chapter iv.

look at the stars, look how they shine for you

 

“we are so screwed.” yerim concludes, and joohyun honestly cannot think of anything better to name their current situation. what she fears most do come true, and ‘screwed’ is really the best way to put it.

“it's a dead end,” sooyoung groans in pure frustration, throwing her arms to the air and gesturing to the tall, tall walls of the round hall at the end of the path they are currently in. “how can it be a dead end?!”

“it's not a dead end,” seulgi's voice comes from the centre of the hall. she is looking down on the floor, hand her jaw, pondering on something. when she looks up, she searches for joohyun’s eyes first, locking her gaze with the other alchemist. “joohyun, think. when the end of the golden era of alchemy was fast approaching, what was the one invention that successfully kept hundreds of archives safe, for all of them to be discovered centuries later?”

joohyun walks towards seulgi as she thinks, watching seulgi poking the floor with her sword, making a distinct, hollow sounds. she gasps when the answer dawns on her. “trapdoors.”

“correct, this is not a dead end, it's an entrance,” seulgi smiles, pointing down to the ground. “you can feel a bit of a chill from the updrafts through the cracks on the floor. under this hall… it’s hollow. there must be an extension going down here that leads underground, we just have to figure out how to open the doors leading to it.”

joohyun nods in understanding. “there must be something here.”

“look up.” yerim’s voice pipes up from behind the two alchemists, and they follow her words.

on the roof of the tall hall are engravings, some of them are covered in moss and vines sprouting from the cracks on the walls, but it is still easy to see them. they are round in shapes with little pentagons surrounding them, all of them combined to form a large circle. in the little pentagon shapes are other symbols - a crescent and a black dot inside a larger white circle, a symbol for platinum.

“it’s a glyph.” seulgi notes.

nodding, joohyun steps towards the walls as she studies the glyph further, searching for a closer, clear look. “yes, but whose?”

“platinum,” seulgi mutters. “the luna, and the sol… and that, in the middle. the circle divided evenly to four partitions, that is terra.”

“it doesn't make any sense.” sooyoung sighs, squinting her eyes as she looks at the glyph, but still, all she sees are weird shapes.

yerim hits her lightly on her head to reprimand the taller hunter. “not to us, they don’t. be quiet and give them time.”

“so it's not a normal glyph,” joohyun counts the symbols. “the moon, the sun, and the earth… and some of those loops… they look like the objects’ orbits...”

“a planisphere,” the two alchemist look at each other, simultaneously reaching the same conclusion. “the star alchemist!”

now the two hunters echo with a question. “who?”

“klædios,” joohyun answers. “he was an astrology alchemist, he is quite accomplished with his findings and creation of the astrolabe and later the planisphere. though among modern alchemists, he is known to be quite… infamous. he primarily studied the movements and relative positions of celestial objects like the moon and the stars, and his biggest credited discovery is the last two major celestial bodies in the sky, the jupiter, and saturnus. he uses such records for divination.”

“and by divination she means superstitious beliefs. reading prophecies, fortune telling, those likes. he charged a steep amount for his services, using his reputation as an astrology alchemist to gain easy riches. it was not the most profound thing... he was a conman, a very good one indeed, but still... he was just a liar.” seulgi continues, recounting the star alchemist’s awful life.

“and he did a lot of alchemy experiments with animals. some researchers say about one third of wild beasts that can be found in the eastern region are products of his experiments,” joohyun adds with a sigh. “not a lot of people take to him kindly, not back then, and certainly not now.”

yerim shifts on her feet slightly, at a loss. “...and what are we supposed to do with this information?” 

“if we know the creator of the trapdoor, there is a high chance that we can find where it lies and open it,” joohyun says, hopeful. “we can find a way to reverse their alchemy, but… it will take some time.”

“i won't be of help with that, i’m afraid…” seulgi murmurs slowly, a bit embarrassed that she has caused so much inconvenience but offers little to no help to the investigation.

“it's fine, seulgi,” joohyun assures her. “you never had a formal training with reversing alchemy... it's an intriguing process, sure, but it is very demanding in both time and energy. you might want to take this time to rest up a bit.”

“sooyoung, you too,” yerim adds, urging the other hunter to come closer so she could treat her. “i’ll change your bandages first, then you can sleep. I'll take the first watch.”

sooyoung nods, ready to set up camp. “some sleep sounds great right about now. been a real long day.”

seulgi agrees that it has been a long day, but the part where she has to sleep while joohyun works hard alone… not so much.

but what choice does she have? 

