All along, it felt as if I knew the mages; their likes and dislikes, their attitudes, their plans for the future- but I guess not. Not with the dangerous gleams in their eyes, at least. I had only seen that gleam once before when they decided to try and take over my town. This time, however, I knew they would succeed, and that was because they no longer had anything standing between them and victory.

But I didn't want it to end like this; BAP had once told me it was because my mages had gotten too powerful and were destroying town after town that they were put into their rings. I didn't want them to go back down that path, even if there was no one to trap them in their rings again this time.

"I wanted to tell you this, but I wasn't sure if it would make a difference." Himchan's voice was quiet and I turned to him, realizing that the warlocks had never actually left, "There were three options of the future for when you freed them; either they kill all of us and destroy the town, destroy the town and move onto another one, or they walk away like none of it matters. I was hoping for the last, but..."

"Is there nothing we can do to stop them?" Senior Lee Jinki walked into the room, a worried expression on his face as he looked us over, "It was one thing to be afraid of the sorceresses storming through our town and killing innocent civilians, and now a group of powerful mages? I don't think our town can handle it."

Looking between the warlocks and then to SHINee, I knew we all know the answer. There was nothing we could do to stop the mages now that they were out and looking for revenge. Would this town be enough to satisfy their cravings for revenge, or would they destroy the entire world? 

"We need supplies, too, in order to keep everyone living in this bunker safe." Senior Kim Jonghyun stepped passed senior Lee Jinki and with his arms crossed over his chest, "But it's too dangerous to send out any more warriors. We don't know who the mages will and will not attack."

Then, their gazes switched to me, and I knew what they were thinking immediately. If my mages were still in there somehow despite all the rage they felt, they'd still think of me as their friend; they wouldn't attack me. But I wasn't so sure; after all, I happened to be the descendant of the ones who trapped the mages in their rings.

"Are you sure you want to send me?" I asked nervously, hoping they'd change their minds or at least offer someone else to go up there with me, but their gazes hadn't changed and senior Lee Jinki led me out of the bunker to where the exit was.

"I'm sorry we're making you do this alone." He did sound sorry, however, when he opened the door leading to the outside world, I knew why he wanted me to go alone, "But it's true that they will most likely spare your life if they see you. The supplies cabin is just ahead; grab everything you can and bring it back. I'll be right here to make sure you're okay."

I looked up at him for a moment and then nodded, because senior Lee Jinki had always been one of the only people who encouraged me to do better. With him waiting for me and watching, I felt that I would be safe from harms way; but that all depended on the wreckage around me. Trees were on fire, lightning was falling from the skies, strong gusts of wind were pushing through. The smell of death filled the air, and I wished it was all just a terrible dream; but it wasn't.

The supplies cabin was straight ahead as senior Lee Jinki stated, but there was fire surrounding the cabin and I was sure it'd catch on fire before I reached it, but I ran anyway. There was no sign of danger and no sign of my mages, so I ran through the fire and kicked the storage cabin's door down. I was afraid, all the while, that I'd catch on fire; or worse, that the mages would find me.

As senior Lee Jinki never specified what supplies he wanted me to gather, I looked around at bags of food, first aid kits, and packs of thread and needles. I was sure it wasn't enough, but I grabbed whatever I could and I ran out of that cabin.

Only to run straight into Yunjee, who was seething mad and caught me by the shoulders with her claws digging into my skin, "Child! What have you done?!"

I wanted to retort that I got supplies for the people that were in need of help, but I knew what she meant immediately. She was talking about my mages, about the damage they had caused and their rampage to get revenge.

"Do you think they'll spare you, child?!" She leaned closer and hissed at me, and her lips curved into a glorified smirk as if she was proud of herself for making me shiver in fear, "They're going to destroy everything in their path and you're included! Just because you freed them doesn't change the fact that you've come from our bloodline."

A poof filled the air, and next to Yunjee materialized Yunso, whose arms were crossed over her chest as a small grin lit her face, "The only way you can stop them now is to put them back in their rings."

"Put them back?!" I started to scream without even realizing it, dropping all of the supplies I had gathered. Their expressions grew confused and surprised, but I had caught the two of them by their shirts so I could keep them close, "If you never ruined their lives, they wouldn't be destroying this town, or any of them! You caused all of this and I undid what you caused! I will never allow for them to go back to their rings!"

"Look around you!" I don't know how, but Yunjee took a hold of my chin and turned my head so that I was surveying all the damage that had been caused by my mages, "This is because of you!"

"Don't you dare blame me for the errors you've made." I growled and as I stepped forward, the two of them stepped back, "You're the reason my mages suffered! You created mutants in order to take control of the people on our planet! Everything is your fault, not mine!"

