The Thirteenth Key

Aera watched Suho leave the cave.

“Suho,” she said again under her breath.

She shook her head and took in a deep breath before jumping back into the water and swimming to the other side. Surprisingly it was easier this time. Half of the time while she was swimming she was hoping that those three men were gone. And to her delight, they were. She saw Suho’s back as he was taking in all of his surroundings. She pulled herself out of the pond and winced in pain. When she finally got out of the pond and dusted off the dirt and rocks that had stuck onto her, she looked up at Suho and silently snarled at him.

“Thanks for the help, jerk,” she said under her breath.

“I heard that,” he said.

His back was still to her.

Aera scoffed.

“Good.”

Suho turned around, unaffected by her words and stared at Aera. Now that he had a better look at her in the sunlight, he was surprised by how she looked. She was drenched in water obviously. The silver Box was in her hands. She wore black skinny jeans, and a normal grey tee. Her long black hair was a wet and stuck to parts of her face. Her hazel eyes were cold yet stoic.

“Ahn Aera? That’s your name...right?” he asked.

Aera nodded once. Suho smirked and turned back around.

“Who are you?” she asked again.

The smirk on his lips disappeared. Seriousness flooded his eyes. He turned around and stared at Aera.

“I already told you, I’m Suho,” he said.

If Aera was a normal citizen, those words would have sent shivers and made her feel frightened of him, but none of that occurred in her body. Strangely enough, when Aera used Suho’s necklace to wake him up, she somehow felt a little stronger and stable, both mentally and physically.

“Who are you really?” she asked. “Are you a Royal, from the Beyond, or just some creature from the Dark Forest?”

That same smirk appeared on his lips.

“I’m from EXO.”

“EXO?” Aera’s eyebrows furrowed, again, in confusion. “Where is that?”

Suho sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It’s not a place. I’m not from anywhere specific. I’m from EXO.”

Aera quietly sighed, knowing that she wouldn’t get the answer she was looking for.

“Let’s just go find them,” she said.

“Gladly.”

Suho turned around and began walking into the forest that looked more alive. Aera took a step forward, but stopped. Her world began to spin as she felt more light headed than ever. She had almost forgotten how severe the injury on her back was. She stumbled forward, never letting go of the Box. She grunted as she hit the ground.

Suho heard something fall and immediately looked back. His eyes widened. Aera was hunched over, as if she were trying to catch her breath. But, that’s not what caught his eyes. The blood that stained that back of her shirt did. Suho panicked and quickly ran and kneeled beside her.

“What happened?” he yelled.

Aera pushed him away and tried to concentrate on her breathing.

“Don’t touch me,” she said in a deathly tone.

Suho brushed the dirt off his hands and kneeled right beside her again.

“Who did this to you?” he asked.

His voice was serious, concerned, and….angry?

“It’s none of your business,” she said.

Suho scoffed.

“You have no clue how intertwined I am in your life at the moment,” he said.

Aera looked at him confused.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

Her face was getting paler by the minute. White spots began to cloud her vision. Her eyes rolled back as she fell into Suho’s arms. Suho’s eyes widened in panic.

“We have to find Lay quick.”

Suho held Aera securely in his arms. He looked down to the Box that she still held close to her, even when she was unconscious. A small smile appeared on Suho’s lips as he shook his head.

“She’s protecting it with her life.”

