—hello! as a heads-up, this is a courtesy notification letting you know that this specific chapter is actually the last of four in this update. if you've ended up here as a result of clicking through an email or alert of some sort for this update, please navigate to episode 18. that's the first actual chapter for this update's specific batch of chapters. thanks!
 

「 episode 21; arc 5.4 」 —umbral axiom//olivia— 「 hyejoo xii 」

The only audible sound in the infirmary was the droning beeping of vital monitors attached to Hyejoo. Acting as the center of attention for the silent convention, the addled necromancer was attempting to come to terms with an answer she didn’t expect in any capacity. 

The noiselessness surrounding Hyejoo brought several things to her attention: the rise and fall of her chest that accompanied the sound of every breath she took, and the steady beat of her pumping heart beneath it. Her hands tensed, feeling the fabric texture of the blanket she held with one and the warmth of Chaewon’s palm she held with the other. 

Sounds, sights, sensations, feelings, memories—things Hyejoo believed her recognition of to be exclusive to her, things that only she could experience in a way completely unique to her. 

Or so she thought. 

With this revelation in tow, the truth was becoming clear to Hyejoo, and she struggled to embrace it fully—the incomprehensible concept of an outsider claiming dominion over her subconscious.

How could her own perception of reality, something so innately personal, be directly shared with someone else? Far beyond a mere alternate identity born of her own mind, Olivia was a unique individual entirely separated from Hyejoo. Through the eyes of her subconscious mind, an external consciousness with enough free will to name itself had been living the life she was living—the life she refused to forfeit by any means in honor of a promise.

The idea circled Hyejoo’s head without end. Apart from due confusion, she wasn’t even sure what sort of emotion she should be experiencing. Her eyes fell as she failed to make sense of her own feelings on the matter. 

When conversation picked up around her, Hyejoo listened only half-heartedly as she continued her attempts to decipher the truth before her. Chaewon shared Hyejoo’s absence from the discussion, keeping a close watch on her companion and offering the reassurance of her presence with a comforting rub of her free hand atop their interlocked fingers.

It was Hyuna who resurrected the room’s state of being. She yawned as she returned to the window by Chaewon, leaning against it with pocketed hands. “Alright, so we’ve figured that out. Now that answers a whole bunch of other questions, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Kahei affirmed with a nod. “For starters, everything Olivia said when we first met her finally makes sense…”

“The urge to survive, to do whatever she must to live on,” Jiwoo recounted, her thumb pensively rubbing the surface of a peach-colored gemstone attached to one of her several necklaces. “Olivia’s astounding refusal to let herself or Hyejoo come under any sort of harm...it all stems from Hyejoo’s trigger. The final thought of not wanting to die became the entire basis and sole motivation for her very existence.”

“An existence which persists beyond any singular episode of Absolution, as Olivia is now part of Hyejoo’s subconscious, if not something more,” Haseul continued the train of thought. “Her resurgence is not due to some sort of switch in personality, but a forced transference of consciousness which happens in response to Hyejoo’s safety being threatened.”

“Like succumbing to corruption,” Jungeun chimed in, peering at the pair of light and dark with a dejected grimace. “Any time Hyejoo’s corruption reaches a point where it’d kill her, Olivia takes over. It must function similarly to Absolution in that it clears her manastream of corruption. That’s why she was blacking out randomly when she was wandering—her poisoning would eventually get back to that fatal point, and Olivia would take over again. Just like Sooyoung said, it was probably a back-and-forth cycle.”

“That also lines up with Hyejoo only hearing Olivia when she felt incredibly sick after breathing in too much corrupted mana over time,” Haseul agreed in support of Jungeun’s logic. “If Olivia truly is her subconscious, there’d be no way to communicate with her. Not until a situation arose where her well-being was compromised and a transference of consciousness was imminent.”

“At the same time, however, it’s completely unlike Absolution,” Kahei said with a tilt of her head, her thumb sinking into her cheek as she pondered it. “If you fell asleep while Absolute, you would wake up as yourself again. It’s no different from falling unconscious. However, Hyejoo said she had been out for days, weeks, and eventually months. That means that Olivia is able to sleep and wake up without losing control. How curious…”

“I don’t believe it’s all too curious.”

A voice that had otherwise gone completely silent offered an open comment.

With her hands behind her back and a small smile upon her face, Sunmi suggested the idea that the answer they sought was staring them dead in the face. Hyuna concurred with the notion, bearing a confident smile with her glance traveling the room as the Archmagus spoke. “You’ve already ascertained the reason for that abnormality.”

“We have?” Jiwoo remarked. “Then...it could only be the trigger, couldn’t it?”

“Yeah. I think that’s just the extent of Hyejoo’s will to live.”

Sooyoung’s assertion was clear as crystal. Her peers looked to her as she continued, the swordswoman’s own eyes locked onto Hyejoo anew. “When you thought ‘I don’t want to die, Mother,’ it was more than just a thought, wasn’t it, Hyejoo? It was a promise you made to your mother that you couldn’t break a second time. You told us as much.”

Though Hyejoo kept her eyes low, Sooyoung had summoned her attention away from the depths of herself. It was with prudent focus that she listened to her senior’s words as she revisited her own reasons for existence.

“Your trigger wasn’t just a basic survival instinct. Way beyond that, it was another oath. Another promise,” Sooyoung reasoned. “If there’s anything we’ve learned about you, Hyejoo, it’s that you want to keep your promises.”

Though she didn’t outwardly reply, Chaewon felt Hyejoo’s fingers stir between their intertwined hands.

“A trigger that doubled as an oath Hyejoo intends to honor—that’s the core of what’s driving Olivia. That’s why her will to live is so insanely charged. Given how much Hyejoo’s promises means to her, a conscious existence tied to something like that would do absolutely anything to survive,” Sooyoung surmised quietly. “I think it’s because of that extreme compulsion that Olivia breaks the conventions of Absolution and stays conscious through sleep cycles. She’s just that compelled to be totally sure that they’re safe.”

“Correct,” Hyuna confirmed with a smile. “In reality, though, this entire situation is a fringe case of Absolution. Shouldn’t come as a surprise if certain aspects like that don’t line up with what we’re used to. After all, the transition wasn’t anything like it was supposed to be, right, Jungeun?”

“Yeah.”

Haseul, Sooyoung, and Jiwoo paid close attention to Jungeun as she informed them of the disparity. “There weren’t any effect containers around her body...just a release of energy. Hyejoo one second, Olivia the next. On top of that, she actually felt pain. If it weren’t for her being as strong as she was, I wouldn’t even know if we could really call it Absolution or any form of it.”

“So her trigger became a lasting condition which could reactivate at any time, bringing Olivia forward without a proper transformation whenever Hyejoo is in danger,” Kahei wondered aloud. “However, she still exhibits the standard effects of an Absolution’s adrenaline rush as well as a fixated hyper focus on the trigger. It’s truly as if Olivia simultaneously is and is not an Absolution...this is quite the puzzle…”

“Sadly, it’s not the only puzzle we have on our hands.”

Hyuna followed her somber response with a sigh. Stepping forward, she walked through the group to the other side of Hyejoo’s bed. Eyes followed her as she began to tinker with one of the medical consoles connected to Hyejoo, clicking away at a lightweight keyboard attached to it. “Here’s your next conundrum.”

With the distinct push of a key, the headrest of Hyejoo’s bed came to life with dim illumination across its edge. The top of it began to emit thin beams of light in unison with a section of the ceiling directly above it pouring similar beams down. Both sources of light combined together to create a blue and white three-dimensional hologram in front of the wall. 

The hologram in question was a chart depicting numeric information in the form of a bar graph, and it became the center of attention as Hyuna proceeded. “This is a timeline of the concentration of corruption in Hyejoo’s manastream, starting from the day you guys brought her back,” she began, her odd eye glimmering softly as a gentle sphere of flame manifested in front of the display. It rested above the highest bar at the leftmost of the graph. 

“Frankly, it’s a miracle she was even alive when her manastream was this tainted. It’s well above anything we’ve seen recorded in this timeline or any other, and now that I’ve finally been filled on what actually happened to Hyejoo, I can at least understand now how it was so astronomically high.”

