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- Chapter 4 - The Guardians  -

Clutching onto the man named Shindong for dear life, you squinted your eyes as you watched the forest zoom past in a blur.

You wondered how it was possible for him to run so fast but you thought it’d be better to ask later. The pain in your leg was worsening and you were afraid you might have broken it. 

Soon the green forests vanished and high, rocky, mountains took their place. Despite the pain, you stretched your neck up to investigate the scenery. A huge shadow passed over you and you looked up to see a scaly, winged-creature.

Too traumatised to do anything, you blinked and looked at where you were being carried. Shindong made it look effortless as he rushed up the curvy mountain ledge, scattered rocks falling into the unknown.

High up ahead, you could now make out the shape of a castle. It was certainly placed in a nice spot, surrounded by clouds and far in the distance; you could see snow-covered jagged mountains.

Too busy being fascinated by the view; you didn’t notice that Shindong had abruptly stopped in front of the castle’s gates.

He reached out his hand and placed it on the gold gate, once it glowed, the gate began sliding up.

Amazed at this strange sorcery, you watched with your mouth open as it revealed 3 sets of white, marble stairs leading to different parts of the castle.

Noticing your expression, Shindong chuckled softly as he easily carried you up one of the stairs.

“You should feel lucky, not many commoners get to visit the Guardian Castle like this.” He told you as he entered a large room, and placed you on the mattress.

Commoners? Guardian Castle? Your head spun at the strange phrases but you let it slide for now. Looking around at the room, it looked like it belonged to someone.

Noticing your expression Shindong sat by the bed on a chair, “It’s Siwon’s room. The others should be here soon.” You nodded and sat up a little, wincing when Shindong touched your leg to inspect it.

“Ah sorry.” He drew back his hand, "I should also introduce myself properly."

You blankly stared at him, showing no reaction at all.

"Um..." He hesitated at first, watching you blink at him, before introducing himself. "Shin Donghee, Guardian of Myraphia. But now seeing that we know each other in person, you can call me Shindong." He bowed in greeting, "And you are?"

"Name's Haera..." It took a while for you to answer since the only part you understood of what he just said was his name. Even then you thought it was quite an interesting name. Shindong nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"I should just clean your wound quickly before Siwon completely heals it." He scurried off out of the room, leaving you alone.

Having nothing to distract you from the stinging pain, you looked around the room for anything interesting. Unfortunately for you, Siwon was a neat person and everything was tucked away nicely, leaving the whole room spotless.

Sighing, you blew out puffs of air out of boredom and focused your attention out the window, once again fascinated by the golden clouds floating so close.

Light footsteps echoed through the hallway before stopping abruptly inside your room. A sharp gasp made you flip your head around, your eyes landing on a very dressed-up girl who glared at you with a not-so-friendly look.

Her long midnight black hair cascaded down to her waist and it contrasted with her pale white face. A bright blue gown hugged snuggly onto her petite frame, making her look like royalty.

"Hi?" You asked hesitantly, it didn't look like she was here for a fancy-dress party.

A disapproving scowl spread across her features before she opened her little mouth, "What are you?!" she spat the words, spilling out a string of insults and curses after.

Raising a brow you remained indifferent. "That's awfully rude of you to say that to someone you just met."

Rude girl clenched her fists together, "I don't care." She eyed your outfit, and clearly wasn't trying to hide her disgust. "You filthy villager! I should call the guards on you this instant! How did you get inside?"

"There's this thing called a door." Your voice dripped with heavy sarcasm, obviously trying to irritate the girl more.

Her appearance certainly didn't match her foul personality. "I hope you get locked up and forced to starve yourself an—"

The girl’s squeaky voice was interrupted by the muffled sound of a door closing. A second later, Shindong came back inside the room.

Instantly straightening up, the girl put on a sugary sweet smile and bowed, “Shindong Oppa.” 

You felt like throwing up at her change in character.

Oblivious, Shindong bowed back. "Lady Raina, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Pleasure is all mine." Raina responded politely. "Oppa, who is this girl?"

Walking over to you, Shindong used a warm towel to clean the dirt off your hurt leg. "We rescued her from a Testudines in the Forbidden Forest." He answered calmly as he gently finished up, "Her leg may be broken right now."

