Archive of Our Own ^beta

There is a legend that once upon a time, there was a cave in the depths of the tower. It was rumored to be inhabited by something unearthly, powerful and alien to human understanding — God. A god who with his power was able to wipe out an entire floor of the tower together with the guardian, a god who was able to fulfill the wishes of those who asked, a god who was able to kill the king of the tower — another self-proclaimed god. According to rumors, this was the reason for the destruction of both the cave and the god himself. At least, that's what the legend says, passing from mouth to mouth among the inhabitants of the middle tower. Myth — some will think, fairy tales — the second will count, the truth — the third will answer. But who knows what it will actually turn out to be?

Khun Aguero Agnis, to be honest, never believed in old fairy tales and legends that were told by adults or his peers. He was skeptical of such conversations, constantly rolling his eyes and snorting derisively when his next named relative started a story about scary creatures that he saw at night or about creatures that live under the bed. He considered all this to be an overplayed imagination and a deception of vision. At least, that's what he could say up to this point.

In the reflection of the mirror, Aguero does not see himself. Instead, there is a boy, about his age, with long brown hair and golden eyes, who is standing there, folding his hands behind his back and leaning forward slightly, curiously examining him. It would be more accurate to say that it seems to him that the boy is looking at him. After all, a mirror can't act by itself or talk, right?

— Hi, — as soon as this thought flashed by, the uninvited guest spoke, forcing the blue eyes to open in shock, and their owner himself to retreat from the interior item by as many as three steps. Seeing such a reaction, the brown—haired man was a little embarrassed, — Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, — straightening up, the guy smiled again, — I just…

— Who are you? — the question sounded rather harsh and Khun mentally reproached himself for losing control of his emotions. However, he couldn't do anything about himself, the situation seemed too absurd, the guy seemed too suspicious that in response to his tone he didn't even blink an eye, forcing the muscles in his body to strain to the limit, preparing for defense or attack — a reflex developed to automatism over eight years of survival life in this family.

— My name is Bam, — brown-haired man tilts his head, joyful, too normal, too sincere, too suspicious, too, too, too… the smile does not leave his face, — And you?

— Why are you here? Who are you? — ignoring the question asked to him, Khun frowns, forcing himself to suppress curiosity mixed with horror and stay in place, however, as if completely forgetting his true master, his body refuses to obey, making even small, very insignificant steps, straight to the mirror. Stopping only when there is less than half a meter between them.

— My name is the twenty—fifth Bam, - the brown-haired man repeats like a mantra, running his hands over the mirror. For a second, everything freezes and only the sound of fingers sliding on the glass is heard in the room. For a second, Aguero's heart freezes in place, losing its rhythm. After a moment, someone else's hands cover Khun's face, running their thumbs under his eyes, — It's beautiful, — a barely noticeable whisper is heard and at the same moment a few millimeters remain between their faces, — What's your name? — golden eyes seem to look straight into the soul, burning with some unfamiliar madness, thin lips open in a toothy, but somehow childish, grin, causing the blood inside to freeze.

Such a number of teeth should not be in a person. Human teeth can't be that sharp. No one can be on the other side of the mirror, and certainly no one can get out of there so calmly, as if this is the order of things. No one, at least, who is in his right mind, will smile like that on the floor of the Khun family.

Unthinkable.

— Kun Aguero Agnis, — the words fly out of his mouth by themselves, without even giving a chance to resist, and the body, over which the blue-haired man is desperately trying to regain control, remains in place, refusing to move in principle.

— It's beautiful, — the golden—eyed creature repeats again in a reverent whisper, staring with amber into the uncut topaz, after which he pulls away a little and, taking Aguero by the hand, kisses his wrist. Before the guy has time to do anything, the lips are replaced by teeth, leaving a contrasting mark on the pale skin.

Involuntarily crying out, Khun only manages to close his eyes when the mirror in front of him is disassembled into many pieces. However, looking around later, he will realize that there are no wounds, despite the fact that he was in close proximity to the flying parts, except for teeth marks on him.

And the twenty-fifth Bam disappeared as well as it appeared.

