(a/n: Listen to this specially composed soundtrack song to gain a better feeling for the emotion of this chapter: Here)

                Complete darkness existed for a time, pulsing gently like a cosmic, beating heart.  Within the depths, rocks crumbled unto dust and oceans of water swallowed everything.  Remnants of glass faded away into nothing and eventually, even the water ran dry, leaving oblivion in its wake.  But ever did the darkness move, a sentient thing contemplating the final thoughts of a dying man.  Genesis brushed against oblivion then, a tentative request, and oblivion shifted with an air of amused but satisfied acquiescence.  The darkness softened and Neverealm responded.

                Water appeared first, filtering into the nothingness to fill the space with cool liquid.  It was never ending in its breadth and depth until mountains rose from within, giving a surface and blind perspective.  At the edge of the horizon, pale rays of light rose across the carnation and aquamarine sky to cast questing fingers of illumination over the uneven ground and lighting the top of the water with a field of sparkling diamonds.  Mountains leveled out and greenery sprouted in their place, vibrant and lush and unconquerable.  Languid, foamy waves washed upon a beach at the edge of the land and the ground shifted as if in preparation.

                Small masses floated up from the depths, forming solid wholes by the time they broke the surface.  Bobbing in the gentle swells of water, the strangely colored forms ebbed and flowed closer and closer to the island.  A wave crested, carrying the bundles within.  It heaved them onto the land and then crept away, almost like it was sad to see them go.  Rivulets of water trailed off the sodden forms, soaking into the sand and escaping back to the ocean in tiny rivers.  A sunless but light sky revealed eight bodies on the shore, unmoving.  The land and sea continued to breathe as one, waves hissing against the sand and leaves whispering in the trees.  But then the figure with mint green hair twitched and the world held its breath.

                Gritty firmness pressed into his cheek while salt burned his nose and coated his tongue.  Yoongi coughed once, the action sparking a violent fit when sand was into moist lungs on the inhale.  Choking, he hauled himself to his hands and knees and expelled the salty contents of his revolting stomach all over the beach.  “Ugh…” he groaned as he hung his pounding head between his shoulders.  Thinking was a struggle and it was damnably difficult to remember why he was here.  Swallowing around a rough throat, he turned his head to the right and froze, dark brown eyes going wide.  “Pearl,” he whispered as he saw the nemon lying on the beach nearby, her black and white hair splayed out around her like a erse halo.  She was unmoving and it was unclear if she was alive or dead, but her appearance sparked a chain reaction of memories and Yoongi flinched as if struck.

                Fire and pain.

                A Curse with Pearl’s face.

                Darkness and cold everywhere.

                His friends dying.

                Neverealm…

                He was broken from his forced enthrallment by the sound of a gasping cough to his other side.  Looking on his left with a wide-eyed stare, he covered his mouth with a sandy palm when he saw Seokjin stirring on the beach.  The pale, brown haired man had rolled onto his side to spit out saltwater.  From that position, he could see Yoongi’s eyes and reached one weak hand out towards him with a question furrowing his brows.  “Yoongi…” he whispered, the sound lost but the word apparent on his lips.

                Yoongi didn’t even give himself time to wonder.  He just started crawling across the distance that separated them so he could take Seokjin’s hand and pull the other man into his arms.  They clung to each other on the sand, unable to form words around their quiet tears.  “You’re alive,” Yoongi finally managed to whimper thickly, burying his face in Seokjin’s shoulder.

                “I know,” Seokjin swallowed, hiccupping against Yoongi’s neck.  “Why?  How?” he sniffed, completely at a loss.

                “I don’t-” Yoongi broke off, pulling back so he could look in Seokjin’s face again, to make sure this wasn’t some cruel dream.  “I don’t know,” he gasped, nodding his head to his right as tears continued to make seeing difficult.  “Pearl’s here too, but…” he trailed off, the emotion welling up when he couldn’t finish the sentence.

                Seokjin blinked hard to clear his sight so he could follow Yoongi’s gaze.  “Pearl?” he wondered aloud, his grip tightening when he recalled the last time they’d seen her.

                But Yoongi wasn’t paying attention.  He finally looked left again and couldn’t breathe, confused by how he hadn’t noticed them before and daring to hope they were alright too.  “Jin,” he croaked, the sound not enough to draw his friend’s attention yet.  “Jin!” he gasped louder, giving the older man a slight shake.

