-Baekhyun’s POV-

Days turned to weeks. Nothing’s changed.

We’ve returned to the capital right after coming from Hwajae. It was all for Shinhye, our decisions and our actions for the past weeks. We saw it fit not to make her see anything that would remind her of the tragedy she’d fallen to under the clutches of that filthy bastard named Hyo, if he even deserved a name. She woke up from her deep, undisturbed slumber which lasted for three days or so and since then, everything had turned for the worst. We all waited for her eyes to flutter open and when her green eyes were unveiled, they expressed nothing but horror and no other emotions at all.

She defensively backed up against the wall, screaming and thrashing as she threw a fit, warning us all to stay back and not to come hear her. She quivered and shrank back, putting up a defensive barrier with her hands and arms. No one could connect to her. She refused to be touched physically and she didn’t listen to anyone as if trapped in her own bubble where every nightmare was as real as it could get for her. She didn’t talk and when she did, it would only be clipped answers or usually, she’d tell us to leave her alone.

Suho hyung gave us all strict orders not to give up on her. Who would? I wasn’t willing either. We needed to visit her at least twice a day just so we could at least try to get some kind of interaction with her. Chan Yeol refused to and often reluctantly did so, just standing by the door, not daring to come nearer. He still blamed himself about her. It improved when he at least tried to talk to her. Of course, we all got little or no reaction at all. Shinhye would just face away from whoever was talking to her, curled up on the window seat or on the bed. She didn’t make eye contact.

Sehun departed for a while to get his emblem. She heard of that from the maids while she was in her passive state and everything in the room broke. We didn’t know if his departure was the reason. He returned a few days ago, but nothing’s changed with Shinhye so we doubted the cause of her sudden fits. She ordered every mirror out of the room, claiming that she didn’t want to see herself in them and that she felt filthy. She would pose barbs to those that dared to make her talk or touch her. Many times, Sehun dared to break the doors down and come to her aid whenever she was sobbing inside the bath or in her room which was often. At night, she would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. All we could do was to listen to her until she stops. As we were all fearing, she had regressed to something worse than how she had been when Chan Yeol found her at the cliffs.

Everyone was distraught and no one felt like moving either. Our episodes with the purists were over. They were all gone. It was just a matter of fulfilling the prophecy, but now, we were facing a quandary that would help us make Shinhye regain her true self again. She hated the world and she hated herself. She still felt helpless and she didn’t want to be helped either. She wouldn’t get out of her bedroom and wouldn’t even eat when she didn’t feel like it. We worried about her day and night and even the people that came to know her who paid visits weren’t successful.

We couldn’t move on since she has to be willing to accept the power that the unified emblems would pass on to her. She had to be strong in every aspect or she wouldn’t survive it. We all felt guilty having to things into her hands, confidently thinking that she was strong, but inside, she was as fragile as the wings of a butterfly. We shouldn’t have forced matters into her. This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t insist.

“Are we just supposed to watch her waste away and do nothing?!” Sehun growled, the wind getting colder as a blast of it forced the windows open. He sat down on the couch, eyeing all of us. “I couldn’t take it anymore!”

“No one can,” Suho hyung murmured.

We were all powerless against her. No one can do anything. No one will dare go against her, afraid that she might break into pieces. Though Sehun wanted to be with her so badly, there wasn’t anything he could do. He was also as scared as I was at the moment. Chan Yeol, on the other hand, was catatonic. He’d been sleepless and he looked as if he had been shedding tears as well. He spent his time in isolation as well and this was one of the rare times he would be with us.

I stood up. “It’s time for me to visit her.”

“Make the best out of it,” hyung said to me with a heartening smile.

I nodded. “I will do my best.” I turned for the door and exited the room and headed for her bedroom. I hesitated in front of the door, fearful of what I might find inside, but I gathered all my wits to open it and see for myself how she was fairing. Opposite to what I have been expecting, she was sitting on the bed, tidying her things on the lavender suitcase she had with her when she first arrived in Elyxo. She was smiling as she listened to music in her little music box called an iPod, even swaying her head slightly to the beat.

She didn’t notice me enter so I cleared my throat loud enough for her to hear through the loud music only she could hear. Her brows furrowed a bit as she looked down the floor, pulling the wire from her ear then slowly looking up to where I was standing. To my utter surprise and relief, she smiled like she usually would whenever I come around. Her eyes were swollen, but she was smiling nonetheless. It was like seeing the sun rise again after a long time of being kept underground in a coffin nailed shut. Tears stung my eyes as she stood up and waved slightly, her smile intact.

Powerless to resist, I crossed the distance between us and took her in my arms, surprising her, but I just had to make sure that I wasn’t seeing a mirage and that it was real that she finally came around. Instead of shunning me though, she embraced me back, holding onto me tightly until I felt something hot and wet on my shoulder. She just held onto me tightly without letting go as sobs once more escaped and she shook violently. We both collapsed on our knees on the floor, overwhelmed with the emotions we’ve kept canned in, trying to find comfort in the release that our tears brought, washing away the bitter memories, determined to change it with new ones, better ones.

“Baekhyun-ah, I’m so sorry if I put you through so much misery,” she said, squeezing me tighter as if she was afraid I will disappear.

I shook my head. “No…no. It’s alright. It’s nothing. We understand you. Don’t…don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”

She pulled back, looking at me with her tear-hazed eyes, wiping them as they fell. “It’s just that I couldn’t face you guys. All the while, I felt incomplete because I feel so…I feel so dirty.”

