A few blue lights illuminated from the entrance of the cave, and Ulan’s eyes widened when he saw a glowing light.

Saw?

He’s never seen anything for years.

He hadn’t seen anything for years…

What was this? What? What was this?

What was this..?! 

Ulan had never even seen a glimpse of light for years. It felt blinding. His eyes weren’t used to seeing anything. The light burned, but he wanted to get closer to it all the same.

Ulan saw the blue circles casting light upon the metal bars. They flowed in a mesmerizing pattern as they touched the invisible seal placed upon the bars. It was like a rock being dropped into a lake, creating a rippling effect that hurt Ulan’s eyes.

It hurt. It hurts. It really, really really hurts. Why can’t I look away? Why can’t I stop staring? It hurts. It really really hurts.

A bright, azure blue like the flowing current waves of water.

It hurts, it hurts to look at. But I can’t stop. I can’t stop being so mesmerized. Why does it hurt so badly? Why do I want to keep staring? It…

It was too bright, at least it was for Ulan. Too bright, it hurt. The burning sensation made him tightly shut his eyes.

Ulan heard a laugh, followed by the sound of a pebble dropping in water. Yet, Ulan didn’t remember ever hearing the sound of water for 3 years. Until, he felt a hand grab his arm.

“What the fuck?!” Ulan cursed out, his eyes widening and his head turning up to see green eyes staring down at him with a smug grin. Then, Ulan felt a loud, raspy scream come out of his mouth.

The man holding Ulan’s arm laughed, laughed, and laughed. The ball of light in the man’s palm shone brightly, and he used it to probe the whole dark grotto.

“Ahh, I honestly thought you were dead. Haha! HAHAHA! How amusing! You’re still alive!? THAT’S GREAT! THAT’S SO INTERESTING!” The man spoke in a condescending tone, almost like he was yelling Ulan shivered hearing that voice.

How familiar.

That tone was so, so familiar. That voice that echoed in the grotto, only growing louder the more the man laughed.

That laugh was utterly psychotic. Insane.

Ulan heard the man start to hum as he looked up at him. He looked this man up and down, he felt like he had seen him before, but younger. This white-haired man, was it the same one three whole years ago? In that balcony in the theater-like room all those years ago, that white-haired man was the most out of place one there, He was memorable.

Who could forget those bright, luminescent eyes?

Ulan couldn’t. He could never forget the way those eyes pierced through him all those years ago.

The way he laughed, the way he was practically mocking him. It stayed stuck in Ulan’s brain. There was no way he could forget how he looked. Sounded.

This man had those same piercing brown eyes that only felt like they were stabbing into your soul, ripping it out and devouring it whole and that same, layered cut white hair.

That same fucking face.

That. Same. Face. Again.

“Don’t you think it’s funny? Isn’t it funny? How can you be accused of something you didn’t do? Don’t you think so? DON’T YOU THINK?! HAHAHAHA!” the man asked, bending down to look right into Ulan’s face.

It sent shivers down Ulan’s spine.

This man acted like the devil himself.

“I think it’s funny! HAHAHAHA! You know, I’m the only one who actually knows who murdered that whole village, but do I look like the person to offer help? DO I? DO I?!”

Ulan swallowed his own fear.

The brighter a person’s eyes shine, the more chaos brought with them. He remembered that.

Those brown eyes stared into Ulan’s own green ones. Ulan could see the brightness in the man’s eyes, and it checked out. The man was chaotic, perhaps a bit mental.

The white-haired man only rolled his eyes. “Maybe you’re a lot dumber than I thought.” 

“Are you insane?!” Ulan suddenly shouted as he moved his arm to slap the man. He only stared at what he had done afterwards.

He deserved it.

The man only snickered, holding the side of his face. “How hotheaded, you really don’t change! HAHAHA! YOU REALLY DON’T!” He laughed. “Foolish.”

Ulan’s eyes widened. Foolish? What the fuck about him was foolish?!

Utter disrespect!

He had been framed, exiled, and he was foolish?!

What the fuck is going on in that delusion brain?! He wasn’t foolish.

