Additional Tags: character death bc well lol, blood, mentions of violence
Permission to remix: yes
i started writing this with something else in mind but my permanent bbc merlin brain disease & my permanent arthurkyeom brain disease both did a number on me. i'm sorry and i hope jeonghan waiting for seokmin for more than 600 years makes up for it. <3
***
People have found love worth dying for ever since the beginning of time. If I can die for you, then I can live for you. I have no regrets. You have never cried before, don't cry for me. Priest
seokmin shall fall very soon, as all kings should. as they all do at some point.
a younger jeonghan, a decade ago from here, used to be terrified of this moment. his sleep was plagued by nightmares of flames and smoke swallowing seokmin, of a sharp sword crossing seokmin's back and making its way out of his chest, of a soil red and wet with blood of the once and future king. in those nightmares, jeonghan screamed and cried pathetically in front of their kingdom's foes, an embarrassing mess of a boy who refused to accept his and his king's fate.
time, though, is the most powerful kind of magic. the only kind of magic jeonghan will never master. and what once would've brought him to his knees now is nothing but a painful rite of passage to him.
watching the fall of seokmin and his great kingdom hurts. jeonghan watches from the shadows as the battlefield turns into wreckage, bodies piling up and blood tinging everything -- soil, flags, weapons, other people's faces and hands and armor. he helps without being seen; saves knights without them ever noticing and plays tricks on the enemies to try and hold them back. despite knowing the outcome of this battle for years, jeonghan still tries to do some damage control. it's not enough.
at the top of the hill, seokmin fights magic with wit and strength. he swings his sword against invisible enemies and takes more hits than he has ever taken before. seokmin is the best warrior this land has seen and his skills are unrivaled but he is a fair man through and through and his enemies are the exact opposite of that.
and even if he were to play dirty, there's only so much one can do against fate.
chan shows his face only when the first rays of daylight start to adorn the dark sky above them with delicate shades of gold. the king is already on his knees.
somewhere in the woods behind the field that is bound to be seokmin's grave, jeonghan shivers. fully aware that the time has come.
“where is your wizard friend now, knight?” chan asks, mockingly resting the tip of his sword on seokmin's right shoulder. seokmin raises his head, defiantly stares at chan straight in the eyes. he's panting heavily and jeonghan knows that even without that final blow chan so desperately wants to give, seokmin won't be able to hold out much longer.
“he has more important battles to fight,” seokmin replies, spiteful until the very end. “i don't need him to fight mine.”
it almost breaks jeonghan's resolution.
the urge to stay is only suppressed by one thing, the undying truth that has brought them here: seokmin does need him. but not this seokmin, the one in the future, centuries from now.
chan looks at seokmin with disdain. “i'm tempted to believe you do, look at you.” he scoffs, slowly walking around seokmin and swinging his sword swiftly, putting on a performance of sorts. it's both graceful and pathetic. needless. everyone knows how this ends. “i guess you can blame this on your father as well. today you're atoning for his sins more than yours.”
“i've kept my promises,” seokmin says and his voice is filled with pride. it makes jeonghan smile -- it always does. “and i shall die with no regrets.”
chan sheaths the sword and when he speaks, his tone is surprisingly solemn.
“then die for once, knight.”
with a wave of chan's right hand, the light in seokmin’s eyes is gone. there’s no thunder and lightning, no fire, no smoke. just painful silence until seokmin’s body falls flat with an ugly sound, face to the floor where his own blood had painted an abstract picture of loyalty and courage throughout the night. it's different from jeonghan's nightmares but that doesn't make it any easier to witness.
it doesn't matter how the king dies, it matters that he's dead.
now jeonghan's hardest mission as the king's magician, confidant and longtime companion can finally begin.
🗡️
after the first 500 years, jeonghan stops searching. it is not a matter of hope; fate is inescapable. it is a matter of when but maybe their when is still very far away.
the longing never ceases but jeonghan learns to live with it, carries it around him like a cloak, allows it to knock him down once in a very long while just so he can get up again.
he keeps his promise.
he tells stories about seokmin, the once and future king, makes sure the memory resists the test of time and prepares the soil for his return.
jeonghan busies himself with magic, with people, with silence.
he learns how to change his appearance but is always too afraid to do it because this face of his is the face seokmin knows and jeonghan fears not being recognized.
for countless times throughout the centuries, jeonghan wishes he had someone to ask questions regarding this situation but, apparently, he is the only one to ever experience this. other wizards and mages have more questions than answers and, soon enough, jeonghan stops telling them the entire truth. turns out that he knows more than any other magical being has ever known; and yet, even after so much time, he feels like he's learned nothing.
