He disappeared into thin air right before my eyes. His black ceremonial robe sinking to the ground where he had tossed it before he vanished. It was dead weight apparently. The less weight he had on him when he teleported, the faster he could do so. The easier it was. The easier it was for Kai to within the next second appear behind an unsuspecting Baekhyun.

Kai's leg went flying through the air, slicing through it as though slicing through the oxygen molecules themselves. He was fast. Undeniably fast. I understood now why D.O had said Chanyeol and Xiumin were not that fast at all. Because well, compared to Kai, they certainly weren't. They were the turtles and Kai the hare. Kai and Baekhyun. After all, Kai's kick failed to hit the latter, his leg returning to his side after its brief flight.

Though the reason he missed was not because Baekhyun had dodged it. No, Baekhyun had remained stationary even before Kai had discarded his robe before, leaving himself in only a pair of pants and a black t-shirt. Kai's kick had missed because he had misjudged the path of his kick. He had struck the air misguidedly a good three feet from where Baekhyun even stood, his orientation centered much more left than need be.

And even now, Kai looked confused. He looked lost as he stared on into space, not looking at Baekhyun in the least. I didn't understand and I wouldn't have understood had it not been for Chanyeol's explanation of the extent of Baekhyun's power just then.

"He blinded him." Chanyeol's expression was one of empathy, as though he had experienced the same situation Kai now found himself in, "Baekhyun can adjust the amount of light along with the kind of light your irises can absorb. He can blur your vision. He can sharpen your vision. He can make you colorblind. And in this case, he made Kai blind."

And Baekhyun was utilizing his ability to it's full extent as Tao came running towards the two, Baekhyun's body pivoting towards the wooden sword wielding Tao deafly slow as though his limbs had to go through viscous honey in order to move as he willed them to. I didn't need Chanyeol to explain to me the reason behind Baekhyun's slow motion moves. It was Tao's doing. It was Tao’s power that slowed Baekhyun as he charged forward, speeding up his own steps despite undoubtedly being blinded by Baekhyun himself. The sound that resounded off of the white walls of the large room was barely audibly, only small taps heard with each step.

He was light on his feet. None of the Guardians took particularly heavy steps but Tao’s were notably different. They were practiced steps. Steps that coupled instinct and skill. He had a stance as he reached Baekhyun that seemed too rigid and squared yet so fluid and effortless at the same time. Tao was a fighter as the rest of the Guardians were.

Yet, he was a different kind of fighter.

He was a trained fighter.

He was meant for the front lines. The battlefield was a second home to him. He seemed so natural as he cut the air with the wooden sword in his right hand, a clean swipe that hit nothing as Kai’s, his partner in this duo versus duo sparring match, kick had. This time, it was not due to Baekhyun that the attempted strike missed, Tao seemingly unaffected by his power.

It was due to Kris, who swiftly made his way to and grabbed a hold of Baekhyun, hoisting him upwards out of Tao’s range. Tao looked up, dark eyes narrowing in irritation as he retracted his sword hand, drawing the wooden tool back to his side. With the pulling of Baekhyun’s attention away from Kai due to Kris’s sudden airlift, the former was no longer under the influence of Baekhyun’s ability.

With his vision now restored, Kai met eyes with Tao, and the two grinned. The two grinned at each other as though a like plan of action had formed within their minds. And once more, Kai disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving no trace behind.

I had witnessed a number of these sparring matches by now but I had never seen such a match up of Kris and Baekhyun against Kai and Tao. In fact, I had never seen the four of them fight before at all. Every match I had seen up to this point consisted of D.O, Chen, Chanyeol, Suho, Sehun, or Xiumin. This was the reason I was so mystified as I watched on as this match’s dictated attacker, Kai, appeared mid air beside a hovering Kris, who also happened to be this match’s attacker, causing the Guardian to dive straight back down towards the ground in order to avoid being punched out of the sky.

“Kris doesn’t usually go for the role of attacker.” Chanyeol spoke from my right, “His ability usually has him observing situations from afar while Xiumin, Sehun, Suho, Tao, or I clean up the mess below. But,” Chanyeol paused, drawing my attention to him for only a moment to find that his expression had changed into one of amusement. Pure amusement, “but I think he chose it this time so that he could show off.”

Show off?

