CHAPTER 2 : Blue Rose

 

“We’re supposed to be meeting Jennie again this evening, right?” Rosé looked at her watch. “We still have some time. You wanna go grab some lunch, Lisa?”

 

“It’s not like I have a choice of going somewhere else. I’d have to follow you.”

 

“We’ll grab some lunch then. I can’t look like an anorexic girl in front of Jennie.” Rosé said.

 

“You can’t look anorexic in front of Jennie? Why do you care so much how you look like in front of Jennie?”

 

Rosé answered. “Now that I’ve seen her in person, I think she looks really attractive… Don’t you think so?”

 

Lisa shook her head. “Nope, not at all.”

 

“Why not!?”

 

“I don’t know? Maybe because I can’t see very well?”

 

Only then, Rosé realized it and smacked her own head. “Oh right. Sorry about that. Well, in case you’re curious, Jennie looked really cool. She has this cool cross shaped earring on her ear. With that combat uniform and gloves, oh my gosh they’re so on point. And also she has this vibe that kinda attracts me to her… Oh why am I feeling shy all of a sudden?”

 

“Yeah, good thing I can’t see. That’s enough Jennie for now.” Lisa told. “I thought we were gonna get lunch?”

 

“What’s wrong? Jealous that I’m finding Jennie attractive?” Rosé teased.

 

“For your information, I’d rather have some food than to be jealous. Now where’s the place?”

 

“Tsk- Anyway, we’re already on the food street. Hmm… The number of people hanging around here is getting lesser day by day. This place used to be packed when I was little.” Rosé told.

 

“With the crime rates increasing exponentially, it’s not surprising that people would rather stay home.” Lisa answered.

 

“Uhuh, what’s more surprising is that there are some shops still open. How admirable of them.”

 

“There are?” Lisa asked.

 

“Well out of 20 shops in this street, there are 3 shops still open. There’s a cafe I see at the corner of the street, an ice cream stall two shops away and a Korean restaurant right in front of your face. So what would you like?”

 

“Let’s just go to the Korean Restaurant.” Lisa suggested.

 

“Okay.” Rosé led Lisa into the restaurant. As expected, it was empty. There was not a single customer. She greeted the cashier. “Hello.”

 

The cashier greeted with a beautiful and hopeful smile. “Welcome to YoonYul Korean Restaurant. I’m Yoona, the owner of this cafe. What would you like to order?”

 

“Oh? The owner taking orders? Where are all the other workers?” Rosé asked.

 

“Well… Pretty much everyone quit their job… The only ones left are just me and my business partner, Yuri who’s also the cook.”

 

Looking around the empty cafe, Rosé voiced out. “Business isn’t doing too good these days, huh?”

 

That time, Yuri came from behind the kitchen and answered her. “Yeah… It’s been chaotic outside. That’s why our workers left. Nobody would want to risk their lives out here when there are so many criminals with powers running rampant all over the place. We even got robbed a few times before…”

 

“And yet you’re still open.” Rosé voiced her concern.

 

“I mean we have to. You know… Not everybody can cook at home so we still have customers coming to our restaurant to eat so we can’t just close the shop.” Yoona then pointed out. “See, you’re here to eat aren’t you?”

 

Rosé nodded and smiled. “That’s really kind and responsible of you.”

 

Yoona replied with a sweet smile. “Thanks. So what would you like for lunch?”

 

After contemplating for a bit, Rosé answered. “I’d like a Kimchi Jigae for myself and a Kimchi Bokkeumbap for my friend right here.”

 

Yoona looked over at Lisa wearing a blindfold and questioned. “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but is your friend there…you know…blind or something?”

 

“Yes I am.” Lisa answered. “You can just ask me directly. I’m not deaf.”

 

Yoona immediately apologized. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean any disrespect, really. I’m just curious because of the blindfold.”

 

“Nah, it’s alright.” Rosé said. “She’s used to it.”

 

“I see…” Yoona giggled for a bit and entered Rosé’s order in the machine. “Please have a seat and we’ll come with your food shortly.”

