Chapter 4. Temple

The days seemed to blur together, as Kiara anticipated for that inevitable Friday, where she will finally see what the temple is like- and the people who lived in its wall.

That day eventually came. The air was crisp in the afternoon chill. Kiara quickly rushes out of the schoolyard to see her grandfather waiting for her in his car, already dressed in his warden formal attire, with a black dress coat over it. Earlier that day, she already packed her stuff in the car. She quickly gets into the car, and they slowly drive off to their destination.

“ Remember Kiara,” Edward quietly says, “ Whatever the seniors or the other younglings say to you could affect you- ignore them, “ reassuring Kiara, eyes glancing to his side-view mirrors, “ They were raised in an environment different than yours so they might not understand the severity of their words.”

“ I understand Grandpa,” Kiara’s fists clenched into fists, nodding to his words, but her stomach turned. The expectation of the people and the system weighed on her, it was not like anything she had ever felt or expected before.

Kiara fidgets herself in her car seat, watching the large buildings in the city move past her in an instant. The spring leaves dance in the wind.

“ Are you nervous?” Edward asks, his gaze momentarily leaving the road to focusing on her expression.

Kiara’s fingers twitched for a bit around the seatbelt strap, “ A… little.” she admitted, “ I don’t know what to expect from everyone.”

Edward gives a reassuring smile, “ You might get along with them. Expect a lot of questions about what it’s like outside of the temple,” his hands steady on the wheel, “ We’re almost here.”

Kiara’s eyes wander as their tiny car parks in the lot of a large office building. Her eyes widened, “ Is this the temple?”

“ Kind of,” Edward quickly gets out of the car to get both his and Kiara’s bags out of the trunk of the car. Kiara quickly gets out to get her stuff as they both enter the building. The secretary in the middle, busy reading his newspaper, notices Edward and Kiara entering the lounge area. Shock formed around his face, his mouth slightly open.

“ Mr. Meitner?” his eyes staring blankly at the old man, “ It has… been a while. What’s the occasion of returning back?”

“ I plan on showing my granddaughter what the temple is like. That’s all,” calmly explaining the situation to the man. Kiara looks at Edward, confused why the man is acting that way. The man swiftly scurries through the drawer trying to fish out something.

“ Of course, sir. Here’s the gate key,” quickly handing over Edward a small golden key in his hands. Edward quickly motions for Kiara to follow him. As they moved deeper into the building, Kiara couldn't help but think about the reaction of the secretary.

“ Why did he react like Grandpa?” a look of puzzlement across her face.

“ I would say…,” Edward paused and thought for a moment, “I’m pretty well known for good and bad reasons,”

“ Like what?”

“ Eh. You would soon see,” Edward replies, throwing the key up in the car before catching it, “ I’m gonna teach you about gates, okay.

Kiara stays quiet as her grandfather explains the nature of gates, “ There are basically interdimensional portals, letting us travel instantly between the city and temple,” stopping his track to an elevator door, inserting the key into the panel, “ They are accessed through like this.”

The elevator doors open, showing a multi color portal instead of the cabin inside. The high speed wind blows against Kiara, her hair smacking across her face, her mouth wide open in astonishment.

“ Let’s get going.” picking up their bags, Edward steps into the portal, disappearing in an instant. Exhaling heavily, Kiara slowly follows her grandfather.

Slowly opening her eyes, She finds herself staring at the beautiful sky. The warden temple is built inside a mountain top, with it extending to many nearby mountains. A large shimmering barrier illuminates the place.

At the heart of the temple, dozens of trainees moved with synchronized precision. Rows of children no older than ten, stand perfectly still, balancing on thin wooden beams, holding heavy buckets of water. Many sparred in pairs, their strikes clashing rhythmically, while others practice on wooden dolls.

Kiara’s eyes flickered around the temple, her gaze amazed by the kids training hard with an intensity that made her feel like an outsider. The way they trained made her mind raced with doubt.

Do I fit in with everyone here? They all look so much more impressive than me.

She quickly straightens up and shakes her arms out. Mutters under her breath, “ I won’t let this break me. I can’t be the weak one. Not when Grandpa’s depending on me.” Doubt still lingered in the back of her mind. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she felt like fish swimming upstream while everyone just floated along.

Kiara notices Edward’s gaze with a cold expression. His hands clenched into fists. The second he notices Kiara looking at him, his expression softens.

