A giant bonfire crackles in the forest where ten men and a woman from outer space have gathered, watching the dance of the fireflies. Ashes and smoke still swirl in the distance, reminders of the entire forest having been incinerated. The ogre shadow has escaped. The rain that Jungmyeon summoned to extinguish the flames has made the air fresh and the leaves dewey. The sun has set, there is nothing but darkness and a starry sky and pale orange-lit faces smiling by the fire.

"So you've been watching us all this time, Jongin?" Minseok asks shyly. And here I thought I was being so clever, forever the unseen, operating from a computer screen.

"Ha! That rhymed!" Baekhyun laughs, imitating Minseok whose cheeks swell up like a chipmunk. Taeyeon elbows him gently and nudges her head between his shoulder and his cheek. She wants more than anything to stretch this moment to infinity, not knowing which of the futures she has seen would come true. But she knows that interfering with them by warning those affected often leads to catastrophic results so all she can do is sit quietly for now and help and give advice. Her hands clasp Baekhyun's arm tighter and he can feel that she is worrying about things they know nothing of yet. Although he is happy to be reunited with most of his friends, he wishes he and Taeyeon could get a moment to themselves. It has been too long since he has been in the presence of his soulmate. He wants to take it all in, to touch, smell and taste her. She looks so beautiful, her face lit up by the dancing fire. Her blonde hair makes her look angelic and her eyes twinkle, brighter than the stars above. Forgetting about everyone around, he leans down and kisses her lips gently, then hungrily, until he hears the exclamations, the "Oooooh"s and "Aaaaa"s of the others and he finds himself staring down and blushing.

"Knock it off, kids!" Junmyeon beckons, starting to laugh.

"Yeah, get a room, sheesh!" Chanyeol continues, relishing in the beet-red color of Baekhyun's cheeks. He smiles wide and moves his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive way.

Jongin answers Minseok's question as if the interruption never happened, although he throws Baekhyun a quick smirk beforehand.

"Yeah, I have been keeping tabs on all of you. Well...not in the very beginning. After we all landed on Earth, I now know, with the help of Taeyeon, I knew we had to not draw attention and be found by our people so I figured we would try to lay low and blend in and become as close to the humans as possible. I figured that is what all of you were trying to do so I let everyone do so by any means. Kyungsoo and I were lucky enough to be together..."

"What do you mean, lucky enough, eh?" Yixing interupts, smiling slyly and showing his dimples.

"He just means it was easier to have a friend around and build a life on Earth together, to not feel so utterly alone among humans who are quite different", Kyungsoo hurriedly replies in Jongin's place.

"Yeah...yeah....I guess" Yixing smiles again and all of a sudden remembers Daiyu and he gets a sharp pain in his heart from how badly he misses her since he was thrown into all of this mess and brought back to a reality and a past he was looking to forget. He got to see her one more time before he left and made sure she was okay, that her heart condition was stable. This was for her own good. If they could protect the planet from their people, then that meant saving Daiyu too. If he stayed with her and let the others fight alone, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if they failed. He was doing this for Daiyu. But it was still heartbreaking to leave her, to say goodbye and to be so mysterious about it. He remembers her puzzled look as he informed her he had to go to another city far away from Yunaan to take care of patients there for a while. He felt he wasn't very good at lying, he felt maybe he worried her more, or even worse, that he made her doubt him. He remembers holding her pale face and kissing her forehead, her cheeks and her lips, saying "I love you" one more time, then walking out the door, his heart sinking. Catching himself, he tries to hide his face but Jongdae notices and puts a comforting arm around him. It's as if he knows what he is thinking and there are no words necessary, just a kind, wise smile. Jongdae seemed older and wiser to him now, probably a result of all the knowledge he had accumulated, the man was like a walking library.

"I know you had someone too, Yixing", Jongin whispers to him. "I am happy you were not alone all this time".

"Hey I heard that and I loved being alone! I didn't ask for any of this to come back into my life! Minseok bursts outloud out of nowhere. I enjoyed my life as a lone college student in Berlin, I have never felt more free! No glass walls, no soulless machines, no leaders watching over me and telling me what to do. I met interesting people, single serving friends, I outsmarted government pricks, I got to live and get high on life"

"And high on other things too", Jongin points out laughing.

"Well I am older than you so don't tell me how to live my life, holmes!" "Also it is nice to free your mind, you should try it sometimes! Relieves stress, you know?"

"Oh my sides! This one is too much!" Tao starts laughing with a high pitched squeek, his eyes getting bigger and his mouth open wide, as he grabs his stomach.