 

“Hope your business will improve over time.” Rosé told and sat down on a table with Lisa. She then sighed and looked at Lisa. “Lisa, I’m feeling really bad for the owners. They were robbed by power users a couple of times and yet they still open their restaurant just in case people like us come to eat. They’re gonna lose all their money despite all their hard work, Lisa. How I wish we could do something for them.”

 

“So what do you plan to do?” Lisa asked.

 

Rosé shrugged. “Give them some money?”

 

“They’re not beggars, Chaeyoung. You giving them money is as if you’re treating them as beggars. Plus, you don’t have that much money on you either.”

 

“Oh come on, Lisa. We can always get the money back.”

 

Lisa nodded sarcastically. “Yeah, that’s because I threatened the criminals to give up THEIR money. And I did that so that we can use the money ourselves. Not to donate.”

 

“Can you not be so dark, Lisa?”

 

That time, a few men entered the restaurant. They looked like complete troublemakers, in other words, criminals. One of the man stood in front of Yoona. “Empty your cash register now.”

 

“W-What??” Yoona started panicking.

 

The sound of Yoona panicking alerted Rosé and Lisa. “Is something wrong, Yoona?”

 

“Shut up!” The man pointed at Lisa and Rosé. A fireball was formed on his palm as he pointed it at Yoona’s face. “I said empty your cash register now.”

 

“A-A power user!?” Yoona was shaking. “P-Please, we haven’t earned anything today. All we have are just small notes.”

 

“If you don’t open your cash register now, I’m going to burn your face off.” The man warned.

 

Rosé whispered. “Lisa, there are-”

 

Lisa intercepted. “I know. I heard them from outside.”

 

A few men walked over to Rosé and Lisa’s table and started surrounding them. “Hey girls. Care for some fun time?”

 

“Umm…” Rosé blinked.

 

“Hey, you’re beautiful.” One of the man traced her finger on Rosé’s face.

 

Rosé shifted her face away from the man and showed a disgusted expression. “Excuse me, please do not touch me.”

 

“Or what?” Another man said.

 

“Or your lives are not gonna end happily.” Rosé said nicely.

 

One man showed a erted smirk. “With a pretty face like that, of course you would know all about ‘happy ending’.”

 

Rosé frowned. “Uhh… First of all, ew. I’m just gonna forget what I heard from your foul mouth a second ago. Second of all, my friend Lisa here doesn’t negotiate as well as I do. So please leave the owners and us alone before things get a little out of hand. Ok?”

 

“This one?” One man snickered. “Look at this chick. She even has a blindfold on. What can she do?” The man wanted to harass Lisa too but right before his hand could reach her face, she gripped his wrist tightly and twisted his arm, breaking it and shocking the others. He screamed in pain. “AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

 

Lisa stood up and started knocking a guy’s nose with her sword handle and landed a kick on another guy’s face. The man to her right attempted to punch Lisa. Releasing a sharp whistle, Lisa dodged the punch and smacked his face with her sheathed sword. The man standing by the cash register then shot flames out of his hands towards Lisa. Just then, Lisa unsheathed her sword and let the dark energy channel into it from her ring. One slash was all it needed to slash the flame in two and the force blowing all of them out of the store.

 

Rosé shrugged. “I told you guys Lisa doesn’t negotiate.”

 

All of them groaned in pain as Lisa made her way outside with her unsheathed sword on her hand. “If what you people are trying to do is nothing but to prove just how powerful and scary you are, let me remind you of something, punk.” Lisa her sword towards the man’s face, the tip stopping just an inch away from his eye. “Never despise upon the disabled. You are nothing but mere babies in front of me.” Then, a sinister and dark energy started engulfing Lisa, causing all the troublemakers to tremble in fear. “You like being scary? I will show you what being scary really means and I’ll assure you that it’s not gonna tickle.”

 

“Yo-” The man didn’t even get to finish his statement and Lisa already intercepted him.

 

“I’ve killed many men like you. I will NOT hesitate to kill all five of you right here.”

