Chapter 11:
Damsel in distress, no?

We started the tour by walking towards the more traditional houses in the city. It was interesting things closest to where we were at that moment, so Chanyeol thought it would be a good place to start. He told me that the city actually had around 400,000 citizens, and when we walked around the city he explained to me more of how the city was built up.

I watched the traditional red color of the eldest houses – rebuilt and shiny. They were mixed together with more modern architecture as well as western-looking architecture. I almost had the feeling of seeing the whole world mixed together in a small community with all the different cultural architectures mashed together around the city. Some would say it was a little messy and without individuality, but I found it charming. Maybe you could call it international individuality. Which was a fancy new expression that might not make sense.

The city lay in a valley, bound to the ocean, and as all valleys are it was surrounded by tall mountains. The only way to get to the valley was through a lonely mountain pass to the far end of the dale – furthest away from the ocean. It made me wonder how in the world I’d walked so far to find the Academy in the state I’d been in, and made me understand a little better why I’d been in the state I’d been in. At least somewhat. The scars on my back were still a mystery. I couldn’t figure out how the trip had gotten me some of the other injuries either. Had I thrown myself down the hills or something? But it couldn’t only be that, I realized. Because a lots of my scars had a distinctiveness about them. They were caused by will, not at random.

While walking the streets Chanyeol kept telling me about the city and its foundations. Basically there had always just been something there, but the EXO Academy was what made the growth of the city start for real. The Academy had modernized a lot of the city, also creating settlements from far away, even though you still had old parts of it left. The city was a fine mixture of old and new, very unlike from Seoul who was modernized from top to bottom. I only knew Seoul from pictures that were faint in my memory, but I didn’t tell Chanyeol about it. He just asked me if I’d been to the capitol of Korea before, and I said I hadn’t. He’d begun explaining to me how modernizing was easier when you got to start from scratch, and after the Korean War that was exactly what they’d had to do. Build it up from scratch. It made building much easier because you didn’t have to mind the old buildings, and you could just plan infra-structure and architecture how you wanted it. The city we were in hadn’t been affected by any wars close to this time, though, according to Chanyeol. Not as harsh as the Korean War at least. Of course you had old changes of boundaries in the Goryeo era with civil wars, but that was a long time ago. He said there weren’t many remnants from that era, but there were some that had been restored.

As Chanyeol kept telling me about the different perks about the city, he also kept his question-round going. I started to get the feeling I was taking one of those psychological tests where I had to answer the first thing that came to mind when he asked. I would have failed that test though, because I had questions where I had to think for a terrible long time. Good thing I asked him if passing was allowed, because I did do some of that.

“Favorite food?”

“Bacon,” he said with a grin. “Favorite animal?”

“White tiger,”

“A white tiger? Why white tiger?”

“They’re smart, independent, stubborn and just absolutely beautiful,” I answered. “Now I get two questions!” I still had to think a little about some. “Best smell?”

This time Chanyeol had to pause. “You’re giving me more difficult questions,” he said. I grinned in return. “Probably the smell of a campfire out in the open, mixing with the smell of a late summer evening and nature’s own flowers giving off their last for the night,”

The combination was foreign to me, but the way Chanyeol explained it, it sounded wonderful.

It continued on and on. The questions sometimes got so random we both started laughing.

“Favorite way to wake up?”

“If you could be given any gift, what would it be?”

“Morning or evening person?”

“Favorite toy when you were little?”

“Dream vehicle?”

“Do you remember your dreams?”

“Dream vacation?”

“Coziest way to spend the evening?”

“Favorite subject?”

“Have you been named after anyone?”

“Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?”

“First thing you notice about someone?”

“Favorite time of the day?”

“Nighttime,” Chanyeol answered, which surprised me. I didn’t find him being the night type. Neither had I found him being a person who loved black either. Maybe I judged him wrong. “Yours?” he asked.

“Dawn,” I said.

