Areum POV

I woke to the sounds of shouting and pounding footsteps. Sun rayed down on me but gave me no warmth. I snuggled closer to the firm warmth beside me. It moved.

My eyes shot open.

It was a person. I tensed but didn’t move, afraid to wake the resting being. An arm was thrown over me, holding me closer. I sneaked a quick fleeting glance up at the slumbering figure.

It was Chanyeol…

Why the hell was Chanyeol in my bed? We didn’t…no we wouldn’t right?

With a shrill scream I forcefully jerked away, falling off the bed in the process and landing in a tangled ball of limbs and blanket. An annoyed groan left him as he rolled to the edge and cranked an eye open to glare down at me.

“Why’d you scream, it’s so early” His voice was husky and lower than usual. I found it kind of y. I caught myself. Chanyeol was attractive, all 12 boys were, but I did not just think that. Did I?

“Why are you in my bed?” I asked, voice raised and squeaky compared to the giants. I didn’t need a mirror to know that I was blushing furiously. I could feel my face burning hotter than the sun.

Chanyeol blinked. He glanced around the room and finally seemed to realize that this was MY room not his.

“Where-“ He turned to me blankly. “This is your room?”

“Why am I-oh” His eyes closed and when they opened they were filled with melancholy and hurt. I didn’t want him to hurt. If I could, I would steal his hurt and make sure he never had to feel the things I feel.

“Don’t you remember?”

“What?”

“Last night.” I felt my body tense once again. We didn’t-I didn’t-no that’s not possible-he would never-I would never.

“W-we didn’t have…did we?” I stuttered, dreading the answer yet anticipating it at the same time.

“No! No. So, you really don’t remember?” I racked my brain for anything that happened last night. What I remembered sent a bullet through my heart.

(((Flashback)))

“My….appa…he was executed by the counsel.” Chanyeol’s voice echoed lightly off the walls of my room. The music had long since stopped and we laid there, on my bed, in saddened silence. The constant ache in my heart grew.

“I was eight.” His breath tickled my shoulder. I lay on my side not facing Chanyeol. And he lay on his side too except he faced my back, face inches from my shoulder.

“He was innocent, I know he was. The evidence, it doesn’t add up. No matter how hard I try and see if it was enough to sentence him to death it isn’t. There isn’t a single piece of solid evidence. The witness’ statements are riddled with lies and contradictions. My appa would never-“ His voice cracked. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to cheer him up, like he has done for me.

“He…found something the counsel didn’t want him to se. That’s why, that’s why they murdered him. They wanted whatever he found to stay hidden. They were desperate enough to…kill my abeoji to cover something up.” Chanyeol croaked, his voice thick with emotion.

“They murdered my appa just to keep a secret.” Chanyeol sounded so broken, so lost. It made me ache. How could the counsel do such a thing? Murder someone to keep a secret? Weren’t they supposed to be protecting us?

“The counsel, they have long since stopped protecting everyone in Ametria. My appa said the counsel before them was vey wise and kind. But…this counsel wants perfection, they want a world where everyone thinks the same, acts the same, and believes all the same lies they spout. They murder those who step out of line.” Chanyeol whispered.

It shouldn’t be like this, he shouldn’t have to worry about being killed for his opinion. The counsel shouldn’t be the ones leading this country, or any country. The counsellors are all cowards. Selfish, narcissistic, scared, cowards that fear the very people they rule. Chanyeol and his appa fell victim to their selfish acts. Though no one close to me has pasted away in this life, I have lost five of the closest people in my life, my once human family. They asked me to do something impossible, forget them. They plan on killing my kind, royals. They hate my kind. They most hate me the most; I am part of Exo, the protectors of royals. In my first life, I lost my mama. I have seen millions of people get slaughtered, and some I knew they were my friends, neighbours, people I saw everyday, and I watched the aftermath that was just as bad. When you lose someone close to you, it doesn’t take you a few months to get over it, like it does in the movies and dramas. Sometimes you never get over it. The pain is still there, faded and faint, but still there, in the back of your mind nagging at you to relive the pain you wish to forget.

My body seemed to move on its own, it rolled around to face the giant laying beside me. My arms stretched out to pull him into a hug, snaking around his waist. My head pressed against his chest, he smelled like burning pines. He placed an arm around me and I felt his chin graze the top of my head. I smiled despite the sorrow surrounding the two of us. I comforted Chanyeol, I eased his pain, I made him feel better, I did what he always does to me, I made him happy.

(((End of flashback)))

The rest of last night flooded my mind. I had woken up, rattled by the new memories. I had tried to keep it together, to stop replaying the tragedies, the death. But when I saw their faces, exactly the same as all those lives before. When Chanyeol hugged me I was reminded of Zian. I couldn’t stop the waterfall hidden behind my eyes. It spilled out, for all to see. I remembered crying, fear, sorrow, and telling Chanyeol almost everything I remembered. Including the memory that disturbed me the most.

Burning to death.

And Chanyeol had seen it, been haunted by it too. He witnessed a girl, in the same clothes as me, burn in the same place. Yet he said my face wasn’t hers. I didn’t have time to think about that though. There were more important questions that needed answering.

“Chanyeol I-“

“Sehun’s in trouble!” Xiumin shouted opening my door. Confusion flickered across when he saw; it was gone as soon as it came.

In seconds Chanyeol and I were bolting into Sehun’s room, where shouting and crashing sounds emanated from.

The other members were scattered across the room, hiding behind whatever they could. Almost everything in Sehun’s room was flying around in a tornado of motion. Sehun himself was floating in the middle of it. His body limp, arms dangling by his side. His hair was black; dark brown almost black highlights ran through it. His thin figure seemed to glow a soft pale white. Sehun looked at ease, peaceful even, the opposite of the chaos he was causing.

Chanyeol pulled me aside forcefully just in time to save me from the chair flying my way. We pressed our backs against the wall and prayed that we weren’t murdered by flying furniture. No one could near Sehun without getting slaughtered by chic furniture.

“Sehun STOP! It’s US, your FRIENDS!” Kris bellowed, hovering a few feet off the ground. Lucky bastard. But even Kris with his fancy flight powers he just loved to show off couldn’t reach Sehun.

As if I was in a trance, I made my way to the t