Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Chapter Twenty- Eight 

Daesung, Young Bae, and Seungri sat together, quietly, and waiting.

It had been about twenty four hours now since their brother; Ji Yong had been placed to sleep and sealed off into a large black coffin. It had been twenty hours since the pink coffin had been brought out, and from within it, their elder sister, Kwon Dami, was brought out. The shriveled up female was hooked on the very life source of blood, and her skin was starting to look flawless once more.

It was horrifying to learn that before any of them had been born, the king had had a daughter. Ji Yong’s mother used to have a sister. They had been twins. The king and the two Kwon twins had been mated together, before the elder twin had died giving birth to Dami. Dami had been conceived two hundred years before Ji Yong had ever been. She had been a full grown vampire when she had mated someone that had betrayed her heart and had led her to fall into a depression, where she placed herself in a coffin to grieve.

But now that Ji Yong was going into his own coffin, the king thought it best that Dami wake up and takes up her duties as a princess. No, she was not going to be an heir. Dami had made it clear that she never wanted to be the heir. But she needed to help her family at this time of downfall. Of sadness, and it was better to have her awake that to have two children under the influence of sleep.

“I can’t believe dad never mentioned her before,” Seungri softly whispered, dropping his head onto Young Bae’s shoulder, and sniffing. He had not been able to stop crying ever since the lid to Ji Yong’s coffin had been closed.

“Dad said since she was the closest to Ji Yong, she might be able to help find Seung Hyun,” Daesung whispered, sounding so unsure. He lifted his head and looked at Young Bae when the mowhawked vampire scoffed.

“Dad just said that because he wanted to calm us down. There is no one that can bring Seung Hyun back from Death’s clutches, only Death himself can bring him back now,” Young Bae said, closing his eyes. It was the truth, but it still sounded so stupid even to him. How could things have turned so bad so quickly? It seemed like just yesterday things were peaceful, and now- it was just one big mess.

“Calm down, even if father did lie to us, he’s trying to cope as well. Ji Yong just had his mate torn away from him- that must be really painful,” Seungri seriously said, closing his eyes once more, and snuggling closer to Young Bae. There was no way that he would be able to live if Young Bae was taken away from him, so he could just imagine Ji Yong’s pain. Daesung on the other hand took a deep breath and got to his feet, making both his brothers turn to look at him.

“I’m going to go take a walk, and get some fresh air,” he said, not looking at them as he walked away. Both Young Bae and Seungri watched him go, and didn’t stop him.

Back outside in the ongoing world, Dong Wook was following Ha Yi to where she said Seung Hyun would be. For all he knew he could be following a blind lead, but right now any lead was better than having nothing. Taking a deep breath, he turned his eyes back to the young girl in front of him. Why did she seem so familiar, and yet not? Like a far away memory that he could no longer recognize, but it was still there, itching in the back of his mind.

“How do you know Seung Hyun?” Dong Wook asked.

Ha Yi didn’t turn to look at him as her hand swayed in front of herself, almost as if feeling the air in front of her. “Don’t go on asking unnecessary things,”

“Well it isn’t unnecessary, I don’t know you. It’d be nice to know the person I am currently trusting,”

Ha Yi momentarily paused, before taking a deep breath. She nodded her head once, “Well, I can assure you I am not one hundred percent sure where Seung Hyun is, but Hope is sure to lead us there. It is Seung Hyun’s only connection to everything, earth and underworld wise,” Ha Yi reached up the small bird that flew over them, her finger tips barely brushing the underside of it.

“A deity, right? Meaning its Seung Hyun’s medium, that’s so cool,” Dong Wook smiled. “But shouldn’t it always stay at his side to properly guide him?”

Ha Yi really did stop walking then. Dong Wook blinked when he walked past her, and then paused and turned around to look at her. Ha Yi seemed to have guilt written all over her beautiful face, “He let me take him, so he could guide me, for a while.” She softly whisper, her eyes going wide. Dong Wook was struck by the silvery color, before he sighed, and reached his hand to touch her pale cheek.

“If Seung Hyun let you have it for a while, he must have known something like this might happen, and now you have to help him, right?” he encouraged. It was the least he could do now. He needed Ha Yi to stay focused.

She blinked, looking at him with slight insecurity before nodding her head. “Seung Hyun needs us,” she said.

“Are you always like this?” Dong Wook asked, sounding a bit amused as the small girl walked on, like a short cute soldier, going to war. But she was still a girl.

“Like what?” she asked.

