Night fell and the Raven Prince had just arrived home. While walking, he was surpsied to see how beautiful the city had become and knew he had to tell his father about it. Emperor Kangta was in his grand palace, relaxing while waiting for his son to come home. The door opened and he knew that it had to be the Raven Prince.

“Father! Father you have to see the city!” the Raven Prince spoke. Emperor Kangta stood from his chair and followed his son who proudly walked to the window. He drew the curtains to show his father the improvements in their city. Kangta took a peek outside of the window and true were his son’s words! The city did look better. It was even more beautiful, with a view much like the Butterfly Empire. Tall, towering buildings brillantly lighted up, the night sky decorated with stars.

“Why, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Are you telling me that it’s because of the Pearl?”

“Yes. The power of the gods and the Pearl must’ve worked wonders for our city!” the Raven Prince marvelled. The two could already feel the power and proseperity that was coming their way.

“Now that we have the power, what do you say we go on a conquest, like our ancestors used to do.” Emperor Kangta suggested as he took out some sheets of paper and a pen. When he did this, the Raven Prince knew he meant business.

“You mean like what we used to do.” he corrected his father, bringing up his glorious past that was gone with the wind upon the rise of a more powerful kingdom. Kangta raised an eyebrow at his son. The Raven Prince looked at him and shrugged, looking away to avoid his father’s most feared deathly stare.

“Exactly. Son, here’s our masterplan-”

“I’ve come up with a masterplan already!” the Raven Prince rubbed his chin and faced his father, giving him the stance of a young military genius. Kangta looked at him with disbelief and gave his son, who was undoubtedly good at strategizing invasion plans.

“Let me hear it.” Kangta folded his arms across his chest and listened well to what his son was about to say.

“We have already accomplished the task of destroying the Temple and kidnapping the Empress. The Korean Mafia radioed me in earlier and told me that the Empress is helplessly in their hands, which is good. Next, we send men to destroy the city, to reduce it to ruins. We can pray to the lesser gods, the evil gods to put a curse on their city. Once their city has fallen, then we make our move. No one will be able to stop us. The Empress doesn’t have an heir nor an heiress. Her army is worthless!”

“What shall we do with the Empress then?” asked the Emperor. The Raven Prince gave a sly smile and said.

“We can do two things, dear father. We can either tell the Mafia to kill her there or we could execute her infront of her people, to show them what a failure she is!” For some reason, Kangta liked the idea that his son gave him. It was diabolical, just as he thought it would be.

“You are a young genius!” he exclaimed, obviously very proud of the way his son strategized. The Raven Prince looked at him with his head held high. Father and son sat down to discuss their plan and strategize further over glasses of red wine. Pretty soon, planning took its toll on them and they felt they had to rest.

“Once again my son, you have proven yourself worthy of an heir. You do possess great leadership as well as an aggressive, controlling personality. This should prepare you for kingship.” said Kangta.

“Glad you think that, father. Now, as it is nighttime, I would like to get some rest.” the Raven Prince drank the last sip of red wine and walked to his room. His father followed suit.

Meanwhile, Empress Sandara’s royal army as well as the Butterfly Empire’s national army were planning late at night. Their head commander, Soo Young’s father Choi Jun Hyuk discussed the current situation of their empire.

“The surprise attack done on the Temple of the Empress days ago is a sign that our land is under attack. It is, as me and my subjects believe, a series of terrorist attacks about to be executed on our land in order to capture us and make us their territory. We know that Emperor Kangta and his son have plans and-” General Commander Choi Jun Hyuk’s speech was interrupted by Hero Jaejoong, Empress Sandara’s faithful messenger who traveled far and wide to search for the National Army Headquarters.

“Messenger Kim. What a surprise! What brings you here?” G.C. Choi said. Hero Jaejoong acknowledged the presence of the men in uniform as well as traditional battle gear with a bow and told them of his purpose of visit.

“Sir, I’m afraid that we are going to have to expand our army’s efforts.” Hero said with a worried look on his face.

“What? What is wrong?” G.C. Choi asked.
“Our Empress has been kidnapped and the Pearl of the Gods has been stolen from our kingdom!” Hero panicked. G.C. Choi smartened up and took a deep breath.

“Emperor Kangta.” he said. “Who took the Empress? Who is she with?”

“We believe she is in the hands of the Korean Mafia!”

“The Korean Mafia. The most dangerous group in the land.” G.C. Choi turned to his men and continued strategizing.

“Men! The Empress is in danger and so is the Pearl. We have to stop this malevolence before it’s too late! I shall be sending operatives to hunt the Mafia and save our Empress. As for the Emperor…” G.C. Choi had a cruel glint in his eyes.

