‘’Any updates about her?’’

 

An intimidating figure stood tall around the dark room, looking at them with expecting but cold eyes that tells them if they don’t bring any news...

 

They were toast.

 

The air is cold and frizzled with darkness like when you’re in the woods at night; the scary feeling of being alone and that everything around feels like it will kill you the moment you just look…

 

Which is actually normal in the Shadow Realm, this kind of atmosphere is what they are used to right now

 

Especially since they practically live here already

 

‘’She’s training, excessively once again’’ Another tall figure step forward reporting their findings and answering their superior

 

‘’We actually found out something that might interest you as well’’ Another alluring voice spoke out in which you can hint in her voice that it’s a smirk

 

‘’What is it?’’

 

‘’She has the same element as you…’’

 

‘’My main?’’

 

‘’Yes, both of them.’’

 

The superior figure chuckled before releasing a full-blown laughter at that ‘’What a ing coincidence’’ She smirked darkly before ordering them

 

‘’Accelerate the plan, we can’t allow her especially the people around her get stronger.’’ They nodded before disappearing in the darkness once again leaving their superior alone who whispered obscurely

 

‘’We will crush them before they even know it’’

---

A week later

‘’Hey Lisa!’’

Lisa turned around and saw Seulgi running towards her so she smiled and greeted her ‘’Hey!’’

‘’Have you heard the news?’’ Seulgi grinned

Lisa smirked ‘’Of course, tomorrow is the tryouts for the Thief Club am I right?’’

‘’Omo! I was supposed to tell you that!’’ Seulgi pouted

‘’Sorry bear, I’m boss’ favorite player after all’’ Lisa teased

‘’Favorite to torture that’s for sure’’

‘’Yah!’’

Seulgi’s eyes then caught Jennie ignoring them and walking away farther from them ‘’Hey, are you and your sister okay?’’

Lisa looks confuse for a bit ‘’You mean Jennie?’’

‘’Well yeah, she’s your closest sister after all. Unless you’re talking about the other two’’ Seulgi pointed to Chaeyoung and Jisoo who was talking quite heatedly at a corner but quiet enough for them not to hear

‘’Well, uhm…it’s a bit complicated but don’t worry, me and Jen are fine. It’s just a small argument’’ Lisa shrugged

‘’…that lasts a week?’’

Damn this bear for being attentive and for being her best friend as well

Lisa sighed ‘’Don’t worry Seul, everything is fine. We just need some space and things will cool off soon.’’

‘’I hope so, it’s been kind of awkward hanging out with Jennie nowadays since she’s been releasing such icy aura whenever we all eat together…which is ironic you know since she’s a fire elzard’’ Seulgi joked trying to lighten up the atmosphere

Which worked as Lisa chuckled ‘’Yeah you’re kind of right about that’’

Seulgi smiled and hugged Lisa ‘’Cheer up okay? You still have two other sisters, especially Chaeyoung since you guys seems pretty cozy lately’’ She released the hug and raised a questioning eyebrow at her

‘’You’re really not updating me of things you know’’ Seulgi pouted ‘’And I’m your best friend too!’’

Lisa felt a bit guilty for hiding quite few things to Seulgi but she can’t risk of others knowing her and Chaeyoung’s secret mission…especially since they’re going to ask Sandara some questions in relation with the shadow monsters in which they talked about when Chaeyoung went home a week ago after her sudden runaway session

After Seungri finally went out of the Kim’s house, Lisa decided to wait for Chaeyoung as they still need to talk in her room.

 

’Chaeyoung can possibly forget about it since she seems really angry earlier…’ Lisa thought

 

‘’Jennie? Where are you going?’’ Hyuna asked, a bit confused seeing Jennie prepping to go out

 

‘’Out.’’ Jennie answered

 

‘’Stop.’’

 

Everyone looked at Jisoo who was actually on her way back to her and Chaeyoung’s room ‘’You don’t need to go after her.’’ Jisoo said calmly, knowing fully well what Chaeyoung is doing as of this moment and that her sister will be going after her judging how anxious she is to finish dinner.

 

Jennie let out a small blush, how the hell does her sister knew that?!

 

‘’You were…going to go after Chaeyoung?’’ Hyuna asked, eyebrows rising in surprise at this behavior but deep inside she’s happy that they’re getting back to their former bond.

 

‘’I…’’ Jennie hesitated before shaking her head and shouted defiantly, she can't let anyone know...at least not yet

 

‘’Whatever! I’m going to sleep instead!’’

 

Jisoo chuckled and watch her own sister bump shoulders with her and even glared at Jisoo for outing her like that

 

‘Still as prideful as always’ Jisoo thought before shaking her head and entering her room.

 

Lisa inwardly sighed in relief, glad that there won’t be a part two of the confrontation earlier.

 

‘’How about you Lisa?’’ Hyuna asked ‘’You aren’t going to sleep yet?’’

 

‘’I,’’ Lisa hesitated before inhaling as she said

 

‘’I’m going to wait for Chaeyoung.’’

