Vanished [ATEEZ]

captain

Yeosang and Hongjoong finally reached the house of the old fisherman.
Yeosang knocked at the door but no one came. He knocked a second time but still nothing. They thought that he was surely out. But out of curiosity Yeosang took the handle and at his biggest surprise the door opened, reviling a huge mess, nothing to do with the old warm house Mingi had describe to them. Yeosang took a step inside but Hongjoong grabbed his arm.

-I'm not sure we should enter, it's a private property. He said looking at Yeosang.

-But what if something happened to him.

Hongjoong lowered his head and followed Yeosang inside. The house was upside down. The furniture were all on the ground or broken. Ashes coming from the ceiling as if everything had burned, but nothing seemed burn. They started to search for him. But not a single sign of life was in this house. Hongjoong found where the ashes must had come from.
He stood in front of an old painting that seemed to have burn, when he heard Yeosang calling for him in another room of the house. He ran to him as fast as possible and heard him talk with someone.

-Are you Eden?, asked Yeosang softly, don't worry I'm one of Mingi's friends.

-Thanks god I was so scared that they'll come back, reply Eden coming out of the corner of the room.

Hongjoong then entered the room, bowing to the old man. But the man's eyes widen looking at him as if he was a sort of divinity. His gaze was locked on Hongjoong who was looking at Yeosang wondering what was happening. The old man could have recognised the boy out of an hundred. He was a child when he last saw him, but he remembered him clearly, he hadn't changed that much.

-C~Captain? Stammered the man.

-W~What?! Excuse me but I think you switched person sir, said Hongjoong.

Hongjoong was scared. Does this man really had all his head? He was old so maybe he was hallucinating. Hongjoong keep on repeating this to himself. Yeosang still looking at them, moved to be in front of the man.

-And you, you are Yeosang, continued the man while pointing at him. Oh god how did I not even recognised Mingi when he first came. His named should had told me something.

-Wait wait wait, you know us?, questioned Hongjoong completely lost.

-Of course I know you Captain, who doesn't? Answered Eden when he suddenly took a way more serious look. The eight of you, you need to come back. I'm begging you, find him and come back. Our world and the seas are not the same without you. They are taking down everything, making their own laws, all the townsfolk lives in constant fear, they are taking away our children, selling our wife, killing our parents to make everyone respect the laws. He goes just in front of Hongjoong, taking his hand. And your crew is in danger Captain. You need to save all of us.

Yeosang and Hongjoong were speechless. Both looking at the man. When Hongjoong opened his mouth to talk the door next to them slammed opened revealing a bunch of men all dressed in sort of long black coat with a hood just as the man who attack Yeosang this morning. He was petrified not daring to move but Hongjoong took his wrist forcing him to run behind him when he heard Eden.

-Run away!

Hongjoong crossed the entire house pulling Yeosang with him. Yeosang looked behind him for a second to see the old man been taken away by the men, but he also saw some others running after them. Hongjoong did not stopped, adrenaline taking over him. They ran all the way up to the other houses. Both of them turned in a small crossroads, sticking as much as possible to the wall. They heard footsteps coming for them.

-They're out of sight!

-Let's come back, we'll find them another time.

The footsteps walked away. Hongjoong let out a sigh letting his head rest on the wall. They stayed like that a moment, making their heartbeat calm before taking the way home.
When they finally arrived everyone was already there, obviously worried. But Yeosang noticed that Wooyoung seemed a little pale.
The daily meeting had arrived once again. All talking about what happened to each of them as if all those weird things were fully part of their life now.

-I'm speechless, let out Jongho.

-We are missing something important, there is necessarily something more that we don't know, simply talked Yunho.

-Something that will link everything... completed Mingi.

A few minutes passed where everyone were talking about what they could have missed, but suddenly San gasped loudly. Everybody turned to him as he got up walking to his room. He came back with the parchment on his hands.

-When I tried to stop the man, he let that fall. He said handling it to Yunho.

Yunho opened carefully the parchment and the surprise showed on his face.

-That's a map... he replied looking at everyone.

-What's on it ? Asked Jongho.

-This is weird... answered Yunho once again, this look like nothing we know. His eyes were frowned looking at the man trying to unscramble it. Nearly the entire map is ocean, and there's a lot of tiny islands here and there.

-This doesn't look like our world, said Wooyoung while looking at the map.

Suddenly Yunho looked up in shock. Everything was settled down in his head. He finally understood when he saw the little wax seal at the bottom of the map with the initial « K.H ».

-Kim Hongjoong... he murmured to himself.

Everyone were looking at him with confusion. Wondering what could goes on in his head.

-What, spoke Hongjoong.

-The initial « K.H », the fact that the man called you captain, the sentence the man who attack Yeosang had say... He looked at Hongjoong in shock as everyone else in this room slowly understanding everything. Captain Kim Hongjoong.