Athenaeum's denizens were mostly historians, researchers, scientists, men of letters, philosophers and the like. They became grey souls because they were neither good nor evil. Their interests lie in discovering the truth about everything. They never cared about religion or having power. The mad scientists often ended in the realm of Midnight.

       Although the denizens had renamed their world as Jaejoong Realm, Dara still couldn't bring herself to call the place as Jaejoong Realm. So, in her mind, the realm remained Athenaeum.

       She discovered that Athenaeum provided its denizens the means to continue their research and studies. Everyone here could create illusions. Illusions that could remain intact for twenty‑four hours. After which, it had to be created again. But the changes and the illusions that Jaejoong had created in this realm remained permanent. He had also taught the denizens how to use color in their illusions. Before he came, everything was grey, and the grey mist was everywhere. One couldn't see anything beyond a foot because of the mist.

       Nowadays, the mist was mostly on the ground. Dara soon learned that the mist acted as a screen as well as noise muffler.

       "So, what exactly is the mist covering?" inquired Dara.

       Liza smiled, lifted up her ankle‑length skirt and stomp on the ground. The mist dispelled and a clear glass‑like ground appeared. Dara gasped when she realized that the ground was like a window to the three worlds beneath them.

       "If you concentrate enough you would be able to see and watch whoever you want," explained Yuri.

       Dara concentrated. In her mind, she called out Jaejoong's name. The glass-like window showed her husband. Jaejoong was flying with Yabu. But she could barely hear what they were saying. It seemed as if they were both speaking at the same time and their voice had echoes. Even Jaejoong's image was not clear, like it was some bad TV reception. His image was doubling. No, worse than that since one image of Jaejoong seemed to be going forward while the other was going backward. There was even an image that was going up and another one going down.

       "Something is wrong with the reception of this monitor," she complained.

       "There is nothing wrong with the images, Dara. You are simply seeing the present and the past simultaneously."

       "What?"

       "From here, we could see what is currently happening in the present, and we could also see the past. Knowing what really happened in the past greatly helps us in our research and understanding of history."

       She had learned that both mother and daughter were historians. They specialized in the Middle Ages, which explained their unusual garb that covered them from head to foot. Most denizens in Athenaeum dressed in whatever time period they were mostly at home with. Liza and Yuri lived in 19th century Russia, but they preferred the clothes from the middle ages.

       "How could you distinguish which is the present and the past? Does this even have some button to push so I could choose what I want to see?"

       "In time, all denizens of Jaejoong Realm learn how to control the images we see in the three worlds below us. Once you have mastered this, you would be able to see the exact time and place you need and the overlapping images would disappear."

       "You must teach me how to do this. There are some things I need to see and discover before my husband arrives here."

       "That is why we were both chosen to guide you," Liza beamed. "Both mother and I teaches history. And we could show you how exactly to see what you want."

       Dara had always been a fast learner. And though she was now a soul, she still possessed that ability. But she had lost all her powers. She did gain the power of illusion. She could now create anything she wanted. Even a moving, talking replica of Jaejoong and their children. But she eventually stopped creating such illusions since it brought her pain whenever she watched them disappear after a day.

       To ease the sadness and longing to the life she had left behind, she concentrated in finding out the truth about Yang Hyun Suk. Through the guidance of Yuri and Liza, she began to write and compile information she could find about the demon.

       Yang Hyun Suk came into existence long before she was born. But because of the magic of Athenaeum, she was able to watch his rise to power and eventual downfall as well as how for the first time, Lightside and Midnight worked together.

       Most denizens of Athenaeum write their discoveries, research and theories into books. Liza told her that before Jaejoong came, the realm was cluttered with billions of books stacked everywhere. Illusions had a time limit, but ideas put inside books remained forever and thus their books remained in existence. Jaejoong cleaned up the place and introduced the use of e‑books and e‑readers. Instead of seeing books cluttered everywhere and occupying almost all the space in the realm, Jaejoong had created a much more efficient way of storing the books. Nowadays, after a book had been finished, it would automatically disappear. To summon back the books into solid existence, all that was needed was to say its title and the book would appear. Or they could create a computer or e-reader and simply type the title of the book for it to appear in e-book form.

       She had decided to put all of her research and information about Yang Hyun Suk in a book. She was a bit thrilled when the book manifested itself with her name as its author. Everything she had discovered would be automatically written down on the blank pages of the book. As if she had her own secretary writing for her. If she no longer needed to write anything, the book would disappear. It could be summoned again from an e‑book or a computer which she could materialize using her magic of illusion whenever she needed it.

       Some denizens like Doc Il-Gook preferred to use a typewriter to create his books. Yuri liked to use pen and paper. But no matter what devices they used, the words would still automatically appear on their books.

       She was already into the part of Yang Hyun Suk's life where as Lee Jongsuk, he had found the relic that held his powers. She was about to follow Yang Hyun Suk as he travelled out of Australia when she glimpsed Junki's presence in the cave where the relic was kept.

       Her attention turned to Junki. She soon discovered that she was the one who alerted Junki about Lee Jongsuk a.k.a. Yang Hyun Suk when  she brought the ashes of the dark Siesmyre to his office. But Junki had chosen to hide the truth from her.

       Her distrust of Junki resurfaced. She created another book. This one was entitled Junki. She first looked into Junki’s past during the time he and Jaejoong's first became acquainted. After discovering that Jaejoong owned Junki a favor, she began to browse through Junki's life. As she traced Junki's history that spanned two thousand years, she began to learn his secrets. By the time she was through, she would know all the weakness, secrets and strengths of the demon. He would never ever be able to lie to her or use Jaejoong's for any of his schemes!

       Time did not exist in Athenaeum. There was no night or day. The denizens sleep whenever they want or need to. She used to sleep for eight hours like she regularly did in the human realm, but as she delved into her research, she discovered that she could go on without needing to sleep. Even eating was a choice. Her spirit body never craved for food at all, although food could be summoned or created at will. The food of course was illusion but it contained the same taste, even better than the real ones. It also was fulfilling. And since no one really felt the food disappearing after twenty‑four hours, the food kept most of the denizens happy.

       She had conjured herself a vegetarian burger that she munched as she continued her research on Junki. She still could not bring herself to eat meat, though it wasn't really meat.

       "Dara?"

       Dara barely heard her name called. She was too engrossed on the images she was seeing!

       Suddenly, mist covered the glass window! She also felt herself floating!

       "What the!?" she blurted.

       She heard a familiar laugh. She turned toward that sound and felt her heart stop. Not that she had a heart right now.

       " Jaejoong!" she screamed with delight.

       She found herself being flown by an invisible wind toward his outstretched arms.

       "Miss me?" he asked, a wide smile on his face.

       "You are late!" she though she had watched him set out after Yang Hyun Suk to avenge her.

       "I'm here now. And since I cannot stay long, let us not waste any more time."

       His arms enclosed her body. His lips sought hers. Dara closed her eyes and kissed him as passionately as she could.

       And then she noticed that something was wrong. She couldn't feel Jaejoong! His arms were holding her tight, but she couldn't feel their warmth. Even his lips locked into hers felt like she was being kissed by nothing. Her whole body was numb to any physical sensation!

       Most athletes abstain from before a major competition. And Jaejoong didn't just have an upcoming competition, it would be a duel to the death. He needed all the