Droplets of water pelted the bridge of his exposed nose, streaks of gray staining his tanned skin. Gathering at the tip of his chin. At the surface of his pink tinted lips. He drew his eyes upwards, revealing more of his face to the rain which had begun to drizzle down upon Sector A of the city. So abruptly. So oddly. The drops fell upon his eyelashes which fluttered in response, water beads flicking off of them before running down his cheeks.

Water sullied with the thick, gray fog which had shielded the moon from view on this starless night.

Cars buzzed past him, background noise to his ears as he continued to gaze upwards. Up and up and up, his eyes straining to see through it all. Rain staining his face through it all.

“The sky is crying.”

He voiced to no one. To anyone. To everyone.

The sky above Exo planet was crying. Weeping for the land which laid below it. How long had it been since it had rained like this? If he remembered correctly, it had been over a month. A month without rain. He had almost thought the sky had no tears left. He had almost thought it had given up on being sad. On being disappointed. On the planet itself.

But, here it was, shedding tears once more. Was it doing so unknowingly? Is that why it occurred so suddenly? And what about himself? Was it the rain or his own tears which streamed down his cheeks now?

He felt overwhelmed by it all. It hit him all at once, really. The state of the planet. The state of his world. Of everyone’s world. This city was just one of many. One of many which looked up at a gray hued sky. Which stood upon a gray dyed ground. It was an unfixable problem. An uncorrectable future. He had known it to be so. And yet, he had never acknowledged it fully. Even now, he couldn’t be sure if he was. Maybe he was only feeling a single sliver of it. A single piece of it. A small, miniscule part of it that he still felt so overcome by.

So powerless in front of.

Was that why she cried? That day in the garden, is that why his Seeress wept? Wept as the sky is now weeping? Wept as he is now weeping?

Time will always steadily push forward. He could only stand up to the task of changing it all. To changing the sight in from of him. The conditions of his life. Of everyone’s life. Tears of sadness are not what he believed the sky to be shedding. Rather, tears of hope. Tears of relief.

Things were looking up.

Just as he was looking up, his own happy tears cutting through the gray which coated his face. It was odd. It was odd that the sight of rain was enough to make him cry. It was odd that the small fragments of dormant life in the palm of his right hand was enough to make him cry.

It was odd that he only now realized exactly how happy he was, how relieved he was, how hopeful he was, now that she was here. It was odd. And in that moment, he liked odd. He liked the oddities of his life that, even in the future, never ceased to dazzle him.

He wondered briefly, a wonder that lingered on him later that night and skated through his thoughts on the days that followed, if there was a rainbow when the rain stopped. Somewhere out there. Anywhere out there. Everywhere out there.

Was that odd? He didn’t think so.

I watched on in silence. My lips sealed shut. My eyes wide open. Not because I had to. Not because he would have found me to be a distraction because for some reason, I doubt he ever would. I hoped he never would. But, rather, because I was watching him. I was watching the man, the Guardian, who showered me with compliments. Compliments that I felt undeserving of. Compliments that I could only whisper a “thank you” to in response. A whisper that echoed through my mind as I simply watched him.

And I can’t help but wonder where I would be now if I wasn’t here. And I honestly didn’t want to wonder it. My current reality was something I looked at as a blessing. Not because of the fancy clothes I rather not wear or the over the top respect I have garnered from more than just the twelve males who stand by my side. But, rather, because, because there’s this humongous pressure in my chest like a balloon ready to burst at any moment, at any second. It’s tight and warm and I truly can’t describe it with words.

Though, I suppose the closest word I could afford was this one: Happiness.

Because despite it all, I feel like I can do something. I feel like I’m in the process of doing something. You know, before, I never felt like this. In the morning, I’d wake up. I’d take a shower. I’d get dressed. I’d eat breakfast. I’d go to school. I’d eat lunch. I’d come back home. I’d wash up. I’d go to work. I’d come back home. I’d eat dinner. I’d go to sleep. I’d wake up and do it all over again.

Practically, technically, I was doing many things. And yet, looking back on it, I felt like I wasn’t doing anything. I was just there, an impassive face, an impassive attitude. I certainly didn’t believe the Guardians even existed. The Tree of Life was but a passing, blown over topic I never paid attention to. The Seeress of Exo? I could have counted on one hand how many times I thought about her.

