I happen to be very good at observing things – that is, in my dreams and in ghosts’ memories. In real life, I’m rather clumsy and I could very well pass as that grandma Daesung nicknamed me. I’m temperamental and I do not get along with the living as I do with those that crossed over or are stuck in between. That is why I lack the control a good priestess should have.

And that is why, as the chandelier shook violently and was heading to the ground, I knew I should no longer be treated like a princess. I was never one and never will be. So why should I always wait to be rescued when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself?

If only I could move my muscles.

The chandelier stopped midway in air as the glow that once surrounded me returned out of the blue. It’s weird how I felt at peace.

Daesung stood there and watched the chandelier hovering above him. I watched it as well and realized my index was pointing at it.

“Oh...” and that’s all I could say as I wiggled my finger and the chandelier easily moved to the side. I let my finger drop after and the chandelier dropped as well. It smashed to the ground. Daesung yelped as he came to my side.

“Grandma!!!” he screamed in my face “YOU’RE GLOWING RED. GRANDMA, ARE YOU OKAY?”

I was? Really?

Woah.

Jung Min didn’t seem as pleased when he turned around and glared.

“What did I tell you?!”

“Never to use it again,” I completed his sentence and opened my palm. The red energy created a little flame in my hand. “But this is an emergency and you’re pretty wasted.” I told him as the rogue reaper’s infuriated expression turned to terror.

“You...”

Really now, of all the words in the entire world, did he only know how to use that one?

“Yes, me,” I mumbled as I closed my hand to extinguish the fire.

“How can you do that? It’s impossible!” his voice melted into a puddle of panicked words. Why was it so special? I had done it before and I had seen Mistress Yuri do it too, so it wasn’t abnormal. Jung Min got up and leaned against me and Daesung for support.

“Impossible, smoshible~” Daesung and Jung Min gave me a weird look. “Yeah, forget I said that...” I wonder if that red glow messed with my brain. I redirected it around my arm like years and years ago. A small ball of energy formed at the end of my fingertips.

“Stop, you don’t understand!” the rogue reaper dropped the blade and prepared his wings to flee.

“Oh, I do,” the ball grew brighter “You’re an .”

A beam of light shot the rogue reaper. He burnt in flames and screamed before he vanished. I didn’t care one bit.

I felt dizzy right away. Daesung caught me before I’d fall and he helped me sit on the floor. I watched the blonde as he held my hand and pressed his thumb over my perturbing veins.

“Grandma,” he murmured “I can barely feel your heartbeat.”

“Oh, really?” I told him and wrapped both my arms around Daesung “Then make it beat faster!”

“She’s drunk,” Jung Min stated as Daesung nodded in approval.

I so was not!

---

It was morning. We were back on the train. When I mean ‘we’, I mean me with Daesung and Jung Min. Half an hour after our little charade, a flock of ravens occupied the hotel’s ruins. The reaper commando came in time to get the elderly back to their homes and make it look like they had some kind of nightmare; a very long one. They assured us that whoever was responsible for that will be punished and they gave me heads up for contributing to another successful mission.

And miraculously, they gave the blade to Jung Min, saying he had earned it. And Jung Min, being the silly reaper he is, gave it back and said he’s not ready for such a responsibility.

Man, am I his proud partner.

It was also time to tell Daesung that I see ghosts. But our conversations didn’t go as I planned. I schemed so many times a speech that would best fit Daesung’s mentality and save me some image, but all went away because of that rogue reaper. I hope he was enjoying himself wherever he was sent.

“So, I see ghosts.”

“Aha.”

“And I talk to them.”

“Aha.”

“And I help them.”

“Aha.”

“And Jung Min here is a reaper. You know, he's dead.”

“Grandma,”

“Yes?”

“I’m not stupid.”

“Eh?”

“I know everything.”

“What?”

“Stink man just told me. So you’re really a witch or something?”

And that’s how I wanted to murder Jung Min – again. Daesung was too enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. With a heavy heart, I asked one of the reapers to kindly remove some of Daesung’s memories like they had done with the elderly. It was more of a special spell that blocked them and recreated what Daesung had actually seen and heard.

That’s why, going back home, Daesung’s head was resting on my shoulder, asleep.

He’ll think it was all a dream.

Jung Min couldn’t peel his eyes off the train’s window. His wing might never recover and his arm was bandaged, but that was all for show. I knew that there was no blood, just some energy loss. It would take a couple of days for him to regain his strength. But since it was a demon blade cut, I didn’t know what would happen. He chose to travel with us because he couldn’t fly anymore.

As I closed my eyes and let the train sway me to sleep, my fingers grabbed Daesung’s hand and held it tight.

That kid almost died for me as well.

And I swore to myself that nobody would have to do that ever again.

