Warning before reading!!

This part is un-beta-ed. So please bear my bad English.

 

~ ooOOOoo ~

 

Chanyeol was staring at the girl who sat across the room on the sofa playing with the Phoenix; the flame bird had been kind enough to shrink itself to a smaller size. Nothing looked special from her. Compared to Hana’s beauty, she looked ordinary. In fact, she looked fragile with a petite figure despite of her bright and kind smile. But something about her told him that she wasn’t just a normal girl. She had the impression of Sunsu. Even his Phoenix had proved the matter; it had never come out on its will whenever Hana was around and in trouble.

 

He remembered that he was driving to Suho’s beach house when suddenly an uneasy feeling struck him. He felt something bad had happened. He felt threatened. Then, out of nowhere, his Phoenix came out his chest and flew toward the house. At that moment, he knew something had happened and he decided to rush toward it.

 

When he got there, he felt a sudden change in his surroundings. He stopped and looked around. He realized that a moment earlier the surrounding was silent without any hint of life forms except for the ones inside the house; and afterwards he could feel many life forms around him. It occurred to him that he had entered a barrier that was built to conceal something. So he was worried that his Suho hyung might be attacked by an evil entity.

 

But he felt relieved to find the older guy opening the door before he knocked. Then, he saw her, standing on the living room before his Phoenix with all the glory and purity around her. Unconsciously, he mentioned a name without any hesitation.

 

Sunsu.

 

It was who she really was. He had no doubt about it.

 

“Chanyeol-ah.”

 

The call made him turn his gaze to Suho. It seemed that he had been calling him for a while. “Yes?”

 

“Stop daydreaming.”

 

“Ah, right.” He turned his position to Suho who was behind the pantry table. “Sorry.”

 

“So… what do you want to know?”

 

He looked at the girl. She might be Sunsu but she lived with another name. He remembered that Suho introduced her as Chunjie and she lived with the other Legends on another world.

 

“So… Chunjie was brought to this world on the latest Eclipse?”

 

“Yes,” Suho replied him as he turned his gaze to the girl. “And the Red Forces have noticed her presence.”

 

Because of that, Chanyeol looked back at her. Then he saw the Phoenix stretching out its head over her shoulder protectively. Somehow he got a feeling that the Phoenix was trying to apologize for unable to protect her. She caressed its beak as if she was saying that it was fine. The Phoenix looked caring and obedient as it sat near the sofa and waited like a protective guardian to its master. To see the Phoenix with her, somehow he felt a little bit lonely. The Phoenix had always been with him ever since he could remember. He dropped his gaze and silently sighed, not noticing that Chunjie was gazing at him.

 

“So I brought her here for precaution.”

 

Chanyeol looked back at Suho. “So you’re staying here to protect her?”

 

“She’s the one that we have to protect. It’s our obligation as the Legends.”

 

He couldn’t go against the words. Even though he wanted to deny Chunjie’s presence as Sunsu, he couldn’t do it since his heart knew who she really was. Just by looking at her, all of his doubts had been removed. “But then… if Chunjie is Sunsu, then what is Hana?”

 

Somehow Suho’s expression became darker. “Something that is not,” he said then poured some water into the glass.

 

Chanyeol noticed the change on his expression. He leaned forward as he put his elbows on the table to support his body. “Hyung. You know something about Hana, don’t you?”

 

Suho raised his gaze to him.

 

“I think it’s time for you to tell me what you have been keeping about Hana. I know you’ve seen something but you refuse to tell us because you’re waiting for the right time. With Chunjie’s here, it’s the right time for you to tell us. No one will doubt that she is Sunsu.”

 

Suho put the water pitcher back on the table and exhaled as if he was considering something for a while. Then he looked at the younger guy. “You know that Sunsu had never taken life from any innocent creatures, right?”

 

Chanyeol nodded.

 

Suho leaned forward to get closer. “I saw Hana draining life out of newborn animals.”

 

Somehow, it made him sick to imagine that. “How…?”

 

Suho shrugged. “I accidently saw it when I got back from my business trip last year.”

 

Chanyeol seemed to remember something. “Ah. That was when Kai’s puppies were missing, right?”

 

Suho nodded. “It seemed that she needs pure life to support her power.”

 

“But the life-taking rituals were only performed by Red Forces. Hana has shown us her great power back then.”

 

“But did you notice that she rarely shows it lately? She depends on us to fight against the Red Creatures. So I assumed that Hana is not the one whom we thought she was.”

 

“Do you think that she’s one of the Red Forces?” Chanyeol asked.

 

Another shrug came from Suho. “I don’t know. But I assume that she is.”

 

“But Hana has the look that we’ve all remembered. And she also has the memories from our previous life.”

