Hyunsu followed Minhee all the way to a river where another Fae was waiting, the Fae looked almost exactly like Minhee except her eyes were a light ash grey. 'This is Miyoung, my sister,' Minhee smiled proudly at her duplicate who immediately scanned Hyunsu. Miyoung's lips curled in contempt as she took in Hyunsu's dirty greasy hair and blood stained worn plain brown dress.

 'Do humans not wash?' Miyoung's nose scrunched up in disgust as she looked over at her sister, 'that human boy from yesterday was the same, dirty as a rat, smelt like one too and is he expecting to stay here as we get her clean,' Miyoung looked over at Sunggyu who stared back with equal distaste.

 'I'm not going to watch, I'm going to make sure you two don't do anything,' Miyoung's eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked over at her sister, her lips quivered as she held in a laugh.

 'What do you think we'll do to her?' Minhee took Hyunsu's hand taking her to the river, 'at least face away from us and keep watch for predators. Honestly, what kind of a Nix is he? Can you believe a Nix can have manners such as his?'

 'Nix?' Hyunsu frowned, her eyebrows furrowing as she thought over the unfamiliar word.

 'Nix,' Minhee pointed to Sunggyu then pointed to herself, Miyoung, and Hyunsu, 'Nymph, Nymph, Nymph.'

'Nymph, Nymph, Nymph,' Hyunsu pointed to Sunggyu, Minhee, and Miyoung. Hyunsu watched in surprise as the twins burst into laughter. She blinked, confused, before looking at Sunggyu who looked like he was conflicted between being amused or offended.

'Nix,' Minhee gestured to Sunggyu, 'Nymph,' she pointed to herself. Hyunsu felt embarrassment well up in her, for all these years she had been taught that both genders are called Nymphs but evidently they were wrong and the males were called Nix. The only thing that made her feel better in such a situation is that she had made the mistake in private with only three people to witness her blunder. If it had been in a more public place she worried it would have been unexcusable.

 'I'll,' Sunggyu cleared his throat, drawing Hyunsu's attention to him, 'go and keep watch.' Hyunsu frowned watching him walk off into the bushes, leaving her alone with the Nymphs.

 'Come on,' Minhee started ing the back of Hyunsu's dress, Hyunsu pulled away and stared at Minhee with wide confused eyes. She could easily understand that she was brought to a pool to wash, it was the only thing that could explain Sunggyu leaving but for the two sisters to stay? And even start to take her clothes off? Hyunsu waved her hands as she shook her head.

 'Can't I wash in private?' She watched as the two sisters glanced at each other, both mentally cringing at the sound of the human language.

 'Is she going to continue doing that?' Miyoung scoffed as she grabbed Hyunsu's shoulders, holding the girl in place as her sister started ing the back of her dress.

 'I would say so, this late starter must be young to not understand how useless it is to speak a human language to us.' Miyoung laughed, ignoring the struggles of the girl they were speaking about. It didn't take Hyunsu long to go silent letting the sisters do as they wished, stripping her bare before pulling her into the river.

 Hyunsu gasped in surprise at the strange new feeling of the cool water flowing past her, caressing her legs. Being locked in the village all her days Hyunsu had only ever encountered water in tubs, she never knew it could look so clear. Her eyes widened with curiosity as she saw a small brown creature approaching her foot, much like the snake she encountered earlier it seemed to have scales and had no limbs, but there were strange things extending out of it, almost like fans.

 'Snake?' She pointed down at the creature, repeating the word she heard earlier. Minhee looked down and laughed, her thin lips disappearing in her smile.

 'Fish,' within moments Minhee swiped the fish out of the water and threw it at Hyunsu, grabbing it Hyunsu expected a smooth dry exterior like the snake. Shrieking in surprise she dropped the slimy creature into the water, before trying to clean her hands in the river. The Nymphs smiled at each other, mentally agreeing that the late starter was indeed quite young, and still very impressionable if she had no idea what a fish was.

 'Look at this hair,' Miyoung pulled the twine that was holding Hyunsu's hair in place, her hair fell limp against her back slick with grease. Hearing the disgusted tone the sister used Hyunsu shifted awkwardly, trying to justify her state by repeating over and over again mentally that it wasn't her fault, they needed to conserve water and so they did not bathe often afterall the village was far from any flowing water.