•••

of course, even if seulgi wills herself to rest, her body has its own consciousness, and decides by itself that it needs to wake up after a period of rest that it deems to be enough. she allows a long, bated breath to escape, blinking her eyes repeatedly and fully coming to terms that she no longer has control of her mind and body, as they both are working against her.

pushing herself from her cot, seulgi hears the infamous snores coming from the cot next to her, and grins when she sees the tall figure all bundled in thick blankets and fur, blessed to be in an uninterrupted sleep, unlike her. sooyoung does not shift even when seulgi’s alchemic runes on her belt make some tinkling sounds as she gets up. seulgi wonders how sooyoung could survive this long in the wilderness without an ounce of spatial awareness when she sleeps.

with her sword strapped to her belt, seulgi makes her way back to the round hall, meeting yerim on her way and suggesting that yerim get some rest while she take over the watch, and that she will wake sooyoung in a few hours for the next watch. the young hunter does not argue, feeling exhausted as well. seulgi watch as she trudge to their camp just outside of the facility’s trap door entrance.

it is easy to spot joohyun, hunched and on her knees at the center of the hall, near a warm, bright fire. seulgi nears her, sitting down as well. “aren't you going to get some rest?”

joohyun looks up at seulgi, a warm smile etched on her face, hiding the exhaustion that should have been as clear as day. “not yet, i’m getting close. i don't want to stop here.”

seulgi could see joohyun’s books and drawings littered all over the floor. there are about thirty drawings of alchemy circles and glyphs, all of them with a different combination of insignias, symbols and shapes. she takes a page up and studies them, sitting beside joohyun and trying to get her to go to sleep again. “you’ll work better with a rested mind and body.”

“i know… but… i can’t stop, not here, not now...” at least, joohyun sets down her pencil as she says this, much to seulgi’s relief. “what about you? do you feel rested?”

“good as new, i believe,” seulgi answers honestly, testing her shoulders by twisting it in clockwise circles. “your medicine worked wonders.”

“that’s good. i might still need to check on your wound, though.”

“later,” seulgi decides for the both of them. she takes in a quick breath, trying to determine the current time from the cold surroundings. “you should rest. there should be a few hours left from dawn still.”

to seulgi’s surprise, joohyun suddenly leans her whole weight on her body, her head placed on seulgi’s shoulders and her upper body resting on seulgi’s side. “joohyun?”

there is no response at all coming from the other alchemist. upon a quick check, seulgi could see the slight rise and fall of her shoulders, calm breathing as well as her closed eyes. seulgi chuckles softly at the sight of the sleeping alchemist. “and there she goes.”

carefully, seulgi tries to take off her coat, maneuvering around with her one free hand. she manages to remove the coat from its clasps after much effort, and she quickly drapes the coat over joohyun’s slumped form, before wrapping her hand around joohyun’s back to steady her better. 

“well, let’s see if any of these drawings are similar to what klædios would draw...” seulgi remains vigilant yet unmoving for the next hour on her watch, just so she would not disturb the other alchemist’s sleep. it takes joohyun sliding over to her lap in her sleep for seulgi to stop studying joohyun’s alchemy reference books and her drawings to carry her to her cot.

•••

“so… this, what’s his name… kledos?” yerim asks, lips pursed. “is he some sort of genius?”

“it’s klædios, you idiot.” sooyoung corrects her as joohyun nears the two hunters, both getting absorbed in a heated discussion.

“that’s what i just said!”

“no, you said kledos! that’s just a name of another idiot like you.”

before anyone could start throwing hands, joohyun interferes, going right into the middle of the two hunters and pacifying them. “alright, we’re not going to do this now. it’s a good morning, and my day is just starting.”

“she started it!” yerim tries, pouting at joohyun and wanting some sort of sympathy from the alchemist.

“yes, yes, you’re not children, so you can try to get along now, i’m sure,” joohyun brushes them off quickly. to her surprise, yerim suddenly grabs her hands, pulling them up to her puffed out chest. “yerim?”

“you’re the only one here who says i’m not a child! thank you!!”

“um…” joohyun murmurs, in shock.

offering a small smile, sooyoung provides a much needed explanation for the alchemist. “the hunter organization and its members alike thinks of yerim as a mere child. though she is of legal age to be a registered hunter, a major number of hunters start out after years of working as labourers and regular hands, not right after their coming of age. so, to them… well, it doesn’t really matter! because to me, yerim is quite something, but not a lot of people can give her the respect that she deserves. they think she’s just lucky, and that doesn’t bode well with some folks.”

“i wouldn’t call being abandoned by my parents and growing up in an orphanage lucky,” yerim’s shoulders sagged, and joohyun could understand her and see her strength much easier now. “i just had to do what i needed to survive when i’m old enough. the younger kids at the orphanage can eat so much more meat and wear warmer clothes now that i’m out here tracking and skinning beasts. it’s all from years of training and my own skills, not luck.”

