“My people first?” Jungeun was frowning. “I would’ve thought—”

“You have time pressure,” Jinsoul replied. “Once we’re finished there, we won’t have that after.”

She nodded, before walking on. She still wasn’t fully healthy, but nothing Jinsoul had said had been able to keep her from wanting to get on the move again. 

At least the trip through the earth hadn’t been too horrible. 

Now they were in an area where one of the mortal empires still was. From what Jinsoul had heard before, it was on the decline. She’d usually been interested in the state of mortals, but from the way it fluctuated, it usually ended up confusing her to no end. There was no long term stability. Mostly because their lives were finite. Their ambitions compensated for their mortality, but that usually led to social upheaval, violence, or both. 

Each change she heard about reminded her why their kind stayed out of mortal politics. Most of them at least. 

“Anything I should know about your people beforehand?” Jinsoul asked. “Something I shouldn’t ask about or do?” 

Jungeun didn’t reply immediately. The expression was a familiar one around Jinsoul, but she’d not seen it around anyone else yet. “Not really,” she said. “But some’ll be fine with talking about a war or battle you’ve heard about, while others are still,” a short pause, “mourning.” 

She just nodded. She knew of her people, but less than she had about Jungeun herself. They were usually involved in most of the conflicts among their kind, either as aid, instigators, or defending themselves from old grudges. It wasn’t as if those things weren’t universal among the different clans and people, but Jungeun’s were some of the most prominent. Jinsoul had healed people on both sides when those conflicts arose. She’d never asked for any names. She wondered if she’d recognise anyone. 

“They do talk about violence—well, easily, I mean.” Jungeun grimaced. “I do too, I did—you know, before.” Her eyes fell to the ground. “There’s not exactly a reason for us to stray away from the subject, which is why there’ll be people who’ll still bring up something from years ago.” 

“It’s normal?” Jinsoul suggested. “There’s a lot of people who end up treating it like that.” 

“Not like this.” She shook her head. “But even then, do know that they’re not—they’re good people.” 

They’re not like me. 

Jinsoul felt a pang at the thought. This was Jungeun’s way of both preparing her for, and defending, her people. 

She just nodded. Then the two of them walked in silence again.

______

Jungeun’s return to her people felt like the greeting of a famous mortal. Perhaps a knight. Jinsoul had only seen a handful of those things. 

People’s faces lit up with broad smiles, while others called into camp that Jungeun was back.

Jinsoul watched as some rushed to embrace Jungeun, or clasp her on the back with fond smiles. It was as if they hadn’t seen her in years, when it’d only been two months. 

“Who’s this?” one of the elves asked, raising an eyebrow Jinsoul’s way. 

Jungeun looked at her, the smallest of questions there. Was she asking whether or not they should tell the truth? To her own people? 

“I’m Jinsoul,” she said. “I’m the other one who was called to the Astra.” 

“They got an Arcsa too now?” The elf laughed. “I’m Pollux. Might’ve been through your territory before.” He grinned. 

And banned from it, Jinsoul added in her head. Pollux had gone straight to the sea and killed a blood wielder below the surface without warning. Another sea elf had helped him beforehand, but stopped once he’d leapt into the ocean. He was lucky they hadn’t hunted him down after that. “I wasn’t there at the time.” 

“You’re their healer, aren’t you?” another asked. For lack of a better word, she was gorgeous. “Or were.” 

Jinsoul frowned. “How’d you know that?” 

“Healers can have just as a reputation as we do.” Her gaze was both curious and almost challenging. 

“Not the same,” Jungeun said, sending the girl a strange look. It was both a warning, but without any harshness to it. “Did the fae help?” 

The elf nodded. She looked at Jungeun with both tenderness and concern. She looked like she wanted to say something else. Then she turned to Jinsoul, nodding her head once. “I’m Reyna.” She had bright green eyes and skin with a deep gold tan. She was undoubtedly beautiful. Unlike Jungeun, she had the clear air of a warrior to her, with a harshness in her eyes that was still somehow disarming. 

Jinsoul nodded back. If she wasn’t imagining it, Reyna was searching her eyes. What she wanted to find, Jinsoul had no idea. 

“The witches already caught wind of your success,” Pollux said. “They’ll be here tomorrow.” 

“Where am I meeting them?” 

“Eun,” Reyna began, holding her gaze. The tender edge to her expression was back. 

Jinsoul felt strange seeing it. It wasn’t as though there was something off to it, but it contrasted to how she seemed without it. 

“I’m seeing them,” Jungeun said. Not sharply, but there was a finality there. “Alone.” 

Jinsoul certainly wasn’t imagining the silent plea in Reyna’s eyes. Jungeun had mentioned Reyna, as well as Pollux. She’d not said much more than that, but there was clearly a history with one of them. 

Jungeun just went further into the camp. Technically, it seemed more like a village. 

The fire elf looked over her shoulder, catching Jinsoul’s eye, before she kept walking. 

Jinsoul weaved through the small crowd that’d only parted for Jungeun. The people smiled at her, but there was more curiosity there than anything else. She recognised the faces of only some. 

Jungeun greeted the rest with a clasp to their arm, short embraces, or simple nods. Jinsoul wondered why there were so many differences, despite each person seeming equally happy to see her. The entire thing raised more questions than anything else. 

Jinsoul took in what had once been Jungeun’s home. There were actual houses instead of tents. Some were of brick, others of stone or wood. There wasn’t much cohesion. That meant the abilities of several elves, rather than a select few, had built onto this area. 

There was even a little market place, but she had no idea what sort of trade they’d have here. She’d ask later. 

“We—They move every few decades,” Jungeun said. ”There’re barely any with an artistic vision here, if you couldn’t already tell.” Even so, she looked at the houses with a smile. 

“There weren’t many wards,” Jinsoul said. 

“We just have warnings in place.” 

“Because you could handle the threat.”

“We have the numbers,” Jungeun shrugged, “and there’re some more things we have in place if they’d really try something.” 

“Witches watching out for threats?”

Jungeun nodded. “It’s worked all this time.”

“Besides,” Pollux was there again, “the only times they really try something is when we’re out on a mission.” He looked at Jungeun then, also about to say something. 

“And with the people we trust, we get warnings if something looks bad,” Jungeun said. “But only if it’s obvious.”

They reached a larger house in the centre. It had stone pillars, almost Greek in nature. Jinsoul wondered who among Jungeun’s people had been alive to see Ancient Greece. Many had enjoyed that period, as well as Rome, for some reason. 

Two people waited there. They wore simple white with light tints of red at the edges. It looked like linen, very similar to the clothes Jungeun tended to wear. They both had pale hair, with the man’s being white, while the woman’s was pale gold. It wasn’t hard to realise who these people were. 

Both also had the features of the region. The man looked colder than the woman did, sterner too. Jungeun fell somewhere in between the two. 

When she looked back to Jungeun, she was taken aback by the pure happiness she saw. There was a glow in her eyes, one she hadn’t had earlier. 

Jungeun didn’t go into their arms, but both her parents had a similar warmth in their eyes. Her mother was smiling. 

“I’m Thea. He’s Daran.” She had pale blue eyes, like clear water below the sun. Her eyes didn’t harden when she looked at her. 

The same couldn’t be said about the person at her side. 

“You’re Jinsoul?”

Jinsoul bowed her head to both. “Yes.”

“You healed some of our own over the years,” she said. “I can imagine we weren’t always the ones you wanted to help, but we’re still thankful.”

Jinsoul tried not to look confused at that and nodded once. “I was happy to help where I could.”

“You wouldn’t have seen most of them here,” Daran said. “They were killed in the years that followed.” 

What to say to that, she had no idea. There wasn’t any hint of a bite in his voice and he didn’t sound like he was accusing her of anything, but Jinsoul still felt intimidated. He had silver eyes that hadn’t softened the slightest since he’d looked away from his daughter. 

“Did you have any problems with the warlock?” Thea asked. 

Jinsoul caught Jungeun frowning at her father, before she replied. 

“Barely any,” she said. “Couldn’t do anything more after, but I told Dahyun what he’d done.” She shrugged. “Haven’t heard anything since.”

Daran nodded. “And you already know you’ll be meeting them tomorrow?” 

Jungeun nodded. “They didn’t have anymore demands?”

“Only that you’d take the pay.”

“Is it really a good idea to agree to that?” Jinsoul asked. 

They all looked at her and she was surprised by how similar their expressions were, all with a half perplexed, half expectant gaze. 

“You don’t think so?” Daran asked. Again, not condescending or suspicious. Nothing positive either. 

“It’s an opportunity,” Jinsoul replied. “And I don’t know if there’re a lot who’d take it or not.” 

“Yes you do,” he said. “Or at least a very good idea.” 

Jinsoul couldn’t help but look away. 

“Elly’d already ordered a wine for tonight. She’s been wanting us to try it for days.” Thea chuckled. It didn’t sound forced. She was probably used to doing the peacekeeping. “Itsumi wanted your take on who we’re sending to what next,” she said then. “And we need to plan for tomorrow.” 

Jungeun looked to Jinsoul then. She opened to say something, but the words caught when her father spoke. 

“We have a place set for her,” he said. “I’ll show her the way.”

Jungeun’s brow furrowed. She met Jinsoul’s eyes. You sure? That seemed to ask. 