“ Guess what mountain summit we are on?” smiling towards Kiara, anticipating her answer.

“ Uhh… Mount Everest?” quickly shrugging her shoulders. Kiara genuinely did not know where they were at.

“ Haha. No kid, we are still in America.,” Edward laughs to himself, swinging his bag over his shoulder, “ We are currently in Washington right now, Mount Rainier to be exact.”

Many of the senior wardens and the younglings notice the arrival of the two. Their stern expression quickly turned into confusion and shock. The recruits and younger kids quickly run over to Edward, their excitement clearly uncontained.

“ Is that Edward?” one of the wardens asked, his eyes narrowing on the two.

“ Ah the old detective is back,” another one retorted, masking mockery behind a smile.

The younger kids swarm around Edward who smiles at their excitement and curiosity. Kiara is left awe struck to see her Edward popular with the kids. The children ask many questions for Edward, each one talking over the next.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“ Can you tell us about your adventures?”

“ Why did you randomly disappear?”

“ You're my role model, Mr. Edward”

Kiara stepped back, slowly taking in the situation. It was weird to see her grandfather so admired - and so infamous- despite the tension from the council. The smiles from the children clash with the stern look from the seniors in the distance.

Kiara’s mind raced with thoughts. The temple is unlike what I imagined but why are they all looking at Grandpa like that?

“ Alright that’s enough,” a cold voice cuts through the air, making all the kids run back to their training. A man in a well dressed tailcoat suit, and overcoat slowly makes his way towards Kiara and Edward. His eyes ignoring Kiara but looking at Edward, his neatly styled black hair perfectly still in the windy environment.

“ It’s nice for you to take my advice,” the man said, his voice weary, but stern. He puts his hand out to Edward for a handshake. His eye bags, while subtle, are very prominent up close to Kiara.

“ It’s nice to see my old protégé, after so many years,” Edward quickly grasps Zhang’s hand, his handshake firm, catching Zhang off guard from the grip.

“ It’s good seeing you again. I hope we can catch up soon. Slowly releasing himself from Edward’ grip, he glances towards Kiara, “ So this is the girl you disappeared and trained with.”

“ I’m pretty sure you already met her, remember during the council meeting many years ago, you were directly looking over me.”

“ Yes I was,” his eyes looked briefly at Edward. He slowly takes a step towards Kiara, in a knee jerk reaction, she takes a step back. Zhang’s eyes still linger on her, “ Your spiritual energy is very peculiar. One moment it’s beaming with energy, then in an instant it’s like… it’s not there at all. Unpredictable.”

“ Ah,” sweat droplets quickly form, slowly dripping of Kiara’ face. The high intensity interrogation was too sudden for her, “ It’s just been a struggle for me that’s all.”

“ Hmm. I beat,” Zhang slowly turns himself back to Edward, relieving Kiara’s anxiety. She quickly wipes off her sweat, trying to maintain formality.

“ Kiara. This is Zhang. My old protégé - the next head leader of the Warden society in America. The Arbiter.” placing his hand on Zhang’s shoulder. Kiara’s eyes widened at the title but Zhang was far less receptive. With a subtle shift, he brushes Edward’ hand from his shoulder, his discomfort unmistakable.

“ How long has Kiara been training for?” his tone walking the line between conviction and curiosity.

Edward rolls his eyes dramatically, “ Geez kid. We’ve only been here for like five minutes and you are already interrogating me,” he teased. His tone was serious for a moment, “ She started training in her freshman year, 3 years ago.”

Zhang eyes’ sneak a look towards Kiara, quickly standing up straight when she notices his gaze, “ Maybe that’s why her energy output is so inconsistent. Starting late makes it more… challenging, isn't it.”

Edward’s expression darkened for a bit but his voice was still calm,“ I didn’t want to burden her with training, as she started elementary and middle school.”

“ Hmm. Well I’m glad we got to chat for a bit,” slowly cracking his knuckles, Zhang turns his back, and slowly walks off. Before he makes a huge distance away, he looks back at the two for the last time, “ I’ll like to see what Kiara can do during her evaluation.”

Evaluation? Why am I getting an evaluation? Kiara’s eyes open in surprise, her fingers twitching from this unexpected announcement. Edward slowly puts his hands around Kiara’ shoulders, trying to console her.

“ They just want to find out about your character and your skill level so far. That’s it,” Edward’s smile was warm and reassuring.

“ But you already said I should be a D-rank,” confusion crossed on Kiara’s face. Sweat still dripped from her chin.

