"How’s everything on your side?" Baekhyun asked dusting away dirt off his clothes.

"We set up a few food kitchens and helped build tents as temporary houses and pharmacies." Sehun picked up few pieces of wood that they certainly would be needing later on.

"Hey guys, what’s up?" Jongin popped in with Chanyeol, little fires dancing around in his palm.

"Chanyeol--stop that." Baekhyun ordered with a stern face.

"Why? It’s not like I’m going to throw it at anything," he turned his head to the side,"…or anyone." Chanyeol mumbled.

"I heard that." Baekhyun squinted his eyes at his friend.

Chanyeol threw his hands up in defeat and spun on his heels, walking down the hill. “I’ll just go somewhere else; somewhere...somewhere where I’m needed.” The three of them watched Chanyeol’s tall figure slowly go away, with guilt falling heavily on Baekhyun’s heart.

"He really didn’t do that on purpose." Jongin defended Chanyeol. "He’s been obedient ever since the others came back."

"I know Jongin. I do," Baekhyun paused and put his hands on his hips, "It’s that we have so many things to worry about and I don’t want to rack my brain anymore if we have to deal with another emergency."

"True, and true." Sehun spoke, agreeing that there were two sides to consider .

"I’ll apologize to him later. If I forget, can the two of you remind me? I have to head over to the garden to harvest some plants."

"Sure." Jongin and Sehun waved goodbye to their friend.

"So what are you up to now?" Sehun asked Jongin.

"I don’t know. I haven’t been called to do anything yet. Waiting for Kris or Junmyeon to tell me, maybe Luhan too."

"Same here." Sehun piled the wood in one place. "About yesterday…"

"What about yesterday?"

"Ah, nevermind."

"You’re curious aren’t you?"

Sehun was caught off guard, running his hand through his hair, adding an exasperated sigh for dramatic effect. “Are you?”

Jongin shifted his weight to his left hip, eyes gazing up to the clear skies that were an ashy backdrop hours ago. “Of course I am. I know it’s wrong of me to be skeptical because she’s a girl but think about it. Seven years old Sehun. We were still playing and going to school at that age.”

"We are seventeen though." Sehun rebutted back.

Jongin shot him a glare. "Still, we didn’t even know that she was hidden within the palace either."

"You got a point there." Jongin smirked at his friend's understanding.

"If you’re anxious about the girl so much, you can go visit her in the private tent." Jongdae walked up to them, surprising the two. His face lit up when he spotted the wood.

"Were we talking that loud?" Sehun inquired, since Jongdae was coming up.

"Not really. I didn’t hear your conversation much but I could tell what you two were talking about. We all were…a bit suspicious of course." He takes the wood that they had collected. "The tent has a two blue flags in the front. See you later." Jongdae rushed his way downhill, carrying as much wood as he could.

"Wait! Jongdae!" Jongin yelled.

He turned around at the sound of his name. “Yeah?”

"I’ll teleport you there!" Jongin offered his hand to the male. "Sehun, come here too."

Jongdae jogged back up the hill. “Thanks Jongin, saving me a long trip back.” Jongdae gave him a big smile.

"No problem." Jongin grabbed onto Sehun’s shoulder, with his right hand on Jongdae’s wrist, noticing how Jongdae had his hands busy holding the wood.

A black swirl enveloped them, their bodies distorting with space. Their frames reappeared in thin air, landing safely within the evacuation area surrounded by people moving along, spending their day getting accustomed to the brief living arrangements. “The tent’s that way. I’ll see you guys at dinner or something.” Jongdae ran away towards the soup kitchen area.

Jongin and Sehun walked in the direction that Jongdae had pointed out. They were greeted with weary faces of the citizens yet, they showed signs of gratefulness towards the warriors.

"Is it weird of me to think that we don’t deserve to be the ones to receive this kind of appreciation?" Sehun whispered into Jongin’s ear.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

They caught sight of the blue fabric attached to the tall, scrawny branches fluttering with the wind and moved aside the cover hiding the entrance of the tent.

