--

Nineteen

--

As night fell, you and the others gathered firewood and other various things to eat as Woohyun and Sungjong kept an eye out for anything suspicious.

“So you don’t find anything weird about the fact that we’re on a random mountain in the middle of nowhere with a waterfall and a pond and nice, smooth rock to sleep on?”

“You can sleep on the rock. I’ll sleep on a nice soft sleeping bag,” you said as you passed him with some firewood. Woohyun scowled at you, making Sunggyu glare at him as he passed by him to grab the firewood from you.

“Woohyun’s kinda right, though,” Sungjong said, squatting down and running his finger over the stone. “It feels almost like glass.”

“... Oh my god. I give up. Sungjong, help me,” Dongwoo said, sitting back with a sigh. He’d been trying to start the fire and had no luck with it whatsoever. Woohyun raised an eyebrow as Sungjong looked up and made his hand into the shape of a gun before closing an eye and aiming for the pile of wood.

“Bang.” A bolt of lightning flew from his hands followed by a small crack. Everyone yelped and dived out of the way as the wood sparked.

“Go, keep the fire going!” Sungyeol said, pushing Dongwoo towards the campfire. Dongwoo yelped, bracing himself on the ground.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try and shove my face into burning flames.”

--

You were squatting in front of the campfire, holding several sticks of food over it and turning them slowly so they would cook evenly. Sunggyu and Hoya were pouring over the map and the clues, looking for anything they might’ve missed.

Sungjong and Woohyun were dipping their feet into the water and gossiping, while Dongwoo and Sungyeol were taking a nap. Myungsoo sat down next to you and took some of the sticks of food away from you to help.

“I didn’t think you were into legends and myths,” you said, sitting down all the way and bringing your arms in to rest for a second.

“I do enjoy them. It’s interesting to see if there’s any truth behind them, even if there’s obviously not. They’re fascinating.” You nodded and extended your arms again.

“This would be easier if you had two parallel sticks here and rolled them back and forth,” Myungsoo said. You wiped some sweat away from your forehead with your freehand and shrugged.

“No pain, no gain.”

--

Everyone mumbled a thank you to you as they sat around the fire to eat. You and Myungsoo ate first, so it was your turn to take a dip in the pool of water. You pulled out a glowing orb and held it up above your head.

The pool water was so clean, you could see all the way to the bottom. Myungsoo pulled his feet out of the water and dried them off before leaning over the pool and squinting his eyes.

“I think... I think there’s something written at the bottom of the pool,” he said quietly, squinting in the darkness.

“Can you read it?” Myungsoo held his hand out. You grabbed onto it as he braced himself and leaned out a little farther.

“... That which does not belong will be the key... to... all... the answers? What? The ‘k’ in ‘key’ looks funny, too. Let me out a little farther.” You leaned forward slighly as Myungsoo plunged his hand into the water and felt around the bottom.

“How did Woohyun and Sungjong not see this? It was brighter when they were over here,” Myungsoo mumbled to himself. He felt something cold and metal at the bottom and wrapped his fingers around it and yanking on it hard.

It came loose, and Myungsoo signaled for you to pull him back. He shook water from his arm before sitting down and examining the object he pulled from the water. You brought the glowing orb over to him and stared at it. It was a small replica of a sword.

“Careful, I think you can cut yourself with that,” you said, eyeing the sword. The fine details on it were eerie and giving you the creeps.

“This is amazing... You don’t think that this is a small version of Excalibur, do you?” You shrugged your shoulders.

“Whatever it is, it’s probably important. Maybe we should show the others.”

--

After you and Myungsoo were done explaining and showing off the small sword replica, Sunggyu and Hoya started to scold Woohyun and Sungjong for not noticing it when it was light out.

“It wasn’t there! Seriously! I think I would’ve noticed something like that in the water.” Sungjong and Woohyun protested profusely as Myungsoo examined it in the fire. Suddenly, Woohyun’s attention went back to Dongwoo, and he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Hey, Myungsoo. What did you say the words were on the bottom of the pool?”

“That which does not belong will be the key to all the answers.” Hoya scribbled it down onto some blank space on their map and frowned at the words.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means,” Woohyun said slowly as he approached Dongwoo. He reached out with his mind and hoisted him up into the air by his neck, glaring at the boy in the air.

