Random Rambles: Wow this took way longer than expected, sorry! It's the final countdown guys....finish line is in sight (for me at least ^^;) I'll thank you for your patience and continued support- old and new readers, you are all amazing and I'm so thankful and happy that you guys enjoy my story!! Thank you for lighting up my day :D <3 

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You’d think that hearing silence after so much chaos was relaxing and soothing. Peaceful, perhaps? Wrong. 

Hearing silence after a battle was deafening, uncomfortable. Empty. Maybe this was what death was like. I mean, how often had I dodged the proverbial bullet? This was bound to happen to me- but not to them. Not them. They didn’t deserve any of this crap.

I slowly opened my eyes, expecting- what? What was I expecting to find anyway? A light at the end of a dark tunnel? A pair of angels waiting for me to take me to heaven? Maybe even a demon ready to drag me into hell? Was I expecting to see Yongsun perhaps, telling me that I shouldn’t feel bad for failing, that I at least tried to save the world? 

I guess I was expecting a lot of things, but not this. 

“Okay, this is different,” I murmured seeing that the battle that was raging seconds ago was frozen around me. Is this what happens when you die? You become locked in the very moment you passed away, waking up only to see the scene frozen before you? Seeing how you could have prevented your own death but were unable to? That seemed like a particularly cruel fate for someone who just died. Speaking of which…

“Ow! What the hell?” I looked down to my side, where a small tomahawk was lodged into a few moments ago and when I touched the wound, it was still bleeding. Dead people shouldn’t feel pain, should they? As I slowly got up to my feet, I held back a gasp at seeing a shadow’s horrid face just a few inches removed from me. It was unmoving, almost like it was made out of wax. I snapped my fingers in front of it, but it didn’t react. I took the moment to gaze around the room, purposely avoiding looking at the boys, feeling so isolated in this quiet, strange place, where the terrors of battle could not come. 

“What’s going on?” I murmured, suddenly becoming aware of how empty my hands were. The dagger! ! Where is that thing?! I scanned the area frantically, wincing and still confused as to why this wound on my side was hurting so much. 

I let out a sigh of relief at seeing the dagger a few feet away from me, but I startled all over again when I noticed how close it was lying near Mr. Tabi’s feet. He too, was frozen in place, an angry scowl on his face as he watched the destruction before him. 

After I picked up the dagger and dusted it off, I looked at the former teacher, waving my hand in front of him to see if he didn’t move either. He was responsible for all of this. He started to kill. He betrayed all of us and now even claimed our lives, and for what? 

I was angry at him. I couldn’t help it. Without really thinking it over, I raised my fist at him and punched him square in the jaw. My hand was immediately burning with pain, and even though his head turned sideways because of the impact, he still didn’t move, but I sure as hell hope that he felt that. 

“Alright. So, what’s going on here?” I then murmured to myself, focusing my leftover energy on this weird situation I was suddenly in. Why had everything stopped in place while I was still moving? All I remember was talking to Tao last and then closing my eyes. He did the same thing. 

I walked back towards him where I saw him in the same position I left him. He wasn’t moving either. Was this it then? Was I going to be stuck here forever? What kind of messed up fate is that supposed to be? I looked at Tao again, feeling the sadness coil around my chest, tightening its grip. I knelt down, gently running my fingers through his golden hair. 

“Hm…n-noona?” 

“It’s okay, Taozi, I’m here,” I replied to the soft murmur, as my brain had a three second delay to what I just heard. My eyes widened then and I retracted my hand. 

“Tao?” I called out, blinking in astonishment when I saw him move slowly, stretching like a kitten before wincing in pain at the wound in his calf. 

“Tao!” I exclaimed, not caring for a bit when I flung my arms roughly around him, enveloping him in a hug. He had to brace himself a moment before he quickly wrapped his arms around me. 

“Oh my gosh, you’re moving, and talking! I thought I was alone, I don’t understand,” I rambled, feeling relief wash over me like a nice cool shower in the heat of summer. 

“I don’t either, noona,” was his reply, sounding confused. “What happened? Where are we?” he questioned when we broke apart. He looked around the room as well, his mouth gaping slightly. 

