Love is eternal

Everything was quiet around the school. If someone dropped a needle the sound of its landing would resound through the school, not interrupted by anything. There were no birds squeaking, no wind blowing the leaves of the trees and no one talking. It made Alice feel uncomfortable. She knew everyone else was asleep, as she had forced them all to rest when the immediate danger was over. But something was still not right, she just couldn’t figure it out what it was. It was like the earth itself was waiting for some inevitable, something that had been avoided for a very long time but could no longer be over-looked. Since the shield was gone, it made Alice even less protected than usual, which didn't help sooth the uncomfortable silence around her. It was the calm before the storm, she could feel it, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for the last fight that was coming for them. It was in moments like those when she missed Heechul the most. He had always been a light in her otherwise so dark world, someone who would make her smile despite all the dangers surrounding them. Someone who made her feel loved, despite the powers she held. 

Alice was born powerful. Unlike other children, who mostly started showing signs of powers when they were a bit older, Alice had her powers from the moment she was born. Her mother’s birthing had been difficult, and she was bleeding to death once she had given birth to her little miracle, her little Alice. Alice, whom hadn’t even screamed once she opened her eyes in a new world, had looked at her mother, while the woman was slowly dying, and a look of understanding had come up in her eyes. She was a baby, just a baby, but by the look in her eyes she already knew the secrets of the universe. While she was staring at her mother, she had slowly started glowing, black tattoos coming out to cover her body, and then her mother had started screaming, loud terrible screams. Alice hadn’t made a sound through the entire ordeal, but silent tears were streaming down her face at the end of it. Once everything quieted down, Alice’s mother was no longer dying, only breathing shallowly in her sleep. Alice’s marks had disappeared, but the little girl was still crying, form the pain that was now cursed upon her for eternity. All the people stared at the baby in wonder, and fright. When Alice was born, the legend of those kinds of healers was still very much alive, and they all knew what it meant. 

The second time Alice healed someone who wasn’t supposed to be healed she was eight years old. Her parents had never lied to her about what had happened when she was born, and while Alice didn’t remember the incident herself, she still had dreams about bits and pieces of it, and was able to put together a full picture together with her parents. She was in pain every single day, but she had since long learned to handle it. It had been with her since the day she was born, after all. Alice was never really like other children. She liked to play, sure, and she didn’t want to eat her vegetables, but her level of intelligence, of understanding important things, were much higher than other children. She learned to speak incredibly early, she could read when she was juts fur years old, and when her parents told her things that were important, she always sat quietly and seriously listened. One of the things her parents had sat her down to talk about, she would always remember. It wasn’t something that many people knew of, since the legend more times than not never spoke about that, but there wasn’t just one down part with being a healer the way she was. There was something other than the pain that was caused every time the user healed someone from death who wasn’t supposed to die. The healer only had three strikes, and then they were out. The first and second strike caused pain, a lot of pain, but the third strike was the last. If the healer in question used his or her healing powers in such a way that would cause them to be cursed, they would die. The universe didn’t allow the healer to heal more than two people without questioning, the third time the universe required something more. A life for a life. If the healer were about to heal someone who wasn’t supposed to live for the third time, the healer would have to give up her or his own life.

But eight year old little Alice was so innocent, and when she saw the little boy lying on the ground, having being bit by a poisonous creature, she didn’t think. There was something pulling her to the boy, and she knew when she saw his parents wet faces, that she just couldn’t let him die. So she had went up to the little boy and his parents, and has sat her herself down by his head, and then she proceeded to ask him if he wanted to live. Despite the boy being in pain, he had managed to nod, and Alice had smiled down at him. Then her black tattoos had emerged once again, but she didn’t mind the pain that came with it, and would stay in her body with it. She didn’t mind, if it meant that she got to see that boy healthy again. So she bared with it, held the boy while he screamed, didn’t stop even though his parents screamed at her to stop hurting their little boy, didn’t stop until the boy stopped screaming and looked up at her, with wonder in her eyes. Only then did she let her hands fall at her sides, and the tattoos that had painted her skin disappeared, leaving her with a soft smile. 

”I’m Alice” she had introduced herself.

The boy had looked at her, and then he had smiled back.

”I’m Heechul” he had answered. 

When Alice saved Heechul that time, her second strike, the universe owed her Heechul to be alive, until the day he died from natural causes. But the day Heechul gave up his powers in order to save Alice and the school, a part of who he was had died with the powers, and so the universe owed Alice a life. Because it hadn’t been able to keep Heechul alive and well with everything he had had before, until he died from age, which meant that the universe hadn’t been able to keep their part of the bargain, which gave Alice that extra life she used to save Jin. Because of Heechul’s sacrifice, she had managed to save Jin, which made her immensely happy. But now she didn’t have any chances left. He last strike would, truly, be her last. Her suffering would be over, finally, and she could perhaps go to the afterlife to find her lost lover. But Alice didn’t want to die just yet. There were still things she hadn’t seen and done, and she wanted to be alive enough to see and do those things. But even though her life would end soon, with no strikes left, Alice smiled. She wanted to cherish her time left on the planet she called home, with people she cared for, who for some reason she couldn’t understand, cared for her as well. 

