IMAGINARY OR REAL?

“We’re almost there”, Suho told Sehun through his smartwatch and he could hear the youngest sigh at the end of the line.

“You said that the day before, how many days will it take for you to meet us honestly?”

“Is everything okay there?”, Suho asked him with worry since Sehun seems like he’s rushing to meet them.

Sehun paused for a while, making Suho worry. “Is Chanyeol alright?” He asked again and Sehun replied that he’s okay but it sounds like he’s unsure.

“He’s in pain as time goes by, even though he won’t tell us that he is but we can clearly see he’s holding it in. He kept groaning when he goes to sleep, its painful to watch”

Suho in his breath and told him to wait for a second. He quickly clicks the watch’s button three times to view their location with the other group.

They’re near, just a few kilometres far but the thing that stops them from continuing is that the day is already dark. This marks their 3rd day being separated and he would be lying if they’re not exhausted.

They are, physically but not mentally. Out of all days, this day is the most exhausting one because they all pushed themselves to their limit and believed that they could meet them before dark.

Too bad that they miscalculated because on their way, they almost got attacked by a wild tiger.

Suho quickly chased it away with fire however, he almost burned the forest but fortunately Xiumin managed to extinguish it before it spreads further.

“We’ll be there by tomorrow, Sehun. For real this time because we’re just a few kilometres apart”

“Alright”, Sehun said and before he drops the call, Suho quickly asked about how Yeseul is doing.

Sehun chuckled, “She’s doing fine. She could stop herself from floating now, thanks to Chanyeol”

“He’s training her?”

“Sort of? He knew a bit of tips since flight used to be Chanyeol’s power pair”

Suho hummed, understanding what he meant. Back in their training days, they often train with their other halves so they are bound to know some strengths and weaknesses of the other one.

“Of course, we forbid her in trying to fly because she might fly off to who knows where since she’s not fully in control”

“Then you’ll have to find a faerie to train her” Suho jokingly said and Sehun rolled his eyes on the other line— Suho can’t see this of course.

“Ha ha very funny, they’re already extinct so it’s not possible”, Sehun said boringly before saying goodbye. He needs to go and make the fire bigger, also slipping in complains on how his arms aches due to hours of trying to make it yesterday.

Suho felt bad on how the youngest are now basically the breadwinner of that group— but then again, it’s a good practice for him to learn how to lead and be responsible.

They can’t keep spoiling him all the time. Suho suddenly let out a proud smile at that thought before putting his hand down when the call ended.

Suho went back to where the group is gathered. He previously went to another part of the area since it was too loud— they were all engaged in a loud conversation as a whole, sharing funny stories about each other.

The group is getting bigger and bigger each time, hence Kai thought that it will be a good time to have an official ice breaking session (minus Chanyeol, Sehun and Yeseul).

“Who’s the oldest among the girls?”, Baekhyun asked and the girls exchanged stares along with their birth years quickly.

“Us”, the twins said in unison and the others almost got shocked at how similar the sound like. Even their expression and hand motion is similar.

“If it weren’t for the hair, we won’t be able to identify who is who”, Kyungsoo said out of nowhere and the atmosphere became awkward all of a sudden.

There’s a silent pause for a moment before some laughed forcedly at Kyungsoo’s statement. Some stole glances at Xiumin, who’s already frowning because of the obvious awkwardness.

“I’m going to find a salon once we reach Deldara, I swear” Yina mumbled grumpily as she run her hand through her now short and uneven hair.

It wasn’t obvious that she’s trying to change the topic because it sounded natural— because she meant it. She really does because she is sporting an annoyed facial expression when she talks about it.

“Is there even a hair salon or a barber there? If there is then I’m joining” Chen asked practically to no one because everyone seems to shrug their shoulder or didn’t answer.

Baekhyun then chuckled and his hand went over the lower part of his face, going over his stubbles. “Yeah, we probably look like a mess right now”

The last time they cut their hair was months ago however, they did have time to shave their faces before they got busy.

