[EXO] Eclipse (1/?)

Prologue<<<

“Prince.”

Heads ducked as a tall man, clad in a snow-white shirt and pants embroidered with royal black swirls, made his way through rows of seats and to the round Elite table. People kept their eyes cast downwards, murmuring silent greetings as he passed, though their hands remained by their sides and only a few put their fists over their heart in a respectful gesture.

Kris barely paid any attention to them. He bowed his head in a silent greeting, and pulled a heavy chair closer, sitting down. The elaborate design of his chair made sitting painful, and Kris fidgeted, already feeling his back turn stiff. The Elder on his right gave him a half-sneer, half-smile, and Kris gritted his teeth, freezing his body in a confident but uncomfortable position. He’d much rather suffer through a few hours of backache than let one of the old men laugh at him.

They laughed at him enough as it was already.

One of the old men seated around the oak table stood up, clearing his throat loudly. The hushed conversations died out as if an invisible knife had cut off all talk; everyone’s eyes fell on the Leading Elder. The Elder stood straight, his chin held high. His glaringly white hair, left long and brushed until they shone, streamed down his spotted long face, traced with deep wrinkles and folds of saggy skin. He was the oldest of them all, and he had the privilege of starting the Meetings, which were held according to a centuries-old protocol. The protocol was strict, imposing pompous and time-consuming ceremonies, which Kris had long started to detest. “The Leading Elder.” There was a short pause after his introduction, before he continued. ”Now that the Prince has granted us with his presence…” The Elder pulled his lips up in a cold smile, nodding in Kris’ direction, though he avoided direct eye contact with the young man. “… I announce the beginning of the 26th Meeting!”

Kris pressed his lips into a firm line. His face settled into the usual frown- an expression he had adopted thanks to the old men in the room. The last two years have changed him a lot; he no longer admired the Elders who ruled the country. Even though he was now one of them.
Because he was now one of them.

“The Prince shall now enlighten us on our main concern in this Meeting.”

Kris, lips still smacked tightly together, stood, his tall young frame sticking out like a sore thumb in the room full of short old wrinkled people. He kept his gaze fixed somewhere over all of the Elders’ heads, looking out of the glass walls to the enormously bright and flamboyant sunset. “Kris. Prince of the Wielders. The 24th Elder.” He didn’t wait the required five seconds after his introduction before continuing, ”…there have been several cases of attacks on Wielders in the past week.”

Soft murmurs met his words. It was obvious only the Leading Elder knew about the incidents, as everyone else looked anywhere from mildly surprised to shocked; a few even gasped, clasping their wrinkled hands over their mouths, muttering something in astonishment.

Kris kept his back straight and braced himself for what he knew was coming.

The Leading Elder drummed his fingers against the hard surface of the table, looking somewhere at Kris’ forehead. “Who is responsible?”

Kris did his best to keep a straight face, the Elder’s refusal to meet his eyes not unnoticed. “No one has been proven guilty as of yet.”

“But..?” The Elder prompted, raising his eyebrows. His calmness was unnerving.

Kris’ brows settled low over his eyes. He hadn't thought the old man would know about it. “There are suspects.”

“Suspects?” The Leading Elder tilted his head to the side, still looking somewhere above Kris’ eyes.

“Yes.” Kris was not going to cooperate. If the Elder wanted information, he was going to have to work for it.

“Who are the suspects?”

“People,” Kris replied curtly.

A few Elders snorted.

The Leading Elder’s gaze turned frosty. “Are they Wielders?” He leaned over the table a little, clasping his hands in front of him. “Are the suspects wielders?”

Kris almost huffed in distaste. The Elder obviously knew the answer and only wanted Kris to be the one to deliver the news.

“No.”

“No?” The Elder raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. His presence seemed to grow bigger, as the other Elders started whispering, eyes wide. “So they are Ordinars?”

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath, eyes fixed on Kris, waiting for his answer.

Kris closed his eyes for a mere moment. “Yes.”

The table erupted in loud, obnoxious shouts. For a few confusing seconds everything was a mess, the protocol forgotten; Kris crossed his arms over his chest, feeling a throbbing headache pound on his head. But then the Leading Elder, who -there was no mistaking it- was enjoying it, clapped his hands, and the table shook loudly, halting the noisy talks once again. “Silence! The Prince has not finished speaking.”

But Kris had finished speaking. There was nothing left to say. There have been seven cruel attacks on common Wielders who lived in the far end of the country, close to the borders, and three Ordinars have been suspected to be guilty. That was all he knew; that was all there was to it. At least that was all Kris knew to be true.

But the Elders were expecting more. The Leading Elder stretched his lips until he was grinning. The big smile looked almost uncivilized on his usually unresponsive face. “Where are the suspects now?”

