Jieun’s eyes fluttered open; her body felt…gone. It was very heavy that she could not even move it. Her eyes looked around the unfamiliar surroundings. The wooden beams of the room, the papered walls, the 4-poster of her bed, the linen and silk that decorated the room and the unmistakable scent of herbs. It made her felt like she was into ancient China.

The door slid open and a girl entered carrying a basin of water. She was dressed casually with a gray tee and cropped jeans and it made her look so out of place in the ancient-looking room.

            “oh, you’re finally awake.” She smiled. Her rosy cheeks, plump lips and round eyes made her look like a doll; not to mention her long, wavy, dark brown hair added to the look perfectly; like a China doll brought to life.

            “where…am I?” Jieun’s voice cracked. was so dry she was surprised she managed to say something.

The girl’s expression changed from a kindly smile to a sympathetic one.

            “you’re in the Majae quarters of Mt. Shia.” The girl replied handing her a cup of water.

            “I’m where?” Jieun asked after taking a sip. Her body suddenly felt oddly fine.

She sat up. The girl sat on the edge of her bed.

            “I don’t think I should be the one to really explain everything to you.” She bit her lip. “I’m Sulli, by the way.” She said and extended her hand.

            “I’m-“

            “Han Jieun, I know.” She smiled. Jieun blinked. How did she know my name? she thought.

            “how-?” Jieun started to say but was cut off again as the door opened and a woman with long, jet-black hair and almond eyes entered. Her slightly elongated face made her even look more like a goddess, but a goddess, Jieun thought, wouldn’t walk around with a white tank top, gray cardigan, faded blue jeans and ballet flats.

            “umma.” The girl named Sulli stood and greeted her mother.

Jieun’s was shocked; her eyes darted from the woman and Sulli. How can this woman be her mother? She looked like she was in her mid twenties at least!

The woman who entered saw her expression and smiled at her.

            “it’s a long story that could be told a bit later, dear.” She said in a friendly tone. “are you feeling better?”

            “a bit, but what happened to me? I thought I was going to die.” Jieun was so confused she didn’t exactly know what questions to ask first.

            “you experienced the change.” She replied. Jieun’s eyes stared into hers. “it would’ve been less painful if you were here when it happened. Where the magic is.”

JIeun pinched her leg from under the covers she winced in pain. She wasn’t dreaming all of this this was real!

            “I don’t understand. What change?” She shook her head and looked around.

            “you are a Maja, Jieun, just like your mother, just like us.” She said gesturing to her daughter.

Maja. The word echoed in her head but she had no idea what it meant.

            “sorry, I’m a what?”

            “a Maja, in other words, a witch.”

Jieun stared blankly at the woman in front of her waiting for the punch line. Her eyes fell on Sulli who didn’t look like she was in on a joke.

            “you’re serious right?” Jieun asked dubiously. The woman exhaled.

            “it is hard to explain in one go, I know it will be too much for you. We will try to explain everything to you slowly. But don’t worry, we’re all friends of your parents, we’re like a family.” The woman smiled and held her hand in a motherly manner.

            “my…my parents? You know them?”

            “yes.” She saw the woman look down and could’ve sworn she looked teary. “Especially, your mother, she was…my best friend.”

Jieun swallowed the lump in . Sulli was tugging on the edge of her shirt.

            “what happened to them?”

            “they died 19 years ago. We were in the midst of a war; a war the humans never knew about. Your parents got ambushed when they went out for a family day with you when we thought everything was over. When the rest of us got there, we were too late.” The woman’s hand shook a little and Sulli sat beside her mother and hugged her.

Jieun felt her eyes getting watery.

            “what kind of war was it?”

            “a war between the rogue ones.”

            “Rogue…ones?” she felt like every time her questions got answered, new ones crop up. The woman nodded.

            “yes, they’re also like us but we do not serve the same cause. We protect the humans as we were made to do so, but they do the opposite. They wanted to rule over the humans.”

Jieun grasped her head. It was aching badly now. Her thoughts were bursting with questions but she couldn’t ask it now because if she did she might pass out from too much information.

