He was being chased. KyuJong could hear the snarling and snapping of jaws behind him, and tried to push himself to run faster. The wolf was after him, right on his heels. His legs screamed in pain with all the running, but if he so much as slowed down a little, it was all over. He’d be torn to bloody pieces.

“Asena!” called Zitao’s voice behind him, but it wasn’t a call for the wolf to stop. It was encouragement, and though KyuJong couldn’t understand the Mandarin that followed, he could imagine well what it meant. ‘He’s reached the end of his strength. Do it, finish him off.’

It took KyuJong a minute to realize he was running full-tilt towards the river. He skidded to a stop just before he could plunge into the water, heart racing; he couldn’t swim.

The wolf was catching up, there was no time to change directions. Why was he so close to the ground? Leaning over the water, KyuJong saw not his reflection, but Yuetu’s staring back up at him. Slowly he turned around on stubby rabbit legs to face the wolf standing right behind him, Asena’s hackles up and lips curled back in a snarl.

“Weakling…how did we get stuck with such a weak boy as the Center,” her whispered words taunted him right before she lunged.

With a strangled shout KyuJong’s eyes snapped open. He flailed under the bed sheets before falling off the mattress onto the floor, thankfully a short drop.

For a long minute he just lay there on the floor, panting and staring up at the ceiling. It took some time for his heart to calm down and stop trying to leap out of his chest. That…was a new nightmare. It had felt far too real, and KyuJong needed to untangle his hands from the bed sheets to make sure they weren’t rabbit paws.

Shuddering, he pushed the sheets off and staggered to his feet, heading to the bathroom to splash water on his face. All that just served to remind him he needed to talk to SungMin. He still had no idea what ‘Center’ meant, but he needed to know. He also needed to talk to him about what had happened with Pantera.

Thankfully, he worked tonight. He just had to get through the school day in one piece and then he’d hopefully be able to talk to SungMin at the café.

When he left the apartment, KyuJong had a sudden thought and turned down the same street he’d taken the day of HyungJoon’s injury. Something nagged at his memory…someone standing on the other side of the street as paramedics loaded HyungJoon and the former otter Keeper into the ambulance.

Turning the corner, KyuJong slowed. Up ahead HyunJoong the guitarist sat in the same spot he had been last time, strumming idly on his guitar with his eyes closed and legs stretched out in front of him.

KyuJong chewed on his lower lip, observing him for a long moment. The tiger spirit was nowhere to be seen. Drawing in a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and walked to the older man.

“I was wondering when you’d come back,” HyunJoong said before KyuJong could even speak, eyes staying closed and fingers not stopping their movement. KyuJong stopped, looking down at the guitarist.

“…How did you know I was here?” He asked finally, still trying to collect his thoughts.

HyunJoong opened his eyes then, looking up at KyuJong. A small lopsided smile played under the shadow of his cap. “It’s hard not to notice you.”

KyuJong fought back a blush, clearing his throat. After a moment he sat down beside the guitarist. “…You’re a Keeper, aren’t you?”

HyunJoong laughed at that, plucking at his guitar. “You should know the answer to that already. How’s your friend?”

KyuJong thought of HyungJoon in the hospital, biting his lower lip and looking down at his knees. “He’s…recovering. It’s my fault he was hurt in the first place…if I’d just stayed away from what was going on then he wouldn’t have followed me.”

“You made the choice not to turn away a long time ago,” HyunJoong shrugged, eyes closing. “This is your path now.”

“…Pardon?” KyuJong blinked at him.

“Hm?” HyunJoong opened one eye, looking at KyuJong with a smirk. “Oh, nothing. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.”

KyuJong frowned, trying to figure out what HyunJoong was saying. His words sounded…odd. “What did you mean, this is my path?”

“You’re not a Keeper, but you’re not an ordinary human either. The spirit beasts have something planned for you, and the crossroads where you could turn away from them passed by a long time ago.” HyunJoong stretched out his arms and placed his guitar back into it’s case. The case flipped shut and was locked.

“HyunJoong…” KyuJong swallowed, watching him get ready to go. “What do you mean, what do they have planned for me?”

“I’m not a spirit beast,” HyunJoong snorted, standing and slinging his case over one shoulder. “So it’s not my place to answer that.”

“But you do know.” KyuJong stood up, eyes wide. “They keep on calling me ‘Center’, what does it mean?”

“If you need to be told what it means, then you’re not ready to know. It’s not something that you can understand from being told.” HyunJoong turned around, looking down at KyuJong. He stepped closer, leaning in to bring his lips close to KyuJong’s ear, almost touching.

