"Good work. As you were," Corporal Onew instructed the soldiers before him.  They offered their senior a bow before returning to their duties. Onew was sent to inspect the watch camp set up outside the city by the forest. The camp sent out aid and troops to wherever needed. The young Corporal took one last look around the camp before feeling satisfied and walked to his horse. He mounted his steed and addressed his own few men, sitting ready on their own horses.

"Let's be off," he said to them. He kicked his heel into the side of the horse and rode off with his men. Thus far all was going well. They were no recent attacks and were any further to come, they would be prepared this time. They could only do so much though against the Tyrant, their greater preparations lied in their aid for those who would be affected by the attacks.

After some time of riding, Onew and his men were now quite a distance away from the camp. An uneasy feeling began to suddenly overcome the young man but he shook it off. The ongoing crisis had him on the edge and constantly cautious of his surroundings. It was a stressful time for everyone but Taeyeon and the other girls would be travelling to Earth today. If their mission proved successful, it would bring the relief they all deeply yearned for right now.

A sudden deafening explosion from behind them threw Onew out of his thoughts as his horse jumped on its hind legs in fright and wailed. Onew tried to calm his horse and as he got it back down on its feet, he turned the horse around to view where the explosion came from.

His eyes widened in fear when he realized the ominous dark clouds in the distance were from the camp.

Without a moment's hesitation, Onew snapped the reins of his horse and sped off back to the camp, ignoring the calls from his men. His heart raced as he beckoned his horse to pick up its speed. He did not want to even think of it, but knew what had possibly happened at the camp. He was frightened beyond belief; he was possibly headed towards his doom right now. However, he could not stand back and watch many die before his eyes for the second time.

When he got there, he found nothing but ashes and a familiar symbol burnt into the ground.

-

"The Juggernaut?"

"It seems to fit the description."

The King sighed as he looked over a rough but detailed drawing of a violent looking beast. The drawing depicted a hunched form like that of a human but of an extreme, muscular build and a feral face. The Juggernaut was a towering giant, able to extinguish life with just a swing of its massive arm. It was a beast believed to have been extinct much long ago.

The attacks in Essinia, established to be the doing of the Tyrant, were followed by sightings and further attacks by various beasts around the country. The attacks were few as the beasts were seemingly straying from cities or villages but there have already been numerous reports of sightings by travelers or hunters. The most recent was by a travelling scholar who came across this particular beast from the mountain ranges. The old man barely escaped with his life.

The King was certain that the Tyrant's escape from the Realm of the Reaper was followed by the various demons from the Realm as well.

"Troops have already been placed on guard," Major Donghae spoke from beside the King as they walked down the quiet white corridors of the Palace.

The King returned the drawing to the Major's hand. "If there is anything further, let me know immediately," the King spoke.

"Yes your Majesty," Donghae said, bowing his head before taking his leave in the opposite direction. The King continued to walk forward, eventually coming to a stop at a cherry brown double door. He raised his fist and knocked twice on the doors. He retracted his hand and waited momentarily before the doors were pulled open, revealing a short brunette on the other side.

"Oh good morning uncle," Sunny greeted her uncle with a smile before stepping back to allow him to enter.

"Good morning Soonkyu," the King smiled at his niece as she closed the doors behind him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well as much as I could after that bomb you dropped on us yesterday," Sunny said as she walked across her lavish room to the dressing table near her bed.

"I did not mean to distress you and the girls so much," the King said as he stepped forward, folding his hands behind his back.

"I know," Sunny said as she sat down and picked up a hair brush, "it's just still sinking in for me," she said as she ran the hair brush through her hair. "It's just happening so fast. Essinia's in turmoil and apparently it's because of a mythical revenge-seeking, demonic war general who was until recently completely unheard of. It's so-"

"Overwhelming?" the King finished for his niece.

Sunny offered her uncle a worn smile, "yeah, kind of."

"I am sorry to have upset you," the King said as he stepped forward to talk a seat on the edge of the queen sized bed.

"It's alright," Sunny said turning to her uncle, "we wanted to help anyways. We had to know."

