~*~M~*~

Slowly inhaling, Tao focused on his mantra; choosing to do it internally today he mulled over each word as he felt the air fill his lungs before he slowly expelled it, "Námó dìzàng wáng púsà." The words had long since been ingrained in his soul. He had been told to meditate daily and to use mantras to keep himself in the 'right state of mind.' He had done so, and over the years the mantras had become so ingrained, he couldn't even tell you if he completely believed in what he was saying, or just parroting it from his childhood mentors. He continued the daily practice though, and found himself once more repeating the mantra unwittingly. His focus could not be broken for the world and his friends knew it, they had seen him sit down wherever he was when this time came around before he would steady his breathing and the words would flow out past his lips of their own accord.

Today, Tao had the opportunity to sit by the side of the small waterfall just outside of town, about three kilometers inside the woods as he performed his daily meditation, as easily and as comfortable as breathing. He had no sense of time, just a sense of serenity as he repeated the age-old mantra again. His concentration was flawless even as word that didn't belong to him flooded his mind. It was something the other person was unaware they were doing, but it was occurring nonetheless. Silencing his own thoughts, Tao allowed the other to speak freely into his mind. "His hands are glowing. Is that possible? Does he even realize he is doing it?" Tao heard the questions and knew instinctively that it was a train of thought; whose, he did not know. "I wonder what it feels like... Does it hurt? Could it hurt?" The stream of thoughts continued, and Tao found himself relaxing more just by hearing the thoughts compared to the mantra he had been diligently repeating just moments ago. While the other person had managed to open their mind enough to feed Tao all the information he needed, Tao knew he had to provoke the unknown person into action, "Make him aware." Was the only thought he sent to the other being before the connection was completely cut. Their mind had been closed to him and he had lost the wonderful sense of serenity it had brought him. A bit upset at this revelation, Tao slowly opened his eyes as he realized that he had no idea what any of this meant.

Glancing around to see if he was being watched, Tao slid himself down the rocks. Once at the base, he removed his socks and shoes before rolling his pant legs up and slipping his feet into the cool water. He thought back to what had happened just moments ago. He had no idea who the other person was, he just knew that he felt better in their presence- even if the whole thing had only occurred while he was still meditating. But he knew the other person was not meditating. Clearing his mind, Tao practiced his footwork in the just-below-the-knee-deep water. He liked the resistance the water gave for kicks and the fact that he had to keep his eyes and mind peeled on the movements of the fish in the water below him. A bad kick, a bad landing, and he could injure not just himself- but the fish as well. Which is why he enjoyed this even more, he was honing his skills. He lost track of time as he maneuvered his feet along the slick, rocky, bottom of the expanse of water. This time was all too perfect for him, he loved how fluid his motions were becoming in the water, which- in his opinion- meant they would be even better on dry land.

Some time later, Tao slid his way through the water, back to the rocks he had started on and pulled himself up out of the water. As he allowed the sun that was shining through the open space in the trees to dry his legs, his mind went back to what had happened during his meditation. After a few minutes of endless theories spilling into his mind, he realized he needed someone to help him with the answer this time. Despite his better judgment, Tao found the name on the tip of his tongue in a moment's notice, "Siwon."

"You rang?"

~*~K~*~

"Hyung is running late." Chanyeol commented as he walked alongside Kai, not really paying much attention to anything. Kai gave a noncommittal hum in acknowledgment to what the other had said, his mind long gone. "You okay?"

The question quickly pulled Kai from his silent reverie and he looked up at Chanyeol, "Not really, I had a strange dream... but it felt so real." He started explaining before biting down on his lip and dropping his gaze to the floor again.

"Strange and real?" Chanyeol questioned, arching his eyebrow as he spoke.

"Yeah... there was this room. It seemed to be endlessly spread out before me, but on the floor was millions of silvery orbs. Suddenly a group of them were floating in the air in the middle of the room. Startled, I looked to my right and I saw this guy. His eyes met mine, not a word was said... but, wow." Kai stopped speaking as his mind drifted back to that room, that moment. "He was wearing a lot of white and silver." Kai recalled, the words no more than a whisper as he slowly became lost in the memory.

"It sounds like someone needs to find their mystery man." Chanyeol teased, prodding Kai's shoulder jokingly. They had finally reached the garden at the side of the building. No one ever seemed to go there, but it had been a perfect location for something Himchan wanted to do. Quickly glancing around at the garden, Chanyeol internally wondered what the elder could possibly want too do in a garden of dead and browning flowers.

It was as Chanyeol's mind became preoccupied with this thought, that Kai's mind finally caught up with their conversation, "How do you expect me to do that? Huh? Snap my fingers-" Kai raised his arm and snapped his fingers in demonstration, his dream still playing in his minds eye, he closed his eyes for a second- and that's all it took. "And I'll be there..." He finished his sentence in amazement as he was once again met face-to-face with the strikingly beautiful male from his dream the night before. Freezing for a second, Kai unconsciously snapped his fingers again as he took a step forward, only to be greeted with Chanyeol's back in the dead garden. Another step, a third snap of this fingers, and a turn of his head- the beautiful male was standing just mere centimeters away from him.

Their eyes locked once again, and Kai had a hard time believing he wasn't daydreaming when the male reached out and his fingertips brushed Kai's skin, unconsciously he snapped his fingers for the forth time and was facing Chanyeol's back for only a second when the tall male turned around and started babbling on about something that Kai couldn't be bothered with.

It. Was. Real.

