Warning before reading!!

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

 

~ ooOOOoo ~

 

Suho opened the twin doors of the library on the big house where he lived with the other Legends and Hana. He entered the room and went to the shelves. As he looked around, he remembered that he kept the book about the Tree of Life somewhere in the library long ago. He had dedicated his life studying the Legends, the Tree of Life and their origins. So he had many books and notes about them stored in the library.

When he stored the book, he had thought that he wouldn’t need it anymore. But what had happened to him last night had raised his curiosity and he had to know. He thought that he was dreaming but the burn on his hand was real. Besides, the spirit entity that he met had made him curious. It seemed that she was attached to the Tree of Life. But he wasn’t sure about it either. So he intended to find the answers.

Suho found the book that he was searching for and took it out from the shelf. It was square and thick. It seemed old as if it had passed for generations. Even so, it was still in a good condition.

He brought the book to the table as he opened it. He scanned through for the part that he was looking for. As he reached the table, he found the part about Tree of Life. He put the book down and started to read as he pressed his hands on the table to support his body.

At the moment, D.O passed the opened doors and stopped as he saw the older guy inside. He looked at the way where he came from as he thought about the incident that happened earlier between Hana and Suho. Then, he decided to have a talk with the leader. Somehow he felt that it was necessary since the tension that he felt between the leader and her became more and more obvious. D.O came toward the older guy.

“Hyung,” D.O called as he stopped by the table that separated them apart.

“Hmm?” Suho just hummed to reply the call as he was busy reading.

As a straight-forward person, he quickly said what’s on his mind. “I want to talk about you and Hana.”

At least, D.O’s words had made Suho divert his gaze from the book.

“What about me and Hana?” Suho asked as he took the book and walked to the chair. He sat and put it down on the table in front of him.

“You act cold and harsh toward her, Hyung,” D.O said as he followed the older guy and eventually stood by his side. “It’s so unlike you.”

Suho looked at him and smiled as if he was amused by the statement. “Unlike me? What did I do to make you think like that?”

“You are a caring, nice and gentle person, Hyung,” D.O answered.

Suho scoffed then looked back to the book. “Then you know less about me,” he murmured.

D.O heaved a sigh. “Look. I know something has happened between you and her. I guess it was something that changed your point of view towards her. I don’t know what it was but it seems so important.” He paused for a while as he saw the leader’s reaction. But Suho showed no response and kept reading the book. “But the matter is… you don’t even bother to hide it.”

“So?”

“Hana is the one that we have been searching for, Hyung. We’re supposed to be nice to her.”

“What if I don’t want to do that?” Suho said as he looked at the younger guy.

D.O stood stiffly as he caught the cold stare from the older guy. Suho had never looked at him that way before. It seemed that Suho was trying to tell him to stay off the matter. It was weird for him since he knew that Suho was the type of person who would share any matters regarding Hana and the Legends with the others. But he also realized that Suho was also the type of person who would sacrifice himself for others and hide any problems that he knew for himself to the extent it could burden him. It concerned D.O.

“At least, tell me what you have known, Hyung.”

Suho broke his gaze and looked back to the book. “It’s not the time for you to know,” he said.

D.O moved forward and pressed his palms against the table’s surface. “Is this something about Hana?”

He paused as he looked at the leader. But Suho didn’t give him any response.

“If it is, please tell me, Hyung. Don’t keep it to yourself. We probably can solve it together,” D.O said. “I’m worried about you and Hana,” he added afterward with a softer voice. He was really concerned about the leader.

Suho released a soft sigh then raised his gaze and turned it to D.O. But his gaze seemed to be furious as he felt bothered.

“Don’t waste your time worrying about me and Hana,” Suho said then looked elsewhere.

“But you used to act nice to her,” D.O said. Somehow, his patience had run out with Suho’s stubbornness. “Both of you used to be close to each other. You always had a soft spot toward her. We almost thought that you have feelings for her.”

Suho scoffed at the words. “I guess I did,” he said then looked back to the book. “But now I don’t.”

“Why?”

He didn’t reply the question. He just closed the book and placed it on his hand. He stood up and wanted to leave. But he stopped then turned his gaze to D.O.

“I’ll be in my room,” he said. “But don’t bother calling me for lunch.”

