Chapter 2

 

The boys looked at each other nervously as the old bearded man watched them with an amused look in his eyes.  He didn’t seem evil but the boys still had no idea what was going on and didn’t know who to trust.  Their gut told them they could trust each other but someone else… that was still up in the air. 

 

“Talk amongst yourselves,” the old man said, motioning for them to sit and talk.

 

Yongguk eyed the man for a second before turning to the others.  He motioned for them to get closer to him, placing his arms around Himchan’s and Daehyun’s shoulders as they huddled together.

 

“What do you all think?” Yongguk asked, looking at each boy, making eye contact with them.

 

“Well, we have two choices,” Youngjae said, holding two fingers out.  “One; we just say screw it and die or two; we find out why we died before we were supposed to.  I myself want to know why we died.”

 

“I think we should go back to… the living world?” Jongup shrugged his shoulders, Zelo nodding his head quickly in agreement; none of them really understood where they were now.

 

The others nodded their heads, looking at Yongguk who nodded his head once and turned around to look at the old man who hadn’t moved from his spot.

 

“We choose to go back,” Yongguk stated, taking a few steps closer to the man.

 

The man just smiled and stood slowly, the vanished.  There was a low rumble coming from all around them, the guys moved close to each other again, Jongup pulling Zelo close to him, Himchan grabbing Jongup’s arm and Youngjae hand as Yongguk and Daehyun locked arms as they tried to make their circle even tighter as the rumbling was accompanied with shaking.  Things started to fall over in the room as the boys knelt to their knees, pulling Zelo into the middle.  Yongguk tried to cover all of their heads with his arms and hands as ceiling tiles began to fall to the floor.  Glass shattered around them, the stretchers toppling over, one almost falling on the group.  The rumbling was so loud and the walls started to break apart as the shaking became more violent.

 

The six glanced at each other, fear filling their eyes, before the ceiling came down on top of them.

 

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

 

“Zeus, what are you doing?” Hades asked.

 

“You dare ask me that after what you did?” Zeus stared at the tall lanky man.  “You had them killed before their time was up.”

 

“I didn’t kill them.  Plus a lot of souls have gone missing from the Underworld, I think you’re the one up to something,” Hades said with a booming laugh, but eyes narrowed at the younger.  “How do I know you won’t use them to take more souls?”

 

“You killing them makes me know you have something going on,” Zeus eyed his brother.

 

“For the last time, I didn’t have them killed.  You know you’re just mad because they are your sons,” Hades snapped.

 

“You’re lucky the Fates let me bring them back, or I would have ended you,” Zeus glared at Hades.

 

“Now brothers,” Poseidon stepped between their staring contest.  “I think there has been a big misunderstanding.  What proof do you have, Zeus, that Hades is doing something behind our backs?  And you, Hades.  What makes you think Zeus was going to use those boys against you?  No one who enters the Underworld ever comes out, with a few exceptions.  How would they get out of there? “

 

“Even though I didn’t kill them,” Hades started when he saw Zeus open his mouth, “Their souls should be mine since they did die.”  Hades folded his arms over his chest and set a stern glare at his younger brother.

 

“You killed them before their time, you don’t deserve their souls,” Zeus snapped, his grip tightening around his staff.  “The Fates won’t allow it.”

 

“Zeus, why do you think Hades killed them?” Poseidon asked, holding his arms up, trying to stop the bickering.

 

“Who else would make the order to kill them?” Zeus almost spat at Hades.

 

“I didn’t tell anyone to kill them,” Hades said, his voice becoming even again.  “I could sense when they died though.  How powerful are they?”

 

“That’s none of your concern,” Zeus stood, glaring at Hades.  “I will find proof of what you did.”

 

“How do I know you’re not trying to frame me?” Hades asked as he stood as well.  He was about a foot taller than Zeus and he loved standing over him looking down at the younger.  “Souls have gone missing, and I mean a lot of souls have gone missing; how do I know you’re not bringing all the others back so you can get rid of me?”

 

“I wouldn’t have to use backwards tactics like that to defeat you, brother,” Zeus almost growled at him.  “I was the one who killed our father, don’t forget that.”

