It looked like everything had gone back to normal, but Minseok knew differently. With all of the latest events, his brothers were all hit hard, as expected. From Chanyeol's transformation into a closed off individual, to Yifan's adaptation to human life, and with Joonmyun's discovery of Yun Seung's feelings, Minseok knew nothing would be the same. 

At times like these, he wondered why he was the eldest of the twelve, because it meant it was his responsibility to check up on the youngers and soothe them; to reassure them that everything would get better. It would be easier if he had words to tell them, but every time he opened his mouth, he found that his throat had gone dry and his mind blanked. 

The worst part was that no one else seemed to want to fix things, at all. Somehow, the younger mages had heard about what Yun Seung said, and the guilt they felt was so strong that they didn't even spend any time with her. Not like it mattered, since Yun Seung hadn't come out to visit them at all. It was only a matter of time before Minseok had enough of everyone's behavior and decided to do something himself. He owed it to them, as he was the eldest and never had a way to fix anything. 

When he had spotted Yun Seung, he knew immediately that she wasn't okay. He had followed her out of the sight of the other eleven mages, into a small clearing of the woods. She knew he was behind her immediately, and he could tell by the way she stopped in the middle of the clearing, her gaze fixated on the many trees before her. It was his first time with her alone after he had stabbed her, but although he was anxious, he knew this had to be done.

"Aren't you going to ask me?" Yun Seung's voice was gentle, defeated almost. There were emotions that were pulled back, though Minseok could see the shaking of her shoulders. He didn't answer her, because there was no need to answer when they both knew the answer.

There was no way for Minseok to ask her if she really regretted going after them, was there? Everything could either make him feel bitter or cause for her to cry, and he didn't want to bring her pain again.

"I don't know why I said it, Minseok, but it isn't true." Yun Seung was sounding desperate as she clutched onto her sleeves, weeping silently as she continued,

"The twelve of you... you're my family. You accepted me when no one else wanted me. No matter who it was that I lost here in this town, I never regretted leaving them for the twelve of you."

"Then what made you say it?" Minseok dared, his own fists clenched at his sides. Despite the words he was hearing from her, he needed to know why she had suddenly felt like going after them had been a mistake.

Yun Seung slowly got down onto the ground, bringing her knees to her chest like that's all she could do to keep herself sane. Minseok watched for a moment, and when he realized him being so tense wasn't beneficial to either of them, he walked forward and slowly wrapped his arms around her.

"When Yunso and Yunjee took me, I found myself in a cave, surrounded by ice and corpses. I remember when Chanyeol was unconscious, how Jongdae had run into the ward and chased Baekhyun and I out to fight...- I was so angry and I don't remember how they did it, but the next thing I knew, I had awoken in the cave. They had me in a cell, Minseok, like the one we found at the isle of death. I demanded that they let me go, or that they at least tell me what they were planning to do, but they didn't do anything. They just- they just... they just told me they needed my body. It must have been hours later, but they had started chanting and it felt like something was being ripped out of me. It hurt so badly and I called for the twelve of you, but no one came. It hurt so much, Minseok-"

Minseok wanted to stop her, but between her sobs and his arms frozen around her, he found he was unable to. Not only had Yun Seung been taken away by the sorceress sisters, they had tortured her and used her, and neither he or his brothers were there to rescue her.

"-They said they were going to kill me. I knew they would, but my powers weren't working and I was too weak to move on my own, so I couldn't fight anything they were doing to me. I thought it was all over, but then- then I saw Yuna-"

Finally, Minseok's body thawed and he couldn't help the gasp that left his lips. It wasn't one of relief, because Yuna was alive again, but of horror- because the practice of raising the dead was forbidden on all accounts. The fact that Yun Seung was used to participate in this ritual had made his blood boil.

"-She saved me, Minseok. She busted me out of that cell and then I was looking for you. I don't know why she saved me, Minseok, but she did. I was so angry, and it wasn't even just towards the twelve of you. I had already caused a few fights between Senior Lee Jinki and Senior Kim Jonghyun and I felt horrible. I don't know why Minseok, but I feel... I feel angry and it's not something I'm used to. I don't know what's going on with me."

She sobbed as he held her, and though Minseok wanted to reassure her that she'd be alright, he wasn't even sure at that point. The only person out of their group with even the slightest information on such practices would be Yifan, but now as a human, would Yifan even be of any help?

"We need to talk to Yifan," he said anyway, because Yifan was still the only one that knew enough about magic to be of any use.

"I can't, Minseok! Not after what I said to Joonmyeon." Her sobs had stilled, but her voice came out nasally and she wiped frantically at her eyes, almost as if she were planning to claw them out.

"Calm down, Yun Seung." His voice comes out gently and he's proud of himself as he watches her nod and slowly sink into his arms again. He understands her fear, but the both of them know they have to go talk to Yifan and figure out what's happening to her now before anything worse happens,

"They'll forgive you, and you know they will."

In the end, that's what convinced her to agree and go looking for Yifan and the others. After all the time they spent together and apart, she knew they'd understand what she was going through eventually. She was nervous, though, and he thought of all the ways he could try and calm her down on the way back to the others, before glancing down at himself and grinning.

As snowflakes fell around the pair, Yun Seung stopped and glanced up at him with her eyes widened in surprise. The nervousness that had been on her face had almost faded completely and she looked around at the snow in childlike wonder.

"This is why I love the snow so much." Minseok muttered, and he saw Yun Seung reach out so the snowflakes could land on her hands,

"Snow feels like it can wash away anything that is frightening."

