We arrive just outside the territory, there is no way of telling how protected the entire area is, we need to try and go unnoticed.

“I really don’t like that we are back here, can we find her and go.” Sehun sighs as Kris turns and gives him a smack upside the head.

I look over and Jongin seems to be having trouble catching his breath.

“Hey, are you all right?” I ask as I rub his back gently.

“Yeah, sorry it isn’t easy to move so many people when I was still recovering from the last time we were here.” He says through labored breathing.

“I’m sorry for making you do this guys, I know you don’t know her, but I really didn’t want to do this alone, so thank you.” I say to all three of them.

“Don’t even worry about it ok, you are a part of this pack now so its fine.” Kris says and it causes me to blush a bit, I never thought I would be a part of a family like this and even if he doesn’t approve of me quite yet he still tries and I appreciate that.

“Yeah, don’t go around doing things without us anymore!” Sehun pouts still rubbing the back of his head.

“So do you know where to go next?” Kris questions me.

“I can hear her.”

“Who? Miyuki?” Jongin asks.

“No, we would never be able to hear her from here if she was in the Underworld. I can hear Izanami, she is always calling, begging people to come and keep her company. Listen, I want to say this again so we are all clear,” I say eyeing them all very seriously. “If any of you have to come down and get me, because I will not let you follow me in there unless absolutely necessary, do not eat anything anyone hands you, whether it be the Goddess herself or not. If you eat it, you cannot leave, that is how she got stuck down there in the first place and became the caretaker. Please, I know this goddess well and Miyuki knows the rules of the gods as well, I hope she is just buying time till someone comes to find her.”

“I am not happy about letting you go in there by yourself but I believe that you know what to do in this situation so we will listen.” Kris says and I smiles at him for trusting me. “However, if these guys feel you are in any kind of trouble we will come down and get you out immediately.”

“Thank you for trusting me, I will probably have little to no connection with you once I’m in there so don’t freak out if you can’t get in touch with me.”

“Got it, lead the way.” Kris says motioning forward.

We walked cautiously around the area belonging to the Collector and his followers. Luckily we only ran into a couple of troubles that we easily took care of. The area was so dense for a place where nothing really seemed alive, the unnatural fog that lingered and made this place scarier than it needed to be. The deafening silence only broken when someone wasn’t watch their step or coughed. It was starting to get cold, the sun dropping behind the thick trees creating a deathly chill on the skin.

“Stop.” I said as we came to a small clearing, although the area was free of trees that didn’t stop the rest from closing in above, creating a dark area with no light and no trees, almost like we walked up to a void.

The guys seemed completely on edge, my own skin crawling from the familiar sensation.

“We found it.” I said as I lifted my hand, a blue flame sparks to life as it heads to the center of the void, smaller flames separating from the larger casting light to the once dark abyss.

‘All I see is a hole in the ground.” Jongin says as they inspect the area. Kris starts to head into the clearing until I pull him back.

“Don’t be a fool.” I say as I take off my shoe and toss my sock on to the ground in front of us. It slowly starts to decay.

“This is why nothing is here, how can anything grow when it is so close to the home of the dead.

“How do we get there then?” Sehun asks wide eyed.

“You don’t, I do.” I say as I step over where the sock died and all three grab my arm. I sigh and they let go except for Kris. I look where he is holding my arm and realize my feet are not touching the ground.

“I know you are worried but this is part of why only I can do this.” I say as Kris slowly lowers me to the ground. When my feet touch they all wince and Kris grips my arm tighter. “See, I’m ok.” I say as I reach up and brush my hand to Kris’s cheek. He finally locks eyes with me as he leans into my hand.

“Be careful, I will float us all down there if need be.” He huffs as his grip loosens on my arm.

“If these flames start to dance, I am on my way out, if they die, well.. I will be back.” I say staring at the three men in front of me, looking at me with such worry and care that despite the situation my heart swells, it has been a long time since such eyes have stared at my own.

“Hey wait, what do you..” Sehun’s voice trails off as I dive down into the literal depths of hell.

******

“She’s gonna be ok right Hyung?” Kai asks as they watched the flames slowly flicker all around the void.

“I believe she really knows what she is talking about, she knows more about the Realm of the Gods than anyone I have ever met, and she is younger than us.”

“Well if she came and told me that she was old, I don’t think that would change my mind in the least.” Kai says without a second thought.

“I remember someone being grossed out by that thought when Luhan first explained it to you.” Sehun snickers.

