「 episode 7; arc 3.3 」 —tenebrous awakening//old friend— 「 hyejoo iii 」

Hyejoo blinked.

The silence in the room made her feel like she had nearly gone deaf. The only sounds she could hear were the beats of her own heart and the steady breathing of Chaewon next to her.

Kahei had finished disclosing all of the relevant information to their four hosts a few minutes prior. In an eerie quiet, the group of eight sat practically motionless. Seungwan and Joy’s eyes were focused on the ground below them in deep thought. Seulgi’s gaze, meanwhile, was locked onto a contemplative Joohyun.

The axewoman of fire had been in a deep trance since Kahei’s explanation came to an end. The laps her thoughts were no doubt running around her mind were easily visible through her pensive eyes.

The lack of conversation continued further still, inciting Hyejoo to tighten her grasp on Chaewon’s hands. The palpable tension of the room was making her more and more uncomfortable by the second. Chaewon understood, returning the notion as she squeezed her own hand around Hyejoo’s.

“As soon as we get Yeri back, I’m taking her to their universe.”

After moments that felt like a compressed eternity finally came to an end, Joohyun’s calm declaration shattered the noiselessness surrounding the group. All eyes came to her, but the gaze she returned was Kahei’s. “I’ll go with you. Anything to let Yeri live in peace. Anything.”

"Just like that, Joohyun?” Joy remarked, bringing the older woman’s eyes to her. An unpleasant sort of uncertainty was present on Joy’s face. “This is our home, isn’t it...?”

“It won’t be for much longer if what they’re saying is true,” Joohyun countered, her eyes falling back to the floor. Seungwan placed her free hand atop her other interlocked with Joohyun’s. “I’m already inclined to believe it is. You’ve seen the phantasmal pathway in the sky get darker and darker over the past few years. I’m sure some of the phantadrops aren’t faring any better…”

“What did you say your words were for all this stuff again?” Seulgi questioned Kahei, her fingers idly playing with Joy’s hair. “Kinda lost track of those specifics when you dropped the whole alternate timeline stuff on us…”

“Your phantasmal pathways are our leylines, and your phantadrops are our manapools or manachasms,” Kahei reiterated, resulting in a series of nods from Seulgi. “Phantasma is mana, thaumaturgy is elementalism, and thaumaturges are elementalists or magi. That leaves fiends as—”

“Miscreations,” Joohyun finished, clenching her teeth ever so slightly as her mind came to life with images of the mannequins. “As if Red Velvet wasn’t enough to stop us from living in peace, those things will always be nearby to ruin our day, too…”

“Someone really did this to our world?” Seungwan spoke up, glancing towards Kahei and Jungeun. “The corruption of the phantasmal pathway...that wasn’t natural?”

“Not in the slightest,” Chaewon’s voice answered before they could. Hyejoo lifted her head off of Chaewon’s shoulder, looking to her quietly as she continued. “A wicked, cruel man did this...if you could even call him a man. I’m uncomfortable considering him so much as human at this point…”

“That’s why we’re out here,” Jungeun reconfirmed, bringing her glass of water back down to the table in front of her. “Just trying to save whatever lives we can. The whole bit about recruiting you for our efforts is entirely optional, by the way, though Sunmi would be the one to give you that whole spiel. It’d help us a lot, but what would help us the most is knowing you’re safe in our timeline.”

“I don’t need to hear it again,” Joohyun announced. Her tone was clear with dead set conviction. “My mind’s made up. We’re getting Yeri back and she and I are going back with them.”

“Joohyun…”

Rising from her seat, Joohyun gently slipped away from Seungwan’s grasp as she made way for the stairs. She stopped at the first step, turning back to look upon her companions. After glancing at Seulgi and Joy, her eyes remained settled on Seungwan.

“As much as I want you all to come with Yeri and I, it’s your decision,” Joohyun began, her eyes held on Seungwan still. “If you feel that attached to our universe, I won’t stop you...but this isn’t really home anymore. It stopped being home the moment we were targeted just cause of what we are. We’re not safe here. Yeri isn’t safe here, and she isn’t even like us...so I’m going. This is the last time my little sister’s gonna have to move away from her friends.”

The determination emanating from Joohyun was practically audible in her footsteps as she ascended the stairs. Seungwan gave the rest of the group a nod as she followed her, disappearing with her own ascent above.

The four guests looked to Seulgi as she spoke up to Joy. “What do you think, Joy?”

