Chapter 19

Invading and Converting

                It only took a few seconds for Katrina and the others to arrive in the streets of Russia. They appeared to be in the slums; the roads were coated with grime, dirt, and snow, while the air contained a not so pleasant smell that could be described as a mixture of sewage, human excrement, and vomit. They were also greeted by Russia’s penetrating cold winds, which started to attack their faces with frigid blasts of air. Immediately, most of the Phantoms readjusted their coats, making sure the majority of their bodies were covered. Siwon did this as well, though he had the added advantage of his natural hot breath that allowed him to constantly heat his exposed hands. Eunhyuk, however, totally removed his jacket all together, reveling in the frosty air and becoming one with it. Atlas of course had his beloved trench coat on, while Phillip, who only had on some pants and a white short sleeved shirt, protected himself in the warm, white feathers of his wings. That left only Katrina, who unfortunately didn’t think to bring a coat and had no means to warm herself. She began to shiver violently, which grabbed Ryeowook’s attention.

                “Oh, Katrina here,” he said as he began to remove his own coat. Sure, then he would be cold, but he didn’t want his friend to suffer. However, before he was able to take his coat completely off, Atlas stepped in, abruptly handing her his own trench coat.

                “Here, have mine.” He said as he began to shiver, but it didn’t seem to be from the cold. “I have another coat anyway.” He stepped back as he began to crouch over, breathing heavily. In a matter of seconds, Atlas transformed back into his wolf form, shaking the snow from his silvery grey fur. Katrina smiled as she put on the trench coat.

                “Thanks Atlas. Through now I look like I’m from the Matrix.” She joked, earning a wolf snicker in return. Ryeowook however was not laughing. He glared at his rival, resentment filling his soul, until he stopped himself.

                Come on now, don’t be jealous he scolded himself So what if he wants to help Katrina? They are best friends after all. But he still wasn’t quite convinced from his own lecture. He glanced at Katrina who was still smiling at Atlas in thanks. Despite knowing that his jealousy was ridiculous, he couldn’t help but feel like he was in competition for Katrina’s affections. This scared him. He had never felt this way before about anyone. He didn’t like this negative energy that was starting to encompass him.

                Ryeowook’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Leeteuk started to speak.

                “Alright everyone,” he announced, “The SHINee factory should be a couple of blocks north of here. We’ll have to make sure to stay in the shadows as we approach though. Onew knows we’re coming, and he’s sure to have the Valkyrie watching for intruders. Follow my lead.” Leeteuk started to walk stealthily past the alleyways of the dark Russian streets, the others following their lead. Along the way, Katrina glanced into a couple of the alleyways, taking note of the graffiti on the wall.

                Wow, déjà vu she thought, remembering the night that had started this whole ordeal.

                Within minutes of their trek, a tall, concrete building started to form on the horizon. It was massive in size, reaching at least 20 stories tall, and was adorned with a stainless steel sign on the very top with the word SHINee across the front of it, just like Ryeowook had said. Even though the building was crumbling in a few places, the structure still stood firm, creating a foreboding atmosphere. The gang was almost a block away from the lair when Leeteuk suddenly held up his hand as a signal to stop; he had spotted something. Upon further inspection, Leeteuk realized that two of the Valkyrie, Key and Minho, were standing guard on the roof, wings outspread, ready to take flight at a moment’s notice. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like they had noticed the invaders yet. Leeteuk observed the building, looking for any entrances inside. However, there was no front door or windows reachable from the ground. The only way into the building that Leeteuk could see was the staircase on the roof directly behind the sign and the two Valkyrie guards. Leeteuk winced at the of bad luck as he turned towards his group.

                “Alright, it looks like some of us are going to have to distract the guards while some sneak into the stairway.” He informed them. He thought about his strategy for a moment before speaking again. “Ryeowook, Atlas,” he pointed, “You two are going to lure Minho and Key down to ground level while Phillip flies Katrina to the roof. As soon as the Valkyrie are in range, the rest of us will attack and defeat them. Then Donghae will levitate all of us to the roof, and we’ll storm the lair.” Leeteuk then turned to Katrina. “Katrina, as soon as you’re in there, go find Christine, and try to set her free if you can. If Onew finds you, run. Don’t try to attack if you don’t have to; his power is great, and he’ll surely defeat you if you try to fight.” Katrina nodded in response. “Is everyone clear on the plan?” Leeteuk asked, receiving more head nods from the others. He softly smiled. “Good. Now let’s go.”

