They were lucky they weren't found out up until that point.

Hiding behind the structure gave them enough cover to gather their wits before embarking on their new immediate mission.

Peeking from behind the wall at the fight happening was nowhere near pleasant. Kyungsoo specifically felt extremely useless, considering all of his power wielding friends are doing some sort of important work at the moment, and he wouldn't be able to do anything even if he tried.

But at least he has Chanyeol by his side. 

By no means he is going to let Chanyeol attack anybody with fire. That would be going against everything Chanyeol knows and believes in. But they could definitely put it into use somehow.

Their new sub goal now, in order to make the gems reunite, is to make the gems touch. Have any sort of physical contact, which is supposed to technically automatically cause the unison and possibly cease the fighting. Or at least stop it momentarily.

After scanning the area behind the structure with their eyes, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol nodded at each other understandingly. They didn't even need to explain they both were thinking the same thing.

The majority of the fight is taking place in the sandy dunes close to the mountain of the fire island, which is where his crew is located, and where they draw most of the attention. That means going through the village's cover will provide them a relatively safer route towards the location of the gem at least up on the surface.

Right as they have finally made the decision of where to turn, the two of them watch how three solo little aircrafts separate from the stream and fly themselves towards the fields. If those land, they will definitely be noticed.

The three flying individual aircrafts are starting to make their landing on one of the little hills beside the fields, and Kyungsoo knows they must leave now or they'll be in an even largesr scale of danger.

He exchanged a second of eye contact with Chanyeol, then quickly bolted from behind the structure, away from the cover, and in towards the village itself. 

Chanyeol was right behind him.

Being a part of the crew that had to help installing every single one of the traps, mechanisms and contraptions around the village itself, he knew exactly where it's safe to step and which little alley he should stay away from.

Entering the village was only a step in their path to reach another location, but it was still odd to see the way it had transformed from its usual state.

Every single open window that used to bring so much light and air into structures was boarded up with either wooden planks, cloths, or sacks of sand. Every door and entrance were boarded with barricades made out of more sacks of sand and even sand stones.

There were no fiery little baubles lit in every corner of every structure, and not a single fire island local outside.

It hurt only a little bit to see how a lively and lovely village turned into a small ghost town. But at the same time, Kyungsoo realized that the people hiding within those spaces are staying safe, and there's comfort in that.

Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol at his trail, turned and rushed around many of the village's structures. The noises of guns being shot and different types of Carrier powers being used was terrifying, but he knew he cannot afford allowing himself to be fazed by them.

They've made it to the center of the village, now empty and cold. Once they cross this space they'll have only a block more of structures before getting to the sand land separating them from the location of the gem.

After inhaling and exhaling deeply in an attempt to balance the high pace his body was functioning in at the moment, Kyungsoo rushed out into the uncovered area. It's risky. Very. But he doesn't have a choice. Turning around and taking the long detour around the entire village will be a waste of precious time.

Two thirds of the way through the village center space, Kyungsoo heard a few cracking noises coming in his direction. He couldn't tell where they were coming from though.

Half a second later, he was startled when a random empire soldier suddenly crashed onto the sand right in front of him. Hitting down with a loud thud that caused a whole cloud of sand to raise up from the impact.

Kyungsoo clearly stopped in his tracks from the shock. It was quite strange seeing empire soldiers wearing the uniform he used to feel so proud of, now doing their job, being as inhumane as Kyungsoo would have considered himself to be before his arrival to this island.

Taking advantage of the little cloud of sand in the air, which gave him momentary cover, he examined the soldier as best as he could.

He didn't recognize them, he could tell they weren't dead at least. But he doesn't have time for hesitation.

Within a matter of seconds, Kyungsoo unhinged the rifle free from the soldier's hold and strap, then ushered both himself, and Chanyeol who rushed behind him over to the other side of the village center, back under the cover of another structure's wall.

Their journey through the village's nooks and crannies continued. As they snuck by the last few turns, they spotted a bunch of soldiers who had just landed, getting off from their airy vehicles and slowly starting to infiltrate the village itself.

However, not knowing anything about it, they couldn't have possible continued unscathed from the many traps set in place.