"What you laughing at, Mr Kung Fu?" Minseok can't get enough of teasing everyone.

"It's Wushu, they are quite different. And I'd be happy to demonstrate some as I woop your !"

"I have truly missed all of you!" Junmyeon randomly calls out with a proud fatherly smile.

"Oh God, please don't get mushy on us!" Sehun grunts, finally speaking.

Kyungsoo had been observing the quiet Sehun, the youngest of the group. He was unusually quiet and seemed to stare into the distance, lost in thought. He was definitely not himself, as he caught Kyungsoo's intense big eyes staring him down, nervously shifting and looking away every time. He knew he had to be alone with him and ask him what's wrong, he just needed to wait until everyone fell asleep. Until then he had to be less obvious about eyeing him down.

"I missed all of you too, Jongdae admits, setting down his glasses as his eyes grow tired. This planet has been our second home and we have to protect it at all costs. We have been living amongst humans and learning about their best and worst. I would hate for our exile here to be the cause of their extinction. Which brings me to this question, or questions rather. Jongdae turns towards Taeyeon: "Taeyeon, will you tell us how exactly you managed to free us and get us here and also could you tell us more about what happened after we left our planet and why now, after four years, they are after us? Why now? What happened to trigger this?"

Taeyeon gave a deep sigh, not anxious to remember any of it, not anxious to relive it by speaking about it.

"The night you guys were sent to the maze I was at my parents' house. It was after Baekhyun and I had ran away and discovered what our planet had really become, discovered the utopian lie we were a part of. I had tried to keep me being an Oracle a secret from anyone apart from you guys whom I trusted. I didn't want to be sent as an adviser to the ruler and his brother. Adviser is a nice sugar-coated word which hides the fact I would be more like a slave, forced to offer visions and council. I would have been trapped, even more trapped than we all were already, living in our giant fish bowls on a blank planet. So I tried to hide it but my father had already become suspicious after I rescued Baekhyun and then other events only confirmed the fact I was an Oracle. He kept it a secret at first too but then told my mother and she told the wrong people who ended up betraying us and punishing them for keeping such an important secret, a secret they felt could save our planet. They were tortured and they told them everything, they also told them about Kyungsoo, Jongin and Baekhyun monitoring the planet Earth, wanting to seek either help or refuge in it. They discovered Kyungsoo's notes, knew he was starting to work with all of you and decided to throw you into one of our labyrinthine jails. I didn't know which one my parents were in and I didn't know which one you were in. And I was held captive too. I overheard Emperor Yan Wang talk to his brother, Xia. Yan seemed reluctant to sentence you to death but Xia wanted you all dead, he wanted the king to be more merciless. They argued, I couldn't see them but I knew Xia would stop at nothing to become the ruler of our Planet, I had seen it in a vision. And I was right. I heard screams, I saw fire dancing on the walls and emperor Yan Wang being stabbed with his own battle dagger by his own brother. Xia did not know I saw all this. He ran out the golden gates and told everyone the emperor had been killed and that one of you "rebels" did it. They appointed him the new emperor and he did not have a hard time convincing them to sentence you to death. You probably remember being tied up, set in those capsules and released down tunnels that took you to the heart of the maze but set you all apart. He chose the worst one for you, he wanted to drive you mad, then to slowly deprive you of oxygen and make you sick while keeping you alive as long as possible. He saw you as a danger and the possible leaders of a riot that might bring down his and his brother's carefully constructed illusion. And he did not want a massive exodus of his population to Earth either. To be honest, he had probably been wanting to attack Earth and take its resources for many years.

"I still shudder when I think about the labyrinth, said Kyungsoo looking down, grabbing his chest. All I could hear were your screams and every time I headed towards one of your voices it only seemed to become more distant. I can usually pinpoint where you are but that place was so strange. My powers were dimmed, I couldn't sense you. I could just hear your cries and screams. And it was so dark. Everything was jet black. Then a beam of light would shine and disappear just as fast. It was getting hard to breathe. I collapsed and lost consciousness a few times. I tried to scream and I lost my voice, it sounded distorted. Time and space seemed to bend in that prison"

"And I kept reaching dead ends, I traced my footsteps and memorized patterns but it's like walls would appear where they didn't use to be, it was an ever-changing maze you had no chance of ever escaping, no matter how smart or fast you were. One of the cruelest torture methods. I felt like I was losing my mind. Maybe that is why I became a psychiatrist on Earth, to try and keep my senses, to help others not become mad like me", Junmyeon recalled.

"I thought I would never see you again when I was in there, Taeyeon..."