Faking a horrified gasp, Raina put a hand on . "How awful, I hope she is healed soon." 

"She will be." When Shindong's back was turned, Raina shot you a very noticeable glare before returning to her innocent face.

Shindong retreated back out of the room and disappeared from earshot. That's when Raina began yelling at you again, but this time, a hundred times more angry.

Praying someone will come to your rescue soon, you nearly cheered out loud when you heard rapid knocking on the door, causing Raina to stop mid-sentence.

"Haera-ssi, you in here?" Someone asked from the other side.

You recognized it to be Leeteuk's voice, and immediately opened your mouth to reply. "Yes I am!" You said, cringing to yourself when you realised it sounded a little too eager.

Raina straightened up quickly once again and lowered herself onto a chair beside the bed just as the door swung open.

The guys that you saw from before all crowded inside, greeting Raina quickly before resting their gazes on you.

The blonde man, who you have yet to find out his name, hurriedly pushed Siwon forward until he was right beside you.

A little confused on what they meant by 'healing' you, if it was literal or not, you merely watched with curiousity. They wouldn't hurt you right?

"Oppas, are any of you hurt?" Raina rushed around them, worry evident in her eyes. Most of the guys reassured her that they were fine.

"The one that's really hurt is Haera." You looked up to meet eyes with the same blonde man again. You hated to admit it but he looked...cute.

"Of course." Raina snapped and purposely stepped between the two of you so that your brief eye contact with him was broken.

Looking down quickly, you noticed that Siwon had placed his hand on the part of your leg that may have been broken. It was so light, you didn't even feel it.

You held your breath as you watched his hand begin glowing. You let out a little gasp when it brightened and golden swirls danced on your skin. Reaching out a hand to touch them, Siwon gently moved your hand back and told you not to touch.

Seconds later, your entire leg went numb and warm. When the heat and swirls began fading, Siwon removed his hand and wiped his brow.

"You definitely did break your leg, it took a while for it to heal." Giving you a sweet smile, he moved back to stand by the others.

Completely mind blown, you poked your own leg and moved it. No pain or anything.

Breaking into a huge grin you jumped off the bed and ran around the room happily, completely forgetting that you had quite a large audience.

Raina was watching with a forced smile, though her eyes were currently tearing you apart. Piece by piece.

"Okay!" She interrupted and stood up, "You're all healed now, time to send you back to your village yes?" She smiled impatiently.

One boy stopped watching you and turned to face her. "Lady Raina, we should at least let her stay the night and  perhaps allow her to rest up before going home." He reasoned with a smile that showed off his pearly whites.

"Donghae Oppa..." She whined and held onto his arm. "There might be people missing her..."

But Donghae wasn't listening anymore, he was too busy watching you thanking Siwon with the biggest grin on your face.

"Oh my lordy, first you put your hand on me and WOW. I didn't even feel a thing! Then the weird glow came and then woosh the swirl thingy's came out of nowhere!" You rambled on excitedly while making exaggerated hand motions. 

Pulling away from Raina, Donghae spoke up. "Haera-ssi, if I may ask, which village do you come from?" 

Pausing your sentence, you looked up at the new face. "I-I..." You hesitated, you didn't even know the answer. How were you meant to tell them that you weren't even from this world?

Fiddling with your fingers, you slowly plopped yourself on the edge of the bed. "I don't know how to say this but...I'm not exactly from this world." You looked at the floor, not wanting to see any of their reactions.

Silence filled the room and you finally had the courage to look up, their smiles had dropped and now they were staring at you in shock while Raina was smirking, of course.

"Another world?" Kyuhyun grew excited at the thought. 

"A-Are you completely sure?" Leeteuk stepped forward with his serious face planted on.

"I'm more than sure."

Leeteuk sighed and huddled his 'brothers' around him, they began to have a quick discussion. 

Feeling like you just caused trouble, you sat cross-legged on the bed and sighed deeply. You thought about how long it's been since you got lost. You wondered if Minjee was worrying, or in the middle of having a heart attack.

Eventually, the guys broke apart and they all wore serious expressions. 

You gulped and scanned their faces, "Well?"

After a short pause, Leeteuk spoke up again. "You will immediately report to the King."