"Mi'lady?" 

"Come in, Irvirian." 

Irvirian steps into the large chamber, where his lady awaits. She's sitting alone, one leg thrown over the other, and staring at the wilting flowers in the flowerbed next to her as if it's the first time she's seeing it. Irvirian walks to a distance before the girl and he bows. This girl is barely twenty...yet Irvirian finds it hard to believe that she's close to 500 years old already.

Where his lady walks, death follows. It's nothing new--seeing her surrounded by dead or wilting flowers. 

"Lesca..." 

"Stop, Irvirian," Lesca orders, her voice commanding. 

Irvirian shuffles in his spot, "What is it, mi'lady?" He knows she hates it whenever he calls her by name, but he just can't help it. 

"The Summoner...is he nearly there?"

"Macalania," Irvirian says. "Not so."

"And the other one?" 

Irvirian thinks for a while, "Yes, he's there. It's going to come soon, and he'll end up with the Summoner." 

Lesca gives a sound of acknowledgement, before turning away and, with a straight face, says, "He should hurry. There isn't much time left. Continue with the watch...oh, and send the Spherimorph." 

"As you wish, mi'lady. I take it that you'd be there? At the ruins?" 

"Of course," Lesca nods. "My mother made me the Queen of the Farplane. There are, of course, certain benefits that come with that title." 

Irvirian bows once more, before turning away, towards the portal that leads out of the Farplane. He has a task set by his lady, and he will finish it.

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

A butterfly lands on Jimin's nose, its wings opened and the bright blue color is a stark contrast against Jimin's red robes.

"A-Aachoo!" Jimin sneezes, and the butterfly flutters off.

"What? You allergic to butterflies?" Yoongi jokes, grinning that gummy smile and walking next to Jimin.

"What? No," Jimin laughs. "I just had the sudden urge to sneeze."

The group continues on, with laughs and giggles as they make their way past the winding paths of the Macalania Woods, that is, until they bump into a weird-looking creature with a lute attached to his arm, or at least, Jimin thinks that way. He has green skin, and wears those kind of feather hats that native Spirans wear, and he's wearing a blue robe. The most prominent feature (other than the lute) on him is his beak. He must be a native of Macalania Woods.

"Butterflies are such mysterious creatures, don't you think?" the man asks as the group passes by.

"Sorry, we don't have--" Seokjin starts as a matter-of-factly, but Jimin cuts him off. 

"Yeah, they are!" Jimin grins. 

The man plucks the four strings on his lute. "There are two types of butterflies in these woods: reds and blues. Blues are good butterflies, and they often lead you to treasure. The reds are aggressive, and they summon fiends when you get too near to them..." 

There's a roar and Jimin immediately turns around in the direction.

"Look out, Jimin!" 

There's a loud explosion as Jungkook pulls on Jimin's arm. One of Taehyung's bombs have just exploded in the Chimera's face. Seokjin has his sword unsheathed and so does Namjoon. Yoongi is also in his ready position. The Chimera roars and thrashes about, its snake tail flinging lightning bolts everywhere, crashing into the various plants decorating the borders of the path. Right by the Chimera's ear is a red butterfly.

"Looks like you've gotten too close to it," the man with the beak says. "The butterfly probably thinks you're a threat." 

"You're kidding me right?" Seokjin growls at the man, before managing to deflect a lightning bolt hurled at him. 

"I'm not," the man says. "Defeat it quickly...or you might meet more of its friends..." 

Namjoon yells a war cry, and rushes towards the Chimera, slamming his sword down onto its skull and splitting it in two. Giving a final roar, the Chimera screeches and fades into pyreflies, the colorful parts of its soul flitting away, to the Farplane where it should belong.

"What the h*ll was that about?" Seokjin demands, running over to the man, who looks more amused than scared, or anything else for that matter. He grabs beak-man's collar, making the latter face him.

"Whoa, wait, Jinnie, not so fierce!" Jimin walks over, wrenching himself from Jungkook's grip. He touches Seokjin's shoulder. "Hey, he doesn't have a weapon." 

"Yeah he does. He sends butterflies to kill us!" Yoongi rolls his eyes.

"He didn't send them, right?" Jimin furrows his eyebrows, looking back towards the man.

"What should happen will happen," the man says, strumming his lute yet again. "Impossible to defy fate." 

And with that, he disappears. Seokjin curses, and Taehyung and Jimin is just staring at the place where the man was in disbelief. He just...He can't just have disappeared! If he was an unsent, then there would have been pyreflies! He can't have just disappeared like that! 

"That was cryptic," Taehyung mutters, recovering first from the shock.

"Maybe we'll meet him again if we go further into the woods. C'mon, guys! Let's go!" Jimin calls to the rest of his team, who agree unaminously.

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

After a few more run-ins with some undesirable red butterflies, the group manages to make it, puffing and panting, to the exit of Macalania Woods, which will lead to Macalania Lake, and from there, Macalania Temple. 

