It had been a surreal evening for Jieun and she couldn’t believe everything happened just happened in just one evening. She and Siwon talked almost all night. She found out that the woman beside her uncle earlier was Yoona and she was his wife. It surprised her so much because she doesn’t look a day older that twenty.

Their conversation ended however when Yoona came along and reminded Siwon about the sunrise. They dropped off Jieun at the Maja quarters before leaving to their house, but Siwon did promise her that they’d meet the next evening after her lessons with Donghae.

After a long rest and, she didn’t know what to call it, breakfast, Jieun walked out of her room as soon as the sun had set. She wasn’t really a part of the whole training sessions yet as she was new and knew nothing of their history and other details.

Sulli had told her earlier that since they usually had to train with the magi training starts in the afternoon and ends at around 10pm for the majae.

Jieun found her way out of the quarters and to the training grounds where she was told Donghae would meet her. She leaned on the banister at the training majae and magi.

            “Jieun?” she turned towards the sound of the voice and saw a man with puppy-dog eyes and thin lips pressed in a soft smile.

            “uhmmm…Donghae-ssi?”

            “just oppa will do. Let’s go?” he said and gestured towards the exit.

            “where are we going?” Jieun asked confused.

            “oh, I prefer a quieter place for this lesson. It’s been a long time since I’m going to do a full blow by blow so might as well get comfortable.” He smiled and led Jieun out the grounds.

Donghae led her into the forest but not really deep into it coz a few minutes later they reached a small clearing at the edge of a lake. It was so clear and breathtakingly beautiful that Jieun froze in awe.

            “I do hope the view won’t distract your concentration.” Donghae said amusedly and Jieun snapped her attention back to him.

            “no, it won’t.” she said shyly and she’s sure if that, not when she was sure now that her answers will finally be answered.

Donghae smiled again and gestured her to sit down on the soft grass. It was a dark night but the moon’s light was enough for them, not to mention fireflies had started to appear, or so Jieun thought. She looked closer at the half-inch beings and saw that they looked like tiny, green, doll-like creature.

            “sprites.” Donghae smiled. “unlike in legends that says they’re some sort of fairies, they are actually tree guardians and usually make their presence known to people who are troubled.”

A group of about ten sprites swirled their way towards Jieun.

            “I guess they know I’m troubled.” She laughed lightly and look at Donghae.

            “I’m sure they do.” He replied. “so, there’s no easy way to start this but the beginning, or in short how we came to be. You listen while I talk and I’ll pause if you have questions, ok?”

            “ok.” Jieun adjusted herself and looked at Donghae her attention fixed on him.

            “six hundred years ago, in 1400’s in China, the Ming dynasty had started a lot of sea expeditions and some of this caused some rift with other countries. Now the emperor was insistent on these expeditions, as he believed it would build the power of China further. Hangeng was the emperor’s best general and he believed that it wasn’t the time for such moves yet because of the emperor’s appointment of the west faction for the job and their relationship with the south faction was near breaking point and this expedition would be the last chip. It was clearly all political as the emperor’s advisors knew that if a rift and a war will occur they can ally themselves to the enemy in exchange for the emperor so that one of them will replace him. Hangeng sent his right hand man, ZhouMi to investigate these matters quietly. His investigations led him to meet a group of foreigners who escaped a civil war in their country; they were Heechul and Yunho. The war that went on in Joseon that time was pretty intense that the country was on the brink of destruction and it all started by the same expeditions that China had just done. ZhouMi had brought the two with Hangeng and told him of the possible consequences but before the latter could inform the emperor the south faction had started to attack the west faction. Heechul and Yunho hurried back to Joseon to report to Leeteuk about the meeting Hangeng want to happen. I met them at the boarder a few weeks after and by that time the west was already in ruins and the south was on its way to the east.”

            “it really doesn’t make any sense to me why Joseon wanted to help China.” The thought was for her alone but it slipped out of her mind. “sorry.” She said hurriedly as Donghae met her eyes.

            “it’s alright. History does not say anything about this secret meeting, as both Korean and Chinese history believed that their best generals and soldiers all sacrificed themselves for the war. Joseon needed a good relationship with China if they wanted to get back on their feet or this was what Leeteuk thought. On the next fortnight, your father arrived, I accompanied Kangta across the boarder with his wife, Dana, and they were both seriously injured and need to be tended. It was during that time when a mysterious old man came in our tent. We don’t actually know who he was and he didn’t tell us his name. If you think about it, it was foolish of us at that time to trust him but he convinced us that in order to se both countries we need to strike a deal with him but in doing so required sacrifices. One of those sacrifices would be that they would not just save their countries but to prevent war from all over the world. We seriously thought he was just some lunatic and Leeteuk had ordered him out of the tent but he convinced us when he pushed Leeteuk so hard he ended up at the edge of the tent. A fight would’ve occurred but the ball of flames in his hands was enough to put a stop to our resistance. Again he said we needed to trust him and even then we doubted him but he said he had something that will help us. He took out an old scroll and a bottle of silvery liquid and said to write every friend, family and soldier we trusted with our lives. Although doubtful, Leeteuk and Hangeng wrote on the scroll. It was kind of a surprise that we didn’t notice that the scroll didn’t seem to end. Even if all of us had written about nearly a thousand names on it.”