The bottom of the tent scrunched underneath their shoes with every step they took. At the corner were emergency supplies are given to each family or individual, two makeshift windows that was free to open and close with velcro, and some blankets and pillows sprawled out on the floor, where the girl was resting in.

Yixing moved strands of baby hairs away from the girl’s face and placed his hand on her forehead, while Luhan was cooking what seemed like soup in a small pot.

"You guys are here?" Luhan picked up a spoon to taste the soup. "Hm…needs more salt." He took a pinch of the condiment and sprinkled it in, using the spoon as a mixer to bring out the flavor.

"We just wanted to see how she’s doing." Sehun said.

"Well, all we know is that she has no fever and has been sleeping ever since. So if you were expecting something big, you won’t find it here." Yixing said as he held his bowl steady while Luhan poured in the soup.

"Want some?" Luhan asked them. Before they got the chance to say no, both of their stomachs growled loudly answering his question, making Luhan and Yixing laugh while a shade of red appeared on both of their cheeks.

"Sit down, I bet it’s been a while since you had a break." Luhan offered.

The two complied and joined in the circle around the portable stove.

"Hey, you got room for one more?" Kyungsoo stepped into the tent, throwing down an empty backpack on the floor.

Yixing scooted over to the right to make some space for Kyungsoo to sit and Luhan handed him a hot bowl of soup.

"So, how is she doing?" Kyungsoo slurped the soup.

"Same, still sleeping, no fever." Yixing replied. "What were you doing?" Yixing noticed his clothes were smudged with black.

"I was helping making tents and after that I took down some burnt trees to use as firewood." He reached for the ladle to grab seconds.

Yixing nodded his head, connecting the pieces together.

"I checked in with the others right now. Minseok, Chanyeol and Tao are taking care of the children while Kris and Junmyeon are talking with Lan and the officials. I think they're trying to sort out everything right now." Luhan explained with his telepathic ability.

"We’re all busy bees aren’t we?" Sehun suggested.

"How is the royal family and the palace then?" Jongin had his hand rested upon his chin, his elbow supported by his thigh.

"They’re fine. The king and queen are making plans on moving the citizens into the palace soon since only the entrance was battered down a bit." Luhan added.

"What were their names again?" Kyungsoo asked.

"King Jinwoo and Queen Maeri, Kyungsoo." Yixing patted his back.

Areum stirred in her sleep. Feeling disgruntled, Areum cutely whined for more sleep, but the sound of chatter overpowered her voice, annoying her terribly. She tried opening her eyes, adjusting to the dim light. How long have I’ve been asleep. She rose her tired body and relaxed her tense muscles, catching the attention of the five males.

"Oh you’re up." Yixing was the first to get up and to come closer to her. She yawned and pouted cutely, blinking her eyes at a sluggish pace, which made Yixing smile at how adorable she was being. He patted her hair gently making Areum look at the man with droopy eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

"Fine." She said with a dry voice. Areum’s mind was not fully functioning yet to respond quick enough but she managed. "Do you want to eat?"

She shook her head and got out of the bed. She folded the blankets neatly before putting her ruined shoes on. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat?” Kyungsoo asked, his head popping behind Yixing's figure. Areum politely declined his offer, thanking them with a bow and left.

Areum stepped outside the tent and scanned around. She did not recognize anyone so she decided to take a stroll around, maybe try to find Lan or Daena on the way. She looked left and right and without realizing where she was going, she bumped into someone’s legs.

A little push surprised the woman and turned around to look at the person while Areum rubbed her nose. “Areum!” A woman’s voice yelled out. The girl looked up and the ends of her lips moved upward, knowing the woman.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? Have you eaten yet? Oh my little baby." Daena embraced her tightly, tears starting to form. "You made me worried you know that." She sniffles. Areum wraps her short arms around Daena’s waist, her chuckles blocking out the other voices. Daena pulled away from Areum and her hair.

"Have you eaten yet?" Daena asked again.

"No."

"Come on let’s go to my tent. If we’re lucky Lan should be there resting now." Daena placed out her hand which Areum happily held onto.

"Hey Tao isn’t that Miss Daena that girl is walking with?" Chanyeol pointed with his finger.

Tao took another bite from his bread before looking up. “Where?”

