Through the film of dust on the gauge panel, the thin orange arrow rested a third of the way towards F. Minhyun swiped his hand across the dust to be sure, then made his way on the exterior deck of the ferry. “There’s gas, but not much of it,” he called to the others who were scattered on the shore and wandering in the warehouse nearby.

“I haven’t found any drums of gasoline in the warehouse, either,” D.O. said to Suho, rubbing the dirt on his hands between his fingers. “There’s no guarantee there’ll be any on the island to get us back home.”

Suho sighed, placing his hands in the pockets of his cloak as the wind began to pick up. “It’s a risk we’ll have to take. If it comes down to it, Xiumin should be able to help us across. Kai, too.” Several feet away, Kai clenched his jaw, knuckles white.

The boys on shore began to head towards the dock, the water growing more and more animated as the wind began to swirl. Luhan sat with Sehun inside the captain's quarters, blanket wrapped tightly around his frail, sickly body. “Can you do anything about the wind?” Luhan’s voice was soft, growing weaker as he took in the discoloration of Sehun’s skin and the way it hung off his bones.

Sehun struggled to find his voice. “No, I don’t think so. I’m sorry.”

“No,” Luhan replied, turning to face the window. “I’m sorry.”

The ferry teetered back and forth, Tao and Taeyong the last to board. The sky grew darker, the clouds thicker and turning black like firesmoke. The smell of the deep below wafted through the air with a hint of musk. The scent of something living. “Head inside,” Tao said to Taeyong, pushing the boy’s shoulder towards the door nearby, Tao closing the door the moment they entered. “Either start this thing and head for Caschaea or get off and make your way into the warehouse.”

Suho turned from the wheel. “Storm coming? I can handle it.”

Tao peered out the window, watching as the waves slowly began to settle yet again. Suho turned the key in the ignition, slowly watching the gauges and learning the mechanics of the ship by eye. Chen opened one of the windows, looking upward towards the blanket of clouds. “The air is calm, there’s no static. I doubt it’s a storm coming through.”

“No, it’s something else,” Tao mumbled, keeping his eyes on the now still waters.

Suho found the accelerator, slowly moving the ferry forward towards Caschaea. “Be on the lookout then. We don’t have much ground to defend ourselves on.”

“It was just so windy a second ago,” Baekhyun muttered looking out the window with Chen. The darkness in the clouds remained ominous.

Ren sat close beside his brother, the edges of his body like a blur just as they were the day Tao and Chen crossed paths with the two from Ruk. Minhyun grabbed his hand, the two of them exchanging eye contact before Ren returned his gaze to the floor, squeezing the fabric of his pants between his fingers.

As the fog began to engulf the dock behind them, the water beneath the boat began to churn up again. There were bumps and creaks along the belly of the ferry, creaks like fearful or raw cries from deep below.

Baekhyun’s fingers began to twitch, his mouth agape as he repeatedly glanced out the window towards the surface of the water. Xiumin’s shoulders began to frost over. Kai stood still, still as Tao ever did.

“Where on the island are you from,” Taeyong said, voice phlegmy.

“Just past the port. And what about you and your father?”

Taeyong sighed, opening and closing the window repeatedly. “Along the southern edge by the marshlands. There are small mountains south of us, and you can see the view of the Dragon’s Back from my bedroom window, even if it’s usually hidden behind the high fog between the trees.”

“I didn’t know anyone lived that way,” Tao replied, trailing off as he left the conversation.

Xiumin pressed his brows together, head tilting. “How long were you at the train station, Taeyong?”

“About a month. I’ve been prisoner to those ers for at least two. Probably would’ve died sooner if I hadn’t fought so damn hard. And if mother didn’t.” Taeyong’s jaw set tight, eyes scrunching together.

Baekhyun struggled to speak. “You’ve been living with your mother all this time, then? When did they… I mean, how long ago did the incident happen?”

“When they killed my father and uncles? I must’ve been a baby, I don’t remember much of my dad when he was alive. So I suppose it was almost nineteen years ago.” He sighed, peaking out the front windows, hoping to see the tip of the Dragon’s Back somewhere in the fog. “They took everything from me.”

The ferry grew quiet aside from Sehun hacking in the silence. The boat began to teeter back and forth again, lulling them in their exhaustion, in the sadness that had swept over them and the confusion that Taeyong’s story had brought. Even paradise was not as heavenly as it once seemed.

The boys fell from their seats, Suho was thrown into the nearest window. Several of them fell over the top of each other, Kai landing into Suho and Chen smashing his face into a first aid kit mounted on the wall. The ferry had tipped over, water splashing up against the windows. Ren had multiplied, there were three of him tumbling around near Minhyun, each of them wide eyed and panicked. Sehun struggled to stand, Luhan pulling him up as the boat rocked back and forth aggressively.

Tao leaned hard against the wall, looking hard out the window. “Everyone get up!”

