From the Soul to the Song - Verse Thirty
From the Soul to the Song
Book One: Melody of the Ensouled
Verse Thirty
Leeteuk held out an arm to stop Yesung from moving. He took a step to the side to make sure he was between Minho and his own members. A quick glance to the side told him that the remaining members of SHINee were unalarmed at the change in Minho. In fact, Jonghyun was smiling as if he was particularly pleased with the turn of events.
“What is going on?” Leeteuk asked calmly at the same instant his mind was turning over the situation and what it could possibly mean. If it came to a fight he wasn’t sure they could win. The odds were against them at three to five, and even more so because they would have trouble really hurting the five people who had always been their juniors and dear friends.
“There isn’t time for explanations,” Minho replied calmly. He shot a look at Jonghyun, his green eyes narrowing slightly. In response, Jonghyun shrugged as if he was completely innocent but his smile changed to a friendlier one.
“We don’t mean you any harm,” Taemin said softly, trying to reassure him. “We are still us.”
“Then explain,” Leeteuk replied unmoving.
“There isn’t time. There is a Dark One that you need to protect people from. Spinner of Spirit, you should leave now to retrieve the Weaver of Earth,” Minho ordered, once again taking control of the situation.
“Not a chance,” Yesung retorted.
“Yesung,” Minho half growled as if it pained him to say the other man’s name. “We are on your side. If you don’t go, people could die.”
Yesung’s eyes flicked between them and his other two members. Finally it seemed as though he made a decision. He held out both of his hands and there was a shimmer of air as a pair of sais appeared in his right, and a pair of daggers in his left. Both sets of weapons were plain, lacking the beauty and detail of what the men were used to using, making them look crude. Despite that, they would serve the purpose they were intended for. Yesung handed the daggers to Eunhyuk and the sais to Leeteuk.
He gave Minho one last look, as if daring him to try something while he was gone. With a wave of his hand, Yesung created a portal and then stepped through it. When he had gone through, the portal remained open behind him.
“There had better be a good explanation for this,” Leeteuk said calmly.
“There is,” Minho replied. Eunhyuk looked at the daggers in his hands as if he wanted to get rid of them but couldn’t bring himself to do so. It was clear that hurting anyone was far from his mind.
Before anything further could be said, Kangin stepped out of the portal, followed closely by Yesung. The moment they were through it, the silver disk of light vanished.
“You could have called first or something,” Kangin grumbled, and then he paused as he took in the surroundings noting the wings, eyes, and weapons. “What is going on?”
“That is what we would like to know,” Yesung said with his eyes narrowed. “The Weaver of Earth is here.”
Minho nodded. “We will show you where the Dark One is.” Without further prompting the remaining four members began to move throughout the room. They positioned themselves in a perfect square and stopped facing each other. Leeteuk realized, a moment later, that they were each standing on a cardinal direction: north, east, south, and west.
Their arms that had remained by their side rose in unison, not straight to the sides, but angled in front of them so that a right angle was formed between them with the center of each man’s chest at the very point. Their palms were turned up towards the ceiling as if waiting to be filled, and soft light that seemed to shift in color began to pool there. Just as they had on Minho, small translucent wings grew from each of their shoulders, all in the same grey color. Yet, like Minho’s wings, they appeared to not really be there at all, merely an illusion.
The four members held their arms outstretched, parallel with the floor for a moment more. Suddenly, at the exact same moment, they flipped their palms so that they were facing the floor. The light that had been pooling in their palms shot straight down as if fired. When it hit the surface it raced along on a straight path towards one of the other men. Once it touched another stream of light, it then turned inward filling in the shape between the newly formed borders. In little more than a second, the four members of SHINee were standing at each corner of a glowing square of floor.
The square flashed brightly before it was gone altogether, replaced by what looked like a picture. Curiosity prompted Leeteuk forward and he was startled to see the familiar layout of downtown Seoul, accompanied with a full bustling noonday population. There, in the center of the people, was a dark shape, darting back and forth; a Dark One. The image on the floor followed it, much like a camera would follow the main star of a program.
