[ Onew ]

It was odd, the absence of the other seven Specials. Onew didn't miss the way Bom sighed shakily as she sat up, rubbing her eyes and leaning against T.O.P. with a heavy expression. The male ran his fingers through her hair, staring into space. The weight of the silence in the dim cave was heavy on Onew's shoulders, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

Luna shifted beside him. Somewhere in the middle of the night, their hands must have untangled, or perhaps she had pulled her hand away, but it brought down Onew's mood a bit. He quickly shook off the useless thought. He couldn't afford to bring the mood any lower.

"Let's hope they get to the Big 21 District safely," he muttered. As he spoke, a fit of coughs left him. The sandy desert wasn't so great to breathe in, and he hated how it had been so cold last night yet so hot now, as the sun began to peek over to horizon. Sulli gathered all the moisture she could from the air and tried to hydrate everyone as Luna, Onew, and Victoria began to discuss their next move.

It was odd, how Luna wasn't the leader to any of the individual groups, yet she had the others relying on her just as much. Perhaps it was her powers or her personality.

"You haven't had any dreams?" Victoria inquired, to which Luna shook her head no.

"I'm not sure if I should be happy or not because of that, but I know that Seoul isn't as easy to get into as we may think now." Luna ran a hand through her newly dyed hair. Onew's blond strands were a bit lighter, but he felt like the different colors suited them well. "We're going to get there soon. I can feel it."

Onew wasn't sure what the hell Luna meant by "soon," because he was pretty sure they'd struggled through the dry desert for longer than he could remember. He also wasn't quite aware of when the scenery around them changed, but he was grateful for it. They were no longer choking their way through the scorching heat.

"Oh, my god, I was dying!" Sulli shrieked as she collapsed in front of the small pool of water. She cupped the cool liquid in her hands and brought it to , slurpling loudly.

"Hey, you're the one who can bend water," said Jonghyun, who mirrored her actions. "We need this more than you!" Without looking up from the pond, Sulli reached out and shoved Jonghyun's face so that he toppled over. "Ah!"

The others appreciated the amusing scene before dropping beside the water as well. Onew glanced around after he splashed his face, basking in the coolness of it all. He took a deep breath as he scrutinized their surroundings. He knew that in the past, Seoul was a crowded urban city, full of buildings and cars. It made sense that their was a lack of greenery now, although it bothered him.

"The water isn't really fresh," Sulli gasped, moving away for the others to get access to it, "but it's safe." Luna straightened up, swallowing with slight difficulty.

"We're getting much closer. The life is slowly dying down as we get further," she breathed.

"Well, that's pretty damn reassuring,"  Key mumbled as he wiped at his face.

"It is," Onew sighed, standing up and stretching his sore limbs. "It makes sense that an abandoned city would be like this; let's just not hope it's actually abandoned." He regretted his words when she saw Luna tense up, although she smiled weakly after a few seconds, nodding in agreement. When everyone was well rested and hydrated, they began moving again. It wasn't too long before Onew saw the skyscrapers in the distance, and everyone let out the same sighs of relief.

"God, I wished Seungri was here. So we could just walk through his portal and just end up right in front of the borders," Bom whined. "I don't even care if we pass out again; I'm exhausted." The others silently agreed as they continued walking. As much as they all wanted to somehow use their powers, they were all much too drained and wanted to conserve their energy.

Onew froze, whipping his arm out to stop the others from going any further. His eyes scanned the border of the city. The buildings were torn, some burned down, and it looked as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped and left nothing but sad remains of what used to be a civilization. He could see what was left of the living along the edges of what used to be Seoul, and it was simply the Normals that patroled the area.

"Normals?" Victoria hissed. "I thought that everyone avoided Seoul now!"

"They do," Onew laughed humorlessly. "But where do you think a group of escaped 'criminals' would run to when every single human living on Earth is out for their heads?"

"I don't know, but I'm guessing you want us to say an abandoned city that's within distance of their had-been jail," Minho muttered.

"Exactly; I'm sure they have Normals set up everywhere, but Seoul will probably be the least of our problems. It's a pretty big city, and we only have to get through this small area of it undetected. Just don't alert the Normals of our presence, or they'll alert everyone else where we are."

Everyone got quiet as they considered their odds of getting through the guards without being caught. It was a very small chance. The twelve of them snuck to the side, sliding into a pit dug into the ground where they could hide. Taemin frowned and raised his hand in the air before lowering it, glancing around with a confused expression.

"Very silent," he muttered. "The air. It's louder in ground, more than up here. It's weird."

"I feel it, too," Luna stated, crossing her arms as she looked down. Her eyebrows furrowed. Curious, Onew knelt down and pressed his hand to the dirt. He closed his eyes before his mouth twitched.

"There's more life down there than there is in this empty city. Whoever Luna's dream mom wanted us to find - they're underground."

"Like the teenage turtles, right?" Amber asked. Everyone looked at her. "Sorry. It's an old story, from like, hundreds of years ago. I'm a vintage reader."

