A Twist of Fate

The cave was dark for a few seconds, then a blazing light erupted in the middle of the room. A bonfire has been lit, and behind it, there stood a lean figure: it wasn’t solid, but it wasn’t completely transparent either. It was like a mirage, but it slowly grew definite until the four men could make out a face and a body.

Sungjong gasped. Woohyun! It’s the sorcerer! Isn’t he dead?

The mirage shook, as if the translucent man was laughing. Then a voice began speaking in their minds.

“I am not dead, village boy. Not completely. Because as long is this mirror is whole and as long as there are people seeking it, I am as good as alive. But the question is: Who should I give it to?”

“Give it to me, wondrous magician,” said Myungsoo the king and bowed low before the fire. “I am a king; therefore I am most fitting to use such great power you have created.”

“No, give it to me,” said Howon the merchant. His bonds magically released him, or maybe it was of the magician. So did Sungyeol’s, and he pushed the two out of the way. The dark sorcerer watched them with amusement.

“No, me!”

As the others fought for the mirror, Sungjong tried all his might to disappear into the shadows and think of a way to end everything. His bonds have melted away too, and he carefully tiptoed his way toward his uncle.

“What am I going to do?” he whispered softly.

“There’s only one way to break the curse and stop all this,” replied Jungryeol. “But I don’t know how you’ll be able to do it.”

Sungjong need not speak; his face had asked the question: ‘What is it?’

Before Jungryeol could speak, Sungjong was yanked away from him. The young one looked up and saw beauty embodied by a man: brown eyes, milky skin, sharp nose, strong jaw. But the expression etched on the man’s face is cold and emotionless.

“I ought to kill you, boy,” said Woohyun in a low voice, “just like what I did to them.”

He forced Sungjong to look beyond the fire, and there was blood spilled on the floor and splattered on the walls. Three bodies were piled in a heap, all run through the middle with the sword king Myungsoo was holding a while ago. Their faces were turned up to the sky and their eyes were unseeing. Sungjong’s mouth dropped in horror.

“But I can’t kill you,” said Woohyun. He grabbed a fistful of Sungjong’s hair and turned the latter’s face close to his. “I can’t kill you or I’ll fade away myself. After a lot of pain I had to endure to get the Mirror together, I can’t let this delicious moment go.”

“W-why?” said Sungjong softly, wincing when Woohyun tightened his grip on his hair.

“Because, you impertinent little fool, the greed and lust for beauty is keeping me alive! Vanity is the cause of my being! As long as you continue to want the Mirror for yourself, I live on!”

Woohyun lifted Sungjong by the hair. His feet dangled a few inches from the ground. Then Woohyun threw him to the other side of the cave and he fell with a slight groan. He landed closely beside the pile of bloodied victims and came face-to-face with Sungyeol’s blank one.

“I… I d-don’t want it…” he muttered. He realized too late that by that statement, Woohyun could kill him for being no use.

“You don’t want it?” asked Woohyun slowly. “You don’t want the Mirror?”

Sungjong couldn’t stop his tongue. “N-no… I c-came… to keep the sh-shard away… from me and my s-sister… and t-to save… my uncle.”

“Sungjong, stop talking!” yelled Jungryeol.

“If you don’t want it, then who…?” Woohyun slowly turned to Jungryeol and a grin spread slowly across his face. “Oh, I like where this is going.”

With a wave of his hand Jungryeol’s bonds dissolved and the older man fell forward on his knees. Woohyun stretched an arm over Jungryeol and the man started twitching horribly.

“Wh-what are you d-doing?” said Sungjong. “S-stop! Stop it!” He tried to get up and found that he had twisted his ankle; it was bent in a strange angle and it hurt like a million needles were being pinned on it.

Woohyun waved another arm toward Sungjong and he was magically stuck against the wall. He waved the arm over Jungryeol and the man turned over, still twitching terribly and groaning in pain.

“Y-you… You c-can’t kill m-me…” muttered Jungryeol. The spell that overcame him made his speech halting. “Y-you’ll be k-killing y-yourself.”

“I know,” replied Woohyun with a smile that meant no good. “But I’m not one to turn down an opportunity for a game.” He slowly clenched his fist and Jungryeol yelled in pain. His body twitched more violently and it curled and twisted in various shapes.

“S-Stop! Stop it!” yelled Sungjong, thrashing against the spell that held him.

Woohyun laughed. “I do love the sound of pain and agony, don’t you?”

“S-Sungjong! The only w-way to d-defeat and s-stop this c-curse is to f-find an in-innocent and w-willing s-sacrifice!” yelled Jungryeol.

Woohyun’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his fist tighter. “None of that!”

“Wh-where am I going to—?”

Just then his mouth shut itself and he saw Woohyun’s arm aimed toward him was clenched too. Then, as if things weren’t bad enough, a clear voice rang out.

“Sungjong oppa!”

Three pairs of eyes turned towards Sungjin. She was scraped and bruised and cut in various places, showing how hard her journey was up the Mountain.

Woohyun was a little taken by surprise and he accidentally let go of Sungjong. The boy ran with full haste toward his sister and shook her by her shoulders.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “Go home! Hurry!”

“It was difficult getting up here, you know,” she snapped. “I had to see you. What’s going on? Why is uncle here? Who is tha—Oh! It’s the sorcerer, isn’t it?”

“I’m well-known to the strangest sort,” muttered Woohyun. He waved an arm and Sungjong was back on his spot on the wall.

Sungjin stood dumbly on one side, taking in everything that was in the cave, just how Sungjong did. The only difference was that she had to take in the pile of bloody corpses as well.

“Don’t hurt her!” yelled Sungjong. “Don’t hurt my sister! Let her go! Please!”

“It’s not that simple,” said Woohyun. He was staring at Sungjin with a burden over his brows. He was thinking quickly. “I can’t just kill her either.”

“Sh-she… She c-could be the s-sacrifice…” said Jungryeol, still twitching.

“Sacrifice?” asked Sungjin.

“Sacrifice?” said Sungjong. Then his face became purple with rage. “No! Never! Let her go!!” He thrashed even harder, and red marks appeared across his body where the roped would have been touching him, had there been ropes. His arms were red and some had been rubbed raw so hard that they started bleeding.

“Stop moving! You’re injuring yourself even more!” pleaded Sungjin. Tears ran down her eyes at the sight of her brother and uncle’s state. She has never seen them this helpless and enraged before, and it scared her all the more. “Wh-what do you mean by me being a ‘sacrifice’?”

Woohyun paused a long while, most probably contemplating on whether he should tell the little girl.

“D-don’t think ab-about it, S-Sungjin,” panted Jungryeol. “I’m s-sorry I b-brought it up…”

Woohyun twisted his fingers and Jungryeol flew to the wall, his face against the stone. “She deserves to know her fate.”

“Wh-what is it?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

“You know of the story of this place, don’t you, little girl? How I created the Mirror and how it was shattered and spread. But they missed telling you a part of the story; the part that completes it.”

“She doesn’t have to know!” Sungjong roared. He didn’t notice the tears escaping his eyes from desperation.

Woohyun twisted his fingers again and Sungjong’s lips started bleeding profusely.

“Oppa, please,” cried Sungjin. “He’s going to hurt you more if you keep moving and talking.”

“Listen to your sister, foolish boy,” said Woohyun with a smirk. “She has the right idea.”

Sungjong panted and his face expressed all the anger he has repressed for nine years. But as Sungjin wished, he stopped talking for the time being.

“Now, on with the story,” said Woohyun with a smile that Sungjin shivered to.