                Seokjin gasped when he dragged his sight to the other side, settling on the remaining five figures spread out on the shore.  “That’s Kookie,” he breathed in wonder and hope, the breath trembling as it left his lungs.

                “And Namjoon,” Yoongi added, seeing the platinum haired man beyond the younger boy.

                Craning to see further, they confirmed together, “There’s Tae and Jiminnie and is that Hoseok?”  As soon as they finished speaking, they looked at each other with desperate hope in their gazes, and immediately lurched to their feet.  Sand shifted and their bodies felt weak and new, awkward in their first steps, but move they did, holding onto each other for support as they walked.

                “Kookie!” they yelled in tandem, crumpling to either side of the young man who was just starting to move with feeble awareness.  Coughing answered them and they rushed to turn him onto his side so he could spew the water in his lungs.

                “Is he okay?” Yoongi asked, kneeling with his hands on Jungkook’s shoulders as he looked to Seokjin for confirmation.

                “He’s good,” the older man smiled with teary eyes, wiping the damp, black hair away from Jungkook’s face so they could both see dark eyes blinking in confusion.  “I’ve got him, Yoongi.  Go check on the others,” he breathed in excitement, immediately returning his attention to the conscious Jungkook.

                Yoongi nodded and lunged to his feet.  He stumbled first and nearly fell but fingers brushed the sand and he recovered before running the couple meters to Namjoon.  “Joonie!” he cried out, sliding to a stop on his knees beside his friend.  Namjoon was face down like Yoongi had been, and he grabbed the other man’s shoulders to haul him over so he could see.  “Wake up, Joonie!” he urged, slapping the pale face with urgent haste.

                “Ngh,” Namjoon groaned, twitching from the “tender” attention, but his eyes peeled open and he inhaled a half-breath before coughing took him by surprise.

                “Yes!” Yoongi grinned despite the situation.  “That’s right, Joonie.  Spit it out,” he encouraged, helping turn the other man on his side so he’d breathe easier.  “You’ll be alright,” he promised with a hint of apology as he got up before he could speak to him.  He had to check on the other three first.  It was nearly heart stopping pausing at every lifeless looking body until each one started to breathe again on their own.  They all coughed and choked up plenty of water, but they were alive and conscious and unharmed.  And Yoongi couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

                Then again, none of them could.  When he dragged Hoseok over to join a finally standing Taehyung and Jimin, the waterworks continued and they were only able to keep moving because Yoongi noticed Namjoon coming to join them with Seokjin and Jungkook at his side.  They joined the milling, mass of emotions and held tight, everyone trying to touch everyone else at the same time.  Muffled questions and statements arose: “How did you survive?”; “What happened?”; “You’re alive!” but no one knew how to answer or what to say.

                When they had cried themselves out and they were able to breathe and think moderately normal again, it fell to Yoongi to explain.  But first… through the throng of mostly taller people, he noticed one more person standing uncertainly on the outskirts.  She was grabbing her left arm with her right hand, proud head downcast with the white to black strands swaying in the breeze.  He couldn’t see her two-toned eyes.  “Pearl,” he whispered, the name an announcement and an acknowledgement.  The shift in the group, at hearing her name and realizing she was there, was unmistakable.

                Pearl looked up hesitantly, her red and blue eyes flickering between him and the ground.  “Hey Yoongi,” she murmured in a soft, questioning tone.  “Boys,” she added with a quick glance at the rest of their faces as if looking for some sort of help.  None were quick to give it to her.

                Waves crashed softly into the silence and Yoongi finally pulled himself free of the group’s embrace, placing himself between them and the nemon.  “Is it really you?” he demanded in a quiet voice, staring at the top of her head when she couldn’t meet his eyes.  She remained mute and nodded as her left hand grabbed her right elbow.  “And the Curse?” he prompted with an edge, unrelenting in his stance.

                “Gone,” Pearl admitted, shifting from foot to foot on the unsteady sand.  “Thank you,” she spoke again, pulling her eyes up to meet Yoongi’s gaze again.

                “You should have told us,” he stated flatly, hands balling into fists at the deception.

                “I thought-” she started to explain.

