#choi san mage au

[sp4ceboo]

Warriors: Choi San x Reader

A/N: ohh boyyy after the kpop fanfic drought im back and it's with warriors au choi san

Summary: San and Reader are mages, which means they are made to serve. They are lowborn, destined to obey humans - the nobles and the highborn - with their every breaths. What if they don't want that?

tw: 18+, smut (p in v, fingering, cockwarming sort of), swearing, violence, death, blood, minimally gory at one point, war, child soldiers (14 yo), society is a shit place to be if you're a mage, tons of worldbuilding, assassins, freaking bath sex, hint at sa at one point from some dude we hate, san is kind of a brat tamer, seonghwa cameo but sad, idk if you can tell but i suck at summaries, mention of a harem, mention of slavery

wc: 4.8k

As a child, you watched from afar, waiting for things you could not grasp.

They told you that you were made to serve. They recounted age-old tales, about gods that crafted humans in their divine hands, moulding the mages afterwards to be commanded by their beloved creations. They filled your mind with legends of faithful individuals of your kind who proved their worth with obedience until you wished to be like your forebears.

Back when you were but an infant, you believed it. You knew the two powers that were bestowed upon you by the gods, varying in every mage, were gifts made solely to assist the highborns. In your naivety, you thought the rosy flame cupped in your small, childish palms would be used to warm the nobles in the icy winter, and that you would fulfil your purpose through that, through being of use to them. They had no shame as they informed you you were just a tool forged for following their orders, and you were convinced it was all true - until you met San.

Although you were the one with the ability to summon an inferno, he was always the one with a burning fire in his eyes. Like all mages, he’d been taken from his parents the moment he didn’t need his mother’s milk - he was given as a peace offering from the Hwangso warlord for his control of water: helpful for the upkeep of the crops.

This occurred in the small period of time in which Hwangso, the neighbouring province, was attempting to forge alliances with your province, Neugdae. Soon after, your warlord breached their territory, claiming it as his - you often wondered if the news filtering back from the front lines of a new settlement captured ever affected San.

You met him when he was an eight year old filled with bottled fury too old for his years, and you were a quiet, invisible seven year old. At those tender ages, neither of you had developed your second ability yet, nor had you gotten a taste of the power at your fingertips, but San still held his head high; you remember marvelling at the way he’d make a point of meeting every single noble’s gaze and holding it. He was just a scrawny, sun browned kid back then - nothing like the elegant lethality of the man that he is now.

Every day until you turned fourteen, you toiled beside him. The work was cruel, your supervisors crueller; the sun would beat down on your back as you laboured in the fields, side by side with San as barely a quarter of the way across the settlement, the nobles sheltered beneath their silky parasols, boasting their pale, porcelain skin. Back then, San never spoke of the injustice of it all out loud, but something about the look in his eyes when he saw them swanning past stirred something inside you. He made you realise that you were not the soulless, mindless puppet that you’d been told you were, but a person.

It wasn’t simply the rage inside him that drew you to him, though. It was the way he remained sweet, kind, despite it all, making sure to send licks of cool mist down your neck when your supervisors weren’t looking, nicking extra crumbs of food for you and remaining beside you, a beacon of light that anchored you to sanity even in the dark.

Even when, you at fourteen, him fifteen, were sent out into battle.

There were always skirmishes between neighbouring warlords: a constant push and pull for more land, more resources, more power. They would attack on a whim - mages were expendable, nothing more than canon fodder; behind each squadron was a noble who would hang back behind the lines, commanding, unbothered by the bloodshed because it was the blood of mere tools.

By then, both you and San had developed your second abilities. San’s was the ability to manipulate shadows, turning them into almost solid shapes that could physically hinder attacks by forming daggers or clutching hands, or could temporarily block the world out in a shroud of rolling black fog. Yours was the art of shapeshifting; you let the outline of your body flicker between forms, changing into powerful, deadly creatures whose substance was inhabited by the soul of a wavering teenager.

You’d known that you’d be forced to fight since you were young, but you never could have imagined the brutality of war.

It was there, in the midst of the battlefield, that any lingering innocence was burned from your soul. You learned that San’s water did not just bring life, but could also fill up someone’s lungs until they drowned upon dry ground, that your fire was not just a source of warmth or light, but could also combust a man’s heart within his chest, that the animals you were teaching yourself to shapeshift into could maul and break bones.

Many nights, you would fall asleep, curled against San, your face buried in his side with his arm wrapped around you, the taste of blood still in your mouth from where you’d torn your enemies’ throat out with the vicious canines of a tiger or the needle sharp fangs of a lynx. You would leave the front lines soaked with crimson, the essence of other people in your hair, smeared on your face, caked and drying under your nails.

It terrified you, how easily you could slice their flesh open with your claws. Armour was not wasted on mages, only generals, so just like you, all they wore were roughly woven tunics tied at the waist and trousers - you met no resistance when you killed your own kind, silent apologies on your lips.

Within the squadrons were also humans that had fallen from grace - criminals who still felt entitled enough by their birthright to think they could have a fourteen year old mage’s body; San protected you until you could protect yourself. In the first few weeks, when the punches he threw were too weak to deter them, he would let them beat him, giving you time to escape before returning to you, limping, lip split and nose bloody but the fire in his eyes never faltering.

On those nights, tears of frustration would leak from the corners of your eyes as you cleaned him up. He could so easily stop them if he used his abilities, but by then doing that without being instructed to do so by a highborn would lead to a flogging or a beating - fairytales no longer worked on you at that age, so your commanders and generals utilised fear mongering instead. You remember the hate and helplessness burning inside you when you looked at them: if all the mages rebelled at once, the nobles would have no chance, but everyone was too scared. Using your abilities on humans only led to execution.

You remember Seonghwa: he was a mage a few years older who cared for you and San as if you were his blood. He got too strong - you can’t recall his second ability but his first meant he could push a man over the brink of insanity, until he frothed at the mouth and his brain boiled within his skull. When you first witnessed the depth of his power, you were originally struck by the pain in Seonghwa’s eyes, and then by the fear in your commander’s.

The next day, Seonghwa was gone.

Often, you wonder if he fought back, or if he just let them kill him.

After, you made San promise that he wouldn’t show them if his powers developed further. He made you promise the same, and when you fought beside him, he was a constant reminder to reign yourself in, to survive. You were more careful with your powers from then on.

Some nights, though, when the frost ridden night air cut right through the ragged material of your blanket, you huddled next to San and lit a small fire in your hands. He’d tell you to stop, and you’d point out that he was shivering; he’d reply that he’d rather that than get you caught, and you would ignore him, not missing the way he tucked himself closer to the flame.

You didn’t tell him, but sometimes you would shift into a small animal, like a raccoon, and steal food for him in the dead of night. You didn’t answer when he asked you where you got it from, just shrugging and thrusting the rolls of bread and strips of dried meat into his hands, telling him he should eat.

When you were sixteen, San discovered he could animate his shadows. He could mould them like clay in his hands, breathing purpose into them - they would disintegrate within about a week or so, their outlines fading until they dissolved into nothing. San shaped a little dragon for you, the length of your forearm and the width of one of your thumbs; he came to you with it cupped in his hands, awe limning his face as the two of you watched it wriggle through the air between you and coil itself around your wrist.

You have many memories of those times, but one remains crystal clear, even to this day. A year onwards from San’s dragon, you found yourself hemmed in by enemy forces, your body tired from the fight - victory was so close for your side, and because of it, the Hwangso fought even harder, like cornered animals. If you broke through them, you would have been able to easily end their commander, but they had you, six to one. Hands closed around your throat, choking, and as the consciousness bled from you, you heard San’s cry, smelt the fear in the air as he tore through them to get to you: that in itself would have been insignificant - you had saved each other countless times through the years - but he had disobeyed a direct command.

He’d been told to kill the commander. He’d had a clear shot, and even still, he’d ignored orders, choosing to save you instead.

Both of you were beaten for it, and even as you heard the sound of San’s ribs cracking, he held your eyes, silently telling you that he’d do it over and over again, if only to keep you with him.

You think that was the moment when the two of you truly got a taste for rebellion. It was the point in the long, winding thread of your life that made you realise that whatever they told you, you would disregard it if it were for San. Their words no longer had as much power over you, because you knew your bond with him was infinitely stronger than any fear they attempted to instil within you.

Soon after that incident, your commander retired, and he was replaced by a man who was more of a fool than him. You began to lose land to Hwangso’s troops, far enough that the settlement where you grew up in was ravaged, razed to the ground. Your commander informed you that you’d evacuate the highborns, leaving the child mages and the servants behind because they would only slow you down - that was the moment you decided to stop listening to him.

The last mage rebellion had been decades ago - they were not ready. It was pathetic how easy it was to overthrow them; together with the rest of the troops and the mages from the settlement, you rebuilt the town and fortified it. San treated his soldiers with respect, with loyalty, and they loved him for it, for the way he would march into battle with them instead of cowering at the rear, for the way he could often be seen in the newly restored fields, watering the crops, for the way he recognised them for who they were.

To this day, you’re in awe of it. Never in your whole life have you come close to anything but fear for a leader, and yet you see it clear in their eyes that they love San, and that he loves them. He is everything that the highborns fear - a powerful, confident mage, wreathed in righteous shadows, fiercely intelligent, a master of strategy.

One of his first moves was to ally himself with the Hwangso warlord, the very man who had given him as a gift to your province. Deep in the highborn’s eyes was the presumption that he could break San and make him yield, followed a month later by pure terror when you held a knife to his neck, hissing to never speak of San like that again. The two of you brought his head in a sack to Hwangso and claimed your rule over the province.

That didn’t mean it was easy, though. There were the nights when San would tremble in your arms, baring his fears to you, his doubts - that it was getting too much too fast: that maybe he really was just made to follow orders. You scoffed at that - you’d seen him grow up, watched his shoulders broaden and his figure fill out with muscle, you’d seen the fire in his eyes blazing with passion; you knew he’d always be more than enough.

You’re not sure when the love blossomed between the two of you. Maybe it was always there, first shown as fierce protectiveness, later as searing kisses where no one could see, of fingers laced with yours in the dark of night. He married you shortly after he began to be recognised as an actual warlord, not a rogue mage; it was a quiet ceremony, but the celebrations of your people were far from that - rumours of the Neugdae province’s mage warlord and his wife rippled like wildfire through the regions, stirring fear and hope alike.

Some wonder why San does not take more wives - he has control over the Baem province as well Neugdae and Hwangso now, and any warlord with that much power would take on a harem without blinking. Not San, though - he’s different from them, he is a mage, a lowborn, his bronzed skin a sign to them of his childhood in the fields, and they find he is an enigma, as is his mystery shrouded right hand man.

But not to you - you understand him as if you share a soul.

On the surface, you are his only wife, aloof and coldly beautiful. In the shadows, you are his sword, his hand. There are myths of you, of the fire wielding ghost that robes itself in a black cowl and changes its skin into a man’s worst nightmare; stories of how you will twist your victim’s thoughts around until he finds the tip of a blade poking out of his chest, speared right through his back. It’s how you prefer to operate - they fear the unknown, and you are the unknown.

The fabric of the bag held in your fingers is soaked with blood. Within it is the head of the Yong province’s advisor. He was an awful man who deserved what you gave him - in a locked room at the back of his house, you found several young mages, half starved and chained by wrist and ankle to each other and a hook set in the wall. Bile bites at the back of your throat at the thought: you’re lucky you never experienced the uglier side of mage slavery.

Night is falling, the sun casting long shadows down the road. You always find the darkness comforting - it feels as if San is near. Today he is; you raise your fist and knock thrice on the solid wood of the gates, lifting your hand in recognition of the guards who peek over the turrets.

Slowly, they ease open the doors, and you stride into the courtyard, your boots clicking against the roughly hewn pavings. A squadron of your soldiers are sparring, but they halt their training when you enter, snapping to attention as you stop at the centre of the space, the dying rays of the sun streaming down the steps towards you, the air still as you wait.

He appears, his gilded silhouette glorious at the top of the stairs. His shadow guards spill down the steps towards you as he descends; their bodies contort and bend, the swirling mass of them parting around you, liquid night, jaws snapping, circling you until you’re surrounded.

A smirk pulls at your lips, and you throw the bag at his feet. You do not bow low, simply dipping your chin as he extracts the head from the sack, inspecting it and nodding before returning it to its roughly woven grave and handing it to one of his shadows to take away. Meeting your eyes, his own filled with amusement, the hint of a smile flashes over his face.

‘Welcome home, my love.’

San’s words are soft, voice quiet enough for only you to hear. You suppress the urge to pull down your mask and kiss him, instead letting your fingers brush against his as you walk with him up the steps and into the hanok; his shadows close the door behind you and the moment they do, he hooks an arm around your waist and hugs you tight, his embrace warm and sweet as always.

You laugh. ‘I was only gone four days, Sannie.’

‘Four days too long for me to be separated from my wife,’ he replies, pushing your cowl back so he can kiss your forehead.

Gripping his shoulders, you tug him down so you can peck his lips before sending him out to the courtyard again - you’re the last person expected through the gates tonight, so he should go out and dismiss the mages training in the courtyard so they can go home to their families and lock up. A happy sigh leaves you as you toe off your shoes, walking through your home and stripping off your bloody clothes before submerging yourself in the pool sunken in the floor. San has already filled it with fresh water, and it takes you mere seconds to heat it up with your fire.

Leaning with your head against the wooden ledge of the pool, you let your muscles loosen, half closing your eyes. The silence doesn’t last long, though - there’s a soft, steady noise coming from the screen behind you, almost like… breathing.

‘Show yourself,’ you command into the still air.

A man steps into view - a human, eyes crazed, knife clutched in his fingers. You realise he does not know who you really are; he just assumes you are the mage warlord San’s wife, delicate and helpless, and you let that role engulf you, backing away to the other edge of the pool with your eyes wide, luring him closer.

‘Your man took everything from me,’ he spits, blade pointed at you as he stalks forward. ‘He took my power, my wealth, my squadron of soldiers. And now I will take his wife.’

Surging out of the pool, you dodge the swipe he aims at you, sending fire surging down the knife’s handle so he drops it with a cry and twisting his arm behind his back in the most painful way possible, wrenching him down to his knees with his face an inch above the water.

‘How did you get in?’ You ask coolly.

‘I’ll never tell y - ’

You send tongues of flame licking down his ribs. ‘Answer the question or suffer.’

The door eases open, revealing San. His eyes land on you, water dripping down your body as you pin the man to the floor, then the distorted reflection from the blade of the knife that’s fallen into the pool, and something dangerous flashes inside his gaze. You let him grab your attacker by the front of his shirt, lifting him off his feet as he brings him face to face with him; you see San’s jaw clench, his hands balling into fists.

‘How fucking dare you try to come anywhere near my wife,’ he growls, shadows coalescing behind him.

You can tell he’s about to say something else, but he stops as the man, trembling and fruitlessly clawing at San’s fingers, wets himself. Your husband’s lip curls in disgust, and he drops him at your feet, pressing him down onto his knees and yanking his head up so he is forced to look up at you. Bending down, you breathe in the sheer fear permeating the air, a soft smile on your face.

‘Now, answer the question.’

‘You’re not his wife,’ he whispers, pale.

‘Oh, but I am,’ you sneer. ‘But that’s not the only role I occupy.’

Slowly, his face drains of colour, horror rippling across it as it slowly dawns on him. He recoils in San’s grasp, scrabbling at the floor in a sorry attempt to put distance between you; he has finally realised who you are and he acts like fucking coward, his mouth gaping wide in a silent plea. Unhurried, you fish the knife out from the pool, twirling it around your thumb before gliding it gently over the skin of his throat.

‘I’m getting impatient.’

‘I - I - the guards, they were distracted upon your arrival, I snuck in at the southern perimeter, please don’t - ’

His words dissolve into a weak gurgle when you slice open his throat. Blood gushes from the seams of the wound, dribbling from his lips, and you step back as he tips forward, landing with a wet thump face first on the wooden floor. Glancing up at San, you sigh before getting back in the pool. One of his shadows carries the body away and your husband tugs his clothes off and slides into the water beside you, pulling you into his chest.

‘He did not hurt you, I presume?’

You snort. ‘He tried.’

San’s fingers run thoughtfully up and down your arm. ‘I’ll talk to the guards. I probably shouldn’t have put Jisung on dusk duty while he was recovering from that fever.’

You nod but don’t answer, instead pressing a kiss to his collarbone. He hums, tipping his head back to give you more access as you mouth at his skin, letting your palms wander over his shapely chest, grip his broad shoulders, skim his waist; you trace the many scars all over his body, and he allows you to, his strong hands gripping your hips when you settle in his lap.

He curses low at the feel of your teeth sinking into the spot where his neck meets his shoulder, his hips jerking upwards, and you both groan at the sensation of the underside of his cock grazing your clit. Smirking, you let your tongue lave over the spot where you bit, pressing a kiss to his jaw and pulling back as his hands tighten their grip on your ass.

‘Missed you too, Sannie. Good to know how much you missed me.’

‘So fucking bratty,’ he hisses.

A thrill shoots through you as he stands, the water sluicing in rivulets down the planes of his chest, lifting you and laying you on the edge of the pool, pinning your knees to the wood and spreading you open. The crude way he looks at you is all consuming, his eyes surveying you from where he stands with the water to his mid thigh, watching as your pussy clenches at the sight of him towering over you.

San remains there, just looking at you, and you curve your spine, almost whining in attempt to make him touch you without you asking for it. His lips quirk to the side as you squirm, trying to inch your hips down so you can grind against him, but his fingers tighten on you, refusing you.

‘What is it you require of me, love?’

Finding your attempts unsuccessful, you huff, glaring at him. He loves to do this, make you articulate exactly what you want from him - he likes the flush that heats your cheeks, your body still shy even after all your years with him, he likes the breathy noises you make when he forces you to tell him just what you desire when all you can think of is his dick, he likes it when you can’t  help but beg him.