 Minhee led Hyunsu to a deep part of the water and helped her to sit on a smooth rock, the sisters quickly started washing Hyunsu's hair, bringing out glass bottles filled with sweet scented coloured liquids.

 Hyunsu sat patiently, closing her eyes , relaxing as the sisters gently rubbed her scalp, getting all of the grease out of her hair, cleaning it for the first time in years. Her eyes snapped open when she heard the telltale scrapping of a knife being pulled from its sheath. Miyoung pulled her arms up, scraping the hair off her armpits. If Hyunsu could have moved she would have, the sharp end of the blade was the only thing that kept her still.

 'How do the humans expect to smell clean if they don't keep themselves shaven?' Miyoung's lips curled as Minhee smirked.

 'They don't,' Minhee snickered as she pulled Hyunsu up, splashing her body with water as they continued their strange cleaning routines.

 Hyunsu sat on a rock on the bank of the river alone, a thin blanket was strewn across her shoulders, and her skin was a bright agitated red from all of the scrubbing. Staring down at her toes she lightly splashed the water, grimacing at the overwhelming feeling of humiliation. Here she was, the only cover for her body was a blanket and she had just been washed by two of the most beautiful females she had ever seen. She felt worthless, she had always seen herself as attractive but not anymore, there was no way she could match their beauty.

 ‘Where did they go?’ Hyunsu leaned over the water staring at her reflection, her gaze immediately fell on the pendant Sooki gave her that was swinging in the air, it was the only thing of hers they let her keep. ‘Why are they even doing this?’ She pulled herself up off the rock, wrapping the blanket around her so it covered her frail body. The only thing the silence gave her was more questions.

 ‘She is very modest,’ Minhee shifted the bag they had run to grab over her shoulders as she stared at Hyunsu from behind the treeline.

 ‘Do you think all humans are like that?’ Miyoung walked out towards the bank, Minhee followed after her diligently.

 ‘I don’t know.’

 ‘What is her name anyways?’ Minhee frowned in thought before smiling at her sister.

 ‘I have no idea, no point in learning it anyways, it’s apart of her old life.’ Miyoung nodded, agreeing before she tapped Hyunsu’s shoulder. Hyunsu spun around, breathing out in relief when she saw the sisters standing behind her. ‘It’s time to get dressed,’ Miyoung smiled at her as Minhee lifted a small black leather bag off her shoulders.

 Hyunsu blinked staring at her confused, pretending to understand what she had said. Hyunsu watched Miyoung open the bag, pulling out undergarments, thin green leggings, and a pair of black boots that matched their own. Hyunsu put on what was offered, rubbing her arms as she bit her lip, she really did not want to wear the same strange short tunics they wore. She had never seen a tunic that ended at the waist before, let alone one that was so tight.

 ‘What do you think?’ Miyoung looked into the bag, pulling out three rolled up pieces of clothing. ‘Shirt or dress?’

 ‘She would feel more comfortable in a dress,’ Minhee caught the blank look her sister sent her, after all they weren’t looking to make her comfortable they were trying to make her into a real Nymph rather than a late starter. ‘Dresses were not a human invention,’ Minhee unrolled the black dress and passed it to Hyunsu before looking at the green vest that was rolled up. ‘Would she need a coat? It doesn’t get very cold,’ Hyunsu pulled the dress on as Miyoung immediately started tying up the back of it, not answering her twins musings

 The dress itself was made of a thin material, Hyunsu rubbed her fingers against it as she investigated it. Despite it being so thin it did not look like it would tear easily, in fact she couldn’t see what it was made of, it didn’t look like the skin of any animal, it didn’t feel like any type of leather she had felt either.

 ‘We don’t get very cold, humans are sensitive, aren’t they? And she would still be rather human,’ Miyoung sighed and took the vest from Minhee, pulling it onto Hyunsu, tying the front of it closed.

 ‘Should we be entrusting her with any blade?’ Minhee offered Hyunsu a thick belt that had multiple hooks along its sides. Taking it Hyunsu put it on, watching the sisters curiously as they continued talking to each other, ignoring her completely.

