", , !" Mingyu wildly looked around before he pointed to his right. "The corner, quick!" His order was followed without hesitation and they sprinted over, pressing against the walls, while Mingyu remained in the corner across from the fridge. "The security cameras don't record sound, so we can talk freely, but we need to stay as far away from them as possible. There's more up here than down in the basement though because Jiyong doesn't want any video evidence of whatever he's doing. Once we get in, we should be relatively safe."

"How do we open it without getting seen? Does your ability work with cameras?" Jisoo asked worriedly, eyes glued to the small, black devices.

"I don't think I can use illusions on anything but humans; I need a mind to trick. But the control room is just down the next hallway. Zelo, do you think you could figure out if someone is in there?"

"Which direction?"

"The opposite of which we came from." Mingyu almost jumped out of his corner when the Warrior tried to reach for the door handle without getting into the range of the camera. "No! Don't go out of the kitchen, there's a camera in front of the door!"

The younger's face fell at his words. "But I can only figure it out once I see the sounds. My hearing is just average."

Mingyu cursed and frowned in thought, while Seokmin patted Zelo's shoulder and Jisoo sent the young Warrior a comforting smile.

"Okay, different approach. I'll try to use my ability from here, but that's the furthest apart I've ever been from a target; I'm not sure if I can do it."

Insecurity and doubt washed through the bond and the Wielder wondered if Mingyu was thinking of the times he had "failed" - in his own words - to protect people he cared about. The desperation the Warrior felt when he closed his eyes made Jisoo's stomach churn and he focused on opening their bond, sending as many positive emotions as he could. He mentally went through the night before, when Mingyu had tried to help him sleep and how peaceful he had looked after Jisoo had calmed him down in the morning. His heart fluttered at the thought and when he looked up, Mingyu was watching him, smiling slightly. The desperation had lessened and once again turned into something akin to hope.

The Warrior closed his eyes again, this time looking more relaxed and focused. For a few long moments nothing happened - and then he spoke. "There's two of them."

"Can you use your ability?"

"Yes." He opened his eyes, the slight smile still dancing on his lips. "Here's the plan: We'll call the others and get them to set up some sort of distraction. Then I'll use my ability just in case the guards are still watching the kitchen screens and you'll come over here. Afterwards one of you will lift the pan in front of the fridge and guide me there. You'll have to use my fingerprints to get the door to open and then we pray that they didn't delete my data since I'm presumed dead. If they did... well, we'll probably get killed."

"Great," Seokmin said dryly while Jisoo and Zelo shared uneasy glances. "But it's the best plan we got. Who do we call? Daehyun?"

"I'll call Yongguk again," Jisoo offered. "Himchan said they could aggravate the dogs for us and at least the others don't have to engage that way."

His group members nodded (Zelo a bit reluctantly) and Jisoo fished out his phone for the second time this night.

"Jisoo?" Yongguk's voice was as calm as always, despite the tense situation.

"Can you get the dogs to act up? I think they used a generator to get electricity and we need to distract the guards watching the cameras."

"Sure, give us a moment."

"But don't do anything dangerous. I'm serious, Yongguk."

His warm laughter rang through the line and somewhat eased Jisoo's anxiety. "You're one to talk. But don't worry, we won't even get close to them."

It took the two Warriors less than a minute. The small group in the kitchen was waiting with bated breath for something to indicate the success of their tactic when suddenly a loud crash cut through the sound of the rain and dogs started barking aggressively in the distance.

"Okay, I guess this is it. On my signal..." The tall Warrior closed his eyes, brows furrowed in concentration. "Three, two, one..." He took a deep breath, his whole body tensing. "Now!"

Jisoo and Zelo skidded to a stop next to him and the Wielder gently took his hand, guiding him towards Seokmin, who had lifted the big cast-iron pan and revealed a dark screen embedded into the wall. "Do we need to turn it on first?"

The distance to his victims was taking a visible toll on Mingyu, but he still shook his head, eyes tightly shut. "It activates when I touch it. Hurry, I don't know how long I can keep this up." His voice sounded strained and he blindly reached for the monitor. With Jisoo's help, his fingers found their target and he pressed his hand against the smooth surface that immediately lit up at his touch.

Seokmin took a single, purposeful step and positioned himself between his Wielder and the kitchen door while Zelo armed himself with a pan. Jisoo kept holding Mingyu's free hand, eyes trained on the screen, while they waited for whatever would happen next. For a few long moments nobody moved and the whole room seemed frozen in time, apart from the lightning outside the windows. Then loud voices and hurried footsteps became audible.

The stitches in his side were getting worse but Chan ignored his protesting body and forced himself to keep going, just a few steps behind Minghao. Unlike him, the Warrior was running without showing any signs of exhaustion, years of training for his magic tricks finally paying off.

The last street corner that hid the mansion became visible through the rain and Minghao took it with vigour - only to stop short at the sight in front of him. They almost toppled to the ground when Chan crashed into his back, but the Warrior's quick reflexes spared them both a painful encounter with the wet pavement.

"What the heck, why did you- oh ." Chan had looked up and also caught sight of the mansion, bright lights twinkling on top of the fence and in most windows. It looked beautiful in the darkness, the rain adding an almost mythical sparkle, but it was also highly unsettling.

"So that's why Seungkwan wanted us to hurry. How did they turn it back on? The rest of the neighbourhood is still dark."

"Who cares, what about the others? Did they get caught?" Chan was already pressing his earpiece and Minghao hastily logged into the conversation as well.

"Daehyun? What's going on? Is the other group okay?"

"I'm not sure... Seungkwan is having vision after vision. I can't get him to properly talk to me; it's nerve wrecking. But I don't want to contact the others as long as I don't know what's happening."

The Forcebearers flinched when an unexpectedly loud crash was heard and immediately dogs started barking angrily. Parts of the fence at the back of the mansion turned dark.

", what's going on?! Is someone attacking?"

"Wait, I'll call Yongguk." The line beeped and Chan ran his fingers through his hair in agitation while Minghao eyed the brightly lit entrance of the property.

"Should we go back to our old position? It might be difficult with the lights though," he proposed after a moment.

"Yeah, maybe we can sneak through the-" Chan immediately fell silent at the sound of the established connection.

"Yongguk made a tree fall into the fence to distract the guards, so the others can sneak into the basement. Everyone's okay. Yugyeom's completely knocked out next to me though; I don't think he can use his ability again tonight. We'll have to somehow work with the current situation."

The Forcebearers released a collective sigh of relief. "Alright, tell us if Seungkwan sees anything new."

"Yes, Sir," Daehyun mocked and Chan smiled in response while Minghao shook his head at the younger.

"Jisoo is spoiling you too much. You should respect your elders more."

"As if you're any better."

"Don't stop," Jisoo hissed and prevented Mingyu from pulling his hand off the screen. "There's no alarm yet, they're probably responding to Yongguk's attack."

The other Forcebearers stayed vigilant nonetheless, eyes directed at the door, until a loud clicking sound made all of them jump. Jisoo turned toward the fridge and had to suppress an excited yell at the sight of the wall swinging open.

"ing finally," Mingyu mumbled through clenched teeth. "Let's go, I can't hold on much longer."

Jisoo and Mingyu took the lead, the Warrior's eyes still c