The morning came with chilly temperatures that penetrated Jongho's skin even through the warmth that Yeosang's body in his arms spent. When Jongho groggily lifted his head where it had rested against the man's shoulder, Yeosang also turned to blink at him. Jongho let him lean his head on his arm for a moment longer as he reached over the man to pull the curtain that shielded them the barest bit from the room aside. Coldness hit them like the hand of a petty god that adored winter just for the misery it brought to people. With a whine, Yeosang burrowed deeper into the blanket and pressed against Jongho's chest. Shivers wracked his body.

As expected, the fire in the pot had long since suffocated in the chilly temperatures, not strong enough to fight its pull any longer. Not even a few pitiful sparks still glowed in the wood. All life had disappeared from it.

"Will it make sense to start another one? Or should we leave it?" Yeosang cleared his throat around his dizzy voice. Tired, Jongho nuzzled into his hair as he rested his eyes for a moment. The soft black curls tickled his cheeks.

"Leave it. We'll join Mingi's bunker as soon as possible." Jongho pulled back from the librarian quickly so he could tuck the blanket around the man's form before too much cold filled his tightly wrapped cocoon. Then, he ventured over to his desk to strap his gadgets to his form. The two blunderbusses he had built with Mingi's instructions for him and Yeosang laid on the tabletop, ready to clear the way into the palace. He had finished the last mechanisms needed just the night before, and now they just waited for their use.

Behind him, Yeosang gradually got out of bed, too. With sluggish taps of his feet, he managed to slip into his boots and rose to stretch. His delicate features contorted into a grimace when his spine audibly cracked.

"I hope Wooyoung didn't run into any troubles. Bricky returned without a new message." Jongho gently poked the bird in question that sat in between loads of scrap, working utensils, and unfinished projects on his table. At the touch, it whirred to life to cock its head at him curiously. Then, it fluttered over to sit on Yeosang.

"We'll see soon. Do we know how to get around the Bishops in case he isn't able to distract them?" Back to seriousness, Yeosang packed his notebook into his bag. He had scribbled in it while Jongho had been working late into the night after their other two friends had left. Upon Jongho's suggestion to leave the book here for somebody to find in case they would get locked up and fail their mission, Yeosang had shaken his head stubbornly.

"No. If I have to sit in my father's own dungeon and wait for him to decide how to get rid of me, then this will keep me busy."

Their group were no fools. They knew just how desperate their mission was and how many people would jump in their way. After this one attempt, there would be no second one, so the hope they currently put in the guilds and the rebels hidden all through Zey was enormous. Jongho didn't know how Seonghwa could trust a community that was out for his head, and that surely wouldn't come to aid him. His guess that their hatred fuelled them enough to join a movement once something occurred explained itself, though.

Yeosang and Jongho left his house behind half an hour later. Not knowing when he would be able to return, Jongho securely hid his keys in the depths of his bag.

In the few days Yeosang had spent in Zey, he had already learnt his way around the grimy alleys and wary people. He lowered his eyes to the ground, just like anybody else by now and paid keen attention to his surroundings. His huddled form blended with the dull grey walls and the ever so cryptic shadows that collected the cold. When they passed the oddly shaped lumps of forlorn animals or people on the streets, he didn't halt to check on them, and his eyes didn't catch on to their pitiful bodies to try and detects any signals of life.

Jongho knew that the high morals Yeosang held for himself got deeply damaged and found no place here. But as much as he wanted the man to be free and help every person distinguish the sombre sadness in their empty eyes, this was neither the time nor the place for that. And Yeosang understood that, too. If they wanted to help Zey, they needed to install the energy core that was with Seonghwa between the two cities. The only way to reach that was to redirect the flux from the king and thus end his prolonged life.

The idea to kill him didn't matter much to Jongho. His burning need to avenge his brother and all of Zey's people that had suffered from the king relieved him of all qualms. Yeosang, however, disliked the idea. He had stopped to deny his father's fault, but he still sought a more nonviolent way through the middle rather than allowing victims on either side.

But he had grown up in Asora. He could allow himself such luxurious thoughts.

Coming from Zey, Jongho knew perfectly well that life wasn't always as peaceful as the novels Yeosang liked to read made it out to be.

In case of an option, Jongho would still rather follow Yeosang's and Seonghwa's decisions. Those two knew better what they were dealing with than anybody else.

The walk to Mingi's home finished without a hitch. A few Spheres had crossed them, and both men had tensed up until the automatons had whirred past on their orbs that were heavy enough to crack the ice beneath them and create a trail of destruction wherever they went.

The rest of their team had already assembled in Mingi's bunker. Mingi and San hurried around busily as they readied all the equipment they might need to transfer it to Hongjoong's ship. Seonghwa sat at the table drinking tea and going over the building plan with Hongjoong. When Yeosang and Jongho stepped in, the prince threw them a fleeting glance.

"Hey, you two. Anything new from Wooyoung?"

"Nothing. He probably expects six people by tonight."

