V+O; in the Alternate Universe **Completed**

Chapter 37

The battle had ended the second Octavia had gone through the threshold, her magic not able to hold without her in the same realm. Every living person infected with the rott seemed to wake from a slumber. Hobi had watched the whole scene in the throne room although he had been just a few steps behind the others; it was enough that he could no longer follow them. To his surprise when he rushed back down to the battle it had been over, understanding the situation for what it was he sought out RM.

Who was busy searching with Agust for TaeHyung; RM had seen him fall from a distance but no body could be found, only a pool of water which led back to the small river. Agust mused that since TaeHyung's father was a water selkie, maybe he did what they did, and returned to the water after death.

Quickly Hobi gave a rendition of what had happened to the other members of The 7. To which they all sighed, hoping for the safety of their friends. The only other bright side for them at the moment was that it was all over in their homeland, and that Agust's arm and stomach had at least stopped bleeding, and he could no longer feel the taint of the rott.

"We have to bury him." Hobi said, staring off, the two others turned to see what he was looking at. It was Coa, the large bear lay in a pool of blood.

"We will," agreed RM. "But for now we must gather the wounded and make our way to the city. I believe we will not be met with hostility. It's finally over."

"Then we come back for him." Hobi reiterated his wish, but he was already moving along, making his way to the giant bear.

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They stumbled out of the threshold, and O rounded on them; "Why the hell did you follow me?!"

"We weren't going to let you go alone." JiMin rolled his eyes. "But oh how the tables have turned." He laughed at his own observation, she noticed one of his large silver earrings was missing, and he had a cut particularly close to his eye.

"We'll you should've." Stomping her foot like a child.

"O don't be ridiculous."

"Ugh sometimes I wish..." But they'd never find out what she sometimes wished. A strange sound of footsteps came from down the hall. "We're in a subway station," she said, confused.

"Guyyyssss." Jin was pointing at a group of figures coming from the stairs leading to the outside world, and another group from the far-side of tunnel. There was something unnatural about their movements. Some even appeared to be dragging limbs.

Reaching back for her swords, Orailia noticed she'd lost them both, remembering them slipping from her grasp in the throne room. Only her dagger remained, the others still had their weapons. JungKook turned to her, "Run." As the figures approached she noticed the same signs as those infected with the rott but their skin seemed to also be peeling away in places. They looked more like zombies from the movies she had watched than anything else. "Go," JungKook hissed again, "we'll be right behind you."

As they engaged in battle she bolted, she didn't want to but without any proper weapons it would've been stupid to get in the way. O made a left then a right running along the railroad tracks, being careful not to touch them in case power still ran through the line.

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At some point she stopped running, and when she turned back dread set in. She hadn't left them any way to find her. As she tried to make her way back she realized just how much she'd fucked up. Things seemed to be getting darker, without the small glowing lights on the tunnel wall she would've been completely blind.

Finally she sat down, refusing to get herself more lost. She kicked a stone. "I really am an idiot." she spoke out loud not fearing anyone would hear her. As the rock bounced along it created a very hollow echoing sound off the walls. Orailia looked around drinking in the tunnel, vines and brambles grew everywhere. It looked very much abandoned. She wondered what city they were in, also what dimension had Octavia brought them too. Had they stepped into the exact moment behind her, or was there a disconnect in time? O did have one good guess on where they were, this was probably her earth. "Stupid cow," she meant her sister and kicked another rock. "Got me chasing her from one world to the next, creating more problems wherever she goes. Looking at her arms they felt and looked very naked but she wasn't really sure why she thought so. It looked like normal soft ivory skin dotted with freckles.

Sitting there looking out into the darkness she couldn't help but feel empty like a vital organ was missing but she didn't know which one. O wrapped her arms around her stomach in an attempt to hold herself together. Sat there on a rock trying to figure it out, it was on the edge of her mind but she couldn't reach it; it felt like torture. Pressing her palms to her eyes she wanted to scream.

"JungKook!" she shouted, knowing they could not hear her, but possibly something else could.

Losing track of the hours she sat there, then she paced, finally letting her body slide down the vine covered brick wall to the floor. It must've looked very bizarre, she sat there rocking back and forth, arms around her legs, forehead to her knees. Scratching at her own skin, she could feel the blood beneath her fingernails.

"Jin!" she called, helplessly.

It was a special kind of torture to be alone in a dark place with no way out. Especially when you were filled with the feeling that something inherently important was missing from inside you. In all the adrenaline she hadn't noticed but in the hours she was alone in the black it was easy to sense the hole in her being.

"JiMin!" she half shouted, half whispered, hopeless.

The feeling inside was like craving the taste of a food you had never eaten, or a place you had never been. At some point she had fallen into the loneliest sleep, only to return to the small blackness upon waking. It felt like a losing game.

"I need you! Please, help me" she shouted, and ended the last two words in a whisper calling to nobody in particular, but somehow she knew it was not any of the boys who had traveled here with her. There was the scurrying of tiny paws on the vegetation covered concrete.

A small ink black fox chittered at her, not in an aggressive way though. When it saw her watching it, it turned and scampered away a few feet. When she did not stand it came back making the same noise it had made before, this time brushing its thick soft tail along her ankles and chittering again as it bounded a few steps forward, and stopped.

This time she stood, feeling a little insane, "you want me to follow you?" The little fox chittered again, but waited for her, and on her first step it bounded into life again. O noticed silver speckles in its dark scruff. She had to jog to keep up with the swift creature. As she saw light ahead she sprinted out before the fox, being elated by the warmth of the sun. Looking around she noticed it had not joined her; the black fox hung back, staying within the shadows.

"Come," she beckoned, but it did not. "That's okay then," she knelt and finally made eye contact with her saviour. Its eyes were the darkest brown, and in the right eye there was a slash of brilliant blue. Her mind itched at the site of their beauty; "thank you." O turned away then, it was only for a split second and when she turned back the fox was gone. She noticed a small puddle where it had been standing, or standing in. Pushing it from her mind she turned to the task at hand.

They had landed in a huge city. The signs were in English, and she spotted a tattered American flag in the distance. The city looked ransacked, foliage had reclaimed it or from what she saw it had. Grass, vines, roots, and even trees had broken through the concrete and covered half the buildings. It seemed very appropriately the work of Octavia, then when you factored in the zombie like people; she must be nearby. There was no doubt about it in O's mind.