Chapter 9

rain, rain go away

Curses were wretched things that ran through veins, sat in blood and messed with minds. Now, Yongsun, as far as she knew, had never been cursed. She did know that Baekhyun had been cursed during the Great War. He had managed to irritate a corporal in the King’s regiment, who also happened to be a wizard. It was not a particularly nasty curse, but not a particularly pleasant one either. The wizard cursed Baekhyun’s hair, changing it from the original ash blonde into a boring shade of grey. A few days later, Baekhyun’s hair turned black, not a black that shimmered or shone in the sunlight or became dark blue in the moonlight, but a painfully plain colour.

Baekhyun was not happy, certainly not when his ash blonde hair was one of the few things he prided himself over. He was a little vain, perhaps a bit narcissistic, but Yongsun understood his distress knowing that his hair had been an important part of his identity —but then it suddenly did not exist anymore.

But, as far as Yongsun knew, she, herself, had never been cursed. However, Yongsun did believe that the stars had given her a soul that cared too much about others and not enough about herself. At one point in Yongsun’s life, when she was in Heaven training to become an Angel, Yongsun was sure she had been cursed, because there could be no other explanation as to why she kept choosing others wellbeing before her own.

It was midnight and the stars were shining. Right now, Yongsun feared no monsters or beasts that could crash through walls, she feared for her future — what dastardly path had the stars mapped out for her? Most of the steps she had taken towards her destiny had been agonisingly painful, Yongsun thought she was walking on shards of glass.

Yongsun was sitting in the alcove, arms wrapped around her legs. She stared at the wall with hollow eyes, not daring to look up at the ceiling, knowing the stars were watching her. She feared them, even though she did not believe in them. She remembered that people said a magician’s stone was once the heart of a dying star, so Yongsun wondered if the stars in the sky were magicians who had not fallen yet. If that was the case, then Yongsun wondered if they had perhaps cursed Yongsun when she was born, when she ripped her mother open.

Yongsun felt betrayed by the stars, so she tried to believe they were just giant balls of gas in the sky, like Hyojin had said. But no matter how much Yongsun tried to convince herself of that, she still asked them questions, the most important one being:

Why?

Of course, whenever she asked, they never answered.

Yongsun leaned her head against the wall and sighed. A terrible thought crossed her mind; I could leave. Witch’s bargains were serious things, of course they were, but they were not everlasting, or severely binding, except to the power-wielder (in this case the witch). It would not mean the end of time if Yongsun decided to break off the bargain and walk away.

However, walking away from the witch’s bargain meant knocking on Heaven’s door, begging to be let in again. There was no way Yongsun could reach her own desires, not without sacrificing her happiness and health. Yongsun felt trapped; a chain around her ankles, a collar around her neck.

The problem was that Yongsun was first and foremost an Angel, she had made that quite clear to herself. Angels helped people, but Angels also belonged in Heaven —no, they belonged to Heaven.

But Yongsun was not one to leave when others needed her (that was the part of being an Angel). She cared too much about Heeyeon to end the bargain, perhaps she even cared for the magician as well?

Yongsun struggled to keep her eyes open, trying not surrender to sleep. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, her body straining to remain upright. It wanted to fall, forever, without ever hitting the ground. Yongsun thought that would be the closest thing to soaring, to flying.

A drop of water fell on top of Yongsun’s head. She looked up, seeing several more drops slipping down through the floorboards. She frowned, her heart hammering in her chest, like a bird struggling to break free from its cage. She stood and walked out of the alcove, intent on talking to the magician to find out what had gotten between them, because obviously something had. Yongsun walked up the stairs leading to Moonbyul’s room, but she did not open the hatch.

She halted, frowned, feeling like a coward. Yongsun stared at the hatch for quite some time before she sighed and sat down on the stairs, chin in hand. Then, Yongsun heard the hatch open. She turned and lifted her head, seeing Moonbyul peering down at her. Yongsun’s heart skipped a beat and a familiar face flashed before her; it was a man that Yongsun thought looked a lot like Moonbyul.

«Why,» said the magician, and Yongsun wanted to laugh, «are you here?»

Yongsun stood, pretending not to be afraid. She told herself to have courage instead.

«Because I am in a witch’s bargain with Heeyeon and I promised her I would not let you die. I will heal you, like any obedient Angel would.»

«Then heal me,» Moonbyul stepped aside, «and when I am no longer dying, you can go back to Heaven and we do not have to see each other ever again.»

Yongsun walked up the last two steps and into the magician’s room, stopping only for a moment to look into Moonbyul’s eyes that shone a brilliant azure.

«How does that sound?»

«Perfect.» Yongsun breathed, but not fully meaning it.

It was raining inside and Yongsun’s clothes clung to her body. She wrapped her arms around her torso, afraid that Moonbyul would be able to see through her silk blouse. The rain abruptly stopped and Yongsun brushed her wet, clingy hair out of her face.

Moonbyul sat on the bed with her eyes closed, listening. But to what? Yongsun questioned and stole glances around the room. There was nothing except for Moonbyul’s bed, a messy desk, a dusty bookshelf, and several ruined pillows. There were no windows, and it was very dark.

Then Yongsun heard a squawk. And waves upon waves crashing against ships, boats, wharfs and harbours. Yongsun spun around the room, trying to figure out where the sounds came from. Her eyes settled on Moonbyul, suddenly she knew. It was just a gut feeling, but Yongsun was rarely wrong about her instincts, she just had trouble believing herself when the impossible suddenly seemed very, very possible.

Moonbyul opened her eyes and stood.

«Heal me.» She said, her eyes never leaving Yongsun’s.

Yongsun trembled. «Where are you from?» She asked.

The magician frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

«Port City.»

«Were you a fisherman?»

Moonbyul shook her head slowly, not understanding why Yongsun was asking invasive questions.

«Do you know how to swim?»

«Why are you asking me this? I thought you were going to help me?»

Yongsun turned her head, not capable of looking into Moonbyul’s eyes any longer.

«You won’t ever get better if you don’t open up.» She whispered. «If your using dark magic is linked to emotional trauma, then I cannot heal you unless I uncover it. That is the only way!»

Moonbyul looked baffled, not able to believe what Yongsun had just said.

«The solution that you have come up with is to ask me about my life?» Moonbyul paced around the room, blue scales began to crawl up her neck. «By the stars, that is ridiculous!»

It started raining, and Yongsun had to continuously brush her hair out her face in order to see clearly.

«You want me to spill out my feelings, all my little secrets to you —you who absolutely hates me! You must think me mad to be willing to do so!»

«Fine! Be like that!» Yongsun shrieked, not caring if her voice had woken Heeyeon who was slumbering downst