“Ravi’s alive,” Hyuk reported to Lay and Hyuna, “N saved him in time.”

“Good,” Lay nodded, smiling slightly.

“It’s good to know that we’re still good for something,” Hyuna laughed, “I was worried that once we died we’d only be good for causing the others pain.”

“That’s all we’ll be good for after this anyway,” Hyuk muttered, recalling Hongbin’s tears and the dark look in Leo’s eyes.

He’d never seen Hongbin cry so much and he’d defiantly never seen Leo with that look. Back before Dark Lake, Hyuk had been bullied. It was years ago, when he was still a little kid. Leo found out and Hyuk had been scared of the dark look in the elder’s eyes when he confronted the bullies. It took more than a little work on Leo’s part to assure Hyuk that everything was alright and that there was no reason to be scared of Leo.

This look……it was so much worse. And this time Leo couldn’t hug Hyuk tightly as he reassured him that everything was alright.

“They’re all strong,” Lay assured the younger, “they’ll get through the pain and they’ll be stronger for it. And once they’ve finished grieving for us, once we know that they’re alright……we’ll cross over into the light.”

“Lay is right,” Hyuna smiled, “but right now we need to focus on the task at hand. How are Kris, Suho, and Jaesun’s groups doing? And do we know where Lina and Taeyeon are?”

“We’re right here,” Lina said, making her way over with a sobbing Taeyeon trailing behind her.

“Lina,” Lay whispered, eyes wide as in sunk in exactly what this meant, “no…..no. You….”

“Died,” Lina nodded sadly, “yeah.”

“How?” Hyuk managed to ask, rushing to hug the youngest when the question made her cry harder.

“We were gunned down,” Lina explained, “I guess……I guess those tunnels aren’t to secret after all. Maybe…..maybe leaving N and the others wasn’t such a smart idea.”

“Oh, Lina,” Hyuna moved to hug the winged ghost, “at least…..at least you don’t just look like an angel now?” Despite the horrible situation, Lina couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Chanyeol isn’t going to take this news well,” Lay couldn’t stop himself from saying and Lina’s laughter died.

“Oh no,” she whimpered, “Chanyeol……he…..”

“Smooth,” Hyuk hissed at Lay, voice low so only the shifter ghost could hear.

“Sorry.”

“We need to focus,” Hyuna said after letting Lina cry for a few moments, “Jaesun’s group was heading in the direction of the tunnels, right?”

“Yeah,” Lay nodded, “Sooyoung had a vision and they started to head that direction.”

“We need to make sure that they aren’t gonna get caught up a fight they can’t win,” Hyuna decided, “Lay, go check if it’s clear. If not, warn them. Hyuk, keep an eye on N’s group. I’ll see if I can find Sori and her crew. Lina, do you want to find Kris’ group, or Suho’s?”

“Suho,” Lina said after thinking it over for a moment, “I need to see Chanyeol. I…..I just need to.”

“Alright,” Hyuna nodded, “Taeyeon, that leaves you with Kris’ group. Make sure they’re all alright, figure out what they’re doing. Then report back here in…..ten minutes or less. We’ll figure out what needs to be done after that.”

“Right.”

--

“Crap,” Lay hissed as he watched the armed men and women slowly moving Lina and Taeyeon’s bodies from the tunnel into the hall, “crap.”

His friends……well, that was an image that would haunt him the rest of his days on earth, limited as they might be.

But his worst nightmares were not important at that moment. He needed to find Jaesun’s group and tell them to hold up. Thankfully they had Sehun or warning them of the danger they were about to face would have been impossible.

Lay took off running, grateful that his ghostly form was so convenient for fast travel. H he had to walk around walls or up stairs, he’d have never gotten to the group. As it was, they were only a few halls away when he found them, only a few short halls away from danger.

“Lay,” Sehun sighed, happy to see the ghost, “what’s wrong?”

“Lots of things,”” Lay reported, “but the most pressing thing for you all is that there’s armed supernaturals just ahead.”

“Can we go around them?” Jaesun asked once Sehun had relayed the message.

“No,” Lay sighed sadly, “they’re right where you’re going. Not that there’s any point in going there any more.”

“Lay?” Sehun whispered, eyes wide with fear, “What are you talking about? Why isn’t there a point in going there anymore?”

“Lina and Taeyeon are dead,” Lay said, knowing that there was never a good way to report such terrible news.

“Oh god,” Sehun sobbed, falling to his knees, “no. NO!”

“Quiet,” Jaesun scolded as best he could while still being considerate to Sehun’s feelings, “we can’t draw attention to ourselves.”

“Who?” Tao asked, voice desperate, “who’s dead?”

“Lina and Taeyeon,” Sehun managed to get out. D.O stumbled back as if hit and Sooyoung started to cry as well. Tao just stood there in shock, trying to process everything.

Jaesun glared at the ground. Sure, he might not have known either girl well, but he knew that they were good people. They didn’t deserve to die. Not now, not at the hands of the people they were fighting.

“Excuse me,” Jaesun growled, “I need to take care of something.”

The others let him go, in no state to stop him. The screams of pain that followed startled them, but they were quick to determine that it was not Jaesun screaming.

Somehow, knowing that he was making the people who’d killed their friends made them all feel better.

A/N: so happy I got this chapter out. It’s been a week full of things for me; birthdays, new animals, and Civil War taking up most of my brain space hahahaha I’m a nerd~~! Hahaha anyway, it took me a little bit to figure out what I wanted to cover this chapter, but once I figured it out? Easy~~