Sigil pt. 3
Masterpost <– Part 2 | Part 4 –> Dictionary
Short: Luhan gets invited into an excellence program, where he meets a man names Yixing who has odd golden tattoos and an odder story. Words: 6371 Notes for Update: 25 Warnings: fighting, blood, dead animals, weapons, disease, poisoning, needles, etc. Pairings: Luhan x OC A/N: please let me know what you think!!!
Luhan pov
“So, that was Lux?” Luhan asked Baekhyun they were standing in the main hall. Lux and Yixing were walking upstairs to his office. “Yes, Lux.” “And is she the seventh one?” Baekhyun snickered, “No, not her. Although you’ll see a lot of her.” He’d learned Lux was quite tall, around Yixing and Baekhyun’s height. Her hair was thick and pitch black, reaching just past her shoulders. She had been walking in front of him, and he’d definitely noticed her legs. And the rest of her body for at that, when she took of that heavy vest, revealing that tattoo she had which reached lower than he expected. It was thick and more geometrical than he’d thought, and disappeared under the neck of her shirt. “What’s she doing here then though?”
“Oh, you’ll find out.” The other had a mischievous smile on his face, opening the door to a large room with open windows. Warm arm was streaming in, accompanied by a cool breeze. It was a living room, large old couches and a fireplace. Another boy was sitting on the couch, or more so, laying on the couch. His arm was slung over his eyes, and he seemed asleep, but his body was strangely tense. His legs were outstretched over one of three couches, feet laying in Minseok’s lap. “Hey there, I see you’ve returned from war.” “Huh?” “Joking.” He said. Baekhyun pushed him along. “This is our main living room, we tend to just hang out here when we have nothing to do. Or sometimes in the garden but it’s way too warm. The lazy one snoozing on the couch is Jongdae, the last one you have to meet I assume?” The one on the couch raised his arm, looking up at Luhan. His hair was black, messily strewn back now. He had a lean frame but his arms showed training. “Luhan right?” he asked. “Yeah, nice to meet you.” He got up, stretching his body, revealing his sigil on the side of his ribcage which could be seen through the deep cuts in his shirt. “Hmm, same.” “Did you get butchered again?” Baekhyun asked, flopping down on the other couch, motioning Luhan along. “Or are you just being petty.” “Both.” Minseok said. “He’s lucky it was me today.” Luhan frowned a little, “what are you talking about?” Jongdae flopped back down, groaning loudly, but obviously not in the mood to talk much. Baekhyun toed of his shoes and put them on the glass table. “Training, you’ll have to sit through the first week of hell too. We will all have fun watching you.” There was something so easy and calm about the way they were together. Like brothers, and they’d obviously known each other for a long time now. Jongdae seemed a little groggy, but that might just be the time, and Minseok lived up to his ancestor. Baekhyun was more lively than those two, smiling a lot and joking lightly here and there. “I…I still haven’t agreed to staying.” Luhan spoke. Baekhyun looked at him, puppy eyes momentarily shrouded by his light bangs until he brushed them away. “It’s too dangerous to let you go at this point. If they found you so quickly, they are on your trail and might be scouting the perimeter for you. Staying is your best option at survival.” “Immortality or death, what a joke.” “It’s not a joke, really.” A shorter man walked into the room, he seemed to be the older one in the lot. “If you leave you will most likely die, and if you stay immortality is your only option.” His voice was lithe, but his frown was deep. Black hair and a sharp jawline, pale skin. Luhan flightily saw him when he left this morning, but his name was unknown to him. The man stepped over, holding out his hand. “Junmyeon, nephilim of Charity, son of Michael.” “Uhmm…Luhan, language graduate.” Whatever he said wrong make Minseok and Baekhyun break out in laughter. “I like him, he can definitely stay.” He said behind his hand that was keeping away his laugh. Jongdae got up suddenly. “I’m going to my room.” His voice was sneering. “Jeez what’s wrong with you?” Junmeyon asked, looking down on him. He received a hard glare, and the slam of a door. “Lux came home this morning.” Minseok explained, dusting off his jeans where Jongdae’s feet had been. Two seconds later, even before Junmyeon could say anything, the door opened again, got slammed closed, as Jongdae