“Hold on to something! Brace yourselves!” Suho added, struggling to grab hold of the wheel as the ferry was knocked forcefully in the opposite direction, the bodies of the boys tumbling over yet again.

The lights on the ship began to flicker and the air grew staticky as Chen became more panicked. Lay held tightly to his shoulders, staying close by as he could. Minhyun kept his grip on Ren’s shoulders, the two of them continually falling into each other with every rock of the ferry.

“Baekhyun, the lights!” Suho called, still rocking with the force of the boat, knuckles white with his grip on the wheel.

D.O. grabbed tightly onto a rope hook mounted in the wall nearby, grabbing Baekhyun by the waist while he struggled to find stability to form light orbs. Another smash into the side of the ferry had nearly toppled the whole boat over into the ocean. Water had flooded to decks outside of the captain’s quarters and began to seep in from under the door.

Suho looked out at the window, watching as the water threatened to consume the ferry. Feeling the tips of his shoes dampen, he turned to Lay. “Take the wheel, I’m going out!” He stumbled towards the door, Tao following behind.

Outside, Suho held tight to the railing, looking over the edge of the ferry and into the raging, black water. Xiumin approached behind Suho and Tao, looking over their shoulders quickly before searching the water on the other side of the boat. “What in the hell is in this water, Tao?” Suho said, slipping on the wet deck.

“There was talk of a huge jelly-squid far below, but this thing isn’t living,” Taeyong answered, having joined them. “It’s one of them.”

“Are you ing ting me!?” Suho yelled back, “How big do they get.”

“Size of whole buildings.”

The moment Taeyong finished, the boat began to heave back and forth, something of a black tentacle reaching up from the water and grasping onto the railing of the ferry, pulling on it with all its weight. As the boat began to tip, more and more tentacles began to grasp onto the side.

“Tree of Life,” Xiumin breathed, he and the others lifting their heads as they watched it pull its body up against the boat. The head of it, like the head of a glowjelly, shown a bright red and glowed in the dark, the length of it reaching a height similar to the length of the West Wing of the Hall. Ice began to form around Xiumin’s feet, anchoring him to the deck of the boat, hands groping for the handrailing behind him. The boat began to cry under the creature’s weight, water rushing back down into the ocean from off it’s head and the slick tentacles that creeped along the boat.

“How did the Red Force reach into Dragon’s Mouth? How did it infect the marine life so far out here,” Suho said, fingers trembling as they stood still as possible, the boat still rocking and catching water. He swallowed, blinking. “T-Tao, can’t you stop it?”

Tao glanced back and forth at Suho and then the creature. Slowly reaching his hand out, arms shaking, he struggled to steady his breathing. Just as he prepared to stop the creature, it swung a tentacle, smashing into Suho’s chest and tossing him overboard.

“Suho!”

The door to the captain’s quarters flew open Luhan making his way towards the railing, several others following behind. Sehun looked from inside, peering out the window and struggling to stay standing. Spotting the creature in the darkness on the edge of the ship, Sehun tumbled out the door as well, staying close to his brother.

“Sehun, stay inside!” Luhan shouted, grabbing Sehun’s shoulders. “You’ll go overboard!”

“I’m not leaving you!”

The creature lifted another tentacle, smashing it into the side of the boat and breaking open the captain’s quarters. A shard from one of the windows sliced into Lay’s face, doubling him over as he grasped onto the wheel for support. Behind them, more creatures much like the large one began to climb up the side of the ship.

“Taeyong, what can you do?” D.O. shouted, slipping on the deck as he tried to stand upright again.

“Not !”

The creature blasted into the boat again, debris falling into Ren’s head. The body faded once it collapsed, leaving only two of Ren left on the ship.

A spurt of water shot high out of the raging ocean, sending Suho’s body toppling back onto the deck, soaked and weak. He coughed up water, nearly gagging. Xiumin ran to his side, helping him stand again as more of the creatures began to make their way onto the deck. Baekhyun and Kai kicked them off the side of the railing, Taeyong joining in with a few punches here and there.

“Suho, you gotta help me. Remember what we did in training?” Xiumin said, planting his and Suho’s feet on the deck with ice formations.

Suho nodded, still struggling to catch his breath. “Tell me when.”

Once again, the creature lifted one of its tentacles, preparing for another blow to the boat. “Now!” Xiumin shouted, Suho pulling water up from the side of the ship in heavy tendrils towards the creature, the water turning to sharp ice from the tip all the way down towards the surface. It stabbed just below the head into one of the tentacles, taking the creature aback and preventing the blow.

Luhan made his way toward Xiumin and Suho, using his telekinesis to grab fallen debris from the ferry and aiming it towards the monster. Sehun struggled to hold tightly to the railing as the boat continued to teeter.

