A slight breeze rustled through the leaves drawing Kyungsoo’s consciousness out from his sleep.  He was lying on his back, body stiff from the hard ground and dampened by the morning dew. His eyes blinked a couple of times trying to focus. Streams of light filtered through the trees above him creating a rather beautiful scene. Particles lazily floated in and out of the streams, the light breeze providing a comfortable sound of movement. It was all so calm as if only hours before children had not been attacked by blood lusting demons. If Kyungsoo sat there and stared up and only up, he could pretend that he was just out in the woods enjoying the morning, instead of running for his life.

The thought was so ridiculous that a laugh bubbled out of his throat. It came out quietly at first, the sound forming like bubbles filled with helium rising and fizzing in his throat then tumbling off his tongue and prying passed his closed lips. Flashes of yesterday played in his head like clips from a horror movie, and the bubbles forming in his throat floated up and out, bursting in the morning air. Ridiculous, it was all so ridiculous, almost funny. There he was, the son of the king of hell, where he grew up, shocked and frightened by the sight of blood and death and demons.

Azarai laid a few feet away from Kyungsoo, body straight and hands resting on his chest. He hadn’t been able to sleep so he laid his exhausted body to rest while his mind ran over itself and turned the shadows into demons. A light laugh had shaken him from his mind and he turned his head ever so slightly to see Kyungsoo laying there quietly laughing to himself. Something in Azarai’s stomach twisted and he raised himself soundlessly up onto his elbows. The twisting fluttered away when he noted the distress on Kyungsoo’s face.

A little ways away from Azarai and Kyungsoo, Kai and Sehun were propped up against a tree. Kai’s back braced the trunk, his head tilted back and eyes closed with one arm strapped around Sehun who was curled up against him. The lids of Sehun’s eyes fluttered and tensed like he was trying his hardest to keep his consciousness from surfacing. Kai was asleep, but at the same time he wasn’t. His mind drifted aimlessly in the stream between unconsciousness and consciousness. He heard all the sounds around him, knew where he was, and could feel Sehun’s heart beat irregularly against his chest, yet his mind refused to be a part of it all.

As Azarai looked around, he noticed that he couldn’t find Tao. The boy wasn’t sleeping or sitting anywhere near them. Worry buzzed over him; he was sure he had laid Tao down next to him. Azarai wasn’t sure how he could have let that slip past him especially considering he didn’t sleep at all last night.

Tao stared at the marred trunk of a tree. He was kneeling before it, one hand clutching a moonstone and the other wrapped around a knife. The words of prayer that he had carved into the tree ran over and under and around until nothing but indistinguishable scratches were left. All night, Tao had spent praying to the moon. At some point, he had dragged his body from the group until he had found the perfect tree standing underneath a clear view of the moon. There he had kneeled and began carving his prayers as they fell from his lips. No matter how drowsy his mind became or stiff his body grew, he clutched the stone of his mother and called out to her until the moon faded.

Blank and empty, Tao’s mind had stopped functioning and his body seemed as though he had seen the eyes of Medusa. Azarai caught sight of him not too far off from where they had stopped, just barely by the dyed blond spikes of his hair. The boy was very still and Azarai approached as quietly as he could so that he wouldn’t disturb him. The worry buzzed more vibrantly like the sting of electricity. Azarai knew that Tao hadn’t come very willingly, shouting about his friends as he was dragged from the camp, but they had had no choice.

Azarai wasn’t someone who ran from a good fight, but when they reached the fight it was already over. Considering the amount of campers, it looked as though most had run. There was just no way. There was no way they could have gone out there and survived, not like that. Still, guilt gnawed at Azarai’s ribs and shame flushed throughout him.

“Tao?” Azarai’s voice was just barely above a whisper, but carried with the breeze. The boy didn’t move. Unsure to if Tao had heard him, Azarai moved forward and called out to him again, this time louder. Still, Tao did not move. His mind didn’t even register anything around him. The blankness swelled in waves, thickened, and solidified making his head feel painfully void and his mind completely lost. Sacrifice was what the gods admired. What more was he to give to be heard? He had given his mind, his strength, his time, his desire to sleep and forget. He disciplined himself, yet he felt as though his prayers were carried away in the wind and wiped clean with the sun.

Was it asking too much? To know if his friends survived, to ask for their protection? Everyone had always said they felt at peace after they prayed to the gods, to their parent, but he had never felt that. Many hours spent in prayer had ended with frustrated tears, but he never stopped. Tao never failed to light a candle and pray. He kept at it every day of his life, but not once did he feel as though his prayer were accepted or even heard. Scratchy warmth clawed its way up his throat and heat gathered behind his eyes as he stared at the deepest markings. If they knew what they were looking for, one could just barely be able to make out the prayer. The markings were very deep and desperate as though it were a last ditch effort to have the message heard.

