Suho, Kris, and Lay stared at Suga like he had sprouted three heads, turning to look at the bloody man that was gagged up in the cart before looking at each other. Like telepathy, they all looked back at Suga and asked a question that made Suga frown irritably.

“Is this a prank?” Their voices rang out the same time and Suga motioned to the man who was waking up, still half unconscious. Suga tapped his feet on the ground before placing Sehun’s coat on the table, his royal pin still intact.

“Does this look like a prank?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t blame them for thinking it was a prank. He was someone who played pranks at every one when he was still in school and he was proud to admit he was called some what a legend. “Really? This guy like this? Do you know how much effort I had waste in trying to restrain him?”

“Didn’t your dwarves help?” Lay asked innocently and Suga rolled his eyes at his juniors. They were the advisors of the school, but for some reason they still reminded him how innocent they were just like when they just enrolled in SM. Suho was the first to catch on, going to pick up Sehun’s coat and recognizing it. Kris was also now on alert mode, walking forward to listen carefully.

“Sehun visited me at the bar and a brawl broke out so I sent Jungkook and V to walk them to the portal. I felt like something was wrong so I decided to run after them and then I saw Sehun’s coat on the ground.” He told the rest who was listening intently.

“And this guy? How is he even here? Is he a mage?” Lay asked the same time as Suho questioned Sehun’s disappearance.

“You sure Sehun didn’t just forget his coat behind like he usually does?” Suho asked, knowing Sehun’s habit of forgetting his coat because he always brought it with him but was always too hot even in the cold weather to wear it.

“This guy is a shape shifter. He was one of the people left behind. He turns into a dog,” Suga told them and jabbed the guy who was now fully awake and trying to talk. “The only thing he told me is that he was paid to do it, which is the truth, but wouldn’t tell me who. I tried asking names but it takes too long and every second counts. You know how Sehun is precious to our family.”

Just then the door behind them opened and walked in Donghae who was rubbing his head. As a specialized advisor, Donghae was well equipped in reading minds and memories just how people remember it. He was the school’s counselor and trained special kids because he was skilled in psychology. These days, he was focused on training Seungwoo, Wooseung, and Tao and was exhausted by it since they were a different case from the rest of his students. He paused in his tracks when he saw Suga, his eyes widening. Suga bowed down to him in greeting and he nodding, smiling.

“How come you’re here? Come to meet a few friends?” He asked. He was a generation older than Suga and two more than the EXO members, being one of the most respected in SM. His eyes travelled to the man in the cart and he stepped back.

“What’s going on?” He asked. Kris began to explain briefly and Donghae didn’t look surprised. To him, he knew it was a matter of time something like this would have happened, Sehun’s family being one of the most influential in all of Exodus.

“The Order has always adhered to peace but there is no perfect government,” Donghae voiced, shaking his head. Rolling up his sleeves, he stepped forward to the man and placed his hand on the man’s head, his hand glowing yellow before his eyes turned gold. Slowly and carefully, a string of memories began to gather up to his hand and as if he was in a trance, he began to view the relevant ones.

His muttering filled the room when Donghae stopped, the glow fading away, leaving what seemed like a ball of energy in his hand. Back to his usual self, he shot the ball up in the air and suddenly everyone in the room was in a memory, their surroundings changing to a small house in an alley. The man was on the ground as a dog and there was a cloaked person in the middle of the room.

“I heard the son of Oh Shin, the head of the Order of Royal’s is in DT Tavern right now. This is our chance for revenge,”tThe man drawled before removing the hood. Donghae’s heart sank as he recognized the face; Suga and the rest of EXO gasped. “Take him, and if he’s with someone take them too and kill them off. We only need Sehun alive. And you, stand guard.” He said to the dog, placing a hand on the dog's head.

Suddenly the memory ended and they were all back in the room. Everyone was in shock and deep in thought, Donghae rubbing his chin. With a shake of his head, he sat down.

“I knew he had something against the Order but I didn’t know he’d walk down that route. What a shame,” he said, turning to the rest who were already trying to concoct a plan. “What do you think of doing?”

