Soyeon spotted the rat first.

The twins had grown up in South Korea and had moved to New York, so encountering a rat was nothing new.

Living in San Francsco, a port city, one quickly got used to seeing the creatures, especially early in the morning and late at night, when they came out of the shadows and sewers.

Soyeon wasn't especially frightened of them, though like everyone else she had heard the horror stories, urban legends and FOAF -friend of a friend- stories about the scavengers. She knew they were mostly harmless unless cornered.

She thought she remembered reading somewhere that they could jump to great eights. She'd also read an article in the New York times Sunday magazine that said that there were as many rats in the United States and there were people.

But this rat was different.

Sleek and black, rather than the usual filthy brown, crouched, unmoving, at the mouth of the alleyway, and Soyeon could have sworn that its eyes were bright red, And watching them

Maybe it was an escaped pet ?

"Ah, you've noticed." Jihoon murmured, catching her arm, urging her forward."We're being watched. "

"Who? "Seungho asked, confused, turning quickly, expecting to see Junhyung's long black car cruising down the street. 

But there was no sign of any car, and no one seemed to be paying them any special attention. "Where ?"

"The rat. IN the alleyway. " Jung Jihoon said quickly. "Don't look. "

But it was too late. Seungho had already turned and looked.

"By a rat? A rat is watching us. You cannot be serious. " He just raised its head and looked at him, its mouth opening to reveal pointed teeth.

Seungho shuddered,

Snakes and rats. He hated them equally. .. though not as much as he hated spiders. And scorpions.

"Rats don't have red eyes, do they ? " he asked, looking at his sister, who, as far as he knows, was afraid of nothing.

"Not usually. " she said.

When he turned back, he discovered that there were now two jet-black rats standing still in the alleyway. A third scttled out of the gloom and settled down to watch them.

"OK," Seungho said evenly. "I've seen men made of mud. I guess i can accept spying rats. Do they talk ?" he wondered aloud.

"Don't be ridiculous, " Jihoon snapped. "They're rats. "

Seungho really didn't think it was such a ridiculous suggestion.

"Has Junhyung sent them? " Soyeon asked.

"He's tracking us. The rats have followed our scent from the shop. A simple scrying spell allows him to see what they see. They are a crude but effective tool, and once they have our scent they can follow us until we cross water. But i'm more concerned about those. " He tilted his chin upward.

Soyeon and Seungho looked up. Gathering on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings were an extraordinary number of black feathered birds.

"Crows," Jihoon said shortly.

"That's bad ?" Soyeon guessed. From the moment Junhyung had stepped into the shop, there hadn't been a whole lot of good news.

"It could be very bad. But i think we'll be OK. We're nearly there. " He turned to the left and led the twins into the heart of San Francisco's exotic Chinatown.

They passed the Sam Wong Hotel, then turned right into a cramped backstreet, then immediatelt left into an even narrower alleyway. Off the relatively clean main streets, the alleyways were piled high with boxes and open bins that stank with that peculiarly sweet-sour odor of rotten food.

The narrow alley they had turned into was especially foul-smelling, the air practically solid with flies, and the buildings on either side rose so high that the passage was in gloomy shadow.

"I think im going to be sick," Soyeon muttered. Only the day before, she'd said to her twin that the weeks working in the coffee shop had really heightened her sense of smell.

She'd boasted that she was able to distinguish odors she'd never smelled before.

Now she was regretting it. The air was rancid with the stink of rotten fruit and fish.

Seungho just nodded. He was concentrating on breathing through his mouth, though he imagined that every foul breath was coating his tongue.

"Nearly there," Jihoon said. He seemed unaffected by the rank odors whirling about them.

The twins heard a rasping, skittering sound and turned in time to see 5 jet-black rats scramble across the tops of the open bins behind them. A huge black crow settled on one of the wires that crisscrossed the alleyway.

Jung Jihoon suddenly stopped outside a plain, unmarked wooden door so encrusted with grime that it was virtually indistinguishable from the wall. There was no handle or keyhole.

Spreding his right hand wide, Jihoon placed his fingertips at specific locations and pressed.

The door clicked open.

Grabbing Soyeon & Seunghom he pulled them into the shadow and eased the door shut behind them.

After  the bitter stench of the alleyways, the hallway smelled wonderful. Sweet with jasmine and other subele exotic odors.

The twins breathed deeply, "Bergamot, " Soyeon announced, identifying the orange odor, "and Ylang-Ylang and patchouli, i think. "

"I'm impressed. " Jihoon said.

"I got used to the herbs in the tea shop. I loved the odors of the exotic teas. " She stopped, suddenly realizing that she was talking as if she would never go back to the shop and smell its gorgeous odors again.

Right about now, the first of the early-afternoon crowd would be coming in, ordering cappucinos and lattes, iced tea and herbal infusions. She blinked away the sudden tears that prickled at her eyes.

She missed The Coffee Cup because it was ordinary and normal and real.

"Where are we? " Seungho asked, looking around now that his eyes had become accustomed to the dim light. 

They were standing in a long, narrow, spotlessly clean hallway. The walls were covered in what looked like paper stood at the opposite end of the corridor.

Seungho was about to take a step toward the door when Jihoon's iron hand clamped onto his shoulder.

"Don't move, " he murmured. "Wait. Look. Notice. If you keep those 3 words in mind, you just might survive the next few days. " Digging into his pockets, he picked out a quarter. Positioning it on his thumb, he flicked it into the air. It spun over and over and began to fall toward the middle of the hallway ...

