Jiyong happily bobbed his head from side to side as he looked over the drink menu in the back wall of the small coffee shop. He mouthed the words to the song he was listening to on his headphones as he mentally argued with himself over ordering the hot mocha latte or a cappuccino. Behind him, Jaehee frowned at him and pulled one of the earphones away and then let it snap back into place.

Wincing and pulling them off his ears, Jiyong turned to look at his friend with an annoyed expression. “What?”

Jaehee chuckled, “Where exactly are we headed after we grab breakfast?”

Jiyong grinned and twirled around to face his best friend. “We’re going shopping for Seunghyun’s present. I need to get him something special for our fifth anniversary.”

“I thought so. I don’t understand why you always have to take me though. I’m sure Kyurhee would be more useful for that.” Jaehee said as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

“While she might be, you my friend are the perfect real life mannequin for Seunghyun. Same height, shape and weight. You barely have any curves, flat chest, and your shoulders are probably broader than most girls. That fauxhawk and no use of make up practically make you look like a guy. I swear if I didn’t know you were a girl, I would have hit on you a long time ago.” Jiyong grinned at Jaehee once again while patting her stomach with the back of his hand.

“Geez, nice to know what you think of me.” Jaehee replied as she motioned him to turn around since it was his turn to order. She shook her head and smiled at her friend as she rubbed the back of her neck.

After grabbing their coffee and breakfast sandwiches, the two of them headed out of the coffee shop to walk towards the mall that was about ten blocks away. Just around the corner from their location, Jiyeon was frantically running down the sidewalk. She had woken up unusually late and was making a mad dash towards her school.

As she rounded the corner, she completely missed the two people walking in her path and bumped into the tallest one of the two. Jaehee’s sandwich flew off behind her and the iced coffee on her left hand ended up spilling all over her torso. Jiyeon was pushed back and fell roughly on her side; thanks to her backpack she managed to avoid hitting her head on the concrete. Instead of helping either one of them, Jiyong just stood there with his mouth wide open and eyes bulging out of their sockets.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry! I didn’t see where I was going!” Jiyeon shouted out as she tried to get up but found it rather difficult with the pain that was shooting down her leg. Jaehee looked down at her soaked shirt and groaned, but she put the cup down on the ground and moved to help the girl in front of her.

“Hey, it’s alright. Let me help you up.” Jaehee calmly said and offered her hand to Jiyeon who took it and was pulled up to her feet in an instant. She noted that this girl was particularly strong, mainly by the tight grip on her hand.

Unlike Jiyeon, Jaehee noticed the burning sensation on her hand as their skin made contact. She quickly moved her hand away once Jiyeon was standing up and moved it to her soaked shirt, hoping that the wetness of it would cool her hand off.

“Are you ok? Can you walk on that leg?” Jaehee asked the shorter girl in front of her.

Jiyeon simply nodded and then bowed to the woman in front of her. “Yes, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I’m sorry for bumping into you but I must go. I’m late for school.” She then started walking away from the two of them while wincing because of the pain in her leg. It was starting to go away but it still made it a little hard for her to walk.
Jaehee turned around to watch Jiyeon limp away and then turned to look at her left hand. She moved her fingers and frowned as the burning started to go away. Jiyong looked at her with curiosity and smirked. “You think she’s cute!”

“No.” Jaehee looked at him with the same frown on her face. “When I touched her, the contact made my hand feel like it was on fire. That’s never happened before.”

It was Jiyong’s turn to frown as he sipped on his mocha latte. “Perhaps she studies holy magic though I would have sensed it on her.”

“There was no aura around her. She’s not a practitioner but that doesn’t explain my skin’s reaction to hers.” The two of them turned to look at the direction in which Jiyeon took off but the girl had already disappeared into the crowd of people walking up and down the sidewalk.

“Well I guess it doesn’t matter, it’s not like we’ll see her ever again. Plus, we need to get you a new tank top or you’ll have flies all over you.” Jiyong giggled and started walking towards the mall once again. Jaehee turned to look behind her again to see if she spotted the girl, but when she didn’t see her, she turned to walk after her friend.





“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Jiyeon murmured to herself as she walked past the gate of the university. As she made her way up the steps to the main doors, she didn’t see Jieun waiting for her on the side of the stairs. Jieun made a quick dash towards Jiyeon and glomped her when she caught up to her.

“Jiyeon-ah! Where have you been?! I beat you here and that never happens. Omo, what happened to your leg?!” Jieun let out a rush of questions as she looked down at the big scrape on the side of Jiyeon’s calve.