I looked up at the sky that was changing colors. We’d been out for a long time, just walking, talking and watching. I was starting to feel a little tired in my legs, which I was annoyed by. How was it possible to get tired from such little exercise? It was a nuisance and something I didn’t show to Chanyeol while I observed him walking slower than he actually could with those long legs of his. It made me walk a little quicker, determined to ignore the tiredness.

“Why dawn?”

I suddenly realized Chanyeol had asked me another question. “Hmm?”

“Why dawn?” Chanyeol repeated. He seemed amused by me spacing out.

“Why night?” I asked, grinning.

“It’s the time when the flames are able to shine most brightly” he simply said.

I hadn’t thought of it in that way. In my opinion, the darkness hid too much. It was cold and almost scary.

“Now.” Chanyeol said. “Why dawn?”

The words slipped past my mouth as easy as they had Chanyeol, and I answered, “It’s the promise of a new day,” Because it was as simple as that. Dawn was a promise that the night was over, and it was also just a simple pinpoint of time.

“That’s a nice way of viewing it,” Chanyeol mused.

I smiled as an answer.

We were walking up a track through the woods now, leaving the city behind. Chanyeol hadn’t told me where we were headed, and I didn’t expect anything. The only thing I could feel was the ground leading us upwards, hearing the gravel crunch underneath our feet and my legs giving off that burn that was coming from the exercise. Oh, lactic acid how I love you.

A cliff was suddenly ahead, and a little path on its side showed it was way much steeper than the earlier we’d been on. It was actually more like a climb than a path, and Chanyeol went first, holding his hand ready to help me up the rest.

And then we were up. We were there.

I gasped faintly as I watched the surroundings. We were on the top of a cliff, not the tallest point of the valley, but a clearing that left room to see the beautiful view – now showing us trees and the city’s tallest buildings that had been accompanied by some clouds lying low in the air.  When I watched what was closer to us, I saw old statues of stone, and what seemed to be the ruins of old Asian building architecture. It could almost seem as if it had been, or was, a sacred place.

“This is supposed to be holy ground,” Chanyeol said, confirming my thoughts. “The ruins you see here – they were once a place of worship,”

I was almost in awe, thinking of all the people that had went up here to find some peace and to pray. Maybe this was a place they had hid when warriors had come. It was certainly a place where you had a nice overview. In the end though, it could seem as if it had been attacked. The thought left me with some sadness.

"Many people go up here to feel the power that exists in the ruins," Chanyeol said as he watched me study the surroundings.

The view was stunning. The hill was facing towards the ocean, and we could see the whole valley from where we stood. Of the ruins around me there were almost just stones left - old stone worn from weather and perhaps battles too. The sacred place had to be at least a thousand years old, and must have been through a lot.

"What power?" I asked.

I let my fingers brush lightly across the surface of a tired looking statue too old for me to recognize the sort of it. Chanyeol took a deep breath, probably enjoying the cold, but fresh air that suddenly came gushing towards us. I followed his example. My lungs pained from the cold for a few seconds, but when I felt the almost dizzying feeling of having too much oxygen in my body, I knew it was worth it.

"Have you ever heard about new-religious thoughts talking about the stones of the earth drawing energy from the natural forces it's been exposed to?"  Chanyeol asked.

Woah. Too many words.

"Huh?" I asked.

"The earth draws energy from the natural forces," Chanyeol said, trying to explain it better to me and smiling slightly. "Rain, lightening, wind, heat, cold - it has all affected the stones of the earth."

I nodded, understanding a bit more.

"Think of how long they've been here,"

I thought of it. "They've been here since the beginning," I said. "Always changing, but still being there,"

Chanyeol nodded,

"They've been through all the history,"

"And," Chanyeol said, finishing something I hadn't thought of, "They've gathered energy from the natural forces,"

"Huh," I said.  "But why do people go up here?"

"Many feel closer to their power," Chanyeol said, as if it was obvious. "The energy is our power - can't you feel it? Can't you feel how your power just edges closer into reach?"

