HAS IT REALLY BEEN 2 MONTHS?!?! OMG 

Chapter 4 : Fall Into the Sky

Kyungsoo was put on forced bed rest for three days. He was not to be left alone, both to ensure he wouldn’t sneak away and to keep an eye on his wound. While not life threatening, it was still something that needed to be taken seriously. Chanyeol volunteered to do most of the watching.

“Really keep an eye on his arm, got it?” Joonmyun said. “This isn’t all about cuddling and making out.”

“I understand,” Chanyeol said.

Joonmyun’s house was pretty big, and his parents weren’t around, so even with his stern warning the two of them had a lot of privacy. Kyungsoo intended to take full advantage of it.

“Tell me more of what you remember. It doesn’t just have to be about us, it can be anything.”

Chanyeol nudged Kyungsoo’s arm. “Move over, let me under the blanket.”

Kyungsoo moved a bit, then Chanyeol swooped in. He shoved his way behind Kyungsoo and leaned against the wall. Kyungsoo leaned back against Chanyeol’s chest and pulled the blanket over their legs.

“Comfortable?” Kyungsoo asked.

Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo’s chest and nuzzled into the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck. “Very,” he said, and Kyungsoo squirmed as Chanyeol’s lips tickled his neck.

“C’mon,” Kyungsoo whined. “Tell me!”

“I will,” Chanyeol promised. “We have three days. I just want to hold you for a minute.”

Kyungsoo felt warmth spread across his face and neck. A month ago he would have gagged at those words, now they brought the shadow of a memory—he couldn’t remember where they were, but he could hear those words.

Kyungsoo put his hands over Chanyeol’s. “This is so weird for me.”

“I know,” Chanyeol said. “I had visions of you before I even first saw you, it was weird for me back then. I missed you so much, and I didn’t even know who you were going to be on this world. But I’ve found you now and when I saw you lying there in the street…”

“Tell me,” Kyungsoo pressed. “Talk to me.”

Chanyeol sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

It was a funny thing to say, but Kris had to say he really wasn’t expecting an ambush. Of course if he had said that to Jongdae, he would have gotten a light smack upside the head and a shout of “Of course not, who the heck expects an ambush?”

But armies train for ambushes, they know what to do in those kinds of situations. Kris never thought that Daimons would have the brain capacity to plan an ambush. He’s not even sure the monsters have brains, he thought they were just shadows filled with seething rage and sharp spikes. Apparently he was mistaken.

“This is insane!” Jongdae screeched, ducking behind the car to avoid a swipe with a long, spiked tail. “This has never happened before!”

Kris had never felt so helpless in either of his lives, and he cursed his power. The other Sailors were able to summon their weapons when in uniform, Kris had to either carry one with him or use one in the surrounding environment. But they were in the middle of a street and there wasn’t time to call for back up, and he didn’t think to bring a horn to Joonmyun’s house, he was a bit preoccupied with Kyungsoo’s well-being. He wished he had a horn, any horn—

Wait. Any kind of horn should do the trick…

“Get ready, Neptune! I’m going to try something!”

With his elbow, Kris broke open the window of the car he was crouched behind. He leaned in, across the passenger seat, and slammed his hand down on the horn. It blared in his ear, but it was quickly drowned out by the roar of wind.

“Yes!” Jongdae screamed. He raised his whip and it was surrounded by a cyclone of water. A few of the Daimons scattered, but Jongdae and Kris managed to use the wind, water, and whip to get four of them under control. Jongdae handed Kris his whip, and Kris held it steady while Jongdae aimed his wand at the monsters.

“IN THE NAME OF NEPTUNE, I RELEASE YOU!”

There was a flash of red light and a crack like lightning, and the monsters disappeared. Kris and Jongdae sank to their knees, momentarily lost in the memories that flashed before their eyes. They quickly straightened up, there was no time to dwell on what they saw.

“We have to get to headquarters,” Kris said. “Call Joonmyun, I’m going to tell Chanyeol.”