He walked away afterward, leaving D.O behind. D.O clicked his tongue after the leader went out of the library. He was pissed off because Suho didn’t want to talk again. But he knew that he couldn’t force Suho to talk. So he just exhaled as he couldn’t do anything.

***

Chunjie scanned a bookshelf on the school library as she searched for a reference book. She finally found the book and took it out before opening it to see whether she had chosen the right one or not. A smile came to her face as she found that she was right. She turned and went to the table where Tao was sitting.

Tao frowned and prop his chin on his palm as he looked confused solving the Physical Science’s assignment that he got. It was the time for self-study in the afternoon after the class finished and Tao decided to study in the library with Chunjie.

Unlucky for him, the school subjects, besides P.E., had always been his weaknesses. He even repeated the same grade for another year because of his bad academic grades. He was also almost dropped out from the school if he didn’t meet Chunjie last year.

Chunjie was always better than him in school subjects except for P.E. She was a bright and brilliant girl with good academic. But she was never an athletic girl.

“Here,” she said as she put the book that she brought on the table, above Tao’s. She sat on the nearest chair, facing him. “It might help you understand the problem easier.”

Tao pulled the book to the front of him, covering his own, and read it for a while. Then, a smile came to his face as he finally could understand the problem. He looked at Chunjie. “Thank you,” he said.

Chunjie smiled as she pushed the book closer to her, revealing both the reference and Tao’s books. “Let me explain a little bit so you can understand more,” she said then explained the problem to him.

 

Because of the reference book and her explanation, he understood faster. He smiled as she finished her explanation. “Wogh. How can you be so smart in physic?”

 

A broad smile came to her face. “There’s nothing special. I just happen to like studying.” Her smile vanished and she heaved a sigh. “But I really wish that I’m a little bit good in sports, like you or Luhan.”

 

“But you have great power.”

 

Her sad expression vanished as she heard the words. “But it’s not helping me either.” She shook her head as she leaned closer and dropped her gaze before she prop her chin. “Sometimes I wish that I’m just like the other, being normal.”

 

He couldn’t say anything to console her and just dropped his gaze. He remembered what Luhan had told him before. Chunjie possessed great power within her. Therefore she bore great responsibility with her. He knew that she couldn’t live a normal life like others, no matter how hard she tried.

 

“The sun’s eclipse,” she mumbled.

Tao raised his gaze to her when he heard the words. “What?”

But he realized that she was staring at the sky outside the window, slit open and her head hovered above her palm where she rested her chin before. So he followed her gaze. The sky looked normal for him. But he felt a little bit pressured. Then, he heard the sound of a chair being dragged. He turned to her and saw her already walking in a hurry to the door.

“Chunjie, wait,” Tao said then stood up, abandoning his homework and all. He couldn’t let her go alone.

Outside on the school yard, Chunjie ran and stopped as she looked at the sky. Tao had stopped the time as they went out. No one was there at the school yard as the students were still in their classes. So it was quietly safe for them to expect what would come. Before her eyes, she saw that the sun was slowly covered by a circular shape as the sky became darker. It was a solar eclipse.

Tao looked up. He felt something threatening coming as their sun was covered. He knew the feeling; it always occurred when the Red Creatures entered their world. He sharpened his senses as he knew something would come soon.

 

His instinct was proven right. On the moment the sun was entirely covered, Tao caught something approaching with high speed toward them. He quickly moved to grab Chunjie. She yelped as she was being pulled. Tao quickly secured her on his embrace; turning his body against the high-speed’s shape that now had been stopped few steps beyond them; revealing itself in male human form. Tao recognized him. He was the man who followed them earlier. The man smirked lopsidedly then a pair of bat wings spread behind him and wrapped him. Tao lowered his hand and turned; eye fixed toward the cocoon-shaped thing that now hovered above the ground.

 

For a while nothing had happened. But suddenly the creature unleashed its true form as it opened up the wings that concealed the main body. It was a monster with the shape of a jet black-skinned human and bat’s wings. On its head, there were spiral-shaped horns on each side that looked like a goat’s horn. It opened its eyes that glowed on reddish light. It grinned, revealing the sharp yellow teeth.

