I had lost count of the steps as I slowly descended the spiraling staircase leading underground, squinting slightly in the evergrowing darkness as it deepened with every hesitant step of my feet, clinging to my legs and the very air I breathed as it invited the cold into my lungs.
The sound of stones and rubble underneath my feet as I finally made it to the bottom of the stairs seemed far-away and unreal as I felt my breath catch and claustrophobia slowly well up within me, closing off my throat as I tried to adjust my eyes to the dim light which offered me a somewhat clear space.
I carefully headed down the dirt pathway, suddenly feeling so very alone only to once again halt in my steps as I found myself in front of a large, imposing room marking the official entrance of the catacombs, forcing my eyes to meet the crude, black letters above the doorway rather than what lurked beyond it, reading the warning, 'Arrete! C'est ici l'empire de la morte'
"Stop. Beyond here lies the empire of death," I whispered, clenching my fists at my sides as I reluctantly lowered my gaze to the arched doorway and looked into the morbid scene it opened up into; a maze with walls made from femurs and bones in neat rows, stacked on top of each other.
I swallowed thickly, "Even the doorway thinks it's a bad idea so who the hell came up with the idea of sending us into a mass grave?" I mumbled, slowly taking a step backwards as I felt fear well up inside me, mixing with the claustrophobia from the low ceiling and the very sight of the narrow hallways beyond the door.
They had been people once, I thought to myself, taken-aback by the realization of the sheer number of bones it must have taken to build these catacombs, thousands, no, at least millions.
"I can't," I breathed, feeling my heartbeat hammering against my ribs despite already having calmed down from the run earlier. "I can't," I mouthed, feeling short of breath and lightheaded only to flinch as I moved out of the way the moment a shadow passed me and flickered into the darkness beyond the door where it disappeared.
I straightened myself a little, moving closer to the entrance as I stared after it, reluctant to follow it despite knowing that it was the only way to get through today's trial.
I carefully placed my hand on the cold, dirty stones marking the edge of the doorway, trying to calm my breathing as I reminded myself that, for once, I was in the lead. I could be the first to return, to survive, today if I just fought, fought, to get through this.
And so, with one last shaky breath leaving my lips, I let go of the wall and made my way into the dimly lit corridor of bones and death; a striking contrast to the beautiful and bright City of Lights, Sector 7, looming overhead, untouched by the darkness, decay, and dry air which caused me to shiver.
The mud-lined passageways were, looking past the morbidity of the overall impression of the walls constructed from femurs stacked on top of each other in neat layers, their repetitive texture only broken by lines of brown, weathered skulls, well-made and impressive as I silently, carefully, began my quest into the catacombs.
I followed the shadows which occasionally flickered to life ahead of me only to disappear again as they turned corner after corner and guided me further into the maze, trying not to mind the low ceilings and feeling of intruding, of trespassing on the millions of people's graves, their stories, their secrets.
I was so focused that, when a sudden flare of pain exploded in my lower back sent me stumbling forwards, I was momentarily left stunned as the air was forced out of my lungs and I tried to regain my balance, frowning at the dull pain left by the hit as I whipped my head back to stare down the corridor but finding nothing but darkness behind me.
A second of silence passed where nothing but my irregular breathing disturbed the eerie peace lingering over the dirty and darkened bones before I turned back around and hesitantly continued down the corridor.
I wrapped my arms around myself, forcing one foot in front of the other as I tried my best to keep walking when, once again, the unnatural ghost, or warning, of a cold breeze sneaked up behind me. A broken gasp left my lips as realization dawned upon me, just barely turning around before I was once again hit, groaning as I watched a shadow disappear in the darkness of the tunnel.
Forcing myself to stand a little straighter, a little taller despite the low ceilings, I felt my breath quicken as my mouth went dry and I tried to remember the announcer's words, now standing completely still amidst the rows of skulls all looking at me with empty eyes as I waited, forcing myself to focus on the darkness.
