can my dreams keep coming true ? ; sechen ; fantasy book!au
Title: Can my dreams keep coming true?
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Sehun/Jongdae
Wordcount: 6,240
Warning: It's very self indulgent okay.
Disclaimer: EXO belongs to themselves and SME
Notes: Part of the same au than that baekyeol which I highly recommend you to read to understand, but you know, no pressure.
Title taken from Florence and The Machine's Caught.
Summary: The first time Sehun found himself wandering in a book, it was an accident. Now he's not so sure anymore.
Something pokes Sehun on the cheek. Repeatedly. A pointy, but very harsh finger against the softness of his skin, and the feeling comes and drags Sehun out of his heavy slumber, slowly but surely. He knows for a fact that Chanyeol doesn't have the subtelty nor the patience that digging his finger in his cheek for straight ten minutes without grumbling requires,. With each poke, Sehun emerges a little more, his mind proceding that single information until he eventually gets what this means.
It finally causes a mix of despair sprinkled with a hint of joy on the back of his tongue. Sehun slightly parts his lips, wetting them with the tip of his tongue before letting out a soft sigh.
“I'm still here, aren't I?” he whispers.
“Well,” a cheerful, singing voice answers him. “Here could refer to a lot of places, but I think that the here you're refering to is most definitely... here.”
Sehun grumbles. He opens his eyes, and immediately squints them, blinded by the light, although soft, pourring down from the three suns above his head.
He is here. Now that his mind is pushing back the sleepiness, he doesn't see how he could have thought -or hoped- he wasn't though. He's not surrounded by the comfort or the warmth of both his mattress and blankets, but rather by the harshness of the ground digging in his back. At least it's not cold. It's never cold in Mapa Mundi, Sehun pictures Chanyeol state all-knowingly. They have three suns and one of them always reflects light and warmth. That's why the night is always clear, because when the two main suns disappear behind the horizon but-- Sehun shakes his head, internally grumbling and hitting Chanyeol on the back of his head.
The most important proof that he's here and not in the safety and comfort of his teenage room though isn't the three suns or the grass staining his shirt. No, it's the boy watching him with two very amused eyes. Or is it a boy, really? He's sporting two large fox ears standing out from between long and curlish honey-colored locks of hair, and his eyes, black rimmed like fox eyes are, are somewhere between human and animal. His pupils, reduced to black slits clashing against gold, follow Sehun with an amusement flooding the sharp but somehow delicate features of his face. Even his lips, with their kittenish curl, don't feel very natural, and the feeling is reinforced by the long canines Sehun can spot through the boy's smirk. There's a fluffy tail flapping against the ground next to him, the ginger fur echoing the hair on the boy's fox ears. It catches the sunbeams with golden sparkles, be it the stronger rays of the first sun or the shiest of the third one. Sehun's eyes linger on the white tip, so white and clean despite the dust and dirt it's sweeping right now.
And then, he freaks out.
“Oh fuck,” he mumbles, hiding his eyes with his hand. He straightens up and immediately starts bitting his nails. “Oh fuck, oh fuck,” he moans.
Jongdae's smile only grows wider at Sehun's obvious distress. Sehun would like to glare at him or snap back something very much, but he's currently too focused on his thumb nail. He's not even freaking out about Jongdae, or about the fact that Jongdae is actually a character from a stupid serie of books Chanyeol made him read. Even the three suns don't amaze him as much as they used to, and that actually tells a lot about how fucked up Sehun is. It's all Chanyeol's fault, Chanyeol and his stupid love for books and spells and magic and internet. After their first trip to Mapa Mundi, they've returned more than what they've should. So much more. It was nice at first, and amazing to learn more about Baekhyun, the last Child of the Moon, or Jongdae, the actual main character of the Exodus serie, but Sehun should have known it was just a matter of time before shit happened, and damn, shit did happen, and in the shittiest way.
“Why am I still here?” Sehun cries out. “It has always worked before! Sleeping here means waking up in my world. Why am I still here?!”
Jongdae looks at him before checking right then left. They're under a single tree, on the top of a hill, surrounded by silence and emptiness.
“Who are you asking?” Jongdae teases him.
Sehun glares at him. Just like Mapa Mundi, Jongdae had his charm at first. After all, a boy half a fox, half a Spirit of the forest -but his two halves full of magic- could only be intriguing, but Sehun has spent enough time with him over the past three months to know that there's more to Jongdae. He's biting, sharp, and literally, as sly as a fox. Right now though, he's only annoying to Sehun.
“Why are you not freaking out?” Sehun bites back, his voice raising and breaking around his last syllable without his consent. “Isn't Baekhyun supposed to be, like, your best friend? They took him!” Sehun freezes, flashes of what happened the night before flooding his mind. “Oh damn,” he moans. “Soldiers took Chanyeol and Baekhyun away...”
Jongdae snorts, and Sehun's attention comes back to him. He grabs Jongdae's collar and clenches his fist around it. Too caught up in his own panic, biting and poisonous, Sehun doesn't notice how Jongdae's eyes narrow at him, a hint of danger lurking under the golden sparks.
“Why are you laughing?” Sehun almost screams at him. “I've read the books! They always torture their prisoners. Chanyeol cries when he has a splinter in his finger.”
Jongdae drops the last hint of amusement as he pulls away, forcing Sehun to let go of him without the slightest effort. His fox ears are lowered against his locks and when he starts talking again, his canines flash more than usually. Sehun gulps, but stops fidgeting. Jongdae might have been really friendly with him all this time, he's still a fox-spirit-elf-whatever boy in the end, and Sehun is just... Sehun.
“Stop talking about those books,” Jongdae hisses, getting back on his feet. He dusts the cotton stretching on his knees, his tail peeking out behind his back. “I don't like that someone writes about me in your stupid world.”
“My world isn't stupid,” Sehun grumbles. “Your world is stupid. Too much danger.”
“Yeah?” Jongdae quirks an eyebrow at him. “So what are you doing here then?”
Sehun glances around him, at the orange flowers sprinkled with golden dust breaking the green of the grass, at the trees down the hill, and the three suns, the larger one redder than the two others. He'll never admit it, but coming here has slowly become the thing he looks forward to the most over the past few weeks. There's a reason why Chanyeol never had too insist to have him read those books he loves so much, and an even more obvious one as to why he's here.
Sehun's eyes come back to Jongdae, and heat spreads over his cheekbones. He looks away and chooses to get back on his feet rather than answering. It's safer.
“Beside,” Jongdae singsongs, back at his usual playful state. “What happened yesterday was planned. Do you really think those soldiers were on my level?” Jongdae snorts. “The only reason they got Baekhyun was because we both wanted it. Chanyeol getting caught was your fault. It was a bad timing to pop up like this.”
Sehun watches Jongdae, confused. The latter has a sly smile perched up on his lips, one that matches so well with his jumping gait as he sets off down the hill, straight towards the dense and very old-looking forest. The grass under his feet moves apart and the blades curl lovingly around his ankles, that stand out in all their naked glory between too short pants and low shoes. Flowers tilt on the side for a chance to graze his thighs, and Sehun hears them sigh with pleasure when Jongdae's tail comes and caresses their petals. He may have seen Jongdae two to three times a week over the past three months, Sehun is pretty sure he'll never get used to the way nature bends around Jongdae, like a very loving mother delighted to welcome back her child between her arms.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Sehun only then realises that Jongdae is walking away. With a jolt, he runs after him.
“If it was planned,” he asks, and then pauses to let out a gasp when he stumbles on a tiny rock. It was rolling, hidden in the high grass, towards Jongdae. “Uh, I'm sorry,” Sehun mumbles at the rock, and when he looks up, Jongdae is staring at him with a huge grin.
“Yes?” he asks.