“I think we need to get ready to save Yeri,” the taller woman commented, slightly sidestepping Seulgi’s inquiry. “Whether I go with them or not depends on you. If you want to stay, I’ll stay with you.”

“Are you trying to swoon me in front of our guests?” Seulgi asked with a giggle. It developed into full blown laughter as Joy stood up with Seulgi still in her lap, seamlessly transitioning to carrying her for a moment before letting her down.

“We’ll be ready in a bit,” Joy addressed the four sorceresses. “Thanks again for helping us out.”

“I’ll be outside,” Jungeun said with a nod while Joy and Seulgi were still in earshot. Standing up from her seat on the couch, she made way for the front door. “Need some fresh air.”

“I’ll keep her company,” Kahei decided with a smile towards Hyejoo and Chaewon, leaving the two as the only ones in the room after she stepped outside with Jungeun.

As silence draped the foyer, Hyejoo’s head fell onto Chaewon’s shoulder once more. Her mind became lost in a thick sea of thoughts, unease swelling within her as she thought more and more about what Joohyun spoke of Red Velvet.

“It’s a little similar to your world, isn’t it, Hyejoo?”

Chaewon’s voice shook Hyejoo from her inner self, summoning her gaze upwards to the girl of light’s eyes. Chaewon wore a solemn smile that dripped with faint misery. “It doesn’t seem to be quite as pious as your timeline, but I can understand why you’re feeling uncomfortable here. The active hunting of magi...it would unsettle anyone.”

“They have it easier than I did, thankfully...” Hyejoo responded softly, her small voice almost struggling to form words into sentences as visions of her past came to life in her mind. “They’re lucky it’s just a single group and not everyone around them…”

“Soon enough, this timeline may go down that same path,” Chaewon lamented, her eyes downcast. “I hope the rest come back with Joohyun and Yeri…I don’t want to imagine them living the rest of their lives on the run.”

“I don’t think the four of them could live without one another,” Hyejoo said, her own comment reflexively making her inch closer still towards Chaewon. “I’m sure they’ll follow Joohyun’s lead…”

Outside, beyond the front door, a silent Jungeun sat on the front steps of the suburban home. Consumed by her thoughts, the forward focus of her eyes refused to shift even as Kahei took a seat next to her. The woman of earth didn’t speak, simply taking in a breath of air as she shared in gazing towards the city on the horizon with Jungeun.

“I’m starting to think you might be more of a leader than I am.”

Jungeun shifted her head sideways as Kahei spoke, looking to the Master sorceress quietly as she was addressed. Kahei aimed a somber smile towards Jungeun. “It appears as if it comes rather naturally to you, Jungeun. You call the shots both in and out of battle like a born commander.”

“Sorry,” Jungeun apologized, her eyes falling slightly. Kahei grimaced at the sight of the spearwoman seeming to be genuinely regretful. “I don’t really mean to take control. It’s kind of a holdover from when I was Jiwoo’s retainer. I had to make a lot of decisions to keep that girl safe on the road.

"Once Heejin and Hyunjin joined us, it only got tougher," Jungeun said with a sigh. "I had to keep those two out of harm’s way, too. Just got used to calling the shots…old habits die hard, I guess."

“You don’t have to apologize,” Kahei assured Jungeun. “Every call you make is one I would make myself. You were wise to split us up as you did back at the church. I was moments away from making the same judgment myself. You clearly know what you’re doing, Jungeun.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Jungeun sharply countered. Her eyes became instilled with palpable reverence towards Kahei as she looked back to her.

“It’s like Sooyoung said. You’re not a Master for nothing. The only reason we won back there as cleanly as we did is because of you. You’re just as important as the rest of us.”

Unsure how to respond to her own worth being praised and defended by her comrade, Kahei was left to slowly nod with an appreciative smile.

A slow, gradual moment passed as they looked out to the horizon once again.

“Honestly, I’m still relieved that this is the team I ended up in.”

Kahei’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as she looked towards Jungeun again. The woman of fire had her eyes focused forwards still, but a small smile was slowly coming into existence on her face.

“Sooyoung’s insanely strong, but she definitely gets in over her head sometimes. Her confidence is a double-edged sword. Just as easily as it lets her kill fiends, I can’t help but feel it could end up getting her killed, too. Working with someone so self-destructive...I don’t know how I would’ve handled it.”

