???, ???, March 30 (Early Evening)

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They all wait for Tao's mother to finish talking to someone on the phone, and watch as her eyes get wider as she listens to the other person. As the conversation comes to a close, she nods slowly and Luhan can make out her saying a Thank You and a Goodbye before she sets the phone down. She then comes closer to the mirror and reaches a hand to the left side of it, her lips in a tight-lipped smile as she turns the sound back on and lets out a sigh through her nose.

Tao immediately asks what's wrong, and Qian and Luna tilt their heads to see as well. Tao's mother then informs them that the advisor is with Luhan's parents and tells them that it looks like she'll have to go to the palace after all.

The plan that she came up with a few minutes ago was fairly simple. If the advisor wasn't there--then she wouldn't have to go to the palace, but if they were (and they apparently are) then she'll go to the palace and work her magic on them. Distracting them with nonsensical jokes and such (preferably in a room far away from Luhan's parents') so that Qian and Luna can have an opening to explain everything to them.

Tao's mother then asks for the mirror to be facing Tao and tells him that she loves him once Qian flips the mirror around. Tao gives a sad smile at that and wishes her good luck and tells her that he loves her too. She gives a comforting smile in return and then tells them all to take care while waving before reaching her other hand to the side of mirror and ending the connection. And just as Qian and Luna look at them all to say something, suddenly the mirror starts playing this loud, random jazz-like music. Everyone's eyes widen at the music and Luna gets startled by it--leading to Qian getting startled by her reaction and causing them both to lose their grip on the mirror's handle. (Somehow Qian manages to keep her grip on Chanyeol's umbrella though.)

The mirror falls and just as the two instinctively reach to grab it, Luhan quickly shoots a hand out to stop it and sighs with relief when it actually stops in the air. He then flips his hand, his palm facing upwards, and flips the mirror around before he lifts his hand to make the mirror rise into Qian's and Luna's hands. Luna thanks him while  Qian quickly grabs the mirror handle and taps on the sides near the glass in a certain pattern while the others ask what's happening. Luna gulps while watching Qian and then looks at them and tells them that the person from earlier must be trying to connect them to the throne room's mirror. The music soon stops playing and Luhan figures that Qian turned the mirror's screen off.

"What do we do now?" Baekhyun asks in English, biting on a fingernail.

"Well, you all can't stay out here forever," Qian says. "This stupid rain doesn't look like it's gonna let up any time soon so it'd be better to go inside."

"Oh-ho-ho-- no. Ugh, what if this is a trick?" Chen asks, turning to the rest of his friends. "This whole entire thing--a plot to get us onto their space-ship and shipped off to who knows where?"

"...How long do you think it'll take Tao's mum to distract them?" Kai asks, completely ignoring Chen.

Chen lets out a huff of air and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Long enough," Xiumin murmurs. He then raises his voice a bit. "I think we should just go inside already instead of standing out here for who knows how long."

A few of the others start to argue amongst themselves at that and Qian watches them, seeming to get more and more annoyed. While gritting her teeth, she suddenly tells the ones that are talking to shut up and make a decision already while Luna surveys the mirror for any sign of it possibly turning back on.

"Okay, we'll put it to a vote then," Kris says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Everyone in favor of staying out here in the rain say, 'one', and everyone in favor of going into the ship for shelter say, 'two.'"

Most everyone says two while Chen, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol choose one.

"So, it's decided then," Kris says. He turns to Qian and Luna and gives a royal bow. "Take us to your leader...but, not really."

Luna just gives him a confused eyebrow lift and Qian murmurs a Thank gosh before looking at her. Luna instantly blushes at the eye contact and then taps at one of her pants' pocket like they all saw her do earlier. Luhan then flinches at the sound of the ship's landing-strip unsheathing and watches as it appears from what looks like nothing towards the grass. Steps quickly rise, and Qian and Luna take the first step and turn to them--waiting for them to follow.

Xiumin grabs onto Luhan's hand and Luhan turns to look at him, a thin smile on his own face. So, the two of them (along with Sehun and Tao), take the first steps to follow after the two women, and Kris, Kai, and Kyungsoo soon follow behind. Luhan shudders at the feeling of rain hitting his body again as they leave the cover of the sheet and turns to look behind himself as Qian and Luna get closer to the ship's entrance. Lay, Chen, Suho, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol are still standing under the black sheet--mixed emotions on their faces.

The others tell them to come on already and Kyungsoo threatens to carry them all here by force if he has to--grimacing as the rain drips down his face as he speaks. Suddenly, an animal lets out a shrill cry in the distance and startles everyone, and the other five end up scurrying to the landing-strip; Baekhyun and Chen in the lead, Lay running and deftly folding the sheet at the same time, Suho forgetting to stop the water from falling on Chanyeol, and Chanyeol having to cover his own head with his hands.

When they're near the rest of them, Qian simply lets out a hum and tells Luna to go with around half of them into the chamber since it's apparently not big enough to hold all of them. She then gestures to the five who came last and says that they should go in first and connects the mirror back to her belt-loop with her free hand. Just as Luna steps in first, another animal cry sounds in the distance causing the other five to scramble to get inside of the chamber. Lay then hands the folded sheet to Luna while Suho brings his duffel bag closer to himself with a grimace on his face. Chen's eyes are wide with panic, Baekhyun looks like he's going to be sick, and Chanyeol holds tightly onto one of Baekhyun's hands before telling him that it'll be alright.

Then, the chamber closes and Kai immediately asks if the chamber takes long to reach its destination as they all watch it spin around. Qian shakes her head and tells him that it only takes like a second and a few seconds later, the chamber spins back to their side and opens, revealing nobody. Qian then brings Chanyeol's umbrella down to wrap it up and frowns as the rain hits her before turning to face the rest of them. She only has to lift her eyebrows curiously for Luhan and Xiumin to decide to step in after her, and so the other five step in as well to find that it really is a tight fit after all.

The chamber door closes once they've all entered and they hear the sound of whirring mechanisms as the chamber spins them around. Once the chamber's still, Qian tells them about a scanner and dryer that'll appear next and just a second later--a green light appears at the top (startling everyone but Qian) and slowly moves downwards. They can all see the others who came in first through the chamber door--watching them and waiting for them to come out. And right after the light finally reaches the bottom, a ding sounds and the light disappears just as quickly as it appeared.

"And now the dryer," Qian says, pointing upwards.

They all look up to where she's pointing and Luhan's eyes widen when a hatch suddenly opens and unleashes a huge gust of air onto everyone. He and the rest duck their heads as the air quickly fills the chamber and he quickly finds himself feeling completely dry again. Then, the hatch closes and the chamber door slides open to the right--Kyungsoo rushing out and letting out stuttering gasps, and Kai quickly reaches his side to rub his back to help calm him down. Luhan and the others get out after them before a few flinch as the door automatically slides back into place.

"Woah," Sehun says, looking around.

"Right? I kinda wanna see the golems," Baekhyun adds.

"After we talk to the King and Queen," Qian states, walking over to him and Chanyeol.

"Really now?" Chen asks, dryly.

She simply gives him a bl