reentered. “Aborted your mission?” Baekhyun asked. “My way was blocked.” He grumbled, laying back down in his original position, with his dirty shoes in Minseok’s lap. There was something odd about his behaviour, like something happened between him and Lux that caused him to be so off purely by her presence. He just hoped he didn’t walk right into the middle of some wrongly ended relationship. Luhan watched Minseok sigh, and patiently untie Jongdae’s laces so he could take his dirty shoes off and place them on the floor. He wrinkled his nose, probably at the small, but sat back again. None of them really seemed to question the other’s behaviour after that. “I have some questions, about what just happened?” Luhan said hesitantly. Junmyeon sat down in a chair across from him, crossing his legs. He was wearing shorts, like Minseok and Jongdae. Baekhyun was wearing loose jeans, with holes in them, still covered in blood splatters. “Baekhyun, why don’t you go wash your clothes before you get blood stains all over the couch?” Junmyeon stated. Baekhyun didn’t answer immediately, and Luhan watched the two look at each other. Something was definitely going on there as well, what, he wasn’t sure. But anyhow, Baekhyun got up and left through the door, without another word. “Ask away Luhan.” Minseok said. “We’ll try to answer what we can.” “Demons are real obviously, I caught on so far. But what do they look like? I mean the people who kidnapped me today seemed perfectly human.” He said. Minseok rubbed a hand under his nose before answering. “I assume since you saw the Venati, that you saw half demons and not normal ones. Half demons aren’t easily recognised, but it will get easier once your mark has been enkindled. There is a slight sense that comes with it, they faintly smell off sulphur somtimes, and their eyes can flash black.” “You’re right.” Junmyeon added. “I’ve been into close quarters with quite a few of them when we saved Kyungsoo and Jongdae. You will know when you’re with them. It’s a feeling. They didn’t hurt you, did they? They can have quite some nasty equipment on them that might seem harmless but is not.” Luhan shook his head, brushing away his hair from his eyes. “They tied me up, and yanked my hair, but that’s about it. What…equipment do you mean?” There was a sound from Minseok, who looked at Jongdae, and then to Junmyeon. The latter spoke first. “We will cross that bridge when we get to it. For now only the basics are essential. Through your training period you will learn everything you need to know.” “Okay, but there was a guy there.” Luhan scratched under his lip, it was strangely itchy there, it felt like a mosquito bite. “He had an eyepatch, and he just disappeared into thin air. Like, I know Lux mentioned something about disintegrating, but he didn’t die or anything. Not like the others.” “You say he disappeared?” Minseok asked, frowning deeply all of a sudden. Junmyeon has a surprised look on his face. “Are you sure Luhan?” “Yes, he was literally 10 centimeters from my face. Why?” “Well.” Junmyeon started. “I only know of two species that can actually disappear like you said. It’s like teleporting, but we call it flashing. Flashhounds can do it, obviously where they got their name, and Cambia. But I highly doubt you got that close to an Cambion and survived it.” That made things a little more surreal. That guy, that was in front of him, was a Cambion? One of those demons Yixing had mentioned they had to kill. The guy with the eyepatch? “He’s right though.” Yixing said walking into the room with his hands behind his back. He calmly strolled around the room, which seemed natural on him. “It was one of the Cambia, Avaritia to be precise. Better known these days as Greed.” “That sounds more like a girl though?” Luhan mumbled. Yixing obviously, heard him. “It’s Latin, Luhan, you should know that.” “Don’t they have names?” “Not that I know of, so we refer to them by their sin.” “Which means we all have opposites?” Luhan asks. Yixing nodded, seemingly surprised. “You’re catching on, good. When you are near your, as you say ‘opposite’, which for you is Sloth, or Acedia, you will know. You might feel unwell or angered, it’s a much more powerful feeling than you will have with regular demons and half demons. And it’s specific to each of you.” “That means I’m Diligence, a descendant from?” “Gabriel.” The itch under his lip wouldn’t go away, so he scratched it again, and hissed when he broke skin. He pulled his finger away, finding small traces of