"Tzuyu! It's Ok, I'm not upset with you, just please try to stay calm, Ok? We're going to get you to the Infirmary, alright? Just hold on!" Came Nayeon's worried voice next to me. 

I was being carried through the corridors of the Library, towards the Monorail, and would then be taken to the infirmary. I'd just had another panic attack that nearly killed Sana, and would have killed anyone else that wasn't equipped with her abilities. I'd manifested an onslaught of blades that had erupted from around my body, after they'd been manifested by my powers. 

All I could remember was apologizing profusely to Nayeon, as it was her room that was now littered with nearly 200 blades, imbedded in the walls. 

Sana wasn't with me. She'd been too shaken up, despite her reflexes allowing her to phase her body to avoid being impaled. The pit of my stomach was bubbling with a ball of fear, and anger at myself for, yet again, allowing my abilities to run rampant. Someone could have died this time. When was I going to be able to control myself? It was torture at this point. Pretty soon I'd drive everyone close to me away...

It was that voice...that ing voice...it called to me, and I lost control. Was it really Chaeyoung? Could that even be possible? I'm  not a Psychic. I had to know. It was tearing me apart inside, not knowing. And even worse, wondering and worrying if it wasn't in fact real, and just a voice I'd manifested myself....was I becoming unstable...? Mentally?

These thoughts weren't going to calm me down, so I needed to change my thought process, and fast, before I triggered another panic attack.

"Tzuyu, we're here, can you hear me?" Jeongyeon, said in a soft, worrisome voice. She'd been the one carrying me. 

Jeongyeon was incredibly strong, and despite me being a little taller than her, she was able to carry me with unbridled ease. 

"Tzuyu?? Stay with us!" She cried out again.

I could feel a debilitating dizziness seeping into my frontal lobe, and my breathing was continuing to ebb and flow, erratically, from my throat. I could suddenly see the lights of the Infirmary, and feel the smooth, and comforting mattress beneath me, as Jeongyeon laid me down.

I could barely make out the figure of Momo approaching me, and laying her hands upon my head. A cooling and soothing current began to flow through my body, and the panic began to cease. I was beginning to feel more tranquil and level-headed. 

"Can we have the room, please, everyone? She's stable now, but I don't want to over load her stimuli by having everyone in here, crowding the room." Momo said softly.

In my still blurry sight, I could make out Nayeon, Mina, Yerin, Jihyo, Jackson, Umji, Yuju, and SinB beginning to walk towards the door. Jihyo's eyes were misting, and I could see a worried expression playing across SinB's face, as she kept gazing at me before she left the room.

It was then just Momo, and I. The soft humming of the equipment in this particular room played melodically in the back of my head, as Momo pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.

"Tzuyu..." She said, barely more than a whisper. 

I remained silent. 

"What happened?" Momo continued, soft, and warily.

I thought for a moment. Could I truly tell her what had happened? I didn't have the confidence in this strange situation to tell the truth, but if I lied and things got worse...

"I...I heard something...at the induction today...and...a-and...again on the way to the dorms..." I started, my voice wavering.

Momo looked at me pensively for a moment, before pursing her lips to form her next question. 

"What did you hear?" She inquired.

Tell the truth, Tzuyu... I begged myself.

"It was a voice...." I mustered. 

"A... voice? What kind of voice?" Momo questioned, leaning forward slightly.

"It was...it was Chaeyoung's voice, Momo. I heard....Chae's voice....it sounded just like her....but a little different. It was calling out to me. It said to be strong during my speech at the induction. It was almost as if I could feel her there with me, for a fleeting moment. Then...then I heard her again. She just said 'The Claymore'.... I don't know what that even means. And then when I was in Nayeon's room with Sana...she said to "Seek me at the Sounding....". And I...I felt this strange energy and I started to have a panic attack...that's when the...the blades shot out..." I finished. 

I'd been absentmindedly picking at my cuticles while I spoke, which I'd only taken notice of, when I felt Momo's warm hands, firmly, yet softly grip mine to stop their fidgeting. 