“There is a Dark One in Seoul,” Key repeated, information that they could clearly see. At the sound of his voice, Leeteuk glanced at the young man and was surprised to see that his irises had changed to a deep glowing red instead of their normal shade. In fact, he realized a moment later, all of the four making up the square had gone through a color change. Taemin’s eyes had taken on a vibrant yellow, while Onew’s had shifted to a calm aqua and Jonghyun’s had settled on a startling silver.
“You are the closest Ensouled at the moment. It is your duty to deal with it,” Jonghyun continued.
Leeteuk only needed to stare at the image for a few seconds more before nodding his agreement. The current situation was overwhelming to say the least but there was one thing Leeteuk knew: they had been given the abilities to fight the Dark Ones and save people. It was something that they were going to do no matter what sort of strange things were occurring.
At his nod, Onew smiled and gave his own curt nod to the others. The picture on the floor shifted, panning away from the Dark One as if a camera was moving. It skimmed over the people, until it raced down a side street and around a corner. After a few more turns the image settled in a deserted alleyway. “You can portal there and remain unseen,” Onew told them.
“Can you do that Yesung?” Leeteuk asked.
The man in question took a few steps forward to study the imaged. A moment later he nodded. He then stepped back and with a wave of his hand a portal appeared.
“When we get back we want answers,” Leeteuk said firmly.
“When you are finished, you will get them,” Minho replied. Leeteuk nodded satisfied. He turned then, and led the way through the portal, quickly followed by Kangin, Eunhyuk, and finally Yesung. As soon as Yesung was through, the portal disappeared. The men left in the room turned their attention back to the image on the floor. It showed a portal that had appeared in the alleyway and the final person stepping out of it before it too disappeared.
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
Yesung absently noted Leeteuk’s Song flowing into Kangin in preparation for what they were going to face. It had become second nature to hear and see the Songs of his group and it hardly bothered him anymore. Ignoring that, he moved quickly along the wall until he could look around the corner. There were a few people, walking down that street and he could hear even more beyond that. The sounds of all the Songs mingling together were nearly deafening, and he closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself.
Then he carefully closed off his senses as he had been practicing over the last several weeks. It wasn’t perfect, he could still hear a good deal of noise, but it would keep him from going crazy while being bombarded by the full feeling of it. He had figured out, however, how to shut his sight of Song completely and although he felt like a piece of him was out of place when it wasn’t working, he wouldn’t be blinded by seeing too much. Almost as if called, he could hear Ryeowook’s Song in the small piece of jewelry at his navel bubbling up to reassure him. It was the only Song he could hear clearly while he was trying to hold his senses closed and the sound of it over everything else calmed him.
“What do you see,” Leeteuk whispered from just behind him.
“Not too many people but once we get to the square there will be. We won’t have time to waste dealing with fans,” Yesung informed him.
“Can you wrap us in an illusion?” Leeteuk asked. Yesung nodded. He closed his eyes and formed the Weavings to his specifications and then let them settle around his group members and himself.
“There. Don’t worry about hiding your weapons. Anyone who sees you will just think it is something else,” Yesung informed them.
Kangin, who still looked like himself to all of their eyes, nodded and his gauntlets as well as Leeteuk’s proper sais appeared, replacing the ones Yesung had created for him. Leeteuk nodded and led the way at a brisk pace from the alleyway. The other three fell in behind him, weaving their way through the increasing number of people and being careful to keep their weapons turned away from them.
When they entered the square and began making their way through the people Yesung noticed an immediate problem. “We can’t fight like this,” he whispered quietly. “Even if the illusions will cover what we are doing, we can’t chance using a weapon. All of the people are too close.”
“If we could thin them out a bit then we could,” Leeteuk mused.
“What we need is a distraction,” Kangin agreed.
“We have four,” Eunhyuk replied with a strange smile.
Leeteuk nodded in understanding. “Rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to be bait?”
Eunhyuk shook his head. “No it has to be me. I’m least useful to all of you without Donghae. You’ll be fine without me.” Leeteuk looked as though he wanted to protest but he refrained and finally nodded his agreement.
“Hold on,” Kangin stepped forward and looked as though he were in intense concentration for a moment. “There. That will keep anyone from actually being able to touch or hurt you.”
“Good luck. We will remember you well if the fans devour you,” Leeteuk joked.
“Then you get to be the one to tell Donghae and Kibum of my demise,” Eunhyuk replied with a smirk.