Seeing the creature, Tao readied himself to fight it as he moved one of his feet backward and took a fighting stance. He had learned martial arts since young and he had proven its worth to help the Legends fighting the evil forces.

 

Meanwhile, Chunjie detected another force coming to their world as the eclipse occurred. The force was familiar, not evil but unknown to her world. It had similar sensation with Tao’s legend power, but with different form. But she had sensed the power before; yesterday when a glimpse of other world’s Legends appeared before her eyes. She then recognized the force as the Legend of Transportation. But how could he come across the dimension of the two worlds?

 

Other than to worry about it, she was thinking about the effect of his present in this world. On the beginning of the time, it had been agreed that the 12 Legends would be divided equally. If there was a Legend trapped within the opposite world, she was afraid that something would be happening. So she had to force that Legend away before the other Legends of her world sensed his presence.

 

She turned and looked to the school building. Her eyes caught a familiar figure on the third floor. It was a boy around her age with dark brown hair and tan skin. He was wearing school uniform. His sharp eyes opened wide in shock and surprise as she looked at him. He gasped in fear as he moved backward, away from the window.

 

As he moved away, Chunjie felt a pain on her stomach as if something had stabbed her. It stung her as the pain felt so real. She touched her stomach but didn’t find any wound there. Then, she saw the Legend snapping his fingers and disappeared from her sight. It might have been her premonition but she got bad feeling. Something had warned her about that Legend.

 

“Chunjie, look out!”

 

The shout brought her sense back to reality. She recognized the voice as Tao’s and she sensed the urgency tone of it. She twisted her body to the left, just to find the creature had appeared in the front of her with hand stretched out on her. She gasped with the sudden attack. The creature moved too fast for her. But out of her conscious, she had lifted her right hand and created a barrier to block the attack.

 

A shape of thin layer flashed as a collision happened. The impact of the speed made her lost her balance and fell back on her while the creature stopped, retraced its now burnt hand.

 

Perhaps feeling the pain, the creature raised its hand and looked at it with slightly tilted head. It showed the sign of confusion although plain expression drew on its face. It was the first time to feel a power so great that able to make its hand burnt. Usually, it would be fixed right away. But it wasn’t now. It turned its gaze to the human girl who sat in the concrete floor in front of him; scared expression on her face. For its eyes, she was shining in pure white aura. Something within told it that she was danger yet tasty to be consumed. It spread its unwounded hand as bent forward, wanting to grab the girl.

 

But then, it sensed another form of threatening energy coming closer. It stopped mid-way and turned its gaze toward the source. It saw a form of flaming dragon, flying toward them in fast speed. The dragon shrieked and the creature replied it with an unfriendly hiss before it moved away to avoid the flame dragon that flew by. It knew that the flame of the dragon would cause harm on it.

 

Chunjie quickly brought her arms closer to protect herself from strong wind that appeared as the flaming dragon passed. After she felt the hot wind passed, she lowered her arms and looked up. She saw the dragon twirling around before attacking the creature for the second time, distracting it and keeping it busy.

 

Feeling something upward, she raised her gaze to the sky and noticed the dark clouds starting to gather above; lightning struck in the cloud before she caught a glimpse of figure floating in the air. She quickly recognized the figure before it dashed and landed on the solid concrete; it was Kris and he was holding a sword. And, as soon as the guy straightening his body, he threw the sword to Tao, in which the latter caught. Then she felt a tug on her arm; she turned her gaze and saw Luhan pulling her to stand. She looked around and realized that Xiumin and Chen also had come to the place.

 

“Are you alright?” Luhan asked.

 

“Yes,” she replied then took a glance toward the leader. Kris was staring at her with furrowed brows, telling her that he might be angry or at least displeased with what had happened. Somehow, it made her feeling guilty; she dropped her gaze.

 

“Tao,” he called the younger guy then turned his gaze at him. “Banish the creature.”

 

Tao nodded as he understood the order. Without any hesitation, Tao moved and took the sword out from its sheath as he sprinted forward, low and steady. To see him coming, the creature roared; wings turned into bats, flying toward Tao. Chen quickly reacted; creating series of lightning to strike the bats, clearing the younger’s path.

