"Jinkyong!!!" Chanyeol came running into Jinkyong's room in the morning looking panicky. Jinkyong jumped up from her bed and rubbed her eyes. "What is it, Chanyeol." She mumbled. "We need to find the Wind Element! Suho just connected to me and told me that Sehun collapsed and he still haven't woke up. He said Sehun could go into coma or worse...." Chanyeol looked at her worriedly.

Jinkyong, who is now fully awake also looked worried. "What are we gonna do? It could be anywhere in the world! We need Sulli here to help us." She reasoned as she got out of bed. "I know. But I can't connect to her, somehow." Chanyeol nodded as they walk down the corridor towards the living room. Everyone except Himchan is downstairs, looking positively worried.

"Come on, guys. If we just sit here, Sehun's condition will get worse and he will...." Kai trailed off and he bit his bottom lip. Sehun is his good friend. He couldn't bear losing him. "Don't you even think about that, Kai." Lizzy scolded and slapped his arm.

"But there is one more problem." Baekhyun looked up and stared straight into Jinkyong's eyes. "The Nature Element disappeared last night. Right when we arrived in Rome. And now I am suspecting someone is behind all this stupid mess." he said. Jinkyong furrowed her eyebrows. But who is behind this? Why would they do that?

"There are not many people who can have this much power to eliminate all the elements in this short period. It's been only 3 months and all the elements disappeared......" Chanyeol analysed and frowned. "Who, though?" he mumbled later on after his 'explosive' thinking. 

Kai buried his face in his hands and groaned. "There's not much time left." he mumbled, "We have one year to finish this stupid task. We thought it was done after we found the first element, water. But others just keep disappearing. Our teammates are in a bad condition. No one is allowed to help us." He started raising his voice and black dust started swirling around his body. Lizzy touched his arm gently and he began to cool down.

"Whoever wants to destroy our planet must be crazy." Chanyeol growled. "Or hungry for power. Either one." Baekhyun's frown got deeper and deeper like he's been thinking very hard about something. Jinkyong stared at him worriedly. She had a feeling that he had an idea of who's behind this mess. Baekhyun looked up and caught her concerned eyes. He smiled gently and nodded as if saying, I'll tell you later. Jinkyong let it pass and concentrated on the group.

"Guys." She spoke up, which grabbed their attention. "When you were assigned to this work... was there a special place mentioned?" she asked. The guys looked at each other and shook their heads. Jinkyong sighed and rubbed her temples. 

"But," Kai raised his hand, "Boss did say Krystal was our companion, but then he sent her back which doesn't really make sense. A companion is supposed to stick with us, long term. But he sent her back after only around 2- 3 months. It's weird."

Baekhyun's body went riggid. Jinkyong looked over and saw that he was sweating. The longer she stared, the more she started to realise. She's pretty sure who Baekhyun is thinking about, and she doesn't really like the thought and she definitely hoped he was wrong. 

"Boys." She cleared and glanced at Baekhyun nervously before returning to her speech. "I think what we should do now is find the Wind Element." 

"Which won't be easy." Nana spoke up. Jinkyong nearly forgot that she was there. "I've been noticing something, actually." Nana frowned. "I've been noticing.... that none of you guys can rally connect to your world. Even when Suho connected to Chanyeol, the connection wasn't clear right, Channie?" Chanyeol nodded grimly.

"Doesn't it sound like you're being kicked out of your planet?" Lizzy hummed. Everyone turned frozen. It was true. After the boys landed on Earth, their connection to their home started fading. Krystal was sent back, Sulli couldn't be connected and an unclear connection with Suho. Nobody said anything, but they seemed to be in a silent agreement.

"It is unusual." Baekhyun muttered. "And it does sound like we're being kicked out." he said and glanced at Lizzy. "But we don't know who's behind this yet." Lies, Jinkyong thought. "All we have to do now is find the Wind Element, like what Jinkyong said." he finished. Everybody nodded and agreed to meet later in the afternoon. 

As everybody disposed off into their rooms. Chanyeol and Kai in one room, probably going to sleep. Lizzy and Nana in one to, well, maybe sleep or just up playing computer. 

Jinkyong spotted Baekhyun walking back to his shared room with Himchan. She ran towards him and grabbed his arm. "Baekhyun." she said. He turned around and his eyes turned hard. He knows she is here to talk about what he has been thinking. He sighed and nodded.

Both of them headed downstairs and sat outside on the old swingset in the Kim's backyard.

"You know who is behind this." Jinkyong spoke up after some moments of silence. "Well, at least, you have an idea."

