~ The next morning ~

3rd person POV

"RISE AND SHINE RINA!" A voice shouted loudly, and you groaned.

"Let me sleep 5 more minutes..." You mumbled and ducked your head under the covers. 

"Oh no no no. We've got a big day ahead of us." 

"Just... 5 more... Minutes..." You slowly drifted off to sleep again, when suddenly, a huge weight crashed onto you.

"GET UP!" 

'What the...' you were squished under the massive weight, waking you up completely.

"NO, GET OFF!"

"Get up first."

"I'll get up if you get off."

"I'll get off if you get up."

You groaned. "IS THIS A TONGUE TWISTER?! I can't get up if you don't get off!"

"... Right, sorry." the weight shifted, and you sat up reluctantly, rubbing your eyes gently.

'It's that stupid panda, isn't it...' Sure enough, when you peeked through one eye, Tao was indeed standing there with a bright smile.

"Here's your dress." Tao pointed to a dress that was folded neatly beside your bed. "I was told by the others to come wake you up. Wash up, and all six of us will be here waiting for you."

You ruffled your hair in annoyance as Tao walked out of the room, leaving you alone to change. 'It's a big day? What are we even doing...?'
 

~ 30 minutes later ~

Your POV 

Just as I put the comb down, the six boys came flooding into my room. "WAAH, Rina's even prettier than she was yesterday!" Chen exclaimed.

"This color definitely suits her." Xiumin added.

"Thanks guys." I smiled. "So, what's the big commotion?"

"OH! Before we forget, Kris has something for you." Luhan smiled.

"For me?" I pointed at myself.

"Don't think too highly of yourself, it's not a present or anything. It's something you clumsy idiot probably dropped." Kris scoffed.

I shot him a dirty look. "Rude."

"You don't want your thing back? Fine." Kris glared, fiddling with something from behind his back.

"Give it back." 

"No." Kris sneered.

"Why are you such a jerk? I've only known you for two days, what have I even done to you?" I pointed at him accusingly.

Suddenly, Luhan snatched the thing from Kris, and passed it to me proudly. "Here. Don't mind him."

I looked at the familiar item in my palm, and my eyes widened. "It's my phone! Where did you guys find it?"

"We found it beside you near the pond." Lay explained.

"Excuse me, but what is a 'phone'?" Tao asked softly. Everyone nodded in agreement.

I waved my iPhone back and forth. "You guys don't know what this is?" All of them shook their heads. 

"Well... It's a device you use to make calls... Every phone has a different phone number, and you dial the number of the person you want to communicate with." I explained. 

"I don't get it." Chen stated flatly. Everyone nodded in agreement, and I facepalmed.

"Are you guys technology deprived here or something? Everything looks similar to my world though.." I raised an eyebrow.

"What's technology?" Kris asked, and crossed his arms.

"... Are you serious? Well uh, do you guys have computers?"

"No."

"Cars?"

"No."

"What do you use for transportation then?" I was starting to doubt everything again, just a little bit.

"Horses and stuff!" Tao answered proudly.

"Forget I even asked." I grumbled. "Well, this thing's probably busted, since it fell in the water." I threw it on the bed. "But thanks so much for finding it you guys." 

"Now that we've got that over with, let's go eat! I'm dying for some baozi!" Xiumin charged towards the door.

Luhan laughed. "Because you are one!"

 

~ A while later ~

3rd person POV

The seven of you walked into the fancy dining room, and you walked around with your mouth open in surprise.

"It's so pretty!" Your eyes scanned all over the room, examining all the expensive looking furniture and decorations. "How rich are you guys?!"

"I'm the crown prince," Luhan boasted. "and this is the palace. Of course we're rich."

"This is one of the more extravagant places in the palace, it's the dining room for the royal prince and whoever he wishes to bring in here." Xiumin explained.

You nodded understandingly. Suddenly, a servant bowed in front of you, startling you. "This way, princess."

"P-princess?"

Kris bonked you on the head. "Idiot. You're getting married to Luhan soon, aren't you?"

"Ow..." You rubbed your head, glaring softly at Kris, who just shrugged.

"Princess?" The servant tried again, grabbing your attention. "This way please." 

"Don't rush her." Luhan snapped, making the servant cower a little.

