A/N This chapter is very fast and I was about to divide it into two chapters but then meh. 

Yuta had been asleep for a while. His days were filled with being with his NCT members and his EXO seniors trying to build houses and make lists of those who were in camp with them. The death of Doyoung and the reappearance of Taeyong was a big hit for all of them but he knew that satisfaction in a time like this only mattered if it promised them safety. Yuta turned over in his sleep softly when he heard his name being called.

His eyes fluttered softly and he frowned. The voice was hollow and Yuta was a light sleeper, a trait he had gotten while boarding with Haechan in his earlier days in SM, School of Mages.

“Yuta-san,” the voice called and Yuta’s eyes flew open. No one ever called him that unless it was his grandfather. Spirit Travelers of his family had their own culture, their own titles and Yuta shot up just to see the spirit of his grandfather floating by the door.

“Grandfather.” Yuta found himself saying, his eyes searching for the red tie that they usually bound around their wrists to keep their soul from straying but there was none. Was his grandfather’s spirit lost? The old man looked serene in his cloak but Yuta knew something was wrong.

“Yuta-san,” Sensei Nakamoto said, flying towards him. “The Royal Headmaster had struck the City of Libro’s. The boarding school kids, the people in the city are getting terrorized.”

Yuta felt his stomach sink. He knew this would happen, but he always thought that the Royal Headmaster would never think of going to the City of Libros. It was a city of scholars and teachers and they were always very unproblematic.

“You have the save the children. The city is burning,” Sensei Nakamoto said and Yuta found himself asking the old man about him.

“What about you?” He dreaded the answer and his grandfather gave him a small smile that was so sad, it made Yuta’s heart break a little. “He killed you… didn’t he?”

“He burned my body.” Sensei Nakamoto said. “But remember what I always taught you, grandson. Death is inevitable and I will be back in another form. My time has arrived and now you must learn how to prioritize. Lives are being taken.”

Yuta gulped. As expected for his grandfather to treat death as a simple phase in life.

“The Royal Headmaster has taken a book,” his grandfather continued. “It’s a book of dark rituals of the olden times. It’s an unnamed unholy book and I feel as if he has something in mind. When I refused to give it to him, he struck in fury. Bring your people to the City of Libros and save those you can save.”

“Yes, grandfather,” Yuta replied. “When will I see you again?”

“When the time is right and time brings me back to you,” Sensei replied, bowing to his grandchild who bowed back. Yuta had to blink the tears away but death was hardly special to him. In the end, he could travel the spiritual realm. 

Putting on his shoes, Yuta opened the door of his shack and towards Sehun’s. He had to ask for help so they could go save the people in the City of Libros, the city he was brought up in.

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[LEO]

In the realm of the deities

Pisces was very dreamy-looking to be called “The Dreamer”. His eyes sparkled and I slipped my hand into his to shake it gently. I had wondered how a deity would look and feel like, but they seemed very very human. Pisces turned to my siblings and they were still awe-struck by his good looks, they awkwardly shook his hand in return.

“I know what you are here for, but I’m afraid the Illuminati are in a meeting right now. How about we bring you to the throne room as we wait for them?” Pisces asked us politely before turning around to walk away. We blinked, all of us not saying anything as we followed him. It was a huge mansion, statues everywhere and I saw a big statue up front. It was of a woman. She was beautiful and her long hair and long dress stood out. I saw a red splatter on her face and wondered how it got there.

Pisces saw us staring and he chuckled. “Morgana. I think you must have heard her story from Hans. She was supposed to be a savior but she turned bad. That tomato splatter is from Aries. He had a tantrum when things with her didn’t go as planned.”

“That’s what we heard, yes,” I replied softly, my eyes looking over to the other statues. There were other statues as well, women and men. “I heard she was from Eve as well.”

“That’s true,” Pisces said, nodding. “Morgana had a twin, Nimueh. They both were banished from Eve because they had dark powers, both of them brought to Earth. They were separated for a while. We chose Morgana as an experiment, to be honest. Nimueh was supposed to be the bad one, the Dark One.”