                With a nod of encouragement from Leeteuk, Atlas began trotting over to the building with an agitated Ryeowook following close on his tail.

                Why? Why did I have to get stuck with him? Ryeowook thought to himself Of all the people I get paired with, I had to get stuck with Atlas

                Because of his sensitive hearing, Atlas could hear Ryeowook muttering to himself, causing the wolf to turn abruptly around, head cocked in confusion and concern. Ryeowook looked into his eyes; although Atlas couldn’t speak at the moment, Ryeowook could still hear his spirit:

                Is something bothering you Ryeowook?

                At that moment, Ryeowook’s stuck up attitude suddenly melted away. What was he doing? He shouldn’t be treating Atlas like an enemy. He could see through his eyes that he was a kind soul; a trusted friend. So what if he and Katrina had a thing for each other? There was no reason for hatred. Ryeowook gave Atlas a soft smile.

                “No, not anymore.” He replied, continuing the walk to the lair. Atlas cocked his eyebrow. He wasn’t convinced that Ryeowook was telling the truth, but he followed the young man anyway. They walked in silence until Atlas’s voice registered in Ryeowook’s inner being again:

                Thank you

                Ryeowook stopped in his tracks, confused. “Thank you? For what?” he asked.

                For looking after Katrina and for saving her big when she got herself in trouble. Atlas replied. Shindong told me everything: how you were there that night in the alleyway, how you saved Katrina from falling when Onew attacked her, and how you’ve been her best friend since she was pulled into this mess. Atlas looked deep into Ryeowook’s eyes. You were there for her when I couldn’t be, so thank you.

                Ryeowook smiled in reply. “It was no trouble Atlas. You’re very kind” He said as he bowed in respect. Atlas gave him a wolfish smirk in return.

                Yeah, yeah. Don’t get used to it he replied as he started walking to the building again. Ryeowook grinned, shaking his head.

                He tries to guard his heart with a tough exterior. He remarked to himself. Just like Katrina.

                He started to follow his new canine companion again, and in no time, they were just yards from the building. The only thing keeping the guards from spotting them was a building corner the two were leaning up against. Atlas and Ryeowook glanced at each other, nodding as Ryeowook sat down in lotus position. With a few deep breaths, his spirit flew out of his body and up to the rooftop. He made his form visible to the Valkyrie as he sped into their line of sight. Within seconds, the guards spotted him, and with one swift movement, Minho flung himself from the roof and down upon the spirit. However, Ryeowook was too fast for him; he slipped out of Minho’s talons and started leading the lone Valkyrie to the ground. Meanwhile, Key stayed on the roof in case another intrusion occurred, and soon he spotted Atlas on the edge of the building, clawing the hard concrete wall and howling at eardrum shattering levels. Key glared the wolf down, tenderly stoking the marks Atlas’s claws had left on his cheek. With an angry screech, Key swooped down upon his enemy, hungry for bloodshed. Before he could strike at Atlas however, he was tackled by a hidden Shindong, who pinned him down in a matter of seconds. Key tried to struggle, but Shindong kept his grip upon Key firm.

“You’ll pay for this you dog!” Key cried in a rage. “You’ll all pay for this! Our master will destroy you, and he’ll feed us your worthless carcasses! You-“ Key’s threats were put to halt by Eunhyuk, who froze Key’s body from head to toe, his face frozen in a countenance of anger.

By this time, Minho was being detained by Siwon and Sungmin, who had also sprung a sneak attack on their formidable foe. Eunhyuk quickly ran to the three, freezing the struggling Minho before he could break free from Siwon and Sungmin’s grasp. Atlas and Ryeowook smiled, happy that the plan worked. Ryeowook’s spirit returned to his body while Atlas looked up at the roof. At that moment he saw Katrina’s long brown hair and Phillip’s shock of blonde hair behind the metal sign, quickly running down the steps into the bowels of Onew’s lair. Phillip must have been able to carry Katrina alright.

                “Hurry everyone!” Leeteuk commanded. “We don’t have much time until these guys thaw out.”

