"Do you want to know why?" Kyungsoo asks, smirking, blood dripping down his chin. "Kill me and you'll never know."


"I don't care anymore," Jongin growls, one hand holding Kyungsoo up by the collar, and the other wrapped around the sharp piece of rock that he had stabbed Kyungsoo with. "You have gone way too far. Regardless of why you did it, I can't let you live."


Kyungsoo laughs at Jongin's words, which becomes coughing when Jongin pushes the piece of rock in further. After a moment, Jongin just sighs and tosses Kyungsoo aside, kneeling down in front of Sehun. The earth that had kept him in place falls away and Sehun falls into Jongin's arms. He looks like he's dying, like he's giving in, but Jongin refuses to let him. He presses a hand to the gaping wound, while the other hand shakes him, hoping to keep him conscious. Sehun seems barely aware of what's going on, and his eyes are slowly closing. Tears are falling as Jongin presses a little harder against the wound, hoping the pain could jolt him awake. 


"Yixing hyung!" Jongin yells across the field. "Can you help him?"


Yixing struggles against Yifan again, and though the grip is looser, it's not enough to get free. He's powerless, he can do nothing but watch Jongin desperately try to save Sehun, and Sehun slowly slip away.


"Please, Yifan," Yixing tries, for the third time to see if he can somehow heal him, save him from the dark energy surrounding him, and again, there's no effect. "Sehun... Sehun needs me..."

Kyungsoo's weak cackle cuts through the desperation, and everything stops for just that brief moment. 
"Give it up, fools," Kyungsoo has this crazed look in his eyes, and Yixing shudders, terrified. "Jongin, I hope you see now that he was too weak, that he was not worthy of you. I don't know how you broke free from my control, but that doesn't matter. It's too late for any-!"


Jongin stomps down on the rock again, and Kyungsoo is still laughing, laughing as the light disappears from his eyes, and he draws his last breath. Even when he is lying completely still, dead, they can still hear his laughter echoing throughout the open space. By the time Jongin returns to Sehun's side, he's no longer breathing either, and it's all Jongin can do to not completely fall apart. 


"What happens now?" Yixing asks quietly, his eyes looking around at the four others that are still alive. "Would Kyungsoo's death cause the seed to lose control?"


Just as the question leaves his mouth, a groan is heard from behind him, and then Yifan is speaking to him, and sounding like himself again.

"What happened to me?" His voice is raspy, and he sounds very confused, but it's him, it's really him. 


"Yifan," Yixing whispers, relief clear in his voice. "Will you please let me go?"


"What?" Yifan looks down, noticing his arms tightly around Yixing's middle. "Sorry."


Gently, he sets Yixing down on the ground, and Yixing sighs in relief, while trying to rub some feeling back into his arms and torso. Before Yifan can ask another question, Yixing is running towards Lu Han. Kneeling down, he's relieved to find the other still breathing, with no visible wounds. Still, he runs a healing hand over Lu Han's eyes, hoping to wake the other up. For too long, there's nothing, until Lu Han moans softly, and then his eyes are fluttering open. He smiles up at Yixing, and Yixing smiles back, happy to see that his friend is okay.


"Where... where is Minseokkie?" Lu Han asks after a moment. "Is he...?"


The smile disappears, and Yixing can't even bring himself to say anything, instead he just shakes his head. Lu Han looks around Yixing then, and his eyes land on Minseok, who looks like he's asleep. His eyes widen, and then tears are falling as he moves away from Yixing and runs to Minseok. Yixing just lets him; he couldn't imagine what Lu Han must be going through at the moment, he doesn't want to lose Yifan, ever.

Instead, Yixing shifts his attention to Junmyeon, who is laying just a little ways away from Minseok, breathing, but barely. He had to kill Minseok with his own hands, how much must it have hurt to sever his own spiritual connection? 
A healing hand is placed over Junmyeon's heart, and though it was beating before, it's now beating at a more consistent rate. A moment later, Junmyeon is opening his eyes, the same look on his face as the one that had been on Yifan's. The water manipulator looks around, disoriented, until his eyes land on Lu Han and Minseok. Yixing can see the questions in his eyes, but Yixing has no answer that Junmyeon would want to hear. The silence is enough for him as he rushes over to the two of them, shaking, horrified with what he knows he's done. 