blood. “Let me see that.” Minseok said, reaching over the couches and gripping his chin. “It’s just a bug bite.” Luhan said, trying to swat his hand away, but Minseok beat him too it. “Yixing, take a look at this.” Minseok squinted his eyes. “This is definitely not a bug bite.” The other’s fingers were small, but Luhan felt a strength in his grip. Yixing came over, kneeling by the couch and replacing Minseok’s hand with his own. The angel pushed his glasses further up his nose, and traced his fingers over Luhan’s skin, applying pressure. Luhan felt as if suddenly someone had stabbed him with a needle, and he winced. He had a scar there, for most of his life, but it’d never hurt before. “This better not be what I think it is.” He mumbled. “LUX?!” he called, voice suddenly loud and booming. It startled Luhan, not expecting something like that to be coming from someone so calm. There was no sound to her arrival, but she suddenly jogged through the door. “What?” “Take a look at this will you?” Yixing said, letting go of Luhan and wiping his fingers on a handkerchief he retrieved from his pocket. Lux moved closer to him, curious look in her eyes. They seemed the same colour a before, a light, almost golden brown. Her lips were perfectly full, he noted, as she leant in close to his face. She placed a firm hand on his jaw and tipped his head back a little. Her touch was strong but gentle, the pads of her fingertips slightly rough. “What is it?” he asked. She shushed him. “Yixing, give me that.” Lux held out her hand to Yixing without adverting her gaze from Luhan’s skin. He handed her the handkerchief, and she used it to wipe away a trace of blood. Luhan noticed Junmyeon peering over from his place on the other couch, but Jongdae was fairly disinterested. “Luhan, how are you feeling?” “What?” “You heard me.” She said, voice firm. He thought, felt a little, but he didn’t feel weird or anything. “Normal?” “Did someone cut you, with a knife perhaps, or touch you with a gun, or prick you with a needle?” “No.” He frowned, trying not to move from her grasp, but he also kind of felt he couldn’t. There was an air around her, that he’d briefly felt in the abandoned house, that seemed powerful. Like she had some sort of authority, but he also felt drawn to her. Drawn in a way that he couldn’t put his fingers on. Something sprang to mind suddenly. “The guy, with the patch, he had a knife though. He touched me with it but I don’t think he cut me.” Lux pressed his skin with the tip of her nail, and he wasn’t sure what she did, but he had to grind his teeth together not to wail out in pain. It was only itching a few seconds ago, and now he felt like got stabbed. “You said a knife, what did it look like?” “Uhmm, it was strangely curved, gold hilt, some black pattern on it.” Suddenly, Minseok spoke up. “Did it smell?” “Yeah, like…what’s that called.” “Sulphur.” Jongdae said, his voice cutting though the silence like a knife. Something about it sent a shiver down Luhan’s spine. “He has sulphur poisoning.” Lux let go of him, adverting her gaze to Minseok. “Take him out of here, find Kyungsoo for me.” Minseok didn’t say anything, he just got up, taking Jongdae by the wrist and dragging him up. The younger one follower him silently, and looked back at Luhan before he disappeared behind the door. The look he gave him was wide eyed and had matched his voice from earlier. “What’s wrong with me?” Luhan asked, suddenly afraid. “What’s sulphur poisoning?” Lux sat down next to him, seemingly calm. “Angels are lets say, severely allergic to sulphur. It’s like a poison to them, and enough of it can be deadly. The true workings of it are complicated, but it can either be a drug or a poison. When receiving regular controlled doses of it, it can turn to an addiction. The symptoms of the poisoning depend on how you came into contact with the substance.” She explained. Yixing meanwhile sat down on the armrest of the couch. “What do you mean?” “She means.” Yixing said with a soft sigh. “That injection for example can lead to rashes, but direct skin contact can turn into burns and blisters. When inhaled it can lead to breathing problems, and it may induce hallucinogenic symptoms. Long term exposure is known to lead to frequent nightmares, and insomnia, loss of eyesight, and long term respiratory problems. When directly entering the blood through an injection, it’s most fatal and causes the most sudden symptoms, but it’s death is definitely not quick. It’ll lead to fevers, hallucinations, nausea, headaches, pain, it’s