“Why can’t you unite the worlds yourself? You’re deities, aren’t you?” Seungwoo suddenly asked and Pisces smiled at him. His smile gentle and soft. He was about to reply to Seungwoo when a voice cut through the air and a tall and intimidating man spoke, heading towards us.

“Because for humans, you need to gain their respect for them to respect you. Humans are complicated at best, young mortal.” He smirked. “Even if we unite the four worlds, it doesn’t guarantee their loyalty. Humans need a leader. Someone they can look up to, and that is why we need Saviors.”

“I was about to bring them to the room, Leo,” Pisces said and Leo rolled his eyes.

“Aries is being a little . He rammed my door in this morning because he lost at ping-pong. I just wanted to get away from him,” Leo replied, turning to me and I noticed that he indeed, was very handsome. He was a bit tanner than Pisces and he had a smirk to kill for.

“Why do you need a Dark One?” Wooseung asked suddenly, and I was reminded of his title.

“All the Dark Ones 'till now were all bad. The thing is, young one, is that every Savior is to be given an enemy to defeat. Only when the Savior defeats the enemy, will the Savior gain the trust of everyone around them.”

“I’m supposed to be The Dark One,” Wooseung said back. “But I will never betray my sister.”

“That’s what makes you special,” Pisces said softly and Leo made a face.

“No one is special here,” Leo countered and Pisces let out a huff. “Come on, let me show you the room.”

“What room?” I found myself asking, but Leo had already strode away; his long legs bringing him down a hallway as we scurried after him. He slid to a stop, Pisces following us silently and when he threw the door open, I gasped. There were people on the walls, moving pictures of a bunch of people. There were birthdates under the people and I realized that some of these people weren’t born yet. In the middle of the room was a big statue of a woman.

“The room of past saviors, potential saviors, and saviors to be,” Leo told us, spinning on his heel and motioning proudly to the photos. One the corner of my eye, I saw Jaehyun’s and Johnny’s photo. So, they were a candidate as well—I let my eyes skid over the place when it stopped at one photo.

“Mulan,” I whispered and Leo nodded. “She was a savior?”

“At that time, we were dabbling with Gaian saviors. She was a mortal,” Leo said, crossing his hands across his chest. “She was supposed to unite the four worlds but The Huns wanted to go to the other worlds. Sound familiar?”

“Just like Uther of Camelot and Exodus’ current Royal Headmaster.” Seungwoo was beside Leo, staring at the photos. “So, what happened?”

“Mulan and Li Shang died trying to protect the portal,” Leo answered. “There was a war, of course. After they passed, the civilians had a second war with The Huns and won. They then blocked off the portal.”

“Whose statue is this?” Wooseung asked, taking interest in the statue unlike me and Seungwoo who were engrossed by the photos. “It’s so big.”

“The first woman that was ever created. Evelyn. She killed someone though. First murder. Took us by a shock,” Pisces answered when the door slammed open and a man beside a ram walked in. He had a playful smile and he let out a cheer when he saw me, almost hopping to where I was.

“Oh, yes!” He said before coming up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Oh, you have come so far, child. I’m so proud of you! I’m so glad you’re an Aries.” He beamed at me and Leo rolled his eyes.

“Aries, you know I had a say on her too. We all put in a mix of everything. If she were a pure Aries, she would be the one causing the war,” Leo answered and Aries patted me on the head. I blinked.

“Uh, my birthday is on June,” I answered softly and they looked at me before chuckling. Pisces scratched his nose.

“That was the date on your adoptive papers,” Seungwoo told me and I realized that I never knew of the day I was born. I was celebrating the day I was adopted my whole life and I suddenly felt very uncomfortable at the fact that my birthday was another day. “When was she born?”

“April 12th,” Aries said, winking. “All of those who are born in April are such a gem,” he gushed and Pisces held in a laugh.

“You made Adolf Hitler,” he said to Aries who turned red on the face.

“Hitler was like that because Scorpio was his ascending sign!” he yelled, stamping his foot. “Hitler was an embarrassment!”