‘Y - your fingers,’ you mumble. ‘And your cock.’

‘Say that louder for me, sweetheart, I didn’t catch the last bit.’

‘Your fingers and your fucking cock,’ you snap - a sorry endeavour at trying to hide how much you love when he inflicts this upon you.

San raises an eyebrow, not moving to touch you. Waiting.

‘Please,’ you add.

He smiles. ‘There we go. Wasn’t so hard, was it?’

Your mouth opens to retort, but he slips his fingers inside you, and your back bows, a soft moan leaving your lips as he sweeps his thumb over your clit, his other hand palming your breasts, his tongue dragging over your skin. Burying your hands in his hair, you tug, making him groan low and deep as you pull him closer.

Delectably, his fingers curl, and you ache for him. San has ruined you for anyone else, he is branded onto your soul and also your body, fading marks from your last time together still slightly visible on your throat - a necklace of love bites, laying claim to you. He catches your chin as he brings you closer to the edge, tasting your moans on his tongue, grinding his palm against your clit.

You keen, coming hard around him, chest heaving, and he smirks, holding your waist as shudders wrack your legs from the aftershocks. The fire in his eyes burns ever brighter, so hot you feel your stomach go molten - your hands tighten on his shoulders, nails raking over his back, your tongue unable to form anything other than his name.

‘You’re always so willing to behave once your pussy’s full, hm?’

‘No, I,’ you start, but cry out when he pinches your clit in warning, the muscles of your thighs jumping as it lances through you, white hot. ‘Y - yes, yes, I am, please - ’

In one fluid movement, San buries himself inside you, sheathing himself until his hips kiss yours. Catching you wrists in his hand, he pins them above your head, and your back arches as he pulls out, agonisingly slowly, every ridge and vein of his cock dragging on your walls before slamming back in, tearing a cry of his name from your chest. Tugging your legs up from where they were wrapped around his waist, he hooks your knees over his shoulders - the new angle makes you sob, writhing beneath him as his cock head drives into perfection, drives you to euphoria.

Sometimes, San makes love to you, but not tonight: tonight he fucks into you mercilessly, traces of possessiveness lacing his actions as he litters your skin with bites, his hands leaving exquisite bruises on your hips. Pleasure tears through you like an arrow through your heart, white hot and maddening, ravenous.

‘You fit around my cock so well,’ he pants. ‘Like you were made for me, sweetheart.’

Something snaps inside you at his words, and as if he senses it, San presses his thumb down hard on your clit, speeding up his thrusts until the air is punched from your lungs. Stars flash before your eyes, and your mouth falls open, toes curling as you come on his cock, your cunt convulsing around him, thighs twitching; he doesn’t stop, just continues ploughing into you, and you tremble, tears slipping down your cheeks at the relentless pound of his hips into yours.

With a gasp, he pulls out and comes over your stomach, his wide shoulders rising and falling with heaving breaths, and you groan as he eases you back into the warm water, a hand cupping the back of your neck as he tucks your head under his chin, sliding his softening cock into you again. Wrapping your arms around him, you press a kiss to his jaw and rest your hand on his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath your palm.

‘How do you feel, my love?’

You nuzzle your face into his shoulder. ‘Good. Really fucking good.’

He laughs, and you bask in the sound of his happiness and the comfort of his warm skin against yours. San’s hands run up and down your spine, soothing, and you smile sleepily; you are home, reunited with your other half, the missing part of your soul.

With San, you are complete.

[fairlyqualityanon]

who're your pred/prey crushes ?

totally not collecting blorbos like trading cards shhh - 🪀

Oooooof.wav

There's a ton... I'll try to organize them. Let's start with ones I've written in some form or another.

Pred - TFA Starscream (so close with that guess lmao), anyway I've got this story I've been poking at since literally 2010 (@/wolvesinstarryskies is so supportive 💖 ) and it's gotten me through some really tough times, and yes there's a vore AU... also he's how I found out about vore to begin with (long story, it's over on my Tumblr RP blog)😳, really he's just a dick to his prey and will let them go after thoroughly messing with their head unless you can come up with some bribe worthy of Future Leader Of The Decepticons

Pred - Obey Me! Mammon, idk he threatens to eat the MC and I went "YES PLEASE", I have more fun flustering him when he's a pred than when he's prey 😼

Pred - Obey Me! Beel, it's literally canon and he's a precious boy and going hungry sucks and I'd be perfectly happy to help him not be starving 🥺 I don't care if he eats regular food at the same time as long as I'm safe

Prey - Obey Me! Lucifer (yes really), because that mans is going to take a break whether he wants to or not and I think Diavolo/Barbatos would see the humor in MC taking things into their own hands (my MC's strongest/most-expressed Sin is Pride plus she ain't afraid of this old man 😤)

Switch - Deltarune Spamton, I think he'd be easier to pay to be prey than pred, and I have a thing for robots meaning SNEO defaults to pred and I will immediately yeet myself into whatever fuel container said robopred uses no questions asked 😅

Newest obsession is Solo Leveling (IncredibleEdibleCalico actually did a piece ages back) and I only remembered after watching S1 of the anime and starting the manhwa. I mistakenly bought the books and comic (Vol 1-8) but regret neither purchase. Soooo good! 😍 Anyway here they are in super rough descending order of crush level.

Sung Jinwoo - Pred, I don't know how to put it into words, he just oozes soft pred vibes where tf did he even get that rune stone??? 🤔 maybe he saves someone from a Dungeon and discovers vore is actually pretty neat, he's comically oblivious at times and cares for his minions as people ugh the glowy eye affect it makes me weak

Woo Jinchul - Switch, professional, dry sense of humor, looked Death in the eye and only flinched when he saw the Apocalypse ahead, incredibly smart and intuitive, he's my Guilty Pleasure on this list 👮‍♂️

Song Chi-Yul - Pred, I lied here's another Guilty Pleasure, I actually literally cried at the end of the manhwa, he's only a C-rank mage but teaches swordsmanship to S-ranks, tried to save Jinwoo and Joohee but was talked out of it and regrets it to this day, he is classy and I just want to spend time with him🫡

Baek Yoonho - Prey (yes really), idk something about him makes me want to aggressively demonstrate affection, don't ever tease him about it because despite being the weakest Korean S-rank Hunter HE IS STILL AN S RANK and will cut a bitch (he was ready to beat the crap out of Hwang Dongsoo for strangling his lower-ranked guildmate edit that guildmate isn't even a Hunter and that is not a Hunter you want on your bad side srsly just Do Not The Thing)😼

Choi Jong-In - Pred, he's canonically a bit of a shit-talker and gives me OM! Diavolo vibes and I love me some playful banter with preds what is it with me and people with a red theme?? 😧

Son Kihoon - Switch, he's a sweetheart and I want to snuggle him three different ways, he cares for his strike squad and was willing to set aside a chance for tremendous personal glory as well as sacrifice his whole team to keep a literal army of High Orcs from destroying a few cities 🫂

Go Gunhee - Pred, he's a total badass who gave his all to keep Hunters from basically forming a Might Makes Right society also I have a Thing for older men I am not ashamed to admit it, Song-san is up there for a reason, the man is a Gigachad who outright rigs Hunters Association assignments to keep the D- and E-ranks as safe as possible 🙇‍♀️

Yoo Jinho - Prey, because he's just a sof' boi and must be protected at all costs, maybe he'd find it interesting and like that he was sought out for him and not just because he's Ahjin Guild's vice/Jinwoo's friend 😋

I started Stardew Valley 7/14 so there's gonna be some of that eventually my askbox is open 📨 if anyone wants to gush over their own vore crushes.

Can't forget Horizon Zero Dawn! the events of the Gemini Quest are NOT canon I refuse don't even @ me I WILL die on that hill 🔪

Kotallo - Switch, he's definitely my favorite character and I just love him so dang much, he's a fearsome warrior even without that arm and a brilliant strategist and completely loyal to the good of the Tenakth tribe as a whole, having no other ambition save serving his Chief... but I also want him to sit and relax, maybe having a stomach all to himself will give him a new perspective or insight ⚔️

Milvund - Pred, I did his miniquest back when my computer couldn't run HFW for more than 5-10 minutes but he's so precious and I'm betting would be very hesitant yet also so caring just let me comfort him 😭

Racking my brain for any other major fandoms but I can't come up with any for the life of me so have a bonus Pred TFA Cliffjumper because I have an active thread with him. ... Maybe jjks? I'd have to twist canon in knots to make Sukuna a safe pred, and there's a couple others but I haven't even finished S2 of the anime and a bunch of them are minors soooo...

>>; So much time in TFA focused on That One Smug Bastard and now I'm like "how do with other 'Cons??"

[fantastic-bby]

A Flame in The Dark - Masterlist

San's life has been pretty suffocating. His childhood friend disappeared and his parents had forced him into a magic academy against his will. Although he's made new friends, the walls of the academy tend to feel like a prison to him.

With how he's already constantly sneaking out at night to get out of the academy, he thinks he's found a way to not feel so trapped. But San's habit of sneaking out just makes his life a whole lot more difficult...

Main masterlist

Genre: Angst. It's pure angst | Non-Idol AU | Mage!San AU | Demi-demon!Reader

Warnings: Violence | Fighting | Gore | Eventual major character death | Blood | Use of dark magic

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

-Drabbles-

[1:43]{💙} (Yeosang x Wooyoung) 

[ichorai]

kpop masterlist.

welcome to my kpop masterlist ! thank you for stopping by to read my works <3 i am no longer writing for kpop.

about. main masterlist. ficrecs at @ichorkurt.

♚ ; reader’s favorite ♛ ; personal favorite

ateez.

ೃ⁀➷ kim hongjoong.

duck curtains fluff + angst + f2l ; roommates au + 2.8k ↳ the shower wasn't really the best place to hold conversations, but the both of you did it anyways.

florentis urban fantasy + fluff ; roommates au + powers au ; 0.7k ↳ you find yourself getting a little too immersed in your book.

ೃ⁀➷ park seonghwa.

candlelit angst + fluff + slice of life ; roommates au ; 1.3k ↳ with the silenced lights came the flickering of your relationship with your roommate.

frozen hearts, flaming arrows fantasy + drama ; powers au ; 7.3k ↳ two enemy clans. one icer healer, one flamer soldier, one brewing war. love was never meant to be a part of this. but then again, when is love ever supposed to be a part of anything?

the painter’s ghost fantasy ; ghost au ; 0.8k ↳ an exploring ghost comes across a painter just outside the forest.

ೃ⁀➷ jung yunho.

the golden daggers action + angst ; royalty au ; 1.7k ↳ your kingdom is destroyed, and you come across a soldier from the enemy realm in the forest.

♛ goldstorm and bug boy! action + comedy + angst + fluff ; superhero au + marvel au + spiderman au ; ongoing series ; 12.2k ↳ a collection of timestamps in the lives of spiderman and goldstorm.

green sofa fluff + f2l ; hogwarts au ; 1k ↳ your time in hogwarts is almost over and you're wondering what life with yunho will be like afterwards.

whittled by stars fantasy + angst ; reincarnation au + soulmates au ; 1.2k ↳ you watched him die yesterday. what was he doing following you now?

ೃ⁀➷ kang yeosang.

to poison a vampire fantasy + angst + fluff ; vampire au + elf au + established relationship au ; 2.4k ↳ the vampire comes to the elf he’s in love with for help.

ೃ⁀➷ choi san.

ghostly moon, soulless sun angst ; ghost au ; 1k ↳ the moon is but a ghost in comparison to the sun.

mint and minecraft angst + fluff ; soulmates au + neighbors au ; 3.6k ↳ your soulmate moves in with the neighbor you have a crush on.

purpling trapeze angst + fluff ; circus au + trapeze artist au ; 2.5k ↳ you were a flurry of purple in the air, and that just so happened to be san's favorite color.

ೃ⁀➷ song mingi.

boxed in angst + pining ; boxer au + doctor au ; 0.7k ↳ where mingi grows increasingly concerned for your health.

copped out angst + fluff ; superhero au + exes au + cop au ; 2.7k  ↳ injured with nowhere else to go, mingi finds himself at his ex's doorstep.

ೃ⁀➷ jung wooyoung.

cellmates fantasy + action + angst + slowburn ; medieval au + magic au ; series ; 26.8k ↳ stuck in jail after stealing a necklace off the princess, what happens when your new cellmate with an impossible escape plan comes along?

the lovers and the lost fantasy + fluff + angst + slowburn + lovers to strangers ; disney gone wrong au + waitress au + musician au ; 14.4k ↳ just because you had your happy ending, doesn’t mean everybody else did. that was made abundantly clear when a mysterious woman walked into your and wooyoung’s restaurant.

supervillains and unicorn bags fantasy + comedy + action ; villain au + scientist au ; 1.8k ↳ concocting superhuman serums late at night was your job. dealing with an obnoxiously sparkly villain, however, was most definitely not.

bts.

ೃ⁀➷ kim namjoon.

the magic of trust fantasy + fluff ; mage au ; 0.9k ↳ in which namjoon fixes you.

ೃ⁀➷ kim seokjin.

sin to win fantasy + action ; angel au + demon au + boxer au ; 1.4k ↳ an angel and a demon are forced to put aside their differences to help out the same human.

ೃ⁀➷ min yoongi.

illusionism action + drama ; vigilante au + villain au ; 1.9k  ↳ yoongi hasn't seen you in months. not since he forced you to flee from the city to keep you safe. when you come back with a thirst for his most dangerous secret, yoongi can't help but surrender to your illusions.

mr. sad piano man fluff ; victorian au ; 1.4k ↳ yoongi tries to teach you how to play piano because he loves you.

ೃ⁀➷ kim taehyung.

ballroom of ghosts action ; royalty au + enemies au ; 0.8k ↳ the crown jewel belonged to your kingdom, but taehyung seemed to think otherwise.

bloody blue angst ; royalty au + artist au + muse au ; 1k ↳ in which you can’t stay still for taehyung’s painting and you’re afraid you’ve been dancing for far too long.

galvano  marvel au + superhero au + winter soldier au + 40s au + assassin au + alien au ; scifi + action + romance + angst + fluff + slowburn + drama + hurt comfort ; 115.4k ↳ a series that follows the hero galvano through the events of the mcu!

♛ of mages and swords fantasy + action + slowburn + angst ; royalty au + excalibur au ; 40.0k ↳ taehyung grew up in a brothel with not a single coin to his name. and so, it was safe to say that it shocked just about everyone when he pulled the infamous sword out of the stone, announcing his title as the ‘true born king’ to the whole nation. taehyung’s world was flipped upside down when he was thrown into a grand shitstorm of power-thirsty uncles, cave-dwelling rebels, and a mage that, despite all the odds, he managed to fall in love with.

ೃ⁀➷ jeon jungkook.

bambi eyes fluff ; hogwarts au ; 0.9k ↳ he was supposed to be taking pictures, and you were supposed to be practicing. apparently neither of you could get your jobs done right.

pearls and pastries angst + fluff + pining + action ; pirate au + baker au + medieval au ; 3.6k ↳ a crew of pirates have been pilfering your village for several weeks now and one particularly keen buccaneer has stopped by your bakery practically every visit; whether it be for the delectable pastries or for the sweet baker he’s taken an interest to, jungkook couldn’t say. but there’s a catch - the baker doesn’t know that he’s a pirate.

♚ rivers over stones angst + fluff + slowburn + enemies to lovers ; godparents au + baker au + cameraman au ; 37.6k ↳ you hated jungkook the minute you laid eyes on him. the only reason why he was still in your life was because you both shared a goddaughter, hana. but everything changed unexpectedly when the two of you become her caretakers and you’re forced to live under the same roof. suddenly, you find yourself hating him just a bit less. or more, but who’s keeping track?

nct.

ೃ⁀➷ lee jeno.

color me true angst + fantasy + fluff ; movie director au + fictional character au ; 10.4k ↳ a young director falls in love with a fictional movie character.

red velvet.

ೃ⁀➷ kim yeri.

♛ the devil’s queen fantasy + fluff + angst + ; royalty au + devil au + magic au + forbidden love au ; 4.2k ↳ the queen of the forest seeks out the devil’s help after accidentally turning her husband to stone.

[ao3feed-ateez]

by AAvery

A short modern magic one-off

Words: 1044, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 6 of ATEEZ Oneshots and Snippets

Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Jung Wooyoung, Kang Yeosang, Choi San, Song Mingi

Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang

Additional Tags: Mage AU, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Mutual Pining, Requited Unrequited Love, Minor Violence, Mild Blood

[fantastic-bby]

A Flame in the Dark - 1

Pairing: (F)Reader x San

Word count: 6.1k

Genre: Angst | Friends to Strangers | Strangers to Enemies | Demi-demon!Reader | Mage!San

Summary: San's life has been pretty suffocating. His childhood friend disappeared and his parents had forced him into a magic academy against his will. Although he's made new friends, the walls of the academy tend to feel like a prison to him.

With how he's already constantly sneaking out at night to get out of the academy, he thinks he's found a way to not feel so trapped. But San's habit of sneaking out just makes his life a whole lot more difficult...

Warnings: Violence | Gore | Blood | Use of dark magic | San gets hurt 

Main masterlist || FITD Masterlist || Next

And where do you think you’re going?” The sharp voice made San jump. He turned around to see Seonghwa glaring at him, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Nowhere. I was just looking out the window,” San lied as he turned back out the window, adjusting himself as to not make it seem like he was going to climb out. 

“Uhuh, staring out the window wearing the same robe you wear every time you sneak out with Wooyoung and Yeosang.” Seonghwa rolled his eyes, knowing how often the three would sneak out. “You have a test on Monday, San. It’s not wise for you to sneak out now,” the older mage warned. 

