Chapter twenty-nine:

*This is a direct continuation from the end of the last chapter, so if you need a memory boost, go check out the end of the last chapter again!

~Yoomi’s POV~

*

“What are we doing here, Grandpa?” a 12-year-old Yoomi wondered aloud, small hands tugging on the elder’s large cold one as he hurriedly led her along the path to the middle courtyard at Gamssin-Sam Institute. She had been there with her and Suho’s family twice before, so the place wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to the little girl; however, she still had no clue why they were there or why her grandfather seemed so frantic.

Her grandfather didn’t answer, too preoccupied with his thoughts just like he always was. The pair finally stopped at the foot of the majestic tree planted in the middle courtyard in honor of the legendary Tree of Life.

“Listen to me Yoomi, this is very important,” her grandfather stressed, large hands firmly clasped on her small shoulders. She had never seen him look so severe before, except for that one time she accidentally saw him arguing with her mother just some nights ago. Although he had stern features and sometimes had to act strictly due to his position as the head of Trillins Academy, he was an incredibly kind person who had only ever been gentle with Yoomi. Seeing him look so serious startled her, though Yoomi quickly nodded to show she was paying attention when his fingers began to grip her shoulders more tightly. “I need you to do me a favor, okay, my child?”

“O-okay.” Yoomi was beginning to become a little scared. Why had her grandfather taken her from home and brought her here so urgently? She was in the middle of baking some cookies for her mother and father, who haven’t come home for a week. Why couldn’t her parents come along?

“Place your hand here.” He grabbed her right arm in a much looser hold and directed it to the tree. He forced her palm to be pressed against the rough bark. She couldn’t help but wince a little at how scratchy it was against her skin, though the seriousness with which her grandfather was acting prevented her from complaining. Instead, she waited patiently for further instructions, swallowing any further questions or complaints she had. “Keep your hand there,” he ordered before uncapping a strange bottle with glowing blue liquid inside and then pouring the mystery liquid all over her hand and the tree.

Although Yoomi had just promised herself that she would stay quiet and listen, she couldn’t help bust ask again about his strange behavior. Her grandfather was currently looking over his shoulder and glancing all around as if he expected someone to pop out at any moment and catch them doing something they shouldn’t be.

“Is this a very serious favor, Grandpa?”

“Yes, yes, my child. More serious than anything else.” Young Yoomi noticed a slight tremor in his voice, which was pretty uncharacteristic of the usually elegant, dignified man. “This is the only way. That’s right, you’ll be safe like this.”

Yoomi wondered if he was trying to reassure her or himself. She didn’t quite understand the whole situation but she had a feeling it had something to do with the odd way her parents had been acting recently. In the last few months, she had noticed that they had become increasingly worried. She would catch them whispering together, looking sad and sounding stressed, but they would always stop the second they realized she was there. They had also forbidden her from going out or even seeing Suho since the day she turned twelve and got her power, suddenly becoming even more protective of her than they were before. When she had asked what was wrong, all she ever got as a response was a hesitant “Mommy and Daddy are just worried about you. There are bad people in this world.”

“Does this have to do with the bad people?” she couldn't help but wonder cluelessly out loud. Was that who her grandfather was looking for over his shoulder? Did he think the bad people were here?

Suddenly, she was even more scared than she was before.

“Yes! Yes, exactly,” her grandfather agreed, sounding even more desperate now. “I need you to do something for me, to hide you from the bad people,” he added, seeing the fear in her eyes and trying to both reassure her and remind her of the importance of this favor he was asking. “You need to hide from the bad people, do you understand?”

“O-okay, I’ll do as you say, Grandpa.” She forced her fear back and took a shaky breath before smiling up at him hopefully. “This way, Mommy and Daddy can stop worrying about me and stop going out to fight the bad people, right?” Yoomi knew it wouldn’t all be so easy. She was merely twelve, but she wasn’t dumb either. The only reason she was going along with her Grandfather’s strange request was because she trusted him wholeheartedly, and she knew everything he has ever done was for the sake of their family— he wouldn’t do anything that would harm her.