“On second thought you had better return safely,” Leeteuk threatened. Eunhyuk laughed and nodded.
Yesung led the way through the crowds with Kangin and Leeteuk close behind them. When they were a little ways away, he nodded to Eunhyuk. The other man moved to a bench and when he was right in front of it, Yesung let the illusion fall away from him. As Eunhyuk climbed up to stand on the bench, it was Eunhyuk that the gathering people saw. Immediately there were several excited screams and people began to press closer.
Now that the crowd has shifted Yesung forced himself to ignore Eunhyuk and look around for the Dark One. He couldn’t make out its form anywhere. There was a quiet ring and Leeteuk reached into his pocket. He withdrew phone and accepted the call. He didn’t say anything into it; instead he simply listened to the voice on the other end. He nodded briefly and began walking with Yesung and Kangin trailing after him.
They threaded through the thinning crowd and found the Dark One near the center of the sidewalk, crouched down over something. Leeteuk snapped his phone shut, slipped it back into his pocket and moved forward. Yesung was faster. His katana sliced out like lightening in his grasp. It hit the Dark One in low on one side and slid through it upwards on an angle as if the creature was little more than butter. As soon as his blade pulled free, the Dark One began to dissolve until there was nothing left of it. The three men stood there, staring, entirely confused at how the situation had unfolded.
“Does anyone else think that was too easy?” Leeteuk asked. Kangin nodded and gazed around the area as if he expected reinforcements to jump out at anytime. Yesung studied the place where the Dark One had been kneeling and knelt himself. Very carefully he activated his ability to see Song and was not surprised when he saw a pulsing Weaving tied into the pavement.
“Guys, it was too easy because it he was planting a Weaving and I think he finished it.” In fact Yesung knew he had finished it. From his experience, if the Weaving had been unfinished or even created by the Dark One it would have simply unraveled when the Dark One was killed.
“A Weaving for what?” Leeteuk asked, squinting at the Weaving that he could not see.
“I think,” Yesung said slowly as he studied it, “it is a bomb.”
“A bomb,” Leeteuk repeated. Then his words set in. “There is a bomb in the middle of Seoul!?” Thankfully anyone who was around to hear his exclamation wasn’t paying attention.
“Are we talking an ‘oh there goes a bit of pavement’ bomb or an ‘oh there goes a couple hundred people’ bomb?” Kangin asked.
Yesung studied it for a minute more. “We are talking the power of a nuclear war head and I don’t think I can do anything about it.”
“Why not, you can see the Weaving can’t you?” Leeteuk asked while his mind turned over every possible solution.
“Yes but it is made from the fire and air elements so I can’t change the way it is constructed without damaging the Weaving. Any tampering might just set it off. There is a timer here,” Yesung pointed at a part of the Weaving that they couldn’t see. “It’s counting down.”
“We have to get rid of it,” Kangin said, stating the obvious.
“Can you cut out the chunk of pavement it’s in? Would that be safe?” Leeteuk suggested.
Yesung nodded as a plan formed in his head. “Cut here,” his finger traced a rectangle in the pavement no larger than a sheet of paper, “and about an inch down.”
Kangin nodded and a moment later smooth cuts appeared. The rectangle broke free pushing up as if the cement beneath it was trying to hand it to him. Yesung grabbed it carefully and lifted it free. He rose and held it out towards Kangin. “Wrap it in your strongest shield.”
“I don’t think that will even be enough to stop the power of a nuke,” Kangin said doubtfully.
“I know but it will get rid of a bit of the force at least,” Yesung replied.
Kangin nodded and formed half of a shield, much like the bottom of a box in his own hands. Yesung watched the green strands take shape and when the Weaving was complete, he set the piece of sidewalk in the box. Kangin then immediately took his Weaving and closed it over the top sealing the piece inside. He layered another shield around it. “I can keep adding layers but I don’t think it will matter.”
Yesung nodded. “How close do you have to be to keep that weaving going?”
“Close enough that I am going to lose body parts when this thing blows,” Kangin replied mournfully.
Yesung studied the timer quickly judging how much time he had left. “Do you trust me?”
“Not when you ask me like that. Bad things happen in dramas after characters ask that!” Kangin replied.
