Episode 9 – the tides shift

            It was supposed to be a festive event amidst the chaos of a looming war. But there is no rest for those who want to see the downfall of the heroes. All it needed was one particular hero to bring everything down. Professor K. Everyone’s mentor and the person who can create such a strong barrier for everyone. It was the truth, but everyone found it hard to believe. In his arms, he held Key tightly and his barrier expanded to encase the core individuals of the covenant. Secluded from the hall. Away from everyone. It has come to the knowledge of the professor that isolation triggers their weakness.
 

“ im tired of being the hero.” His words echoed and those simple words held nothing but the truth. Growing up virtually alone. 

Only to be obedient to any foster parent who will give him the time of day. Maybe it was true, no matter what the covenant says, that they are family he cannot feel it. There is no blood connection after all, how can they expect him to be loyal till the end? 

What he wants is equality. That one moment, when they can all prove themselves without the ties of history. The bloodlines of the covenant are irritating him already. 

But he can see the eyes of his precious students and he feels his chest tighten. There is no going back now. He must fulfill his duties. 

“let me go, please. “ The professor looks down on the boy in his arms. Key. He was very much like him, an outsider adopted by the covenant. But he is not fit to be with those people. He needs to be with the resistance, he needs to enable the apocalypse.
 
His eyes dart towards Minah who is swiftly snatched by Mir. He could not help but chuckle at the look Jonghyun gave the man. 

“ how can?” Jonghyun started and Mir only smirked. Ofcourse, they will be surprised to find a man who has an almost similar ability with their ice princess Jessica. 

“ surprised?” mir boasted and a few of them turned their attention to him. Thinking, How can someone like him? A resistant member have the power similar to that of an element? 

“ not really. ” Jonghyun lied through his teeth. He can stop time. He can snatch minah away from everyone but right now, he is inside the professor’s barrier. How clever of him to cage the covenant’s priced team in his barrier. The professor not only had the power to protect, he can also render all abilities useless. Once you step in his space, you are no longer a hero or a villain. His power alone works. 


“ why are you doing this? ’ Eric gritted his teeth and the professor can only look at him with false guilt in his eyes. 


“ why not?” 

“ It was not supposed to be this way! We are the heroes, how can you turn your back from us?” he almost cried. Helpless. So this is how it feels like to have the one you lean on to go weak and let you fall. 

“ you always say that Eric, you have this dream. All of you!” he screeched and his barrier became even stronger. Everyone felt uneasy. TOP could not move even a strand of hair. GD could not hear anything but static. and eric could only walk in a slow pace. 

“ You do not hold our lives! We don’t care about prophecies or books, we have our own choice! ” he said and made a move to get out. 

“ your power is much like the apocalypse.” Eric stated and a smile formed in the professor’s lips.
 

“ I know, how ironic isn’t it? Too bad. This type of barrier I create is too strong and taxing for my body. I might die. 
” 
“ then let us try that now.” Eric challenged.
  
“what are you thinking? You have no power over him.”
 
“ I will beat him up till he dies, what’s important if you get Key. And Minah,”

“ but minah is outside the barrier, with that kid.” Jonghyun snapped.

“ key is the trigger, we must get him first.” The truth slipped from his lips and he ignored the blank and curious stares everyone was giving him. He  needs to rescue Key, he will not fail this time.
 

“ GD, TOP - ”eric ordered. So, this is it? GD and TOP are first in line when it comes to battle. The two did not even blink and quickly came to eric’s aid.
 

“ FACE US! YOU TRAITOR!” Onew hissed but he was quickly pushed and crashed towards the wall across the room as a resistance member pushed him aside.

“ this will get interesting when my barrier wears out, we will see who is stronger. ” the professor states and tossed Key to the side, creating another barrier for him.

“ I see you have been keeping your power secret from the covenant,” eric observed and once again, the professor was very pleased.
 

“ oh dear. You haven’t seen anything yet.” 

Key’s point of view 

I feel the pain in my arms and my whole body as the professor tossed me away. I can see Onew catching up to catch me somehow but we are both wrong. The professor encased me in another barrier. We always knew that he plays it off as he is someone who is not that strong but I cannot believe that he is this strong. I try to break the barrier, with feeble attacks like punching and kicking but I know that this won’t work. I asked the professor before about the extent of his power. This are all futile attacks but I have to fight. The only way to stop the barrier is if the professor dies. 
It occurs to me, this won’t end till one of us dies. 