not a pleasant thing to go through.” “And I have that?” Luhan said, fear creeping over his skin like spiders. “You don’t.” Lux said. “I mean, you do, but your case is really mild. You might experience some nausea or maybe a headache. Simply because it was close to your mouth, but it didn’t enter the bloodstream. The little infection on your skin should heal with some light treatment.” She slapped his hand away when he reached out to touch it. “If you stop scratching.” He nodded, sighing deeply. This was all very weird, and still made his mind kind of swirl. “I guess this confirms me being an angel.” “Nephilim.” “Tangerines, Oranges, Yixing, both citrus, nobody cares.” Lux chuckled. “It does though, I mean if you still doubt it I can show you some proof that requires neither of us to strip. Nor mister over there.” She made a small nod in Yixing’s direction. Right now though, until this infection heals it’ll be better to not enkindle you. It might only make it worse.” The way she spoke to the Archangel seemed so casual and easy, while the other had a slight air of submission to him, like students. Lux seemed to be more levelled to him. She nudged him with a smile. “Being an angel is not that bad, you’ll find your place here I’m sure. You might loose a lot of things, but you’ll gain a family, a cause.” “What if I don’t want to?” She pursed her lips, golden eyes shining in the sunlight streaming through the open windows. “Then we’re at an impasse.” “Is there no way out?” Yixing shook his head. “We have to go to your family as soon as possible, to remove their memory. Each and every moment right now they are in danger.” “But there’s so many people who know me.” “Of course.” Lux said. “But the source is your mom, it’s where you originate. Removing the memory from the first person will let Yixing access like a…database of sorts, and wipe everything.” The thought of them going to his mother wasn’t a calming one. He loved his mom, and he just wanted to see her one more time, to say goodbye. Or his father, who’d still play football with him every time he asked. Luhan was an only child, and somehow every trace of him had to be removed. “What about photo’s? School records?” “Do you doubt my powers Luhan?” Yixing asked. “I am an Archangel, created by God’s own hand. Don’t fear that I will be thorough in my job.” Lux put a hand on his thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m tired from my trip, so I’m going to lay down for a bit, but I’ll be back for dinner if you need to ask some questions to someone a little less…” She looked at Yixing, smiling lightly. “Old.” “Lux.” Yixing said sternly. “Bye grandpa.” She chuckled, getting up, and ruffling Junmyeon’s hair on the way out, who grumbled in dismay. “Lux!” Yixing called, “Just see if they found Kyungsoo yet!” “No need.” Kyungsoo sad as he walked through the door with a few things in his hands. “Sorry, I had to get the stuff from the room.” Luhan noticed he was as short in stature as Junmyeon, who’d seemed broader as well. His hair was black as well, like Minseok’s and Jongdae’s. For now the only ones with lighter hair were Baekhyun and Luhan himself. “Let me see.” Kyungsoo sat down next to him and touched his chin most gently out of all of them. “Where’d you learn this?” Luhan asked, as he got something out of a clear glass jar onto a Q-tip. Kyungsoo was frowning a little as he applied it to the infected area. “I used to be a medical student, before I came here. Yixing helped me with most what I know now.” The cream was a clear colour green, and felt a little warm on his skin. It smelled faintly of eucalyptus. “I think the reason why it’s so irritated is because scar tissue can sometimes be more sensitive. Plus the skin on the lips is thinner than regular skin. It should be fine in a day or two. Just apply this twice a day, not too much, it should alleviate the itch and pain.” “Wait, so this doesn’t cure it?” “There’s sadly no cure for Sulphur poisoning.” Yixing sighed, sorrow crossing his face. “Time is the only remedy, time and strength.” Luhan wondered if Yixing has seen those more severe cases, because it seems like he does. There was a sudden bang from the upper floor, and everyone’s attention went to it. It sounded like something fell, and broke into pieces. Shattering glass on a tile floor. “I’m going to check what’s going on there.” Yixing go up from his place and walked out of the room. “Don’t worry.” Junmyeon said. “It’ll be okay. Let’s go get something to eat, it’s past one already.”
