Chapter Text
Torches and candles burned around the room. It was circular, as these often had to be to harness the energies around in a circle of power, of protection. People who went there were made to wear veils to cover half of their faces as a token of respect for the deity they worshiped, all of them wore black.
In the firelight, Mingi's veil sparkled, reflecting the fire, and drawing the attention of the spectators once focused on their leader. He had been given a special one for the night.
His parents had looked proud when their archmage had asked one of 'his boys' to deliver it to their porch. It came inside a gold-gilded wooden box, and the inside where the metal mesh mask lay was covered in red velvet, the same color as Mingi's hair. It had been crafted for him, their coven's soon-to-be blood sacrifice.
He walked from the door of their ceremonial room to the center once he had been given permission. Someone else had been responsible for getting him ready for the announcement of his demise. Mingi's hair had been fluffed and curled, making his face appear more delicate, his eyes were lined with kohl and his lips glossed with balm before his veil was put on, the metal delicately resting on the bridge of his nose. They had let him wear his usual suit but added accessories to make him stand out. Silver badges and chains that matched the mask were pinned to a sash put carefully across his chest. His clothes had never been so perfectly pressed, not a single wrinkle or fold was out of place.
At the center, their archmage stood with the ceremonial athame in his hand, offering it to the starry sky and the full moon that blessed them through the skylight once Mingi stepped close to the sigil drawn on the floor. Mingi kneeled before him as was expected of him to do. Maleable, submissive, exemplar. He had been trained as the perfect pupil of the man in front of him, often leading to rumors he'd occupy the place of the archmage once his time on their plane had ceased.
"Our glorious Lord has chosen the one whom he wishes to have at his altar on the next full moon."
"Hail the child he calls to his lair."
Their voices drown out any thought, a hivemind-like clamor.
"Our prodigy of the arts, my dearest student, Mingi of the Song family shall be taken to the holy temple in which he will be offered as volunteer sacrifice to our beloved Lord."
"Hail the child he calls to his lair."
Mingi wasn't an enthusiastic volunteer. He had been hand-picked by the archmage, 'the only with abilities and beauty worthy of our Lord, little lamb'. Mingi was resigned. Why would he deny such honor if he was the only fitting sacrifice?
"Stand, child."
Mingi obeyed, rising to his feet as the archmage brought the athame down. The man grabbed left his wrist roughly turning the palm upward.
"May your blood bring our Lord joy."
"Hail the child he calls to his lair."
Mingi bled on the wooden floor, the skin of his wrist slit open by the athame. He watched as the archmage drew into his flesh with it, biting his lip to suppress the pained sounds from bubbling up. An upside-down triangle, one horizontal line splitting it in two, and a puncture on the largest portion. The cut wasn't deep enough to have Mingi bleed to death, it wasn't the right moment. Instead, the blade cut only deep enough to make blood drip and seep into the wood beneath, only deep enough so the cuts would leave a scar for the days to come. Until Mingi had his throat cut over the marble altar of their main temple.
To the trained eye, the symbol would read as blood. It marked him as their god's chosen one.
The archmage stepped away, and Mingi kept holding his arm up as he was expected to. He watched as his mentor walked over to the closest fire pit, passing the flat side of the athame over the flame, walked back to where Mingi was, and pressed the flat side to the cuts he had just made on Mingi's skin. He managed to reel back the scream of pain from the burn, but not the tears in his eyes or the tremors of his body. The mage smiled, pleased by Mingi's decorum. He grabbed Mingi by the chin and lifted his face to examine it further.
"Precious little lamb, shedding tears of joy to be our Lord's sacrifice."
Pride. His mentor was proud of him, and the simple knowledge made Mingi euphoric.
"Our sacrifice has been announced under the eyes of the moon. He shall journey to our temple under its protection to honor his place in this coven."
"Hail the child he calls to his lair."
The archmage extended his arm for Mingi, who laced both of his onto it, and, joined like that, they walked out the doors of their ceremonial building.
Mingi recognized the place he was being taken to as the studio the archmage held his study session with. Mingi had been there plenty of times through the years he had been an apprentice, doing his best to surpass his family's expectations and the archmage's; who had so kindly taken him under his care when he was first introduced to the coven. There had been others with him but they either gave up or disappeared. Mingi could never recall their faces, his memory had blurred them into barely-there presences.
'So young, yet I can feel your potential radiating from you, little lamb.' Mingi had been told, a gentle hand cradling his hair.
There was someone else in the room when they entered. A short man, seemingly close to Mingi's age. Mingi's eyes widened with how bright his clothes were. A fur coat in red, blue, and white, jeans, a white tee, and lots of dangly accessories such as necklaces and earrings. His hair was blue. It was like seeing an abstract painting in a Catholic church. Mingi would've known, his family had attended to those before they joined the cult.
"There you are, Kim Hongjoong. I was expecting you would join us in the ceremony."
"I'm here only to be the escort of your 'little lamb' to the slaughterhouse. You hired me and my crew for our competency, not for our interest in joining your cult."
