This is a double update! If you haven't read chapter 10, then make sure you go back and do so ;)

Zitao liked to keep mental checklists. He was the type of person who needed everything organised and planned, with the details set in stone; and so, while waiting for Jongin in the minibus, he say down for a good internal briefing of everything he'd accomplished so far, and what needed to be done before they set out the next morning. He was trying to get as much as he could before his sight was taken away, and as the dread event loomed nearer he was finding himself going into overdrive to make sure there were no loose ends.

"Hey Zitao, do you think tha-"

"Sh!" He glared irritably at Kris, who snapped his mouth shut.

"Sorry."

Zitao hummed, as though to tell him that yes, he should be sorry, before closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair, escaping into the haven (or prison, depending on his mood) of his own mind.

Recruited Kris? Check- and that one took years, that guy had walls almost as impenetrable as steel. Recruited the Prince and his Shapeshifters, as well as Suho and Baekhyun? Check. Persuaded the Defective? Check. Ensured the Prince's participation in the mission? Again, check. And being hired as a bodyguard wasn't even that hard. For all its talk, the royal security of Indion had some serious flaws.

Obtained the Codex? Hopefully soon, check. If Jongin forgot, he'd be sent straight back into the Palace. 

Zitao still had a few things to do yet, but considering the major mission was put into play around 24 hours ago he was pretty pleased with his progress. 

The imminently impending date of blindness bothered him. He'd never not been able to see; in a way, it was his security blanket. Even if the threads weren't positive until the last moment, they provided him with comfort knowing that he had an upper hand and could somewhat control his fate, in a way. If he made the right choices, he'd reap the right results. Now, losing his sight was rapidly approaching, day by day, and it was scary. Zitao didn't run from much and had never really had the desire to do so... But what was awaiting him all too soon had him internally cowering, fleeing from the new, the strange. Literally, it was a classic case of 'fear of the unknown'. 

"Zitao, really, that useless Prince is taking an awful while."

Zitao sent Kris a sharp look. "He'll come."

"Maybe he's run away," Baekhyun drawled from behind them, leaning against the window of the first row of seats with his feet propped up across the aisle. "I don't exactly blame him- this entire thing kind of ."

It was a possibility, Zitao had to admit, that Jongin ran away. It was a thread, a slim, unlikely thread that kind of just dangled uselessly about, but it was still there.

"If he runs away, we'll catch him," he simply replied. Over time, he'd developed a fairly irritating way of speech that seemed to assert his authority over others- something he'd always found strange and mildly amusing. He'd never really understood the intricacies of it- his grandmother had just called it being a 'smartass' as he was growing up- but meeting Kris had taught him about a lot. Being a leader, for one. Dominance was very important when it came to Kris, because trying to lead the stubborn man towards where Zitao needed him, for the prophecy, was, to say the least, very difficult. As a result though, subtle dominance was now his thing, and it seemed to work just fine on Baekhyun- the Walker pursed his lips, but didn't talk back, slumping into his seat with a sigh.

There was more silence, and Zitao briefly wondered at how Suho was getting along with JinJu and Chanyeol. There were two ways it could've gone, and as nice as it would've been for them to have some kind of 'breakthrough', life generally wasn't that convenient. So he pushed the three out of his head as quickly as they'd popped in. Another somewhat violent young man took Suho's place, and Zitao immediately cracked a grin as he pulled out his phone.

The unsuspecting boy picked up on the third ring. "Hello, this is Oh Sehun," he intoned, voice polite and practiced.

"Ah, Sehun. How's the little mission going? Wait, don't tell me, I enjoy a good surprise." Zitao hummed, enjoying the strange spluttering noises coming from down the phone. "I need directions to your Father's best hotel in Jaedue- we'll need a place to stay tonight, and I'm sure being the owner's son would get you perks... Hm? What say you?"

"I say no!" Sehun shouted irately.

"Now, now, Sehun, don't be-"

"No, I'm being serious Walker. If your plan is to try to bring Defective into one of my father's hotels, then I'll let you know in advance that you're going to fail miserably." Zitao's smile didn't fade, he knew this, he just needed Sehun to offer himself up.

"Then what do we do? We can hardly bring them into the palace- if they'd stick out like a sore thumb at a hotel, can you even imagine the uproar they'd cause at the castle?" Zitao heard Sehun sigh through the phone.

Any moment now...

"I guess... I can't believe I'm offering this, but the mere thought of being caught dead bringing Defective anywhere is excruciating enough... So I guess I'd have enough spare rooms to fit everybody at my house. My parents are on a business trip, so no questions will be asked... They might even fit in there, I'm pretty sure one of the cleaning crew is Defective."

Zitao chose to ignore his last remark. "Perfect! We'll meet you there in about half an hour? I'm sure you can make your own way back."

There was a short pause on the other end. "You knew I was going to offer, didn't you?" Sehun finally asked, voice resigned.

"But of course. I don't even need directions there." The growl from down the phone was completely noticeable as Zitao gave an infuriating giggle. Getting Sehun riled up was really too much fun. "I'm expecting big things when I see you, Sehun! If I'm not happy, then you'll be sent back out!"

He could almost hear the boy's shiver through the phone. "In that case, I'll be sure not to disappoint." Before Zitao could answer, Sehun hung up the phone. Zitao stowed his phone back in his pocket with a laugh, and Kris eyed him suspiciously.

"That stupid kid's going to lash out if you keep provoking him like that, you know."

