"Tell me you thickheaded idiot, why did it not work?" 

"H-how am I-I supp-posed to k-know?"

"YOU were the one who decided to go and poison her food! And she's perfectly fine right now! Lock her up! Send her to the Stone Castle and may she never appear in front of public! Swirl her with the rumors of a frail and insane Mama!" 

Somewhere, a small town sank underground.

"W-will do, Ying."

"And appoint me..."

"The fill-in?"

"Yes. That would be desirable." Ying turned to look at the window, standing as still as a statue.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up with a start. I saw the morning rays of the sunlight enter my windows and I shook my head, clearing the thoughts. 

What kind of dream was that? I thought. Was Ying really plotting to throw me off the throne?

I walked to my window and looked outside. The phoenixes were flying around the koi pond. In the center of the pond was a birdbath that showcased a mini white limestone castle.

Head swimming with thoughts, I changed into my everyday wear and headed out of my room to watch the phoenixes. I sat down on one of the pine benches and gazed at the lilypads and lotuses floating on the water's surface.

The phoenixes' firey metal glinted in the sunlight as they flew around the castle and I sat there, wondering. What did Ying say? Lock me up in a Stone Castle?

Now, sorry to interrupt, but in case you didn't know, Ying was like a foster parent to Hyunjae, even though she left her to die. 

And you read that part without my permission.

I stood up, not sure of what to do. Do I tell my advisor about this? Or do I tell my sister?

Not knowing what to do, I headed back into the Palace.

---------------------------------------------lalala. you know what i will say here anyways, what's the point?

D.O. woke with a start as he bolted upright out of his bed. Being the first to awake, he saw the sleeping bodies of the rest of the group. 

He exhaled slowly, trying to clear out the bad thoughts from his head. 

He just had a strange dream of a woman and her who-seemed-to-be-partner-in-crime, plotting against the Mama, it seemed. He had to tell the others, but they probably wouldn't believe him. After all, it was just a dream that could've taken place hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Yes, that seemed legitimate, D.O. thought.

He went back to sleep without another thought.

The rest of the day, they further explored the Sanctuary and the outdoors, occasionally talking to the Tree.

------------------weeks later.

"D.O! Wake up!" Someone hissed in his ear. D.O. shot his eyes open to see Kai's worried face.

"Wha..." He sat up, rubbing his face.

"You wouldn't wake up when I shook you," Kai explained gently. "We've also got bad news, come out to the room when you're ready."

"The room" was a spare bedroom that Chen and Xiumin had found when they were exploring the Sancturary and used it as their secret headquaters. D.O. hurridly got dressed and walked to the room where the rest of the group was waiting with food.

"Hey! There he is, sleepyhead!" Suho grinned but it was unlike his usual self. Tao was pacing in the room, looking frantic. The rest of the members were either in deep thought or looking dazed and unfocused.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly, a bit surprised at the other member's appearences. Tao handed him a newspaper and the headlines screamed,

"NEW MAMA DEEMED UNWORTHY; IMPERIAL OBJECTS DENIED HER?" 

D.O. read out loud, looking confused. "What? But they glowed red on her wrists! I saw it myself!" he protested and the others murmered their agreement. He scanned through the article with words like "untrustworthy, unstable, insecure and cowardly" standing out.

He threw the newspaper on the ground in disgust. "This makes no sense at all! She seemed so nice to us when we talked to her during the Ceremony!" 

D.O. didn't want to believe the rumors were true. He wanted to believe the Mama he had talked to was nice and kind, not some evil and rotten human.

He could only hope that the article was wrong.

---------------------------------------------------------and of course, let's get back to our Mama.

I was walking on the grounds when I suddenly got blindfolded. "Come with us, little girl," said a rough voice. I felt two hands pushing me forward.

"What do you want?" I asked, staggering backwards. "And don't call me little girl, do you know who you are speaking to?"

"Of course we do, you're the Mama," one of them replied with a grunt. "And we can call you whatever we want to."

Judging by how close their sound was, I kicked them. Hard.

"YEOW!" one of the screamed and I heard a thud. "What was that for?"

"Are you blind? I am currently blindfolded-"

Before I could say anything else, a large gallon of liquid was poured down my throat. I spat it out almost immediately.

"What the crap was that?" I retorted, kicking the man again, still blind.

"You were supposed to swallow it. But if you don't it works as well."

I then slipped into unconsciousness.