            “Headache?” Sulli asked. Jieun nodded.

Sulli reached out both her hands and placed it on either side of Jieun’s face. Jieun heard a sort of buzzing sound and slowly her headache faded. She stared at Sulli when she sat back.

            “how…how did you do that?” she asked in amazement.

            “we told you, I’m a witch. Although I’m still training to be a healer I can do the minor stuff well.” She smiled.

            “will I be able to do that too?” Jieun asked the woman.

            “Healing takes a lot of training but healing minor wounds like scratches will be easy enough. The most you could do right now, would be summoning or materialization but nothing too complicated.” The woman answered.

            “how am I supposed to that?”

            “do you want to change clothes?” the woman asked. Jieun looked down on her shirt; it was full of dirt from when she collapsed on the street.

            “I would.”

            “now close you eyes.” The woman waved her hand. Jieun looked at her surprised.

            “why?”

            “just close your eyes.” Jieun looked at Sulli doubtfully but she nodded in encouragement and so she did. “now picture the clothes you want to wear in your head very clearly.”

She heard the woman say. She pictured her favorite royal blue sweater and her artfully ripped jeans.

            “ok, then what?”

            “picture yourself wearing them, then will it to happen.”

Jieun squinted through her closed eyes and concentrated hard. She felt a shiver run through her body and a jolt, which made her open her eyes wide. When she looked down the clothes she pictured in her mind were already on her.

She looked at the woman and felt drop.

            “this can’t be real, can it?”

            “it’s as real as it can be, dear.” She smiled and stood up. “Sulli, can you show her around? I think she needs to take it all in before she meets with the council.”

            “ne, umma.” Sulli smiled happily and stood up.

            “Jieun, you can tour the place a bit. Sulli can tell your more stuff about Mt. Shia. We will send someone for you later. Your parents’ friends would want to meet you.” She smiled and started to walk back out.

            “hey wait!” the woman turned to look at her. “can I know your name?” the woman smiled.

            “oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is SaeMi, you can call me unnie.” With that she walked out and slid the door shut.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Jieun moved her feet off the bed.

            “ how long was I out?”

            “hmmm…about  almost seventeen hours?” Sulli’s tone became playful now and she was fidgeting excitedly in front of Jieun as the latter was putting on her shoes.

            “that long?” she nodded vigorously.

            “c’mon, I’ll show you around! You’ll definitely love it here.” She said grabbing Jieun’s wrist after she put on her shoes and dragged her out the door.

Jieun felt her eyes widen.

            “am I in ancient China or in the Joseon dynasty or something?” she asked stunned.

Everything around her speaks of ancient China from the stairs, the columns and the walkways, the designs, everything.

            “of course not, silly.” Sulli giggled. “that bit of info will be explained to you later.”

            “but-.” She started but got cut off as Sulli yanked her to her left.

            “as I’ve told you before this is the Majae quarters of Mt. Shia. All the Maja that aren’t of age yet stays here.” She said walking down a flight of wooden stairs. Jieun saw some girls were talking amongst themselves some were eating doing normal stuff, unless you count the sudden appearance of food on their tables with just a wave of their hands.

She opened a wooden door and walked out. Cherry blossoms lined the entrance of the quarters and graphite lined the pathways.

            “that is the main pathway for both quarters.” Sulli pointed to their left where a 10 foot-wide pathway was and then forked a pathway leading to the right, where they were, and to the left. Squinting Jieun saw a similar building like the one they just walked out of the difference was there were no cherry blossoms, instead there were huge boulders stood on either side of the door.

            “who lives there?” Jieun asked looking at the place ominously.

            “ah, that the Magi quarters.”

            “Magi?” Jieun tilted her head towards Sulli.

            “yep! That’s where a Mage that are not of age yet live. All Mage and Maja that are of-age live somewhere else, in their own houses.” Sulli explained and gestured to Jieun to follow her.

            “so a Mage is male witch too?” Jieun asked as they walk towards a wide building with 2 entrances; one entrance for the Majae and one for the Magi.

            “no. Magi can’t work magic. That’s why in missions, they need the Majae.” Sulli giggled and hopped as the walk making her loose curls bounce.