"No it's okay, where am I supposed to sit?" You smiled warmly at the girl, and she seemed to relax a little, and led you to a seat. 

You thanked her, and she seemed shocked. She quickly bowed and scurried away. Luhan sat beside you on one side, and Kris say beside you on the other side. 

"Why would you thank a servant?" Kris scoffed. "Peasant."

"It's called being polite." 

"Well, you're going to become the princess soon, so there's no need, okay? It'll only make the servants think that they're better than you." Lay made a face.

"I can do whatever I want," you rolled your eyes. 'These people... At least treat your servants with respect!' "By the way, what was that girl's name? She seemed nice."

"Don't know, don't care. Too many servants to remember." Luhan shrugged.

You grimaced. 'Being a princess might not be as easy as I thought.'
 

~ After eating ~

"Was the food good?" Luhan asked as the servants cleaned off the table. "I didn't know what you liked to eat, so... Yeah."

"She ate like a pig, what do you think?" Kris rolled his eyes.

Your face flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, it's just that I haven't ate since yesterday..." 

Everyone laughed, and Kris smirked as he patted your head. "You're not only an idiot, but you're fat too, huh."

"Stop making fun of her Kris, geez." Luhan rolled his eyes, and Kris snickered. "Getting overprotective over your wife now, are we?" 

Your face flushed tomato red, and you fidgeted in your seat awkwardly. Luhan decided to ignore his remark, and smiled at you. "Don't worry, you're not fat. He's just jealous."

Kris was going to protest, but Tao in quickly. "Rina! Let's go play now, okay?"

"Hey, why do you get her first?" Xiumin protested.

"Because I'm the closest to her age, you old people." Tao boasted.

"Yah!" Chen hit Tao lightly. "Shouldn't we ask who Rina wants first?"

"Um... I don't really know what's going on, so Tao's fine." You blinked stupidly.

"See?! In your face!" Tao stuck his tongue out childishly, and stood up. "Rina, let's go!" 

 

~ A while later ~

"So um, what are we doing?" You asked as you ditched everyone with Tao.

"Well, yesterday, you said that you wanted to get to know us better, didn't you? So we're all going to spend quality time with you the next few days." Tao did a thumbs up, and you couldn't help but smile.

Tao gestured for you to follow him, and you did. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to show you around the palace. I'm one of the bodyguards, so I probably know the palace even better than Luhan ge and Kris ge." 

You nodded slowly, and tried to avoid all the obstacles that would come in your way and ruin your dress. 'Stupid dress and shoes. Can't I just wear normal clothes? Who cares if I look like a so called peasant, no one knows who i am anyways.'

"Look here!" Tao and you have arrived at a huge empty courtyard.

"What's this place for?"

“It’s the main courtyard.” Tao pointed to a huge door that was guarded by a few guards. “That’s the main entrance to the royal palace; on the other side of that door is our country of the Northwest. We can tour you around the main city later on, if you want.”

You laughed. “Just tour me around the palace first! It seems big enough.”

Tao nodded, and pointed in a direction. “Follow me!” You did as he said, and he smiled happily.

“Hey, Tao ge?” You suddenly spoke up. Tao turned around, tilting his head slightly. “Yeah?”

“Can you tell me a little bit more… You know… About yourself?” You scratched your head awkwardly. “I mean, if we all want to be good friends we have to-“

Tao giggled and patted your head. “Of course, what do you want to know?”

“Just… Whatever you want to tell me.”

Tao opened his mouth in an “ah” shape, and put his index finger on his bottom lip, looking up as he thought hard. “Well, my name’s Huang Zi Tao, my birthday’s on May 2^nd, I’m 19, 183 centimeters tall-“

“Not those kind of things…” You facepalmed yourself. “Something like, for example, how you met everyone, what you like to do, more about your power… That kind of stuff.”

“AAAAHHH~” Tao nodded understandingly. “Well…  I was raised in a poor family, so I had to go and find a job to support my parents and my three younger sisters. I’ve always been really good at wushu, so no one dared to lay a finger on them.” He boasted proudly.

After hearing that, your heart clenched. ‘Ren…’

“Anyways, I was only 14 at that time, but I heard that they were training and hiring guards at the royal palace. I went, and they accepted me. Well, here I am.” Tao shrugged.