Taeyeon gives Baekhyun a peck on the cheek and a comforting smile and continues the story.

"At that point in time I did not know the extent of my abilities, I thought visions of the future were all I had. But something happened as I was driving myself mad worrying about you and my parents. It's like something clicked, a button I didn't know existed within me was pushed and I found myself levitating above the room, I thought I had died for a second, then I stretched my hand through the ceiling and it just went through as if I were a ghost or hologram, I started floating above the room, floated above the city and then my eyes could see everything, like an X-ray, I could see what was inside each building and I went from maze to maze until I found you. Some invisible force seemed to have taken over me and gave me strengh I never knew I had. I found you, I saw you from up above, it felt surreal, I could feel your pain too, I could see all the horrible things that could happen to you unless I saved you. There were twelve of you and I could only carry you out one by one. I started getting sick while I was down there, you were all already passed out, that is why you can't remember anything that happened. You were all lifeless and so heavy to carry. I tried to rescue all of you, I could go through walls but you couldn't so I had to quickly see the exit that was perpetually changing and get you out. One by one. But I only managed to get ten out of twelve....I was getting ready to go back in when I saw the newly-appointed emperor Xia. He can summon multiple elements, I knew even with my new powers I was no match for him... He lunged at me, like a flash, he blew fire out of his fingers and set the prison I had just gotten you out of in flames. I watched in horror as it went down, with Luhan and Yifan still in there. Before you worry or get sad, don't, they are alive and here on Earth, that much I know, I don't know how they escaped but at the time I thought they were dead and I lost my mind crying and mourning for them. I fell to my knees and I would have been dead for sure had my father not rescued me. He and my mom were brought as prisoners by Xia but my father, being outside the prison, could use his power and summoned a giant tornado that knocked Xia down and bought me some time. He picked all of you up and carried you to safety and then we all ran for the observatory. There was an old man there, I had never met him before but my father said he had teleportation powers just like Jongin but stronger, being able to teleport you to Earth. I wanted to go with you but my father forbid it, he wanted us to stay behind and attempt to save the planet from Xia, we needed to gather an army. He promised me the old man could help me get there at a later time. So I reluctantly obeyed him, gave the sleeping Baekhyun one last kiss and then you were all gone. I don't know if you were supposed to end up together and it went wrong or if he purposefully placed you in different corners of the world. But I was just happy you were alive and that you would be safe. I knew you would be strong enough to survive there.

"Wow, we are only alive thanks to you and your father. Thank him for us next time you see him, okay?"

"Umm..yeah....sure" Taeyeon looked down wiping her tired sleepy eyes. "Sorry, it has been an exhausting day, I feel so tired. We should all get some sleep and plan things tomorrow."

"Of course, my angel. Let us return to our chambers!" Baekhyun beckoned pompously, achieving his goal of making her smile.

"I don't think you guys want to sleep in the forest so shall we go back to our house in Colorado? It is pretty spacious, it can fit all of you", Jongin asked.

"Ummm.."

"What is it Sehun?"

"Let's go to my house in Edinburgh. No offence, but I am sure my house is bigger than a house a musician and a painter can afford"

"Wow, cocky much?" Jongin snorts.

"No, I don't mean to be like that, though I am pretty filthy rich! he says, smug and proud. "Actually...we need to stay in Europe. I will explain tomorrow, everyone is tired right now. So yes, please, stay the night at my lovely mansion in Scotland"

Kyungsoo narrows his eyes, knowing for sure something fishy is up and that he will get the truth from Sehun no matter what it is and through any means necessary.

"Okay, okay", Jongin gives in. Everyone stand up and hold hands, I will teleport us there. Kyungsoo, help me please. Chanyeol, don't forget to take the relics, okay? I am sure we will need them!"

The eleven figures stand up, their shadows dancing on the bed of flowers around the bonfire. They hold hands. They close their eyes. Jongin looks at Kyungsoo and smiles lovingly, seeing his soft features bathed in the light. He misses their normal life. He had wanted to return home so badly. He misses the quiet evenings sitting in the living room listening to Kyungsoo's soft singing as he paints. He feels a gust of wind caress his face, closes his eyes, feeling alive. Then everything goes black as the eleven figures become warped then dissipate like the fire sparks above the crackling tree branches and tree stumps. Although he has experienced this once before, Zitao does not like it, he hates the darkness and the stretching feeling of his limbs, the nausea, the dizziness, the feeling of falling through a giant tunnel. But then it's over and they come crashing down and it's as if they were spun by a High-G training centrifuge and they can barely walk from dizziness.

"God, teleportation ! Sehun grunts.

