Not proofread
The morning of the day of the rescue mission arrived earlier than Byungho had expected. Wonpil woke him up at 2 am along with Seungmin and Woosu. Of course, Samuel also woke up in the progress.
The five Kim brothers had all slept in Woosu's room for the pure reason of not wanting to sleep alone. Ever since a certain accident let Wonpil's room have a weird atmosphere, the five brothers made it a habit to sleep in Byungho, Woosu or Samuel's room.
Samuel, still huddled up in his blanket, watched how his brothers got ready for their departure. A bang of guilt hit Byungho's chest when he looked over to his youngest brother and saw nothing but fear and worry shimmering in the siren's glassy, dark eyes. Byungho forced himself to look away and focused on putting on his black bomber jacket.
"Everyone ready?", Wonpil asked after everyone except for Samuel was dressed. Byungho nodded in confirmation like Woosu and Seungmin before his focus shifted onto Samuel. He wanted to say something to comfort his youngest brother, but he didn't get the chance to do that.
Samuel threw his blanket carelessly to the ground and rushed over to his four older brothers, tackling them into a big hug. The air was knocked out of Byungho's lungs when Samuel crashed into him, almost letting him bump against Seungmin, who stood close to him.
"You have to promise me to come back!", Samuel began to sob. The siren was in between Byungho and Woosu, clinging onto the two older males like his life depended on it. Byungho could feel his eyes beginning to sting and he wanted to say something, but he didn't trust his voice enough at the moment.
"I know we haven't been a family for even a year but I can't lose you! You're the best brothers I got", the siren cried, tightening his grip on Byungho and Woosu a bit more. Byungho's heart ached just seeing his youngest brother like that. Samuel may be 15 years old, but right now he seemed a lot younger with the tear spilling out of his eyes uncontrollably.
Seungmin walked around Byungho so he was at Samuel's side and could hug the youngest Kim brother properly. The basically same thing did Wonpil. Now, Samuel was in the middle of the hug and bawled his eyes out.
"Trust us a little bit more, Samuel", Woosu spoke up. The warlock with the white hair showed the youngest a kind and warm smile, but Byungho could see the tears in the corner of the other's eyes. Woosu freed one of his arms from Samuel's grip and patted the siren's head.
"Woosu is right. We're gonna come back in no time", Seungmin added, laying his head on Samuel's shoulder. Byungho looked at the redhead for a moment longer before his focus was back on Samuel, who was slowly calming down.
Byungho had no clue what Changbin and Seungmin did yesterday, or if Hyunjin was involved too, but whatever it was he was glad it happened because Seungmin seemed happier and more focused now. It was like he had regained a certain balance, but was it enough to solve the problem with Seungmin's moral compass?
There was no telling how long it took Samuel to calm down, but after he did the five brothers headed out of the room towards the entrance hall where their father should be waiting. It was strange to Byungho how calm his father was about the whole thing. It seemed like the devil was just not worried about four of his five sons participating in a possibly dangerous rescue mission. Was there a possibility that Lucifer knew what was going to happen and that his calmness was actually a good sign?
When the five brothers reached the staircase, which lead to the entrance hall, Byungho was surprised to see not only Lucifer standing at the bottom of the stairs. Beside the tall man with the black hair stood Lilith. The woman with the blood-red hair had her arms crossed over her chest and looked up to the five Kim brothers as soon as they reached the top of the staircase. Even in the dimly lit entrance hall, Byungho could feel Lilith's blood red eyes pierce through him.
"Good morning to the five of you", Lucifer greeted his sons with his usual, unreadable smile.
"Good morning, father", Samuel said and walked down the stairs alongside his four older brothers. Samuel was the only child, who reacted to Lucifer in a rather polite manner. Some time ago, Seungmin had voiced the theory that the siren was only polite towards his father, because he hadn't lived in the mansion for too long. In that moment, Byungho wasn't entirely sure about that theory being true because he had almost greeted Lucifer himself.
When the five brothers reached the bottom of the staircase Byungho noticed how Lilith's gaze rested on Seungmin. She uncrossed her arms, revealing a silver necklace in her right hand.