“i know.” sooyoung assures her, smiling.

joohyun could feel her heart getting more whole and warm after this exchange. “that’s amazing, yerim. you’re doing so much for yourself and the children back home. i don’t think anyone else’s opinions of you would matter so much when you are doing your very best.”

“thanks lady alchemist!”

“well, you don’t have to call me that.” joohyun chuckles.   

“but… sooyoung can call you that?”

joohyun hums, looking at sooyoung to get an answer. “um, i assume that is a requirement in their tribe? so i never bothered to stop her.”

“of course, you are deserving of my respect, lady alchemist. if seulgi calls you by your name, then i have to address you with a higher regard.”

“that’s understandable,” joohyun nods, content with sooyoung’s answer. “do you know where seulgi is? i’m quite sure i overslept, and i’m also certain that she told the two of you not to wake me up.”

“yeah, you’re right. she told us not to wake you, so we didn’t. we kept our promise!” yerim confirms with an energetic thumbs up.

joohyun chuckles at the young hunter’s enthusiastic response. “right, well, can you show me where she is?”

sooyoung raises her left hand to gesture towards the round hall. “she’s still inside the trap door entrance hall, shouldn’t be hard to find unless she actually climbs to the ceiling to study the glyph closer. hurry on along, and don’t worry about the camp, we will pack it up.”

“thank you.” joohyun leaves the two hunters with that.

yerim’s eyebrows scrunched together in a sudden realisation. “you never call me a lady.”

“that’s because you’re not one.”

hands are thrown that morning despite joohyun’s best efforts.

•••

joohyun finds seulgi sprawled on the floor in the exact spot she was on last night, the tribe chief's coat is thrown in heaps at her feet, as she is in only her sleeveless tunic and there are papers and books scattered just about everywhere. joohyun pops into her sight to see seulgi staring way past her, to the ceiling with the planisphere most likely. “good morning.”

“good morning, joohyun.” seulgi sighs out the greeting, but she does not show any intention to get up from the floor.

so joohyun just joins her, settling on the floor after clearing up a bit of space. “have you eaten?”

“yes, i ate four of your fruit ration.”

“four?” joohyun looks to her side towards the tribe chief in a bit of shock. will this morning get any wilder? “you were just supposed to eat a single bar. one. it should provide you with enough energy and nutrition until lunch time, i believe.”

“yes, i am aware, but they are extremely delicious. i couldn’t help it.”

joohyun tries to suppress her giggles, but it is to no avail. she laughs, loud and hearty.  “you are so ridiculous, seulgi.”

“i try,” seulgi too, allows a small grin to grace her lips. “how about you, did you eat? i left some cured meat at the fire, they should be warm and just nice, and i also warned those two kids to not take it or they will face dire consequences…”

“i ate them well, seulgi. thank you. as you say, it was delicious.”

“sometimes the most delicious things aren’t cooked with alchemy.”

“or you just aren’t capable of reproducing them in a cauldron.”

“ouch,” seulgi holds her chest in a faux pain, gritting her teeth as well. “that cuts so deep.”

joohyun gasps instead of laughing at seulgi’s self jab, pushing herself off the floor quickly when it dawns on her that seulgi has yet to get her cut cleaned. “that reminds me. i need to check on your wound. i didn’t get to do it last night.”

“yeah, i didn’t let you. you were so out of it,” seulgi follows suit to a seating position, turning to give joohyun an easy access to her back. “you can go ahead and do it now.”

joohyun gets to work, questioning seulgi’s progress as she unwraps the bandages. “did you find out anything?”

“yes, i think i managed to decrypt his planisphere glyph. can you review it later?”

“you did? really? i was working so hard on it, but…”

“no, you were extremely close to solving it. i just had to add on just a bit more to your drawings. i did so little compared to what you managed to interpret,” seulgi says, raising her arm so joohyun could pull the last bit of the bandages. “and don’t worry, i got some sleep as well after waking sooyoung up to take the last watch.”

joohyun traces the clean scab on seulgi’s back gently before putting on more healing salve, likely to be the last rub of the ointment needed for the wound to heal completely. “it looks so much better now.”

“that’s good, we can proceed with our investigation on full strength.”

