-Jongup’s POV-

“Can we take a break please~?” Tae whined, he was being carried by Min on his back. “Not yet.” Jayde answered for the nth time in that same hour. “But we’ve been walking for two days straight without stopping.” He whined but Jayde didn’t respond. “I had to walk and eat! We couldn’t enjoy our food.” Min inputted, Daehyun nodded in agreement. No one else seemed to be paying attention to them except for Daehyun whom obviously agreed with the two younger ones.

Everyone else seemed exhausted, except for Lee, Kris, and Jayde, of course. “Hey, you alright?” I asked the tired looking Himchan. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He said rubbing his eye slightly. “Do you want to get on my back again?” I smirked, causing him to turn red. “No. He quickly said walking off to walk beside Daehyun and Youngjae, leaving me alone with jasmine. I just shook my head chuckling a little.

I was glad that everything was resolved between the two of us and no more of that dramatic mess. And we got together. Bonus! I’m just so good. And Himchan is so good *wink wink*. “Ah…Just a few more minutes Tae, then we switch. I’m so~ tired.” Min said. “Okie Dokie! Thank you Minnie.” Tae said gratefully, hugging his younger brother’s neck out of gratitude.

“You guys are vampires and werewolves, how are you tired?” Daehyun pointed out. “That’s because they’re different.” Kris joked from the front, receiving an elbow to his side by Lee. “Did I say something to offend you?” Kris said teasingly. “We like to pretend to act like Humans some times. Tae said. Daehyun looked at them confused not understanding. “Humans are so funny and strange.” Min laughed. Daehyun just frowned not appreciating the statement.

We continued to walk for another few minutes when the twins started to complain again. “Are we there yet?” Min whined. That’s when Jayde abruptly stopped in her tracks. We all froze unsure of what it was. “Uh-Oh, do you think we made her angry?” I heard Tae whisper in Min’s ear. “Probably, you guys are pretty much like 3 year olds.” Jasmine pointed out. Himchan nodded a little in agreement.

“I don’t think so. If she was mad then there’d be a tornado or something.” Min whispered back. Tae made an ‘O’ shape with his mouth nodding in agreement. Kris, lee, Zelo, Daehyun, Youngjae, and I snickered at the vamwolf’s response. “You guys herd that?!” Min squeaked in embarrassment. “Well you’re not at very good a whispering.” I told him honestly. “Even Jayde cracked a smile.” Kris inputted, receiving a shove from the said person. Then Jayde turned around to face the rest of us, it honestly looked as if she was holding back laughter. Do my eyes deceive me?

“There’s an obstacle coming up ahead, it’s not very far from here, probably another 3 to 5 minute walk. But I won’t be here to help you.” She began, we all listened closely. “This will be like an um…team test kind of thing.” Jayde said. “You’ve been together for a while now. So this will expose how well you work together without my help. I’ll still be here to watch, but you guys won’t see me or know where I am.” Jayde explained.

“Alright. We got this.” Kris said confidently. Jayde just scoffed a little before vanishing into thin air. “Does she doubt us?” I questioned. “Pfftt….probably.” Kris muttered. “She doesn’t think we can do this without her. Well not all of us can see the future…” Daehyun remarked. “Or have every single power in the whole entire world.” Tae inputted.

“Let’s prove Jayde wrong!” Min encouraged. “Yeah!” everyone cheered except for Youngjae and Himchan who just shook their heads. “Onward!” Kris said running through the path in front of him. The rest of us ran as well, following behind him.

It wasn’t long when we came across a bridge. “A bridge?” Zelo questioned confused. “There wasn’t a bridge on the map…was there?” Kris asked looking at lee. “I don’t know.” The vampire shrugged. Tae crawled off of Min’s back staring at the bridge. “Is it safe to cross?” He asked. “It should be alright…but just to be safe we shouldn’t go all at once, maybe two or four at a time.” Jasmine said receiving a few head nods in agreement. Just then someone came yelling at us out of the bushes.

“What are you doing around my bridge?!” It was a short, wide little guy. He had mess rainbow colored, orange hair, one lame eye, two big pointy ears, and an eye path on his second eye.

