ii

A Colour So Dark

Lumfen saw the same event unfold again this year. People gathered in the middle of the city, where the Lady Glory statue was. Several children were playing tag and they were running around the statue, until their parents grabbed them with worried looks on their faces. They scooped up their child and scurried away from the statue, disappearing behind the increasing size of the crowd.

Heejoo watched the scene play out with her pair of empty eyes, but her heart was filled with contempt. Those parents should have known better than letting their children play around the sacred statue, more so during an important event such as the memorial day. The lack of respect that the city people had for Lady Glory was baffling to her, considering that She was the one who lent Her power to save the people.

She grazed her fingers against her forehead, and prayed to Lady Glory that the rains wouldn’t ruin the event. It was troublesome enough for her and the other girls to move the pots from the Hall to the centre of the city. The wheels of the cart were slippery against the damp soil, and they needed four people to make sure that they wouldn’t be sliding down the slope and making a fool out of themselves in front of the city people.

Not that they weren’t already fools in people’s eyes.

With a sigh threatening to escape her lips, she dragged the rag against the wooden table to wipe it clean. This was supposed to be done earlier this morning, but the cloud had threatened them with a chance of rain and the task had to be postponed. Madam Kil was ready to force them to face the possible rain, but the sky had brightened then. Good Glory.

A finger tapped against the table and it glided shortly on the surface before it rose.

“Wipe it once again and put the utensils here,” Madam Kil said while wiping her finger clean using a cloth. “Last year several people pointed fingers at us and claimed that we brought them the horrendous stomach ache.” She scoffed, throwing a look of disdain at the group of people that had found their place under the tent. “Wasting our resources on people that have strayed too far…” She shook her head, her lips curved down. “Such nonsense would not even be thought about if it was up to me.”

Worries began to build up inside Heejoo as Madam Kil muttered her last sentence. Heejoo let her eyes wander around the venue, trying to catch if anyone was listening in to the conversation. Several people were in the vicinity, but they seemed to be immersed in their own conversation.

“I feel the same,” she replied after careful observation of her surroundings. “We could use our resources for new students,” she said, making sure that her voice was a mere whisper.

“New students, yes, and for the farewell ceremony as well.” The woman linked her hands at her back while shooting Heejoo a look. “We might not be able to host it on separate occasions this year, so either you’ll have yours earlier or the other girls have theirs later.”

The rag felt rough against Heejoo’s skin. She crumpled it in her hand and pressed it against the table. “I understand.”

. . .

“Do you think that they’ll come this year?” Jooah asked while she was stirring the pot. The newer girls were usually the ones tasked to prepare the food for the people, but with the decreasing number of followers, the workforce had decreased as well. Therefore, the girls that had been staying longer at the Holy Hall were also ordered to help in the kitchen. “They came last year, but will they come again?”

Heejoo dipped the ladle into the stew and took a sip. Bland. She grabbed the salt jar and took a teaspoon of salt before she dumped it into the stew. “Why won’t they? It’s the Prince’s memorial day.”

“Good Glory,” Jooah murmured, “are you pretending—”

“They might arrive any time soon, are you sure that you want to talk about them now?”

Jooah dropped her ladle and drew her legs to her chest. “I can’t wait to leave this place. We live too close to them, it makes me uneasy.” She rocked back and forth, her eyes staring at the bubbling stew. “It’s a miracle that they haven’t chased us away yet.”

Heejoo’s breath hitched. “Jooah.”

The other girl widened her eyes. “What? We’re the only ones here, they won’t bother checking up on us. That, if they decide to attend this year.”

It was not them that Heejoo was worried about. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Madam Kil and Madam Lo standing just outside the kitchen. They were out of earshot distance, but the other girls could have heard the conversation and rat out on them later.

“It’s not something that any of us can discuss. It’s beyond our understanding,” she whispered. “We’ll get in trouble if anyone hears us talking about this.”

The chattering noises outside increased without warning, and a hoard of footsteps were heard. Heejoo searched for the presence of the two Madams, and she noticed that they were gone. The other girls also froze on their spot, and the atmosphere had changed. The serenity was gone in a flash, and it was replaced with increasing heartbeats and jittery hands.

Jooah stood up from her stool and blew the fire off. “Never mind, I got my answer.”

They peered outside through the window, and even then there were already people pressing their bodies against it. Jooah scrunched her nose before she mouthed something at Heejoo, complaining about the body odour. Heejoo smelled it too, but she was more focused on trying to find gaps between the bodies so that she could see the arrival of the royals.

