Will I Ever Find Friends?

[Gabriel Lee]

Bruising. Burning. The convulsions of Bongju's body made it so difficult to hold on that Gabriel almost dropped him. As it was, he just about unceremoniously dumped Bongju onto the ground, jerking back in obvious shock. It almost looked like... But it couldn't be, because no matter how weakly, they were still connected.

Weren't they?

The bruises, though, took on the shape of his fingers--the places where skin met skin. The pain was unbearable, even though Gabriel didn't see any bruising on his own body. Somehow only the pain transferred. He hastily stepped back, in case the proximity made things worse. Bongju looked bad but there was nothing that Gabriel knew to do to help him. Touching him was already a mistake.

"What's going on?" The Master's voice cut through his dumb surprise. Gabriel turned to see him walking into the room and stop to stare dispassionately at the figure by their feet. "What did they do to him?"

"...I don't know..."

[Ahn Bongju]

No... No... Somehow, it had worked--and just when Gabriel came back for him. The realization utterly shattered what was left of his heart. This could have been the last attempt, this could have been the moment where they worked things out and Gabriel stopped shutting him out. But now, by body alone, it was Bongju shutting Gabriel out. No, this wasn't what he wanted. But he'd been so sure, hadn't he? He thought this was exactly what he wanted: to sever the bond. He just didn't want to survive the severing. Yet here he was, a burn roaring through his body, from deep within the core. It ripped through his heart and chest and exploded out of his lungs and down his legs, his arms. He felt suffocated by breath he didn't even need.

"Gabriel..." He tried to touch his fingertips to Gabriel's wrist to stop him from doing something, dropping him, leaving him. But no, he was dumped onto the ground, landing poorly because none of his limbs wanted to work properly. He reached again for Gabriel, for his hand, his wrist, his fingers to hold onto.

"...please..." Bongju held tighter, ignoring the pain that brought a sharp sting to the corners of his eyes. "...don't... leave me here." He turned his eyes on Gabriel, staring at him as if he could see into his mind again, as if they were still One. "Finish it. ...please."

[Ryan Lee]

What shoddy work. Ryan could almost see the last threads binding celestial to yin, as they frayed and severed. So this was what the foolish yin sought to do by coming here--and what the clumsy witches had attempted to do for him. They likely didn't know how to do it properly. Probably read it out of a magic book or something, like inept children trying out card tricks for the very first time.

Shaking his head at the pair, Ryan let out a small sigh. When he pulled his servant into this realm, a suitable body was needed. At the time he chose indiscriminately--a celestial happened to be passing by. The yin wasn't with him at the time and Ryan didn't check too closely to see if he was connected. Once the doppleganger assumed the celestial's form, he thought that that was the end of things.

This teenage drama unfolding before him wasn't in the plan.

"Move aside. If he wants to end it then--"

"No!" Gabriel's quick outburst caused Ryan to lift his brows in surprise. "No... Master, please. Save him. He-he could be useful to us."

"Oh?" Ryan's brows lifted further. "How so?"

"...we can tap into the ancient magic. He can... he can be the next vessel."

Ryan let the suggestion sink in. The next vessel... a yin? It was an intriguing thought. He had originally intended for the dragon to become the vessel--before things went South on that front, and he was forced to banish the dragon. But a yin... And already nearly unbound...

"Perhaps. How far are we from the library? We would have to be quick about it. I can only hold the djinn back for so long and the boy is tightly guarded by the witches..."

[Blue]

(Let's end this one here and merge with the Susu/Alva one in the library?)

[Trash Bat]

(Sounds like a plan)