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Before we start this chapter...
Dear Magical People, I am asking you to be a bit more active.  If you like this story, please leave something behind: it could be a star or a comment, it could be sharing a link to this story with you on your social media.
The thing is, I've been working on this story for a very long time and I'm trying hard to correct mistakes, but I'm also just an ordinary person and sometimes I lack motivation, especially when I see a lack of response to my texts.  Then I'm really sad.
Please ❤️
Write anything, I don't bite 😉
And to those who read, comment and leave stars, thank you very much.  I love you ❤️ You are the reason why I keep sharing more chapters even when I don't think anyone likes this story.
Thank you for being ❤️
Please don't leave me and our heroes because they still have a beautiful story to tell.
~Annie

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It was only Fourth's third day back in the Non-Magical world.  He felt uncomfortable there, as if he suddenly didn't belong there.  He had already put his things in order in a small but charming and cozy house that had really belonged to him since their "parents" (now he knew that for peace of mind that these people would do anything to prevent anyone from discovering the true origin of their children) bought it for him.  Were they hoping that this way the boy would forget what they had done?  Anyway, he wasn't about to forget it.  He was still furious.

Outside, his neighbor could be heard mowing his front lawn, and his two twin children shouted to each other as they splashed in the pool.

He packed several cardboard boxes with his most important memorabilia, which he intended to take with him to the Institute, among them dozens of joint photos with NuNew and First, his drawings accumulated over many years, a medal won in a football match in the interschool league, porcelain figurines  and plaster angels, glass snow globes of various sizes, a hair band from when Fourth was very small, but he had long hair and First loved to play with it, often braiding it.  This was at a time when their "guardians" didn't hate them as much as they did towards the end.

And now he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to them two days earlier.

Khaotung, in celebration of signing a rather lucrative deal with Alpine, where he would henceforth ride alongside Pierre Gasly, took them to the bar where NuNew performed as a kid, before Zee decided to take care of his career himself (and did it somewhat on  request from NuNew's mom who didn't want her son to sing in bars, she didn't like the fact that there were sometimes shady people who might hurt her beloved son).  They sat down at two rectangular tables that were joined together, and a large amount of alcohol quickly appeared on them.  Gemini refused to drink, earning him another few points with Fourth.  Fourth was not going to be outdone and asked for juice as well.  The young woman with blue hair who was serving them asked their age.

“Don't worry, we're all grown-ups here,” First said, winking at her as he surreptitiously shoved a rather large-denomination note into her hand.  The woman gave them an appraising look, but apparently the money had done its job, because she just shrugged and went about her business.

Fourth ran a hand through his hair.

What was next?

He went to the fridge to get a bowl of lettuce.  He didn't even think about what he was doing as he spiced it up and then made himself some hot tea with lemon.  He'd never imagined he'd ever enjoy lemon tea before, and yet... He took it all to his room.  Zee taught them that they needed to keep diaries because it was something they might find useful someday.  For what purpose, the head of the Shadowhunter branch in Thailand has not yet explained.  Fourth ate his food, took his empty dishes to the kitchen sink, then sat down at his desk and took from his backpack the notebook Zee had told him to carry with him at all times.  On the cover was a rune symbolizing light drawn in red ink.  Fourth tucked one pen behind his ear and grabbed the other.  And then the words suddenly popped into his head.  He began writing them down hastily, fearing they would disappear.