“you’re right,” joohyun agrees, doing the finishing touches on the wound before taping a smaller gauze on it, just in case seulgi ends up tearing the new skin again. knowing the younger seulgi and how seulgi never really changes, joohyun has the feeling that it would happen one way or another later, as much as she wishes otherwise. “there, all good to go.”

seulgi shifts a little to look behind her. “thank you, joohyun.”

joohyun does not reply to seulgi’s gratitude, opting to rest her head on seulgi’s back instead, nudging the tribe chief a little forward. “can you promise you will tell me?”

seulgi tries to calm her heart, though it never quite cease its erratic beating. she hopes joohyun will not notice how she flinched from the question, or how incredibly nervous she is. “tell you what?”

“everything you’ve been keeping from me,” joohyun breathes out evenly, laying down all her hopes that seulgi will finally, be truly honest with her. “we have so many years behind us. there’s a lot we both need to catch up with, don’t you think?”

“yes, i believe so, too,” seulgi answers, but not after much effort to steel herself. joohyun’s request is not easy to answer to, even though she herself has decided to tell joohyun everything after this investigative quest is completed. “but not now, not here.”

joohyun gets off from seulgi’s back, broad and carrying so many burden and responsibilities, she is sure. joohyun will not be one of them after this, and not ever, she hopes. “i wouldn't want you to. not in this dusty, cold place.”

seulgi is helped to her feet. she offers a small smile to joohyun as she asks. “somewhere warm, then?”

“with a fireplace and us nursing hot chocolate, that would be ideal, yes.”

“you and your sugar dependency,” seulgi chuckles as she fetches her coat from the ground, pinning it to place and looking up to the planisphere again, studying it for a bit before finally settling her gaze on the other alchemist. “i promise you, joohyun.”

then, without waiting for joohyun to even recover from her words, seulgi produces a parchment, the final result of her and joohyun’s combined study of the planisphere drawn neatly on it. “here.”

joohyun flips it over, studying it with a rapt concentration. “this is…”

“i’m not entirely sure if it’s right.”

“no, this is brilliant. i didn’t think of it.”

“i only wrote what you’ve already found out in another code,” seulgi says sheepishly, downplaying her own finding because what joohyun manages to discover last night is much more significant, and she is sure joohyun would agree. “well… there’s not a lot known about klædios except his notoriety... but he had a wife, who is a minor alchemist, if i am not mistaken, and he loved her.”

“he loved her very much,” joohyun adds to seulgi’s words. “saturnus, one of the planets he found, was named after her. to me, it was one of the biggest find in the last journal he wrote.”

seulgi nods, holding the parchment too as she slips beside joohyun. “a lot of modern alchemists believe saturnus was named after one of the olden gods, but i beg to differ.”

“saturnalia, the flower alchemist,” joohyun finishes, tracing seulgi’s clean drawing of the exact same planisphere glyph, but drawn in the language of alchemic flower runes. “i was so fixated on his own research and alchemy, i never did thought he would…”

“love makes you do things that everyone else thought impossible.”

joohyun cannot think of anything to refute seulgi’s words, because it is the truth, or at least, it is for her. “shall we get to drawing?”

“yes.”

•••

“this is it?” yerim asks when seulgi and joohyun meet at the end of the glyph. it borders close to the walls, taking up the whole round hall’s space. yerim still cannot tell what the drawings really are, but the lines are drawn in such intricate fashion, detailed, yet delicate. the squiggles and loops are different than the ones drawn on the planisphere on the ceiling, but she figures she should not have any doubts in this matter and place full trust on the two alchemists.

“afraid so,” sooyoung hums, watching closely as joohyun and seulgi stops, leaving a gap that is only an inch thick before completing their drawing. “be on guard, we have no idea what will happen next.”

yerim tugs on her quiver, bringing her arrows to an easier access. “yeah.”

the two alchemists is stopped, hunching at the last bit of the glyph. joohyun draws a deep breath as she gets rid of her chalk, holding onto the back of seulgi’s hand.

seulgi peeks at joohyun, raising her hand away from the glyph in a bit of surprise at joohyun’s sudden action.

“together.” joohyun says, simply.

and seulgi understands.

the two alchemists, despite their differences, are now one. 

they draw the last line for the glyph, and in an instant reaction, the whole ground lights up in a colour so subtle, but at the same time, powerful. from one point at the center, the glyph flows, its shade in soft cosmos, connecting one point of the flower runes to another, until everything brightens, forming one complete glyph.

and then there is a rumble of a door opening.

but it is not in the hall they are currently in. it is away, from outside of the hallways.

and the howl that follows the loud sound is beastial.

“did we make a mistake?” joohyun rushes to get to her alchemic staff, already nervous.

seulgi too, brandishes her sword. “no, this is the right way to open it. i think it’s a guard.”

the pair of hunters are already sprinting towards them, weapons drawn. yerim shouts at the two alchemists, frantically notching an arrow to her bow and aiming it towards the sole entrance to the hall, where the beast will definitely come for their heads. “hey! what was that?! what are we going to do about it?!”

