Chapter 30

"I don't want to go."

When Yongsun came home from work that day, she found Jihyo perched on the window sill, somehow cramming her body on the narrow space staring blankly through the glass. Mina is laying in her wolf form on the floor near the window, her beautiful blue eyes focused on Jihyo with her ears flattened, whimpering occasionally when Jihyo sighs. Dahyun is mopping the floor, only shrugging when Yongsun raised a questioning eyebrow to her.

"Minari," Yongsun greets, patting the wolf's snow-white fur and Mina yipped excitedly, tails swishing back and forth as Yongsun her neck.

"Jihyo."

The Phoenix only cast Yongsun a glance then sighs again. It was quite a feat for Jihyo to squeeze her whole body–which, Yongsun notes, is fuller than both Mina and Dahyun–to the window sill, but the Phoenix manages to slump even further. She presses her face to the glass, her heavy sighs are the only thing echoing in the house.

"Hey, you okay?" Yongsun immediately took the cue that her sister is beyond troubled. She motioned for Mina to leave her spot and the wolf obeys, letting Yongsun squat down before Jihyo and rubs her bare knee.

"How's the meeting with Soshi team goes?" the pink-haired keeper asks carefully, noticing the way Jihyo flinches.

"You can tell me, it's okay."

It took almost a full minute until Jihyo finally turns, eyes glassy with tears.

"I don't want to go."

Yongsun hums. "To the training?"

"Why can't we just fast forward to the third exam already?" Jihyo continues on, hand finding Yongsun's on her knee and squeezes. "I don't care about my declining power. I don't want to go to the training."

"Did any of the Soshi team hurt you?"

"No, not them," sliding down the window sill, Jihyo sat in front of Yongsun to hug her knees close to her chest. "It's the new mentors. My... my mentor. She scares me."

"Oh, wow," Yongsun nodded. It's very rare for Jihyo to actually admit that she's afraid of something. For months of living together, Jihyo had never shown her vulnerability to her keeper. Or even her friends. She has always been the stronger one between the four of them and also the most fearless.

So for Jihyo to say that she's afraid of someone, Yongsun knows that this is of a serious matter.

"Did she hurt you?"

Jihyo hesitates for a while then shook her head. "Just a scratch."

"Let me see."

Tilting her head to the side, Jihyo guides Yongsun's hand to trace the three claw marks on her jaw. The wounds are fully healed by now, but strangely, the red lines are still clearly visible. It's as if the lines are marking Jihyo.

Yongsun retracted her hand when Mina stepped in, Jihyo's jaw with her canine tongue and barks softly. Jihyo sobs, hugging Mina by her neck and nuzzles the wolf's pelt with her face.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Yongsun shook her head. She Jihyo's hair to comfort the Phoenix. Her eyes caught something different in her sister's hair, but she couldn't pinpoint what exactly it is and exhales. "Every fear has a reason. I believe, you, too, must have had a reason of being afraid of her."

"That's... actually a problem, unnie," Jihyo slumps after Yongsun finishes, and Dahyun joined the circle by leaning to the Phoenix's body. "Look, the first time I met her, she has this... ominous aura around her. It feels as if she's preying on me, you got that? But the next time we met... she's.. I don't know? Normal? I think she was even quite shaken when she met my eyes."

"Well, that's odd," the keeper blinked. "Anything else worth mentioning?"

Dahyun chimed in. "Jihyo-unnie said that her eyes were silver. But when I saw her she has brown eyes."

Silence befalls them. Jihyo hung her head low, Mina rested her snout on Jihyo's lap while Dahyun the Phoenix's arm. Yongsun knitted her eyebrows in confusion. Nothing comes into mind at the bizarre event her sister is experiencing. Eye-changing person? The only person she ever met that does that was Taeyeon, and even then, the ruler seems like her usual self no matter what eye color she's wearing.

Damn, Anihuman stuff still confuses her even after months of living together.

