Present time. 

The first thing he feels is fear. Fear of the unknown would have been better, but this is worst- standing right infront of him is a huge ball of fire. Coming for him, more of running after him. Kibum closes his eyes as he sped towards the stone walls underground. His emotions are running wild and the intent to kill him was too much. He does not feel Jonghyun nor Minho anymore. Tears are flowing in his eyes as he thought about his friends.

Why did he have to drag me here? He should have trusted Onew. Should have stayed in his room and be alive. 
He did not care if he dies anymore, his sorrow is for his friends. 
He comes to a halt as all his escape routes are out, like a rap trapped in a very bad maze. But the emotion shifts, its victory. But not in his part. 


“ finally, FINALLY. ” His voice hits his ears, the stranger is almost exasperated like the chase got him tired. 

“ what the hell do you want from me!” Kibum shouted, “I am not like them! Im just a university student- i can’t stop time or be invinsible! ” 

A small smile plays on his lips, The boy did not know who he is. But this helpless facade will make his work easier, he had been tracking this kid for awhile. The fact that he is surrounded by powerful members of the covenant does not help either. But threatening his life made the necessary things happen, Coven members are always righteous. Hero complex . He feels proud of himself, the master will be so proud. 

“ you don’t seem normal to me Key, look at your friends- ”

“ leave them out of this! Just tell me, what you want! ” 

This is easier than he thought. 

“ come with me Key, that’s all. And i will let your friends go.”

Kibum steps forward, this is how he should repay for being this stupid. Atonement. The man who calls himself “VI” made the fire dissipate from his hands. 

“ you should have surrendered the first day you got my note.” 

“ I have nothing to do with this,” Kibum reasons once again even if he knows well enough that it will fall on deaf ears. 

“ I thought so too you know, Here I am- looking into members of the coven, more importantly those poster kids friends of yours.” 

He spit out the words, he always hated the coven made in this town. The royalty, or the elite unit as they would like to call themselves. But its funny, for the leader of the young generation is a man who does not even know what his true power is. Lee Jinki. They say he is smart, the gift of intelligence and intuition but that does not bother him.

The fire that his hands produce can reduce anyone to ashes. Anyone. At the covenant, he was told to keep it low, not to harm anyone. But the resistance showed him what his true power is. 

“ leave them alone, they are good people.” Kibum warned, knowing that all he can offer are empty threats. But he had to try. He could not move right now, if he moves an inch, this man, VI can just make him catch on fire. 

“ what do you feel right now?” he asks and kibum flinches, 

“ nothing. ”

VI inches closer and backs him up against the wall. 

“ liar. I know what you can do. ”

“ nothing. I feel nothing.”

“ then how about this?” VI places his hand on Kibum and lets the heat seep in. No flame, just the heat, to make the kid suffer.

“ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! ” Kibum screamed in pain but no one will hear him, he is sure of that. No one to take him away but their is still hope that maybe he will come. Maybe Onew will come. 


FLASHBACK- Key’s POV

“ ONEW! What the hell are you doing here! Wake up! Onew! ” I half screamed, half-whispered the words as I shake Onew to wake him up. I told him that I have to study the whole night and he volunteered to watch over me. I thought he was talking about the whole romantic innuendo of lounging on my bed and staring at me for hours.

But no, this man happens to be a soldier. Trained in combat and stuff. He acts like a soldier when he is with me . always vigilant and keen on his surroundings. But there are times when he smiles and laughs at my misfortunes. Those are my favorite parts of the day. 

But now, its 1:00 am and I receive a text from Nicole, telling me the words. 

“ your prince is freezing cold.”

I open the door to find him sleeping, with his back leaning against the wall and an opened biology book in hand. He opens his eyes and immediately goes back to his usual state. 

“ are you okay?” he quickly asks and i stiffle a laugh. 

“ im perfectly fine, you on the other hand- why are you sleeping in the hallway? ” He realizes what he’s done and immediately stands up and looks around. 