 

“I-I’m sorry…” The man was so scared that he almost peed in his pants.

 

Lisa then ed her sword into the ground right beside his head, earning a scream of horror from the man. “The next time I catch you messing with someone, this sword will go right through all of your head. I may be blind, but I’m telling you this. I have a very good aim.” She then pulled her sword away and shouted at them. “Five seconds to get out of my face or I will detach your limbs from your body!! ONE!! TWO!! THREE!!!-”

 

“Ok ok! We’ll leave now! We’ll leave now!!!” The few man quickly stood up, pushed each other and started running for their lives.

 

Lisa scoffed and entered the cafe once again. “What a bunch of hooligans.”

 

Rosé clapped her hands and smiled. “You were so cool, Lisa! Well, good thing you didn’t kill them.”

 

“I was about to.”

 

Yoona and Yuri then walked up to them and thanked them. “We don’t know how to thank you, really. There are always troublemakers like these in our store. It’s not the first time.”

 

“You both have to be more careful, you know… Especially during times like these.” Rosé told.

 

Yuri then brought their ordered food to their table. “Here’s your lunch.”

 

“Oh, thank you. How much is it?”

 

Yoona shook her head. “It’s alright. We’re treating the both of you after saving us from those troublemakers.”

 

“Nonsense! You’re already not earning much. I can’t just eat this for free. Here, have 100000 won. Keep the change.” Rosé placed a 100000 won note on the table.

 

As soon as Rosé placed the note on the table, Lisa placed her hand on top of it. “Chaeyoung, are you sure about this? You don’t have much money on you. We might need them for something more important.”

 

“Shush!” Rosé pointed at Lisa, silencing her.

 

Yuri continued. “Exactly. You saved us. So keep the money. Really. It’s our treat. Besides, the food isn’t even this expensive.”

 

“We mean it. You can s-” Before Yoona could finish her sentence, Rosé shut her up as well.

 

“You too, shush!” Rosé took the 100000 won note and stuffed it into Yoona’s pocket. “There. Keep it.”

 

Yoona looked at Yuri and finally nodded. “Uhm… If you insist… Alright. Thank you so much.”

 

“Nah… More like thank YOU for still opening your cafe and serving us such delicious food even though it’s dangerous out.” Rosé smiled.

 

“Enjoy your meal.” Yoona and Yuri bowed with gratitude and went back to their station.

 

“...” Lisa was speechless for a moment. “You’re always looking out for others before yourself.”

 

Rosé nodded. “Mhm… It’s nice to help the others, you know? It actually makes me feel good.”

 

After they finished their food, they said their goodbyes to the restaurant owners and left to meet up with Jennie as promised. “I’m so full…” Rosé groaned. “At times like this, we need to get some ice cream to help us digest.”

 

Jennie stepped foot into the headquarters and started looking for the crystal extraction room. All the years of her being here, she had never seen the room before. Mostly because she didn’t really care much and that she trusted CL completely. Things became different after what Rosé and Lisa told her.

 

Just then, she saw a soldier leading a little girl somewhere. “Hey, are you taking her to the extraction room?” Jennie asked.

 

“Yeah. Is there any issue?” The soldier answered politely.

 

“I’m following you to the room.”

 

As soon as Jennie said that, the soldier was a little surprised. “O-Oh… Uhm… May I know why?”

 

“Yeah. I’d like to witness the extraction of the crystal myself. Is there a problem with that?”

 

“Not really… It’s just that you were never interested in the process before, so why now?”

 

At this point, Jennie started feeling suspicious. “Why are you asking so many questions? Is there something going on in the extraction room that I haven’t heard of?”

 

“Uhh… Not really…”

 

“Then why are you hesitating? Let’s go.”

 

“Jennie.” CL’s voice suddenly called out in the hallway before looking at the soldier. “Move along.”

 

“Yes, madam!” The soldier saluted and proceeded to bring the child to the extraction room.

 

Jennie turned around to face her leader. “CL, you know I respect you with all my heart, right?”

 

CL nodded. “Yes.”