Jungeun sighed as her smile started to vanish. Kahei took keen notice of her eyes as they fell. Jungeun became fixated on her hands below as she started to sheepishly rub them together.

“Working with Jiwoo or Haseul wouldn’t have been so bad, but…”

As an ongoing struggle to piece her thoughts together continued, Jungeun admitted defeat with a shake of her head. She turned her head to Kahei, giving the Master sorceress the most genuine smile she had seen from Jungeun yet.

“Just...I’m really glad I get to work with you, Kahei,” Jungeun revealed, her grin acting as a catalyst for the birth of Kahei’s own. “If there’s really a Master-level sorceress that I aspire to learn from and emulate...it’s you, without a doubt. You’re level-headed, tactical, and you think before you speak. My mind’s clear when I fight alongside you, which tells me you’ll bring out the best of me.”

“Jungeun…thank you.”

Kahei’s response was slow and measured as her mind processed Jungeun’s immense compliments. The respect between them was proudly shared as Kahei addressed her junior.

“In all honesty, I wasn’t quite sure how suited I would be towards taking charge. I consider myself blessed to be working with someone who I have complete faith in as a leader on the off chance that I might fail as one myself…”

“No way you’ll fail,” Jungeun announced, her smile warping into a confident smirk. “Did you hear how loud you shouted at the others to stop those fiends from fusing? I didn’t even know your volume went that high.”

Kahei laughed in slight embarrassment, inciting an accompanying giggle from Jungeun. “You and I can both make the calls, Kahei. If we both believe in each other’s abilities as leaders, then there’s no reason for either of us to shoulder the burden by ourselves. That’s what teamwork’s all about, isn’t it?”

“That’s right! Teamwork makes the dream work!”

A voice other than Kahei’s answered Jungeun’s question. It was accompanied with the sound of a door opening alongside several footsteps.

Jungeun and Kahei looked behind them as they stood up from their seats, seeing six familiar faces. Seulgi smiled playfully as she hopped onto the railing of the porch steps below her, sliding down past Jungeun.

Landing on her feet at the base of the stairs, she looked up to her with a grin. “Good pep talk?”

“Something like that,” Jungeun half-answered with her own smile. Her eyes found Seungwan and Joy’s as the last two to leave the home, closing the door behind them. “So what’s the plan?”

“We can talk in the car,” Seungwan said as she came down the steps, Joohyun behind her. Joy followed, happy to embrace Seulgi with an arm around her as the four approached a white SUV parked not far down the road. Kahei and Jungeun looked up towards a descending Chaewon and Hyejoo, fingers intertwined at the hip.

“Are you two alright?” Kahei asked sincerely, bringing nods from the two of them. Jungeun and Kahei gazed at Chaewon’s free hand as she brought it up, handing the two their drawstring bags.

Their goods collected, the four travelers came to the vehicle that the thaumaturges were entering. Joohyun took the role of driver while Seungwan sat next to her in the passenger seat. In the immediate row behind them, Chaewon and Hyejoo sat close to one another as Kahei and Jungeun filled the rest of the seat.

In the back row of the SUV, a comfortable and relaxed Seulgi laid down across the seat, her head resting on the lap of Joy seated at the end. Seatbelts were clicked into place, but the sound of the engine starting didn’t follow.

“Seulgi.”

“Fine…”

A playful whine from Seulgi came about in response to Joohyun’s voice. She sat up straight, snuggling up close to Joy and engaged in proper safety at Joohyun’s behest.

With her seatbelt’s click sounding off as the final one, Joohyun started the car. The engine roared briefly as she pulled out of her parking spot along the sidewalk and began to drive down the road.

“What are the circumstances regarding Yeri’s capture?” Kahei began, looking towards Seungwan in the passenger seat.

As Seungwan answered, Hyejoo found herself fixated on the sight of Joohyun. She drove at a moderate speed with caution and respected stop signs and traffic lights, but it was easy to tell she was fighting a desire to floor it.

“Yeri’s being held at one of Red Velvet’s ritual sites,” Seungwan began. “It’s located in the catacombs beneath the main house of worship not far from the center of town.”

“The catacombs lead to a phantadrop,” Joy continued, looking out of the window closest to her as she spoke. “They congregate around it and perform the sacrifice there.”

“A sacrificial ritual by a manapool?” Jungeun pondered aloud, scoffing with contempt. “That’s...I don’t even know what the hell to think about that. What is wrong with them?”

“Everything,” Joohyun quietly asserted, her grip on the steering wheel tightening ever so slightly.

“How many of them are there?” Chaewon’s voice followed with an inquiry.

“Most of the local branch usually attend sacrificial rituals like this,” Seungwan answered. Placing an open hand in the space between her and Joohyun, she quickly felt Joohyun’s fingers lock with her own as the older woman began to drive single-handed.

Joohyun took a breath. She to the expressway, collecting herself as Seungwan continued. “At the very least, fifty. No more than eighty, I would assume.”

“And these people aren’t like us, you said?” Jungeun asked, recalling their earlier conversation. “No elementalism, no thaumaturgy, just...regular people?”

“That’s correct. They are trained and equipped with various weapons whenever they’re in their hideouts, but they can’t do what we can,” Seungwan explained with a nod. “They’re mostly brutes whose main focus is strength in numbers.”

“We have to...fight normal people…?”

Hyejoo’s voice shook with an uncomfortable quiver. Chaewon rubbed her free hand atop their intertwined fingers to comfort her, but Hyejoo seemed greatly disturbed with the concept.

“Absolutely not.”

“No way in hell.”

Kahei and Jungeun’s declarations were simultaneous, causing gazes to shift between the two. Even Joohyun’s attention was momentarily stolen away from the road ahead, her eyes peering into the rear-view mirror above her. She watched as Kahei and Jungeun remained steadfast after their proclamation.

“It’s likely that we won’t have a choice,” Joohyun stated with a fierce resolve in her tone. “Not only would they not just hand her over, they’d look at us and see eight more bodies they could sacrifice.”

“Six more bodies.”

Joohyun raised an eyebrow in confusion as Jungeun corrected her.

Looking up once again into the rear view mirror above her, she was met with the sight of Jungeun’s similarly mixed eyes clashing with her own.

“Chaewon and Hyejoo can wait outside,” Jungeun stated, inciting surprised glances from the others towards her.

“We need a pair to watch the entrance we go in from," she explained." I’m designating them as the watch because not only do they need to stay close to one another, but I refuse to put them in a position where they would have to hurt normal people.

“Not to mention, Hyejoo shouldn’t be going anywhere near a manapool,” Jungeun added after a brief pause.

Hyejoo’s breath sharpened for a moment, but she was calmed by Chaewon softly squeezing their combined hands.

Jungeun took a breath as she looked towards Kahei. The woman of earth shared in her serious expression. “That alright with you, Kahei?”

“Yes, I’m in agreement,” Kahei said in collaboration, her eyes shifting back to Seungwan. “However, I must inquire about the general safety of the city. Would they be in any immediate danger if we left them outside as our rear watch?”

“Miscreations haven’t been spotted in town in a fair while,” Seungwan assured the Master sorceress. “Anyone associated with Red Velvet has surely already arrived at the phantadrop for the sacrifice, and there shouldn’t be any bystanders this late at night...they’ll be safe.”

“No fiends in recent history when the city’s right above a manapool?” Jungeun murmured to herself, catching Kahei’s attention. “Has the corruption not reached it yet…?”

“I could only assume as much,” Kahei agreed with Jungeun as the group found themselves entering a dimly lit tunnel after a short passage across a bridge. “It would explain why the cultists continue to perform activities by it…”

“Will the two of you be alright on your own?” Seungwan inquired towards Chaewon and Hyejoo behind her. Concern was clear in her voice. “We’ll be a ways down…”

“We’ll be fine. I’ll protect Chaewon.”

Hyejoo’s response was immediate. It was met with a brief moment of respectful silence. Chaewon smiled as Hyejoo turned her head towards her with a nod.

“What exactly do you mean by them needing to stay close together?”

Joohyun’s question coincided with their departure from the tunnel. Now on a quiet city street surrounded by high rise buildings, Joohyun was fixated on her rear view mirror as she came to a stop in front of a red light. She was openly peering at the closely embraced pair in the middle row.

“It’s...a sort of medical condition involving her mana,” Chaewon answered, challenging Joohyun’s gaze. Hyejoo’s own focus settled on the girl of light next to her, feeling tense by the slight irritation present in Chaewon’s expression. “We absolutely have to be within close range of one another at all times. Her safety depends on it...and you could argue that everyone else’s safety depends on it even more.”

Joohyun didn’t answer promptly, instead simply looking into Chaewon’s hazel eyes further. She tilted her head slightly as Chaewon appeared to be formulating words to speak, but the girl of light quietly closed and shifted her eyes with a dejected look. It was enough to confirm Joohyun’s thoughts.

