The Training Partner
The Black Phoenix
*banner by xuewida
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News about a half of a small town being blown up is spreading like wildfire. Authorities, media, medics and all sort of people immediately responded to the situation. Authorities are speculating on different theories but they couldn’t give public statements yet as they weren’t sure what caused the explosion. They were still currently investigating everything as of the moment. To someone’s point of view, it could either be a gas leak or some terrorists or rebellion is going on. But to those who knew better than that, all they could do is stare at their television and watch how innocent lives are lost.
“Do you think it’s him?” Sohee asked.
“He’s the only one who got the abilities,” Seungri answered grimly, the scar on his face paling due to stress.
“But. . . I don’t. . .”
“He must’ve been provoked, Sohee.”
There was silence.
“I could only think one person who could affect him that much,” she said sadly. “My father.”
“This isn’t just about your father, Sohee,” he consoled. “Jiyong. . . defines and depicts the word shadow. He defines everything about being a shadow but he also depicts that for having the ability to love and care about the people around him. I’ve seen how he is everytime. . .” he paused and gave Sohee a measuring look. “. . . everytime Dara get hurts. But I’ve also seen the look in his face with just one smile from that girl – he looked like someone who got everything he could ever ask for. That girl. . . as much as I don’t want to accept it and say it, but Dara is Jiyong’s greatest strength and weakness.”
Sohee went silent again. “What do you think he’s feeling right now?”
“If he’s still in his dark moon phase, then he’s still mad. But if he’s back to his senses, he’ll sure be devastated as hell.”
“Should we look for him?” she asked.
Seungri gave her a measuring look again, his scar seemed to be throbbing with dull pain. “We’ll need Bom’s help if we’re going to do that.”
- - -
DARA’S POV
I can’t keep still, I just can’t keep still. I’m eating breakfast with TOP and he’s been giving me this weird looks. Gah! His eyes. . . aigoo! His eyes will be the death of me! Gah! He’s unleashing its full force on me every now and then! How am I going to concentrate if he’s doing that? Huhuhuhu, life is so unfair! How could he be so. . . . so handsome? And how dare he have the most expressive eyes there ever is? It’s unfair! UNFAIR!
“Ya!” I suddenly burst out. “Stop that!”
“Stop what?” he innocently asked.
“Stop whatever it is you’re doing with your eyes!” I said, pouting.
“Why? What am I doing?”
“Aish!” I huffed in frustration, making him laugh.
“It’s working then?” he asked. My head snapped up and I can’t help but stare at him in disbelief. He must’ve seen something funny in my face because he laughed out loud again. “Ah, you’re so cute!” he said, pinching my cheeks. “Cute, cute, cute!”
“Ya! Stop it!”
“Just admit it,” he said. “You’re too entranced with my looks.”
“Why you conceited –!” I started but got cut off with the loud ringing of my phone. I quickly snatched it and looked at the screen. It was Han Eul. I’m not really sure if I should take the call or not. I don’t want to talk about. . .
“You should take the call,” TOP said. “It might be important.”
“I’m not really sure. . .” I told him.
“I’ll be here,” he assured me.
I can’t help but smile. “I know that,” I said. And he smiled back at me. Maybe I was assured that no matter what happens, TOP will be there to comfort me, that eventhough I’m not yet ready to face whatever it is that I needed to face, he’ll stick with me no matter what and help me overcome it. “Hello?”
“Dara,” Han Eul sighed with relief. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”
I frowned. “What made you say that?”
There was silence. And then, “You need to come over. I need to talk to you.”
I hesitated. “I’ll be bringing a friend along,” I told her. “A shadow friend.”
It was her turn to hesitate. “Dara. . .”
“I trust him,” I said.
“Fine,” she then agreed but it was obvious that she’s annoyed and she doesn’t approve it.
“Okay, see you later. Bye.”
I looked up at TOP. He was looking back at me with his brows up questioningly. “Am I supposed to be the shadow friend you’re referring to?”
“Yes,” I answered. “Who else?”
“Well, you do have a lot of shadow friends,” he shrugged.
