Hoya and Kyungsoo walked side by side as Kris, Baekhyun and Minho walked not too far ahead.

“So, you and Seo In…what are you?” Kyungsoo whispered. Hoya blushed.

“Well, I’m not quite sure.” He said. Kyungsoo nodded.

“I’m sure it’s hard with everyone watching and no one openly approving.” Hoya looked up at him. “It’s not that I don’t want you two together. I think it’s cute.” Hoya turned red. “However,” Kyungsoo continued. “I now understand the fear your father felt while I was there and he couldn’t reach me.” He looked down at Hoya.

“We don’t want to lose you again.” Hoya’s head drooped.

“At this point, I just want him back on this side of reality.” He looked up at Kyungsoo with tear filled eyes. “That’s all I want.” Kyungsoo stopped to wipe his son’s tears.

“It’ll be alright. Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. Together.” He said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Hey,” Minho yelled back at them. Kyungsoo looked over at him. “We’re almost there.” He said, pointing a little to the east. Kyungsoo nodded, and led Hoya forward.

*****

And there it was, Hoya saw an elegant little cottage. It had a rounded roof and a rust-red outside, with a stone pathway leading to the burgundy door with a twisted brass handle. The windows nestled on either side were made of yellow, green and red stained glass, a soft glow emanating from the inside. The cottage and small yard filled with exotic looking flowers were enclosed in a rustic fence.

A specter opened the door. “Dear children, I swear, I buried my own decades ago. Yet little ones keep following me.” She gave a wry smile. Her clothes seemed faded and her skin was dull.

“Mother Shiva!” Kyungsoo smiled as he stepped forward. “We need your help, one more time.” She nodded.

“And that’s all we’re going to have time for, I hope you know.” She said, giving him a knowing look. He nodded. She moved out from in front of the door.

“Come in, children. Sit by the table and let us see what your heart desires.”

Where there used to be a cozy fire burning in the stone fireplace, was now dark and dank with the smell of rotting wood. The hand woven rugs covering the sitting area were rotten and covered in mildew, as were the ones covering the passageway between the tiny dining area and the kitchen, and one right in front of the door. It gave the house a terribly moldy odor. What used to be warm reds, greens and blues that swam before their eyes were now dank, dull and faded. The floors that had been made of light wood, were rotting away, several holes had to be dodged as the troupe entered the witch’s home. The walls of dark wood as they had been, were black with mold with patches of grey where the spiders resided. She led him into a room off to the side.

Inside the room, the walls were draped in faded plum purple curtains, which now looked more gray than anything; swooping up to the ceiling to form a tent-like atmosphere. There were stands of black candles surrounding the small wooden table, giving the room an eerie glow.

She motioned for them to take seats across from her as she lifted her hands above the crystal ball.

“What, has happened here?” Minho asked. Mother Shiva smiled sadly.

“The tides of time have crashed upon me, and soon, all shall change, and some of us shall not be here any longer.” The men and young boy sat there, eyes and hearts heavy.

“For some, life shall continue on, as if nothing has happened, but for others,” she paused looking up at one particular individual. “It shall end by morn the morrow after next.” The clouds in her crystal orb churned and twisted, from gray to black.

“Only one really knows, if he looks hard enough. Where the answer to the Undertaker’s defeat lies.” Kyungsoo sighed.

“I’m sorry Mother Shiva, but can you stop giving us the runaround?” he asked. She looked up. “For years, I never questioned it, but now I feel like I’m in a poorly written R.L. Stine book. Please, just tell us what we need to do!” he cried.

The others looked at Kyungsoo and each other as if he had lost his marbles.

“Ah, taking the fun out of an old medicine woman’s job, are you?” she chuckled. “Very well.” She turned to Hoya.

“I’m savvy to the rumors that the rag dolls Heejun’s puppets spat at you. Tell them, what did they say?” she asked. Hoya turned red.

“That, monsters lived in the woods, and they devoured any who came near. Only the crazy medicine woman,” he looked away sheepishly, “Mother Shiva had ever come out alive. Somewhere in the woods lie the secret of the forest’s power. The portal to the Underworld was located in the well in the middle of town.” He shook his head.

