SHINHYE

The sound of metal clashing against wood filled my senses along with the breeze passing though the clearing by the river where I’ve found refuge during the day since my leg has mended. I could move around freely without Chin or Baekhyun’s aid. I rarely saw the both of them or any of the Element Nobles during the day and it’s only in the evening when they’d all be there for the quiet dinners we usually have after everyone has gone home from where they’ve been to. I’d tend to wake up early in the morning and head to the pantry where I would help Chin prepare the breakfast. I’d eat first before the masters of the manor are even up then she would pack some lunch for me which I would bring with me along with my sticks and camera which was oddly never running out of battery. I guess it became stagnant just like my watch and phone. I would leave the house at around eight and head to the clearing. That was how I thrived for the past week and nobody seemed to mind.

I would practice kendo, eat my lunch, practice some more, make targets or take pictures. Once or twice, I’ve encountered some of the strangest beings I’ve seen in my life. I’d always see those flying, red and gold peacocks which were called herald birds and I didn’t know if I was imagining it, but I actually saw unicorns complete with the protruding horn on their foreheads. It was still hard for me to believe that such things actually existed.

No one bothered me about being the prophesied maiden anymore. I guess they were all hesitant to bring it up. From time to time, I would have a little chat with anyone of them, mostly Suho. I enjoyed the conversations tremendously more than I let on. He was the one who made sense and his curiosity, like mine, was insatiable. Take the camera for instance. When Kai decided to trick the others with it, telling them the same things I did when I tricked him, Sehun and Baekhyun at the forest not long ago, everyone, especially Kyungsoo, was mortified and scared. When I explained what it was, he had the most sensible understanding. “It’s draws pictures instantaneously,” he said.  I have to say that he was a wise sort and that his patience never runs out. He always finds time to smile at me and inquire after my day outside every dinner. I guess his countenance had something to do with having control over water. He should be calm or there would be a tsunami. He practically spouts water. Amazing, I must say. 

Baekhyun, whom I call ‘Bacon’, was as attentive as always. We’d hang out at times. He’s probably the only person I talked too much around. Well, he was talkative and funny and it was hard not to trust him since he was really honest and filled with silly notions. At a point, he was starting to resemble a tour guide and on top of that, Jinhae. He taught me most everything I know about Elyxo. I’ve also learned that he has quite a good relationship with Chan Yeol, the Flame Noble. He’d tag along with us whenever he wasn’t doing anything, either to pick berries and stuff for Chin or just stroll around, but he’s quite sensitive and volatile. He gets all touchy at the slightest things and we’d end up arguing. He’s quite the domineering sort, but not as severe as Kyungsoo was. Kyungsoo just wouldn’t let anyone win against him. His competitiveness made him seem a haughty smartass that a regular person would have hit him at the back of the head, but I liked him that way. 

Like Baekhyun, Kai was a bundle of joy. He instigates every prank and not one of us had been spared, not even Chin. He was especially interested in tricking the older ones, asking me about tactics that the humans use. I told him some and he pulled a trick or two on Kyungsoo who was slightly gullible. Aside from that, he liked to go around Korinthia and one time, he took me on top of a hill where the whole village could be seen and that’s where I got my best photographs so far.

On the other hand, nothing has changed between me and the Wind Noble. Oh Sehun was as antagonistic as ever towards me. He seemed to enjoy contradicting my every opinion, challenging my stand on matters and questioning me in a way that suits criminals. He looks at me as if he’s reading my thoughts all the time and I didn’t like it one bit. He also takes pride in humiliating me so I just ignore him most of the time and avoid him as much as I can, but it always happens that he’s wherever I was. I’ve come to learn that he never really likes me one bit. Unlike the others, he didn’t refer to me as their ‘prophesied maiden’. He calls me a viraginous sorceress behind my back. That's immature, but I let him have his way. I didn’t want him as an enemy anyway.

I took a deep breath, fixed my stance, while gripping the hilt of my sword. The sticks I’ve gathered and carved slowly turned into real ones over the week and it took time for me to figure out that it was my doing. The more I held onto them, the more those silvery patches formed around the surface. Scientifically speaking, I’ve altered the molecular structure and miraculously turned the wood into metal by merely wishing that they were real swords instead of kendo sticks. I’ve always known that I and my sister had the ability to will things to happen, but not to this extent. It’s fascinating. I often wonder if my leg healed that way as well. Strangely, I felt stronger than ever. I can already move things with my mind without much effort, but I was still trying to ‘get in touch’ with my telepathy just like Jinhae told me. I’ve been wishing to talk to her for days.

The targets made of the bamboo that I’ve set up around me to practice on all got destroyed already and it wasn’t even that late in the afternoon so I went down to the river and rinsed the swords then began cleaning them with the linen that Chin had provided for me. I guess I could just practice stance and routines without hitting anything. It’s going to be boring. I chuckled to myself. Maybe a hideous monster would show up and I’d have to kill it. That would be fun.

Speaking of monsters, I still feel weird whenever I