“I bumped into someone and fell while I was rushing to get here, but it’s nothing. I’m fine.” Jiyeon assured her friend but Jieun would not take that as an answer.

“It’s bleeding and it could get infected Jiyeon! Take a seat and let me take care of it okay?” Jieun told her friend as she pushed her down to sit on the stairs. She took her backpack off her shoulders and pulled out a first aid kit. Jiyeon raised an eyebrow at her friend. I swear she carries the weirdest stuff in that backpack.

Deciding not to fight with her friend, Jiyeon let Jieun attend to the scrape on her leg. When she finished, Jiyeon asked Jieun if they were late to class but the other girl assured her they still had about fifteen minutes before class started. For the first time that morning, Jiyeon let out a sigh of relief.





Hyomin disinterestedly chewed her food and threw a dart at the dartboard that was hanging on the nearby pillar. She had her feet resting up on Hwayoung’s lap while the younger girl quietly ate her food. Other guardians were seated on the same table holding a light conversation that Hyomin had no interest to overhear. She was waiting for Eunjung to return with news about the Chosen One. It was their jobs are guardians to protect this person, and the faster this person was under their protection; the more all the guardians would feel at rest.

They did not need the events of the past Chosen One to happen again. By the time they had made it to where he was it had been too late. The guy had died due to a natural disaster, which was good and bad at the same time. Good because he not been killed by The Shadows but bad because if The Shadows had risen to start a war, they would have had no hero to save the world with. Hyomin’s train of thoughts came to a stop when she noticed Eunjung looking at her behind the pillar. She quickly got off her seat and headed towards their leader.

“Did the Lord give you any clues as to who it is or where they’re at?” Hyomin asked Eunjung as soon as she got close to her. Eunjung simply nodded her head and motioned for Hyomin to follow her. As they approached the center of the warehouse they where housed in, Hyomin walked over to the table where multiple computers were set up. She accessed the communication system and set off the alarms around all of the warehouses. In a matter of minutes, all the guardians started assembling in the warehouse.

The Guardians had made a group of old abandoned warehouses outside of the city their headquarters. By the time all of the guardians had made into this warehouse, it was almost completely packed. Eunjung looked around at the hundreds of guardians and unleashed the energy globe she had been holding in her hand all this time. The globe began to spin rapidly revealing the image of a girl. She was young, in her late teen years, beautiful, with long slight wavy brown hair.

“The image you see before you is the image of the Lord’s Chosen One. Her name is Park Jiyeon and luckily for us, she lives here in Seoul. No one is to approach her at this time. I will personally keep and eye on her and protect her if needed. I must gain her trust before I bring her here. Understood?” Eunjung looked around as all the guardians saluted her.

“Dismissed.” Everyone saluted her again and then began to move out to return to what they were doing. The globe then stopped projecting the image and dissolved into the air.

“Why don’t you want us to approach her? It’s best if we bring her here now.” Hyomin told Eunjung once everyone, except for the members of the Elite Six had left.

“She has to continue living a normal life for now.” Eunjung’s response was expressionless like always.

“It makes sense, if we bring here now it would probably just shock her or worst, make her think we’ve kidnapped her.” Soyeon mentioned.

“Yes, plus with Eunjung unni watching her, she’ll be fine.” Hwayoung smiled at Hyomin causing the older girl to groan and stomp her feet. She didn’t like this but knew her friends were right. Sometimes her impatience got the best of her.

“I’m heading out to find her and keep and eye on her. Hyomin you’re in charge of this place while I’m gone.” Eunjung then began walking away from the group. Qri sighed as she watched their leader walk away and smiled.

Soyeon rolled her eyes and shook her head at the mage. “You know that crush will get you nowhere. Why don’t pick someone else? Like Boram.”

Boram turned to look at Qri, a blush on her cheeks, and shook her head as if trying to tell Qri that she wasn’t interested. It was a lie. Qri scoffed at both of them and walked away. Soyeon and Hwayoung chuckled at the situation and Boram face palmed.





After their classes had ended, Jiyeon and Jieun had made their way to a café not far from Jieun’s house. They frequented this place often; they would order some food and do their homework or study. Taking a break from the chapters of the book she needed to read, Jiyeon rubbed her eyes and looked around her surroundings. The sun was starting to set; an orange tinge filled the west side of the city while the familiar light purple blended into a dark shade on east.