 

Jennie had a serious expression on her face. “So let me ask you one question and I want you to answer me truthfully. Those people who were sent to the extraction room to get the crystals extracted… Do they ever leave?”

 

“Yes.” It didn’t even take CL a second to give a confident answer. “Why do I want to keep them here? I have no use for them. I only want the crystals extracted.”

 

CL’s confidence made Jennie feel even more confused. “You mean…”

 

“Are you doubting me?” CL stared right into Jennie’s eyes.

 

“I…I don’t know. I just have the feeling that there’s something you’re hiding from me.”

 

“Follow me.” CL gestured, and Jennie followed along. She then led Jennie into a room. It was a huge room and it was completely dark. Only small lights lighted up their pathway as CL sounded. “Wait here. I’ll switch on the lights.”

 

Jennie then stopped. “Okay.” For some reason, Jennie couldn’t shake off the uneasiness within her.

 

CL slowly made her way into a sort of control room with a huge glass panel at the end of the room and switched on the lights. It turned out to be a completely empty room with huge square tiles all over.

 

“Wait… This isn’t the extraction room.”

 

“You’re right.” CL then locked the door access to the control room and also the exit. “It’s not.”

 

Only then, Jennie came to realization. “What the hell are you doing, CL!?”

 

“I absolutely hate doubters. Haven’t I told you that before? You’re doubting me, Jennie. You see… I do not tolerate that here. I just can’t bring myself to let people like these live on, you know? You’re supposed to be obedient and not question me like that.” CL sighed. “I thought you were different. Now that it’s come to this, I might as well tell you everything.”

 

“Tell me the truth, CL!! Did those leave this place or not!?” Jennie raised her voice.

 

“Oh, they all left this place, alright…” She then shook her head. “Just not alive.”

 

Jennie’s eyes widened in shock from the revelation. “Those innocent people that I brought back to the headquarters… The little kids who accidentally got a crystal merged with them while playing… Those old people… You… You killed them all!?”

 

CL chuckled. “That is why you’re such a simpleton, Jennie. It’s just…so easy to use you.”

 

“I respected you and even treated you as my own sister! How could you use me like this!? How dare you make me commit these atrocity to those poor innocent people!?” Jennie shouted.

 

“Sister? I’m sorry to disappoint you, Jennie. You see… The World Government got hold of the Red Rose Crystal a long time ago but because it was a piece of the BlackPink Crystal, nobody dared to activate it. Not even me. So that was when I made a decision. I needed a guinea pig to test the power of the Red Rose. To see the side effects to it. So we trained a lot of people for it. And you came up on top. Which is why you were chosen as the wielder of the Red Rose Crystal.”

 

“You used me as a guinea pig…” Jennie felt her anger boiling within. “And I thought it was a prize for obtaining the captain rank…”

 

CL smirked a little. “I can’t believe it took you this long to finally understand.”

 

All the memories of Jennie convincing the innocent people including children came flooding into her mind. “HOW DARE YOU!!! THEY WERE INNOCENT PEOPLE!!”

 

“How dare me?” CL chuckled. “As far as I’m concerned, it was you who convinced them back here yourself. I play no part in that. I was gonna keep you longer so that you could help me collect more crystals but things got a little out of hand.”

 

“RAGGGHHH!!!!!” Jennie ran towards the glass window of the control room and punched on it hard. To her surprise, her punch came to a complete halt.

 

CL chuckled. “Did you actually think I wouldn’t have a plan to counter your powers? You can’t break this glass even with your Red Rose, Jennie. It’s made out of two hundred types of crystals reinforced together.”

 

“What the…”

 

“Oh, and another thing… You may not know this, but the Black Pink Crystals answer only to one person at a time. As long as the current wielder is still alive, nobody else can activate its powers… That’s why I need you dead, Jennie. So that the Red Rose Crystal can answer to me.”

 

“Lisa and Chaeyoung were right…” Jennie glared back at CL. “You really are evil…”

 

“Say what you want. You won’t be alive to see tomorrow anyway.”

