LUNA TENEBRAE- THE FIFTH NOTE...WHO AM I?
MAGES AND MUSES
LUNA TENEBRAE- THE FIFTH NOTE…WHO AM I?-6
So dark.
I can’t smell anything, can’t see, can’t hear…is this the afterlife?
No.
Darkness all around. A lone soul stood in limbo. Nor man nor woman. This soul no longer possessed knowledge of its past.
Who am I?
What does my face look like?
I have long forgotten.
The single blue aura took the form of man as it hovered in its surrounding darkness. The only source of its light came emitting from its own body, until of course a small flicker appeared above its head.
Oh…a light…it’s small, but I see it…I see something…finally…
The lone soul looked forth disbelieving.
I have forgotten what “seeing” is.
Should I reach forward? It questioned.
What are these? Ah…fingers…I used to call them fingers…
I hear something-
Laughter of a child. Child. What are those again?
Small things…
I was once one of those small things.
I hear more of this laughter. Many children. There are many of them. Gathered in one place.
I want to see them.
Another voice spoke, its source unknown-
Are you ready to be reborn?
Yes, of course I am.
Will you fulfill your duty as a guardian?
Yes, I promise to do so.
What will you give me in return?
My last breath...
Then I will give you your name.
Choikang Changmin.
The wheels on the yellow bucket echoed throughout the empty chambers of the museum. The place seemed to be quite old. The elderly janitor smiled as he observed his surroundings. He worked in this beautiful museum for four decades. He didn’t regret staying at all. Even when his cheating wife left him, this was the one place that offered him comfort.
Yes, these ancient walls are like calming pillars to his stressful life. This museum used to be indeed a Palace, one of the original landmarks of an ancient time in South Korea- back when it used to be called Goryeo. Throughout history, many different countries wanted to conquer and destroy the basic roots of their land, but thankfully little remnants of their ancient past remained intact. This particular Palace was barely in shambles. Some say it may have been haunted by an ancient spirit that prevented the Palace from decomposing. The ancient architecture retained its basic foundations even through the toughest weather conditions and seasonal hurricanes.
An odd commodity occurred in the seventeen-hundreds. When foreigners invaded their lands and sought to pillage the treasures of the Palace, it suddenly grew a ring of blue roses with thorns. Anyone who dared touch them and breathed in their sweet aroma, instantly died of a disease. Ever since then, no one has gone near the ancient ruins- until of course 1899. A young man named, Kim Yang Suk decided to resurrect it to its former glory for the pride of their country. Within that time the haunted Palace soon became known as a beautiful Museum and all of its ancient treasures became put on display for all the country to know of its splendor and beauty.
The janitor smiled and became all giddy as he observed his surroundings. The artifacts were like his family.
The janitor paused for a moment to glance at his favorite relic. There was one portrait of an ancient royal family, presumably the original owners of the Palace. The painting was very large and completely encased in protective glass. It showed a young man standing beside his father and mother. Their style of clothing was reminiscent to that of ancient Chinese tradition clothing. The janitor shrugged his shoulders and squinted further analyzing the brush . He noticed some hairs stuck to the painting, perhaps from a cheap brush used from old fox hairs. The janitor smiled. Then his old eyes glanced towards a gap in the portrait. The young man appeared to be standing in front of someone else. But that person isn’t visible. At first it wasn’t noticeable from a distance, but from up close it appeared as if that space was supposed to be occupied by someone. Perhaps the artist was ordered to leave that person out. A common act done when a family member is a traitor or does something terrible. The janitor huffed, if only his ex-wife could be wiped away so easily from memory.
The janitor moved on further and glanced towards a tea set with a chipped teapot and some ancient silver spoons. Moving down to the next hall, he entered an isolated room. The lights were dimmed and it was completely dark. In here, was supposed to be a special exhibit, something new. The young manager warned him to be careful. There were trigger alarms all around the items. If someone were to steal them they would end up in deep trouble with the authorities. But, of course the janitor could not resist the opportunity to look at something forbidden-human curiosity at its finest.
Slowly tip-toeing into the room, the janitor strained his eyes to take a quick peek at the object. The walls of the room were lined with red velvet. There was a single fluorescent light shining down from the center of the ceiling. Like a halo it glowed over an encased relic. Its importance was quite obvious. The janitor approached the object with a greedy lust in his eyes. As the relic entered his main line of vision, he felt a sudden flood of sadness enter his chest. The relic was a beautiful silver necklace, with a bright blue stone encrusted deep within. It beautifully absorbed the light and reflected it back into the observer’s face.
