D.O. finished faster than I thought he would, most likely because he didn’t want to have me staring at him the way I was. I didn’t really have anything else to look at in the room so I don’t know what else he expected me to do.

He told me to wait in the training room while he left to shower and change into different clothes. He didn’t want me to tire out myself by, god forbid, walking. I clicked my fingernails on the wooden bench as I waited.

The door finally opened and I looked up. But it was not D.O. Again, it was someone I had never seen before. His face was chiseled and his jaw line was pronounced, that’s what caught me off guard at first. That and then his tone.

“Who are you?” He asked me rudely as he slugged towards me, hands in his pockets.

“Nice to meet you too then.” I stood up from the bench and crossed my arms against my chest, “Guardian I assume?”

“I asked you a question.” He looked me up and down and tsked. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I asked you one too if you didn’t notice.” I flared my nostrils at him, not knowing why he irked me so much.

He grew impatient with me and grabbed my arm, intending to drag me out of the room. However, as soon as he touched me, he froze. The feeling of his hand on my arm was electrifying. I yanked away from him, wondering why in the world I felt something like that. Earlier, when I touched Kris’s hand, it was warm and airy feeling. It did not feel like lightning jolted me.

His hand fell to his side and he inspected me again, “Just who are you?”

That feeling just now, what was it?

He reached out and grabbed my arm again, he stared down at where his hand touched my arm and thought hard about what was going on. His other hand gripped my other arm and he held me steady. I didn’t move. There was something about him that told me to let him do as he wanted.

“Chen? You came back.” I heard D.O.’s voice and his footsteps as he finally came back from changing. He looked to me and saw how the man, Chen, was holding onto me like a rag doll. “Your highness!” He quickly ran over to us and pulled Chen’s hands from me, “Chen, what are you doing?” His voice was stern as he scolded Chen.

“Highness?” Chen questioned the word as he racked his brain for what was happening. Soon, he found it, “You.” He looked past D.O. and at me, “You’re our Seeress?”

I nodded slowly.

Chen’s frame went limp and he collapsed onto the ground on his knees. He clenched his fists as he laid them on either one of his knees, “Forgive me your highness. I did not know it was you.” He hung his head low.

That was why I felt that way.

I felt as though I was invading his privacy by hearing his thoughts so decided against it to bring them up to him. I saw D.O. about to tell Chen off again and I stopped him by stepping in front of him and speaking first, “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it. Just get up okay?”

He still stared down at the ground, not making any move to look up. He was still repenting. Really, it wasn’t that big a deal. If anything, I was ruder to him than he was to me.

“Get up Chen.” Still, he didn’t move. What made these guys so stubbornly loyal anyway? I sighed and slowly descended onto my knees in front of him. I hung my head down low as he had, “I’m sorry too.” He looked up, shocked I was bowing in front of him like this. “Makes us even right? Or do you want the both of us to continuing squatting like this?”

He quickly got up and motioned me to as well.

“You’re too nice,” D.O. mumbled as he helped me up. I eyed him, one of my eyebrows raised up in confusion. He didn’t answer my silent question and that made me curious to know what he was thinking. He suddenly spoke up, “Your highness, you promised.”

It was like he could read me like a book. He seemed to be one step ahead of me despite me being the one who could read his mind. “I got it I got it.” I assured him.

“Are you sure?” D.O. asked me as he walked me towards the entrance of the home of the Guardians. I nodded in response and ascended the stairs in front of us. I wanted to go looking for the rest of the Guardians on my own. Kai said I would be drawn to them and honestly, I wondered if it was true.

Then again, a small voice inside of me was telling me not to look for more proof about whether I am indeed the Seeress or not. Still, I only had four more to meet. Considering I ran into Tao on the street, they shouldn’t be hard to find. Especially if they are wearing their signature black cloaks.

“Be careful.” D.O. told me as though there were lions, tigers, and bears waiting for me outside.

“I’ll be fine.” I glanced back at Chen who had been silent since the incident from earlier. “I’ll be back soon.”

Suddenly, Chen spoke up, “If you’re not back within four hours, we’re coming to get you.” I rose my eyebrow at his statement, giving him an, ‘are you serious?’ look. “If you went with one of us, you could stay out as long as you wanted. But, by yourself, you’re a walking target.”

I’m surprised Luhan hasn’t said anything yet.

“Don’t be snippy,” I smirked at him, who was quite stunned I called him that, before turning back to D.O., “I’ll be back in four hours.” I emphasized the last part. D.O. nodded though I could tell he was holding himself back. I quickly left before he could object against the idea.

The door came out on the backside of the oldest building in the city, the People’s court. Rather now it was a place where people could gather and discuss things of interest to them, before, as I learned as a child, was where the Seeress would speak to the people and present herself when needed. It was a semi circle shape with seating as though it were a stadium all around, focused on the position in front; where the Seeress would stand.

All of this meant the Guardians lived right under this place. I had heard of their “Hall” but I never knew where it was, until now that is.

