❝ to hell with your heart ❞
TEN
UNWANTED
✶
BEFORE THEY BURNED
The sun was shining high above the Angel palace. The white walls of the enormous structure seemed to be glistening under the strong light. Everything else seemed to be white too. The other buildings from the Capital City, the gravel on the roads, the clothing. Elianna didn't like how the angels' black wings stood out against the dark surfaces. She didn't like how she stood out among all that seemingly perfect beauty. She was nothing like the angels that she saw walking around the city. Their wings, their white clothing, their skin - everything seemed perfect. On the contrary to that, she looked like she just crawled out of a sewer in her baggy brown clothing, chain shirt and scratched up and muddy skin.
How did I even get my arms so muddy when there doesn't seem to be any real mud around here?
Her new teacher Abel took her to the palace for a diplomatic meeting with the angels and she couldn't wait to leave. The relations between the winged people and the beasts weren't all that great and she knew that they weren't going to solve anything. Both sides wanted more than the other one was prepared to give and neither one was prepared to back down from their conditions.
A war was approaching, there was no doubt about it.
'' So here is where you've been hiding! '' a voice suddenly called out and instead of dropping her sword from the surprise, like she would just a couple of months ago, she tightened her grip around the weapon and turned around. Standing in front of her was Byun Baekhyun, the angel that she knew all too well. She was hoping that she would find some peace on one of the large flat rooftops of the Capital City, but somehow he managed to find her. '' I can't say that I blame you. To tell you the truth, I don't really like coming back home either. In some aspects, I even prefer your nation to ours. ''
Elianna gasped in shock at the sound of the angel's words and looked around, just in case someone heard him. '' What are you talking about? Do you want to die? ''
'' What? Am I not allowed to say something like that just because we are supposed to hate each other? '' he calmly asked, intertwined his fingers behind his head and strolled around the beast girl who was in the middle of her training before he appeared. '' Are you really going to let them turn you in to a puppet, Elianna? Because I think that would be a waste of the pretty head that you've got on your shoulder. ''
The angel kept doing things that surprised her. Saying something bad about his nation, calling a beast pretty. What was going through his head?
She changed her stance and raised her sword again. He smirked at her poor attempt at trying to look as threatening as possible and lightly flapped the black wings that were growing out of his back. He didn't need to do anything to make her fear him. He was scary on his own, while he just stood there, without even a chain shirt or a proper weapon. '' Go away. What are you even doing here? Abel told me to practice while he goes to his meeting and just looking at you is enough to remind me how I deserve to burn. ''
'' I knew that you wouldn't be able to forget me, '' he teasingly replied, even if he knew that she was talking about their last meeting in Sirahae, when him and his friends saved an angel that was supposed to burn. '' You want me to leave you alone? But I spent the last half an hour searching especially for you, so that I can give you a tour of the Capital City. It's pretty boring on most days, but it's got it's hidden beauty, just like certain frustrating and hilarious beast girls. ''
Elianna bit her lower lip and shook her head. '' Stop joking around. Abel- ''
'' Do you really think that it's fair that you have to act as your people's tool of war, when the wolf can live his life as he wishes? '' Baekhyun snapped, suddenly starting to get angry. '' Besides, it's not like these diplomatic meetings really matter. Both sides will stop at nothing to accomplish what they desire. What they can't do by court, they will do by other means. Disaster is inevitable and we might as well try to enjoy the time that we have until we all go up in flames. ''
It was a bad idea for Elianna to let herself get swayed by Baekhyun's words, but she couldn't help it. He was saying the same thing as she was, before years of training with Cyrille and Abel and constant scolding from Sunmi, finally managed to harden her soul. She thought that she came a little closer to becoming the strong warrior that everyone wanted her to be, but she was wrong. With just one look and smile from an angel, the ice around her heart already began to crack.
Something shifted in Baekhyun's eyes when he watched Elianna clasp her hands together and concentrate before eagle wings grew out of her back. The brown and white feathers always made her feel a little embarrassed in comparison to the ones of an angel, even if she knew that she wasn't supposed to feel that way, but when she looked at him, she saw nothing but admiration in his gaze.
You know what you're doing and you know that it's wrong, Elianna.
And yet she followed him all the way to the other part of the Capital City. The buildings there were still white, but they were a lot simpler and you could tell that the angels who lived there didn't really have a lot of money. Not only that, she was shocked because the wings that she saw, weren't just black anymore. Her eyes were darting left and right and admiring the different shades of grey feathers, before they landed on Baekhyun again. He showed her a smile, she blushed bright red and turned her head away again.
