“Um, ok guys. What the hell was that?” Hwan asked, a trembling note in his voice.

“I don’t know Hwan.” Eric said, more than a little bit freaked out himself.

“Whatever they are, it doesn’t matter right now.” Tatsuo said.

“I agree.” Daichi spoke up. “Now more than ever, the most important thing is to get the person they took out of here.” Tatsuo nodded, and with that, they led the charge down the path where the creatures went. For all their differences in temperament, once both Daichi and Tatsuo were set on a goal, they became a near-unstoppable force of nature.

Down they went, into twisting dark hallways only made slightly better than the one they originally came from by dim lights set into the walls every dozen feet or so. Eventually, they came upon the group of creatures throwing their victim into a room and locking it. A victim who was strangely quiet for having been captured. As they descended deeper into what may as well have been a maze, the boys rushed to the door, trying to find a way to open it quickly and quietly; or at least, they would have if Tatsuo hadn’t grown impatient and simply thrown his body against the door, forcing it open.

“Tatsuo!” Daichi hissed.

“What?” Tatsuo replied, defensively. “By the time we could’ve figured out a quieter way to open it, the freaks would’ve come back and found us anyway.”

Knowing they were running low on time now, Eric said “Hwan. Keep watch. If you see them coming, pull one of your tricks and buy us some time.”

“Got it.” As Hwan stepped outside, Eric turned his attention to the victim. They were on the ground, not moving.

“They’re not dead.” Daichi said, seeing Eric’s panicked look. Upon entering the room and seeing the captured person laying on the ground unmoving, he had stooped down to check and confirm that they did indeed have a pulse. “They’re just unconscious.”

Eric sighed in relief.

“Should we wake them up?” Tatsuo asked.

“If we do, they might panic and make even more noise.” Daichi said.

“Well, it’s already too late for that.” Eric replied, side-eyeing Tatsuo. “And they’re likely to panic more if they wake up and see themselves getting carried around again. Let’s wake them up.” With that, Eric stooped down to gently shake the stranger awake. It wasn’t long before they shot straight-up in alarm, banging their head against Eric’s.

“Wh- Aah!”

“What happened?!” Hwan exclaimed as he ran back into the room, only to see Eric and the stranger writhing on the ground, clutching their heads and groaning.

“Wh-”

“It’s fine. Go back out there and keep watch!” Tatsuo snapped.

“Ooookay.”

“I’m regretting our initial decision more and more.” Daichi growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Wh-who are you?” The stranger moaned. They gingerly sat back up, wincing.

“No time for names. Just know that we came to get you out of here.” Tatsuo said.

“Wait. Are you human?” The brothers looked at each other uncomfortably.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Before the stranger could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of hissing shrieks. “Hwan!” Eric called.

“Got it!” Hwan called back. “But we should run now if we want a head-start!”

“Alright. We’ll get back to the ‘are you human’ thing later. Can you walk?” Eric asked the stranger.

“Y-yeah. I don’t think they broke anything.”

“Alright. Then let’s go.” The four bolted out of the room and down the hall, Hwan following close behind. “How much longer can you hold it?” Eric asked.

“Few more minutes. Haul ass!”

Behind them, the three creatures from before appeared to be hissing and snarling at nothing. What they saw was Hwan taunting them and dodging their attacks, always just out of reach. That was his ‘trick’. Unfortunately, Hwan couldn’t make it last much longer. As soon as the illusion dissipated and the creatures saw them running farther down the hall, they were quick to pursue, running with unnatural speed.

“Uh, guys!” Hwan called in alarm, looking behind him. “It looks like our head-start wasn’t actually that much of a head-start!”

“I’ve got it. Keep going!” Daichi stopped and placed his hand on the wall. A few moments later, water burst from the wall that their pursuers had been running past. The initial blast brought two of them down, while the third slipped and fell on the water that had spilled on the floor.

As Daichi ran to catch up with them, Tatsuo said “Yeah Dai, splash some water on them. That’ll show ‘em.”

“Oh shut up! Like you could do any better.”

“Why’d you have to say that.” Eric groaned.

“Oh yeah?” Tatsuo retorted. “Watch me.” Tatsuo turned, and while in one moment he was a young man, in the next he was a hulking, towering bear.

Just as the creatures were starting to get up and collect themselves, Tatsuo lumbered towards them and pounded them all into the ground, rendering them unconscious. Tatsuo then turned around and roared at his brothers victoriously. Daichi rolled his eyes. “Great Tatsuo, you’re the best, you proved it, so can we go now please?” Eric said.

“What’s the rush man?” Hwan asked, grinning and gesturing to the unconscious creatures. “I mean, it looks like our problem’s been taken care of.”

“Um, actually…” the stranger said quietly.

Then they heard it. The sound of several shrieking voices, speaking in a strange language, and it was coming from down the hall.

“Uh, maybe you got a point there Eric. I think it’s about time we bounced.” Hwan said nervously.

Slowly at first, but then picking up the pace as the noise grew louder, the boys continued their race down the hall.

Tatsuo, having turned back into a human, looked behind him to see a swarm of the same creatures that he had beat down. “Shit.” He whispered to himself.

“Maybe next time you’ll think before you rush to show off.” Daichi muttered.

“NOT NOW DAI!” All three of the brothers said in unison. The next ten minutes was a blur of black walls rushing past and the faint sound of high-pitched screeching voices. Until finally, they burst out of the second hall into the entryway and through the first hall which, now that they were running through it full-tilt was a lot shorter than they remembered. Finally, they made it to the end. Except…

“Ok so,” Hwan said panting. “How do we get the hole to open back up?” There was a pause. The brothers might not have been able to see anything, but they could sense each other’s stares of horror, as they listened to the horde get closer.

Fortunately, their brief moment of silent panic and terror didn’t last for long. “Um, guys…” The stranger placed their hand on the ceiling, and it quickly opened up to reveal the city above. Eric opened his mouth to ask, but thinking better of it, opted to instead hurry his brothers and their new friend up through the hole. Once everyone was out, the stranger urged them to hurry. “They might pop back out to look for us.”

So on they ran, dodging and weaving across different streets into different alleyways, until no one could tell where they were anymore. “Ok, I think this is good.” The stranger said. Moaning in pain, Hwan collapsed against the wall. Daichi soon joined him, but with less theatrics. The other three stood with their hands on their knees or against the wall. There was silence as the group struggled as one to catch their breath. The stranger recovered the quickest, saying “So you are Luminescents! I was wondering how you saw them! I’ve never seen you guys around before, are you from like another coven, or…?”

The boys exchanged significant looks. Eric opted to speak up first. “Yeah, um, about that-”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Tatsuo interrupted, earning a glare from Eric and Daichi.

“You know, your coven. What coven are you guys from?” The stranger said as if that was all the explanation needed. But when all they got in reply was four blank stares, they began to look uncertain. “Alright look, just show me your Marks.”

“I appreciate the concern my man.” Hwan said. “But those freaks didn’t manage to land a scratch on us. At least, I don’t think they did. Did anybody get hurt?”

“Oh man.” The stranger said, looking shocked. “You guys, you really don’t know what I’m talking about do you?”

“No,” Tatsuo answered, sounding increasingly irritated. “Enlighten us.”

“Aw geez. Ok, um, come with me.” The stranger said abruptly, walking forward further down the alley.

“Come with you where?” Tatsuo asked. As the question left his mouth, the stranger stopped, turned, and placed their hand on the wall. It then opened up to reveal a set of stone stairs, bathed in a warm glow.

“To see High-Mother.” The stranger replied. Making no further explanation, they descended the stairs.

After a pause in which no one seemed sure what to do, Hwan shrugged, stood up, and walked down the stairs. The other three soon followed.