Author’s note: Hello… I have been really happy about writing this story. I would like to acknowledge and say ‘thank you’ to the current 29 subscribers for this story and to the commentators who gave me the motivation to finish this story. EtWoA is near the ending and this will be a short chapter. I hope you guys like it.

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Oh Sehun woke up before the sun could set its warm gaze on the peaceful land. He got up from Luhan’s warm bed and looked out the window. Sehun sighed as he grazed his fingers on his silver bracelet. Looking at its pair on the bedside table, the young anima felt another tear run down his cold cheek. The door opens.

“Sehun…” came Suho’s voice as he appeared at the door way. Sehun merely glances before looking out the window again.

“Hye Eun is explaining some things to us. Come with us. It’s not good to be cooped up inside for too long.” His worry laced his voice. Just then, Yixing peeked out.

“Are you ready?” Sehun got up and walked over to the bedside table, taking the other bracelet and wearing it in his other hand. He nods and follows Suho and Yixing out the room.

“Let’s go. She’s in Luhan’s art room.” The door opened and Sehun’s eyes widened as he saw his sketches of him on the walls.

“Before he remembered you, I would see him sketching you in every corner of the room. He said it was comforting to see you even if he didn’t know who you were.” Hye Eun approached Sehun. 

“Did he do all of this?”

“Yeah, you would be surprised how long it took him to draw you every time you took over his dreams.”

“You said he didn’t remember. What happened?” Hye Eun led everyone to a wall. It had a royal blue curtain over it. She moved it and it revealed a painting of the guardians. They were all smiling. The were firm yet gentle, of great precision yet held vagueness to it. They were in their traditional clothes and each pair was seated together. It was in a landscape style and it took a great part of the room.

“It all happened three years ago…”

                Luhan had been drawing the guardians. For years, he dedicated the biggest wall for a painting of them as a gift once they’ve gathered again. However, being the only guardian in the Xi Kingdom at that time, he was no match for the red force. It broke into his room just as Luhan covered his finished painting. It demanded that Luhan give them information about the other guardians. Unwilling to jeopardize his friends, Luhan strongly refused. As a result, the red force entered Luhan’s mind where they encountered his beast. It made a deal with Luhan to erase his memories because it wasn’t strong enough to keep it. Without another choice, Luhan decided it was better to forget everything for the sake of the guardians.

“When I got here to introduce the guardians, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, he no longer remembered anything. Besides, the fact he recognizes nothing else but your face.  Later, we have discovered Pal Gam’s wife and former advisor, Pal Gam disappeared. Since then, I tried my best to make him remember. But, even seeing you for the first time, didn’t bring his memory back. He didn’t even remember me coming into his room and made him wear a dress before he met you in your room.”

“Where is he?” Sehun asked once more. Hye Eun tied the curtains to the sides so that the painting is visible. The vibrant colors reflected an inexplicable warmth and fondness. Hye Eun approached the door and gestured out. The guardians followed as she led them in front of a door with their symbols in silver and gold lining. Sehun touched and pushed the great door open. In the room, there was a big area surrounded by flowers. The room was filled with grass and trees and water. Rainbows and earth took most of the scene. Others could easily mistake it for an impossible indoor garden if it weren’t for the water falls at the rear. In a soft patch of white lilies, Luhan laid peacefully. He wore white clothes and his hair was black. His pale skin shone under the light of nature. As soon as Sehun stepped into the room, the surroundings changed. It revealed a spacious room with twelve sleeping chambers. One occupied by Luhan on the side.

“Luhan, you’re still here.”

“I got a message from him before he died.”

“Through his mind, he told me to fill guys in with what he was supposed to tell you. Sehun-hyung, he loves you a lot and he hopes you will wait until you meet again. He also mentioned that you must take him for some pearl milk tea again.”

Sehun leaned on Luhan’s bed and touched the glass, as if he could feel the older guardian’s skin just by placing his hand there.

“I’ll give you a moment. If you want, you can put the bracelet on his hand.” And so, Hye Eun left the room with the guardians situating themselves in their own chamber. Sehun opened Luhan’s and took his hand into his. Slipping the bracelet, he gave Luhan a kiss.

“Luhan, I promise you. The next time we meet, I’ll be the first one to remind you of our past.”

Hye Eun entered the room and smiled. Xiumin got ready to cast the spell and asked Hye Eun to rule well without her brother. The Ice guardian, once again, casted sleeping spells around over the room. Hye Eun left and locked the room. With that, all twelve guardians were together in the room. With a promise to meet again, they succumbed to a long, dreamless slumber.

Time continued while the guardians slept. Kings and Queens came and went as decades and decades passed.  During their dormancy, a red spark has found its way, undetected by magic, into the guardian’s room. Eerily creeping around the sleeping chambers, it randomly picked one and got in. In an instant, what once was a room with twelve guardians became a room with only eleven.