The treeline wasn’t so far away now, Chanyeol told himself. He kept tumbling onward, coughing until he cried into the empty, howling wind. Yet despite the comfort he felt at seeing that treeline, he couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming horror begin to creep up from inside as he saw how dry and dead the plains were up ahead. He didn’t have a choice but to pass through them, no matter how much he prayed for an alternate route.

~  ~

“That child, I swear. I can’t imagine what I did to be cursed like this.” He’d been thrown outside, but still overheard his mother’s complaints from the open windows. “What kind of Force… You can’t control fire! It’s just in it’s nature, there’s no manipulating it. And here I am with the burden of caring for a human matchstick.”

Seven years and Chanyeol still couldn’t figure out how to stop setting fires. He always hoped with time he would learn to control it, or at least find a way to make it go away completely. Even with sweaty, hot palms, Chanyeol tried wearing gloves to keep the fires from starting. There were days he would bundle up in layers and hope that it would keep his powers contained. Instead, it just made him collapse. It seemed that no matter what he did, Chanyeol would always be a burden for his family.

On this particular day, Chanyeol was wearing a pair of black gloves. His hands were sticky and wet inside, but after the small fire he set to one of his mother’s plants, he couldn’t bring himself to remove them. They obviously didn’t work, but it gave him some sense of security.

Just as he had finally distracted himself with something in the dirt, someone came up towards the house. They were tall with brown hair and a sturdy face. The man caught sight of Chanyeol, stopping awkwardly to change course and extend a hand. “You must be Chanyeol, huh?”

Chanyeol only looked up at him, hesitant to take his hand.

The man chuckled. “Donghae. I’ve come all the way from the Capitol just to see you.” He looked at the gloves on Chanyeol’s hands. “It’s a little hot to be wearing gloves, isn’t it? Anyways, where’s your parents? Inside, I bet?”

The boy nodded, standing up and leading Donghae to the door. “Mom’s in here. And Dad’s at work.”

Donghae smiled and ruffled his hair, “Come inside and let’s talk to your mother then. It’s important that you’re there to hear it, too.”

Chanyeol wasn’t sure exactly what Donghae could have been there for. It didn’t seem to be bad news, so it couldn’t be that he did something wrong. Following Donghae inside to meet with his mother, he continued to wonder what the news must have been.

As Donghae and Chanyeol entered, his mother stopped in her tracks, the bitter look in her face suddenly disappeared as she saw the well-dressed Donghae in her living room. “Well, hello. Chanyeol, who is this?” She washed the ash from her hands, extending one for Donghae to shake.

He took her hand. “I’m Donghae, Memory Force.”

“I’ve heard about you,” Chanyeol saw his mother’s face light up like he’d never seen before, “You’re one of the Legends! Oh wow, it’s an honor to have you here! You must have heard about my son, right? Will he be going back with you to the Capitol?” Suddenly, she stopped her train of thought and ran back to the kitchen. “Actually, have a seat and let me get you something to drink. Chanyeol, go sit someplace out of the way.”

Chanyeol scurried to the other side of the room and far away from Donghae and where his mother would be sitting. She came back with a clouded glass. “I wish I had nicer glass, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to leave the house since Chanyeol was born.” She poured him some of the nicest wine she kept in the house.

The man shook his head, his smile friendly and warm. “Don’t worry about it, ma’am. What you said earlier, about me coming to see your son. That is exactly why I came. Fire is a powerful Force and if nurtured at a young age, it can be unstoppable.”

The boy’s mother chuckled. “He’s pretty much unstoppable now. He’s nearly made our home a pile of ashes about a hundred times now.”

Donghae laughed. “Sounds like it must not ever be a dull moment around here, then. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that the Tree is calling for him, as It does for all Forces. We believe he’s at the proper age to come to the Capitol and begin his training.”

Chanyeol’s heart nearly stopped. He was feeling something between hope, excitement, and fear.

“So you’ll be taking him tonight, then?” She said it so matter-of-factly, as if there was no arguing.