"There. Walking right now."

"Yeah. What about it? I’m surprised the girl even woke up."

"Did she really take on that Chimera?"

"Uh huh." Tao went back to eating his food.

"Here’s our tent Areum." Daena pulled away the cloth, letting Areum enter first.

"There she is." Lan took his eyes away from the food he was preparing. Areum ran to him, hugging his sides. "We heard what happened. We are proud of you." Lan kissed her temple. "Food’s almost ready."

"Areum, in the meantime let me comb your hair." Daena sat next to her, brushing her messy dark brown hair straight.

Soon, the meal was served with vegetable soup, rice and few slices of pork for protein. “We’re lucky to have given an equal amount of food rations to everyone.” Lan started,"then we’ll have the people move into the castle and start working on rebuilding the city.”

"Are we going to have assistance from Diria?"

"As of now, we don’t know. We barely sent a messenger this morning, so maybe tomorrow we’ll get something." Diria was the capital of Ascernia. Although many people seem to mistake Sele as the main capital because the royal family lives here. With Terra as the next biggest city in Ascernia.

"Ah…Lan?"

"Yeah?"

"Is…is Areum going to leave soon?" Daena whispered.

Lan glanced up at his wife, nodding with depressed eyes.

"Next week?"

"Next week. She’ll be able to come back and visit but it might be unlikely."

Areum watched the two exchange different expressions, maybe it was the time for her to treasure every moment she had before leaving.

The awaited day, tomorrow, came too fast for Areum, maybe because everybody was busy. Like how Lan said, all if not, most of the citizens were moved to the castle. Rations from Diria came two days ago which helped Sele greatly. For the meantime; Lan, Daena and Areum shared her room together. All of the unimportant furniture was removed for the time being to allow more space for the people or for future use. More chefs were needed because there were more mouths to feed and security was doubled.

Areum took one last round around the palace, occasionally helping those who needed it. It felt bizarre to have this many individuals in one place as Areum was used to empty halls. The joyous atmosphere felt nice since things have calmed down for the most part, might be from the hype of a celebration to bring our spirits back up again. She brushed back her locks, that were concealing her line of vision. She saw women place down vases of fresh flowers that consisted of vibrant colors on sleek, wooden tables. Men were busying themselves by moving around heavy objects from one place to another.

“Areum.” Daena called from the corner.

Areum took light, fast steps to the woman. She sprawled out her arms, whining Daena to carry her. Daena just smiled at the petite girl and hoisted her up. “Time to go soon, my little baby.” She flashed her a heartbroken smile, smoothing Areum’s hair.

Areum rested her head against Daena’s chest, listening to her heartbeat like a calm melody that lured her to sleep. Daena transported the small girl everywhere, casually taking in the brief time period she was going to have with her.

Was this going to be the last time to see Areum again? If it was, this was the time to digest in the harsh reality of having days without her little source of warmth.

“Miss Daena, there you are.” Minseok advances towards Daena, giving her a friendly wave. “Hello Miss Daena, I was wondering if --- oh, she is with you.”

“You mean Areum? Sorry, she fell asleep on me. Lan needs her right?”

“Yes, he does.”

Daena looks at down at Areum, sleeping with an angelic face. “I’m not allowed to come am I?” She asked, even though she already knew his response.

“I’m afraid not Miss Daena.” He breathed out a sigh, sympathizing with Daena.

“I knew it.” She chuckled lightly as a tear fell down her cheek. Daena closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to get herself together. She moved Areum into Minseok’s arms. “Promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“Keep her safe.” She stressed.

Minseok nodded at her request and walked away from Daena.  She had all the strength in the world, yet today, she allowed herself to cry. Their time was up.

Minseok shortly entered the rowdy conference room where Lan and the other boys were situated at. Everyone stared at the eldest boy, making Minseok uncomfortable with the quick silence, holding Areum in his arms.

“How did she take it?” Lan questioned, his hands folded together. Minseok took an empty seat, repositioning himself to support Areum’s small figure.

“Not well sir.”

