“Are you guys excited about the trip?”

Ara swung her backpack over her left shoulder as she looked at Baekhyun and Sehun. It was a trip for the class to learn how to navigate in changing environments using the powers that their current Warriors have.

“I don’t think there will be much to look forward to,” Sehun replied while shoving his hands in his pockets. The three were currently standing just beside the bus, and Ara didn’t like how everyone, both Warriors and Dealers, were giving them weird looks.

Granted, it was an unusual sight to see a Dealer and her Warriors engaging in a civil conversation, but couldn’t they mind their own business?

Even if both Warriors were bothered by the unwanted attention, they didn’t show it. They were accustomed to things way worse than just mere looks. Baekhyun noticed how Ara squirmed under the unwanted attention, and moved to block her vision. Ara focused back on the conversation.

“We’re not the ones about to have fun after all,” Baekhyun added. Ara sighed. He did have a point.

Just then, Yuna skipped over into their conversation. “Ara! I’ve been looking for you!”

Yuna hadn’t seemed to feel bothered about the interaction she was having with her Warriors, but Ara could still sense the slight uneasiness from the way her eyes flickered over to Sehun and Baekhyun before focusing on her.

“What for?”

“We’re sitting together for the trip, okay?” Yuna took Ara’s hand in hers out of excitement. She then looked over Ara’s shoulder and gestured for someone to come over. “Ryujin!”

The blue-haired girl came over after settling what seemed to be Yuna’s bag onto the bus. Her face was void of emotion as she came over. Sehun stared as the girl stood by Yuna’s side, and Ryujin stared back.

“It’s almost time to go,” Yuna said to Ryujin, a kind of gentleness in her tone that Ara wouldn’t have expected from a Dealer when talking to their Warrior. The Warrior nodded in understanding and returned to her card.

After the female disappeared, Ara realised that it was about time Sehun and Baekhyun returned to their cards as well. Sehun was the first to go, which only left Baekhyun. Just before he left, Baekhyun heard something surprising.

“…Nice to meet you,” Yuna paused before saying, almost hesitant. Ara watched with curiosity as Yuna’s hand stayed mid-air, a gesture that indicated a good-bye. Her hand dropped as soon as he disappeared, and Yuna gave Ara a bright smile, as if nothing happened.

“Let’s go,” Yuna enthusiastically said as she dragged Ara to the bus. Ara just let her, her mind still preoccupied with what just happened.

The place was a twenty minute ride from the school, and Ara spent the entire time talking to Yuna. The girl was very fun and easy to talk to, which complemented her bright personality. Ara’s thoughts occasionally wandered to her interaction with Baekhyun, but she didn’t want to make Yuna uncomfortable by bringing it up.

As soon as they arrived, Ara summoned Sehun and Baekhyun again as Yuna went to collect her bag. The girl was a little surprised when she returned, but had said nothing.

The teacher then gathered all of the students for a briefing. Ara’s classmates made a small distance between themselves and her little group which consisted of her, Yuna, Baekhyun and Sehun. It was like there was a non-existent barrier between them, because Ara was the only one with her Warriors out.

“Okay, let’s see the pairings,” Mr Park announced after giving the group of four a look. He listed off the pairings which would be partners throughout the trip and share the same lodge. The two girls held hands tightly.

Please let me be with Yuna.

“…and lastly, Yeri and Ara.”

Ara felt her shoulders drop as soon as Yuna had been called out, but she was even more distressed about being paired up with the girl whom she took a card from.

Yeri wasn’t so pumped about the idea either, as seen from the way the red head stomped her foot and crossed her arms. Ara knew there was no way the teacher would accept a request for change of partners, so she took a deep breath before walking towards her roommate. Sehun and Baekhyun trailed behind her, while Yuna left to go find her roommate.

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you,” Yeri complained as Ara and the boys came over.

“The feeling’s mutual,” being paired with the class’s spoilt brat was the last thing Ara had wanted.

And also because of her history with Baekhyun. Ara didn’t miss the way the light-user had froze when the pairing was announced.

Yeri sent Baekhyun an annoyed gaze. “And you have that useless Fire Element with you.”

Baekhyun stared down at his feet, his eyes hardened.

“You may not like me,” Ara started lowly. “But I won’t tolerate you speaking ill of him.”

“Whatever,” Yeri gave the girl a judgemental look before flipping her red hair over her shoulder and strutting off. Ara turned to face the black-haired Warrior.

“Don’t listen to her,” Ara tried to comfort the Warrior. “Her words don’t matter.”

The Warrior simply sighed and nodded his head, but Ara knew he was still being haunted by his little faith in his powers.

From the corner of her eye, Sehun looked unbothered and unresponsive to the whole scene that just happened. But his curled fist by his side said otherwise.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧ 

“Ew, are you going to keep them here the whole time?”

Ara put down her bag on her assigned bed and sat down. Sehun and Baekhyun remained standing by the door. Ara rolled her eyes.

“Unless you’re changing or doing any other personal stuff,” Ara lay herself down on the bed, her arms behind her head. She gave the annoyed girl a fake smile. “Then yes.”

Huffing, the red head stood up and stormed her way out of the room. She gave Ara a dirty glare before pushing the boys out of the way and leaving.

Sehun chuckled after she left, while Baekhyun supressed a smile. The blonde gave the girl a thumbs up, and Ara laughed.

“By the way,” Ara piped up as she stretched her arms. “Have you guys been here?”

“A handful of times,” Baekhyun said softly as he sat himself down on the floor beside Ara’s bed.

“You’d expect us to be when we’ve literally been here forever,” Sehun rolled his eyes, no malice in his tone.

“Okay, sheesh,” Ara stuck her tongue out at the blonde childishly, to which he responded by sticking out his tongue as well.

Baekhyun watched the scene before him curiously, still somewhat taken aback by the way the two respond to each other. He understood that Ara was someone that didn’t mind the informality (and that she could possibly be the most easy-going Master ever), but he still wondered how their relationship could be so…casual. How they could joke around with each other and insult each other without taking offence. How Sehun (a Warrior that obviously does not open up easily) could show such a child-like side of him to a figure that he was supposed to address respectfully. The blonde was younger than him and they went way back, but he hadn’t personally experienced this relaxed side of him much. He lowered his head a little.

He could understand why though.

“Since you have so much 'experience',” Ara air-quoted experience as she sat up. “What is this forest like?”

Baekhyun snapped up from his reverie. “As the name suggests, this forest can be very confusing, like a maze. The Labyrinth Forest is known to never stay the same for long, and always changes its environment after a while.”

Ara gasped. “Are you saying…we could potentially get lost in there and never find our way out?”

The light-user nodded. “Quite a few Warriors and Dealers have gotten lost in there before, although most of them are able to make it out. They usually never want to venture in there after that.”

Reaching for the nearest pillow next to her, Ara buried her face into the soft material in exasperation. “I was an idiot to think that this trip would be fun. I could die in there and never get out.”

The wind-user snickered. “Or you could get haunted by the souls of those who never managed to escape.”

Almost instantly, Ara threw the pillow she had in her hands towards Sehun’s direction, to which the blonde merely laughed. “Don’t say that!”

Baekhyun witnessed the scene with a sad smile.

I wish I could be like that.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“Okay class! Attention!”

The students’ conversations piped down as they surrounded the teacher in front of a huge sign just in front of their lodgings. The sign showed the map of the area that they were in, as well as the Labyrinth Forest which was just a little further down from where they were staying.

“The purpose of this field trip is to train you students to be able to utilise your Warriors’ abilities to navigate around an unknown environment. The environment may not always be the same such that you are able to navigate around by memory, which is why you will be training in the Labyrinth Forest,” the teacher explained.

Worried gasps were heard as soon as the words left his mouth, and the students began to gossip among themselves. The teacher shushed them before elaborating further. “Do not worry. As soon as time is up and either of you are not out, my Warrior will be sent to locate you,” sighs of relief were heard before the teacher continued.

“Five of you will be sent in at a time by my Warrior. The rest of you will use the time to think of several strategies to help you navigate around the forest in the shortest time possible,” the teacher announced as he looked at the board in his hands. “First five of the register please follow me.”

Yuna was one of the first to leave, and Ara ran up to hug her before she left. “Good luck.”

She gave her friend a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back before you know it,” Yuna winked. She looked over Ara’s shoulder and smiled slightly at Sehun and Baekhyun before leaving.

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

“Hey, Oh Sehun. Are you sure you can get us out?”

Ara was one of the last five students that was going in the forest for the day. The Warrior that had directed her and her warriors to their assigned part of the forest disappeared as soon as he completed his mission, and Sehun immediately stepped in to lead them out of the forest.

Given that Ara was one of the last few students of the day, it meant that she and her Warriors did not have the luxury to take their time to navigate around the forest however they liked, since it was slowly starting to get dark and chilly. They had to reach their site by eight for Ara to pass her assignment successfully, which explained why the girl was slowly getting anxious. It was already seven.

“Trust me. The wind has its way with directions, and it takes longer because the forest is constantly changing every few minutes,” the blonde’s face was illuminated by the warm glow of light emitting from Baekhyun’s hands as soon as he turned around. Being the one in charge of directions, the wind user specifically chose to stay in front to lead the group.

Sehun’s vision was greeted by the dimness of the scenery before him once again as soon as he turned back around to face front. It was getting harder to see, but he never requested for Baekhyun to walk beside him to light up the path in front. He also insisted that the older stayed behind despite Baekhyun’s attempts to move forward.

“Woah!”

The blonde whipped his head around at Ara’s gasp, his body becoming fully alert for any signs of danger. But he was only met with Baekhyun offering support to the girl who nearly lost her footing. Sehun sighed in mild annoyance, but also with a tinge of relief.

“You’d think that with the main light source walking by your side you would actually see where you’re going,” Sehun rolled his eyes before continuing to walk. Ara could slip even when there was lighting, who knows what would happen if Baekhyun’s wasn’t there?

Baekhyun tried to bite back his smile when he saw Ara stick her tongue at Sehun’s back. Once she regained her footing, the duo proceeded to follow the blonde once again. Sehun was already quite a distance in front.

The pair was just about to quicken their pace to catch up to Sehun, when Baekhyun sensed that they were not alone. The aura that he felt was not dangerous, however, and instead felt rather familiar. Unable to control himself, he let the ball of light that he was holding follow closely next to Ara so that she wouldn't realise that he was lingering behind.

After making sure that Ara was not suspicious of anything, Baekhyun quickly followed the pull that he felt towards a direction not far from where they had passed. He just hoped Sehun and Ara would not move too quickly for him to catch up later.

Baekhyun stopped in front of a tree.

From its outer appearance, no one would have suspected that it was something out of the ordinary. It was just a regular looking tree, but the light user knew better. How could he not after spending most of his earlier years in the same deck as him?

Taking a deep breath, Baekhyun placed his palm on the rough bark of the tree's trunk, and closed his eyes to concentrate. He just needed to confirm that it was him.

Baekhyun dropped his arm quickly once he found what he was looking for, and took a step back from being overwhelmed with emotions. 

It really is him. Why is he here? Does Sehun know?

"What happened to you?" Baekhyun whispered under his breath, his fingers lightly grazing over the rough surface of the the tree. The last time he saw him was a few hundred years ago, and Baekhyun could see him in the flesh.

Millions of questions started to cloud the Warrior's mind, but he found himself stuck in one longer than others. 

Should I tell Ara?

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

The trio managed to make it back in time, just a few minutes shy away from 8pm. Baekhyun was lucky that Sehun and Ara hadn't noticed that he was gone for a while, and even luckier that he was able to find his way back to the duo before the forest changed again.

"Thank god we made it," Ara heaved a sigh of relief. She already had enough from her classmates for having a different attitude towards her Warriors, and she certainly did not want to be a hot topic for being the only one one not able to return in time.

Sehun folded his arms. "I told you to trust me," the blonde said in a triumphant tone.

"Please, you were the one that kept saying 'oops, wrong way' like, 50 times."

"That is not true."

"Yes it was. Baek, tell him," Ara turned her attention to said boy, who was staring off into the forest that they had just returned from. "Baek?"

"W-What?" the distracted boy whipped his head back just to see Ara looking at him worriedly, while Sehun stared with disinterest. 

A hand was placed on his shoulder. "You okay? You looked distracted."

Baekhyun let his eyes linger on Ara's hand before grasping it gently. Her hand was slightly cold from the evening chill, and he warmed it for her as he removed her hand from his shoulder. She smiled softly in gratitude, although still looking worried. 

"I'm fine, don't worry. I'm just...tired."

The light user was still having an inner turmoil on whether he should tell Ara about his presence. . Why was he hesitating so much about this? Ara was a good person, and it seemed that Sehun had trusted her completely. But why was he still afraid?

"It's getting chilly. You should go get some rest," Sehun stepped into the conversation out of the blue, and Baekhyun mentally sighed in relief. 

"That's right. It's been a long day," Baekhyun hesitated a bit before cupping both of Ara's hands into his slightly bigger ones, with the intention to keep her warm. "We can talk tomorrow."

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

"Why didn't you tell her?"

Baekhyun turned his head at the sound of Sehun's voice. He had told Ara that he wanted to stay out tonight, and although she was a little reluctant, she had let him be. She must have told Sehun to come check on him.

"Tell her what?"

"Don't play dumb," Baekhyun winced a little at the younger's sharp tone. "You think I didn't know?"

So he felt him too.

"I...," Baekhyun trailed off, trying to find the right words to convey the bundle of thoughts in his mind. If Ara was not what he and Sehun believed to be, the entire world would go to hell. "It's just...don't you think it's a little too much of a coincidence?"

"That she already has two of us?" Sehun added, although in a much more relaxed tone than Baekhyun would have expected.

"This deck...our deck," Baekhyun swallowed thickly. "It's dangerous. We have to protect him," Baekhyun looked at the blonde beside him. His hands were in his pockets, his shoulders relaxed in contrast to Baekhyun's tensed ones. Baekhyun couldn't read him. Why was he so calm about this?

Baekhyun steeled his expression. "We have to protect them."

"I know."

"Then why do you look so relaxed about this?"

Sehun sighed through his nose. "What if...he wanted to be found?"

"What?"

"The whole time I was navigating, his presence kept getting closer. I tried to lead us away, but it was like he was following us," Sehun recalled all the unecessary and unexpected turns that he had to take. 

"T-that's not possible," Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows at Sehun's impossible input. "He isn't that kind of person."

"Then how are you so sure that Ara is that kind of Dealer? You haven't even known her that long."

Sehun had caught on to his doubtful nature towards Ara, and even though he didn't show it, the slightly harsher tone that Sehun had let seep through did not go unnoticed by the Fire Element. Baekhyun grew defensive.

"And why are you so certain that this isn't some deliberate plan to get all of us?" the thought of Ara plotting against them hurt his heart, and he wished it was just his imagination. There was a tiny part of him that was astonished by the atrosity of his own thoughts, but years and years of abuse had carved out a doubtful and hateful mindset towards Dealers that was permanently etched into his being. He just...couldn't help himself.

"It's because I've seen her at her lowest," Sehun whispered, the memory of Ara being broken down to pieces swirled his mind almost hauntingly. "I've been by her side longer than you, keep that in mind."

There was a long pause after that, as the frustration in Baekhyun's eyes settled a bit. 

"Then why don't you go tell her yourself?" Baekhyun fisted his palm at his side. He hated that he seemed like the bad guy here, and definitely felt like it. But wasn't Sehun the least bit concerned about them?

"I could, but I don't have anything left to prove for myself," Sehun's eyes were devoid of emotion as he made eye contact with the shorter male. "I figured you still did."

"You-"

"Don't you see it?" Sehun had cut into whatever Baekhyun was going to say. "Haven't you seen the way she treats us? Treats me? Treats you? When was the last time you felt so alive?"

Baekhyun's lips were parted, but no words came out. Sehun sighed through his nose and turned back towards the lodge.

"...is that why she sent you to check on me? Because she cares?"

The boy stopped in his tracks. 

"She's asleep," Sehun didn't turn to face him. Baekhyun could only see his back as the younger combed his fingers through his blonde hair, as if in thought. Hesitantly, Sehun continued.

"I may still have some bitterness towards you," Baekhyun winced at Sehun's honesty, his eyes cast downward. Sehun's next words were almost like a whisper, and Baekhyun would have missed it if the air wasn't so quiet.

"But that doesn't mean I don't care."

---

a/n: sorry it has been so long, but finally a chapter!

with the whole Kris debacle, I have decided that I would remove him from this story, as its hard to write a good character out of a horrible person in real life. the next few chapters were supposed to be about him, but its okay because I am still able to go about the main plot even without him! i think its pretty obvious who will be next :-)