More Than One Way Inside
EXO and the 12 Maidens: Genesis [HIATUS]
Okay, there's some 'colorful' language in this chapter and the next, so I have censored most of it.... But not all of it. Just a heads up :)
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Time. Target. Pursuer. Scrolls.
What could all of those things have in common? EXO would soon find out.
"Okay EXO, listen up. Phase Two is nothing like Phase One. Instead of physical strength, this phase will be testing your endurance. Also, keep in mind that the mental portion of the exam is not yet over. Are you up for it?" Sydri asked EXO.
Lay blew a raspberry and mocked,"Psh, as if we had a choice in the first place."
Sydri pretended not to hear Lay and continued. "You guys will be playing a game of tag."
Suho looked skeptical. "Really? After we just fought for two hours and fell twenty feet, we play tag? There has to be a catch. It can't be this easy..."
"Yes Suho, this will be no ordinary game of tag. But rather than spoil it for you, I'll leave it for you guys to find out for yourselves. Now, let's get started shall we?" Sydri said in response to Suho and clapped her hands in a 3-4-1 sequence.
The dark chamber started to illuminate, and EXO could see better without darkness obstructing their vision.
When the darkeness had fully dispersed, EXO found themselves in yet another metal jail cell. The ground started to rumble all of a sudden, and everyone looked at D.O. "It's not me, I swear!" he defended.
The metal walls started to descend back down into the ground, and soon EXO found themselves in an open yard surrounded by fences. A building could be seen in the distance.
Kris scrunched up his eyebrows. How could this be? I was certain that we dropped down a trapdoor or something...but why is there no ceiling? How did we get out here? he thought.
He was spurred out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps behin him. He turned around, and so did the other eleven.
A woman was walking toward them. Her hair was blowing behind her in the wind and her knee-high boots clicked on the floor as she approached.
Luhan looked at her suspiciously. "Who are you, woman?"
"My my, that's no way to greet your one and only Phase Two examiner now, is it?" the woman replied, hands on her hips.
Luhan's questioning face changed to an astounded one. "Sydri?"
Sydri showed off her two rows of pearl white teeth in a friendly smile. "Yes, that's me"
Luhan was not the only one who was confused. Chen was pleasantly surprised that one of the Shade Troupe leaders could seem so......nice.
I mean, you've got Aiden and Aiven who practically just transformed into the king and general, Falni and her badass-ness, Opal and her creepy aura, Thrimmle and Yve and Xena who threatened them when they first met each other, Immi who just seemed plain crazy, and then you have Sydri who gave them friendly smiles? It just didn't add up.
Chen's trail of thought was interrupted by Sydri, who was earnestly explaining the instructions for the second phase.
"You see that building over there? That's the battle-zone building we use for training. Primarily, it's used for mental endurance and strength evaluations. Today, we have reserved it just for you to take your exam" Sydri happily chirped, clasping her hands together in a delighted gesture.
"Woohoo. I feel so special. What's next? An extra high quality beef set? Oh my god, call my mother and tell her I've won the lottery," Chen droned, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Sydri's smile faltered a bit. "Is this boring you, Chen?" she asked.
"No, I having the greatest time of my life listening to how glorious it is that you went totally out your way to reserve a place for us to take our important exams. I'm totally not bored" Chen said again, making the irony in his statement stick out like a sore thumb.
Sydri's smile turned upside-down. However, she covered it up quickly with another smile. A fake smile, Chen observed.
"When you enter the building, there will be a scroll marked with your name. The scroll will tell you who is your target. You must tag the target with a marking, which is provided for you in the scroll. However, as you search for your target, there are other obstacles that will stand in your way. The time limit is two hours. Find your target, mark them, and stay alive until the two hours are up. If you do that, you pass" Sydri instructed quickly to get things over with.
EXO nodded in contentment. The instructions weren't as complicated as they expected. They were under the misconception that they would have to run five hundred kilometers in twenty minutes or something for the endurance section of the ESMAD test. Guess not.
"I think that's pretty much all," announced Sydri, pulling a stopwatch from one of her pockets in her jeans and pressing the START button,"You may begin!!!"
All twelve guys sprinted to the building. No point in wasting time, they guessed. Sydri clasped her hands together, praying for EXO's safety. She had always been the kind one in her group, and EXO seemed like a well-rounded group of charming men. No harm in wishing them well, right?