Finally, she found a tiny gap between a man’s arm and his torso.

The carriage was the colour of scarlet, with gold cloths draping along the edges. The beads on the gold cloth sparkled under the sunlight, and Heejoo stared at the display of colours in displeasure. A presence only seen once a year, on this specific day, and yet the risks that it brought far exceeded anything in the city.

Jooah nudged her side. “If I wasn’t in this city, I’d have loved to wear the same shade of scarlet.”

“Watch your words,” Heejoo told in a harsh voice.

As the carriage moved forward, people diverged and formed a path for it to go through. Heejoo’s eyes caught the presence of a woman in an emerald clothing, a cloak hanging on her body and hood covering her head. In her hand was a bead necklace, the colour so dark that Heejoo recognized it in an instant.

Jooah tapped her shoulder. “Heejoo? Did you hear me?”

“Did you see the woman?” Heejoo looked outside only to notice that she was gone. “She has black beads strung together and looped around her hand.”

Jooah blinked her eyes and then her lips broke into a smile. “Nonsense, none of them are free to roam around. Unless the King has offered them a special invitation to the death anniversary of his own son.” She clung onto Heejoo’s arm and dragged her away from the window. “We have to start serving food to the people. Now that the royals have arrived, the feast is supposed to begin. I don’t want to face Madam Kil’s wrath.”

When they stepped outside, with both of them holding each side of the pot, Madam Lo had already begun muttering the prayer. Heejoo could hear the raspy voice of the woman, carried away by the softly blowing wind. The royals, sitting in a tent that was covered with white cloth, seemed to remain seated as the prayer was carried on.

The air was starting to be filled with false cries and strained voices. Some held their hands against their forehead, but the look in their eyes showed that they weren’t following the prayer. Far too gone into their own world, far away from their belief. Words spilled out of their lips, but none of which they actually meant. Some wore clothes with shades too close to darkness, clearly not withholding the teachings of Lady Glory.

“That one’s recently cooked, yes?” Madam Kil asked, her book covering her profile as she whispered to them. Heejoo and Jooah nodded. “Bring it to that tent, the one with white cloth.”

Heejoo could feel the pot dipping slightly, and she looked at Jooah. The wariness on the girl’s face was as clear as the sky, and she felt the uneasiness dawn on her the more she studied Jooah’s face.

“I can do this alone,” she said once Madam Kil went into the kitchen. “The pot’s not that heavy.”

Jooah frowned. “It’s heavy to me, I’m not letting you do this alone.”

Without waiting for an answer, Jooah took the lead and dragged her forward along with the pot. Heejoo was worried that content might be spilled since they were moving too quickly. The sound of their footsteps was also distracting, with their feet rubbing against the ground as they walked and their soles creating noise as they dug into the ground. Several people turned their head over to them, and Heejoo lowered her head when she felt eyes following them.

It could be because of the smell of the stew, she thought, and not because of the footsteps.

She tugged Jooah’s sleeve slightly when they were just a few steps from the tent.

“Watch your words when we’re inside,” she muttered. She peeked through the white cloth and saw that the royals were still sitting on their seat.

“I’m not stupid,” Jooah replied. A tinge of hurt could be heard from her voice. “I know that we don’t have good relations—”

“Watch your words,” Heejoo repeated, a bit harsher this time.

Jooah bit her lip. “Fine. We’re just going to put this inside and leave anyway; I don’t think that I’ll even get the chance to let out my breath.”

Heejoo hoped that was the case. After she let her breath, she slid her hand through the cloth partition and swiped it to the side. The first thing that she noticed was the carriage. It stood at the corner of the tent, opposite to where she was standing. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the things that she thought were beads, were actually stones.

She urged Jooah to move along with her and place the pot at the table which was situated just next to the entrance.

From the corner of her eyes, she observed the royal family’s attire. Just as how it should be, they were all wearing white. It was a hint of gold on their accessories that caught her off-guard—it shouldn’t have caught her off-guard. The queen was known for her preference for gold, even before Lumfen was invaded by the demons, and even while the city was crumbling under the dark energy. She turned her eyes away from the family and shut her eyes. No, it was not appropriate to be thinking about things as trivial as that.

