Eunha felt a sudden emptiness as Yuju’s hand slipped away from hers, her fingers closing on empty air as she grasped a little too late to retain that elusive warmth. Watched then, as the tall shaman stepped forward, entirely focused on the cold statue that was recognizably Yerin, despite the visor hiding her eyes. 

None of the new arrivals had trouble seeing in the dark. Sowon was hurt -- even armored as she was, it was clear that there were still vulnerabilities to be exploited, and Yerin had spotted every single one unerringly. And it had to be Yerin, because the blade in her hand still dripped red.

Eunha had to grab onto SinB quickly to prevent her from doing anything rash. Something was off here, and while she understood the gunslinger’s need to tend to Sowon immediately, Yerin’s position also placed her directly between them and Sowon. 

And Yerin was recognizably a threat now. Eunha bit her lip, gaze flickering briefly over to Yuju ahead of her, before resuming her scan of the area to assess the current situation. 

Umji was hiding in a corner, largely ignored by the fight that had been going on. Sowon had accounted very well for herself for a while at least, judging by the number of blackclad corpses strewn in a direct path coming from further within the facility. Regardless of how she felt about the ex-soldier, Eunha grudgingly admitted that Sowon was incredibly capable. Not many people could have made it as far as she did. 

If not for certain unforeseen circumstances, the duo might even have made it out. Eunha’s eyes narrowed as she took in the squad of security troops guarding what must have been VIPs off to one side. They had not moved despite their surprise entry, but Eunha could see that the older man in the middle was studying them as intently as much as she was eyeing them warily. 

Amidst all this, Yuju seemed completely oblivious to the tension surrounding them, or if she did notice, she was ignoring it. Her sole focus was on Yerin, and as if sensing her gaze, the clearly brainwashed assassin turned to face them, the visible part of her face still an impassive mask devoid of emotion. 

It was creepy, seeing Yerin like this. Even at her coldest, there was usually an animation to the assassin that belied whatever her training had inculcated in her. That was gone now, and with her eyes shielded the way it was, they couldn’t even get a reading on her soul through the usual methods. Yerin was like a puppet on a string, and a deadly one at that. 

Eunha wasn’t sure how they were going to reach her like this,  and hoped that Yuju had a plan. Despite everything, she couldn’t find it in herself to hate Yerin. A rival she might have been, but for a while, united in caring for Yuju after the fall of the imugi, they had come close to being actual friends. There was an understanding they shared, and Eunha could respect the fierce devotion Yerin had always demonstrated towards Yuju.

Which was why it had been so shocking when Yerin had turned against them. It had hit her with a complicated mix of emotions: disbelief that she could have done such a thing, the shock of betrayal, and underneath it all, the guilty spark of relief that she wasn’t going to be there to compete with her for Yuju’s attention. 

Eunha had never really thought of herself as a good person, and Yerin had always been open about not being one either. That was the strange understanding they shared outside of their affection for Yuju, odd as it might seem. Yerin would understand her selfish motives, Eunha knew. Hell, she was pretty sure Yerin wouldn’t think twice of taking advantage of her. It was something the assassin would totally do.

The sound of approaching footsteps broke the silent tension, and Eunha tensed as reinforcements flooded in from further within the compound. Yuju could take them, but Eunha had sensed an odd buzz in the air around them the moment they stepped in. 

There were wards in this place, magic dampening among other things, and Eunha couldn’t identify all of it without spending some time on the astral plane. She wouldn’t have that time right now, and too many things could go wrong if Yuju let herself be taken offguard by Yerin as she was now. This was a terrible situation to be in, and Eunha wasn’t confident they were going to get through this unscathed.

“Security is appalling today, daughter. I expect massive overhauls after our guests are taken care of appropriately.”

The silver haired man straightened imperceptibly once the reinforcements arrived, clearly emboldened by the numerical superiority. Granted, they were only three people, and only SinB and Eunha were visibly armed. The director had seemed very interested in the flames bobbing around Eunha like little ghost lights, and his unsubtle stare made the fire mage distinctly uncomfortable. 

“Can I shoot first now?” SinB whispered under her breath to Eunha, her light tone a direct contrast to the tense expression on her face. The fire mage bit back a laugh. Trust SinB to be so flippant about being outnumbered ten to one. 

Then again, the gunslinger had seen the way Yuju played Grim Reaper to everyone in their path earlier. Her mere presence was death to anyone within her line of sight, and it was hard not to be confident about those odds with such a lethal weapon on their side. 