The janitor’s eyes glistened. He didn’t know what this sudden atmosphere was. He just felt very uncomfortable in the presence of this relic. Despite its static position, it gave off a wave of a strange aura that pushed away the admirer. The janitor continued to stare until he heard his manager’s condescending voice. He rolled his eyes in exasperation, gathered his wits and nervously ran towards his post.
The cold and dry weather of the winter season began to show itself relentlessly. The leaves turned a bright orange and red, falling onto the ground, covering the roads for miles. The gray clouds began to roll in, threatening to cover the city in white any day now.
Three black vans with government license plates entered the city finally reaching their destination from Gwangju within three hours. Parking two blocks away from the museum, arousing some mild suspicion from bystanders, were actually the main officers of Seoul’s national police brigade.
Unit leader Yunho led a small squadron of six men towards the back entrance of the museum. All of them came armed with M4A1 weaponry and clad in all black heavy duty uniforms with bullet-proof vests. Changmin suddenly felt like a small atom in a vast ocean. Jaejoong gave him a reassuring smile,“Changmin-ah, don’t worry, just watch and learn. I promise I won’t put you out into the field just yet.”
The younger man sighed deeply, feeling slightly useless he decided to gather all the scattered documents on the floor of the van and bring some order to this chaotic day.
A knock came from outside their door. Yunho walked in with a grim expression on his face. He scanned the interior with his eyes, nodding towards the computer software. He walked towards the portable communications satellite and set his backpack next to it. Jaejoong observed as Yunho took out a small surveillance set and plugged it into the satellite. Within five minutes they had a direct feed towards the entire Museum.
“We have twenty inside, undercover. Three in the back, two up front, and the rest of them are at point locations within a twenty mile radius, at each exit, including the highway. I’d like to see these thugs try to get past my barriers.” Yunho gave a deep grunt and began to load his rifle with bullets.
Jaejoong clicked his tongue, “Will you let Changmin watch?”
Yunho flared his nostrils and gave his companion a deadpan stare, “Let’s not have a repeat of last time. Keep your nose out of my affairs.”
“Your affairs? I brought you into this-Yunho…I wasn’t trying-”
“Jaejoong-ssi, you can’t lead. I don’t want to hear any words come out of your mouth telling me what I should be doing throughout this operation. I am a better leader than you are. Always have been, always will be. Our team once broke apart because of you. Live with that for the rest of your demeaning life. And as for you,” Yunho turned towards Changmin, “stay inside the van. If I hear that you are anywhere near the museum I will put a bullet in your head, personally.”
Yunho tightened his vest and headed out of the van.
Meanwhile, Changmin was staring at Jaejoong, who remained quiet and expressionless.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. He says he doesn’t mean all the time.” The eldest smiled, melancholy still set in his eyes. “Changmin, come. I’ll set you up with some equipment that you can manage.”
Changmin bit his lower lip and relaxed his grip on the documents that he was crinkling without realizing. He felt anxiety from the atmosphere. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to study the documents again.
“Changmin-ah, what are doing?” Jaejoong turned towards his dongsaeng.
“Hyung…” Changmin was staring at a particular profile.
“What is it dear?” Jaejoong questioned.
“This victim…” The younger man’s eyes were set deep in concentration.
“Uhh, the white haired boy in the photos. He doesn’t have the same markings as the other victims. I noticed it just now. And, his body isn’t as mangled. It looks like they were trying to use him in some sort of primitive experiment or ritual. The markings were set in his body with utmost care.”
“So? It’s still a homicide. We can’t treat it any differently.”
“Well, they might have a meaning. Maybe this group of thugs is looking for someone specific? I mean before they went through a list of a variety of people, of different nationalities. Then they decided to start killing girls. Look at file 56-B and compare it to the one on the white-haired boy- both murders occurred in two different places, but at the exact same day and time. Maybe their M.O is just a front, maybe they were pretending to leave us false clues so we stay away from their main agenda.”
“You think so?” Jaejoong looked at Changmin with intrigue. “Well, they are common criminals. There are many of them. They would obviously try to keep the dogs of the government away from their own tails. But, if they are looking for someone specific, we need to figure out who, immediately. I have no doubt in my mind that they have killed a lot more before these incidents. Quite scary if you think about it, but these kinds of things happen all the time,” Jaejoong shrugged and turned towards the computer monitors. “We might be here a while, hand me that suitcase over there.” He gestured towards the younger man to bring him the black suitcase embedded with three combination locks, covered beneath a red velvet blanket.
