[ Onew ]

When Onew's eyes opened to meet the sun's merciless rays, he groaned heavily. Someone punched his arm with a short bark of laughter. It sounded a bit forced and guilty.

"Finally up?" Seungri chuckled nervously. "Hey, sorry for the whole coma thing. I'm not used to opening portals big enough for twenty people to teleport through."

"Coma?" Onew repeated, blinking away his fatigue. He reeled back in shock when he realized that his arms had been draped over an unconscious Luna.

"You fell through with her like that," Seungri explained with a shrug. His eyes suggested something more, but he glanced around at the sleeping bodies around them. "You've been out for about seven hours probably."

Seven hours? Onew anxiously shifted Luna into a comfortable position. He vaguely remembered hugging her while they were being sent through Seungri's portal, but he had no idea what brought him to do that.

"Seven hours is a long time. Where are we? No Normals could get to us?"

"I couldn't get us very far," Seungri admitted as Amber and T.O.P. began to stir. "We're not that off from the main gates, actually. A few Normals passed by, but we're in a cave, if you haven't noticed." Onew glanced into the dark opening in the mountain before peeking over the ledge. Sure enough, they were elevated slightly off the ground, around the height of the trees surrounding the grounds. If Onew squinted, he could make out the towering gates of their once-prison.

He could also see smoke, which meant fire.

"Some Specials getting revenge, I see," he noted with a wry grin.

"Aren't we all?" Amber moaned from lying on the rock floor. Soon, everyone else was regaining their consciousness, Luna being one of the last. Onew figured she was tired, more so than the rest of them.

"My necklace" was the first thing she said. Onew blinked, eyebrows furrowing with mild concern. Her eyes had dilated, and her expression wavered between worry and horror.  "I don't care for the rest of my things. But I need my necklace," Luna begged, "please."

"What necklace?" Dara questioned.

"My mother's. How she contacted me. I can't leave it back there! It's important," Luna whispered finally. Onew put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly.

"I understand. We'll go back, okay?" He couldn't help but agree with her dark, imploring eyes. "Victoria, stay back with the others. Minho, Sulli - I need help fromyou guys, in case the fire spread."

"I'm staying," Minho declared, causing Krystal to roll her eyes in irritation. "Minzy can go in my place. She can work with fire, too."

"Sure, boss, go ahead, volunteer me," Minzy snapped, although her irises sparkled with anticipation. She clapped Luna on the back, causing the latter to stare at her strangely. "Come on, I'll cause a distraction while you go and get your mommy-phone-necklace thing." Looking slightly dazed, Luna stood up, wobbling slightly on her stiff legs. Onew's arms shot out to guide her, but she quickly regained her balance. All three quickly declined Seungri's offer to open up another portal; they didn't want to deal with another coma.

It was a short, pleasant walk back to their old home, save for the multiple times they had to duck behind a tree if they heard anyone coming by. At one point, Minzy got extremely irritated and hit a Normal with a brief burn to his behind (thus resulting in the fastest sprint Onew had ever run in his life).

"Never . . . again!" Luna gasped when they reached the gates. She hunched over behind a bush and panted heavily.

"Shh, they'll hear us," Minzy chided. Her hair was a mess, and beads of sweat ran down her face, but she had a satisfied smirk.

Onew surveyed the front of the gates carefully. The van that had come to get Luna was still out front; the back doors were still open. There were two Normals guarding the entrance behind the car, scanning their surroundings now and then. He calculated the probability of getting past them by screaming bloody murder and charging through the gates.

It was a very small percentage.

"My bags are in the car," Luna said. Her eyes narrowed as she counted the suitcases. "I don't know if my necklace is in any of them . . ."

"On the count of three," Minzy declared. "Onetwothreego!"

I thought I was the leader here, Onew thought in a panic as he burst out of the trees. He immediately grew out the branch above him and wrapped it around the nearest Normal officer. He jumped onto the branch and rode it while it shot forward. He kicked the gun out of the Normal's hand with a bitter shudder. He was never getting tased by that thing again.

"It's not here!" Luna called from the back of the van. Her head poked out from the doors. "I'm going for the dorms. Watch my back!" Without clarifying anything, she made a mad dash into the "prison."

"She's crazy," Minzy stated bluntly after she knocked out a Normal that had come for her. "I like it." She and Onew raced after Luna, swiftly dodging the Normals' attacks and fighting off the ones that came for Luna. By the time they got to the dorms, Onew was exhausted, but he didn't let it show. Maybe they should've taken Seungri's portal after all.

Onew grunted as he was tackled suddenly. He hissed in annoyance when he was met face-to-mask with another Normal. There were so many of them - like ants, small yet irritating.

