Prologue
X-ExperimentsIndex:
(HS) – Hyoseung speaking
(YJ) – Young Jae speaking
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(L) – Myungsoo speaking
(YA) – Yoona speaking
(J) – Jessica speaking
(HC) – Himchan speaking
(CL) – Chaerin speaking
(PB) – Bom speaking
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Life doesn’t always go as planned, but every now and then, something would seem to finally go right. Joy, relief, even satisfaction would usually course through a person’s veins when things go the way they want it and only hope would fill the remainder of the time. But what were to happen if all of that were to be crushed, to be completely trampled upon and thrown away like a scrap of paper no longer needed?
Would hope still be there?
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The moon and stars shined brightly tonight, illuminating the area and leaving no place to hide. The trees would rustle every now and then as the wind blew its sweet melody, giving a peaceful vibe that made everyone feel as if nothing in the world could go wrong. It would have been a beautiful scene to enjoy any other night, but tonight… tonight was the night before the final battle was to occur and for some reason, a feeling of uneasiness just wouldn’t lift off.
Sitting on the ledge of the balcony, a young male had his head tilted up at the sky with a blank stare. If it had been any other person, one would have thought that they were simply spacing out or daydreaming. However, this person was different. This young man had the kind of ability that no one else had and thus, one had to wonder what he was doing when this occurred.
Behind him, the door opened as another man stood by the doorway. He grinned, stepping out onto the balcony as he closed the door behind him. He walked up to the other man before wrapping his arms around his waist, pulling the sitting man’s attention out of his current activity. “W-Woah!” (YJ)
“Heh. Did I scare you?” (DH) Hearing Daehyun's voice, Young Jae let out a relieved sigh as he put a hand up to his chest. He had the ability to control time as well as have visions of the past, present, or future. Sadly, he didn’t have visions all willy nilly as some would think. He had to concentrate, as he had been doing just mere seconds ago, and he couldn’t just foresee the future all the time. Just like every other activity out there, his powers used up energy, so he had to pick and choose certain times when to foresee the future. “Did you see anything interesting?” (DH)
“All I see is you sleeping outside tonight! I thought I told you not to scare me when I’m using my powers.” (YJ) Daehyun chuckled a bit as he tip toed to rest his chin on Young Jae’s shoulder. Now, he wasn’t short or anything. It was just that Young Jae was sitting on the balcony’s railing and the railing reached up to around his hips, so it made Young Jae just a tad bit taller than he usually is.
“I couldn’t help it. I like having you in my arms.” (DH) Young Jae shook his head a bit, but he smiled nonetheless. Even though this felt like quite a peaceful night, that feeling quickly drained away from him as he looked back up at the night sky. The vision he had was warning him of something, but he didn’t get enough time to see any further into the vision. Still… he just had to stay on guard tomorrow to keep his friend’s safe. As long as he did that, then everything should be fine… right? “Hey. How about you and me get into that nice bed back in our room and… have a fun time?” (DH)
“I don’t know… Should I see the future to see my answer?” (YJ) As Young Jae began turning, Daehyun released his hold on Young Jae before taking a step back to let Young Jae turn around successfully. When Young Jae was facing him, Daehyun took hold of his hands as he looked up at Young Jae’s playfully smiling face.
“So, what do you see?” (DH) Young Jae thought for a moment before jumping down to his feet. Wrapping his arms around the back of Daehyun’s neck, Young Jae stepped a little closer before pressing their lips together. Soft, steady kisses were exchanged between the two and as Daehyun was about to wrap his arms around Young Jae’s waist, Young Jae delicately pushed Daehyun with his fingers, a playful smile on his face as he continued to push him towards the door. “I think I know what your answer is.” (DH)
“Oh, do you really?” (YJ) Daehyun opened the door behind him as he quickly reached up with his free hand and interlocked his fingers with Young Jae’s. Young Jae smiled, a little surprised by Daehyun’s quick movements. Of course, he shouldn’t be with how fast Daehyun usually is in combat. “Then show me my answer.” (YJ)
“Okay.” (DH) Daehyun turned a bit to see where he was going as he led Young Jae into the building. Before he was completely inside though, Young Jae took one last glance out at the starry sky. His thoughts were telling him to go back to seeing the future, but Daehyun’s hand was telling him otherwise.
Hopefully… his feeling wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
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“What are we doing?! They’re picking us off one by one!” (L) Myungsoo curled his hand into a fist before slamming his fist into the nearby wall. They had already lost Sungyeol and Jieun and sooner or later, he felt like they were going to lose even more people. Young Jae kept quiet, but he kept mentally blaming himself for not finishing his farseeing. If he had just stayed for a few more minutes on that balcony, he could have seen the results of this battle and planned out a way to avoid all of these deaths.
