Chapter 34

Externally Ethereal(revamping, title might change)

   Still half- asleep (or temporarily sleep walking, who knows), you ‘wake’ up in the usual way, sun shining through the window into your eyes like the rays of superman with a lanky boy wrapped protectively around you (like you promised).

  Trying to think back on the dream you had last night about Lay taking over the community as a mobster with potato guns and lobsters as his minions, you mindlessly untangle yourself from Sehun, even though Mr. Cling King fought back and asked ‘one more hour’, you got up and started heading towards your door.

  Pushing it open, you hear laughter down the hall onto the first floor. Smiling, the pendant hanging from your neck starts to glow warmly against your stomach. Going past the other bedrooms, you hear Kai snoring and you can definitely validate that he’s in that comatose-I-sleep-like-the-dead state.

  The footsteps ever so lightly echoes into the hallway, and you grab your back as a disgruntled noise escapes from the lower part of your throat. There is still a glassy look to your eyes since that was probably the most ed up dream you have ever had in like...forever. You didn’t even check the mirror to glance at your knotted hair that seems as if you could possibly have an eagles’ nest up in there.

  Making your way down the stairs slowly, you yawn and successfully enter the kitchen, where Lay, Chen, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun are all chattering with hints of school-girlish giggles and a hint of playfulness in their eyes. Speaking of eyes, you roll yours and yank open the fridge because you have some serious cravings for apple juice at the moment. As you scan the fridge, all eyes land on you and you could almost feel them burning a hole through your head. Slowly, you pull your head back, apple juice box sticking out of your mouth, and stare back.

    “Yes?” You ask monotonously before sticking the straw back in your mouth.

  All boys have their mouth dropped instead of Baekhyun, who turns to Yixing.

“I thought you said she can’t walk?”

“You and me both.” Lay replied to him. You on the other hand stared at Yixing with squinted eyes.

“Didn’t you have an army of lobsters a minute ago?” You asked.

  Now it was his turn to squint his eyes at you with a what-the--is-going-on? look.

“...Is she okay?” Chen asks.

“I don’t think so.” Chanyeol adds, walking towards you.

“I’m fine. Right Lay? Where did you put the potato gun anyways?”

  If those boys didn’t look dumbfounded a second ago, they sure as hell do now.

  Chanyeol comes over and grips your shoulders as you hear Yixing mutter something like “bae’s and potato gun nonsense, woman drives me crazy” before the guardian of fire begins to shake you at your shoulders.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Chen asks, and you sleepily wonder why he has so many questions.

“What do you think I’m doing? She’s sleep-walking!”

“You don’t shake a person who sleepwalks you idiot!” Baekhyun says.

“She’s not.” says a voice from up the stairs.

  Everybody turning, apparently because the combination of curiosity and ‘what the ?’ is the theme of the day, Luhan comes down the stairs step by step.

  Ruffling his hair, he looks at you and then does a double-take. He then glances over at Lay and gestures his hand to you.

“Because she can’t wa- I thought she couldn’t walk?” He asked with a tone of true curiosity. Yixing shrugs his shoulders to the elder.

“You know, I thought so too, but it seems we were proven wrong.” He said rubbing his temples slowly.

  You then look down at yourself and drop the juice box out of your mouth, still staring at your feet. As the moment ‘clicks’ your lips form an ‘O’ shape. You look up at everyone and they look even more confused, if that is possible in the first place.

“I walked!” you practically shout, making everyone jump,

“I walked! I can walk! Without any help! Freedom!” You shout, pumping your fist in the air. The other occupants of the room cannot remove the ‘what the actual ’ expressions.

“FREEEEEEDOMMMMMM! NO MORE BABYSITTER LAY FOR MEEEEEEE.” you shout, and it isn’t until Chanyeol covers your mouth with his hand that you realize you probably (besides Kai) just woke up the whole house. Smiling slyly, you remove his hand and shrug.

“Sorry.” You rub the back of your head sheepishly. Suddenly you remember your juice box on the floor. Reaching down, you pick it up and shake it a bit before smiling happily.

“Hell yeah, mother er still has juice.” You put the straw in your mouth and drink it once again.

  Chen very noticeably rolls his eyes and scoffs at you, because this is most likely his first impression of who you are.

“I’m so sorry. She usually doesn’t cuss this much.” speaks Luhan.

“Um. Yeah. Not the part I’m worried about.” his brother answers.

  By this time, Xiumin has approached the kitchen and glanced at you standing before looking at Yixing, who just raises his hands up in surrender and walks out of the room. Since it’s apparently the oldests’ turn to squint his eyes, he does before instinctively walking towards you and lifting the back of your shirt up, which catches your elbows and makes you drop the juice box again.

“Dude!” you call out.

“I’m curious!”

“To see her bra straps?” Baekhyun asks.

“No, to see if her laceration is fully healed.”

