Laterano was used to explosions.
The citizens in the city knew that explosions were a sign that the government was doing their job.
However, the explosion that was happening at the moment was different from any that they ever have experienced.
Everyone knew there was a building that the government was building. Seeing how big and secure it was, they must have used a lot of money to build it.
Saying all of that, seeing the building crumbling was not something they expected to happen to it this late. The flames from this destruction were acting like a second sun with how bright it was. Firefighters rushed to control the fire and people could be seen standing far enough to be safe to see the flames dancing in the air.
As chaos was happening in the city and people gathered around it, two people could be seen walking in the alleyways to get further away from all of this.
"I can't believe you Gege!"
Although Nian screamed at him, with how much noise was happening in this chaos, it was drowned out to the point only Lin Ye could hear her.
The person who was walking in front of her glanced at Nian in confusion. Hearing what she was saying made him stop walking and stared at her in disbelief.
"What did I do?! What did you do?!" Lin Ye then waved his hand toward the light that was coming from the burning building, "You destroyed the building! Why did you do that?!"
Nian stomped on the ground and glared at him.
"What should I have done then?!" Nian asked back, "I looked for you all around that place! I even went to every floor!"
"Can't you just, I don't know, track the earring!" Lin Ye pointed at the said glowing thing, "It has your Arts on it! Can't you just use this to find me!"
"..."
"..."
As they stared at each other for a while, Nian was the first to look away from him. Lin Ye could see her ears becoming red, confirming what he just said.
"So you could!" Lin Ye pointed at her with a grin on his face.
"... In my defence, I was panicking, okay!" Nian tried to defend herself as she stared at him in embarrassment, "I was worried!"
Seeing the red face dragon in front of him only made Lin Ye laugh. This made Nian's face even redder now.
"I am being serious!"
The response that she got was him laughing even harder.
"Fine!" Nian looked away from him, "After this, I won't be-."
Lin Ye did not let her finish her sentence as he pulled her into a hug. This caught Nian by surprise as she was buried into his shoulder.
"Gege?" She looked at him.
Nian could feel him running his hand through her hair gently.
"Thank you for finding me," He whipped through the sound of the chaos around them, "Sorry for making you worried."
Nian's eyes widened upon hearing this. Then she slowly pulled herself onto his shoulder.
"You're not playing fair, Gege." She complained as she nuzzled into his shoulder, "You can't just do that."
"Do what? Hugging my sister?" Lin Ye chuckled, "I think not! I hug you whenever I like to. That is my privilege as your big brother!"
Hearing this only made Nian giggle in delight even harder.
Just as she was about to say something to him, a sudden explosion cut her sentences.
Letting go of themselves, both of them watched as smoke was starting to rise into the sky now.
Nian felt a pat on her shoulder, making her look at him. She saw him smiling at her nervously.
"Let's just get out of here," Lin Ye told her.
Nian just nodded at him and grabbed his arms.
Then the world around them started to swirl.
After a while, there was no one in the alleyway.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Blaze had a lot of things she expected when she arrived in Laterano.
All of them were wrong.
The normal house that she thought they would stay in was replaced with a goddamn five-star hotel. When she told the name of the person she was with, they treated her like such an important person even when she was an Infected.
The first thing that she did was to see the others before she went to her room. Although the employee told her she will be staying in a room, however, with how big it was, Blaze considered it a house.
Ansel and the rest were in a room next to her.
They greeted her joyfully and she greeted back in the same fashion.
She then realized that she had not met the new Doctor yet. When she asked this the boys all of them looked conflicted.
Finally, Ansel told her that he went for a quick walk around the city with a bodyguard.
Just as when Blaze wanted to ask them to elaborate further on this topic, she was cut off by a sudden explosion.
They all spun their heads towards the window of the room and saw flames rising up to the sky.
Blaze immediately asked them how long the Doctor was out.
Hearing how it was almost three hours now was not something she liked.
Without waiting any longer, Blaze went straight to the door. For the good of Rhodes Island, she needed to find the Doctor.