“You need to calm down! We still have to finish this.” (YA)
“DON’T tell me to calm down! How the hell am I supposed to be calm with Sungyeol and Jieun’s deaths on our hands?! We could have stayed behind and helped them!” (L)
“Do you think they didn’t know the consequences?! They stayed behind to buy us time, now keep moving!” (YA) Yoona took hold of Myungsoo’s sleeve before she began pulling him along. Myungsoo would have pulled his arm out of her grasp, but another shake of the castle caused them to stumble a bit before it calmed down. The sounds of gunfire from outside were constantly sounding off, showing that the war efforts were still going on. They needed to be quick to prevent any more deaths. They were, after all, the infiltration team. They were the only ones capable of taking on a job such as this.
“Fine. We’ll keep going… Damn this ing castle!” (L) Myungsoo pulled his sleeve out of Yoona’s grasp before he began running. The others looked at one another, but they soon began running after him. Out of the eight of them, only Young Jae and Hyoseung’s abilities were being prevented. This was clearly Himchan’s work since he had done something similar to this before and since Young Jae and Hyoseung’s powers were the ones to be feared, it only made sense to disable their ability to fight in battle.
“Which way?!” (L)
“We have to head up!” (DH)
“Which way is that?!” (L) The group came to a stop as they found themselves facing three different directions. There were three different paths to take and neither one of these paths were giving away the right direction. Myungsoo rubbed the back of his head out of frustration as he kicked the air in front of him. "Why the hell are castles like a damn maze?!" (L)
“Calm down. Give me a moment.” (J) Jessica moved to the center of the hallways before kneeling down. Pulling one of her scrolls out of her pouch, she laid it out in front of her before she drew three creatures on the scroll. In that instant, the three drawings rose from the scroll before running around a bit. When Jessica cleared , the drawings instantly stopped what they were doing before looking up at Jessica. “Can you three scout the hallways for us? Tell us which way leads upwards. Also tell us what’s waiting ahead.” (J)
The drawings each jumped in glee before racing off in different directions. Letting out a small sigh, Jessica rolled the empty scroll back up before putting it back into her pouch. Once she got to her feet, she folded her arms as the waiting game began. It wasn’t a fun game, but it was necessary.
Seconds ticked by and yet, there was still no word. Despite their size, Jessica knew that they were the fastest scouts she could draw. Plus, it was easy for them to stay hidden, so there shouldn’t be any chance of them getting caught. Even though it hadn’t been that long, Jessica couldn’t help but feel a little worried for her little drawings. “Shouldn’t they be back by now?!” (L)
“Can you shut up and just wait?” (J) Myungsoo groaned as he began pacing back and forth. It was probably the only thing that was keeping his patience intact at this point. Still, it was better than nothing. It was strange altogether that Myungsoo had lost his patience so quickly, but they didn’t have the time to figure out if it really was Myungsoo losing his patience or if it was something else.
Soon, the sound of bells caught everyone’s attention. The group looked over at Jessica to see that two of the three drawings had come back. They were explaining the situation to Jessica and she nodded a few times before the drawings seeped back into Jessica’s inkpot. She let out a small sigh as she looked down the left path, worry on her face as she shifted her weight. “The other paths lead either down or towards other rooms.” (J)
“So, then... that way leads up?” (DH)
“Probably, but… they haven’t come back yet.” (J) The group looked down that path before Daehyun began walking forward. Young Jae hesitated for a moment, but he quickly began walking after him. The others each followed suit, ready for any trouble that would arise. Whatever had managed to stall or catch Jessica’s little scout would only mean that there was some sort of problem arising down this path.
As they made their way down the hallway and up the stairs, they could hear footsteps from up ahead. Everyone pulled out their weapons, ready to face whatever challenges they may face soon. With two of their friends gone, their will to complete the task at hand was even stronger than ever.
Once at the landing, they came to an abrupt stop as they found their pathway blocked by a group of soldiers either holding swords or bows. Daehyun made certain to stay at the front of the group, his shield-sword mix ready to deflect any arrows that may stray from their masters. They looked around, but it didn’t take long before the soldiers in the center of the group parted to allow their leader to step forward. “Humph. It’s you? Missing two, are you?” (PB)
“Why you…” (L) Had it not been for Hyoseung and Yoona holding blocking his way, Myungsoo probably would have started attacking already. The woman smirked though, amused by the chord that she may have unintentionally struck. It always intrigued her to see people’s reactions to certain things, but sometimes it was just a little too generic.
“Dear me… Were those two close to you? Don’t worry. You’ll be joining them shortly.” (PB) The soldiers seemed to have gotten a little tense as their weapons rose a little higher. The group took a slight step back, but they weren’t about to back down just yet. “Well, it was a pleasure talking to you all, but I have other work to tend to. Taataa~” (PB)
Just as she began turning, she paused for a moment before raising one of her hands to reveal a small cage. She smiled a little, tilting her head to the side slightly as the creature inside seemed to be creating various bell-like sounds in a frantic manner. “Oh. I do believe this is yours.” (PB)
Bom opened the little cage and in that instant, the creature sped out before quickly retreating into Jessica’s inkpot. The second it had done so though, her inkpot began glowing and just as someone noticed, it was already too late to do anything about it.