“How did the others know that you were also a protector?” You asked.

“Every protector has a symbol on their body that matches the legend. Kind of like your birthmark.” Tao slipped his shirt a little bit off his shoulder, and bent down to your height level. “See it?”

An hourglass.

 You nodded, and he stood back up. “My power is ‘Time Control.’ I can make time stop whenever I want to, go back to the past, or into the future.” Your jaw dropped. “THAT’S SO COOL! Why don’t you guys just use your power to go back to the time where the tree of life was still alive?”

Tao shook his head. “We’ve tried. But it seems like the legend is inevitable. Every time we went back, history just repeated itself. Nothing changed.”

You pouted. “Well that . At least we can use your power if we ever wanted to stall for time though.”

Tao chuckled a little bit, ruffling your hair. “Yeah, you’re right, come on, let’s go visit other places!”

~ 3 Hours later ~

Your feet throbbed painfully, and you hissed. ‘How big is this stupid palace?’

“Rina, you okay? Are you tired?” Tao furrowed his eyebrows.

“A little bit, but I’ll be fine.” You smiled. Tao seemed to enthusiastic to show you around the palace the whole time, and you got to know him a little bit more too. He even told you his secret love of a type of bag you can find in the main city.

Suddenly, Tao stopped and your face rammed into his back. "Ow..." You rubbed your nose, glaring at him. "Tell me if you're going to stop!"

Tao's eyes widened and he inspected your face. "Rina! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to do it! Do you need me to call Lay ge over he can heal you with his power -"

"No, it's okay." You chuckled. 'Cute. Such a caring panda.' "Just lemme get revenge."

Tao blinked for a second, then nodded furiously. "I'm one of your protectors, I'm willing to accept any punishment that you give me!"

You smirked a little, making your hands into fists. "Ready?"

Tao shut his eyes tightly, waiting for a hard blow from you. But all he got was a gentle shove, not even enough to move his sturdy body. Tao opened one eye, to see you smiling brightly at him.

"That's it?" He asked skeptically.

You nodded. "Yeah. That's it. I got my revenge. Don't think of our relationship like that, okay? We're friends, aren't we?"

Tao paused for a moment, and then broke out into a huge smile. “Yes! Of course we’re friends!” he felt a sense of accomplishment, being able to befriend the ‘legendary girl.’

You sighed and smiled slightly. ‘So easy to please.’ “Should we go back now? We’ve been out here for quite a while.”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind you, making the two of you turn back, to find yourselves staring at a smiling Lay. “Yeah, she’s right. Tao, don’t hog Rina all to yourself, selfish little brat.” He joked.

Tao pouted. “Fine Lay ge~ It’s your turn now. Bye Rina! See you during dinnertime!” Tao waved, and walked away in the other direction, leaving you now alone with Lay. “Ah, see you later!”

You walked over quickly to Lay, who was showing his dimples clearly in his smile. “Shall we go now?”

~Palace of the Northeast (EXO-K)~

3rd person POV

"Wait, the legend is split into two parts?!" Everyone exclaimed.

Sehun nodded. "Yeah.”

Baekhyun gaped. “And we have the ending?” Sehun nodded once again.

“Well… we know most of the beginning, right? Why don’t we just read the ending to see what happens?”Kai asked.

D.O smacked him lightly. “Do you honestly think it’s that easy?”

Chanyeol continued on. “Well we have it with us, so let’s just find it and open it-“

“No, Kyungsoo hyung’s right.” Sehun crossed his arms. “We can’t open it without the girl of the legend.”

Suho rolled his eyes. “But that’s so stupid, because when we have her here with us, we’d might as well figure out the ending ourselves, we don’t even need to rely on the legend.”

“To be honest, I think it’s more important to figure out if there are any hidden rules of the legend right now.” D.O sighed.

“Like what?”

“For example… More information about our powers… Or maybe like, any restrictions that we or the girl are not allowed to do, that kind of stuff.” D.O explained.

“Well, how can we find out?” Sehun asked.

“… No idea.”

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A/N: yaaay, a long chapter! c;

so you know a little bit more about Tao now, hurhur. Lay's next! next chapter's probably going to be long too, cuz i want to add more than one member in, haha. 

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~U-KISS_ME~