Chapter Four

Waking up the next morning wasn't as blissful as it used to be for the stressed Princess. She shot her eyes wide open before staring at her ceiling intently. There was more than enough time to actually tackle the day at school, but the determining factor of her actually going was twelve lovely boys. Lovely indeed. The frustrations and disbelief still hadn't left her body during that time frame.

"Good morning, your Highness," Elijah slowly opened the door of her room before poking his head in with a smile.

"Morning, Elijah," she sat up and scratched her head while ruffling through her soft locks.

"Are you going to go to school today?"

His question forced her to face something that was impossible to avoid for any longer. And yet, her answer was extremely broad on its own. "I'm not quite sure yet."

"Well, glad to know you're still considering it. You don't plan on running away, and one has to face their problems whether they want to or not," he told her in a fashion that only he was capable of doing before closing her bedroom door.

Mai picked up one of her many pillows before repeatedly thrashing it around like a mad man. This was her weird way of releasing stress. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, she merely whispered, "I hate it when you're right. Which is always," before hustling up her uniform and preparing for the day ahead.

In the midst of stuffing all of her required items into her bag, the Princess realized that she had completely forgotten her dufflebag in the chaos of yesterday. Trying to retrace her steps, she remembered that she just left it behind at the door of Elijah's classroom when Tao let go of his hold on the time. All of her books and notes were in that bag, and if no one bothered to watch over it... Who knows who could have grabbed it?

Vibrations drew her attention back to her nightstand, where her phone was charging. It was the same gentle individual who had texted her yesterday evening.

'Are you awake yet, Mai? I'm up a bit earlier than usual. Want me to bring you some coffee? Or tea, since you may still be feeling uneasy. Or maybe some breakfast?'

Mai laughed lightly as she holstered her bag over her shoulder while Elijah opened the front door for her so they could both leave their apartment. 'I am awake! Your offer is very sweet, but I'm heading off to school right now. I'll just grab something along the way.'

'You're going to school? Are you sure you're already feeling well enough to actually go to school? You aren't contagious, are you?!'

'I got better after drinking a gallon of tea yesterday. And I am not contagious!'

'Okay, good. Well, see you in homeroom then!'

'Til then, Taemin. (:'

She placed her large white phone into her bag before settling into the car with Elijah. It was awfully nice of Taemin to offer to bring her something to drink or eat this early in the morning. Starting up the engine of their luxury vehicle, Elijah and Mai eased up once the booming vibrations of the car touched their bodies. Was Taemin's offer his way of finding out where she lived or was it because he genuinely cared for her wellbeing? Mai hoped it was for the latter, as secretly as she could at least.

"Taemin, again?"

"Yeah," she laughed lightly. "He's really charming."

Her caretaker couldn't help but poke fun at the almost childish relationship that was brewing between Mai and Taemin. "Falling for a human, are we?" Elijah flashed the biggest grin as he raced down the roads.

Mai launched her left hand, in the form of a fist, towards his right bicep in retaliation. "I am not falling for anyone." A simple sigh escaped her light pink lips before continuing, "He's nice, that's all."

"Let me tell you something, Mai," he kept his eyes focused on the lanes ahead. "When Taemin wants something or someone, he is basically unstoppable. I may not know much about him since he's been at the school for a shorter amount of time than we have been; but I can clearly see his determination. And quite frankly, Princess, he wants you."

The Princess scoffed at his insane notion before revealing a small giggle herself. "He's only infatuated by me because of my nature."

"Everyone is infatuated by you because of your nature, personality, looks—all of it. It's the trait of your planet, our planet... our home," his eyes twinkled in a different light once he began to think of Amatorius—the only place that he longed for in his heart. "Makes you a sort of Mary Sue character, in terms of Earth literature; but no way in hell do you just sit back and let others make decisions for you while grinning through all the hardships and pain. You actually take charge. You actually go out of your way to ensure that the end result is something you want. You will take down anyone and everyone who tries to get in between you and your goals. It's admirable. Scary, but truly admirable..." He took a few seconds to really linger on what to say next. "So you know what, you're not a Mary Sue character. Everyone may want to help you, get to know you, love you, want to be with you; yet you don't want it. You know you don't need to rely on others to achieve the greatness you're destined to reach."

And with that, the wise advisor was capable of entailing so many hidden messages and encrypting his thoughts on the entire situation.

"You okay?" he asked while pulling up into their assigned parking spot.

Mai opened the door while sticking out her right foot and leg for balance. "You never cease to amaze me, Elijah. Your wide array of information and knowledge may be great; but the way you just present it to someone in such a convincing manner is really... incredible."

"Well, gee," Elijah followed her actions, pressing the locking mechanism of his car before playfully saluting to Mai, "thanks. That means a lot. It really does." The young looking alien marched off to his classroom to prepare for the day's schedule.

Almost immediately, a flock of students gathered around Mai. She was overwhelmed with the sudden movement, and the density of the circle made it difficult for her to squeeze her way through the crowd. A dark shadow, comprised from those who surrounded the Princess, casted over her with no intention to let her properly see. Waiting for someone to actually explain what was going on to her, Mai stood still with her arms crossed in an annoyed fashion. It would have caused anyone who was claustrophobic to start panicking and maybe have a heart attack.

"What's going on?" she asked with an annoyed tone. This was definitely not the way she wanted to start off her day at all.

One of the boys, who she recognized from home room, could barely keep his heart from jumping out of his chest as he replied, "The new guys. They say that they know you." He was merely excited over the fact that she was talking to him. It was one of her—specialties, let's say—to captivate people easily.