Her inkpot exploded, the ink spilling everywhere before evaporating as if it hadn’t existed in the first place. Jessica gasped, her eyes wide open as she reached out in an attempt to keep it all from disappearing. Though, when all of it was gone, her hands shook a little as she angrily looked up at the woman who was now laughing. “Such delicate creatures!” (PB)
“I’ll KILL YOU!” (J) Jessica pulled out one of her scrolls and she was about to unravel it, but Young Jae quickly pulled her arm back to keep her from doing so. She stared angrily at Young Jae at first, but when he shook his head with a worried look on his face, she looked downwards for a brief moment before looking back at the woman. “Fine… I won’t use that…” (J)
Putting that scroll back, she replaced it with another before unraveling its contents. In that instant, a purple light began to shine from the paper as a creature began to emerge. As her friends in front of her stepped out of the way, the creature now stood firmly in front of them. It may still contain black outlines, but it still looked solid regardless of how it had been drawn. It was an ogre of sorts, wearing armor that couldn’t necessarily be made out entirely. Still, this ogre towered over everyone in the room, close to standing as tall as the hall itself. The soldiers all took a brief step or two back in fear, their gaze glued onto the giant. The woman, however, was merely amused. “A toy.” (PB)
“I’ll handle these guys. You all should go on ahead.” (J)
“What?! But-” (L) Jessica snapped her fingers and instantly, the ogre swung its club around, knocking all soldiers off of their feet. The woman was the only one who had the ability to dodge the attack, though instead of looking any sort of worried, she continued to hold a smirk.
“I would take her up on your offer if I were you, but don’t worry. I’ll kill the rest of you after I deal with her.” (PB) The woman giggled a little as she turned here and there. Jessica furrowed her eyebrows a bit before looking at her friends. They were all uncertain about this, especially since Sungyeol and Jieun had done the same thing, but all she did was smile as she motioned her head for them to go.
Daehyun was about to say something, to try and talk some sense into leaving Jessica alone, but Myungsoo stepped forward as he swung his glaive a bit. “Don’t worry. Leave this to me and Jessica. We’ll stand a better chance when we’re both here, right?” (L)
“Myungsoo…” (J) Daehyun thought on it for a moment, but he did have a point. At least with Myungsoo here, there was a higher chance of both of them surviving this battle. With a nod, Daehyun look at the other three and nodded before taking Young Jae’s hand and running forward.
“You better catch up!” (DH)
“Don’t worry about it!” (L) Yoona and Hyoseung hesitated for a moment, but they soon began running after Daehyun and Young Jae. Yoona did look back at the two though, mouthing a good luck before the group of four had disappeared around the corner.
As Jessica let out a relieved sigh, Myungsoo positioned himself as the woman finally took a few steps forward. Holding her hand out to the side a bit, three different balls of various elements appeared as they spun slowly in a circle above her hand. “Such positivity! We’re going to have to change that.” (PB)
Myungsoo was about to charge forward, but the second Jessica motioned her hand towards the woman, her creation let out a mighty roar before it swung its club again. Instead of dodging it like before, however, her elemental balls had sped in the direction that the club was coming from before they began spinning around rapidly. That, alone, had been enough to stop the attack altogether. Jessica pursed her lips a bit as she took a step back, one of her hands on her scroll pouch just in case. “This’ll be tougher than I thought…” (J)
“Just don’t get caught off guard!” (L) In that instant, Myungsoo dashed forward.
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“Shouldn’t we help them?!” (YJ)
“We have to keep going! The longer we stall, the longer this damn war will go on!” (DH) Daehyun knew that Jessica and Myungsoo wouldn’t have wanted them to stall anymore than they already have. Yes, they would have had a better chance fighting together instead of separating, but that also took up time as well. The longer they took, the more deaths that were on their hands and the more time that was given to the one behind all of this.
As they began making their way up another flight of stairs, more soldiers appeared. However, instead of coming to a stop as before, Daehyun held the handle of his shield-sword hybrid tightly before he began smashing the soldiers into whichever wall they were unlucky enough to be knocked into. It wasn’t enough to kill them, he knew that much, but it was enough to at least get them out of the way. With Yoona still with them, she could at least take out any soldiers that would try to get at them after being knocked down.
Reaching the top of the steps, Daehyun came to an abrupt stop as more soldiers showed up. It was one thing to just go ramming through soldiers on a narrow staircase, but it was completely different when the potential of being completely surrounded by them was fairly high. With only him and Yoona, it would have been relatively difficult to not only take out these soldiers, but to also protect Young Jae and Hyoseung. “What should we do?” (YA)
“Let me thi-” (DH) Apparently, one of the soldiers had gathered up his courage and attacked first. Just this action alone was enough to cause the remaining soldiers to follow suit, all yelling a battle cry that would boost their morale. Daehyun cursed as his weapon quickly began shifting its appearance, expanding more into a large shield than a weapon. It was able to conceal the entrance to the staircase, keeping them from harm’s reach. However, because of their current situation, Daehyun didn’t have his shield as an option if they were to be attacked from behind.