Jinsoul only nodded. Of all the things to turn away from, a very strained few moments with Jungeun’s father weren’t going to be a massive problem. Most of the trip here had been silent. 

Jungeun still looked unconvinced, but she went with Thea. 

The silence she left was extremely uncomfortable. Daran was watching the other two go. 

Jinsoul chose to look around again. The ground was raised in one area, to make a hill, atop which must’ve been where they all ate. Jinsoul was glad the Astra didn’t have large dinners. At least not regularly. 

Other than that, the only variation from the trees around them were the mountains that rose in the distance. They were coated with snow, but it was warm in this area. Jinsoul wondered if there were people who could influence the weather. 

“I’d heard a fair amount about you before.” Daran started walking in the other direction. He spoke in arcesh. Was that how Jungeun had learned? “And Jungeun told us more.” 

The words themselves sank in. They also explained the ice that laced his words. 

Jinsoul could only think of how she’d acted towards Jungeun at the start, how the others had tried to defend her, while also trying to make Jinsoul feel somewhat at home. 

“She respects you.” 

The words struck her more than his anger would have. 

Jinsoul couldn’t form a proper response. If she tried, she would’ve been stammering. 

He gave her a knowing look. “I’m having a hard time seeing the same.” 

Shame formed a pit in her stomach. Jinsoul wanted to look away, but she knew that’d just make him think worse of her. 

Daran looked to one house of wood and stone. It was fairly large, but hardly grand. It looked a bit like a boat, one whose sail was wooden. 

“That’s our home,” he said. “Even before the moon, she hadn’t been living there for years.”

Again, Jinsoul didn’t know what she was supposed to say. 

Daran turned to face her. It wasn’t that he was unreadable, but he still reminded Jinsoul of an iceberg. Immovable, save for the force of the ocean. “The only thing I could applaud you for is that you stand by your principles.” 

“But you think they’re wrong.” 

“No,” he said. “I think you’ve walled them in stone.” A pause. “Or ice. You don’t let those of others through.” 

“You mean hers,” Jinsoul finished. 

He didn’t say much else, but that expression was there. It wasn’t disappointment, but it was similar. 

They stopped at a small hut sort of thing, but with walls of linen. 

“This’s where you’ll be staying,” Daran said. “Thea thought it’d be good for you to have something from home.” 

“I’m glad it’d be good to have something from home,” Jinsoul muttered. 

He shrugged once, a familiar gesture. “It’ll all start in two hours,” he said. “You’ll know when the music starts.” With that, he started to walk backwards. 

Jinsoul nodded. “Thank you.”

He turned away. 

Jinsoul went past the linen, only to see they’d put a charm over it. It made them resistant to the window. She’d also be able to seal them with a subsequent charm. 

Then she saw the bowl of water. Either it was that ‘taste of home’ or a joke. Jinsoul wondered if it was the latter. 

She still drew out the water and let it curl around her arms and hands. It gave her the deep calm she loved. 

If the water was a joke, it was probably meant well. Hopefully. 

She debated leaning to go and explore the camp. She didn’t always get to do so among other elves. Learning more about them could always be interesting. 

A wave of fatigue came over her. When she fell back onto the bed, she was asleep in minutes. 

______

Jinsoul woke to music. And someone calling her name. 

“I can just bring you something if you don’t want to go,” Jungeun was saying. “To be honest, they’ll probably just make a few remarks, but nothing—” she stopped mid-sentence when Jinsoul pulled the linen curtain back. Her eyes widened. Then she grimaced. “Were you asleep?” 

“Yes.” Jinsoul went to her side. “But it’s fine.” 

“You’re sure?” Jungeun raised a brow. 

“Should I not be?” Jinsoul asked. She was almost certain that Jungeun hadn’t told people how things had actually been. People probably would’ve treated her very differently if she had. 

She shrugged once. “You’ll disagree with most of them?” 

Jinsoul kept walking. “You said they eat well here,” she said. “It’d also seem strange if I sit out now, but I came all this way.” And she was curious to see if Daran’s view of her was shared with the rest. 

Jungeun nodded once. “There’ll be a good wine too.” 

Jinsoul almost laughed. “I’m not sure if that should be what I look forward to.” 

“It’s what I’m looking forward to.” 

Jinsoul switched back to arcesh. “Are you happy to be back?” 

Jungeun paused, a tiny frown appearing. “Why say that?” There was the slightest hint of defensiveness there. 

“Were you?” 

The frown deepened. “This are—was my home.” Except for the few stumbles when she spoke, Jungeun’s arcesh wasn’t bad. 

Was. Jungeun switched between ‘they’ and ‘we’ as well. She had for the last months too. She still belonged here, a part of her people, but she also felt like an Astran. 