"Admittedly, I did not whole heartedly believe the myth myself when I was young," the King told. "I eventually did come to realize its reality; however I had never thought such a day would come in my lifetime." The King looked up to his niece to see a worried expression don her face. He smiled at the young girl, "but don't worry too much. We know what we must do."

"We must go to Earth and find the Key," Sunny recalled her mission.

"Yes and speaking of which, I told your parents I was sending you to Earth."

Sunny grimaced. "Bet mom freaked out."

"Your mother and father are very worried. They were insisting on returning but I urged them not to. It would be much safer if they stayed away from Essinia for the time being," the King said. Sunny's parents, the King's brother and sister-in-law, lived abroad from Essinia. She would at times go through months without seeing her parents due to their oversea affairs.

"Do you think they will be safe?" Sunny asked.

"I do hope so. The Tyrants spite is with Essinia but anything could happen. As such after meeting with the council, we have sent out messages to other nations. We are to as well receive military support."

"Do you plan to tell the people about what's really happening?" Sunny asked.

"I spoke of the matter with the council, we have decided against it for the time being. It would only cause further alarm amongst the people."

Sunny nodded her head in agreement, turning back to the mirror of her dresser and resumed brushing her hair. The King looked down at his hands and cleared his throat.

"Your parents are not the only ones who are worried for you," he said. Sunny stopped mid brush and turned to give her uncle a playful look.

"Weren't you the one who said we were ready for this?" she asked.

"You are indeed, though that does not mean we still cannot be worried for you. You're still just a child."

Sunny rolled her eyes and placed her brush down. She stood up and walked over to take a seat next to her uncle.

"I am not a little girl anymore," Sunny said as she hooked her arm around her uncle.

"It's seems it was just yesterday you were. You use to run down corridors and put my guards in a frenzy. You and the girls still do in fact."

Sunny giggled and playfully smacked her uncle's arm. "You know you sometimes treat Seohyun more of an adult than me, and she's the youngest!"

"Well, she doesn't do that baby voice you do," the King smiled, falling into a more comfortable atmosphere with his niece.

"People ask me to!" Sunny whined, stomping her feet on the ground.

The King laughed heartily, caressing the top of the young girls head.

-

"You're actually excited?" Sooyoung asked.

"It's been so long since I left Earth!" Jessica said as she rummaged through her wardrobe.

"Can't I come along?"

Jessica looked over her shoulder to face the girl lying on her stomach on the bed. "No," she said before turning back to her wardrobe.

"Aw, but I want to!" the raven haired girl whined. "I can help you guys out," she said.

"Sorry Krystal, but this is our mission," Sooyoung said, lounged on the sofa on the other side of the room, eating a bowl of noodle.

"It's your mission," Krystal said turning her head back to look at Sooyoung, "but she's just extra baggage," she said pointing to Jessica.

Jessica turned around and went over to the bed. She picked up a pillow and proceeded to pound her younger sister with it. Krystal laughed as she tried to dodge Jessica barrage of attacks.

"Get lost twerp," Jessica said as she tossed the pillow at Krystal before turning back to her wardrobe. She dug through some items and boxes in the bottom corner before she finally found what she was looking for. "Here it is!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a small box and brought it towards her bed.

"What were you looking for?" Sooyoung asked eyeing the box in Jessica's hands.

"They clothes I had on when I first came to Kaia," Jessica said as she placed the box onto the bed. She removed the lid and smiled brightly as she pulled out a pink t-shirt with a flower printed on the front. When Jessica first arrived on Kaia, she had to abandon her clothes from Earth and adopt a new fashion of long dresses and gowns. She was currently dressed in an elegant, long white dress. Krystal and Sooyoung were in similar attires.

"Oh are those one of your silly Earth clothes?" Sooyoung asked casually.

"They're not silly!" Jessica exclaimed, hugging the cloth to her chest. "If we're going to Earth, we're going to need the right clothes."

"But isn't this a little too small for you?" Krystal asked. Jessica looked at Krystal questioningly before pulling the t-shirt away from her chest. She inspected the shirt and indeed, it was smaller than her current physique. It suddenly occurred to Jessica that when she last wore this t-shirt, she was only nine years old. Now entering into her twenties, she has most certainly outgrown the pink top.