 

The smirk on Hades face was replaced with a sneer and with that he was gone.  Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other, the look in Zeus’s eyes pulled at the water God’s heart strings.  Zeus did have a big soft spot for those six boys.  Why?  Poseidon figured he would never find out, but he was going to keep an eye on both of his brothers.

 

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

 

Zelo yawned and rolled onto his side.  The bed was very comfortable and he wiggled under the covers more, only his curly blonde locks visible.  He curled up into a ball trying to make himself go back to sleep, when everything hit him. 

 

Zelo shot up, almost hitting his head on the bunk above him, as he looked around.  The sunlight almost blinded him making him groan and shield his eyes quickly.  He rubbed his eyes and slowly peered from behind his hands.  He was sitting on the bottom bunk; two other bunk beds lined the wall with his, forms snuggled under the covers.  A large window was on the opposite wall, it almost took up the whole wall.  He knew why the sun was so bright; the window didn’t have any curtains on it.

 

He slowly rolled the covers back and placed a foot on the floor.  It wasn’t cold like hard wood floors usually were.  He looked down and noticed he wasn’t wearing the thin sheet or grey blankets they had been.  He was in socks, blue plaid pajama pants and a white t-shirt.  He pulled on the clothes a little, as if he didn’t think they were real.

 

He bit his bottom lip and glanced at the sleeping figures again.  He glanced at the stairs that led down to another floor and peered over the side railing that lined them.  He didn’t hear anything so he stepped back, trying to figure out if he should try to wake the others or go investigate by himself.  He decided it would be better with the others and made his way to the bed closest to him.

 

Zelo tip toed over to the bed next to his and peeked over the top, looking to see which one of the boys it was.  It was Daehyun.  He had been standing at the front of the group with Yongguk before the ceiling fell on them.

 

The ceiling had fallen on them… Zelo looked around quickly but didn’t see any debris from anything.  The place was very clean and bright.  The walls were white, which made the sunlight even brighter.  He wondered how any of them stayed asleep this long.

 

As Zelo hovered over the sleeping boy, his shadow was cast over Daehyun’s face.  The different in brightness was what brought the second boy out of slumber.  When Daehyun’s eyes fluttered open, he wasn’t expecting to see a curly haired boy over him and screamed.  Zelo yelped as he jumped and back trotted quickly, tripping over his own feet before he landed on the floor hard.

 

“Ah! I’m sorry,” Daehyun said as he quickly got out of bed, keeping his head ducked so he didn’t hit it and knelt by the fallen boy, trying to see if he was okay.

 

“It’s okay,” Zelo said, rubbing his a bit.

 

The commotion had disturbed the others as they started to rise.  Himchan, who was on the top bunk, sat up quickly, throwing his hands over his head as if still thinking the ceiling was falling and fell off the side of the bunk.  Daehyun and Zelo looked at each other and rushed over to the bunny boy.

 

“What the hell?” Himchan asked in his deep voice as he rubbed left side and hip as he sat up.

 

“You okay?” Zelo asked, looking down at the annoyed boy.

 

“I’ll be fine,” Himchan snorted, sending a glance at Daehyun before he looked down at himself. “Yah! Who changed us?”

 

“Where are we?” Yongguk asked as he crawled out his bed, jumping down to the floor, Jongup doing the same, he seemed more skilling on his feet.  Both made their way to the small group.  Youngjae looked up from where he lay, trying to decide what to do.  It was warm under the covers and since Himchan was sleeping above him, he could actually stay in bed while they talked.

 

“Yah! I asked first,” Himchan yelled a bit.

 

“I don’t know, I think it’s better to know where we are first then who changed us,” Yongguk nudged Himchan a bit.

 

“A room,” the bunny man said and ducked, pulling Youngjae out of bed and holding the boy in front of him as if to shield him, when he saw the look come across Yongguk’s face.

 

“Maybe we should go downstairs and see?” Jongup asked running a hand through his hair and shrugged with a slight pout on his lips.

