The two boys were running around the ground. Their hand was bound together in one. Their eyes turned into crescents when they were laughing out loud.

“Be careful!” The slightly older boy scolded his younger brother.

His warning really didn’t do any effect to the younger. Just a few seconds from his warning, the younger boy fell into the ground. He was crying while he held his injured knees. The older boy shook his head from time to time. He wanted to scold his brother again, but he couldn’t. The ultimate puppy eyes of his brother were there, ready to plead as if telling him to spare him this time. He sighed in defeat.

“Is it hurt?” The older boy asked gently.

The younger nodded shortly after the question slid from his brother’s mouth. The older boy’s hand dug into his shirt’s pocket to take out his secret bottle. He opened the little bottle to drop the blue liquid on his brother’s knees.

“It will be hurt. Promise me to bear with it, will you?” He said.

The little boy hissed when the white liquid turned into some colors, like yellow, then green, and last it turned into red blood liquid, then it slipped into his injured knees’ skin with the spilled blood around it. The wound was healed perfectly; nothing was there, not even a little scratch. He didn’t know that he had held his breath until his chest screamed in agony to find some air. He could bear with it because he had a promise with his brother.

“There!” The boy cheered happily at his potion’s good job in treating his brother’s injured knees.

Both of them smiled widely. The older boy offered his hand to the other, but the younger boy had gone from his sight. He ran into the dark forest aimlessly to find where his brother was going. He cursed when he fell. His feet were stuck in tree roots. He screamed when the tree roots dragged him to the hole.

His breath was ragged the first time he arrived at the same forest. The dark forest had worsened than before. The tree was painted with so many bloods. The trees’ leaves weren’t there anymore. The air was stuffy and the mist around the forest sent shiver through your whole body. Whatever his mind told him, he ignored it. He still continued to search for his brother.

“Ryeowook!” He shouted his name over and over, getting impatient at the zero result.

He screamed when he looked at his younger brother soulless on the ground. Ryeowook wore a black cloak and he had grown into a man. He, himself, had grown awfully taller than before, and he had a shoulder length hair. He screamed again. What happened with him? Why was his brother swam in his own blood?

He woke up abruptly. His head was spinning as the result of his action before. He yanked his hair to rid the pain in his head roughly. Sweat trickled from his forehead when he felt his body’s temperature increased abnormally. His throat had weird burning sensation, and his body was aching. He couldn’t stand on his feet, so he crawled his way to the kitchen.

He sighed contentedly when he felt the burning sensation was replaced by something cold.

Crack… Crack…

He was startled at the weird sound. A glimpse of a small shadow was enough to make him crouched under the table. The shadow was near his window, holding something in his hand.

“Who is there?” He asked.

He closed his ears at the screeching sound of the window. The stranger jumped into his house from the window. The small shadow turned out to be someone in yellow cloak. His hand held a beautiful and tiny crystal ball with blue shadow inside it.

“Who are you?” He asked again.

The stranger didn’t bother to answer the question. He took one step closer to the man under the table, but the man under the table moved away. He walked again, and the man moved away again. They kept doing that until the man was out of under the table and sandwiched between the stranger and the wall. The stranger smiled wickedly. He held the crystal ball on the eye level. He grasped the man’s jaw to open his mouth with force. The man cried in silent, when the stranger pushed the crystal ball inside his mouth.

“Welcome back, Heechul hyung.” Whispered the stranger.

***

“People in station one caught the A virus. Hurry up, Heechul!” A man in brown cloak screamed at him.

He got up from his position to check the station one. People were howling in pain. They were bloody. They had many tiny holes on their skin. The holes drew out so much blood. He pitied his people for suffering this disease. The witches had no mercy at all!

He began to take many bottles from his bag. He dropped the liquid in everyone’s mouth. He cursed loudly when his potion only closed the holes on their skin. People were still curled into ball, probably because they had wound inside their bodies.

“I will take care of them, hyung. And you, you have to make two barriers around them quickly! Or the viruses will begin to infect another victim.” The little man in black cloak said.

He nodded and began to chant some words in order to make a barrier. The air around them was moving around in circle motion. He chanted some words again, and the air turned into blue light, surrounding them in one place. He opened his secret bottle and dropped a whole liquid to the barrier. The first barrier was done. The first barrier would tend their wound until they were fully recovered. The first barrier also blocked the virus so it couldn’t infect another person.

“Ryeowook, are you done yet?” Asked him.

“One person again, and we’re out of here.” He answered.

The little man looked exhausted. His face was pale. He had already used so much energy to heal people. Ryeowook was different from his eldest brother. Heechul healed people with his potion, but Ryeowook healed people with his energy.

“I’m done!” Ryeowook signaled his brother.

They both walked out of the first barrier. Heechul began to chant some words again. The ground around them lifted up and circled the first barrier. Ryeowook chanted some words and the ground turned into golden light. The second barrier would protect people from any attack, and it would give them some energies. Heechul pushed Ryeowook to the ground, a second before he tailed him out of the barrier.

“Stay here! You’re exhausted!” Heechul said from the outside of the barrier.

“They need me to heal people!” Ryeowook shouted from the other side. Hands were banging the barrier desperately.

“I will heal them, don’t worry. Just promise me to stay safe, will you?”

The constant banging was gone. Ryeowook slumped on the ground. His brother had spoken their magic words. And he would never break his promise with his brother. Nothing. He could do nothing. He only wished his brother good luck. Today was the peak of the war. He would meet his brother again, or he would lose him forever.