Yesung shrugged. “Hold on to that,” he ordered. It was the only warning Kangin got before a portal opened beneath their feet and they fell through.
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
There had been times in their career when Kangin was sure he was going to strangle Yesung but he had never gotten around to actually doing it. This time he was fairly certain he would get around to it. He fell through the portal beneath him with Yesung beside him. They had done that once before, during their mock battle in Sanctuary, so although it was unsettling it wasn’t anything to worry about. Neither was the second portal in Sanctuary, layered in Yesung’s particular fashion. That he had done before as well.
The reason he was going to kill Yesung - if they survived the entire explosion thing - was the place that second portal spit them back out. It had to be somewhere on Earth, he knew, since that was the way the portals worked, but he couldn’t have said where. All he could see were clouds, and while that normally wouldn’t have been a problem, the fact that he was far above them and falling towards them certainly was.
“What the hell are you thinking!?!” Kangin screamed to the man who had latched onto his arm so that they wouldn’t be separated.
“When I tell you, throw that thing up as hard as you can!” Yesung yelled back over the noise of the wind.
Kangin could see the clouds racing towards their feet, or rather their feet racing towards the top of the clouds. “Yesung!” he yelled, half in panic and the other half in warning.
Yesung, however ignored him, “Five!” he began counting down.
“Four!” If Kangin somehow survived the explosion and the fall, he was going to murder the man and deal with the consequences later.
“Three!” Yesung wouldn’t be going home alive tonight. There wasn’t a chance.
“Two!” Kangin would deal with the psychotic Ryeowook when the time came.
“Now!” At Yesung’s command, Kangin threw the item in his hands up as hard as he could. A second later it exploded and he felt the shields around it shatter from the sheer force of the blast. Without the shields to contain it, the mass of flame and the shock wave raced to catch them. Kangin wasn’t a mathematical genius, but even he could tell, there was no way they would be escaping it alive.
Verse Thirty One
Masterlist
Character Information
AN: I love how much you all freaked out about Minho (the ambiguous cliffhanger was totally on purpose). I definitely write with all of my readers in mind. I can never wait to hear what you all are going to say. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.
Book One: Melody of the Ensouled
Verse Thirty
Leeteuk held out an arm to stop Yesung from moving. He took a step to the side to make sure he was between Minho and his own members. A quick glance to the side told him that the remaining members of SHINee were unalarmed at the change in Minho. In fact, Jonghyun was smiling as if he was particularly pleased with the turn of events.
“What is going on?” Leeteuk asked calmly at the same instant his mind was turning over the situation and what it could possibly mean. If it came to a fight he wasn’t sure they could win. The odds were against them at three to five, and even more so because they would have trouble really hurting the five people who had always been their juniors and dear friends.
“There isn’t time for explanations,” Minho replied calmly. He shot a look at Jonghyun, his green eyes narrowing slightly. In response, Jonghyun shrugged as if he was completely innocent but his smile changed to a friendlier one.
“We don’t mean you any harm,” Taemin said softly, trying to reassure him. “We are still us.”
“Then explain,” Leeteuk replied unmoving.
“There isn’t time. There is a Dark One that you need to protect people from. Spinner of Spirit, you should leave now to retrieve the Weaver of Earth,” Minho ordered, once again taking control of the situation.
“Not a chance,” Yesung retorted.
“Yesung,” Minho half growled as if it pained him to say the other man’s name. “We are on your side. If you don’t go, people could die.”
Yesung’s eyes flicked between them and his other two members. Finally it seemed as though he made a decision. He held out both of his hands and there was a shimmer of air as a pair of sais appeared in his right, and a pair of daggers in his left. Both sets of weapons were plain, lacking the beauty and detail of what the men were used to using, making them look crude. Despite that, they would serve the purpose they were intended for. Yesung handed the daggers to Eunhyuk and the sais to Leeteuk.
He gave Minho one last look, as if daring him to try something while he was gone. With a wave of his hand, Yesung created a portal and then stepped through it. When he had gone through, the portal remained open behind him.
“There had better be a good explanation for this,” Leeteuk said calmly.
“There is,” Minho replied. Eunhyuk looked at the daggers in his hands as if he wanted to get rid of them but couldn’t bring himself to do so. It was clear that hurting anyone was far from his mind.
