Chapter 17

"Ugh."

Jihyo groaned as she cracked her eyes open. She blinked, squinting at the high, white ceiling above her. This place was not familiar. Jihyo abruptly sat up, sending an uncomfortable wave of dizziness to her head. She closed her eyes again, trying to lessen the pain when a soft hand caresses her red tresses.

Jihyo turned her head to meet a smiling face of the person she thought she won't meet again.

"Y-Yongsun-unnie?"

Yongsun's smile grew wider. She whispered, full of love and care it nearly made Jihyo cried. "Hey, you."

"I.." Jihyo's voice cracked. "I... am I.. am I dead?"

"No, silly," Yongsun giggled. "You're very much alive and sound, Jihyo-ah."

"B-but.." Jihyo paused, nose scrunching in confusion. "B-but you're here? Does that mean that.. you're alive also?"

"Of course I am!" Yongsun pinched Jihyo's cheek. "Why, you think I'll die that easily?"

Jihyo was appalled. "I saw you died! And Byulyi-unnie! Wheein-unnie and Hyejin-unnie, too! Tiffany-unnie attacked you, right? Isn't it true? Am I dreaming? Or am I high? Unnie you didn't put anything in my food, right?"

Yongsun had to hold her waist, unable to contain her laughter. Jihyo grew even more confused and scared, especially now that Yongsun is nearly rolling on the floor. "Unnie, come on! What's going on here actually?"

"W-We..." the keeper wheezed. "We didn't die, Jihyo-ah. That was an illusion."

Jihyo gasped. "An illusion? But how come we didn't... I should have been able to sense if that was an illusion!"

Yongsun hummed. "I guess... you girls are just too shocked to realize it. I mean, we literally were watching from the ledge at the northern part of the castle wall and none of you seem to know that we were there the whole time."

"YOU WERE THERE?!"

"Yes, we were," the older girl exclaimed with a grin. "That was really one hell of an experience. To watch you fight each other covered in flames..."

"Wait, wait wait," Jihyo put her hands up. "Fight each other?"

"Huh? You didn't remember?"

Jihyo shook her head. "The last thing I remember is that we all lashed out and fought Tiffany-unnie. I'm kinda losing my consciousness but I don't exactly want to do that. And then there are chains and everything out."

Yongsun shrugged. "Oh, well. Guess what Tiffany-sshi said was true. You lost a bit of your memory because you grew to be a Legend..."

"I AM A WHAT?!!"

"Byulyi said the same thing. Momo was dazed for a few minutes since she awoken then freaked out and was hiding herself under the bed."

"WAIT A MINUTE–"

"Oh! Did I mentioned that you and Momo nearly killed each other?"

"HEEEEE?" Jihyo had her jaw hanging open. She's trying hard to fill her blanked brain with the facts Yongsun had said to her. "Wait wait wait what?"

She then points at herself, disbelief clear in her eyes. "Me? A Legend?"

"It's true," Yongsun nodded, feeling a surge of pride at her younger sister. "You're a Legend, Jihyo-ah! A Phoenix! You should have seen yourself because you're so cool!! You're literally made of fire and your eyes are just so bright its... ahhhh!!"

Yongsun squealed while squeezing her cheeks. Exhilarated. Jihyo only watches her sister squealing like a madman dazedly. The younger girl then raised her hands, looking at it doubtfully.

"I'm... a Legend?" Jihyo whispered, clasping her hands together on her chest. "A Legend... me?"

"Jihyo-ah?" the keeper called. Jihyo was so silent it worried Yongsun to no end. Did she say something wrong?

A single tear escaped Jihyo and Yongsun screamed. "JIHYO OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY I'M CALLING TIFFANY!"

"No! Unnie, I'm okay!" Jihyo let out a breathless laugh, catching Yongsun's wrist before she could storm out of the room. "I'm just... I'm just surprised..? I guess? I mean.. a Legend. Wow. I could only imagine it.. you know? Like... A LEGEND!"

