The moon, the most beautiful person he had ever seen, though his glimpse of her was often fleeting, he loved seeing her. Maybe it was because seeing her meant that it was his time to rise. Or perhaps it was because—unlike the sun, whose beauty was so blinding—the moon was comforting to look at, the chorus of stars behind her accentuating her peaceful glow. Sunghoon didn't know, but he often found himself wishing he could see her more often. As she rose, he was running out of time, for his job as dusk was only a small job in the grand scheme of the universe. He only had a few seconds of spotlight before his brothers rose for their more important jobs. He felt overlooked and unneeded; as soon as he arose, his brother Jay came to tap on his shoulder, telling him to get back to sleep. Sometimes, he would oppose him. He spent most of the day sleeping; it was only fair for him to stay up for a few hours! Even so, within a minute of the fight, his body would give up and he would drift back into the dream world. There, he would dream about the beautiful moon, and how nice it would feel to see her again, to watch her silently as she drifted in and out of the sky. Then the harsh truth of reality stung him, reminding him that he couldn't, not in a million years. Everyday he would do this, never being able to fully enjoy life as it was. He would lie in his bed and wish for a life more than just a few moments long. And maybe one day, he would get his wish.
However, that day was closer than Sunghoon had thought, and it would shake up the world as he knew it. It wasn't something anyone would have expected; the sun and the moon finally reuniting after having longed for each other all this time. Despite the normalcy of his usual routine, Sunghoon still felt unsettled that day. A few small details were enough to set him off. The sun had seemed to shine brighter and to be closer to them than usual, which disconcerted him the second he saw him. When the moon made her appearance earlier than she normally did, Sunghoon was perturbed; she looked completely different too. She looked anxious and distant, as if eager to disappear. At the sight of his dear moon's unease, Sunghoon had felt an urge to speak with her, to solve all of her troubles; but his brother's gentle words led him into sleep.
Sunghoon's consciousness had been drifting from reality to dream when his brother's urgent voice awoke him once again. Despite his undying idleness, Sunghoon forced himself to peel his eyes open. Heeseung had startled him to the point of him letting out a small squeak; regardless of his constant kindness and cheerfulness, Heeseung was scary when he scowled, staying true to his dark role as Midnight. Only one look at his crisped features and nervous fidgeting told him everything he needed to know.
Though dusk was the quickest part of the day—a transient glimpse of the sun and moon—it was the strongest. Sunghoon's birth was one of the most unusual—despite his utmost ignorance of it—, for he was the result of the moon and sun both locking gazes for the first time. His powers were unimaginable, combining the abilities of both deities. All that was known of them was that they were strong—and dangerous, thus explaining the others' haste of keeping Sunghoon's job short and small. The boy himself knew of his powers, but not the extent of them. He wouldn't have known anything if he hadn't noticed how serious the problems he was called to deal with were. But with this great responsibility came countless worries and fears, which deemed understandable the violent shivers coursing through the boy's body.
Sunghoon sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking more alert than groggy from sleep—which was truly a miracle for him. "Seung-ah? What's going on?"
Heeseung's expression softened at the old nickname; he hadn't heard it in years. But the reason behind his wake-up call crashed against the warm memories, eliminating them from his mind. "The sun and moon are gone."
Sunghoon blinked at his brother and stared at him for a while, before letting out a puff of laughter. He collapsed back on his bed and rolled to the side, back into the position he was before. "It's just her time of the cycle." He said, amused. "The sun is sleeping, and the moon is hiding."
Sunghoon remembered when the moon had "gone missing" the first time. It was the only other time he had ever been woken up when it wasn't his turn to watch the world. The brothers had exhausted all of their resources—even getting the brothers from the Light Kingdom involved to find her. They had searched the whole world to find her, but it was to no use. Sunghoon was asked to perform magic to try and track her. In the end, Sunghoon had gotten frustrated, for he still felt her in the sky; but everyone else was telling him that he was lying or mistaken because she obviously wasn't there. In a fit of rage, he asked if anyone had been up there to see if she was. He had been met with blank stares and dumbfounded looks. This prompted Sunghoon and Heeseung—who had been the only ones to ever be in the night sky—to travel up there. There they found her; she had been having lady problems and was beyond mad that by order of her father, the grand emperor, she still had to go through with the journey despite that. Relieved and somewhat embarrassed, the two returned to earth and reported that the moon was in fact in the sky—and that she was healthy, just moody. After that, Sunghoon had never been woken up from his slumber out of the routine again. That is, until now.
Heeseung looked at his brother with a wary smile. "No, you don't understand. It's day time and they are both gone." He fretted nervously, moving over to the other side of the bed so he could face him. "The stars are gone, the moon is gone, the clouds are gone, the sun is gone. Everyone's gone."
This caught Sunghoon's attention, and a shock of dread went up his spine. His brother wouldn't be lying to him—Heeseung wasn't one to lie or play pranks. He threw the covers off himself and jumped off the bed with Heeseung at his side. They both made their way to where Sunghoon assumed that the other four were. As they went, Sunghoon demanded further details, and Heeseung was glad to give them to him.
The moon had been scheduled to ride, and even though Sunghoon had sworn he saw her, he couldn't remember actually seeing her rise. Jay—the brother with the sunset's duty—reported that the sky was dark when the moon was riding, but the moon wasn't at the meeting point when Heeseung was supposed to meet her. Heeseung did notice the sky's unusual darkness, but assumed that his eyes just weren't adjusted to seeing the stars after having spent a few nights in the human realm. He made his way back down at the routine time and went to watch over with Jay. At that point, one of the Light Kingdom boys had reported her missing and had waited for his master the sun to arise. The sun never came, and so he immediately called an emergency meeting, suspicious of the Night Kingdom's possible implication in the sun's disappearance. This prompted an investigation which has now led to the present day. Sunghoon was needed to locate the moon; he was the starting point of the moon's journey through the sky.
When Heeseung and Sunghoon had arrived in the center point of the two kingdoms, the Realm of Perpetual Light, Sunghoon had been surprised at the disorder. Gods and goddesses he had only ever heard of as a child from stories crowded the long halls. Sunghoon was even more stupefied to see the Gods of Creation; Emperor Lee, who had diligently ruled the Land of Night for many years; and Emperor Yang, who had ruled over the Light Kingdom and had been just as instrumental in creating the universe. Both were having an almost silent argument away from everyone else.
There was Lord Bang, the one who had created the sky and taken in the Night Brothers—Sunghoon, Heeseung and Jay—after they were abandoned by their mothers, of which Heeseung's and Jay's were both maidservants of Emperor Lee's wife, Empress Eunjin. Lord Bang had taken care of the Light Brothers—Ni-Ki and Sunoo—after their mothers had deserted them as well, and raised them all to be known and respected among both the Light and the Night Kingdoms. Having the same foster parent, the boys grew up together. Their similar stories gave the boys a mutual understanding of one another and equal footing on that front, yet the tensions rising amongst them was what kept them from interacting outside of important issues.
Beside Lord Bang stood Lord Park—creator of the land and of the humans, a man unashamed to fool around, and who most godlings were offspring of. The two lords looked to be doing very different things. Lord Bang was speaking to the stars—maids and attendants of the missing princess—, occasionally checking in with Jay and the Day Brothers. The clouds were sitting in a corner, looking as if they were trying to straighten out the story before Lord Bang could get to them. Lord Park, on the other side of the room, was sitting beside the Emperor of Light, jumping in at times with a short sentence, then stepping back when the emperors started arguing. Sunghoon gritted his teeth at the sight—he had always disliked Lord Park. There was something about his constant meddling and instigating that inspired a strange feeling of hatred to Sunghoon.
"We can't do anything without him here!"
A sudden yell pulled Sunghoon out of his examination, his eyes darting around to try to find the origin of the voice. He quickly matched voice to face and pivoted towards Ni-Ki, the one responsible for noon. Sunoo, the Sunrise, flushed at his brother's sudden outburst. Sunghoon had to strain his ear to catch what he said.
"Heeseung is going to get him."
This seemed to set Ni-Ki off—his gaze shot daggers at him, his eyebrows were set in a deep scowl, and his hands shook out of pure frustration. "You know that's not who I'm talking about!"
Heads spun to Ni-Ki, and Sunoo hastily bowed to the nearby deities, a helpless apologetic smile on his face. He tried, without use, to calm his brother, but before he could even open his mouth to say anything, Ni-Ki spoke again, swivelling towards Jay.
"It's not just your princess this time—it's our prince too!" He looked restless, almost deranged as he gesticulated wildly. "I bet they have different defenses up to stop us tracking them down again. Especially after we laid out all of our cards at last time's stupid happenings." Ni-Ki's eyes were flaring, giving him a vicious look Sunghoon wasn't used to seeing on him. "We need—" The agitated boy was cut off by a hit from Sunoo and peculiar face expressions. Ni-Ki looked purely confused at first, but followed his brother's pointed finger to Sunghoon. The boy, who had just been spectating until now, felt a blush creep up on his cheeks from embarrassment.
"Ahh, see?" Jay let out a laugh, making his way towards Sunghoon. "Here's our savior! There's no need for anyone else." He continued as he threw an arm around Sunghoon's shoulders. "We'll show you how strong the Night Kingdom is, to keep you from questioning us again." Sunghoon shifted, uncomfortable at the bold words. Only after he'd heard them did he realize how tensional the room was. Those of the Light Kingdom regarded the Night Kingdom as lying frauds—an impression that had begun to spread as soon as the moon and her ethereal glow started drawing more attention—; and those of the Night Kingdom still seemed awfully determined to win over the other kingdom's trust, going to great lengths to prove their benevolence even after years of this treatment from the Light Kingdom.
Ni-Ki's annoyed sigh brought Sunghoon's attention back to him. "Fine, we can try it your way. But when your princess isn't found, and the humans die; the blood is on your hands." The room's mood grew jittery; worried whispers travelled the crowd, frightened glances were shared; and fear of failure overcame more than one. Ni-Ki smiled triumphantly at the way his words affected the crowd; but Jay didn't look just as pleased. If Jay's set jaw didn't tick anyone off that he was about to hit the Sun Brother right there and then, then his balled fists were definite clues.
"Boys." A booming voice interrupted the heated discussion, and Lord Bang placed himself in between the two. "Stop this nonsensical arguing this instant."
The two boys shrunk under their foster father's harsh tone, their gazes dropping to the floor. "We will find the princess and the prince, and there will be no reason to fight like this anymore. Now, apologize." Both let out a sigh of reluctance and shook hands, mumbling bits of an apology. Sunghoon was way too familiar with this tense situation between the brothers to give it a second thought.
Then, Emperor Yang cleared his throat, the room falling silent almost instantly. Both emperors looked at Sunghoon, then back to each other. Sunghoon felt a chill pass through him as Heeseung found his arm. It was time for Sunghoon to do his thing.
~
Sunghoon had been in this room before. When the moon had been deemed missing the first time, he was brought into this very chamber to find her. He had only been inside once before, yet he had familiarized himself with the room—so well that he often dreamed of it.
It wasn't anything spectacular or extravagant, unlike most of the rooms of Lord Bang's property, but it was the most beautiful and comfortable room to someone who spent all of his time in a cave. It was small, with black walls and a single mat area on the ground. From a small waterfall in the far corner streamed a small river that surrounded the mats. In the middle of the room was a soft circular mat—unlike the rough mats beside it. The mats were a tan color in the candle light and the floor was a dark brown—but, in the dark with only the blue light to illuminate it, the room would transform into the deepest, quietest part of the blue ocean. Then Sunghoon would raise his eyes to the ceiling and fall into a whole other universe; stars and constellations were painted in shining white, bearing a freaky resemblance to the real ones. The whole room emitted a peaceful freshness, the lit incense that made his head stuffy putting him in the right state of mind to find the princess.
So he sat in the middle of the room, surrounded with false blue light, false black water and false white stars, hoping to bring the true bright moon back home safely.
As he conjured her up in his mind, he felt something strange; it was as if something large and heavy was pushing into his side. He stopped his meditation to look, but he didn't find anything; there was nothing in the room to touch him anyway. Disconcerted but determined, Sunghoon closed his eyes and concentrated again, only for his eyes to snap back open as he felt the same pressure at his side. Trying once again, he completely ignored the nudging pain, forcing himself to focus on the moon princess. Joy filled his mind as he finally caught a glimpse of her hair and face. That joy soon transformed into bewilderment at her expression—it was one he could only associate to lust. Startled and in pain, Sunghoon jolted back to reality, his attempt at proper meditation failing once again. Gritting his teeth, his growing frustration fueling him, he tried again, resolved to let nothing stop him from finding more about the princess and her location. Silently, he winced as the pressure spread, now hurting both of his sides; but he could see the princess again. A panicked expression now graced her regal face, the creases on her forehead giving her more years of age than she actually had. Pushing aside the mystery of the moon's frown, he focused on her surroundings—which he could now see. It was a low room with traditional furniture and dim lighting; tossed clothes littered the otherwise clean room, suggesting that the moon had been doing what her earlier disturbing expression had suggested she was. Then, Sunghoon spotted the prince's face and the way it matched the princess's worry.
"They can… we… get… before..." The pressure started pushing down on him, attacking his head and shoulders; but Sunghoon strained his ears through the pain, struggling to make sense of the words the princess was saying. A crack, two, three—and Sunghoon let out a scream of agony. His vision blackened and he could feel himself losing his grip on his own consciousness.