Kris was already on his feet, pacing around the room. “I know we can take them, but it’s best we have a backup in case. Magic can only do so much against arrows and swords,” Kris thought out loud and Suho nodded, remembering the number of people in the house who were armed. Kris looked over to Lay who was already on the Sier talking to someone.

“I think you should check out his memory a bit more. Find out where their hideout is, find the kids and where they are located,” Kris said and Donghae nodded, getting to work. Suga sat back, knowing he was useless but also trusting the competence of the men before him. As Donghae worked his magic, a knock on the door sounded and Luhan popped his head in, a Sier in his hand; Lay nodding at him.

“You called?” Luhan asked, raising an eyebrow at Lay before jumping at the sight of Donghae in a trance as he hovered over the bloody man. He pocketed the Sier and walked into the room, Lay motioning him over and explaining what had happened. Luhan, like Donghae, didn’t seem very surprised; just wetting his lips as he listened.

“We need back up, peacemakers, a couple of people. I have already called a friend; I was wondering if you could call yours,” Lay said to him. “After this mission, we’ll put in a good word so you can graduate.”

“Of course,” Luhan had answered but rolled his eyes at Lay’s proposition. “As if. This isn’t even my first mission with you guys, I already feel like I have graduated. Besides, I could have graduated a long time ago but decided not to because then Tao will be left all alone.” He told Lay and Kris chuckled at Luhan’s defensive stance. “Let me call someone. When are we leaving?”

“I got it,” Donghae spoke up. “I know where they are.”

“Now,” Kris answered. “As soon as you’re done talking to them.” He told Lay and Luhan.

“Yeah, and before we leave….,” Luhan said, pausing. “Don’t you think it’s time Baekhyun gets his first mission?”

[Donghae, Class of Supers, Memory Extraction]

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                      The smell of damp mold reached my nose as I woke up, my head still in a daze. I was leaning against Sehun’s shoulder and I could feel him shift beside me, the male also regaining consciousness. I blinked and tried to make out the shapes in the dark and as my eyes adjusted, I realized we were in a cell in something that looked like a dungeon. There were dimly lit lightbulbs in the hallway beyond the cell but even then, it was close to being dark where we were at. I could see Jungkook and V beside Sehun, both of them also stirring awake.

“Where are we?” I heard Jungkook ask and I saw Sehun’s eyes shoot wide open when he remembered what happened. He moved his arms and I could see that we were bound by locked chains, my head banging with a migraine.

“My headache,” I groaned, wanting to smash my head against the wall or take my brain out and squeeze it tightly. “, it hurts,” I cursed.

“You’re hungover. No one asked you to drink so much,” Sehun countered, shaking his arms and trying to use his power, his eyes flashing gray. He looked over to V who was sitting silently. “You. Aren’t you a mage? Can’t you take these out?”

“I am. I just touch things,” V answered simply, crossing his arms casually as if he’s been kidnapped and locked in a cage a thousand times. “How about you? Aren’t you Sehun the magnificent?”

Sehun lifted up his hand and on his wrist shone a silver cuff that had engravings on it. The engravings glowed and could easily be seen in the dark. Sehun sighed, momentarily giving up as his hand fell limply to the side.

“What’s that?” I asked, referring to the cuff he was wearing.

“It’s a cuff. It’s made for bad mages; we cuff them with this and their powers can’t be used,” Sehun answered. “I’ve seen them before in court trials, the mages taken away to prison like this.” Sehun leaned against the wall and despite the cold, I could see a trickle of nervous sweat slide down his neck.

“Why would they take us away?” I asked, frowning. I knew Sehun was from a well-known family, but it seemed like the Order was well respected and treated like gods. It didn’t make sense that there would be someone who wanted to do bad to the order, or maybe I was just being naïve.

“Must be one of our enemies,” Jungkook voiced, pursing his lips. He too did not look worried, like he has been in many of these circumstances before and I wondered how he had lived his life up to now. Time didn’t pass long by when footsteps echoed throughout the dungeon and the sound of a laugh that sent a chill up my spine made Sehun perk up. He sat up, his eyes widening when a man approached the bars of the cell, recognition brewing behind his pupils.