“Jieun, it’s getting late. I think we should head home now.” Jiyeon said as she started gathering her things and putting them back into her backpack. Jieun looked up at her and set her pen down on top of her notebook. She raised her arms above her head and stretched.

“We stayed longer than usual. It’s gonna get dark soon. Will you be okay walking home?” She asked Jiyeon as she started packing her things.

“I’ll be fine Jieun, no need to worry. It’s not like we live extremely far away from each other. Your walk is just shorter than mine.” They both stood up and went inside the café to pay for what they had ordered. After paying, they said their goodbyes and headed in opposite directions towards their homes. Jieun lived only three blocks away but Jiyeon had to walk much further to get home. She was used to this walk though, the university was just down the street and her home was at least a twenty minute walk from there.

It didn’t take long for the sky to get dark and the neon signs on her way home gave Jiyeon a sense of peace. She would always look up at everyone she passed up and smile. Her favorite sign was that of the toy store that was two blocks from her home. It had a neon green T-Rex on it and it would always flash back and forth doing two different expressions in each one. This particular sign also meant that she could take the shortcut to the apartment building she called home by walking down its alley and then behind the one of the Chinese restaurant located across from her apartment building.

What she did not notice was the person in the motorcycle that was slowly moving down the side of the street just a few feet away from her. It had not taken Eunjung long to locate the area of the city Jiyeon lived in. Eunjung had lived long enough to watch the city flourish from a small town into the giant metropolis it was now. She had walked and rode her motorcycle through the entire city many times. There was not an area she didn’t know about. The images that had been provided to The Guardians via the globe of light given to her by God had a bit of scenery behind Jiyeon’s image. Her knowledge of the city had let her know exactly where to go.

She had been riding around a four block perimeter for the past hour and finally she had spotted Jiyeon on the street that lead to the toy store and the small alley next to it. She rode up to where the alley started and watched the girl walk down and make a left once she had reached the end of it. A slight wind blew from Eunjung’s left causing her to look towards her left and away from Jiyeon. The wind was not blowing from that direction at all which caused her to instantly become alerted.

She saw the shadows of several individuals moving through the dark alley in the direction Jiyeon had walked. In a place where light was scarce, like this alley, there should be no shadows. This was a technique used by The Shadows to avoid being seen by anyone. They blended their bodies into shadows of others and dark places which allowed quick moment without being noticed. Eunjung quickly turned her motorcycle off and made a quick dash towards the alley. She did not want to alert the people walking down the side walk so she left her sword, which was currently in its two separate forms, attached to the motorcycle.





On the other side of the street Jiyong and Jaehee were heading home. They had been eating at a restaurant that was down the street. At the same time Eunjung had spotted the movement of The Shadows they too had seen the movement. Jaehee motioned Jiyong to follow her towards the alley that was located across from the one Jiyeon had walked into. Being more perceptive than Jiyong, Jaehee had also seen Eunjung running towards the alley.

“Where those Shadows I just saw moving across the street?” Jiyong questioned as the two of them stepped into the darkness of the alley.

“Yes, and I think a Guardian is running after them. I need you to summon your Eye of Kilrogg and discretely watch whatever might happen in the alley across the street.” Jaehee told him as she looked across the street and spotted only the motorcycle she had seen the Guardian riding.

Jiyong set down the shopping bags he was carrying and started concentrating his energy to create a green eyeball shaped energy mass. The Eye of Kilrogg allowed him to see anything he wanted a certain distance away without giving the location of the caster. He quickly led the eyeball across the street making sure none of the civilians spotted it.





Jiyeon had just turned left down the other alley when suddenly five figures appeared in front of her. They were clad in black robes with a hood that covered the majority of their faces. She stood frozen and shocked in front of them. How is it possible for people to just suddenly appear like that?!

One of the robed figures grinned at her; it was really the only part of his face that she could see. He moved to grab her, but Eunjung’s ridiculous fast running speed had her running up the side of the wall and roundhouse kicking the guy nearest to the wall. Seeing him fall to the ground made the rest of The Shadows scatter around and then run towards Eunjung to attack her.

Jiyeon stood still where she had been standing; her shocked eyes moving around to see the movement in front of her and around her. The robed figures moved quickly, throwing kicks and punches to the other figure that had first attacked them. The other figure was skilled though; she blocked and attacked the assailants with remarkable ability.

Unlike the ones they had fought off in the old warehouse a few nights before, these Shadows were more skilled. Four of them were rogues and one of them was a shadow priest. She could tell by the purple aura that surrounded her body and the light barrier that protected her from Eunjung’s attacks. While the four rogues distracted Eunjung, the priest seemed to be casting a spell that could either be headed towards her or Jiyeon.