                “Don’t,” Yoongi cut her off in a biting response.  She flinched and dropped her gaze again, acccepting the rebuke.  He didn’t want to hear her excuses when he had just watched all of his friends die from her lack of speaking.  Yoongi was pretty sure he had died too, but he couldn’t actually remember that part.

                “Yoongi,” one of the boys behind him called, brushing his arm with their fingertips.  He glanced over his shoulder to see it was Hoseok, looking at him with a pained expression on his face.  “It is Pearl.  You don’t have to…” he trailed off, not sure exactly what he was trying to say, but his warm, brown eyes did flicker to Pearl as she continued to bow her head and shoulders.

                “You don’t understand, Hoseokkie,” Yoongi sighed with a shake of his head.  He couldn’t after all.  He’d been the first to die and so hadn’t seen what followed after.  He just didn’t know…  Yoongi glanced at the other boys quickly, remembering how they’d all fallen and he could still feel the helpless rage and loss that had filled him when they had.

                Some of it must have been obvious on his face.  “I know,” Hoseok admitted, grabbing Yoongi’s shoulder to give a reassuring squeeze.  “But… can we just go home now?” he pleaded weakly, looking over the rest of the boys to see how they felt.

                Home.  The word made Yoongi bite his lip and look down.  None of them exactly had a home anymore.  Not like they used to, but they did have a space to call their own.  It wasn’t home in the sense that any of them wished for most, but it did serve that purpose from time to time.  “You’re right,” he whispered tiredly, wiping at his eyes with one hand.  “Guys?” he prompted, looking up and half-turning to get a response from the others before he made the decision.

                Slow and reluctant but otherwise unanimous nods answered him.  Everyone was relieved to be alive and happy to be together but the shock of their experiences was equally clear.  Only Seokjin seemed to be as unsure of Pearl as Yoongi himself was, but they were both just as tired.  Taking a breath, Yoongi let it out slowly, releasing some of his tension with it, and nodded his head as he looked away again, not focusing on anybody.

                “Okay,” he his lips and wiped his mint hair back with a quick flick of his hand.  Glancing at Pearl, who was watching him with a preemptive cringe, he frowned slightly but refrained from reprimanding her again.  “Alright, Pearl.”  At her name, the nemon straightened up slightly, blinking too bright eyes with uncertainty.  “Take us home,” he stated, the words a request and a command.

                Pearl let out the breath she’d been holding and allowed a small smile to pull at her lips.  “Okay,” she confirmed with a nod, understanding things weren’t good between them yet, but it was a start.  With inherent grace, Pearl raised her hand and dragged one sharp claw through the air, drawing a seam in the fabric of the realm.  It peeled open to reveal a yawning portal of endless, starry skies and swirling energies.

                As a group, Yoongi and his friends made their way to the opening, peering into it intently.  It looked normal enough.  “To Nexus Headquarters, right?” he questioned, pausing near the entrance so that those behind him would stop too.

                “Yes,” Pearl promised with a significant look towards her handiwork.

                “You first then,” he followed up, waiting intently for her to move before they did.

                “I understand,” she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck and wrinkling her nose.  The nemon took a step towards the portal and paused.  “For what it’s worth, I never meant for… any of this,” she shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with how things had ended up.

                “I know,” Yoongi assured her, but he didn’t move.  Pearl nodded once more, let her eyes scan over the other boys, and then turned around to step into the opening.  Her angel wings and demon tail were gone, and nothing visibly remained of the Curse, but Yoongi would rest easier once Nexus Headquarters was able to confirm as much.  He felt the unconscious sigh of relief behind him when the majority of the boys relaxed as she disappeared; the tension between them all was still high.  “Rift Boys,” Yoongi gave a weak smile with a half-glance over his shoulder as he stepped out of the way to let them go first.  “Let’s go home.”

                “Aye!” they cried with muted enthusiasm as Namjoon lead the charge.

                Yoongi watched with careful eyes while each boy slipped through, one after the other, until only Hoseok was left.  “Come on, Yoongi.  You too,” he smiled and took the other man’s hand, as if he could read their leader’s inner struggle.

                “I’m coming,” he promised, giving the hand holding his a firm squeeze.  “I’m coming,” he whispered again when he let himself be pulled into the portal.

(a/n: Decided to break this into two parts.  Next one coming up shortly!)