All students except one were sleeping soundly in the broken castle, finding comfort in each other. Xiumin and Chen were laying in the same bed, Chen laying slightly on top of Xiumin, while the other was cradling the younger to his chest. Chen had his head nuzzled in the older’s neck, one leg thrown on top of his lover. They were both deep in a dreamless sleep, breathing slowly, enjoying the warmth brought from the other person. The moment was precious, it looked just like an ordinary couple, who didn’t have any problems whatsoever. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and Luhan sighed as he walked out of his best friend’s room. He had been planning to wake them up and talk about the fact that Chen was hiding something from them all. He had noticed before, when they were all sitting together, laughing and having fun, enjoying the feeling of being alive, that there was something pushed to the back of Chen’s head that he was desperately hiding from everyone else. Luhan only spotted it because Chen was tired and his guard was down, but he still marveled at how well hidden it was. He didn’t understand why Chen would hide anything form them though, which made him confused and a little bit worried. 

”What’s up with you” a voice sad behind him, and Luhan quickly ly to stare into the eyes of their healer. 

”Lay” he breathed out. ”You awake?”

Lay nodded. ”I just woke up actually, and when I went out here I saw you pacing around. What’s up?”

Luhan sighed again. ”I’m not sure actually. Lay, has Chen mentioned anything to you that he hasn’t said to the rest of us?”

Lay looked confused. ”No? I don’t think so, at least, What re you referring to?”

”Well, when we were eating before, he had his guard down, and I noticed there was something he has hidden form us all. It’s been pushed all the way to the back of his mind, and I wouldn’t have been able to see it without prodding, which he would have noticed. Why is he so good at hiding form mind control users?”

Lay smiled slightly, even if he were worried about what Luhan had just told him. ”Sungjae had powers like those, and since Chen didn't want his best friend to poke inside his head whenever he wanted, he learned how to recognize the prodding of a mind user, and how to hide things from them. It annoyed Sungjae to no end, but Chen enjoyed it. It gave him something to do, and he didn't feel completely useless.” Lay looked sat at the last part, and sighed. ”It was hard on him, not having any powers. He never really spoke about it, but I noticed. It also made us a lot more distant than we were before, since he didn’t want to bother me while I was practicing, and I also suspect he felt jealous and didn’t want to see me doing what I did every time he came to speak to me, which was what happened. I was always practicing back then, I didn’t understand he would be hurt from it.”

Luhan looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could, someone else stepped into the conversation. 

”Ge, don’t think like that” Chen said as he and XIumin made it out of their room. The voices of Luhan and Lay had awoken them, so they had gone to investigate. They had managed to hear the last part of the two’s conversation, which made Chen feel incredibly guilty. ”I could never be hurt just because you had powers and I didn’t. The only reason we slipped away from each other was because you went to this school, and since your powers would be able to hurt me eventually, since I was essentially human, I was only preparing for that day. I am sorry that I made you feel sorry ge. I should feel sorry.”

Lay enveloped his younger brother in a hug, and the younger hugged back, holding tightly onto his brother. ”Oh stupid” Lay whispered. ”Such a stupid little boy.”

Chen laughed breathlessly. ”Yeah, I know. I know. I’m sorry.”

Lay pulled back, and smiled. ”It’s okay. I got you now, don’t I? And I won’t let you run away again.”

Xiumin and Luhan couldn’t help but to smile at the cute scene. Lay and Chen shared a special bond, no matter that they hadn’t been in contact for a longer amount of time when Lay moved to the school permanently and Chen had to stay behind, they still had the bond of family, which bound them together with an invisible, but strong nonetheless, light. Luhan couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous, as he had never had a sibling himself, while Xiumin’s thoughts held melancholy. He couldn’t help but to remember his own sister, which hurt a lot more than he let on. Not a single day passed by that he didn’t miss his sister, she had been the best thing in his life when he was younger, and the loss of her life had been devastating. But he was happy his love had his brother with him, to help take care of him and love him. Chen was the nicest person he had had the pleasure of meeting in his entire life, and he deserved all the love in the world. 

Xiumin’s line of thoughts were broken when he felt someone grab his hand, and he looked up shocked only to look into the eyes of a softly smiling Luhan. His best friend had heard every single of his thoughts, as he hand’t had his guard up, but XIumin could see by the look in his eyes that Luhan wasn’t pitying him. Xiumin hated pitying, he wasn’t a ing charity case, but Luhan had been the first person to teach him after the loss of his sister that people didn’t have to pity you in order to make you feel better. Sometimes when people held your hand or hugged you close, it was only about comforting, about not wanting someone you cherished to feel sad, it didn’t have to be about pitying. And Luhan didn’t pity Xiumin. He cared about him, and Xiumin would always be eternally grateful to have a friend like Luhan. When they first met, Xiumin hadn’t even liked the other, but Luhan had been persistent and had stuck close until Xiumin finally, begrudgingly admitted that Luhan wasn’t so bad after all, and that he might be worth keeping close. The two becoming best friends were a slow process, but one day there weren’t any other person in their lives, except Sehun for Luhan, whom they felt closer to. 