“Young Jae… Do you feel that?” (HS) Young Jae looked at Hyoseung, whom currently had her eyes closed. At first, he was confused by what she was talking about. Though, as he took a moment to try and sense what she was sensing, he was soon able to figure out exactly what she meant. “The machine is close…” (HS)
“The one that’s blocking your powers?” (DH) Hyoseung slowly opened her eyes before nodding. Daehyun kept his gaze low and his eyelids narrow, but his eyes darted from left to right and vice versa as he tried to figure out what their next course of action would be. They needed to shut down that machine if they were going to get Young Jae and Hyoseung’s powers back, but they weren’t even entirely certain where the machine was. “Do you know where it is?” (DH)
“No… I can only sense it. It is certainly on this floor, but I do not know its exact location.” (HS) Daehyun cursed again and as he tried to go back to thinking, the sounds of the soldier’s swords constantly banging on his shield began to drive him insane.
“HEY! SHUT UP OUT THERE!” (DH) Daehyun kicked his shield before letting out an annoyed groan. If they were to go after the machine, then they would have to distract the soldiers somehow. As he turned towards the other three, the sounds of footsteps coming from below began to echo through the small stairway. There really was no time to fully think of a plan, so… there was only one thing he could think of. “When I say so, just run towards the machine and destroy it. Okay?” (DH)
“What do you have planned…?” (YA)
“Don’t worry about it! Just destroy that damn machine already and whoop . Now, go!” (DH) In that instant, Daehyun’s shield expanded once more before shrinking to its original size. The soldiers had all stepped back, fearing the possibility of it being an attack. However, when they saw the large shield shrink into a small puppet no taller than their knees, the soldiers seemed to regain their confidence as they began walking forward. Then again, they hadn’t exactly thought to bring caution onto their side.
Daehyun’s puppet, Bartholomew, lifted its head as it looked up at the soldiers that were approaching. It slightly tilted its head to the side before its eyes began to glow a faint yellow and his claw-like hands grew. Before the soldiers could retreat, Bartholomew leaped forward, spinning rapidly in the process as it stretched its arms out. Its claws cut through each and every soldier’s weapon and armor before spinning back around and landing in its original spot. As the bits of armor and weaponry began to fall, Young Jae took this chance to run with Hyoseung and Yoona in tow. Daehyun stepped out into the hallway, a smirk on his face as he saw the soldiers now fleeing with a little more than half of them covering as much as they could. All he had to do was distract the enemy while Young Jae, Hyoseung, and Yoona shut down the machine and it should be much easier after that.
Moving off to the side a bit, he saw soldiers beginning to file out of the staircase with a look of confusion. It was too hard to resist the possibility of spooking these guys out, so might as well take advantage of it. “W-What happened here?! Did you do this?!”
“OH why yes! Yes I did! I ripped all of your friend’s clothes off, then ate them! They were quite delicious, but I wonder if you all will taste the same! Oho, do you want to be eaten too? Let’s go, Bartholomew!” (DH) Bartholomew’s claws expanded once again, which caused those who believed Daehyun’s words to jump back in surprise. As Bartholomew tilted its head, there were a number of soldiers who dropped their weapon before running off. Those who stayed, well… let’s just say that they ended up going through what the first batch of soldiers had to go through.
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“Do you think Daehyun’ll be alright on his own?” (YA)
“He should be… Bartholomew is too stubborn to let Daehyun get hurt.” (YJ) Young Jae didn’t want to think about any other possibility. Their main objective was to take out that machine and make sure that they got back to Daehyun, Jessica, and Myungsoo as soon as possible. He knew that those three were strong enough to handle their on, but then again… that’s what he thought about for Sungyeol and Jieun also.
No… he couldn’t think that at all. Even if he had this bad feeling just creeping up from behind, he needed to hold onto his faith and hope for the best. There was just no way that he would lose all of his friends so easily. One way or another, everything just had to work out alright.
“Young Jae! Wrong way!” (HS) Young Jae refocused on where he was going as his feet attempted to come to a complete stop. He turned around just enough to see Hyoseung and Yoona standing at a nearby corner. With an embarrassed smile, Young Jae quickly ran back over to them before they began moving down that specific hallway.
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“Y-You idiot… You s-should’ve been more careful…” (J) Jessica covered her face as she tried to hide the tears that refused to stop flowing. She didn’t know what to do without Jieun or Young Jae here, but even if she had attempted anything or if Jieun had still been here to do anything to help, the damage had already been done to Myungsoo’s vital organs. Even though he had managed to kill their attacker, she was still able to get one last attack off before falling over.