“Listen for them. They need your help.”

KyuJong stayed frozen on the spot as HyunJoong brushed past him and walked away. By the time he turned around HyunJoong was gone, disappeared into the crowd.

It took a couple hours for KyuJong to get over his annoyance with HyunJoong. Why wouldn’t anyone tell him anything? Right from the beginning, it had been a struggle to get information about the spirit beasts, everyone avoiding his questions. That he could sort of understand because he wasn’t even a Keeper. It really was none of his business what the spirit beasts were; he was an outsider.

But this Center business…it was clearly about him. And those who seemed to know what was going on…the spirit beasts and HyunJoong…were refusing to tell him anything. Why? What could be so bad that they’d be so tight-lipped about it?

Class was dull and boring without HyungJoon there. KyuJong tried to pay attention to what was going on, knowing he’d have to bring his notes to HyungJoon later so his friend could study. No matter how much he tried though, his eyes kept wandering to the empty seat beside him where HyungJoon was usually doodling in his notebook or fast asleep on the table. He missed HyungJoon’s whispered jokes about whatever class they happened to be in, which usually landed the younger man in trouble when the teacher overheard.

Looking down at a doodle of Choco HyungJoon had etched into the table between them a while ago, KyuJong sighed softly and tried to concentrate.

”Center.”

His eyes, drifted shut at some point, snapped open at the distant whisper. Looking around quickly, KyuJong saw no one paying him any attention or even looking his way.

The whisper hadn’t been heard…it had been felt, an echo in his brain that hadn’t passed through his ears first. It was weird and disorientating, and similar to how Yuetu and Asena had briefly spoken to him.

”Center, help me.”

The whisper was back, and there was a note of panic in it. The voice was female, KyuJong realized, and young. But where was it coming from? There was no spirit beast in the room with him.

Shutting his eyes, he tried to reach out, tried to find the source of the whisper in his mind. Where are you? He thought as loud as he could.

”Help me.” The spirit beast didn’t seem to hear him, continuing to project her scared pleas for aid straight into his mind. ”Help me, please, Center, help—“

“Kim KyuJong, are you listening?”

Nearly jumping out of his seat, KyuJong opened his eyes quickly and saw half the class staring at him. The teacher looked at him with exasperation. “Well?”

“I-I…uh…” He stuttered, train of thought broken. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”

As the teacher gave a long suffering sigh and started on a rant about why bothering to come to class when he wasn’t even paying attention, KyuJong tried to reach out to the spirit beast again. But the feeling of someone else in his head was gone, snuffed out.

No matter how much he tried for the rest of that class, he didn’t hear the spirit beast again.

The end of the school day couldn’t come soon enough. By the time KyuJong reached Hongdae Moon Café, he felt like he might explode from all the questions. What was going on with him? Why was he hearing spirit beasts in his head now? Would anyone know what was going on and more importantly, would they even tell him if they knew?

Stepping into the café, he opened his mouth and closed it to see SungMin sitting out in the front. He wasn’t alone; the blonde girl KyuJong had seen him with in the hospital was there too. SungMin was rubbing his temples like he had a headache, Yuetu on the table between them and not trying to be a nuisance for once.

“Uh…hey,” he called, closing the door behind him.

“Hm? Oh, hey KyuJong!” SungMin smiled when he looked up, the smile slightly strained. “Just in time. KyuHyun put a shirt in the back office for you to wear, change into that and I’ll be right with you.”

“Sure,” KyuJong nodded slowly, looking between SungMin and the girl with him before heading into the back. He found the shirt slung over the office chair, and disappeared into the bathroom to change into it.

When he came back, KyuHyun had also arrived and was standing at the table with the other two. A frown crossed his face. “No change?” he asked.

“No,” the blonde girl shook her head. “Even Daniel has no idea what’s going on…she should have woken up days ago.”

“If even Daniel’s at a loss, that doesn’t bode well for her,” SungMin said quietly, though he put one reassuring hand on her shoulder. “He’ll figure it out though, he always does.”

“I hope so,” she whispered.

Yuetu squeaked, and SungMin looked up to see KyuJong. “Oh, you’re back. Well, let’s start training,” he stood up and stretched his arms out. “We’re pretty quiet today, so it’ll be a good day to get you used to how things work. Oh, KyuJong, this is SoonKyu,” he motioned to the blonde girl. “My little sister.”

“Hi,” she nodded to him with a small smile before standing. “I’m going to head back, her parents should have left by now.”

“I’ll stop by after work,” SungMin glanced at her, and she nodded before leaving the café.