It had only been half an hour since they’d left Joonmyun’s house, and Chanyeol missed Kris’ first call. He answered the second one, and Kris told him that he and Jongdae had been ambushed by daimons.

“We’re okay, but we’re shaken. We’ve always had warnings before daimon attacks, and we’ve never seen so many in one place before. We’re going to have to investigate this. Do not leave Kyungsoo’s side and keep your pin handy. You should be safe in Joonmyun house but stay aware, okay?”

Chanyeol promised to do so, and Kris hung up. Jongdae took his hand and squeezed it. “The others are on their way, they all know to be on the lookout.”

Kris stopped walking and turned to Jongdae, looking him over. “Are you hurt?”

Jongdae smiled and shook his head. Kris drew him in for a hug, quick but firm. “It’s been a while since we battled side by side,” Kris said.

Jongdae kissed his cheek. “Been a while since I’ve seen you use your powers, Sailor Triton.”

They walked to the arcade hand in hand, and Kris hated to admit it but he was distracted. His memory had been of himself at around ten years old, watching Lu Han and Chanyeol practice their powers, while he seethed in silent jealousy. His power had been too volatile to use near the Palace, he and Joonmyun always had to wait for someone to take them far away, where they couldn’t hurt anyone. In his past life and even in this one, Kris struggled with the feeling that he was less of a Sailor Scout than the others were. But this daimon attack made it seem like that was about to change, and it was about time for Triton and Deimos to show those monsters just what they were up against.

Joonmyun ran into the back room and grabbed Kris by his shoulders. “A car horn?! Are you serious!?”

“The situation warranted it,” Kris said.

“Still!” Joonmyun sputtered. “That was incredibly risky and incredibly awesome!”

Kris laughed and riffled Joonmyun’s hair. “Next time I’ll do it when you’re around, so you can see.”

Baekhyun strolled into the room and slung his arm over Joonmyun’s shoulders. “He’s been seething for twenty minutes now.”

“I was not seething,” Joonmyun said sheepishly. But he probably had been. He missed getting to see Kris’ power, it had been a long time since he’d gotten that chance, and an even longer time since he’d gotten a chance to test his own.

“Actually, I wanted to talk the two of you about this,” Kris said. He sat on the sofa and Joonmyun and Baekhyun followed his lead. “I think it’s time that we showed these creatures what they’re messing with. This attack is…”

“Bizarre?” Joonmyun offered.

“And scary,” Baekhyun added.

Kris nodded. “Yes, and we need answers. We need to find some daimons and spy on them, if at all possible. We need to know why they attacked in a group.”

Joonmyun gave Kris a wide-eyed look. “You’re suggesting that we leave the others? Us, possibly the strongest Sailors, leave them alone, when Kyungsoo is bedridden and our Prince is not leaving his side?”

“They’ll have Minseok, and Lu Han,” Kris said. “And I’m sure they can all fit in your house. When are your parents coming back?”

Joonmyun shrugged. “Even then, it’s a big risk, especially now that daimons are apparently getting smart. Why should we both go?”

Jongdae was the one who answered. “Maybe we can get them all at once, or at least a good deal of them, before they do some real damage.”

“Exactly,” Kris said. “We have to strike back now, before they hit us again and get even stronger.”

Joonmyun rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. “It makes sense but I don’t like it at all. Still I guess it’s our only option, I can’t think of anyone else fit for such a reckless move.”

Baekhyun pumped his fists in the air. “AWESOME! The fearsome foursome are back in action!”

“Now we just have to let everyone else in on the plan,” Kris reminded them.

Once the other Sailors, aside from Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, had gathered, Kris called Chanyeol and put him on speaker so he could be part of the conversation. Kris relayed the plan, and there was a slight amount of disagreement, but like Joonmyun had conceded, everyone was quick to realize that Kris and Jongdae’s plan was the best one they could come up with on such short notice. The Sailors were given strict instructions not to go out alone and to stay in Joonmyun’s house when possible.