He wasn’t fucking foolish!

Of course, he was unlucky, it had to be he was unlucky. It can’t be anything else, it can't, because he had no way to defend himself, he had no way to prove his innocence, he had no way to…

He wasn’t able to clear his name.

“Ahh, schatz… You’re pathetic, you know,” A man’s voice entered Ulan’s ear, and Ulan’s eyes only widened in return.

Fuck! It really was this fucking–!

It was this fucking bastard. This fucking bastard!

I knew it was him, I knew it was him just by seeing those eyes! I knew it, I FUCKING KNEW IT.

IF I COULD KILL YOU, I WOULD. I WOULD STAB YOU IN THE HEART, AND THEN KILL MYSELF IMMEDIATELY AFTER. 

YOU DID THIS. YOU CAUSED THIS ALL. I FUCKING HATE YOU.

I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU.

Ulan wished to smash his head in. Right now. Right here.

He couldn’t forget Engel’s face. His voice. His appearance. The way he held himself so highly. How egotistical he was.

How much of a fucking nuissance he was.

That was Engel. An egotistical, maniacal, psychotic, pain-seeking bastard. A fucking bastard.

“Do you remember my name?” The man asked. His lips didn’t move, yet Ulan heard that voice clear and loud. The man’s eyes gleamed down into Ulan’s, and he had no way to mask his fear. The white-haired man only sighed, “Don’t ignore me. I know you can speak.”

This goddamn piece of shit of an elf.

Ah, yes, because I’ll forget the last face I saw and the person who announced in front of every single fucking person that I murdered an entire town, Ulan thought, his eyes meeting the man’s in a staring contest.

 Bright, brown, and chaotic eyes looked down at dull, verdant green eyes, loss of life.

Ulan’s eyes were dull. Extremely dull. It was almost like looking at a walking corpse.

“You wound me,” The man sneered, “Teasing like you is fun.”

Do you enjoy your status as the battalion leader, Engel?

Who else was this other than Engel?

 Bright brown eyes that brought chaos and ruin to everything that followed, that long white hair, that fucking smirk… Fucking everything! Everything about this smug man, everything! Fucking everything!

Engel, Engel, Engel, ENGEL ENGEL.

 That name doesn’t suit what an absolute psycho he was! God, that man reeked of evil, insincerity, malice, ill-intent—

ENGEL. FUCKING ENGEL. I HATE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH. You ruined my life. YOU RUINED EVERYTHING. His life was fucked up because of Engel.

Engel was the reason he hated his life.

Engel was not an angel. Engel was the furthest thing from an angel. That name didn’t suit him at all. If anything, a name meaning demon would suit that fucking bastard better. Seriously? Angel?

That’s such a fucking dumb name! That’s the shittiest thing I’ve ever heard! Such an ‘angel’ he was. HE RUINED MY LIFE! HE RUINED IT ALL!

“I think you forget I have access to your thoughts,” Engel’s voice ringed in Ulan’s ears again. Ulan gritted his teeth as Engel laughed, “Aww, ironic, right..? I’m the most unangelic person out there, boohoo.”

Ulan hissed, I wish you were dead.

“No you don’t,” Engel snickered as he looked down on Ulan, “Schatz is so mean.”

Don’t call me that. Ulan’s eyes narrowed as he yanked his hand away from Engel. You absolute psycho.

To any outsider, they looked like they were only staring at each other. To them, it was a conversation.

I literally hate you. I hate you so much. What the fuck is wrong with you! You fucking psycho!

“Yeah, yeah. Call me a psycho all you want, schat—”

I said don’t call me that.

Engel let out a loud laugh, the hand holding an orb of light extinguished the light source with just a single wave of his hand. He glanced back to where he had entered. Yet, it was pitch black.

“My goodness, schatz. How are you not blind?” Engel asked, his voice condescending and teasing. “It’s pitch black. How did you not go blind when you saw the lantern?”

Ulan gritted his teeth. “Will you shut up?!”