At first, after that incident, Aguero tried to find answers: who it was and what it was, however, his search was unsuccessful. It was pointless to ask anything from adults: his sister and Kiseya would start give him sidelong glances, thinking that he had completely lost his mind, and his mother, in addition to just scolding, would also punish him. Other relatives besides the main family were excluded immediately. Of course, there was also Maria, but only… Khun will hide this thought on the periphery of consciousness and try never to return to it again. Therefore, he ruled out these options.

And the last option was father's library. It was as ancient as the list of their bloodline, so the chances that there should have been at least a grain of the information he needed were quite high. However, his hopes were not fulfilled, which caused him to bite his lip in frustration from time to time, and also look at the itchy, and never disappeared trace of teeth on his wrist. Usually such wounds do not last so long, especially with proper and sterile treatment.

Shaking his head, the blue-haired youth pushed these thoughts away. In any case, about six years have passed since that moment. And since, in addition to the bite on his wrist that had not yet passed, there were no more clues, Khun made a completely rational decision: he considered it all just too realistic a dream, and blamed the bite that hurt his eyes on eternal stress and fatigue, from which he bites himself in his sleep.

That's just the affairs of bygone days — the last thing to worry about during the test, as he was reminded by several knives that flew millimeters from his face, forcing his blue eyes to narrow threateningly. A small wave of his hand, while tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear, and behold, his opponents lie cold corpses. Chuckling, Khun turns away and leaves, hearing the sound indicating the end of the test.

— So, that's all for today, — announces administrator of the testing tests, — You can be free. The results will be announced tomorrow to your mothers, — with these words, she leaves.

Khun immediately heads to his room, ignoring the calls of his name. As soon as the door closes behind him, he exhales with relief and lets the eternal mask fall off his face. Right now, he urgently needed a bathroom, since each room was provided with a personal one. Be that as it may, he received several, albeit shallow wounds, so it would not hurt to examine himself first. On the way to his destination, he takes plasters, scissors, bandages and several wound treatments from the pharmacy. It is very convenient that the bathroom had good lighting, allowing you to operate without additional light, as well as a door that opens and closes exclusively from the inside, which excluded the possibility of a sudden invasion of personal space.

Rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt, Aguero examines several shallow but bleeding wounds left after the ordeal. Looking up at the mirror, he discovers another one on his neck, just above the carotid artery, and three more on his face, one of which flows more profusely than the others. All this sight makes you chuckle in annoyance.

"We need to end this as soon as possible," — the guy thinks, picking up the first disinfectant and planning to start with the face, when he suddenly freezes. In the reflection, those same golden eyes, seen on that fateful night, look at him again.

— Hi, — the boy who hasn't changed at all smiles innocently, putting his palms to the mirror, which makes his blue eyes open in shock, — It's been so long since we've seen each other.

"Not a dream," — Khun realizes with horror, although some inner part of him, despite all the denials, knew this, and takes a step back, — "It wasn't a dream."

No matter how innocent the boy looked, Bam, the memories helpfully suggest, he was on the floor of the Kun family, not being a member of it or one of the chosen ones passing the test of this floor. But even so, he didn't have any wounds, not even a small scratch. In addition, and ignoring the fact that the boy literally came out of the mirror, the terrible power of shinsu emanated from him. So strong that Aguero involuntarily compared him to his father. However, despite everything, unlike the same head of the family, he did not feel danger. Only interest, curiosity and, to some extent, naivety.

— Hmm, — golden eyes examine him, focusing on the bloody traces and cuts, after which the brown—haired man's face acquires a frighteningly serious, even empty expression, and the smile leaves his lips, as if it wasn't there, — You're wounded.