Lan copied Daena’s same expression but turned his face to the side, he could feel his eyes getting watery. “Boys," he turned to face them,  "Tomorrow is important for all of you. So now, we shall formally start our conference. First, we shall re-live this prophecy that concerns you twelve --- I mean thirteen.” He glanced at Minseok, to see Areum cuddle closer to the boy.

“According to this prophecy, Sele will meet it’s doom again once the time comes. Our ancestors from long ago, went into battle with great forces that is still unknown to this day. They used great beasts, which are called Aeons, to help ease the treacherous war that killed millions. Like you all, there were thirteen specific individuals who inherited the spiritual power to call Aeons. They defeated them barely and were only able to seal them away until its power wore off. Yet, the enemy does not need any assistance. You should implant that detail in your heads. That’s how powerful they are. Well that is the short version, no need to go into extreme details.” Lan examined their faces.

“You will go journey forth to many places outside of Sele, I don't know how much of Ascernia you'll travel to, but just be prepared. We know your first location; Jopu. The great sand dunes. Everything else...we don't know.”

“Then how is she involved about this?” Yixing questioned with a tilted head. “She is far too young to be journeying with us.”

“And yet, she’s the only one to protect you.” Lan replied quick as he had other duties to attend to, “That’s all for this meeting. Enjoy yourselves, you never know how long it’ll take.”

Lan strided to Minseok. “I’ll take her off your hands.” Minseok lifted the girl into Lan’s arms, who said goodbye to the boys.

The boys stared at each other’s faces. It didn’t hit them until now. They were going on an adventure, way different from a mission or a daily town patrol. All they needed now was a sense of security and hope. All of Sele and possibly other cities and countries were in the hands of them and Areum. Ascernia's fate was in their control.

I wonder what tomorrow will be like?

Areum awoke to the soft sounds of breathing in the morning. She stretched out her arms above her head with a yawn when she noticed she had bumped into something. She was squished in between Lan and Daena, who were still in deep sleep. The tiny girl immediately returned her hands to her chest, remembering that the three of them had agreed to spend one last night together before Areum had to leave. She stealthily crawled her way out of bed, not wanting to disturb them and put a stop to the growling noises emitting from her stomach. But before she left, she planted a soft kiss on Daena's cheek and closed the door with a click. She walked down the quiet halls to the her destination; the food court.

“Hello Areum.” An middle aged man by the name of Colin greeted her, stirring the contents of the large silver pot.  Colin was a character of sorts. Never had the girl seen him angry, excluding the moments where he had blown off the top during work. Despite all that Colin was a jolly man with a good heart. “Good morning little one. What’d you like for today?”

“Anything is fine.”

“You can ask what you would want you know?”

“It’s fine. It’ll be too much trouble for you.”

“Too much trouble for me?! Ha!," he paused, “I think you’re forgetting who fed you for all of these years dear child.” He raised his eyebrow in amusement looking at Areum’s expression turned from tired to annoyed. How much he loved tricking her.

“...noodles…” She said with a low voice.

“Noodles? Why that’s the easiest thing to make you know?” He was surprised at the girl’s choice of food.

“But,” she bit on her bottom lip, “you’re the only one that knows how I like my noodles…” She trailed off, looking at the chef with expectant eyes and a small pout.

The man laughed. “You always know how to convince me with that.” He shook his head with a smile on his face. “I’ll need some noodles over here! Can someone get me ingredients for the broth too?!” He hollered to his crew.

“I got it sir!” A young man who had finished putting the breads into the stone ovens went over to the sink to wash his hands and start on the chef’s request.

“Thank you!” The chef yelled, not moving away from his spot. He turned his attention to Areum. “Just wait for them. I’ll make you the best bowl of noodles and I’ll happily make you another batch when you get back.” He showed Areum a thumbs up as some sort of a promise and maybe a moment that Areum can look forward to in the future.

Her smile reached up to her eyes and jumped up and down in excitement. “Noodles!” She gleefully exclaimed. The chef chuckled at her enthusiasm towards his cooking. It wasn’t special or anything like compared to those renowned chefs. Colin found enjoyment and bliss when people loved the taste and the aroma his food brought out. Even though it wasn’t the best paying job out there, he made a living making cuisine that was available and loved by everyone.