“I don’t know,” I replied. “When I opened my eyes, the whole world seemed frozen and I thought I was alone.”

“Are we dead?” he asked, a distinct squeak in his voice. 

“I don’t know,” I repeated. “I have no idea what’s going on. I can’t be sure but maybe we aren’t dead? I mean, your calf obviously hurts, and I”m wounded as well.” 

Tao swallowed and looked at the nearby shadow creature, that stood unmoving even when he had grabbed a pebble and thrown it at its head. Seeing that it didn’t cause a reaction, he gasped loudly, stepping back and looking at his outstretched hands, a look of bewilderment on his face. 

“Taozi? What is it? Are you okay?” I asked, feeling panic overtake me. 

“Noona,” he breathed, suddenly grabbing my shoulders. “I think it’s me!” he stammered. “We’re not dead, I think I must’ve- but, I couldn’t have! I didn’t even- huh?” 

“Okay, wait, calm down,” I tried to soothe him. “Are you telling me that you stopped time?”

“Well, how else can you explain all of this? You and I are the only ones that are moving, we still feel pain so I don’t think we’re dead either…Except-,” he sighed, eyes darting around us as if he was looking for answers. “I didn’t activate my power as far as I know,” he confessed, suddenly looking at me now. 

“Well don’t look at me either! I didn’t do this,” I told him. 

“Sorry, noona, but I think you might have something to do with all of this. Look at the reach of the spell, I couldn’t have stopped time over such a large area. You must’ve helped me!” Tao grabbed my shoulders. “We both wished for all of the pain to stop, didn’t we? We wanted everything to stop, and that’s what literally happened.” 

“But, how? If you didn’t do this consciously, how did we manage?” I wondered out loud, though Tao only shrugged his shoulders. 

“I guess every wish that’s sincere enough can be granted,” he suddenly said soberly, shoulders slumping, sad eyes wandering towards Suho nearby. I couldn’t bring myself to look, but when I did, it was like I saw a life-sized photograph of him. Water floated around him like a shield, gleaming with the reflection of Chanyeol’s orange flames. His eyes were cloudy with angry tears, eyebrows knitted in fury and determination, holding back the grief. The side of his head was smeared with blood, his clothes ripped and covered in dirt, soot. What would he be thinking? Knowing- seeing his brothers die and being unable to prevent it? I knew how I felt, so for Suho that devastating feeling must be tenfold. 

“You didn’t fail, leader-nim. I hope you know that,” I whispered to his frozen figure, while Tao reached for my hand, fingers tentatively entwining themselves with mine. Sadness welled up from within my chest, spilling out in tears from my eyes. This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t right. Good was supposed to conquer evil, wasn’t it? Good should win from evil, so why did this happen?

“This is because of me, isn’t it?” I suppressed a hiccup as I sniffed, looking at Tao. “It’s because I couldn’t wake up in time.” 

“Noona,” he started, closing his mouth slowly as he didn’t know what to say. I took this as a confirmation and nodded my head. 

“It’s my fault, all of this. If I had woken up like I was supposed to then we could have prevented this,” I stated. “Even after all of this, I still don’t know how to wake up!” My voice echoed in the silence, like condemning whispers they bounced back at me. Tao was quiet as he listened to me, his fingers still entwined with mine. There was a look of pity and sadness on his face, but I couldn’t stand him looking like that. 

“Just say it,” I told him, “Tell me how this is all my fault, tell me how I could’ve prevented it but failed- tell me that I’m the one who killed our friends!”

I needed to be scolded at. I needed someone to tell me how much they despised me- but Tao, he didn’t do any of that. If I had been talking to D.O., he’d ask me if I was done with wallowing in self-pity. Luhan would tell me that I was being ridiculous and that there was no one to blame for something no one could have foreseen. Kris, he would’ve said that this wasn’t his style and get me to think how we could fix this instead. 

But Tao? What would he do? He was the martial artist. He could knock me out cold if he wanted to. I thought that was what he was about to do when he pulled me roughly towards him but ended up holding me tightly, burying his face in my neck as he started crying. 