“What’s going on?” KyuJong asked, frowning.

“Oh…one of her Keeper friends is in the hospital,” SungMin rubbed one hand over her face. “We figure SooYoung lost a challenge since her spirit beast Callisto is nowhere to be seen, but she hasn’t woken up for a couple days now.”

“Even more worrying, our resident Keeper expert has no idea why,” KyuHyun said dryly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I guess you’re not coming over tonight either?”

“I’ll make it up to you,” SungMin patted KyuHyun’s head like a dog, and the younger man knocked his hand away with a scowl.

“What the hell, I’m not your pet.”

“Really?” SungMin teased, before snagging KyuHyun by the back of his shirt when he started to leave. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Watch up front while I train our new recruit.” He turned KyuHyun around to give him a quick kiss before flouncing off to the back. “Let’s go KyuJong!”

“Uh…sure,” KyuJong blinked repeatedly, following after SungMin. He staggered when he felt a weight land on his back, Yuetu scrambling to sling himself over the human’s shoulder before he could fall right off. “So…your sister’s a Keeper too?” He asked when they were in the back, petting Yuetu absently.

“Mhm,” SungMin hummed. “Not as long as me, but still. She and her friend SooYoung became Keepers around the same time, so she’s taking SooYoung’s hospitalization very hard.”

“Any idea why she’s not waking up?” KyuJong frowned.

“No,” SungMin glanced back at him. “No one has any idea, and Daniel can’t find Callisto to ask. What’s more, SooYoung’s not the only Keeper to not wake up.”

“What?”

“There’s five so far who have ended up in the hospital over the last couple weeks. All of them are Keepers, and Daniel hasn’t been able to contact any of their former spirit beasts. It’s very likely they just ended up with a new Keeper on the other side of the world, but he’s been reaching out through his contacts in Europe, Africa and America…nothing so far.”

“That’s…worrying,” KyuJong bit his lower lip.

“You’re telling me? This is worse than Hunters, if it isn’t the Hunters causing this mess.” SungMin sighed and messed up his hair with one hand.

KyuJong chewed on his lip for a long moment before deciding it was now or never. “SungMin, I thought I heard a spirit beast calling to me earlier today.”

“Come again?” SungMin blinked at him, lowering his hand.

“I was in class, and…I heard a voice in my head, asking for help. It sounded exactly like when Yuetu talked to me.”

“Back up, Yuetu?” SungMin was visibly startled at that, looking at the rabbit still hanging off of KyuJong’s shoulder. “Since when does a fussy bunny like you talk to people other than me?”

“He’s only talked to me once…there’s more,” KyuJong continued, gaining back SungMin’s attention. “The other night, when you and KiBum were training on the roof? I tried that meditation exercise you had him do, I was kind of bored. And…I think I managed to sync myself to Pantera by accident,” he said slowly, watching SungMin’s eyes widen.

“…You sure? That’s a little…far-fetched.”

“I’m absolutely sure,” KyuJong nodded. “I opened my eyes and I was looking out of her eyes, and could hear things so much clearer. You said that when you sync with your spirit beast you see, hear and feel everything they do, right? That’s what it felt like.”

“I…what? Wow.” SungMin leaned back against the wall, clearly startled. “Nevermind you’re not even a Keeper, Pantera’s not even your spirit beast. It’s not possible for a Keeper to sync to a spirit beast that’s not their own partner, there’s no connection there. So you…created a connection with Pantera.”

“I have no idea what’s going on with me,” KyuJong said quietly, worry gnawing in his stomach at the look on SungMin’s face. “I was hoping you’d have a better idea.”

SungMin slowly shook his head, thinking. “I don’t have any more of an idea than you do. I’ve been a Keeper nearly a decade, and never have I heard of anything like that. We could always ask Daniel, he’s been around longer…but I don’t know what to tell you, KyuJong.”

“Yuetu called me the ‘Center’,” KyuJong put out, frowning. “So did the spirit beast I heard today, and…another one I saw a while ago.” He thought of the tiger spirit he’d seen twice, once on the rooftops and once with HyunJoong.

“Center?” SungMin frowned down at Yuetu. “So what do you mean by that, huh?”

Whatever Yuetu replied with, if he replied at all, wasn’t audible to KyuJong. But SungMin’s brow furrowed and he seemed thoughtful after a moment. “Okay…okay. Uh…KyuJong, we’re going to have to get to work before KyuHyun has both our heads. I have to go to the hospital after work…are you free tomorrow night?”

“Yeah,” KyuJong nodded, confused.

