DIVINITY ♛ LEE JENO

FOURTEEN

"the countdown starts the moment the flames set off"

♛

"So what now?" Seorin sighed. The six of them in the room shared a quick recap of their last meeting; a clan was out to get everyone, they met this supposed-real-life-avatar, the eclipse was a bad omen, wishing doom upon everyone. Nothing out of the ordinary for most of them, if they were being honest.

"Where do we even start?" Jaemin looked down. It seemed they had a lot more on their plate than they expected. Sure, maybe not all of them believed that Meilin could shift all four elements, but they had no choice but to believe the Republic was on the Sujo Clan's radar. "Let's start with what we know." Seorin began. One thing about the four was that Baek Seorin was definitely the brains between them— but that had always been a known fact before entering office.

Although it wasn't a bad conversation starter, no conversation happened. The room was silent as everyone tried to think back on things they knew about the clan, yet most minds were empty. The Sujo Clan wasn't exactly something they learned about in high school, unless you were counting firsthand experiences.

"What do you know, Princess Meilin?" Jisung made eye contact with the girl. Truthfully, Meilin hadn't been the most engaged in the conversation. She zoned out during the recap at the beginning. She couldn't tell if it were because of the lack of sleep, or the lack of food in her stomach. Gulping, she looked up at the hothead. For a fire shifter, he wasn't exactly warm and inviting.

"I've told you everything I know. They attack during blood moons. Without an eclipse, they can't make a move." she thought back on her memories. Seorin also stared at her, recalling every bit of information the Princess has told them.

"How did they get to you?" she asked.

Meilin remembered the day like it was yesterday, unfortunately. Although, most of it was a blur. Perhaps, that's just how things processed in her head nowadays. Everything happens fast. She can't recall specific moments, but she could remember exactly how they felt.

"My mother knew they would strike during an eclipse." she began. The taste in her mouth grew bitter at the mention of the late woman. "That's how they attacked all the kingdoms before us. They're nomads, they settle down in each city they siege— so my mother made a rash decision to meet with them at Ho Chi Minh." Jaemin listened intently and things didn't sound nonsensical. Of course the Mad Queen would take on an endeavor like that.

"Needless to say, she never came back. There was a little over two weeks before the next lunar eclipse and my castle prepared diligently. We expected a battle— but the attack was far from one." she looked down at her hands that were covered by her mittens. "They attacked from the inside. Many of my staff had turned on me in the castle. The clan had been plotting this for decades." she bit down on her lip.

Seongbin, Jisung thought to himself. Perhaps the clan had been plotting for a long while. He was just the first one to get caught. "So what happened to you? Were you just taken out by some stewardess?" he asked. Not as harsh as usual, but Jisung just always sounded displeased. Meilin shook her head, remembering her old staff in good light.

"God, I wish it were my stewardess. It was a potential love interest." she said bluntly. Many eyes widened at the sound. "A boyfriend, I believe is what you call it around here." she chuckled bitterly, recalling her conversation with Seorin the other day. "I was promised to someone through an arranged marriage. That didn't quite work out either." she smiled with her lips closed.

Jisung's fire fueled up again, clenching his fist on the table. "How do we know you're not trying to make this an inside job? You said yourself, the clan plots rats ahead of time." he snarled. Meilin was taken aback by his sudden anger, though she couldn't say she was surprised by his distrust. "You know I meant ahead of time by years. I had been promised to this Prince since the first time I bled." she lowered her eyes. The men in the room made a face at the comment, while Seorin put her face in her palms.

"Princess Meilin, the idea of menstrual cycles aren't the most normalized in... modern times." Seorin sighed. Who knew you could be set back centuries at the mention of a period? The Princess' face turned a light shade of pink, only slightly embarrassed.

"Anyways," Jaemin rolled his eyes. "Let's conduct a search. All of your men— examine their bodies. Find any trace of Sujo Clan branding on their flesh." he looked at Jeno who was frankly asleep on the oval table. The leaders all sighed in unison. At least one thing they could agree on was that General Lee needed a break.

"And what about the attack? Shouldn't we stop them before they get here?" Meilin proposed. "The head of the clan is powerless without a blood moon. We must hit them when they least expect it." she insisted. It wasn't a bad idea, most thought.

"Deeming him powerless is a sign that you underestimate your enemies, Princess Meilin." Jisung began. Mark and Jaemin sat back, knowing these two would bicker until either of them— more likely Jisung— were to lose their temper. Jisung observed her thoroughly. It was true, the Princess seemed to be the type to show mercy. That was no Mad Queen.

"I have to agree with Jisung." Mark finally spoke up. He didn't talk much at these meetings, though he hadn't been talking much at all anywhere. "I've been reading up on the Sujo Clan from Uncle's library." he began, his heart slightly aching at the mention. "It all began with one man. He dabbled in blood magic— the dark side of spirituality. Let's just say, greed makes you do a lot of crazy things." he mumbled, thinking back on whatever he read during sleepless nights.

"He wanted an army. One night, he looked up at the moon and saw it painted red. It was said he had some primal urge to attempt what seemed like a myth— blood shifting. By the end of the eclipse, he had blood shifted his entire village. He took all of their shifting away." the room felt eerie. Meilin wasn't the best with horror stories either, the goosebumps rose on her skin quickly.

"Half of them hated him for it, the other half viewed him as some type of God. He taught them the concept of blood shifting and they became loyal to him." Mark continued. "He created this hive mind. With whoever him or his army touched, their spiritualities were intertwined. He feeds off of that; all of the power and knowledge goes to him. From what we know, he has the skill of the air nomads of Bhutan, and the intelligence of the oldest earth shifters to have grazed this planet. And if what Princess Meilin said was true, he has the abilities of a fire shifting prodigy- the one from Bangkok. That leaves one element almost untouched." All of their eyes fell onto the blue haired girl in the middle.

"Oh, you're shitting me. Why is everyone always out to get me?" Seorin groaned. "Can't he already water shift? He can clearly blood shift, that makes him some sort of prodigy." she shrugged.

"Like I said, blood shifting is apart of a whole other realm. I'm still trying to read up on it— but you don't need to be a water shifter to blood shift. That's how he taught others. Water shifting just puts you at an advantage, I guess." he explained briefly. "The point is, he's dangerous. Even if he can't blood shift without that red moon— he has a lot more under his belt that he can use against us. And trust me, there's a lot at risk here." Mark finished, letting out a deep sigh at the end.

"So what? We just wait around until he comes here during the next eclipse?" Meilin's eyebrows drew into confusion. "There's too much at risk if we attack first. He might not be able to take our shifting, but he can take out our army. We'll need them here the day of the eclipse, which is bound to happen on the 22nd of June." Mark looked at the Princess' brown eyes. My birthday, she thought to herself.

"We'll have home field advantage. That's the only advantage we'll have in this best case scenario— any scenario, at that." he continued, looking at the General who had just woken up.

"Five months. We have five months to prepare for this attack."

fourteen— countdown; nct dream

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the plot is plotting :0 im so excited because i feel like things are gonna start really kicking off now. im trying to explain as much as possible in these meetings but some things will likely remain unanswered for a while for the sake of the plot lol

are y'all liking it so far?? !!