Jisung was a smart kid. As much as everyone babied him to the point that he was spoilt and knew he would live life with getting what he wanted by whining, he was a smart kid and he spent a lot of his time reading. There was a reason why he was able to grow nights bane on his own and knew how much to put to keep his family members asleep for a few hours. Jisung was smarter than he looked and he knew it.

Sitting in the cell, Jisung’s eyes swept over his surroundings. They were going to kill him and he knew that his people were coming, but it took less than a second to take a life. Jisung chewed on his lip, his eyes over to the moss that was growing at the side of the cell. The Locked Lands were filled with dark magic, even their plants a different breed. Jisung recalled reading about them when choosing the right plant to put in Nana’s tea and it didn’t take long until he realized that the plant was called the deadly moss.

It was deadly depending on dosage. You take too much, you die. You take a little, your heart rate goes down and your body is left cold. You body will turn into a greyish color and Jisung eyed the moss, trying to come to a decision.

“Oi! When are going to start killing?” A man asked a guard. They were beginning to kill people and bury them, Jisung pressing his back against the cell when he made up his mind. He grabbed the moss and popped it in his mouth, chewing it quickly before swallowing it. He hoped that he chewed enough for his body to react to it—he hoped he chewed the right amount and not too much to die.

Almost immediately, Jisung felt his body drain of blood as the moss lowered his heart rate. His lips began to turn purple and if they saw them like this, they would think that he had died from the cold. Jisung felt himself topple to the ground, closing his eyes as the moss worked its magic.

It didn’t take long till they noticed the young boy, five minutes later. His body cold and his skin tinged blue.

Jisung held his breath as they yelled out that he had decided to take his own life—Oh Shin whipping his head around at the sight of Jisung’s limp body.

“What an idiot,” Oh Shin mused. “He must have been scared. Then it’s easier for us,” Oh Shin murmured. “Bury him with the rest of the dead people.”

Jisung felt them drop his body, the young boy staying still as they began to rake dirt over his body. This helped Jisung, the dirt acting as a blanket. Jisung stuck a finger into his mouth and found himself wrenching the moss out of his system. Acid stained his tongue and Jisung could hear the sounds of the people talking go further away. They were going to call it a night and Jisung knew there was no better time than now.

Digging his way out from the blanket of dirt, Jisung moved slowly as he sat up. He was buried with the dead people and no one was there. No one ever guarded dead people. With that, Jisung crept away and began to run.

But luck wasn't on his side and they noticed him.

"AFTER HIM!"

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We were on a roll.

It would take a few hours to bring everyone to the Locked Lands where Jisung said he was and I could feel the Dreamweavers demand us to hurry. Na Jaemin was worried sick about Jisung, and the rest of his family looked like they were ready to murder someone. I watched as Guanlin began to fly over the first batch of people.

We had guns by us, tasers, and swords. We were going to take them by surprise. The faster we went, the better.

“We’ll worry about getting out of the Locked Lands later,” Sehun was saying to Kris. “If it comes to it, we’ll have to kill the prisoners that are in the Locked Lands. We have no choice.”

Kris nodded. We were all used to war so this was nothing. Ophiuchus stood by Guanlin and we all watched him fuss over my twin’s lack of armor. Then again, the Evian’s did not have enough armor and Guanlin had given him to Sehun. He told Sehun that he needed it because Oh Shin would definitely attack Sehun first if he saw his son.

“I’ll be at the back of the line. I hardly think I need armor,” Guanlin told Sehun. Sehun looked uncomfortable but my twin was giving by nature and he knew that the Exodes needed their leader to fight.

We began to move, and the first batch of people went.

And then the second.

And then us.

Wooseung was already awake and had decided to fight, his powers still made him weak and I worried for him but he reminded me of one thing—that he literally could not die. We began to crowd in front of The Locked Lands and Guanlin told us that there would be more armies in Eve waiting.

