Vivid Dreams pt. 1

Mirage


 

Eunha felt like her hair was going to fly off with how fast she was zipping through all the people as she maneuvered out the council room and towards the gates of the realm where Yerin said Sojung was. Apparently, while the two were discussing their plan of action in finding the mage back at the Great Tree, one of the nymphs had told Yerin of Sojung’s arrival. Unable to believe it at first, they quickly set off towards the gates and true enough, they saw the mage there, alive and well and even greeting them as she normally would. Just to make sure, Yerin asked her some questions that could prove her identity to make sure that she is indeed the Sojung that they know and when she answered them flawlessly, even going so far as saying they were being weird, the two eventually had to accept that she was undoubtedly their leader.

 

Yerin even thought that everything was fine after all and they had nothing to worry about, that everything was merely false alarm, but there was something prickling at her at the back of her mind and decided to keep her guard up even for just a moment.

 

She knew the one person that can confirm whether or not they were merely assuming things.

 

Eunha could pretty much just teleport them to where Sojung currently was, Yerin said they left her while talking to the guards about something, but apparently she forgot she could do so and just flew out of the council room before the nymph could say any more.

 

She reached the gates in record time, changing into her human form as soon as she did. Her eyes roamed about, searching for any sign of the mage anywhere and sincerely praying that Yerin wasn’t pulling a prank on her and it was when she finally turned her gaze to the guard tower just beside the gate, it was then she was sure. She couldn’t be mistaken with that figure, that long blonde hair, that leader-like expression and her cloak that she has wrapped around her. There was no doubt about it that the person was Sojung.

 

She watched as she finally descended the guard tower with the gate guards behind her following. Eunha couldn’t restrain herself any further and rushed forward, immediately wrapping her arms securely around Sojung’s waist and burying her face in the mage’s chest. She ignored the looks the gate guards were giving them, ignored all other things around and just focused on the warmth standing before her, wrapped in her embrace.

 

“That’s quite a welcome you have for me.” Sojung chuckled a bit.

 

Eunha didn’t seem to hear her and just focused in keeping the woman within her arms, as if she would disappear if she let go. She could feel herself shaking, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she wasn’t dreaming this time and Sojung was really here. She was more than glad that all the worrying that she’d done was for nothing and she almost feels bad that she worried her friends for no reason, but it didn’t matter to her at that moment. Sojung was there. Sojung is with her. She’s home.

 

“I swear to all the deities Eunha, would it hurt for you to wait?” Sinb gasped as she and the rest of the representatives along with Yewon finally caught up. Yuna was nodding vigorously to Sinb’s statement, as she was currently in her dog form with a slightly shaken Yewon currently riding her back.

 

“Oh, Yewon! You’re here?” Sojung suddenly exclaimed, quickly getting out of Eunha’s tight embrace to approach the human.

 

What…?

 

Eunha just stood in place.

 

Something felt wrong.

 

She knew that they were not as showy of their relationship in public as compared to when they were indoors, but that was because they had an image to uphold. Even so…

 

Sojung will never brush her off just like that.

 

“Sojung—“ Eunha turned, about to call out the mage but saw her already walking away.

 

Eunha felt like air in that short moment. As if she didn’t exist.

 

She wanted to chase after her, to ask why she did that, but stopped herself. Sojung didn’t seem to want to be bothered, in fact she was already having a deep conversation with Yerin with regards to what happened while she was gone. Swallowing slightly, she kept herself from making a move, opting to just wait until they were alone to ask what was going on.

 

Eunha raised her head slightly, looking back at the others who were shooting her worried looks. They seemed to have witnessed what just happened and are as confused as she is. Even Yerin who was talking with Sojung would shoot her glances once in a while to check on her and it made her feel a bit better knowing that they understood what she was going through without the need for her to say anything.

 

She forced a smile to show them that she was okay.

 

It’s okay. It’s not as if she’ll ignore me for the rest of the day.

 

Unfortunately, it’s what exactly happened.

 

Eunha had tried to get some time alone with the mage but whenever she did, Sojung would always tell her that she was busy, brush her off, or remind her that she had her duties to perform and didn’t have time for her. The more that it happened, the more that she felt worried. The others could sense it as well and tried to assure Eunha that she was most likely just tired and wanted everything done for the day so that she could have more free time with her right after but even they weren’t convinced.

 

Some hours have passed and Eunha wasn’t even able to have a minute of the mage’s time. It was different from when Sojung holed herself up in her room the entire day, this time she was blatantly ignoring her, like Sojung wanted nothing to do with her.

 

“This is weird.” Yewon finally spoke up as all the leaders gathered sans Sojung in the Great Tree.

 

“That’s an understatement.” Sinb grumbled.

 

“I will have to agree. There is something different with her.” Yerin mumbled.

 

“Different? I feel like I was talking with an entirely different person.” Yuna huffed, “Are we sure that’s Sojung and not just some imposter?”

 

“Her familiarity with the realm and her knowledge in spells are more than enough proof, I’m afraid.” Yerin told them, “She has her grimoire with her. I doubt anyone else can use it besides her.”

 

“Do you think this is what the oracle meant when she said the Sojung we know is gone?” Sinb suddenly spoke up, a heavy silence hanging in the room as soon as she brought up the question. No one wanted to admit it, but it was obvious that it was what exactly what the oracle meant.

 

The Sojung they knew was nowhere to be found. Though she would still act normally around others, but she acted too uptight, only worrying about her duties and making sure everything was in order. When it came to interacting with any of them, it was purely about business and no small talk has happened during the day.

 

Eunha, in particular, experienced the brunt of it. Sojung wasn’t just ignoring her, she was completely avoiding her. And every single ‘I’m busy right now’ that came out of the mage’s mouth broke her heart more, especially when she could sense the annoyance and the clear honesty in her words.

 

“She’s gone.” Eunha mumbled in a small voice.

 

“Eunha…”

 

“I want to be alone for a while.”

 

“B—“ Yewon was about to speak when she was stopped by Yuna placing a hand on her shoulder. With a shake of her head, she silently gave her a look that said to just give Eunha what she needed. With a glance to the other two, they exited the room.

 

“Eunha—“ the nymph began to speak but she was cut off.

 

“It doesn’t mean I’m giving up.” Eunha beat her to it before she started scolding her again and giving her a speech about being disappointed in her. Yerin could only stare in surprise at the declaration, “I just need some time alone to figure out what went wrong during her trip.”

 

Sinb heaved out a relieved sigh, “We’ll leave you to it then.”

 

“If you need anything just use the orb. I will be investigating deeply into this matter as well.” Yerin mumbled as she led Sinb and herself out of the room.

 

“And Eunha?” Yerin called before leaving.

 

“Hm?”

 

“…I’m sorry for all the things I said earlier…” Yerin mumbled, looking apologetic.

 

“Don’t bother. I know you didn’t mean all of it.” Eunha just smiled at her in assurance, “And part of it was my fault too, I also hurt you with my words back then, I shouldn’t have said that she’s gone just like that especially since she’s one of your closest friends too. If anything, I also owe you an apology, so we’ll consider it even.”

 

Yerin didn’t reply and just offered her a thankful smile before promising to update her if she finds anything.

 

As soon as the group left, Eunha slumped her entire body against the backrest of her seat, looking up at the ceiling with a deep sigh. She couldn’t fathom how in the world things turned out this way. It also didn’t make sense that Sojung would just ignore her out of all the others that she knew. Why her? What happened? She needed to answer those questions.

 

But amidst all that, she felt relieved. Relieved that the oracle’s words were not what she thought them to be after all. It was an entirely different story if Sojung wasn’t dead, but just not herself. This meant she can still do something about it, that she can still bring the mage back to her senses. She can still make Sojung remember what went on between them.

 

Eunha thought back on those small instances she tried to approach the mage, trying to remember the emotions going on in Sojung’s psyche. She shivered just enumerating all the emotions she remembered sensing. Doubt, wariness, the way she was completely untrusting to anyone around her. It was like the Sojung that she first met had returned.

 

Their first meeting was in the council room. It was a meeting amongst the former representatives of the regions and the newly appointed ones. She remembered surveying the room in a slightly nervous state, not because she was nervous but because all the others in the room were feeling the same way except for the newly appointed representatives, which was them. She could immediately understand that time that the former representatives weren’t all that close with each other.

 


The silence in the room was tense, it would have taken a guillotine to even have hopes to cut through it. It went on, the former representatives exchanging unsure looks, the new representatives either didn’t want to be bothered or just waited patiently for someone to make the first move.

 

Finally, seemingly having enough of the awkwardness, a loud sigh could be heard from the mages in the room and a woman, her towering figure imposing, took a step forward and let her gaze sweep across the room coldly, “Are we just going to stand here and stare at each other until sundown?”

 

No one could answer.

 

“Sojung—“ the mage with her began to speak but was cut off before he could utter another word.

 

“Representative, you brought me here saying it’s an important meeting, but I don’t see the importance of it at all. At this point this is just a waste of time.”

 

“Now that’s just rude.” Eunha spoke up upon hearing her words, completely unfazed by the annoyed look the mage gave her, “In the coming years we’ll be working together to keep this realm working. The least you can do is be nice. First meetings aren’t always joyous you know.”

 

“What would you know fairy representative? You don’t seem to even be paying attention to what has been said for the past hour.”

 

Eunha pouted a bit. Maybe she was right on that note, but that was only because they only exchanged greetings so far and that was it the most interesting conversation she’s heard so far.

 

“My name is Eunha.” the fairy pointed out, “And I know because it should be a chance to introduce us to each other, but the former representatives are just nervous what they’d think of each others’ replacements.” she turned to the other people in the room, “Right?”

 

They all didn’t reply, but the way they avoided her gaze was more than enough confirmation to her words.

 

“You’ve worked for years and you’re still wary of each other?” Sojung questioned.

 

“They work well despite that, don’t be such a quick judge of character.” Eunha rebutted, “They managed to keep the peace going between regions for the past years, haven’t they? Like I said, they’re just nervous leaving the work up to us and so they can’t really speak since if they did, they’d just end up assuring each other that we’ll be doing our work properly. If they spoke like that, they’ll be openly admitting that we don’t look responsible enough.”

 

Eunha understood what was going on the moment she saw the new appointees and the spike of nervousness and hesitation in the former representatives’ emotional levels. Eunha had to admit, that they didn’t seem much at first impression. The nymph looked like she wanted to get out of that building badly, the elf, Sinb, she found out to be someone who could care less, and the shapeshifter was completely spacing out while staring at one of the symbols in the room. As for her, the gazes she received the moment they saw her was not at all nice, but that was just normal. Even before she was appointed as a leader of the fairies, no one actually trusted her capabilities and it took her some years to actually show them what she was made of.

 

The only person that seemingly has her act together in that room was the mage, Sojung, but that was for appearances’ sake.

 

Eunha smiled slightly upon sensing how nervous she felt the moment she stepped up and spoke her thoughts and even now she is still nervous.

 

Sojung had been appointed to be the council leader so it’s only normal that she felt that way, but the fairy had to commend her for taking initiative in trying to make the meeting work. Her methods were most likely not going to be received well with how heartless she makes them look like, but the intentions behind them were clear.

 

Sojung would surely be a great leader.

 

“Sojung the mage.” Eunha spoke up, approaching her and she can’t help but be envious of the woman’s height but she can complain about it for another time, “You’re a good person.”

 

Sojung’s brows furrowed at the words, “What are you saying?”

 

“You wanted the meeting to progress so you said all those things but you’re a nervous wreck right now.” Eunha chuckled lightly at the flustered look that she got in return.

 

“W-Who do you think you are spouting all that nonsense. Who are you calling nervous?” Sojung seemed slightly shaken as she struggled with her next words.

 

Eunha grinned cheekily at the state she was in, “I’m an empath.” she answered, “And you might look all tough like that but your emotions don’t lie.”

 

She changed into her fairy form and fluttered up to the mage (it slightly annoyed her she had to change forms just so she could reach her head) and pat her head as a form of affectionate gesture.

 

“You’re doing well, don’t worry about it so much. Your intentions are good, but your approaches are a bit of a problem so we’d better work on that together.” she fluttered down slightly to the mage’s eye level, “It’s nice to work with you Sojung.”

 

The mage was still flustered with how she was being handled, by someone smaller than her to boot, but Eunha felt accomplished by the relief she felt coming from her upon saying those words.


 

It took a while for the mage to open up to Eunha after that. Sojung had avoided the fairy that time since Eunha had spoken her thoughts that was heard by the other representatives and she had to admit that she shouldn’t really have done that, but she just found Sojung intriguing that she couldn’t help but tease the woman about her tsundere-like personality (she thanks Yewon for teaching her that word). Sojung tended to prioritize responsibilities first that she doesn’t really become bothered by what everyone says about her. She can’t help but act that way for everything to work out and Eunha admires her for that.

 

She doesn’t remember the number of times the mage tried brushing her off. At one point Eunha even had to keep out of sight because she had annoyed the mage too much and so she decided to give her some breathing space after. However, a lot of people were expressing their hatred towards Sojung because of how she strict she was, when in reality she was just trying to keep everything in order. She remembered having enough of how the people were treating Sojung and decided to do something about it.

 

Eunha remembered telling them off. She remembered being unable to stand seeing Sojung receive all the hate and venting out her frustrations at the people who even sent her death threats at one point. She remembers how hurt Sojung had felt everytime a messenger came to bring news that the people were not happy with her leadership. Eunha had taken action that time and gathered all complainants before angrily explaining to them the reasons behind Sojung’s decisions and the consequences if she didn’t make all the choices as she had. Yerin had supported her words that time, joining her in defending their leader as well as Sinb and Yuna who showed them proofs.

 

The complaints had quieted down after that and Eunha remembered how thankful Sojung felt. It was then she decided she’d stay with this woman until the very end.

 

Needless to say, she didn’t really expect it to blossom into anything more, but she was glad that it did. Being with Sojung was the best decision she’s ever made and she wasn’t about to break it now. Not when everytime she stares at the mage, she’s convinced that she needs her more than ever.

 

Eunha stands up, determined to get the Sojung she knows back. Like before, she’s confident that she can make Sojung behavior towards her change.

 

There was just a difference this time, and it was a problem.

 

Unlike before, Sojung’s emotions were just as ice cold as she makes them look like.

 

---

 

Yerin had managed to call over her witch friend, Sooyoung, as she had introduced herself, to ask her help regarding Sojung’s case. No matter how much they looked at it, Sojung’s sudden change could not be natural and thought it was the work of a spell or a curse.

 

Before that, Yerin had gone ahead and inquired the mage about her trip, asking if there was anything weird that happened but got a negative response, saying that her trip went well and the only weird thing she registered during that time is the fact that she forgot why she journeyed in the first place.

 

“So she forgot the reason why she went off to the desert?” Sooyoung asked, earning a nod from the nymph, “What was the trip about anyway?”

 

“She’s been brewing potions for a while and she mentioned needing a cactus flower.” Eunha answered, “And a friend of mine from the east deserts told me that they were blooming at the moment.”

 

The fairy let out a sigh. It was her fault why Sojung was acting that way. If only she insisted that she stayed, if only she had been more stubborn, this shouldn’t have happened in the first place. It wouldn’t feel like they were mountains apart. Sojung had promised that she’d be back soon but it felt like she never returned.

 

“No use brooding over it.” Sooyoung told the fairy when she noticed the gloomy expression she was sporting, “What I can tell you though, is that it’s not a curse.”

 

“How sure are you about that?” Sinb asked.

 

“I know a curse when I see one. They emit a dark aura, like how Yerin did when I first saw her.” the witch turned to the nymph who only shrugged while Sinb was grumbling under her breath. The corner of Eunha’s lips twitched as she sensed the jealousy the elf was harboring whenever Yerin and Sooyoung interacted.

 

“How about spells?”

 

“I’m not well-versed about magic, sorry.” Sooyoung shook her head, apologizing slightly, “There’s too many things magic covers that I don’t have any idea about. It’s too broad for me to even bother studying. Have you tried asking the oracle for answers?”