            “so what are they?” Jieun felt like she wouldn’t be surprised if they’d be some kind of burly hulks.

            “they’re what humans call…” she made a long pause and wriggled her eyesbrows in suspense at me. “vampires.” Jieun blinked.

            “vampires.” Jieun said skeptically and raised her eyesbrows. Sulli laughed.

            “I know what you’re thinking but mostly it’s wrong.” She grinned and walked through the entrance. They made her way through a darkened hallway lit by torches and when they came out at the end the sight shocked Jieun…again.

It wasn’t as big as you would’ve imagine after seeing the face of the building, inside there was a field and a couple of Majae were sparring in the middle, the sound of swords clanging, the arrows that thudded after a Maja hit the target, the snap of whips and explosions from some Maja’s fireball which she hurled at a dummy.

            “this… is our training grounds. We train here with the Magi.” She grinned at the sight of Jieun’s shocked face. “ this is the main field. There are three. The second one is for the of-age Magi and Majae who have leveled up in their training. It is harder and more brutal.” Sulli said pointing at the wooden door that Jieun though probably led to the said training field. “the third one is where all of-age Magi and Majae, the instructors, including the members of the council train for actual battles.”

            “train for actual battles?” Jieun asked surprised.

            “I think it would be better if I show you.” Sulli smiled.

As they walked the lanterns that lined the hallway and torches on the grounds lit up as the sun had set and the skies turned dark.

They passed by the second training grounds where obstacle courses that looked even more brutal that what you see in the army were constructed and different kinds of weapons were neatly laid on tables and stands; only a few Majae were there training.

But then a thought crossed Jieun’s mind. The 3 boys she saw a month ago. She started to look around for them but then it suddenly occurred to her that there were no boys around; just girls.

            “uhmmm…Sulli? I thought the Magi also train here, how come I don’t see one?” she asked trying not to directly ask about her rescuers.

            “ah, they’re all asleep.” She said, Jieun blinked and as soon as Sulli saw this she waved her hands knowing what Jieun was thinking. “They’re not sleeping in coffins. They’re not even the living dead.” Sulli chuckled.

            “ok, so, why are they sleeping in the day?”

            “you see, the sun doesn’t really fry them to ashes, the sun just have a different effect on them.”

            “like what?”

            “as soon as the sun rises, they all pass out. Just like that.” She said and snapped her fingers.

            “you mean the sun will cause them to sleep even without its rays touching them?” she asked again.

            “yep, for example they’re in an enclosed room with no windows, as soon as the sun will rise they will be knocked out, asleep.”

Jieun’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as the information sunk in.

Both of them walked towards the last room, but instead of just walking through it Sulli motioned Jieun to stop.

            “can you wait here for me? I’ll have to ask Je-ah unnie if we can go inside. You might not like what you see if we just go in and there’s someone training.” She said a hand on the door.

            “sure, I’ll be right here.” Jieun said waving a hand to Sulli and the latter went inside the room.

Jieun sat on the banister and leaned towards it looking up at the darkened sky. The stars had started to appear. She couldn’t believe it that just last night she was working at the bar and now she was into a whole new world. What surprised her even more was the fact that she was able to accept it easily. She couldn’t believe it; it was impossible but she was ready to accept this reality. If it were a dream she wouldn’t want to wake up.

            “well well well, what do we have here?” a male voice sounded.

Jieun looked around, the dim hallway was empty and the Majae that were training a while ago had already left.

            “who…who said that?” she asked nervously looking around.

            “are you scared, xiao jie?” The voice said again. It was taunting now.

Jieun noticed he said something in mandarin it confused her.

            “show yourself.” Her voice shoo and clenched her fists, which were dropped on sides.

            “look up.” The voice commanded and Jieun obeyed.

What she saw almost made her scream. She hurriedly stepped backwards and fell on her back.

There was a figure on the edge of the roof, crouching like a gargoyle would have been and holding a long stick. She couldn’t see the figure’s face as it was very dark but by the sound of his voice she knew he was grinning.

            “who…who are you?” Jieun hurriedly moved back her feet kicking vigorously.

