The night was quiet. At first, Chanyeol didn't think much of it. After the Queen's betrayal, it was bound to be quiet within the group of mages as they decided on what they were going to do next. When days passed and none of the mages seemed to cheer up, however, Chanyeol didn't know if it was possible to move on at all. The youngest two mages wouldn't look at anyone at all since they had been convinced that the Queen could be a mother to them. The eldest two mages were similar because neither of them were able to stop Yunso. Joonmyun distanced himself with a sombre expression on his face as he lost his mother a second time, and Chanyeol himself felt guilty in knowing he could do nothing to help his leader.

Of course, it wasn't just them. Everyone had became downcast as they fled from Joonmyun's castle. Jongdae refused to even take part in his schemes whereas Baekhyun spent most of his time watching Joonmyun with a worried expression crossing his face.

Chanyeol wanted to do something desperately, but what could he possibly do? He could hardly remain serious and the other mages wouldn't listen to him anyway. His gaze flickered from Kyungsoo to Yixing and then to Jongin who had grouped together with them. The twelve had made camp and it was the duty of the three to make dinner for the night. They had been cooking whatever they could find for the past whole week that the twelve were stranded; stew made of vegetation they'd found around their campsite.

With a small sigh, Chanyeol looked at each of his brothers and then up at the sky. If Yun Seung were around, at least she could do something for them, couldn't she? His eyes slowly fell to the fire the twelve of them sat around, and with a flicker of his eyes, the strands of fire melded into Yun Seung. She spun in the fire and the smile on her face was bright as she remained there for moments before the fire faded away.

"Yeol." Chanyeol slowly looked over to Jongdae, who had his head tilted just slightly. The dancing picture had caught several of the other mages off guard, and Chanyeol only felt slightly guilty when remembering how much his brothers missed her.

"Watch this." he muttered, and with another flicker of his eyes, an even bigger picture of Yun Seung came out from the fire. She was exactly as he remembered, kind, accepting, beautiful... it was no wonder why they all grew so attached to her. 

"I miss her." Sehun muttered as soon as the second picture faded away. And though his expression had become longing, it was much different from the heartbroken expression he had just hours before.

Chanyeol looked at the youngest mage for just a moment before his gaze returned to the fire, and where Yun Seung had been, were the twelve mages. They appeared one by one, with smiles and in Baekhyun's case a heart, and faded away happily even though the physical mages themselves were far from happy.

"Yeol, you idiot." Baekhyun tackled him the moment the pictures faded away, leaving the remaining ten mages to gape at them in amusement.

"Why did we ever accept the two of you into the group?" Jongin sighed, and though the other mages nodded, Kyungsoo's eyes narrowed.

"It's just Chanyeol."

And the other mages nodded, Baekhyun included. Chanyeol was used to this, of course, but to be constantly reminded that he wasn't the same as the rest took a toll on him. The other mages must have noticed his excitement dimming, for their expressions slowly grew worried.

In just a few moments, Chanyeol had shoved Baekhyun off of him, gotten himself off the ground, and walked away with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry.I just didn't want us to separate again."

The other mages were surprised by his sudden change in mood and thus didn't bother following him as he left. Though he knew the others didn't mean to upset him or anything, Chanyeol was worried. With how quiet the others had recently become around each other, they were drifting apart. After centuries away from his brothers, he couldn't take another day of them pretending the others weren't around.

He found himself alone fairly soon, on a ledge that was only a few meters above a shimering lake. For someone like Chanyeol who could control fire, being in water was bad; but he didn't care too much. The water was beautiful and the air was fresh enough for him to forget everything that had been bothering him.

"I do hope you're not planning to drown yourself." Chanyeol was surprised to find that the mage that came looking for him was Yifan. Despite being the closest in height, the two were not emotionally close and Chanyeol often wondered if the second leader hated him. Chanyeol didn't answer, so it only took a moment of staring until Yifan invited himself to sit beside him with an arm wrapped around the mage of fire. Chanyeol jumped at the second leader's actions, but was waiting in silence to hear what Yifan would have to say.

"We're all scared of the same thing, Chanyeol. Being separated again." Yifan's gaze was focused on something in the distance, and Chanyeol didn't miss the fear and loneliness dancing in Yifan's eyes. "But we're going to stay together. No matter how much time we spend apart, we'll always come back together."

"Thanks, Yifan."

Yifan turned to him and grinned for a brief moment before placing a face on and turning back to the water. "Don't thank me. It'll make me feel bad later."

With his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Chanyeol tried to read the second leader's face. "What do you-"

"The others have been waiting to get you back for all the stunts you and Jongdae pulled." And as Chanyeol put the pieces together and clawed at Yifan's arm, the mage of flight pushed him into the water.

Honestly, he should have seen it coming what with Yifan wrapping his arm around Chanyeol. He might have been down, but Yifan wouldn't comfort anyone in such a way unless it were Zitao. Still, Chanyeol couldn't help but glare as he resurfaced from the water, the water around him steaming. Yifan wasn't laughing like he expected, but there was amusement and possibly understanding dancing in his eyes now, something Chanyeol preferred over the fear and loneliness that were dancing around earlier.

"It's like a hot spring!" And the next thing he knew, Zitao had jumped into the water, followed by the other mages, and the lot of them were throwing Chanyeol around as if he were part of the water itself.

"You're going to hurt him!" Jongdae cackled, though he was probably the one hitting Chanyeol the hardest everytime he got close.

That stopped everyone's movements, and even Chanyeol entertained the thought of roasting his best friend for a moment.

Thankfully for himself, it was Minseok who took the opportunity to dunk Jongdae into the water, and Chanyeol laughed in glee as Jongdae resurfaced and spat out all the water that he had collected earlier. "Sorry, Dae. You had it coming."

