​His ears were ringing with her fading voice, his eyes glued to the deadly device in his hands. ​

"Leeteuk,” Kyuhyun said, with a chill in his voice that was normally reserved for anyone who attacked them. The wizard glanced over to see the elf with his hand on his sword hilt. “How did She know your name?” ​

Donghae’s stance was threatening was well, shoulders drawn back, eyes narrowed. Leeteuk knew how fast he could draw his throwing knives and just how accurate his aim was. He hated being on the receiving end of that suspicion. ​

It was time to stop running from the past. ​

"It’s a long story, Kyuhyun.” ​

"We have time,” the elf replied. ​

“We don’t. The others are still trapped in the maze and Amaya’s friend-”

The wizard took a step forward and Donghae warily took a step back. ​Leeteuk sighed. “Look. I need you guys to trust me.” ​

"Can we?” asked Kyuhyun. ​

"You’ve trusted me for a long time.” ​

"She called you Her friend,” Donghae retorted. ​

"She was never my friend,” Leeteuk replied.

​“Liar!” Donghae hollered. “This was your plan all along, right? You were planning to bring Amaya to Taeyeon all this time!” ​

“No, I-” ​

Before he could finish the sentence, Leeteuk was slammed against the wall, Donghae’s hand closing around his windpipe. ​

The rogue was hollering something, but Leeteuk couldn’t make it out, not with his mind crying for air. The apple tumbled to the ground as he clawed at the fingers tightening around his throat.

​“You should come with me! I’m Leeteuk.” ​

“I’m T-taeyeon…” ​

As spots flashed into his vision, Leeteuk caught a glimpse of Kyuhyun’s distressed face. Leeteuk could only imagine how that felt, to feel betrayed by one of the few people he’d allowed himself to trust again… ​

She squeezed even more tightly and Leeteuk choked. “I was waiting for you to come for me. You said we were family!” ​

“We are!” he burst out. ​

"So why didn’t you come for me?” she screamed.

​“I tried to! I couldn’t find you!” he managed to yell.

​“NO!” ​

Summoning the rest of his focus, Leeteuk generated a blast of air that knocked Donghae away from him. The rogue’s nails tore into his neck as Donghae stumbled back, while the wizard clutched at his throat and gasped for air. ​

"Donghae, please,” Leeteuk panted. “I swear, on my life, I’m not working with Taeyeon. I knew her a very long time ago, but we’re not friends. I haven’t seen her in decades.” ​

Kyuhyun’s hand finally dropped away from his sword after studying Leeteuk for a long time and nodded. “He’s not lying,” he announced. “He’s looking us in the eye.” ​

“Thank you, Kyuhyun,” Leeteuk wheezed, pulling at the neck of his tunic and inhaling deeply. ​

“You’re sure?” Donghae asked. ​

"I'm sure. He's telling the truth,” Kyuhyun replied. “At least, for now.” He turned back to the wizard and tilted his head thoughtfully. “If you knew her a long time ago, you’d know something about her magic, right? How can we beat it?” ​

"It’s not as simple as that,” Leeteuk replied. “Magic is an exchange. With the magic I do, when I learn a spell, I lose some time off my life.” ​

"What?” Donghae stared. ​

"Time for magic is the price of magic I perform,” Leeteuk explained. “Things like manipulating earth and air, water and fire, creating illusions. All things that don’t violate the natural order of the world. But Taeyeon’s magic is different. It does violate the natural order of the world. And so, she pays a different price. Information.” ​

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow as the words registered slowly. “Information? Like what?” ​

"Memories, emotions, anything that is unique to the human experience,” Leeteuk replied. “Few people do magic because it has a heavy price either way: You can perform Light magic and shorten your lifespan, or you can perform Dark magic and slowly turn into an empty human shell.” ​

He smiled sadly. “With all the spells that she’s been learning, she’s not the same person I once knew.” ​

"So you don’t know a thing about her…whatever you called it kind of magic,” Kyuhyun sighed. ​

Leeteuk shook his head. “Not yet.”

"How did you know her, Leeteuk?” Donghae asked. He was still unwilling to let go of that. Leeteuk understood; he’d hid his acquaintance with the enemy and it was awfully suspicious. ​

"We trained under the same master,” Leeteuk replied. “We were both taught Light magic, the one that didn’t disturb nature. I’m not sure where she picked up Dark magic, but she’s become quite proficient. I think, though, that there is a way for me to reverse the foldspace.” ​

Ignoring Kyuhyun’s questioning glance, he turned and headed back out into the hallway, walking straight up to the portrait that they’d emerged from. He placed his hands on it, but nothing happened. The portal into the foldspace had closed. It had to be a one-way portal. ​

He closed his eyes and imagined flipping it inside out. He envisioned his friends tumbling out of the Mirror Maze to safety, as lint tumbles out of an inverted pocket. ​

Presently, he felt the tendrils of magic touch his mind, just as it always did when he attempted a new trick. Empty the foldspace, he thought. Turn it inside out. Destroy it.

And then came the pain of payment. It was easy to pay for magic with life- the magic it up greedily and left him with the new knowledge. But he’d never attempted Dark magic before and he wasn’t quite sure how it worked. ​

Screwing his eyes up tightly, he conjured up one of his oldest memories and silently hoped that it would be acceptable.   ​

Sunny days were the worst, Leeteuk thought as he trudged through the forest plucking herbs and grasses out of the ground. Sunny days meant he had to go plant hunting, because only when it was sunny out did most of the plants his master required peek out of the ground. When the sky was overcast, the plants huddled in the earth, living off the supplies of food they had made and stored away. ​

“Stupid, cheerful sun,” muttered Leeteuk. “Stupid plants. Stupid-” ​

A glimmer of purple caught his eye and he turned towards it. He gave a little jump of excitement as he realized what it was: a rare flower that his master had spent years searching for. Perhaps his master would be pleased with this and he would get to learn some new spells. It had been a while since he’d last been allowed to study- ​

"Get out of here!” a shrill voice squeaked and he started out of his thoughts to see a girl brandishing a dagger at him. “I said, get out!” ​

Instinctively, he raised his palm and swept his hand to the side, causing a pebble to fly up and knock into the girl’s hand. It couldn’t have hurt, but she was startled enough to drop the dagger. Now that he looked carefully, she was tiny. She had to be younger than him.

​“W-what are you?” she whispered.

​Curious, he cast a glance at their surroundings, taking in the small wooden cottage with a single window and thatch roof. It was dark and gloomy, but its inhabitants had attempted to brighten up the place by planting flowers around it. Or rather… ​

"Do you live here by yourself?” Leeteuk asked the girl, who was still staring at him fearfully.

​“H-how did you d-do that?” she stammered. ​

“Uh, it’s nothing,” he replied, mentally cursing himself. He was lucky this girl didn’t seem to know what magic was; lesson number one under his master had always been to keep his magic a secret. “Are you alone here?” The girl hesitated for a moment, and then dipped her head a fraction. “Why?”

​At this, the girl’s eyes filled with tears and she blubbered, “My parents-” ​

"Don’t cry!” Leeteuk nearly yelped, but this only served to make the girl sob harder. Fumbling in his pockets, he found the cloth he usually used to wipe dew and water off plants. He practically threw it in her face. ​

"Thanks,” she sniffled, dabbing at her eyes. ​

As far as Leeteuk knew, he was the only kid who lived with his master instead of his parents. But this girl didn’t live with anyone and that didn’t seem right to him. “Hey! It’s okay if you don’t have parents.” ​

The girl stared at him as if he were insane. “R-really?” she asked. ​

He nodded enthusiastically, a grin lighting up his face as a new idea came to him. “You know what? You should come with me!” He held out his hand. “I’m Leeteuk.”

​The girl seemed to think about it forever before she finally returned his smile with a shy one of her own. “I’m T-taeyeon.” ​

He smiled, taking her hand and turning to leave, babbling all the while about how much fun it would be and how much she would like his master. He didn’t, however, forget to take the purple flower along with him.   ​

"-done! It’s done, Leeteuk, you can stop!” Leeteuk’s eyes flew open as he felt someone pull him away from the portrait. He opened his eyes to see Donghae staring at him in concern. In his mind, he saw the Maze collapsing, rows of mirrors toppling one after the other, knocking each other over and smashing into thousands of blinding bright shards. They chimed as they struck each other, each collision producing sparks of crystal and glass. ​

And there was Amaya, huddled on the stone floor, looking bewildered as she stared at the headless suit of armor before her. Slowly, she turned her head and gasped when she saw them. ​

Just a few feet away from her was Sungmin, his black wings plastered against his back. He was unconscious, a trickle of blood dripping down his forehead. Kyuhyun finally released his sword and bent over the shapeshifter, shaking his shoulder to rouse him. ​

“Are you alright?” Leeteuk asked Amaya and she nodded, still looking confused.

​“How did we get here?” she asked. ​

“I inverted the foldspace,” Leeteuk replied. ​

"You can do that?” ​

"I just learned how.” ​

Donghae touched his shoulder and the wizard smiled at him. “What did you trade to gain that knowledge?” he asked quietly, as Amaya joined Kyuhyun in trying to wake Sungmin up.

​A flash of purple, warm light, a hint of a smile…bit by bit, it faded from Leeteuk’s mind and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to recall it no matter how hard he tried. He shrugged. “I don’t remember.”   ​

The crystal teacup cracked as she reached for it, and crumbled to dust before her eyes. She smiled. ​

“What have I told you, Leeteuk? True power is too delicious to resist. You’re no different than me.”   ​

"There’s no one here,” Sungmin announced, the words made difficult by his wolfish fangs, as he sniffed the air. “The entire castle is empty.”

​Leeteuk cursed and shook his head. He’d been furious when Sungmin told him that he, Shindong, and Yesung had been attacked by a cat-like monster, and Amaya had described Eunhyuk’s disappearance. ​

"So where are they?” Donghae demanded. ​

The answer came to Leeteuk’s mind instantly, though he wasn’t sure where it had come from. “There’s a cottage that she stays at. It can’t be too far from here. Perhaps she collects her prisoners at the castle and brings them to the cottage for safekeeping?” ​

"This castle is a trap,” Kyuhyun murmured. “Anyone looking her would come here first.” ​

"Then let’s go,” Amaya replied. She’d been quiet ever since telling her story; he could see that she felt guilty for losing Eunhyuk. ​

They made their way out of the castle with little difficulty and rappelled down the cliff. Siwon immediately trotted up with Ryeowook the moment they were spotted, though Ryeowook’s delighted face had fallen upon seeing how few of them had come back. “Are the others on their way?” he asked, but Leeteuk shook his head. ​

"They’ve been captured.”

​Siwon’s eyes widened as Ryeowook’s bottom lip trembled. “We’ll find them,” Kyuhyun replied as he squeezed the smaller elf’s shoulder with a tenderness he usually lacked. “Don’t worry.” ​

Leeteuk turned to the shapeshifter, who nodded shortly and rose into the sky without needing to be told to search for the cottage. ​

“Were you close, Leeteuk?” Amaya asked suddenly. He frowned, trying to read her meaning by asking that question. ​

"Close to who?” Siwon asked, but Leeteuk ignored him. It had been so many years since he’d thought about Taeyeon; he’d tried to forget all about her. Had they been close, at one point?   ​

"But why can’t she learn the spells I’m learning?” Leeteuk protested. He knew that Taeyeon had an aptitude for magic that matched, or even exceeded, his. ​

Master merely narrowed his eyes at the young wizard. “Because she is not ready yet,” was his only reply as he stalked off to tend a purple flower, as he did every single day. ​

Leeteuk went outside, where Taeyeon was dutifully practicing her illusions by bending light in arcs. “He said no.”

​“I told you he would,” she sighed. “He doesn’t like girls.”

​“What? That’s not true!” ​

"Think about it, Leeteuk.” She sat on the ground and tucked her feet under her, running her fingers through her curly hair. “You’ve only been training under him a year before me, but you started learning to manipulate solid matter three years ago. And now you’re on fluid matter, and I’m still doing this.” She punctuated her statement by shooting the light into the ground and letting it bounce back up. ​

He squatted down and traced the path of the light she was bending with his fingertip. “Why would he treat girls differently, though? It doesn’t make sense.” ​

“He probably thinks I’d be eager to show off and impress people if I learned new skills,” she replied. “But that’s stupid. I know just as well as you do that our powers are supposed to be kept secret, protected with our lives.” ​

Leeteuk sighed, hating the accusatory tone creeping into her voice. He couldn’t blame her for being envious of the wizard’s favoritism for him, but at the same time, it wasn’t his fault. To direct her anger away from him, he blurted out, “Why don’t I teach you?” ​

Taeyeon raised her head in surprise and the beam of light she was controlling shot off, bouncing into a pool of water and rocketing back towards the sky. “What do you mean?” ​

Her friend jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth, his steps increasing in speed as his excitement grew. “I could teach you everything the master’s been teaching me!”

​“You’re insane!” she snapped, but she was grinning, delighted with the offer. “He’ll kill us if he ever found out.” ​

“He would,” Leeteuk agreed. “Which is why he won’t.” ​

She looked both amused and horrified at the same time. “Leeteuk…you could get in so much trouble for doing this!” ​

"But I want to!” he insisted. “It’s only right. After all, we’re like family.” She beamed.   ​

The wizard smiled slightly. “Yes, I suppose you could say that.” ​

Amaya narrowed her eyes and nodded her head curtly. “So what happened?” Donghae asked.

​This part, Leeteuk remembered clearly. He still carried the guilt and anger with him. It’s funny, he thought. It’s so easy to remember the bad things and forget the good. ​

"What she perceived as betrayal,” Leeteuk replied. “I wronged her.”   ​

The shattering of glass silenced any protests the young apprentices might have had. “You go behind my back, against my strict orders, and learn magic you are not ready for,” Master growled, cold eyes fixated on Taeyeon. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kick you out of my house right now!” ​

"It’s not her fault!” Leeteuk burst out. “She didn’t ask me to teach her! I wanted to! I-” ​

"Silence!” Master snapped, slamming his fist on the table. He clapped his hands together and held them out towards Taeyeon, eyes closed in concentration. Taeyeon tried to run, but a huge gust of wind tore through the room. Leeteuk closed his eyes as books flapped past him, his hair whipping into his face. When he opened his eyes again, Taeyeon was gone and his master was stalking out of the room. ​

"Taeyeon!” he called out hopelessly. “Taeyeon?” He cursed out loud when there was no response, and kicked Master’s desk. ​

"I’ll find you, Taeyeon,” he murmured. “I swear it. I’ll find you wherever you are and bring you back, I promise.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he felt his shoulders shake. “We’re family, remember?” ​

A spot suddenly appeared on his tunic as his eyes seemed to blur. It took Leeteuk a moment to realize that he was crying.   ​

Sungmin halted in midair, then slowly lighted to the ground, changing back to his normal form. “I found it,” he announced. “Or at least, I think I did. It’s not too far from here. Come on.” He turned and headed into the woods, tramping through the trees. Siwon trotted alongside him, with Ryeowook still on his back. The horse e eye towards Sungmin, keeping the other eye on the road ahead, and the elf eagerly leaned forward to listen. Leeteuk didn’t have to ask to know what they were whispering about. ​

Ten years of searching, ten years of tears, ten years of pain. And all that time, he’d failed to realize that she was right beside him, trapped in one of Master’s spells. His first experience with Dark  magic. An awful introduction to an immoral power. It had disgusted him. ​

But it had captivated Taeyeon.   ​

“Leeteuk.”