“I love you, my precious child. And your mother and father do too, don’t ever forget that.” Her grandfather blinked away a silent tear and then his face hardened again as if that moment of vulnerability was never there. With his hand clasped over hers on the tree trunk, he instructed her to close her eyes and channel all the aetha she could muster in her body into the tree.

The young girl obeyed, changing the flow of her aetha and forcing it to move in one direction towards and then pass her hand into the tree. Only when her knees started buckling did her grandfather stop her. 

When he pulled her hand away from the tree, her knees abruptly gave out from under her. She felt weak and dizzy. Her limbs were suddenly too heavy for her to move and her body didn’t seem to be listening to her commands, although thankfully her grandfather had seemed to anticipate something like this and caught her before she could fall. As he carefully laid her down on a bench, her head spun and felt fuzzy like someone had stuffed it full of cotton.

“G-Grandpa?” Young Yoomi gripped the sleeve of her grandfather’s coat with feeble, shaking fingers. She felt incredibly sleepy and her body was slightly trembling with shock, her system struggling to adjust to the abrupt change in her internal aetha levels. It was honestly a miracle that she was even still conscious at the moment, though her grandfather could tell from her frequent blinking that she was losing the battle to stay awake.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, softly her hair. “This was expected. You will feel much better after getting some rest. However,” he paused for a moment to collect himself, voice choked up and emotional. He knew Yoomi was a smart girl and that she would catch onto the hidden meaning behind the words he said next and knew that she wouldn’t be happy about it. After all, this next bit would be the hardest part for them both. “However, I have one more favor to ask of you before you’re allowed to go to sleep.”

Carefully shifting her in his hold with the utmost gentleness he could, he began to fiddle with something in his pocket. Eventually, he pulled out a small but beautiful silver ring with a large rounded gem in the center that sparkled with all the colors of the galaxy. The swirling pinks, purples, and blues of the stone stood out in the darkness and against Yoomi’s fair skin as he slid it on to her finger, the ring magically shrinking to fit the size of her thin finger and locking its place there. “This ring is very important. Do not ever take it off, for it will protect you in my stead,” he told her firmly.

“W-wait!” Yoomi protested weakly, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “What do you mean ‘in your stead’? Where are you going? What about Mommy and Daddy?!” She tried to fight her way out of his arms, but her muscles were uncooperative and her legs were still too wobbly for her to be able to properly stand on her own.

“It’s you who will be going away, my dear,” her grandfather finally admitted, his own eyes taking on a watery sheen. “I promise that this is also for your own good. To hide you from the bad guys,” he reminded her softly.

“But what about Mommy and Daddy?! I don’t want to go!”

“I’m sorry.” He pressed a farewell kiss against her forehead, lingering a moment longer than necessary and stubbornly fighting back tears. Yoomi was still shouting and squirming in his hold, a little of her energy coming back in her panic. “One day you’ll understand. I truly am sorry, my precious child, but we will meet again. I only hope you can forgive me then.”

As if his kiss had been magic, Yoomi finally lost the fight to stay awake and fell into darkness.

*
 

“What?”

At the sound of the loud shout, Yoomi pulled her hand away from the tree as though she had been burned. Whatever spell the tree had put her under was broken and all that remained was the sensation of dizziness, confusion, and panic leftover from the vision she had just witnessed. She barely noticed the boys that were all gathered around her now, some calling her name worriedly, some rushing to her side as her legs gave out from under her, and all of them still dripping wet from the hot spring.

“Yoomi?”

She couldn’t even tell who it was that said her name or who caught her before she fell. Unlike the lightheadedness that she had experienced in the flashback which felt like cotton and made her limbs feel heavy, the dizziness she was feeling now was almost completely opposite of that. Instead of feeling sluggish and tired, she felt too much awake, like she had taken an unhealthy amount of energy drinks and was shaking because of too much sugar or an excess of adrenaline. Everything around her seemed sharper, more in focus as if she needed glasses without knowing it before and now had her vision corrected to perfection. Despite the fact that it was night, the colors around her were bright and the gentle breeze that had made her shiver in her wet clothes earlier now felt harsh against her skin. The new explosion of sensory input and odd sensations were overwhelming. Her head hurt and she could feel an intense migraine coming on.

