9. Mark: zu meiner Ruh

Mark wanted to scream. He wanted to yowl until his lungs bled for Youngjae, but Yunaria still had a firm lock on his throat. The helplessness of the situation overwhelmed him. There was nothing he could do for Youngjae, and nothing to do for Jinyoung. Why had he been sent here if he was only going to kill the person he loved most, just as he'd already done in his first life? Why did he have to watch another friend die right in front of his eyes?

Youngjae collapsed to his knees in front of Jiminel. It wasn't going to be an instant death, but sweat was already pooling on his face. “You think you've won?” he asked in a weak voice. “You think you can win over us just because I'll be gone?”

“We have the tool to bring every soul here to our mercy,” Jiminel laughed, twirling her scepter. “Tell me how we haven't won?”

“A pretty butterfly like yourself may seem lovelier and larger than the insects on the ground beneath her, but you've just wandered right into a spider's nest, little Seraph. Do you know why you'll never be queen of the afterworlds?”

Jiminel stared at him indifferently. “I'm sure you'll tell me, even though I don't care a bit about a tiny spider's opinion.”

“You're a human. You can pretend all you want that you're some divinely chosen angel who has some right to lord over everyone else, but you, just like all of us, lived as a human and died as a human. I bet you don't even remember that about yourself anymore, but I do. I've seen your file. You were a craftswoman on Earth who died at twenty-five from a plague. Remember that life, Jimin-ah? Do you even see the people you act like dirt beneath your feet as who they were before—farmers and princes and dancers and doctors and mothers? Do you see humans with dignity around you anymore, or only servants?” Youngjae laughed weakly. “That's your flaw. That's why you won't survive this spider's nest. Prepare to meet your 'servants'.”

Youngjae reached into his tunic and pulled out the whistle he used to signal breaks in the work day and gave it a single blow. The note echoed through the air, seeming to fill the entire building, just as it had filled the record room from the ground to the ceiling when Mark had heard it before. The sound lingered for a moment, then sharply cut off. A lower rumble came from the distance.

“What is that?” Yunaria asked from behind Mark's ear.

The rumble grew closer and closer until it was just outside the door. A moment later, the door was thrown open, exposing a legion of Limboites with faces half-covered by what looked like gas masks.

Jaebum had wriggled a little bit out of Seolhyunari's arms when she'd shifted her attention. “NOW!” he yelled. “RELEASE THE GASES!”

“AYE, SIR!” the Limboites yelled. In unison, they drew back, tossing an array of canisters into the room. Some of the canisters began leaking out foul smelling fumes immediately. Mark clapped a hand over his nose, blocking his nostrils.

The angels charged immediately, brandishing their scepters. It wasn't just Mark's imagination—when they attacked, their images seemed to shift, their wings darkening in color and their beautiful faces turning almost terrifying in their fury. The Hyde Club, free from their grip, glanced back and forth at each other, then seemed to agree as one to side with the Limboites for the time being. The lept at the angels, knocking them to the ground before they could lay a finger on the Limboites. The angels and demons wrestled each other for a few moments, but they didn't last long. A handful of Limboites had branched off to provide gas masks to Jaebum, Mark, Youngjae, and the already unconscious Jinyoung, but everyone else in the room was slowly weakening to the gas's impact.

“Listen,” Youngjae was explaining to the Limboite helping him. “Make sure they don't have anything else like those scepters on their person. They can use them...to erase...your souls.”

“Don't talk, sir,” the Limboite said urgently. “You're losing strength. And your back...?”

The skin on Youngjae's back was splitting, exposing the beginning protrusions of wings. They were black: the demon essence was winning out.

“Don't worry about me,” Youngjae said faintly. His weakening voice was hard to hear through his mask.

“No, we're worrying about you.” Jaebum grabbed him and hoisted him up on his back. “Quickly. We have no time. Mark, grab Jinyoung.”

Mark obeyed, hoisting his dead weight body into his arms. He hadn't faded away yet; Mark could tell by his subtle movements that his body wasn't yet a soulless vessel. But he had to be cutting it close. He would be truly dead soon if Mark didn't do anything—but what could Mark do?