The blue eyes stare in front of them in fascination before the words reach the brain. Was it caring? In any case, Khun is not given time to think, because after a second warm too warm, too hot, too unusual, too dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, hands wrap around his face, running his thumb over one of the wounds, rubbing a bloody trail across his face. With a snort of displeasure, Bam, as in their first meeting, comes out of the mirror, standing right in front of Khun. Frowning, the brown—haired man looks at their age difference with a dissatisfied look, which is slightly more than a head, after which his eyes light up with a golden light, two horns appear on his head: one blue, the other red, and the body instantly grows, equating to the height of the blue-haired one. Having once again looked at the member of the ten great families standing opposite, the brown-haired man smiles happily again, and the horns disappear as suddenly as they appeared. Without wasting any more time in vain, he grabs Aguero with one hand under his knees and the other around his waist, lifting him into the air and forcing him to wrap his arms around his neck in order not to fall. Looking into the incredulous and uncomprehending eyes, the guy chuckles slightly.

— I'm sorry for being so sudden, — Bam tightened his grip on the body in his arms. He headed out of the bathroom, allowing the shinsu that surrounded him, with a little manipulation, to open the lock that closed the door. Going out into the other room, he went to the bed, carefully sat his burden on it, kneeling next to him and tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear, — Aguero , — his own name from someone else’s lips seemed to make him wake up from a dream.

— What are you doing here? — warm hands moved to his face again, tracing over the wounds, and later to his neck and arms, leaving behind a strange short—term burning sensation. Looking down, Aguero is surprised to find that all the cuts have healed, leaving no trace behind — How did you...?

— Once, — golden eyes, looking him up and down, stop at the bite mark, after which, as if nodding to himself, satisfied with the result he saw, Bam looks straight into his eyes, — Once I'll tell you everything. True, — for some reason, someone else's voice leaves no room for doubt. However, along with this, Khun is covered with a strange, unusual drowsiness, forcing his eyes to close by themselves, and his body and mind to relax and plunge into a state of drowsiness, which becomes impossible to resist, — But in the meantime you need to rest, — his hands help him to lie down on the bed, straightening his hair and stroking his head, — Go to sleep, — he bends down, gently, almost weightlessly touching his forehead with his lips, — Sleep, my little moon.

As if following someone else's voice, Aguero immediately falls into the realm of Morpheus.

Opening his eyes the next morning, Khun had a rough idea of what had happened. And true to his intuition, he finds himself alone in the room. Sitting up on the bed and examining himself, the guy is again convinced that it was not a dream. This was clearly indicated by the absence of yesterday's wounds, as well as the fact that he was carefully covered with a blanket.

«I wonder,» — the guy thinks, getting out of bed and going to the mirror, but not finding anything in it except his own reflection, — «If I call him, will he come?»

The idea was absurd, even to some extent crazy, but it had a chance of success. Aguero needed answers.

— Bam, — the guy calls in a slightly hoarse voice from exertion, peering into the depths of the mirror surface, — Bam, — the guy tries again, without receiving any reaction, from which he frowns. Exhaling, he tries again, — The twenty—fifth Bam, — the guy says in one breath and the shadows around him thicken, and golden eyes flash for a second in the depths of the mirror. He feels a faint hot breath on his cheek and after a second feels a light touch of lips. For a moment, time seems to freeze, but after that the feeling of breathing and lips disappears.

«I will always be there for you,» — whispers a voice in the depths of the subconscious, but it does not belong to him. No, it belongs to Bam.

Frozen in one place for a few moments with his eyes wide open, Khun, after a while, immediately breaks off and runs out of his room.

Something inside is protesting violently, but Aguero prefers to ignore it.

During the trials on the Evankhel floor, they meet again. This happens terribly unexpectedly.

As the rules say, Khun gathers a team of three people: he, Cancer and Hwaryun, who arrived at the very last moment. They passed several tests well and quickly, but the unexpected happened at the game for the crown. Of course, Aguero had a plan, who would he be if that wasn't the case?

Except it didn't work.

This realization comes immediately when his teammate, spitting on all the rules of the game, throws him off the throne and points a weapon at him. Thanks to his honed reflexes, as well as years spent in the Khun family in eternal survival, he dodges the blow. But this does not help much, because the first is followed by the second, and then the third, and the barrage of blows does not stop. Dodging one last time, Kun takes out a knife from the Manbarondena, wiping the blood protruding from a small cut on his cheek with his sleeve. Apparently, she still managed to hurt him.

