Aria was a seventeen-year old girl who lived an average life that consisted of friends, school and the occasional crush. She was a recently graduated high school senior; a shy yet caring figure that thought more about her friends than she did herself. At the height of five feet four inches, her presence made up for slight stature. Two things people always noticed about Aria were her sun kissed tan skin and her long dark hair. Witnesses say that she was swept out by what was believed to be a rip current and the lifeguards couldn’t get to her in time. Authorities are hoping for the best in this search and rescue, but are prepared for the worst.

My head was pounding. I could hear the sound of crashing waves, but I thought it was just the sound of my head in pain. It wasn’t until I felt the ground seem to recede and retreat from beneath me that I shot up, my vision going blurry from the swift action. Once the spots cleared and everything came into focus, I stared around a bit confused. I was on a beach but there was no one around.

“What the…” I muttered as I scratched my hair only to find it coated in the gritty grains of the shore. Why was I at the beach? I continued looking around and stared up at the sky. It was still daytime, but dark clouds loomed overhead which made me uneasy. Think Ari, Think. I shut my eyes for a second and wracked my brain for an explanation. I eventually found it. My friends and I decided to go to the beach today just to go out and enjoy the gorgeous weather. But how did I end up asleep on the sand with no one around? Was this a prank? Let the rain and thunder startle Aria into the world of the living? Sounded like something they’d do. I laughed it off and stood to go find them. I wasn’t concerned by how empty and quiet it was since it looked like there was going to be a huge storm and everyone would have to get out of the water anyway. What did concern me was that I wasn’t in a bathing suit. I was fully dressed and most of my clothing was soaked from the ocean waves creeping up on the shore. Another prank? I would have thought that, but I didn’t own an outfit like this.  A plain white V-neck shirt that hung off the shoulder on the left side, supported by a thin white strap that went over my shoulder. The material was thankfully not sheer. The jeans were a light blue, which faced to white on the front and I had on a pair of cute black sandals. These clothes were different than what I would normally wear at home: A tank top, oversized hoodies and leggings.  How’d they end up on me? None of my friends wore this today since it was hot out. Jeans didn’t make much sense with the weather we had.

I started walking and called out for them heading toward the parking lot… except there was none. There were no buildings in sight either. That was when I started freaking out. Ever get that cold tingling feeling that runs down your entire body? Your heart starts racing and you just want to run? That’s the feeling I had. I didn’t run, I jogged further away from the water, looking for someone or something. That’s when the silence started bothering me, because I was aware that I was alone. That's what I thought the low hum I'd heard was. So when I heard a loud sound which sounded like electricity and a 'poof' followed by an explosion of black smoke, I screamed my head off. At least I thought I did, but I found out that I could actually scream louder when after I started backing up a figure appeared and yanked me towards them before I could even process it. After that it felt like I was being into a vacuum, I was screaming, but no sound would come out and I couldn't see even though I knew my eyes were open. That ended quickly though and I found myself in an entirely different area than before. The sky was still this dark foreboding color but I was on top of a cliff or something, overlooking the waves that scrambled up its surface.

"At least she finally stopped screaming." A deep voice said with a chuckle. I gasped and turned around to come face to Adams apple with a smirking boy. Tall, pouty lips and a glint in his eyes that freaked me out. I backed away immediately, and unfortunately towards the edge of the cliff.

"W-who are you? Where am I? What's going on?" My heart was crashing hard against my chest and my words were broken up by the nervous stutter I got from the rush of adrenaline.

"All very good questions. " he said, his smirk growing into a slight grin. "I'm a guy. You're on a cliff and we are having a conversation."

It was only after he finished speaking that I noticed something...or rather some people. He noticed I looked in their direction and spoke again, concern growing on his face. "Calm down, you're getting closer to the edge. No one here is going to hurt you. " I didn't realize I was still backing up and stopped.

"Says the guy who just pulled a Houdini." I mumbled a little flatly. I had to be dreaming. That was the only explanation I could come up with on the spot. Somehow this put me at ease and I gave a small sigh. "But I just realized that this is a dream, so now I'm suddenly not so freaked out about it anymore. Does this mean its lucid now? Since I'm aware that I'm dreaming?" I asked the dark haired boy who laughed at my statement.

