I want to puke, Bora thought as she strutted down the corridor of the funerary hall with Jackson in tow.

She honestly would have if only she had eaten something in the morning. Apparently, having breakfast required sitting and eating under the scrutiny of dozens of  other people.

She didn't feel like walking through the dining hall knowing full well she would be the subject of all talks. The fiasco of the Initiation was still too fresh in everyone's mind.

She gave a tight-lipped smile to the lanky man who guarded the entrance of the funerary hall. The place was surrounded by a colorful outdoor garden. Despite being a home to dead people, a comforting sense of peace lingered in the atmosphere. Everything was bright and sunshine poured inside through large floor-to-ceiling windows.

She found her mother in a sun-bathed room with a glass ceiling. A niche contained her cremated remains, enclosed in a copper urn with delicate patterns etched all over. Next to the container, someone had framed Ji Hye’s smiling face, almost a picture perfect copy of Bora’s, only older. There were smaller frames, one being herself at her high school graduation. The moment captured seemed eons away from her current reality.

“How did this end up here?” She wondered aloud with a raspy voice.  

“Your father’s been coming here every year on her death anniversary.” Jackson revealed. “He hasn't missed one.”

Bora gave him a surprised look. She wouldn't know. She herself would isolate herself every 22nd of September. She would go somewhere she couldn't see herself or her father or anyone else.

He never searched for her on that day carrying on with their lives the following day like nothing had happened. Now she knew what he did. He was a man of few words and Bora truly realized she had no idea what went on inside his head.

Her eyes swept over the things that had been left next to the urn. A necklace with a compass pendant was wrapped around the urn. Its four points indicated north, south, east, west.

She opened the niche and she heard Jackson shuffle behind her, but he didn't say or do anything. Not that she’d have cared. She picked up the necklace and let the pendant hang. She watched the compass swing from left to right and back again.

She turned it around and squinted her eyes to read the small inscription at the back.

Courage, dear heart.

It was a wonder she didn't burst into tears right there.

The last time she'd seen this necklace had been around her mother’s neck.

She closed her fist around it and slipped it in her pocket.

There were a lot of things she didn't get as a thirteen year-old but when she first woke up after the accident she felt in her bones what it meant.

Survivor’s guilt, as they called it, had burdened her ever after.

She usually avoided looking too much at photos of her mother but still gave her one last look. A look to remember.

Remember why she was there and why she was doing what she was doing.

What she was going to do.

As the sun reached its zenith, she made a promise.  

To her mother.

To herself.

If she'd been dragged in this world against her own wishes, kicking and crying, she would go down the rest of the journey knocking over every damn door on her path.

A gun in one hand, a sword in another.

Head high.

And she would stop for no one.

***

Bora's silence was never a sign of good omen. It had never been and it never would.

That being said, Jackson still dared hope this time would be different and that nothing was brewing in her brain as they headed back to Division and Bora said nothing the whole way back.

She was deep in her thoughts when he drove the car back inside the underground garage. She barely noticed the dozens of cars of all types lining the walls.

They walked out of their vehicle and headed for the elevators. Their steps echoed against the concrete floor. She said nothing when he pushed the button calling for the cabin. He entered the elevator and thought it was her phobia keeping her at the threshold looking at him with a strange look.

He felt the apprehension that had been building up in his chest reach its culminating point when she opened .

“Can we talk?”

He hesitated then let out a long breath, “Sure, let’s talk.”

“You… were right,” she started after he stepped out of the elevator and the doors closed behind him.

She looked like she had swallowed an entire lemon.

“I’m sorry, what was that,” Jackson bent forward pretending to haven't heard her confession.

She her teeth and tried to remain calm. “I said you were right. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t taught how to fight properly.”

Jackson felt a smug satisfaction at her admission. “Are you telling me you’re considering going back to--”

“Teach me.”

A beat.

“What.”

Of course she was not considering anything rationale, Jackson thought.

He was right.

Silence wasn't a good sign.  

“Train me,” she repeated with more confidence, and he rubbed his face with his two hands.

He was so done.

She kept arguing. “You said it yourself; if I go about this alone, I don't stand a chance. Mark is more experienced than I am. Even if the upcoming Trials don't rely on brute strength, Mark knows the ins and outs of this business, he has connections and a competitive edge that I don't have. But you?” She tried to catch his gaze as he looked to the side, avoiding her eyes. “You’ve been in it for as long as him, you know the hangs of this. You can help me.”