“Oh my gosh! It’s a cyclops!” Tae squealed jumping behind lee. “I’m not a cyclops!” The thing yelled at Tae. “But you have one eye.” Min said narrowing his eyes at the shorter being, more curious than scared, unlike his twin. “I have two eyes ‘ere!” he said pointing to his eye patch. “That’s an eye patch.” Min pointed out not believing him. “Well it goes over an eye does it not?! I was stabbed in this eye ‘ere by a witch’s wand. I am a troll!” he announced.

“Now how did a witch’s wand get in your eye?” Min questioned his hands on his hips. “I rather not talk about it.” The troll said revealing some embarrassment. Min just shook his head. “It’s ugly.” Himchan whispered in my ear with disgust. “Well not everyone can be a model like you.” I remarked causing him to blush. “I never said I was a model.” He whisper scolded, lightly punching my arm.

“What are you guys doing here?” The nasty looking troll asked. “Um…to cross this bridge. Lee said.

“Pahahahahahahahahahhahaha…don’t make me laugh vampire!” The troll spat the last part. “That wasn’t a joke.” Lee sneered. “I am the guardian of this bridge and you all cannot pass unless you listen to me.” The troll said. Lee stood there rolling his eyes impatiently. “You gotta be kidding me…and why should we listen to you?” he challenged.

“If you want to cross the bridge then you’ll have to listen to what I have to say.” The troll said. “What? Do we have to solve a riddle or something?” Kris remarked. “Yes, yes you do.” The troll said. Lee seemed a bit annoyed at this. “We don’t have time for this. We have an actual challenge to face, across that bridge. Let’s go you guys. This troll is just wasting our time.” Lee said about to walk onto the bridge when the troll quickly dived in front of him. “No! You must not pass. You must answer my riddle.” He said desperately. “Pathetic.” Lee said pushing him easily to the side and continued onto the bridge.

Daehyun, Kris, Min, and I followed behind him, while the others seemed hesitant. “Shouldn’t we stay and figure out the riddle? Jasmine said. “You can stay but the rest of us are going.” Lee said without turning around. Jasmine frowned. “Come on Tae~.” Min said calling his elder twin over.

The said person seemed hesitant looking at the troll who was struggling to get out of the thorny, bare bushes in which he was knocked into. “I don’t…I don’t know.” Tae responded. “It might be better to stay and solve the riddle.” Himchan spoke up. “Yeah, it could possibly help us with something.” Youngjae agreed. “Riddles are stupid, we don’t need to solve it.” Kris said. “It’s child’s play.” I inputted. “We have other stuff to deal with.” Daehyun mentioned. “And not much time.” I added.

They looked uneasy, but decided to cross the bridge. Zelo was the one who didn’t say anything and just followed behind everyone.

This kid was being too quiet and too to himself, he needs to talk. I stopped walking, waiting till Zelo caught up to me, then I walked beside him. “What’s up buddy?” I said hanging my arm over his shoulders. But he didn’t respond. “I know you’re not deaf Jello.” I said.

“Hi.” He said very quietly. I was going to ask him why he was so down, but the answer was too obvious. You wanna play a game?” I asked mischievously. I’m always up for a good game or so. But the younger shook his head.

“Awe why not? Come on~. I already know a game. We should totally scare everyone…it’ll probably make them run faster and make it to the other side faster.” I said. “That’s not a game Jongup.” Zelo sighed without much emotion. “In my book it is. It’ll be so funny. But only a few of us can do it. I suggest you, me, Lee, and Kris get in on it we can-,” “No Jongup.” Zelo sighed sadly.

“Never mind, we’re off the bridge now. But! It’s okay I have more tricks up my sleeve. We can-,” “Jongup…please.” Zelo scolded quietly. I scrunched my brow. “Way to be a downer.” I scoffed. “You don’t understand Jongup.” He said. “You have Himchan.”

“Oh you want to play that game eh?” I said. “Okay, who does Dae have then?” I quizzed. Zelo was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “Youngjae.” His voice cracked. I noticed him begin to get all tear eyed, but that didn’t stop me from continuing the little game…I mean he started it, it would be rude of me to end it. “Who do you have~?” I cooed. But he didn’t answer.

Instead he wiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Hey~…” I said pushing him lightly. “Don’t start crying. Not in front of me at least.” I don’t do crying.” I spoke gently. He quickly wiped the other tears that trespassed his cheeks. “Jello~…” I whimpered playfully.

