Yunho knew she was calling out to him, he simply chose to ignore it. 

With every time Ara's voice had whispered in his mind, 'Yunho, please come back. I need you to come to me, please' and it took every ounce of his willpower to shut it out. He wanted more than anything to go back to her, but now was not the time. They needed the distance, so he could start to accept the possibility of him never coming back alive, or her having to understand that exchanging another person's for his - was not the bargain he would ever want. 

There weren't many places for him to go, and now Yunho was standing near the edge of the rooftop of one of the buildings near his old home, the one Jocelyn had died in. He wasn't sure what time it was as the stars were hiding tonight, nothing but a blank canvas of darkness above the city lights of neon and orange, the bustling sound of cars and engines - and people. Yunho also began to wonder on his own, the millions of questions that would be left unanswered if he was truly stuck as neither living nor dead forever? 

Would he continue aging and never truly fade away? Or would he somehow become immortal like how vampires and warlocks worked? 

What would happen then?

"Argh!" he gasped when a stabbing pain shot through his body. Active and intense, then he felt like he was suffocating and all the air in his lungs had been extracted - almost as if getting electrocuted by lightning. The pain got to his head, and he lost his balance and stumbled-

And then he was falling, everything seemed to go in slow motion. His eyes seeing the edge of roof, his body cannonballing through the air from the highest floor, a flurry thoughts clouded his mind: Was it possible to fall to his death a second time?

But his heart no longer beat, and there was no rhythm as though it had stopped.

His eyes fluttered closed, no matter how hard he tried to resist. Ara...

And he was gone.

None of it mattered, Serafia had told herself again and again.

She hadn't expected many things, and she wondered whether she had been too careless in planning her steps, how much she had miscalculated and mistook the girl as any other foolish human. She was certainly not prepared for the involvement of the Seelie Court. 

She had recognized them immediately, armoured riders of bronze and red and green, on steeds who could fly into the clouds - had arrived after the other boy's signal sounded. Then there was that wretched girl, who had somehow summoned the spirits to do her bidding. Serafia had heard about people like that from her own mother's witch coven, practitioners of necromancy who could command the dead at will, where there were no rituals needed - but had paid a price for it before.

They had dug up graves, slept with corpses and other more ghastly things for that little power - and yet that naive little girl had honed it with such ease. Did she pay a price as well? It doesn't matter, Serafia repeated again. The fey had once again involved themselves in her business, when they had previously ruined the life she once had. A life without fighting for what she deserved. 

"Should I tie him up, my lady?" Abel asked. "In case he tries too break away?"

"No," Serafia answered. She turned around and there was the Chairman, in his sluggish daze as Abel took him into the lapis chamber. His pyjamas wrinkled and his hair unruly, pathetic, she thought. "He's too weak to be a threat. We should not be here for too long, Letitia's message from them should be here by now."

Abel dragged the Chairman towards the island where Yunho's body lay, the crystal glowing brighter than ever. From her pocket she took out the vial and ring she had vouched for so long, now having it in her possession almost felt unreal. Gently, she unscrewed the cap of the little bottle and brought it close to Yunho's lips and she began chanting, in deep concentration the lines she had repeated in preparation for this day. 

Born from the language of fallen angels and serpents, she recited verse after verse. 

Then she placed the ring on the marble floor, raised the bone knife she had kept in her other pocket - and stabbed the centre jewel with all her might. Dark smoke escaped from it, and if she listened closer she could almost hear shrieking as the cloud circled Yunho's body like a tornado, what had been locked away for so long now returned to its rightful place.

"Hold him up," Serafia ordered, and Abel steadied the Chairman onto his feet, facing his mistress. Even in his final moments, he was still under her control, eyes half-closed and soon to be shut for good. Innocent blood again shall be spilled. 

Out of spite, she leaned into the man's ear. "So you did save your son after all, I'm sure you'd do the same if it weren't for me."

"Demons like you deserve worse than hell..."

Serafia froze when she heard the man hiss back, her eyes stared. She shouldn't let his rambles faze her-

"Your past and present will curse you forever and it'll be your greatest fear..."

Blinking in fury, she raised her knife. "I, fear NOTHING!"

It was a swift cut onto his throat, and the blood splattered across the crystal island - staining Yunho's pale face with a deep scarlet. 

Serafia dropped the knife and laughed in glee, it was finally done.

Jeong Yunho opened his eyes.