San fell into place behind Yunho and Mingi, fully accepting that they were indispensable. He'd always been impressed by the few bits of magic Wooyoung had showed him, but seeing Mingi just now was incredible.

It was also what reassured him that they needed Mingi if they were going to save Wooyoung.

The group of five hurried forward. They stayed crouched over with their hands raised in front of them, except Jongho, who still had his baseball bat.

Immediately around them was what appeared to be a well kept garden. Fairy lights blinked in the trees, grass and flowers swayed in the slight breeze, and there were fountains and ponds artfully added to make the area serene and beautiful.

There was no sign of any guards around, or anyone else for that matter. San didn't know if that was a good thing or not, he was just thankful that his mind was allowing him to be hyper focused.

"He's that way." Mingi whispered. He nodded his head to the left, drawing their attention to a large, white building that looked like it had been added on several decades after the main building was construction.

The sight made San's blood boil. It reminded him of the labs at the aquarium... If he found out his love was being experimented on again, he would be out for blood.

He had already prepared himself for that, it it wasn't going to make it any less painful.

They reached the building and found the back door without any issues, although Mingi did have to melt the lock so they could get inside.

After telling the fairies to wait outside, to which they threw tiny yet adorable fits before grumpily agreeing, San's first instinct was to look for an alarm panel so they could disable it. He didn't want to alert the workers inside of their presence, but then he realized it wouldn't have mattered.

Chaos had already erupted inside the building.

People in long white coats were running down the hall and into a large room while barking orders. A few yellow rotating lights rotted on the ceiling, indicating some other alert had been triggered.

"N-No..." Mingi gasped. He clutched at his heart and fell back into Yunho's arms.

Before anyone could ask what was wrong, one voice powered over all other sounds. It was filled with rage and urge fury.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! GET HIM ON THE MACHINE NOW! I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU IF HE DIES!!"

All the blood drained from San's face faster than he could blink. Then he was running. No thought, no conscious awareness, just the need to hurry.

"Wait, San!" Yeosang called from behind him.

But there was no way he could stop. He blocked out all of his senses except his sight.

The staff around him were so deep in their panic that they didn't notice him right away. This allowed him to enter the room unhindered and spin in a couple of circles.

He was able to pick out a large tank in one corner that had something inside it, a few doors, and a hoard of people shoving their way through a set of double doors.

His shoes squeaked against the hard floor when he forced himself to stop.

There. Amidst the swarming white. The smallest flash of purple.

San's heart thudded painfully in his ears, although it didn't cover the next round of shouting.

"HURRY UP! YOU IDIOTS!"

"What do we do?" Mingi asked, making San jump with how suddenly he appeared. He looked like he was in pain, although his eyes burned with hatred.

"Can you do something about the people in there?" When he got a nod, San turned to his friends. "Stay close, I think I saw his tail, we might have to carry him out."

Both Yeosang and Jongho nodded, but Yeosang leaned to the side and his forehead creased. "What... is that?"

Their group of five all turned to look at the large fish tank. San was baffled. It was an octopus... slamming repeatedly into the glass.

Yunho was the first to react. He ran forward and used his long legs to launch himself up so he could haul himself up and over the side of the tank. "There's a metal thing covering it. She can't get out!"

"Just leave her, we don't have time!" San hissed, glancing back at the double doors.

Every single member on staff had to be in there and every second they delayed was one more second they could be hurting Wooyoung.

"See if you can use the amulet, then come help us." Mingi said before turning to focus on the doors.

Even though they were inside, a breeze picked up. It swirled around the room, getting stronger and stronger as the seconds passed.

The prince lifted his arms in from o him, fingers spread wide and palms facing the doors. His red hair waved elegantly and he almost looked like he could be glowing.

Then, both things happening at the same time, he snapped his fingers together and flicked his wrists so his fingers were pointed at the doors. The breeze, more like a strong wind now, followed the same direction and threw the doors open violently.

Inside the room, every person in the wind's path was thrown to the sides with surprised or pained screams.

The sudden change revealed a table at the center of the room, with one man standing at the head of it.

And Wooyoung strapped down in front of him.

San saw red.

With an uncharacteristically mighty roar, he charged forward.

"GET THEM!" The man yelled, looking around the room with a crazed look in his eyes.

A few guards worked to untangle themselves from the mess of bodies, only to be forced down again by another flick of Mingi's wrists.

The man gasped, his eyes widening with a mixture of fear and shock.

Unfortunately, he was still aware enough to reach over and grab what looked like a razor blade off a nearby try and hold it against Wooyoung's neck. "Stop!" He shouted, his voice powerful and commanding.

San forced himself to stop, despite how desperately his body, his mind, and his heart begged to free Wooyoung and get him out of here...

The wind shifted at the same time, blowing so that it still kept the other men and women pushed against the sides of the room. Mingi tilted is head down, glaring darkly at the man in front of him. "Release him. Now. This is your only chance."

"What are you?" The man asked, his eyes appraising Mingi like he was some kind of prize to be won. "Are you like him? Have you come to rescue your prince?"

That made Mingi falter. His hands lowered a little and he opened his mouth to answer.

"Yes." San said quickly, cutting Mingi off. From everything Wooyoung had taught him, he knew merfolk were honest and accepting, so he didn't want to risk Mingi ruining whatever protection Wooyoung had given himself by lying. "Now give him back!"

