Main Summary:

Emil was having a peaceful night in the comfort of his bed with the usual nightmares until a large man appeared in his dream, and the next thing he knew, he was off on a life-changing quest strapped with a sword and his only friend. The earth crumbles underneath their feet and beasts come out into the mortal world as they make their way through the alarmed streets, having to leave behind Emil's brother who shoved them out of their shabby apartment and said 'run'. Giant wolves attacking the city? Immortal gods who act like children? Long-Lost daddy issues? Welcome to the downfall of Emil's life.

Ships: HongIce, SuFin, DenNor

Chapter 1- Run.

When Emil woke up early that morning, he wasn't expecting to spend his afternoon out on the streets of Manhattan on the run from some unknown force to a destiny he never thought could happen. He wasn't expecting to see his older brother get shoved to the ground by something that was hard to make out in the darkness of their shabby apartment. He wasn't expecting to wake up on the day where his life would shatter into pieces right in front of his eyes.

But until then, life seemed to be going on like it usually would. The bright sun was hanging high in the winter sky and clouds drifted by lazily like the pedestrians down on the sidewalk. The young teen had just woken up from one of his regular nightmares and was staring up at the ceiling as he mused over the visions he saw in his sleep, trying to ignore the loud TV in the living room. There was Fire. There always was fire. The hot flames would surround him, slowly growing bigger and bigger with each passing , there was an owl in front of him, watching him spiral deeper into the nightmare with it's unnatural piercing blue eyes. Though this time, there was a wolf. The sudden change in his dreams should have made him a bit suspicious, but it wasn't important, right? The wolf, a rather large one, would send shivers down the teen's back every time he thought about it and freeze him in his spot. The beast would tower over the scalding flames, it's blood-red eyes would study him closely like he was a delicious piece of meat before it pounced, making him wake up in a cold sweat.

A shuddering breath left his dry lips as he thought about the strange dream, not understand why exactly his heart was beating so rapidly over something so trivial. He ran a hand through his snow-white hair and almost ripped a chunk off his head when he heard a loud crash outside his and his brother's bedroom, taking him by surprise. He quickly got out of his bed and threw the door open, surveying the chaotic and messy scene. His eyes widened when he saw the older male on the floor, surrounded by broken plates and cups, food and drinks splattered on the floor. "Lukas!"

Lukas shook his head and clutched his chest tightly with his right hand before pulling himself up with his left one, holding onto the kitchen counter as he started to slip on all the spilled juice. Emil quickly gripped his arm and held onto him before hauling him up onto his feet more easily. "Damn it Lukas...This is why I tell you to go to the hospital, you're getting worse!"

His brother shook his head again and waved him off. "I'm fine, I don't need the hospital. My magic's just acting up."

Emil rolled his eyes and picked up the broom in the corner of the cramped up kitchenette, sweeping all the bacon and ceramic away from Lukas so he wouldn't fall and get a face-full of delicious meat and painful shards. "Stop using that stupid 'magic is acting up' excuse, it's getting old..I'm not a kid anymore, Lukas. Just say the truth. Is it your heart?"

The teen watched the other closely, trying to mask the look of worry on his face. He remembered the first time his older brother had a similar attack and recalled the huge amount of fear that was in his heart at that time. He was just a small innocent boy, he was alone and the thought of his brother going away forever was too much for him to handle. Magic was the only excuse that would comfort him every time Lukas had his attacks.

But now it was just getting annoying.

"It's none of that." Lukas claimed before he snatched the broom out of Emil's hands to continue the clean up, acting like he didn't have some sort of heart attack earlier. "Bad things are going to happen, my magic can sense that and it's reacting to it."

"You've been saying that since Mor died and nothing happened."

"Maybe back then, no." He put the broom away and tossed a rag over to Emil so he could mop up the orange juice quickly. "But one of these days, something will happen. I can feel it." The teen scoffed and rolled his eyes again at how dramatic his brother was being before kneeling down to scrub the floor free of the sticky substance. "Yeah, to you. One day you'll get sent straight to the hospital and you'll never get out alive..." He trailed off and looked down at his lap guiltily as he stopped scrubbing at the tiles, trying his best to blink the pitiful tears away- embarrassed that he was being so weak.

He felt two arms wrap around his chest in a comforting manner, rubbing his back soothingly which were then pushed off of him angrily. "Stop that, I don't need your pity hugs."

He didn't notice the hurt look in Lukas' dark, mysterious violet eyes. Not that he cared in the first place. Why should he? His brother was just some jerk that didn't care about his own health and spend practically all day at work, doing weird 'magical' things that creeped out the neighbors.

After they cleaned up the mess silently, Emil took his brother's place at the stove and told him to go lay down on the couch to rest up and relax while he made breakfast with whatever food was in the fridge. He cursed at how bare it looked and reminded himself to go buy some food for the both of them later on in the afternoon since all they had left was a carton of eggs and a small pack of sausages. As he started cooking, he heard a small groan coming from his brother on the couch. "I'm fine, I swear. Lemme do my things."