“we wait for it.” seulgi says.

and it comes. the beast is easily the size of a small house, joohyun thinks, if you can call it a beast at all. the mechanical whirring, the gears in plain sight, and the steam puffing out from its body can barely define the wolf-like monster as a beast. it is a machine made from alchemy, and the same liquid from the walls is pulsing through it, powering the monster.

“dear gods.” sooyoung’s eyes could barely believe what she is seeing, but it is right there, and there is no way it is a plain old trick. at this moment, she truly cannot believe the horrors alchemy could possibly make, and she has a bad feeling that she would see more terror once they get into the place this monster is protecting.

seulgi steps forward, placing some distance from joohyun and nearing the mechanical beast, alone.

the other alchemist gasps as seulgi strays further away from them. “seulgi, what are you planning?”

“let me handle it.”

“by yourself? surely you must jest!” joohyun makes a move, her staff at the ready, but could only gasp when sooyoung holds her back from rushing towards seulgi. “sooyoung, what do you think you’re doing now?!”

“lady alchemist, i think it is best to stay back.”

“are you both insane…” joohyun murmurs in disbelief. to her horror, the mechanical wolf is now rounding seulgi, bounding closer. despite its size, it is moving fairly quickly. she looks at yerim next, who looks almost as scared as her, bow already drawn back and ready to fire. “yerim, please, you must see that this is crazy!”

yerim is looking at her with eyes just as wide as her own, and perhaps just as much in shock. “well i do, but i don’t know what else i’m supposed to-”

“it’s coming!” sooyoung warns, watching the hard buckle from the wolf’s hind legs as it shifts its weight to pounce.

“seulgi!” joohyun cries.

the mechanical wolf leaps, its weight leaving sizeable holes from its jump on the ground. seulgi stays rooted, only bringing up her left hand, her arm guard lighting up in seulgi’s golden alchemical power, and from it a shield comes into being, trapping the mechanical wolf’s jaw from biting. it whirs, and several plumes of smoke are released to the air as the wolf tries to get away.

when the shield is overpowered, the wolf retreats, whirring in what sounds a lot like a whine, and accessing its opponent. seulgi does just the same, studying the suspension system of the machine and its balance.

if this is truly the work of klædios, just like most of the beasts he experimented with, it must have the same weaknesses.

she takes one of the rune trinkets hanging on her belt, and fixes it into its slot on her sword. “i ask, oh great ursini, whose breath gives life to all the world… hear me, for i need your strength.”

there is an eminent flash that blinds joohyun after seulgi’s prayer, and when she opens her eyes in the next moment, joohyun could see seulgi’s sword gleaming, angry red and mighty. and just as quick, seulgi is gone, leaving two small glyph on the floor she is just standing on.

if there is one thing sooyoung is sure no one could be better than her tribe chief, it is combat alchemy.

seulgi materialises to the side of the mechanical wolf, clearing her sprint that is amplified by alchemic runes that not even the mechanical beast could keep up. she jabs her sword right into the small crevice between the gears of the wolf’s front legs. fire bursts from her sword, and before it spreads, seulgi grunts, pulling it downwards to leave a huge slash, damaging the mechanical leg severely. fire and sparks are generated as she pulls out the sword, ducking in time as the wolf claws at her with its other front leg.

kneeling on the ground, seulgi drags her sword as she turns on her knees, drawing an alchemy circle. she scatters a few small, clear marbles around the circle, all the while focusing at the wolf to make sure it will not go after anyone else.

the mechanical wolf roars when it finally gets its legs working again after seulgi’s attack, lunging towards seulgi with a slight limp. still, it is fast, but seulgi is faster. she rolls away as the wolf strikes the ground she is just on. smirking, she quickly summons a glyph and activates it with a clenched fist.

the small circle below the wolf comes to life, golden yellow in colour, and the clear marble darkens before they explode one by one. the wolf’s howl is deafening, but it does not stop seulgi. she runs to the wolf again, activating a glyph under her and jumping to a great height to the air before landing on top of the mechanical wolf right after the smoke, created by the explosions, dissipates.

yerim is scared and fascinated at the very same time at the way seulgi fights. “what is she doing, climbing on top of that thing?!”

“she’s looking for the core,” joohyun answers, her lip dry and hoarse. she has never quite seen seulgi like this, violent, unstoppable. “every beings that are created with alchemy, without exception, has a core. it powers them, be them fueled with organic compounds or chemicals.”

“like a human heart.” sooyoung guesses.