There was a barely perceptinle hiss- and a needle-tipped dart punched right through the metal coin, impaling it in midair and pinning it to the opposite wall.

"You've left the safe and mundance world you once knew," Jung Jihoon said seriously, looking at each twin in turn. "Nothing is as it seems. You must learn to question everything. To wait before moving, to look before stepping and to observe everything. I learned these lessons in alchemy, but you will find them invaluable in this new world you've unwittingly wandered into. "

He pointed down the corridor. " Look and observe, Tell me. What do you see ? "

Seungho spotted the first tiny hole in the wall. It was camouflaged to look like a knot in the wood. Once he found the first one, he realized that there were dozens of holes in the walls. He wondered if each hole held a tiny dart that was powerful enough to punch through metal.

Soyeon noticed that the floor did not join neatly with the wall. In 3 separate places- on both the left and right-hand sidesm close to the skirting- there was a definite gap.

Jihoon nodded. "Well done. Now watch. We've seen what the darts can do, but there is another defense ... " He took a tissue out of his pocket and tossed it onto the floor, close to one of the narrow openings.

There was a single metallic clink- and then a huge half-moon shaped blade popped out from the wall, sliced the tissue into confetti and slid back into hiding.

"So if the darts don't get you .. " Seungho began

"The blades will, " Soyeon finished. "Well, how do we get to the door ? "

"We don't. " Jihoon said, and turned to push on the wall to the left. An entire section clicked open and swung back, allowing the trip to step into a huge, airy room.

The twins recognized the room immediately. It was a dojo, a martial arts school. Since they were little, they had studied tae kwon do in dojang like this across the United States as they traveled with their parents from university to university.

Many schools had martial arts clubs on campus and their parents always enrolled them in the best dojo they could find. Both Soyeon & Seungho were red belts, one rank below a black belt.

Unlike other dojos, however, this one was plain and unadorned, decorated in shades of white and cream, with white walls and black mats dotted across the floor.

But what immediately caught their attention was the single figure dressed in a white T-shirt and white jeans sitting with its back to them in the center of the room. The figure's spiky bright brown hair was the only spot of color in the entire dojo.

"We've got a problem, " Jung Jihoon said simply, addressing the figure.

"You've got a problem. That's nothing to do with me. "

The figure didn't turn, but the voice was surprisingly both female and young, the accent soft and vaguely Korean, Soyeon thought.

"Junhyung found me today. "

"It was only a matter of time. "

"He came after me with Golems"

There was a pause. Still the figure didn't turn. "He always was a fool. You don't use Golems in a dry climate. That's his arrogance. "

"He has taken Hyori prisoner. "

"Ah. That's tough. He'll not harm her, though. "

"And he has the Codex. "

The figure moved, coming slowly to her feet and turning to face them.

The twins were shocked to discover that they were looking at a girl not much older than themselves. Her skin was pale, dappled with freckles, and her round face was dominated by almond brown eyes. Her brown hair was so vibrant that Soyeon wondered if she had dyed it that color.

"The Codex? " The accent was mixed with a little Chinese, Soyeon thought. "The Book of Abraham the Mage ? "

Jung Jihoon nodded.

"Then you're right, we do have a problem. "

Jihoon reached into his pocket and pulled out the 2 pages Seungho had torn from it.

"Well, nearly all of the book. He's missing the Final Summoning. "

The young woman hissed, the sould like that of water boiling, and a quick smile flickered across her face. "Which he will want, of course. "

"Of course. "

Seungho was watching the red-haired young woman intently, noting how she stood perfectly still, like most of the martial arts teachers he knew. He glanced sidelong at his sister and raised his eyebrows in a silent question as he inclined his chin slightly toward the girl.

Soyeon shook her head. They were curious why Jihoon treated her with such obvious respect. Soyeon had also come to the conclusion that there was something wrong about the girl's expression, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

It was an ordinary face-- perhaps the cheekbones were a little too prominent, the chin a little too pointed- but the almond-colored eyes caught and held one's attention... and the Soyeon realized with a start that the girl didn't blink.

The young woman suddenly threw back her head and breathed deeply, her nostrils flaring. "Is that why i can smell Eyes ?"

Jihoon nodded. "Rats and crows everywhere. "

"And you brought them here? " There was a note of accusation in her voice. "I've spent years building this place. "

"If Junhyung has the Codex, then you know what he will do with it. "

The young woman nodded. She turned her wide brown eyes on the twins "And these two ?" she asked, finally acknowledging their presence.

"They were there when Junhyung attacked. They fought for me, and this young man managed to tear the pages from the book. This is Soyeon and this is her twin, Seungho. "

"Twins? " The young woman stepped forward, and looked at each of them in turn. "Not identical, but i can see the resemblance now. " She turned to Jihoon. "You're not thinking ... ? "

"I'm thinking it's an interesting turn of events, " Jihoon said mysteriously. He looked at the twins. "I would like to introduce you to one of the Elder Race that has trained every warrior and hero of legend for the past 2 thousand years. In mythology, she is known as the Warrioir Maid, the Shadow, the Daemon Slayer, the King Maker, the -- "

"Oh, just call me Fei, " the young woman said, her cheeks turning the same color as her hair.

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Okay i'm done :D hehe.

So, special appearance. Fei from Miss A <3 :D heh. She's my bias in MissA ^-^

Originally wanted to put Jia, but changed to Fei. Cause maybe i'll put her in other chapters. Or sequals. COUGH . :B

Comments please <3