“We will leave a group behind and in case something ever goes wrong, Wooseung can go and get them,” he told us and I nodded. It was always good to have a spare group of people. Jihoon stood with his gun and a sword, everyone having at least two weapons. Guanlin stood behind everyone else and I could see the mist settle between the trees. Jackson and Mark were by the mages. They, out of everyone, had trained the hardest and before I knew it; Kris had shouted for everyone to step in.

We could not turn back anymore.

We stepped in and I could feel the settling dark magic of the trees trap us.

“March!” Kris yelled and I nodded, stepping forward with the rest of the army. We began to march, trying to find a way towards the prison when I could hear footsteps from the trees. We all froze, alert from the sound when the footsteps neared.

Were the lands playing a trick on us?

But a body emerged from the trees and when we squinted, we saw the young boy running towards us. His lips were blue and Jaemin yelled out his name.

“Jisung!” Jaemin gasped, dropping his sword to run and hug Jisung but the young boy screamed and collapsed onto the ground. “Jisung!”

“No! You’re not real! You’re not real!” Jisung said, closing his ears with his hands. He must have seen so many illusions. I watched Jaemin grab him and finally, Jisung froze at his Nana’s solid hands. He grabbed Nana’s hands, bringing them to his face when the rest of the Dreamweavers stepped forward to hug him.

But it didn’t last long and finally, we were faced with a bigger problem.

“There! They are there!” The men said and I saw prisoners skid to a stop in front of us. “Tell the Royal Headmaster!”

And it was starting.

Jisung was ushered to the back as Kris yelled out for formation. I saw a couple of the Evians jump up to the trees with their guns and bombs. Then a shadow began to emerge from the trees and came to Oh Shin with Leeteuk and Siwon beside him. He stepped forward, his deformed face scowling at the sight of us. Black mist surrounded him and he snickered, Sehun looking stricken at his father’s face.

“My son.” He breathed, an army of prisoners behind him. His eyes were red and no longer human. “It’s about time we fight this out once and for all, though I have to tell you that it is a losing battle. You will not be able to defeat me after what I have become.”

“Then I will die trying.” Sehun responded, a sword in his hand.

Oh Shin smirked, closing his eyes, his head going backward. “That, you will,” he growled and mist began to accumulate in his hands and in a single motion, the mist began to travel towards us. it swooshed through the air and right when it was about to reach us, I saw a quick movement and saw that Wooseung had stepped in.

His eyes were black.

“Over my dead body,” Wooseung countered, the mist from his hands shooting out just the same. It was black magic against black magic and Wooseung growled, the veins on his arms protruding as he in the magic into his body so it wouldn’t reach us. Oh Shin roared at the sight of Wooseung, his eyes flashing red as Wooseung pushed the mist back. Jihoon seemed to take advantage of Oh Shin's distraction, yelling out.

“BOMBS!”

And then the bombs came down.

“ATTACK!” Siwon yelled, the people from Oh Shin’s side running towards us.

“Shield!” Kris ordered, the shields coming up as we began to fight manually. Wooseung was holding off Oh Shin all on his own and Siwon and Leeteuk began to fight with their people. Guns fired and people began to drop onto the ground, bleeding.

“Another round!” Jihoon hollered, a hand raising a sword as another round of gunshots echoed through the forest. “Those with guns, protect the swordsmen!”

I saw Ophiuchus slashing the air with his sword beside Guanlin, the deity keeping a close watch on my twin when suddenly Siwon raised a red flag and arrows shot through the air. It had taken the Evians by surprise and they didn’t put up their shields in time, the arrows piercing against their chests.

We lost a few people.

If there was one thing Exodes were good at, it was fighting with bows and arrows. I saw the Suga and Key yelling as they began to step forward. V, J-hope and a few peacemakers decided that they had to step into the front line. The fight would be by swords now, Jin dragging a sword out and stabbing a person with it.

“Forward!” Sehun yelled, twirling the sword with his hand as a couple of gunshots echoed once more. A few of Oh Shin’s people fell to the ground.

“Be careful of the guns!” I heard Kris yell. “Don’t shoot one of our people!”