 

Jennie scoffed. “Heh! You think you can actually hurt me while I’m still holding onto the Red Rose Crystal!?”

 

CL wasn’t intimidated one slight bit but instead, she smirked. That smirk sent chills up Jennie’s spine. “I do.” She then moved her finger towards one of the button on the control panel and clicked on it. It button activated a mechanism which caused about 100 crystals to descend from the ceiling and started emitting a powerful sonar-like wave towards Jennie.

 

“Ugh!!!!!” Jennie suddenly felt herself becoming weaker by the second. “W-What the hell is happening??”

 

“Fire the cannons.” CL ordered with the smug look on her face.

 

The soldiers who were standing by followed her order and shot the cannons. As soon as the cannon blast came in contact with Jennie, it exploded, sending her flying away and crashing towards the wall with a strong impact. “ARGH!!”

 

Despite Jennie standing up almost immediately after the cannon blast, she actually felt some pain. She would usually shrug a cannon blast off. CL chuckled a little. “You’re hit by a power nullifying wave, Jennie. Your power is slowly being drained 20% every minute. In just five minutes time, you’ll be as useless as a baby and a single bullet through your head will kill you instantly.”

 

Jennie clenched her fist. “I will not die here!!!!” She ran towards the steel door and attempted to break it open with her fist.

 

“Shoot her down!” CL ordered as the cannons in the room continued firing at her.

 

Jennie managed to dodge a few of the cannon shots but she still got hit in the end. The cannon impacts were starting to hurt like mad. She couldn’t waste any more time here. It’s either she continue dodging the cannonballs and slowly lose her power in this room or withstand a few shots while she punch through the exit door. The latter seemed to have a better chance of survival so she went on with it. She leaped towards the door, pulled her fist back and it towards the door with a strong impact. “BOOM!!”

 

The door didn’t break open from her first punch, though it made an incredibly large dent on it. Just then, a few cannonballs hit her and exploded. “ARRGGHH!!!!”

 

She flew away and landed flat on the ground. Bruises were starting to form on her body. Her hands were shaking in pain from the impact and she started panting. She couldn’t afford to waste anymore time, so she forced herself up and rushed towards the steel door once again.

 

CL let out a laughter. “Forget it, Jennie… You don’t have enough power to break through-”

 

That time, Jennie channeled the faint red aura from her earring into her right fist. “RAAGGHH!!!” She released another punch and managed to blast open the thick steel door much to CL’s surprise.

 

“She still has more power than I imagined. Impressive… Soldiers, take her down! Don’t let her leave!” CL raised her voice.

 

Jennie immediately made a run for it. She couldn’t afford to take another hit from the cannons or she will literally die. The soldiers started firing their guns at her, even those who were under her command and so-called-loyal towards her. Jennie was hurt, not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. Her entire army unit were all turning against her with just one of CL’s order.

 

Gunshots would usually feel nothing more than a tickle for her. Now, every single bullet that hit her felt like a punch. It’s only a matter of time till the bullets start piercing through her skin. She had to escape this place before that happens. Jennie reached for a nearby car and flipped it over and used it as a temporary shield. “I can’t afford to get hit by the bullets anymore.”

 

As soon as she said that, a bullet flew towards her and pierced through her stomach. “ARGH!!” She stumbled a little, but it didn’t stop her from running.

 

“Stop running!” A few soldiers appeared in front of her and rushed towards her with swords, axes and other melee weapons.

 

“Get out of the way!!” Jennie raised her right foot and stomped hard on the ground, creating a minor earthquake that caused everyone around her to stumble onto the ground. With that, she continued running towards the parking lot as it was the only path not blocked.

 

All of a sudden, a few soldiers ran towards her and swung their sword at the same time. Jennie was already a little too weak to evade, so she raised both her arms up and blocked the slashes with her bare hands. The swords stopped upon contact but it did manage to cut into her skin a little. Even her rock hard skin is starting to fade away. “You bunch of traitors!!!”

 

“We answer only to CL!” The soldiers claimed.