“You were happy to see your family,” Jinsoul said. “You were when you saw the others, but,” she paused, wondering if she was overstepping again, “less.” 

Jungeun looked away, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes again. “When’d you,” she bit her lip, seemingly searching for the word, “see that?” 

“When we arrived.” Jinsoul ignored her own questions that came with that. Why’d she even want to know in the first place? “I shouldn’t have asked,” she added. “It’s nothing I need to—”

“You asked,” Jungeun said quietly. She paused, opening and closing it again. Jinsoul wondered if it was because she was searching for the words in arcesh, or just what to say in general. “I could tell you it’s because I just saw them, but it’s been like that for a few years, decades actually.” She shrugged once. “Probably won’t happen with you,” she said hurriedly, “we’re not—it’s just—” She closed her eyes. “Don’t know how to say that.” She chuckled. 

“You don’t have to keep speaking arcesh,” Jinsoul said. She’d thought it would be better, in case anyone decided to listen in. 

Jungeun kept walking. “It’s different.” 

They fell silent. At least until they reached the feast, where they were met with choruses of conversation and music. 

It might’ve been what Jungeun had said before, but Jinsoul couldn’t help but wonder if she was reading too much into what she saw. Jungeun’s smile was genuine. When she laughed, she meant it too. 

But something was missing. Jinsoul had no idea what that was. No one seemed to be bothered by it. 

At least until she looked to those closest to her. When Jungeun told them about the warlock she’d hunted, Jinsoul saw how Reyna struggled to hide her unease. The same applied to Jungeun’s mother. Jinsoul wondered why they’d let her walk into what could’ve very well been a trap. Did they have a plan for the event that it went wrong? Did they have so much faith in Jungeun that they believed she could fight her way out of it? 

Or would Jungeun not let them interfere? 

______

“You missed the perfect challenge,” Pollux said. “A stone wielder, air one, and a fire wielder. He tried out that whip technique too.” He laughed. “Didn’t expect I’d be able to pull them over.” He flexed his hand. There was a harsh burn there. He looked at it with pride. 

Jinsoul didn’t need much time at all to know how he’d learned how to catch fire, how to not flinch away when it came near. The warriors of these Crosa fought through pain and went well past their limits. It was mad. 

And that was also the reason they ended up surviving most of the encounters. 

Jungeun was looking at the burn there. She was smiling, but a part of it was lacking. “Was it just you?” There was some teasing in her voice, but it still sounded wrong. 

Pollux grinned. “All took less than half an hour.” He made it sound like a grand victory.  

Jinsoul forced down the nausea she felt then. 

“But they barely knew what to do with their magic,” someone scoffed, “wait ‘til you get an actual fairy.”

She tried not to listen to what followed. They talked of those fights as if they were games. 

Jinsoul looked to Thea first. She was talking in a hushed voice with someone else. The snippets she caught there were faint, some words almost inaudible, but they were talking about a group of elves. They’d once been healers. Now they were able to access the either workings of the human body. 

Bile rose into . 

“Are you okay?” Jungeun whispered. It was in clipped arcesh, but Jinsoul understood it. 

“Did you know about the elves?” Jinsoul asked. “The healers.” Were the rumours true? They’d barely heard anything about it, mostly because the healers weren’t tied to the water. 

Jungeun shook her head, before her eyes flicked to her mother. She listened. 

Jinsoul could see how her expression shifted. Jungeun hadn’t known either. 

“Can we take it?” Jinsoul asked. 

Her brow rose. “Yeah.” 

Jinsoul blinked. “What?” 

“No one’s been sent out yet. At least not from us.” 

“And they’d just send you and I?” 

“Just takes a few words,” Jungeun replied. “Should I ask now?”

Jinsoul frowned.

Jungeun smiled. “Yes, it’s that simple.” She got to her feet and went over to the two. “What’s the time frame?” she whispered.

“They gave us two weeks,” the other elf said. 

“They?” Jungeun repeated. 

“Their people,” Thea replied. 

Jungeun was silent. She was weighing it in her head. 

“These the psychotic healers?” someone called further down the table. “Eun’s taking it?” She laughed once. “Beat me to it.” 

Again, Jinsoul felt uneasy. Words like that, it made the elves seem like a prize. A simple target. 

Jinsoul wanted to ask then if they wanted prisoners. If they did, then she was glad the others wouldn’t be going after them. 

People were looking over now, almost eager to hear what they could.

And there was a reason for that. Jungeun had been their best. She was as renowned as a general, maybe even more than that. 

“There a leader?” 

A nod. 

“Do they want prisoners?” Jungeun asked. 

“None.” 

Jinsoul felt a pit form in her stomach. 

“Don’t tell them you sent me,” Jungeun said. Then she clapped the elf on the shoulder. 