I rolled my eyes. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”
- - -
“Well, good thing you –” Han Eul greeted but stopped upon seeing me and TOP. Her eyes darted to TOP and there was something that passed her eyes that I could not comprehend. “Choi Seunghyun.”
I blinked. “You know each other?” I asked TOP, my voice tinted with accusation.
“I don’t know her,” he answered flatly.
I looked back at Han Eul and there was a gentle smile on her face when she asked us to come in. this surprised me. As far as I know, she isn’t that friendly with shadows, except probably with Sohee. We were led to a coffee table and were served tea and delicacies.
“You’ve grown up into a fine looking man,” Han Eul said. I exchanged glances with TOP and I could have laughed at the blank look on his face. Aigoo, he’s so cute looking like a lost kid!
“How did you know him?” I asked.
Han Eul took a sip from her cup. “I knew his father,” she said then smiled again as she looked at TOP. “You look exactly like him.”
“You. . . knew my father?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “He was a handsome man and he’s pretty gentle for a shadow,” she finished with a chuckle.
“Gentle?” he scoffed. “He left me in a garbage area!”
“He didn’t do that,” Han Eul said. “Your father would never do that. But he was left with no choice.”
“What-?”
“He died, Seunghyun.”
Silence.
“Don’t call me that.”
“I gave you that name,” she quietly said.
“You. . .?”
“But don’t get me wrong,” Han Eul said. “I’m not your mother. But we’ll talk about that later. I have a more pressing matter on hand and I want –”
“How did you know about –?” I started.
“Dara, later.”
“I want to know,” TOP said.
“Later, Seunghyun. I need to discuss something important and this involves Dara.”
TOP didn’t say anything then.
Han Eul turned her attention to me. “Have you seen the news?”
“No,” I answered. “I haven’t watched anything lately.”
She nodded. “Watch this,” she said and the television that I didn’t notice before. “I’ve recorded this as soon as the news broke out.”
I watched the news. It was about a half of a small town being blown up. I gasped at some parts of the videos upon seeing some dead bodies of all ages – from young to old. The odd thing about it is that, they don’t look like they’ve been burned or something. They looked like. . . “A shadow did this,” I heard myself whisper.
“Yes,” TOP agreed.
“Normal people are not aware of that,” Han Eul said. “Do you have any idea who did this, Dara?”
“I. . . I don’t know,” I answered half-truthfully. I already have an idea but I don’t want to think of it.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Han Eul said. “It’s Jiyong.”
“He. . . he wouldn’t!”
“If he’s taken over by his evil side, he would not be able to stop it.”
I didn’t say anything. I don’t want to believe Jiyong did this. He wouldn’t. . . . he just wouldn’t. “Did you ask me to come here just for this?”
Han Eul sighed. “Dara, this isn’t just about you. This involves your mother as well. Things like these make her. . .” she paused, as if not really sure if she had chosen the right words. “There might be a huge battle coming Dara. Signs of an impending doom are starting to show up – and it will happen with you and your mother in the middle of it all. They might not know yet who you are. If they realized who you are, you’ll be in danger of being under their control. And that would not be good for everyone, especially to the human beings.”
“There’s nothing to worry then,” I said. “As long as they don’t know who I am, then all will be okay.”
Han Eul shook her head then sighed. “At first, yes, it will be okay. But your mother will not. She’s bound to stop things like what happened in the news, just like what she did before, to save you.”
I really don’t like feeling guilty. And Han Eul was making one hell of a good job with it.
“And like what I’ve told you, she’s not infallible.”
“What do you want me to do then?”
“You need to start training,” she said.
I stared at her, dumbfounded. “Training?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think I get your point,” I said.
She smiled. “We’ll just enhance some of your inherited skills, although of course, you’re not a full bloom –”
“Both of you are giving me headache,” TOP suddenly said.
“You must prepare yourself as well because you will be training Dara.”
TOP’s head snapped up. “Me?”
“Well, of course,” Han Eul said. “Your father was one of the royalties before. Surely, his son would just have the same bloodline skill like he had, wouldn’t he?”
- - -
AUTHOR’S POV
“Stop,” he whispered. “Stop it!”