 

The creature growled as it saw the bats getting struck by lightning. It realized that Tao managed to surpass its protection. Tao skidded to halt as he arrived at front of the creature, swinging his sword vertically. But he saw a victorious smirk from the creature before it evaporated and vanished from his sight, causing his sword to slash on nothing. It surprised him as well as his friends.

 

The creature reappeared beside Xiumin; arm stretched at him, changing from talons into a single sharp edge and throwing punch at him. Xiumin surprised to get the sudden attack. But he was faster than Chunjie. He quickly swiped his hand on the air. The air crystallized before him and it created a barrier of ice, on which the talon struck through and made the guy moved backward before the talon managed to hurt him. But before Xiumin could take another act, the creature vanished and reappeared behind Chen, in which he welcomed by a lightning. But the creature vanished again before the lightning struck it. Now, the Legends stood as they looked around in alert.

 

“Where is it?” Chen asked, lightning crackling on his hands.

 

Xiumin swiped his gaze across the yard but found nothing in sight. “I don’t know. We can't do anything if he keeps teleporting.”

 

Chunjie stood in alert as she could feel faint presence of the creature around them. In a flash, she felt the creature materialized near Kris but dissolved again as he turned.

 

Luhan stood in alert, trying to pinpoint the creature’s location. With his sense, he tried to set apart between his friends’ aura and the dark creature. But then, he caught a vibration of someone’s mind behind Chunjie, and it wasn’t belonging to one of his friends. Grabbing her while turning, he swung his hand to the front.

 

Less than a second later, the creature reappeared and he got thrown away by Luhan's telekinetic power. But it disappeared again. It seemed that Luhan was surprised with his capability. He didn’t know that he could detect the presence of other creatures with his mind power. He just found out about it.

 

As he was dumbfounded by what he could do, he didn’t see that Chunjie was turning her gaze to the higher platform of the yard and walked few steps closer to the place.

 

There, she caught a glimpse of faint figure standing at the higher platform of the school yard. She couldn’t see the figure clearly as she knew that it was coming from another world. But she was certain that it was a female dressed in her school uniform. Furthermore, she felt a tremendous Red Forces power radiating from her. Her presence also made her understood that the figure might be the one who sent and controlled the creature. So she thought that she might need to show that she couldn’t be underestimated.

 

Luhan snapped as he sensed a dark sensation charging toward Chunjie. He quickly turned and saw her gazing toward the higher platform of the yard. Somehow, it came to his realization that she might not realize the creature’s presence toward her and he would need to warn her; he quickly moved toward her.

 

Seeing Luhan’s sudden move and assessing the situation, Kris seemed to understand why Luhan moved toward Chunjie; he moved as well, followed by Xiumin and Chen. But to their horror, the creature materialized and appeared behind her with its talon swung to stab before any of them could reach her.

 

In a second, Kris sensed a pure power rising from her. He quickly realized what it meant; he always sensed it before she unleashed her power. Then in a flash, he saw the girl turning; hand swung upward, placing her palm against the sharp edge of the talon. And in the next second, the creature’s movement stopped as if his attack was blocked by unseen power. Seeing it, the three Legends seemed surprise since they didn’t expect her to react so fast. Luhan then turned his gaze to their leader as he sensed his thought touching his mind; Kris clearly looked displeased.

 

The creature growled, trying to push its talon further. But it found that the power that the girl unleashed was much stronger despite of her fragile look. It snarled in anger as it tried the hardest to push forward.

 

“So you’re sent by someone from the other world, aren’t you?” She spoke with deep threatening voice.

 

It replied her with a deep growl.

 

She scoffed cynically. “Finally I can see her. Don’t even think that I will sit still while watching you messing around with my worlds”

 

Then she sensed the creature wanting to escape. So she created an unseen barrier to trap it. When it tried to vanish, it quickly materialized again. It soon realized that it was the girl who had trapped it. It hissed and snarled in anger as it started to become panic.

 

Meanwhile, Chunjie turned her gaze beyond the creature, to Tao who stood few steps away behind it. As their eyes met, Tao could hear her voice in his mind, telling him to attack the creature. He understood and started to move, dashing toward the creature.

 

Smiling at the creature, she said, “Tell her my warning.” The smile quickly turned into threatening look. “Better give up before my patience runs dry.”

