"Hyunsaeng-ah, come here," called out Youngsaeng to his son who was jumping around in the pile of now-falling leaves in the night. Autumn was closing in and the orange and red leaves were drifting in the air. The young halfblood was toddling around, trying to jump up without falling down in order to successfully catch a leaf. It wasn't easy but he kept on trying, getting back up on his feet when he fell. 

"Eomma!" the little boy exclaimed and waddled over to his mother. "Where's appa?"

Youngsaeng smiled slightly as he picked up the toddler and held him in his arms, gently pecking him on his round cheek. "He has some business to attend to. Don't worry though, he'll be back soon enough. Why? Do you miss him?"

With a cute pout, Hyunsaeng nodded. "Neh." Chuckling, Youngsaeng turned and headed back to the night class building. As he set his son down and gently supported him as he climbed up the stairs, he let out a breath, missing Hyunjoong and wanting him to come back soon.

It had already been two days since his lover headed over to the Council with the Headmaster and still, the vampire wasn't back yet. It was probably another important issue to discuss and now that Hyunjoong was part of the Council of Night, he was going to become more busy. 

"Eomma, are you sad because of appa?" asked Hyunsaeng with round eyes. Youngsaeng was surprised that the boy noticed but then patted Hyunsaeng's head, lightly tousling around the soft, short hair with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm not sad, I'm happy for him. He's important to the vampire society now and soon, you will also be as important, right, Hyunsaeng?"

"Neh!"

The two arrived at their room and Youngsaeng picked up his son again, opening their door and stepping in. He turned and closed the door, when suddenly, he froze when he heard a low, man's voice. 

"So you're the infamous nine-tailed fox?"

Youngsaeng's eyes widened and his hand let go of the knob, whipping around to see only a shadow, sitting on the bed.. "Wh-who... Who are you...?"

The boy could see the figure's lips pull up into an evil smirk as it stood up from the bed. Still, Youngsaeng was unable to see clearly. He quickly looked over at his son to see that the boy had fallen asleep already. The male backed away as the figure approached him, wearing a grin. 

"My, my, you don't seem all that powerful, not powerful enough to kill all the vampires... Why don't I give you a hand?" the shadow snickered as it moved closer. Youngsaeng's legs began to shake when he felt the wall behind his back, his hand running over the wall frantically to try to find the lights. His heart was palpitating like crazy, his blood turning cold as his arms became unsteady, his knees turning to jello. 

The figure got closer and it stopped right in front of the shaking boy with the toddler, still smirking. It's arm reached up and moved closer towards Youngsaeng's face. Youngsaeng couldn't move, his eyes wide with terror and he screamed. 

Youngsaeng shot up from his sleep, panting as cold sweat dripped down the side of his head, his eyes wide. He found himself still in Hyunjoong's and his bedrom with a deep sleeping Hyunsaeng beside him. Hyunjoong had went for the Council of Night meeting and was still not back yet. Breathing heavily, Youngsaeng tried to calm his thumping heart and took deep breaths, still clutching tightly on his blanket. Turning on the lamp at the beside table, he inspected the room and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no one there except him and his son. 

"Youngsaeng hyung...? I heard something from here. Is something wrong?" a kind voice chirped from the door. 

The latter swallowed and looked over at the door to see that Taemin had poked his head in. He calmed down and shook his head. "Sorry... Just had a bad dream... It's nothing."

The younger boy grinned and walked in. "When do you think Hyunjoong hyung will be back? It's already been around three days."

"He's going to be busier from now on since he has important matters to take care of," assured Youngsaeng, trying to comfort himself, but inside, his heart was aching and he wanted to see his lover so badly. 

"Don't lie to yourself. We all know you miss him," Kyujong's chimed voice from elsewhere and the vampire appeared at the door, walking in and leaning onto the bed, gazing lovingly at Hyunsaeng. "Aigoo, what a cute baby."

"He's not a baby anymore," chuckled Youngsaeng before sighing and blowing his bangs out of his eyes. "Sorry if I disturbed your sleep... The door wasn't closed?"

Kyujong shook his head. "It was still open a little bit."

"I think Hyunjoong hyung should take better care of Youngsaeng hyung," complained Taemin cutely. "How can he go and get a job, leaving Youngsaeng to take care of a toddler all by himself?"

Kyujong chuckled and playfully slapped Youngsaeng on the arm. "You should scold him once in a while."

"We'll leave you to sleep now," Taemin said thoughtfully before yawning, his short fangs glistening in the dim light. "Come on, Kyujong hyung. Youngsaeng hyung needs his beauty sleep in order to impress Hyunjoong hyung when he comes back."

Youngsaeng pouted and hit the younger boy. "Ya!"

"He's joking, only joking," assured Kyujong before turning. "Well, sleep well."

"Neh..."

Once the door closed, Youngsaeng couldn't help but shiver again. The room seemed strangely larger and emptier than before without Hyunjoong beside him, the walls dark and the shadows seeming as if they were about to jump out at him. He lay back down and wrapped his arms tightly around his son in hope of gaining some comfort and warmth. He closed his tired eyes and managed to fall sleep.