"Unnie," Mina suddenly spoke, her wet nose poking Jihyo on her cheek. "We don't know for sure what is wrong with Seungwan–"

So her name is Seungwan, Yongsun muses.

"–but we've talked to Momoring and she said she'll do anything to keep you safe from her. In case... anything like that happens again. I believe Taeyeon-unnie, too, would never let anything bad happens to you."

Mina's sentence cracked a smile on Jihyo's face. She pets the wolf's soft fur and Mina purrs in response.

"Thank you, Minari, Dubu."

"Anytime," Dahyun smiled and she hugs Jihyo tighter.

Seeing her sisters being cuddly with each other, Yongsun can't help but smile as well. She patted Jihyo's head, offering her own comfort even if she can't say or do anything about her predicament.

"I hope everything will be fine when tomorrow comes," Yongsun softly said, earning herself a wider smile from her sister.

She has no power of helping Jihyo, no means of easing her worry, so the least she can do is to send her a prayer, hoping that somehow it will all be okay.

###

When tomorrow does come, Jihyo is not ready.

To say that she's terrified is an understatement.

A massive understatement.

She's practically shaking, latching to Momo, who has been told beforehand about her problem and is on full protective mode as they make way to their mentors for the training session. Momo has her arm around her leader's waist to make sure that she's not crumbling down, her other hand Jihyo's upper arm in a comforting manner.

It was only nine in the morning but the sun is already high up in the sky. They arrived at their designated training spot in time, a wide plain near the mountains where Wheein located way back at their first examination.

The vixen had to suppress a snarl when she caught sight of five Anihumans waiting for them.

Momo nods at Taeyeon who waves for a bit, then to Joy who waves too, albeit more enthusiastically and even beams at her. Yeri only smiles as she moved languidly on the balls of her feet. While Joohyun stood up from her previous crouching position as Momo comes to her line of sight. She shook her head when she saw Jihyo's condition, then kicks the shin of the red-black haired Anihuman who refuses to look at the two newcomers.

"You better apologize if we are to continue this," Joohyun husks under her breath, pinching Seungwan's palm to make the Kirin looking at her. She pinches Seungwan's palm harder when she saw the faint silver pooling in Seungwan's eyes. "And keep her on bay else I'll seal you again. Got it?"

"Unnie you know how hard it is!" Seungwan whispers back. "It's been such a long time since she's this interested in someone and I'm really trying to keep her down but she's starting to make me lose my mind!"

"I know, I understand," Joohyun hums. "Wan, please. A month is all we ask."

"And a month is all I could give, maybe, probably, don't expect much."

Joohyun glares at Seungwan. "Look, I'm here because you requested me to keep an eye on you on your first meeting. I'm not letting her ruin that poor girl, Seungwan. Keep your beast on a tight leash or I swear I'll make you went through sealing again."

Seungwan gulps and nods hurriedly at Joohyun's threat, eyes changing back to her usual dark brown. "Yes, mam. I'll do my best to behave."

Right after their conversation finished, Momo and Jihyo arrived before the five of them. Seungwan immediately shrinks at how Jihyo takes a step back when she realizes Seungwan looking at her, at the sharp stare Momo is giving her and at the painful grip Joohyun has around her wrist.

"So I guess you girls have known about them," Taeyeon starts, talking to the two newcomers referring at the four mentors after she noticed the tense atmosphere. She was a bit relieved when Jihyo looks up to her and continues. "But maybe it would be better if you introduce yourself as well."

Momo gave a slight bow. "Annyeong, I'm Momo. I'm a nine-tailed fox, or as Jessica-unnie said, a Kitsune. It's a pleasure to be able to meet you."

Joy grinned at her and Momo can't help to feel eased at the friendly gesture. She nudged Jihyo to start talking when the Phoenix said nothing for quite a while.

"H-Hi... I'm... Jihyo. Phoenix. Nice to meet you," Jihyo said with a soft and trembling voice until Joohyun had to strain her ears to listen to her.