He brought her to the other side of the city because he wanted to show her a street theater performance. A small crowd of angels was already gathering in front of a makeshift wooden stage and a little after they got there, some of them stepped on it and started acting. Baekhyun grinned at their poor display of talent and glanced at the girl that was standing by his side. His smile slightly lowered at the sight of her stunned expression and for a moment he got worried that she won't like theatre as much as he did. Then, she suddenly covered her mouth to hold back her laughter, looked at him with eyes shining brighter than the sun and asked: '' This is how your people entertain themselves? ''
His tensed shoulders slowly relaxed again, he scratched the back of his head and said: '' Not all of them. Only those who know how to have fan. ''
She gasped and clapped in excitement. '' Theater is magic! ''
He chuckled, amused by how amazed the monster girl was at everything. '' That it is. ''
✶
Russian curse words were echoing in my head and I kept glancing over my shoulder, still feeling bad about the tourist who dropped her ice cream on the ground after I accidentally bumped in to her. If I wasn't in a rush, I would probably go back and try to find her in the crowds that were already gathering in front of the Pantheon, stepping on and off their double-decker buses and lining up at the entrance of the famous attraction. It was a sunny morning in Paris and birds were resting on the still empty tables of the cafes that were hidden in the more narrow alleyways, while others were getting chased by children that found them on the crowded roads, where their parents stopped for a quick espresso before walking them the rest of the way to school.
I wasn't used to being out so early and I still had a good hour before I was planning to head to University, but I left my apartment as soon as I got a call from Kyungsoo. I didn't even know that he had a phone and he had to ring me five different times before I finally decided to see what that unknown number wanted. It ended up being something a lot more urgent than I thought it was going to be. Hearing the sound of his voice made me hope that he had news about Abel, but instead, he had others a lot more surprising news.
The police station just appointed a new investigator to replace the missing Abel.
'' You sure took your sweet time coming here! '' Kyungsoo exclaimed as soon as I rushed through the entrance of the underground bar where we always met up. I almost tripped over my own legs before I leaned forward with my hands against my knees and started catching my breath. '' Didn't I tell you to come here as fast as possible? ''
'' Hey, I broke my record! It took me fifteen minutes to get here! Almost fourteen, but you can blame a pickpocket for that, '' I mumbled, still leaning forward and trying to get myself together. Now that Kyungsoo figured out how to use a phone, he sent me at least twenty messages in the span of five minutes. He made it sound as if the police station was on fire and I practically ran a good part of the way to get to the building.
'' I know, but it sure felt like I was waiting for at least a good hour, '' Kyungsoo snapped and crossed his arms on his chest.
That was when I realised that it wasn't just the two of us that were in the underground bar. Someone else was standing in front of the bar that was always occupied by the now-dead Anais and almost as if he could tell that I noticed his presence, he slowly turned around and looked at me for the first time. I didn't recognise him right away. I saw his tall frame, muscular arms, blonde hair, sparkling dark eyes and felt a certain sense of familiarity, but I didn't put two and two until he introduced himself as Jungkook.
That was when something inside me lit up, a flame that almost made me lunge forward and attack him. He noticed my reaction too and he jumped back on one of the tables before I could actually get to him. Then he raised his hands in defense and smiled. '' Are we really going to start things off like this? Are you not even going to try to pretend that you want to be a new coworker? I am here to help after all. I heard that you were a bit... understaffed. ''
I clenched my fingers in to fists and hissed: '' You know where Abel is, don't you? ''
'' Cyrille said- '' Jungkook calmly began, but he stopped himself in the middle of his sentence. He mentioned a name that he shouldn't have. I didn't recognise it, but Kyungsoo did.
He stood up from his chair and asked: '' Where is Cyrille hiding? He is the one that is behind all of this, isn't he? Trying to gather as many beasts on his side and using you to collect magic... Tch, I can't believe that he would do something like this and exploit a child who lost his parents- ''
Something in Jungkook's demeanor changed as soon as Kyungsoo mentioned his dead parents. A shadow fell over his features, he ran to the end of the table that he was standing on and jumped in the air. He landed on the ground right in front of Kyungsoo, but the shorter investigator easily blocked his attack. Jungkook clenched his teeth with anger, took a few steps back and tried to compose himself again. '' Someone has to get up and fight. They burned the other world, but if we stand together, we can get our revenge and conquer this one instead. You can either stand with us or die. I don't care. You aren't important anyway. The griffin is the one that matters. ''
Jungkook's dark eyes darted in my direction and met my confused gaze. '' What are you going to chose? Are you going to stand with your own or will you decide to be marked as a traitor? For the second time? So that you can run off with your angel lover again? ''
I winced at the sound of his words and lowered my head. Jungkook mockingly scoffed and shook his head in disappointment before he turned around and made his way out of the underground bar. Kyungsoo was clearly on edge after the new investigator disappeared and it didn't take long before he left too. He said that he might have some new ideas about how to find Abel, but he didn't want me to go with him, so I had no choice but to head to my morning classes. I was still a little shaken when I stepped in to the now almost unfamiliar university building and endlessly repeating that name to myself.
Cyrille.
Where have I heard that before?
