Random Rambles: BOOM double update. Enjoy ;) 

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When the storm suddenly hits, danger screams at me…

I won’t let it push me in the wrong direction, I won’t let it stop my progress!

Fear can’t stop me now – not when I haven’t even begun…

I accept the challenge.

“I don’t want to go!” 

A young voice cried out from the darkness, his tiny voice sounding shrill in my head as it echoed. I groaned, my head hurting as though I was suffering from a major hangover. 

Ugh, someone shoot me now… Wait. Where am I? 

“I said: I. Don’t. Want. To. Go! You can’t make me!” 

I frowned at the unfamiliar child’s voice and blinked my eyes open. The influx of light nearly blinded me and I gasped when I saw that the dead forest was gone, and instead, a cozy, warm home was my new environment. 

What in the world? I startled when I looked down at my hands and saw that the dagger was nowhere to be found. Crap! Where had I dropped that thing? 

I started searching the wooden floors, stepping quietly and carefully, when a pair of footsteps approached and I stood frozen. The little boy had beautiful bronze skin and innocent-looking eyes. He was holding onto a little brown puppy dog with dear life, the animal happily wagging out its tongue in the boy’s tight embrace. He was blinking, and I thought he was looking at me, until he ran off, right towards- and through - me. 

Oh my God, what’s going on? 

“Kai! You get back here this instant!” a woman shouted, appearing in the room, looking exhausted. 

Baby Kai defiantly shook his head, hugging his puppy closer to him. “I’m not going! I don’t wanna!” he protested. “I-I was just joking, when I said I heard that voice! Yeah! I made it up!” he argued as I watched in utter confusion. Was this- Was this Kai’s memory? 

“Kai, my darling, you have been chosen. This is a great honor to all of us. You’ve been blessed, my child. You answered the call and you’ve already accepted,” the woman pleaded gently, and as I looked at the resemblance, I concluded that this woman must be Kai’s mother. 

“But I don’t want to go! I’ll be all alone, and I’d miss home!” Kai’s bottom lip started quivering and I found myself cooing endearingly in response. I moved to comfort him, until I remembered that these memories didn’t know that I was here. 

“Kai, my sweet, little skylark,” his mother approached him, Kai wasting no time to run into her arms to sob. “You won’t be alone. I’ll be here, and right here,” she pointed at his head and his heart. “Monggu will be waiting here for you as well. But you must go, my skylark. I’ve always known that you were destined to be very great,” she said encouragingly, wiping away his tears while letting hers fall freely. 

“You promise?” he sniffed as he started to wipe her tears away as well. 

“On my life, my little skylark,” she nodded, smiling at him when he finally managed to smile back. 

“Okay, but then you’ll have to catch me first,” he said mischievously, disappearing in a cloud of black smoke, his mother sighing in exasperation, though there was a proud and sad smile on her face. 

She was holding the puppy Monggu in her arms and the dog her tears from her chin. 

“I’ll miss him, too, Monggu,” she whispered to the dog. “But he’ll make us proud. You’ll see.” 

I bit my lip as I watched this woman and I wanted to reach out to her. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but it was evident that she loved him very much, and that she was sad to see him go. But, where was he going off to, alone? 

Noona. 

I jumped. Kai? Kai, where are you? I turned around and saw a glimpse of him walking through the backdoor. I followed quickly, opening the door and stepping into the bright light. 

Kai?

“What was that? No, no, of course not. I kind of know what it feels like when people don’t understand. Hm? I do so understand!” 

Another child’s voice called out this time, having a conversation, seemingly by himself. The garden was peaceful and so very beautiful. Flowers bloomed everywhere and strange spheres of glass floated lazily about. 

“My father didn’t believe me when I said that I was chosen, and that I was special,” the boy continued the conversation. “He says that nobility doesn’t serve the common man. Yeah, that’s what he said! I don’t know what it means either,” he shrugged and I stared in disbelief at a little Luhan, absently making a bunch of glass orbs float about while conversing with a bunch of mice. 

“Father says the voices in my head aren’t real, but don’t worry, I know that you can think as I can. That’s why I like talking to you. At least you listen to me,” he smiled, but there was something inherently sad in his bright eyes as he petted the mice and even chuckled when one of them was crawling on top of his head. 

“Thank you, I know my hair is soft,” he grinned, picking up the mouse from his head. “But I’m afraid I can’t let you stay there, mother doesn’t like mice,” he whispered as though he was sharing a terrible secret. 