“She is the age she told us.” Kris says, eyes never leaving the flames around them. “She told us her past, I don’t think all that she went through happened over a span of centuries, I think she had to deal with all of that quickly. Her trust in us is surprising to me sometimes when I think back to everything she shared with us, which took guts.”

“Do you think the only reason why she trusts us is because she feels she has to or that we are the only chance she will ever get? After learning all that about her I came to understand the way she acted when we first met. I don’t think she ever thought someone other than what she called family would ever love her, and especially not in a way that was more than just family.” Kai says looking at his hands. “I have never felt such a connection with someone other than you guys and if it scares me, I can’t imagine how she feels. She is strong and independent and while I think we all find that attractive it also stresses the hell out of me. “

“Also how many more of her friends are we gonna meet? That little fish said he was her first kiss yet he is her best friends mate, how does that work? And teeth saying she was their mate? Uh what the hell does that mean?” Sehun chimes in falling to the ground in a huff.

“Wait what?” Kris says finally tearing his eyes off Nana’s flame.

“Yeah those two she brought said they always thought of her as their mate too, and one of them said he was her first kiss, it’s been stressing us out but we haven’t had time to really ask her about it what with her friend missing.” Kai responds looking rejected.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, ask her once her friend is safe and we can finally take a breather, good thing school will be on break for a while after this.” Kris informs them and returns to watching her flames intently.

********

I felt my feet hit the ground with a squish.

As I started following Izanami’s never-ending call for company a very long haired skeleton wobbled my way.

“She knows, follow.” It lets out in an almost inaudible voice.

I follow it closely, the ground feels alive and I always wished I could just show up in the throne room and never have to see everything else, it is hard to swallow. The caves start to look less natural as we come to double doors taller than the trees outside, made out of a mix of the cave walls and metal. As I place my hand on the door I can feel the metal ringing. Miyu is behind this door and I pray she is ok.

A slight push and the door opens to reveal a beautiful woman’s silhouette behind a wall of curtains. To my left I can see Miyuki, strands of silk holding her in place, moving around her like a snake. Our eyes meet and I see a tear slip past hers, my blood begins to boil.

“Oh Goddess, it is wonderful to be in your presence once again.” I say balling my fists as I bow to her.

“Oh, Natsu, my light in the dark, how are you? Bring me some of my wayward souls?” She giggles as the silk robes seem to loosen around Miyu.

“No your Highness, I came to ask you for a favor, and if that isn’t ok than maybe an exchange.”

“You know I would do anything for my best friend, what do you need my dear?”

“That woman over there, she killed my lover, I was hoping I could take her above with me to let his brothers destroy her.” I say with a wicked grin.

Suddenly a hot burst of wind rushes me as the curtains blow open as she stands. Her beautiful kimono barely hanging on to her small frame as she takes steps toward me.

“You wish to take away the only friend I have had in a long time? NO NO NO!! You can’t have her!” She screams as the robes leave Miyu and find themselves slithering up my legs.

“But your grace, if we kill her she will just return to you.” I say trying to reason with her.

“Then she will be dead and I am tired of speaking with the dead.” She pouts like a child.

“How about instead I stay with you for a while and take her to my lover’s brothers so they can have their revenge?” I ask on my knees eyeing Miyuki.

“NO, I would rather stay here with her than go up there so you can kill me!” Miyuki retaliates, I smirk happy she caught my plan.

“Oh so is my Underworld not good enough for you? All this time I thought you would come to love it here but if you think you can escape death you are mistaken girl, I am Death and nothing will escape me!” She says growling at Miyuki. “Why didn’t you bring your beautiful friends down here with you Natsu? If they are your lovers than I want to meet them.” She questions catching me off guard.

“They are not able to survive here with you like I can my love, plus you are the only one I really care for, no need for you to meet such unworthy men. Your beauty would blind them.” I say through my anger, I didn’t think she would question me about them but she smiles and nods in response.

“Ah then I will agree, you take her up there and come back to me, we haven’t visited in so long, last time you stayed for a whole year and it still wasn’t enough, stay with me longer my dear.” She says as her robes leave my body and tie back around her in their proper place. “Hurry so you can return to my side where you belong.”

“I will, but as you know, I must check in with HER first, so please wait for my return.”

“I am well aware!” She says with a hiss as the hair on her head flies toward me, cutting me up like thousands of thin blades until they wrap around my wrist. I see the look in Miyuki’s eyes and I plead with her to not move or show concern. “You tell HER you are my friend and don’t need her permission!” She screams as she tosses me across the throne room. My back hits the door and I can feel it tremble. Miyuki’s temper is going out of control and I need this to hurry before she explodes.