The guys all have long hairs by now, some of them have could fully cover their eyes and some already reach their noses if they don’t push their hair to the side.

“I wonder how Deldara is going to look like behind those walls”, Xiumin muttered under his breath, but loud enough for the people beside him to hear.

“It’s weird how not even the guardians know how Deldara looks like. Aren’t they supposed to know since they were the leaders?”, Baekhyun asked and Inna hummed, trying to recall any information about Deldara from the books she have read.

“From what I remember, even though Odana is closer to Aurelia in terms of power and ties in the political way— Deldara is the most trusted. They have never betrayed any generations of guardians. Probably the reason why the guardians trust them enough to let the continent leaders of Deldara to handle the continent themselves”

“You’re really a bookworm, aren’t you?”, Yixing teased Inna and the said girl went red.

“It’s interesting”, she mumbled as she pats her flushed cheeks. Yixing chuckled and waved of of his hand mid-air.

“No need to be embarrassed. I’m also like you but instead of history, I like to read about how to use powers more efficiently and learn how to use it in a way people don’t really know about”

“Xing’s a genius, I didn’t know he could extract powers using healing but he did it successfully even though he’s under pressure and it’s his first time” Baekhyun compliments him and Yixing rubbed his neck, feeling flattered by the sudden compliment.

“It requires a lot of energy and it was hard to find where the power is stored within your body, I could’ve moved your organ by accident but thankfully I didn’t” Yixing suddenly confessed and the colour in Baekhyun’s face drained.

“You mean I would’ve died on the spot?”

“Sort of”

Baekhyun gave him a shocked expression and the rest of the group laughed. Maybe Yixing shouldn’t have mentioned it, he regretted it but what’s done is done.

“That’s scary, never again” Baekhyun stuttered out, actually feeling nauseous after imagining his organs being moved.

Inna suddenly stood up after a while, inspecting the surrounding a little bit. No one paid attention to her until she began to walk away at some point.

“Where are you going?”, Suho asked her and she replied that she needs to go to the toilet— anywhere is fine but she felt that she needs to go further to avoid accidental exposure.

“Do you need fire?” Suho asked, already lighting a torch on his hand. Inna laughed, “You don’t have to ask, you’re going to give it to me anyway”

Suho nodded, giving her the torch and told her to stay as close as possible before going back to his seat. Almost instantly, he quickly glanced and Xiumin who seemed to stare at where she went off.

Suho held back his sigh. It’s obvious the oldest have lingering feelings towards her but none of them dared to bring that up to avoid opening old wounds in his heart.

“I’m betting that they’re living like nomads. They are living in deserts after all” Baekhyun said, catching Suho’s attention back from his thoughts.

“I’m betting that they have a lot of treasures there. Who knows? They probably have more advanced technology going on behind those walls.”

“Wouldn’t that make them greedy and selfish?” Chen argued and Kai tilted his head. “Maybe they don’t want to share? There has to be something that they’re being secretive about”

“I’m betting that they’re hiding something as well, something unknown to Elyxion”, Kyungsoo joins in and Suho frowned when he realized something.

“What will you guys bet on by the way? If it’s money, we lost it all when the plane crashed” Suho breaks the news to them and they all froze, their eyes widening in realization.

“Our hard work in collecting money during those 5 years is gone? Chanyeol didn’t save it?” Baekhyun asked and Suho facepalmed.

What kind of question is that?

“You think he would care about that more than their lives and the power orbs? Let’s be realistic”

Of course Chanyeol would try to save things that is important first— although money is too since they’re traveling far but he wouldn’t risk their lives just to find Suho’s backpack which contains the money.

Chanyeol already wasted time finding his own backpack, which is the reason why he teleported them 3 seconds before the crash happened. They almost died trying to save the orbs.

The rest of the group groaned and mumbled on how they are basically poor now. Suho shook his head in amusement and reassured them that they won’t be poor, that is if they successfully claim Elyxion back.

“You know,” Aecha started before continuing after everyone has quiet down. “most fairy tales of Elyxion comes from Deldara, minus the creatures of the sea because those mostly belong between Oda