At Hyuna’s behest, her fireball traveled slowly down a descending curve. “Now, through Chaewon’s practiced purification, her manastream was on a slow but steady return to normalcy. Little by little, Chaewon managed to get it down bit by bit each day. This point, right here…”

Gazes followed Hyuna’s flame until it stopped at the chart’s lowest point, roughly a quarter lower than its start. 

“...is what Hyejoo’s corruption was this morning, recorded just prior to Archmagus Lee gathering everyone to inform you about your assigned teams before today’s excursions. Through just over two months of constant, diligent purification, Chaewon cleared Hyejoo’s poisoning by twenty-five percent. By that math, she would’ve only had about six more months to go. Keyword: would’ve.”

Hyuna’s fire dissolved as she sighed again. “That being said, here’s the concentration of corruption we recorded in Hyejoo’s manastream when she and her team got back.”

Pressing down on another key, Hyuna turned to face the group. The returning team was equipped with darkened looks as Haseul, Sooyoung, and Jiwoo stared at wide-eyed—it was the addition of a bar at the rightmost side of the hologram, producing a massive spike as it mirrored the size of the graph’s starting point.

“It returned to what it once was? That...that doesn’t make sense,” Haseul muttered quietly, her mind set aflame by the information. “If Olivia’s awakening incites a forced cleansing of the manastream similar to Absolution, and if there wasn’t any corrupted mana present where they were, then—”

“—where did it come from?”

Finishing Haseul’s inquiry for her, Hyuna brought an end to the show of graphics above Hyejoo’s head with the press of another key on the console. She spoke her mind with her face scrunched in thought as she engaged in another leisurely stroll around the room.

“Where did it come from, indeed! What a fun question, right?” the Grandmaster asked in a manner as enthusiastic as it was sarcastic. “Yeah, more than anything else, this is what bothered me the most. It made absolutely no sense. Seriously wracked my brain, let me tell you. Of course, if someone didn’t feel the need to play the role of mysteriously super secretive space-time magus, I’d have arrived at my conclusion much sooner.”

Sunmi didn’t even so much as stir from Hyuna’s blatant comment. Her vision continued wandering the room as it followed the Grandmaster’s pacing path, pausing only temporarily to acknowledge Sooyoung staring at her head-on.

“Then you’ve managed an answer for this, Grandmaster Hyuna?” Kahei’s voice rose, her own curiosity reaching its tipping point. “What might be the reason?”

“Not an answer, no. Just an extended theory based on conjecture, unfortunately much like everything else we currently have on the table,” Hyuna confessed. “As it stands, however, I’m led to believe it comes down to Olivia’s origins.”

“Her origins?” Jiwoo repeated. “Are you speaking of the corrupted manachasm…?”

“Correct. The mana carrying Olivia’s consciousness was tainted,” Hyuna reviewed carefully. “Her origin is poison in and of itself. She isn’t a result of corruption—she is corruption. This idea is supported by the act of Chaewon’s purification forcing Olivia away twice now, both when you first met her and during this incident. Even if Olivia still feels threatened enough to where her trigger would see her remaining in control, purification induces a transference and brings Hyejoo back.

“Now, by our hypothesis’ running logic of Olivia being Hyejoo’s subconscious, this means that much like her manastream, the whole of Hyejoo’s subconscious itself is poisoned,” Hyuna said, raising her hand and intertwining two fingers as she linked the points together. “So what do you suppose might happen if a transference brought forth said actively corrupted subconscious and put it in charge of a freshly cleansed manastream…?”

Hyuna’s weaving stride between the sorceresses around her continued even in the face of their silence. She laughed softly at the lack of response, shaking her head playfully. “Don’t worry, that was a genuine question. Even I don’t know exactly what that would entail. Unexplored territory and all that. My best guess, though...well, a corrupted consciousness being in control sure sounds like it’d seriously muck up the manastream. Lines up with the data, anyway. No other reason I can see behind Hyejoo’s corruption concentration just shooting back up like that.”

Haseul blinked. A thought had come to her, and it struck her as grave enough to immediately deliberate on it. “Grandmaster Hyuna...are you implying what I think you’re implying?”

“I dunno. Let’s find out!” Hyuna offered playfully. Coming to a stop across Haseul, she tilted her head. “Whatcha got cooking in that adorable brain box of yours, Third Class Major Arcanist Jo Haseul?”

Haseul found herself becoming overcome with worry as she spoke, and it was with thorough speed that LOONA’s other sorceresses were stricken with the selfsame expressions of concern. “The reintroduction and spread of corruption in Hyejoo’s manastream as a side effect of Olivia seizing control of her body,” she pieced together, “is the deduction that I feel you’ve arrived at…”

“I regret to inform you, Haseul, that you have hit the nail on the head with perfect precision. Great job! Actually, given the context, maybe its the opposite. Bad job!”

“But then that would mean—”

“Yes, it would.”

In a jarring fashion which aligned with her eccentric character, Hyuna’s countenance had once again suddenly shifted to one of a solemnly serious nature. She turned around, facing Chaewon and Hyejoo with such heavy focus that their gazes were summoned upwards. Their attention captured, she made her point.

“Your manastream poisoning is terminal, Hyejoo. Full purification won’t bring an end to it,” Hyuna announced. “Even if it’s completely cleared, any episode of Olivia taking over will just bring it back in full force. Due to your circumstances, you’ve wound up with what amounts to a corruption generator sitting in your subconscious, and I don’t know when I’ll figure out how to stop it, if ever.”

Hyuna nodded to herself as her words were fully absorbed in tense silence. Hyejoo was immensely unnerved as she found herself being presented an array of anxious, distressed frowns. The report of her illness being an affliction which would curse her for life latching onto the rest of the troubles that clouded her headspace, the fog enshrouding her peace of mind only grew thicker and thicker.

“I know, heavy stuff. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Hyuna apologized. “At least we can be relieved knowing that your personal tolerance for corruption is as unimaginably high as it is. It’s only due to that tolerance that you didn’t suffer from things like lasting organ damage during your vagabond days. To have your manastream cleansed only to then have this degree of poison suddenly reintroduced with each of Olivia’s repeated takeovers...experiencing that with anything less than your corruption threshold is a death sentence.”

“But why exactly wouldn’t a total cleansing of her manastream do away with Olivia’s presence?” Jiwoo asked in response, her gaze settling on Hyuna. “I fail to understand how she could be immune to such a thing…”

“The manastream cannot encompass a part of you which has no physicality to begin with.”

Contrary to Jiwoo’s expectations, her question was answered by Sunmi. The Archmagus was regarded with due respect as she continued. “Little is known of the subconscious mind, much less if any specific part of the brain is even physically linked to it in any form. The manastream’s course throughout the brain matters not when the subconscious is locked away to begin with. Purification cannot reach that which is out of range of it.

“In addition, there’s more to consider about Olivia’s origins in the corrupted manachasm,” Sunmi added, her eyes finding Hyejoo’s. “Hyejoo did not suffer her Absolution and Olivia’s intrusion instantly upon being thrown in. She fell into the planet proper, likely at an unthinkable speed. The deeper you descend into a manapool, the more condensed the mana becomes. This means that Olivia is not just corruption—she is excessively concentrated corruption.”

“Thus, natural purification won’t see Olivia gone, and neither will a forced transference when Chaewon subdues her and brings Hyejoo back,” Kahei inferred, eliciting a nod from Sunmi. “The poison which Olivia is composed of is so highly concentrated that you would require an extraordinary degree of purification if you wished to completely erase her before she retreated back into the unreachable subconscious. In a way, it’s an unfortunately perfect defense of sorts…”

“Then I can’t save Hyejoo? My efforts...my efforts are pointless...?”

Chaewon’s quiet, trembling voice commanded attention. Her hues were painted with a caliginous tint of disheartened hazel. Appearing lost, she seemed to struggle with her words, her voice trailing off into nothing. Hyejoo mimicked her depressive complexion as she equally failed to locate words of her own.

The exception was the Grandmaster sorceress who was left with befuddlement staining her face. Sunmi carried a terribly out-of-place grin, as if she knew what was to follow out of Hyuna’s mouth. “You do know I was kidding about the TV show thing, right? I get where this is coming from, but there’s no need to play up the drama with this air of gloom and doom. This isn’t the end of the world.”

