Yixing looks at the unfamiliar setting, confused. He's no longer locked in Yifan's arms, he's no longer in that open hexagon area, and there's no blood, no one dead. In fact, there isn't much of anything here. He can stick his hands out as far as they can go, and there's nothing, nothing except fog. He can barely see two centimetres in front of his face.

"Hello?" He yells, hoping for a response. "Is anyone there?"

Of course, there's nothing. The fog seems to shift a little, and there he can see a path that is barely still discernible. There's no point in staying in one place though, so he follows it, walking along the bare path until he comes to a bridge that is set across a wide canyon. Upon further observation, he sees that it's filled with lava, and he thinks he can see a body part or two. Yixing swallows audibly, and trying to ignore everything except the bridge underneath his feet, he crosses it. It creaks loudly, and more than once Yixing falls through a piece of it, only managing to hang on because he is able to grab on to a piece of rope.

And far too much time later, he's finally stepping on to land again. Completely exhausted, but relieved, he collapses on to his knees, trying to catch his breath before he continues on. He hears a loud crack right beneath his knees, and to his horror, the earth starts splitting open, pieces starting to fall away, and Yixing is scrambling to his feet so that he doesn't fall through. He tries to listen for each new crack, so he knows where to stay away from, but he’s too panicked, terrified, that soon he’s unable to hear anything anymore. His legs are carrying him as fast as they can go, but there are far too many close calls, and Yixing feels like he's had at least thirty years shaved off his life span by the time he's finally safe again.

There, right in front of him, is a large castle completely surrounded by fog. Yixing feels an unpleasant shiver go down his spine; something just seems off. He shifts to his feet and starts walking towards it; going back is not an option. He makes his way up to the castle gates, and stops in front of them, taking a moment to admire the ornate details upon the doors; it is clearly ancient, but beautiful. The doors open then and Yixing can feel something pushing him inside. He flinches as he hears the doors slam shut behind him, and then he notices that he's now standing before three different corridors, one is just to his left, another to his right, and one directly in front of him, drafts of cold air blowing at him from each direction.

Yixing can feel the same force pulling him towards the left, so he follows it, not looking back once as the other corridors disappear behind him. When he does look back, he sees that everything is gone, just darkness every which way except for right in front of him. Suddenly, a strong wind starts blowing, increasing in strength, like it's trying to push him back, and away from wherever or whatever he's trying to reach. Yixing can feel that this is important though, so he fights against the wind, pushing against it until it dissipates. And after it does, he finds himself in a completely different place.

"…Yixing," Yixing jumps at the voice, having not expected anything to be here at all, let alone another person. "…Leave."

There is something familiar about this voice, and Yixing finds himself heading towards it.

"Why do you know my name? Who are y-?!" Yixing remembers then, remembers in clear and vivid detail just who the voice belongs to, and the name passes his lips in a barely audible whisper. "Yifan…"

And at that moment, his lover appears in front of him, but there's something different about him that Yixing can't quite put his finger on, literally. He reaches out to touch him, but his hand goes right through. He tries again, and again, and again, until he finds himself on his knees, panting and staring at his hands in complete disbelief.

"Why?" Yixing asks, his voice quiet, upset. "Why can't I touch you?"

"…This is not my choice," Yifan whispers. "I'm dead, Yixing, a mere ghost."

"What?" Yixing gets to his feet, his body shaking. "That's impossible. You're clearly right in front of me."

"You can't touch me."

Yixing reaches a hand out again, but this time he places it flat against Yifan's chest, trying to feel the other's warmth even though he can't. "I can still try though."

"Leave me, Yixing," Yifan is staring at Yixing's hand, an unreadable expression on his face. "There's nothing you can do anymore." There a loud creak, and Yixing turns to see large wooden doors open to his left. "Leave, escape this nightmare."

Right outside those doors are the outside, but not just any outside, it is the exit of the maze. And for a moment, Yixing is tempted. He takes half a step towards the door before stopping himself, looking back at Yifan.

"No, I won't leave you," Yixing smiles, turning back to Yifan. "I can't let you stay here alone, it's not fair to you."

"Yixing," Yifan whispers, his eyes on the ground. "I'm dead, I have nothing left."

Yixing shakes his head, smile still on his face. "Not true, you have me, you'll always have me."

He reaches for him again, and to his surprise, he's actually able to touch him this time. There's the barest hint of hesitation before Yifan wraps his arms around him, pulling him closer.

"Thank you, Yixing," he whispers, and Yixing can tell that he's holding back tears. "I love you. Please don't leave me, I need you."

"I won't," Yixing tells him earnestly with a smile. "Ever."

And then he's falling into a dark spinning abyss. When he opens his eyes again, he's back in the open hexagonal area, and he's vaguely aware of the dull throbbing in his chest where his spiritual link, the link that had been there since he could remember, no longer is. Baekhyun is dead, and he did nothing but watch.

That's when he notices that Yifan is no longer holding him in an iron-like grip, but in a comfortable and loving sort of way. Whatever that had been, he seems to have gotten through to him, at least a little. He smiles until his eyes land on the wall where someone has displayed the corpses, and he is fairly certain it was Kyungsoo. The stench of blood is overwhelming, and along with the sight, makes Yixing feel sick to his stomach. That's when he notices that there's a fourth corpse. Trying to convince himself that that person cannot be dead, he scans the area, hoping against all reasonable hope, that that's not really him. His eyes land on the wall again, and by that point there's really no denying it anymore. Yixing screams his name then, screams it like that could change what’s already happened.

"Minseok hyung!"

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Oh my god, it's been three weeks OTL I'm so so sorry OTL I hope this chapter makes up for it at least a little bit...

Thank you so much to everyone for all the support, it really means so much to me! ; A ;

So until next time... I'm not going to make you any promises. I'm sorry for being a horrible person OTL