"Dear diary!
P'Zee told me to write down everything weird going on around me, so I figured I had to write down what happened the day before yesterday.  Khaotung, the boyfriend of my elder brother First, has signed for a new Formula 1 team and will be driving for Alpine from next season.  I don't know much about it, rather First is an expert in this matter.  The thing is, the Khaotung took us to a bar in the Non-Magical world.  I feel weird coming back here now.  It's hard for me not to look around and look for demons or any other threat.  Fortunately, it's quiet.
Well... Almost calm.
Something strange has happened that neither I nor Gem can explain.
We didn't drink alcohol.  I swear I could taste it from a distance.  We drank only juice and water (Gem and me, because First and Khaotung are different, they have no qualms about drinking alcohol).  So it is all the more surprising that the next morning we woke up in a hotel almost at the other end of the city.  I don't remember how we got there, I don't remember talking to anyone other than Khaotung and First... So why did we wake up in the hotel, in the same bed next to Iris?  Iris, who, according to NuNew's stories, never ventured into the Non-Magical world without disguise.  Usually, when she appeared before their eyes, she looked completely different, sometimes with red hair, sometimes with pink or blonde hair.  And this time it looked just like her!  Without any disguise, in her own clothes... But that's not the strangest thing...
When I woke up first, I saw Iris resting her cheek on Gem's bare chest.  It pissed me off at first, but then I saw the scars on our bodies.  Our wrists were lacerated in such a way that it looked like someone had handcuffed them tightly.  And when I looked around the room, I saw one handcuff lying on the floor and stained with blood.  Something bad must have happened.
Gem, when he woke up, started to panic.  He had a massive bruise on his shoulder and several scratches on his stomach and back.  Whatever attacked us, apparently he was the only one fighting it.  There were no wounds on my body other than those on my wrists.  I wanted us to inform Zee and the others immediately, but Iris wouldn't let us.
I don't understand.
She said she wanted to solve the case herself.  And that he doesn't want to tell his brother yet.  Perhaps she felt ashamed of what had happened, but I doubt it was her fault.  Together we went down to the reception, where we persuaded the porter to show us the recordings from the cameras at the entrance to the building.  You know what's the worst?
The fact that one of the people who guided us then was certainly the woman who raised us for 19 years, me and First.  I'm sure it's her.  Gem immediately texted P'Zee, although we didn't tell Iris, she seemed too shaken up by what she saw in the video, we didn't want to scare her even more.  We even texted P'Zee about it so that he wouldn't ask Iris too for now, to give her some time to recover.
Oh fool of me!  I didn't write what we saw on the video!
We saw the door of a white Mercedes open and first a boy in a black hoodie with white arrows painted in four directions on the back and white trousers gets out of it, he extended his hand to someone and only after a good minute we saw a girl get out of the car  it was Iris.  She leaned on the boy's shoulder.  She seemed drunk.  She wobbled and struggled forward.  Then another identical car appeared, but this time the two of us, me and Gem, got out of it.  That was surprising, because we looked like we knew what we were doing, and neither of us remember it!  Behind us was this woman, my "mother", or rather the monster who almost destroyed our lives.  She was dressed, as usual, in a tasteful set, a simple black skirt and a silver shirt around it, shimmering slightly in the light of street lamps.  She smiled haughtily.  Her gait showed that she wasn't lacking in self-confidence.  female dog!  What does she want from us again?!  And why did she involve Gemini and Iris in this too?!
My blood boiled when I saw her.  I wanted to find her immediately and ask what she had done to us?  But Gem is very reasonable, he approached the subject coldly.  He asked me to sit down and calmly write down all the details, then send the notes straight to Zee, he'll know what to do.  So that's what I do.
Iris was the first to sneak out.  She returned to the Institute.  I called NuNew and asked him to pick us up at the hotel.  He did it, by the way, handing me his car and the keys to it.  We agreed that I would return them to him in one piece at the end of the week.  He's a good friend... I drove Gem home and went back to myself.  But I don't feel safe here.  The person who kidnapped First and me then is the same person who took us to the hotel and who bought me this cottage, what if he knows I'm here and comes after me?  NuNew said he asked Off to enchant the apartment in such a way that no one except people I let in could enter it, but then this woman probably has something from our world... and if so,  it's possible he'll defeat security... I can't believe we let ourselves be fooled so easily!  Like rookies!»

Fourth stopped typing for a moment when he heard the sound of an incoming message.  It was Gemini.  The previous day, Gem wanted to go back to the Institute to practice some martial arts.  He was good at it, but he wasn't quite there yet.  He still was making mistakes and making himself easy target to attack.  This time, Gemini sent him a very cute photo of him posing in front of a completely empty fridge.  That one cute picture of Gemini's pouting face was enough to distract Fourth from his gloomy thoughts.  They hadn't seen each other since yesterday, and Fourth realized he missed him already.  Another message from Gemini made him laugh for good.

Gemi: hey!  Anyway, there's a fly around my room and it's buzzing and pissing me off, grrrrrr 😠😤😡 Yes, this is very important information 😅

4th: then kill it, you kill demons, and you can't fly?

Gemi: I don't know, it's faster than me

4th: 55555555555 genius 55555555555

Gemi: don't laugh!  I won't let you laugh at my helplessness!  I'm suffering here!  Or rather, my ears suffer!  This damn thing called a fly is very very loud!  Who invented flies anyway?  I want to make an official complaint

4th: I will comfort you

Gemi: how are you going to do that?