Emil clenched his fists and snapped, "No! You just had a fucking heart attack, I'm not letting you do anything. What kind of shitty brother would I be!?"

Lukas scowled and sat up abruptly, glaring at the young teen. "Oi. Language. I'm the one taking care of you here."

He huffed and rolled his eyes, putting the food into two plates before placing them neatly on the counter, "Yeah right, as if..." he muttered to himself before he dug into his breakfast hungrily.

Emil didn't notice the way Lukas stormed over to the opposite side of the counter, as he was too busy thinking about all the things he had to do that day- He knew he had to buy some more food at the small market nearby before he'd go meet up with his friend at the park and spend the day with him. The plates and the cutlery shook slightly when his brother slammed his hands down onto the counter-top, glaring threateningly at the startled teen. At that moment, he knew that he messed up- but he wasn't about to go up to his brother sucker up to him in an attempt to get him to forgive Emil. He was way too stubborn to do that, he had to stand his ground. "What did you mean by that, Emil?"

"I meant what I said." He crossed his arms gruffly and jutted out his chin, looking his fuming brother up and down. "You're barely ever home. And when you are, you're busy doing god knows what."

Emil watched Lukas curl his hands into tight, trembling fists while his jaw stiffened. "I work hard to keep us under this roof- it's not my fault I have to work longer hours so we make enough money to be comfortable. Plus, when I'm here with you, you're never paying attention to me- don't you want to spend time with me?"

"Maybe it's because I don't want to spend time with you!" He snapped, slamming his hands onto the counter in front of his brother's clenched fists, trying his best to match the older boy's glare in an attempt to get his point across.

And he did- but he took it too far.

A thick silence hung in the air like a large curtain, suffocating the teen, keeping him from saying what was on his mind. He wanted to move away from his brother and apologize for screaming at him, for being a horrible sibling that didn't appreciate the only family he had left- but nothing came out. His eyes were blown wide open with what he had said to Lukas and he started to hate himself when he saw his brother turn his back on Emil and walk away towards the open living room. "Lukas..."

"If you have such a problem with me, then you can leave."

"L-Lukas that's not what I wanted-"

His brother quickly turned to him, his cold purple eyes sent violent shivers down his spine which made him step back fearfully, pressing his back against the fridge. Emil noticed that his irises seemed to glow in the dimly-lit room, which seemed to lodge an unsettled feeling deep into his rapidly pounding heart. Before Lukas could snap back a response and send them spiralling into a heated argument, the doorbell rang. Emil gave a sigh of relief and headed over to answer, but he was quickly pushed aside by his brother, who threw the door open like some drunk maniac.

"They're here." A familiar voice said from the outside, which Emil instantly recognized as his best friend Leon Wang. He tried to move around Lukas, but he kept the teen away from seeing what was going on outside.

"Are you sure? It's too soon, it's still winter."

"I'm sure. The..Leader is on his way here right now. We have to hurry."

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?!" Emil protested, pushing Lukas away from the door so he could see what was going on, frowning when he noticed the distressed look on his Cantonese friend's face and the prominent heavy bags under his eyes. "Leon..?"

They ignored the young teen's demanding question, glancing around the apartment nervously. Lukas sighed and placed his hands behind his own neck, fumbling slightly, a look of worry and regret was evident on his face based on the way his lips were downturned. After a few quick seconds of fumbling and sighing repeatedly, Lukas held out a golden chain with a compass charm hanging neatly from the center of the necklace. "Take this, you'll need it."

"N-need it?" Emil watched as his brother took his hand and placed the piece of jewelry in his open palm, curling the teen's fingers around it so he was holding onto it tightly. "What do I need it for? What's going on?"

"So many questions and not enough time. Listen, I'm sorry this has to happen so soon- especially after that fight. But you have to get out of here quickly."

"I-I'm not leaving you, who'll take care of you when you have those heart atta-" He was quickly interrupted when he heard a loud explosion outside, causing the apartment to tremble as windows broke and car alarms blared, making them fall to the ground.

Once the shaking stopped, Leon and Emil sprung up to their feet, holding onto the doorway. The teen held out a hand to his brother in an attempt to help him up as well, but Lukas shook his head and swatted him away. "Go."

"I'm not going without you!"

"Run." The older male looked up at his brother from his spot on the floor and gave him a rough push as he got up onto his knees, watching as the Cantonese boy grabbed Emil's hand and pulled him away from the apartment and down the flights of stairs.

Before Emil was pulled out of the hallway, he caught a glimpse of his brother struggling to get up onto his feet before a dark shadow fell down on top of him, pushing him back onto the floor. But now the young Teen was out on the streets, letting his friend pull him along the panicked pathways of the city as he helplessly watched his apartment building tremble from the quakes, knowing that Lukas was in danger. But for now, all Emil could do was twist through the crowded sidewalks of manhattan towards an unkown fate.