The man sat upright, setting his glass on the coffee table. “Well, usually we let the children stay at home for another week or so before we require them to board a train for the Capitol. Afterall, the children don’t return home until they become of age. That’s a lot of years to go without seeing your child.”

“I think it’s important he get his training in. I say take him right away. He’s a danger to himself as it is, who knows if he’d even make it a week, honestly.” Her tone didn’t quite match what she was saying. This wasn’t about Chanyeol’s safety. Not at all.

Donghae raised a brow, looking to Chanyeol who was surprisingly unphased by what his mother had just said. He’d heard her say far worse about him, before. “You’re absolutely sure?”

She nodded, swallowing a gulp of wine that nearly choked her. “Yeah, he’s better off in the Capitol. If I’m being really honest, you should have taken him years ago. For training, it’s the younger the better, right? Definitely should have taken him years ago.”

Chanyeol ran off to gather some clothes before Donghae agreed to take him. He didn’t need to read their memories to know something was wrong in this home. The Memory Force nodded, eyes on the floor as he realized what situation this was.

“I’m so relieved you’ve finally come for Chanyeol. He’s a troubled boy, he needs guidance and the Tree knows I’m not the one to give it. Bless you for coming here, Donghae. Honestly, bless you.”

The red-headed boy had managed to shove his things into one suitcase, dragging it from his room to the best of his ability and making his way in Donghae’s direction. “I’m ready to go, sir! I’m ready to learn how to stop the fire.”

“Stop it?”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah, I don’t wanna set things on fire anymore. I hate it.”

His mother rolled her eyes, taking another gulp of her wine. “It looks like he’s all ready for you. The Masters have permission to deal with him however they like, you don’t need to beg for my approval.”

By now, Donghae had become stern, standing to his feet and reaching out for Chanyeol to come nearer, as he had kept quite a distance. His mother had really trained him to stay away from people. As if he were some sort of contagious sickly that needed to be quarantined. He chose his next words carefully, hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Well then, we’ll take him home, then.”

~  ~

Something had come over Chanyeol on the train. Only moments ago he was filling up with excitement and wonder, imagining a future in which his Force no longer tormented him. Something he only dreamed of before at his old home. But now he couldn’t stop worrying about training. In his moment of excitement, he’d forgotten that he’d have to meet with other kids, possibly room with them, even.

“You won’t be alone in the Capitol, Chanyeol. You’ll have friends, people just like you who aren’t in total control of their Forces yet, either. Don’t worry.”

Chanyeol looked up at Donghae, a shy voice asking, “How did you do that?”

“Do what?” Donghae asked, smiling.

“It… it was like you just read my mind. Can you see what I’m thinking?”

Donghae shook his head. “No, my power can’t quite do that. I can see memories. Just memories. I can change them, too.”

“Wow,” the little red-head was in awe. “Well then, how did you know what I was thinking then if you can only see my memories?”

“Because a memory can say a lot about a person, Chanyeol. I went through most of your childhood. And you know what? It broke my heart.” He paused. “A memory is more than a moment. A memory is feelings, too. We remember things, and then suddenly we feel it like it’s happening all over again.” Another pause. And then he repeated, but slowly this time: “A memory can say a lot about a person.”

Chanyeol looked down at his luggage in his lap, thinking hard about what Donghae first said to him. “You’re sure I’ll have friends there? They won’t hate me?”

Donghae ruffled his hair. “No, I don’t think any of them will hate you. You’re not the only one who’s had a catastrophe or two because of their Force. It’s normal.”

It’s normal.

Before he could even try to stop them, the tears began to flow, and Chanyeol sobbed between his teeth. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him.

~  ~

Chen was shaking, the bags under his eyes especially thick. His hair was staticky and there was the sound of vibrations humming through the air. As seconds passed, his breathing became heavier. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach threatened to have him hunched over on all fours to dry-heave into the darkness. This feeling was sweeping over him so violently, and he was so terrified by it. What was this darkness, and why did there seem to be no escape.

