'Can I help you child?'

A nice-looking old lady asked Ryeowook gently. She was wearing a long dark blue dress with a pink apron on. Her hair was tight neatly at the back and she was smilling sweetly at him. Ryeowook had been looking around the many number of stalls arranged on a small street. The sight really fascinated him as he had never seen so many people gathered in one place. Heck, he had never seen such a place. Everything was chaotic. People were yelling this and that to one another and promoting the items from their stalls. There were little children running around, chasing each other. There were even live chickens and goats walking around freely on the street. It was truly different from what he had used to. As he was observing everything with much excitement one particular stall caught his attention as the smell of its food was so tempting, he was starting to feel hungry. He wasn't sure what it was since he had never seen these kind of foods in the forest before but it looked really delicious. However, he didn't know how to get the food. Should he just ask for it? Should he beg for it? Or must he trade the food with something else? He didn't know what exactly he needed to do to get what he wanted from any of the stalls.

'Um..what's the name of this place..?' Ryeowook replied her.  He decided to think wbout food later and get on with his more important business.

'Why, are you new here??' The old lady asked him. She was observing him closely and it made him feel slightly awkward.

'I am. It's my first time coming here.' Ryeowook nodded.

'No wonder you look so clueless!' The old lady beamed. 

'I've been watching you walking around this place looking like you've never seen any of the thigs here.' She chuckled.

'Anyways, this village is called The Village of Principia Rerum.' She told him proudly.

'Principia Rerum?' Ryeowook remembered the name. Shindong did mentioned to him before.

''What does it mean??' He then asked.

'It means elements.' The lady answered him with a smile.

'The Village of Elements.'

'Why was it named like that??' He questioned. He was immediately filled with curiosity.

'Well, that's because most of the people here has certain abilities that are related to elements on earth.' She began explaining.

'These elements are also part of our body.'

'For example..' She said as she walk back towards her stall and grabbed a dying flower. She then waved her hand on the flower. Magically, it began to bloom once again. Ryeowook's eyes widened. Amazed by what he had saw.

'My element comes from the element of soil.' The old lady continued to explain putting the flower away.

'However, it is only a fragment so I can only do so little and only with flowers.'

'I am not capable of healing anything else related to soil.'

'Why is that and what do you mean by a fragment?' Ryeowook beamed curiosly. Clearly interested at this new knowledge.

'There are four main elements of this world.' The old lady uttered.

'There are water, soil, fire and sky.' She continued, moving her hands up and down indicating four separate elements.

'And each of these elements exist as one type in a particular person.'

'They are..you could say inherited and controlled by The Gaias of this village.'

'They possessed the full power to each element while we, the people, only possessed a fragment of those powers according to what particular element that exists in our body.' Ryeowook nodded. Fully understanding everything she had said.

'Like me, I am the element of soil so I am able to control flowers. But that is it.'

'I am not able to do more.'

'What are The Gaias?' Ryeowook asked again. He was sure he had heard it from somewhere but it just slipped his mind. Plus, he wanted to learn more about this village. Everything was just so fascinating to him.

'The Gaias are the rulers of this village.' The old lady smiled at him.

'They were four of them before but, now there are only three.'

'What happen to the fourth one??' Ryeowook wondered. His brow raising.

'He passed away...a long time ago...' Said the old lady sadly.

'Anyways, you see that huge mansion over there?' She pointed a large building at the edge of the village. Ryeowook merely nodded.

'That is where the three Gaia lives.' She explained.

'They are like the Kings of this village..I guess you could put it that way.'

'I see.' Ryeowook blurted out quitely as he stared at the large mansion. He didn't realized how silent he was until the old lady spoke to him again.

'Would you like something to eat child?' She asked him genuinely.

'It's okay. I'm all good.' Ryeowook answered her politely. He was actually embarassed as he didn't know how to exchange the food for something else. He didn't brought anything with him when he came here. He only brought a small pouch that he had placed inside his pocket.

'Nonsense!' Cried the old lady. 'Look at how skinny you are!'

'Here, take this, it'll be my treat for you as our guest.' She handed him a large piece of bread.

'Thank you.' Ryeowook was touched by her kindness. He stared at the food she gave him for a while.

'Um..what is it...?' Ryeowook finally ask.

The old lady gave Ryeowook a puzzled look.

'Well, it's a bread of course.' She then said.

'It's called croissant.'

'You've never had it before??' 

'Um..we don't have this back at our place..' Ryeowook lied. It was hard to explain the truth anyway.

'What kind of a place doesn't have bread???' The old lady gave out another puzzled look. However, she didn't push the matter further much to Ryeowook's delight.

'Then take two. Here you go.' She then handed him another piece of croissant.

'So that you can enjoy it more.'

'Um, is this really okay??' Ryeowook hesitated. He didn't want to cause any inconvenience to her.

'Of course it is!' She responded with a huge smile on her face. It gave him such warmth that tears almost felt out of his eyes. He had never felt this kind of feeling and acceptance before. His heart was immediately touched by her compassion.

'I hope you'll like it. I made it with my own hands.'

At this, Ryeowook realized, that he was somehow going to like this place.

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'Hae...' Leeteuk called out gently as he entered the room.

Donghae was sitting on the bed. He had his knees curled up and he was holding the drawing he had loved and kept for so many years.

'Hae..' Leeteuk uttered again as he sat next to the younger man.

'Hae, I know how hard this is for you...' He placed his hand on his shoulder, rubbing it gently.

'...please talk to me...'

'Teukie hyung..I'm really sorry...' Donghae apologised as tears fell out of his eyes.

'I didn't know what got to me. I just..I just..I was just..so angry...'

'...I can't..I can't handle anyone else replacing his place..I cant...'

'..it's his place...his....'

'...his hyung...' 

'No one is taking his place Hae.' Leeteuk explained as he wiped Donghae's tears away.

'No one can ever replace him in our hearts. He is our brother and he will forever be.' He hugged him lovingly.

'We are just talking about using his fire element to help us get the prophecy to come true.'

'It's never about him taking a spot in our hearts and taking away our memories.'

'You've misunderstood Hae.'

'I know that hyung..' Donghae said quitely.

'It's just that..the idea is so painful to me...'

'..I've always..I've always wished that he didn't die..' He was starting to sob. His shoulders shaking.

'..always..so that..he could..he could be with us..protect this village together with us...'

'..together...'

'..I wanted to do so much with him hyung..teach him so much...'

'..I wanted the four of us to be like how we used..used to be...'

'..hyung..it's so hard...'

'..it's so hard and so..so painful...'

'..hyung I don't know what to do...'

'Ouh Hae...' Leeteuk couldn't keep his emotions behind any longer at Donghae's words as he started crying. He hugged the younger man even tighter.

'I know.'

'I KNOW.'

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