gruff voice belongs to someone that Choi Han is familiar with, he turned around to see Beacrox carrying two large plates of food, frowning at him. It felt strange to hear the tone that was used on him, Beacrox is someone that respected him, even though at first, he spoke to him like this too but the longer they spent time and fought together they gained mutual trust and respect. Choi Han let it slide for now as he sidestepped and Beacrox moved to set the food down while making sure everything is clean and perfect on the table set up. He didn't change at all, it was the same guy he knew through and through, and he was one of the last people to stand with Choi Han on the battlefield along with Rosalyn and Alberu.
"Good morning Eruhaben-nim" Lock greeted, and Choi Han looked behind him to see a man with golden hair.
An elf?
No, it's not an elf, this person is way too powerful and the aura he had is different. Choi Han observed the other as he walked towards the dining table and sat down, he was able to take a good look at his features.
Choi Han scoffed.
A fucking dragon.
Eruhaben raised a brow as he heard the scoff, even Beacrox frowned at that, but he returned to the kitchen along with the other children.
"Is something amusing?" Eruhaben asked.
"Nothing," Choi Han replied.
He could not believe there were not one but two dragons in this house, the blue wolf tribe and two kittens from the cat tribe. It's like a gathering of different powerful races, it made Choi Han wonder what kind of fate brought all these people together. Dragons did not even involve themselves in the war that's currently happening in the continent, they usually stay out of human affairs and would not intervene. It would have been great to have one on their side, but unfortunately, they are fending the white star on their own.
He just finds it amusing that one dragon was lying down on the soft bed with Cale Henituse while the other was leisurely sitting on the dining table chatting with Lock like it's something normal.
"Could you call Rosalyn from her lab? She'll probably forget to eat once she starts on her project" Eruhaben added, and Choi Han flinched upon hearing Rosalyn's name.
She's here too? He should have really expected that.
Choi Han nodded "Sure" he walked away only to be stopped by Lock.
"Hyung! Where are you going? That's where the training ground is Miss Rosalyn is on the basement."
"Right.of course" Choi Han looked around for a moment and followed where Lark was pointing before leaving the dining hall.
Eruhaben, Lock and some of the wolf children stared at one another,
"He seemed a little out of it" Maes commented and Eruhaben hummed in approval.
"Indeed"
Choi Han took quite some time to find the basement, the place is big, and his mind is still in a little disarray processing all the things he was seeing. On his way he even encountered another group of people, and it made him think just how many people lived here.
"Choi Han!"
This one at least is someone he recognized, the crazy priestess Cage. He had seen and heard about her, even worked with her a couple of times, however the two blondes with her were someone he was not familiar with. He must have seen them but it's not really ringing a bell.
The three of them approached him, the blonde boy smiled at him as he greeted him good morning while the woman ..now upon closer inspection he could see that her pale skin is covered with black spider webs lines, and it looked a little unsettling as she smirked at him.
"Where are you going? Not having breakfast?" Cage asked.
"I'm going to get Rosalyn"
"Oh, Miss Mary is probably with her," the blonde man said.
Miss Mary? That's another person he does not know.
"You woke up late? And here I was looking forward to having a morning spar with you, it's been a while since we visited" The woman who Choi Han noticed had a sword on her hip said, he tilted his head to assess her strength. Not bad, she was quite strong. It would be indeed nice to have a spar with her, when was the last time that he had a casual spar? Since the war started Choi Han did not have such free time anymore, he was training soldiers after all.
There was a small smirk on his face as he eyed her "Let's spar later then."
"That's more like it!" She chuckled and tapped his shoulder with the back of her hand as she walked past him.
Cage and the other blond followed her as they called out that they would be waiting at the dining room.
Choi Han glanced at his shoulder with a small huff before walking towards the basement. There are several doors here and he found Rosalyn's lab upon seeing her name on the door. This reminded Choi Han when Rosalyn became the tower master, she was always busy but also very happy and had a lot of ideas that she reinforced them to help them win some of the battles, Rosalyn has always been smart and the most reliable in his group after all and this brought back some fond memories when they still had some time to relax.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in. there's no dangerous stuff that's present."
Choi Han smiled at this and opened the door "That better be true" He replied and heard a chuckle from her "Breakfast is ready" he said, and his eyes shifted to see a person covered in black hooded robe sitting beside Rosalyn.
"Good morning"
A monotone voice came out from underneath the robe, it was a woman so Choi Han deduced that this must be Mary, he stared at them for a moment assessing them. Rosalyn had gotten so much stronger in this world, than the last time he had seen her and this Mary, she was very strong too. he took notice of the spider like webs on her exposed hands, and he almost scoffed. Another existence that he did expect to see.
A necromancer.
"Come upstairs" he said before leaving, the two women turned to each other, and Rosalyn spoke as she stood up.
"Is he in a bad mood?"
Mary only shrugged at this.
As Choi Han walked back to the dining hall, he saw Ron coming downstairs, the old man smiled at him with that usual benign smile of his. Choi Han would admit that he sorts of missed that smile on the assassin's face, Ron after all is someone who is a loyal companion as well. It's been years since he last saw him before he..