“Now, now. Don’t look at me like that. Adam Levine is a Pisces. I take full credit for his existence and his music,” Pisces teased Aries who huffed. Aries had a child-like temper and it showed. 

“April 12th?” Wooseung suddenly asked, frowning. “Isn’t that Sehun’s birthday too?”

“How’d you know?”

Wooseung jerked his head to Sehun’s picture that was right beside mine. His didn’t say Savior underneath it, but there were arrows binding both of us together. Underneath his picture was his birthdate and it indeed was, April 12th.

“Sehun and I have the same birthday?” I mumbled to myself, frowning.

“We chose you and Sehun because even if you’re the savior, none of the saviors could do it alone. This is the first time we chose a pair to help each other in the prophecy,” Pisces said to me and I felt my stomach drop.

“What happens if I fail?” I asked, turning to them. “What happens if I just want to save one world and have no intention of reuniting all the worlds?”

“Then we’ll just put an “X” on your face and then move on to the next savior,” Aries said simply. “Not that hard, innit? We’ve been doing this for billions of years, young one. Nothing to worry about. The cycle goes on.”

Well, that made me feel a tad bit better. All I wanted to do was to be with Sehun and just live a simple life. The Zodiacs seemed very far off from being perfect deities, but it was good to know how they all worked together to orchestrate everything.

But I had only one goal in mind and that was to get the scepter and destroy the portal.

“The meeting should be almost done. Let’s head to the throne room,” Pisces said and I walked with my brothers behind him, moving forward. When we reached the throne room, I saw men sitting on the thrones. A few of them were bickering, a few of them were simply listening.

A man suddenly came up to me and he had eyes filled with emotions, a sweet face as he reached out and touched my forehead. Before I knew it, he had given out a sigh.

“Oh, poor you,” he whispered. “At least your fiancé is handsome. Oh, I feel your pain!” His eyes began to brew with tears when a man behind him spoke.

“Don’t cry, Cancer. One would think that you’d get used to seeing Saviors and stop crying over their hurdles.” The man had a certain intensity in his eyes and he flickered his eyes over to me and my siblings before turning back to read the book that was perched on his lap.

“Shut up, Virgo. You named a disease after me!” Cancer exclaimed and the man who was reading the book looked up, deep in thought.

“Ah. Yes. It comes in stages. It was very creative.” He replied, going back to reading the book when a man waved at me, jumping down from his seat. He was about to run towards me when another man beside him told him to slow down. How weird for the deities to talk about life-threatening diseases as if it was a game to them. It didn't sit well with me. 

“Gemini O, at your service. That’s my twin. Gemini X. I would like to say that I felt honored to be part of your making, young Savior,” Gemini O said and I frowned. Gemini was two people. I turned to see Gemini X looking at me.

“O-Oh. I don’t know much about astrology but… is my rising sign or something Gemini?” I asked, not understanding what it meant when he said that he was part of my making. “And you both are two people. I didn’t expect that.”

“Of course! All twins were made by us,” Gemini O chirped, happily. “Yes. I used to be in the same body as Gemini X but then—”

“He betrayed us by going with Ophiuchus when he was promised a body of his own. So, we made rings for one to be controlled by another,” a man said, smiling at me. “You should know of the rings. It was put on you.”

“I know the Gemini rings very well,” I answered, not knowing how to act in front of deities. “You are?”

“Capricorn. The Leader,” he replied and he did seem like the more mature one out of everyone.

“I was meaning to ask you a question,” Pisces asked suddenly and I saw that he was already by his throne. “How are the young Dreamweavers? I gave more sense to the younger one but it seems as if no one in his family listens to him.”

So, Pisces was the one giving Jisung the dreams. It made sense since he was the dreamer. I replied that Jisung was doing good and he is very talented, Pisces nodding his head in satisfaction when Virgo stood up and checked his watch.

“I think they’re ready now,” Virgo said, looking at me. “They only want you. Your brothers will have to stay behind.”

“You mean the Illuminati?” I asked and he nodded, tucking the book under his arm. I turned to look at my brothers who seemed concerned at me going alone but I knew that we had no say. No one was stupid enough to fight with the deities. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Virgo was the one who led the way and we walked through a door down a hallway. Our footsteps echoed loudly and I turned to see Virgo looking forward, seriously. I had a question, but I was too scared to ask him because of his demeanor and I dragged my eyes to the front when he spoke.

