hydra | svt

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

wonwoo

after breakfast, i announce my indefinite retreat to my bedroom for the day, to which my mother responds with an unreadable look in her eye but a soft nod nonetheless. i bound up the stairs and shut my door, not having the heart to lock it completely.

i sift through the pile of books on my desk, most of them being textbooks or exercise books filled with half-written notes and doodles of the keychains i've collected so far. my fingers graze the charcoal leather i'm looking for and i pull it out, grabbing a pen from my pen pot, and shuffle onto my bed with the book open to a clean page in my lap.

releasing a shaky breath from the confines of my lungs, i hover the nib of the pen over the parchment as i try to organise all the thoughts that are ricocheting in my mind into a few concise questions. fumbling over possible introductions, in the end i choose to get straight to the point: there's no time for formalities or small talk.

who are the electos decem?

the moment i dot the question mark, the words dissolve into the page and it's as if i had never written a word; my encounter with phthisis had left me desperately curious and as soon as i had gotten home that evening, i'd opened up google and typed 'electos decem' into the search bar. the only thing that'd stood out to me at the time was the translation of the word:

the chosen ten.

i'm started out of my thoughts when black ink smears across the page in an all-too-familiar spidery script.

so they've revealed themselves already, i see.

i nod subconsciously, before reminding myself that the mage couldn't see me; i write out a short reply, red dusting my cheeks.

yes. are they a part of the organisation we have to defeat?

a few moments later, my response arrives.

they are the organisation you have to defeat.

my bottom lip is pulled between my teeth and i twirl the pen in my hand, unsure of my next question as the words disappear. but it seems as if the mage hadn't finished.

the electos decem, or the chosen ten, are a council of greco-roman gods handpicked by an unnamed 'ruler' of said council. my guess is that the ruler is plaga and the decem are his disciples, if you will. i've been told that you've already faced one of the members?

yes, her name was hecate. but i thought greek gods were mythology.

nothing is impossible, wonwoo. your main focus should be eliminating them.

is that the only way?

yes.

the word seems final so i close the notebook, opting to leave my progress report for another day. i stumble back over to my desk, swapping the gothic leather in my hand for something smaller and more lightweight, flipping back the clear cover and running a finger over the coloured tabs protruding out from the side. i stop over jun's and open his page, mildly surprised by the amount of writing now present compared to when i had first met him.

his basic profile is completed, down to his violet hair, accompanied by a short description of his power. in a sub-section labelled 'KEYS', 0/12 had become 1/12. right at the bottom of the page, a social media handle had been tacked onto the end like an after thought. 

i slide my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and open the instagram app, the social media site pretty much barren as i look at my pitiful amount of followers: 2.

izzy and, by extension, mark. and it seemed like they hadn't been active in a while.

i go to the search page and type in junhui's username, checking his public profile only to be shocked by the following he had built up for himself; one tap later i've increased his little community by one.

next, my attention is back on the notebook as i look for mingyu's page, and then minghao's. their pages are pretty much complete too and i search their usernames in a routine of type, enter, scroll, follow. lastly, i request to follow hansol's private instagram.

not even a minute later, i receive four follow requests back. as i accept each one, my home page jumps alive with their posts. however, i'm more interested in the direct messaging feature and open up a groupchat hastily.

chwenotchew, xuminghao_o, min9yu_k, wen_96junhui and you.

j.wonwoo96: hello

chwenotchew: yo

min9yu_k: wonwoo!!! hey!!!

 wen_96junhui: hi ><

j.wonwoo96: i have some information about the electos decem

min9yu_k: who?

i briefly explain my findings, answering any questions they have to the best of my ability. when it seems like we're all on the same page, i feel awkward at the dormant state of the chat.

min9yu_k renamed the chat seventeen 2.0

chwenotchew: 2.0?

min9yu_k: bc we're better than before!! a new era

seen by chwenotchew, xuminghao_o, wen_96junhui. j.wonwoo96

i can't help but snort.

min9yu_k: ok anyway

min9yu_k: i was walking home the other day and i saw something about a psychic being at the funfair

min9yu_k: i didn't get a look at his face through all the editing they put on the poster

min9yu_k: but i think we should check it out.

xuminghao_o is typing...

seen by xuminghao_o, chwenotchew, j.wonwoo96

chwenotchew: i have work, sorry

my mind flashes back to the gruelling hours of being a lifeguard and i'm thankful i quit when i did. hansol, obviously surrounded by his element, hadn't minded and stayed on to coach the new recruits, despite the cooling weather.

j.wonwoo96: that's okay. we can all go after mingyu's show

min9yu_k: sounds good

wen_96junhui: just caught up >< let's meet at orbit cafe!!! my shift ends around the same time !!!

seen by chwenotchew, xuminghao_o, min9yu_k, j.wonwoo96

with the time and place decided, i shut off my phone and tidy my room to clear my head and mull over everything i had just learnt. i feel an oncoming headache and get up for a glass of water when my phone chimes.

from the notification on my home-screen, i can see that it's a message from izzy; this strikes me as odd since i haven't really talked to her, even in school. the message seems long and half of it is concealed by an ellipses so i reopen instagram and read it through diligently.

isobelyau: yo wonwoo!!! congrats on finding half of your friends already. i hope you're okay after your fights, sorry mark and i couldn't help. but we're needed back in the magic universe: people are getting restless and they can tell something's wrong so we're needed more over there than here. it'll be nice to have my powers back haha but good luck with the rest of your mission and i hope the tools i gave you will help! see ya around

i try to respond but instagram refuses to let me; it's not until the 'this account no longer exists' banner pops up that i realise my follower count has decreased by two.

_________________

i have now exited this story stage left 😌