He followed Jaebum out of the room of choking and sputtering angels and demons. “Were you responsible for that plan?” he asked.

“Yup. Thought I'd use my knowledge of dangerous chemicals for good, finally. Be sure to keep the mask on until we're out of here. That stuff can really linger. Unfortunately, it won't knock those angels out forever. I needed it to buy us time. If all goes well, the Limboites will have the Ace imprisoned before they come to again. And the Hyde Club, if necessary. Youngjae thought they might be convinced to give up their plot if they have the opportunity to go through the Pool of Rebirth. It's not like the demons will have anyone to rule over in Heaven, anyways.”

Mark trotted after him, which was difficult since Jaebum was practically sprinting. “Where are we going?”

“Up,” Jaebum said simply.

They wove through the corridors for a moment before they ran into a Seraph patrolling the area by the open air reception hall. “Median!” the Seraph called out when he saw Youngjae's pale body on Jaebum's back.

“Did the demons make it safely through, Yugyeom?” Youngjae asked in a faint voice.

Yugyeom nodded. “Jackson brought them through just as promised, and I had the gate ready. They made it safely through the Pool, and Hell should be completely empty. We also looked into what you asked us to. You were right: there's no 'Divine One' in Heaven.”

Youngjae nodded. “All right. You'll stay and help the escaping Limboites, right?”

“Of course, Median.”

“But we must... be careful. Someone should bring justice to the Ace of Angels, or else they'll just remain in Limbo... and take control of any fresh souls that come through. There must...there must be an end to them, even if it's a kind end like rebirth. Do you understand?”

“I do, my Median.”

Youngjae laughed weakly. “I'm not the Median anymore. In fact, in another half hour or so, I'm not even going to exist. It was nice knowing everyone, be sure to tell them that for me. I loved you all so much.”

Yugyeom gave them a questioning look. Jaebum just shook his head. “Don't listen to him. He'll be fine. Look, how does one get to Heaven from here?”

“Fly,” Jinyoung said faintly from Mark's arms.

“Great. No one's in condition to fly right now except Mark, and he needs to carry Jinyoung.”

“You're asking so you can go to the Pool, right?” Youngjae asked.

Jaebum nodded.

“Good. That is at least something I can do.” He slid off Jaebum's back, his black wings unfurling in their entirety. “Looks like my transformation is complete. Now all that's left is for the angel essence to kill me. I always knew those Seraphim would get me one day.” He took Jaebum's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Hold on tight. I'm afraid my arms aren't as strong as they used to be.”

Slowly, he lifted himself up from the ground with Jaebum in tow, Mark following after with Jinyoung. Mark had never been to Heaven before, but Youngjae had, so he followed in his wobbly path up and up and up, lost in a haze of clouds. Water accumulated on his skin, but he wiped it away quickly, never taking his eyes off Youngjae. It wasn't lost on him that Youngjae could collapse at any point, and Mark was the only one capable of catching him and Jaebum before they fell. Maybe that was the last good thing he could do with his afterlife. For Jinyoung's sake he couldn't stop fighting. Jinyoung had had faith that as long as Mark did that, nothing would stain his heart. Mark had to hold onto that faith Jinyoung had, or he would really have nothing else left.

Luckily, Youngjae remained strong long enough to reach the gates. He dropped Jaebum on the ground and collapsed beside him, his body at last giving out.

“I'm sorry...” he murmured. “It's going to be goodbye soon...Jaebum...thank you....for everything...for staying with me...Mark...your soul...it's clean...no sin...no damnation...Jinyoung...not your fault...”

“Shut up,” Jaebum snapped. “You still have your soul yet, and you're holding onto it if it's the last thing I do.” He hauled Youngjae up into his arms. Mark extended Jinyoung's limp hand and pressed it against the gate. He thought it might resist because of the demon essence inside Jinyoung, but grudgingly it opened.

Both of the two familiar with Heaven were unconscious, so Jaebum and Mark decided to plow forward to the palace. “That's where I would keep a portal of rebirth,” Jaebum said. “Away from anyone who wanted to jump in whenever.”

