hydra | svt

CHAPTER SEVEN.

wonwoo

i can hear my heart drumming in my ears as i freeze in fleeting shock before returning to my signature stone-cold demeanour. i stay perfectly still as the butler begins to circle me; every time he completes a turn, the dark throbbing aura around him increases and soon, jihoon and jisoo are right behind me with worry. the darkness swallows us and we watch him transform, realising seconds too late that he's not an ordinary wizard, perhaps possessed by something inexplicably evil. his eyes glow a menacingly bright red and there's bright light radiating from his arms in the form of shapes and squiggles. we shield our eyes and jisoo tries his magic as protection but quickly discovers that we're in some sort of magic-lock. all of a sudden, i feel weak as the darkness fades and his true form is revealed; he stands at an inhumane eight foot tall, with mysterious ancient markings plastered to his arms and neck. his right eye is shrouded by a nasty scar and his eyes still glow red, void of all emotion except anger.

"my name is gravis mali, nice to finally meet you seventeen," he spits venomously and we recoil. no doubt our magic has been drained dangerously low: we're going to have to work smarter rather than stronger.

"can you send a signal to the others?" i mumble discreetly to jihoon, who nods.

"who wants to fight me first? you'll never guess where the key is!" gravis roars manically before descending into a laugh fit for a lunatic. the pure, concentrated power i can feel from him makes terror rise within me but thankfully, jisoo steps up first.

"i will."

"hong jisoo. let me see: you're twenty two years old and you possess the power of telekinesis. ah, i've fought many wizards like you! maybe you should ask them how it went! oh wait, they're all dead!" he declares giddily; the man's mad. jisoo seems unfazed as his clenched fists tighten and i know he's trying to work out a plan. how did he figure so much about jisoo from a first glance?

"i know every move you're going to try!" he says, dodging jisoo's straggling attempt to knock him down. this goes on for sometime before i can tell jisoo's tired and in need of replenishment. the once-pristine hallway is now a mess of plaster and wood and overturned bookshelves; i dive away just in time as shards of glass rain down on the place i had stood moments ago. feeling like i have to help somehow, i teleport behind gravis mali and try to bust open the door he's protecting in some vain attempt to find this damn key. he turns on me instantly, after knocking jisoo easily to the ground.

"it's not in there, jeon wonwoo. twenty one with the power to teleport, huh? what are you supposed to do with a power like that?" ignoring his snide comment, i try something out.

"You can read our minds, can't you?" i think to myself, looking him straight in his ugly red eyes.

"well done wonwoo, you've figured out my power! yes, i have telepathy so anything you plan is utterly useless against me. i can even access your memories and innermost feelings!" he declares again and i curse loudly.

"jihoon!" i call out desperately from behind this monster, my mind drawing a blank. "remember soul calibur?"

"soul calibre?" he roars, rattling the window panes. "what's that got to do with anything?"

luckily, jihoon is probably the most out of touch with his emotions among us and has no feelings for anything other than music, video games and soonyoung. his lack of reaction makes me wonder whether he understood what i meant but jihoon's already crafting an ice sword.

"XB Y X!" i scream desperately. immediately, jihoon goes in for a horizontal attack with his sword- effectively distracting the enemy, as i rush over to jisoo's side and help him up. he lets out a weak cough before collapsing against my shoulder, completely knocked out.

"vertical attack!" jihoon mutters to himself, recalling the combo move i had pulled on him when we'd played the video game a few days ago. in minutes, gravis mali's groaning in pain, deep guttural sounds resonating around the manor. light begins to pour from the entirety of gravis' body and jihoon makes an ice shield with his all remaining power as the body disintegrates in front of us. the force of the power leaving the poor soul is strong enough to fling us back as the light begins to fade. suddenly, jisoo begins to wake and jihoon and i start to feel ourselves again, our power retuning to our veins. whatever that thing was, it had been trapping the majority of our power within the strange language tatted on it's arms.

in the place gravis mali had been resurrected, a glittering golden key now lay among the debris of the manor. jihoon picked it up and slotted it into his back pocket safely as i teleported us back up to the roof, where everyone had been waiting with their nails between their teeth.

"we heard an explosion! are you all alright?"

immediately everyone swarms around us and i see mingyu, minghao and seokmin have finally joined us. jihoon shows them the key proudly and i gratefully take a bottle of water from mingyu's outstretched hand.

"well done, woo! you found the key! i knew you could do it."

"thanks gyu," i reply shyly. today had been a long day and i'm sure we all ached to go home and rest.