Almost instantly a majority of them activated a few of the mechanisms, causing the whole group to hurry and scramble into a panic that only got even more of them captured with ropes, nets and pieces of cloths.

It makes sense they'd be panicking even from the simplest things, especially if they're convinced that this island is some sort of deathly killing machine. But in all honesty, they looked lame. And it made Kyungsoo wonder if he too, looked just as lame when they first arrived at the island.

Not that it matters anymore at this point. It's just difficult to see these clueless clumsy soldiers mess around like scared children. Because it makes them feel much more human despite being a harmful enemy to the island at the moment.

These soldiers coming down are falling down and getting knocked out like flies, and its understandable, they're afraid, and they are probably not experienced with going into any sort of battle, considering those who are trained are all stuck in the twenty ships large fleet that's been sent towards the nothingness this fire island had left behind.

It's a good thing for the island, that such simple traps are able to make the soldiers reevaluate their course of action, keeping them at bay from entering the village itself even for a little while longer.

Every second is important, and with that in mind, Kyungsoo kept pushing through their careful path with Chanyeol easily keeping up right behind him.

Eventually the two of them reach the very edge of the village on the other end. Walking through the sand when the whole island is tilted sideways due to the angle it is stuck in because of the giant icicle, the fire at the back, and the restless attempt to get the gems closer, was strange.

Kyungsoo realized that it wasn't quite slippery, but getting closer and closer to the gem's location means they will be climbing up in the sand instead of simply walking on a straight surface.

Looking ahead however, was both sweet and bitter.

It seemed that a huge chunk of the sandy open space of the island has fallen apart. Right beside the mountain and the jungle area, there was a big missing piece of an island that must have broken off from the crashing impact.

So on one hand, it makes Kyungsoo and Chanyeol's path to the gem a lot easier. But on the other hand, it means this piece of island, just like the piece of flower field that fell apart before, will be gone forever. Chipping pieces away from this already incredibly small island is making Kyungsoo sad. He couldn't even imagine just how much deeper this sadness is to Chanyeol.

But when he turned to give him a glance, Chanyeol looked nothing but determined.

Right. Kyungsoo has to get a grip. They have one job to do, nothing else matters.

The only issue in advancing further towards the gem is the fact that by leaving the cover of the village's structures, they will be entering a section of the battle zone. And they will have no cover at all.

There were soldiers constantly shooting from the air and the ground, some were fallen over, knocked out, some were afraid and hidden behind whatever rock they could spot, some were helplessly cowering... All while Kyungsoo's own Carrier friends are fearlessly fighting to prevent any more soldiers from landing.

Looking up at the mountain he saw Junmyeon, Minseok and Jongdae shooting out pulses of their powers to try and strike the flying vehicles of the empire soldiers down. It looked and sounded crazy.

Flashes of blue, bodies of water appearing to engulf the craft, flashes of cyan and engines crystalize into a frozen mess, flashes of yellow and they get struck by lightning from above.... And there were also flashes of black.

Kyungsoo couldn't see exactly what Jongin was doing, but it's always a struggle to spot a Tele Carrier in action. He could only assume Jongin must be teleporting from one craft to another in order to physically prevent the soldiers from attacking or landing.

And with the amount of fallen vehicles and people who seem to not experience any of the other Carrier powers, he knew Jongin's role was just as effective.

Regardless, they have to continue. They have to get out there and make it to the gem, now. No matter the risk or the danger that's awaiting them when they step out.

Once again, wordlessly, both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol exchanged another look. Chanyeol's determination when being this close to the battle field had deteriorated slightly, and fear noticably began creeping up in his mind from his expression.

If they spend any more time idle, it'll only get worse.

So after grappling the rifle in his hands tighter, Kyungsoo jumped out from the cover and started bolting to the broken piece of land in front.

The battlefield around him continued in full chaos. Powers, guns, running, falling, soldiers shouting, it was a mess, and it was terrifying, but Kyungsoo kept dashing on straight to his destination.

He was halfway through the quick adrenaline filled climb when a sudden wave of fire appeared beside him. Between himself and what he turned to see was a soldier holding a gun and aiming at him, standing shocked.

He snuck a glance behind, and spotted Chanyeol dashing right behind him, holding his arm up, his eyes a red that slightly glows.

