~~ Double Update: Check previous chapter if you haven't already ~~

By the time the rest started joining them, they’d already been training for over an hour.

And it was beginning to snow. What?

‘What?’ Tiffany asked, looking around with wide eyes. She stretched her hand out and watched with fascination as a snow flake landed on her hand. And melted away immediately.

‘Xiumin?’ Sehun muttered, looking up at the sky. Dark clouds were gathering over the skyline, roiling. ‘Or Suho?’

‘Both?’ Tao proposed, shrugging. ‘Does it matter?’

Sehun shrugged, pulling off his shirt. Tiffany’s eyes widened comically, face reddening even as her eyes traced over Sehun’s form, drinking him in.

Sehun preened, smirking when Tiffany eeped, running up to him.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded in a fierce whisper, putting herself in front of him to prevent anyone from ogling him. A moot effort because she barely reached his chest and Sehun was wide.

‘Where’s your modesty?’ she groused, picking up his discarded shirt and looking at him, torn between covering him up and ogling him herself.

‘Ugh, put a shirt on Sehun!’ Mei complained, averting her eyes, ‘First Kai, now you? It’s too early for this!’

Kai, who’d just teleported in shirtless, grinned unrepentantly. ‘What, don’t think you can handle this?’  

‘Keep your eyes off him!’ Tiffany shrilled at Mei, hugging Sehun defensively.

‘Keep his shirt on him!’ Mei retorted before glaring Kai. ‘I can handle it just fine!’

Kai smirked salaciously, winking in response. Luhan bristled beside her, growling at his Shadow. ‘Cover up!’

Kai grinned wider. ‘Afraid of a little challenge?’

‘This cub!’ Luhan growled, aggressively yanking off his own shirt and throwing it on the ground. Mei yelped when Luhan grabbed her, pushing her behind himself and baring his teeth challengingly. ‘Bring it on!’

‘Are they always like this?’ Tae, who’d just shown up with Nara, Chanyeol and Kris, muttered out of the corner of . ‘They were in the basketball court too.’ 

Kris sighed, stepping forward and putting a hand on Luhan’s shoulder. ‘Cool it, he’s obviously goading you.’

Luhan snarled, looking like he was about to start beating his chest. It would be funny if he didn’t look so scary. Mei shook her head and grabbed Luhan’s arm. ‘Come on babe, leave him be.’

Luhan softened like cheese, relaxing and turning to look at Mei with wide, doe eyes. ‘Hm?’

Tae blinked, impressed. ‘That was like watching a magic show.’

Kai didn’t seem too happy at being deprived of a fight and threw his rolled up shirt half-heartedly at Luhan’s back. Luhan flipped him off, tugging Mei into his side. Kai slumped, teleporting away sulkily.

D.O and Kyra showed up soon afterwards, followed by Chen, Baekhyun, Lay, Rose, Leo and Ken. D.O glanced at the sky. ‘Should we wait for them?’

The Legends collectively looked towards the sky which was churning with roiling clouds, looking like it would pour torrents any moment. The light flurry was already quickening to a snow shower.

Kris shook his head. ‘Let’s begin. They can join whenever they’re up to it.’

The guys busied themselves, setting up equipment with practiced ease. Tae looked at her friends. ‘Am I the only one who doesn’t get it?’

Tiffany snorted and Raina started giggling; Kyra shook her head, looking rather amused. Nara seemed just as lost as Tae felt, which didn’t make her feel any better because Nara was lost in the best of circumstances. Thankfully, Rose spoke up too. ‘Yeah, I didn’t get it either. What was that about?’

That made Raina giggle harder and now, Tiffany joined in, both girls leaning into each other for support. Kyra shook her head. ‘It’s really not that funny.’

‘But it is,’ Raina contradicted, still laughing.

Mei, who’d finally joined them after calming Luhan down, glanced around. ‘What’s funny?’

Tiffany pointed to the sky, then at Tae. ‘She’s asking about that.’

‘Oh, that!’ Mei started giggling too, making Kyra sigh loudly. ‘You’re all such kids!’

Shaking her head, she turned to Tae. ‘The reason these idiots are cracking up is because this-‘ She gestured around, ‘-happens when the Legends get excited and lose control of their powers.’

‘Oh!’ Nara gasped. Tae turned to her. ‘What, you knew about this?’

‘I just figured it out!’ Nara focused on Kyra. ‘Chanyeol’s powers get out of hands when we’re kissing, so he accidentally sets stuff on fire.’

‘Yeah, exactly.’ Kyra smiled. Rose snorted loudly. ‘So they’re getting some?’

There was a gasp as Leo, who’d just shown up to say something, closed his mouth, eyes rounding with shock. He glanced between Rose and the snow around them in shock, looking betrayed before he turned and marched away.

That brought another round of giggles, this time Tae and Rose joining in. Before they could get even more distracted, Tao was calling everyone to fall in.

