Tao breathed out a sigh of frustration, falling backwards with arms wide open onto the ground and opening his eyes to glare at his high ceiling. He’d been in his room for hours trying to meditate, but nothing had come up and he was starting to worry whether his lack of visions was a good or bad thing for them. With everything that had been happening, he’d expect another one to come to him soon. He frowned in annoyance, eyes outlined a glowing grey as he tried to force a vision to come to him. After a few minutes of fruitless results, a frustrated whine fell from his lips as he to his side and slammed his fist on the ground. What was wrong?   His door opened a few seconds later and he looked down to the entrance curiously, seeing Baekhyun immediately come in, lock the door, and strip himself of his shirt before sitting next to him on his curled in side. “Baek?” the younger questioned confusedly, sitting up to stare at his husband. It wasn’t every day the elder randomly said nothing and stripped in front of him, especially with a grimace on his face. He reached out to cup the other’s cheek in his hand, making him look him in the eye. “What bothers you? I thought you were with Xiumin.”   Baekhyun groaned, shifting around until his back was to his husband instead and he fiddled with the shirt in his hands. “It’s hurting,” he whimpered, hunching forward to emphasize his back, “Xiumin told me to come back here. We don’t know why it’d be hurting.”   Tao looked at him confused before shifting his gaze down his husband’s pale back, eyes widening when he saw the skin in and surrounding the scar in the middle of his back irritated and red. That scar was created a few months before their wedding almost four years ago, during a tough battle against the lightning user Roh Jihoon. Why would it be hurting now of all times? “You did not do anything to this, right?” he questioned softly, reaching out to touch the affected area.   The elder hissed and recoiled from the supposedly soft touch. “No! Of course not.”   “You should have had this completely healed,” Tao murmured back, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on the scar, causing Baekhyun to sigh softly at the act.   “You know my policy about scars and my body.”   The younger smiled at that, continuing to place gentle kisses all over the affected area. “You only have them healed to the minimum because you do not care about scars. They simply prove as reminders and a count of all the major battles you have had to face so far.”   “Exactly,” Baekhyun murmured, letting himself be drowned in his husband’s soft kisses. “I don’t know why it suddenly started hurting though.”   Tao frowned, reaching around the elder to grab his hand and drag him up off the floor. “Come here,” he gently commanded, making sure his husband was comfortable on his stomach on top of their bed, “Let me get a good look at it.”   The elder whined but conceded, wincing and flinching whenever he felt probing fingers hitting the more sensitive parts of his back.   Four years ago, Roh Jihoon invaded their land with sparks flying off his fingers. They had no idea what he wanted, but they knew they couldn’t keep D.O. out there battling him when Chen was off in the other land. They were frightened that if their earth user got hit, Kai would easily pass because of the pain radiating through his weakened body. It was only he and Chanyeol battling against this random lightning user, and they were shocked to find him surprisingly strong. He managed to shoot a light beam through his stomach before a lightning bolt struck him in the back and Chanyeol had to finish him off.   At a suddenly rough poke, he yelped, eyes flying open as he rolled onto his side to look up at his husband surprised. “Zitao!”   The younger looked at him equally surprised, hand still outstretched from his previous ministrations. “I did not do anything differently, Baek,” he softly said, reaching forward to pull his husband back into his original position and stare down intently at the large scar. He frowned, leaning down to kiss the pain away again. “This is not good,” he concluded, coming close to tears when he heard his husband whimper again, “We need to get Lay to try and heal you completely this time.”   “That’s already scarred tissue, Tao. It won’t heal anymore.”   “I know,” Tao breathed out in frustration, “But why would it be suddenly hurting?”   Baekhyun whined. “I don’t know!”   The younger frowned, feeling a wave of pain course through his back, before his eyes widened in shock. He stared down at his husband’s scrunched up face as he clutched a pillow to his chest. If he could feel the pain, then that only meant the pain was doubled for his calling, at least. He immediately bent over again, this time placing kisses all along the side of Baekhyun’s face before trailing them down over his back hoping to soothe the pain.   After a few more minutes, Baekhyun whimpered again. “Why is this happening? Jihoon is dead. We made sure of it.”   And Tao didn’t know how to answer his calling.   ...   