“They’re dead, noona,” he sobbed, voice muffled. “They’re dead. What use is there to put the blame on yourself? Will it bring them back if you do so?” he asked, pulling away as he tried to fight back the tears now. “If it doesn’t; stop blaming yourself!” he said strictly, wiping his wet face angrily with his sleeve. “No more whining, noona. If it doesn’t help, then don’t do it!” 

I swallowed and cast my eyes down, feeling a little more than embarrassed of having been put in my place by someone younger than me. 

“Then, what can we do to help?” I asked eventually, clearing my throat. 

“I don’t know,” Tao sighed. “I don’t see how stopping time can help either,” he heaved a deep breath of air. “This is just postponing the inevitable, isn’t it? Aish, I wish I would’ve told them when they could hear me,” he suddenly mused, limping around a bit on his wounded leg. 

“Tell them what?” I asked curiously. 

He shuffled with his feet a bit, gazing down. “That I love them,” he mumbled in between breaths. “They’re my brothers, noona. What am I supposed to do without them now?” He turned away from the battle scene, limping towards a tree trunk where he sat down with a tiresome groan. 

“This doesn’t make sense,” I grunted, following him while holding onto the wound on my side. He worriedly gazed at it, removing my hand so that he could inspect it. 

“This looks bad, noona,” he murmured worriedly, holding my wrist tightly all of a sudden, looking up at me as though he was a little boy, afraid to be left alone. 

“Don’t worry, I hardly feel a thing,” I smiled. He didn’t have to know that I was flat-out lying to him. I was in excruciating pain, but nothing compared to the pain I felt of having lost the boys. 

“How’s your leg?” I asked him and Tao only glanced at it, shrugging as though completely indifferent. 

“It’s fine. I’ve had worse,” he tried to smile, but the corners of lips barely curled upward. Seeing him like this made me feel down, of course, but what was there for me to do? How was I supposed to comfort him? The majority of his brothers died- how was I going to cheer him up? I couldn’t. There was no way. 

“How long do you think this will last?” I asked carefully instead, since being encased in time must have its effects on him. 

“I’m not sure, noona. I don’t feel tired. You?” 

“I don’t feel a thing,” I replied, scratching my head and ever so gently lowered myself so I could sit next to him. 

“It was silly, wasn’t it, to wish for all of this to stop?” Tao then started, leaning back a little. “Now the hardest part is for us to let time flow again, knowing what awaits us when we do,” he breathed, silent tears falling from his eyes as he looked straight ahead. 

“Do you think it hurts to die, noona? It seems so frightening,” he sniffed, a pinch of panic overcoming him. “But it’s fast, right? No or only a little pain?” 

“Tao,” I gazed at him, feeling nauseous, but what could I say? “I never died before, so I wouldn’t know,” I answered, half realizing that that wasn’t entirely true. I had died before, when my body was crushed by a black serpent. Death had not been particularly peaceful then. My breath was shaky and it hurt a little. I think that tomahawk got to my ribs too. The silence in our little time capsule made me feel uncomfortable all over again. I only experienced this the one time with Tao in the forest, after the boys had stupidly stalked Minho and I on our way to the movie theatre. God, that seemed like a century ago. 

I didn’t want the memories to come then, but they did. They overwhelmed me, like a tsunami wave, crashing into my mind with me being unable to stop them. I remembered meeting them for the first time, how awkward and uncomfortable that had been. I still groaned out of embarrassment when I was shoved into the locker room that they were occupying and how that finally made them realize that I was a girl- not a guy, as initially thought. 

I remembered seeing their smiling faces, their soft, pleasant voices when they called out to me. The younger ones calling me noona with such cheerfulness it made my heart jump. The older ones calling me by my name as though it was a precious prayer. 

So much had happened to us, we went through so much together- all of them had grown so close to me, and I was just as attached to them. Of course we were. We were a pack. We laughed together, we cried together, we fought together, with, and against, each other. We relied on each other. We loved one another. We were- 

“One,” I whispered, taking a deep breath as I thought the air had left my lungs. 

