•••

L: Is it really you?

A: Did you think I'd never come back? Of course it's me.

L: These weeks without you seemed as if they were years. I'd almost forgotten your voice.

A: I've missed you too. Do the others know...?

L: How could they not? They'll still be shocked, nonetheless.

A: I sure hope so. I can't wait to see Taetae again.

L: He and his linked are doing well. They're leading the new seven.

A: The seven? I wonder what powers our new Discord will have- I remember Kattiya could speak to animals... God, I can't stop thinking about him. Sorry.

L: I know Kattiya meant a lot to you. He was an incredible person. 

A: He really was. But I... I can't help but blame myself. 

L: It's not your fault. He wouldn't want you to fall apart over him. 

A: I've already fallen apart. It's just a matter of forgetting why I'm broken.

•••

"Baumé, what are you doing?" Jihyun asked, glancing at Baumé who was ominously staring down a vending machine.

For some reason, the Circle had decided to buy a vending machine for their castle's kitchen and dining area, although this one required no money to use. 

Baumé didn't reply, instead taking a step towards the vending machine and keeping his cold gaze on the food inside.

"Don't mind him, he's training." Lucien said, not looking up from his phone, on which he was seemingly scrolling through photos.

"Training for what?" Jihyun asked curiously. "You don't wanna know." Lucien stated, clearly wanting to see the effects of whatever Baumé was trying to do.

The sound of turning motorized wheels gathered everyone's attention as a riderless segway rolled into the room.

"What the fuck Minwoo" Koushi spoke as the Segway turned to him. In response, the Segway lurched forward and crashed directly into Koushi. He let out a rather colorful sentence in Japanese, earning a shocked gasp from Haru and the segway to morph into a snickering Minwoo.

"What'd he even just say?" Siwa, who'd calmly been tending to a small injured cactus this whole time, looked up. "I dunno, but it sounded very violent." Haru said, subtly staring at Koushi.

"Lucien?" a voice came. The group turned to see Kyungjin, stepping into the room. He had gone out of the room to do something, and now returned. "Yeah?" Lucien asked, standing up. "So I saw this girl in the hallway, and she asked if I'd seen you around. I told her you were here." Kyungjin spoke quietly, shuffling as he delivered the news.

"Oh god. Nope I'm out." Lucien said, almost falling off of his chair and running across the room. "Bye suckers." he said, dashing out of a door, the sound of his footsteps disappearing quickly. Siwa held back a laugh at the situation.

"Are you talking about that girl with dyed orange hair? I saw her earlier too, seemed normal enough." Danjong spoke up, having been previously absorbed in mentally watching the real life Hwarang. The benefits of his powers paid off sometimes. Siwa coughed at the word 'normal,' but didn't comment.

"Who wants some snacks?" Baumé asked, seemingly given up on whatever he had been attempting. The others eyed him suspiciously. 

"I'll take one." Danjong said. Minwoo threw a bag of some sort of chips at him. 

"THE HELL?" he exclaimed after eating the first chip. He glanced around the room, staring at the others' confused faces. 

"WHERE DID COLOR GO?!" he asked, glaring pointedly at Baumé, whose satisfied smirk said that he hadn't given up on his activity after all. 

"You okay?" Jihyun asked him. "Everything is in black and white, it's  like an old movie." Danjong said, staring down at the bag of chips. "Did you literally make him colorblind via chips?" Koushi questioned, walking over to Danjong. 

"It'll wear off in a couple hours." Baumé stated. "HOURS?" Danjong groaned. "Why hours? I don't wanna deal with this for hours." he whined, more exasperated than enraged. 

In a turn of events, Kyungjin slowly approached Danjong. Placing a hand on his forehead, a soft glowing light emerged, much akin to the one that had whilst healing the woman on their last mission. 

Danjong blinked, gazing up at Kyungjin in astonishment. "Yeeesss! Thank you so much." he sighed in relief, Kyungjin smiling in acknowledgement of his thanks. "You just restore color to his vision?" Minwoo asked, eyeing Kyungjin, who nodded. 

"Did you enchant all the food in the vending machine?" Siwa asked, half shocked and half disappointed. Baumé, having recently gained control of his power as an Enchanter, hadn't had a real chance to see what it could do yet. Therefore he did wonderful things like this.

"Yes. It'll show everyone the true evil of vending machines." Baumé stated. "What's with you and vending machines?" Minwoo asked, popping some sort of non-vending machine candy into his mouth. "They're evil tyrannical manifestations of the unholy." Baumé replied. 

"They're evil what?" Minwoo asked. "Tyrannical manifestations of the unholy. Duh." Baumé explained. Minwoo stared at him with confusion in his expression. "I have no idea what you just said." he spoke. Baumé gave him a look  that said he didn't want to explain.

"Everyone. I just got a message. We need to gather in the castle's meeting room." Siwa announced, a look of urgency on his face. "We better not be under attack or something." Kyungjin said, a few of the others silently agreeing with his statement.

Siwa ushered the boys out of the room, hastily making his way through the hallways. 

"What's the rush?" Jihyun asked, Minwoo behind him clearly not too enthusiastic about the borderline running they were executing.

Siwa turned to Jihyun, the answer to his question then lingering in the air.

"One of our own has returned."

(A/N: sorry for the short chapter, and sorry for the cliff hanger kinda thing. I have another chappie planned so contain yourself. Alrighty byyeee)