“After all you experienced, you still believe none of it, don’t you Hoya?” she asked. He shrugged. She cackled and coughed. “My dear boy, the Undertaker may not have tentacles and Heejun may have seemed kind to you, but monsters, my dear boy, that’s what they are. They may not devour your flesh, but your mind and soul are also a part of you, are they not?” she asked.

Hoya and the others sat back dumbfounded. “Source of power? That might be a bit of a stretch. She said. But Macalania is magical enough, yes?” she asked. “What lies there is the Pool of Reflection, where the Tree of Life stands. Nothing particularly magical. It’s just where the ‘fireflies,’ as you humans call them gather.

“But they are souls, yes, as the Undertaker explained to you before,” she motioned to Hoya. “The souls of the people and beings that have died here. They gather there, out of instinct, not anything magical drawing them in. No. Like bears that know when to hibernate, even though they are young and may have not experienced it before, they are drawn there. It is a natural thing.”

“And the portal to hell???” Hoya asked. Quite afraid to know the answer, but he felt as though he already knew it.

“Hell isn’t quite the word, or destination that it leads to, dear boy.” Hoya furrowed his brow. But, then where? She waved her hand, as if to rush his thought process.

“The Farplane?” Kris asked.

“Precisely!” she cried in a hoarse, cracked voice.

“If we can find the well in the Farplane, and bring him to the real world,” Kyungsoo reasoned.

“We can trap him there.” Minho piped up.

“But, what if he’s more powerful now than when we sent him into the Farplane?” asked Baekhyun. Quietly sitting at the end of the table, though he had not actually come face to face with the Undertaker, he had heard stories from Kris and Kyungsoo.

“What if indeed?” asked Mother Shiva. “That is where this comes in,” she pulled a bag out from under the table, and plopped it in the middle. Sage fell out of the bag and spilled into their laps.

“What will this do?” asked Kyungsoo.

“Sage has been used for hundreds of years to ward off spirits. Once you weaken him in the Farplane, and bring him to the outside, trap him, weaken him more,” she said, putting her hand on the pile of herb. “Then killing him will be nothing.”

“Why did it take this long for us to ask this?” asked Hoya.

“It’s not about the destination my boy, it’s about the journey. And yours is now just beginning.” She brushed the herb back into the sack and tied a knot. She gingerly handed the bag to Kyungsoo.

She leaned closer and whispered something in her ear. He cocked his head. “What?” she nodded. She signaled for him to come closer once more, and whispered again.

Minho and the others looked on suspiciously. What did Kyungsoo need to know that the others weren’t included?

Kyungsoo stood upright once more and nodded. “Understand, my dear?” asked Mother Shiva. He nodded.

“I do.” She gave him a forlorn smile. “It will be alright. Once the Undertaker is defeated, all will be well.” She clapped her hands. “Off you go, there isn’t time to lose.” They hurriedly got up, bowed, and left the way they came.

“Wait,” Baekhyun turned back. Mother Shiva looked at him.

“Yes?”

“Why did he kill Heechul? What was the purpose of his death? Or was there none? Did he die vain?” he asked. Mother Shiva sighed.

“Heejun believed if he let Heechul live, The Undertaker would take matters into his own hands, and decimate everyone. Better to kill him and spare the rest of you, were his thoughts at the time.” Baekhyun’s head drooped. Kyungsoo suppressed the lump growing in his throat and fought back his tears.

“Heechul died believing that he was protecting the children, and technically, he did, for a short while.” She shook her head. “Power does strange things to one’s mind, but so does love, if you choose to let it.” She looked at an old clock in the back corner. She turned to them. “Leave. Hurry, now.”

The group finally turned to leave and made their way out.

Hoya looked back at the cottage one last time. Mother Shiva was sadly looking back at them. However, when she noticed him looking, she smiled and gently waved. He waved back and followed the others back into the woods.

*****

They were just outside Lycan territory when Kris stopped and turned back. Something didn’t seem right.

“Why are you stopping? Remember, we need to hurry.” Kyungsoo ushered.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“Well I just told you, she-”

“No, to you, back there.” Kris interrupted. Kyungsoo could feel their eyes staring back at him. “What did she tell you, and why couldn’t she tell us?” Kyungsoo furrowed his brows.

“If she only told me, then it only had to do with me, and it’s none of anyone else’s business.”

“If it has to do with one of us, it has to do with all of us.” Baekhyun piped up. “We’re a tribe, we are one. If it involves you, it involves Kris, Hoya and I as well.”

