Hi! It's me! Yuuji!

I finally finished the first chapter! Wo hoo!

The next chapter would be... sometime next month?

since I'm doing the whole re-writing thing. I was thinking of re-writing my other stuff. Particularly the Royals one since it's not even completed yet. But I have other stories to write too... Oh, well, let's just see.

Anyway! Enough of me rambling and on with the story! I hope all of you enjoy reading it! :D

The city of Seoul, the city that never sleeps. Always lively no matter the time of day it is. The residents would always be bustling here and there throughout both day and night. But it would be especially lively during the nights. As the sun sets and the street lights turn on, the lights from all the shops, buildings, and huge screens in the plazas also light up in accordance. The city paints the ground with stars. Unlike the sky, an empty inky shell of the starry painting it used to be. All the residents are still busy doing their own business—some are tending their shops, some are still working late into the night, and some are partying with their friends and co-workers for it is Friday night. All ignorant of the painting that their city paints on the surface of the earth.

However, if you look closer, the city that never sleeps isn’t as beautiful as it seems. Deep in the dark alleyways of the luminous city, the place where the rats lurk, and the sad sobs wallow in their self-pity. They lie in a chaotic repose. They wait for someone who’s stupid enough to walk there and rob them of everything they have, both tangible and not. When they get tired of waiting, the rats venture out to the less savory parts of the city. This time, they rob anyone and everyone they cross their paths with. However, there is something far darker hiding in the dark corners of Seoul. The underground criminal syndicates that control the city from the shadows. They monitor everything within the city. There is virtually nothing that they don’t know about. From which jjajangmyeon shop that closed down recently to a major politician’s hidden mistress.

Ignorant and benighted. That’s what these people are. The criminal syndicates may know the corruption of various politicians, the paparazzi may know when your idol took a , and your neighbor may know when you last went outside. But they know nothing. Unbeknownst to these people, beings—beings much different from them—lurk within the very city they live in. A vampire roams the city, a werewolf hunts in the city parks, a witch living in your neighborhood, a kumiho in the cover of a magazine, and a dokkaebi sitting in the cafe.

But do not fear. They aren’t here to hurt you. No, there is a reason why you don’t hear any humans dying from a vampire bite on an empty street. In the reality, most don’t care about humans—or at the very least, most no longer care about hunting humans anymore. Most of them are just minding their own business. They try to not bother humans. The vampires get their blood from hospitals, while the others buy their own food from supermarkets. They’re just trying to live life as peacefully as they can. Well, most of them anyways.

But something is at amiss, there is too little number of vampires and werewolves both in the urban and the suburban parts of the city. A black griffon wearing a white skull on its head flies high over the city. The skull starkly juxtaposed against its own stygian body. It surveys the cityscape below it with its glowing silver eyes—scrutinizing every detail. Its eyes search from the wide central streets to the narrow dark alleyways of the city. It’s no use, I can’t find any of them. It flies over to the highest point in the city, the Lotte World Tower. Just before landing, it transforms into a beautiful young girl. Is she eighteen? Is she twenty? It isn’t clear. Her face is young, but her eyes hold something that no one her age should have. Maturity? Discipline? Or maybe wisdom? No one could be sure.

Surrounded by the metal fixtures around her, she stands there in a quiet repose. Eyes still searching the city below her. How could she see that far? Perhaps the answer lies in her eyes. A hawk-like eye colored in a cold bright silver. A stark contrast to the inky night sky. Her attire consists of a black turtleneck and navy pants along with brown boots and a tan coat. Appropriate for the season. A large ax adorns her back, as well as a small white hawk skull that hangs on her wrist. Her hair dyed into a shade of dark emerald—a fashionable choice. Eyebrows furrowing, the girl is distressed. Or worried? Showing emotions clearly and her never go in hand to hand. The girl gazes into the city for another moment or two, before talking into her earpiece.

“Unnie?” she calls out before hearing a soft voice replying from the earpiece.

“Hm? What is it?” the feminine voice asks. She sounded young too—though definitely older than the green haired girl. Her voice comes out containing a sense of calmness and an underlying tone of worry with it.

“How’s it at your place?” the girl needs to make sure that she isn’t the only one with the problem.

“Oh, well, there is a slight problem, some of them are—"

“Missing?”

“You knew?”

“No, it’s just that they’re missing here too…” the girl bites her lip. A feeling of worry bubbling in her stomach. “You don’t think that they’re being kidnapped, right?”

“No, I don't think so... I mean that guy is still in the dungeon,” the girl remembers the incident fifteen years back. Mythical beings were disappearing left and right. Their remains were then found to be burned or staked to a coffin. Thankfully the perpetrator was caught quickly soon after a joint mission was executed. Turns out it was a human male that accidentally discovered the myths, and decided it was his life purpose to kill every single one of them. He had become a hunter. It didn’t help that the guy was a veteran soldier.

“Then again, it’s only some of the vampires and the werewolves missing, right? Maybe they’re somewhere outside of the city,” the voice calmly reasons. “But I’ll tell her—you know, just in case. She’s patrolling the dark forest today anyway. Maybe she already saw them. You just keep patrolling the city, okay?”