“Sorry about earlier, then.”

Chaewon and Hyejoo both felt slight shock within them as their eyes darted to Joohyun. The driver’s focus was once again glued to the road in front of her, making a right turn as the light swapped from red to green. “The miscreation we fought in the church earlier...I realize I messed up your formation when I finished it off without warning. I wasn’t aware of your circumstances. That’s my mistake.”

A befuddling mixture of both relief and respect took shape within Hyejoo and Chaewon’s minds, and it showed through their faces as they silently nodded with slight bewilderment. The notion of Joohyun’s awareness towards her error and her open apology spoke wonders of her maturity towards the younger sorceresses.

Silence encompassed the inside of the vehicle as the voyage into the city continued. Minutes passed in an eerie sort of peace as several blocks of only parked cars were passed. Seulgi’s voice summoned everyone’s attention as another turn was made.

“There it is.”

Pulling into the parking lot of a closed business, Joohyun parked the SUV as an array of clicking noises made themselves audible. Released from their seatbelts, the group left the vehicle one by one. As Hyejoo touched ground, she looked up and was met with a sight that made her sick to her stomach.

Sandwiched between two skyscrapers much taller than it, a grand cathedral stood. It’s presentation was pristine with clean, white paint and stained glass decorating the windows that surrounded the grand double doors at its front. The moon shined brilliantly above the women as they crossed the empty street, making way for the chapel.

Joohyun pulled one of the doors slowly, the ancient wood creaking loudly as the entrance became half open. Lead by Chaewon’s hand, Hyejoo followed the others inside and found herself within a basilica far beyond the scale of the one they had just done battle in. The vaulted ceilings above her reached immensely high into the air and there were over twice as many rows of seats for those of faith.

The group approached the far end of the church floor. They stopped in front of a large marble statue of a winged angel reaching up with both hands towards the exquisite glass chandelier high above it. Hyejoo’s eyes wandered to the bottom of the sculpture, noticing the base it was perched upon was slightly off center.

“Jungeun, Seulgi, give me a hand.”

Joohyun’s request was answered without hesitation as the two came to her side. Standing at one end of the statue’s base, they pooled their physical might together and exerted force forwards against it. Their strength proved to be far more than enough as the collective entity of the statue and its base shifted to the right with ease.

Revealed beneath the base was a large opening in the floor. A staircase of concrete lead down a passageway lit by torches that hung on walls of cement. Joohyun came around its front, gazing down into the shadowy descent with the others.

“This leads straight into the catacombs,” Seungwan revealed as she stepped forward, her eyes meeting Joy’s before moving to the others. “Our trail ended here. We saw them go down, but didn’t want to go any further on our own.”

“A smart play,” Kahei commented, pushing her glasses up as she stared into the abyss below. “There’s little telling what lies beneath. We’ll have to proceed with caution.”

“Alright. Chaewon, Hyejoo, keep an eye out,” Jungeun instructed, turning around to the pair as nods were exchanged. “This might take a little while, depending on how deep the catacombs go and how much of a fight they put up. We’ll try to be quick.”

“We need to be quick. Yeri might not have much time left,” Joohyun asserted. Her crimson eye seemed to come to life with a burning drive to act. “Let’s go.”

The axewoman entered first. Close behind her, Seungwan, Joy, and Seulgi followed. Jungeun proceeded afterwards, and Kahei began her descent next. A few steps down, however, she turned to face Chaewon and Hyejoo.

“We’ll be back as soon as possible. Please be careful.”

Kahei fully took in the sight of the two girls nodding at her before turning back around and continuing down the staircase. For a moment, the pair stood still above the hidden passageway, their gazes lost to the dimly lit descent into darkness.

“Would you like to wait outside, Hyejoo?”

Hyejoo was pulled from her trance as Chaewon addressed her. She turned her eyes, coming face to face with the sight of her companion smiling warmly at her. “You might be more comfortable out there than here.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Hyejoo admitted with a small nod. “I don’t like being in here…”

Hand-in-hand, the two made their way back out through the open front door. A cool breeze rolled down the empty city street, swaying their hair as they sat down on the steps leading up to the cathedral.

Hyejoo’s eyes wandered momentarily, unnerved by the sight of such a well-maintained populated city appearing to be as devoid of life as a run down ghost town.