Yixing’s pov
He didn’t need to listen to know the source of the noise. It was Jongdae’s room, it always was. Minseok would be there, and the room would be in a severe state of disarray. Yixing paused in front of the door, hand on the doorknob. The older one’s voice sounded calmly from the other side, trying to talk sense into the other. “Jongdae, listen to me. Jongdae, stop. Stop it, hey. Come on, you’re stronger than this.” “It’s that taste, in my mouth, it’s like an itch, everywhere.” Jongdae growled, his voice sounding wrecked, like his heavy pants. After a moment of silence Yixing head a door close and a lock fall into place. Yixing carefully opened the door, feet stepping into shattered pieces of mirror. “Minseok.” He breathed. “I have no idea what happened.” He answered, looking at him with wide eyes. “He’s in the bathroom.” Jongdae had his own bathroom, he was the only one out of them. He got the room that had a small attached bathroom, and sometimes he shared it with Minseok. “Jongdae.” Yixing said, knocking on the door. “Get out.” He growled. Yixing looked around the room, in search for the glass jar. It was right there, on the dresser, the yellow powder stored inside. “Did he just burst?” Minseok shrugged. “I took him to his room, and he was silent, and then he punched the mirror and went all crazy. I haven’t seen him like this in 3 years.” “Do you think it’s her?” “No, this is about something else. I know she pushes some nerves with him, but she’s never been really a part of his outbursts. It might have something to do with Luhan, I don’t know. We went training this morning, and he just seemed a little exhausted. I thought he was just trying to get an easy way out, so I pushed on. Maybe I shouldn’t have?” Yixing shook his head, putting a hand on Minseok’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault.” He moved back to the door and knocked again. “Jongdae, let me in.” There was a sound like splashing water on the other end of the door, wet footsteps, and then the door unlocked. Before Yixing could even enter, he heard Jongdae slipping back into what was probably the bathtub. His suspicion was confirmed when he closed the door behind him and found Jongdae in a full bath. The room was hot, steam coming from the water. The Nephilim was still wearing his top, but his shorts were discarded in the corner. For a moment, only his eyes were above the water, his hair floating on the surface. He dipped under and came back up, just his head. “I can smell them.” He whispers, “by the edge of the perimeter, near the training ground. They’re scouting us.” It clicked then for Yixing what had happened. “And Baekhyun and Luhan came back, and they smelled of them. I don’t understand how you stand it.” Yixing sat down on the edge of the bath. “Do you need anything?” “I want to be alone, please tell Minseok I’ll be okay.” He grumbled, sinking back under the water. Yixing sighed, touching the water with his hand. It was scorching hot, not that he felt it like that, but he knew it would be for Jongdae. “Jongdae, you’ll burn yourself if you keep doing this.” He got no answer, and Jongdae made no move of getting out anytime soon. It was then that he noticed there was a slight colour to the water, orange, from blood. He’d probably cut his hands on the mirror, but it was best to just leave it. Healing was fast for them. He exited the bathroom and closed the door behind him. “He’s in the tub, he’ll be alright. I think he’s going to come out on his own, just let him be for now.” Minseok nodded, looking sad at the trouble of his close friend. The moment they’d found Jongdae, he’d immediately taken a liking to Minseok. They had been inseparable ever since. “I’ll just clean the glass and clutter, and then I’ll go. Thank you Yixing.” “No need, I’m going to tell Baekhyun and Junmyeon to take care of the source.” “Source?” Minseok said surprised, picking up large pieces of china, from a vase that had fallen. Yixing knelt down next to him and helped him pick up the pieces. “He mentioned something about scouts by the border near the training area.” “You mean where Tao is?” “Yes, I think so. I mean Tao would usually take care of it, but he might be busy chasing something else. We all know his attention span can lack. So I’ll just send them off to take care of the job.” Yixing