Chapter Four
~ Magic ~

“Let’s take this outside.” Guardian Park roughly led the intruder out of the hall, bowing to the priestesses as he went.

He caught his older sister’s worried eyes and he shook his head as if to make her not worry. The other guards followed him out and closed the giant doors to give the priestesses privacy they need for returning to their prayers. Once they got out of the temple, a guard handed him a piece of fire-resistant ribbon. He tied both of the man’s wrists together and started marching him to the Guardians’ Quarter to question him. It was night so the only sources of light are the fire torches lining the streets.

The intruder cleared his throat. Chanyeol turned his head to look at him. “Can I ask where we are?”

He was incredulous. This man must be joking. “How could you be here and not know?” he asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

“I - uh, I sort of suddenly appeared here. I was running away and grew desperate. Then, zap, I’m here.” The man relayed in a wry voice.

He stared at him hard, before frowning. They halted their walk in front of a building not that different from the temple. Actually, every building here looked like a temple on the outside. It’s a city trademark.

“Hey,” the man called his attention again. “I really need to know where this is.”

“Fuoco,” Chanyeol told him.

The man became silent. They entered the building and other Guardians greeted Chanyeol as they pass by. Chanyeol greeted them back while navigating through the confusing hallways of the building. They went up about a couple of stairs before reaching a room with fairly thick walls that contains a table and two chairs on each side. On the table were a stack of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle. Fuoco is an old fashioned city through and through, not unlike the other cities of Encis.

“Sit,” the Guardian instructed. When the man sat, he tied the ribbon to the chair tightly. Then he headed to the other chair to take a seat himself. “I’m going to start with asking you what your name is.”

“Kai,” the man answered quietly. “Well, that’s what they call me but my given name is Kim Jongin.”

“From where?” he asked, writing the information as soon as it reached his ears.

Kai bit his lip, not answering right away. He repeated the question patiently. “Nebbia,” was the answer that came out.

Chanyeol paused. He shouldn’t have managed to slip through Chiaro to reach Fuoco, as the former was