CHEN

I didn’t have any idea what happened right after I slit my hand for the blood offering, but it was as if Tao stopped time and everything was suddenly chaotic when it finally continued to tick. I remembered seeing a bright, red light, feeling weak all of a sudden as if my life force was being leeched out of me. The moment I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Jinhae. She was still in the middle of the sacred circle, but different from what I’ve seen earlier, she was now suspended in midair, her robes and her hair were spread, fluttering in the wind. She was unconscious and limp, but her arms hung up in front of her while her head was thrown back. Blood from the cut on her hand still dripped, staining her rose-colored robes.

I tried to step away from my spot to see what was happening to her, but I couldn’t lift my foot. I was trapped there. I glanced around me and saw the same frantic expressions on the faces of the others. Only the minister looked calm as he watched her. I knew this was going to happen, but I didn’t expect it to be that disquieting. I felt the hollowness in the pits of my stomach when I realized that none of us could move or soothe her from what she was going through. She looked pained.

How long was it going to last? I flashed Lu Han a sharp look. He was the only one who could move things from where he was, but he, too, was too horror-stricken to move. It’s as if he was in a trance. I shifted my gaze to the Oracle Minister. He seemed unmoved by the sight in front of him. Jinhae…her blood. It was too much. Had I known it would turn out like this, I would have been the first one to contradict her even if it was my duty to Elyxo to unite the two lands.

Before I could voice out my thoughts, the light that surrounded us disappeared and she slowly landed on the ground in a heap of silk and sashes. It was over. We can move again, but I remained stunned on my spot, watching as Lu Han hurriedly bent down and lifted her head in his arms. Lay immediately took hold of her bleeding hand and healed it. Like everyone else, I couldn’t bear to see her hurt in any manner. Yi Fan hovered over them while Xiu Min and Tao watched from the sidelines with agitated looks on their faces.

“She’s going to be alright. She’s just out cold for now. She’s tired,” the minister informed us.

I rolled my eyes, finally finding it in me to loosen up. I walked towards the middle where they were all gathered, a sigh of relief escaping my mouth. Couldn’t he have said it earlier? He made us all worry as if we were witnessing death and he chose to speak right after. He was really an odd sort. Thank goodness that Jinhae wasn’t like him at all in spite of the fact that they were of the same kind.

“It’s over,” Lu Han whispered and looked up at the minister. “We’re taking her home.”

The minister stared blankly at Jinhae’s motionless body. “Not quite yet.”

“What?” Yi Fan demanded, his facial expressions contorting into that of protest.

“Look,” the minister said and pointed at her. At that very instant, one of the legendary cuffs and rings of the gods appeared on her left wrist and middle finger. The image of a Maru’s serpent emerged from it, crawling up the length of her arm then disappeared.

“Is that –” Xiu Min was about to say more, but the minister nodded.

“It is the weapon. Use it wisely and no matter what happens, she mustn’t take it off. She’s protected as long as she has it.”

Silence.

The temple was suddenly filled with the echoing sound of a deep gasp. It was Jinhae. Her eyes were wide open and she was breathing laboriously as she sat up too quickly, looking around her. “What in damnation was crawling up my arm?!” she demanded, looking disoriented as she clutched her forehead. “Dang it, I have migraine!” she whined. “What happened to me?”

Lu Han gently patted her back. “It’s over, Jinhae. You’re going to be fine.”

She snuggled close to him, pouting like a child who had just been scolded. I had to fight laughter at her inanity. Sometimes, she could be really childish. “Hannie, I want to go home,” she sulked.

“H-hannie?” Tao said in a breathless whisper while Xiu Min sniggered quietly. Lay looked indifferent, looking away from Lu Han and Jinhae. Everyone knows that he’s boiling out of jealousy.

Lu Han didn’t seem to notice anything odd about the atmosphere as he looked at the minister who was evidently watching them in wonder as well. “Can we take her home now?”

The minister smile and nodded. “You can take her home now. She’s spent.”

No one failed to notice his emphasis on Lu Han, but the latter just stared at him with a clueless expression – typical of Lu Han. Without further ado, he scooped her off the ground and we all headed out.

Yi Fan approached Lu Han. “I’ll fly her home,” he offered.

Lu Han paused and nodded, handing Jinhae to Yi Fan a bit too reluctantly, I was afraid. Before long, Yi Fan soared high in the sky with Jinhae in his arms. We all continued to walk down the hill where the carriages were. Lay was walking ahead of everyone without even looking back. I sighed. Someone’s jealous, but I couldn’t think of that at the moment. I was just glad the rites were over.

