I shouldn't have come here. I really should've just left when I had the chance- should've went straight back to the dorm and cuddled with Liz. But of course, I didn't. I was seduced by the promise of answers.

Once again, I chose to be the curious cat. And we all know what happens to the curious cat.

This... this story John just told. He told it to us as if it were real. As if all of it actually happened. Everything with Salvador and Mathias and Ogre. As if they actually existed.

I look up for the first time since John finished his story, lifting my gaze from the spot on the floor I had fixated on. They're all looking at me. Ethan, John, and Justin.

I clear my throat as my eyebrows draw together. Pursing my lips, I take a deep breath.

"Calnoiva was real. King Mathias Abelard was real. The war of the Peninsula was real. We've all learnt it in elementary history class. But to say a mage named Salvador existed? That the enemy wasn't a waring nation, but a monster called 'Ogre' lusting for power? That magic solved the problem?"

Ethan sighs, leaning against the wall. With his shoulders sloping like that, it almost looks like he's relaxed. I'd even believe he was- if it weren't for the clenching of his jaw.

"Blondie, I have to say, I thought you'd be easier to convince. I expected questions, but not..." Ethan hesitates, tilting his head, briefly exposing the scar running down his neck and across his shoulder. "Not apprehension."

"Of course I'm apprehensive! How can I not be apprehensive? Every bone in my body is apprehensive!"

I turn to Justin, who's been quiet this entire time. He's sitting cross-legged on the metal crates stacked neatly against the right wall.

I question Justin directly. "Do you actually believe all this?"

A small smile lights up his face as he replies, "why not? It sounds amazing, I don't mind believing its true. Tori, sometimes you just have to have faith."

I've tried faith before. Learned my lesson the hard way.

John makes his way towards one of the crates to Justin right and eases it open. He shuffles around for a moment before pulling out a silver canister. The overhead lights glint off the surface of the item, which looks considerably small in John's massive hands.

"Victoria, hold this with both hands and close your eyes. Concentrate on the first thing that comes to your mind."

I quickly look to the two idiots that came here with me. Ethan, watching on with a lazy expression, and Justin, leaning forward to get a better look.

Ethan catches my eyes and grins, silently mouthing 'do it.'

To hell with apprehension then. I take the canister from John's hands and close my eyes, trying to do as told.

Momentary darkness settles slowly before the drapes are drawn and I'm embracing the sight before me. The sight of a river, its crystal water rushing earnestly down its path. Jagged rocks jutting out, attempting to slice the river in half, but it merely flickers to a frothy white and rushes on. On and on, never stopping.

Even when the sun lights it up, transforming the stream to a cascade of a million flying diamonds, the river never stops.

I feel my shoulders drop as a sigh escapes my lips. Briefly, I hear a shocked gasp. It's only when I feel a strong hand on my shoulder do I part with my river and open my eyes.

Instantly, I know something's wrong. My hands are soaking wet, and the water has snaked its way up my sleeves, reaching my elbows. The canister is gone and there's a puddle near my feet.

What happened?

"Are you still skeptical, Blondie?"

Considering Ethan almost never answers my questions anyways, I'm not even going to ask him. Instead, I address John, who's had a much better track record so far.

"Where did the water come from?"

"From you, Victoria. You're the water guardian. That object I gave you is a basic tool used to administer diagnostic tests to kids when they're initially learning to use their magic. It helps determine where their skills may lie- which type of magic they'd excel in. For guardians, however, it reacts based on the elemental essence they possess. In your case, it turned to water."

I don't want to believe it. But damn, I don't know what else to believe. I don't have a rebuttal.

In a twisted sort of way, it makes sense. It explains why the water follows my commands when I'm showering. It explains my crest.

Justin jumps off the crate and stands beside John. There's a massive smile plastered across his face and he's rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"So, what element am I?" he asks, the air around him vibrating with energy.

Ethan rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "You're kidding me. You really can't guess?" he chides, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

Justin shrugs, still eagerly waiting for an answer. He must be really excited if he's not even taking the opportunity to retort.