“ NO!” I keep on repeating. But it won’t stop. The professor is stronger, because this is his zone alone. I can see onew, jino and minho fighting off several members of the resistance. I scanned the crowd to look for taemin but I do not see him. I just wish that he is safe. 
Jonghyun is on the other end, fighting side by side with Jessica. I can see that she is frustrated, Mir has a similar power to hers and she is not happy about it. Not the least bit happy. GD is badly injured and I feel the cold in my body. 

Onew’s point of view 


            I feel dead. No. I really do, trust me. I have been dead once. But this is worst. Feeling this powerless. Seeing those close to me, get all battered and bruised just because im weak. As a child, I envied the professor as his power is what I wanted. The power to act as a shield for everyone. I look up to him and seeing him like this- terrorizing us. This is a dream. There is no other explanation for this. 


“ Onew, we can’t just stay here! They will die in there.” Minho demanded from me  and I know that we have no power against this barrier unless the professor weakens or dies. 


“ its getting to him,” Jonghyun states as he is still busy battling with Mir. Jessica is protecting him more than she should and I can almost snicker at the scene. 

Minah is still protected by Mir, making sure no one gets to her. Every member is busy and I believe, most of the covenant leaders fled. Ofcourse. That is what I am, what we all are. Pawns to the covenant. 


“ he is going to wear out, eric is strong, add gd and top to that. ” jino said confidently and I know he is being his usual optimistic self and that is what we need right now, Tiffany is battling with Minho. Jino with a person named G.O and i- on the other hand- this man I don’t know. But he is strong. I suddenly realize how unprepared I am for the war and it is proven once more as the barrier closes in on eric and the professor alone. I see the grin spread across the professor’s face and I know what it means. 


It dawns on me. What there real purpose is. They want to kill eric. They need the leader of the covenant dead. Running towards them, I scream but no one is listening. 


“ STOP! ERIC! GET OUT!” I managed to say but its done. Eric is trapped and the professor turned to me and his mouth moved to utter the word “checkmate.” 


TOP and GD tried to knock the barrier down, now that they are outside and have their powers again. 
“ he is too strong!” TOP cursed he continued to break the barrier. But we are preoccupied once more by members of the resistance. I did not know that they have a lot of capable members. I guess its true when they say to never underestimate. 


“stay here and try to break the barrier onew,” GD commanded and I stood my ground. Going against the professor is pretty much like going against my father. They are both very powerful and I am a mere boy compared to them. But I will not lose to him. I will fight this. 


“ Onew, you can stop. Your power is no use.” I hear eric mutter, with the same conviction in his tone when he commands people. 


“ you noticed that too.” The professor said pointedly and he raised his hand up and eric was on his knees. Gasping for breath. 


“ ERIC! ERIC! ERIC!” I repeatedly tried to break the barrier, but to no avail. Blood is on my hands and im sure in breaking some bones because of this but it does not help eric at all. He turns to me and he shakes his head with a no. as if telling me to stop trying and just let him die like that. I look around and I am hit by the reality of it all. The hall is ruined and im pretty sure this whole part of the manor will break down into rubble. And infront ofme, the rock and the foundation of the covenant is crumbling. 


“ we all die.” The professor exclaims as eric drops on the floor and he turns to me. “ except you Onew, you will bear the pain of seeing everyone you love die and wither away. ” with those words I feel the anger rise and my hand touches the barrier. Too much anger is pulsing through me and when I blink my eyes the barrier breaks- like a bubble. 


I can see the shock on the professor’s face as he sees the barrier fall down. I do not give him the time to react as I lunge forward and tackle him to the ground. 

“ how can you do this to us?” I accused him and he quickly pushes me, sending me a few feet away
. 
“ I do not owe you anything, remember? Im not part of any bloodlines. Im not your family.” He emphasized the word family and he motions for Key to be beside him. Key is still encased in his barrier.
 

“ we must be going, ” he tells me and I stand up, only to be stopped by two members of the resistance. They are inhumanely huge and strong. “ hold him up.” He commands.

 
“ you cannot take him!” I scream , as if my throat ripping and the shrill sound of my voice could stop him. Every member of the resistance stops their individual bottles and they retreat.
 

“ BASTARDS!” Jonghyun cursed, but he has Minah in his arms.
 

I hear a cry not afar and I realize why. Eric is dead, and Luna has her arms wrapped around him. We all rushed to his side and I can feel Jino’s head rest on my shoulders. We are too weak to even believe that this could happen. 

  
Taemin’s POV. 


“ thank you for coming.” He tells me in his usual serious tone and I cringe at this. Ofcourse, I will go. I know how important eric is for him and to act like im a stranger is painful. Minho motions for me to follow him in the other room. The place is breathtaking. The place is filled with roses and candles. The music is wonderful as well. Infront, I can see onew, jonghyun and jino. I swallow as I realize that Key is not here. He is kidnapped by the resistance. It’s the primary reason why I do not sleep much these days. 