“Woohyun! What are you doing?!” Dongwoo yelled, struggling in the air.

“Woohyun!” Sungjong ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

“That’s not Dongwoo,” Woohyun said, narrowing his eyes at the boy in the air. Everyone gathered behind Woohyun, slightly panicked.

“What the hell are you talking about? Put me down, I can’t breathe!” he said, struggling to pull at the invisible force on his neck.

“Have you guys heard him laugh since we got here?” Everyone looked around. “And he couldn’t start the fire earlier today. He’s usually the only one that can do it besides you and Hoya.” Everyone stopped and stared at the Dongwoo in the air, making him sigh and hang his head before looking up with a smirk.

“You got me. I’m not the real Dongwoo.” Woohyun glared and squeezed his hand, making the imposter Dongwoo gasp for air.

“Where is he?” Woohyun growled.

“Not here with you, obviously,” the imposter said, squeezing out a laugh. Woohyun slammed him into the ground before hoisting him back up into the air.

“Where. Is. He.” The imposter Dongwoo sighed.

“That which does not belong will be the key to all the answers. The question isn’t where he is, but where he isn’t.” You narrowed your eyes at the imposter.

“He’s not an SS in disguise. I don’t know what he is.”

“He’s not a mind trick. He’s very much real,” Woohyun said through gritted teeth. The imposter Dongwoo let out a howling laughed before opening his eyes wide.

“I’m everything and nothing all at once. I’ll get what I want in due time. But for now, I must take my leave.” Woohyun struggled to keep a grip on him as he struggled in the air. There was a flash of bright light, and then he was gone.

And everything was gone.

Everyone turned and looked around frantically. The mountain was gone, the pond and the waterfall were gone. They were standing in the middle of a forest clearing, surrounded by trees. Their sleeping bags were on the floor of dirt and leaves, and the campfire was roaring in the middle.

“What the ? Where’s Dongwoo? Dongwoo!” All of you heard rustling in the leaves and pressed against each other back to back. A figure with four legs and fur burst through the trees, carrying a branch of fruit. You recognized it as Dongwoo’s wolf form.

“Dongwoo?” Dongwoo shifted back to his human form and dropped the branch onto the ground.

“Yeah, who else? I went to go get firewood, and when I came back, you guys were gone. Thanks for leaving me all by myself!” he said indignantly. He looked around warily as everyone stared at him.

“... What? What’re those looks for? I should be the one giving you those looks! I had to go find food myself and wait for you guys to come back! It’s scary here by myself.”

“Dongwoo, do you remember anything about a mountain in the middle of nowhere? And a pond? With a waterfall?” you asked as you approached him. Dongwoo furrowed his eyebrows and gave you a weird look.

“No... It’s been flat land and trees the entire time we’ve been here. Are you guys feeling okay? I feel like I’m missing something.” You turned towards Myungsoo. Myungsoo checked his pockets and pulled out the small sword replica. They still had that at least.

“This... My brain can’t take this,” Woohyun said with a sigh. The shadows on his face from the fire made him look so much more tired.

“I’m going to sleep. I need it before I pass out and die.” You caught eyes with Myungsoo before speaking.

“Myungsoo and I will take the first watch shift.”

“Are you sure?” Sunggyu asked. “I can do it if you’re tired.” You shook your head and patted his cheek. He definitely needed more sleep than you. He looked even more tired than Woohyun.

“If you guys get bored, here's the map and the clues.” Hoya handed you the papers and gave you a concerned look.

“If anything happens. Call for help. You guys don’t have to do this alone.” You nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

You and Myungsoo watched as everyone settled down for sleep. You were too nervous to sleep, and even a little bit scared because of what happened earlier. The imposter Dongwoo left quite an impression in your mind, and you started to get paranoid and see shapes in the shadows.

“Scared?” Myungsoo asked in the dark. You could hear a hint of a smirk in his voice.

“Terrified.” He turned to look at you and his smirk softened into a smile.

“I can understand. I think that was one of the biggest mind s I’ve experienced in my life.”

“Woohyun said it was real, though. How could it have been real?” You blinked a few times in confusion and brought your knees up to your chest.