 

Hearing that made Jennie lose it. She grabbed the blades with her bare hands and broke them into pieces before shoving the soldiers away. Even after that, the soldiers didn’t stop attacking her. She punched and kicked every single thing that got in her way, destroying walls and also the columns in the process. By the time she reached the parking lot, she was already gravely injured with blood smearing her nose, her temple and the side of her lips. Even her arms and legs were full of slash marks.

 

She used her diminishing powers to flip all the cars one by one in attempt to slow down the soldiers pursuit, at the same time blocking herself from the incoming bullets. That worked perfectly well. They were slowed down a lot by the cars as Jennie made her way out into the open. Just to make sure that the others do not follow her, she channeled the remaining ounce of her powers to her arms and slammed both her palms on a large tank.

 

“AAARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” With every single drop of her energy, Jennie pushed the tank towards the exit, blocking the only escape route and preventing anyone from getting out. That action alone caused Jennie’s gunshot wound to open up larger. She was in a lot of pain. Jennie finally escaped.

 

The soldier immediately reported to CL. “Leader CL! Jennie shut all of us in!”

 

CL then raised her voice. “Then dig your way out and find her!! Get the choppers out and kill her! I want that Red Rose Crystal back in the headquarters right away!!” She then chuckled. “Let’s see how long can you survive in the outside, Jennie.”

 

“Ugh…” Jennie weakly tottered her way back into the city. By now, her powers were already completely drained from her. The immense pain started kicking in. With a bullet embedded inside her stomach and bruises all over her body, she staggered along the wall and into an alley.

 

As she entered the alley, she leaned against the wall and sat on the ground, looking at her gunshot wound. “… It hurts like mad…”

 

That time, a few bandits came into the alley and saw an injured Jennie sitting by the wall. This has got to be the worst timing for Jennie. “Hey, isn’t that Captain Jennie of the World Government?”

 

“She doesn’t look too good…”

 

“This might be our best chance…” One of the bandits went closer to her.

 

“I’m warning you… You better stay away…” Jennie warned them in a really weak and breathless tone.

 

The bandits looked at one another and started laughing. “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

 

The bandit answered sarcastically. “I don’t understand what can you do in your current condition, ‘Captain’ Jennie.”

 

One of them walked straight up towards Jennie and gave her a tight slap on the face, causing her already feeble body to topple onto the ground. “HEH! What a loser! Guys, beat her up!!”

 

The other bandits didn’t hesitate at all to start beating her up, probably for what she did to them in the past. As her power was completely nullified and her injuries kicking in significantly, all Jennie could do was just lay there and cover her head with both her arms. She didn’t even have the energy to speak anymore. “…”

 

“Heh, not so tough now, aren’t you?” The bandit released another kick on the downed Jennie.

 

“Ugh…” Jennie was literally in a lot of pain. She would never had thought that mere alley bandits would ever get the chance to take her down like that.

 

They kept on punching and kicking her while she laid helplessly on the ground. “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Pathetic!!” Jennie was already on the verge of passing out. As of now, even a blow of the wind was enough to take her out already. The bandit chuckled and swung his fist. “Now die!!”

 

Right before the bandit’s fist reached Jennie, the punch stopped an inch away. “What the!?” He literally couldn’t push his fist further nor could he even move his body at all. It was as if someone was restraining him but there was nobody nearby. He suddenly got lifted into the air magically and was slammed onto the wall. “Argh!”

 

This made the other bandits start panicking. “What the hell is going on!? Is there a ghost here!?”

 

“There could be~” A soft lady’s voice then echoed in the alley as the remaining ten bandits were slammed and pinned up onto the wall at the same time by a blue magical force. Right before Jennie passed out, she saw a lady with wearing a light blue shirt and a blue bracelet walking towards her and reaching her hand out.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Lisa, I’m worried…” Rosé said in a concerned tone.

 

“She’s not here yet?”

 

“She’s not. And it’s almost night time already. Whether she believed our words or not, she should be here by now either joining us or hunting for us. What if something bad happened to her?”