Suho began walking into the woods, in hopes of finding him before the girl lost too much blood.

~~~

He could feel the other’s presence. His eyes darted everywhere. He was nervous. He could feel Aera’s blood run down his arms. Both of them were partially dry, but Aera’s blood kept them wet.

“Yixing, where are you?” Suho muttered under his breath. “I know you’re here somewhere.”
The worry for the girl in his arms was growing by the second.

“Come on, come on, come on! Where are you?” Suho was getting frustrated.

SNAP!

He stepped on a rather large branch. He stopped right in his spot, not because of the branch, but because of the familiarity that he felt. He knew he felt it before, but now the feeling was stronger. Suho’s head snapped to the side. A big tree stood next to them. The hole in the tree was big enough to shelter three people. It was covered with autumn leaves. Suho squinted his eyes as he tried to get a better look at the hole.

Something blinded his eye

Something silver shined in the sunlight. It was a unicorn pendant. Suho’s eyes widened.

“Yixing!”

Suho ran towards the tree and set Aera down. He looked at the pendant and pulled it up. It didn’t bulge. Suho’s eyes furrowed in confusion. He began digging through the leaves until he felt something solid.

Ugh, it’d be nice if Sehun was here.

Suho pushed all of the leaves aside and found a man laying down. His arms and legs were spread out. His eyes were closed and it looked as if he wasn’t breathing. Suho immediately took the unicorn pendant and found the same symbol on the silver Box in Aera’s arms. He brought the two together, but nothing happened. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Why isn’t it working?!” he yelled frustrated.

He looked down to Aera who seemed to be dying. Worried and fear flooded him. A lightbulb went on in his head.

Oh yeah, stupid Suho. Only she can wake him now.

He leaned over Aera and gently shook her.

“Hey...hey, Ahn Aera. Aera, Ahn Aera!” he yelled.

Aera’s eyes twitched, but didn’t open.

“I found another one!” Suho yelled.

Aera grunted and slowly opened her eyes.

“What?” she asked.

“I found someone else. You have to wake him up because I can’t. He can help you,” Suho said.

Aera sighed as she forced herself to sit up. Her vision was still blurry, but if what Suho was saying was true, then she would have to wake up the next person before she fell back unconscious. Suho handed her the pendant. The cold and hard titanium steel made goose bumps appear on her arms. She found the same symbol on the Box and pushed it in. That same bright light blinded the both of them for a second before it dissipated. She grew a bit stronger, but the pain in her back made her not notice it. She dropped the pendant and Box before falling backwards. Suho’s eyes widened as he quickly caught her before she could hit the ground.

“Miss Aera!” he yelled.

His heart beat raced.

Coughing was heard and Suho looked at the new member now added onto the long journey.
“Yixing! Hurry! Get up and help her!” Suho yelled.

“Suho hyung? Hey, I just woke up. Give me a break.”

“She’s dying! She lost a lot of blood! Help her now!”

With that Lay’s eyes widened. He looked at the girl in Suho’s arms. He quickly moved to her side.

“Keep holding her,” he said.

His eyes examined her back. He lifted up her shirt. He winced at the wound. It was deep, bleeding, and probably infected. He hovered his right hand over the wound. A beam of light shone from his hand. Skin layers began to grow back as the cut began to close. Her blood was restored and began moving at a normal rate in her body again. Lay’s eyes were concentrated on her back. He had no idea who she was, but since Suho told him to do it, he did.

The wound finally closed and the light disappeared. He took one final look at her back. He was about to put her shirt back down, but stopped when he spotted something. It was a symbol. A symbol that represented her ability, the symbol was awfully familiar to him, but he shrugged it off and let go of her shirt.

“Done,” he said.

Suho let go of the girl and let her gently fall onto her back.

He leaned back by resting his palms behind him. Lay did the same.

For a short moment, no words were exchanged. Lay looked at Suho.

“How long?” he asked.

“I just woke up a few hours ago,” he answered.

Lay nodded.

“How did she get that?” he asked.

Suho shook his head.

“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“What if she’s the enemy?”

“I never said that I trusted her. Trust is earned. She has yet to earn it. I don’t even think that she trusts me. I don’t blame her, she just met me,” Suho said.

He looked at Lay.

“What do you think about her?” Suho asked.

Lay shrugged his shoulders.

“I just woke up, how am I supposed to know?”

Suho smirked and shook his head.

“She’s a bit...different,” Suho said.

“How different?” Lay asked.

“You’ll see.”

Notes

Hello, I'm back! I'm so sorry for not updating! I lost my USB that had all of my stories on it, and just found it again recently.

And....I HAVE GOOD NEWS! I won a contest and so both my poem and short story that I entered will be published in a magazine! :D

<3 Nubci4