“Arrows!” Siwon roared and another road of arrows shot through the air. “Again”

The Evian’s were on the ground and I saw Guanlin draw out a sword, deciding to fight. The Dreamweaver’s were aiming at the people in front of them when I heard Wooseung yell out in pain. Wooseung was no match for Oh Shin’s changed body and Oh Shin had raised Wooseung in the air as Wooseung writhed.

“You may be immortal, but let us see you get decapitated,” Oh Shin breathed as Wooseung tried to fight back but he was bound by the black magic. Kai saw this, throwing the javelin through the air to Oh Shin to distract him when Wooseung fell down onto the ground. Oh Shin hissed at Kai, a hand shooting out and right then I felt a wave of magic.

Our people fell backwards and I felt Oh Shin’s magic weigh on our chests. I could see him lift a couple of people in the air, strangling them. They were then thrown to the ground, Oh Shin cackling. Most of the Evian’s had no way to fight against the magic and we were outnumbered.

“KILL THEM!” Oh Shin roared as the prisoners ran to us when suddenly there was cackle in the sky.

The sound of thunder made all of us jump, and clouds began to gather when I felt something change. Looking towards my hands, I could feel my powers coming back. Everyone froze when Sehun began to create wind with his hands. He pushed the mist back, Baekhyun shooting into Sehun’s body to maximize his energy. Chanyeol stepped forward, shooting fire towards the people.

“We have our powers back! Someone must have taken out the crystal!” Luhan said, Kyungsoo beside him. Kyungsoo’s famous boulders began to appear and Luhan took it as an invitation—flinging it over to the other side. But the bad thing about us getting our magic was that they had it too— Siwon creating a shield to hold us off.

Oh Shin looked pleased with the amount of magic he had, the male suddenly slipping on a ring when my eyes widened. He was going to use the Aries ring to wipe us out. I blinded those on his side but it didn’t work on Oh Shin, Siwon faltering by the sudden blackout.

“RETREAT!” I found myself yelling when Oh Shin raised his hand and with one motion brought his hand down on the ground. The land began to split in half—a lot of our people falling through the cracks. We could not lose more people. We would lose.

The Aries ring was a ring of destruction and we scampered away.

“We can’t! Not when he’s using the ring!” Ophiuchus bellowed. “We don’t have enough people—We…”

He was mid-sentence when we heard flaps of wings and another crack of thunder sounded. Looking up, I saw a glimpse of silver hair as Oh Shin was focusing his power with the combination of the Aries ring. I saw a glitter of a crystal and right there—

It was Tao.

Tao leapt off the water dragon and I saw him holding a silver handle with a crystal on top. As he balanced himself on top of the tree, he began to chant.

“It’s Tao!” Baekhyun said, arrows going towards Tao. He ducked them with skill, ing the crystal in the air when a gust of wind flew past us and a portal began to form. “He… How’s he making a portal?”

I gasped. With the help of the crystal, Tao had made a portal and I saw Evian’s leap out of the portal adding to our number. Tao jumped off the tree and threw the handle to Wooseung who caught it, his arm bleeding from a cut. The portal vanished, the crystal falling off the handle.

“It’s the handle of Excalibur! Use it with the sword! Only then can you defeat The Royal—”

Tao’s voice was cut off when an arrow shot straight to his abdomen and I saw Siwon bark orders when Tao rolled to the side in pain. Wooseung took the two blades he had brought with him, connecting the handle as the new Evian people began to fight in place of the old ones. Tao was on the ground, injured and his eyes were closed.

“ARROWS!” Leeteuk had yelled, and everything happened all at one. Kai had teleported in and sliced Leeteuk’s arm off in frenzy before teleporting back. Leeteuk’s arm spurt out blood as he collapsed onto the ground and I saw Johnny running to Jaehyun to block him from the arrows when a yell sounded.

“NO! GUANLIN!”

No.

When I turned, I saw that Guanlin had an arrow to his heart, Ophiuchus sobbing over my twins’ body. My hand dropped the sword I was holding and I forgot everything, running over to Guanlin. He wasn’t wearing any armor and his skin was stained with red.

