"Kyungsoo, where are you going?" Kai asks, seeing his companion change into the beautiful robes that he would only use during important businesses when he enters their shared quarters.
"I need to send this letter to Lord Yifan," Kyungsoo says, waving a golden scroll in his clutch. "Apparently, Chanyeol wants to withdraw from war efforts from now on."
"But why?" Kai says, shocked. "Won't the others give him a hard time if he does that? That's technically betrayal, especially during these hard times. His brother was literally abducted just a few days ago."
"Lord Chanyeol has exquisite persuasion skills," Kyungsoo says as he slips on his katana. "I'm sure he wrote a very sensible and reasonable letter. And... And it's for Baekhyun too."
"That's right..." Kai mutters. "Well then, we can't do anything about this. Please take care. Once you delivered it to the sky god, come back immediately. Don't let him question you further about our lord's intentions."
"I will," Kyungsoo says as he reaches out, caressing Kai's cheek, fondly smiling at him then withdraws and disappears behind the door, leaving him behind.
Kai walks towards their bed then plops down, slightly bouncing. He sighs, not thinking particularly about something and just letting his eyes dart around.
And that was when he spots a painting propped on a chair at the corner.
.
.
.
Baekhyun rarely dreams, and rarely actually means close to never on his terms. And when he does dream, it usually means something significant to him, may it be a vision of something that will happen in the future or just some kind of reflection that is currently happening to him from within.
That night when he fell back asleep after the weird interaction with Chanyeol, he dreamed of burning. Yes, burning. He was burning on a stake. His dream self was, obviously, screaming for his life to be spared. It was very vivid, if Baekhyun may add, and he actually felt scared. Even the burning sensation of the flames earing savagely at his flesh felt real to him.
He genuinely felt terrified.
Baekhyun's dream self continues on screaming, then it transforms to shouts aimed towards the heavens, asking for help if anyone was listening to him. Baekhyun knows gods didn't give a single fuck for mortal lives and would probably never meddle in their business, but he continues on watching his dreamself yell to the heavens for help that will only go down in vain.
Lo and behold, the circumstances defied Baekhyun's knowledge. A phoenix suddenly appears and descends from the sky, its whole being draped with the powerful aura of fire, leaving a trail of flame in its wake as it crosses the expanse of the sky. It then hovers in front of Baekhyun's dream self, who was stunned to see the mythical creature in front of him. He could feel its power and heat, inebriating intensely. The onlookers were shocked as well, and some of the elderly fell to their knees.
Seconds later, the phoenix opened its mouth and sang, a song that pushed the dream Baekhyun into an unexplainable sudden drowsiness. His dream self blinks, trying to fight it off, but fails when he fully falls into the darkness.
Jolting, Baekhyun wakes up. Almost immediately, he feels his dreams dissipate, leaving him no memory of it. For the first few moments, he tries to grasp what his dream had been about, but he forgets about doing it when he feels his stomach growling.
His eyes flit to the other side of the bed, hand reaching out to the spot. Warmth touches the tips of his fingers when he lightly grazes his fingers on the empty space. Chanyeol must have risen not too long ago.
Hungry, the fox swings his legs off the bed then makes his way out of the room towards the dining room. He notices that the single hallway actually split into several more hallways. Baekhyun only knows how to get to the dining area and the living area from the bed room that he and Chanyeol shared. He even forgot the way to the original bed room that he had been put in.
Upon entering the dining room, the first thing he notices was the fire god's arm wrapped in bandages along with the lower portion of his abdomen, which makes him notice that he was actually half naked save for the white robe draped over his shoulders and the black slacks covering his lower portion. But even with these especially with the cuts all across his face, Chanyeol still looks delicious with his red hair pushed back up anyhow and his eyebrows creased while reading
"You look like shit," Baekhyun comments as he sashays across the room to perch on a chair right next to the fire god.
Chanyeol looks up, eyebrows furrowed and his bronze eyes glinting at him. Boy, he looks fine as fuck.
"You didn't have to state the obvious," he retorts in annoyance as he rolls his eyes.
"Someone's irritable today," Baekhyun muses as the spirit servants arrived with dishes for breakfast.
"What do you expect from someone who literally had his arm cut off yesterday?" Chanyeol grumbles as he picks up a cup of tea served to him.
