Sehun felt horrible. 

   He felt as if his stomach had dropped through his body and landed amongst the grass where it was trampled or scavenged by any living creature who lived in these blasted woods. The first time they teleported, Sehun had thrown up in the closest brush he could find. Kai had felt like he was capable of going another round without rest, so immediately after Sehun got a hold of himself and halted his retching, they teleported again without Sehun's consent, of course. 

   "I can always bring you back if you'd like," Kai had said hopefully after their third cycle. "You don't look as if you are faring too well."

   Sehun had cursed at him and wobbily stalked off towards a patch of isolated area behind a tall tree so that he could rest from his queasiness.

   By their fifth cycle, Sehun had fainted the second they'd reappeared. He'd thought that he would be fine with that round, seeing that Kai had allowed a suitable amount of resting time for their fourth cycle, enough time for him to hunt and for the two of them to eat. He'd even gotten a bit of sleep to add on.

   When he had finally awoken, he'd opened his eyes to see Kai standing alone  on a grassy hill before him, staring at something that stood in the distance. With great effort, Sehun managed to push himself upright and walk shakily towards where his brother stood. 

   "What could be so fascinating that - "

   Sehun halted his words before they would form his inquiry. Slowly, Sehun felt his eyes widen in wonder, his headache fully forgotten.

   For in that moment, they were looking over the capital city of Araesia, Aslaluna. 

   It looked barely a league away from where they stood. And what a sight it was! Sehun was used to overlooking the dark and dreary stones of which Jaezin's palace was built out of, along with the battered houses and the air of choking depression. But what he was looking at was not what he'd expected to see at all. 

   Araesia looked almost straight out of a fairytale. Everything looked so vibrant and alive: the sky was coloured a lively, healthy blue, whereas the trees and grass seemed to glow in its green valour. Everything around him seemed to glimmer with a soft radiance, as if Sehun were looking through a golden fog. From where they stood, they were able to look over Araesia's border walls and see the small, closely built houses and the tiny forms of the people that milled about. And the castle, the castle...Sehun had never thought that one could look so...valiant. Just from a single look, Sehun believed that there were very powerful and courageous men who inhabited such a place.

   For it was not merely the fact that the castle was not built of dark, foreboding stone, it was the fact that the castle was floating.

   It hung suspended in the air as if something with incredible strength were holding it up, making Sehun suddenly think of a great dragon slumbering in midair as it waved its wings unconsciously. Sehun couldn't believe his eyes. 

   So this was what Araesia was most known for. Their magic. 

   "Well, do you?" 

   Sehun snapped out of his reverie instantly and looked at Kai to find him staring at him expectantly. 

   "Ah...what is it that you said?" Sehun asked sheepishly. 

   Kai couldn't help but smile at his younger brother. "I said, do you wish to make camp here and enter Araesia's gates tomorrow, or shall we go now?" 

   Sehun pursed his lips and looked back at the otherworldly scene that stood before them. He couldn't help but wonder if he was in a dream, and he was merely asleep in his bed. The continuous pains in his stomach and head told him otherwise. 

   "I don't think I could manage another teleport," Sehun admitted. "We could rest for some while here, while the sun still remains in the sky. I wouldn't want to stay and wait for whatever magical creatures lurk these woods when evening arrives. We should go there when the sun begins to set." 

   Kai nodded in understanding and turned his back on Araesia's mesmerizing scenery. 

   "There is some leftover meat in one of my sacks. I heard some deer travelling earlier, so I will hunt this time. You get as much rest as you can. We're going to have a long day ahead of us." 

   Sehun knew without looking back that Kai had already teleported away the second he'd finished his sentence. 

   Unmoving, he continued to look at the enchanting display before him. 

   I wonder...what will come of us during our stay in this foreign land.

   "Yah! Park Chanyeol! Do you think you're going to lie there all day while your chores magically do themselves?" A loud banging like the sound of metal on wood resounded through Chanyeol's ears.

   He jolted awake, his bleary eyes blinking heavily. When had he fallen asleep? And...where was he?

   He pushed himself up on his elbows, a headache instantly forming the second he did, and whipped his head around as his eyes scanned his surroundings. 