“Is everyone clear on the plan?” Joonmyun asked.

There were nods from all but Sehun, who lifted his head and said, “I want to come with you.”

There was a beat of silence. Then Kris asked, “Why?”

Sehun’s face showed none of the hesitation the older Scouts had come to expect of him. “Because I want to fight alongside Triton and Deimos again. This thing where we get our memories back in bits and pieces, it’s made me afraid of your powers, but I’ve begun to get back my memories of our other times together. I know that you’re my friends and you love me, and I love you too, and I want to stop being afraid of you.”

It was quite the touching speech, which made it hard to turn him down. But still Joonmyun wanted to try. “That’s a very good reason, but we have no idea what we’re walking into and we don’t want you to get hurt—”

“Don’t you dare,” Sehun snapped, his expression hardening. “You seem to forget that I am a warrior. I’m as much a Sailor Scout as anyone else here, even if I am the youngest. And for that matter, I’m not that much younger than Jongdae is, yet nobody questions if he should be going because it’s dangerous.”

There was another moment of silence. Sehun’s expression never wavered, and Joonmyun felt like he’d had a bucket of water dumped over his head. They had been babying Sehun, and it was true that it was because of his age. Back on their home planet, Sehun had been treated like the rest of them. It was true, in a way, they had forgotten that he wasn’t just Sehun, he was Saturn.

“It’s not because we don’t trust you,” Kris said quietly. “We just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “For heaven’s sake I know that, but you can’t protect me forever. It’s pretty much inevitable that we’re all going to get hurt, and I think having a fifth Sailor with you, one who’s not subconsciously watching their lover’s back, would be a very good idea.”

That brought a smile to everyone’s face, as it was what had been drummed into them when they’d first started forming relationships all those years ago.

Joonmyun turned to Yixing, “And you’re okay staying behind?”

Yixing nodded. “And really I think if you don’t take him along, he’ll just sneak after you. This is something Sehun’s been wanting for a while, and even though my opinion shouldn’t sway you one way or another, I support him wholeheartedly, not that my opinion should sway anyone one way or another.”

Joonmyun nodded. “I know, I just don’t want you sneaking along after us.”

“That’s all well and good,” came Chanyeol’s voice from Kris’ phone, “But what are you going to do, exactly? Wander around until you find some daimons and hope the rest of the plan falls together?”

“Pretty much,” Kris and Joonmyun confirmed.

“Fine,” Chanyeol huffed. “But as Prince I issue an executive order—if you haven’t had success in 48 hours, call it off and we come up with another plan.”

“Sounds fair,” Joonmyun said. “You have a deal.”

The five Sailor Scouts who were to embark on the mission packed a bag with money and a change of clothes, and set themselves up in front of the monster tracker. They monitored the other Sailors to make sure they got home okay, and then agreed to take turns keeping their eyes open for any signs of daimons. They didn’t have to wait long, after only two hours the tracker beeped out a signal that two daimons had been spotted prowling around a city dump.

“Makes sense that they’d be here,” Joonmyun muttered as they made their way to the dump, “They feed off everything rotten.”

“So what’s the plan, exactly?” Sehun asked. “Do we try to capture one?”

“I think we’ll just try to tail them for a while,” Kris said. “If they spot us, then we’ll try capture.”

Even sudden group attacks didn’t seem to mean these two daimons were any more intelligent than the Sailors had come to expect. But it was very bizarre to be watching them and not trying to outright destroy them. The daimons grumbled to each other over a pile of rotting fruit, and it quickly became a very boring job to all but Joonmyun.

“Guys,” Joonmyun whispered, “I’m going to try something.”

All eyes were on Joonmyun as he took a deep breath, pressed his fingers to his temples, and focused on the pair of daimons.