Before anything further could be said, Kangin stepped out of the portal, followed closely by Yesung. The moment they were through it, the silver disk of light vanished.
“You could have called first or something,” Kangin grumbled, and then he paused as he took in the surroundings noting the wings, eyes, and weapons. “What is going on?”
“That is what we would like to know,” Yesung said with his eyes narrowed. “The Weaver of Earth is here.”
Minho nodded. “We will show you where the Dark One is.” Without further prompting the remaining four members began to move throughout the room. They positioned themselves in a perfect square and stopped facing each other. Leeteuk realized, a moment later, that they were each standing on a cardinal direction: north, east, south, and west.
Their arms that had remained by their side rose in unison, not straight to the sides, but angled in front of them so that a right angle was formed between them with the center of each man’s chest at the very point. Their palms were turned up towards the ceiling as if waiting to be filled, and soft light that seemed to shift in color began to pool there. Just as they had on Minho, small translucent wings grew from each of their shoulders, all in the same grey color. Yet, like Minho’s wings, they appeared to not really be there at all, merely an illusion.
The four members held their arms outstretched, parallel with the floor for a moment more. Suddenly, at the exact same moment, they flipped their palms so that they were facing the floor. The light that had been pooling in their palms shot straight down as if fired. When it hit the surface it raced along on a straight path towards one of the other men. Once it touched another stream of light, it then turned inward filling in the shape between the newly formed borders. In little more than a second, the four members of SHINee were standing at each corner of a glowing square of floor.
The square flashed brightly before it was gone altogether, replaced by what looked like a picture. Curiosity prompted Leeteuk forward and he was startled to see the familiar layout of downtown Seoul, accompanied with a full bustling noonday population. There, in the center of the people, was a dark shape, darting back and forth; a Dark One. The image on the floor followed it, much like a camera would follow the main star of a program.
“There is a Dark One in Seoul,” Key repeated, information that they could clearly see. At the sound of his voice, Leeteuk glanced at the young man and was surprised to see that his irises had changed to a deep glowing red instead of their normal shade. In fact, he realized a moment later, all of the four making up the square had gone through a color change. Taemin’s eyes had taken on a vibrant yellow, while Onew’s had shifted to a calm aqua and Jonghyun’s had settled on a startling silver.
“You are the closest Ensouled at the moment. It is your duty to deal with it,” Jonghyun continued.
Leeteuk only needed to stare at the image for a few seconds more before nodding his agreement. The current situation was overwhelming to say the least but there was one thing Leeteuk knew: they had been given the abilities to fight the Dark Ones and save people. It was something that they were going to do no matter what sort of strange things were occurring.
At his nod, Onew smiled and gave his own curt nod to the others. The picture on the floor shifted, panning away from the Dark One as if a camera was moving. It skimmed over the people, until it raced down a side street and around a corner. After a few more turns the image settled in a deserted alleyway. “You can portal there and remain unseen,” Onew told them.
“Can you do that Yesung?” Leeteuk asked.
The man in question took a few steps forward to study the imaged. A moment later he nodded. He then stepped back and with a wave of his hand a portal appeared.
“When we get back we want answers,” Leeteuk said firmly.
“When you are finished, you will get them,” Minho replied. Leeteuk nodded satisfied. He turned then, and led the way through the portal, quickly followed by Kangin, Eunhyuk, and finally Yesung. As soon as Yesung was through, the portal disappeared. The men left in the room turned their attention back to the image on the floor. It showed a portal that had appeared in the alleyway and the final person stepping out of it before it too disappeared.
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
Yesung absently noted Leeteuk’s Song flowing into Kangin in preparation for what they were going to face. It had become second nature to hear and see the Songs of his group and it hardly bothered him anymore. Ignoring that, he moved quickly along the wall until he could look around the corner. There were a few people, walking down that street and he could hear even more beyond that. The sounds of all the Songs mingling together were nearly deafening, and he closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself.