Chaewon joined her in quietly ascertaining the state of the immediate area. She smiled as she spotted some lights on in a building not far down the road. “Just an especially quiet city, I suppose. Much different than Mobius, even for this late time of night…”

“Seungwan said that fiends haven’t been around here in a while,” Hyejoo recalled, her violet eye traversing the long line of parked cars down the sidewalk in front of her. “I would have imagined at least a few people driving around, but...it’s almost like there’s no one living here.”

“It’s difficult to say what exactly could lead a city supposedly full of life to feel so abandoned,” Chaewon commented, taking a breath as another light gust of cool night air swept them by. “This could be the last safe haven left, or the first many people here have ever found themselves in…”

“I think...I think it’s because of Red Velvet…”

Chaewon turned her gaze towards Hyejoo. In silence, she watched pensive contemplation take root in her expression, her mixed eyes falling slightly as she continued. “It must be more serious than it seems. If they’re willing to take someone without actually checking to see if they’re a magus, then no one’s really safe anywhere. Your life would be over as soon as they saw you even talking with a magus…”

Hyejoo sighed, disturbed by the notion and the recollections of her past it brought to mind. “Maybe they don’t have it easier than I did...this world might be just as bad as my own in its own way…”

For a moment, Chaewon remained silent, merely taking in the sight of Hyejoo’s disconsolate eyes stuck in a transfixed state. The younger girl no doubt getting swept up in her memories once again, Chaewon brought her free hand behind Hyejoo and gently rubbed her back.

“Don’t think about that stuff, Hyejoo. I know it’s easier said than done, but you can’t let yourself get hung up on the past,” Chaewon reasoned, bringing Hyejoo’s eyes to her. “What’s done is done. You have to live in the present and look towards the future.”

Hyejoo’s still quietness persisted as a smile manifested on Chaewon’s face. Pure and bright, the warmth it radiated enveloped Hyejoo in a peaceful aura. “I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

Hyejoo felt it as she stared into Chaewon’s eyes.

It came to life within her as Chaewon smiled at her, and it burned with heartfelt passion as she smiled back. It stirred her soul the same way it did mere hours ago before they left.

The yearning to be close to Chaewon. The desire to protect her at all costs.

“What’s done is done...live in the present and look towards the future…”

Hyejoo and Chaewon’s eyes simultaneously widened in surprise as a distant voice repeated Chaewon’s words.

They looked forward, standing up slowly as a figure approached from the far end of the empty city street. It walked at a snail’s pace, each step heavy and deliberate.

“Spouting the same drivel as always, are we? I wonder, Chaewon...how long will this instance last before you go and spread such wisdom to yet another unfortunate soul?”

Hyejoo felt Chaewon’s grip on her hand tighten severely. Chaewon's words trembled slightly. “That voice…”

Hyejoo’s eyes focused on the figure as it came closer and closer still, eventually coming to a short distance down the road.

A woman slightly shorter than the girl of darkness stood with refined, almost regal posture. Wine red hair was styled into a ponytail, colored a shade of crimson so deep it appeared almost brown as it flowed down.

“You haven’t forgotten me, have you, Chaewon?” the woman called out to Hyejoo’s companion. With heterochromatic eyes of dark brown and a sea-like azure, she shifted her gaze from Chaewon to Hyejoo. “Or has your memory of me been lost since you left our world behind a short half year ago? Is it due to your new friend?”

“Jisoo...what are you doing here?”

Chaewon’s question was met with shock from Hyejoo as the girl of light stepped forward. Gently, she willingly detached herself from Hyejoo, establishing the tether of her mana between them before their physical contact fully broke apart.

“Chaewon, you know her…?”

“She’s…”

“Please continue, Chaewon,” the woman known as Jisoo practically instigated, her eyes narrowing as she folded her hands in front of her waist.

Moonlight drenched her as she took a step forward, allowing Hyejoo a proper look at her buttoned up long sleeved dress shirt of red and black. A thick belt secured her ebony jeans, the denim of which became tucked away from view beneath her matching thigh high boots of jet black. “What am I?”

A stressful silence fell between the three. The noise of nothing compounded with the lack of life in the immediate area, unsettling Hyejoo greatly. Cautiously, she stepped forward, stopping next to Chaewon and looking to her. “Chaewon…?”

“She’s...an old friend,” Chaewon answered quietly, her eyes focused on the woman down the road.

