There was a time when there were twelve gods and goddesses, legends, the commoners would say. They were each beautiful in their own ways, each containing a power different from the rest, and those who learned how to master a power wished they could become one of the twelve.   Lay’s mother had been one of those commoners, learning how to break apart her bones to use as weapons without death calling her way, and she wished with all her might that she could become one of the legendary heroes. It’s what caused her to become disillusioned her entire life, searching and searching until she stumbled upon a handsome healer believing she was injuring herself each time she used her power. It was strange. He was insistent and she fell in love, fell in love with the way the man cared for her beyond anything else and always put her first even above his own parents and family.   She only wanted to make it right. She wanted to give him a kingdom he was destined to have, what a legend himself was destined to have.   Every dream comes with a nightmare.   Lay’s family had lived their dream; now, they were living their nightmare.   ...   Screams filled the streets in the Land of Day, lightning strikes attacking the large town, as citizens fled to their houses and hoped the electricity couldn’t catch them inside. It caught Chen’s attention, waking him and immediately sitting up from his position on the floor to see Amber suddenly awake and looking around as well. Xiumin, Chanyeol, and Lay seemed to be in a deep sleep, all of them huddled together on the couch and the bed, and Chen frowned when another crack of thunder sounded. He and Amber shared a look of panic and confusion before rushing towards the windows, their joints cracking at the sudden movement.   There were strikes of lightning all over their town, each one as terrifyingly visible as the next, and Chen could feel the electricity surge in him spiking at seeing all that was being let loose into their home. He flinched when Amber grabbed his hand, squeezing it briefly.   “I didn’t know you already woke up,” Chen mumbled, quickly turning to grab what little items he had in the room, “Welcome back, Amber.”   “I’m afraid I can’t go out there with you,” Amber answered back, causing him to pause in his movements. He looked over his shoulder at her, seeing how exhausted and thin she was from being asleep all this time, and he worried for her. She had a small smile on her face, but it looked just as tired as the rest of her. “I apologize, Sir Chen.”   Chen truly didn’t have much in the room, most of his belongings in his own room the floor below, but he didn’t need much if he was going to attract all the bolts to himself. He gave the fighter a warm smile, going up to her to leave a kiss on her forehead. “Then protect yourself here. Wake up my calling to go get food with you.” He watched as she let out a soft laugh, so unlike her boisterous nature, and he gently knocked his knuckles against her temple before leaving the room. “Next time, don’t scare us like that.”   He barely heard her, “yeah, yeah,” behind him as he ran his way out of the castle. It didn’t take long before he made it outside, instantly redirecting a lightning bolt when it came for him towards the sky, and continued running trying to absorb or redirect all the electricity that he could.   Thinking back to the castle, Chen realized that there was no glow surrounding his calling or their king. The unexpected nap replenished all that he had lost, but he didn’t know how long any of them were going to be out. It didn’t feel like much time had passed, but the sun was starting to lower into the horizon and that couldn’t be good sign, especially with Amber suddenly waking from her coma.   “Sir Chen!” someone screamed, catching his attention, and he grunted when he heard the spark before redirecting the lightning to himself.   In the middle of the street, a lone child stood there seemingly frozen in shock. He had called his name but it looked like he couldn’t move although his legs were shaking. “Sir Chen!” he shouted again, already crying, “I can’t move!”   Lightning and any form of electricity is Chen’s specialty, but he wasn’t prepared for the sudden assault of ten bolts aiming for him. He heard the child scream in fear in the midst of the crackles and thunder deafening his ears.   It felt like his entire body was being fried alive from the inside out, his blood boiling and skin frying, and he tried his best to absorb each bolt slowly while trying to redirect others. He let out his own scream when he looked up and saw the sky darkening rapidly, as if he was back in his homeland.   “Sir Chen!” the child screamed again and Chen grunted, breathing in deep before absorbing every single trace of electricity before releasing it back into the sky. His eyes glowed, entrancing the boy long enough to quiet his calls, and he nodded to him quietly. He held a hand out towards the boy, extracting all the electricity in his small body, and watched as he quickly ran away into a store that opened up just for him to hide in.   