Engel only hummed, snapping his fingers and relighting the shining orb of light in his hand. He turned back around to face Ulan, his eyes bright and glowing.

“Sure, I’ll leave you here then. Ahh, schatz, it’s such a shame, I was going to help you out…”

Ulan widened his eyes. “Wait! Wait, hold on!” He grabbed Engel’s arm, and pulled him back. Ulan almost looked like he had a look of desperation.

Engel smiled. “Ooh, caught your attention?” He responded to Ulan’s sudden shout, “I knew that would catch you.”

The former crown prince wasn’t happy with the idea of clinging to Engel. He didn’t like asking for help. Ulan enjoyed knowing that he could accomplish what he needed by himself. He was always thinking, ‘If I cannot do it myself, it means I’m weak’.

He was stubborn, unable to call out for help even when he knew it was necessary to ask.

Right now, Ulan could care less about his face and dignity. “Help me,” Ulan said, his voice becoming shaky and quavering, “please help me. Help me.”

“Wow! I'm quite surprised!” Engel stated, his voice still smug with a grin on his face, “This crown prince before me has fallen and has no use. Why would I save you now when you ran your filthy mouth?”

Ulan only narrowed his eyes. His main question was why the hell Engel was talking like an esteemed noble of a promising background.

It was so random, so unnecessary.

 

Even a beaten down and dirty person like himself could only wreathe in disgust. Engel was so, so unpredictable. So chaotic. Everything, absolute mayhem. Perhaps it was because his eyes had that noticeable glow, and it shined bright like the moon in the night sky.

After all… The tales were all real stories, and those with bright glowing eyes were always known to bring destruction and havoc. The soil these men or women stepped on would be brung absolute despair. All hell would be let loose after they just breathe.

Engel sneered, “Oh, come on. It’s fun talking like some high court official.” Engel found himself snapping his fingers, and tapping his feet on the ground impatiently. “I’m being sarcastic. I’m breaking you out.”

Ulan looked up immediately, his grip holding Engel’s hand tightening. “You are?”

Engel laughed. “Why would I come here if not to break you out?”

It’s purely because Engel was here that Ulan didn’t know what to think of this whole situation. In all honesty, Ulan could think of over one thousand outcomes that could come out of Engel just being present, nevertheless being present to break out an imprisoned murderer.

Engel had ulterior motives. Only that Ulan could be sure of. The man was completely mental and completely deranged. Ulan swore that Engel could be watching an executioner executing a lowlife criminal, and he would laugh like one would laugh at a joke.

Truly, truly unnerving.

Why would the man who killed the village and framed him— bail him out?

“Come on, come on.” Engel requested. He beckoned Ulan, grabbing the shorter one’s shoulder and escorting him out from behind the bars. “I disassembled the array, schatz. Don’t just stand there. Come on.”

Ulan didn’t hesitate to follow. Even if Engel was the embodiment of the word hazardous, it was better than staying in this lightless grotto. Ulan eyed the orb of light in Engel’s right hand, and he was completely mesmerized with the simple orb.

It was the brightest thing he’s seen in a while.

Luminosity was the one thing Ulan really yearned for. Luminosity, light, being able to see. Three years of pure torture, pure darkness, Ulan could barely take it anymore. The former crown prince just wanted to get out and feel the sun on his skin, live out his immortal life to the fullest, fight for the truth of how he wasn’t a murderer, clear his name once and for all, and settle his life the best he can.

Engel looked back. “Ah, schatz. You’re like a moth to a flame,” he commented with a sly grin, “you know, you shouldn’t trust so blindly.”

Ulan only rolled his eyes. Engel held his hand, and Ulan didn’t do anything to yank it back. “What? Want me to stay there?”

Engel only laughed, “Of course not. You’re so interesting, so intriguing, you know that?”

Ulan didn’t reply.

The two were hand in hand, Engel leading the way. Ulan could only follow, but even he had his doubts. It’s not like Engel was a completely pure angel that personally descended from the divine. Maybe the opposite in all honesty. Ulan swore that if he had to give Engel a new name, it would be anything but an angel. Anything but a name depicting any divine deity.