“So serious, and robotic, really,” Dong Wook asked, once more following her. “Don’t you have a personality of your own?”

“I don’t know,” she quickly answered. Her back was straight, and she looked dead set on where she was going.

“You should know,” Dong Wook whispered.

Ha Yi looked over his shoulder to him, blinking once, before turning to face forward once more. Dong Wook saw a slight flash of her smile, and it struck him deep in his chest. “It might not make any sense to you, but I’ve pledge my own life to Seung Hyun. I would do anything to protect him. I’ve decided to devote my life to him, even if he lets me go free.” Ha Yi shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know why, maybe it’s because someday you just meet someone whom actually means something to you, and he means a lot to me. I’ve decided I’d love him and always protect him. But…I’ve realized I might not be strong enough to do so...and…” her voice cracked.

Dong Wook walked closer to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “That’s noble of you, but what about what you want for yourself? Who will protect and love you?”

“A selfish nature of any living creature, to always look out for themselves, I’ve thought about it,” Ha Yi immediately said, all in one breath without pause. “But there isn’t anyone out there for me to call my own, so the one that gave me a chance and changed my life was Seung Hyun. I decided he was important, and I…”

“I know the feeling,” Dong Wook said, looking away now. “It’s the way that I feel about Ji Yong. I would blindly protect him for no reason other than he means something to my own heart,”

Ha Yi was looking at him now. “You love Ji Yong?” she asked, sounding very small now.

“I love him more than anything else in the world.” Dong Wook nodded his head, “But he’s not mine to claim, so even if it’s from afar, I’ll admire and protect him from there,”

“Selfish nature,” Ha Yi scoffed, a small laugh leaving her lips.

“Yes,” Dong Wook chuckled, “Selfish nature,”

“In life we can’t write our own endings, huh?” she asked, “but life goes on, and change comes from within, when you and your conscious have an understanding. You could go after Ji Yong now at his most vulnerable state, but you chose to protect him instead, that is very righteous of you,”

“I was amazed at how easy the decision was, actually,” Dong Wook said, “Because Ji Yong is very precious to me, all I want is his happiness, and that is Seung Hyun. And truth be told, I’ve grown a bit fond of the reaper as well,”

Ha Yi smiled. “Maybe we will get our own happy ending,” she said.

Dong Wook blinked and looked at her, “What do you mean?”

“We love people that don’t feel the same, but we can love right? That will never stop us from finding someone of our own to cherish,”

“Right,” Dong Wook grinned, “Some day, we will”

“For now though, let’s keep moving forward,” Ha Yi pointed out to the horizon, where the sun was already starting to set.

“Another day, another night,” Dong Wook nodded his head, looking off, “Let’s go!”

With renewed vigor, both of them headed off in search of Seung Hyun, wherever that currently was, because they themselves were not sure.

But Hope was.

And Hope was worried.

Its master was back in the abyss, and growing strong again- but there was conflict in his feelings. Seung Hyun didn’t seem to be adapting well to the Abyss anymore.

The darkness in the abyss was different from the accustomed sun light that Seung Hyun was used to. It was supposed to be day time, but everyone was asleep while he was wide awake, roaming the dirty streets, and every dark corner. There was a metaphorical red sun glowing over the horizon, and Seung Hyun felt like it suffocated him with its radiant light. It made him feel so depressed. Especially because even though night fell, Seung Hyun couldn’t bring himself to sleep.

It felt like he couldn’t let down his guard for even a second.

Running a hand through his blue hair, Seung Hyun let out a stressed sigh. He wanted to go home. Back to Ji Yong- then again, who didn’t know that already? He just wasn’t sure how he was supposed to leave such a place with endless plains of darkness, shadows, and cliffs. Yawning he headed back to the small alcove he was staying in with Hye Yoon and Dami.

Once inside, he noted that Dami was awake as well, shockingly looking at her fading hand. Seung Hyun sat down, but then looked away from her. The woman made a sound in the back of , closing her fist as she shook her head, trying hard not to cry. “I don’t even know what will happen once I’ve faded completely,” she muttered.

Seung Hyun kept looking away, unsure of what to say.

“What am I going to do, I’m so scared! I don’t want Hye Yoon to worry about me. What should I do? What will happen?” she sounded desperate now.

“Life goes on,” Seung Hyun coldly said after a small while of silence. Dami sighed, nodding her head.

“Wherever I go, I hope I remember her.” Dami whispered. “I don’t remember what I used to be, or what I used to do. I don’t even recall being anything other than a spirit, for years now,”

“Way too long,” Seung Hyun muttered.

