The door was gone. 

Not gone as in open, but gone as in removed. Matthew’s head was hurting, pounding. How long had he been unconscious? 

His fingers twitched as he began to regain the feeling in his numb limbs. He sat up, slowly letting the blood return to the rest of his body so that the pain could be felt as correctly as possible. His leg was twisted, but not in a truly damaging way. The real problem came from the large cauldron tipped over onto his ankle. Large, cast iron, could properly boil a six foot man if he were sitting down, and it was much too heavy to move on his own, especially given the way his body was sunk between broken floor boards. 

He groaned. “Creat?” He called, voice hoarse and damaged. “Creat, come here, boy.” 

There was no response. 

Matthew laid back down into the holes of the floor, feeling the air on his back. He was cold, but not quite cold enough to shiver. What was he to do? 

His house was in ruin- that much was obvious by the way he felt as if he were swaying in it. His pet was nowhere to be seen- hopefully safe but realistically, he didn’t think so. He grunted, the house creaking on its stilts as it shifted, the cauldron moving a fraction over his ankle but not removing itself. 

‘Suppose I’ll just lay here and die.’ He lamented, looking up at what should’ve been his roof. 

What had it been? That loud crash, thud, the clashing of lightening across the sky and then the sudden blackness. Not as it clouds had rolled in, foreshadowing a storm, but like a void, swirling and sparkling yet so deep and depthless all at once. Something that if you were to throw a coin into, the coin would never fall back down to your hand or reach the end of it.  Something he could stare into until his eventual, looming death of starvation… 

Hyuna felt something. The familiar crawling of her skin. The pull to go to shore because there was someone else there. From the pull she could tell that this person was male, though she couldn't tell what sort of creature it was. She swam a bit closer and peeked out of the water. There appeared to be no danger nearby so she began to swim closer to the shore and the closer she got to the shallows her legs came out for the first time in what felt like forever. 

She walked along the beach, the only thing keeping her body shielded from the world around her was her long hair. She had found a hairbrush along the ruins of a ship that had sunk just before everything had happened, so she had kept it brushed. 

 A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about it. All of her family and friends were gone. 

She had been part of such a big family and the only hope she had was that the angels in her family had been called back to heaven before the world mostly ended.

 She sighed and looked up. She could feel the tingling in her body growing stronger as she walked.

"Hello?" She called out. "Is there anyone there?"

 She had done this more times than she cared to admit. This was the first time she had felt this feeling though. She needed some interaction with someone other than the marine life below the waves.

Who were her instincts leading her to then? She found herself approaching a large cave just off the beach. "Hello?" She called out again. "Who is in here?"

"Put them over here!" Someone shouted through the commotion.  

There were at least 15 people, all dirtied and worn. Some had shovels and some were pulling wagons. There were also small trucks. They were all carrying crates of medical supplies and provisions. In the middle of this was Yongguk. 

He had a nasty scar near his eyebrow and it looked absolutely painful. "We're almost finished, everyone. Thank you for your help." He spoke loudly so that everyone could hear him. 

His eyes were dark and sullen but there was hope buried deep in his heart. He prayed hard things would get better soon. 

“Appa," a voice called out to him weakly. It was his daughter. She was badly injured and limping. 

"Yuki!" He cried out and rushed to her side. "No honey, you must rest!" He scooped her up gently and carried her back inside the cave. 

Inside there were more people who were in bad condition. Gently lying her down Yongguk sighed sadly. He touched her forehead, an attempt to heal her but she stopped him. "No….we used too much." She whimpered. 

Yongguk's heart ached unbearably at the scenes before him. He couldn't even heal his own daughter or the people.

He shouldn’t have had to. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The injury to his head had caused him to lose a good many of his memories, but he knew that much. This was not supposed to happen. 

Fire had rained from the sky, stone falling in its wake. Not pebbles or rubble. Not even boulders. Full mountains has descended upon the unsuspecting planet. 

Why was he not warned? This was not the way it was supposed to happen.. he was meant to help people reach salvation before the revelation. 

Had anyone even been redeemed? Through the carnage he’d rescued this small troupe from, he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t tell if people had ascended to be with the creator or if they had all been destroyed, to save them from the hell that was being unleashed… 

Yongguk stood with three other people as they discussed how they would help the people there and the transportation of medical supplies. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hardly noticed the small tingle that ran down his spine. 