I hoped nothing worse awaited me at the corner.

---

“Kill me,” Mistress Yuri whispered to me. The demon was faceless again, sign he was either hiding from us, trying to scare us away or in slumber. I don’t know what kind of slumber they could have and I didn’t care. The one talking to me was Mistress Yuri.

“No,” I didn’t understand her. I was sure there was a way around to get that thing off her and restore our relationship.

“Sooyoung,” she tried to move her body, but couldn’t “if you don’t kill me...” I was afraid of what I might hear “the demon will . You know what happens if I die because of a demon, don’t you?”

I did. And I didn’t like it.

“Isn’t there another way?”

Mistress Yuri smiled. It seemed to hurt her. Whatever that demon was doing, even speaking looked like an unbearable task.

“No,” she answered me. Tears were already flowing down my cheeks. “Do it. Let me die with dignity.”

“No!”

“Sooyoung...” Jung Min grabbed my attention, but it didn’t last for long.

“I said no! There has to be a way!”

“Listen carefully;” she winced in pain “A mandala... a mandala is a gate only a priestess can open. It’s a gate between the other world, this world and that of the ghosts'. It lets every creature go between worlds without consequences.”

“A mandala will let demons take over this world and the other.” Jung Min completed as he tended the fire we had lit to shield ourselves from the dark.

“Listen, Sooyoung...” I wiped my tears as more came flooding “I am a mandala. And you are too. That red glow proves it. You can harvest energy. So kill me before the demon unleashes something so terrible, it would destroy both of our worlds.”

“I can’t...”

“Sooyoung!”

“I...”

“You can and you will.”

I never met my father because he died before I was born. I almost died myself. Then Mistress Yuri took me in and later I found out my mother died too.

“I can’t!” I sobbed and pulled at my hair in despair “We will find a way to save you!”

“Do it! Burn me! Hurry up! I can’t control him anymore!”

I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

The demon’s face re his ugly grey head. “Mandaaala...” he hissed “Give me my mandala!”

I grabbed one of the burning wood.

I...

Couldn’t do it.

I just couldn’t.

“MANDALA!” the demon hissed again “Give it to me!”

I put the burning end of the wood over Mistress Yuri’s beautiful red dress. It lit right away.

She smiled one more time before she closed her eyes. The demon screamed in agony and tried to release himself from Yuri’s body. With the little control she had, my Mistress sacrificed herself to keep him there.

And I watched as they burned together. The demon screamed. My Mistress remained silent, unable to feel any pain. That's when I understood the severity and how that demon, little by little, infested my Mistress.

It was then that I decided I should never have any other human contact.

Never.

People got hurt. People died just being around me, just being part of my life.

I mourned Yuri’s death for four years until I met Jung Min again. He offered me an extension of life as long as I could continue help ghosts pass over and with other missions he’d be assigned by his superiors. Death would be too easy for me, so I accepted to continue amending my sins.

And for over six hundred years, I had done so. I never stayed more than a couple of days in one place and never built relationships.

I loathed myself too much.

And every single night after that, I prayed to Mistress Yuri, wherever she was in the other world. I prayed she gave me her strength to carry her, her strength to forgive me and to forgive myself and her advices always came back to me when I needed them more.

Nearing the day of her death’s anniversary, I decided to return to my home town where everything started.

And that’s when I met Daesung.

---

“KARAOOOOOOOKE!” the blonde yelled as he grabbed the microphone and danced in front of the screen.

I threw with popcorn at him.

“Oi! Just do it properly!”

“Yes grandmaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Jung Min chuckled.

“So he doesn’t remember a thing?”

“Na-da. He said something about having a weird dream and then asked what’s for breakfast.”

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you until I heal.”

“You can’t believe that?” I mumbled as I stuffed my face with popcorn.

Daesung had an amazing voice and huge stamina. He’d been rocking us all evening.

“Want some carrot juice?” Jung Min asked as he heavily got up from the couch.

“Nah, enjoy yourself.”

He winked and went to the kitchen. I sank deeper in the couch and couldn’t believe things ended up better than I’ve expected. I opened and closed my hand a couple of times – no glow. Nothing.

Alright, maybe I was a little thirsty.

“Oh Daesung, let’s do a duet!” I proposed before I went to the kitchen. The kid gave me thumbs up and started searching for an appropriate title. In the kitchen, I saw Jung Min staring out the window. “Something wrong?”

“Ravens...” he said and I came closer.

“Ravens?”

I looked outside.

Every single building was covered with black birds. Some morphed into their human form.

“Reapers...” Jung Min added. “A lot of them. Something big is going to happen.”

All I could think of was that Mistress Yuri’s anniversary was two days from then.

Please don't hate me ;;__;;