We had gotten home safely after finding Lay, and Suho had grabbed the eighth mage by the arm and pulled him up the stairs to what I assumed was their shared room. For a moment, the others had stared at each other as if they didn't know what else to do, and then Chen realized that Chanyeol also didn't have a place to stay and dragged the tall mage up the stairs.

I was left in the living room with Tao, Sehun, Jongin, and Xiumin; the four of which continued to stare at each other as if they didn't know what else to do. I knew I probably should have decided to rest, since I haven't been able to do much of that recently, but my gaze fell down onto my pistols and then back to the mages.

"I'm going to go out." I didn't explain where I'd go or what I'd do, but after speaking, I had walked out the front door. Someone was calling after me from behind, but it seemed like they all trusted me to come back safely if I went on my own.

A few minutes later, I found myself standing before an old training field. It was nearly destroyed and still smelled of decaying flesh, but I was relieved to see there were still some training targets and dummies that I could use while practicing. Though I knew the mages could and would protect me under any circumstance, the fact was that I wasn't willing to be a deadweight and a liability. If we were ever to go through another town that was infested with them, I wanted to be able to fight alongside them instead of wait for the mages to take care of everything for me.

As I pulled my pistols out and aimed them at the training targets, I started to remember what happened when Jongin and I had been fighting together. My pistols, which had been average and old pistols with slow firing abilities, had somehow been able to shoot out bullets of the mages' powers. A ball of wind for Sehun, a time stopper for Tao- I wanted to see if maybe I could figure out how to use the abilities.

"First, Tao." I muttered it under my breath and closed one eye as I raised one pistol to the target and fired, and surely enough, a bullet in the shape of an hourglass shot out of the pistol and as soon as it hit the training target, it was as if time had frozen around the target. On my side, though, time was moving the way it had been before I shot the pistol. Lowering that hand, I raised my other hand and aimed with the other pistol; a hum escaped my lips as I fired, focusing on Sehun's power. When I fired, it was that same ball of energy in the form of wind that I recalled from when Jongin and I had fought them.

The bullet I had fired with Jongin's power had disappeared the second I pulled the trigger, reappearing just before the target and piercing it. For Chen's power, the bullet had hit the target and from above, a strand of lightning had hit the target and fried it. I had to move to another target because of it. For Xiumin, when I fired, the bullet hit the target and a sheet of ice quickly spread and covered the entire target. For Suho, the bullet hit the target and the water that hit the target melted the ice as well as the target. I had to move to another target for that, as well. The bullet that was using Chanyeol's power also destroyed a target, but this time, it was because it burnt the entire target as well as the structure supporting it.

"That's the last target, too..." For a moment, I was upset that I had been stupid enough to destroy all the targets, but then I remembered the eighth mage and his power of healing. It was a long shot, honestly, but I fired the pistol anyway and was surprised that the bullet actually healed the target that had been destroyed by Chanyeol's power. With a relieved grin, I looked down at the pistol in my hand, "Lay's power is my absolute favorite."

"I'm a little offended." My eyes widened in surprise and I spun around to see who was there, and surely enough, Sehun was right there with his arms crossed over his chest. Though he said he was offended, his eyes were sparkling in amusement, and his lips were pulled back to show his toothy grin.

"How did you find me?" My voice was wary as I asked him that, since I hadn't told any of them where I would have been going, but Sehun shrugged and walked over to the target that I had fried using Chen's power.

"A random strand of lightning that falls from the sky isn't very subtle." He turned back to me, his back resting against the structure holding the target up, "Why are you training out here by yourself?"

For a few moments, I couldn't answer him. What could I tell him? That I felt useless in comparison to them and thus needed to make sure I could pull my own weight? It was true, of course, but I didn't want Sehun to think lowly of me.

"I miss fighting." It was true, though it wasn't the reason why I was out there at that moment, and I had a feeling Sehun knew about it. Shaking his head, Sehun walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me, sighing gently.

