I pretended not to notice how Suho and Xiumin tensed, though it had actually bugged me ever since we left the house. What about the statement made them tense, anyway? The fact that I said I needed them? Or perhaps the fact that I know they can use their powers against the mage from the volcano? I wasn't sure, but there was no way I could ask them either.

Suho and Xiumin had decided to lead us to the site of the volcano in order to find the next mage. Usually, Jongin and Sehun would be sharing the map and I would just trail after them, Chen and Tao until we found the next place, but Suho and Xiumin seemed to want to take charge and I was left in the back with Chen.

Unlike the others, who seemed calm and in Jongin's case, reluctant to find the next mage, Chen was bouncing as we walked forward, humming under his breath and allowing a wide smile to form on his lips. Though I was mostly glad that I could see this side of Chen, as I wanted to learn more about the mages I was with, I was a little worried that Jongin's warnings actually held some truth in them.

"Chanyeol and I were best friends." Chen explained, and he glanced at me for a brief moment before his eyes fixated on the backs of the mages that were walking ahead of us, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Chen also had mind reading powers, "He was the only one who would be completely okay with my trolling, and afterward, he'd excitedly tell me what aspects of my trolling he'd use on someone else."

"Were?" I couldn't help but ask this as Chen used the past tense to refer to his friendship with Chanyeol, and I definitely didn't miss how his shoulders deflated at the question.

"We were pulled apart when we became mages." he explained, and my eyes widened because I never expected any of them to have known each other before they were mages, and I never expected anyone other than Jongin to share his story about how he'd been before becoming a mage, "We were both orphans and were bullied because of it. When we met each other, we just silently agreed to stick up for one another and so when we were pulled apart, he made new friends with the other mages and I was just... here."

Then, my gaze shifted to where Xiumin and Suho were at the front of the group and I couldn't help but think of how close Chen and Xiumin had been ever since the frost mage was found. "You say it like you don't have friends here, but what about Xiumin?"

"Xiumin?" Chen's face lit up again and he nodded as he gestured to the mage he was talking about. "Xiumin was the first to acknowledge me as a mage. Even though he can't really take my trolling as well as Chanyeol does, he's never gotten angry with me for being myself."

"The first to acknowledge you?" I was getting more confused about Chen than I was getting answers, and the mage turned to me with laughter humming on his lips.

"He didn't take anything seriously." that was Sehun speaking, and I looked ahead to see him shake his head, and I wondered if maybe they had been listening to the entire conversation, "While most of us were forced into becoming mages, Chen asked to become a mage, like ruining his life wouldn't mean anything."

"You all make it sound like you're unhappy with your powers." Chen's voice held irritation, a tone I wasn't used to hearing from them, "Yet these powers gave us all a second chance to live. Why would I hate my powers if they saved me?"

"If you forgot, those powers also had us manipulated, mistreated, battered, and hidden away!" Suho had stopped walking as he shouted, turning around with his eyes lit with anger. For a moment, I myself was terrified at the look in his eyes.

"And if you forgot, getting those powers and being put in those rings led us to meeting her." Chen was pointing to me now, and the other mages had stopped walking in order to look at me, "Can any of you remember a time where someone cared for us? Genuinely? Without fear of our rebellion? Without wanting to use us in return?"

I don't know if I became more frightened of Chen or Suho, but I know that I didn't like their argument. They shouldn't be hating their past because though it happened, it can never be changed, and instead of shunning who they are, they should be using that in order to shape the rest of their lives.

"Stop." I couldn't take it, what with them getting angry and shouting. Even Jongin looked like he was about to start shouting, and I honestly wasn't ready for that, so when I spoke, they froze and turned to me to see what I'd say, "Those powers led you to meet each other. In comparison to me, who you've only known for days, those powers brought you to eleven other mages who you've known for hundreds of years."

"Don't let your past slow down your future."

After saying that, I passed all six of them and led us to the volcano. For the most part, the mages were quiet after that, though sometimes, Sehun or Tao would try and break the tension by saying something about themselves being cute, and Xiumin would occasionally ask if we were going in the right way. I preferred it this way, since it allowed me the privacy to think.

The more I tried to learn about the mages, the more confused I ended up being. Why would they hate their powers so much that they'd yell at each other in the middle of a desert? Why did Chen make it sound like meeting me was the greatest moment of his life? What happened in the past that made Suho so wary now?

Thankfully, this time we didn't have to go through any infected towns, so we had nothing to fear other than another argument between the four of them as we neared the spot we'd found on the map. Apparently, since water is everywhere, Suho had the ability to tell us where we were, like a compass.

"Stand back." when Suho spoke again, I was worried. Exactly why was he telling us to stand back?