 ‘I don’t know, I guess she needs some sort of protection,’ Miyoung reached into the bag and pulled out a small sheath, hooking it onto Hyunsu’s belt for her. Minhee pulled out a pair of gloves and helped Hyunsu get them on.

 ‘She does have the boys with her,’ Minhee pulled out a wooden comb with intricate carvings imbedded in it.

 Minhee started to brush it through Hyunsu’s hair softly, detangling it as she hummed lowly, a mystical tune emitted from her closed lips. Hyunsu closed her eyes listening to Minhee. ‘Her hair is really nice now that it is clean,’ Minhee swiftly tied Hyunsu’s hair into an intricate braid, twisting it in her fingers, considering tying in in a bun, before dropping it deciding to leave it as is.

 ‘It is, it’s not as straight as it looked,’ Miyoung smiled in disgust at the memory. Bending down she folded up the blanket and placed it into the backpack neatly, before slinging it over her back.

 Minhee whistled, mimicking a bird, within moments Sunggyu walked through the bushes and into the small clearing. He looked over Hyunsu and nodded, she actually looked decent now that she was out of those rotten human clothes. ‘She looks nice now, right?’ Miyoung reached out her hand to Minhee, they entwined their fingers and grinned at each other before they pulled their fingers apart.

 Hyunsu stared at them curiously, tilting her head as she frowned. Why did they entwine their fingers like that? It was such a strange thing to do. Hyunsu looked over at Sunggyu with a questioning gaze, he stared back mutely not understanding why she was so confused. Without warning he took Hyunsu’s hand, leading her towards one of the many entrances to the village. ‘What! No thank you?’ Minhee called after him, Sunggyu turned and looked at her.

 ‘Thank you, sisters,’ Hyunsu watched him turn and walk away again, still pulling her after him. ‘Hyunsu,’ she looked at him, watching as he stopped at a large tree. ‘Get on,’ he patted his back, signalling for her to get on as he lowered himself so she could grab onto him easier, obediently Hyunsu wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood up and looked down at her feet, without a second thought he grabbed both of her feet, making her shriek in surprise, making her fold them around his waist before he jumped onto the tree, rushing to the top.

 ‘You’re going to need to learn to do this yourself,’ he spoke, more for himself as he pulled himself onto the platform at the top, lowering himself so she could climb down.

 ‘You’re back,’ Sungjong dropped down in front of them from an overhead branch surprising Hyunsu, much to his delight. He smiled and tugged on her hair lightly, ‘so you did take her to the sisters.' Sunggyu remained silent, refusing to admit his plans went askew. Sungjong smiled at Sunggyu, knowing full well she had been taken to the sisters. ‘Will the clan mother be calling her tonight?’

 ‘I don’t know,’ Sunggyu sighed heavily, not really knowing what to say. Sunggyu knew that the clan mother would call for her eventually he just was not sure when, it would be night soon and from his understanding that was when the humans slept. The Fae, as they lived longer seemed to also have longer days than humans, where humans would go to sleep when it’s dark, and wake when it’s light, the Fae seemed to just stay up. The Fae slept the most in early morning, after the sun had already risen, and only then for a few hours. They found no need to sleep any longer, their bodies just simply did not need the amount of sleep that humans did.

 Hyunsu looked up at the sky, seeing faint touches of pink colouring the sky, she couldn’t believe that it hadn’t actually been that short amount of time since she had been taken. Only a few hours ago she was out in the field with her friend. Now she was entangled in the lives of the Fae. She looked over at the two Nix beside her, Sunggyu stared back at her, his lips pulled into a small smile before he looked at the younger one, speaking lowly in their foreign tongue.

 ‘She looks tired, until she comes to her senses she will need to sleep like the humans,’ Sungjong huffed, nodding. To Sungjong sleep was just a waste of time, he barely slept preferring to take cat naps when he could, though when he did sleep nobody wanted to be the one to wake him up, he had quite the temper.

 Hyunsu frowned watching them, she stopped walking, hearing the sound of birds filling the air, ‘the clan mother is already calling her.’ Sungjong hooked his arm in hers, pulling her to the main tree.

 ‘She doesn’t even know any phrases yet,’ Sunggyu sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he walked the path.