Joonmyun didn’t know if it was going to work. He had very little knowledge of these creatures, if they were sentient, mere shadow of evil, if they had a mind that could even be read. But he was going to try. Joonmyun closed his eyes and tapped into his power, and when he opened his eyes again, the world had changed. Instead of seeing objects, Joonmyun saw thousands of multicolored threads. These were the threads of consciousness, which, when followed, could lead him to the thoughts of anyone he choose. And right away Joonmyun saw that the daimons did, indeed, have threads of consciousness. Theirs was thicker than the others, and it was strange, but the only way Joonmyun could describe how they looked was ‘absence of color.’ Not white, not black, no color at all, no life, yet somehow he could still see it. Joonmyun followed the threads, wove them apart in his mind until he saw a crumbling building, a place where daimons hung on the walls, growling and shrieking, until a voice ordered them to calm down. That same voice then began to speak again, in a language that Joonmyun couldn’t understand, but it was clear that the daimons could. They knew that they had to attack the Sailor Scouts, and they knew how to find them.

Joonmyun yanked himself free of the bleak threads of consciousness and flailed wildly until he managed to find his own thread once more, and he pulled his mind back together. He opened his eyes and looked into the worried faces of his fellow Scouts.

“They’re not...it’s not just them,” He stammered. “Something is giving them orders.”

“What do we do?” Sehun asked.

Joonmyun wondered if the daimons knew what he’d just done. He wasn’t going to take the chance that they did, and allow them to report back to whoever, or whatever, was giving orders. “I’ve got some information and I’m not keen on letting them leave here. We’re going to destroy these two now.”

Joonmyun, Baekhyun, Kris, and Jongdae all stood, but Sehun remained crouched down.

“You guys go do what you do best,” Sehun told them. “I want to watch.”

Joonmyun nodded. “Then we’ll give you a show.”

Joonmyun pressed his hand to the pin on his chest, and beside him the others did the same. Baekhyun twirled an arrow between his fingers and Jongdae snapped his whip.

“We are back,” Baekhyun said with a grin.

Sehun watched, and while he was wary at first, he soon became awed. He didn’t know how truly powerful Joonmyun and Kris were, especially when they teamed up with Baekhyun and Jongdae. The truth was, it wasn’t scary to Sehun, because he could see how much control they all had. He was getting flashes of memory, of times when they hadn’t been in control, but that had been a long time ago, and Joonmyun and Kris had never hurt the innocent. They had also never taken the life of any creature that could be saved. And as Sehun knew, daimons couldn’t be saved. He felt no pity for the monsters, only relief as they were destroyed.

The daimons were rent apart, shred by shred, piece by piece. Joonmyun, Kris, Jongdae, and Baekhyun barely seemed to stop, they moved so fast that Sehun’s eyes couldn’t focus on any one of them. Flashes of red and orange light and cracks of sound were all he heard. It was as beautiful as it was violent.

When it was finished Joonmyun collapsed, and Baekhyun caught him at once. Kris gestured for Sehun to follow and then he led them to shelter in a parking garage. Baekhyun took a water bottle and dripped cold water on Joonmyun’s face, wiping it away with his own sleeve. Joonmyun regained consciousness after only a few moments. Abruptly Joonmyun sat up and laid his hand on the pavement. Steam rose from it, and seconds later there was a series of cracks as the ground splintered apart in a pattern.

Sehun turned his head and realized that Joonmyun had created a face in the pavement.

“This is the person who is giving the daimons their orders,” Joonmyun said. “I’m pretty sure it’s a woman. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her before.”

Baekhyun pulled a piece of paper from his bag. “Can we make a better image?”

Joonmyun nodded. “I just had to get it on something solid before I forgot.”

Kris held the paper up, and Joonmyun and Baekhyun put their right hands on each other’s foreheads, then their left hands, palm out, on the paper. There was a flash of light and the image was transferred to the paper.

“Damn,” Sehun whispered. “How did you do that?”

Baekhyun grinned. “Joonmyun showed me the face, and I used light to transfer it to paper.”

“You can do that?”

“Only we can,” Baekhyun said.

Joonmyun took the piece of paper and squinted at it. “I know her. We battled her once before…in the past.”