“He shall pay for the damage…” G.C. Choi rallied his men up and in the middle of the night, they planned to rescue their beloved lady ruler.

[CHOI RESIDENCE]

It was already 12:30 am and Soo Young was still up. She had been up since she got home and skipped dinner, lying to her mom and telling her that she was going to work on a project whereas she was just going to lie in bed and cry all day about what had happened. Besides, she was also trying to avoid her mother for she might see the wounds and ask tons of questions.

I hope Minho didn’t tell her, though. Soo Young felt a combination of relief and guilt that night. Relief because the Principal was on her side and was ready to help her if ever she was bullied again and at the same time guilt because the bullies got community service because of her and she saw the way they looked at her before she left. Their eyes had that evil spark in them, the kind of look that spelled murder and Soo Young was terrified because she knew what was coming next: more bullying, more bruises. It just hurt to be her sometimes.

RING! RING!

Her phone started to ring, which made her wonder who could be calling her at this time of the night? Wasn’t it a little bit too late to be disturbing someone. But she thought she could use someone to talk to, not like she didn’t know who it was.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Good thing you’re still awake!” it was CL, of course. It wasn’t her first time to call Soo Young this late.
“Yeah. I can’t sleep. Guilty conscience.” Soo Young said sadly with a gulp.

“Why are you guilty? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Oh sure I did! I got them in trouble! They’re now on two weeks community service and I’m 100% sure that when they see me, they’re gonna double their torture.”

“Nah! They won’t! Trust me they won’t.”

“They will!”

“But the principal sanctioned them already! They can’t commit it again otherwise they’d be kicked out of school!” CL said.

“They won’t care!” Soo Young cried. “They break all the rules and you know that. You’ve been to where I am. They don’t give a about the rules. If they see me, they’ll hurt me and beat me. They slick, y’know. They can hurt me and nobody would even notice! Like in the library!”

“Don’t worry, Soochi. I got your back.” Soo Young sighed a hopeless, depressed sigh.

CL? Got my back? But you can barely fight Gahee what more Donghae? Hell, UEE can knock you off of your feet and you tell me that you got my back! Great! I feel so protected!

“Thanks Chae Rin. I appreciate that!”

“CL, dear. CL.” she playfully corrected her friend but Soo Young was in no mood for fun and games.

“Whatever. Listen, I heard of this sketch portrait contest that the school will have and I’m thinking of joining.” she said.

“Really!? Cool! You should totally join! You’re like the most talented sketch artist in school!”

“Yeah but I have doubts. And fears.”

“What are you so afraid of?”

“Donghae’s posse.”

“What? Are they joining this, too?”
“No. They might take their frustrations out on my drawing and sabotage it. You know, wreck it. Tear it. Do some nasty on it.”

“Don’t sweat it, girl! The judges won’t allow that!” CL laughed. Soo Young shook her head.

“You’re just not getting it, aren’t you? These people don’t give two s about teachers and . You on them, they dump it back on you.”

“Just stay confident and don’t sweat it. Remember what I told you?” Soo Young honestly forgot what her friend said.

“Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“Okay good. You are joining that contest, alright! Nothing’s gonna stop you!”

“Listen, I’m getting all sleepy and so mind if we just talk later at school?” Soo Young made this excuse as her hyperactive friend was really irritating her.

“Alright! Take care now and be strong! I LOVEYOU!!!!!” CL screeched into the phone. Soo Young hung up and lay down on her bed. Feeling bored, she grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on. At 12:30 am, there weren’t that many good shows. Only some B-movies and news shows. One news show caught her attention, particularly because it involved the army. Soo Young turned the TV up a little bit and sat up to pay attention.

“Daddy?” the news featured the army, commanded by her father, about to take on the Raven Empire, hell-bent on capturing the Korean Mafia and making the Raven Empire Emperor pay for the damage that he had caused on their city. The spies and operatives were holding a meeting on their secret plan.

“The opposing empire, the Raven Empire has destroyed the Temple of the Empress, resulting in a great loss of lives and damage of property. Not only that, Emperor Kangta’s forces kidnapped our Empress Sandara and she is now in the hands of the Korean Mafia. We are doing everything we can in order to save our Empress and put a stop to these attacks.” Soo Young felt nervousness envelope her.

“Daddy are you serious? War? No…no daddy.” Soo Young whimpered before the TV, touching the screen as if begging her father to not join in the war . But she had no choice. Her father was part of the army, head of it even and if she wanted to eat three times a day, she was going to have to ler her dad do the job.

