[The Locked Lands]

I closed my eyes gripping Sehun’s hand in my right hand as we bounced in the air. I could hear fussing and scrambling, Wooseung beside me as he kept a hand on my shoulder. Everything was going to be alright, I thought to myself. The gods were on my side and even if most of the world wasn’t, I had the people who mattered. Wooseung seemed to know how worried I was and he nudged me, flashing me a smile that made me return it.

“We take it one step at a time,” he told me and I nodded. That was right. One step at a time. Even when life gets hard, we take it on step at a time.

We bounced and I felt my stomach drop at the movement, Haechan clutching fearfully on my left hand. It didn’t take long before Uncle Rumpel asked Haechan to come out and he stood up, bouncing out of the pouch before I looked up to see his own hand searching for us in his pocket space. I let go of Sehun’s body and out I went, with Wooseung, Kris, and Ahjumma.

Once we came out, I realized we were at the border of a forest like land, but it was no where near the same as The Forest of Isea. The shadows were darker, the trees were taller and it seemed like a dark mist had settled over the land. If death took on a physical space, this is what it would have looked like.

“Remember to be mentally strong. The forest preys on fear and self-hatred,” Rumpelstiltskin said and I saw Haechan gulp.

“Well, ,” he mumbled and Wooseung flickered an eye over to him.

“Language, Haechan,” he warned and Haechan shuffled is feet awkwardly, staring into the ground. It was obvious that the kid was scared, but he knew we couldn’t have done it without him. Sighing, I turned to look at Wooseung, raising my eyebrows at him when Wooseung blinked at me.

“What?” he asked and I jerked my head towards Haechan. “Fine,” Wooseung mumbled, turning to Haechan and changing the tone of his voice while offering his hand. “Come here, let’s go.”

It worked like magic and Haechan brightened up, taking Wooseung’s hand and holding it tightly. Ahjumma stood beside me with Kris, keeping close as if she knew the powers of The Locked Lands when Rumpel told us to head in. Nodding, I stepped into the forest.

Everything felt heavy. My worries were amplified, my chest felt like it was twisting in my chest and I found myself doubting everything I ever was. Ahjumma stood beside me before she spoke.

“The Locked Lands are known for mind games. It’s best we think logically from this step forward,” she told us and Wooseung nodded. He didn’t seem affected like Rumpel, both of them probably just seeing trees and dark shadows. Haechan sniffled and I saw him tear up, trying to regain emotional balance. Kris looked stricken, and it was obvious he had put up a wall and refused to speak despite what he was feeling.

“How do we know where to find him?” I found myself asking and Uncle Rumpel shook his head.

“We don’t. We walk and walk and walk, and we pray that we run into him,” he said and I let out a sigh. “Time can be distorted here too. It’s the dark magic that inhabits the land,” he told us. “Five minutes can feel like an hour and it’s not going to be long until your mind will play tricks on you.”

I shivered and we trudged past the trees, whispers filling the air as I shuddered. I strained my ears, trying to focus on one thing at a time as I tried to make out the whispers—surprised to hear Wooseung’s name.

“Daniel. Dark one. He's here! He's here.” I looked at Wooseung who didn’t seem to be hearing anything and I felt Kris behind me move closer.

You know it’s scary when even Kris was trying to seek comfort in companionship.

We seemed to be going nowhere for a few hours, Kris on my left and Ahjumma on my right as Uncle Rumpel and Wooseung held Haechan’s hand when there was a sound of someone laughing. All of us stopping right where we stood, the laughing continued. It was manic and sounded psychotic and before we knew it, a man shot down from the trees dramatically with a dead bird in his hand. He held the bird tightly in his fist, the blood of the animal staining his whole arm when he looked at us; as if he just noticed our presence when—

“Senior Kyuhyun?” Kris asked. At times like this I was happy Kris was incredibly brave. Senior Kyuhyun was obviously not sane. His hands were covered in leather gloves and his pupils seemed to have darkened when he smiled, his teeth glinting.

“People! Finally! People!” He gasped, clapping his hand together. “They know me! Oh, they know me.” He beamed and took a step forward, all of us instinctively stepping backwards when Wooseung shielded Haechan from him. “But I’m nice… Why are you here? Are you visions? Are you—”

“No, we’re people,” Kris replied and I saw him scan Kyuhyun’s face worriedly. “We need help.”

“Help!” Kyuhyun shrieked, his eyes flashing with what seemed like happiness. “Finally! After all these years, someone needs help! Come! Come….” His voice rose an octave and I chewed on my bottom lip as Kyuhyun motioned us to go after him.

He brought us deeper into the trees and we followed him, knowing we had no other way. Moss grew on the ground and the air smelled damp. I saw Kyuhyun mutter to himself, the bird still in his hand and I wondered if that was what he ate; the man taking a sharp turn and leading us into a cottage. The wood was dark and I gasped, seeing statues of people turned into rock in front of his living place.

“People… stupid people. Tried to kill me to get out of this place,” he muttered to himself, Ahjumma and I exchanging looks. “But come in, you will be very useful. Very useful.”

We entered his small cottage and everything was made out of wood, the dank smell of wet leaves was heavy in the air. We stood there in his small cottage, waiting for him to speak when he went to the kitchen, a hand gripping the dead bird before he slammed it against the table.

“Must cook the bird… Guests have no food,” he mumbled and Kris’ eyes widened at the idea of eating a bird so he spoke up.

“We don’t need a bird; we just need your help,” he said and Kyuhyun turned to us, tilting his head. If Heechul was crazy, Kyuhyun was mad. He twitched before sitting down, a smile traveling up his face to count all of us. “We need to get a Gemini ring off and we think you have the ability to turn anything into stone—”

“Oh, but that’s true,” Kyuhyun butted in and Kris paused, Kyuhyun suddenly cackling. “OH! Gemini ring. Which one of you is it? Which one?”

“Sehun. The Royal Headmaster’s son,” Kris said and Kyuhyun blinked. “We were wondering if you could—”

“Yes, of course. Of course! Must help The Royal Headmaster’s son,” Kyuhyun rambled and Kris motioned to Haechan who stuck his hand into the pouch, Uncle Rumpel helping him hold it before Haechan dragged Sehun out. Kris carefully grabbed Sehun, lifting him up with Wooseung before placing him on the table. “Oh! It’s an Oh! It’s an Oh!” Kyuhyun chuckled before looking at Sehun closely.

“We… We think you can turn his finger into stone and break the ring off,” Wooseung said, standing close to Sehun’s body as if he was guarding it. I just kept quiet, letting the boys take the lead when Kyuhyun bent down, tilting his face onto Sehun before smirking.

“I can do it, alright. I can do it—” Kyuhyun said, and with a swift movement, removed his gloves. “Should I? Should I do it now? Should I—”

“Not yet, we need Ahjumma beside him. Haechan, the flower, please,” I told him and Haechan nodded. Kyuhyun was bouncing up on his toes as if he was excited to use his powers again, and Kris grabbed a knife I didn’t notice he had.

“Harin, we have to be fast,” Kris told me and I nodded. “Once it turns into rock and the ring comes off, his body will no longer be kept alive. You need to take his soul out and your Sote will have to put his soul in as fast as possible.”

I nodded again and Kyuhyun cackled, Wooseung stood beside him as Uncle Rumpel made sure he was close by. Kris held the knife in his hand and turned it, like he would use the edge of knife to knock off the stone.

“Is it going to work?” I asked Kris who nodded.

“I’ve used it on stone before. I just need slam it down,” he assured me and Kyuhyun’s eyes strained on Sehun’s finger as the Gemini ring glowed. Before I knew it, he pressed his pointy finger against Sehun’s pinky and almost automatically, his skin slowly turned into stone. It went from the tip of his pinky until it I heard Kris yell out.

“Now!” The sound of metal against rock rang out and I felt energy through my body as my hands hovered over the flower. I saw Sehun's pinky turn into stone and the ring dropped onto the ground. Kris pocketed it and the ring lost its glow. 

My eyes went pitch black and Sehun’s soul was dragged out of the flower, Ahjumma already muttering prayers and words I didn’t recognize beside me. I heard Wooseung yell out to Kyuhyun, and Sehun’s soul was above his body.

“Enough! Get away from him!” Wooseung yelled, but I was too focused to even know what was going on. I saw Sehun’s soul rotate once and Ahjumma reach out to move the soul down as it finally shot into his chest and disappeared into sight. I opened my eyes and saw that Wooseung was on the ground, trying to hold Kyuhyun back as he laughed menacingly.

