He should have gone as soon as Zitao told him what he was to be looking for, but he was just so worried. Now normally, not many things could worry Jongin; but this was about Yun Seung. He had no idea where she could have gone and he had no idea if she were still alive for him to find her.

"Jongin?" Because of how thoughtful he had become while planning a way to go after Yun Seung without the elders knowing, Kyungsoo and some others had grown worried over him. "Are you coming? It's Yixing's turn to make dinner today."

Jongin simply waved him off lazily, and the mage of Earth sent his back one last saddened glance before turning and walking out of the room, and Jongin pretended not to notice his deflated shoulders as he buried his face in his palms.

"That's enough." With one last, deep sigh, Jongin pictured the place Zitao had explained to him. He didn't want to go without Zitao earlier since he was the only one who knew where Yun Seung was actually trying to go, but Jongin had ran out of options. He refused to let anyone worry about him any longer, and only seeing her again and making sure she was safe would bring peace back to his aching heart.

He turned again to make sure Kyungsoo left the room, his breathing stilled as he listened for any footsteps made by either the mage of Earth or one of the other worried mages. After making sure he was actually alone to do as he pleased, Jongin closed his eyes and allowed for his body to slip into the dark oblivion that was their dimension. 

As he passed by all the pictures in his mind to find that specific one Zitao had described to him, Jongin hoped and prayed that he would be going to the right place. He didn't know how fast he was traveling, since the whole idea of teleportation was baffling to him, but he could feel himself flying through the dimension as his particles finally locked on the destination they were trying to reach.

When his eyes opened, he couldn't help the proudness he felt in himself for getting to the place Zitao told him of, with children running around and screaming in excitement despite Jongin's sudden appearance. At first, he had thought they couldn't see him at all, but they had glanced at him once and kept running as if he really meant nothing to them. Did strangers appear in this place often? Was that why?

Where was he, anyway? And what about Yun Seung? Was she actually there or was the image Zitao pulled from her mind actually just an illusion?

Growing impatient and desperate, Jongin looked around at his surroundings once more. Beyond the field he was in the middle of with the strange children, there were houses; and Jongin's feet made their way over to the village without his prior knowledge.

He didn't know what he'd find by going into the villiage, but he was hoping there would be some clue as to where Yun Seung had gone.

The first thing Jongin spotted as he entered the villiage was actually a little bakery; because the scent of freshly baked bread filled his nose and had his mouth water and his mind realize he had given up on dinner. Other than the bakery, Jongin could spot nothing else; so that was where he headed first.

A bell chimed over his head as he stepped into the little bakery, and when he looked at the display of breads and pastries, his eyes also fell upon a girl that couldn't be any older than Yun Seung. Though, he couldn't really tell what she looked like since her face was ducked and a lengthy novel was held within small hands.

"Excuse me?" He didn't want to ask at first, since he hardly knew the girl and it seemed as if she didn't want to be disturbed, but he was probably running out of time before the other mages noticed his disappearance, and he wanted to find Yun Seung more than anything, "Can I have some help?"

When she looked up at him with her eyes clouded in annoyance that quickly faded into awe, Jongin tried his best to ignore the red that dusted her cheeks.

"You poor thing! You must be so exhausted from the war!" She pouted for a moment and then disappeared into a backroom, leaving Jongin absolutely flabbergasted as he waited for her to return.

When the strange bakery girl returned, he was surprised to see she hadn't returned alone. She had returned with a plate full of food that didn't quite help his hunger, and a person he knew very well.

"Jongin?" Yun Seung's voice was hesitant as she saw him, and Jongin himself was silent as he took her in. She then turned back to the strange bakery girl with a small smile; and with a frown, the strange girl left.

"You're still alive." There were many things Jongin wanted to tell her, but as he remembered what they had done to her, his mind went numb and all he could feel was relief in seeing her again; seeing her alive again.

"Where are the other mages?" She asked, and Jongin's heart flipped as she saw the hope filling her eyes as she glanced at the door behind him as if the others were there waiting for her. He was happy enough, knowing she still cared for them despite everything they put her through.