He was awake when the door to the room flung open, revealing his dreadful brothers. They rushed to his side, speaking to him—but all he heard were jumbled sounds. He found himself scrambling for his memories of the prince and princess; what he had seen was soon becoming harder and harder to remember.
Then his world was overcome with blackness as fast as a candle being snuffed out.
~
The prince and princess had made precautions before they planned their escape, a simple spell to keep Sunghoon off their trail—just like Ni-Ki had foreseen. The spell had worked quite well; it was meant to distract and hurt him to avoid his meddling, and it had done just that. What Sunghoon ignored was that it would make him unable to say what he'd seen, whatever it was he remembered. The boy had been lucky enough; he'd stopped right before any damage the court doctor couldn't fix was done. After a harsh scolding about how his lungs could have popped and he could've died right on the spot, Sunghoon sat with a few broken ribs and blue bruises along his torso.
After about 4 hours of being wrapped and resting, Sunghoon was able to stand and walk again. He was allowed to see people other than just family again, but wasn't so sure he wanted to. After it came out that he had been injured during the connection, the emperors and those below them had started to question the authenticity of his powers. Everyone had Sunghoon's name on their tongue and a personal opinion of it. This did not only affect Sunghoon's standing but his brother's standings as well; the trust of the people Lord Bang had worked so hard to provide to them dissipated overnight.
Sunghoon and his brothers kept their heads down—and so did the other pair of brothers—, not wanting to attract misplaced suspicion. The criticism all came to a head when the emperors called for a trial. This would clear the air of the whispered rumors and hearsay; Sunghoon was still to speak about what he saw that night.
~
On the day of the trial, Sunghoon sat with Lord Bang on the defense side, and Lord Park sat on the prosecution side. The Emperor of the Land of Night sat atop the judge stand and everyone else who desired to witness the trial sat in the spectator arena. Heeseung and Jay sat closest to him—and Ni-Ki and Sunoo sat as close to him as they were allowed to. They had all been kept under heavy surveillance, not only by the court but also by the emperor himself.
The hall was called to order and Lord Park spoke first. "Your Majesty, I am here today to show you why this boy is nothing but a sham. He has lied to us—and his brothers have done the same. He went off claiming that he found the princess last time, yet he has done nothing of the sort ever. I'm afraid he isn't completely at blame; his fate is not his fault. He did not choose to be nothing but a lowly deity, someone with no true potential, a poor boy whose hopes were raised by his old mentor." Lord Park finished his speech with a vicious insult masked with diplomatic words. It cut deep into Sunghoon's character and insecurities, and he couldn't help the desire to get up right then and there to hurt Lord Park until he was on his knees begging for forgiveness—but, of course, he couldn't. He heard a small skirmish behind him and risked a peek; it was a fuming Jay who had started rolling up his sleeves and a frantic Heeseung who had thrown himself on Jay to stop him from assaulting a highborn noble of high standing.
Lord Bang stood next, a stern look on his face. "With all due respect to Your Imperial Majesty—and to Lord Park himself—, I would like Your Majesty to disregard everything Lord Park has said before me. He has no evidence to support his claims, whereas Sunghoon has many witnesses that have come forward to testify what he can do. Sunghoon can tell Your Majesty what he saw, and I have evidence to sustain the irrelevance of the injuries to the abilities he has."
The emperor gestured towards Lord Park, indicating that it was his turn to present evidence. Heeseung froze when Lord Park's sharp gaze landed on him. There was something about the mischievous intelligence shining in the lord's dark eyes that unnerved him.
"I would like to call Heeseung, the boy of Midnight, to the stand."
Heeseung rose to his feet slowly, all eyes on him. Looking at his body language, Sunghoon could tell this was not the confident young man who had walked into the courtroom moments before. The boy looked almost pitiful—his eyes were widened with shock, and he kept on moistening his lips, a tic that showed his obvious anxiety. This only made him look guilty, the spectators mumbling their own opinions to each other. Despite all of it, Heeseung took the stand without faltering, slowly replacing his temporary display of uncertainty with a neutral expression.
"Heeseung, Sunghoon is your brother, correct?" Lord Park started as he moved towards the front of his table.
"That is correct." Heeseung stated with full confidence.
"Doesn't being his brother make you somewhat biased towards him? I'd be surprised to hear otherwise, considering how close you two seem to be." Lord Park continued.
Swallowing down the nervous lump in his throat, Heeseung locked eyes with Sunghoon before replying. "I'm not sure I understand the question, Lord Park."
A faint ripple of annoyance appeared across the lord's face, but he quickly made it disappear. "Does your personal relationship with the Dusk influence your understanding of the situation and affect your individual opinion?"