“I-It’s…” (L) Myungsoo began coughing violently, the pain surging from his stomach all throughout his body. A warm liquid escaped his lips, spilling down his cheeks before the coughing finally ceased. He was breathing heavily, gritting his teeth in an attempt to endure the pain before he opened his eyes and looked up at Jessica through his tears. “It’s… alright. I… I’ll be… with S-Sung… yeol again…” (L)
“Myungsoo…” (J) Myungsoo let out a pained laugh as he weakly reached up and wiped the tears from Jessica’s face. He frowned when he noticed that he had gotten his blood on her cheek in place of her tears and as he tried to pull his sleeve up to wipe the blood off, Jessica took hold of his hand before shaking her head. “Are you… really okay with this?” (J)
A small smile came back onto his face as he nodded. Myungsoo began coughing once more, but before his fit could come to a complete end, Myungsoo became completely still as his hand slipped out of Jessica’s and fell onto the ground. She bit her bottom lip, trying hard not to cry as she looked at Myungsoo’s face. His eyes were closed, but she couldn't help but feel as if he was just sleeping, waiting to just spring back to life at any moment. But besides that... he looked... almost at peace.
Even if she wanted to bring Myungsoo with her, she knew that it couldn’t be done. No, she would have to come back with the others to give him, Sungyeol, and Jieun a proper burial. Using her sleeve, Jessica wiped her tears away before getting up to her feet. With one last look at Myungsoo, she had just taken a step away from Myungsoo when she heard the sound of a whip crack against the floor. Turning around, Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and pulled out two of her scrolls as a woman in full leather and a whip began walking towards her. “Where do you think you’re going? We still have an appointment.” (CL)
Without any warning, the woman flicked her whip, sending the tip flying towards Jessica. Jessica jumped to the side, unrolling her scroll in the process. A bright light erupted from her scroll, causing a figure to begin to emerge from the paper. However, before it could finish its ascension, the sound of a whip cracking quickly turned Jessica’s attention to her drawing.
Jessica’s creature let out a mighty roar, one that sounded more of pain than anything. Her eyes were wide as she watched the creature disappear into nothingness. The scroll that she had opened had been torn, thus cancelling her summon before it was completed. Pushing herself up to her feet, Jessica tightened the grip on the scroll she was still intact as she stared angrily at the woman whom was smirking. “Aww… What’s the matter? Did I ruin your little drawing? Let me see your tears! Oh, how I delight in tasting the tears of a crier.” (CL)
What was she supposed to do? Each time this woman attacked, Jessica just barely had enough time to react to get out of the way. However, because of how slow her summons came out, it was difficult for her to do anything on her own. At least before, her ogre had already been summoned and any other drawings she summoned, Myungsoo had acted as a distraction.
A yelp escaped her lips as something suddenly cut her cheek. Reaching up, she quickly felt warm liquid on the tips of her finger. She pulled her hand away, looking at the blood that stained her fingertips before she looked up at the woman. She was still smirking, but she seemed to be holding the end of her whip in a taunting manner. “Have you given up, or are you just a little slow?” (CL)
“Damn you…” (J) Wiping her hand on her clothes, Jessica pulled out another scroll before unrolling it. The woman attacked once more and as Jessica unrolled and threw her scroll while she jumped to the opposite side, the woman aimed her attack towards the scroll. She smirked as she saw the scroll tear into pieces, seeing the light disappear before anything could even appear. “Looks like you’re the slow one.” (J)
The woman turned her attention towards Jessica, but by the time she realized her mistake, Jessica had already been able to use two different scrolls. One scroll contained two of her guardians, both dressed in matching armor. The only difference between them was that one had a shield and a sword while the other had a flail. The second scroll had small fairies, each with a different look to them. Judging by the aura around each one, it was also evident that each fairy had their own kind of spell or element. The woman smiled with amusement as she shifted her weight, her whip moving along with her movement. “You think little pixies can do anything against me?” (CL)
“Ah… And that’s your first mistake.” (J) Instantly, the fairies each zipped in different directions, forcing the woman to try and look around as she readied her whip. Whenever she spotted one, another would dash forward and collide with her cheek. Even if she would reach out to catch one, the woman would nearly be knocked over by another.
As Jessica watched, she hoped that things would go as planned.
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Yoona let out a grunt as she threw her chakrams toward a group of soldiers, cutting through their armor and taking them out in the process. Running up to where her chakrams had become lodged into, she quickly pulled them out before looking around the room. “Coast is clear!” (YA)
Hyoseung stuck her head out from behind the doorway before she entered. Young Jae followed suit, his eyes instantly gluing itself onto the machine at the far end of the room. The trio walked up to the machine, Hyoseung mentally trying to figure it out while Young Jae was merely confused by the contraption. Yes, he can mess with a machine, but only when his powers were available to him. “I see…” (HS)
“Eh? What is it?” (YA)
“The off switch.” (HS) Hyoseung flipped a switch, which instantly shut the machine down. Young Jae and Yoona stared, a little dumbfounded by how simple that had been. Usually, a machine like this would require something much more complex to turn it off. Heck, machines weren’t even common where they lived, though maybe that was why it was that easy to turn it off.