“Noona?” Tao called out, watching me tentatively. I blinked in bewilderment, trying to recover and shake the melancholic memories from my mind and heart. That sentence. Why did that tug on my heartstrings so much? 

We are one. 

I saw their individual faces flash before me, twelve bright smiles that lit up my days. 

We are one. 

I feel what they feel, twelve different powers connecting with me. 

We are one. 

If one dies, the others would too. The only problem with that is that I couldn’t allow that to happen. I didn’t want anyone to die, but that happened. 

We are one!  

The dagger shone in my hand, its heart pulsating irregularly. Feeling a strange, newfound sense of exhilaration, I got up to my feet, ignoring the pain from my wound and looked around. Tao had stopped time unknowingly, but he definitely didn’t do it on his own. I was responsible too. Why? Why did we do this? 

“Noona, are you okay?” Tao asked in concern as I was racking my brain. I started pacing around like a woman who lost her marbles, muttering to myself as my brain was cracking. 

“We stopped time without meaning to,” I hummed, tapping the hilt of the blade against my chin as I brainstormed. “Tao mentioned that the most sincere of wishes could be granted. We wanted everything to stop and that’s what happened, but…”  I shook my head as Tao slowly got to his feet as well, following my every movement with his sorrowful eyes, probably wondering if I had snapped and was ripe for the asylum. 

“Stopping time, what good would that do us? Nothing, postponing our deaths, Jae, come on, you know that,” I muttered, talking to myself and from the corner of my eyes I could tell that Tao was frozen in fear over my sudden state. 

“Noona, maybe you should sit down,” he proffered tentatively, nearly letting out a shriek when I grabbed him by the arms, shaking him a little. 

“A second chance!” I exclaimed, “More time to think things through! You wanted everything to stop, I wanted more time to know what to do, and that is what we were given, Taozi,” I elaborated, but it was obvious that Tao had no idea what I was rambling on about. 

“Oh…kay…” he stammered, swallowing as he kept looking at me, keeping a close watch.

“A second chance, we are one… Could it be?” I stared at the dagger once more, watching it gleam and glisten, watching the heart pulsate, illuminating itself every other heartbeat. 

“We are one…powerbank…” I was hardly making any sense for myself, but Tao really did try his best to stay up to speed with my horrendous thinking process. But still! The only reason I was acting crazy was because I was on to something. Something huge. Something incredible. Something impossible. 

“We are one!” I nearly screamed, the countless whispers reverberating right back at me. Tao had taken a step back, staring at me with wide eyes. 

“Uh, okay, noona, if you say so,” he stammered, not knowing how to respond. 

“No, Taozi, I know what to do!” once I uttered those words, a flame of hope had ignited in Tao’s eyes and he approached me. 

“You do? Really?” 

“Yes- well, sort of,” I stammered this time, I winced. “We are one,” I repeated again, a lot more quiet and calm than I had been before. 

“Yes, you mentioned that several times now, what’s wrong with that sentence?” he asked. I could nearly laugh at the blank, slightly annoyed look on his face. 

“I think we were given another chance at this, Taozi. Hear me out,” I urged upon seeing his skeptic eyebrow flick towards his hairline. 

“I know what to do to prevent all of this. There might be a way for us to save them,” I explained, as he became enthusiastic. 

“You woke up, noona?” Tao asked, my own spirit reflecting in his hopeful eyes. 

“I wouldn’t say I woke up, necessarily, but I think we can save the pack,” I told him in all seriousness. “All we have to do, is turn back time,” I told him in all sincerity in the most deadpan way possible. Of course I could’ve expected that Tao would laugh over this.

“Turn back time? Did you say, ‘turn back time’? Noona, did you forget how I told you that I can’t turn back time for obvious complications?” 

“No, actually all you told me was that Suho thought you shouldn’t try to turn back time or fool around with the future because it could disrupt the natural order of the universe bla bla bla.”

“No, noona, those ‘bla bla blas’ are really important ‘bla bla blas’! I can’t turn back time, I never tried it before!” Tao responded, arguing heavily. “Not to mention that I probably don’t have that much strength to do it, and there’s a slight matter on how impossible that task is! Do you even have any idea what it means to turn back time?” 