I weaved my way around the pillars making up the sides of the building and soon found myself blended in with everyday pedestrians. It felt weird being with normal people now, rather than all powerful Guardians. I still had no idea what Kris, Lay, D.O., and Chen could do but I was sure it was dangerous or just as dangerous as Chanyeol’s.

I followed the crowd to the center of the plaza and looked around, “Now where to look?” I scanned the crowd though still had no idea what I was looking for. I shook my head and checked the time. It was eight o’clock at night. I was an hour late for my shift at the bar. I cursed as I quickly ran there, thankful Tao had gone back to my apartment and grabbed my purse for me earlier after much persistence from me that going into my apartment was not indecent in the least.

It didn’t take long to get there considering I was running like a maniac. When I did, the other workers gave me looks that could kill. No doubt they had to pick up my slack at the bar since I didn’t even show up.

“You’re late.” The bartender told me as I rushed to the backroom to change. I didn’t want to snap at him so I continued past him whilst uttering an apology. I quickly went to the back room and changed into the white-collar shirt and black pants in my locker. I tied my apron around my waist and put up my hair as I rushed out of the backroom.

Before I could even ask what I was supposed to do now, the bartender slipped me five drinks on a tray, “Take this to table three.” I obliged and picked up the platter, carrying it to the table by the window of the bar. I had been working as a waitress here for around a year now so I was used to the weight on the tray.

“Your drinks are here,” I alerted the customers as I placed the drinks down on the table. They said various thank yous and I shuffled through the tables to a couple who had just arrived.

“Good evening to the two of you. Welcome to the Two Moon bar, what would you like today?”

I put my hands on my hips and took a deep breath of the fresh night air. My shift was almost over since I had started late and now all I had to do was take out the trash from the bar. There was always a lingering heavy scent in the bar so any moment of time I could get outside felt great. I sighed, picked the bags up from next to the wall, and turned to go down the alleyway to the back trashcans.

As I turned, someone bumped into my shoulder and knocked one of the bags from my hands. I turned and reflexively glared at the person. That’s when I saw who it was. A man in a cloak. My other hand dropped the last remaining trash bag I was holding onto.

“Hey!” I yelled at them and still they continued walking. “Hey!” I yelled again as I rushed through the crowd, pushing past people. Thankfully, I caught up to them. I grabbed their right shoulder and pulled them around to face me. I could actually see their face due to their hood not being pulled over. Of course it was another boy. Exactly how many female guardians were there? I had only met the males until now.

How did I know he was a guardian and not a weird cloak-wearing fanatic? The funny thing is, the feeling of being near him was how I had felt with the other guardians so I knew he had to be one. Of course, the feelings they gave me were all different. Being near this man surged me with energy. I felt light on my feet and was completely ecstatic to find him.

He on the other hand was not at all as receiving of me as I was of them. He grabbed my wrist with his other hand and pulled it back, straining my muscles. I winced my eyes in pain, not expecting such a thing to happen.

“What do you want?”

I yanked from him and rubbed my raw wrist while snarling at him, “Watch the attitude mister. I called you more than once you know.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, “Let me say again, what do you want?”  

His attitude was getting to me. Chen was rude enough but at least he came to his senses after a while. He wasn’t so bad afterward.

I don’t have time for this.

He thought before he pivoted to leave again. I didn’t want to just yell at him that I was his Seeress. Especially not when people were passing by like this.

Twenty seconds and counting. Hopefully it is only one person today.

My eyes rounded at his thoughts and I reached out and grabbed him again. His cringing face became annoyed once more. Before he could object to me again, I cupped his face in my hands. Luhan, before I left, gave me a lecture, via glass sphere, on how the other guardians could feel who I was if they had skin to skin contact long enough with me. His eyes widened though I wasn’t sure if he was shocked by my actions or finally realizing who I was.

What I didn’t expect was what happened next. I didn’t read his thoughts. No. Images flashed into my head like an old movie. I saw the back of someone walking forward. Then, a loud screech filled my ears and blood splattered across my eyes. My hands fell from his face slowly and he stared at me, his eyes not leaving my face.

I looked up from my clenched hands and a voice more commanding than I thought I could even muster came out of my mouth, “Stop it. Now.” My thoughts of the moment when I met Kai played through my mind like a nightmare.

He moved quicker than I thought he would. Rather, he turned immediately towards the street and raised his hand towards the light pole near him. The woman underneath who was going to walk across the street stopped to look up at the flickering light, curious as to what was happening. Within that short second, a large garbage truck rushed by, obviously going over the speed limit. The woman’s hair and skirt whipped to the side from the whiplash. She blinked a few times, confused, before checking the street this time and crossing.

“Thank goodness.” I held onto my chest and let out a sigh of relief as she safely crossed the road.

“Your highness?”

I turned towards the call, getting much more used to being called that. The man was now looking at me with wide, doe like eyes. “From now on,” I told him as I held a finger up to his face, “you don’t let stuff like that happen. Got it?”