People looked like they couldn’t believe their ears. Neither Thea or the other one were frowning, but a fair amount of other people were. 

"This's supposed to be a simple one," Pollux said when she was close enough. "It's fine if they know." 

"And you shouldn't go alone either," Reyna said. 

"I won't be alone," Jungeun replied. 

Then she sat back down beside Jinsoul. 

Most eyes were on Jungeun, but Jinsoul felt someone else looking at her. When she looked around the table, she met Reyna’s eyes. She couldn’t read that look. 

Without a word, Jungeun put a second helping on Jinsoul’s plate, before loading her own. She started eating. 

Jinsoul was torn between being confused and worried. 

Reyna kept looking over at them. As did some others, before looking to Reyna herself. 

Jungeun didn’t seem to take note of any of it. 

Most of the conversation went to something else, like the happenings of a nearby Warsan settlement. 

One part of the table kept going back to fights they’d had, or Jungeun’s. Those seemed to be a point of pride. 

Jungeun was silent for most of them. Oddly enough, her family didn’t join in either. 

And Jinsoul heard tale after tale of the conquests of the different people around the table. At times it sounded like a race for who’d taken the most lives, or had the most difficult battle. 

From what she heard, Jungeun seemed to be in the lead, even with the years spent away from her people. 

Jinsoul couldn’t help but wonder if that was one of the reasons why Jungeun had agreed to go after the blood-wielders. 

______

Jungeun had wanted to go on guard duty, saying something about how her presence being there twice would draw the spirits. Two would make it worse. 

Jinsoul hadn’t seen any spirits yet, at least not the ones who attacked. 

“Why’d you tell them not to say they sent you?” Jinsoul asked once they were far away enough. 

“Independence,” she replied. “I can do what I want.” She kept walking. “Meaning, you can do what you want.” She didn’t look at her. 

“You mean you’ll let me.”

Jungeun frowned. “If you didn’t agree with what I’d do, you’d make that very clear, right?” 

Jinsoul bit back a retort. If she said anything, she’d just be disagreeing for the sake of it. 

“And if I went ahead and tried to kill those people, if you didn’t want that, you’d extinguish the flames, wouldn’t you?” Now she looked at her. She didn’t look defensive or even irritated. She just said it as if it were normal. “You’d stop me.” 

“That’s assuming I’d be able to,” Jinsoul said. 

“You would be,” Jungeun replied. She looked away, a strange look in her eyes. It was torn between shame and acceptance. After a few seconds, she straightened. “I can’t fight your magic off that well.” 

Jinsoul was torn between calling that a lie and actually believing the possibility. She’d never thought of it. Fighting someone like Jungeun—she’d never put herself in a position like that. She didn’t fight people she knew outmatched her in skill. 

And yet her magic was the opposite to fire. If it was there in sufficient amounts, even an inferno couldn’t vaporise a flood. 

Then again, Jungeun must have fought people who’d used water, or even ice. 

“If they didn’t send me, then we’re not going off the contract,” Jungeun said. She didn’t say anything after that. 

Jinsoul used the silence to think it over. They’d have to find a witch for a trail. They’d follow it to the healers. Those healers could easily take hold of their blood, or their entire limbs, and try and crush them from the inside. Jinsoul’s own magic could protect them, but that had limits too. 

Magic that affected the mind was the most feared. Magic that directly attacked the body was close behind. Wiping them out with fire would be the easy solution. That’s why people had been glad when Jungeun had offered to hunt them down. They hadn’t been as pleased when she’d said to keep her separate from them. 

“Would the Warsa even accept them?” Jinsoul asked. 

“I know some who would.” 

Jinsoul frowned. “You don’t know anything about how it happened. Neither do I,” she said. “Everyone else knows more and they seem fine with killing all of them.” 

Jungeun nodded. “I did that a few months ago.” This time, nothing flickered in her eyes. They just held Jinsoul’s gaze. “And before that too.” 

Jinsoul remembered when the others had spoken of another blood-wielder, Brieth. It had taken some weeks, but Hyejoo had told her why they’d even gotten to the subject in the first place. His people were responsible for the deaths of her parents. She’d wanted to take her revenge, but hadn’t. 

And then Jungeun had taken his life.

I’d wanted him gone for a long time. 

“What’re you trying to say with that?” Jinsoul asked. “The only reason you wouldn’t kill of them is because I’d disagree?” 

“Because I could’ve ignored what I heard,” she replied. “You could’ve too.” She shrugged. “And I can go back right now and say we just got called back to camp. They’ll leave it to someone else.” 

Jinsoul couldn’t barely make any sense of that. It didn’t explain why Jungeun would be completely fine with what she’d done recently and now do something entirely different. One explanation was a hypocrisy Jungeun wasn’t taking note of. Another was she had a deliberate reason for it. 

“You were disgusted by what was said there,” Jungeun said. “I saw it.” 

“So you’re trying to prove me wrong?” 

She shook her head. No frustration had flashed in her eyes. Not even a hint of it. “What you did with the others, with the vampires. That might’ve felt like you weren’t considering anything when you fought, but the others were. Jiwoo and Chaewon were finding the people who didn’t deserve to die. The other things you do for the Astra, for the witches, it all has a reason.” Jungeun looked back once, before looking ahead again. “And even it unsettled you. Even knowing there was a reason, you probably wished you’d have known exactly why you were sent after them.” 

Jinsoul swallowed her next response. She didn’t like Jungeun assuming anything about her. She really didn’t like that she was right. 

“I’m fine with not knowing it,” Jungeun said. A ball of moonlight appeared in her hands. She tossed it up before catching it again. “It’s normal for me, but that isn’t what you do. You’re not a killer, you don’t just take jobs like that. You don’t think it’s right if we kill them just because their people want it.” 

“Because it isn’t.” Jinsoul stopped walking. “Do you think it is?” 

“That’s not what I think about first.” Jungeun caught the ball again. She looked at it. “I look at the risks first. They could actually kill us.” Her left eye was glowing white. It cast an odd light on her, as though she were caught between two phases. “Then the benefits. They’re being seen as a risk for obvious reasons. That kind of magic, with a rogue group—it’s a danger to everyone. Taking them out takes out the massive risk.” The ball disappeared. “Once I’ve got a list for that, I go through how I’ll do it.” She sighed. “What’s the first thing you think of?” The way she phrased it, the way she looked at her, was as if she actually wanted to know the answer. 

“Why they left,” Jinsoul said. “What happened for them to send someone to kill them.” 

The fire elf finally looked away. The shame in her eyes was clear. “Without knowing anything else,” Jungeun started, “would you do it if your people had sent you after them?” 

“We banish them or send them somewhere to restrain their magic,” Jinsoul said. “I told you this.” It’d been one of the first times she’d eaten with the rest. “But you’d already leapt over all of those precautions when you killed Brieth.” The blood-wielder who’d already been sentenced to banishment. 

Jungeun didn’t flinch. She just nodded. Was she accepting it? Or just letting Jinsoul talk? 

Jinsoul felt herself getting angry. “All you’ve done is admit that you’ll carry out whatever instructions you’re given. All you’ve done is tell me exactly how different we are.” She grit her teeth. “And it isn’t because I’m naive, but because you’ve lived like this your entire life.” 

Still, red eyes weren’t showing flashes of hurt or anything like it. 

“So what’re you trying to convince me of?” Jinsoul asked. She could already feel her voice getting louder. “Is this entire thing some sort of twisted challenge? Are we going to look for why that contract was even sent here? Do you think we’ll get the reason and I’ll finally see your side of things?” Her eye had grown warm. “Are you expecting me to get so angry when I hear what they’re doing that I’ll kill them myself?” 

Now, something appeared. It looked like sadness. 

It wasn’t what she wanted to see. “They glorify what you’ve done,” she pointed to the camp, “people respect you for murder. Not just your people, but the Astra too. And why?” Jinsoul hissed. “Because you’ve saved their lives doing it. You’re their weapon. You’re still the one your people can send when the rest would be risking their lives. You’re the one they send, because they trained you all your life to push yourself through any situation, even when you’re dying. And that’s why people call you a hero, because you let yourself suffer through anything and you’ve been taught it’s a good thing if there’s just one killer.” 

The words were met with silence. Jinsoul wondered with which breath she’d stepped too far. Each subsequent word had just pushed her further. 

Jungeun hadn’t looked away. Jinsoul had expected her to once she’d let the words run freely. She'd expected to hear her defend herself, but there'd been nothing like that. Jungeun had only told her why she did what she did, how she managed to do any of those things. She didn't glorify it, but she still went after people like they were targets. 

Jungeun's eyes glittered, but they no longer shone. Her jaw was tight and trembled. The expression was back. The conflict and guilt Jinsoul had seen a few times. Jungeun wasn't hiding it now. 

Jinsoul could feel the tears forming in Jungeun’s eyes. Then they weren’t there anymore. She'd forced them back. 

“We’re taking them prisoner,” Jungeun finally said. Her voice was surprisingly steady. “We'll either find a mental fae or we find the reason why they left another way.” Her brow twitched. She was biting the inside of her cheek. "We leave after I've met with the witches." 

Silence again. Jinsoul didn’t break it. She wanted to look away from whatever was going on in Jungeun’s head, but she couldn’t. Not when she was the reason for it. 

Then Jungeun turned away. She walked in the opposite direction of her people. 

Jinsoul didn’t follow. Her anger was gone. She just felt a distinct pit in her chest instead. It wasn’t something she felt often, but she knew what it was. 

She wished Jungeun would’ve said something else. She wished her eyes would’ve filled with fire and that she’d have just shouted at her. 

Instead she’d just been quiet, her eyes only holding a few sparks. 

If she ever told Haseul, Sooyoung, or anyone from Jungeun’s people what she’d said, she would’ve gotten the shouts. She probably would’ve gotten worse than that. 

______

Jinsoul didn’t sleep at all that night. She could’ve attributed it to her starting to become nocturnal, but that would’ve been a lie. 

Instead, what kept her awake was what she saw whenever she closed her eyes. Guilt trapped in eyes that were trying to hold back tears. 

Jinsoul wished she could take every single word back. She wished she could’ve said the right words to keep that look away. 

But she couldn’t do either of those things. She wouldn’t know what else to say either. 

She hadn't apologised then, because how was she supposed to? Jungeun had killed people. She'd hunted some down and faced others in battle. She did it easily. She'd done it all her life. 

Jinsoul slipped out of bed. There was a high chance Jungeun was spending the night with someone else. Still, as she walked, she looked out for pale gold hair, listened for her distinct screech of a laugh. 

She even peered into the light, only to find that Jungeun wasn’t nearby at all. 

The shame grew even more. Jinsoul thought of how Jungeun hadn’t defended herself, hadn’t lashed out when she probably should have. 

Jinsoul passed by others, but most didn’t pay her any mind. A lot of them had had a fair amount to drink as well. 

There were stares too. Jinsoul checked her skin twice, just in case she was glowing. She wasn’t. 

They weren’t the stares from the Astra either, but normal stares, oddly enough. 

She got to the central hill again. It was quiet here. She wondered if people avoided it as much as they could until there were meetings. 

Jinsoul went in. She was greeted by more silence. 

Jungeun had barely said a word when Jinsoul had attacked her. Jinsoul still wished she had. She wondered why she hadn't? Jinsoul couldn't believe that Jungeun didn't have at least one protest to what she'd said. Jungeun had to have been able to deny at least one of Jinsoul's accusations. 

Except she hadn't. She'd only listened, with an expression that Jinsoul was starting to realise neared defeat more than it did hurt. The realisation only made her feel worse. 

She forced herself to look at the room. It was grand, almost entirely made of stone. In the centre was a large table with a rounded end, while the other was straight. Did the mismatched sides have a reason or was this an attempt at being artistic? 

Then she heard someone walking over. 

Jinsoul turned in time to see Reyna walk in. She didn’t look surprised to see her. She was probably here because Jinsoul was. She was slightly surprised that Reyna wasn’t with Jungeun now. 

“Hi,” Reyna said simply. 

Jinsoul could only nod a small greeting. She wondered if Jungeun had told her, or if Reyna had seen her after she’d walked away. 

She watched as the elf went to the table and leaned against it, facing her. She was here to talk. 

Jinsoul tried not to show how much she didn’t want that. 

“Did you like the meal?” 

Jinsoul raised a brow. “Yes,” she said. “Why’re you here?” 

Reyna smiled. It softened her features. She really was gorgeous. “Straight to the point,” she said. “Good, because I don’t like small talk.”

“Me neither.”

A small nod. “How long’ve you and Jungeun been close?”

Jinsoul frowned. Had Reyna not seen Jungeun at all? “We aren’t close.”

Reyna tilted her head. “Is ‘on good terms’ a better way of putting it?” 

“I don’t think so.” Jungeun’s pained expression was still fresh in her mind. 

She held Jinsoul’s gaze. “From what I heard, from what I saw,” she shrugged, “can’t say I expected that.”

“Why?” And what exactly had she heard, or seen? 

Reyna made a lazy motion with her hand. A breeze swept through the air, bringing in the scent of food from outside. It left again. “She changed.” 

“I’ve only been here a few months.” Jinsoul wanted to say something else, but there wasn’t anything else in her mind. 

“Must’ve been an eventful time.” Reyna looked like she also wanted to say something else. She was a bit easier to read than Jungeun was. 

“When was the last time you saw her?” Jinsoul asked. “Something might’ve been happening before.” 

“I’ve known her since we were little,” she replied. “A lot’s happened that could’ve changed her, but it didn’t. Other things changed her when no one would’ve expected it.” A long pause. Was she waiting for Jinsoul to reply? 

“And I’m supposed to fall into the latter?” Jinsoul wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be a warning, a defence, or something else entirely. 

“I’m not sure,” Reyna said. “But you’ve definitely had an effect.” She looked at her, from her feet to her head. “I wanted to ask when it happened.” 

