wow. people, they glow here

The Rise of the Mages
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[SM Principal's Office]

                                                  We have finally reached what seemed like a big room and Suho ushered me towards the entrance, telling me that the principal was waiting for me. I looked over to Seungwoo nervously, biting my lip at what was about to happen next. Seungwoo looked equally as nervous as I was. His fingers were fidgeting and I could see a drop of sweat slide down his neck despite the cold breeze. I looked up and Suho was waiting, an eyebrow raised before motioning towards the door one more time. With a nudge, I pushed Seungwoo forward and he took the lead, stepping past the doors.

When I walked in, the squonk followed and Suho waited patiently until it was inside before closing the doors behind us. I found myself in a big office, the walls laced with gold and brown. One part of the wall was filled with books from top to below, the smell of the pages wafting to my nose. The office seemed to be empty and I blinked, seeing that there was no one around except a bird standing by the open window.

I looked around the room and proceeded to walk towards the desk, squinting at the name. “Tiffany” it read and I frowned, turning around to see my brother standing in front of the books, trying to read them. “Tiffany,” I muttered under my breath, thinking.

“Isn’t Tiffany a girl’s name?” I asked Seungwoo and he nodded, taking out one earplug. “I know that in this language it is a girl’s name,” I said to myself, dragging my finger across the desk. I desperately wanted to sit down on the chair, but I was afraid that it would be rude if the principal ever walked in. “How can a girl be here if they said there are no girl mages?” I wondered out loud.

“Beats me,” he said, pressing his lips together. “It’s here,” Suho said, jerking his head at the squonk that didn’t leave my side. “So, you keeping it?” He asked and like it understood, it let out a wail that was easily controlled when I bent down to sit on the floor, patting it on the head.

“Don’t have the heart to send it back,” I told him and he nodded, understandingly. “Maybe I should call it Bubbles.”

“Bubbles? Why bubbles?”

“Because it dissolves into water and bubbles,” I replied, scratching behind its saggy ear. It gazed up at me dreamily and honked. I laughed at the sound, and its body moved; the squonk shaking its head like a dog shaking off water.

“What kind of bird is this?” Seungwoo’s voice floated to my ears and I stood up, seeing that he was now behind the desk; staring at the bird that was eating what seemed like scattered bread crumbs.

“An egrate, I think.” The bird had white wings and a long long long beak as well as thin legs. It looks beautiful and peaceful, pecking away the bread from a can. “Don’t touch it, you may scare it.”

Seungwoo agreed and backed away from the bird, turning to me. “If I ever tell anyone in Earth about this, I swear they’ll put me in a mental hospital.” He sighed, reaching up to rub his head. “Not like I’m already halfway crazy.”

“I agree with that,” I mused and he couldn’t help but laugh, reaching over to pet me on the head when a woman’s voice sounded. Her laugh came from the window and we jumped backwards, Seungwoo tripping over Bubbles the Squonk that sent him rolling on the floor. My eyes had widened and I whipped my neck around so fast I gasp when I saw that instead of a bird, it was an elegant woman wearing a white dress.

Her smile was bright, her teeth was bright and her dress was bright. Her eyes were moon-shaped and almost disappeared every time she smiled. Everything that came from her seemed to be shining. Her laugh was high-pitched but not annoying, her giggle seemingly cute as she wiped and patted her belly. Crossing her arms and tilting her head, she chuckled.

“Oh, that was a good lunch!” she exclaimed and Seungwoo struggled to get up. He heaved himself off the floor, the look of bewilderment on his face.

“Y-You… but you were a bird! I mean, not that anything can surprise me anymore… But you were a bird!” I laid a hand on his shoulder and he huffed, a hand over his heart. “I thought I would get a heart attack.”

“You new kids are soooo cute!” she cooed, walking towards us. Her movements were fluid and she walked with elegance, the dress swaying behind her. “Hi, I’m the principal. You can call me Ms. Tiffany.” She gave me a wink and I didn’t know how to respond other than diverting my eyes onto the ground.

She offered her hand and I took it, shaking it softly. Seungwoo mirroring my actions and straightening himself. She glided back to behind the desk and sat down, telling us to sit in front of the desk so she could read our files.

“And no, I’m not a mage,” she spoke out, meaning she heard my previous questions. “I can only shapeshift for a period of time. And yes, I am an egrate. You! Are! So! Smart!” she yelled out and I jumped again. She laughed at my reaction and calmly went back to reading the parchment in front of her.

“Of course, I decide to shapeshift when I have my lunch. You see, eating while in bird form makes me full faster. How do you think I keep my human shape so lean and slim?” she asked, grabbing the paperweight and pointing it at Seungwoo. Seungwoo’s face was scared, my brother stuttering over his words.

“Don’t worry, this is just a paperweight,” Ms. Tiffany assured, but that didn’t help Seungwoo at all. His eyes flickered over to the paperweight that was still pointed at him. “Well, go on. How do you think I keep my human shape so lean and slim?” She repeated her question and Seungwoo gulped.

