The Second
The Power WithinA/N in know I promised an update a LOT sooner but.....it's here NOW enjoy!!!!!
The moment Kibum called out to them, the feeling stopped.
And that worried him for two reasons.
This morning, when Junmyeon called, the heaviness he thought was sleepiness, it all ceased the moment he answerd Jnmyeon's call. With all that he had seen that morning, Jinki hypothesized that Junmyeon was the cause of the heaviness. And that meant someone, either Kibum or Chanyeol, was the cause now.
"Kibum? Chanyeol?" he said loudly. 'I have to know.'
All conversation ceased.
"Yes Jinki?" Kibum asked casually
"Did something....happen...today?" Junmyeon looked at him curiously. Jinki held up a hand to placate the younger and studyed Kibum and Chanyeol. Kibum was staring Jinki down, his body stiff. Chanyeol on the other hand, was glancing around nerveously and wringing his hands. "Id say about....45 minutes ago?" 'When that 'THING' happened.'
Chanyeol froze. Kibum's eyes narrowed.
"Jinki..." Junmyeon said hesitantly, his voice shaking.
"Hyung please...." Chanyeol began, his eyes pleading as he grapsed Kibum's wrist, while Kibum continued to stare down Jinki.
"Lets go." Kibum said, suddenly rising from his seat.
"What? Where are you going? We havnt got our food yet!" Jonghyun protested
Kibum looked at Jinki again. Jinki understood. His look said {We need to talk. Alone.}
Jinki nodded. "We can go to my place. But Kibum, Junmyeon needs to be there. And I think Taemin does too."
"What? Why me?" Taemin asked
Kibum shook his head "No. Absolutly not. Just you, me and Chanyeol."
"Why just you guys?" Jonghyun asked
Jinki ignored him and directed his gaze at Kibum, hoping to convey trust.
"What is goning on here? What arnt you telling us?" Jonghyun demanded.
Kibum narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "Alright. Minnie and Junmyeom. But no one else."
"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP!" Jonghyun shouted.
Jinki jumped and looked at Jonghyun. He was standing with his palms flat on the table. "NOBODY is going ANYWHERE until SOMEBODY tells me what the hell is going on!" he ordered.
Taemin stood as well. "Jonghyun's right. Im not going anywhere. Not until i get some answers. What is going on Jinki?"
Jinki sighed. 'I was hoping this wouldnt happen.' "Its hard to explain. And the less people know, the better. At least until i get everything figured out." 'Please just take it and let it go.' he begged silently.
"You said Junmyeon, Taemin and Chanyeol." Minho finally spoke, the mentioned men flinched at the sound of their names. "If this is about our friends, i believe we ALL have a right to know, whether you both agree or not." he said matter of factly, to both Kibum and Jinki.
"Why you little..." Kibum lunged towards Minho, his attack interrupted by Jonghyun locking his arms around Kibum's waist, restraining him with an exasperated sigh.
'Hes right. It wouldnt be fair to involve Taemin and Junmyeon, and just leave Jong and Minho out. They deserve to know the truth, just as much as I do.' "Hes right Kibum." Jinki sighed "They DO have a right to know. They are their friends too."
Kibum sighed and relaxed, so Jonghyun tentitavley put him down. "Whatever." he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Alright. So lets go." Jinki said.
Taemin's POV
All seven men sat scattered around Jinki's and Taemin's living room.
Jinki sat in one of two arm chairs, his legs crossed and his fingers laced together. Kibum occupyed the other arm chair, his arms crossed and his eyes trained on Jinki.Taemin perched on the arm of Jinki's chair, looking worridly at his two hyungs. Chanyeol sat on the floor next to Kibum's chair, his long legs awkwardly folded, twiddling his thumbs and glancing around nerveously. Jonghyun, Minho and Junmyeon all occupyed the couch, watching the silent battle between Jinki and Kibum.
Finally, Kibum spoke. "You first." he said firmly.
Jinki shook his head. "I believe it would make things easier to understand if my statement went last. But Junmyeon?" Jinki looked at the younger. "Are you willing to tell your side of the story first?" 'What story?'
Junmyeon froze as all eyes were directed his way. "Are....Are you sure its alright to..to tell them?" 'Tell us what? UGH Im getting really tired of all this secrecy.'
"Junmyeon?" Jonghyun asked worridly "Whats going on?"
Jinki smiled encouragingly and nodded.
The younger closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I..I think I better show you all first." Again Jinki nodded in approval.
"Taemin? C..Can I have a glass of water please?" Junmyeon stuttered.
Taemin arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Uh...sure."
"Oh and make sure the glass is clear...please." Junmyeon added.