The young Anihuman inhaled. "It's like.. like a dream come true. To grow and becoming something so... so... I don't know... strong? Special?"

"You mean legendary," Yongsun smiled, caressing Jihyo's knuckle.

"Yeah, that," Jihyo giggled. "I'm so very happy a could cry now."

"You've done that already," Yongsun said with a loving smile on her face. "You've done that and it's enough."

Jihyo nodded enthusiastically. "By the way, unnie. Where are Mina and Dahyun?"

Yongsun shrugged. "I don't know. They've awoken for about an hour now. Probably running off somewhere to get used to their new body. Maybe you should do it too but just not here. Your size is crazy big and you're scorching you'll burn everything here."

"Oh, they grow too? What are they? Are they Legends too?"

Yongsun shook her head. "Nope. Minari's a wolf and Dahyunnie's a kangaroo."

"Ahh..." Jihyo grinned. "Cute. I want to see them."

"Byulyi said earlier to me that she and her sisters will be at the garden behind the castle. Maybe everyone's there also. We should go there in a few minutes if you're feeling better," Yongsun tapped her sister's shoulder lightly.

"Nah, nope!" Jihyo smirked and jumped down from the bed. "I'm feeling fantastic. Let's go now!"

###

The 'garden' Yongsun referred to is actually just a wide field with some patches of flowers scarcely covering the grass. Jihyo and Yongsun descended from the castle hand in hand, slowly taking in the view. Aside from the trees surrounding the field, there is actually nothing else worth to note. Alas, it's a perfect place for 'newborn' adult Anihumans to get used to their new form with running around and play with each other.

Jihyo was immediately drawn to the lumbering beast at the center of the field. A gigantic fox with multicolored fur, laying sideways with its back to her. It has a lot of tails. Most of it is tucked between its legs while one of its tail swayed lazily. Playing with its tail is an array of animals, all jumping excitedly to either dodge the tail or to catch it. Except for the snake. It was just curling on the ground beside the fox with its eyes closed.

Jihyo noticed the kangaroo right before it whipped her head and meet her eyes. The red-furred kangaroo practically beamed at her as it hurriedly runs to her.

"JIHYO-UNNIEEEE!!!"

A voice unmistakably Dahyun made Jihyo laughed merrily. She let Yongsun's hand go to sprints toward the kangaroo with arms wide open. Dahyun's yell had made the other animals turned their attention to the both of them, including the fox who lifts its head excitedly.

Dahyun jumped to Jihyo's arms, ignoring the fact that she's currently bigger than her unnie and is practically smothering her with her strong arms.

"I missed you!!"

Jihyo choked, slapping Dahyun's chest with agony. "Dubu! Dub.. Dubu you're killing me aghk!"

Dahyun released Jihyo with a startled gasp. "Omo! I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

Jihyo pants, waving her hand to calm the panicking kangaroo. "I'm... I'm ok–"

"JIHYO-UNNIEEE!!!"

Only to be tackled to the ground by a bigger animal. Jihyo saw the orange fur and the wide mouth filled with fangs before her vision went blurry. Her head must have knocked to something because she's feeling dizzy. By the way Dahyun's voice sounds distant, Jihyo has a feeling that she's having a minor concussion.

"Chaenggie can't you be a bit gentler! Look at her now!" Dahyun scolded Chaeyoung, pulling the sabertooth tiger away from Jihyo by her ear. Chaeyoung wailed, following Dahyun's movement to reduce the pain.

"But I'm happy she's finally awake!" Chaeyoung protested. The tiger was about to yank herself free but someone bit her neck softly.

"We know you're really excited and are high spirited, Chaeng. But do remember that Jihyo has just barely recovered. Go run some laps again so you'll burn some energy," Jeongyeon told the younger girl firmly.