Just as Hyoseung turned to face the other two, Young Jae gasped as a vision soon came to him. In an instant, flashes of the past, present, and future all passed before him, telling him the outcome of all of the battles that his friends had to go through while in this castle. He was reliving their tales, seeing and feeling exactly what his friends felt at the time of their death. However… the future told him something that he never thought would ever be possible. This vision was what had forced him to pull himself out of this vision.
This vision… was of Daehyun’s death.
As he came back to his senses, Young Jae found himself panting heavily and lying on the cold marble floor. He looked around; his gaze focusing on Hyoseung and Yoona as they looked down at him with worried looks on their faces. They already knew that he saw something, but this was the first time he’s ever collapsed from a vision. “What is it?” (YA)
“D-… Daehyun’s in trouble!” (YJ) Young Jae clumsily got to his feet, ignoring the fact that his limbs seemed to feel like some sort of gelatinous substance at that exact moment. Had it not been for Yoona and Hyoseung’s help, he most likely would have fallen over once more. Then again… it looked like he wasn’t going to be going anywhere as the doors soon opened.
“Ah… So this is where you all have run off to.” (HC) The three looked up to see the very man that they were after, standing at the front door. He had a small smile on his face as he dusted himself off a bit before snapping his fingers. When he moved to the side, one of his soldier’s came in before tossing a small object towards the trio. When Young Jae looked down at the object, his eyes widened as a gasp escaped his lips.
“B-Bartholomew…!” (YJ)
“Oh? Is that what that little contraption is called? I just simply assumed it was junk.” (HC) The man let out an amused chuckle as he snapped his fingers once more. This time, two men came into the room, carrying a body with a bag over his head. However, judging by the tattered clothing, the trio already knew just who exactly it was.
The two men walked about halfway into the room before throwing the body onto the floor in front of the trio. As the soldiers walked off, all three of them quickly rushed over to him. All three of them carefully turned the man onto his back before Young Jae quickly reached forward and pulled the bag off of his head. Daehyun looked up at him with furious eyes at first, but when he realized whom he was staring at, his gaze softened as a wave of relief seemed to cross his face. Though… despite his relieved look, Young Jae could see that Daehyun had gone through some rough fight. His clothes, if they had holes, displayed cuts and bruises. Even Daehyun’s head had some blood on it, meaning he had taken some sort of hit to the head at some point. Young Jae looked back up at the man by the doorway and he did notice that he was hurt as well, but not as badly as Daehyun. “Quite intriguing, this one. He’s quite… durable, even after his little toy broke.” (HC)
“Why you…” (YJ) Young Jae tore his gaze away from the man as he looked back down at Daehyun. He took the gag off of Daehyun before he frowned a bit. “You’re hurt…” (YJ)
“I… I know. I’m not... a good looking hero anymore, huh…” (DH)
“I-I… I can fix it… I-I can help you…” (YJ) Young Jae raised his hands over Daehyun’s body, but when his eyes landed on Daehyun’s arms, a gasp escaped his lips as tears began to fill his eyes. Daehyun's arms looked mangled, almost as if they had been forced to contort in a way that shouldn't be humanly possible. It pained his heart to see Daehyun's arms that way and despite the obvious pain Daehyun must have gone through, Daehyun only seemed to worry about him. He shook his head, moving his hands over Daehyun’s arms as he tried to focus.
“Hey now! I’m still here too.” (HC) Hyoseung and Yoona looked up at the man as he now held a large hammer. He began to run forward, which had both girls quickly stand up and stand in front of their friends. As he approached, Yoona tried to throw one of her chakrams, but the man deflected her chakram with his hammer before swinging it once more. It came into complete contact with her, smashing into her side and sending her flying across the room. She collided through various amounts of furniture before coming to a stop in front of the wall.