But Eunha wasn’t as certain as SinB was. There was enough interference in the air that it was making it difficult for her to maintain her flames, and she withdrew most of it for the time being, saving her energy for the fight ahead. Without Yuju holding her hand and bleeding off excess energy to replenish her strength, she wasn’t going to waste what had been given to her earlier. 

“But you have them exactly where you want them now, Father. Is that not enough?”

A woman in a red dress emerged from behind the wall of reinforcements, eyeing the new arrivals with a speculative eye. Her gaze fell on Yuju, who was still entirely focused on Yerin, though she had not made any move after stepping forward initially. Eunha was a little surprised by that, all things considered. She would have expected Yuju to simply rush to Yerin’s side, but clearly the shaman was a lot more clear headed than she had given her credit for.

Not for nothing the ritual then… Eunha thought somberly, letting out a small breath. Reuniting the broken aspects of Yuju without taking the Spider’s deal had been a trial in itself. Ultimately, it came down to Yuju coming to terms with her past, but even now, Eunha wasn’t sure how complete the process had been. 

Yuju had been more grim in general ever since her awakening, a subtle shift in her demeanour that wasn’t obvious at first sight. It had been a hasty job, and Eunha wasn’t sure if she could entirely take credit for it -- at least part of that rested with Yerin, who wasn’t even there in the first place, but Eunha vividly recalled the moment when Yuju’s Courage suddenly reached out and absorbed Rage in one fluid motion. 

The rest had fallen rapidly into place after that, and when it was done, the result was barely stable but wholly focused on one thing: finding the missing piece to complete the puzzle. The heart that Eunha had insisted they not leave out, and that heart was currently elsewhere. Here, to be exact.

Only one person fit that description, and that same person now stood as an enemy opposite them. Granted, it was probably against her will, but yet here they were. They had come for Yerin, as Yuju always wanted, and Eunha was careful to monitor Yuju’s condition even now. Powerful the shaman might be now that she seemed completely in tune with blood magic, or dare she say, the magic of life and death? Eunha couldn’t quite understand it, but she was dimly aware that what Yuju was doing seemed… different somehow. She would have to ask her about it later, when this was all over.

There was still that familiar jealousy that nagged at her whenever Yuju focused her attention on someone else, but Eunha had come to accept that she would never have all of Yuju’s heart -- her trip through Yuju’s soul had cemented that realization. But she did have a place in the shaman’s regard, as evidenced by her ability to find the scattered aspects of Yuju’s personality. Part of Yuju was indeed drawn to her still, and there was no escaping that. 

She cares for me, and that is enough. Eunha firmed her lips, tapping SinB on the elbow warningly as her childhood friend glanced over. They were both ready to move at a moment’s notice, but Eunha knew their odds would be much improved only if Yuju had her head in the game. Her fire was powerful, but Sowon was sort of in the way, and she didn’t want to risk hurting Yerin or Umji in the corner either.

Speaking of Umji, Eunha’s pupils narrowed in a flash when one of the guards seized the young hacker roughly by the shoulder, hauling her out from the corner she was hiding in and dragging the struggling girl before the woman in red. 

“And what do we have here? A technomancer, it seems. Fun trick you pulled earlier; we didn’t know about you at all.” Seo Hee drawled slowly as her gaze flicked between the resisting Umji and the weakened Sowon, who was shaking as she tried to free herself from the hold Yerin had on her. The business end of Yerin’s knife only nudged closer to her good eye at that, and the mercenary growled in fury, helpless to aid her baby girl.

Umji struggled against her captors, but their grip was iron, and none of them had any implants she could take advantage of to get free. Seo Hee looked her up and down speculatively.

“The Immortal kept you hidden well enough all this time, all available information we had indicated that you were only a hacker, but it seems you were always more than that…” She turned to the Director, who was also watching with growing interest.

“I suppose you’ll want to study this one too, Father.” There was some regret in her tone, and Director Han nodded approvingly. 

“We’ve never been able to study one before. They’re so rare, and they hide so well,” the older man shook his head, a speculative gleam in his eye. He turned to the labcoated scientist next to him.

“I trust you’ll make full use of this opportunity, doctor. Do try to be gentle though, we only have this one specimen.”

The answering smile was full of anticipation. Eunha felt her insides tighten, ready to spring into action. They couldn’t stand by and let this happen. Next to her, SinB also shifted subtly, already plotting her prospective movements once the party got started.