 

Lisa shrugged. “That’s too bad for her then.”

 

Rosé smacked Lisa on the shoulder. “Lisa, don’t say that! We need Jennie to fulfill the prophecy! We cannot let anything happen to her!”

 

“So what do you plan to do right now?”

 

“If Jennie really is in trouble, we have to go save her.”

 

“So you suggest that the both of us should just storm into the World Government headquarters, beat up those who are in the way and grab Jennie out? I can fight, but I’m not a superwoman. Plus, I’m blind.”

 

“Come on, Lisa! You’re more alert than any normal person during fighting. I’ll back you up. We can do this.”

 

“Truthfully, I’m not comfortable doing this for someone who I barely know, Chaeyoung.”

 

“Someone who you barely know right NOW. We’ll eventually get to know each other and get along well. But we can’t do that if she is a corpse. So I suggest us not to waste any more time and let’s go save Jennie right now.”

 

“Alright. We’ll go there then.” Lisa sighed and stood up. “Let’s hope we don’t die in her place.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Ugh…” Jennie opened her eyes and found that she was laying on a bed with bandages all over her body and forehead. She turned her head and looked around. The ceiling was really high and has a chandelier hanging at the top. The room was filled with expensive vases and an extra-large family portrait on the wall, signifying that the owner of this house is extremely wealthy. She got up and took a closer look at the family portrait on the wall. There was a married couple standing behind two girls. One of them seemed to be in her teens and the other is probably still in preschool. She then walked outside the bedroom balcony and took a peek. She was in a huge mansion up the hill. “What the hell is this place?”

 

She had a walk around the living room. It was humongous with beautiful chandeliers decorating the ceiling. The living room itself is probably already larger than some of the houses outside. All of a sudden, a voice called out to her. “I see you’ve woken up.”

 

As soon as Jennie turned around and saw a lady with a blue shirt and blue bracelet staring at her face at a close distance, she immediately hopped back a few feet. With fiery eyes glaring back at the lady, Jennie raised her voice and got into her fighting pose. “Who the hell are you!? Are you here under CL’s orders!? What is this place!?”

 

“Wow, you do like to jump to conclusions.” The lady had a sweet and friendly smile on her face. “Don’t worry, I’m not here under CL’s orders whatsoever. You’re in my house. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

 

“How can I be so sure that you aren’t here to kill me?” Jennie was definitely doubtful towards her after what happened earlier.

 

“I was the one who saved you back in the alley. Would it make sense for me to save you from the bandits if I wanted you to die?”

 

Only then, Jennie remembered a silhouette of a blue shirt lady stopping the bandits right before she passed out. She slowly lowered her hands. “That was you?” She then looked at her own bandages. “You’re the one who bandaged me?”

 

“Yup.” She smiled brightly.

 

Jennie finally calmed down. “Well I have to thank you for that then. So what’s the name of my knight in shining armor?”

 

“Knight in shining armor?” She burst into laughter. “Trust me, I’m no knight. You can call me Jisoo by the way.”

 

“Jisoo… That’s a nice name. You’re a power crystal user too aren’t you? I felt some tingly sensation around you. It’s almost like…when I met with them…” Jennie’s eyes then widened from the realization.

 

That time, Jisoo’s crystal on her bracelet shone in a bright blue light as her eyes turned blue. A blue magical orb was then formed above her palm. “I hold the Blue Rose Crystal so technically, I’m an esper. Not a knight.”

 

“The Blue Rose…” Jennie then remembered what Rosé said the other day.

 

 

“The four BlackPink crystals were destined to come back together as one. That is why in the beginning, I, the holder of the White Rose Crystal found Lisa, the holder of the Black Rose and now, we found you… The holder of the Red Rose Crystal. It’ll be a matter of time till we meet the holder of the Blue Rose Crystal as well.”

 

 

Jennie whispered to herself. “She was right… So it wasn’t a coincidence after all…”

 

“You’re right, it’s not a coincidence.” Jisoo told.

 

Jennie frowned. “You can hear me?”