Oh my goodness. What has he done to her? I cupped her head with both of my hands, staring intently at her eyes. “Don’t feel that way. It wasn’t your fault and you’ll always be the same for me…for everyone. You’ll always be our Shinhye, the strong and stubborn one. You’ll always be our princess and nothing could change that. Nothing. Do you understand?” I said without pause, trying to make her see that we still treasured her the same as before, not as the prophesied maiden, but as our friend, our family and because we loved her for who she was and not because of anything else. I pulled her into my arms again, rocking her back and forth as we sat. I her hair, humming to her the song that she said was her favorite. We stayed that way for a while, cherishing the companionable silence that had befallen the room.

She smiled despite of her tears and took my hands in her a she pulled back, crawling to face me before she sat down. “I’m ready to talk, bosom friend.” She chuckled. “I feel like I’m fourteen years old again. Our school counselor asked me to tell her why I was so uneasy, but I didn’t want to, but she said I had to because it was the only way I could let go and forget.”

I shook my head. “Well, unlike her, I’m not going to force you to talk if you don’t want to.”

“I’m not going to tell you about the sordid details anyway. “She grinned and looked down. “I don’t really remember anything after he struck me on the head.”

“Shinhye, I heard you screaming. That’s enough for me to grieve over,” I murmured.

She shook her head. “Don’t. Instead, be strong for me. That’s what they all say. I should draw strength from you guys so that I will manage to heal. It will be hard, but I will try because you all tried so hard for me.” She sighed. “I will have those nightmares replaying in my head, but I wish you’d all know that I will be okay, that I am not hurting anymore because there would come a time that I will feel numb, forget and eventually heal.”

I shook my head, tears threatening to fall from my eyes once more. “I’m so sorry for not being able to protect you back there. You wouldn’t be like this if it weren’t for…”

“No. I don’t blame anyone for it. It’s the choices that people sometimes make that hurt us. Don’t feel guilty because it happens all the time.”

“It shouldn’t have happened to you in the first place,” I insisted strongly.

She smiled then. “It’s enough for me to know that you all care for me. That’s what matters to me and nothing else. You make me strong. That’s it. Even if it hurts, no matter how dire the situation, you guys had been there for me.”

“Shinhye…”

“During the time when I stayed in the dungeon, they tortured me. They did all sorts of things to make me give up on you, but I didn’t because I held onto the hope that you would come for me and save me, that I would be off that suffering the moment I see your faces in my imagination and that you will never give up on me either. My confidence made me fight back despite the pain.” She drew her sleeve back and showed me the burn marks. “They neutralized my powers, too, but I fought back because you were all there for me, fighting your own battles to regain me.”

“You’re really strong, do you know that? I think you don’t really need us. You’re good on your own.”

She shook her head fervently whilst saying, “Don’t say that. You all made me stronger and I couldn’t imagine not ever meeting you guys.” She stood up and reached out a hand at me. “Here’s to regretting nothing.”

I smiled at her, taking her hand. She was the only one who could hurt us all and make us feel warm again. I straightened up and shook her hand. “No regrets.”

She giggled. I guess she just needed time to think things through. “It’s a fine day outside. Let’s go to town?”

I blinked rapidly, her words not sinking in. “Y-you want to go out?”

She smiled and bobbed her head. “Yeah! Come on! I crave for lightning fish.”

“L-lightning fish?” I let her tow me out of the room. “You’re hungry?”

“Starving! I could eat a griffin.” She ran down the stairs, still holding my hand in hers until she reached the drawing room where everyone else was, letting go of my hand. She poked her head through the door. “Who’s up for lightning fish~?” she asked them as if nothing happened.

They all looked stunned, but I smiled as I followed after her. Welcome back, my best friend.

-Chan Yeol’s POV-

“I wonder how Baekhyun is doing right now,” Suho hyung said with a heavy sigh.

The facts that presented themselves for the past weeks since Shinhye was abducted by the purists hadn’t quite sank into our systems, especially me. I couldn’t get over the fact that my recklessness allowed her to suffer a great deal of pain under the mercy of the enemies and now, it was all because of that that she was changing. I couldn’t be sure how she would turn out in the long run. I couldn’t imagine ways for her to move on after finding out what happened to her. It hurts me too my core to think that she had to be the one to experience that. The animals that did that to her would pay for their sins and I will make sure they suffer a million times more than she did.

I couldn’t face her. After seeing her unconscious in Sehun’s arms, I couldn’t shake her dreadful state out of my mind. I would never be able to look her in the eyes for any reason. My heart yearned to just enfold her in my arms, kill the bitter thoughts and memories, make her fine again, but that just wouldn’t do when I contributed to her misery. I shouldn’t have come back that night, Maybe then, she would still be safe, laughing and joking with the others. I longed to see her up and about, wielding her sword, telling us about grotesque matters. I wanted her to be back to her old self, happy and smiling as she does what she wants under the sun, but that was something I didn’t deserve to see.

She healed well, but I can only gaze at her whenever she was sleeping. She recoiled from everyone who would try to reach out to her. I could only suffer quietly with her, feel bad from the pits of my stomach and feel guilt consuming me from the inside. It was the most horrible feeling there was and I deserved to feel it. I cried inside as I watched her sleep, wishing I could touch her, but my hands would shrink back whenever I dared to. I wasn’t worthy to touch her. I shouldn’t even be looking at her. Though I loved her with all that I was, I could never make my dreams of be