“Master Luhan, what are you doing there?” an old man approached, looking at the floating orbs with his eyes before shaking his head. “You know what your parents think about you spending time in the garden like this. You’ve more important matters to attend to. Please get up so we can clean you up,” he said. 

Sheesh. Who’s the penguin? 

“I don’t want to,” Luhan mumbled softly, putting all of his attention on the mice. Seeing this, the old man, whom I presumed was a servant of some sorts, softened and smiled at the boy. 

“Your parents have left for the city for a good few days,” he started, squatting down with much effort. 

“Oh,” Luhan responded like he wasn’t surprised at all. 

“Which means that they won’t be here to stop you from answering the call,” the old man suggested innocently, Luhan looking up at him with anticipation and excitement. 

“I… I can go?” Luhan asked, the mice in his hands and on his shoulders. 

The old man laughed tenderly and ruffled his hair. “Not looking like a mess, you’re not,” he winked. 

“But, Father, and Mother?” he asked in concern. I held in my breath when the old man sighed deeply and winced a bit. 

“They’ll understand, eventually, so don’t you worry one bit, Master Luhan. Not everyone is given an opportunity like this, and with someone of your gifts- well, I can only say what an honor it is that I know you, sir,” he bowed before the little boy and was surprised when Luhan went to hug him instead. 

I was smiling like an idiot at the scene, conveniently forgetting how creepy it was on my part that I was watching all of this shamelessly. But then it got me wondering. What exactly where they all talking about? An honor to leave their homes? Where were they going to? Who called them, and where did Kai go? 

I startled when a pair of hands had suddenly covered my eyes, my body tensing up. 

Jae, Luhan whispered in my ear and I quickly turned around- only to find myself in a large chamber with ceilings so high they seemed miles away. I was starting to think that this was the dagger’s doing. It had somehow sent me into the memories of the others, but why? Were the boys here, too? Did they see this? 

The sound of chanting drew my attention and I saw twelve hooded figures standing in twelve beams of light. 

Guys?! I ran towards them, until I saw their faces. They were young. Xiumin was the eldest of the group and he looked to be about thirteen years old? Maybe fourteen. What were they doing? They bore smiles on their faces as they looked at each other, except for Tao, who looked like he was about to either cry or puke - I wasn’t sure. 

He isolated himself somewhat from the others as they started chatting and laughing together. He snuck away into another room and I was inclined to follow him. He pulled the hood further over his face, sat near the window and pulled his knees up to his chest. Hugging them tightly, he started sobbing. 

“Tao? Tao, are you here?” 

I stepped away when Kris approached, even though I knew that he could walk right through me. He searched the room until he found the younger boy, curled up near the window. 

“Hey, what are you doing here by yourself?” he asked, walking towards him. Tao startled and started wiping his face. 

“I’m not crying!” he immediately piped up. “I’ve something in my eyes!” he said as a preemptive strike. Kris suppressed a chuckle and sat down beside him. Tao instinctively turned away from him so he could wipe the rest of his tears away. 

“Okay,” Kris nodded. “So, why are you not crying?” he asked cleverly, removing the hood from his head. 

“I’m not crying, because…I’m not scared,” Tao replied in the same manner, sniffing softly and still turned away from him. 

Kris watched with the patience of an older brother and nodded his head. “Aha. I see,” he replied. “What are you not scared of?” he then asked, curiously peeking at Tao in hopes that the boy would meet his gaze. 

“…Not disappointing everyone,” he mumbled softly and finally removed his hood to look up at Kris. “I don’t know if I can do this, gege,” he admitted. 

“Are you crazy? If there’s anyone who can do this, it’s you,” Kris said encouragingly, surprising Tao. 

“M-me? Really?” 

“You bet!” Kris nodded. “You’re the only one of us who knows how to fight, for starters,” he said. 

“Yeah, but everyone’s afraid of me. I’m alone, and I can’t do this alone,” Tao said in a trembling voice, this time, surprising Kris. 

“Alone? You’re not alone, Taozi,” Kris said, puffing up his chest. “You’ve got me,” he pointed confidently at himself. “You got that little kid, Sehun. Lay is nice, too, isn’t he? The others are there for you as well, you know, and should any one of them make any trouble - though I doubt they will - then you come and tell me. We’ll kick their butts, together,” he decided.

Kris smiled a gummy smile when Tao smiled tentatively at him. 

