Being in the town he had woken up in gave Yifan a mix of emotions. On one hand, he was relieved to be in a familiar place, but there were times he found himself wishing they had decided to go somewhere else- anywhere else. But he did know why Jongin had decided to teleport them there; Yun Seung. That town was where Yun Seung had been born and raised, and also where she had found both Zitao and Yifan. The town meant so much on their journey to be free again that it was like being reunited with Yun Seung herelf.

The town was different now, though, because of what they had changed and what SHINee had continued after them. SHINee had somehow predicted them- or was it a certain warlock- and met them where they teleported them. They were quick to take them in and take care of them that the eleven mages were caught off guard but remained grateful. The warriors hadn't immediately brought up the missing mage or the girl that the humans knew the mages missed.

They were only approached hours later as they rested in the sick bay when a wary and worried Lee Jinki opened the door to the sick bay and walked in with several citizens following him with food that was so mouth watering that the mages scarfed it all down without tasting anything. Jinki waited as they ate, though he had checked the door he had come through repeatedly as if he expected someone he knew to come in behind him, and the mages eventually found themselves copying him because the curiosity had eventually gotten the best of them.

"Are we waiting for someone?" Joonmyun asked suddenly, and Yifan couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped his lips as the warrior jumped before turning back to them as if he hadn't expected them to talk to him at all.

Jinki's cheeks reddened for a moment before he cleared his throat and pulled a chair to the center of the room so he could sit in the middle of the group and talk to them without being in anyone's way. His eyes wandered the room, taking in the mages that were trying to stay strong for each other, "Are you all feeling better?"

"Physically? Of course." Minseok answered slowly, and though the other mages hadn't answered, slight nods of agreements were shared and the mages then slowly turned their attention back to Jinki, "Why do you ask?"

"The people were worried." Jinki answered with an airy chuckle, waving his hand around in a lazy attempt to point at the citizens that were lounging around their room as if they had nothing better to do, "They didn't want their saviors to die and leave them open for attack."

"It takes much more than an angry giant to get us." Jongdae retorted, though Yifan could see his fingers curl around the blanket in his lap as if it were his only safety; and it probably was. Jongdae had been silently crying ever since their encounter with Chanyeol, but Yifan could only watch and pray that Chanyeol would get back to them.

"You're right. You are the one feared EXO, after all." Jinki laughed again, but the humor in his tone had vanished and his eyes had cast off into the distance as if seeing something that had been lost long ago.

Yifan tensed- they all did. How did Jinki know so much about them? Yifan knew from the others that Jinki was probably just as old as the BAP warlocks, but why did he look like he knew more than what he let on? Who was this person?

"How do you know about us?" Kyungsoo questioned, and when Yifan looked over at the mage of Earth, he was ready to pounce at the human.

"Do you know a lot about us?" Yixing asked quietly, and the second leader's gaze flickered at him before returning to the warlock.

For a while he remained silent, only getting up to get himself a bottle of water to drink from in order to keep himself hydrated. He was shaking, however, and when he turned around, Yifan quickly saw the loneliness and fear that danced in his gaze.

"I know more than any of you do." he muttered in exhaustion, and then he was taking out his communication device to speak to whoever it was that he had an alliance with. When he looked back to them, the loneliness was hidden and replaced with a gentle smile and the warrior took his seat once more, "We've been hearing rumors about a mage that had been causing destruction. It was one of you?"

Sehun shifted off of the bed to get himself a water bottle, then moving to the bed Luhan was resting on so they could stay together, "It wasn't one of us. It wasn't Chanyeol."

From behind the group, in strolled Yongguk, his body slouching as he walked forward in exhaustion, "There's no one else it could be. No other magical being controls the elements like the twelve of you do."

"It wasn't him! He was being controlled!" Zitao hollered, and though Yifan wanted to comfort the younger mage, Yongguk's hard glance had already silenced his protests.

"He might not have been in the right mind, but that was the mage of fire." With a sigh, he took his place standing beside Jinki as the warrior sat in his chair, "The twelve of you have already gone down this path before-"

"You're scared we'll willingly become what we were again." Yifan concluded, and when Yongguk nodded, he also let out a sigh. He knew that the warlock's beliefs were justified by past decisions, but he knew that the kind of destruction Chanyeol was now undertaking was far from what the other mages were interested in.

"Does Yun Seung know about Chanyeol?" Everyone's heads turned to Jongin for a moment in silence, and then back to a silent Yongguk. Neither he and Jinki had answered the question; but after looking at each other and nodding, Jinki took his communication device one more.

"Send her down."

And Yifan's eyes grew wide, because that meant Yun Seung knew what was happening and that it was possible for them to be reunited with Yun Seung again. The mages needed her, and he knew that. With Chanyeol now being gone and fighting on a different side, they needed her comforting presence.

"Yun Seung!" Luhan gasped in surprise, and when Yifan turned around, directly behind him was their last master. Her eyes ran over the faces of the eleven mages before her expression saddened.

Finally, her eyes fell to Baekhyun, who had been watching the exchange between the mages and their visitors with dead eyes, "He's really gone, Yun Seung. Don't bother looking for him here."

Yifan didn't bother stopping Baekhyun from talking; because he knew Baekhyun's feelings were very valid. Although Baekhyun and Chanyeol didn't know each other the longest, they had formed a bond that no one could get in between. No one was as affected by Chanyeol's disappearance and betrayal as Baekhyun was.