Chaeyoung pouted but run away nonetheless. Being a Special gave her more strength than her other friends, so she needs to train on how to control it. Jeongyeon sighed, pulling Jihyo up with her foreleg.

"Sorry about that, unnie. Chaeng could be problematic at times," Dahyun bowed at Jihyo who is rubbing her head.

"Since when did you start being polite with me?" Jihyo exclaimed in shock. The kangaroo just tilted her head mischievously and Jihyo rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Still, you girls are certainly..."

Five expectant eyes are focused on Jihyo, waiting for her to continue her sentence.

"Strange."

"I know, right!" the brown deer suddenly jumped in front of Jihyo, swinging her antlers rapidly. "Look at me! I'm a girl but I have antlers! I gotta admit that this made me look cool and will probably be helpful in fights but... why?? Antlers??? Universe you have to answer me!"

Jeongyeon faked a gasp. "Unnie! Is it possible that you're actually a man?"

"Yah! Yoo Jeongyeon!" Nayeon swings her antlers to the bear. It nearly grazes Jeongyeon's brown fur if the bear's not fast enough. "Oh, I see! My antlers are supposed to be my weapon to fight you! Come here you big teddy!"

The Kodiak bear laughs, her voice rumbled deep from her chest. She turned her back on Nayeon before sprinting on her four legs. "Only if you can catch me!"

Nayeon shouts an angry exclamation then followed Jeongyeon running around the field. Chaeyoung saw them and roars happily, trailing the both of them in a game of chase. Dahyun also notices this sudden game and jumped to the fray without any hesitation. Jihyo shook her head, turning her attention to the grey eagle perched on top of the head of a white wolf.

"Let me guess," Jihyo rubbed her chin. "Sana and Mina?"

"Ding dong, you're wrong," the eagle cawed. "It's Tzuyu."

"Oooh!!" Jihyo laughs and taps Tzuyu's head. "You're the only one whose adult form is related to your juvenile form. You're really cool as an eagle! It suits you!"

"Thank you," Tzuyu whispered in a small voice it nearly rivaled Mina's. She's thankful that eagles couldn't blush or she would be as red as a tomato now.

"Awww... Mina you're so pretty too!" Jihyo cooed, playing with Mina's furred cheeks. Mina barked, Jihyo's hand and made the red-haired girl giggled. "That tickles!"

Jihyo was just happily playing with Mina when something big blocked the sun from her. She lifts her head, waving to the beast standing before her. Jihyo scanned the fox's appearance, noticing the tuft of greyish fur at the center of its chest. Immediately recognizing its identity, Jihyo grinned.

"Momoring!!"

The fox yipped. "Jihyoooo!!!"

"You're huuuugggggeeeeeeee!!" Jihyo yelled. She measures that Momo is approximately 6 meters tall at her shoulder. Her length is probably more than twice that size, especially with the long tails sprouting from her behind.

Momo barked in laughter. "I knowww! And I want to hug you!"

"Wait."

"Wheeeee!!!" Momo ignores Jihyo as she bends her legs and let herself falling to the ground. She also ignores the fact that Tzuyu had flown away from her station above Mina's head, while the wolf herself was also gone.

"MOMO NO YOU'LL FLATTEN ME!!"

"WHEEEEEE!!!"

"MOMO!"

Jihyo closed her eyes, dreading the inevitable. But when she felt nothing crushes her, she opened her eyes back to feel a pair of arms pulling her into a hug. Jihyo chuckled as Momo buried her nose on top of the younger's head. She grabs the older's back, feeling relieved at the fact that Momo didn't flinch at the pressure on her chest.

"I'm sorry."

Jihyo hummed. "What for?"

"You know I literally tried to rip your throat off," Momo laughs, ruffling Jihyo's hair playfully. "Sorry for that. Won't do it again."

"You're technically mindless that time, don't worry," Jihyo swatted Momo's hand away before smiling mischievously. "But I'll make sure you're properly punished for that!"

