Chapter 3 - The Evil

Black Mamba
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    Silence fell over the room as Giselle departed. Winter took a seat on her sister’s bed, directly across from Karina, who was staring pointedly at her with that same flat, unreadable gaze. Its intensity made it hard to look directly at Karina.

    However, Winter summoned her courage, reminded herself that she was a Moonlight Guardian, and forcibly met Karina’s eyes. The taller woman raised her eyebrows slightly at that, as if impressed.

    “Thank you for saving me earlier,” Winter said, unwilling to let the silence press in on them any longer. “If you hadn’t been there, I would have been killed.”

    Karina tilted her head to the side. “The Evil was pursuing me. It only attacked you because you were nearby.”

    The Evil? That sounded heavy, but Winter had heard nothing of it during her twenty years in Pharus.

    “I… I see,” Winter felt that talking to Karina was like trying to assemble a fragile, complex puzzle. Fit the pieces together in the wrong manner, and the whole thing could shatter instantly.

Winter decided that gaining the black-haired woman’s trust was probably key here. She held up her flask. “Do you want some water?”

    Karina hesitated, staring at the leather container. Her eyes narrowed. “You drink from it first.”

    Winter bit back a comment about Karina’s paranoia, then took a long drink of the lukewarm liquid.

    “See? No poison.”

    Seemingly satisfied, Karina took the flask from Winter’s hand and drank deeply, draining the remainder of it.

    “I wasn’t worried about poison, but sedatives,” Karina said offhandedly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “But perhaps you are too noble, even for that.”

    Winter felt herself blushing. “I’m a Moonlight Guardian. Poison and drugging are against our codes.”

    “Some of your colleagues don’t seem to agree with that belief. But I appreciate it nonetheless.”

    With that, Karina stood and began to look around the room. She stooped in front of the night stand, inspecting the trinkets there, picking up the silver chain that Winter’s mother had gifted her. It was a bit annoying that Karina acted like she owned the room, but her intentions didn’t seem malicious, so Winter held her tongue. 

“Are you hungry?” Winter asked, trying not to ogle the exposed skin of Karina’s upper chest, made visible by the torn state of her clothing. “I have some rations, if you’d like.”

Karina placed the necklace back down, doing so with light- care, as if she knew the sentimental value it held.

“As you’re a Guardian of the fifth division, money - and food, logically - are hard to come by, no?” she asked.

Winter started. “How do you know that?”

“Joohyun and Seulgi were my masters,” Karina said with a melancholy smile. “Though I wasn’t officially a part of their Guardians, I was trained in a similar manner.”

Winter had wanted to ask about that whole “apprentice” thing, but like many topics that involved Karina, it felt like the wrong subject to introduce. Now, though, Winter had the perfect opportunity.

“Joohyun and Seulgi both trained you?” Winter asked, unable to keep the awe out of her voice. The council members were said to be impossibly powerful, and though they had once been Instructors in the Guardian school, they no longer had time to participate in direct training of recruits. “What was that like?”

Karina gave a half-shrug, then reclaimed her seat on the bed. The taller woman seemed quite on edge. Even as she sat, she bounced her knee up and down, drummed her fingers against the bedsheets, and stole glances at the door.

“Their training was rigorous, unrelenting… but thorough. I began at a very young age, so it was easy for me to acclimate to such a way of living,” Karina said, voice solemn and wistful. “But it helped prepare me for what I would need to endure in the future. What I currently endure now.”

Winter let those words settle in the air, contemplating them. Karina was clearly on some sort of mission here. Was it a secret quest that Seulgi and Joohyun had sent her on? If so, why hadn’t she received a writ to allow her to contact them when needed? The woman was obscured by a haze of questions and uncertainties.

“What do you have to endure now?” Winter asked in a whisper. A daring question, but one that would smolder in her mind until she found its answer.

Karina looked away. The hard steel that normally lined her countenance cracked, chipping under the pressure of whatever burdens she was taking on. Rather than the ferocious bringer of death she’d presented as before, she seemed… more human now. As if she was just a normal twenty-something year old. No, younger than that. As if she was just a lost kid.

“You don’t need to speak on it, if you don’t want to,” Winter softly, standing. The vulnerability that Karina showed made Winter’s heart swell with emotion. Tentatively, she took a seat beside the taller woman.

“No. It’s my duty to speak on the things I’ve been through,” Karina said. Her tone was brittle and weak, like a tree ready to be felled. “The things I’ve seen, the things I’ve lost, the things I’ve done. I must tell the story. Without it… I have no purpose.”

Winter felt her breath catch. The resigned, goal-driven attitude Karina had implied that she lived for little but those words.

“Does it have something to do with those demons that chased you?” Winter asked.

Karina paused, bit her lower lip, then nodded. Her eyes were glassy with moisture.

“How else did they hurt you, Karina?” Winter said, reaching out, taking Karina’s hand in her own.

Touching Karina was a daring move - one that Winter didn’t think much about until she’d already done it - but the taller girl responded immediately. She intertwined their fingers in a grip that was firm but gentle. A surprisingly warm gesture from her.

Karina didn’t get the chance to answer, however, as a frantic knock pounded against the door.

Both girls leapt to their feet. Winter summoned her Crest, allowing it to form a dagger in her left hand. Karina stepped in front, sword in hand, taking a stance that allowed her to aim the point directly at the door.

“Winter, open up!” a familiar, slightly panicked voice called. It was Ningning, another Guardian in the fifth division. She’d been a part of Winter and Giselle’s squad since they’d joined the academy. “It’s an emergency!”

“Wait,” Winter said quickly, holding a hand in front of Karina. “It’s another Guardian. I know her.”

Karina paused, then drew back, a questioning look on her face. Winter did a quick visual sweep of the room. Aside from beneath the beds, there was nowhere that Karina could reasonably hide.

“Winter, hurry up! It’s an actual emergency!” Ningning repeated, hitting the door a few more times for good measure.

Winter opened the door, and Ningning stumbled in. Like Giselle, she still wore a formal outfit, a sleeveless, silver-and-white top with glitter flecks all along its p

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JamieStardust
Gonna start outlining this story again soon. It's long overdue for an update, and the amount of support it's gotten recently has really motivated me to continue!

Comments

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Kmjcentric 0 points #1
Chapter 1: This sounds interesting🤭 Gotta dive in now
Newuser0001 #2
Chapter 13: love side character seulrene ♥️ im very intrigue about their story
Jiminez #3
Chapter 11: I'm stucked with heaven
Kang_Seulgifk
#4
I remember this everyday 💔
starzrus #5
Chapter 7: I am happy and sad reading this. Hope to see updates one day!
Jiminez #6
Chapter 13: I hope you will continue this story author.
Jiminez #7
Chapter 9: We need an update (2) but take your time author
TheGoddessNAEUN
#8
we need an update 😭
Jiminez #9
Chapter 1: Year rather huhu
Jiminez #10
Chapter 1: It's been a while