#cc:event

“L- Leo?” her voice was shaky and her brows furrowed. Why did he look like a lion? Where did his human form go? He didn't reply, but it was as if his eyes were talking to her. It sent her back to the past. To the past, where she still had her cat-like form, when she was in the forest and lying on the lion's head, almost asleep...

“They're not real! You have to kill them!”

The shouts of various people around her, brought the girl back to reality. She was breathing heavily, eyes wide in confusion and shock. She looked around. The chaos was seen everywhere around her and it was horrible, yet it couldn't distract her from the familiar figure in front of her. Kill him. How could she ever kill him? She's never had too many friends, being her usual shy self. Neither now nor before the sealing, did she get too close to too many other beings. There weren't many who were really important to her, so how could she kill him out of all others?

And even if she could, what if they were wrong? What if this was really Leo and what if she killed him for good? The poor girl's brain seemed to go in circles, but she wasn't able to quite grasp what was going on after all. All she knew was that she couldn't kill him. Never.

She still remembered how they met. Back in the forest, when she was only the size of his head – not counting the mane – and not sure whether she could trust him or not, being a little scared as well... but eventually they did somehow get along.

“Y-You know they’re not real, right? You must know they’re not real. They’re fake!” Being completely ripped out of her own mind, the girl turned around to to a boy, looking like he was a couple of years older than her. “It’s playing with your mind! Come on, snap out of it, they’re not real, those are not substantional human beings!”

Feeling as if her head was about to explode, the girl looked at the boy for a few seconds longer before nodding and looking back at Leo, who was now back to his human form.

Right. These were all just mind games – she'd seen the waxy stuff drop down with her own eyes and now the Lion turned into a person. She knew it, deep inside, she knew it, but she still couldn't bring herself, to kill the copy of her dear friend.

“No, I have to clear my mind, I can't let this get the better of me!” Soyee roughly shook her head and ruffled up her hair with both hands. After taking a deep breath and last look at whatever that was in front of her she closed her eyes and covered her face with both hands. She knew she had to kill it, but the mere thought made her shake and tear up.

“You can do it!” She tried to encourage herself anyways, but that wasn't enough. Sinking onto the floor, still covering her face and the tears that threatened to leave her eyes, Soyee remembered that even if she could bring up enough courage, she didn't have anything to ki- do it with. Her rain probably wouldn't get her anywhere.

It took more than only a few more minutes to calm down again. The inner conflict was too much for her and she felt as if her heart was about to tear apart. As far as she had a heart as card. She knew she had to, she knew it wasn't really him, but still... it was still terrible, just to think about it. Feeling what could best be described with dizziness, she supported herself, with her hands on the floor. A sharp pain was send through her finger when she cut herself on something sharp.

And that pulled the trigger.

Her eyes fell on the big shard of glass below her. Like a puppet she grabbed the broken piece and slowly stood up. She grabbed it tightly, so the pain would quiet down her thoughts and the doubt that the girl couldn't shake off. Her tears had started falling again and her vision grew blurry.

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!” she whispered, with her head hanging down. Having her mind set to it, the girl grabbed the shard even tighter and in one swift move – accompanied by a piteous scream – Soyee jumped forward, lunging out the arm with the piece of glass that cut into her hand.  

Her heavy breathing was all she put her attention to. All noises around her were drowned by that one annoying tone, ringing in her ears. The girl felt as if she was going to faint, though she knew that wouldn't happen. When she opened her eyes, he was gone. There was no dead body on the floor.

the sulfur in the air is so thick, you could reach out and grab it with your bare hands. soojung had noticed the smell only moments before the clash of lightning, the flash of lights. it was too real to be theatrics of such a simple science fair. the true being inside of her human shell knew what was happening, she knew it was the work of a being just as darkly made as herself and the other cards. 

she abandoned the boy to her left, stepping in between rushing people before disappearing from the human eye all together.  but her expectancy of terrified and confused humans never was fulfilled. they all moved as if nothing was happening, slowly piling out of the fair as if in a trance. well, at least there’s less bodies to clean up, she thought. she knew this was going to be a bloodbath, she felt it deep in her soul. 