“im sorry for your loss,” I tell him this and he only nods. Without any hesitation, I take his hand in mine and he stops. He takes in a deep breath and hisses, 


“ don’t make this harder for me.” 

I do not understand what he says and I stubbornly shout at him. “ I am taking your hand so you can calm down, I am here for you- stop being so stubborn.” I retorted and he tried to pull away but I latch on to his hands. “ I am not letting go.” This statement seems to shut him up and as we walk towards the front seats I suddenly understand what he means. Everyone looks at me like they are seeing aghost. Ofcourse, I look like Taeyeon on legs. Except I have a , thank you very much. I keep my head down and minho squeezes my hand. As we sit down, I catch Jino smile at me. 

“I told you,” minho tells me and I pout. 

“I don’t care – ” I lie through my teeth and Onew moves towards me. I feel uneasy at his gaze.

“ you have trouble sleeping?” he asks and I wonder if I looked obviously fatigued or something.

“ you know my reason.” I don’t want to say Key’s name right now. It will only make this depressing event darker.

“we will find him, don’t worry.”

“ I trust you,” I reply to him and I let go of minho’s hand. I excuse myself for a moment to pay my respects. Eric is one of the members of the covenant that I feel safe with. He is fair when it comes to decisions and he carefully weighs the pros and cons of a situation. It makes sense that they will target him. Beside me, I see TOP who is obviously praying or something. I learned awhile ago that he is one of he top candidates to take eric’s place but many are disagreeing as he is too young. I beg to disagree.

I fight the yrge to go back to minho. I can walk on my own. Making my way towards the bathroom, I can hear two people having a fight, I groaned. I mean, come on. Have they no respect for the dead? Then I recognized the woman’s voice

. 
“ all the more that we need to get married!” she practically screeched and u did not have to be a professional creeper to realize who she is talking  to. Onew.
 

“ before everything happened, we decided that this will be a long engagement! Why change your mind now? What changed?” he answered calmly but obviously, Luna’s emotions could not be happened. 


“ everything. Eric died. The resistance attacked us and almost destroyed the manor. I never dreamed that they will come this close--- and—the covenant needs this to have some hope.” She reasons out and I raise my eyebrows at her reasoning. 


“ the covenant, or you? To give you some hope?” onew snaps and I hear Luna sobbing again. 
“ why are you so cruel?” 


“ I am not cruel.”  Onew defends himself. “ I made a promise , I did. But please do not push me. You know what my priority is, the covenant, this family. Its all ive got. ” 


“ if you do love me, then fulfill that promise! ” Luna challenges and I hold my breath as I wait for onew’s answer. 


“ please do not make me choose, you know what my answer is.” He says finally and I chance a peek, seeing Luna fix her hair and wipe her tears. 


“ its about him isn’t it?” her voice turns sharp and I tighten my grip on the wall. 

“ eric. Ofcourse- ”

“ no. goddamnit! Stop playing innocent, im talking about KEY!” she cuts him off and I gasp quietly. I know how key feels for onew but I prayed every night that he forgets it, as I know what the outcome will be.

“ what? I need to rescue him, he is important to his war- to the covenant-”

 
“ don’t bull me . he is important to you, that’s the main reason.” I cringe at her words. I never saw Luna as the girl who confronts her problems like this. I always pictured her as a trophy wife of some sorts.
 

“ do you hear what you’re saying? You know how important Key is for the covenant. He is the trigger and I do not deny that he is close to me as well.” Onew replies   and there is a minute of silence. 
“ why does it have to be this way? Please Onew, please – just marry me and let the others handle Key’s rescue. Im begging you. ”
 

Her words cut through me, cause I know how it feels like to ask for to love. To practically beg for someone to love you back.

“ Please understand, I am putting the covenant before me. ” he says finally and Luna stops sobbing.

“ why can’t you just admit it, its more about key than the covenant.”

Onew sighs in frustration.

“ I have to leave, I cannot talk to you when youa re being so difficult.”

“ if you walk away now, this engagement. This marriage- its over.” She says icily and I turn to leave. Fearing that onew will catch me, but I had to stay a bit more to hear his answer. His answer came with the tone of his shoes against the floor and his words that are crystal clear.
 