“He’s alright Zelo. Relax, come on. He’s my friend too, but you don’t see me crying.” I said. “That’s because you’re Jongup. He sniffled. Ugh, please stop crying Junhong. “So? Listen, I know he’s not here right now, but we’re going into a war and you still have the rest of us. Enjoy who you have around you now, because who knows, we might not be here the next time you open your eyes. Make good memories and not forget about the rest of us.” I said. “Besides, didn’t Jayde say that he’d be alright?” I asked. The younger nodded silently.

“Do you think that Jayde would lie to you?” I asked. The younger shook his head in response. “And do you trust Jayde?” I questioned. He nodded once more. I playfully hit him in the back of his head. “This kid. Then what are you upset for?” I remarked. I, for a second, thought that he would crack a smile, but I got distracted when Himchan spoke up.

“Um…some of this is starting to look familiar.” The elder stated suspiciously. Youngjae looked around and nodded in agreement. “Weren’t we just here?” Himchan questioned. “Yeah~…” Youngjae answered slowly, and the next thing we knew we came up to a bridge that looked just like the one we crossed.

“This is probably just another bridge. “I don’t think so.” Jasmine said. “Then how about you stay, and then if we see you again, then we know we did something wrong.” Lee sounded irritated. “What? I’m not going to sit here alone.” Jasmine said quickly running onto the bridge with us.

We walked for what seemed about another good 5 to 10 minutes before we ran into the bridge again. “What the heck?” Kris said. “See, I told you.” Jasmine said. “But this can’t be the same place, the troll is no longer here.” Min said. “Maybe he left.” Tae inputted. “Well, let’s just try again. Because if we had really actually been going to the same place then that troll would be here to boast and tell us his riddle.” Lee said walking onto the bridge. The rest of us did the same.

I saw that Himchan was hesitant. “Come on Himchan.” I encouraged. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.” He said. “What are you scared to cross the bridge again?” I teased. He just looked at me. “I’m serious Jongup.” He said.

“I am too. Don’t be scared, I’ll keep you from falling, if you just take my hand.” I said holding out my hand standing on the bridge. Himchan just shook his head and took a step forward. That was when I noticed a black hole appear right under him and within a split second he fell in and Earth closed quickly. My eyes widened.

“Himchan!!” I yelled running off the bridge. The others turned around to see what was going on. “Himchan!” I called again, looking around the place. Youngjae was the first to come up to me. “What happened Jongup?” he asked concerned. “H-He was about to walk onto the bridge, and then he just fell into this black hole that randomly appeared under him. A-And now he’s gone.” I said completely stunned. Youngjae pat my shoulder in an attempt to prevent me from getting upset. I felt my fist bawl up, I was angry. I knew who did this.

“What do we do now?” Tae asked worried. There was a gruesome snicker that wasn’t very far away. “You guys just don’t learn do you? Hahaha….” The familiar voice said in much amused. I viciously turned around and stormed to the troll. “What the heck did you do to Himchan?!” I yelled grabbing him by the collar of what was left of his shirt, bringing his feet far off the ground where my face was all in his.

“Who?” the troll faked innocence. “I’ll ing kill you with my own two hands if you don’t bring him back!” I spat fiercely in his face. “Calm down. You’ll get your friend back and be able to continue your journey, if you answer my riddles.” The troll said.

I dropped him on the ground before backing up. “I thought it was just one riddle.” Min said. “Well, you guys didn’t listen so now you must solve 3 of my riddles correctly.” The troll said dusting himself off. “UUGHHHH~!” Lee groaned obnoxiously out of pure annoyance. “Fine. Let’s do it.” Zelo spoke up.

“Okay we’ll start off with a fun one.” The troll said clearing his throat. “Two beautiful maidens approach the village matchmaker to be matched. The matchmaker is impressed by their fair beauty, but even more impressed is she by the fact that they both look exactly alike. The matchmaker asks each maiden where she lives, and their answers are the same: they live in the same house. She asks for their birthdays, and they have the same birthday.” The troll paused for a second letting everyone take in the information. “Ugh, this is so irrelevant.” Lee muttered.

“’Ah’, says the matchmaker, ‘You are twins’. ‘No’, says the maidens. ‘We are not twins.’ How can this be?” The roll finished.