I shrugged at his protestations, biting my lip. “We’d get a second chance?” I answered perhaps a bit too innocently, but it quieted him down. “Think about it, Tao. We could prevent- all of this,” I gestured around us. “Don’t you want that?” 

“Of course I do, noona,” he clacked his tongue derisively, insulted by the question. “But turning back time? You know as well as I do that this world is all about balance. There’s a natural order that we can’t mess with, a line that we, as guardians, can’t cross-,” 

“Look around you, Zitao,” I raised my voice at him. “That line has already been crossed. You talk about balance, about the natural order of things- but what about all of this is natural to you? Where do you see a perfect balance in this scene?” My voice was shaking because the desperation was seeping through now. This was the only thing I could think of, the only solution to an impossible problem. 

“The whole world is going to crap as it is. The Black Imoogi is responsible for that. He is the one that caused the balance of the world to skew. If we turn back time, wouldn’t that mean that we’d help restore that balance?” I then tried to reason with him and seeing Tao waver was enough for me. 

“But how?” he asked me. “I don’t know how to do that. Stopping time briefly over a small area is usually harmless, but turning back time- what if it effects the entire world?” 

“Then a lot of people will experience some deja vu,” I replied, though I wasn’t confident at all. I had no clue what might happen if we do this. We weren’t in a science fiction movie, after all, we couldn’t just hop into a DeLorean and go back in time to change the future. Oddly enough, things weren’t that simple. 

“I don’t know about this, noona,” Tao said softly, looking at his own hands. “What if something goes wrong? Everyone always told me that I should never try to turn back time. I’m- I’m afraid what might happen.” 

I watched him as I saw the look of concern and self-doubt on his face, the way he looked at his own hands. I moved forward, putting the dagger in the side of my jeans and grabbed his hands with mine. 

“Then let’s find out together,” I told him with a soft smile. “We have to try, Tao. We’ve nothing to lose, right?” 

He gazed at me long and hard, reading my expression before his own face softened and he gave me a smile, entwining our fingers together as he leaned his forehead against mine. “I trust you, noona,” he whispered. 

“I believe in you, Taozi,” I replied as we both started to focus. Since I wasn’t sure how to do this, I relied on Tao to guide us. I truly did believe in him. I knew that he had the power to do this with a little help from me. I knew what to do once we got our second chance. 

We are one. That meant something, and I knew what. 

I steadied my breathing when Tao concentrated, his face already contorting as though he was lifting something heavy. I felt it too, a strange pressure that felt as though everything I was doing was backwards. I exhaled when I thought I inhaled, I inhaled when I thought I exhaled. 

I looked around us, but time was still frozen. Nothing had changed.

“Argh!” Tao grunted, panting heavily. “I-I can’t do this, noona. It’s impossible,” he breathed, grunting out of frustration. 

“Yes, you can, Tao. I’m here,” I focused harder this time, channeling whatever energy I had towards him. I concentrated on seeing what he was seeing, how he commanded time to heed to its lord and master. It was hard. Difficult. Too difficult. I strained myself to help him, peeking at a nearby flame when I thought I saw it move. This had to work. We can do this!

“Think of your brothers, Tao,” I told him to encourage him. “Think about what they mean to you. Think about all the happy moments you shared with them and hold on to the feelings that come with it. You can do this, Taozi, I know you can,” I cheered him on, feeling the strain.

Tao exclaimed loudly when I told him to think of his brothers and all of a sudden the scene around us moved. It rewound itself around us while we stood still. I kept focusing on Tao, feeling our energy intertwining, becoming stronger. He yelled in surprise when the wound on his calf had disappeared and I winced when my wound repaired itself too. 

“You did it, Taozi,” I yelled, still holding onto him. “You did it!” 

“We did this, noona,” he corrected, looking tired. I probably looked the same way. His glowing red eyes gleamed in worry when he looked at me. “Your nose! Noona, you’re bleeding! We should stop!” 