 

“I don't know how she got them. But she no longer can  convince me about her existence as Sunsu.”

 

Chanyeol just nodded. Somehow he admitted that he shared the same feeling as Suho. After seeing Chunjie, he couldn't convince himself any longer about Hana's existence as Sunsu.

 

“But then… why are you looking for me?”

 

The question made Chanyeol realize his actual purpose to come to Suho's private house. He was on his way to meet him when everything happened. He knew that he had a private house. Probably he was the only Legend who knew about it. He knew that Suho had bought a house outside the town near the beach and he kept it hidden from the rest of the Legends for some reasons.  Probably, Hana was one of them.

 

“Ah, that's… I want to discuss something with you. It’s about Sunsu.”

 

Suho straightened his body and crossed his arms on his chest. “What about her?”

 

“Do you remember when I told you about Sunsu's temple site?”

 

Suho nodded. “Yeah. I remember. You were supposed to be there yesterday, right?”

 

Chanyeol nodded. “Yes, I returned to the site immediately after the battle. I took a shortcut across the forest. And I found an abandoned hut on my way there. It looks rather new though, compared to the site nearby.”

 

“Then?”

 

“I think that it's weird to find a hut near the site. So I deliberated myself to check on it.”

 

He then took the sling bag that he brought. He took out two pieces of stones with carved symbol and unknown letters then put them on the table.

 

On one stone, a symbol was carved like a drop. It represented a Water Legend and Suho’s symbol. On the other one, there was a unicorn head carved. Both of them knew that it represented a Healing Legend. But then, there were smaller symbols and letters carved around the Legend symbols. They looked familiar yet they couldn’t read them. But the thing that interested Suho the most was the fact that the letters and symbols were cut off. It seemed that those symbols were part of a bigger inscription.

 

Suho touched the stone. “It seems that they were parts of something before.”

 

“I guess so.” Chanyeol looked at him. “Then there were other interesting things on the hut.”

 

Suho looked at him. “What kind?”

 

“Knitting tools, woman clothes and a baby’s crib. Basic daily stuff. A person or two had lived there, probably with a baby. But it seemed that they left in a hurry. I found a sign of breaking in.” He stopped for a while. “But I also found some books. I think those were journals since I found dates on them.”

 

“Did you read them?”

 

Chanyeol shook his head. “They were written in ancient language but not the one we know. It was similar but it was something older and forgotten.”

 

“The Tree of Life period?”

 

“Probably. We don’t have much knowledge about that time. Everything that we know came from the period after the time had overturned.” He paused. “But the weird thing is the date that was written. Some of them were dated back to 18 years ago.”

 

“What?” Suho felt a sudden interest. “Did you bring them with you?”

 

Chanyeol opened his bag again. “Most of them which were older are destroyed or half-intact. But I found one book that was still in one piece. It was dated 18 years ago and the newest that I could find.” He took out a sealed plastic bag. There was a notebook inside.

 

Unknown for them, on the moment Chanyeol took the book out of the plastic bag, Chunjie stopped and turned her gaze toward the guys. It seemed that she too was taking interest on the book.

 

Chanyeol put the book on the table and opened it while Suho came to his side. “From what I know, only the Holy Priest from Sunsu’s Temple had the knowledge about Tree of Life language even though it wasn’t much. And he never made guidance for it. But all of these were written on that language.”

 

“So basically, no one can read this.” Suho looked at the book and turned the pages. “But who has the ability to write in Ancient Language like this?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “The writer of the book did.”

 

Suho touched the date on the top of one page. “It’s really dated 18 years ago.” He then noticed that someone had come to join them. “Ah, Chunjie.”

 

Chanyeol turned his gaze and saw her already standing behind them. Her gaze was fixed to the book for a while before she turned to Suho.

 

“May I see it?” she asked while pointed at the book.

 

Suho looked at Chanyeol for his permission. He didn’t seem to mind. So Suho nodded and moved aside as he let her sit on the stool. “Sure.”

 

She sat and looked at the book. She turned to the first page, then went silent for a while before starting to read it. “’Month 2, date 1. Following the sign that was given to me, I went to a remote village on a mountain.’”

 

To hear the words, Chanyeol and Suho looked at each other. Chanyeol looked taken aback with his jaw dropped.

 

“She can read it?” he mouthed silently to Suho while the older one just shrugged to reply the question.

 

But both of them didn’t seem surprised. She was Sunsu so they could guess that she would be able to read it. They looked back at her who then continued to read.