For the first time in a long time, Lay sighed happily in his sleep. He actually dreamt of little puppies and red pandas running around in their fields and fishes swimming around in the nearby lake. He even dreamt of Chanyeol being young and twelve again and accidentally setting himself on fire, and nobody really understood how that happened. He smiled in his sleep, a giggle threatening to burst through until he felt something shift against him and he simply turned, cuddling in more to the warmth instead.   Suho let out a quiet laugh, watching his boyfriend amusedly as he curled in around his waist and legs while he sat up in their bed reading the old book he found in their library. He wasn’t sure, but Lay even managed to resituate himself so his head was on his lap and his arms wrapped themselves around his lower body, legs tangling together in the process. He didn’t believe himself to be a pillow, but apparently, he was.   The water user returned his attention to the book, still amazed with the illustrations and story behind it. He found it in some old, forgotten corner of the castle’s library, and he wondered if the story was talking about them.   There were drawings of five females and seven males in the story, all with powers that resembled his and his eleven other friends. Suho simply stared at the picture, observing every little detail he could see of each one of them in mid-action of using their powers. The only thing that seemed off to him was the teleportation user.   “Myeon,” Lay suddenly mumbled, nuzzling his cheek into the elder’s thigh, “R’pandas.”   Suho looked down at him in shock before he laughed, gently rubbing the healer’s back and hoping he was slowly gaining as much natural energy back as he can. “Red pandas, Yixing,” he simply repeated back, wondering if that would be enough to get the other to go back to a surprisingly extremely peaceful sleep. He chuckled when Lay mumbled back, “Want one.” His eyes immediately lit up with warmth and happiness at the little phrase, smiling and wishing he could lean down and kiss his boyfriend instead of rubbing his back. “Of course, Yixing,” he answered back quietly, watching the younger a bit longer before returning to his book, “We’ll get one later.”   He stared down at the picture again, the drawing of the teleportation user looking eerily similar to Kai’s mother in the past. The depiction of the user was female with wavy long, dark hair, hand outstretched as if she was going to do something with her hand. But the book was created long ago, pages already frayed at the corners and edges discolored from years of use and disuse.   “Stop reading and sleep with me,” Lay suddenly whined, making Suho jump in his spot and the younger to whine again at the sudden movement. “Junmyeon.”   The elder laughed after getting over the initial shock, gently pushing Lay away some so he could shimmy down the bed to be level with him. “You’d think we’re already a married couple by how we act sometimes,” he randomly commented, immediately freezing up a minute later when the words replayed themselves inside his head. He quickly looked over to Lay who was just staring at him thoughtfully. “I– I mean…”   Silence slowly filled the room as Suho unconsciously used his finger as a bookmark in the book he was reading just minutes prior. He held his breath. He didn’t mean for that comment to slip out so easily when they had just been going through a rough patch before the day began. He continued to watch as a little sparkle started to shine in Lay’s eyes before his irises changed colors and flecks were swirling in them.   “If you get me the red panda, I’ll consider your proposal.”   Suho’s eyes widened at the statement, mouth hanging open as he stuttered out a “Wh-What?”   Lay hummed, dimple showing in his cheek before he snuggled his way into Suho’s arms, hiding his face in the other’s neck. His voice was muffled when he spoke again, but Suho didn’t care. “And get me the ring I want. I want a prettier one than Sehun’s, Baekhyun’s, and Xiumin’s combined, and I want one that represents our two lands together.” Another moment of silence passed before he added. “And a proper proposal.”   The elder snapped out of his shock, arms tightening his hold on his boyfriend before he started to laugh, kissing the top of the other’s head. “Anything you want, my king,” he replied back happily, feeling Lay kiss him in return on the neck, “Aren’t you being a bit too sudden and demanding with your requests though?”   “I’m king.” Lay pouted, lightly biting Suho’s neck in protest and earning him a little yelp. “I can be as demanding as I want.” He then wiggled around, feeling the book hit his back again. “Which reminds me,” he said louder, moving his legs so he could throw one over the other’s hip to pull them flush again, “You have a needy king in bed, and here you are, still holding onto that old book.”   “You’re insane,” Suho breathed out incredulously, laughing as he let go of the book to turn and slot their hips together more naturally against the bed, “You need to sleep some more, Xing.” He leaned down and lightly bit the younger’s neck in retaliation, earning himself a quick gasp in response. “Besides, the woman in that drawing looked an awful lot like Kai’s mother.”   “Kai’s mother must’ve been beautiful,” Lay mumbled absentmindedly, keeping the other’s hips firmly against his just to keep the other as physically close to him as he can, “Strong as well.”   