“What is this hyung?”
Changmin lugged the heavy thing beside Jaejoong, who quickly took out a piece of paper from his chest pocket and inputted the pins. Inside a beautiful silver necklace was revealed to their eyes. It glowed a beautiful color that overtook the entire interior of the van. Both of the men’s eyes sparkled from the reflection of the ancient relic.
“Hyung…this is the Mage’s Tears…” Changmin was awestruck. The item looked even more enchanting in person.
Jaejoong smiled. “Actually this is a fake. The one on the inside is a fake too. Made two copies just incase.”
“So, where is the real one?”
“It is on the Eastern wing of the museum. We put it in public display temporarily and put a fake description underneath it. That way the guests will still be able to catch its beauty and the thugs won’t be suspicious that the exhibit has been cancelled. This is why we’re parked here, to keep a closer eye on it. The rest of the SWAT team is on the other corners. They will probably do the real fighting. We’re just babysitting.”
Changmin raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I hope nothing like that happens, hyung. I hope no one gets hurt tonight.” Especially Yunho.
“Well, originally we wanted to take the real one out of the city, but the curator almost had a fit. So, this was the best compromise.”
“I suppose…”
Jaejoong looked over Changmin’s facial features. The youngest had a slight hint of distress.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just…something feels off about today. I just don’t feel so well. It’s nothing. Maybe I just need some water.” Changmin shrugged his shoulders and let his eyes wander.
“Maybe you need to lie down? Did you eat the lunch pack I brought? I made an extra one…well I was going to give it to Yunho, but then that- Changmin? Changmin-ah?”
The younger companion appeared to have left from the van. Jaejoong brought himself to his feet and burst through the door of the van. Changmin was leaning against a brick wall, his face was pale, and the dark circles around his eyes became apparent. He wrapped his long arms around his own torso, trying to suppress some kind of an internal pain. Like a praying mantis he stood in the shadows of the brick wall with his forehead beading with sweat.
“Changmin? Are you ok?” Jaejoong walked promptly to his side, worried that the youngest may faint. He pressed the palm of his hand onto Changmin’s cheek. “You are as cold as a pickle.” Jaejoong grimaced at Changmin’s weakened state. “Perhaps the long trip affected you this way. Do you by any chance get carsick?”
Changmin let out a chuckle, “Maybe.” They stood outside for a few minutes and went back inside after some fresh air.
Jaejoong set Changmin on the floor of the van, putting a makeshift pillow out of his jacket beneath Changmin’s neck. “All you need is a nice nap to get your head straight. I will stand watch over the camera feeds. I will tell you if anything happens. Alright?” Changmin sighed in relief and with apologetic eyes he his side and decided to close himself off to the world. But of course that did not work. He was having another flood of visions invading his brain. They were becoming more and more vivid with each passing second as the hours went by. Soon the sun began to set. The red-orange glow of the horizon covered the city like a blanket. Darkness will fall upon this city and the threat will rise.
Jaejoong kept himself busy, watching the feed of the guests that entered upon the guest hall. Each of them appeared to be the usual rich business men with their trophy wives. Something you would see out of a TV drama. One gangnam noona looked like quite the plastic surgery horror show. The amount of makeup caked on her face…well…made her look like a rainbow cake. Jaejoong chuckled and rolled his eyes, thankful his sisters grew up with some humility and taught him the same. Appearances shouldn’t be everything. He reverted the footage back to the inside of the main hall where the fake jewel was hidden. So far, no one has shown any profound interest in attempting to steal it. Why would some petty murderers even want with a jewel like this? They can rob a bank easily, with a snap of their finger. Instead they decided to steal an old relic.
The wind outside began to whistle violently. Changmin cringed backwards, hearing a voice in his head. It was just a low tone, like a song, barely audible.
The eldest took a glance outside the windows, “I think the wind is picking up. Look at those storm clouds. Night is almost upon us.” Jaejoong looked through the files again, scouring the evidence for more clues. He skimmed over the suspects. Each ominous face, branded like a cow with a symbol.
Without a warning Jaejoong’s walkie-talkie suddenly began to give off a high pitch and a voice was heard on the other line-
-This is Unit 3, do you copy? Over.
Jaejoong quickly set down all the paperwork. Changmin cocked an eyebrow in this direction.