"There's a Rin's Travel Agency here. Let's rest a bit," Yoongi reasons, and everyone agrees, making their way speedily to the Travel Agency. All except Seokjin, who looks a little unnerved at being in a place full of Al Bheds, but he was fine in Thunder Plains--he can do it again.

"Fryd tu oui haat?" the woman asks from the counter.

"Uh, do you speak English?" Jimin asks, a little worried now. It's not like Taehyung was born with the innate ability to understand Al Bhed. In fact, the kid can barely even translate the simplest of sentences, all because he was raised in an environment where no one spoke Al Bhed and he hadn't any chance to learn, with Yevonites all over Besaid Isle and all. There was no one else who understands Al Bhed in their little group.

"E tuh'd ihtancdyht..." the woman shakes her head. 

"Never mind then. Sorry to bother you..." Jimin drops his head and bows. He leads his Guardians out of the Travel Agency and out into the practically frozen-over path. 

"Guess our next rest point is at Macalania Temple, huh?" Jungkook looks over at Jimin, who's looking around frantically. "Hey, where's Yoongi?" 

The Travel Agency doors open again. Yoongi steps out. "I've got you guys rooms." 

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

"You speak Al Bhed?" Jimin jokes. "Anyway, I'll see you guys later? Let's reach Macalania Temple by nightfall." 

"Same room arrangement?" 

"Well, duh," Jimin nods, but then remembers that it'll be two members a room now. Quietly, he goes over to his room with Jungkook. Namjoon and Seokjin sensing the tension and moving to their own, at the furthest end of the corridor. Yoongi and Taehyung head to their own room. 

"So, do you speak Al Bhed?" Taehyung grins. When he sees Yoongi tense up, he laughs. "Don't take it seriously! I was just kidding!" 

Yoongi nods, a little stiffly, and heads to his own bed. "I'm gonna go sleep. This journey's taking a lot out of me." 

"It's freezing. I'm gonna switch the heater on." 

Yoongi gives a grunt as Taehyung heads over to the heater and there is a "beep" sound as the room becomes instantly warmer. 

"Taehyung, I need you to keep a secret for me. As fellow Al Bhed." 

"Yeah sure...wait, what?" Taehyung nearly drops the cup of coffee he's drinking at the moment. 

"Yeah," Yoongi says, groaning to himself as he questions exactly why he just did that. But the secret has been kept for so long and he's bursting to tell someone, and a fellow Al Bhed is the way to go.

That is, unless your fellow Al Bhed is somebody by the name of Kim Taehyung. 

Of course, Yoongi expected Taehyung to yell for Jimin and Jungkook and tell them of his new discovery, but not this time. Taehyung remains silent, yet awed. "But your eyes are blue." 

"It's plastic," Yoongi says. "Fake eyes." He holds out what he calls "contact lenses", after taking it out from his eyes. His eyes really are green, just like an Al Bhed's.

"Whoa, really?" Taehyung scrambles over to his own bed. "Yah! Min Yoongi! Why didn't you tell anyone?" 

"Persecution," Yoongi replies quietly. "You feel it too, don't you? People curse you for just being an Al Bhed." 

There is silence again for a few minutes, save for the rustling of sheets when Taehyung slips into his own bed. "I'll keep your secret for ya, Yoongi." He yawns. "I'm gonna go sleep for now." 

Yoongi can barely keep his eyes open anymore--it's as if a wave of tiredness just came over him. Maybe it's the relief of not keeping his secret anymore. Maybe...is this how Hoseok felt when he needn't keep his secret anymore?

"Hey, Yoongi. Can you teach me Al Bhed someday?" Taehyung asks suddenly.

"Oayr, cina," Yoongi yawns again as he drifts off into dreamland.

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

"Right, we're all rested, are we?" Jimin looks over at his Guardians, who look more than rested. 

"Yup! It's less than a two hour's walk from here to Macalania Temple," Namjoon says. "We should be able to reach there before the sun sets." 

"What are we waiting for? Let's get going!" 

With that, the group continues on their way to Macalania Temple.

The going is tough, with the stings of the frosty wind against their skin, despite being clad in armour and robes of sorts. According to Jungkook, just like Mount Gagazet, Macalania Temple is always cold, always winter, just like how Besaid is always experiencing summer and never winter. Jimin grits his teeth as he and his Guardians push on through the wind. 

"W-W-What kind o-of A-Aeon do you t-think I'll g-get n-next?" Jimin asks through gritted teeth, trying to bring up the mood.

"An i-ice one, I-I b-bet," Seokjin mutters. 

"No sh*t, S-Sherlock," Yoongi bites back another snarky reply he was readying. 