Colin placed the cooking drainer with the handle into the chicken broth. Then he put in the noodles for it to heat up and absorb the flavors. He took out the noodles and moved it into a bowl where he added vegetables and pork. Once he was done, he poured in the soup. The steam rising up to the ceiling and Areum’s mouth watered at the delectable sight.

Colin came out from behind the counter and transported the hot bowl of noodles to the nearest table in the food court. She trailed after him like a little duckling and raced straight for the seat when the bowl clanked against the wooden table. Areum grabbed a tin can where chopsticks were placed and a small box that held the spoons and forks. Colin handed her the napkins in case if she were to forget table manners and cleanliness when she ate.

“Enjoy little one.” Colin patted her brown hair and Areum stared up at Colin with her brown orbs.

“Thank you Colin.” She smiled once more, expressing her gratitude.

“I have to go now. The citizens are getting up from the sleep. We’ll see each other soon right Areum?” He crouched down until they were eye to eye.

“We’ll pinky promise on it.” He offered his curled hand with only his pinky sticking out. Coping his same action, with her small hands she locked their pinkies together and shook on it. “Promise.”

“That’s a good girl.” He hoisted himself off and waved goodbye to Areum. She waved back until he had returned to his station in the kitchen. Areum took a long look at her last good meal. “It really is happening.” She breathed, the steam of the noodles swaying in the left for a brief moment.

For this meal, Areum could care less about the stares at were gazing upon her. She ate with delight and as she was near the bottom of the bowl. She held it up to drink the flavorful soup.

“Ah. That hit the spot.” Areum rubbed her stomach. Both of them satisfied. She collected her trash and cleaned her area. She tossed the bowl into the cleaning tub and left the dining room before the stampede of people came in for the energizing breakfast.

Areum didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that Lan was going to fetch her sooner or later. She walked with both of her hands behind her back, then she started to skip until she broke out in a sprint. This adrenaline rush had suddenly filled her body. Was she afraid or elated? Areum couldn’t tell. Her mind told her to run. Run away from what? Areum looked to her sides, in front and in the the back; there was nothing there to hinder her from stopping. Her chest began to feel heavy. Areum coughed and decided that her running was going no where. Her heart raced and her body felt warm. She put her back against the wall for support, her legs eventually gave out on her and she sat on the floor.

Areum looked outside one of the windows of the palace. She was never going to see Sele in a while perhaps, depending on how long the journey would be. She didn’t bother listening to Lan when he explained the details in the meeting that concerned their adventure. If anything, she only had to follow, that much seemed pretty easy. Seeing that sitting down was going to get her no where, she forced her body to get upright and walked in the direction of the throne room, where she and the other twelve men would depart together.

“I swear where are those boys?” Lan sighed sitting on his hip with Areum standing beside him wearing a tan cloak over her own clothes and backpack.

"They'll be here in three, two, one." She leaned her head towards the door, that sprung open with Sehun showing up first. "Ha! I win!" He cheered with both of his arms reaching for the skies. Soon, the rest of them poured in with a taunting Sehun. All adorned with the same colored cloaks and slightly bigger sized backpacks.

"Today is an important day and you all were almost late," Lan laughs, "things never change." He glances at the boys, who laugh along with Lan.

Not being the mood damper of the party, Areum tugged on Lan's shirt. They needed to leave now or else there would be a lot of catching up to do. Lan looked down on his right shoulder, acknowledging the face she was making.

Lan breathed out a sigh, "Boys. You're all ready right?"

"Yes sir we are." Luhan answered, throwing his arm around Junmyeon's shoulders.

"This is really it."

Baekhyun fumbles with his hands until he spots Chanyeol, "hey!" He pats on his friend's shoulder and Chanyeol turns his attention to him.

"I'm sorry about the other day."

Chanyeol blinks and laughs,"it's okay, I've completely forgotten about it, but thanks for saying that."

"No problem." They exhange smiles and fist pumps.

"Come on everyone, let's go outside." Lan announced. He took hold of Areum's hand and held onto the girl's hand tighter than usual. Areum stared at Lan, the man who welcomed her into safe arms, introduced her to a probably heartbroken Daena at the moment and gave her another chance at life. She felt blessed to have all of this happen to her. Areum had a purpose to continue living and she was going to take her chances and the conditions that came along with it.