[RAVEN EMPIRE]

The Raven Empire Palace was as quiet as could be. The Emperor, the Raven Prince, and the royal subjects were all asleep. The Secret Force that the Nabi Empire Army sent stealthily made their way into the Temple. Everything was dark and surely, nobody was around. They crept through the windows and ended up in the centermost part of the Temple. It had so many vases and ornaments that the Secret Force feared that one wrong move could lead to the discovery of their plot.

“Where’s the room?”

“I think it’s on the 2nd floor.” said another spy. True enough it was, they ran upstairs and found the master bedroom where the Emperor slept. The room was grand and elaborate and the bed was made with the finest sheets from across the lands. The spies saw the Emperor sleeping in bed, almost dead as he was stiff. The spies wanted a slow, silent, and painless death for the cruel ruler so as not to make it obvious.

“Hold your breaths. This is gonna be real quick!” the other spies covered their noses and watched as the leader of the group threw the bomb that contained carbon monoxide, a deadly gas and as quick as the throw was the spreading of the noxious odor that was sure to steal the life of whoever inhaled it. The spies, upon throwing, the bomb, exited the room and locked it, leaving the cruel Emperor alone in his room to suffocate. The spies hurriedly exited the room and the Palace altogether, posioning the Emperor.

[THE FOLLOWING DAY]

Sleepy and weary from this morning, Soo Young got up despite of the bad feeling she was in due to anxiety and inability to fall asleep. Soo Young hurriedly stood up and put her uniform on, dashing down from her room to the dining room downstairs to have breakfast. It was the first time that she arrived at the table before her mother and brother. Not waiting for them, she grabbed a slice of bread and some orange juice and stressfully chewed on it, drinking her juice from time to time. Nervousness and confusion began to settle down on her as well as depression. She couldn’t stand losing her father. The thought of it was painful enough. Once she was done with her breakfast, she brushed her teeth and did her hair, not that her hairstyle was fancy. She just brushed her hair and sprayed some hair perfume on her long, wavy locks. The skinny, 5’5” high school student made her way out of the house without bidding her brother and mother goodbye on a bicycle, bound for school.

I wonder why they’re not up yet. It’s almost 7 am! Soo Young pedaled quicker and quicker until she got to the bicycle parking lot of the school. Soo Young jumped down from her bike and parked it at the spot where she usually parked it. Her worry over her father’s condition in the army, with the war about to be waged, got her mind off the bullies and she actually forgot that they were given community service.

“HEY!” called CL from afar. Soo Young stayed put in her spot and watched as CL came dashing to her with open arms, ready to embrace her. Soo Young wasn’t a touchy person but since the petite bleached blonde was her best friend, she just let CL wrap her arms around her without much of a reaction.

“CL, I think my dad’s going to war.” she said with a sad tone. CL clutched her arms with a worried look plastered on her face.

“What? Why?”

“Didn’t you watch the news?” CL arched her eyebrow and shook her head. “Oh right that was at 12:30 am. Anyways, thing is the neighboring empire just attacked the Temple of Empress Sandara and kidnapped her. The army of this side of the country wants to save our Empress so war’s definitely gonna break out and…” Soo Young sighed, worry and fear taking over her.

“Are you okay?” CL noticed that Soo Young’s eyes were getting all teary and she looked like she was starting to lose hope.

“I don’t want to lose my dad, CL.” Just as the two were having a dramatic conversation, in came the bully troupe, headed by Lee Donghae. They strutted down the hallway and judging by the look on their faces, they didn’t look too happy, especially when they spotted the girl that caused them all this trouble.

“Oh God…” groaned Soo Young. The tears from her eyes disappeared and her sad look transformed into a scared one. Running wasn’t an option and neither was hiding as she had already been spotted. All she could do was pray for them not to hit her when they pass by.

“What a beautiful day, ain’t it Donghae?” exclaimed Gahee. They were only a few inches away from CL and Soo Young.

“It would’ve been if we weren’t about to do community service!” their leader said. “All thanks to someone here?” they passed by Soo Young and without her knowing, Donghae hit her at the back of her head hard, making her almost fall to the floor. CL saw this and helped her friend up. She chased them and yelled,

“Hey now that wasn’t nice!” CL pointed an accusing finger at them. Donghae cocked his head to the side and stepped up to confront her.

“No. But this is!” CL cringed, thought that Donghae was going to hit her but then turned his attention to Soo Young and grabbed her by the hair. Soo Young screeched and tried to fight back by pushing his strong hands away but Donghae just threw her to the ground again. Soo Young fell hard on her knees and on her sides.

