Exoplanet

Chapter 7: Gaining Access

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Tao tried not to breathe as he gazed around at all the people living in poverty. The roads were bumpy and full of ditches, and there was no sewer system. Any waste was dumped around haphazardly, and the smell had accumulated into a horrifying stench.

Luhan and Chanyeol looked highly uncomfortable as they tried to fan the air away from their noses inconspicuously, not wanting to insult the people by openly showing disgust. Only Junmyeon looked unbothered, but Tao guessed that the water user was really good at keeping a straight face.

He felt even more respect when Junmyeon even spoke to the villagers. Tao was afraid of opening his mouth at all, thinking that that would only worsen the awful smell that was assaulting his nose.

Out of the three isolated villages that they visited in the past week, this was the filthiest. There was almost always a fly buzzing by Tao’s ear, and he didn’t dare look at the ground and see all the disgusting trash that was lying around. A dirty rag lying in their path shifted slightly to the side of the road, and Tao knew that Luhan was subtly trying to move the garbage away from them with his power.

“No, sir. Haven’t seen ‘em strange people yer talkin’ ‘bout,” the middle-aged woman replied when Junmyeon asked her if she had seen anyone with noticeable abilities.

“How about someone with a mark on his or her body?” Junmyeon queried.

“Nope. Haven’t seen anybody like that either,” she said, eyeing the water user curiously, “Why ya askin’?”

“They are our friends.” Junmyeon smiled as nudged his horse in the side. The four Exo members headed deeper into the village, intent on asking some more people.

The lady called after them. “Hope ya find yer friends!”

The group wandered through the village for a few more minutes, stopping random passersby and asking them about seeing anyone with a strange mark or strange powers. Nobody reported someone with those criteria, but a male teenager had made a remark about a strong wind that was blowing through Dalgu several years ago.

Upon hearing that, Junmyeon and Luhan had gotten excited, thinking that maybe one of the Exo members had been around, but the teenager reminded them that it was years ago. At this point, the four of them realized that even if a member of Exo had been here, he or she would be long gone by now.

They thanked the teenager and went on their way.

“What now?” Tao asked, “That was the last village, right?”

“Yeah,” Junmyeon answered, “We should head for the Dalgu-Sinseye border now.” He turned to Chanyeol. “How much longer are our supplies going to last?”

Chanyeol, who was designated the food keeper, opened the two bags that he carried and peered inside, poking around a little. “About one or two days. We should restock soon.”

“We’ll stop at a town near the border and get more food before we try and cross into Sinseye,” Junmyeon said.

“Chanyeol, Junmyeon,” Luhan suddenly said, “Why do you think Sinseye would close its borders?”

“Trying to protect themselves from Moltuva sending spies?” Chanyeol suggested.

“Oh, that’s a good one,” Junmyeon commented thoughtfully, “Maybe there’s a spy already inside and the king thinks that the easiest way to catch the spy is to close the borders so the spy can’t get out.”

“A spy already in Sinseye?” Tao wondered, “But Moltuva only conquered Bolvaria a week ago.”

“To be honest, the Moltuvian king probably planted spies long before he even decided to attack Leilan,” Junmyeon answered, “He’s the type to plan ahead for years. Why do you suddenly ask though?”

“Tao and I were discussing this last week,” Luhan said, “We also thought that maybe they were trying to protect themselves from Moltuva, but we also considered the possibility of a civil war or the king closed the borders for a personal reason since he’s been acting strangely.”

“Maybe we can persuade them to let us in if we tell them about the prophecy,” Chanyeol suggested.

“We could,” Junmyeon agreed, but then his voice slowly trailed off. “Wait, Sinseye couldn’t have closed its borders because of what happened to Leilan. Leilan was defeated about two weeks ago, but Sinseye’s borders have been closed for a month.”

“Then they didn’t shut the border to protect themselves from Moltuvian spies either,” Luhan added, “It was too early when they closed the border.”

“Then that leaves either a civil war or king’s personal reason,” Tao concluded.

“I’m going to guess king’s personal reason,” Chanyeol said.

“Why?”

The fire user shrugged. “I feel like it.”

The rest of their journey was filled with playful banter, mostly from Chanyeol talking and the other three interjecting occasionally. Over the past week, Tao had learned that Chanyeol was extremely easy to talk to, even though the red-haired man angered easily. Speaking of red hair, Tao glanced at the strands sitting on top of Chanyeol’s head and noticed that the red had faded a little.

Thinking that he should mention it to the fire user, Tao interrupted one of Chanyeol’s meaningless rants. “Hey, Chanyeol. I think the red in your hair is fading.”