“I think… I think that whatever you do, you’re still pretty,” he mumbled and Ms. Tiffany jerked her hand back and clapped like a seal in a circus, her smile wide.

“You are sooooo cute!” Her voice rang. “Don’t try to flirt with me, you!” She gave my brother a wink and he automatically dropped his head, looking at the carpet. Some time passed and she went “Hmph!” and “Ahhh” from time to time and I wondered what she was thinking.

“Harin,” she called my name and I leaned forward. “I think I’ll put you in the same class as the EXO’s Front Liners,” She told me and I nodded as if I understood what was going on. “Your power may take some time, so we have to surround you with the best of the best. Time to chop, chop!”

“Uh—Front Liners?” my brother asked and Ms. Tiffany nodded.

“You’ll be taught all of that tomorrow when you reach class. It takes some time so when you get your powers, you’ll be able to see if you are a front-liner, a back-liner, a support or whatnot. The class of EXO are special students that are taken in with special training. They train harder than other students and get their normal evaluations every month unlike those in the school who get theirs every mid-term and final exam,” Ms. Tiffany explained and I made a mental note to ask Suho what the terms she had said mean.

I nodded nervously, thinking of how tomorrow would go. I have never moved into a new school my entire life and even my first day of university went well. I was easily popular unlike my brother, but it was also because I knew when to be friendly and when to not. But this was different, I was surrounded by those who I knew would judge me for my level of power and until then, I didn’t even know if I had powers.

“Ong Seungwoo.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seungwoo replied automatically.

Her eyes flickered over to him, narrowing as she scanned his face. “It says here you switch to a different person. Is your skill acting?” She asked and Seungwoo cleared his throat.

 My brother was never comfortable with talking about his mental illness. He had always tried to hide it from the people in his life and because of that, he had a hard time growing up. I never blamed him and always pitied the fact that I could lead a normal life but he could not. Wooseung would always be excited to go to school, but Seungwoo had hated going to class because of the aftermath of Wooseung being a totally different person in school. He, later on, decided to be homeschooled and locked himself in the basement. He worked on science projects, following what seemed like my father's shoes.

“No…” he began to explain, what was wrong with him in Earth terms. He went from explaining DID and how DID could happen from trauma, but he never knew why his trigger was doors and how it started. Ms. Tiffany sat there, listening, without an ounce of judgment on her face. She blinked when he was done.

“If that’s the case, I will have to take you in for special training,” she told him, writing down something on a piece of paper. “You’ll have individual training as well as your counterpart—what’s his name?”

“Wooseung,” I replied. “What does that mean? Does it mean that he’ll have to switch every day?” I asked and Ms. Tiffany nodded.

“We will have to train both your counterparts; this is a must. Or at least, we must know which one is magic and which one is not, or if both of you are magic then we must teach you how to switch and respect your body as a neutral space.” She leaned back against the chair and stared at Seungwoo. “You will share timetables and train like different individuals. As a matter of fact, I would like if you changed to Wooseung now. I reckon you’ve been out far too long.”

My eyes widened and Seungwoo looked stricken at the idea that he had to share his time with Wooseung. I held out a hand to wave it in the air, not wanting my brother to go through the pain of changing.

“He goes into immense pain every time he tries to change,” I told her and she nodded like it was something that was normal. “You can’t- I’ve seen it, it really hurts—”

“A sacrifice we all have to make,” she countered and I leaned back. I now know why she was the principal, the look on her eyes changed and she looked ruthless. She tapped her finger on the table, as if she was waiting for Seungwoo to take the initiative. He took a deep breath and nodded, standing up to go to the door to slam it as I covered my ears with my hands.

If it was one thing I really hated, it was to see Seungwoo in pain.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

                                                                                   Suho was standing behind the door of the principal’s office, waiting for them to exit it but it was taking much more time than he thought. Lay had excused himself to go to the infirmary and Suho knew that it was because Lay wanted to make up for lost time—studying and reading more on the anatomy of other creatures. He stood there, contemplating whether he should knock on the office door. Ms. Tiffany was usually fast in taking new kids in. There would be an introduction, a bit of laughing and they would be off on their way to the dorms and the common rooms.

Something must be happening, Suho thought.

He had raised his knuckle and was about to knock on the door when the door opened on its own and he saw Seungwoo’s face before Seungwoo slammed the door shut. Suho’s eyes widened when he realized what was going on. She’s making him change into Wooseung, Suho realized. His train of thought interfered when he heard his title being called, and Suho turned to the familiar voice. 

“Senior Suho,” the boy had said and Suho saw him walking towards him.

Sehun’s usual poker face was a source of comfort to Suho and he opened his arms, embracing the younger male openly. He stepped back and nodded at Kyungsoo who was behind Sehun, the usual look of intensity in his eyes.

“Sehun,” Suho greeted. “Did Kris give both of you detention for bullying the kid? He was pretty high up there. Something might have happened if he fell.”

“I have faith in the strength of Kyungsoo’s vines,” Sehun answered, point-blank. “That was Haechan, class of NCT. The audacity of that guy.”

“What happened?” Suho asked. “And why were you bullying someone from the Class of NCT?”