“I actually don’t want to kick any of their butts, gege, but thank you,” Tao said, his smile widening into a full grin when Kris winked at him. 

I chuckled myself and turned around when the door opened a moment later, ten heads peeking in. The other boys walked in to comfort Tao, so it seemed, but there was another familiar face waiting by the door. He smirked at me. 

Tao? Tao, wait! 

I ran as fast as I could, but the moment I passed the threshold, I found myself in the middle of a thunderstorm. I shrieked when the lightning hit not too far from where I was standing, and memory or not, that just scared the living crap out of me!

“Chen, stop it, you’re acting like a baby!” Suho yelled through the storm. 

“Oh, what, so I’m the baby, huh?!” Chen replied angrily, the lightning flashing to mimic his rage. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen him this angry before. 

“You went too far, Chen,” Suho tried to reason, but the younger kid didn’t want to hear about it. 

“No one around here can take a joke! They get so offended as if I mean to hurt them!” he shouted, the thunder roaring. 

“We know you don’t mean it, but all of us were tired from training and we’ve only just getting used to doing this task that was appointed to us. You’re surprised that we’d get annoyed?” Suho did his best to stay calm and speak to Chen in a gentle way, even though the younger boy was giving him attitude. 

“I tease the people I like! You were tired, so I thought I’d joke around to cheer you up, and instead, everyone gets mad at me! Brothers, my !” he shouted emotionally, the thunder bouldering and the lightning flashing wildly. 

Suho his lips, trying to console Chen. “We are brothers, Chen,” he said. “Look at us, we’re fighting! That’s what brothers do, and that’s okay. We’re sorting it out, aren’t we?” 

There was an angry pout on Chen’s face and the storm seemed to quiet down just a bit. 

“Everyone thinks I’m annoying,” he grumbled. “Why can’t they see that I tell people I care about them by teasing them?” 

“Maybe it’s because you tease just a bit too much. Try to just care sometimes, without making insults. You can’t keep calling Sehun a crybaby when you try to cheer him up, because he’s the youngest. He’ll start crying,” Suho said as an example. “You can of course tease us, Chen, but you sometimes have to take our feelings into consideration. See if it’s appropriate to make jokes, or to just be there for someone.” 

Suho smiled when he saw that he was getting through to Chen. “Besides. No one thinks you’re annoying. Baekhyun- now that’s someone who’s annoying,” he managed to joke, causing Chen to tentatively smile as well. 

“He’s right behind you, you know,” he told Suho, as the thunderstorm laid down. 

Suho startled, but didn’t look behind him. “Ha, good one! See, you’re adjusting,” he nodded. 

“No, he wasn’t joking, hyung. I heard that,” Baekhyun piped up, causing Suho to shriek in surprise. The twelve of them laughed and Chen carefully approached his brothers. 

“You guys came to look for me?” he asked them. 

“Yeah, but we were also worried that Suho-hyung might’ve been turned into a crisp,” Baekhyun answered. 

“What do you mean, a crisp? He’s not the one named Bacon,” Chen prompted immediately, slapping a hand in front of his mouth. But Baekhyun laughed and playfully punched his shoulder. 

“Yah, you want trouble?” he provoked without malice. Chen smiled. 

“I’m…um, I’m sorry,” he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck as he bowed before his brothers. 

“We are, too, Chen-Chen,” Lay said. 

“Let’s go home, huh?” Suho suggested and they agreed, walking back home, loudly chatting. 

So then. They were brothers all along? They knew each other before they met on the island. This was their history, wasn’t it? One they shared together. But then, how did I-? 

Newbie-noona. 

No! No, do not dare disappear on me- Chen! 

His distinct laughter rang in the air, but by the time I tried to follow him, he was gone. My eyes widened at the sudden change of scenery once more. 

A ball? Really?!

The music floated sweetly in the air as fancy dressed people danced with one another, moving elegantly through me as I tried to make my way to a quieter part of the ballroom. It didn’t take me long to spot a familiar, bored face. 

Sehun looked so young. He still had some baby fat on his cheeks, but the amount of sass in his expression looked very mature. He was slumping in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, all dressed up and nowhere to go. 

He pulled a face when he saw a young Luhan being swarmed by girls that wanted to dance with him, and he glared a bit when he saw Lay being the perfect gentleman and politely accepting the hand of the girls that wanted to dance with him. He was completely amicable through the entire ordeal. 

Sehun blew out a huff of air, smirking to himself when the wind accidentally picked up and lifted the skirt of a young woman. He blushed as he did his best to keep his laughter suppressed and moved to look away. 

