Before We Begin: This will be a short chapter; it's intended that way.

A billowing cloud of Black Arcane in front of Lee Sungmin contorted itself into realistic shapes and colours, the pictures being of the world beyond his refuge. The images were humanoid, leaping between slightly blurred flat surfaces before they disappeared behind a vertical shape in a whoosh of air.

"So they survived after all..." Dismissing the billowing cloud, the Pink Topaz turned to face the line of people in the centre of the abnormally large room, decorated in jewel tones of deep amethyst and wine pink to throw in some contrasting balance. Torches bracketed on the wall burned brightly with electrical flames, while tendrils of smoky purple s around everybody's legs like impatient cats waiting for their masters to feed them.

"It seems we have competition, my brothers," Sungmin's voice was magically amplified slightly, and bounced all over the room, "While we now have knowledge of the Sapphire, we are still in need of the Jade General." There was a murmur of discontent through the line.

"I say we capture those two and demand their information!" Kim Ryeowook said confidently. Sungmin merely smiled at the younger's bravado, choosing to say nothing about his comment.

"But they know as much as we do." piped up Henry Lau from the end of the line, "How will that help our position?"

"Let's just torture them." spoke up Zhou Mi mildly from next to the youngest boy. Soon the room was filled with the chatter of possible torture methods to use on the two humanoid shapes they all saw in Sungmin's cloud. Sungmin himself merely sighed a little.

"Please," His voice silenced all chatter, "Our first step will be to investigate the Sapphire. But for now, we should all rest." Bowing deeply, each of the people in the line disappeared in a flash of their respective element, leaving the Pink Topaz alone with his thoughts.

"I assume you are in understanding of what I am about to request of you?"

Well, not entirely alone.

From the shadow of a large mirror to Sungmin's right stepped a slightly taller male, dressed in all black save for the tear-shaped greenish-blue sstone hanging on a chain around his neck. His dark eyes flickered and swirled with his Black Arcane, the same violet shade as the tendrils that had now taken to pulling at his pant legs. The tip of a shiny scar, long healed, poked out of his shirt collar, resting rather comfortably on the left side of his collarbone.

"You want me to Prospect." he said in a deep, even voice.

"I'm not expecting a great deal-"

"But you'd like me to try to find about the two that interrogated Hyukjae."

"I do have reason to believe that they survived the fire, like we did." One unimpressed eyebrow was raised.

"Do you?" Hiding his smile, Sungmin summoned the cloud and image again, freezing it at a particular point and zooming in on the faces of the lightning wielder's interrogators.

"Like us, they also seek the location of the Jade General, so if you could Prospect what they know or possibly about the Sapphire..." The sentence was deliberatley left hanging, Sungmin allowing the Turquoise to form his own conclusions from what he knew.

"I make no promises." As the man melted back into the shadows from whence he came, the Pink Topaz allowed the smile from earlier to grace his lips. He still held leverage over the unpredictable Turquoise, but for how much longer he wasn't certain. All he could do for now was play each situation carefully, and keep the dear Greenstone hanging by the thinnest of threads...

~~~~~~

It was moments like these that Han Geng lived for. No need to chase down bits and pieces of the past; all that mattered was him and him alone. Sitting cross-legged on the yoga mat, he allowed serenity to take him as he engaged in meditation to keep himself grounded, his head clear, and more importantly his Arcane under control.

Yes, Han Geng loved peace.

FWUMPH!

Too bad he rarely got any.

"Must you do that every time?" he asked the prone figure beside him, half in exasperation and half in an attempt to hold in his laughter. The figure lifted its head off the ground, revealing a pair of serpentine golden eyes that seemed to shine like the sun outside the window.

"The forces of nature made me do it." Han Geng opened his mouth to refute the female voice, but instead closed it and let out a long-held chuckle.

"I'll give you that one," he said finally as she scrambled upright, "Considering what we are, that one's believable."

"And I lasted a whole hour!" She seemed proud of that achievement, "Anyway, I guess I'd better go and see if the purple bunny's made a move on Jungsu." Heaving herself to her feet, she left Han Geng to his own devices. He watched the door click closed behind her, then heaved a heavy breath and fell face up on the floor.

Sungmin had survived the fire, that much he knew. What he didn't know was when he surrendered himself to the Black Arcane or if there were others like Hyukjae who served him. And now that he knew of Jungsu's Sapphire abilities, Han Geng didn't know what Sungmin planned to do next.

It made the whole situation a little tense, if he had to be honest.

"I just got a call from Jongwoon," Serpentine gold eyes looked concerned as she poked her head in the room, "Sungmin's made his move."

Han Geng tensed. "In what form?"

"From what I've been told, he's got Kibum Prospecting in the Citadel."

That meant no more hiding for them...Sungmin knew who they were now.

Now it's the least liked portion of the chapter...

-What's the connection between Kibum and Han Geng?

-Who's the gold-eyed female with Han Geng?

-Why is Sungmin a Pink Topaz? (Hint: I didn't do that deliberately)

Bye~!

GuardianOfTheDawn :3