But, now, there’s that balloon. There’s that pressure that I never want to stop. Because it’s pushing me. Because it’s testing me. Because it’s making me feel competitive and willing to fight back.

Impassivity is a word I’ve grown to disdain. A feeling I never want to feel again.

I feel mature and immature at the same time. I feel like I’m on the tenth rung of the ladder, nowhere near the top. I feel good just sitting here, watching him. Watching the lightning-controlling Guardian whom has seemed to help me so much more than I’ve helped him. I feel like the glass is half full as I watch him.

My lips sealed shut.

My eyes wide open.

“You’re not getting bored?” Chen suddenly inquired as he set down the barbell in his hands. He brought his hands back, his fingers weaving through the back of his hair, his eyes clenching as he stretched to the left, and then to the right. When his thin, black eyelashes fluttered open, his dark brown eyes on me, telling me he was now ready to hear the answer to his question, I shook my head.

“Not particularly.” I hummed, pausing for a moment when I thought of a way to turn his question around on him, “Are you getting bored of me watching you?”

He laughed at that. His smiles are rare. They don’t happen all too often when I’m watching. Is it too cocky to think, too big-headed to think, that I’ve helped him as much as he’s helped me?

“Yeah.” He managed after his laughter died down, that smile of his still shining on his face. I mocked offense and muttered a low, “well then” as I stood up from the wooden bench in the training room. I took two large steps away from it before looking over my shoulder, only to find his lips curving slyly, “Go on.”

I immediately back walked right back to the bench, plopping down onto it once more. He laughed for the second time, a hand running through his cropped black hair, ruffling at the sweat coated strands. Disheveling it into a mess that made him look as though he had just been hit by one of Sehun’s mini tornados.

“I thought you were leaving.” His right eyebrow hitched upwards, the other furrowing downwards upon his teardrop shaped eyes.

“Says who?” I shot back, a smile of my own hidden beneath my look of ignorance in response his statement. Perhaps it was due to the small teasing play between the two of us that I had momentarily forgotten to pay attention to the Guardian who had been sitting by my side the entire time. The tall, fire-controlling Guardian, Chanyeol.

He interjected then, causing me to turn to him, causing me to notice the expression he had on his face. One that I had never seen before now. The firm line his lips had been set into broke out into his usual grin then, “I’m getting bored. Can I leave?”

“No one’s stopping you.” Chen shrugged, bending over to pick up his water bottle before chugging down its contents. He threw a meaningful glance towards Chanyeol then. A glance that Chanyeol understood in an instant as he picked up the towel that lay folded on the bench at his side and tossed it to Chen. Chen wiped his face and hands before resuming his task.

A laugh bubbled out of Chanyeol’s throat. A single hum of laughter. A single stuttering. A single fleeting gesture that disappeared into a puff of smoke, what lay beneath it that same pursing of his lips. That same clenching of his features. That same discomfort as he sat by my side. As he watched Chen as I had been. As I had been doing before now.

Now, as I stared on at him instead. Something was wrong. I wouldn’t say I’m all too intuitive by nature. Being upfront about things has always helped me on this front. I’ve always been able to ask and proceed from there. To voice my own thoughts in order to get the ball rolling. But, that doesn’t mean I’m quick in picking up what needs to be said. What needs to be said to give the ball that push it needs. However, it looked like I didn’t have to. My title came flowing from his lips, stalling all of my previous thoughts.

“Your highness?”

“Yes?” I answered immediately, to his surprise apparently as he turned to me, his eyes on me in an instant. He mustn’t have realized all of my attention was already on him. That I was about to call out to him had he remained silent.

What he said next though wasn’t in the least bit what I was expecting. Because Chanyeol usually spoke his mind. Because just like Chen, Chanyeol usually didn’t hesitate. Because Chanyeol usually followed through with his words. It was this usually, this predictability, that I had gotten used to. So much so that his sudden change left me stunned.

“Nevermind.”

Nevermind. It was a simple way to dismiss his next words, whatever they may have been. It was an easy way to skim over the topic he turned to me just seconds earlier to discuss with him. I didn’t like it. This “nevermind.” This Chanyeol who didn’t smile, eyes shining, teeth gleaming, as he said goodnight and left right after. However, dwelling on his evasive mannerisms had to come later. As I stood on my feet, about to follow after Chanyeol, someone came strolling in through the open doorway right after he departed.

"It's almost bedtime you two." The newcomer, the teleporting Guardian Kai, directed towards Chen and I, lips curling upwards.