“ a bit tired, sorry i fell asleep.” I can see the frustration in his eyes, he fell asleep. He failed to guard me. 

“ Look, im okay. Everything is fine. You can go back to your place.” He seems to disagree with my statement but i tell him that the manager of the building wouldn’t be pleased. I may be in big trouble if he continues, its past hours. He agrees to leave but promises to come back again. 

I am genuinely happy that he is by my side, but id rather wish it was because of other circumstances. I come back to my desk and Taemin is looking at me. Looking at me like we need to have the talk. 

“ what’s going on between the two of you?” he flails his arms, trying to exaggerate the gravity of his question but i try to downplay it. 

“ just hanging out you know-” 

Taemin rolls his eyes as he returns to reading his book. “People like Lee Jinki do not hang out like normal people do. ”

“but he has friends – they go out – eat dinner, they even-”

“ but that’s them, their own elite circle of friends.” He responds. “i heard they have been together since birth”

“ don’t you like them?? ” 

“ don’t get me wrong Key, i bet they are the coolest people in the world”

Oh you have no idea. I would like to tell taemin. but he continues “i just don’t like how this is all playing out- the gossip and - ”

“ I know, that’s why im trying to keep him out sometimes. Limit the time with him when im out of class.” I explain this to him but he does not seem convinced. 

“ you did not answer my question, what’s going on?”

“ its for the charity event- we are now part of the program committee. ”

Taemin nods, Onew suggested that we tell this as a cover up. Everyone knows that the charity event is a big deal. Not only will we help the less fortunate but apparently, school officials will be there. Our parents, socialites and even a senator or two will visit. Its the biggest event the university has ever held. I can even hear Donghae’s heartbeat from here, out meeting this morning was so strained, i wanted to just tune everyone out. But i can’t. Onew was there, beside me. 

I have been keeping my ability from him. Hiding it everytime we are together, i just don’t want them to know or maybe- i do not want to admit it myself. They are a cool bunch of guys, even met Jiyong and Yesung who are juniors that i admire. But still. The idea that there is a sub-universe, is all too much for me. I am curious and i want to explore it, but i am not entirely sure.

“ well. Okay, but i want to get to know this guy too. Im a good judge of character” Taemin says and hands me a bunch of papers. 

“ oh. So you’re a people expert now?”

“ sort of. But seriously key, im looking out for you. I know that if im having new people around with me, you’d be doing the same.”

He is probably right. If taemin will suddenly be hanging out with a senior, i will seriously grill that person alive just to get his motives. 

“ Okay. We can all have dinner on Friday, outside the university.”

“ YES! ” Taemin cheered and i smiled. It wouldn’t be that hard. 

Onew’s POV. 

I hate these meetings. I do not like The palace. I hate the Covenant Council too. Not because i disagree with what they stand for, but because it reminds me so much of what I lost. The Covenant is what my father lived for, I believe that he built the manor for me to have a childhood and not be as isolated as he was. His obssession stems from his belief that one day, our kind must be recognized. That is all. For our full potential must be put to use but with the proper way, with diplomacy. My father is a powerful empath. And it comes in handy when he talks to people. 

But he was killed by an unknown resistance group. Ambushed while we were going home one night after a dinner. My mother, who happens to be a normal human died. My Uncle was also there, and with the ability of speed ; he was able to snatch me up and we were out of the car. My dad was in the driver’s seat. 

My Uncle, Eric is the new leader of the council and he knows what i feel about the situation. He allowed me to form my own team. TOP is our leader and I agree with this. Jiyong is the brains of the group. There are alot of teams amongst us and according to statistics, our group is leading. Not only because TOP is making us work really hard to rid our vicinity of resistance members but because our powers are all unique. My thoughts are cut off as Eric started to talk. 

“ the resistance got the healer.” 

Five words and suddenly the room went stone cold. 

Minho turned to me, as if asking what should we do. Jonghyun is blatantly pissed. Jino is wary and TOP –well- you never know what he’s thinking.