Surprisingly though, someone else acted before either of them did.

Yuju finally moved, and all around the room, guns were raised to aim directly at her. The shaman ignored it, and Eunha almost started the fight first, but for the fact that Yuju’s voice was suddenly in her head, telling her to wait. Eunha bit back a curse, halting SinB at the same time, because her best friend had also been on the same wavelength and ready to strike. 

“I’m here, Yerin. I’m sorry I’m late.”

The assassin did not respond, a marionette left idle at her last orders. There was something oddly hollow around her, as if they had gouged out an essential spark, leaving only an empty shell that moved only on command. 

Unarmed and standing alone, Yuju looked oddly vulnerable in a room full of people armed to the teeth, her ragged cloak wrapped haphazardly around her razor thin figure. The effects of her recent injury still showed in the gaunt angles of her face and form, and to the unordained eye, she looked like an innocent lamb amidst wolves.

Eunha knew better. She alone could see the dead space around Yuju’s astral form, a churning vortex of energy that was struggling to spiral out of control, held only in place by the shaman’s iron will. There was a downside to stealing energy from others, it seemed. As far as she could tell, Yuju couldn’t absorb it entirely, at least not all at once. 

Perhaps, given time, the shaman could have integrated that energy into her own reserves. But they had been in a hurry, and Yuju wasn’t exactly stable right now. Eunha could read the restless agitation flickering around Yuju’s aura, a mix of worry and guilt as she approached her bonded lover, who didn’t seem to recognize her.

“They hurt you, didn’t they?” Yuju’s voice was gentle, slowing her approach until she was just outside of arm’s length reach of the still motionless assassin, Sowon still captive at her feet. The leader was only still conscious out of sheer grit, a quiet hope in her eyes rising the moment she caught sight of Yuju. Sowon knew exactly what the girl was capable of, and it was going to be oh so satisfying when her true potential was unleashed. 

Granted, that was assuming Yuju cared enough to spare the rest of them, but judging from her actions so far, Sowon had some hope that Yuju was currently in control of herself and able to differentiate between friend and foe. Not that she could justifiably label herself under ‘friend’ after what she had done, but regardless, it would be better than whatever other plans Tristar had for her.

“I’m here now. I won’t let them hurt you anymore.”

“How cute,” Seo Hee’s voice was a sneer as she stepped out beyond her ring of guards, though they quickly reshuffled around her to keep her within a secure perimeter without any further orders. “She’s mine now, little shaman. What are you going to do, hug her into submission?”

One probably couldn’t blame Seo Hee for her assumptions. Every existing dossier on the Immortal’s (aka Sowon) team had a general role breakdown on the known members active during the imugi raid, where multiple factions had their attention drawn to the hottest new ensemble rising through the shadows. 

And the primary combat roles were always assigned to Sowon and SinB, with Eunha as their magical firepower, while the rest were in more supportive roles. The case data from their missions all pointed to Yuju as a pacifist, specializing in defensive wards, with even fewer people aware of the fact that she was also a capable healer -- a rare specialty even among magic users.

A flash of red flickered across Yuju’s eyes at the insinuation, and her aura pulsated like a thrumming heartbeat, tense and ready to blow at any second. Eunha held her breath, trying to send her concern over subtly to try and calm the girl. Yuju took a breath, pushing down her bubbling rage as she refocused on the still unresponsive Yerin.

“You took my hand and guided me out of the darkness once. This time, let me be your guide.”

A bored voice echoed over Yuju’s at the same time, a cold mockery dripping it as steely eyes swept over the attempted reunion.

“How touching, but you’re wasting your time. Jung Yerin, execute new order, disable your captive and turn her over to the Epsilon units.” A smug flash in iron grey eyes, as Yerin promptly smashed the hilt of her blade into Sowon’s temple on command without hesitation, dizzying the already weakened mercenary as members of the Epsilon squad came forward to drag the suddenly limp body of the ex-soldier aside. Eunha had to hold SinB back before she shot Yerin on reflex, even as Director Han fixed a cold stare on the rest of them.

“We already have the specimens we need. The rest are...superfluous to requirements.” A pause.

“You have your orders: kill them all.”

It was like being in a dream.