The bleak veil of melancholy that had fallen upon the group was eviscerated by Hyuna directing her comforting smile towards the pair of light and dark. “Give yourself more credit, Chaewon. You’re helping Hyejoo a great deal. Even if her threshold stops her from suffering immediate damage, corruption is still corruption. The longer it stays in her system, the more havoc it’ll gradually wreak over time. Don’t forget that.”

The two visibly calmed down as Chaewon nodded. “Yes, of course...my apologies.”

“Where does that leave us, then?”

Sooyoung’s voice came next with a rather open-ended question. Her sight was focused on Hyuna and Sunmi. “I’m glad we’ve got some kind of idea about what’s going on with Hyejoo, even if it’s just a collection of working theories, but what now? Where do we go from here?”

“You’re all quite lucky that I’m not in charge of you, because I really don’t think you’ll like my answer.”

Hyuna stiffened up somewhat as she crossed her arms. With a frank tone, she addressed Kahei’s team specifically. “If it were up to me, this team would be immediately disbanded.”

“Excuse me?” 

“You heard me.” 

Hyuna asserted herself without hesitation, her eyes narrowing with stern disapproval towards Jungeun’s counter. “Considering everything we’ve just established, do you seriously think it’s a good idea for Hyejoo to be venturing out into who knows what with the rest of you? Your line of work almost revolves around combat, doubly so now that you’ve got actual adversaries. With Hyejoo in harm’s way like that, are you gonna stand there and tell me that you’ll never see Olivia again?”

Thinly veiled with barely concealed agitation, Jungeun’s prompt reply resulted in Hyuna shamelessly brandishing a tremendous scoff. “We’ll handle her if it comes to that, just like we handled her today.”

“You call what happened tonight ‘handling her?’” Hyuna questioned with flagrant disbelief. “Care to show me what out-of-print dictionary you got that ridiculous definition from? Or did you actually just pull it out of your ?”

As Jungeun failed to respond properly, Sooyoung took notice of her curling her hand into a tight fist at her side.

“Besides, I said your team would be disbanded, not that your employment would be terminated,” the Grandmaster clarified. “You and Kahei could return to excursions proper once your colleagues here brought back recruits to refill your ranks. Hell, if Chaewon wanted to stay with you, then you’d only need a single magus. We’d just have to assign Hyejoo a light-aligned medic, and—”

“If Hyejoo is to be pulled from LOONA’s work, then I will resign as well.”

A particularly stern announcement from Chaewon cut Hyuna’s voice in two. Resolve emanated from her as she declared her intentions. “I walked up to her with the intent of healing her to the best of my abilities. I refuse to stop before I’ve accomplished that goal. She deserves as much.”

Hyejoo’s heart paused as Chaewon shifted her gaze to her. With their eyes locked, it was impossible for Hyejoo to miss it. She recognized it in full— 

“I’m not going to abandon you, Hyejoo. I’ll stay by your side. I promise.”

—the unyielding sincerity of an honest oath, pledged with conviction bleeding through every fiber of Chaewon’s being.

Through Chaewon’s promise, the growing storm of uncertain misgivings which had been clouding Hyejoo’s mind finally started to give way. The nod she gave to Chaewon in response was not only a sign of acknowledgement towards her, but also the beginnings of what she would decide for herself.

“I see. Fair enough,” Hyuna submitted before looking back to Jungeun and Kahei. “Then you two would just be on a little leave until the other two teams brought some people back. Not a big deal, is it?”

“You’re forgetting how long it took to even get the twelve of us, Grandmaster Hyuna,” Sooyoung spoke up in protest. “It’s been three years since Sunmi brought us here. Three whole years just to reach this point of having at least three static teams that could continuously work together and grow as dedicated units instead of constantly switching members around.”

“Well, yes, but then you rescued Heejin, Hyunjin, Jungeun, and Jiwoo from their timeline just six months later, didn’t you?”

“Only for us to go two more years with zero recruits until we found Chaewon.”

Hyuna briefly choked on her words.

Reflecting the opinion, Jiwoo shared in her senior’s sentiments. “Sooyoung makes a compelling point. There is simply no telling when we’ll next manage to bring back new recruits. For as blessed as we’ve been in the past two months with Hyejoo, Yeojin, and now Joohyun’s group, that fortune may soon expire. Past experiences have shown us that we are far more likely to come across individuals who would much rather keep to themselves.”

“Assuming we run into anyone at all,” Haseul continued in support, much to Hyuna’s dismay. “Hyejoo’s universe wasn’t the first time we’ve ended up on a completely barren planet, and it certainly won’t be the last...”

“Alright, alright, I get the idea,” Hyuna conceded with a wave of her hand. “So it might be a while before they could get back to it. Still, the other two teams can continue to function without issue. On top of that, Joohyun and her friends are already on board to help you guys out, and they’re experienced as it is. I just don’t see the problem here.”

“The problem is that you think we’re alright with being sitting ducks.”

No longer hidden, Jungeun’s infuriation was now on open display as it crossed with her exhausted eyes. Hyuna regarded her quietly as she made her point. In similar silence, Hyejoo’s attention was drawn to the fiery spirit Jungeun exuded. “I didn’t sign up for this just to be an observer. I won’t sit on my while everyone’s out there risking their lives. I’m trying to make a difference here, just like everybody else.”

“This should come as no surprise, but I feel the same.”

Kahei’s stance came next. She looked her past mentor clear in the eyes without fear or hesitation, her soft voice resounding with tenacity. Much like Jungeun prior, Hyejoo was thoroughly drawn to the grounded indefatigability with which she spoke.

“I am not at all comfortable with the idea of remaining idle in this situation,” Kahei challenged. “With the knowledge that YG has assembled a team of his own, the importance of consistent operations at full capacity has only become all the more crucial. The more teams we have performing excursions, the faster we can recruit magi and the sooner we can handle YG himself.”

Hyuna kept to herself for a moment. 

With her fingers on her temple, she let a slow breath which accompanied a shake of her head. “You don’t work for me, so it’s not like you need it, but you absolutely do not have my approval for this. I shouldn’t even have to describe the risks involved here. Seriously, what part of ‘an external consciousness hell-bent on its own survival with practically no obligation to listen to any of you’ doesn’t make sense?”

“Perhaps we should simply place our faith in them.”

“Stop. Stop, stop, stop. I must’ve misheard you just now, because there is absolutely NO way you actually just said something so painfully asinine.”

Turning to Sunmi, Hyuna was subjugated by sheer dubiety as she repeated the word which confounded her at a higher pitch. “ Faith? Did I really hear that right, Archmagus Lee? You’re seriously leaving a matter like this up to faith?”

“You are a proud woman of science, Grandmaster Hyuna, so perhaps the idea might seem absurd to you. However, I see nothing wrong with it.”

Sunmi brought her focus to Kahei’s team, addressing them with a smile. “As trying as this situation might be, if they believe they can handle it, then we must support their belief with faith. Though the teams may be separated, LOONA is ultimately a collective effort. We are all allies here, and when an ally emboldens your beliefs by placing their faith in you, success evolves from a possibility to an inevitability. Wouldn't you agree, Grandmaster Hyuna?”

“Is that, like...an actual question? Uh, wow. Okay then, here’s my answer: no.”

Sunmi’s smile didn’t falter as Hyuna condemned her proposal. “Cute little speech, Archmagus Lee, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re playing an extremely dangerous game by letting Hyejoo continue working as an operative of LOONA.”

“Oh, you misunderstand. I will be making no such decision.”

With a calm declaration, the Archmagus completely reversed the room’s ambience. Looks of confusion and desperation shot to her as Jungeun’s response came immediately. “What are you saying, Sunmi?”

“Precisely as I have stated. I will make no such decision, for it isn’t my decision to make,” Sunmi revealed. Bewilderment multiplied as she aimed her smile towards Hyejoo. “This is a matter completely up to you, Hyejoo.”

“W-what...?”

“Archmagus Lee—”

“Hyejoo, it was through your own courage that you sought to lend LOONA your strength despite your sickness,” Sunmi began, suppressing Hyuna’s objection. “In the same vein, it must be through your own faith in your teammates that you decide whether or not to continue your efforts in the face of tonight’s findings.”