🗡️
the endless wait makes jeonghan lower his guard. he stops looking for seokmin in every child and man that slightly resembles him.
the king will arrive when the king arrives.
and arrive he does at last.
the scorching sun above the street market punishes everyone with blinding brightness and high temperature. jeonghan walks slowly, hand protecting his eyes in an attempt to see anything in front of him. his own annoyed thoughts are buried under the noise coming from crowd buying and selling goods, people shouting one over the other in pure chaos.
sometimes jeonghan wonders how he came to like humanity so much.
as he makes his way to a calmer spot, a hand grabs him by the wrist and his annoyance rises. jeonghan turns around ready to be rude at someone for the first time in a long while but, before he does, a voice that he hasn't heard anywhere else except his own dreams for more than 600 years speaks.
“oh, finally!” seokmin singsongs. it's casual and carefree as if he hasn't been gone for centuries. jeonghan's heart jumps inside his chest and his knees almost fail him. the king, his king, speaks again. “thought i'd never find you!”
in the sky, as though orchestrated by fate itself, a thick cloud covers up the sun just in time for jeonghan to see seokmin smiling triumphantly at him. the heat and the noise disappear as jeonghan's eyes scan seokmin's face -- it's the same face he's known and loved and longed for. every mole in its rightful spot and he wants to place a kiss in every single one of them, loses himself a little at the thought.
the warm grip of seokmin's fingers around his wrist is what brings him back; it feels insufficient and unbearable all at once. if they hold each other right now, jeonghan knows he won't be able to let go, so he waits a little longer. such selflessness! if there's a heaven, this alone should earn him a nice spot over there.
“there you are!” jeonghan manages to say and his voice comes out surprisingly firm. being ancient does have its advantages. the smile he offers seokmin carries endless joy and an honesty that he doesn't think he will ever be able to convey with words. he hopes it's enough but if it isn’t, he has the rest of their lives to keep on trying. “i was almost giving up on you and going after someone else to show my little tricks to.”
[FILL] for tomorrow
Ship/Member: seokmin/jeonghan
Major Tags: fantasy au, reincarnation
Additional Tags: character death bc well lol, blood, mentions of violence
Permission to remix: yes
i started writing this with something else in mind but my permanent bbc merlin brain disease & my permanent arthurkyeom brain disease both did a number on me. i'm sorry and i hope jeonghan waiting for seokmin for more than 600 years makes up for it. <3
***seokmin shall fall very soon, as all kings should. as they all do at some point.
a younger jeonghan, a decade ago from here, used to be terrified of this moment. his sleep was plagued by nightmares of flames and smoke swallowing seokmin, of a sharp sword crossing seokmin's back and making its way out of his chest, of a soil red and wet with blood of the once and future king. in those nightmares, jeonghan screamed and cried pathetically in front of their kingdom's foes, an embarrassing mess of a boy who refused to accept his and his king's fate.
time, though, is the most powerful kind of magic. the only kind of magic jeonghan will never master. and what once would've brought him to his knees now is nothing but a painful rite of passage to him.
watching the fall of seokmin and his great kingdom hurts. jeonghan watches from the shadows as the battlefield turns into wreckage, bodies piling up and blood tinging everything -- soil, flags, weapons, other people's faces and hands and armor. he helps without being seen; saves knights without them ever noticing and plays tricks on the enemies to try and hold them back. despite knowing the outcome of this battle for years, jeonghan still tries to do some damage control. it's not enough.
at the top of the hill, seokmin fights magic with wit and strength. he swings his sword against invisible enemies and takes more hits than he has ever taken before. seokmin is the best warrior this land has seen and his skills are unrivaled but he is a fair man through and through and his enemies are the exact opposite of that.
and even if he were to play dirty, there's only so much one can do against fate.
chan shows his face only when the first rays of daylight start to adorn the dark sky above them with delicate shades of gold. the king is already on his knees.
somewhere in the woods behind the field that is bound to be seokmin's grave, jeonghan shivers. fully aware that the time has come.
“where is your wizard friend now, knight?” chan asks, mockingly resting the tip of his sword on seokmin's right shoulder. seokmin raises his head, defiantly stares at chan straight in the eyes. he's panting heavily and jeonghan knows that even without that final blow chan so desperately wants to give, seokmin won't be able to hold out much longer.