“If it involves Hoya it involves Lycans.” Minho said, justifying the group’s curiosity. Kyungsoo could feel himself giving way to anger, but took a deep breath and closed his eyes until the feeling subsided.

“It does not include anyone but myself. Besides, you don’t want this burden.”

“If it is a burden, then why not share the load?” asked Baekhyun. Kyungsoo pursed his lips.

“This is a burden I must bear alone. I cannot even tell Kai about it.” Kris’s face fell, and slowly, everyone else seemed to come to the same realization.

“I see.” Kris once again became expressionless. “Then let’s go.” They trudged onward, and even though everything looked fine on the surface, Kyungsoo could feel tension building.

*****

As they approached the village, Onew ran to them. “Thank goodness you’re here, come quick, it’s Seo In.” Hoya’s eyes grew wide, and he raced past Onew, who barely had time to get out of the way before he plowed him over, landing on his bum.

The other quickly followed while Onew tripped while lagging behind.

Hoya burst into the tent to find Seo In, with his face bright red, barely breathing. He turned around to see everyone coming into the tent. “ONEW!” he cried.

Onew burst in, landing on his knees. “What happened?” Onew took a few seconds to catch his breath.

“I don’t know, he was fine half an hour ago, but then he started turning pink, and just before you came here, he started making sounds like he was choking. But there’s nothing in his throat, I don’t know how this could have happened.

Hoya turned to the others. “Mom, take Kris and Baekhyun to Mieda. Go to the well, but leave half the sage here. Minho, you stay with us. I need the other half so I can enter the Farplane, hurry!” he said.

Hoya lied down on the floor and put his hand to Seo In’s throat. “There, there, Seo In. I’m here. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Seo In’s hand shot up and grabbed Hoya’s wrist like a vice grip. He could feel his throat loosening, and sighed in relief as he gasped for air.

Minho sank to the floor as Kris divided the herb between the two groups. “Good luck, he said, handing the basket of their half to Minho and running out of the tent with the other two, bag in hand.

Hoya closed his eyes. “Give me the bowl, Minho.”  Surprised yet undaunted, Minho brought it over and set it between the two of them.

“Be safe, Hoya.” Hoya opened his eyes once more and looked up at him.

“I’m sorry Minho,” he said, “But I can’t make any promises.” He closed his eyes and pleaded. ‘I’m here, I can help you. I know what we have to do, just let me in.’

He was then pulled under into swirling darkness.

*****

He opened his eyes and rubbed his head. Looking around, the Farplane had changed. The once green meadows were now a sodden brown, while the rainbow waterfall was a dull gray. He slowly and gingerly tucked the bowl in his arms as he searched for Seo In.

“Seo In!” he cried, running through the meadow. He came to the clearing where Seo In had led him into the woods. A shining path led the way through the closely knit trees. The bark looked purple in the dim moonlight. The leaves were a soft cream color, and floated down softly in the breeze.

He could hear rustling in the bushes beyond where he and Seo In had conversed before. Chittering and a low growl followed.

Even though Hoya’s first instinct was to run, he clutched the bowl tighter to his chest and forced himself to step forward.

His jaw dropped and he nearly dropped the sage.

The Undertaker had Seo In pinned against a tree, his mouth slit into his cheekbones, revealing ghastly fangs dripping in Seo In’s blood.

Seo In’s throat had been ripped into, and the tissue was hanging from his collarbone as blood steadily seeped out of the wound.

“What are doing?!?” Hoya cried. The Undertaker turned to Hoya, a grin etched into his face.

“Well, well, well,”

“Hoya, no, run-” The Undertaker pressed his hand into Seo In’s throat, sufficiently silencing him.

“The little pup has returned.” He said, his beetle-like eyes glinting from beneath his matted locks. Hoya stood firm, took a pinch of sage, and tossed it in his face.

“Ooh, look, grass!” he said, laughing hysterically. But, soon, he began to sputter. And cough. Hard. He stumbled backwards and threw himself into a tree. He hacked and gagged, forcing himself to vomit. He sat there at the base of the tree, convulsing as vomit stained his tattered robes. He glared up at Hoya.

“What is this , you meddlesome brat?” he cried. Hoya smirked.