I scrunched my brow for a bit. What? “Oh! Who did the match maker match them with? Is it us?! We’re twins!” Min jumped, completely missing the question. “No! I just said they were not twins!” The troll burst sounding annoyed. The two pouted retreating. “That doesn’t make sense.” Tae whimpered thinking a bit. “We need to hurry up and get Himchan.” I grumbled.

“It’s really easy. You call that a riddle? Its’s obvious that they’re either triplets or quadruplets.” Youngjae remarked. The troll frowned not appreciating the belittling of his riddle. “But there’s only one answer! Get it wrong and you’re gone.” The troll said. “What?! You never said that!” Jasmine burst. “You didn’t think that there’ll be a penalty for getting the riddles wrong? Hahaha. What do you think this is?” The troll laughed historically. “You all are lucky that there’s a whole bunch of you.” He remarked.

Youngjae thought for a bit. “Well, it doesn’t make sense for there to be quadruplets since that’s extremely rare and too farfetched. So the answer is simple.” He spoke again. A sly smile came across my face. “They’re triplets. The other sister is t home.” Was Youngjae’s confident answer. This kid, he’s so smart, how could I forget that? This’ll be a piece of cake!

The troll frowned. “You are correct.” He said gloomily. Youngjae just smiled confidently. I was so happy I could kiss him right now! The only thing stopping me was little Daehyun who stood in the way. He looked at me knowing exactly what I was thinking. All I could do was smirk. He narrowed his eyes at me as if to say ‘don’t even think about it’. “Too late.” I said aloud.

“Yay! Youngjae!” Tae cheered. “Haha!” Min clapped. “You’re a smart lad, aren’t you?” The troll said rubbing his chin. All Youngjae could do was smile, his pride boosting up 10 levels higher. “Oh yes! Youngjae is really smart!” Min said. “He’s extra smart.” Tae agreed. “I thought I had gotten rid of all the smart ones of your group.” The troll cursed.

I narrowed my eyes back at him the reference to Himchan. “Guess the troll was wrong! Ooooooh~~!” Tae said. “Oooooh~!” Min joined in. “Oooohhh~!” Kris and I joined in unable to resist. The troll growled something under his breath and snapped his fingers.

A few seconds later vines came from the bushes and whipped straight to Youngjae, wrapping first around his mouth and neck. Then around his ankles and torso and then within a flash Youngjae vanished into the bushes. “Youngjae!!” Daehyun and the twins cried in unison. Daehyun gave a quick glare at the twins who paid no attention to him.

“That was a bit late don’t you think?” Lee remarked. Daehyun glared at him. “If you were so fast, then how come you didn’t save him?!” The human yelled. I felt my hopes smash away. Youngjae is gone…the peasant genius. “Some things were just meant to happen.” Lee quoted Jayde only receiving a few snickers from Kris and Min. Daehyun just glared at him. “But seriously. It happened to fast for me to do anything.” Lee shrugged.

“Why did you do that? He got the answer right.” Jasmine questioned the troll. “Because, he’s too smart.” The troll simply answered. “That’s not right! That’s cheating!” Tae protested. “Besides, it’s not our fault if your riddles .” Lee remarked. “Oh yeah? Well if they so badly, then you should be able to answer them eh?” The troll retorted. “He doubts us.” I scoffed. “Alright. Hit us with another one.” Kris challenged.

“Hands I do not have, yet I grasp so tight. I love darkness, my enemy is light. Both the mighty and low know me well. For in the hearts of men do I dwell! I am coming for you.” The troll finished. Everyone stood there stunned unable to comprehend it.

We all then huddled together to talk amongst each other. “Does anyone have an idea of what it could be?” Kris asked. Nobody said a word. “Could it be Lee?” Daehyun spoke up. The said vampire looked at him with narrowed eyes. Jasmine chuckled a little, the only one who seemed to get it.

“What? Lee has hands Dae. Duh~…” Tae said. “Oh, I was mostly focusing on the part that said, ‘I love darkness, my enemy is light.’” Daehyun admitted receiving a few chuckles from everyone except for Lee. “Who hangs out with Youngjae the most? Maybe his smartness rubbed off on them.” Min conjured. There was a few seconds of silence before Min, Tae, and Daehyun all jumped up. “I do!” They cheered.