“you could say that.”

the machine does not take a liking to seulgi climbing on top of it, and so it falls to the ground on its back, but not before seulgi could make a hasty escape, diving away to safety before the wolf could crush her.

the tribe chief’s coat bellows from the air blown by the wolf’s fall to the ground, and joohyun sees the arm guard on seulgi’s hand glowing again, this time in a radiant blue colour, joohyun immediately recognise it as ice alchemy.

the wolf gets on his hind legs again, and the ground cracks under its strength, an obvious tell that it is about to strike, and seulgi straightens her back, taunting it by rising her sword arm. “come on.”

to joohyun’s great shock, seulgi only moves slightly out of the way when the wolf pounces at her, and as it passes to strike at empty ground, seulgi grabs onto a crack in the machine’s chest with her left arm, triggering the ice alchemy before letting go and rolling on the floor to reduce the bit of zeal she gets as she is pulled along. it spreads quickly, potent in its powers, and the gears whirring is stopped for an instant, a second that seulgi does not waste.

seulgi shoves her sword into the frozen part of the mechanical wolf’s chest, and again, until the iced part breaks into pieces. she groans when the wolf still moves, and that the core, as she has guessed, is not located in its chest. quickly putting up a shield glyph, seulgi is pushed a few yards back as the wolf repeatedly claws at her, getting into action again even without its chest and a broken front leg. “so persistent!”

playing on her next hunch, seulgi looks for another way to get up to the wolf again, deducing that it must have a reason to throw her so fast away from its back.

“the back of its neck.” joohyun mutters, once she could determine the source flow of the gooey liquid that powers the beats, and it seems seulgi reaches the same conclusion as her after, as she is sneakily drawing glyphs on the ground with her sword as she turns and ducks from the wolf’s blows. 

when the wolf gets to the location seulgi desires after a while of luring it there, she activates the glyphs, one on the ground, and two other in the air. she leaps from the first one of the ground, then connecting to the other two quickly, before landing perfectly near the scruff of the mechanical wolf’s neck. at the sight of the thick metal guarding the spot, seulgi is sure she has got it right this time around. and with a roar of her own, seulgi takes off the metal with her alchemy infused left hand, powering up her sword in the right with the use of the rune embedded on the sword, before finally jabbing at the now visible core.

with its core destroyed, the wolf’s mechanical gears whirs into a complete stop, and the last plume of smoke is spit out of its exhaust, and then its legs give out after taking up much damage. it collapses to the ground, defunct.

seulgi pops into vision from behind the fallen mechanical beast, breathing heavily.

joohyun, despite her mind telling her that some danger could loom still as the wolf is not crumbling to tiny particles just yet, runs towards seulgi. 

and seulgi, bless her kind soul, beams at joohyun, happy to finally be of use in their quest, but is not expecting that the other alchemist would knock her over her head with her staff. “what- joohyun?!”

joohyun points at the dusts that are previously the mechanical wolf, now completely disintegrated without alchemic powers keeping its engine working and its mechanical gears animated. “what does this even prove to you? we could have fought that wolf together!”

“i-”

before joohyun’s anger could escalate, the ground rumbles, and moves. joohyun is quick to give out the order. “get to the walls, quickly!”

when the ground finally stopped moving, the hall’s floor is now divided into two halves, and a staircase is revealed, leading underground.

“i didn’t want to prove anything,” seulgi murmurs, taking out the rune stones from her arm guard and sword before sheathing it. both of the alchemists are now looking down the new path. “i just wanted to be useful. we talked about this, you wanted to be useful too.”

“well, there are certainly times and places for it. now you trying to defeat that thing alone is just selfish.”

seulgi catches the lantern sooyoung throws at her. “maybe that’s just who i really am. i wouldn’t have parted ways from you long ago had i not been selfish, would i?”

the two tribe members lead the way underground after igniting their lanterns, leaving joohyun on her own, before yerim joins her, giving her a lantern as well and offering a small, understanding smile. “just as she cannot quite go against your orders, there is no arguing with her too.”

joohyun lights up the lantern with a sigh. “i wish it doesn’t have to be this way.”

•••

“i can't believe alchemy can create something like that.” yerim murmurs to herself when they are deeper down the facility, clearing the sixth flight of steps down, still shaken from their encounter with the monstrous machine.

sooyoung overhears her clearly due to the echo in the tunnel, so she sighs before addressing yerim. “alchemy can create just about anything, but it can also destroy anything... that's what some elders keep saying to seulgi whenever we have a council.”

“huh? did i hear that right? you are saying your people don't like your chief dabbling into alchemy?”