Here, her friends were all alive. Hayoung bickering with her, Joy doing something to Wendy’s bunk and then pretending it was her who did it…she got her back though, by ducking out at a club and letting a one night stand think it was Joy who did the ditching: they were similar enough in figure and the girl was drunk enough to not remember her face well. If, of course, anyone could ever see her true face that is.

There was a relief in not having to think, simply living in the moment. She could do whatever she liked in between orders, and she had people she cherished all around her. Life was good...was it not?

But in the nights, Yerin felt keenly the absence of something else, something missing, tugging at her as she woke to cold sheets and an empty heart. Numb, repeating the days she knew so well, the familiar ways of murder and mayhem. 

Death was a familiar companion. Her enemies were faceless, and she only had to execute orders. Her reward was ease, the laughter of her friends she knew so well ringing all around her.

But they hardly ever touched her. Why? Her best friends were always clingy, were they not? Hell, so was she, when it came down to it. The illusion wavered, but still she held on, missing the flickering images of the faces she so loved, once. 

Ignored, then, the cold brush of her fingers against soulless flesh, mere puppets animated by her memory. The best liars lied even to themselves. And she had missed them so…

One more order, grey shadows and faceless foes before her. She never remembered the faces of the people she killed. She might have, once. But then the sentiment became worthless as she grew into her vocation. An assassin has no need for feeling. Only the job. Always the job.

Do the job, a soundless voice whispers. And you’ll see your friends again.

She listens, and follows. What else would you have her do? She couldn’t abandon them again. 

Again? A small voice in her questions. There is doubt. There is always doubt. She always had an independent streak. It made her effective, but also a liability. She was...she had let them down once, before. Had she? 

It was all too complicated. Easier not to think. There is pain there, and sorrow. She cannot touch them, fearing to hurt. Loss, and guilt. The perfect storm of emotion, driving her on.

There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. She cannot avoid it, and she does not try.

Why then, now, does she wish to weep? What was so different? What has changed?

Her body moves without thought. She is trapped in her own mind. Paralyzed by memory. The hooks dig deep, and she is not who she thinks she is. She is a killer. That is all she was meant to be. All she could be.

Is it not?

SinB bites back a curse when Yerin attacks her first, somehow pivoting around Yuju who was in the front and therefore the more logical target in any case.

Then again, brainwashed or not, expecting the woman to attack her lover was probably a long shot. Yerin might not seem to remember Yuju right now, but apparently her subconscious still knew better than to hurt the shaman. SinB, of course, did not share the same immunity.

Why me and not like, Eunha though? The gunslinger grumbled as she backed up quickly, holstering her pistols and switching to melee to avoid shooting the other girl. SinB did not think Yuju would take it kindly if she tried that, so she was a little low on options. 

What was Eunha doing though? SinB risked a quick glance as she avoided another swipe at her neck, snapping a quick kick low and making Yerin jump to avoid her counter. The gunslinger rolled to one side, closer to her best friend, who was currently holding up a wall of flame to melt the bullets being fired at them, because clearly sending their own friend against them was just insult upon injury and those s really wanted them dead.

And meanwhile, Yuju stood alone in the hallway, looking a little lost, as if she had no idea what she was doing or why she was there. Eunha was protecting them, so she wasn’t in any immediate danger, and Yerin was attacking SinB, so that was yet another factor of potential harm removed. The shaman seemed oddly out of place, as if she did not quite belong there, amidst the steel and monochrome of the warring sides.

“in-- Yerin, wake the up, this isn’t funny!” SinB yelled at the emotionless figure who seemed fully intent on slicing her to pieces. It was only by sheer reflexes and familiarity with Yerin’s fighting style that SinB was even holding her own. Yerin’s knife was like a coiled viper, hissing through the air and drawing blood any moment she was unwary enough to let down her guard. 

SinB grit her teeth, temper rising as she gave as good as she got. She still wasn’t over how Yerin had disabled Sowon earlier, and didn’t hold back on her hits either. The gunslinger was fast, but wary about going all out as well. She knew all too well the weaknesses of her ability. Forcing herself to the absolute limits of speed would let her overwhelm Yerin in an instant, but she couldn’t exactly kill the woman, and she wasn’t confident that she could gauge the right amount of force she could apply at full speed that would disable without killing. 

That and, even if she did manage it, the price of going all out would be utter exhaustion. She would be no good for what came after, and Eunha couldn’t do it all alone. There was Yuju still, of course, but SinB still wasn’t sure why the woman was standing there not doing anything, and didn’t want to count on an unstable factor right now. 