Taemin frowned and looked down at Jinki. 'Whats going on?' The elder simply nodded. So Taemin shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned, he handed the glass to Junmyeon. He set the glass down on the coffee table and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.
Jinki uncrossed his legs and sat forward, propping his elbows on his knees, his fingers still laced. "Relax Junmyeon. Feel it. Dont be scared."
'What is hyung talking about?' Taemin thought. Whatever it was, Junmyeon hyung seemed to understand. He nodded, rolling his neck and shoulders, his eyes still closed. He slowly extended his right hand above the glass. He took one more deep breath....and....
The water moved.
Everyone gasped and backed away as the water in the glass rose in a thick steady stream, up to Junmyeon's hand. Then all the water collected into an orb, hovering a mere inch from his palm.
'What the hell?!' Taemin's eyes were fixated on Junmyeon. 'I dont understand!' he thought frantically. He looked to Jinki, hoping for an explanation.
"Fascianting." Jinki smiled
Taemin gaped at his brother in disbelief "Fascinsting?" 'WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU HYUNG?' he wanted to scream, but his voice failed him. 'THAT WASNT NATURAL!'
"Junmyeon, open your eyes." Jinki said softly, ignoring Taemin.
Junmyeon slowly did as he was told. His eyes widened when he saw the orb in his hand. He looked in disbelief from Jinki to the orb and back again.
Jinki simply smiled again. "You did great. Now, can you put it back?"
'Why is he so unfazed?' Taemin wondered as he carefully observed Junmyeon and his brother.
Doubt flickered across Junmyeons face, and in turn, the surface of the orb trembled. "You can do this Junmyeon. Just relax." Jinki instructed.
'How does he know what to tell him? Has he seen this kind of thing before?' Junmyeon nodded and took another deep breath. He stared intently at the orb, until a small tenticle formed and slithered slowly back into the glass, until the orb had disappeared.
Jinki rose and clapped a hand on Junmyeons shoulder. "That was wonderful." he said proudly.
"Wonderful?" Taemin blanched, his eyes wide in disbelief "That was..." 'Freaky. Incredible. Unbelievable. Weird. Scary.'
"AWESOME!" Jonghyun shouted.
'That too.'
All eyes, which were formely on Junmyeon, moved to Jonghyun. He was standing, his hands in the air and a big grin on his face. "Junmyeon that....that was INCREDIBLE! How long have you been able to DO that?" Jonghyun gasped "You could do that and you didnt tell ME?" he asked pitifully, a pout forming on his lips. Taemin rolled his eyes as he fought a grin. 'This hyung.'
Junmyeon looked at Jinki as if to say, 'I told you so.' Then he turned back to Jonhyun. "It all started this morning. And I called Jinki because...well.....because..."
"Wait." Taemin interrupted, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "THIS morning? Thats why you left so early isnt it?" he asked Jinki.
THe elder nodded "Yes. Now, I believe it is your turn Kibum." Jinki said, sitting back in his chair and taking up his previous position.
'Wait. Does that mean Key-umma can do that too?' Taemin thought with aprehension.
Jinki's POV
Kibum and Chanyeol looked at each other for a long moment.
'Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?' Jinki chanted
Chanyeol stood slowly, and made his way to the center of the room.
Jinki closed his eyes. He was hoping it would be Kibum. Chanyeol was similar to Junmyeon, naive and sheltered. The only difference was, Chanyeol was a LOT less mature than Junmyeon. Chanyeol having one of the abilities from Grandfathers story could be either really good for him, teach him some resonponsibility and maturity, or it could be really bad and cause trouble for everyone that knew about him. Jinki prayed for the latter.
Chanyeol stood there silently, looking anxiously from face to face.
"Relax Chanyeol." Jinki said softly
His voice caused the younger to jump.
"Deep breath." Jinki instructed
Chanyeol nodded vigariosuly and did as instructed.
"Now, Relax and focus on what you want to do. Dont be scared. Ok? You're safe. " Jinki said softly. "You can do this Yeol."
Chanyeol nodded again, taking another deep breath.
'Come on Yeol. Show me what you can do.' Jinki thought. 'Come on. Come on.'
Chanyeol held out his hand, palm up.
Everyone held theyre breath.
'Which one is it? Which one is it?'
His hand burst into flame.
Jinki closed his eyes again 'The Phoenix.'
Everyone screamed and backed away. All except Kibum and Jinki. They both sat, silently observing as Chanyeol's hand was alit with flame.
Slowly, the fire begin to die out, until Chanyeol closed his hand around the last little spurt. He rubbed his forearm nerveously and glanced around the room anxiously.