Momo blinked in confusion, but her expression quickly changed into amusement as Jihyo transforms herself. Fire the older girl's face when the younger turned into a flaming beast. Once she reaches her full height, Jihyo spread her wings and opened her golden eyes.

Her gaze was met by a pair of bright purple eyes half a meter above her head. Momo barked, tails swinging excitedly as she evades Jihyo's wing swipe. She turned her back and run away, followed closely by the newly transformed Phoenix who's testing her flight. Soon after, the two giant beasts are running across the field chasing each other. Between Momo's paws, the six smaller Anihumans also run along and play with the sparks falling from Jihyo's wings or just dodging Momo's frantic footwork.

Meanwhile, sitting at the castle stairs watching their sisters antics fondly is the four keepers. Hyejin is leaning to Wheein who is sitting on the stair higher than hers. While Byulyi sat crosslegged on the topmost stair with Yongsun standing beside her.

"They really are something, aren't they?" Hyejin suddenly spoke. She has a look in her eyes that was stormed with emotion. "I couldn't believe I just met them for about three months and now I've seen their evolution."

"And to think that they're really happy knowing that we live. I'm sorry for being sentimental but no one's ever that grateful of my life before," Wheein adds. She sighed and wrapped her arms around Hyejin's neck, pulling her closer.

"I guess... we lonely people somehow found a home with them, right?" Byulyi chuckled. "I just wish that we'll be able to be together forever."

Before anyone could ask what Byulyi meant by that, soft footsteps resound near them. They turned their head in tandem, finding Tiffany rubbing her eyes and yawning sleepily. She's clad in a blue one-piece ruffled at some place. Her appearance clearly shows her barely-awake state, but she's still flawless as ever with that beautiful eye smile of her.

"Hood mownying."

Yongsun giggled. "Good morning to you too, Tiffany-sshi."

Tiffany waved sluggishly. "I'll take a bath first, okaaay? Please tell your sisters to.. to assemble at the throne room in half an hour. I'll... explain a few things."

Hyejin gave the ruler two thumbs up. "Will do, Tiffany-sshi."

"Thank you," Tiffany yawned again and spared a glance to the Animals. A flash of longing could be seen in her eyes for a few moments, but none of the keepers caught her distraught look. "They're cute."

Yongsun only smiled as she noticed that phyton Sana, who was sleeping (hibernating) through all the ruckus her friends made finally wakes up because Dahyun stepped on her tail.

"Of course. They are our sisters after all."

###

All nine Anihumans plus their keepers and the rulers have gathered in the castle's throne room. The younger Anihumans are sitting on the floor noticing the few damages they made to the room. The keepers were given a sofa by Seohyun, who said ashamedly that the rulers should have treated them better since before. While the rulers (who are actually just Yoona, Seohyun and Yuri) are conversing with each other on the throne platform.

All sixteen of them turned their head at the sound of the door opening. Tiffany walks into the room wearing her signature smile. The Anihumans immediately stands but she raised her hand, gesturing them to just stay at their position. She then sits down at the lowest platform stair, making herself comfortable with her very homely clothes.

Instead of dresses she usually wears during their meeting, Tiffany is now wearing a pink tee and a pair of short shorts. She even goes as far as only wearing sandals. The younger Anihumans are actually quite shaken by their examiner's outfit but decided against confronting her.

"I believe you girls have all understand my intention of gathering you here," Tiffany starts her speech with a knowing smile. "Okay, first of all, I want to say sorry for everything happening today. Your keepers must have told you that was just an illusion, yeah? So, now, what was our purpose of triggering your transformation by 'killing' your keepers?"

The ruler cleared . "As you can see. We were aiming to unlock your full potential by baiting a living being's strongest emotion. It was not rage, nor sadness. It was desperation. One person's desperation was enough. You are a team, after all. You may not realize it, but your feelings are actually shared among your team. If one of you feel sad, the other will notice it too. When you're a juvenile, you won't feel it as much but you'll certainly feel it as an adult Anihuman."

