Chapter Text
For all he had known and remembered, ALVER's home was the space his Mother had spared for him near the top of the tower. He knew that bellow the tower were his mother's space, and his mother had taken him there two times in the twenty years of his life.
Alver had never touched the grass far bellow the tower, his mother had forbidden him to come down even though he wanted to do just that sometimes. But he listens, because his mother was always right.
However, Alver couldn't help but be curious and wonder. Especially every night of his birthday, when there will be lights coming from between the mountains and up to the sky like they were stars trying to get back to where they truly belongs.
But Alver was afraid of mother, so he listens and never goes down the tower.
It was also one of the reasons why he has so many hobbies. And the result of his monotonous life…
At 07.00 a.m. he woke up and started cleaning. After 15 minutesf cleaning, he cooks and eat. And after that he read books, after that he knits and sews clothes. He tries dresses as his mother just keep giving him more and more and he do like them, so he wears them. He also paints in canvas, the wall, the door, the window, everywhere.
Oh! And there is one more thing that kept him occupied- Cale, his Chameleon companion that he named after his mother, who's name is Cale Barrow.
Cale is a smart chameleon. He could read, play chess, play cards, and dance! Alver always dress him up in tiny dresses that he wears even though Cale looked so exhausted. However, the favorite thing that he likes to do were sleeping. Oh, Cale loves his sleep, but Alver was bored, so Alver always drag him to do something most of the time.
Today was no different.
But as Alver gaze at his painting on the only empty spot on the wall… the lights… he wondered. 'When will something different happen?'
—
CHOI HAN peeked from behind a corner, he sees a guard staying guard at the hallway and was turning around to the opposite side of where they were. He quickly motioned for his partners in theft to slide quickly to the other side of the forked way where the guards weren't looking. Venion and Neo understood and skirted within military seconds before Choi Han followed behind as quietly and quickly as he could.
He knew then that this one was going to be easy even with how heavily guarded the Palace of the Star were. The three of them know what was in the middle of this Palace, the crown of the missing princess and if they managed to steal it? They will be rich!
Venion got the map out once they were up in the roof of the Star Palace, don't ask how, they don't even know how. Once he checked the location, he shared a look with his partners and nodded, a grin painting his face.
"It's right under us." He says in a whisper. Neo fist pumped. "Just as they said, there is a hole here, Han, move it away."
As the strongest in the group, Choi Han did as he was told. Once the square hole was moved to the side, Venion spoke again, "Good, now who's going down?" Both Venion and Choi Han didn't even hesitate to turn their head towards Neo.
Neo's eyes widened, "me?! No- nonono- no way i'm-"
"Don't wiggle your butt, Neo! It's not the time- maybe when I go-" "Shut it Ven." Choi Han gave Venion an unimpressed look while he was holding and slowly getting Neo down to where the crown is. He was actually glad that there were no alarms yet in this world, unlike the one where he had came from. He was also glad that Venion and Neo found him, he just couldn't stand it when they flirt in front of him.
Meanwhile, Neo wasn't having the best day of his life as he descended from the roof with ropes around his waist. He really tries not to wiggle, but it was proven to be hard since he doesn't feel so good with how the rope feel around his stomach, even with the layers that divide them from his skin.
He was very glad when his feet touches the ground. Without any further ado, he picked the glass box, throw a glance at the guard who was yawning, picked it higher and higher until he got it open enough for him to grab the crown and slide it to his arms.
Venion saw this and nodded at Choi Han to pull the rope quickly. Choi Han did as told, but Neo wasn't done placing the glass box back yet when he did and the glass box slipped from his hands and shattered on impact when it hit the ground.
Silence filled the room as the guard froze for a second and turned around to see the three of them with the crown on Neo's left arm.
They look at each other's eyes, eye to eye, and then- Choi Han pulled the rope quicker and got Neo out of the room, they quickly packed their tools as they heard the guard shouts in alarm about thieves and intruders.
Once they finished packing, they left the scene quickly.
All three ran on the roof and jumped from roof to roof, soldiers and guards were heard everywhere and the bell was ringing in their ears as they ran.