“No! Not yet! It’s okay, I don’t feel anything,” I assured him, though I felt the liquid oozing down. This was taking its toll on me as well, but it was going to be worth it. I had to believe that. We watched in awe how everything went back into place and I can only imagine that we just made the world turn back a few minutes, making it spin the other way to achieve this. Heck, it felt like we did that, pulling the entire world backwards. 

But this had to be done. I knew what to do. I wasn’t going to watch anymore. 

“Enough, noona. We can’t go back further,” Tao stated, glancing worriedly at me. 

“Just a little further,” I grunted before everything stopped again. I was dizzy and ready to collapse. Tao wasn’t looking all too hot either. 

“I can’t believe that worked,” he breathed as we slumped to the ground. I gazed at him and patted him on the shoulder. 

“I’m proud of you,” I told him, ruffling his hair. 

“You think it’s enough, noona?” he panted, holding onto his chest as he heaved desperately for air. His eyes were glued to Kris, who had just pushed Chanyeol out of harm’s way, ready to be impaled by Mr. Tabi’s vines. 

Perhaps I hadn’t thought this through properly, but we had to give it a shot. Tao wasn’t going to be able to hold this up for much longer and I certainly couldn’t waste more energy on supporting only him. I breathed, knowing that time would soon continue and I glanced at Tao. 

“Are you ready?” I asked him. He gave me a look of utter determination this time when he nodded. 

“I hope you know what you’re doing, noona,” he still murmured but he smiled at me. 

“I got this,” I promised him. 

“H-hyung?!” Chanyeol called out in shock and I reacted on instinct. I held in my breath as I saw the vines shoot towards Kris and I gasped audibly when I saw them frozen in place against his chest. No! Was I too late? Did we turn back time for nothing? 

I watched breathlessly as Kris stood unmoving and I couldn’t read his face. He turned slowly to meet my gaze and I saw his eyebrows twitching as though he wondered what I was doing on the floor. Of course, in his perception I had been standing just a second ago. 

“Hyung?” Chanyeol called out again when Kris still didn’t really respond. 

“What the hell?” Mr. Tabi suddenly snarled, and my eyes widened when the vines were pulled back, only to soar right back at Kris, who stood perfectly still to meet them. That’s when I heard the distinct clanking of vines hitting something hard. 

Kris mouth slacked as he looked down at his chest, watching Mr. Tabi’s vines struggle to pierce through him, but failed to do so. That was when I felt an awesome power awakening within him, a power that I knew I helped wake up. 

“What?! How is this even possible?! Why aren’t you dead?!” Mr. Tabi questioned, obviously enraged that his flimsy vines couldn’t hurt Kris. Not this time. 

I smirked. “Because there’s no tougher armor in the world than that of a dragon,” I breathed, snarling at the former teacher who glared at me as though he was surprised I even dared to open my mouth at him. 

“Noona, you did it!” Tao exclaimed happily, the rest of the pack obviously a bit confused. 

“Jae, what did you do?” Kris asked, though I could tell that he was feeling very good. I felt his power rising within me as well. 

“I remembered something,” I told him, relieved to see him alive again. “We are one. We’re stronger that way,” I explained, getting to my feet as a new fire blazed in my heart. I wiped the blood from my nose, felt my hair fall down in cyan green tresses over my shoulders and I made sure that Mr. Tabi saw the anger burning in my golden eyes. 

“Let’s show him the true powers of true guardians,” I said, smirking at Kris and looking at the rest of the pack. 

“What are you idiots standing around for? Attack them!” Mr. Tabi screamed as the shadows obeyed his command. Round of two of the battle started, with only me and Tao being aware of it, of course. I split my focus to all of twelve of them and in return, I felt a surge of energy unlike I had experienced before. The connection between us enhanced their already powerful gifts and suddenly, all the shadows in the world didn’t seem impressive at all. 

Kris flew through the air like he had never done before, his skin hardening like the scales of a dragon. Nothing could pierce through it. When he elicited a growl it sounded more feral than that of a wolf. He flew overhead, getting rid of any enemy he could get his hands on, and when Mr. Tabi’s vines attempted to catch him, Kris let out a bone shattering roar as a sea of scorching flames escaped his lips. The vines turned to ash then and Kris looked at me in awe. 

