Jian buried his face in his hands. Everything was falling apart around him. Had been continuously falling apart for the past few months. It had been one court hearing after another. First there was the car crash that cost Anna her life, and Daehwan everything but his life. Then Anthony was on the chopping block and Jian might have been able to bear that had the surrounding investigation not unearthed a whole corner of the London underground gambling world- Jian's corner. And then Ed, the fool, had insisted on taking the fall for that. And then as their little corner unravelled it aired out all sorts of closets with all sorts of skeletons, including the money Jian had been swindling from his father's investors which his father had then taken the fall for. 

Every single time Jian thought things couldn't get worse something else fell apart and always he was the only one to get away unscathed.

"What do I do Daehwan? Everything falling apart around me and I don't know what to do. How do I keep going after this? What am I supposed to do?"

The steady beeps of Daehwan's heart beat were all the answer he got. 

He'd thought that if only Daehwan would wake up from his coma. Then things would be okay. He would be able to take whatever was thrown at him if only his friend would be by his side, but it had been over two months since the accident and there was no indication that Daehwan was waking up. Every day the chance of him waking up got slimmer.

Jian couldn't keep doing this alone. Staying behind while other did time for his crimes. What kind of friend or son was he? 

He squeezed Daehwan's hand. "I'm sorry if you wake up and I'm not here," he said slowly, testing out the feel of the words he had been he had argued to himself over and over, and then practiced over and over. "I'm... going to atone for my crimes. Nobody will get hurt because of me again. I'm going to face my own problems. You hear that Daehwan? I'm turning myself in."

No response save the beeping of the machine. Jian wasn't sure what he had expected, but he'd half hoped a statement like that would elicit some response. 

He sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. Things would never be the same again.

He heard the door opening behind him but didnt pay him much mind until a harsh voice woke him from his own thought and self pity. "You. Get out."

Daehwan's mother, Kwon Ok, stood in the doorway with murder in her eyes and she looked at Jian. Damn, he'd been so careful not to run into her. Two months he had managed and this was the day he failed? The day that could very well be the last time he'd see Daehwan?

"Didn't you hear me?" Kwon demanded, her voice filled with bitterness and resentment. "After all that's happened you dare show your face here? Leave. You've done enough to him already."

Jian flinched. A few months ago he might know exactly what to say to shimmy out of the situation unharmed, maybe turn the tables on her, find her weakness and shift the blame on herself. But now he fell empty, deflated. Afer all she wasn't exactly wrong now was she? He got up and grabbed his coat from the foot of the bed. "I'm going."

He looked back once before exiting the room. Looked at the friend he would never see laugh again, or tease Jian, or give him a look that held more words than he could have said. 

He would never, ever, be able to make this right.

But maybe he could help Ed and his father. If he could help them even a little bit then that is what he should do. 

He buried his hands in his pocked and walked from the hospital to the police station. It was a long walk but he didn't mind, it gave him more time to think. With any luck his confession would be enough to keep the court hearings to a minimum, Jian was quite sick of those. With more luck it would significantly reduce the sentences of Ed and his dad, and that is all he could ask for, really. But even if it didn't, at least it meant that Jian would be serving his own time instead of letting everyone else go down for him. And that had to count for something.

He was too deep in his own thoughts to notice the gleaming white tower in the corner of his eye. The tower that had been cropping up many times over the past few months. 

He was not too deep in his own thoughts to miss the strange set of eyes looking at him right in front of the police station.

Time seemed to stand still as he locked eyes with the girl in front of him. For a moment, a very short moment, he forgot what he was on his way to do and just stared at her. There was something magnetic about her. But then all the guilt came crashing back and he broke free of her stare and walked on. Just as he was about to pass her she grabbed his arm.

"I know you can see me," she said.

"What?" Jian wasn't used to being caught off-guard like this but what an absurt thing to say. Was she crazy or something? He shook his head. It didnt matter right now. The station was right there and he had to do. "Excuse me but I'm in a bit of a hurry," he said as polite as possible, he even threw in an apologetic smile for good measure but she didn't let go.

