Yixing quicken his pace, the more hybrids stared at him, the more he felt uncomfortable. He held something in his hand, a rolled worn out paper with black ribbon sealing it. He had known what the paper contained, the black ribbon itself had explained everything. He soon went to see Luhan at his tent. What he didn’t expect was that the raven haired kid was there as well.

“Zitao?”

“Oh, Yixing!” The young hybrid ran toward him, and Yixing found himself being squeezed way too tight in the other’s embrace. “I haven’t seen you in a week!”

“Y-yeah, right. Wait, I-I need to talk to Luhan.”

Yixing held up the paper in his hands and showed him the ribbon, Luhan’s eyes grew wide at that and he motioned him to follow the other into the tent.

“Zitao, you get back to your usual training. Wait – no, I have better idea. Go see Victoria and ask her if she has something for you.”

The young hybrid was curious as hell with what Yixing and Luhan were going to talk and hadn’t he seen that paper in Yixing’s hands, he wouldn’t be so curious right now. Pouting never helped him when it came to Luhan because he had grown used to all Zitao’s way of not obeying the older. The younger then walked himself away from the two.

“Luhan,” Yixing called him once they were inside the tent.

“So this is why Jongdae and Chanyeol hadn’t returned in a full week?”

“I’m so sorry, I should have been more careful with what message I got through my telepath. They tricked me. They had captured those two the moment they stepped into the city but those Tricheurs kept sending us the wrong signals that they were fine.”

Luhan dropped his fist to the table, producing a loud sound of crack and Yixing couldn’t help to think if it came from the table or the other’s hand.

“Neither of them can send a message to us. The underground prison is shielded with protectors to limit any contacts with the outside world,” Luhan said through gritted teeth. He walked around the tent, back and forth, the frown was too clear for Yixing to see.

“Then… what are we going to do now?”

Luhan bit his lip, his doe eyes were searching for an answer that seemed floating in the air in front of him. He thought sending those two away wouldn’t be so hard. Chanyeol could fight, at least he had his phoenix with him all the time. And Jongdae wasn’t so bad either. He didn’t get choosen as a spy only because of his ability to ‘read’.

“Get me a horse.”

Yixing gave him a ridiculous stare. “Don’t tell me you’re going there tonight.”

“Just do what I say!” He barked. “I’ll try not to leave evidence for any hybrids to follow me.”

“But what if this is all just a trap for you?”

“Then someone has to go down to check it, right?” Luhan grabbed his bag and started stuffing in foods and clothes and water for a few days. Yixing only laid his eyes on the older with sad expression.

“Then I’m coming with you.”

Luhan was now the one who shot him a ridiculous stare. Yixing, eventhough he wasn’t completely blind with what was happening right now, Luhan couldn’t risk his life. Yixing was still so young and Luhan swore the other hadn’t even kissed a girl for once.

“You’re joking,” Luhan continued filling his bag with supplies.

“I’m not. Look, it’s not that I doubt the chances for you to get those two back to the camp, but frankly speaking you don’t know where they are. And I can help you searching for them!”

Yixing was right. He could at least be useful enough to help him got into the city without being spotted. But even Jongdae couldn’t make it, what made Yixing so promising then?

“Fine. Who’s left then?”

“Baekhyun. And Kyungsoo. Though I have no idea where he is right now.”

Luhan nodded. “Send them a message with your telepath after we leave the camp. Baekhyun might as well try to come with us, then no one from Exodus would be here to watch everything.”

Yixing then scurried out of the tent. He went into his shared tent with Zitao and was grateful enough that the younger had listened to Luhan’s order from earlier to see Victoria. He had everything prepared in just a few minutes before he sneaked out to see Luhan and they both soon left the camp. The night was still young, Yixing hoped they had enough time to find Chanyeol and Jongdae.

+++

“Excuse me, Victoria? Are you in there?”

Zitao waited for 10 minutes until the lady came out from her tent. She suddenly pulled him inside and the boy was shrieking in her arms.

“W-what are you—“

Victoria sat him down on the bed as usual, she walked over the counter to create a herbal tea for him. Zitao knew this behavior of her. Days of being injured after practicing with Luhan and only today he did survive without earning any scars, and he forgot to tell the lady that he was not hurting.