“Sage, .” The Undertaker’s eyes widened as he slowly backed away.

“No. No.” blood dribbled down his chin. Hoya could hear his heartbeat so clearly that it felt as if the Undertaker’s heart were in his own chest.

He turned and stumbled, heading deeper into the woods. Hoya took this opportunity to quickly make his way back to Seo In and put his hand on his neck over his wound.

He had slid down the trunk of the tree. Hoya shivered as he could feel Seo In’s body healing itself. His bones popped back into place. He could hear the slivers literally sliding out from beneath the skin on his back.

As the muscles and skin on his neck healed, they squished and slopped around, and Hoya had to suppress the urge to vomit.

The nausea soon lifted as he felt Seo In grab onto his hand.

“I thought, you’d never come back.” He said, lifting a hand to Hoya’s face. Hoya gently smiled.

“How could I ever do that?” He asked. “We have to defeat The Undertaker in order to get you home. So get up and help me find that .” Seo In smiled and held out his hand to Hoya.

Hoya pulled him up, and Seo In led him deeper into the woods. The road twisted and turned, looping down a hill.

At the bottom, it seemed to stop. A dip that had been there was now buried beneath a pile of dead deer.

Their necks had been slashed open, and blood had filled the crevices between the carcasses. The smell of rotting flesh was so overwhelming that Hoya tilted his head to the side and vomited in the bushes nearby.

“That…was disgusting.” Seo In said, scrunching his nose.

“Well so is the smell of dead anima-” he stopped. “Over there!” he secured the bowl of sage with his left hand, pointing with his right. Bloody footprints led away from the road into a small wooded area separate from the rest of the dream like forest.

Hoya and Seo In collectively held their breath as they trudged through the bloodbath and back through the road, following the bloody footsteps into the smaller wood.

Upon reaching the wood, they could see the Undertaker’s back as they followed him.

He stopped and turned around. His hat had fallen. They could see his ebony locks turning white, and his eyes were gruesome. Dull and empty they bore into the two boys as blood dripped from his fangs.

“You’re too late,” he cackled. “Once I leave here, I’ll be back into your world, I’ll find your of a mother and I’ll rip out in front of your bastard of a father!” he said, his hair flying in his face as he laughed uncontrollably. “What joy it will bring me to torture them, leaving you here, trapped.”

Hoya looked over at Seo In. ‘Does he not remember our telekinesis thing we got going on?’ Seo In glared at him. ‘The door and ? He must remember, right?’

‘He’s too consumed by power to see past his own ambitions. Just act horrified and tell me your plan once he jumps.’ Seo In glared at The Undertaker.

“You’re too weak to leave this place, besides, you can’t! You have to cross over,” Seo In stepped forward. The Undertaker leaned back onto the well.

‘So it’s true,’ Hoya’s eyes widened looking behind him. There was a well. Did it lead to Mieda? He supposed he would find out soon enough. He looked around. There was a wooden circle with a board sticking up. He looked over at the well.

He was sure that was used to keep impurities out of the well water, bugs and such, anyway. But that didn’t do much. What would he keep him in there with besides sage?

“Cross over?” The Undertaker threw his head back, cackling. “I don’t have to cross over, I’m immortal, and did you not hear the fruit trees? Their sweet promises like kisses upon my cheek,” he said, placing a hand over the gaping hole in what would have been his cheek.

“And what did they tell you? Sell them your soul?”

“No, I gave something else,” he said, lifting his cloak. Seo In winced and Hoya’s stomach churned. He didn’t know how much more gore he could take. There was a hole in The Undertaker’s abdomen. Somewhere in the kidney area. Not that the particular organ made it any less gross. He dropped his cloak and sat upon the well.

“I do apologize, children, but now I must bid you farewell.” He giggled and threw himself backwards. Hoya and Seo In rushed forward just long enough to see his cloak billow in the abyss.

“Hurry, Seo In, find something, he said, taking small handfuls and spreading them around the well.

“Hoya, look at the well closely, not everything here is as it seems.” Seo In said before running off. Hoya turned back to the well and looked again. Nothing, not really, no writing, no obvious signs of…wait. In the rim of the well, there was a metal band. He looked around for a stick to find to pluck it out.