Yes, this is central control, Unit 1, Main officer Kim Jaejoong speaking. What is your status? Over.
The voice on the other side was out of breath and gunshots were heard not too far away.
-Code 10-00, requesting back-up immediately! Officer Han is 10-45D, requesting back up immediately. Over.
Jaejoong felt uneasy. Quickly, he ran to the surveillance, but soon became frustrated at the lack of information it provided him.
Officer, I need you to stay calm. What is your location? Over.
The out of breathe cadet was trying to control his voice.
-We are in the basement, the perpetrators have entered underneath. We have three officers down. There are approximately ten of them. 10-72, armed and dangerous. Over.
How many of you are there now?
-Sir, we have five men. Sir, there are bombs here. We have disabled two of them.
Where is your leader. Where is Yunho?
-He followed them into the lower level.
Jaejoong slammed the palm of his hand against the keyboard, “.”
Ok, 10-4. Standby Officer.
Jaejoong looked up at the computer screen. Scratching his head furiously, he didn’t know how to help him. As if reading his mind, Changmin jumped up and sat in front of the computer.
“Hyung, I can tap into the lower level camera feed. They are bound to keep a surveillance on the service workers.” The younger man’s fingers quickly worked their magic.
The screen was now showing a dimly lit area that appeared to be vacant.
“Must be the storage area.”
With another tap of his fingers, the camera showed Yunho leaning against the wall holding his waist. Something was clearly wrong. They couldn’t quite tell the expression on Yunho’s face. He was covered head to toe in gear. His rifle was slung across his chest. Suddenly another person fell into the range of the screen, his face was covered with a black bandana. He was aiming at Yunho with a dagger. Yunho dodged the attacker’s advance and knocked him face-first into the wall. The attacker’s body fell limp on the floor.
Changmin felt his forehead prickle. He stood up from the chair, turning his head away.
Jaejoong sat in his place and starting looking through the rest of the video footage.
“, we have more of them on the other side.” More of the criminals began to emerge. “They are approaching Yunho’s location. . They have bombs triggered down there. What in the are they planning? All of this for a piece of jewelry?”
“Maybe they plan on using it as a smokescreen diversion. The building will begin to collapse into itself, in the meantime they can grab all the artifacts that they want and sell them in the black market. Make a lot of money in this way perhaps?”
“Maybe, but right now we need to figure out how to stop them. There are about twenty of them down there. Yunho has no clue. We have to figure out a way to warn him.”
“Hyung, I’ll do it.”
“What? Are you insane? I won’t let you go down there.”
“Hyung, there’s no time. I can easily override the security system. You can’t. I’ll be really quick. I need to be there. I have to help him. He’s my partner.”
“This isn’t the time to be proving yourself Changmin-”
“I can do this! Our walkie-talkies don’t reach down to that level and we have no other way of helping him, I need to do this. I need to warn him. I have to protect him.”
Jaejoong sighed and called out one of the guards standing outside, “Lim Munho, I need you to follow Officer Shim Changmin to his destination point. Keep him safe at all costs."
The single soul lay on a familiar floor. Slowly he opened his eyes one by one. Natural light hit him softly upon his face. His natural reaction was to cringe away.
‘My name is Choikang Changmin... I remember now.’
The Mage got up from the floor. He pressed his palm against the familiar walls. He watched as his fingers took on the form of flesh.
‘I have sensation! I can feel my fingertips!’ Happy of his new found features he was shouting at the top of his lungs. He scanned his current premises eagerly.
‘This is…the Palace.’ Looking around, his mind was full of questions. Suddenly a family of tourists entered his line of vision.
‘Who are these heathens, demons? What are these foreign clothes?’ His face soured at the unfamiliar spectacle. A small child now ran towards him. She stood in front of him, not saying a word.
‘Little girl, you do not belong here.’ The Mage spoke abruptly. ‘This is the home of the Prince, you must leave at once before the guards find you.’
The small girl cocked her eyebrow and looked right past him.
‘Excuse me? What kind of disrespect is this? I am speaking with you, you little bovine!’
The small girl kept looking on and suddenly ran head first towards the Mage.
‘Stop! What are you-’
The little girl ran right through Changmin’s body. The Mage stood in shock.
‘What…I do not understand-’
Changmin stood paralyzed to the ground momentarily. That child just ran past him. She didn’t hear him at all. He felt …scared. What could this possibly mean?
He ran towards any familiar setting. His body led him to the main hall. But, no he was disappointed to find it swarming with more unfamiliar foreigners. All of them with their odd clothing and flashing contraptions.
