Rewind

Chen’s body slumped the ground, lifeless, and Lay leaned over him, panic written all over his face. Talons pierced through his-

Rewind

Chen was unconscious but breathing as Evil attempted to escape, but Lay latched his fingers through the black cloud. Evil screamed and thrashed before his talons struck-

Rewind

Baekhyun swayed on the spot, trying to hold it together while his Shadow bled out, and begged him to take his powers, so he could help. Then the link connecting them dropped and Baekhyun screamed…

Rewind

Lay was holding onto Rose’s unconscious form, using his powers to try and heal the tear in her soul Star’s abrupt exit had left, useless to help anyone else. He wasn’t fast enough, the healing far too slow to save her…

Rewind

Chen screamed, struggling against D.O’s hold as Star fought Evil, pushing him back until Evil latched onto her, black tendrils wrapping around and slowly but surely destroying her soul.

‘Star!’ he sobbed, ‘Star no!’

Rewind

Rewind

Rewind

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REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND REWIND…

REWIND!

…………………………………………

Chen screamed in denial as his hold on Evil loosened, and the bastard immediately exited, black smoke pouring through his orifices. He slumped forward, arms barely able to support him, his body wrecked after his possession.

Lay, despite his own injuries, moved fast, his golden fingers snagging into the smoke-like consistency of Evil’s true form. Evil visibly recoiled, and his movements became faster, talons striking out in panic.

Tao managed to tackle the healer out of the way, the talons missing him just by an inch. Lay let out an agonized moan at the sudden hard jolt when they fell, unable to get up.

‘That was close!’ the cub muttered, his eyes red at the extended use of his powers. They’d been trying to kill Evil for what felt like hours. Lay only groaned in response.

Tao turned to survey the scene. It seemed like Evil was going to make his escape when there was a flurry of movements and Star landed in between Evil and the portal he’d opened up.

‘Out of my way brat!’ he snarled, lashing out. Star managed to dodge it quickly, then started fighting but it was obvious that Rose’s human body couldn’t continue much longer. Star had been possessing her fully for a long time now and the it was starting to show.

One of Evil’s talons struck out, catching Rose’s neck and pulled back, a fountain of blood sprouting. Lay screamed in denial, trying to get up and hurting himself more in the process.

‘I’ve got her,’ Tao reassured him, snapping his fingers. Then he nodded at Luhan who moved her still form next to Lay, gently laying her down.

‘Heal her,’ Tao told him.

Star had abandoned Rose’s body when Evil had struck and was now fighting against Evil in the same amorphous state as his, except in Star’s case, her entire form was a speckled black and gold. Evil was weak after the battle, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to fight with him as long as she did but Evil did have the upper hand and he managed to wrap his black tendrils around her, squeezing steadily tighter until…

With an enraged scream, Star… exploded, for the lack of a better word, golden light spreading out of her in piercing arc, tearing through the darkness that was Evil.

Then before what remained of Evil could float away, she coalesced back, gathering the dark particles of Evil’s form inside her. As they watched, her form slowly started to disintegrate.

Chen cried out, trying to get to Star’s vanishing form, his eyes red as his beast tried to take over, to get to her in time. ‘NO!’

Baekhyun was watching everything with haunted eyes. His Shadow was on the ground, barely able to move and yet using massive doses of his healing to try and save his mate, who would’ve bled out had Tao not held her frozen in time.

And yet, it seemed that his brothers were doomed to tragedy.

The panic in Chen’s voice increased and with an unexpected burst of power, he moved, his fingers reaching out to touch Star’s golden silhouette.

‘Star!’ he moaned, tears streaming down his face. ‘Star, no!’

A golden tendril reached out, gently cupping his chin.

‘Baekhyun,’ Tao tried to get his attention.

Baekhyun didn’t respond, in a state of shock. Tao grabbed his arm weakly.

‘Baekhyun,’ he said, shaking it lightly. ‘Take Lay’s powers!’

Baekhyun blinked. ‘Huh?’

‘Take Lay’s powers,’ Tao reasserted, beginning to feel faint. ‘Do what you did last time.’

‘That-‘ Baekhyun started to protest.

‘They’ll all die if you don’t.’ Tao told him, swaying, black spots appearing on the edge of his vision. ‘I can’t hold on much longer.’

Baekhyun let out a panicked yell as Tao collapsed.

Rose’s blood started gushing and Lay whimpered, rolling to his side and putting his fingers around her neck to stem the flow.

Trying to will the panic away, Baekhyun took a deep breath to ground himself. He tried to ignore the sounds of pain around him and looked within, imagining his power connecting with Lay’s. His power was white, burning brighter than a magnesium flare, and a small thin line extended from him to his Shadow’s golden reserve. Deliberately, he widened their link and pulled. 

A veritable flood filled him, pouring like a waterfall inside him until he was overflowing. For a moment, it felt like he would drown in all the incoming energy and he panicked. But once he stopped struggling against it, the flow became smoother and he felt more in control.

The Healing Dragon… that’s what the news had called it.

It was one thing to do it in desperation, pushed to the edge and desperate for anything to work. It was quite another to do it intentionally, to walk himself to the edge and take the plunge.

He started gathering their combined energies together. His light came easily, as he was used to manipulating it as he liked. Lay’s power was a little trickier but his Shadow was never one to hold back, and he lent it easily, the flow inside him increasing. The powers coalesced into a massive ball that thrummed with muted energy where he held it, waiting.

