3/31/12

Gahhh, almost there!! lol, my fingers are getting tired.

Also, I know that the bad guy (I mean girl) for this story is a bit stupid, but well, let's just say she's been born with a lot of power and no challengers. She has never needed to utilize her intelligence :P

Also, I didn't proofread this, so please let me know if there are any errors!

            Unfortunately, Bom did not have the opportunity to see Youngbae’s sculptures, because right before Seungri and Bom reached a jewelry store, they were knocked unconscious and scooped up by a dragon.

                                                                                                :::::

            Chaerin and Jiyong went back to the inn after watching a movie. Nothing much happened, and both were too occupied with their thoughts to watch the movie attentively.

            Finally, when they arrived at the inn, Youngbae told Chaerin, “I hope everything goes well with you and Seungri. Remember that Seungri also has feelings as well, and you should take his feelings into consideration before deciding anything on your own.”

            Chaerin nodded, not able to say anything. She had forgotten to take Seungri’s feelings into consideration. It had been all about her, hadn’t it? Gosh, I can’t believe I’m so selfish.

            “Thanks for reminding me,” Chaerin muttered. But there was no response. She looked up and saw Youngbae staring at the black feather on the coffee table in the lobby.

            There was silence. Neither of them knew what to do, but it was sure that something bad had happened.

            “Tell Dara and Jiyong to come out,” Youngbae said quietly, as if he was going to disturb the feather. “And try and find Seungri and Bom.”

            Chaerin nodded and quickly went to knock on their respective rooms. Seungri and Bom were not there. After the four friends were gathered together around the coffee table, Youngbae picked up the black feather.

            Suddenly, a female voice cackled, her laughter echoing around the room. Then, it said, in its surprisingly smooth voice:

                        Pain you shall feel, as you struggle in vain

                        Your beloved Breath will constrict in strain

                        All of your Ashes you are to find

                        When you come here and fight for your kind

            “What was that?” Chaerin asked. “What did it mean?”

            “I’m guessing it has something to do with Bom and Seungri,” Youngbae said solemnly.

            “What?! Why do you think that?” Chaerin was shocked.

            “It was the voice of the Vidle,” Youngbae began. “I remember it well because it was the same voice that recited the curse when I opened the box that transported me to Terra.

            “She emphasized two words that didn’t need to be emphasized: Breath and Ash. These two words also do not make sense in its context. My beloved ‘breath’? I will find my ‘ashes’ even though I’m still alive? But if you take the first letters of each word…”

            “It’s ‘B’ and ‘A’,” Dara said in wonder.

            Chaerin still did not get it. “So? The first two letters of the alphabet. Now what?”

            “They’re not only the first two letters of the alphabet,” Dara chided. “They’re the letters that Seungri and Bom have on their pendants! Bom has a ‘B’, and Seungri has an ‘A’!”

            Chaerin’s jaw dropped. Best Friends Forever And Ever.

            Who knew their childish phrase would hold such importance. Chaerin reached up and held her own necklace. “Wow. But what about Bom and Seungri?”

            “They must be captured,” Dara said, worried. “The riddle hints that Bom is suffering: Your beloved Breath will constrict in strain, and Seungri is being held captive: All of your Ashes you are to find—“

            “When you come here and fight for your kind,” Youngbae finished. He had a determined look on his face. “She’s telling me to go and save them.”

            “Wait!” Chaerin shouted before Youngbae did anything stupid. “If that’s the case, she obviously wants you and only you.”

            “Chaerin’s right,” Dara agreed. “It’s dangerous for you to go. It’s better to let us save them.”

            “Yeah,” Jiyong chimed in. “Who knows what will happen when the Vidle gets her hands on you. All of the things we worked for will be lost.”

            Youngbae was about to object when he realized that they were right. This is a lure for me to surrender to her. She wants me to tell her where the Yul clan is.

            “Then what should I do” Youngbae asked, helplessly. “I won’t be sitting here, waiting for you guys to save them.”

            Dara looked out the window. “There are only normal clouds in the sky right now. The Vidle is probably too ecstatic about her plan to put on defenses anyway.”