 

Realizing what would happen, the creature roared, wanting to be free from Chunjie’s boundaries. It also sensed another threatening aura coming closer. But before it could do something, Tao already swung his sword and beheaded the creature as he passed. It then exploded and created a blast that made the Legends creating barrier to protect their selves.

 

As the blast passing her by, Chunjie turned to see the faint figure. She could see that the blast seemed to take its effect on her even though she was separated by dimension. It knocked her down. The blast shrunk as if it was and vanished.

 

On the same time, Chunjie felt something had moved above. She looked up and saw the eclipse had left the sun slowly, marking the end of the sun’s eclipse. But then, her concentration was torn as she felt a tug on her arm; turning her gazes to meet the stern eyes of Kris.

 

“What are you doing?” The leader hissed with lower voice, expressing his anger.

 

“I—“

 

“You almost get yourself killed,” he scolded her, making her silent.

 

“But if I didn’t do it, you’ll have a hard time to defeat the creature.”

 

“So now you think that you’re better than us, don’t you? What if that creature managed to get you? You’ll put everyone in danger.” He snapped her angrily before he lowered his tone. “NEVER do it again without my permission. And you’re grounded for the whole week.” He turned to Tao, wanting to take the sword back.

 

But Chunjie quickly replied him, protesting. “Ya! What have I done to deserve a punishment? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

 

But Kris turned his gaze on her, making her quiet with his angry look. At least she knew that his decision was final whenever he had the look on him. “Don’t argue with me. My decision is final.”

 

Pursing her lips, she shut .

 

Knowing that she wouldn’t protest any further, Kris turned to Tao who handed the sword to him. “I’ll take this back. Keep your eye on her.”

 

The younger guy nodded and Kris turned to walk away, just to get something cold thrown at his back. His steps were immediately halted.

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?” screamed Chunjie.

 

Kris turned his gaze back to her, noticing that Xiumin was covering his mouth from giggling in amusement; somehow he knew that it wasn’t him who created snowball that had hit his nape, but Chunjie.

 

“Who gives you right to control my action?” She asked while her voice and small body trembling with anger.

 

He didn’t think such a small person couldn’t hold that much anger, but perhaps he saw her as small due to his tall stature. But he ignored it and stepped forward to her. “I am a Legend and it’s my job to protect you at all costs, which it means that I can do anything to keep you safe.” He stated coolly.

 

“But it doesn’t mean that you can control how I use my powers. I’m not a doll that you can keep in cage and control as you please. I’m also a human!” she shrieked shrilly.

 

To see her defying him, Kris’ gaze grew deeper and darker.

 

Judging the situation could turn to worse as soon as the leader started to speak, Luhan came to Tao’s side and nudged his arm, telling him to unstop the time. Tao understood and did what he told to do. It struck Kris’ sense when the time started to move again. He knew that he would need to leave immediately. But before he did, he looked back to the girl.

 

“We’ll talk about this later. You’d better be going straight home after school. Or you’ll be grounded for the rest of the month.” Without looking at her reaction, Kris turned to Tao. “Make sure that she doesn’t do anything reckless.”

 

Hesitating, Tao nodded. Somehow he felt that Kris had put him in a difficult position; Chunjie was his friend while Kris was his leader.

 

Kris looked at the other Legends. “The rest of you can go back,” he ordered before sprung into the air, leaving the group behind.

 

Chunjie scoffed in disbelieve. “How can he treat me like that?” She crossed her arms on her chest, sulking. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

Luhan just smiled to see the girl. He approached her as he took her shoe and handed it to her. “Kris just worries about you. You’re not supposed to fight on your own.”

 

“But he can just say it. There’s no need to punish me. Besides, what’s the point of having a great power if I can’t use it?”

 

An understanding smile came to Luhan’s face. “Probably he’s just trying to keep you from overusing your power. By then, he will know that you’ll be safe until the time comes.” He patted her head. “Just stay within his sight for the rest of this week, okay?” He ruffled her hair.

 

Her lips quirked, forming a pout.

 

“Luhan.”