Kris uncrossed his arms and tried to catch the old man’s eyes, but the latter turned his gaze away quickly. “I don’t have such information.”

“They have not been seized and brought to the trial for justice to be carried out?”

“No.”

“And why not?” The Elder’s voice was soft as silk.

“The Ordinars have refused to pass them on to us.”

“Why?”

Kris hated being interrogated. He was used to people answering to him, not the other way around. But it was different in the Meetings, where for once his heritage meant nothing. Being the lowest among the Elders was what made Kris loathe these meetings in the first place. He hated how his rank forced him into the Elder circle, but his age left him in a position where he was basically a nobody among them.

“Why?” The Elder repeated, when Kris hesitated to answer.

“I wish for a permission to speak,” one of the Elders said. He was one of the younger ones, though still old enough to be Kris’ grandfather. He was of a lower rank, as his seat which was close to Kris’ own, indicated.

The Leading Elder’s eyebrows knitted together, but he nodded. “You may speak.”

The Elder stood up, and Kris sat down, as it was against the protocol to stand while someone else was speaking. “Alias. The 21st Elder,” he introduced himself. Everyone knew each other, but the protocol was important. “I have a question. Were the attacked Wielders injured?”

Heads turned to Kris, and he didn’t even bother to stand up. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t they defend themselves?”

“They couldn’t.”

Alias tugged on his white tunic nervously. “What was the reason they, who possess abilities, couldn’t defend themselves against powerless Ordinars?”

“Prince. One has to stand up when he speaks,” the Leading Elder cut in dryly, before Kris could open his mouth.

Kris ignored the remark, remaining seated. Standing would have been way more comfortable, given the horrible chair, but pride was more important than comfort. “I was told they couldn’t wield the moment it happened.” His own voice betrayed him as it let a note of uncertainness creep into it.

“They were beyond their limit.” It was a statement, not a question.

Kris kept a straight face on. There it was. The big revelation. “No. They say their inner energy levels were fine. Their wielding had been taken from them, temporarily though.”

“What?” Alias gave way to a disbelieving chuckle. Everyone else around the table seemed to find Kris’ words ridiculous too. Only the Leading Elder was listening intently, his eyes sharp. “We all know that is not possible. Wielders cannot lose their abilities once they develop. That is just not possible.”

Not a muscle moved in Kris face. "They claim it happened.”

“They must be lying.”

Kris didn’t answer.

The seven victims had been attacked at a different time and place, but they all said the same thing: they claimed having been unable to wield at the time of the attacks, after being touched by the Ordinars. Nothing like this had ever happened before, so Kris could understand the disbelieving looks the Elders gave him. But at the same time, he could not see a reason for the victims to lie. Those people had been severely injured, and only lived because the Ordinars had spared them. It was still a mystery how the Ordinars had gotten past the Border, or how they managed to take away the wielding of their victims, but one thing was certain. The peaceful ignorance between the Ordinars and Wielders had been shattered.

They could no longer live side by side.

“Prince, do you believe they are lying?” The Leading Elder was looking at Alias as he asked this.

Kris had to be truthful. “No.” His face hardened when his answer brought upon another wave of hushed whispers.

“I heard rumours,” one of the more important Elders said, rising to his feet. Kris knew him as one of his father’s friends. “Kimo, the 6th Elder,” he said, before continuing in a hoarse voice, “Rumours have been circulating around the city among the lower ranked Wielders. I have sources,” he added, upon seeing the others’ faces. The Elites, especially the Elders, didn’t mix with the lower ranks and such ‘friendships’ were not accepted by the nobles. “There are rumours about Ordinars having secret centres in the Protector training camps. They say that young Ordinars are being recruited and trained to take away Wielders’ powers.”

Kris frowned. He had never heard anything like that. Then again, he lived in the prestigious part of the city, where people were too occupied entertaining themselves and looking down on others to care about mysterious attacks on the other side of the country.

“We must investigate these rumours,” Alias spoke, looking scandalized. “Why haven’t we heard about this before?”

Because you never listen to what the common people have to say, Kris thought, but his lips remained pressed together firmly.

Kimo sat back down, looking almost guilty to have brought up the rumours, and the Leading Elder nodded. “Very well. We will send a few Elemental Generals to investigate the Protectors’ training camps. It is best we take things seriously. However, we will not stop here. If the attacks continue, we will take action.”

Kris didn't like the authority in the Elder’s voice. Since when was he the one to rule the country? With Kris’ father dead, he, the prince, was the highest-ranked person in the country. And yet, there he was, forced to answer to a bunch of old people who didn’t even know what happened in between the city walls, let alone outside them.