Seohyun took the chance to talk when Tiffany glanced at her. "When in desperation, all your powers will be unlocked because your body feels it's necessary to protect you. That power lays dormant in a juvenile's body until they're triggered with something strong. So we, us Soshi team and your keepers had made a scenario. We 'kill' them, and if at least one of you feel the extreme desperation of being left behind, you're all going to burst with that dormant power of yours."

Yoona shrugged her shoulders. "Turned out you girls are all desperate anyway. So then, well, you know the story. Your powers are unleashed, and Tiffany controlled it. Just so you know, if these powers are released without us. There's a high chance you'll turn into a berserk and kill your own keeper. The other reason is that we have to assess your 'humanity'. A life of another worth more than anything, especially power. We have to make sure that you're not some kind of a psycho that's greedy of power and ignore other's life."

"Anyway," Yuri continues. "These controlled powers are the one that made you an adult Anihuman, not a berserk. Though, it's like what we said earlier. It's up to you whether to break it or to make it. Thank God, all of you had made it. Some.. a bit more peculiar than the others.."

The lioness winked at Momo and Sana, who both hung their head low with embarrassment. Yuri just chuckled and ignored them. "But we are surprised, pleasantly so, when it turned out that you have two Legends in the group. That's so very rare, and it's an asset you have to use to its full potential if you did actually end up being the next ruler. With that being said, congratulations on your second test. You passed, all of you. And now you have an adult form, you'll have a whole new range of powers and abilities you have to discover before we move to the third exam."

Yuri bowed, and the younger Anihumans all bowed back. She grinned, about to dismiss them before Yoona speaks up.

"Oh, one more thing."

Yoona grinned at the younger Anihumans, catching them off-guard. "Remember the long speech Tiffany-unnie gave you before the second exam 'starts'?"

Most of the younger Anihumans nodded, some of them just staring at Yoona dumbly. The ruler snickered. "Well, tell you what. Forget it. At least 90% of it is just bulls made by Tiffany-unnie anyway."

"YOONA!" Tiffany exclaimed loudly. She sounds mad but she's actually laughing her off. "Don't expose me!"

"Sorry, but I can't bear to see them so stressed out over nothing!" Yoona stuck her tongue to her leader. "You know I'm always keeping an eye on them and I was wheezing the whole time they talked about the 'three berserker potential'. They are so scared and even if it was cute, they deserved some goddamn rest."

"Me too," Seohyun speaks. She bowed deeply to Momo, cheeks dusted pink. "I think I have offended you. About the.. wounds. I shouldn't have said that. I'm very sorry for hurting your feeling."

Momo yelped. "N-No! No! It's okay, Seohyun-unnie! It was.. necessary! Yeah, a necessary evil! To make us like this, now. I'm the one who should have apologized for calling you a... a .. I'm terribly sorry about that..."

"No. I.. I was the one at fault.."

"It was mine I swear Seohyun-unnie.."

Yoona and Yuri are laughing by now, clutching their stomach while Tiffany just shook her head. "Just.. go marry each other, both of you."

Seohyun smacks Yoona on her arm. "Shut up, unnie."

"Enough, girls," Tiffany giggled, waving her hand to signal her fellow rulers to stop playing around. "They have to go home. It was a tiring day and they deserve rest."

She then turned to the younger Anihumans and their keeper, bowing at them without moving from her position. "You are dismissed. For keepers, I promise you that this is the last time you'll be involved in exams. But do expect our random visits from time to time. And you, young ones. I'll meet you again a week from now, and I expect you to establish an organizational position among yourselves, you understand?"

"Yes, unnie!"

"Good," Tiffany smiled. "Forgive us but Sooyoung is currently unavailable, so I have to make you go through a gate. It's just behind you so you're free to leave. Annyeong, take care and see you later."

"Thank you, unnie. Annyeong."