"He said that our hearts would guide us, push us to make a decision," I whispered to myself, my voice barely more than a shaky breath in the suffocating silence, "One that will determine whether or not you will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and make it back above the ground," I mumbled, my heart sinking as I repeated Namjoon's clues, "Or leave you in the darkness forever-"
My words faltered as I once again saw the darkness flicker behind me, sensing the cold in the air before I felt the hit and, just as the shadow took shape and appeared in front of me; a faceless silhouette, turning around to bolt down the corridor.
I felt tears well up in my eyes in mixed frustration and fear, fear of so many things, as I sprinted through the maze of bones making up the catacombs, feeling the cold air nipping at my skin with every step as if taunting me, pushing me to go faster, as the shadows silently followed me.
My mind instinctively went to Wooyoung as turned a corner and nearly slipped on the muddy pathway, thinking about the king and my own heart as it hammered like drums in my ears, echoing in my head and very bones as I desperately wished for more time, turning another corner.
I struggled to keep my breathing steady, I found myself unable to deny the fact that I had been pushing away for months now, having dismissed it as pure annoyance and irritation at the very sight of the male, but as my heart thundered against my ribs, adding to the pain from the hits I had already taken, I finally accepted the fact that it beat for the king as well, even now where I was once again on the brink of death.
I wanted, more than anything else, to fulfill his wish; the one he had so desperately and apologetically demanded of me yesterday at the shore of the lake. We had been alone then, alone underneath the endless skies which reflected themselves in the perfect surface of the water and hid away every other trace of civilization so beautifully underneath the clouds and hues of the sunset. We had been alone and, both now and then, there was nothing more I could have wanted.
Panic tightened around my heart at the thought of being left here as Namjoon had warned might happen; buried and forgotten among the millions of dead and-
I stumbled forward, nearly losing my balance as I gasped for air and tried to steady myself as the shadow landed another hit, darkness enveloping me completely as pain exploded at the back of my head and I tumbled through one of the walls, crashing through layers upon layers of bone and dirt as I staggered into a chamber on the other side of the maze.
I was off the floor in a matter of seconds, breathing heavily as I quickly backed up, trying to get away from the bones and skulls on the floor, stumbling as I felt for the wall behind me only to whip my head around and find nothing but the darkness which flooded the rest of the room as well.
My eyes widened as my heartbeat quickened. There was no hole in the wall or any other form of indication of how I had gotten here, wherever here was.
I instinctively reached for the dagger in my belt, feeling a flicker, even if only for a second, of reassurance as my hand clutched the ivory handle and my palm scraped against the rubies and diamonds embedded in the material, cold to the touch and yet, I realized, somehow glowing in the darkness.
I still had tears in my eyes, the droplets wetting my lashes and burning my cheeks as they trailed down the flushed skin in salty trails as I took a moment to try and calm myself down, watching with detached emotion as they fell to the ground in small, slightly glowing droplets, before breaking against the smooth floor beneath me where they also lit up like a layer of gold underneath candlelight.
I felt surprise and then hope well up within me I slowly raised my eyes to the chamber in front of me to realize that, despite my blurry vision and the TEARS OF GOLD still threatening to spill, I could see the room clearly, or space, I thought to myself, as there was nothing in front of me except for eight doors.
They were grand, elegant, much like the ones in the Palace of Atlas, and, despite all being framed by marbled archways and covered in intricate, gilded details and ornaments, they were somehow all different, their own.
The two in the middle; tall, proud, and embedded with diamonds, immediately made me think of the Kings of the North and Winter, remembering, as I let my eyes travel across the others, the first time I had arrived in Martell and stared up at them as they stood by their thrones, looking more like kings then, like rulers, than they had done after I had gotten to know them, their story, their secrets.
They had become more human the more time had passed, I realized, turning my head to the left to admire the next door; broader, more sturdy, embedded with sapphires the colour of deep oceans and endless skies. The Kings of the South and Summer, I realized, turning just enough to see that the pattern was mirrored on both sides of the two doors in the middle.