I got you, bro, I winked as he laughed out loud, the dragon duizhang dominating the skies, even when shadows followed him. He took care of them all. My mind, at this point was divided equally by twelve. It was difficult to explain, but I kept focus switching between their energies, between the connections. Chanyeol’s erratic flames were able to take shape of various animals now, moving under his command, even being able to fight on their own. He had cheered when he saw Kris breathe fire and of course I couldn’t pass him by. The flames danced over the tips of my fingers, shooting out and upwards, shaping themselves into wings. With a flick of my wrist the wings attached themselves to a surprised Chanyeol who yelped when they took him in the air so that the phoenix could finally fight alongside his dragon brother. 

There was no time to enjoy the little things during battle, and watching Chanyeol’s gleeful flying too long nearly cost my head. The shadow creature that snuck up on me was obliterated into tiny, cold shards and it took me a moment to recover when I saw a large tiger- made entirely out of ice, standing before me. It nudged its head softly against my equally cold skin before attacking the next victim. I startled lightly when I saw Xiumin, since his skin had turned into ice cold diamonds, nothing could harm him. 

From the molten ice appeared a puddle of water that multiplied, streaming and slithering between our feet until it washed away a group of shadows, slamming them against rocks and trees like a tsunami wave. Suho stood motionless when Mr. Tabi’s thorny vines rocketed towards him, and I gasped when they went straight through him. Literally. Suho’s body had been turned to water and drowned the vines the former teacher sent him. 

The look on Mr. Tabi’s face was priceless. Confused violet eyes beaming in concern, fully realizing that he was no match for all of us. That’s when he sent in Mr. Kang with his ever-changing metal, but before he could so much manipulate the metal to any shape and form he wanted, Luhan stepped up and he halted his movements. The metal bullets floated in the air, but it took Luhan only one hand to hold them back while he was infiltrating Mr. Kang’s mind. I saw his eyes shining and going out like a flickering lamp. I only hoped that Luhan had the strength to fix him again. I made a promise to Miss Kumiho after all. Mr. Kang has to know that she does remember, that she did think of him fondly. 

“Luhan, watch out!” I called out, seeing a shadow monster running towards him from the back, but once the creature got too close it disintegrated into dust, just like that. Despite Luhan having turned his back to it, despite the fact that he was busy with so many things at the same time. 

Don’t worry, Jae. I know what I’m doing, I could literally hear the smug smirk from his voice. 

“What’s wrong?” I hear Kai’s voice. “Can’t keep up?” his voice rang through the air, followed by distinct laughter. Clouds of black smoke appear and reappear in a matter of seconds and it was hard even for me to keep track of him. Kai’s teleportation skills was bumped up a few notches, making him so fast that it seemed like he was at different places at the same time. The enemy literally couldn’t see him coming. 

My hair stood on end and I stepped to the side, just in time to see a- with-lightning-covered Chen zapping at shadows like he was at a shooting range. Thunder clapped when he jumped, disabling a handful of those monsters with crisp electricity. I felt a jolt of exhilaration run through my veins when Baekhyun crossed my peripheral. His beams of light were fashioned in different weapons, a kendo stick at first, he turned or twisted back and the light turned into a long sword. No shadow had so much of a chance against his light. I waved my hand in front of me, as though I was holding a bow. The light appeared before me, brilliant and pure. I pulled it back and released, a white light shooting out to pin a monster against a nearby. 

Great shot, noona! Baekhyun complimented with a throaty laugh. 

Yeah, amazing, noona, Sehun’s voice was close to my ear, and even though I could not see him, I could sense him. I sensed him in the air, felt his touch in the wind that picked up. Watch this, noona, I saw him appear for a moment before he turned into the wind himself, sweeping through the forest taking enemies with him. Tao was fighting nearby, freezing the monsters in isolation and speeding up time solely for them. They aged and withered away, within the tornado Sehun had created. The shadow creatures had significantly diminished and with Mr. Kang out for the count due to Luhan’s interference, Mr. Tabi was all that was left of a serious threat.