“Guanlin…” Ophiuchus murmured. “Guanlin—No!”

My mind reeled as I tried to make sense. I just got my twin back; it couldn’t end like this. But Guanlin’s eyes were dull and his eyes slowly closed when Ophiuchus sobbed.

He looked up into the sky, his fists going up before he roared.

“TAKE ME! Take me instead!” Ophiuchus yelled out. “Spare the child! Take me—I’ll do anything. I promise—”

The deity cried and I pressed my hand on Guanlin’s chest as if it would suddenly bring him back to life.

“I’ll repent!” Ophiuchus sobbed. “I’ll do anything.”

My tears spilled out from my eyes when a clap of thunder rang through the sky and when I looked up, I saw a shooting star. The light was enough to blind us and I fell backwards when the shooting star shot towards us. Ophiuchus stood up, a hand reaching out to grab it and when it settled in his palm and I saw that it was a ring.

“My ring,” he whispered. Ophiuchus’ ring.

The deity slipped it on and with the deity magic running through The Locked Lands, Ophiuchus moved his hand over Guanlin’s body, my twin’s body glowing. I saw Guanlin’s eyes shoot open and Ophiuchus ripped the arrow away from his body, Guanlin coming to life.

“Uncle…,” Guanlin mumbled, Ophiuchus grabbing Guanlin into a hug. The deity really loved my brother, I realized. And because of that, the Zodiacs had finally given him his ring. Guanlin held up a hand and he, himself, began to focus.

Guanlin was a necromancer.

Much to my amazement, bodies began to rise. Oh Shin’s people who were dead then began to fight for us, the dead bodies attacking those on the other side. Sehun had finally made his way near his father, his sword against Siwon’s. Siwon was now occupied when I saw Wooseung wield a sword as it shone.

I focused my power on Siwon, Sehun able to push the sword through Siwon’s abdomen. Siwon fell onto his knees on the ground beside Leeteuk who’s lifeless eyes were still open.

“Stand down, father,” Sehun said to Oh Shin whose mist began to gather through the forest. Wooseung was running towards Oh Shin and the mist wound around Sehun, my fiancé moving forward to slash the sword through the air—cutting of his father’s finger.

“Stand down!” Wooseung said, Excalibur in hand as he began to try to get close enough to pierce Oh Shin through the heart but it wasn’t meant to be that easy. Oh Shin’s powers made it hard Sehun dropped to the ground, the blade going against his father’s body to hurt him.

I stood up.

It was time to end it.

Standing where I was at, I lifted a hand and began to pull. My powers were at it’s maximum and I could feel Oh Shin’s soul getting dragged towards me. Oh Shin looked at me with a panicked gaze. I grit my teeth and pulled as hard as I could, Sehun slamming the sword tip against his father’s shoulder when Wooseung’s power worked with mine.

Excalibur’s blade shone and Sehun was knocked backward at the amount of power his father emitted, Wooseung’s black mist circling Oh Shin at his time of weakness from him trying to hold me and his son off.

“Die,” Wooseung seethed, pushing Excalibur through Oh Shin’s heart as the vessel began to rise. The sword levitated and Oh Shin yelled in pain when everything went quiet and his body dropped onto the ground with a thud; the sword through his body.

And with that, we were blanketed with silence.

I saw everyone turn to see Oh Shin’s vessel and soul trapped by Excalibur, something that had happened before to evil people. But was he really dead? Everyone didn’t seem to believe that it was over when Tao’s voice ruptured the ambience.

He gripped his arm, his blood silver as he croaked.

“It’s over,” he murmured. “It’s over.”

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I wish I could say that it was exciting that the war was over, but for a moment we all had a moment of silence and a moment of peace. We still did not know how we were to leave The Locked Lands, and Guanlin was too injured to move. Ophiuchus was moving through the dead bodies and bringing everyone back to life—the man proud of the power of his ring when I saw the mist in The Locked Lands begin to lift.

"The deities have lifted the curse on The Locked Lands," Ophiuchus said, the mist clearing. 