"Tell me about it! Tao stumbles like a drunk man, stopping in front of a giant lit-up mansion. Oh my God, this is your house? It's twice the size of my martial arts school!

Oh Sehun's modernized Victorian mansion stood atop a hill overlooking the center of Edinburgh. Covered in vines and surrounded by trees and rose bushes, it looked like any mansion Jongdae had ever imagined while reading Victorian literature. It seemed frozen in time although renovations had been made. It was a three-story high stone and brick architectural marvel with large, imposing windows that still had the old wooden blinds that would make the interior pitch black even during the day. There were six balconies in total on the top two levels and flower pots were hanging down hooks as well as on the balcony railings. In front of the house there were large green canopies and rows of flowers, all different shapes and colors. Further on the left there was a golf course and a basketball court. This establishment could have housed a family of twelve and yet Sehun was greedily using it alone. Jongdae couldn't help but say:

"Wow, you have all of this from being a model for four years and I had nothing being a college professor. All I had was a crummy apartment and my books. And I had to put up with snarky students too. I now understand the injustices of the social-economical system here".

"Don't be bitter, old man! Not my fault beauty gets all the praise and laurels here on Earth! I can't help being this gorgeous! Sehun boasts, running his long fingers through his hair and cocking up an eyebrow".

"Oh my God, you have not changed a bit, you devil spawn!" Chanyeol exclaims. I am jealous though. I didn't even have a home, I just wandered the whole world. The world was my home. I kind of enjoyed my hippie lifestyle though. The life of an honest pauper, he says modestly, bowing and tipping his felt hat.

"I also travelled a lot, which is easy to do with my superpower. Be jealous!" Jongin smiles and then pulls out his phone, showing the group pictures of his paintings he painted across all the continents.

"Okay, right this way", Sehun leads them inside the mansion where more amazement ensues, Everything shines with cleanliness (Kyungsoo assumes he has a maid because Sehun is extremely messy in general; His obsessive-compulsive disorder is satisfied because everything is in its right place).

Kyungsoo runs towards the fireplace and runs his finger across the mantel. No dust. He walks towards the big oak dining table and runs his palm across it too. No dust. Venetian mirrors greet his petite figure with no smudges or scratches. Windows seem invisible and spotless. The wood smells like a pine forest. He runs upstairs on the spiral staircase, giggling like a little child. The rest of the group laugh at Kyungsoo's excitement.

"Oh my God, how many bathrooms do you have?" they hear him screaming from upstairs.

"Jongdae, come see this library! I bet he hasn't read a single one of these books!" Sehun grunts at this, rolling his eyes, but knowing it as true.

"It's okay Jongdae, you can just have the books. I just wanted to look like an intelectual, I suppose"

"I thank you, master of the house, keeper of the inn" Jongdae sings knowingly.

"Huh?"

"It's a Les Miserables reference, shh, it's okay!"

Kyungsoo is still euphoric upstairs.

"I call dibs on this room! Jongin, come!"

"Yeah, we should all go to sleep, it's 3 A.M now, we have to wake up and make a game plan" Taeyeon reminds everyone.

After everyone picks their rooms they all separate, saying good night and waving to each other, some hugging as they go, everyone thinking about how much their lives have been shaken up in the past twenty four hours, Sehun thinking about how much more shaken up everyone will be after he tells them what they don't yet know.

Kyungsoo and Jongin's room. 3:18 AM.

"Ah, this is nice!" Kyungsoo shouts as he lets himself fall onto the soft fluffy pillows on his bed. "Mmm everything smells like lilac and heaven!"

"You are such an adorable puppy! Speaking of...I really miss Monggu..I hope he is well taken care of... it's weird not having him wake me up by my face and hopping after me. I miss our home..."

"He is okay. And you still got me, that's something, right?" Kyungsoo smiles, lifting himself into a sitting yoga position on the bed.

"Yeah, that's everything I need, really..." Jongin answers, tilting his head down and wondering why he just said such a sappy thing.

"Ahh" Kyungsoo laughs uncomfortably, showing all his teeth and narrowing his eyes. He has been confused as of late, being so dependent upon Jongin and always together, he has grown so attached that the lines have become blurred as to what his best friend really means to him.
All he knows is that he couldn't live without him. He is afraid to go to sleep, dreading another nightmare where he sees Jongin being killed in gruesome ways and then the apocalypse commencing, making everything disappear into nothingness. He wants to fight sleep so badly.

