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Chapter Text

When the shaman of the celestial hall declared that Cheoljong’s twins were the product of an affair, the king felt all the breath leave him.
Were it not for his brother holding him up, he'd have ended up on the floor.
“What?”He choked out, turning to look at the queen, but she wouldn’t look at him. Focused instead on the floor.
“My queen…”She wouldn't, she would never do that to him. How…
“Not the queen's affair your majesty…yours,”The head shaman shook in fear as she said the words. But Cheoljong was beyond caring, confusion and hurt giving way to pure rage.
“How dare you!” He straightened, looking down on the kneeling woman with the full might of his glare.
“I am the king, I would never…”
“It's true,”So Yong, trembling slightly, rose up with the help of court lady Choi. The birth had been hard on her, and instead of recovering, she was getting weaker and weaker. Which was why they'd finally gone to a shaman after the physicians could do nothing more.
“Queen, what is the meaning of this,” She'd long ago broken her ties with the Andong-Kims. What could she be hoping to gain by sullying his name. Or was there a new alliance that he didn't know about.
But rather than the gloating eyes of someone who was getting their way. She looked genuinely heartbroken.
Did she really think so lowly of him? Why was she buying into this nonsense? She, better than anyone else knew it was false? She was the mother of his children afterall.
Still looking at him with teary eyes, the queen took a deep steadying breath, and then began to talk.
When she was done, there was silence. Cheoljong  looked at the prince, at director Hong, at  court lady Choi, and his eyes finally settled on the queen.
His children were three months old.
And for close to a year, he'd been battling to recognize his wife once again. To bring back the firebrand he'd fallen in love with, and here she was telling him it hadn't been her.
That he'd given his heart to a spirit.
The shaman when pressed, kept on repeating over and over that the queen's children were not really hers. And that was what was killing her. The children's souls siphoning life from her even after their birth. Not recognizing her as their mother.
Abominations, the shaman's eyes said, but she wisely kept quiet.
“How?” He asked, looking for a new place to channel his rage.
The shaman, still shaking, answered with the tone of someone who couldn't believe their own words.
“The alchemy of souls,” 
A myth…a legend… a children's tale.
A form of sorcery that existed in a fictional land. Daeho wasn't real, so how could soul shifters be real. But even as he thought it, the pieces started to fit together.
“I'm really a man,"She’d said, and he'd brushed her off.
“I'm not who you think I am,” She might as well have been throwing pebbles at a mountain for all the difference it made.
And then finally, the final piece clicked into place.
Jang.
Bong.
Hwan.
He'd fallen in love with a soul-shifter. 