It caused him to look behind him towards the door. He gasped at the appearance of his sister,  Hyuna, sand clinging to her exposed skin and holding herself while looking around nervously. No one seemed to give her any sort of glance, all too busy taking care of their wounded. 

 Quickly he excused himself. "Hyuna!" He shouted, rushing to her side, embracing her gently. "I...i thought.." he choked on his words as tears immediately spilled. "Thank the heavens.."

Hyuna felt as if her heart had jumped into . 

It was Guk and little Yuki limping behind him. She felt tears sting her eyes as he embraced her. 

She couldn't move, her whole body was trembling. "I-" she gasped. She had hoped, prayed that everyone she loved had gotten out in time, though she knew that that type of thinking wasn't even remotely possible. 

"Oppa." She leaned into him as the tears began to flow. "Is... is there anyone else from home?" She asked, offering Yuki her hand.

"I ...i dont know honestly,” He whispered as he kissed her forehead. "Hyung is safe i know that much...But..." he looked down at Yuki who was now hugging Huyna as if she were a life line. 

His chest squeezed tighter. "Yongguk, sir?” Yongguk flinched at his name being called. 

Immediately he wiped his face and squared his shoulders, casting his eyes harshly back to the mermaid. "I'll be right back." He smiled tightly at Hyuna, "promise." Then he walked towards a small group. 

Yuki watched closely before quickly grabbing Hyuna's hand, "Follow Yuki." She whispered. "Hurry."

She bit her lip as she watched Yongguk. He seemed tired and stressed, though she didn't have to think hard to figure out why. 

Her arms had instinctively wrapped around Yuki and she was lost in thought before she heard the small girl speak. She looked down and nodded her head. "Let's go then." She whispered back.

Yuki lead them further away to a small bench. She groaned softly as she sat. Smiling a little, but sadly, "don't worry Ariel...Yuki will be ok." She kissed her cheek then  began her story. 

" Appa and so many other people....we heard a large blast then big big flying black rocks fell from the sky ..." she shuddered,  " the ground open up and..." she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Appa got hurt..really bad...he doesn't remember lots of things...I used some power to help...im not strong enough. " Yuki sniffed softly and tried to wipe the dirt away from her once soft yellow dress. "I tried to call Hyunnie and Uncle but we can't use technology  so i tried old magic but ..." she sighed once again.

Hyuna wrapped her arms around Yuki as she told her story. She remembered it well. Her and Jang had been forced apart by one of those flying rocks. Last she remembered of him they were screaming for each other as they split up, having no choice. 

"Aside from not remembering things, is he okay? He seems to be holding up quite well." She hummed and rubbed the smaller girl's shoulder. Yuki shrugged. 

"At least the three of us are okay… We have each other and that's more than I had dreamed of in a while." She looked down at herself. "Now let us find some clothes so I can carry you on my back and help your Appa out. How about that?"

Tilting her head a little to the side and pouting, Yuki stared at her dad, "..i don't think he's ok. I think he wants to cry really really badly. But he doesn't want to yet."

 It was a bleak situation that they were in but it was so much better than moments ago. They had found a  member of the family.

 It gave them hope to find the others. 

With that Yuki smiled softly and held her hand tightly. "We will find something super pretty so Uncle Jang will say ‘look at my lady~’!” Shetried imitating him but failing badly then laughing, holding back the tears at the sudden dread of the idea of never seeing him again…

Hyuna chuckled, sadly though trying not to show it. She started looking around the cave. She thought of Jang and how he always called her his pretty lady…

 He had always called her such sweet names while acting like a complete goof. 

Yongguk glanced to check on the two girl and saw them smiling.  It made his chest feel at least a little lighter. Now he could focus better on the task at hand, knowing Yuki was taken care of. 

Yuki and Hyuna managed to find an old sheet- perhaps a bedsheet at one time, but now was being ripped apart for tourniquets for the bleeding and injured. The woman who was ripping it did manage to spare two sizable scrapes for the mermaid, helping her and Yuki create a makeshift top and skirt with knots down the sides. Nothing worthy of a fashion show, but covering and functional. 

From then, they set to work helping the nurses, taking care of those unconscious on poorly forged gurneys. 

“YONGGUK!” Someone shouted, a small team of men rushing over to him, panting and out of breath. “Sir, you need to see this.” 

Hyuna took this chance to walk over to him, Yuki on her back. “What is it?” 

“I don’t know… they just said I need to see it.” He shook his head. “Stay here-“

“I can help.” Hyuna announced stubbornly. “You don’t have to do everything on your own. Let me come with you.” 

