Wishing Well

Hyeon's sendoff was a party, apparently.

Including himself, there was Fenrir, Haruma, Sleipnir, and the gang that started this whole thing. Sani was giving Artemis a tour of the recent updates to the castle, trusting Fenrir to do his duty as the lord of the southern lights.

And when they called it 'the basement,' it truly was a basement; the bottom of the barrel of the castle. They had treaded down multiple stone staircases, past three floors of prison cells for captured demons, until they entered…a small room the size of a normal home's basement? That didn't make sense. For such a huge building, shouldn't the infamous 'basement' be a giant layout of terror and anguish? Rather, it was the same size as the renovated gaming room under his adopted parent's house.

This small space was the opposite of refurbished, though. It smelled like mold, water dripped from the cracks in the ceiling, and it was freezing cold – colder than the current wintery temperatures outside. Hyeon saw his breath with each exhale, shivering.

Fenrir saw this and handed him the Viking jacket. When did he retrieve this?

It didn't matter, Hyeon was grateful for the gesture. Their fingers touched when he accepted the thick coat. He saw a small amount of black-clouded soul energy transfer into him through their fingertips.

Hyeon wanted to ask him why he was giving him such precious energy; he needed it himself to maintain this place. Fenrir nodded his head 'no' to stay silent; the others shouldn't know two things, 1) that Hyeon could see others' energies and 2) Fenrir was providing him when it should be the other way around. Conflicted, he put on the coat which immediately warmed him up.

Haruma snapped his fingers to light up the torches, one on all four sides. It was much easier to see the details of the room now.

He furrowed his eyebrows at what he saw in the center. There was an old, crumbling wishing well rising from the floor. There was no bucket hanging over it to fetch water, just a circular structure with a watery pit below.

Where was the entrance? Surely there was a door to where they were sending him.

Haruma waited next to the well. The four who attacked him approached it. Each of them silently cried and…jumped into the well one by one with Haruma watching to make sure they didn't secretly escape.

What the–

Hyeon waited to hear the sound of them hitting the water, but there was none. The only ones left to do the same were him and Imoogi, still passed out and slung over Sleipner's shoulder.

Honestly, Hyeon just wanted to laugh, to cackle at the silliness of this situation. He felt the laughter bubbling in his chest, wanting to release itself and act like a madman.

Fenrir grabbed each side of Hyeon's face with his hands, pulling him close until their chests touched. The god stared into his hazel eyes – they were a muddled brown which meant he was void of any genuine emotion.

After a few seconds of studying Hyeon's eyes, Fenrir spoke, breaking the long silence since the beginning of the downward journey here.

"He can't go," he growled to the others. "His blood is almost completely tainted. If I'm not there the moment he fully loses himself, there's no hope for him. I can tell he doesn't care about this thanks to the insanity taking over nor does he grasp where he's about to go and the things he'll see."

Sleipnir looked at them with pity. "Sorry, brother, but you heard Artemis. You're already on thin ice on Mount Olympus. Don't force her to make the call. I'll be fetching him in one week's time, anyway, so as long as he can hang in there for seven days."

The call? The call for what?

Can't they just hurry this up? Hyeon felt aggravation rise in his chest. His head pounded from a growing migraine. He felt the need to scratch at his skin until the simmering anger was out. Feeling annoyed with everyone, he accidentally let out a low-toned noise from his throat. It sounded not human, like a demon.

They all looked at him with worry.

"She's waiting, My Lord," Haruma informed.

Fenrir's lip twitched, wanting to curl into a snarl. "MY SISTER CAN WAIT!" His loud voice echoed around them. He composed himself and told Hyeon, "Don't make it obvious you're staring at her face."

That was random advice.

Fenrir abruptly kissed him. Their lips pressed hard, desperate. At least, it was desperate on Fenrir's side. For Hyeon, he was emotionless inside and out. The wolf pulled away when he noticed him not reacting and was pained.

Hyeon was startled when someone from behind him hoisted him in the air until he hung over their shoulder. Sleipnir was doing the same thing to him as he had done with Imoogi, carrying two heavy people.

"What are you doing?" Hyeon asked in a high-pitched voice from embarrassment. They were in front of the well. Sleipnir took a big step up until he stood on the wobbly, rocky edge, overlooking the blackened depths. A howling draft blew through Hyeon's hair.

"I'm Odin's, my grandfather's, steed. He's ridden on me to countless wars and the valleys of death in every realm you can think of. Transporting him to other worlds is my ability and purpose, my only reason for living. So, I've volunteered to take you to Niflheim myself. A human like you can't survive entering the portal alone anyway and this one here," shaking a lifeless Imoogi, "obviously can't shift into an animal, either."

During his mini-speech, Haruma secretly leaned until he was able to whisper in Hyeon's ear, "Shika says 'don't let them fool you.'"

"Huh?"

Like a switch, Hyeon was back to his old self.

He was terrified.

He was sorry.

He didn't want to go.

He wanted Fenrir to kiss him again so he could respond properly.

This was how he was supposed to act under such circumstances. Hyeon reached out to Fenrir. As he did, Sleipnir jumped into the wishing well's hole.

The two made a millisecond eye contact of panic before Hyeon disappeared into the bottomless abyss.