Kris watched the group climb in the minivan and decided they were safe so he could leave. He'd come here, as he had been doing for months now, to keep an eye on his brothers – particularly his Shadow – and get a gist of what was going on.

After killing Killer – yes, he'd killed that bastard with his own hands, taking pleasure in his screams because that was one psychotic ; unlike other clones, this one had a part of the human's soul residing beside Evil's and had planned out all the murders with full, cold-blooded intentions – he was temporarily finished with his crazed rampage.

Sure, he wasn't stable – , he wasn't stable at all, he didn't even understand what set him off these days – but he was done with his vendetta. Mostly. Now, only Evil himself remained and going by his antics these past weeks, he was targeting the mates and Kris would be damned – more than he already was – before he let that dirty son of a hurt his brothers.

He had gotten Suho's message about what had happened with the mates – Kris had known about the attack on Tiffany because he'd been keeping an eye on Sehun, worried about the cub being on his own – and how they'd decided to go into the mountains and practice, train themselves to use their powers in combination, so they'd have an idea of what Evil could throw at them;  he applauded Suho's effort, was somewhat curious as to what had led the stickler of rules – no mixing, purity of powers and crap like that – to change his mind. Things were bad if Suho was willing to let go of the ideals he'd grown up with.

But he had forgone that because… because he didn't want to face Chanyeol. He wasn't ready to.

He had taken Chanyeol's powers, in a fit of rage but since then, his anger had cooled off. Considerably. Now, he could at least venture into the humans without alerting them that there was something unusual about him. His eyes had taken a hue midway between crimson and brown, and when he was in a very, very good mood – like after a killing spree of Abbies and criminals – they sometimes returned to brown for hours on end, making it possible for him to navigate without drawing too much attention.

Currently, he was trying to find what Evil was up to. The bastard was lying too low, too quiet for his tastes and the more Kris thought about it, the more it seemed like Evil was planning something. It lit up a fire in the pit of his stomach, a yearning to dig him out and feed him to flames, watch him burn for even thinking of hurting the Legends. Kris had lost his mate and he knew what that did to a Legend – he only had to look in the mirror to see – so, he wasn't going to let them get hurt. For that, he needed his Shadow's powers.

He knew if Chanyeol ever saw him, he'd demand that he return them and he didn't want to say no to his Shadow. Not when the guy never asked for anything, only ever giving and giving. Kris didn't want to say no the first and only request his Shadow made, not when he knew he couldn't do it.

Quite apart from his own intentions, he had no idea how he could bring it about. He hadn't been thinking when he'd taken the fire, so he had no idea how to go about trying to return it. In his fits of rationality, when he was calm –and guilty and feeling like worst of the worst – he'd tried to locate that nonexistent link between him and Chanyeol, so he could channel the power back but it was impossible.

All it had done was light up the door to the library Chanyeol snuck off to – Kris suspected it had to do with the pretty receptionist there; though he could be wrong, Chanyeol loved mangas too – on fire and he'd barely managed to get away before his Shadow saw him.

Where once Chanyeol had been a strong presence inside him, he was now alone. No link, so sense of connection, no anything. So, he'd given up on trying to return them and had decided to make the best of what he had, to do what needed to be done.

Which was figuring out what the hell Evil was concocting. He was too quiet – like he'd been before Killer had surfaced, before this entire thing had started – it was not good. Kris had no idea how he could figure it out – Evil didn't have any intelligent minions (abbies were brainless zombies) and the one he did, Killer, Kris had killed. He'd decided to lie low and look out for any signs of Evil's activities, keeping an eye on the news for strange happenings, disappearances, animals behaving strangely, anything.

So far, nothing. Evil hadn't shown up earth-side and he hadn't sent his minions. With the mates predominantly confined within the HQs and always with the Legends, there was only one way for Evil to proceed: he needed to separate them.

How? That was the real question. One he intended to find an answer to, sooner rather than later.

………………………………

'Ugh, why is this week not ending???' Mei whined, dragging her feet and slouching so her bag drew along the ground and cast a dirty look at Tiffany who was empty handed, courtesy to Sehun. Her bestfriend, however, was sadly oblivious to her state, too busy making googly eyes at her boyfriend-slash-mate who was preening under her attention.

Resisting the urge to gag – though it was more on principal than anything else; she thought it was actually cute how they were always doting on each other, particularly considering their stormy past – she rolled her eyes to the next available person, Kai. He smiled, reading her mind, and offered to take her bag but she sighed and shook her head.

'No need, I got this.' She told him, getting ready to pull the bag up. She didn't want to use him more than she already was and-

'Ouch.' She pouted, glaring at Kai. 'What was that for?'

'Stop thinking like that.' He told her sternly, yanking the bag out of her grip and sliding it over his shoulder. 'I told you, I'm perfectly clear on where I stand with you. We're friends, stop acting like a criminal.'

She hung her head, chastised. 'Okay.' She replied softly; it wasn't a surprise that he could read her so well –  they were besties-slash-mates-of-sorts, so this was literally the least she could expect.

