When Lay went out the door, Jinju caught a glimpse of a frantic-looking Chen and a pale man carrying someone on his back. What really shocked her was that along with his arms, this man’s backside from head to toe was completely covered in what appeared to be ice. She didn’t have much of a chance to observe more after the door shut behind Lay.

Lay kept a hand on the door knob as he turned to face five men. He knew only two of them, Chen and EXO’s charismatic captain, Suho. “I thought I made myself clear that none of you are welcome here.”

“Please, we need your help. One of our men...we don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Suho calmly pleaded.

Lay squinted his eyes, but ended up agreeing. “Just put him down so I can see what’s wrong,” he turned to the ice-covered man carrying who he thought might be Baekhyun.

The man who was shorter and looked younger than him slowly and gently eased Baekhyun off his back onto the grassy ground. Lay knelt down to get a good look at his condition, but once he did, he gasped and quickly pulled back the hand he stretched out to check on him. Baekhyun was unconscious and his skin was pallid, almost grey. A black substance, originating from the black crystal attached on his bracelet that also looped around his right index and ring fingers, was branching up his body. Lay could see the veins on his neck slowly turning black.

“Don’t touch him! Whatever it is spreads very easily,” the tallest one warned him. “When I tried to pick him up earlier, I got these,” he said and showed him the back of his hands. His veins had the same black substance crawling up his arms.

Lay stood up and quickly took a hold of his arms, right above the black veins. The crystal attached to his left shoulder glowed for a moment and went out as soon as he let go. The tall man stared at his hands and wiggled his fingers, the black substance was now completely gone. “Hey, thanks for that. I can finally move my fingers.”

Lay turned his back on him and faced Suho with a solemn look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help him,” he looked down at Baekhyun.

“W-What do you mean? I just watched you help Chanyeol.”

“His case is different. The crystal is the source of the poison. The only way to stop it from spreading is to remove the crystal. But you know as well as I do, that taking away the crystal will kill him. And I can’t touch him to heal him because the poison will spread to me. If that happens, my abilities will be useless.”

“Can’t you do anything at all? You say it’s poison, there must be an antidote,” Chen butted in.

Lay shook his head, “Unfortunately, the ingredient is hard to get.”

“What is it? I’m sure we’ll be able to get it. One of us can teleport. Kai could get anything, wherever it may be,” the man that was previously covered in ice looked at him expectantly.

“Xiumin, you know Kai’s ability doesn’t work that way,” Suho sighed.

“I know that. But if this guy,” he gestured toward Lay, “knows where the general location is, then Kai may be able to get there.”

“Unfortunately, knowing its location will do nothing. You’ll need a mermaid’s cooperation and I doubt even if you find one that she’d be willing to help.”

“Mermaid? What in the world is this poison?” Chen yelled out.

“I’ve only seen it once,” Lay said, “it’s a substance made from dripping a dead mermaid’s fresh blood onto a crystal. The blood gets in and taints the purity of the crystal turning it black. The black matter can then be used to taint other crystals. And if the crystal is bonded to an owner, the result is this.”

“Then how did it spread to me?” Chanyeol asked.

“Although the black matter is not alive, it can sense the presence of a crystal. It was traveling up your hands to reach the crystal on your necklace. An awful effect is that it can restrict movement to the parts of your body that it travelled to get to the crystal.”

“Those sailors, where did they get this stuff,” Chen contemplated.

“You had a run-in with the navy?” 

“Yes, they captured one of us and two others stayed behind to get him back,” Suho answered. Lay gave them an accusing look. “No need to look at us like that, we weren’t looking for trouble.” 

“Then how do you explain your altercation?”

“I saw the navy dock at the island and raid a pirate ship this morning. They must have followed that ship here because they don’t usually come around these parts,” Xiumin said. “After they were done with them, they came looking for us. We were about to leave the island when they got a hold of Sehun and so the fight started. We were just unlucky enough to be here.”

Hearing the mention of a fight, Lay noticed that all of them had injuries. Some more than others, but nothing serious. Only Baekhyun was on the verge of death. In fact, if one just got a look they would think he was no longer breathing.

“So what do we need from a mermaid to make the antidote?” Suho asked.

“You will need the mermaid to purify the crystal with her tears.”

“Even if we do find a mermaid, how are we going to ask for her help? ” Chanyeol asked. 

“Chanyeol is right. We can’t speak or understand their language,” Xiumin added.

“If you manage to find a mermaid, I know of someone who can understand the language of the sea,” Lay offered.

“How long do we have?” Suho asked.

“He can be saved as long as the black matter doesn’t completely engulf him. You have at least until dusk.”

“You just said that he’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t fully cover him. Dusk is only three hours away and the poison has only reached around his right arm. Shouldn’t we have more time?” Chen protested.

“Only daylight is what’s keeping the black matter from reaching deep into his body. As soon as darkness comes, the black matter will burrow inside and if it travels to his heart, it will stop beating.”

~~~*~~~

AN: It’s a bit shorter than previous chapters. Feel free to ask me any questions. Also decided to change the description.