When Choi Han sees a dead end, he didn't hesitate to lift both Venion and Neo like a sack on both his shoulders, Neo almost let go of the crown but fortunately he didn't when Choi Han picked him up. Without a bit of hesitation, Choi Han jumped off the ledge of the roof when the guards shouts were on the roof.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANSJDKDNDJEKENDJDHIEIEJEOSJDBHSHEEK" Neo shrieked but quieted down when Choi Han set him back on the ground.
"You alright, darling?" Venion asked, worried for his husband, who was looking very pale.
"… N-never- never put me in that situation ever- ever again!" Neo whispered, definitely traumatized and Choi Han had the audacity to look guilty.
"Sorry.." He didn't get to continue because they heard guards shouts again and saw a mighty brown horse who looked like he was looking for a prey to stomped on and another one who looked intimidating enough but not as much as the first one. And they didn't say another word but ran.
Venion quickly led them to a short cut through the woods that the horses and their riders follow. It was easy for runners to run through but when it was a horse? Not so much.
Once they got to hide under a large root, Neo gave Choi Han the crown. "You hide it! You could run faster than a horse-"
"Han, go deeper into the forest and hide that crown. Neo and I will run to Rosalyn, so make sure you got back without getting caught, alright?" Choi Han nodded.
He quickly put the crown in between the tools he carried and nodded to both of them, "you two, be safe."
"Ha! Don't look down on us, we can out smart those guards any time of the day- at least Venion could. I just follow." The way Neo looked at Venion make Choi Han gag, he'd rather not see them do that. Not because he was disgusted, more because he saw them like his brothers, no brother want to see their brothers kiss each other right in front of them.
Anyway, Choi Han shaked that thought away and said one more see you later before he ran deeper into the forest. He knew well that the horses will follow the sound, and he was right when he heard hooves following him.
Choi Han skillfully avoided brances and roots that stuck out from the ground. When he got glances of which horse was following him, he saw that it was the carnivorous horse that seemed to be liking the thought of Choi Han's meat. But to Choi Han, it was far from likeable, so he play tricks on the horse and the guard riding it.
It was a long game of chase before he finally got the guard to fall off the horse and the horse to also collapses. Choi Han celebrated a little bit before he bolted out again and keep running deeper into the forest to find a good place to hide the crown.
And that… that was when he find a hidden entrance to somewhere.
He doesn't know it yet, but Choi Han was going to find a very beautiful princess… yes, a very beautiful princess.
—
ALVER was doing his afternoon cleaning when he heard a faint sound of steps from the ground of the tower. He looked over to Cale and saw the red chameleon perched on the window, looking down at whoever had come. It was probably mother, but then he remembered- mother doesn't come home at noon.
So he quickly put down his cleaning tools and went to see who was walking towards the tower from the window besides Cale. And there, he saw him.
A man with short black raven hair, a nice built, and with a bag on his side. He looks disheveled, but it could be because he had ran through the tunnel. The tunnel that his mother had spelled so no one could enter.
Alver knew his mother was a witch, it was very obvious. But she was never mean to Alver, so Alver never really cared for what his mother was. It doesn't matter if his mother keep brushing his hair to the point it was as long as it was now. But he noticed. Alver always noticed.
He could notice the spell his mother uses. He learned and had tried it sometimes. It was always a fascination to Alver. And he always sees his mother as someone powerful as well.
So it was shocking to see someone- a man, broke through his mother's spell and walked through the ground and towards the tower where Alver was.
He quickly hide away when he sees the man look up. Uh oh, what is that man going to do? This is not good. If mother found out, that man was going to die!
But Alver didn't show himself either and just keep listening prepared tools and seems to be climbing the tower towards where he was.
Thinking of a way to defend himself, Alver grabbed the only thing near him. It was a palette. Uh oh…
But he got no time! The man was already there, under the window- wait… how did he get there THAT fast? It feels like it had been only three minutes since he was at the middle of the tower and now he's here?
No- never mind that-
Alver hide himself behind the curtains of the window. And when the man stepped in the room, Cale didn't wait for instruction before he planted himself on the man's face, throwing the man off guard and giving Alver a chance to hit him with the metal palette.
It didn't do anything but make the palette Dent and Alver couldn't help but growl and hit the man directly with his fist on the head. And that- that did knock him out.
Alver didn't take anymore seconds to tie the man up in a chair with his tick hair. And then, just for another safety, Alver grabbed a more durable weapon- a frying pan. And hit the guy's head again for a good measure.