“yeah, they don't approve it in the slightest. because… well, to them, alchemy goes against everything our people stand for spiritually. alchemy, at best, changes the nature of living and nonliving things alike, transfiguring one matter to another. they say it interferes with what the gods have willed.”

yerim scrunches her nose at sooyoung’s words. “i don't believe in them.”

“you’re talking about... gods?” sooyoung guesses after a pause, her face softening. “i don't particularly blame you.”

“i just feel useless whenever i think about a higher power controlling my life and wills me to be alone, letting me be abandoned. i'll decide what i want to be with my own power,” the young hunter's shoulders sag as she mutters on. “...maybe that's just how alchemists think. maybe they feel they can change what gods have decided… for it to be better, like it's their job to make life easier for everyone.”

sooyoung nods in agreement. “that's what lady alchemist is doing for us, she has worked hard for both your townsfolk and my people.”

“yeah, i guess.” yerim shrugs half-heartedly.

joohyun, hearing her title called by sooyoung, slips in and contributes some to the conversation. “you can say all of us alchemists have a choice, we can either abide by the laws of alchemy or we can choose to go against it… like any normal people, among us, there are good and bad alchemists…”

seulgi, walking at the front of the small group and has been listening to the three of them talking since the very start, adds on. “and there are alchemists who are trained and tasked by the great commission of alchemy to track down alchemists who go against the law. that's just the natural order of things.”

“there’s no way there’s more good than there are evil, huh…” yerim comments, catching up to seulgi. “that was awesome, though, what you did. i was terrified at first because i didn’t know what you were capable of, but sooyoung was so confident that you could defeat that thing by yourself, and i ended up trusting you too.”

“that sounds like a mix of both a compliment and an insult,” seulgi guffaws, shoulders shaking in amusement. “you didn’t trust me before this?”

“n-no!” yerim panics, waving her hands side to side in a haste to clear the tribe chief’s slight misunderstanding. “i knew you are very skilled as the chief to your tribe and alchemy alike, but to watch you fight… whew. you never did need us to protect you.”

“why, thank you, yerim, but please know that joohyun and i truly need you to come with us, you’ve been a great help so far,” seulgi grins when she see yerim a little red in her cheeks, feeling a bit better now about her decision to fight the wolf machine alone. there is something empowering in how the young hunter talks, but perhaps it is just her enthusiasm and her eyes full of wonder that makes her words so much more appreciable. “and you know you can do all that too. your weapons can do it now.”

“yeah! but, you know, i didn’t want to use them on those plunderers,” yerim gives a small shrug as she bounds down two steps down the seemingly endless stairway. “they’re not that bad.”

“you’re a good kid.”

“don’t call me a kid!”

•••

when the small group of alchemists and hunters emerge from the stairway, they are welcomed in a wide room, the ceiling is just as tall as the trap door entrance hall, and the floor goes on for what seems like a hundred meters ahead.

and the creatures, there is no hiding them.

there is about twenty pods at the entrance alone, the insides bubbling with the same gooey substance that could be found everywhere on the ground, as well as the source of power for the mechanical wolf seulgi defeated.

there are creatures big and small, most of the monsters that are in the test pods are alike certain mammals, but there are also aves and amphibians in some of the pods, just floating around inside them. joohyun is not even sure if they are still alive, or they are just carcasses.

“chimeras,” seulgi notes, studying one of the pods closely. “this looks like a combination of a lion’s head and a massive bird…”

“its size and feathers… looks a lot like an eagle.” sooyoung provides, circling the pod seulgi is studying, looking at the insides as well.

seulgi nods, catching the features sooyoung says on the chimera. “it is safe to assume that we are in klædios’ atelier, then... these must be some of his failed creations.”

yerim scrunches her nose. “so they’re dead?”

“most likely...” joohyun answers from a few pods away, placing her whole hand on the chimera pod’s glass, as if entranced. “he created so many of these creatures, but if i recall it correctly… nobody’s learned the reasons why he did all of this quite yet… it was not like him, not from what i’ve learned of his researches and beliefs.”

“well, him or not… no kind of reasoning would ever forgive all this, right?” yerim asks. unlike the three other calmer women, she is utterly frightened by the sheer amount of chimeras surrounding her, never quite mind the fact that all of them might not even be alive.

joohyun shakes her head, removing her hand from the pad and clenching it to a fist. “i am afraid that is not the case, yerim. back in the golden age, animal experimentation was not a taboo. it was only when modern alchemy is picking up that it is discovered that a majority of wild beasts out there are created by alchemy, and not from genetical evolution. in fear of massive powers and rulers making an army of these fearless, violent beasts to invade others, it was then put into a vote in a council attended by the best of alchemists. the outcome of it is an unanimous decision to completely ban transfiguring animals.”

