"Please take one and go to your own cells."


"Can we take a look first?"


"Take as much time as you need."


The twelve males lined up in front of a long table in the control room. On the table were twelve black, crystalline spheres with white different symbols carved on them, waiting to be picked by their true owners.


"They're like the balls in Dragonball, but black," Chanyeol whispered to Baekhyun, who only gave him nods as the reply.


Lay was the one who stepped forward first, taking his unicorn pearl, followed by Suho and Kris.


"Are you sure ours are still the same?" Kris glanced at the shorter king.


"Yes. We just have to renew our pearls, right? We already have our powers," Suho nodded with confidence. He took the one with water droplet symbol, while Kris' had a wings-shaped one.


"Who wants to pick first?" Suho flew his gaze across the boys' faces.


"Let me," Sehun stepped forward. "I'll take the one that I've seen a lot in my dreams."


"Take a look at the others too, Sehun-ah," Luhan said softly. "You have to be really sure about it."


"Okay, hyung," Sehun smiled at the older. He eyed the pearls one by one and crinkled his eyebrows, trying to listen to his inner voice. He was almost assured that the other pearls weren't his, before his eyes landed on one of them; not the one he usually saw in his sleep.


Hold on.


The voice inside him held him from reaching out his hands towards the wind shaped one. Instead, his eyes locked on the one next to it. The symbol were in form of circles.


Should I take that one?


He shook his head hard.


No. I've never seen that before. It can't be mine.


Ignoring the voice inside him, he took what he thought was his and stepped aside.


"I'll go next," Luhan volunteered. He stepped forward and did the same as what Sehun had done; eyeing the black pearls one by one, and finally picked one of them.


"This one is cute. Circles," he lifted the sphere to his eye level and smiled at it. "I hope it's really mine."


Luhan held it tight in his arms and moved to Sehun's side. The younger prince tilted his head, quite surprised that Luhan picked that one he had been about to take.


"Can we pick together?" Chen raised a hand, while the other one grabbed Xiumin's and dragged him towards the table.


"Sure," Suho smiled understandingly.


"Wah, this one is so pretty," Chen bent down to look closer at the symbol. "It's like a snowflake. I like it. I'll take this one."


"Nice choice, Chen-ah. I saw it on the sketchbook back then," the older grinned. "I guess I'll pick this. It's scorpion. You liked this one, didn't you?"


"Yeah! It's cool!" Chen said as he looked closely at the pearl in Xiumin's hands.


The two bit their lips and kept shifting their gazes between both pearls.


"Want to trade?" Chen grinned sheepishly. Without hesitation, Xiumin handed his pearl and took Chen's in exchange.


"Now that's better," Xiumin smiled in satisfaction. He dragged Chen aside to join Sehun and Luhan.


The next to pick were Baekhyun and Chanyeol.


"Which one do you want, Baek?" Chanyeol led the shorter walking along the long table.


"That one," Baekhyun pointed. "It looks like sun or star. It must have something to do with light."


"Right. You're scared of dark places, then you should be the light," Chanyeol chuckled. "I want to be something bright too," he said as he picked the one with phoenix symbol.


There were only three pearls left. Tao chose the hourglass one instantly, while Kyungsoo and Kai took their time to choose between the two left.


"You choose first, baby. I'll eat first, so if it's the wrong one, I'll be the one who die, not you."


As soon as Kyungsoo's mind registered what his boyfriend had just blurted out, he slapped the younger's head and stomped his foot furiously.


"Don't you dare say that again, Kim Jongin. We'll pick and eat them together no matter what."


"I'm sorry," Kai pouted and rubbed the spot where the other had hit him.


They picked the pearls quickly and moved aside, joining the other ten.


"You boys can take a look at each other's pearls one more time, if you want. Anyone wants to trade?" Suho asked.


The boys stood in circle and compared their own pearls with the others quietly. Without the others noticing, Kai and Kyungsoo exchanged their pearls and hid them behind their backs.


"We're done choosing already," Sehun announced.


"Okay," Lay clasped his hands together. "Please go back to the main entrance and pick a door. There are twelve cells, one cell for one person."


"I'm so nervous," Baekhyun whispered as they walked out of the room. "What if we all picked the wrong ones?"


"Don't worry, Baekhyun-ah. We'll be fine," Chen patted him on the back and flashed a soothing smile. Baekhyun stared at him doubtfully for a moment as they walked quietly, but Chen's grin never flew away of his face and Baekhyun found his strength back somehow.


"Okay. See you later everyone," Baekhyun waved as he entered one of the door, and the other ten males followed suit.


