Chapter 3 - The Common Thief

Seung Hyun did as he promised the next day. The Hong twins woke up at the crack of dawn and waited patiently for him to take them to Haipo Harbor. Haneul gave them some more of her spare clothes to change from their tattered school uniforms. Ja Young pulled on a pair of moderately damaged jeans, a black tank-top and a demin jacket. Hye Young was given an old green spring dress with a purple cardigan. The twins hopped on the back of the truck, this time with a few blankets covering the cool metal surface. When they arrived, Seung Hyun motioned Ja Young to come closer.

“Before you get on the ship, you must find someone. He goes by the name of...” He whispered in her ear. She nodded as she pulled away.

“If you find him, he’ll help you get to the society when you get there. Just so you know, he’s not that hard to find but not the easiest to bargain with.”

Ja Young and Hye Young bid him good-bye. “Thank you, Seung Hyun. Let’s hope we’ll meet again someday.” He gave a small salute with a silly grin and drove back home. They kept watching until the truck was out of sight. ‘Who knew we were so lucky after almost being killed?’ Ja Young’s train of thought was broken by Hye young tugging on the end of her jacket.

“Ja Young, I’m hungry. Can we go eat something?” She peered into her sister’s sharp eyes with her soft ones. Hye Young’s stomach growled right at that moment, telling her that she wasn’t lying. Then again, when did Hong Hye Young ever lie to Hong Ja Young? The latter nodded.

When the twins turned, something (or someone) narrowly ran between them with something tucked under its arm. Before Hye Young reached out for her sister’s arm, another person dashed between them hollering, “Stop that kid! That thief!”

As soon as Ja Young heard the word thief, she whipped of her knapsack from her back and shoved it in Hye Young’s arms and started the chase. 

“Ja Young! Where are you going‽” She called out.

“I’ll be back!” Ja Young yelled back over her shoulder. Hye Young blinked cluelessly, and began to wait patiently for her sister.

The short-haired Argent forced her legs to move faster. She didn’t have time to consider the fact that the thief was a “kid”. She easily ran past the slower pursuer and steadily reached for her target. Seeing that she was so close, she pumped her arms faster and faster for a burst of speed. 

When she was in arms reach of the thief, she grasped his shoulder, forced him to lean forward with her left hand and made him turn his face to meet her fist in a furious punch. He let out a grunt in pain and fell to the ground. The bundle flew out of from his arm and landed in the hands of the panting older man behind her. After catching his breath, he managed to say, “Well...you...sure are... fast... for a... little lass... like you.”

Ja Young didn’t respond and went up to the thief. He sat up from his position, wiped the dirt from his cheek and felt the bruise she gave. He smirked after he spat on the ground.

“You sure can punch,” he paused to look at her, “For a Human-born Argent.”

Ja Young’s eyes widened. “How do you know?”

“If I were an actual human, I should have gotten seriously injured or I could have died from one punch. You're a crazy girl,” He stood up and took off his hood.

Ja Young had thought for only a second that the thief looked very handsome. He had a bit of a tan from the sun and his hair was styled up in a modern fashion. She also took note that he was at least a head taller than her and his lips were full with a natural annoying smirk.

Getting back to her thoughts, Ja Young scowled from his underestimation. She raised her eyebrows and roughly grabbed the front of his shirt down to her height. “Do you want another taste?”

"No thanks! Are you out of your mind? I don't want to die from a girl who can practically kill me!"

"Then follow me," she gruffly motioned him to come.

Passing by the tired pursuer, the thief followed Ja Young to Hye Young who was waiting for her with her backpack, slightly bewildered. He tagged along with the twins for breakfast at a lively cafe where people were too busy to listen to their conversations.

Hye Young chewed on her bagel and sipping on her glass of milk through a straw while Ja Young was waiting for the teenage boy to speak. Ja Young explained how she had to find him through Seung Hyun, who he revealed that the kind man who sheltered the twins was his uncle.

“How were you able to find me so fast? I’m starting to wonder whether my uncle was actually talking bad about me behind my back. You should know who I am by now.”

“Kim Jong In, or should I say Kai, seeing that you’re a local joke isn’t very hard to miss," Ja Young crossed her arms.

Kai let out a dry laugh. “It’s not his problem that I want to have a bit of fun here in Haipo. Heck this isn’t even my hometown! Speaking of hometown, you two look like Kuno citizens. That’s almost half the distance of this continent away from here!”

Ja Young didn’t flinch but Hye Young put down her food. “You’ve got guts to admit that you’re messing around. We've got a more important issue buzzing around.” 

“From the look on your face, I don’t think this is just ‘buzzing around’. What did my uncle want me to do?” Kai crossed his arms and legs.

“You know how to get to the secret society. We need to get there before Daemens get us.” Ja Young said.

He scoffed. “Please, anyone can get to the society for all I know. And for all I care, I don’t even want to be involved with the other Argents or this war that’s coming. It’s a freaking waste of my time if you ask me. Do yourself a favor girls and go back to that technological home you came from. I’m done with you two.”

“Seung Hyun gave us instructions and we’re following them.”

“Who said you were obliged to?”