"Go ahead! Make sure Luna doesn't struggle with the fire!" Onew ordered, tossing the Normal aside. He would have to hold them off for now. He blew his hair out of his face as another officer charged at him; ducking smoothly, he managed to wrap his arms around the person's middle and knock him to the left. He watched Luna and Minzy disappear into their dorm, and an immediate sense of worry took over. The building had been set ablaze; Minzy wouldn't be able to handle all those flames by herself.

Onew waited for the Normals to surround him. He cocked his head to the side, grinning crookedly. He was obviously outnumbered.

"Whoa! Watch it," he snapped when one of the Normals shot something at him. He shifted to the side, and it grazed past his arm. It got close enough so that he knew it would hurt if it actually hit him. He pushed his arms out, palms facing upward, and scoffed as thick roots began to intertwine with the Normals' legs. They branched out so that the roots wrapped around their necks. "Do you guys know how it feels to be six feet under?" Onew smiled sweetly at each of them in turn before he allowed the ground to open up beneath each officer and swallow them up. He covered up their screams with the soil and began to count under his breath.

One thousand one. One thousand two. One thousand three.

The Normals came back up from the dirt, the clods spraying around like water droplets. Onew loosened the roots so that they could cough up anything that had gotten into them from the ground.

"Are we good? Good." He left them tied up in the plants and ran off. His heart nearly stopped when he saw Luna climbing out of her window on the second floor. "Luna? Luna!" He was standing below her, waving his arms. "What the heck are you doing?!"

"Oh, good! Stay there!" Luna shouted, looking relieved. "I hope you're a good catch, okay?!"

And then she jumped.

Onew barely managed to wrap his arms around her waist before he hit the ground as well, back against the dirt and rocks. He groaned in pain, eyebrows furrowing. Luna grumbled incoherently, rolling to the side.

"Sorry. I needed a cushion for landing."

"Thanks?" Onew snorted. Minzy came running out of the building a few moments later, shrieking for Luna. She caught sight of them and yelped in relief.

"I thought I lost you! One second, you were there, and I was guiding you, but then you were gone!"

"Sorry," Luna moaned, sitting up and rolling her shoulders. "I didn't realize that you didn't go into the room with me. I found my necklace though." Luna beamed as she held up the dream catcher, dangling prettily on its chain. Onew glared at it from the ground. "I also went to the other rooms and threw in as many useful things I could see." Luna held up the duffel in her hand as proof. "I managed to push some of the fire out of the way, but I heard some Normals coming in, so I was going to jump out."

"Those Normals were nothing," Minzy sniffed, "so you just wasted your time."

"And my back," Onew wheezed.

"Sorry," Luna repeated guiltily. She looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps. "Come on. We have to go!" Luna and Minzy helped Onew stand (Minzy kneeing Onew's spine for good measure) and began to run again. Onew held back an exaggerated whine. He really wasn't in the mood for running again. He ducked when a bullet went over his head. Okay.

Maybe he could run just a little bit more.

"We're never coming back her again, you got that?" Minzy shouted, leaping over a Normal's dive for her. She whirled around and shot a blast of flames at him. "I am so done with this place and its stale tuna sandwiches!"

"As soon as we get to the cave," Onew huffed as they weaved through the trees, "we're going straight to Seoul." He spun backwards, still running, and forced one of the trunks to fall over and block the Normals' path. He stared in disbelief at the one and only Normal still chasing them, bent forward and moving at amazingly fast speed. "Are you sure there isn't a Special with speed that disguised herself as a Normal?" He turned forward again, trying to keep up with the girls.

Luna glanced back and inspected the girl curiously. "No. Her waves seem regular. She's just really fast." Luna faced forward and tossed her arm upwards carelessly. Onew glanced back to see the girl freeze and suddenly collapse on the ground. "Uh. I tampered with her energy a bit. She should be alive."

"Should be," Minzy snickered.

The others didn't appear to be outside the cave when they arrived, perhaps hidden in the safe darkness.

"Don't run too fast; Bom has a force field up around the cave," Luna called. Onew put his hand to the mountain and forced a few rocks to pull out of the wall, like steps. Luna rushed up the stairs. "It's us! I'm opening up the barrier a bit!" Luna placed her hand on something, or at least Onew thought it was something. She appeared to be simply putting it up in the air. "Go through. Quickly!"

Minzy ducked into the cave obediently while Onew pushed the rocks back into their place in the mountain. Then he ran in as well. Luna closed the shield off again. The cave became silent, and all Onew could hear was the harsh panting of himself and the other runners. He saw the other Specials sitting against the wall, staring at them in shock.

"I told you Luna would know what to do," Bom said through gritted teeth. "Sorry I couldn't be on watch. My shield doesn't have invisibility powers, so I didn't want anyone standing out in the open like an idiot."

"Did you just indirectly call me an idiot?" T.O.P. harrumphed.

"Are you guys alright?" Taemin demanded. He stepped forward and put his hands on his leader's shoulders, checking him for injuries. Onew could see Victoria doing the same for Luna, and CL for Minzy. "What took so long?"