“She wants something,” Kris said. “Something that we have…or once had…”

“That’s helpful,” Jongdae said sarcastically.

“I know it’s not much to go on,” Joonmyun sighed, “But maybe if we can find her…”

He was interrupted by the shrill sound of his cell phone ringing. Joonmyun answered it, and yanked the phone away from his ear. All five of them heard the rumble of Chanyeol’s voice clearly, though the phone wasn’t on speaker.

“Get home, now.”

A shudder ran through the group. That was not the voice of Chanyeol, or even Sailor Moon, it was the voice of the Moon Prince ordering his people. And it was an order they were beholden by the blood in their veins to obey.

Chanyeol had been in the middle of telling Kyungsoo about a time they had both snuck out to watch a lunar eclipse when he suddenly went silent. Kyungsoo turned to look at him, but a wave of vertigo hit him and he clutched his head. A brief image of a box flashed before his eyes, and he saw the lid lifted from the box. Something glittered inside, and he heard, clear as day, Chanyeol’s voice whispering, “The silver crystal.”

When the moment passed Kyungsoo opened his eyes and found himself face down on the bed, and he shut his eyes against a sharp pain in his head. He turned his head and saw Chanyeol struggling to his feet.

“Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo whimpered, holding out his hand.

Chanyeol gathered Kyungsoo into his arms and held him tight. “Are you alright, Venus?”

Kyungsoo buried his face in Chanyeol’s neck. “My head…”

Chanyeol kissed Kyungsoo’s temple. “What did you see?”

Kyungsoo paused at his voice. “Chanyeol, what happened?”

“Answer me.”

Kyungsoo shuddered. “The crystal,” he blurted.

Chanyeol leaned back and Kyungsoo stared at him in shock. It was strange, as if Kyungsoo were seeing two people. One was the Chanyeol he had come to know, but the other was the Chanyeol he saw in his memories. Chanyeol’s eyes held a new intensity, and power seemed to thrum under his skin.

“Prince…” Kyungsoo gasped.

Chanyeol grasped Kyungsoo’s hands and pressed them to his mouth. “Venus, don’t say anything about the crystal yet. Promise me.”

Kyungsoo nodded.

Chanyeol walked to the door and opened it. “Everyone get in here now!”

Kyungsoo shuddered again at the authority in Chanyeol’s voice. Chanyeol walked away from the door, picked up his phone, and issued an order in that same tone of voice.

“Get home, now.”

He didn’t wait for a response, and Kyungsoo realized he didn’t need one. There was no way the order could be disregarded.

Lu Han and Tao were the first to arrive, and Yixing was not far behind. They entered in silence, each one staring at Chanyeol in awe. It was a few minutes before Minseok and Jongin arrived, and when they did it became clear that Jongin had tried to fight the order. His eyes were squeezed shut, he dug his nails into his arms, and he was shaking from head to foot.

Minseok stood behind Jongin, as though to keep him from running out. Chanyeol stood in front of Jongin, then got down on one knee.

“Uri, it’s okay,” Chanyeol said. His voice was still strong, though not half as commanding as it had been.

Jongin shuddered and staggered back, and Minseok caught him.

“That’s not my name!” Jongin shrieked, his eyes still shut.

“Jongin,” Chanyeol corrected himself. “It’s okay, you’re safe here.”

Jongin covered his ears and screamed. Kyungsoo jumped, as did Lu Han, Tao, and Yixing.

“No!” Jongin screamed. He fell to his knees and pressed himself against the wall. “Stop it! You’re lying!”

“I’m not,” Chanyeol said. “Jongin, please look at me.”

Jongin shook his head. “You…abandoned me,” he sobbed. “I wasn’t safe, you left me all alone!”

Chanyeol bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”

That made Jongin freeze. Slowly he lifted his head and opened his eyes.

Kyungsoo didn’t know a lot about Jongin’s life on this planet. He knew that Jongin had dropped out of school, and he lived with Minseok, just the two of them. He had sensed that there was a reason, and a bad one, for Jongin to keep quiet about his past, and the look on his face was enough to confirm it.