“Take care of Hye Yoon for me,” Dami whispered.

“I can’t. I have to search for Ji Yong,” Seung Hyun responded.

Dami was hesitant, looking over her shoulder towards the sleeping Hye Yoon, before she scooted closer to Seung Hyun. “Look, I’m not a reaper. Death has nothing on me right now. But the reason I stick around here is because I love Hye Yoon so much. I’ll tell you of a way to get back to Ji Yong, in exchange for taking care of her for me,” Dami gasped, feeling herself fade even more.

“If Death has nothing to do with you why would you help him find me?” Seung Hyun shot, turning angry eyes to her.

Dami flinched, but then shook her head. “Hye Yoon wanted to meet you. You are a part of her as much as she is a part of you. Might be what you wanted to come find as well. It wasn’t done in evil intentions. You are after all the one reaper created in the image of Death’s number one love,” Dami rested her head on her knees as she curled into herself, closing her eyes as she could feel herself vanishing more and more.

“What do you mean?” Seung Hyun looked at her shocked now.

“Death created you in the image of Life, the one that he loves and feels he can’t be with, because they are worlds apart.” Dami giggled, “If you tell me, Death and Life couldn’t be closed. But of course, Death hides his feelings and opts for loneliness, so in it he thought of nothing but life, and then he gave it a personality. Life is a spitting image of you, except for his white hair, and piercing blue eyes,” Dami opened her eyes and sighed.

Seung Hyun pursed his lips. It was already creepy that Death looked like Ji Yong, now he had to learn that there was someone that looked like him. “So we all suffer,” he whispered.

Dami nodded her head. “But like I said, we didn’t intent any evil, even if Hye Yoon did it in the most ungracious way to get the information. We never intended any bad.”

Seung Hyun nodded his head. “Tell me then, how do I escape?”

Dami frowned at him, “You are going to take care of Hye Yoon for me, right?”

“Right,” Seung Hyun said.

Dami nodded, closing her eyes once more. “There are two paths, through the abyss. One is in plain sight of Death, and he allows anyone out. But I don’t think you are so lucky.” Dami opened her eyes to look at Seung Hyun once more, “then there’s the second path. One that Death doesn’t stop anyone from traveling. He can’t.”

“Why not?” Seung Hyun asked.

“Because the ones that entered that path had made their decision,” Dami said, sitting up straight as she felt herself fade even more. Groaning, she pressed herself to the back wall, supporting herself and taking deep breaths. “They are willing to pay the price,”

Seung Hyun swallowed. He knew that there would be a catch, “And what is the price?” he asked. Dami shifted.

At this point, Hye Yoon was already awake, and listening to them. Her hand clench as she thought about that path, and she felt tears pierce her eyes.

“Years” Dami said. “The price is the years of life you have obtained. As you travel, your years of the current life you have lived will be swallowed up. The oldest and bests have tried to go down that path and never made it to the other side. Not even five thousand years seems to be enough, because they end up being unborn,”

“Unborn?” Seung Hyun whispered his eyes wide with shock.

“As if you have never existed,” Dami nodded her head.

“…I…” Seung Hyun started.

“Shut up!” Hye Yoon sat up now, glaring at both of them. “There’s no way that you are going down that path Seung Hyun!”

“Hye Yoon, you know that there is no other way for Seung Hyun to escape,”

“But he could…he could vanish!” Hye Yoon snapped, “Just like you!” she pointed at Dami, before getting to her feet and running out.

Seung Hyun and Dami watched her go, before Seung Hyun turned to Dami and nodded his head. “If I go down that path, how I am supposed to take care of her?” he asked.

“Convince her, and have her meet you in the surface. You could end up being worst than a toddler,” Dami said, and cried out. “I…I think I’m out of time,” she said. Seung Hyun watched her. There was nothing that he could do for her after all. Dami looked down at her fading body and shook her head. “Bye Seung Hyun, tell Hye Yoon that I love her,” and with that, Dami vanished completely.

Seung Hyun looked at the spot where she had once been, before standing up to go look for Hye Yoon. He needed to know where the path was, and the only one that would tell him was Hye Yoon, if he could convince her enough.

Back at the Dark Castle, Kwon Dami finally opened her eyes. Gummy was looking over her when her eyes opened and the girl gasped, breathing fast. Her eyes were searching all around, before anger seemed to fill her eyes. “What is the meaning of this?” she asked, turning her eyes towards Gummy. The nurse didn’t pay her any mind, grabbing the nearest bag, and pressing it to the newly awakened vampire’s mouth.