Chapter Text

There were no secrets in the palace. That was a fact of life, but Cheoljong had at least hoped to have a little more time. But it seemed the little luck he'd been having, had finally run out.
“The council has sent assassins for the twins,” He hadn't even waited for the rest of director Hong's report before he was off. His brother running beside him as they headed towards the queen's palace.
They arrived before the assassins, welcomed by a harried looking court lady Choi. Cheoljong barely noticed her, eyes on the sleeping bundles the queen was holding.
The wave of relief that washed over him, was so intense he stopped breathing for a few seconds.
***
In the week following the revelation. The twins had been moved to his palace, with the queen improving in leaps and bounds now that she wasn't constantly with them.
That night, they'd been with her because Cheoljong had been called away on urgent business. 
Urgent business that had turned out to be something a two year old could attend to. And that had made Cheoljong head back to the palace that very night, not pausing to rest along the way.
A decision that had most likely saved the lives of his children.
***
“Either kill them, or banish them to Jeju, that is the only way to save the queen” Those were the only options the shaman had given.
But running through the forest at night. Babies held in a sling on his chest, the heavy pack that the queen had given him on his back. The bloody sword in his hand somehow heavier than both loads combined.
The blood of his people was on his hands, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. He'd watched his family cut down before, he wasn't about to stand by and watch his children die.
Kill or abandon.
Those were the only options given. But as he ran, the sound of dogs and guards not far behind, the terrified babies wailing. Cheoljong realized he'd accidentally stumbled upon option three…leave.
But even as his feet carried him further away, his mind was racing. Joseon was large, but a single father with twin babies would be memorable. Would Ming take him? The thought alone made his stomach churn, but it was looking more and more like his only choice. But to get there, he had to first evade capture. 
***
Midnight found him still on the move. Jin Joo and Seo Jin having cried themselves to sleep. From time to time he still caught sight of a torch, and heard the occasional whistle. But most of it stayed far from them, so his brother must have succeeded in his diversion tactics.
The almost peace, lasted until an arrow whizzed past his head, and Cheoljong was off again. The shouts this time coming from somewhere close. He ran as fast as his aching feet   would carry him, and was seriously considering ditching his backpack when he came to a sudden stop. Digging his sword into the ground to avoid falling over the cliff.
No matter which direction he looked, he could see the torches coming closer and closer, hear the excited barks of the dogs. Behind him the sea roared, a furious thing, waves crashing against the rocks.
***
Looking out at the dark forest, where the killers of his children were moving closer and closer. Cheoljong turned to the raging sea, and just like that his choice was made.
If he couldn't save his children, then he'd be better off dying with them. Leaving the sword where it was, he walked closer to the edge. 
He dropped a kiss on the top of each baby's head, their brows furrowing in their sleep before smoothing out.
Hastily wiping a tear, he held them one last time. If he waited any longer the noise would wake them, he didn't want them to be scared in their final moments.
“I'm sorry,”He whispered, and took a step towards the edge. Nearly losing his footing when instead of just air, he nearly tripped on something.
A rock?
A single moonbeam shone through the dark night, and Cheoljong found himself looking at turtle.
The creature pausing to look up at him before continuing on its way. Walking right up to the cliff's edge…and going down.
A path.
There was a tiny stone path, so well hidden Cheoljong had never seen it before. He doubted anyone ever had.  The path looked steep and was crumbling in places, but it was the last chance his little family had of surviving, so Cheoljong took it.
Unbeknownst to him, the moment he took his first steps on the hidden path. Cheoljong was no longer in Joseon, the path disappearing behind him.
The guards, upon entering the small clearing, found only a bloody sword. And looking over at sea, they came to the most logical conclusion…suicide.
And just like that, Cheoljong's rule ended. Where the old clans thought they could take over again, So Yong rose up above them all.
Naming herself the first ruling Queen of Joseon, not just a mere dowager. The grand queen dowager screamed her lungs out at the announcement.
As for the former king, his journey took him to a place that only existed in children's stories.

Chapter Text

Jang Bong Hwan. 
The medical miracle. The top chef at the blue house. That's what people called him. But when he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he saw something else. 
*** 
The person in the mirror, was anything but a success. 
In the mirror was the mother who’d outlived her children by two hundred years. The queen who'd carried on without her king. Someone living with a broken heart over things that weren't theirs to begin with. 
That was Jang Bong Hwan. The man who'd woken up with everything he'd ever wanted, but had nothing he needed. 
*** 
Perhaps moving on would've been easier if he'd known his family’d had a good life. But according to the history books, they hadn't even made it a year. And none of the texts was clear on how they'd died. 
There was talk of an accident, others spoke of an assassination. Nothing about the incident was clear, and that was driving Bong Hwan crazy. 
Had it been poison, were they beheaded? Please don't let them have been beheaded, Cheoljongie'd had enough nightmares about that. 
*** 
He passed the days like that, scared, lonely, and so very regretful. A stranger in his own timeline. A stranger in his own body.  
It was tiring, and the longer he stayed in Seoul, the more drained Bong Hwan felt. 
He cooked, he drank, and at night he stood on his balcony and looked down at the pool below. 
Jump, his mind would hiss, but then he'd remember Cheoljongie, absolutely terrifed, pulling him out of the lake. 
No touch, Bong Hwan had promised, and so, he lived. Day in and day out, dragging himself along. Until the day he woke up to an apartment full of masked men. 
*** 
The pain from the beatings was something Bong Hwan had only experienced once. That day long ago when he'd lain in the royal courtyard watching Cheoljongie’s still form. It blanked out everything else, the blows and kicks dismissed, his sole focus on clutching a dog-eared history book. 
The one thing in the world that remembered his family with him. They didn't kill him, they didn't need to, the fire they set as they left would be sure to finish the job. 
*** 
All around him, fire bloomed, orange, yellow, and fiery red. But Bong Hwan only had eyes for the book in his hand. Bloody fingers tracing the names beneath the king's picture reverently. 
Cheoljongie. 
Jin Joo-ah. 
Seo Jin-ah. 
And finally, even if the rest of the world didn't know it, he could finally be counted amongst his family. 
Jang Bong Hwan. 
*** 
When the firefighters finally doused the flames and came in. Everything was burnt beyond recognition. But try as they may, they could not find human remains. 
What they did find, strangely enough, was a puddle of water. Clear as can be, no ash, or any other signs of fire. 
Later, drunk out of their minds, the firefighters would swear up and down that the water had been glowing when they'd walked in.  
They'd go on to tell the story a few more times. But after being laughed at each time, they stopped. 
A puddle of water that had somehow survived scorching heat. A glowing one at that, crazy talk. 
Pretty soon the Jang apartment and its oddities were forgotten. Replaced by new infernos, new tragedies. 

