(≧◡≦) ~ Hi, how are you lovely readers doing? Wow... daebak, I'm very thankful for the vote ups, comments, and subbies! Thanks for reading and stopping by! Cheers.
Recap of last chap : Taeyeon's fuming and is ready to give payback.
 

-----------
 

“Watch Jessica,” Taeyeon demanded and ninja’d her way towards Sydel, leaving the girls behind. 
 

“You’ll regret ever existing.” Taeyeon’s iris raged with colours as she blasts out a thick stream of magic at him. 
 

“OOhh?” Sydel countered Taeyeon’s incoming magic with his own. Creating an explosion between the two. “Don’t get cockky, kid.”
 

Sydel immediately found himself face-to face with Taeyeon engaging in a very fast hand-to-hand combat.  
 

.....

“How’s she doing Seo?” Tiffany held Jessica on her lap, feeling a faint pulse in her heart.
 

“She’s really weak. She seems to be holding on, but her condition is really dangerous.”
 

Tiffany spoke slowly as she recalled the scene. “When we were out there, she coughed up blood…” 
 

“He’s attacked her internally, yet, it’s amazing how she still put up a fight after that.”
 

“It was purely her passion and determination to see Yuri again…”
 

Seohyun had a face of deep thought before speaking again. “Tiffany – unnie, I’m going to try something out.”
 

Seohyun poised her palms facing Jessica’s body, and a visible, baby blue magic formed on her hands.
 

“Seohyun, what are you doing?” Yoona asked curiously.
 

Tiffany sensed Jessica’s pulse rate returning slowly. “What did you do?” 
 

“I’ve been thinking about how versatile my powers can be, so, I thought about manipulating the clean air to heal. ” Seohyun focused her energy output on Jessica carefully.
 

“ This is my first time testing my hypothesis.”
 

“Wow…. Hyunnie, you’re remarkable.”
 

Seohyun smiled at the acknowledgment and continued to heal Jessica, then she looked at Tiffany. “There’s a pink aura around you Tiffany- unnie.”
 

“And your eyes… They turned pink.” Yoona also mentioned.
 

“I believe Martel pointed out that when our Cores feel our desire, magic seeps out of its dormant state, and our Spirits grant us greater powers.”
 

“It’s happening to Taeyeon, right now.” Seohyun directed their sight to Taeyeon battling against Sydel quite effortlessly.
 

“I was so helpless… I couldn’t helped Jessi … I-I couldn’t. But, then something in me switched and now… I’m like this…”
 

“I’m going to t-try and help T-Taeyeon...” Tiffany carefully placed Jessica on Seohyun’s lap and hesitantly stood up.
 

Hyoyeon angrily stood up. “Time to return the favour, for Jessica.”
 

Sooyoung and Yoona rose up beside her. “Count me in, unnie. No mercy.”
 

“Someone needs to stay back with Seohyun while she takes care of Jessica.” Sunny advised at all the girls.
 

“I will I will!” Yoona immediately winked at Seohyun.
 

Seohyun shook her head at the girl. “Now’s not the time, Yoona- unnie.”
 

…...


With the power of the Great Four Spirits seeping free inside Taeyeon, the iris of her eyes burst into varicoloured hues. Her overall abilities overwhelmed Sydel from the combination of her four types of magic, creating explosive, high voltage attacks.
 

“Those colours… PREPOSTEROUS!” Sydel roared in frustration and released a dark wave.
 

Taeyeon jumped in the air, dodging the attack and somersaulted forward, kicking Sydel in the face.
 

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Taeyeon dashed forward, grabbing him by the neck and violently dragging him against the ground.
 

Sydel strained a smirk. “Y-You… Dare? I’ve already done the process of ending that Spirit of Light, she’ll d-die soon enough.”
 

“Wh-What!? You what?!”
 

Taeyeon was momentarily caught off guard and was hit in the rib-side by Sydel’s dark pole. She tumbled against the ground, but quickly recovered and shot out a varicoloured beam from her palm; directly hitting Sydel.
 

Taeyeon growled angrily, “I promised… I PROMISED TO PROTECT THEM!” Taeyeon shouted with rage and her coloured aura enlarged.
 

Taeyeon lunged at Sydel, brutally assaulting him with her enhanced abilities. In an instant, Taeyeon nailed Sydel in the face, sending him flying backwards and crashing into the walls of the Temple.
 

Sydel emerged from the rubble, holding his battered face. “You have some nerve.”
 

And twirled his pole as if he was doing an enchantment. 
 

Taeyeon watched him curiously and cautiously, and released a colourful magic blast at him, cancelling his casting time. “You seem to be underestimating me. “
 

Sydel twirled his pole and wiped out Taeyeon’s attack. He muttered annoyingly, “I’m getting sick and tired of you!”
 