“Okay, meet me here tomorrow night, I have a theory I want to test out.”

“What did Yuetu say?” KyuJong asked.

“Will you two hurry up back there?” KyuHyun’s voice reached them from the door to the back. “A lot of customers came in.”

“We’ll be right out!” SungMin called before pulling KyuJong towards the kitchens. “Okay, speed training time.”

Staggering along, KyuJong had no choice but to let it drop. It didn’t seem like he’d be getting any answers tonight, to his frustration.

It was a miracle he managed to remember anything SungMin taught him about his new job between all the questions running around in his head. They were busy right up until closing, so busy KyuJong didn’t get a chance to demand a proper answer. Even Yuetu who was usually underfoot seemed to be keeping his distance. It had come as a surprise to KyuJong that SungMin hadn’t known about Yuetu speaking to him. Even in a Keeper/spirit bond as close as theirs, there were secrets.

He thought he’d get a chance to ask about what Yuetu had said at closing, as the three of them were cleaning up the front of the café. But just as he was about to open his mouth, KyuHyun’s phone went off.

“…It’s Daniel,” KyuHyun frowned, glancing at the screen before taking the call.

“Since when does he call you?” SungMin leaned against the table, watching the younger man.

The conversation was short. KyuJong, watching curiously, saw KyuHyun’s expression tighten more with each word. “…We’ll keep an eye out,” he said finally. “None of the others have woken up yet? …Okay. Keep in touch.” He hung up.

“And?” SungMin asked.

KyuHyun glanced at him, lips thinned. “…Another Keeper turned up unconscious this morning. Hasn’t woken up yet. Probably in a coma the same as the others.”

SungMin swore, rubbing one hand over his face. “…Fantastic. Does he have any information on who it is?”

“Im Yoona,” KyuHyun answered. “She’s a student at Hanyang University, and was found unconscious by some classmates on campus.”

“…Wait…Hanyang?” KyuJong felt his stomach drop, stuttering a little as he butted into the conversation. “That’s where I go to school…”

SungMin looked at KyuJong, eyes narrowing as he frowned. “...Keep your eyes open then, and pass the warning on to DongHae if you see him. It’s likely whoever did this to her is either a student or faculty member too, if they were on campus in the middle of the day. Whoever’s causing this mess isn’t even waiting until night falls.” He grabbed his jacket as he finished cleaning up. “I’m going to check on SoonKyu and SooYoung. Come on Yuetu.”

The bunny scrambled up onto the table next to him, and SungMin picked up his spirit beast to sling him over one shoulder. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he tossed over his shoulder as he left.

“You too, out,” KyuHyun said, going to turn off the lights. “I need to lock up.”

“What are you doing now?” KyuJong asked, still stuck on the conversation.

“Going on patrol. Something serious is going on…have you been watching the news at all?” When KyuJong shook his head, KyuHyun sighed. “Whole forests in Greece have been dying, and it has absolutely nothing to do with dry weather.”

“…Okay…?” KyuJong blinked, not sure why KyuHyun was telling him this.

“Callisto,” KyuHyun gave KyuJong a sharp look. “SooYoung’s spirit beast. Spirit beasts maintain the stability of the world, each one looking after a small piece of it. They call that piece their Overseen. Guess what Callisto’s Overseen is.”

“…The forests in Greece?” KyuJong whispered.

“It hasn’t even been a week and they’re already half-dead. If we don’t figure out what happened to all these comatose Keepers, we’re going to have worse problems on our hands.”

Dun dun dun~

Thank you to Kiddomae for reviewing Spirit Wars over at Cherry Panda Review Shop! :) Go check them out

Please comment, subscribe and/or upvote if you enjoyed the chapter! \o/

@Forest_pixi: Your eagle keeper guess was right~~ You know me and my characters so well LOL /loves Sunny with blonde hair/ And Tom & Jerry will never not be funny. Those two would squabble until the end of the earth...or at least until JungMin hits Joonie hard enough. Awkward!Joonie is too much fun to write. ily bb~~ <3

@Forever5501: Joonie's head-over-heels, and Kyu's just too oblivious... /o\ And even though I'm not pairing them together here, writing Henry and KiBum interacting is making me want to write them as a pairing XD;;; /rare pairs forever

@ping501: Lolol you're not supposed to feel grateful...you're supposed to be wary XDD They're still very dangerous people. And if only spirit battles could have cheerleaders, you'd be the perfect one LOL

@curionenene: Why would they tell? ;D They have far too much fun being mysterious. They've been alive for a long time you know, they gotta have their fun somehow. And BWUH? O.o