“You still have your plates on? Isn’t that uncomfortable?” You shook your head.

“I’d feel without them out here. What if something happens and-” You suddenly stopped talking and whipped your head around as you heard something rustle in the trees. You and Myungsoo sat still, waiting to hear it again, but after ten minutes of silence, you relaxed slightly.

“Let’s look at the sword and the clues. Take your mind off of things,” Myungsoo said quietly. He glanced towards Sungyeol’s sleeping face before scooting towards you.

“Did you and Sungyeol fight or something?” Myungsoo raised an eyebrow.

“Fight? No. We decided to put aside personal feelings for the survival course and the Games, because we’re not the only ones depending on each other. Can’t let feelings get in the way of protecting the group as a whole.” You nodded slightly and glanced towards Sunggyu.

Myungsoo looked between the two of you for a moment before bringing his attention back to the map and clues. He took the small sword replica out of his pocket and placed it on top of the map.

“The lake is over here... Sword in the stone? Lady of the Lake? Are we going to be pulling swords from stones? Diving into a lake and taking a sword from something that lives in the lake?”

“God, my brain hurts just from looking at this stuff. I thought the Games would be more about beating the crap out of each other than solving puzzles,” you said, rubbing at your temples.

“You never know. SS like to mess with our heads.”

“Or maybe it’s not the SS messing with our heads,” you said quietly. Every time you and your team tried to do something like this, there was always something interfering, something messing with the course, the people. And after you found out that you were the target, it made you feel even more guilty about dragging your team into the mess.

“Ah. The lexiconicer hater, huh? Don’t tell me you’re feeling guilty about something you can’t control. I don’t think my life has been so exciting.”

“You probably haven’t been near death so many times in your life either,” you said with a sigh.

“Don’t think that way. Think of it as a comeback. A reminder of why you’re alive today, and no lexiconicer hater is going to bring you down.”

--

Sunggyu and Hoya switched places with you and Myungsoo. You passed out cold in your sleep, and didn’t wake up again until Woohyun shook you awake.

“Good morning, sunshine. Time to get up. We’re headed out.” Hoya and Sunggyu looked incredibly tired, but they could rest when the group got to the lake.

Everyone cleaned up in silence before trooping out on the path towards the lake. Hoya checked the map and made sure they were all going in the right direction before handing the map off to you and moving back towards the middle of the group.

“You know what’s weird?” you said, glancing around after an hour or so of silence. “Why haven’t we seen any of the other groups? I doubt we’re the only ones figuring out the clues.” Sunggyu shrugged from next to you and kept his eyes peeled.

“I don’t know.” It all felt too weird to you. Too weird, too eerie, and too much like something was wrong again.

“What if they’re doing it again? That lexiconicer hater. What if they’re messing with the course, and we’re stuck in here?” Sunggyu turned towards you and reached out to squeeze your hand.

“Then we’ll get through it like we always do. You’ve been doing pretty well so far. And with the whole team, we’ll definitely get through this together.”

--

It took another two hours of walking with half hour breaks to get to the lake. The closer they got to it though, the foggier it got.

“What kind of cliche horror movie is this?” Sungyeol asked, stepping a little bit closer to Myungsoo. Myungsoo glanced over his shoulder when he felt Sungyeol slip his fingers into his hand. Sungyeol never did too well with horror movies, despite how much he loved to watch them.

You gulped as you looked around. There was a sort of pressure building up in your chest, the feeling of being squeezed. This fog was making you nervous and much more anxious than you would like to be.

Taking breaths started to feel harder. Your team stopped in the middle of the fog and glanced around.

“So. How do we do this?” Woohyun asked. He reached out and scooped at the fog, freaking out when it stuck to his hand.

“It sticks to your hands? Are we supposed to dig out way out of this or something?” Dongwoo reached out and pretended to dig at at the air. The fog started to move out of the way. “It feels kinda like cotton candy.”

You blinked a few times before reaching out and clearing out some space in the fog. You screamed as the face of an old woman appeared in front of you and cackled.

“Hello, deary. We’ve been expecting you.” Your heart dropped as you felt bony hands grabbing your arms and legs and pull you into the fog. The last thing you heard was your team yelling your name before you disappeared into the fog.