"No." Heeseung hesitated, an uncertain note to his voice. "I mean, not exactly."
"Not exactly?" Lord Park echoed with a cocked eyebrow, his hands patiently locking behind his back.
"Well–i–it does." Heeseung couldn't help the stutter in his voice. "Unless it causes harm to someone." It looked like he was finally realizing why he had been called to the stand.
Lord Park spun towards the emperor, spread arm gesturing to Heeseung. "Heeseung is biased towards his brother. Their close relationship taints his judgement of what happened. He could have easily modified the information for his brother's sake." He recapitulated, keeping his voice calm and convincing. "Not to mention, his brother found guilty would have major consequences on him as well. He has all the motives to falsify the information."
"I rest my case." Lord Park's interrogation had got the people chattering and questioning what they've heard of Heeseung. The emperor quickly called order and there was silence again.
It was Lord Bang's turn to question his own son.
"Heeseung." Lord Bang let out a long sigh and faced the boy, forcing his lost gaze up to his. "Tell me, your father, the truth. Did your brother truly track down the princess last time?"
Heeseung straightened, regaining some of his initial assurance. "Yes, he did."
"Tell the emperor, the spectators and Lord Park what happened back then."
Obediently following his father's lead, Heeseung regaled the audience with the story. He didn't leave out even the smallest of details, from the way it had taken them almost half an hour to get the boy out of bed to how furious he got when no one believed him about the princess's location. The crowd's mood shifted; some even started empathizing with Sunghoon.
"Objection!" Lord Park interrupted the entire thing, jumping to his feet suddenly. When receiving the right of speech from the emperor, he launched into a frenzy of excuses. "He doesn't have any material proof! How can he support his story if he can't prove his honesty? It is foolish of him to suppose that we will immediately believe him; he might be lying—or might have made all of this up to get us on his si–"
Jay burst through the doors of the courtroom, not only cutting Lord Park off, but making half of the room jump in surprise. Sunghoon hadn't even noticed that Jay had left his seat. Keeping his gaze on Heeseung, he took long strides towards the stand. Understanding washing over the Midnight boy's face, he smiled, spreading his hand out to Jay. A piece of paper passed from one boy to the other and Heeseung held it up to announce that he had something to say about it.
Lord Park's face reddened as he struggled to contain his indignation. "Wha– Leaving the room during a trial is prohibited!" He turned to the emperor with a helpless, pleading look Sunghoon was satisfied to see on the lord's face. "Your Majesty, please–!"
Lord Bang, Heeseung and Jay all simultaneously deadpanned at Lord Park, making the situation almost comical.
After a few moments of reflection, the emperor gave Heeseung the right of speech, watching him expectantly. "This is what Sunghoon had drawn for us after his first meditation." He bowed his head and offered the sheet of paper to the judge. The emperor examined it closely before nodding, now showcasing it to Lord Park and the spectators. It was a picture of the princess and where she was in the sky that night. She had been drawn in such a detailed way that it almost looked like she would come off the paper.
"He spent half the time in that dark room; and gave us this when he finally emerged from it." Heeseung continued. "Everyone had discredited the picture because we were convinced the moon wasn't in the sky, but I kept it because I thought it was beautiful." He admitted bashfully, refusing to meet Sunghoon's dumbfounded gaze.
Lord Bang thanked his son, and, with a polite bow, Heeseung returned to his seat. Then Lord Park called out another brother to the stand, but this time it was Ni-Ki.
Ni-Ki walked slowly and hesitantly—not at all like the attention-grabbing Noon Sunghoon was used to seeing. Lord Park relaxed and even smiled; and Sunghoon immediately knew something was wrong. An awful thought crossed the boy's mind, and he recoiled from it. Ni-Ki was like a brother, having been raised by Lord Bang too, and though they didn't always see eye to eye, they were basically family. Lord Bang frowned, the same idea running through his brain at his son's inability to meet his eyes. But before Lord Bang could object or try to figure out what was truly going on, Lord Park started his interrogation.
"Ni-Ki, the Noon, you were at the princess's last finding as well, weren't you?" Lord Park started.
"Yes, I was." Ni-Ki responded. Ni-Ki and Sunghoon's eyes met for only a second, but it was enough for the latter to confirm his brother's guilt. The boy of Dusk's heart hurt at the betrayal, the painful anguish spreading throughout his body and striking at his deepest fear; loneliness.
"I assume you saw how Sunghoon found the princess, correct?" Lord Park asked, that same freaky blandness keeping his voice level.