“You don’t find anything wrong with the idea of this?” Hyuna contested. Despite her gaze being glued to Sunmi, she failed to pry her eyes away from Hyejoo. “You’re just completely fine with taking a risk this massive?”

“Everything is a risk, Grandmaster Hyuna.”

Jiwoo’s grasp on her necklace’s gemstone tightened slightly.

Sunmi gave Hyejoo a firm nod. Her smile gained a degree of slight confidence, as if she knew that her words were about to spur Hyejoo into action.  “We cannot be the ones to declare a course of action right or wrong for you, Hyejoo. This decision is yours to make.”

She was correct, for at that moment, Hyejoo had reached a precipice.

The thick haze of doubt and anxiety which aded her headspace had been steadily thinning out through each of her teammates’ expressed wishes. It was Sunmi’s words which dispersed the remainder in full, clearing her thoughts as they rang true with the distant voice of a far-off memory. 

Hyejoo felt her breath steadying as her mind’s eye reconstructed the scene—a quiet dinner eleven years prior, and the lesson she learned from the woman who would ultimately save her from death itself.

The only person who can tell you what’s right or wrong is yourself.

With Kahei and Jungeun looking at her as they were, there was no doubt in Hyejoo’s mind. Tired and drained of life as their mixed hues might have been, they persisted. Their desire to continue fighting and to see justice done persisted. Unabated by the fearsome truth now laid bare before them, they wanted nothing more than to proceed with their efforts, and it was an iron belief that they could keep Hyejoo safe which fueled their relentless forward push to do so.

The longer she looked into their hopeful yet respectful eyes all the while feeling Chaewon’s hand against her own, the more positive Hyejoo became of it—her own definition of right versus wrong in this situation, and what she ultimately wanted to do. It required no further deliberation, for it had become perfectly clear to her.

“If they want to keep going despite the risks, then it only proves what this means to them and how determined they are to keep me safe,” Hyejoo started, her small voice exhibiting a tone of unparalleled lucidity. “Knowing that...the only right thing to do is to place my faith in them. It’d be wrong of me not to.”

As Hyejoo’s faint smile rapidly spread across the room, Hyuna was the only one left grimacing. “Faith isn’t going to stop a life or death situation from bringing Olivia out, Hyejoo. It also won’t stop her from deeming anyone who gets in her way as a threat to her safety. You’re making a mistake.”

“The bigger mistake would be insincerely carrying out the oath I made to my mother.”

Hyuna was left speechless as Hyejoo regarded her with narrowed eyes of steadfast determination. “When I promised her that I would live, she asked me to do everything in my power to do so. Sitting around and doing nothing when I could be helping everyone goes against that. YG wiping out realities doesn’t just put the whole multiverse at risk—it puts all of my promises at risk. I can’t quit. I need to keep fighting, both for myself and for everyone else.”

Hyejoo’s stout declaration gave birth to silent praise and esteem in tandem from her allies. Agitated by what she interpreted as nonsensical logic, Hyuna wore a full blown glare of intense criticism which she spread to everyone in the room. “Do you all have me on mute or something?! I literally just finished a long-winded explanation about why this is a horrible idea! Why is everyone perfectly fine with this?!”

“I believe Sunmi put it best, Grandmaster Hyuna.”

Well-versed in the matter, the composed diviner living a life devoted to Fate itself spoke for her comrades as their voice of reason. “To no fault of your own as per your inclination towards empirical science, it is simply a matter of faith beyond your understanding.”

“Ugh, there we go again with that damn word. Please, spare me.”

Returning her attention to Hyejoo, Hyuna let out a slow breath as she shook her head. “Is there seriously no chance of talking you out of this stupid and dangerous plan? Would it help if I went into detail again about how stupid and dangerous it is? Because boy oh boy, let me tell you, it’s very stupid and very dangerous.”

“It wouldn’t. I’m not blind to the dangers. This is just something I have to do. Sorry.”

Her suspicions confirmed with a straightforward apology, Hyuna closed her eyes and clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her aggravation manifested in a sharp inhale through her teeth as she tried to keep her stupefaction from evolving into indignation. “All of this theorizing just to be overruled by something as ridiculous as faith...if this is a joke, not only is it insultingly bad, but I’ve completely missed the punchline.”

A final exhale saw a return of the Grandmaster’s composure, and with it, a neutral expression bathed in defeat. “Alright. Okay. Fine. LOONA isn’t my show, so unfortunately, I can’t stop you. All I can do is ask that you please don’t do anything stupid while you’re out there. That goes for everyone in this room,” she warned, her sights settling on Jungeun. “Especially you. As a fellow fire-aligned magus, believe me, you’re making us look bad.”

Jungeun didn’t outwardly acknowledge the comment, returning Hyuna’s glower with a roll of her eyes. With little else to add, the Grandmaster made her way to the nightstand which she left her manila folder on and retrieved it. “In any case, that’s about all there was to share. Hyejoo, we’ll continue our daily check-ups. With tonight’s discovery, routine monitoring of your manastream is unfortunately going to remain the norm for you.”

“I understand,” Hyejoo accepted without complaint. “Thanks for everything, Grandmaster Hyuna.”

“Pay me back by keeping your unwelcome visitor in check,” Hyuna offered. “Maybe even find out a way to make her pay her share of the rent. Seriously, freeloaders . Archmagus Lee, they’re still off for the next two days, right?”

“Yes, even though today was the first proper workday, the weekend will remain excursion-free as usual,” the Archmagus answered, her eyes following Hyuna on her way out. “Rest assured, Hyejoo will be allowed ample rest before setting out again next week.”

“Good. Take it easy and recover your strength, Hyejoo. No training, doctor’s orders. Oh, pretend I’m an actual doctor and not just a scientist so that line can actually work,” Hyuna playfully commanded from the open doorway with a wink towards Hyejoo, her mood quickly rebounding. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Hyojong has been waiting outside for me for the past hour. Archmagus Lee, do expect a very lengthy and likely somewhat unprofessional email from me tomorrow. Be good, kids!”

Haseul, Kahei, and Sooyoung bowed in the direction of the door as the click of Hyuna’s heels resumed. They held their position, only rising after the door closed fully. 

“Thanks, Hyejoo.”

For the first time since the encounter which had so thoroughly drained her, Jungeun had finally managed a relaxed smile. It was built from the same warmth which emanated from her spent yet relieved eyes, showcasing substantial appreciation to her junior. “For putting your faith in us and continuing to fight with us...thanks. We’ll do everything we can to take care of you.”

“We’re quite lucky to have you, truly,” Kahei agreed, her eyes smiling just as much as her grin. “Your determination is inspiring. Though we might have only completed a single mission together, I can’t quite picture this team working out any other way, nor could I imagine LOONA’s success without your support.”

A sheepish smile showed itself on Hyejoo’s face. She rubbed the back of her head with her free hand, blushing ever so slightly as she received praise which she wasn’t sure how to receive. “It’s nothing, really. You guys are the ones who saved me, anyway…”

“Though I am loath to interrupt such a heartfelt moment, there is something of critical importance which I must remind everyone of.”

The gathering’s attention was drawn to Sunmi. Her countenance had neutralized, appearing markedly serious in absence of her smile as she looked at each of her subordinates in kind. 

“Much like before when Hyejoo first arrived, what we have established today is not to leave this group,” she stressed quietly. “From the information regarding Absolution to our theories and current explanations behind Olivia, absolutely none of it is to be shared with anyone else. Have I made myself clear?”

Sunmi let her words stir in the sorceresses’ heads. There was a dour soberness to her demeanor as she looked at them, and only Sooyoung properly understood why. It was because of this understanding that she found herself avoiding the Archmagus’ gaze, inaudibly sighing with displeasure beneath her breath as she looked away.

As if she feared the prospect of challenging Sunmi, Haseul spoke with a wary voice born of restraint. “I am not opposed to it if you deem it necessary, Archmagus Lee, but...might I ask as to why this degree of secrecy is required?”

“If you might excuse me repeating myself, I would be happy to share that information when the time is right,” Sunmi stated calmly. “I know how frustrating it is to keep your friends and allies in the dark and to not even know why you must do so in the first place, but I assure you this is for a good reason. In due time, everyone will know the truth and you will understand why I am asking this of you.”