Tao and Kai were attacking the buffet table, while Chanyeol, Chen and Baekhyun were admiring the female musicians. Lay and Luhan were off dancing, as were Xiumin and Kris. Suho attempted to dance, but he got credit for trying. Besides, the girl he was dancing with didn’t seem to mind his fumbling at all, the way she smiled at him. 

“Ugh, this is so boring,” little Sehun said, pushing himself up on the seat and swinging his legs. 

“I know, right?” D.O. responded, appearing beside him. Sehun’s eyes lit up when he saw his brother and looked relieved to know that he wasn’t the only one that wasn’t having a good time. 

“You don’t like parties either, D.O.-hyung?” Sehun asked, still swinging his legs. I chuckled at hearing his voice. It sounded so tiny. 

D.O. resolutely shook his head. 

“Dancing?” Sehun asked. 

“Nope.”

“Talking to grown ups?”

“Nope.”

“Food?”

“N- Well, the food is alright,” D.O. shrugged and Sehun giggled. 

“What about girls?” Sehun pulled a face again, but saw that D.O. seemed to hesitate. 

“Eh- n-no,” D.O. mumbled, though the maknae seemed to read off D.O.’s expression that there was something wrong. He smiled. 

“Yeah, I find it hard to talk to girls as well, but I think it’s because of my lisp,” he started blabbering. “But you don’t have a lisp, do you, hyung? So why do you think it’s difficult to talk to girls?” he asked shrewdly, the childlike innocence dripping from everything he did. 

“I-I just do, that’s all,” D.O. shrugged, obviously feeling uncomfortable having to talk about it.

“Is it ‘cause you’re short?” Sehun then interjected guilelessly, earning a punch on the arm that had him wincing in pain. “Ow!” he complained. 

“You’re shorter than me, you brat,” D.O. reminded him, though he was smirking.

“I’m gonna get taller, you’ll see!” Sehun stated. 

“Fat chance, shorty,” D.O. teased, chuckling when Sehun stuck out his tongue at him. 

They pretended not to be bored senseless for about two seconds when Sehun suddenly turned towards him. 

“Hyung, you wanna play a game?” he asked. 

“What kind of game?” 

“Wanna see how we can mess with the other hyungs before they find out?” Sehun suggested. 

D.O. clacked his tongue in disapproval. “This party is supposed to be for us, you know. We’re the guests of honor. Can’t go messing around,” he started strictly before he grinned. “Let’s do it. I get Suho!” 

“Aw, hyung, no fair, I wanted to get Suho-hyung!” 

The two ran off to hide as they used their powers subtly and sneakily at their brothers for their own amusement. 

As I looked around the dance floor, I caught sight of the older Sehun, walking away from me. I only followed him, knowing that he wouldn’t respond to me calling him if I would. 

“I’m scared, Lay-oppa,” a little girl was clinging to Lay’s hand and I jumped at hearing the sound of explosions. 

There was a fire outside of the cave I was standing in, and I caught sight of some of the boys doing their best to douse it. Lay was here with a bunch of kids, covered in soot. They had no wounds, which I assumed Lay had already healed. 

There was a reassuring smile on his face, but he limped a bit when he turned to guide the girl to the other kids. 

“Why are you scared?” he asked her, cleaning off the dirt from her face. “We are here now. We’ll protect you,” he soothed. 

“What about our parents?” another boy asked, inching closer. 

Lay was at a loss for words a moment and I still couldn’t understand where he got his strength from. It was both admiring and worrying how he kept his own pain and sadness hidden. 

“The other older brothers are trying their best. Right now you’re my responsibility, and I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” he promised, lifting a girl gently so she could sit on his lap. 

“Lay-hyung, how come the Great One doesn’t do anything about the shadows?” another boy asked and this piqued my interest. 

Great One, huh? Is he talking about the Tree of Life? 

“But the Great One is,” Lay answered simply. “That’s why we’re here. We’ll do everything in our power to keep you safe.” 

But why is that your responsibility? 

“Alright, let’s all gather around closely and tell stories while we wait for our mamas and papas, okay?” 

The children obeyed readily and he played with them and comforted them, keeping the dangers from the outside world away from them. 

I shivered at feeling the touch of fingers trail lightly over my hand. I looked behind me and saw Lay. I grabbed his hand on instinct, but I was gripping air, so I fell and landed on a patch of soft grass. 