The boisterous and thunderous voices outside the tent caught her attention, and she was sure that it caught Jooah’s too. Madam Lo’s voice was no longer heard, and the shuffling sound snapped her back into the moment. She found Jooah experiencing the same, and she was about to leave when Jooah pinched the side of her waist.

“I spilled some of the stews on the table,” Jooah whispered while looking at the royals. “I have to wipe it before we leave. Or you can leave first, if you want to.”

Heejoo looked at the liquid pooling on the table, and then she wandered her eyes around, staring through the sheer white cloth. Several of the newer girls from the Hall should already be here to serve the royals. Jooah and her were not supposed to attend to that task; they had long passed that phase, and the torch was passed to the girls below them. But they couldn’t just leave the mess there, could they?

“I’ll help you,” she said, while whisking out a rag from her pocket. “The sooner we leave, the better. It’s not appropriate for us to be—”

“I know, Heejoo,” Jooah replied, her hand pressing the rag against the wet spot, “I’ve been here just as long as you have.”

Before Heejoo managed a reply, somebody came into the tent. She thought that it was the girls that were supposed to be here, but it was actually Madam Lo. The woman had her usual stoic expression, eyes staring at nowhere and lips pressed tight that they formed a straight line.

She bowed briefly. “Your Majesty,” she said, while looking at the king and the queen. Then she turned towards the Prince. “Your Highness.”

The king laughed, although it sounded muffled to Heejoo’s ears. “I’d rather have the formalities gone, instead of having to hear you force yourself to greet us this way.”

“Pardon me, my king,” Madam Lo replied, her voice dropping a tone lower, “but I believe that due to some mishaps, I can’t hold a longer conversation with you.”

“Right, yes,” the king leaned to the right and placed his elbow on the armrest, “the ritual. How could I be upset when you’re doing this not only for my son, but also the whole city?”

“I’m glad to have your understanding, my king.”

“But isn’t it too much to leave without serving us anything?” he said with a smile, and Heejoo felt her heart leaping out.

Madam Lo’s eyes fell on them. “Yes, of course.” She eyed the both of them, then her gaze landed on the rags in their hands. “Can you both please ask Madam Kil if there’s anything wrong at the kitchen?”

Heejoo nodded and spun on her feet, and her fingers latched onto Jooah’s wrist as she walked out of the tent.

Jooah pulled her wrist back. “That hurts.”

“I’m sorry,” Heejoo replied while walking towards the kitchen.

Just then, she saw a girl from the Hall running towards them, darting past the commoners. One of the men shouted when her shoulder hit his arm, causing him to spill his stew. She glanced back and muttered something, but she quickly turned her head to the front and started running again.

“Heejoo!” the girl called out, stopping in front of them, her chest heaving up and down. “One of the girls slipped on the slope when she was going down the hill, and she broke her arm and leg. She was supposed to be serving the royal family, but her arm and leg...”

Jooah shrieked and put a hand over . “Good Glory, the slippery slope has taken its first victim today.”

“Madam Kil insisted that she doesn’t want any help from the commoners, so she instructed some of us to bring Dani back to the Hall using the carriage,” the girl explained. There were tears in her eyes.

“How many girls are left?” Heejoo’s eyes scanned over the area, noticing the Hall ladies filling up the tank with water, distributing foods to the commoners, and cleaning up after the trashes that had been left by them.

“Still a lot, but they’re serving the commoners.”

She pondered for a while. “Take a few girls to serve the royal family. Is there anything else that should be done?”

“The equipment for the ritual. The same group of girls were instructed to retrieve them—I think they have retrieved them, but they didn’t get to bring them to the lake. They put them near the Lady Glory statue, if I’m not mistaken.”

Heejoo nodded. “Don’t worry about the equipment, Jooah and I will bring them to the lake. Nothing else?”

The girl swept away the tears from her eyes. “That’s all. We’re sorry for messing things up.”

Jooah spread her arms and pulled the girl into her embrace. “Don’t worry, Lady Glory wanted this to happen for a reason. Right, Heejoo?”

Heejoo glanced at Jooah and the girl, and then she nodded.

Why does Lady Glory want this to happen?

“We’re already running behind the schedule,” she said. “We’ll get the equipment now.”

Even though the prayer had been held at the Lady Glory statue, the commoners were ushered towards a dining area, where the food counters were at. This was due to Madam Lo’s insistence that serenity and nothingness should be maintained around the statue. The rowdiness of the crowd once it was time to feast probably struck a nerve in Madam Lo’s mind.