 ‘Not like she could learn any, I doubt she’s smart enough,’ Dongwoo spoke up, walking up to the trio. Hyunsu glanced back at him, her face darkened immediately before she looked forwards again, aiming on ignoring him. She knew he didn’t like her, and she had no reason to like him, she didn’t think they were going to be seeing each other every day. Sunggyu sighed, remaining silent, deciding not to correct Dongwoo, he didn’t doubt eventually she would grow on him as well, children had that way about them, of making others like them.

 ‘I think she’ll do fine, clan mother can’t be too hard on her,’ Sungjong trailed off, looking over at  Hyunsu. Hyunsu was oblivious to their talking, instead she was pleasantly surprised to see that the entrance to the tree they were entering had a bridge, unlike the others there was no need to jump over a harrowing gap. As soon as Hyunsu walked in her breath was taken away by the sheer magnificence of the room. The room was larger than any she had seen before, there was a long table cupping the length of the room, small cushions spread out underneath them. She could also see little lamps hanging along the walls, tiny golden specks floating around inside lighting the room up with a soothing glow.

 'She looks amazed,' Woohyun spoke up, smiling at the curious late starter in front of them.

 Hyunsu turned back to look at the Fae behind her, 'beautiful,' she smiled speaking the first word she had learned in Nymphean. Immediately Sungyeol's face lit up as grinned at her.

 'Look! She likes the main tree!'

 'At least she has some taste,' L crossed his arms not seeing the positivity in the situation unlike his four brothers who had similar smiles brightening their faces.

 'L, be respectful, the balancers are entering,' Sunggyu hissed, silencing the Nix as Hyunsu stared with wide eyes, watching as ten Fae stepped out from behind a tapestry. The Fae were dressed in the same outfits, each had bark brown pants and coats, then dark green shirts decorated with different golden symbols. Hyunsu could see masks hanging on their belts, unlike the black ones that hung on the younger Fae's belts these were golden masks, each with a different design similar to their shirts. She could also see the rock pendants hanging off different places. Some wore them as necklaces, a select few had them imbedded in their masks, others had them in their belts, coats, or on bracelets. Every one of the Fae also looked young, not a wrinkle was decorating the ethereal faces. Taking their seats around the tables they left two seats at the head empty.

 Hyunsu shuffled feeling scrutinized by the Fae that were staring at her, the small number that objected to her presence had steely gazes, whereas the others seemed more curious, staring at her as if she were more of a mystery, an object rather than a person. 'We welcome your presence, balancers,' the boys spoke in harmony as they lowered themselves to the floor, prostate. Hyunsu's eyes went wide and confused as she stared at them, only to be yanked down by Dongwoo who forcefully knocked her forehead to the ground like theirs whilst wearing a heavy scowl. Hyunsu glared at the ground in front of her as she resisted the urge to rub her aching forehead.

 'You may join with us,' a light hearted voice spoke giving the signal for them to raise. Sungyeol helped her up, glaring at Dongwoo who remained silent, a faint smirk lighting up his eyes.

 Hyunsu gulped upon see the two new Fae, at the head of the table stood a Nix and a Nymph, both were dressed in the same colours as the other Fae except they were wearing cloaks, the hoods sent shadows over their golden masks that lay on their faces, obscuring them from view. 'This is the Nymph discovered in the village?' Hyunsu gulped hearing the voice again, it echoed in the room with a defining power, she could only guess it came from the masked Nix as it was the only male of which she could not see his mouth.

 'Yes,' Dongwoo spoke lowly, his gaze fixed on the solitary Nix.

 'Bring her forwards,' Hyunsu frowned when Dongwoo grasped her arm, pulling her up to the table. Being as lost as she was Hyunsu started shivering, her mind falling into the depths of fear. All she could be sure of was that now after getting her prepared they were going to destroy every essence of her being. Maybe they would mentally torture her then send her back, or destroy her physical body before leaving her corpse to be discovered by the travelling caravans that were to arrive to her village tomorrow.

 'Where is her essence?' The Nymph spoke up, her voice was dark and eerie, giving Hyunsu the feeling of detachment, almost as if by hearing her speak Hyunsu was being stripped of herself, only to be replaced with an echo of herself, lost and afraid in the Nymphs mighty presence.