Then he leaped into the air, gripping his pole to smash Taeyeon to the ground. His pole was engulfed with dark clouds.
 

“Prepare yourself!” He swung hard at the unmoving girl who only looked him with eyes of mockery.
 

“Die!”
 

A huge explosion of dust covered the two fighters. Sydel knew no one had ever escape this attack and stood victorious over Taeyeon. As the dust began to fade, he spotted the girl staring straight at him. 
 

“No, it’s not over yet.” Taeyeon stood firm as a spectrum of colours cloaked her figure.  
 

She blocked and generated greater power on her hand, easily out- blasting him into the air.  
 

Taeyeon angrily berated him for harming Tiffany and Jessica. “You rotten b@stard, you’ll pay for what you’ve done!”
 

Sydel cursed as he lost his grip on his pole from the attack, but he retaliated by trying to chain Taeyeon with his pole on. It caught Taeyeon by surprised when it wrapped around her.
 

Sydel had to take this chance, he knew he was outmatched, but refused to set his pride away to call for help.
 

In air, he prepared for a finishing blow and crossed his legs, moving his arms in a circular motion.
 

“Time for me to ge-“
 

Suddenly, Sydel was tackled up in the air by a pink force and was thrown to the ground.
 

“Tiffany!” Taeyeon grabbed the pole and snapped it in half.
 

Tiffany went beside Taeyeon to check if she was okay.
 

Sydel’s eyes went wide from the shock. He has never witnessed a Chosen so strong, to even be able to break his dark weapon.
 

“Taeyeon-ah, I-I want to help…  “Tiffany released a heart shaped blast at Sydel who was staggering on his two feet. The attack hit the floor in front of him and he covered his face from the debris that surrounded him.
 

“I don’t want you to get hurt …”

“That’s okay, I can handle him alone.” Taeyeon shot out her own magic at Sydel, doubling the debris, as he started to cough and jumped out of the dust.
 

Instantly, he moved his hands in a strange pattern to cast a spell. Upon completing, he aimed his palm at Taeyeon and Tiffany, and an explosion was released out of his hands.
 

Without a seconds glance, Taeyeon countered by sending out a vortex of colourful magic with one hand, sending Sydel metres across the field. 
 

“See?” Taeyeon held Tiffany’s shoulder. “… And I wanna break him for hurting you.”
 

Did Tiffany hear right? She managed to give off a blush at this kind of situation.
 

“… Just me?”
 

A brief paused was made and Taeyeon looked away.
 

“W-What...? I said… Y-You and Jessica, what are you talking about.”
 

 Taeyeon dashed past Tiffany to finish Sydel off, leaving Tiffany to watch Taeyeon pound Sydel to infinity and beyond. She smiled to herself, knowing she’s already forgiven Taeyeon for groping her.
 

Tiffany sprinted forward and saw Taeyeon holding Sydel by the neck, he uttered. “No matter how much effort I’ve put in, I’m sure I can take centre stage!” Sydel laughed manically as he mutated by ripping out his one arm. 
 

Taeyeon immediately dropped him from the bizarre action.
 

“You’re twisted,” Taeyeon noticed Tiffany behind her and placed her arm out protectively. 
 

“Did this guy just….” Tiffany stayed closely behind Taeyeon and watched at the demon do wacky stuff.
 

Sydel staggered up. “That is correct, until I’ve arrived here, you have no idea how many times I kiss the assses of utterly worthless Demon Gods… No that didn’t come out right. “
 

Taeyeon watched him utter uselessness to himself and released another attack, blasting a massive hole through the latter’s body. Sydel rose up from the ground with flesh hanging off his body, yet he was still somewhat intact. He brought up his one hand and positioned it like the Buddha palm. He chanted a fast and archaic spell and disappeared.
 

“What the – “ Taeyeon frantically looked around at the sudden disappearance. 
 

“Taeyeon!” Tiffany pointed back to her friends. “Over there!”
 

Sydel stood creepily behind Seohyun who was healing Jessica. “My lovely Spirit of Light.”
 

“ $%@)*%! “ Yoona fumbled upon the gross surprise, and instantly wrapped her arms around Seohyun and Jessica.
 

“QUICK! HOLD ON!! “ Yoona liquefied the ground, making it like quick sand and dove into the ground.
 

Yoona hugged Seohyun and Jessica tightly, as they tunneled underground. Yoona navigated beneath everyone, until she felt they were at a safe distance before surfacing. 
 

Sydel was about to follow the three girls into the ground but he was immobilized by some type of greater force. He looked around to see a short girl with her arm in front of her. Sunny gestured with one hand and lifted Sydel up into the air. Having done that, Sydel was paralyzed.
 

“Have a taste of this!” Hyoyeon summoned a jet stream of water from her arm. Then, Sooyoung creates a massive electrical discharge from above Sydel, striking down, and destroying the area around him. 
 