He gulped the air like he gulped the cold water before. His throat was burning again, and he coughed some blood. But nothing prevented him to whisper the words that he had wanted to say many years ago.

“I’m back.” He finally whispered those words.

His smiled turned downside again. He was back, that meant the war was near.

“Finally!” The other who wore yellow cloak clapped his hands.

“Is the war near our eyes, Sungmin?” Heechul asked the man in the yellow cloak.

“Not really, but your rebirth will ring the rats’ bell.” Sungmin said while helping Heechul stood on his feet.

“Rats? Did you mean witches?” He said, tone laced with lack of confidence.

“How is the plan?” He said again.

“Impatient.” Sungmin murmured.

“Heard that!” Heechul said.

Sungmin rubbed his forehead. The old Heechul had come back again. His diva and sassy attitude would never gone even they were shut deep inside his soul.

“You’re staying here like nothing has happened when I’m the one who brings the crystal balls around without army!”

“I don’t have any army too, you big bunny! How am I supposed to live when the witches know I come back again?” He countered.

Sungmin glared at the older man beside him. He couldn’t believe him! Even without memories about him for many years, he said his ugly nickname just now!

“They don’t know where you are! So do the others!”

“Ryeowook will find Kyuhyun in his mansion, and the shortest way to his mansion is in this way.” He interrupted Heechul’s rebuttal.

“You need to follow him secretly.” He said again.

“I missed my little brother.”

“He is alright, and you will never lose him for a second time, I guarantee it!” Sungmin tried to assure his friend.

“Anyway, why do I need to follow him?” He asked, changing the topic.

“Because, he will lead you to the other cats.”

“Cats? Did you mean us? The friends? The way you give us name is weird!”

Sungmin rolled his eyes. He agreed with him actually. But it was the fastest way to remember the content of the book if you knew the key, was it true? Changing their nickname is the key to remember all of their history.

“Whatever.”

***

Ryeowook barged in into the main hall of the castle, making some sleepy royal guards wide awake. It was past midnight, the prince should be in his chamber.

“Tell me, do you know more about the man in red cloak’s appearance?” He asked through raged breath.

The royal guards looked to each other, totally confuse about the prince’s question.

“Tell me!” He shouted.

The royal guards stiffened on their position. The prince once again exploded. He was like a ticking bomb; he could explode, anytime and anywhere. And he had no patience at all. His patience was even thinner than a piece paper.

“We know nothing, my prince, except for his red cloak.” They said together.

Ryeowook’s heart was unsettled. He had a mix feeling, confuse, worried, afraid, and many others. He had to come and got the answer straight from the man’s mouth.

“Prepare my horse tomorrow. I will go to a long journey.” Ryeowook said to the guards.

“And I don’t want any of you as my companion.” Ryeowook cut the words from the guards.

“And there is one more; do you know where is the shortest way to the forbidden forest?”

The guards fell into silence. Why did their prince want to go to the forbidden forest? They had lost their king few days ago, and now they needed to prepare themselves to lose their prince? These thoughts flew in their eyes. But they knew their prince limit in patience, so they answered as soon as possible.

***

Bang!

The blonde man was woken up because of the loud sound. He walked to search the source of the sound half heartedly. Who was making that sound past midnight?

He dropped his torch when he saw the first crystal had broken into pieces. There were seven glowing crystal inside a cupboard. He checked the three others slightly bigger and shinier crystals on the table. He sighed heavily when he saw the third crystal had a small crack.

Kim Heechul

He read the name on the cupboard where the broken crystal was placed.

“They are one step than us. Who is waking him up?” He whispered.

“What’s about the loud sound?” The turquoise head asked from behind.

Long pause, no answer, the man went to where the frozen blonde man was. He stood beside the blonde man who was lost in tracks of thoughts. His mouth was agape.

“He is awake?” He asked, still didn’t believe what he had seen. He needed a confirmation, but the broken crystal was the proof.

“Do you know someone in their group who can wake them up?” He answered with another question.

“The hidden one! He is the one who can wake them up!”

Both of their eyes were wide open. Something that they never thought would kill them from the back. They never thought that the hidden one did many effects to their plan.

“We need to get rid of him.” Said the blonde one.

“We don’t even know where the friends are, and you want to get rid of him? Are you insane?”

The blonde man said endless cuss words while he moved around the small room. His eyes caught the small crack on the third crystal on the table.

“That’s right! The prince!” He shouted in victory.

“What’s up with the prince? Don’t tell me that he is awake too!”

The blonde man replied him only with grinned. That summed up everything in the turquoise head’s mind. The prince was awakening slowly.

“They are moving too fast! If the prince wakes up than the other redeemers will wake up too!”

The blonde man groaned in frustration. He could read the plan a little, so they could move along too.

“Not yet! I know their plan!” The blonde man said.

“What’s their plan?”

“You want to know their plan? Then, you need to call the others now! So we can begin the meeting!” 

***

That’s it! So, i rewound the story a little, after sungmin put the letter on the castle, he went to Heechul's house. And the story was back again to Ryeowook, and the last part of this chapter was in the midnight, same time when Ryeowook discovered the letter. Sorry if I make you confuse. Feel free to ask me anything about the story ^^ Thanks for the comments and i don't know that writing a story can be this exciting. I hope you enjoy it! Don’t forget to leave some traces ^^.