[ Chapter VII ]

 The Sun and the Moon

There was a moment of silence and just when Taekwoon was about to answer the mysterious man, it was too late and he fired another attack of warning at Taekwoon.

“Wait,” Taekwoon said trying to make the man stop his attacks.

Taekwoon didn’t want any unnecessary violence especially at a time when he was running of patience and becoming frustrated from the heat. But the man didn’t listen. He was angry at Taekwoon for intruding and was ready to attack Taekwoon directly this time. Taekwoon could sense the man’s intent to kill. He began to take his stance, ready to fight if he really had to, and Taekwoon may even have to kill the man to defend himself. Hyuk stepped forward as well, ready to fight alongside his master.

The man launched a big blast of fire directly at Taekwoon this time, disregarding the fact that they were still inside the small cottage. Taekwoon glanced back at the drawing that was still on his mind and didn’t want it destroyed. So he dodged the blast and fled outside to the nothingness to take the fight elsewhere. The man didn’t give up and followed him. One blast after another, there was no mercy in any of the man’s attack. Taekwoon dodged left and right from each attack but barely escaping the blasts that bounced off the ground.

“Who do you think you are entering someone’s home and destroying my door?!” The man finally said as he continued his attacks.

“Wait. That’s your home? Isn’t that where the witch is supposed to live? But you’re a man…” Taekwoon glances the man from head to bottom. Definitely a man.

“And who said a man can’t practice witchcraft? Hmph, you nobles are the same as those senile old men up above,’ the man blasted another fireball at Taekwoon’s feet.

“Wait, please. I didn’t come to fight you. I only wanted to ask for help.”

“What? By destroying my property?”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking properly but I only destroyed your door… you nearly set your place on fire. Anyways, I really need your help!” Taekwoon continues to persuade the man.

“Save it! There’s no way I’ll be helping you nobles.”

The fight continued and Taekwoon could feel his body becoming exhausted both from the excessive heat and the overuse of his powers. He was beginning to feel faint but he can’t allow his guard to be down. He has to stay standing no matter what. Just as he landed, his feet started to give in despite his mind trying to stay conscious. The man saw this as an opportunity and aimed the final blast at Taekwoon.

Oh no, Taekwoon thought as he closed his eyes.

Just then, Hyuk ran up in front of his master to take the blast and his entire body flew in the back, letting out a painful whimper.

“HYUK!”

Taekwoon opened his eyes to see Hyuk fly right behind him and rushed to his partner.

“Are you okay? Answer me please.”

Hyuk was in pain and his breathing became very unstable. He let out another whimper from the pain when Taekwoon tried to see his wounds. Taekwoon couldn’t bear the sight of his friend in such a state and was beginning to panic. He didn’t know what to do but only watch his friend hurting. It broke Taekwoon’s heart and he was beginning to tear up.

“Step aside,” the man surprised Taekwoon from behind.

Taekwoon stepped in front of Hyuk to defend him.

“Please don’t hurt him, he’s … important to me. You can kill me but please let Hyuk go,” Taekwoon pleaded.

The man sighed.

“I’m not going to hurt him. To think someone from the nobles would cry for a hound and calling it his friend. You’re the first. You want to save him, right? Bring him back to my cottage, I’ll patch him up.’

Taekwoon was confused at the man’s sudden action but he was in a hurry to save Hyuk, so he followed the man’s instructions and helped to assist carry Hyuk back to the cottage.

*   *   *   *   *   *

After the two brought Hyuk back to the nearly destroyed cottage, the man lightly lifted Hyuk onto a table and began to patch Hyuk’s wounds while brewing some sort of medicine next to the table. Despite his rough outer appearance and intimidating gazes, the man was very careful while tending to Hyuk’s wounds, making sure he didn’t hurt Hyuk.

After two hours, the man turned around to Taekwoon.

“He’s all right now but he just needs to rest and recover. He’s well trained and strong, it’ll be okay,” the man reassured Taekwoon.

Taekwoon finally sighed relief as he was breaking out in cold sweat the past two hours and nearly breaking into tears each time he heard Hyuk’s painful whimpers.

“So, you going to tell me why you’re here?” The man began his interrogation as he put away his equipment.

“I heard you’re really powerful in magic and witchcraft so I thought you might have a way to help me control my powers. My name is Jung Taekwoon by the way.”

“Taekwoon, huh?” The man knew of Taekwoon’s name and let out a smirk. “The heir of the Ruler of the Underworld coming all the way out here to ask a criminal for help? Did you ask your daddy for permission?”

The man said in a sarcastic tone, which slightly annoyed Taekwoon.