"I've heard that you are not in a good mood today punk" Ron said as they walked to the dining room.
"Not really"
Ron looked at him for a moment before walking inside the dining room, Rosalyn and Mary passed by him as they took their respective seats. Choi Han paused by the door as he looked at this scene, everyone was chatting away and seated on the long table, he could not remember the last time that he saw a scene like this. Being at war with the White Star for twenty years is not an easy feat, some people in his own dining table already left their seats leaving him drinking alone on an empty table.
Choi Han clenched his fist, he was not sure what to feel, he was happy, he was also angry and frustrated but most of all he was envious.
How lucky is this Choi Han to have everyone he cared for still share a meal with him, laughing and relaxing like this, while he had to suffer losing people again and again.
"Are you going to move?"
That voice made him snap out of his thoughts and he looked back to see Cale Henituse standing behind him. For some reason he got stunned seeing him fully awake, He is aware that the man had such good looks, but it still caught him off guard. he shook his head at that stupid thought, he saw that the dragon was floating beside him while he was carrying the two cats in his arms.
"Strong Choi Han! Sit down now I'm hungry!" The dragon used his round head to push him towards his seat.
Choi Han realized that the right seat from the head of the table was vacant, was his. He had no choice but to sit down and Cale Henituse walked to sit at the head of the table while the two cats transformed into their human form and sat on Cale Henituse's left side along with the dragon. He also noticed that none of them had touched their food yet, Choi Han silently observed them looking at the red-haired man getting comfortable on his seat.
"Let's eat" Cale Henituse said.
Once the words left his mouth everybody started to eat, the conversation flowed on the table, and everyone was eating happily. Choi Han glanced at Cale Henituse who was filling the plates of the children to his left and giving a small pat on the dragon's head before taking a bite from his own food. It was strange to see the man that he hated act with such affection to other people, Choi Han looked down at his food and then to the people around the table, holding his fork he was feeling conflicted and suffocated being here that he was unable to take a bite of his food.
"Do you not like the food?"
Choi Han turned to the voice, Cale Henituse was looking at him, he then shifted his gaze to Beacrox who were glaring at him, daring him to say something bad about the food he made, Choi Han did not want to rise his ire, so he shook his head.
"No, It's fine"
"Because you look like you wanted to stab it" Cale Henituse added offhandedly but it only made Choi Han frown, how come every time this man opens his mouth it makes his blood boil.
"I said it's fine, Cale" He replied in a clipped tone before taking a bite of his food.
The chatter on the table slowly died down.
"Ho.." That was Eruhaben.
Choi Han saw the slight shock on Cale Henituse's face for a split second before it returned to the stoic expression he was wearing since he arrived at the room.
"Alright" Cale Henituse said and continued eating.
That was strange, he could feel a couple pairs of eyes in his direction, the adults became silent and were throwing glances at the two of them. Ron looked like he was about to throw his steak knife at him, the golden dragon was peeking at him behind the rim of his cup as he sipped his tea. Lock was trying his best not to glance at him while Rosalyn was asking him with her gaze.
'What's wrong?'
That questioning gaze is something Choi Han is familiar with, but he only shrugged and started to eat. Who cares about how they looked at him, he did not offend them or anything and he honestly does not give a fuck. besides the food tastes good in his mouth, trust Beacrox to make something delicious as always.
The awkward air slowly disappeared as the kids broke the silence in the dining area.
"Human! Are we visiting your family today?" The dragon asked while looking up at Cale Henituse.
"No Raon, that's tomorrow's schedule."
Choi Han observed them and finally learned the name of the dragon, the two members of the cat tribe On and Hong, he also overheard the conversation between the two blondes who were Hannah and Jack. Now that he heard the names, he was certain that these two were the holy maiden and saint of the church of sun god at the Empire, the one who was responsible for the bombing that killed the Pope, the holy maiden were found dead however the saint was prosecuted and was imprisoned, they found him dead too. These two suffered an awful fate of being wrongly accused and died and yet here they are having a casual dinner with Cale Henituse. Choi Han is not sure how the two ended up here which made him make up his mind to learn more about this world.
Because how the hell everything here turned out right?
"So, what are we going to do today?" Hong asked while placing down his glass of juice, Cale Henituse sighed and reached out to swipe the bits of crumbs on the corner of the child's lips and continued to eat.
"I'm going back to sleep."
"But human! You've been sleeping and sleeping the whole day!" Raon protested and banged his paw on the table, making the plates clatter.
"That's the plan"
"Good Choi Han! Tell the human to do some exercise! He is getting weaker everyday he can't even get up on the bed on his own!"
"I'm pretty sure young master Cale is doing some exercising too," Cage added with a smile on her face trying to pacify the young dragon.
Choi Han remained silent during this exchange as he ate.
The three children looked at each other in question, they were with Cale most of the time and they have never seen him do some exercising. "Like what?" Hong asked.
"Breathing" Eruhaben commented before Cage could even reply.
Pleased, there was a small smile on Cale's face as he nodded "Exactly as Eruhaben-nim says. Breathing exercises is good for your health too."