“Alright. See you later, Unnie,” And with that, the voice disappears and silence hangs in the air. The girl stands in thought before shaking her head. I’m thinking too much. She morphs back to a griffon and flew away from the building. Flying high up near the clouds, the humans do not need to see her.

At the entrance of a forest fifty kilometers from the city. Two groups of people are facing each other. Both clearly agitated by the other. One of the groups is full of people with striking yellow eyes, while the other is full of deep scarlet eyes. The voice is right, the vampires and the werewolves are gathering near the forest. But for all the wrong reasons.

One werewolf girl walks out into the opening between the two large groups. Copper hair crowned the girl’s head, stopping just above her shoulders. She adorns a sporty wear despite the cold autumn night, and on each side of her waist are two curved daggers. She is very pretty indeed, but also very young. However, unlike the previous green haired girl, there is no doubt about how old she is. She looks eighteen, and she certainly acts like she’s eighteen. Childish.

“Well, well, Miss Dahyun. Fancy meeting you here out near the forest! Have you finally developed balls to defy your own Princess?” the girl mockingly says, while the rest of the werewolves snicker at the red-faced girl called Dahyun, standing in front of all the other vampires. It appears as though these two girls are the leaders of their own respective group.

“Cut the crap, mutt! What do you want calling us out here?” Dahyun spats at the brown-haired girl. Opting to call her out with a slur rather than her actual name. That name sounded so dirty on her tongue.

Dahyun glares at the girl and her group. Her scarlet eyes reflecting hatred. Her chestnut colored hair flowed in the wind as she waited for the other girl’s response. One hand gripping the leather strap to the quiver on her back, and the other to the steel bow. The sweater she wears along with the shorts complements her baby face. While her face indeed looks young, she still looked a bit older than the other girl—perhaps nineteen, or perhaps twenty. It doesn’t matter really. After all, her actions are just as childish as the other girl.

“What do I want?” the girl scoffs. “What do you want, you ing bloodsucker! Stop messing with us! We’re tired of your bull!” she shouts at her, releasing all of her pent-up anger.

“And what the you mean by that, huh?! You were the ones who started this!” Dahyun frantically gestures at both of their group. “You! Not me! I didn’t even want trouble in the first place!”

“Liar,” she hisses. “Both of us know who actually started all of this,”

“Excuse me? Who are you calling a liar? You’re the only liar here!”

“I. Did. Not. Lie,” the girl spat word by word. She’s usually a bubbly nice girl, and she’s proud of how tolerant she is. But Dahyun is really testing her right now. She is this close to punching that disgusting mouth of hers. But knowing herself, she knows she won’t be satisfied until the other girl is seeing stars.

“Oh, that's right! You're still a kid, maybe that's why you can't admit it,” Dahyun mocks at the other girl. Enjoying the sight of her getting redder and redder by the second. “If a child is the captain of the Scouts, then I worry for the future of the wolves. Why did they ever think it was a clever idea to make you captain? I guess the world will never know,”

“You…” she hisses in anger while grinding her teeth. Her yellow eyes glow brighter. A brown wolf tail and a pair of ears grow from her body. Her teeth turning sharper by the second. The girl is no longer thinking straight. Then again, none of them were when they decided to come near the forest. The world is red in her eyes, even if her eyes are yellow.

“Me what? I was just telling the truth,”

“You ing !” And with that the girl lunges at Dahyun, transforming into a brown wolf mid-jump. She aims straight for her neck. Soon enough the rest of the werewolves morph, and they start charging at each other. Each side full of killing intent.

“What are you people doing?!” suddenly a voice rang out just right before the vampires and werewolves clashed and start killing each other. A woman falls from above, and lands between the two groups. Stopping all of them in their tracks. “You ladies need to stop whatever you people are doing this instance!” she reprimands all of them.

Them woman reminds them of the lady night herself. Her hair as dark as a raven’s feather. Swept to the left, and the other side tucked behind her right ear. Her glowing silver eyes appearing behind the raven locks. They hold a glare as cold as the winter night. A face of annoyance that’s inappropriate for a face as beautiful as her. Wearing a coat with a shirt along with a pair of pants and some boots—all of them black. She carries two katanas on the back of her waist, and her right ear adorns a fox skull that’s chained to her earing. A skull as white as snow. And a disconcerting and formidable aura around her.

“What? And take orders from you? no!” The werewolf girl, Chaeyoung, says. She’s just about to teach that annoying bloodsucker a lesson for messing with her and her clan. She isn’t in a state where she could be reasoned with. None of them are.

“And so, you want to start another war between the Vampires and Werewolves?” she reminds everyone. Trying to get the rest of the vampires and werewolves to have their minds thinking straight again from her words. That part of history should never be repeated ever again. But it flies over all their heads as expected.

“But she started this mess first!” Chaeyoung retorts. Trying to defend both her and her group’s actions.

“No, I didn’t!” Dahyun retaliates. “Stop lying, mutt!” If she’s going down, she’ll do her damned best to drag the other girl down with her.

