Ochtinská Aragonite Cave – the location of the third key. Given that the twelve guardians and their human companion were there for less-than-normal circumstances, they holed themselves up in the cheap hotel rooms they had bought and waited until nightfall.

There would be no tourists in the caves, no guides, and with the guardian of teleportation there’d be no chance of being stopped from entering or getting lost when they tried to leave.

Kai teleported them through the entrance to the cave, and from there they were on their own. The cave itself was not as big as Dahlia had imagined, but the light emanating from Baekhyun’s hands that reflected off the starburst of aragonite made it seem as vast as the night sky.

“How are we supposed to find the next key?” Dahlia whispered. They were alone, with very little chance of being caught, but speaking at a normal volume still seemed a bit wrong to her. Even her whisper seemed loud as it bounced off the cave walls.

“I don’t know,” Chen shook his head, the other two red suite guardians echoing the statement in unison with the reverberations in the cave. “With the other two, it was really clear where the key would be hidden.”

“We know it’s for our suite,” Baekhyun continued. “I mean, it only makes sense. Just look at where we are.”

“But how are you supposed to get it?” Xiumin interjected, leaning down to study an aragonite cluster that reminded him of his own powers. “Knowing which powers to combine is one thing; knowing where to direct it is another.”

Suho and Kris both sighed, the breath of the two leaders sounding like a windstorm as it bounced off the walls.

“Maybe you shouldn’t direct it anywhere,” Sehun proposed.

“What are you talking about?” Kai rolled his eyes. “Of course they have to direct it somewhere.”

“Okay, then it’s process of elimination, jerk-face.” Sehun grumbled.

“Cut it out, you two,” Luhan frowned at the two youngest guardians. He turned towards the guardians that had been in the red suite. “Okay guys; just….try it out.”

The three guardians looked to each other, shrugging lightly as they silently agreed. They held out their hands in front of them, the tell-tale soft glow of their powers appearing as they combined their abilities. Since there wasn’t a target for their powers, a glowing golden-white bubble grew and hung in mid-air.

With baited breath, the thirteen looked around, listening intently for anything other than the soft hum of the power of the three guardians that would indicated a hatch being opened or the tube appearing somewhere – anywhere.

“I guess not,” Chen hummed, disappointed, dropping his hand as he cut off his power.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol did so as well, their eye widening when they saw that there was something in the space where the power bubble had been. As soon as they had cut off their powers, the object began falling towards the ground. Luhan his hand out, his own powers stopping the object a split-second before it hit the ground.

There, suspended mere inches from an aragonite cluster, was a tube etched with the mark of the Tree of Life.

“Oh, would you look at that,” Sehun smirked proudly. “That’s, what…the second time I’ve been proven right? Seems like some people should listen to me more.”

Dahlia patted the wind guardian on the shoulder supportively, noticing the annoyed glares from the eleven others. “Yeah, you should’ve stopped while you were ahead.”

Luhan brought the tube back to himself, flipping open the top and pulling out the red key and a folded slip of paper. The key was passed to Suho, and the tube was tucked under Luhan’s arm as he unfolded the paper.

“Dahlia, do you have service down here?” He asked.

The girl snorted lightly. “Not a chance.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to wait until we’re back to the hotel to find out where the last key is going to be,” Luhan remarked to his twelve companions.

***

52°45′7.66″N 23°52′44.86″E

The last key – and undoubtedly the key that would be found by the guardians that had been trapped in the green suite of the Red Force’s tarot deck – would be found in Białowieża Forest.  They’d poured over the internet about the forest that resided on the border of Poland and Belarus. In the forest was a tree, one of the thickest trees in the forest, which was called The Guardian of Zwierzyniec; to the twelve guardians that seemed to be the answer to where they’d find the last key.

While the others were asleep, crammed in their beds since they couldn’t afford enough rooms, Dahlia sat on the balcony outside her room and stared at the night sky. She was worried for her friends, and she was worried for herself – all those though kept her fa