[Sera]

I still had a hard time processing the scene before me.

Yixing-oppa was not longer in the man’s clutches, his life not in the vice grip of the man whom my father used to call hyung. Instead…

“Because if you weren’t foolish, letting your concentration slip ever so slightly, I wouldn’t be here right now. So thanks!” Kai-oppa smirked haughtily, the same smirk he used to slap on whenever he wished to court chicks in school (I’ve regretfully seen far too many to be able to forget) because chicks dig my handsome smirk. Yet, he wasn’t skirt-chasing then, not when he had a male in his arms.

“You–” Oh Jaehyun screamed, his tone seemingly in full-on rage mode but Kai-oppa didn’t even flinch in the slightest as he absorbed the full brunt of our enemy’s fury.

“I wish I could help you guys but I’m about to pass out,” The teleporter wheezed, one of his eyes fluttering shut as perspiration trickled past it, a couple of beads threatening to slip in. Yixing-oppa remained unconscious in Kai-oppa’s arms, but thankfully my ears picked up his painfully soft heartbeats. He was alive, but barely. Barely. “But no worries, I’ll protect Yixing-hyung with my life. So, do carry on.” And he waved a dismissing hand at us all, as though he was the audience to our theatrical play depicting war and senseless bloodbaths.

“Shall we then?” The voice I hate said, his words laced with sarcasm and self-confidence I know not where he dug it out from.

“We shall,” I growled, eyes narrowing as the rage that simmered within me suddenly flared up dangerously, like a dormant volcano waiting for its time to erupt; it was only a matter of time. “And we will start by killing you.”

“Did I ever mention how much you look like Lia, my dear niece?”

“Shut up–”

“So feisty in personality–”

“–shut up–”

“–so blunt with words–”

“–shut the–”

“–yet so beautiful–”

“– UP, SHUT THE –”

“–how rude of you, Sera–”

“–UP–”

“–Nobody speaks to me like that.”

“–oh, what a coincidence–” I blinked, and when my eyes finally saw, I found his neck within my hand. When had I charged forward, and how did I manage to have his neck in my grip? “–nobody speaks to me like that, too.”

The superior blood in me heated up, and ah, I see how I did that. With Yixing-oppa’s sub-ability of amplification in his blood, the combination only served to make me much more powerful than I usually would be. I scoffed inwardly, don’t I dare to think about how Sehun-oppa would be like with this.

I tightened my grip around his neck, a terrifying feeling of wanting to kill, wanting to murder washing over me. My fingers continued to wrap themselves tighter around the flesh until I could see bruises forming. Yet, no gasp of pain ever made its way out of his mouth, not even an inaudible grunt as I continued to squeeze his throat. It was then did I fear, a chill running up my spine. His eyes had been shut, but they suddenly flew open and the manic glint swimming in them sent another tingle through my body. . ,, . This is not goo–

“Aww, not even your uncle can speak to you like that?” The glint remained bright in those dark eyes, yet the rest of his face had contorted into a kicked puppy look that I swore right then would only look adorable on Zitao-oppa. His? ing nightmare for the rest of my life. “Oh well, let’s have a little fun to relax! How does going up into the sky sound, Sera dear?”

I barely had time to process his words before my throat constricted and my windpipe felt as though someone had tied a dead knot around it. The urge to heave was overwhelming, but nothing was more overwhelming than the fact that I was as Oh Jaehyun had said — in the air.

“Sera!” I heard someone scream from below, and several other hollers and yells followed after. “Sera!” My chin made a move to tilt downwards, my eyes wanting to catch a glimpse of whoever kept screaming my name as well as Kris-oppa’s to wake the up you giant! but I couldn’t. Someone’s hand prevented it.

“Nice view right?” Straining my eyes, I managed to sneak glances of the numerous ant-sized figures beneath us and , this is really high. Oh Sera was never good with heights (hence always rejecting Kris-oppa’s offers of flying with him), and teleportation (Kai-oppa keeps pushing his luck, thinking that teleporting with him that one time when we were almost late for school would equal to daily travelling with him instead of grabbing car rides with Yixing-oppa). I suppressed the urge to regurgitate whatever was churning in my stomach. No way am I going to reveal my weakness in front of this man. “What a wonderful location for our battle to the death!”

“It sure is but geez, why can’t we take this back down on the ground? Isn’t it unfair that you have the ability to steal powers and not me?” The instance I found myself floating in the sky, I had deactivated my ability. There was no need to have it switched on, since I can’t nullify his ability. As much as I didn’t want to admit, I needed him then. I needed his ability to stay alive. this.

“Aww, my niece is a smart girl! She’s not using her ability!” The manic glint was still in his eyes, and his facial features rearranged to form an expression that absolutely fitted the insane amount of insanity reflected in those dark orbs of his. “And since you’re not nullifying me, I’ll be able to…”

A bout of negative energy seeped into me, its black colour gradually gaining ground as Yixing-oppa’s blue tried to fight it but the darkness was too strong. Is Yixing-oppa…

“Sera! Stay safe! I’m getting someone to go find Uncle Hanxi because Yixing-hyung is… not doing so well.”

He’s drifting away. I’m losing him. Just as I’m losing my ability, my energy being into the black hole that had somehow made its way to my core. How had he located my core so quickly was beyond my capacity to think of then. My consciousness was trickling away, Yixing-oppa’s blue tendrils fading away as the man’s negative energy advanced towards the dazzling core of beautiful spirals. It wouldn’t be long before they disappear within the darkness, and I can’t have that.

I can’t.

“Ha. Ha.” I burst out into laughter, never mind that my throat burned with each snigger I forced out of my lips. “I knew this would happen. But sorry to rain on your parade for you will never get my power!” And I reactivated my ability with a fiery resolve, the darkness that would have engulfed my bright core vanished as the orb’s colourful spirals stabbed through it and I imagined the black colour screaming in pain before evaporating with a poof.

“What will you do now?” I taunted him, a dangerous move really. I swallowed a pained grunt as my neck stretched, skin seemingly wanting to tear as my legs dangled, their full weight supported by my neck. In fact, my entire body was relying on the hand that still gripped my neck. But no, my life wasn’t in Oh Jaehyun’s hand; I had made a decision, betting my life on the man’s willingness to keep me alive for whatever he sought out to accomplish.

So, even as I dangled on the brink of death by an enemy’s fingers, I didn’t feel afraid. Whatever fear had been pushed out the moment I reactivated my ability. My life is in my own hands, my life belongs to me. I belong to no one.

“Looks like someone feels like dying sooner,” The man’s manic glint dissolved into a flicker of shock the instance my ability returned and he must have felt increased weight that his hand had to hold up. But the shock didn’t last long, for the man’s self-confidence returned and he sneered down at me, probably expecting me to feel afraid. “Then, I shall fulfil your wish.”

And he let go.

[Kris]

“Wake up.”

I kept hearing a voice in my head, yelling at me, screaming at me, cursing at me (hey now, was there a need for swearing?). It was familiar, a heartwarming kind of familiar that tugged at my heartstrings and–

“WAKE THE UP YOU GIANT!”

My eyes flew open, and I inhaled sharply. The stench of death filled my nostr