"No." Ni-Ki paused and shifted, as if he was mentally preparing himself to destroy both his relationship with his brothers and the one with father. "I didn't see how he found her."
"That's strange." Lord Park frowned. "I was convinced anyone was allowed to see how Sunghoon used his abilities." The tone with which the lord pronounced the last word almost caused Jay to pounce on him again.
"No, Sunoo and I weren't allowed in. It would have distracted his meditation." When Sunghoon glanced at the boy of Sunrise, he just looked petrified. Sunoo's flame-colored fan covered the lower part of his face, but his eyes were open wide and wild, and the hand holding the fan was drained of color and trembling.
"Then, how are we to say that the Dusk has powers? How are we to believe this, knowing that his brothers could very well be making false claims to keep Sunghoon's false sense of importance?" This question wasn't addressed to Ni-Ki, but to the crowd, causing a hushed whisper to move among the spectators. The emperor demanded silence so Lord Park could continue.
"As you all heard," The lord continued smoothly, pacing in front of the stands. "His eldest brother stated he would be willing to cover for him and help him—if it didn't cause harm to anyone else and all ended well. I'm positive his other brother, Jay, the Sunset, thinks the same way. How can we be sure he isn't just a mortal with none of the emperor's blood coursing through his veins?" This caused an uproar among the spectators. The Emperor called for order once more, threatening to make all the spectators leave if they weren't quiet.
Lord Park looked content with the crowd's reaction despite the emperor's displeasure. He continued with the interrogation, savoring the sweet taste of premature victory. "My last question for you, Noon, is about this drawing. Do you remember seeing it last time?"
"Yes, I saw it briefly. But..." Lord Park leaned towards him, silently urging him to continue. "But it didn't look like that when I saw it. That one looks professionally drawn. The one I saw back then was simple and… ignoble." Niki said, his head dropping. As soon as Jay had absorbed the other's words, he almost outright jumped up to strangle the boy he couldn't believe he'd previously called his brother. Ni-Ki had lied in court and the spectators believed him.
"How are you so sure Sunghoon hadn't drawn it?" Lord Park asked with a surprising consideration for the Night Kingdom's side. "Maybe you just saw a first draft."
"I… I have met an artist while out in the village. He sold me a copy of his drawing—and it looked exactly like the picture we just saw." Ni-Ki fumbled for the piece of paper, but spread it on the surface of the table; it was an identical, smaller version of Sunghoon's drawing.
Sunghoon's jaw dropped. He had drawn the picture, hadn't he? Or had his brothers lied to him and slipped the picture in the room? His brain was hurting even more than it had before. He looked back to his brothers; Heeseung was holding Jay back, but he could tell Heeseung was seething. Heeseung and Sunghoon then locked gazes, in what could only be described as a scene from a drama. Sunghoon looked like a child who was starting to question if his parents were really as good as they seemed to be—and to Sunghoon, Heeseung and Jay were the parents with blood on their hands.
The revelation set the spectators off again. Through the emperor's yells of order, Lord Park rested his case. The courtroom quieted immediately when Lord Bang stood.
"I have no questions for this witness." He stated in the coldest voice he had ever heard his father speak in. Sunghoon flinched. Ni-Ki tried meeting his father's eyes, but gave up as soon as he saw his cold disappointment. The gavel banged, signaling the start of a recess. Everyone was rushed outside of the room.
As soon as the door was shut behind him, Sunghoon curled up on himself, wrapping his arms around his legs and burying his face into his knees. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he let out silent sobs, shaking miserably as he felt himself and his reality crumble apart. He heard footsteps approach him. A furtive look at the person's shoes told him it was his father.
"I–it–I didn't–" He tried telling him that he was sorry, that he didn't know, that he just wanted to disappear from existence right then and there, but his body wouldn't let him. A hand stunned him, briskly dragging him to his feet and forcing him to meet his father's eyes through his tears.
"Listen to me." Lord Bang said in a voice that demanded attention, making Sunghoon focus on him only. "Ni-Ki lied. You do have powers. You did draw that picture. There is proof enough on your skin, but even more proof within you."
Sunghoon was confused at first, but he soon made sense of his father's words; Sunghoon was bruised and broken from trying to find the princess. He could perfectly remember the princess's delicate features despite only having seen her from afar. All of this was proof; proof he would have to convince the emperor and the spectators with.
Lord Bang saw the wheels turn in his son's head and let out a sigh of relief. "Lord Park has twisted and corrupted the minds of those who will testify against you, but we will show them why you are as you say you are."