Jonghyun was cowering behind a shocked Minho. Taemin and Junmyeon both were glued to Jinki's chair, Junmyeon squatting, his hands grasping the arm, Taemin was nearly in Jinki's lap, having fallen off the arm, his arms circling his hyungs shoulders.
Its alright Chanyeol." Kibum stood and rubbed his back soothingly. the younger nodded and looked down.
"How did you discover your ability?" Jinki asked, still unmoving.
Chanyeol gulped. "We were uh...on our way out to meet you guys for lunch. I was standing in the hall waiting for Kibum when uh...a bug scared me."
"The next thing I knew," Kibum interrupted "He was screaming. I ran in and his hands were in flames, all the way up to his elbows. I put it out with the fire exstinguisher."
"It just....happened. I jumped away from the bug and then boom." he held up his hands "Flaming Torch."
"Hmmm. You were both startled." Jinki mumbled. 'Thats strange. I wonder if they are all like that. IF im right that is.'
Kibum stared at him. "What?"
The elder snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh. I was just pondering the fact that both Junmyeon and Chanyeol discovered their abilities when they were startled." 'If I AM right, and all twelve discover their abilities through fright, we could have some trouble keeping this.....happening...quiet.'
"And what does THAT have to do with anything?" Kibum said impatiently
"Hmmm?" Jinki was once again snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh absolutly nothing. As far as I know."
Kibum threw his hands up in exasperation.
"Hyung?" Taemin asked tentitavely. "Why are you so calm about all this?"
Jinki took a deep breath.'Here goes.' "Because. I think I knwo whats going on."
"Really?!" Chanyeol and Junmyeon chorused excitedly.
Jinki nodded. "Allow me to explain." he waved his hand, gesturing for everyone to take a seat. "This morning, I got a call from Junmyeon. At first I ignored it. That is when I felt a strange pressure, in my head and chest."
"Thats exacxtly how I felt hyung." Taemin whispered, the slightest bit of fear in his voice.
"I know Minnie." Jinki reassured the younger, patting his shoulder and sending an encouraging smile his way "Junmyeon called two more times. When I answered, he was paniced and asked that I come over. It wasnt until later that I realized that once I answered the phone, the strange pressure ceased."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Kibum asked exasperatidly
"Yeah" Jonghyun piped in. "I dont see how you feeling tired is important to Chanyeol lighting up like a christmas tree or Junmyeon waterbending."
Jinki pointed at him. "See thats what I thought too. That it was just tiredness. But I felt again, much later and I was anything but tired. Confused, yes. Tired? No."
Taemin nodded "I felt it too. At the restraunt?"
Jinki nodded. "And again, the feeling stopped as soon as Chanyeol and Kibum entered the restraunt."
Taemin nodded, his eyes distant as he thought. "You're right. Now that I think about, it DID stop when you guys showed up."
"I fail to see how you and Taemin having this 'Pressure' feeling relates to Chanyeol and Junmyeon." Minho said, making air quotes.
Jinki shrugged "Frankly, neither do I." he said matter of factly
"Then why the hell did you bring it up?" Kibum exploded, rising from his chair.
"I may not know HOW it is related, but I can definatly tell you, it IS related." Jinki said firmly. Kibum rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, but he sat back down.
"Taeminnie," Jinki called, looking at the younger. "After seeing all this, what is the first thing that comes to mind?"
"Why are you asking hi...." Jonghyun began, but was silenced when Jinki held up his hand. 'I need him to remember. If I'm right, I'm going to need his help.'
Taemin furrowed his brow and nibbled on his lip as he thought "Honestly?" he looked inquiringly at Jinki, who simply nodded "Grandfather's stories, when we were little. The one about Great Great Grandfather and the 12 men."
Jinki smiled approvingly and nodded again. "Thats exactly what came to my mind."
"Woah woah woah." Jonghyun interrupted "How does this story go exactly?"
"Well, the short version is our great great grandfather met a group of 12 men, each of which possesed an extrordinary gift. Two of such gifts were Hydrokinesis, water manipulation," Jinki gestured to Junmyeon, who had said nothing since he had demonstrated earlier. "And the ability to summon fire at will." he gestured to Chanyeol, who also hadnt spoken since his demonstration. 'He doesnt need to know. If it turns out I was right, he doesnt need to know the full extent of his abilities just yet.' Jinki told himself after lieing about Chanyeols ability. Taemin looked at him weirdly. 'Not yet Minnie.' He shook his head slightly.
"So let me get this straight." Kibum sat forward in his chair. "Youre telling me, that your explanation for....THIS." he waved his arms wildly, gesturing to the whole room. "Is a fairy tail?"