"Tzuyu...it's alright...I'm concerned for you..." Momo offered.

"I'm...I'm scared, Momo...I don't know if what I heard was real...but it sounded...it sounded just like here. Like she was calling out to me for help. To save her...what if those things she said have something to do with how to save her?" I said, sitting up slightly.

"I don't know much about Telepathy, Tzuyu, and I certainly don't know if what you heard was truly Chaeyoung's Astral form calling out to you, but I won't discount it right away either...My main concern however...is your increasingly frequent and worsening panic attacks. Generally when brought on by PTSD about Chaeyoung, you manifest the rotten apples as a symbol of her, yet this time your powers manifested in an aggressive and offensive way. Thank goodness that it was Sana who was in that room with you, and no one else." Momo responded. 

"I feel ing terrible. I had no control....again. I just felt this bubbling and white hot fear, anger, paranoia, and melancholy all churning against each other, until I couldn't take it anymore....Sana must hate me...I can't keep my powers in check, and I'm so tired of being babysat..." I shouted, frustrated.

"No one hates you, Tzuyu. And you're far from a burden. We all love you unconditionally, and I don't want to ever hear you question that again. Now...about this voice...I think you should speak to Mina about it. It's very important that she's aware of what's going on with you, especially with the two of you undertaking The Pilgrimage in two weeks. Whatever this voice is, I don't want you to be plagued by it during something as intense as The Pilgrimage, and Mina know nothing about it." Momo exclaimed, continuing to rub my hands within hers, keeping my mood stabilized.

I sat quietly, yet again.

"Tzuyu." Momo repeated after a minute or so of silence.

"I'm afraid." I whispered simply.

"Mina is the most knowledgeable person in this library, Tzuyu. She's the Head Librarian now, for 's sake. She will listen to you. She may even know what those cryptic phrases mean. You'll never know if you don't try. And if you don't, I'll tell her myself." Momo said, with a smile. 

I couldn't help but return the smile, and lean forward to embrace Momo.

"Tell Nayeon I'm sorry. I really ed up her room." I mumbled into Momo's neck as I hugged her.

Momo snorted, and began to laugh uproariously. I started to giggle as well, as I leaned back onto the bed. 

"I'm sure she'll be fine...I think you'll be ok to leave in a few hours, but I want you to stay here and try to rest for a bit, if you don't mind." Momo replied.

"Ok." I said simply. 

"Alright then. I'll be right back. I'm going to let everyone know that you're stable. Especially SinB. She seemed almost more worried than the rest of us." Momo said, standing up.

"Really? Hmm. I did totally crash into her as I was running back to the dorms. When the voice spoke to me again...." I sighed.

"I'm sure she's not upset with you." Momo said as she turned for the door.

"Momo, wait. Can you not....let anyone in just yet, please? I'd..I don't know, I'd rather be alone right now, I think. Until I leave." I said, just before her hand reached for the door knob. 

"Hmm. Sure thing, Choukobo." She smiled.

_______________________________________________

Two days later I'd gotten back to whatever could be considered my "Normal", and decided that before I would tell Mina about what the supposed voice of Chaeyoung was telling me, I would try and do some research of my own. There were three phrases that I had heard, and I began to wonder what their individual significances were, and how, if at all, that they were connected.

"Be Strong..."

"The Claymore..."

"Seek me at The Sounding..."

It dawned on me that the first phrase, though spoken to me during my induction speech, may not have been meant as encouragement for me, but rather just a phrase that is connected to the other two. 

The phrase "Be Strong" however, was incredibly vague, so I wasn't sure we're to start with my search. Though it was also vague, I felt like I'd have more results specifically searching for what "The Claymore" could signify. There was an entire section in the JYP library devoted to weaponry. That's where I'd start my research. 