I went quiet. I kept the stone, kept staring at my surroundings; the small cliff leading to the trees, the blue sky, the ruins, and the city. I couldn't feel anything else than the cold wind creating goose bumps on my skin each time it decided to soar past us. How was I going to explain it? A hope that didn't even have time to build up was ruined. I was no closer.

"I still don't know what my powers are," I murmured.

I could see Chanyeol turn to look at me in my peripheral vision. His gaze was most likely questioning - maybe also calculating, considering his smarts. Maybe he could sense I was opening up.

"I don't remember anything about my past," I kept murmuring. "Or, I don't have any memories at least,"

"I know," Chanyeol said.

My head snapped towards him. "Hm?"

"I know, I said," Chanyeol repeated.

"How would you know?" I asked, sincerely curious.

"Because of the way you've answered my questions," he said, flashing a small smile at me.

I cocked my head to one side, discovering another fact about Chanyeol. Maybe I should have understood he was such an attentive guy from the show of his intelligence earlier, but it hadn't crossed my mind before.

"There is a distinct way you answer according to what type of question I ask you," he continued, seemingly happy to tell me about his theory. "You used so long time to think on some of them, questions you almost should have answered instinctively."

Even I had noticed how slow I was at answering some questions.

“Not to mention you wanted the opportunity to pass questions,”

"I guessed you've figured me all out then," I said, smiling tiredly.

"I still don't know why you don't remember,"

"Me, you the same," I sighed.

There was a comfortable silence while we both stared at the surroundings again. I could see Chanyeol was still thinking of an answer to why I didn't know my powers. I guessed it was just his ways - he needed to know the answer to stuff.

I grinned unconsciously, feeling the need to award Chanyeol at least some. "Hey!" I said, getting his attention. "Fear not, your round of 100 questions has helped me,"

Chanyeol's eyes twitched up in that eye-smile of his, lips slightly crunching upwards too. "It has? I guess my mission for the princess is fulfilled then,"

I slightly rolled my eyes at the princess-comment. "Now only what remains is for the knight in the shining armor to come rescue the princess with his awesome superpowers," I said dryly.

"My job is to save damsels in distress,"

I pouted slightly. "But I don't wanna be a damsel in distress,"

Chanyeol was seemingly amused by this and let me continue.

"I'd rather be the one saving you,"

And then I got to hear the rumbling of his laugh.

"What?" I complained. "What's so funny?"

Chanyeol continued to laugh into the open air, and even though I was a little put out by his laugh, I also found myself smiling by it.

"I just imagined your frail being coming to my rescue," Chanyeol laughed again, and my eyes widened.

"YAH!" I yelled and stalked over to him. "That's an insult!"

Chanyeol laughed even more. He looked at me through those smiling eyes of his, me standing there with my arms defiantly crossed.

"I promise you," I said, "One day I am going to be the one to save you!"

This almost burst the bubble as Chanyeol kept laughing and topped it when he started clapping his hands as well, but as he watched me holding my ground his laughter died down.

"You're serious," he noted.

I kept my hands folded across my chest and stared up at him.

"I'm serious," I said.

"What if I don't want to be saved?"

Chanyeol had said it playfully, and I responded thereby.

"Then I'm going to force you to bow down and save you anyway,"

Chanyeol laughed. "You're going to make a 1.85 tall creature with powers of flame bow down?"

I paused and thereafter huffed indignantly, "Yeah, I guess that is playing with fire,"

Chanyeol's dark bass rumbled again in a small laugh and I laughed too.

Suddenly there was a rush of cold air, and I stopped laughing, shuddering involuntarily. Chanyeol stopped laughing too and looked at me with that May I?-look again. Playing with fire could be good sometimes. Chanyeol stepped forward and laid his hands gently on my shoulders. Warmth spread through my body and I sighed in content.

He looked down at me.

"You can feel it, right?" he asked.

"What?"

His curly hair was teased by the wind, and I could see his eyes clearly through the black glasses he wore.

"The energy."

I cocked my head to one side, not really sure what he meant.