However, as soon as the girl approaches for another attack, a flash of yellow light appears between her and Aguero, from which the guy closes his eyes. Shinsu explosion, — he thinks, feeling the huge pressure of the main force of the tower with his whole body. Everyone, starting from his team and ending with the opponent's team, is blown back. He stands still, feeling the presence of the other with his back, as well as warm palms that close his eyes.

— Don't worry, — a whisper in his ear, as well as a warm breath make his freeze in place, — I won't hurt you, — for a few seconds it seems to Khun that he can see through his hands how the flow of shinsu pushes away anyone who tries to approach them. Throwing the knife on the floor and clasping with his hands the strangers hands that were in front of his eyes, he lowers them down, turning his head over his shoulder and meeting the gaze of familiar golden eyes; in response to his surprise, the brown-haired man only smiles.

— What are you doing here? — blue eyes look doubtfully at Bam, and he just shrugs and runs his hand through his blue hair, tucking it behind his ear. Aguero does not move away, only leans towards the touch. Something inside, literally half of him is screaming for him to run away, and Khun wants to obey her, but the second part of him protests and does not let him move, filling him with some kind of calm and something else. Something he can't name.

— I felt that you were in danger, — the brown—haired man leans closer, blowing his pale face with his breath and making blush, — I wasn't mistaken, — he looks at shinsu behind him, as if he can see through, — Right? — the guy says it uncertainly, as if waiting for confirmation of his words.

— Really? — to some extent, the absurdity of the situation does not escape Aguero and he laughs. Looking at this, all of Bam's uncertainty disappears and he smiles again, shortening the distance between them until their foreheads touch.

— Yes, — he exhales, looking at Khun as if the whole world was concentrated in him alone, — I told you, I always am, — the blue—haired man is surprised to find his hands on his waist that are clenching, pulling him closer to the brown—haired man, — I will be next to you, — he does not take his eyes off from the blue eyes and Khun feels like something inside him breaks off, immediately fusing again. In a different way.

As soon as Aguero realizes this with horror, the brown-haired man dissolves in front of him, as if he never existed. However, like shinsu, what protected them, and what was around, returned to its normal pressure for the second floor.

"Damn," — Khun thinks when he realizes that everyone's eyes are focused on him, — "And how did I get involved in all this?"

Finally entering the room allocated by the floor administrators, Aguero immediately falls on the bed, sighing heavily and closing his eyes. Who would have thought that these bastards would really be interested enough to interrogate him practically all day? Hearing a knock on the door, the blue-haired man tries to ignore it, but since it does not stop, he shouts with displeasure and, jumping out of bed, opens it. He only frowns harder when he sees a certain crocodile.

— What are you doin...? — he does not let him finish, brazenly pushing aside and passing into the room, sits on the bed, crossing his arms over his chest. Aguero just rolls his eyes as he closes the door and walks over to the bed, —So what are you doing here?

— Blue turtle, — the Rak screams, making Khun wince, — What was that? How dare you hide such a power loot from your leader?! — he displeasedly knocks his smaller fists on the mattress, causing it to spring back. From the outside, it looks like a disgruntled child threw a tantrum in the store, at the parents' refusal to buy another trinket. From such a comparison, a member of the ten great families only laughs that he does not hide from the eyes of his guest — Don't you dare laugh, blue turtle! — Aguero switches to full-fledged laughter, ignoring the cries of discontent and indignation of Rak, laughing only more when he starts jumping on the bed.

He doesn't know how to explain all this to the crocodile, and to himself, to be honest. However, the memories of golden eyes make something inside ache, and the heart beat faster. A strange feeling mixed with happiness and warmth fills him and, ignoring the cries of reason and its rational side, he decides to take a chance and surrender to this feeling.

Later that night, during a shower, he sees a crooked "Sorry" written on the fogged mirror.

After that incident, many more events occur. None of them passed the crown game, but most of them gathered as one big team by the end of the first floor. Including Hwaryun. As it turned out, the red witch felt Bam's presence next to Khun and saw the mark on his finger, so to make sure of her suspicions, she attacked him. For which, in fact, I lost my eye, thanks to the brown-haired man. After a short conversation with her, Aguero immediately realized that she knew something, but did not want to talk. As is typical, escorts who know all the information, but the hell they will say it. Khun snorted.