The man's eyes narrowed when they flicked to study San. "I know you..." A few seconds passed, then a fire ignited in the black, bottomless orbs. "You! You are the one who stole him from the aquarium! I'll have you imprisoned, you filthy little thief!!"

San growled, his lip curling up in a sneer. "He's not your property."

"I bought him from those fishermen, so yes. He is. And if you take ONE MORE STEP, I will slit his throat!"

"No you won't." Yeosang jumped in, once again drawing the man's eyes. "Seeing as you know what he is and spent what I'm sure was a considerable amount of money on all of this, it would be foolish to do that, don't you think?" Yeosang's deadpan tone made the statement even more insulting than if someone else had said it.

Yet the man smiled. A wicked, truly evil smile that sent a chill down San's spine. "What's your name, Pretty?"

"It's 'I'm not interested in a psychotic nut job who gets off on imprisoning innocent creatures and threatening their lives'." Yeosang crossed his arms and sniffed. "Now give us back our friend before things get worse for you."

"I like your spirit." The man laughed. Clearly this was some kind of game to him.

Then a surprised cry came from behind them.

Yunho had a shorter man in front of him. He held both the man's arm behind his back and was using them to push him forward.

San would have been impressed, but he had to pause for a second to register the fact that the octopus was floating next to Yunho's head in a sphere of water. He shook his own head and glanced back at Wooyoung's captor.

He looked livid.

"Let him go, and I'll give you back your man." Yunho said, shoving his captive forward again.

"You worthless piece of shit."

"I-I-I'm sorry, Sir. I-" the shorter man started to say, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

The man at the head of the table scoffed and shook his head. "He means nothing o me. If you want your prince to live, then leave. NOW!"

"But he's already dying!" Mingi's deep voice reverberated around the room.

San barely had a chance to let the statement sink in, panic now coursing through his veins, before he reacted.

He threw all caution to the wind, pushing his body forward to charge at the man. It felt like he was running through molasses. Each stretch of his muscles, each thud of his feet against the ground, each whoosh of air being forced from his lungs, he felt them all.

The man started to say something, probably another warning, but the words never left his mouth.

A powerful gust of wind slammed into his side, making him stumble and drop the razor he had been holding.

San bent over to tackle the man around the waist. They both rolled away and San began to grapple with him, trying to gain the upper hand.

Nails scrapped quickly against his cheek, leaving behind lines of fire.

He landed a punch right by his opponent's eye, loving the way his head flexed beneath his fingers.

They rolled again, becoming a tangle of flailing arms and legs.

"S-San!" Mingi called from somewhere behind him. "I c-can't..." It sounded like he was gritting his teeth.

Once quick glance allowed San to see that Mingi was still using his magic to keep the other people at bay. He must be getting weak...

San's time was running out.

He clasped his hands together and drove them down, connecting with the base of the man's neck.

An awful choking sound followed, but San didn't wait to see what happened. He ran to join Yeosang and Jongho at the table where they were making quick work of the straps holding Wooyoung down.

"Woo? Baby, open your eyes." San stopped next to his head an leaned over him.

The merman was pale... So, so pale. All the color had left his skin and his tail was a sickly gray.

And he didn't respond.

"What's wrong with him?!" San cried, his voice cracked with the strain. He desperately wanted to look at Mingi or Yunho, but the thought of dragging his gaze away from his precious Wooyoung was too much to handle.

"Step aside!"

The three humans turned to see the man that Yunho had grabbed running toward them with a vile filled with white liquid.

"MOVE!" He shouted again when San shifted to block him.

It was Yunho that made it happen by grabbing San's arm and pulling hard. "Let Hongjoong try." He whispered to silence San's protests.

San knew he should have questioned how Yunho suddenly knew the man's name or why they should trust him, but all thoughts stopped when the white liquid was poured in a long line on Wooyoung's chest and down his tail.

The liquid immediately started to glow, flashing for a second before soaking into Wooyoung's body.

His skin instantly regained some of his color and the purple hue crept back into his tail.

"It's not much, but it should be enough to get him out of here." Hongjoong said, glancing at where his boss was rolling onto his knees, clutching at his own throat and coughing violently. "You need to go, now."

"T-Traitor!" His boss tried to yell, although it came out as more of a croak.

"Hurry!" Hongjoong urged, trembling where he stood.

San didn't want to push their luck. He finished freeing Wooyoung from his bonds and lifted the merman from the table with the help of his friends.

The déjà vu that hit him was strong as the three of them awkwardly ran from the room. Despite how heavy Wooyoung was in this form, they were determined to move as quickly as they could. No one wanted to voice their fear of what would happen if they were caught.

Behind them, Mingi groaned from strain while the wind started to pick up speed once more. "Yun... ho... Go!"

Footsteps followed the command, then Wooyoung became a little lighter when Yunho grabbed a large portion of his tail.

They ran.

They ran as fast as they could will their legs to carry them, and even then they pushed themselves harder so they didn't stop.

They ran back down the hallway, through the gardens, carefully maneuvered Wooyoung through the hole in the wall, and out to the car.

At some point the fairies came and joined them, twittering rapidly as if trying to urge them to keep going. They flitted down to Wooyoung, taking turns grazing their fingers across is skin and leaving behind trails of sparkling light.

Just as they were about to reach the car, Yunho cried out and froze in place.

"What are you doing?" San called, his words traveling through his mind in slow motion as he cried out and looked over his shoulder.

He instantly understood why Yunho had stopped.

The building they had just fled from... The building that Wooyoung had been imprisoned in...

It was on fire.