The sound of someone's familiar laughter made me stop on my tracks and tighten my fingers in to fists. My eyes slowly grew wide with shock while I stood on the doorway of the studio and stared at the scene in front of me. I felt as if someone just pushed a knife in my chest as I watched my two best friends, Yunho and Alix, making jokes and laughing together with Park Jimin. Not only that - the boy with flowery tattoos, was sitting on the chair that was always occupied by me.
You chose the wrong day to play these types of games with me.
The pain got replaced by a wave of anger. It sparked out of nowhere, took over my entire being and immediately pushed me over the edge. I knew that I was going to regret my actions later, but in that moment, I didn't care. I walked right across the room, pushed Alix out of my way and punched Jimin directly in the face. I would've hit him for the second time if he wouldn't grab my wrist, so I resulted to grabbing the collar of his shirt and threatening him: '' Stay away from my friends. Stay away from them or I will... I will... ''
'' What are you going to do? '' he challengingly asked and raised his eyebrows. Blood was beginning to trail down from his nose, but he didn't show any signs of pain. His eyes were sparkling with both annoyance and satisfaction, because he knew that with something as simple as talking to my friends, he already managed to get through to me. '' You can't even save yourself and yet you are trying to save others? Don't make me laugh. What will you do if I do something that you don't like? Come on. I'd love to hear it. Tell me. What could you possibly- ''
That was when I did something that I swore I never would. It was a promise that I made to Abel, but he was gone now and I was desperate. Desperate, sad, hopeless, angry. I was feeling those emotions all at once, they were exploding in my chest and I didn't know how to control them, so under the weight of Jimin's sharp gaze, I cracked and shattered in to pieces.
His smirk slowly lowered when he felt the unusual tingle of magic that was attacking his and taking it away from him. Something in his gaze shifted and he tried to push me away from him, but I tightened my grip on his shirt and continued staring in to his eyes. '' You shouldn't have challenged me. Go away- ''
'' You are the one who should just go away, Effie! '' Alix suddenly screamed, grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Jimin. Her words were like water against a fire. A slap in the face with reality. I was gone for days and then I appeared out of nowhere again, causing troubles and acting as if everything was still the same. She had all the right to be angry. Both her and Jimin did. '' Why are you acting like an asshole? Jimin, Yunho and I were just having a conversation. Are we not allowed to talk to other people while you disappear to God knows where and ignore our phone calls? Bail on our plans? I'm sick and tired of listening to your apologies. It's always the same thing. Just leave like you always do, but this time, don't try to come back. ''
I couldn't bring myself to raise my head and look at her or at the silent Yunho. Jimin wasn't saying anything either and no one seemed to notice the way that the flower tattoos on his arms suddenly all turned in to different shades of dark blue and purple.
Keeping my head lowered, I slowly nodded, turned around and walked out of the quiet studio again. I didn't want to think about what was going to happen from then on, but my head was full of the warnings that Abel always gave me and I couldn't help it but to wonder if this was it. If I reached the point where I would have to stop pretending to be human, abandon this life forever and never come back to it again.
I was sitting by the Seine and staring at the water when I suddenly saw the shadow of angel wings appear on the surface. I flinched with surprise, then I turned around and realised that it was just Baekhyun. I was just about to face the river again and go back to wallowing in self-pity, when he suddenly stumbled past me and fell right in to the water. It took me a moment to realise what just happened, then I jumped on my feet and started screaming.
It was only thanks to the help of three other people, that I managed to get him out of the water and carry him to a bench that was a little further down the river. Even so, he still acted like it was my fault that he even fell in. '' I can't believe you didn't jump in the water and try to save me. And then you even tried to hit me over the head with a stick! Seriously? ''
'' I was trying to hold it in your direction and make you grab it. You're the one who didn't understand that because you underestimated the power of French wine and got drunk right after breakfast, '' I muttered and glanced in his direction. He was sitting on the bench by my side, water was dripping from his wings and his clothing and a small puddle was forming on the ground under him. Somehow, he managed to look ethereal even after accidentally tumbling in the river. '' Also, I can't believe that you didn't invite me to drink with you. ''
He leaned back on the bench, gazed up at the sky and asked with boredom: '' Are you dealing with some dumb human problems again? ''
'' Something like that. ''
'' You're looking at the wrong person for advice. Chanyeol and I haven't been really doing much with our lives besides guarding our king and doing different jobs for him. Honestly, I'm surprised that Abel allowed you to act like a human for so long. It's not like him to be so generous, '' Baekhyun replied and tilted his head to the side. He ran through his dark hair with his hand and let out a tired sigh. '' Beasts like you have a purpose and it collides with being happy. The last time that you tried to fight for your happiness, we caused an entire world to burn. ''
'' Can I tell you something? '' I asked and waited for him to turn his head and look at me. '' In moments like this one, I look at you and I feel really sad. ''
His eyes slightly widened with surprise, then he looked back at the clear blue sky above us. '' Sometimes you make me really sad too, Elianna. ''