“so – they can heal all their best allies now.” Jonghyun said pointedly. He had always been criticizing how slow the council is when it comes to going after them. He argues, that a part of us are still hoping that maybe they will change their mind. But all that is gone, i agree with him. When they decided to kill my father. 

“ we do not know the full extent of the healer’s power.” Eric replies with confidence,

“ we know it or not, it does not matter. They have the healer with them. We have to push through with STEALTH.”

TOP smiled with this outburst from jonghyun. STEALTH. As much as i think this idea is genius, its too much of a risk. This is the reason why tiffany left us. 

“ we had a casualty.” Eric’s eyes narrowed at me, he knows full well how guilty i feel about that. 

“ tiffany is here, in the palace- “ jonghyun states. 

“ but we lost her, she is not the same tiffany as before. ” I blame my mouth for saying those words but jonghyun would not be defeated. 

“ but she is alive Onew, Tiffany is alive. Project stealth was the reason we knew that they are recruiting by mind control. STEALTH is the reason why were able to capture Joon.”

Joon. 

Lee Joon. My cousin. 

“ TOP, your team seems to be conflicted.” Eric butts in and i want to get out fo this room and have everyone not stare at us. I know what they are all thinking. We are the new generation of heroes, and here we are- fighting like we used to when we were five year olds. My father will be very dissapointed.

“ my team are filled with strong people, its usual.” TOP replies with a shrug, like this is no big deal. I am thankful all the more that he is our team leader. Its not that he takes things lightly, i doubt he does but he does not let us see that. Jiyong on the other hands looks uneasy, like he wants us to ge tout and start talking. He is in favor of project stealth. Its his baby, as he likes to call it. 

“ you can all take your leave as soon as we finish this meeting.”

Jonghyun does not look at me and the metting goes on. I do not understand half of what eric said as my mind is into thinking about what should i say later. As soon as we are dismissed Eric comes to me. 

“ Joon was asking for you- he refuses to eat.”

I nod my head. Its always a nightmare seeing Joon. But i have too. We were inseparable once. 

“ don’t put out stunts like that again.” TOP immediately spit out as the door to our room was closed. 

“ sorry- ” i quickly say, I really am. Jiyong stands up and asks for permission to speak. 

“ we need to push through project stealth- I agree with jonghyun. Tiffany was not a casualty, she is here in the palace. ”

“ but she is close to being crazy!” I argued.

“ its not STEALTH that made her that way Onew, ” he emphasizes his every word and continues. “eversince training in the manor, we all know what happens when she goes overboard. Its not like, she went into this project and realized that too much power can do that to her brain”

I know he is only speaking from logic but i do not understand how they can do this. 

“ lets put in a vote” jonghyun calls out and we decided to vote. Everyone was in favor of pushing through with stealth except for me and Jino. 

“ its settled then, we will move on with this project. Jiyong? ”

“ we need to get to this man” he flashes a picture on screen, a man i do not recognize. “his name is VI. He has the power of heat- flames- ”

“ thats interesting- ” Minho chimes in. He was laways fascinated with powers that had soemthing to do with nature, 

“yes, they have one of the elements.” 

Elements. People who have the power of nature. This VI guy is fire. We have on our covenant, Ice princess- water – Jessica Jung. Which happens to be Jonghyun’s ex girlfriend. The one who can control rocks and soil and whatever died. And the one who controls the wind- 

“ fire man has to be strong,” Jonghyun piped in. 

“ yes- he is and he was brought up entirely in resistance ideals. So we must really get to him.”

“ that dude is strong, why do we have to get to him this fast?” Jino asks as he levitates infront of jiyong, practically swimming. Show off. 

“ apparently, VI is recruiting new members for the resistance. So we need that- ”

PROJECT STEALTH. The idea is simple, you pretend to be one of the resistance. You infiltrate, and like a virus- you put them down. Tiffany did that, but she got brainwashed in the end. 

“ who are putting out there? ” I ask. 