Every each of them walked to the middle of the cell and sat quietly on the only chair provided there. Hands gripping the pearls tightly, eyes locked on the two males on the other side of the glass divider, inside the control room.


Lay and Jaesun flew their gazes across the white cells to make sure they were all ready.


"Are we really doing this without the stones?" Jaesun asked, chewing on his lip restlessly.


"This should be fine.. Right? You see I'm fine now," Lay replied, actually not really sure with his own words. "Besides, I don't know how to make the stones."


"At first you went wild though," the older sighed, and with heavy heart he pushed the red "lock" button, and the doors to the cells were locked automatically.


"Have you locked the doors to each others' cells too?" Lay asked to make sure.


"Yeah. They won't be able to go see each other until they're all good."


Lay put his mouth in front of a small microphone attached to the control desk and tested it by saying "aaaaahh~", and his voice could be heard through speakers in every cells.


"Relax, guys," he chuckled in attempt to ease the nerves. "Are you ready?"


"Yes!" the eleven answered in unison.


"Then you can feast on your fruits now. Enjoy, have a nice meal."


The males in the cells gulped as they stared down at the fruits in their hands.


Sehun turned his head towards the door on his left, his mind flew to the boy ten cells away from him.


Luhannie hyung, please be safe. Let's get this over with quickly, so we can spend time together again.


In a slow gesture, all of them brought the fruits closer to their mouths, and planted their teeth on the flesh just for the smallest bites they would like to have.


Lay and Jaesun held each other's hands instinctively as they eyed the males chewing on the fruits.


Gulp!


"...Tastes good. Can I have another bite?" Chanyeol said, but suddenly...


Thud!


His eyes widened and his pupils turned into slits. His hands became rigid, letting the pearl fall onto the floor and roll away.


Three cells away from him, the deer prince had already found himself kneeling on the floor with his hands clutching his throat. Eyes wide and mouth gasping for air, he tried hard to drag himself closer to the wall. He pressed his back on the wall and pushed himself up by kicking his feet on the floor, but fell again on his . In no time his body was already drenched in sweat.


"H-Help.." He tried to shout, but let out a dry, raspy inaudible shriek instead. He reached out his hand and crawled towards the door with all his might.


Lay and Jaesun watched the sight in front of them in horror.


The kings were rolling on the floor. Kai kept bumping himself on the glass divider. Chanyeol was on his knees, tugging on his hair. Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Xiumin were lying on the floor, wincing in pain, knees up to their chests. Tao and Chen were rolling around the room wildly, while Sehun and Luhan were panting hard against the wall.


"Hyung! What's happening to them??" Lay pulled his hair in panic. "We need to do something!"


"This is bad, they're worse than you," Jaesun paced back and forth. "You didn't suffer that much, did you?? They must have picked the wrong pearls!"


"Should we let them out?" the unicorn bit his lip.


"No! Just.. Wait until they calm down," the older sighed in defeat. "It would be too risky if we let them out."


And so, they could only sit back and watch as the scene in front of them got even worse.


The eleven males kept thrashing around and the walls trembled slightly when they released their loudest screams out of their lungs.


Sehun, the rainbow haired prince, snapped his head side to side with face full of rage.


Lu.. Luhan!! How dare they took my Luhan away from me!!


He fell on his knees and covered his throbbing head with his arms. A low growl escaped his clenched teeth as he began walking on four in circle, surrounding the chair in the middle of the room. Each time he blinked his eyes, everything slowly lost its color in his sight.


As the rage inside him grew even bigger, his rainbow hair slowly turned darker and darker, until it was the darkest shade of jet black. His milky white skin even looked somewhat paler than usual.


The prince turned his head towards Lay and Jaesun and glared at them. Just from his spot Lay could see the pretty brown orbs had turned light blue; lighter than his.


At this point he has probably lost himself.


Sehun grasped his shirt and struggled hard to take it off his body, which was sweating greatly. Failing to do so, he growled angrily and ripped it off with all his might and tossed it aside.


Suddenly something came from behind and struck him hard right on the head. He turned his head angrily to see his own pearl lying few inches from his feet on the floor. He was about to take revenge on it when the black sphere moved back by itself abruptly, leaving the angry prince's foot hanging in the air.


The pearl flew around the cell uncontrollably, throwing itself towards the prince. At first Sehun was stunned, trying to avoid the strikes without fighting back, but it was when he was hit right on the face that he decided he had had enough of it.


"Grrr," he narrowed his eyes and crept closer cautiously to the pearl, which was hiding behind the chair.