4th: Oh yeah: 🪰☠️👻🙅🏻‍♂️🍐🚕🌂💍🍂🥰🏄🚕🚓🏄🙈♊🍉♊🪄✨🎂😤🌂😜♊🪄✨ 🎉

Gemi: do those emojis even mean anything or do you send them randomly?

4th: guess

Gemi: Randomly

4th: that's right, but if you want, I can make a story out of them, wait a minute

4th: A fly flying around Gemini's room was killed and became a ghost, scaring the poor boy who had had enough, so he fed the ghost a pear and they both got into a taxi.  Gemini used an umbrella to conjure up an engagement ring, which he gave to a surfer who fell in love with him in the fall.  As they got into the taxi, the police started chasing them.  The surfer was scared so Gemini gave him a slice of delicious watermelon and then conjured up a birthday cake which neither of them liked which pissed off the surfer who used an umbrella to protect Gemini from the rain and finally Gemini conjured up a birthday party for both of them.

4th: and how?  Do you like my story?

Fourth quickly texted him back and showered him with another shower of emojis on Messenger, making Gem smile even though the story made no sense (it was so stupid that it was funny!) and gave up the stupid fly that was flying around his room angrily and annoyed him.  She didn't sit down for a moment.  Gemini stood helpless for a long time with a flyswatter in his hand, but he couldn't win with this small, obnoxious, loud and uninvited guest that was this fly.  He just shrugged, put the flyswatter on the desk, and left for his kitchen.  He had already sent Fourth a photo of a completely empty fridge and was sure that the boy would come to him soon, not letting Norawit stay hungry for too long.  He loved it when Nattawat was like this, caring, worrying and lovable.  On the way to the room, he noticed the guitar that Pond had given Phuwin leaned against the wall in the hall next to the light-colored cabinet where they stored most of the weapons such as swords, pistols and even a bow and quiver.  He couldn't resist the temptation to prank his brother, so he quickly went to his room, took a black pencil case from his backpack, to which was attached a keychain on a white unicorn with a rainbow mane.  He crouched next to the guitar, took a red marker from his pencil case, and drew a smiley face emoji and two hearts joined together on the front.  Underneath, he added a charming text in English: "Love is love, love is freedom, love is magic."  He knew Phu wouldn't be mad at him for it, he'd asked Phu from time to time to decorate his bag, his denim katana, and recently they'd even been playing graffiti together on the walls at the Institute in Phuwin's room.  Zee wrung his hands when he saw these scribbles on the formerly white walls and loudly expressed his displeasure, to which Phu proudly replied that it was art and that P'Zee was completely ignorant of real art.

He heard a beep from his phone's loudspeaker indicating an incoming message.  It was another batch of emotes and stickers in Messenger.  A wide smile lit his face, but only for a moment.

A second later, a searing pain in his left arm reminded him of the previous day's wound.  Still, he managed to write back to Fourth in a playful tone.

Gemi: These emojis are beautiful, but I'm still hungry!!!

Gemi: HUNGRY, DO YOU HEAR?!  HUNGRY!!!

To which Fourth quickly replied:

4th: oh come on, come on, I'm about to feed you, but...

Gemi: But what?

4th: but you have to send me your picture first right now because I don't know where you are because I don't know if you're at home or at the Institute or even on some other planet

Of course, he didn't have to ask him for a picture, he could have just asked where he was and that was it, and Gemini didn't have to send us a selfie at all, and yet he did it, doing his best to show his displeasure with the fact that he was hungry.  Fourth, as soon as he received the photo, laughed merrily.

“Cute, he's really cute,” he said to himself and walked over to the cupboard where he'd placed all the ingredients he needed.  He packed it all up, made sure he locked his apartment, and got into the car he'd borrowed from New.  It was a yellow Porsche 911, a car New hated that had been given to him as part of a deal with one of his sponsors for over two months.  Fourth drove up to the house of Gemini, Dunk and Phuwin, checked in the mirror to make sure he looked good, then got out and took his bags full of food.