Kris was met with a shrug, before Zitao turned to catch his eye. "If that happens, you'll give him another blood nose. Right?" Kris nodded- he would, he conceded. There was no way he'd put up with that Shifter giving Zitao bull- and, if he was being honest, he'd jump at any opportunity to put the scum in his place. 

"Well. Look who finally decided to show up." A voice dripping with disdain sounded from behind them, and both Zitao and Kris whipped around in search of the source for Baekhyun's contempt. Sure enough, Kim Jongin was wandering easily through the carpark, a thick stack of papers tucked under his arm as he thoroughly took his time making his way over. In the rearview mirror, Zitao saw Xiumin straighten up in his seat down the very back, the sight of Jongin rendering him instantly alert. Fate was really messing with those two, Zitao decided, and he was almost positive of both of their roles in the prophecy. For once, things were clear-cut.

"Here," Jongin said, shoving the manuscript at Zitao before making his way down to the back of the bus, where Xiumin was waiting for him. "It's not the original, but the best I could do under the circumstances. It's word for word though, don't worry." He sunk into his seat with a sigh, and Zitao silently started the bus.
 
Xiumin startled upon seeing the red Jongin's eyes, noting surprisedly the gloomy downturn of his lips. He was always scowling, that was true, but Xiumin had never actually seen him so unhappy. 

"You okay?" he whispered, taking care to keep his voice down but failing to keep the trepidation out. Jongin's lips lifted in a small smile that he didn't let the other see- Xiumin was always so wary, he'd noticed, just from knowing him a little more than a week. He seemed to worry about everything.

"Fine." Came the short reply, and that ended it. The rest of the drive to Shizuka was silent, save for Zitao's crows of glee- he'd made Kris take the wheel and was flipping through the pages of the Codex in a way that Jongin found similar to how Luhan treated basically anything football related. Fanatical.

"Kris, guard this with your life." Zitao handed him the manuscript once they'd parked in front of the familiar bar; said man looked distressed, cradling the papers in his arms awkwardly like one might imagine him to hold a child. Baekhyun snorted.

"I wonder if Suho's still in one piece?" he mused as he watched Zitao disappear through the tinted glass doors. Kris made no reply, but a heavy sigh could be heard from down the back.

"My reputation in there is going to be shot," Jongin lamented to nobody in particular.

Suho was beyond grateful as he stalked out of that god-forsaken room, but was also beyond angry- he could not believe what he'd just been out through, at the hands of his own kind no less. JinJu and Chanyeol, in contrast, didn't look to happy to be getting back on that bus with. The Walkers and Shifters. The only thing Zitao noticed about their attitude towards them concerned Zitao himself. JinJu had seemed to have warmed up to him slightly. He assumed it was because of his neutrality on their 'kind', but it could also have been because she'd realised how civil he was in comparison to Suho.

With a sigh, he hoped she wouldn't take it too hard, whatever it was Suho had said. There were a few possibilities, and Zitao didn't particularly like any of them, but they were in the past now. At the time, he was too distracted to keep an eye on what was happening in Shizuka, but now he was regretting that he didn't. Damage, when addressed correctly, could be fixed; but just as easily, it could scar.

Suho immediately jumped into the seat beside Baekhyun, who looked somewhat irritated at his abrupt disruption of the peace, but not angry. The rant that ensued on the way over to Sehun's house had everybody sure of one thing though: Suho was a complainer. A world-class one, at that. JinJu and Chanyeol had to physically grip the sides of their seats to restrain themselves from clubbing the Walker over the head. Baekhyun too looked insulted on their behalf, but wisely chose not to say a word.

A dull thump rung throughout the room as JinJu jumped, face-down, onto the bed in the centre. Squeals of delight were muffled by the excessive stack of pillows and cushions piled midway down the huge mattress, the luxurious satins and silks, amongst others, that enwrapped the linen only serving to make the entire experience that much more rarefied, in JinJu's opinion. This room, this bed, seemed to make up for that less-than-pleasant car-trip over to this house of extravagancies. 

The softest sigh escaped her lips as she raised her head, resting her chin upon clasped hands as she looked out the window. Green and blue, vivid as a painting; the arrogant Shifter's land seemed to never end, sky and grass going on for as far as JinJu's eyes could see. Undulating hills lay beyond a pristine swimming pool, a garden of cheerily coloured flowers, and nestled within the seemingly never ending fields was a stable, gables and picket fence surrounding to boot, the very picture of 'cozy'. The place was almost utopian, the interior of the manor modern, sleek, elegant and befitting of the gardens - JinJu would even go as far as to say that, on a whole, the Oh mansion rivalled the sprawling white of Indion palace.

And yet, this beauty was bittersweet. Because what, JinJu wondered, what had this boy, who had, to her, come off as an arrogant, self absorbed and utterly degrading , ever done to deserve such luxury, such beauty at his fingertips? Furthermore, what had JinJu, and Chanyeol, and for that matter, everybody in the entire slum, ever done to deserve the destitution they were forced to grow up and live in? For JinJu, coming to this house and being reminded again of the inequality was unnecessary. That Shifter needed a wake-up call- but visiting her slum had been nothing more than a pain, a rank venture to a hideous place to which he need not return to. Not a lesson.

Her eyes flitted to the corner of the room, where lay on a cushiony seat a pile of white shopping bags, the very ones JinJu had noticed in Sehun's hands as he'd walked through his wrought-iron gates 'coincidentally' at the same time as the minibus had rolled in (Zitao didn't stop laughing at the Shifter's horrified face at their speedy arrival for a solid five minutes, and JinJu was almost certain the seer had orchestrated the entire thing). They'd been dropped into he