The moment he lifted his hands off the floor, the pearl copied his move and flew up towards him. Sehun jumped from his spot and bounced on the chair in the middle, allowing him to go up really high and claw the hyperactive pearl right on time before it could touch him first. The fruit fell back onto the floor and rolled away to the corner of the room.


Landing back on four, Sehun eyed the pearl and approached it slowly. Deciding he was wasting too much time, he jumped right on it and smacked it away with his fist.


A satisfied smirk crept to his face when the pearl remained idle, not showing any signs of life. The black haired prince climbed onto the only chair in his cell, and with a gesture like a wolf, he let out a long howl to celebrate his victory.


"Awoooooo~!"


Lay and Jaesun, who were watching the whole scene, shivered and hugged themselves at the shrill. Soon after, more howls could be heard from the other ten cells; signs that they have won their little battles with their own pearls.


The eleven looked all similar now; messy black hair, pale skin and piercing light blue orbs, growling and howling like wolves. Their clothes barely covering their toned muscles; even some of the boys had ripped them into shreds.


"Why is this happening?" Jaesun groaned into his palm. "It's so creepy. The book doesn't even explain this part."


"The pearls were probably trying to train them, for the first time.. Don't you think so?" Lay muttered, more like to himself.


"But that didn't happen to you. You didn't fight with your pearl," the older crinkled his eyebrows.


"...Or maybe the pearls were just simply trying to attack them because they weren't supposed to eat them?" The professor suggested again.


"That's possible."


Thump! Thump! THUMP!


"What's that??" Lay stood up abruptly in alarm.


"There," Jaesun pointed at Kai's cell.


The tanned prince was punching the door towards Luhan's cell angrily. Not done gawking at the sight, their attention was pulled by another similar sound coming from Chanyeol's and Baekhyun's.


"They're trying to break into other cells!" Lay pulled his hair and paced back and forth. "What to do? What to do??"


"The doors are locked though," Jaesun frowned. "They can't break the-"


CRASH!


They both snapped their heads towards Kai's cell, and their eyes widened in horror. The tanned had successfully destroyed the door, and now he was standing right in front of Luhan, fists clenching tightly on his sides.


Kai squinted at the deer-wolf boy and growled under his breath.


This.. This pretty boy.. He has stolen my first love, and he thinks I'm all fine with that.


Before Luhan could realize it, he found himself being thrown away and landing on his back, hand clutching on his left arm.


"Aarghh.." he groaned as the pain shot up to his head. Red substance slid down his arm as he pulled his hand back to see four red lines; deep cuts left by the younger's claws.


If glares could kill, both of them would have been injured severely now.


Similar events were happening inside the other cells. The alarm inside Lay's head went off and he quickly pulled the microphone on the control desk to his mouth.


"Guys, don't fight! Come back to your senses!" He shouted his warning, which was ignored by the eleven.


Luhan jumped back on his feet, and without hesitation, he ran towards Kai and lifted his claws high in the air.


The deer clawed the younger's perfect face and sent him crouching on the floor, clutching on his cheek.


'That's what you get for messing with me!'


Kai shot him a glare full of hatred.


'You messed with me first! You took him away from me!'


'What? Who..?'


'Who?? Duh. Of course it's SEHUN!!'


Luhan snorted and shot Kai a mocking smirk.


'Heh, I see now. You have no chance! If you want to win his heart, you have to beat me first.'


Kai stood up abruptly, accepting the challenge.


'You'll regret this later, pretty boy. I'm dangerous now, just warning you. If you don't leave now, there will be a crisis.'


'What, you expect me to back out with that? In your dreams, Mr. Hot . Sehun is mine.


The corner of the two young princes' lips tugged up into underestimating smirks as they eliminated the distance between them. Kai pushed Luhan's chest harshly and received the same act from the older in return. Both of them took few steps backward and glared at each other.


'You're just a deer after all. I can eat you in one bite.'


Luhan scrunched his face and growled at the younger angrily for his scarred ego.


'Psh. Tell you what, a deer can kill a dumb dog. Don't underestimate me, now that the deer has transformed into a great wolf! Yes, wolf. I'm a wolf!


Without any warnings, Luhan bounced on his feet and swung his foot towards Kai's head. Kai lost his balance and collapsed dramatically onto the white floor, but quickly got up again and prepared his claws to rip the life out of the deer's body.


Two cells away from them, it was the fight between Tao and Chanyeol. The taller kept attacking the panda boy blindly, but Tao could dodge every strikes smoothly, almost effortlessly. Instead, he made it to punch the older in the face really hard.


Get out of my way!


Tao glared at the b