“ so be it. ”

 
I scampered and made my way towards the crowd. I breathed a sigh of relief. My mind is racing, not only did onew break off the engagement- Luna also hinted that he noticed his unusual attraction towards key. Why does things have to be so complicated? I shake my head and I feel someone come up behind me

. 
“ there you are,” minho’s breath against my neck is clearly a bad idea as my knees start to buckle.
 
What more when I kiss him? Wait? Why am I thinking about that? I mentally berate myself and try to straighten myself.
 

“ I just needed some time alone, how is everyone?
” 
“ terrible, but our top priority is to get key,
” 
“ do you even know where he is?” I ask.

“ ofcourse, the resistance- like us, have a headquarters.”

I am surprised at this information. I always thought that the bad guys just hide under sewers and enevr show up.
 

“ then lets go!” I say with much confidence and minho smiled weakly at me.
 

“ its not that easy, no one has ever been there. We need to plan, TOP will be holding a meeting later.” He says finally and we take a step away from eac other to give way for the people coming in.
 

“ can I come?” I ask and he nods.
 

“ sure. But I don’t want you going there,” he says finally and I fight the urge to disagree with him. Minho raises his eyebrow and I turn to see who he is looking at, only to find Luna crying- coming towards us
.

“what’s wrong?” minho asks innocently and I keep my head bowed. I should not have- I had no right to hear those words.
 

“ Onew broke it off.” She sobbed.
 

“what?” minho replied, disbelief in his voice but his face says otherwise.
 

“ why does this have to happen now? ” she asks no one in particular.
 

“ you know all too well that his loyalty, his life belongs to the covenant.” Minho says plainly and I am surprised at his bluntness. But perhaps its just because he knows onew all too well that this information does not surprise him at all

. 
“ top is calling us.” Jino chimed in and took Luna’s hand, comforting her.

We excused ourselves and I can feel everyone’s eyes on us. They are clearly counting on us, like they are looking at a group of men who will save their asses. Why can’t they defend themselves? I feel sick to my stomach. The son should bury his father- not the other way around. But this covenant hirerarchy is irritating me. I see GD glancing at me and as he nods his head, I can see a smile play on his lips. I am dumbfounded. Is he hitting on me?
 

I look over at minho who thankfully saw the exchange,

“ GD can read your mind, I guess he finds it amusing.”

 
I blush at this revelation and I scurried behind minho. We finally reach what looks like a conference room and TOP stood, while we all sat down. GD, Onew, Jonghyun, Jino, Minho and Jessica.
 

“ its set, we will leave and go to their island.” TOP says and I can feel everyone stiffen. What are they talking about?
 

“ we need more people, I know alot of heroes.” GD chimed in. I can see that he is particularly excited about this. They all are. They cannot wait to show what vengeance means. Onew is focused and I marvel at how relaxed he is. After having your father figure dead. The person you trust betray you. Breaking off an engagement and needing to rescue someone you care about. I have the urge to walk over to him and tell him that he is doing a good job but I fight that stupid urge.
 

“ we have no other choice, ” onew added but Luna is clearly not having any of this

. 
“ why do we even need to rescue him? We can stay here, Minah is here. She won’t go off unless key is close.” I want to strangle her as soon as the words left but onew beat me to that.

 
“ no one is asking your opinion Luna. If you don’t want to fight, then don’t come. This assignment is not for the weak.” He says and the whole mood of the room shifted

. 
“ we need Key- he is part of this covenant. ” Minho adds and I thank him for saying something to defend my friend. 

. 
“ so- its settled, we have three days- assuming that they won’t kill Key,” GD explains calmly.

“ I wont let that.” Onew hisses and GD acts like he does not hear any of it.

“ we need to gather the heroes and orchestrate the attack.” He finishes and we are all dismissed. I walk over to onew and smile at him.
 
“thank you for defending key like that. ”

“you don’t have to, its my fault that he was taken.” He says and I am a bit irritated at his temper.

“ I know its frustrating, it is for me as well.”

He sighs and breathes deeply,

“ today is not a good day.” He says and I smirk
. 
“ understatement of the century,” I joked and he seems to get it.
 

“ I promised him- I will look out for him. But I was helpless. Eric died because I am too weak.” I feel for him. He is too hard on himself and I was about to place my hand on his shoulders when I felt dizzy.
 
Oh . Im about to black out and shift to being taeyeon. I expected the blackness then waking up after a moment. But no. I saw the vision. Its Key, hanging by his neck from a balcony. The place is dark and its raining really hard. A hand is on his neck, it must be erally painful and I fear that Key’s neck will snap off. He is screaming in pain and his feet are struggling.

I need to get to him.

He needs to be free.