It isn't long before they find themselves standing on Lake Macalania, with machina left behind. The machina looks like jet skis, at least, from what Jimin can tell from the thousands of old archived books he reads about machina that he finds in Besaid Temple. Jet skis were awesome inventions by the Al Bhed, allowing the people of yore (before Sin appeared) to travel easily on ice, but it was banned for use since it was a machina and it was against Yevon's teachings to use it. But it looks like the Al Bhed still take pride in their work.

"Hey, d-do you t-think if we u-used it, w-we'll make it t-to Macalania...even quicker?" Jimin asks through chattering teeth. He turns towards Taehyung, and the latter nods, approaching the machina and pressing a few buttons. "I guess it can work. I c-can power a-all three of t-them up, and t-then we'll g-get there a l-lot quicker." The jet ski's engine revs up, but on the monitor, it shows a snowflake.

"It's t-too c-c-c-cold to s-start up right n-n-now," Taehyung explains. "W-Wait a w-while. J-Jimin, y-you go f-first with K-Kookie. We'll s-see y-you t-there." 

Jimin nods, and waits by the revved up jet ski along with Jungkook, who gets on it and grabs the handles. Jimin climbs up behind Jungkook and hugs the younger's waist. 

"P-Push that r-red b-button when y-you're r-ready a-and when t-the s-s-snowfl-flake is g-gone," Taehyung instructs, moving to the next engine to rev it up. Yoongi walks over to the third one and, following what Taehyung did, manages to boot up the engine. As the group waits, Jimin notices something. The wind has stopped. The cold is still biting as he sits on the jet ski, though there's something...off.

There's a resounding roar and Jimin covers his ears.

"What's that?" Namjoon shields his eyes from the sun as he looks towards the direction of the roar.

"That" happens to be a giant...abominable...snowman. Seokjin instantly recognizes the creature.

"It's a Wendigo," he breathes. The Wendigo roars again and jumps onto the frozen Lake Macalania. Surprisingly, the ice could take its weight as it charges towards the group, roaring and screeching. 

"And we're on its turf!" Yoongi curses. He's the first one to act, his blitzball hitting the bulls-eye, the Wendigo's head. The spikes cut through the top of its head and the Wendigo screeches as blood spurts out from his wound, getting into its eyes and it is now unable to see, but the Wendigo does something that it shouldn't be able to do. 

It cast Berserk on itself.

Jimin, being a Summoner and White Mage, knows that spell well. The target gains much strength, but is unable to do anything other than attack. It's in a rage state--sort of. The Wendigo rushes forward, blood in its eyes, making it almost practically blind, but the Wendigo is still charging and attacking. Jungkook grasps the handlebars and yells at Jimin to hold on tight.

"We'll meet you at Macalania Temple!" Jungkook calls out as the jet ski whizzes off, sliding on the ice, the blades skidding on the ice and righting itself on the snow, like an established pattern.

"W-Wait! We need to--!" Jimin shouts, slapping Jungkook's shoulders.

"Your safety is top priority, Jimin!" Jungkook shouts back, voice muffled over the drafts that have started up again. "There's no point continuing on this journey if you're dead!" 

There's nothing Jimin can argue with Jungkook about. For a fourteen-year-old kid, Jungkook is suprisingly smart.

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

Where am I? Am I dreaming? Is this Besaid? Yeah, it is...there's a little isle and a beach. Is that...

Jimin...Kookie and Tae? That can't be. They should have made it to Macalania by now...or even Bevelle if they're fast enough. Aren't I already dead? 

"Wake up. It's all a dream. You're dreaming." 

At least that answers my question. 

It isn't hard to wake up. I'd say. I just open my eyes and...

I see something in front of me. No, a person. She looks beautiful, and looks like someone...someone I'd seen before, be it in books or files... She approaches me, but I'm too busy looking at my hands and wondering how it is I can be alive right now. Around me are fields of flowers, and there are pyreflies all around. She touches my hand, her skin as soft as silk, her voice gentle like a spring breeze. 

"I will send you back to your Summoner. He's in grave danger." 

"Grave danger?" I ask, growing a little worried and concerned.

"In Macalania Temple. There will be guards waiting for him. Because Kinoc is corrupted. He will not tolerate the humiliation of ten years' prior," the girl says. Her eyes are golden as they look at me. 

"I-I have to go. How do I get there from...here?" I ask. 

"I will send you there. I am the Queen of the Farplane." 

"Q-Queen of the wha--? Who are you?" 

"I'll tell you my name once, and you'd do well to remember. My name is Lesca, Queen of the Farplane, Ruler of the Pyre," Lesca says, and I can feel myself fading away. Please don't tell me she's going to send me to h*ll or something.

"I haven't got your name from Irvirian. What's your name?" Lesca asks, just before I fade away completely. 

I hesitate awhile, before I tell her.

"Jung Hoseok." 

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

It's a really short chapter, cos I wanted to update this since I didn't manage to update it as I promised (did I? If I didn't, I'll try to update on Sundays) but I also wanted to end with a cliffhanger. 

Hehe he's back. 

Wendigo: