Chapter 14

Into the Cloud, Away From the Wings

                As soon as Katrina and Ryeowook entered the former’s new room, the latter headed straight for the very far corner of the room and started looking for something on the floor. Katrina just stared.

                “Um, may I ask what you’re doing?” she asked as he finally found what he was looking for: a small brass ring attached to one of the floor boards. Giving it a firm tug, a square section of the floor lifted, revealing a secret compartment.

                “Your mom told me to give this to you if anything ever happened to her.”  He reached into the alcove and pulled out a red, leather bound book about three times the size of Katrina’s big head. “I was trying to tell you about this before, but I kept on getting interrupted.” He gave her his sheepish grin as he struggled to hand the heavy book to Katrina. Even Katrina had a hard time wielding her new possession; she had to put it down on the table to get a good look at it. The title read Essential Spells, Incantations, and Other Magic. She flipped through the thick pages, skimming through instructions on how to cast certain spells, make potions, and even banish dark spirits.

                What is this, Harry Potter? Katrina thought as she closed the book. “Mom used this?” she asked Ryeowook, who responded with a shrug.

                “I’ve never seen her use it, but it’s possible.” He replied. Katrina scowled. Why did it seem like her mom was so clouded in mystery?  Deciding that it was time to start their adventure, Ryeowook cleared the middle of the room, moving the table, chair and sofa, much to the protest of Katrina, who just happened to be lounging on the couch at the time. Once that was done, Ryeowook assumed the lotus position where the table once was and motioned for Katrina to do the same across from him. Katrina hesitantly did so, still a little uncertain as to how this astral projection was going to work. Ryeowook gingerly took Katrina hands in his own.

                “Now, all you have to do is clear your mind; let everything that grounds you to this world pass from your thoughts. I’ll do the rest.” Ryeowook smiled as he squeezed Katrina’s hands encouragingly. She nodded and closed her eyes, trying to clear all thoughts. However, this was difficult since her mind naturally went a hundred miles a minute, except when she slowed down time of course.

                Slow down time

                Inspired by this idea, she used her powers to slow her thoughts down, and like clockwork, her mind slowly grew silent. Ryeowook internally smiled as he got ready to lift them both out of their bodies. With one last breath, he projected himself upward, being sure not to let go of his grip on Katrina. After a few minutes of struggle, he succeeded in pulling out both his and Katrina’s spirit out of their hosts. He was now in his element, spreading his wings, getting ready for flight as Katrina tried to get a grip on her surroundings. She, unlike Ryeowook, did not sport wings, though she could float. She was just a plain white mass, but she did have striking green eyes that made Ryeowook smile.

                “You ok?” he asked as Katrina’s eyes focused on his golden ones.

                “Yeah, I think so.” She replied uncertainly, still looking at her spirit form. Weird she thought. Ryeowook tugged her upwards.

                “Then let’s go see if we can find your mother.” He started flying towards the ceiling, making Katrina scream in protest.

                “Hey, hey! What are you-“ She didn’t finish their sentence as they phased through the ceiling and out of the Haven entirely. Ryeowook let go of one of Katrina’s hands and started to fly with her towards the north. Katrina finally calmed down enough to observe her surroundings. They were now high up in the sky, and she could everything. She could see the sun setting and the moon rising simultaneously. She could see all the cities and all the towns in Korea. She could even see her home continent just across the ocean. “This is amazing!” she gasped, reveling in the beauty of it all. Ryeowook grinned.

                “I’m though you might like it.” He replied as he increased his speed. His expression suddenly turned serious as he pointed towards something far north. “See that black mass there?”

                “Katrina squinted her eyes, barely making out a dark, fog like cloud in the distance. “Yeah,” she replied.

                “That’s Onew’s magic, trying to prevent us from finding his hiding place. That’s where we’ll find Madame Christine.” He explained as they continued their flight towards danger. Katrina nodded, glancing one last time at her home, suddenly thinking about her companions.

It turned out that the young men in question weren’t actually doing much of anything. It was the early morning, and Atlas and Philly were lounging in the red truck, watching the sun rise through the trees of the forest. After the night of chaos and questions and screaming mothers, they just wanted to relax and get away from civilization, which was why they decided to go to the deer lease. Hunting season was over, so there was no one in the woods to bother them except the occasional time-challenged owl. Phillip stretched, wincing in pain.

“Ow! My back!” he exclaimed for the umpteenth time that morning. Atlas sighed.

“Seriously Phillip, what did you do to it? All you did last night was run.” He asked as he popped his knuckles. Phillip rubbed his shoulders.

“I don’t know. It only started to hurt after you picked me up this morning.” Phillip replied, gazing at the scenery before him.

“So what? You’re saying it’s my fault?” Atlas playfully shoved Phillip, who laughed and lightly hit back. They stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, enjoying the peaceful morning. Phillip sighed.

“So, why didn’t Katrina come? I thought she liked watching the sun rise?” Phillip eventually asked, breaking the silence to Atlas’s dismay.

“She does, but apparently her old man was so upset about last night that he shipped her off to some boarding school or something.” Atlas muttered. Phillip’s eyes widened.

“Boarding school!? She can’t go to boarding school! Who’s going to protect me from bullies? Who’s going to sneak me into the teachers’ lounge to get cookies? Who-“

“Relax Phillip. You can hang around with me until she gets back.” Atlas assured his friend as he relived this morning. He had gone to pick Katrina up in secret like usual, but Mr. Daae had been ready for him. He yelled at him, telling him that Katrina wasn’t there and he wasn’t allowed near his daughter again. Atlas was a trouble maker. Atlas was a bad influence. Blah, blah, blah. Atlas wondered which school Katrina had been sent to. It was just like Mr. Daae to freak out over nothing, smothering his child with “protection” until she could barely breathe. He’d have to find out where she was so he could bust her out, but for now, he needed rest. He was mentally drained from being scolded by his mother, and Daae’s lecture hadn’t helped any. Right now, he was in his happy place, and no one was going to bother him.

Tap, tap.

He was just going to relax…

Tap, tap.

And recharge-

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Atlas and Phillip jumped at the sudden sound coming from the driver window. There stood a man in his late teens, early twenties with dark hair swooped to the side wearing a black coat accented by a red scarf. He gave them a friendly smile and tapped the glass as if saying, “Could you please roll down the window?” Atlas became suspicious.

What is a city boy like him doing here? Atlas thought, rolling down the window just a tiny bit. “Can I help you?” he asked. The man smiled.

“Yes, I’m sorry to bother you, but I seem to be lost. Could you come out here and tell me how to get to the highway?” he asked, voice syrupy sweet. Atlas was not impressed.

Yep, he’s definitely a city boy.

“Actually, if you just walk down the road right behind you, you’ll hit the highway in ten minutes or so.” Atlas pointed out as Phillip snickered at the stranger’s stupidity. The man’s smile slightly faltered.

“I’m sure that’s the case, but you see, I lost my glasses in the forest and I can’t see anything in front of me. If you could just come out here and turn me in the right direction, I should be able to be on my way.” He explained, still plastering the smile on his face. Atlas grunted.

“You can’t see anything in front of you, yet you saw my truck?” he asked. The man, realizing his cover was blown, scowled at the two boys.

“Just get out of the truck. Now.” The last word out of the man’s mouth was uttered with such force, that it seemed to reverberate off the entire forest, echoing through the trees with power. Atlas was not affected by the man’s magic, but Phillip, however, came into a trance, eyes glazed over and unfocused.

“Ok, I’ll get out of the truck now.” Phillip muttered as he reached for the truck door handle. Atlas blocked his hand, which stopped him from senselessly following the man’s directions. Atlas glared at the strange figure before him.

“No one bosses me or my friends around.” With that, Atlas turned the key, revving the truck to life. The man growled.

“That’s it!” he screamed. “Minho! Cut the engine!”

At that moment, a great thud shook the whole truck, causing the two in the vehicle to hold on to anything they could to keep them steady. Atlas glanced out the windshield to find another man in a black leather jacket perched on the hood of the truck. The man called Minho gazed into Atlas’s eyes before spreading his giant, black wings, causing Atlas to recoil in shock.

What the heck is that? He thought.

 Pleased with the reaction, he looked down briefly before ing his hand into the hood, creating a huge hole in the body work. In the next moment, he pulled with great force, revealing the entire engine ripped from its foundation. With a sputter, the truck died, and Minho merely dropped the engine and smiled as it bounced off the truck onto the ground, forming a dent in the frame work. Atlas was blazing mad.

“Now,” the man with the red scarf continued. “Let’s try this again. Get out of the truck now, or my friend and I will be forced to drag you out.” At this, he revealed a single talon where his finger should have been. “It’s your choice.” He smiled as he stared at his prey. Atlas glared back, determined to not let this bird-brain get the best of him. It looked like they were going to have to escape by foot. He glanced at Phillip, who nodded slightly, knowing what he had to do. Atlas slowly reached for the door, causing the man to smile. Good, this would be easy. However, he didn’t expect Atlas to slam the door into his crotch, causing him to fall down in pain.

“Run Philly!” Atlas yelled as they both took off to the forest, hoping to lose them in the nature’s maze. Minho knew this was coming however, and easily tackled Atlas to the ground before he could reach the forest line. Phillip faltered as he watched his companion being taken down, but Atlas waved him on as he tried to shove Minho off.

“Go Phillip! I’ll catch up with you later!” he exclaimed as Phillip continued to sprint to the forest. He disappeared into the shadows as Minho’s partner stood up. He sauntered over to Atlas, who was still in Minho’s inescapable headlock.

“Lean him against the truck.” He commanded as he stared at his attacker. Minho grunted.

“With pleasure Key.” He grabbed Atlas’s neck and slammed him into the passenger door of the truck in one fluid motion. Atlas winced at the pain, but he still struggled against the hold. He wasn’t giving up without a fight. Key glared at him as he kicked him in the crotch, causing Atlas to cry out in pain.

“I don’t care if you’re important to Onew’s plan; no one attacks me and gets away with it!” he yelled as he punched his victim the cheek. All Atlas could see was red as he felt blood trickle down his face. He let out a loud growl as his muscles bunched up with rage.

“Yeah? Well no one, and mean no one, touches. My. BABY!” he howled as he suddenly broke from Minho’s grip and tackled Key, striking him with his giant claws.

Back in the sky, Ryeowook and Katrina were about to enter the black mass as it slowly creeped towards them.

“Remember, don’t let go, no matter what.” Ryeowook reminded his companion as they were nearing the cloud’s border. Katrina only nodded as they flew into the dark fog, coughing in the stuffy atmosphere. Ryeowook squinted as he looked for any signs of Christine’s presence. Suddenly, a golden flash lit up the horizon ahead. Katrina followed his gaze.

“I see it!” she exclaimed as she picked up her pace towards the light. Ryeowook followed suit.

Phillip was breathing heavily as he sped through the forest, his bare feet catching on stray roots and rocks. He was worried about Atlas, but he knew he had to keep running. He huffed as he tried to keep up his stamina, but the reality was that he was dead tired. Not only that, but his back continued to shoot pain throughout his whole body. He broke through the tree line again, finding a babbling brook in a clearing. He was so tempted to stop and get a drink, but he resisted and settled for quickly dipping his scratched up feet in the water. He relaxed for a second as the water seemed to wash the pain away and was about sprint for the forest again, but when he tried to move his feet, he found that they wouldn’t budge. Looking down, he was shocked to find that the water had bunched at his ankles and seemed to hold them into place. Phillip continued to struggle, trying to move his ankles form the brook, but to no avail. Suddenly, a menacing laugh came from the forest. Phillip turned his head just in time to see a man with brown and blonde hair slowly reveal himself from the shadows of the trees. Like the others, he had on a black jacket as well, but he also wore a collar adorned with white feathers. He gave Phillip an evil grin as he slowly made his way towards his trapped prey.

“Well done Taemin.” He praised the figure behind Phillip, who turned around to get a better look. This man had brown hair and was dressed in much the same way as the other, only his collar was black. His hands were positioned as though he were controlling the water around the small boy. Taemin nodded and gave Phillip a small, not-so-friendly smile. The look in his eyes made Phillip cringe. These were not nice people.

“So, this is the bait we need is it?” the older man asked as he reached his target. “Hmpf. Why would Onew want an insignificant shrimp like you?” the man asked himself as he took Phillip’s face in his hand. He glared into the boy’s eyes, not showing him any mercy, until he felt something. A certain energy from inside the boy was being transferred to the man through his touch.

He couldn’t be. The man thought as he abruptly lifted Phillip’s white T-shirt from his belly. Taemin looked at his boss with curiosity as he observed the boy’s belly, finding the heart-shaped birth mark at his navel. His eyes widened in shock.

“Hmm, I see.” He muttered as he dropped the shirt as let it settle back into place.

“Jonghyun? What’s wrong?” Taemin asked as Jonghyun’s eyes softened.

“He has the mark.” He simply said causing the younger’s mouth to hang agape in shock. Jonghyun took the boy by the shoulders, making Phillip wince in pain as his back protested. Jonghyun cocked an eyebrow. “Back hurting you?” he asked casually, as if the boy wasn’t being held against his will. Phillip looked into his captor’s eyes; they were black and heartless, but if he looked in just the right spot in the man’s iris, a splotch of friendly gold revealed itself. Deciding that he really had no choice, he responded,

“Yes sir.”

Jonghyun glanced at Taemin, giving him the signal to relax. Taemin slowly let his hands down, returning the water back to the brook in the process. Jonghyun kept his grip on the boy.