soojung had learned about vacuums in deep space, a scientific human term that was coming true in front of her eyes. she felt herself beginning to be pulled towards the dark pit. it was so dark, even she could not see or sense what was inside. the invisible girl’s hands raise and she is tethered to the floor with a combination of icy ectoplasm and the aid of spirit magic. there was only little emotion in her eyes as she watched those being pulled into the dark hole. if the humans could see, would they call this a Second Coming? a purge of the sinners in the world? true fear sunk in when she saw a familiar vessel. one she found friendship in, one she loved as if they were vases made of the same clay.

her sweet darkness, subin.

soojung’s scream stood out from the rest, but no one could identify the source if they tried. she detached herself from the floor and dove headfirst towards subin, screaming out for her darkness. 

she was too late.

subin was gone. she disappeared from her sight and the hole shut up. before sadness could set in, before shock, there was a deafening screech that had the phantom holding her hands to her ears. she looked up to see a larger than life familiar towering over her. the feeling it gave off was so.. 

intoxicating.

she could feel the power it must have absorbed coming off of it in waves. and moments later, she began to see it was melting. 

she moves against her will, silently, unblinkingly, the expression on her face too impassive for the situation. but her face is carefully practiced, an enigma searching for its turing, a key so it can be cracked.

the monsters are in front of her, watching silently as the players are shuffled around. she laughs inwardly at the irony, but she doesn’t find it the least bit funny.

especially not when the monster is right in front of her, staring at her from above. it twists and turns in front of her, violets and cyans and scarlets making a field of color, and overloading of senses right at her fingertips, if she could only move them. so many colors, but lisa could only see shades. she supposes its an effect of tunnelvision, the most narrow, the most focused, a kind of nucleus she couldn’t tear her eyes from.

it turns into a man and a woman, looking at her with some kind of feeling in their eyes, but lisa couldn’t tell what, exactly. she was never good with feelings, not anymore.

and suddenly she’s twelve again, knocking on the door of who knows what, running with a purpose that she didn’t even understand. her feet tap on the ground, rubber soles of her sneakers stepping as if even they knew the importance. everything looks the same, so much that she can’t distinguish between one house and the next, an endless blending of streets in her field of vision, grey and more grey.

“mom?”

the monster is human, with human flesh and human eyes, a likeness too similar for lisa’s tastes, not that it mattered. the perfect image of a mother — hair permed, clothes neat — stands in front of her.

“poor lisa, loved by no one.”

its voice is pure saccharine, dripping from the corners of pink lips down to white skin and neck and pooling in the hollows of its collarbone. if only lisa could keep thinking of the monster as an it instead of as a she.

she stares, eyes shifting from left to right, trying to get some sense of how to escape from this. there’s a tightening in her stomach, a pressure on her ribcage weighing down on her heart. color inside the lines, but think outside the box — isn’t that what all children are taught from the moment they enter into school? two things that, in theory, should be mutually exclusive, but they’re expected in conjunction nonetheless.

but what were the lines? where was the box? there were no instructions for life, no manual on how to survive these kinds of things. there were only orders that expected action.

there were no steps to follow when she found out her parents didn’t care, and she spent her time wishing it wouldn’t happen again, but real life never seemed to work out the way she wanted it to. she bites down softly on her bottom lip, eyes widening just slightly, pulse quickening as possibilities run through her mind.

unloved. she weighed the word in her mind, whispered it just to feel the effects on her tongue. it felt like a punch in the stomach. in fact, she would rather a punch than this.

“we don’t love you. we never loved you.”

she doesn’t scream, she’s never been loud. she’s a good girl, a quiet girl, never making trouble for anyone, but look where that got her. where was the karma that people said would come back? she didn’t see it, but she had never weighed her beliefs too heavily on that kind of thing.

but she’s always been sensible, analytical in a way that her tutors taught her ( because god knows her parents didn’t teach her anything ). a critical eye, always scrutinizing, always judging. was that a good thing? she didn’t know anymore.

“then i don’t love you either.” she stares back, indignant in a way that was learned. she couldn’t count on people, she knew that now. the weight in her stomach didn’t go away, but it changed. it changed to embers, to a flame then a fire. she was angry at the world, angry at the decisions she never made and the choices that were out of her control, angry at the fact that she had to bear the consequences for something she didn’t do.