The next ones were more elegant, light, their gilded decorations looking more free, more lively, than the others' as the emeralds embedded within the doors glowed a rich green through the tears in my eyes and the sparse light within the room; the Kings of the East and Spring.
But I already knew which one I wanted to choose, which one I had to choose as my breath caught the moment my eyes landed on the last two doors; the Kings of the West and Autumn.
I instinctively turned to the right one despite the two being almost identical as my gaze locked onto the antler-like details embedded in the door, the shapes entwining with each other to create intricate shadows and images that immediately reminded me of Wooyoung's crown, rubies the colour of blood-ref leaves falling from the trees during autumn embedded within the door.
I felt the golden key hanging from my belt burn my skin through the white suit and slowly reached for it as I made my way through the darkness to the door; slowly towering higher and higher above me with every advancing step.
The wrong choice would surely lead me to my death, forever lost in the darkness along with the bones in the catacombs. I knew this, and yet, the raw fear which had clawed at my heat and chest only moments before had faded into nothing more than a dull nervousness at the bottom of my stomach as I clutched the key and clenched my teeth through the pain as it burned my hand slightly.
I put my hand on the handle which embedded with the same rubies as the handle of my dagger, of Wooyoung's dagger, and let a shaky breath leave my lips as I mumbled, "If I die because of this choice, I'm going to kill him," and pushed the golden key into the keyhole where it evaporated before opening the door.
I had barely let go of the handle as I once again made my way into a world of darkness before I once again found myself alone and surrounded by cold, shivering slightly as a familiar breeze fluttered past, caressing my face and bringing colour to my cheeks before disappearing as well, the small moment of life, of reassurance, rekindling the small flame of hope within me as I continued into the shadows.
I had made a choice, the right choice, I told myself. My heart had made a choice a long time ago and, as the silence within the corridor, the space, the darkness, turned almost suffocating, I realized that I had finally decided to listen to it, to the deadly songs of passion and desire it couldn't help but sing despite having been warned of the dangers it could lead to.
Because of this, I didn't falter nor slow down as I forced myself to keep walking, not even when I stumbled and turned my eyes to the floor and picked up the golden key which glowed in the darkness at my feet.
I quickly secured it in my belt before walking on, feeling my heartbeat pick up as I watched the darkness at the end of the corridor brighten, golden light flooding through an opening in the distance, the sound echoing in my ears as I felt my breath catch.
Today was not as much a battle as it was a puzzle, an opportunity to reveal the true desires of our hearts; a game, perfect for the trials, evil and cunning as it may have been. But today had made me realize just how precious the little time I had left truly was, I told myself, my steps quickening more and more as the light in the distance grew stronger, brighter, and I began to run.
I felt tears well up in my eyes as the pain in my chest grew from the ever-growing intensity of my hammering heart as I burst through the opening in the darkness and into the Palace of Atlas where all Eight Kings of Haelan turned to me.
Time itself seemed to slow down as I immediately ran for the King of Autumn, throwing myself at him and clinging to him with everything I had, barely holding myself together as I placed my hand on his chest and felt the steady thrumming of his heartbeat against my fingertips. It beat for me, sang for me. His heart beat for me just as mine did for him.
Wooyoung didn't hesitate to reach out for me as well, carefully cupping my hands, looking at me with eyes so tender, so worried, so desperate, that told me that all he cared about at that moment was me, not the others, not the fact that they were looking. My heart skipped a beat.
"Yuna," he breathed, softly running the back of his thumb across my cheek, the movement sending shivers down my back as my eyes flickered to his lips, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you-?"
His words were cut off as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, hot tears streaming down my face; salty and desperate, as I breathed him in and pressed myself close enough for my chest to touch his. Both of our heartbeats echoed each other as I took a sharp breath, feeling desperate for his touch, for his warmth, for his time, as I realized that I would never be able to get any of them if I was to fulfill my promise to myself.
A/N:
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