"In case your moral compass decides to go crazy in the wrong moment", Lilith said nonchalantly and held the necklace towards Seungmin. The necklace was a bright silver and had a shining red stone as charm. It was a pretty necklace and matched Seungmin's hair, but Byungho had no clue what exactly the necklace was supposed to do, or why exactly Lilith wanted Seungmin to have it. Usually she didn't care about neither of her two sons, so why the sudden change of heart?
Seungmin mustered his mother and the necklace quietly before took the piece of jewelry. The moment the necklace touched Seungmin's hand Byungho could feel the dark magic radiating from the red stone, but it quickly settled down.
"The stone is charged with magic, which should serve you as a last resort in case your moral compass drains you of your own magic", Lilith said in the same neutral and emotionless tone as before. She crossed her arms over her chest again with her red eyes still focused on Seungmin.
The young demon looked at the necklace for a moment before he put it around his neck. Byungho really wanted to know what went through Seungmin's head when the stone had radiated dark magic, or why he seemed to plan actually using the necklace. Somehow he had the feeling Lilith was planing something, but he couldn't say what.
"We should get going. Otherwise you will be late", Lucifer spoke up, gaining the attention of his sons and Lilith. The devil seemed absolutely unbothered by the current situation and kept up the light smile on his lips. It made a certain anger start boiling in the pit of Byungho's stomach. If Lilith really did plan something, Lucifer knew of it.
On the other hand, Seungmin wasn't stupid. If the redhead had the feeling his mother was planing something, he wouldn't have taken the necklace. Maybe it really was to help Seungmin in case of an emergency and Byungho was just being paranoid?
"Well, I wish you luck, even though you won't need it", Lilith mused before walking away, not sparing her two sons one glance. A weird feeling of relief flooded Byungho's system. This action seemed a lot more like Lilith.
"You have to keep your promise", Samuel mumbled beside him. The siren wasn't only looking at Byungho, but all of his older brothers. The eyes of the youngest Kim brother were still a bit red from his earlier crying, but the initial fear in his eyes was replaced with a certain shimmering hope.
"We will. Don't worry", Wonpil said, ruffling the siren's black hair. Normally Samuel would protest and swat Wonpil's hand away, but this time he didn't. He just smiled a little bit. The siren quickly hugged each of his brothers individually before letting him go over to Lucifer. The devil waited patiently for his four sons to be ready.
"Ready?", Lucifer asked when Wonpil, Byungho, Woosu and Seungmin stood before him while Samuel remained on the staircase. Byungho glanced at the young siren before nodding towards his father. A smile stretched itself onto Lucifer's lips and in the next moment the five Kims stood in the lobby of the NCT headquarter.
"Let's go. I think the others are waiting for us", Woosu said and took off towards the magical entrance of the headquarter.
"Wait", Lucifer suddenly said. The tone ins his voice alone let Byungho freeze on the spot. Usually Lucifer sounded carefree, unbothered and often amused. Only rarely did his voice have a more serious undertone.
Slowly Byungho looked at his father's face. The smile had fallen from Lucifer's face, leaving him with an relaxed and almost worried expression.
"Be careful and look out for each other, alright?", Lucifer told them in a quiet almost soft voice. His dark eyes focused on each of the four brothers individually until the devil gaze lingered on Byungho just for a second longer.
It was an odd request, considering the Kim brother have always looked out for each other and no one of them was reckless enough to not be careful, especially after they had collectively promised Samuel to return home safely.
"We have always looked out for each other. We don't plan on changing that, father", Woosu was the first one to reply to Lucifer. The warlock with the white hair smiled into his father direction before he focused on his brothers.
"We should get going", he urged his brothers and quickly took off. Seungmin and Wonpil followed him after glancing at each other for a short moment. Byungho wanted to follow them too, but something made him hesitate. He glanced towards his father, who looked after Woosu, Wonpil and Seungmin walking through the magical door of the NCT headquarter. His dark eyes were filled with something warm but also a certain pride.
"We'll be back soon, father", Byungho mumbled more to himself than to Lucifer. Still, the devil heard him and showed a light smiled while his eyes remained focused in the entrance to the NCT headquarter where Seungmin, Wonpil and Woosu were waiting for Byungho.
Without waiting for another reaction from his father Byungho took off, joining his brothers. Maybe he had been wrong and Lucifer did worry about them, but when it came to his father Byungho had a hard time figuring out what to believe or even think.