Though the somber air radiating from Sunmi didn’t lessen, the others in the room could not mistake the authentic concern with which she spoke. Their nerves easing slightly, they vowed to continue their confidentiality with a nod.

“Is that everything, then?” Kahei asked. “Should there be nothing else to discuss, I believe it would be best we left so that Hyejoo might recover in peace.”

“There was one matter which I was hoping to have cleared up…”

Jiwoo answered Kahei’s open prompt with a disquieted unease. She directed her focus to Jungeun. “You and Grandmaster Hyuna seemed to be at odds about something, Jungeun. What might have that been about...?”

“It’s nothing,” Jungeun dismissed. “That woman’s practically crazy anyway, given how she flips from a happy-go-lucky jokester one second to a depressed realist the next.”

“To be honest, it didn’t seem like nothing,” Haseul countered in support of her partner’s observation. “Are you sure there’s nothing else pertinent worth sharing with us?”

“If I had something to say to everyone, I’d damn well say it,” Jungeun spoke frankly. Her exhaustion with both the ongoing conversation and her current state was growing exponentially, inciting her to turn around and make for the door. “I’m heading out. See you guys tomorrow.”

Before anyone else could even reply, Jungeun had already shut the door behind her, once again with more force than she intended. Rigid noiselessness attacked the group as eyes traveled to her remaining teammates, but neither of the three of them had anything to say.

“I see. Very well, then,” Jiwoo conceded with a small nod. “I’ve been friends with Jungeun long enough to know that if she were indeed truly concerned about something, she would speak her mind. As I always have, I’ll simply place my trust in her that nothing is wrong, and I will extend that trust to you all. That being said, should we be off, Haseul?”

“Yes, let’s,” Haseul affirmed, her hand finding Jiwoo’s. With a bow towards the Archmagus and a smile towards Hyejoo, she gave the Neophyte magus her regards. “Thank you for your efforts, Hyejoo. Feel better, okay?”

Kahei’s departure followed next as the couple left, replicating the show of respect towards a quiet Sunmi. “Good night, everyone. Chaewon, Hyejoo, I’ll stop by again tomorrow.”

With only herself and Sooyoung serving as the remaining guests, Sunmi’s smile returned to her as she addressed the pair and light and dark. “If you two need anything, the overnight nurse will be starting her shift shortly. She can attend to you if something arises. Should you feel it necessary, please don’t hesitate to give me a call as well.”

The Archmagus received two nods with the onset of Chaewon’s response. “Of course. Thank you, Sunmi.”

Making her way for the door, Sunmi held it open as she turned back around. Waiting for Sooyoung, Sunmi watched her calmly as she reminded Hyejoo of her own strength.

“We may have saved you, Hyejoo, but before that, you saved yourself.”

Hyejoo blinked. Seemingly out of nowhere, Sooyoung was suddenly looking at her with a degree of respect that she had never quite received before. Her veneration flowed outward, coursing through her words as she shared her thoughts.

“Out of nothing more than wanting to honor an oath, you survived something unspeakable that would’ve killed anyone else. That strength and perseverance, that power to keep on living...it isn’t Olivia’s. It never was. She’s borrowing something that was always yours to begin with, and you can’t let yourself ever forget that. It’s a testament to how much a single promise has made you value your life, and I think that’s something your mother would have been proud of.”

Left thoroughly speechless by her senior’s words, Hyejoo scrambled together a response as best she could while her thoughts became one with Sooyoung’s offered words of consolation. “Uh...t-thanks, Sooyoung.”

“Don’t thank me. Just get some rest.”

A final nod from Sooyoung saw her approaching Sunmi, and the two exited the room quietly.

Closing the door behind her, Sunmi was met with an immediate question from an evidently annoyed Sooyoung as she turned around. “How long?”

“In due time, as I said before,” Sunmi answered, gleaming the context of Sooyoung’s question from her few words alone. “It may be a while yet, but I fully intend to disclose both Absolution and Olivia to everyone else.”

“And the truth?”

Sunmi fell silent as Sooyoung crossed her arms. “Forget about those two topics for a second. What about the truth? About you? Planning on sharing that at some point, too?”

“Without question,” Sunmi responded calmly, meeting Sooyoung’s carefully moderated agitation with a plain face. “I am not keeping secrets for fun, Sooyoung. The spread of information before it is meant to be known will bring nothing but uncalculated deviation. You must always keep in mind that we are walking upon a very thin rope which requires the utmost of caution to tread.”

“But then why the hell did you tell me?” Sooyoung asked. Her brows were furrowed in a discernible mixture of vexation and stress as she sought reasoning. “Why am I the only one who gets to know?”

“Such is the burden of knowledge that history has deemed necessary for you to bear.”

“That’s not an answer, Archmagus Lee.”

“It is, Sooyoung. Just not one you were hoping to hear, and you have my sincerest apologies for that,” Sunmi offered in condolences to little fanfare from Sooyoung. Feeling a buzz in her back pocket, she retrieved her phone and swiped at something on its screen. “I have matters I must attend to, so I’m afraid I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Grandmaster Hyuna isn’t just gonna sit down and accept ambiguous promises, by the way,” Sooyoung mentioned as Sunmi began to walk away from her. “The longer you keep the truth hidden, the angrier she’ll get. Last thing you want is a Mobius council member losing faith in you.”

“Then how lucky you are that you needn’t worry about it as it is my problem to deal with,” Sunmi said calmly, her departure undeterred. “Enjoy your weekend, Sooyoung.”

Sooyoung remained without words as the Archmagus walked off with her standard display of unbothered poise. A bitter frown was present on her face while she watched Sunmi turn a corner and vanish from her sight. “God damn it…”

Before Sooyoung’s mind could fester on that which was troubling her for long, a vibration in her pocket stole her attention. Procuring her own smartphone, she swept her finger across the notification of a text message and brought it into focus.

[10:05pm x jungeun] on the roof. wanted some fresh air before bed. meet me up here if you want to talk.

A sense of solace buried Sooyoung as she took a relaxed breath. At the very least, she would be able to get answers about something else that had been pulling at her. Her fingers quickly blazed across her phone’s touchscreen for before she pocketed it again, heading for the elevator down the black and white marble hall.

[10:05pm x sooyoung] alright. on my way.

On the other side of the door she had been near, a pair of sorceresses were taking a moment to unfurl their minds in respite.

A steady breeze flew into the infirmary unit from the open window near Chaewon, and it was with Hyejoo that she shared in looking at nothing in particular as it swept their hair. Left to their own devices, the two processed the day’s events and what they had learned. Hyejoo’s breathing was somewhat heavy, lasting exhaustion from Olivia’s wild stunts lingering still.

In their joint silence, Hyejoo was in the midst of trying to settle the matter of something in her mind. 

She had been deliberating it since the moment she awoke when she was told what happened, and contrary to what she expected after such a lengthy discussion, she was no closer to figuring it out than she was before. Her continued inability to come to an answer even after unearthing some form of truth rightfully bothered her, and it was with frustration that her thoughts escaped her. “I still don’t get it…”

Her focus pulled away from the depths of her own thoughts, Chaewon brought her gaze to her companion. Hyejoo’s face was scrunched in contemplation. “What is it, Hyejoo?”

“Hyuna painted Olivia as some kind of villain, but is that really accurate...? Or even fair?”

Unsure of how to respond, Chaewon remained quiet as Hyejoo sought the answer to a question of morality. “None of this is her fault. Olivia is the way she is because of me, and she can’t help it. Is she actually the bad guy here? Am I just wrong for sympathizing with her? And, more importantly…”

Hyejoo’s aura became sullied by darkness as she considered something. It shook her to the core, enough so that even saying it made her experience levels of discomfort that spanned every inch of her body. Her voice was frail as she spoke, and Chaewon could not provide an immediate answer to the difficult question that she posed.

“...even if she’s only a small part of her original self, just leftover mana from some reality out there, the Olivia inside of me is still conscious. She’s alive. If Hyuna ever did find out how to get rid of her...she’d kill her. How would it be any different from murder…?