Hyoseung took a step back, her hands hesitating for whatever reason as she stared at a smiling crazed man. She could sense her friend’s life forces and the only ones she could sense at the moment were Daehyun, Young Jae, Yoona, and Jessica. While Jessica seemed to be doing alright on her own, Yoona was just barely hanging on. She needed to deal with this man now, or else they weren’t going to be able to save their friends. “Your name… It’s Himchan, is it not?” (HS)
“Oh, even a dog like you knows of me! Hmph… Not that it matters. Yes, I am Himchan and you know what? Because you know my name, I may just keep you as one of my subordinates. Though… let’s see if you have what it takes, first.” (HC) Himchan’s eyes widened, displaying a sort of crazed look as his smile turned into a grin. Hyoseung gasped as Himchan dashed forward with inhumane speed. Had it not been for her constant reflex of putting up a shield, she may not have been able to survive Himchan’s hammer swing. Still, even with her shield, Hyoseung did end up sliding towards the direction that Himchan had been swinging towards. She stumbled a little, but she kept her hands up at the ready. “Oh! So you do have some fight in you! Brilliant! Just brilliant!” (HC)
Himchan let out a crazed laugh, amused by the situation. Hyoseung grit her teeth a bit as she took a step back, trying to calculate any and all possibilities and which of her attacks would prove to have the highest success rate. Since she didn’t know any of Himchan’s weaknesses, she couldn’t just guess and check. Something like that might end up proving to be her downfall, but… what else was she supposed to do at this rate?
Clenching her right hand a bit, a light purple ball of light quickly appeared hovering above her hand. Furrowing her eyebrows, Hyoseung threw the ball at Himchan before repeating this process over and over. As she did that, Young Jae tried to finish undoing most of the damage done to Daehyun before he began running around towards Yoona. Even though he wasn’t a medic, he still had the ability to undo some, if not most, damage. Cuts, bruises, maybe even broken limbs, were the only things he could repair. Death however… was something even he couldn’t fix.
“Ah! Not so fast!” (HC) In that instant, all of the air was knocked out of Young Jae as he instantly collapsed to his knees. He was gasping for air, tears instantly trailing down his face and making his breathing that much more difficult. However, he didn’t seem to have much time to regain his breath as Young Jae felt himself being picked up by his collar. It wasn’t that long before his feet were no longer touching the ground and as he opened his eyes to look at Himchan, someone collided into Himchan, causing Young Jae to fall back onto the floor.
“Y-You… You stay away from him!” (DH)
“D-Dae…” (YJ) Young Jae wiped his tears away, trying hard to keep himself calm as he saw Himchan rising. Daehyun was still in no position to be up and about tackling people, let alone fight. Raising his hand, Young Jae was about to try and slow the time around Himchan, but a few orbs of light came crashing into Himchan, sending him back a bit. Young Jae looked over at Hyoseung, whom seemed to have taken a hit judging by how she was currently holding her side.
“Check on Yoona! Hurry!” (HS) Young Jae nodded before stumbling over to the wreckage where Yoona should currently be. He could hear the sounds of fighting behind him, but Young Jae could only hope that Hyoseung and Daehyun were able to handle Himchan, or at least distract him for the moment.
Furrowing his eyebrows a bit, Young Jae raised his hands as he began to reverse time in that area. The debris slowly began lifting from their spots before floating away, going back to the spots that they had originally occupied. Little by little, the area was fixing itself at least until Young Jae was able to see Yoona clearly. Kneeling down by her, Young Jae raised his hands over Yoona as he began reversing the damage done to her body. He could feel that she was holding onto her life dearly and he couldn’t just let that effort go to waste. Yes, she wouldn’t be completely recovered, but he could at least get her to a state where she would be able to move on her own.
Once Yoona’s eyes shot open, Young Jae let out a relieved sigh as he turned his attention back to the battle. Hyoseung was currently floating across the air, keeping out of Himchan’s reach as she constantly threw her orbs. Daehyun was still lying where he had landed, watching the battle occur. Slowly, Young Jae’s gaze drifted off to the remains of Bartholomew, an idea striking in his head. If he could just repair Bartholomew… then Daehyun could help fight Himchan.
Getting up to his feet, Young Jae was about to run forward when he felt a hand take hold of his wrist. Looking down, he saw Yoona looking up at him with a bit of determination in her eyes. “Increase your speed. He’s… too fast. If he notices what you’re doing...” (YA)
“R-Right… Thanks.” (YJ) Once Yoona released Young Jae’s wrist, Young Jae looked forward again as he raised his hand. Lines of shimmering light began to appear as it glided down Young Jae’s arm and wrapped around him. When he was completely wrapped, he zipped forward before taking hold of the puppet and rushing back over to Daehyun. Daehyun hadn’t even noticed what Young Jae was doing, so when he suddenly came to a stop in front of his face, Daehyun let out a surprised yelp as he fell backwards. Young Jae tried his best not to laugh as he set Bartholomew down between them before he held his hands out in front of it.
Light began emitting from his hands as Bartholomew began piecing itself back together. There were parts that were flying in from the hallway, rejoining its brethren to make the little puppet whole again. When Himchan finally noticed this, he turned his attention away from Hyoseung and began charging towards Young Jae. Hyoseung flew forward, trying to create obstacles of sorts that would slow or potentially stop Himchan in his tracks. From falling debris to walls of stone, Himchan only seemed to ignore it or swing his hammer to get rid of it. Daehyun cursed, seeing Young Jae refusing to turn his attention away to get Bartholomew fixed in time.