As I looked back towards the fight happening in front of me, I realized what he meant. I hadn’t seen whatever action led up to this point as I had been momentarily pulled away from it by Chanyeol but I could definitely see what he meant.

Kris and Baekhyun were now back to back, Baekhyun guarding against a teleporting Kai whose punched missed once more as Baekhyun blurred his vision and Kris holding fast onto the wooden edge of Tao’s sword which trembled as Tao urged it to be brought further downward, to push and break through Kris’s strong grip.

And even though I was a long ways away from the four, I heard it. I heard the annoyed drawl that left Tao’s lips as he glowered up at Kris.

“If this were real, your hand would be cut in two.”

“If this were real, do you think I’d even allow you to have a single strike at me?” Kris answered, one of his eyebrows cocking itself upwards as he pushed Tao’s sword to the right effortlessly.

What did Kris have to show off? Other than his ability of flight, he seemed to excel when it came to physical strength. Despite Tao’s polished form, Kris had the brute force to put a stop to any attack Tao threw his way. Something I observed as Tao tugged his sword from Kris’s fingers and sent a roundhouse kick his way, only to be blocked once more. Tao’s frustration was obvious, as was Kris’s amusement with the entire situation.

“Those two, they’re always so competitive with each other.” Lay murmured from my left, a frown on his face as he thought about the excessive amount of injuries he would have to treat tonight. “What’s the point of being an amplifier or an attacker if they’re going to fight head on like that either way?”

That’s right, Tao was an amplifier in this case. He should have been backing up Kai, who was having a hard time landing a single hit on Baekhyun due to being constantly thrown off balance as his vision was hazed again and again. Despite Lay’s and Chanyeol’s statements however, I stayed silent.

I stayed silent because I knew what the gaze Kai had exchanged with Tao meant earlier.

I watched with alert eyes, not wanting to miss a single thing. Not wanting to miss a single detail of what took place next. Not wanting to miss Kai’s sudden rush forward towards Baekhyun that prompted the light-controlling Guardian to back up into his partner, taking every precaution against Kai by making sure he couldn’t be snuck up on from behind. However, as Kai disappeared a mere few meters away from Baekhyun, he didn’t reappear above him or to either side of him. Nor did he ever think of sneaking up from behind. No, Kai’s intention was to remain on his original course.  

Kai appeared less than three inches away from Baekhyun, grabbing hold of him before disappearing again, taking him along for the ride. I saw out of the corner of my eyes the slight shift of Chanyeol’s body forward as he moved to the edge of his seat, not expecting this in the least. Not expecting it as much as Kris himself who upon feeling the pressure on his back disappear, peaked over his shoulder for a single second. And when he looked back to Tao in front of him, he was met with two things.

First, he was met with a once more charging Tao who looked much more confident than he did before. Second, he was met with the sudden intrusion of something else into his vision. The sudden appearance of Kai holding onto a struggling Baekhyun from behind.

Tao’s charge was not meant for Kris in the least. It was meant for Baekhyun. Upon now seeing their strategy, upon now seeing that they had been targeting Baekhyun who impaired them the most, from the very beginning, Kris rushed forward. His feet hovered mere inches above the ground, supplying him the swiftness of what I imagined could be attributed to a speeding bullet.

And as I watched, as I watched the scene along with an awestruck Lay and a anticipating Chanyeol, I saw it.

I saw that which was not really there at all.

I saw not Kai restraining Baekhyun.

I saw not Tao running towards them from the right.

I saw not Kris flying towards them from the left.

I saw a man and a woman embracing one another.

I saw a man and a woman whispering to each other.

Whispering words.

Words of affection.

Deep, heartfelt affection.

Words as they cried.

As tears streamed down their cheeks, chilling me to the bone as I saw it.

As I saw not Tao or Kris but a whirl of vibrant red and orange and yellow.

Of stinging, scorching, seething red and orange and yellow.

Of fire.

Of fire as chunks of dark gray and brown fell upon them from above, burying them in smoke and dust.

And still they whispered.

Still they spoke those three words to each other until they disappeared into the red and black stained spectrum of colors that engulfed them.

I love you, he said.

I love you too, she said.

Whispers, whispers, and whispers of those words over and over and over again until one noise pierced through them. Until one sound akin to a wail trumped them. Trumped their hopelessness. Trumped their weary thoughts of the impossibility of anything else but destruction.