She shook her head. “I barely know who she is, let alone any change she would’ve had.” She wondered how it would look if she left right now. 

“She stalled an escape to heal the fairies we were freeing,” Reyna frowned, “she’d barely ever let a rushed rune heal her, let alone use one.” 

“Were the injuries bad?” Reyna spoke as if that was something completely unheard of. Someone was always supposed to use those runes. Things rarely went wrong with them. If you made a mistake, it just didn’t work. If it worked, you eased the pain. 

“Just a broken leg, then the aftermath was simple.” Reyna sighed. “Everything was how it always was.”

“So everything you think people should be able to just walk away from?” Jinsoul couldn’t help but think of Jungeun’s stubbornness. Had that belief in strength, of pushing through the pain, extended to others as well? 

“We always can,” Reyna said simply. “But that day, she decided to use runes and light to heal someone’s hands, broken bones, and a stab wound anyone could’ve walked with.” Even as she said the words, she looked confused. 

Was their perspective just skewed? Jinsoul couldn’t help but think of the dinner, of Jungeun’s view of her injuries and her health. Those things barred them from seeing pain as something you could remedy. They made it so that these people applauded the struggle—the battle of pushing through pain to keep fighting a bit longer. 

“And what does that have to do with me?” 

“You’re the healer,” Reyna replied. “And Jungeun barely tolerates the rest in your camp.” She gave her a pointed look, as if what she was saying made sense. “It’s a good thing. I just wanted to know the reason for it.”

“There isn’t one,” Jinsoul said. “She just knew to combine the two because of—” She broke off, thinking about the day. She remembered the sheer awe she’d seen in Jungeun’s eyes. “She’d learned that the light could ease the pain,” she said quickly. 

Reyna looked unconvinced, but she didn’t say much else.

Jinsoul knew what to fill the silence with this time. "Are you worried for tomorrow?" 

Her brow shot up. "Witches are hardly a match for her."

"Anyone can be caught off guard," Jinsoul said. That was something even Jungeun believed. 

"She's prepared for that," Reyna replied. "She always is." 

Jinsoul couldn't help but frown at the certainty in those words. If she'd learned something, it was that Jungeun was the last person to share that sort of attitude. "Then why are you worried?" 

"Witches like making longer deals with us," she said. "And Jungeun's the one they know of the most among their covens." She smiled ever so slightly. 

"How is that a good thing?" It made her a target to even more people. As soon as an mortal opportunist heard of the people who wanted Jungeun dead, they'd try their luck. 

Naive mortals would risk their lives for a reward like that. What if tomorrow was the same? 

Reyna's gaze was searching again. "You do know what her life has been, don't you?" 

Jinsoul nearly scowled. "I'm not blind." 

"Then you'll know how tomorrow will go, as well as that ordeal with the blood elves." She gave her another once-over. "And with a healer at her side, she'll be all the better for it." She bid Jinsoul a curt goodnight then, leaving soon after. 

Jinsoul went back to her accommodations as well. Most of the people she’d seen earlier were gone, leaving only people in quiet, slurred conversations with one another. 

When she laid down, she managed to relax. She was tired, but still not enough to sleep through the next hours. 

She was awake long enough to hear how distant animals roused for the new days, the occasional hoots as well. Even then, very few elves were awake. 

When she heard the first bird call, Jinsoul finally managed to fall asleep. 

She lived through a memory that wasn’t her own. She heard screams that she hadn’t caused, but still clawed at her heart. She saw flames engulf people, trees, and the earth itself. 

Then the fire faded into red swathes of light, scraping across the night sky. Then the slow glow of red and orange overcame the sky. It pulsed, so much unlike a sunrise, but the colours filled the midnight’s expanses. 

______

Author's Note 

It's been a while since the last update, I know. It'll probably be some time until the next. I've nearly been drowning in my studies and haven't had the energy for either of my stories, at least not for a consistent writing and editing session. However, I'm happy to say I've had a three-day break and this chapter's the result of that. I'll still be busy for a few weeks until my exam, and we'll see how things go from there. 

This was definitely one of the harder chapters to write. I had the main disagreement written shortly after writing the last chapter, but the rest was relatively new. It's something I've been waiting for, mostly because the main changes in Jinsoul's perspective won't come just from learning more about Jungeun. That'll feature more in the next chapters, as well as a bit more awareness of who Jungeun is as a whole. 

It's been difficult to balance the two characters. Jinsoul's character here is very different to the person she is later on, and she's more flawed than she is in the other story. Sometimes it's frustrating and there're moments, specifically like the one in this chapter, where I wasn't sure how far things would end up going. 

I haven't been writing for this story in about a month, but I've loved coming back to it. 

Hope you're all doing well! See you next chapter. 

Twitter: @hblake44

If you have any other questions regarding the au.