Daehyun stopped and looked at the twins. “No you don’t” he said. “Yes we do hang out with him the most.” The two said in unison. Daehyun seemed surprised at this. “What?! I knew him first!” He argued. “Um, actually, Zelo hung out with Jae the most.” I spoke up. Daehyun looked at me. “Just saying.” I shrugged.

“Um, I advise that you hurry and come up with an answer soon, if you care about your friends.” The troll spoke up.

Oh no! Oh no! We have to hurry!” Tae panicked. “Calm down Tae. He’s only trying to make us panic and hurry so we can’t think properly Jasmine said. “She’s right.” Kris said. “We need to remain calm but have a sense of urgency.” He said.

We all thought for a bit in silence before talking out loud again. “It doesn’t have hands and it grips you tightly? And it’s in the hearts of men.” Jasmine said. “Wouldn’t that mean it’s something internal?” She questioned. Kris nodded in agreement. “Your heart? Since it grasps inside your body and it has no hands and it’s in the dark.” Tae said.

“Mm…but he also said that it’s in the hearts of every man. I spoke up. “Shouldn’t it be an emotion or something?” I said. “Yeah, that has to be it.” Jasmine agreed. “Aha! We’re getting somewhere you guys.” Kris encouraged happily. “But there’s so many emotions!” Min whined. “Well, actually it would have to be a dark emotion, so we can immediately take out happiness, joy, excitement, etc.” Daehyun said. “Okay, that just leaves us with anger, fear, sadness, depression, and hate.” Lee said.

“Oh! I vote for hate. Hate is darkness.” Tae said. “I don’t know depression works too.” Jasmine said. “Yea, but do mighty men get depressed?” Daehyun questioned. “Of course everyone gets depressed.” Jasmine argued. “I don’t” I spoke up. “I think it just depends on the person, it goes to a certain extent. Depression is more like the extreme scale of anger and sadness.” Kris said.

Jasmine just shrugged silently. “I believe hate works.” Lee said. “Yeah, I can see that working.” Daehyun said tapping his chin. “So hate it is?” Kris said. “That’s such a strong word. I don’t like hearing it a lot. But yeah.” Tae whimpered. “Okay then we’ll tell him.” Kris said about to turn around when Zelo suddenly spoke up. “Wait!” he said. Kris stopped to look at him. “What is it?” he asked.

“I don’t think hate is right.” He said. “Oh?” Kris said listening. “It doesn’t feel right. I think fear is better.” Zelo said. Everyone thought for a moment. “It makes sense.” I said. “That feels a bit more on point.” Daehyun agreed. Lee nodded with much approval. “Okay. Is that it?” Kris asked. Everyone nodded slowly. “I trust Zelo-ah!” Min jumped hugging the taller’s neck. Kris nodded and turned to the troll.

“Do you guys have your answer yet?” The troll asked seeming a bit bored. “Yes.” Kris said confidently. “You seem confident. Haha, well then. What is it? Don’t keep me waiting any longer, I want to take one of you away.” The troll said. “The answer is fear.” Kris answered boldly confident with Zelo’s answer. “You are…” The troll stopped in the middle of his sentence.

“Y-You’re right.” The gruesome looking thing said surprised at his own words. “Alright! Yes Zelo!” I said Hi-5ing the younger, who blushed quietly. “Aha! Yay!” Tae clapped happily. “You guys just got lucky.” The troll murmured. “What’s the next one?” jasmine urged confidently.

The shorter thought for a bit, tapping his chin. “Aha…this one will damper your mood.” The troll smirked. “Try us!” Min said excitedly.

“I am, I am not. I visit young and old, some I make timid, some I make bold, unwise is the one who pokes fun at me. Beware for I am the shadow of thee.” The troll finished.

We all stood there dumbfounded before hesitantly huddling into our circle. “That doesn’t make any sense.” Tae pouted being the first to input his thoughts. “It’s definitely something that’s contradicting.” Jasmine nodded. “Yea.” Lee agreed. Did the two actually agree on something? Min and Tae noticed this as well and we looked at one another wide-eyed. “Does that mean it’s something internal again?” Daehyun questioned.

“I would say it’s both.” Kris answered. Daehyun pouted and nodded in understanding. “This is complicated.” Min whimpered. “What kind of riddle is that?” I remarked. “Let’s try breaking it down. The first part of the riddle is ‘I am, I am not.’” Kris said.