While sitting silently on one of the couches inside the monorail, I couldn't help but ruminate again on the near death experience I'd put my own member and dear friend through. Sana still hadn't spoken to me since what had happened in Nayeon's room. Granted, I hadn't tried to reach out to her either, for fear of what she'd say to me. Not only had the almost skewering of her by my manifested blades been an issue, but prior to my panic attack she'd been in distress about her and Dahyun's relationship. Not exactly helpful considering in that moment I was suffering from "The Pining" myself, over Jeongyeon and Mina. 

The monorail came to a gentle halt in the Armory Section, and as I stood up and walked towards the door, I gasped in utter surprise at what I saw as I reached the opening.

Sana.

She looked up at me with a bit of surprise in her eyes as well. Her lips pursed in an uncomfortable manner, as if she wanted to speak, but either couldn't muster the words, or thought better of what she intended to say on the outset. 

"S-Sana..." I stuttered, only adding to the increasing awkward tension, rather than diffusing it. 

"Hey, Choukobo..." She said, half sighing.

Her usage of my nickname seemed to disperse some of the awkwardness in the air, and I stepped out of the monorail into the large and expansive Armory section. I'd only been here a few times, back when I was a trainee, as weapon proficiency was never super high on my radar. I tended to rely on hand to hand combat and usage of my Panther Hybrid reflexes in battle. The last time I used actual weapons was during the War on Jeju Island nearly 2 and a half years ago. There were beautiful and rich Rosewood shelves that towered above us, packed tight with hundreds of thousands of books. Their spines dazzling and ranging from extravagant and beautiful bright colors, to grounded, and moody earth tones. There were many large paintings of warriors clad in battle regalia, holding onto weapons of varying sizes, and shapes. In between some corridors of the section even resided large display cases, that housed swords, axes, polearms, and many other weapons throughout history, and even from other planets and planes of existence. Many of these artifact weapons were kept safe in their display cases by way of a myriad of protection enchantments. I realized in my awed stare of this section, how much I'd taken this gorgeous library and it's aesthetics for granted since Chaeyoung had been gone. Hell there were parts of this place I still hadn't even seen yet. Not because I wasn't allowed, in fact now that I was Assistant Head Librarian, there was no section of the JYP Library I wouldn't have access to. No, it was rather because I'd staved away from the sections that wouldn't help me in finding and saving Chaeyoung. If I could even make it out of bed at all, some days.

"What are you doing here, Choukobo?" Sana said curiously, breaking me free of my internal dialogue. 

"Hmm?" I said, turning to look at her, mild surprise causing me to blink rapidly.

She smiled at me and posed her question again.

"I said what are you doing here? I don't think I've ever seen you in this section." 

"Oh. Right. Haha. I'm umm...looking into some research on a certain weapon." I said sheepishly.

"What kind of weapon is it? What for?" She pried, stepping closer to me.

"Geez, Sana, what's with the Spanish Inquisition? What were you doing here? You don't use weapons at all. You're the Kung-Fu master, remember?" I laughed, attempting to change the subject.

"You're goddamn right I am," she laughed, playfully shoving me and taking a snake style stance, "But I was actually here because I wanted to..." She trailed off.

"....Wanted to what?" I asked, now being the one prying. 

"Umm. I wanted to learn a bit more about weaponry. Maybe pick up a weapon style I'd like." Sana answered, clearly lying. She was never good at that.

"Ohhh...ok. Well cool. I guess I'll see you around." I said, letting the lie pass without challenging her.

"Tzuyu, wait." Sana said as I turned to walk away.

I stopped and rotated to face her.

"Hmm?"

"I lied. I'm here because...I heard what happened..." She said softly.

What?

"What...what do you mean? Nayeon's bedroom? Sana, I'm...I-I didn't me-..." I began frantically.

"No, no, Tzuyu. After that. When you went to the Infirmary..." She continued. 

"Wait...you don't mean..." I said, confusion rising in my voice.

"The voice." She breathed.

I'm going to kill, Momo...