*AT EXAM BUILDING*
EXO arrived at the front door, panting and gasping for air. The distance between Sydri and the building was longer than they estimated.
Before them was a door, enormous in size. D.O. took a step forward and gave the door a little push. When nothing happened, he applied a bit more strength and then more and more until he was at his full power. The door budged a bit, about a centimeter or two, but other than that nothing happened.
EXO looked at each other with concerned looks. If their strength powerhouse of a member couldn't pry the doors open, what would?
Suho shook his head. "I guess this would be expected. Nothing those women throw at us is ever a piece of cake."
He turned to Chen and Baekhyun and gave out orders. "Chen can you try to find a way to open the door? Baekhyun, you help" Suho commanded with authority.
At their leader's orders, the 'Computer Geek' and 'Brain' of EXO went to work. Chen was interrogating D.O., asking him what the door felt like and other questions in his usual dramatic voice. From the other members' views, it looked like a television scene where the defendant is interrogated against by the prosecutor in a court trial.
"Sir Do Kyungsoo, it is understood that you have not succeeded in opening the door, true or false?" Chen inquired, pacing in a circle around D.O.
"..." D.O. didn't respond.
"TRUE OR FALSE?! I will have you know that I can have you on death row with a snap of my fingers!!!" Chen snapped, emphasizing his mock aggravation by flailing his arms around.
"Chen." D.O.'s voice was uneven and came out in barely a whisper. It was then that Chen knew D.O. meant business. "You know that I'm pissed right now, right?"
"...Yes." Chen replied in a single word.
"THEN SHUT UP!!!!" D.O. shrieked. Chen swore that he felt his ear drums shatter. If someone told him D.O. was part banshee, he wouldn't hesitate to believe them.
D.O. walked away from Chen and plopped down on the floor next to Sehun, who seemed awfully frightened by his hyung's sudden outburst. Meanwhile, Chen inserted his pinky finger into his ear in an attempt to un-deafen it. Xiumin sat behind him, snickering. Chen shot him a death glare.
Beakhyun on the other hand, was busy observing the door. He noticed that the door was segmented into cubes, like a Hershey bar. After knocking on the surface of some, he found out that behind the surface was a hollow space. So these cubes are meant to be pressed like keys on a computer keyboard, huh? thought Baekhyun.
He also tried pushing one of the cubes but when nothing happened, he concluded that the cubes must be pressed in a certain sequence. Clever, Baekhyun complimented.
However with such a colossal door there were many, many cubes–too many for him to count. Figuring out every single possibility of a sequence would take well over two hours– and past their time limit. There's got to be another way Baekhyun thought, racking his brain for anything that could help.
A pat on the shoulder from Kris brought him back to the current situation. Naturally, Baekhyun's line of vision shifted upwards and he scowled. A man's pride and ego is his everything, and Baekhyun's height compared to Kris's was like comparing a child to the Eiffel Tower. In fact, Kris's nickname was 'EXO Tower', of coursed named by the forever trolling Chen and Xiumin. Those two were a force to be reckoned with when they were together.
"You know, I hate how you're so tall." Baekhyun plainly stated, looking away. Kris shrugged dismissively. "It's not my fault my parents were tall, compared to yours. I mean, you father–being the General and all–is indeed quite tall, but your mother..." Kris trailed off, searching for a word that was less offensive than what he was going to say. "...was a midget" Baekhyun finished for him.
It was Kris's turn to look away. "Right...." An uncomfortable silence followed and after a few seconds passed, Kris coughed and spoke. "So how's the investigation going?"
Baekhyun sighed and looked at the large expanse of cubes before him. "To be honest, I have no idea how to crack the code," Baekhyun admitted,"There's so many possibilities...and so little time."
"Well, we've still got a full hour and thirty five minutes. Sit down with the rest of us and take a little break, okay?" Kris suggested. Baekhyun reluctantly agreed.
*In Control Room*
Sydri walked through the doors and looked around. The only people in the room were Thrimmle, Immi, Baise, Lumia, and the Shade Troupe's pet Caniseraph, Lupo. Everyone else seemed to have left.
At the sight of Lupo, Sydri smiled. Lupo got up from the couch, ran towards her, and nuzzled its head against her leg.
Sydri had joined the Shade Troupe and was on an undercover mission when she stumbled upon Lupo. Caniseraphs were very rare animals: wolves that sprouted wings of various colors from their backs.