"Eating dinner." Jongin muttered, and with a shake of her head, she went and grabbed the plate of food the other girl had prepared for him. He wanted to say she didn't have to do it, but he was too busy watching her movements with the kind of exhausted relief he hadn't been able to feel since her departure, "I just teleported away when I got the chance."

"Take a seat." Yun Seung gestured at the only table in the bakery with her head, and as she placed the food down, she sat in one of the two chairs. He followed her lead reluctantly, as he knew he shouldn't have stayed there for too long, yet he made no move to tell her he just arrived to make sure she was okay, "The psychics in the village have been letting everyone know what you twelve are up to."

To say Jongin was surprised would be an understatement, because there was guilt dancing in her eyes when she had no reason to be guilty for all the things she had done for them.

"I should have had more faith that you two would do what's right."

"You did nothing wrong." He didn't like even the prospect of her blaming herself for the things that were obviously not her fault. She shook her head as he defended her and readied herself to speak again, but Jongin shook his head slightly, his own lips curled into an apologetic grin, "We hid a lot of things from you."

"You had the right to." And when she crossed her arms over her chest, Jongin realized how much weight she had lost between then and the time they'd separated. "Why are you here, Jongin? I thought you'd all hate me by now."

"Are you crazy?" He was amused by the way he spoke and she knew it, that's why both of them let their bodies relax, and that's why Jongin finally started to eat the food he was given, "We've been trying to find you since you left."

"Trying?"

"There's powerful magic blocking our connection to you." As he finished speaking, his eyes roamed over her once more, only then realizing that Yun Seung still wore all twelve rings on her fingers.

"That would be our doing." Jongin's eyes flickered over to the side, where Yongguk and the rest of BAP were standing by the entrance to the backroom, "We didn't know your intentions and didn't believe Yun Seung had to pay for your choices."

Although Jongin wasn't pleased to know that the BAP warlocks were interfering with their communication to Yun Seung, he was relieved to know that Yun Seung still had someone to protect them.

"We've wondered where you've gone." Jongin mused, and the warlocks also mirrored his grin partially before slipping into the backroom with the exception of Yongguk and Himchan.

"How did you find her now?" Himchan asked warily, and when Jongin looked over to Yun Seung, her eyes seemed apologetic, possibly because she had wanted to ask the same question.

So he explained everything from when they first started searching for Yun Seung. He told them how Kris's Malthorian powers refused to work, how Kyungsoo had tried repeatedly to use the Earth to follow her heat signatures, and how Zitao had finally gone into the past and used her memory in order to show Jongin how to find her.

"He can do that?" Yun Seung's surprise was amusing, and the warlocks seemed to think the same as the three males hid their grins. 

"I don't know how his powers work exactly, but it seems like that's the case." Jongin shrugged as he looked over to the warlocks, and then back to Yun Seung, "What have you been doing?"

Yun Seung looked away for a moment before sighing and turning back to Jongin, "I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but because of what you twelve are doing over there, the sorceresses are destroying village after village on this side of the world trying to force warriors to allign themselves to the sorceresses' plan to destroy the twelve of you."

"When Yun Seung disappeared, Jinki had us follow after her," explained Himchan, and Jongin listened as his heart constricted in horror at their explanations. "And what she said is true. We've been defending this village as best as we can, but warriors who are desperate to get away from the fighting come here to escape it."

"So you're telling me that this side of the Earth is facing the consequences for what we're doing to free the other side of the Earth?" Jongin subconsciously brought his fingers to rub his temples because it sounded insane, though he knew it was true that the sorceresses wouldn't stop making life miserable for those who weren't even involved with their plans directly.

"That's exactly what we're telling you." Yongguk replied, and Jongin looked at the leader of the BAP warlocks in admiration, because he was much like both of EXO's leaders in that he was strong and determined. "We've been nursing whoever we could, and we have an underground shelter here, as well. But it's not enough."