"Oh, what do you know," Jessica crumpled the cloth into a ball in her hands and tossed it at Krystal's head. "Here squirt, you can have it," she said as she pushed the box towards Krystal as well. Krystal laughed as she pulled the shirt off her head, amused at her sister's quick detachment from her old memories.

"It's amazing."

The three girls turned their attention to the fourth girl in the room, who was pacing back in forth, her attention fixated in the large book in her hands.

"What's amazing Seohyun?" Sooyoung asked, abandoning her fork and lifting the bowl in her hands to her lips.

"Oh," Seohyun broke out of her reveries, "just the story of the Tyrant." She was reading through the records Yesung obtained from the Temple of Nagudis. She wanted to familiarize herself with the legend of the Tyrant as much as possible. "He was a man so beloved by the people and even the King. They say he was one of the most kind hearted persons. However, one day it all changed. Where he once brought hope, he then brought bloodshed. Magic had absolutely corrupted him."

"Magic in the old days was much more… dangerous, wasn't it?" Krystal asked.

"They say it was different in the olden days. Dangerous as well I imagine, as dark magic was much more influential then. I believe what we have thus far witnessed is but only a fifth of the Tyrant's power," Seohyun said.

"A fifth?" Sooyoung asked incredulously. "He has wiped out villages, killed hundreds of people and that's just a fifth of what he's got?"

"You know what," Krystal said as she sat up from the bed, "you can take care of this mission without me sis." Krystal blew her sister a kiss before scurrying away to the door. As she made it to the door, it opened from the other side revealing Taeyeon with Tiffany behind her. Krystal offered them both a smile and a bow of her head before leaving the room.

"Hey guys," Taeyeon greeted the girls in the room.

"Hey," Jessica greeted in return, "you guys ready for today?"

"Yes!" Taeyeon said, lifting her chin up and placing her hands on her waist, "To boldly go, where no Kaian has gone before!"

Tiffany looked at Taeyeon. "But Jessica and I are from Earth."

"Oh, right," Taeyeon realized, "then to boldly go where no Kaian, other than Jessica and Tiffany, has gone before!"

"Hasn't BoA gone to Earth?" Jessica asked.

Taeyeon sighed, "to boldly go where no Kaian, other than Jessica, Tiffany and BoA, has gone before."

"Stephanie and Lina currently reside on Earth," Seohyun said.

“Eric and his people too,” Jessica added.

"I think plenty of people have gone to Earth before," Sooyoung said.

"Fine! To boldly go where I have never been before," Taeyeon exclaimed, crossing her arms.

Tiffany giggled at Taeyeon before turning to the others, her eyes now showing worry. "You know I was a bit excited earlier about getting to go back to Earth, but now I'm kind of nervous."

"Why is that?" Sooyoung asked.

"We have to search a whole country for the Key. We can't waste even a single second there," Tiffany said.

"Wait, don't we have a specific location in Korea?" Jessica asked stepping to the front of her bed.

"Earth is galaxies away from Kaia, Jess," Tiffany said. "Think about it. Korea alone is pretty specific as it is."

Jessica's mouth fell open as she plopped back down onto the bed. "We have to search the whole country?!"

"Hang on, something that just occurred to me, what does the Key even look like?" Taeyeon asked looking to the other girls.

"Oh, there is a diagram of it in here," Seohyun said as she flipped through the pages of the book in her hands. She stepped forward and the other girls gathered around her to take a look into the book for themselves. Seohyun landed on the desired page and held the book open for the others to see. "This is it."

The page showed a sketch of what seemed like a crystal; it was long in length with seemingly sharp pointed tips.

"This is the Key?" Taeyeon asked. "To be honest, I was expecting an actual key."

"There something else we need to be aware of when on our search," Seohyun spoke up.

"What's that?" Sooyoung asked looking up to the younger girl.

"According to what I have read, we may not find the Key in its original form."

"What do you mean?" Tiffany asked.

"The Key is apparently able to be absorbed into any human being. It's odd and it doesn't clearly explain it completely. There are many pages that are missing from these records," Seohyun explained as she flipped through a few pages to show the several rips from the hinge of the book.