Chanyeol must have noticed the soldier was trying to shoot Kyungsoo, and used the fire to prevent the bullet from reaching its target.

Kyungsoo was thoroughly impressed and grateful. He nodded quickly before pushing ahead further and finally reachng the edge of the fallen island piece.

He didn't have time to think or hesitate.

Right beneath him he found the cracked open chamber of the red fire gem. And mere distance apart from the fire gem itself, was the empire's large gem. Most of the under part of the fire island had fallen by now and collapsed.

Before being able to make a decision, and due to the rush and fear from standing even one second more anywhere near the battlefield, he simply leaped off from the sandy edge of the island surface.

It felt like slowmotion when he fell down straight towards the fire island's broken gem chamber.

The landing was unpleasant. He felt the impact throw a painful spike through his bones, but somehow managed to turn himself aside with the rifle, so a clumsy roll got him to slam against the tilted wall instead of fly off from the broken edge of the little room.

He was huffing and heaving while forcing his aching body to stand up, and turned to look back.

Above him, the whole chunk of land from the island was missing. He could see the layers of different sandstones that make the whole ground of the island, there were many curves, openings and different sharp edges that he could have possibly used to make the path down without a jump, but it would have taken too much time.

He decided to ignore the fact that if he had missed his landing, he would have fallen down into the abyss beneath the island and plummet himself straight down to the surface of the earth.

At the very top, still standing on the sandy surface of the island, was Chanyeol, looking down at Kyungsoo with fear in his eyes.

"Are you okay?!"

He heard Chanyeol's voice shouting in the midst of the gun shots and power usage.

Kyungsoo couldn't see much more than that. With the angle of the fire island, Kyungsoo himself was practically nearly standing on the wall of the chamber instead of the floor.

"Yes!! Be careful!!" He shouted back, raising an arm and waving it for Chanyeol to see. Chanyeol waved back wildly before turning around and crouching slightly with feet secured in the sand.

At that, Kyungsoo turned around to face the real obstacle in front of him.

The gems.

Bright red and bright pink were shining right in his eyes. They were glowing and pumping rapidly, small sparks of energy were being emitted from both of the gems, as if they're getting charged with even stronger energy than they already have because of the proximity they are within one another.

But after letting his eyes adjust to the strength of the light pulsing by the two gems, he realized what's stopping them from touching.

Several large rocks of sand, dirt, and even a few stone rocks were in the way. Ruins of the impact of the island that must have fallen and slipped right in between the gems. They were large boulders, yet compared to the brightness and size of the gems themselves, they were like annoying gravel stopping a machine from working.

Kyungsoo knew he didn't have a choice. He had to get very close to the fire gem in order to reach the rocks and begin getting rid of them.

Standing near the fire gem itself when he visited this place in the right angle last time, was not really a good experience because of the heat the gem keeps releasing. But now, he didn't have to deal with the heat from the fire gem... But also the immense heat coming from the larger, empire gem that is mere meters apart, separated only by a few rocks.

He doesn't have time to care about it. He can't complain.

Instead, he gets right to business, trying to push the rocks aside with his hands, kicking them with his feet, even using the rifle he got earlier for levarage or to simply knock them off from the pile. But it's hard.

He is making a little bit of progress though, the amount of material separating the gems is slowly decreasing with each small particle he removes from it. He could hear Chanyeol shouting from above and offering help as well.

But before turning to respond, he managed to push out a rock off the edge from the squeeze, and the sparks of energy surrounding both of the gems like spheres of inceasingly dangerous powers get even more intense. Almost aggressive.

The red energy surrounding the gem is starting to turn into what looks like a forcefield of red light around itself. And the same thing happens to the other gem, the mixture of already extremely unstable powers.

Everything was shaking and rumbling after he removed only that one rock, the pushing of the fire island against the empire's island was still just as strong and focused. Sehun must be working hard to make sure this whole island isn't sinking down.

A little bit of dirt parts and sand are slowly falling onto the open chamber Kyungsoo's standing in, and when he wiped away the sweat and dirt that gathered on his forehead, he noticed Chanyeol was starting to try and get even closer to the edge. 