Almost instinctively, the Sumatran Tigress wrapped her arms on the younger's figure and rubs her shoulder. Jihyo flinched at the initial contact but relaxes quickly when Joohyun lets out her aura to soothe her. "Hey, it's fine. We won't bite. We're here to help you. If you have any trouble with any of us, come talk to me. I'll make sure to beat my members' if they make you uncomfortable, okay?"

Despite the fear still clouding her mind, Jihyo manages to nod and Joohyun sighed in relief. She turned a bit to give a stink eye to Seungwan that made the Kirin grimaced. Looking over to Joy and Yeri who shrugged while mouthing 'your problem' (not helping at all), then at Taeyeon who simply raises her eyebrow, Seungwan sighed and took a step forward.

"Hi, Jihyo," great, now Momo is baring her teeth and Jihyo looks like she's going to faint. "Can you look at me?"

It took every ounce of Jihyo's willpower to raise her head, but once she met Seungwan's deep brown eyes, she somehow feels less scared than before and even eased at the Kirin's soft yet firm gaze. She notices Seungwan's gaze grew even softer as she smiles– warm, unlike the cold, menacing smirk silver-eyed Seungwan gave her yesterday.

"Hey, so I think we're off to a bad start," Seungwan cleared . Someone's nagging at the back of her mind and she wants to slap herself. "I want to apologize. Really. I have no excuse of what I did earlier and.. well, I just want you to know that I would not let it happen again."

"But I like her."

Seungwan bit her lower lip to stop herself from snapping. "I'm here to help you guys in your training, nothing more, nothing less. I apologize deeply for my behavior and I hope you can give me a chance. Can we... uhh, be friends?"

"I would like to be more."

"Shut up."

Jihyo went silent for a while. Seungwan– or at least, this Seungwan, seems nice enough and she also seems genuinely friendly. Seungwan also seems hesitating and jittery, but Jihyo thinks it's also because she's being fearful and defensive. The Phoenix does not know what made Seungwan acted like that before, unless the girl from before was a different person but that's highly unlikely, especially after Seungwan hinted that it was indeed her who encountered Jihyo before.

She looks again at Seungwan's guilty and hopeful eyes, sighing a bit when she feels Momo's hand rubbing her back to support her, and nods.

"Okay."

The look of pure relief in Seungwan's face is comforting, to say the least.

"Thank God."

Joohyun smiles and she pats Jihyo's back, averting the girl's attention to her. "Look, it's fine. Seungwan might seem creepy at first but she's not that bad. Besides, she's a shortie so you can just squish her to the floor if she does anything bad. Be careful, though, if she starts getting comfortable she might flirt on you."

This earned an annoyed yell from Seungwan that further eases Jihyo's worry, and soon enough, she reciprocates Joohyun's smile with one of her own.

Exhaling in relief at Jihyo's smile, Joohyun continues. "I'm going to train with Son Chaeyoung and I hope you can be comfortable training with these three here –"

Joy cheers and Yeri dabs.

"–though I believe only Taeyeon-unnie would do you any good. I'll leave you on your own. Have fun!"

With that, Joohyun departs, heading to her own training session with Chaeyoung and Hyoyeon. Jihyo is still tucked safely in Momo's embrace, but at least she's brave enough to lift her head and not staring to the ground. Taeyeon smiles and she joins her fingers with each other as she reclines on her wheelchair.

"As Tiffany said before," the Dragon starts, surprising the younger Anihumans who, despite the gradually calming atmosphere, are still looking at each other warily. "Today marks the start of our training, and we've prepared a personalized training regiment for the two of you. I'm only going to supervise for today. Seungwan and Joy will be the one helping you with your initial training. Any question before we start?"

Both shook their head. Taeyeon nods and Yeri moved behind her wheelchair to push her to the side, leaving the three tense Legends and one jolly Rare in the middle of the clearing. Seungwan cleared when she feels her two new 'students' staring at her, one still tinted with fear and the other with a skeptical gaze.