He looked again, feeling his hand around the insides of the well. “Ah!” he pulled his hand back. Blood was dripping down his ring finger. He looked again. A tiny hook was wedged in a crevice. He grabbed onto it and pulled.

‘This might work better if I put the bowl down.’ he thought to himself. He set the bowl down gently off to the side, grasped the hook with both hands, and pulled up. He was thrown back as a thunderous ‘CLANG!’ resounded through the woods. The ring had slammed into boulder off to the side.

He stumbled to his feet and looked again. There was a crevice, deep enough to fill...“With sage.” He justified, grabbing the bowl and gently setting the herb inside. He painstakingly took pinch after pinch of the herb, his had cramped and sweat ran down his neck.

*****

By the time Seo In had returned dragging a small boulder by a homemade rope, Hoya was setting the giant metal ring back into the well. Hoya looked back.

“There you are!” he said. Seo In smiled.

“Help me lift this into the well,” Hoya nodded. They both took  a side as Seo In threw the rope off. “One, two, threeeee.” They quickly made their way over to the well and dropped it, throwing their hands into the air and backing away.

It was small enough that it slid in several feet. “Again,” Seo In made his way over to the boulder that had been hit by the metal circle. He heaved as he rolled it towards the well. “One,” they positioned themselves once more. “Two, THREEEE!” They threw their hands up once more as the boulder smashed into the well, filling the top space, just barely fitting into the space.

Hoya fell onto the ground. Seo In fell too, and turned to him. “Hoya, is it over?” he asked. Hoya turned to him.

“It all depends.” He said.

“On what?” Seo In asked.

“My mother. Our clans.” Seo In nodded.

“So we wait?” he asked.

“I can’t move, so probably. Or else I’d suggest going out.” Seo In turned to him.

“Can I do that now?” Hoya scooted over towards Seo In and rolled over onto him.

“We’ll see, we’ll see.” He turned to Seo In. “Let’s go home.” Seo In smiled, as he closed his eyes, and the door of light appeared.

*****

They approached the town, shivers running down their spines. Not a single one of them had tread foot in this area before. Baekhyun held tightly onto Kyungsoo’s hand.

“So, this is where he took Hoya?” he asked. Kyungsoo nodded. The town was eerily silent. Not a whistle of wind, not a breath taken.

“Let’s get to work.” He said, trudging forward. Minho grasped the bag tightly as they headed into town. It was quite small, so it didn’t take long for them to get to the well.

Bare ground surrounded the well, and off several hundred meters was a park off to the side, and on the other side were buildings.

A familiar scent was coming from it. Kyungsoo walked forward. “Kyungsoo, what are you doing?” asked Kris.

“I…smell something.” Kris followed quickly behind him.

“We need to hurry, we can’t let The Undertaker surface.” He said, reaching out to him. He made his way into an abandoned shed and stopped.

Kris was in such a hurry to catch up with him he almost plowed him over. Kyungsoo walked over and stared at the ground. “What is it?” Kris asked.

Kyungsoo held out his arms and leaned against the post. Kris looked at the same spot he was staring at. “Kyungsoo…are you alright?”

“Seo In…I can smell him here. And Hoya too.” He turned to Kris, leaning his back onto the post. “So…is this where they met, I wonder?” Kris examined the ground more closely. Rusted chains lie on the floor, a key thrown to the side.

“Hoya…lived with Heejun, and Seo In…with his family. Is it possible perhaps, that Seo In was captured here?” Kris theorized.

“How long was he here for, can you tell?” asked Kyungsoo. Kris took a deep breath, closing his eyes in meditation.

“Not even a day.” He opened his eyes. “Hoya probably picked up on him quickly enough. And from the stories I’ve heard from the younger ones, Hoya rescued him. I don’t know much else, nor can I tell from the scent.” Kyungsoo nodded.

“Okay.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry; I just…couldn’t stop myself.” Kris nodded. “It’s alright. Let’s go.” Kyungsoo nodded.

As they came out of the shed and ventured back to the well, Minho was dropping the sage into the wall of the well, as Baekhyun stood by holding a metal circle.

“I figured it out, thanks for the help.” Minho said sarcastically. Kris and Kyungsoo blushed.

“We’re sorry.”

“It’s my fault, I caught the kids’ scent from that building over there,” he pointed in the direction they came from. “And I just, couldn’t stop.” Minho nodded.