"Yeah." Baekhyun nodded and clasped his hands together. He really hates what he's thinking right now, but all the clues are hinting that his idea is true. "It's not a good thought." he shook his head.

"I guessed." Jinkyong grinned playfully. He smiled. She always manage to make him smile somehow. "So who is it, exactly?" she asked. Baekhyun's smile faded a little bit as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Well...." he hesitated, "It might sound ridiculous but I'm pretty sure it's....." he took a deep breath, "I think it's my bo--"

"Hey Jinkyong!" Chanyeol jogged up to them and cut off Baekhyun's sentence. Which annoyed Jinkyong very much. "Where is the fridge in your house?" he asked.

Jinkyong rolled her eyes unbelievably. "You open the white cupboard on the right and there's the fridge." she sighed. "Seriously, Chanyeol. I showed you yesterday and you still can't rememb--"

"Yeah yeah." he waved her off and turned to Baekhyun. "Come on, Baek. Don't sit around with this old nagging grandmother." he tugged Baekhyun to his feet and they ran off. Baekhyun turned his head back and mouthed, "We'll talk later." and went away. It wasn't that necessary since she can guess from what he was goint to say. Boss. That's what he's saying. She knew it.

"YAH! PARK CHANYEOL. WHO ARE YOU CALLING GRANDMA?!" Jinkyong yelled and pushed her thoughts to the the back of her mind. What could his boss possibly do when they're literally planets apart? Her sleeves started to catch on fire and she quickly patted the fire out and growled. We'll see later, Park Chanyeol. She transmitted the message and heard Chanyeol laughing from inside the house.

Jinkyong walked back inside the house and saw her father in his study, beckoning her to come in. She was surprised because usually, her father's study is somewhere he never let Jinkyong or Himchan in. Ever. She was raised that way. 

Jinkyong shuffled towards the room hesitantly, not sure whether if she should enter or not. But when she saw her father's face, she knew she had to get in. She slid the door and felt instant pain all over her body. She staggered backwards, clutching the door as she glared at her legs which are threatening to give up.

"Don't worry." Her father said. "Come sit down first." she followed his orders and slumped down on the green armchair in the corner, the closest to her at that moment.

"Dad... what's happening? It hurts..." she asked, totally confused by the sudden pain. She felt like she was going to die. Her father tossed her an object and it landed on her lap. It was a ring. It looks normal but as soon as she touches it, it turns into a smoky form. It's strange that she could still hold on to it.

"Wear it, honey." Mr. Kim rushed. Jinkyong slid it through her ring finger and the pain instantly disappeared. "Whaa..?"

"This room contains alot of powerful objects, Jinkyong. You felt the pain they had done to you. Did you know what they did?" he asked. Jinkyong shook her head as she massaged her legs. "They inhale your powers and soul." Jinkyong froze. Inhale powers? She looked at her shadow and tried to control it. After seconds of nothingness, her shadow started to move around by her command. She sighed in relief and looked at her dad.

"You scared me for a moment there. I thought I lost my powers!" she exclaimed.

Mr. Kim chuckled. "That ring is helping you." he said, "It holds back your soul and powers. Quite useful, actually." he nodded. Jinkyong looked down at the ring which is now quite solid. This thing is saving her life?

"So....." she started. "Why did you call me in here? I thought I wasn't allowed..." she trailed off as her eyes landed on something on her father's desk. It was a black, Greek designed dagger. Jinkyong suddenly felt attached to it, wanting to have it to herself.

"I see....." Mr.Kim nodded as he noticed his daughter staring hugrily at the dagger on the table. Jinkyong snapped out of her trance and looked at her father.

"Huh? See what?" she asked, her eyes still stuck on the glowing dagger.

"Jinkyong, you don't get to choose weapons." Mr.Kim explained, "The weapons will choose you. That's why, among all the weapons laid out, you can only see this one."

Jinkyong blinked and did a double take at the table. There were -indeed- more weapons laid out. Bows and quivers, switch blades, hammers, axes, swords and daggers. But strangely, no guns. "Why are there no guns?"

"Ah, good question- but you see, guns are rare weapons in EXO. Why? Because it can kill humans." Mr.Kim grinned, "Magic is essential for weapons in EXO. That dagger you're looking at, is made from the magic of my father -or rather- Ghutonia. This dagger cannot harm regular humans, but it can harm people our type. Here, hold it." he beckoned.

Jinkyong reached out but the dagger instantly flew into her hand, startling her. The dagger started glowing with black smoke emitting from the blade, just like the way the ring reacted.

