A dungeon.

That was what the alpha had said.

But YooJin only knew of dungeons through old comics and cartoons. Dungeons there were medieval prisons made of dark stone walls, hanging chains, and the awful stench of unwashed bodies.

This was nothing like that.

For one thing, they were not in a castle or even the school or any building for that matter.

The double doors that were supposed to have led them into the Sunnyday auditorium had instead opened up to an impossibility: wide, blue skies over rolling hills with misty mountains standing tall in the background. A small house of traditional times long unused stood meekly beside a vast, pristine blue lake, lonely in its singularity.

The house’s frames were wooden, the edges of its triangular roof curved, its latticed doors backed by thin white paper, and its floor raised by a brick foundation. It stood quietly, no signs of life within its interior, as seemingly lifeless as its picture-like surroundings.

How?

How could the doors of a nursery school’s auditorium lead them to this?

YooJin started when he felt the others brush past him and made their way toward the house.

He took a step forward, still uncertain of the reality he now faced, wondering if perhaps he had simply lost his mind. But when he felt the soft grass bend beneath his shoes, he could no longer deny it.

That mad alpha, TaeHyun…

His gaze turned toward his broad back.

He may not be so mad, after all.

And if that were indeed true then that meant his claims of YooJin being a wizard could be true as well… What did it mean though? What even were wizards?

TaeHyun suddenly stopped in his tracks in front of him and held out his arm, blocking YooJin’s path forward.

“Stay here,” the alpha said quietly without looking back at him and he and Nao cautiously stepped forward.

But YooJin was too curious and a moment later, he too made his way toward the lonely house.

Coming upon the home, YooJin’s eyes spotted something beneath the house’s raised foundation. He moved closer and peered into the stove that was traditionally built on the side of the house. Here the heat from cooking served to also heat the floors of the building.

He saw nothing but remnants of a fire and yet his hand still reached in, certain somehow that something was buried within.

His hand reemerged from the pile of ash and cinder below, black from its dust, a small figurine held tight in his grasp. He paused, briefly glancing back at the alphas who were now near the entrance, before pocketing the object and wiping his hand upon his pant leg. He stood and moved to catch up to the alphas.

When he stepped up beside them, Nao turned to him then grinned as though having expected his defiance. The look on TaeHyun’s face however, was nothing short of annoyance.

YooJin merely smiled at the alpha in response.

“These monsters are not difficult but I would step back,” said Nao.

“Monsters?” he opened his mouth to ask but by then, it was too late.

Nao pulled back the sliding door. Its loud rattle in the surrounding silence seemed to awaken something.

All at once a cacophony of sounds hit his ears and jarring, fitful motions crowded his vision. 

YooJin froze, trying to take in the startling scene before him.

People—humans were writhing on the floor of the house before them, several dozens packed tightly into the small room of the house. A few were sitting upright on their knees, hands clasped as if in prayer but their faces, just like the ones on the ground, were contorted, twisted in enraptured agony.

His eyes widened when he recognized a few of the wiggling bodies as teachers from the Sunnyday Academy.

A hand suddenly grabbed at his leg and he looked down, startled.

“Mr. Tae! Mr. Tae!” a woman, her face distorted, hair in disarray, strands falling out of what was likely once a pristine bun.

YooJin stared at her for a long moment before her voice finally registered in his mind. “Director Kim?” he asked quietly in disbelief.

Her already wide, frantic eyes widened further. “Yes! Yes!” she cried. “Mr. Tae! Mr. Tae! Please save me! Forgive me, forgive me! I have been a bad director, a horrible teacher. My priority should have been the children, all children. Yes, yes, the children, the omega children! My greed—my greed was so strong!” She then grabbed at the fabric of the one pant leg that remained and suddenly began to prostrate herself at his feet. “Mr. Tae! Help me!” 

He stared at her, wondering how the once-proud and arrogant woman had fallen to such a state.