“i don’t need you. i don’t need anyone’s love.”

the monster breaks, skin melting away bit by bit as it disappeared. her feet are unfrozen, and she runs.

They could obviously hear that it hit him, but how much effect did it really have? “See?” said Sueun to Suisei, hoping it made at least the tiniest scratch. “No worry, we got this.” They got back into fighting position and waited until the dust, caused by all this destruction, disappeared.

When the girls saw him it was as if he punched them into their stomach. “You two are still as sweet as you used to be – and I see your attacks are still just as weak. You do remember how much you need me, do you not? You know you can only be strong when you're with me.”

Sueun felt Suisei's doubt getting stronger and her own well up little by little as she continued fighting but nothing seemed to work – no attack seemed to have any effect. They were strong and they usually knew it – they'd won against countless enemies since the seal broke and had always won – even if it was a close call. But for some reason, Sueun couldn't land a single blow, now matter how strong or accurate her attacks were and that made her insecure, strengthened her doubt.

In her distress she couldn't think straight, couldn't wonder if she really needed to land a blow or whether she just needed to get over herself and to stop being afraid. But how did you just stop being afraid of the man who'd brought you so, so much pain, during such an endlessly long span of time? Furthermore even if Sueun could, would Suisei ever be able to?

Trying and trying she created whirlwinds, tornadoes and every kind of destructive wind she could think of. Without a single break she summoned winds as sharp as knives and walls of wind no one could withstand. No one, but him. The two girls had gotten out of breath. Their strength faded and they felt dizzy.

“Do you finally realize how weak you are? You know you need me. Without me you are nothing! Now, will you come back to me?”

The nauseating feelings of disgust, anxiety and insecurity were consuming her and as they weren't able to hold their tears back any longer, the girls collapsed onto the floor, holding their head. Hitting their head with their small hands, trying to wake up from this never-ending nightmare. “NO! NO THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE! THIS ISN'T REAL! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU HAVE TO BE DEAD!” They sobbed, barely able to breath in. Their legs didn't want to keep them up any longer and weren't moving in the slightest. While they were shaking, they remembered everything he had done to them. All the memories of their imprisonment of being his card, welled up and pulled them both into a dark abyss of no return.

“I'm surprised you're even alive. And no one else has captured you yet? Are they all idiots or, by chance, did you wait for me?” His words intoxicated her brain and she could no longer tell reality from whatever this was apart.

“He is right! We did, didn't we? Unconsciously...” Suisei spoke her mind. “We didn't have a chance- from the beginning this was impossible! We're weak. Too weak! We're good for nothing.” - “I'm so sorry Suisei, this is all my fault. I wanted to protect you, promised you, but I couldn't do it, I'm too weak... I'm just dragging you down with me, I've always been too weak to protect you. You always had to keep an eye on me, always had to pull me through, I could never do anything right! I'm so sorry! So sorry!”

“No Sueun, this isn't your fault, this is completely and totally my fault. I've always tried to protect you, to keep you from any harm, but look what came from it, I only brought us into this situation and if it wouldn't have been for me... it would be better for you if I just vanished...”

“No, Suisei! It's the other way around, I should just vanish...”

“No, it's me who needs to disappear...”

One second you're walking through an expo with a huge smile on your lips, pointing at things that wow you, while you're completely in awe and chat with a friend. The next second you find yourself on a huge chess board, facing your biggest fear, with shaking limbs and a feeling, as if someone shoved their hand into your abdomen, grabbing your stomach, proceeding to squeeze tightly and twisting it around.

What had seemed like an exciting event turned into the hellish chaos of a nightmare that neither Sueun nor Suisei could understand even in the slightest. And the girl had to swallow more than hard when she saw that one person right across from her, staring into her eyes, with that certain crooked grin that she would probably never forget.

Surprisingly she was still Sueun, not Suisei, as Suisei was hiding, trying to run away. Back then Suisei had protected Sueun. Knowing her other self was weaker, she tried to take it all and be the protective older sister. But it had almost broken her, to the point where it eventually changed her. Now Sueun had to protect Suisei.