   Darkness. And the smell of manure and hay. The rough sputtering of a horse sounded to his left. He was in the stables, no doubt about it, with the door fully closed. He remembered now, why he was here in the first place. He had spent the entire day at the market, though he hadn't thought to buy anything Grandfather had sent him to purchase in the first place. Instead he and Baekhyun had bided their time at Baen's Tavern, listening to the tales of two merchants who arrived in Araesia the day before.

   They had gotten quite tipsy indeed, and when the two had returned home to their grandfather, acting like drunken fools, the old man had sent them straight to the horse stables to clean.

   Chanyeol rolled over so that he could stand, but ended up hitting something to his right.

   "Uhhh...." a protesting voice groaned.

   Or someone.

   Chanyeol reached out a hand in the darkness, his fingers meeting the rough fabric of the same clothing that he possessed. He pushed on what he could now tell was an arm, shorter and more slender than his own. 

   "Baekhyun-ah," Chanyeol roused his cousin, "Baekhyun, wake up. I can't see a thing." 

   "Ehhrrmmm," was all the response Chanyeol received back. 

   He sighed. "Do you want me to try and find my way around here with fire again?" Chanyeol asked. He pushed his cousin again, this time more brusquely. "We're lying on hay. It'll catch flame instantly, and you will burn to death, where I will not." 

   When there was no response, Chanyeol shrugged in the darkness.

   "Know this, Baekhyun-ah, that you have done this unto yourself." He raised a hand and - 

   "I'm up! I'm up! Christ, can't anyone find peace in sleep anymore?!" 

   Immediately the barn was filled with a brilliant white glow. The horses reared upward with a start at the sudden illuminescence, and the chickens could be heard bawking their protests. 

   Baekhyun was still closing his eyes when Chanyeol turned to him, his hands glowing with a bright, steadily pulsing light. His eyebrows were furrowed and his brown hair was standing up in hay-speckled tufts on his head. His clothes were carpeted with hay as well, not to mention wrinkled, and he smelled strongly of the alcohol they had consumed daringly the night before. Chanyeol wondered vaguely if he had a similar appearance, and concluded that he may even be worse. 

   The barn had remained as a giant mess throughout their slumber. Chanyeol only had remnants of his memories from the past night, but he had hoped they'd at least cleaned up a little before they'd collapsed onto the stacks of hay near the entrance of the stables. 

   He turned to Baekhyun and nudged him again.

   "Yah, get up," Chanyeol said. "Before Grandfather takes us by the hair and skins us." 

   Another groan. "Why must I always get involved in all of your mischievous antics? Why can't I merely let you be?"

   Chanyeol laughed, his mood brightening easily, as it always did. "Because you enjoy my antics far too much to let me be." 

   He stood up and held out a hand to his cousin. 

   "Yah," he said, "Get up before I leave you here and tell Grandfather that you were the one who made the decision to use our food money for liquor."

   Finally, his cousin cracked one eye open grudgingly. "If you do, I swear I will blare light into your eyes whenever you try to sleep. See if you would regret that decision when you've had mere minutes of slumber for an entire fortnight." Nonetheless, he accepted Chanyeol's hand and pulled himself up, grimacing as the blood rushed out from his head and his hangover formed.

   Chanyeol laughed again and grinned. "Come on, we haven't got much time before Grandfather comes in and inspects the work we haven't done." 

   Baekhyun and Chanyeol had been living together with their grandfather for as long as they could remember. They had both lived in the same village as children, and their houses were situated exactly next to each other, before their homes were pillaged by the terror of Jaezin's troops. They had escaped to Aslaluna together and took refuge in an old foreteller's home, who took them in as if they were his own grandchildren. From then on, they had acted as if the old man truly were of their own blood, and they had lived as such ever since. Baekhyun felt forever indebted to the wise old man.

   However, their grisly misfortune as children did not stop them from causing all sorts of trouble as the young adolescents they were presently. Or, in other words, the trouble that Chanyeol always got the two of them into.