Then he carefully closed off his senses as he had been practicing over the last several weeks. It wasn’t perfect, he could still hear a good deal of noise, but it would keep him from going crazy while being bombarded by the full feeling of it. He had figured out, however, how to shut his sight of Song completely and although he felt like a piece of him was out of place when it wasn’t working, he wouldn’t be blinded by seeing too much. Almost as if called, he could hear Ryeowook’s Song in the small piece of jewelry at his navel bubbling up to reassure him. It was the only Song he could hear clearly while he was trying to hold his senses closed and the sound of it over everything else calmed him.
“What do you see,” Leeteuk whispered from just behind him.
“Not too many people but once we get to the square there will be. We won’t have time to waste dealing with fans,” Yesung informed him.
“Can you wrap us in an illusion?” Leeteuk asked. Yesung nodded. He closed his eyes and formed the Weavings to his specifications and then let them settle around his group members and himself.
“There. Don’t worry about hiding your weapons. Anyone who sees you will just think it is something else,” Yesung informed them.
Kangin, who still looked like himself to all of their eyes, nodded and his gauntlets as well as Leeteuk’s proper sais appeared, replacing the ones Yesung had created for him. Leeteuk nodded and led the way at a brisk pace from the alleyway. The other three fell in behind him, weaving their way through the increasing number of people and being careful to keep their weapons turned away from them.
When they entered the square and began making their way through the people Yesung noticed an immediate problem. “We can’t fight like this,” he whispered quietly. “Even if the illusions will cover what we are doing, we can’t chance using a weapon. All of the people are too close.”
“If we could thin them out a bit then we could,” Leeteuk mused.
“What we need is a distraction,” Kangin agreed.
“We have four,” Eunhyuk replied with a strange smile.
Leeteuk nodded in understanding. “Rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to be bait?”
Eunhyuk shook his head. “No it has to be me. I’m least useful to all of you without Donghae. You’ll be fine without me.” Leeteuk looked as though he wanted to protest but he refrained and finally nodded his agreement.
“Hold on,” Kangin stepped forward and looked as though he were in intense concentration for a moment. “There. That will keep anyone from actually being able to touch or hurt you.”
“Good luck. We will remember you well if the fans devour you,” Leeteuk joked.
“Then you get to be the one to tell Donghae and Kibum of my demise,” Eunhyuk replied with a smirk.
“On second thought you had better return safely,” Leeteuk threatened. Eunhyuk laughed and nodded.
Yesung led the way through the crowds with Kangin and Leeteuk close behind them. When they were a little ways away, he nodded to Eunhyuk. The other man moved to a bench and when he was right in front of it, Yesung let the illusion fall away from him. As Eunhyuk climbed up to stand on the bench, it was Eunhyuk that the gathering people saw. Immediately there were several excited screams and people began to press closer.
Now that the crowd has shifted Yesung forced himself to ignore Eunhyuk and look around for the Dark One. He couldn’t make out its form anywhere. There was a quiet ring and Leeteuk reached into his pocket. He withdrew phone and accepted the call. He didn’t say anything into it; instead he simply listened to the voice on the other end. He nodded briefly and began walking with Yesung and Kangin trailing after him.
They threaded through the thinning crowd and found the Dark One near the center of the sidewalk, crouched down over something. Leeteuk snapped his phone shut, slipped it back into his pocket and moved forward. Yesung was faster. His katana sliced out like lightening in his grasp. It hit the Dark One in low on one side and slid through it upwards on an angle as if the creature was little more than butter. As soon as his blade pulled free, the Dark One began to dissolve until there was nothing left of it. The three men stood there, staring, entirely confused at how the situation had unfolded.
“Does anyone else think that was too easy?” Leeteuk asked. Kangin nodded and gazed around the area as if he expected reinforcements to jump out at anytime. Yesung studied the place where the Dark One had been kneeling and knelt himself. Very carefully he activated his ability to see Song and was not surprised when he saw a pulsing Weaving tied into the pavement.
“Guys, it was too easy because it he was planting a Weaving and I think he finished it.” In fact Yesung knew he had finished it. From his experience, if the Weaving had been unfinished or even created by the Dark One it would have simply unraveled when the Dark One was killed.
“A Weaving for what?” Leeteuk asked, squinting at the Weaving that he could not see.
“I think,” Yesung said slowly as he studied it, “it is a bomb.”