 'Here,' Dongwoo motioned to the pendant that hung on her neck, resting against her bosom. The Nymph reached out, her gloved fingers snatched the pendant, looking at it she pulled it off Hyunsu's neck, passing it to the Nix beside her. Hyunsu gulped gripping the bottom of her dress, prepared to pull on it in discomfort. Dongwoo clutched her hand, stopping her from acting out on her habit.

 'She does indeed carry the essence of a Nymph,' the Nix spoke turning his gaze on her, she could feel the hold of his look trapping her on the spot.

 Rendered immobile from fear she watched as he held out his hand, she remained latched to the spot staring at him, lost in the moment. She was absolutely clueless, the culture was  different from her own, she had absolutely no idea of what she was possibly supposed to do.

 Dongwoo hissed, roughly pulling her hand and laying it palm up in the Nix's. Hyunsu froze as the Nix put the pendant into her hand, staring at it before looking to the Nymph beside him.

  'It does remain alight in her grip,' the Nymph mused, before she placed her hand over the pendant, her gloved fingers clutching onto the Nix's trapping Hyunsu's hand in between them. 'What is her human given name?'

 'Hyunsu,' Hyunsu’s gaze didn’t leave the stack of hands, her attention was the only thing that moved to Dongwoo.

 ‘The late starter will no longer go by that name, as she has changed her outer appearance so she must also change her inner self. Names are what defines us, it is how we are known, so as an introduction to her heritage so she will be named Yeonjung.' Hyunsu could feel the rock warm as the woman spoke, terrifying her even more than she was previously.

 'The late starter, so named Yeonjung will be introduced to the community tomorrow.' Hyunsu watched the Nix and Nymph remove their hands from hers, before taking off their masks and sliding down their hoods to reveal their faces.

 The Nix had dark brown straight hair that hung in a loose ponytail, his bangs framed his face, making his sharp cat like features stand out. His smile sent wrinkles to frame his deep set hazel eyes. The Nymph was equally as stunning with wavy black hair, set in a braid that hung on her shoulder, reaching down to her waist. Her eyes were a bright mossy green, her mischevious gaze matched perfectly with her lips which were pulled into a cunning smile. Her bangs emphasized her square jaw and low cheekbones that added to her strong demeanor.

 The Nymph took Hyunsu's hands in hers, entwining their fingers, 'welcome to the clan Yeonjung, we welcome you.' She pressed her lips to Hyunsu's forehead and pulled away, she released their hands and turned, walking past the tapestry, disappearing from view. The Nix smiled at her before following after the Clan Mother, as soon as he walked through the exit the Fae sitting down stood and walked out of the room, leaving Hyunsu with the boys.

 'Welcome to the family Yeonjung,' Sungyeol slung his arm around her shoulder, jostling her out of her surprised stupor. Hyunsu blinked remaining speechless, she had been expecting something larger from the meeting, such as getting scalped, it was something she had read as a kid in a story about the old days, apparently there were creatures that would do that and make clothing out of the scalps. But of course that was a myth and as her mother would say she was over dramatising.

 'Yeonjung?' Sungjong waved his hand in front of her face, seeing she was staring at the tapestry, not responding at all to his brother speaking. 'Yeonjung!' Hyunsu jumped in surprise, staring at him wide eyes.

 'Who's Yeonjung?' Hyunsu frowned looking at Sungjong, faintly noticing that his jaw was extremely similar to the Nymphs, slightly square with a barely noticeable cleft in the middle of his chin.

 'Yeonjung,' he pointed at her before pointing at himself, 'Sungjong.' Hyunsu frowned catching on to what he was saying immediately.

 'No, no, no, no, no, no,' Hyunsu shook her head, distancing herself from the seven. 'No, you are not renaming me, my name is the only thing I have left! I am Hyunsu, Hyunsu!' She crossed her arms, jaw tensing as she stared defiantly at the seven Fae that stared at her in surprise.

 'I guess she wants to keep her barbaric past,' L scoffed rolling his eyes, Hyunsu's gaze snapped to his, filled with an idiotic rage she glared at him with full force.