I was relieved to see Xiumin, since he looked about the same age as I know him, but something still felt off. He was standing at the side of a waterfall, watching Luhan, Suho and Kris having an argument. 

“That’s impossible, Luhan,” Suho said, shaking his head. 

“I’m telling you, I know what I saw,” Luhan argued and Xiumin caught the look Kris sent his way. 

“Xiumin-hyung, you were with Lu, weren’t you?” Kris inquired to which Xiumin nodded. He didn’t look at ease at all. “What did you see?” 

“I’m not sure,” Xiumin answered and I saw his fingers twitching. “I froze,” he said, looking at his hands. 

“You froze it, you mean?” Suho tried, but Xiumin shook his head. 

“I meant figuratively,” he said. “Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea warning-,”

“We don’t want to worry the Great One for nothing,” Suho interrupted and I looked up. 

Again with the Great One. It was clear by now that I was somehow reliving the memories that the boys have lost, but why was I seeing this? And where were the real guys? And most importantly, the question I didn’t dare answer; where was I? Where were my memories? 

A gust of icy wind made me shiver and I followed where the wind blew. Xiumin waved me over before he disappeared into the forest and I found myself staring up at the silhouette of a gigantic tree, with a full, large moon as its backdrop. Looking around, I recognized this place. I’ve been here before. 

Wait just a minute! Is this- I mean, it can’t be- can it?

A wolf suddenly ran past me, heading straight towards the tree in the distance. I ran swiftly after it, recognizing him as D.O.. He changed into his human form when he neared the base of the tree, out of breath and leaning against it for support. 

“You were right. There’s something here,” he panted. “The others are looking for it, making sure to protect whatever needs protecting. Don’t worry, we won’t let anything bad happen,” he said and I presumed he was talking to the tree. Would the tree talk back? 

D.O. looked up at the majestic tree as if it said something only he could hear. 

“Of course we have faith in you, it’s just that sometimes we wonder whether you’ve made the right choice- concerning us, I mean,” he smiled to himself and lowered his head. 

“Good friends does not always equal good guardians,” he replied and my eyes widened. 

Guardians? What does he mean, ‘guardians’? I breathed. No, wait, not yet!

Jae. It’s okay. D.O.’s voice echoed and the world around me spun. 

In what world is this okay?! I shouted, seeing a horde of strange, creepy shadows move towards me. I automatically ducked down and covered my head as they steadily approached. However, while I was crushing my eyes shut, a blinding light flashed and when I blinked my eyes open, the shadows had evaporated. 

I heard someone panting nearby and flared up my eyebrows at seeing Baekhyun, wiping the sweat from his brow and cracking his knuckles. 

“More and more are coming, as if someone is purposely trying to test our strengths,” he commented with a snarl, sitting on a boulder to take a rest. He looked so serious, and genuinely concerned. 

“I thought that darkness was long gone,” Chanyeol mused, offering Baekhyun a flask of water so he could drink. 

“Darkness is never gone, Yeollie,” Baekhyun grimaced as if he, a wielder of light, knew all too well about darkness. 

“It- it isn’t? But I thought it was defeated the last time,” Chanyeol said with a pensive look on his face. 

“Well, yeah, can’t you remember the teachings? Darkness can be conquered, but not vanquished. It’s part of us, part of the world. It keeps things balanced. How can you have light if there is no darkness to shine it in?” Baekhyun explained matter-of-factly. 

“Oh,” Chanyeol mused, taking the flask back and gulping down some water himself. “Well, what if darkness conquers over light? I mean if light is able to defeat darkness, then can’t darkness do the same thing?” he asked worriedly. 

“I guess it could, but that won’t happen,” Baekhyun stated resolutely. 

“How can you be so sure?” Chanyeol challenged. 

“Because, light is good, and good always triumphs over evil. Everyone knows that,” he said a little smugly. 

“You really believe that?” Chanyeol questioned a bit skeptically. 

Baekhyun grinned a perfect square. “Not only believe, I know, especially with me to wield the light. Darkness won’t stand a chance! Ha!” 

I shook my head in mild amusement, squinting my eyes at Baekhyun’s bright light. I heard his voice calling to me, and I tried to follow it. I was hit by a warm breeze and floating petals caressed my skin. I stood in a pink forest of cherry blossom trees. 

I watched breathlessly as Suho was picking up the petals and carried them carefully towards the same tree I saw D.O. talk to. He bowed before it and started to decorate its base with the flowers and petals he had picked up. 