It looked like he was planning to jump down just like Kyungsoo did, except he wasn't even looking down, he was busy creating a wall of fire around himself for defense. Kyungsoo wondered just how many soldiers are trying to attack his beloved Wonder Soul at the moment, and it made him wish he could jump back up there and fight every single one himself.

But he can't. And as much as he'd imagine a wall of fire would cost Chanyeol in power, it seems like he's fairly secured. Even so, he keeps nervously glancing down at Kyungsoo's location, trying to calculate how to make the jump.

No, he shouldn't get down there. He might miss the jump, especially if he's this distracted by literally being under attack. 

And there is one even deadlier reason for Chanyeol to not come near.

Kyungsoo inhaled the hot air quickly, and shouted from the top of his lungs up at Chanyeol to not come any closer.

As much as he didn't enjoy the experience of his first visit to this gem chamber when the island was still in tact and he wasn't in the middle of trying to shove stones and dirt away from burning hot power gems surrounded by heated spheres of energy, there was one thing he remembers clearly about it.

And that is, that none of the power holders are able to touch the gem. Chanyeol himself explained that if a Wonder Soul would make any contact with the fire gem, their life force will be out of them instantly.

Chanyeol looked upset and scared at the fact that Kyungsoo wouldn't allow him to get closer or try to jump, but Kyungsoo was more than glad his Wonder Soul decided to trust him and remain up there. His wall of fire provided pretty good protection.

Thinking back on the matter at hand, Kyungsoo began losing ideas about what else can be done to assist him in this task. Him alone might just not be enough to succeed in pulling those rocks away from the tight squeeze between the gems.

If he needs help while standing this close to the gem, he is going to need people who are able to stand there without being at risk of having their life out.

So that means he's going to need the help of people who wield no powers at all. The Teachers, the elders.... No. They're no good. They are staying hidden and safe in the village.

Baekhyun was his second best option. His best friend from childhood, the one who knows his deepest secrets before he knows them himself. If there's anybody he trusts to make things better, it's him.

But Baekhyun was tasked with the job of taking care of the island's children for the sake of morale. Being the only one who could keep up a smile in such rough times... So he is busy, and too far away, out of reach for Kyungsoo to even attempt to get down here. Spending the time getting Baekhyun would be inefficient, and only put more people at risk.

Nobody else could do anything.

So that moment, Kyungsoo understood that this is his job, and his job alone.

He continued digging through the rocks and dirt. It's hard. It's painful. The heat is beaming against his body like the sun itself and the sweat is pouring down his face and back.

The gun's already been bent from the amount of pressure he put on it, how hard he tried to continue pushing everything out of the way.

His hands are shaking, bruised and bloodied from having to literally claw his way into the pressed material, which was just as hot as he is. His arms were getting sore, but despite all of that, he could feel  that the adrenaline in him is the only thing keeping him going.

Otherwise his body would have given up and submit to the wreck he has become.

He doesn't even know how long he's been at it. It feels like time is going twice as fast, and yet he is going twice as slow. Every movement he does is carefully calculated, precise... And yet he is filled with stress.

It's like a giant clock in his brain was having a countdown to something happening, except he had no idea when it'll come and what it'll be.

Only at that moment, he regretted not having any powers to assist him in this terrible painful task. But with the heat, the static, the energy that's being released from both the gems squeezing against him and the rocks pulling them apart, he knew that if he had any powers, he'd be dead by being within their immediate range of energy spheres.

He started making great noticable progress though. The further he managed to uncover, the harder it was to move anything else away. He wished he could magically communicate to Sehun that all they need is a little pause in the fire force at the back of this island ship in order for the rock to fall down on its own. But it's impossible. And going all the way back to the tent would be impractical.

One boulder. Just one big rock occupied the space between the two gems. He managed to clear everything else out. Too afraid to even look at the state of his own worn and torn hands, he knew that he had to give it everything he's got.

Once he removes this, the gems will finally reunite for real.

Clearly, he wouldn't be able to remove such a huge rock all on his own. So instead of spending the smidge of willpower inside him, he approached the situation logically. He examined the rock from all directions, trying to find a weak point that'll give him an option to break it free.

And indeed, he managed to spot somehting useful. The corner of the boulder separating the glowing hot gems is leaning against a small section of the fire gem chamber that looks like is already about to fall apart.