Dami hungrily ate, but she was still confused as to why she had been woken up. She felt as though the world was coming in focus once more in just days that she had gone to sleep. The pain in her chest lingered, and she hated it. As soon as the bag was finished, she spit it out, and bared her fangs. “Why am I awake now?” she asked.

“For the sake of everyone here, please calm yourself. Your baby brother has fallen into a terrible depression and the Dark Castle is at its worse. Your father will fill you in on everything,”

“Baby brother? I have no brother,” Dami spat, pulling all the IV’s out of her body as she set herself free. Throwing her hair behind her, she scoffed, “But I will have a talk with my father,”

Nothing seemed to have changed, and what angered her was that she might not have been asleep as long as she wished. Making her way towards her father’s office, she found the man surrounded by three different women. Her mother’s twin was familiar, but the other two women were new to her. Frowning even more she walked into the office, not caring how even her father was looking at her with a startled expression.

“My daughter, you are awake,” the king said, standing up and going around placing his hands on her shoulders and a kiss on her forehead.

Dami turned her head, and pushed her father slightly away.

“What is going on here?” she demanded.

“Dami, I woke you up from your slumber so that you can help us.” The king said, “Your brother”

“What brother” She demanded.

“Your brother, Kwon Ji Yong, is no longer able to handle the pain, as his mate was taken away from him by Death. I can’t say that there is a way that we can get his mate back, but I don’t think we can risk everyone for that. I am putting off the search, and I am placing you in charge of the new kingdom,” The king reached for a piece of parchment on his desk, “I have chosen your suitors,”

“You expect me to just take up all my duties, just like that?” Dami asked.

“Just like that,” The king said, “I want you to be Heir,”

“Of the Kwon kingdom, right, as if!” she snapped, stomping her foot. “Look dad, my heart was broken by my own mate and you don’t see me crying now do you. Now who the hell is this brother, and how long have I been asleep?”

“You’ve been asleep for the last twenty years,”

“So I’m now two hundred and twenty years old,” Dami sneered, “It feels like I’ve slept nothing, I think I’ll go back to it,”

“Dami,”

Dami frowned, “What father?”

“You know that we had this talk once before.” The king said.

“So, you are just going to let your son sleep away his pain for as long as he wants, while I have to suffer in the line of duty, and unite kingdoms,” Dami scorned, feeling angry with her father. The king nodded his head.

“I’m sorry, but what your brother didn’t know was that in order to ask for so much help in a war, a marriage had to be promised. I was going to ask someone else to do the marriage. But I didn’t have the heart to ask them- but as for you…” the king looked at her hopeful now.

“I’m old, have lost a mate, and survived. So what do I have to lose, right” she bit.

The king nodded his head.

That was when the door to the office opened once more, and in came Seungri, followed by Young Bae and finally Daesung. “Father, how could you!” Seungri demanded, “We could have fought ourselves, without the help of such a selfish kingdom, who was it that asked you for marriage!”

Dami looked at the three boys, shocked. But her lips couldn’t help but to twitch up in amusement.

The king looked caught, and the mothers all turned away.  King Hyun Suk sighed, closing his eyes for a second before he answered his sons, “It’s a marriage, to prince Baekho,” he painfully said. “But the list of suitor’s stands, seeking as I decided it can’t just be one. It had to be decided. So Prince Eli, Prince AJ, and Prince Ren, have all been placed for consideration,” the king pressed both his hands onto the table in front of himself, “The deal was made before I had even learned of Ji Yong’s mate, and he was the one that was going to have to date them and choose one to be his mate, but things changed when I found out that he had one. It made things difficult, but I had not wanted him to know.”

“And that is why now you placed him into a deep sleep and have woken Dami up,” Young Bae said.

Dami clicked her tongue, and narrowed her eyes as she walked over to Young Bae, her hips swaying both way. “And who might you be,” she asked, “You resemble no one in this room, as far as I know,” she pushed a hand on his chest, trying to push him back, but instead she found herself being pushed back. Her eyes turned to Seungri who was now standing before Young Bae, blocking him from her. “And you are,”

“Lee Seungri, sister,” the boy bared his fangs, “And you are not to get close to my mate, wench,”

Dami’s eye twitched, “what did you just call me?”

“You heard it right, you bacon strip!”