Yoona easily moved through the earth with the two girls and rose to surface where Taeyeon and Tiffany were.
 

“Unnies!” Yoona shouted as she appeared next to Taeyeon and Tiffany. 
 

Tiffany and Taeyeon sighed from relief. “Thank god.”
 

The girls looked back and watched the explosion diminish. 
 

Taeyeon narrowed her eyes and watched carefully. “Something’s going on…” 
 

Sydel was held at the neck by a tall, slender figure.
 

“YURI !?”

……
 

Ignoring their dumbfounded state, Yuri didn’t respond to her friends. Her face was emotionless, while she squeezed the neck of Sydel, absorbing all the Dark Magic he had inside him.
 

Take it all. 

“M-My Spirit of Darkness…. You’re here. But why?” Sydel’s body slowly shriveled up like a prune. “ANSWER ME!”
 

Yuri remained unresponsive and continued to the magic of Sydel.
 

“The ‘Demon Lords’ … They have died giving me unprecedented opportunity!” Sydel shouted to the world as his body became old and ghostly.
 

“I SHALL REACH THE ULTIMATE HEIGHTS OF POWER!” Sydel’s voice echoed throughout the field when his body evaporated into black clouds. 
 

“Sh-She… Yuri… Killed him. She killed him so easily...” Tiffany watched Yuri who was unmoved. 
 

“Yuri!!” Taeyeon yelled for the girl whose back was turned to them. “Yuri! We’re so glad to see you safe!”
 

Yuri slowly turned around and faced her friends. Her face was emotionless and her eyes were empty. Pitch black emptiness, with red and black abstracts.
 

“Wh-What’s wrong, Yuri-ah?” Sooyoung anxiously approached the girl.
 

“Buddy?” Sooyoung shuffled her feet closer. 
 

But, it wasn’t the same Yuri they knew. Yuri generated dark shadowy magic from her hands and aimed it at her closest friends; Sunny, Hyoyeon, and Sooyoung.
 

Sunny was quick to analyze and grabbed the wrists of Sooyoung and Hyoyeon. In a blink of an eye, they were found re-appearing with the rest of their friends. Sunny found herself blessed for successfully testing out her attempt of teleportation.
 

“What the hell, Yuri!?” Hyoyeon shouted at the unsympathetic, Yuri.

Taeyeon uncovered her arm from her face. “Yuri, say something! What’s happened to you!?”
 

Yuri merely looked at her friends as nothing and swiped her hand, triggering a chain of linear dark explosions.
 

Taeyeon counteracted and negated her attack. A blow up of power reacted and gusts of dust and debris stormed the field.
 

Seohyun lost her hold on Jessica and separated from her. The loud noise and cries had woken Jessica. She slowly, lifted her eye lids and saw blurry figures everywhere. Her body was no longer in excruciating pain compared to earlier, but she remained terribly weak.
 

“Yuri! Quit it!” Tiffany ran over to Taeyeon to help her up. “Don’t you know who we are?! We’re your friends! “

Yuri robotically got up to her two feet and stared straight at them. “You’ve all been lied to.”
 

Taeyeon kept her watch on Yuri on high alert. “Damn it, Yuri! What are you talking about?!” 
 

“Snap out of it, Yuri- unnie!” Yoona shouted as she helped Seohyun up from the attack.
 

“Taeyeon, Goddess Martel is manipulating you all.” Yuri’s body disappeared and reappeared in front of the girls, ready to blast her friends.  
 

“YURI DON’T!”
 

Yuri fired a dark flame directly at them, creating a giant explosion that engulfed both Yuri and the girls.
 

Taeyeon, however, reacted immediately and formed an unstable varicoloured barrier, but it shattered from the attack. Causing everyone to be tossed in disarray.
 

After the smoke created by the explosion cleared, Yuri emerged out, walking towards them. 
 

With the girls physically battered, Yuri prepared for another assault on her friends.
 

“KWON YURI!”
 

Jessica screamed at the top of her lungs and held her ribs, wobbling in her stance. Her heart yearned for Yuri once she saw that she was alive.
 

Yuri immediately withdrew her attack and looked fixedly at Jessica. 
 

“Wake up, Yuri! It’s me… “Jessica watched Yuri with melancholy eyes and staggered closer to the changed Yuri. With each step, her look on Yuri became sadder.

 “… Jung Sooyeon.”
 

“Jessica! Stay back!” Taeyeon didn’t want Yuri to attack her, knowing that Jessica was the most injured and Yuri would most likely attack again. But, Jessica ignored Taeyeon and continued closing the distance between herself and Yuri.
 

“S-Sooyeon…?”
 

It was as if a light switched on. Yuri was found trembling and life seemed to come back to her.
 

"Is that you?"
 