put the pieces on the dresser. “I’ll come back to check on him tonight if he hasn’t shown improvement.” Minseok nodded, but didn’t move away from his task of cleaning the floor. Yixing went down the stairs, where Baekhyun had joined Junmyeon in the living room again. Jongin, Luhan and Kyungsoo were there too. “Baekhyun, Junmyeon, would you please go check on Tao, apparently there’s something going on near the border there. When you’re done there, can you do a general route along the border, to see if anything else seems off.” “We can do a border walk?” Kyungsoo said, meaning him and Jongin. “I’d rather you stay with Luhan. Minseok is a bit shaken up after Jongdae had another outburst, and Lux is tired from her trip.” To his surprise Luhan was the first one to object. “I don’t need a babysitter.” Yixing didn’t think so. “You ran away this morning, that’s enough reason to have someone babysit you. If that’s what you want to call it.” Luhan huffed. “I mean after getting kidnapped, and infected with some deadly chemical, I don’t think I’ll run away any time soon.” “Not taking the chances.” Yixing said firmly. “You guys go, I’ll be in my office if anybody needs anything. Kyungsoo, Jongin, you can show Luhan around can’t you? Oh and Baekhyun, next time you come home from a fight, you change your clothes and wash them immediately. We’ve discussed that. Luhan, the same will go for you from now on.” His friend looked at his feet, realising the mistake, and mumbled out a sorry. Yixing felt the weight of Luhan’s gaze on him, judging and confused, but he left the room anyway.
Luhan’s pov
“Is something wrong with Jongdae?” was the first thing that slipped past his lips when Yixing left the room. Baekhyun and Junmyeon stood up to leave, but there was a visible tension between the two. Kyungsoo was the one who answered him. “Jongdae has his…issues, if he wants you to know he’ll come clean about them to you when he’s comfortable. It’s not in my place to say anything about it.” Kyungsoo stood up, and Jongin followed him. “Let’s show you around, while the weather is still nice.”
They’d shown him around the house first, where his room was, and who he’d be sharing a bathroom with. Luhan would be sharing with Minseok and Baekhyun, while Junmyeon shared with Kyungsoo and Jongin. He learned that Lux lived ont he 3rd floor, with Yixing. Jongin just refused to call it the attic because it wasn’t really like an attic. They didn’t live in the same room though, they had their own rooms and a bathroom. The main hall was huge, like an old fashioned foyer, with curved stairs on either side, and then a stairs in the centre on the 2nd floor leading up again. There was the living room, the kitchen, dining room, and game room. The latter basically had a pool table, darts board and some other small things. Kyungsoo mentioned that they don’t really drink, or are allowed to go out, but they like to have fun every now and then. “Wait.” Luhan said, when Jongin was about the close the door to the armour shed. “Is that a dog leash? And a tennis ball throwing thing?” Jongin’s gaze moved to where his was fixed. “Oh, yeah. We have a dog, or well Yixing does, it’s his dog. She’ll probably be out tonight when he takes her for a walk.” “That’s nice though, that you guys have a dog.” Luhan said, eyeing the equipment again. The weapons were glimmering and looked deadly sharp. Bows, spears, swords, lances, dagger. There were 9 fully equipped armour, made out of similar material the vests were made out. He reached out to touch one, and it was rough and seemed firm. “You guys fight in these all the time?” “No, not really.” Kyungsoo said. “I mean, if we were to really go into a fight yes, but we don’t train in them. You’ll have to practise with them, we do so twice a month. The material in the inside is softer than the outside, and it’s sewn together to give the best movement. But it’s heavy and you’ll sweat a ton.” Luhan’s eyes fell on a long sword in the corner, the hilt was a striking blue, like crystal. The blade sprouted from two silver wings, and was almost clear like glass. It was straight, narrowing down into a sharp point. There was something classical and almost, angelical about it. He reached out for it just as Jongin spoke up. “That’s a good choice.” “Huh?” Luhan sad, withdrawing his hand. Jongin smiled