“But it was so fun! Turn him into stone! Turn him into stone!” Kyuhyun yelled out, Wooseung pressing him down onto the ground.

“What happened?” I asked, rushing over to Sehun, a hand going to feel his chest to seek out his heartbeat when I finally found it. Suddenly pain shot out through my left hand and now that Sehun’s body had his soul in the vessel, I could feel the pain from his hands.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“He tried to turn Sehun into stone,” Wooseung replied and Kyuhyun shrieked out. “Good thing his powers don’t work on me.” He said and I turned to see that even though Kyuhyun’s hands were on Wooseung, Wooseung was still fine. “He’s a lunatic—this man!”

“Is he okay?” Kris asked, dropping his ear to Sehun’s nose to listen to him breathe. “He has to be—”

“He’s breathing,” Ahjumma told Kris and Kris let out a sigh of relief when a crash sounded and I turned to see that Kyuhyun had kicked Wooseung away, his eyes crazy. In his hand, he drew out a very sharp knife before he growled.

“What are you doing—Senior….” Kris began and Kyuhyun stepped forward, shoving the knife forward as if trying to us. “Senior!”

“I need to… I need to kill one of you to leave….” Kyuhyun muttered, Wooseung stepping in front of me. I moved to Haechan, the male frozen in the spot.  “I need to kill you! One of you!”

“Senior!” Kris voice rang out, his knife ready to fight if he needed to. “We’ll go to the prison and kill someone if we have to—”

“Doesn’t work! You won’t be able to find your way to the prison—No, no. Doesn’t work!” Kyuhyun yelled. “Tried… Tried so many times. People come and I accidentally turn them into stone but it doesn’t work… I need to kill, by blood! Slice! Slice!” Kyuhyun’s voice dropped into a whisper. “Must find Donghae… Donghae, my love… Dong—”

“Senior Donghae is dead.” Haechan squeaked out and suddenly Kyuhyun turned to us, swaying. “He died, in the war. He died fighting…”

“What… But he said, he’d be waiting for me if I ever wanted to come out,” Kyuhyun whispered and right at that moment, his eyes filled with tears before he sobbed. Kyuhyun dropped onto his knees and I felt my heart twist at the sight in front of me. “He said… He said he’d be just right there.”

“I’m sorry, Senior,” Kris said softly and Kyuhyun’s tears stained his cheeks as it rolled down his pale skin. “He was a good man.”

“He was,” Kyuhyun replied, gripping his chest. “Oh, the pain. The pain of being alive. The pain of existing. Take it away!” He yelled and before I could say anything, he grabbed the knife he was holding and slammed it against his chest.

My scream rang out at the sudden motion and I watched Kyuhyun’s eyes widen, his voice cut into a moan as he allowed his soul to leave his body. I gasped at the shock, about to step forward when Wooseung grabbed my arm, shaking my head at me. I watched as his body fell limply onto the ground and Uncle Rumpel’s voice rang out.

“Now’s the time. Haechan, Young Royal Master’s body into the pouch. It’s considered a life taken,” Uncle Rumpel said and I stared at Kyuhyun’s dead body with the knife still stabbed on his heart as Wooseung ushered me towards the pouch.

“Harin, go,” Wooseung said and I felt myself be put into the pouch. As I tried to get over the shock, I realized that no matter how much I have seen death; it was still as shocking. I saw Haechan bring in the rest and the pouch began to jump as we traveled.

“What did he mean?” I asked Wooseung. “Why didn’t he try to kill someone from the prisons? He could have…”

“I don’t think he could have found it,” Wooseung replied. “Uncle Rumpel and I, we’re not affected by the dark magic so we would have found our way easily through the lands but normal people, he would have gotten lost over and over again.”

“He just wanted to see Senior Donghae again,” I said to Wooseung and he gave me a sad smile. “Some people don’t get happy endings.”

Wooseung didn’t say anything, a hand going to pat my head when the pouch bounced. I was exhausted and my hand was searing with pain, but I wanted to stay awake to make sure Sehun was okay. Haechan sat up, telling us that he thinks we have arrived. I found myself thinking that traveling by rainbows were so convenient, Haechan finally bouncing out. I was dragged out in the same place we had our meeting and I had no idea how much time has passed, but the sun was out and blazing hot.