Sehun steps over the rock, blushing, and probably failing to fake the nonchalance he's so desperate to show.
“If it was planned,” he repeats. “Does that mean Chanyeol won't be tortured?”
Jongdae chuckles, scrunching his nose as a slight breeze ruffles through his hair.
“I highly doubt he will,” he tells Sehun. “As much as Baekhyun likes blood, he likes it better when it's not his, or the blood of people he likes, and he seems to have taken a great liking to your friend.”
Sehun slowly nods. He's really trying not to freak out, but Jongdae mentioning blood that casually doesn't help. Despite the ears and the tail, Jongdae was actually easier to get used to for Sehun, because Baekhyun, with the darkness tattooed around his eyes and how predatory he is, still makes him uncomfortable. Jongdae is right though. If reading the Exodus serie twice taught Sehun something, it's that Baekhyun doesn't let people hurt him that easily. It doesn't ease the worry though, because Chanyeol, despite his dreaming eyes and his enthusiasm, isn't a magical creature. He's human, just like him, and the most dangerous thing he has done was skipping classes. (And still, he had nightmares about this for days.)
“Where are we going?” Sehun groans as he pulls his foot out of another puddle of mud. It's the third time already, but of course, it doesn't happen to Jongdae. He looks up at the latter with a hint of hope in his eyes. “We're getting Baekhyun and Chanyeol back?”
Jongdae shakes his head, his smile growing wider as he motions towards the forest, now only a few meters ahead of them.
“Home,” he breathes out excitedly.
Sehun stops, frowning. He casts a worried glance at the forest, the enchanted forest, but draws back his attention on Jongdae, who's still waddling happily towards the first row of trees. His fox ears pivot, an obvious sign that Jongdae knows that Sehun has stopped, but he doesn't slow down. Sehun clears his throat, and Jongdae's ears lower for a split second before he turns around with a heavy sigh.
“What?” he snaps.
Sehun pretends he's not hurt by Jongdae's tone.
“Shouldn't we stay here?” he asks, pointing at the top of the hill. “Where Baekhyun and Chanyeol can find us back?”
Jongdae shakes his head. “Going into the forest was our plan. No one will enter it. No one sane at least.”
“Why is that?” Sehun asks, bitting his lower lip. The trees, larger than both he and Jongdae standing shoulder to shoulder, suddenly look very threatening to him.
“Because it's an old forest,” Jongdae states as if it was obvious. “An enchanted forest. You need to have magic in your blood to be safe in that place.” His face brightens. “And I do!” he chirps.
Sehun swallows his saliva. The branches look like they're trying to grab them, their shadows gnawing on the forest's border.
Jongdae probably mistakens his silence for another peak of concern about Chanyeol, and he rolls his eyes at Sehun.
“Stop worrying about Chanyeol. He's with Baekhyun. He's safer than you. It's you you should worry about, I'm very forgetful.”
And just like that, Jondgae turns around again, and sets off towards the forest, very pleased.
“Uh?!” Sehun asks with a rasping voice.
He probably hasn't heard well. Probably. But just in case, he should better run behind Jongdae and catch up before the latter enters the forest. He trips no less than four times before he finally reaches Jongdae, but he's pretty sure that broken legs wouldn't have stopped him anyway. He would have crawled behind Jongdae. That forest stands like a huge dark stain against the bright horizon of that part of Mapa Mundi, and never would Sehun wander into it on his own. They haven't even entered it yet, but the light is already fading away as they walk into the dark shadows caused by the branches. They're tied above their heads like a makeshift roof allowing only a few rays here and there, fragile lightwells flooding the grass, now a shade darker. Sehun shivers. It's colder already.
He shifts closer to Jongdae, and when their shoulders bump, Jongdae casts him an amused glance.
“What did you say?” Sehun asks, with a knotted stomach.
Jongdae doesn't answer, but the grin he flashes Sehun isn't very reassuring, so when he speeds up, Sehun makes sure to follow his new pace. He still isn't sure what Jongdae said, but whatever it was, Sehun is very intent not to let him forget about him.
They step into the forest together, and at the exact moment Jongdae's right foot touches the ground, now deprived of grass, the trees all around them start cracking with low, resonating sounds that Sehun can feel under his soles, as though strong winds were maltreating them. There's not even the slightest breeze though, so Sehun lets out a weak -and ridiculous- whimper before clinging to Jongdae's arm.
“What's happening,” he whispers. He's going to be sick.
“They're saying hi,” Jongdae marvels, looking around him with delighted eyes. He stretches his arm and strokes a trunk, so large Sehun could carve a house within it and lives comfortably there. “Hey,” Jongdae whispers fondly. “I've missed you too.”
Sehun half-snorts half-sobs.
“This is ridiculous,” he grumbles. “Ridiculous.”
Jongdae looks at him, beaming.
“Come on,” he finally says. “We have a long walk.”
“Mff,” Sehun mumbles.
He throws a cautious look at the tree Jongdae stroked as they walk by it, unable to shake the feeling that the branches are itching closer. He scoots closer to Jongdae, wrapping a hand around his arm and bending down so that he can hide half his face against Jongdae's shoulder. The latter looks at him, smiling.
“Don't worry,” he tells him. “As long as you're with me, they won't harm you.”
“I know,” Sehun whispers back, too anxious to raise his voice. “Why do you think I'm holding onto you?”
Jongdae chuckles, but he doesn't say anything. He leads Sehun deeper into the forest, stoping here and there to pat a few plants, or engage a short discussion with a squirrel up in the trees. Despite the fear that, even though they've been walking for close to half an hour now, hasn't really fallen to lower levels, Sehun can't help but marvel at the beauty of the forest around him. It looked so dark, so scary when they were still outside, but things couldn't be any more different within it. Light can't pass through the thick roof, wooven by large and knobbly branches, but it's far from being dark amongst the trees. Light comes from the roots themselves, from the flowers, the leaves, all of them radiating a pale blue glow, just bright enough to print their shadows on the moss-covered ground. There are tiny specks of dust whirling around in the air, some of them silver, other golden, and when one of them grazes Sehun's cheekbone, he thinks he hears a high distant voice laugh in delight. When he straightens to follow the speck with his eyes, Jongdae smiles at him.
“When the forest was still young, the suns were shining on this land,” he tells Sehun. “The legend says that a very bright ray of sunshine --the brightest of all because he had the strength of the first sun, the joy of the second sun and the softness of the third-- fell in love with a creature of the forest. He used to come down here every day to play with her and curl in her hair, making it glow with silver and gold. He was everywhere she went, like a halo around her, and she was always waiting for him on the highest spot of the forest at dawn. He was the first to come out, and she was the first to feel the day and the light on her face.”
Sehun watches, amazed, as Jongdae tells him the story. The specks of dust gather around them, bubbly voices cheering and laughing as they play in invisible breezes, always getting closer to Jongdae.
“The trees grew up though,” Jongdae continues, glancing with mirth at a particularly adventurous golden speck twirling inches above his cheekbone. “But the ray couldn't find it in himself to leave the forest, not knowing he would never be able to come back. He decided to stay, despite the multiple warnings his brothers and sisters gave him about the darkness that would fall upon the forest. The fairy was terrified, but she couldn't let him go, so they found the brightest spot and they huddled together there. Soon enough, the branches closed on them though, thus casting an eternal night upon the forest. The ray fought as hard as he could against the darkness, but without his brothers and sisters, it was a fight he was doomed to lose. He died in his lover's arm, his last breath reflecting in her eyes, and she decided to do everything she can to protect it. She threw herself in the pond, for she knew the water liked reflecting light and turning it into a kaleidoscope ten times stronger. She drowned in the cold waters, but the water grabbed what was left of the light. She couldn't cast it over the forest though, because she had been a silent witness of the tragic love story and she hadn't it in her heart to part the two lovers. Instead, she kept them both in her heart, and the light somehow went to the trees and plants that were feeding on the pond, thus giving them that blue halo you can see now.”