"The fact that you see me means you don't belong in this world anymore," the girl said. She was definitely crazy. She didn't look crazy though. Pragmatic maybe, with clothes that looked like they had seen their fair share of hurt and hair pulled quickly into a messy ponytail. She didn't look like she holding on to her sanity but she also didn't look like a normal person. Too intense and too worn and also getting more impatient by the second- stop Jian, now is not the time to analyse anyone, he thought.

"I really must go now," he said, keeping his voice even. He pulled his arm from her grip and quickly entered the police station. Thankfully it wasn't busy, he wouldn't have to stand around waiting for them to have time for him. He simply walked up to the desk and waited for the officer on duty to notice him.

He waited a minute or so but the officer just continued on with what he was doing. Jian cleared his throat. "Excuse me?" The officer looked up and stared at him with a confused expression. "I'm here to turn myself in," Jian continued. That ought to garner at least some interest.

"Turn... yourself in?" The officer repeated dumbly. He knitted his brows as he looked at Jian like he just couldn't understand what Jian was doing here.

"Yes, turn myself in," Jian repeated more slowly this time. "I have commited a crime and am turning myselfin. Please proceed accordingly."

"He doesn't see you. Not really." The girl was there again, leaning against the counter next to him. She sounded irritated and impatient. She waved her hand in front of the officer's face and he looked even more confused now, gazing from Jian and the girl but never really focusing on either. 

"Look. This is how it is. That, there," she pointed through the window and Jian was started to see a tall white tower that had definitely not been there before. "Is the Spire. You couldn't see it before because you were asleep, but you're awake now. Everyone else around you is still asleep and they can't really see us anymore. You belong in the Spire now. Pack your things and get your over there."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jian felt completely blindsided and that wasn't a feeling he got very often. What was she talking about? And why was the officer behind the desk resuming work as if he hadn't just told him he's a criminal?

"Ugh, just-" The girl took a deep breath. "I don't have time or energy to explain it right now. You can stay around and try to talk to people or whatever if you want, I can tell you now you won't get any other responses than dumb stares and confusion and occasionally some drool. Or you could pack your bags and go to the Spire. Do whatever you want honestly it makes no different to me."

Jian turned back to the police officer. "Excuse me I'd like you to arrest me now."

The officer stared back. "W-what now? How?"

No. No this wasn't happening. He pushed past the dark and into the offices in the back of the station but nobody seemed to even notice. He threw open the door to one of the offices and yelled in her face but she just blinked up in that dumb comfusion. He tried two more offices and got the same result before storming back into the lobby to find the girl was gone. He ran outside and saw her walking off and quickly ran after her.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Hey hold up!" He managed to catch up and grabbed her arm. "Put me back!"

In one smooth motion she grabbed the arm he was grabbing her with and twist it behind his back. He hardly registered the pain. "Put me back," he repeated. "I don't know what you did but put me back right now!"

She let go of his arm. "Go to the Spire," was all she said before walking away and this time Jian let her. How did this happen? How was this even real?

He took a deep breath and a shaky, bitter laugh escaped. Just when he thought everything couldn't get worse, her he was. Things can always get worse.

author's note

Apologies for the wait, I had a busy week with uni and figuring out plot stuff for the story, which meant trying out different characters too to see what fit the best. We now have a full plot outline, eyy! However we have decided that we will accept 4 characters instead of 5 characters. As we were going over the characters and trying out different combinations and such we came to understand that the story would work better with 5 Seekers in total instead of 6, and that also means more focus on the ones that made it and a less diluted story, not to mention that the story could move along faster. I really hope you guys aren't angry that there will be one less character chosen and trust me that it's for the best of the story as a whole.

That all being said, thank you Kattirompa for the wonderful character of Jian and as always I'm still getting a feel for him so let me know if I wrote him write or if there's room for improvement <3