Inequality

Chapter 17 – Close Call

“L hyung?!” V cried out in surprise. He made a move to go towards him only to have L block him with a wall. V stopped and L removed the wall carefully, peeling it off layer by layer as the solid became more transparent.

Akari struggled against the binds as her wings continued to make cracks against it. L clenched his teeth and continued to watch over both the wall and Akari. She's still too strong. Stupid girl.

Akari glared at L, but she saw it, how his gaze was so soft, so calm and she instead reached out to him mentally, surprising him as his eyes widened.

Why Soo..?

L shook his head and he said, It's for you. Everything I do is for you. His deep brown orbs practically pierced through her heart and she shook her head. He frowned and asked, “Why can't you accept me?”

Because I don't see you that way. Akari closed her eyes as she felt the first gate unlock. V's eyes widened and he shouted, “KRIS, GET THEM AWAY!”

Kris hesitated before he saw the fear in V's eyes. Immediately, he pulled Xiumin and Tao back as fast as possible as V rushed over, using his momentum to drive them away from Akari and L. His lithe body slammed straight into them as he slammed them into a small alcove that led into another entrance, or perhaps exit, way that once opened up to the dungeon that is presently an abyss.

L's eyes widened as was unable to react quickly enough. He watched the scene unfold before his eyes as he felt a cold chill go down his spine. His binding was nothing in comparison to Akari's strength, and her lust for blood was obvious as her eyes were a bright, blood red.

Her form was something unfamiliar to L. After all, he never had fought along side with her before, but for V, it was something he never wanted to experience again. Because... if that was what he thought it was, all hope would be lost.

V and the rest watched from the small alcove about 10 meters above them. L was frozen in place, not only by the overwhelmingly heavy energy radiating from his beloved Akari, but also because of her beauty.

Akari's hair was no longer short. Either it was from the power of the awakening or it was just inevitable, the platinum blonde, almost silver hair was at shoulder length. On the side of her head were two fluffy ears. If it was anywhere else, one would have thought she was an adorable little fox girl, but no, those eyes were anything, but, and the metallic sheen that coated her skin was a clear warning of danger.

And then, there was silence.

No one moved. The air was still, and almost everyone was holding their breaths. The pieces of earth that once bound her were now in shattered pieces, parts of it had already become dust and have formed a ring around her. A pebble, a tiny, little thing, had bounced from her foot to L's fallen figure on the cliff. It hit his side and then bounced off the cliff, creating small crackling noises as it hit other rock forms beneath it.

The dust surrounding our dear accursed heroine was just beginning to fade from above, giving V a better view of his favorite noona and he clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent any noise. He could feel it, his wings were urging him to join her. Tao noticed V stagger forward, and he reached out to pull the boy away from the edge, but he wasn't fast enough.

V toppled forward with the forces of gravity assisting his descent to the depths of earth.

It all happened in less than a minute. And all they could register was one thing.

Akari had caught V.

But, if you slowed it down to – oh, who even knows – and just slowed everything to the next nanosecond, then the scene would have been rather shocking.

The moment V had even taken that peek of Akari, she had already noticed him. The moment V had barely shifted, the little fluff that you can call an ear on her head had twitched towards his direction. Her head followed just as swiftly as she tracked down and pinpointed his exact location.

Her petite form had already moved even before V had began feeling the side effects of his awakening urging him to join her. She had caught V before he crashed and perhaps never came back out alive from the abyss.

Her form was exuded with a quiet fierceness. Although her eyes were so gentle in that short moment in which she glanced at the currently unconscious V, they were like daggers that pierced through L multiple times.

He opened and closed his mouth couple of times as Tao watched in a sort of horrific awe. The power that exuded from her form was extremely breathtaking and he watched as she floated towards them before gently turning V over to him. She gave him a soft smile before disappearing, only to reappear at L's side, a sword pressed just slightly above his chest and her hand at his throat.

“A-Akari.” L choked out. Her eyes were emotionless, and through the direct link with Luhan, he felt as though Akari's existence dissipated. All he felt was her wings. Luhan panicked, and it showed on his face. Dongjun and Chen glanced over and Dongjun mumbled, “She wouldn't.”

Luhan couldn't reply and Dongjun reached out to connect to Akari, only to feel that same wall blocking him and he punched the floor, startling everyone. He ran a hand through his hair and he said, “This isn't good.”

“Dongjun-sshi?” Chen hesitantly asked. Dongjun sighed and he said, “Akari was never able to control her Transitions.”

“Transitions?”

Dongjun nodded and his face was pale and tired. The next few words leaving his mouth only sent chills and despair to the other two.

“It's when the Wings take over the mindset. Nothing you do or say will reach out to them. She might not even recognize who's a friend or foe.”

“But.. our hyungs!” Chen practically shouted. Dongjun lowered his head as he watched Lay heal Jungkook and he didn't say anything. However, Luhan shook his head and he said, “I'm certain she'll recognize us.”

“Hyung?”

“Akari isn't heartless. And she's opened up.. it's a small crack, and it hasn't even been a day, but I'm certain of it. Akari will notice us. Especially Kris. I can't explain it, but Kris' offer and his rough kindness rubbed off on her, I'm certain of it.”

Luhan's words were full of confidence and Dongjun lowered his head in hopes that it was true. But he'd never know, after all, he couldn't even establish a link with that wall surrounding her.

“I hope you're right.”