He pointed at Raina. ‘Come on, you have to help me with the demo.’

Raina, visibly glowing with pride, joined him and they started with the first lesson.

…………………………………………

Suho and Angel showed up halfway through the lesson, though it was obvious they were just there to watch. Angel snuggled into Suho’s side, contentedly letting him feed her snacks as they observed the rest get drilled by Tao.  

Lily looked refreshed and energized when she showed up, towards the end of the lesson. Very much unlike Xiumin, who looked like he was in pain with every step he took, grimacing and occasionally glancing at Lily, who was blatantly ignoring him. He sighed and went to stand next to Suho, ignoring the glares Leo was throwing his way.

As the lesson was dismissed and everyone started dispersing, he leaned against the wall, watching Lily moodily. He let out a loud sigh and the snow started coming down faster.

Suho sidled next to him. ‘You okay?’

Xiumin nodded. He was fine, technically speaking.

‘I’ve never seen you lose control like that.’

Xiumin nodded mindlessly before his words registered. ‘What?’

Suho nodded at the white layer on the ground. ‘You’re making it snow. That hasn’t happened in… I can’t even remember the last time you did something like this unintentionally.’

Xiumin sighed heavily, muttering something under his breath. Suho laughed, catching the gist of it. ‘I’m sure you will be able to do it. It’s her you have to worry about.’

That made Xiumin pout, looking morose as Lily laughed with Rose at something Tiffany was saying. Suho laughed again, patting his shoulder encouragingly. ‘Just hang in there, she’ll come around.’

He started walking away before he stopped. ‘Are you sure you’re okay, though?’

Xiumin nodded, grimacing as he moved and adjusted himself, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Suho sighed, knowing exactly why his Shadow was so uncomfortable. A glance down confirmed it. ‘Do I want to know?’

He was quiet for moment before… ‘I promised. I have to suffer through it.’

It took Suho a few moments to process that before he burst out laughing. ‘Oh, she’s got you good!’

‘Shut up,’ Xiumin grumbled, crossing his arms and trying not to jostle himself too much.

He would’ve taken a cold shower but of course, she made sure he knew the promise meant he wouldn’t do anything. Just to get a taste of what she’d gone through, she’d said. It wasn’t fun, he could say for sure.

‘Good luck,’ Suho told him, grinning widely and making Xiumin glare at him. It would be funny if it was someone else, he was sure. As the of the joke however, he didn’t find it too entertaining.

Even less so when Lily caught his eye and smirked, knowing exactly what he was going through, with her smelling of him and carrying his mark.

Xiumin huffed before heading inside. No need to torture himself even more than he’d already done; better get ready for work and leave before his senses became even more clouded and he ended up snowing them all in.

……………………………………………

Rose was about to head back to her room when Kris stepped next to her. ‘You should get ready, we’ll be leaving soon.’

‘Huh?’ she asked, surprised. ‘Going? Am I allowed to leave?’

Leo, who was sulking close by, glaring at Xiumin any time the Legend happened to look in his direction, perked, coming to stand protectively beside Rose.

‘Where are you taking her?’ he demanded, crossing his arms, stance screaming aggression.

Kris stared at him mutely instead of replying. Leo stared back and Rose had a distinct feeling that both guys were trying to intimidate the other.

‘Okay,’ she finally spoke up, unable to take the unnecessary tension. ‘I’m just gonna g-‘

Kris, thankfully, relented. ‘We’ve decided that instead of keeping you confined inside the HQs – which is inhumane and frankly, impractical – it’ll be easier if you just come with us wherever we go.’ Kris explained.

Leo’s shoulder’s relaxed. ‘So, you’re not keeping her a prisoner?’

Kris shook his head. ‘We’ll take turns, so she’s not unsupervised and this way, she won’t be stuck here all the time.’

‘But what if,’ Rose interrupted, feeling both relieved and a little scared. ‘what if Star tries to make a break for it when we’re outside?’

Kris tilted his head. ‘I doubt it. It would serve no purpose to Evil. Right now, Star is exactly where he’d want her to be.’

Rose swallowed.

Star had perked with interest when Chen had shown up at her room to her for the lesson but that was it. She hadn’t tried to take over, not even once, since they’d come here and Rose rather thought it wasn’t because Evil was not commanding her. Rather, she got the distinct feeling that it was Star who was giving Rose space to be herself.

Rose appreciated that, even if she was feeling less than kindly towards the creature – no, girl. Somehow, knowing she was Xiumin’s sister made it hard to distance herself, to vilify her as something evil that had taken residence inside her.

She couldn’t help but sympathize with Star on some level.

‘I suppose that makes sense.’ Leo spoke in her stead. ‘So, she’ll go to work with you?’

‘Yes, to the university. She won’t be alone either since most of us go there; so she’ll have company and if Evil decides to try something, we’ll be there to handle it.’

Rose nodded slowly. ‘Okay.’