“It’s a good thing The Undertaker didn’t pop up while you were gone.”

“Did you ring?” A hand appeared on the topmost stone, as a head of matted, grayish-white hair appeared.

“GAH!” Baekhyun dropped the metal circle and fell back. Kris rushed forward and threw the hands off the edge. The Undertaker caught himself in a crevice in the wall.

“You think you can get rid of me that easily?” he smiled a jagged, toothy grin. “I didn’t crawl out of that ing place to stop here!” he cried, lunging forward. He clasped onto the side of the well.

“AAAAUUUUGHH!” his hand began to smoke as it came into contact with the sage.

“Go to hell where you belong, .” Kyungsoo kicked him in the stomach, getting his foot caught in the hole in his side. As his foot touched The Undertaker’s innards, he could feel his stomach churning.

“If I’m going to hell, boy you’re coming with me!” he said, reaching out his worn hands to Kyungsoo.

“NO!” Kris lifted the circle, and smashed it onto The Undertaker’s skull.

“AURGH!” he quickly covered his head as Minho pulled Kyungsoo’s foot out of The Undertaker’s abdominal cavity.

Baekhyun grabbed a handful of sage and threw it onto the Undertaker. “AAAAARRRRRGGH!” As he fell he tried to fend off the falling herbs. A sickening ‘CRACK!’ resounded as he hit the bottom.  

“I’m not finished with you!” he cried out, struggling to climb back up.

“But we’re finished with you.” Said Minho, finishing off spreading the sage throughout the well’s crevice, dumping what was left into the well and onto The Undertaker.

“You’re not immortal; you’re a soul turned flesh by black magic. You’re still a soul, and soon, your physical form will wither,” he explained as Baekhyun and Kris secured the metal circle. Kris locked it into the hook outside the well. “And you’ll be trapped here forever. Minho looked around.

“Kris, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, go get that boulder, roll it over here so we can cover the well.” The other three ran as Minho climbed up and began rocking the rotted wooden roof of the well back and forth. The support beams began to creak as he broke it off.

“You think…that I’ll just stop coming after you mutants, don’t you?” he asked. Minho smirked.

“Mutants? Nice. Like I haven’t been called worse.”

“That mean looking one is the only one of your clan to travel outside…” The Undertaker reasoned. “How have you ever been called anything?” Minho looked down at him.

“I’m a Lycan, not a Wolf.” He shook his head. “If you had bothered to learn the difference you wouldn’t have focused your forces so much on the Wolf clan. Especially after we made amends and became allies.” Minho looked down.

“How stupid could your pride have made you?” he shook his head.

“Why…did you choose to leave my services?” The Undertaker’s breathing became labored. “You could have had power. So much power!”

Minho looked down and glared at him. “All you wanted was to destroy the world, and then where would that ‘power’ have gone?” he shook his head. “Besides, I knew your plan would fail. As I infiltrated the people of the woods and became one with their group, I knew your plan would fail. Especially with the Pure Soul.”

He sadly looked down. “You can’t defeat love with hate, darkness with light. The sun will always rise; there will always be hope in the world. Your power could have been used for so much more.”

The Undertaker choked and coughed, sputtering as blood filled his lungs. “I won’t die now. I have made a pact within the Farplane. I will come back.”

Minho shook his head. “You still don’t get it. You’re a spirit; you DIED shortly after you tried to use the Pure Soul when it had been soiled. It tore your physical form apart. No matter what black magic you use, you’re dead. And with this method, you’ll never leave this place. Stuck in limbo, for all time.”

He looked back down at The Undertaker, who looked slightly terrified for the first time. “What do you mean?” Minho sighed.

“Even if you can get back to the Farplane, you won’t be able to leave. Your only hope for redemption or escape was to cross over, and you blindly threw away your chance on lies that promised you power. But,” he said, looking back. “You didn’t foresee what everyone else with a clear mind could; you are now, and were then, imprisoned.”

“I assume that they did the same thing, planting the sage around the well crevice and locking it in. You can’t reach out. You’ll burn and if you do manage to make it out, anything you’ve gained from the Farplane will be stripped, and you will be as you should have been when you died the first time; dust.”

“I will come back stronger…and I’ll…prove you…wrong,” The Undertaker struggled between coughing up blood and trying to catch his breath.

