Kintsugi // ATEEZ [Ishihara Sequel] ✔

29 Covet

Taking in a deep breath, Akira pulls the reins of her horse as she arrives at the kingdom of Nyla, the time only an illusion to her as the sky remains dark. Even before dawn, she has informed Yunho that she'll be going to Nyla on her own and has asked him to overlook the Lucida palace's affairs while she's gone. She emphasizes on watching Seonghwa's progress to see whether he'd wake up or not, despite Yunho looking heavily reluctant to let her go on her own. She had then set off, her sword tied to her back as she brought her horse as quickly as she could to Nyla, not even wanting to waste any more second.

Becoming a fool to come to Nyla alone, the very kingdom that had attacked her kingdom? She truly is, but she needs answers on how she can bring back her husband.

She tries to erase the image of her husband's appearance but it seems that even as she arrives at the Nyla palace, she's reminded of the same. The surrounding area of the palace is teeming with the dark entity, those remaining inside affected by it as they look passive, the guards barely even turning their heads as Akira dashes past the arched entrance. She looks at the horrible exterior of the palace, feeling as if she has stepped into another dimension as she watches the stones enveloped in black tendrils.

Her heart clenches as she looks at the garden Seonghwa has been taking care of with his life, only to see all the plants already dead, their leaves covered by cobwebs of the dark entity while the soil is as if it hasn't rained a thousand years, the cracks looking like it'll open up to swallow her whole. She leaves her horse behind, carefully approaching the garden - the place which was a witness to their marriage vows - dying and losing their colours.

With every step she takes along the garden, the dying flowers turn into dust before they crumble to the ground in a pile of black powder and disappear. It is as if with every step, she'll only bring forth upon destruction. Her eyes rest upon the delentines which have shriveled up, reminding her of the last time she was kicked out of the Nyla palace when they lost their charms. She keeps walking, trying to find any flowers that could still be alive, only to be met with black roses sprouting from the ground, the only patch of land with flowers still thriving.

She turns away before walking away from the garden, almost breaking into a run as she bursts into the palace. She looks around at the palace staff who are in their own world; they don't even acknowledge her. She searches the palace for any of the young masters, almost giving up before she runs into Wooyoung, who seems to be the only sane person in the whole palace.

"Akira," he utters, clearly surprised that the queen of Lucida is currently right here, alone.

"Where is he?" she says, already too desperate. "Where is Choi San? How could you," she says in disbelief, "pretend as if nothing had happened to my kingdom when you knew your king went and attacked mine, unprovoked?"

"We-" he looks guilty yet he doesn't know what to do. "San is-" He loses his words trying to explain to Akira that they had no idea that San had gone to Lucida, and that they're also trying to deal with their own problems to bring back their own king to reality. "You see the condition of our kingdom-"

"Your brother," she exclaims, desperate. "Is dying." She falls to the floor, kneeling in front of Wooyoung. "San- I don't know what happened to him, but he-" Her hand trembles as her fingers rake the floor, tears dropping one by one. "Seonghwa is sick. Whatever San has, he has-" she sobs, "he has transferred it to him."

Wooyoung remains speechless at Akira's revelation, his mind completely forgetting the effects the attack would have on Lucida. They were too fixated on San that they disregarded whatever happened in Lucida, only focusing on curing San. He lowers himself down, gripping Akira's arms as she cries on the floor.

"I'm sorry," is all he manages to say.

"Is there no way to bring them back?" Akira says through her tears.