Sehun sighed.

There were several things he hated immensely in this life: loud, obnoxious s; sweet things; fire; and troublesome humans. There was a reason why his room was the most secluded in the far corner and why no one dared enter his place even in a life-and-death situation: they simply knew better. He had been called many things by those who were lucky enough to survive meeting him: a monster (he truly liked this nickname, but he had grown tired of how childish it sounded), a freak (now, that was just hurling insults and barking at the wrong tree), the Devil, Satan, Lucifer – all of which he welcomed with open minds.

Sehun’s bare-feet lightly touched the ground, and when he walked, it was almost floating, as if he defied gravity with each step he took. Trouble had come looking for him, as always. He crouched down and touched the melted wax on the girl’s face, now scarred with injuries and holes – no doubt it was the young Lieutenant’s work. Without much hesitation, he picked up the young girl into his arms and lied her on his bed. He brushed her hair away and sighed. Key surely didn’t bother to spare anyone, even if they were the fairer gender.

He didn’t have healing hands, but he could help the girl to consciousness with mere touch of his fingers. Not a second later, she was gasping for air, pulled back to reality from dreams. She thought she had died then and there, only to be greeted by a pair of pitch-black eyes, staring at her coldly. Sera shuddered at the unfriendliness behind this man’s gaze. It was unsettling, as if she was staring at a painting which stared back. His hair was as dark as his eyes, but his skin was fair – a little too fair that it lacked the healthy glow.

“What did you do to me?” Sera asked, and the fear was genuine this time. She didn’t think she would meet one of those rarity whose minds she couldn’t read. She knew she ought to be careful in the Union, and this man reeked of blood and violence and it was much stronger on him than on anyone else she had met before. With a pair of stubborn eyes, she stared back unyieldingly at Sehun, who found her behaviour extremely peculiar, “If you’re going to kill me, you should do it now.”

“Who are you?” Unlike his initial impression, the man’s voice was gentle, although it didn’t have any warmth or kindness. Sehun stood up and observed her as she did to him, both taking the marvels in each other for the first time. This man looked inapproachable, but he wasn’t exactly uncomfortable to be close to. Like a… spark. Like a dejavu. But too blurry to be recognised. Sera quickly flinched when a familiar ache started pounding and she recoiled to the furthest corner. “You’re the girl from the Rebels, aren’t you? What are you doing here?”

“I need to get out of here,” Sera firmly stated, her eyes glaring at him, but not exactly at him. No, she was thinking of the Union, the soldier, the doctors and all the people she had to go through before she fainted here. Under her fierce stare, Sehun didn’t speak a word, but merely listening as if she was an amusing little thing used to distract him from his daily boredom. She felt very much like a house pet – cute, harmless, and not at all dangerous. “If you want to fight me, then fight. Don’t waste so much time talking and trying to find out. I’d rather die than spill out words to you, filthy two-faced good-for-nothing-goody-two-shoes.”

He almost burst out laughing at the last string of words. She was like a cat with her paws sharpened and provoked. “You want to fight me with your current condition?” He eyed her up and down and Sera glared at him angrily. “What would I be, then? I don’t take advantages on an injured opponent, so if you want a proper fight, it’s better to nurse back your health and come back to me anytime after. And don’t try to peel off the wax anymore. I’ll ask someone to help you with it.”

“No, thanks!” Sera scowled. She grew increasingly suspicious of this man. Before long, there were footsteps outside the room, and Sehun was the first to react. He turned around and his eyes narrowed. Although Suho was the leader of the group and even the General himself had to show some courtesy to him, it was Sehun that everyone feared, even more so than Suho and Luhan. He could be amicable when needed, but the young man was very clear on those he liked and the ones he didn’t. Sera tried to stand up but hissed when the pain overcame her senses, “Get them all away from me.”

Sehun froze in his step and glanced back at the figure on his bed, feeling a storm raising in his mind. This was a feeling he hated because it was a reminder of everything painful to him. A stream of emotions surged to the surface and he fought hard to keep it down. The temptation of such ability was to bring extreme delight for obedience and horrifying mental torture when absolute compliance was not achieved. Ignoring the pain in his head, Sehun stepped forward and raised his left hand to the groups of soldiers who ran towards him with their guns ready.

“You dare!” He spoke softly, but the volume was loud enough to bring silence into the corridor. Two dozens of soldiers stared at each other in doubt as they were unsure of how to proceed. They had long known that each one of the Twelve were extremely important to the organisation and had to be treated with absolute respect. Key walked to the front, putting his hands up in surrender, “Hold it, Sehun. It’s an Order. The Rebel escaped, so we have to kill her no matter what. Surrender the girl and we’ll back away immediately. All shall be well.”

Sera stiffened. She didn’t know if this guy was a Transcendental, or if he would be able to hold all of them back. But he looked too calm for someone under compulsion. Like he was actually enjoying this and everyone else were his toys to play with. There was something that Sera noticed when she talked to him – those pitch-black eyes were always so hollow no matter how gentle he sounded or how kind his words were, but at this very moment, it was as if someone had lit a fire to his soul and everything was burning into ashes. He looked magnificently tall, and yet at the same time, terrifying and dark like an Underworld King, ruling over everything else with chaos and sins.