Sehun breathes out as Jongdae ends his story with a conclusive note. He glances around him, his eyes wandering on the blue halos surrounding them. The tiny specks of gold and silver flood his vision, and Sehun stretches his arm, palm out. They immediately rush towards his fingers, and softly land in his hand, so small and light that Sehun doesn't feel them. He smiles, his throat constricting without him knowing why, and he glances at Jongdae. The latter is watching him with intense eyes. A few specks are caught in Jongdae's eyelashes, some of them even following the black line stretching under his eyes to his temples.
“What are they...?” Sehun asks in a low voice, mesmerized.
“What remains of the fairy and the ray's love,” Jongdae says. “They've been living through the forest all this time, and their love hasn't faltered. Something that strong is bound to have an impact.”
Sehun looks back at his hand, a small mountain of gold and silver sparks now nesting in his palm.
“It's so sad...” he whispers.
Jongdae places his hand a few inches above Sehun's, his palm hovering over Sehun's, and the specks all fly out with playful peals of laughter. They cascade between Jongdae's spread fingers like water defying gravity, twirling up and up with bright golden and silver sparks. Sehun follow them with his eyes, but his gaze is soon caught by Jongdae. The specks are ruffling through his hair, lifting some of the locks and curling around them with delighted chirping sounds. Sehun catches Jongdae's ears, the normal ones, or actually, the less odd ones, for Jongdae's ears are slightly pointy.
“Do they look sad to you?” Jongdae asks him with the brightest eye smile, in the most literal way since the specks have now gathered around his eyes. They're following the black lines rimming Jongdae's eyes, a reminder of his half fox nature, and lighting up his gaze. The golden ones reflect easily in the honey-colored eyes, but the silver ones stand out, like tiny diamonds shining bright. Sehun smiles, amazed.
“Come on,” Jongdae says. “We should keep going.”
He scrunches up his nose and vigorously blinks. The specks fly away with peals of laughter, and Jongdae chuckles. He motions Sehun to follow him and sets off again. Sehun still has an arm wrapped around Jongdae's, but his grip isn't as tight this time as he keeps watching the specks play all around them. With every step they take, other specks join them while some leave them to go back to where they were when Jongdae and Sehun walked on them. Some of them stay with them though, and when Sehun looks over his shoulder to admire them, he notices that a lot of the specks are following the tip of Jongdae's tail, making it look like a shooting star. He chuckles.
A sudden, sharp sound quickly makes him lose the want to laugh though, and he freezes. He tightens his hold on Jongdae's arm, digging his nails in his flesh and curling his other hand around his wrist. He just remembered that they were in an enchanted forest, and Sehun, although not able to quote the books like Chanyeol is, knows the Exodus serie just enough to be aware of what forests like that do to people deprived of magic like him.
“Let go of me,” Jongdae sighs.
Sehun vigorously shakes his head. A darker shadow passes beteween the trees ahead of them, and he comes to a halt, forcing Jongdae to stop as well, frozen.
“Oh my god,” he moans. “What is that?”
Jongdae glances at the trees, and smiles. Sehun doesn't need his explanation though, because the moment he asked, he realised what was the chiseled, broken shape. It's not a monster, he realises, astonished, these are not claws and bony hands, they are branches. It's a tree. A tree walking.
“Oh my god,” Sehun repeats. “Is that an Ent? Do you have Ents here?”
His first thought goes to Chanyeol. The latter will be so mad to have missed that.
“Ent?” Jongdae repeats, dubious. “What is an Ent? This is not an Ent, or whatever. It's an oak stretching its legs.”
Sehun stares at Jongdae, dumbfounded.
“Of course,” he says. “What else could that be.”
“Right,” Jongdae nods. “It seems pretty obvious to me.”
Sehun rolls his eyes, but fortunately, Jongdae misses the gesture. He pulls away from Sehun's hold though, and massages his arm.
“Let's go,” he tells Sehun. “If we keep on at this pace, we'll reach the fairies' land in about forty minutes.”
Jongdae sounds excited, impatient, but Sehun isn't as delighted as him. Fairies are amongst the nastiest creatures in Mapa Mundi, maybe not as vile as the Ssiiths and their cult of snakes, but still, an encounter with a fairy rarely ends up well. Sehun throws a longing look at Jongdae's arm, finding the empty space engulfing both his hands quite desarming. He has no idea what to do with his arms now, and he feels like a monkey with them swaying by his sides. He still makes sure to walk so close to Jongdae that their shoulders bump.
“Why do you want to see the fairies?” he asks Jongdae. “Don't you want to go visit your people?”
Jongdae shakes his head.
“Today is a special day,” he says. “It's the last day of summer. I want to show you how fairies celebrate it.”
Sehun finds himself debating over the flooding disappointment of not meeting Jongdae's kind, and the bubbly pleasure of Jongdae flatly saying he wants to show him something. He decides to go for the latter -as if he had a choice considering the blush spreading on his cheekbones, silvery under the blue glow of the forest- even though he doesn't strike out meeting Jongdae's people off his bucket list. They're Spirits of the forest, the ancient guardians of the enchanted grounds, but as special as that sounds, Jongdae is the most special of them all. Spirits of the forest are born with two bodies that they learn to handle and switch, thus jumping from one appearance to the other. One of them is the body of an animal, the purest reflection of their soul. It can be anything, a crow, a wolf, or a fox. The other is more human, but as beautiful. In the book, they're described as elves, with pointy ears and glowing hair, but they also have fangs and antlers. At the young age of seven, every chubby Spirit is supposed to chose a shape, one that will stick to them until the end of their very long life, and direct them onto a specific mission (animal Spirits usually help the forest's creatures while elf Spirits protect the borders). When young Jongdae reached his seventh years, he refused to choose though, and according to the author of the Exodus books, it had never happened before. Jongdae's appearance is unique, and so are his skills, a perfect mix of his animal and elf origins.
Sehun has always been very curious about Jongdae's people, but maybe, he thinks with warmth bubbling in his chest, he'll meet Jongdae's family another time.
The deeper they walk into the forest, the more terrifying the noises around them are. The forest is never quite silent. It's breathing, living, keeping magical creatures safe and sound from the rest of Mapa Mundi. Sehun can't help but think that some creatures don't need the protection though, like whatever is the source of the sudden jet of both fire and ice merging together spilling out from between the trees. Sehun yells as he grips Jongdae's tail, liquid fear flooding his veins. Jongdae immediately pulls away with a threatening growl that has Sehun seized by another wave of fear. He whimpers while Jongdae shows him his pointy and sharp teeth, dark eyes following Sehun's every gesture as he reaches behind his back and strokes his tail.
“Sorry,” Sehun mumbles, lowering his head.
Jongdae doesn't answer, but keeps glaring at Sehun as his tail is now beating the air in sharp gestures. He lets out another growl that rumbles through his chest and stops at his closed lips, probably just for good measure, before setting off again. Something cackles between the trees, and Sehun's eyes shot open wide. He runs after Jongdae and clings to him, but Jongdae pushes him away.
“Let me hold your hand,” Sehun begs him, pleading. “If I can't hold your tail, let me grab your hand at least.”
“Touch me and I swear I'll bite you,” Jongdae snaps back.
Sehun deflates. He casts a worried glance around them and makes sure to stay close enough to Jongdae to stay under his protection, but not too close to avoid any physical contact. It feels like hours until more welcoming noises grace his ears, and judging by the grin taking over Jongdae's face, they have reached their goals. It does sound like the fairies are partying, Sehun realises, and now that he's hearing them, he can't find it in himself to be afraid of them anymore. They're singing, their high voices merging together in the prettiest way, some of their syllables more like bells tinkling than actual words, and the melody they're shaping with their words somehow reminding him of the soft breeze going through the leaves at the border of the forest.