Nao suddenly sighed beside him and YooJin turned to face at him. “This always happens. This is why the ‘ghosts’ only attack adults. They feed on inner guilt and shame, the older you are the more you’re likely to have them. And the most self righteous get the worst of it. Their near absolute certainty of their virtuous beliefs broken down in an instant; the shock driving them mad.” He then shrugged and grinned, “unless of course, they’re some kind of psychopath.”

Just then director Kim’s nails dug into the flesh of YooJin’s leg and he winced.

“How do we help them?” he asked, turning back to look at her but the director was now rocking back and forth on her side, her broken nails scratching the wooden floor below.

“Ah well that,” replied Nao. He snapped his finger. A bright green vortex appeared in front of him, hovering several feet off the ground.

YooJin watched with fascination as Nao reached in and pulled out an impossibly long bow, nearly the length of an average omega. Small but intricately carved details of roses and its thorny vines wrapped all about its limbs. Nao reached in once more and pulled out several long arrows with similar details on its shaft.

“Nao,” came TaeHyun’s deep voice in warning and YooJin turned to look at him. Their eyes met briefly before the alpha turned away, his gaze back to the scene before them.

“Fine,” Nao whined as he replaced the bow and arrow and pulled out a sword that was no less elaborate than the previous weapons, intricate flowery designs stemming from the guard into the base of its blade.

He sighed, staring at the weapon. “It’s no fun with this one.”

“What are you going to—” YooJin began to ask when TaeHyun pushed him aside, causing him to fall on his behind.

YooJin turned to glare at the alpha when something flashed past him. He stood quickly to try to catch a glimpse of whatever it was but could see nothing.

Suddenly, the writhing bodies inside the home began to groan loudly, their cries piercing the still air about them.

He felt a gust of wind rushed at him and again he found himself being pushed down onto the dirt by the alpha.

“TaeHyun,” Nao called out as he tossed to him what looked like a beige, small ceramic vase.

TaeHyun stood, holding the mouth of the vase in Nao’s direction, his foot still pressed firmly against YooJin’s chest, immobilizing him.

YooJin grabbed ahold of the alpha’s ankle, but froze when he saw Nao toss a yellow paper with red letters into the air. It looked similar to the talisman he had seen the old shamans sell around town.

The paper fluttered oddly and then froze in midair. Then it began to sway from side to side. Suddenly the air within the house grew volatile, loose strands of hair and clothes arched into the direction of whatever the talisman had grabbed onto, wind that had no origin.

Nao braced himself, gripping the sword with both hands. And, to YooJin’s surprise, the blade began to glow a subtle, soft white.

The wind suddenly rushed at Nao and YooJin could feel the fabric of his clothes flap in its direction. Nao raised the blade and with one side sweep swept the talisman and its invisible captive into the ceramic vase in TaeHyun’s hands.

“I thought it was going to be more exciting,” said Nao, after a moment, holding out his hand to him.

TaeHyun retracted his foot and handed the vase back to Nao before turning and walking away from them.

YooJin took Nao's offered hand and stood. He peered into the room and saw that all the adults were now lying motionless upon the wooden floors. Director Kim was still closest to the door, her hair even more disheveled than before and her shirt untucked from her skirt. She lay on her side, curled up into a ball and for a moment, despite being more than ten years his senior, he thought she looked like a child.

"They're not dead," said Nao, "but they will likely be scarred. I guess the nation will have to make due with a couple less teachers for a while."

"What about the children?" YooJin asked.

Nao looked around briefly. "Oh right. I wonder where Sera went too." He then scratched his neck. "I'll go look for Sera, you go to TaeHyun. He's likely looking for the children."

YooJin nodded before making his way around the house. He spotted the alpha quietly standing by the edge of the lake, staring down at something before him.

When YooJin came to stand beside him, he too looked down, curious to see what it was that held the alpha’s attention.

Peeking out from the ground below were hundreds of small effigies.