Chaewon frowned as Hyejoo ran a hand through her hair, gripping onto it and pulling at it lightly out of her growing anxieties. Her eyes were falling steadily, her distress cascading at the thought of it. “I don’t want to kill anyone, not even her. She’s just as caught up in this as I am. She doesn’t deserve to die. But so long as she’s a part of me, I’ll never get rid of this corruption. I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do about this…”

“Breathe, Hyejoo. Just breathe.”

Urgency claimed Chaewon and forced her to speak, no longer able to bear the sight of Hyejoo sinking further into her pit of despair brought upon by her habit of overthinking. The girl of darkness nodded meekly as she took a deep breath, finding commiseration in Chaewon’s gentle rubbing her back with her free hand. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but there’s no need to figure all of it out at once right this moment. Let’s tackle this one step at a time, okay?”

Unhurriedly, Chaewon measured her own thoughts as Hyejoo calmed down. She divulged them with her usual well-mannered ataraxia, garnering prudent attention from the girl of darkness. “For now, Hyejoo, I just want you to take Sooyoung’s words to heart. Understanding and owning your strength is something that I feel may ultimately end up playing a crucial role in all of this.”

Chaewon’s quizzical thesis was beyond Hyejoo. “What do you mean?”

“Think back to this morning, before we departed for our excursion,” Chaewon recalled. “When we practiced our tether in your room, you said you heard Olivia before I fully established it. By the conclusions we’ve reached today, that means that Olivia felt you were at risk, resulting in an imminent transference of consciousness. However, that simply doesn’t add up, does it?”

“No...no, it definitely doesn’t,” Hyejoo said slowly, remembering the occurrence piece by piece. In truth, through the nature of the day’s events, she had forgotten it entirely. “We were just in my room, and you were still there, standing right in front of me. I wasn’t in any sort of danger at all…”

“Precisely,” Chaewon agreed. Her gentle hazel hues were alight with scholarly repose. “That was the first time since we found you that my purification was interrupted. I believe this means that, likely without realizing it, you have mentally registered my purification as a critical component of your basic survival. This association you’ve made means you perceive a break in our connection as a threat to your well-being, and that gives Olivia reason to awaken.”

Flustered by Chaewon’s theory, Hyejoo was entirely dumbstruck. “I, uh...I’m not really sure what to say to that, Chaewon…”

“There’s nothing to say. It’s perfectly fine,” the girl of light assured, calming her with a smile. “In reality, given the extensive amount of time we’ve spent together in just two months and what we thought of your sickness up until now, such an association should have been expected. You’ve come to rely on me, Hyejoo, and you can continue to do so without fear. The point I’m trying to make is that you need to remember that others rely on you as well, proving your strength. I am not the key to your survival. You are.”

“But what about my manastream? Without you, wouldn’t it—”

“Remember what Hyuna said,” Chaewon urged Hyejoo, cutting her off softly. “I am only preventing the spread of further damage. Potentially as a result of your atypical level sixteen affinity to darkness, your corruption is still below your exceptionally elevated threshold. Even when Olivia returns it to full capacity, it still isn’t fatal. My purification isn’t saving you from the brink of death as we once thought, Hyejoo. Now we know that I am merely healing you, and that awareness carries an important implication. Look.”

Hyejoo blinked as she felt Chaewon’s fingers slip away from hers.

Standing up from her seat, she stepped back a few paces and folded her hands at her waist. The smile on her face grew as Hyejoo remained still in her bed, surprised by the distinct lack of immediate feedback from the stray consciousness within her. 

Even as the seconds continued to pass, the headache never came. The pain was nowhere to be found. There was no manic gnawing and clawing at the edges of her headspace, no blistering pressure of her senses being stolen away from her piece by piece.

Olivia was sound asleep.

“Our separation no longer equates to immediate danger. You have the strength to survive on your own, Hyejoo. This is something you always need to be fully cognizant of at all times.”

Chaewon continued from where she stood, cementing Hyejoo’s potential for independence. “Telling yourself things like you aren’t strong enough, like that you can’t protect me...such statements are only falsehoods that betray your will to live and serve Olivia’s prerogative of taking over to see it safeguarded. While we should undoubtedly rely on each other as allies, you must also firmly believe in your own strength.”

Unsure of what to fully make of her words, a perturbed nervousness still held dominion over a part of Hyejoo. “Are you saying we shouldn’t tether during combat, then…?”

“I’m saying much more than that, Hyejoo. I’m trying to tell you that your life is not bound to me. It never was. You are far more powerful than you realize.”

As Chaewon’s profession progressed with her small frame doused by moonlight from the window next to her, Hyejoo recognized something. It seemed strangely familiar, and it certainly was, for it was the second time she had seen it.

“We can remain close through our tether, working together as a duo...or we can forgo that plan to chase other strategies. Our permanent link is no longer mandatory, and any potential danger you may find me in as a result is not a sign of your failure. It is the opposite—an opportunity to enact the promise of protection which drives you so,” Chaewon proclaimed. “The strength you possess can see us both safe, Hyejoo. You need only to believe in it so that we all might bolster it with our faith, just as Sunmi said.”

It was Chaewon’s unequivocal acknowledgement of Hyejoo’s stalwart fortitude on open display. The same acknowledgement she showed Hyejoo in her vanquished world was being presented once again. Her heart was still as compassionate and considerate now as it was back then, if not even more so.

Despite her own show of weakness and her failure to see Chaewon safe during their encounter with Jisoo, her viewpoint hadn’t changed. Chaewon’s belief in Hyejoo’s strength was as unremitting as it had always been, and from that point onwards, it became the pillar of faith that Hyejoo’s very soul would stand upon.

A mellow warmth came over Hyejoo. Though more questions and concerns than she could account for regarding Olivia harassed her peace of mind, she swallowed hard against her worries and placed her own faith in the people who cared about her. She accepted her companion’s words in full with a nod, exhibiting an expression free of doubt. “I understand. I won’t say things like that anymore. Thanks, Chaewon.”

Chaewon returned Hyejoo’s thanks with the widening of her smile. She returned to her seat at Hyejoo’s side, and when her hand found Hyejoo’s anew, it sparked into existence with an irregular heartbeat.

She wasn’t properly aware of its true nature yet, but with her eyes set upon their intertwined fingers, she experienced it for the first time. Lasting only for an instant as it dashed across her now relaxed mind, it was a transient emotion that escaped her before she could make full sense of it. Unbeknownst to Chaewon, Hyejoo felt the same sensation in her room with her that morning, and in their coming adventures, they would both feel it again and again.

“I think I’m gonna try to get some sleep,” Hyejoo announced in the middle of a tired yawn. Turning to face Chaewon, she closed her eyes and bundled herself up underneath her blankets, leaving her hand in Chaewon’s grasp. “Don’t feel the need to sleep in that chair if it’s uncomfortable. The nurse can take care of me if you want to go to bed yourself.”

Chaewon’s response was only half-present, her vision still set upon their interlocked hands as she failed to decrypt the emotion that so briefly overcame her. “Yes, of course. Sleep well, Hyejoo.”

It would be some time yet before she would understand it, but without question, she would eventually realize it in full.

It was the beginning of her desire to hold Hyejoo’s hand for no particular reason. Above wanting to stay by her side and heal her as she promised, to simply be physically connected to Hyejoo was becoming the one thing Chaewon desired most.

「 ⮞⮞⮞ ★ ⮜⮜⮜ 」

The creaking of a metal hinge disturbed the chilly serenity of a windy night.

Stepping out onto a rooftop terrace, Sooyoung closed the door of the stairwell behind her as a cool breeze swept her by. The area was lightly furnished with a small number of benches and tables spread around a central flower garden. Looking over towards the edge of the building, she approached a gray-haired girl who had renounced the readily available seating in lieu of sitting on the edge of the building itself.

Coming to a stop and joining her friend, fire and ice sat in harmony with a relaxed disposition despite their legs precariously dangling twelve stories above a mostly vacant street below. Their vision was peacefully upon the architectural wonder of Mobius across the river separating it from the local neighborhood. Despite the moon nestled above its looping leyline, Mobius’ refusal to sleep was exemplified by the collective illumination pouring forth from the high-rise towers of its expansive skyline.