“Where are they?” Sehun asks, suddenly impatient to see the fairies.
Jongdae smiles at him, any bitterness of the tail accident forgotten. He mimicks Sehun to keep quiet with an index finger against his lip, and gestures him to follow him to the closest tree. Sehun obliges wordlessly, his eyes eagerly following Jongdae. The latter stops by the trunk, his tail happily waving around, and his smile turns into a huge grin when the tree tilts on the side with a rumbling cracking sound, like distant thunder. Jongdae climbs on the lowest branch, now barely a meter above the ground, and turns towards Sehun.
“Come,” he whispers, pairing up his words with a hand gesture.
Sehun doesn't need to be told twice. He dashes towards Jongdae and grabs the latter's hand. Jongdae helps him hauling himself on the branch, and they soon find themselves straddling it, sitting face to face. The tree slowly straightens up, and Sehun watches, mesmerized, the ground drawing away under his dirty sneakers. A few specks are drawing sparkling circles around Jongdae's ankles, like bracelet falling low on the jutting bones, emphasizing their finesse.
“I'm surprised he let you climb on him,” Jongdae marvels, petting the branch between him and Sehun. He looks up and smiles at Sehun. “He probably felt that I like you.”
Something jumps into Sehun's throat at Jongdae's last words, and luckily for him, Jongdae immediately looks away to eye scan their surroundings, thus giving some time to Sehun to take in what Jongdae just said. He feels bubbles in his chest, and tingles in his legs as a wide beam takes over his face. Starring into nothing, he's almost surprised to notice how comfortable he feels, like he belongs here. It's not the first time the thought graces his mind. After all, he and Chanyeol have come back in Mapa Mundi despite the danger and Jongdae and Baekhyun's enemies, and Sehun knows for a fact that Chanyeol's little misfortune won't stop them from returning again. Chanyeol's words, when he barged into his room that day with another crazy spell taken off the internet in his arms, often ring through his head. We're gonna meet our soulmates! he had said, and they didn't really talk about that again, but Sehun hasn't been able to forget it. He wonders if Chanyeol is as obsessed as he is with this, but knowing his best friend, Chanyeol is probably just living it. No question, no second thought. Chanyeol has waited for his adventure all his life, but Sehun... Sehun can't get the word soulmate off his mind everytime he looks at Jongdae. Which doesn't make any sense, but then again, going in a world that only exists in a serie of mildly successful books doesn't either.
Jongdae is nice enough to rescue Sehun from the dreading questions that were starting to knot his stomach when he elbows him softly.
“Look,” he says.
Sehun turns his head, and gasps when his eyes fall upon the scene Jongdae is pointing at him. There's a little clearing ahead of them, protected by a roof of branches like everything else in the forest. It creates a sort of dome whose ceiling is covered in ivy dangling off the branches and billions of fireflies. In the middle of the clearing, a dozen of what Sehun supposes are fairies are dancing, holding their hands as they whirl around a small tornado of bronze leaves joined by dozens of specks. They're just high enough for the acorn they're all sporting on their belts made of ivy to not make them lose their balance. The acorns have all been hollowed out, Sehun notices, and he's pretty sure something inside them make them tinkle, but he can't see what. He doesn't dwell on the question though, prefering to draw back his attention on the fairies themselves. At first, they look like all the fairies fantasy books usually have, but soon enough, Sehun starts to spot a few details that distinguish them. First of all, they have horns on the top of their heads, their shapes and length changing from one fairy to another, but all of them are brownish with intricate figures engraved on them. They don't have pointy ears, or actual ears at all, unless they're hidden beneath their thick hair. Squinting his eyes, Sehun realises that they're sporting feathers in their hair, like real locks of hair but made of feathers. Some of them are beige, others are greyish, and Sehun even spots a fairy whose feathers remind him of a redbreast. They do have wings, but they're not shaped like a butterfly's wings. They look like leaves to be honest, sticking out in their back and beating the air happily. They wouldn't be attached to the fairies' bodies if it wasn't for the strange link tying the leaf-wings together and then curling around the fairies' waists. The link shines bright, lighting the tanned complexions of the fairies as it spreads around their bodies, hiding their chests and curling around their slender legs, but never actually touching their skin. It just hovers over them, following effortlessly their movements.
Sehun breathes out as he catches a fairy waving her arms abover her head, her hips swaying in such a way that makes her look like a stream of water cascading from a cliff.
“They're beautiful,” he whispers.
Next to him, Jongdae nods.
“They like dancing,” he explains. “But out of all their celebrations, the last day of summer and the first day of autumn dances are my favorite.”
Sehun struggles to let go of the fairies long enough to cast a glance at Jongdae.
“Are they as mean as it is said in the book?”
Jongdae slightly frowns. He shakes his head.
“They're not mean. They're daughters of the forest. They're free spirits, wild and untameable, strong like the branches over our heads and delicate like the Silvery Waterfalls.” Jongdae pauses, then adds with a fond smile. “My people have been protecting them for centuries now. Daughters and sons of the forest are safe with us. Only people who have never entered my land could tell that fairies are mean. People who don't understand.”
“People like me?” Sehun whispers.
Jongdae looks at him, a faint smile perched on his lips.
“The forest doesn't let anyone enter her heart,” he says. “We can only protect her borders, but she chooses who has the right to cross them. She's let you in. I think she believes you can understand, so maybe you're more like us than like them.”
Sehun feels his heart speeding up in his chest. He looks at the fairies, still dancing and singing, then at the rest of the forest around him. He can almost sees the ground rises and falls at the forest breathes, can almost hear her talk. Pale blue halos dance everywhere in his field of vision, swaying faintly to the fairies' melody, and when Sehun looks down, he realises the faint light radiating from the branch they're sitting on is now following both his and Jongdae's thighs as if they were just a few more knots in the wood.
“More like you,” he repeats in a whisper as he places his hand on his knee. The light slowly detaches itself from his thigh to slide over his knucles, following the faint ridges before joining the rest of the halo on the branch.
When he looks up, Jongdae is watching him with a proud smile, a smile full of love for that world around them, full of magic and things Sehun is barely starting to understand.
“I'll introduce the fairies to you if you want when they'll be done,” Jongdae tells him as he scoots closer to Sehun.
His tail slides between them with a lazy swinging, and finally curls on Sehun's thighs. The light engulfs it, the shade of blue making the tip looks silver, and Sehun feels more than ever the need to bury his fingers in the fluffy fur. He glances at Jongdae, and blushes when he notices that the latter is already smiling at him.
“Do it,” Jongdae says with a nod, before drawing back his attention on the fairies in the clearing.
Over their singing and tinkling, Sehun barely makes out Jongdae's mumbled I kinda like it. Barely, but he does make it out. Warmth spreading in his chest, he slowly strokes Jongdae's tail, tingles flooding his arm as his fingers disappear in the long and soft ginger hair.
He's not so eager to go back in his world after all, and he finds himself silently praying that when he'll go to sleep later today, it will be to wake up to Jongdae's pokes again. He's not sure what is real, or what is the dream anymore, but he really does hope that they'll keep merging together. Dreams sprinkled with reality are definitely the best, he thinks as something both heavy and light settles in his chest.
It's not that he wants misfortune to find Chanyeol again, but if his best friend could be a couple of days late, it would be great.
Surely it's still Jongdae's birthday somewhere, right? ;; Even if it's not, here's to the most magical boy I've ever seen.