"Lies!" Raon huffed.
It was now Rosalyn's turn and Cale could already feel that whatever she was going to say would not be good, he should stop this.
"Or he can do some exercising with Choi Han, hm?"
Cale turned his head to her direction with a frown and a look that said, 'stop it this instant'. Rosalyn slightly raised her hands to surrender as she chuckled, of course the people who were able to pick up the reference of her joke were trying not to laugh with the few exceptions of the others and the children who were looking at Choi Han and Cale.
Rosalyn was observing Choi Han who did not react to the double-sided joke, it was fun teasing Choi Han and usually the swordsman would start to get flustered mumbling excuses, trying to save himself out of embarrassment. But she had seen none of that, the man barely reacted at all.
Choi Han frowned, this atmosphere and conversation, he was certainly out of the loop. He glanced at Cale Henituse and recalled what Raon said, this guy is weak? Well, he certainly does not pose any threat, he was too pale and a little skinny a proof that he probably hasn't left this place or move around that much. Not that it matters, he was not in the mood to indulge in this conversation either. As he ate the conversation shifted to something else and he did not listen to the most of it, however he suddenly felt a nudge on his knee and he looked towards Cale Henituse who were looking at him, raising a brow and for some reason Choi Han was able to understand the message of that look.
'Is everything alright?'
Choi Han could only nod before avoiding his gaze and picking up his glass of juice, Cale Henituse did not prod him further and the breakfast went well. The wolf children helped Beacrox clean the table and the people started to disperse to continue their tasks. Lock led Choi Han to the training grounds along with the other wolf children and once he left Rosalyn glanced at Cale who was finishing his lemonade tea with a disgruntled expression.
"Did you two have a fight?" She asked and Eruhaben tilted his head also waiting for his answer.
"No, not that I know of."
Raon looked at Cale as he stood up and he went to attach himself on his back as usual. On and Hong already went out with Ron to do their training as well, so it was only the four of them that was left on the table.
"He's been strange since this morning" Eruhaben added and stood up as well approaching Cale observing him, but he could tell that Cale seemed to be a little confused too.
"Is that so? He's probably tired" Cale said despite having a feeling that it's probably not the case, but he tried to brush it off who knows maybe he wasn't really in the mood.
Eruhaben and Rosalyn glanced at each other, They have never seen these two have a fight before and they have never seen Choi Han downright ignoring his Cale-nim so .. something must have happened. Eruhaben gave Cale a small pat on the shoulder "Just go talk to him."
The two left the dining room and Cale crossed his arms before shaking his head and walking upstairs back to his room, contemplating about what he should do. He knew Choi Han the most and had seen a few sides of him that the others haven't seen. He does have these moments where he was a little gloomy and out of it, but it feels way too different today.
"Human, strong Choi Han is being weird today!"
"I know right?" Cale agreed with that and nodded his head.
"He did not give me and On head pats this morning" Raon continued his rant as he listed the things, he found strange "Human, he did not even give you a good morning kiss!"
"What-" Cale stopped on his tracks and glanced at the dragon that was perched on his shoulder. He wanted to ask why he was even aware of the whole good morning kiss and since when was he noticing this, but now that Cale thought about it Raon is right. Ever since he and Choi Han got together two years ago Choi Han had never missed greeting him good morning followed by a kiss, may it be a peck on his cheek or a gentle brush of his lips against his head, on the back of his hand Choi Han did it every day. That man is too affectionate especially with the kids too, he would always make sure to give them their respective greetings and head pats, ignoring Cale is one thing but ignoring his children too?
"That's certainly not right."
Cale turned around and walked back downstairs, forget sleeping, he won't be able to sleep thinking about this anyways. Something must have happened, especially when the man dropped all formalities with him at the breakfast table in front of the others. Choi Han may forgo using formalities when they are behind closed doors and it's just the two of them but never in the presence of the others.
"Raon, you can go join with On and Hong for now."
Raon looked at him "You are not sleeping?"
"Nope, I can't now."
"Alright, talk to Choi Han!" Raon said and waved before he flew to the direction where his siblings were training with Ron.
Once he was left alone Cale recounted the things they did yesterday, using his records. Did he perhaps do something that must have upset Choi Han? He was sure he woke up a little late in the afternoon and after having some light snack they went to the small farm behind the villa, he Choi Han and the kids were watering the vegetables and checking some ripe fruits of course Cale just sat down on his chair while they did their tasks. After that they went back inside and just lounged at the library, planning for their scheduled visits this week before retiring to bed. He could not really identify what caused Choi Han to be acting like this.
Cale could not help but sigh as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Haa.. how troublesome"
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A/N
Hello! this is my first fic for this story!
I apologize in advance if there is any mistakes with how they address each other as I am still learning. if there are any mistakes, please do inform me. I do not know how the OG Birth of the Hero ended with OG Cale making the deal so some of these are just something I made up if the war still continued after OG Cale supposed death. I'm just really making it angsty for OG Choi Han. Also apologize if it's too ooc.
I hope you will like this story as I had fun writing this and we will see how it goes!