Meanwhile, when Fourth was on his way, Gemini's wound made itself felt more and more.  The burning turned to a dull ache.  Gem lay on his back on the bed, hoping that would help him.  It didn't help, on the contrary, it was even worse.  There were convulsions, but they stopped quickly, as if they were just a brief warning signal.  Gem got up and ran to the bathroom, stretched his left arm out in front of him, and discovered to his horror that the wound no longer looked normal.  Blood slowly oozed from a fairly wide cut in the skin, but it was very dark, much darker than normal.  The mere sight of Gemini made him want to vomit, but when he bent over the toilet bowl, only a little bile came out of his mouth.  He hadn't eaten for too long and his stomach was empty.  He turned to the sink, turned on the faucet, and washed his face and hands with cold water.  He was getting worse.  The world spun before his eyes and Gemini fell to the cool light blue tile floor.  He leaned his forehead against the cool wall and took a deep breath.

And that was the first time he got really scared.

It was bad and he knew it.  His veins felt like they were icy cold and boiling water ran through them.  It hurt.  He wanted to scream in pain, but the scream was stuck in his throat.  Big, hot, salty tears ran down his cheeks and onto the floor.

“What is happening with me?!  No, Gemini, you can't panic.  It's nothing.  It's probably hunger, Fourth will be here soon and he'll bring me something to eat, and when I eat I'm sure I'll feel better.”  A mysterious uneasiness gripped his heart, and there was only one persistent thought, as intrusive as that annoying fly he couldn't get rid of: “I'm dying... I'm so close to my goal, Fourth seems to be starting to have feelings for me too.  Zee likes me, I have great brothers, I'm part of the Institute I've always wanted to belong to... Could it be that I have to die right now?  I don't want to die!  I don't want!  Not now when everything is going so well!  Is the one who watches over us, the one who is the ruler and creator of every universe, really so cruel?  I can't die now... I don't want Fourth to suffer, and if he likes me even a little bit, he will.  Oh Angel!  Please, I'm begging for a little mercy!  Can we get a little more time together?  Angels, I beg you, have mercy on us!  Fourth, I'm scared, please come to me now.  Fourth... I'm really scared!  Where are you?!”

With considerable difficulty he got up from the floor, smoothed his wrinkled grey T-shirt, looked at himself in the mirror and took another deep breath, which this time caused the appearance of a burning pain in his chest.  Gemini curled up as if that would ease his agony.  It helped.  After a few moments, he straightened up, mentally told himself not to panic, wrapped a bandage he had taken from the cupboard next to the bathtub around his injured hand, and looked around him.  The floor and his shirt as well as the sink were stained with blood.  He grabbed a roll of paper, tore off a large amount, and began wiping it all away.  He tossed the dirty toilet paper into the toilet, flushed, and took off his bloody T-shirt to change into something fresh.  He saw a red short-sleeved shirt on the clothes rack and put it on immediately.  When he made sure that there was no trace of his little adventure anywhere, he smoothed his hair with his healthy hand, sprayed the skin on both sides of his neck with perfume, rinsed his mouth with water and went outside to wait for Fourth, who appeared only a few minutes later  and unpacked bags full of ingredients from the trunk, which could be used to prepare many tasty dishes.  Fourth, led by Gem, entered the building, but everything faded into the background when he saw Gemini's hand.

“What happened to you?”  he asked anxiously, setting the bags on the kitchen table.

“I had a little accident,” Gemini said in an unnaturally high voice, which made Fourth immediately aware that something was wrong.

“Accident?”  Fourth raised both eyebrows.

“Uhm.  Yesterday we trained with Fluke and Phuwin.  They've already gone home, and I stayed to practice a little longer, you know how much I hate being left behind, and...”

Gem tried not to look at Fourth, but glanced at him surreptitiously, expecting at least criticism and calling him thoughtless, after all, that's exactly what Phuwin told him, claiming that it would be a great lesson for him in the future.

“Poor boy...” Fourth smiled sadly and grabbed his wounded hand.  “Can I see?”

“Um,” Gem muttered in shock, and allowed the boy to slowly unwrap his bandages.  Soon they saw a long, wide cut, from which flowed some thick, dark goo that did not resemble blood at all.

“Damn it, Gem!  We must be at the Institute immediately.  Have you shown it to someone?”