“You say that all the time, hyung.” It was his turn to roll his eyes. “We never get in trouble anyways. It’s boring being cooped up in this place,” San huffed out. 

“Just because nothing bad has happened, doesn’t mean it won’t happen eventually,” Seonghwa stated, “if you get caught, the elder council will suspend your magic and then you’ll really be bored.” He snorted. San let out a soft scoff before turning back out the window.

San leaned against the window sill and looked out at the bright moon shining in the sky. Mages in the modern world were rare, which left San forced into the magic academy when his family had realised he had magic talent. Mage students weren’t allowed to leave the academy without the elders knowing一the council was too scared that the students would be killed or kidnapped by dark mages. 

San had met Wooyoung and Yeosang when he had gotten there. They shared the same fate of being forced into the academy without much of their own will. Seonghwa, on the other hand, had gone against his parents’ wishes and enrolled himself into the school. To San, Seonghwa wasn’t bad, though he did have a tendency of acting a bit bossier than the other students. 

All of them had their own abilities and even though San wouldn’t admit it, he was the strongest among the three. Hell, he was among the strongest of the fire mages. San could control combustion from miles away, he was able to light fires faster with a bigger range, and he was able to learn spells faster than most mages.

“Don’t let your strength get to your head, San,” Seonghwa advised before he left the mage. San let out a huff of annoyance. 

“Don’t read my thoughts then,” he snapped back as he watched the telepathic mage leave. He turned back out the window. 

“Did Seonghwa hyung get to you again?” Yeosang’s voice echoed in San’s mind. 

“You telepathic mages are always in my head, huh?” San grumbled in his mind, earning a soft chuckle from Yeosang. 

“You didn’t show up. Wooyoung gave me no other choice,” he stated. 

“You’re clairvoyant and telepathic. Wouldn’t you be able to see me not coming anyway?” he questioned as he slipped the black robe off and hung it in his closet. 

“You know I’m not strong enough to see everyone’s future,” Yeosang argued. “Wooyoung wasn’t giving me a chance to try and see yours anyway. His voodoo spells are scary,” he joked. 

“I trust that you won’t give him any opportunities to use it on you,” San chuckled as he sat at his desk, the desk lamp illuminating his otherwise dark room. “Go and have fun. I don’t think Seonghwa hyung would just come in and leave me for too long.” 

“Whatever you say. But, if anything happens, I’ll be calling for you,” he answered and San could imagine him nodding to him right before he felt Yeosang’s presence leave his mind. 

San looked at the unlit candle sitting on his desk and raised his hand in front of it before snapping his fingers; a flame lighting at the wick. He laid his head down against the table and let his hand control the strength of the flame, watching as it burned brighter before he completely put it out with a soft sigh slipping past his lips. He sat up and rested his elbow on the table, his chin on his hand as he thought about what to do. 

San was so bored.

His eyes caught sight of the metal band sitting on his desk. He picked up the ring, fiddling it with his fingers as he thought about the memories it carried. San thought back to the time before he was enrolled in the academy一before anyone really figured out he had magical ability. He had met a girl at the park. She was the same age as him. 

San knew that from the moment that they had met, they shared a strange connection that he had never had with anyone else before. The two would meet up at the park for their daily playdates and San honestly loved being with her. He thought that they would be friends forever. San wanted to be friends with her forever. He wanted her by his side for the rest of his life. 

In an attempt to keep her close to him, he had somehow gotten his hands on a matching ring set and gave her one. He told her if she was ever sad or lonely, the ring would be there for her like he would. Oh, how his hopes came crashing down. She had suddenly disappeared. No warning. No message. She left without a trace and left San devastated with only a ring to remember her by. 

He turned to the top bunk of the bunk bed. His roommate was out for the weekend to spend time with his family, leaving San alone in his room. He looked around at his desk. San had already finished all of his assignments and he had no other spells he wanted to learn. His strength in his ability already had him finishing most of the spells needed for his classes. 

“Uhh, San. We might need some help.” Yeosang’s voice echoed in his head. San furrowed his brows right as the image of dark mages popped into his head. “We pissed off some dark mages in the abandoned part of town,” he stated. 

San was quick to grab his robe and climb out of the window. He jumped out of the window, the wind hitting him in the face. Having already mastered flight, he was able to make his way to his friends faster than he usually would. His shoes hit the ground and he was beside Wooyoung, the blood dripping down his face and his heavy breathing already letting San know how much he had already fought. 

“Where’s Yeosang?” San questioned softly as the two stared down the three dark mages. 

“One of the mages threw him against the building. He’s over there,” Wooyoung gestured his head to Yeosang’s limp body laying on the ground, “I can still sense him, he’s fine, just knocked out.” 

“Awww, you light mages are so weak.” One of the mages snickered, her eyes glowing from underneath her hoodie. 

“Can’t even take down a few girls, huh?” the other teased. 

“Don’t underestimate light mages,” San snapped at them, his fists clenched. He knew better than to lash out using his magic. If he could take Wooyoung and Yeosang home without using his magic, he would.

“We’ve already proven that we’re stronger than your friends,” you chuckled darkly as you raised your hand, a small glow of green light emitting from your palm. A nature mage? San thought.

“You haven’t proven you’re stronger than me,” he retaliated with a smirk. If you really were a nature mage, it would make it easy for San to overpower you.

“The first is elemental.” Yeosang’s voice filled San’s mind. Boy, was he glad Yeosang was able to move his consciousness into other people’s minds. “She threw a rock at us. The one in the middle, she’s an ice user,” he added. San focused on the mage in the middle, only now aware of the shards of ice sticking out of her hands. “And the last - the light is to confuse you. She’s a darkin; a demon.” San kept his eyes on you, the green glow growing brighter. 

Darkins were dangerous. They were incredibly strong even without any magical training whatsoever. You were seemingly the strongest out of the three based on what San knew. He relaxed his palm. Darkins were deceiving, mischievous, and evil for the most part. He had no choice. 

“A darkin? I’ve never met one in real life,” San stated and a smirk tugged on his lips when he saw your cocky demeanor falter for a split second. Your left eye glowed red from underneath your hood. 

“Smart for a light mage,” you commented. “Let’s see if you’re smart enough to go against one.” He watched as your form disappeared. 

“I can take the other two. It’s the darkin we had trouble with,” Wooyoung stated right as he dodged a large icicle. San turned around just in time to see you lunging towards him from behind, a pair of black wings extended behind you, your left eye glowing red, and black claws extended from the tips of your fingers. 

So, this was a darkin. 

San managed to dodge your lunge only to be hit in the shoulder with dark energy. If he wasn’t prepared, he would’ve been thrown backwards. He watched you disappear again, trying his best to read your fighting tactics as fast as he could to counter them. If San threw his magic without reading you properly, it would be a waste of his energy. 

Calculate, San. He thought to himself. You were trying to confuse him when you reappeared only to disappear once again. “Left,” Yeosang’s thoughts echoed. San threw his fist to the left, coming into contact with your chest. Fire. In a burst of flames, he shot you back with enough strength to throw you into one of the buildings. 

“Should I call Seonghwa hyung?” Yeosang’s voice questioned. San turned to see Wooyoung standing strong, one of your friends on the ground and the other already seemingly out of energy. 

“We can leave now. They’re weak.” San ran to Yeosang’s weak body, helping him up before running to grab Wooyoung’s arm. “We leave now,” he ordered just as a blast of dark energy came from your direction, knocking the three to the ground. “Shit. Woo, can you keep her on the ground?” San turned to Wooyoung, using his hand to create a ring of fire to protect them, their bodies being encompassed by the heat. 

“My magic controls everything but darkins. They’re darker than my magic,” he shook his head. “But, my spells on the other two won’t last for much longer.” 

“Take Yeosang and get out of here. I’ll handle the darkin until it’s safe for me to leave.” He decided as he pushed the two. 

“W-Wait, San,” Yeosang winced once he was back in his own body, the sheer action of trying to reach for San hurting him. 

“The darkin will stop us before we can get far. I need to hold her back. Go,” San urged. Wooyoung and Yeosang looked at him hesitantly before running through the fire and heading the opposite direction. San watched as a burst of darkness flew towards his friends, throwing himself in it’s path instead. He fell to the ground with a heavy groan, his body already feeling the effects of the darkness. 

“Trying to be a hero, aren’t you?” you fake pouted as you loomed over him. “Such a shame you have you waste your magic with the light mages. You’d make a good dark mage.” You chuckled as you extended your hand, San feeling an invisible grip on the collar of his shirt pulling him up into the air. 

He finally realised why darkins were so feared by humans. Their abilities could be harnessed by humans, but darkins had strength that no mage could ever match up to. San could feel the grip move to his throat and he struggled against your power. He could feel the air leaving his body as he tried to free himself. 

“Can’t fight back? Why? Darkin got your tongue?” you teased, your wings carrying you into the air so you were right in front of him. “My mission is to wipe out as many light mages as I can. Looks like I can add you and your friends’ heads to my collection,” your words struck San’s core. 

Wooyoung and Yeosang. 

The image of his friends running away flashed into his mind. If they could make it back alive and safe, that’s all that would matter. San’s hand raised as subtly as it could to your abdomen and with a combustion spell, you were thrown back onto the ground. He dropped to the ground, coughing as he tried to gather as much air and strength as he could. 

Your recovery time was a disadvantage to San. He had just knocked you down yet you were already back on your feet, your magic still as strong as when you had started fighting. San regained his composure as quick as he could, but it still gave him barely enough time to dodge your magic. 

Focus, San. He gritted his teeth when he was knocked back by you. You’re stronger than this. He turned to look at you. He couldn’t let himself get tossed around like this; not when the lives of his friends were at stake. If he could hit knock you down once, he would be able to run. San looked down to his hand, clenching his fist he knew just what he had to do. 

“Stop thinking and fight me, mage,” you goaded as you threw yourself towards him, knocking him back with your body. San managed to keep himself on his feet and gathered enough magic to blast you away from him. It still wasn’t enough. 

His hand moved to chase after the slim chance that he could hit you, the burst of fire hitting you directly in your face and singing the edges of your hoodie. You fell back to the ground一your legs barely able to steady yourself, scraping both of your knees on the tarmac and splitting your leggings open. You grimaced at both the feeling of your knees as well as the burnt skin of your face and glared at San. He stood strong as he watched you carefully. 

This mage is stronger than I thought. You thought to yourself. If you were being honest, he was the strongest mage you had ever gone against. His predictions were good, his movement was swift and his control on his magic was almost as good as yours. You turned to your weakened friends, their bodies struggling against the voodoo spell placed on them. Fucking voodoo magic. You scoffed in your mind and turned around only to be faced with San’s body lunging towards you and his hand glowing. 

The blast from his hand threw your body back. San watched you roll against the ground and decided now was the safest time to leave. He ran in the direction of the academy, the adrenaline in his body keeping his legs moving despite how exhausted he was. You watched as he did, clicking your tongue in annoyance when you realised chasing him would be fruitless. 

You picked yourself off of the ground and managed to unbind the spell on your friends, helping them up.

“You okay?” Aisha asked as she clutched her aching bicep. 

“Yeah, that fire mage was strong,” you nodded as you picked Eunha’s limp body off of the ground. 

“That voodoo mage did a number on Eunha. She’s pretty much out,” she mumbled out as she helped you lift up the younger ice mage. 

“Voodoo mages are always annoying,” you state. “Let’s just get her back to the den. She needs to rest.”

“San!” Wooyoung exclaimed when he saw his friend climb in through the window.

“Woo? What are you doing here? You should be resting in your room,” San questioned as he took his robe off, only now aware of how the dark magic was affecting his body. The darkness lingered on his skin, his shoulder showing a wound that was a reminder of your magic. “Where’s Yeosang?” 

“I used my magic to try and help him regain his strength. He’s resting in our room,” Wooyoung explained. “Should we tell the elder council we came across a darkin?” he questioned as he watched San examine his wound in the mirror by his closet. 

“And let them know we were out after curfew?” he turned to Wooyoung with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s better we let them know. It’s dangerous for a darkin to be out and about like that,” Wooyoung shrugged. 

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure she’s part of a dark mage den. Even if the elder council knew, they can’t do anything about it without causing an actual war between the light mages and the dark mages,” San stated, his eyes turning back to look at the black blood slowly oozing out of his wound. “How’s your head?” he asked Wooyoung, looking at him through the mirror. 

“It’s not that bad. It was from the ice mage, so it won’t affect me that much,” he muttered out as he approached San to take a look at the wound on his shoulder. “Darkin magic is insane. I can’t believe it actually turns your blood black.” He grimaced as he watched the thick, black liquid run down San’s arm.

“It’s a good lesson. Now we know what to expect from a darkin.” He shrugged as Wooyoung ushered him to his bed, urging the fire mage to lay down. “What are you doing?” San asked as he watched Wooyoung pull a doll out of the pocket of his bomber jacket. 

“What else? I’m gonna try and voodoo your brain to focus on healing your shoulder,” Wooyoung responded. “Head down and clear your mind,” he ordered. San obliged, laying his head against his pillow and watched as Wooyoung closed his eyes. 

“You won’t kill me, right?” San joked, laughing when Wooyoung opened his eyes and gave him a glare. 

“Do you want me to heal your shoulder or not?” he raised an eyebrow. San couldn’t hold back his smile as he closed his eyes. He heard Wooyoung muttering something to the doll before he drifted off, the exhaustion taking over his mind. 

San woke the next morning to the feeling of sunlight gleaming onto his face. He sat up, letting out a groan from the ache in his entire body. He looked around the empty room with half lidded eyes as he recalled the events from the night before. San dragged himself to the mirror to inspect his wound, impressed by Wooyoung’s magic when he saw it almost completely healed. 

He ran his fingers over the wound, his fingers feeling the rigidness of his healing skin. The image of your face flashed across San’s mind. He swore he had seen you before. Whatever memory he had of you was faded and broken.

“Are you not coming down for breakfast?” Yeosang’s voice questioned in his mind. San turned to the clock hanging off of the wall. 10:30. It wasn’t late, per se, but the councils and the mentors preferred that the students would be awake before 10 even on the weekends. San took a shower, letting the hot water soothe his aching body before making his way down to the dining room where Yeosang and Wooyoung had already begun their breakfast. 

San sat himself beside Yeosang, taking notice of the bandages covering his left eye and cheek. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked the clairvoyant. 

“Really shitty, but I feel better than last night,” he replied with a mouthful of his egg sandwich. 

“Sorry I couldn’t help heal your arm completely,” Wooyoung spoke up. “I didn’t have enough energy to continue, but I did the best I could.” He gave San an apologetic smile. 

“It’s okay, Woo. It doesn’t hurt anymore which is good.” San shot him a reassuring look just as footsteps entered the dining room. 

“You have to tell me what happened before Seonghwa finds out,” the electrokinetic mage crossed her arms over her chest as she looked between the three. 

“What are you talking about?” Yeosang coolly asked. Jihyo glared at him before pointing her finger at her arm and zapping him with electricity. “Ah!” he yelped, jumping from his seat. 

“If Seonghwa comes in here and sees your bandages, you know he’ll yell at you,” she huffed. 

“We got into a fight with dark mages,” Wooyoung blurted out, earning glares from both San and Yeosang. Jihyo’s eyes widened. 

“Dark mages? Last night? After curfew?!” Her voice lowered as she hissed at them. 

“And a darkin.” San muttered out, deciding that it was better than hiding it from their senior. 

“A darkin? They still mingle with humans?” Jihyo questioned as she sat across from them. “I thought darkins stopped joining dark mage dens.” She muttered, but it was more to herself. 

“Doesn’t matter whether they do or not, the darkin last night was strong.” He stated. 

“They’re demonsーof course they’re strong,” she mutters. She leaned back in the chair and bit her lip. Jihyo had yet to come across darkins in her lifetime since most of them stopped enrolling in academies. 

“Noona,” Wooyoung’s voice snapped the female mage out of her thoughts. “Should we tell the elder council there’s a darkin in the dark mage den?” he asked. Jihyo thought about it. 

“We should. Darkins are dangerous.” she nodded. “But, they’ll suspend your magic for a month since you left after curfew,” she added as she narrowed her eyes. “Had you not snuck out, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” 

“Yeah, but we wouldn’t have figured out there was darkin in our midst,” Yeosang argued. Jihyo clicked her tongue at him. 

“Come on, noona. It was a bit of a good idea to sneak out,” Wooyoung snickered. 

“If you three had died last night, it wouldn’t have been such a good idea,” she snapped, shutting him up. “You’re lucky your friends with such a strong fire mage.” Her eyes landed on San. “I trust you the most out of all three of you. Make sure they stop getting into trouble. I’m going to let the elders know about the darkin,” Jihyo spoke as she stood up from her seat. The three of them watched as she was about to leave the dining room, but San quickly stopped her. 

“Wait, noona! I don’t know if this will help, but the darkin only had one red eye,” he told her. 

“Only one?” She turned around to face them. San nodded as clarification and her face contorted in confusion. “My mother said they barely ever have only one red eye,” she simpered before leaving. 

“Does that mean anything?” Wooyoung turned to Yeosang who only shrugged in response. Their knowledge on darkins was too limited to know.

“A strong fire mage?” Elder Kae questioned you. It was a bit of a shock to the elders when you told them that you, a darkin, had lost to a mere human. 

“If I had to guess, his ability could almost match up to mine.” You nodded, a bit embarrassed to admit it. Elder Kae leaned  back in his seat, glancing over at the other two elders. 

“For a darkin to admit that, I think we have to believe you,” Elder Omi muttered. She had her finger tapping her lip as she thought about it. 

“A mage that is almost as strong as a darkin is not good for us dark mages,” Elder Luka pointed out. He turned to Elder Kae. “What shall we do, brother?” he questioned. 

“There’s nothing that we can do other than starting a war with the light mages once again,” Elder Kae muttered out. 