Suho was jogging towards us and when I looked around, I saw that a lot of the NCT people were helping each other with wood. I saw a few more people I didn’t recognize. Suddenly I saw a familiar face in the crowd, the tall male getting beat up by Kai and Kyungsoo.

“PARK CHANYEOL!” Kai was saying, kicking Chanyeol in the gut as Kyungsoo slapped Chanyeol across the face and then pulling Chanyeol backwards by his hair. Baekhyun stood there, watching as if he was amused and Chanyeol groaned, dropping to the ground.

“It’s been around six hours,” Suho told Kris. “The vigilantes just came with the first batch of people. Doyoung went back with them, scouting out the city. They’ll bring in the second batch soon. You guys should rest, we’re putting up shelter. How’s Sehun?”

“It worked out. And six hours? It didn’t seem like that long…” Kris replied and Suho smiled, reminding us that The Locked Lands were locked for a reason, nodding. “Thanks to you and your memory.”

“I knew it would work out,” Suho replied and I saw Wooseung grab Sehun’s body from the pouch carefully and I was going to help him when I heard heavy footsteps and I looked up to see Kyungsoo running towards us in full speed.

“MASTER! MASTER!” he was yelling and could hardly skid to a stop when I saw Johnny run towards us too, everyone almost gathering us. “MASTER!”

“Kyungsoo, he’s fine. He’s just unconscious,” Kris told Kyungsoo, Johnny using his strength to carry Sehun. “Put him under one of the shelters we have finished. Lay is tending to some of the people that were hurt and he’ll follow up with Sehun soon.”

I nodded, following them to one of the shelters. It was wood stacked above wood for walls and at the corner of my eye, I saw Luhan use his powers to make a roof of an undone house. He was listening to orders from Chen who was telling which side to drop the wood down at. They were too deep in conversation to notice us and before I knew it, Sehun was settled down on a wooden plank.

“Master…” Kyungsoo mumbled and I watched him stare at Sehun, his eyes filled with concern. I was too tired to talk, and I realized that since Sehun was put at this state I hardly said anything. I observed Kyungsoo who was rubbing Sehun’s cheek when he looked up at me. “Ong Harin.”

His voice was filled with so much emotion that I just looked up to him to see his eyes brewing with tears. Was he crying? I opened my mouth to say something when Kyungsoo walked to me, grabbing me into a hug in his arms.

What was happening?

“Good, Ong Harin,” Kyungsoo said to me and I felt my heart soar. What a difference from all the times he has said ‘Bad, Ong Harin!’.

“Good, Ong Harin,” he repeated and I closed my eyes, feeling Kyungsoo rock me back and forth in his arms. “Thank you, Ong Harin.”

“Kyungsoo…” My voice cracked and he sniffled, leaning his head against mine. “Kyungsoo, you’re going to make me cry.”

“Kyungsoo stop now,” he said and let go of me when we both heard a groan. Whipping out head around, I realized that Sehun was moving his fingers. It was like his legs were slowly moving and he gave out a small moan. Kyungsoo and I stood up almost immediately to look down on Sehun who was disoriented.

“Oh Sehun!” I called and I saw Sehun’s eyes flicker open, his eyes beautiful ever. “Oh Sehun!”

“MASTER!” Kyungsoo yelled out. “I go get Senior Lay!”

I nodded as Kyungsoo zoomed out and I went to hold Sehun’s hand, Sehun stirring. A hand went up to his head and he mumbled something under his breath.

“What? What?” I asked Sehun who turned to blink at me.

“I have nine fingers,” he mumbled to me and I couldn’t help but laugh, leaning down to press my lips against his forehead. “Ong Harin,” he murmured, and I looked at him, still trying to hold back my happiness that he was alive and well.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered to him and he reached up to press a hand against my cheek. “Oh Sehun, I’ve missed you so much.”

“You brave, brave girl,” he whispered back. “I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere”

His words were simple but they made me realize how much I needed him. Sehun, in a very short time, had become my rock and my strength and I heard footsteps enter the shelter. It was Lay and Kyungsoo, and both of them stopped by the entrance as if they didn’t want to ruin our moment.

“Don’t ever leave me alone like that ever again, Oh Sehun,” I told him and Sehun nodded, his eyes still on my face, a hand going up to brush my hair away. “Promise?”

“Master has no pinky, Ong Harin, don’t be insensitive,” Kyungsoo p