Even though Suisei mostly took over when they were fighting, still wanting to protect Sueun as best as she could, this situation was too much for her. She tried to hide, to stay away, to flee out of her own body. Suisei didn't want Sueun to get hurt, but she couldn't do anything. She couldn't, after everything he'd done to her and it tore her apart.

Sueun barely paid any mind to all those nightmares around herself. Usually she would've been frightened by more than one of them and would have to face another big fear of hers, but nothing was as bad as him. Nothing could ever be as bad as him and what he'd done to them. And all the ways he'd abused them –  physically, mentally and whatever other possibility there was. Gemini was broken, so broken, that they were more than happy, when they finally were sealed in the book and never had to face him ever again.

“It's fine, I can take it! But you have to help me, we will get through this together!” Sueun told Suisei, now being the protective “older” sister. “I know how you're feeling but this can't be reality, this has to be a farce. We can fight him together and we will definitely win, I promise that. Okay?” - “...Okay.” Suisei trusted Sueun and wanted to believe her, but could they really win? While Sueun tried to stay strong and positive, Suisei was being eaten alive by her fear. Her dread. The terror and sheer horror that was still staring her down.

Now there Sueun was, standing right in front of him, looking right at his cocky smirk. He was wearing a suit now and even though he didn't back then, it felt as if it was the same outfit he'd always pulled off rather well. His whole existence disgusted her and made her angry at what he'd done to her and even more so to Suisei. But her angst was stronger than her anger.

“This isn't possible, this can't be, you're dead! You have to be dead! You couldn't have possibly stayed alive for so many years and still look the same on top of that!” Sueun tried to keep her voice as calm and collected as possible. But she also felt both their tears well up in her. Gemini couldn't let them surface, though – never again would the blonde let him see her tears, her weakness.

His hair also seemed the same even though it was different. It was short, black and slicked back, making his face appear all the sharper and crueller. His voice was colder than ice and harder than diamonds to her. “Oh is that true? Could I really not have survived this long? Are you sure about that? I have magical powers, while you are no more than a card. Are you really sure this is absolutely impossible? Are you really that stupid? My dear, we both know you can do better than this.”

Again Gemini had to swallow hard and the word “dear” made her startle and freeze at the same time. Was it really not possible for him to have survived? Maybe he'd waited for her all this time? It was as if her breath got stuck in her throat and memories welled up that she had tried to fight back all these years since she was back.

“Suisei, no. He's trying to play us. To outsmart us, but he can't possibly still be alive, we both know that!” - “Are you sure? Are you really sure? Can you promise me, Sueun?” - “Of course, I promise you, Suisei. Let's fight him!” - “Yeah, let's do...” Taking one of many deep breathes of the day, Sueun got into fighting position. “You don't own me and you never did. You're not real, but I'll destroy you either way!” A huge gust of wind started whirling around the frail figure of the two girls that slowly lifted both their arms at each side of their body. The wind became faster and stronger quickly. With a shout to both give herself more confidence and because of the strength it cost her, she sent it flying towards him.

There's a moment where the whole world seems to stop. It only lasts for a second however , the stillness in the air broken by a flash of light and the scent of sulfur.

It's the screaming that comes next. He hears shouts of terror and panic, cries for help. Woohyun's so focused on these sounds, his first instinct to do what he can , that he doesn't realize that he's being pulled through the portal and down some kind of fucked up rabbit hole.

Even then the screams don't stop. It fills his ears along with the sound of the wind as he falls. In the chaos of it all, he manages to make out a few faces and even some of the voices.  But everything seems to start becoming farther, like he's being separated from them. The screams start to become muffled until there's nothing else he can hear aside from the sound of the wind against his ears as he falls.

And then everything's black.

A scent so vile and disgusting is what wakes him up. There's bile building up in his throat as soon as he sits up and Woohyun pukes. He pukes and pukes until there's nothing else to do but dry heave. And even then, the urge to throw up just about everything he ate that entire week was still there. He covers his mouth to stop and thats when he notices the blood. There are abrasions decorating his hands and arms from when he must have tried to prevent his fall. And from the way his muscles shriek and the way his ankle throbs, his fall must've been a harsh one.

It doesn't occur to him that there's someone else in the room until he hears a harsh voice to " get up" that breaks through his self-assessment.