 

Hyuna once again look surprise at that; what is going on with her family nowadays? It’s not like she’s complaining but this change is too…sudden?

 

‘’You two…are talking again? Like civilly?’’

 

Lisa reluctantly nodded at her and felt nervous seeing Hyuna looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze; so, she pulled out the sentimental card so that she won’t be suspicious

 

‘’I-I know me and Chaeyoung hasn’t been seeing eye-to-eye lately but…’’ Lisa paused to add some dramatic effect ‘’I think our professor earlier really crossed the line, and I can’t help but feel worried for her. She relates to me the most so I know how it feels to lose someone important…’’

Lisa looked at Hyuna’s eyes with confidence ‘’I want to be there for her, even just for this night.’’

 

So much for some acting when it feels so real though

 

Hyuna looked at her for a moment longer before smiling softly, walking closer to Lisa and hugged her tightly

‘’And you two must always remember you have a family in here as well…and we aren’t going anywhere okay?’’

Lisa’s heart felt touched by that, who knew her sentiments will make her so soft?

‘’Yeah… we will thank you’’ Lisa said gently and hugged her back; it felt nice to be hugged by a mother even if it’s not her real one…

 

But it surely felt real that Lisa almost wants to never let go of it, she misses her mother that much.

 

The door opening made them let go of their hug and there entered is Park Chaeyoung with an irritated but much calmer look on her face. Chaeyoung looked at the two and murmured ‘’Sorry for interrupting your moment…I’ll go back to my room now.’’

‘’W-wait Chae!’’

The sudden and definitely new nickname caught Hyuna and Chaeyoung off guard as they looked at Lisa bewildered

Lisa blushed in embarrassment and stuttered ‘’I-I meant Chaeyoung, can we talk?’’

Chaeyoung’s face caught the meaning behind it and remembered that she and Lisa need to talk, she tensed when she realized Hyuna is in the living room with them but she didn’t show it or else she will be suspicious

‘’Sure.’’ Chaeyoung said with an emotionless tone ‘’Your room.’’

Lisa nodded and gave Hyuna a small smile before quickly following Chaeyoung up the stairs

Jisung arrived just in time in the living room, looking at the smiling Hyuna with curiosity

‘’What did I miss?’’

Hyuna giggled and pecked her husband’s lips ‘’Just some old bridges connecting once again’’

---

Lisa watched in surprise seeing Chaeyoung immediately plopping down to her own bed, which is very unlikely of her

‘’Are you tired?’’

Chaeyoung closed her eyes and put her arm around them ‘’…just fine, don’t worry about it.’’

‘’You’re a bit sweaty, are you sure you’re okay?’’

‘’Just…’’ Chaeyoung took a deep breath and said ‘’say what…you’re going to…say’’

Lisa sat down at the bed next to her and whispered softly, noticing the tiredness in her voice ‘’You know, you can sleep here and we’ll talk tomorrow morning.’’

 

‘’…’’

 

For a moment, Lisa just looked at Chaeyoung who was just breathing quite normally…free of tension for a while and so, she leaned closer with curiosity on her face.

‘’Are you…’’ Lisa gently lift Chaeyoung’s arm to look at her almond eyes which was actually closed and heard Chaeyoung’s breathing which made her giggle quietly

‘’You’re definitely sleeping’’ She whispered and took advantage of the moment to softly massage Chaeyoung’s hair. Chaeyoung almost purred at the feeling and snuggled closer to Lisa’s warmth, her nose touching Lisa’s legs.

‘’Wow, for being the coldest person in the academy, you sure sleep like a baby’’ Lisa giggled before letting out a small reminiscing smile ‘’Just like when we were kids…’’

‘’I guess things never really did change after all…’’

She continued massaging Chaeyoung’s soft hair and she was really enjoying this soft moment between them. Whatever Chaeyoung did outside, it surely did tire her out if it made her sleep on Lisa’s bed the moment she covered her eyes.

Which is surprising considering she and Chaeyoung hated each other, and Chaeyoung would probably choose to sleep outside of the house than in Lisa's bed but the maknae sure felt happy when she fell asleep immediately, all along staring at Chaeyoung's peaceful face.

Half an hour of playing with Chaeyoung’s hair, Lisa was starting to doze off ‘’I guess…’’ She mumbled sleepily, hands slowing down in playing with the older girl’s hair ‘

 

’I’ll just tell her tomorrow morning…’’

 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

 

‘’Chaeyoung?’’

 

Lisa blinked and frowned hearing her unnie’s voice

 

‘’Chaeyoungie? Are you in there? Lisa?’’

 

Lisa sighed hearing Jisoo call her out this time ‘’Yeah she’s here Jisoo-unnie.’’ She answered back

 

A few moments of silence and Jisoo talked again

 

‘’Judging how you responded instead of her, she's asleep. Open this door and let me carry her to her bed now.’’

 

Lisa doesn’t want that at all, and was about to open to lie but another voice stopped her

 

‘’We’re not done talking yet Jichu, I’ll be back in our room soon’’

 

‘’…okay then’’ Jisoo said before walking away back to her room

 

Lisa watched Chaeyoung slowly got up and rubbed her eyes sleepily

 

‘’Had a nice nap?’’ Lisa asked in amusement

 

‘’Actually,’’ Chaeyoung hid her yawn behind her hand ‘’I actually did.’’ She said softly and looked at Lisa 

 

‘’Thanks for that…’’

 

Lisa blushed a bit before clearing ‘’So, we won’t talk any much longer because it might not process in your sleepy head’’ She heard Chaeyoung scoff which made her chuckle a bit

‘’Just get on with it already so I can go to sleep’’

‘’Renovations of the Thief’s club stadium will be finished in a week so boss will be busy during this time…’’

Lisa continued ‘’However, after the tryouts, she’ll be staying behind to review the players’ performances at the stadium so she will be all alone with no prying ears. I can make it look like a simple player asking something to her.’’

Lisa looked at Chaeyoung for any input but all she perceives is the pale face of her partner

‘’Are you okay Chaeyoung?’’ Lisa asked, a bit worried

‘’I…uhm…’’ Chaeyoung mumbled quietly ‘’Yeah, it’s a good idea…’’

Lisa grinned ‘’Great then! Let’s wait for a week then we’ll finally have some progress on our mission’’

Lisa looks excited however Chaeyoung looks dreaded

‘’Yeah…a week’’

---

Within the week, she notices Chaeyoung going out almost every night to who knows where but she shrugged it off

‘’Maybe it’s the nervous jitters; heck even I’m nervous’’ Lisa thought and looked at Chaeyoung and Jisoo who was still having a heated conversation so she whispered to herself

‘’I wonder what they’re talking about…’’

---

‘’You can’t do this Chaeyoung!’’ Jisoo whispered harshly ‘’You know sooner or later in that place; you won’t be able to hold back your element!’’

‘’I have to do this Jisoo-unnie!’’ Chaeyoung grunted and looked around, seeing there are only a few people left in the school. Jisoo quickly pulled her away after she finally got the courage to tell her what happened while she was away from the house.

Jisoo sighed in irritation ‘’I’m so in the middle line right now…’’ Jisoo looked at the guilt in Chaeyoung’s face

‘’I’m sorry…’’ Chaeyoung whispered ‘’I know we need to hide right now especially since the sudden attention will just distract us from our goals but I have to do this. I can’t let the council and our family know about me too much, and if they did, they will probably investigate you too because we’re each other’s confinement…’’

Chaeyoung clenched her fist ‘’And I can’t let that happen.’’

Jisoo’s eyes softened visibly and said ‘’ You know, if it’s in a different circumstance; I would have supported you more in this…’’

Chaeyoung chuckled ‘’Of course you would’’ Chaeyoung said with mirth in her eyes

‘’So…’’ Jisoo talked as they started to walk home

‘’Does Lisa know?’’

Chaeyoung’s dreaded face was the only answer to her question as Jisoo slap her own forehead

‘’This is going to be so troublesome…’’

---

‘’Alright welcome to the tryouts of the Thief Club!’’

Sandara grinned happily seeing some familiar faces which includes Lisa and Seulgi; they were wearing the yellow training shirt, and black for some, as well as black shorts with black belt holsters around their waist

‘’ As a reminder, I’ll explain what this sport is all about’’ Sandara started, pulling out a small flag and put strapped it to the holster securely ‘’ So in this stadium, the scenery will change at any random time; it can be a grassy land, a desert, jungle, or any kind of environment you will see around the world.’’

Sandara pulled a lever and suddenly, the grassy environment within the stadium turned into a beach with some of the newcomers looking in awe

‘’And yes, these are real which means every environment has some advantages and disadvantages to each elzard user.’’

Sandara used her water element to manipulate some liquid in the ocean and playfully splashed it to the newcomers who jumped a bit at the sudden attack

‘’So, the goal here, is this’’ Sandara patted the flag ‘’You must snatch the opposing team’s flag, whatever it takes. Except killing of course’’ She grinned with a playful but dangerous glint in her eyes

‘’You can use your element, some may even have a collaborative move, or you can even plan with your team to ensure a victory. It’s all up to you guys’’ Sandara said ‘’Seems easy right?’’

Everyone nodded as Sandara continued

‘’Rules are simple; you can forfeit when you cannot take it thus the opposing team gains your flag, and also there will be no time limit. It all comes in an end when a team loses all their flags. As for your tryout, you will have a practice match of this sport and I will just observe from over controls. The results of tryouts will come out in a few days’’

‘’Anymore questions?’’ Sandara asked and a newcomer raised his hand

‘’ How do we form our team?’’

Sandara chuckled ‘’You’re wearing your own team color now’’ She said ‘’One team’s color is black, and the other is yellow. Speaking of, go on and meet with your team’’

Lisa looks a bit disappointed as she was wearing the black shirt while Seulgi is wearing the yellow one

‘’Well, looks like we’ll be opponents Manoban’’ Seulgi smiled ‘’Let’s have a good match okay? And please go easy on the newcomers.’’

Lisa laughed ‘’What are you talking about, you do know some of them are a higher level than us right? We’re freshmen!’’

Lisa looked over to her team and nodded seeing some higher-level students as well as some new faces. She counted quietly in her mind and looked a bit confused.

She sneaked a glance to Seulgi’s team who was already started talking with her team and counted their team members

‘’Uhm boss?’’

Sandara hummed and flipped through her list of people who were trying out ‘’Yeah what is it Lisa?’’

‘’The tryouts have limits of people who are entering right?’’

‘’Yeah’’

‘’So, there should be an even number of players on each team’’

‘’Yeah’’

‘’Yah! Look at me!’’

Sandara snickered ‘’What’s the matter Lisa?’’

Lisa pouted ‘’If you didn’t know, we’re lacking one team member’’  She crossed her arms before smirking ‘’Or is it because I’m too strong that you deliberately made it like that?’’

Sandara laughed at her smugness ‘’Oh no Lalisa, this is a different level than in your high school days, so I made sure you have equal team members’’

‘’So…why are we lacking one then?’’

‘’Oh, she’ll be here…’’ Sandara said and Lisa is legitimately scared at the sudden glint in her coach’s eyes who purposely made her voice louder

‘’Or else I would be telling something to the co-‘’

 

‘’I’m here.’’

 

Lisa’s heart stopped beating for a moment and turned around to see if her mind is correct at who is the source of the voice. Her breath got caught in as she stuttered

 

‘’C-Chaeyoung?!’’

 

Chaeyoung looked at Lisa with no emotions in her eyes but the hard clench of her jaw surely caught Sandara’s eyes who just laughed quietly at the younger girl

‘’Ah Ms. Chaeyoung, glad you could make it. I assume you know what this sport is all about?’’ Sandara said in amusement and was answered by a glowering look from the younger girl

‘’Yes, I do’’ She almost growled it out before looking at Lisa, specifically her shirt which made her want to actually slash Sandara with her sword right now

‘’Great just great, not only did she forcibly entered me in this stupid sport, she also made me the same team as Lisa.’’ Chaeyoung glanced at Sandara who was just laughing at the murderous glint in Chaeyoung’s eyes

‘’ Aww isn’t this some goals?’’ Sandara said cheekily ‘’ Two sisters teaming up in a thief match, I love it!’’

Lisa’s mouth just opened and no words came out since shock has taken over her system because why the hell would Chaeyoung suddenly join a sport that clearly uses elements. Some whispered behind them and Lisa’s ears picked up some conversation as she swiftly looked at Sandara’s list of people trying and there she is,

 

Park Chaeyoung’s face next to Lisa’s clearly in the black team.

 

‘’Is that the elementless the freshmen were talking about sometimes?’’

 

‘’She’s the adopted daughter of the council head that’s all I know…I didn’t know she was elementless though’’

 

‘’So, she’s related to Lisa then?’’

 

‘’I don’t think so? Their family can be really confusing’’

 

‘’I’m sure she’s not strong, she’s an elementless and I don’t know why the hell did she even think about of joining this sport’’

 

‘’She’ll be the first one who’ll get her flag snatched that’s for sure’’

 

Chaeyoung, as always, ignored the whispers around them and just walked towards her team who was just looking at her a bit warily

‘’Don’t mind me,’’ Chaeyoung suddenly said and they flinched from the cold tone of her voice ‘’Have your own plan; I know this is a team’s fight but with all of you being doubtful about me will just ruin the team’s chemistry.’’

‘’I don’t think we’ll do that.’’ Another voice said and Chaeyoung sighed inwardly hearing the determined tone of Lisa’s voice

‘’Not now Lisa…’’ Chaeyoung bit her lips to not snark a remark that might ruin her team’s chance of winning.

She has to win this tryout, no matter what.

‘’We’re a team, and we’ll finish this as a team no matter what the result is’’ Lisa said and gain a few nods from her fellow team members. They quickly agree to what she said because Lisa right now radiated team leader aura so it felt right to just follow her lead.

‘’I know how you fight anyway,’’ Lisa patted Chaeyoung’s shoulder before leaning closer to her ears

 

‘’We’ll definitely need to talk after this…’’ She whispered almost irritatingly, probably because why the hell did Chaeyoung not tell her she was joining the club.

 

Chaeyoung groaned inwardly and started shooting daggers to Sandara who just waved at her with a cheeky grin

 

‘’…I’ll find my way out of this; I’ll make sure of that’’

 

‘’Oh, and by the way,’’ Lisa said and tried to gauge Chaeyoung’s reaction as she said ‘’Jennie is watching…so is Jisoo going to watch too?’’

Chaeyoung’s pale face and frown is the only answer that Lisa got as their eyes connected with the Kim sisters far across the audience area

‘’Well…’’ Chaeyoung saw wide cat eyes looking at her and Jisoo rapidly ‘’…’’

A few moments earlier…

Jennie stretched her arms and laid back lazily at the audience seats; she was currently watching Sandara explaining what’s the Thief’s sport is all about.

‘’This will be start probably in a few more minutes…’’ Jennie murmured; she was the only one watching the tryouts because well…

 

She has nothing to do

 

Watching the tryouts for the Thief can be pretty entertaining; it’s like watching a movie except it’s live and anything can happen in a Thief’s match.

 

So, despite her and Lisa’s small fallout, she still would very much like to watch a match even if it’s a practice one.

 

Who knows maybe something interesting will happen?

 

Speaking of interesting, Jennie’s hawk-eye vision suddenly spotted a black-haired girl, almost brown if you look into it harder, to the far side of the audience seats. This got her very curious because usually, people don’t go out and watch the tryouts since they prefer watching live matches instead of practice ones, so Jennie thought she was on her own in the audience.

What caught her eyes is that the person seems familiar, and the jittery feeling that she gets is not helping her at all.

Then a movement of black and yellow moved through her peripherals as Jennie observed how the tryout is now finally starting, with the team color of black is against with the yellow team.

At the same time the people began to move, Jennie shrugged to herself and spoke

‘’Aw what the heck, it might be good to talk to someone while watching the tryout…’’

So, ignoring the jittery feeling, she stood up and quietly walked closer to the black-haired girl who was just silent and seems to be in deep thought.

‘’Hey, mind if I sit next to yo-’’ Her eyes widened as the girl faced her with an equally alert face

 

‘’J-Jennie!’’

 

‘’W-what? Jisoo?’’ Jennie sputtered out in shock seeing her sister here in this stadium when she has absolutely no reason to watch since she’s a book nerd so she asked

‘’What are you doing here?’’

‘’I…’’ Jisoo sighed and mumbled ‘’I’m just here for support, no big deal.’’

Jennie raised an eyebrow at that ‘’Support? For what Lisa?’’ She snickered ‘’Didn’t know you two got close’’ She commented

Jisoo snorted ‘’You got the wrong maknae’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ Jennie narrowed her eyes at that and looked at the stadium once again, eyes slowly widening seeing Chaeyoung clad in a black shirt as well as shorts with a holster tied around her hips, the same outfit as Lisa’s!

 

‘’What?!’’

 

Jisoo cringed ‘’Jeez Jendeukie, can you yell any louder? If we’re closer to them, they would have definitely heard your screech. My poor ears’’

‘’What is the meaning of this?!”’ Jennie rapidly switched her eyes between the two ‘’Why is Chaeyoung trying out?!’’

Jisoo shrugged ‘’I guess she wants to try something new’’

Jennie seems to not buy it and just sat down next to Jisoo while biting her lips, seeing Lisa patting Chaeyoung’s shoulder and even whispering to her

‘’I’ve seen how Chaeyoung moves so, elementless or not, she has a high possibility that she’ll pass the tryouts…’’ Jennie thought ‘’And if she passes…she and Lisa can possibly get closer, and I still can’t figure out what the two are hiding.’’

Jennie looked at Jisoo who was just calmly looking out the field but Jennie felt inside her that this is bothering her as well

 

Call it a sister intuition

 

But Jennie is too prideful to just ask her sister what is up with this so she decided to keep it to herself for now

 

‘’What is going on?’’ Jennie’s eyes zoomed towards an emotionless Chaeyoung with a bit of worry in her mind.

 

‘’Why did you suddenly join this sport when you’re an elementless? Is it because of Lisa?’’

---

‘’Everyone got the plan?’’ Lisa asked and everyone needed, even the seniors and juniors are agreeing with her plan.

‘’Are you sure she won’t be a burden?’’ A freshman asked

‘’ She won’t’’ Lisa answered seeing Chaeyoung looking at the one who asked that question with an icy look ‘’I know so.’’

 

‘’Ready!’’

 

Sandara shouted by a microphone at her side

 

‘’Set!’’

 

Everyone started scattering around the stadium, eyes tense and searching for easy targets; most of them looking at the freshmen especially to Chaeyoung as word quickly got out that she’s an elementless

 

‘’Go!’’

 

The moment Sandara said that, the stadium turned into a dark neighborhood with just the moon being their only light

 

‘’Well, this is interesting’’ Seulgi murmured and one of her teammates who’s a fire element started creating fire to provide some light. She saw a speedy figure and her eyes slightly widened and shouted

 

‘’Watch out!’’

 

The one who created the fire yelped when Seulgi used her air element to lift him up and the fire elzard’s heart thumped loudly feeling his flag nearly snatched

 

‘’Be careful!’’ Seulgi yelled to him ‘’Don’t be a target to the other team and rely to your senses!’’

 

‘’But how can we see?!’’ Another one shouted

 

Seulgi sighed and started yelling back ‘’Just…!’’ But she was cut off by an attack

 

‘’Vine Trap!’’

 

Seulgi easily jumped out of the way, staying in the air for quite a bit ‘’Already taking me out huh Lalisa’’ Seulgi chuckled and somehow saw the other girl hidden behind a house

 

‘’Air Cutter!’’

 

Lisa quickly ran to the other way to avoid the attack and heard another attack

 

‘’ Lightning Stream!’’

 

She hissed feeling the sparks but she managed to get out of the way to avoid the full damage of the attack

 

‘’I wonder where Chaeyoung is right now…’’ Lisa thought and saw a fire stream heading towards her

 

‘’Aqua Stream!’’

 

Burst of water came out from Lisa’s hands and met with the fire stream creating a mist around the area for a while. Lisa looked up and saw Seulgi already snatching a flag from her member’s and smirked

 

‘’Looks like it’s my turn then…’’

 

Lisa closed her eyes and put her hands to the ground, willing the vines to help her and feeling two opponents within the mist. She clenched her fist and vines suddenly sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the two opponents

 

‘’H-Hey!’’

 

‘’Where did this come from?!’’

 

Lisa smirked and with her speed and grass element, she quickly grasped two flags at the same time

 

 ‘’Two down…more to go’’

---

‘’We should target the elementless first’’ A group of four yellow team members gathered around the open light with their backs against each other creating a circle in case someone attacks them

 

‘’Yeah…it should be easier if we gang up on her while the others are busy’’

 

‘’Her teammates might even let her be since she’ll be a burden…’’

 

‘’But…where is she?’’

 

‘’Right here’’

 

Chaeyoung suddenly appeared within their circle and with a round kick, the four members flew away in different directions; she also successfully managed to snatch one flag on the weaker looking one as she was immediately unconscious in the ground. The other three however are still conscious but hurt

 

‘’Ack!’’ They yelled in pain feeling the strong kick at their backs

 

‘’W-what kind of kick was that?!’’ Another smaller looking boy said with fear seeing his fellow member already unconscious and that he couldn’t move too much after.

 

‘’You foolish ! You’re outnumbered now!’’ A junior growled angrily and yelled out

 

‘’Water Canon!’’

 

Another member also started to create sparks in his hands to help the attack become more stronger

 

‘’Lightning Spark!’’

 

Chaeyoung easily jumped out of the way and saw the scared younger boy, who started shivering a bit when Chaeyoung looked at him in the eyes directly

 

‘’W-wha-‘’ The younger boy’s eyes widened seeing Chaeyoung suddenly launching at him and immediately yelled out since his fear increased drastically as his element immediately reacted to it.

 

‘’Icicle Spears!’’

 

 ‘’W-wait don’t use that! We’ll get affected too!’’

 

But it was too late, as the air around them turned chilly and ice spears burst away from the scared boy and hitting everything at sight, the boy then crashed to one knee since using his strongest move took a lot out of him

 

‘’S-she should be unconscious by now…’’ He whispered and looked at his teammates, wincing seeing the lightning elzard laying on the ground in pain and groaning at being hit by his ice spears, the other one who was the water elzard is also unconscious and frozen a bit.

 

‘’S-sorry guys, I-I didn’t know what came over me but don’t worry she should be done by now’’

 

‘’Who’s done by now?’’

 

The boy stiffened feeling a voice with the tone of his element behind him and the last thing he heard before his world went black was Chaeyoung’s velvety whisper

 

‘’Thanks for helping me’’

 

Chaeyoung collected the other two’s flags easily since the ice hit them quite hard as the lightning elzard whispered weakly

 

‘’H-how were you able to dodge that?’’

 

Chaeyoung shrugged ‘’ Dodge it pretty easily.’’

 

‘’B-but that’s too fast! You couldn’t possibly dodge that without any element!’’

 

‘’But I did’’

 

‘’So…’’ The lightning elzard’s eyes began to have recognition, and probably with a little bit of respect ‘’You have yours? All this time?’’

 

Chaeyoung then looked at him directly in the eyes and whispered ‘’…I don’t’’ With that, he succumbed to the world of unconsciousness.

The moment Chaeyoung picked up the last flag, the scenery changed once again; this time, they were in a deserted island with bodies of water surrounding them and strong winds along with it. She looked to her left and saw Lisa already having three flags at her disposal, and dodging lightning attacks heading her way.

Chaeyoung hid for a while and closed her eyes ‘’Hmm…the other team is gaining by one flag…looks like Lisa’s best friend is really good at this’’

 

‘’Vine Length!’’

 

Lisa huffed seeing her opponents dangling by the strong vines provided by the island ‘’That should keep you guys by yourself for now…’’

 

‘’Air Cutter!’’

 

Lisa cursed seeing Seulgi saving her team members who nodded at her in thanks ‘’Always the hero huh Seulgi’’ She joked

 

‘’Got to keep you out since you’re already holding a handful of my team’s flags’’ Seulgi answered back, lazily floating in the air to avoid Lisa’s grass element just in case

 

‘’And you’re not the only one with the grass element you know’’ Seulgi grinned and her eyes glowed green as leaves from the trees started heading straight to Lisa

 

Lisa quickly dashed out of the way but a leaf managed to slash her ankle which slowed her down a bit ‘’Damn…’’ She cursed

 

‘’Lightning Stream!’’

 

Seulgi’s teammates who are lightning elzards quickly conjured their attack upon Lisa who was inwardly panicking

‘’Where the hell are my teammates! Don’t tell me Seulgi got them all?!’’

 

‘’Earth Wall!’’

 

Lisa sighed in relief seeing one of her teammates saving her, she nodded in thanks to him and was about to heal herself but her best friend unfortunately wouldn’t give her the time

 

‘’No healing Lalisa!’’ Seulgi yelled and with glowing eyes, she directed the sharpened leaves once again to Lisa who started running away again because two of her elements will be no match against it, and she will have little time to conjure another spell to defend herself because damn Seulgi for having the air element to speed up her attack.

 

Her eyes widened suddenly seeing Seulgi on the other side of where she’s dashing to, and as if the time slowed down, Lisa watch Seulgi with outstretched hand nearing to her own flag.

 

‘’Crap! I can’t turn in my speed right now! I might trip!’’

 

But Lisa has no choice

 

She has to turn

 

Praying to the Almighty above, Lisa quickly turned to her left to avoid Seulgi’s hand

 

Unfortunately, an attack was heard

 

‘’Earth Slope!’’

 

Lisa tripped when the earth she’s running to turned awkward, and because of her speed, she began flying harshly towards the ground. Her eyes seeing what’s behind and indeed Seulgi’s teammate helped her as the bear-like girl swiftly turned also, eyes zoomed in Lisa’s flag.

 

‘’…I’m dead’’ Lisa closed her eyes, with the island’s strong wind helping Seulgi’s speed; there was no time to cast a spell.

 

‘’Almost…there’’ Seulgi thought and then…

 

She gasped, heart beating loudly when Chaeyoung got to Lisa first! She looked at the girl’s eyes and immediately felt cold upon seeing it that she started slowing down as another of the black team’s member yelled out

 

‘’Icy Wind!’’

 

Seulgi yelped in pain and quickly backed away, leaving Chaeyoung running around while carrying Lisa in bridal style as Seulgi’s team started throwing their attacks at them.

 

‘’W-wha-‘’ Lisa sputtered out ‘’How did you get to me so fast?! I didn’t even sense you!’’

 

‘’Just be thankful, would you?’’ Chaeyoung said in irritation ‘’Four of us are still remaining in the team while the other team has five. We need an all-around attack; one has the earth element while the other has the ice element.’’

‘’I uh…’’ Lisa is just enjoying being carried around by Chaeyoung and Jesus this girl has great reflexes dodging the opponent’s attack so swiftly and with grace. She held on to Chaeyoung tighter when she backflipped out of a barrage of fire balls.

‘’Lisa, I’m not a ride.’’ Chaeyoung said bluntly ‘’Heal your ankle then get ready, the other two already knows the plan because I quickly found them and told it while you were busy dodging around the other team. Seems like they really want to take you out so I took the liberty to plan ahead.’’

Lisa nodded and quickly healed her ankle, as Chaeyoung directed them towards the other two members. They all nodded to each other in acknowledgement as the earth elzard shouted

 

‘’Earth Stomp!’’

 

He stomped and immediately the ground began shaking, he began to run towards the other team and each stomp, the earth where the opponent area in started shaking even crazier!

 

‘’Quick get farther away from him!’’

 

Sadly, the others went to the bodies of water in which it was an advantage to the black team

 

Lisa smirked and said ‘’Time for payback’’ Lisa’s aura radiated water energy as she closed her eyes to concentrate, pulling the big body of water towards the island

 

‘’Wave Haul!’’

 

Seulgi watch her entire team scream since she was in air when the huge wave engulfed them, fully making their entire form wet but before she could do anything, another attack was heard

 

‘’Freeze Strike!’’

 

Three of them were immediately frozen while the fire elzard is just gritting her teeth to withstand the pain

 

Chaeyoung quickly started doing her thing by quickly running up to the three frozen players and snatching their flags

 

‘’Phoenix Fire!’’

 

A large phoenix bird made out of fire starting heading towards to Chaeyoung in a fast pace so Chaeyoung has no choice but to dive underwater to dodge it

 

Chaeyoung gritted her teeth in pain as she quickly got up, her movement slightly sluggish because she was in water. She glared at the fire elzard and with a flick of a finger under the water, she paralyzed the girl.

 

‘’Vine Trap!’’

 

Chaeyoung knew it was definitely not Lisa’s voice and she turned her head seeing all of her members trapped under Seulgi’s spell. She hurriedly snatched the fire elzard’s flag and started going back to the shore at the same time Seulgi already stole two of her member’s flag only leaving Lisa’s and hers.

 

‘’ I wouldn’t make it!’’ Chaeyoung thought in her mind since being in the water slows her down for a bit but that ‘a bit’ really matters at this crucial moment.

 

Chaeyoung locked eyes with Lisa and with just their eyes communicating, Chaeyoung immediately nodded and sprunt into action; cutting the vines to the nearest member she could stumble upon to…

 

‘’Come on come on…’’ Lisa whispered, wiggling a bit to get her hands free ‘’Almost…there….’’

Seulgi chuckled seeing Lisa’s efforts and said jokingly

‘’You’re not the only one who could do grass attacks you know’’ Seulgi grinned ‘’Looks like it’ll be me and your sister after this’’ She said and her hands reaching towards Lisa’s flag

 

STAB!

 

‘’Black team wins!’’

 

Seulgi is stunned as the stadium returned back to normal

 

‘’W-what,’’ She said dumbfounded ‘’H-how’’ She looked behind her and her eyes widened seeing Chaeyoung stabbing a piece of vine to the ground then Seulgi quickly looked back to Lisa whose hands are out of their confinement and in the ground, glowing bright green and Seulgi immediately knew that Lisa used her grass element to extend the vine Chaeyoung stabbed in the ground, the ground being the medium of the attack.

Seulgi looked at the vine that’s holding her flag and then to the other two

 

‘’Well will you look at that’’ Seulgi chuckled, undoing her spell to Lisa’s confinement and holding a hand for her to take as Lisa accepted it to stand up.

 

‘’Looks like you and Chaeyoung have quite…the chemistry’’ She commented ‘’Seriously, how the hell did you two made a plan at that time? I’m amazed really, and you’re a great elzard as always Lisa.’’

 

Lisa giggled and looked back to Chaeyoung who was panting a bit and wiped the sweats on her face

 

‘’Yeah…it just, dawned on us I guess.’’ Lisa whispered, reliving that moment when she and Chaeyoung were fighting together.

 

It was exhilarating, and from that performance?

 

Lisa is sure that she will experience more of it in the future

---

‘’So how was it?’’ Sandara grinned cheekily as Chaeyoung returned the flags she collected ‘’I’m quite impressed on how much you held back, only using a small but concentrated lightning energy at that ocean huh. Other than that, you relied on your speed and weird strength’’ She raised an eyebrow recalling Chaeyoung’s kick

 

‘’Are you still hiding something Ms. Chaeyoung?’’

 

Chaeyoung scowled ‘’Shut up will you, you already forced me in joining this sport’’

 

‘’Because I need your skills’’ Sandara grinned ‘’Especially now that I know you’re really not an elementless’’

 

‘’I said be quiet about it!’’ Chaeyoung glared at her

 

Sandara waved her off ‘’Oh you’re really fun to tease Ms. Chaeyoung’’

 

‘’Hey boss!’’

 

Chaeyoung tensed hearing Lisa but then remembered why she’s here as they are all alone in the stadium right now…

 

Minus Jennie and Jisoo who are still watching them intently at a respectable distance

 

‘’Here are all the flags! I took the liberty to collect it all so that the others can rest now’’ Lisa grinned and subtly nudged to Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung scrunched up her face at that and looked at her bewildered while Lisa just stared intently at her, obviously trying to tell her something.

‘You do it!’

‘You were supposed to be the one telling her!’

‘Why me?! You’re the one who didn’t tell me you were trying out!’

‘Because you’re closer to her you idiot!’

 ‘’What the hell are you two making faces about?’’ Sandara asked in amusement

‘’Oh, just this chipmunk being so cute!’’ Lisa squealed and pinched Chaeyoung’s cheek whose eyebrows are twitching in irritation, but she wouldn’t lie when her heart skipped a beat hearing Lisa calling her chipmunk again.

‘’Oh, I guess you two are close again am I right?’’ Sandara winked to Chaeyoung who just scowled at her but with a small blush on her cheek since Lisa is still pinching her cheek so cutely.

‘’Just ask her about it already!’’ Chaeyoung snapped and lightly slapped away Lisa’s hands away from her reddening cheeks.

‘’Alright alright jeez’’ Lisa chuckled and faced Sandara with a serious look on her face

 

Seriously the duality of these girls is just unbelievable

 

Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Sandara raised an eyebrow at that ‘’So, what is it?’’ She asked calmly

‘’ Promise us that you won’t tell anyone about what we’re going to ask you right now’’ Lisa said lowly ‘’We can’t afford to be reckless but you’re the only chance we have to gain intel…’’

 

Sandara looked confused ‘’Intel? Intel about what?’’

 

Lisa clenched her fist as saying those monsters is enough to let rage enter her system…remembering how those monsters killed her parents and hurt her and Chaeyoung…

 

Chaeyoung sighed seeing Lisa couldn’t bear to say it since this was also such a huge risk for them to ask Sandara about this so with a brave deep breath, she answered with a grave tone on her voice

 

‘’Intel about the Shadow Monsters.’’

---

Hope everyone liked the tryout scene! It's kind of hard to imagine and write it but it was pretty darn worth it. The ''Thief'' sport is inspired by Choice's story of ''The Elementalist'' in which the idea of the story actually came from! Though the plot is all different so all is well guys don't worry. Play that game if you're interested in playing a story-like RPG whereinn YOU are the character itself. Hope you liked this chapter! I'll see you all on the next one ;)