“Burn them.”

            I examined the surrounding carefully. Many were victims of this fight, and most of them were from Byakko’s army. I looked down at the mass murder scene and walked over their bodies, trying to find someone alive from this mess of a fight. We had arrived an hour later than expected, and when we did, there wasn’t any need for reinforcements. Byun Baekhyun only sent five Shadow fighters to my headquarter, and here they were, piles of bodies, cluttered unsightly.

            “But Sena…” I heard sounds of protest from Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, until I whipped around and glared murderously. It wasn’t their fault, I knew, but time was ticking and I could feel sanity slowly slipping out of my conscious mind. The thing most human didn’t realise was when murdering others became an everyday job, blood became a new fascination to us. To see it spilled and wasted – it wasn’t so much of a tragedy anymore.

            “Just burn these dead bodies, Yeol. Make sure they are all dead. Don’t let the living suffer,” I ordered and continued walking. Their blood soaked the ground, and the brown soil turned to a sea of red. In a way, I was glad that only tens of hundreds were from Seiryuu. I turned a blind eye to them and sighed regretfully. Ten was standing far away in the distance between the valley and these bodies, with a large gun in his hand. He looked rather ridiculous holding a gun that covered half of his body.

            “Sena,” The shadow that loomed over his handsome face disappeared the moment he saw me approaching. He jumped over the bodies and put the gun on one side. Sometimes he looked older with the crease on his forehead, and sometimes he looked much younger, especially when he smiled. Likewise, the initial doubt I had before I found him vanished. “Sena, we won. We managed to set a trap and push them into a corner. There were a few that survived but I doubt they would do any damage to us.”

            “Very good, Ten. This is a job well-done, and it’s only your first task to many more,” I wanted to reach out and smoothened the mess of a nest on his hair, but held back from doing so. It was inappropriate, I realised, and very much looked down upon. People had never looked at me kindly nor favourably, and they didn’t need to be given a chance to stir up unwanted gossips.

            Sometimes I thought it was ridiculous that everyone in this damned world talked about gender equity when deep in their heart, they still wished to be superior, one more than the other. Just because I was the only female leader of the four clans, they always tried to fault me – anything to tarnish my reputation and my clan’s. Other leaders could take in as many mistresses as they wished to, and yet I could not even be close to my male friends without being called names.

            Ten beamed when he heard the compliment, but he coughed to play it coy. It did not matter. His happiness would not decrease mine by one bit, for right now, I was the most relieved of everyone present. This was one thing I could get off of my chest. With Genbu shunned off from the three clans and Byakko’s small army in defeat, this would hold everyone in their places for a while. And finally – as he wished – I would gladly introduce Ten to the rest of the group. He did not need to live hidden in the shadow anymore.

            Sungyeol appeared through the underground elevator. He was harmless, not an ounce of blood or soil dirtied his white shirt – unlike Ten who was smeared in dusts and sweat. His eyes were calm as usual, as if the fight scene did not faze him one bit. Even I hated the stinky smell of flesh, but Lee Sungyeol did not blink an eye. I supposed growing up in a country where war constantly happened was both a curse and a blessing.

            “Sungyeol, thank goodness you’re unharmed. Your cousin’s been crying on and on for hours in front of everyone about how worried she was for you. Any more tears and she would have popped her eyeballs onto the ground,” I rolled my eyes playfully, and though my words sounded rather heartless, I didn’t mean to be rude. Or maybe I was, but those words were not meant to harm.

            “Lady Sena, please don’t tell me Jiyeon is here,” He looked rather horrified. His face paled down instantly – whether it was from repulsion or fear. I cocked my eyebrow and folded my arms in curiosity. “I pray to God you didn’t bring that girl into this scene. I always get terrible headache whenever she is around.”

            “Don’t be mean, Sungyeol. She is a great actress – as you told me before. Had it not been for her, the whole plan wouldn’t have gone so smoothly,” I , feeling rather excited. I left out bits and parts to different people in hope that they would know at least a little, but not the whole story. I didn’t trust people. And because of that, I could never be truly sincere to others. This was probably something not everyone would understand. After all, we all grew up in different environments, and it was not my choice in the first place to be born in a world of the Great Gods.

            The smell of fire and gasoline burnt in the morning air and the smoke raised to the sky. So Chanyeol finally listened and acted on my order.

            “You find me fascinating because I don’t react well, and I, too, find you rather amusing for your quick change of attitude,” Sehun chuckled. I didn’t know how or when he walked up to me, but it made me feel flustered now that he did. He was folding his hands in front of his chest, looking quite casual had it not been for the blood and sweat on his clothes. Usually, I would find such smell repulsive, but somehow I didn’t.

            “If you want to call me a two-faced , then go on. Not like I care, anyway,” I steadied myself when I tripped onto a dead body. Sehun was ready to catch me on. One of his hand circled around my waist protectively and drew me closer. His other hand tightly gripped my wrist, steadying me around his arms. His eyes were startling brown, and it was now that I looked closely at him that I realised how they looked like. When Sehun stared – and I meant, really stared, without riddles and other meanings – his eyes were piercing into mine, as if he could see me as a whole and looked into my soul.

            “I don’t think you are. And if people do call you that, it’s because they do not understand you well. Human’s minds are far more fickle than the classification they tell us to believe. I must have told you that before,” He smiled, showing off that perfect set of teeth. I was calm before he came, and suddenly my heart jumped up a notch. I held onto his arms tightly, not wanting to let go, and he didn’t pull his hand away, either. I blatantly ignored the teasing smirk on Ten’s face and forced myself to walk to the other side.

            “You always talk like you know me so well, as if we’ve known each other our entire life, and yet I know nothing about you. It’s kinda unfair, don’t you think, that you know so much and I know nothing?”

            “I am not that hard to understand,” Sehun smiled again. His hand was enveloping mine in a contrasting display of strength and size. We stood further, avoiding the black smoke of the dead. The smell was terrible. Whenever I smelt this scent, I had this terrible urge to vomit, and every time I did, I always forced myself to swallow back, no matter how disgusting it was. Sehun seemed to notice my discomfort.

            “Don’t be modest, Hun. You are probably the most complicated person I have ever met. I would like to know you more, if only you’d allow me to open that lock in your mind,” I told him honestly and held him back from going anywhere. I insisted on staying because I wanted to see the whole process. It was like a mass funeral without a proper farewell or coffin. This was only the end to the first chapter in my very long life. A new beginning would soon start – another arc to this never-ending conflict.

            “I can say the same to you,” Sehun held my hand tighter, “I would love to know what’s in your mind most of the time. Every time I see you in pain, I wish to bear it for you, so that you would never have to suffer again. I know when you are crying, but most of the time I feel so helpless when you do. Whatever it is you are crying for – I want nothing more than to make it disappear, just so you would smile again. And it’s not just the blood vow, Sena. It’s so much more.” He stopped before he could say anything more.

            I told myself not to believe in his sweet promise. But Sehun was not Jongin. He was my friend. Lord knew how hard it was for me to make a friend. I nodded at him wistfully and squeezed his hand tighter to let him know that I knew. I was here for him, and I would never leave. But one should not hope for more than what we could wish for. It was just like the morning of that snowy day, when I left him in the cold, except that the feeling was very much different now. And there was a small stir in-between the cracks of my heart. It was unsettling as it was confusing. 

           A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter is rather ridiculous. This is kind of a filler. Feel free to ask if anything is confusing to you. Just to share something with you: I went on my first solo travelling a few days ago to celebrate my birthday and OMFG, it was so awesome!! Anyone from England? I went to Lake District! Recommendation here if you wanna check out my blog: Lake District Experience.