“Quiet!” the silver eyed woman bellows thunderously. “For Maker’s sake, Miss Dahyun! You’re one hundred and thirty-eight years old! And you still act like a child?” she accusingly asks. This is the second time this month that this happens, and the eleventh time since she first got the report almost year ago. It’s beyond her how they still don’t manage to learn anything from the first time they did it a year ago.

“Hey! I—" Dahyun tries to protest against the claim before the woman interrupts her.

“Wait, I just got a call, and no one is to move a muscle.” She threatens before picking up her call through her Bluetooth earpiece.

“Claire?” The voice calls out.

“Yes, I’m here. What’s wrong?”

“There's a bit of a problem. Some of the vampires and werewolves are missing from both mine and Tzuyu’s area. Particularly the younger ones. I thought you might have an idea of where they are,”

“Well, you thought correctly, Mina. I do know where they are,” Claire hisses while glaring at the guilty parties. “Mina, can you call Ms. Jihyo and Ms. Nayeon to go to the place near the forest? The one that’s near the river?”

“Why? Oh, I understand,” Mina chuckles. “It must be tough, isn’t it? Dealing with them again,”

“I swear to the Maker that these fights never end,” she sighs at her predicament before hardening her glare towards the two groups’ leaders. “And can you please tell them to hurry?”

“Yes, of course. And Claire?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t get too mad at them, they’re still kids,” Mina says softly. In which Claire hums in response before hanging up.

“Easier said than done though,” Claire mutters under her breath. She then turns her attention back to the troublesome group. From the corners of her eyes, she could see that some of them are trying to escape. A futile attempt, but they tried nonetheless. Perhaps they don't want to see an angry Jihyo or an angry Nayeon. Or Perhaps they fear of getting demoted—or even worse yet, excommunication. In any case, Claire wouldn't let them escape no matter how pitiful they are. They must learn their lesson. It’s been almost a year. Claire just hopes that they wouldn’t understand too late.

She quickly unsheathes one of her katanas and pierces its blade onto the ground. Suddenly red flames come out of her hand and travel down towards the earth through her sword. The flames then quickly encircle the two groups upon reaching land. The flame almost burns a boy trying to escape. Now that the two groups are imprisoned, maybe Claire can relax a bit. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with two groups trying to kill each other.

“Humph, flames, huh? Did you forget that I have Cryokinesis?” Dahyun says as her eyes turn into a bright blue. She freezes over the flames and creates an opening through the fire to escape. Her brothers and sisters cheer her on as she walks confidently towards the opening.

Chaeyoung could only glare bitterly at the bloodsucker for founding a way to escape. Only to find herself laughing at the other’s sad attempt at an escape.

“I may have forgotten the fact that you used to be a siren. But you should know that nothing you do will make a difference.” Claire says sternly before the flames at Dahyun's side turns into a bright sapphire hue. The closing the opening just as the girl walks in front of it.

Dahyun tries to extinguish the flames once again only to find it impossible to do. No matter how many times she freezes them over or even freezes the ground below it, it doesn’t work. She looks on as the bright sapphire flame in front of her burn high and proud as if mocking her incompetence.

“But why?!” These flames aren't normal fire, she could figure that out from the color itself. But she’s able to freeze over the demon’s black fire. Why can’t she do the same here?

“These are Azure Flames,” Claire explains with a sigh. “Other fires burn things, but these azure flames freeze things. Their temperatures go way below zero degrees. Of course, you can’t freeze them,”

Dahyun wants to retaliate, but what could she say? It’s not fair? That’s ridiculous. She had mocked the woman for forgetting her ability. Only for herself to forget the woman’s repertoire of fox flames. Everyone knows. How could she forget about it? About her position? She could only wallow in her own self-pity as she waits for the princess to arrive. She turns her body and looks at her companions. They aren’t in a much better state than she’s in. But she decides. She isn’t going to look behind her. Not if she wants to keep a level head when the princess arrives. She isn’t going to look at her.

“Miss Dahyun, you should know that I use these flames as much as the cardinal ones. Granted, I am a busy woman, and we seldom meet. But if you had paid attention to your surroundings instead of having these petty fights, maybe you would have remembered a thing or two about your own senator,” Claire says disapprovingly. Perhaps if she uses guilt and pressure, they would listen this time. The woman emits a daunting and fearsome aura all over the field. Almost nightmarish. Everyone could instantly feel the temperature lowering even further. With a piercing gaze, she asks, “Anyone else want to try escaping?”

None of them says a word, none of them moves a muscle. They couldn’t, they all receive a harsh reminder of who they’re talking too. The Korean Senator for The Institute of Mythical Defense, Claire Seo. The woman is responsible for governing all the myths in Korea. They could only pray that their princess would come faster, and maybe be a bit forgiving of to them. But they all know that their prayer isn’t going to be granted so easily.

After a few minutes of waiting in dread, the two women came—Jihyo and Nayeon. The former is the princess of the Sidus Clan and heiress to the throne. Likewise, the latter is the princess of the Regius Coven and heiress to the throne.

Jihyo gazes at the surrounding view with her stark golden eyes. Taking in the pathetic sight of b