Mingi expected the archmage to counter with something. To slap this Kim Hongjoong across the face as he'd seen the man do with many indiscipline apprentices over the years. Never Mingi. Mingi had always strived to be -----
"You're Song Mingi?" Hongjoong was looking at him, eyes fierce. Mingi hadn't ever seen eyes that held such power, he felt weird being under their scrutiny. Hongjoong held himself high, with confidence and pride.
"Uh, yes."
"Kim Hongjoong, captain of Aurora, the ship that will be taking you," Mingi observed the innumerous dangly earrings on his ears as he gave a short bow, the braids on his hair, and the necklaces. Hongjoong was hard not to look at. Mingi caught himself searching for little details under the surface, something that could tell him more about him. It was like he had just gotten a new book on magic artifacts. "We'll be leaving as soon as the archmage says the word. Have you gathered the belongings you'll take?"
Mingi looked at the archmage. "Sir, I didn't know I should have prepared something since ----"
"Since you'll get your throat slit soon? I guessed so when I didn't see any suitcases when they asked me to wait here." Hongjoong supplied. Mingi glared at him, and Hongjoong smirked. "It's almost a month-long trip, you will need to change underwear at least, won't you?"
Mingi felt his face and ears warm.
"Fret not, little lamb, I requested your mother to prepare a few of your belongings for the trip. They might have delivered it to your immediate, Hongjoong." A hand spanned Mingi's lower back. "You can take him once you recite to me the commendations I made."
"Not to let him take off the veil unless he's going to sleep or eating. No to see or let the crew see his face or his body when he changes. Avoid touching him. Avoid talking to him."
"I want you to think of the last of the ones you listed." The archmage's hand went to Mingi's waist. "We wouldn't want the little lamb getting distressed before the ceremony."
Hongjoong hadn't spared the archmage a glance as he listed all the requirements for their trip, his gaze focused solely on Mingi. "That would be awful indeed."
The archmage pushed Mingi toward Hongjoong. "You may take him."
Mingi turned to face the archmage again. "But, sir, I haven't said my farewells, my family ----"
"They wished you safe travels, little lamb." The archmage fixed Mingi with a stern look. There would be no further discussion.
Mingi's heart ached, yet he said, "Yes, sir."
Hongjoong escorted him outside without touching or acknowledging him while they made their way to the exit of the cult's property. He couldn't say goodbye to his older brother or his parents. He would never see them again.
When they were about to cross the gates of the property, Hongjoong was given a torch to aid them in crossing the patch of trees that obscured it from a regular human's view. Mingi could sense them getting closer to the protection barrier. It had the familiar feel of the archmage's magic.
They passed with ease, the torch flickering before going off. The magic of the archmage couldn't reach that far.
Mingi felt a hand on his shoulder and Hongjoong leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Tell me where they live, I will take you there so you can say your farewells."
"What?"
"What? Don't you want to?"
Want. Did Mingi have the right to want it?
"They wished me safe travels." Mingi took the torch from Hongjoong's hand, snapping a finger and making it ignite once again. "It's enough for me."
He could almost hear the praise the archmage would've given him for showing restraint.
"I'm certain it wouldn't do any harm, if something it would give you a lighter heart." Hongjoong took the lot torch from Mingi's hand. "Wouldn't that be better for a sacrifice to have than one full of regrets?"
Mingi gnawed on his bottom lip, and Hongjoong watched his mouth move under the mask. That man was dangerous.
"You're not wrong."
"So, where should I take you, Mingi-ssi?"
Mingi grew up in a nice neighborhood. It wasn't ostentatious but had a playground where he used to play when he had free time. The school he had studied at his entire life was close enough that he could get there by walking. His parents had bought the house before Mingi or his brother were born, saving up for it so they could build their family in a safe place. At some point, they had gotten close to a few neighbors who went to the cult of Lumis and accompanied them there a few times before deciding to exchange their Sunday mass for the sabbaths. Once Mingi and his brother were old enough, their parents began taking them along.
The first time Mingi had stepped into the magic barrier that protected the church's territory, it was like breathing fresh air for the first time in all his life. His body thrummed with an energy he had never felt before. His fingertips went numb when we touched the wooden floor as he knelt beside his brother, between their parents.
He had watched the archmage go over the ceremony and felt the energy grow and expand inside the room as the other people joined the chants and further on the dances. It was like getting home after a long day at school, but far better. He never wanted to leave.
"Mingi-ssi? We're here."
Mingi looked at Hongjoong. He didn't know when they began holding hands. He let go of Hongjoong. Hopefully, the magic protection of the torch had shielded them from curious onlookers. As modern as their world, magic was most believed to be a fantasy, and those who knew it preferred it that way.
He grabbed the key they usually left shoved in the space between the metal plate with their house number and family name and the brick wall that separated the house from the street. Mingi took in a deep breath and unlocked the gate, stepping in.
At the door, his entire body felt tense.
Hongjoong noticed.
"Are you scared?"
"Yes."
Hongjoong was keen on disobeying whatever rules the archmage had stipulated in their agreement. He reached for the back of Mingi's neck, pressing his fingers on Mingi's spine and scratching his neck. Avoid touching. Avoid talking.
"You can do this."
Mingi rang the bell.