My name means glass, but that doesn’t mean I’m transparent. Nevertheless, in order to create glass, you need sand and heat. Each piece of glass shines in the right light and glows in the dark from even the smallest spark. That is what I am - I am Yuri, the Red Mistress, saved from the desert’s embrace by two adventurers. That is an overstatement as I could have left any day, but my family duty prevented me. Even after willingly sacrificing my future, they weren’t spared. I could say that I detest humanity. I hate anything related to this monstrous species which only destroys and takes everything away from the less fortunate, but I am one of them and I have to protect it.

All that anger helped me survive in the harem. My mother told me as a child that I am special and that I should never forget that. I carried her words with me daily and when my hands turned red in the pitch dark night, I knew she was right. I spent most of my childhood and teenage years fighting to earn a status among the women. They named me the Red Mistress because of my clothes and make-up, a constant reminder of the blood I’d shed if anybody dared go against me. It was a constant battle and there was nothing that could appease me more than the thought that my parents, my little sister and my toothless baby brother were doing fine with the stuff I sent them.

When I found someone that was like me... actually, when Jung Min found me, I knew I could get away from everything and finally give my family a chance for a better life. With powers like those, couldn’t we control the world together? So many other strong creatures could be tamed if we held hands and let a white burst of energy strangle them to our command. If only my family had been alive to see me. We came too late; much late. Their graves were the sand dunes on which I fell and screamed for everybody to hear me – I will obliterate them.

Let them ride in the underworld if that’s their creed, but not on my spine.

Should I thank Jung Min that he stopped me back then? His love for life was present in the way he joined dancers in the market and jumped alongside the rhythm and the woman shaking her hips. Hyung-soo was just as idiotic, drumming on his knees and whistling with the crowd. I felt nothing of their joy.

But the way Jung Min smiled, the way his laughter filled our surroundings and the way he pulled me inside the dance without a warning - the way he tried to cheer me up, it was more than I needed.

---

“Unusual activity?” Jessica nodded and spread a map over the table. She had circled a few areas around the mountain that had weird occurrences. One of that related to snakes taking new territories, unusual for that time of the year. It was too cold for them. The blonde added one more circle to the bunch. After a brief reading, it was obvious that unusual activity happened nearby. “I’ll go investigate.”

Jessica grabbed my hand and pleaded with her eyes not to go. It was too dangerous to check it alone, especially after that snake’s illusions almost took my daughter’s life. A smile assured Jessica there was nothing wrong with a quick field trip. She let go and accepted my decision.

Fed, dressed with warmer clothes and a heavy heart, I headed with the map in my head to that location. I wondered how the kids were doing. When I first visited the world in Between, I barely came back with my last bits of sanity. It is a labyrinth that only a skilled person or madman can survive. As a ghost, it mustn’t look special.

The ruins of a once prestigious hotel welcomed me. I remembered Daesung saying something about a halcyon in the mountains, but I thought he meant the bird with a long beak. I dislike the legend behind its name. A weak woman suffering from the loss of her husband throws herself in the sea. Another pathetic example of how women shouldn’t be portrayed.

There was nothing out of the ordinary inside. A collapsed chandelier silently mourned its passing in the middle.

“You...”

I turned in time to dodge an attack. My arm flashed red for a second as it sent back the sharp feathers. Something that resembled a reaper forced its stench upon me. He was the weakest I had ever seen and felt, barely standing on his feet with his face soaked in black make-up and bloody eyes trembling at the sight of my power.

“What... are... you?” he agonizingly spoke.

I should make him a favor and end his misery.

“It’s time to go,” I snapped my fingers and fire erupted over my arm. It never hurt me, nor could I feel its warmth. “You are disturbing this area.”

“Pries... tess...” he showed me his fangs and chuckled before becoming a mess of coughs. He collapsed on the floor and held onto his neck. “We are... doomed...” he chuckled and coughed some more as I came closer and kneeled before him. I lifted his chin and watched him stare at the ceiling. “Death... no longer needs us... army coming...”

There was something really wrong in the way he acted. Those ruby eyes were stained with black ink, something I had only seen once at Jung Min.

“What’s happening?”

“Virus...” he spitted out. I let go of his chin. The reaper’s head fell backwards as he shouted “HE WANTS US ALL DEAD!”

“Me too,” my fingers went over his throat “sleep tight.”

A swishing sound interrupted us. I pushed my body aside in time, but the blast hit the reaper before my eyes. He didn’t go in flames like I was used to. His skin cracked and from every hole, white smoke filled the ruins in a dense mist. I covered my mouth and nose with my sleeve. It had a repulsive odor.

Who fired that?  

Late, late, sooo late ;;____________;; ...hello hello, moshi moshi, ciao ciao, baby baby TuT