“ TAEMIN! TAEMIN!” I hear someone shout and I come back to reality. Minho is holding me and onew is peering as well,

“we need to find Key. ”

 
“ you had a vision.” Onew stated and I see the surprise in minho’s face.

“ but he did not shift to being taeyeon.” He argued and I stop him,

“ this is the first time this happened. But I saw it. ”

“what?” Onew asked and I shivered.

“ we need to get key, we haven’t got much time. ”

Onew’s face falls at what I say and he walks away. I can only see Minho eyeing me, I feel that he is concerned about me
. 
“ I feel fine.” I tell him and he is persistent. He leads me to his car, offering to take me home. The ride back was quiet and I hope the ride will end and I can go back to the dorms and be alone. But Minho insisted on taking me back.
 
 I can remember the last time we spent time. That tension between us and how I wanted to combust with the close proximity. It is happening again and magnified to an impossible degree. He is doing something fairly natural for  a human being, just walking right behind me. But I can feel his every move and I am almost trembling. I need heat. I need him. Is this a side effect of getting visions? 


As I open the door, I can feel his hands wrap around my waist. He is holding me close.

 
“ what are you doing?” I asked helplessly, failing to sound the least bit irritated.

“ im holding you.” He tightens his grip and im glad we are now inside the room.
 
It only takes a moment before I take a leap of faith and remove his arms, turning to face him. This is it. As I look into his eyes and our bodies pressed close, I believe that there is no running. I do not know if this is because of the sadness that gripped the both of us but I thank everything else that brought us up to this moment. He seems to realize this as well as he leans closer, his lips brushing mine, daring me to seal the deal and take the dive as well.
 

In one second. I did as well. I placed my hand on his cheek and let it fall to the back of his neck as I pulled him to me as gently as my patience would allow. Minho smiled as I kissed him, his lips pulling back as I moved to his jaw, peppering it with soft, warm nibbles and little . We kissed lazy and slow as the two of us slumped further on the back seat with tongues twisting and hands seeking hips.

 
I could care any less. I was lost in this moment, this time that is mine alone. That I will remember forever. As my back hits the bed and I can feel his full weight on me. Shamelessly grinding myself into him and desperate for friction- he matches my pace. My body is on fire and his lips on mine, his tongue begging for entrance just about adds fuel to the fire.

My bestfriend is kidnapped. The world is about to end and here I am, ing this man I have fallen for. I never believed in irony, but I do now.

I needed release. The feel of our lengths  sliding together was nearly my undoing and we even have our clothes own. I pushed him slightly and explained,

“ too much clothes.
” 
With that, we removed all the offending garments on our body and I am surprised at how quick we did this. His body pressed to mine almost made me but I had to hold myself. 

  
Future Onew’s POV. 


            I fix my arsenal as I prepare for battle. This will be hard. The covenant will surely attack the island but I need to get there first. I need to get to him first. Rather, I need to be there and make things a bit easier for the covenant. After all, they come first before everything else. 
My heart clenches as something catches my eye. Its our wedding ring, I tell him – but I lied. We never got married. But we wanted to. The rings we bought were more of a commitment thing, just an object to symbolize what we are. I never wanted to fall for him , but I did anyway. I guess I had the inkling for the impossible.
 

Being away from him- like this is physically painful. His death was too much that I had to go and be all crazy- go back in time. My love for him defire reason and laws of science and everything else. 
I look at the wall and study the time frame, making sure that I am making everything right. That all my moves are correct and on time. Something could go wrong, I know that. But its better than not trying at all.
 

With one last breath I close my eyes and the memory came rushing in. that moment, that time before he dies. I can remember how his eyes looked so foreign, how different it was to the ones that always had the adoring look at me. His sullen eyes and how he would say things and question our existence. Then that fateful moment that I tried to stop him.
 

“ don’t cross that bridge, ” I call out to him, pleading him to stop this nonsense and come back to me.
 

“ I have to see what’s out there,” he explains and I see that he is confused. Whatever happened to him? The effect of the apocalypse to his mind. I was warned before but the signs just showed now. My heart fell as he aimlessly walked farther away, and the words that set off everything.
 

“ I am joining the resistance,” key tells me and I bit my tongue and clenched my fist. I knew what I had to do and there is no sense in stalling it any longer. I am the only one who can stop him. 
I called him and lunged forward, the dagger in my hand and his eyes finally returned to the loving ones they used to.
 

“ you love me so much, don’t you?” he says as he coughs up blood.
 
“ im sorry. ” I choke as the tears fell down.

I open my eyes back to the present. I blink a couple of times and condition myself. I have a mission. But its still embedded in my head. The memories of that night.
 

I killed Kibum.