Changmin walked into the crowd, attempting to speak with anyone. ‘They cannot hear me…this is punishment. I have entered hell.’
They dug out the blueprints to the museum and found the perfect point of entrance to bring them to Yunho’s location. A small service elevator was enough to fit Changmin’s body alone.
“Wait here.”
“We can’t both fit. I’ll go first, then you go, ok?”
The elevator brought Changmin to a dark hall. He recognized some of the furniture from the camera feed. Not waiting for Munho, he quickly ran off to find his partner. He began to hear voices not too far away from his current location. Trying to be inconspicuous, Changmin hid underneath a some storage boxes. The voices began to come closer.
“We knocked him out cold,” said the first voice.
“He fights like a damn bear,” the second voice sounded frantic, out of breath.
“Ha, he almost bit my ear off. ing monster. What are we going to do with him?”
“Master Cho said to kill anyone who sees us.”
“He’s a police dog. Let’s keep him around for ransom just in case.”
“What about his friends?”
“Kill them all. The bombs have all been set. Meji has taken care of the necklace.”
Changmin gasped. They caught Yunho and the rest of the squad. This is bad. The whole operation was going out of control. Sweat was gathering on the nape of his neck. His eyes were swimming in a sea of distress. He couldn’t focus properly. He looked around and tried to find a way out to find Yunho and the rest of the team. Just as he tried to get up, his nervous motions caused a box to fall. The noise alerted one of the men. “I just heard something. I think there’s someone there, go check it out, I’ll go on the other side.”
His heart beating out of his chest, Changmin gulped and tried to move quickly from his current location. They spotted him. He tried to run as quickly as his legs could take him.
“Stop you little !” The thug was gaining on him. He had a gun aimed right at his head.
Changmin a corner and ran towards a vacant door. He locked it and ran as far away as possible. The thug was banging on the frame with rage. “You’re going to die you little piss ant.”
He entered a larger part of the lower level. “This must be the main chamber beneath the Eastern wing.” Changmin rustled through the blue prints, looking for any possible exit points. Slowly walking around the boxes and storage materials, he started to hear a groan. He walked towards the sound. Three bodies, with their faces covered, were splayed on the floor. Changmin stepped away from them in surprise.
Suddenly his arm was grabbed from behind and before he could make a sound, a hand was pressed against his mouth and another around his waist. Another body pressed onto his, holding him firmly. A mouth was pressed up against his ears, “Stay quiet, or they’ll find us.” The hot whispering voice belonged to Yunho.
Changmin pulled the hand down from his mouth and turned around. His face only a centimeter away from his partner’s. “Yunho…” he whispered. He observed his partner’s condition. Half of his face was covered in blood. He looked exhausted. “You’re hurt.” Changmin’s hands were trembling with worry.
“I’m fine,” Yunho replied curtly. “Why are you here? I told you to stay away.” He was trying to sound gruff, but his voice was more laced with concern. In the dark, Changmin couldn’t concentrate on his facial expressions.
“I … was worried…we tapped into the surveillance feed. They put bombs in the basement levels beneath the Western wing and right now they are working on it here as well. Unit 3 disabled them in the West. We have to get out of here.”
Yunho leaned against the wall, nursing his bruised ribs. “I can’t. You go and grab the rest of the squad. These s aren’t leaving my sight.”
Changmin wrapped his arms around Yunho’s waist, trying to give him more support. “I’m staying here with you. You're in no condition to fight.”
The eldest was breathing hard and sweat was building beneath his forehead, “And you are?" Yunho winced, "Don’t be ing stubborn-”
“I’m not, now let’s go,” Changmin had determination set in his eyes, he grabbed Yunho’s gear and held his partner close to his side.
“Which way are we going?” Yunho asked.
“I’m not sure,” Changmin tried to look at the blueprints again. “There is an entrance there.”
They began to head south of their last entrance point.
Before they could make another step, a gun was cocked in their direction; a deep voice began to speak.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
A man clad in all black, stepped out from the dark shadows.
Changmin tightened his hold protectively around Yunho’s waist.
The figure spoke again, “I trust you all know why I’m here. I can see it in your eyes, so don’t lie to me.”
Yunho chuckled, “When I ing get my hands on you, I will ing-”
The figure cocked his gun at Changmin’s head, “You. Where is my necklace?”
“I d-don’t know.”
“Don’t play games with me pretty boy. My patience is wearing thin.”