Chen scoffed as he finished up one last rep, his towel wrapped around his neck. It didn't go unnoticed by Kai who recognized it as a sign of resistance against his statement. "What's that? Do I need to get Kris to come down here so he can tuck you in properly?"

Chen didn't miss a beat, his answer nonchalant, his back facing Kai as he took the weights off of each end of the barbell, "Should I get Suho to come down here and do it for you too?"

Kai faked a laugh, "Joke's on you, Suho's asleep already."

Chen shrugged as he turned, having placed the barbell back into its rightful place: the rack that leaned against the wall. His quips seemingly endless, "It'd be a shame then if he had to wake up because his child was making such a racket."

And at that, I couldn't help but laugh. I had understood by now that Suho and Kris were the leaders of the Guardians who hailed from the Sun and the Moon respectfully. That piece of information was divulged to me by Luhan on one of the nights we spent together. Nights that were, recently, few and in between. He was busy. I understood that. He had left the Hall of the Guardians early this morning. He said he had to talk to his mentor. About what? A range of things, apparently. How long would it take? As long as it had to.

I was willing to wait. To wait for an explanation among other things. Especially when Chen and Kai were being so helpfully distracting with these antics of theirs.

“Tuck each other in and we’ll call it a night.” I concluded, putting an end to their debacle. They both turned to me, full smiles on. Chen draped his towel over his head, shifting past Kai but not before placing a pat on his back in a gesture that told him to follow.

“Then, I’ll walk you back to your room, your highness.” Chen grabbed his water bottle and approached the door, rock sliding against rock as it opened once more, blue hued lights shimmering across his face as they blared on the surface. I moved three, maybe four, feet away from the bench, when I heard it. When I heard that subdued whisper enter the back of my mind. That whisper that echoed in it an underlying meaning I couldn’t grasp fully.

Then again, when could I ever fully grasp anything with him?

With Kai.

Your highness, I’ve been wondering something recently.

“Have you?” I replied playfully, my voice a low mumble. A low mumble that went unnoticed by Chen as he continued on down the hallway, Kai and I following behind, undeterred. I expected his voice to shift then. To become mischievous. Teasing. To have that tilt to it that told me it was Kai whose voice I was hearing. Even if he went hoarse. Even if his tone was distorted beyond repair, to the point where his voice didn’t sound like his own, I would know. I would know that it was Kai.

But, again, again I heard something I didn’t expect.

No, not really.

He was faking it. It’s odd to think that it’s possible but, it was. It is. It’s undeniable that Kai’s faking his own tone. His own voice. He’s pretending to be himself. To be teasing. To be playful. To be natural. To be normal. To be Kai when right now, he’s anything but. The night ended like that. The night ended with me wondering why everyone was trying to be normal. Why normal never seemed so wrong.

“You always were the filial one.” A pastel white colored mug was set down in front of him onto the wooden coffee table, the smell of green tea wafting through the air, “Tellius has been complaining to me for months about how long it’s been since Kai has visited him.”

“You know my visit is the farthest from something pleasant.” Luhan returned, his hands remaining intertwined in his lap, not making a move in the least for the warm beverage just supplied to him by his own mentor, Kane. Who was Tellius? That would be Kai’s mentor. “Are you just going to pretend you didn’t hear my words again? You always were the type to do such a thing.”

Always. Every single word he mumbled, every single sentence he whispered, every single statement he wished couldn’t have been heard, Kane had heard it. He simply pretended he didn’t. He understood that by now.  Because that made things easier to deal with. However, as Luhan laid his eyes upon his mentor, forever stuck in his 30s, ageless visually until age catches up with him physically, the easy way out was looking less and less attractive by the second.

This was his punishment for pretending not to hear it. Everything. Everyone.

Luhan had no intention of carrying out this punishment himself. Not anymore. Not when he saw the endless possibilities he held in the palm of his hand. And yet, he didn’t have a right to them? Why not? Why could he not act as the others do? Why was darkness destined to be his companion because of something that was never his fault to begin with? He could feel the dam start to tremble as his questions swirled within his head. The pressure was building up. His tea mug stuttered against the coffee table. 

“I’m not pretending, Luhan.” Kane held his own tea in between his fingers, as composed as Luhan always remembered him to be. “I’m acting for your own benefit.”

