The night it happened was one of these quiet days, when the great hall of Hanmmin pulsed with quiet music, faint laughter, and the clinking of glasses filled with celebratory wine, and whispers of gossip, judgements, or actual serious crisis.
The youths, took these nights as a chance to do things they would have been scolded upon.
They danced, drank till they were satisfied, and unsurprisingly flirted with this, and that.
The elders could just watch in exhaustion, but what they can do?
It's not like they are not themselves doing things they wouldn't do in a regular basis!
They at least can have a good time, without needing to supervise their youth.
But would that false sense of peace last longer than this?
Or it had already been long enough for it to continue, till this point, and is about to be distributed?
Who knows.
In the middle of their joyous night,
a vibration had rippled through the air—too subtle for ears, too sharp for any magic still woven into the world.
It was subtle at first. A tremor beneath the marble.
The air became heavy, with a cold breath.
Conversations stopped, as well for their laughter.
The dancers froze mid-step.
Then murmurs rippled through the room.
While his hand clenched around the glass of wine.
He felt it through his veins. He felt as if the air shrunk around his lungs. His face hard, but his false mask of coldness cracked for a split of second, revealing the mess that started through him.
"No...", Francis whispered, more to himself than anyone else.
Katriel caught a glimpse of him, before poking Delvin with his elbow.
"What?", Delvin groaned in annoyance, he was too lost in his thoughts, that werid feeling left him with goosebumps, a feel of dread, and curiosity.
Katriel just rolled his eyes. "Look.", he nodded towards a direction.
"I have never seen your uncle this state before."
That's when Delvin looked in his uncle's direction.
"He looks so serious, perhaps it is something concerning, not just a simple vibration of weird waves.", Katriel analysed, probably never going to shut the fuck up for the next couple of hours.
But Delvin also hadn't seen his uncle this way before, is it something that bad?
He doesn't know, but he already had walked to where his uncle standing.
"Uncle?", he heard a voice calling for him, distracting him from whatever thoughts overcomed his mind.
"Humm?", Francis let out a hum, looking down at his nephew.
"What was that?", Delvin asked carefully, "You don't look too good...", he added with hesitation.
Francis looked startled, but he composed himself, and tried to soften his expression, yet his eyes still looked concerned, and.....lost?
He looked at his nephew, and was about to open his mouth-
"Yeah, what the hell was that?", Vexra spat out, appearing from thin air, Katriel standing beside him.
Then before anyone could go farther. A shout was heard.
"The seal is broken, everyone please do not panic!", it was one general of the Fairies.
A heavy layer of silence dropped over them, smothering the laughter and music that had filled the hall moments before.
Then the once joyous gathering turned chaotic in an instant.
They fell in a sea of conflict. They felt panic, rage, and confusion.
Some stood paralysed, caught between disbelief and dread.
The younger ones looked around in confusion, their eyes wide.
Unaware of why the others are acting like that. Not understanding the urgency of the situation.
The majority of the elders knew what
It was, It was the tremor of a seal undone.
They knew which seal would cause this.
They knew which seal the general talked about, but they still refused to belive it.
They were caught in despair, unable to form any thought.
They were the ones with memories that had not faded.
One werewolf's hand trembled around his wineglass. "It cannot be," he murmured.
Beside him, an elder fairy, her eyes had gone glassy, her lips moving in silent prayer. "He's awake," she whispered, voice hollow. "The seal—it's broken.
"That damn bastard is back!"
___________________________
Across the seven realms, down below in the shadowed remains of a forgotten forest, a heartbeat thudded against the silence of centuries.
For the first time in seven centuries, the stars faltered.
Yoon opened his eyes.
It was not a dramatic awakening. No storm split the sky. No fire raged. He simply… breathed. Air filled his lungs like it had been waiting. The stone chamber that had caged him for lifetimes was now cracked wide, soft moonlight pooling over his pale skin and the long fall of his curled midnight hair clinging to his shoulders.
For a moment, he didn't move. He barely remembered who is he, but his chest ached with an emptiness that wasn't new.
His muscles ached, his bones hurt.
Yet he felt alive.
He missed this feeling, it was taken away from him a long time ago.
Then the memories surged back—
"And i don't get even a 'thank you, Nael, you are the best wolf amongst any wolf, in the seven realms' ?"
He heard a voice whining, cutting out whatever memories he was trying to remember.
And it has to be the second most annoying voice he heard in his whole, long life.
Yoon just closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep again.
He already felt like smashing his head, and he just woke up from a sleep, for who knows how long.
"Oh come on!", Nael whined again, pocking Yoon's face.
"Give me some credit!"
Yoon groaned, already had enough.
"Leave me the hell alone.", he muttered, his voice hoarse.
"But-ahhh", Nael tried to argue back, but a slap on his head shut him up.
"Shut it down, dog.", Nyxara spat out, while raising Yoon to his feet, helping him steady himself.
Yoon stepped from the ruin of the prison and into the forest, the earth dark and cold beneath his bare feet. The wind tugged gently at his face, he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.
It had been so long.
" So....", Nyxara started, voice soft.
"How does it feel?"
Yoon hummed, still eyes closed.
"Good..."
He opened his eyes, looking at them with a little smile, on his face.
"It is good to see you."
"Awe", Nael started his bullshit again, making a few gestures that was supposed to be cute.
The two looked at him blankly, disgust in their eyes.
"I take it back.", Yoon stated, already started walking away.
"Me too.", Nyxara replied.
Then proceeded to leave the forest, leaving Nael behind, whining.
"You guys are the worst!", Nael grumbled all the way back home.