and leant past him to grab a bow from the wall. “This is mine.” The bow itself was made out of wood, light, like oak. It ended in narrowly curved tips decorated with pristine white feathers. The grip fit naturally into his hand, and had a black ribbon wrapped around it. A quiver was hanging next to it, a dozen of arrows neatly stacked in there, ends decorated with similar colour white feathers. Jongin took one out, twisting it to show the tip. “It didn’t take me long to pick this one, it just felt right.” The tip wasn’t a narrow point like the ones Luhan had used when he’d gone to camp as a kid. It was a wide triangle with little holes at the end. “You’re not making sense.” Kyungsoo stepped inside the room, pulling a string to turn on the light and fully illuminate the shed. “We all choose our weapon when we come here. Some of us have to wield it to know, others, like Jongin knew immediately. I wield two short swords, these.” He pointed at two curved blades next to the sword that had caught his eyes. The hilts were decorated and gold, pattern seeping into the silver of the blade. “None of us have reached for the blue hilted one yet, so if you want it, it’s yours.” “Did you guys want to same weapon at some point?” “No, not really. But hey, you’ll be able to really choose once your training starts, probably the day after tomorrow.” “Training.” Luhan sighed, he wasn’t rlly excited about it. But his hands seemed to itch to get onto that sword. When he turned around to leave he saw a bow, it was big, seemingly made out of ivory. It was bulkier than Jongin’s, with more angles. Almost like a professional bow he’d seem once. But these ends seemed to be sharp, like you could use them as blades. It was one scary weapon. “Whose is that?” “Oh the white bow? That’s Lux her bow.” Kyungsoo said. He frowned. “She was carrying a smaller one this morning.” Jongin nodded. “Yeah, she doesn’t take the big one on small missions like that, especially when they have to be quick. But you should see her use it once, she’s so natural with it.” “You sound like you admire her?” “I do, I hope I can be as good as she is one day.” There was a light smile playing on Jongin’s lips and in the setting sun Luhan could see his hair was actually a chocolate brown and not black. “Let’s go, we’ll do a walk around the building and come back for dinner.” Kyungsoo locked the shed behind them. “Who’s cooking?” Jongin shrugged. “Not me, probably Minseok or Jongdae, I hope not Jongdae because we’d have to get takeout then I guess.” It seemed that they had their own chores in the house, and Luhan would probably be implemented into the schedule. Even though he wasn’t okay with the whole Nephilim and angel and demon idea, there was a homey feeling with the others. They’d taken him in like a lost brother of sorts. The property itself was huge, large fields of grass and apparently the forest as well. Right when they were about to enter the living room through the garden doors, there was a loud growl from behind them. Kyungsoo immediately stilled, and so did Jongin. Luhan’s breath stopped, and he held them like the others did. “Luhan.” Kyungsoo whispered. “Do not, move.” Jongin was closest to him, and Luhan could see his fear. He was trembling, holding his breath all the same. There was another growl, and Luhan almost jumped, a warm breath caressed his hand. The smell was disgusting and it made it hard to breathe. Sulphur. A high pitched whistle sounded to their left, and the breath against his hand was gone in a second. Kyungsoo turned around, and Luhan took that as a go to turn as well. But he didn’t see anything, the field was empty. Something moved int he corner of his eyes, and he turned to face it. But it was gone in an instant, there was suddenly a hand on his stomach, pushing him back. It was Yixing, holding a short blade in one hand, and wearing a black facemask. “All three of you, go back inside, calmly, do not turn your back to the field.” He said, voice flat and controller. There was something there, definitely, but Luhan couldn’t see it. Kyungsoo pulled him back when he didn’t move, through the double doors and into the house. He closed the doors, and locked them. “You’re leaving him outside?!” Luhan said. “He’ll handle it, trust me. Unarmed none of us, even with three, can take out a flash