Jongdae glared at the other mages and then shifted his glare to Chanyeol, but his glare melted away almost as soon as he noticed the joy that was on Chanyeol's face. The others were like that as well, appreciating Chanyeol's attempts to keep them together, but more than anything grateful to have him smile again.

"This is so awesome." Sehun called out, pointing at the steam errupting from Chanyeol's body as well as the bubbles that formed in the water. "How do you make the bubbles?"

And then, the other mages glared at Chanyeol, because there was only one way for the bubbles to be made in the water. Seconds later, as he was laughing, Joonmyun used his powers to Chanyeol into the water. He wasn't sure if they were going to drown him, but he was far too amused by his own antics to care.

"Now where'd he go?" Yixing asked, and then he was kicking at the water because none of them knew where the mage of fire had disappeared off to.

With a grin that was possibly too wicked for its own good, Chanyeol pushed himself to where Jongin was and pulled him under water. Jongin, who was often one that couldn't be trifled with, immediately reached for his neck and dragged the two of them back to surface.

"Change of plans. We'll have roast idiot for dinner." Jongin must have been a sadist in a past life, Chanyeol concluded. There was nothing else that made sense.

"I'm only a few hundred years old. I have no plans to die today." Baekhyun snorted, and as a few of the other mages climbed out and returned to the campsite, Chanyeol was left with a small group of others.

"We love you, idiot. Don't forget that." Jongin strolled off as well, and Chanyeol rubbed at his reddened neck with a pout playing his lips.

Jongdae had reached up and wrapped an arm around Chanyeol's shoulder, and when Chanyeol looked down, his partner in crime was winking as his gaze followed Jongin. "I'll raise some hell until you get back."

"You're still disgusting." Chanyeol shouldn't have expected any less from Baekhyun, but when he turned back to the shorter mage, Baekhyun's eyes weren't lit in disgust but trust and admiration. "But you're my best friend, Yeol."

"Can you go ahead of me, Baek?" Baekhyun looked at him warily for a moment, but eventually shrugged and followed the other mages.

As he watched them, Chanyeol wondered what would be different if they hadn't been freed. Chanyeol might have been called an idiot several times, but he knew his brothers meant well and that even if he was an idiot to them, they loved him. However, being there with them still felt wrong since Yun Seung wasn't around. The twelve of them might be brothers, but Yun Seung was the glue holding them together even when they themselves felt like crumbling. He missed her and wanted to find her.

"Chanyeol." As Luhan spoke, Chanyeol found himself caught off guard completely. Luhan usually spent more time with Sehun and Minseok than anyone else, so to know that Luhan had come to find him was surprising. He turned to the second eldest mage, his head tilted to the side. "You plan to leave us and find her, do you not?"

His expression darkened, then, because he didn't realize he was so transparent until that point. Luhan's gaze was unwavering and full of courage, and Chanyeol wished for a twinge of the courage Luhan had. Instead, Chanyeol turned around so that Luhan wouldn't be able to read him.

"You can't stop me."

"I don't want to." Luhan replied calmly, and Chanyeol turned his head in surprise, but Luhan's gaze already was on the mages that had left them behind. "I don't want you to go, either. It's dangerous, Chanyeol. You should know that. Didn't you see what she did?"

"I saw, and I won't let it happen to us again, Luhan." Chanyeol's response was cold and he wasn't surprised at Luhan's flinch. "My pheonix has been watching her ever since we were separated. I won't let her go again."

"But why must you go after her alone?" Luhan challenged him, yet he took steps towards the mage of fire and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Why can't we do this together? Don't you know what Baek will say when you-"

"I know, Luhan, I know." His shoulders were quivering at this point, because he didn't know if he should cry, laugh, or punch something. Slowly, though, he took Luhan's hand off of him and stepped away. "I was powerless last time, Luhan. I was powerless every time! That's what hurts the most! Why is it that I'm the one that doesn't understand something until it's too late? Why am I... why am I an idiot?!"

"Chanyeol..." Luhan muttered, and as he reached out again to console Chanyeol, a ring of fire appeared around the mage of fire and slowly consumed his frame.

"I'm going to find Yunso and I'm going to destroy her for everything she's done to us."

And with that, Chanyeol disappeared and when someone gasped behind him, Luhan turned to see a wide-eyed Baekhyun running towards him with tears running down his face. Luhan had to hold him back as the fire died down in fear that Baekhyun would jump right into the flames.

"Chanyeol, you idiot!" Baekhyun was screaming at the top of his lungs and the remaining nine mages were quick to return. "After all that about not wanting us to separate how are you the first to leave?!"

Hey! So I did not plan to have such an ending to this chapter. It was supposed to just be full of their brotherly bond and whatever. I've recently been watching the anime Gintama which is quite hilarious and has a whole bunch of like cool fighting scenes and whatever and the main charater just reminds me a bit of Chanyeol so I thought it would fit. Man, though, to know that Chanyeol has powers to make pictures in fire and to disappear is freakishly awesome! It's like something Jongin should be doing but LOL nope, it's Chanyeol.

Anyway, sorry for making you all wait like two weeks again. With Halloween, it was just very busy and there were a lot of personal conflicts. But I've finished this chapter and am glad to be done with it! Now we have two characters left with their perspectives that need to be told and then I'm probably going back through the list. I don't really know what I'm doing with Chanyeol's character yet, though there are ideas swirling through my head. Ah, all the ideas.

As always, thanks for reading -- well, just for the support. I love you all and hope to continue making chapters you all enjoy. Please don't hate me for the way I write things that don't make sense. Also, please enjoy this chapter. I think I'm done for now, so have a brilliant day or night, wherever you are!