“Are we willing to put our students against their academy just because of one mage?” Elder Omi questioned, causing the twin elders to look at her. 

“There’s a chance there are other mages as strong as the one (Y/n) has mentioned,” he stated. The three elders looked between each other before turning back to you. 

“My dear, are you willing to fight against the light mages?” she asked, eyeing you carefully with her piercing blue eyes. 

“I could take out as many mages as it takes, Elder Omi,” you nodded. “I have many heads on my wall, what’s wrong with adding more?” you chuckled. 

“This is why this darkin is my favourite,” Elder Luka chuckled. 

“If you are willing to go against the light mages to take down this fire mage, then so be it.” Elder Kae smiled, proud of his student. “Shall we bring war upon the light mages, elders?” he turned to the two. 

“Light mages are in the way of our plans anyway. It’ll be good to take them down a notch,” he chuckled.

“Get some rest, (Y/n). We shall discuss this further. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.” Elder Omi smiled, gesturing for you to leave their office. You bowed to them before leaving, being greeted by Aisha. 

“What did the elders say?” she asked as she followed you down the hallway of the den. 

“They might call war on the light mages to take out the fire mage we fought last night,” you told her. Her eyes widened in shock but you could hear her mind starting to bubble with excitement. “I can hear your thoughts, Sha. You’re such a psycho.” you joked. 

“Chaos excites me and you know that. Plus, you’re a darkin. You’re made to cause chaos,” Aisha rolled her eyes as the both of you made your way to the dormitories. 

“Isn’t that why we click so well?” You cocked an eyebrow and glanced over at her, your left eye flashing red out of the sheer excitement from wreaking chaos on the light mages. Your heart swelled at the idea of fighting the fire mage again. It had been a while since you had a good fight and he seemed to be able to make you tired during a fight. 

You made your way to your bedroom, seeing Eunha sitting on the edge of her bed and healing her swollen wrist with her magic. Her head lifted when she heard the door open and she flashed you a tired smile. 

“How’s your wrist?” you questioned as you closed the door. 

“I’m still too weak to heal faster than this.” She sighed as she stopped to roll her wrist. “My magic isn’t as strong as it usually is. That fucking voodoo mage pushed pins into my joints,” she grumbled. You sat beside her and took her wrist in your hands gently. 

“Voodoo mages are annoying,” you stated softly as you hover your hand over her wrist. Your healing magic was still weak, but it was more than Eunha could do and soon the swell had almost disappeared completely. “Anything else that hurts?” You watched as she moved her wrist around slowly. 

“I healed all over except for my wrist.” She shook her head and smiled at you, “thanks eunnie.” 

“You should spend a lot of your time resting. The elders might call war on the light mages to take out the fire mage.” You stated as you sat at your desk and looked at your hands. The ashy look at the tips of your fingers were what remained of your claws. You picked up the mirror that was sitting at your desk.

“War?” Eunha questioned, her eyes flashing with excitement. You heard her heartbeat pick up and you nodded, your fingers tracing the fading black veins that were creeping up your neck and onto your face. Your eyes stopped at the sight of the ring on your finger. You couldn’t remember exactly why you had it, but you knew that it meant something. 

“That fire mage was strong enough to run away from me. It’ll get in the way of our plans.” You sighed softly as you put the mirror back down and leaned back into your chair. “Mother will be disappointed that I let a mage escape from me,” you muttered to yourself. 

“Are you going to tell her?” she asked, causing you to turn to look at her. 

“She’ll be more upset if the elders tell her before I do,” you sighed as you stood up. “I’m going to the underworld. Don’t wait up for me,” you said before pressing your palm against the wall, waiting until the wall cracked over to reveal the fire of the underworld. 

“I’ll let the elders know you’re visiting your mother,” Eunha’s voice spoke just as you stepped into your second home, the walls closing behind you. Your heart started to beat fast as the view of hell grew bigger the further you walked. Your mother was the only being that you were scared of in both the underworld and the human realm. 

The cries of the tortured souls filled your mind and you were somewhat glad your mother let you stay with your human father in the human realm. It would be a pain to listen to the cries everyday even for a being that was as sadistic as you. 

“(Y/n) noona, welcome back.” The gatekeeper smiled at you. 

“It’s been a while Xion.” You nodded as you looked around at the line of souls waiting to get to the afterlife. “Has it been busy? There seems to be more souls than the last time I was here,” you pointed out. 

“Definitely more than when you were here before. But, it’s still bearable. Hwanwoong’s somewhere around here. He got lost among the souls,” Xion muttered out as he tried to look for his gatekeeping partner. 

“I’ll just say hi to him if I see him. Bye Xion.” You waved at the demon as you walked past the gates and made your way through hell. Carriages of various demons and souls filled your view as well as the souls working to fill their sentences. 

“Noona! (Y/n) noona!” A familiar voice made you turn around to see Seungmin flying towards you, his tiny black wings folding when he landed in front of you. 

“Seungmin! You can fly!” you exclaimed in surprise as you moved behind him to look at his growing wings. 

“My wings are finally getting stronger! I can’t fly for long distances, but I’ve been practicing long enough to get around the area faster.” He grinned proudly. 

“I’m so proud of you, Seungmin. The last time I was here your wings were still smaller and more fragile,” you smiled as you unfolded his wings with your hands to look at them. The leathery skin was still softer than yours but the younger darkin had come a long way to get to this point. 

“(Y/n).” Your mother’s voice echoed eerily throughout the underworld and you felt your body shiver in fear. “I need to see you.” You looked to Seungmin and you both shared the same wide eyed and fearful look. 

“She sounds angry,” he muttered softly. 

“I think I know why.” You cringed at the thought of the elders letting your mother know about your failure before you could. Your wings stretched out behind you and you flew straight to your mother’s castle, the guards immediately letting you in when they saw you. Your footsteps echoed throughout the stone hallway and you could feel your body shaking as you dreaded seeing your mother. 

You pushed open the large wooden doors to her throne room and you were faced with a very angry looking darkin. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she leaned back into the velvet fabric of her golden throne. 

“I heard news,” she spoke up as she watched you approach her. “How could you let a simple fire mage out of your grasp?” she scolded. You looked down to the red carpet, unable to look her in the eyes from how scared you were. You heard her sigh softly before her heels started to approach you. You were trying your best to maintain your composure, but your body was trembling. “My dear, how are you supposed to take over the throne if you can allow a mage to escape?” Your mother lifted your chin with her finger so you looked straight into her glowing red eyes.

“I-I d-d-didn’t mean to,” you stuttered out. She pursed her lips and let out another sigh. 

“(Y/n), I left you to live with your father because I knew you could destroy worlds. I want you to be prepared to be the next queen,” she spoke softly, a more motherly tone in her words. 

“H-He was s-strong, mother,” you confessed shamefully. 

“Stronger than you?” She raised an eyebrow. You shook your head. “Then, how was he able to get away? Never let your guard down in a fight, my dear,” she advised. “Sit on my throne, I must show you something.” Your mother gestured her head to the throne and you obliged, sitting yourself onto the plush seat. “You know your father isn’t a pure human, right?” she questioned as she stood behind the seat and hovered her hands on both sides of your head. 

“Yes,” you answered and closed your eyes as you prepared yourself for the vision she was going to show you. 

“Your father isn’t a darkin but he’s still one of the strongest beings in the underworld.” Your mother’s voice faded as the visions of an earlier underworld filled your mind. You saw a younger version of your father running around the underworld with a bag on his shoulders. You knew he was a spirit mage before he was granted life in the human realm, but that was all that you knew. 

You saw how he was granted life in the human realm by your mother. He had fallen in love with her when she was still a young princess and after they had married, your mother decided it was better for you to ruin the lives of humans before becoming the next queen. The gods of heaven couldn’t stop your mother since you were not a pure darkin. Pure darkins were allowed to roam the human realm but were left with the risk of being destroyed if a god found them. 

“You were blessed with the powers of a mage and a darkin, (Y/n).” Your mother’s voice became clearer as the vision faded from your mind and you opened your eyes. “You’re stronger than a human and you’re capable of being as strong as a pure darkin - and with my blood running through your veins, you could become stronger than other darkins.” She spoke as she stood in front of you. “Who are you?” she questioned. 

“The princess,” you stated. 

“Who are you, (Y/n).” Your mother shook her head and you knew she wanted the full answer. You straightened your back. 

“The next queen of the underworld,” you spoke strongly and she smiled at your words. She took a step back. 

“That’s my girl. Now, no more letting light mages go. You were made to ruin lives. The elders tell me that they’re going to call war upon the light mages. I want you to bring home the most heads,” she chuckled as she helped you stand up from her throne. “Wars against magical beings aren’t short, (Y/n). By the time this war is over, you would have aged into a fine young woman who will be ready to rule the underworld,” she smiled as she flicked her wrist to open a portal to the human realm, the sight of your bedroom appearing through the cracks. 

“I’ll kill more light mages than I have to,” you promised her, your left eye flashing red. Your mother’s eyes glowed brighter. 

“I trust that you will. Now, head on home.” She pressed a kiss to your cheek before ushering you to your bedroom. You waved at her as the crack in your wall closed and you turned around to see Eunha tucked into her bed. You looked out the window to see the Sun starting to rise. 

Time in the underworld ran slower than time in the human realm. You had to guess it had already been a few days in the human realm and your phone proved you right. It had been a week despite it only being a few hours in the underworld. You looked out the window and to the rising Sun. 

The throne to the underworld had been a dream of yours ever since you were a baby and first stretching your wings. If you were going to fight that fire mage, you needed to get stronger. You were going to destroy the light mages.

[fantastic-bby]

A Flame In The Dark - 4

Pairing: (F)Reader x San

Word count: 4.2k

Genre: Angst | Mage!San | Demi-demon!Reader 

Summary: San's life has been pretty suffocating. His childhood friend disappeared and his parents had forced him into a magic academy against his will. Although he's made new friends, the walls of the academy tend to feel like a prison to him.

With how he's already constantly sneaking out at night to get out of the academy, he thinks he's found a way to not feel so trapped. But San's habit of sneaking out just makes his life a whole lot more difficult...

Warnings: Use of dark magic | Gore | Violence | Major character death | San gets much hurt | Reader also gets hurt | Everyone gets hurt okay | This is also the final part of FITD whoo

Main masterlist || Previous || FITD Masterlist

“Wake up, San.” San’s eyes slowly opened, being faced with both Seonghwa and Mina looking at him in concern. The feeling of grass poking at his back slowly brought San back to the field as he sat up, looking around in slight confusion. 

He was slightly disoriented. “What happened?” he questioned. 

“You passed out,” Mina said softly. “Are you okay?” San looked around the field, his eyes stopping at the large patch of burnt grass in the middle of the field. Seonghwa followed his gaze,

“You did that, San,” he claimed. San whipped his head to the older mage with wide eyes. 

“I did?” 

Mina nodded. “You kinda exploded. I don’t know how else to describe it,” her hand raised to point to the hole in San’s shirt that was exposing his stomach. “But you were letting out this huge heat wave. I’m pretty sure the elders probably felt it, too.” Mina was right. Elder Jinx came running into the field with Elder Saron, both of them with confusion as well as concern painted on their faces. 

“What was that?” Elder Saron questioned. 

“We were helping San train and he pretty much burst into flames.” Seonghwa honestly couldn't really explain what had happened. It happened too quickly for any of the other mages to understand what was happening. Mina’s light creatures had pushed San to the ground and held him down, but San broke free by literally brusting into flames. Both Mina and Seonghwa were staring in shock as San was completely engulfed in flames, heat waving off of him and starting to push both of them back from the heat. 

“The heatwave was so strong, it stopped my magic,” Mina added. San looked at the two with the same confusion that the elders felt. 

“How did I do that?” he muttered out as he looked down at his hands. His skin was perfectly fine; unscathed. But the last time he tried to do something like that, his hand tore open and he had to visit Momo. 

“You managed to disable Mina’s magic with a heatwave?” Elder Jinx questioned, causing him to look up at her. “If you can learn to control it, it could help us greatly.” San let it sink in. If he did master it, he could use it against your den. He just needed to know how he did it. San raised his hands out in front of himself and stared at them, wondering whether or not he could replicate the power.

“Go rest, San,” Elder Jinx advised gently. “You aren’t used to using so much magic.” San obliged without much hesitation, stumbling his way towards the academy. He was surprised at how exhausted he felt. San’s body felt heavy as though he would collapse at any moment. It took him a lot just to get back to his room, and the moment he did, he passed out on his bed.

“San!” Wooyoung’s voice echoed throughout the destroyed building. San looked around frantically, trying to find his friend. The academy was caught ablaze, the second floor slowly starting to collapse into the first. None of the telepathic mages had seen you coming, and when they did, it was already too late to evacuate anyone. San had woken up to the smell of smoke only to realise that he had somehow slept through the building catching on fire and losing sight of his friends in the process.

San stumbled through the debris, desperately trying to find Wooyoung as his voice kept crying out for him. He was lucky his skin would only burn at higher temperatures. “Wooyoung?!” San called out just as a wooden frame came collapsing right in front of him. “Yeosang?!” The smoke was making it difficult for San to make anything out, but he could see a body crawling among the blaze. So, he ran through the flames and towards the body. 

“San!” Jaebeom’s eyes widened with relief when he saw the fire mage. “I can’t use my powers at all,” he grumbled, “I tried putting out the flames to try and find a way out, but the heat is too much for my magic.” San looked around the remains of Jaebeom’s study before turning back to the mentor. 

“Follow me, hyung. I think I can try and find a way out.” He held onto Jaebeom’s wrist and started to pull him through the fire as fast as he could. San needed to be quick. Jaebeom was an ice mage. High temperatures would weaken his body as well as deem his magic completely unusable. There was no way San could smash through the wall without hurting Jaebeom and the safest option was to run through the entire building until they found an opening. 

That was what they did. Twisting and turning throughout the academy only to be further trapped in when a huge portion of the second floor collapsed around them.

“San, wait,” Jaebeom coughed as he covered his mouth with the collar of his sweater. “Just break through the wall,” he suggested, cocking his head in the direction where the flames still weren’t as big. 

“Hyung, you’ll get hurt.” San’s eyes widened. 

“As long as we can get out of this place, it’s fine.” He shook his head. San hesitated for a moment, looking around to try and spot any other safer exits before deciding there was no other way out. An idea popped in his mind. He looked around at the blaze that surrounded them and realised that he was being constantly filled with energy from his element.

“I’ll blast through the wall myself, wait until I’m out.” Jaebeom nodded and San let go of his wrist. He crouched down, letting his body take in the heat energy around him to create a protective bubble. San knew if he just threw his body against the wall without anything protecting him, it would more than most likely knock him out. He charged towards the wall, feeling the shock the bubble was absorbing as it crashed through and left a hole big enough for Jaebeom. 

He landed on the ground, the bubble disappearing right as his feet hit the ground and he turned around to see Jaebeom running out. San looked around and he felt his heart drop. The sound of yelling as both sides of mages were fighting for their lives. He turned around to see Jaebeom running up to him, only then noticing just how pale the mentor looked from running through fire to get out. 

“You’re out!” Yeosang’s voice tapped into San’s mind. “Wooyoung and I are safe, the elders teleported whoever they could to a safe location.” 

“Who’s with you?” He questioned just as a dark mage threw a large piece of burning debris towards him. With a grunt, he jumped to the side and pushed Jaebeom to the ground. 

“Everyone but the mentors, Mina noona and Seonghwa hyung.” He paused. “Roll to the left with Jaebeom,” Yeosang ordered. San didn’t question it and immediately pulled Jaebeom to the left, watching as roots spiked up from the ground where they were before. 

“Holy shit. Hyung, are you okay?” San asked Jaebeom who nodded slowly. 

“I can’t do much, my ice is just going to melt quickly.” He scrambled from the ground and pulled San behind a large boulder. They had to assume it was brought by the dark mages because there was definitely not a boulder in their garden before. “San, if the dark mages are here, it means the darkin is here. You need to take her out. I’m going to try and-” Jaebeom was cut off when San was hit with a ray of dark energy, his body slamming through the walls of the academy and into the burning building.  

His body bounced off of the ground a couple of times before it slid, bumping into the wall. He let out a heavy groan, shaking his head slightly to align his blurred vision. San froze when he saw a dark figure approaching him, wings folding behind them as they walked through the fire. Fuck, it was you. San barely had any time to react when you levitated him with your magic and slammed him against the wall, the heat of the metal frames starting to seep into his skin. It was getting too hot for him and you knew that as you pushed him further into the frames. 

The feeling of the sharp edges of the metal starting to cut into his skin just added to the pain. San grit his teeth as he tried to move his hand. He let out a painful howl when he realised that trying to move would only push himself further back. 

“I’ve got you this time, mage,” you chuckled darkly as you watched the way blood started to run down his arms. Your gaze sharpened when you heard something to your left, turning to see a large icicle flying towards you. You let out a huff when you’re forced to let go of San to dodge it, seeing as the ice mage made his way towards you. San fell to the ground, wincing and groaning as the feeling of his fresh cuts. He looked up to see Jaebeom standing among the blaze, breathing heavily with eyes that kept fading in and out of blue. 

“Hyung! Get out!” San cried, panic starting to fill him when your attention turned to Jaebeom instead. Jaebeom ignored his cries and glared at you. From the way his aura was weakening by the second, you knew whatever magic he used on you would only be for a fleeting moment, and the thought of him trying amused you. The heat was taking its toll on Jaebeom, water dripping from his fingers and evaporating the moment they hit the ground. The cruel part of your heart was hoping you could drag this out for as long as you could. You had San wrapped around your finger without him knowing it, and you knew you could win this if you played your cards right.

“I’m open!” Jaebeom yelled as he raised his arms out to the sides. “Wanna have some fun, demon?!” he prodded, watching the way your red eye glowed in delight. 