Sunghoon was going to ask his father how when an appalling scream interrupted him. The boy's body was overcome with shivers; that sounded one bit too similar to Ni-Ki. Both spun to look down the hall at the incomprehensible words fired back. Sunghoon's eyes widened; that was Jay's voice.
Lord Bang cursed under his breath and speeded towards the commotion, dragging his son with him like a ragdoll. Sunghoon almost collapsed again at the sight; Ni-Ki was trapped underneath Jay, the Night Brother's hands wrapped around the other's neck. The Noon was visibly panic-stricken; Sunghoon guessed it was because Jay had caught him off-guard, and hadn't given him any chance to defend himself. Heeseung was uselessly trying to pull his brother off Ni-Ki; and Sunoo was swaying, looking close to either crying or passing out—or both.
Lord Bang made his presence known at that point. He recited a disabling spell and Jay fell off of Ni-Ki. The crowd dispersed and both boys were on the ground, with Sunoo—whose legs had betrayed him and made him skid to the floor. Whether the small moan released by Sunoo was of pain or of relief, Sunghoon didn't know; but he looked alright. Before Lord Bang could properly find out what was going on, Lord Park came up behind him and whispered something Sunghoon couldn't properly hear. Lord Bang's eyes narrowed and he took in a deep breath, his head tilting in a barely discernible nod. Both boys were now coming back to their senses and Lord Bang told the two of them to head back to their chambers to cool off in that same cold, disappointed tone of voice he had directed to Ni-Ki earlier. The boys quickly obeyed; Heeseung quickly pulled Jay up, and Sunoo rolled over to his brother, poking his cheek and mumbling a few words to him before hauling both of them up to their feet. All four of the boys dipped their heads and gloomily stepped away towards their chambers, where they would await his judgement. Sunghoon watched them walk away and bit his lip; if he doubted himself before, he definitely doubted himself now. If not even his brothers could keep their emotions and controversies controlled, how was he supposed to? But he didn't have time to tell his father how he felt: they were being called into the hall again.
As Sunghoon took his seat beside his father, he felt as if the hall had gotten smaller, as if his brothers had been keeping the judgment from arriving to him—and now that they were gone, it felt as if it could reach out and consume him. Distracting him of the feeling that put him on edge, the emperor ordered the court to remain silent, and invited Lord Park to continue with his interrogations.
Lord Park continued to call witness after witness—and they all supported Ni-Ki's story, just like Lord Bang had guessed. Sunghoon couldn't help the twinge of bitterness he felt each time his father refused to cross-examine them and sat down—which he would do at every single witness Lord Park brought out.
Once they had all passed and spoken, the emperor asked Lord Bang if he thought Sunghoon was now guilty. Lord Bang hesitated before answering, which only made the boy sweat more than he already was. "Your Majesty," His father started, picking his words carefully. "If I thought my son was guilty of lying and was in any way impeding the search for the royals, I would have taken him outside, beaten him, and then left him to die." Lord Bang spoke, his voice and gaze unwavering—even if Sunghoon was shaking like a leaf in the wind beside him. Intrigued, the emperor questioned Lord Bang's choice not to interrogate the witnesses brought to the stand.
Yet again taking his time to answer, Sunghoon's head was starting to hurt at his father's never ending moments of careful consideration.
"What good would it do to try and get the truth from liars? If they are willing to stoop so low as to lie for Lord Park, they have reached rock bottom. Nothing I could ask, or have them confess, could change the fact that they are getting something from Lord Park at the end of this no matter the result of the trial." This prompted Lord Park's jaw to drop and the emperor to give a hysterical laugh.
"Do you realize, Lord Bang," The emperor said once he settled down. "That your son is one of those liars that reached rock bottom?"
Both Lord Bang and Sunghoon winced at the question, though the boy did more visibly than his father did.
"Yes, I realize that one of my sons has lied the same as these other so-called witnesses. What Ni-Ki believes he will get out of it won't happen the way he thought it would, for all things have a time and a place. His attempt to rush this has only hurt his brother." The underlying meaning to his words only confused Sunghoon and the courtroom, save for the emperor—who sent his most trusted noblemen a curious look and nodded his head, satisfied with the speech.
"Alright, well, have you anything else to add before we adjourn the court?"
Lord Bang took a deep breath and scanned the room, eyes landing on each and every deity Lord Park had brought in until he reached the lord himself.