“Could that mean it’s there but it’s not visible?” jasmine suggested. “That makes sense.” I agreed. “Okay, the next line is ‘I visit young and old’.” Kris went on. “So~ it happens or appears to anyone of any age. So pretty much everyone then.” Daehyun inputted. “I agree.” Lee spoke up. No one else rejected so Kris went on.

“The 3^rd part is ‘some I make, timid, some I make bold.’” Everyone remained silent thinking to themselves. “Maybe it’s something that ‘it’ makes in particular since it’s not tangible. Maybe it’s something people are afraid of and/or something people aren’t afraid of and willing to face it.” Zelo spoke up.

Kris scrunched his brow. “I see what you’re saying, that makes sense.” The shadow seeker said. Lee nodded as well, “That’s the only logical way to see it.” The vampire said. “Okay. The next part is ‘Unwise is the one who pokes fun at me.’” Kris said. “Oh! That means it’s dangerous!” Tae jumped excitedly, glad that he understood something from the riddle. “Of course!” jasmine agreed.

“Now the last line is, ‘Beware for I am the Shadow of thee.’” Kris said. Nobody answered immediately, pondering on the last line that could possibly lead them to an answer. “Those last two lines are almost…scary. Tae remarked fiddling with his fingers.

“Hey! You’re right. That means it has to be something dark.” Daehyun jumped. “True, shadows re dark.” Min said. “And shadows are always around you.” I said. “it does say ‘beware.’” Zelo added. “It has to be something that can happen at any time if you’re not careful, and it is a threat to everyone.” Lee summarized a good point.

Jasmine looked hesitant to speak up, but she spoke anyways. “Could it be…death?” She said almost quietly, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.

Tae held onto his younger twin’s arm at the suggestion. “It-it makes sense.” Zelo stumbled on his words. Lee nodded as well, “that’s legit.” He said nonchalantly. “I don’t like the sound of it, but it seems to fit in perfectly.” Dae said. “I agree.” I simply said. “Okay so do we have an answer then?” Kris asked. Everyone nodded. “Okie Dokie.” Kris said turning back around to face the troll. “We have our answer.” Kris announced to the troll.

“It’s about time.” The troll said. “These last two riddles re…dark.” I heard Tae murmur to Min. he was right. Death and fear really are no joke. “Our final answer is…Death.” Kris answered without hesitation.

The troll looked surprised, yet defeated at the same time. “You are correct.” He muttered with much disappointment. “Yay!” The twins cheered jumping up and down. “You all may pass.” The troll grumbled, stepping to the side, opening the entrance to the actual bridge. “Wait. What about Himchan and Youngjae?” I said narrowing my eyes at him.

A sly smirk came across his face. “You have to answer more riddles for that.” He answered. I felt my fist bawl up out of anger. “That’s now what you said!” Min spat. “I can do what I want. I just decided to change the rules. Either you forget about your friends or you answer my riddles.” The troll smirked. This little…but before I could do anything, lee ran up to the troll with his vampire speed and grabbed the distasteful creature by his shirt lifting his feet off the ground.

“I’m getting tired of your little games troll.” Lee spat harshly his fangs extending, threatening the helpless being. “Either you let them go, or you die with them.” Lee hissed. “It’s just one more riddle. I promise you, you won’t be penalized if you get it wrong. It-it’s pretty easy.” The troll assured, almost desperately. Lee hissed at him one more time before dropping him roughly to the ground. The troll stumbled back to his feet, dusting himself off. “I hope Himichan and JaeJae are okay.” Tae whimpered.

“Okay, my final riddle for you is this. This garden is a lonely place where many came, and yet remain, plants grow strong on fertile ground, watered by legacies of pain and should I plow, my plow would break, on cast off husks of iron grain now buried where they fell like wheat. What am I? Speak! Or face the bane.” Told the troll.

We all stood there thinking deeply to ourselves not bothering to huddle back into our circle. Just then I heard a terrified gasp. I looked back to see that it came from Junhong. His eyes were wide and a dark shade of blue, which slowly began to fade after another minute or so. Did he see something?

But before I could ask him anything the younger spoke. “A Battlefield.” He gasped barely above a whisper, but the troll was able to hear him. I looked back at the troll waiting for a response. He just smirked, “Good Luck.” Was all he said before vanishing into the bush, leaving us to bask in confusion.