Amidst the dead land where the sun never rises; where all the opposite of happiness could be felt, Kwon Jiyong knelt underneath the dead tree, clawing his arms as if wanting to get his veins out and drain all of his dark blood.
He never felt this way before. His blood was boiling – literally. Thoughts of violence, lust, power and all sort of things invaded his mind. His dark blood was boiling due to excitement. He could just feel its satisfaction, his satisfaction upon wiping out almost one town.
He was losing it. He could feel it. He didn’t know how to stop it. Well, did he want to stop? The thing about letting it control him was discovering things that he thought he could never do. In a way, he actually understood why eventhough he’s been rebelling against the royalties on being a direct descendant.
The things he could do if he acknowledge his true identity – it was beyond someone could imagine, even him. So why was he trying to control himself from totally giving in to the call of his evil blood? Why was he even thinking of clawing his veins out and drain his dark blood? What was he doing in this dead land when there are too many lives to be taken, too many innocent to be corrupted? What was he doing here alone when he could have all the women at his disposal?
He wasn’t in his right side of mind anymore so he wasn’t really able to answer his questions. Why indeed, he wondered. There was no sense in staying in a waste land when there’s so many things that he can do. He then stood up, driven by the thirst to cause havoc by his boiling blood. As he stood up, what seemed to be an impenetrable wall of violet and black surrounded him, his eyes darker than usual with some tinge of violets at the edges. As he did, something sparkly on the dead ground caught his attention. He looked down and stared at thing for a long time. He then bent down to pick it up and realized it was a white crystal in the shaped of – Dara – the name suddenly popped up into his mind. A great wave of pain, longing and something else hit him. It was so unexpected that the smoke or vapor surrounding him was suddenly into nothingness, his eyes going back to normal.
His hands started trembling as he held the angel-shaped crystal necklace in his palm with such care. And before he even knew it, tears were already rolling down his cheeks, bringing him back to his knees.
Meanwhile, miles and miles away from that dead place, a girl was sleeping while tossing here and there. She had her eyes closed and pearls of sweat were forming in her forehead. In her dream, she was wearing the white dress again and she was standing in the cemetery back in the valley. She had dreamed of this before but there’s something different to it that’s scaring her. Jiyong was standing at the far end opposite from her. He was not holding any bow or arrow this time. It was just him and her.
“Jiyong. . .” she mumbled. He smirked and there was something sinister to it that gave her goosebumps. She looked into his eyes and saw why she felt something weird. There was no recognition there, no signs of him being the Jiyong that she loved. He then started laughing as a mixture of black and violet smoke or vapor enveloped him, his eyes turning darker than before. To her surprise, after turning blacker than black, his eyes had a shade of violet now which made him looked scarier. She took a step back as Jiyong started taking steps forward. He then launched himself into the air and turned into a huge crow – a giant crow.
“Dara!” TOP’s familiar voice entered my ears. She looked around and saw him with an arrow and a bow in his hand. He looked determined but sad at the same time. It was as if he’s crying. Then, he let go of the arrow and it went straight through to her heart. She gasped and her eyes widened as she felt the pain. She started falling to her knees, feeling like her life is being drained out of her. Her eyes were closing and she could feel death and darkness enveloping her.
And then, something happened – a spark. A spark in her heart started until it grew and grew and resulted to fire. It was spreading through her system. She felt hot. She felt alive. Something was changing, something was burning.
When she opened her eyes, she could feel something immensely powerful. She then realized that she was looking through a different set of eyes. She was about to push herself up when she realized she doesn’t have any hands anymore. Wings, she has wings. Something sharp then hit her and she felt the presence of her archenemy. She spread her wings and went high up in the sky, leveling herself with the giant crow which was watching her a few miles away from her.
With a screech from the crow and with a singing sound from her, they flew towards each other – beaks and claws at ready, powers in their disposal and ready to use.
And then, she woke up.
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aigoo, MIAN! The teaser I've posted in twitter for TBP is for a different chappie! Hahaha.. Mian!
Oh guys, can you share some chibi links of either 2ne1, BB or Daragon? Kamsa!
And oh, anyone here who has the complete list/playlist for all of DARAGON's Hello perf? Me wants to reminisce.. LOL
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