The young girl clung to his arm and pleaded with all her heart. Her forever changing hair flashed shades of green, grey, and blue in the luminous light surrounding them while his own shimmered between orange and yellow.

“Jae, please. We have to take matters into our own hands… to save Junki. Or... or he’ll be forever banished from our world of light.”

Jaejoong placed his warm hands on her head in an attempt to shed old truth. “Xin, you already know. He committed a sin against Kou and he will be punished for it.”

“But love is not a sin!”

“Lust is. He chose to display his love in that sordid way. He knew the consequence of such an act and yet—”

“He is your brother! You should know he was tricked into such acts.” Genuine tears formed in her eyes and threatened to fall.

“Because he is my brother, I must stand aside.”

Xinling shoved his hands away and shook her head in disbelief. Jaejoong’s indifference frightened her, and she could not bear to watch it cripple him any further. To be betrayed by his mother. To see his brother stripped and sent away. He was fighting against the waves of emotion and it was nibbling away at his soul.

“It is natural to feel anger. It is natural to be angry at her. It is okay to hate her. She betrayed you. She betrayed Junki. We can save him, Jae. We can right this wrong.”

“Another wrong does not make it right, Xin.” His voice, voided of emotion.

“You keep everything bottled up inside. It is hurting you. Let it out, Jae.”

“Say no more.” He turned his head away, fearing to meet her direct gaze.

“I can sense it. You are angry with me… because I show concern for Junki… because I dare suggest wrongdoing to save him… but I know, Jae. I know that you will never forgive yourself if you stand on the side and watch him falsely condemned. You are angry with me. Show me how angry you are.”

“Stop it, Xin."

"Show me!"

"Stop!”

Xinling fell backwards. Her hair turned a deep purplish red as she hit the ground.

“Xin, I—"

“I am fine... are you, Jae? Are you fine?”

Jaejoong fell on his knees and pulled Xinling into his arms. His whole body trembled as he cried. Jaejoong conjured emotions that he had never imagined possible. His cries intensified and so did his hug. All his attempts to stop were in vain.

Xinling pressed her cheek against his and cradled his head with her hands. “We can save him, Jae... by stealing the magic marbles from the Tower of Light.”

"No, Xin..."

"Shhh... you need not go with me." She kissed the top of his lovely ear.

"Xin, please... you will be caught and banished, too."

"Jae... why are we alive? What is life... without risk?"

• • • • • • • • •

The Lovers held hands and shared a pure look that transcended love and friendship. At last, they were ready to embrace the reality of their current predicament. The feverish heat flowed between them.

"To Xinling?"

"Mmm... to Xinling."

Sky and Dragon initiated their chant with a soundless whistle, a final ode to their past life. The bed and the walls warped out of shape as the room dissolved into nothingness. Together, they formed the image of their destination. The lines of power tugged at their warm bodies like iced tentacles and soon, the Lovers found themselves standing in a pile of bloody ligaments and veins. Sky covered and suppressed the urge to cry out.

"What in the world happened?" Still holding Sky's hand, Dragon crouched down to inspect what was left of Xinling's mutilated body. Her midriff was missing and so was the flesh and organs.

"You said... the world...the—the world." It rolled awkwardly off his tongue. "The World. That's it! I remember. She! Kou! The World! I found the source of black panther Junki's crazies!" Ki looked like he hadn't bathed or slept in years with disheveled hair and wild eyes tinted yellow.

"Ki... how could you let this happen?"

The Fool halted his celebration and stared at the dead body of his former mistress. He was in agony, but it did not hurt as much. He still could not cry. His most beloved mistress laid in a puddle of blood, and yet to him, it did not seem like a crying matter. Excellent. He was back to normal.

"Junki took a bite out of her neck... and it looks like he also took a bite out of her stomach... but I know what he's looking for now. If we find Kou and give her to him, he'll stop trying to kill us."

"Are you hearing yourself speak? What are we going to do about Xinling? The Empress doesn't have the power to heal this body. Xinling's not one of the cards."

"But see, if we find Kou, we can give her to Junki and then you and Sky and everyone else in the Witch Tower will be safe from his teeth and claws."

Sky pulled away from Dragon and flew at Ki, ramming her shoulder straight into his chest. "There's no sense in talking to this stupid fool! He probably just stood there and watched her... die." She swung her fist at his head. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"I—I—you're right, Sky. I just stood there and watched... because there was nothing I could do."

"You could have at least tried to save her! You bastard... you coward... you stupid fool!"

Dragon rushed over and pulled Sky off of Ki before they had a second dead body on their hands. "There's no time for this. We need to figure out what to do next, love. We're still here... that means it's only her body that's dead. We can't exist without a master."

Sky retracted her arm. "What do we do with her body?"

Ki straightened his jaw and jumped to his feet. "I will handle it." He dashed over to the bloody mess, scooped up the mangled body in his hands and turned her face down. "There... this new position should help. We don't have to see her eyes so it makes the view objective."

Agony sistered disgust. "That..." Her blood boiled. "Is he joking at a time like this?!" Sky's lips quivered in anger. She tried launching herself at the Fool again. Luckily, Dragon managed to restrain her from behind. "Let go of me! He needs to be—" Sky went silent. The pressure of fear overwhelmed her like an evil spell. Hatred, pain, and sadness were all lost.

"What is all this racket?" The beautiful black eyes of the necromancer appeared before them and a chill spread, infecting skin and spine. "Shocked?" Petrified. "Did you think you could get rid of me so easily?" His demonic laughter echoed down the hallway, denoting his return to power and ownership.

Back... somehow... he was back.