As if SinB’s unspoken grumbling had reached her, Yuju finally stirred from inaction, first going to assist a faltering Eunha, taking the fire mage’s hand and giving her a much needed boost, the flickering flames strengthening and cutting the entire hallway off between them and the enemy.

That left Yerin cut off on their side, and SinB was bleeding from more than a few places, though she had left a few marks of her own in the process. Yuju’s voice floated over to the tussling pair, like a blessing to the struggling SinB, who was all too eager not to fight the brainwashed Yerin.

“I’ll take care of her, get back.”

Of course, getting out of there was a lot easier said than done. SinB had to sacrifice a lock of hair and a slash down her arm to get free, and put on a burst of speed to duck behind Eunha and Yuju, panting like a stuck pig as Eunha reached out and gripped her shoulder sympathetically. 

Yuju stepped out then, blocking the advancing Yerin’s path and placing herself right into the assassin’s range without fear. There were splashes of blood on Yerin’s face and arms, the visor hiding her eyes giving her a robotic look. Her lips were a thin line, pressed tightly together as she halted awkwardly before Yuju, knife arm half raised in uncertainty. There was a tremble to her arm, and Yuju’s lip curled to see it, a calm assurance rising within her.

Even as she was now, Yerin still hesitated before her. It still shook Yuju to see how badly twisted a mess Yerin’s captors had made of her mind, making her remember the terror Yerin had shown her that night, when she revealed the horrors she feared would be visited upon her were she to return to Tristar’s employ. Not for nothing those fears then, and Yuju’s heart tightened painfully to see her lover struggling under her chains. 

“Yerin.” Her voice was dry, almost raspy as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. “I know you can hear me. Don’t listen to them. Follow my voice instead.”

Behind them, Eunha turned the tables quickly, making full use of the energy Yuju transferred to her earlier to push her flames forward, in spite of the wards sapping her strength. A few unwary fools were incinerated on the spot, too slow to avoid her unexpected assault, but the majority was forced back towards the inner facility. Next to her, SinB quietly capped a few soldiers that popped out from the sides where Eunha’s wall of fiery death didn’t cover. She couldn’t risk them shooting Eunha while the mage was busy, and this, this much she could do. She couldn’t charge forward alone to rescue Sowon, not when Umji was also caught and there were too many soldiers for her to fight in the mess even if she did try. 

It felt familiar, being pushed to their limits, left back to back with only her best friend by her side. SinB shot a sideways glance to Eunha, and caught the mage glancing over at her too. They shared a knowing grin, before focusing back on the fight. They had to do what they could, until Yuju could come to reinforce them. When they were together, anything was possible. 

SinB wasn’t sure where that confidence came from, but there it was, a growing seed within her. They had taken a dragon down once, these were mere people. They could do this. They had to. Sowon hadn’t survived a world war and five decades to meet her end here. They hadn’t even gotten very far together, for god’s sake. SinB wasn’t about to let her get away with it for sure.

“Do you think Yuju can wake her up?” SinB’s voice was tense, as she carefully squeezed off another shot. Eunha’s fire wall had shrunk, a conscious decision made by the mage to conserve her strength. The tiny mage’s brow was furrowed in concentration.

“If she can’t do it, no one else can. I believe in her.”

“I hope she doesn’t take too long then.” SinB glanced over, noting the beads of sweat down Eunha’s paling face. “You won’t last long like this.”

Eunha bit her lip, summoning her last reserves to reinforce the barrier.

“I’ll give her all the time she needs.” And more. Always more.

SinB sighed and shook her head. Fools in love, all of them. What to do then, but to back her up the best she could? She was still counting on them to have her back later when she went in for Sowon. They couldn’t fall now. All of them had to make it. 

All, or none. It was a learned response. SinB had never been altruistic, but this much she had learned. They were her family now, and she would do anything for them. 

She loved them all, and they were worth it.

She couldn’t breathe.

Her vision was blurring, hazy figures suspended in fog before her. Voices whispering threat and encouragement to her both, hissing like the serpent in her ear. Kill them!

She was trapped in her own body. Helpless, hyper aware of the creeping danger. A rising fear, crippling and suffocating her. She had not felt so much of a victim since they last strapped her to a table to do...what?

And always, the insidious voice, whispering to her. Kill it, kill the fear. The source of the terror lay before her. She only had to end it. It would be so easy.