Yun Seung stood back and looked as if she would step away, but the younget two mages had already jumped over and pounced on her with loud sobs that echoed in the space. She froze for a moment as the others watched on, but was soon joining the pair and sobbing just as loudly. Yifan chuckled again as he watched, noting that Yixing, Jongdae, Luhan, and even Joonmyun had gone to greet her. Jongin had decided to stay back, as he'd seen her a lot more recently than the others, and the eldest of the twelve had stayed because of the memory of what he had done to her. Though he would deny it later, Kyungsoo was watching the group's interations with a soft smile playing his lips.

After the group had parted, Yun Seung's gaze returned to Baekhyun; and after a moment's hesitation, he had dragged himself off the bed and latched onto her. Baekhyun wasn't one to cry much, Yifan knew, so he was worried yet relieved as he watched Yun Seung comfort the other mages the way she had always done.

"Yun Seung." He called, and everyone stilled as Baekhyun pulled away and allowed for the young woman to look back to the mage of flight. He didn't want to be the jerk that ruined such a touching reunion, but to him, nothing was complete until the thirteen of them were together again, "We are not the mages you thought us to be. We're destructive, we're liars, we're selfish-"

"You're still my mages." She had moments where her words sounded as if they were coming from a veteran who had seen countless battles won and lost. She was wise and brave, and far from the other humans he had met during his lifetime, "No. You're my friends."

"Friends that can kill you within a few moments." Minseok's voice was fragile as he spoke, and when the others turned to him, his head was bowed in fear.

"I would die protecting you, EXO. You should know this." A small smile curved on her lips as she spoke, and chuckles filled the room despite the tense atmosphere from just moments before.

"Nothing's changed." Kyungsoo added on, and with nods of agreement, everything had seemed to calm down.

He had expected for Jinki and Yongguk to have left, but was surprised to find that the two were in the middle of what seemed to be a heated discussion right where they had been a little while earlier. He would have thought nothing of it and returned to teasing Yun Seung with the others, but he knew what they were talking about; Chanyeol. Of course they would be talking about him. Chanyeol was a danger to others and to himself.

"Wait" His words still swirled in Yifan's head, and the second leader shut his eyes, swallowing thickly. He had wanted to go back, all of them did, but they couldn't afford to. Chanyeol might have been himself for that one moment, but Yifan knew that a moment later, Chanyeol could very well return to the crazed destructive puppet the sorceresses had forced him to become again.

No one had spoken of Chanyeol's transformation thus far, though Yifan knew it was coming as he watched the two men converse. They were glancing at the others as they spoke, as if to make sure they were still occupied long enough for their thoughts to be gathered. Yifan wanted it all to be over with so he could go and rest, and possibly use his powers to contact Chanyeol if only they would work so he could at least hear Chanyeol's voice again.

"Wait." At first, Yifan thought the voice was coming from his head, but it had actually come from Jinki as he called for everyone's attention. Yifan gazed at him in worry, because he already knew what would be brought up; and he didn't want to ruin the mood that was already as fragile as glass, "Your mage of fire. What happened to him?"

The remaining mages glanced at each other and then to Yun Seung, who looked back at the lot of them in worry. She might not have known what happened to Chanyeol, but she seemed to be far more worried about the rest of them getting hurt by thoughts of him.

"After we had been tricked by Yunso, he had changed." Minseok started off, his gaze remaining on his lap but his voice suddenly holding anger and a mix of fear, "He had become angry; because he felt powerless whenever we were betrayed."

"Yunso had disappeared when I flooded the castle." Joonmyun continued, his arms crossed over his chest and his guilty eyes glancing off far into the distance, "He had wanted to rip her apart himself."

"He eventually went off on his own in a fit of rage to stop her himself." Luhan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before starting again, "I tried talking him out of it, but everything had just made him angrier to the point of his disappearance."

"And then Yifan told me his presence disappeared." Baekhyun muttered it so lowly that it had almost gone unheard, if not for the deafening silence, "We were debating on going to go find him when he came out of nowhere and-"

He couldn't finish speaking, as his eyes shut tightly in order to try and dispose of such thoughs and his fists clenched so tightly that they had gone white. Yifan would have continued on for him, but the mage of light shook his head and kept going even though he looked as if he were on the verge of tears.

"It wasn't him, though. His eyes were full of hatred and his aura was sickeningly twisted. Whatever happened when he met those two didn't end well for him. He's gone now."

"Well, not exactly." Slowly, the mages had turned to Yun Seung. After remaining silent throughout their explanations, her voice had startled them. What would she suggest, anyway, and would there even be a possibility of getting their brother back?

"I just have to use his ring on him."

Hey guys. So this morning when I checked my notifications and stuff, I was surprised to see all the comments and subscribers I was getting out of nowhere. Some people were congratulating me for a bid and I sat there for at least ten minutes before realizing what I had done. I forgot that I had placed a bid for an advertisement. Sorry, everyone. Wow, that must have been awkward for a bunch of people.

Sorry, Dal. I forgot to tell you about the ad. ^_^"

ALSO! I'm going to do some shameless advertising here for my wonderful and hardworking co-author. Dal is now a reviewer at a shop and has asked for my support, so I in return ask for all of your support as well! The link to the shop is on the foreword. They're just starting out, though, so please be kind to our hardworking friends!

Anyway, thanks to all of you for supporting this story! I'm really glad so many people are still reading this and I'm relieved to know my writing isn't so horrible that it's chasing people away. Please continue supporting this story and let me know of ways I can support you! As always, please enjoy this chapter and have a brilliant day!