ENTERING THE HIDDEN CITY

“Even teleporters can’t teleport behind the walls? Are you serious?” Kai asked Haneul again to reconfirm and she pressed her lips into a thin line.

It’s a good thing that she’s walking in front and no one could see her face. She’s pretty easy to read, whatever she’s feeling inside gets mirrored onto her facial expression.

Currently, she’s annoyed.

How many times does she have to tell them that no matter how powerful someone’s power is, it still won’t work?

“Like I said—”, she started and sighed before continuing. “There’s a spell casted all over the boundaries of Deldara so that only Deldarians can enter”

“Not even the guardians or apprentices?” Suho asked and Haneul nods boringly.

“Let’s just say that if someone did try, they will end up... lost”, Haneul told them and let out a chuckle when she remembers a group of people who tried to go pass the walls.

They didn’t see what’s coming.

But then she skidded into a stop when she remembered something. The group also stopped walking when they saw the faerie turned around to face them.

“Well, there was one guardian who could enter before” Haneul told them, her finger on her chin as she tries to recall which guardian it was.

She snapped her finger when she remembers, “The one who fell in love with our kinds, I think it was the guardian of wind”

Almost immediately, the group all turned to Sehun making the youngest flustered. “Why are you looking at me? Yixing has wind not me”

Chanyeol snorted, “Have you forgotten that wind is your original power? Ofcourse we’re looking at you”

Chanyeol and Yeseul is there as well; they all reunited and Chen immediately went to heal him though, he did a messy job (poor Chanyeol shouted in pain for every mistake he made).

Due to that, he didn’t trust Chen enough to heal his broken arm and decided to let it be— he only allowed Chen to heal his sprained ankle. At least Chanyeol can walk without support now. “I’ll just let the doctors in Deldara heal me or something”, Chanyeol said nervously after his sprained ankle is healed and Chen immediately felt offended.

Together, they are already on their way to Deldara.

"Alright, we're here"

Haneul declared as soon as the grass below their feet gets lesser, what was once green below their feet are slowly replaced by sands. The temperature is also rising as well as they reached the end of the forest.

Stepping out of the forest, the big group took in the sight of.. well not really anything in particular. There's only sand and sand and sand— it is a desert after all.

"Woah, that's.. a lot of sand", Sehun said with a whistle as he approaches a nearby tree to lean on.

Baekhyun frowned, squinting his eyes to see any sight of Deldara's walls but saw nothing but sand. He lifted his hand to check their current location with his watch and found that they still have to cross the desert in order to reach Deldara. "What do you mean we're here? I can't see the wall"

Haneul gave them a slight grin before spreading her folded wings out of nowhere, shocking the others. The girls flinced and shrieked at first but found themselves being awed once more at the sight of Haneul's wings.

"You really think that the walls are the one that protects and hide Deldara from the others, don't you?" She asked with a cheeky grin and made a turn towards the tree Sehun were leaning on. Her pace slowed down as her grin falters. Out of all places, he had to be there.

The youngest were busy scoping the desert with Chanyeol and Yeseul, probably wondering where's Deldara since Haneul told that they have arrived.

"I don't see anything— oh" Yeseul interupted herself and smiled when she saw the faerie approaching them. Haneul returned the smile but as soon as her eyes met Sehun's, her facial expression turns hard.

"Move", she told him and Sehun frowned. "Don't tell me you're still mad? I didn't mean to hurt you, you know?". Haneul kept staring at him with cold eyes but Sehun replied with a soft one, "I'll make it up to you?"

Haneul’s expression softens a bit after seeing his sincere attempt to make her feel better.

"Just move for now, I need to open the barrier", Haneul sighed and he quickly moved away.

Sehun took a few steps backwards and stood next to Kai— who’s currently raising his eyebrow at him playfully before nudging his shoulder.

”What was that?”, Kai asked in a quiet tone, his hand covering his mouth as he whispered to Sehun.