Lupo was seriously injured. He had a bleeding slash across his snout and it looked as if one of his wings were ripped from his body. He lay in a puddle of blood. It looked like he had been violently attacked or abused.
Sydri, the kind person she was, ripped off parts of her clothes to bandage and stop most of bleeding. She brought him back to headquarters, where Immi healed him. However, Lupo still has a scar across the snout and a long stitch mark on the left side of his back–where his other wing should have been.
Which brings us back to the present. Lupo completely healed and acquired a new family among the Shade Troupe. He particularly likes to hang out with Immi and Sydri. At first when new recruits started to pet him and give him lots of attention, Lupo didn't know how to react. Now, bags of dog treats found in his mail slot were common and he absolutely loved all the attention—basking in it, even.
Because of his popularity with the ladies (he was quite the ladies man, whining to be petted all the time), he was nicknamed 'Prince'.
Of course, he also was called by the name of Lupo, but only Sydri and Immi called him that now.
"Look at you, Lupo! I already gave you three petting sessions this morning, but you still want more? Aiya, what am I going to do with you?" Sydri complained in a motherly way.
The white Caniseraph growled playfully and unfurled his wing. It was raven-colored with specks of silver, like a midnight sky and its stars. The black wings contrasted Lupo's snow white body greatly and Sydri couldn't help but marvel.
Thrimmle, who was still in the room, smiled. "Sydri, close your mouth before a fly flies in."
Sydri shot her a playful frown. "Mind your own business, Four-Eyes!"
Thrimmle smiled again. "Will do, Ms.Love At First Sight!"
Sydri's playful banter was replaced by a horrified gasp. "You knew?!?!"
Thrimmle interlaced her fingers in her lap and cocked her head to one side.
"Nothing escapes my notice, honey. Besides, I don't see what you could possibly like in that Chen guy. He seems like a conceited–"
"SHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Thrimmle was cut off by Sydri's frenzied shushing. Sydri then proceeded to speak to Thrimmle in a hushed voice while looking over to Immi, Baise, and Lumia on the other side of the room.
"Keep it down!!! Did you tell anyone? Of course, you didn't. Well, I can't be so sure. I mean you totally ratted out Yve. But then again, stealing Immi's homemade cookies is a pretty devasting crime. But what if she was framed? Oh my god, was she falsely accused?! I need to go say sorry–"
"CALM DOWN, WOMAN. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU."
The three women on the other side turned their heads in Lupo, Sydri, and Thrimmle's direction. Baise raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Am I missing something here? Do I need to go over there?'
Thrimmle coughed. "Sorry about that. Er, Sydri was speaking too quickly for me to pick up words so I got a little irritated." She then elbowed Sydri in the ribs and sent her a look that said 'Apologize. NOW.'
Sydri scratched the back of her head casting her three unnies sheepish looks. "Sorry?"
Immi, Baise, and Lumia went back to whatever they were doing, and Thrimmle whacked Sydri square on the crown of her head.
"OW!!!!!"
"Quiet!"
"Ow....."
"You're paying for this later, Sydri"
"B-bu-but, unnie–"
"No 'buts'"
Sydri clutched her head and got up. She crouched-walked to the sofa and collapsed on it, Lupo following at her feet. Thrimmle's punishment was always difficult. And that was putting it nicely.
While Sydri was awaiting her doom, EXO was still trying to get into the building.
*Back With EXO*
"So she was all like,'God, Kai' and I was like,'Gurl, You ain't got nuthin' on me' and then she was all like,'Seriously? Are you like ing serious?!" So then I put on my y Kai face and was up in her face like,'Well, if you really wanted me to ...well, let's just say 'That's What She Said'...and she be red like a to-ma-to!!!"
Kris facepalmed for the thirtieth (or was it the thirty-first?) time in four minutes. Kai was talking to Tao and Sehun about an encounter with a girl he met named Kendra, speaking in an annoyingly high-pitched falsetto when speaking Kendra's dialogue. Almost no one could decipher Kai's mindless nonsense that flowed out of his mouth in endless stream.
Suho scratched his head in confusion after eavesdropping on the maknaes' conversion. Well, it wasn't actually a maknaes' conversation, it was just Kai ranting to Tao and Sehun, who listened but didn't seem to give a damn.