Onew closed his eyes and pressed his hands harder into the soil, focusing on what was underground. He could feel how the dirt carved out and formed a hollow area, most likely where the people were actually living. He wasn't sure how they would get there, and he couldn't sense the actual people, but he knew that there was definitely an underground city.

"Damn!" he shouted as a sudden force knocked him off the ground. He flew backwards, colliding with the edge of the pit. Groaning, he slid down just in time for the others to surround him.

"The Normals found us!" T.O.P. hissed, looking around frantically.

"No, they didn't," Luna answered confidently before she turned to Onew. "The energy - it didn't come from somewhere else. I saw it burst from the ground. That means there's Specials down there, right?" Onew rolled his shoulders, wincing. He nodded, kicking a clump of dirt bitterly.

"Damn you, stranger," he snapped. "I didn't do anything to you." He couldn't help but laugh when Luna cracked a smile, though. He sighed. "They know we're here, but they don't trust us, I bet. I wouldn't either."

"We need to get in there, anyways," Luna insisted.

She jumped up and held onto the edge of the pit, hauling her upper body over so she could spy on the Normals. She shook her head, and Onew jumped up to survey them as well. They were still standing there, as if they hadn't moved at all. Only their heads moved, from side to side, scanning the area. They were spaced apart neatly, but they weren't far enough for twelve Specials to run through unnoticed.

"We should've taken L and used his invisibility while we had the chance," Krystal muttered.

"You're just saying that because you think he's cute. I don't blame you," Sulli noted. Minho glanced at the both of them as if they'd grown extra heads.

"What?!"

"Guys, let's focus on the situation right now!" Luna spat. She narrowed her eyes at the group before turning her attention back to the Normals. "Come on, don't they have lunch break or something?" She froze before looking down at her hand. Then she blinked twice. "Key."

"I'm listening," Key responded, obviously interested in the devious tone of her voice.

"So you can tamper with brains. Do you think if I sneak up and, say, knock out a couple of those officers, that you'll be able to make them forget that they ever passed out?" Luna asked. Key tilted his head to the side, running a hand through his highlighted hair.

"Yeah. It'll be pretty difficult, since it's a certain sliver I have to manipulate, but it's easy."

Luna smirked. "Perfect."

[ Luna ]

Why didn't I do that ten minutes earlier? Luna wondered as she stepped over the limp Normal. Key pulled off the mask, revealing the face of an unconscious redhead, and pressed his slender fingers to her temple briefly. He muttered something under his breath, as if reciting a spell, and smirked after she twitched slightly.

"They should be up in ten minutes, before anyone checks on them," Luna announced, referring to the three Normals that she had drained. She continued walking, and she could almost feel exactly when she passed the borders and officially entered Seoul. It was like the air shifted around them, empty and hostile as an aura of suspicion followed them, plagued them with its wariness. "I can definitely feel them now." She kicked the ground, as if to knock on their door like, Hey, guys, what's up? Do not fear, we are fellow Specials who snuck into the forbidden city of Seoul in order to meet my probably-non-existent sister!

Actually, that wasn't a bad greeting, now that Luna thought about it.

Her heart thumped crazily when she felt just how much energy was below them. There wasn't just a small group of Specials below them; there was a lot of them.

"There's so many," she whispered, looking up at Onew. He met her gaze steadily, although she saw his eye twitch slightly at her words. "If we can't get them to side with us . . ."

"Well, we will," he said shortly. Luna bit her lip, not wanting to contradict him now. "We just need to find the entrance to their lair. I would use my powers, but it's pretty deep, and I also don't want to reveal their hideout. They've probably been hiding successfully for years, and I don't think they want their roof caving in just yet."

The large (though with smaller numbers) group continued deeper into Seoul, eyeing the buildings. Some of them had been torn down only partway, so it looked as if a giant had raked its colossal fingers across the structure a couple times rather than demolishing it. Scraps and debris littered the ground, making it dangerous to walk across, and it was even sadder when they saw an object such as a tattered doll that could have been a treasured memory to a person.

"Here!" Victoria announced dramatically, freezing beside one building in particular and throwing her arms onto its walls. She hugged the corner of the building tightly as she pointed to the name carved in stone. Seoul Metropolitan Library. "Everyone knows that the secret lair is always inside the library."

"That's not exactly true," Krystal said uncertainly, only to be interrupted as Victoria dragged the others up the steps.

"Come now! Pull all the books off the shelves on the walls! One of them should trigger a secret entrance to the secret hideout in the secret city!" she declared with a flourish of her hands.

Victoria was very compassionate about secrets, Luna noted to herself. Nonetheless, she entered the library agreeably, trusting the other. She didn't pull any books off the shelves though, despite the fact that Victoriaa was doing so enthusiastically (albeit crazily). Luna ran her fingers along the brick wall at the entrance, pushing lightly in search for a sudden entryway to appear.

"I don't think that will work either," Onew voiced with amusement. He leaned against the wall and grinned at Luna. She held back the smile that almost tugged her lips upwards; the man smiled way too much, anyways. There was no need for her to catch it as well. "Victoria might be right. The ground under here is very hollow, and it gets more solid as you keep walking a certain way. There must be a staircase."