The layout of the palace was confusing with its multiple courtyards, but the two of them eventually found their way to a center room with a glowing pool of light spanning the floor. Mark had never seen anything like it in his life before, and he was sure it could only be one thing.

“The Pool of Rebirth,” he murmured.

“Yes,” Jaebum nodded. He reached back and unhooked his gas mask. “Our parting of ways.” He leaned down and took off Youngjae's gas mask as well, kissing his forehead. “Goodbye, Median. It was one hell of a ride, and I'll owe you one for everything that you did next time we see each other. I hope you'll live like a prince with no more worries other than how much happiness your big heart can take. Until we meet again.”

With that, he released his grip on Youngjae. Youngjae sank into the pool, and a minute later was swallowed up by the light, disappearing from view.

Mark stared at Jaebum questioningly.

“He still had his soul,” Jaebum said softly. “It was only a minute or so until he lost it forever. If that portal is safe for Seraphim and Demonkin and humans, I thought it would still be fine for someone with a little bit of all three inside of him. And since he made it in time, his soul still existed. It can be reborn into a new body. He can live again.” Jaebum slowly sunk to his knees. “I'm not so bad, am I now? That brings my tally of lives saved up to three.”

“You saved a lot more than that,” Mark said quietly. “All those Limboites and Seraphim and Demonkin were saved by our plan. We gave them another chance. You were a part of that.”

Jaebum smiled. “Yeah, guess I was. Now, shouldn't you be adding Jinyoung to your own tally? I know you lost it a little bit back there with those angels goading you about what's happening to Jinyoung, but it's not over yet. You two did a great thing by loving each other. No matter what the result of it was, there's no question in my mind about that. You both changed from the angel and demon I first met when I woke up, and I'm sure you know more than anyone what a blessing that was. The world may be garbage about taking things away from us, but if you two were able to change each other and Heaven and Hell, I'm sure one day you'll be able to change the rest of the world and make it a kind one rather than a cruel one.” He glanced down into the pool of light. “Youngjae proved to me that was possible. I did a lot of horrible things back in my day, but that ends right now. Maybe that resolve won't be enough to change an entire world. But who knows? I'm hoping it will be good for something.”

Mark looked down on Jinyoung, unhooking both of their gas masks. He was still there, and looked like he would hold out just a little longer.

“You go,” Mark said to Jaebum. “I need to say goodbye, and you probably don't want to hear it. I owe him that much.”

Jaebum sighed. “Fair enough. Hey, if you retain any memories of all this going down, look me up on the other side, will ya? I'm sure I'll be out there somewhere, looking after the Median.”

“I'm sure you will be. Goodbye, Jaebum.”

“Goodbye, Mark.” With a salute, Jaebum plunged into the Pool, his body little by little vanishing from sight. Mark hoped two little howling baby boys were being born at a hospital on Earth right that minute.

He looked down at Jinyoung, holding him in his sight one last time. He looked so peaceful, but Mark knew the love he'd tried to give him was eating him away from the inside. Now that his anger had cooled, he couldn't hate himself for it completely. He'd wanted to give Jinyoung that love, and even still, it was a precious memory to him. And fate had given him the opportunity to correct his mistake and set Jinyoung and everyone else free. Jaebum was right about that. If he kept on looking back in regret, he'd only keep making mistakes, and the world would keep being cruel to him. He'd only look forward now, shaping his fate with own two hands instead of letting the world drag him around at its whim.

Mark grabbed the chain around his neck and yanked it off, tying it around Jinyoung's wrist. “Remember me,” he whispered. “And wait for me. I love you, Jinyoung. Goodbye.”

“Funny how after all the terrible things that have happened to you,” a voice behind him cooed before Mark could do anything further, “that you still think this is some romance where you get to live happily ever after and all your sins will be put behind you. Really, the blindness of demons knows no bounds.”

Mark turned around. One of the angels, Seolhyunari, was approaching them, twirling her scepter lazily. None of the other angels were with her; if she'd managed to escape, she'd done it on her own.