Jisoo tilted her head with a pensive look in her eyes. “An old friend...I see. If that’s how you would prefer to label our history to your new friend, then I suppose we can leave it at that.”

“Jisoo, how did you get here?” Chaewon immediately retorted, perplexion quickly taking hold of her voice. “Our timeline...it should’ve…”

“There’s only one thing I feel obliged to make clear to you and your friend.”

Chaewon took a step back as a cerulean mist began to take shape in front of Jisoo. Defensively, Hyejoo stepped in front of Chaewon, watching the woman carefully.

Jisoo’s mana collected into a thick sphere in front of her. From the end facing Hyejoo, a fine line of it segregated itself outwards. A runic circle of matching blue came to life at her wrist, traveling down the length of her amassed dust as it materialized and took shape.

In her hand, Jisoo took hold of an ornate rapier of blue and silver steel as it finished constructing itself. Her grip on it was well protected by an ornate hilt that swirled around her sword hand with twisted, bent sweepings of metal.

The blade that extended outwards from the hilt was thin, measuring well over three feet in length. It gleamed in the moonlight as Jisoo lifted the weapon, pointing it towards the two sorceresses in front of her. The sharp tip of it was aimed towards Chaewon’s heart, glowing as a small series of runes etched into the steel down one side of the blade glowed with a faint blue light.

“We are not on the same side.”

Jisoo’s odd eye shined with an intense light as her ocean-colored mana coalesced around her sword. Thin streams of water surrounded her rapier, suspended in place as they flowed towards the tip.

“What do you mean, Jisoo?!”

Hyejoo felt pain strike her heart as she heard Chaewon reply with clear distress in her words. Jisoo was already causing the person she wanted to protect a deal of suffering, and with her weapon at the ready, she seemed ready to cause much more…

“We’re enemies,” Jisoo explained with a flat tone. “Our teams don’t share the same goals. The people we work for don’t strive for the same aspirations. That means you and everyone you’re associated with…”

Jisoo’s eyes slowly shifted towards Hyejoo. “...are obstacles in my path.”

“I don’t—”

“She’s said enough.”

Hyejoo’s voice softly cut off Chaewon’s as violet mana took shape in front of her. Her scythe gradually came to life in her hands as she stared at Jisoo ahead of her. Hyejoo’s odd eye of deep lavender steadily glowed with an intense light as her fingers tightened around the grips of her finished weapon.

“I don’t know what she used to mean to you, Chaewon, but she’s made herself clear,” Hyejoo stated, the runes along the blade of her scythe lighting up softly.

“She isn’t who she was before. She’s an enemy. She wants to hurt us...to hurt you. I won’t...I won’t let her do that.”

“Oh?” Jisoo muttered in amusement, her focus on Hyejoo intensifying with curiosity. “You’ve found someone quite determined to keep you safe, Chaewon. How admirable...but do you possess the strength to be making such claims in the first place?”

“If you’re so insistent on dueling instead of simply explaining yourself, then you leave us no choice.”

A gentle beige light began to radiate from Chaewon’s body behind Hyejoo as she assimilated her mana.

Her tome flashed into existence in the palm of her hand, its pages shifting themselves as the runes within became illuminated. “I’m not sure what’s happened to you, Jisoo...but please don’t underestimate us.”

“You’re unsure what’s happened to me?” Jisoo mirrored with a slight scowl, her eyes settling onto Chaewon behind Hyejoo.

Azure mana surrounded her with a breath. With her exhale, it coalesced into spiraling streams of water that enveloped Jisoo’s frame at a distance. “Choice words for an ‘old friend’ who willingly abandoned the community that took her in. You’re no better than the parents who disowned all of us back home…”

Jisoo sighed.

She took a single step forward, and then another, her focus coming back to Hyejoo. She ran her index and middle fingers across the length of her blade, its liquid aura parting along their path down the steel.

“It matters not. I’ll placate the old sorcerer by disposing of you both here.”

With every step closer the present threat came towards her and Chaewon, Hyejoo felt it.

The potent danger in front of her made it impossible for it to be fully subdued, even with the constant warmth of Chaewon’s tether keeping it in check.

The infuriated gnawing and manic scratching of her other self against the inside of her mind grew slowly.

Hyejoo took a deep breath, steadying herself against its urge to break free.

Your life is in danger. However, more importantly, so is hers.

I know.

She cannot fall. She cannot perish.

I know.

She is—

—the physical manifestation of my will to live.

I know.