Enemies, wherever Jongho directed his eyes. They crawled through the entrance, through the two other doors in the room and spread out in the place like spilt liquid. All of them looked defensive and ready to shield the king that made their lives a living hell. For their own protection, most likely. They wouldn't want to get on his bad side if he were to survive this encounter and regain his power. Jongho wanted to scoff at their lack of integrity and a backbone. They were nothing but a bunch of meaters under the rule of a cruel dictator.

With two long steps, Seonghwa jumped up the stairs and ripped the knife from his father's chest. Choking, the old king spat some blood over Seonghwa's clothes. The knife found his neck, resting there threateningly.

"No wrong move! Any step I see you make is an inch closer to ending the king's life!"

"Prince Seonghwa, are you out of your mind? Please come here and explain to us you only just reappeared!" One of the guards desperately called out to him, but he couldn't garner Seonghwa's sympathy.

"I won't! And I expect every single one of you to reconsider where you stand currently once we resolve this matter. Redirect the power, Jongho."

"Yes, Sir," the mechanic muttered under his breath. Gleeful that he would be the one to end the struggle of two centuries and fulfil the legacy that his father had always wished for, he sprung from the platform to round the throne. However, before he could reach for the cables, a big shadow fell upon him and darkened the room.

Worried but in awe, the puzzled soldiers, as well as the desperate group of rebels, stared at the huge distorted silhouette that appeared behind the milky windows. It darkened out the colourful panels, and Jongho stepped further back from the glass to let it pass.

A little cracking sound was all the warning they got.

Jongho threw himself around in time, his arm reaching out to take the nearest person down with him. A surprised sound escaped San when they hit the ground together a mere moment before the glass wall shattered above them. The noise boomed through the hall loud enough to be heard through all of Asora, most likely, and Jongho kept his head down when a rain of shards came down on him. One of his arms protected San's neck, the other one his own, as they pressed flatly against the cold marble.

The crunch of stone also set off an alarm bell in Jongho's head, and as soon as the deadly rain had passed them, he carefully turned his head to glimpse at the windows. Glass tumbled from his hair.

The once reflective wall that had thrown a colourful shine over the nearby roofs of Asora had disappeared. No piece was left under the impact of the airship crashing into it. Aside from the glass, the throne was gone, too. And with it, the king. Once the dust had settled, Jongho expected to find him as a red stain between the pulverised marble stairs, but he was nowhere in sight. Lifeless, the bunch of cables hung from the floor.

Slowly, the room came back to life. San stood carefully to dust his pants off, and Jongho also removed a shard from his arm that had slit through his sleeve. The automatons were the only ones still standing stiffly. Still, Jongho rested alleviated by the sight of Yeosang behind whom he assumed to be Yunho who had protected him with his whole body.

Before the court servants regained their senses, a person swung down from the familiar ship. His blue hair swished in the cold winter air that his arrival had brought as a pair of mechanical wings unfolded behind his back. Jongho's eyes lit up in wonder when the wind picked up through the canvas that stretched between the metal fingers that crossed it and let the man glide on it as if he belonged there. Heavy boots hit the ground and crunched audibly on the glass when he descended without bothering to take his goggles off. Then, he ran over to the throne he had rammed.

Jongho could spy a blood-covered hand between the rubble where only one person had been standing earlier. A hole that led to the lower floor had punched through the ground where the airship had connected with it, and Seonghwa hung precariously over the edge when Hongjoong reached him.

"Quick, gather your senses. We need to get out of here. The alarm that he sounded alerted all the Spheres and Bishops nearby, and they are out for blood. We will return later." The order came squeezed from between his teeth as he slung Seonghwa's arm around his shoulders. Blinking blearily, the prince stumbled along with him. Hongjoong's wings carried both of their weight as he brought Seonghwa to safety first.

Icy air permeated the room and had the humans shiver. The dust around the impact spot danced in the light of the impending sun. Its rays were still too cold to warm up anything.

Jongho glanced at Wooyoung, who had also sustained minor injuries.

"We can return! The king probably won't make this attack, and we can wait out the worst! Let's come back in a few days!" With that, he followed Mingi, who showed him how to jump the nets beneath the Puppeteer that allowed them to scale the ship.

San also ran off before anybody had the ability to reach for their weapons. He passed Mingi, who overviewed the process and jumped up the ship with slightly less grace than usual since he was still shaken up. The swift procession of events had Jongho's mind reeling, too, so he concentrated on the moment and the orders he was given.

Yeosang quickly helped Yunho with the hatches of his armour to let him step out of it. Like a bunch of disconnected metal, the suit fell into a heap as Yunho appeared in his full human glory. Even yet, he was far taller than Yeosang. His body was dressed in thin pants and a shirt that both had matching dull browns.

When Jongho motioned them over, they ran quickly as the few companions Yunho had brought mixed with the enemies inconspicuously. They would be their ticket back. Yeosang scaled the nets first and with shaky fingers, and Jongho was right behind him to catch him in case he fell. Just when he pushed the man's trembling legs over the railing of the ship and Yunho jumped to follow through the rubble, voices got loud beneath them. The wind pulled on Jongho, and the machinery above him was so loud that he nearly didn't hear the words.

"Hurry! The savages are fleeing, and they are taking the prince with them!"