"Luna and Minzy took turns breaking my back," Onew explained.

"What?"

"Nevermind," Luna interrupted, putting herself between Onew and Taemin. She gave him a threatening glare before smiling at Taemin. "The point is, we're alive, and we need to get to Seoul before those Normals catch up to us."

"Yeah, but . . . what's going to catch us at Seoul?" Minho brought up dully. Everyone turned to look at him. "I mean, come on, guys. The abandoned city. The forbidden city. It's pretty much asking for it."

"Asking for what?" Krystal muttered.

"I don't know, but it's probably not going to be something good!" Minho insisted. "Something's waiting for us there . . . I have a feeling."

"My sister is waiting for me there," Luna whispered. The cave was eerily silent again. Everyone had their eyes trained on the petite girl arguing with the tall boy. "Do you want to join the others heading off after Seoul?" Onew tensed. Minho couldn't leave them. He wouldn't.

"No," Minho coughed after a long silence. "I would never. I just wanted to warn everyone . . ."

"We all know the risks," Key sighed, tilting his head to one side as he crossed his arms. "But we're going to have even more trouble if we don't stop the humans from trying to wipe out us. Humans that are just a little less human." The quiet that followed that statement was more bitter, remorseful. Resentful.

"Seoul shouldn't be far. We'll walk to the nearest station around here," Onew announced shakily. "We should be able to get a ride to a city near Seoul. From there, we'll part ways. Deal?" Everyone nodded almost regretfully. "That's not going to be our goodbye. We'll see each other again, one way or another." His eyes traveled to the duffel Luna gripped tightly in her hand. "The bag. What's in it?"

"Why are you holding my bag?" Sulli wondered aloud.

"I grabbed some stuff from all the rooms. Clothes, water - anything that could be utilized well." Luna ped the duffel and began tossing out items of clothing. Onew caught a black snapback with a brand printed across the front.

"That's mine!" Jonghyun complained as Onew used the hat to cover most of his face. The leader merely patted the other on the back with a short "thank you."

"They'll probably have pictures of us up everywhere by now," Victoria muttered, pulling an oversized sweater over her head. "Cover yourselves up well. Those with funky hair or eyes - make sure no one can see it."

Luna touched the streaks of electric blue winding through her dark hair and sighed. She tied it up in a ponytail and threw a hood over casually. By the time everyone had finished preparing for the journey, the sky had dimmed slightly. Jonghyun closed his eyes, feeling for the sun's rays.

"It's going down. We should head out in a bit, when it's dark and they can't detect us as well. I'll lead the way." Jonghyun glanced at Onew.

"South," he answered without having to hear the question. I remember when I was still living with the humans, the stations had the flying pods, right? Has that been updated?"

"It can hold up to ten people per pod now," GD replied, kicking the wall boredly. "Last time I was in one, I was being transported to the prison." He jerked his head towards the gates.

"You're kidding me! I got a bus with a bunch of other Specials," Amber snorted. "Rowdy. It felt like I was going to summer camp all over again."

"I got a plane from China," Victoria commented smugly.

"Are we really going to brag about how we were sent to jail now?" Taeyang groaned.

Onew couldn't help the short bark of laughter that left him. Luna was smiling widely as well, he pleasantly noted. She caught him staring at her before her smile faltered, but his only widened.

"Are you excited?" he asked.

"Excited? I'm about to go to the forbidden city of Seoul in order to look for something - someone - that might not be there. Then I'm going to have to face tons of Normals until we can somehow find a way to the United States. Then we have to search for where they're holding my parents, which could be anywhere, and somehow survive all the way to then where we apparently solve all the Specials' problems," Luna said, grabbing onto Onew's shirt and growing more panicked with every word.

Onew grinned down at her, grabbing Luna's hands with his own. "Yeah, but it'll be fun, right? You're not excited?"

Luna pursed her lips, letting go of Onew's shirt slowly. He didn't release her hands.

"Yeah," she admitted with a gradual, sheepish smile, "I'm excited."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Uhlllll

I've been gone for a while, haven't I?

I am SOOOOOO sorry OTL

As soon I was done with this chapter IT WAS LIKE A MIRACLE

I seriously can't make any excuses

BUT I WAS SERIOUSLY OUT OF TOWN I PROMISE

VIRTUAL PINKY PROMISE

I am escaping schoolwork through the Kpop community

I haven't actually touched the Kpop community in a LONG time

Because of my schedule

BUT I'm trying to catch up by looking at some of my favorite tumblr blogs

And it reminded me of how perfect Onew was

Gosh, he's so perfect.

That's my goodbye gif. You're welcome.

You've been blessed by his flawlessness.

Next up is the chapter where they actually do some traveliiiing

AND I JUST REMEMBERED I HAVE A PROJECT DUE IN TWO DAYS AND I HAVEN'T STARTED

THANK YOU FOR READING I LOVE YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE