Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

021

It seemed like hours before we were finally able to step off the last of the walkways between the lonely platforms and walk up to the entrance of the dark temple that now loomed above us.

The building was surrounded by several towers from the top of which dark flames flickered from black firepits, giving the big dome on top of the temple an eerie glow.

It was beautiful though, and so tall that I couldn't see the top of its spires as they reached into the black ceiling of the cavern.

I glanced one last time over my shoulder at the walkways that were suspended between the platforms, my eyes flickering to the faint lights in the distance where the inner city of District 7 was located.

I had realized that I knew far too little about the districts, about my own kingdom and its people.

But I was going to change that, I told myself.

One day I would come back.

One day I would walk the streets of this town as well.

I followed the others into the temple, Wooyoung and me both carrying bright flames and Seongwha, being able to control the darkness around him by sheer force of will, did his own thing.

And so, we went exploring.

Mingi's words, not mine.

The pillars that had been absent on the outside of the temple seemed to have been hidden inside instead, lining rows of wide paths through the building.

I held my flame up to one of the massive columns and took a closer look at the symbols.

The black stone had been decorated with so many images that it was almost impossible for me to register everything that unfolded in front of my eyes.

For a moment, I felt a little overwhelmed as I realized that every temple we had visited had been filled with images just like these.

Images of Avalon's history, of elementals, stretching back to the beginning of time.

There were still so many things that I didn't know or fully comprehend about my kingdom.

And so many things that I had ruined since our journey had begun.

I let my other hand rest on the smooth surface of the pillar for a couple of seconds as I made a promise to myself that I would have all of the temples restored once we succeeded.

Eventually, we all gathered at the center of the temple, fully able to recognize the structure of the room as it seemed to be the same for every district.

In front of us, a pedestal cut from the same rocks as the columns all around us loomed expectantly.

Seongwha willed the shadows to crawl away, and in a matter of seconds, we were able to see it clearly; the symbol of the hand, beckoning us forward, as well as the perfect circle at the top of the stone that contained District 7's symbol.

The symbol of Darkness.

Seongwha turned around before he made another move toward the pedestal, though I could see a flicker of curiousness in his eyes, and regret, I realized, as he turned away from the symbols.

"So I'm guessing," he began, scanning the faces of our group, "that you've already got fire, water, earth, and air covered, then?"

"Actually, we haven't gotten the ruby yet." I said, referring to the gemstone that was located in District 1.

The one representing fire.

"It was too close to the capital."

"We do have the diamond, though." Jongho said, as if trying to lighten the mood.