“We, Hong twins, never oblige because we choose to do things that are beneficial to us.”

“How cute, twin sisters on the road to look for a miracle.” Kai sarcastically remarked and rolled his eyes. “So, tell me. What are you planning to do?”

“What I’m planning to do? I’m taking Hye Young to a safe place where she doesn’t have to worry about this.”

“Can’t you girls just go home? Is that hard to do for high schoolers like you‽ You know what? For get this . I’m out of here.”

Kai got up and tossed his napkin on the table. Hye Young looked down at her forgotten breakfast in disappointment while Ja Young curled her hands into fists. Hye Young looked like that she was about to cry.

Ja Young shot up from her seat and suddenly felt like vomiting words she didn’t want to say. “Hye Young is dying! We both may be Human-born Argents, but her abilities are killing her with each day that passes. If she uses them, it will exact a terrible toll on her body and cut down her life span. What kind of a person are you to let someone like her pass by?”

Kai stopped moving. “Our parents were killed by Daemens a while ago. We don’t have a home to return to. We can’t even remember how many days had it been since we were running away.” She paused and looked at him with her piercing eyes that had some fear in them. “There’s no place in Shugo that is safe for the two of us anymore.”

Kai kept quiet, guilt slowly eating at him for being very ignorant. He was trying to read her face and nearly faltered under gaze because of a thought in his head.

“We need you to send us to the society today,” Ja Young repeated.

From the corner of her eyes, Hye Young’s tears silently fell down from her eyes. “I beg of you, Kai. Don’t make me be the cause of Hye Young’s sadness or her death. We have no one else but each other. Because she doesn't have any medicine on her, her days are numbered. Only Argentic treatment can save her.”

Kai was about to reconsider his words from earlier until he heard loud footsteps that shook the cafe. He looked out at the window that something was coming their way. Ja Young looked in his direction and paled. “Daemens,” she whispered.

Right when Ja Young grabbed Hye Young into her embrace, the windows shattered from an ear-piercing roar. Ja Young covered Hye Young’s head while Kai covered his ears. It didn’t help them when the people around them were screeching in panic. They moved behind the counter where the baristas fled from.

A lanky Daemen appeared in the cafe where the twins were previously sitting at as more of them barged in uninvited. Ja Young held her sister securely in her arms as Kai glanced around for any clues. There were at least eight Daemens inside the cafe and about five humans dead, giving Hye Young the shivers.

"I smell Argents in here! Search this place and leave none alive!" it snarled in their uncomprehendable language. The Daemens started to eliminate the innocent humans in the cafe, and the three watched on briefly before making their move.

“Now I’m kinda glad that you didn’t use all of your strength when you punched me. I would’ve told you girls to run but I honestly can’t take on all these guys by myself.” Kai cooly joked as Ja Young pulled on her leather gloves, ready to fight.

“I don’t think joking while being surrounded by Daemens is one of the most brilliant ideas.” Ja Young patted her sister's shoulder to reassure her before leaping over the counter to tackle one Daemen down. She punched through the Daemen's body and it turned into ashes when she retracted. Kai followed her from behind the counter and threw one of his daggers from his sheathe into a Daemen's skull, also turning into ash.

Ja Young and Kai gradually moved to opposite sides of the room. Ja Young started off well with punches and kicks that hit the Daemens at perfect points. When she hit the last Daemen to the ground, she was waiting for it to turn into ash but it never did. Instead, it screeched louder than their initial encounter and another hoarde of Daemens broke through the destroyed wall, hearing its comrade's call.

"You got to be kidding me," Kai slumped his shoulders and stood up to fight again.

The more Ja Young and Kai defeated the Daemens, the more reinforcements came to attack. Her movements were getting slower and less reflexive. At one point, she felt her muscles pulling with each punch she threw and she was caught off guard when a Daemen attacked her from behind.

But the hit didn’t come. The Daemen was knocked off to the side but Ja Young felt like she was being pulled into a wormhole and pummeled to the floor. Kai stood above her and twirled a dagger in his hand. That was when she realized what his ability was.

Teleportation.

The battle proved to Ja Young that his ability was useful. Kai offered a hand to her, in which she took.

"You're welcome?" he prompted.

"No thanks!" she retorted.

They were now standing back to back against the eight Daemens ready to attack. It was a strange but amazing feeling that they weren’t in good terms before and now they were fighting side by side against the same enemy. Hye Young was smiling from behind the counter, happy that the two Argents were now working together. She stopped when a Daemen appeared in front of her face and grasped her neck, choking her without enough time for her to make a shield. 

After beating them down for a few minutes, Ja Young heard a cry and cough from Hye Young. Alarmed, she cut through the rubble to find her twin, ignoring Kai’s calling but she stopped.

A new Daemen snuck up behind her and landed a heavy blow at the back of her head. Ja Young’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and closed. Her prone body fell on the rubble when Kai was surrounded and pinned down. “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath. When he faltered in the Daemens’ grasps, the party called for a retreat with the new captives.

"Take them," he ordered.

A giant Daemen had Hye Young on its shoulder and Ja Young hanging under its arm. The rest of the party held Kai down while transporting the three Argents to a place where they would never see the light of Shugo again.