“What the is your problem?!” Soo Young this time wasn’t afraid to curse out loud. She stood up and pushed Donghae several times though her push wasn’t strong enough to topple the leader of the bully posse. Nana seized after her, grabbing her jacket and throwing her down the floor once more.

“Looks like you’re starting a fight, huh?” Gahee, with her high heeled boots, kicked Soo Young’s side. It was déjà vu for Soo Young as the same thing happened all over again. UEE picked her up by the hair and took her to the ladies’ shower room which was right beside the lockers. CL tried to stop them but Choi Siwon pushed her back, making her run away. UEE, Nana, and Gahee had the poor girl in their hands, about to humiliate her in front of the Women’s Volleyball Team.

“OW! OW STOP IT! PLEASE! I AIN’T DONE NOTHING TO YOU!!” Soo Young fought for her innocence but the girls were just ruthless. With her wavy locks in her hands, UEE rammed Soo Young face first into the lockers. The members of the Volleyball Team could only watch in horror as they witnessed a helpless young girl get dragged around and have her face almost disfigured. UEE threw Soo Young to the floor, her sides hitting the benches. One of the members of the Volleyball team told UEE to stop it.

“Back off , this ain’t none of your business!” Nana pushed the Volleyball team member away. It was her turn to torture Soo Young. She grabbed Soo Young’s arm and dragged her on the floor. UEE and Gahee followed suit and took her to the showers. They pushed her up against the wall and beat her up. For three hot, drop-dead gorgeous women, they sure knew how to inflict pain on people. Punches to the eye, knees to the gut, elbows to the ribs. All these were endured by Soo Young and it hurt so much that she collapsed on the floor and cried for help but none of the Volleyball team players dared go near the merciless female members of Donghae’s posse. Blood started to come out of Soo Young’s lower lip, her cheek, and her forehead. Her knees and joints began to go weak as she found it hard to stand up.

“Help…me…please…”she weakly begged the varsity players to toughen up and stop the three from hurting her. Nana and Gahee forced her to stand up and to further humiliate her, they made her stand in the shower and turned the knob, soaking Soo Young wet. The three laughed loudly at her and with the varsity team petrified and too scared to help her, Nana pushed Soo Young forward and watched with a wicked face as Soo Young weakly fell on her own.

“That’s for giving us community service, !” Gahee snarled. The three of them walked out of the varsity locker room, hissing and giving mean stares at anyone who looked at them suspiciously. Once the three girls have disappeared, the varisty members helped Soo Young up.

“Oh God are you okay?” worriedly asked one member of the team. Soo Young meekly nodded.

“You have to go to the clinic!”

“Tell the principal about this!” everyone wanted to help Soo Young as they were scared out of their guts because of what they had just witnessed. Soo Young was, however, able to stand up thanks to them and though she was soaking wet, she was determined to go to class.

“Don’t go to class in that! You’re soaking wet!” said one varsity member. “Tell you what, I got an extra set of clothes, uniform, underwear and all. You can borrow them first. Just take ‘em to the dry cleaners and return them whenever you can. I’ll take yours home first and clean them up. Soo Young looked at her with hopeful, thankful eyes and smiled at her.

“Come on, I’ll even help you dress up. This is my last class so it won’t be a problem.” the varsity member led Soo Young to the cubicle and waited for her to dress up.

“What’s your name, by the way?” she asked.

“Choi Soo Young. You?”

“My name’s Victoria Song.” Soo Young emerged from the cubicle and handed her wet clothes to Victoria. Victoria put them in a plastic bag and placed them in her lockers.

“Nice to meet you, Soo Young. Come on, I’ll walk you to your room.” Victoria offered. She and Soo Young, who was now dry and good as new, except for some minor bleedings which she managed to cover with her handkerchief.

“Thanks.”

“What room are you supposed to be in now?”

“W412.” said Soo Young.

“That’s kinda far from here. Why don’t you just skip that class. You don’t look so good. Is that your last class?

“Nah. I got another class after that. So I still have to deal with them a little bit longer.” Victoria and Soo Young sat on the bench for a while.

“You know, what they did to you was totally unfair! I can’t believe you just let them push you around like that! Tell the principal about it!” Victoria advised. Soo Young just shook her head, not wanting to get into any more trouble with that group.

“Can’t. Already owe them one. My brother told on them and now they’re getting community service and they’re taking out their frustrations on me. They take out their frustrations on other people on me. I don’t know why.”

“You don’t owe them no bull, Soo Young!” Victoria said. “They owe YOU bull! After all they’ve put you through.”

