Kibum

“Again! From the top! Go!”

“There are five types of Constellation Families under Zeus; the attack constellations, the defense constellations, the heal constellations, the originals, and the fallen. Each member of each constellation has an aura while most have a colour - except the fallen. I, no…my family belongs to the Constellation of Bootës which is the only living family of Originals and our colour is ‘white’ or ‘pure light’. Except for originals every other Constellation belongs to a faction, which is a group of Specials with at least one of each - attack, defense and heal - constellation bloodline. The attack bloodlines are identified by the red colour and warm, offensive aura; the defense bloodlines are identified by yellow colour and a warm but protective aura; and the heal bloodline is identified with green colour and cool, relaxing aura. When a member defies the laws of the faction or breaks a sacred vow, they are removed from the faction and all their power is repressed making them a Fallen member of their constellation bloodline. The fallen member can regain their power if another faction accepts them but this is rarely the case as the fallen members remain weak even after their powers are returned. However, if the fallen member has a child, their child will continue to be a part of their constellation bloodline and will be a Special. The spell cast upon the fallen member does not pass on through their bloodline, however once a name of the bloodline is tarnished by having a ‘Fallen,’ it is difficult for their future progenies to be a part of any faction. And unless part of a faction, the constellations bloodline cannot evoke their true powers.…”

Kibum stood over the stove, stirring the soup he was preparing for dinner while quizzing Taemin on his recently acquired knowledge about the Specials. Taemin has been studying fervently from the notes Kibum gave him after he finished reading the accounts of his ancestors. Kibum had made an easy to understand guide for Taemin to learn everything he needed to know about the powers of each Constellation, their meaning, their signature aura, their colours and ways of identification, the current factions in the world, their role in society, and few family names within the Specials. Kibum had told Taemin to learn about those who have already been exposed to him and those who are immediately related to him; like Choi Minho, Lee Jinki, Jung Eunji, and Kai. Since Taemin knew about all the others, he was most surprised by Kai’s name being in the directory that Kibum had provided. 

Kai was his one and only best friend in the world. While Taemin was in high school in UK, he had met a pen-pal online that he often wrote to. Overtime he had found out that his pen-pal named Kai was a Korean like him. This only deepened their friendship and when Taemin finally got out of high school and had a choice to go back to Seoul he chose that in a heartbeat. The fact that his favorite cousin, Kibum, was living there was only an added bonus. Thus, when Taemin had found out about Kai’s truth he was quite upset that kai hadn’t confined in him. Taemin was sure that had he known about his bloodline he would’ve told Kai for sure. This new reality only added to the confusion that he was facing about finding out that he has only ever been surrounded by Specials and has never truly had a ‘normal’ life.

“Are you still there?” Kibum asked, briefly glancing over Taemin who had drifted off 

“Umm…i was thinking…about Jinki. I mean, according to what you have written he belongs to one of the strongest attack bloodline - Constellation of Leo, but then he broke the sacred vow of his faction and became a fallen member. And yet, that day at the hospital he could use his power and he even had a colour around him. Why?”

“Hmm…well, maybe he joined another faction in secret. I mean he did seem weak, or at least weaker than the rumors I have heard about his bloodline. But unless I face him and cast a spell on him directly, or someone can get me his blood, I wouldn’t know the truth.” Kibum rubbed his chin with a sly smile as if the idea of casting spell on Jinki excited him.

“Why can’t you just ask him? I mean all this blood and magic just sounds like a bad idea.”

“You are a Special yourself Taemin! You might have to use your powers someday too so stop thinking that ‘magic abilities’ is a bad idea!”

“But I have a power of creation not destruction! I don’t think my power can hurt anyone.” Taemin whined, really uneasy with the idea of hurting people since he had witnessed Eunji. Though he didn’t personally know her, his heart went to her. She was covered in bruises and dried blood. Her one lung had busted leaving her tied to a ventilator so as to assist her other lung to function. Luckily her heart wasn’t injured but was strained as her liver, parts of her intestine and pancreas were heavily injured. Her bed chart read, ‘cuts and deformation’ next to these organs. It’s a miracle she had survived. Infant, medically she would not have. 

“Taemin, your dutch ancestors Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman created newer constellation bloodlines in the 16th century and gifted them all with attack or offensive powers. Few of them, like the Dorados, the Chamaeleons and the Volans have known to cause a lot of trouble and hurt a lot of people! It’s a surprise how none of them have Fallen members.” Kibum sighed. 

“Well I guess because they are part of dutch or European faction and their sacred vows allow them to hurt people! After all, the Europeans have a history of colonization, slavery, and wars! And what about your ancestor Ptolemy? Didn’t he originally discover most of the constellation bloodlines and make it known to the world?”

“My ancestor was an astronomer. A GREEK astronomer who merely cataloged all the Greek and Roman myths about the origin and stories of constellations and compiled them with the science of their location, distance, and angles and of their respective starts from Earth. He did not create NEW ones. And anyways, a Son of Poseidon can’t create or destroy. We are just here to watch and record, in most cases. So if you decided to create a new constellation bloodline, I can just tell you not to but I’m not powerful enough to actually stop you. And nor can the other constellations. That’s why this - what we are doing here - is important. You can’t forget that Jinki is a fallen member and only you can restore all of his powers to its full potential; and that will be dangerous since he has a murder record.”

“I don’t think he can murder anyone…” Taemin mumbled.

“What was that?” Kibum asked walking out of the kitchen area.

“Nothing. I’m tired. Haven’t we revised enough? I want to take a break.”

“Alright. Go wash up. We can have dinner in half an hour.”

Minho

Kai was busy breaking into an old apartment of building near the center of old Seoul. This is where the city had first begun and was now known for housing some of the best pig’s feet restaurants. However, after the reconstruction of Seoul, at the end of the Korean War, most businesses had moved up town and only the family businesses remained behind. Thus, the architecture of the buildings  in this area was nothing unique and way too standardized to stand out; making them the perfect place for cheap rental apartments and as hiding place by those who didn’t want to be discovered.

As soon as Kai unlocked the door, Minho raised his hand to his shoulder level with palm facing outwards. A red glow immediately covered Minho’s entire body while the symbol of the ram appeared on his forehead in a golden glow, indicating that he belonged to the Aries Constellation. They both charged in and looked around for the person in question but they saw nothing. The entire apartment was empty except for some sparse furniture. The two immediately started going through the wardrobe in one end, the bed and mattress, the bathroom, only to find more of nothing. After a while the two men decided it was time to search for the man, that was possibly involved in attacking Eunji, in the Special’s way.

Minho shut the main door while stood in the middle of the studio apartment and closed his eyes. He raised his right palm upwards facing the ceiling, while his hand itself remained near the center of his abdomen. A yellowish golden light encased Kai’s entire body and a magic circle appeared to rise from his palm. The magic c