He glanced between Hyuna and Yuki, weighing his options. She was right. He could trust her to help him… but Yuki… Yuki was injured. 

“Fine. You can come.” He leaned down to Yuki, helping her down onto her own wobbling legs. He brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I’ll be right back, Yuki. Stay with the nurses in case you need their help.”

“But- but I’m fine! I can go too!” She whined, big puppy eyes watering as she looked up at him, begging not to be left behind.

“No. Not another word on the subject. We will be back soon.” 

“Don’t worry, Yuki. We can go out of the cave for a bit when I get back. Just for a little walk, but better than the dank cave, hm?” Hyuna smiled, rubbing Yuki’s head softly. 

She sighed, knowing when she was defeated, and wobbled back to the nurses. Hyuna turned around to see the man who’d been yelling earlier, heading off with Yongguk. She jogged a bit to keep up. “So what’s so important?” 

“I-“ the man shook his head. “I can’t tell you. Cant describe it. I just have to show you.” 

For nearly an hour they walked in relative silence, only the drops of water from stalactites above dropping to the water-ruined ground they walked and their echoing footsteps. 

After that hour, they were upon it. A glowing form, from cave floor to cave ceiling. It was huge, spanning several meters and looked… almost gelatinous? Hyuna coughed and covered her nose. 

“Good job. You found something that stinks.” 

“Sulfur,” Yongguk muttered, eyes wide. Another “gift” from the creator? Why hadn’t he known about this either? He was an angel, damnit… He should have known. 

Perhaps the creator was upset with him- for his sins committed on Earth. Had he not repented enough? Had he not done enough good? His head began to hurt, the sulfur stinging his eyes. 

As he lamented to himself, he didn’t notice the gelatinous goo glowing brighter, a mist rolling in from around it, carrying an ominous green aura. He didn’t notice until he reached a hand up to touch it-

And was snatched through. 

“Yongguk!” Hyuna cried, lunging for the back of his shirt at least. 

“No! Miss!” The third party shouted, but he was too late. The pair were gone… in by the magic mist. 

There was screaming. So much screaming. Matthew hardly had time to see the two figures falling from the sky before the stalks holding up his house were snapped, the cauldron rolling down into the bog below, his body falling in with a splash. The pain was agonizing, his lungs tightening and sputtering to get the water out. 

Something brushed against him, snatching his arm and he found himself groaning, dizzy from the pain and the fall, until his back was against something solid. 

Hyuna yelped as they tumbled and fell through whatever the hell that was. She saw a man beneath her and she reached for him, pulling him towards her. “Hey!” she called as he groaned. She had somehow managed to catch herself on a tree branch. “Are you okay?” she questioned and scanned her surroundings for Yongguk. “Oppa! I found someone!”

“Hyuna!” Yongguk sputtered, trying to keep his head above water. What the hell was happening? Where had they ended up?

After a few moments, he saw her, a pale splotch on the greenery, hanging onto a tree branch. Then he noticed something moving just beyond her on the bank, large and dark grey- almost black, with jaws to snap and teeth to tear. “Hyuna!” He shouted. “Hyuna don’t move!” 

“What?” She called back. There was rustling behind her. She tried to turn around but the branch snapped, and she was pulled further into the swamp by the man on her side. “Yongguk!” 

“I’m coming!” He screamed as the beast submerged into the water. He paddled as quickly as his arms could take him, racing to the pair. He arrived to them at the same time as the beast, eyes reflecting back as if warning him to come closer. 

He reached for Hyuna, trying to snatch her forward towards him, but in the process, the man was snatched by reptilian jaws. 

“No!” Hyuna cried, reaching for the man again, but the beast was turning away, dragging him with it. “Yongguk- it-”

“Shush-” He pulled her against his chest. “Don’t look. We have to get out of this water. Who knows how many more there are.” 

They pulled themselves to the nearest bank, Yongguk hauling the mermaid up by her arms until she could stand. She was trembling, muttering to herself. “It-It snatched him away from me. Right out of my arms-”

“Shhhh,” He whispered, looking around her to the adjacent bank. The beast, a large alligator, probably twenty feet long -at least, if Yongguk had to guess- was dragging the body up and out of the water. “He’s still alive.” Yongguk whispered. “Wait, here.”

“He’s alive?!” She called, being pulled out of her panic. “I don’t ing think so!? Wait here, my cute little .!!” She yelled and scanned the trees before jumping onto a limb, following Yongguk to the best of her ability. “I’m kinda useful in a fight… sometimes…. Not usually with animals.” she grumbled but didn’t give up. 