“I remember that time you told me that you wanted me to lead them,” he regaled softly. “It was my proudest moment, to become the guardian of guardians. I’ll never forget it,” he chuckled, moving his hand as the clearest of water appeared and sprinkled the roots of the tree. I was biting down on my thumb as I knew that this place had to be the place I saw before, and the way the boys spoke, what their memories showed me- it seemed like an impossible dream, but why would their memories lie? 

“We’ll always stay beside you. No matter what happens,” he promised solemnly to the tree, suddenly laughing. “What do you mean, protect us? We’re the ones protecting you and our home,” he replied, listening closely. I wish I could tell what the tree was saying to him. Suho had such a tender look in his eyes. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Exo will exist for a very long time, you’ll see,” Suho said as my breath caught in my throat. 

Exo…Exo! B-but that’s impossible! Why would their memories be of a planet that might not even exist?! Wait- their home? Exo is- Exo planet is their home?! No, that can’t be! That’s not possible! 

I shook my head in shock and utter disbelief, my chest heaving as I tried to control my breathing. I stumbled backwards when I heard Suho call for me, but where could I run off to? 

I was standing on the top of a green mountain, watching a boy without wings soar through the sky. Kris floated in the air as though he was being carried by the winds themselves. He watched over the landscape from above, smiling down at the people he saw from up there. He looked so- happy. 

I still couldn’t believe it. Exo planet? The planet the ghost wolf had called its home, it was their home as well? It had to be a mistake. That made no sense- did it? It would perhaps explain how they came by their powers, how they were able to turn into wolves. I inhaled for breath. This Tree of Life… was that alive as well? Was it responsible for making the boys the guardians of this world? 

Oh my God, I’m in a scifi movie! 

There were no words to describe my shock as I put the pieces of the puzzle together. If this was the truth, if this was the secret, the answer to our questions, then I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. This was a lot to digest. 

It couldn’t be, I shook my head firmly. If this is how the boys got by their abilities, then it would mean that I had to hail from Exo planet as well, and that’s definitely not the case. I distinctly remember being born on Earth- last I checked-, I halted my thoughts. The boys probably remembered being born on Earth as well- though they did say their childhood was vague. 

Oh . What did I get myself into? 

Jae, Kris called out. Fly with me? 

“Oh man, I wish I could fly!” Chanyeol piped up, watching Kris and Kai race together through a golden field of corn. “It would be totally awesome. I’d be a real phoenix for sure!” he stated cheerfully. He nudged Chen with his elbow enthusiastically. “You think Kris will be able to teach me how to fly?” 

“How is he going to do that? Think, Yeollie,” Chen replied. “You can’t teach him how to play with fire, so what makes you think that you’re able to learn how to fly from him? It’s as silly as me wanting to learn to stop time while I try and teach Tao how to shoot a lightning bolt from his fingertip,” he remarked. 

Chanyeol wasn’t dissuaded though, the big grin of admiration on his face as he looked at Kris. “Ah, you’re a grouch, Chen-hyung. You’ll see. Kris-hyung and I are similar in many ways. He’ll be a real dragon one day, and I’ll be a real phoenix,” he decided with a firm nod of the head, clapping his hands in glee when Kris won the race. 

I shook my head when Chanyeol appeared behind me, trying to usher me forward. What was the meaning to all of this? Was this real? Was this some trick of the mind? Was this the dagger’s doing?

It’s impossible, right? This can’t be real. 

I blinked and turned around calmly, knowing that the boys- the real boys - were there. 

There’s more, Jae, Suho stepped up, looking different but still familiar at the same time. We know what happened now. We remember it. He looked like he was about to cry himself, and I was already having trouble processing everything- I couldn’t imagine how they were feeling. These were their memories after all. I was just a witness. An NPC in their memories. 

Jae, Suho called out, reaching for my hand and grabbing it gently. My relief was short-lived as the boys gathered around me. 

We know now why the ghost wolf wanted you to find the dagger and why it wanted us to safe the world. 

I think both of my lungs collapsed because I honestly found it hard to breathe at this point. I looked at all of them, trying so very hard not to freak out or faint, or something! 

What do you know? I asked. 

Close your eyes, Jae, said Luhan ever so gently as he tenderly caressed my cheek. You’ll see for yourself. 

I took a last, deep breath before I plunged myself into darkness once more. The boys’ voices were no more but faint whispers from a fleeting dream when they said, 

Here. We’ll show you.