The two best friends shared a smile when both seeing XIumin’s thoughts, and Xiumin squeezed Luhan’s hand a little tighter. Thanks, Lu. 

Luhan didn’t answer, he just smiled, eyes shining. Then they looked up at Lay and Chen who had just let go of each other, and Luhan turned serious again. ”Chen” he started, and the younger boy looked at Luhan, surprised. ”I know for a fact that you are hiding something from us. I don’t know what, and why, but if it’s important, then you have to tell us.”

Chen lowered his head, looking at the ground ashamed. ”I know” he said lowly after a little while. ”But I didn’t want Alice to find out just before we were going into battle, and I was told not to let the rest of you know until it was time.”

”Who told you this?” Xiumin questioned.

Chen looked up again, and he sighed. ”Well, I guess this means that now’s the time to come clean. I was told this by Sandra.”

”By Sandra?” Lay asked, surprised. ”What has she got to do with anything?”  

”She has everything to do with everything. She’s not from here, at all.”

”What do you mean?” They all turned around, as Baekhyun walked into the room with Chanyeol, and slowly the rest of the twelve started piling into the room. Luhan had woken them up. They all sat down in a circle and looked expectantly at Chen, who was sitting between Xiumin and his brother, looking sufficiently worried. ”What do you mean she’s not from here?” Baekhyun tried again, as they had all settled.

”Just what I’m saying. Sandra is actually from a time long from now, where all this started. She’s the grandchild of the children of two people in the room, but she never told me who, because that would up the future. She was only allowed to tell me the absolutely necessary things. Anyways, Sandra grew up in a peaceful world, the dark forest wasn’t changing, hand’t been changing in hundreds of years, but then a strange man appeared, and with that man came change. The forest started going out of control, creatures was trying to get out of it and weird plagues had started haunting the cities. Everyone thought that the man was the one to blame, but they came to discover that wasn’t the case. Malcolm the Protector was indeed, nice, and the protected the world form getting infected by the dark forest, and because of us and our children’s knowledge the man was getting weaker, and less powerful. But then a woman had appeared, dressed in a red cloak and a black mask, and she had opened a time hole, and the man disappeared into the hole, taking the woman with him. Immediately after people started dying, and Sandra told me we realized it was  because this woman whom no one knows the identity of, and that man was changing the past in order to effect the outcome of the future. The people we are in the future are too strong together, and so they decided to mess with time and ruin things back in a time where they don’t belong. So everything that happened now is because someone really bad in the future decides to mess with the laws of the universe and play dirty. 

What their motives are, Sandra wasn’t sure of, but they have to be stopped. She told me, that in the future, when those two started changing the past, caused our world to collapse. The world is in the future a very dark place, and only half of us will survive the whole ordeal, which is not supposed to be the real future. So in order to save the world as we know it and as the future us will know, the future Tao decided to start playing dirty as well. Sandra isn’t powerful enough to spend too long in the future, but she has amazingly good control over her mind which allows her to spend quite some time in the past. Tao in the future has learned how to open spaces in time, but he couldn’t travel here himself because he will/ was, god this is confusing to tell, be too weak. Also, if Tao was to see himself all hell would break lose, and therefore Sandra cam, because she didn’t exist in this time. Tao plays by the books though, and therefore Sandra isn’t allowed to interfere too much, she could only tell me the things that had been effected byt he two cheaters. Once she finished her story, her purpose here was done, and so she had to return to her own world. That’s also why Tao’s visions now work again, because she isn’t here to effect them. And yes, it was her fault you couldn’t see anything Tao, that was also a reason to why she was the one who went here, because she has the power to do that. And that’s also why I am telling you guys this now, since she had returned to her own time.”

With that, Chen finished his story, leaving the others to look at him with fear and confusion. The whole situation was a whole lot more difficult than what they had first thought, but  now they at least has something to go on, which was more than what they had before. But Luhan had gotten caught in something Chen had said, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

”Chen” he said slowly, after the other had stopped mumbling to each other about what Chen had told them. ”You said the woman is unknown, but it didn’t sound like the man was. Do you know who he is?”

Now everyone was looking at Luhan, astonished. Sometimes, they all wanted to have his brain. Then they looked at Chen, who looked both sad and grim all at the same time.

”I do know, yeah.”

He took a deep breath, as if he was getting ready to tell really terrible news. And judging by their reactions to what he said, it really was terrible news.

”It’s Heechul.”

ing fantastic.

Author’s note

HELLO EVERYONE I HAVE NO EXCUSes to why I haven’t updated this story in so long. High school is a , I had a huuuuge writers block and life was just hard. But now I found my inspiration once more, and guys, we are getting near the end!!! I am really thankful for tho eh still read this story, thank you, really. It means a lot to me<3