 

“We’re not going back there.”

 

“No thanks.”

 

“She’ll probably just give us more questions than answers.”

 

Sooyoung raised a brow at the responses and turned to Yerin who just cleared but made no move to rebut their statements.

 

“I won’t ask.” Sooyoung mumbled, thinking it was better not to press on the topic, “You said that she went to the east deserts right?”

 

“She did…”

 

“She’s probably under an enchantment trap.” Sooyoung surmised, “She probably ventured into the wrong part of the desert and got enchanted by the place.”

 

“Places with enchantment either trap adventurers or divert them to keep them away. I’ve never heard of an enchantment that changes their personalities.” Yerin refuted her claim, her expression full of doubt.

 

“I haven’t either, but there are a lot of things we have yet to discover.” she answered, “At this point anything can be possible. But if it is an enchantment then it’s good news.”

 

“It is?” the group asked, incredulous. With how serious they made it sound, they hardly thought of it as anything close to good news.

 

“Enchantments are usually more on mind control.” Yerin explained to them with a small smile, “And they do not have a specific target and are not as complicated as actual mind control spells, this makes it easy to have remedies available when they are needed.”

 

“So we can cure whatever enchantment Sojung is in?” Eunha asked, her eyes lighting up the moment she heard that there was a ready cure for it. Her face completely brightened up when Yerin and Sooyoung nodded their heads, sending a smile her way as a form of saying that she has nothing to worry about.

 

“Do you need anything for it?” Yuna asked. The others stood to attention, ready to move just in case there was anything that was needed to be done but was slightly disappointed when the witch just shook her head.

 

“The cure’s ready to be used. All you have to do is give it to her and make her drink it without break until the last drop.” Sooyoung grinned, “Easy.”

 

Yerin approached the witch and hit her upside the head, looking slightly annoyed. Sooyoung let out a painful whine at the act.


“What Sooyoung means to say is we have to find a way for Sojung to drink the cure.” the nymph explained, “Sojung is an expert in potions, if you plan on giving that to her directly, you may as well be handing her a bottle labeled poison on it. There is no way she will drink it without protest.”

 

“Who knows? It might work.” Sooyoung insisted.

 

“You do it then.” Yerin stared.

 

The witch just raised her arms in surrender, “I still want to live.”

 

“You’ll be fine.”

 

Sooyoung looked over helplessly at the elf who was still grumbling slightly at the interaction between the two, “Sinb right? Can you help your girlfriend chill for a bit?”

 

“Wife.” Sinb grumbled.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You mean my wife.” Sinb looked away. There was a brief moment of silence as they all registered what the elf just said. It was when Yerin awkwardly cleared that everyone was finally shaken out of their frozen states and Sooyoung was by the nymph’s side shaking her vigorously for an explanation.

 

It was a while when they finally managed to calm down regarding the sudden announcement, in which the couple promised to fill them in as soon as they take care of the problem regarding Sojung.

 

They had begun to devise various methods on how to make Sojung drink the potion but came up empty. Their suggestions ranged from mixing it with her drink to making her drink it while asleep, but no matter the number of ideas they thought up, they couldn’t come up with a plausible solution where Sojung would drink it without being suspicious.

 

“How about we have Yewon bring it to Sojung and say it’s a drink from the human world?” Sinb spoke up while they were in the midst of thinking up of more ideas.

 

Yuna and Eunha frowned slightly, “That’s basically putting Yewon in danger.” Eunha stated, shaking her head while Yuna nodded in agreement to the fairy, “I’m against it.”

 

“I’m okay with it.” Yewon interjected.


“We don’t know the extent of the enchantment on Sojung so who knows what she’ll do if she finds out we’re lying to her.” Yuna reasoned out.

 

“She hasn’t gotten violent since her return has she?” Yewon rebutted, “I don’t think it’ll turn out that bad.”

 

“And Sojung knows everything there is to know about our realm, but she has almost none of the human realm.” Yerin added, “If anything goes wrong, I’ll be there to make sure she’s unharmed.”