Suho turned to Kris to his left. "y Kai face? That's What She Said? She be red like a to-ma-to?" he asked.
Kris held up his hand in a 'stop' gesture. "Don't try, Suho. The harder you try to understand, you more confusing it gets"
"O.....kay?", Suho said, unsure of what he meant by that, "So what do I do now then?"
"Take five deep breaths, think of all the housework you need to get D.O. and Lay to do, and while you're at it, do three hundred sit-ups" Kris helpfully suggested (keyword being 'helpfully'), adding a rare smile at the end of his sentence.
Suho didn't seem to catch that last part of the sentence and went off to sit next to Xiumin, taking five deep breaths.
Meanwhile, Baekhyun and most of the others were huddled into a circle playing 'Trails'. 'Trails' was a sort of detective type game where there are a set of possible situations where there is crime committed and the players must find out the culprit and what happened. (A/N: Yeah, I just made up that game off the top of my head. Impressive, no? I would like to think so ;D )
Currently the crime was a burglary and the mission was to find out how the thief got inside.
"Well, there's always the front door", stated Luhan.
Chanyeol scrunched up his nose in discontent. "Nah, that's too old-fashioned. He should've done what all the thieves do in the movies– break in through the window"
Chen shook his head. "You know, not EVERYONE breaks the through the window. I say he broke in through the back door."
Chen, Chanyeol, and Luhan then got into a heated debate–a debate everyone else was caught in the middle of.
"WINDOW!"
"BACK DOOR!"
"WINDOW!!"
"BACK D- mmfh!"
"FRONT DOOR!!!"
"GOD DAMMIT, ITS THE FREAKING WINDOW!!!"
"BACK– mmfph– GAH!!! STOP IT, LUHAN!!!!"
"Chimney!!!!!"
All heads turned to look at Kai. Kai immediately defense mode. "What? Can't the burglar have slid down the chimney, too? I mean, it's not like Santa reserved that for the whole 365–"
"That's it!" Baekhyun cut in, as if he just had an A-HA! moment.
Kai was confused. "You mean, Santa really did reserve the chimney for the whole 365 days of the year?"
Baekhyun slapped Kai on the shoulder. "No, not that! There is more than one way to get into the building. If we can't get into it through the front, and there are no windows, the only other option is–"
"A BACK DOOR!!!" everyone chorused.
Immediately, everyone got up and ran behind the building, and voila! There was a door right smack in the middle of the wall.
It was painted a neon-orange as if to mock EXO and say 'I'm right here, painted in freaking NEON, but you idiots spent ing half an hour trying to find me. Your head must be stuck up your '
Chen, although discouraged that they had wasted such valuable time finding the door, wasn't going to let this whole fortunate turn of events slip by. "Well would you look at that. Funny how the person who said it was the back door was me..." Chen started, stopping for a moment to flip his imaginary lock of long hair behind him,"I'm such a genius"
As usual, Chen took all the credit, and as usual, everyone ignored him, leaving him to talk to himself only.
Finally, EXO was inside. It had taken them a whole thirty minutes to figure out there was another entry into the building and while that might not seem like quite a lot of time, every second mattered in a situation such as this.
The thing is, that was the easy part. The hard part was still to come.
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Oh my god, I am so sorry.
There's only about 2-3 weeks left of school, and my teachers are cramming a bunch of last-minute tests and projects into that small timespan.
As a result, I haven't been able to update in THREE WEEKS.
I AM SO SORRY. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU WANNA JUST TAKE A KNIFE—
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...AND CUT MY TEDDY BEAR. You didn't actually want to cut ME, right? Hopefully not. Take my teddy as a sacrifice instead:(
ANYWAY, there was a BAP concert on Friday, or someday last week.... and GUESS WHO WENT!!!!
THAT'S RIGHT. NOT ME. MY LIFE IS RUINED.
Anyway, I am really sorry for not updating in so long. I hope you haven't given up on me or un-subscribed. If you did, you broke my heart.
To Ex-subscribers: I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY KNOWING YOU BROKE AN INNOCENT GIRL'S HEART. sniff. sniff. cries. T~T
I will update soon, I promise. Who knows, maybe I'll even fit in a double-update!!! But of course, that's highly unlikely because of all the stress and huge work loads from my teachers.
CURSE YOU, SCHOOL!!!
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