With no hesitation, Kyungsoo grabbed the rifle once more, turned it around, and began hitting the edge of the fire gem chamber's floor in order to break it and allow the boulder to lose it's hold onto this position.

All the willpower left in his body was centered for the sake of breaking this piece of ground. He repeatedly smacked the back of the rifle onto the sandstone to weaken its grip.

Then, with one final thud onto the hard ground, it broke.

Kyungsoo's hands dropped the rifle immediately, and he stepped backwards, pushing himself against the inner wall of the fire gem's chamber, watching how the large boulder, the only thing that stood between the gems reuniting was released from the grip and plumetted down.

The rifle, and the broken bit of sandstone fell with it.

Less then a second after the release of the pressure that was held because of that rock, the whole island jerked pretty hard with a low rumble. More sand began pouring downwards from the broken edge of the island's top surface, and Kyungsoo winced when it hit over his head.

Bracing himself to be exposed to the raw power of the two gems coming back together after a thousand years of separation.

But they didn't.

They didn't touch.

Somehow, with all of the turmoils and changes in the angles of which the fire island crashed into the empire island, the gems were still not close enough to one another to touch.

Instead, the top of the fire island nudged into the bottom of the empire island once more. Leaving the two gems with less than two meters between them.

There still was a chunk of land above him that's holding the two islands apart. And this is something Kyungsoo wouldn't be able to kick or push or claw apart.

Is... Is that it?

Did they fail...?

He has no way to inform Sehun of this, and even if he did, and Sehun would manage to change the angle once more, the damage that the fire island would sustain because of this would be irreversible. It will lose everything that Kyungsoo was fighting to save.

It's already dangerous enough to simply stand on the surface at this angle. If it turns even a little more people would simply tumble down and fall off from the island, gravity pulling them off from the sandy ground turned into walls.

"What's wrong?!!"

Kyungsoo heard Chanyeol's voice calling down to him from the surface above him. The fire wall around him still holding strong.

"The gems!! They're still not touching!!" Kyungsoo shouted back, barely even hearing his own voice come out from just how loud and intense the sound of the gems' energy spheres spinning around them was.

But then, right in front of his eyes, he saw Chanyeol's whole body jerk sharply. His eyes widened and instantly shut with pain. The flower crown he made for him, already wilted and falling apart, flew off his head and got yanked down to the abyss of the cracked earth below.

Because he was paying attention to Kyungsoo, he let his guard down.

A splatter of blood soon followed the flower crown and painted the area in front of Kyungsoo with red drops.

Chanyeol kneeled down, wincing and holding tightly to his own arm. He has been shot.

Something triggered in him.

Kyungsoo realized that this is now, or never. If he doesn't do something at this moment, the damage will be too great. People will die. Chanyeol will die.

The gems are so painfully close that their strong sparks filled heated energy fields are starting to merge with one another and glow even brighter.

It felt like time just froze. Nothing existed anymore. Nothing other then the gems, himself, and Chanyeol. But Chanyeol too, might not exist any more as well if he doesn't do something.

What is he supposed to do... What can he do...

Kyungsoo looked at the gems, at the distance between them...

And then he got it.

He had an epiphany.

He saw what needs to be done.

Kyungsoo doesn't know much about how electronic circuits and systems like that work, but he knows that if two sources of energy are too far apart, adding any substance between them that's capable of transmitting electricity would provide a conductor for the power to exchange and close the circuit full.

Those wielding powers cannot touch the gems because they will their life force out like a leech. But... He can. He doesn't have any power to out. If anything, maybe he could become a sponge of power himself.

Maybe just like the electrical circuit Jongdae used to show the process of the reunion of the gems, Kyungsoo himself, could become the electric cable that connects them physically?

All the sounds around him turn muffled.

The gunshots, the shouts, the running of heavy military boots against rock, metal and sand, the strikes of Carrier powers used to defend against them, the fire of Chanyeol's weakened protection wall, and the excessive energy being emitted by the two gems... It all silenced into quiet white noise.

Only his heart was pumping in his ears in slowmotion.

Almost like in a trance, Kyungsoo raised his hand towards the tip of the red fire gem's crystal.