"That is how lucid dreaming works, but-"

"Good. So that means I can wake myself up with a kick."

He raised his brow and looked concerned. "What?"

"A kick. Something to snap me into awareness. This place is creepy. The five standing behind you like silent soldiers aren't making this any better, plus right now I'm at the beach with my friends so I need to wake up and spend time with them. Wait till they hear about this one." I laughed. It was funny how once I figured this out to be a dream, I felt a little cocky and confident around people I didn't know in a place that initially freaked me out. In real life I wouldn't wave a goodbye to them and walk backward off the cliffs edge. That was stupidity. And I didn't have enough guts to ever consider that ever. I did know that in a dream if you fell, you wake up before you hit the ground. Its happened to me before, so I let gravity take over even as the boy grew more and more concerned and freaked out that I was actually going over to where he broke into a sprint to come after me.

"Suho!" He yelled and the next thing I knew I was submerged in water a lot sooner than expected, before finding myself sitting on top of a geyser. It brought me back up over the top and I saw another guy standing next to the one I had spoke to. His right hand was held out and had a blue aura around it. After he made a come hither motion with his index finger, the spray move me closer to the cliffs edge. This freaked me out and I could only stare wide eyed as I witnessed this...witchcraft before me. His outstretched hand stopped beckoning the water and opened, palm facing down to the ground and he crouched down, bring his hand to him in a sweeping motion.

Nothing happened at first, but I soon found myself screaming as I slid down an impromptu water slide back onto the cliffs edge, completely soaked. He brought his other hand out next the first in the same position and once it started to glow the same translucent blue he separated them. The water receded back over the cliff, leaving me in a small puddle of whatever water I'd retained. This made him smile at my drenched and wide eyed form and just when I thought all the hocus pocus was over, he stood and did some odd movement with his hands and then the beckoning thing once more which was when I not only witnessed, but felt the water on me pull away from my skin and clothes. It felt a little awkward to say the least and soon all the water collected into a clear liquid ball that found its way plummeting back over the cliff.

"Way to show off water boy." The dark haired Houdini chuckled before turning his attention to me once more. "Can you not try doing that again please? This is going to sound hard to believe, but you aren't dreaming. Please, please don't freak out and try that again. It may look effortless, but using our powers is actually is lot of work and drains us over time. Suho here is just trying to not show it." He jeered.

"Oh shut it Kai. stop trying to make me look weak."

Suho. Kai. Got it. I said to myself as those two bickered. "C-can someone please explain to me what is going on right now? Because I am pretty sure I'm dreaming right now."

That stopped the two from their banter and the one named Suho spoke.

"As my ungrateful friend here has just mentioned, you're not dreaming. All of what you've experienced is real. If you would have made it to the bottom, you'd have died." He’d spoken so casually that it gave me bigger chills than when I looked back at the edge I had just so easily crossed without a care in the world. I had seriously just almost committed suicide and it made me want to drop to the ground and possibly throw up.  I didn't puke, but did slowly drop to the ground because my legs were shaking as in sunk back into my freaked out state from earlier.

"You guys are going to make her run off again with the way you're handing things." Another voice and my face followed it to the source. "Excuse the two of them, nevertheless hi, I'm Kyungsoo, but you can call me D.O. if you like. I know you must be scared and freaked out by everything, but it'll all make sense soon. Just know that this isn't a dream, that each of us has a power, and that you aren't on your home planet anymore. You were summoned here by one of the higher ups for a reason and that's the one thing we don't know. It might be too much to ask, but could you come with us to find out why? You might even be allowed to go back to where you came from afterwards...but you have to cooperate in order to find out. Understand?”

“And earth boy saves the day.” Kai chuckled with no sarcasm in his tone.

“Someone had to with the way you two were handling it.” His attention went back to me and he raised a brow “So do you mind?”

Did I? Of course I minded. My heart was pounding and my brain was desperately trying to process everything that was going on. I just wanted to go home and put all this trippy stuff behind me and wake up. I had to be dreaming…but was I willing to test that ‘kick’ theory again? Highly unlikely. Although instinct told me not to follow these strangers, logic had a shining moment and clearly said I should. At the very least, they’d take me to civilization and I could figure out what was going on, and the one called D.O… or Kyungsoo? He said that there were people that could quite possibly get me home. Maybe it was naïve, but after what I had just witnessed, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and nodded before attempting to stand.