This is part of an au that I will definitely write sooner or later. I'm still plotting it, it's going to be long and probably boring, but well. If you've reached the end of this useless fic, bravo, and I promise you more action for the actual longer fic.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Sehun/Jongdae
Wordcount: 6,240
Warning: It's very self indulgent okay.
Disclaimer: EXO belongs to themselves and SME
Notes: Part of the same au than that baekyeol which I highly recommend you to read to understand, but you know, no pressure.
Title taken from Florence and The Machine's Caught.
Summary: The first time Sehun found himself wandering in a book, it was an accident. Now he's not so sure anymore.
Something pokes Sehun on the cheek. Repeatedly. A pointy, but very harsh finger against the softness of his skin, and the feeling comes and drags Sehun out of his heavy slumber, slowly but surely. He knows for a fact that Chanyeol doesn't have the subtelty nor the patience that digging his finger in his cheek for straight ten minutes without grumbling requires,. With each poke, Sehun emerges a little more, his mind proceding that single information until he eventually gets what this means.
It finally causes a mix of despair sprinkled with a hint of joy on the back of his tongue. Sehun slightly parts his lips, wetting them with the tip of his tongue before letting out a soft sigh.
“I'm still here, aren't I?” he whispers.
“Well,” a cheerful, singing voice answers him. “Here could refer to a lot of places, but I think that the here you're refering to is most definitely... here.”
Sehun grumbles. He opens his eyes, and immediately squints them, blinded by the light, although soft, pourring down from the three suns above his head.
He is here. Now that his mind is pushing back the sleepiness, he doesn't see how he could have thought -or hoped- he wasn't though. He's not surrounded by the comfort or the warmth of both his mattress and blankets, but rather by the harshness of the ground digging in his back. At least it's not cold. It's never cold in Mapa Mundi, Sehun pictures Chanyeol state all-knowingly. They have three suns and one of them always reflects light and warmth. That's why the night is always clear, because when the two main suns disappear behind the horizon but-- Sehun shakes his head, internally grumbling and hitting Chanyeol on the back of his head.
The most important proof that he's here and not in the safety and comfort of his teenage room though isn't the three suns or the grass staining his shirt. No, it's the boy watching him with two very amused eyes. Or is it a boy, really? He's sporting two large fox ears standing out from between long and curlish honey-colored locks of hair, and his eyes, black rimmed like fox eyes are, are somewhere between human and animal. His pupils, reduced to black slits clashing against gold, follow Sehun with an amusement flooding the sharp but somehow delicate features of his face. Even his lips, with their kittenish curl, don't feel very natural, and the feeling is reinforced by the long canines Sehun can spot through the boy's smirk. There's a fluffy tail flapping against the ground next to him, the ginger fur echoing the hair on the boy's fox ears. It catches the sunbeams with golden sparkles, be it the stronger rays of the first sun or the shiest of the third one. Sehun's eyes linger on the white tip, so white and clean despite the dust and dirt it's sweeping right now.
And then, he freaks out.
“Oh fuck,” he mumbles, hiding his eyes with his hand. He straightens up and immediately starts bitting his nails. “Oh fuck, oh fuck,” he moans.
Jongdae's smile only grows wider at Sehun's obvious distress. Sehun would like to glare at him or snap back something very much, but he's currently too focused on his thumb nail. He's not even freaking out about Jongdae, or about the fact that Jongdae is actually a character from a stupid serie of books Chanyeol made him read. Even the three suns don't amaze him as much as they used to, and that actually tells a lot about how fucked up Sehun is. It's all Chanyeol's fault, Chanyeol and his stupid love for books and spells and magic and internet. After their first trip to Mapa Mundi, they've returned more than what they've should. So much more. It was nice at first, and amazing to learn more about Baekhyun, the last Child of the Moon, or Jongdae, the actual main character of the Exodus serie, but Sehun should have known it was just a matter of time before shit happened, and damn, shit did happen, and in the shittiest way.
“Why am I still here?” Sehun cries out. “It has always worked before! Sleeping here means waking up in my world. Why am I still here?!”
Jongdae looks at him before checking right then left. They're under a single tree, on the top of a hill, surrounded by silence and emptiness.
“Who are you asking?” Jongdae teases him.
Sehun glares at him. Just like Mapa Mundi, Jongdae had his charm at first. After all, a boy half a fox, half a Spirit of the forest -but his two halves full of magic- could only be intriguing, but Sehun has spent enough time with him over the past three months to know that there's more to Jongdae. He's biting, sharp, and literally, as sly as a fox. Right now though, he's only annoying to Sehun.
“Why are you not freaking out?” Sehun bites back, his voice raising and breaking around his last syllable without his consent. “Isn't Baekhyun supposed to be, like, your best friend? They took him!” Sehun freezes, flashes of what happened the night before flooding his mind. “Oh damn,” he moans. “Soldiers took Chanyeol and Baekhyun away...”
Jongdae snorts, and Sehun's attention comes back to him. He grabs Jongdae's collar and clenches his fist around it. Too caught up in his own panic, biting and poisonous, Sehun doesn't notice how Jongdae's eyes narrow at him, a hint of danger lurking under the golden sparks.
“Why are you laughing?” Sehun almost screams at him. “I've read the books! They always torture their prisoners. Chanyeol cries when he has a splinter in his finger.”
Jongdae drops the last hint of amusement as he pulls away, forcing Sehun to let go of him without the slightest effort. His fox ears are lowered against his locks and when he starts talking again, his canines flash more than usually. Sehun gulps, but stops fidgeting. Jongdae might have been really friendly with him all this time, he's still a fox-spirit-elf-whatever boy in the end, and Sehun is just... Sehun.
“Stop talking about those books,” Jongdae hisses, getting back on his feet. He dusts the cotton stretching on his knees, his tail peeking out behind his back. “I don't like that someone writes about me in your stupid world.”
“My world isn't stupid,” Sehun grumbles. “Your world is stupid. Too much danger.”
“Yeah?” Jongdae quirks an eyebrow at him. “So what are you doing here then?”
Sehun glances around him, at the orange flowers sprinkled with golden dust breaking the green of the grass, at the trees down the hill, and the three suns, the larger one redder than the two others. He'll never admit it, but coming here has slowly become the thing he looks forward to the most over the past few weeks. There's a reason why Chanyeol never had too insist to have him read those books he loves so much, and an even more obvious one as to why he's here.
Sehun's eyes come back to Jongdae, and heat spreads over his cheekbones. He looks away and chooses to get back on his feet rather than answering. It's safer.
“Beside,” Jongdae singsongs, back at his usual playful state. “What happened yesterday was planned. Do you really think those soldiers were on my level?” Jongdae snorts. “The only reason they got Baekhyun was because we both wanted it. Chanyeol getting caught was your fault. It was a bad timing to pop up like this.”
Sehun watches Jongdae, confused. The latter has a sly smile perched up on his lips, one that matches so well with his jumping gait as he sets off down the hill, straight towards the dense and very old-looking forest. The grass under his feet moves apart and the blades curl lovingly around his ankles, that stand out in all their naked glory between too short pants and low shoes. Flowers tilt on the side for a chance to graze his thighs, and Sehun hears them sigh with pleasure when Jongdae's tail comes and caresses their petals. He may have seen Jongdae two to three times a week over the past three months, Sehun is pretty sure he'll never get used to the way nature bends around Jongdae, like a very loving mother delighted to welcome back her child between her arms.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Sehun only then realises that Jongdae is walking away. With a jolt, he runs after him.
“If it was planned,” he asks, and then pauses to let out a gasp when he stumbles on a tiny rock. It was rolling, hidden in the high grass, towards Jongdae. “Uh, I'm sorry,” Sehun mumbles at the rock, and when he looks up, Jongdae is staring at him with a huge grin.
“Yes?” he asks.
Sehun steps over the rock, blushing, and probably failing to fake the nonchalance he's so desperate to show.