And at those words, the dam had broken. The tight stone that had kept back his frustration, his anger, his annoyance at his current reality, the situation he found himself in, the situation that was like a black hole, him farther and farther and farther into its depths, broke. And he felt not a day over six years old.

“Shouldn’t I be the one who decides what’s for my own benefit?” He yelled, his voice reverberating from one wall to the next, the wooden boards which made up the house shaking as he did something he had never done before. He let it go. The control. The passivity. The calculative, poised manner. He let it go, and his tea mug went flinging from the table, crashing against the mantel of the fireplace.

The sound of glass shattering rung through Luhan’s ears, knocking him out of it in an instant. Out of what? Out of the place in his mind, in the deepest part of his subconscious, where his young self hid. Where his young self still harbored that lingering grudge towards his mentor for never being allowed to be just that. Young. Rebellious. Free.

And now that he wanted it, now that it appeared to be so much more effective in what he wanted to do for Exo Planet, for the Exotians, and for her highness, his Seeress, it had come bubbling to the surface, spilling from him, rushing through him, like a tremulous waterfall.

His mentor’s coffee colored eyes stayed on him, not a single muscle of his body having moved from start to finish. Only silence was his answer, only silence his response. It unnerved Luhan. It unnerved him because he knew what was coming next. He knew what was coming next was a repetition of a conversation he’s had with Kane so many times he gave up keeping count – no small feat as Luhan kept count of most all things.

“Do you see, Luhan?” His mentor stood up, tea mug still in hand, his feet lithely stepping around the shards of ceramic that scattered across the floor, just skimming past where the warm green tea continued to gather in the cracks of the floorboards. “This is what happens when you leave your room.” He had left to get something. Luhan hoped, Luhan wished more than anything, that it wasn’t exactly what he came back with not soon after.

That book. That book given to him by Sehun ten years ago. Because Sehun had wanted him to be first. Because Sehun was too ignorant to see, to ever see, the effect such a book had on him. And because of this, he never looked at it since then. And because of this, he had given it to his mentor so that he would never have to look at it again.

Yet, there it was. There she was. Ela Nektor. There was her haunting image in that brown, leather back book, opened in front of him by his mentor himself. Opened to one of the last pages right before the end. The title of this page, of the section right before the end, was, “Return to the Tree of Life.”

This was her punishment.

And, in the repetition of his mentor’s following words, “This is what happens when you leave your room.”

“She’s different.” Luhan asserted, his deep bronze eyes trembling in their sockets, his voice stuttering, weak, defenseless.

“I’m sure she is.” His mentor’s voice sounded so far away, as though he was on a boat that circled Luhan’s own, uninhabited island, “But, you’re not.” An island whose borders he would not see the sights beyond for yet even more time to come. “None of you are.”

I woke up to the sound of banging on my door. It was still early, much too early for any of the Guardians to come deliver the usual wake up call – which usually occurred when I had already awoken. So, when I lifted myself from my bed and my groggy mind buzzed, and my eyes hazed, I wasn’t sure exactly who it was that came barging into the bedroom. I blinked multiple times as the black-cloaked figure neared my bed, something gleaming white on their face. A smile. A smile I had a face to put to as soon as I heard them speak, despite my vision still leaving much to be desired.

“There’s something you have to see.” Tao eagerly bounced in place, light on his feet even at this point in time. So, so early in the morning. Really and truly, that fact cannot be emphasized enough. The sun had just come out. It was six thirty-five according to the clock that flickered by my bedside, something I only saw after a few more flutters of my eyelashes.

“What is it?” I began to shift out of bed, not waiting to go until he told me first but instead deciding to go with him even though I didn’t know. Because he was so excited. Because his smile was so big and bright. And even though it was early and I could have relished in the cool mattress and soft sheets of my bed longer, I wanted to know why.

“I already told you,” he grasped onto my hand as soon as I pulled the covers away, his eyes the thing that were shimmering now, “you have to see it.”

And I was dragged down the hall, arriving there faster than expected. Most likely thanks to Tao himself. Where had we arrived though? At the den where the remaining eleven Guardians were gathered – Luhan’s floating glass orb included. Suho, D.O, Chanyeol, Lay, Xiumin, and Kris were in their nightwear. It seems as though they had been suddenly dragged from their rooms as well. While I inspected their clothes, about to question what was going on, all of their eyes were on me.

Suho’s eyes were glistening, as though he were about to break down into tears the very next second. Chanyeol’s wide grin made me forget the unreadable expression he gave me yesterday. Sehun’s confident, almost cocky, smirk almost made me laugh outright. Xiumin gave me a soft smile that was half hidden behind his shoulder as he peeked back at me. Lay was grinning so largely, not holding a single thing back, that his dimples rose to the surface of his cheeks. Chen throwing me a crooked smile as though he had been proven right by someone, by something.

D.O’s white teeth were biting down on his lower lip to suppress what looked like a smile his facial muscles hadn’t been stretched out enough to exhibit so early in the morning. Baekhyun was looking at me beneath his bed head with a playful grin, his head tilting, gesturing for me to come closer. Kris’s arms were crossed against his chest as he nodded in approval, his lips twitching upwards. I heard Kai’s single laugh as he turned his eyes away from me, his usual, mischievous smile something I was able to catch before he did so. And then, there was Luhan’s orb, peacefully swaying left and right ever so slightly.

But because of what? What were they all so worked up about? I didn’t have to question them because soon, as their eyes all turned forward again, I saw what it was they were all gathered here for. What else does one do in the morning but watching the morning news?

“We are currently standing in front of the subway station in Sector A that collapsed this past week.” The same female reporter with long, flowing golden ringlets from the previous broadcast spoke in front of the camera, microphone held up to her pursed pink lips. “Just yesterday, the sky was covered in black fog and the rubble of the station was anything but a sight to behold. However, today, on this very morning, Exotians in Sector A awoke to a brighter, bluer sky. The reason? Well, take a look for yourself.”

And as she shifted out of the way, as the camera focused on the sight behind her, I didn’t see gray. I didn’t see black and white. I saw red. I saw blue. I saw yellow. Orange. Green. Purple. Pink. A rainbow of colors everywhere. The pile of concrete rubble was gone, buried beneath scours and scours of flowers.

I immediately turned to Tao who was at my side, his hand still holding onto mine, “Did you—?”

“It wasn’t me.” He said with a smile, his eyes looking back towards the holovision.

It wasn’t him, he said. I had asked him yesterday to go do something for me. To plant seeds from the garden in the Hall of the Guardians, with the permission to use some from Suho, Lay, and D.O themselves, in front of the station and speed up their growth a bit. To clear the air even a little bit. To let the Exotians see the sight that caused me to be reduced to tears. But, it wasn’t him?

I tugged on his hand, telling him through my gesture to explain to me further what he meant. He understood and tugged back, that smile of his unceasing, “I planted them, but I didn’t make them grow. Which means that Exo Planet made them grow. The Tree of Life made them grow.” He let that sink in for a second, only a second, before due to his excitement, he couldn’t contain his next words, “The Tree of Life approves of you, your highness.”

And on the screen, the newswoman approached the large group of Exotians gathered in front of the field of flowers, approaching two people whom I had had dinner with just last night.

“Excuse me, if I may have a moment, what are your thoughts on this anomaly?” The newswoman moved the microphone towards the couple whose names I knew to be Kalil and Derek.

“Anomaly?” Kalil question, her eyes wide, “What do you mean? This is no anomaly.”

The newswoman grew confused, but, before she could counteract Kalil’s statement, Derek pulled the microphone towards himself, his eyes looking directly into the camera, as though he knew I was watching. As though he knew the Guardians were watching. As though he knew all of Exo Planet was watching.

“Stuff like this doesn’t happen out of nowhere. Stuff like this happens when things are going right. When people are doing right.” The newswoman stuttered, unable to make a single comment as the couple left to join the other Exotians who had taken to lying in the flowerbed. And to cover up for her, the news broadcast switched gears, the weatherman taking over to report a forecast that entailed sunshine and bluer skies that were to last from seven in the morning to seven at night.

And I couldn’t contain myself.

“Hey,” I spoke up, my eyes on the flashing screen in front of the twelve Guardians and I, my cheeks hitching higher upwards than I had ever thought possible, “right here, right now, can we go topside?”

I wanted to see it myself. The flowers. The smiles. The happiness.

Right here, right now, as my own happiness was bursting at the seams. 

A/N: 

Chapter is here. BAM! I have a twitter and a tumblr now. BAM! Story news and updates will be posted there as well. BAM BAM BAM! "BAM"s make everything more exciting than it really is. BAM! Sidenote: I love this chapter. BAM!