"It's possible that there's multiple entrances," Luna murmured, closing her eyes and sensing for any unfamiliar energy. None. It made sense that the entrance-slash-exit to the city wasn't crowded with people anyway; no one wanted to leave the safety. When she opened her eyes, she was met with Onew's smile, this time softer and more emotional than usual. Flustered, she turned her gaze away. Onew stopped Taemin as he ran by, gleefully tossing a novel to one side and a dictionary to the other.

"Have the others follow me," Onew ordered. Taemin seemed a bit disappointed that he couldn't trash the place anymore, but he let out a high pitched whistle anyways. Luna winced slightly, walking after Onew. She vaguely noticed that Taemin still shoved rows of books off the shelves anyway. Luna was surprised that the Normals didn't take any of these books off the shelves, but she figured they had their own copies and didn't want to risk being "infected
by Seoul air.

One title in particular caught her eye, and she pulled it off the shelf quickly, scanning the summary on the back of the book. It was small, pocket-sized, and it held all the history since 2300 - specifically, the history of the Specials. She stuffed it into her jacket pocket hastily, watching Onew as he crawled along the ground. He actually looked pretty stupid, and Luna snorted. He squinted up at her suspiciously.

"Sorry."

"Sure you are." Onew paused. "Got it."

"Got what?" T.O.P. asked, poking out from behind one of the magazine racks. Onew pointed at the floor, where the carpet switched over to white tiles. He knocked on the large black tile, nodding at the hollow echo that sounded from it. He frowned.

"How do they get this off?" He scraped at the corners with his fingernails, to no avail.

"It must be an emergency exit. I got it." Krystal slowly lifted her hand, fingers twitching as the tile was pulled off the ground smoothly. There was a ladder going down into the darkness the tile revealed.

"Luna, go first and make sure they know that you mean no harm. Maybe they'll recognize you as your, uh, sister's sister. I'll stay back and make sure everyone gets down."

Luna was eager to see what was waiting for them in this city. She scrambled down the ladder, landing maybe-a-litte-bit-gracefully on the ground. She squinted into the darkness, chills running over her. She was in a tunnel of some sorts, but she couldn't see anything. Jonghyun was the fifth person down, and his skin started to glow.

"WE HAVE A HUMAN TORCH!" Amber guffawed. Everyone looked at her once again. "Sorry. Another reference."

"Start moving!" Onew called down. Jonghyun went ahead with a smug smirk, striding down the dark corridor. They went lower and lower, and Luna wondered just how far they could go until the air became scarce for them. They finally saw the opening - the light at the end of the tunnel, Luna thought eerily - and quickened their pace. There were Specials waiting for them; they didn't expect anything too bad.

Wrong. Jonghyun stopped everyone as he halted, and Luna stilled beside him. Standing several meters away to greet them was a large herd of Specials - definitely larger than them, and definitely powerful Specials. One girl stepped forward, eyes scanning the smaller group as they slowly exited the tunnel, keeping the others' gazes level. Onew came out last, immediately stepping forward to protect his Specials. The girl who had stepped forward was very pretty (though she was a bit short), with long hair that seemed to be a cross between orange and black.

"Who are you?" she snapped. She stood in a way that made her defensive yet offensive, and the hand she held out was controlling a . . . squirrel. It seemed like a rabid squirrel. Animal manipulation. Literally animal control.

"Specials!" Onew shouted back, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the Level 7 tattooed on him. "Just like you!"

"Obviously, idiot," the girl retorted. If the situation had been any less threatening, Luna would have laughed at Onew's offended expression. On the other side, a tall male stepped up, smiling sweetly although his eyes promised murder.

"What do you want with us? How did you know we were here? Why shouldn't all of us terminate you right here and right now?" he demanded in a deep voice. Luna's eyes caught someone else in the crowd, and her heart nearly stopped. She didn't even notice the threatss anymore; they seemed empty.

This girl . . . resembled her. The only difference was that her hair was still a natural black, and her facial features were only slightly different. Luna's lips parted, and the name left her lips involuntarily.

"Jin. . . Jinyoung?"

A twin sister?

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I cannot believe Jonghyun finally made an Instagram. YESSS!!!

Sorry for the late update (yet again)

And HAPPY HOLIDAAAAYYYYSSSS (late)

SHINee's song Last Christmas gives me so much life

Okay, I honestly don't know what Seoul is like or how their borders work

Like, is their a bridge across the waters to get there? Is it just gates?

I don't know. But it's the fuuuttuuuuuure

And I can make it how I want it

Story time

I was out with a good friend of mine

And she tripped

In the middle of the store

And I laughed.

KIDDING. I didn't laugh. I was like shocked and then helped her up

I did laugh, however, when my cousin fractured her ankle

But that's a different story.

Hahahahaha.....

Thanks for reading <3

PS OMG JONGHYUN'S TEASER PICS FIRST TAE'S SOLO AND NOW HIS MMF

AND SHINEE IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A COMEBACK IN MARCH BLESS THEIR SOULS BC I HAVE NONE IT WAS TAKEN FROM ME AGH

Also, poll: