Kris' POV

"What happened?" He asked Tao. A moment ago they were running through the forest in the pitch dark and now they were in a place surrounded by a brilliant glow. He peered closer at the strange sources of light. He had seen the pictures of the scene before him only in books. 

"Tao! Tell me we aren't where I think we are?" 

He glanced at me sideways, giving me an impish grin. "Ge, I'm sorry. But you wouldn't have come along if I had told you where we were going." 

"Damn right I wouldn't! Who in their right mind would come to the human world? And how did we even come here?" I tried restraining my voice, but it came out in a yell anyways. 

Tao looked down. "I'm really sorry, ge. It was wrong of me to bring you here without telling you, but I needed someone to come with me and you are the only one among the twelve that I trust." 

As much as I hated it, some of my anger melted away when he said that. I had a soft spot for the guy, and he damn well knew it. 

Looking around I could see tall buildings made of glass. In fact we were on top of one. I walked over to the side, peering down. Really Tao? Of all the places he could have portalled us, it had to on top of a... 

"Are we on what humans call a skyscraper? How did we get here?"

"You know yesterday after training how I stayed behind to practice a bit more?"

"Yes."

"Well I was leaving the practice hall, it was late, when I overheard voices. I decided to listen in. I was just curious. It was that Kai and of course where Kai is D.O is also nearby. They were talking to the professor. I overheard an interesting little tale. You know how 50 years ago the deaths started? Well there was a reason for it. It wasn't just some curse bestowed from the Gods like what people were conspiring. The source of life was stolen." 

"Hold on what? Stolen? How does one steal the source?" 

"Well stolen, harmed, destroyed, I don't think anyone knows what happened, but something went wrong and the presence of the source of life disappeared from our planet. The professor had a very interesting theory as to where the source could be found..." Tao was looking to the horizon.

"Earth? You're trying to say that the reason our planet has been for war for so many years, why so many people are dying, is because someone stole the source of life?" 

Tao's silence was answer enough. No one really knew what the source of life was, but it was common knowledge that it was guarded from generations by the Royal Family. Of the thirteen branches, the Royal family had always ruled over the entire Exo planet. Including our twelve kingdoms. The regions of our planet were divided into thirteen. One for the Royal Family and twelve, one for each kingdom. Eighteen years ago, the queen fell into a deep unnatural sleep just before giving birth to the new heir. Apparently her eyes turned black. Her heart continued to beat, but she wasn't breathing. They were able to remove the child from her womb, but the child was a stillborn. The last heir of the Royal Family was dead and the queen was in coma. 

This was only the beginning of the deaths. Soon a pregnant women in the north kingdom was found under the same conditions: eyes black, not breathing, but heart was still beating. Then one from my own kingdom. And then another. Fear spread through our land like wildfire. Chaos followed. The thirteenth kingdom was in ruins. The remaining twelve kingdoms began to crumble and split into two alliances. The Ks, and the Ms. 

"Ge, we need to find the source before a K finds it. Who knows what will happen to our land if they find it." 

I sighed. He said was right. 

"Let's find the source of Life." 

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Jewel's POV

"...There are twelve kingdoms left now. The Royal Family is struggling to maintain some sort of order within the walls of their kingdom. When the deaths began people were terrified. The kingdoms became isolated to keep the curse from reaching their lands. Although with time it was evident that the curse had already spread. Fights broke out between kingdoms. Women were not getting pregnant for fear of the Black Death. 30 years went by. People began to give up hope. They feared that the gods were punishing them. Then it happened. A women got pregnant, and successfully gave birth to a baby boy. This women, she wasn't just a civilian, she was the lady of the North Kingdom. Which meant, their kingdom finally had an heir. 

Seeing this, the Southern lady and lord also took their chances. And once again, a successful boy was born. Within the year, nine more princes were born. The lady of the twelveth region tried to have an heir too, but she was not so lucky. People of the Exo planet began to hope again. However, things have still not returned to their natural order. The 11 princes had strange powers. They had gifts or curses, whatever you want to call it. One could freeze things, while another could freeze time. One could conjure up water, while another could create fire. One could control the winds, and another could fly. One could call down lightning, one could generate light. One could levitate objects and one could teleport from places to places. The last Prince was blessed with healing powers. Our world had not seen powers like these in ages. These princes were celebrated. We were celebrated. People thought we could bring peace to our land. And we finally have a chance too. All we have to do is fin the source of life that was taken from our planet. Supposedly it is here on your planet. It is in the form of a tree. A tree of life. We need it back. We need before our planet is destroyed. There is already a gap between generations. There are only twelve men in the new generation. People are too afraid to bear children. Our population will die out if something does not change." Kai was solemn as he told his story. D.O had not said a word. He was looking out the window at the occasional strangers whom walked by. 

"You said that there are eleven princes. But then you said that there are twelve men that in your generation..." I turned to D.O, "And your power, it does not match the descriptions that Kai gave... I'm confused." 

D.O did not speak for a long time and I didn't think I was going to get an answer, but then he spoke. 

"I am not a prince. I was born on a farm in the country of my region. My region has no heir, so my birth was extremely important. I was taken from my family and trained to become the next King of our kingdom. I was blessed with a gift too. Mine is the gift of strength and earth. I am the illegitimate Prince," His voice was a deep whisper that betrayed no emotion. Slow and timid like he was deciding whether or not to continue. 

My heart tugged. He may not care, but I could relate to his story more than he knew.

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Kai's POV 

I stared at D.O. For as long as I had known him, he had never said those words out loud. 

Illegitimate Prince. 

The girl probably did not know or appreciate what she had just heard. D.O never opened up to people, much less share the story of his past. I had always suspected that he felt as such, but I had hoped it wasn't true. He may not be of a royal lineage, but he was still as important as the rest of us. 

I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. 

Please know I am here for you. Please know that we do not see you as illegitimate. 

He looked at me and smiled, but I had a feeling the message had not gone through. 

"I want to help." 

We turned to the girl. What was she talking about? 

"Please let me help you find your tree of life." Her eyes showed desperation. They were pleading us for acceptance. 

"I know this planet. And I have money. Let me come with you. I don't know how much help I would be, but please let me try. I'll do anything you need. Please," she begged. 

I looked at D.O. He would never agree to something like this. Accepting the offer to work with a girl, it was never going to happen. I was going to refuse on his behalf, but he did something unexpected. He smiled. 

I could not stop staring. D.O? Smiling? What was going on? He looked at me and nodded. My eyes widened. Was he serious? 

"Okay... You can help us find the tree of life," I agreed smiling. The girl looked so happy, but I was more amazed at the fact that it had been D.O who had accepted the offer. Working with a girl? What was going on? 

Things were going to get very interesting. I knew it.  

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