            “a thousand?” Jieun interrupted disbelief written all over her face.

            “you have to remember Hangeng was a general and he did command the whole Chinese army that were all loyal to him plus our close family, friends and allies and Leeteuk’s own army and their sides—“

            “right I get it.” she said nodding foreseeing everything now.

            “right. now after we had written everything Leeteuk didn’t trust the mysterious man still so the man said to wipe the silver potion on their names and if the results was to his satisfaction then everyone will change. And so we did. All the elders and council members’ names were highlighted on that list. After a few seconds, the feeling of being burned alive erupted inside our chest. It was unimaginable pain. As I knew you also felt when you changed. A few minutes later it ended. A burning thirst filled our throats and he handed each of us a bottle of red liquid. We drank it heartily and felt out strengths return but it was then that we realized that what we drank was blood. Hangeng raged at the man for tricking them but he was quickly stopped. He told us that we may have changed but it was a change that needed to be done in order to save what would seem to be a possible end to a civilization. Your mother who was the only woman with us was confused why she didn’t feel the same as the others. The man walked to her and held both his hands on each side of her face. Her eyes lit up and as fast as it had started it ended and she panted. All knowledge of magic was now on her. She raised her hand and conjured a ball of fire. We were getting confused and that was when he explained about what we are now and that he had to separate our abilities as what had happened in other places he’d been both powers in one person are never to be trusted. He explained about what we could do and our immortality and how we have to live in a separate world away from the humans. He gave us Mt. Shia.”

            “so after that everyone on the list changed?”

            “not yet. We had to be sure that what we could do is easy to hide and handle. Leeteuk, Heechul, Kangta and Yunho went back to Joseon and your mother stayed with us. They explained to the others there what happened to them and helped. As being a mage enhances your speed, strength, abilities and other senses by ten, we were beyond what a normal human was obviously is. Both sides got control of their respective countries and months after the war ended they met again and the man had also appeared and presented the scroll. And upon agreement they agreed for the change and to come here and protect the world as promised.”

            “and that’s how all of us came to be.” Jieun nodded in understanding.

            “yes, and no. obviously the change is beneficial to the power of both countries but as already proven by history men are not to be trusted with power. A group from Hangeng’s and Leeteuk’s army wanted to take over the empire and once again this led to an internal war. This was wiped out by the majae from the minds of all witnesses of course but it was bloody. We may all be immortal but we get killed too. A lot of warriors from our side got killed and also devastated the number of the other side. Even though some escaped they were just a handful and there were still more of us, centuries have past and we are still on the constant battle against the rogue ones and still protecting the people on this earth that in themselves are in a constant battle for survival.”

Jieun looked up as Donghae ended his story. She saw him look over the lake as a couple of what looked like mermaids dived and played.

            “did you ever find our who that mysterious man was?” she asked.

            “no, we didn’t even see his face as he kept it hidden under his hood but if we do mention him now we call him Merlin, or Gandalf, or Dumbledore.” He grinned and Jieun laughed.

            “so I’m immortal now?”

            “yes, but your maturity will continue until the age of 25. Majae and magi will become fully mature at that age but majae turn at the age 20 while it’s 18 for the magi and after 5 years magi will reach of age.”

            “it’s really painful when I changed. I thought I’d die.” She said from under her breath.

Jieun looked up to see Donghae looking somber.

            “sometimes, it does happen.” He said in a grave tone.

            “what do you mean? Are you saying people do die in the change?” Jieun asked horrified.

            “yes, only 5% who live outside Mt. Shia survive the change, that’s why we really worked hard to find you and had guards to follow you. Being in Mt. Shia, the magic here allows your body adapt much faster thus making your magical genes to easily take over your human ones. When you’re on earth your human genes put up a fight and most of the time this internal battle takes too much toll on the body that your insides almost literally gets burned.”

            “that’s…that’s awful!”

            “it is. And it is heartbreaking. But even in Mt. Shia we suffer losses. 10% of those who are on Mt. Shia die when they change, that’s why parents are scared when they have a baby coz they will spend years worrying about the fate of their kids.”