“And if I don’t?” He challenged, a small smile playing on his lips.

Key hated to admit it, but almost all of these new recruits frightened him. He had seen people with abilities over the years, some strange and others useful, but these Twelve were different. It was almost as if they were designed as human weapons, born to bring destruction to this planet, their sole purpose to kill and rule over others. He gritted his teeth and lowered his voice, “It’s an Order, Oh Sehun. All of us must comply. There will be punishment if we fail to capture and kill her.”

“Your punishment does not apply to me, Lieutenant. I’d like to see you try and scare me,” Sehun took a stance. Key paled and furiously shouted, “Fire!” The moment the bullets were fired rapidly, they stopped mid-air, almost like a scene from a movie. Sera’s heart shot up in glee and a smile that resembled more of a grimace slowly made its way to her face. The male looked at Key and chuckled lightly, “You know very well that bullets never worked on me, don’t you, Lieutenant? Isn’t it a waste… to see them dead so quickly?”

All it took was a wave of his hands and all the bullets fired back to their owners, shooting all the soldiers dead on the brain. At this moment, Key wished that Luhan was present, but even if he was, it would be hard to convince him to obey orders, especially since it concerned Sehun. Right at that moment, Suho walked in hurriedly, followed by Kris, Tao, Baekhyun and Chen. Key swore he had never been more grateful towards his presence than ever before. Suho glowered at the younger man, waving his hands away to form a water barrier to shield the Lieutenant away from Sehun’s rage.

“Sehun!” He shouted sternly. Sehun simply shot him a look and said nothing more. Suho was a demonic presence when he was angry. “Stop this. And you, Lieutenant! Do you realise what you are doing right now?” He shot a look at Sehun’s room and continued icily, the water washing away from seven feet high and disappeared in the air, “The General has issued an Order not to kill the girl. You and Doctor Lee clearly didn’t know how to obey his Order!”

“She destroyed three levels of this laboratory,” Key yelled back. He lost his composure as fear and anger mixed in. No one knew if it was impulse that encouraged him to speak so boldly about the General’s target, or if he thought he would have the capability to handle his rage. Either way, what was said was done – he could no longer take them back. “Doctor Lee agrees that this girl is far too dangerous and her mental stability does not allow her to serve the organisation. The Rebel has brainwashed her to such extent, what good would it do to let her stay?”

“The General’s Order,” Suho emphasised. “You dare to question him?”

Although Key was respected by everyone in this compound, he had to lower his head every time he talked to Suho. If Sehun was a storm, then Suho was the cracking of the ice, waters washing thirty-meters high, destroying everything in its way. But because he was usually benevolent and obedient, the General and the organisation treasured him like no other. He was the Golden Child, the role model of every other recruits. Key’s importance paled in comparison, and he knew that if he contradicted with this man and his Order, he might as well bid goodbye to life and good future. “Well, what are you planning to do with her, then? She is the demon’s child!”

Suho walked to the door and stared eye-to-eye with the girl. She held contempt in her eyes, completely fearless and reckless. Ah, he loved staring at those brown eyes. They were so fascinating. Finally, he calmed down and let a smile graced his lips. “She will join us as the last member. I will make sure she does.”

* * *

I had changed my clothes into a sleeveless shirt which was too big for me – no doubt a menswear. The scars were now more obvious than ever, especially on my arms and face. I followed the stranger’s suggestion, who apparently was courteous enough to tell me his name and everyone else's – Suho. On the surface, he looked very gentle and kind, but I, too, had heard of his conversation with that military man, and knew of his capability. Transcendentals were very rare, even more so if they were elemental-benders. Such abilities were cherished and respected among others.

For now, I was still a prisoner, but they didn’t tie me anywhere and simply asked me to listen for a possible negotiation. This time, I didn’t run away not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t have much strength left. A week of continuous torture was taking its toll on me, and if not for Suho’s help, I would have died sooner. Take it as a sign of gratitude. I wasn’t completely heartless after all, and knowing that the Union had equal and possibly more power than the Rebel, I had to be extremely careful dealing with these people.

“She’s so unpleasant to look at,” Tao – my captor who used this weird ability to control time – remarked softly. He wasn’t trying to make it audible for everyone else, but I heard it all the same and shot him a venomous look. “Thanks for being such a judgemental !”

“So touché,” A tan man with full lips and bedroom eyes smirked – Kai. He folded his hands in front of his chest and examined me from head to toe. I truly wished I could bark at him at this moment, and instantly snapped my fingers to get his attention, “I’m over here, not down there. I’d appreciate it if you stop being such a lecher.” Tao burst out laughing from the corner of the room, “See, Kris, isn’t she something? Not one minute in the room, and she has managed to insult two of us.”

Kris only gave him an exasperated look that signalled that he was over the argument. Tao liked to banter with Kris, but the later was so passive and quiet that the conversation was often one-sided. And yet, after all these years, they remained one of the closest pairs in the bunch. Suho kindly closed the door and stood by me, his voice soft but a little intimidating, “You don’t need to worry if it will scar, Sera. Lay will certainly help you with those injuries and burns. You’ll be good as new when he’s done.”