 

“Still…” Yuna wrapped her arms protectively around the human, a pout on her face appearing as she tried to dissuade her girlfriend from agreeing to the proposal. Eunha was also unsure of the method, but found sense in Yerin’s words. They had to make Sojung drink the cure without making her suspicious. Still, even though she wanted the mage to be back to normal, she also didn’t want to risk her friend’s safety.

 

“Just let me help, Yuna.” Yewon insisted, turning around in the woman’s arms so that she can face her properly, “I also want to Sojung-unnie to get better and you saw how Eunha-unnie looked earlier. If I can do something to help, then I’ll do it.”

 

Yuna still looked hesitant but finally relented after a while, at the same time making a firm promise that she’ll make sure nothing happens to her.

 

“Yewon-ah.” Eunha approached the human, “Thank you…”

 

“I’m your friend unnie, this is just normal. It’s not as if Sojung-unnie will really hurt me for real right?” Yewon asked with a laugh while Eunha just smiled in reply.

 

“Let’s mix it in with a real human drink then before handing it to her.” Sooyoung suggested, “That way you’re not really lying to her, but make it’s small, she has to drink everything in one go.”

 

Yewon nodded in understanding.

 

“Hopefully this works.” Yuna pursed her lips, still having slight doubts about the entire plan.

 

Eunha can only hope so as well.

 

 

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_rheia
I see some people have guessed it right. O.O I'll try to be quick with the last chapter. ^_^

Comments

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Readsalotofstuff
#1
Chapter 5: This is such a beautiful story of healing and love. This isn't my first time reading it but even now, I really want to write a comment on each chapter but I can't help but read the next until the end.

Eunha had experienced so much emotion starting from when Sojung departed for her journey and when she got engulfed in her dreams, feeling the full force of her repressed psyche. Sojung reaching out and pointing out Eunha's worth in their world, with their friends, in Sojung's life is just what Eunha needed to hear all along. Thank you for this beautiful story.
genhornify
#2
Chapter 5: Omg! I was crying at the confession aft Eunha drank the truth serum... Its as good as Laurels and the Yumji Au! I hope you have more content coming!
Eion00
#3
Chapter 5: waaahhh!!! this makes my heart beat really fast...am crying and I got it! yey!! You wrote this very well author-nim! Respect!

Also, the fact that this part has 8000+ words made me really happy!!yeyy!!!

Anyways, I'm okay with any ship that you'll write about in the future but since I sort of earned an opportunity from this, hihihi, I'll prompt you soon! :) thanks in advance (bow)
Bae_giwan #4
Chapter 5: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1433116/5'>Awakened</a></span>
Sending a lot of heart to you author-nim ♡♡♡ really love this story so much huhuu (´∀`) I will always support your another story next time ^^
mr_buckwheat #5
Chapter 5: honestly i thought sowon was going to ask eunha to marry her hahah ^^; i enjoyed reading this very interesting story uwu
enidccf
#6
Chapter 5: Sojung's potion is really for Eunha :o
The scene that i like the most in this chapter is where Eunha telling Sojung the truth and secret that she hide inside her heart. Sojung's sweet talk to Eunha is so so romantic. (^~^)
The lovey-dovey between Sojung and Eunha make me jealous on them. xD

Yeah! I got it right! 0.0 I never expect that my thought quite similar to your plot.
Thank you for this amazing story and i'm ok with any ship that you are going to write for your next story. ^^
_NightDrive #7
Chapter 5: Wow :o this is really great!
DangshinB
#8
Chapter 5: Woah! Your mind.. It amazes me
traxvad
#9
Chapter 5: Waah, i guess wrong but this is really cool story!! I enjoy it, really! Thank you so much for this!!

I really love the scene where Sojung and Eunha had an honest talk at the acadrmy rooftop and how Sojung feel really sad about Eunha worries
The last scene really beautiful, how they are together and happy. I sure hope Sojung can find a way to propose Eunha XD

Once again thank you so much!!! I can't wait to read your next fic! ^^
mr_buckwheat #10
Chapter 4: wh-what?!? this hurts too much :<