“N-no...” Gemini's voice trembled as it always did when he was stressed about something.  “I-I thought it was n-nothing…”

“I'm not yelling at you or anything, don't worry,” Fourth told him calmly, knowing full well that no amount of criticism or shouting would help at the moment.  He already had experience in difficult conversations, he had to help First many times, he had to grow up faster to take care of his older brother, whose "parents" almost threw him out of their family and memory.  He sighed heavily.  It occurred to him to also take the tool that had wreaked so much havoc on Gem's body.  “Do you have that thing what did you hurt yourself by somehwere here?”

“Yeah, it's on the hall cupboard.” Gemini was the first to leave the kitchen, clutching a fresh, clean, blue towel around the wound, which turned navy blue and then black at lightning speed.  He showed Fourth a small but ornate dagger.  Fourth noticed at once that one stone was missing from it, right next to the inscription in Latin written in italics: "And he said: let there be light, dispelling the darkness of evil."

“There's nothing to wait for. We have to go to New immediately, there is a passage to our branch in his house, I'll call him and tell him to wait for us.” He informed him of his next steps, throwing the dagger into Gemini's bag he had taken from the chair.  “Did you have anything else with you yesterday?”

“Yes, a bow, a quiver, some arrows, a pistol, and that little whip that can be turned into a decorative large pencil so as not to scare the Non-Magical. It's all here.”  He opened a bright cupboard in front of them, revealing an arsenal of weapons that could be used to defend himself against both demons and unbalanced Non-Magicals.  Everything had its place, three bows, three short pistols, one tiny revolver, two swords of different sizes, one of which seemed to be made of glass and glowed with color even in the dark, and many other items Fourth could only guess at.

“Wow, that's a lot.”

“Some of this crop belongs to my grandfather, Phuwin has more in his room.”

“Okay, let's leave it for now.  Do you have a stele?”

“Yes, I carry it with me all the time, as Mr. Puttha taught us.”

“Great, I have mine too.  We'll secure your closet for now, okay?”  Fourth asked, and when Gem nodded back, he took a pen-sized piece of metal from his pocket, which lit up at his touch, revealing strange symbols hidden from their eyes that even they didn't fully understand.  Fourth closed the bright door and began to draw a familiar symbol on it, while saying aloud the formula Mr. Puttha had taught them.  It was a spell to trap anything no matter what world it came from or what it was in such a way that no one but the person who cast the spell could release it.  From now on, the cupboard has been sealed and secured until their return.  Fourth had a bad feeling.  Something was clearly wrong, and Gemini's wound only made things worse.  He took the boy's hand again and, with his bag slung over his shoulder, led them out of the building, which he locked the same way he had locked the weapon cupboard with the stele and spell.  In his mind, he prayed for only one thing: "May we make it in time, if only we make it in time...".  He had heard from Mr. Puttha that the effects of some poisons might take hours to show, but they were incurable.  He was afraid it might be the same this time.  When he entered one of the main streets, it turned out to be jammed.  Fourth nervously drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Shit!”  He cursed under his breath and looked at Gemini.  His fears turned out to be justified.  The boy next to him looked worse and worse.  The once blue towel applied to his wound was now completely black.  Gem was very pale and looked as if he was about to vomit.  Fourth knew he had no time to lose.  On the phone placed right in front of him, he dialed New's number, but out of spite, he didn't answer.

Fourth was overcome with despair.

What to do?  What to do?!

Fourth, that fearless teenager who was unafraid of anything and always took every risk, who supported First and helped him overcome his own fears and barriers in his mind, was now terrified.  Tears of disbelief and helplessness flowed from his eyes.

That New's house had to be on the other side of town too!  Why not closer?!

Fourth leaned to the side and hugged Gem as much as possible.

“Hold on, please, hold on a little longer, please, Gem...” He was sobbing now.

Fourth was afraid.  And only then did he realize that his feelings were completely sincere and true.  The fear that overpowered him made him realize that perhaps he had given his heart to Gemini a long time ago, but he didn't want to admit it even to himself.  So now, in a rush of emotion and fearing he wouldn't have a chance to tell him again, he looked up, found Gemini's eyes, and said.

“Damn it, Gem, you have to fight. You'll beat it, you hear?  You can do it.  You're strong and I can't lose you, you understand?  I can't lose you because I love you, do you hear?  Yes, I admit it, I fell in love with you, please fight, fight for me, fight for your brothers, for Phuwin, for Dunk... Do you hear?  I said that I would never say "I love you" to anyone again, I know, I said that, yes, I said that I prefer to show my feelings with actions and gestures, but if you want, I can say it to you every day, even a hundred and a thousand times a day.  Just please be strong...”