“Feel free to ask me any questions.”

How did he know? Could he read minds?

“Uh…” I began, not knowing where to start. “So, Ophiuchus is actually a real sign?”

“Yes, he is.” Virgo’s answer was straightforward. “He is known as The Outcast of the Zodiacs. He’s the one who controls Eve, the place where you come from.” He paused, before turning to look at me. “I see you’re still very uncomfortable in accepting where you come from?”

“I consider myself more of an Earthling than an Evian,” I answered, and he blinked at me, letting out a sigh. “When I read books, it seemed that there was nothing other than banshees and scary animals on Eve.”

“Mhm…” Virgo said, a small smile playing on his lips. “When the Illuminati and my Zodiac siblings banished Ophiuchus over to Eve, I can assure you that it isn’t like how the books make it out to be. Eve is a dark place—”

I knew that Eve was dark, and there was not much light. That was why I could see so well in the dark and my senses multiplied in darkness.

“It’s a dark place and because of that, there aren’t many plants and living creatures. This is why I have blessed them with knowledge. The least I could do is make sure those who live there are smart enough to survive,” Virgo said and I nodded. I had no intentions of going to Eve. My identity was nowhere near Eve and Virgo stopped in front of the door, knocking on it.

“We’re here?” I asked and Virgo nodded, pushing the door open as I walked in.

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Oh Shin was in his study with the book he had stolen from the City of Libros on his lap. He had to find a way to find the rings on Earth and also a way to merge them. His plans were filled with hurdle after hurdle and even after he had burned down half of City of Libros and killed Sensei Nakamoto to find the one book he thought might help—it showed him rituals that he couldn’t find the ingredients to.

But he wouldn’t tell The League that.

“Elven blood is needed to merge the rings,” Oh Shun said to his brother, worriedly. “You know you can’t put on multiple rings at the same time. It cancels out each other. That is why we have to find a way to merge it. But where will we get Elven blood? The Elves disappeared from Exodus years ago.”

Oh Shin didn’t need to be told twice. He didn’t have enough men to scout out places for the Elves and he grabbed a vase, flinging it to the opposite side of the room as the glass broke into pieces. The rings were given to Elves to ensure that they had the help they needed if they were to lead but the Elves disappeared years ago and they had no idea where. The rings on Exodus were nowhere to be found, and right now out of all the rings he had only the ones from Euren.

And even the ones from Euren were under The League's control. They had given him the Gemini ring when he told them of his plan, but when the plan of the Gemini Ring failed—they took back Virgo, Scorpio and Aries’ ring.

“Virgo’s ring is to give you full knowledge, Scorpio’s ring is to make people forget about you—but if you put it on in front of people you trust, your existence is not wiped away to those who see you put on the ring. Aries’ ring is the use of utmost destruction, and with that you can destroy portals or huge amounts of energy,” Oh Shun recited.

“I know all that. The problem is that those rings aren’t in my possession. We may have to focus on finding the ones on Earth instead unless…” Oh Shin’s eyes clouded, turning to his brother. “We kill The League.”

“We need their help with the dragons.” Oh Shun pointed out and Oh Shin glared at his brother for his stupidity.

“We use them to help us to get to Earth and then we kill them for the rings. With Virgo, Scorpio, and Aries’ ring; it should be easier,” Oh Shin said this plainly, his hands flipping through the book. “Go, brother. Tell Siwon and Leeteuk that it’s time to get as many people as you can. Try to be discrete as possible. If it’s one thing The League is right about is that Sehun and Ong Harin aren’t relevant anymore.”

“You want to strike the portal without capturing your son and the female mage?” Oh Shun asked, surprised by his brothers sudden divergence of plan. “You were so obsessed with them—”

“For the wrong cause. It has been straying me from the wrong purpose,” Oh Shin replied, his eyes falling on the book.

He had a lot of reading to do.

And a plan to make.

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