He was a mumbling, shaking mess, Suho leading him away from the woods and away from the others who gathered around the bonfire. They made their way to the back entrance of the nearest building at the end of the street only a few yards away from the fire pit, Suho helping Chen sit and rest against the concrete wall. Sitting in a heap next to garbage bags of tattered cloth sat Kai, face hidden beneath his cloak. The Water Force continued to glance his way, having only just noticed him. He would have taken Chen elsewhere if he knew Kai had been sitting there.

“Calm down, Chen. Calm down, just relax, alright?” Chen continued shaking, his lips pale and hands clammy. He looked like he might faint soon. Suho looked to Kai, “Hey, will you watch him for a second? I’m gonna grab Jessica and Krystal.”

Kai barely moved, looking down at Chen from the corners of his eyes. His lips barely moved, voice scratchy and low. “Sure…”

“Thanks,” Suho breathed more than replied, stepping up from his place and making his way to the girls gathered around the bonfire with the others. Fingers subconsciously tapping on the nub left on his left arm, he continued to stare at Chen who was still mumbling to himself, shaking and jerking here and there.

It was strange, watching someone suffer from such a trauma, someone who was now a complete stranger in this new state. The Red Force had taken everything from Chen, probably even his sanity. “Damn this Red Force,” Kai muttered under his breath, turning his vision away from Chen and back into the depths of the forest. He didn’t care to see it anymore.

Standing a little too closely to the fire, Tao stared absentmindedly into the flames, eyes wide and his stare somehow penetrating. He was stiff, brows furrowed, lips pursed. Everyone was looking at him, glancing to Chen, waiting for answers. Suho made his way over, motioning for Jessica and Krystal to follow him, Amber and Ryeowook joining in. Before he returned to Chen’s side with the others, he pulled on Tao’s shoulder. “What in the hell did you guys see?”

“An old friend of his,” Tao mumbled, eyes still somewhere in that fire.

Suho stared at him for a moment, brows furrowed, before he scoffed and went back to Chen’s side. It was always so impossible to get any information out of him. It was like no one else existed.

“Do you wanna tell us what the ’s going on?” Kris said, glaring at Tao.

“Kris,” Luhan called after weakly, turning his attention to Tao who had finally looked up from the flames and returned eye contact with the Flight Force.

He thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “The Spirit Realm is infected. The Tree of Life has been consumed far more deeply than we ever would have thought.”

Sehun’s face contorted in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You aren’t saying the Spirit World is in chaos, too, are you?” Luhan added, standing to his feet, catching on more quickly than his brothers.

Tao turned slowly to face Luhan. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. The Red Force is tampering with the dead somehow, probably feeding off their spirit energy within the Tree which protects all life on the planet. Her body looked like it was made from clay and earth of some kind. The Red Force is turning this place into a living hell…” He trailed off, suddenly trapped in deeper thought.

Now Sehun stood. “Her? Who was it?” His heart had stopped, both afraid and hopeful of the answer.

The Time Force’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Lully.”

Luhan and Kris both turned their attention towards Sehun, whose face almost appeared in horror, the both of them knowing exactly what he was thinking. Luhan put a hand on Sehun’s shoulder, returning his gaze to Tao whose face was grave.

“Don’t go looking for them. You won’t like what you find.”

His head was pounding, ears ringing as his vision returned to him. When his obscured vision cleared and he saw Lay before him, he was sure he was hallucinating. Chanyeol’s eyes grew wide, and a sharp inhale of breath made a scratch in his throat that sent him into a coughing fit. Familiar, petite hands grabbed hold of his shoulder and patted his back to get the itch out.

“It’s about time you woke up. How you feeling?” Lay asked, putting a hand on the back of his neck to soothe his throat.

Finally breaking free of his coughing fit, his voice came out hoarse and broken, dry sobs cracking his voice further. “You found me, I thought I was gonna die.”

Baekhyun bit down on his lip, suddenly aware of how guilty he felt at having given up the search those few weeks ago. He was probably only just out of sight the whole time, and he’d probably be perfectly fine if they never gave up. He rubbed Chanyeol’s back, trying to stay strong despite the horrible feelings of self-loathing that began to stir up.