JINHAE

Red light blinded me and suddenly, I was staring at the ceiling of my bedroom. I blinked twice. The deafening silence filled my ears. I slowly turned my head to the side and caught sight of the moon from the window. It was night time again and I had the strangest dream I’ve had in my life. I dreamt of a vast fortress that was surrounded with crystals and I was there with the nobles, the minister and some people I didn’t recognize. The odd thing about it was that I took out a dagger and slit my open palm with it. I chuckled to myself, shaking my head. It was just a dream…or wasn’t it?

I raised my left hand and stared at it closely. There on my palm was a healing gash, extending diagonally near my index finger all the way to my wrist. The barely visible pink scar could only mean that Lay had healed my hand himself. Besides that, I was wearing a cuff bracelet and a ring I’ve never seen before in my life, much less owned. The cuff was made of gold emblazoned with six stones, each bearing a sign of a noble at a closer look while the ring had intricate patterns on it with a red stone. I removed the bracelet and was shocked to my core when I saw a silver serpent creep down my arm into the bracelet, disappearing before I knew it. My eyes widened when I realized what happened – the rite was over.

I scrambled out of bed in such a hurry that I didn’t notice that I was still wearing the layered robes. I tripped on the floor and I fell face-down on the floor with a heavy thud. I groaned in pain, cursing the laces and sashes. It was a good thing that they’ve removed the headdress or I’ll get a sore scalp. My head was already hurting and I couldn’t remember what happened right after I saw that flash of red light. I remembered the ceremony and I realized that I really wounded myself for the blood offering. The ring and the cuff should be the gifts from Maru and I shouldn’t take them off at all costs.

I sighed, remembering the time when we got evicted from out apartment. That annoying hag took Shinhye’s necklace off of her and we ended up in Elyxo. I wonder how things would have turned out if that wasn’t the case. Maybe we’d still be in the human world and we wouldn’t be apart. The saddening thought tore at me and I realized just how much I longed for her company. I didn’t know if she was doing well at all. I just hoped she did fair as good as I did.

I wore the bracelet again and saw the same silver serpent crawl up my arm and disappear as if it was never there. I had to get used to that. Snakes freak me out and now, I had to see one crawling up and down my arm every single day. I suddenly felt tired. What now? I’m officially a servant of Meropia, no longer a human, and enemy of the Guardians and half of Meropia which also means I’m dead meat if I do anything stupid. I need to grow up mentally and emotionally like really fast. It’s such a cumbersome responsibility.

Shinhye?

I sighed. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and make her hug me like she always does. I couldn’t hear her thoughts despite of my pleading. I needed her so bad I wanted to pull my hair out. Just then, I heard my stomach growling. Ugh! I’m hungry! The last time I’ve eaten was the previous night. I couldn’t even shove the food in my throat if I wanted to since I was too jumpy and jittery. I decided to go out and eat. I didn’t care fixing my hair nor did I change out of the annoying robes. I trudged out into the hallway and went downstairs, passing by the pantry. I saw Poh ladling some soup from the huge pot by the fireplace.

“Hi!” I greeted her.

She set down the bowl and turned to face me. The smile she was planning turned into a shocked look. “What in damnation happened to you?” she demanded as she walked towards me. “You look deathly pale.”

I chuckled, waving her aside. “You would if you had to cut your own hand with a knife. I guess I’m scared of blood.”

She flashed me a look of pity and sighed. “Go on to the banquet hall now. You need to eat.”

I smiled weakly at her. “Thanks, Poh.”

I walked into the hall then and was met by six pairs of eyes. I waved briefly. “Hello.” Tao stood up from his seat and looked at me. His eyes then strayed to the sleeves of my robe. I followed his gaze and saw dried blood all over it. “Oops. I didn’t notice that.” I in air through my clenched teeth as I fought the nausea that surged in almost instantaneously. I walked over to the table, trying to keep a straight path towards the first chair I saw. No one spoke even as I sat down and leaned my head on my palms. “I’m starving.”

Someone rang for the bell when I said that. When I looked up, Chen was holding the rope by the table. “Are you well?” he asked me and I simply nodded.

“You don’t look fine,” Lay commented.

I slowly raised my head, drowsily looking at him. “Well, my head hurts like it’s going to fall off anytime and I feel like I’ve just ran a mile while carrying a boulder on my back.” Just telling him that took a lot of effort.

“That’s natural, I guess,” Yi Fan said.

I just waved my hand at him.

“Maybe we should call in the priestess,” I heard Tao say.

I shot up on my seat. “No.”

They all exchange