“Listen kid, I like you. So if you don’t give us any trouble, I won’t be harsher than I need to be. Heck, I’ll even return you home after this whole shebang is over with. But if you try to escape even once, the deal’s off. Got it?”

Phillip was unsure about this. Yes, he wanted to go home. He wanted to be away from these guys and forget about them all together. But where were they taking him? What were they going to do with Atlas? He started to ask these questions, but Jonghyun interrupted him before he could.

“GOT IT?” he asked, his eyes turning fully black once again. Phillip gulped out of fear, and frantically nodded. He’d do anything to escape the man’s gaze. Jonghyun nodded to Taemin, who pulled Phillip’s hands behind him, restraining his arms from moving. Suddenly, an ear-shattering screech resounded throughout the forest, creating shivers down Phillip’s spine. The other two perked up in alarm.

“Key!” Taemin exclaimed.

The light wasn’t far away now. Just a few minutes and Ryeowook and Katrina would be in the welcome warmth the light surely provided in the now cold, frigid cloud. When they finally reached their destination, the warm light suddenly grew brighter, revealing a picture of a woman restrained to a dungeon wall. Her dark, shriveled hair hung over her face as her form shuddered with restless sleep.

“Madame Christine!” Ryeowook shouted as the form suddenly jerk up, revealing a pale but beautiful face. She was Katrina’s mother alright; she looked just like her daughter, from her bright, green eyes to her brown, mousy hair. The woman’s face lit up in surprise.

“Ryeowook! Thank goodness my spell worked!” she exclaimed before setting her eyes upon her daughter. As she observed the young lady before her, her expression turned to horror. “Katrina! What are you-? How did you-?” she started as panic started to take over. “Ryeowook, you got to get her out of here! Onew is-“ Suddenly, a bolt of lightning almost collided with the two spirits and loud laughter resounded through the cloud. “He found you!” Madame Christine shouted as another flash of lightning nearly missed their mark. “Fly you two! Don’t worry about me! I’ll send a messenger along. He’ll tell you where I am, just-“ Before she could get her words out, a third bolt of lightning  crashed into the image, destroying it in a display of golden sparks.

Atlas was only able to stare at his new claws for a few seconds before Minho was on top of him, trying to hold him down. As Atlas struggled, he saw he now had fur and a bushy tail.

I’m- I’m a WOLF! He realized. He didn’t know why he knew, but he just did. And it felt good. He felt stronger, faster, and more agile. Filled with new-found confidence, he twisted around, breaking from Minho’s hold and bit down on his hand, causing the winged warrior to scream in pain. Atlas sprinted for the forest. He had to find Phillip. He broke through the tree line, but he didn’t get far before Jonghyun’s eyes spotted the grey wolf from above. He swooped down on his prey, knocking him down on his haunches. Taemin landed with Phillip as Jonghyun held Atlas down, shoving his muzzle into the dirt. Phillip looked on in shock.

“Atlas? Is that you?” he asked. Atlas’s eyes met Phillip’s as he whimpered in the affirmative. That tore it. Phillip didn’t care if he’d made a deal or not, he was going to help his friend. He kicked his keeper’s knee from under him, making Taemin fall with a yelp. Phillip then pounced on Jonghyun’s back, who thrashed about in surprise, releasing Atlas in the process. Finally free, he bit down on his attacker’s knee, distracting him so that Phillip could get off his back without being caught. As Jonghyun wailed in pain, Phillip and Atlas ran for it, racing through the trees and bramble. Minutes passed, and there were no signs of pursuit. As they got tired, they gradually slowed down, deciding it was ok to rest for a minute. They took deep breaths as they looked at each other and smiled.

“Dang Atlas, you’re a beast, literally!” They both laughed (Well, Atlas kinda bark-laughed), but in any case, they were distracted just enough to not see the two pairs of black wings above them before it was too late. Key and Minho landed right in front of the two, wings spread out and eyes merciless. The boy and the wolf slowly backed up, only to collide with Jonghyun and Taemin. Jonghyun smiled in victory.

“Oh, in case you haven’t figured it out yet kid,” he started as he snapped his fingers, signaling the others to leap upon their prey. “The deal’s off.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew! That took a while @.@ but I think it was worth it. Atlas and Philly are finally back, and Christine has finally been revealed :D Yay! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, even though it's pretty long. Please comment and subscribe, and thanks to all who've done so already! You guys are still awesome! ^^

Special shout out to kayeblaise who subcribed and hasn't stopped fangirling my story ever since! Thanks! :)

~Justjoking <3

PS: Here's the sight to ForeverCellist's review if you're interested : http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/193181/5/half-moon-review-shop-closed-you-reviews-reviewshop Thanks again ForeverCellist ^^