"Oh, it's you two." Carus, who had been standing with his back towards us and wings folded back, gazing out at the sky in the middle of the courtyard turned around when he sensed our approach.

It was thankful on my part that Ornis recognized Jung YoungHo and I.

This should make things a little easier. I thought.

"Greetings Carus, Warrior of the Ornis." I dipped my head in a show of respect that Carus appreciated.

"Looks like you are more polite than that other group."

I had a feeling the 'other group' was referring to Anna and the others.

"So what is it that you want?" Carus dove straight to the point. "Do you also wish to learn our tribe's [Way of the Storm]? I'm afraid that would be impossible."

I shook my head, "Warrior Carus, that's not what we came here for. What I wanted to know is information you may have on the other 'guides' and also about any 'disasters' we'll have to face."

Carus looked slightly taken aback by my unabashed words. I wondered for a brief moment as to the customs of Carus's world on how they held conversations. Since Carus asked straightforwardly, shouldn't I do the same?

Or perhaps I had observed his body language incorrectly? Oh well.

"I see, so that's the reason for your visit." Carus propped a wing under his chin, in thought.

We waited for Carus to sort out his words, before he began,

"Warriors of this world, listen closely. While I can sense the others that have been sent to this world alongside me are alive, I am unable to pin-point their locations exactly."

"So does that mean you know their general location?" I quickly substituted in, earning a displeased glare from the tall bird.

Was I too rude?  I sheepishly continued to smile and press on.

"Allow me to finish my words instead of butting in." Carus shook his head, "Well, yes, I can sense their general location. One of them is roughly in that direction,"

With his wing, Carus pointed to roughly the south, in the direction of the Potomac river hidden from view by the tall city buildings,

"And another in the other." This time, Carus pointed his wing in the Northwest position.

"Now onto the other question that you had. This 'disaster'. Right, as you people term them as, you should never underestimate them."

Carus's eyes flicked upward to the left in reminiscence of a bygone past, of some sort of solemn remembrance.

"In my home on the Dragon mountain range, I had been training alongside my brothers and sisters as usual. The bitter cold winds served as a good temperance to our patience and endurance. However, one day, the world was engulfed in darkness. We never noticed the signs until they were too late. At first, we thought it had been a collective group of heinous individuals that conspired together to raise such a horrendous and immoral army. However, we were wrong."

Group of individuals? An army?

Pain marred across Carus's features as his talons dug into the ground, out of anger and sorrow from his storytelling, I wasn't sure as he cast his gaze downward and clenched his eyes shut. 

"There was only one." Carus practically spat this sentence out of his beak.

One...?  I looked at him, attempting to piece together his words in reference to something.

As if Carus had heard my inner puzzlement, he sucked in a deep breath, opened his eyes and looked skyward. His shoulders suddenly seemed to be carrying a very lonely burden.

Those who once flew with him would forever remain in the wind, never to be found again.

"There was only one 'disaster' that brought an end to our home, our wonderful realm of Dias."

Hm?

"Sorry, could you repeat that, Warrior Carus? There was only one disaster...?" Before I could consider things further, my disbelief bleed in the form of words tumbling out of my mouth.

It can't be?

However, in response to my words, Carus closed his beak tightly without giving voice and gave me a curt nod instead as an answer.

In [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] there were five disasters in the Seoul domain, four of which were needed to bring down the world of [Chronos] that they were facing over there. Recalling the disaster 'Illyung Myung', I remembered how much Kim Dokja, Yoo Junghyuk, Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon and Han Sooyoung had struggled to deal with him.

Many incarnations had died due to that, and that had been only one of the four disasters.

However, I was being told that only one disaster that appeared in their realm dubbed [Dias].

One disaster brought the end to a whole world.

I allowed the words to sink in, bringing with it chills. What exactly was the Washington DC Dome about to deal with?

"That thing was shrewd and resourceful, laying low and building its forces until one fateful day." Carus sighed, continuing on with his words.

