Black Magic

Forget Me Not

Chapter 23: Forget Me Not

--~~--

Kris sat with his head in his hands.

He had so much going on in his life right now that he couldn't even think straight. His mind was in a state of total disarray, strings of thought crossing and tangling and lying alone with no end in sight. He felt quite sure that he was forgetting something important, but that feeling had been with him for days now, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was that he was forgetting.

For the past week, he and Joonmyun had been trying to meticulously finish preparations for the EXO tryouts, but Kris was often called off to some meeting with the Council, or sent on a mission in the city, or asked to be present at some stupid press conference for the stupid Royal Wedding.

He barely had time to sit down and attend to one thing before he was being forced off to do another.

The bulk of the responsibilities for the tryout preparations had pretty much fallen to Joonmyun, and with the Water Dragon being so tense around Kris since the announcement of their engagement, the amount Kris could help was really limited.

Joonmyun had taken to setting plans in motion without consulting Kris first, which was fine, but it left him confused and unable to answer certain questions when asked by the Council.

Kris did know, however, that today marked the beginning of Round Two tryouts. And he had a basic understanding of how each round was formulated after that.

Luckily, with the way the competition had been designed, the academic aspect of Round One had knocked a lot of people out of the running. The next two rounds, which were created to showcase basic physical strength and elemental control, would likely do the same.

Round Four was designed to match up any remaining contenders with an EXO member. Should the student win a battle against the EXO member, they would pass onto the final round.

And the final round, Round Five....well, he and Joonmyun were still working on that. Unless Joonmyun had taken that matter into his own hands as well. Honestly, there probably wouldn't even be a need for Round Five. Yixing's tryout had been the last one that progressed to a Fifth Round. Every other EXO member (those that hadn't been handpicked by the Council) had passed their tryout as the sole winner of the Fourth Round.

Kris sighed and massaged his temples.

He'd worry about that situation when (if) it happened. Maybe it wouldn't.

As for right now, he needed to drag himself out to the Training Field to supervise the beginning of Round Two.

He really just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from the world. Kris was tired of being called upon by the Council. He was tired of making decisions, and having to be a leader. He was tired of having to think about the future and the protection of hundreds of students and civilians.

But now was a critical time when EXO needed a leader most, and Kris had never been one to run away.

He hauled himself out of his chair and started for the door, that feeling of forgetfulness clinging to him like a persistent shadow.

--~~--

Baekhyun traversed the empty hallways with purpose, urgency lengthening his stride. Round Two of the EXO tryouts were scheduled to begin in less than 10 minutes, and he wanted to be there to observe.

But Chanyeol had been missing the entire morning, and Baekhyun was determined to find him before heading to the Training Fields. Ever since the Dark Dragon attack last week, Baekhyun had been possessed by the constant need to always keep Chanyeol within his sights. He hadn't liked the vision of the Fire Dragon coming back from battle covered in dark blood and gaping wounds. It worried Baekhyun, brought his nightmares out in full force again.