He chuckled softly and rubbed his chin, keeping in check the anger and frustration that threatened to fizzle out of him.

“Princess,” he said with gritted teeth and she could almost see the smoke getting out of his ears, “everytime you open your mouth I tell myself you can't say something more idiotic than what you've already said before, yet here we are.” He turned his back on her and called the elevator again. “Not a chance.” He pushed impatiently on the button to call the elevator. “That's not what I had in mind when I took you to your mother,” he mumbled.

His ideal scenario had been to get her to get past her grief and get over her stupid revenge wish over Seonmin.

His plan had backfired.

“And what did you have in mind, exactly? Closure?” She spat the word like a curse. “You wanna know what I feel? Anger. Anger towards what happened, anger towards the sins that have been left unpunished. Not closure. Not even close to it.”

He didn't reply and when the elevator didn't come he simply walked away.

“That's it?” She asked, half-running after him. She refused to let it go. Jackson, she had decided, would be a key part in helping her win the Trials. An ally. Once she’d put that in her mind it was impossible for her to backtrack. “Is this how you deal with the problems in your life? By walking away?”

She grew more and more desperate each passing second. Desperate enough to provoke him.

“That’s why you gave the hard drive to me in the alley, isn't it?” She caught up to him, and walked backwards in order to face him completely. “You wanted me to put an end to this. You didn’t know I was going to come back to save your . Don’t try to make me believe otherwise. You said you didn't care.”

“Don't.” He growled, but didn’t even look in her direction. “Don't talk about things you don't know. I was going to get rid of them and then find you, and get back what belongs to me.”

“You're lying,” she said. “For all intents and purposes, you considered letting the world know about the Ghost Unit. Even if for a moment, even if it’s contrary to your beliefs. You did.”

Still no response.

“You know what?” she stopped walking and stared hard at his retreating back. “You're a coward.”

He froze.

So suddenly that Bora did too.

Oh so slowly, he turned to her. Shadows concealed his eyes but she still could see how his face had blanched and nostrils flared.

He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

He approached her, leaving only a few inches between them. Her heart beat fast but she was proud of her for not backing away.

“Say it again,” he dared her.

She didn't know what exactly her words elicited in him.

She'd said more horrible things in the past.

His lethal calm was always more scary than his full-on angry mode.

“You think you can intimidate me?” She curled her fists and spread her legs, looking up at him. She’d never hated being small sized more than in that instant. “You could've gone up against Mark and put an end to what our fathers started. But what did you do? You let someone like Mark take over Division. The same Division that thrives on blood, and killings, and blackmailing, and the exploitation of weak citizens. So yes, I think you're a damned coward, Jackson Wang, because the idle bystander is worse than the aggressor.”

“You,” he started, his voice a cold murmur, “must be the boldest and stupidest woman I’ve ever met, Princess. And I've met a lot of women.”

He bumped forcefully into her shoulder and walked back to their car. He slammed the door shut and revved the engine.

She scoffed out loud, shaking herself out of her daze. “That’s it! Run away again! I changed my mind anyways,” she yelled after him. “I don't want your stupid help!”

He sped away and she didn't turn until the sound of the engine was a faint, far off sound.

***

Bora found a way around the elevator. In the garage, a creaky metallic door led to spiral staircases that led to the deepest confines of the Cliff.

She stopped on Cloud Nine first. Just when she entered, she fell on Nairin Wang, carrying a big cardboard box and heading for the elevators.

She was pretty absorbed by her thoughts, a frown on her forehead. Bora called to her, still shaken by her altercation with Jackson.

“When is the first Trial?” She asked point blank.

Nairin who was wearing an apron scrunched her nose at her in distaste. “Hello to you too.”

Bora gave her a glare and Nairin let the box fall on the floor with a grunt. It looked heavy.

“I don't know,” she shrugged after turning to Bora. “It could be tomorrow. It could be in a month. It takes a lot of planning, you know. Do you have a plane to catch or something?”

“A month?” Bora looked like she was going to faint. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

“Well,” Nairin took the heavy-looking box again. “why don't you get a feel of Division?”

“What's that?” Bora asked, looking at the box.

“Vegetables. We j