The image of hands swim into Jisoo’s vision. There are smudges of dirt all over them and some soil stuck under the nails. She feels prickling at the pads of her fingers and an itch in the middle of her palm. Jisoo realizes the hands are hers. She feels them, opening her hand wide, splaying fingers, before closing her them and balling them into fists slowly. Her vision blurs and everything goes out of focus before clearing back up again. She hears nothing but her heartbeat and labored breathing.

Where was she? What is this?

She looks up and she’s in the mountains - literally inside of one. A cavern?

There’s a pool of glowing blue water in the middle, casting an eerie blue light on everything, illuminating the runes etched on the walls, sprawling in all directions. The runes are pulsating, glowing blue, also. Jisoo translates runes and glyphs for a living, all day, every day in the Ministry’s Intelligence division but she doesn’t understand what the runes are saying. So, these runes must be ancient, written in a language she doesn’t know - a language that predates witchcraft, a language meant for the angels and starseeds and the spirits and the gods and goddesses.

She feels her consciousness sway, like the lights of her mind are flickering and she feels like she’s floating. She looks down at her feet and sees her toes digging into dirt but doesn’t feel the dust, or the soil, or even her toes for that matter.

So this is a vision, then, she tells herself.

Her visions manifest themselves differently. Sometimes they come to her in dreams or daydreams, sometimes it interferes with her reality and sees things happening in places where it has happened or where it’s going to happen. Sometimes she relives her memories but sees them from a different point of view.

Jisoo hasn’t mastered her gift completely just yet but she’s found ways to trigger her intuition, ways to let her gift point her to the right direction. Most of the time, she’s just a silent viewer. And over the years, she’s started to see that maybe her gift isn’t meant to be controlled, that she is just a vessel for truth.

If only she’d had an older, more experienced seer to consult with… If only… Jisoo feels her awareness fade.

What was the last thing she did again? Ah, right. The healer used a little sleeping spell on her with her consent after their little talk. The shapeshifter was wary of her and wanted to talk to the healer in private. Yes, that’s…

Jisoo feels a sharp tap on her head and she’s snapped out of her thoughts. She comes to, back in her vision. She sees little rocks falling from above, rolling down the sides then bouncing off the floor, tick, tack, thunk .

Guess that’s what hit me.

Her eyes follow the rocks, each one as they fall. She subconsciously counts them in a song.

One little, two little, three little pebbles, four little, five little, six little pebbles- Jisoo realizes these little rocks are falling because the whole mountain is shaking, vibrating. Her intuition tells her one thing; the mountain is about to collapse. She feels fear creep in, her amygdala triggered by what she’s seeing. She calms herself down, breathing in and out, constantly telling herself that this is a vision, probably in a dream, and her body is safe and asleep and she isn’t in any real danger.

More rocks fall, bigger ones this time. Something tells her the mountain is about to collapse soon. Two hooded figures come running in and Jisoo watches them. One was a little taller and a little broader, the other smaller and a little petite.

A man and a woman?

They avoid the rocks as much as they can, but some of the smaller ones hit them. The couple appears to be covering something in their arms. A huge rock narrowly misses the head of the hooded figure with the smaller built.

“Claire!” screams the taller one, a man’s voice. The smaller one turns to him in reassurance.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, Mason. The mountain is collapsing. We’ve got to hurry.”

The man nods and they reach the pool of glowing blue liquid. The two figures kneel and they remove their hoods, and unwrap a bundle in their arms. Jisoo’s eyes widen.

The bundle in their arms is a baby .

And as if on cue, the infant cries a soft pitiful wail. The woman rocks the child in her arms, shushing it.

“There, there, Rosie. It’s all going to be fine soon, okay? Mama promises you.”

The woman, Claire, places a kiss on the child’s forehead and the man, Mason, follows suit.

“It’s going to be all better after this, sweetheart.” The man whispers.

The mountain shakes and groans, warning the couple that the clock is ticking. Bigger rocks begin to fall. They quickly get to work. The woman holds the baby over the water then ever so gently puts her in it. The baby sinks until it’s completely submerged. Only bubbles of air from the baby’s breath are left on the surface.

Jisoo gasps and tries to scream, but the words ‘stop’ and ‘no’ only ring in her mind. This is a vision and it’s either this has happened in the past, is happening in the present somewhere far away from her, or will happen in the future; whichever it is, there is nothing Jisoo can do that will have a physical effect in it.