I extended my hand to show that I had questions to ask. In return, Carus paused to give his acquiescence.

"Before that, what do you mean by army? Could you give us some more information?"

"Oh right, you warriors of this world may not be privy to the same context." Carus made a sound of acknowledgement before quenching my puzzlement, "However, I'm afraid you have already seen them."

I have?

"Those unholy, foul creatures prowling around are proof of that thing's machinations. It was blasphemous enough to use our own resting warriors to perform underhanded tactics, but to also use them to target the skies they vowed to protect..." 

"You mean the undead?" I felt I had gotten a clue as to what Carus was talking about.

"Are they what you refer to them as?"

Well, it was no wonder the actions of the undead had felt weird at times. So, it had been due to the manipulation of that one 'disaster'. It was quite scary, to know that the undead were all under one being's control. That being said, does that mean the 'disaster' is already awake?

...

That thought was even scarier. However, as there was no scenario about the 'disaster' just yet, that meant that something was holding the 'disaster' back. At least, that was the silver lining.

That also reminds me. Anna said that 'they' were very wary of her. Was she referring to this 'disaster'?

"Warrior Carus, what other information do you have on this 'disaster'? Do you know what they look like, if they have other abilities, and their name?"

Carus shook his head.

"No one knows much of the secretive 'disaster'. However, you may try your luck with the other 'guides' that came alongside mine. They may have that information that you desire."

Gathering another steep sigh, Carus spoke, "Now, if you have no more questions, I would like to be quiet in my contemplation, and do not desire any further disturbances."

With a slightly hunched over figure, the tall Carus looked withered, reminded of past memories. His eyes, although still sharp and powerful, now looked tired after witnessing life's vicissitudes. Perhaps my conversation with him had triggered these memories.

Seeing this lonely back of his, words had sprung out from my heart,

"Would you like to come with us? We are meeting the other 'guides' of your world."

Was it some kind of twisted pity that I asked him this? I wasn't sure, unable to analyze the reason.

Carus's emotions stirred in his eyes, until he straightened his hunched back and folded his wings proudly.

"We 'guides' can't leave our sanctuary after it has been established. However, it can serve as a refuge for the warriors of your world to stave off those undead for longer. As the guardian of this piece, I shall remain here." Carus's words rose sonorously.

Seeing our conversation drawing to a close with those words, I realized it was time to go.

"Then, we shall be leaving. Thank you for answering our questions, and sorry for the disturbance, Warrior Carus." I gave Carus a bow before walking away with Jung Youngho who had been looking at the United States Capitol.

"Ah yes, would you also relay my words to that girl 'Iris'? The nerve to run off during training...tell her that she must return, as she still has much to learn." Carus called after me.

I turned my profile to see Carus snort a little derisively, restored to his previous spirit.

But perhaps, that was a front?

I nodded with a smile, "Alright, I'll let Iris know when she wakes up through Anna. Also, I just wanted to let you know -"

"-You are really strong."

I admire you, in a way.

Carus tilted his head slightly toward me, unsure of what prompted me to suddenly speak these words. However, he acknowledged these words with a nod of his own.

With one final smile, we left Carus on his own.

Carus said that there were more 'guides' in the Northwest direction, or in the south direction, right? I placed my hand thoughtfully on my chin as we made some distance from the United States capitol.

Thankfully we didn't need to worry about the undead for now after not seeing a speck of them on the streets. However, some sinister scheme may lay behind that, according to the words of 'Carus'.

Oh well, no need to think about that now. I pushed my concerns to the back of my head.

"So, where are we going next?" Jung Youngho inquired from beside me. Thanks to being on the scene when we first discovered Carus' awakening from the [Moon Stone], he was able to understand the conversation between us due to the gaining of the skill, [Other World Interpreter].

There isn't much to go on. However, at least we had somewhere to go now.

"Shall we go Northwest then?"

"Well, you're the one who decides where to go." Jung Youngho shrugged his shoulders, lazily placing one hand into one of the pockets of his jeans, his thumb hanging out from the edge.