Tao read the prayer he had marked over and over and over and over. What else could he do? The muscles of his right hand trembled and then flexed, reclaiming its grip on the handle of the knife. Slowly and stiffly he uncurled the fingers of his left hand, releasing the moonstone, and brought the tip of the knife to rest at the center of his palm. Azarai watched, eyes flicking up only to notice that the other three had awakened and found them. The boy before him seemed to be in some sort of trance and, maybe for the first time, he had no idea of what he was supposed to do.

The strange air stifled any curiosities from being spoken aloud when Kyungsoo, Kai, and Sehun found Azarai and Tao. When they had first seen the two through the trees it looked as though Tao and Azarai might have been talking, but a thick silence greeted them as they drew closer. The strange air was like an uncomfortable, wet heat that sticks to the skin, almost suffocating. Anger, sorrow, and desperation hung from the air, the emotions strikingly vivid and affecting. It was like entering an invisible force so stuffed it could burst at any moment.

A frown etched its way onto Sehun and Kai’s faces, confusion flicked about Kyungsoo’s eyes. Instinctively, they inched closer. Sehun was the first to realize what Tao had been doing. He looked through the scratches on the bark and recognized Artemis’s prayers. Sehun had never known Tao to be very devoted, but he understood Tao’s need to seek out the gods. He himself had prayed to Zeus before his consciousness faded, but even he did not go so far as that.  Sehun was impressed, although that didn’t explain the overwhelming sense of despair. It didn’t sit right with him.

The thickly clouded bubble entrapping the demi-gods was suddenly shocked and shaken like a clap of electricity flashing about the emotions. The demi-gods felt it like the pinch of a needle, shocking them and making Kyungsoo jump, unfurling the Shadows like disturbed sediment. They all shared a look as if to ask ‘What was that?’, but the air climbed into their mouths and clung to their tongues. The flashes happened again and Azarai turned to see Tao dragging the buried point of the knife in a line down his palm. Blood quickly seeped to the surface, the cells clinging to each other for as long as possible before they were pushed over the edge, dripping down his hand.

The pain leapt from his hand, up his arm, to his head, and then it disappeared. Tao didn’t think about that, he wasn’t concerned; instead he let go of the knife and lapped up the blood with his fingers. Tao traced those deep markings with his blood as his lips formed the words of the prayer. He once heard someone say that the gods responded best to sacrifice. When he went to gather more blood from his opened palm, other hands were blocking his way. The hands gently held his wrist and were wrapping a thick rectangle of cloth in place over his wound.

Slowly, the thick air began to disperse like little holes had been poked through the bubble wall. The vivid emotions became blurry and then fizzled out all together. Everyone felt like they could breathe again, but still no one said a word. They themselves could not really understand what had happened or what they had felt. Azarai, Kai, and Kyungsoo stood and watched Sehun tightly wrap Tao’s hand. There was something unreadable on the boy’s face, something more than just blankness. The air was clear but caution lay heavy among them. Everything seemed to still be playing out in slow motion; three moving forward and one helping another come back to life.

There wasn’t any particular reason for it. It was just that the pain had struck a chord with him. Sehun knew what it was like to lose someone, or think you’ve lost them. Somehow he could just tell that that was what Tao was thinking despite all the hope he displayed. Underneath the emotion, in between them, Sehun could read the sorrow that comes with giving up. He had been there before, knew what it was like to feel that way, but Tao had no reason to feel that way. Not yet. They didn’t know anything for sure, so he shouldn’t be giving up just yet.

Words seemed like they would be too much, so silence remained as everyone regained their senses and headed back to their impromptu camp. They all came to understand what Tao was doing and why on their own time, so there was no need to press the matter. Even Kyungsoo could understand that much.

The five of them sat together for a while, sharing a small amount of food and water and not talking. Kai was the first one to break the silence.

“So, we need to do something… I’m not really sure what, but sitting here will only make things worse for us,” he said. He spoke in a quiet but clear voice and stood from his spot.

The demi-gods knew that and yet none of them could find it in themselves to be the first to stand. Even Azarai, who was a person of action, felt the heavy weight of uncertainty pressing down on his shoulders. He worked well in times of stress and action, but it wasn’t until everything settled down that the reality of the situation hit him. His friends, his brothers and sisters were all back at the camp or, hopefully, escaped into the woods like them. But how could he know?  He couldn’t and with the number of causalities he saw on that field alone, it was very possible that some had perished during the attack. They wouldn’t even get a proper burial.

Sehun was the next to move. Kai had always been his pillar, his strength and courage. If Kai could stand, then so could he. 