But her body wouldn’t move. It felt wrong, the faceless person before her holding no weapon, was no threat. But she had murdered targets in their sleep before. What was the difference?

Suddenly, a warm touch. Nothing like the cold, empty husks of memory that had been looping for her endlessly. This felt real, alive, and for a moment, she felt as if she could cry.

It burnt like fire, hot and painful to the chill of her frozen flesh. She should have rejected it, sought to cut it off. But the pain felt real, amidst the blanket of unreality she felt wrapped in. She clung on to it, the pain burning her to the core, reawakening severed nerves, reminding her what it meant to be human. The fire was life, burning away the fog that clouded her mind’s eye. 

She sees the face before her now, warm eyes soft and expressive, waiting patiently for her. Her heart seizes, and she tries to reach out, but her voice is lost in the darkness that still binds her. Chains hung from her every limb, and she is still trapped, a prisoner in her own body.

The simulation must keep running, and Yerin watches in horror as her body moves without her bidding, muscle memory baked in from years of combat and death-dealing. 

Run! She wants to scream. I don’t want to hurt you!

But her puppy never would leave her behind, and her blade bites deep, staining red red red, bleeding into her vision like badly running dye. Wet and hot, like the tears that ran unbidden down her face. Every inch of her, straining against her bonds, the thorns of her programming digging into her flesh as she struggled, helpless.

Everything was red around her, but then the scent of Yuju invaded her senses, reminding her that her puppy had pulled in close, risking injury to minimize the distance between them. Warmth, surrounding her, like a soothing wave to calm the raging waters of her heart.

I am here. Yuju was saying this to her, a whisper of one soul to another. I remember.

Heat, exploding like a supernova, the resonance of their Bond throbbing harder upon contact. Yerin screams, reality fracturing around her as the lies binding her are burnt away like rotting coils, every lash a barbed hook tearing through vulnerable flesh. 

The voices of the lost, bubbling like a broken record, taunting her, dogging her every step with guilt and regret. Are you leaving us behind? How could you? Stay.

But over it all, Yuju’s firm, assuring presence, embracing her through the storm, her shelter in a time of need. Reminding her that she is loved, that she is wanted, that someone was waiting for her. 

She was not a prisoner to her past. She had a future, with someone who loved her with all her heart and soul. 

Yuju had come for her, where she had left her behind before. Whispers of doubt, of how she deserved not this level of devotion, only to be swiftly silenced by the powerful voice of the girl who held the keys to her heart.

You came for me once in the darkness.

This time, I come for you instead.

The wards around her shift, and Eunha gasps aloud as her flames wink out, an overwhelming pressure mana into the walls all around them, driving the mage to her knees as the air was knocked out of her lungs in a sudden blow, making her choke.

Next to her, SinB is less affected, but there is also a strain around her eyes as she quickly covers Eunha, pushing them behind a support pillar to avoid any counter-fire. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” SinB asked urgently, peeking out from around the pillar and ducking straight back when a bullet grazed the edge. Eunha was panting heavily, feeling the weight on her chest as if a heavy fog had settled over the area.

“Active wards to dampen magic...I’m all out for now.” The fire mage wavered, pushing herself up on one knee as she drew the pistol SinB had insisted she carry as backup. “I’ve never felt anything this strong before, it’s like these were meant to contain something way bigger.”

“Think it’d stop Yuju?” SinB joked wanly, looking back where the shaman was. The gunslinger paused, tightening her grip on her gun.

“Er, did she just walk onto a knife just like that what the ?”

Eunha turned to follow her best friend’s shocked gaze, pupils narrowing as she saw Yerin’s knife run red with Yuju’s blood. The shaman seemed to ignore the injury, opening her arms to wrap around the broken assassin, whispering into her ear as one hand sought to undo the visor hiding her eyes. Yerin, for her part, had stopped moving the moment her knife sank into Yuju’s side, going limp like a puppet with its strings cut.

This was the tableau that presented itself to Seo Hee as her guard pushed back out after Eunha’s fire winked out. Her Yerin, docile in the invader’s arms despite having sunk her blade into the shaman’s side. It made her blood boil to see it.

“Kill that shaman ,” she hissed, but her guards hesitated, because Yerin was at least partially in the way, and short of a direct order from a superior, they weren’t going to shoot someone in the hierarchy above them. 