There were twelve men in the room, and they were all in their twenties, possibly only a few years older than I was. I instantly spotted the blue-eyed man on the couch without his mask, sitting next to Sehun as they chatted ambiguously. He didn’t look so old, and yet his voice was etched with a hint of tiredness from aging, as if he had lived for far too long. Despite being surrounded by a bunch of good-looking men, something about him was… oddly out of the place and I couldn’t pinpoint out which part of him was. It was so strange because this was the first time we saw each other face-to-face.

I turned my head away and focused my attention on Suho, “Well, before he starts, why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Why am I here if you’re not going to kill me?”

“I’m pretty sure you have heard of the Union when you joined the Rebel,” He explained, and all of us sat in the square-shaped couch, and I was squeezed by Tao and Kris, although they gave enough space to fit another person in-between. “We do what you do, only legally, and most of the times, with less blood and fewer victims. We try to avoid casualties when found possible. There is only one purpose of the Union’s existence: to ensure that there is a balance between power and people, and at the same time, to control the amount of Transcendentals in this world and keeps us away from the public.”

“Ah, sure,” I nodded and he seemed to be nonchalant about my disinterest in the whole matters. I wasn’t affiliated with the Rebel any longer, anyway. Their fights were no longer any of my business. Suho continued, and the rest were simply listening without wanting to interrupt. They had probably placed a lot of trust into this man. “Five years ago, you were supposed to be recruited into the team along with forty-four other transfers, but along the way, the Rebel intervened and kidnapped you and a few other recruits. The rest is history.”

“We want you in the team, Sera. We weren’t expecting the Lieutenant to be so… cold-blooded as to torture you to such extent, so when we informed the General, he issued an Order to halt everything, but by then, you had already escaped. I am sorry for everything you had to go through,” His eyes raked over my face and sorry figure. This time, there was genuine emotion behind those apologetic eyes. I sighed and asked, “You can give me all the excuses in this world, but what has happened had happened. I am not so interested in joining a team at the moment, especially since there is not much difference of the Union to the Rebel. I was with them for a very long time, and I no longer wish to be treated like a slave.” Unless, of course, they could offer something more. My eyes gleamed with greed.

“All Twelve of us answer to no one but the General, and most of the time, we are free to roam the world unless there is a mission we need to accomplish. That, too, would apply to you if you join. It’s easy money with easy missions. The pay is good, Sera. Whatever they pay you now, we can double the amount. You are also given choices whether or not you want to take the task, and commission are given by clients and not the Union,” Suho explained, and in that moment, my eyes shone with tears, touched. He knew me so well without even knowing me. If the client paid the commission and the Union paid my salary, wouldn’t that be my annual salary by folds? I contemplated for a second, and asked again, “No one touches me here, will they? I have the right to do whatever I want, whenever I want.”

“Absolutely,” He smiled, and we both knew we had won a negotiation and sealed the deal. I offered my hand with a smug smile, “Deal. No money, no work.”

Tao burst out laughing. Clearly, he wasn’t used to such frankness. It would do well if he got used to it in time. With his straightforward personality, we would definitely be well-acquainted in the future, given that I paid him back for what he did to me first-hand. Suho turned to the man next to him and whispered a few words before he introduced us to each other, “Sera, this is Lay, the Healer of our group. And all of you, this is the infamous Jung Sera, a former Rebel and the last member of our team.”

Lay was neat-looking. His clothes were meticulously chosen, not a single crease was spotted, his hair brushed to the back like a professional worker, but instead of looking greasy, he was kind. He was very, very kind, without any ulterior motive like Suho. Having been exposed to a world of hypocrisy and cruelty for so long, I was uncomfortable with Lay. He approached me with a casual smile, bright like the sun, and offered me his hand. I took it without much hesitation. A soothing sensation spread from that touch to the rest of my body. He was a gifted Healer. In less than twenty minutes, I could not feel any pain anymore, and the scars and injuries that covered my entire body had disappeared without a trace.

I envied people with his type of ability – one that could help with the good of this world, and not destroyed it even more. With a nod, I took my hand away from his, “Thank you.”

“I should return this favour to you, shouldn’t I?” I looked at my skin in wonder and stared straight at all Twelve of them, each had an expression of their own. Luhan stared at me with his eyebrows furrowed, waiting, while Sehun merely glanced, as if this would not interest him at all. I smirked, “I can tell you a piece of information about the Rebel that no one else knows about, even those in the organisation. I’m not sure how strong you are individually, but there is no way you could destroy the Rebel. The successor to the leadership position is a very young man, and his ability is far beyond mine. He is the one who controls everything, not the current leader. If I were a wanted criminal because of my power, then you best be careful with what he can do.”

“And why are you suddenly telling us this?” Sehun asked. He wasn’t one to ask so much, but he grew curious as well. I grinned and stared straight at him, “Simple. You want to fight the Rebel. I want to destroy that man.”