Lay shh’d him, taking a look at his vitals again. “You’re fine now, everything fine, Chanyeol. I’ve got some medicine back at our camp, you’ll feel a lot better soon, so just rest for a bit, alright? Your heartbeat is pretty weak, you can’t be exerting yourself at all right now.”

“He’s awake?” Minho called from inside the truck, D.O. turning to see.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun replied back, “How long until we get back to Suju, do you think?”

“You guys have been in Suju?” Chanyeol went to laugh, but there wasn’t a sound, “It’s a miracle that we even crossed paths.”

D.O. turned to face forward again, though his smile quickly faded. He was already facing unpleasant thoughts, same as Baekhyun.

“‘Bout a half hour,” Minho yelled out the window so the passengers in back could hear, then lowering his voice to speak with D.O. “That’s really great that you guys found your friend. I don’t know how he survived, I’d hate to be in that kind of situation. It’s a wonder he wasn’t mauled down by a pack of Wraiths, they’re pretty horrible around here. Surprised we haven’t come across any yet, to be honest.” At the mention of Wraiths, Minho began to survey the surroundings, suddenly paranoid. It did nothing to ease D.O.’s conscious concerning Chanyeol, either.

Lay reached into the cooler Ryeowook had left them, pulling a bottled water out, quickly pulling the cap off and putting it up to Chanyeol’s mouth. “Here, drink this. Drink the whole thing.”

The red head took the bottle from Lay’s grip, though Lay still felt the need to help guide his shaky hands. Baekhyun was sure Chanyeol was drown himself, he was trying to gulp down more water than he thought he could handle. The world around him seemed to go blank, he couldn’t even really hear anything around him. The only thing Baekhyun could do was sit there and watch this skeletal version of his friend cling to life. A sick feeling in the pit of his stomach tore him to pieces.

“Wraiths!”

He was immediately pulled out of his trance, turning his head until he saw the pack coming for the truck. Chanyeol’s eyes were wide, knowing he couldn’t do anything to protect himself in the state he was in. Lay pulled the Fire Force close to his body, ready to shield him from any attack.

Like a flash of force, the pack beat into the side of the truck, effectively flipping it over on it’s side, the windshield shattering. The five of them braced for impact as it crashed into the dirt road, D.O. trying to hold Minho close to him as his side of the car was now on the ground. Baekhyun tumbled forward, hitting his head. There was a ringing in his ears and his vision was blurry. He got up to his feet quickly, though, searching for the beasts. There were five of them. One hand on his temple, he reached the other arm out, fingers to the sky as a sudden flash of light was emitted.

Meanwhile, D.O. pulled Minho out of the truck through the passenger side, and Lay kept him and Chanyeol hidden in the truck of the bed like a barrier of protection.

Minho went to run towards Lay and Chanyeol by the bed of the truck. “! ing !”

Baekhyun continuously blinded the Wraiths, though he was clearly becoming tired, knees bent and threatening to give way. Without waiting for a plan, D.O. turned, swiftly kicking one and two Wraiths back, their knees shattering under the force. The sound of their high-pitched squeals sent shivers down Chanyeol’s spine. This felt all too familiar.

“I always feel so worthless when these bastards show up,” Lay muttered, looking around for anything that could be used as a weapon.

“You feel worthless?” Minho scoffed.

Lay turned to look at Chanyeol. “I know you just woke up but I think they could use your help.” The sound of something like D.O. growling overtook the end of Lay’s sentence, Baekhyun now leaning against the truck to hold himself up. The light was growing weaker the longer he tried to keep it. Slowly, they were turning into small orbs just in their eyesight.

Chanyeol swallowed, hands shaking. “I dunno. I dunno, I’m so tired.”

“Just give it a little push. We have to get out of this mess if you want to rest, alright? Just one little push,” Lay encouraged, Minho handing Chanyeol another drink of water which he surely needed.

D.O. smashed another one’s head, his knuckles bleeding. There were only two left now, Baekhyun’s hands shaking as he was now doubled over, unable to stall them at all.

“Come on, Chanyeol!” Lay pleaded with him, knowing he was asking a lot of him when he was unconscious only a few moments ago. Turning his head, he saw the barrels of gasoline that had fallen from the truck. They wouldn’t need all of it, surely. He stood quickly, Chanyeol jumping, frightened by his sudden movement. “Minho, help me dump two of this drums!”