His voice broke.  He was so afraid, very much.

“My phone...” Gem whispered softly, weakening drastically fast.  So Fourth had to be right, there might be poison hidden in the dagger.

“What?”

“My phone... In my pocket”  Gemini himself tried to take the device out of the pocket of his comfortable gray tracksuits, but he was getting weaker and weaker and even such a simple operation turned out to be beyond his capabilities.  Fourth pulled out his phone.  “Call Pond.”

Fourth wanted to do it, but it turned out that the phone has a screen lock.  Fourth looked at Gemini helplessly.

“You... Birthday...” Gem whispered very quietly, touching his finger to his chest.  Fourth typed in the familiar numbers for the day and month of his birthday in a flash, found Pond's number in his contacts, and dialed it.  He didn't wonder why Gem was talking about Pond when Phuwin was his brother.  Perhaps if he hadn't been so terrified, he would have made the connection right away.

“Hello?  Pond?  This is Fourth.” He introduced himself as soon as he heard the familiar voice.  “Pond, we have a problem.  Gem is injured very badly, he's not well, we wanted to go to the passage at New's house, but New isn't answering, and we're stuck in traffic.”

“GEMS?!”  Phuwin yelled on the other end, snatching the phone from Pond's hand.  “My little brother?!  What's with him?”

“I don't know, maybe some poison, it's bad. Please, get help, or he... He will... ” This monstrous possibility, that one dramatic word, couldn't get past his throat.

“Okay, don't hang up, we'll find you.”

Fourth didn't know how Phuwin wanted to do it, but he decided to trust him, he had no other choice.  The cars in front of him and beside him moved forward, and he concentrated on driving as well.  Phuwin asked him to turn on the camera, wanting to monitor his brother's condition on an ongoing basis.  Fourth complied with this request.

Ten minutes later, though it took forever for Fourth, they made their way to a less crowded street, from which Fourth decided not to move an inch to make it easier for Phuwin to find them.

Gem was getting weaker.  He didn't say anything anymore, he breathed slowly and with difficulty, very loudly, trying with the last of his strength to keep his eyes open, even though he felt how heavy his eyelids were.  It was with great difficulty that he resisted the urge to give up, to close his eyes and let what was happening to him grab him and carry him on its wings.  He suddenly felt sleepy and tired.  Nattawat noticed this.

„Don't go away, stay with me, do you hear me?” Fourth pleaded, shaking his face.  „Please hold on, Phuwin will get help.  Phuwin will be here soon.  Stay with me.  I love you.  I'll sing you songs, I'll pose for the portraits you love to draw.  I'll be your training partner, I'll do anything for you, my most beautiful gem, just stay with me, please.  You are my smile, my joy, my dream come true and my home, my greatest gem, please be strong.”

Fourth was now saying everything his saliva brought to his tongue, he didn't hold back or think about what he was saying, it was important to speak to keep Gemini conscious as long as possible.  He reassured him and himself, though more to himself, that Phuwin and Pond would be there soon, and would be sure to notify someone at the Institute beforehand.

Gem summoned up the last of his strength, and as Fourth leaned towards him, he whispered weakly.

“I love you too, my stranger...”

Fourth's fingers tightened on the towel wrapped around Gemini's wound.  He was getting more and more nervous.  Seconds felt like hours and minutes felt like years.  Time slid very slowly, causing him indescribable pain.  He could only hope for a miracle to happen.

Less than a minute later, someone knocked on the driver's side window.  Fourth looked ahead, and as soon as he saw Pond, he immediately opened the door and jumped out.

“Gem, Gem, help him!” He shouted angrily to his friends.

Phuwin put his arm around him and pulled him aside so that he wouldn't be disturbed while Pond peered inside.  Pond put his hand to Gemini's neck, but felt only a very faint pulse, breathing now barely perceptible.  He didn't want to scare the already-crying Fourth even more, but he had no choice, he needed his cooperation to make it work.  This was not the first such action for Pond.  The difference was that now the life of his beloved's brother was at stake.  He couldn't afford even the slightest mistake.  There was no time to think.  It had to be fast, and Pond was great at that.

“Phu, take a stele and draw the entrance rune to the Institute on the door of this house,” Pond ordered, pointing to the nearest building.