‘Yesterday, it was Suho’s turn, so you stayed home,’ Kris explained. ‘Today, you’re going with me.’

‘How’re you deciding the turns?’ Rose internally thanked Leo for asking that for her. She needed to be prepared if she was to spend an entire day being supervised by a certain Legend.

‘Honestly, there’s no reason.’ Kris laughed sheepishly. ‘Suho went first because we forgot we were supposed to take her with us. I’m taking her today because we haven’t yet set a schedule, so who knows? We’ll probably ask for volunteers and go from there.’

Leo narrowed his eyes. ‘If that Evil dude is actually using that thing to spy on you guys, aren’t you being too careless by talking about your plans in front of Rose?’

Kris’s eyes turned suddenly red as he smiled, a grimace with no humor behind it. ‘If he’s spying, even better. Let him come.’

A chill went down Rose’s spine at the fearsome look in his eyes and she could feel Star cowering inside her. Instinctively, she reached out but Star receded even more.

He’s not going to hurt you, Rose tried to reassure her.

Scary man, Star whimpered back, sounding exactly like the child she was supposed to be.

‘O-kay, that’s enough!’ Chen, bless him, appeared out of nowhere and Rose felt relief spread through her. ‘Stop glowering, you’re scaring poor Rose!’

He smacked Kris’s shoulder, smiling reassuringly at the siblings.

Kris blinked, the red fading from his eyes. He shook his head. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to.’ He nodded at them and walked away after bidding Rose to get ready.

Chen watched him leave before turning to look at Rose carefully. ‘You okay?’

She got the feeling that he wasn’t asking about her. She nodded anyway.

Chen smiled, eyes serious. ‘Nobody’s going to hurt you, I promise.’

Star, who’d stopped whimpering when Chen showed up, let out what sounded like a sob and then, hid away completely. Chen frowned, looking worried before looking at Leo. ‘Sorry, Kris is a little sensitive.’

Leo shook his head in understanding before nudging Rose. ‘Come on, let’s get you ready.’

‘I can get ready by myself,’ Rose defended, not wanting to be babied in front of Chen. He merely smiled before moving away. Rose deflated.

‘Yes but this will be your first day at college,’ Leo reasoned teasingly, waving a hand to Lily. ‘Oi, come here, Rose is going to the university today!’

Lily hurried over, fussing as Leo explained things. She nodded, frowning at Rose’s get up. ‘You can’t leave like this!’

Rose crossed her arms. She was still wearing the clothes the Legends had lent her and they were not a good a fit. She pouted. ‘It’s not like I brought my things here.’

‘Not to worry,’ Tiffany, who’d followed her, spoke up. ‘Between us, we have plenty of stuff. Come on Rose, let’s get you ready!’

‘Oh, this is going to be so much fun!’ Raina gushed excitedly, bumping Rose’s shoulder.

Tiffany grinned at her. ‘You weren’t so excited when we were dressing you up.’

Raina pouted. ‘Because you were mean to me.’

‘I was mean because you dressed like a potato.’

‘Excuse you, I am a fashionable potato.’ She sniffed. ‘No thanks to you.’

‘Thank goodness at least one of you has some dress sense.’ Tiffany shook her head. Lily only rolled her eyes, used to the duo bickering, and said to Rose. ‘You can wear my clothes.’

‘No offense Lily, but do you really want Rose to dress like you?’

Lily rounded on her friend, fully offended. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

Tiffany wisely put Rose between them. ‘Just that you dress for work, whereas Rose here is just a youngling on her first day to uni.’

Lily sighed. ‘I suppose you’re right.’

Tiffany puffed up. ‘Of course I am, I’m always right.’

‘Except when you were in denial about Sehun!’ Raina added, yelping when Tiffany scratched at her. They bickered all the way to her room.

…………………………………..

A/N

Hey everyone. I'm sorry I keep missing my updates, sorry. Adult life, turns out, is a and time likes to run away. So, here I am, struggling to keep pace. Anyway, hope everyone's doing okay. Giving you guys another double update to make up for lost time. And also, because I have kind of an announcment. This story - You are my Destiny - is gonna end in maybe five or six chapters, hopefully. Maybe ten though I don't want to extend it that far. However, I want to make sure they turn out right, so I might take a little extra time to kind of polish them a little. And I'm thinking, I'll probably update when it ends. Not sure, maybe I'll keep updating in between but I don't want to ruin the pace by making you guys wait too long between chapters. And things will kind of come to a head so, I wanna keep the pace going,you know? Just saying this in advance, so please don't be too mad if the updates seem a little slow. 

On another note, I find some endings very hard. Like I rushed through the story and the build up and now that everything is coming together, I feel like losing steam and that . Anyone else have that problem? 

Anyway, do comment and let me know what you think. Also, share what you think will happen next... or what you would like to happen next. 

Thanks for reading and I will see you soon. 

Bye~