"I miss my life from before this mess started, too." As quickly as he pulled me into his arms, Sehun had let go and walked away from me, taking a seat in the middle of the training space. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but then he laid down with his arms tucked under his head.

Instead of laying down like the mage of wind decided to do, I sat up and watched the sky above us, wondering what Sehun could have meant by saying what he said. I know Jongin had briefly mentioned a life before he had become a mage, and that Chen had told me of his friendship with Chanyeol from before they became mages, but what about Sehun?

"When I was a human, I was a dancer." his lips curved into a grin and I looked down at him, slowly grinning myself when I saw the thoughtfulness in his gaze, "I was pretty damn good, too, winning competitions here and there. Everyone said I looked like I was flowing with the wind whenever I danced... I guess that's what brought the unwanted attention, as well. They said they'd help me become even more like the wind."

My eyes pulled away when I noticed the bitterness his tone had taken on, because I couldn't stand to see someone as sweet as Sehun be bitter about who he had become, "Well, I don't know about your dancing, but you are the wind to me."

Sehun slowly sat up and turned to me, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he took in my words, "I am the wind? What do you mean?"

"Calm, but easily excited. Gentle and soothing, yet dangerous when angered." I glanced at him as I said that, glad to see the smile that was slowly taking control of his face again, and the wind breezed around us as if it were agreeing, "Protective, and always there. Sehun, you are the wind."

"Promise me something." When I turned to Sehun, his eyes were fixated on me, and I couldn't read the emotions they held, but something had me nodding even without being able to understand what he was going through, "Promise me that you'll stay with us even after we're freed."

His words alarmed me just slightly, since I hadn't thought too much about what was to happen to us all after I freed them. Sehun didn't actually wait for an answer and stood up with a hand outstretched towards me. I took it without hesitation and the two of us walked back to the house even though my thoughts still swam in my mind. What was I supposed to do with myself after freeing them, anyway? Was I supposed to return to my old life? Would my life be different in any way? What about them? Will freeing the mages also free our world from the threat of them?

The scent of meat filled our nostrils as we walked into the house, effectively pulling me out of my thoughts and confusing me at the same time. When had we gotten meat, and how were they able to cook said meat? My questions were answered as Sehun and I made our way to the back of our house, where in the backyard, a small pile of wood was on fire and roasting what seemed to be rabbit meat. My stomach flipped at the sight of the meat; I wasn't very big on unusual meats, but it smelled absolutely wonderful when I remembered all the bags of rice and curry we had been eating.

"There you are!" Chanyeol ran forward and held out plates for both Sehun and I, with pieces of rabbit meat on them; and Sehun and I had to let go of each other in order to eat the meat.

I looked around Chanyeol to see a sullen Lay sitting under a tree in the yard, and after handing the plate back to Chanyeol, I made my way to the eighth mage, "Are you alright?"

There were tears shining in the gentle mage's eyes, and I followed his line of sight to where the rabbit was being roasted. When I looked back to Lay, he nodded his head and stubbornly wiped the tears off his face, "It's alright, I'm just being dumb."

"No you're not." I sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around his back. Though Lay flinched for a moment, he relaxed into my touch as I rubbed his back, "I can understand how highly you think of other life."

For the first time, a wide smile appeared on Lay's face, causing his one dimple to be seen by me, "You don't think I'm being a wimp?"

"No one ever said you were a wimp." Both of our heads snapped up to watch as Jongin walked over to us, sitting down by me and laying down with his head on my lap. By the lazy and content grin he wore, I assumed he already ate his share of rabbit.

"Jongin's right, Lay." I grinned and nudged Lay lightly with my arm, pulling myself away in order to run my fingers through Jongin's hair, "Being considerate of another life doesn't make you a wimp."

"He lets you call him Jongin?" Lay glanced between Jongin and I for a few moments and eventually shook his head in amusement, "Then it's only fair if I ask you to call me Yixing."

