I didn't miss the hint of sadness in Yeosang's green eyes as he threw one last glance over his shoulder, looking longingly back at the city of District 5 as it woke up to yet another day.
I glanced back at the nature elemental's house as well, watching as the morning sun's rays bathed the wooden boards on the outside in a warm golden light.
We were going to leave all of this behind.
Hopefully to return sometime in the future.
Wooyoung patted him on the shoulder.
The two elementals had quickly become good friends, their sarcasm, and bold comments matching perfectly with each other's personalities.
And odd pair, I thought, though it made perfect sense as well that the two of them would get along sooner or later.
Especially considering how fast Wooyoung had taken a liking to Yeosang yesterday.
The trip through the jungle was a lot easier this time.
Yeosang led the way through the forest, the rest of us following as best as we could.
He dodged in and out of trees, avoiding certain areas such as the path where we had triggered the mudslide, and pushing away leaves and overgrown bushes in order to reveal new trails through the jungle.
Along the way, he would occasionally name some of the plants we passed, pointing here and there, making things grow right in front of our eyes.
The rest of us watched in awe, Mingi and Yunho occasionally letting out small gasps and wows in amazement.
Jongho mocked him, but Yeosang simply laughed it off as he ruffled the younger's hair.
He yanked the earth elemental closer to him in order to whisper something in his ear.
Jongho's eyes widened, and it wouldn't surprise me if the brunette had threatened to kill the younger, but they both broke into smiles again.
The rest of the group quickly joined in on the bickering and fun as they walked in front of me.
I couldn't help but smile at the sight.
This was just like having a family.
A real family.
I felt a little bit guilty for thinking that way but despite having grown up with loving parents, I had always been alone.
Now, everything had changed.
These men had my back, and they would never, not for any price, leave me alone to fend for myself. I knew that.
"THANK YOU" I mumbled, mostly to myself, though the words were meant for the group as they trudged along in front of me, pushing, laughing, and talking as we moved through the jungle.
I had to jog to keep up with them, and I felt relieved once they finally came to a halt at the top of a hill that we had been climbing for a while now.
I followed their example and did the same, completely out of breath as I stared at the landscape in front of us.
Hills, valleys, fields, and meadows stretched out in front of us as far as the eye could see, covered in soft blankets of wheat and barley, colourful flowers, and tall grass that moved softly in the breeze.
Somewhere in the distance, District 1 was waiting for us.
I could almost feel it calling for me, my inner fire flickering to life as I tried to imagine the district where the ancestors of my family had once lived and walked among other elementals.
Before creating the capital, Agora.
Before founding the Kingdom of Avalon.
Before ascending the throne.
I would be the first member of the royal family to step foot there for what could only have been years and years on end.
No family member that I knew of had left the capital during their reign.
The thought itself was a little scary now that Daios had put a price on my head, though, threatening the people of Avalon with doom and destruction if they didn't hand me over.
For once, I felt thankful for the sheltered life that I had lived.
I may have been clueless when it came to my own people, their powers, and their districts, but they were just as clueless when it came to me.
The only ones that had seen me were the ones who had been at my coronation which meant that, so far, our chances were somewhat good.
Or at least I hoped so.
I was shaken out of my thoughts as Mingi suddenly zoomed past me, nothing more than a flash of red hair and the purple glow from his eyes as he soared out of the jungle and into the field in front of us.
He laughed, his deep voice sending a wave of warmth down my back as he spun in the air, slowing down a little.
The seven of us simply stared at him as he opted for something that looked more like a leisurely levitation, slowly moving over the tops of the tall wheat.
The warm breeze that Mingi had left in his wake climbed its way up the hill, softly caressing my face and bringing colour to my cheeks.
It didn't take long for the rest of us to follow the air elemental's example, making our way into the fields as well, happy, and hopeful.
I felt almost elated by this small moment of peace as I glanced into the clear blue sky above us, enjoying the weather.
A single breath of the fresh air all around us brought a smile to my lips as I let out a small laugh.
"Someone's in a good mood," Hongjoong said, walking up next to me.
He looked amazing in the warm light from the crescent sun, practically glowing as the rays hit him, his white hair blindingly white.
This was definitely his element, I thought to myself.
"Well now that you mention it, yes. I'm in a great mood," I said, running a hand through my hair as I tried to undo the messy work of the breeze from before.
"We haven't encountered any dangerous things or life-threatening situations leading to certain death, which means that, to me, this has been a perfect morning."
Hongjoong chuckled, his golden eyes glowing in the sunlight.
"You have a point, y/n."
"You seem to be getting along quite well with Seonghwa," I said, changing the subject as I looked over at the darkness elemental that was currently playing tricks on Wooyoung.