The man closes his eyes and starts an incantation. The woman follows suit. They chant, louder  and louder, the words unfamiliar and sounding almost animal to Jisoo’s ears. The words were harsh and unrefined. The hair on the back of Jisoo’s neck stand. This was no ordinary spell. She could feel the magical energy deep within her bones, and she’s not even physically there.

The couple open their eyes at the same time, chanting still. Their eyes glow the same blue as the pool. Bubbles of air appear on the surface. Suddenly the child emerges from deep under, eyes also glowing blue, with the same runes on the walls etched on its skin.

The rumbling worsens. The infant starts floating in the air, skin glowing faintly of blue. The couple’s chanting softens until they come to a stop. The runes on its skin disappear and the glowing fades. The woman reaches out and takes the baby into her arms, letting out loud gut-wrenching sobs.

“Oh, my baby! My Rosie! You’re alive!” She kisses the child’s face over and over. The man wipes his tears.

“Come on, we have to leave before the mountain collapses.”

Suddenly, a huge boulder falls on Jisoo’s head and everything goes black.

The seer doesn’t know how much time passed when she comes to. She was just floating, suspended, in emptiness, conscious but not feeling nor thinking - just existing. When she slowly comes to her senses, the first thing that registers im her mind were voices.

Jisoo opens her eyes and suddenly she’s in her childhood home. She felt the smooth wood under her bare feet and the tall dark walls came into focus. She’s standing in the middle of the hall on the second floor of their mansion, her own room to her left. The end of the hall was cast in shadow and everything was only illuminated by the light from the room ten paces from her. If Jisoo remembered correctly, that was the library. The voices are coming from there.

“There’s no time, Marco. She’s due on tomorrow’s full moon. Your daughter wants to be born now.”

There was no urgency nor panic in the voice. It sounded direct, like it was just stating facts. The second voice responding to it was a bit more tense, a little more worried.

“She can’t give birth here! I have to take her to Phlegethon! She has to give birth in the middle of the flames!”

The first voice laughs. Jisoo recognizes this voice. She knew it well, even though she did not hear it much during her childhood; but she heard it give order after order in her adulthood or speak endlessly about how her gift could be used to strengthen the Ministry. This voice sounded different, though, a little more youthful and less jaded. It was her father’s.

“Because of Ameera’s prophecy?”

“Yes! Exactly!”

Jisoo finally recognizes the second voice though she hasn’t heard it in almost two decades (and probably never will again). It was Marco’s, Lisa’s father.

Minister Kim’s laughter cuts through the air. Jisoo feels her legs moving and she looks down. The seer gasps, but doesn’t move and the sound is confined in her mind.

Her legs were short and stubby, like a two year old’s. The tiny feet continue marching, her eyes locked on it. She marches until she reaches the entrance to the library and she’s bathed in light.

She’s blinded for a second, before a tall shadow steps in.

“Sooya?”

She feels two strong hands clasp her sides and feels her feet leave the ground. Her father pulls her to his chest and secures her with an arm around her bottom and a big hand on her back, holding her to him.

Then it dawns on her - this vision is a memory. It’s not one she recalls but she’s absolutely certain it is.

“Sweetheart, you should be asleep now. What are you doing up?”

She feels her father press a gentle kiss against her temple, feels him sway and rock her gently. Her father’s face is huge and warm and friendly. She doesn’t remember ever seeing it like this. It was nice. She snuggles against his neck and sighs. Her father smelled of sandalwood and safety. Her father speaks again, but it is directed towards Marco.

“My dear friend, Ameera’s prophecy spoke of a child born in the flames. It never said anything about the flaming river.” He ends it with a chuckle.

“But, I-,” Marco stops, realizing what Jisoo’s father is saying. “Oh.”

Minister Kim laughs.

“Yes. Oh.”

Marco laughs, too, the sound bellied and booming.

“Yes, my friend. I can arrange for two of my best spellcasters and conjurers to help me bathe the operation room in fire that will not harm the midwife, your wife, and your daughter. Fire will touch your skins but it will not burn you.”

“I-,” Marco is at a loss of words. “You will be at my daughter’s birth? You will lead the spellcasting yourself?”

“Yes. I promise you that. You are family to me, after all.”

There are tears in Marco’s eyes and a soft smile on Minister Kim’s lips. Marco clasps his shoulder and Minister Kim just nods. Somehow, Jisoo feels the unspoken words that hung in the air between them, like she could just reach out and pluck them. But she feels herself starting to doze off, her little head falling to rest completely on her father’s shoulder, bit by bit.