"Before you get mad, Momo didn't tell me anything," she hurriedly exclaimed, reading my mind, "I...I phased through the ceiling and listened through the vents...I was just....really worried about you. I-I'm fine, I just figured you'd want space from me, so I stayed away so as to not trigger you again..." Sana said, beginning to tear up.

"Hey, Unnie, you didn't trigger me...it wasn't you...it was...it was 'The Pining', and...and this voice..." I said methodically, reaching for Sana's hand in an effort to comfort her.

"So then...you must believe me if you're here? I assume you're trying to find whatever "The Claymore" is, too?" I inquired.

"I do believe you, Tzuyu. I've always been there for you, haven't I? If you say that you're hearing Chae's voice, then I want to help you figure out why." She said, sternly.

Her resolve put me at ease. I couldn't help but smile back at her. In fact, I felt my body move on it's on, involuntarily lurching forward to hug Sana tight, in a warm embrace.

"Thank you." I whispered, and felt myself begin to tear up. 

Sana seemed someone taken aback, but within moments reciprocated my hold on her.

"Of course, Choukobo. I love you. You're my sister." Sana said softly. 

I pulled away from, and she wiped the infantile tears from my eyes before they could fall below my cheekbones.

"So no more secrets, Ok? Least of all kept from me. I'm guessing you haven't even told Mina yet, either, right?" Sana challenged. 

.

"No. I...I haven't. But I wanted to at least have a little more info to bring to the table before I did. You know how Mina is. She likes to know as much as she can about something. She hates things that are vague or unknown." I retorted.

"I'll admit you're right about that. But still. The rest of the group should know, too." Sana issued.

"I don't know about that. Honestly I still don't even know about telling Mina before the Pilgrimage. It's going to be a task in it of itself without this new information worrying her." I sighed.

"I'd wager that shell be just fine, Tzuyu. Her concern would be more aligned with you being up to the task, and if you're getting plagued by this voice, and it's triggering panic attacks, she needs to be made aware. Or have you forgotten what can happen to people during their Pilgrimage...?" Sana answered forbodingly. 

She was no doubt talking about Suzy's previous apprentice, who'd unfortunately perished during the first pilgrimage she took. I didn't know her name, as it was before our time. Suzy was Head Librarian and without an Assistant when TWICE debuted. It was only upon request after request from Mina, that she warmed up to the idea of having another Assistant.

"I haven't forgotten...but...I still want more evidence before I come forward to Mina. Speaking of, you snoop, how long have you been researching? Did you find anything that makes sense? Anything of significance? What do any of those phrases mean? Did you find The Claymore she mentioned?" I asked, with increasing fervor.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Tzuyu! It's been two days. I'm not Mina, and I'm not you, so I don't dive head first into hundreds of books a day in here. I only looked for what I felt would be one of the easiest things to pinpoint, considering it's the least cryptic of the three phrases." Sana recited.

"The Claymore?" I asked.

"Yes. I am in the Armory Section after all, aren't I? I tried to look and see if there were any books specifically about Astral Weaponry, and or weapons/artifacts that can act as keys to entering the Astral Plane." She continued, pausing after this new information.

"....And? What did you find??" I hurried, becoming increasingly impatient. 

"I found something that seemed somewhat promising. It's called 'The Claymore of A Thousand Wars'." She whispered. 

"A Thousand Wars....Is it an Artifact? Have you seen it? Do you have the book with you??" I questioned.

"It is an Artifact, and no I don't have it. Or the book....because..." Sana replied.

"Because why? Someone else has it checked out?" I offered. 

Sana's face contorted into a look of discomfort.

"No, it's not that..." She said, softly.

"Then what?" I asked again, becoming frustrated.

"It's not here, Tzuyu. The database says that it's in another section..." She trailed off, her eyes avoiding mine.

"Sana. Where is the book?" I said sternly.

"It's...it's in 'The Sealed Section'....." 

I closed my eyes and breathed a heavy and exasperated sigh. This wasn't good. Those words were the worst three words Sana could have said to me. 

"ing perfect."