”I feel guilty for piercing her wings earlier”, Sehun answered, his arms crossed over his chest as he stares at Haneul’s wings with a frown.

“But it’s all better now isn’t it?”

“It is, thanks to Chen but I still feel like I need to take responsibility over what I did”

Kai shrugged his shoulder and copied Sehun’s pose.

Beside the two were Kyungsoo and Aecha, both trying to figure out what Haneul is trying to do.

”What do you think she’s doing?”, Kyungsoo asked Aecha and she tilted her head in confusion.

Haneul is currently circling the tree’s trunk, her hand softly grazing over the tree as she tries to find something.

Everyone’s attention is on the faerie as she struggles to find something on the tree.

”Where is it..”

They heard Haneul mutter and because of that Yixing then approached her, trying to help.

”Searching for something? Can I help?”

Haneul shook her head, “You can’t. Not to be rude but actually, only faeries and Deldarian can find the symbol that can unlock the barrier”

Yixing’s mouth turned into an o as he stepped backwards after knowing that he can’t but then something caught his eyes. Yixing frowned and tapped Haneul's shoulder to ask something first.

”If only you can find it.. then why can’t you?”

”I’m trying okay? The symbol doesn’t always stay in one place on the tree”, she grumbled. She felt pressured all of a sudden since everyone’s attention were on her and they’re waiting for her to find it.

“Does it look like the emblem?”

”Yes, the old one” Haneul replied nonchalantly as she circled the tree once more.

“Right there, on top on your left” Yixing pointed to the symbol and Haneul lifted her head, quickly spotted the flashing symbol.

”Oh, there it is! Thank you-- wait what?", Haneul's eyes widened and she turned around to face Yixing. He's looking back at her with a blank expression, "Don't ask me why I can see it because I don't know too"

Haneul frowned and quickly turned to face the others, "Can the rest of you see it too?"

Most of them shook their heads and some still squinting their eyes, taking a step forward to find the symbol. Haneul then flew up just to point at the symbol, "It's right here, can you?"

"I can", Yixing told her again but she ignored him because she was asking the others. Again, they shook their heads.

"There's nothing there", Baekhyun said as he orders Eri to shine a light onto the spot Haneul were pointing at. There's still nothing in their eyes.

"That's weird, what power do you possess?"

"Healing" Yixing answered but then Sehun corrected him right after, "Wind". Yixing blinked, "Oh, right. Why can't I still get used to this?"

"None of us can. There was once Suho forgot that his power got switched into fire and when he wanted a glass of water one morning, he poured a fire ball inside the cup instead and it melted", Chen exposed him and fits of laughter erupted. "You saw that?" Suho asked, hand behind his head in embarrassment.

Well, all of them except Haneul who is currently confused.

Yixing saw this and he smiled, "It's a long story to tell, I think it's better that we enter Deldara first"

"Right", Haneul muttered and resumed whatever she was going to do earlier.

She placed her hand on top of the symbol and began chanting some spells. It sounds so ancient, powerful and magical that the people behind her can’t help but get goose bumps all over their arms.

Then her wings glows along with some markings on her skin— never noticed that before.

“nepo eht reirrab!” Haneul finishes with a blast of light and instantly, they could feel something behind them.

They all turned around and saw a dome that acts as a barrier, with Deldara inside that has appeared out of nowhere with its tall buildings made up of pure wood and stones.

The whole place is a mixture of something ancient, natural and also advanced.

“The Deldara that you’ve all seen and imagine is a faux. It is nothing but an illusion because this—“ Haneul said and flew towards the opening of the invisible dome.

”This is the real entrance of Deldara, not the walls. Welcome, to the land of truth”

Haneul extended her arm towards the entrance, signalling them to come inside.

This is what she meant earlier when she told them that whoever tries to cross the walls will end up being lost. It is because, there’s simple nothing on the other side.

Just endless desert. The real entrance of Dehldara is hidden by another barrier that makes everything invisible from the outside.