“he has more important battles to fight,” seokmin replies, spiteful until the very end. “i don't need him to fight mine.”
it almost breaks jeonghan's resolution.
the urge to stay is only suppressed by one thing, the undying truth that has brought them here: seokmin does need him. but not this seokmin, the one in the future, centuries from now.
chan looks at seokmin with disdain. “i'm tempted to believe you do, look at you.” he scoffs, slowly walking around seokmin and swinging his sword swiftly, putting on a performance of sorts. it's both graceful and pathetic. needless. everyone knows how this ends. “i guess you can blame this on your father as well. today you're atoning for his sins more than yours.”
“i've kept my promises,” seokmin says and his voice is filled with pride. it makes jeonghan smile -- it always does. “and i shall die with no regrets.”
chan sheaths the sword and when he speaks, his tone is surprisingly solemn.
“then die for once, knight.”
with a wave of chan's right hand, the light in seokmin’s eyes is gone. there’s no thunder and lightning, no fire, no smoke. just painful silence until seokmin’s body falls flat with an ugly sound, face to the floor where his own blood had painted an abstract picture of loyalty and courage throughout the night. it's different from jeonghan's nightmares but that doesn't make it any easier to witness.
it doesn't matter how the king dies, it matters that he's dead.
now jeonghan's hardest mission as the king's magician, confidant and longtime companion can finally begin.
🗡️
after the first 500 years, jeonghan stops searching. it is not a matter of hope; fate is inescapable. it is a matter of when but maybe their when is still very far away.
the longing never ceases but jeonghan learns to live with it, carries it around him like a cloak, allows it to knock him down once in a very long while just so he can get up again.
he keeps his promise.
he tells stories about seokmin, the once and future king, makes sure the memory resists the test of time and prepares the soil for his return.
jeonghan busies himself with magic, with people, with silence.
he learns how to change his appearance but is always too afraid to do it because this face of his is the face seokmin knows and jeonghan fears not being recognized.
for countless times throughout the centuries, jeonghan wishes he had someone to ask questions regarding this situation but, apparently, he is the only one to ever experience this. other wizards and mages have more questions than answers and, soon enough, jeonghan stops telling them the entire truth. turns out that he knows more than any other magical being has ever known; and yet, even after so much time, he feels like he's learned nothing.
🗡️
the endless wait makes jeonghan lower his guard. he stops looking for seokmin in every child and man that slightly resembles him.
the king will arrive when the king arrives.
and arrive he does at last.
the scorching sun above the street market punishes everyone with blinding brightness and high temperature. jeonghan walks slowly, hand protecting his eyes in an attempt to see anything in front of him. his own annoyed thoughts are buried under the noise coming from crowd buying and selling goods, people shouting one over the other in pure chaos.
sometimes jeonghan wonders how he came to like humanity so much.
as he makes his way to a calmer spot, a hand grabs him by the wrist and his annoyance rises. jeonghan turns around ready to be rude at someone for the first time in a long while but, before he does, a voice that he hasn't heard anywhere else except his own dreams for more than 600 years speaks.
“oh, finally!” seokmin singsongs. it's casual and carefree as if he hasn't been gone for centuries. jeonghan's heart jumps inside his chest and his knees almost fail him. the king, his king, speaks again. “thought i'd never find you!”
in the sky, as though orchestrated by fate itself, a thick cloud covers up the sun just in time for jeonghan to see seokmin smiling triumphantly at him. the heat and the noise disappear as jeonghan's eyes scan seokmin's face -- it's the same face he's known and loved and longed for. every mole in its rightful spot and he wants to place a kiss in every single one of them, loses himself a little at the thought.
the warm grip of seokmin's fingers around his wrist is what brings him back; it feels insufficient and unbearable all at once. if they hold each other right now, jeonghan knows he won't be able to let go, so he waits a little longer. such selflessness! if there's a heaven, this alone should earn him a nice spot over there.
“there you are!” jeonghan manages to say and his voice comes out surprisingly firm. being ancient does have its advantages. the smile he offers seokmin carries endless joy and an honesty that he doesn't think he will ever be able to convey with words. he hopes it's enough but if it isn’t, he has the rest of their lives to keep on trying. “i was almost giving up on you and going after someone else to show my little tricks to.”