“Oh, yeah, it does that.” Chanyeol reached up and touched his dark-red ends of his hair. “It turns red if I absorb fire, and as I use the firepower that I absorbed, it turns back to black.” Chanyeol had been in charge of lighting campfires for when the four of them needed to camp outside, so that would explain the fading of the red.

“That’s cool!” Luhan exclaimed. “If yours turns red when you absorb fire, maybe Junmyeon’s hair would turn blue if he could absorb water!”

“Your hair turns blue?” Tao was confused. He had been around Junmyeon for a long time and never seen a speck of blue in the latter’s hair.

“No, no, no!” Junmyeon quickly denied, “That’s just Luhan’s wishful thinking.”

“You’d look stupid with blue hair anyway,” Luhan muttered under his breath, but Tao heard it and had to cover his mouth to hide his laugh.

“Shh!” Junmyeon hissed, “We’re arriving at the border.”

The laughter immediately died in Tao’s throat, and he sat up straighter on his horse, craning his neck to look past Junmyeon at the wooden walls standing proudly in front of them. The setting sun made it difficult to see, even if Tao squinted his eyes. It was only when the four of them got nearer that Tao inhaled sharply and Luhan swore.

There were three guards standing in front of the opening in the wall. All three were holding spears, all three had scowls on their faces, and all three were wearing white and gold.

Moments before they were in earshot of the guards, Luhan leaned closer to Junmyeon and hissed, “We need to get through. Tao’s vision took place in Sinseye.” Junmyeon’s only response was a grim nod. Tao saw Chanyeol swallow nervously out of the corner of his eye.

The four of them were a few paces away from the entrance when one of the guards stepped in front of them.

“Halt!” The man commanded sternly, “The border is currently closed. I’m afraid I cannot let you through.”

“Yes, we heard that the border is closed,” Junmyeon replied calmly despite the three pairs of scrutinizing glares focused on him. “May we inquire as to why it is closed?”

“King’s orders,” another guard answered shortly, “Now move along to Trost or something.”

“Is there any way we can persuade you to let us through?” Junmyeon stood his ground despite the guards’ annoyance. “We have very important business in Sinseye and cannot afford to turn back.”

“No, His Majesty has ordered that nobody can cross the border, no matter the excuse.” The first guard raised his spear threateningly. “Sir, if you refuse to leave, I am going to have to resort to force.”

Tao felt Luhan tense beside him. Chanyeol’s hands were clenched in fists as the fire user struggled to keep the flame inside him under control. Tao himself was beginning to feel a little edgy as his eyes flicked from one guard to another, worried that one of them may attack.

“What is going on?” A new voice asked. The guards jumped slightly and whirled around as a fourth soldier appeared.

Like the first three, the newcomer was dressed in plate armor with a white and gold sash tied diagonally across one shoulder. However, this man carried himself proudly, calmly striding over to stand in front of Junmyeon.

“Captain.” All three guards saluted respectfully, but the first guard answered. “These people want to cross the border. We’ve told them that we can’t let them in, but they refuse to leave.”

“We need to get into Sinseye,” Junmyeon cut in, “It’s very important. Please let us through.”

“The king has told us not to let anyone through. I’m sorry, but his orders are absolute,” the captain said apologetically.

Junmyeon sighed. Tao, Luhan, and Chanyeol looked at him, waiting to see what Junmyeon would do.

The water user turned around and met Luhan’s eyes. The telekinetic nodded slightly, and Junmyeon faced front again, only this time, he slid off his horse and gestured to the captain.

“May I speak with you in private, Captain?” he asked politely.

The guards looked like they wanted to protest, but the captain spoke up before they could get a word out.

“Of course,” he agreed softly with a kind smile.

The two of them walked a little ways off, conversing quietly among themselves. Tao glanced at the guards, quietly snickering at their overexaggerated suspicions. Two of the guards were staring fiercely after Junmyeon and the captain as though expecting the former to suddenly turn rabid and attack the latter.

While Tao laughed silently, Luhan let out an audible snort of amusement. “Relax. Junmyeon isn’t going to hurt your captain,” he coaxed only to be met with mistrustful glares. He raised his hands in a surrendering gesture at the animosity that was suddenly directed at him, rolling his eyes when the guards refocused their attention on their captain. Chanyeol grinned at the exchange but didn’t say anything.

Tao looked back at Junmyeon and the captain in time to see the look of shock on the captain’s face. He guessed that Junmyeon must have told the captain about the prophecy. Sure enough, Junmyeon lifted the bottom of shirt slightly, no doubt showing the captain the waterdrop mark on his stomach.

“What is he doing?” Tao heard one of the guards mutter.