YooJin bent down to get a better look then froze when his mind registered what it was he was seeing.

They were statues of children.

Despite being obviously worn away by time and natural forces, it was clear that each and every sculpture was made in the image of a child. Hundreds and hundreds of different children.

"What are these?" YooJin asked.

TaeHyun shook his head. "I don't know. This is the first time we've ever entered a 'ghost' dungeon."

YooJin turned to look at him. "What is that? The 'ghost' thing.”

TaeHyun was quiet for a moment, his gaze still on the stone figures. “We don’t know,” he finally said. He then turned and began to walk away, back toward the house. “Enough, we need to find the children.”

For a moment YooJin stared at the alpha’s retreating form, trying hard to suppress the urge to throw something at it. Though he agreed wholeheartedly with his last statement—would it have killed him to answer a few questions?

Shaking his head, he gazed out into the pristine, motionless lake. It was strange, he had never seen a body of water this still. There was not a single wave or sign of movement, it was too perfect, like a painting.

His gaze continued to roam its breadth when something caught his eye.

“Hey,” he called out to TaeHyun, his gaze still glued to the spot, lest he lose it. “There’s something there.”

He heard the alpha let out a loud sigh before returning to his side.

“I don’t see anything,” he said with barely concealed irritation.

YooJin pointed to the area near the middle of the lake. The alpha squinted his eyes and shook his head. YooJin grabbed his hand and dragged it upward until it was parallel to the ground.

“There,” he said, pointing in the direction of his gaze. “There’s a small island there.”

TaeHyun stared for a long moment before turning back to him and giving him an odd look.

“It’s them,” said YooJin suddenly.

“What?”

Without another word, he released the alpha’s arm and rushed toward the edge of the lake.

“Hey!” TaeHyun yelled loudly from behind him. “Don’t just—”

YooJin entered the water and instantly, an unfamiliar chill ran throughout his entire body. A dismal sense of emptiness filled him and he began to feel terrified.

“You stupid omega!” he heard the alpha hiss from behind him. “Get out of there now!”

For a moment YooJin simply stood, taking quick, shallow breaths. He then gritted his teeth and again began to wade through the water, trying with all his might to push forward to the island that was now somehow only ten feet in front of him.

He could see the forms clearly now. About a dozen children, perhaps more, lay motionless, their sides pressed close against each other atop the flat piece of floating land. They were all uniform in position, on their backs, arms straight at their sides, and all their little heads faced the location of that lonesome house.

YooJin felt a resurgence of that unfamiliar chill and shuddered.

“EunHa!” he screamed. He couldn’t see his sister, she might have been on the other side, but he knew that she had to be among the mass of children in front of him.

He pushed forward harder, gritting his teeth, a metallic taste seeping into his mouth, but the distance between them refused to shrink.

Some part of him, one that he was not conscious of could vaguely hear the alpha curse behind him. And then a small splash.

Suddenly, TaeHyun stood beside him. “You selfish omega, why do you not think about the consequences of your actions upon others?”

But YooJin could not hear him, too focused on the island before him and the terror within him that only seemed to grow.

“She’s right there,” he said to himself, repeating the words over and over as he fervently tried to move forward. 

A bright red liquid began to seep from beneath the bodies of the children, pouring into the water below, tainting the previously pristine blue lake.

“No!” YooJin screamed, movements growing frantic.

He felt a hand grip his arm and suddenly, he could move forward.

“What the hell?” he heard TaeHyun whisper beside him. “Where did that island come from?”

YooJin wretched his arm away from the alpha’s grasp and began to swim but found that he was once more unable to close the distance. His eyes widened and he turned back to look at the alpha, who was still staring at the spot the island was with disbelieving eyes.

“It’s gone...” TaeHyun whispered.

YooJin grabbed at the alpha’s hand.

“What—” TaeHyun said, turning to him in surprise but YooJin wasn’t listening. He was already moving forward, dragging the alpha along with him until finally, he was able to reach the island.