"Honestly Justin. You single-handedly grew enough roses for everyone in your botany class last year. As well as the other two classes. You helped the agriculture club with their crops two years ago during the cold spell and they harvested enough to feed all of Robus, twice. You wouldn't shut up about how well your tree, Daisy, was doing even though it was winter. What do you think your element is?"

Justin stops for a moment, taking in everything Ethan has just said. Once the implication settles in, his face brightens up further, rivaling the Las Vegas strip (which I honestly didn't think was possible).

"I'm earth? That's so cool. That's wonderful! Brilliant!"

"Didn't you ever wonder why you were so good with plants?" Ethan questions.

"I just assumed I had two green thumbs."

I laugh, patting him on the back. "That's pretty reasonable," I say. Ethan groans and mumbles, "don't encourage him."

John also laughs, though when someone of his build laughs like that I can feel the vibrations deep in my bones. He looks at both Justin and me, and I instantly recognize the familiar mischievous glint in his eyes. The one I've become so accustomed to in the past few weeks.

"We already have the air and fire guardians, so that just leaves one more to find. The lightning guardian," he explains. "And you already know both air and fire."

We know air and fire? Well, chances are Ethan is one of them, but then who's the other one?

"What do you think I am?" Ethan asks.

"A bastard," Justin replies without missing a beat.

Ethan frowns, offended. "You walked into that one," I comment to him, chuckling.

"but seriously, you're the fire guardian. Right?"

He nods, amused. "How'd you figure it out? Or was it a lucky guess?"

I shrug. "Lucky guess. I did have a 50% chance of being right, the odds were in my favour."

"Well said, Effie," Ethan teases, then adds, "it's the guardian side of me that helped with the door code back at Olly's office."

He then brings his left hand in front of us, palm up. There's a faint crackling noise as a plum sized fireball materializes above his hand. It casually hovers an inch above his palm, rotating smoothly, sizzling.

There's an orange glow at the center, while the edges are tinged with a scorching red. It's mesmerizing. Even though I'm a foot away, I can feel the heat. It's warm and feels like a campfire.

"I hate to say it because it's you, but that's amazing. Okay so then what can I do? Can I create an earthquake? Or hurl a boulder? Maybe a landslide or a sinkhole?" Justin exclaims, eyeing the fireball phenomenon before us.

As easily as he conjured it, Ethan waves the fireball away with a flick of his wrist. He laughs before replying, "at your level, Fides, nothing. You'd have to start small. With Earth, as with fire, control is more important than anything."

"How small?"

"Really small. For example, you'd have to first accomplish moving a single leaf from a pile of hundreds. Once you've mastered that kind of control, then you could consider ground splitting."

"If the two of us were to face off-"

Ethan quickly interrupts, "Not going to happen, not anytime soon at least."

"Why?"

"Because I've been training for more than ten years. You haven't even trained for ten minutes."

Ten years? Did he start at 8? Which makes me wonder, how long has he known John?

From the corner of my eye, I notice John returning from the hall down the left side of the arena. When did he...? I didn't even notice him leave. For such a large man, he's unnaturally light on his feet.

He glides up to us and hands Ethan the tattered book he was carrying. It's more than two inches thick with a plain indigo cover, gleaming gold lines the spine and the corners.

"Sage, I'm putting you in charge of Justin's training."

I catch the exact moment Ethan and Justin digest the news bomb. It takes more self-control than I thought I had to stop myself from bursting into a fit of laughter. This is golden. I want to tell Liz so badly, she'd never let them live it down. Though I'm certain I'm not supposed to tell anyone of all this, unfortunately.

Ethan tucks the book under his arm, balancing it with the crook of his elbow.

"But I want to train Blondie!" he protests, pouting.

"Sage, you're being absurd. Fire is the worst match-up for water. You know better than anyone that each element functions differently. The method fire requires is very in tune with earth. Moreover, water is the hardest to teach."

At this, John turns to me.