 

Jisoo smiled and nodded. “Mhm.”

 

“Anyway, let introduce myself.”

 

“I know who you are. You’re Captain Jennie of the World Government army, right?”

 

“Despite knowing this fact, you don’t seem afraid of me.”

 

Jisoo frowned. “Should I be?”

 

“You’re not afraid that I would catch you back to the World Government?”

 

Jisoo chuckled. “Not in your current condition, you’re not. I can take you down in a second with you being so seriously injured like that.”

 

“You think so?”

 

Jisoo moved her face closer towards Jennie. “I know so.”

 

Jennie scoffed. “Don’t you think you’re a little too cocky? I think I can still take you on right now despite being seriously injured.”

 

“Says the one who got her whooped by a bunch of bandits.” Jisoo chuckled a little. She wanted to play with Jennie’s pride a little. “No you can’t.”

 

“I have a feeling you’re trying to stomp on my pride right now.” Jennie told.

 

“Yes, I am. Don’t like it? Try and take me down right now to prove me wrong. Just swallow your pride and face it. You can’t fight me in your current condition. I doubt you can even land a hit on me. Period.” Jisoo showed her tongue playfully at Jennie.

 

“Wow, you really do look down on me, huh?” Jennie felt challenged.

 

“I’m not looking down on you. I know you’re really strong. I’m just saying that you’re weak in your current condition. That’s all.” Jisoo went straight to the point.

 

“So what if I managed to land a hit on you?”

 

“Then I’ll-” Before Jisoo could finish talking, Jennie swung her fist to catch her off guard.

 

It didn’t even take Jisoo a second to react. It was Jisoo who caught Jennie off guard in the end. Jisoo raised her palm towards Jennie before her fist reached and a powerful magical force hurled her back, crashing through the wall of the house. “Ouch…” Jennie groaned while lying on the ground.

 

“Ohohohoho… You’re a cunning one… Trying to catch me off guard? I don’t think so. Did you forget that I’m holding the Blue Rose Crystal? I’m an esper. I can literally read your mind. I already knew you were gonna do that. You owe me a lunch and a wall.”

 

“It seems like my powers aren’t back completely…” Jennie said while still laying on the floor. “I was betrayed by the government, and they nullified my power in hopes of trying to steal the Red Rose Crystal from me… That’s why I was beaten up by mere bandits.”

 

“Yeah, I’ve glanced through your memories while you were asleep. You were in a lot of pain… Physically and mentally. So I feel the need to help you.”

 

“Great. There goes all my privacy and secrets. So you’re basically helping me because you pity me?” Jennie scoffed.

 

“Well, that’s part of it. And also for some reason, I feel a certain connection to you. I’m not sure why. I just feel like I’ve known you for a long time already despite seeing you for the first time.” Jisoo told.

 

“Would you believe it if I were to tell you that it’s part of destiny that you came to save me?” Jennie told.

 

“Destiny? You believe in such thing?”

 

“Well… I’m not against the idea anymore after meeting with them.”

 

Jisoo tilted her head. “Them? You mean Lisa and Chaeyoung?”

 

Jennie was surprised. “You know them too?”

 

Jisoo shrugged. “Nah, I saw it in your memory.”

 

“You need to stop getting into my head, Jisoo. I feel so violated right now.” Jennie groaned.

 

“It’s fun knowing what’s going on inside people’s mind, don’t you think so?” Jisoo giggled.

 

“I’m gonna make you regret looking into my mind one day, Jisoo. Mark my words. And it’s not going to be pretty.” Jennie warned.

 

“I’d like to see you try.” Jisoo said playfully.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

Jennie voiced out. “So…are you just gonna leave me on the ground or are you gonna help me up? I can’t feel my back.”

 

“Are you gonna pay for my wall though?” Jisoo asked.

 

Jennie rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

 

“Thanks for that then.” Jisoo reached her hand out to her.

 

Jennie grabbed onto Jisoo’s hand and lifted herself up. “You’re welcome.”

 

CHAPTER 2 : Blue Rose

END