Yuri replied with a warmer voice Jessica was so familiar with, “Sooyeon… It’s you… It’s really you... I knew it...”
 

But, shortly after, Yuri’s body was consumed with black shadows. Warding off whatever was changing her back to the original Yuri. 
 

“Yuri! Get out of there! ” Jessica ran to Yuri, trying to reach her body.
 

“It’s me, Jessica! I’m here! ” Jessica was fighting through the pounding barrier and was only an arm’s length away.
 

Jessica continued desperately calling out to Yuri, but she was thrown back, landing hard on the ground.
 

“JESSICA!” The girls rushed up to Jessica and helped her up. 
 

The dark shadows uncovered Yuri and the hope that she had come back to them, was no longer there.
 

“Sooyeon… I finally found you. Aren’t you happy to see me? Go ahead, give me a smile.”
 

“Y-Yuri… Why…” Jessica had a pained expression on her face.
 

“Now that I have you, I don’t need them anymore. This time we’ll STAY together. I’m going to take care of everything.“ Yuri slowly walked towards Jessica. “Why aren’t you smiling? I told you to smile…”
 

Jessica stepped back cautiously, “ No… You’re not my Yuri.”
 

Yuri looked at Jessica with the dead, scary eyes. “I’ve acquired power, I can protect you now, Jessica.”
 

“Wh-What are you saying?” Jessica yelled at the completely different girl. 
 

“They’re manipulating you. Goddess Martel is manipulating you all. “
 

Jessica shot back with a sharp and strict tone. “That’s not true Yuri! You don’t understand what you’re saying!”
 

Yuri spread her arms wide and looked up into the sky. “I’m going to destroy them. You and I together, and we’ll return home.” She gave out her hand, inviting Jessica to her side.
 

“Yuri..." Jessica stood still, as she looked at the girl who had been her closest friend during her childhood. Can't you hear my voice?...
 

“Evil is the stronger side…”
 

“No it's not! Your friends are on this side- the good side..."  
 

Jessica replied in a softer voice, "...I'm on this side.”
 

“Then you all shall perish in the world of chaos and darkness…”
 

Jessica knew she’d lost her real Yuri.
 

Still she kept trying to get her back. “Yuri... Please... You have to remember who you are...”
 

 The voice of Yuri’s was changed to a hair rising voice. “But, I do know who I am. I am your friend..."
 

Yuri charged a dark sphere between her hands, preparing to fire at her friends again. 
 

Jessica dangerously tackled Yuri down before she allowed Yuri to attack them again. For some reason, Yuri didn’t defend herself against Jessica.
 

Jessica held Yuri down by the shoulders with their faces hovering closely, as she stared directly into her eyes.
 

“Yuri please, remember me! Remember the little girl you loved so much!”  Jessica desperately searched for life in Yuri’s lost eyes. She caught a glimpse of a tinkle and felt hope.
 

“Jessica…" Yuri murmured, sadness encroaching into her voice.
 

Yuri closed closed her eyes, trying to slow down her heartbeat. She needed to get control of herself. Yuri looked back up at her and then, as if pained, she shook her head with strain.
 

"I have always been a bother to you, wasn’t I!? You found me annoying, didn’t you!? It was hard for you to even be with me -”

“Yuri, you spineless idiot!” Jessica couldn’t bear to hear any more of Yuri’s feelings about their friendship.
 

She clutched Yuri’s shoulders, earnestly shaking and rocking her against the ground. “Don’t say such pathetic things!!”
 

Jessica pinned Yuri to the ground and reached her hand out to cup her face, "You're stronger than this... You're stronger than them... Fight it Yuri!"
 

“… Sica, I-I c-can't! I-it’s too painful… AAGGHHH” Yuri cried out in agony, sending Jessica flying back with one mighty push.
 

Then, Yuri held her head in pain, battling against a demon that trapped itself in her. 
 

Jessica’s body scrapped against the rocky ground until Taeyeon caught her from behind. Jessica hunched over, eyes were b with tears and shouted at her beloved friend.
 

“There’s no way it was hard for me to be with you! I was always happy around you! I was always smiling whenever I was with you!"
 

"GET IT TOGETHER YURI!”
 

Yuri’s power amplified as auras of dark shadow magic completely cloaked her and continuously rose from her body. Her battle against the inner demon was labourious.
 

“Leave me… ALONE!!”

With the girls startled by Yuri’s outburst, Taeyeon watched attentively, summarizing her observation.
 

“…Just because she’s been taken over, doesn’t mean she’s completely lost to us. We may be able to save her mind.”
 

“What… Does that mean?” Jessica groaned from her body taking in more damage from Yuri. 
 

 “It means that there may be a shred of Yuri left inside her. We just have to reach it.”

-------

 

Was this a fun read? heheh.
Thanks for the love <3 Happy holidays <3 OT9 forever