“Do you think that Dani will be fine?” Jooah asked while picking up the huge bag containing five candles which size was the size of her three fingers combined together. “I don’t think that any of the Madams knows how to heal physical injuries.”

Heejoo collected the five candle stands in her arm and clenched them tightly against her chest. “The Madams will find a way.” She tapped Jooah’s back and pointed at a basket that contained a white robe that was folded in perfect square. Next to it was a rolled up purple skirt tied with a long purple cloth. “Can you please bring the basket with you? I can’t carry it,” she said while making a slight movement to refer to the long candle stands that was over half of her height.

Jooah slung the candles bag strap over her shoulder and bent down to pick up the basket. “Back then, the three of us always did this together, because we were the only ones that came to the Hall that year.”

A sigh threatened to slip out of Heejoo’s lips, but she forced it down. Jooah had the affinity for small talks, at any time, at any day. When the girl had found a bird nest in the garden of the Hall, she made a big issue out of it and brought everyone to see it. The flowers in the garden, the many colours that tainted the garden vulnerable to the demons—it was all her. Her indulgence in the minuscule matters of her life could only be seen as disturbance most of the time.

Now it was the same.

“Yes,” was the only answer that Heejoo gave before she stared back at the direction of where the feast was happening. That was when she caught sight of a figure donned in an emerald cloak shuffling past several people and disappearing into the spaces between the houses.

She didn’t have the time to alert Jooah as the figure was moving fast and if she didn’t hurry, she would miss her. The candle stands dropped onto the ground, and she left them flat on the ground and then gave Jooah a brief tap on the shoulder before she ran towards the direction where the figure had slipped to.

After five years, they finally had the courage to show up in the public, and Heejoo couldn’t let them roam free when they had stolen many lives from the city.

She stopped at the end of the path, and only continued running when she saw the twirl of an emerald cloak. Towards the lake? She wondered why, but the question didn’t affect her movement and speed. If someone like this emerald-cloaked person showed up, that could only mean that they meant to do something horrendous, and Heejoo would not let that happen. All questions were pushed to the sides, because she knew that had any other devotees from the Hall been in her shoes, they would have done the same.

Sweats trickled down from her forehead and she placed one hand against a tree as she tried to regain her breathing. Her shirt was drenched and her feet were caked with dirt; slippers couldn’t offer her feet much protection, especially when she was running through the mud and dampened soils.

Stepping over the twigs, she observed the surrounding to see where the person was hiding. It was difficult to find them; their cloak blended well with the green grass and trees. They must have known that someone was following them, and that was why they chose to go to the greener side of the city. Heejoo’s heart started beating loud, after all this was a dangerous person she was dealing with.

But if she fell in the name of Lady Glory, then so be it.

Clad in the sheer confidence she had managed to obtain, she stepped away from the tree and ventured into the forest. Ever since the period of darkness that Lumfen had gone through, there were no longer creatures of the wild roaming on its ground. People would be lucky to come across one. Heejoo hadn’t come across any.

She had heard the birds chirping, though, and she saw them flapping their small wings in the air, flying away from Lumfen.

As she stepped farther and farther away from where she had come from, she reached the edge of the lake. The water was still, but murky. Then, she saw something floating in the lake. It was of a huge figure, but it couldn’t be the person she was chasing after, right? Her face tightened as she scampered to another spot to get a better view of the floating figure. From where she was standing, she could see no hint of emerald.

She felt a sense of hesitation, telling her to back off, but as soon as she snapped out of it she dove into the lake and swam towards the floating figure. Once she got close to it, she noticed that this couldn’t be the person with the emerald cloak from before—it couldn’t be.

The water splashed behind her and she looked back to find Jooah floating in the water, but the girl didn’t move. Heejoo grabbed the floating figure and brought it towards Jooah.

Jooah gasped. She gave a questioning look, agape. Then, she climbed back to the shore and helped hauling the figure up.

hello! i finally updated this fic after a year lmao. actually, this chapter was already completed around a year ago just shortly after i posted chapter 1 but for some reason i didn't want to post it...yet. i was lurking on the midnight mist folder on google drive and saw this chapter and thought, "hey, there must be something wrong with this chapter and that's why i haven't posted it yet." but i spent like an hour just staring at the screen bcs i realized that i already forgot A Lot of details of this fic asskjdvfll. so, yeah, i'm pretty sure that there's something on this chapter that needs to be revised but until i figure out what it is, this chapter is gonna stay as it is now.