A warning: to the prophet, the liar, the honest; this is war.

Later that night, Jungsoo came to talk with Traveller. Their conversation went much the same way as her previous conversation with Hyukjae went. Even though it was the middle of the night, Jungsoo interrogated her until the sun rose.

Jungsoo rubbed his eyes wearily. “I know you’re lying to me about some things, Traveller. And I sense you’re not telling the whole truth about other things.”

Traveller yawned. “I’m sensing a but,” she said.

Jungsoo nodded. “But I’m a good judge of character. In fact, I’m an excellent judge of character. And when you told me your reasons for fighting…it didn’t seem like you were lying. I’m still wary of you…but I’ll let you in.”

Traveller nodded her thanks. "May I ask a question, Jungsoo-ssi?" Traveller asked. Jungsoo nodded, apprehensive of what she would ask. "This Resistance...what have you done so far?" An easy question. Anyone could find the answer to this, so Jungsoo couldn't a problem in telling her. "We ambushed fourteen Imposers in total, gave a Third Regiment lieutenant a few broken bones. We set fire to a University in Inner Seoul and dumped a cargo of food heading for the Palace in the river. We killed the Fourth Regiment's Captain," Jungsoo prattled off proudly. "Why?" was the second question. Jungsoo frowned. "I thought you said you were on our side! Why are you questioning me?" he demanded. Traveller shook her head. “I am on your side. Let me rephrase the question. What do you want to achieve?”

Jungsoo sighed. He rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine coming on. “I want to get rid of taxes. That’s unlikely so if we could reduce them, that would be great. I want the Queen to set up healthcare and education systems in Outer Seoul. I want the conditions in Outer Seoul East to be improved. She won’t listen to any of us. So, I’m hoping that if we keep up this guerrilla warfare thing long enough, she’ll agree to negotiate.”

Traveller nodded. “Do you think She will negotiate?” she asked.

Jungsoo shook his head sadly. “No. I don’t think she’ll ever change a thing.”

“So the only way to change things is if you get a new ruler?”

Jungsoo studied Traveller. “Yes,” he said carefully. “But the most we can do is hope she has a heart attack. She’ll never step down willingly. Half of Inner Seoul loves her because she gives them high status. The other half would prefer someone new but are intimidated, so she won’t be overthrown.” Jungsoo slouched in his chair. It was times like these when his task, when his mission seemed impossible. It was too much; he would never be able to do it. He felt as if the whole world rested on his shoulders.

Traveller wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. “Why don’t you overthrow her?” she asked.

Jungsoo laughed bitterly. “Me. Yeah, right.” He blew out through his mouth. “Millions live in Outer Seoul, most haven’t heard any of a Resistance. Others know about us and wish for us to succeed. But we only have about two hundred fighting with us. People wish us luck but are too cowardly to put their own lives on the line. There’s no way I would be able to storm a well-defended – nigh impregnable!  - palace with two hundred untrained, undisciplined make shift soldiers, not when a few thousand top standard, fully armed men are attacking us.”

Traveller chewed her lip. “Don’t bring in two hundred then,” she said.

Jungsoo raised an eyebrow.

“Yourself. And three or four others. You use the catacombs to get around right?”

“How did you know tha-”

“You and four others, sneak into the catacombs. Hopefully one ends near the palace. Four of you sneak in – you may not be able to do it with a few hundred, but with a few of you, who knows?”

“And then what? We shake hands with the Queen?”

Traveller took in a shaky breath. “I guess you’d have to kill her.” Her voice cracked slightly.

Jungsoo shook his head, but paused. The cogs in his brain had begun to work. “If…if we could get in. If we could get past her guards, I’m sure we could do it! And if we got her puppet, Kim Heechul, that’d be good. Once those two are dead, those of Inner Seoul who want change will come to our side. Then the rest would have no choice!”

Jungsoo took a deep breath. “I never thought of the possibility of that happening. It’s a good idea in theory, but it’s very risky. A suicide mission.”

Traveller cast her eyes down. “Sometimes to achieve a happy ending you have to take risks and make sacrifices,” she muttered.

Jungsoo nodded. “I’ll…I’ll think about it,” he said, standing up. “I should probably be going.”

“Jungsoo-ssi? I have some more questions. Just two small ones.”

Jungsoo internally groaned. “What?” he asked, leaning against the door frame.

“Do you know what she looks like? The Queen, I mean.”

Jungsoo shook his head. “No one does. They say she’s spent so much time in the Hall, she hates people seeing her own face. But, if it came to it, she wouldn’t be difficult to find.”