 

He turned as he heard the call. Xiumin and Chen were waiting for him. He realized that Tao hadn’t withdrawn his power entirely, giving them chance to leave before the time actually moved. He looked back to the girl. “I’d better get going. See you later.” He turned to Tao. “Thanks, Tao.” He then left.

 

She just heaved a sigh and crossed her arms to see them leave before turning her gaze to Tao, who was looking at her. “What?” She snapped him.

 

Tao quickly shook his head. “Nothing. But we’d better back to the class.”

 

She took a deep breath and exhaled, realizing that she had raised her voice to Tao. “Sorry.”

 

He just raised the corner of his lips then patted her shoulder. “Come on.” He pushed her to walk, leaving the court while withdrawing his power.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, a guy with light bronze skin rushed to Hana that had been knocked down; worry was written on his face. Both of them were wearing high school uniform. He skidded and knelt beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

 

“Hana, are you alright?”

 

She lifted herself up from the ground. “I’m fine,” she said. But she felt a stinging pain on her left arm; she flinched. She rolled her left sleeve up, revealing a dark taint that became more visible on her arm.

 

“What the—“

 

The guy sounded worried, especially when he saw a black taint spreading on her left arm. He raised his gaze to the girl. “What has happened?”

 

But it seemed that she felt reluctant to tell as she rolled down her sleeve. “Nothing,” she lied then moved, wanting to stand up. “Can you help?”

 

The guy quickly reacted. He moved closer to give her support. But then, an unfamiliar scent caught her nose; her movement halted as she grabbed his arm, making him to halt. She sniffed again and recognized the scent.

 

Raising her gaze to the boy, she asked with furrowed brows, “Kai, did you just travel to the other world?”

 

The question caught the boy in surprise. “H-how did you know?” he asked as he moved back, a sign of withdrawal.

 

No one supposed to know about him accidentally teleporting to another world. But Hana was a special girl; she was the one who possessed by the great power, the one that they supposed to protect. So he realized that he might not be able to hide it from her.

 

Sighing, he then replied with dropped gaze, “Yes, I did. But it was an accident. I swear that I didn’t mean to do it.”

 

Hana smiled understandingly. “I’m not accusing you or telling you not to go there. But it seems that the eclipse has increased your power. So please be careful when you use your power during the eclipse.”

 

She stood up with support from him. But something had made her curious and she realized that Kai might meet her without any difficulty. She looked back at him.

 

“But while you were there, did you see anything special?”

 

Kai seemed to think for a while. He had seen how the other world was similar to the world where they lived, although the people were different; he didn’t recognize every student on the school. But then, he remembered about the Legend who had the ability to stop the time.

 

“I met another Legend. He can stop the time.”

 

She already knew about it. “Anything else?”

 

Another moment of pause as Kai thought. But his mind quickly came to the girl that he saw. He thought that she was something special because she could move within frozen time. Besides, when he met her gaze, some scenes were playing on his mind.

 

“I met a girl. And I sensed great power from her, as if I was drawn to her. But when she looked upon me, I felt a great force pushing me away.”

 

He then looked at her. Hana had made an expression as if she had guessed the matter and had known if he would meet her.

 

“Who is she, Hana?”

 

She was giving him a look as if she was considering something. But then, she decided to tell. “I’ve known about her for long.”

 

Kai frowned. For him, it was weird to hear if Hana already knew the girl for long.

 

Hana continued, “And her sole purpose is to kill me.”

 

Somehow, as he heard Hana’s words, his mind told him that the girl might be the source that had sent Red Creatures to his world. "Is she the one that Red Force sent to deceive the Legends?"

 

She just dropped her gaze.

 

But anger showed in his face. He seemed ready to smash anyone who dared to hurt Hana. “I can’t forgive her. I swear to kill her before she gets you.”

 

Unknowingly to him, a victorious smirk came to Hana’s face. Amongst the Legends, she always knew that she could trust Kai. She also realized that Kai might tell the other Legends. So she needed to ask him not to tell the others.

 

“Kai,” she said as she held his arm and caused him to look back at her. “About what we talked earlier,” she paused, “just keep it as a secret between us.”

Somehow, he felt weird with the request. But he had never doubted her. So he nodded.

 

 

 

~ ooOOOoo ~

 

Author's note:

Sorry for taking so long to update this fic and also for the long chapter.

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