​It had been ten years, but he still remembered her voice. “Taeyeon?” he gasped, turning around to see her standing as quietly as a shadow behind him. His face lit up in a grin as he moved towards her. “Taeyeon, you’re here! What happened? Where were you?” ​

She brushed off his embrace and took a few steps back. His smile faltered, but he shrugged it off. She was probably just tired. “Look at you! You haven’t aged a bit!”

​“Haven’t aged a bit?” Her eyes widened with something foreign and wild; it sent chills up his spine as he backed away from the intensity of her glare. “How many years has it been? How many?” she shrieked, when he hesitated. ​

"T-ten,” he replied. “It’s been ten years.”

​“Ten years,” she repeated. “No, it’s been an eternity. An eternity in hell!” ​

He gagged as he was tossed backwards. She stretched her hand out and closed it around something as Leeteuk felt something tighten around his throat. He coughed. “S-stop it, Taeyeon. I-I can’t b-breathe…” ​

"I spent an eternity in there! Floating in empty space, with nothing around me. I wanted to kill myself, but I couldn’t even do that!”

​She squeezed even more tightly and Leeteuk choked. “I was waiting for you to come for me. You said we were family!” ​

"We are!” he burst out. ​

"So why didn’t you come for me?” she screamed. ​

“I tried to! I couldn’t find you!” he managed to yell. ​

"NO!” ​

And suddenly, he fell to his knees, gasping for air as he clutched at his throat. She was breathing hard as she looked at her hand. “No, not yet. That’s not the way.” And then she vanished into thin air. Leeteuk gaped. When had she learned to do that? ​

And what was she planning now? Whirling around, he dashed outside, where he knew that Master would be tending to that flower. ​

It was too late, though, when he got there. Taeyeon was smiling over the corpse of their former mentor, twirling his precious purple flower between her fingers. ​

"What have you done?” he gasped.

​“He’s been searching for all this time on how to use this flower,” she murmured, “when I’ve known about it all along. Do you know what this is? It’s an Aeturnus Eternica, the Everlasting Morning Star. It’s a flower that grants eternal life.” Her lips curled into a cruel smirk. “But only when the pollen is ingested in the proper dose.” ​

"Taeyeon, this isn’t like you,” Leeteuk protested desperately. ​

“Hell can change a person, Leeteuk. It’s your turn.” ​

Holding the flower in front of her, she blew out a quick breath of air, splashing him with the yellow dust. Leeteuk coughed as specks of pollen landed in his mouth and nose. ​

She smiled, eyes flashing with excitement. “You’re immortal now. Just like me.” ​

"What have you done?” he demanded. ​

“It’s not what I’ve done,” she replied. “It’s what you didn’t do.” Her smile dropped and she glared at him. “Because we both know that you were the one at fault.”   ​

"Is that it?” Donghae asked suddenly, pointing to a small house up ahead.

​“It might be,” Leeteuk nodded. ​

Sungmin fiddled with the swords at his belt, while Ryeowook, riding on Siwon’s back, notched an arrow in his bow. As they approached the door, however, it swung open on its own.

​“Come in.” ​

Against her better judgment, Amaya stepped forward, squinting as her eyes adjusted from the sunlight to a few dim lanterns hanging around the room. ​

“I’ve been expecting you.” ​

Blood-red lips were tightened in a smile. Long fingernails brushed through curly hair as black as her heart. Her porcelain skin shone in the light, revealing a heart-shaped face. ​

She had the beauty that every woman envied. Her face would lead to malicious gossip about her for no other reason besides simple jealousy. She carried herself with an air that rose above all petty resentment and hinted at the dangerous persona lying beneath that delicate demeanor. She was beautiful. Deadly. ​

Amaya narrowed her eyes. “Taeyeon.”

A/N: I'm finally done with the rewrites! Next chapter posted will be a new one! That is, assuming I ever get to it.