“Mira Noona, aren’t the stars really pretty?”

“Noona, lunch tasted really good today!”

“Noona, do you have a dream?”

“Mira Noona, I’m going to be just as strong as you are one day!”

“N-Noona, Mi-ra No-Noona … you’re scar-aring me.”

Mira’s eyes slowly parted; her heart pounding rapidly against her chest as the voice continued to ring in her ears. She stared up at the dark clouds that draped over the sky overhead; her eyes zeroing in on the single star that twinkled brightly next to the moon. “Sejoon,” she whispered, cringing at how familiarly the name had rolled itself off her tongue.

“Did you have another dream about him, Mira?” Haiku mumbled as he sat up beside her. He rubbed his small fists against his eyes and pouted at the lack of sleep he had received. He stretched his arms high above his head and fluttered his wings to get them warmed up. With his hands positioned against his hips, he stared down at her with a frown of disapproval, “It has already been 8 years now, Mira.”

Mira simply hummed in response, causing Haiku to heave another sigh.

“It’s been 8 years since you’ve seen another human, Mira,” Haiku whined as he tugged at a strand of Mira’s long black hair. He briefly panicked when the strand fell from its root and quickly tossed the evidence aside, “Don’t you think it’s time that we leave this place?”

“Nobody is stopping you from leaving, Kuku,” Mira responded simply as she ran her fingers through her long hair. She shot him a dirty look from the corner of her eye to inform him that she knew what he had done, “Besides, you know why I can’t leave this place.”

“Not cute,” Haiku huffed at the girl’s indifference. He rolled up his sleeves and held up his fists. “That’s it, I’m going to drag you out of here Mira!”

Mira tilted her head in his direction, her lips spread into a small smile. “I highly doubt you could do that.”

“I may only be 5 inches tall, but— but!” Haiku protested, his wings flapping furiously to back up his words.

“But what?” Mira asked with an arched eyebrow. She held up a hand and easily flicked him away with two fingers.

“I’m still growing!” Haiku grumbled as he smacked his tiny fist against the top of Mira’s head. “But you’ll leave this island one day.”

“And when that day comes the world will be doomed,” Mira smiled bitterly to herself. She gazed up at the night sky, flinching when the image of her deceased younger brother’s face formed in her mind. “because the only thing I have to offer is complete and utter destruction.”

“The world is doomed.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Soosoo,” Chanyeol laughed as he slapped the smaller on his back. “I highly doubt that the world is going to be doomed.”

“Then why are the elders calling for us so soon, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo exclaimed as he threw his hands up in exasperation. ”And don’t call me Soosoo!”

“It probably has to do with why there have been so many earthquakes lately,” Jongin shrugged as he bit into the fresh apple he had snatched from the kitchen.

“Yeah, the earthquakes. And the tsunamis, thunderstorms, landslides, hurricanes, tornados, and all the other that has been happening lately!” Kyungsoo moaned as he counted them off of his fingers. “If the world isn’t doomed, then what is it?”

“Bad luck?” Sehun suggested as he tapped his finger against his chin.

“Does that even make sense to you?” Kyungsoo snarled in annoyance.

“Could you guys not fight when we’re in front of the elders? You’ll embarrass us all,” Suho sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Yeah, you guys are giving Hyung high blood pressure,” Baekhyun piped up as he swung his legs back and forth from his seat on top of the table. “He’s not our age anymore, so we have to be more gentle with him.”

Jongin scoffed as he nudged Baekhyun’s arm with his elbow, “You’re one to talk. You’re always arguing with the head elder!”

“Because he’s an annoying old fart,” Baekhyun shrugged nonchalantly in response.

“Well, I’m sorry that you have an annoying old fart as your grandfather, Baekhyun.”

“E-Elder Byun!” Suho squealed, immediately bending over into a 90 degree bow. He yanked Baekhyun down from the table, causing the other to stumble to the ground in a clumsy manner.

“What are you doing outside the chambers, old man?” Baekhyun asked with an arched eyebrow and folded arms.

“I was out gathering information,” Elder Byun nodded his head. He gestured to the entrance of the chambers to signal that they should go in. “We have a new mission for the six of you.”