“Of course, I would rather stay here than go see her, unfortunately I don’t think she will be ok with me not telling her and we certainly don’t want her to come down here after me do we?” I say between breaths, it is hard to breathe and I am losing blood, I’m sure my flames will start to wither, I need to get out before they follow.

“I know my dear I know, now take her to your men so you can return to me.” she says as she kneels and kisses my forehead.

“Oh it seems they were impatient and have headed this way, should I send an ?” She says as my eyes widen, a confused look crosses Miyuki’s face, she must have thought I meant her mates were waiting outside and have now entered. I slightly shake my head as Miyu waits for me to lead her out.

“I will meet them halfway, please wait for me to return and we will have the longest sleep over ever!” I say with a giggle clapping my hands.

“Yay! Quickly go and return, I will set up for the party!” She says with excitement as she turns to Miyu, her robes picking her up and tossing her to the door. She lands with a thud and I wince at it, I grab her and drag her out of the Throne room.

“We need to move, can you walk?” I ask her as I bring her to her feet.

“Yes, let’s get out of here, I don’t even know how long I have been here.” She says struggling to fnd her balance.

“About two weeks.” I say as I drag her along.

“Really? Well it seemed longer.”

“It always does down here, time is a novelty that the dead don’t need.”

As we quickly walk back to the entrance a gust of wind comes tumbling by. Miyuki quickly braces for impact while I hold my hand out to it. It quickly surrounds me and forms a small tornado in my hand.

“They must have sent it before coming in, otherwise their powers shouldn’t work here.” I say as I add the little bit of flame I can muster into it and send it back the way it came. Without the guide it is like the catacombs down here and those guys are probably lost, you can’t smell anything but death so scents aren’t helpful down here either.

“Miyuki, follow that wind, you should find three wolves, tell them who you are and get the hell outta here. I will be right behind you.” I say as she looks at me with a glare. She won’t go against me, she knows Izanami is still watching us and could drag us back into that room in a heartbeat.

“Look, I’m the only one who can get out of here on my own. Once you get out have Tae and Kookie bring you to a shrine to heal those marks.” I say as I stare at Miyu’s body. Her skin slowly turning black in the spots touched by the robes and where her knees touched the ground.

“I hate you.” She says as she runs after the windy flame. I am having trouble moving, the wounds dealt by her hair causing me to lose strength. I know Izanami won’t let them out if they linger for too long.

*********************************

It hasn’t been too long since she went down there but something in the pit of my stomach tells me things aren’t going as smoothly as we hoped.

“Her flames aren’t doing anything, I hope that’s a good sign.” Sehun says to my left.

Surprisingly Kris hasn’t stopped pacing since she went down. He keeps floating over to the hole and looking in hoping to catch a glimpse of them returning.

An hour or so goes by and suddenly her flames start to flicker like crazy and it sets us all on edge.

“What do you think is happening?” Kris questions as we watch the flames intensely.

“I don’t really know but..ugh” I stop feeling pain all over my body, Sehun curling into a ball on the floor.

“What? What is it?” Kris panics as he lowers down to Sehun.

“Nana, she must have been severely hurt to have it affect us so strongly.” I respond as we look toward the flames, only one, the original flame still exists. It hovers over the hole barely illuminating the area.

“We are going now!” Kris yells as we nod and he hovers us over the entrance before we descend.

Sehun suddenly sends a gust of wind down the hole. “It will find her for us.” He remembered we can’t use powers down there. Kris ruffles his hair with a sad smile.

“Nice thinking Sehun.” He says as we jump in.

We land with a thud and start running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

“Seriously what is this, I have no clue where we are. We have been walking in circles.” I say as we stop for the third time since we have been down here.

“Hold on, it’s coming back.” Sehun suddenly says as the tunnel in front of us seems to glow an eerie blue.

It’s his little tornado, surrounded by Nana’s flame. As it returns to Sehun we hear feet pounding behind it as a girl comes stumbling our way.

“Who are you?” Kris threatens as he stands protectively in front of us. Kris attitude has changed significantly since Nana told us her truth. Whatever she said to him in private must have really affected him. He seems less put out by being the Leader and more like a real older brother that he used to only reserve for Tao.

“I’m Miyuki, are you the wolves she mentioned. She said I would find you if I followed that.” She says pointing to the flaming wind in Sehun’s hand.

“What about Nana?” Sehun questions.

“She is falling behind, she said she would catch up, stupid idiot!” She screams catching us off guard.