“Well neither of us are going to be useful in this fight if you don’t keep quiet!” He hissed. 

They rounded the bank, sloshing as quietly as they could through the smallest part of the river as they made it to the other side. Time no longer mattered as they gave a wide circling to the creature, trying to think of the best course of action to take him. 

That was when something struck her. “It hasn’t eaten him…” She whispered, leaning as close to Yongguk as she could without falling from her perch. “Is he… petting it?” 

Sure enough, the man, chest heaving and breathing ragged, had one had on the alligator’s head, it between the eyes. “Maybe they’re… friendly?” Yongguk asked confusedly. “Should we-”

“Hey you! Gator bait!” Hyuna shouted.

Yongguk could’ve slammed his palm into his forehead at top speed. 

Matthew turned his head a bit, looking through heavy eyelids to the person who had pulled him above the water. “Yeah?” He croaked.

“Are you alright?” Yongguk called back.

Matthew gave a weak thumbs up. 

“Is it safe to approach you?” Hyuna called, slowly climbing back down from her tree. 

A second, even weaker thumbs up. 

So that’s what they did. Hyuna and Yongguk spoke with him at length, asking so many questions about the alligator, followed by routine things like his name- matthew- what was he doing in a swamp- living- and if he needed help.

“Seeing how as I can’t walk on my left foot.” He’d said, watching as they glanced to the mangled flesh there and back to his face. “Yes.”

So that’s how the pair ended up walking through the woods with a Matthew on his… alligator? Gurney? Alligurney? Alligurney. All the while, Matthew stared up at the sky, wondering where the black void had gone after dropping these two strangers on his house. 

The sun was starting to blacken- no longer did it shift in the sky to propel the day to night, but instead it eclipse for a few hours. “We have to get to high ground.” Matthew was muttering. “The river rises at night. And its easy to get pulled under.” 

“There’s only so fast we can go with a two ton reptile.” Hyuna grumbled. 

Yongguk, on the other hand, was much more serious. “We can’t stop… I have to find the cave. We have to get back to Yuki.” 

Luckily enough, before the sun had fully disappeared, drenching the world in an array of blackness, the trio (plus aligurney) had made it to a ruptured path of asphalt, destroyed by the falling rocks and fire. 

Which they were able to follow up to a quiet town, in seemingly the best possible shape. “We can rest here for the night.” Hyuna suggested. “When’s the last time you slept in a bed?” 

“I have to keep going. I have to get back to Yuki.” he insisted.

Hyuna shook her head and held his face in her hands. “Oppa we need rest and Yuki will be just fine. All the others are there with her.” She reassured him and began pulling him along, hunting down a hotel. She looked behind her to find the aligurny still following them. “Come on guys. I found a hotel or at least a building that looks like one.”

Yongguk shook his head, “No. I’m not stopping. You can sleep there and follow after me in the morning. I have to go. I’m… I’m all she has, Hyuna.” He said, eyes lowering to the ground. Suddenly, Yuki’s earlier words were much more true. He did want to cry. Really, really badly. 

She stopped and looked at him, a determination in her eyes that had not previously been there had appeared. “No. We are all she has. Everyone who meets her loves her and even if they didn’t, they are smart enough to know that if any harm comes to her they will have to deal with a wrath like no other. She is more mature than you give her credit for. You are going stick with me and Matthew and we are going to go home together. Yuki will be fine and you know it you stubborn !”

He sighed, shaking his head but finally agreed. He could always sneak off when she was asleep, anyways… “Fine. Fine. Let’s go then. The sooner we sleep, the sooner we rise.” 

So the small group headed into the building Hyuna had pointed out. There was nothing remarkable about it. Likely was a cheap motel back before the literal crash and burn. But it was nice and of the rooms they chose to sleep in, none of them had giant holes in the wall from boulders falling from the sky. It was nice. There was even an indoor pool. 

Matthew’s alligator made the move to climb into said pool, but Matthew threw a tantrum because chlorine was apparently bad for alligators or something. 

They each claimed a room to themselves. Matthew requested help in moving things around for Creat (the alligator) but Hyuna and Yongguk left their room as they found them aside from moving the blankets in order to sleep. 

Matthew was awoken from his slumber by the growling of Creat. He grumbled, rolling over. “Go to sleep, you hippopotamic land mass.” Of course,” he rolled back to the alligator and dropped a hand on its head. “You know I didn’t mean it. You’re only a crocodilian land mass.” 

