Area One

14

Everyone needed a short while to process these words. Luhan looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach, while Yixing's face held pure betrayal.

"You never considered telling me about this, did you?" Yixing was smiling, but it was obvious that he was hurt. The man avoided his gaze.

"It wasn't important until now." His son tried to say something, but he raised his hand. "I know how you're feeling right now. And I'm sorry. I really am. But with every person who knew, the danger of being caught would have risen. We separated because we didn't want to catch the Red Force's attention and promised to keep this a secret from everyone. Even our children." With his last words, his gaze turned towards Luhan.

"What power did my father have?" Luhan either didn't have the strength to look into his thoughts or somehow didn't manage to get in. Junmyeon knew he must have tried it already.

"Darkness," Yixing's father stated promptly. "He was- he is able to let the light fade away, to create complete darkness and even to see in it."

Luhan chuckled quietly. "Now I understand why he didn't tell me."

No one knew how to respond to this. It was kind of ironic for Luhan's father to have a purely visual ability, which must have been why Luhan hadn't noticed anything during the attack on the tree. Getting back to his usual self, Luhan frowned.

"Do you have an idea what they did to him? Where they hide him?"

Luhan didn't seem to be so reluctant about leaving anymore. Not that Junmyeon couldn't understand his change of mind. They didn't kill people with special powers. His father had to be alive. And what could be more likely than for him to be in the same place as Baekhyun's brother?

"I'm sure they took him to their research facilities." The man's resigned words confirmed Junmyeon's worries. He seemed to have a hunch of what Luhan was thinking as well, because he smiled bitterly and continued: "If you want to go, I won't stop you. I don't have the right to do so. But you can trust me to keep an eye on this place."

"No offence," Minseok stated slowly, "but how will manipulating plants help you fight them?"

The older man smirked. "Oh, believe me... you can be very creative with a power like mine."

Junmyeon could tell that Yixing and Luhan were burning with questions, but he also knew that if they wanted to save both Baekhyun's brother and Luhan's father, they would need to hurry. And they would need a really good plan.

"It seems like this day made some of us change our minds on this subject," Junmyeon concluded. "Is anyone still against leaving?"

He could see that some of them were not content with this. He bet that no one but Yifan was. But they couldn't split up and for getting into the city, and - most importantly - back out again, they would need everyone. They knew that, and they wouldn't let the two boys do this on their own.

"Let's sneak in, get the two of them back and teleport out of there in no time! We can do this!" Sehun jumped up. "I know we can!"

Luhan snorted. "We'll get caught immediately."

"Don't you want to get your father back?" Yifan asked, not noticing how everyone else winced at his careless words. "We have powers, they don't. And don't forget, even if someone reported the fight in the village, all of us have improved since then. They will underestimate us."

He ignored the doubtful looks everyone exchanged at his words.

"I don't want to force you to do something this dangerous," Baekhyun claimed, avoiding everyone's glances. "The chance of us getting caught is way higher-"