He didn’t even realize he’d been screaming out, Lay rushing to his side.

“Chen, what’s wrong?” Lay placed his hands on the Lightning Force’s shoulders, bringing him to a state of calm once again.

He tried to gather his breath, stray tears falling from the corners of his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was harsh, like he could barely grasp onto it to speak. “I can’t stop seeing it. It’s just over and over again. And they keep talking to me, I keep seeing them.”

Lay wrapped his arms around Chen, using more of his Force to calm his nerves. “I had no idea you were this bad.”

Chen continued to shake, eyes near ready to pop out from their sockets. His nightmares were still so vivid, he barely realized he was awake. “I’m so sorry,” he cried out, the calm finally beginning to sweep over him. “I’m so, so sorry.”

The Healer shh’d him to sleep, releasing Chen from his arms and gently back down to his pillow. He didn’t dare leave him quite yet, doing his best to ward off nightmares if he could.

Across the room in the darkness, he heard a low voice. “He’s not just suffering from hallucinations. I’m almost sure of it now.”

The voice belonged to Tao. “I didn’t realize you were awake. What do you mean, not just hallucinations. What are you getting at?” Lay squinted in the dark, trying to make out Tao’s figure.

“Something else is going on here. He keeps seeing the girls, like he’s haunted by them.” Tao stopped, thinking in the dark. “But sometimes, I catch them in the corner of my eye, too.”

There was a silence. Lay didn’t know how to respond.

“When someone dies, they return to the Tree. But the Tree is infected… I think the Red Force is stirring up souls…”

~  ~

He couldn’t be sure if it was because he’d been walking for so long or if he was actually getting weaker with each passing day. The treeline was so close now, and yet the closer he got, the worse the feeling in his stomach got.

His vision was blurred but he focused as hard as he could on the treeline. It was so hard to see. He was so hungry, so thirsty, and in so much pain. His skin was pale and bruised all over. There wasn’t any lie he could tell himself that would erase the truth that he was near death. Chanyeol should have been dead as it was, but his refusal to die alone in the wastes of the planet kept his heart pumping.

The Glow Tree was the closest thing he ever had to a real mother, he finally realized. What a moment of desperation this was, and he felt so pathetic. So pitiful. And yet, he didn’t care. He loved that tree, as much as a human could. A tree for a mother. What kind of existence do I lead? He chuckled, a faint smile on his lips. It had been a long time since he had thoughts quite like this. Baekhyun and Nana and all the others, they seemed to make all of his old memories from childhood disappear. But the one who comforted him the most, in a way friends just couldn’t, was always the Glow Tree beyond the plains.

Looking up yet again at the treeline, the details seemed clearer. There was a horrible pain in his gut, and a chill, something he’d never experienced before, ran through him. “No… No!” He began to ran, stumbling forward on awkward, tired legs. He could barely breathe, tears already forming in his eyes.

He hoped his eyes were deceiving him, but the closer he got, the clearer reality was.

Chanyeol stopped just beyond the base of the tree, searching for the lights that used to comfort him in moments of melancholy and doubt. But there were no lights. There were no leaves, not even grass at the base of its curling trunk.

“Glow Tree...,” his voice cracked. “Glow Tree...” They were quiet, hopeless sobs.

But she didn’t respond to his voice. She didn’t turn up her lights, didn’t beckon him to sit in her embrace. There was nothing by the sound of wind.

He bit down hard on his quivering lip, yet was unable to fight the tears. His knees shook and he fell down to the ground, crying out into the dead wood as powerful sobs ripped through his weak body.

The Red Force had reached this far into the world, killing the forest of glow trees. Chanyeol never imagined the infection to the planet would have taken his beloved Glow Tree. She seemed so immortal and absolute. He was so defeated and the only thing he wanted was to be near to the tree.

Chanyeol began to crawl closer to her curled trunk, nuzzling into her as he continued to cry. The emptiness inside him was more than hunger or thirst or even fatigue. He was all alone in the world, terrified and dying with no one to hold his hand.