“Meh. I’d rather not. It’s not worth getting into trouble for. Just let it slide.” Victoria was shocked at Soo Young’s perspective but instead of correcting her, she just shrugged it off.

“Alright. It’s up to you then. But I’m just saying. If ever you need a friend, call me. Victoria Song.” she extended her hand for a handshake which Soo Young took and shook.

“Choi Soo Young.” Victoria smiled and walked away from Soo Young and once again, the latter felt alone and vulnerable. The frail, injured young girl stood up from the bench and gathered her things which were still at the door of the varsity shower room. Soo Young sulkily made her way to her classroom with a heavy burden in her heart. In the classroom, the bullies sat in front while CL and the other not-so-popular people sat at the back. Soo Young tried her hardest to get in quietly without anyone noticing her but the bullies just had a sharp ear for her movements.

“My loser radar says that a new loser has entered the building.” Soo Young knew this was for her but in order to avoid chaos, she rolled her eyes and ignored it, sitting next to CL.

“Where’d you get your uniform? Didn’t they soak you wet?”

“Some varsity player lent me her clothes. Good thing they fit!”

“Lucky you. I remember when I got soaked wet!”

“When did that happen?”
“Passing car splashed water on me. No biggie.” CL smiled. Soo Young shook her head and smirked. The two paid attention to the lesson but found it hard to concentrate as the bullies were gossiping…about them.

“Wow, looks like Soo Young found someone she could trade uniforms with!” Nana exclaimed out loud. Soo Young heard her and gave her the evil eye.

“She can’t afford to buy herself another uniform set perhaps?” UEE laughed.

“Shut up, Jin Ah!”

“Did you just call me Jin Ah?!” Nana yelled. The teacher heard them and tried to calm them down.

“The two of you please tone down your voices.” Soo Young paid no mind and even bit back by saying,

“Yeah! You shut up! You don’t know me so don’t go around talking trash about me!”

“We’re not backstabbing you, we’re just telling the truth!” Gahee said. Donghae suddenly interrupted the girls’ talk and said,

“It’s not our fault that a poor girl like you can’t afford an extra uniform. Isn’t that right, you military brat!”

“Your daddy’s commander in the army but why is his daughter so darn weak!?” Siwon cackled.

“Maybe her daddy’s a weak -kisser, too!” the teacher heard this and tried once again to shut them up but Soo Young wanted to have the last say.

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK, YOU !” Soo Young screamed. Everybody, including the teacher, looked at her with wide eyes, in disbelief of what they were hearing. Was the class’ quietest student screaming? Expletives? “MY DADDY FIGHTS FOR OUR FREEDOM AND SAFETY AND IF IT WASN’T FOR HIM YOU’D BE LOCKED UP IN JAIL, WORKING AS SLAVES SO DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT MY DAD! TALK ABOUT HIM ONE MORE TIME AND I’M GONNA RIP YOUR THROAT AND-”

“Soo Young that is enough!” the teacher demanded. Soo Young calmed down and took her seat while evilly eyeing the mean kids who were laughing and ridiculing her.

“Talk about me but don’t talk about my dad!” Soo Young was in tears as she suddenly remembered the war that might occur and knowing that her father was in it made her even more emotional. CL embraced her and tried to calm her down.

“I know you’re having a rough day. Just sleep for a while. Don’t worry this class is only for 40 minutes and we’ve got approximately 15 minutes more. Just sleep. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go, okay?” CL smiled at her. Soo Young refused to look and just rested her head on the table, immediately falling asleep. After some explaining and jotting down of notes, the class ended and CL had to wake Soo Young up.

“What? Is it time already?” Soo Young shook her head and looked up. Sure enough everyone was getting ready to go home.

“Yeah. Come on. Let’s go home. I’ll stay at your place for a while if it’s okay. You know, just to keep you company so you don’t feel down.” CL offered. Soo Young straightened up.

“Sure. That would be great. My mom said she’d come home late and Minho’s out with his friends again for sure so I think we’ll have the house to ourselves.” CL and Soo Young walked hastily out of the classroom and down the hall. They had their books in their hands and their bags on their shoulders. Soo Young was definitely in no mood to talk as she was still pissed off with what the bullies said about her dad.

“I just can’t get over it. It’s so ing annoying.” Soo Young complained as she stuffed her books in her bag and got on her bicycle. CL could see the pissed-ness in her face and there wasn’t a doubt in this world that what they said really offended her. It really hurt her feelings, especially when they mentioned her dad. Soo Young started biking slowly in order for CL, who was walking, to keep up with her. The whole time their travel home was silent.

As these two girls are still living the idyllic, peaceful suburbian life; the busier part of the city was already preparing for trouble.