He heard Naeun and Jongin screaming his name, but they sounded so far away.

He heard Minho's howl and felt the force of it shake the floor beneath him. There was commotion, fighting, screaming.

He heard his brother pleading, begging for it all to stop.

He smelled smoke.

"Taemin!" Naeun cried as she shook him, finally pulling him from his daze. The room was spinning when he opened his eyes and immediately flung himself upright. Jongin was already trying to lift him, but he shook him off.

"We need to go," Naeun said, trembling as she tried not to panic. Or break down.

Among all the dizziness and confusion, he realized there was smoke in the air. The tapestry in the ballroom was up in flames, and those flames were steadily spreading to the wall. It must have been from Jongin's torch, or the work of the hunter, he wasn’t sure which.

The fire would have been enough to panic about, but the site of Minho right in front of him was enough to keep him sober.

"Minho!" he screamed, pushing past his siblings and crawling to where the beast lay on his side, in a puddle of blood. The hunter was nowhere to be seen, but there was a trail of blood that led out of the ballroom. Taemin choked back his nausea as he crawled beside Minho and searched for any sign of life in him.

The beast was still breathing, however slow and labored. Weakly, he opened his eyes to stare at Taemin.

"Oh God," he said when he saw the knife stuck in his chest, right where his heart was. "Oh God...oh God..."

He couldn't even tell him to hold on. How could he with an injury so severe? After such a horrible disaster? After already losing one of their friends? "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Minho blinked softly. He couldn't even growl anymore with the awful wound on his neck. He could only hum softly, as if to tell him everything was alright. Even though it so obviously wasn't.

"Taemin," Naeun said. She spoke as softly as possible, trying not to hurt him further with the impending truth. "We need to leave."

"Go!" he snapped angrily, "Get out of here! Both of you!"

"But Taemin--" Jongin tried to argue.

"Go!" he interrupted, as his voice cracked under his emotion.

Jongin tried to do as he said and tried to pull Naeun away, but she wouldn't budge. She wasn't about to leave her brother there. Not even with the fire spreading.

Taemin wasn't concerned with the fire anymore. He rested his head on Minho's shoulder, the only place he could find that hadn't been injured in some way.

He was sorry for everything. For not being able to free him. For not even being able to tell him how to free himself. For not being able to stop the hunter. For having siblings who brought them there in the first place.

"I'm sorry," Jongin said meekly, "I'm sorry...I didn't know this would happen...I didn't..."

Taemin was too angry to accept any apology from him at that moment.

"You bastard!" Jonghyun's voice echoed through the ballroom.

Both he and Jinki came inside, and before even checking on the condition of their friend, Jonghyun ran at Jongin. His brother didn’t even have time to defend himself, before Jonghyun took a swing at him, punching him in the face.

Taemin was too angry to tell Jonghyun to stop.

"Stop it!" Naeun screamed as she ran to Jongin, where he fell to the floor.

"Jonghyun, that isn't helping anything!" Jinki corrected him. The butler/maid/housekeeper/cook went to his knees beside Minho, assessing his condition and his injuries. There wasn't any hope in his eyes as he the beast's head, trying to offer him some comfort.

"Kibum's dead because of him," Jonghyun said among his tears, "And now Minho..."

"He's not dead yet," Jinki said quietly.

"Isn't there anything we can do for him?" Taemin asked, hoping the man knew something that he didn't - knew of some medicine or magic that could heal him.

"Kibum might have been able to save him, but..."

"Is there anyone else you know?"

"No one who would help him," he answered. He lifted his head, and his attention, suddenly to the fire at the other end of the room. "We need to move him. Jonghyun, try putting out the fire."

A gurgling sound came from Minho's throat, an obvious protest to his suggestion. He shoved his friend gently in the arm, then gestured to the door. His eyes were heavy but serious, conveying one simple command: Go.

"We won't just leave you here," Taemin said to him.

He shook his head as much as he could, before pointing to the door again.

He wanted to tell him that there was still hope, that there was a way they could heal him. But he knew it would be a lie. Minho was dying, and there was nothing they could do to save him.

He made another sound again, one that sounded pained and unnatural coming from his mangled animal throat. But it was an unmistakable sound, "Go..." he managed to say, "G--"

The beast suddenly moved, rolling over. Taemin didn't think he had even that much strength left in him, but he managed it. He laid on his back, despite all his wounds and the weapons still stuck in his body. He began to convulsively choke, before the bolt in his neck flung out, as if being spat right out of his body.

The other arrows fell away too, and eventually, the knife buried deep in his chest was expelled as well. They all stood there in wonder as every weapon left his body, and his massive hairy bulk began to shrink.

"You're kidding," Jinki said.

Taemin had witnessed such a transformation before, so he knew what was happening. He also knew it wasn't morning yet. They all knew that. But Minho was reverting to a human anyway, which could only mean one thing...

His curse was broken.

He was afraid of what he would find in there. Under normal circumstances, that fear might have gotten the better of him, and he might have run away from that mansion, abandoning all of his children inside. But Daevy decided he was done giving into his fears. And he was done giving into that beast and all of his demands. Losing one child to it was bad enough. He wasn't going to lose them all.

That resolve gave him the strength he needed to step through that broken down door. The alcohol helped, too.

He didn't know what he would find inside, but he knew it wouldn't be pretty. He nearly screamed when a man came barreling out of the door, running as fast as he could to get out of the place. A strong, skilled hunter was fleeing, yet there Daevy was - old and meek - walking in there willingly.