Unfortunately, there is a dent on his pan now. Ugh. Alver quickly muttered a spell, his hair glowed a little and golden thread came from his hand to the pan, fixing it instantly. And then Alver muttered another one to strengthen it. Now it was as hard as a titanium, hopefully it won't break.
Wait- Alver look at the man and then look at Cale, who was on the man's black hair looking rather comfortable and staring at him with his usual bored look. But there was a knowing glint in it and with reluctant, Cake moved to the man's shoulder and Alver readied his pan and then-
PRANG-
It was loud that Alver covered his ears. When he opened his eyes, he was met with Cale's unimpressed look, which was insulting since it came from a chameleon, but it was Cale, Alver was used to it.
Alver then checked his pan and was happy to see it fine without a single dent. The man, however, were looking uncomfortable with the pain on his head, so Alver quickly muttered a healing spell. He was so glad it worked.
Sighing in relief, a thought suddenly came to him. Alver straightened his back and look at his pan, and the things around him.
A smile bloomed on his face, oh yeah… it was time to try something new- spells.
Cale the chameleon sighed behind him before walking away to sleep in his bed that Alver had made for him. It was Alver's business not his, he'll just sleep and hope nothing too bad happened to the tower or the strange new male human.
—
CHOI HAN felt like a truck just hit him when he came to it. And the first thing he noticed was how his body was aching so bad. The second thing was the rope that strapped him to a chair. And the third thing was that he was in a small space and how dark it was, most likely a closet.
Ugh… what happened?
Nevermind that. Choi Han tries to get out of the rope that tied him up, however, something wasn't right when the rope didn't rip like it usually did. Which was weird.
He tried again, it didn't budge.
Shit.
The only time it happened were when he met Rosalyn for the first time. That witch know what she was doing alright.
Does that mean he entered a witch home by chance again? He groaned, just his luck.
But then he quieted down when he heard voices. His hearing picked them up rather easily with how enhanced it was after he came to this world and trained it in the North part of this vast forest just to survive the monsters that roamed that part of the forest.
Back to the present, he heard the voice of a young man, could be his age with how rough he sounded, "-elcome home, Mother. How was your day?"
Mother? Mother?! Shit. That could only mean one thing. There are two of them. One was still in training and the other is already mature and one more powerful. Could be more powerful than Rosalyn.
Rosalyn and Venion had told him all about the witches that lived deeper inside the forest, and there was also a rumour about one of the witches here that kidnapped the prince of the Roan, the Kingdom where he, Venion, and Neo had stolen the crown of said prince.
Well- it could be a coincidence. Maybe this was just one of many witches domain that he had accidentally entered again- just like that one time with Eruhaben, the ancient witch. Eruhaben told him that he could maintain his youth because of a flower and the littlest dragon blood that ran through his veins. That was why he could live for a thousand years.
Choi Han hasn't visited him again yet. But he will worry about that after he got out of this place.
He then focused back on the conversation between the daughter and mother.
This time, the Mother voice, sounded older than the daughter's voice, resounded, "You didn't go down, did you?"
A meek sound from the daughter was heard, "no Mother, i did not." Choi Han frowned, what was happening? No, focus.
"Good," the mother sounds pleased, he then heard a bag being dropped on a wooden surface. "You cleaned again?"
"Yes Mother!" This time Choi Han heard a smile in the voice of the daughter. "I cleaned 4 times today! And-"
"That's enough." He clenched his teeth, hearing the Mother's harsh tone to the daughter did not set well to Choi Han. "Let's brush your hair." He didn't need to hear the confirmation from the daughter as he heard a spell being chanted.
And after that, he keep listening in as the Mother brushes the daughter's hair, they were now talking about the daughter's day and Choi Han frowns deepen with how monotonous the daughter's voice was, it was as if she was reciting something that she does everyday.
For awhile, nothing happened. Until suddenly, he heard an angelic voice sang a song.
"Flower gleam and glow," something was glowing gold from the small gap of the closet. "let your powers shine." It keep on spreading like a line, a one big and long line, "Make the clock reverse," Choi Han realised at the third verse that the glowing line were hair, the hair of the daughter, who was singing with the Mother, "bring back what once was mine"
"Thank you, my flower." There was adornment in the voice of the Mother, but Choi Han feel oddly disgusted. The Mother was definitely treating the daughter like a tool not like a human being. "It is late, you should sleep."