"But why are you both so willing to let me call you by your other names?" I asked them both, and Jongin turned to me with a soft stare that almost had me looking away shyly.

It was Yixing who answered, though his gaze was following as Tao and Sehun ran around the yard with a laughing Suho trailing after them,  "I've begun to learn that when Jongin trusts a person, it's alright for me to trust them as well."

"The other day, when we had started arguing in the desert, Chen said something." Jongin closed his eyes as he spoke, his grin turning into a slight frown, "That it was the first time that we found someone who cared about us and didn't want to use us. You're the first to make us feel like we're real, and that we're not just objects used to gain power."

"When you first claimed me, I was afraid." It was Tao who was speaking, and I slowly looked up to see the other mages coming closer to us with their own plates of rabbit in their hands. When my eyes glanced from Chanyeol's burnt hands to Xiumin's lopsided grin and finally back to Tao's eyes, I was surprised to see the tears that Tao was shedding, "I thought it was impossible for me to feel like I belonged, even if you kept saying you'd only help us."

"And now?" My voice was quiet as I spoke, and I had bowed my head because I was honestly a little worried about what he'd have to say to me.

"What do you mean now?" Chen scoffed, and I looked up at him to see he had risen an eyebrow skeptically, "Sehun had gone to look for you when you left the house, Lay killed an animal, Chanyeol burned himself while cooking the animal, and you have Kai sleeping on you."

"I haven't been here very long, but I've never seen the kids be so childish." that was Xiumin, and my eyes fixated on his lopsided grin once more, "And Chen, I haven't seen anyone who puts up with him as well as you do, even Chanyeol."

Suho slowly sat down on the ground before me, and while I had turned to look at him, his eyes were focused on Jongin's closed ones, "All I know is that Kris would kill me if he saw this."

"That's the best part, though!" Chen exclaimed, clapping his hands together with a loud cackle escaping his lips, "I can't wait to laugh at his uptight face when he meets Yun Seung!"

"He's not uptight!" Tao was pouting as he called back, his arms crossed over his chest in a sulking manner, "He's the best hyung in our entire group!"

The others had turned to glare at him, though Sehun had simply shoved him to the side in a bored manner, "He just says that because Kris spoils him."

"I spoil him too, don't I?" Chanyeol demanded, his shoulders sagging in defeat, "Why doesn't anyone ever like me?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Jongin opened one of his eyes to peer up at the tall male in bemusement. On my other side, Yixing had snickered at Jongin's tone and quickly looked away so he wouldn't sadden Chanyeol further.

"Kris is going to kill me." Suho burried his head in his hands as he said this, a grunt escaping his lips as he listened to the other mages bicker, but I was focused on Suho and why he'd say such a thing. It wasn't the first time the mages had told me about a mage like Kris, and I had yet to even dream about the mage they mentioned. Who was he, anyway, to make even Suho sound like he'd be in trouble?

As they continued to bicker, I leaned back against the tree and watched them silently so I wouldn't interrupt or get them to turn on me, instead. I hadn't expected to find myself being so tired, but I was, and I eventually ended up drifting to sleep.

Only to see my nightmare had returned.

Yo yo yo! So this is kind of a filler chapter, but it still has a chunk of the plot in it, I think. I'm really excited for the next few chapters since it means all of EXO will be found within the next... ten or so chapters? Also, I have some really awesome news concerning this story; we passed the 600 subscribers mark! Wow1 I'm really really really touched, everyone. Thanks for all the support shown to this averagely written story!

So, this chapter ends with the nightmare, which will be the starting of the next chapter, and that brings me to today's series of questions;

What do you think of Sehun's backstory? Also, between D.O. and Baekhyun, which mage would you like to see next, and why?

As always, thanks for reading, subscribing, upvoting, and commenting! I'm really thankful for every single notification I get in regards to this story, and hope to continue writing chapters you guys will continue to enjoy! Please continue to support this story, and have a brilliant day!