Suho let out a puff of air, hips twitching on instinct and lightly grinding against the younger man. He frowned when Lay smiled up at him in triumph before he fought his way out and settled down next to the king again. “You need to rest,” he stated firmly, reaching over the younger to grab the book again. “Naturally,” he emphasized, resisting the urge to look over at Lay who was probably pouting because he wasn’t getting what he wanted right then.   When it was quiet for a few minutes, he looked over curiously to see that Lay wasn’t pouting at all. He was simply staring at him again, and for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why he was doing that all of a sudden. Everything was becoming so weird in the past few days, and he just hoped he continued to act like water as the days passed on. He looked into his boyfriend’s eyes and asked the most natural question any guy could ask when someone was staring at him. “Did I do something? Is there something on my face?” He almost flinched when Lay picked up a hand and brought it up to rest against his cheek. “Yixing?”   Lay remained silent, fingers gently dancing over the smooth skin before reaching further to card through the other’s equally soft hair. “Blonde,” he gently said, gaze focused on the other’s brown strands, “I think you would look equally beautiful platinum blonde.”   The other looked at him confused. “Wh–?”   “I love you, Junmyeon,” Lay interrupted, fixing the elder’s disarrayed bangs, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it completely to the other yet, “I love you… and please don’t say it back to me yet.”   Suho’s forehead creased in worry. “What are you… Yixing?” He stayed still as the younger slowly moved forward and slightly tilted his head before gently kissing him on the lips. His eyes closed on instinct, and he couldn’t believe all the feelings he could actually feel within the kiss. He felt warm, lightheaded, and loved. He couldn’t resist the pout that marred his face when Lay slowly pulled away a minute later.   And the younger giggled, feeling seven years younger than what they actually were. “Are you going to stay with me if I fall asleep again?”   The pout transformed into a lopsided smile, reaching up to put his hand on top of Lay’s on his face and intertwine their fingers there. He felt like there was a deeper meaning to that question, like the Lay with him right now has finally resurfaced after falling into a deep hole seven years ago when Luhan died. The Lay right now was completely renewed and completely his no matter if he ended up falling into another slump. “Is it cheesy to say ‘Always’? Because being cheesy seems to be Chanyeol and Kai’s thing, and I don’t want to fall into that category.”   Lay giggled again, removing his hand from his boyfriend’s face so he could maneuver the older onto his back and he can lie on his chest comfortably. “You’ve already passed that, dear,” he mumbled happily, picking up the forgotten book so the elder could start reading it again, “But I hope you will be.”   Suho smiled. “Then I will be.”   ...   Eunji stood behind a seated Kai, hands gently resting on his broad shoulders as she stared down at the handsome man. “Are you ready?” she happily called out before her demeanor changed, taking a pen and throwing it towards Kai’s father across the room. She glared at him. “Jongwook! Stop glaring at the poor man!”   Kai snickered, realizing his father actually rose higher through the ranks since he’d been gone, before he opened his mouth, only to be cut off by his father. “Do you know what that man did to our sons?!”   “Yes!” Eunji shouted back, grips on Kai’s shoulders tightening in her anger, “You’ve told me at least ten times, but that man is different from your previous descriptions. This Luhan looks to be genuine about his feelings and actions, not to be the one who was harsh and manipulative.” She gave the other an apologetic smile when she saw him cower more behind Kris. “I apologize, Luhan.”   Luhan peeked out from behind Kris’ shoulder to eye her for a moment before he gave her a small smile. “It’s okay, miss Eunji.”   Eunji smiled back at him before glaring at Jongwook again, causing Chen, Ara, and Junho to laugh. “See?” she questioned threateningly, irises turning a cool grey, “He even calls me ‘miss.’ He is clearly not the man you have described to me.”   Jongwook gaped at her. “But Eunji!”   It was surprising to see his dad so high in the ranks being scolded by a young female, although she was increasingly important in their land. “You’re being beat by a girl, dad,” Kai laughed out, smiling cheekily at his father while D.O. laughed right next to him, “I like her already.”   “You better,” D.O. chuckled out, leaning over to run fingers through the younger’s hair and place a kiss on his head, “Because she’s actually pretty powerful and could hurt you if she wanted.”   The mentioned woman just smirked, nodding down proudly when the teleportation user tilted his head back to look at her curiously. “It’s true,” she commented, shrugging, before looking over to D.O, “We’ve already discussed this, sir earth user. You need to take a step back before I try and help him.”   