“A bomb,” Leeteuk repeated. Then his words set in. “There is a bomb in the middle of Seoul!?” Thankfully anyone who was around to hear his exclamation wasn’t paying attention.
“Are we talking an ‘oh there goes a bit of pavement’ bomb or an ‘oh there goes a couple hundred people’ bomb?” Kangin asked.
Yesung studied it for a minute more. “We are talking the power of a nuclear war head and I don’t think I can do anything about it.”
“Why not, you can see the Weaving can’t you?” Leeteuk asked while his mind turned over every possible solution.
“Yes but it is made from the fire and air elements so I can’t change the way it is constructed without damaging the Weaving. Any tampering might just set it off. There is a timer here,” Yesung pointed at a part of the Weaving that they couldn’t see. “It’s counting down.”
“We have to get rid of it,” Kangin said, stating the obvious.
“Can you cut out the chunk of pavement it’s in? Would that be safe?” Leeteuk suggested.
Yesung nodded as a plan formed in his head. “Cut here,” his finger traced a rectangle in the pavement no larger than a sheet of paper, “and about an inch down.”
Kangin nodded and a moment later smooth cuts appeared. The rectangle broke free pushing up as if the cement beneath it was trying to hand it to him. Yesung grabbed it carefully and lifted it free. He rose and held it out towards Kangin. “Wrap it in your strongest shield.”
“I don’t think that will even be enough to stop the power of a nuke,” Kangin said doubtfully.
“I know but it will get rid of a bit of the force at least,” Yesung replied.
Kangin nodded and formed half of a shield, much like the bottom of a box in his own hands. Yesung watched the green strands take shape and when the Weaving was complete, he set the piece of sidewalk in the box. Kangin then immediately took his Weaving and closed it over the top sealing the piece inside. He layered another shield around it. “I can keep adding layers but I don’t think it will matter.”
Yesung nodded. “How close do you have to be to keep that weaving going?”
“Close enough that I am going to lose body parts when this thing blows,” Kangin replied mournfully.
Yesung studied the timer quickly judging how much time he had left. “Do you trust me?”
“Not when you ask me like that. Bad things happen in dramas after characters ask that!” Kangin replied.
Yesung shrugged. “Hold on to that,” he ordered. It was the only warning Kangin got before a portal opened beneath their feet and they fell through.
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
There had been times in their career when Kangin was sure he was going to strangle Yesung but he had never gotten around to actually doing it. This time he was fairly certain he would get around to it. He fell through the portal beneath him with Yesung beside him. They had done that once before, during their mock battle in Sanctuary, so although it was unsettling it wasn’t anything to worry about. Neither was the second portal in Sanctuary, layered in Yesung’s particular fashion. That he had done before as well.
The reason he was going to kill Yesung - if they survived the entire explosion thing - was the place that second portal spit them back out. It had to be somewhere on Earth, he knew, since that was the way the portals worked, but he couldn’t have said where. All he could see were clouds, and while that normally wouldn’t have been a problem, the fact that he was far above them and falling towards them certainly was.
“What the hell are you thinking!?!” Kangin screamed to the man who had latched onto his arm so that they wouldn’t be separated.
“When I tell you, throw that thing up as hard as you can!” Yesung yelled back over the noise of the wind.
Kangin could see the clouds racing towards their feet, or rather their feet racing towards the top of the clouds. “Yesung!” he yelled, half in panic and the other half in warning.
Yesung, however ignored him, “Five!” he began counting down.
“Four!” If Kangin somehow survived the explosion and the fall, he was going to murder the man and deal with the consequences later.
“Three!” Yesung wouldn’t be going home alive tonight. There wasn’t a chance.
“Two!” Kangin would deal with the psychotic Ryeowook when the time came.
“Now!” At Yesung’s command, Kangin threw the item in his hands up as hard as he could. A second later it exploded and he felt the shields around it shatter from the sheer force of the blast. Without the shields to contain it, the mass of flame and the shock wave raced to catch them. Kangin wasn’t a mathematical genius, but even he could tell, there was no way they would be escaping it alive.
Verse Thirty One
Masterlist
Character Information
AN: I love how much you all freaked out about Minho (the ambiguous cliffhanger was totally on purpose). I definitely write with all of my readers in mind. I can never wait to hear what you all are going to say. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.