“I clench my teeth as tears come. I am fed up. I am fed up with tears and weakness. But there isn't much I can do to stop them.”

- Veronica Roth, Divergent

"I can't believe this. How is it possible that not one of them is the right person?" You groaned as you hung your head off the arm of the couch, hands covering your face as you pulled it in frustration. "Maybe it's someone outside of the Clan of Holy Sun?" Luhan suggested, "Or maybe we jumped to quickly to conclusions when dismissing those we've already met. We can do another sweep of the city later tonight." The ash brown haired male sat outside on the rim of the balcony area, his feet swinging down through the metal railing as he watched the people walk beneath him like little ants. Bored out of his mind, the Musan was counting how many of them he could "squish" with his feet. Suho shook his head, disappointment evident in his expression as he began flipping through another journal; one of the twenty he had scattered around himself as he sat on the ground. "If the people of Rayhem keep true to their bloodlines like they say they do, then the person has to be from that clan. There is no other possibility," the Harum respond plainly.

The sound of loud footsteps echoed through the door before it was pushed open by Kris, sweat dripping heavily from his forehead as he, Kai, Tao, and Sehun stepped into the guest room. Kai dragged himself over to the couch, plopping down onto your outstretched legs. "Ouch! Kai, what are you doing?" you yelped as you tried to kick his body off of you. The tanned boy rolled his eyes and grabbed your legs, pulling them up so he could squeeze beneath them to sit. "This is a couch, and is therefore communal," he said, rolling his eyes as you continued your attempt to kick him in the face. He gripped his arms around your legs and held them tightly, causing a groan to escape your lips. You were too tired to fight him right now. "Ugh, your legs are so heavy," he whined, trying to shift to a more comfortable position under you.

"When did you get so snappy?" you mumbled, sticking your tongue out mockingly at the boy, "Your attitude reminds me of when we first met. You were all snarky and annoying." He shot a glare at you before rolling his eyes, laying his head on the other arm of the couch and resting one arm over his face to block out the sunlight. "I'm tired, okay? I got harassed by like eight different people while we were out looking for Baekhyun, Yeja, and Lay," he answered exhaustedly. You stared at him, confused as to what he meant by that.

 "A lot of people wanted to purchase him while we were wandering around the slave trading areas. I mean, they wanted to buy the rest of us to, since we look so different from desert dwelling tribes, but for some reason they wanted Kai in particular," Kris answered as if he had read your mind. "It's probably a preference thing," Tao muttered as he kicked his sandy boots off before sprawling flat on the ground, "Gah... Anyway, any luck on your half of the search?" Suho shook his head grimly. "Nope. None of them felt right," he answered, flipping another page of his journal, "We talked to the candidates several times with the help of Chanyeol and still, nothing."

"Great! Not only do we have absolutely no idea where Lay, Baekhyun, or Yeja are, but we also cannot find the Inheritor of Rayhem," Kai exasperated bitterly. "Your negativity isn't helping," you muttered, causing him to raise his head and stare at you with an irked scowl. "Yeah? Well you're fat legs are taking up the couch!" he scoffed back. "Kai, shut up. If you're tired just go to your room when your bed is," you snapped, sending him a kick to the stomach. The boy howled in pain, grabbing his stomach as he slowly rolled off the couch.

"Stop it you two," Kris commanded sternly, eyeing the both of you with a piercing gaze. "He called me fat!" you whined, "And he's being a child!" "You're both being children! Kora, sit up properly and share the couch with him. And Kai, stop badgering Kora." You locked eyes with Kai, the two of you glaring at one another in annoyance as you sat up straight, allowing for Kai to take a seat on the couch beside you. "You two are too similar," Kris sighed, rubbing the sides of his temples before turning his attention to the other guys, "We have to find them quickly. I don't know how long they're going to let us stay here as simply guests."

"Have you seen the way people look at us as we walk down the street?" Tao muttered as he stretched on the floor, "It's either the look that says, 'Wow, I want to add them to my collection,' or, 'I'm going to beat them to death.' Either way, I'd prefer to avoid any unnecessary conflict." "Why? Because you were a pacifist?" Luhan chuckled, his head looking upside down at the other as he leaned back from the balcony railing. "No, because I'm wise," Tao snapped, eyes sharpened towards the other.

Suho stood to his feet in the heat of the tension and shuffled quickly to Kris' side. "I think the heat is getting to everyone," Suho whispered to Kris, "They're all on edge." Glancing around the room, the Messenger took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they've never been like this before," he replied, "What should we do?"

