xXiii. long-hidden secrets

 Seoah shut the door behind her gingerly after Jaebin marched into the Lounge. "It's done," he announced as she turned the lock with a gentle click. "I disabled everything that could possibly be used to spy on us. There might be more, but I think that's about it." Crossing the room, she went to sit next to Jaebin, who was already on one of the couches around the coffee table, with a glass of something crimson that looked suspiciously like blood. He took a deep sniff from it, before sipping at the glass. "We have about an hour, tops."

 "One hour is enough." Celeste's expression was sombre, wearing an expression she had never seen before. "Alright, I need you lot to mentally prepare yourselves."

 "Are you going to kill someone?" Minwoo joked, before realising it didn't fit in the room's atmosphere. He mumbled a quiet apology before popping a handful of popcorn into his mouth to shut himself up.

  "I feel like there's a need to explain to you lot what we're really doing, before letting everyone go at it," Celeste continued as if she hadn't just been interrupted. Glancing around in the room, Seoah could see how fatigued everyone were, from the day's mission, though the tension in their posture clearly reflected how alert they were at the moment. No one was seriously hurt, but both Jineul and Chess sustained the most damage - though both were walking and standing around just fine, as if nothing had happened. Seriously, Seoah could never understand how some people could just bounce back after a major battle so quickly. "You guys have a right to this knowledge."

 Standing up, Celeste picked up the remote control on the glass table, and aimed it at the projector mounted on the opposite wall. "The first thing you should know, is that Gemini was not...whatever you thought it was meant for." 

  Seoah was surprised at this new information, and Jaebin immediately jumped onto that. "And what was it meant for, exactly?"

 "You were informed that Gemini is an organisation keeping a peaceful connection between Underworlders and humans. In history, Gemini has also served as what are essentially the preliminary judicial branch of the organisation that holds the balance of Underworlders and humans." Chess, who was originally standing aside in a particularly shadowy part of the room, now went forward to aid in the explanation as well.

  "Meaning?" Minwoo interjected. Seoah had to confess she didn't understand what was being said either.

  "Let's just start from the beginning," Celeste sighed, tossing the remote aside and opening up a holoscreen instead. "This is encrypted, right, Jaebin?"

  "No promises," He shrugged, and the actress huffed through her nose. Seoah couldn't blame her. Jaebin had a habit of just evading responsibility whenever he needed to and could. "Never mind then. I'll stick with more traditional methods."

  "In the beginning, when humans and Underworlders start to co-exist by each others' side, it was relatively peaceful. Underworlders are by nature solitary creatures, and on the best of days, only ever really interacted with other tribes. They rarely encroach on human territory. Humans, however, are nosy creatures. Yet, in the beginning they view any Underworlders they come across as some sort of god. An otherworldly being. Small wonder we were called 'Otherworlders' in the first place." Celeste paused, taking a sip of water before continuing. "However, as humans become more invasive, they started to abuse their power and destroying Underworlder territory. Cutting down forests to pave way for civilisations, for example. Gradually, they also become bolder in challenging Underworlders and in the worst human era, decided to hunt Underworlders for fun. It was clear how human nature really was." There was a bitter twist in her tone when she said this, a sense of underlying disgust - Seoah hadn't really been familiar enough with the actress to know her background, but she always had the sense that she was one of the Underworlders who was more 'dark' than 'light' - like her. 

  "Because of the chaos between the human realm and Underworlder realm, the leaders of each Underworlder tribe decided to convene and think of a solution where their kind weren't slaughtered in massacres. This simple decision took ages to implement. For one, the Seelie and Unseelie tribes refused to meet at the same place. Vampires and werewolves had a difficult time deciding who this leader exactly is, seeing as they are pack tribes and do not have a definite leader. Only warlocks managed to elect a leader out of the many, and the Merpeople opt to stay out of it - since it was a war that was never theirs in the first place." 

  "Decades passed before they were able to sit down around a table and talk. By this time, the problem had only worsened, and the Underworlder tribes were getting agitated. All of the leaders of these Underworlder tribes attended the meeting; the Seelie King, the Unseelie Queen, a council of warlock leaders, and a handful of vampire and werewolf leaders from each continent. The Mer-King acted as the mediator of the meeting, to prevent fights from erupting around the table. Humans were present as well - the ones willing to compromise and those who saw some semblance of common sense. After lengthy discussions, they managed to come up with a deal; the humans would stop hunting Otherworlders, and Otherworlders would live in exile."

  "But...that's unfair!" The words burst out of Seoah's mouth before she realised, and she ducked her head in embarrassment when she felt the weight of everyone's gaze on her.

  Celeste wore a grim smile. "Since when was life ever fair for us? But that was the exchange we have to make to stop our kind from facing extinction. The Otherworlder leaders were unhappy about this, but there wasn't much they could really do. Aside from this deal, they also agreed on something else - a structure that inspired the popular human judicial structures you see today, in order to hold both humans and Otherworlders accountable. Oh, by the way, they only slipped the 'and Otherworlders' to make the humans agree. It was also during this time they changed our names to Underworlders because we're effectively living below ground. Anyways, in this structure they created, there are three key organisations." She held up a finger. "Firstly, the Councilo, the council of Underworlder leaders which acts as judges of any intra-species crimes. The humans weren't happy that their kind would be dragged in front of a bunch of Underworlders to be judged for their crimes, so they usually appoint a handful of human judges to balance it out. However, no one really gets dragged in front of the Councilo unless they did something seriously messed up. So the Councilo is really just little more than a bunch of Underworlder elders keeping an eye on the organisation that is directly below them." 

  The tactician then switched to two fingers. "The second organisation didn't really have a name at the beginning. However, it was formed of sixteen individuals; two representatives from each tribe, and two more permanent members that help the elders keep an eye on everything. If the Councilo is the Supreme Court, then you can see this organisation as the district courts. The two representatives from each tribe aren't chosen because of their skills in combat, however. They are usually people who had great life experience, or those who had mastered the use of both their 'white' and 'dark' side - because by living a double life, they have a better judgement of those who had committed any crimes. These individuals with both a 'white' and 'dark' side thus acts as judges for minor or petty crimes that don't concern the Councilo."

  "That's us." For the first time, Minkyung spoke up. Seoah glanced over; the warlock had been working nonstop since that afternoon to make sure their members emerged relatively unscathed, and she could see the exhaustion from her eyes, and how tightly she was clutching the whiskey glass in her hand as she sat up, rubbing her eyes bleerily. "Gemini. We're the ones with the 'white' and 'dark' sides." When no one spoke up, she scowled. "Right?"

  "Observant as always, Minkyung," Celeste had a thin smile on , to which the doctor merely replied with a muffled " off" while downing her whiskey. "Yes. Gemini is the first line of Underworlder defense. We are an organisation that first and foremost, protects Underworlders. The judging thing was a front, though it's also part of our duties - we know that humans won't give our kind fair trials."

  "So how did we end up being - " Minwoo gestured vaguely at nothing in particular. " - this?"

  "Let me continue the story. There's a third organisation in the agreement, and it represents the 'police' of this whole judiciary structure. Their aim is to catch any Underworlder or human accused or suspected of wrongdoing, and bring them to the Gemini court, so they're in charge of investigation, detective work and combat." 

  "Typical of humans to jump to violence," Jaebin mumbled quietly.

  "Indeed. The ending of that story isn't a happy one; the humans captured any Underworlder they could, and since they are the ones with weapons on hand, they could do whatever they want. But Gemini couldn't help that. The Councilo is the one providing checks and balances, and there's really no convincing the Underworlder elders to come together for any changes since they were busy fighting amongst themselves anyways. That human organisation, by the way, is CARDS."

  Celeste waited for her statement to sink in, looking at the expressions in each of her colleagues' eyes. Some of them were surprised, but it quickly morphed to anger. Jineul, as always, just sat and contemplated her comments. "So we were supposed to cooperate with humans." Minkyung was the first to break the silence.

  "We were - that's the point of the whole structure. But - "

  "So what the 's happening now?" 

  "Good question." Chess jumped to her rescue; as always, she was the one with the answers. "It seems that deal came to a head with the creation of Wonderland, and when they decided to start the quest to snatch up the objects we were supposed to protect. But that was the dealbreaker. I suspect CARDS had greater ambitions a long time ago."

  "Okay, so Gemini was supposed to be law enforcers and protecting Underworlders. That still doesn't explain why we're fighters and not judges, or whatever the heck you said." Celeste sighed; she definitely wasn't awake enough for a group interrogation session.

  "Firstly, it's because of CARDS' change in agenda. Since Gemini was meant to be the first line of defense of the Underworlder tribes, we had to adapt and train in combat so we can protect the others. Hence why even our medic today can hold her own in close combat." Celeste could sense the tug at Minkyung's lips as she said that. "But of course, it'll be better to prevent rather than win in combat, so we have our own members specialising in soft skills. Seoah, in negotiations. Chess, in communications. And Minwoo, in interrogation." She gave a nod at each respective member when she said this. "And second of all...I'll tell you the truth, but you won't like it."

  "What's not to like?" Minkyung, the ever skeptical one, huffed behind her glass.

  "A few centuries ago...well, I can't be exactly sure about what happened, but some higher...force ordered the termination of Gemini members after a certain term they serve. It was relayed through the Councilo, but it felt...evil. It didn't seem like it was what the elders meant to say. At any rate, termination, well, actually meant termination. As in death." Celeste's throat always clogs up whenever she tries to tell that story, so she let Chess tell it. Her companion let that sink in, swallowing before continuing. "For some reason, after a set period of time, Gemini members tend to start internal fights. Or Underworlder tribes amongst themselves. At the end of each Gemini session, there tend to be civil strife between them. In the past, after each Gemini session ends, the Councilo calls upon me to gather new hopefuls to form a new jury. After that period of conflict, the amount of time in-between each session of Gemini gradually increased. The last time a new round of hopefuls were called to the table, it was in 1979." 

  "The Cold War," Jaebin realised. "So the whole war was because of some conflict between Gemini?"