“huh,” yerim blinks her eyes as she takes the information in. “isn’t there a way to reverse the transfiguration on the monsters? like how you opened the trap door?”

“no one has that figured out until now.”

“so now all we can do is destroy what folks like you created.”

“yes. it is quite like the alchemy law of equivalent exchange, i suppose... much of modern alchemy is studied and practised to rid of ages old alchemy. we reverse the effects that any types of olden alchemy have done, so that the world will, once again, be in equilibrium.”

“damn,” yerim finishes, hugging her body as she thinks. “those old fools are really some different kind of dastards.”

joohyun softly chuckles. “you are right about that.”

“hey,” sooyoung’s voice can be heard, sudden and urgent, earning everyone’s attention quickly. “... i think… i think someone’s here.”

“that’s not possible,” seulgi rushes to sooyoung. “the entrance was shut tight before we came in, and the facility has been abandoned for a long time.”

“there’s a different scent besides the three of you. and it’s not an animal.”

“are you a dog?” joohyun questions, bewildered at how specific sooyoung is being.

“lady alchemist, i will be honest with you. that is the kindest words i’ve heard in my whole life, ever. thank you very much for the compliment.”

seulgi unsheathes her sword, looking around the massive atelier warily. “keep your guards up and follow sooyoung. she can lead us.”

“with my nose?”

“well, yes.”

“what’s the magic word?”

seulgi sighs. “we are not going to do this.”

“ooh,” yerim pipes in, excited. “let me!”

horrified, seulgi glares at sooyoung as the forbidden words escape yerim’s mouth.
 
“come on, good girl.” yerim coos, and sooyoung pretty much bounds after her in an, for a lack of a better word, affrighting manner, so much like a young, eager puppy.

“oh great ursini,” seulgi prays, and joohyun wishes she could spare a prayer for her too for unwillingly witnessing this monstrosity. “please grant me your greatest virtue, your patience...”

•••

joohyun put much thought about this expedition of theirs. from devising list of supplies, counteracts for any kind of threats, a letter written to the mayor with details of their quest, estimated investigation and when a search party should be sent should they be gone longer than the projected time.

medicine, antidotes, deployable rune shields.

bombs, gunpowder, sleeping powder.

books, parchments, journals.

she has gotten everything covered. so they could all get out alive and well, and hopefully with more knowledge and perhaps even a solution to treat the dying lands.

but none of those will come to use now.

not when seulgi is losing herself. not when her clenched hands are so tight that she is digging her nails into her skin, drawing blood. not when the coat around her shoulder is floating, as if it is alive, alive with an anger that has not, and perhaps never will be, calmed.

not when the person sooyoung detected, is the one person nobody could ever expect.

“what is the meaning of this...” joohyun croaks, her legs weak and her heart pounding as she takes off her beret, shocked and confused as the figure’s shadow looms over her, illuminated by a few more of the chimera’s pods. “father?”

 

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penrith
Hi I know it's been literal years but just... Just take it.

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Oct_13_wen_03 35 streak #1
hoping u come back 🥺🤍
Infamoux
#2
i love the story and everything, but how are you?
kshaks
#3
Chapter 4: o.o
cupcaketree123 #4
Chapter 4: Omg and update after so long!! I just re-read the whole story again bc it has been so long. But i couldn‘t be happier. I love the story line, the characters, the humour and the softness. And honestly, i have never read anything like this. I have no idea about alchemy or tribes or whatever but this story is just soooo good, it‘s pulling me in so hard. Now the cliffhanger tho, what the heck?! I have so many questions. Like what is her dad doing there? And what happened to seulrene? What is seulgi trying to hide so bad. And most importantly, seulgi‘s embarrassing story of biting her tongue xD Anyways, thank you for not abandoning this story authornim. I appreciate it a lot :)
akosizig #5
Chapter 4: finally had the time to binge this and im feeling so many things aaaaa first at how the author still remembered this fic and updated even though its been years (bless their heart) and second on how the story flows so naturally with how wonderful the worldbuilding around the story went and how everything melded together. i hope to find resolution for the cliffhanger, but will wait with respect even if it takes years for an update again ((:
Pulpeiro23 #6
Chapter 4: Omg I didn't expect this chapter at all! But I'm happy you uploaded again. I also hope you are doing well, these years have been quite chaotic.
chocochipc00kie
#7
Chapter 4: I had to double check when you said you haven't updated on years 🤣 welcome back!!! Thanks for the update!!!
potato_chips8
#8
Chapter 4: OMG!! The cliffhanger
neuneu24
#9
Chapter 4: Welcome back!!!!!!!!
That cliffhanger tho !