“This isn't that kind of story, demon. The Beast doesn't get to win everything and redeem himself of his past transgressions. He just gets to whimper and grovel like the beast he is. I'm sorry, but Beauty is the heroine of this story. It's fitting, isn't it? The fairest of them all gets to be Queen, and she gets to personally destroy the fighting spirit of her first servant. Poor Jinyoungie's running out of time, isn't he? Shall I make you watch as I seal up that filthy pool for good?”

In a movement so fast that Mark could barely register it, Seolhyunari had slammed him onto the ground, pinning his thrashing wings to his back. Jinyoung had fallen partway underneath his body, not close enough to the pool to shove in while Seolhyunari was pushing down on him. She reached down and hooked an arm around his neck, putting him back in a chokehold.

“Let's see,” she hummed. “What was the little trick? The Pool of Rebirth was created from the light fostered in the souls of the good and sinless. I think a good antidote to that would be the darkness of one who is full of sin and has three murders on his conscience. His lover, his family, and his own self. If that won't swallow up the light, I don't know what will.” She slid the edge of a knife—thankfully not the one on her scepter—against his wrist, then flicked the blood into the pool. Shadows began creeping across the pool slowly. “A fitting next chapter to your tragic tale. Your beloved will die, and I'll have a perfectly emotionally broken and docile servant. My kind of a happy ending!”

“Don't you dare,” another voice came from behind them. This one was familiar: it was Yunaria, Jinyoung's boss. Seolhyunari loosed her grip on Mark just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the angel approaching them. She had her scepter pointed, and to his surprise, it was aimed at Seolhyunari, not at him. “You do not get a say in what happens to my ser- to Jinyoung. You are letting him go through that pool, even if I have to kill you to make it happen.”

Seolhyunari merely laughed. “Having a change of heart, are we? Feeling a little sympathy for one of your pawns? You should have died quietly in Limbo, darling, like you were supposed to. Isn't that gash I gave you on your arm hurting you?

Now that Mark had a better look at Yunaria, he could see there was an open wound on her arm, and that her body was pouring out sweat. Seolhyunari had clearly attacked her with her scepter—but why? Weren't they on the same side?

“All the Seraphim who served me have safely made it through the pool. I followed you docilely for all these years on the promise you wouldn't hurt my workers, and now they're free.” Yunaria's hand trembled. “All but one. The demon may have nearly killed him with the Taboo, but now he's trying to set him free. I won't let you stop him.”

“Now, isn't this sweet?” Seolhyunari clucked. “Too bad you're falling apart and can't do anything to stop me. I bet if you tried to kill me right now, you'd just fall flat on your face with how weak your body is. You should be thanking me for getting vengeance for Jinyoung's upcoming death for you. You wanted this horrid demon to suffer, didn't you? I'm planning to make that happen in ways you've never even dreamed of.”

Yunaria tried to take a step forward, but sank to her knees, sweat dripping from her forehead. She turned her wavering eyes to Mark. “I can't forgive you. For inflicting the Taboo on him, I can't forgive you. But if you want atonement...remember...light is shadow...shadow is light... the two exist because of the other.....so they are one with each other. They don't destroy...one another... so...you still...have your way...out.” She lunged forward with the last of her energy, trying to strike Seolhyunari with her scepter. She collapsed before she even got close, and like the sputtering of wick of a candle, within moments she was gone altogether.

“Tsk, how pitiful,” Seolhyunari clucked. “When our plan didn't work, she should have realized right away that there was no way all of us were going to survive. Jiminel us first. Silly girl always thought she was going to be Queen, but who would follow orders coming from the voice of a child? I let the majority of them fight it out and kill each other, and took down the fleeing, weaker prey who was foolish enough to chase after her servant rather than go for the real prize, the crown.”

She tightened her grip on Mark, forcing him to look down into the pool. It was almost entirely covered in shadows now; even if he were to fight Seolhyunari off and toss Jinyoung in, it would be too late. His corruption had already destroyed it. He his lips, panicking. The salty taste of blood from where Yunaria had slammed his face into the table and broken his nose filled his mouth.