"Today's courtroom was deceiving. I hadn't imagined something like it when a trial was announced. I hope those who spoke today go home safe and healthy, to enjoy the last of their days before the guilt of losing the prince and princess consumes them. I want to remind Lord Park that this wild goose chase he's thrown himself into to discredit my sons is only hurting—and will continue hurting—the humans he's worked so hard to create. And finally, I wish to tell you, Your Majesty, that all of us are concerned about the young royalty's well-being, despite our differences of sides in this trial. My son is suffering greatly from your daughter's disappearance, and I am convinced he would do anything to find her, even if this trial doesn't stay true to justice." Lord Bang finished his speech with a bow to the emperor, Lord Park and the audience. Everyone had goosebumps—not because it was a particularly good speech; nor because it was convincing; but because the man spoke with such conviction that it made everyone feel as though what he said would happen. The emperor hit the wood three times and adjourned the hall.
As everyone was packing up, Lord Bang walked over to Lord Park before Sunghoon could speak to his father, a stern look imprinted onto his face. The chatter of the hall prevented the boy to make out any word of the exchange—but whatever Lord Bang had said made Lord Park freeze and completely lose color, then have color flush his neck and face.
~
After the first of three days at trial, Sunghoon had taken on the task of drawing what he'd seen of the prince and princess. He sat on the carpeted floor of a house unimaginably nicer than his cave, fine paper—made from the emperor's personal garden of bamboo—and charcoal—said to have been made from a dragon of the fire element—at his feet. Exasperated, he stared at the blank sheet of paper before him, and then at the unused piece of charcoal in his hands.No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't remember the scenes as clear as he had been able to last time. Still, he tried to recreate the princess's beautiful traits, only to cringe at his meek attempt and to scrap the drawing. He tried again and again, but each draft turned out worse than the last until he'd ran out of charcoal. He huffed and hit the fluffy carpet beneath him angrily, frustrated at his own incapacity. He sent a fist to the floor, and then another, and another; until he felt bad for the people who had worked hard to make such soft carpet. He groaned and pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes; he must look awful with his charcoal-stained hands, face and clothes, his red puffy eyes and his unkempt hair.
Pondering a solution, he remembered how it felt that night—when he'd successfully found her. He had drawn in that small room—the familiar environment fueling his memory. Then he shot up. He gathered unused supplies and donned a cloak, rolling up the paper and sliding the charcoal into his pocket. With his being on trial, people were bound to be watching him; so he slipped out of the back window and made his way towards the room he hoped would help prove him innocent.
Sunghoon moved quickly and stealthily; he arrived in the room in no time. He shut the door behind him and inhaled deeply at the refreshing and humid air. Lighting up the incense in the burner bowl with a spare match, he unrolled the sheets of paper in the center of the room and settled down in the same position as before. He closed his eyes and focused; and the images gradually came back to his mind. He put the coal to paper and started drawing; he could now clearly see the princess. His hand captured every little detail and reproduced all of them to perfection. Caught up in the moment, he flipped the paper and drew the second scene—of the prince and princess together—, overjoyed at how his hand moved almost mechanically.
Once his hand had stopped, he frowned. He opened his eyes to examine both pictures closely—it wasn't enough. He needed to prove his innocence, not just draw a portrait of the royalty; they would need more. Reaching over to the rack of mundane paper and charcoal placed into the room in case moments just like these happened, the boy set to work on drawing the events scene by scene. His hand flew across the pages until he ran out of charcoal. When his eyes flew open, his vision blackened for just a few seconds—a side effect of the powerful-scented incense. He almost fell into the water in his state of lightheadedness, a small squeak escaping his lips at his loss of balance.
"Be careful!"
Sunghoon froze—he didn't even breathe—, his head snapping up at the voice. He was the only person in this room—no, more than that, he was the only one allowed in this room. There was no one on the platform but him. He closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind quickly.
"Oh, I'm sorry for bothering you. Are you meditating?"
Sunghoon frowned. Was this a different kind of vision? Was this the prince speaking to the princess? He glanced around him for any sign of the two, readying his charcoal.
"Hey, are you alright?"
He felt something cold and wet on his leg and shrieked. The hand flew off of him at his scream—but instead of that, a pale arm emerged from the water. Sunghoon didn't wait to see what it was: too shocked to scream again, he shakily gathered his papers.
"Wait, I didn't mean to scare you!"
He snubbed the incense and shot up. Dizzy, he lost his balance and fell on his face—letting out a panicked yelp. Luckily, the papers were dry and safe. He scrambled to his feet and hurried out the door as fast as he could. He completely ignored the odd stares he received and ran to his room, trying to ignore the way his vision was slowly dimming. When the door slid closed behind him, he dropped to his feet, hugging the pictures close to his chest. He struggled to control his breathing and his racing heartbeat until he couldn't anymore—his brain gave out and he passed out on the ground, praying he didn't ruin the pictures.