"Alright, soo..."

Joy cuts her off.

"Can I see your animal forms?"

Jihyo and Momo blink.

"Pardon?"

Joy nods rigorously with an ever-present smile. "Yes! Your animal form! I would like to know what do they look like."

Looking at each other for a while, Momo nodded and unlatches herself from Jihyo's arms. She took a step back, closing her eyes in concentration and started focusing her power to change her body into that of her nine-tailed fox. A bright white light enveloped her, gradually growing in size and forms her beast figure. When she finishes, she lets out a low growl and opens her purple eyes to see Joy's awed expression.

Following Momo's transformation, Jihyo changed as well, sparks of her flame falling to the ground as she grew taller, her wings replacing her arms and her golden eyes shine under the strong sunlight. She caught Joy clapping in appreciation and there's a sense of delight at her reaction, but she then turned to Seungwan only to find her frowning, seemingly deep in concentration.

"Unnie what do you think?"

Joy's question caught Seungwan off-guard. She cleared again.

"Jihyo-sshi?"

Jihyo was surprised when Seungwan immediately addressed her.

"Y-yes?"

Seungwan looks up to her. "Have you ever heard the term 'Shielder'?"

Jihyo shook her head. "No. What is that?"

"It's..." Seungwan paused. "You know what? Nevermind. It's a lesson for another day. For now, I noticed that your transforming speed is... lackluster, at best."

"Eh, really?" Momo sat down, curling her tails around her. "We've trained before but this is the fastest we could get."

"Believe me, it's not. You need to be faster or else your enemies will be able to get to you before you even finish your transformation," grinning, the Kirin walked backward to make a considerable space between her and the other two Legends, gesturing Joy to move away from her spot which the panther happily obeys. "Watch me."

Seungwan snapped her finger, and a sudden, out-of-nowhere lighting strikes the place where she stood. In a split second, her figure grows into another massive beast at an impressive speed. Bigger than Jihyo, but slightly smaller than Momo. It only took Momo one blink for Seungwan to change from her petite stature into her Kirin form.

"You see that?"

Momo and Jihyo were slack-jawed at the light-speed transformation. One second, they were looking at Seungwan and in the next second, a golden-furred, lion-like (or dragon-like, wolf-like, Momo couldn't decide) beast is staring back at them with her brilliant blue eyes and snake-like pupils. Two horns similar to Taeyeon's protruding from above her eyes, between the bushy mane covering her neck down to her chest. It gave her a majestic appearance and both Legends couldn't help but admire her shining coat. Her front legs are that of a regular feline, but her hind legs couldn't be described as anything else aside from horse legs. A long- tail swipes back and forth almost effortlessly, the bluish fur at the end looking a loy like Taeyeon's fire tail, only made of fur and certainly wouldn't burn anything it touches.

Added by the fact that there's constant electricity crackling all over her fur, Momo and Jihyo were absolutely impressed.

"And I thought Taeyeon-unnie's form is cool already."

Seungwan barks a laugh, her two prominent upper fangs (reminding Jihyo of Chaeyoung's. Seriously, what kinda animal is this Kirin is?) glistening under the sun ray.

"You see? We can transform as fast as Anihumans of other classes. For some, even faster," Seungwan crouched on her front legs and raised her , flicking her tail playfully. "Like me, and I know you can, too."

A sleek, black panther jumped up and down between all the beasts' legs, catching their attention.

"Alright, folks! So I, Park Sooyoung a.k.a Joy the Great will be your guide for today! We're in for our first lesson, which is transforming, and our mentor for the day, Son Seungwan–"

Seungwan grinned at Joy's exclamation.

"–will teach you all about speedy transformation! Are you guys ready?"

The Kirin settled on her hind legs, eyebrows raising as if to challenge the other beasts before her. Momo looked over to Jihyo and the Phoenix nodded eagerly.

The vixen then turned to Seungwan, smiling her foxy smile.

"Ready as you are, sensei."

To be continued...