“But we don't know who lives here! I don't want any problems with Non-Magicals, we can't break into someone else's house!”  Phuwin protested.

“We can't afford to waste any time either,” Pond said firmly as Fourth pulled Gemini out of the car.

“Move, unless you want to lose your brother. He's dying in case you haven't noticed.”

It worked.  Phuwin took a stele from the pocket of a white sweatshirt covered with black scribbles and began to make an intricate pattern on the red door in front of him.  He didn't remember that Mr. Puttha had told them that they could use any front door painted red or yellow as an entrance to their ward, if he had remembered that he might not have been so concerned about trespassing because houses with doors painted red or yellow were  marked as those that belong to families or people friendly to Magicians and hybrids.

They were close now, Fourth knew that, they were no more than 100 steps from the infirmary at the Institute, and it was those 100 steps that had proved fatal.  Suddenly he felt Gemini's body go limp.  He also stopped feeling his breath and aura.  Something important disappeared from sight.  But there was still a faint, somewhat ghostly smile on his lips.  It only meant one thing.

He died.

It was then that the noise became silence, and everything ceased to matter.

Death came quietly, almost without warning, taking what was most precious to him.  Gemini Norawit Titicharoenrak died in his arms, only a few steps from where Dr. Jimmy, accompanied by Off and Gun, was already waiting for them.  He carefully placed the limp, surprisingly cool body on the couch Jimmy had prepared, but he didn't want to leave the room.  He held Gemini's hand the whole time.

„No, Gem, please, don't do that to me, I love you. I love you so much! Whyyyyy?! Why does it have to happen?! Why it has to be you, my Gem? Why can't it be someone else? I need you because I love you, I need you with me. Come back, please, come back, my Gem, my beautiful rockstar, my handsome boy, I love you, Gem, I love you, do you hear?” He cried very loud, didn't wanting to let go of Gem's hand.

Jimmy and Phuwin had to force him out. Jimmy told them that from now on he'll do everything to help Gem.

„Help? How are you gonna help him?!” — Fourth asked in his thoughts. — „He's dead, you can't bring back to life a dead person, you can't. It's impossible. I've lost him! I've lost him again!”

Fourth couldn't believe what had happened.  It didn't reach him.  Just an hour earlier they had been sending funny messages to each other, and two days earlier he had been on the verge of telling him the truth about his feelings.

And now it was all too late.

Too late for the grief that almost pinned him to the ground.  A heavy lion awoke in his chest and began tearing at his heart, which was torn into thousands of pieces.  He wanted to scream, he wanted to run ahead, to run until his feet peeled off, his lungs burned like fire, until there was nothing left in him but an empty shell called flesh.

“I love you Gemini... I want to say it to you again, give me a chance to say it to you again...” He whispered to himself, picking at the skin on his hands.  He regretted that he had waited so long, he regretted that he had run away from Norawit earlier, that he had not wanted to know him at first.  He regretted that they wasted so much time that no one would give them back.  He thought about what he had lost and couldn't stop calling himself an idiot in his mind.

Joong, Dunk, New, Zee, First, Khaotung, and Nat, who was curious and wanting to know everything, quickly appeared in the corridor, but the boss quickly sent the elf back to his activities.  Fourth, tears welling up, stared blankly at them with tragically beautiful brown eyes filled with pain neither of them could understand.  Fourth had a grudge against himself and a grudge against the world.  He thought it was unfair.  Bad people, murderers, mafia, criminals live a long time, some quite peacefully, and meanwhile this good soul that was Gemini, this funny boy who could make everyone laugh, paint a smile on every face, who was slightly naive by nature because of his good heart, he hadn't even gotten a chance to know what it was like to be an adult, and as far as Fourth knew about him, he hadn't even had a chance to kiss anyone or be in a relationship.  Fourth hated the whole world right now.  His pain enveloped everything else in a black mist.  All he had left was suffering and longing.

❤️🖤🤍🤎💙💚💛💜

Sorry for this chapter but...

Holy shit, we really need it to explain something that's going to happen later.

Sorry.

I have a strange habit of killing off my favorite characters... Maybe it's because I want to protect them in this way, believing that if they die young in the story, they will actually live happily ever after.  I don't know, so far everyone I wrote about is rather in good health, so let's assume it works 😉❤️

Yes, I know, I'm stupid.

Sorry again.