The older man was manipulating the darkness, making the shadows rise in a way that blocked out the sun and moved away each time Wooyoung would look up.
The fire elemental was clearly getting more confused and agitated by the second, and I didn't fail to notice the small flame that shot up from his pink hair.
"He's not as bad as he initially seemed, I'll admit that," Hongjoong said, tearing his eyes off the ravenette in front of us.
"Though he sure is something. I don't know what, but something."
"Opposites attract," I said, repeating the same words that had gone through my head in District 6 when we had met Hongjoong the first time.
Back then, the two had disliked each other from the moment they lay eyes on their opposite element, Seongwha deciding to be the light elemental's sworn enemy.
"Oh, do they now?" Hongjoong said.
His voice had a weird tone that made me turn my head back to him, expecting to lock eyes with his golden ones.
But Hongjoong wasn't looking at me.
I furrowed my brows as I followed his gaze, realizing that he was looking at Yunho and San who were walking not too far in front of us, talking and laughing at each other.
I immediately felt my cheeks burn hot.
Yunho was creating small balls of water in the palm of his hand, the liquid glittering in the sunlight for a couple of seconds as it swirled around, only to become blindingly white as it turned into a small snowball.
I could already imagine San's striking grey eyes as the poured his powers into the water, willing it to change shape and form.
Yunho threw the snowball ahead of them, and the thing erupted into a blast of snow as it exploded mid-air.
Mingi giggled from somewhere further away.
The cloud of glinting snow and ice crystals looked wrong and misplaced in the midst of the warm golden fields in front of us.
But I couldn't deny the fact that it was beautiful as well.
Both because it stood out from its surroundings, but also because Yunho and San had worked together to create it.
Hongjoong turned his attention back to me, a glint in his eyes that I couldn't quite place.
"It seems like you may be right about that. But which opposite are you thinking?" he asked.
As soon as the words slipped past his lips, I felt my inner fire grow in size, and I cursed the flames for making my blush grow more noticeable than it already was.
I awkwardly cleared my throat and fanned my face with both my hands.
It was a pathetic attempt at calming down my inner fire.
It was a waste of energy, and I knew that.
But that only made me more flustered as I quickly put my hands down again and avoided the light elemental's eyes.
I definitely had not expected Honghoong to say something like this, but on the other hand, it wasn't surprising that he would be the one to bring it up.
From the moment I had met him, I realized that the light elemental was a man of great knowledge.
But I hadn't expected him to know this much, I thought to myself.
"Opposites peak our interests, like shiny or foreign things that we have yet to understand and get to know," Hongjoong said.
"But sometimes, they are the more dangerous option those who are similar to us; people with who we are alike. Sometimes, it is the people with the same nature as ourselves that attract us; someone with the same values."
His words hit me harder than I had expected, and for a minute, I felt as if I couldn't breathe, my heartbeat involuntarily picking up.
I whipped my head in Wooyoung's direction, studying the fire elemental for a moment.
A person with the same nature as me.
And then there was Seongwha, my tall, dark, and handsome childhood friend who was still playing tricks on the pink-haired man beside him.
Just like Yunho and San, he was my opposite.
Someone that piqued my interest though I had yet to understand.
I looked back at Hongjoong who was still walking next to me, now focused on the clear purple sky above us as the crescent sun's rays bathed his features in a warm light.
Much like Wooyoung, he shared some of my nature and some of my values.
I didn't know what to think or believe as Hongjoong's words echoed inside my head again, filling up my thoughts with images from our journey and the moments we had shared.
I loved every single one of these men, I told myself, cherishing the feeling of warmth that washed through my body as the thought passed my mind.
And would do anything to keep them safe, I thought to myself.
Though I realized that it seemed a little ironic considering the journey I had pulled them along on and how dangerous it had been so far.
If it ever came down to it, I would sacrifice my life for them.
I knew that at heart, though I suspected that the thought had never crossed any of their minds.
I was doing all of this for Avalon.
But if it meant that I would be risking losing Wooyoung, Yunho, Jongho, Mingi, Seongwha, Hongjoong, Yeosang, or San in the process, then I wasn't willing to take as much as a single step forward from here on out.
I furrowed my brows as I once again studied the group in front of me, watching them make their way through the tall grass in the beautiful meadows bathed in sunlight, smiling, talking, laughing.
Hongjoong's words once again echoed in my head.
But, I couldn't possibly be attracted to any of them.
Opposites or alike, that simply couldn't be the case, right?
"You have a point," I finally said, wanting to keep the conversation going as the thoughts in my head suddenly became too loud for me to focus.
Hongjoong turned his attention back to me, and I was once again impressed by the sheer depth, knowledge, and emotion in those golden eyes of his.
"You have a point," I mumbled again.
A/N:
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