            “who lost someone?”

            “Leeteuk lost a daughter 200 years ago, TOP lost a son too. It wasn’t pretty.”

            “Siwon oppa, did he-?”

            “no, but you have a cousin though.”

            “I do? Who?”

            “you haven’t met him I expect. He’s still out on a mission, unlike Siwon though who is a Yin, Suho is a Yang.” Donghae explained.

            “oh, so being on a team isn’t decided on your birth?”

            “no, you will undergo a quest when you reach of age and on this quest you will be assessed on your skills and where you fit most.”

            “oh…so what about the rogue ones? How do they multiply if most die during the change when they’re not here? They don’t go about biting people, do they?” Jieun asked curiously but to her surprise Donghae laughed.

            “well, even though we magi are vampires biting people don’t have any effect on them, unless you count the pain from getting bitten. Drinking their blood too causes little effect on us. it doesn’t satisfy the thirst.”

            “so it’s like the Cullens in Twilight drinking animal blood?” Jieun asked. she couldn’t think of any better reference.

            “ugh! Don’t mention that movie, gives us all a bad name, but sort of yes and no. it doesn’t satisfy coz too much human blood is poison to magi. We are made to protect people not to kill them.”

            “so if you don’t drink human blood, whose blood do you drink?”

            “yours.” Donghae said flatly.

            “MINE?!” Jieun yelled and moved backwards.

            “not literally yours but majae blood. You see, a majae’s blood pressure spikes up to a certain level and if it reaches breaking point they can suffer aneurism or heart attacks, so what they do is to bottle up their blood and donate them to the Mage Bar. The magic in the majae’s blood also powers up our own, you see.” Donghae explained.

            “oh so, you mean I have to donate too? And why do they have to bottle it up? Why don’t they just drink from the majae directly?” Jieun winced at the thought. Donghae chuckled.

            “yes you have, in a week or two, they’ll teach you how don’t worry. And it had to be bottled because biting from a maja’s neck creates a certain bond between the mage and maja it’s not like the bonded couples but a mage gets possessive and the maja gets attached this causes a problem especially if one of them gets bonded.”

            “ohh…” Jieun thought it would probably be better that way getting bitten is kind of a grim thought for her. “so the bonded ones can freely bite their wives then?”

Donghae nodded.

            “but it’s not something we can all freely see, since it’s kind of a private thing.” Donghae cleared his throat. Jieun didn’t know why but she felt herself blushing.

            “by the way, I wanted to ask you about something.” Jieun said in an effort to keep the conversation from getting awkward. “how does the whole bonded thing work?”

            “well, that in, layman’s term, is what we call being married but with a twist. Once you get bonded, you can never break it. During the ceremony the magi and maja will wrap their own magic into each other. Once it connects they will be connected through their souls and minds literally becoming as one. A maja and a mage will now have access to every thought the other has made or thinks or feels.”

            “they can read each others minds?”

            “in a way, yes but it’s more than that. You almost literally become the other. that is how being bonded makes you whole and this greatly helps in battles. Now as I’ve said earlier it is unbreakable and it is by that exact fact that makes it so dangerous.”

            “why?” Jieun who has been awed by the bonded couples frowned.

            “because if the other gets killed, the pain of the loss can make the other succumb to shock and pain so unimaginable that they also die almost at once.”

            “so you mean, if one of the bonded couple gets killed the other will die too?” she felt her hands shaking.

            “yes. That’s why the council takes great effort to assess every couple that wants to get bonded and try to test them in fights to see if they work well already before being bonded.”

Jieun’s mind wandered off to her parents. She thought who among them got killed that the other soon had to follow? But then again she doesn’t want to know; the pain of knowing is too much for her. This history lesson has been quite informative and gruesome, but it was something she needed to know. At the very least she had to know the basics.

            “I’m going to have to start my training soon, right?” Jieun asked. she honestly wanted to finish her studies, she had just one year left in college.

            “yes, why? Do you not want to?” Donghae asked searching her face.

            “it’s not like that. It’s just that I really want to finish college but if my training will start I don’t think I can anymore.” She said morosely.

Donghae gave her a smile and patted her shoulder.

            “you have just five years to train and once you’ve finished you can ask Leeteuk to make you finish your last year. I’m sure he would agree.”

            “you think so?”

            “I know so.” He smiled again.

 Jieun felt good then. At least she could feel her normal self again once she go back to college but after five years of training, what will change then? Will she be as strong and tough as her parents were? Will she be able to live up to the expectations set upon her?

Thinking of all the troubles that she’d have to face made her anxious. She sighed and looked over the lake and hoped that she wouldn’t feel left out.