*****

Everyone stopped and froze as Akari heartlessly held L in a deadlock. If he struggled, he could be pierced by the sword. But if he didn't attempt to do anything, he'd run out of air at one point.

Kill him Akari. Just kill him. He betrayed you.

Akari didn't blink as she heard the voice urging her. Her foot was placed on his stomach as she dug her heel in, causing the older male to cry out in pain. Her hand on his neck loosened just enough and the voice within giggled.

Just do it. Think of the wonderful abilities you can gain. Think of all the power you can obtain from his one death. He's a mere child playing with fire, but remember, he betrayed you. He used your trust and turned against you.

Akari's left eye twitched as there was a fleeting flash of dark brown. An eye color L hasn't seen in a long time. Ever since she had assimilated with her Wings, her eye color has always been a hue between gold and brown and he croaked out, “Please-”

Akari's hand let go of him as she cried out in anguish. Everyone shielded their ears as her form flickered back and forth. L stumbled backwards, trying to get as far away as possible when suddenly there was another sound, one that no matter how many years have passed was still the same.

The familiar creaking and rumbling of the ground shook the entire dungeon, and the Exo boys plus V held their ground as they watched the dungeon rebuild itself with a certain someone they thought they would never see again.

Clovis.

As suddenly as he had appeared beside L and Akari, a group of agents appeared as well, surrounding the Exo boys. One of them grabbed V, pushing the Exo members away, and causing the poor child to cry out in pain. Almost immediately, the person who had grabbed V was struck down, a spear impaled their chest and Akari stood protectively over V, although she was holding the side of her head carefully as her orbs dilated between a gold and red at the same time, giving it an eery glow.

A chuckling and laughter was heard as the small alcove they were hidden in was suddenly brought down towards the cliff that L and Clovis were situated at and a low growl emitted from the back of Akari's throat as she stood in front of the small group. V's breathing was shallow as Tao and Xiumin tried their best to cool down his temperature. Kris stood in between them and Akari, ready to back her up if anything.

L warily stood up, only to receive support from Clovis himself.

“Well well, looks like you're still as beautiful as ever aren't you pet?”

Akari glared at him, and Clovis chanted something softly before placing a hand on L's forehead. The physical wounds on L healed instantly and Akari's glare deepened.

“Won't talk to me still? Such a shame, I used to love hearing your voice scream my name.”

Immediately, dozens of weapons ranging from arrows to swords to daggers and spears were launched straight at the two, only for Clovis to block them all with his wall of earth. He smiled and he said, “At least I got some sort of noise. You always were the cute one.”

He glanced over to V and he said, “Looks like your little one won't survive at this rate. Why don't I put him out of his misery for you?”

Clovis raised a hand, only for him to cry out in pain as Akari moved faster than she ever had before, cutting off his hand and pinning L against the wall with two spears, one impaled in each arm. L cried out in pain alongside his majesty and Clovis glared at Akari.

“How dare you... you were never anything more than an experiment that lost control. You should know your place.”

Akari's eyes were a blood red again and suddenly the entire ground shook, and this time it wasn't originating from Clovis. They looked around in shock before Kris grabbed s and shot towards the sky. Yes, he was slower than usual, but it took him all his will power not to drop the three boys that were dangling from his arms.

Akari's anger caused her absorption to go out of hand as she began taking in Clovis' ability and using it against him, only for it to be turned against her. Akari had been hit by a blast of Consumption, catching her off guard. She fought it off, but it was to no avail as she felt her energy slowly get away.

“I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO KILL HER YOU IDIOTS.”

The agent that had shot that flinched as he the Consumption back into the enchanted bottle that held it. Akari slumped to her knees as she struggled to stand up. Her form wavered and in a flash of light, it broke and she reverted back to her original appearance, with the exception of her hair.

She managed to look up, only to see Clovis advancing towards her. Kris made a move to fly down to help only to receive what he considered a stupid order of command.

Leave me here.

Kris stared at her dumbfounded. After all their hard work to get her out of there, she was going to give away her new found life in order to save them!?

“What the .. ARE YOU STUPID?” Kris shouted. The others looked at her just as dumbfounded. And they were almost heartbroken at the sadness and anguish in her eyes. She knew she had no other choice. She didn't have the strength to protect them, and V was also in danger. Tao looked at her in despair and he mumbled, “Kris hyung, Xiumin hyung, hold onto me.”

“Tao. Don't. You can't. It takes so mu-”

“I don't care. Akari needs us.”

Tao closed his eyes before opening them, revealing them to be an eery silver and he calmly stated, “By my order, all time will stop now.”

Clovis opened his mouth to shout an order, only to freeze. The radius in which Tao's time control affected was larger than Akari had anticipated as she watched everyone around her except for them and herself freeze. Kris landed beside her as she felt them wrap themselves around her.

“We're not leaving without you.”

Akari laughed and she said, “You guys are suicidal.”

“You're suicidal,” Xiumin pointed out before flicking her nose. She frowned and he asked with a soft smile, “Do you have enough energy to pull us out of here?”

Akari closed her eyes and felt it, that welcoming presence of Dongjun and Luhan waiting on the other side and she said, “Yeah, I do.”

A/n: I had a major writer's block while writing this and I was like, "OTL I don't know how to continue." And then I somehow managed to get these things together and I was like, "Never mind I did well. I hope." ROFL. I'm kind of braindead so if something looks weird, please tell me. >__> Anyways, sorry for le delays.