“You left me alone,” Jongin repeated.

“I’m so sorry,” Chanyeol said again. He lifted his head. “I didn’t know it would happen this way. I wish I could take it back.” He held out an arm.

Jongin lunged forward and sobbed into Chanyeol’s neck. “I was so scared.”

“I’m sorry, Uranus,” Chanyeol said, Jongin’s back.

Kyungsoo remembered then, back on their home world, Jongin had been the baby of their group, not Sehun. And he also remembered the way Sailor Uranus had looked up to the Moon Prince like an older brother and placed so much trust in his leadership.

Chanyeol lifted Jongin in his arms and carried him to the bed. They sat for a while, and Jongin eventually stopped crying and pressed himself to Chanyeol’s chest, fingers curling into his shirt. Minseok came and sat by Kyungsoo’s side, and soon Lu Han, Tao, and Yixing joined them on the bed.

It was dark by the time Kris, Joonmyun, Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Sehun returned. Sehun ran right to Yixing, Jongdae and Baekhyun remained frozen in the doorway, and Joonmyun and Kris knelt in a bow in front of Chanyeol.

“We should go somewhere more private,” Chanyeol said, looking pointedly at Joonmyun.

Joonmyun nodded and got to his feet. Chanyeol murmured something to Jongin, who sat up and scooted off Chanyeol’s lap.

Chanyeol lifted Kyungsoo into his arms and gestured for everyone else to walk ahead of him, following Joonmyun out of the room. As Chanyeol started to walk, he whispered to Kyungsoo, “Remember your promise. I’ll explain later.”

Kyungsoo had been confused, but until that moment he hadn’t been scared. At those words though, he felt the beginnings of panic flutter through his chest. Chanyeol gives him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”

But Kyungsoo wasn't sure he believed that.

Something has woken inside of Chanyeol. He knows that it’s because of Joonmyun and Kris, and he realizes that this is why they’ve been so careful about letting their true strength come through. As leader, Chanyeol has a special bond with all the Sailor Scouts, but due to their strength, Deimos and Triton are more like Generals than Scouts, and they have the most power after Chanyeol himself.

Joonmyun leads the group to the basement, to the very back room. There he pulls away a hanging picture and presses his hand to the wall. The wall slides open, revealing a tunnel. This had been something Joonmyun had been compelled to build long before he even knew he was a Sailor Scout, and because of his parent’s absence and access to earth currency, his house was the perfect place for such a thing.

The tunnel lead to a sound proofed room, deep underground. Chanyeol, Kris, and Joonmyun, upon their awakening as Sailors, had further protected the room by layering it with magic from their home world. The room was furnished with two long couches, and a table with twelve seats. Chanyeol veered towards the couches, since it would be more comfortable for Venus to sit there than on a wooden chair. It hurt Chanyeol, a bit, to see the lingering uncertainty in Kyungsoo’s eyes. He sat beside Kyungsoo and took his hand, squeezing it briefly.

Once everyone had taken a seat, Chanyeol began to explain.

“I’ve recovered more of my memories, I have a feeling it’s got something to do with the show of force that happened when our scouting party obliterated those daimons. I think Joonmyun has something to tell all of us.”

Joonmyun nodded and addressed the group. “I was able to read the minds of two daimons, and I saw that they’re being controlled by someone.” He took from his pocket a piece of paper, and unfolded it. The face made Chanyeol flinch as he remembered her voice, high and cold, taunting him to do something to stop her.

Joonmyun passed the paper around to the group, and Chanyeol continued to speak. “Her name is Beryl. She calls herself a Queen, by no authority other than her own. She is everything wrong with the universe, and she thrives on darkness. She attacked our home world, because she wanted to get something that my family has been in possession of since the first generation of Sailor Scouts took their oaths. It’s called the Silver Crystal.”

