Heal me // A Jikook Trilogy //

《86》Light Up the World

"A hunt?" Jackson asked.

"Yes. I have some unfinished business with a few very nasty and arrogant son's of bitches.
So, whoever finds me the rest of X-EXO and brings them to me- alive, that is- will be generously rewarded."

"I suppose they won't get the same choice we all did?" Woozi from seventeen asked, looking very much like he was more than pleased that they would get no mercy from Lian.
And that she wasn't demanding it of anyone else.

"Pah. It would be of no use. If I give them the choice, they'll neve agree anyway.
And if they did, I would not trust them further than I can throw them to keep that promise.
And some things... some things can't be forgiven."

She said that last part with a strange quiver to her voice.
I eyed the woman who held all our hearts.
Saw not Raven, but Lian.
Our Lian.

Having been taken by X-EXO for the last four weeks...
What had really happened?
Which horrors had she gone through?
What was the cause of that pain and hatred now shimmering in her blue eyes?

I would ask her later.
Would not let myself fall victim to ignorance once more.
Wouldn't look away just because I was afraid of the truth.

"So... what are the rules of this hunt then?" Someone asked and I met the hungry, impatience gaze of Taeyong, leader of NCT.
I could hardly blame him.
I remembered that cold, dark day when Suho made me beat him up and then spat on his pride.

I knew he still carried the scar on his neck where Suho had put out his cigarette.
It felt like someone else had lived that life, not me.

"Rules?" Lian mused, her smirk wide and dangerous.
"Mh. No more rules for tonight but the one's I already made.
Don't hurt anyone innocent. And if you find them, don't kill them yet.
Bring them to me alive. Other than that- you get to do whatever the fuck you want with them before you hand them over to me.
Because why would I ask you to be anything else than what you are? Than what we all are?
Who says we have to be the good guys to make a better world, hm?
Nah. We are not good. We are brutal. Ruthless. Nasty and wicked.
We like to lie, cheat, fuck, hurt and fight. We like to watch things burn and break.
But the thing that will set us apart from all those scumbags in this world will be that we have rules we honour. A family we protect. A home we can go back to and let our demons rest.
We will protect those weaker than us- and punish those who use their power, wealth and status to take advantage of others just like X-EXO has done for years.
And we will do so as nasty son's and daughters of bitches!"

Oh, she was one brilliant little girl.
People in the crowd started to cheer and agree with hoots and growls, fuelled by her words.

That easily she made them forget all about their wary and suspicion of her and instead showed them she was like them.
Was not asking to change them.
Would not hold them back to be who they had always been.
One of us, their eyes seemed to glow with as they looked up at Lian.

Yes.
The underground would never be a tame place.
Would never become peaceful.
But that was not what Lian was asking of them.
Nor were tame and peaceful any way to describe Lian herself.

I was in awe of her again as she stood there, looking over the crowd that was hooting and cheering.
For her!
This tiny, only shy over eighteen year old girl in a red satin dress, raised in a sheltered world- and now commanding a crowd full of conniving, dark and twisted people.
And she wasn't done.

"I'll prove it to you all.
How bloody satisfying it feels to hurt and destroy those who think they are so untouchable.
So above any rules or human decency!
Just like those fucking cowards who ran the moment they realized Suho was going to loose. How about we send a message to theses fleeing, scared suck-ups of X-EXO? NO!
How about we let the entire world outside know that their reign has ended?
No more hiding in the shadows. We'll start off this new era with a flame that will light up all of Seoul!"