“What I do has nothing to do with my father. Just tell me if you have a way please.”

“I may or may not. What do I get in return for helping you though?”

“Anything to the best of my abilities. You also helped save Hyuk, so please just tell me.”

The man was silently staring at Taekwoon and thinking about his request.

“Anything, huh? Well, I don’t care for fortune so that’s useless even if you offered. But I do have something I want and only you would be able to get your hands on it.”

“What is it?”

“You heard about the reason why I was exiled down here to the Underworld right?”

Taekwoon nodded.

“Trying to steal the Sun was only part of my plan. I want to obtain the Moon as well and only the Underworld has it.”

“Huh?” Taekwoon glanced upwards.

“Not that Moon above you idiot. It’s a part of an heirloom of the Gods that is handed down from one ruler to the next. The Sun was kept by my father and if I’m correct, your father should have possession of the Moon as well.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

“I have my ideas. Plus if we get our hands on the Moon, it may be helpful to you as well since it will help you control your powers better.”

The man, who calls himself, ‘Ravi’, goes on to explaining the story behind the Sun and the Moon.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Once upon a time, before mankind was born. Everything in the world that laid dormant between the Heavens and Hell was shrouded by complete darkness. There was neither day nor night. When the God created the first mankind to walk amongst the earth, they feared the darkness. Their fear of the darkness drove them mad and started killing themselves and everything around them.

After much bloodshed, the Gods had to find a solution so that mankind did not kill themselves so that Gods of the Heavens offered the light from their possession of the Sun. Mankind no lingered feared the darkness but there was another problem. The Sun was too bright and too hot. It killed all the crops that mankind tried to grow and was so hot that the land would dry up instantly. Men started to starve to death as well.

The Gods were troubled by the recurring issue that they didn’t know what to do. Just when they were about to give up creating mankind, the Gods that lived below offered the Heavens a proposal. They laughed at Heaven’s failure and proposed that if the Heavens can offer the Sun than they would offer the Moon in exchange for one thing: freedom. The freedom to rule their own world without Heaven’s interference. The Heavens agreed and the Moon was offered to mankind.

Since then, the Sun and the Moon shined above mankind but they could not coexist with one another. One had to represent the day where it allowed for men to walk amongst the lands and grow crops for survival. When it was time, the Sun would retire for the day and darkness would fall upon the earth. When that happens, the Moon would rise to comfort the tired men and lullaby them to rest in order to be ready for the next day.

Just as there was Heaven, there was Hell. And hence, light and darkness, the Sun and the Moon.

The Sun and the Moon are presented in their respective heirlooms that helped the Gods control the day and night and helped mankind distinguish their time and age. When the two items come together, they would emit an intense energy and power that even the Gods would not be able to control, therefore, the two were separated. If the two did become whole again, chaos would fall upon the three worlds and become a threat to the mighty Gods.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Ravi wanted exactly that. Combining the Sun and the Moon as a whole in order to rebel against the Gods. It sounded evil at first but his motives were pure. He wanted to fight against the Gods’ almighty system of power and control. He watched over mankind and how they lived from above since he was young. He found it unfair that they were living by a predetermined fate that was twirled around Gods’ will. He wanted to defy that will and take their powers away and give mankind their freedom.

“What right do they have for them to control the innocent however they wanted? Those who call themselves Gods, are nothing but manipulators who treats mankind like lab rats!”

Despite how he looked, Ravi was very soft-hearted and had much sympathy for the mortals. He found it unfair that the Gods could control the mortals, hide amongst them however they wished. Ravi believed that mankind’s intelligence and existence were more than just mere creations of the Gods; they had more of a purpose in life than the Gods who only knew how to live luxuriously because they had power no one can defy. Although Ravi was born as a God, his hatred for them made him abandon his identity and started to study witchcraft and sorcery instead. He didn’t want to be associated with the term ‘God’ and wanted to prove that Gods are not as powerful as they seemed.

After hearing Ravi’s story and seeing how he saved Hyuk, Taekwoon felt that he was a trustworthy man. He has befriended a mortal for the past decade and the stories he heard from Hakyeon was enough to soften his heart and ready to help Ravi. If mankind was given their freedom, it meant giving Hakyeon his freedom as well. He agreed to Ravi’s request to stealing the Moon but he knows that it wouldn’t be as easy as it seems. Ravi was simply exiled down here to the Underworld by the Gods because they didn’t know his schemes but if Taekwoon was to be caught stealing the Moon, his father would definitely kill his only son. What can he do? Will he have to fight his father in order to obtain the Moon?