“You’re a two-bit criminal. I have nothing to tell you.”
“Well then, I have nothing else to say either.”
The man grabbed Changmin. Yunho tried to keep them from separating.
A gun was pointed at Yunho and a knife at Changmin’s throat, “Don’t try anything. Wrong move and I will cut him open like a pig.” The man shot Yunho in the leg. His clothes darkened with his dripping blood.
Yunho stepped back, his strength leaving his body, he keeled over on his side.
“Will you look at that. He can barely compose himself, how disrespectful.” The man kicked Yunho in the stomach.
Frightened, Changmin stood paralyzed. “St-stop. Please-”
The man stepped away from Yunho. “Energy flows, where attention goes.” He approached Changmin. “My name is Yesung.” He removed the bandana from his face, revealing fresh scars running down his temple. His petrifying stare forced Changmin to step away further, trying to approach Yunho.
Yesung quickly walked towards the youngest. “Where do you think you’re going? You must be new here. Are you scared? Look at you. Poor thing. Your teeth are chattering. Allow me teach you a proper lession in handling criminals.”He grabbed Changmin’s arm and dragged him to another section of the storage facility, leaving Yunho on the floor. Yesung's expression did not reveal any emotions, like a robot.
Now it was just the two of them. Yesung kept his gun at Changmin’s head. “You know, my patience is wearing thin. Tell me where the real necklace is if you don’t want your friend to die.”
“I’m not telling you anything. Why is it so important to you anyway?” Changmin knew to keep his mouth shut; it was what Yunho would’ve wanted. At least they can stay alive longer. Once Yesung got what he wanted, he will shoot them both.
“Boy, don’t try to be a hero. You’re going to die anyways. I can see your future. Today is the day you die.”
Changmin stood his ground.
"Stubborn?" Yesung cocked his gun. "Don't worry, you won't die by my hand." He turned Changmin's attention toward an object at his feet.
"That's a bomb." He gave a dark smile and turned away, locking the door behind him.
Panicking, the young detective ran towards the door and started banging with all his might, "Please open the door! Please! Somebody! Anybody! Yunho!" He walked towards the device. It showed 00:00:05 on the display. Only five minutes left. He slumped on floor and started to pray.
Yunho tried to get up from the floor. He was seeing double. Time appeared to run in slow motion now. His line of vision was skewed. "Ch-Changmin-ah!" He grunted, his ribs further giving him pain. He leaned against his left leg. "Changmin-ah! Where are you?" Hearing a commotion ahead of him, he limped towards the sound of banging. Before he got any closer, he heard an explosion. His body was flung half-way across the room from the impact of the force.
He raised his body from the rubble that rolled on top of his body. He held his head, trying to drown out the ringing in his ears. Ignoring his aching body, Yunho forced himself up and walked through the rubble. The place was now in shambles. Everything was falling apart. The smell of smoke and burnt debris entered Yunho's nostrils. He ran forward to find any of his men and his partner.
There was a familiar ache in his heart. He felt a tug in his chest. As if hearing his internal turmoil an invisible rope was pulling him toward a specific direction despite his altered vision. "Changmin-ah!"
Smoke was everywhere, enveloping the entire hall. Something was guiding him towards his destination point. An invisible force. He felt it with his body.
He heard a faint a whimper-
"Changmin?" He shouted.
Yunho walked through a pile of bodies, each one of them a familiar face of his Unit members.
From a near distance he found the source of the blast. Fire was spreading with haste throughout the hall. Yunho ran towards it, trying to find any survivors.
His heartbeat against his ribcage. "Changmin-ah!" He couldn't find any survivors. He forced his legs to tread through the flames and broken walls.
'...cough...' Yunho covered his mouth from the smoke and walked forth. he squinted his eyes towards a limp body lying facedown on the ground. The aura felt familiar. The pit of his stomach was now raging like a whirlpool of a dozen serpents. His fingers slinked upon the shoulders of the body. It was covered in debris and burnt wood. Dusting off the figure, Yunho turned the body around. He sighed with relief when he realized it isn't Changmin. He got up once again and studied his surroundings.
\ð°°°ª°°°°Ã.:
"Do you want more people to die? I dragged you out of that room, kept you alive. I could've left you in there, so your precious friends could've found your body blown to bits. Instead I let you live a while longer. Now tell me what I want to know. Your time is running out."
"No, please, just stop, I will tell you, please."
"Well?"
"I took it with me, check my right pocket."
