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"I don't think you know where you are going." Minghao commented, walking after Junhui with his arms crossed. When he didn't get a response, he only smirked. The boy didn't want to be proven wrong, but that was kinda hard when he looked like he was wandering around aimlessly without really knowing what he was doing. "If you wanna find that guy, I think we should ask around to see if anyone has seen him today."

Junhui let out a groan when he heard Minghao valid suggestion, wanting to show that he could find the boy on his own. However it was clear that was going to happen so he frowned and turned to face him. "Fine. We'll go ask people about this guy if you ever so desire." He agreed, growing pouty and annoyed as he watched him. Minghao only have him a cheeky yet thankful smile as he began walking in the opposite direction of where Junhui was going in the first place. "But who exactly will you be asking? Just any random person or?"

Minghao had to conceal a smug look on his face as he lead the shadow manipulator down an alley way, glancing around for any living person. However all he got were the drip drop of leaky pipes and an every so often meow from some sort of cat. "This is the right alley right? I haven't been to this guy in a long time." He mumbled, stopping in his tracks to think.

Junior snickered at him, not even Minghao knew what he was doing. "You looking for someone?" A sudden voice arose, catching both boys off guard. The two screamed for a good two seconds, turning around to see who had tried to pick a fight with the two of them. Yet they were greeted by a boy of younger age, staring at them with a cheeky smile on his face as he hung upside down from a broken pipe hanging off the side of the building.

A smile slowly began to spread across Minghao's face as he spoke to him. "Samuel." He stated the boy's name as he hoped down from the pipe, standing in front of the two with his hands in his pockets. Samuel was a somewhat known face around the Aero District, much more known that Minghao and Junhui could have ever wished to be. The boy knew dirt and the location of almost everyone, though how was a mystery.

Minghao knew that he was friends with the guy they were currently searching for, or at least he hoped he was. The wild child may have been known all around the district but it wasn't very clear on whether people actually knew him personally. Yet Minghao remembered hearing the guy they were looking for shout and boast about how he was friends with such a rambunctious kid.

"Listen, we need your help." Minghao stated. Junhui stood behind him, his arms crossed as his eyes darted from his friend to the kid. The two were an intimidating duo for sure, Jun had the ability to bend shadows to his will and Minghao just looked scary in general thanks to the long bangs in front of his eyes that he refused to cut. "There's a boy we are looking for, someone you may or may not know."

Samuel glanced up at both of them, as if he was trying to determine whether or not he should listen to them. Though he soon smiled at the two as he placed an hand on Minghao's shoulder. "I would help you, but I think you should help yourself first." He advised, nodding his head as he let his own advise sink into his head. The two older boys gave him a skeptical look, especially Junhui.

When Samuel noticed the confused looks he has received, he let his hand drop from Minghao's shoulder. "Someone came by earlier, well more like a trio came by. They were looking for your last location, but I hadn't seen you for awhile so I couldn't really give them much information."

"Trio?" Minghao questioned, letting everything process in his head. He had to think about it for a second, who would be on the hunt for someone as unimportant as him? Definitely no one in power, of course, and he didn't have any friends other than Junhui. Though we quickly receive his answer as a light bulb went off in his head. "Those boys from a few days ago... they're still after me?"

"What?" Junhui questioned, out of the loop of what was happening. He forgot he didn't tell the boy exactly what had happened the night he disappeared for a day. Minghao only smiled at him, giving him an okay sign and hoping that he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Thank you for the very helpful information but," He began, glancing back at Junhui for a second and turning his attention to Samuel. "We are currently looking for someone and that's much more important than whoever is looking for me." Minghao explained, hoping that the boy would understand. It must look a little weird, two grown men trying to have a serious conversation with a 17 year old who knew everything about everyone.

Samuel shrugged, all ears to hear what the two wanted. "His name... it was something kwan I believe? He is an unusually powered Aeroan that claims he knows you personally." Minghao described, hoping what he has was enough for Samuel to figure out. "We need to find him and quickly. If you knew where he was that would great."

"Seungkwan?" The boy asked, smiling at the two as he pointed out of alleyway. "Yeah I know him. I last spoke to him awhile ago, but I know he'd be around Café Pinwheel around this time. However I think its a little too dangerous to go chasing after him right now." He warned the two.

"Dangerous? Why'd you say that?" Junhui asked, leaning over Minghao's shoulder to listen in better. Samuel glanced around the three, trying to make sure no one else was around to hear him. He leaned close towards the two so only they'd be able to hear what he was saying.

"I heard a rumor that the owner of Café Pinwheel called the guards they came personally from the duke himself on him today." Samuel explained to them, not wanting to get caught for spreading an already serious rumor to the two of them. "I don't know what he did, but I think I saw the guards earlier searching for him."

And cue the yelling of guards, rushing down the main streets atop phoenixes and horses as they rushed in the direction of the Café Pinwheel. Junhui and Minghao looked at each other in dismay, before darting down the alley as fast as possible. They found the prophet before they could. "Thank you Samuel!" Minghao yelled, glancing over his shoulder as he did his final goodbye and skidded to a stop in the main street.