"Oh wow...." she gasped. She felt as if she had all the powers in the world now that she's holding the dagger. Shadows of all kinds are starting to grow darker and bigger, until Jinkyong stopped it.

"Jinkyong." she looked up and met her father's very stern eyes. "You are going out to battle today. You had no training at all and all you have are your powers and that dagger. Will you be alright?" he asked, completely concerned.

"I'll be fine, Dad." she grinned. She had had some lessons on boxing and self-defence before. If anything does happen, she can use those skills.

"Okay..... if you say so... But I must give you one more advice before you leave." he said, "Baekhyun is essential to you, and you are essential to Baekhyun."

Jinkyong frowned. What did that mean? Before she could stop herself, she became tomato red. "Wha--"

"Now go get ready." Mr.Kim cut her off and pushed her outside.

She wanted to ask what that meant but he slammed the door closed before she could even open . She looked towards the kitchen to see Baekhyun leaning at the counter, laughing at a joke Chanyeol made. Her heart started to beat unnaturally fast. She calmed down and shook her head, focusing back on what her father had just said. And what did he mean by being in a battle?

Afternoon came and everyone gathered in the living room. The guys are nicely dressed as if they expected some paparazzi to take pictures of them. Himchan decided not to go with them because everything was too 'weird' for him.

"Everyone ready?" Jinkyong asked. They nodded and smiled. Mr.Kim patted his daughter's shoulders and gave her a concerned look. 

"Hey, listen, hun. Be careful alright? It might sound ridiculous but really... I have a bad feeling. If anything happens, make sure to call me, yeah?" Jinkyong grinned and hugged her father. "I'll make sure I'm safe." she smiled and kissed his cheeks. He nodded with a slightly relaxed smile but he still seems tensed. Jinkyong turned back to her friends.

"Since you're ready, we should go now." she said, "and I'm pretty sure everyone knows where we will start...?" she tilted her head and looked over each one of them. Of course, the girls are still a bit confused but the boys knew exactly where to go.

"You know girls, you don't have to go." Mr. Kim said and looked at Nana and Lizzy. "It's quite dangerous. You to are only mortals. These guys, well, they're not really mortals so they can still survive a blow or injury." he explained. Jinkyong thought it was a joke then realised that her father was serious. He knew that things will get messy.

"But.... I'm concerned..." Nana pouted and gazed at Chanyeol. Oh, they are definitely dating alright.

"Don't worry," Chanyeol smiled lightly, "I'll be okay." he took her hands and they gazed at each other. Lizzy and Kai decided to hug it out rather than saying anything. Jinkyong and Baekhyun? Well they just smiled at each other, because they know that if anything happens, they will be fighting side by side. 

Finally, the girls decided to stay back with much convincing and they group of four headed out. They called a cab and headed to the building. The building that looks the most suspicious in Rome.

During the ride, Baekhyun started to get fidgety. The feeling has come again. He's starting to feel uneasy towards the building they were heading to. The closer they get, the more he's dreading the search. He didn't like this feeling at all, and one reason why he doesn't like it is because his feelings were never wrong.

A tingling sensation also shot through Jinkyong's body. She didn't understand why it is happening, but she feels like she's getting closer to something that defines 'evil'. She reached out for Baekhyun's hand and grabbed it tightly. Baekhyun sensed something wrong so he squeezed her hand tight.

What's wrong, Jinkyong? he asked, blocking out everyone but him and her. She shivered and closed her eyes.

I don't feel good. She answered. I feel like.... I'm getting closer to something unpleasant. Something.... evil. She opened her eyes and stared at Baekhyun. She knew these feelings now. They were a gift from her grandfather, Ghutonia, who is Lord of the Dark. And Dark always resemble something evil. That's what her father had said.

I feel weird too, Baekhyun admitted. I don't like this at all. Their conversation stopped with their hands still intertwined, unnoticed by the other guys onboard.

Finally, the cab stopped in front of the building. Jinkyong thanked the driver and looked at the building as the cab drives off. The other guys are staring at it intently as the air around them turned dark and gloomy. This wasn't a place where they should be, but they have no choice. They can't back out now. Their friend is dying.

Come on, you idiots! How can you not be ready when they're already here?!

Do you want to ruin my reputation?

And you! Keep these two idiots in the cage. They can be a good trap.

Now get ready for ambush! Two of them already realised something was wrong.

Don't fail me, fools. I trained you well. 

'Fail' does not exist in my dictionary!

I'm back..... I'm finally back!

Crescendo--