♪♫♪

Betrothed? I was confused. I looked to all of them, EXO and the women. Then I looked solely to Kyungsoo, who was quite lonely looking without a girl wrapped around his neck (A/N: GoJangMi it’s your cue!) Kyungsoo gave an exasperated sigh.

"They have been 'engaged' since birth. Their parents decided for them."

"Wait, then why don’t you have one?" I asked Kyungsoo.

"Umm, my betrothed… I had one but she was kidn-"

"Enough story telling for the human! I want to spend time with my oppa and you are interfering with our valuable time together." Jessica said.

Wu Fan had a look of slight disgust. Luckily before Jessica could see it, Joonmyun cut in.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go see Soo Man. Together."

Jessica had a baffled look on her face. slightly gaped until she shut it. She gave a stiff nod. Then EXO left. Taeyeon, I think, then walked up to me with her cronies close behind.

"Stay away from our men, human. Prophecy or no prophecy, I will marry into the Kim family." she said glaring into my eyes.

With a quick pivot of her feet and a swish of her ball gown-like skirt she stomped off with her cronies. With the exception of two of them.

A slightly taller and mature looking, and slightly shorter and cute girl walked over with their heels clicking. 

"I apologize for Taeyeon, but she recently has been grumpy since EXO's disappearance. But I think I would be since they have been gone for 247 years..." said the shorter one.      

"247 years? They were only with me for 3 months!"

"Oh, human, how ignorant you are. Here, time is slower. It has been calculated that 1 year where you are from is approximately equal to 1000 years here. So about a third of your 24 hour day would be the same as 1 year here." replied the taller one.

*MINDBLOWN*

That means in human years, EXO isn't really 24,000 or 20,000 years old. I must have been in total shock because in unison, they said, "It's OK. Your puny human brain can't possibly handle that."

They gave the It's-OK-to-Be-Stupid smile. Then they took my hand and started dragging me along with them.

"Come on. Let's get you changed out of those hideous clothes that you are wearing."

"Wait, what are your names?" I said stopping.

With a glint in their eyes and a sly smile, they pulled me along.

"Call me IU and you can call her Lee Hi."

With a last tug, they half-dragged and half-carried me off.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was dressed in a flowy gown with a long train. It had a bulbous bustle and a tight corset that made breathing slightly difficult. My feet were in pain as they were tied up in heeled boots. The neckline cut dangerously low, exposing a lot of skin and the dress was a heavy deep blood red velvet that weighed down on me a lot. My plain straight hair had been curled into ringlets and styled up. IU and Lee Hi wanted to put makeup on me, but I didn't want my face freakishly pale like them.

"Look at yourself!" IU said pushing me towards a mirror.

I did, and I looked like a steampunk-esque character. And damn, I didn’t look that bad. I suddenly remembered the sad look on Kyungsoo’s face when he was talking about his betrothed. I turned around to face IU and Lee Hi.

"What happened to D.O.’s betrothed?" I inquired.

"Ooooh, that is quite the taboo subject. Arranged marriages are very sacred processes." Lee Hi answered.

"Yeah. Most get betrothed once and only once. That was awkward when he mentioned it earlier" IU added.

Then they continued to alternate.

"D.O. was betrothed to a princess from a small kingdom."

"They were actually supposed to meet when they were 12,000 years old."

"Oh yeah, I remember. It was awkward as well."

"Back to the princess, she was kidnapped!"

"Yeah! By Kumiho!"

"Kumiho?" I asked, temporarily halting their alternating story telling.

"Yup. She also goes by the name of Kitsune, Huli Jing, and the Demon Sorceress."

"Anyways, Kumiho kidnapped the princess when she was a tiny baby."

"And brought her to the human realm." 

"Then what happened?" I asked with extreme curiosity.

"There are tales and rumors that the princess became a demon herself and began wreaking havoc in the human realm."

"Or she turned human and lived as a mortal."

"Or Kumiho ate her heart and she died."

"Either way, she's gone now."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as they nodded in unison, as if it would make any difference in whether or not I believed them. And trust me, I did believe them. I was going to ask more questions but one of the spirit servants popped out of a wall and scared me.

"The Great Seer Soo Man requested for the human's presence" he said.

"Oh Sungmin, you are such the party pooper. We were having so much fun!" Lee Hi said.

Sungmin ignored them as he waited for me. I got up on my pained feet and 'hobbled' after him. We walked through a dark hallway, the only source of light coming from a candle that Sungmin held. Go figure. With each step he took, something was illuminated and then engulfed in darkness again. Paintings, suits of armor, weaponry, sculptures and other artwork lined the impossibly long hall. After what seemed like forever, we walked through a doorway into… another hallway! But this one had many doors that were closed. We walked up to a grand wooden door to which Sungmin opened.