“Yoomi. Lee Yoomi. What’s wrong? Why are you like this?” D.O. rambled, his worry for the girl making his usual monotone voice come out sharper and a little harsh. Being the first one to dash to her side when he caught sight of her trembling body from afar, he held her in his arms and unconsciously glared at the other guys as a warning not to crowd her or further overwhelm her. The boys behaved, knowing that in these situations, they should give space to the injured — although they hope Yoomi wasn’t harmed in any way, that would be bad.

It was only when Lay gently tugged on D.O.’s arms, looking into his eyes and letting him know that he would take care of Yoomi through their mind link, that the younger boy loosened his hold around the almost hyperventilating girl.

At this point, Yoomi was only hearing half the things the others were saying, the whirring noise ringing in her head more predominant than her surroundings. However, Lay’s caress on her face was soft and his arms were soothing against her burning hot skin. Soon, her eyes closed on their own and she drifted off into slumber.

“Is she okay now?” It was surprisingly Tao who finally broke the silence. They had all stayed incredibly quiet, fearing that Lay’s concentration would be disturbed otherwise.

“She’s alright, just asleep,” their healer assured. “Although, there is a really big change in her energy levels. It’s almost as if she is overflowing with aetha.” He sounded confused and wasn’t able to hide his worry completely. It was odd and he wasn’t sure if something like this had ever happened before, let alone how to treat it or what had caused it in the first place.

“Something must’ve happened before we got here,” Kris deduced, his keen gaze eyeing the tree warily, looking for any oddities from the ancient being of nature.

“Doesn’t she look a little different to you guys?” Xiumin commented, having just stood there staring at for a while now.

“Damn…” Chen whispered, eyes glued to her figure.

“Holy , hyung, you’re right!” Kai exclaimed, causing some of the others to gather closer around her for a look as well. As if mesmerized, Kai pushed past the others, trying to get a closer look at her enchanting features.

“Jongin, mind your language and behave.”

“Wow, Yoomi’s a ing goddess…” the young boy trailed off like he was in a trance. The others weren’t much better, most of them reduced to a gulping bunch of idiots as they stared at the unconscious girl.

Just like most vaeli, Yoomi had “elfish” features — big bright eyes, a little upturned nose, pouty lips, and a little chin — but now those features make her look even more ethereal. Despite her seeming unwell and falling unconscious earlier, she now looked more full of life than ever. Her skin was rid of any existing blemishes, turning dewy and glowing to the point of appearing to be shimmering when she moves, and adopting a rosy hue across her nose and cheeks that pops out from her fair skin. Even her hair grew a bit longer and turned a whole shade lighter into a kind of light latte brown — which somehow funnily matches the nickname he gave her, Sehun thought to himself — flowing down her back in soft waves. It also became incredibly lush and luminous, as if packed with nutrition from hair treatments daily. Whatever happened, it seemed as though Yoomi had gone through a whole mini transformation while she was alone. 

“Flowers.” They all turned to look at what Luhan was pointing at. And sure enough, the spot where Yoomi and D.O. were sitting, tons of little flowers were popping up from the ground all over the place and even the grass looked a little more lush and green.

“Kyungsoo-ah, why are you growing flowers around Yoomi?” Chanyeol asked in confusion, associating anything related to earth and nature with the redhead.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, Baekhyun gasped out loud, a mortified expression on his face. “You! Kyungsoo! Could it be that you’re trying to make a flower coffin for my precious Mimi, like for Snow White?! I knew you were evil, you—”

“Do I look like I’m in the mood to sprout flowers right now, you morons?”

“She’s not even dead,” Sehun deadpanned. Sometimes he wondered why his hyungs called him immature when they acted like this.