A knock suddenly sounded through the room. Kris turned and strode to the door, opening it up to see a small girl wearing servant attire staring wide eyed at up at him. "Can I help you?" he questioned. "This is from Master Chanyeol. He instructed me to give this to you," the girl explained as she handed Kris a small cream colored envelop. Kris eyed the parchment as he took it from her hands, "Thank you, Miss...?" "Vira," she quickly replied with a smile, "I'll be on my way. Farewell." The girl turned about, walking away as Kris closed the door.

"Who was that?" Tao asked, curious as the taller man returned to the group. "A servant from Chanyeol's household," Kris answered, pulling a chair away from a table and sitting down, letter in hand, "It's addressed to all of us." Suho shuffled behind Kris and peered over his shoulder at the envelope. "To Travelers," he read, "What is it? An invitation?" Kris shrugged his shoulders as he flipped it over and ripped it open. Out of it came a white card with large gold letters on the front that spelled "CHANYEOL." Kris looked closely at the card and read it, eyes widening slightly. 

"It's an invitation to Chanyeol's birthday celebration," he said, causing you to raise a brow. "His birthday? Why would he invite us?" you questioned suspiciously, "There must be an ulterior motive." Suho hummed as he took the invitation from Kris' hands, reading through it careful. "It seems quite legitimate. It's even has the seal of his clan stamped on the bottom," he replied, flipping the card and showing you the symbol. "I agree with Kora, something just feels weird about this whole thing. The guy doesn't even know us," Kai added. You glanced at him and swung your arm around his neck with a grin. "See, Kai's got my back," you sang happily, causing him to look weirdly. "Oh, so just because I agree with you, we're cool now?" he said mockingly. "Yup," you answered, squeezing him closer to you. "You are so unbelievably bipolar," He scoffed, but leaned his head against yours anyway.

"Well, he is a rather chipper person. Perhaps he just wants to show us more about his lifestyle and tribe," Luhan chimed in, walking back from the balcony and leaning over the couch you and Kai were sitting on. "Should we go?" he asked, pulling the invitation from Suho's hand. "What if something happens? We should bring weapons," Kai said, bringing much caution to the conversation. "But what if nothing happens and we get caught armed? Something will defiantly happen then," Tao argued, suddenly growing sarcastic, "Oh hey, we're just here to hang out with our daggers."

"If anything happens we can just use our abilities," Luhan suggested. "Haven't we been trying to conceal the fact that we have them?" you questioned, "Who knows what they'll think when they find out all of us have them? They could see us as an enormous threat to their society." Luhan shrugged down at you with a cocky smile. "I mean, desperate times call for desperate measures." Suho frowned suddenly. "We don't have any valid reason for not attending though. We could be perceived as rude guests if we do not."  Kris pulled the invitation out of Luhan's hand and glanced through it once more. "You all bring up valid points," he hummed, "I think we should attend unarmed, and if something happens, we use our abilities. Hopefully it doesn't come to that."

"But Kris-" you began, but Luhan interrupted your argument. "Kora, we'll be able to handle ourselves. I mean, not to brag or anything, but we're a pretty tough group. We haven't lost a fight yet," he said brightly, trying to reassure you. You bit your lower lip and looked down at the floor. "Exactly. We haven't lost yet," you muttered, "It has to happen eventually." "Hey, don't be so dramatic," he laughed, "It's a party. What could happen? Plus, it will give us another opportunity to look for the Inheritor."

"And maybe even find the missing three," Suho added, "A big celebration like that needs a lot of people to host it, meaning a lot of slaves will be working in the background." You puffed your cheeks out, scrunching your nose as you looked at the others, who seemed to be in agreement. "He does have a point," Kai whispered to you. "Ugh, fine," you replied, "Let's go. But if anything happens, Sehun and Kris should use their abilities first, since the guards of Rayhem already know about their abilities." Kris nodded his head, smiling at you. "Agreed. And you guys have been searching for days. The heat is getting to your heads, so I think this would be a good opportunity for you guys to relax a little bit. "

The seven of you walked down the dark streets, through the entrance to the Clan of Holy Sun's district, the area now familiar to you due to the endless days of searching you had experienced. Looking down at the invitation, you followed the instructions down the winding streets, going deeper and deeper into the territory. The further in you went, the louder the sound of music blasting sounded through the night. Although several houses were still lit up, there was one extremely grand looking house at the end of the road which was completely illuminated by hundreds of fire torches. "That must be it," Sehun muttered as you approached the gate at the front of the house. Several guards were stationed around the front and the perimeter. One of them eyed you and approached your group. "Name and Invitation," he asked.

Kris pulled the invitation out of his pocket and handed it to the man. "Travelers from Ordea," he told him as the guard read through the invitation and then glanced at the rest of you. "You may enter," he said clearly, motioning the other guards to step aside, allowing the seven of you to walk past them into the open drive. Compared to the rest of the district, this area looked insanely lush and green, filled with exotic looking plan