Yesung reached out and roughly brought out a relic from Changmin's pocket, after a brief pause-
"Do you take me for a fool? This is clearly a fake." He grabbed Changmin by the neck, "So you wish to die by my hand afterall pretty boy?" The youngest was pushed harshly against the wall.
Yunho cocked his head towards the sudden sound of a gunshot and a scream. He ran as fast as he could. His feet took him to a scene he promised to never see again in his entire life. Changmin's body slumped against the wall and fell to the ground with a thud. The perpetrator ran from the scene before Yunho could apprehend him.
Yunho ran to Changmin's side, "Changmin-ah? Wake up. Shim-" Yunho felt his neck for a pulse. He examined his body, trying to stop the blood flowing out of his chest. "You stupid ing kid." His breathing was hoarse and slowly the pulse of his heart was weakening with each passing second. Yunho felt the back of his eyeballs prickle, as if being stabbed by needles. Unbeknownst to himself his body was going through a physical deja-vu. His hands were shaking as he brought them to Changmin's face. Yunho brought him to his lap and tried to call out for help. His state of mind was unstable.
Sirens were heard from a distance. Jaejoong ran outside, anticipating the members of his team to come out- Changmin has been gone for too long and the camera feed was broken off by a sudden explosion. Worried for his team members, Jaejoong ran towards the smoke coming from the side of the building.
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The Mage stood in the middle of the hall, his lips were cast in a grim line. He was pouting at the fact that no one could hear or see him. He sighed, wondering how he could maintain his five senses even though he couldn't see his own body. How was he breathing? Does he even have lungs? He’s a ghost. He tried to teleport from one room to another, but without a body to serve as a vessel it was useless to attempt anything. Once again he attempted to simply light a candle, but it only resulted in him making a constipated face and no proper results.
Suddenly the room shook and the windows began to crack. There was a commotion outside. The humans all began to scream and ran frantically towards the doors.
“Everyone please stay calm! File towards the exits in an orderly manner!”
The Mage chuckled, ‘At least some things don’t change.’
Changmin felt a sudden pang in his translucent chest. ‘What is this?’ He brought his hand to where his heart should be. ‘I feel a beat. How is this possible?’ He felt another tug. Unexpectedly he ended up outside under the full moon and the stars. With a blink of his eyes his location changed once again. This time he recognized he was outside of the Palace.
Instinctively he turned his head towards a familiar voice. The Mage felt his body burn with a sudden anxiety. ‘Yeun-Ho.’ He whispered silently. ‘You’re hurt.’
But this figure, despite resembling his young charge, was much older. How much time has passed? Who are they?
A scene was unfolding before him. The man resembling Yeun-Ho was carrying another person. Both were covered in dirt and…blood…
The Mage stood motionless, observing the entire commotion.
Familiar shadows began to grow around Yunho and the boy in his arms. The Mage’s eyes widened. The shadows soon grew larger and took on a form of ghastly creatures of the underworld. Creatures that prayed upon the white soulss of the dead. They should not be there, the Dark Forest keeps these things at bay.
‘Dark Wraiths! What are they here? No! They mustn’t harm them! Yeun-Ho!’ The Mage shouted, but it was all for nothing, he could not hear him.
Yunho set Changmin on the gurney, An EMT was guided by a doctor towards Changmin to revive him.
The Dark Wraiths are shameless creatures. They took on a pseudo-human form, but their flesh was black and perforated. They stood on two legs with their decaying flesh. No human could see them, only the undead. They opened their mouths wide and waiting for the soul who will soon enter their invisible world. But of course, they are impatient. They were eager to eat a meal.
The Mage watched as two wraiths circled around the limp body. He had to do something.
The biggest of them, stood tall and opened his mouth wide. His claw reached out, covered in thorns, and put it through Changmin’s chest.
The Mage watched as the other soul was being pulled out of his own body. He felt an even stronger pang in his chest. His instincts to protect kicked in and without another thought he ran towards the Dark Wraiths in blind rage. His mind quickly registered a spell to disintegrate the wraiths:
Leave this world at once. Foul creatures of the dark. I dispel thee to the underworld.
Meanwhile, Changmin’s body was loaded onto the ambulance. Jaejoong walked towards Yunho with concern. His eyes were damp. “Yunho-yah, are you-”
Yunho brushed him off and pushed him aside, “Don’t say a ing word.” He entered the ambulance and the doors were closed off. The were headed directly to the hospital.