“How do you know what those are?” Chanyeol questions Baekhyun.

  Now it was Baekhyun’s turn to raise his hands in surrender and walk out to join his older brother.


  Because of the ruckus you started, Christina woke up and hesitantly made everyone breakfast (even Kai, who is still sleeping), but not before chiding you about not being loud in the house, which you have come to notice that it’s a very hard rule to follow. You just smiled at her and said you’d try your best. Having her back home made you feel unintentionally safer, even though you had the boys. She’d been with you for so long, you guessed it was only natural.

  Chanyeol had just finished telling a joke, and you had laughed hard. Sehun, who was sitting next to you, rolled his eyes at his brother before getting up to throw away his trash. Breathing deeply, you locked eyes with Chen, who gave you a weird look. You smiled at him and he smiled back, slowly seeing the other side of you.

 Suddenly, your eyes dulled over as you felt an odd sensation spreading through your head. Chen looked at you confused before his eyes widened.

“Yuri!” He called to you. Your body went limp and Chanyeol caught you before you could fall off the stool you sat on. Luhan, Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Yixing came into the kitchen faster than Chen could call for them. Christina turned off the stove before rushing to your side.

“Yuri!”called Luhan. Chanyeol had laid you on the ground, and everyone tried to get you to respond, but all they got was your dulled eyes and still body.

 

 

 

    Opening your eyes, you sat up in a field, the one you’d always met Persephone in. You looked around, suddenly feeling alone. Sure, it was the clearing, but it felt all wrong. The treeline was there, but it wasn’t the same. The grass wasn’t as soft; the ground was cold.

   Out of the distance, you saw a figure approaching you. Quickly standing, you held your pendant and felt nothing.

  Nothing.

   Surprised, you looked down to see it had turned into a cold stone. You were absolutely terrified, and felt as if your life has been ripped away from you, as if someone was stealing your last breath.

 The figure was closer now, and you took a step back.

“Kai?” You called.

  The figure steps closer.

“Luhan?... Xiumin?... Sehun?” Nothing, only the approaching shadow.

  Panicking, and thinking that your bonds have been broken, you begin to hyperventilate.

“Chanyeol? Chen? Baekhyun? Yixing?” You called, a little more shaky. Your breath came in quick shots as the shadow got closer.

  But it’s not possible.

  One cannot live without the other.

  It can’t be possible.

“... Stay away…” It muttered. You took steps backward, almost tripping over yourself.

  The thought of you here alone without your boys sends you into a large panic attack. Sitting on the ground, your heart begins to pump erratically, making you breathe in and out, unnaturally too fast.

“... Don’t come back.. protect them..” It said. You clutched your head, closing your eyes as tears start to flow, and scream. Loud.

  The guardians are gone.

  You scream.

  You’re alone.

  You scream again.

  Fear overtakes you.

  More screaming.

  They’re gone. Life isn’t worth living.

  You scream once more.

  Fury boils at the pit of your stomach at your mentally unstable state.

Letting go of your head, you push yourself up to stand, absolutely furious.

  One cannot take a guardian from their keeper.

  They cannot take them away from you. You’ll kill.

  But instead of facing that apparition, it was gone and the clearing was clouded with smoke, burning into ashes.

  The forest was on fire.

  Crackling was the burning bark, and inhaling the smoke was making you choke.

  Knowing the only thing you could do, you stretch your arms out wide, tipping your head up. You let your pulse calm you down, turning it into a metronome instead.

  Breathe in.

  Breathe out.

  That ‘pulse’ guided you straight towards the mind, and you latched onto every single ability, something that shouldn’t be possible yet. A light shoots out from your eyes. It shines out of your mouth. Your nose. Your ears.

  But in your body, you aren’t seeing the light.

  Images and videos play through your mind. Of war. Death. Fire. Mass murder.

  It plays as if you’re there, but really not. They move at such a fast pace a white noise erupts out of no where, making you grab your ears. You forcefully close your eyes, and then open them back up.

  You saw the scenery had changed, you were now in the forest somewhere.

“Yuri…” You heard faintly. Your head shot up and you were met with the kind eyes of Persephone. Sighing in relief, you ran and collapsed in her arms. She held you and your hair soothingly.

“Yuri… you can’t go back to that field anymore. Not for now at least.” She explained into your ear.

“Is it really on fire? What’s happening? Why not?” You mumbled into her shoulder.

“The forest is not burning, but it will. It’s not safe anymore. He will find you.” She said. She pulled you up and looked into your eyes.

“Well then where are we supposed to meet?” You frowned. She smiled at gestured around you. The scenery changed once again, to a library. But not just a regular library, no, one that looked much familiar.

“My library?” You questioned. She nodded.

“Yes. Right after you get back up. Go to it. We will meet there.”

“But, it’s not time yet.”