   Baekhyun sighed and set the buckets he held onto the well. Panting lightly, he leaned against the small water reservoir and looked up at the sky. The sun was already close to setting. He and Chanyeol had to be terribly behind in their chores if the day was almost over and all they he had done was clean the stables, gather wood and retrieve water. 

   Baekhyun had always wished that he'd retained a more useful ability other than the simple convenience of conjuring pale light from his hands whenever he needed it. If he had the power of manipulating fire, like Chanyeol, he would be so much more resourceful. Or telekinesis, so he could carry out his obligations without lifting even a finger. Even the power of conjuring or manipulating water would save him from going to through this pitiful journey to this stupid well for water to boil for their dinner. But all he had was light. 

   Stupid, useless light. 

   Sighing, he turned around and attached one of the buckets to the well's ropes and let it fall. It hit the water with a hollow splash. When he heard the bubbling sound of the bucket being filled and then silence, he gathered the ropes and began to pull it upward slowly, as to not let any stray water escape. He continued to do so with the other one.

   Finally, with the full buckets hanging from his hands, he began the short trek back to their farm. 

~~~

   "Took you long enough," Grandfather said grudgingly as Baekhyun walked through the front door. "The sun is already setting. And I don't know about yourself, but I am starved. Have you any idea where Chanyeol is?"

   Grandfather was a short, aged man who appeared as if he were constantly tired. Wrinkles lined his and face and body, telling of his longevity. His hair was short and pure white, and he wore pretty much the same dark clothing as he did every day, which were faded and crumpled from usage. But the main point of his features were his eyes; they were eyes that seemed to know everything, eyes that seemed to have seen everything already, and so nothing could ever make him waver.

   This was because Grandfather was a great foreteller. Although he was crabby and irritable almost every time he opened his mouth, there was a sort of wisdom that existed in him that neither Baekhyun or Chanyeol could ever describe. Baekhyun still remembered the first time he and Chanyeol had showed up at his back door. He had been seated expectantly in front of it, and he'd smiled at their small, dirty faces the moment he set eyes on them.

   "Please, call me Grandfather. I would be honoured to house you."

   Baekhyun did not know why anyone would be honoured to bring two disheveled orphans into their abode, but the two had been so hungry and frightened that they did not care whose house they would enter, if there was food and beds included in the offer. He didn't even tell them his true name; Baekhyun remained unaware of the fact to that day. But he never regretted living under his roof since.

   Nowadays, Grandfather rarely moved from his seat in front of the fireplace due to the multiple ailments he'd obtained with his old age. He didn't enjoy moving before, anyway.

   "No," Baekhyun answered truthfully. "I'd thought he was here."

    Grandfather's mouth quirked up into a smile. It surprised Baekhyun greatly; it had been quite a long time since he'd witnessed that smile.

   "We should not wait up for them," Grandfather said. His face gleamed with the pulsing light from the fireplace. "We will make dinner now." 

   Baekhyun nodded, still suspicious. "What should I make?" he asked, setting the buckets of water to the wooden floor. 

   "Anything," Grandfather replied. The fire seemed to jump and leap higher with his gaze. He smiled again. "Just make enough for five people." 

   "Five?" Baekhyun inquired. "Why five?"

   Grandfather chuckled, which unnerved Baekhyun even more. The last time he'd ever heard the old man laugh was when he was sitting in front of him and Chanyeol as children, watching them eat with ravenous hunger with their dirtied fingers. 

   "Chanyeol...is doing something right in his life for once," was Grandfather's answer. 

   When he didn't elaborate, Baekhyun apprehensively left the room to gather some meat and vegetables from their storage. 

   What in the world could Chanyeol be doing right now...

A/N: Thank you so much for reading the fourth chapter! Yes, yes, I am so sorry that I haven't been updating  （ﾉ´д｀）

            Weekdays are really chaotic for me xD I'm been thinking...What do you think about me updating twice a week, on Saturday and Sunday?
            Would that be satisfactory? xD 
            And on the other hand, what do you think of Chanyeol and Baekhyun getting in this? XD I hope all of these new characters aren't too fast for
            you (._.) Just tell me and I'll adjust it! :D 

            Please leave a comment at the bottom and subscribe if you'd like! Hope you're having a great weekend~ :D