Zitao collapses on to his knees next to Yixing, his eyes searching Yixing's for answers. "Kyungsoo?" Is all he says, and Yixing nods, because he understands despite the lack of words.


Yixing reaches out and places his hands over Zitao's chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart, and smiling sadly. Guilt is the overwhelming emotion as Yixing pulls the time manipulator into his arms, trying, too late, to protect him from the danger. The threat may be gone, and he had been a victim, just like the others, Yixing can’t help but feel almost responsible. He had watched so many die right before his own eyes, and he had done nothing about. Baekhyun, his own partner, had been killed right before him, and he had just watched. Chanyeol, his lover's partner, had been killed as collateral damage, and Yixing feels just as guilty as if he had killed the two of them himself. He feels only anger as his eyes land upon the bodies of Kyungsoo and Jongdae, anger because of how much pain they'd caused everyone, and death as punishment was merciful. Zitao shifts away from Yixing, rubbing tears away from his eyes, before moving towards Minseok as well. Yixing can only sigh, his eyes finding their way back to Yifan, and he starts making his way back to his lover. 


That's when the ground starts shaking.

It catches Yixing off guard as he stumbles forward, and the only reason he never hits the ground was because of Yifan. 


"What's going on?!" Yifan shouts over the rumbling.

"Kyungsoo's element was earth, and since this labyrinth was, presumably, his creation, it's falling apart now that he's dead..." Yixing yells, having not thought about it until that moment. "At least, that's what I think."


"We need to get out of here!" Junmyeon says loudly over everyone. 


Yifan flies up then, reaching up to see if the force field is still there, and the dejected look on his face tells Yixing that it is. 


"So flying isn't an option," Yifan says, landing next to Yixing. "So what-!"


Before Yifan can even finish the thought, the very earth beneath them is splitting open. One by one they fall before they can even attempt to save themselves, let alone each other. Yixing attempts to save himself by grabbing on to a ledge, but his hand is slipping before he can get a firm grip. He braces himself for the never-ending sensation of falling, but it doesn't come as he feels Yifan grab his hand. Yifan pulls him into his arms, the two of them floating in the air. 


"They're all gone, Yifan..." Yixing whispers, staring as everything falls into the ever-expanding void. "I couldn't save any of them..." 


"Don't blame yourself, Yixing," Yifan says, kissing the top of Yixing's head. "None of this is your fault."


"Why did this have to happen though?" Yixing asks, becoming increasingly frustrated. "We never did find out why Kyungsoo did this... all of this..."


The two of them are slowing descending, and Yixing is certain that they will be free falling soon enough; Yifan is getting tired. He wraps one of his hands with Yifan's, letting him know that he's there for him. 


"I don't even care," Yifan says honestly. "Regardless of the reason, it was not worth all of this. And you know, I bet it was a reason as simple as because he could..."


Yixing shudders, hoping that that isn't the reason. 


"I love you," he whispers, turning his head and kissing Yifan like it may very well be the last time he gets to. "And I want you to know that I wish this whole thing would have never happened."

"I love you too, Yixing," Yifan replies, holding him just a little tighter. "And I wish we could have had a future..."


Yifan lets go of Yixing's waist but they're still holding hands as they start falling. It almost feels like they're flying as they drift apart, and Yixing allows his eyes to close, and he embraces the feeling of plummeting towards absolute oblivion. And the last thought that crosses his mind is that this isn't an end, that this could be considered a new beginning for him, for all of them.

THE END

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And there we have it... I'm so sorry OTL Like, I hadn't planned on all of them dying, it just kind of happened... it seemed logical? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this fic, and I'll see you in the next one ^_^

Thank you so much for all the support on this fic, it means so much to me <3

My friends and I are currently working on a collaboration of sorts, please check it out if you're interested, it would mean a lot to us ^_^ I'll leave a link here. EXO AU Collection