He was sitting on the bed, sorting through various papers that somehow mentioned the information he needed. However, despite the increase in search resources, there was still zero information. Out of frustration, the guy squeezes his lips into a strip and leans back on the bed. Raising his hand up in front of his face, he looks at the finger with a bite, but the number of questions does not decrease from this. Who is Bam? Where is he from? Why is he defending Aguero?

A noise was heard from the side of the mirror and the light bearer immediately jumped up, taking out a knife for self-defense from under the blanket. However, the familiar golden eyes made him lower his weapon and exhale. The brown-haired man, smiling, approached him and bent down, without saying a word, removing a stray strand of blue hair behind his ear, and then gently biting his nose, causing the blue-haired man to cry out in surprise. Bam only smiles at this reaction, looking around with interest at the papers around. At this time, Aguero notices all the changes since their last meeting: the brown-haired man has become taller, now they are the same height again, his hair was gathered and became floor-length, and the bangs now cover his eyes. Picking up one of the papers, the object of his inspection only frowns in incomprehension, and then looks at Khun again, chuckling. Aguero looks away in some kind of embarrassment, and the brown-haired man sits down next to him, putting paper on the bed.

— You know, this time we haven't seen each other for quite a long time, — Bam bends down and, grabbing the owner of the room by the waist, leans back so that the guy lies on top of him, — I've missed you, — he laughs at a frankly reddened, usually pale face and tightens his hands at the waist. He never stopped his observation, but he could not get out. Each time, the more time passed, the more power accumulated. At this rate, Zahard may soon notice that he is still alive. He frowns at the thought. At this rate, he can hurt Aguero.

Meanwhile, Khun himself analyzes the face under him. When it takes on a worried look, Aguero, without noticing it, puts his hand on his cheek and gently runs his thumb under the golden eye, forcing it to open wide. But it immediately softening in a soft look. Bam is served to meet a cold palm, leaning towards a gentle touch. Noticing his actions, the light bearer, as if spellbound, immediately removes his hand, diligently ignoring the disappointed look and pouting lips.

— Now I can only answer a few of your questions, — the brown—haired man dips his hand into his blue hair, gently running through the strands, — So you can ask them. If it's a question that I can't answer at the moment, I will give a general or incomplete answer.

— Who are you? — the voice is quiet, but firm, — Why and how did you come out of the mirror? Why are you protecting me? — Khun puts his hands on his shoulders, squeezing them in a soothing gesture.

— Have you ever heard the story of how Zahard and ten great families climbed the tower? — after waiting for a weak nod, the brown—haired man continued, — Most likely you have heard the official version spread in the tower. There were two more of them. My parents also traveled with them, — the guy's head lifted and shocked blue eyes stared straight into the golden ones, — But Zahard was obsessed with my mother. In general, at the end of the story, my father died, Zahard killed me, and after that my mother went crazy and revived me outside the tower. She created a prophecy according to which, I have to kill the king, — the guy on it shuddered, and his head was filled with thousands of thoughts, which was clear from his face. And after that, the usual distrust and uncertainty appeared, — But he did not succeed. He thought he had killed me, but I was just stuck in the mirror. I can leave it for a while, but to maintain my physical shape I need to get one artifact.

—Why are you telling me this? — Aguero was sure that Bam was not lying or cheating, he had not done this once in all their meetings, although there were plenty of chances. But he still didn't understand where this unconditional trust in him came from. It was confusing and suggestive of unpleasant thoughts. Something inside wanted to believe, wanted to do it, but ran into a wall of apprehension.

— Because I love you, — the blue-haired man froze in place from such a confession, and the brown—haired man only grasped someone else's face with his palm, tilts it lower to himself, to the minimum distance between them, — And I believe you. And I also want you to know this, — he reduces the distance between them to zero, embracing cold lips in a gentle kiss.

Aguero responds to the kiss.

— I'll help you, — Khun replies, pulling away. It might be the biggest mistake of his life, but he believes him.