“Not for that, this is much more important at the moment. The ones you have yet to meet are okay.” which makes you bring up that question that you have been desperately wanting to know.

“Persephone, who is that guy?” You asked, her face darkened. She took a deep breath and put a hand on her head.

“He is Keres, a god who wanted power over this world.” She grimly looked at you before closing her eyes and showing you the memories of war and death he had caused once again. You didn’t know you were crying until she wiped the tears away with her thumb.

“Shhhhhh…. breathe. Just breathe...to keep you safe, you must stay away from that clearing.” You nodded and she smiled softly.

“It’s time to go back, there are some people who are very worried about you.” She waved her hand and the library disappeared, leaving you in the dark.

“But wait!”

  Breathe.

  Breathe.

  Wake up.

  Breathe.

  Damnit Yuri, wake up!

 

 

 

Breathe!” Xiumin yells.

 You gasped for air as you shot up from the floor. You blinked several times and clutched your heart tightly, trying to breathe. Recognizing the feeling of another panic attack, your breathing gets worse, your heart out of control. You look around but you don’t see, not for a couple of second at least.

“My God, are you okay?” Christina says.

  Your vision comes clear. Too clear. Too sharp.

  Everyone is surrounding you, and saying they looked worried would be an understatement. They look terrified. It isn’t until now that all of your abilities are , something you have never done if Keres isn’t around.

  Choking on oxygen, you claw at your neck until you find the cord necklace and grab the pendant.

  It was back. The feeling was back.

  Shaking uncontrollably and sobbing, Xiumin orders for everyone to leave the room (even Christina) except for him and and his brother.

“Chen. Panic attack.” he says.

“.” his brother says and slides on his knees to you, directly in front of your face.

“Hey, hey listen. Listen to me. Listen to my voice.” he adds.

  Xiumin comes to your other side and holds you in a huge hug, also on his knees.

“Honey, turn it off. Turn everything off. You can do it.” he says soothingly.

  You know what he means, but there is way too many emotions and thoughts running through your head. Chen looks at the two of you in confusion as animalistic sounding sobs and hiccups escape from your throat.

“Come on. Fight this Yuri. You’re strong. Turn it off. I got you. Chen has you. We are all here. Turn it off.”

  The only problem is that it requires focus, and this may be one of the most serious panic attacks you have ever had.

  Faintly from the background since you are too engrossed by the energy that is going through your body, you don’t hear Christina screaming for you, not knowing that Chanyeol and Sehun are holding her back.

“If I can do this, you can too.” Chen says cautiously.

  Screaming, you grip your head tighter (feeling as if it’s about to explode, as if you’re going crazy) and close your eyes. Forcing yourself to find the pulse. It was rapid. The beating of the heart was out of control. You know in serious cases, one can die from heart arrhythmia from a serious event like this.  Losing reality of what was happening outside of your skin, you latch onto a heartbeat as it leads to the head. Taking a deep breath, you use whatever energy you have left that wasn’t in your abilities to shut everything down.


A/N: okay, since I'm not getting enough, I am half tempted to remove the Q&A thing. If you still want to ask, do it. It can be about any chapter and you can ask more than one question.

Thank you again to cuz_tao for helping me with this chapter, I appreciate it.

And thank you to ThatFandomDoeLoL for telling me about that dream you had.

And ya'll thought this was going to be a fun beagle line chapter ;) Sorry not sorry.

Welcome new subscribers!

 

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GaiaMilina
2020: (Ethereal) I've made changes to the story, I don't recommend reading until all chapters are edited

Comments

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aishimasu
#1
Chapter 84: just re-read this after years and i miss this story <3
Byuntae-bacon #2
Chapter 84: i really hope you haven’t given up on this story. it’s honestly one of my favorites. stay safe and healthy ?
Star16
#3
Chapter 74: EXO
Mama
Beakhyun
Lay- the assistant thing? Idol producer, and happy camp
Miracles in December/ Sing for you/Peter pan
Star16
#4
Chapter 74: Big Bang
Haru Haru/ Fantastic Baby
T.O.P
T.O.P. wow these are all rappers huh?
Let's not fall in love
I'm not sure
Star16
#5
Chapter 74: B.A.P.(my first group)
Stop It
Zelo
Zelo, he's always been my bias I guess?
Warrior, No Mercy, One Shot, Stop It
Stop It Album
Star16
#6
Chapter 74: Chapter 69: BTS
Bulletproof part 2/ No More Dream
V
RM/Rapmonster, a variety show I think? And the of course game (MAORI?)
War of Hormones
Dark and Wild
ShyHyperPanda #7
Chapter 84: So, I 'finished' this story in like two days and I can honestly say it's now one of my favourites. Everything is just on point. The grammar, the storyline. Even the way you portrayed the boys only made me fall in love even more. I hope you'll update soon, but I'll patiently wait until you find the time to write again :)