“He’s right,” Sehun said, standing, “we need to get moving or the demons will be able to track us. We’re more vulnerable since Kai, Kyungsoo, and I’s blood is more pungent to them.” He offered a hand to Tao, who after a moment took it and pulled himself up. Kyungsoo and Azarai followed, and they all gathered up their bags.

Azarai focused on moving, on getting out of the woods, and pushed the thoughts of his friends behind him for now. “We need to get to the road and follow it into town. Right now, we don’t have much food or water and no shelter. Let’s keep an eye out for any other campers, maybe ask around when we get into town,” He said and the others nodded.

Kai pointed up at a large tree. “I’ll climb up and see if I can see where we're at.” Sehun boosted him up and in a couple of minutes Kai disappeared in the leaves. The air was tense as they waited for Kai to come back down, everyone staring up at the branches of the tree in silence. Finally, they heard him call down that he could see where the forest ended. A minute or two later the branches and leaves shook and his legs came into view. Sehun immediately reached up to try and guide him down, telling him where to place his feet before the rest of him came into view and he jumped down beside Sehun. Kai brushed any tree debris off of himself and pointed to their right.

“It’s this way,” he said, “It doesn’t look far, maybe an hour, hour and a half.” Again everyone just nodded and allowed him to lead the way.

In the silence, Kyungsoo’s mind wondered to all the people he had met at camp. His friends. They were his friends, some of the first real friends he had ever had. He thought of Chen and Chanyeol and what they were doing, if they were safe. He remembered just before they split off in groups, Chanyeol was all blushes and excitement because he got into Baekhyun’s team. Sadness weighed itself over Kyungsoo’s heart like a soaked wool blanket and he frowned. How was that fair? Chanyeol was finally getting close to his forever-long crush, Kyungsoo had made friends and he got to be on the same team as Kai, so why did everything have to go to ? What were the gods doing to let something like this happen to their children? Where were they? Where was Tao’s mother the entire night he prayed?

Suddenly all the sadness he felt turned to anger. Anger at the demons, but mostly at the gods. Demons were what they were, but the gods had power; they could see what was happening and did nothing to help their children. Even Kyungsoo’s father had done nothing. The revelation was like a punch to the gut. Kyungsoo had never had a time where Hades didn’t intervene when something upsetting happened to him. Even in the human world, if something bad happened to Kyungsoo, Hades was always there protecting him and now he was nowhere. Not even a single word or sign. Kyungsoo clutched the necklace his father had given him and closed his eyes trying to reach out to him. Kyungsoo even prayed, which was something he hardly ever did, but there was nothingness. Empty.

Kyungsoo bit his lip to keep the sour feeling from crawling up his throat. He felt silly crying about something like that, when the other demi-gods never expected as much from their parent. They wouldn’t understand why he was getting upset that his father wasn’t responding to him, that he hadn’t been there to protect Kyungsoo. More than ever, Kyungsoo felt like a spoiled little kid crying for his daddy to come help him, but he couldn’t push away the feeling of helplessness. That must have been what all the others had gone through when they were on their own. Kyungsoo understood, but he wished he didn’t. He didn’t want to know what it was like to be them. He didn’t want to grow up. He didn’t want to have to take care of himself. It wasn’t fair. If only the gods hadn’t made him leave, then he wouldn’t be going through this.

When the group stopped for a rest, Kyungsoo immediately went behind a tree, drew his knees up, and buried his face in his arms. He wasn’t going to cry. He didn’t want to cry in front of the others, but the feeling of being abandoned caused the back of his eyes to sting. Kyungsoo knew he was being dramatic, but he couldn’t help it. Upon his distress the Shadows started to fester and cloud up around him. If their master didn’t want to be seen crying, then they would make wall for him to hide behind.

Everyone noticed Kyungsoo’s odd behavior. How could they not? But when Tao went to check on him, he gasped out of shock and stepped back. The others, curious, moved around to see what had surprised Tao, and all stopped short when they saw the swirling black ball sitting against the tree. They all met eyes and Kai pointed at the ball and mouthed ‘Kyungsoo?’ in question. Azarai and Tao shrugged but nodded. Kai pointed back to where they first stopped and the group carefully stepped away to join together in a circle.

“What happened?” Kai whispered.

Tao shrugged again. “I’m not sure. I mean he looked a little sullen, but we all are so I didn’t think much of it.”

“Should we leave him there for now, or should we try and talk to him?” Azarai asked, to which everyone look back to the tree Kyungsoo was hiding behind.

“I say we just leave him for now.” Sehun said.

They were silent for a while.