"I'm really sorry. Traditionally, the previous water guardian has always helped the new one. Things are different this time around, thanks to... well, it doesn't matter. We'll work through it."

Thanks to what? Which reminds me, how do they even decide the next guardian? There's so much I don't know, like what magic even is in the first place. I wish there was a guidebook.

Before I can ask even one of my questions, a shrill ringing echoes through the room, reverberating through the arena.

Ethan and John exchange a glance. Without warning, they both begin moving towards the left hallway at the back of the arena, gliding at a brisk pace.

The ringing continues as Justin and I follow in tow. The hallway curves further left and opens into a space the size of a volleyball court. Towards the back left are two alcoves, carved in a similar fashion to the ones in the arena. Several doors line the right side, and multiple balconies adorn the surrounding walls.

A wooden oval table consumes most of this open room, with several piles of heavy textbooks scattered throughout. On the wall facing one end of the table is a large screen blinking green, displaying the words 'link request, Srf.Lau' in stocky white text.

John begins tapping furiously on the laptop situated just below the screen.

"Stay out of the frame and don't speak. I'll explain later," Ethan whispers under his breath. He gestures towards the seats on the opposite end of the table. Once we're seated, he nods to John, who then taps a button on the laptop. The screen flickers to a light blue and switches to a video connection.

On the display is a thin middle-aged woman in a beige police uniform. Her black hair is pulled back into a sleek tight bun, her collar buttoned and crisp. The woman's eyebrows are sharp and precise, similar to her midnight black eyes.

"Sheriff Lau, good to see you," Ethan says, his arms crossed in front of his chest. His legs are shoulder width apart, entire body pulled taught.

"And you as well." The sheriff nods towards him, then to John.

She purses her full lips, her eyes briefly flickering to something off-camera. "I sincerely apologize for requesting contact so late. But you see, the situation is such that I had no other choice."

"Sheriff, you know I don't appreciate speaking in tongues. What is the problem?" John asks firmly, his posture mimicking Ethan's.

"Recently, there have been a string of homicides. Five in total. The MO is same for all of them, thus we've been able to link them all to one killer. It's a serial case. Tonight, we found a sixth body."

"With all due respect Sheriff, your team has handled serial cases before. What is it about this one that requires the guardians' intervention?" John questions, head held high.

She pauses for a moment, her eyes glazing over. Finally, she sighs, momentarily glancing off-camera once more.

"It's the nature of the bodies, John. The victims always appear healthy, with soft glowing skin. But the inside is completely ash. When opened for the autopsy, it's discovered that every single part of the human body on the inside has been turned to ash, but the outside remains intact."

The hair on my arms stands on edge as I absorb the meaning of what she just said. I can't fathom how something so grotesque is even possible. To reduce the inside to ash but keep the outside fresh, healthy even? How?

"Turning the victim into a literal shell..." Ethan trails off.

The sheriff nods. "Yes. It is also worth noting that the victim's body maintains its original shape, despite the complete lack of a muscular or skeletal system."

"Which means the killer is from our community. A magic user. I understand. We will assist your team with this case, as early as possible," John states, voice strained.

"Your help is needed. One more thing, I'm not sure how relevant this is, but it's been consistently found in all six victims." She stops for a moment, nodding to someone off-camera, and continues.

"Without fail, on all six victims, substantial traces of honey have been found."

With this, she bids her farewell and the screen switches back to blue.

Everyone begins speaking at once. Justin, Ethan, and John talk back and forth at rapid fire speed. I don't hear any of it. My mind is still spinning from that one word.

Honey.

/\/\/\***/\/\/\

I have most of this planned out so updates should definitely be faster! (Not right away because I have exams, but the updates will definitely be faster)

Head's up, this won't be a murder mystery lol but it's essential nonetheless

And I can't wait to introduce the villians!!

So there was honey on the bodies. Any theories?

Who do you think the air guardian is?

Any thoughts/opinions in general? Share them with me, I'd love to know :)

Please vote if you liked it

Chp pic: close to what Sheriff Lau looks like