“Is it smart to provoke a demon?” You licked your lips as your wings spread out behind you. You could feel your skin starting to change, the darkness flowing through your veins as you turned into your darkin form. For a moment, you could see Jaebeom’s expression falter. His eyes flicked to San’s for a split second and it was enough for him to understand what Jaebeom was doing. 

He used his magic to direct the flames towards you. Of course, you saw it coming and teleported behind San. You picked him up by his hair and placed your claw above his throat. “I’m not dumb, mage,” you hissed at Jaebeom, your claw pressing against his skin. San wracked his brain to find ways he could get out of this. Any sudden or obvious movement would have your claw stabbing into his skin. 

“You are a bit, though,” Jaebeom chuckled just as you felt a pair of hands wrap around your head from behind. Your entire body tensed up but it was too late for you to react. 

“Sleep,” the voice echoed in your mind and immediately pulled San out of your grasp. You crumbled to your knees, your brain trying to fight the sleep spell that was placed on your mind. You looked up, forcing your eyes open to see the three of them taking cautious steps back. Sleep spell counter—sleep spell counter, how do you fight it? You thought to yourself as your brain kept going through all of the spells you know until you found the right one. 

The three light mages watched in disbelief as you raised your hand to your head and sent a ray of dark magic into yourself, guarding your mind from any other mind tricks. Jackson held onto Jaebeom’s arm.

“We need to go. If you spend any more time here, you might die,” he warned as he tugged on Jaebeom’s arm, pleading for him to leave. 

“You guys won’t be able to fight her on your own.” he shook his head stubbornly. 

“Jinyoung is coming. It’ll be safer. You just need to get to a safe area to let your magic regenerate,” Jackson snapped. San turned between the two, watching them argue and watching as you were slowly getting back onto your feet. Wait, why wasn’t he doing anything? The world slowed around him as he thought about it. Why wasn’t he reacting? Jaebeom and Jackson continued to argue, the older mage too stubborn to leave his friend behind. The telepathic mage was doing what he could to convince the older to leave.  

“Both of you leave. I can handle her,” San spoke up as he lifted his arm, using the healing spell he learnt to heal his cuts. 

“San-”

“Go!” he shoved them towards the exit and manipulated the fire into a wall to stop them from coming towards him. San turned back around just in time to see you getting back onto your feet and charging towards him. He moved swiftly, dodging your attacks only to be hit from the opposite side with dark magic. You had somehow gotten faster—if it were even possible—and it was taking all San had to keep up with you. 

His eyes were desperately searching for an opportunity as you clawed at him and threw him around with your magic. San’s mind was racing to predict your movements, but without Yeosang’s help, he wasn’t fast enough. It was playing greatly to your advantage when you slammed your palm onto his chest and slammed him into the ground. 

“Fuck,” he groaned out. His entire body was aching from having been tossed around by you earlier. San was glad that he was surrounded by fire; his own element. It was constantly refueling his stamina and when you punched the ground beside his head, your fist got caught in the smoldered wood. It gave San the opportunity he needed and he immediately engulfed your body in flames. You were demon spawn—of course the fire wouldn’t hurt you, but it was enough to disorient you.

It also gave him openings to actually hurt you with force, sending bursts of energy your way to disorient you further. One particular burst threw you back enough that San charged towards you, his hand wrapping around your forearm in an attempt to blast it off. It honestly did very little, but it did burn off a layer of your skin. You grunted before simply punching upwards to send San flying across the building. 

How could you have forgotten that San could fly?

That was your downfall. 

San came flying back down and slammed into you with his body, forcing you onto the ground and dragging you until he tossed you against the wall. San could win. He knew he could. He just needed to land one hit. One hit on your chest to break into your heart. San swooped down, rolling you over to blast your shoulder, once again deeming your arm useless. You cried out, reaching up with your left hand to grab onto his shoulder, digging your claws into his skin to try and get him off of you. The opportunity was golden. San hovered his hand over your chest and that’s when he saw it. 

Everything around him froze. He stared at the chain that sat around your neck, comparing it to his own. It was the same ring. He looked between your face and the ring, his mind starting to fight with his heart. “(Y/n)?” San muttered out in disbelief. You froze at the mention of your name. This is it. You thought. You looked him in the eyes and the recognition was all he needed. “Y-You knew?” he questioned. “This whole time, you knew?” San sat back in disbelief, anger starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach. 

“The entire time we’ve been fighting, you knew?” he questioned back more harshly. You raised your left hand to claw him, but he blasted your bicep without hesitation. Fuck. You missed the chance. Fuck, you fucked up really bad. You started to panic, your mind trying to think your way out of this situation. “I spent so long wondering where you were!” San yelled. You looked around, watching as the flames started growing bigger around you before turning back to San. His eyes were glowing orange, and they only seemed to get brighter the angrier he got. 

“S-San,” you started but he cut you off by punching into your shoulder. You winced when he did and he simply glared at you. The magic he was letting out was stopping you from using any teleportation spells and you could only watch in fear as he got stronger.

“You left me. All those years ago. You left me. No message.” Tears started to stream out of his eyes, catching fire like they were gasoline and dripping onto your body. You were shocked when they started to burn your skin. “No warning—nothing. You just disappeared.” San lowered his head, his tears falling freely onto you. Your body squirmed in agony as you felt it melt into your skin. This was it. There was no way out. 

You have lost. 

You watched as San raised his fist, flames igniting all over his body and engulfing him. “I tried so hard to look for you. I waited for you,” he muttered out softly. “You left me.” 

“(Y/n)! (Y/n)!” San’s excitedly skipped towards you. You looked up and smiled when you saw him. “I got you something!” he grinned toothily. Your face contorted in disgust for a moment. 

“It’s not another bug, is it? Last time you said you got me something, you put a grasshopper in my hand.” You pouted. 

“It’s not, I promise!” he shook his head vigorously before extending his hands out to reveal a small box. You looked at the box curiously, watching as he opened it to reveal two rings. “I convinced my mama to let me get these. They’re matching rings,” he explained as he sat on the swing beside you. “This way, we’ll always be together!” San pulled one of the rings out and handed it to you. You took the ring from him and put it onto your finger. It was obviously too big from the way it hung off of your finger but you liked it. 

“Does this mean we’re connected?” you questioned, looking into his sparkling brown eyes. 

“Of course,” he nodded. “I’ll always be with you, (Y/n). If we get separated, I’ll always be in your heart.” 

“San?” Jackson called out. The building had long burnt out, black smoke heavily wafting off of what remained of the building and clouding the sky. The dark mages retreated while both you and San were nowhere to be seen. 

“San?!” Jaebeom entered the building carefully, looking around to make sure nothing was falling or crumbling as they searched for the fire mage. Jinyoung was laying on the ground outside, his wounds too great for him to try and help search for his mentee. Tzuyu joined the group in looking for him, following close to Jackson just in case anything happened. Seonghwa was resting with Mina, both suffering from wounds that prevented them from searching for San.

In the distance, Jihyo caught sight of a lonely silhouette kneeling on the ground. “San? Is that you?” she called out as she slowly stepped closer. When his figure became clearer, she broke into a sprint. “I found him!” Jihyo announced loudly enough for the other mentors to hear her. “San? Are you okay?” She crouched beside him, her eyes widening when she saw the state he was in. 

His shirt was burnt, hanging off of his left shoulder by a thread, a portion of his chest and stomach completely exposed. His hair was dishevelled and his whole right arm was completely burnt; flesh red and raw. San didn’t respond when Jihyo came. Her hands were hovering over his body, trying to find a place to hold him without hurting him.

“Is he okay?” Jaebeom asked as he approached them. Jihyo gave him an unsure look and he immediately crouched in front of him. “San? Hey,” he waved his hand in front of San’s face. Jaebeom took note of the way San’s eyes faintly glowed orange. 

“Hyung, I think you’re sitting on someone,” Jackson pointed out. Jaebeom looked down and immediately moved off when he saw what looked like burnt remains. His gaze moved to San’s burnt arm and he realised what had most likely happened. 

“Are you okay?” Jackson questioned as he gently placed his hand on San’s shoulder. His eyes flicked up to his mentors before looking around. He had never felt so disoriented before. San looked down at the hard shell of your body, the whole fight coming back to him slowly. After he had blasted your chest, your entire body hardened into a black shell. Instead of moving off, San sat there and cried. 

San cried until the fire had died down, and when he couldn’t cry anymore, he just sat there. Every feeling in his body was numb. He couldn’t even feel hi wounds anymore. The mentors moving around him was a blur as they got him to his feet and helped him out of the building. Jackson rested him against a tree and let Momo do what she could. 

“You guys really need to learn these spells,” she grumbled out. “It’s not fair that I have to heal almost everyone.” She turned to the others who shrugged. 

“He hasn’t moved since we brought him out,” Jihyo muttered out softly. San was staring straight ahead, seemingly unaware of what was happening around him. Never in his life had he thought that when he found you again, he’d have to kill you. 

He stayed silent even when the elders reappeared. Wooyoung and Yeosang immediately ran up to him, their footsteps slowing when they saw how blank he looked. “San?” Yeosang crouched down beside him, but San remained unresponsive. 

“Is he okay?” Wooyoung questioned, worry lacing his voice. Yeosang was careful when he placed his hands on either side of San’s head, tapping into his mind to look through his memories. He knew that San would’ve fought back if he wanted to, but something about the way he simply sat there made them both understand that something must’ve happened. 

“O-Oh,” Yeosang muttered out softly. “San, I’m so sorry.” He said solemnly. Yeosang saw everything; the fires, you, and just how much emotion San felt. Whatever San was feeling was so overwhelming that even Yeosang couldn’t stop himself from feeling his heart ache. 

“What happened?” Wooyoung nudged Yeosang’s arm and he turned to the voodoo mage, hesitating for a moment before sending the images to his mind. He sat back on his arms, the weight of San’s emotions settling in his own mind. “Holy shit,” he muttered out, turning to San who was staring at them blankly. 

His bottom lip quivered—trembling ever so slightly, “I had no choice.” The words left his mouth so softly, his two friends almost missed it. “I would’ve put the entire academy in more danger if I didn’t. She was getting too strong.” 

“You did the right thing, San.” The three turned to San’s right to see Seonghwa looking at them with half-lidded eyes. “I’m sorry it had to be her,” he rasped out. 

“It’s okay, hyung. You didn’t know.” San’s head leaned back against the tree. “None of us knew.” Yeosang and Wooyoung sat back, watching the way San seemed to keep coming in and out of reality. Seonghwa nodded in understanding before turning away from him. Yeosang decided against tapping into his friend’s mind again, simply letting him grieve on his own. 

San closed his eyes, letting his mind replay the last thing you had said to him. 

“I didn’t know who you were until my mother told me. If I knew it was you, I wouldn’t have fought you as hard as I did,” you quickly rambled out as he held his hand out in the air. “But, I would still do anything to become queen.” Your eye quickly changed into a bright glowing red as you wiggled your wing out from under you in an attempt to pull San off of you. San had already seen it coming. His hand clenched into a fist and slammed down onto your chest, a loud cry following as he centered his magic in his hand.

His anger overcame the pain, his mind building a wall around his heart. There was nothing that could stop him anymore and you knew you had lost. You missed all the chances, all the openings—you were too reckless. Your body slowly hardened and San could feel his skin burning and tearing, but he was too overwhelmed to even feel the pain. He could feel nothing. 

Never in his entire life had he thought that when he found you, he would have to turn you away. San imagined that when you both reunited you would relish the feeling of finding each other—bask in the presence of each other and finally catch up. But it seemed the universe had other plans for him. Instead, you were ripped out of San’s life by his own hands. 

End

[fantastic-bby]

A Flame in The Dark - 3

Pairing: San x (F)Reader

Word count: 5.6k

Genre: Angst | Mage!San | Demi-demon!Reader 

Summary: San's life has been pretty suffocating. His childhood friend disappeared and his parents had forced him into a magic academy against his will. Although he's made new friends, the walls of the academy tend to feel like a prison to him.

With how he's already constantly sneaking out at night to get out of the academy, he thinks he's found a way to not feel so trapped. But San's habit of sneaking out just makes his life a whole lot more difficult...

Warnings: Use of dark magic | San’s hand is a bit fucked | Hallucinations | There’s lil demon creatures that San sees | 

Main masterlist || Previous || FITD Masterlist | Next

San stared at his fist, the flesh tender and red as wisps of smoke drifted from it and into the air. He had used too much magic in one hand at one time and he was lucky his hand was still intact, albeit the melting flesh. That led him to having to sit in Momo’s study while she healed his hand. 

“You need to be more careful, San,” she advised. San watched as golden streams of light emitted from her palm and led onto his hand, the skin slowly healing. “You know your limit, don’t you?” Momo glanced at him. 

“I don’t think I know how to control it, though,” he muttered out softly. 

“Why don’t you ask Jinyoung oppa to help?” she asked, “you should also learn these healing spells, San. They’re really useful for quick heals if you're fighting someone.” She gave him a look as she moved away from him for a moment to grab a spell book from under her desk and placed it on the table. “Even if you won’t master healing, it’s still useful,” Momo added.

“I’ll ask Jinyoung hyung later.” San shrugged. Momo gave him another look just as she finished, the skin of his hand looking as though he hadn’t almost melted it off. 

“The muscles in your hand will feel awkward for a few hours, but it should be fine by tomorrow. Be careful with it today—if you put too much strain on it, your muscles might tear,” she pushed the book towards him, “take it; learn them. I’m asking you as a mentor.” San took the book, thanking the mentor softly before leaving her study. He stood outside the door and looked at his healed hand, clenching it into a fist and relaxing it a few times. When he did, he understood what she meant by awkward; the muscles felt tight and it made his fingers move more stiffly.

San looked around the foreign hallways. The hidden tunnel connected the academy to another building that was quite far from the one San was used to, but the backup building was only used for emergencies. It was the first time he or any of his friends had seen the ‘new’ building, but the walls held nothing but a sense of fear and paranoia as San walked through them. 

The foreign environment seemed to be a constant reminder that anything could happen at any moment. The liveliness that used to flow through the hallways was gone and it sent a shiver down San’s spine when he reached the dorms. There were less bedrooms compared to the other academy, forcing four students to share one room instead. 

San opened the door to his bedroom, being greeted by Yeosang poking his head out from his top bunk of the beds.

“Ahah! My vision was right,” he proudly exclaimed when he saw San step in. 

“You see San walk around all the time. It’s nothing new,” Wooyoung pointed out from his bed underneath Yeosang’s.

“It means my brain’s working properly,” he snapped, sending the book underneath his bunk and hitting Wooyoung at the back of his head. “What did Momo noona say about your hand?” He turned to San, watching as the fire mage made his way to his desk to put down the spell book. 

“She said I should know how to control my magic. She also gave me a book filled with healing spells since she said I should learn a few,” he explained as he sat down and flipped open the book. 

“I told you it would be a good idea to learn a few,” Yeosang hummed as he leaned over the edge of his bed to look at San. 

“Well, I never thought I’d have to fight a fucking demon,” San grumbled as he read through the spells. Yeosang watched as he did and the glint from San’s ring caught his eye. He knew what memories the ring held; he had seen them once when he touched the metal band on accident. When Yeosang saw the little girl, he only then understood why San was so closed off when they had first met. 

“What are you thinking about?” Wooyoung’s voice surprised Yeosang. He looked at the rails of his bed to see his bunk mate looking up at him with curious brown eyes. 

To avoid any attention from San, Yeosang used his thoughts instead. “San’s ring. I feel bad for him.” 

“Does he know you know?” he questioned in his mind and Yeosang responded with a nod before turning back to San. 

“Well, he acknowledged it that time, but he’s yet to ask me directly,” he muttered and Wooyoung nodded at that, turning his head around to look at the fire mage. They continued to gossip in their thoughts, all the while staring at the back of San’s head. 

A third voice entered their mind. “Stop staring at him.” They both looked at the top bunk of San’s bed to see Hongjoong glaring at them. “If you don’t stop, I’ll make you both trip,” he warned. Honestly, they were more scared of Hongjoong than they were of Seonghwa. Both were telepathic, but Hongjoong was a mind control mage; meaning he could make them do whatever he wished. 

“Sorry, hyung,” Yeosang blurted the apology out. The two watched as he glanced at San for a moment before turning back to his laptop. Wooyoung moved back to lie on his bed and play PUBG on his phone while Yeosang turned back to the spellbook he was studying, a silence settling between the four as they went back to doing their own things. 

It was a while before San started to practice the spells, low hums and glows coming from his hands that caught the attention of his three roommates. Yeosang turned around just in time to see the spark popping in front of him. It was a small spark, but it was the telltale sign that San had failed to cast the spell. A small sigh left the fire mage before he tried again. His sighs became frustrated by the third time there was a spark and he leaned back in his chair defeatedly. 

Yeosang tapped into San’s mind. “What’s wrong?” His voice made him glance over to the bunk beds and lock eyes with the clairvoyant mage. 

“I don’t get how it works,” he muttered in response. Yeosang adjusted himself in his bed to face his whole body to San while sitting cross-legged. 

“Understand the spell before you try—healing spells are a bit tricky,” he advised and watched San only to see him fail for the fourth time. “Calmly. You can’t rush healing spells. You need to be calm,” Yeosang added. 

San let out another sigh. “Can’t you cast any mind calming spells or something? I’m so fucking stressed out right now.” His annoyance was seeping into Yeosang’s mind. That was the only catch with linking thoughts; they would both feel the same emotion. Yeosang did as he wished and casted the only stress relief spell that he knew, slowly feeling the annoyance and frustration starting to disappear. 

“Try again,” he urged and San obliged. To his surprise and relief, the spell worked. He watched as the golden streams of light flowed out of his hand just as Momo had done earlier. “Healing spells need a calm state of mind. You can’t heal when your mind is in turmoil,” Yeosang advised softly and he nodded. 