            Turning back, she said to Youngbae, “Go to Lake Copenhagen and use your fire skills to evaporate as much water as possible. We need to speed up the cycle and make it rain. If you make it rain, the Vidle’s curse will be dispelled, and we’ll all transport back to Earth. Even Bom and Seungri will transport back, even though they are held captive.”

            “But aren’t they most likely underground?” Jiyong asked. “Wasn’t the Vidle implying that they were under water?”

            Dara looked at Jiyong, surprised. To everyone’s surprise, she pulled him into a quick kiss. “Yes! That’s right! I know exactly where to find them now! Jiyong, you’re the best!”

            Trying to hide his smile, Jiyong said nonchalantly, “Well, of course.”

            Dara slapped him lightly on the arm. And she turned to Youngbae and Chaerin, who quickly closed their mouths. “Never mind. We have to rescue them before the rain comes, since they are underground. Alright. Youngbae, can you give me a map?”

                                                                        ::::

            Seungri was tied up to a prodigious stone column next to Bom. She and Seungri had been kidnapped on their way to the jewelry store. It was too bad because he really wanted to show Bom Youngbae’s sculptures of her. It would probably make her less confused.

            But why were they kidnapped? He was about to find out. A woman stepped into the icy room that the two friends were tied in. Her heels click-clacked with every step she took on the dark marble floor.

            Instead of going to them, she slowly walked to the seat in the middle of the room. Carefully sitting down on her throne, she flashed her cat-like eyes toward Seungri and Bom. An evil smile slowly began to creep onto her face. “Welcome to the Ryerauve, my darlings.”

            Seungri shuddered at her surprisingly smooth yet creepy voice. “Are you the Vidle?”

            “Pleased to meet you,” she smiled coldly. As she put her elbow onto the arm of the throne, she said, “Would you like me to tell you why you two are here?”

            She didn’t wait for an answer. “As both of you know, I have been trying to get your friend, Youngbae, to escape from the protection of his adoptive parents so that I can force him to tell me the whereabouts of the all-powerful Yul clan.

            “But you had to come along,” she growled at Bom as her eyes flashed in Bom’s direction. Then her eyes softened again, and she started to examine her nails. “Not soon after you came, Bom, the other brats came along, too. I was furious, but I knew that you were all going to try to go home, so I prevented the only thing that allowed you to go home. I created a barrier to keep the sun from evaporating the water from the rivers and lakes all over this world.

            “But that didn’t stop you twerps from trying to break my spells,” she sighed. “That blasted girl with her healing powers. What I would give to get a hold of her. But she is always protected by that lightning boy of hers. I had foreseen the problems that would arise with that boy, so I tried to assassinate him. But then you had to interfere, Seungri.”

            “Those two also had some godly connection to each other that protected them from all of my advances, so I decided to try something else,” she smiled sinisterly at them. “I decided to capture you two, my loves. I decided to capture the two most precious things that Youngbae had and lure him into this trap. Bom, my dear, dear, Bom. Even though I only managed to grab your foot during the time when you were right above my castle, I have finally caught you and Seungri! Who knew such a turn of events would cause you and Seungri to walk out into the public, together! And I didn’t even have to do a thing!”

            The Vidle threw her head back and cackled. Seungri felt unending hatred towards her. He wanted to break free of the ropes that tied him down and rush up to punch her unhealthily pointed teeth out. When the Vidle finally stopped laughing, she continued her rant. “I had actually snuck my plan into the riddle that I left for them, but I doubt they will connect two and two together. There will be too overwhelmed by the less obvious hints. But I guess I can tell you two my plan, since telling you will cause no harm for me. After a day or two, Youngbae will come to my domain and try to get you two out. Of course, he would use your ice powers combined with his fire powers to break the seal of the Undead River in order to get you two out.

            “Instead, I shall cast a spell on the river so that any fire that touches the Undead River will be bounced back on the caster and burn him to almost to his death! But before I finish him off, I will force out the information that he knows about the Yul clan,” she smiled, eyes narrowed. “To tell you the truth, I cannot wait.”

            Seungri breathed heavily from the anger building up inside of him. If only there was something he could do, but the only thing he could do was go into the room that the Vidle sent them into and try to escape. He doubted there were any ways to escape, though. They were in a stone room, with glass acting as the ceiling that protected from the water up above.