With that decision having been made, we began traversing toward the general direction that Carus had pointed in. The crunch of the occasional pebble underneath, and the scattered newspaper scraping the ground were the only other sounds of the otherwise quiet city.

Soon, we were walking past the Whitehouse that Jung Youngho was also curiously surveying through the black bars that sectioned the area off.

For an indeterminate time, there was a peaceful silence maintained between me and Jung Youngho, until he asked me a question.

"By the way, I never got the chance back then, but what had you meant when you said that 'we might not be in the 1864 round anymore'? Also, when are we getting back to Seoul? It can't be that you got attached to this place, did you?" A teasing lint chased the ends of Jung Youngho's words.

"Hmm...I'm not sure if I can explain it now. Let's just say, there are many timelines in this world."

[The constellation, 'Secretive Plotter', is interested to the extent of your knowledge.]

Huh, he hasn't appeared in a while. I idly read the sudden notification that popped up in-front of me. By the way, where was he watching this from?

"T-timelines? That kind of bullsh*t?" Jung Youngho looked at me with a rare expression of surprise.

"Well, if you think of the dokkaebis and scenarios, it's doesn't sound so ridiculous anymore." I lightly commented before continuing, "-ahem-, anyway, the point of it is that there are 1864 timelines so far, and we came from the most recent one, the '1864th round'."

I wasn't sure how much was acceptable to the current Jung Youngho, but maybe the probability was a little more lenient now that Jung Youngho experienced something similar. Because of our jump to another timeline, it became more probable that Jung Youngho could accept the context.

"But why are there specifically 1864 timelines? And how do you know so much, you brat?" Jung Youngho frowned, a sneer forming on his lips in disbelief.

True. How can I say for sure there were only 1864 timelines now? Perhaps we were actually on a hidden timeline, or something. After all, I didn't exist in the original story anyways.

I don't exist, huh?

"Let's say I can't reveal so much now. Just know that a new timeline is being generated by someone's stigma."

Jung Youngho looked at me with an even more astonished light, "This was all caused by a 'person'?"

"Yes, their name is Yoo-" My throat constricted on myself, causing the words to die out. Still, I struggled to say these words.

"Yoo-" Yoo Junghyuk.

"It's Y-" It's Yu Junghyeok.

[D# n' t]

A flicker of whisper in the wind trickled into my ear.

Looks like I can't say this yet?  

"Hey, are you dying?" Jung Youngho looked at me with concern, who appeared to be choking with a full red face.

"-Cough cough- No, don't mind me." I breathed in, fanning my burning face from attempting to speak. "Looks like you can't know yet. Anyways, my theory is that we are in another timeline, which makes it even more difficult to get back. Anna knows similar things like me, so she may have a way."

"How mysterious." Jung Youngho snorted, speaking in his usual brazen yet slovenly way, "But I guess that explains a lot about your weird behavior."

I wondered what was categorized as 'weird behavior'. Therefore, I gave voice to these thoughts.

"What weird behavior are you talking about?"

"You seemed to have knowledge of events that hadn't happened yet. Like the time you forced me to run with you all around Seoul making them sign some papers in preparation for the fourth and fifth main scenarios." Jung Youngho smirked, "Spinning 'round and 'round like a top."

"Is that so?"

Jung Youngho stared at me like there was something on my face from my reply.

"What's wrong?" His staring made me concerned.

"B*tch, are you sure you didn't get hypnotized by that other Anna b*tch? You didn't react like this before." Jung Youngho's eyes scanned me from head to toe like I had become an exotic creature.

My lip twitched at his address, "Hey, didn't I say you shouldn't call me that?"

"Still not the same...still not the same..." Jung Youngho mumbled.

But just as I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, Jung Youngho and I picked up the sounds of footsteps of several people approaching.

Shifting into a more serious look, Jung Youngho and I exchanged a glance and decided to ascend a building to the third floor to peek at the passing people.

A/N: I have found several inconsistencies after reading, but I am currently too lazy to change them ;P