Rolling his eyes, Kai slung her bag over his shoulder and started walking briskly to meet up with the others who were already waiting in the corner. 'Hey!' He waved.

'Sup?' Chanyeol waved back enthusiastically. 'How did it go?'

'We are not talking about how it went.' Mei declared, drawing next to Kai and glaring at Chanyeol. He gave her his trademark grin. 'Okay, we won't. Who's up for coffee?'

All hands went in the air, shivering as a blast of cold wind blew, except Sehun who smirked and drew Tiffany in his arms, obviously putting up a shield because her hair stopping blowing. She looked momentarily surprised before getting what he had done and sent him another adoring smile.

'I'm not sure if I wanna puke or fawn over them.' Mei muttered to Raina under her breath as they started moving, as they had the entire week, with the Legends staying on the outside and the girls on the inside so they weren't vulnerable as Baekhyun, the unspoken but unanimously accepted leader, marched at a brisk pace so they could quickly get out of the open.

The warmth of their vehicle – a minivan – was welcome and they all piled inside, Chanyeol taking the wheel. He hummed as they settled in their places, tapping his fingers over the steering wheel and at last, the last person was inside. D.O slid into the passenger seat and shut the door. 'We're clear.'

They started moving, chatting idly as they headed towards The Black Pearl.

The finals were in progress and Suho had been considerate enough to make arrangements for them so their studies wouldn't be affected despite the strict security measures in place and other than Lay, who was still recovering, and D.O, who really had no interest in the university and was short on attendance anyway, they'd all returned to take their exams.

Mei, Tiffany and Raina were living in the HQs. After seeing the broken window on the first floor of girls' hostel, seeing the evidence of Mei's ordeal with their own eyes, both roommates were too shaken and had refused to go back; Raina, they had dragged along with themselves and since she never had a problem with moving out in the first place, they were all good.

Or not. Mei had refused to sleep with Luhan.

'Not until we are married.' She told a disbelieving Luhan, holding Cuddles close to her chest and refusing to move from the doorway, not letting him enter the room.

After that episode in the mountains, she was utterly unconfident about her ability to resist Luhan and his tempting collarbones. Plus, her head was in the clouds – or so Luhan thought, though he was careful to hide it from Mei – due to Angel and Suho's wedding preparations, which had brought a festive cheer to the otherwise somber circumstances. He'd sensed her joy and delight as well as the longing that she'd get there soon. He didn't get it, though – they were already mated, what did it matter if they were married or not?

'Of course it matters!' She was scandalized, 'How can you say that? It's second last on my Things-to-do-before-I-die list and I am not going to skip that!'

To say Luhan was less than pleased was understating it. But Mei wasn't budging on this and eventually, he had to take his pillow and abandon his own room because no way in hell she was staying anywhere else.

After seeing him take revenge on the poor pillows on Kai's bed – which also happened to be his most prized possessions – his Shadow took pity on him and suggested a compromise.

It worked – fortunately or unfortunately, Luhan couldn’t decide. Because now, he had to sleep on the floor while his mate slept, mere feet away, in his bed, leaving her scent all over his pillows and sheets and making him burn with desire. He rarely slept – too aware of her presence – and when he did, even the slightest movement on her part woke him up, fearful that she was going through those terrible nightmares again. Of course, nothing of that sort had happened again but he was still feeling overprotective.

Raina had no idea how she felt about being suddenly told she'd be moving in with Tao because she'd avoided him like plague after The Incident – yes, that's exactly what Tiffany, Mei and Kyra had dubbed it, The Incident; Lily had merely rolled her eyes, Angel unsure whether to smile at her or comfort her.  

Luckily for her, D.O decided he couldn't stay in the same room as Kyra if he wanted her to stay unclaimed and so, she'd moved in with her bestie, once again becoming roommates. She did her best to interact normally with Tao but more often than not, they ended up feeling awkward. He was obviously still going through the whole maturing thing, mood swings galore. Sometimes he was friendly, others he was snappish and at times, downright scary – or that's what she called him when his eyes flashed red, intent and looking ready to prey on her.

Like right now. They were seated across from each other and he was staring at her so forcefully, she could practically feel it burrowing through her. She avoided his eyes, tense and intensely aware of every move the other made; she was out of the car the moment it stopped, shooting like an arrow, to put as much distance as she could between them.

The rest followed more sedately, Tao the last to get off, taking time to calm himself down. Baekhyun patted his shoulder as he passed by before scanning the area to make sure nothing was out of place. All seemed well, so Baekhyun went inside as well.

The Black Pearl was… different now that the management had changed hands and Baekhyun personally thought it was good. The rest were of the opinion that Lily should stay away from the place unless she wanted to be traumatized. She and Xiumin, after a long intensive discussion, had decided to temporarily hire someone to take care of the shop until this deal with Evil settled.