“I don’t know…” Tao spoke up, “he’s the type to want to talk to people about whatever is upsetting him. Its just those Shadows covering him are a little…”

“Intimidating?” Sehun offered and Tao nodded looking down. He felt like a bad friend, but it wasn’t like he didn’t want to talk to Kyungsoo. It was just that Kyungsoo’s power was on a whole other level than him, and that was scary.

“Maybe he didn’t want us to see him upset?” Azarai said, “I mean this is the first time he’s ever experienced something like this. Think about the first time you were left on you own like this with no parents or anything. He’s probably really scared…” Azarai remembered the first time he encountered a demon. He was 11 and was playing in the woods by himself when it appeared out of nowhere. He did what any 11 year old would do, he ran, which was a bad idea. Luckily for him he had brought with him the only gift his mysterious father had left him, an old knife that Azarai had assumed was used for hunting before he left it for Azarai. He managed to survive, but not after crying for hours until his mother came home and consoled him.

The others seemed to be in though as well before Tao spoke up and said, “I’ll go try and talk to him.” They nodded and Tao walked up to the boy cautiously.  When he was about a foot away he stopped and sat down facing the black blob, body tense just in case.

“Hey, Kyungsoo?” Tao whispered.

There was no response at first, but after a while Tao heard a muffled reply.

“Can I see you?” He asked.

“Is it time to go? I just need a minute…” came another muffled, but understandable reply.

“No, not yet. I just…just wanted to check on you. We were worried, you know, since this is the first time you’ve gone through something like this.”

The Shadows slowly began to recede to reveal a still balled up Kyungsoo. “I’m okay.” Kyungsoo said through his arms. He had not wanted to cry, but the tears were stubborn and made his eyes, nose, and lips red and puffy. Kyungsoo had always hated that about himself, it was his one flaw. He felt a hand rest softly on his back, rubbing soothing circles.

“Its okay to be upset and scared, you know,” Tao said, “We’ve all been through this before that’s why we are handling it better, but we’re upset and scared too.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I know, I know that, its just its embarrassing because you guys have been through so much and here I am being a big baby about my dad.”

“Your dad?” Tao asked.

Kyungsoo nodded again. “Yeah, its just that he’s always been there for me, and…and he always was there to protect me no matter what and now… I know it must sound stupid to you, but I’m just no used to it, not having him around to take of me…” Kyungsoo hated that he started to get choked up again.

Tao’s eyebrow furrowed as he thought about what Kyungsoo said. It wasn’t that it sounded stupid, just weird to him. He wondered for a minute what that would be like, what it would be like to have his mom take care of him his whole life and then be sent away to a camp and when something as dangerous as that happened, she was nowhere to be seen. The only thing he could really relate it to was that one time when he was a kid in elementary school, his grandfather forgot to pick him up from school. He had thought his grandparents didn’t want him anymore and were leaving him there at school to die. It was a funny story when he thought about it, but at the time he was devastated. He imagined that that was what Kyungsoo felt, at least somewhat.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re feeling, but I can understand it,” Tao said, “I’m sure the others can too.” He scooted closer to Kyungsoo and pulled him into a side hug.

Kyungsoo gave a small smile and finally lifted his head, allowing Tao to pull him into a hug. “I look awful when I cry,” he said.

Tao pulled back a bit to look at Kyungsoo’s face and then nodded. “Yeah, a bit.”

Kyungsoo pouted and half-heartedly smacked Tao on the chest. “Hey! That’s mean.”

They both laughed quietly, before meeting eyes and laughing a little louder. They didn’t know what was funny, but it felt good to laugh. Sehun, Kai, and Azarai walked over upon hearing the laughter, mildly confused as to why they were laughing.

“Hey, everything alright?” Kai asked. He looked down at the two boys laughing at nothing and couldn’t help the smile that pulled on his lips. He let out a small laugh when the two just shrugged their shoulders and nodded. Azarai and even Sehun let out a laugh at the two and before long the whole group had had a good laugh.

When they finally got settled down again, they decided to keep moving, but this time the walk seemed lighter and the air less dreary and tense. Kyungsoo, who had lagged behind before, was herded to the middle. The group knew what it was like having that first my-parent-is-a-god-but-where-the-hell-are-they crisis and even Sehun handled Kyungsoo with more care than before. No one made a comment about Kyungsoo’s red and puffy eyes, nose, and lips and Kyungsoo was glad he had Tao, Azarai, Kai, and even Sehun to rely on. He felt as long as he had them he could make it through the journey ahead of them. 

School's a you guys.

But I only have a few more weeks until I graduate hell yeah

i have had zero energy to do anything, but I decided if I'm going to procrastinate on school work I minds well write.

I hate end of the year projects

Summer's just around the corner.....oh sweet freedom

Well, anyways I hope you read and enjoyed! :D
Until next time (which is hopefully not as long as it took to update this time, sorry OTL)