San turned around and flashed a smile at Yeosang. “Thanks, Yeo.” Yeosang returned the smile before turning back to his book. San turned back to the desk, resting his hand next to the book. His fingers outstretched onto the surface of the desk, the muscles still as stiff as they were when he left Momo’s study. He wondered whether the healing spell could help loosen up his muscles. 

To his dismay, the healing spell did nothing. San’s muscles were still stiff and he had to conclude that no magic could do any more for his hand. Magic also couldn’t do anything more for the large scars on his chest. He got up from his desk and moved to the closet, opening the door and lifting his shirt to look at the unique darkened skin of his chest. It would’ve raised some eyebrows, but those who had ever crossed paths with a darkin would understand. 

The magic that lingered in your claws seeped into his skin, leaving the same effect of blackening his blood, and only made the scars heal awkwardly and differently than normal scars. San had a moment where he wondered whether he could learn dark magic and if he could use it against you. But, dark magic had its effects on the minds of the user. 

“You do know that if you learn it, you’ll go crazy, right?” Jaebeom narrowed his eyes at San. The young mage had come to the ice mentor to ask about dark magic. Jaebeom had dabbled with dark magic in his younger years and from what he had experienced, he did not want to share. 

“What happened to you, hyung?” San questioned.

The mentor shook his head as he moved to his library. “Dark magic messes with your brain, San. You shouldn’t try learning it unless you’re either a darkin or you’re born to use it.” As he intended to before San disturbed, Jaebeom pulled out a handful of spellbooks he wanted to pass to his mentees. 

But the fire mage persisted. “Hyung, come on. What happened to you, why is it so bad?” He followed Jaebeom around the study, trailing behind him like a pining puppy. 

“San, please,” he shook his head once again. Jaebeom rounded his desk and placed the books down before moving to bring out more. 

“Please, hyung. I just wanna know,” San pressed and the patience inside of Jaebeom snapped. He slammed the book in his hand down onto the desk, scaring San. 

“Do you really want to know what happened to me? Do you want to know what I saw—what I felt?!” Jaebeom yelled, his eyes turning ice blue; a habit he became accustomed to whenever he was feeling too much emotion. San gulped as he stared at him, his body going into complete shock.

The knock on the door made Jaebeom’s eyes turn back to brown and he pursed his lips together as he turned away from San. The door opened and Jackson poked his head into the room. “Something wrong?” he questioned, but he already knew something was wrong. As another mind reader, he had heard the whole conversation from his study beside Jaebeom and he knew that San didn’t know what he was asking of the mentor. 

“It’s nothing. San was asking a question,” Jaebeom turned to face San. Jackson took a step into the room, gently closing the door before he made his way to San. There was a familiar sensation of his mind being tapped into as Jackson got closer.

He placed his hands on San’s shoulders and leaned closer to him. “San, if I asked you about the girl from your ring, would you tell me easily?” The low and soft yet intimidating tone to his voice made a shiver run down San’s spine. Jackson looked into San’s eyes and smiled knowingly. “Exactly.” He took a step away from San. 

“I-I-” Jackson raised his hand up to stop him from speaking. 

“If you want to see it so badly, I’ll show you,” he gestured to Jaebeom’s chair and lifted himself to sit at the edge of the desk. 

Jaebeom’s eyes were warning Jackson to stop, as well as his voice, “Jackson.” 

“Hyung, if he really wants to see, he will. All you have to do is lend me your mind.” He extended his left hand and Jaebeom let out a soft exhale through his nostrils before clasping his hand with the telepathic mage. San hesitantly made his way to the chair and sat down. Jackson extended his right hand towards him and he debated with himself about whether or not he should. “Take it,” he snapped and San immediately held onto Jackson’s hand with his right. 

“Don’t show him too much,” Jaebeom warned but the telepathic mage ignored him. 

“Close your eyes, San,” he practically ordered and San immediately obliged, afraid of what Jackson would do if he didn’t. San could feel a tingle flowing through his left palm and slowly crawl up his arm until he could feel it in his head. “Open your eyes.” Jackson’s voice became echoed and distant, and when San opened his eyes, he was sitting at a dimly lit desk. 

He looked around the room, and despite the unfamiliar environment, he knew exactly where he was. San looked down and saw a book sitting on the desk before him; dark magic tainting it’s pages like a disease. He reached out and opened the first page, his eyes scanning through the images of the hexes and reading through the spells. 

In his mind, he immediately thought to try the first spell—and he did. San read through the spell, taking a moment to understand what to do before trying it. The moment he did, he felt a strange feeling in his heart as he casted the spell. San looked down to his right hand, watching the way the darkness that lingered on his fingers started crawling up his hand. Panic and fear started to bubble in the pit of his stomach as he could only watch the magic crawl up his body and into his head. 

Then, he understood why Jaebeom was so against dark magic. The way the magic creeped into his skull and latched onto his brain made him see beings around him that he knew were neither spirits nor demons. Fuck. He started to panic even more. He shot up from his desk when one of the creatures reached its long, spindly arm out towards him and tried to grab onto his hand. San’s body started to tremble as he felt more terror fill his mind. He could only watch as the other creatures started to reach towards him, their large voidlike bodies engulfing him. 

His body trembled with fear, an icy cold embracing his entire body and seeming to reach under his skin. It felt like bugs were crawling underneath his skin and all he wanted to do was scratch them out. San could feel his arm moving, rubbing and scratching at his arms and when the creatures moved away, he realised just what he had done. The skin of his arms and hands were raw; bleeding.  

The room suddenly disappeared and warped into a bedroom. Once again, it was so familiar to San who was sitting in the bed, looking around the room to see the dark, shadowy creatures watching him; their white circle eyes staring at him— unblinking. The panic never left him and he stared back at them with tearful eyes. His breathing picked up as only one word played in his mind. 

Kill

This was what dark magic did to its user. He looked around, his breathing quickening even more. 

Kill

One of the creatures stretched its body towards San, hovering over him menacingly. A mouth opened on its voidlike face, and San could feel what he could only describe as pure fear in his mind. He stared into the mouth, unable to look away and saw the sight of all of himself locked up in a cage. The San in the cage had a dead and empty look in his eyes as he stared back at himself.  

Kill

San covered his face with his hands and screamed hysterically, tears pouring freely from his eyes. The only other thing that replayed in his mind was his consciousness screaming and begging for the creatures to stop. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he snapped his eyes open to see Jackson and Jaebeom looking at him, both with completely different expressions on their faces. His entire body trembled as his attention moved entirely to Jaebeom. 

“Y-You had t-to go th-th-through that?” he stammered out. Jaebeom silently nodded, his eyes holding pity for what the young mage had to see. San mustered out the only thing that would leave his mouth. “H-How?” 

Jaebeom let out a soft sigh as he dropped a book down in front of him. “I wrote in a journal everyday to keep myself sane. It took years before those things finally left me alone and I had only cast one spell.”  

“Now, you see why Jaebeom was so hesitant to tell you?” Jackson spoke up and San nodded shakily. “If something haunts you, it's not easy to tell someone about it. Just as this,” his finger moved to touch San’s ring, “haunts you.” San could only watch as Jackson nonchalantly hopped off of Jaebeom’s desk with a grunt. “Well, I’m off. You can take it from here.” He clapped his hand onto Jaebeom’s shoulder before leaving the study. 

San stayed in Jaebeom’s chair, shaken from the experience. The mentor placed his hand on his back. “Now that you’ve seen it, will you try it?” he questioned and San immediately shook his head. Jaebeom let out a slightly pleased hum at that before sliding an empty notebook in front of him. “If you still see the creatures in your nightmares, journal. Write it down. I don’t know what happens if you see them through a memory, but I don’t want them to haunt you.” San took the notebook and quickly left the study room. Paranoia was creeping in his mind and at every turn, he was so sure he saw the creatures hiding in the shadows. 

It took awhile for San to recover from seeing Jaebeom’s memory, but he was sure that he would never attempt casting a dark magic spell. Although, he was sure that he would never truly understand what his mentor had gone through. 

“San, hello?” Wooyoung’s voice snapped San out of his thoughts and he looked up to see all three of his roommates staring at him. “You zoned out for a while, dude.” San blinked a couple times, his mind taking a moment to remember where he was. 

“O-Oh,” he stuttered out. “Sorry. I was thinking about something.” 

Hongjoong adjusted himself to laying on his stomach as he faced San. “Was it her again?” Yeosang and Wooyoung both turned to face Hongjoong. His face contorted in slight panic and he quickly clarified, “I meant the darkin.” Yeosang knew that Hongjoong knew. There was no way San could spend more than almost five years as his roommate without telling him.

San shook his head. “It was something else.” He stood up from his desk and let out a soft sigh. “I’m going to take a walk.” 

“Your mind has a memory guard,” Luna claimed, her hands pulling away from your head. You opened your eyes just in time to see her pupils turn brown. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“A memory guard?” you questioned. She nodded wordlessly, her eyes moving to the ring on your desk. 

She raised her hand to point at it. “It’s the memory hidden in this ring. I can’t see it, but I can see the magic guarding it.” You let your mind wander to the possibilities. There was only one person in existence that would willingly guard your memories. 

“Is it darkin magic?” you inquired and Luna nodded. “So it is my mother. But why would she guard my memories?” The question was more to yourself as you sat back in your chair. 

“Knowing your mother it must’ve been something she didn’t like,” she hummed. 

“(Y/n), your mum’s really scary,” Eunha spoke up. The both of you whipped your heads to see the ice mage looking at you, her blanket brought up to her chin. 

“Did we wake you?” Luna questioned and the younger mage nodded slightly. 

“It’s okay. I’ve been having trouble sleeping anyway,” she muttered as she sat up, her hands raised to rub her eyes. “Back to the topic at hand, your mum scares the entire academy,” Eunha stated and Luna nodded in agreement. 

“She is the Queen of The Underworld,” you stated. Eunha let out a soft giggle at that. 

“Is it fun knowing you’re going to be the next queen?” Luna questioned. You let out a thoughtful hum as you thought about it. Honestly, it didn’t phase you. Becoming the queen was your eventual, inevitable future. 

“It doesn’t really feel like anything,” you shrugged, “it’s just a normal thing to me. Ever since I was younger, there was a constant reminder that I was going to be the next queen. There’s no one else that can take the heir unless mother says so.” They both exchange looks. 

Eunha spoke up first though. “When do you become queen?” 

“After I kill the mage, she’ll know I’m ready. She makes the rules, and I just listen to them; as her daughter and as a spawn of The Underworld.” 

“(Y/n)!” The familiar voice made you turn to see San running towards you, his hands clasped together to hide whatever he had with him. You gave him a questioning look as he stopped in front of you, a cheeky smile on his face and his hands held out in front of him. “I caught something!” 

“What is it?” you questioned. 

“Don’t be scared, okay?” San warned as he opened his hands only for a small yellow butterfly to escape from his grasp. 

You let out a gasp and watched as it flew around. “That’s so cute!” Your eyes followed it, watching before it flew away. “How did you catch it?” You turned back to San. 

“I just grabbed it while it was sitting on a flower.” He shrugged, sitting himself on the empty swing beside you. Despite how lively the park was in the evenings, no one ever sat beside you; no one except for San. There was an unplanned routine of you two just sitting together, talking or swinging together. Yet, it never felt weird or uncomfortable around him and even as a child you understood that. 

“(Y/n).”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s go to the arcade,” San suggested and you felt your shoulders deflate. 

“I’m not allowed to go to the arcade without an adult,” you told him sadly. 

San’s face lit up further. “I can ask Haneul noona to come with us!” Your face immediately lit up as well. 

“Okay! Let me ask my papa.” You pushed yourself off of the swing and ran towards your house. Pushing through the front door, you made your way to your father’s study. Of course, you knocked before you entered and peeked your head into the room. 

“(Y/n)? What is it, dear?” he questioned when he saw your head poke into the room. 

“Papa, can I go to the arcade with San, please?” you asked. 

He let out a hesitant hum. “Is there an adult going?” 

“San’s sister is coming with us. She’s a teenager,” you nodded and he nodded as well. 

“Okay, but be back before seven.” A smile broke onto your face and you thanked him before leaving. Once he heard the door, he let out a sigh. 

“Did she make friends?” your mother asked through the mirror she had given to him. 

“Yes, it’s a human,” he muttered out softly. “If she develops human feelings, she won’t be fit for a demon queen,” he pointed out. 

“It’s nothing we can’t fix, dear,” she chuckled, “guard her memories and move. It’ll be better for her.” Your father thought about it for a moment. Although he felt bad for even thinking about it, both him and your mother couldn’t afford to lose the only heir to the throne to a human. “She’ll always be our little darkin, honey.” 

San stared out at the city, a longing feeling in his heart. He was perched on a tree branch, thinking about what exactly he was going to do when you and your den would eventually find him. He looked down to his stiff hand, clenching it into a fist for a moment before letting out a sigh. 

San felt weak. It had been days since they had to evacuate, and he felt weak. You were right there. He had the opportunity to end everything and he was foolish enough to think that you were alone; foolish enough to think that you weren’t the dark den’s most valued fighter. The silence of the night was granting him company along with the sounds of the only lunar mage of the academy meditating in the middle of the field. 

The sound of footsteps rustling in the grass made San turn around to see Seonghwa approaching him. Great. He thought to himself as the telepathic mage flew up to sit himself on the branch beside San. 

“What do you want?” San questioned softly. Seonghwa let out a soft exhale as he looked out at the city as well. 

“This academy has a lovely view of the city despite trying to hide itself from dark mages,” he chuckled. San let out an amused huff. “I just wanted to tell you that you’re doubting yourself too much,” Seonghwa muttered out, causing San to turn to face him. “You’re stronger than Jinyoung hyung yet you doubt your ability to fight a darkin. By the way you’ve managed to escape her claws alive, I think you might just be as strong as her.” He turned to San. 

San turned back out to the city and leaned his arms on his thighs, muttering, “even if I am, I’m the reason she’s after the academy.” 

“You can’t keep telling yourself that, San,” Seonghwa scolded softly. His tone was different from the other times he scolded San; more gentle. “Every time I tap into your head, I can see just how bright your soul is. You are the only person who can dim the fire in yourself.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” San snorted as he turned to face Seonghwa. 

“It means that you’re stronger than you think, you just don’t allow your power to break through,” he stated. “You’re scared of something.” San let the thought settle in his mind. Of course he was scared. If he used too much of his magic at once, it would actually kill him. “No, it wouldn’t,” Seonghwa corrected him. 

“Hey, stay out of my thoughts and I’ll stay out of yours, yeah?” San chuckled, enticing a soft chuckle out of the older mage. 

“Your power wouldn’t kill you. I mean, it’s bound to hurt you, but that,” he pointed to San’s hand, “Is only a step to getting you stronger. And this,” Seonghwa poked at his chest, just above his heart, “is what’s holding you back.” San stared at him in confusion. 

“What do you suppose I do?” he questioned. 

“Don’t be afraid of hurting yourself,” Seonghwa answered simply. “Come on, I’ll spot you.” He pushed himself off of the branch and started walking off, barely giving San enough time to really think about what was going on. San quickly chased after the telepathic mage until they reached the centre of the field where the lunar mage was. “Noona, could you help for a second?” Seonghwa spoke up, grabbing the mage’s attention. 

Mina’s eyes opened and gave them a questioning look, her pure white eyes melting into a deep brown, “what’s up?” 

“You can create light figures, right?” Mina nodded. “I need help training San.” Seonghwa gestured to the youngest of the three who was standing beside Seonghwa. 

“Oh, sure.” She nodded once again as she stood up from her cross-legged position. 

Seonghwa turned to San, “okay, San, Mina noona’s going to create light figures and you need to take them down as quickly as possible,” Seonghwa turned back to Mina, “noona, don’t hold back.” She turned away from the two and raised her hands, a group of brightly glowing beings appearing a distance away from them. They immediately came charging towards the three mages. 

“Wait, wha-” San was cut off when one of them punched him in the face with so much force, it threw him back. 

“Oh! I forgot to mention! These beings will cause harm unless told otherwise!” Mina chuckled as she created more of them, watching as they piled on top of San. 

“What the hell?!” he yelled, surprised at how strong they were. The thought that she was completely obligated to attack him with her magic also baffled him.

“Use your powers!” Seonghwa yelled back from beside Mina. 

“He’ll be fine, right?” she turned to Seonghwa with concern in her eyes. 

“He’ll be fine,” he nodded before turning back to San. “San! If you can’t handle this, it means Mina noona is stronger than you!” he provoked. 

“Isn’t that just going to piss him off?” Hesitation laced her tone but Seonghwa simply nodded once again. 

“Yeah, that’s the point. Come on, San!” 

“Hyung, shut up!” San yelled back and let out a burst of heat, forcing the light creatures away from him and giving himself enough time to stand up. 

“Yeah!” Seonghwa cheered, clapping as he watched San fight against the creatures. “Noona, make them stronger if you can,” he requested softly. Mina obliged, her eyes turning pure white as more of her energy went into strengthening her creatures. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” San muttered in disbelief as he watched them grow another few feet, topping off at almost thirteen feet in height. Three of them immediately came charging towards him. San ignited his hands, clenching them into fists and punching the closest one only to be knocked down by the other two. 

“More power, San!” Seonghwa urged. 

“Hyung! Shut the fuck up!” San snapped as more of them started to pile onto him as before. There was so much going on, so many of them were hitting him, kicking him. The pain was honestly more annoying than it was actually painful, and it was pissing him off. His entire body combusted, sending the creatures up into the air. He stood up, smoke wisping off of his body as he watched them dissipate. 

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Seonghwa punched the air ecstatically. “Noona! Make more!”