                Donghae started to levitate the group to the very top of the SHINee building one member at a time. Atlas continued to stare at the roof, mentally sending his two friends one last message, though no one heard it:

                Katrina and Phillip sprinted down the steps as fast as they could, descending deeper into Onew’s lair. Once inside, they could see that the building was slowly disintegrating from the inside out; the wind had eroded the walls, creating holes that revealed a skeleton of jagged metal. The staircase spiraled downward into a dark, black abyss that seemed to lead to nowhere. After a few minutes of running, the two stopped to catch their breath.

                “Katrina,” Phillip huffed between breaths. “How do we know where your mom’s being held? We don’t even know where this stairway will lead.”

                Katrina looked over the edge of the rusty metal hand rail and into the darkness below. She let out a huff of frustration. “I don’t know.” She finally replied. “But there’s nowhere else to go. She has to be down there somewhere. Maybe these stairs will lead to a hallway or something. We have to keep going or we’ll never find her.”

                Phillip nodded in reply, and they continued down into the seemingly never-ending spiral. They trudged along for many minutes, until Phillip suddenly stopped.

                “Did you hear that?” Phillip asked, cocking his head as he tried to listen harder. Katrina cocked her eyebrow.

                “Hear what?” she asked. Before Philly could answer however, a loud coughing noise suddenly reverberated through the stairway.

                “That!” Phillip replied, looking over the railing, trying to find the source of the sound. After a few seconds, the sound came again even louder than before.

                “That’s probably Mom!” Katrina exclaimed. “She seemed very sick and weak the last time I saw her. That’s got to be her. Come on!” Katrina quickly grabbed Phillip’s arm and dragged him down the stairs, excited that she was about to be reunited with her mom at last. They only had to descend a few floors before they reached a black cast iron door. The coughing started up again, and sure enough, it was coming from behind the door. Katrina tried the door handle, but it was locked tight. In a desperate fury, Katrina kicked the door with full force. Surprisingly, the door swung open, revealing the way to a dark room with a huge prison cell on the far wall. In the very corner, a shadowed figure was crouched on the floor, coughing with such force that it shivered violently. Ecstatic, Katrina let go of Phillip’s hand and ran to the prison bars. Fueled by the same energy used to openthe door, she roundhouse kicked the pad lock keeping the cell closed. The lock broke in half, and Katrina ran into the cell, hugging the prisoner.

                “Oh mom! I’m so glad we found you!” Katrina exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. However, as soon as she looked up into the person’s face, her eyes widened in horror, and her grin melted from her face. It wasn’t her mom. It was Taemin.

                It was a trap.

                Taemin stood emotionless as Katrina met his eyes. They were completely drained of all of his usual joy and friendliness. All that was left was two pitch black orbs of darkness and malice. He was completely possessed.

                “Looking for someone?” he whispered menacingly as he grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back before she could protest.

                “Katrina!” Phillip yelled as he started to run, hoping to save his friend. But before he could reach her, a loud booming noise from behind him stopped him in his tracks. Phillip turned around slowly to find Jonghyun, who had slammed the door shut. He grinned evilly at Phillip as he started to advance.

                “Well, well! Look who stumbled into our little trap: The heir and her little wingman. How cute.” Jonghyun sneered as Phillip tried to defend himself by throwing a punch at Jonghyun. He caught Philly’s fist easily and returned the favor with a hard kick to the left hip. Phillip crashed to the ground, landing on one of his wings, causing him to scream and spasm in pain. Jonghyun merely laughed at the sight. “You should have taken my offer instead of being loyal to that mutt. Then I would have been able to spare you.” He grabbed Phillip by the shirt collar, lifting him three feet off the ground. Phillip struggled as Jonghyun whispered in his ear. “You would have been a great heir to my throne too. What a shame.”

                Phillip’s eyes widened in fear. What was he going to do?

                Katrina looked on in horror as Jonghyun formed a fist with his hand, getting ready to strike.

                There has to be a way out of this Katrina thought But what can we do? As she glanced at her captor, she remembered something Taemin had said before about Phillip:

                “His presence will probably help us be able to fight against the spirits’ influence”

                This gave Katrina an idea.

                “Philly!” she cried, getting the young boy’s attention. “Taemin said something earlier about you being able to help them fight the spirits inside of them because of your position as heir.”