Kris preferred not to think that he barely knew anything about that either.

“The Ordinars.” The Leading Elder raised his voice. “They have posed as a threat to us ever since the human race was divided into two. Us, strong Wielders, who are gifted with the powers to manipulate earth, fire, water and air; and the Ordinars, who have remained ordinary humans with ordinary goals and abilities, or lack of them. The Order of Two states that the gifted and the deprived are to live under the same sky. But is this really possible in these difficult times?” He rose to his feet- he didn’t have to, the protocol let him speak seated- but he did anyway, opening his arms wide. “We have long been aware of the hatred among the Two. It is only natural that those who have less envy those who have more.”

Kris turned his gaze on the Leading Elder’s face, transfixed by the hidden joy behind it. The old man was enjoying the accidents, thriving in the danger. Kris knew that some old Wielders, especially the Elites, held a grudge, an irrational hatred for Ordinars, but he never thought he’d see it displayed so openly.

“We need to strike back.”

Kris’ fingers clasped around the edge of his chair upon hearing the Elder’s words. “What?” His voice came out much calmer than he thought it would.

The Leading Elder closed his eyes, hands still spread wide. “We shall defend ourselves. From now on, Ordinars shall pay for their wrongdoings. According to the only right law. Our Law.”

“Ordinars go by a different law.” Slowly, Kris let go of the chair and flexed his fingers under the table, trying to relax. Things were going downhill fast. Somehow, the usual formal Meeting had turned into a strategic attack against the Ordinars.

The Leading Elder met Kris’ eyes for the first time that day. “Not anymore.”

Kris held his gaze without even blinking. “You can’t do that.”

The Leading Elder’s next words came out as a whisper, but Kris still heard them in the dead silence of the room. “I can do whatever I want.”

The Elder clapped his hands, the marble floor shaking slightly under their feet. “The king would have wanted to keep his people safe.”

The mention of Kris’s father stuck a nerve, and Kris shot to his feet, barely registering the movement. Cold fury crept up his spine, chilling him to the bone. His glare alone could have murdered the old man.

The Leading Elder regarded him with a cold smile. “I announce the 26th Meeting over. You may go now.”

Kris didn’t wait for the others to stand, and ignored the judging looks he got as he stormed out of the room. His bodyguard Sehun, who had been waiting for him outside the door, struggled to keep up, calling out for him to be careful.

But Kris didn’t listen. His heart was somewhere down in his stomach, beating vigorously. So much had changed during the short Meeting. Kris had not thought the case of attacked Wielders would get so out of hand. It had been his turn to gather information for the scheduled Meeting, since the lowest rank Elders usually rotated the duty; now he almost felt as if it was his fault everything had gotten so messed up.

It was probably only a matter blown out of proportion, a false alarm-- Kris was almost sure it wasn’t as serious as the Elders thought it was, but the Leading Elder had already announced he was going to break the Law of Two.

The two worlds- alike, yet so different- were about to clash.

Kris knew the first step towards the war between the Wielders and the Ordinars had just been taken.




Luhan paced his room.

Decorated in white, his room seemed impossibly huge right now. Save for a bed and a small desk, it was empty. Two of the four walls were made of glass, overlooking the streets far below where people hurried, smaller than ants. Luhan lived at the very top of the Talents mansion tower, the highest building in the whole country. As someone who didn’t fancy heights, he would have been more than happy to switch places with someone else. Anyone. But the Protocol- the document that dictated all of their lives- said the Prophesier was to live in the highest tower, overseeing the clouds.

Luhan absolutely detested the Protocol and all of the ridiculous rules it implemented.

But right now, the Protocol was the last thing on his mind. Images from his sudden vision, which had occurred just minutes ago and caught him completely off guard, had occupied his mind completely. Two lands, churning and burning, the pain of fire and frostbite, and the Twelve blurry figures above all the chaos- it was a prophecy that was long thought to be only a tale to tell kids before sleep.

But Luhan had Seen it. He had seen and felt the pain, heard the screams. Visions rarely came to him without a sphere ball or meditation, but he had only dozed off for a few minutes when the horrible dream had invaded his mind and senses. It had felt all too real, all too certain.

He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that whatever it was had to be quite serious, for it seemed that the Twelve was finally coming.

Haunted by the screams of children from his vision, he rubbed his temples, thinking hard. He needed to tell someone about what he’d Seen.

Taking one hasty look out his window to the tiny edge of the sun that was still visible over the horizon, Luhan muttered a soft curse, his hands clutching the hem of his tunic nervously. The Meeting was supposed to be over by now. He hoped Kris would come soon, because if there was a single person Luhan could entrust with information that important, it was his royal friend.


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>>>> chapter 2