“Was he right?” jasmine whispered, but before anyone could react there was a loud snap and Himchan came falling down from a tree. “Ah!” he screamed in panic but I caught the elder with ease, holding him bridal-style.

“Thanks.” He said blushing shyly. I just smiled. “How did you get up there?” I asked. “I don’t know.” He said coughing out dirt. His coughs were pretty violent. All I could do was frown. That stupid troll. Just then Youngjae was thrown up out of the bushes and wound up crashing into jasmine causing them both to fall onto the ground, Jae on top of her.

Youngjae groaned in pain. “Sorry.” He apologized. “It’s okay.” Jasmine chuckled. Youngjae just smiled blushing a little out of embarrassment. But he was quickly yanked off of her by the one and only Jung Daehyun.

“Youngjae!” Daehyun cheered hugging the younger, while sending a glare to Jasmine behind Jae’s back. The female mage frowned dusting herself off after she helped herself up. “Are you okay?” Daehyun asked his attention revering back to the younger who spat out leaves and grass out of his mouth. Youngjae just nodded, coughing slightly.

“Now that everyone is here, let us cross the bridge. Onward my friends.” Kris announced playfully, being the first to step onto the bridge. The twins followed, jumping excitedly. The rest of us joined in happily, we were all surprisingly in a good mood as we walked along the bridge. Even Lee and Zelo shared genuine smiles as we traveled.

“You can put me down now.” Himchan said quietly once we crossed the bridge. “Hm?” I hummed pretending not to hear him. The elder frowned. “I said you can put me down.” He said a little louder. “I know I can.” I simply responded, “Put me down Jongup.” He ordered. “Do you really want me to put you down Kim Himchan? Is that what you really want?” I teased.

“Wh-What d-do you mean?” He stumbled a bit off guard. “I mean. We are already across the bridge. Why didn’t you ask me to put you down before then? You didn’t say anything. I believe that you’re quite comfortable right now in my arms.” I said a sly smirk forming naturally. Himchan’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “J-Ju-Just put me down…pl-please.” He stuttered. “No Himchan, I’m never putting you down.” I whispered sensually in his ear.

His cheeks went darker by 3 shades and buried his face into my chest. “Why are you like this?” He murmured into my chest. “That’s just who I am. And that’s what you like.” I said. This time he was bright red all the way to the tips of his ears, and he hit my chest weakly. “Don’t ever say that again!” he sputtered in full embarrassment. All I could do was laugh.

The aura of our walk was fairly bright and joyful. Everyone seemed to enjoy one another’s presence. We all talked with one another (except for Himchan who was too embarrassed to speak at first). Zelo even exchanged a few sentences with us, a small smile on his young, pure face. You’d almost think that there wasn’t even a war to begin with. The only thing that actually kept us reminded about the war was the gloomy scenery.

After a good hour or so Jayde appeared in front of us, visible again, a small smile on her face. “Well done you guys.” She congratulated. “Is that a smile?” Lee raised an eyebrow.” Jayde quickly frowned holding a straight face. “No.” she lied. “Yes! You were smiling!” Lee announced. “Whatever.” Jayde gave up, her smile returning again. “You’re smiling too.” She said. “No I’m not.” Lee said frowning. “You can’t lie to me Lee. I know everything.” Jayde smirked. “Whatever. No you don’t.” he said walking away.

Jayde just shook her head. “Jayde! You’re back!” Min cheered, the twins running to her giving her a tight hug. “I missed you.” Tae pouted. “Me too.” Min agreed. “I wasn’t even gone for long.” Jayde said trying to break free from the hug, but it proved to be of no use. “We know you missed us too.” The twins said in unison hugging her even tighter.

“I am…so tired, and worn out.” Jasmine said leaning against a tree. “We can camp here for the night.” Jayde said. “Really?!” The twins spoke simultaneously. Jayde nodded. “Yay!” They cheered hugging the Sphinx even tighter to the point she was forced to disappear.

The twins looked extremely confused. “Where did she go?” They asked. Just then she reappeared next to Youngjae, happy to be free.

“Jayde!” The twins cheered running to her. Jayde’s eyes widened as she disappeared again just to reappear by young Zelo. But the twins quickly turned to chase after her this time running a bit faster and Jayde vanished once more.