Sehun didn't understand how it'd come to this. He'd expected his friends to dismiss the Seer-walker, to bundle up all the Shifters- save for that weird Xiumin kid, who for reasons unbeknownst seemed perfectly chummy with all the Skinwalkers- and drive them back to Jaedue, summon an army to deal with the demons. What he didn't expect was for his Hyungs to buy what the phoney seer was saying, and begin making plans to meet more Walkers. 

Jongin was at the very centre of it all (well, on the outskirts with his nose in a book would probably be more accurate) and although the young prince wasn't looking comfortable with his situation, he wasn't as disgusted as Sehun. In fact, Sehun seemed to be the only one harbouring obvious hostility for the Skinwalkers. The gangly, scary looking man glaring all the Shifters down from across the room seemed to equal in hatred for the Shifters what Sehun held for the Walkers- and it made Sehun feel slightly better that somebody loathed the situation just as much as he did.

"So if we get Dongwoo, then-"

"No, no." The annoying seer cut the short blonde that Xiumin was so close with, Suho, off with a shake of his head. "Not Dongwoo. No Dongwoo. Don't need him. We need you, you, me and-" he pointed at Suho, 'Tall and Scary' and lastly himself, before gesturing vaguely out the window, "-that short black haired guy."

Suho frowned. "That's somewhat unhelpful. Do you think you could elaborate a little..?" 

Zitao pouted, lounging even lower in his chair. "Well, I've never met him personally, so I can't really say... Hmm..." He tapped a finger thoughtfully against his chin, eyes boring intensely into Suho's own until the blonde looked away uncomfortably. "Hmph. Well. You met him at the Academy, in the library where he was eating noodles alone. You accidentally poured chicken soup on his books, and he threatened to cut out your liver if you didn't replace them. Then the next time you met, he-"

"Do you mean Baekhyun?" Suho's eyes had widened slightly, in awe of Zitao's prediction- and maybe Zitao wasn't completely phoney, Sehun conceded. That or he was a huge creep. Zitao nodded at Suho with a grin, hands clasping atop his belly. 

"Yes, that's the one. Baekhyun. You know, if you'd decided to cast away Xiumin and throw me out of this house you would've had pizza with him tonight. At his dorm." Suho raised an eyebrow, and Zitao shrugged. "It's a thread- a possibility. Just thought I'd tell you."

"That's sounding awfully attractive right now. What else happens?" Suho asked, his lips with eyes shining slightly at the possibility.

"Oh, you know. Life goes on, you get a girlfriend," Suho's face brightened considerably then, "And then civilisation ceases to exist around this time in two years." 

Suho's shoulders slumped. "Oh."

"Yeah." Zitao patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. "But don't worry. I'm sure you'll find someone to love you. Maybe."

"Aren't you supposed to know?" Suho asked reproachfully, and Zitao's eyes widened as though he'd said something he shouldn't have. He coughed uncomfortably, before turning around to face Xiumin.

"So pipsqueak, do you know this Beakhyun kid?" Xiumin's eyes narrowed considerably.

"It's Xiumin."

"And it's Baekhyun," Suho hastily added.

Zitao waved them both off flippantly, "Whatever. Point is, do you think you could get him here? Preferably by tonight. Then we can hit the road.... Make good time, hopefully get to Jaedue by around midnight."

Suho looked dubious. "Why Baekhyun? I mean, he's smart and all, but he's no amazing fighter. This is his first year at the academy- he's from Aisri, and grew up on a farm. He's a great guy and all, but no prodigy."

"We've been through this!" Zitao snarled, "It's the Rui Codex!" And from across the room, Sehun let out an exasperated sigh, one that he made sure the seer could hear. The man in question paid no attention to Sehun though, already sitting up in his chair and preparing to begin explaining things to Suho once again.

Sehun thought he had good reason for his dubiousness. The Rui Codex was a manuscript recorded in the times when the gods were said to tread the earth, and were merely the ramblings of a madman. Literally. The Shifter man had been in a freak wagon that had rendered him insane and Defective, and the village people of the time had chained him to a post inside his house, like a dog. It wasn't humane by any standards. The Indion King of the time had, for some unfathomable reason, had the man's inane babbling a recorded; the Codex was the result, and it was kept in the Jaedue royal library more for history's sake than anything else. There were copies sent to each nation as a gift, but Sehun doubted that they'd been taken gratefully- personally, he thought that the Codex would serve a better purpose being recycled than anything else.

Zitao obviously thought differently. "It'd be hard for someone like you to understand," he sniffed, expression haughty, "But I know the secrets of the Codex. Or some of them, at any rate. My family has been taught to interpret it for centuries, a gift passed down from generation to generation-"

"Waste of time, if you ask me," Sehun muttered under his breath- but from the withering look Zitao had shot him, it was obvious he'd heard.

"-And I am positive, absolutely positive, that these are the men we want, that you guys, in this room, are the men we want. As well as some friends." He stopped to take breath, chest heaving dramatically. "Besides, I can already see it- in all of your threads. We need Baekhyun."

Suho was silent, before heaving a weary sigh. "Fine," he said as he drew out his phone, pushing the chair back and making to exit the room, "I'll call him over."

Sehun watched the blonde Skinwalker cross the room, making a point of leaning away as he strode past, before returning his attention to the short Shapeshifter, Xiumin. There was just something about Xiumin that bugged Sehun, something he couldn't really articulate. Xiumin wasn't like the other men; there wasn't any other way to phrase it but that. He was just different, and although Sehun tried to be tolerant as a person, he felt like Xiumin's difference was a thing he wouldn't be able to get over quickly. Or at all.

Then Zitao stuck his annoying head in the way, and Sehun's mood was once again on edge. The Skinwalker was annoying, whiny and not that great a seer. Sehun didn't think highly of the profession to begin with, and Zitao's predictions didn't raise his respect for it at all.

Nothing Zitao had said was wrong per say- it was just nothing new. Sure, Suho and 'Tall Scary' had been shocked (well Suho had, it was hard to tell with the other), but Sehun had been shocked when he'd first found out too. Zitao had told the group essentially what Jongin had a week beforehand, that they needed to gather a group of both Walkers and Shifters and travel to Defluo to fight off the demons. It was old news, and news that could've easily been extracted from within palace walls, if you knew the right people. And so, Sehun was wholly unimpressed and wholly unconvinced. Anybody could be a conman. Sehun pushed the notion of his disregard of Zitao's capabilities stemming from the man's Skinwalker heritage to the back of his mind, as that would prove him to be biased. Sehun didn't want to be biased, he wanted to be right.

From across the room, Zitao caught Sehun's eye- and it sent shivers up the latter's spine. The dangerous gleam of knowledge in the Skinwalker's near black irises spooked Sehun. It was as though he could see into Sehun's head, as if he knew what he was thinking.

"You think I'm a phoney, right?" Zitao spoke, eyebrow arched in a strange bemusement of sorts. His tone was quiet, but the power his voice had carri