For now, he wanted to believe that his father cared for him and his brothers enough to be worried about the outcome of the rescue mission.
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Felix was content in his deep, dreamless sleep with someone's warmth right beside him, but he couldn't stay like that forever and he subconsciously knew that. It was one of the main reasons Minho was able to coax Felix out of his sleeping state by just calling his name twice and a soft nudge on the shoulder. The ginger cat hybrid blinked sleepily, looking up at his older brother with tired eyes.
"Come on, Felix. We have to get ready", Minho whispered. His green cat eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the room. Only a little bit of light from the moon was filtering through the room's curtains, otherwise everything was dark.
Felix grumbled in acknowledgment, but was still too tired to form proper words. He knew he had to get up, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. A sigh escaped Minho, letting Felix look up to his brother's eyes once again. The only answer he got for that was Minho ruffling through his hair before he turned and walking to the other side of the room.
The younger cat hybrid looked after the older for a brief moment before he reminded himself to get up, even though it was so pleasantly warm underneath the blanket. When Felix attempted to move, he was reminded of the person sleeping right next to him.
Jeongin was curled up on his side, still sleeping. Despite the darkness of the room, Felix could see the kitsune's cute sleeping face. The only time Jeongin looked like the youngest of Stray Kids was when he was asleep, No, wait that wasn't the only time. Yesterday, when Jeongin had turned up in the trainings hall all of the sudden and had hugged Felix like his life had depended on it, he had looked like the 16 year old teen he was supposed to be. Otherwise, Jeongin was this highly intelligent and observant kitsune, who had way too much talent.
Felix mentally sighed, wishing he could stay in bed with Jeongin for a little while longer. The ginger slowly got the blanket, which had been draped over him, off and carefully detached himself from Jeongin in order to not wake the sleeping kitsune. When he succeeded to get out of bed without waking Jeongin he stretched a little bit and rolled his shoulder before he turned around, looking for Minho.
The older stood near the bed he usually shared with Jisung, but the warlock with the blue hair was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Changbin, but Felix couldn't remember that the vampire had one into the room in the first place. Maybe had slept in Hyunjin and Jeongin's room?
Minho, who was fixing the fingerless gloves he wore, looked up to meet his brother's gaze. The older was dressed in a pair of black cargo pants, a tight, black, long sleeve shirt, which was tucked into the pants, and a pair of combat boots. It was probably the outfit they were supposed to wear for the rescue mission.
The older pointed onto the chair, which stood near the window. On the chair was another nicely folded overall and to its feet stood a pair of black combat boots. Felix got the message Minho probably wanted to convey and walked over to the chair to grab the outfit and boots. The ginger disappeared into the bathroom to quickly freshen up and getting dressed.
The outfit didn't seem too warm at first glance, but it did surprisingly well against the morning cold. Maybe it was enchanted? If not he hoped it would also stand against the cold air of February or they would get a warm jacket.
Felix quickly left the bathroom, wanting to quickly join his brother and hopefully the rest of their group. He was set on heading out until he hear Jeongin's sleepy voice calling his name. The ginger automatically looked over to his bed where Jeongin was still supposed to be sleeping.
"I'm waiting outside for you", Minho whispered to Felix before passing the ginger and leaving the room. Normally, Felix would have looked after his brother out of pure instinct, but right now his whole body seemed to be occupied with slowly and quietly making his way over to Jeongin. He hadn't imagined the other calling him right? Minho would have reacted differently if that was the case, right?
When Felix kneeled down on the side of the moment, Jeongin had his eyes still closed and seemed to be very much asleep. Only slowly did the kitsune open his eyes just a little bit. He looked way too tired to be up, but Felix guessed that it was pretty early despite having no clue about the exact time.
"You have to come back to me. Remember that", the kitsune mumbled barely audible to even Felix's cat ears. Those words alone let warmth spread through every cell of Felix's body. He reached out a hand and let his finger thread through Jeongin's messy blond her.
"I promise", Felix whispered and couldn't help but let a small smile make its way onto his lips. Jeongin grumbled contently and leaned a bit into Felix touch before closing his eyes again. He was asleep again within seconds.