"Alright Mother." The daughter said and Choi Han heard the sound of footsteps walking away, a door being opened, and then the Mother's last words to the Daughter.
"Sleep tight my flower, you know i love you." But to Choi Han it sounded like an empty promise, and that was saying something since he was an outsider.
"I love you too, Mother." The daughter, though, sounded rather genuine. And then the sound of someone stepping onto stairs were heard along with a door closing with a click, one that sounded so loud with how tense he was.
He then heard a sigh and the daughter suddenly spoke, "Cale, open the closet." Wait, there was another person other than the two witch?! And-
Before he could think any further, the twin door of the closet he was tied in suddenly opened and he finally was able to see something other than the darkness, though not so much since the only light came from the fire place and the candle that was hold by a very beautiful looking young man, who could be a few years younger than him.
The young man wear a dress, reminding him that all witches that he knew wear long skirts or just low shirts that it covered their knees, male or female. He was really pale and have a pair of beautiful blue eyes that reminded him of diamonds. Not only that, he also have a long… very long blond hair. Choi Han can't see where that long blond hair end, it feels like he wouldn't find it. And on the young man's hand, there was a cooking pan that glows golden if only slightly.
He was so focuses on the young man that when a long tongue slap his face, he was quite surprised. "Ouch-! What the-" he look at what it was that had slapped him and saw a red colored lizard thatthat wwwas looking at him with the most disappointed look a lizard could pull.
"Focus on me, not on Cale." That same voice that he had assumed were the 'Daughter' came from the young man and he look back to him, he had the time to wonder if what he was feeling as he look at the beautiful guy were what Venion feel everytime he look at Neo, because Choi Han feel like he was meeting a God. "I'm sure glad that you are awake now, and I'm grateful you didn't say anything when Mother arrived because if you did, the consequence wouldn't be just on you but also on me."
Choi Han wasn't really listening to him, too mesmerized to pay attention. But then the lizard just had to slap him again. This time, the young man also gave him a disappointed look, which- hurt.
"Have you stopped staring just yet? What's your name?" This time, Choi Han made a face.
"Why would i give my name to a stranger?" The young man rolled his eyes at Choi Han's words.
"You're the intruder. And i have you tied up, mind you that i used quite the spell to make that rope unbreakable. You were a good test subject by the way." The way the young man brightly smiled when he talked about Choi Han being a good test subject bring a shiver up the other worlder's spine.
"… fine, my name is… uhh… S-Sword Rider!" He saw the young man cringed at the name and from the corner of his eyes, he also saw the red lizard make a face, which was embarrassing since it came from a literal lizard. "… yeah, I'm S-Sword Rider."
The beautiful young man grimaced while from the corner of his eyes, he sees the red lizard pinching the bridge of its eyes. It was weird how the lizard was acting like a human, but it must be a witch-familiar thingy since Ohn and Hong, Rosalyn's twin familiar, was also the same.
"… . You have quite the… unique name… Sword," both of them cringed at that but the young man gained his composure faster than Choi Han, "nevermind that, why did you came here and how did you find this place?" The beauty pointed his pan at Choi Han's head, which was not really that intimidating, most weapons doesn't work on him because how durable he was, but considering the fact that this beautiful young man is a witch, he could have strengthened the thing and made it so hard that it could actually harm Choi Han.
"I… Was sight seeing! Yeah, i was sight seeing and i didn't realize i entered a witch's domain… which happens quite… a lot." Choi Han managed an awkward grin, hoping this young witch would buy it.
However, his luck had runs out the moment he entered these witches' domain. So the reaction he got was a roll of eyes from the blond witch.
"Did you think I'm stupid? No way you were just sight seeing- wait.. Hm…" the witch seems to think while Choi Han was beating himself up for being a bad liar. Venion had taught him how to lie but he still couldn't do that, add a small but of truth to your lies? He doesn't get it at all.
Choi Han was screwed and the red lizard was still looking very disappointed at him.
Please stop! You're just a lizard- why are you looking so disappointed at me?! Choi Han cried internally.
He knew well when he come back- if he come back at all- he would be scolded severely by both Venion and Rosalyn. Not to mention Eruhaben!
Yeah, he was screwed.