Jongho jumped the railing. Beneath him, Yunho stretched out a hand towards Mingi when Hongjoong already kicked his ship into action. They lifted off the side of the palace walls, and more debris tumbled into the city below them.

"Take my hand!"

Without a second of hesitation, Mingi did. For a moment, he dangled in the air dangerously when he lost contact with the ground, and only Yunho held him up.

Then, his loud yowl had Jongho's blood run cold. The first shot that had been fired beneath them hit his leg. Immediately, he lost tension in his body and began to slip from Yunho's grasp.

Yunho and Jongho called out for him at the same time.

"No, hold on! Come on!"

Hectic, Jongho whipped his head around to call out for Hongjoong to help. But in the mess of people and equipment, he couldn't find the man.

Mingi groaned, blood dripping from his limp leg. Decidedly, Jongho lifted his foot over the railing to lower himself on the net himself to help the man. Before he could endanger all three of them with his added weight and swaying, however, a shining shadow whizzed past him. With powerful flaps of his wings that carried him wherever he wanted, Hongjoong appeared behind Mingi to pick him up. Both grimaced at the struggle, but they made it over the railing safely to crash down in a heap. Jongho pulled Yunho up and on board with them before he turned to his red-haired friend.

For his duties, Hongjoong skittered off immediately, but Wooyoung and Jongho found themselves kneeling at Mingi's side while the man clutched his leg. His hisses were low, reduced when he gasped for air, but Jongho viewed his vocal complains as a good sign. As long as he screamed, the flame of life would mend his wounds.

Yunho gently pushed Jongho aside when he just hovered above his friend helplessly. He ripped off the tattered leg of Mingi's pants to reveal the damage to the open air. Then, he wrapped the same piece around his tanned thigh to cut off the blood flow. All the time, Yunho's fingers acted swift and familiar with the ways of dressing up wounds.

Mingi's calf was a mess of blood and ripped flesh, but his leg was still attached, at least. In the depths of the gaping hole that had blood oozing from it at rapid speed, Jongho also couldn't detect a bullet. It had been probably one of the automatons that had shot him. Pneumatic hits ripped flesh apart, but at least they carried no foreign metal that could infiltrate the body and cause infections.

"It's fine; you'll be fine." Yunho reached for a rag he found lying around on Hongjoong's deck. He pressed it against the wound with enough strength to have his fingers turn white. They stained with blood the more it seeped through the fabric.

"Mingi, are you with us? How do you feel?"

Mingi rolled his eyes back as he grit his teeth through the pain. Once he regained control of his features, he breathed out a harsh blow of air.

"That was their revenge for dismantling their friends. Zounds, that hurts. Everybody else is good?"

Jongho's eyes searched the ship that was still in disarray. People hurried around everywhere, and nobody could spare them even a glance. He assumed that Yeosang took care of Seonghwa somewhere. When Wooyoung handed Mingi a can of alcohol one of the crew members had gotten him to numb the pain, he chugged it down at the speed of lightning. His head thudded against the wooden boards as he soon relaxed.

"I hope so. Everybody made it up."

Relieved at that news, Mingi clenched his eyes shut to school his expression. Low hisses tumbled from him from time to time still as Yunho received bandages and began dressing the wound. Wooyoung helped Yunho with adjusting his leg when needed while Jongho fed him more booze. After a few more minutes, it began to work its magic, and Mingi relaxed more against the floor as his eyes fluttered open again. This time, they carried less pain, even when they still knelt in a pool of his blood.

"Still in pain?" Yunho had rolled up his sleeves so they wouldn't be in the way. His forearms were bathed in drying blood that stuck to him and smelt like metal, but he didn't mind it.

"He's very arf'arf'an'arf," Jongho muttered. Weak, Mingi waved around his hand to underline how fine he was.

"I feel lightning struck, but wonderful anyway! Nothing to worry about!" His voice slurred around the ends of his sentences, but he indeed looked as if he had fun. Jongho allowed himself a softened sigh. Then, he patted Mingi's shoulder comfortingly.

"Also, hey Jongho, don't tell him, but your brother is really hot when he patches up wounds. Is there anything that man can't do?"

Jongho exchanged an amused glance with Yunho, who had merely sat back but remained right next to him. Both of their expressions mirrored each other's fondness. Mingi's blubbering lifted their anxious mood back up and allowed them to rest with the gradually calming ship.

"Damfino, I think he can do anything. Aren't you crushing very hard, very quickly?"

Mingi's eyes fluttered again when sleep pulled him under. A dopey smile on his lips was the last they saw of him.

"No, my dearest chuckaboo. I fell for your stories of him already a long time ago." With a last giggle, he quietened. Peacefully sleeping, he laid on the deck without a disturbance in the world. Jongho slipped out of his jacket to cover him with it. They sailed right into a starry night, and it would probably get cold soon.

Once their situation had calmed, they had time to look around the ship again. Hushed whispers of fear and concerns about the circumstances passed the crew members, and Hongjoong had already bent over some maps again. Their fight was not over yet; they hadn't reached their goal. Jongho spotted the energy core decorating a corner of the deck uselessly.

When he rose, he offered Yunho his hand. With a glance at his bloodied palms, Yunho smiled crookedly before he stood by himself.

They joined Hongjoong to go over the plan one more time.