"We need to find those sorceresses and stop them." Yun Seung's voice was laced with hatred and Jongin didn't like it. Yun Seung had never been anything but kind, but now her expression was bitter and full of the desire to take revenge on her ancestors. That should have stayed with the mages only, not forced onto Yun Seung; she had done nothing to deserve that cruelty.

"Leave that to us." Jongin muttered, and the other three looked to him in surprise as he stood, "We've already gotten five towns under our control, and the people are safe there. After just a couple of months more, we'll have the entire hemisphere and then we'll be at war with those blasted sorceresses."

He left the rest of his food on the plate as he turned and walked out of the bakery, his mind full of information that may or may not have been beneficial, and his teeth gritted in anger that those two evil sorceresses had been able to turn someone like Yun Seung bitter for revenge.

"Jongin!" He almost didn't hear Yun Seung calling him, but pretended not to hear her as he walked on and cleared his mind before returning to the other mages. Yun Seung did catch up, though, and her arms wrapped tightly around him. "Don't go yet."

His heart broke then, because no matter how much he wanted to be there with Yun Seung, he had a duty to his brothers and she was doing her best to deal with the consequences she had been faced with because of him and his brothers. He wrapped his arms around her anyway, because even for a few moments, he wanted to feel like being with her wasn't wrong.

She was the first to pull away, and after he brushed her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, a small smile lit her face. "I'll go back with you."

His heart sped up for a moment, but he shook his head, pretending not to see the disappointment in her expression. "Like you all said, because of us, the whole world is facing the wrath from your ancestors. If anyone can help those people, it's you. All we're good for is destruction."

"That's not true and you know it, Jongin!" She was crying again, with tears streaming down her face as she grabbed hold onto his hands and refused to let him go. "You're not only good for destruction! You're kind, and determined, and you love everyone despite the past you've experienced!"

Clasping their hands together, Jongin rested his forehead against hers, effectively stopping her tears. "You believe that?"

"I do." There was no hesitance, and she looked right at him as she said this, and his heart flipped once more.

"Then stay here, keep helping these people like you have been doing, because we'll need someone to come back to when we're done." Finally, Yun Seung's calmed down and nodded, and the two of them stood there for a few moments before Jongin pulled his courage together and kissed her. It wasn't much more than a peck, but it was enough to reassure him that she was there, that she would wait for the twelve of them, and with that, he stepped back and imagined his brothers. "Goodbye, Yun Seung."

With that, he teleported back to his brothers, and noticed grimly that the other eleven mages had expressions that varied between excitement, anger, anxiousness, and disbelief. The first to have caught his attention was Zitao, as the eleven mages were sitting around the dinner table.

"Did you see her?" Zitao's eyes were screaming for him to say yes because Zitao didn't want to be wrong and think that she would never be found.

"Of course he did, can't you see his face?" Chen's grin was a little forced, he realized, because Jongin knew he wanted to see her as well.

"Was she alright?" Joonmyun's voice cut in, and when Jongin nodded over at the first leader, Baekhyun's chair fell backwards.

"Why didn't you tell us you were going?"

"Baek, relax. At least he saw her." Chanyeol soothed, though his expression had also grown saddened because of the thought that he hadn't been there to see Yun Seung.

Sehun didn't look very pleased with him as he stood up and left his dinner behind as he dejectly retreated back to his room. "You could have told us, Jong."

He wanted to speak but was cut off as Minseok stood up and walked over to him, patting his shoulder with a light grin on his lips, "Good job finding her."

That night, he didn't even care that Kris made him run twelve laps around the town they were in currently with Yixing watching him like a hawk, and he didn't care that Kyungsoo himself was a little irritated that Jongin kept such a secret from him, because nothing could change how he felt.

Because he no longer had to worry about Yun Seung.

So I apologize for being late again, but I'm kind of glad I updated sooner this time than I did last time. It took me a couple of days since I'm pretty busy, but I am going on break for the weekend and should be able to update at least twice during this week.

As always, thanks for all the support towards myself and this story. Please continue supporting it, and have a wonderful day.