"Some scientists define energy as the potential of doing mechanical work or giving off heat,"

"A-ha.." I said, not really getting there.

"Remember what we talked about earlier?" Chanyeol asked.

"Me coming to save you in your pink princess dress?"

Amusement glinted in his eyes. "No.."

I knew that wasn't what he'd meant when he asked. "We talked about the power in the ruins here,"

"And?" he pushed.

 I was getting there.

And what? "The way the stones are affected and stores energy through many years?"

Chanyeol puffed his cheeks and looked up as he thought. My eyes widened at the sight, why did boys do such?

"So the stones save energy and people come here to feel closer to their power – what does that mean?” he asked me, clearly trying to make me understand.

My eyes widened as I realized. “Oh!” I said, “You mean the power is energy?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol grinned.

I noticed he still had his hands on my shoulders, sending those lovely, slow waves of heat through my whole body. How could I not notice such pleasantness? “But what does that have to do with your hands on my shoulders?”

“I thought it would give you a greater idea,” Chanyeol said, “About how to find your powers and how to recognize them,”

“Why?”

“Don’t you see? Energy may be defined as the potential of for example giving off heat,”

“So our powers are heat?”

“Not exactly,” Chanyeol smiled. “The Law of Energy tells us that energy can neither be created nor disappear, only change forms,”

I nodded along, listening. It was weird how we could be standing so close and having this kind-of scientific conversation. That is, we weren’t that close, since Chanyeol’s arms were pretty long, but it was outside of normal-people’s comfort-zone.

“Then again, I’m not sure if I can say much, since my power sort-of is heat, but when I feel the power, I sense it as heat,”

I nodded again and stared up at the absorbed look he had on his face.

“I’ve read myself up on some energy-stuff, and it says that heat is either set free or used through chemical reactions.” He took a brief pause. “Now, inner energy is kinetic energy that is about movements of atoms and molecules,”

“What are you getting at, Chanyeol?” I asked. I wasn’t really good with any of the subjects we had at school, and this was getting a little too confusing.

“I don’t really know,” he said, then laughed as he looked down at me. “I thought that your powers might be sensed through warmth, because there has to be some reactions in your body creating the powers – and if kinetic reactions set free heat…”

“But the energy from the reactions doesn’t make the powers, right? They are only transformed from movement to heat and then to powers? Which probably means we must have some extra atoms or molecules in our bodies to be able to transform something into superpowers?”

I was rambling, I knew that, but I didn’t fully understand what he was talking about, I just spoke out something I thought might be logical.

“That is actually pretty clever,” Chanyeol mused, and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to feel insulted or flattered. “Not entirely correct, but the concept is good,”

“Well, thanks,” I said sarcastically and stepped away.

Chanyeol’s little bubble of knowledge burst. “Hey, I’m serious!” he said and walked after me. “It was a pretty good idea!”

“Yeah-yeah, I know,” I said forcing a laugh. “We should get down though, it’s getting late,”

“Yes.. The darkness is arriving,”

“I thought you liked darkness?”

“Just afraid for you,” he said. “Wouldn’t want you to stumble in the dark,”

“Pssh, what if my power is night-view?”

“I’m tired anyways,”

That surprised me. Why would he be tired?

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. I don’t see how you’ve got such a great stamina,”

Now that was bull. “Ha-ha.”

Chanyeol grinned at me. “Let’s go,”

Then we made our way down the hills again. 

Dear Chanyeol - your brain is going to be the death of me. not to mention your hotness which is a relatively good reason to die for

I actually did some research for this one.(NOOO SOUNDS LIKE I NEVER DO BUT I OFTEN DO!!!)  Because Chanyeol is too smart for his own good, and I'm not even sure if I myself is sure what he's talking about, but I had an idea. Kind-of like Sora did. 

My apologies for two things: it's been too long since last update (but I've had my finals!!) and.. this chap. is pretty boring. I'm sorry. Should have happened something more exciting.. D:

Well. You learned something more about these two people, didn't you? *-*

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