 'Shut up!' Her body tensed as she clenched her fists, her nails digging into her skin. Hoya's eyebrows rose immediately as he stared at her in shock. The whole time she had been rather meek, this was the loudest he had seen her. 'You took me from my home, stole my clothes and are trying to change my name, I won't accept it! I won't!'

 'She's freaking out in her ridiculous language again,' Dongwoo sighed, immediately her eyes snapped to him as she glared at him.

 'And you're just so annoying and draining and it's all your fault!' She put her hands to her head, the rush of energy flooding out leaving her with a headache. 'I don't want this, I don't want to be here, I want to be home!'

 ‘She’s having a mental breakdown,’ Hoya hissed quietly, going silent when she cast him a dark look.

 ‘I’m not going to go with this! I am leaving!’ She walked by them making her own way to the bridge outside.

 ‘What is she doing?’ Woohyun frowned, staring after her. They watched as she looked down the bridge before she stared at a vine, she toed the edge of the bridge before grabbing it. She elicited a quiet shriek as she suddenly started sliding down the vine disappearing from view.

 ‘Is she trying to hurt herself?’ Dongwoo scoffed, slowly walking to the edge as Sungjong ran over.

 ‘I think she’s trying to get back to the village,’ Sungyeol frowned tilting his head as Hoya raised an eyebrow at him, neither of them really making any effort to follow her.

 ‘What else would she be doing, trying to find a unicorn?’ Hoya questioned, his voice thick with sarcasm.

 ‘They would all run away as soon as they heard her heavy stomping and ugly speaking,’ L joined in the conversation watching as Sungjong disappeared in the leaves.

 ‘She’s gone,’ Sungjong stuck his head up, clutching onto the side of the bridge.

 ‘What?’ Sunggyu frowned as Dongwoo scoffed, neither believed that she could have possibly gotten far.

 ‘I can’t see her, she’s just gone,’ Sungjong smiled nervously as Sunggyu’s eyebrows dropped, his face darkening in an instant.

 ‘Stay here,’ he instantly jumped onto a branch lower than the bridge preparing to lunge into the foliage.

 ‘What? But I-’ Sungjong got cut off by Hoya purposefully stepping on his hand to shut him up as he jumped onto the branch with Sunggyu.

 ‘You’re not allowed to leave the village until you go through your of age ceremony,’ L lightly stepped on his head, using it as boost to land on the branch. Sungjong dropped down lower, glaring at his brothers as they dropped down disappearing from view.

 ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Dongwoo dropped onto the branch Sungjong was on. ‘You’ll be old enough soon,’ he smiled and ran his hand through Sungjong’s hair, then ruffled it. ‘Just wait a little longer.’ He watched Sungjong slowly nod his head before he dropped down into the trees.

 Sungjong watched him disappear before he huffed glaring down at the leaves. He was always left behind, simply because he wasn't old enough, he really just wanted to go and leave the village. He paused, a grin forming on his lips as he looked around him, he knew lots of things, like when his brothers were upset, they tended to fade off to the world around them and only focus on the one issue, so they would only think of finding Yeonjung. They were hopeless trackers compared to him so he doubted they could find her, and finally one of them usually stayed behind to make sure he didn’t run off, and well he was alone.

 ‘Geronimo,’ Sungjong smirked as he jumped in the air, Sungjong crossed his arms, placing his palms on his chest as he plummeted towards the ground, before he hit a tree right below him he reached out and gripped a branch to stop himself from smacking into the awaiting tree. Sungjong closed his eyes as he in a breath through his teeth, scrunching his nose he resisting the urge to groan in pain.

 Looking up he couldn’t see the village at all, he had gotten over excited and had just dropped for who knows how long. He chuckled in exhilaration as he looked down at the ground sitting below him, tantalizing him with it’s promise of new land to explore. He squatted and tapped his bare hands against the branch repeatedly as he breathed out slowly.

 Quite honestly he had frequently sneaked out of the village, in fact he first heard the strange phrase geronimo from travellers. So with a grin he made up his mind, not bothered at all by the possible consequences of his actions. He dropped down onto the ground, balancing himself with his legs and one of his hands. Pushing himself off the ground he smiled proudly to himself his large delicately shaped eyes were bright with an impish glint, he would most certainly find her first, he could bet his life on it.