The story so far:

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija witnesses a strange event one night – light emanating from Rez's body. The kidnapper is after her soul, next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her, he wants to take her somewhere else - Aija though wary of him agrees. Aija learns of the existence of the aliens – the Ytai. Also, about the R'ies and H'eon, Harvesting and Àvo from Etrie. Etrie tells her that the man, who Harvested Rez (Thieron), will now go after her. He tells her that the spy/kidnapper's name is Luka. Etrie asks her to work along with him. Aija agrees to work along with Etrie on Harvest Stopping Missions.

---- Gale work is getting to Goldstar. Iyler too seems to be distancing herself from him. He leaves after a disagreement with her about his secret identity. Vincent, who worked at the Research Centre, talks to him at the Dining Hall. Goldstar is flustered by him when he asks to accompany Goldstar to the South Land. Goldstar is rattled by his argument with Iyler. She doesn't visit him, though he is leaving for the South Land. On the South Land, Goldstar meets Prince Irih'va of Ierne's Hi'er Empire. The Prince offers him help if ever he needs it. He also tells him, "You are in for heartbreak. And then you will do something great. A storm will provide you respite from the scorching heat." He gets information that the Leadership is blaming the Gale for the blast at the Research center.

---- Ze is restless as he takes care of a class. He finds out that a student of his is in the hospital for an unknown sickness. The boy Xan's friend Vaughn asks him to visit Xan at the hospital as Xan would really appreciate it. Ze fights with his mother, again, about his powers. He leaves home and goes to the hospital to visit his student Xan. Ze finds something strange as he reaches the hospital and decides to check it out.

---- Xan is still in the hospital. He is still weak. 

---- Vaughn confesses to Xan that he loves him. They share their first kiss. 

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****18.4 - Xan****

Xan stayed awake for the rest of the evening, waiting for Mr. Roan. When the door slid open again, he perked up. But it wasn't Mr. Roan, it was his family.

"You're sitting up." Dae Hyun* grinned as he ran and sat next to him on the bed.

Ingrid* was silent as she sat on a chair next to his bed. She seemed to be taking this very hard. She stayed quiet, and also seemed slightly wary of all the wires connected to him.

Eun* pulled the blankets tighter around him.

"You look better tonight." Royd smiled. "There's some color in your cheeks."

"Where's Vaughn?" Hei Ran* asked.

"He came in early and left," Xan answered, trying hard not to blush.

"You do look better," Eun concluded after running her eyes over him.

"I feel good today."

"That's good," Royd* said. "I'm sure next week by this time you'll be home. You're doing well."

"Your blood test results should come in today," Leif* said, lifting a chair into the room from outside. "Hopefully, they can start you on some medication."

His family stayed till late at night, and Xan forced everyone to go home to rest. Royd insisted on staying the night. But, Xan adamantly sent him away. "Come early in the morning," he told him.

"Are you sure you don't need anyone here?" his mother asked, brushing his hair with her fingers, her touch so tender.

Xan nodded, leaning into the touch. They needed rest too; at someplace comfortable – at home.

"I love you, Xan."

"I love you, Ma."

****

Fleeting bursts of sleep ravaged his strength.

Dreams woke him; dreams of his family, of music and Vaughn.

Nurse Valerie – the one who had run in after Vaughn had kissed him – had switched off the lights in his room. She had just come in a minute ago to check on him. He lay in the dark, the shadows in the dark carrying his imagination through a wild run.

He was in pain. So much pain.... But, he didn't want to call anyone. He had been fine in the evening, and many nights he had had excruciating pain. And yet, each morning, he woke up.

He shivered, the pain burning through him, unaware of how much or how little time passed.

About a few minutes after Nurse Valerie had left, he heard the door slide open softly, letting in a sliver of light and then closed. Could it be Mr. Roan?

The lights remained switched off as two tall figures walked up to him. Xan was in too much pain to try seeing who they were, so he lay still. But, as they neared, he could make out white coats on them. They were doctors. He couldn't see clearly, but he could make out that one of them had dark hair and the other lighter hair.

"Xan Ae Lee?" the lighter haired one asked, looking at his file.

He murmured a yes, shivering.

"Xan Ae Lee." the dark-haired man whispered, stepping closer. "You are not getting better."

Xan knew that very well. He just didn't know what was eating his life away slowly. The man with the lighter hair held his hand as if he was worried the news might upset him. It did hurt, but he was expecting it. He had been mentally prepared for it.

"You will not survive this." the dark-haired doctor whispered. "I'm sorry."

Xan nodded, the pain eating at his bones.

"But," the doctor said, "you can do something worthwhile."

Xan looked up at him. The light-haired doctor opened a bag and showed him the contents; there were glass jars with colored lights in them.

"These are souls." the man explained. "We need good, strong souls to heal the Earth. You have one. Would you like to help heal the Earth? You have two choices. One – you die in pain from your illness and not do anything worth remembering. Two – you can willingly give us your soul and help heal this planet and create a better place for your family. What do you choose, Xan?"

Xan looked at the dark-haired man and then back to the other one. They weren't doctors, were they? Not for a moment through his pain did he find what they were saying as weird or impossible.

He thought about what he had just heard from the man. Give his soul to heal the planet? He wanted to see his family again; he wanted to play the cello again. Feel the strings under his fingers; run those fingers through Vaughn's hair.

But, he also knew he wouldn't make it. He wouldn't be doing any of those things in the near future. The doctors – the real doctors – didn't explicitly say he was dying, but he had gauged it from their mannerisms, expressions, and the way they talked.

He knew his time was running out. In the remaining time, could he do something valuable? Like, help heal the planet?

The two men were looking at him. Their expressions weren't eager or unkind. They were just waiting for his answer; for him to volunteer his soul. What if he said no?

"Okay," he whispered.

The dark-haired man smiled. "Good choice, kid."

"Wait," Xan said.

"Yes?"

"Will you...will you tell my family I love them? And Vaughn too? That I did it for them? For the Earth to be better for them."

The dark-haired man looked at him quietly, while the light-haired man removed an empty glass jar.

"Sure, kid."

Xan closed his eyes and thought of his parents. They were going to miss him, Vaughn, too.

But he was doing something worthy - he was helping heal the planet. They would understand.

Xan opened his eyes. The dark-haired man was holding a blade. Still, Xan wasn't afraid. He would die either way. He would rather do something right before it.

And, he was in too much pain.

"This is going to hurt a little." the man said, tilting the tip of the blade towards him.

Xan nodded. He was already in pain, a little more wouldn't matter.

The man held the tip of the blade near his chest and cut him slightly, not too deep but, he felt the blood flow. And then he felt the intense pain, all at once. The man chanted something in a language Xan didn't understand, and he started to feel light. Everything went blank for a moment, but he could feel himself; feel he was getting lighter and lighter.

And then he could see again. He saw himself – his body and the two men next to his body. He was floating above his body – his body, he noted. He saw his body for the first time since he was hospitalized. No wonder no one had allowed him to look at himself in the mirror. He had grown thin; there were dark circles under his sunken eyes. He looked half-dead already.

And yet they had been telling him he was fine.

He felt himself float into the glass jar and nestle into it. The man's chanting ended, and Xan felt peaceful.

He wasn't in pain any longer.

✽✽✽

*Character Reference

Dae Hyun, Ingrid, Eun, Royd, Hei Ran, Leif   -  Ot/Chr 3.m