Nobody was around, it was all darkness, like a black hole warping all around him. He was standing in the middle of nowhere, no ground, no walls, no limit to the vast, black space around him. He looked down at his hands and found it strange when he could see them yet there was no light. Deep in his thoughts as he stared down at his palms, he didn't notice that a screen had appeared in front of him, replaying scenes until he heard a blood-curdling scream. In startlement, he snapped his head up to see that giant screen in front of him, showing the tails of the nine-tailed fox slashing through the vampires and exorcists who tried to stab him with their magic and weapons.

Youngsaeng couldn't see the nine-tailed fox itself as it seemed as if this was the memory of the fox and could only catch glimpses of the glowing tails but reflected in the vampires' eyes were his own; bloody red evil. They shrieked in pain when the spirit magic of the nine-tailed fox grazed their limbs, cutting them off immediately. Youngsaeng's eyes grew wide, his ears ringing of the shouts of fear, begging for mercy but there was one man who caught his eyes. The vampire was crying, yelling to the fox to stop, pleading for him to stop, calling him Maria.

"This is the 99th generation..." murmured the boy, not being to take his eyes off the screen. "Why...?"

The scenes shifted by themselves, as if replaying the flashbacks of the nine-tailed fox, from the 99th generation to the 98th generation to the 97th and so on. Until like the evolution of TV, the pictures turned black and white; that was the vision of the nine-tailed fox when it was the 5th generation. It was innocent creature, the memories only containing tall grass surrounding and creeping up on prey; no violence at all.

Then came the 1st generation in the arms of a woman Youngsaeng felt strangely familiar: Stella Fairchild. His gaze softened and he felt himself tearing up as the exorcists smiled down at the fox, which was basically him, and cradled him, rocking him back and forth to sleep.

All of a sudden, the screen disappeared and instead, there were three life-sized doors in front of him and all three looked identical. Furrowing his eyebrows, he stepped closer to the doors, they didn't move and stayed there. Gulping nervously, his hand shook and he reached out to the middle door's handle, tightening his grip around him as he bit his lip and slowly pushed it open.

Immediately, there was a high-pitched scream and Youngsaeng slammed it closed, panting heavily as he leaned on it. What was happening? Where was he? What type of dream was this supposed to be? Was this really merely a dream? Was this supposed to tell him something?

He gathered his courage again and turned back around, clutching onto the golden handle and hesitantly pushing open the door; this time, he forced himself to watch what was on the other side despite the shrieks and cries. He stiffened in horror when he saw the giant nine-tailed fox, glowing red with spirit magic on the other side, the vampires and exorcists trying to fight it off. The crushed buildings all around the fox was recognized as C.E.A.

Is this... another flashback...? Another memory...? What is this?

Youngsaeng didn't dare continue to watch and stepped out, closing the door behind him. He headed over to the door to his left, swallowing his spit before pushing this one open. His pupils dilated when he saw he and Hyunjoong in the garden near the fountain, himself coughing up blood as he gripped Hyunjoong's wrist, the hand plunged into his chest. Hyunjoong was begging to stop but he only smiled and his mouth moved but Youngsaeng couldn't hear what his other self said and suddenly, his heart was ripped out directly from his chest.

"What... What is this...?"

Youngsaeng didn't know what was going on and ran out of the door, hurrying to the one on the far right. He burst into that door and saw he and Hyunjoong again in the same place but instead, it was the opposite. Instead of Hyunjoong killing him, Hyunjoong had a strong grip on the rosario, electricity crackling around both of them and surging into Hyunjoong.

Something lit up inside of Youngsaeng and he finally had an idea. The optional futures. This door was the one where Hyunjoong was going to die. The left one was where he was going to die. The middle one was where the vampires would become extinct and both of them would die. He finally understood what the nine-tailed fox meant. Where this is death, there will always be death.

"You have to choose one," a low growl came from behind him.

Youngsaeng whipped around in surprise to see the humongous nine-tailed fox sitting behind him in the darkness, his tails lashed out and glowing with spirit magic. The boy stepped out from the door and closed it, looking up at the fox in despair. "These... are the only choices? Either way, someone is going to die! Why isn't there a future where no one dies?"

"Because life doesn't work that way," answered the nine-tailed fox. "Not everything ends happily. These are the only three possible futures. Choose one."

"Why do I have to choose alone?" Youngsaeng exclaimed as his tears welled up. "I can't do this! I don't want to leave Hyunjoong alone and I don't want to be left alone either! I don't want the vampires to become extinct! Why--"

"This is your responsibility," said the fox calmly, his gaze turning from dark to gentle. "This is your burden. The weight carried upon your shoulders, the future now all depends on you. The future of the world, not only the vampires."

"But... How can I make decisions like this by myself...?" questioned Youngsaeng, crystal droplets trickling down his round cheeks. "I can't do it... I can't choose..."

"You may not be able to choose right now but you will have to when the time comes. And the rest of the world, the whole future will be in your hands."