It built and built, the light inside him shining brighter until it felt like he would burst.

When it felt like he couldn’t hold it in any longer, he tightened his hold and put the last reserves of his power in it and that was the last straw, exploding outwards in a massive supernova that shook him to his core until he passed out.

…………………………………………

Most of Star’s memories consisted of the Bad Place and fighting its many residents.

Her earliest memories were those of playing with Choomin, telling her she was very naughty, and brave, and smart.

Then there were those of the Bad Man attacking them. She didn’t remember a lot about how she ended up in the Bad Place, but she did remember being eaten. She supposed that was how.

For a long time after that, everything was repetitive. She hid until she got hungry, then she hunted; and in the process, gained more of the darkness inside her, which suited her perfectly because the darkness kept her hidden. On the days she got hurt, she reminded herself that Choomin had told her to hide and had promised he would come and find her, so all she had to do was wait.

And then, she found Chen.

He had been – still was – the most beautiful soul she had ever seen. Bright, shiny like the stars she’d used to watch at night with Choomin, and so completely out of place in the Bad Place. She’d saved him and then kept him hidden while he recovered, planning to get them both out.

She would have never admitted it if asked but she had long given up hope of ever getting out of the Bad Place. It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed because the Bad Place never changed but it had to have been years since she’d been there.  And she wasn’t stupid. If Choomin had been able to get her out, he wouldn’t have left her in there for so long.

But she’d needed something to hold on to in order to survive and she’d clung to that delusion.

Only after Chen had arrived that she dared to truly hope.

And he’d delivered.

He’d gotten them both out of that horrid place and she’d never been happier. She’d been fully prepared to die when they had left, saving Chen’s brother. Even if they’d both disintegrated the moment they stepped out, for her it would have been a relief.

Waking up had to be one of the best surprises she’d ever gotten in her existence. Maybe second only to discovering that Chen was her soulmate too, and not just someone she found really pretty – which, she didn’t mind admitting, she did.  That had to be the best one.

Never once in all of her long and hard existence had she ever imagined she would be able to find Choomin again, and yet she had.

And she’d made her first friend when Lose had started talking to her. And she’d found someone who doted on her the way her own mom used to in Aayngel. She’d never even dreamed that she could ever be so blessed. And she was so, so grateful for all of it.

And yet, the Bad Man had found her again.

If there was one person that truly terrified her in the entire universe, it was the Bad Man.

She still sometimes had nightmares about the time he’d eaten her. Nothing came close to the pain and the terror of that single incident.

And she’d never imagined that she would – could – experience anything that would make that seem small.

But watching Chen suffer while she watched, unable to move, unable to help… she would’ve gladly gotten eaten again a thousand times over if that meant Chen would be safe.

And so, she’d made the deal with the Bad Man. He would leave Chen alone – forever – if she gave him something that would rival in value to having a Legend as his spy.

She’d kept an eye out, knowing he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything trivial.

When she’d found out that Aaynjel was with child, the new soul glowing brightly within her, she’d been torn.

On the one hand, it was clearly the sort of information that the Bad Man wanted – anything that will allow him to hurt the Legends, and stop them from embedding the Tree of Life on earth. On the other hand, she hadn’t thought her deal would make her attack someone like Aaynjel.

She would’ve been fine fighting with the other Legends – they had their beasts and their powers, and if the Bad Man was to attack, they would’ve been able to fight back.

But Aaynjel was none of that. She was soft and gentle and kind. Bad Man would tear her apart.

She’d thought long and hard about it. And there seemed to be only one solution to the entire problem – kill the Bad Man.

Before Chen, she wouldn’t have even considered something so ridiculous. But the more he tortured Chen, the stronger her resolution became. Bad Man needed to die. And right now, he was weak after his last fight with the Legends, so she could do it too.

But if she were to pull it off, she needed to gain Bad Man’s trust, so he would think she was working for him and let his guard down, just like what Chen was already doing.

Except, she knew that Chen’s plan carried the risk of him dying – and he was foolish enough to think she as going to allow that.

If one of them had to die for Bad Man to end, it would be her.

Chen would be fine; he had his brothers who loved him, and Lose, who loved him too if he would only let her. As for herself… well she’d already died a long time ago and she couldn’t keep possessing Lose forever. 

So she’d started hiding herself the way she used to when she was in the Bad Place, so the Bad Man would only see her darkness and think her on his side.

And the healer’s unexpected assistance had helped make her soul stronger.

She did feel bad about hurting him but it had to be done. Bad Man needed to believe she was on his side.

She should have anticipated that he would break his promise.

And that’s exactly why he needed to die. So he could never hurt anyone ever again.

She wanted to say that she had no regrets… but she did.

She didn’t regret doing what she had to, even if the Legends were hurt. She didn’t regret killing the Bad Man because it was what he deserved. She didn’t even regret that in killing the Bad Man, she was dying with him because that’s exactly what she’d intended.  

But she regretted making Chen cry. He sobbed like a child, trying to hold her amorphous form that was fast fading into nothingness. She wished she could hold him back. The best she could manage was that single tendril with her dying light, to touch his face one last time.

I love you, she told him. Forever.

And then she lost all awareness.

……………………………………………