On top of a boulder stood a man with grizzled hair and clothes reminiscent of Yuri’s bloody red desert outfit, only dark brown and absent of any hood or veil. He leapt off and whistled his way at where I lay broken and barely keeping my form.

“Come,” he offered his hand “let’s fix you.”

My trembling fingers barely brushed the surface of his palm when a cool wave made me give out a loud sigh. The once lost wing returned in full power within a blinding blue shine. Immediately back on my feet, I watched him smile and nod at a job well done. After moving the wings a couple of times, they were indeed without fault and so was my body. There were no signs of the battles I had carried beforehand.

“You look familiar,” he grinned at my words and pointed at the collapsing tower.

“I had been imprisoned with the other priests and priestesses. I wanted to thank you for freeing us.” He offered again his hand and this time, it was only to shake it. I took it back and felt the same energy rushing through me and back in him. The power that human possessed was beyond anything I had ever felt.

“But…” the wing was definitely back there “…how?” Not even Yuri could put it back, so how come the stranger had the ability to regenerate my aura?

He placed his finger on his lips and winked before a whirlwind of sand shielded him from my view. When it cleared, he was no longer there.

I could have stayed and questioned about the man, but there were other important matters to attend.

The shroud Yuri talked about in the city might offer me some final clues before I could return to Sooyoung.

---

Indeed, close to the city, my eyes picked heavy black clouds filling the Capital City. Yuri warned not to go inside.

Again, I ignored her words, hid my wings and took the same route through the forest filled with spirits. The silence wasn't strange, the spirits had probably relocated as well as there was not a trace of them on the paved route to the city gates.

If there were any gates left… only ruins on top of ruins.

What happened in that short time frame? A day went by and the Capital had transformed in a demon’s personal playground. I dared not go further for I feared I might never get out. Returning to the gang was the best option, even if there was the slight chance of Daesung telling them everything.

I had to. Even if they cannot understand, I had to do what I had to do and it had gone unnoticed for four years now. But I no longer understand why I had to. It confused me.

Morphing into the golden eagle had abruptly ended when one demon attacked me from behind with its sharp claws and hisses. The right wing smashed it against the ground and buried it there. Black orbs faded and only a grey faceless head remained.

It was weaker than those that caught us in the ambush.

“Hello, Jung Min,” the new voice froze me on spot. I felt my entire body ice cold and even if I couldn’t see it, I could swear it was either one pissed off ghost, which wouldn’t surprise me, or a demon.

He came out of the shadows with a black mantle adorned with black wings. Hair and eyes were equally black, while the make-up was similar in fashion with the one I had been marked with as a reaper, except more extravagant. Shadows chained my feet to the ground.

It was his doing… the demon looking human with the mark of a reaper.

“Death,” it couldn’t be. He died… well, not died since he was… argh, that logic always killed me and it probably had done so with Sooyoung multiple times when I tried explaining everything to her. It was as if one stupid man tried to speak to one stupid woman; the result could only be disastrous.

“I no longer bear that title,” his hand dispersed the shadows and freed my legs. “You’ve turned sides long ago, haven’t you?”

“As usual, nothing escapes you.” Stating things was something I had done since childhood and the reason Daesung and Yuri both smacked me every single time I opened my mouth to argue them. “Had this been your plan all along?”

“Nothing escapes you either, does it?” he came closer, shadows once more becoming his shield. He was a creature of the night that fed on sorrow, no longer the ruler of the Other World.

“Something has,” former ruler or not, he was a demon – a powerful one that most likely orchestrated the entire charade. “Where’s the Dragon?”

The sly smile reminiscent of a giant snake split his face in two before the entirety of his eye sockets became pitch black.  

“When Yuri called you, what have you done to Sooyoung?”

It was one of their trick questions. Demons were renowned for using quizzes as an excuse to butcher their victim, at least, those somewhere higher in rank and not the mindless demons that only know how to go at you full force and expect some results. Those won with number, not tactic.

At the same time, Death – now only Junsu – hadn’t changed much personality wise.

He was still the annoying spirit nobody wanted to listen to, but had to because of his power.

“I locked her,” Yuri called for someone to seal Sooyoung’s abilities before they could eat at her frail body. Since a reaper of my sphere cannot fully do that like a Keeper, I only locked part of her abilities within the tattoo my wings carved over her skin. The same wings erased the ink and exposed Sooyoung’s potential when we fought that high-rank demon and her minions.

“I had done the same with Jaejoong,” he confessed as shadows smudged more of his image. "When he killed me, the seal died with me." He was running away.

“Wait!” if Junsu controlled part of the demons, had he any idea of Jaejoong’s plan? And had Jaejoong’s sudden diabolical plans had something to do with Junsu’s throne being taken away? “Where’s the Dragon?”

Maybe Death locked part of Jaejoong’s abilities, thus, part of his memories.

Ah, if I had been human, I would have a headache. Funny enough, I could no longer hear Jaejoong’s voice or feel him, which was a blessing in itself.

Frankly, I…

I don’t understand why I joined him in the first place and why I had done everything he put me through.

Goddamnit, he brainwashed me. Not completely, partially, enough to… that son of a ing , I swear I’m going to send him back to where he came from in tiny pieces so he cannot put himself back and forever stare at his floating .

Either way, it all started with that Chaos born creature. We had to send it back from where it came, open the Other World, put down the new demon army and make sure the world order doesn’t decide to wipe humanity.

As he disappeared in the shadows, Junsu gave one last smile and a vague answer “Where is the best hiding place?”

---

Back in air, I concentrated hard on Sooyoung’s heart beating in my eardrums. She was close.

They were close.

I could sense Jessica and Byung Hee too, alongside with the fairy, Yuri and Daesung. On the other hand, I could rarely sense Changmin and Sooyoung is always with me because of the encapsulated feather hanging from her neck.

Landing in front of the white fence, I found myself pushing it open and enter in a humane way. Sooyoung ran down the hillside and when I spread my arms to welcome her in a tight hug, she raised her fist instead and punched me in the face.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?”

I… kind of missed that.