"So it could be inside a human?" Taeyeon asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"That is going to make things even more difficult!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Didn't the Key land on Earth over hundreds of years ago? What if it was absorbed into someone and that person is now dead?" Sooyoung asked.

"Oh God, it just got worse!" Jessica wailed, clutching her head in hands.

"Well, I imagine the Key would still continue to be even if its host perishes. I don't think the Key would so easily dissolve," Seohyun reasoned.

"So we'll just have to dig up some graves then in case," Sooyoung sardonically commented.

"We should bring flowers," Taeyeon added.

Jessica moaned as she turned around and marched towards her bed. She threw herself over the bed, burying herself into the mattress in which her moans became muffled. Taeyon, Tiffany, Seohyun and Sooyoung watched in awe as Jessica pound her arms over the bed like a child.

"Oh Sica," Sooyoung sighed, "don't turn out to be excess baggage like your sister said."

-

"Hey guys," Yuri greeted her companions, Taeyeon, Tiffany, Jessica, Sooyoung and Seohyun as they joined her, Yoona and Hyoyeon in the corridor, on their way to the conference room.

"All set to go?" Taeyeon asked as she wrapped an arm around Yuri.

"I guess. Didn't have much time to prepare, but how can you prepare for something like this?" Yuri commented.

"Where's Sunny?" Hyoyeon asked as the group walked down the corridor together.

"She'll be catching up with us later," Tiffany answered.

The eight girls walked together to the conference room where they were being awaited for. As planned the previous day, today they will be crossing galaxies in search of the missing Key that would aid in their world's current peril. It was imperative that they leave immediately as every second was of the essence.

"Good morning, ladies," Heechul greeted the eight young ladies as they entered the conference room. Heechul was amongst the Prime Minister and many other military dignities in the room who would be seeing the girls off. "All set to go?"

"Are we leaving immediately?" Yoona asked they moved towards the grand table.

"That's right," Kyuhyun said as he stepped forward with a small chest in his hand. He placed it at the front of table and opened it. He produced five pouches that carried the compasses the girls had been shown previously.

"They're simple to use," Ryeowook spoke as Kyuhyun handed the five pouches to the girls. "The compass will point you to the direction of the Key. As you come closer to it, the emerald in the center will emit a glow. The closer you get, the stronger the glow."

"Once you arrive, Shinyoung will be waiting for you. She'll be taking care of you girls," Siwon explained.

"Shinyoung is in Seoul isn't she? Is that where we will start from?" Tiffany asked.

"Yes," Yunho answered stepping forth. "We have no clue on a specific location of the Key. Best start from where resources are available to us."

"So it possibly could take us days to find the Key," Yuri said as she clutched onto the pouch in her hand.

"Speaking of which, you forgot to mention one detail to us yesterday," Jessica spoke up.

"What's that?" Yunho asked.

"Like how the Key could be inside a human!" Jessica exclaimed.

"What?" Yoona, Yuri and Hyoyeon asked simultaneously. Not having been present amongst the others earlier, they were left unaware of this detail. The three of them turned to Yunho with surprised gazes.

Yunho looked back at the girls with the same look in his eyes. He had not heard of what the Jessica had just uttered before and was left with no answer to give her. He simply looked to Ryeowook.

"Oh," Ryeowook said. "Well, you know now," he smiled innocently.

"Wait a minute, how can the Key be inside a human?" BoA asked stepping forward.

"The anomaly is not thoroughly explained but apparently the Key is able to be absorbed into any living organism. Something to do with its makings," Ryeowook said. "If by chance someone cross paths with it and picks it up, the Key's essence will be absorbed into their being. They will technically become the Key."

"Great," Jessica sighed. "We could now be searching for a moving target," she whined.

"Aw, don't cry Jessica."

Jessica looked to the side of the room, where a young man sat over a cabinet by the wall. He was surrounded by three other young fellows.

"Shut up Jonghyun," Jessica said to the boy who only chuckled in response.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Yoona asked.

"I have already read over all there is within these records," Seohyun said, stepping forward to return the large book in her hands to Ryeowook. "There is not much further for us to know. We can leave as soon as possible," Seohyun told her friends.

"I believe you girls already know you are absolutely not allowed to use magic on Earth," BoA said. Her statement was met with eight bewildered faces.

