As night fell upon the dusty expanse of land, it was colder than the night before because of the storm that had occured earlier. Seonghwa shivered; being wounded was definitely not helping with keeping the cold at bay.

The Eleven Prince coughed as he sat near the fire Jongho had graciously created. Where they got the firewood to light it, Hongjoong had no clue, but the blue haired boy suspected it was probably because they had an enchanted bag or something that kept the firewood in it. Hongjoong inwardly laughed, suddenly reminded of a movie series he enjoyed called Harry Potter.

As Seonghwa coughed again, Hongjoong glanced worriedly at the Prince.

"Do you need another blanket? You seem a bit sick there Seonghwa" Hongjoong spoke softly.

"No, no I'm fine" Seonghwa managed a weak smile before he sneezed, his nose and cheeks flushed and his eyes red and puffy and watery.

"You look like absolute crap Seonghwa" Hongjoong sighed, "go into the tent and sleep"

Seonghwa went to argue with Hongjoong, but stopped himself, turning back to the fire, unmoving. A heavy silence fell over the two as Jongho and San sat on the other side of the fire.

"There's something different about you" Seonghwa hums, sniffling, "Elya is Yunho's horse, and she doesn't take a liking to strangers so easily unless they are sorcerers like Yunho or Jongdae or Byeongkwan and Junhee" Seonghwa explains.

"Wait, back up, who are Byeongkwan and Junhee? You never mentioned those names to me before" Hongjoong blinked.

"Those two are a bit...eccentric" Seonghwa chuckled, suddenly sneezing again as he went to continue, "they live in Aurorialis. Together they created a home underwater near the castle. They casted spells so that water cannot enter so it's completely breathable. Both have lovers who are merman warriors, although Jun has two; Donghun and Yuchan. Byeongkwan's husband is Yeosang's personal protector, was his babysitter when Sangie was a child and also the general of Aurorialis' army, and his name is Sehyoon" Seonghwa smiled fondly, "I've known Sehyoon a long time, and he and I are very alike in some ways"

"So...out of all the people you know, who's the oldest?" Hongjoong blinks.

Seonghwa half smirked, chuckling softly, "I stopped ageing at 21, so if we're going age wise, I'm the oldest. However, Yunho is actually the oldest of our close knit friend group" Seonghwa hummed, "I know a lot of people; it's my job to, but there are only few I trust implicitly. Even out of my close friends, I trust San, Yunho, Jongho, Yeosang and Sehyoon the most"

"Who have you known the longest?" Hongjoong asks, half expecting Seonghwa to say either Yeosang or Yunho.

"San" Seonghwa said without hesitation, "I've known him the longest. Both Pixies and Fairies are immortal like Elves, but the difference is that Pixies stop ageing at different points, but mostly between 13 and 50. San stopped ageing at around the same time I did, but he's 20"

"Pixies can stop ageing as young as 13!?" Hongjoong exclaims.

"Mhm" Seonghwa sniffles, sneezing again.

Hongjoong blinks, a very silly question coming to mind. Him being him, he asks it anyway.

"Do you know who the oldest Pixie is?" Hongjoong asks, "or, has there been a Pixie that's lived for like, a really long time but died?"

"The youngest ever Pixie, but also the oldest, is Hyun-Jae, or JaeJae as we call her" Seonghwa smiles, "she stopped ageing at 10, which is completely impossible, and she's the only living case of a Pixie who stoped ageing at such a young age. She lives in the Elven Kingdom, so she's protected. She's..." Seonghwa trails off.

"I take it she's pretty special" Hongjoong grins.

"Mikaelis wants to use her power, because she's half Sorceress" Seonghwa sighed, "that's why people think that she stopped ageing so young"

Hongjoong just nods, turning back to the fire.

"You can feel it though, can't you?" Seonghwa suddenly asks, "that there's something different about yourself?"

Hongjoong went to deny it, but something deep in his heart told him that Seonghwa was onto something. He knew he had to find out why he felt so...at home in a place so unfamiliar to him. He knew there must be a reason why he felt like he belonged there.

He just didn't know when, or how he would find out...

I rarely say this, but I'm actually quite happy with the direction this fic is taking UwU