Chen held the lightning in his hand, staring as a dark spot invaded his wrist before similar dark lines branched off from it up his arm and down into his hand. He’s heard of these marks before, looking like electricity traveling within his own body, and he wouldn’t be surprised if there were other marks like it appearing somewhere else on his body.   Suddenly, he could hear the changes in the environment around him. He could see the charges of electricity fly through the air and could hear the crack before the lightning and thunder break through the sky.   A rustle to his left alerted him of another person, one with too many electrical charges in its body, and he shot at it with the lightning in his hand. He watched, amazed, as Jihoon stumbled out, taking the electricity and redirecting it towards the sky.   He literally looked frazzled. His eyes were wild and frantic and he looked like he couldn’t properly stand on his own two feet. Chen tilted his head at him confused, staring at him, because even all the electricity in the other user’s body seemed off. It was weird. He couldn’t understand what this new development in his own power could mean. He thought he already maxed out all that he could do.   “Where is she?” Jihoon suddenly rasped out, stumbling forward onto a knee and releasing another bolt of lightning. Chen easily stomped his foot and redirected it towards himself, simply raising a hand to release it into the sky. “Where is Ailee?”   Chen frowned at the questions, wondering how the man even entered their kingdom in the first place. “The importance?” he asked in return, watching as Jihoon gripped at his chest before releasing another bolt towards him that he easily deflected. He could easily take him down now, seeing the electricity levels fluctuate inside Jihoon with amazing speeds.   “She’s my calling,” Jihoon gasped out, in deep breaths, “Where is she?”   Chen didn’t expect the answer he was given, walking towards the other and grabbing him by his shirt collar to pull closer. Frowning, he stared hard into the other user’s eyes, seeing nothing but pain and longing in them. “You were the one who almost killed my calling.”   “It wasn’t,” Jihoon mumbled, exhaling shakily, “I couldn’t–”   Chen didn’t wait for him to finish, instead dragging the other with him back towards the castle. The ice surrounding it was already melting, easy to break and chip away, but it glowed in the darkness of the night. It was like a beacon for him and the anger and confusion in Chen ebbed away until all that was left was sympathy for Jihoon when he realized he was experiencing the exact same thing he did weeks ago.   “She’s dying.” He didn’t know how else he could tell the man, other than those two words that visibly shook Jihoon down to his core. Even though the other didn’t say anything, it seemed like he already knew that.   This man wasn’t the same as when he attacked them, full of confidence and pride. This man was one who no longer knew if he could survive without his other half. He’s filled to the brim with confusion and fear and it hurt to say that Chen completely understood.   ...   Baekhyun frowned as he watched Henry in front of him, the man’s eyes closed and body slumped over as if in a deep sleep. With the way his arms and legs twitched though, it was clear he wasn’t asleep. He was still very much awake and he was still very much under his illusions.   A smile started to form on Henry’s face and Baekhyun bit his lip at what he produced – an image of Amber laughing next to him as they walked through the kingdom. It was a simple image, one Baekhyun could easily create with any other person if he knew them, and it made a weird feeling bubble in his chest when Henry started to softly laugh along with the mirage.   He watched as the image shifted to another of Amber hitting Henry on the shoulder, one he’s seen happen one too many times before, and almost laughed when Henry visibly flinched in front of him.   Baekhyun isn’t heartless, after all. He wouldn’t intentionally torture someone even though he knew what faults the other person had. Even with Luhan, he wouldn’t do that, couldn’t, to an extent that is.   “Baekhyun?”   Baekhyun looked up at the call, smiling when he realized it was Luhan standing next to him. The telekinesis user looked tired yet refreshed, an odd combination but one that they’re all willing to welcome. “Hey, Luhan,” he quietly greeted, closing his eyes when the other reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He inadvertently put the same image into Henry’s mind, but Henry only smiled all the same when Amber did that for him. “How is he?”   “Suho, you mean?” Luhan asked, pulling his hand back to sit on the ground next to his feet. Baekhyun followed suit, breathing out a sigh of relief when his aching feet had a chance to rest. But looking at Luhan’s soft features, he could already tell their other friend is fine. “He’s recovering.”   A blanket of silence fell over them after that, Baekhyun unsure of where he stood with Luhan, but it wasn’t truly uncomfortable. He flinched when Luhan’s hand came out to gently tilt his head onto his shoulder, Baekhyun gasping at the kind gesture. It made him suddenly miss their past, Baekhyun scooting in closer to get into a more comfortable position against Luhan.   “Tell me more about your power,” Luhan suddenly voiced out, embarrassed chuckle following after, as he scratched lightly at his cheek. “When were you able to control a person’s vision?”   Baekhyun sighed at the question, feeling tired all of a sudden, and he hoped Luhan didn’t take it personally. The glow still remained in his eyes, even as he closed them to think more clearly into producing the calming, nice visions Henry had been experiencing all this time. “After you fell asleep,” he started off, hearing Luhan hum in the distance, “And after I got attacked that second time and almost died, I figured I needed a stronger technique to help myself. I needed something to act as a defense.”   He paused when Luhan grabbed onto his hand, opening his eyes to see Henry staring right back at him. He smiled when Henry smiled, the water user closing his eyes again afterwards. “He’s looking at Amber,” Baekhyun explained quietly, “All he sees are visions of Amber.”   Luhan relaxed next to him, nodding along. “Oh,” he murmured.   “And this is my defense,” Baekhyun continued on, smiling, “I can control the light waves, refracting and reflecting, and it’s not exactly like your own power, but I can create images in others’ minds based on how I control the light.”   Luhan hummed at the explanation, tilting his head against Baekhyun’s. Being in this room by himself, Baekhyun didn’t know to what extent everybody used their power until Luhan brought Suho back. He just knew that they all helped in one way or another and he could tell in the way Luhan started to become heavier and heavier that he was exhausted as well.   “You were never evil,” Luhan mumbled, causing Baekhyun to let out a sudden burst of surprised laughter at the statement. He yelped when he felt the other pinch his arm though. “You always acted like you would hurt us, but even to our enemies, you would never harm them. You would never torture them.”   The silent words of but I did hung in the air and Baekhyun frowned again, keeping his emotions in check so it didn’t affect the visions in Henry’s head. He needed to keep him calm until they all recovered, and he hoped that wouldn’t take long. It had already been hours since things had calmed down.   “I wish I saw your light at the end of the tunnel too,” Luhan suddenly whispered, dozing off right after.   The lingering, confusing words of thank you in Baekhyun’s mind was enough for him to pull Luhan closer, tangle their arms together because he missed this. He missed Luhan being gentle with everyone he deemed friends. He smiled, shaking his head gently at the silliness of the situation.   “Thank you for coming back.”   ...   “He still looks like a baby when he sleeps,” Kris commented, smiling as Suho snuggled in closer to Sehun. The water user’s body curled around the wind user’s waist, moving his head to rest on the other’s longer legs, while his own larger jacket covered the water user’s body. “He’s still cute.”   Sehun laughed at the words, giving the flight user a mischievous smile. “Cuter than Luhan?”   Kris flushed at the question, shoving the wind user on the arm. “Of course not,” he whispered, trying to look out the door of the room they’re in to see if he could see Luhan. “Luhan is forever my number one.” He frowned at how ridiculous he sounded, turning back to see Sehun stifling a laugh. How did the young user become– “Chanyeol.”   Sehun froze, eyes widening towards him, before he glared. “What about him?”   “Either him or Kai and you’d still be this bad,” Kris muttered disapprovingly, shaking his head at him disappointed. It only made Sehun burst out in laughter, jostling Suho on his lap. “Why couldn’t you have better taste in a lifelong partner?”   “Says the man who ended up being with the most complicated guy on the planet,” Sehun fired back, gently moving Suho so he wasn’t near him in case he started laughing again. But the smile never left his face as he pushed Kris over. Both of them collapsed into a fit of giggles next.   “Luhan is gorgeous,” Kris fired back, pinching Sehun’s arm.   “Chanyeol is handsome,” Sehun retorted, smushing Kris’ face in his hands. “And I win.”   “Nope. Luhan is beautiful,” Kris said, reaching out to pull at Sehun’s cheeks. “You lose.”   “You two are still the same after all these years,” Kai suddenly voiced, appearing out of nowhere with D.O. holding onto him. The earth user appeared to be asleep thou