The younger Anihumans bowed to Tiffany and her fellow rulers. They then moved to their respective keepers, walking together to pass the gate made by Tiffany. After their guests all disappeared, Tiffany groaned and laid herself on the stairs.

"Boy am I beat."

Yuri sighed. She sat beside Tiffany and touches the woman's back. Pale yellow light shone on Yuri's hand, enveloping Tiffany's body. The other woman slowly relaxed. She smiled at Yuri who removes her hand from her friend's back.

"Thanks, Yuri-ah. I need that."

"No problem," Yuri pats Tiffany's shoulder. "You've done a lot of work around here. I only give you a bit of my power to keep you up."

"Well, it's going to be a bit slow from now on," Yoona said, flopping down beside Tiffany. "We have to rest for a while, too. Before the third exam. It's going to be gruesome for us."

"Yeah, right. One week rest before we start to work again, okay, girls?" Tiffany's proposal earned her the agreement of her team. "By the way, Soo and Hyo hadn't returned?"

"Hyoyeon-unnie called me before this. She said that's a village near the southern border is having a small festival and she was invited when she passes by. So she'll probably back by sunset," Seohyun explained.

"Ah, I see. What about Sooyoung then?"

Yuri rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know how she is when she visits the RV region. She's so whipped for Yeri sometimes I think she's going to adopt that kid."

"In her defense," Yoona giggled. "I wouldn't mind having a new maknae."

Seohyun pouts. "Unnie, why are you so evil to me these days."

The older woman laughs and puts her arm around Seohyun's shoulder. "Just having fun, I guess? I dunno but I'm really in the mood of doing crazy things in the past few weeks."

"No, Yoona. Don't do that," Tiffany said as she shot the younger woman a disapproving look.

"I'm just kidding," Yoona grinned. "Ah, and, unnie. I was actually about to ask. The 'berserker potential' you said.. Seo told me it wasn't a complete lie?"

Tiffany shook her head. "No. It wasn't. But the truth is there's only one member of the group who is having the potential. And by how she transformed, I was not happy. She still has that probability so we have to keep a close eye on her."

"Who is it? I can't really detect because, you know. Power limitation?"

"I was going to tell you anyway. It's... hold on," Tiffany paused and squints her eye at the opening door. "Oh, Sunny-unnie! You're back!"

The four women's attention immediately shifts to the redhead stomping toward them. Tiffany raised her eyebrow when she notices Sunny's troubled expression. The woman stopped in front of the platform. She bit her lower lip in hesitation and it made Tiffany's curiosity grows.

"Sunny-ah? Is something wrong? You received a call so early in the morning and now you're like this. Tell us what happened," Tiffany asks, grasping Sunny's hand in a comforting manner.

"Who called?" Yuri inquires.

After a few moments of silence, Sunny finally speaks.

"It was the high council. IU called."

"Why?" Yoona leans closer. "It's been a long time since anyone from the high council contacts us."

"I have two news, and I'm going to tell from the least surprising one," Sunny took a deep breath. "IU screamed at me for ten minutes straight for violating the time limit of a human's visit to this world. They knew we kept Yongsun and the others here for nearly a day, and the council's not happy. I've talked to them about the exam and they seemed to accept it, but we're banned to invite them to the castle for a month."

Yuri shrugged. "Okay, no big deal. We'll just cross to the other side ourselves."

"What about the other news, Sunny-ah?" Tiffany asks again.

"It's.. it's really is going to be hard and even I went speechless when I was on the phone so prepare yourself, but..." Sunny gulped. She looks straight at her friend's chocolate orbs, noticing the anticipation and slight fear of what the news' going to be.

"They.. the council... IU said it herself so I believe in her with my whole heart..."

Tiffany's grip tightened. She tried to give Sunny a support but she knew, deep down, she's the one who actually needs support to receive this news.

"Kim Taeyeon has been found."

To be continued...