"Oh? How did it feel?" Baekhyun probes as he receives a cup of tea as well. "How did it happen?"
"Why are you so interested?" Chanyeol suspiciously asks raising an eyebrow.
"Well, don't I deserve to know what happens to my husband during war?" Baekhyun purrs, cocking his head to the side with a little teasing smile.
"Don't shit with me," Chanyeol utters. "I'm not in the mood to play."
"I'm not playing with you though," Baekhyun pouts. "I just genuinely want to know what happened to you. I mean, you severed your arm and probably had to use magic to patch it back."
"Don't pretend you care," Chanyeol chuckles. "You'd jump at me at any given opportunity."
"Not when I'll die if I actually kill you," Baekhyun rolls his eyes. "Use your head, Chanyeol."
"You're so annoying," the fire god snaps as he stands up. "I'm going to bed. I don't feel well." .
Baekhyun watches as Chanyeol disappears down the hallway, glairng at him in irritation. What did he do? He was just trying to strike up a proper conversation! So much for the sincere and tenderhearted things that Chanyeol told him that mroning. Maybe he just said that because he was dazed from sleep.
That's right, he's an actual asshole.
This just makes Baekhyun want to kill him more than ever.
"Baekhyun?"
The fox turns his attention towards Kai. "Yes? What do you want, fire spirit?"
"Umm, where's Lord Chanyeol?" he asks in confusion upon seeing his master's plate still on the table.
"He bitched on me and walked out," Baekhyun blandly answers with a casual shrug. "I was just trying to strike up a conversation with him."
Kai looks suspicious, but decides it wasn't worth his time to find out what exactly the fox demon had done to make their lord walk out without finishing his meal. Instead, he says, "Kyungsoo told me that you should go clean up. He will bring you out to go fetch some robes that he had commissioned."
Baekhyun raises his eyebrow. "And why should I come with him?"
"Because you like robes and he will commission some for you too."
And just like that, Baekhyun was easily snatched with the promise of beautiful robes that would be in par with the ones the others in the palace are wearing. He'll have to say goodbye to the mediocre and plain white and black robes that they've been making him wear ever since he got here.
"I'll just finish my meal and go change," Baekhyun says, a bright smile across his face because finally, he was going to go out of this boring hell hole.
.
.
.
"Is Baekhyun ready?" Were Kyungsoo's first words when he came back.
Kai rushes towards him and kisses his forehead in greeting. "Yes, he's at the living roon. But by the way, how was it?"
Kyungsoo shrugs. "Well, the gods weren't exactly happy."
"I told you to leave before they read it!" Kai whines. "What if they vaporized you on the spot because of anger? Gods are stupid and reckless, especially when they're blinded by anger and annoyance."
"But they didn't," Kyungsoo points out with a smug smile. "They made me stay and did not dismiss me so I couldn't just simply leave. I would lose my good and respectable image as a familiar to Lord Chanyeol if I'm rude."
Kai could only sigh as he simply nods his head. "Yes, okay. Well, I think the two of you should go. Don't hang around too long, go home immediately so you could rest."
Kyungsoo nods before walking towards the living room. He was immediately hit by the sweet sound of Baekhyun's voice as he sits on the window seat, staring out of the window. Just like this, Kyungsoo couldn't help but think Baekhyun would have been a mortal the gods fought over with an ethereal beauty like his - and maybe that had been the case long before .
Baekhyun stops singing when he notices Kyungsoo's presence. The fire spirit immediately tenses, still heavily wary of the demon as Baekhyun grins up at him.
"Kyungsoo, welcome back," the fox greets him casually. "Kai told me I'll accompany you to get the robes."
Kyungsoo nods hesitantly. "Yes. We must go immediately."
Baekhyun springs to his feet, excited with the fact that he could get some fresh air now. When he walks up to Kyungsoo, the fire spirit holds a finger up and gives him a threatening look.
"Listen here, fox. I may just be a simple fire spirit, but I can easily take you down. Do not ever think about sneaking up on me or something. I could put up a hard fight."
Baekhyun chuckles to himself because what the hell, Kyungsoo looks so cute glaring at him like that, acting so courageous amd bold. Kyungsoo's warning wasn't necessary though, since Baekhyun couldn't really escape his situation, what with the bond with Lord Chanyeol.