The room has twin beds but Jongin and Kyungsoo are used to sharing a bed so Kyungsoo grunts as he sees Jongin heading hesitantly towards the other bed.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? he asks tilting his head and tapping the left side of his bed next to him. I need you here in case I get sleep apnea because of my dreams, you have to shake me and wake me up like you always do!"

Kyungsoo would often experience either insomnia or dreadful nightmares triggering his sleep apnea, he would start suffocating in his sleep and choking, desperately trying to get air in his lungs. On rare occasions he would sleepwalk and that would terrify Jongin. He had had to learn to be a light sleeper and always protect and help Kyungsoo. That was one of the reasons why they were so co-dependent. Jongin would have to take afternoon naps when Kyungsoo was awake, it was the only time he could get any sort of decent sleep. But with the recent outcome and the world being in danger he feared his afternoon naps would become a thing of the past.

"I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking, I am not used to having the option of two beds in a room, haha! I will wake you up if anything happens, I promise, okay?"

Jongin lifts the covers and lays down next to Kyungsoo who has curled up into a shivering ball, tugging at his comfy robe he found in the bedroom closet.

"Are you cold, hyung?" Jongin whispers.

"Mhmmm" Kyungsoo shakes, squinting his eyes under his long fringes. He always has overly dramatic gestures when he is too hot or too cold and likes to whine like a baby, knowing Jongin will buy it and comfort him.

"Okay, okay" Jongin says lovingly, putting his arm around Kyungsoo, feeling how cold his toes are as they touch his and feeling his back warm up from his hand. Kyungsoo nestles in closer, like a little kitten seeking warmth. The tip of his nose feels icy cold against Jongin's Adam's apple. Kyungsoo places his soft small palm around Jongin's waist and finally starts to get warmer.

"Your body is like a radiator!"

"You always say that, hyung" Jongin laughs, his eye-wrinkles growing deeper.

"It's nice though..." Kyungsoo's voice becomes softer and dimmer. Jongin smells his sweet breath that somehow comforts him and feels like home. He starts having conflicted, confusing feelings again, wondering if he is falling in love with his best friend. He can't stop staring at his lips and long eyelashes, his face is so close to his. Then he gets a sharp pain in his heart at the thought of ever losing him. He is haunted by his dreams too. He wants to hold on to him for dear life.

"Sing to me, hyung...I miss your voice..."

"Only if you dance for me tomorrow...I miss your dancing, ba...umm...Jongin.

Jongin smiles big and promises, as Kyungsoo starts singing a soft lullaby-sounding melody. It sounds both happy and sad and somehow melancholic. Kyungsoo can barely keep his eyes open but sings softly close to Jongin's ear which is tickled by his breath.

Jongin never feels happier than in these moments and everything that has happened in the last couple of hours feels like a distant dream.

"Hyung...?"

"Mhm?" Kyungsoo asks, about to pass out, the sandman carrying him gently to the land of dreams.

"I love you..."

"I love you too!" Kyungsoo says softly, half asleep.

"No, but I mean...I'm ...I think I have fallen in love with you...."

"It took you this long? I....I've been in love with you for a very, very long time..." Kyungsoo finally opens his big shining eyes, watching Jongin intently, analyzing every inch of his face.

Jongin blushes and hides his face in a pillow as soon as Kyungsoo realizes what he just said too and does the same, giggling into his pillow.

Jongin reaches for the night lamp and turns the light off, to relieve the awkwardness settling in between them as they both shyly hold each other again, closer than before.

"Promise me I will never lose you, hyung..." Jongin whispers.

"You will never lose me. If I ever die I will become a ghost and haunt you forever! Hahaha"

"That's not funny hyung!"

Their breathing settles as they fall asleep, Jongin praying Kyungsoo won't have any nightmares tonight. Just this night, God, please, just this night, he prays. Let us have one more night of peace...

In the room strictly above theirs, Sehun gazes out the window, remembering an eclipse.

Children's laughter is heard in the distance. Fog settles and vengeful, watchful eyes fixate on the lit up window and Sehun's silhouette.

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Author's Note:

My title pictures I used in this chapter belong to this wonderful artist, Teryn Ashleigh (a.k.a FallthruStardust). Check out her amazing fanarts here: http://fallthrustardust.deviantart.com/

Also, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update but life kind of got in the way. I should upload my next one late tonight or tomorrow, I have already started work on it! I hope you enjoy this chapter, you get to see most of EXO interacting and you get a really sweet and fluffy KaiSoo scene!!! <3 Yay for more KaiSoo! There is also some more BaekYeon as well :-) And we find out more about what happened. Next chapter is Sehun-focused and we finally get to meet Kris and Lu! :-) Thank you so much for your patience guys and please leave feedback!