She saw the figure stand up and jumped off the roof and did a flip before landing lithely like a cat on the banister where she was just leaning on a while ago. The figure looked up at her; she gulped.

He had short black-as-night hair, dark, and sharp menacing eyes that scared the crap out of her and pointed face that made him look even more frightening. His all-black getup didn’t help much either.

            “don’t…don’t come near me!” Jieun warned uselessly. This guy is a vampire; even if she had magic she didn’t know how to use it yet.

The vampire grinned at her; she paled as she saw the fangs.

            “Zi Tao! Don’t scare the poor girl.” Another male voice sounded and this time it was in the hallway and he was walking briskly towards them.

            “awww… hyung, you spoiled my fun.” The first guy whined and Jieun blinked. He was totally different from how he acted earlier. Now he was like…a kid?

The new guy glared at the person he called Zi Tao and stretched out a hand to Jieun. She took it and got surprised by his warm touch. Then she remembered Sulli telling her earlier that they were not the living dead.

She looked up at the person who reprimanded Zi Tao and he looked no older that she probably was. He had small eyes, thin lips, and dark brown hair and although not as tall as Zi Tao he was lean.

            “are you ok? I apologize for his behavior earlier, he likes scaring people off.” He smiled at Jieun. She blushed. The new guy looked really handsome.

            “I’m ok. I’m just waiting for Sulli.” She replied breathlessly and as if on cue Sulli came out of the door.

            “oh! Tao ge, Baekhyun oppa, what are you two doing here?” Sulli asked surprised.

            “I’m training with Kyuhyun hyung tonight. The others will be coming in too.” He replied.

            “oh, by the way, Jieun, these are Zi Tao gege and Baekhyun oppa, ge ge, oppa, this is Jieun.” Sulli introduced and they all exchanged greetings.

            “you know I’m waiting for the day you become of-age so that you can stop calling me gege.” Tao said glaring at her. Sulli just laughed.

            “we drop the honorifics when we become of age. With the exceptions of the Originals” Baekhyun said at the sight of Jieun’s confused expression.

            “Originals?”

            “ah, they are composed of the instructors and the council; the first elite ones to be created. Most of the people you see here like us are usually from the second or third generation. Like Sulli and Zi Tao, both their parents are Originals and are members of the council.” Baekhyun explained.

            “what about you?” Jieun asked.

            “my parents were loyal warriors of the council back in the day, they were created after being chosen by the council.” Baekhyun smiled proudly.

His explanation kind of confused Jieun, he was talking of warriors as if the first ones to be created lived more than centuries ago at the time in ancient history.

Jieun was about to ask but they heard the door creak open.

            “you may come in now, Sulli.” A man’s head popped out.  His black hair nicely stuck up on ends but it didn’t look messy, it looked more like it was ruffled in a way that made the person look…smart, but not geeky; cool smart.

The man’s eyes fell on the new girl.

            “annyeonghaseyo, Kyuhyun hyung,” Baekhyun and Tao said bowing politely. The man walked towards the group.

            “so this is Jieun?” he said looking at Sulli who nodded.

            “Jieun, this is Kyuhyun oppa. He designs the war room along with ChangMin oppa and Je-ah and Seohyun unnie.”

            “oh, pleased to meet you.” Jieun said bowing towards Kyuhyun.

            “nice to meet you too. Now if you want to look inside please be careful where you step.” he warned ominously with a naughty grin.

            “he’s not joking, is he?” Jieun asked Tao nervously.

            “maybe. But you can usually tell if there’s something to worry about when you see the room.” He replied walking towards the dreaded room to which Kyuhyun had already disappeared.

            “I don’t know, Kyuhyun and Changmin hyungs’ designs have been pretty…morbid lately.” Baekhyun chided. It made Jieun even more nervous.

No one said another word as Tao pushed the door open. As soon as they entered Jieun let out a scream of pure terror.

The room was covered in blood and corpses.

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my description of Kyu is from the Bonamana era..hihi my fav Kyu look ever!haha can you guys suggest someone who can make a great poster for this?thanks!