The class of NCT stood for No Curriculum Trainees. They were still very young and their powers were still developing, so they didn’t have a special curriculum like how EXO had very detailed descriptions in their daily lives. The class of NCT was EXO’s juniors as they were recruited way later than those who were in EXO. While NCT was stood for 'No Curriculum Trainees', EXO stood for 'Extra Ordinary' because most of them developed at an increasingly fast rate. 

“He talked about Chanyeol.” Sehun shrugged and Suho gave him a look that meant ‘watch your language!’ but didn’t say anything. “Kyungsoo here wanted to teach him a lesson so I complied,” Sehun explained.

“What did he say about Chanyeol?” Suho furrowed his eyebrows. He had been hearing that the younger kids have been talking about Chanyeol, but he was hardly around to care about the gossip. “Chanyeol can be pretty sensitive, best he doesn’t hear it.”

“Just something about his family. Where his family came from—Relax, Kyungsoo,” Sehun warned and Suho saw that vines were beginning to grow all around them, wrapping themselves around the pole. Kyungsoo looked pissed, his teeth clenched. “And don’t worry about Chanyeol hearing it. Baekhyun has been trying to talk his ear off so he doesn’t hear anything other than how Baekhyun accidentally used his second skill on the enemy instead of his ally last month.”

“Ah.” Suho nodded. “But do try to reprimand them differently.”

“How was Earth?” Sehun’s question came smoothly, his eyes unwavering but Suho knew he was as curious as his classmates. Almost immediately, the vines slithered back and Suho saw Kyungsoo step forward to hear better. “The girl, she a mage?”

“It was good. And that, you’ll find out on your own,” Suho responded simply. “I saw Heechul of the Supers. We went through the portal in The Forest of Isea and he stays there in his little house. That’s how we came back here to the school.”

The Class of the Super’s were the mages a generation before EXO and they had all graduated, all of them now scattered all over the map of EXODUS. Sehun nodded with feigned interest.

“How is he?” he asked. It was obvious that he didn’t want to hear of Heechul, but was more interested in the two new trainees that had arrived. Kyungsoo, realizing that the information was useless, stepped back behind Sehun with a grunt. “My father said that the Eurenic will come any minute now and we must prepare.”

“Your father tells you too much,” Suho concluded, patting his shoulder. “War is for us to fight, but until we are sure, it’s best we focus on what were supposed to do and that is to train. Your graduating evaluation is tomorrow, you ready for it?” Suho asked.

“If I pass my graduating evaluation tomorrow, I’ll graduate and be part of you guys,” Sehun said, a hint of pride in his voice. “I have trained a lot this month so hopefully. Kyungsoo and I were paired together this time, so I have confidence. We still don’t know who we are up against….”

“Well, make me proud,” Suho said to the younger male. “and get a good night’s sleep. Off you go now, class is starting again in ten minutes.”

Sehun nodded, backtracking just to bow to the older male and walking away, Kyungsoo following closely behind.

“Cute.” Suho thought, watching the crowd scatter as Sehun cut through them like sea split in half in the time of Moses. “Cute.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wooseung stood in front of me and I raised up my head to see my older brother smiling. Ms. Tiffany had then smiled at him, explaining one more time how the schedule is going to go for both him and Seungwoo. Wooseung seemed happy, grateful to have more time to spend in the limelight before Ms. Tiffany dismissed us.

“This place is beautiful,” Wooseung said, draping an arm across my shoulders. “I am kind of worried that you are the only girl,” he said, opening the door slowly and closing it carefully behind him. Wooseung didn’t change when doors slam, only Seungwoo but it was a habit that he was extra careful with. We were met with Suho who seemed to have waited for us.

“Oh—” Suho had said, pointing to Wooseung’s glass-less face. “You’re the other one.”

“That I am!” Wooseung said loudly, hardly containing his excitement. “Imagine waking up to this and this.” He pointed to the squonk. “And my sister named it Bubbles. How adorable is that?”

“Very,” Suho agreed and smiled. I could tell he was much more comfortable about Wooseung. “Come, I need to bring you to your room. Both of you will have your own rooms in the meantime. When the time is right, you’ll stay in the dorms. But for now, private space is important in the process of finding out your powers. It’s protocol.”

“I agree. What if I blow up or something?” Wooseung interjected, both of us following Suho. We had walked past what seemed like a pool of water in the school and Suho raised a hand

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mandalee
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nehaosta_05
#1
Chapter 49: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1444457/49'>Epilogue: Part III [Kids!...</a></span>
Hey!!! This story was like gold. Too good. Plot good, Storytelling, POVs, references to fairytales etc etc and so much more. The drawings Kyung did and the way he spoke in broken grammar. It was all groups came together for some Kcon festival or something. Superb story with correct amount of fantasy and plot. It was good to see so many side characters and they carrying out the story. Idk what else to say . I waited throughout the story to complete and then comment because I was so indulged . Took me 3 long days to finish it but it was so worthwhile. I don't have words to say. Really really good. It should get featured already. It has so many good elements.