Felix slowly took his hand out of Jeongin's hair, keeping his eyes focused on the sleeping younger male. HIs smile became a bit fonder and before he rose to join his brother outside, he pressed a short kiss onto his mate's forehead. He would make sure to keep his promise.
When Felix stepped out of the room, he was greeted by not only his brother but basically his whole rescue mission group. All of them were dressed in the same outfit as him, except for Chan, who had a white bandanna warped around his right upper arm as an addition, and Changbin, who wore a coat over his uniform.
"Seems like we're all here now, so let's go", Changbin said with a lowered voice to not be too loud. Chan nodded and then naturally took the lead, heading for the staircase. Felix was somehow glad, but also curious about why Changbin was with them. Shouldn't he be with his group for the rescue mission?
The ginger's curiosity let him match his pace with the vampire, who calmly walked beside Seungmin.
"Hey, hyung shouldn't you be with your vampire hyungs?", Felix asked quietly, gaining the vampire's attention.
"Yeah, I should be, but I will meet up with them in the trainings hall anyway, so it's not a big deal", Changbin admitted, smiling a bit nervously. Felix hoped dearly that Changbin wasn't in trouble for joining them. After all, Felix was very glad he could see Changbin again before the start of the rescue mission.
"I'm glad you joined us, hyung", Felix admitted, showing the vampire a little smile. Changbin looked at the ginger with a bit of surprised before mirroring the other's smile.
"Me too", the vampire mumbled more to himself than Felix. It could be just the ginger's imagination, but he could swear that Changbin when said that he glanced over to Seungmin. Still, he wasn't entirely sure if that was correct, or how he should even interpret that.
When the group walked down the staircase they met some other groups, which were also heading towards the main hall. Among them was BTS, which made Felix a little worried, but he just prayed to all known gods, that Taehyung and Minho would be professional.
When the group got out of the staircase and into the main hall, Felix couldn't really recall since he just saw other people heading the same way. Somewhere along the way Changbin and Jisung had split themselves off to go to their groups. It kinda hurt to see Minho looking after Jisung with a mix of worry and fear, but Chan was the one to reassure him that Jisung would be safe.
"Can I have everyone's attention for a brief moment?", the voice of Doyoung echoed through the hall, letting everyone focus their gazes onto the familiar stage. Taeyong stood there along with Kun, Doyoung and Johnny.
"Before we start the operation I want to remind you of the most important aspect of this mission. We want to save people and not give the hunters an opportunity to capture more", Taeyong began looking over the crowd. "Should you find yourselves outnumbered or in a tricky situation fall back and return to a save point per portal and not try anything reckless. We are prepared for multiple rescue attempts and to keep the hunters at bay at the save points, but we maybe won't be able to save newly captured ones", the guardian continued. The hall had grown silent and everyone was fully focused on Taeyong. The guardian took a breath before continuing.
"With that said we can rescue the innocents, who have taken prisoner for no reason, and teach the hunters a lesson they won't forget in the near future", the guardian continued his voice becoming a bit louder. "We will show them that we will not back down silently and take part in their hunting game", Taeyong went on, his blue eyes glimmering. The statement was followed by the howls of the moon pack and affirmative yells.
"They may think they have the upper hand, but they do not and that is what we will show them today", Taeyong ended his booming voice being shallowed by the cheering of the other peoples in the hall.
Felix felt his chest swell with something he could only describe as pride and confidence. Taeyong was right. The hunters haven't won yet, nor will they ever. The ones they took prisoner will be saved and then they will realized with what they are truly messing.
Not far from the ginger a gigantic magical portal was opened. It lead to the first save point where Felix and his group would wait until the first part of the rescue mission was done.
Felix looked around a little bit until he spotted Minho not far from him beside Chan. He quickly made his way over to his brother and grabbed the other's hand. Minho immediately looked at the ginger and Felix showed his brother a smile. They would safe their parents for sure, Felix knew that.
"Ready?", Felix asked his older brother. Minho nodded. "Yeah", he answered, focusing on the magical portal ahead of him, "Let's do this".
Author's note: Finally, we have reached the point where I can write new chapters. Honestly I have planned the end already and I am excited to write and publish them for you to read. I also didn't anticipate that I would write a whole new chapter within a day, but well it was a nice surprise. I hope you liked it!
Until the next chapter dearest reader!
Lots of love and take care of yourself!
- Akeminii