“The Hall?”

“The Hall of Mirrors is this crazy hall in the palace. You can hear nothing in there, and surrounded by your reflections you begin to hallucinate. Some go insane after entering. It’s one of the most feared things in this city.”

Traveller nodded, processing this information. “Okay. Jungsoo, do you know the Queen’s first name?”

Jungsoo hesitated. “I do, everyone does. But we don’t use it. Not here or in Inner Seoul. It’s like…it’s like a curse.” 

“Could you tell me Her name? Please?”

Jungsoo’s eyes narrowed. “Where are you from? If you don’t know her name you’re obviously not from here.”

“Jungsoo-ssi. Please, just tell me.” A strange urgency was present in Traveller’s voice.

Jungsoo sighed. “I don’t see why this is so important but fine. If you’re plagued with bad luck, don’t come crying to me! Her name is Kim. Kim Hyoyeon.” Jungsoo shuddered.

Traveller shivered slightly ad hung her head. “Thank you, Jungsoo-ssi. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Her voice sounded thin and strained. Frowning, Jungsoo called out. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Goodbye.”

***

The crowds gathered in the massive square.

Thousands watched silently as the Imposer’s pushed them back.

Kim Heechul walked onto the rostrum with his cool confidence. A microphone (a rarity, these days) was given to him by one of the Imposers. Taking it, he studied the crowds. They were dirty and poor. Many were much too skinny. Yet they glared at him with fierce hatred in their eyes. Their spirit wasn’t broken – yet.

Heechul spoke into the microphone.

“I’m sure there are many of you who heard about the brutal murder of Captain Kim of the Fourth Regiment.” His voice carried through the other-wise silent square.

“We want the people who did it. And we will get the people who did it. Oh yes, we are not idiots. We know about this Resistance you all are putting your faith in.” Heechul smiled. “Like the others, we will crush this Resistance and anyone who tries to stop us will be left to rot on the gallows. Come forward now and give us the information we need to finish this nasty business, and you will be rewarded. With hold this information and you will all be punished.”

His threat hung in the afternoon heat.

Nobody came forward.

Heechul shrugged his shoulders dramatically, so everyone in the square could see his indifference.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I gave you a choice.” He nodded to one of the Imposers who carried a rare and lethal weapon – a machine gun.

The Imposer raised the gun and opened fire on the crowd gathered. The silence turned into screams.

***

A short while later, Heechul was being escorted on horseback by his personal guards to the castle. Nothing but threats and howls had followed them.

Seven or eight dead, the Imposer had reckoned. With more injured. Heechul nodded to himself. It wasn’t a subtle way of getting information (and Heechul was all about subtleties) but it should serve his purpose.

“Hey! Wait!” a male voice (closer than the noise of the crowd) called. Heechul didn’t even look back. “Shoot whoever is following,” he ordered the Imposer beside him.

“I have information!” the voice cried. Heechul pulled the reins of his mare, and turned his head around.

A young man stood behind them, his body peppered with circular scars. He signalled to the Imposers to hold. “Ah! Glad to see someone has a little sense!” Heechul said.

The man shook his head. “I don’t care about them,” he said, gesturing to the square. “Kill them all, as if I care. But I do want to give you information.”

Heechul frowned. “Why?”

The man took a few steps forward. He walked with a limp. “Let’s say I’m taking control of my own future. I have information. But it will come with a price.”

Heechul blew out angrily. “Whatever. We can discuss prices later. How do I know you’re not lying?”

The man smiled. “I’ll give you a…taster of my information. Why don’t we start off with a name?” 

***

“Here’s your order, sir!” Yuri handed a bowl of noodles to the young Imposer in front of her with shaking hands. She tried a smile for him as her paid her.

She had witnessed the massacre in the square earlier. She was near the front, standing beside her best friend Yoona. Herself and Yoona could only scream as the teenage boy beside them splattered brains when the bullet hit him.

After the chaos, Yuri had retched up anything in her stomach. She had sobbed and gotten sick again as she was furiously scrubbing his blood off of her hands.

And then she went back to work.

She had to. Yuri barely got by, giving up a day’s work would make her fall short in paying up her taxes. She was working, but she wasn’t recovered from the shop.

The door to her noodles place opened and five Imposers stalked in. These weren’t like the normal Imposers who were consumers at her small but clean store. These had a scary glint in their eyes.

For a moment, she thought that someone might have ratted her out. Yuri swallowed the fea bubbling in her stomach. She felt like she was going to get sick again. Did they know? Did someone come forward?