Wrapping its tentacle around the broken off end of the ice spear, the creature pulled it from one of its many arms. Then it pulled back, aiming directly towards Sehun. He stood there, watching, unable to move, unable to process the course of actions in time for an agile response. The creature flung the ice spear, the force of it pulling the boat down towards it and knocking over several of the boys.

“Sehun!”

The spear had impaled him, leaving his body stiff. He looked back at his brother, face frozen and fingers trembling. He fell into Sehun against the railing, unable to move his limbs. Blood began to pool in Luhan’s mouth, eyes glassy.

Tao stared, eyes bigger than they ever were, hands held tight onto the railing as he saw the shock in Sehun’s dark eyes. Saw how Sehun’s legs gave way under his brother’s weight and the two of them fell over into a heap.

“We gotta do more!” Xiumin yelled to Suho. “Alpha Strike!”

Ten tendrils of water stretched up from the surface, each aiming at the large creature this time. “Now!” shouted Suho, Xiumin freezing each of the tendrils, he and Suho stabbing them into the head of the beast with their combined strengths. The creature bled out, falling limp back into the ocean. D.O., Taeyong, Kai, and Baekhyun kicked the remainder of the littler monsters back into the water, the ferry settling back into a steady float in the ocean.

Tao hadn’t taken his eyes off the brothers, Taeyong turning to watch. Lay sat unconscious near the wheel, blood dripping from his hair. Everyone gathered around Sehun, Luhan still leaning into him.

Xiumin removed the tip of the ice spear from Luhan’s back, D.O. helping Sehun turn the Telekinetic over in Sehun’s arms so he could lay back. Luhan’s eyes were rolling around in his head, the gaping hole in his chest deep and red.

“Why did you do that?” Sehun shouted, Sehun’s hands shaking with one of Luhan’s in his grasp.

“I can’t move my arms or legs,” Luhan breathed.

“Tree of Life,” Taeyong muttered, his senses tingling.

Suho stood over the brothers, unsure if he should say anything. Kai felt the stub hanging on his side, suddenly grateful it was his only physical loss.

“You’re gonna be alright,” Sehun pleaded, lips trembling.

“Promise me,” he took a weak breath, eyes rolling back, “Promise me you’ll find a cure, alright?” His face was expressionless. He was totally paralyzed.

“Shut up! You promised, Luhan! You promised you’d never leave me!” He shouted, sobbing between each word. “Damn it, Luhan, don’t leave me!”

But his brother didn’t respond. The blood had drenched the deck, had drenched Sehun’s cloak. There wasn’t even a whistle left on his tongue.

“Damn it! Damn it!” Sehun cried, burying his face in his brother’s hair. His knuckles grew white and the sobs turned to gags.

Minhyun held onto Ren tight, who was no longer duplicated on the boat. They stared at Sehun, stared at Luhan’s lifeless body sprawled on his lap. Stared at the blood that pooled up towards their feet.

Baekhyun cried. Chen cried. Sehun might’ve crossed over with his brother, his body looked so deflated and the exhaustion grew with every heave of his chest. They let him mourn, stood silently and cried with him. Mourned the loss of yet another one of their childhood friends, lost to the monsters of the Red Force. Mourned the loss of a wise, dear old friend.

Swallowing back a few sobs, Sehun forced the words from his mouth. “I want to take him back to Ruk.” His voice was raw, weak. “I want to take him back to our home.”

Suho shook his head. “We can’t do that, Sehun.”

“I want to take him back to Ruk!” Sehun shouted.

“We can’t cart a dead body around with us, Sehun! We can’t, I’m sorry!” D.O. replied, each of them struggling to breathe.

“He’s my brother you ing bastards!” Weaker. “He was my brother, Tree of Life, he was my goddamn brother.”

Suho took a deep breath, kneeling down beside Sehun. “I’m sorry, Sehun. You can,” he paused, then breathed again, “You can blame me. It’s my fault. But, we can’t carry him with us. We have to bury him overboard.”

Sehun shook his head, eyes shut tight and drowning. “I don’t wanna let go. Don’t make me let him go.”

“A few more minutes,” Suho replied softly. “Say your goodbyes.”

He continued to sob over Luhan’s body again, each one ripping through him relentlessly, chopping his voice and tearing his lungs apart.

Lay began to stir, still dizzy. Minhyun walked over to him, Ren staying close. “Relax,” Minhyun said, “Don’t move. I have some,” he looked back towards Sehun, “awful news.”

“Who died,” Lay asked, groggily looking around.

“Luhan.”

Sehun watched as Luhan’s body sunk into the depths below. Suho stood nearby, arm around his shoulders, Sehun’s grip tight on the railing. The sobs returned to him, buckling his knees as he fell into Suho who lead him away from the edge of the ferry. “I’m so sorry, Sehun,” he whispered over and over again, but it would never be enough.

“I’ve lost everything,” Sehun cried, eyes red and voice cracked.

Suho couldn’t disagree.