Still, Ulan couldn’t deny that Engel was helping him. He should be thanking Engel, but at the same time, he just wanted to curse Engel out!

Fuck that guy! Holy shit, what’s the purpose of getting me falsely accused of committing such a horrendous crime if you were just going to bail me out in 3 years?! Fuck him! Like, holy shit, actually fuck the guy. It’s insane.

Ulan bit his tongue, yet he let his mind ramble. He had his powers sealed for 3 years, and he probably looks like he just got out of a rat’s nest. In all honesty, he did pretty much get out of a rat’s nest. He looked down, and he just felt Engel tighten his grip on Ulan’s hand.

In the past, Ulan was a highly respected persona. He was given the gift of water manipulation, just as long as he had a stable water source. He can’t create water out of his palms, he had to actually get a source of the water and manipulate that source of water. Clouds, rain, puddles, ponds, lakes, rivers, snow, and he could even take the water stored in plants, although it would cause it to instantly wither.

However, the most well known water source he could manipulate was blood. That one fact was how he got falsely accused and eventually found guilty of using blood manipulation to kill an entire village.

How did it trace back to him? Ulan remembered that day. He remembered it all. The voice in his head, the piercing gazes of the room, eyes all on him, his mental breakdown, he remembered it all. The evidence, everything pointed to the water manipulator crown prince. It may have taken weeks on end, but at the end of the line, all of the victims died from internal bleeding, blood clots, blood vessel damage, and sometimes even blood circulation issues.

Brains were exploded. It was gruesome, bloody, and downright psychotic.

So, all fingers pointed to Ulan.

Engel sighed, looking back to face Ulan. “You know, schatz,” he paused for a second, before tugging Ulan along more quickly, “there might come a time you’ll regret following me outside the grotto.”

Ulan stared, his eyes narrow. “Bullshit.”

With that, Engel only smirked. “Schatz is such a brat at times.”

Ulan wanted nothing more than to punch Engel in the face. He wanted nothing more than to tear that face off, blood everywhere and the screams of horror plaguing his ears for decades to come.

Yet, right now, the person Ulan sought to kill and destroy was helping him. In those short years Ulan spent locked up in a lightless grotto, he said that if he ever got out, he would find Engel and kill him.

Ulan hated Engel for years. A short, measly 3 years. It was nothing compared to his still young immortal life span, but that hatred ran deep.

After all, if you get sentenced to life in exile, locked up in an endless dark abyss with no light, and the only reason you were exiled in the first place was because of a fucking asshole like Engel— you’d want to kill them too.

If you’re immortal and get sentenced to life in exile, you too would feel agitated. Especially towards the one who orchestrated the whole event.

Ulan was only 18. And he still had so many years left to come. Eternity.

So Ulan was conflicted. 3 years ago, Engel mocked and laughed at him as his powers were sealed, entering his mind and just mocking him, and thrown into a dark cave for all of eternity. The rest of his life. 3 years later, Engel took him by the hand and unsealed the barrier keeping him in. Ulan’s water manipulation powers were still sealed, but still. He was being bailed out, how could he conspire to kill the one who freed him?

Engel.

Engel, I hope you die. At the same time, I hope you live. You caused me to fall, but now you’re picking me back up. God, Engel. I hate you, I hate you so much. But, you’re all I have left. You’re all I have left to help me from rotting for the next thousand years.

I hate how you killed them.

I hate how you helped me.

I hate you the most.

I hate how you killed them all and let me bear the punishment. I hate I hate I hate.

But you’re the only one who helped me.

I hate that.

But you’re the only one helping me.

Engel looked behind him, looking Ulan in the eyes as a ray of sunlight was coming into view. He smiled, one that at first Ulan saw as condescending, until it started to look like it was genuine.

The rays of sunshine was the one thing Ulan wanted. He finally felt it on his face again.

Engel’s voice rang in Ulan’s head, “I heard it all. Thanks for the compliment, schatz.”

Ulan let out a scoff when hearing Engel’s voice. Fuck off!