                Phillip turned to Jonghyun, who was getting ready to strike. “Ok,” Phillip replied, “But what do I do?”

                Katrina shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, but you need to try something.” She managed to get these words out before Taemin slammed her into the wall, causing pain to course through her entire body. Phillip was terrified, but Katrina was right: He had to try something. He turned to look Jonghyun straight in the face and gazed into his eyes, finding the black corneas he remembered from the forest. The speck of gold was still there, but it was significantly smaller now and was almost overwhelmed from the spirits’ evil influence. Keeping his eyes on those two spots, Phillip took a deep breath and started to do what he did best: Talk.

                “Jonghyun, please.” He started, “I know you’re in there. This isn’t you. Evil has taken you over, but you can’t let it crush you.” As Phillip consoled Jonghyun, he started to blink, the gold spots slowly growing in size with every word spoken. “I’ve never really met you, but I can tell you care for your friends, for your clan. For your family, the Valkyrie. Don’t let the enemy crush everything you love Jonghyun.” The gold in the Valkyrie leader’s eyes now took up more space than the black. Jonghyun unclenched his fist and dropped his arms, letting go of Phillip. He was starting to come back. Phillip smiled, knowing he was about to win. However, as soon as it seemed like Jonghyun was about to be free from darkness’s grasp, the gold suddenly disappeared completely from his eyes. There was no gold to be found as Jonghyun clenched his hand again, advancing on the shocked boy as he tried to scramble backwards, only to find that he was stuck in a corner. Phillip was panicked as Jonghyun prepared to strike. There wasn’t anything he could do. Phillip bowed his head, waiting for the inevitable strike to come as a tear formed in his eye. He didn’t know these guys, and he didn’t know much about the Valkyrie, but he already felt an emotional attachment to them. It upset him that the others of his kind were forced to do the evil spirits’ bidding. He wanted to free them from the grip of darkness. He wanted them to be free.

                Be free.

                Suddenly, a breeze started to pick up. This was strange because there was no opening to the outside in the room. Additionally, this gust of wind was very different from most; it was strangely calming and relaxing. Soon, the small gust turned into a big burst of the most refreshing, sweet smelling air Phillip had ever felt or smelt. He looked into Jonghyun’s eyes to find that the gold specks had come back, and they were still growing. Shocked, Phillip turned to Katrina, finding her released from Taemin’s grasp. The darkness in his eyes was receding as well, revealing a splash of chocolate brown. Phillip’s mouth hung open. Did I do that? He thought as Jonghyun’s eyes met Phillip’s. He winced as he tried to fight off the evil inside of him.

                “Do it again.” Jonghyun muttered, as his hissed in pain. The spirits’ were apparently not giving up without a fight. At first, Phillip was confused by what Jonghyun meant, but then he realized that the wind wasn’t wind at all; it was his power. His thoughts were so strong that he created an influence that rivaled the spirits’ control. He closed his eyes as he thought the same words as before, only stronger.

                BE FREE!

                The power of these words engulfed the entirety of the room as a wave of wind exploded from Phillip’s small form. This energy knocked everyone except Phillip off their feet, leaving them breathless on the floor. After a few seconds, the wind died down, and Katrina raised her head from the dirt covered ground. She turned to Phillip as he crouched down to Jonghyun, who was groaning with pain. She then turned her head to Taemin, who was also coming to his senses. He blinked several times before he finally found the strength to pull himself from the ground. He glanced at Katrina, his eyes back to his usual bright brown color and smiled as he realized that he wasn’t possessed anymore. Overjoyed, he scooped a surprised Katrina into a big hug.

                “You came! Oh thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!” He exclaimed. Katrina didn’t know what do to at first, but eventually she smiled and decided to hug him back.

                “Don’t thank me.” She replied, turning to Phillip again. By this time, Jonghyun had opened his eyes, revealing them to be completely encompassed in a brilliant shade of gold that could make anyone stare in awe. He looked upon Phillip in confusion at first, not knowing where he was, but as soon as he saw Phillip’s pure white wings, his face lit up in recognition. Jonghyun began to smile as he slowly stood up, outstretching his own wings. Phillip was shocked to see that Jonghyun’s once-black wings had suddenly turned white, just like his. Jonghyun smile turned into a joyful grin as he embraced Phillip and started to cry with relief.