One sound broke through the layer of white noise coming from the outside.

It was Chanyeol's voice calling out to him. Shouting his name over and over again, trying to get him to pull his hand back with words. But it doesn't stop him.

The bright red light is blinding, but beautiful in his eyes as he places his palm on the surface of the gem.

Instantly, he feels a pulse of burning hot energy flow through his entire body. He winces with pain. It hurts, it's so hot, it's unbearable. The edges of his nerves feel like they got set aflame. 

But when he turns to look at the empire's gem, the glowing pink, the small lightning sparks of unstable energy, the ice forming, the wind blowing, the spheres appearing and disappearing all over it, the water dripping and vanishing into sparkles of heat...

He realizes he was right.

He really did soak the energy into his body like a sponge. He can feel it going through him, but not into him. He's the exact conductor needed to complete the gems' circuit.

What might happen to him is unknown. What will happen to the rest of his crew, to the people of the island, to the island... To the gems... To the whole world. 

To Chanyeol.

As if brought back from a state of paralysis, Kyungsoo gasped for air, breathing as deeply as he could while turning to look up, back at where Chanyeol stood before.

He wasn't there anymore. Instead, Kyungsoo spotted him a little lower. Chanyeol was hurriedly trying to climb down the rocky, rough edged, broken ground of the many layers of sandstone that provide the hard core of the fire island.

Chanyeol was looking back at him, still holding his own arm with his free hand. Kyungsoo could see the blood running down to his forearm and sliding over his palms, dripping to the ground from the tips of his fingers.

"Kyungsoo!!! Stop!!! Let it go!!! Release the gem!!!" He was screaming, intense panic and fear in his eyes as he kept almost recklessly attempting to climb down to Kyungsoo's location.

But he can't. Not now.

"Stop. Don't come near."

He spoke back, his voice suddenly sounding a whole lot different than he remembered. Like a power beyond himself executed that command for him. The whole red fire gem pulsed along with his words. A whiff of energy suddenly blew out of the red gem, causing a strong heated wind to push Chanyeol backwards against the island's broken wall.

Kyungsoo promised Chanyeol that he will change the world for him. If he let's go now, it'll all be gone. If he pulls back, their dreams will shatter and their future will turn into dust.

Chanyeol was now sobbing, screaming at Kyungsoo from the top  of his lungs, completely ignoring the fact that he got pushed backwards, he continued trying to rush and climb down the slippery sharp rocks.

Ah... The reason Chanyeol's body is this big, is surely because his big heart needed space.

Kyungsoo felt a smile grow across his lips.

It's okay. He's accepted it. He's going to keep his promise.

Even if it'll be without him, the world will be peaceful again. And Chanyeol would never have to be afraid of exploring every bit of it to his heart's content.

He's done enough. He's caused enough harm, and there's nothing he'd like more than to pay back for the innocent lives he's taken before.

Slowly drifting back into the state of a trance, Kyungsoo opened his mouth to speak one last time.

"I love you."

His hand moved closer to the surface of the pink unstable empire gem.

"Thank you."

He doesn't even know if he actually said those words, or just mouthed them in Chanyeol's direction. Since he couldn't hear anything anymore. Not his own voice, not the loud buzzing of the gems forces, not even Chanyeol who kept screaming back at him.

Without a thought in his head left, Kyungsoo's palm finally touched the surface of the pink glowing gem.

A large pulse of purple energy burned through his entire body's nervous system, pushing out the fire and turning his body numb, and a split second later, all he could see was a white light appear right in front of him. Engulfing his entire body immediately.

This is it.

He's done it.

He can go now.

Not Captain Do Kyungsoo of SM fleet, not Commander Do Kyungsoo of unit 3X0.

Not Empire Soldier Do Kyungsoo ID 610112, not Lightless Do Kyungsoo, not citizen of the empire Do Kyungsoo.

He is none of these things anymore.

But he is Seungsoo's little brother Do Kyungsoo. 

He is Minseok, Junmyeon, Yixing, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Jongin and Sehun's friend, Do Kyungsoo.

He is Chanyeol's lover Do Kyungsoo.

Human Do Kyungsoo.

And that is okay. It's more than enough.

Just Do Kyungsoo.