It revealed a large ballroom with a huge chandelier. Impressive stained glass windows and a majestic Michelangelo-like mural on the ceiling. In the center of the room was a great big chair that was seated next to a table covered in various junk. In the chair was a tiny older man in a brown Gandalf robe. He gestured me to move closer. Sungmin had vanished. The tiny man beckoned me again. I walked up to him when he motioned to me to get even closer. He then indicated to a chair that wasn’t there before. I sat in it when he gestured for my hand. I gave him my hand to which he flipped and gazed at. He nodded. Then he looked up at me and spoke in a voice too deep for his tiny physique.

"Welcome, Sakura Ayu. I’ve been waiting for you."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"I’m a seer, The Great Soo Man. I can foretell the future, but only certain portions of it are truly clear."

He then reached for a clear glass ball with what looked like smoke swirling around it.

"Many, many years ago, before the existence of EXO, I prophesized that the 12 major princes of the 12^th generation would be cursed by an evil force. They would turn into monsters with uncontrollable urges. There would be no way to break it.

"A few years later, I foresaw that someone from the human realm would come to Peregrinus Modus. A female. She would make a tie with only one of the 12 princes. A bond, of true love. Only then, together, they could defeat the unbreakable curse and destroy the evil force."

In my mind, I was putting two-and-two together, but awfully slowly. Then Soo Man cleared it up.

"You are the prophesized female from the human realm. You are to make a bond with one of the 12 princes and fight against Kumiho who cursed EXO into being evil monsters."

I made an 'O' with my mouth, but made no sound. That explained a bit. Why EXO wouldn’t leave my house. Why Sehun and Kai were pretending to be my boyfriend and kiss me. Blegh. And why Tao called me 'Baby'. Why they are protective of me… How am I supposed to defeat the 'Demon Sorceress'?

I was going to ask more questions when I saw 'The Great Seer' fast asleep snoring in the chair. I snuck out, try not to trip over the ridiculously long train of my dress and heels. I tried to open the door, which was closed shut. It couldn’t have been locked, because the door handle still turned. And it shouldn’t be that it is too heavy, because if a spirit can open it, then so can I. I slammed myself against the door, trying to open it. I returned to the chair I was sitting in and attempted lifting it. It was heavy.

I pushed the chair towards the door, the legs making squeaking noises with each push. All that work was making me dreadfully hot. I lifted it above my head, my thin arms wobbling. I swung it towards the door. The door didn’t even get marked. The chair just bounced off of the door and made me lose my balance as I tipped backwards. I was extremely warm under the layers of clothes on me. I looked at Soo Man who didn’t even flinch despite how noisy I was. I got up and gave the stupid chair a swift kick, stubbing my toe. I jumped around holding it for a while as I hissed in pain. When the pain subsided, I braced myself as I ran towards the door for a world of pain in my shoulder. I was nearing the door and shut my eyes tightly when I heard a click and a rush of cool air as I ran into a soft wall. Or rather a chest.

I looked up to see the face of Kyungsoo, who had his arms around me as he was leaned against the hallway wall.

"You sure pack a mighty punch for a girl" he joked as I got off of him.

I brush off the imaginary dust from the collision. I stood awkwardly, fiddling with the gown.

"D.O., I’m really sorry to hear about your fiancé" I blurted out.

With a small smile he said, "Forget it. It’s not a big deal. I never even met her."

It kinda was a big deal. Your only betrothed kidnapped, possibly dead…

"You look pretty in those clothes."

Suddenly, all the discomfort from the clothes and shoes disappeared. I stared at the floor and shuffled my feet under the petticoats of the dress to hide my flushed face. Kyungsoo then cleared his throat.

"Come on. Let’s find one of those infernal spirits to get you a room and maybe something suitable for you to eat."

~~~~~~~~~~

I was changed into a super duper soft silk nightgown. The room that I was given smelled of candle wax and apples for some reason. My stomach was filled with so many different cuisines that I felt as if I traveled all around the world to try them all. I snuggled between the plush comforter and mattress. Then I laid there. What a wacky day so far. The three moons made the room impossibly bright.

I closed my eyes as I drifted in and out of sleep. I woke up for the fifth time to the sound of wings? The wings sounded again and then a soft thud. There was the sound of footsteps coming closer. I sawa pair of striking blue eyes before they disappeared into the shadows.

"Mmm, that is the smell of human. There hasn't been one her for ages. How delicious" a male voice purred.

Then darkness took over.

Hello! What do you guys think of AFF changing? The editing format is changing and so many other stuff too! 

Anyways, I want to celebrate the 10th chappie. Yay!

A nice GIF for celebration: