Ch9

Etched Destiny
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Pursing her lips together and slowly letting go of Chanyeol’s sleeve, Sunny placed her hands between her legs and rocked slightly back and forth where she sat. The room had grown silent and uncomfortable.

 

“Sunny,” Chanyeol gently called to her.

 

“It was just a slip of tongue,” she insisted with a shake of her head.

 

“Sunny,” he called more firmly this time.

 

“Alright, alright…!” Sunny finally whined, pulling her hands out from between her legs and slapping them against her thighs. “It was quite a couple of days ago...maybe four or so...but I saw you two in a forest and people were trying to kidnap Baekhyun. You were there to stop them though and saved him,” Sunny explained.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widened when Sunny told him that, completely shocked. “You were able to see that when we were that far away?” he questioned.

 

“Yes. I only heard bits and pieces of your conversation with Baekhyun...but I heard the term prince...and if you’re the wizard out of the two of you, well then…that makes Baekhyun the prince,” Sunny carefully explained. “I was confused when I had that vision because I had no clue you would be coming through this way.”

 

“And now that we're here, things make more sense,” Chanyeol finished. “You were just getting a heads up about our arrival.”

 

Sunny chuckled and nodded her head. “I guess I was. It was just annoying since my vision was not as clear as they always are...so I didn't understand a lot. It was like listening to people have a conversation in a different language when you only know a few words and simple phrases. You pick up bits and pieces but not enough to be too helpful.”

 

“Sometimes I think people who can have visions carry both a blessing and a curse,” Chanyeol told her. “They can be helpful but also frustrating when you cannot piece them together well.”

 

“Do you know someone else who has visions?” Sunny inquired. She was partially excited if he did know someone else like her because maybe she could meet them and get some advice. 

 

“One of my aunts has the ability to see,” Chanyeol said with a nod of his head. “But we don’t see her much anymore because she started going…insane…” He frowned as he thought about his aunt, since she had been one of the few people in his family he had liked.

 

“Insane?” Sunny asked, now seeming scared.

 

He gave a small nod of his head. “We have records that show a small percentage of people who have visions eventually go insane as they get older,” Chanyeol stated. “But I believe that percentage is only ten percent or so...fifteen at most.”

 

“That...that doesn't sound so bad,” Sunny said with a sharp laugh to hide her discomfort.

 

“When you look at how many can actually have visions though, it’s actually-” Chanyeol stopped himself from going on when he saw the color drain from Sunny’s face. He was so used to talking about things like this back home that he forgot how it could possibly affect someone who did not grow up learning about these different statistics. “Sorry, Sunny...I didn’t mean to scare you…”

 

“No...no...not at all…” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not...I’m not bothered by it.” She brushed some hair away from her face and behind her ear before clearing . “Why exactly do some of them go insane?”

 

Chanyeol took a deep breath and thought about whether he should brush off the topic, or let Sunny know. He was uncertain about how persistent she was and if she would bother him all night about it, or if they would simply go to bed. But he also thought she had a right to know since he had brought it up, and once he left this town, she would forever be left wondering.

 

“When someone isn't strong enough to get a full vision it takes a toll on them,” Chanyeol began to explain. “No one is exactly sure why this is...but out of all the studies that have been done there is a high correlation between those who have incomplete visions going insane, and those who have normal visions not having problems as they age.”

 

Sunny her bottom lip into and bit down on it nervously. “What if...only some of my visions are incomplete?”

 

Chanyeol could only shrug his shoulders at that question. “I don't know if that is part of the correlation or if no studies were done on people like that,” he confessed. “I just know of the two extremes...either all the time or none of the time. There's a lot more research that needs to be done in order for us to get a better idea of what happens.”

 

“I see. That's alright though! If there haven’t been studies done then I’m probably fine. I will be fine. Completely fine…” Sunny said with a certain amount of confidence to make herself feel better. She knew she was beginning to ramble and stopped herself before she became annoying.

 

“Perhaps we should get some sleep now. We have been talking for quite some time,” Chanyeol said while getting up from the couch and heading back over to his chair.

 

“Right. We don't want to be the only ones sleeping in tomorrow while my granny works on breakfast,” Sunny agreed. “But...it was nice talking to you like this, Chanyeol.”

 

“It was nice,” Chanyeol agreed as he made himself comfortable in his chair again, “I haven’t had a good talk like this since I started traveling.”

 

“And me since...my mother,” Sunny added before she laid down again.

 

Chanyeol wanted to say something to try and comfort Sunny, but she rolled over and yawned, saying, “Aaahhhh it has gotten way too late. Goodnight, Chanyeol!”

 

“Goodnight, Sunny,” he replied quietly.

 

Stretching his legs out onto the ottoman, Chanyeol sat there awake until he heard the sound of Sunny’s breathing relax as she fell asleep. In a way, he could not help but feel guilty of making her worry and unravel personal difficulties on him that night, but they had both learned about each other. He sat awake for a while longer until he finally succumbed to sleep himself.

 

The morning greeted Chanyeol with Molzey excitedly jumping up on him and landing right on his crotch. In return, he picked her up by the scruff of her neck and placed her on a small section of chair that was still vacant. 

 

Not too long after, Baekhyun appeared rubbing his eyes and stretching as he walked over. With a section of ottoman still open as a seat, he took it and looked over at Chanyeol.

 

“Did you sleep alright?” Baekhyun asked as he watched Molzey snuggle into her space more.

 

“Had a pretty decent night’s sleep actually,” Chanyeol replied. “This chair is not the most comfortable, but it's better than the ground and a lot of other beds I have slept on. What about you?”

 

“I slept like a rock. Molzey curled up by me and we were both fast asleep as soon as we laid down,” Baekhyun said with a pleased smile on his face.

 

Sunny stirred on the couch and rolled over to face the two of them. With one eye closed, her hair a mess, and her clothes crinkled, she gave them a small wave. Not saying anything, she got up from the couch and headed to the room Baekhyun had slept in last night. Her feet slid across the floor while she let out a loud yawn and ruffled her hair with one of her hands, making it even messier than before.

 

“She's always like that in the morning,” Claire called from the kitchen. “She’s not much of a morning person but will come around soon enough once she can wash her face .”

 

“Would you like some help?” Baekhyun then asked as he stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

 

“Oohhh look how helpful you are!” Claire exclaimed happily. “Why can’t you always stay here and help out? It'd be a delight to have some help around here.”

 

“Trust me, I would love to...but it's not possible,” Baekhyun told her as he rolled up his sleeves.

 

“I never press travelers to tell me where they are going out of courtesy. So there’s no need to explain,” she said so he could relax and not worry about it. “Now if my granddaughter has learned anything, she will not pry either.”

 

Hearing that made Chanyeol cringe since last night Sunny had asked them about where they were going and why. Hopefully over the night she had forgotten about her interest in it. To make himself forget about that uncomfortable conversation last night, he got up to help with breakfast preparations as well.

 

It was only when they were setting everything down on the table that Sunny made her appearance again. Now she was a lot more put together. Her hair was in place, she had changed her clothes, and she looked a lot more awake.

 

“Aaahhhh! There's so much food! Must be because you two are here,” Sunny exclaimed happily before sitting down in one of the chairs around the table. “Granny always makes a lot of food when we have guests staying, and since Chanyeol is a town hero...I’m guessing that means extra food!”

 

“What have I told you about being loud this early in the morning?” Claire harped at Sunny. 

 

“Sorry…” Sunny quickly apologized while placing a finger to her lips to show she would be more quiet.

 

“Now you two sit down as well and dig in,” Claire said while ushering them to the table.

 

Molzey of course came along when the food was all out and acted cute enough to get her fill before falling asleep on Baekhyun’s lap. The rest of them finished their meal, talking a bit here and there but mainly enjoying the delicious food in front of them.

 

“What do you have planned for today?” Sunny asked as they piled the dirty plates on the counter to get washed. 

 

“We need to buy a few things and then be on our way,” Chanyeol quickly stated.

 

“What? You are going to leave so soon? You just got here though…” Sunny told them.

 

“This is our third day in the same town...the other town we were at we only stayed one day,” Chanyeol explained. 

 

“Aahhh...so you’re fast movers…” she said sadly. 

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both looked down at the table and frowned slightly. Other than the incident with the fire and Crystal, things had been pleasant in this small town.

 

“We should let you go take care of your tasks for the day then,” Claire said while grabbing Sunny’s arm and hauling her out of her chair.

 

“What? But I wanted to go with them!” Sunny quickly protested.

 

“And a week ago you promised today you would help me tend to the garden because you know this is the last time we will be able to gather things from it. You are not getting out of that, little missy!” Claire told her firmly. “Get on your working boots and your gloves and meet me in the back.”

 

Sunny could not help but scowl when Claire had her back to her and looked over to see Baekhyun and Chanyeol giving her empathetic smiles.

 

“Have fun you two…” she said in the most unexcited voice either of them thought they had ever heard.

 

“You as well…” Baekhyun replied before they were on their way to gather anything they might need.

 

The two of them headed out into the town to see what they could gather, Molzey opting to trail behind them this time wanting to stretch her legs.

 

Knowing they needed more supplies, they first bought another bag which Chanyeol handed off to Baekhyun. As they gathered their things, they were placed into that bag. When it was getting close to noon time, they realized they were just about done ga

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Beau1996 1340 streak #1
Chapter 17: Enjoy your time away - rest and recharge!!
Beau1996 1340 streak #2
Chapter 16: Learning some wizard skills - I wonder if Sunny will confess??
Beau1996 1340 streak #3
Chapter 15: Ok - is the storm some kind of "help"??
Beau1996 1340 streak #4
Chapter 14: So some missing pieces filled in but so many more questions??
Beau1996 1340 streak #5
Chapter 13: Silver wolf - could it be Chan's avatar??
Beau1996 1340 streak #6
Chapter 12: I definitely know there's a trick - but still not sure how Chan will get in the castle??
Beau1996 1340 streak #7
Chapter 11: Overcoming an upbringing is difficult when it's the people you love handing out the trauma - luckily Baek and Chan can help each other to recover 👍
Beau1996 1340 streak #8
Chapter 10: Very intense chapter - being held captive, escaping, fighting, and killing someone - so much has happened!
Beau1996 1340 streak #9
Chapter 9: Very touching chapter - people out of their comfort zone and sharing honest thoughts - I'm interested in how Chan will use his zombie knife!!
Beau1996 1340 streak #10
Chapter 8: Sunny has a side story - at least her granny can be there for her I'm curious about the next part of the journey!