The doors were wide open to the outside and as expected, the Council were there to see them off. Areum bowed at the sight of the politicians, even though they were a bunch of old hags and wrinkly men she became strong because of them. Hopefully her training will be of some use on this journey.

"Areum, listen. It'll take too long for you to get to the Sand Dunes. We figured that if you transform you'll be able to reach there in about two hours or so. It all depends on your speed and if nothing comes at your way."

She nodded to Lan's advice and was about to run off in the other direction but Lan didn't let go. Areum looked back at Lan with a confused expression.

Lan sighed. He shouldn't be doing this. He released his hold on her and wrapped the girl in his arms. "You know you'll always be my little girl." He her hair in a loving manner.

Areum responded with a hum and a hug. Areum hated the constricted feeling that was coming from her heart. She wanted to stay. She didn't want to go. Yet, she had no choice.  Her life was already set in stone.

Lan broke away from the hug and dug into his pocket. He pulled out a blue jewelry box and handed it to Areum.

"Since Daena isn't here to give it to you personally, she got this custom made for you two weeks ago."

With curious eyes, she touched the box with her hands and opened it. She gasped at the gleam it was giving off when it hit the light. A small silver bracelet with her name carved in.

"So pretty." She exhaled.

Lan took the bracelet from its box and Areum held out her wrist, letting Lan put the piece of jewelry on her.

"Visit when you can, you hear me?"

The corners of her lips turned upward. Lan pushed her in the other direction to let her continue what she wanted to do earlier. He watched the girl run, the bracelet dangling on her skinny wrist. Now, Lan walked over to the boys to give them the heads up.

"I hope you all are ready for some flying!" He announced with excitement, putting one hand on Kris' shoulder since he was going to make the commands today.

“Again?” The flyer groaned. Sure, the skies were fun and all but dealing with a dragon was a different thing.

“Don’t worry. Areum’s been trained.”

“I’m not worrying about that,” he paused, “what I’m worried about is that damn attitude of hers.” He sat on his right hip, with his arms folded across his chest.

“Hey, we all got problems with that. And that concerns you too Kris.” Lan chuckled a bit when he saw Kris’ face turn sour. “Once you get to know her you’ll understand.”

“So we depart now?” Junmyeon adjusted the backpack to stay on his shoulders.

“Yup. Your ride is right there.” He pointed to Areum who had already transformed, she gave out a roar signaling to the men that she was done preparing for their flight. “Remember! Kris is in charge since his aeon is Bahamut.”

“When do we get to know what ours is?” Baekhyun tilted his head, a bit jittery at the fact that he too was going to have his own aeon. Guess his expectations went up drastically after seeing Bahamut.

“It’ll come to you. Kris is able to know his first is because Sele is Bahamut’s birth place; and since it is where he was born, Areum was able to connect with the spirit quicker and he trained her during the night time when you were all asleep.” Lan informed the boys.

Areum roared again, tired of waiting.

"Guess we shouldn't stall any longer." Lan pushed some of the boys towards Areum.

"Finally!" Areum voiced, opening her violet wings.

"She can still talk in that form?" Tao was surprised.

"She always has been." Lan answered as if it wasn't something new.

On Areum's back she had a large, wide brown saddle strapped around her stomach with reins on her chest. The boys climbed into the seat, with Kris making his way to the front, getting a firm grip on the leather. Lan went over to Areum and patted her scales. "Take good care of them and yourself."

Areum gave out a happy sound and nuzzled her snout against Lan's cheek making the man laugh. "Ok. Off you go, don't want to make you later than planned." Lan walked backwards, giving Areum enough room.

Her wings fluttered, the dirt underneath her rose up with the winds she was creating. Gusts of winds getting stronger with her wings gaining more momentum with every swing. Her body lifted up into mid-air and did a graceful turn, which made the boys panic. She signaled Lan that she was ready to fly. Lan waved goodbye as Areum turned her body and headed East to where the Sand Dunes would be waiting for them.