Eunjung wasted no time and snapped the arm of the rogue who had launched his dagger towards her; she took the dagger in his hand and jammed it right through his neck. She then swung the dagger towards the other three causing them to move back and then moved to stand in front of Jiyeon.

“Mind Blast!” It’s what she heard the priest yell out and then felt the spell trying to incase itself around her but her immunity simply made the spell disappear. She could see the shocked expression on the priest which caused her to drop all of her defenses. The light barrier dissolved and her body was no longer surrounded by the purple aura. Taking this opportunity, Eunjung threw the dagger at the priest, piercing her chest.

She saw the priest double over before one of the rogues moved to help her up. The other two moved to the rogue Eunjung had killed moments before and in an instant their bodies blended into the darkness of the alley. They took off in the opposite direction. Eunjung took a few steps forward and then turned to look at Jiyeon who had her hands over .

“Y-you…y-you…k-killed them!” Was the only thing that came out of the shocked girl’s mouth as she pointed towards Eunjung.

Eunjung took a step towards Jiyeon which caused the brown haired girl to take a step back. She wasn’t sure if this girl was going to do something to her now. She looked at her, the two guns in the holsters strapped around Eunjung’s thighs, and how the straps blended in with the rest of the outfit. Black leather straps surrounded every inch of Eunjung’s body, tightly wrapped around her figure. Each strap had a silver square buckle attached to it. The straps started at the bottom of her boots, around her ankles, and went up to her neck and down to her wrists.

“They were going to kill you. I protected you from them.” Eunjung told her as she took another step towards Jiyeon.

Jiyeon took her eyes off Eunjung’s outfit and looked at her face. She noted the short shoulder length black hair and her black eyes filled with absolutely no expression or glimmer in them. Jiyeon placed her hands on the bottom part of her sundress and gripped onto it tightly. She bit her lip as Eunjung stepped closer to her again and shut her eyes when she felt the other girl’s hands on her arms.

“You’re safe now. Please allow me to walk you home. Nothing will happen to you as long as I’m with you.” Eunjung’s voice was monotone, there was no plea or reassurance in it, but somehow the contact had eased Jiyeon’s feelings. She felt a reassurance rise in her. She suddenly felt safe with this girl standing next to her.

“What’s your name?” Jiyeon asked her looking into Eunjung’s eyes.

“Eunjung.”

“Eunjung…” Jiyeon repeated her name. It was weird, but saying the girl’s name made Jiyeon feel safe. Safe? What? Why?

Eunjung tipped her head to the side as she looked at Jiyeon and then looked up to see a green eyeball dissipate. An expression finally marked her face, a frown. Someone had been watching what had happened. Perhaps their leader?

“I shouldn’t be here with you like this, but oddly enough, I feel comfortable in your presence.” Jiyeon’s voice broke Eunjung’s train of thought. She looked at Jiyeon again and offered her hand. Biting her lip, Jiyeon took Eunjung’s hand and a sudden rush of relief and relaxation washed over her body. She must be putting a spell on me or something! How can I trust her this easily? She just killed two people!

Her body was relaxed but her mind raced as Eunjung led her down the alley and onto the street. They quickly crossed the street and reached Jiyeon’s apartment building. “I would walk you to your apartment, but I’m positive you’ll be safe inside.”

Eunjung’s voice brought Jiyeon’s mind to a stop. She looked at the doors to her apartment building and then turned to look at Eunjung. Jiyeon let go of Eunjung’s hand and politely bowed to her.

“Thank you, I guess…for everything.” Oh for god’s sake, I’m thanking her now. Eunjung gave her a slight nod and watched as Jiyeon walked inside the apartment building. When she disappeared into one of the elevators, Eunjung turned around to walk towards her motorcycle to bring it around towards Jiyeon’s home.





On the other side of the street where Eunjung’s motorcycle was located, Jaehee and Jiyong watched Eunjung mount it and take off. Jiyong had already explained to Jaehee what he had witnessed through his spell. Many ideas had raced through Jaehee’s mind at who these two girls were, especially since one of them was the girl who had bumped into her in the morning, and about The Shadows that had suddenly appeared.

“We need to talk to my mother. If my theory is correct, there is a chance God’s Chosen One has been reincarnated.” Jaehee told Jiyong as she stepped out of the alley and started to make her way back home with Jiyong trailing behind her.