My voice.

It was my voice that I heard as I no longer saw the woman and the man and I was back. I was back. Instead looking upon the frozen figures of Kris, Kai, Baekhyun, and Tao in front of me.

“Stop.”

I had yelled before and now said again, my voice a whisper so much like the man and the woman’s. Too much like the man and the woman’s.

And over the faint words of my title to me by Lay and by Chanyeol at my side, I felt suffocated once more. I felt as though I was drowning in the air that surrounded me, my lungs stilling despite my mind which willed myself to breath. To remain here as myself.

To not become “her” who thrived as I disappeared beneath the pitch-black ash.

“Her” who pushed at me from behind, attempting to move past me. Attempting to shove me away to the far corners of Exo Planet so that she could handle this all as she did before. As she did so well before.

But just as I felt myself falling away at that last thought, as I felt myself fading away at that last thought, I heard him. I heard his voice echo within my head, knocking against the walls of my skull, knocking me out of my reverie.

What do we have to stop? If you don’t tell us, who will?

Kai understood.

He understood with that one word.

He understood what I didn’t even understand.

There was something to stop.

And I was the one who had to help them stop it.

It was an explosion that caused the collapse of the subway tunnel at six thirty-eight this late afternoon. The act of faulty wiring apparently. It wasn’t hard to believe, as there was an explosion that e particular subway train into a fire express of death before this. Whatever it was that caused it, it left Exotians on their way home from work in danger.

But, they were handling it.

The Guardians were handling it as their Seeress dictated.

Tao slowed time as they worked, focusing all of his energy on keeping the underground tunnel from collapsing into itself right then and there. He was confused at first as to why she, her highness, directed him and the others to go to the city. They had no direction, no real idea of what they were going to face when they got there. It wasn’t long, however, until a series of events were set into motion and not far from the People’s Court, the sound of an explosion could be heard. It sounded like an eruption. An eruption of fire and rock and screams. Screams as Exotians fled down the street. And it made sense then, what they were facing.

It made sense to Tao and to Suho, who was underground now, acting as the fire truck that had yet to arrive on the scene. He drew water down the stairs of the subway tunnel before drenching the fire that ate through the concrete walls of the station as though it were paper. He was in the garden when her highness called him using his Calling Stone, regulating to him the message that she needed him.

In her exact words, she said, “Suho, Exo needs you.”

She had rarely called on him using his Calling Stone and he had forgotten. He had forgotten the way her voice had echoed against his head the first time, as soothing as the ocean waves that wash upon a shore. Yet, just as destructive. Just as destructive because it ate at him and instilled in the place of the sands it ate away a sense of immense protectiveness. A dominating protectiveness for Exo Planet and all Exotians who lived upon it but most of all, of his Seeress herself. He felt no shame in feeling this way, in thinking this way, because it was trust he felt for her highness.

Trust that Chen was fueled by. Trust that was the only thing that drove him on as he aided Kai, pulling frozen in time Exotian after frozen in time Exotian out of the crumpling tunnel before heading back down to pull out another. Her highness instructed him to come here with the others yet he saw no way in which his ability over lightning could help. And now, as he had been doing this entire time as he hauled yet another Exotian to safety, he asked himself, what should he do? What should he do to help here? What could he do to help here? Why was he chosen over others to help here? Why was he chosen at all?

“The Tree of Life doesn’t have the best of tastes.” He muttered beneath his ragged breath as he went down into the smoke filled tunnel once more, driven on simply by the assurance that she would answer his question when this was over. When they saved every single Exotian and put a stop to this sudden catastrophe.

A catastrophe Lay was overseeing above ground as he tended to all of the minor scrapes and bruises that could have been so much worse, that should have been so much worse, had her highness not sent them to the surface. The word “grateful” didn’t even begin to describe how he felt right now as he soothed the pain of each and every Exotian Kai and Chen brought out from below. The word “pride” didn’t even begin to express what he felt for her highness. But, it was a start.

Despite starting out with unfulfilled expectations for his Seeress, Baekhyun was more than pleased with how things turned out. He was more than eager to help Chen and Kai see within the smoke filled tunnel. More than eager to jump at a single word of Exotians being in danger. He had dreamt of what his Seeress would be like in the past. He told her himself he imagined her to be the “haughty princess” type. The type that defined most Seeresses of the past, including the one before her. She was far from that though. It surprised him how far from that she was. His expectations were not fulfilled but reality turned out much better than his dream.