“Seungri, this isn’t the time to get into fights, we have a whole other dilemma to deal with,” Young Bae urged his mate, hugging him around the shoulders and pulling him back. Seungri growled, but allowed himself to be pulled back.

“I don’t like her,” he muttered.

“The feeling is mutual, brat,” Dami flicked him off, and then turned back to her father. “There is no F in way that you are going to get me to do anything for any of these boy’s so forget it,” She snapped.

“They are your brothers,” The king insisted.

“What crappy brother’s I have,” she sighed, closing her eyes. She turned and made to leave, but her eyes caught the blond in the back. “And what name where you give?” she asked.

“Kang Daesung,” the blond vampire responded to her before turning away and walking. He was mad right now, and he was sure that Seungri and Young Bae were feeling the same.

“Funny kid,” Dami smirked, “And all yours right father, because you had to have more than one mate,”

“Forgive that we woke you up so early before your due time, but do believe you have slept plenty and should be able to get over your past love,” The king snapped at her, making Dami flinch at the tone of voice. “Be a grown up already and take responsibility by helping your family out,”

“Well dear father, lets be grown up about this. I’ve been asleep the last couple of years it seems. So clean up your own damn mess. I’m going to go and explore the supposed changed world outside of these walls,” Dami flicked her hair to the side and left, pushing past Seungri and Young Bae whom didn’t even attempt to stop her.

“She’s always been a bit of a diva,” The Kwon mother tried to explain, but she was immediately shushed by the braking of glass.

“Seungri, Young Bae,” The king said.

“Father,” they both responded to him, turning angry eyes to them before leaving. They were not going to say anything else and they were not about to give their father the benefit of the doubt. There was something wrong with their kingdom and they had to solve it themselves. Especially now that Young Bae and Seungri were both going to be rulers of their own land.

“I can’t believe dad did that,” Seungri muttered as he walked on. Young Bae sighed,

“It isn’t entirely his fault. It seems that everyone these day’s wants to be a part of our family, or at least join ranks with our names,”

“Dad said he was going to let Ji Yong decide, but at that moment it seemed like he was not going to let him,”

“Because he was going to guilt Ji Yong in the end for having stolen something that he should have. He was going to punish Ji Yong by taking away his right to choose his own mate.” Young Bae explained and Seungri cursed under his breath. IT was a valid punishment, but the twist was in the fact that Ji Yong was already mated.

“What are we going to do now? Just let Ji Yong sleep?” Seungri asked. “If we wake him up he will push for a search for Seung Hyun as we should be doing. And you know he won’t rest until he has him back,”

“And of course, we shouldn’t rest either,” Young Bae said.

“It’s better if you all rest,” they heard a snide female voice from behind them. “Because a reaper won’t be back, and if I have to get over the person I loved, so does my brother,” they turned around to face Dami. “Aren’t you so cute, together, and in love? The perfect mates, and everything,” she scoffed; now showing a more tired side to herself. “Once you lose your mate, you will never have them back. So Ji Yong is going to have to learn to live without this….Seung Hyun,”

“You don’t understand!” Seungri said.

“Oh I understand!” Dami snapped, “When I was Younger my mate was this beautiful guy, and he was everything to me. I loved him to the end. Until he was killed under the harsh torment of Mother Nature, that was destroying everything,” Dami sighed, “When a wild fire started, and surrounded us at that time…” she closed her eyes and shrugged. “Well this isn’t kid stuff now is it,” she smirked, and walked away.

“She’s trouble.” Daesung walked out of the shadows, a dark look coming over his face. Seungri and Young Bae nodded at each other.

Dami was sure to turn their world upside down.

Back into the high lands, where Ha Yi and Dong Wook were heading towards the opening of the Abyss, both of them found themselves talking more animatedly with each other. “So what is this place called?” Dong Wook asked, looking around himself.

“This is the mouth, the opening towards the Abyss,” she said, “It isn’t easy to find, but once you have been shown, you can see it. You can find it. But I bet you can’t see it yet?” Ha Yi asked.

Dong Wook shook his head, “nothing but deserted land,” she said.

“Look here,” Ha Yi was so short compared to her that she had to reach up at the collar of his shirt to pull him down. Dong Wook gasped, as his head came to her level and looked at where she was pointing.

And suddenly it seemed like the land in front of him was opening up and unfurling, twisting into wicked thickets, and it seemed like a mouth from the ground opened. His mouth fell, and Ha Yi had to close it for him.

“That is where we are going, that is where Seung Hyun is,” Ha Yi excitedly said. “We’re almost there!”