 

“Good idea,” Youngjae said, as he wiggled from Himchan’s grasp.

 

The boys made their way down the stairs, Yongguk taking the lead with Daehyun behind him.  Himchan followed the smaller boy with Zelo behind him, Jongup close on the maknae’s heels while Youngjae took up the rear.  It was slow going.  Even though the only sounds heard were their footsteps, they were cautious.  They still didn’t know what had happened to them, or if someone would pop out at any time.

 

When they finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, they were in a wide open living room, a kitchen off to the right.  It was furnished with two large sofas and a chair, a coffee table placed in the center.  There were a few lamps strewn about, there wasn’t a TV or any electronics of any kid in the room.  They filed into the kitchen, their hunger overcoming the danger feeling as they rummaged around in the fridge and cabinets.

 

While the boys searched for anything to eat, Himchan made his way to Daehyun, who was in the corner, looking into a small pantry.  Daehyun started when he felt someone tap his shoulder and cocked his head to the side, a confused expression on his face when he saw Himchan.

 

“What’s up?” Daehyun asked as he entered the small pantry.

 

“I don’t know if this sounds weird,” Himchan said, as he followed him in.  “But I feel like I know you.”

 

“Well we are all in a weird situation,” Daehyun stated, never glancing at Himchan.  “Maybe you are trying to find comfort in it all?”

 

“I don’t have the same feeling toward the other guys,” Himchan stated, as he stepped up behind Daehyun.  “I just have this strange feeling that I knew you when we were alive.  I saw you’re face before I died, I think.”

 

Daehyun turned then and looked at Himchan.  He wasn’t sure what to say.  He hadn’t seen him or even thought of the bunny looking male. 

 

“Maybe we should talk to the other and see they remember anything,” Daehyun said, skipping around Himchan.

 

Himchan nodded and followed the boy out of the pantry.  Just as the two walked out, they saw the other boys scrabbling around and they heard female voices coming from the front of the house.  The boys all looked at each other in panic and started to scrabble around the room to find places to hide.  Maybe they had ended up in another person home; the last thing they needed was the cops getting involved when they didn’t even know who they really were yet.

 

Zelo tried to squeeze in the fridge before Youngjae pulled him under the table and pulled the table cloth down a bit.  Himchan and Daehyun tripped over each other as they tried to dart back into the pantry, both crashing to the floor in a heap, their legs tangled Daehyun fall on top of the older boy.  Jongup and Yongguk were still in the middle of the room trying to find a place to hide, bumping into each other with every movement, when four females walked into the kitchen, the talking stopped immediately.  The two boys froze and stared at the females, eyes wide like deer in headlights.

 

The women had frozen in the doorway, blinking at the two, before their eyes started to cast around the room, finding the others quickly.  What happened next was not what the boys expected.

 

The women looked at each other and burst into laughter.  It didn’t take long for them start crying from laughing so hard.  Youngjae and Zelo slowly crawled from under the table, Himchan and Daehyun managed to untangle themselves, all joining Yongguk and Jongup by the fridge, nervously glancing between themselves and then to the females again.  The boys didn’t realize they had clustered together again as they waited for the girls to stop.

 

The women tried to slow their laughter; the smallest of them had wiped the tears from her eyes and was now smiling brightly, while the others took a few more moments to calm down.

 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t expect you all to be awake this soon,” the oldest looking female said as she wiped at her eyes.

 

“Where are we?” Yongguk asked, taking a step forward.

 

“This is your safe house,” the woman said.

 

“Who changed us?” Himchan asked, Yongguk glancing back at him with a ‘really’ look.

 

“We did,” the woman motioned to herself and other three girls, who giggled behind her. 

 

Yongguk snapped his head around when he heard that, all boys feeling a burn spreading across their faces.  There was silence then.  The boy’s had no idea what to say and the girls just watched them curiously.  Himchan was the first to snap out of it.

 

“Who are you?” He quickly asked, hoping the awkward atmosphere would lighten.

 

“This is Vanessa, Natalie and Tai,” the woman spoke, pointing to each girl.  “And I am Persephone.  It’s very nice to meet you.”