Seonghwa beckoned them over to the table. While Yeosang sat down opposite of him, Jongho got the two of them some of Mingi's bitter tea to warm up their bodies. Like liquid comfort, the beverage coursed through Jongho's body to give him back his warmth and will to live. Yeosang wrapped his nimble fingers around his mug as he studied the map that spread on the wooden surface like an inconspicuous table cloth.

"We decided to enter the tower. Hongjoong can drop us off there and keep guard from high above. We thought about splitting up since we are such a large group, but I think we might have more chance if we go in at once. According to Wooyoung, the Bishops will get in our way everywhere. Since they are more mighty than us, Mingi designed this." Seonghwa pointed out the mentioned locations on the map. Then, he nodded at the item that serviced as a weight on one of the edges. Ever since earlier, Jongho had eyed it curiously. Upon Seonghwa approval, he grabbed it to scrutinise it in detail. It resembled a weapon of some sorts, but Jongho found no cartridge for bullets on it.

"It's supposed to disrupt their energy flows by sending a magnetic wave that messes with the poles in the nethicite. Pretty afternoonified, isn't it?" Mingi threw a grin over Seonghwa's shoulder. Infectious as it was, it made Yeosang smile, too.

"A great idea, yeah. But it probably won't keep them for long."

"Maybe for long enough to make time to flee, though. We can figure it out there. From what I know, sneaking around them is our best bet anyways since they have far more blind spots than the Spheres have."

Seonghwa wagged his pen at the mechanic to endorse his proposal.

"Correct, that's what we are trying to do. In the best case, Wooyoung will find a way to lure them off. They are soldiers, not stationed guards." Seonghwa rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

"The palace will try to resolve the issue in place and not get people on the outside involved since it could mean that Gizfall hears of it and attacks. Which might make it difficult for the rebels to react when needed. We might get cornered in the throne room." He tapped the tip of his pen on the largest hall in the palace. To Jongho, the whole thing just looked complicated.

"We will try to escape through the windows if that happens. Hongjoong will stay around, but the rest of us will go in." His eyes sought Yeosang. All through the week, Seonghwa had attempted to convince Yeosang to withdraw from his current position as a key figure in their coup. More than having him by his side, Seonghwa yearned for safety for his beloved brother. Compared to the rest of them, Yeosang was soft; he wasn't a fighter. He didn't have the guts to stomach the dread and trauma and possible punishment that would come with the mission.

Yeosang was strong in his way, strong in his mind and his resilience. In Jongho's opinion, he centred all of them, but ultimately, he agreed with Seonghwa. Knowing him safe was more important.

"I won't. I'd come after you if you left me. You want to isolate me from the group to protect me. Let me protect the group by staying in the team."

Sighing, Seonghwa just nodded. Then, he emptied his tea. When he joined Hongjoong at the open door that led out to the dark depths of the canyon, the pilot offered his hand with a grin.

"Come on, let's stick to each other. Yeosang plays an important role where you can't, sweetheart, because for now, you're proclaimed dead."

Upon their commando, Mingi and San finished packing, and Jongho also emptied his mug.

"I suppose you're right. Then let's go to the ship. And when night comes, we will sneak into the palace." With that, he stepped out on the rickety hanging ladder that led to the smaller cruiser that Hongjoong had taken with him into the canyon. According to the tales they told, he had been flying around with that thing when Seonghwa had been cruelly shoved over the edge by their father's soldiers, too. Yeosang treated the vehicle with respect as he stepped upon it.

Knowing of Yeosang's fear of heights, Jongho stuck around nearby to be able to reach out in case anything would happen. He doubted that the man would go ahead and tumble over the railing made of wooden bars and thick ropes. Still, his presence seemed to alleviate Yeosang a bit.

Once they all were on board the open cruiser, Hongjoong stepped up behind the control panel. He pulled his goggles from his blue hair down on his face to leave his curls a mess and ordered them all to hold onto something. Jongho watched as he pushed down one of the many colourful levers, and they shot forward through the air.

Hongjoong was a specialist in this realm. He understood how to dodge the precarious passage that the canyon was, and he discerned exactly how his speed played into his steering. It had turned out that Hongjoong was the associate Mingi knew from long ago, who had studied physics on the other side of the southern sea. A Zey man who was free like the wind and not restricted to the dogmatic and dirt-covered streets that Jongho called his home.

Mingi stood next to Jongho at the balustrade and stared at Hongjoong with the same wonder on his face. His voice travelled with the wind as he inclined his head down in Jongho's direction.

"If I knew he would become so much cooler than I, then I wouldn't have supported his case. He got the engine by the gearbox, is a damn cool pilot, and he got the jammiest bit of jam: the crown prince. I look like a court jester next to him."

Chuckling, Jongho glanced at Seonghwa, who stood with San on the opposite end of the ship and relished in the wind in his hair.

"Wait 'till the tripod's out of the crater. I bet he does even more unexpected stunts once we are in there."

"He's main character material," Yeosang chirped behind them, too.

Now that was good news. Main characters usually survived their stories, as far as Jongho knew. Maybe they were the team of people that would succeed. Even if Asorazey's main character was undoubtedly their immortal king.