A loud bang filled the air then, and as I widened my eyes to figure out where the bang had come from, the sky reddened and I gasped. It was starting! My dream was coming true and I was filled with excitement as my legs carried me closer to the volcano that was now spewing lava into the atmosphere the way it did during my dream. Only, my dream never let me know how hot and just plain murky it would be around the volcano.

"Is this the place?" Tao's hand was wrapped around my arm and tugging at it lightly, as if he were actually unsure if that was what I wanted.

"This is it." I breathed in reply, my eyes darting between Suho and Xiumin for a moment before focusing on the volcano again.

"We can't get closer." Jongin muttered, and just as I was about to suggest that Suho and Xiumin do what they did in my dream, but it seemed they were already one step ahead of me.

"Summon the rain." Xiumin muttered, and after Suho gave him a nod of agreement, the two walked forward and lifted their hands into the air, and it started to rain immediately. Xiumin's eyes were closed as he stood there, and his lips started uttering something in a language I'd never heard before, and all the water that fell on and around the volcano froze.

"The spell won't last for long." Xiumin's attention was on me the moment he finished casting the spell, his hand gesturing to the now frozen erruption, "With Chanyeol's powers like this, it won't take long before the ice melts completely."

"I'll go with you." I don't know why I smiled when Sehun offered to go up there with me, but I shook my head and started climbing up to the top, my hands gripping onto every jagged rock sticking out at the sides of the volcano.

I usually would have been okay with one of them offering to go with me, but I needed to go and claim the box on my own, and I needed to do it before the ice melted. I found myself sighing in relief since the volcano was so close to the ground, but ice was already melting and I could see the lava starting to flow from cracks below me. How I'd get back down there was beyond me.

The top of the volcano was exactly as I dreamed it, but a lot more terrifying. There was lava bubbling underneath the thin sheet of ice and poking holes everywhere it touched the surface of the ice. Fear was actually starting to build in my chest as I watched because I knew this was probably one of the most dangerous things I had ever chosen to do.

My eyes roamed over the ice and the rim of the volcano's mouth, trying to find a safe route to get to the other side where I knew the ring would be sitting, but I had no such luck. It was as if my only option was dying on the way to finding the seventh mage. So after taking a deep breath and pumping a fist in the air, I edged around the mouth of the volcano and crouched down to just below the rim. The ice was completely melted by this point, and I almost screamed as it got closer to me, but I successfully got the box out and was running for my life- literally.

The lava was gaining on me as I ran, and I constantly glanced over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't going to get burned to the ground by the rushing lava. Now since I'd already been saved once by the ring I was in possession of, I yanked the ring box open and slipped it onto my left hand's index finger, watching the ring contract before my feet picked up its pace.

Suddenly, a body appeared before me, a tall male who grinned widely at me and seemed to think nothing was wrong, "Why are you running?" He was running along with me even though he had no idea what was going on.

"Lava." It was all I said, and after one glance over his shoulder, the mage squealed in horror and booked it down the side of the volcano. I watched after him in a mix of amusement and surprise and tried to catch up with him as best as I could, though my adrenaline rush was wearing down.

Somewhere along the way, I had tripped against some rock and went tumbling down the rest of the way. While I was surprised I didn't roll right into lava, I was also far more surprised to know I was going faster than I had been on foot, and that I was probably going to end up with a couple of broken bones.

"Yun Seung!" I heard someone call for me but I could hardly hear them as I came to a stop by the foot of the volcano. Someone had lifted me into their arms and we were running, and though I wanted to thank the person, I found that it had become hard to even breathe.

"She's bleeding!" the second voice belonged to a frantic Tao, and when I forced my eyes to look at who was holding me, I found myself looking into Suho's eyes. Also, I found myself looking into blood. My blood, to be precise.

"Stay with us, Yun Seung." he muttered as we continued running, and I reached up to grab a hold of his shirt because if they were alright, I could die without worry.

"Where are we going?" someone else asked, the voice becoming heavy and barely recognizable, though if I had to guess, I would guess it was Sehun talking.

"Where do you think?" that was Jongin, who had appeared by Suho and took my free hand in his, squeezing it in reassurance, "We're going to find Lay."

Hey guys! It's time for your daily update! DUN DUN DUN! So, I do pretty good at these cliffhangers, right? No? Yes? I think I do pretty well. I think this entire story is actually going well, do you? I have a lot of questions, sorry... I'm not actually sorry. I like the feedback you guys give me from my questions, so forgive me for asking so many.

My next set of questions is this:

What EXO character do you like in this story so far? Why do you like this character? What can I do to make the characters better?

Thank you again for reading, subscribing, and commenting! Have a brilliant day!