Reality which now had Tao, Suho, Chen, Lay, Baekhyun, and Kai aiding Exotians, aiding the future of Exo Planet, in ways they had never thought they would have in the past. Aiding Exotians before finding their Seeress was to aid the Council. Now, as Luhan had put it in a previous meeting with them, they were declaring themselves separate from the Council. They were declaring themselves enemies of the Council. And they could declare such a bold title without fear now. Because she was here. Because their Seeress was here to help them help Exo Planet.

“Anyone else?” Tao yelled as he felt his stamina waning. He wouldn’t be able to keep slow the ebb of time for long. It was too much for him to handle when gravity was working against him, along with firestorms and racing trains.

Kai scanned the area, squinting to see through the thick smoke. He was glad now more than ever for Baekhyun’s power that allowed him without much trouble to see each and every corner of the presently empty subway station.

He opened his mouth, prepared to respond back with a firm “No,” but he froze.

He stopped mid-breath in.

He stopped when he saw them. Them, who he had been too blind to see before, even with Baekhyun’s help. Them, the couple standing in the middle of it all. Of the smoke and the fire and the rock. They were there, holding onto each other, grasping at one another as though this were it. As though this was the last moment of their lives. As though there would be nothing more after this.

And there was something about it.

There was something about that scene that made him wonder if he should say “No.” If he should let them be together in their last moments because who knows what the future has in store for them? Who knows if they will be able to be together upon their death beds in the future?

Her highness did.

Only her highness.

And with that thought, he answered Tao.

I wanted to go.

I wanted to go to the surface and see for myself how things were going.

I didn’t want to have to wait.

Images of broken class, blood, fire, limp bodies, and a speeding subway train haunted me as I stood in the middle of the Main Hall of the Guardians, their twelve calling stones surrounding me.

But, I merely gripped onto my balled fist tighter.

Because no matter how much I wanted to go, I felt, deep down, that I wasn’t supposed to. Not this time. This time, I would leave it up to them to handle it. Them, the Guardians, whose progress I couldn’t see because Luhan was being blocked. Luhan was being blocked by the Council from seeing everything in Sector A near the subway station. The cameras malfunctioned, he explained to me earlier. He wasn’t be able to send his orbs outside of the Hall of the Guardians. Outside of the Hall, he had to rely on the technology of the city to convey messages and to see the going-ons of the city itself. Technology that shut down right before the explosion occurred.

I’ve decided not to shove blame towards the most obvious culprits for now.

Why?

Because getting mad will not help this situation.

Pointing fingers will not save lives.

“Your highness.” Luhan’s voice drifted into the room and sure enough, as I turned, there was that translucent orb a few feet behind me. I waited for his next words as I stared on at the glowing surface, and even before he finished his thought, I knew what it was that he was going to say. Just the tone of that first syllable gave it away, “They have returned.”

They have returned.

Baekhyun, Tao, Chen, Kai, Suho, and Lay have returned.  

Baekhyun, Tao, Chen, Kai, Suho, and Lay are okay.

“And the Exotians?” I inquired, the relief in my heart not filling me to the brim until his next words echoed through the room.

“Not a single Exotian was injured.”

And that was all it took to cause me to leave the room and head straight for the entrance to the Hall of the Guardians to greet them. To greet those who gave me the strength to continue on alongside those like them. To greet them with a smile so large, I swear my jaw hurt the next day.

And I understand now why I shouted that one word. Why “stop” had come to me instead of all other words I could have uttered. Yes, it was because there was something to stop. But, there was another reason.

I wanted to stop those whispers of hopelessness. Those whispers that resounded within me a sense of futility. A loss of willingness to fight against destruction.

And even though I hadn’t seen their faces in my vision, I wanted to see them again now.

I wanted to see that couple.

I wanted to tell them, “This isn’t the end.”

This isn’t the end of their story.

This is just the beginning. 

A/N: 

Again I missed last week's update. Things happened and it simply turned out like that. Will I miss next Sunday's though? Most likely not. Especially since school's busy week has come to a close for me and it's smooth sailing from here on. 

Oh, and regarding this chapter, it once more turned out better than I thought it would. So there. The end. Or rather, the beginning?