I didn't really want to be playing the blame game, but they forced me to do it. Yes, I freed my mages and caused for them to go beserk and get revenge, but was that in any way worse than what my ancestors did or drove them to do? I had successfully shut them up with that, or so I thought. Instead, my ancestors looked at each other and then Yunjee grabbed me and she spun around. For a moment, I didn't know why she did that, but when I felt something piercing my stomach, I had no choice but to look down. It was a giant sword made of ice.

Ice? Turning my head just slightly, I saw Minseok widen his eyes and quickly pull his weapon-like arm out of me. It was obvious he was trying to sneak up on my ancestors, but they had sensed him before I did and was quick to use me as their shield. I was more emotionally hurt than physically; I had never expected Minseok to attempt to kill someone.

"Yun Seung!" He cried, and as my ancestors vanished, he caught my body and laid me down on the ground, his bloody arm wrapped tightly around my waist, "Yixing! Come here! We need help!" 

I was focused on Minseok, though, and the way he cried as he sat there and held me. The way his body shook and he repeatedly apologized to me as we sat there and waited for someone to help. I didn't exactly want the help, I realized, as long as my mages were okay. Just seeing them once more before I passed on, now that would be okay with me.

The fluttering of wings made me look passed Minseok to where Kris had come from, hurriedly landing onto the ground and throwing himself onto the ground beside Minseok and I. Though I hadn't known Kris the longest, there was a sense of familiarity as he cupped my face.

"Keep your eyes open. You'll be okay." As he spoke, he turned his head to Minseok and I could see the rage that overtook his expression, "Are you crazy? Why did you attack her?"

"I didn't mean to!" Minseok defended himself quickly, and he explained that he had attacked thinking it was Yunjee, but Yunjee sensed his presence and switched herself with me and instead of Yunjee, Minseok struck me.

"Kris? Minseok?" A few feet away, Joonmyun was walking towards us to see what Kris and Minseok were holding, and as soon as he saw me, he ran over and sat down beside me as well, "Yun Seung!"

"Yun Seung?" Jongin's voice appeared, then, and all of a sudden, the other mages had joined us as well.

Yixing practically ripped Kris and Minseok off of me and was about to press his hand against my wound, but I pushed his hand away. He looked at me in confusion as I pushed him off, and attempted to reach for me again, "Stop, Yun Seung. I must heal you."

"D-don't touch me." My voice was weak and only let out words in a mix of gasps.

"What are you saying? You can barely move!" Baekhyun had never sounded so angry with me before, and though I knew he was worried, I knew he was worried about the wrong person.

"You have to let Yixing heal you." That voice belonged to Tao, and the young mage grabbed my hand in his as if it was the only thing keeping me there.

For a few moments, I thought it was sweet, how they still cared for me. But then my eyes wandered and I remembered all the destruction they caused. I remembered how joyful they were that they were now free in order to get the revenge they've craved for centuries. 

"Is this the kind of world you wish to create?" Their bodies tensed at my words, their eyes wandered, and their shoulders shook; they knew I was right, "Why are you doing this?"

"Are our lives not important?" I looked over to D.O. to see his jaw set and his eyes darkened in anger, "We were slaves for centuries! Do we not deserve some repayment?"

"But does your repayment need to come from civilians that had nothing to do with your past?" I asked in return, and though I was weak and bleeding, I felt more empowered than ever.

"We can't move on until we've burned down everything from our past." Luhan's voice was gentle and full of fear, but I knew he didn't regret his decision of taking revenge.

I don't know where it came from, "Even me?"

"No!" Chanyeol shouted, and when I turned my head to him, there were tears streaming down his face, "Never you, Yun Seung."

"While the rest of the world would have spat us back into the caves we crawled out of, you gave us another chance, Yun Seung." Sehun took the hand Tao wasn't holding and squeezed it gently, his own eyes full of sadness, "No one's allowed to harm you."

"You already have harmed me, and not by stabbing me in the stomach." I struggled to move, but no one would let go of me as they waited for me to continue my explanation, "The twelve of you could have molded your futures into whatever you wanted it to become. Instead, you choose to live in the past."

"In comparison to that, I would much rather be stabbed a thousand times."

After I spoke, I imagined a place far far away from where we were then, the place Kris had shown me, and I let myself smile finally as my body disappeared from their grasp.

"Goodbye, EXO."

Now it's official. EXO cannot be stopped. Dun dun dun! I was really surprised with all your guys' comments yesterday! Haha, I seemed to have caught the majority of you off guard with the plot twist. I'm going to try and keep the plot twists to a minimum from here on out, but I really do appreciate all the comments I've read yesterday! Oh, right, don't kill me yet! There's still about another 60-70 chapters so hopefully everything will work out!

Oh, for my question of the day, which mage do you wish for her to meet again first? Like a chance encounter sort of thing.

As always, thanks for reading, subscribing, upvoting, and commenting! All of your support makes me very happy and I'm glad I could present you with such a nice story! It's still not perfect, I know, but I'm glad you're reading this far! Please enjoy this chapter, and have a brilliant day!