  "It was started because of Gemini, yes." Celeste shared a glance with Chess, seeing the resolution in her eyes. They decided on telling the truth. Might as well lay everything bare. "Because of these internal strifes, the Councilo started to recruit more capable fighters, and slowly we veered off course into violence. The exact opposite of what was intended to happen."

 There was a muffled sound of glass breaking, and Celeste jumped. Minkyung had stood up suddenly, causing the glass on her lap to fall onto the rug and break into pieces, amber liquid seeping onto the fabric. She could see the anger burning in her eyes. "We're ed up. Th-this whole thing is ed up. What the hell is going on?! Fighting each other? You must be ing kidding. I'm out. I can't do this."

  Before anyone could stop her, she had already jumped up and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Following her outburst, the atmosphere became awkward. Celeste couldn't blame her; if she was hearing this for the first time it was likely she would've the same reaction. She stood in silence, waiting for anymore interjections hurled at her way. However, when the silence broke, it was Minwoo speaking. "I assume there's more to it than just an inevitable prophecy of doom?"

  Celeste shrugged, the tension still in her shoulders, but relaxing a little. "That's about it. I told you all I needed to. Our original purpose, our formation, our demise. Our history, and what we were supposed to do."

  Seoah shook her head in disbelief. "I don't get it. Why this sudden change in attitude? What's happened in those years? I don't understand."

   "Me neither, which is why this whole thing is so bizarre." Chess rubbed her temples, a typical habit of hers when she was stressed. "That's all we could tell you. I'm really sorry. The reason behind CARDS' change in agenda, the reason behind the sudden civil strife between Gemini, the reason why the Councilo had gone radio-silent, everything. There is still information coming back and from Underworlders, but generally, the leaders of these tribes had ceased contact with us. This is unheard of."

   "So...so far we know three things." Minwoo jumped up and went to the other side of the room, where there was a whiteboard (since when?) mounted on the wall, producing a marker from his pocket. "Firstly, Gemini was originally meant to be a jury of sorts. Now, our aims are changed to fighting CARDS."

  "Correct." Celeste went back to her armchair and took a seat, watching the other tactician sketch their ideas out. 

 "And both aims are meant to protect the Underworlder tribes. Because we are their representative and shield in a way. The second thing we know, is that CARDS had us. Originally we were supposed to cooperate. Now there's a change of attitude and we have to fight them." Minwoo paused for a bit. "And finally, the third thing is that we would end up fighting among each other and kill each other."

  "Yes." Looking at the points Minwoo had lined out, Celeste realised it was much worse than she had anticipated, and felt the dread creeping from the back of . However, Minwoo merely exhaled, and tossed the marker back onto the glass table. "Well, it's not that bad."

   "How is it not that bad exactly, Minwoo?" Celeste would've thought that Jaebin had left the room in a storm already, following Minkyung, but instead he was still there, tense and on edge. "It seems pretty bad to me."

  "Well, for one, there aren't really many problems that's that urgent. Like, yeah, we have a crapload of problems on our plate, but it's not like it's life threatening or it's going to hit us tomorrow or something. The only 'in our face' problem here is fighting CARDS. And we're doing that now so it isn't exactly a problem we have to solve. And the demise problem, well, Chess said it happens after a set period of time. Seeing as how we're still getting along with each other relatively well," Here he directed that sentence at Jineul, whose gaze merely flicked up in what resembled boredom. "We can try solving that later. And the Councilo called for this mission, didn't they? If we get all of those things, then we might be able to get an audience with them. So that's okay." 

  Celeste exhaled. "You certainly have a more optimistic outlook than the rest of us, Minwoo."

  "It's called trying to be optimistic." Minwoo went to sit next to her, and she could see the lines on his face. "I don't like the way things are unfolding now either, but we need to keep our head up or else we'll freaking drown."

  "So what do we do now?" Seoah asked. Celeste wished she had a good answer to that. 

  "What Minwoo said," She sighed. "There's honestly not much we could do. Believe me, I've seen many attempts at trying to stop that civil strife. There wasn't much progress over the history of this organisation."

  "And how do you know that, Celeste?" She could hear the suspicion in Jaebin's voice, and felt a pang of shame in her chest. She felt guilty, for some reason, even though she wasn't supposed to be - it definitely wasn't her fault that Gemini decided to kill each other, but she felt like she should be responsible for all this. Or at least have done something to stop things from happening this way. 

   "Because I was there for all of it, Jaebin. I am one of the permanent Gemini members. I've seen this happen over and over again. That's why I felt I had the obligation to tell you all of this." 

Dun dun DUN 

You wanna know why this section is called revelation? This is why meep meep (yeah this is an info dump chapter sorry not sorry) 

An update on my life, I'm still tired asf but I managed to get a BAP album online!! It was like 30 USD or something!!! Yikety yike yike!

On a more positive note my coursework is nearly done so yay

But yeah, things that feel illegal but shouldn't: Using your card to register an account on eBay to buy whelp

Also uhmmmm remember me talking about my friend translating a manhwa? Yeah it's not a manhwa, it's a novel

Okay there's nothing else I can say I think, have a good day people :D