Yun Seung nodded as if she agreed and a moment later, she had reached out and taken his hand in her own. Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him, and a second later, she was pulling him towards the other mages. Minseok grinned, wondering why he hadn't made it snow earlier on if that's all it could take to cheer her up again. Silently,  he allowed her to drag him back to where the other eleven were standing, staring up at the snowing sky in perplexity.

"I should have known you were behind this." Joonmyun muttered as he glanced at Minseok and then a moment later, to Yun Seung beside him. Yun Seung had instantly fixed her gaze on the ground and stepped back slightly so that she had been hiding beside Minseok, and Joonmyun's face tightened slightly as he saw her,

"Y-Yun Seung? Are you okay?"

Minseok turned his head to the girl hiding behind him, noting that the others had started gathering around the pair almost reluctantly. Sehun and Zitao had hung back just slightly to let the elders ahead of them, and Jongin shifted in his place; and the four of them waited for someone to break the awkward silence.

In the end, that person ended up being Yifan, because Yifan was never one to beat around the bush when it comes to other people's problems.

"Your aura has shifted." Everyone turned to Yifan in shock, because no one else had sensed it and Yifan wasn't even a mage anymore. He waved his hand, and quickly catching the hint, Minseok stepped aside and Yun Seung was left standing there by herself with Yifan's scrutinizing gaze over her.

"Yun Seung..." Yixing called softly, and although Yun Seung didn't turn to the mage of healing, Yixing knew he had her attention,

"What you said... do you really feel that way?"

That's all it took for Yun Seung to burst into tears, and the mages could feel the remorse in her aura as she stood there and sobbed. They weren't used to seeing her cry, and it wasn't something that made them happy.

Because he wanted to relieve the poor girl of her guilt, Minseok explained to the others what Yun Seung had explained to him, and the mages glanced at each other for just a moment. Seconds later, Sehun and Zitao had pounced on their former master and the three of them were sobbing.

"What happened to her?" Baekhyun asked gently, although the question was posed to the elders of the group, as they were the only ones who could be counted on for such answers.

"Their ritual, it was really successful, wasn't it?" Chanyeol's lips curled into a bitter grin as he watched the three in the distance, and Minseok registered Jongdae's hand reaching over to squeeze the taller male on the shoulder.

"They took away everything that made her Yuna's descendant." Yifan finally elaborated, and even the sobbing trio had heard him and turned to him, frozen,

"Her memories, her emotions- everything that had come from Yuna was taken away."

"So you're saying that her bitterness is how she really feels towards us?" Luhan asked in disbelief, though his eyes started twinkling with unshed tears. The Malthorian male shook his head and took a deep sigh before stepping forward and pulling Yun Seung away from the younger mages.

"That's not it at all. The practice of necromancy is prohibited for a reason, and this is it. In order for a life to resume after it is ended, it feasts on pleasant emotions and memories of the host from which they came. By using Yun Seung in their ritual, they've taken emotions that were Yun Seung's to begin with, leaving her less pleasant emotions to manafest. This is only part of the damage they've caused Yun Seung in their quest to revive Yuna."

It was all so confusing, Minseok decided, running a hand through his powdered hair. The others also seemed to have noticed that it hadn't stopped snowing, but with Yifan being so serious, they simply watched as he held out her palm and placed his own palm over it, and a small glow transferred from him to the former master.

"What was that about?" Kyungsoo asked curiously, but Yifan refused to answer and walked off. Hadn't the mage already cut off all of his powers? Why was he still able to transfer something to the girl.

"If what he's saying is true, then does it mean Yun Seung doesn't have any fond emotions of us?" Jongdae sounded curious as well, but as the mages turned to Yun Seung, they could already see the small smile stretching on her face; the one they had seen numerous times before.

"What did Yifan do?" Jongin muttered, his eyes focused on the glow that had yet to fade from Yun Seung.

"Yun Seung?" Sehun asked, gently shaking her shoulder and his eyes had widened as if he had gotten the shock of his life.

The others stared at both Yun Seung and Sehun, finding their behavior to be suspicious and strange. The most concerned was Zitao, who had also gone and pressed a hand against Yun Seung's shoulders. Perhaps it was because he was able to reverse time, but Zitao had quickly pulled himself away and his expression crossed into confusion.

"What did you see, Zi?" Joonmyun asked, and Zitao looked over to their first leader, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yifan said that they took away her good memories and emotions, right?"

The others nodded, unsure of where he was going with the question, but then Minseok quickly figured it out and his gaze shot over to the direction in which Yifan had disappeared. Yifan, because Yun Seung had been affected by the sorceresses, had transferred his own memories and emotions into her, as if he didn't need them himself.

As if that were the key to make things go back to normal.

So I really don't know what I just wrote. I was trying to lighten the mood of the chapter but I really can't, guys. Sorry. I had expected this story to exceed a hundred chapters and stuff but with the way I'm writing it, it should be reaching the soon. Because of that, the chapters are going to be intense, full of angst, and I feel like my two favorite characters to bully in this story are Yun Seung and Yifan with all the bad things happening to them. And oh wait, Chanyeol had bad things happening too, right? I forget.

I also apologize profusely for such a late update. I was trying to update and then writer's block appeared uninvited and I can never say no to that guest, and then I tried focusing on my stuff and then I tried writing new stuff and now I'm here. Wow, I rant a lot. I'm just going to wrap this up and try to kick writer's block out for a while.

As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all the support and uh, yeah, you rock. Yeah, I'm talking to you, don't look at the person next to you. You. You're awesome. And I'm sorry. This is weird, isn't it? Hide your children, hide your wife, and hide your chicken while you're at it. 

I don't know what I'm saying.

...

Have a wonderful day.