“It’s about time!” Jongin grinned as threw his apple roughly against the wall, smiling in satisfaction when it broke into several pieces from the force. “It’s been boring taking on these easy missions!”

“You’re going to have to clean that up Jongin,” Suho pointed out as he rubbed his temples. 

Jongin pretended not to hear him.

“Please refrain from acting like idiots in front of the council,” Elder Byun sighed as he shook his head. He pushed opened the doors and glanced at them over his shoulder. “They aren’t as patient as I am with you guys.”

“Don’t worry gramps, we won’t embarrass you!” Baekhyun grinned as he held up the peace sign. He linked his fingers behind his head and strolled into the Elder chambers like it was his second home. He let out a strangled gag, however, when Suho yanked his collar to hold him back.

“You are not going to make a fool out of us, Baekhyun!” Suho hissed under his breath.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Baekhyun muttered as he rubbed his neck soothingly. He patted Suho reassuringly on the shoulder, “I wouldn’t steal that position away from you.”

Suho let out a splutter of disbelief as the other members strolled passed him snickering quietly to themselves.

“You have all finally arrived, have you?” Elder Kim greeted them once they all stepped into council chambers.

Baekhyun, much to Suho’s relief, behaved respectably.

“Yeah, we just finished our last mission and came to report when they told us to come to the chambers. I mean, it would be nice to have a vacation or even a break or something but I guess everybody else is –” Chanyeol complained, getting cut off by Suho who slapped his hand roughly over the other’s mouth.

Elder Byun heaved a loud sigh as he went up to take his seat as the head of the elder council.

“I apologize for the short notice, but we were saving this mission until the six of you returned,” Elder Cho smiled. “Who else can we rely on other than our top team? I apologize for waiting this long before finally entrusting you all with this mission. It took a while to gather the necessary information.”

“Well, what do you want us to do then?” Jongin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You must have noticed the… problems our world has been encountering these past few months,” Elder Byun began to explain with a grim expression. “There have been an unnatural amount of deaths and they are all linked to the disasters that have been occurring.”

“And I’m guessing you have a solution to this?” Chanyeol asked. He let out a loud “umph!” when Kyungsoo smacked him roughly against the back of the head with a loud hiss of, “Don’t be rude!”

“It seems that the elements of the world are slowly coming out of balance,” Elder Byun frowned. “It is because of this unbalance that these disasters are occurring. We have a hunch as to what is happening, but we cannot be absolute. What we do know is that something must be done quickly to prevent it from changing even further. The tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, blackouts, and all the other worldly disasters will continue to grow in strength if the elements do not find their proper balance once more. In order to solve this problem, we must unite all the Ultimates and have them work together at the ancient ruins to bring the world back to its proper order.”

“The Ultimates?” Sehun asked with a cocked head. His eyes lit up with recognition at the old folk tales his mother used to read to him before bed, “You mean…”

“In this world there are 6 beings whom have been entrusted with the power to control each of the elements – light, darkness, earth, air, wind and fire. The power of each of the elements manifests itself in their bodies, allowing the holder to wield godly powers,” Elder Kang explained. “They are the physical, human symbols of each of these elements, and we believe that they have the power to bring the world back to its previous harmonious state.”

“Okay, that sounds easy enough,” Jongin shrugged. “So where are these Ultimates?”

“That’s why we’ve entrusted this mission to you guys,” Elder Kim shook his head. “We do not know.”

Chanyeol’s eye twitched. “And you expect us to find them how?”

“We know where one of them is located,” Elder Byun nodded as he pointed a remote control at the screen projector above his head. A map appeared on the screen with a large arrow pointing to a small island located in the east. “Her name is Mira, and she is currently located on the abandoned island of Irasle. As for the others, we have general locations pin pointed but none as specific as Irasle.”

“She’s a girl?” Chanyeol asked with wide eyes. “A girl is an Ultimate?”

“Why yes she is, Chanyeol,” Elder Cho folded her arms with an arched eyebrow, “Is there something wrong with a female taking the most powerful position?”

Chanyeol’s face immediately flamed at the question, “N-No! I er- I…” He looked towards his teammates for help, but they all held their hands up in surrender. He was the one who had dug his own grave.