Dazzling Light | ATEEZ

Council

In the Dreamworld

Just before she entered the world of the living, Siyeon decides to revisit the Archive of Memories - an area within the Dreamworld filled with floating memory orbs. Some memories are fond, some not so much, but all are equally precious to her. She intended to revisit the one where she and Bora took Seonghwa to Disney World, but an orb filled with black and blue smoke landed in her palm instead.

"Really?" Siyeon smiles wryly. "Of all the memories, this is what you give me?"

She closes her eyes and relives a memory she would rather forget.

⚠️ Blood and Gore ⚠️

The entire length of the corridor is like a scene from a horror movie - the walls and ceiling are splattered with blood, the floor is a slimy red puddle filled with chiropteran and dhampir corpses, dismembered body parts, and spilled innards, and the few lights illuminating the narrow hallway are eerily flickering.

Groans and gurgles from dying blood-suckers, heavy breathing, and occasional curses from the three vampires fighting them, and the sound of flesh being mutilated with bladed weapons fill the hall.

Drenched in blood, from the tip of her shashka to the soles of her boots, Siyeon growls as she cleaves another strigoi in half. She yelps when something nips at her heel and when she looks down, there's a baby-sized strigoi trying to gnaw on her ankle.

These bastards were sick enough to turn babies into blood-sucking monsters. Siyeon stomps on its head, crushing the little one's fragile skull under her heavy boot.

In front of her, Kiseop's 13-year old son, Junyoung, skewers a chiropteran on the head with his rapier. Behind them is Han Dong, who flicks the blood off her dao after decapitating another one. Ideally, she would've taken different people with her to storm Crescent's last hideout, but these two are surprisingly effective.

Just as they cut down the last of the strigoi, Siyeon looks back to see the hallway behind them filling with chiropterans and a few dhampirs wielding makeshift weapons. These must be the last ones.

"Let me handle this." Junyoung states, pointing his rapier at the advancing horde. The purple runes scribed along the length of Junyoung's rapier light up and he chants, "Tu as donne une banniere à ceux qui te craignent, pour la deployer à cause de la verite."*

Purple runes materialize in a circular formation at the tip of his rapier, followed by a burst of magical energy that decimated everything in its path. The walls around them tremble from the shockwave and Han Dong falters a little from the sheer force of the blast.

"You should've done that sooner, little shit!" Han Dong scolds, looking at the devastation left in the wake of Junyoung's magic.

The boy shrugs. "You said you weren't in a hurry."

"Whatever. Let's get going." Siyeon says, moving ahead of them. The two follow her closely.

When they reach the door at the end of the corridor, Siyeon rips the door off its hinges and tosses it behind her. The three of them walk inside the dark room, fully aware that it could be a trap, but trusting their skills can save them.

Suddenly, all the lights open, temporarily blinding them.

⭕ Safe Now ⭕

~

Unknown Time of Day | Gorodetsky House, Oymyakon, Russia

Siyeon opens her eyes, now back in the world of the living. She's been laid on the bed of the master bedroom in the Gorodetsky Coven's hibernation home in Oymyakon. If she didn't have limited time, she would just sleep again, because laying in this cashmere duvet is the coziest she's felt in a while.