The doctor was attempting to revive the young detective, but it was hopeless. The bullet went in too deep and severed the main arteries. Yunho insisted that they keep trying to revive him.
As a last resort they brought out the deliberator. It didn’t work. No pulse.
“I’m sorry detective.”
Yunho turned his head away, grim expression upon his visage.
All of a sudden, Changmin’s body began to shake. His chest rose out of the gurney and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
“Doctor he is going into shock!”
It took three EMTs to hold down Changmin as his body was convulsing. Yunho leaned against the walls of the van in shock.
"What is going on?"
"Nurse give me an ampule of valium." The doctor injected the young detective with a muscle relaxant. Changmin's body began to relax and his pulse was reaching a normal level.
"Is-is he going to be alright?"
"Yes detective," The doctor wiped the sweat off his brow, "This kid is....unbelievable."
Changmin opened his eyes to an unfamiliar room. He felt the ache in his bones. Everything around him was white. Even his clothes were white. And foreign.
“What are these chambers? These robes…I do not remember them-” He frantically began to look all over for any familiar sight, but was disappointed. “Am I in another dimension? Junsu? Is this some kind of a joke? I was just inside the Palace…my body…I am a ghost.”
Changmin looked upon his hands; they had odd cords running into his veins. He was scared. “What are these? Am I being harvested? I can feel. These sensations…”
A nurse walked in.
“You! Woman! Where am I? What is this dimension?” He shouted. Clearly he was unused to the sound of his own voice.
The nurse looked at the frantic young detective.
“Uh…sir…umm, I will call the doctor in to help.” She ran out frightened.
Changmin ripped out the cords that connected them to the IV drip. He tossed them aside. Everything felt so bright and vivid. His head felt dizzy. He rose from his bed and tried to take a step, but he felt like a small foal taking its first steps. This body was not following his directions.
Jaejoong burst through the door with the doctor beside him, “Changmin-ah, what are you doing? You should be resting!” He wrapped his hands around Changmin’s shoulders, but the latter did not respond positively to the touching.
“Unhand me you buffoon!” His eyes were hysterical. “Your face is that of that monstrous girl! Are you not a subordinate of Jae-eun? What are you?”
Jaejoong stepped back from Changmin, “We’re here to help you-”
“Away with you! I do not wish for you to be within my perimeters!”
While Jaejoong distracted him, the doctor approached Changmin from behind and inserted a syringe with a muscle relaxant to help him sleep.
“Poison! He is trying to kill me!” Changmin’s eyes slowly closed and the nurses helped lift him back into bed.
Jaejoong was now worried for his young companion.
“Doctor…what is wrong with him?”
“Must be trauma. We’ll know for sure tomorrow morning.”
Jaejoong stepped out of the room. Yunho sat in the waiting room, his eyes cast down.
Changmin once again opened his eyes. This time the bright lights did not hurt his vision. It was dark outside. The partial moonlight reflected upon the floor of his new chamber. He did not know where he was, or who he was anymore. He walked towards a mirror.
His face was his. Except his hair. No longer white, but brown and cropped short. This body, despite resembling his own, was much skinnier. He tried to hold back his disgust. At least he was much taller and had a bigger build. He lifted his robe to observe his manhood. Well at least one thing remained to his liking.
His head felt fuzzy. He could access his memories of his former life. He knows who he is. Just not who he is currently. What had happened?
He sighed and tried something else. These foreigners resembled Yoochun in some form. He needed to call out to his friend. He could always assist him. Yoochun was an Elemental Heavenly Creature, time was of no concern to him.
Changmin sat on the floor and brought out a glass cup with water. He spilled the water in front of himself and began to trace words, calling out for Yoochun.
The words began to glow and rise from the water, forming a portal. A white light began to spill out, taking the form of a person.
Changmin stood upon his feet. A smile spread on his face. “Yoochun-” He breathed with relief.
A hooded figure stood before him. Yoochun opened his eyes and looked at his friend. Suddenly, he burst into tears and without a warning he wrapped his arms around his friend. “Changmin! I thought I lost you! Where have you been?” Yoochun pressed his lips against Changmin's without any explanation. His happiness was bursting through every pore of his body and he was eager to show it.
The Mage looked at Yoochun questioningly, “What do you mean?”
“You have been gone for over a thousand years! After you died, I have been trapped in the underworld all this time. I thought you were dead. How is it you are here now?”
“I was dead…” Changmin repeated the words disbelievingly. “Junsu lied to me- the spell, it killed me along with Sanshou.”
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