 

“’I was told that a strange event had occurred. A girl was pregnant without being engaged. The villagers assumed that she had done a sin. So they confined her on a dark cold dungeon. But when I saw her, I knew that she has borne the mark of Sunsu. I must save her and I couldn’t be late again this time. So I did save her. I took her out and brought her away from the village before anything happened to her. But after we left, a ball of fire came and destroyed the village. It was horrible. I saw red creatures invading the village, killing many innocent lives. I knew that the Red Forces would come and find her. I myself couldn’t fight them all. I am not the one who was blessed by the power of Legends. But my priority now was her safety. We couldn’t go back. I promised her that I would keep her safe as well as her unborn child. She’s the mother of Sunsu. And her name is…’”

 

Suddenly, she stopped. It confused the two guys. They looked at her and then to each other, questioning what had happened. Both of them didn’t know why but they knew that something on the book had made her stop.

 

Suho looked at her. “What’s wrong, Chunjie?”

 

“The name…”

 

She turned her gaze to him. Her expression looked as if she wasn’t expecting something that she read.

 

“It’s my mother’s name.”

 

 

***

 

 

It was almost a week after Chunjie had left. The world seemed to keep on going as usual. But something was missing from Tao’s life.

 

Tao diverted his gaze to the empty seat beside him. Chunjie usually took the seat beside him and taught him everything about the lessons. And ever since she had left, no one sat there anymore. No one was with him whenever he walked to or from school. He he missed her.

 

Actually, their life went on as usual. Xiumin kept on working. Luhan took another programming job. Chen was still doing his part-time job. Lay kept on taking care of them at home. While Kris… he kept going out to find some information. But their lack of knowledge frustrated them. And though Kris showed them the notebook that Chunjie’s father had left, they couldn’t read it since it was written in an Ancient Language that they didn’t know. So they had no idea how to get her back.

 

The bell rang and brought him back to his sense. The class had ended so Tao collected his books and went out from the class. But when he stepped out, some girls came and stopped him.

 

“Tao, how’s Chunjie? Is she still sick?”

 

He recognized them as Chunjie’s friends; well, at least, Chunjie was hanging around with them sometimes. And worry was written on their faces. He remembered that he told them that she was sick for a reason of her absence; they knew that she had a fragile body. But he still had to assure them. So he nodded.

 

“Aa. She’s still sick.” He had lied.

 

“Can we see her?”

 

He must think of something quickly. “Ah, she’s still very weak now. I don’t think you’re allowed to see her.”

 

Their expression changed into disappointment as they heard his words. It made him pity on them. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Tell her to get well soon, then. We miss her.”

 

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll let her know.”

 

The girls went away as they waved at him. Tao could only look. If they only knew…

 

As he reached his destination, he saw a familiar figure leaning against a car as he waited. He knew that he was waiting for him. So he approached the guy.

 

Luhan turned his face as he sensed another Legend’s presence coming closer. He saw Tao approaching. He smiled and straightened his body as the younger one stopped before him.

 

“What are you doing here?” Tao asked.

 

“To pick you up. Did Kris tell you that he wants us to check on Chunjie’s mother?”

 

“I forgot to bring my phone. I left it in my room.”

 

Luhan just smiled to hear the answer then turned to open the door while Tao turned to the other side and got to the passenger’s door.

 

“Do you know where her mother is?” Tao asked as they had sat in the car.

 

Luhan handed him a piece of paper. “He wrote the hospital address and the room number here.”

 

He took the paper and looked at it. “I never met her mother before.”

 

“Me neither.” Luhan the engine. “The only one who has ever met her was Lay since his power is needed to cure her.” He looked at the boy and smiled. “But something needs a start, right?”

 

Tao returned the paper to him. “Yeah, right.”

 

Luhan just smirked then drove the car away.

 

At the hospital, both of them went in. since it was their first visit, they went to the receptionist to ask for direction before going to the room. And they eventually found it.

 

As they reached the room, a doctor came out and saw them. Luhan and Tao nodded at him, causing him to smile.

 

“Are you two Chunjie and Kris’ friends?”

 

They looked at each other before replying the question.

 

“Yes, we are,” Luhan replied while Tao only nodded. “How did you know?”

 

“Ah.” The doctor smiled. “Kris has told me that you would come.” He offered his hand. “I’m Dr. Xiang, the one who takes care of Chunjie’s mother.”

 

Luhan and Tao shook his hand.

 

“Kris told me that he was busy. So he sent you guys.” He paused then looked at them. “Did Kris ever tell you about her condition?”

 

“Not really,” Luhan replied him. “He just told us that Chunjie’s mother has memories disturbance and emotional imbalance; that she often goes on rage. But she’s a lot better now.”

 

The doctor nodded. “So I guess you’ve known enough about her condition. She’s indeed a lot better now. But lately, she’s…” The doctor paused, frowning as he thought of the best word to describe.