She sees little sheep hopping over a fence, and starts counting by instinct. One, two, three, four… The two year old yawns and she feels her father’s chest vibrate from a deep chuckle.

“Oh, and when your Lalisa is born, I’m sure my Jisoo will love and treat her like family, too.”

The voices fade and the world once again goes black. Jisoo falls asleep and feels herself enter into a dream.

She sees a soft orange glow in the middle of nothingness. The glow gets bigger and bigger until she opens her eyes and she’s in a room engulfed in fire. She feels nothing and hears nothing, only sees what is happening. There are shadows dancing in all directions and flames dancing, , lapping, at everything but not engulfing anything, not destroying. It was absolutely breathtaking - just the beauty of fire and none of it’s destructiveness.

There are figures in the room and she realizes knows three of those - her father, Marco, and his pregnant wife in labor. Her father stands in the middle eyes a-glow, arms stretched wide and chanting continuously, Marco and his wife in front of him. Jisoo just watches, enraptured. The wife screams as she tries her best to push and Marco holds her hand faithfully by her side. The baby crowns, and Marco puts a hand over his mouth as tears start silently falling. The baby comes out easily and a shrill wail pierces through Jisoo’s silent vision. Suddenly, Jisoo can hear everything; her father’s chanting, the flames crackling, Marco’s soft sobs, his wife’s ragged breathing, and new-born Lalisa crying and announcing her entrance into the world. She sees the flames touch Lisa’s skin, as if caressing it.

A child born in flames… Jisoo thinks, and the world once again goes black.

When Jisoo comes to, she sees her father in front of her. Some strands of his clean, close-cropped hair is graying, his brow is furrowed, and he seemed to be busy writing something in his journal. She checks herself first, already aware that this is a vision this time, and sees that her whole body is transparent - that she’s like a ghost.

Huh, Jisoo muses, haven't had visions where I'm on the astral plane in a while. Cool.

The seer takes a step and accidentally bumps into a trash can. The thing stumbles over and crashes on the floor with a loud thud and clatter, the sound jolting the Minister from his work.

Oh, so this vision is the kind where she is able to interfere with the word in small ways. Jisoo can count the times she had this kind of vision on one hand for her whole life as a seer. This is incredibly rare and usually presents only a possible scenario, an event that is not fixed in time and Jisoo has the power to change as reflected by her ability to affect it physically.

Her father looks side to side, scanning the room quick. There is thinly-veiled panic on his face and Jisoo watches his adam’s apple rise and fall as he gulps. The man was scared, and his throat was parched. Jisoo feels worry gnaw its dull teeth at her heart.

Something’s wrong.

“Who’s there?”

Minister Kim’s voice is frantic and paranoid. She’s never heard him like this. Anxiety eats her up. She decides to answer, to see how that would play out, but as she opens a shadowy tentacle slithers up his father’s chest and wraps itself around his neck.

“DAD!”

Jisoo screams, running to her father. She tries to grab at the shadow, but her hands only pass through.

“Ji---soo?” Minister Kim chokes and coughs, struggling to speak.

At the sound of her name, the shadowy tentacle stills, then slithers away faster than it arrived. Her father breathes lungfuls of air and coughs, holding a hand to his neck. Suddenly, the shadows in the room aren’t as heavy as when she arrived.

They were here, already waiting.

“Jisoo.” Her attention snaps back to her father. He’s rubbing his neck where the shadow left a purpling bruise. He coughs and clears his throat. Jisoo can feel the impotance of what he’s about to say next, just from how hard he’s struggling to say it. “Where are you?”

“Right here in front of you, dad. I’m astral.”

Her father nods, looking at the space in front of him. He searches for any glimmer, any indication of a disturbance in the space to see where his daughter is. He sees little ripples of reality just above Jisoo’s head. He focuses his eyes there while talking to her.

“Daughter, Ameera’s prophecy.” Minister Kim wheezes. Jisoo moves closer to hear better. Her father follows the ripples with his eyes and continues speaking.  “The prophecy has two parts… you only know about the second part, the-”

“The child born in flames - Lisa.”

“Yes, yes,” the minister nods and coughs again. “There is a first part to it that I’ve been trying to decode. I was going to share it with you soon in hopes that it might trigger your gift. But the elements in the dark have started moving and they’ve become bolder, attacking still even under the light of a full moon.”

Jisoo nods before remembering her father cannot see her, so she says a quick, “yes”.