“What?” Minho asked, though he helped anyways. As they dumped the gasoline over the truck, D.O. continued tossing the Wraiths back, preferring to kick them rather than punch, Baekhyun on his knees, fighting to conjure more light to help D.O.

Chanyeol’s brows furrowed, unsure of the course of action. “What are you doing?”

“Just a spark, Chanyeol. We just need a spark, I know you can manage that much!” Lay helped him stand, now calling D.O. and Baekhyun back by their side and away from the truck.

It was true, Chanyeol was weak, but a spark wouldn’t be too difficult. The smell of gasoline was strong. As D.O. and Baekhyun ran towards them, Lay’s hands on his shoulders, he held out a shaking hand, ready to snap his fingers.

“Hurry!” Baekhyun tried to scream, the last two Wraiths chasing after.

He opened his eyes. Snap.

Crack.

Boom.

She always seemed to be pushed up against a tree when they had these little “meetings.” He was a little more rough, but she didn’t really mind it. She’d rather the fast heartbeat for something like this than to be cowering in fear. He almost sounded like he was fighting against her, honestly.

Fingers curled tight around tufts of his hair, she bit down on her lip, inhaling sharply. “You’re upset.”

He didn’t respond, but she kept prying, arms now resting on his shoulders for support. “What’s wrong, Kris?” Her face was now buried in the crook of his neck, his hands holding tight to her waist.

Gasping, the strange feeling that overcame her as he pulled out taking her by surprise. “Why are you asking?”

They were both breathing hard, long pauses as they responded to each other. “I can tell that something’s wrong.” Jessica looked up at him, pulling her face away from his neck now. “I know you like to be distracted but―”

“Then stop asking me about it, you know I don’t like to talk.”

She flipped her hair out of her face, swallowing and finally collecting her breath. “So is that what you’re gonna do, just keep running away from your problems? Or do you think you can them all away?”

Buttoning his pants back up, he walked away from her. “Tree of Life, why are you doing this right now?”

“Just talk to me. I’m a big sister, I’m good at this sort of thing,” She buttoned her pants back up, walking back to him, though he continued to pull away from her. “Would you just talk to me, damn it, Kris?”

Finally, he turned around, eyes glaring, arms out to his sides. “I’m a brother, alright? What the else you want me to say? My kid brother is a in’ mess, the planet is dying, all of our dead friends are in Hell I guess and there isn’t I can ing do about it!”

She stood there silently, searching for the words to respond with.

His voice was a bit softer now, putting his hands in his pockets, walking back to the bonfire. “There’s nothing to talk about Jessica. It is what it is.”

Sehun had gone off walking again, his hand subconsciously fidgeting with the photo he’d taken from Sydney’s old house in his pocket. Tao said it would be Hell if he saw her, but even so, he couldn’t help but want to run across her ghost at least once. See her one more time. It didn’t matter to him that her body was made of clay, that she wouldn’t smell the same. As long as it was her soul, that’s all that mattered to him.

There was a hand on his shoulder, and he knew almost immediately that it belonged to Luhan. “Hey,” he called softly.

“Hey,” Sehun replied back weakly.

The elder brother smiled faintly, voice still quiet. “Tao said you shouldn’t go looking for her, you know. You might think he’s the biggest of the century, but he usually knows what he’s talking about. Whatever he and Chen saw, it was horrible.” Suddenly, his expression was dark.

The Wind Force sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I know, but I can’t help it. I miss her… I’d give anything to see her again.”

“Trust me, I know. I miss her, too, Sehun. But honestly, we might be better off if we just accept that the girls are gone. Holding onto this hope that we’ll see them again will only make it hurt worse.”

A slight howling in the wind, like something weak and broken. Luhan stared at his brother, knowing how his heart was aching. He felt it, too. Clenching his hands tight, he took a deep breath, fighting off his own emotions.

“Let’s just wait until we find out more about what’s going on, alright? We don’t even know what exactly they are, or if it’s for sure even them. Could just be the Red Force using their likenesses to hurt us. It’s destructive. It wants to watch the world burn.” Luhan’s voice trailed off, though after a moment of Sehun’s silence, he tugged on his wrist, leading him back towards the others.