There were a few gasps and Kyungsoo shot Chanyeol a sharp look. Chanyeol squeezed his hand again.

Joonmyun interrupted, “She’s looking for it, I saw her commanding the daimons to distract us! Well, some of them are distracting us, others are looking for it.”

Chanyeol nodded. “I thought you would say that.” He lowered his voice, and everyone leaned closer. “This is a safe place, protected by magic, but it is important we don’t speak of Beryl or the crystal outside of these walls. Not even in this house. Does everyone understand?”

Chnayeol waited until he had a promise from each Scout before he continued. “Beryl doesn’t know where the crystal is, and she’s not going to find it no matter how hard she looks, at least as long as our identities remain a secret from her. From now on, if you encounter a daimon, destroy it at once. Do not let it get away from you so that it can report back to her. I know where the crystal is. And for as long as our true names remain a mystery, it cannot be located. Even though I know where it is, I cannot physically retrieve it until we all know our true names. And I suspect we are close to that discovery. Once we have the crystal, we’ll be able to defeat Beryl once and for all.”

“Why?” Sehun blurted. “If we had it before, why couldn’t we defeat her on our home planet?”

“She weakened us,” Chanyeol said. “We didn’t even realize it, but she managed to infiltrate our world and weaken us, our physical bodies, with poison. It was before we were even born, and the poison made it impossible for us to fully control the power of the crystal. That’s why we had to be reborn into new bodies, and why we had to leave our home. I picked this planet because Beryl herself didn’t know where it was. But as I suspected, she followed us here, but only after we were all born. Thus, she hasn’t poisoned us.”

Silence followed the announcement. Kyungsoo had ended up with the image of Beryl. He looked at it briefly before flicking it away from himself. It landed face down on the floor, and nobody picked it up.

“What happens now?” Sehun asked meekly.

Chanyeol got up and went to sit next to Sehun. “We need to start making peace with the fact that we’re not going to be here much longer.”

Sehun lowered his head, seemingly not surprised by the news.

“We’re here for you, Sehun,” Chanyeol said soothingly. “And I want you to go along on more battles. You need your memories back.”

Kris asked, “So you want us to actively seek the daimons?”

“And the other nightmarish things Beryl is sending to this world,” Chanyeol added. “Yes. I think it’s time we all stopped attending school, work, and so on. I have a feeling that if we continued these activities, it would be easier for Beryl to find us. We’re not quite ready for a confrontation with her.”

Nobody said anything in protest, not that they would even if they did disagree. So Chanyeol took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He imagined himself covered in a white sheet, and he imagined the sheet slipping away. When he opened his eyes, he felt like Chanyeol, not the Moon Prince.

“If anyone disagrees, please tell me. I want to hear from my friends.”

The group seemed to relax, but still they didn’t disagree. Chanyeol knew that Kyungsoo wasn’t happy with him, but the only one who seemed truly troubled was Sehun. Chanyeol put his arm over Sehun’s shoulders and hugged him.

“I’ll find a way to let you be part of their lives,” he said. “I know that there has to be a way. I have an idea, but I don’t want to talk about it now, in case it turns out I need a different way. But I know in my heart that I’ll be able to find a way.”

Sehun sniffled and leaned against Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“This is your Prince making you a promise,” Chanyeol added.

Sehun nodded. “Okay, I trust you,” he said, clearly speaking around a lump in his throat. Chanyeol would let Yixing take over on that.

Chanyeol stood and looked around at the group. “I think we should go and get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Joonmyun nodded. “I’ll show you all where you can sleep.”

The group stood to leave, and Chanyeol scooped Kyungsoo into his arm, pausing only to whisper, “Later.”

Kyungsoo’s arm continued to throb from the daimon wound he sustained. Chanyeol flinched each time Kyungsoo hissed in pain.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, pausing as he covered the wound in a healing balm.