Junhui glanced up towards the sky and pointing up at the nicely armored phoenixes that flew above everyone else. "If we run on foot we'll be too late, they'll have caught the guy before we could even get there." He stated, though was shocked by the fact that Minghao kept running anyways, much faster than Junhui could run.

"No, you won't make it by the time they get there! I will." He commented as he began his mad dash after the guards. Thanks to his many years of running away for survival, his body has practically adapted for the need for speed. If it hadn't, he'd be dead right where he stood years ago. He was fast, agile, and with enough smarts he could muster up he'd be able to make his sprint quick and effortless.

Though, it wouldn't hurt to be a little faster with maybe some magic up his sleeve. While he now somehow has the powers to make this whole chase quicker, he didn't know how to control them. He didn't know what triggered them to activate even. So magic for him was useless. Though that's when he felt something pick him up by the shirt collar, lifting him up off the ground and into the air.

He concealed a scream when he saw Junhui there, riding on the back of a shadow beast that has picked up Minghao like a pup. He smirked at the boy as he repeated towards they came straight from his mouth,"You won't make it by the time they get there." He stated as the beast did all the running. Minghao rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he practically swung in the air thanks to this unusually large beast that Junhui had created.

The beast came to an abrupt halt, taking both boys by surprised as they held in the ugly feeling in their stomachs from this surprised. They glanced down to spot Seungcheol standing there in front of them, smiling at the beast with mind eyes. This quite literally caused the shadow beast to shrink in size, almost as if Seungcheol was internally scolding it. The two were soon on the ground when it completely changed sizes, hanging off Minghao's shirt and leaving Junhui fast first on the ground.

"Nice to see you two again." Seungcheol states, glancing behind him before pointing to the building. "Is this the place you were headed?" Minghao looked up to a sign, which thankfully spotted the words Café Pinwheel. It seems like they made it in time before the guards could.

"I told you." Minghao heard, looking behind him to see that Junhui was speaking to him. The boy got off of the ground, dusting himself and yanking the shadow beast off of his shirt. He turned around to make some sort of remark but was cut off by screaming and the ugly sound of shattering plates.

It put all three of the boys on edge as they heard another bloodcurdling scream sound from the side of Café Pinwheel. "It sounds like someone is getting murdered in there." Minghao pointed out, as they all cautiously slipped inside of the somewhat freakish place. Seungcheol was the first to enter, pulling open the door as peeking in to see what happened. Junhui and Minghao did the same, glancing around the interior of the building.

Glass plates and cups were shattered on the ground with one frightful woman standing behind the counter. She trembled as she held a plate in her hand, trying to calm herself and resist another scream. Minghao's eyes trailed across the room, spotting a man drop dead on the floor. There was no blood leaking out of them, not a stain anywhere around him to signify the attempt was done with a weapon either.

He shuttered as his eyes finally landed on their current target, Seungkwan. The boy was hiding behind a chair, taking cover from the plates and glass that has been flying across the room for who knows how long. "What happened?" Seungcheol asked, crouching down beside the lady to give her comfort. However she only responded in a negative way, holding a broken plate up to his neck.

"Get... get away from me! I bet your just like that murderer who killed my husband!" She yelled, spitting on the word murderer. Though Seungkwan spring up from where he hid a frown on his face. Everyone turned towards him, skeptically looks on their faces as they tried to determine whether he really killed someone or not. The woman threw the plate at him, smashing on the ground not too far away from the boy.

"Hey! Listen lady, I didn't kill him." He stated, though looked as though he had to switch his words around. "Well... more like I didn't mean too. I didn't know that that would happen! He took me surprise and in self defense I retaliated by using my magic—" The boy tried to explain himself, yet the woman only screamed again, not wanting to hear the words coming out of his mouth.

"We gotta get him out of here." Minghao said, glancing at both Seungcheol and Junhui. "But how? It's clear he didn't commit it on purpose but the guards will be here any minute now." The three were stuck, not sure on what to do at the moment. That's when Seungcheol's eyes began to sparkle with a plan, a bad one Minghao could sense.

"I'm gonna need you to get that guy out of here as fast as possible." Seungcheol told Minghao, pointing towards Seungkwan who stood there confused and wrongly accused. He grabbed Junhui's wrist and pulled him towards him, smirking at the boy. "And I'm gonna need you to be with me."

"Thanks for them back there." Seungkwan said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he started a conversation. Minghao glanced him a literally surprised that the boy was actually speaking to him. The boy did just as Seungcheol told him to earlier, he grabbed the boy's arm and fled the building through the backdoor as fast as he could. The two sprinted aimlessly in any direction that was away from the building and guards that would soon follow suit. "For the whole... saving me thing... yeah that."

He snorted containing any laughter that tried to escape his mouth. "Don't worry about it! But that lady sounded really scared of you." Minghao pointed out, trying to ease the conversation into his desired subject. "What actually happened? It looked like a murder scene took place by the way the café looked with the plates thrown around everywhere... plus the literally dead man on the floor."