“The first part speaks about ‘a child baptized in runes’.”

The images of her earlier vision flit through her mind; the cavern, the pool in the middle of glowing blue liquid, the runes etched on the walls, the couple, and the baby . So what she saw was a baptism .

Her father senses her presence and took her silence as a sign to continue. So he does.

“It’s said that these two would bring about peace. At first, when Ameera told me of her visions on this prophecy, I thought it was Lalisa’s parents, Marco and Karina; with Marco, a demon, as the child born in flames and Karina, a witch, as the child baptized in runes. But no--,”

“Dad,” Jisoo interrupts him. “I just had a vision before I was taken here by the gift,” she blows out a shaky breath. “I was in a cavern inside a mountain and I saw a child being baptized in a pool that was glowing blue. There were runes on the walls - very ancient ones that I couldn’t understand - and after the baby came out of the water, her skin had the same runes etched on them.”

Minister Kim’s eyes widen and his jaw drops.

“You saw who the other child is?”

“I didn’t, but I do know who she is. I’m actually here with her right now.”

Confusion and shock painted her father’s face.

“What?”

“It’s a long story. I’m with Lisa. I’ll come back home the moment I wake up and I will tell you everything, I promise. For now, stay safe and upgrade the security around the house, both technological and magical. Don’t stay in places where the shadows are too heavy.”

Jisoo feels herself getting nauseous. The telepathic link is about to be broken and the vision is supposed to end.

“Okay, dad, just be careful. I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, sweetheart, I--”

And just like that the ripple in the space before him disappears. The minister sighs. She didn't get to hear it again. She doesn’t get to hear it enough.

“I love you, Jisoo. Be careful.”

He whispers to no one.

Jisoo awakes with a start. Her eyes fly open and she’s breathing hard. She pushes herself off the bed and onto a sitting position, only to be surprised that she was on a bed and in a room unfamiliar to her. Last she remembered, she fell asleep on the bench as she waited for the shapeshifter and the healer to finish talking. It was nearing dawn, then. After she’d said her request, the shapeshifter was wary but the healer was eager and happy and very willing to help in any way she can.

Jennie had cut in before Rosie could say anything and told her they would discuss it among themselves first. Jisoo nodded. It only made sense.

Now she wonders where she is - whose room she’s in. From the position of the shadows, Jisoo could tell it was the late afternoon. The sunlight filtered into the room beautifully, just enough to illuminate the inside but still keep it dim and not too bright. It was perfect for complete rest and relaxation. She sniffed the air. It smelled of expensive perfume and also something distinct - the scent of the owner.

As if summoned by Jisoo’s thoughts, Jennie walks in with a tray containing a glass of water, a bowl of porridge and a vial of clear liquid. She stops a few steps in front of Jisoo.

“So, the seer is awake. Rosie said you would be waking up by now.”

Jisoo clears to speak but instead her vocal chords felt like it was grating itself onto sand paper. She coughed. Jennie sets the tray at the table and hands Jisoo the glass of water. The seer drinks the liquid like it’s from the fountain of life, never having felt so parched and thirsty. She sets the glass down and sighs relief.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welco--,”

“I need to leave, now.”

Normally, Jennie would have snapped at Jisoo for rudely interrupting her but there is an urgency in Jisoo’s tone that made her feel like the seer has other things to worry about than watching her tone or choosing her words. So Jennie just nods.

“And your half-demon friend? She’s still unconscious and recovering.”

Jisoo worries her bottom lip. Lisa can’t travel on a griffin in her state right now. The seer is then left with no other choice.

“I’m going to need to leave her with you guys for now.”

Jennie searches Jisoo’s eyes, looking for something - anything - that would raise red flags or turn on her fight-or-flight reflexes. She finds none.

“Alright. Your griffin has been fed. Let’s just talk to Rosie and tell her you need to ride out before dark.”

Jisoo’s eyes soften. Deep down, she knows Jennie understood without need for explanation, without need for details.

“Okay.”

Jisoo starts to get up but Jennie awkwardly puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Um…” Jennie panics inwardly, not really thinking her attempt at comforting Jisoo through. Jisoo looks at her hand and gives her a dumbfounded look. Jennie sweats and stutters.

“I-I mean-- don’t worry about your friend.” Jennie clears . “We’ll take good care of her.”

Suddenly, the clouds of worry clear and Jisoo beams summer and spring.

“Thank you. I trust that you will.”