"No magic?" Taeyeon asked.

"Wasn't that an obvious one? Heechul commented.

"No magic?!" Taeyeon exclaimed this times.

"No magic," BoA echoed, smiling delicately at the girls upset expressions. Magic was a common use to the girls, as was throughout their world. Asking them to not make use of magic was like asking not to use a limb.

"You know Earth is oblivious to our galaxy," the Prime Minister spoke up, "it's a completely different world so in order to safeguard our world, you cannot use magic at all."

The eight girls moaned in response.

At that moment, the doors to the room opened as the King walked in with Sunny by his side. All those in the room stood straight and bowed their heads to the King.

"Are you girls ready to leave?" the King asked approaching the girls.

"I suppose we are," Taeyeon answered, exchanging unsure glances with the others.

"Your task is fairly simply. Begin your search as soon as you arrive. With the compasses in hand, you will surely find the Key in better haste," The King said.

"What if it takes us days to find it?" Taeyeon asked the King, grave concern in her eyes.

"It is expected you may not immediately find the Key. Why it is most important you girls do your very best," the King said.

"We may just find the Key in time," Sunny assured the others. "There hasn't been any recent attacks has there?" Sunny asked looking towards the militants in the room.

"No," Siwon shook his head, "nothing new thus far. Though that is not to say another attack could happen at any time."

Sunny released a sigh, lowering her gaze for a moment. When she looked back up, her attention was suddenly drawn to a glow from the center of the table. There laid a semi-sphere made of glass, a golden ring encircling its rim. From within the sphere an aura was resonating, emitting a radiance from the sphere.

"The telesphere," Sunny alerted everyone's attention to the small device.

First Lieutenant Eunhyuk, who was most close by, reached out to the device and tapped his finger over the sphere. Light extended from the sphere and an image began to shape over it. The occupants of the room were soon greeted by a small holograph of the young Corporal Onew, from torso up.

"Onew," Eunhyuk greeted the Corporal. It was only then Eunhyuk took notice of Onew's heavy breathing and troubled expression.

"I… I have bad news to report," Onew spoke.

Yunho stepped closer towards table, alarmed by the Onew's distressed voice. "Onew, what is it?" he spoke to the manufactured image of the Corporal upon whom all eyes now laid.

"The north side camp…" Onew trailed off, taking a huge breath to calm his nerves, "the camp has been completely destroyed."

"What?" Yunho asked in disbelief, gasps sounding from all around him. "How? What happened?!"

"The Tyrant," Onew responded, "he wiped out the entire camp. All the men have perished."

"All of them?" Yunho uttered in shaken voice.

"All…" Onew responded. Everyone in the room shared frightful glances with each other. Sunny shared a sorrowful glance with Taeyeon and the others. Jessica gently bit her lower lip, feeling a weight press over her heart, her companions sharing the same suffering.

"Onew!" Taemin, one of the young boys who stood with Jonghyun, rushed forward to the table with the other three boys. "Are you alright?"

"I had just taken leave from the camp when there was this sudden explosion. I turned back to find everything in ruins. Your Majesty," Onew turned his gaze to the King, "I'm so sorry."

"Do not be, there was nothing you could do," the King assured him, his eyes showing anguish. "Return with your men immediately, Onew."

"Yes your Majesty," Onew obeyed with a bow of his head. The light from the telesphere disintegrated, the holograph vanishing with it. The King heaved a sigh, remorse washing over him. He turned to the nine mages around him, their eyes showing the same grief as his.

"It is time to leave," he said. The girls nodded their heads silently and followed the King out of the room.

-

The King led the girls up a flight of stairs, followed by another, and another. It came to a point the girls began to lose their breaths. The grand Palace was of numerous floors and they were currently being led to the very top. While the girls tirelessly moved their limbs, the King walked on sturdily ahead of them.

Taeyeon took a moment to catch her breath after reaching the top of another flight of stairs, the other girls stopping beside her as well. "Are we there yet?" she huffed.

"Not yet," the King spoke as he continued onwards. "Come along."

The girls watched as Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Heechul and the Prime Minister, who accompanied them, walked past them as robustly as the King. Taeyeon heaved a sigh as she followed behind, leading the other girls.

