“Sooyoung!”

I had to reach them.

I must.

I can’t believe everything was happening so fast. I wondered while my chest burned and my feet became numb if they were after Changmin. He showed from an early age abilities I could only dream of. Heck, he might even be some kind of new weapon against reapers, one they’d want eliminated. Even if the ghost threat was very real, I couldn’t take everything Seungri said to heart. For as long as I had lived, they hid things from me.

I swear I was so pissed and fearful at the same time, I didn’t notice when I started floating. I didn’t notice when a pure white energy surrounded my heated body and lifted me off ground. Hair flew in all directions and my clothes fluttered wilder than curtains under a strong wind.

Well, damnit, I think I learned to fly.

I saw a hint of black speed near me. Jung Min struggled to keep up while Daesung and Yoona looked at me terrified. It was actually fun to see the mighty Queen’s shocked expression as I winked and burst forward. I felt bad for the trees. Some of their branches were blasted when I went through them. Some shattered and hit Daesung straight in the face or forced Jung Min to twist around in order to avoid damaging his wings. Yoona covered and tried hard not to throw out whatever fairies ate for dinner.

In a minute, we arrived at the clearing. That was the first time I admired Jung Min’s landings. He used the strong muscles in his wings to slow down and safely touch the ground. Once he kneeled, his wings would disappear and allow those that rode on his back to get off. I, on the other hand, had no wings and absolutely no control. If going straight through a burning house would make anybody scream, I tried first to cover my face with my arms. Fortunately, the white energy shielded me from the flames and smoke.

I felt like suffocating when I finally stopped, rolled on my back and saw everything collapsing around me.

Stupid déjà-vu!

“CHANGMIN!?” fire crackling startled me. “YURI!?”

Furniture, photos and the flowers Yuri so tenderly took care of... they would all transform into ash. I turned and walked around, they were nowhere to be seen. Calling again and checking every room I could. I stopped when I saw the framed photo by my bedside being effulged by flames. I saw Changmin disappear, followed by Daesung, Yuri and Jung Min. My face was the last to be colored black, before it vanished, charred and forgotten.

I stood there, frozen. I couldn’t have been too late, right? Maybe they escaped and I was the fool who searched for a needle in the haystack. Somebody grabbed me from behind. When I tried to see who it was, Yuri slapped me and used her force to get us out of there. We jumped off the window. Jung Min caught us and carried us to the forest’s edge. Everybody else waited there. He dropped us on a blanket of snow.

I barely came back to my senses when Yuri grabbed my collar and slapped me again.

“ARE YOU ING STUPID?!” she shook me hard and forced our eyes to meet. “WHAT THE WERE YOU DOING INSIDE THERE?”

“I...” Yuri stopped when Changmin ran to our side and his little fingers clutched to my arm.

“Mommy!” he whimpered and sobbed. He started to hit Yuri back, lightly, enough for the furious woman to let go of me. Changmin then dashed in my arms and continued to weep at my chest. In an instant, I hugged him tight and felt like tearing up too.

Goddamnit, when the heck did I get so soft?

“You couldn’t stop, could you?”

Jung Min pierced me with his thoughts. After I nodded, he grabbed Yuri away from us. The brunette was ready to beat the crap out of me, but I knew that was only because she was sick worried. I understood why then. Taking care of a child was the hardest thing in the world. And as much as I tried to sooth the child, I felt bad about acting so rash.

“Hey, hey...” I wiped away Changmin’s tears and gave him a huge smile “I’m alright, see? What about little Min?”

He sniffed and rubbed his eyes before he clung to my neck and didn’t speak a word.

Yuri snorted.

“He needs to grow up faster. Do you think he’ll survive with that attitude?”

It was my turn to yearn that slap upon my mother’s delightful features. Instead, I kept Changmin in my arms and got up from the snow. No matter how hard the kid might have become at his age, he still felt rather light to me.

“Are you guys good?” Daesung asked out of the blue. He came over and tried to take Changmin off me, yet the kid wouldn’t budge.

“Yes, but he isn’t.” Yuri answered right away.

Only then had I seen the way she inspected Yoona. The fairy returned the gaze, both not comfortable around each other. I wish I could mock them – fire versus water – but I’d rather shut up and find out who Yuri was talking about. Jung Min was behind her, so it couldn’t be him. I finally convinced Changmin to go to Daesung when footsteps made it clear there was another person around.

My instinct had been seriously damaged that day. I swear I didn’t notice him before. He had been standing near us the entire time, not peering his eyes off the child.

Finally, he stared at me, glued his legs together and motioned two of his fingers in our direction.

“Yo!”

“Byung Hee? What the heck are you doing here?”

“I’m here to protect you,” the Seeker replied while he hid his wings. I vaguely observed two of them had been cut clean. “But guess the enemy is stronger than we’ve thought.”

“What the heck happened?” I snarled, frustrated with every single supernatural creature out there. Before he could open his mouth, one reaper punched Byung Hee and sent him in a tree. It was one of those rare moments when I saw an immense trunk be split in half from the impact and produce a small earthquake when it hit the ground. Two more reapers appeared after, bearing the same fangs and violent desire in their orbs.

“What the heck are those?!” Yuri exclaimed before her arms were covered with her signature flames.

“That won’t do...” rushing to Daesung and Changmin’s side, Jung Min instantly came in front of us, followed by Yuri and Yoona “They’re immune to fire.”

“No reaper’s immune to fire!” Yuri argued, ready to cook their spirits for a midnight snack.

“These are!” I yelled back in her face. Byung Hee came to our side too. “You!” he blinked “Don’t get your blades out, we need them alive.”

“What for?”

I massaged my wrist. Daesung better be holding that kid well, I wouldn’t want him to see us battling some weird smelling people.

“Answers.”