Through Space and Time

9: London

Temp Fist arrived in a secluded alleyway but they knew they were in the center of a developed civilization, if the noises and the bright lights were any indication. The seven boys slowly made their way out of the alley and found themselves in the middle of a city, near a bridge with a large clock tower nearby.

"Where are we?" Taerae looked around the cityscape at night.

"It's obvious that we are in the middle of a city in the middle of the night. The question is which city?" Eunchan's eyes were scanning the area.

"Well, we better ask someone to get a hold of our location," Hanbin told his groupmates.

The group of seven slowly approached a gentleman walking to ask a question.

"Pardon me, but I just want to ask where are we right now?" Lew fluently asked in a language that was different from his mother tongue.

"Are you guys tourists?" the gentleman chuckled endearingly. "You are currently in Westminster Pier. A block from here, you will reach Big Ben, the famous landmark of the United Kingdom. Across the river is the London Eye. But it is already too late for sightseeing; you might wanna try your luck early tomorrow."

"I see. Thank you so much for your help," Hyeongseop thanked the gentleman with a bow.

The conversation left Temp Fist with more questions than answers. They sat on a nearby bench, thinking about what to do next.

"United Kingdom? Is that one of the members of the Arcanus Alliance?" Hwarang was confused.

"It could be. Nevertheless, it's not one of the Premier Ten," Hyuk mentioned.

"Did the spell not work?" Taerae opened up the possibilities.

"What should we do now, Lew-hyung?" Hwarang looked at the clock tower. "It's almost midnight."

"I guess we need to find a place to stay," Lew was unsure of his own answer.

Temp Fist was about to wander around when they heard faint voices coming from above, speaking a completely different language from the gentleman earlier. They were still able to understand the conversation though, thanks to Omnilingualism.

"Slow as always, I see," the male voice said.

"Shut up! I'm not going to lose!" the female voice responded defiantly.

It could have been any normal conversation between two people but it was certainly not; the two people having the conversation were running across the rooftops of the buildings.

"Are they..." Hanbin looked up to the source of the voices.

"Running from one roof to another? Yes. Yes, they are," Hyeongseop confirmed.

"I think we should follow them," Lew suggested.

"Follow them? Follow the crazy people running on building rooftops?" Hyuk could not believe what their leader just said. "Just exactly why?"

"Do you really think running on rooftops is a common behavior?" Lew reasoned. "For me, that feels like a Premier."

"Well, if you look at it that way," Hwarang was convinced.

Meanwhile, Temp Fist quietly followed the two people. They stopped when the two were having another conversation on the middle portion of the façade of the clock tower.

"Are you that against my winning?" the male voice asked.

"It's because you are special," the female voice replied.