Lay reunited with her first. Three years prior, he backpedaled. Tellius, who’s home he, her, and Zhoumi now visited for a pleasant lunch, said something about wasting time. Lay couldn’t hear anything besides her steady breaths.

Convinced his dreams crossed the border into reality by way of sheer will alone, Lay proceeded to interrogate her. About dates. About events. All specifically minuscule. Tangerines. Poinsettias. Bluejays and pumpkin seeds. Six empty frames and one framed mirror. Your will is your own.

Closing in on her seated form, willful hands reached out, “If I may?”

Curtailing to his whims, though tempting, proved not the best of ideas. “You certainly may not.” She responded with a wry smile. “Lest my heart grow too happy.”

Lay conducted a check-up despite her protests. He discovered bruises dotting on her legs, an intertwining vine tattoo creeping up her shoulder, and a heart rate firing in such rapid succession he laughed. One year. Zhoumi didn’t say a word. Lay couldn’t see anything besides her present state of being.

The hype wasn’t worth the wait. A sentiment both she and her Guardians shared. Head low, he, she, and Zhoumi walked through the sectors of the Capital.

Sector E appeared unchanged. Sector D was worse for wear. Sector C’s alleyways seemed longer and narrower than before. Sector B was taped off, yellow lines darting from here to there. Sector A grew overpopulated as a result, Exotians bumping shoulders and bags, advertisements blaring from one street corner to the next, subway station's flower patch now a bed for sickly weeds to sprout, the People’s Court at the center of it all gone.

Gone.

Burnt clean through. Demolished to nothing. The memories of the 70th Seeress of Exo’s grand speech deleted from physical history. When each day seemed no different from the last, when flowers stopped growing between cracks in the concrete, people stopped keeping track of night and day. The smog didn’t help. 

If she wanted it enough, anything was possible.

“We can see who blinks first or you can open the door."

Pride stinging, she set foot into the Hall of the Guardians for the first time in years. That hunk of rock knew as well as the eleven faces before her. She didn’t want it enough. At this point, it didn’t matter what she wanted.

Dust tickled at my nose. I sneezed. An echo that sounded four times before noiseless talk enveloped me once more. The twelve Guardians, my twelve friends, thought a range of comments as we stood together in the Main Hall. No matter how loudly the Calling Stones hummed, their long-missed voices rang true.

Hello. It’s been awhile. How are you? More specifically, how are you alive? More importantly, why? Why do you have blonde hair? It doesn’t suit you. Neither do those clothes. You look different. You feel different. Please, leave. I didn’t ask for these talents. Take them away. Please, die.

Perhaps too true.

I admit, that last one hurt. Coming from him in particular. Either he’s forgotten I can read his mind, or he doesn’t care. The latter scares me enough to tempt me towards that edge. 

Leaving out the fatal details, I explained both my past and my present. D.O seemed enamored by the love sown between two giant rocks, dreaming behind a blank expression. Kai appeared affected at the topic of my parents, though to what degree was unclear. Sehun’s jaw dropped when I mentioned Ela Nektor, eyes glazing as he gazed at my faerie-given golden mane. No one needed to know the deal I’ve struck. 

“You have a plan of attack, then.” Chen took my pause as the end. There were no questions regarding my revival; only his following assumption. “You spent your recent weeks of reborn life away from us for a reason, didn’t you?” This grudge of his would prove quite the challenge to overcome in the coming months.

“I meet with the Council tomorrow.” I revealed. “And it won’t bode well if I show up empty-handed.”

“What do you want?” Xiumin, stare piercing, asked from beneath the cowl of his robes. Burns marred his bare hands, gathered stiffly at his groin. Similar marks ran up Chanyeol’s neck. Sparring taken too far; burden of a planet taking its toll. 

“A future.” I gulped. “I need a vision.” It wasn’t my place to ask. “I need to touch you.” I had been gone too long. “Any of you. All of you.” Yet I needed it anyway. “I can’t stress this need enough.” 

“You’ve become shameless.” Someone said.

“I’ve become desperate.” I answered. “As you should be.”

“Okay.” Another began to agree.

Suho stepped forward, hands extending outwards in a friendly gesture. “You’ve come a long way.” An act I’d never seen. “Get some rest.” Performed to reject me. “We can discuss the matter in the morning.”

I could feel my skin crawling. Goose pimples spreading. Lungs gasping because, “I don’t have that kind of time, Suho.”

Lay sparked something. A brief image. Blurry, at that. Almost immediately, I knew it couldn’t be him. Almost immediately, Suho yelled in my face.

“Make it!”

Therein lies the rub. I wouldn’t make it without them. At the time, I thought this. Truly, I did. We were standing together at long last, yet even death never left me feeling so distant.

“You remember the way?” Kris inquired as the twelve filed out, Luhan’s masked face passing by without the slightest twitch or twinkle of the eye. I nodded. He forced a smile. “Sleep.”

Pity: an almost hateful emotion. Ela Nektor passed on more than her shimmering tresses. Here I am. Powerless. Not by default. You’ll get nothing out of everything if you wait too long.

Zhoumi watched her braid and unbraid her endless curls. Though sparse in personality, not a piece of furniture left uncovered by heavy, white sheets, she breathed a sigh of relief to return to her room. Moon full overhead, her eyes scanned the page of a thick book he didn’t recognize. She laughed every now and then.

“We’ve already discussed this, Zhoumi.” Another laugh. “Hair braiding, book reading, mind reading, I’m a great multitasker, wouldn’t you say?”

Feet kicking up and down upon the couch’s armrest, she hummed a tune. An eerie melody sung by the children of Alberos. After a moment, catching the beat with hesitation due to a faltering memory, he supplied her the lyrics.

One day, two days, three days, and more.
The Tree of Life knows what’s in store. 
Plants a sproutling in our heads.
For our future needs a bed.

Two more couplets followed this Gardener’s pledge of service. A sudden knock upon the door interrupted their duet. Zhoumi moved to answer, legs swinging from the edge of the feathery bed. She leapt up faster than he, frantic in her motion for him to stop. He did.

If she was surprised at which Guardian came to her first, she didn’t show it. Flipping back his hood, an untamed head of hair springing to attention, the Sun Guardian Kai greeted her with a dry, “Miss me?”

Zhoumi watched her watch him. Mind reading. Thoughts clicking. Lips moving. “Slightly.” Multitasking. She left with him then, head held high. To think they came to this: doing anything and everything to fulfill an ever gnawing need. 

It was almost five in the morning when she returned. She took a long shower, got dressed to the nines, and headed to the Council’s Court without breakfast. Its white walls were stained an almost ironic gray.

I scratch your back, you scratch mine.

A/N: A callback to our Seeress’s first encounter with the doors in the Hall of the Guardians. Remember what Luhan said: if she wants it enough, it’ll open. Here, "she didn’t want it enough." Though, “at this point, it [doesn’t] matter what she [wants]." Also, the last line is in italics: aka, someone's thoughts. In particular, the thoughts Kai had when our Seeress was "multitasking." This chapter ends with either exactly or not at all what you think it is (re: this, I think the title is quite clever). Hope to see you soon!