Jonghyun is about to volunteer himself but Yesung quickly talks,

“ i think we should involve someone they already want, take for example- KEY.”

Before i can even stop myself, my fist was already in close proximity to his face but jiyong stopped me. Jino is holding me back but i am already seething in anger. 

“ what the did you just say?” I look intently at him and he doesn’t even flinch. This. I know he can whisper to me and my ears will definitely bleed. His power has something to do with powerful waves in his voice. 

“ i said, we could use that friend of yours- Key- ” he puts it lightly and i launch at him again. 

“ he will not do anything about this!”

“ after tiffany, he is our only trail to the resistance- they have been tracking him and we don’t know why.” Jiyong explains. I know why, Key might be an empath of sorts and they need someone like him. Key had been keeping his abilities from me but i know it. I tried to let Jiyong read his mind but Key has his walls up. 

“ so what? We will hand him over to die?”

“ no one is gonna die” Minho replies and loosens my grip from yesung. 

“ Look, i was tasked to protect Key! Not to hand him over to someone who can manipulate fire, he will not make it out alive! ”

“ Onew, we had been talking about this among us. If we hand in Key, together with Jonghyun and Minho. We can strike a deal-”

“they cannot be trusted,” jino answers but jiyong ignores them.

“ in exchange for key, VI will give us the hideout for the exchange- the exchange for the healer ”

“ but i thought the healer is with them already?”

“ not, the healer will be handed over to them sometime this week.” TOP informs me. “the healer is apparently a slave- ”

“ serious?” jonghyun sounds floored by this,

Our kind have what we call slaves. Individuals who do not have a family or a manor to keep them. Instead, they serve the manors. 

“YES. And the owner of the manor is from the resistance, he is exchanging his slave – we need to do everything to intercept that.” 

“ why are we suddenly the only ones working for this?” Jino whined and TOP only laughed at that.

“ cause we are one of the strongest teams, and we have a lead. Onew, I know that you care for this human- but understand- we will not let him die. Minho and Jonghyun are strong- ”

I cannot believe TOP is agreeing to this. We can ambush VI, fight him fair and square. But this? 

“ do not even lay a finger on Key.” 

I say once again and leave them. I know that they will get what they want and i am being selfish, but i will not let them use Key. I can see why they would want him, but its my responsibility to look after him. He reminds me of who i was before my father died. Refusing to accept who i am, trying hard to fit in the normal world. 

He will not die. I would not let that happen. 


KEY’S POV 
(same time as chapter 4)

Taemin is right, I shouldn’t be this stubborn and I have to tell him the truth. I’ve been receiving increasing amount of notes this week. Eversince Onew began following me and protecting me. I have told professor K that maybe it was a bad idea to keep onew around cause it meant that I reall had something to do with them.

I am still trying to keep my distance. They are a cool bunch of people, i have become close friends with them this week. But to accept this all, its still too much for me. At the back of my mind, i am still the normal Kim Kibum. 

One evening, Jiyong comes up to me and tells me everything. I thank him for that, I have a feeling that Onew is censoring alot about what is happening. So Jiyong tells me the truth, all of it. And now i know what i must do- as terrifying as STEALTH is- i am willing to move forward. I have witnessed strange things happening in this town. People are seen dead and other students are attacked. Onew tells me that i should not worry but i beg to differ. I can do something. 

“ Key! Ive been looking for you! ” Jino calls for me and walks with me towards one of the diners outside the university. Ive become really close with Jino, aside from the fact that he saved my life. He is also a carefree guy, always smiling and i kind of look at him as a younger brother eventhough he is older than me. 

“ hows the planning doing?”

“ its okay, donghae is so stressed out, but i think we can pull this charity concert off” he replies confidently. 

We finally enter and Onew is not there. Well, he is not really supposed to be in here. This dinner is only between us. Me, Jino and Jonghyun. Minho is supposed to be here too but i don’t see him. 

“ yah! Where the hell is Minho! Did he bail? ” Jonghyun sat down and looked at us. He clearly has someone watching over him. I do not know the name of the girl though. 