“If it was planned,” he repeats. “Does that mean Chanyeol won't be tortured?”
Jongdae chuckles, scrunching his nose as a slight breeze ruffles through his hair.
“I highly doubt he will,” he tells Sehun. “As much as Baekhyun likes blood, he likes it better when it's not his, or the blood of people he likes, and he seems to have taken a great liking to your friend.”
Sehun slowly nods. He's really trying not to freak out, but Jongdae mentioning blood that casually doesn't help. Despite the ears and the tail, Jongdae was actually easier to get used to for Sehun, because Baekhyun, with the darkness tattooed around his eyes and how predatory he is, still makes him uncomfortable. Jongdae is right though. If reading the Exodus serie twice taught Sehun something, it's that Baekhyun doesn't let people hurt him that easily. It doesn't ease the worry though, because Chanyeol, despite his dreaming eyes and his enthusiasm, isn't a magical creature. He's human, just like him, and the most dangerous thing he has done was skipping classes. (And still, he had nightmares about this for days.)
“Where are we going?” Sehun groans as he pulls his foot out of another puddle of mud. It's the third time already, but of course, it doesn't happen to Jongdae. He looks up at the latter with a hint of hope in his eyes. “We're getting Baekhyun and Chanyeol back?”
Jongdae shakes his head, his smile growing wider as he motions towards the forest, now only a few meters ahead of them.
“Home,” he breathes out excitedly.
Sehun stops, frowning. He casts a worried glance at the forest, the enchanted forest, but draws back his attention on Jongdae, who's still waddling happily towards the first row of trees. His fox ears pivot, an obvious sign that Jongdae knows that Sehun has stopped, but he doesn't slow down. Sehun clears his throat, and Jongdae's ears lower for a split second before he turns around with a heavy sigh.
“What?” he snaps.
Sehun pretends he's not hurt by Jongdae's tone.
“Shouldn't we stay here?” he asks, pointing at the top of the hill. “Where Baekhyun and Chanyeol can find us back?”
Jongdae shakes his head. “Going into the forest was our plan. No one will enter it. No one sane at least.”
“Why is that?” Sehun asks, bitting his lower lip. The trees, larger than both he and Jongdae standing shoulder to shoulder, suddenly look very threatening to him.
“Because it's an old forest,” Jongdae states as if it was obvious. “An enchanted forest. You need to have magic in your blood to be safe in that place.” His face brightens. “And I do!” he chirps.
Sehun swallows his saliva. The branches look like they're trying to grab them, their shadows gnawing on the forest's border.
Jongdae probably mistakens his silence for another peak of concern about Chanyeol, and he rolls his eyes at Sehun.
“Stop worrying about Chanyeol. He's with Baekhyun. He's safer than you. It's you you should worry about, I'm very forgetful.”
And just like that, Jondgae turns around again, and sets off towards the forest, very pleased.
“Uh?!” Sehun asks with a rasping voice.
He probably hasn't heard well. Probably. But just in case, he should better run behind Jongdae and catch up before the latter enters the forest. He trips no less than four times before he finally reaches Jongdae, but he's pretty sure that broken legs wouldn't have stopped him anyway. He would have crawled behind Jongdae. That forest stands like a huge dark stain against the bright horizon of that part of Mapa Mundi, and never would Sehun wander into it on his own. They haven't even entered it yet, but the light is already fading away as they walk into the dark shadows caused by the branches. They're tied above their heads like a makeshift roof allowing only a few rays here and there, fragile lightwells flooding the grass, now a shade darker. Sehun shivers. It's colder already.
He shifts closer to Jongdae, and when their shoulders bump, Jongdae casts him an amused glance.
“What did you say?” Sehun asks, with a knotted stomach.
Jongdae doesn't answer, but the grin he flashes Sehun isn't very reassuring, so when he speeds up, Sehun makes sure to follow his new pace. He still isn't sure what Jongdae said, but whatever it was, Sehun is very intent not to let him forget about him.
They step into the forest together, and at the exact moment Jongdae's right foot touches the ground, now deprived of grass, the trees all around them start cracking with low, resonating sounds that Sehun can feel under his soles, as though strong winds were maltreating them. There's not even the slightest breeze though, so Sehun lets out a weak -and ridiculous- whimper before clinging to Jongdae's arm.
“What's happening,” he whispers. He's going to be sick.
“They're saying hi,” Jongdae marvels, looking around him with delighted eyes. He stretches his arm and strokes a trunk, so large Sehun could carve a house within it and lives comfortably there. “Hey,” Jongdae whispers fondly. “I've missed you too.”
Sehun half-snorts half-sobs.
“This is ridiculous,” he grumbles. “Ridiculous.”
Jongdae looks at him, beaming.
“Come on,” he finally says. “We have a long walk.”
“Mff,” Sehun mumbles.
He throws a cautious look at the tree Jongdae stroked as they walk by it, unable to shake the feeling that the branches are itching closer. He scoots closer to Jongdae, wrapping a hand around his arm and bending down so that he can hide half his face against Jongdae's shoulder. The latter looks at him, smiling.
“Don't worry,” he tells him. “As long as you're with me, they won't harm you.”
“I know,” Sehun whispers back, too anxious to raise his voice. “Why do you think I'm holding onto you?”
Jongdae chuckles, but he doesn't say anything. He leads Sehun deeper into the forest, stoping here and there to pat a few plants, or engage a short discussion with a squirrel up in the trees. Despite the fear that, even though they've been walking for close to half an hour now, hasn't really fallen to lower levels, Sehun can't help but marvel at the beauty of the forest around him. It looked so dark, so scary when they were still outside, but things couldn't be any more different within it. Light can't pass through the thick roof, wooven by large and knobbly branches, but it's far from being dark amongst the trees. Light comes from the roots themselves, from the flowers, the leaves, all of them radiating a pale blue glow, just bright enough to print their shadows on the moss-covered ground. There are tiny specks of dust whirling around in the air, some of them silver, other golden, and when one of them grazes Sehun's cheekbone, he thinks he hears a high distant voice laugh in delight. When he straightens to follow the speck with his eyes, Jongdae smiles at him.
“When the forest was still young, the suns were shining on this land,” he tells Sehun. “The legend says that a very bright ray of sunshine --the brightest of all because he had the strength of the first sun, the joy of the second sun and the softness of the third-- fell in love with a creature of the forest. He used to come down here every day to play with her and curl in her hair, making it glow with silver and gold. He was everywhere she went, like a halo around her, and she was always waiting for him on the highest spot of the forest at dawn. He was the first to come out, and she was the first to feel the day and the light on her face.”
Sehun watches, amazed, as Jongdae tells him the story. The specks of dust gather around them, bubbly voices cheering and laughing as they play in invisible breezes, always getting closer to Jongdae.
“The trees grew up though,” Jongdae continues, glancing with mirth at a particularly adventurous golden speck twirling inches above his cheekbone. “But the ray couldn't find it in himself to leave the forest, not knowing he would never be able to come back. He decided to stay, despite the multiple warnings his brothers and sisters gave him about the darkness that would fall upon the forest. The fairy was terrified, but she couldn't let him go, so they found the brightest spot and they huddled together there. Soon enough, the branches closed on them though, thus casting an eternal night upon the forest. The ray fought as hard as he could against the darkness, but without his brothers and sisters, it was a fight he was doomed to lose. He died in his lover's arm, his last breath reflecting in her eyes, and she decided to do everything she can to protect it. She threw herself in the pond, for she knew the water liked reflecting light and turning it into a kaleidoscope ten times stronger. She drowned in the cold waters, but the water grabbed what was left of the light. She couldn't cast it over the forest though, because she had been a silent witness of the tragic love story and she hadn't it in her heart to part the two lovers. Instead, she kept them both in her heart, and the light somehow went to the trees and plants that were feeding on the pond, thus giving them that blue halo you can see now.”
