Yoosung stood on the edge of the water, ocean lapping at his ankles as he wiggled his toes down underneath the wet sand. The sun shone off the soft waves, but their roar could be heard from farther out, where they crashed upon each other before arriving to shore. Yoosung's pants were rolled up to his knees, and the boats that he, Saeran, and the Cold had arrived on could be seen down the beach, rocking gently together as the mass of people laughed and yelled together, not yet over seeing the ocean and beaches, even though they had been traveling for months from island to island.

The sun had changed. Instead of the cold, hard light that it had provided back home, this sun was full of warmth and happiness. Birds, which Yoosung had read about, floated above the ocean, bobbing on the waves when they landed.

Yoosung closed his eye and tilted his face up to the blue, cloudless sky, a faint smile on his lips. Aithne and Calida had elected new representatives to lead them, but the Cold had left Tannon to itself. Emille had smiled when they had agreed on that.

"Yoosung!" Saeran's voice rang out and Yoosung turned, looking at his husband calmly. He rubbed his thumb against his fourth finger, where a simple, white ring rested, carved expertly from the shed antlers of a reindeer, matching Saeran's.

"Hey," Yoosung called as Saeran jogged over the sand to him, smiling.

"It's beautiful here," Saeran said breathlessly, grabbing Yoosung's hand tightly.

"Should we settle here then?"

"No," Saeran replied, same as always, "We've still got so much to explore." Yoosung asked this question every time they stopped, and Saeran always gave the same answer.

"We'll be on ships, exploring, until we die on the waves, Saeran," Yoosung laughed, and Saeran rolled his eyes.

"I just want to find the-"

"Perfect place, yes I know," Yoosung teased Saeran, looking behind them at the dense green forest. "This feels pretty perfect though."

"Let's check it out a bit more before deciding," Saeran said and kissed Yoosung's nose.

"Alright."

...

Hey guys :)

So now that this whole thing is over, I'm really not quite sure what to do. I've been working on this since February, and that may seem like a really short amount of time for other writers, but I'm just really happy that I finished this... This has been my first, long-ish, completed book, and it makes me really proud. I reached my 30,000-word goal around chapter 22, so I'm pretty siked about that too... maybe I've hit 50k by now? (⊙＿⊙')

I just want to say thank you, to my beautiful Abi, who encouraged me, for Elly, who inspired my idea, and for my friends who put up with my antisocialness at lunch when I was writing

The characters actually have some semblance of a relationship to their original characters.

Yoosung- the cold represents his depression, and how he feels very trapped by it, but how the resistance is something he can depend on, his friends, and how he finds love there

Saeyoung- he's a failed joker because he always hides himself and his feelings behind jokes (i honestly love him so much okay) 

Jaehee- she's a rebel, which reminds me of how trapped she felt when she was working under Jumin, so I wanted to let her be free a bit

^also, main inspiration for her character. I saw it when I was looking for fanart to post on the chapters (aaahhh she's so pretty)

Jumin- emperor, we all know he has control issues

V- in this book, he's quite literally trapped by Rika, but in the game, he was only mentally trapped by her memory. I wanted to give him a sense of freedom at the end

Zen- a guard. I feel like, while he's very confident and vain, that has something to do with his childhood, and how hard it was

Saeran- a rebel. Well, he technically already is a rebel, and I chose him as the leader because honestly, I can imagine him as the badass-est coolest leader ever okay

MC- so MC had a very minor roll in this book, partially because every one of us is MC when we're playing. But I decided to make her Keeper of the Keys, as you 'unlock' the characters' backstories and love

Rika- okay, she doesn't need much explanation. At the beginning of the game, she's worshiped. and then you realize she's a bitch

also, the kingdoms- 

Aithne means fire (self explanatory)

Calida means most beautiful (thinking of rika with that one)

Tannon means cold (self explanatory as well)

...

  Alright, closing words:

If you've never played the game before:

and I hope this fic encourages you to download it :)

For those of you who've played the game, I hope I did it justice :)

T H A N K   Y O U for reading, for voting, for commenting, for DMing me. It all means a lot to me. I love you all <3 

and, if you've ever seen any mystic messenger meme ever, you'll get my reference when I leave you with:

bye guys ;)