“Just get it over with,” Kyungsoo snapped. The pain didn’t improve his mood, which he already blamed on Chanyeol and his cryptic behavior from earlier. Later, later, later…keep your promise…say nothing…Kyungsoo was ready for some answers. Chanyeol wrapped Kyungsoo’s arm in fresh gauze and helped him into a shirt. Kyungsoo laid down and stared at the ceiling, suddenly missing the mural in Chanyeol’s room. He wondered if his parents had started missing him yet.

Kyungsoo felt Chanyeol’s fingers his hair, and after a few seconds he knocked Chanyeol’s hand away.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said.

“You keep saying that,” Kyungsoo hissed. “Who are you?”

Instantly he felt like he should take it back, but he couldn’t, and it was a legitimate question that he had.

“I have no idea,” Chanyeol said. “I’m a lot of things. The Moon Prince, the Chanyeol you met three weeks ago, and a hybrid combination of the two, a person who carries both lives with me. You’ll be the same way, once we get home. None of us will be the same.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes. They stung with tears. “Why did it have to be us?” he asked quietly.

Chanyeol put his hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Ready for that explanation?”

Chanyeol carried Kyungsoo back down to the room in the basement. The wall slid open at his touch, and he laid Kyungsoo down on the sofa, then laid next to him.

“I love you, Kyungsoo. Venus.” Chanyeol said. “I love you with every piece of my soul. That hasn’t changed.”

Kyungsoo sat up. “I’m not questioning that. Why didn’t you let me talk about the crystal?”

Chanyeol sat up as well. “Because it’s safer for everyone if they remain in the dark. I knew you would remember, because I told you my plan, and only you. Not even Joonmyun and Kris know where I hid the crystal.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I remember that. You broke it, so Beryl would have an even harder time getting her hands on it. And you gave a piece to each of us, because you knew we would keep it safe. But how can we keep it safe if we don’t know where it is?”

Chanyeol reached into his pocket and took out Kyungsoo’s pin. Kyungsoo took it, and pinned it to his shirt.

“Activate it,” Chanyeol said.

Kyungsoo did so. The transformation didn’t hurt him, and when it was done he switched his wand to the hand on his uninjured arm and twirled it between his fingers.

Chanyeol caught his fingers and held the wand between their hands.

Kyungsoo froze, his eyes wide. “It’s…in our wands?”

Chanyeol nodded. “When we remember our true names, we’ll say them out loud. Then the bulb on top of our wands will shatter, and the crystal shard will be freed.”

Kyungsoo leaned back, suddenly feeling lightheaded. Chanyeol waited until he’d absorbed that information before he spoke again.

“The silver crystal is special. It’s the most powerful object in the universe. And in some ways, it has a mind of its own. When it broke, it broke into twelve pieces, but one was…different from the others. I only had a little time in which to hide it, but I realized that one of the pieces represented the very center of the crystal. Its heart, you could say.”

Kyungsoo’s wand was shaking. He and Chanyeol were both shaking, he realized. Chanyeol held Kyungsoo’s hand in both of his own, and it did nothing to steady the shaking wand. If anything, the shaking got worse.

Chanyeol continued, his voice breaking. “And that’s the piece I gave to you.”

Kyungsoo flung himself forward. His wand fell to the floor. He didn’t feel any pain in his injured arm as he wrapped himself around Chanyeol, so close he barely had any room to kiss Chanyeol, but somehow they managed it.

They tumbled down on the sofa, still kissing, and Kyungsoo’s cheeks were wet with Chanyeol’s tears.

“I love you,” Chanyeol whispered against Kyungsoo’s lips.

Kyungsoo pulled back and wiped the tears from Chanyeol’s cheeks. “I love you too, my Prince.”

Now the Sailor Moon references are really kicking in. and I still haven’t seen the show/read the manga. Thank goodness for the Sailor Moon wikia!

Title taken from a line in “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton, a song that has been stuck in my head aaaaaaall week.

Yes I’m back to writing! Finally! I got ticket’s to EXO’s concert in New Jersey so that inspired me to get my lazy back in gear. Please comment on how cheesy that last bit was!