Sehun breathes out as Jongdae ends his story with a conclusive note. He glances around him, his eyes wandering on the blue halos surrounding them. The tiny specks of gold and silver flood his vision, and Sehun stretches his arm, palm out. They immediately rush towards his fingers, and softly land in his hand, so small and light that Sehun doesn't feel them. He smiles, his throat constricting without him knowing why, and he glances at Jongdae. The latter is watching him with intense eyes. A few specks are caught in Jongdae's eyelashes, some of them even following the black line stretching under his eyes to his temples.
“What are they...?” Sehun asks in a low voice, mesmerized.
“What remains of the fairy and the ray's love,” Jongdae says. “They've been living through the forest all this time, and their love hasn't faltered. Something that strong is bound to have an impact.”
Sehun looks back at his hand, a small mountain of gold and silver sparks now nesting in his palm.
“It's so sad...” he whispers.
Jongdae places his hand a few inches above Sehun's, his palm hovering over Sehun's, and the specks all fly out with playful peals of laughter. They cascade between Jongdae's spread fingers like water defying gravity, twirling up and up with bright golden and silver sparks. Sehun follow them with his eyes, but his gaze is soon caught by Jongdae. The specks are ruffling through his hair, lifting some of the locks and curling around them with delighted chirping sounds. Sehun catches Jongdae's ears, the normal ones, or actually, the less odd ones, for Jongdae's ears are slightly pointy.
“Do they look sad to you?” Jongdae asks him with the brightest eye smile, in the most literal way since the specks have now gathered around his eyes. They're following the black lines rimming Jongdae's eyes, a reminder of his half fox nature, and lighting up his gaze. The golden ones reflect easily in the honey-colored eyes, but the silver ones stand out, like tiny diamonds shining bright. Sehun smiles, amazed.
“Come on,” Jongdae says. “We should keep going.”
He scrunches up his nose and vigorously blinks. The specks fly away with peals of laughter, and Jongdae chuckles. He motions Sehun to follow him and sets off again. Sehun still has an arm wrapped around Jongdae's, but his grip isn't as tight this time as he keeps watching the specks play all around them. With every step they take, other specks join them while some leave them to go back to where they were when Jongdae and Sehun walked on them. Some of them stay with them though, and when Sehun looks over his shoulder to admire them, he notices that a lot of the specks are following the tip of Jongdae's tail, making it look like a shooting star. He chuckles.
A sudden, sharp sound quickly makes him lose the want to laugh though, and he freezes. He tightens his hold on Jongdae's arm, digging his nails in his flesh and curling his other hand around his wrist. He just remembered that they were in an enchanted forest, and Sehun, although not able to quote the books like Chanyeol is, knows the Exodus serie just enough to be aware of what forests like that do to people deprived of magic like him.
“Let go of me,” Jongdae sighs.
Sehun vigorously shakes his head. A darker shadow passes beteween the trees ahead of them, and he comes to a halt, forcing Jongdae to stop as well, frozen.
“Oh my god,” he moans. “What is that?”
Jongdae glances at the trees, and smiles. Sehun doesn't need his explanation though, because the moment he asked, he realised what was the chiseled, broken shape. It's not a monster, he realises, astonished, these are not claws and bony hands, they are branches. It's a tree. A tree walking.
“Oh my god,” Sehun repeats. “Is that an Ent? Do you have Ents here?”
His first thought goes to Chanyeol. The latter will be so mad to have missed that.
“Ent?” Jongdae repeats, dubious. “What is an Ent? This is not an Ent, or whatever. It's an oak stretching its legs.”
Sehun stares at Jongdae, dumbfounded.
“Of course,” he says. “What else could that be.”
“Right,” Jongdae nods. “It seems pretty obvious to me.”
Sehun rolls his eyes, but fortunately, Jongdae misses the gesture. He pulls away from Sehun's hold though, and massages his arm.
“Let's go,” he tells Sehun. “If we keep on at this pace, we'll reach the fairies' land in about forty minutes.”
Jongdae sounds excited, impatient, but Sehun isn't as delighted as him. Fairies are amongst the nastiest creatures in Mapa Mundi, maybe not as vile as the Ssiiths and their cult of snakes, but still, an encounter with a fairy rarely ends up well. Sehun throws a longing look at Jongdae's arm, finding the empty space engulfing both his hands quite desarming. He has no idea what to do with his arms now, and he feels like a monkey with them swaying by his sides. He still makes sure to walk so close to Jongdae that their shoulders bump.
“Why do you want to see the fairies?” he asks Jongdae. “Don't you want to go visit your people?”
Jongdae shakes his head.
“Today is a special day,” he says. “It's the last day of summer. I want to show you how fairies celebrate it.”
Sehun finds himself debating over the flooding disappointment of not meeting Jongdae's kind, and the bubbly pleasure of Jongdae flatly saying he wants to show him something. He decides to go for the latter -as if he had a choice considering the blush spreading on his cheekbones, silvery under the blue glow of the forest- even though he doesn't strike out meeting Jongdae's people off his bucket list. They're Spirits of the forest, the ancient guardians of the enchanted grounds, but as special as that sounds, Jongdae is the most special of them all. Spirits of the forest are born with two bodies that they learn to handle and switch, thus jumping from one appearance to the other. One of them is the body of an animal, the purest reflection of their soul. It can be anything, a crow, a wolf, or a fox. The other is more human, but as beautiful. In the book, they're described as elves, with pointy ears and glowing hair, but they also have fangs and antlers. At the young age of seven, every chubby Spirit is supposed to chose a shape, one that will stick to them until the end of their very long life, and direct them onto a specific mission (animal Spirits usually help the forest's creatures while elf Spirits protect the borders). When young Jongdae reached his seventh years, he refused to choose though, and according to the author of the Exodus books, it had never happened before. Jongdae's appearance is unique, and so are his skills, a perfect mix of his animal and elf origins.
Sehun has always been very curious about Jongdae's people, but maybe, he thinks with warmth bubbling in his chest, he'll meet Jongdae's family another time.
The deeper they walk into the forest, the more terrifying the noises around them are. The forest is never quite silent. It's breathing, living, keeping magical creatures safe and sound from the rest of Mapa Mundi. Sehun can't help but think that some creatures don't need the protection though, like whatever is the source of the sudden jet of both fire and ice merging together spilling out from between the trees. Sehun yells as he grips Jongdae's tail, liquid fear flooding his veins. Jongdae immediately pulls away with a threatening growl that has Sehun seized by another wave of fear. He whimpers while Jongdae shows him his pointy and sharp teeth, dark eyes following Sehun's every gesture as he reaches behind his back and strokes his tail.
“Sorry,” Sehun mumbles, lowering his head.
Jongdae doesn't answer, but keeps glaring at Sehun as his tail is now beating the air in sharp gestures. He lets out another growl that rumbles through his chest and stops at his closed lips, probably just for good measure, before setting off again. Something cackles between the trees, and Sehun's eyes shot open wide. He runs after Jongdae and clings to him, but Jongdae pushes him away.
“Let me hold your hand,” Sehun begs him, pleading. “If I can't hold your tail, let me grab your hand at least.”
“Touch me and I swear I'll bite you,” Jongdae snaps back.
Sehun deflates. He casts a worried glance around them and makes sure to stay close enough to Jongdae to stay under his protection, but not too close to avoid any physical contact. It feels like hours until more welcoming noises grace his ears, and judging by the grin taking over Jongdae's face, they have reached their goals. It does sound like the fairies are partying, Sehun realises, and now that he's hearing them, he can't find it in himself to be afraid of them anymore. They're singing, their high voices merging together in the prettiest way, some of their syllables more like bells tinkling than actual words, and the melody they're shaping with their words somehow reminding him of the soft breeze going through the leaves at the border of the forest.