Suho is the first to enter and his couldn’t help but be amazed.

Before, all he could see was just the plain desert with endless sand but now— just a few kilometres away is the city where people and faeries roam around peacefully.

The buzzing crowd and music signifies their harmony and peace, with a mix of laughter and people chatting their day away.

Deldara is definitely different from other continents.

They all thought that Deldarians were nomads who lives in the desert in which, was far from the reality.

Deldara is actually a mix of the desert and the forest— it sounds impossible but it really does coexist with each other.

The people here are wearing outfits inspired from a mix of the desert and forest with a hint of real gold.

Fancy but yet, humble at the same time.

“This is crazy”, Baekhyun said with awe and quickly patted his crumpled shirt to straighten it up but to no avail.

”This is basically Aurelia 2.0”, Kai added but Haneul immediately disagrees.

”Never compare us with Aurelians, they are way more fancier.”

The apprentices can’t help but agree with that fact.

While Aurelia values technology, Deldara values the power of nature.

Everything in the city is powered using the nature 100%. Solar panels, hydropower, wind turbine and a lot more.

Even houses and buildings are built in a way that won’t require cutting down any trees.

Tents can also be seen in some parts of Deldara where there’s mostly sand, but they aren’t just normal tents.

It’s as big as a normal house and again— fancy.

”Very unique I might say but Haneul.. do you have any salons here?” Yina asked Haneul as they walk (while Haneul flies) towards Deldara.

”Ofcourse! That’s silly of you to doubt, where do you think I usually style my hair? This is not a natural color”

“It’s not? I didn’t even notice that! It looks so soft and healthy that I thought it wasn’t bleached”

Suddenly there’s a tap on her right arm, Yina looked up and saw Suho shaking his head.

“Yina”, Suho warned her with a stern gaze and the girl just simply rolled her eyes.

Haneul felt awkward with the sudden scolding hence, she quickens her pace— leading the group by a few meters infront.

”What? Can’t a girl pamper herself after a stressful week?”, Yina replied with a bitter tone— feeling a bit taken aback that she’s being scolded.

”We’re here for a reason, not to make yourself look prettier”

With that warning, he quickly jogs his way to match his speed with Haneul to ask something.

Yina simply glared at his back. What a killjoy, she thought to herself.

Behind her, she could hear someone chuckling. She turned her head around and saw Aecha walking closely beside Kyungsoo.

They were whispering something to each other while looking at her. She straightfowardly asked them what they were talking about because she’s that sure the duo was talking about her.

”Did you hear what he said?”, Aecha asked with a grin.

Yina slowed down to walk together and beside them, “There’s no time for me to fix my hair”, she replied boringly and rolled her eyes again.

”Not that, did you even hear the last part?”, Kyungsoo asked, the corners of his lips lifting upwards

”He said that you’re pretty” Kyungsoo added with a laugh at her confused face and Yina replied with a frown. “He did not?”

”Well, he said ‘look prettier’. He kind of did”, Aecha told her and patted her cheek softly. Yina halted into a pause after realizing, letting the two walks together alone.

‘Okay, so what if he did say that I’m pretty? Does he like me? Ofcourse not’ She scoffed and shook that thought off.

“Still not my type”, she concluded and continued walking with a frown on her face— hands running through her short uneven hair. She still wants to find a salon, whether Suho likes it or not.

“Hey, you okay?” Chanyeol asked her when he reached her. Beside him is Yeseul and Sehun, they were all looking at her— probably wondering why she slowed down.

”Just tired, taking a quick rest”, Yina lied with a forced smile and looked around to see anyone she’s familiar with.

This group of people consist of the ones she hasn’t talk to that much and is quite awkward with them.

However, behind the trio is Xiumin and her twin, Inna walking together and she feels that she shouldn’t interfere.

“The front group is already too far infront and the back.. well, I’ll just join you if you don’t mind”, Yina asked them while and the thr