The two sorceresses sat in unified silence for a short while. The wind’s whisper served as the only noise to be heard between them until Jungeun interjected it with a curious comment. “Thought you would’ve chewed me out by now.”

The spearwoman’s words brought forth a small smile from Sooyoung. Neither of their gazes strayed from the marvel of Mobius’ outline as their conversation continued. “Is that why you called me up here? You want me to scold you?”

“Not really. Just what was I expecting, given what I did.”

“So you admit it, then?”

“Didn’t think I had to. Figured it was obvious.”

“Yeah, I got the general idea pretty early on. Hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth is always the best confirmation you can get, though.”

Jungeun took a silent breath. She brought a single leg up to her chest, resting her chin atop her knee as she hugged it. “I was out of options. Absolution was the only choice I had left, but it didn’t go as I had hoped.”

“Still wasn’t the third stage, then? Even after all this time?”

“Of course it wasn’t. Probably would’ve been just too damn convenient, I’m sure.”

The drab mood of the conversation was lightened by a chuckle from Sooyoung. With her palms against the ground, she leaned back as her smile progressed further. “Man, of all the times...it would’ve been something else if you finally got it then and there, huh?”

“Yeah, sure would’ve,” Jungeun admitted, “but it wouldn’t have changed Hyuna’s reaction.”

“That’s right. You still would’ve triggered a second stage Absolution in combat,” Sooyoung confirmed, “meaning you broke one of Hyuna’s biggest rules. Well, not much of a rule, really. Even though she’s stern about it, I guess it was always more of a suggestion than anything else. She said it herself—she’s not our boss. Archmagus Lee didn’t seem bothered by it, so I guess I can let it slide, too. Unless there’s some other reason I shouldn’t?”

“I didn’t fight who you think I did.”

Her attention drawn to an audible descent in Jungeun’s tone, Sooyoung brought her gaze to her. Stuck on the horizon before her, Jungeun’s hues were blemished with a forlorn look. “I never fought Jisoo. Kahei and I arrived on the scene after she had already incapacitated Chaewon. The person I fought...it was Olivia. She wanted to kill Jisoo, so while Kahei administered CPR on Chaewon, I held her back.”

Sooyoung blinked. “You...you protected an enemy?”

“I protected Hyejoo.”

Jungeun’s revision was sharp and immediate, her eyes narrowing and her crimson iris practically bursting into flames as she corrected the same question for a second time that night. 

“I might’ve fought alongside Jisoo, but I was protecting Hyejoo,” she repeated herself. “Olivia was completely set on killing her, and while I understand why even more now after everything we’ve pieced together tonight, it doesn’t change the facts. She was going to use Hyejoo’s hands to end someone’s life. I won’t allow that. I can’t.”

Sooyoung’s focus remained upon Jungeun’s hardened complexion. There was a seething rage boiling within the spearwoman’s blood, and her words were heavily tempered by it. All the same, an internal conflict was easily discernible within the self-questioning she brought forward.

“After everything we told Hyejoo when we rescued her to help her start recovering from her guilt and to help her understand that she wasn’t a murderer...how else was I supposed to stop Olivia from making that reality? I had no idea when Kahei would resuscitate Chaewon or if she even could. Jisoo’s barrier runes were completely destroyed. Absolution was the only thing left I had against that monster. What the hell else was I meant to do? Was I supposed to just sit there and watch Olivia kill someone with Hyejoo’s hands against her will?”

“No, you weren’t.”

Hearing an answer she didn’t entirely expect, positions were swapped as Jungeun’s sight now fell upon Sooyoung’s equanimous gaze taking in Mobius again. 

“Hyejoo isn’t a killer. We can’t let Olivia make her one, even if she’s only acting out of an overwhelming compulsion to survive. You were right to stop her,” Sooyoung sympathized. “Where you went wrong was potentially throwing your life away to do so. Like I said when we found Hyejoo, your hair doesn’t make you some grandma on her deathbed. You can’t just talk and act as if you’re supposed to die.”

In a manner incongruous with her usual well-spoken character, Sooyoung laughed to herself in a slight bout of discomposure after a short pause. Jungeun rose a brow as she found her words again, a sudden smile on her face betraying her shifted demeanor. “At least, that’s what I was planning to say, but honestly...I’m not so sure it’s my place to judge.

“Even if you filled me in on all the details, I wasn’t there. I wasn’t in that moment, experiencing what you were experiencing. I can’t tell you if what you did was right or wrong. That’s up to you to decide, and I can’t help you with that,” Sooyoung admitted, her smile now warped with regret. “Just like it was Hyejoo’s decision to judge if she should stay in LOONA or not, this is something you’re gonna have to figure out for yourself.”

Jungeun didn’t respond.

Turning her head downward, she rested her cheek on her knee and stared at the city street well over a hundred feet below her. Sooyoung gave their chat a breather, allowing Jungeun to process her thoughts before she looked at her with a question. “You went under, then?”

“No,” Jungeun replied quietly. The image of an amber-haired sorceress assumed the forefront of her headspace, and with it, the butterflies she so despised began to torment her once more. “Kahei pulled me out at the last second. I could have sworn I was already asleep, but I guess I wasn’t. She got Chaewon up just before and then she interrupted my transference.”

The mention of Kahei brought back to Sooyoung’s mind the sight of Jungeun averting her gaze in Sunmi’s office. “Anything happen between you two by any chance?”

Jungeun winced at the question. More specifically, she winced at her butterflies within becoming more and more present in response to the question. She felt her already decaying equilibrium breaking even more as they swelled further. Enduring them to the best of her ability, Jungeun answered hesitantly. “Nothing really happened...it’s just…”

Jungeun’s trailing voice birthed curiosity and confusion alike within Sooyoung’s mind. They fused as the woman of fire ultimately shook her head with a sigh, unable to convey whatever might have been on her mind. “Forget about it. Everything’s fine.”

“Jungeun—”

“I mean it,” Jungeun lied with closed eyes, uncomfortable with the prospect of having someone peering directly into her hues while she spouted falsehoods. “Seriously, nothing happened. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Reluctant though she was to accept Jungeun’s answer, Sooyoung respected her junior’s assertion and relented. Unsure of what to say, she allowed the quietude of the wind’s caress to claim the atmosphere between them once more. After a short period, Jungeun had recollected herself and brought life back to their discussion. 

“What do you make of this supposed team YG’s throwing at us?”

Presenting an open question, she focused on the distant image of Mobius’ leyline across the sky. “Such a weirdly sudden development, don’t you think? We only just today started working as Sunmi intended and he’s already got a task force assembled to try and stop us. He’s got people hunting us while we still haven’t even seen so much as a photo of him. I have to wonder how many people he actually has working for him…”

“No clue. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out how the hell they even tracked us down at all.”

Sooyoung had brought her legs up from the rooftop’s edge. Now sitting cross-legged, she leaned forward with her chin rested atop a propped up closed fist. Lost in thought, the circuits of her mind rushed in perplexed contemplation as she considered several questions, none of which Jungeun nor herself could even properly fathom the answer to yet.

“Even if YG’s figured out cross-reality travel through coalescing isolated mana from leylines and manachasms into gateway crystals like Archmagus Lee has, that still leaves a lot unaccounted for. All of that mana comes from who knows where in the multiverse. How did he find the same pocket of source mana to create a gateway that led not only to the same exact timeline you visited, but also to your same exact location in it? And beyond that, how did he know the precise time you guys would be in there to send his team after you in the first place? The probability of that all is so ridiculously low that—”

“Probability doesn’t matter. Your own words, remember?”

Jungeun was weirdly relaxed as she broke Sooyoung’s train of thought, seemingly amused by her thorough questioning. “Even an astronomically low chance doesn’t mean it’s impossible. For now, instead of trying to figure out how he pulled this stunt, I think our energy would be better spent staying vigilant and being prepared for more encounters like that in the future. Besides, we can just get the answer straight from him when we eventually kick his .”

Admitting defeat with a slow nod, Sooyoung conceded her pursuit of truth with a dissatisfied grimace. “Yeah, fair point...still, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that of all the people he could have working for him, one of them would be someone one of us knew.”