Blood? Even dead, we retain our essence. And this essence...

He thought to himself for a moment. Even if he and Jinyoung weren't going to survive, he could at least take the remaining member of the Ace down with him. It would be a small triumph, even though he would still have to bear the burden of having corrupted the pool, even if it was unwillingly. Not only had he blocked Jinyoung's way out, but he'd blocked the way out for all the Limboites who would soon be making their way here.

But voices nagged him in the back of his head. One was Jinyoung's. There's nothing corrupt here. You still love and hope and have faith. You're still fighting. And as long as you have that, nothing can stain this heart.

The second was Yunaria's. Light is shadow, shadow is light. The two exist because of the other...they don't destroy one another...

He looked in to the pool again. Yes, there was shadow there, but what if it wasn't corruption? What if it wasn't swallowing the light, but existing beside it? If he didn't have three murders on his heart—if his sister wasn't dead solely because of him, if the life he had snuffed out in himself wasn't really murder, and if Jinyoung wasn't dead at all—would his blood really be able to destroy the pool?

Jinyoung would say it wouldn't. And if there was anything Mark trusted, it was Jinyoung. He had to take the chance that it was still a working portal. That they still had their way out, just as Yunaria said.

“Hey, Seraph,” Mark said, taking a deep breath. Jinyoung surely wouldn't last longer than this. He needed to do this now, while he still could.

Seolhyunari loosened her grip a little. “What is it, servant?”

“Nuh-uh-uh. No spilling censured secrets. We'ren't you the one who said that?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Next time, follow your own advice. You're about to get yourself into a whole lot of trouble for revealing the secret of destroying an angel.”

Jerking his head down, he bit into the arm she had wrapped around him, breaking her skin and drawing blood. As she shrieked and tried to fight him off, the blood pouring from his nose mingled with her blood, entering her body. Demon essence joined angel essence and immediately reacted.

Blood had a different effect from the essence in the angel's scepters or what Mark had done to Jinyoung. The reaction was immediate: the area where Mark had bitten into Seolhyunari's arm turned a sickly black and started crumbling away. In turn, the parts of Mark's mouth that had touched her blood did the same. He jerked back from her as she screamed in agony, knowing he couldn't afford to waste any more time. He grabbed Jinyoung's body and roughly forced it into the shadowy pool, watching as it sank safely into it. Patches of light peeked out from under his body. The light really was still there to deliver him.

“Look what you did to me!” Seolhyunari howled, lifting her rotting arm. “I was perfect! I was divinity! I was going to be your Queen, and you turned me into an ugly monster!”

“You already were one,” Mark said with difficulty; parts of his lips were crumbling. “Don't worry. I'm sure it will all be over soon.”

Seolhyunari's scepter was still in her undamaged hand, and her using it against him to make a bigger cut would only hasten his demise after tasting her blood. He only had a single moment left to do this before she stopped him or the blood he'd swallowed did him in. Using the last of his fading energy, he threw himself into the pool, just barely dodging her hand as she screamed and lunged after him, failing to catch him as he fell.

Light caressed and enveloped him. It filled his body until he felt and saw nothing anymore. Until he was nothing anymore but a single soul hurtling towards an unknown life.

Blackness. He was being enveloped by something, something that was propelling him forward as he moved along with its current. There was light at the end. He wanted to go to it. Light had given him another chance. Light had saved him. He trusted in the promise of that light.

Suddenly, the light burst into his vision. A thousand unfamiliar shapes assaulted his blurry vision, and none of them made sense to his overwhelmed senses. Sounds came from all around, forming intoned noises he didn't understand.

He thrashed his arms and wailed in confusion. Hands cradled him and his small body, encouraging him to calm down.

Breath filled his small lungs, and he expelled it.

He was alive. 

A/N: Slipped this chapter in before a long trip home back from Thanksgiving vacation. Just one more left after this :D

Reading your comments will be my special treat to myself after the road trip is over! Thank you as always for supporting!