Jinki shook his head. "No. Not a fairy tail. A story, passed down from Great Great Grandfather to us."
"You said there were 12?" Chanyeol asked, his voice distant
The elder nodded. 'You sense truth in this dont you Yeol?'
"So...does that mean there are more? More people like us?" Junmyeon asked hesitantly
Taemin rested his hand latching onto Jinkis forearm. The elder looked at him and saw his eyes wide with realization. 'Later' mouthed Jinki. 'They dont need to hear just yet.' Taemin nodded slightly and sat back.
"Yes. Junmyeon. It may sound crazy, but I do believe there are more out there." Jinki said confidently
"We're still talking about a STORY!" Kibum yelled "Does nobody see the flaw in this logic?"
"I know how you feel Kibum." Jinki comferted "I felt the same way. It DOESNT make sense. And without Grandfather or our Father, we have no primary source to confer with."
"His journal!" Taemin gasped. "Grandfather kept a journal! Maybe he wrote something in it that could give us some answers." he shouted excitedly
Again, Jinki smiled approvingly and nodded. "Right again Tae. Which is why I called Mrs. Park this morning."
"MRS. PARK!" Taemin and Kibum cheered.
"Mrs. Park?" everyone else chorused in confusion
Jinki chuckled "Mrs. Park. Shes our housekeeper back at the mansion."
"Mansion?!" Junmyeon, Chanyeol, and Minho chorused.
"Oh yeah." Jonghyn chuckled and waved a dismissive hand "Minnie and Smart over there are loaded. Own there own mansion, servants, the whole nine yards. The dont really talk about it though. Only reason I know is cuz I met them just as Jinki was moving out, and helped him move in. Never heard of the housekeeper though."
"Then how come..." Chanyeol pointed a confused finger at Kibum
Jinki laughed. "Kibum and I are childhood friends. We grew up togther."
Taemin snickered. "Yeah. And half the time, Key-umma practically lived with us."
"YAH!" Kibum shouted, but he couldnt hide the smile on his face.
"Anyway, I went back to the mansion and..."
Kibum and Taemin both gasped. "You actually went back?" Kibum asked in disbelief, his voice carrying a sad hint to it.
Only Chanyeol and Junmyeon looked lost.
"Jinki hasnt been living at home since he graduated college at the mutant age of 19." Minho explained "Hasnt been back home since his parents death 2 years ago. Shortly before we met you guys.." he said, gesturing to Junmyeon and Chanyeol
Taemin took a deep breath. "I moved in with hyung after the accident." he said softly "Havnt visited since." he added.
An awkward silence insued.
"Thats in the past." Jinki finally spoke "Yes, I went back to the house today. Mrs.Park and I together searched Grandfather's old study, seeing as she and the staff made sure it was exactly how grandfather left it, but there was no sign of the journal." he said solmenly
"What if its not there?" Junmyeon inquired
Jinki shook his head. "Impossible. Grandfather's last months of life were spent entirely in that house. And he wrote in his journal daily. It HAS to be there. Its just a matter of finding it."
"Well then lets go look for it." Chanyeol jumped to his feet, looking hopeful and optimistic for the first time all day.
Jinki sighed and rested his head in the palm of his hand, feelling useless "Chanyeol, the staff and I already practically destroyed Grandfathers study. There was NO sign of it."
"Well who said it was in the study?" Chanyeol stated matter of factly with a one shoulder shrug.
Jinki whipped his head up 'WHAT?!' "What do you mean?"
Chanyeol shrugged again. "What about his bedroom? Or the library? I mean...if you guys HAVE a library." he stuttered.
Jinki sat up straight 'I hadnt thought to look there! Maybe...' he stood and began pacing "Yes, yes, yes. Maybe, just maybe..."
"So....is that a yes?" Junmyeon asked
Jinki stopped in the middle of the room. "Its very possible his journal could be in either of those locations. Yes."
"Well then lets get going." Jonghyun said, rising from the couch and headig towards the door. "That Journal isnt gonna find itself."
Everyone made sounds of agreement and slowly began to file out of the house, until Taemin and Jinki were the last.
"He told us they were true." Taemin said. "He told us we would know for sure that they were when the time was right. I always thought he was jst trying to spook us. But he wasnt was he? Its really happening isnt it?"
Jinki shook his head. "No Taemin. I dont think he was. Everything is about to change."
"If THIS is true, do you think the other stories were? Do you think the Red One is real?" the younger asked, a shiver contorting his body at the mention of that name. "That one gave me nightmares." he whispered.
Jinki pursed his lips "Im not sure Taemin. I hope not, but I'm worried. I'm worried everything Grandfather ever told us was true."
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