“ It was more of a hunch. This is an official evaluation of what your rank is. Don’t worry it will likely still be a D-rank due to your current skill level.”

Kiara nodded but hesitantly, though a knot in her stomach remained. Just a D-rank… What if Zhang is right about me? What if I mess up and embarrass both me and Grandpa? Her thoughts raced. Doubt grew on her chest as Edward patted her shoulders.

“ Ignore what Zhang said… he’s just under a lot of stress that’s all,” Edward reassured, placing his hand on Kiara’s head, flustering her. “ Try to talk to some of the kids here, get a feel for the place. I’ll talk to Zhang about his behavior.”

Kiara glances away, “ Alright… Grandpa…” muttering to herself, her voice soft but uncertain.

Edward smiles, giving one last pat before rushing over to Zhang’s direction. Kiara glances at the other kids training in the courtyard. Clutching the straps of her bag, she tries to push away her doubts. Come on Kiara, you can do this quickly reassuring herself, but her fingers trembling under her own uncertainty, They look so much more mature and sophisticated.

“ Excuse me, these people want to know you,” a voice snaps Kiara out of her thoughts. Quickly taking a sigh of relief. She quickly turns her face to see a beautiful young boy standing in front of her with a group of kids. Each one varies in ages.

Thank the heavens I didn’t have to greet people myself first. Kiara thinks to herself, “ Ah. Nice to meet you all.”

“ My name is Adam. Adam Lazarus, and these are the kids who want to meet you,” pointing to the duo. Kiara’s eyes still wandered on Adam, his beauty catching her attention, his silver hair and his looks gleamed in the sunlight, with his blue eyes sparkling in curiosity.

She quickly returns her gaze back to the two kids next to Adam, wanting to know more about their personalities. The duo around Adam nodded, or smiled, their reaction varying. A younger girl, her age no older than 14, gave a shy wave to Kiara, “ My… name is Anby.”

“ Nice to meet you ,” Kiara said, her smile radiating warmth and compassion. Anby smiles to herself. Her blonde braided hair bounced as she moved. Kiara’s wander to a kid a bit younger than Anby, who appeared to be around 12 or 11 years old. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be asleep. Anby kindly shakes the kid to wake him up.

“ Don’t worry he’s always sleeping at the wrong time,” Adam reassures Kiara.

“ Uhh, What…” the kid slowly opened his eyes. Anby continued to shake him to wake him up fully.

“ Come on Seth. Wake up.” Anby quietly whispers in Seth’s ear, “ You are greeting someone right now.”

Seth’s eyes quickly widened, quickly awakening from his nap, “ My name is Seth… Nice to meet you.”

“ That was formal I guess,” Kiara jokes to herself. Adam chuckles at her remark.

Kiara felt more at ease,“ Well. It’s nice to know that everyone here has some unique quirks.”

“ We hope you have a nice experience in the temple,” dramatically showcasing the courtyard, and the beautiful sky to Kiara, “ Trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Anby unintentionally interrupts Adam’s conversation with Kiara, “ Ms. Kiara…. What is high school life like? Are lockers real?”

Kiara gives a slight glance at Adam’s expression, chuckling to herself but a single thought raced in her mind. Does she genuinely not know what a normal high school life is?, “ Well Anby. It’s mostly… normal. You just get school work, and occasionally see the chemistry teacher yell at students.”

“ Oh.” Anby’s voice sounded disappointed, her shoulders drooping down, “ So it’s basically the same here.”

Kiara’s eyebrow raised, tilting her head in curiosity, “ What do you mean?”

“ You know because I’ve been hearing stories about high school life from the seniors, and I thought it would be a major upgrade than what we learn right now.” Anby thinks to herself, trying to ask another question, “ Oh. What is it like to drive a car? They don’t look as fun as riding a spirit companion but they look interesting.”

These kids seem to get the same education as a regular student… but other than that, they don’t know anything else about the real world. Kiara’s mind raced with thoughts, This must be what Grandpa meant by that they grew up in a different environment.

Adam, noticing Kiara’s concern on her face, gently shakes her, “ Are you okay Kiara?” Quickly darting her attention away, Kiara gently smiles at Adam, trying to hide her thoughts, “ It’s nothing. Can you all show me around?”

“ Yeah sure,” Adam gestures to Adam and Seth to follow him and show Kiara around. The group walk together as they explore the area.