Seungkwan groaned, covering his face with his hands. Minghao could just feel the embarrassment rise up from him like heat as he tried to find the words to explain himself. "It's all because of these stupid powers of mine!" He exclaimed, the words seemingly coming out with a bitter taste. "Her husband came up to me but I didn't notice him there... so he touched my shoulder and I got jumpy and..."

He began motioning with his hands a gas emitting from his skin before jabbing the hair with a hand. "Just like that, he dropped to the floor." Seungkwan explained, as if Minghao really got all of that. Though he decided against telling him he didn't understand and just let him finish. "Then the lady called me a monster and started screaming and throwing glass at him. I was lucky enough to even get out before she started to through knives or something."

The boy nodded, trying to figure what the whole hand movement thing still. "So you've got some sort of... gaseous power right?" He questioned and Seungkwan nodded his head regretfully. Minghao smiled at him, trying to find a way to cheer the boy up. "That's cool! Your powers! I love to have something like that but I'm just a..." He cut himself off, realizing what he was going to say. He's been calling a leper for so long that's it's become a habit to use it as a way to compliment people.

Though, Seungkwan didn't seem to pick up on it. "No it's not. Not when you get accused for murder because of it. You'd think I've have this whole district bending to my will right??" He exclaimed, extending his arms out as if he was trying to capture the whole sky. However he put his arms down, a childish frown growing on his face. "But I'm just some guy who everyone makes fun off because of one mistake I made as a child."

"It's better than being hunted down all your life." Minghao muttered, but it wasn't low enough. He earned himself a questionable glance from Seungkwan, who wanted an explanation to on what he meant. Though he panicked and faked a smile as he tried to turn his attention to something else. "Oh... uh... look! My friends are back!" He told him.

The boy glanced over and Minghao's fake out was right. Both Junhui and Seungcheol ran up the two, clearly tired out and practically sweating. He opened his mouth to question what happened but Jun spoke before he could. "Cheol just turned Café Pinwheel into a sauna!"

Seungcheol flinched at the mere fact they Junhui used a nickname on him while Minghao seemed genuinely confused. "I'm sorry he did what now?" He asked, needing some clarification on what happened. Seungkwan looked like he was going to faint at the mere fact that the towards Café Pinwheel and sauna were placed in the same sentence.

"God you should have seen it Ming." Junhui told him, grabbing the boy and shaking his shoulders as he spoke. His eyes practically sparkled as he started reenacting the whole scenario. The boy pointed to the ground as he spoke. "So the lady was on the ground right here when you left right? And she jumped up as soon as she saw that guy escape before the guards came."

Minghao nodded, listening to his friend's babbling. "So Seungcheol grabbed her arm like we were in some sort for romance world but then forced her to sit back down where she was. And then he touched the ground and the whole room started to tremble! Then that's where I come in and he told me to cloak the whole building in darkness so of course I happily obliged to do so..."

Seungcheol stood next to Minghao, unable to keep a smile from growing on his face. "So we took care of the lady so she won't try to call the Aeroan guards him anymore." He stated, pointing towards Seungkwan who was intently listening to Junhui's reenactment. "I think all we have to do now is inform this guy of what's going on and then we can get ready to find the next prophet in this prophecy."

Minghao nodded as he watched the two boys in front of him. "We should be careful. I found out that those guys who attacked me that night are searching for me. It would be best to get out of this district as soon as possible." He informed the boy, who only nodded his head in agreement. "So should we call him over now to explain it or?"

Seungkwan gasped in awe as he watched Junhui use his shadows to create mock steam for his retelling. Seungcheol thought about for a second before shaking his head. "Nah, let him be for now." He ultimately decided as he looked up in the air. "I think we have a bigger problem heading our way."

Confused, the boy glanced up. He immediately spotted a bird hovering above the newly formed quartet, though it seemed small at first. That was until it suddenly started swooping down towards them at a extremely high speed. Seungcheol narrowed his eyes up at the bird as it grew larger in size the closer it got. "What the hell is that?"

It let out a screech, the sound echoing through the entire area and back. Minghao could immediately identify what it was, and if was only proven what it was even more when he saw embers trail behind. "Everyone move out the way! Phoenix incoming!" He yelled, alarming both Seungkwan and Junhui. If you lived in the Aero District long enough, you knew being in the line of sight of an angry phoenix swooping in was dangerous.

The bird screeched once again as it clawed at the boys, trying its hardest to dig its talons into human flesh. To this bird, they were simply just another snack on its menu. It was a little odd though as for the most part, Aeroans and phoenixes has a relatively good relationship. So why was this one trying to attack them? Maybe it went feral?

That's when Minghao saw it. The bird swooped in towards him for a quick second, almost grasping the boy's arm but leaving unsuccessfully. He saw its eyes though, they were an odd shining jade like color, instead of the normal yellow or orange that was frequently found in most phoenixes. It was the Phoenix from back when he was being chased. "Jade eyes." He mumbled as the sky beast took to the skies once more.

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