The beast growled again, a gurgling sort of hissing noise in the back of its throat that made him raise a brow. Something set the creature on edge. And that, he reckoned, was quite the feat considering the size and temperament of it. He swung his legs from the bed, wincing in pain, but was able to at least stand long enough to position himself to sitting on Creat’s back. “Let’s see what you’re getting yourself so worked up about.”

It moved to the door, pausing while Matthew leaned and threw the door open. The beast moved forward at a rate that had him rolling his eyes. If only his ankle were in better condition. But it wasn’t, so he settled for the slow pace. Right up until the creature made its way to the glass walled room of the pool. “Oh no you don’t!” He shouted, smacking the reptile gently. “You’re not getting in that damn pool!” 

The alligator threw its head back and made a noise like a hollow bark. Matthew rolled his eyes and inhaled sharply, as if frustrated with his particularly large toddler. That inhale is what made him realize the reason for odd behaviour. 

Sulfur. 

“Wait.” He told the alligator, as if it were a puppy. “Stay.” 

With that, he muscled his way through the pain of standing and fought the door to open for a few seconds before tumbling down beside the pool. 

What had previously been clear, blue water was now that same dark void that had been over his house. He found his curiosity piqued as he held onto the stair railing and dipped his fingers in, pulling up some of the obsidian goo. 

It began to glow on his fingers, spreading across them like the webbing of a duck’s foot. “What the hell?” He muttered, rolling it back up into his palm. 

Hyuna hurried in, pulling Yongguk along by the sleeve. She had heard the disgruntled noises from the alligator from her room. “Matthew… What the fu-” She stopped with a gasp and looked at the injured man. “What in the ?” 

Yongguk looked at the pool and then back at his sister. “I’m going. I have to go get Yuki!”

Her grip tightened on his sleeve and she shook her head. “But what if we can’t get you back and it could take you somewhere other than back to her. We can’t risk it. We have to stay together and try to get back a different way.” she urged him, her eyes were pleading with him. He could feel the guilt boiling up into his stomach. 

“Then what do you suggest I do because I have got to get back to my daughter!” He huffed, even though he didn’t like being harsh with Hyuna.

He eyes tinted red and she growled fiercely at him. “I’ve been away from my family for YEARS and you don’t think I want to get back to her too? I do! We just have to get a damn plan together before jumping in blindly!”

Matthew cleared his throat. “I can… I can try to make it so you can come back through?”

“Oh? And how is that? The last one we went through dropped us out of the ing sky.” Hyuna growled.

“Yes, and then it went away. I think I can put a permanence spell on it to make it stay. And we should at least tie something around your waist in case it does shoot you from the sky again. You may not be so lucky as to land in the water.” He wanted to say “or have a whole house to break your fall” but he bit his tongue on that, figuring that the way they were helping him out currently made up for the property damage. Plus, he’d already had a fair amount of that from the crash and burn, as he liked to think of it now. 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Cast your spell.” Yongguk commanded impatiently. 

“We can tie a bunch of sheets around your waist!” Hyuna suggested. 

Twenty minutes later saw Matthew finishing his chant over the goo and Hyuna tying all the sheets around Yongguk’s waist. 

As Matthew finished his chant, eyes closed and hands over the pool and eyes glowing the same color as the water. When at last he closed them, the void became clear, a landscape… 

Yongguk took a deep breath and turned back to Hyuna. “I’ll be right back.” 

She bit her lip, trying not to remind him that those were the same words he said to Yuki earlier.  Then, he turned to Matthew, who nodded, showing the portal was ready. 

Yongguk took his dive and Hyuna bit her lip as she watched. She looked over at Matthew before her eyes rested where he had just disappeared. The two of them waited for what felt like eternity on bated breath before a hand rippled the surface at the edge of the pool. Hyuna leaned down and pulled someone out with an alarmed yelp, looking over at Matthew. “That’s not Oppa!” She screamed and gently pushed the person away from the edge once she got them out of the goo. In her panic she didn’t notice Yongguk pop up just a bit further away.
 

“Aish woman!” He called. “I’m right here!”

“So it worked.” Matthew nodded. “Good. Maybe it can take us to your daughter.”

“And anyone else who needs help,” He breathed, heaving himself up to the edge of the pool. “Yeah. We can set up base camp here. Its in good enough shape for it. Start an entire community.”

“Don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll do what I can.” Matthew said with a calm smile.