He's heard of The Hanged Man. Yuuko had talked about it once and he's heard several stories in passing from the heroes he's tended to. But never, in his entire life would he think that he would meet it face to face. Nam Woohyun is not magical. Not even the slightest. He knows that it targets friends and family of heroes but why on earth would it warrant a personal encounter with him?

(The back of his head supplies that this is what he gets for trying to fit in a world he clearly doesn't belong to. For trying to meddle in the affairs of magic where he has no place. For being a goddamn fool.)

From where he's standing, there's a chessboard in front of it, old and rotten much like the owner. Its hooded face looks toward him and as if on cue, the screams start again. Woohyun's blood run colds and he feels goosebumps prickling on his skin. There's too much going on, too much to process and how he manages to hear the next words clearly against the sound of screaming, he doesn't know.

joonmyeon has seen true fear. the ugliness of the thing is beyond words; its visage is a horrifying amalgamation of nightmares you would never have even had the imagination to conjure up and, with its disgusting, inexorable power, it fills the world with dreary laxness at its kindest, torture at its worst.

and there is little kindness to be found in monsters.

he considers himself fortunate to have only met the creature in its full form once. the moment it was revealed to him, the gruesome, shredded body of his youngest sister tossed away behind it and his other that screeched in terror at his side, he had wanted to scream. cry. die. in the moment of exposure to grotesque horror, his heart beating fast enough to shake his entire being, joonmyeon wished he had never lived, simply to avoid the emotion crushing his chest in its hand. simply to not have the same emotion staring at him, grinning, mocking, every night as he tried to catch even just a wink of sleep.

you could have saved her. you should have. the voice of guilt is nearly as horrendous as fear’s appearance.

naively, he hadn’t expected to feel such pain again, not holding a single doubt that he would not let anything come close to the loss of jaein. similarly, he couldn’t have prepared to be sucked into a portal in the middle of an innocent expo.

the motion sickness that plagued him since he was young is rarely a blessing, but now it’s sweet in allowing him to be filled with enough nausea to black out as he plummets to what he can only assume is a certain, cold death.

...

bwildered, he awakes to shouting that feels murmured despite its emergency, panic-filled cries bouncing all around him, a tragic chorus. drowsiness and a sense of demise takes over his mind first; second is a tight constriction of his heart as he wishes for his assumptions to be true, wishes for death to grace him once more -- but he knows that this is no heaven, no safe place, no place boding anything kinder than the numbness of nonexistence.

his eyelids flutter delicately, as if scared to bring attention to his being, while fog disperses in his mind and sight returns to him, but being blessed with clarity reveals little and barely lifts the pressure weighing down on his torso. alas, his surroundings are dim, only the faintest outlines of beings visible through heavy sable. it feels as though gravity has increased tenfold when he attempts to stand, and when he tries to escape his spot, he finds himself rooted down. immediately he feels himself fighting down a yell of his own, a protest against the unknown swallowed down with a strong gulp.

once conscious thought comes back and he puts his mind to it, a thundering pain starts up in joonmyeon’s skull, raising stars to his vision and almost pounding hard enough to make him fall back down. his teeth sink into his lip hard and the taste of copper brings adrenaline to run through him as he struggles to re-focus his thoughts. he’s a magical boy and a co-leader; he’s supposed to be responsible; he has lived with responsibility since jinye was born--

jinye.

his head shoots up so fast that his neck hurts and his eyes dart around his environment, trying to recognise any of the petrified faces nearby. unfortunately, a lack of both light and knowledge gives him no clue, no names to put to the terrified souls that join him in fear. acid boils in his throat at the thought of his sister, the sister he had protected and raised alongside his parents, being the best big brother he could, being out of sight and in danger that he can’t save her from.

perhaps she’s really just outside, waiting for him to return? or perhaps she’s further away, out of his range, and this place won’t bring as much pain as everyone is anticipating? mindlessly, he endeavours to calm himself, courage previously seen while reassuring his teammates lost due to the tearing of an old wound and flood of anxiety. he can’t lose jinye.

his chest burns with a restrained sob and his eyes squeeze shut. darkness grants him no comfort or dreams; only images of both siblings as he last saw the youngest, crimson streaking his eyelids.

we just sit tight.