-

"Finally,” Sooyoung breathed as the group walked into a corridor at the end of which was a large double door. They continued their walk till they reached the grand door. Ryeowook immediately stepped forth to open the doors for the King. He pulled at the handles and stepped back for the King and the others to walk inside.

As soon as they entered the room, the girls forgot of their fatigue for the moment, their eyes growing wide as they beheld the massive room before them. The room was wide and circular in form, with cream colored walls that reached to an amazing height above them. The ceiling consisted of an extraordinary mosaic architecture made of glass that left the girls breathless.

"Whoa," Yoona uttered, her head turned upwards.

Sunny averted her eyes away from the ceiling to observe the rest of the room. Aside from a balcony to the side, the room itself was completely empty. That was when Sunny took notice of what was at the center of the room where the King and the others awaited for them.

There stood a small golden arch, over which encryptions were engraved.  It was the size of any ordinary door, except that there was no actual door under the arch. Though it was Sunny's first time laying her eyes over this construction, she knew well of what it was.

"A teleportation gate," Sunny said as she walked up to her uncle's side, the other girls following behind her.

"I remember this," Tiffany said, "Jessica and I came to Kaia through the same kind of gateway."

The teleportation gate was an extremely limited technology in all of Kaia, the Palace of Essinia possessing one of the handfuls there were on the entire globe. The small gate provided the ability to jump into different galaxies, no matter at what distance. It was however rarely used as Earth was the only planet in a faraway galaxy known to possess intelligent life. Though they were with the capability to travel to Earth, they never interfered in the lives of Earthlings as they lived in an entirely different world from their own. Kaia saw no business with Earth.

The King turned to Ryeowook and gestured him to perform his duty. Ryeowook nodded in response and stepped up to one side of the arch, Kyuhyun stepping to the other side. Sunny then noticed the two white gems embedded into the center of the arch's pillars. Ryeowook and Kyuhyun placed their fingers over the gems and silently recited an incantation together, the girls watching them with curiosity. When they finished, the two stepped back and the gems began to glow. The men stood in their place while the girls continued to eye the arch but nothing further was happening. The girls exchanged puzzled glances with each other.

"Now what?" Jessica asked. As if in response to Jessica query, the arch began to react. Electric streaks began to shoot out through the gems across the arch. There was a cackle of electricity in the space beneath the arch; the sound growing louder as did the streaks of energy. The girls were left amazed by the spectacle before them, as electricity continued to dance around and through the arch. Suddenly the air beneath the arch began to twist and with a final loud, streak of electricity, a ripped formed in the air that caused the girls to stumble back a bit. The air underneath the arch seemed to be glowing and ripples could seen like on the surface of water.

"Shinyoung will be waiting for you on the other side," the King spoke. "Find the Key and return home immediately," he instructed.

Taeyeon turned to the King and bowed her head. "Yes your Majesty." She made her way to the portal, taking cautious steps as she came closer. She lifted her hand up to the rippling surface and lightly tapped her finger over the space, forming a ring of ripples. She then pushed her hand through the air and it vanished.

"Wow," Hyoyeon commented. Taeyeon pulled her hand back out, her hand coming back into view.

"Good luck girls," the Prime Minister said.

Taeyeon turned back to face her companions behind her. "Let's go then!"

The older girl then completely walked through the gate and disappeared from the room and their world. Tiffany shared an eager glance with the others before trailing behind Taeyeon.

Jessica smirked at the other girls, "last one in is a rotten-HEY!" Before Jessica could finish, Hyoyeon had already dashed ahead of her and into the portal. Jessica ran after her and was followed by the others one by one. Sunny was the last one behind but before she walked through the portal, she turned to give her uncle a smile.

"Take care Soonkyu," the King smiled in return to his niece before she vanished through the portal.

-

Atop the highest mountain peak in the land of Essinia, where snow covered the rocky summit, knelt a lone figure overlooking the vast terrain of the distraught Empire. From his position high above the surface, he could sense the wealthy nation's terror and panic. A malicious grin grew on the figures face and it bellowed a deep, wicked laugh.

Everything was perfect.