“ he texted me, he said he is busy,” Jino replied and downed his drink. I am finding it hard to pay attention to the meal infront of me. This meeting is sort of our little secret. Jonghyun does not like my silence and snaps at me. 

“ you still in this Key? Or are you gonna run back to Onew?” he looks at me and i straighten up. 

“ no. This is perfectly fine with me, I just need to know what i will do. VI seems to be dangerous ”

“ drop the seems- he is dangeous” Jonghyun replies and we are approached by jiyong. Tonight, we do the exchange. They will hand me over to VI in exchange for the information they need to find the healer. I still do not know why the resistance wants me- Jiyong tells me that this is because i am an empath. Which i try to deny again. 

“ key, we will make sure nothing bad happens to you,” Jino offers and i believe them, but this is not a good idea. Onew was furious when i told him I am up for it. 

“where is minho?” Jonghyun complains.

“ he texted me, he will be a bit late, but he will meet us at the fountain on 11.” Jiyong replied. “for now, let us enjoy our dinner.”

Hours from now, I will be handed over to VI. I cannot help the knot forming in my stomach. Its fate, from the first time i happened to be in their life that night in the library. The moment i received that note. The time i met professor K. The miinute jiyong told me everything about their life. And most of all, that morning when I chance a glance at Onew. Pathetic as it may seem, i had made an unconscious decision to make him smile again.

To see him genuinely smile. I place the fries in my mouth and chewed it dryly. I need all the strength that i can get. 


Present time – Key’s POV 

Excruciating pain. I feel it as the heat from his hands travel towards mine, I have never felt pain such as this. Physical pain is always the worst, but thinking about jonghyun and minho- possibly dying with no one to help them. That is much painful. Everything went out well, they pretended to hand me over and VI told them that the exchange will be at some place in town i do not know. But something happened, I felt it. Someone knew what we are up to and they are going to attack us. 

Before i could tell them. They are onto us. We expected this ofcourse, but no one prepared us for these people. They are definitely stronger than us. As much as i try to control their emotions, my fear is overpowering me. I should have agreed with professor K’s offer to train me. 
So here, I am. Being burned alive. Bit by bit. 

“ we will go now key, ” he says as he lets go of my arms. 

A strong gust of wind envelopes the room and it weakens the flames in the room.VI is alarmed and amused at the same time. 

“ what a great night to meet another element- ” his voice is louder than ever and he stopped producing fire. I can sense that whoever it is that’s controlling the wind is pretty strong. 

“ let him go VI- ” A woman comes in and he is about my age or maybe older. She has brown hair and want to see more but im just too weak. Damn. I will pass out again. But she catches my eye and i can see that she is here to save me.

Thank you- i mouth to her and i close my eyes. 

//
“ you are awake.”

A Voice startles my thoughts as soon as i opened my eyes. I am in a hospital. What i remember last was passing out and being saved by the same girl who is infront of me now. My body shot up but it was too sudden and a jolt of pain overpowered me. 

“ you shouldn’t strain yourself,” she comes closer and give me a glass of water. 

“ where are the others?” i quickly ask.

“ minho and jonghyun are okay- they recover faster. You have been asleep for 24 hours,”

“ i was out that long?” I drink more, atleast jonghyun and minho are okay. 

“ onew will be here in awhile- jino just left, he was always here along with your friend, Taemin.”

Taemin. I can now see his face when he sees me now? He will surely be mad and overly concerned right now. 

“ thanks for saving me.” I manage to say and she just smiles at me. This girl is really powerful but she seems to be all gentle caring. 

“ its one of my duties as an element for the covenant”

I suddenly want to apologize to the whole council. Apologize to all of them for the ruckus i caused. I should have listened to onew. 
“ so, whats your name? Are you a friend of Onew? ”

She turns her head towards me and passes me a bowl of soup. I gestured that i can feed myself and she left me alone. “ the name is Luna, im Onew’s girlfriend.”

I vomit on the soup bowl.

====

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