 

Luhan noticed the expression and could hear his thought. He heard the word ‘calm’ but the doctor seemed unsure about it since it didn’t fit the description. She was calm but her calmness was beyond words to describe.

 

“Probably… can we just come in and check on her?” he asked.

 

The doctor seemed to realize that it might be the best thing to do. Both of Luhan and Tao should do that. So he nodded. “Sure.” He smiled and pointed the door where he had come out earlier. “This is her room.”

 

Tao looked at the door and back to the doctor. “Thank you.”

 

He just nodded then left. Luhan looked at him for a while then back to Tao.

 

“He said that she’s calm but it’s weird,” he told the younger guy.

 

“How weird?”

 

He shrugged then held the door knob. “Let’s get in.”

 

As they entered the room, Luhan saw a wheelchair. There was a woman sitting on it, facing the window. But somehow he felt weird as he saw her. There was no emotion or thought coming from her. He saw Tao coming before her, kneeling to bring him down to her eye level and greeted her.

 

“Hello, Madam. We’re Chunjie’s friends.”

 

The woman looked at him for a while and smiled. “Oh, I know you.”

 

It surprised him. “You do? But we haven’t met before.”

 

“I don’t need to meet you to know who you are. It’s an honor for me.”

 

Tao shifted his gaze to Luhan. She knows who we are.

 

But it seemed that the woman knew that Tao was communicating with someone behind her silently. She turned her look around to Luhan.

 

And when her eyes fell on him, something touched his consciousness. He couldn’t control it. On his mind, he saw flashes of images. They were played really fast. But some images came clearly at him.

 

Chunjie was running on the yard while playing with her ball. Her little steps were still imbalance. But it made her proud to see her walking. All of the sudden, she saw her trip and fall. She gasped and felt worried. She went to her, afraid that she would cry. But Chunjie pulled her body up and turned to sit. To her relief, instead of crying, the little girl chuckled. But something caught her eyes. She looked up and saw a big black cloud with a red accent. She gasped in fear. She knew what the cloud would bring. She quickly went to her daughter and carried her in her arms then brought her away. She must take her to safety and the Legends are the answer.

 

Then the image blurred and changed.

 

She was carrying a newborn baby on her arms. The baby was so small but beautiful. He could feel her pain at first but then happiness overcame the feeling. She had been expecting her. He could hear her calling her name, Chunjie, as she cried. Then she looked up to a man beside her. He was smiling brightly at her. Many emotions were on his face. But he was clearly happy and relieved to see the baby.

 

The image changed again.

 

She was being dragged. Her hands were held. She looked around and saw two men holding her arms and dragging her. He could feel her fear, horror and worry over the baby that she carried within her. Then she was thrown into a dungeon. She cried and begged for mercy but no one cared about her. She looked around and saw the dungeon where she would spend her life. It was cold and dark. She questioned what sin she had done. She was bearing a child but no one had touched her.

 

And then, a loud bang was heard. She turned her gaze to the door. It was opened and she saw a man standing there. He was wearing tattered cloak and holding a staff on his hand. He saw her and grabbed her arm to stand.

 

“I’ll get you out.”

 

Somehow it relieved her. She felt safe.

 

Then it changed into another view.

 

She was running. Trees were around her. Her heart was beating fast. He could feel fear from her. It was so great until it suffocated him. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to run but she didn’t have a choice. She touched her belly and felt the size that was bigger now. She was worried about the baby as she felt pain on her lower belly. And when she touched her belly, he knew that she was pregnant. But she was also afraid of something or someone had come after her. She turned her gaze around to look back. But her attention was distracted by the grip on her left arm. She looked there and saw the man. He was the same man who had rescued her from the dungeon.

 

“Don’t stop. We almost reach the temple.”

 

“I can’t. It hurts.”

 

The man stopped and looked at her before looking around. “Then I got no choice,” he said then turned his back on her and muttered incoherent words that she didn’t understand.

 

Then before them, a dimension portal was opened. The man turned and stretched his hand to her.

 

“Let’s go. Before they come.”

 

She nodded and took the man’s hand. Both of them jumped into the portal.

 

At that moment, Luhan felt as if he was into a whirl portal. It made him dizzy and lost his balance. So he tried to find something behind him to support himself. But he had failed to get a good grip and fell.

 

“Luhan!”

 

He heard Tao’s worried voice then felt a grip on his arm. He raised his gaze and saw the younger guy.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

He felt nauseated. But he realized what he had seen. His brows knitted and he turned his gaze to the woman. She tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. But he knew who she was, more than what his friends had known about her. He had read her mind, or her memories.

 

“You didn’t come from this world, did you?”

 

 

~ ooOOOoo ~

 

Author's note:

To all the readers, I hope you enjoy reading the fic. A comment or subscribed will do, if you're willingly :)