“Once you get back to the Farplane, if you can, then you’ll have to face your new master. You’re not coming back. And that’s your own damn fault.” Minho held back tears.

“Minho…”

“You don’t get to call me by my name any longer. You’re no longer a father to me. You haven’t been, since you used me as bait for the Lycans. You threw me away, and now, I’m doing the same to you.” He ran back as he saw the others approaching. Taking a deep breath and holding back tears, he ran to them, helping them over to the well, and heaving the boulder over the well, trapping The Undertaker and his past in the well.

Forever.

“Let’s go.” Minho marched forward. Kris turned to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo shook his head. He was sure being stuck with The Undertaker had taken its toll on him. Now, it was time to head back and see if their plan had worked.

*****

The Undertaker crawled his way back through the well and into the Farplane’s well. It was dark. Not a light to be seen.

He grabbed onto one of the loose stones and began to climb. He would have power. He would have freedom. He slipped, groaning from the pain. He could feel his insides healing as he entered the magical realm. He began to climb faster.

He reached the top, covered by a boulder. “Dammit.” His breathing labored, he searched for a crack, a hole, anything.

“Is anyone there?” he whispered. As the words escaped his lips, vines sprouted beneath the boulders, bringing the giant rocks above the well, and tossing them to the side, where they were crushed into rubble. The Undertaker covered His eyes with one hand as the light blinded him, struggling to hold on with his other hand.

Giant, throbbing, purple vines slithered into the well, wrapping around his frame. Slowly, it brought him upwards. As his head breached the opening of the well, his scalp felt as though it was set ablaze.

He bit his lip in agony, muffling the screams that so desperately tried to force their way from his throat. His hair burnt off, and his skin boiled as his shoulders emerged.

It felt as though every bone in his body was breaking. As his feet emerged from the well, he lie limp in the grip of the vines.

‘Well,’ a voice whispered. ‘This won’t do, you’re useless to me in this form.’ The vines slowly dragged him through the woods and out into the open, over the river and to the apricot grove.

The tree’s bark twisted into a malicious face with glowing yellow eyes and jagged teeth of rotten bark. ‘I can’t utilize you as a servant now. You’re as limp as a dead weed.’ It rotated it’s trunk towards the west. ‘However, my own master may be able to use you as sustenance.’

It turned and tossed him into the dimly gray pool of the waterfall. The Undertaker floated there momentarily, before he felt something grab his torso and drag him under the lapping waves.

Through the water he was dragged, sweeping across the lake’s bottom, he was into a hole. Whatever was dragging him took him up and sideways, to the left, and then to the right, up and down. Through tunnel after tunnel, it seemed as though the darkness was never ending.

However, after what seemed like hours, he emerged, in darkness. Moving his eyes around, he was able to deduce that he was now in Macalania.

“Well, well, well,” The root that had been dragging him through the waterways lifted him out of the lake. His head lolled around as a root wrapped around his head, forcing him to look straight ahead.

A tree of the deepest indigo stood proudly before him, glittering in the ever constant moonlight. It seemed to breathe with every gust of gentle wind that moved its leaves about.

“So,” a cooing voice bellowed from within the tree. “You are The Undertaker…the one that made the pact with my slave, unable to pay your debt; you have been thrown to me. As sustenance?” The tree gently laughed, an ever so gentle mocking tone emanating from its voice. “You wouldn’t feed a starving sapling. But since you are useless otherwise, there is no need for you to live any longer.” Its trunk began to split open, revealing a bright light.

The Undertaker’s eyes grew wide. Unable to speak or move, he was thrown into the gaping abyss, watching his life waste away before him as the last beams of moonlight were sealed away behind the Tree of Life’s bark.

*****

Seo In and Hoya were thrown forward; Hoya fell onto his arm, weak from no use. He managed to rise to his elbows and turned over. He looked over at Seo In.

He was on his knees, looking at his hands. Turning them over and over again.

“Seo In!” Hoya whispered. He looked up at him. Eyes wide, he stared at him. “Seo In, you’re ali-” Seo In lunged forward, and sank his teeth into Hoya’s neck.

He could feel the blood running down his back and clavicle. Seo In dug his nails into Hoya’s skin, dragging them along his skin. He arched his back in agony.

“AAAAAUUUUGGH!”

END OF CHAPTER 21