But nevertheless, Baekhyun nods. "Alright, I get it now, Kyungsoo. Shall we go ahead?"
Kyungsoo spares the demon a side glance before leading the way.
Baekhyun spends his idle times sitting at the window seat, singing his boredom away while admiring the view outside of the palace. But finally, after several days, he was now able to escape the confines of that majestic but suffocating place.
Looking over his shoulder as they made their way past the gate, Baekhyun's eyes widen when the palace disappeared from sight. He reaches out to Kyungsoo, who flinches at his touch.
"Kyungsoo, how are we going back to the palace?"
"Runes," the fire spirit simply answers as he stops on his tracks. Baekhyun stops as well, watching closely as Kyungsoo lifts two fingers in front of him. The tips burst into flames, startling Baekhyun a bit. He then writes something in the air, his movements leaving a trail of fire until it forms into a symbol - a rune. Kyungsoo mutters words that the fox couldn't make out. The rune glows brightly, then the flames reform into a circle that continuously rotates and rotates until an image appears in the middle - no, it wasn't an image though.
"It's a portal," Kyubgsoo says, as if answering his questions. "Please give me your hand, Baekhyun."
The fox obeys and gives his hand to the fire spirit, he weaves his through slender ones. He suddenly pulls Baekhyun after him as he enters the portal, causing the demon to yelp in surprise.
A heartbeat later, Baekhyun finds themselves in front of meager, cozy house at the side of a lake.
"Where are we?" Baekhyun wonders as he follows Kyungsoo, walking down the path with the heels of their shoes crunching against the gravel.
"This is the sanctuary of the daughters of Taeyeon, the goddess of wisdom. They weave robes exclusively for the gods and they make the most beautiful pieces on the surface of this world, only a level down from Taeyeon's skill," Kyungsoo explains as he stops in front of their door. "I suggest you behave yourself, fox. The weavers of Taeyeon are not only popular for their weaving skills."
Baekhyun nods, making a halo around the top of his head with a finger then sweetly smiles at Kyungsoo, indicating him that he won't be up to some silly business. After all, he wanted nothing more than beautiful robes so he will definitely shut up.
With a firm and purposeful knock, Kyungsoo calls out, "Good day! This is Kyungsoo, a faithful servant to the Fire God, Lord Chanyeol. I have come to attend to business!"
And with that, the door opens by himself. Kyungsoo looks over his shoulder to Baekhyun and urges him to follow him into the house.
The interior was cozy, with tapestries depicting warm sceneries decorating the walls. Baekhyun only realizes he had held his breath in when Kyungsoo taps his chest and gives him a small smile before flicking his head, a gesture to follow him.
Baekhyun is led into a hall and then into a room, where he sees five women manning looms, their fingers flying over the controls at an amazing pace. At just a glance of their incomplete work, Baekhyun already knows they will turn out very beautiful.
"Greetings, ladies," Kyungsoo says as he bows, which Baekhyun imitates. The five women stop their work in perfect sync, then look up to face them in eerie sync as well.
After a blink of an eye, the two males see the five women now standing in front of them, their flawless, beautiful faces bearing soft smiles for them.
"We're glad to see you again, Kyungsoo," one of them says. She glances towards Baekhyun, eyebrows perking up in interest. "And my, why is a tamed demon in our midst?" The woman steps closer and runs a finger down Baekhyun's jaw, causing the fox to shiver from the tingling sensation and from the ancient power that this woman was emanating.
"Joohyun, I know you do not wish to have impure beings in your sanctuary, but this person is Lord Chanyeol's bride and he wishes for you to make him robes that befits him."
The girl named Joohyun turns to her companions and broke into laughter. "Did you hear that, ladies? This person is Lord Chanyeol's bride! Sooyoung, what do you think about this?"
"Lord Chanyeol is definitely very interesting," Sooyoung says. "Taking in a demon and the White Demon Fox at that... what a man."
Baekhyun didn't know what to feel about this.
"Alright, we will do as you say, Kyungsoo," Joohyun says. "Lord Chanyeol has been nothing but good to us, always providing us with protection during times of war. We will do as he wishes. And as for Baekhyun..." she gives the fox a mysterious smile.
"... I hope we get along very well."