Chapter Text

Daeho was not a place that could be easily breached. Back when the people outside the barrier still remembered where it was. They'd tried to enter. 
The mages had spent years performing funeral rites for the emaciated corpses of the would be adventurers. The life force sucked right out of them by Daeho's spiritual barrier. But all of that had stopped long before the great war, the hidden land replaced from human memories by time.
No one expected visitors anymore.
Then one day, a pillar of light touched down on the waters of the great lake Gyeoncheondaeho.
Eyes on the light, everyone saw the giant shadow of a dragon descending from the heavens. When it touched down, the waters rippled, sending shockwaves across the land. The very earth quaking.
The most powerful mages were there in moments. Blades drawn, ready for whatever was coming through.
The shadow in the light shifted, and when it walked through, the creature that came out, did not match with the giant shadow.
Jin Bu Yeon was the first to break formation. Rushing towards the shallow waters, she scooped up the tiny animal, twirling as she held it in her arms.
“Turtle, you're back!” She’d just brought it to her chest, hugging it close when Jang Uk was suddenly there, dragging her back to safety, arm around her waist.
***
Moments after the Jinyowon heiress was moved, a new shape showed up in the light. A tired looking man in a red robe stepped through.
He took one look at their glowing blades, and tried to step back into the light but the portal vanished. Exit gone, the man stared at them. Squaring his shoulders he took a step forward only to sway on the next one. Rather than fall face first, the man did a complicated turn midair, landing on his back.
***
It was Yul who reached the man first, and in doing so, he realized the reason for the awkward fall.
Two tiny faces stared up at him. Not quite crying, but fussing in a way that he knew meant there'd be trouble of they weren't picked up.
Oh.