“Senior Eunhyuk,” he said, his voice filled with hopefulness. “Senior, thank god you’re here. We were taken—”

“Sehun, Sehun. It’s been a while and you’re not here to talk,” the guy named Eunhyuk said, smirking. He had blondish hair and a face that seemed devious, his sculpted features shadowed in the dim lights of the hallway. I watched him remove his cloak, sighing. “You’re a hard guy to take away, Sehun. Always either in SM or in the Order headquarters; and if not, you’re always always always with your body guard. Kyungsoo know you’re here?” Eunhyuk asked, a smirk rising and I held back my puke, the acidity in my stomach rising from the alcohol I had the night before. Sehun’s face was hit with the realization that Eunhyuk was not there to save him, but was the reason why he was there.

“So, imagine my joyous celebration when I heard you were at your cousin’s tavern, with your little girl friend right here. I heard she’s from SM too, and a little bird has told me that her powers are still null. Well, let me tell you a story,” Eunhyuk drawled and to my surprise, walked past the bars. His eyes turned blue and he crossed his arms, clearing his throat as if he was preparing for a speech.

“You think your father is the most amazing person in the world—”

“I think it’s my mother who’s amazing—,” Sehun countered but he shut up when Eunhyuk turned to him, his eyes flashing with a warning. “But go on.” He said, keeping his head down.

“You may not know this, but we have had multiple waves of the Order killing female mages,” Eunhyuk began, his expression beginning to pain and I knew he was reminiscing his past. “I was born a mage, my mother working as a servant in the Order when one day Oh Shin, your father went bat crazy and began to use the sign on each and every one of his servants. My mother could hear the sign because we did have a magic bloodline but she didn’t react to it, because she wasn’t a mage. The sign did not activate anything because she was normal but guess what your father did.” Eunhyuk was seething and listening to his story, I felt bad for him even though I was in chains. I didn’t have to know the full story to know what Sehun’s father did.

“He killed her in cold blood,” he seethed. “He killed her in front of people that day and no one stopped him. I watched her die and he told everyone it was for Exodus’ peaceful future and they agreed.”

He suddenly turned around and slammed his fist against the bars, fury evident in his demeanor and I jumped at the sound. He turned back, growling as he trembled and I really thought he was going to explode when he spoke once more, this time his voice steady and low.

“I realized that your father is actually a mage,” he breathed. I saw Sehun shake his head, scoffing.

“My father is normal. There are mages with passives in the Order but my father is not one of them!” Sehun yelled out, gritting his teeth. “It’s one thing to take me away because of your traumatic life, but to spew out nonsense and blame my father for it… My father is not a liar, and he is not a killer!”

“I know what I saw!” Eunhyuk seethed. “I remember every waking moment of it even though everyone refuses to talk about it because he told them not to. Your father is a mage, Sehun and he has been lying to you your whole life. He charms people, makes them think whatever he says is right. You all follow him like minions and pigs, one look in his eyes and fall for his charm!”

Sehun’s veins could be seen on his neck, the male beside me gritting his teeth with anger as he listened to Eunhyuk speak about his father. “Let me guess, little girl.” Eunhyuk began, turning to me and smirking. “They keep telling you to get your powers. The reason why they do that is that once you do, they’ll find a way to kill you off like every other female person who has reacted to The Sign!”

Eunhyuk’s voice thundered and I cowered, my heartbeat rising. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, I didn’t know whether he was crazy or he was speaking the truth. But if I knew enough about humans, their reaction to pain with revenge is usually because they have a valid reason.

“If his father is like what you said he is, why can’t he just kill her then? Everyone will agree anyway,” V said out loud and I stopped. This made sense too. If his father could charm with eyes, everyone would have treated my death like nothing anyway. There would be no reason to keep me around.

“Because she’s a Gaian,” Eunhyuk said. “She’s protected by the