“Victoria, I’m not—“

“Shut it, now drink,” she forced him to take it all and Zitao was having difficulties to get it down in one shot. He never liked the tea anyway. It was supposed to heal any wounds and increase the blood but every medicine tasted bitter for Zitao’s likings. She was about to shove him another glass of the herbal tea before Zitao blocked her way.

“Now, now, I didn’t come to be treated like a patient.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve became my patient since the first time you got here!”

Zitao slided his hand down his face. Victoria was a bit eccentric, and he never understood how the world went inside her mind. She always mumbled everything to herself, when Zitao thought she was talking to him, she would hissed and slapped his hand.

“Luhan told me to see you. He was wondering if you have anything for me.”

And it seemed like mentioning the older guy’s name gave sanity to this mid-year lady.

“Well,” a certain accent rolled along her words. “do you have anything for me, young hybrid?”

That grin again, Zitao thought to himself. If it wasn’t because she was the only one who could heal him from all injuries, Zitao wouldn’t want to talk to her. Not when every one sentence rolled out from , there was this sinister grin plastered on her face.

“This is not working. I guess Luhan just wanted me to stay away from the tent while they talked.”

She was now looking at him with the usual eagle-eye that bore right into his skull, as if waiting for Zitao to give her question about anything.

“What’s your traits?” He asked. But Victoria only threw him a goofy smile.

“Right,” he rolled his eyes. “then I guess I can talk to you about anything as I pleased?” The lady shrugged, and Zitao was no longer cared even if she didn’t really approve it. After days of practicing and having his body torn apart for more than once, he really needed someone to talk to. Too bad that Yifan had been acting really strange lately and even now, he didn’t know where he was.

“It’s 10 days away to the prophecy. And I remember this thing,” he shuffled on the bed. “my first intention was to get inside Horologium. I sang myself and I suddenly got into what I later knew as Heechul’s working room, Baekhyun told me. And then I heard a song, sung by a woman…?”

 Victoria had this look that pestered him to go on.

“…and I had a blackout afterwards. I have only heard that song twice in my life, and I can never forget that melodies wherever I stand. It was the second time I heard it. The first one was—“

“When you were 10, in the lavender field, with your brother.”

Zitao was going to continue his story, when he realized that he had never once told anyone about it, about what happened in the lavender field. It was an old legend in Lyra that the Eridanus had been trying to cover for hundreds of years, where a hybrid could sing even without getting into any public school. Everyone had known it, long time ago even before Zitao was born to the world, the Eridanus had known it first. They just did a perfect job for not letting the plan leaked out to the public. When they knew about the prophecy, they quickly created Horologium to prevent any ‘wild’ hybrids. Hybrids were restricted to sing before they got into the school where in fact, once a hybrid heard a certain melody, it would be their melody for the rest of their life.

“You are…”

“Yes. I have been waiting for you.”

He didn’t see it coming. He should have sensed it better and faster.

“Why?” The raven haired kid faintly whispered, eyes looking for answer.

“Everyone has been lied by the Eridanus. It’s not because you’re an Élu that you’re suddenly becoming the key of this whole thing—the prophecy itself never mentions anything about it,” she let out a weird chuckle. But Zitao’s expression remained stoic.

“They are chasing after you, because you share the same melody with me.”

His eyes grew wider if it was even possible. “What are you talking about? Who are you??”

“My real name is Song Qian. I’ve been living my recent lifetime as Victoria, pretending to be a mad mid-year woman whose work only mumbling nothing to herself. I am the Prophecy Maker.”

+++

Zitao had never heard about it. He never knew that there was such thing called as prophecy—well, not until some days ago where Junmyeon attacked his city. But one thing for sure was that he never really put attention on such uncertain things like prophecy, or whatever it was called. He believed that the future was determined by what he did right then and there, not just some kind of prophecy written by hybrids he didn’t know. But this lady in front of him was too convincing to even lie about anything.

“How old are you?” Zitao had forgotten how rude the question itself. He needed all the answers he could get, even if he had to be really rude.

She thought for a second. “I… don’t know? I’ve stopped counting when I reached 100. Too lazy to remember anything about numbers!” She laughed again, and that high-pitched voice w