San let out a whine, “no!” His refusal fell on deaf ears as Mina brought more out from the skies. “Don’t you get tired?!” he turned to her. 

Her shoulders lifted in a shrug, “as long as the moon is out, I get to use as much energy as I need.” San let out a long groan and decided there was no way out of the forced training. His fists ignited once again and he crouched down. He sprinted towards the creatures, digging his heel into the soil right before to stop running and ignited two of the creatures. 

San turned around and blasted the one that crept up behind him, sending himself up into the sky from the amount of energy he was letting out. 

“Use your flying! It’s an advantage!” Seonghwa advised. San let out more grumbles under his breath before diving down and punching his hand into one of their heads, melting it from the inside out before moving on to the next few. 

“Seonghwa, I can make them stronger.” Mina muttered out softly. Seonghwa’s eyebrow cocked up in amusement and she took it as a sign to make them stronger. 

“Stop!” San whined out as he could only watch from the skies as they grew bigger. 

“San, if you don’t fight them, I can make them fly!” She let out a laugh when San immediately moved on to taking them out. “Can he make weapons with his magic? Like Psylocke from X-Men?” Mina questioned, glancing over at Seonghwa. 

He raised his shoulders in a shrug before yelling, “San, can you make weapons with fire?!” San paused for a moment to turn to the two older mages. His pause to think created a window for one of the creatures to charge into him, throwing him across the field. “Oops,” Seonghwa grimaced when he saw San’s body flying over the two of them. 

“Maybe I should’ve stopped them,” Mina simpered as she paused them for a minute. 

“Would’ve been better if you did that sooner!” San yelled, his voice echoing throughout the field as he stood up. 

“Sorry!” she apologised, watching as he slowly made his way back over to them. 

“Next time… stop them… if you’re going to ask… me something,” San panted heavily as he glared at them. Mina waved her hand towards the creatures, causing them to disappear and her eyes to turn back to brown. “And, no, I can’t make weapons with my magic,” he added after he had composed himself, “Jinyoung hyung can, but I was never able to actually make it work.” San raised his hand out like a claw and a flame ignited, covering his entire hand. 

They watched as the flame moved around. It danced as it tried to take the form of a knife only to return to it’s normal form before San clasped his fingers to his palm, putting out the flame, “I don’t know how he does it. I’ve been trying ever since I’ve been here, and it just wouldn’t work.” He shrugged. Seonghwa pursed his lips into a straight line. 

“I don’t think there’s enough time to train on that. Instead, you’ll just have to fight more of the moon creatures.” He turned to Mina who nodded. San let out a groan as he crouched onto the ground. He heard the familiar sound of the light and air being manipulated before he stood back up to see them standing right in front of him. 

“Ready?” Mina questioned and he sighed. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

[fantastic-bby]

A Flame in The Dark - 2

Pairing: (F)Reader x San

Word count: 6.2k

Genre: Angst | Friends to strangers | Strangers to enemies | Mage!San | Demi-demon!Reader

Summary: San's life has been pretty suffocating. His childhood friend disappeared and his parents had forced him into a magic academy against his will. Although he's made new friends, the walls of the academy tend to feel like a prison to him.

With how he's already constantly sneaking out at night to get out of the academy, he thinks he's found a way to not feel so trapped. But San's habit of sneaking out just makes his life a whole lot more difficult...

Warnings: Violence | Gore | Fighting | Use of dark magic | A lot of people get hurt

Main masterlist || Previous || FITD Masterlist || Next

“War?” San’s eyes were practically bulging out of his skull as he stared at the three elders. They nodded somberly. He turned to Wooyoung and Yeosang, the two mages sharing the same incredulous expression as they stared at the elders. 

“I’m afraid that the darkin that you fought the other day has decided she wants to take you and the whole academy down,” Elder Jinx sighed out. “Elder Naya had a vision of the darkin speaking with her elders.”

“We’ll return your powers,” Elder Saron stated. “We don’t know when the dark mages will attack, but all we can do is make sure the academy is ready,” he muttered as he flicked his wrist towards San, Wooyoung and Yeosang. A glow surrounded the three and soon they could feel the magic filling their veins once again. 

“We’re glad you found the darkin, but please, don’t sneak out after curfew again,” Elder Naya advised before letting the three leave. The walk out of the office was silent. All three of them had the same worry in their mind; what if they weren’t ready when the dark mages came? 

“San.” The familiar voice made San look up to see one of his mentors approaching them. “I need to see you. Wooyoung, Jaebeom hyung’s looking for you. Yeosang, Momo’s looking for you,” Jinyoung stated. Wooyoung and Yeosang hesitated, startled from the sudden appearance of the fire mentor before nodding and disappearing to find their own mentors.

“What’s wrong?” San questioned the older mage. The mentors rarely spent time with the younger students outside of class which left San wondering why they were looking for their students. 

“I’m going to assume the elders already told you about the war since you’re the one who fought with the darkin,” Jinyoung spoke as he gestured for San to walk with him. “I won’t scold you for sneaking out after curfew since I used to do that, too.”

“What?” He looked at Jinyoung with utter disbelief. Jinyoung was one of the more quiet and disciplined mages. Hearing that the mentor used to go against the rules of the academy was a shock and a fun fact for him. 

“Only because Jackson would drag me out,” Jinyoung added. “I wanted to talk to you about the fight you had with the darkin.” San glanced over at his mentor. “Momo told me that her magic left a nasty wound on your shoulder,” Jinyoung mentioned. 

“Oh, that.” San’s hand instinctively moved to his shoulder. Despite the wound closing, it still left a scar that no magic would heal. “Darkin magic seems to affect my body weirder than normal magic. It turned my blood black, hyung,” he sighed. 

“I didn’t think that would actually happen. You’d think that as mages, we’d have seen everything,” Jinyoung joked as they stopped outside one of the study rooms. “You barely made it out of that fight alive, San,” he reminded him as he opened the door, being greeted by a group of fire mages already waiting for their mentor. “I know you’re strong San, but we still don’t know much about darkins. We don’t even know if she was holding back or not.” 

“She definitely was not. She wanted to kill me,” San huffed out as he remembered how you looked at him. Your eyes held determination and you were most certainly not holding back. Had he missed that one chance to disorient you, he probably would’ve died. 

“All we can do now is train you until you can grow stronger than her. You know the spells. You just need to make them stronger. Focus your energy on learning spells you’re still not confident in,” Jinyoung advised. “If you need any help, you can always come to me.” He flashed San an assuring smile. San nodded in response. 

San’s mind was drifting throughout the day. His fingers fiddled with the ring on his right hand. He wondered where his friend was and whether she was okay. It had been a week since you had gone against each other and he couldn’t help but feel as though you were somehow connected to his ring. But, you couldn’t be. San had never seen her with a red eye and he didn’t remember her having any magical ability. 

“San?” Momo waved her hand in front of San’s face. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to the mentor. “Are you okay? You seem a bit distracted today,” she questioned 

“O-Oh,” he stuttered as he realised the whole group of mages was watching him. “It’s nothing, noona,” he reassured the nature mage. Momo wasn’t convinced, but she resisted the urge to want to pry him further. She gave him a slight nod before returning to the front of the room to continue with the healing spell. 

San could only keep his focus on his mentor for a moment before turning back out of the window and looking to the sky. His mind wandered. He was more scared of what was to come. If San wasn’t prepared on time, he would fail to protect the academy. 

“I’ve never seen you around before,” San pointed out when he saw you sitting at the swings on your own. You looked up from the ground when he spoke before turning back to the ground. You were a shy kid and your father had just brought you to the human realm from the Underworld. His magic was doing enough to hide your demonic appearances even if you were to accidentally show them. 

“I just moved here,” you softly replied. San sat himself on the swing beside you and stared at you. 

“I’m San.” He smiled. You glanced at him, but you didn’t say anything. “I’m 7 years old.” The boy continued anyway. San continued to talk to you despite your unresponsive and shy state. It was mostly him talking and you nodding every once in a while. “My parents want to get a cat. I don’t know when, but they promised me and my sister a cat,” he rambled on. You perked up at the mention of a cat, the childish fascination in animals lighting up your mood. 

“I have a cat,” you mentioned and San’s face lit up when you did. 

“I bet it’s cute,” he hummed. You nodded.

“He’s still a kitten. My dad brought him home two days ago. I named him Mochi,” you told him. “He’s really fluffy,” you added. 

“What’s your name?” San asked.

“(Y/n),” you replied, your shyness starting to wear off bit by bit. 

“Can we be friends, (Y/n)?” he questioned, his voice laced with the excitement of gaining a new friend. You nodded frantically. San would be your first human friend. 

“Okay.”

You clipped the necklace around your neck, eyeing the ring that hung from the chain for a moment. You held it in between your fingers as you tried to think of why you felt so attached to the ring. 

“Maybe it holds something you don’t remember.” You turned around to see Luna leaning against the door frame of your bedroom. 

“You’re pretty sneaky, aren’t you?” you chuckled as you turned back to the mirror. You felt her presence appear beside you and you turned to the lunar mage. 

“Well, I’m used to the silence of the night,” she hummed as she watched the way you fiddled with the ring. “Where’s Eunha eunnie?” Luna asked.

“She’s training with Aisha,” you told her, not tearing your attention away from the metal band.

“I can’t see far back into your thoughts, but I can tell that ring connects you with someone,” she stated as she reached out to hold the ring. You let her examine it as you tried to reach back into the farthest part of your mind to figure out where the ring came from. 

“I think I got it when I was still a kid, but I can’t remember how I got it and who this ring is attached to,” you muttered. You watched as the pupils of Luna’s eyes turned white, a small sense of magic radiating off of her; she was trying to find the memories hidden within the ring. After a moment, she let out a sigh and took a step back from you. 

“I can’t find anything other than the sense of childlike innocence,” she muttered out as her eyes slowly blended into their usual brown colour. You sighed as you turned to the mirror once again. 

“I’ve never held onto something as much as this ring,” you stated, “it means so much to me, I don’t think I would ever let it go.” 

“Do you remember where you were when you got it?” Luna questioned as she sat herself on your bed. You let out a long hum as you thought about it. 

“I think I was in the human realm, but it’s really hazy in my mind,” you mumbled. 

“You’ll figure it out soon, I’m sure you will.” She gave you a reassuring smile. “Some memories lie deep within us, but we never truly forget them,” she hummed. You turned to her and couldn’t stop the small smile that was pulling on your lips. 

“Thanks Luna,” you thanked softly as you pulled your denim jacket on. “We should go. We have to prepare,” you said as you turned to leave the room, the younger mage following after you. 

You appreciated Luna’s presence. She spent most of her time by herself sleeping through the day only to practice her magic when the moon was at its highest point in the sky. It was difficult for lunar mages to use their magic during the day, which was why she barely made friends with any of the other mages. They would be sleeping while she and the only other lunar mage would be awake. 

You had only met her since sleep wasn’t a necessity to you as a darkin. You usually slept to either help your body regenerate itself or if you were bored. You would usually train with the two lunar mages whenever you were too bored to sleep. Usually, you’d be able to hear the thoughts of humans, but it seemed that lunar mages had a way of guarding theirs. You weren’t able to hear what the lunar mages were thinking, but they could hear yours since you never really guarded your thoughts when you were in the den. 

“Ah, we can begin,” Elder Omi announced when she saw you stepping into the meeting hall, all mages of the dark den gathered to begin the first attack. 

“We could never continue without the presence of our strongest student.” Elder Kae chuckled before the three elders began laying down the plan. It was a simple plan and the goal was to take out San first, then move on to the rest of the academy. You needed to turn into your full form for this to work and you were already strong enough to transform faster with less recovery time. 

You were going to kill him if it was the last thing you’d do.

“Elder Jinx!” The voice surprised the elder, but what surprised her more was that it was coming from Yeosang as he barged into the office at such a late hour. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Elder Naya furrowed her brows as she saw the panicked state of the clairvoyant mage. His eyes were yellow; a sign that he had just seen a vision. 

“The dark mages are coming,” he claimed, despair lacing his words. The elders exchanged looks of fear. 

“This is too soon. The mages aren’t ready.” Elder Saron shot up from his seat.

“What more can we do? It’s only been a week since we found out they were planning a war,” Elder Jinx retaliated. 

“We must evacuate the academy,” Elder Naya calmly said as she turned back to Yeosang. “Tell the mages to prepare for an evacuation. We simply can’t afford to fight back.” He nodded as he left the office as quickly as he could, sprinting towards the dorms. He pulled on the candlestick at the beginning of the corridor, an alarm blaring throughout the academy before he made a beeline to his room. 

San and Wooyoung were already waiting for him. They were the first to know of his vision. The two turned around when they heard the alarm go off and saw Yeosang leaning against the doorframe for support, struggling to catch his breath. 

“E-Elder Naya calls for-for an evacuation,” he panted out. Wooyoung rushed to help Yeosang stand. 

“We packed your stuff for you.” He lifted the backpack which Yeosang took from him. “We need to leave,” he stated, turning around to see San hesitating to leave. 

“You guys head on first. I’ll make sure everyone heads to the meeting hall as quickly as possible.” The two shared a glance. 

“If you do that, we’ll help you,” Yeosang nodded. San was about to urge them to leave, but he knew from the look they were giving him, they would rather die with him than without him. Together, they ran throughout the dorms, checking each room to make sure the other mages were already leaving. Well, except for the mentors.

“We’re staying.” Jihyo’s statement made Wooyoung’s eyes widen. 

“W-Why? Noona, we need to leave!” he argued. 

“We have to fight back to save the mages. The dark mages are already nearby, we can’t just let them break in and kill the younger mages,” Momo explained softly. 

“Leave with San and Yeosang. The dark mages want to take out San first,” Jihyo added. Wooyoung stared at his mentors with wide eyes, unable to believe that they were ready to lay their lives on the line to try and get as many of the light mages out of the academy safely. 

“B-But,”

“Leave, Wooyoung,” she interjected. He struggled to carry himself out of the room, but he managed to do it before moving on to get the others out as fast as possible. Meanwhile, San had taken over the rooms with the male mages.

“Take only essentials,” he reminded the two as he watched them stumble around their room. 

“H-Hyung, we’ll be fine, right?” Jisung questioned as he turned to look at San. The older mage struggled to answer. If he guaranteed their safety, he would be lying to them. The dark mages were on their way, and no one knew how close they already were. 

“I… I don’t know, Jisung,” San confessed softly. Jaemin froze in the middle of shoving clothes into his duffle bag, slowly turning to face San; pure fear painting his features. “All we can do now is leave the academy as soon as possible,” he quickly said. The two younger mages nodded shakily, quickly getting back to packing. 

San left their room to check the other rooms, turning back to see the pair of ice mages already leaving their room. He ran past the rooms but stopped in his tracks when he saw Jackson and Jinyoung sitting in their room, calmly staring at each other. 

“What are you guys doing?” he questioned. The two turned to face him. The calm expressions on their faces was a contrast to the panic that filled the academy. 

“The dark mages are too close for us to leave safely,” Jackson stated solemnly, “Jinyoung and I are staying behind to hold back the other mages.” He stood up and took a deep breath as he turned to Jinyoung. 

“We can’t ensure that we’ll be able to get everyone out of here safely, but the mentors have agreed to stay behind to buy as much time as we can,” Jinyoung explained. 

“Momo and Jihyo are already preparing themselves in their room. Jaebeom hyung already dropped by to tell us that he’s told Tzuyu as well,” Jackson added. San stared at the two. It was his fault that they were in this mess. Had he finished his fight with the darkin, the academy wouldn’t be in this mess. He didn’t kill you off like he should’ve. 

“If that’s the case then I’m staying as well,” he stated. 

“San, it’s oka-” Jinyoung started but San cut him off. 

“If I killed the darkin that night, we wouldn’t have to be in this much panic. It’s my fault for not wanting to kill a member of the dark mage den. I’m one of the strongest mages this academy has and I’m not going to let my mentors die without trying to help.” He put his foot down, watching as the two older mages turned to share a hesitant look. “I’m not leaving the academy without fighting,” San stated. A pair of running footsteps approached the room, Yeosang coming into the views of the mentors. 

“San, the mentors aren’t leaving. We have to leave now,” he urged but San shook his head. 

“I’m staying to fight with the mentors,” he told him. Yeosang’s eyes grew wide. 

“Are you fucking crazy? The darkin wants to kill you,” the clairvoyant reminded him with a scoff but San shook his head. 

“I’m not letting Jinyoung hyung and Jackson hyung die here trying to keep us safe. If I help them, you guys have more time to leave.” He turned his body to Yeosang. “Take Wooyoung and leave me. That’s an order,” he ordered. Yeosang looked at San incredulously. 

“You know that if you stay, Woo and I will stay and fight with you,” Yeosang retaliated. 

“You guys have a better chance at leaving than I do. If I follow the academy, the darkin will keep chasing me down,” he argued, shaking his head. 

“We’re not leaving without you. We leave together or we die together.” His words made San’s lips part as he stared at him. San knew better than to waste their time arguing when they could be helping the other mages and he decided to let his friends stay with him. 

“Okay, Yeosang,” he nodded. “But, we’re running out of time. We need to check on the other mages.” Yeosang nodded before leaving the room. San turned to the mentors who were watching the entire affair. 

“Reminds me of you when we were younger.” Jinyoung turned to Jackson with a chuckle. 

“I can’t count the amount of times I almost died because I refused to leave Jinyoung alone,” Jackson laughed as the two stood up. 

“Let’s head to the meeting hall, shall we?” He smiled as the mentors left their room. San watched as they did, a warm feeling in his heart at Jinyoung’s words. But, his moment was quickly ruined when the sound of the protective barrier of the academy being attacked. 

They’re here

He looked out of the window and up into the sky to see you punching the barrier, your fists black from your claws. He felt the world halt around him. Fighting you would be either the biggest victory of his life or the last fight of his life. San’s life was being laid down in front of him and he let out a shaky chuckle to himself in the empty hallway. 