“Where are they?” Sehun asks, suddenly impatient to see the fairies.
Jongdae smiles at him, any bitterness of the tail accident forgotten. He mimicks Sehun to keep quiet with an index finger against his lip, and gestures him to follow him to the closest tree. Sehun obliges wordlessly, his eyes eagerly following Jongdae. The latter stops by the trunk, his tail happily waving around, and his smile turns into a huge grin when the tree tilts on the side with a rumbling cracking sound, like distant thunder. Jongdae climbs on the lowest branch, now barely a meter above the ground, and turns towards Sehun.
“Come,” he whispers, pairing up his words with a hand gesture.
Sehun doesn't need to be told twice. He dashes towards Jongdae and grabs the latter's hand. Jongdae helps him hauling himself on the branch, and they soon find themselves straddling it, sitting face to face. The tree slowly straightens up, and Sehun watches, mesmerized, the ground drawing away under his dirty sneakers. A few specks are drawing sparkling circles around Jongdae's ankles, like bracelet falling low on the jutting bones, emphasizing their finesse.
“I'm surprised he let you climb on him,” Jongdae marvels, petting the branch between him and Sehun. He looks up and smiles at Sehun. “He probably felt that I like you.”
Something jumps into Sehun's throat at Jongdae's last words, and luckily for him, Jongdae immediately looks away to eye scan their surroundings, thus giving some time to Sehun to take in what Jongdae just said. He feels bubbles in his chest, and tingles in his legs as a wide beam takes over his face. Starring into nothing, he's almost surprised to notice how comfortable he feels, like he belongs here. It's not the first time the thought graces his mind. After all, he and Chanyeol have come back in Mapa Mundi despite the danger and Jongdae and Baekhyun's enemies, and Sehun knows for a fact that Chanyeol's little misfortune won't stop them from returning again. Chanyeol's words, when he barged into his room that day with another crazy spell taken off the internet in his arms, often ring through his head. We're gonna meet our soulmates! he had said, and they didn't really talk about that again, but Sehun hasn't been able to forget it. He wonders if Chanyeol is as obsessed as he is with this, but knowing his best friend, Chanyeol is probably just living it. No question, no second thought. Chanyeol has waited for his adventure all his life, but Sehun... Sehun can't get the word soulmate off his mind everytime he looks at Jongdae. Which doesn't make any sense, but then again, going in a world that only exists in a serie of mildly successful books doesn't either.
Jongdae is nice enough to rescue Sehun from the dreading questions that were starting to knot his stomach when he elbows him softly.
“Look,” he says.
Sehun turns his head, and gasps when his eyes fall upon the scene Jongdae is pointing at him. There's a little clearing ahead of them, protected by a roof of branches like everything else in the forest. It creates a sort of dome whose ceiling is covered in ivy dangling off the branches and billions of fireflies. In the middle of the clearing, a dozen of what Sehun supposes are fairies are dancing, holding their hands as they whirl around a small tornado of bronze leaves joined by dozens of specks. They're just high enough for the acorn they're all sporting on their belts made of ivy to not make them lose their balance. The acorns have all been hollowed out, Sehun notices, and he's pretty sure something inside them make them tinkle, but he can't see what. He doesn't dwell on the question though, prefering to draw back his attention on the fairies themselves. At first, they look like all the fairies fantasy books usually have, but soon enough, Sehun starts to spot a few details that distinguish them. First of all, they have horns on the top of their heads, their shapes and length changing from one fairy to another, but all of them are brownish with intricate figures engraved on them. They don't have pointy ears, or actual ears at all, unless they're hidden beneath their thick hair. Squinting his eyes, Sehun realises that they're sporting feathers in their hair, like real locks of hair but made of feathers. Some of them are beige, others are greyish, and Sehun even spots a fairy whose feathers remind him of a redbreast. They do have wings, but they're not shaped like a butterfly's wings. They look like leaves to be honest, sticking out in their back and beating the air happily. They wouldn't be attached to the fairies' bodies if it wasn't for the strange link tying the leaf-wings together and then curling around the fairies' waists. The link shines bright, lighting the tanned complexions of the fairies as it spreads around their bodies, hiding their chests and curling around their slender legs, but never actually touching their skin. It just hovers over them, following effortlessly their movements.
Sehun breathes out as he catches a fairy waving her arms abover her head, her hips swaying in such a way that makes her look like a stream of water cascading from a cliff.
“They're beautiful,” he whispers.
Next to him, Jongdae nods.
“They like dancing,” he explains. “But out of all their celebrations, the last day of summer and the first day of autumn dances are my favorite.”
Sehun struggles to let go of the fairies long enough to cast a glance at Jongdae.
“Are they as mean as it is said in the book?”
Jongdae slightly frowns. He shakes his head.
“They're not mean. They're daughters of the forest. They're free spirits, wild and untameable, strong like the branches over our heads and delicate like the Silvery Waterfalls.” Jongdae pauses, then adds with a fond smile. “My people have been protecting them for centuries now. Daughters and sons of the forest are safe with us. Only people who have never entered my land could tell that fairies are mean. People who don't understand.”
“People like me?” Sehun whispers.
Jongdae looks at him, a faint smile perched on his lips.
“The forest doesn't let anyone enter her heart,” he says. “We can only protect her borders, but she chooses who has the right to cross them. She's let you in. I think she believes you can understand, so maybe you're more like us than like them.”
Sehun feels his heart speeding up in his chest. He looks at the fairies, still dancing and singing, then at the rest of the forest around him. He can almost sees the ground rises and falls at the forest breathes, can almost hear her talk. Pale blue halos dance everywhere in his field of vision, swaying faintly to the fairies' melody, and when Sehun looks down, he realises the faint light radiating from the branch they're sitting on is now following both his and Jongdae's thighs as if they were just a few more knots in the wood.
“More like you,” he repeats in a whisper as he places his hand on his knee. The light slowly detaches itself from his thigh to slide over his knucles, following the faint ridges before joining the rest of the halo on the branch.
When he looks up, Jongdae is watching him with a proud smile, a smile full of love for that world around them, full of magic and things Sehun is barely starting to understand.
“I'll introduce the fairies to you if you want when they'll be done,” Jongdae tells him as he scoots closer to Sehun.
His tail slides between them with a lazy swinging, and finally curls on Sehun's thighs. The light engulfs it, the shade of blue making the tip looks silver, and Sehun feels more than ever the need to bury his fingers in the fluffy fur. He glances at Jongdae, and blushes when he notices that the latter is already smiling at him.
“Do it,” Jongdae says with a nod, before drawing back his attention on the fairies in the clearing.
Over their singing and tinkling, Sehun barely makes out Jongdae's mumbled I kinda like it. Barely, but he does make it out. Warmth spreading in his chest, he slowly strokes Jongdae's tail, tingles flooding his arm as his fingers disappear in the long and soft ginger hair.
He's not so eager to go back in his world after all, and he finds himself silently praying that when he'll go to sleep later today, it will be to wake up to Jongdae's pokes again. He's not sure what is real, or what is the dream anymore, but he really does hope that they'll keep merging together. Dreams sprinkled with reality are definitely the best, he thinks as something both heavy and light settles in his chest.
It's not that he wants misfortune to find Chanyeol again, but if his best friend could be a couple of days late, it would be great.
Surely it's still Jongdae's birthday somewhere, right? ;; Even if it's not, here's to the most magical boy I've ever seen.
This is part of an au that I will definitely write sooner or later. I'm still plotting it, it's going to be long and probably boring, but well. If you've reached the end of this useless fic, bravo, and I promise you more action for the actual longer fic.