Fast.
Blaze opened the door and was just about to rush to the city but was stopped when she noticed there were two people in front of her. If she did not halt immediately, she might slam into them.
"Woah! What's going on here?" The man said in shock. He then raised a brow at her, "Who're you?"
Finally calming down, Blaze looked at the new people in front of her.
A woman and a man.
The woman had white hair and clothing that matched it. With the horns and tail on her, Blaze guessed that she might be a Lung. Leaning closer to the man, the woman narrowed her eyes at her.
Then Blaze's eyes moved towards the man beside her. He was the complete opposite of the Lung. His hair was black and the same goes for his eyes. The clothing he has on himself compliments these features of his. Blaze even noticed two swords and pendants dangling on his hip.
Blaze liked to think she knew how to read any person just by a glance.
For example, the Lung woman had a fiery personality with how heated she carried herself.
This man though.
Blaze did not know what to think of this man.
His eyes were gentle as he stared at her. Although she almost slammed into him, he did not seem to be bothered by that at all. In fact, he looked more worried for her well-being than himself. With how he carried himself, there was something odd about him.
There was a certain aura surrounding him.
Before she could say anything to this man, Steward rushed from behind her and stared at the man in shock.
"Doctor! Are you okay?!" He asked, "There was an explosion that just happened!"
The man named Doctor nodded at him seriously.
"I saw that," He confirmed, "That was why I came back here."
Ansel walked through the door and folded his arms as he glared at the Doctor.
"So you need an explosion to get you back?" Ansel asked unamused.
Doctor just laughed at the harsh words.
"You may be right," He replied unashamedly, "I just got caught up with seeing a new place that I almost forgot how long I was on the streets. Laterano really does like their marble buildings and sweets."
This only frustrated Ansel even more.
"You regret coming here Ye," He massaged his head as Ansel said this, "You're the Doctor now, please do act like it."
Lin Ye hummed at this remark and then his eyes moved towards Blaze.
"You must be the elite operator Kal'tsit sent?" He nodded at her, "My name is Lin Ye. I am the current Doctor of Rhodes Island. Call me whatever you feel comfortable with. And this is Nian."
While saying that, Lin Ye held out his hand toward her. Blaze stared at his hand and took it.
"Walking in the middle of the night at an unfamiliar place. You're doing some meaningless things," She told him, "You really are a carefree person to be the Doctor."
The way that she spoke to him was full of sarcasm.
Rather than being offended by this, he just smiled.
"Meaningless, huh?" Lin Ye raised a brow as he repeated her words to her, "Is that how you view it?"
"Is there anyway else I should view it?" Letting go of his hand, Blaze challenged, "If so please explain to me."
Nian saw how hostile this woman was acting around Lin Ye. She knew that she couldn't do anything because Gege was tired, and he did not want that to cause any problems. With that, she quietly stood beside him while glaring holes at the Feline.
"Laterano. The most I know about this place is from documents from Rhodes Island and words from operators on the Landship," Lin Ye smiled at her, "Although I learned a lot from that, I want to have my own opinion of this city. I like to think after tonight, I got a good understanding of what Laterano is now."
"Is that so," Blaze did not look convinced by what he just said, "Let me tell you about my opinion on this city then. This place is not as kind as people like to make you think it is. Especially to the Infected. This place is no different than Ursus. They just know how to hide it better than them."
Lin Ye nodded at what she was saying.
"I understand that," Lin Ye admitted, "I know that was the case even if you did not tell me."
"If you do, good," Blaze nodded, "Seeing that you are safe, I will go back to my room then."
With that, she walked past him and went straight to her room.
Just as she was about to grab the knob Blaze heard the Doctor calling her.
"Blaze."
She turned around to see him smiling at her gently as he was not bothered by the harsh treatment that he got from her.
"I hope we can get along."
"..."
She did not tell him her name yet.
Something about this man felt...
Unnatural.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Discord
Edit: Jaq