D.O. didn’t the additional strength that I could give him. That boy harbored enough anger to wipe out half of the planet if he wanted to, so the only thing I knew to offer him, was control. His attacks towards the former teacher were precise and accurate without endangering others around him. 

“You think you can stop me?” Mr. Tabi said, looking exhausted and extremely pissed off. He screamed and countless of vines shot up from the earth, slithering like snakes, carrying poison in their thorns, but they stopped without warning. They stopped before they could even get to us. Absolutely shocked, Mr. Tabi gestured with his hands, signing for his precious vines to attack us, but they didn’t. 

I recognized this mellow personality, this soothing, gentle energy that pulsed throughout my veins. Lay stepped forward, his hands pulsating with a soft glow to which the vines heeded to. “It’s over, Mr. Tabi,” he said. “They don’t listen to you anymore.” 

Mr. Tabi laughed bitterly at Lay. “Oh really? Is that so?” he mocked, gesturing again, but the vines didn’t move to his command. Lay turned his hands and the vines laid down, flowers replacing the thorns. “Please, stop this now,” he stated but the man snarled at him. 

“You think that a little healing magic can stop me, flower boy?” he mocked. “I don’t need my vines to snap your neck!” he hissed, though Lay remained unfazed. He mostly looked disappointed that the teacher he once admired showed his true colors like this. 

“Surrender, please,” he stated, holding D.O. back slightly since the latter had different plans. 

“You know maybe I am going about this the wrong way. It means nothing if I threaten you, so I guess that means that I’ll just have to change my target,” Mr. Tabi growled, leaping towards me, but Lay was surprisingly fast in grabbing his wrist before he could reach me. I’ve never seen Lay angry before, but the expression he bore on his face must be close to signaling his rage. 

Mr. Tabi propped his eyebrow in question, letting out a derisive chuckle when he noticed that Lay was healing him. “This is what you can do? A meek-hearted healer like yourself can’t protect like the others can, they cannot harm. You’re useless!” he provoked, laughing louder when all of his injuries were healed and I wondered what Lay was up to, until I saw the look on his face. 

It wasn’t anger. It was cold, calm, focused determination. Even after the wounds were healed, Lay didn’t stop. The new skin of wounds grew faster, creating more scars instead of making them vanish. It wasn’t before long that Mr. Tabi noticed his hair growing, his nails and then- he screamed. His muscles grew, his bones thickened- Lay was literally healing him to death. 

“Lay, enough,” Kris warned, though it seemed like his younger brother didn’t hear. D.O. was standing closest to the healer, but he didn’t say anything. He only watched, blinking at the screaming Mr. Tabi, whose joints started cracking and snapping. 

“Lay, that’s enough,” Luhan tried. “Lay!” 

But no reaction. I felt what Lay was feeling. It wasn’t hatred, it wasn’t revenge. He was angry. Angry at the teacher for all the things they did to him, to his brothers, and to me. 

Lay, I called out quietly towards him, stepping forward to touch his shoulder, ignoring Mr. Tabi. He learned his lesson, I tried. Don’t stoop to his level. You’re better than that. I grabbed the hand that was wound around Mr. Tabi’s wrist and the grip slowly loosened. 

Lay watched me and blinked his eyes, startled by his own actions and quickly stepping away from the teacher. D.O. caught him, patting his back assuringly. Mr. Tabi was left twitching from pain on the ground, but he still hissed when I bent down near him, panting as I felt playing everyone’s battery was taking its toll on me as well. 

Still, I reached out my hand and reversed the damage. He gasped when his injuries were healed for real this time and he scurried away from me. 

“W-who are you?” he asked in a small voice. “Who are you?!” he demanded to know as the pack gathered again as one, watching him. 

“I-,”

“I’d like to know as well,” another, harsh voice cut through the air. The contour of a giant snake slowly shifted into that of a human, Mr. Yok, gleaming amber eyes regarded us evilly. I shuddered, one hand covering the dagger that was still hidden in the side of my pants. 

“Shall we find out?” his amber eyes reflected my own, a shared trait I found uneasy to have with the Black Imoogi and I swallowed as the air became thicker. The final fight had only just begun.