Instead of thinking calmly like he normally did, Young Jae’s safety seemed to put his mind into a jumbled mess. He pushed Young Jae out of the way as Himchan swung his hammer downwards, but in the process, he didn’t have enough time to jump out of his reach. Daehyun just barely let out a grunt before the hammer collided against Daehyun’s skull. A shocked look seemed to be glued onto his face as Himchan lifted his hammer with a grin. In that instant, Daehyun fell over, his body going limp from the strike.
Young Jae stared in shock, his eyes wide as he stared at the blood that had spilled out from Daehyun’s head. This… was exactly what he saw and yet… there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. In fact, he didn’t even notice that Himchan was charging at them and now… he regretted everything. “D-… Dae…” (YJ)
“BASTARD!” (YA) Himchan let out a grunt as Yoona managed to cut Himchan’s arm, forcing him to move away a bit. She stumbled forward a bit before falling to her hands and knees, a few pants escaping her lips as she stared angrily up at Himchan. He had just begun to raise his hammer once more, but more bursts of energy exploded on him, forcing him to stumble back once more.
“Why aren’t you dead already?!” (HS) As Hyoseung continued to try and handle Himchan, Young Jae was still mortified by what he saw. Yoona crawled over to him, tears threatening to overflow as she rubbed Young Jae’s back in an attempt to comfort him.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Young Jae. But… we… we have to beat Himchan.” (YA) Young Jae looked at Yoona for a moment before looking at Himchan and Hyoseung. They had known that Himchan would do some weird magic or experiments on himself, but they had no idea what those experiments were. It was clear though that he had inhumane strength as well as some sort of ability that lets him take damage, so… how were they supposed to beat him then?
No… He needed to save Daehyun. He… he just couldn’t believe that he was… gone. Biting his bottom lip, Young Jae slowly forced himself forward, crawling over to Daehyun’s body. When he was close enough, he raised his hand, hesitating as he tried to reach for Daehyun. However, he just couldn’t bring himself to touching him. It was just… too much for him. “Young Jae…?” (YA)
A yell pulled their attention as they just briefly saw Hyoseung slide across the floor. Yoona tried to get to her feet, but it proved to be rather difficult, as her limbs seemed to give out from underneath her. Young Jae looked back down at Daehyun before deciding that he needed to do something. Though… was it the right thing to do?
Getting up to his knees, Young Jae closed his eyes as he held his hands out in front of him. Lights began shooting out from his hands, running all over the place to reach their intended targets. When they managed to get to their targets, the lights wrapped around each and every one of them as they began glowing brighter. Himchan was confused, finding himself unable to move as he tried to examine the lights for a way out.
“Young Jae! What are you doing?!” (HS) Hyoseung, despite getting hit, had her own magic armor that allowed her to take less damage. So, when she saw what Young Jae was doing, she immediately flew over to him before slapping his face. However, he continued on with his spell as tears began to roll down his face. Hyoseung scoffed a bit before getting down to her knees and holding Young Jae’s hands. "You owe me!" (HS)
Almost immediately, the lights of different colors emerged from their conjoined hands, flowing along with the original lights that Young Jae had created. This time, those whom were caught in the spell each puffed out their chest as an orb of blue light slowly began to emerge from each and every body. Each orb then flew along the lines of light before they began encircling Hyoseung and Young Jae. When Young Jae felt that all of the orbs were around them, Young Jae opened his eyes before moving his hand to the side and opening a rift in time. Instantly, the orbs went flying in before the rift closed and the lights completely disappeared. In that moment, Himchan and Yoona both fell over, lifeless.
Young Jae sat on the heels of his feet, a sigh escaping his lips as he looked at Daehyun’s body. This may have ended the battle for this time, but… it wouldn’t mark the end of the war. Hyoseung let out a sigh as she got to her feet, dusting herself in the process as she shook her head. “You know that this doesn’t solve anything…” (HS)
“I… I can’t live without him…” (YJ)
“You know he won’t remember you... right?” (HS) Young Jae stared at Daehyun for a moment, before he looked up at Hyoseung. He nodded a bit, which had Hyoseung sigh a bit as she shook her head. “Bartholomew needs a few repairs then. You are planning on seeing him again, I assume.” (HS)
“… Yeah….” (YJ)
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
-/ahem-
For those confused ~
Young Jae started a spell that only him and Hyoseung could do together.
Hyoseung has the ability to pull a person’s soul from their body (alive or dead)
And Young Jae has the ability to open rifts in time.
With that mixed together, Hyoseung and Young Jae threw their souls into a different time.
Soooo… Yeah.
Just wanted to make it clearer.
Oh and those curious…
Young Jae had ended up pulling in the enemy as well
only because he knew that them, alone, wouldn't be able to defeat Himchan and his subordinate.
Hence why they were pulled in.
Anywho!
First chapter, yippee x3
16 pages of prologue. xD
I hope it’s enjoyable >3<
And here’s to a hopefully good fanfic! ]]
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