            When Seungri and Bom were both inside the room, the Vidle snapped her fingers, and the door that they entered through became solid, and no matter how hard Seungri tried, he could not get the door to open.

            The both of them did not dare to talk to each other, in fear that the Vidle was eavesdropping.

                                                                        ::::::

            “We’re almost there,” Dara managed to get out. She was breathing heavily from all the flying she had done for the past two days, and she could barely get any air at all from the high altitude. She and Chaerin realized that their own pendants had the power to give them wings as well. All they needed to do was to wish that they could fly. Wasn’t hard at all.

            She looked at Chaerin and Jiyong to see if they were okay. Chaerin was wheezing really hard, but she never agreed to any pit stops. Jiyong seemed to have a determined look on his face, and he was flying a little ahead of the two girls.

            As Dara looked ahead, she could barely make out the River of the Undead with her night vision. They planned to reach the River of the Undead in the middle of the night to avoid the sun. When Dara came close enough to see the river clearly, she saw that a portion of it was emitting a strange florescent glow. She then became excited as they reached closer to the river. Finally, they were able to land.

                                                                        ::::::

            Bom was sitting on the floor, thinking. That was the only thing she could do, after all.

            The Vidle is sort of stupid, Bom thought as she placed with her shoelaces. Her shoes, which she has worn ever since she first arrived to Terra, are starting to have holes in them. The thought that we, as the friends of Youngbae, might also know the whereabouts of the Yul clan never occurred to her. If the Vidle had realized this, it would have saved her a lot of time waiting.

            But that wouldn’t change anything now. Either way, Youngbae would be killed. Heck, they’ll all be killed sooner or later. Any minute now, Youngbae would come to rescue them, and he would be reduced to ashes. If only there was a way to help him. If she won’t freeze the river, maybe he would notice that there was something wrong and find another way to come in. Hopefully, it won’t be evaporating the river.

            Suddenly, she heard a noise that came from above. To her surprise, Bom saw that the water had been moved out of the way, and a blue light had broken into the glass. Seungri came over to her side and looked up with her. A head appeared from the other side of the opening, and Bom realized it was Dara.

            “Bom! Seungri!” Dara shouted at them. “Quickly! Come up before the Vidle finds out!”

            “How?” Bom shouted back.

“With wings,” Dara explained.

            Jiyong’s and Chaerin’s heads appeared also, and Bom realized that they all had wings, too. Jiyong’s wings were lightning yellow, Chaerin’s were aqua, and Dara’s were baby blue. If they can grow wings, then I can too Bom thought to herself. She closed her eyes and focused all her energy. A sharp pain grew in her scapulas, her wings emerged out.

            “They’re white!” Chaerin smiled. “And so beautiful!”

            Bom returned Chaerin’s smile and looked at Seungri. He had his wings already, too. His wings were a mix between tan and orange. It was the color of the wind. Bom decided to try out her wings first. She flapped her wings and flew herself up the opening that Dara made. As she landed on the ground, Chaerin hugged her. She hugged her back.

            “Gosh, I’m so glad that you’re okay,” Chaerin said in between her wheezing.

            “Chaerin! Don’t tell me you’re having an asthma attack?!” Bom shouted in surprise. She turned to Seungri, who just came out of the opening. “Seungri, give some oxygen to Chaerin!”

            Seungri nodded in acknowledgement and cupped his hand over Chaerin’s mouth. Chaerin took the oxygen that Seungri gave her, but she avoided his eyes. So much for being independent.

            Making sure that Chaerin was okay, Bom looked around and saw that Youngbae was not there. “Where is Youngbae?”

            “Down at Lake Copenhagen,” Dara answered. “We decided that it wasn’t safe for him to come, so he’s there evaporating the water from the lake.”

            “Since there weren’t any cloud barriers, we’re taking advantage of it,” Jiyong finished.

            “It’s a good thing that Youngbae didn’t come,” Bom told the three rescuers. “If he had come and tried to use his fire magic on the water, he would have been burned to ashes.”

            “Ohh,” Dara said. “So I guess the ‘ashes’ part of the riddle was not completely out of context after all. Oh well, it doesn’t matter now.”

            Thank goodness he was safe.Bom made a decision and told the others. “I’ll go on ahead and make sure he’s okay.”

            After that, she took off and headed toward the lake.