He couldn't deny that. He had just been somewhere he had seen in his dream last night, and even met the same person from said dream. Once again, not a word had been spoken, but the other had reached out for him. Kai unconsciously touched the small patch of skin the beautiful male had brushed his fingertips against. That one spot felt so warm, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to think right now- but he knew that it was real. "What do you think?" Chanyeol's voice interrupted his train of thoughts with a question, "I guess..." Kai offered with a half shrug which caused Chanyeol to launch into another monologue that Kai was not paying attention to. It was during this moment that Kai was beginning to sense regret- he didn't speak to the other male. He knew nothing about the beautiful male from his dream other than he was real. But then again, how was their meeting even possible? He found himself questioning himself about the thing he had pushed to the back of his mind.

He had been somewhere, without actually moving away from Chanyeol. He couldn't just ask the taller male if he been away from him in the last twenty minutes- that would make him sound like he was going crazy. Another possibility hit him then: What if I am crazy? He berated himself as he tried to think about what had happened in a logical way once more.

~*~M~*~

Lay had no idea what had happened yesterday, but he knew he had to talk to Luhan, his mind kept screaming that Luhan would know the answer. Chewing on his bottom lip gently, Lay knocked on the door to the room his friend was working in, waiting patiently for the elder to respond. It wasn't long before the door swung open and Lay saw the face of his friend.

"Luhan!" The younger cried excitedly, throwing his arm around the elder in a tight hug.

"Lay, what's up?" Luhan responded as he casually returned the hug before leading the other inside.

"I actually have a question for you." Lay admitted as he followed Luhan through the building, finally coming to rest in a small sitting area. Within minutes they were both settled down on individual seats, facing each other.

"So, what's on the mind of my dear friend?" Luhan questioned as he made himself comfortable.

"Just that... uhm... I don't really know how to explain it..." the younger fumbled out, twiddling his thumbs together as he tried to arrange the words in his mind, "Something... happened yesterday. It wasn't something I was used to... but it wasn't completely weird." Lay stumbled through the phrases, frowning as he heard his own words entering the space between them. Even the sentences he was attempting to make didn't sound right.

"Okay, try explaining what it was to me then, okay?" Luhan quietly provided, knowing the other was struggling with the words he wanted to use.

Still frowning, Lay gave a slight nod before making another attempt, "There was... this... disruption." He paused to think over the word choice, before giving himself an approving nod, "I was reading in my garden, by the Koi Pond, when suddenly my entire body just felt like... static." He dropped the final word as he moved his hands up over his wrists and onto his forearms, gripping them tightly as he recalled the feeling. "I was being pulled to do something, but I didn't know what." He continued on to clarify.

"They found it." Luhan vaguely explained without thinking, causing Lay to snap from his own thoughts of the previous day and to stare at Luhan with wide eyes.

"What?" Lay questioned, an unknowing type of innocence filling his voice in Luhan's ears.

Looking Lay in the eyes, Luhan gave a slight smile, "Your other half. They found their power, and it drew you. You were not consciously aware of it, but you sensed that your other half had discovered their power." He explained, knowing the exact feeling that Lay had experienced.

"How do you know?" Lay asked, scooting to the edge of his seat, his eyes never leaving the elder.

"Because, mine discovered theirs as well." Luhan explained as an idea began to form in his mind. "Lay, can I ask you for a favor?"

A bit at a loss from the sudden diversion, Lay gave a hesitant nod. Luhan didn't say another word, but grabbed the younger's hand and pulled him to his work room. Lay stood where Luhan released him and watched as the elder began to move a series of silvery orbs about from the center of the room. They both remained silent as Luhan made the orbs come into the space between them, forming two lines. Luhan pointed at the line above their heads, "These six are us." Those were the only words Luhan spoke as he watched Lay's reaction. He had lined the other two groups up, side-by-side.

Lay didn't know what the favor Luhan had asked him for was, but there was something he didn't understand, that feeling was back. Eyeing the silvery orbs individually, the feeling suddenly intensified, "Static." Lay whispered as he stared at the orb intently. Without his knowledge, Luhan smiled as he moved the other orbs off to the side and focused his energy on the orb, bringing the watery image to the surface. Lay continued to gaze into the orb, his hand unconsciously reaching out for it, but his fingertips being propelled away from the surface. A small part of him knew he wouldn't be able to touch it, but he wanted to. There was something about the guy on the other side. "Light." He murmured quietly just as the image was once again covered by an opaque silver sea. Blinking rapidly, Lay looked up at Luhan as the elder silently moved the orbs back to their original places in the center of the room, pausing to move the one Lay had been looking at to another group.

"Your other half was one of the ones Siwon had yet to verify. But thanks to his discovery, we could verify that he's one of the other six we need." Luhan explained without looking at Lay. Releasing a heavy breath, Luhan slowly lowered the orbs in their positions before finally turning to his friend. "Three of us know what our other halves look like. That means there's three to go." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was actually going to continue with another scene on "K" but then I realized, it was too soon for that scene and that it needs to be in the next chapter. So, hint- the next chapter will start on "K"! *gasps*

What do you think so far? Some of it is totally obvious, right? >_<;; I thought so too. But there's also a lot of mystery, right? At least, I hope... otherwise... crap. where'd I go wrong? lol~ ^^

So~ uhm... idk what Tao is saying at the beginning exactly... so, have fun with that one. and... Lay is cute. (in my mind at least...)

And Kai is... the bane of my existence at this point. Kai just... Kai. >_< <3

Anywhozit~

Thank you for reading, subscribing, commenting, and most importantly- being you!

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Love and peace!

~Ling<3