It was almost time.

He could feel it in the air, in the way storms would follow him wherever he went. It was getting stronger each day, which meant it was also getting dangerous.

Chen walked down the halls of the empty hallway his footsteps echoing against the floor as he made his way towards the rooftop. He could hear the church bell ringing as if telling him he was running out of time. Time. That’s what he needed, he needed more time. He gripped the notebook in his hand as he reached the roof.

The wind blew in his face and white linen sheets covered his path as he walked to his outdoor study. Something about being outdoors always helped him think better. Especially during a storm. His study was nothing more than a couple of chairs and piles of history books dating back to as far as human history could take him.

All of it useless though. Chen looked at the notebook he had in his hand, it was made of a caramel colored leather, the pages worn and withered from how many times he’s opened it. “1952…” He muttered the number familiar against his tongue. He repeated the year silently before a strike of electricity spread from his fingers burning the book. No, he needed more time.

The sky suddenly darkened and the ringing grew louder. Chen looked up just as the first strike of lightning painted the sky. The pulse in his fingers quickened just as the solar eclipse started. “..” He quickly grabbed his map opening it and spreading it out on the table, his fingers sliding across the Atlantic sea.

“London…. Spain… Berlin…” Why did he have to lose track now? The wind blew harder and Lightning struck again this time closer.

Chen could feel his adrenaline rising. He had to stay calm. He had to concentrate. “Berlin….. France!” That’s where he had to be! There was no other place he could think of. He needed to get there now. He checked his phone, if he hurried he could get there by tomorrow morning.

He was already late though. The eclipse wasn’t supposed to start yet. He was supposed to have two more days.

Chen grabbed his notebook and folded the map quickly running out of the study. Rain started pelting down from the sky and lightning struck again this time going through the linen sheets and hitting him on the shoulder blade causing him to fall.

His shoulder burned but the pain was tolerable. A strike like that would’ve killed any normal person, but with him it was more of an energizer he had come to accept. He could feel the aftershocks of it spreading through him and his vision blurred. “France” he muttered forcing himself to stand up.

He had to get to France before it was too late. He had to warn them.

******
(Sehun POV)

“Yah! Yah! Who do you think you are Huh?” Baekhyun smacked Sehun on the back of the head. Ouch. That hurt.

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing though, the expression on Baekhyun and Chanyeol was priceless. “You leave for two minutes and come back with someone who freezes time?”

Chanyeol looked at Tao, Xiumin and Kai shocked. “So all of you have gifts too?” Sehun sighed he had already explained this two times. Xiumin raised an eyebrow and looked at Tao “how do we know they’re not lying?” Baekhyun smirked, “I’ll show you how” he started walking away.

Sehun looked after him confused “should we follow?” Chanyeol shrugged and ran to catch up to Baekhyun. Sehun followed quietly not sure what to do. He knew Tao had powers but like Xiumin he had his doubts about Them. They had to be careful. Suho and Kyungsoo had made that very clear.

Baekhyun led them towards the Eiffel Tower a huge grin slapped across his face. “We already came here today” Chanyeol groaned. “Not at night” Baekhyun smiled he looked around to see if anyone was watching and his hands slowly lit up.

Sehun looked at Xiumin his mouth wide open in shock as Baekhyun placed his glowing hand against the tower, slowly it lit up starting from the bottom until light reached the tip. “You’re a walking nightlight” Tao started laughing.

Baekhyun glared taking his hand off the tower. “Oh yeah? Let’s see what you guys got” Sehun opened his mouth to interject but shut it quickly, he decided to let his Hyungs talk. He looked at the sky and felt his fingers flex instinctively, a soft breeze hit the group. It wasn’t noticeable enough for them to know it was him but it was strong enough for Chanyeol to complain.

“It’s getting cold. We should go back. Suho and Kyungsoo are probably furious”

“yeah the train ride was pretty long….” Sehun stopped talking as his hand twitched and a gust of wind hit them. Suddenly the lights on the Eiffel tower started brightening and he had to look away. “Baekhyun-ah! Sehun! Calm it down!” Chanyeol yelled

“I can’t!”

Sehun couldn’t either, he could feel that he was creating it, but he wasn’t controlling it. “Xiumin hyung!” Kai yelled. Sehun looked down at Xiumins, ice was forming under his feet freezing the grass he had been stepping out. Sehun held on to Chanyeol as the wind blew around them.

They all jumped as one by one the lightbulbs of the Eiffel tower exploded. “I can’t stop it!” Xiumin yelled, ice and snow quickly covered the ground underneath them. Sehun backed away as Chanyeol stretched his hand out towards the ice. Flames shot out and Sehun ran to Tao grabbing his arm “stop it!”

“I’m not doing anything!”

“No! Stop time now!”

Tao grabbed Sehuns shoulder and everything was quiet. “What is happening?” Tao muttered. Sehun looked at the frozen mess in front of them. Kai had almost slipped on Xiumins ice, Baekhyun was staring at the tower in shock as Chanyeol shot flames at the ice to melt it.

“Sehun…”

Sehun turned to look at Tao, but he wasn’t there. “Tao?”

“Sehun!” Tao yelled.

He couldn’t see him anywhere. Sehun turned back around his head spinning. Everything was still the same and he could see people frozen in time in the distance.

But They were gone. All of them. “Baekhyun? Chanyeol? Tao?” Nothing.

Sehun ran towards the small shops his head pounding. Time was still frozen. He passed by strangers all stopped in the middle of doing something. A girl walking her dog, a man smoking, people who had been chatting by the small cafes.

“Kai?! Xiumin?!”

They weren’t here any of them. Sehun gulped as his headache grew bigger. He sat down on a rusted park bench and covered his face in his hands. He didn’t know what to do. He was alone. He needed Tao to start time again.

“Tao…” He called softly one more time as black dots filled his vision and his body went limp.