I’ll win this fight. For Wooyoung and Yeosang. He thought to himself before sprinting his way to the meeting hall where the entire academy was. 

“We need to leave underground,” Elder Saron announced as he opened the hatch to the basement. “As calmly as possible, please,” he spoke as he guided the mages down. San regrouped with Yeosang and Wooyoung, the both of them nodding at him. 

“We can do this, San,” Wooyoung reassured him. 

“We just need to take the darkin out first. She would be the strongest out of all of the dark mages,” Jaebeom pointed out. 

“I’ll handle the darkin,” San piped in, causing the mentors to look at him with shocked expressions. “I’ve fought her before and I’ve been training ever since then. My strength should be on par with hers.” 

“Going alone against a darkin would be a death wish,” Tzuyu scoffed. 

“If you can distract the other dark mages, it would be one-on-one. I can take her,” he reassured them just as the sound of the barrier being broken hit their ears. 

“We must hurry, mages!” Elder Naya cried as she ushered the younger magers to move faster. 

“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay behind?” Elder Jinx questioned the group. 

“We will hold them off as long as possible, Elder Jinx. The academy needs its elders,” Jinyoung reassured her. She hesitated before nodding, chasing the last of the mages down the hatch. 

“Good luck, my students,” she wished before closing the hatch. 

“We have to hurry, they’ve broken th-” Wooyoung was quickly cut off when a blast of ice hit him in the shoulder, throwing him across the room. The group turned out the window to see Eunha chuckling as she leaned into the window. 

“Knock knock,” she giggled as the wall smashed open to reveal you and your den. 

“Time for a party.” You smirked as you made eye contact with San. In such a short span of time, so much happened - so much chaos. 

The mentors’ goal was to protect San to give him time to fight you. Yeosang was quick to try and get Wooyoung up before hiding himself to transfer his conscience to San to help him predict the movements of your mages. 

“The smartest thing to do is take out the other mages before moving to the darkin,” Yeosang’s voice muttered in San’s mind. He followed Yeosang’s words, quickly able to take out almost half of your mages with the help of his mentors and his friends. 

He knew his mentors were strong. San caught a glimpse of just how powerful they were. The sight of Jaebeom freezing his surroundings to slow down the dark mages, his eyes glowing a bright icy blue made San realise just how hard they were fighting. He couldn’t afford to lose to you. 

“San!” San turned around just in time to dodge a large icicle coming his way. Wooyoung was quick to place a spell on Eunha, binding her to the ground. 

“I lost sight of the darkin!” Jinyoung yelled just as he got hit by a beam of light. 

“I can’t find the darkin anywhere,” Yeosang spoke, trying his best to track you down. 

“It’s okay. Other mages first,” San reassured him. The walls of the academy were breaking down, rubble and debris being used by both sides of the mages as weapons. Fires broke out throughout what was left of the academy, smoke starting to fill the air and making it difficult for most of them to see anything. 

“Jihyo’s down!” Tzuyu’s voice made San look around in panic. That’s one mentor down and a darkin nowhere to be seen.

San was listening to the sounds of the mages fighting, trying to pinpoint where you were. The cries and yells coming from falling mages added to San’s rapid heartbeat. The sound of wings flapping among the smoke made San fire in the direction of the sound, a thud soon following. 

“It was a diversion.” Yeosang’s realisation was too late - you were already coming at San at full force. The force of contact of your bodies threw San to the ground with a grunt. 

“We meet again, fire mage,” you hummed as you watched him pick himself back up. 

“And you, too, darkin,” he grunted, his entire body moving into a defensive stance. You eyed his stance - it was the same stance he used the last time you fought. He was bracing himself for the force of your magic. 

Fool. You snorted to yourself. “Do you think you can win against me?” you chuckled. 

“I got away the last time,” San laughed. You felt your body freeze before you clenched your fists. “I can do anything if it means I’ll stop you from killing my friends,” he growled and lunged towards you. His body moved past yours and you hovered your hand over his back, using your magic to slam him onto the ground. 

“Quite reckless, aren’t you?” you teased as you rounded him. You weren’t prepared when he immediately turned over on his back and blasted you with fire. Your teeth gritted as you jumped back as fast as you could - it didn’t save your neck from being burnt. You grimaced at the feeling of your flesh burning, your hand instinctively coming up to hover over the flesh. 

“So are you.” He chuckled as he stood up. You glared at him, bearing your claws as you let your skin transform completely - with the amount of training you had put yourself through, it was quick and painless. The look on San’s face was enough to spur you on. His strong demeanor faltered completely when he watched you change and pure fear washed over his eyes. Your form disappeared before him and he looked around frantically. 

“That… was not the most pleasant sight,” Yeosang joked. 

“That was fucking terrifying,” San muttered out loud as he looked around at the smoke. The sounds of the other mages fighting was a blur to San. He was focused on finding you and you only. His hand waved around him, drawing a circle of fire to try and blind you.

“She’s behind you. She’s going to try and get your head,” he muttered out. San turned around just in time to see you flying through the fire and towards him at full speed, your hands grabbing the collar of his shirt and flying him into the wall. His back slammed against the wall, the pain striking him throughout the entirety of his body as he slumped to the ground. 

You rolled him over, straddling him and scratching at his neck with your claws. San did his best to block your attacks, but it wasn’t enough to stop your claws from tearing at his shirt and his skin; blood seeping out of his wounds as he wrestled with you. His hand raised to your shoulder, blasting your body with as much magic as his exhausted state would let him. 

You flew back, grimacing at the feeling of your ruined flesh. The fire was growing around the two of you as San got back up, his breathing heavy and his blood dripping onto the ground. 

“Yeosang, go help everyone else,” San thought as he glared at you. 

“Are you sure?” Yeosang questioned. He nodded and Yeosang was gone, transferring his conscience to another mage. 

“Your thoughts left you alone?” you chuckled. 

“This fight is between you and me. I don’t need anyone else,” San growled.  

"You're quite confident you'll win," you muttered.

"I've pretty much blown off your shoulder, how could I not be?" he retaliated with a smirk. His words hit a nerve within you. Even with how fast you were trying to regenerate, it wasn't working as fast as you would hope. You rolled your wounded shoulder, feeling the pain of moving the burning muscles and flesh. 

You pounced towards San, tackling him to the ground. He was quick to flip you over and hover his hand over your shoulder, bursting it with more magic and deeming your right arm useless as you let out a cry of pain. The burst almost forced your body further into the ground but the recoil caused your head to hit the ground. Your teeth gritted in pain and San raised his fist up, the skin of his hand glowing bright orange from the magic he was channeling. 

Just as he was about to slam his fist down, a large piece of debris knocked into him and sent his body flying across the room. You sat up quickly to see where the debris came from only to see Luna watching you from the side. 

“Run, (Y/n)! If you die, all the dark mages will die!” she cried out. You turned back to where San was and saw him struggling to sit up. You looked around to see most of the dark mages already scattering the ground; lifeless. Luna was right. If you didn’t leave now, more of the dark mages would die. 

You pulled yourself off of the ground, your left hand gripping your burning arm as you turned back to Luna. 

“Get our mages out of here. We can’t win this fight,” you told her and she nodded. You turned around only to see San flying towards you at full speed. You teleported right before he could hit you and appeared behind the time mage. “Hwanwoong oppa, we need to leave. Can you stop time?” you asked him. Hwanwoong glanced behind at you and bit his lip. 

“I can’t stop time, but I can slow it down,” he told you. 

“Can you slow it down long enough to get the dark mages out?” You questioned. 

“If we move fast, I think we can.” You checked your surroundings before covering him with your wings to protect him. He took the signal and held his arms out, his eyes shutting to slow everything down as much as he could. You moved quickly, getting whatever mage that was still standing to help carry out the fallen mages. 

You looked around at the slow moving light mages, spotting Aisha’s limp body lying in front of Wooyoung. You ran towards her only to realise she was still under a binding spell. 

“This goddamn voodoo mage,” you cursed as you used whatever magic you had left to unbind the spell. Aisha let out a deep breath as she started to move. “We need to leave,” you ordered as you helped her stand up. She quickly nodded, leaving the area with Eunha. You did one last check and once you were certain there were no more dark mages, you ran towards Hwanwoong’s struggling form. 

The poor time mage wasn’t used to putting such a big spell for such a long time, so the moment you grabbed onto him, you flew straight into the skies with the rest of your mages. Hwanwoong almost fainted in your arms when he let go of the spell. 

“Did-Did we get everyone?” he questioned breathlessly. 

“We did. You did a great job, oppa,” you praised softly. 

Back at the academy, the light mages could only watch as you flew away. San let out curses. He couldn’t believe he was foolish enough to forget about his surroundings. There was nothing else they could do, but they were lucky that you left when you did. 

“Jihyo noona’s not doing well,” Yeosang muttered out when San approached the group. 

“Neither is Jinyoung,” Jackson softly said as he watched Momo work a healing spell on the mentors. Jaebeom crouched down beside Jihyo and waved a hand in front of her face to make sure she was still conscious. 

“Stay awake, Jihyo,” he muttered softly before doing the same with Jinyoung. “As long as they’re still conscious, they should be able to recover quickly.” He grunted as he pulled Jinyoung’s arm over his shoulder and stood up. “We should leave now. We can’t heal them in the open like this.” The group agreed and began their path down the hatch with Jaebeom supporting Jinyoung and Jihyo leaning on Momo. San lit up the dark corridor for them as they ventured through it. 

Honestly, none of them knew exactly where they were going. They just knew that if anything were to happen, they should follow down the stone tunnel until they reach the hatch at the other end. Jaebeom knew better than to leave the hatch open, deciding to use his ice to freeze the hatch shut and to create a wall at the entrance. Jinyoung collapsed the beginning of the tunnel right after the ice wall to keep whatever dark mages left off of their trail. 

“How long does this corridor go on for?” Yeosang questioned as they walked through the dark, and narrow corridor, his voice echoing off of the stone walls. 

“We don’t know either,” Jackson replied as he looked around in curiosity as well. “All the elders told us about this tunnel was to follow it.” They continued along the corridor for another hour and a half; stopping after half an hour to give Jinyoung and Jihyo time to rest from walking. Even with the support of their friends, they couldn’t walk for too long without collapsing. 

They opened the hatch to the other side to see Elder Jinx holding her hand up towards the hatch just in case it was a dark mage. She let out a relieved sigh when she realised the head that popped out first was Tzuyu and not a dark mage. 

“Is everyone okay?” she questioned, but when her eyes landed on the two mentors that were almost unconscious, she immediately called over the other healing mages. The healers were quick to work with the exhausted group, one of them almost bursting into tears when she saw San’s torn chest. Elder Naya took over San’s wounds, knowing demon magic was harder to work with. 

“What are we going to do now?” San questioned as he watched the elder crouched down beside him and examined his wounds.

“We keep the mages as safe and prepared as we can. From the looks of it, you barely made it out alive.” She muttered out, “their retreat was not a cowardly move, San. It was a strategic move. I assume the darkin knew that if they stayed any longer, they would lose.” 

“I didn’t think it was a cowardly move. I was annoyed they managed to get out. I almost had the darkin,” he grumbled, watching his wounds close. Much like the one on his shoulder, they left a scar that Elder Naya couldn’t heal completely. 

“Demon magic is tricky. You should rest for a few days,” she advised as she stood up and moved on to help the rest of the group. San looked down at his torn shirt and let out a frustrated sigh. He almost had you. You were right there - vulnerable and in his grasp. If he was just a few seconds quicker, he would’ve been able to save the academy. 

You were bound to return. San had to make sure he was swift enough to finally take you down. 

“You need to train harder, (Y/n),” your mother grumbled when she saw your lifeless limb. You sat on her throne and let her heal you as you tried to figure out exactly when it went south for you. 

“I was so sure I had him,” you scoffed softly. You thought back to it and it seemed that your claws weren’t quick enough. “I think I need to work on my hands.” You looked down to your left hand, clenching it into a fist. 

“I saw the fight from your eyes. You were reckless with your claws, my dear.” She pointed out. “If you’re going to use your claws, don’t blindly scratch at his chest. It made you miss his hand that actually hit your shoulder.” Your mother’s hand rolled your shoulder back and you winced when she did. “Sorry, dear,” she apologised softly before she continued to heal it with her magic. 

“Was I stupid to retreat?” you questioned. Your mother shook her head, her attention still on your shoulder.

“You were staying safe. That mage almost had you and you had lost quite a few of your own mages in that fight. It was a good call,” she reassured you before rolling your shoulder once again. You felt no pain this time and it was a relief to you that she was a much stronger darkin than you were. 

“That should be good.” She let out a satisfied hum as she moved away from you. You sat up straighter and rolled your shoulders yourself before raising your right arm. 

“Thank you, mother.” You gave her a small smile, the defeat still tugging at your heart. 

“It’s not a defeat if none of you have truly won,” your mother reassured you, your thoughts going straight to her. 

“It just makes me feel weak, mother. I had to retreat from a human.” You sat back into the throne, sulking at the thought. 

“He seems just as strong as you are. You just get reckless when you let yourself turn into a darkin. You should ask your father for advice. He was always good at fighting.” The mention of your father made you think back to the vision she had shown you the last time you visited her. There was a small glimpse of your father fighting. For your mother’s hand in marriage, he had killed three darkins that were trying as well. 

“He did seem really powerful in the vision you showed me,” you simpered. Your mother nodded at that, 

“He is very powerful, (Y/n). Maybe you could learn something from him.” She raised her hand towards the door on the right of the room, the door opening when she did. “You know where his study is.” She placed her hand on your back and encouraged you to head on to his study. The door closed when you reached the large stone corridor and you walked straight to your father’s study. 

[ao3feed-ateez]

by AAvery

It had been a relatively normal trip to the grocery store, even if it was almost eleven o'clock at night and his groceries were a bit out of the ordinary.

It wasn't until he was walking home that things got a bit strange, however.

Somehow by a miracle perhaps, a seeming first-generation mage such as himself had been chosen for one of the most dangerous tests of a mage’s abilities there was: A Holy Grail War.

A battle royal between seven mages and their seven servants, servants of incredible power and heroic standing. The last one standing, wins the ultimate prize. The Holy Grail itself.

An ATEEZ x ONEUS Crossover AU Heavily inspired by the Fate Stay/Night anime franchise This work was reprised from a different fic of mine to fit this fandom, still my original work just different characters.

Words: 2788, Chapters: 1/20, Language: English

Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band), ONEUS (Band)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Characters: Kang Yeosang, Choi Jongho, Yeo Hwanwoong, Kim Youngjo | Ravn, Kim Geonhak | Leedo, Son Dongju | Xion, Choi San, Jung Wooyoung, Kim Hongjoong, Song Mingi, Jeong Yunho, Park Seonghwa, Lee Keonhee, Lee Seoho

Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Kim Youngjo | Ravn/Yeo Hwanwoong, Kim Geonhak | Leedo/Son Dongju | Xion, Choi San/Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung/Park Seonghwa, Jeong Yunho/Kim Hongjoong, Lee Keonhee/Lee Seoho

Additional Tags: Based off the anime Fate/Stay Night, Don't need to have watched it to understand, Characters do die but its okay, there's a happy ending i promise, Mage AU, Supernatural Elements, Mythology - Freeform, Eventual Sexual Content, depictions of violence, minor gore, Reprised from a different fic, Angst with a Happy Ending

[ao3feed-ateez]

by subgyeom

Amongst the kingdom’s ancient texts is the prophecy of a traveller from another world, who will gift the land with their presence. Park Seonghwa, the kingdom’s beloved prince, did not expect today, or any day for that matter, to be the one where that divine prediction finally rang true. He also did not expect said traveller to fall from the sky and smash into him at full velocity. Still, he can’t find himself to complain, not when Hongjoong is the one person who can make his heart race.

(or the Isekai AU where Hongjoong is just a normal boy who kind of wants to go home and Seonghwa is the prince from another world who falls in love with him at first sight.)

Words: 1924, Chapters: 1/8, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of ateez collection

Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Park Seonghwa, Kim Hongjoong, Choi Jongho, Song Mingi, Jeong Yunho, Kang Yeosang, Jung Wooyoung, Choi San

Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Royalty, Isekai, Pre-Relationship, Love at First Sight, Prince Park Seonghwa, Guards Jongho and Mingi, Mage Yeosang, Butler Yunho, Royal Advisor San, Knight Wooyoung, the Hongjoong gets isekai'd fic no one asked for but i wrote anyway

[ao3feed-ateez]

by seonghwasheart

Fate made coming together easy.

But every path was difficult.

Worlds have been brought together by the loss of Prince Yeosang's memories. Jongho, Yeosang's most important person, will come face to face with the very thing he fears most: Yeosang losing every memory he's ever had of him. But with the help of Seonghwa, a mage whose smiles are fake and his powers hidden by his own secret guilt, and Hongjoong, a sword wielding, former palace bodyguard to Prince Yunho who takes Jongho under his wing, perhaps all hope is not lost.

All it will take is a little inter-dimensional travel. Maybe a little love. But a whole lot of trust.

(Or: a self-indulgent Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle AU for Ateez)

Words: 9981, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Ateez: World Chronicle

Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M, Multi

Characters: Kim Hongjoong, Park Seonghwa, Jeong Yunho, Kang Yeosang, Choi San, Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung, Choi Jongho, skz will eventually come in, interdimensional stray kids, Stray Kids Ensemble, Eden, Original Characters, Multiple Background Original Characters

Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Magic, Romance, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Fighting, Dimension Travel, Violence, Blood, Hurt/Comfort, Mages, Eventual Smut, Aged-Up Character(s), There's some talk of violence, But I try and keep it not too gruesome for now, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, It's tsubasa honestly that's the thing, Rated E for probably eventual smut, Not Beta Read, no beta we die like men