From her angle, Seo Hee could not see the tears that ran down Yerin’s face from underneath the visor, but SinB and Eunha most definitely could from where they stood, and the gunslinger tightened her jaw, knowing by instinct that Yuju was very close to breaking whatever it was that held Yerin captive. Eunha agreed quietly with the assessment, a vague worry coloring her eyes as they swept over the bleeding wound in Yuju’s side, but they had more important things to worry about, such as preventing the other side from killing their friends before they were done.

“I don’t know if Charlotte can manifest under these conditions, but bullets won’t get them if she can.” Eunha whispered quickly to SinB, who raised an eyebrow.

“Who the hell is Charlotte anyway, I wanted to ask since just now.”

“Long story, you might know her as the Spider.” Eunha brushed off the question a little guiltily. She might not have agreed to the deal, but the Spider was far from gone from the equation. At least this time, Yuju actually had some agency in making that particular decision. But it would always be a reminder as to how close she had been to betraying Yuju for her own selfish desires.

“Think you can shoot the in red?” Eunha didn’t like her at first sight, and to be honest, neither did SinB. The gunslinger squinted carefully. 

“Bad angle. I can drop a couple of her guards but there’s a lot of them.” Sowon and Umji were no longer in sight. SinB could only assume that they had been hauled off with the other annoying man who was so keen to experiment on them. The subtle frustration that came with that thought made her grind her teeth together, but there was no help for it right now. They had to take care of the present situation before they could proceed further.

As if on cue, there was an explosion of light coming from the entwined pair on the floor, forcing everyone but Eunha to shield their eyes. The fire mage shifted her vision to the magical plane, and saw the effect replicated a hundredfold there, the energy surging into her by proxy as she took a deep breath, finally able to breathe after the crushing force of the warded field. 

She could see the pulsing thread that led from one to the other, b with life and energy and a warmth that could only be identified as love. Watched quietly, as Yuju leaned down and kissed Yerin, shattering the visor that imprisoned her, tearing it away to clatter noisily on cold concrete. Yerin, after a moment, responding to the contact, looping once limp arms around Yuju’s neck as she deepened the kiss, like a drowning sailor clinging in desperation to her only hope. It was incredibly intimate to witness, and Eunha turned her eyes away, only to meet SinB’s understanding gaze, her best friend reaching out to grip her hand in comfort.

Somewhere along the way a shrill voice was yelling for them to be shot, and a hail of bullets rained down towards where Yerin and Yuju stood open and vulnerable in empty ground. SinB cried out a warning, but Eunha was able to look on calmly as Yuju raised an arm, a red shadow forming a solidly protective cocoon around the reunited pair, absorbing the bullets easily. 

Blood dripped from Yuju’s side, and part of the red shadow slithered eagerly over to her feet, lapping up the crimson drops like a greedy child. Yerin’s hand fell wordlessly to where the knife was still stuck in the gaping wound, guilt shadowing her eyes until Yuju tilted her chin up, gazing deeply into them.

“It was worth it to bring you back.” Yuju nuzzled at Yerin’s cheek, planting another kiss on the corner of her lips. “I will soon have what I need to heal.”

Confusion colored Yerin’s eyes, exhaustion painting long shadows on the planes of her face. She wanted to lean into Yuju’s embrace and let her puppy carry her forever, but this wasn’t the right time. SinB and Eunha had shuffled over during the distraction to take cover behind Yuju’s far more solid cover, and SinB couldn’t help but poke curiously at the living shadow that extended from Yuju like a second skin, drawing an amused glance from the shaman. 

“Do me a favor and pull that out when I say so,” Yuju gestured at the knife stuck in her side. It should have hurt like a , and Yerin was deeply aware that she had at least punctured a kidney, which should have been debilitating but somehow wasn’t in Yuju’s case, thank heavens. Then again, her puppy had probably been through worse before. Yerin raised one hand to caress Yuju’s face, and her puppy purred, leaning docilely into her touch. 

SinB rolled her eyes and shifted her grip, one hand getting ready to pull the offending knife out as Yuju had indicated. Clearly, Yerin was in no state to do that, and SinB didn’t think it’d be nice to leave that to Eunha. So, obviously, it had to be her. 

Still, her heart leapt to as Yuju withdrew the protective cover of her summoned shadow, making direct eye contact with the dozens of enemies levelling guns at them. The shaman smiled, and even SinB felt the chill behind that almost innocuous grin. She almost pitied those idiots on the other side. They had no idea what was coming.

“Feeding time, Charlotte.”