hound. They’re dangerous, deadly, and shouldn’t have been able to get into the property. We have to go check on Baek and Junmyeon as soon as possible to see if they’re okay.” Jongin was silent, watching what happened outside. Yixing was standing still eyes on the forest edge closest to the mansion. “Lux is with him.” He spoke. Luhan frowned, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Until suddenly the largest dog Luhan had probably ever seen appeared in front of Yixing. It’s head about reached his chest, it’s fur was pitch black and it was skinny, like a greyhound. Teeth protruding from it’s mouth, as it growled so loud it could be heard inside. “They are essentially blind, as long as you’re not moving.” Jongin said, more fascinated by the scene now, than scared. “Each little bit of movement, as small as a breath, they will see and charge. If they feel endangered they flash, or it seems like they do. But they actually turn invisible, and are really fast.” The long tail of the hound whipped up, and clapped back like a whip. Luhan couldn’t imagine getting hit by that thing. Yixing was lightning fast, whipping the hand with the blade to the side. Lodging it in the wood of the little backyard porch. The dog was fast, and it charged for it. It’s teeth snapped around the wood, and before it could retract someone jumped down from the porch and landed on it’s back. The hound collapsed first, and Luhan immediately recognised the person as Lux, black hair whipping to the side as the hound tried to shake her off. She had a blade stuck behind it’s front leg, and it could barely move. Somehow she managed to wrestle it to the ground like that, with a hand on it’s ear, and one in the back of it’s mouth. Yixing ran over, pulling the blade from the wood and plunging it into the beast’s chest. It sagged, dead, and Lux climbed off, dusting of her jeans like it was nothing, taking off her face mask. One leg was heavily stained with blood, and she had a cut on her arm where she’d had her hand inside it’s mouth. She actually smiled, and waved them over. Kyungsoo unlocked the door, stepping outside, Jongin had to push Luhan forward. “It’s dead, if you want a first hand lesson on how to kill these things you have about 5 minutes left before it disappears.” Luhan swallowed hard and stepped outside. Yixing’s hands were covered in blood now, and he was standing close to Lux who was examine the carcass, face mask hanging off one ear. “Come here Luhan.” She said. Again, Jongin pushed him a little, and he stepped over. The thing was huge, and he wondered how she used just her body strength to wrestle it down. “Give me your hand.” She said, but he wasn’t budging. So she reached out for his hand with her bloody one, smearing it around his skin. “Here.” She pressed his hand over the hound’s intact shoulder. Luhan felt bone shift underneath his hand and he had to swallow back down his lunch from earlier. Then he felt something like muscle, but thin, like a tendon. “That’s it’s shoulder tendon. If you cut this, it’ll loose use of it’s leg. It’ll go down easily. And this.” She let him go and moved her hand to it’s mouth, pulling it’s lips away and revealing rows, of rows, of razor sharp teeth. “Because of it’s whip like tail, and it’s teeth it’s hard to approach these demons. So an attack from above usually works best. Now here, in the back, it doesn’t have any teeth, and you can generally fit your hand in there. It’s a bit of a disgusting job, but if you reach inside and press against it’s mouth on the inside and pull back you can control it’s head movement. It’s almost like a reel for a horse. It’s ears are like a normal dogs, but extremely sensitive, pulling that and the mouth will give you control. Meanwhile you got to be sure not to get kicked off it’s back. And never take one down on your own, ever, you won’t make it. A distraction is always needed.” Luhan nodded silently, looking at the blood dripping from his wrist now. The stench was filling his lungs and his breath felt laboured for a second. His little wound under his lips burned a little with it. Suddenly, when he was still watching the thing, it disappeared into thin air. A dark smoke floated up, and it just…wasn’t there anymore. Leaving behind grey, almost steel like bones.
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