There was a reason why people would put so much effort into intergalactic traveling just to reach her planet—they always had the most beautiful, most kind, most heartwarming people around. Well, there were those corrupt people who are just too full of themselves, but that'll be revealed much later.

"I—"

"You know them?" a girl asked in the back of the crowd.

"Well—"

"So you do?" another questioned her before she could even properly answer the question. 

"Okay—"

"How do you know them?"

"Calm—"

"Are they nice?"

"Wha—"

"Who's their ideal type?"

Mai could no longer contain her anger before almost screaming at those around her. "Shut up! All of you! Do you honestly think I'll be able to answer all of your questions when you are not giving me a chance to answer them? Do you honestly believe that I know all there is to know about them? Because yes, I do know them. And no, I'm not helping you get to know them. Another note, don't expect me to befriend you if you won't even let me breathe my own air."

A melancholic mood began to rain and storm into the thick pack of students surrounding the Princess. It was as if someone had taken their hearts and stomped on it. They were extremely hurt, but couldn't bring themselves to return the pain in any way towards Mai. Her frustration was released because they were just suffocating her too much. There was a limit to everyone's kindness, and they had definitely pushed her far beyond its capacity.

In a blink, all of the figures surrounding her froze in place, indicating that some of the Princes were around. Gathering her strength, the lovely girl found words to illustrate her headstrong personality, yet caring nature. "You really need to stop overdoing it, Tao. Wouldn't want you to get into another coma," Mai had her back turned to the group of six that had already seen her.

His deep sunken eyes were focused on the Princess and his hands in the pockets of the black jeans that hugged his legs comfortably, the time controlling Prince took long strides to get closer to the Princess.  If normal humans looked at him, they would have perceived that he never got enough sleep from the dark circles; but it was just a trait of his planet and their specialty.

"Just push them aside so you can leave."

Mai took his offer into consideration, knowing that it really was the only way anyone could escape the madness. The Princess lightly shifted the bodies of those in front of her so she could actually turn and see the sun once more. Upon reaching the open air, the girl faced all of them with alert eyes. "I didn't need your—"

"Help?" Tao grinned slyly. "Looked like it."

She scoffed under her breath, before focusing in on the others who were approaching her and Tao. "What are you guys now? A pack of wolves? Surprised you aren't with the other six."

Chen lightly pushed aside Tao. His baby-fatless face contrasted that of another member in their circle, Xiumin. The look in his eyes illustrated all he had wanted to say to the girl in front of him—nothing but relief and happiness for her safety. "We didn't even know they came here before that wonderful assembly yesterday."

That alerted Mai's senses. All thirteen of them—twelve Princes and one Princess—were the closest of friends through thick and thin. Far before the decade long war back at the EXO galaxy, they had been friends since they could remember. If anything, the lengthy fight had made them appreciate each others' company and presence so much more than usual. What could have caused such a rift in their friendship?

 "You guys didn't come together?"

"No," Xiumin's cat like eyes showed a little bit of curiosity. He was always just a tad more alert than the others and was carefully studying their surroundings. Not a lot of people would have figured out that he was the oldest of the bunch. "We didn't."

"Heh," Mai looked down at her feet momentarily. "Interesting."

The tallest of them all, whom ironically enough wasn't even the oldest, observed the Princess intently. His piercing eyes could examine anything and everything. Most people would believe that cold demeanor he shows to strangers, but he was actually one of the warmest individuals that Mai has ever met. "We have to talk," he told her while taking a step closer to the cautious girl.

"We don't have to talk about anything, Kris," Mai took a step back to counteract his movements.

He didn't accept defeat, but rather fought back just as hard. He knew how hardheaded she was, but also knew that justified logic would sway her to give him or one of them a chance to really explain themselves. "Yes, yes we do. We need to talk. Please, somewhere privately."

"No," the willful girl stood her ground mentally. She clutched onto her bag tighter. "I really don't think talking is the best option for us, to be honest. Just leave me alone, and I'll leave you guys alone." Finally turning her back on them, she proceeded to take steps to enlarge the distance. Taking a deep breath, Mai stopped for a brief moment; she understood that her actions seemed completely foreign to all of the boys. "I wasn't kidding about what I said—I will only go back home in a coffin."

Each of the six Princes focused in on her, staring as her radiant brown hair shined and swayed with the wind. There was really something about her that could just captivate anyone and everyone. They had truly missed arguing with her; but all knew that they had to complete their mission before it was too late.

"We have no time to waste," the cat eyed Xiumin whispered as Tao unfroze the school.

The crowd that had surrounded Mai was surprised to see that she was no longer within their cage. Each member turned to face every angle possible, but still couldn't find her to save their lives. All eventually pushed the shocking trick out of their minds and dispersed to visit their friends or go to their appropriate classrooms.

Tao glided over to Kris' side. What Mai had told him was correct. For him to overuse his ability was for him to beg to go into another coma. And we could not afford to put that stress on himself or even his friends. It would hinder their objective greatly, and set them back in terms of going against the others—the others being the six other Princes of the EXO galaxy.

"She'll come around eventually," Luhan grinned while adjusting his backpack on his shoulder.

The pandaeyed member smirked at his words. "We don't have time to think of it 'eventually' happening."

"'Eventually' is all we have," Lay agreed with Luhan's words.

Chen fixed himself up. He knew that he had to exude the same aura as Mai for him to capture her attention. There was no other way to make her actually listen to any of their words. If they culdn't surpass her, they could at least match her. "Hopefully, it's all we need."

And with those final words, the bell rang. Today was the start of their first official day as a human being in school. And well, they were definitely going to learn a whole new array of things that they had never known before.

Whether or not they're aware of it.