“Yeah, that one’s especially hard to believe,” Jungeun concurred. “Chaewon was pretty disturbed by it. Jisoo’s claims were just as crazy, too. The thought of YG stopping the spread of corruption in someone’s timeline and saving it as a reward for helping him bring us down...I don’t even know where to start with that one.”

“Assuming he really can do that in the first place,” Sooyoung proposed with a skeptic tone steeped in doubt. “The purification of leylines and manapools is a huge effort involving a ton of people, and even then, it’s an incredibly slow process. The idea of one guy pulling it off on his own...I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just lying and taking advantage of people’s desperation to save their homes. If so, all the more reason to hate him.”

Jungeun’s agreement came in the form of a silent nod, and it evoked further silence as the duo once again transitioned into a tranquil calm embraced by zephyr. Time slowed to a crawl, minutes feeling like eons as they simply rummaged through their thoughts and enjoyed the peace and presence of each other’s company.

It wasn’t long until noise was reintroduced, this time in the form of a loud buzzing stemming from Sooyoung’s pocket. Jungeun watched her procure her phone, replicating the smile that was drawn onto her face as she looked upon the screen. “Hyunjin?”

“Yeah,” Sooyoung affirmed. “She just got back from the bakery with Yeojin and Yerim and she’s freaking about this new type of bread they apparently started selling today. Looks like she brought some back and she’s waiting for me in her room so I can try it.”

“Off you go, then.”

Concern took root within Sooyoung as she honed in on Jungeun’s weary hues. “Sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll be better than you’re about to be if you keep that girl waiting,” Jungeun teased. “I’ll head down in a bit myself. Just want a few more minutes up here. Nice night and all.”

“Sounds good. Rest well, Jungeun.”

Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Sooyoung rose to her feet and started to head back through the terrace towards the stairwell. She didn’t make it far, however, before stopping again. 

“Sooyoung.”

With her hands in her pockets, Sooyoung faced Jungeun as she called out to her. The woman of fire had turned her seating position halfway, leaving Sooyoung with a view of her profile which highlighted her vermilion eye. Debilitated though she was, Jungeun managed to bestow upon her senior a genuine smile. “Thanks. Can’t say I’ve really felt like I’ve had a close friend I could confide in the past few months, so...I appreciate it.”

“I’ll always listen if you want to talk about something, Jungeun. Thanks for reaching out,” Sooyoung returned, reflecting the sentiment.

“That’s the funny part. I didn’t. At least, I definitely didn’t mean to.”

Sooyoung’s eyebrow rose steadily as Jungeun brought her own phone forward. She fiddled with it in her lap, lightly smacking the top of it against her thigh as she was ridden by bemusement.

“My finger was hovering over the send button for a good two or three minutes, and I was about to just put my phone away. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk. Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m glad I did,” Jungeun positively insisted. “It’s just...it was so weird. Despite how much I didn’t want to send that message, I felt like I absolutely had to. While I was staring at the send button, it was like something came over me for a second...”

“Like something came over you?” Sooyoung repeated slowly. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t...I don’t know,” Jungeun stammered, breaking out into a weak laugh as she shook her head. “I seriously don’t know. Even though I didn’t even want to do it, I just started getting really unhappy with the thought of not sending that message. As if our conversation was meant to happen or something, like I just had to share what happened tonight with you no matter what. Honestly, it almost felt like I didn’t actually have a choice. And the weirdest part…jeez, I’m gonna sound insane, but...”

Jungeun’s eyes fell slightly. She seemed terribly unsettled by something, and the discomfiture which claimed her proved contagious as it enveloped Sooyoung as well.

“...when I hit send, I got this eerie, uncomfortable feeling that I had already done it before. As if that somehow wasn’t the first time I sent you that message, or even the second or the third...for some reason, it really felt like I had actually already sent it several times before.”

No longer serene and placid in nature like its predecessors, the silence that followed Jungeun’s bizarre confession was a painfully tense one. It attacked Sooyoung from every angle, her countenance becoming drained of outward emotion. A potent gust of wind far beyond the night’s standard gentle breeze momentarily shuffled the sorceresses’ hair and clothes alike, Sooyoung’s bright cyan iris sharpened behind her ebony locks whipping about in front of it.

“You really felt like you had no choice?” Sooyoung asked quietly. Her voice was unusually soft, as if she were exercising caution while stepping on a fragile sheet of nearly broken ice. “Like you were meant to tell me specifically…?”

Much to Sooyoung’s fear, a solemn nod from Jungeun acted as confirmation. “Yeah, basically. I mean, there’s no one else I would’ve shared this with to begin with, but...I just can’t even begin to describe how weird it all was, experiencing that sudden compulsion to make sure I told you in particular about all this and then feeling like I had already done it time and time again now.”

From seemingly out of nowhere and with terrifyingly acute haste, an encroaching dread was beginning to spread like a virus in Sooyoung’s mind. 

The swordswoman exerted a substantial amount of effort in calming herself to fully distill it before it could run rampant within her. Though Jungeun was far too enervated to notice it in any capacity, there was a sense of urgent caution that dressed Sooyoung’s tone as she spoke. “Jungeun, you—”

“I know, I know. I’m just tired.”

Sooyoung showed no signs of it, but relief of an unearthly magnitude had completely overtaken her in that moment.

“I don’t need to hear that I’ve had a long day. I’m already well aware of that, so save your breath,” Jungeun advised with a smiling sigh. “Just found the whole thing kind of crazy. I’m sure it’s nothing more than a sign that I’ve got way too damn much on my mind and that I should get to bed soon.”

Sooyoung felt all forms of danger quickly evaporate from her body. Her heart saw a gradual decline from its alerted escalation back to its normal rate as she exhaled silently through her nose with a nod. “Yeah...you should get some rest, Jungeun.”

“I will. Anyway, I think I’ve kept you long enough,” Jungeun decided. “I’d appreciate it if you could keep this between us. Can’t imagine how Haseul and Jiwoo would react to hearing it was Olivia who I actually used Absolution against, much less Hyuna. Pretty sure she’d throw me out of a window or something.”

“Something like that,” Sooyoung vaguely agreed. Jungeun’s comment failing to produce a reaction, Sooyoung’s face was still stiff as her body continued its recovery from her uncharacteristic surge of anxiety. “Secret’s safe with me.”

“Thanks, Sooyoung.”

Tossing her phone into the air, Jungeun caught it with ease and proceeded to pocket it once more before turning back to face the lights from Mobius. “See you tomorrow.”

With her back to Sooyoung, Jungeun was unaware of it—the hyper focused unflinching stare born of distress and apprehension which Sooyoung held upon her for an extended moment.

The woman of ice was completely silent as she turned around and resumed her path to the stairwell door with noticeably heavy steps. Approaching it and latching her fingers onto the cold metal of the door’s handle, she paused as she found herself suddenly bewitched by a somewhat recent memory. 

Images of a burning campfire in a forsaken world encompassed her. Puzzled remarks uttered two months prior by the selfsame sorceress across the roof replayed themselves in her mind.

Why’d I even tell you all of that…? I haven’t really told anyone any of that before…

In a chain reaction, the memory became linked with another, one markedly more fresh. The words of a woman beyond comprehension circled her headspace, and the cogs of her mind began to turn as contextual logic was established.

Such is the burden of knowledge that history has deemed necessary for you to bear.

Making connections between the two memories in relation with the underlying truth behind what Jungeun had just shared, Sooyoung quickly grew more and more unsettled as her discomfort rapidly multiplied. Amidst her misgivings and reservations, however, there was something else Sooyoung could clearly detect within herself. 

A distinct emotion, she couldn’t have possibly misinterpreted it as it stood in stark contrast to the anxieties which had been assaulting her. Her grab on the door’s handle tightening and her fingers tensing up, she recognized it properly as she stepped into the stairwell. Try as she might to calm herself and contain it, questions and implications brought forth by Sunmi’s words in correlation to Jungeun’s claims instigated its unprecedented spike.

It was exasperated irritation, driven by the mere concept of Sunmi alone and rising to uncharted heights the more Sooyoung thought about her.

Despite her best efforts to subdue it, it bled through Sooyoung, manifesting in the excessive strength she unconsciously exerted as she closed the door behind her with a slam more forceful than she intended.