                “Thank you! Thank you so much for freeing us! I feel so alive!” he exclaimed as Taemin ran to the two and hugged them both, creating a group hug. Phillip giggled as he returned the hug to the both of them.

                “I’m just glad you guys are ok now.” He replied as Katrina came slowly walking up. At first, she just observed the happy reunion, until she decided she was bored.

                “Aw, what the heck.” She shrugged as she too joined in the hug fest, ruffling Phillip’s hair in congratulations.

                Just then, the door came crashing down as Shindong came barreling through, blindly tackling them all to the ground. To make matters worse, Sungmin and Siwon rushed in too, ready to attack the converted Valkyrie. Before they could pounce though, Katrina yelled,

                “Calm down guys! They’re good now!”

                With this news, Siwon and Sungmin slowly back off, almost bumping into the other members who were crowding the hallway behind them. Shindong then got up from into top of them, helping Jonghyun and Taemin up with an apologetic smile. Taemin returned the smile and helped Katrina and Phillip up, while Jonghyun was slightly agitated, dusting off his wings that were now speckled with grime.

                “Alright,” he finally muttered, turning towards Katrina. “If you’re going to save your mother, we need to get you down to the bottom floor. That’s where Onew took her. He’s almost ready to perform the energy draining ceremony.”

                Katrina nodded in response. “Let’s go.” She exclaimed as she started to sprint down the stairs once more, only to be stopped by Taemin.

                “If you’re going to get down there quickly, you’ll need us to help you fly down.” Taemin explained. Jonghyun nodded in agreement.

                Leeteuk stepped forward, taking control and deciding who should be flown down to the ground. The others could run down the stairs, arriving into the battle later. “Alright, Taemin, you’ll take Katrina. Phillip, you’ll take Siwon. Donghae, use your powers to take Eunhyuk down with you. And Jonghyun,” Leeteuk hesitated as he glanced at his former enemy. “Take me down. The rest of you need to run to the bottom floor as quickly as possible. Sungmin, use your powers of body control to speed up everyone’s movements.” Everyone nodded, understanding the plan. However, everyone’s attention became diverted as Jonghyun and Taemin started to cough violently, crouching over and breathing heavily in pain. Jonghyun looked up at Leeteuk.

                “We’ll have to hurry,” he winced, “The spirits are still inside of us, and they’re sure to repossess us soon I’m afraid.”

                Phillip frowned. He may have been able to stop the spirits for a while, but it seemed that he couldn’t destroy them for good. His thoughts were interrupted by Jonghyun as he placed his hand upon Phillip’s shoulder. Their eyes met, and Jonghyun smiled, his eyes seeming to glow with light.

                “Come on,” he encouraged, “the sooner we save Christine, the sooner we can be truly freed.”

                Phillip smiled in return as he took Siwon by the shoulders and lifted him up into the air. The others followed suit, picking up their assigned charge, and flying straight down into the abyss one by one. Taemin and Katrina were the last to go, and before they made the plunge, Katrina turned and met the eyes of the others: Atlas, Ryeowook, Shindong, Yesung, Kyuhyun, and Sungmin. With one last smile she said,

                “See you guys down there. And try not to be late for the action this time.”

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OMG I'm back! :D I'm sorry for not updating in so long, but I've been on a two week trip, and then I was kind of getting used to being back. I know, excuses, excuses. But I'm back now, so yay! ^^ Anyway, we're kind of getting close to the end now. There's probably about 3-5 chapters left. But it doesn't have to stop there if you don't want to ;) After this story ends, I'm planning on making a series of the Phantom's backstories, from Ryeowook's adventures in the spirit forest, to Donghae and Eunhyuk's antics in the church, and maybe some stories from Kyuhyun and Shindong's past too. I'm also thinking about making a sequel. I've already got a plot in mind, so hopefully I'll have enough time on my hands to write it. However, I will only write this stuff if I have your support. Please tell me what you think about these ideas. If no one wants me to write these, I'll just go on to a different story entirely. Anyway, as always, thank you for your continuing support through your comments and subscriptions, and please feel free to comment and/or subscribe if you haven't done so yet. :) It's great to be back!

~Justjoking <3