The other looked at her worriedly before looking down to Kai who was looking back at him just the same. After a few minutes, D.O. sighed, leaning down to kiss the younger again who instinctively tilted his head up to meet him halfway. “I’ll be right here,” he murmured against the other’s lips, placing another quick chaste one, before taking a few steps away and detaching his hand from the other’s equally strong one. “Right here,” he emphasized, watching the younger take in deep, calming breaths.   Kai nodded, looking to his dad and the rest of the crowd as they observed his reactions. He gave them a small, shaky smile that slowly fell the longer he looked at each of them. He couldn’t recognize the shorter yet older man. He shifted his gaze to the one hiding behind the tall man before he heard a whispered shout of his name. “Jongin! Eyes on me.” His brows furrowed in confusion as he shifted his gaze to the man with large eyes and simply stared at him.   “Okay, sir Kai,” Eunji called out again while squeezing his shoulder, causing him to slightly tilt his head to show he was listening, “I will begin.”   The other frowned, not understanding when he felt one hand lift up to card fingers through his hair. “Eyes on me, Jongin,” the man with large eyes stated again. Kai was severely confused, wondering what the woman behind him was doing as she slowly raked her fingers through his hair. “I’m right here.” The hand disappeared from his hair. “Focus on me.”   Kai did as told while everybody watched with wide eyes as Eunji lifted that same hand in the air and took a step back for a better view. D.O’s gaze kept flickering back and forth between his calling and Eunji, eyeing the way she stared at the back of Kai’s head.   “I saw it,” Eunji softly said, eyes still glowing cool grey before she brought down her hand hard, slapping it across the back of Kai’s head with a resounding smack!   The others in the room winced at the impact, watching Kai fall forward and D.O. immediately leap to catch him. The earth user didn’t think the other would hit his calling that hard. He almost felt the pain. He lightly glared at their friend before looking down to Kai who was kneeling against him. “Jongin?” he questioned cautiously, waiting for a response. He definitely got it in the way Kai’s pupils expanded again until his entire eyes were black and Chen screamed again. “Jongin?”   “Kris,” Luhan suddenly whispered, unconsciously tugging on the back of the other’s shirt and almost banging his head against the other’s back, “Kris.”   The flight user frowned, tilting his head back to look over his shoulder when his eyes widened in surprise. “Luhan?” he questioned, tugging his shirt out of the other’s grasp and turning around to face him with large hands on his upper arms. “Luhan, what’s going on?”   Chen turned away from the scene of an unmoving Kai to look to his right, and he screamed again at seeing Luhan’s bright and glowing amethyst eyes. “What’s wrong with him?!” And then he turned back to Kai, finger out and pointing towards the other. “And what’s wrong with him?!”   “Nothing’s wrong with him!” Kris and D.O. hissed out at the same time before turning to their callings to try and figure out what was going on while the parents looked at all of them confused. Eunji simply looked happy and proud of herself.   Chen pouted at his friends’ responses, crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively before turning his attention to Kris and Luhan next to him. “Luhan still seems to be able to talk. What’s going on with him?”   “I’m trying to figure that out, ,” Kris muttered, curling in on himself when he was suddenly punched in the stomach. He looked down at Luhan surprised.   “Don’t curse,” was all he got as they heard D.O. let out a puff of air as well.   They all looked over to see D.O. hunched over Kai’s shoulder, the younger having punched him as well because of Luhan. “Little master,” Chen said worriedly, about to walk over to them when Kai suddenly lifted his head to stare at him threateningly. He flinched, taking a step back again. “Take it easy, Kai.”   “Lu,” Kris whispered hastily, looking back down to the other, “What’s going on?”   Luhan tried to take in a deep breath. “I can’t snap out of it,” he mumbled back, lifting his head to try and focus his attention on his calling with Kai following his exact movements, “I– I can’t.”   Kris frowned, leaning forward to place his forehead on the other’s. “Take a deep breath, Lu. In and out.” He winced when he was suddenly head-butted as well.   “D-Don’t,” Luhan stuttered out, eyes wide and unblinking, “K-Kai.”   Everybody turned to look at Kai suddenly, watching as D.O. still held him up, before Eunji walked over, lifted up her hand, and slapped the back of Kai’s head again. The earth user winced at the impact and Luhan’s head flew forward just as Kris took a step back again. Both users snapped out of their shocks at the same time, shaking their heads and Kai whining at the pain radiating through his head.   “Why’d you do that, Eunji?”   D.O. looked at his calling shocked before looking back to see Luhan pouting as well, rubbing the back of his head as he stared at them. “Jongin?” he questioned unsurely, watching as the younger