I saw Lay kneel beside Tao, patching the elf up. “Where did you go?” he asked and Tao massaged his arm.

“Had to go to the core to find the handle. The Dreamweaver told me that he would be turning into a creature,” Tao replied simply and Lay didn’t ask any more questions. I saw that Sehun was kneeling by his father’s body.

Oh Shin was not dead, his soul was merely trapped in his vessel and I dropped down on my knees beside him to hug him close.

“It’s over,” I told Sehun who nodded. “It’s over.”

And it was finally true.

The war was over.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When we first reached the Royal Castle, we saw that Sehun’s mother was caged in the dungeons with almost nothing to eat and Sehun quickly asked her to be escorted to Eve. She was losing her mind and it may have been the many long years of being charmed. Guanlin told Sehun that she will be getting treatment back in Eve and that he and Sana would take care of her.

It has been a few days and celebrations erupted throughout Exodus, the streets began to fill with color and the cheers of people made us realize that they have been waiting for this day. The announcement of Oh Shin’s passing in war had made everyone that stood on Exodian ground walk out of where they were—fearless, as they fell down onto their knees in front of the Royal Castle. The Exodian flag was lifted high on the flag pole and it was still a dream.

We have gone through three wars. Lost people and gained friends.

The first thing we did after the war was retrieve all the Zodiac rings and Tao had promised to keep a close eye on them. They were to be stored underneath the Royal Castle in Exodus and the elves had began to chant a shield that only those eligible would be able to retrieve it. I woke up that day knowing there would be a big celebration for the war heroes as they deserved it and as I sat up and freshened up—I saw Sehun outside with Suho.

Suho looked serene, peaceful with Arielle beside him. Sehun patted Suho on the shoulder. Suho caught sight of me, slightly lowering his head when I stopped him.

“You’re my senior,” I told Suho who chuckled and I stepped closer to hug the older male. Suho was always like a brother and he had played a very big part in all our wars, always trying to glue all of EXO together. “Where are you going to go?”

I knew this was coming.

The war had left us with lost roads, and none of us knew what to do next. We were all going to go our own ways now, with nothing to keep us fighting for a common goal. Suho patted Arielle’s hand that was slipped through his arm, giving me a small smile.

“My mother has passed,” Suho said softly and my eyes widened at the news. “Without the Staff of Moses, she had aged and dissipated into seafoam. It is time for me to rule the sirens, Harin. I need to find a way to cure them.”

“You’re going back to the underwater world,” I said softly and he nodded.

“But I’m not alone,” he told me, Arielle beaming. “I’ll be coming onto the mainland often, don’t worry. I will be working with Alchemist Jimin. I believe there is a way to turn the sirens back into normal merpeople.”

“Senior Suho wanted to tell me that he would be resigning from his post in the Order,” Sehun told me and I pressed my lips together. “I will have to begin to hire people for the Order and no one will be able to replace you, Senior.”

“No one has to. Though I did give you a whole list of people I think would do a good job working for the newly reconstructed Order,” Suho replied and Sehun nodded, finally stepping in to clasp Suho into a tight hug. I saw Suho hug Sehun close, thumping my fiancé on the back. “I’ll miss you. I would stay for the ceremony tonight, but my kingdom calls.”

“We’ll hold another ceremony for you again when you come back,” Sehun told him and Suho nodded before bidding us goodbye. As we watched him pull Arielle closer, we sighed. “You ready for the ceremony today?”

I nodded.

“I have a few surprises for some people,” Sehun told me and I looked up at him, standing on tiptoe to kiss him on the lips.

“What’s that?” I asked him and he chuckled.

“You’ll see.”

[Suho, King of the Sirens]

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The ceremony had started and I knew what I had to do. The war had ended but it was still the start of a change. We had to know what we were going forward towards and the things to do to ensure a long-standing peace and a sustainable order. I tugged on my dress, letting out a sigh. All the war heroes would be talking today, but I myself, had my very own surprise.

We were going to have the ceremony on at the city center and our carriage stopped there. I saw Guanlin, Sana, and Jihoon wav