The hiring had been quite easy, thanks to Baekhyun and his contacts but the new manager was obviously used to a different sort of clientele and it bled into his dealings with the regulars at the Black Pearl. It was very different from what Lily did but it was, thankfully, interesting enough to charm many customers instead of turning them away as she'd feared. She wasn’t happy with the way things were going but had resigned herself to it rather than shut off a regular source of income.

It was interesting to see the perpetually busy Lily at a loss of what to do. Her work was her life and being deprived of it, she'd taken over the HQs, managing it like she managed her shop. Even Suho'd had to accede to her demands – that he pick up the clothes littering his room because was this the kind of place he wanted to bring Angel to? He'd taken that to heart and had made his room spotless but with Angel's arrival still a couple of months away, it had soon returned to its natural, messy state. 

Angel, unfortunately, had to return to her own house because her parents had returned but Suho had used their absence to upgrade the place to his standards, so he could rest easy about leaving Angel alone. Although he was failing badly at the resting easy part – not having her in front of his eyes made him restless, despite the fact that they were constantly in touch due to their links. It made him rather snappish and an easy target for Baekhyun, who couldn't seem to get enough of teasing everyone.

Everyone ordered their coffee – and in Tiffany's case, Baek-too-sweet, though Sehun was strictly monitoring her intake. The new management had incorporated the drink into the regular menu because of the increased demands about it and Baekhyun was thinking to throw another party soon as the finals were done so he decided to chat with the manager. Maybe they'd theme it around something cute and fluffy to congratulate the almost-married, engaged and newly-mated couples and maybe help bring the not-so-mated ones together.

He eyed the said couple, who had taken seats as farther apart as the shop allowed, shaking his head at their stubbornness. Chanyeol slid into the stool beside him, 'What're you shaking your head about?'

'Your future with the librarian. It's bleak.' Baekhyun's mouth ran away with itself again. He hadn't meant to let on he knew about her. Crap. Ah well.

'What?' Chanyeol had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. 'How did you know?'

'You thought I wouldn’t notice you sneaking off, eh?' Baekhyun gave him a sideways smirk.

'Who else knows?'

'Chen.' Baekhyun couldn't keep this sort of news to himself. 'And D.O.'

Chanyeol heaved a deep breathe. 'Well, I agree with you.' He propped his chin between his hands, pouting. 'It is bleak.'

Baekhyun swiveled in his chair to look at his friend full in the face. 'Why? What happened? Did you talk to her? What did she say? Spill!!!'

'Quiet, will you?' Chanyeol hissed, smacking a hand over his mouth and looking around to make sure no one had heard them. Given the hard metal music blasting in the background, it was highly unlikely. Chanyeol still dragged him outside, signaling D.O that he was taking over for lookout.

After they'd taken the vacated spot, Chanyeol slumped against the wall with a heavy sigh. 'I haven't talked to her yet.' He spoke to the air, watching as breath fogged in front of him.

'Why not?' Baekhyun was surprised – Chanyeol wasn't shy by any means; in fact, he was the sort to go great lengths to get himself noticed. And like Baekhyun, he had no trouble chatting people up.

'Because…' Chanyeol seemed almost embarrassed as he mumbled something under his breathe. Baekhyun leaned closer, 'What?'

He covered his face, looking like he was blushing. Baekhyun couldn't resist poking his cheek. 'Aw, look at you! You have it bad!' He wiggled his brows, singsonging his words.

Chanyeol removed his hands from his face, straightening and clearing his throat. The tips of his Yoda-ears were still pink. 'I do. I get so nervous around her, it's like…' he gestured at his tummy, fluttering his hands all over it. 'Butterflies.' He finished, blushing again.

'Wow.' Chanyeol was crushing really hard, even harder than he did on that pretty singer he was always listening to. Baekhyun wanted to pinch his cheeks again because he looked so adorably lost right now but he resisted the urge, patting his back instead. 'Well, I guess it’s a good thing, right? I mean, with everything that's going on, involving her would be…'

'Yeah.' Chanyeol sighed. 'That's why I didn't go the library this entire week.'

'Hang in there. We'll get her when this is over.'

Chanyeol looked terrified at the prospect, making Baekhyun laugh.

…………………………….

A/N

Hello :)

So... this is kind of a filler chapter... but I figured we might as well address some of the other characters. I wanted to show that Kris had been keeping up with the rest of the Legends, despite his disappearance. Plus, I should also probably warn you that we're about to reach the end :) Less than ten chapters left so things are about to reach a of sorts. And because I have promised myself not to leave this story until I have dealt with everything means that we are going to have another sequel - I sincerely hope you're happy to hear that and not groaning in despair (when will this end???). Yay... or well ^^' 

Anyway, just to give you guys something to look forward to, we have the Librarian. Just imagine, Chanyeol looming over a teensy little thing , helping her find her books?(isn't that cute?) That is literally the only thing which made me go for it hehe. 

Alright then... 

oh and just a heads up - that angst tag isn't for decoration only. 

Au revoir