“I’ll go.” My voice cracked and I had to repeat myself. There were still two boys that didn’t say anything lingering in the back, but before anything could actually happen, Kai stood directly in front of me and I had to look up slightly to give him a bewildered and confused face.

“Glad you’re so understanding.” He hugged me tight and the next thing that happened was a low hum, then a crackling and I was back in that black hole, silently screaming again before I was blinded by a bright light and startled by the sound of my own scream.

“Calm down, we’re here.” He laughed and I suddenly became embarrassed with how hard I clung to his form, immediately releasing my tight grip on him and putting space between us. It looked as though we were in some sort of Greek temple. We were on an elevated platform in the middle of a circle with symbols on the floor. When some of them started glowing I gasped and shrieked, ducking behind the boy that had just finished startling me just as the five boys I’d seen on the cliff moments ago materialized on each of the glowing symbols.

“You scare too easily. It’s adorable to see, but painful for the ears.” I could see he was trying to get my attention and calm me down but it really wasn’t working. Especially when none of them moved from the symbols they stood above. Kai moved from my side and I almost reached out for him to stay, feeling extremely vulnerable and exposed, but I bit my tongue and stood there like a lost child looking for their parent.

The other symbols soon started glowing too and I whimpered as I backed away from them, not entirely freaked out like I was since I knew what that meant. It was still nerve-wracking though since six new faces I ‘d never seen before appeared and I started hyperventilating feeling cornered and terrified. That’s when I felt this sudden feeling of warmth come over me…like heated bath water, or that feeling when you put clothes on straight from the dryer on a cold morning. It felt nice, but I looked frantically for the source, shaking a little when I couldn’t find it. Kyungsoo talking suddenly didn’t help either and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“So right now I want you to understand that all twelve of us are going to use our powers at the same time okay? And then All your questions…and ours should be answered, so please try not to freak out, nothing bad is going to happen to you okay? I promise.” He gave a small smile and I just nodded. I started moving out from the center, but he stopped me and told me to stay put.

So much for starting to calm down.

After that their hands all went up and the room was filled with a swirl of luminescent colors and the sound of electricity. I was scared but spellbound by the sight as the room went dark with the exception of the core of colors. Honestly it felt like a rave until a sound similar to a thunderclap made me shriek and a beam of phosphorescent and ethereal blue light cast down around me from floor to ceiling.

A voice addressed me and I broke out in chills as I looked up expecting to see someone.

“Hello Aria and welcome. I trust your trip here was one that raised many questions and stirred many emotions. I’d like to apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced and hope to bring you up to date on your current situation. You have been brought to the planet of Exo. Once a solid planet has now been split into three sections. Six of the boys occupy one end while the other six occupy the other. The grounds you’ve been brought to are the Neutral area in between the two spectrums. The reason you are here, unbeknownst to you and the boys is that you are blessed with a gift. You hold the power of neutralization. What this means is that you have the ability to cancel out the effects of each of the boys abilities. It may not mean anything to you, but to them, they know exactly what it means. Now before they get carried away and go for greedy. I’d like to make sure you understand something. You have to make a decision. They cannot choose for you who it is you go with.”

Go with? What does that even mean? I asked myself. I didn’t say anything though, partially because I was too scared, and partially because I wanted to hear this disembodied voice out without getting smited for disrespect.

“Each boy you see before you is blessed with a gift... an ability. You are to choose one of them to leave these grounds with. I understand that it may not make sense now, but I need you to understand that your body, which is wracked with confusion and distress already knows the decision that is to be made. Regardless of this, I still must ask that you choose wisely, for this decision along with many others you'll come to face will have their own unique outcome that can easily alter the tides of fate...”

Those words made me feel weighed down. I was terrified, confused, in a place I didn’t know with people and things I’d never seen before. I was battling with the urge to run away. God did I wish I could just run away. The spotlight was literally on me and I didn't like it one bit. When my eyes dropped down from the ceiling, I did a full circle glance at each boy and soon found myself stopping abruptly as I met the eyes of one of them. The decision had been made. 

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Posted: 02/09/2013

First chapters up. Opinion? I know it's a dumb question, but who do you think she chose?