The first thing he saw was the magician. The young man was on the floor with an arrow in his chest. He immediately felt a rush of pity for the young man. Wicked or not, he was too young to die. If he really was dead.

Warily, he stepped closer to him, to determine just that.

"This doesn't look good at all."

Startled, Daevy turned to Krystal as she walked through the doorway and examined the state of the once-beautiful home. He wasn't aware she had followed him all the way there, but then again, it didn't surprise him. Nothing about Minho or witches or magic surprised him anymore.

The witch looked uncharacteristically grave as she walked to his side and looked down at Kibum.

"For a magician, you really are lacking," she commented flippantly. Daevy was put-off by her disrespect for the dead, but before he got the chance to reprimand her, the arrow leaped out of Kibum's chest and struck him in the forehead.

He stumbled back and almost ran as far away from the magician's body as possible, but Krystal grabbed onto his arm, holding him in place and calming him down.

"I'm not lacking!" Kibum snapped as he sat up rigidly.

Daevy almost fainted.

"So I don't heal as quickly as I'd like to. I'm still alive aren't I?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the witch. He then looked to Daevy and he seemed to remember the chaos before he had been incapacitated. "Is that smoke?"

Come to think of it, Daevy smelled it too. It didn't seem possible, but his fear for his children only grew worse.

Kibum leaped to his feet. He seemed to know exactly where to go and took the long hallway immediately before them. Daevy followed right behind him, along with Krystal. The long hallway eventually led to a ballroom, which was damaged, soiled with blood, and currently on fire. Everyone was inside though.

He was relieved to see all his children safe and in one piece.

Naeun was the first to notice them all. She gasped in fear and wonder when she saw Kibum standing there. Her sound made the others turn, and they were all amazed too. And over-joyed.

"You're alive!" Jonghyun exclaimed, abandoning the tapestry he was trying to extinguish.

"Yes, yes," the magician said, dismissing his miraculous feat, and the embrace from his friend, as he went to Minho.

The man wasn't a beast like Daevy expected him to be. He was very much human, and very much wounded. The only covering he had at the moment was the maroon cloak that used to belong to his wife. Daevy and Taemin met eyes, and he saw fear and sorrow in the tears Taemin was shedding for the man.

Minho was dying and his son was grieved. He didn't realize he cared so much for that man - for that beast.

Naeun ran to her father and he embraced her tightly, as he feared he would never get the chance to do something so simple ever again. Jongin came to his side as well, and he looked so distraught he didn't know what to think. He knew about the separate plans both his children had made, and he knew that both their choices played into what was unfolding around them.

All their choices had.

"What are you doing here?" Jonghyun hissed when he noticed Krystal standing in the doorway.

Everyone looked at the woman. Despite all his pain, Minho was still upset at seeing her.

"Relax," the witch said, still speaking so casually despite the gravity of the situation. With one wave of her hand, the fire that was spreading in the room was snuffed out, disappearing into smoke. "I'm the only way he's going to survive."

"We don't need your help," Jonghyun said, "Kibum can heal him without you."

The magician looked a little surprised, and humbled, "So you do have faith in me."

Krystal scoffed and shook her head. "Sure he could, but by the time he finishes, he might already be dead."

Everyone looked to Kibum, as if to hear his input on the matter. He could only shrug, as if he knew she was right but didn't have the humility to say it.

Minho glared at the witch, but said nothing. It wasn't like he could though, with all his injuries. She waited patiently though, as if she wanted him to ask it of her. She wanted that satisfaction.

"Please," Taemin said for him, "Save him."

Krystal smirked, obviously satisfied. She went to Minho and knelt before his head, ignoring his angry stare. Daevy watched as she laid her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes. Immediately, Minho seemed to relax. Pain no longer marked his expression. His body was still on the floor as his breathing slowed to a peaceful rhythm. Everyone there waited anxiously.

In a few minutes that seemed like hours, the deep wounds over Minho's body began to heal. The skin and flesh knit itself back together, melding seamlessly so that not even a scar remained. Even the deep stab wound on his chest disappeared into nothing. There was no sign on him that the horrible attack had taken place.

If only it could be erased so quickly from the home and everyone's minds.

With the magic finished, Krystal removed her hands. She looked a little weakened, but she managed to stand again without any trouble. Minho, however, remained on the floor and didn't move.

"Minho?" Taemin asked, moving the disheveled hair from his face.

"His body needs time to fully heal. He'll be out for a while yet," Krystal explained.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Taemin said, with tears of joy and relief instead of fear and sorrow.

Krystal only shrugged.

For the first time since Daevy got there, everyone was silent. It seemed they were all relieved that Minho would survive - even the ones who wanted him dead not long ago. Even Daevy, who had hated him so much in those past three months. He tightened his arm around Naeun and pulled her closer, so glad to have his daughter with him - to have all his children with him.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in one of the guest rooms," Krystal was saying as she started walking away, leaving everyone. "I have a feeling there's a lot of talking that needs to be done here."

And she was right. There was a lot that needed to be said between him and his children.

A/N: You all didn't really think I'd kill Kibum, did you? ;)

Sorry if I didn't reply to all you guys' reviews. It's been a hectic week.

Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks to my new subscribers. And I love votes. XD

Hope you all had happy Holidays! :)