“Kwon Yuri?” one asked.

Yuri plastered a nervous smile on her lips. She clasped her hands together to try and stop them from shaking. “Yeah?”

“We need you to come with us.”

***

“Sir, she’s ready to be questioned.”

Heechul gave a nod. The guard bowed and left his lavish quarters. His fingers darted to his waistcoat, where he quickly secured the last undone button.

He glanced at himself in the ornate mirror. He looked dashing. As usual.

He left his chambers, boots click-clacking on the polished floor.

The Royal Palace was practically a maze, but Heechul knew it well. He climbed a spiral staircase down under the ground.

Catacombs stretched underneath the city. Underneath the Palace was no exception. In the catacombs were the dungeons.

Underneath the catacombs was the Hall of Mirrors.

Heechul went down, shivering slightly as the temperature dropped.

He stalked along a corridor, coming to a stop when he came in front of a heavy door guarded by two Imposers. They bowed before tugging it open.

Heechul stepped in and looked at the girl tied to the chair.

An hour ago she had been beautiful. She had looked scared but defiant when Heechul saw them drag her into the Palace. Her hair and face had been clean (a rarity for those in Outer Seoul) and she held her head up high, despite being arrested.

Now she had scratches along her face and arms. These scratches weren’t made by any blade, they were inflicted by her own fingernails. Her eyes were wide and terrified. Blood oozed from some of them. They darted around the room quickly as if trying to take everything in at once. They were tearing up.  Her hair had been pulled out a little in once spot on her head. Her arms were tied behind the chair but even so she was rocking slightly. Her breathing was quick and unsteady.

This was what forty minutes in the Hall of Mirrors had done to Kwon Yuri.

Heechul smiled and took a seat in front of Yuri.

She looked fearfully at him, recognizing him from the scenario earlier. Heechul crossed his legs and placed his hands on top of his knee.

“Hello, Miss Kwon. Did you enjoy your stay in the Hall of Mirrors?”

Silence.

If sharks could grin before devouring their prey, their smiles wouldn’t look as terrifying as Heechul’s smile. “I asked a question. What happened in the Hall?”

Silence.

“I’m afraid if you don’t tell me I’m going to have to tell the gentlemen outside to put you back in there.”

Her head shot up. “It was…horrible.” Her voice was a low croak. “There were…hundreds of me. They stared at me for ages, and began to talk to me. They told me I was useless and I was worth nothing to anybody. They told me I was going to fail and die. They told me everything and everyone I cared about was going to die and it would me my fault!” The girl let out a sob.

Heechul knew that any length of time in the Hall could cause hallucinations. The Queen had once said that your worst fears were brought to life in the Hall.

He pretended to be gentle and placed a hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “Listen. I can help you, I want to help you. If you tell me where the Resistance is based, I’ll let you go. If not, they’ll throw you back in there.”

Yuri was arguing with herself. The mention of being thrown back into the Hall of Mirrors quickened her heartbeat. It was impossible to describe the panic of being in there alone. The only way one could experience it was to go in themselves.

But she couldn’t betray the Resistance. She thought of young Junhong.

“I- I can’t,” she guttered.

Heechul nodded understandingly. “Listen, Miss. We don’t want any more blood to be shed. What happened earlier was a grave mistake. We don’t want to kill the members of the Resistance. They’ll have a mild punishment and will go back to their normal lives. You will be rewarded for your bravery. No one will come to any harm, you have my word,” Heechul reassured her kindly, gently patting her shoulder. “I may not be an honourable man, but I always keep my word.

Yuri sobbed. “If…if you promise to let them go. And not to put them in the H-hall.”

Heechul nodded. “I promise.”

“The Resistance is based in a place called the Cavern. In Outer Seoul East there is a bar called Cat and Mouse. Near there is an oak tree. Beside the Oak Tree is a trapdoor which leads to a hall in the Catacombs called the Cavern. That’s the headquarters for the Resistance.”

Heechul nodded, standing pack. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his prized possession – his gun.

It was a Luger handgun. He kept it polished and fully loaded at all times, but only used it on rare occasions.

Yuri’s eyes widened. “You-you promised you’d let me go!” she shrieked, beginning to struggle against her bonds. “You gave me your word!”

Any kind act had evaporated. Heechul raised the heavy handgun and looked at Yuri with a bored expression. “What can I say?” he asked. “I’m a liar,” he said, pulling the trigger and shooting the girl once in between the eyes.