Chapter Text

When it came to seals of approval, you could do no better than having an ancient spirit vouch for you.
And the black tortoise had done just that for the unknown man and his children. The spirit had done a great deal for Daeho, it would not willingly put them in danger.
So all the great mage families agreed to treat him well. Rather than the dungeons, he'd been taken straight to Sejukwon. With master Lee and master Heo treating the entire family.
***
Daeho.
Daeho.
Daeho.
He'd been there a week, but Cheoljong still could not believe he was actually well…there. 
It was beautiful, all the way from the people to the land itself. He woke up every morning surrounded by people with the ability to bend water to their will.
Something he'd been shocked to learn he had the ability to do as well. With his children also sharing the trait.
“Mages born outside of Daeho, rare indeed,” The man who’d introduced himself as Master Lee had said, his face youthful, but his eyes older than any Cheoljong had ever seen.
More had come and gone afterwards, the heads of the great mage clans, a gossipy servant had told him. Cheoljong had made sure to memorize every face and remember every name. Adding the heirs as well.
There was Jang Uk, who radiated power. His wife Jin Bu Yeon who seemed to look through him with blank eyes before smiling widely. Dang Gu and Cho Yeon who were practically glued to each other. Park Jin and his lovely wife, who'd organized clothes for Cheoljong’s babies. Her face lighting up as she spoke of her own child. She'd also mentioned her twin nephews, Dang Gu and Cho Yeon’s children.
Fierce Lady Jin, who'd glared at him, but had been unable to stop her eyes softening at the sight of Seo Jin and Jin Joo. The healer, Master Heo, who was constantly running after Master Lee. Seo Yul, unbelievably gentle for someone the former king had seen cut down a tree with a single strike. The twins seemed to love him on sight, cooing endlessly whenever they saw him. 
And finally the king of the land, Go Won. Having been there and done that, Cheoljong recognized the signs of a good leader. But he also recognized the effects of  the weight of the throne. In this land, Cheoljong wasn't king, but looking at the tired eyes and proud posture, he promised himself that he'd help in whatever way he could.
***
It would've been nice to keep that little bit of peace he'd found in Daeho. It wasn't perfect, how could it be when he still did not know what had become of his queen. But the sense of safety he had there was ripped away almost as soon as he got there. And to make matters worse, the danger didn't come for him, it came for his babies.
The news came with a solemn faced master Lee walking in, an unusually silent master Heo following close behind.
***
They called it calcification.
Such a fancy word for something so terrible. His children were turning to stone. 
An newly discovered effect for children borne from soul shifters. That was why they'd been feeding on So Yong’s soul. They'd been unconsciously trying to save themselves.
“Even if they'd drained her, they still wouldn't have lived to see their first birthday,”
Apparently children were connected to their mother in more than just the physical sense. They fed on their mother's life force until theirs was stable enough to sustain itself. 
The twins had been surrounded by Jang Bong Hwan’s soul long enough to ensure that they survived birth. But not long enough for them to live past infancy.
***
Long after mages had left, Cheoljong was still looking at his children. Jin Joo had her finger in Seo Jin's mouth and he was sucking on it, his own tiny hand on her cheek.
They'd come this far, their little family surviving against all odds. And his babies were still going to die.
Find Jang  Bong Hwan.
That was their only hope. But Cheoljong had been looking since he woke up, before he had known that his children's lives depended on it. Asking questions a stranger to a land had no right asking. 
But no one knew a Jang Bong Hwan.
Were the fates really so cruel? To have them survive so much only to watch his children fade away?
Wiping away his too hot tears, Cheoljong struggled to center himself.
No.
He could not fall apart. There had to be something he could do.
***
The journey from Seo fortress to Daeho was almost over. The passengers of the boat in good spirits as their journey came to a close. Three more days and they’d be on land.
The trip should have ended with no trouble at all. But somewhere past midnight, there was a shout.
“Body! Body! There's a body in the water!” From then on it was utter chaos.
Bobbing in the waters, some thought the body was female, while others saw a male. The man, when they finally pulled him out, didn't have a shred of clothing on him. And the ones who dragged him out of the freezing waters were certain he was dead.
It was an old woman, a retired physician who corrected their mistake.
“He's not dead yet, but his spirit isn't attached to his body… a vegetative state,”

Chapter Text

When he'd been told of the twins diagnosis, Cheoljong had thought he still had time. A few weeks, maybe even months. But it was as though the Daeho physicians’ words had cut the last of his children’s strength.
They'd gone from healthy to severely ill in a matter of hours. At sunrise their babbles stopped, then they refused to eat. Then they stopped crying, by sunset they no longer awoke no matter how much they were prodded.
Had he been in Joseon, he'd have suspected poison, but he'd been watching master Lee and master Heo work for hours on end. He did not know how the strange world's magic worked, but he knew ill intent when he saw it. And so far he'd gotten none of that from the mages.
They were genuinely trying to help, and that added to Cheoljong’s heartache.
“So far, we can only hold back the rate at which their bodies are turning to stone. But it's only a temporary fix,”
There were words unsaid, but Cheoljong heard them anyway.
What the mages were doing, wasn't a treatment. It was simply prolonging the twins' suffering.
They couldn't go on like that, Cheoljong knew, and the mages knew. But if they stopped, then his babies would die. 
Should we stop? Master Lee’s eyes asked, and Cheoljong could not answer. Choosing instead to hold his children's tiny hands. Resolutely ignoring the grey tint seeping into their once healthy skin.
A little longer…just a little longer. If he still couldn't think of anything, then he'd die with them, just as he'd originally intended.

The moment Cheoljong made his decision to die with his children. Jang Bong Hwan, who had thought for sure he was dead, finally opened his eyes.