“Is she hurt? What happened?” I ask grabbing her shoulders only to retreat my hands as they burn slightly.

“Be careful, being with death for too long, the flesh starts to rot away and hurts to the touch of living things.” She says as I notice many spots on her body look black and gross.

“Let’s get out of here and get to my mates, do you know where they are?”

“Yes, but we can’t leave without Natsume.” Kris holds his ground.

“She told me she can get out of here on her own, we need to go before Izanami decides she wants to keep us all.” She says as she heads back the way we came.

“We are lost, how do we get back to the entrance?” I ask watching her place her hand onto the cave wall.

It starts to tremble as metal seems to come out from deeply imbedded into the wall.

“I left myself breadcrumbs.” She smirks as she rushes forward following the metal that creates the proper path.

*******

I can feel them leave as I lay on the ground, my skin slowly turning black as I try to gain enough strength to get out of here.

“Oh dear, I didn’t mean to hurt you so bad, come back and heal in the throne room, I’m sure my food will heal you well.” Izanami’s voice rings all around we as I try to stand.

Suddenly she is in front of me again, her hollow eyes void of any real emotion. The kimono slipping from her shoulder showing she is nothing more than bones. A corpse long since dead and looking no different than the skeleton that showed me to her chambers.

“No thank you your highness, I must catch up with my friends so we can kill that woman.”

“I hate being lied to my love!!” She screams as her robes and her hair come rushing toward me. “You had no intention of returning to me, that girl is your friend!!!! You betrayer!!”

I run as fast as I can turning corners and avoiding the souls reaching out to take my life or at least capture me and get in the good graces of their captor. How did she find out? I thought I would have more time before she realized the power Miyuki had been releasing was mine. It was the only way she could survive down here for so long.

“Get back here and stay with me forever like you promised!” She yells as I use my flames to keep her hair at bay. I keep running as fast as I can until I almost lose my balance, a hand grabs my arm and pulls me into an unseen room.

“Shhhh, shut up damn it!” The man’s voice speaks as Izanami wails and her hair passes us by.

“I’m surprised she forgot this happened last time.”

“She always forgets, last time she almost killed me too when I tried to leave. Thank you, I didn’t know you were here.” I say catching my breath.

“I haven’t seen you that affected by this place in a long time, protecting that girl and those boys huh?” He smiles at me.

“I have too, they were here for me and I can handle this more than any other living person can. So what brings you home?” I say in-between gasps for air.

“Business as usual, I wish she would stop messing with everyone that comes down here.”

“Gone for two weeks?”

“How did you know? SHE said she hasn’t talked to you in a while so I’m surprised.” He says tilting his head to the side cutely.

“Miyuki was trapped down here for that long.” I bluntly say.

“NO! You’re kidding, ugh that is not good did you send her to get cleaned up? Such a person shouldn’t be tainted by this place.” He asks shocked to know and I sigh in relief.

“I thought you were trying to get to me again, I’m glad I don’t have to tell HER you were messing with me again.” I giggle and wince at the pain it causes.

“Come on, I mean how often do I find someone who can come visit me down here that Izanami won’t try to force to eat the food here. You literally are the only friend I have beside my siblings.” He sighs in disappointment.

“Oh yeah, except your wife!” I say rolling my eyes at him.

“Details, details, you know what I mean.” He smiles at me.

“Thank you for helping me Su, can you get me outta here before my mates have a fit?”

“Mates?”

“That is correct.” I say emotionless as he wraps his arms around me.

“Finally, I was starting to think you just naturally repelled men,” He laughs as I smack his shoulder lightly as my strength fails me.

“Hey, let’s get you outta here before you are completely consumed.” He say as my vision blurs, the last thing I see is him reaching to hoist me into his arms.

Author’s Note

Hey guys, this chapter was different for me, I tried to create and overlap of time between two places and tried to be more descriptive of the surrounds to give you more of an idea of where the characters are. I hope I succeeded! Please let me know if you noticed the difference or not. I really don’t care about silent readers and what not, if I did this would be a subscribers and members only story but as a silent reader myself I don’t want people to feel bad about it or worry I will stop the story if I don’t reach the criteria, I just am new at this and finding my own style so I’m looking for anyone who wants to give me input!

Thanks again to all my subscribers and commenters who take the time to respond and a shout out to my new subscribers as well, I reached 200 and am so excited. I few new people upvoted my story too, shout out to y’all too!! I’m in a rush so no call outs but I’ll get you guys in the next chapter.

I hope you feel the cliff hanger and let me know if based off the info provided and the situation you can guess who she met down there!