Barely a moment after, Junmyeon and the captain came back. The latter cleared his throat and addressed the group. “I will report your circumstances to His Majesty, and he will decide whether or not to let you in. In the meantime, we will allow you to stay in the barracks with the other soldiers.”

“Really?” Luhan and Chanyeol exclaimed at the same time, then turned simultaneously to give each other identically surprised looks.

“Really,” the captain repeated, “However, you are not permitted to leave the barracks until I return with the king’s answer.”

“We can make do with that,” Junmyeon answered, taking the reins of his horse.

The captain nodded and approached the third guard, who hadn’t said a word since the four Exo members arrived at the gate. He leaned forward and whispered instructions to the guard, and the guard nodded.

The captain patted the guard on the shoulder and walked off into the night. Tao watched as he mounted a jet-black stallion and galloped away in the west direction.

The guard who the captain spoke to briefly stood up and stretched, mouth gaping in a wide yawn. “The captain will not be back for at least three days. I suggest you make yourselves comfortable here. Follow me; I will show you to the barracks.”

Without waiting for the travelers to respond, the guard turned and headed further into Sinseye. Junmyeon turned and looked at the other three before following on foot, guiding his horse along with the reins. Luhan, Tao, and Chanyeol mimicked him, sliding off their horses and hurrying after Junmyeon. The other two guards parted to let them pass, despite their disapproving stares.

Their guide led them to a small bunker. It was slightly smaller than the other bunkers that were lined out neatly beside it, but it was enough to fit the four of them for a few nights. A large stable stood in the center of the circle made by the bunkers, and Tao could see the silhouettes of several horses already inside.

“You can leave your horses there.” The soldier pointed at the stable. “Don’t worry. The others won’t take them.”

After their horses were secured in the stable, the four Exo members followed the soldier into the bunker. There was a large living room with a simple yet nice fireplace and a dining table complete with four chairs. Seeing the chairs made Tao expect four bedrooms, but there were only two.

“Everybody shares a room here,” the guard explained, “It saves money and space to have two people to a room.”

“Thank you very much for accommodating us,” Junmyeon said politely.

The guard nodded and left, pointing out that there was some food already stocked in the storeroom that they could help themselves to if they got hungry. He also pointed to the bunker on the left and said they could find him there if they needed anything. After the guard shut the door behind him, the four of them split into pairs and chose their rooms. This time, Tao roomed with Junmyeon while Luhan and Chanyeol shared.

For the next three days, the four of them were forced to stay in the bunker. The few times they were allowed out were when they needed to stretch their legs, use the outhouse, or take a bath. Only a few soldiers ever spoke to them in a friendly way. The rest either ignored them or regarded them coldly, believing that the four of them would be turned away by the king soon.

Even though the captain had told them they weren’t allowed to leave the bunker, the four Exo members didn’t get tired of being holed up. The soldiers they managed to befriend visited them constantly, bringing Sinsinian food and clothes to give them. The four of them were distracted by the new culture and people, and the days passed by quickly.

It was on the morning of the third day that the sound of a galloping horse reached Exo. Tao heard it first and leaped off his bed, rushing to the window to peer outside. Sure enough, the captain had returned from the royal palace and was currently being greeted by the soldiers.

Tao alerted Junmyeon, Luhan, and Chanyeol of the captain’s return, and the four of them hurried out of their rooms. They arrived in the bunker’s living room at the same time three loud knocks sounded from the door.

Junmyeon was the one to open the door and greet the captain. The water user offered the captain a seat, but the captain declined and asked, “Have you packed your bags yet?”

The Exo members blinked at each other in confusion and slight disappointment, believing that the king of Sinseye had ordered them out of the country. However, the captain’s mouth curled into a wide smile, and he said, “The king has approved your entry and wishes to speak with you four in the palace. We’re leaving immediately, so pack your things and we’ll set out.”

Tao couldn’t believe it, and judging by Luhan’s and Chanyeol’s wide eyes, they couldn’t either. Junmyeon bowed repeatedly, thanking the captain for his help.

“Thank His Majesty, not me,” the captain said as he walked outside to wait.

The few things that they had taken out of their bags were hastily stuffed back in. Rooms were hastily scanned to make sure nothing was forgotten. A moment later, the four of them were out in the stables, untying their horses and leading the animals out into the open before mounting. Quick goodbyes were said to the soldiers who came to see them off, and then, the four were following the captain west towards Fluor, the capital of Sinseye.

A/N: So the Tao's vision in the last chapter took place in Sinseye, and the four of them managed to get the Sinsinian king's permission to stay in Sinseye. Sounds like Exo is going to find some interesting stuff in Fluor, the capital of Sinseye. Hope you guys anticipate this as much as I am ^^

'Til next chapter!