And they fell…

The three boys kept falling deeper and deeper into a seemingly endless abyss. They tried screaming but no sound came out of their throats, but they still managed to maintain their grip on their loved ones. Finally, they landed on the cold, hard stone floor of the meeting room. Opening their eyes, they saw that Sooyoung, Jessica and Sunny were all safe and sound. Delighted they hugged them tightly, with Jo Kwon hugging their umma, Sungmin hugging Sunny and Onew hugging Jessica.

Taeyeon and Tiffany who were seething with jealously decided to let this matter slide for the boys had saved their partners after all. Instead they turned their attention to the hooded figures that were patiently waiting for everyone to quieten down and listen to them.

Once everyone’s attention was back on the hooded trio, Y stood up and said: “The rescue mission was a success… Barely… By a second. Well that was just an appetizer for more challenging trials to come! Till the next trial, ciao~” And with that, the hooded figures vanished into thin air.

As they disappeared, Z’s voice could be heard: “A blissful illusion for eternity or the tragic reality… Which would you choose?”

“Looks like the next trial might involve illusions. I guess I’ll be in charge of the next training session.” Seohyun stated and looked to Sooyoung for approval. Sooyoung showed her a thumb up and winked before disappearing into the shadows with Hyoyeon. Tiffany smiled and wished the boys good luck before engulfing Jessica and herself with pink flames, teleporting back to their room.

Following, Taeyeon warped away with Sunny, leaving Seohyun with her weapons and Sooyoung’s three children. “You three have fun! Seohyun is a very strict teacher, so we’re sure the three of you will be crying for your umma by the end of the session!” Yuri and Yoona both teased the three boys before they ran away so as not to get lectured by their little sister for making fun of her.

“Don’t listen to those two. I’m a very nice person!” Seohyun told the boys as she smiled sweetly. Something about that perfectly innocently sweet smile sent shivers down the boys’ spines. For a second, they wondered if Seohyun was actually the physical manifestation of pure evil itself.

“D-Do you mind us taking a b-break first?” Sungmin stuttered nervously.

“Sure, of course! The three of you definitely deserve a rest after what you’ve gone through. Meet me in the training room in three hours! Earlier is fine but no later… Or else…” Seohyun cheerfully instructed. The three boys bowed to the Goddess of Sleep, thanked her for her kindness and went off.

Seohyun giggled after seeing the boys’ reaction and she thought to herself: “It’s fun scaring people once in a while~ But I’m a really nice person… I think…” Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to walk slowly to the training room while thinking back of her past…

Three hundred and seventeen years ago…

Five years old. That was when Seohyun’s earliest memory occurred, so she had no idea what her parent’s looked like in person. She also never saw her cousin, Sooyoung, so she grew up only knowing her unnis, Yuri and Yoona. Seohyun was a child prodigy; she started reading books at a very early age and the books she read were meant for people way above her age. Needless to say, her first memory was that of a library, a place she would spend many of her days at.

Not only that, she was extremely skilled at sword fighting and some rumours said that she could fight while asleep. Just like that, she grew up a very knowledgeable girl who was sweet and innocent, but could turn almost demonic when angered. Some say it was due to the absence of her parents that caused this split personality; others say it was due to fighting in the arena from young.

 In any case, Seohyun and her unnis only went down to the arena to fight and earn money, only when they needed to. They did not like the thought of killing for money, but they figured that those people who went for arena fights probably were not decent characters.

The arena was also where Seohyun met Yonghwa. He was her opponent and as usual it was a fight to the death. The arena had a special rule that if a fight lasted more than five minutes, the referee would declare both parties to have lost and the guards would kill the fighters. The guards were very strong and their weapons were very powerful. No one ever fought against the guards and won before, at least not before Seohyun and Yonghwa did…

That fight was the only fight that Seohyun had to take more than five seconds to end and it lasted more than five minutes. As per the rules, the guards stepped forward to end the lives of Seohyun and Yonghwa and that was when they experienced the difference between a very strong person wielding a very powerful weapon and an extremely strong person wielding an extremely powerful weapon. They stood no chance at all and within a blink of an eye, all ten guards laid dead at the feet of the two fighters.

The two fighters then turned to each other and sparks flew between them. “Let’s finish this and go grab a bite.” Yonghwa suggested.

“Loser pays.” Seohyun replied, her lips curling up into an evil smirk.

“It’s a date then. Hope you brought your wallet!” Yonghwa teased as he lunged forward.

Not getting caught off guard, Seohyun dodged the attack and launched her counterattack. The fight went on for another ten minutes before Seohyun managed to outmanoeuvre Yonghwa and knock Yonghwa unconscious with a hard hit to the back of his head using the pommel of her sword.

When Yonghwa woke up, he saw what he thought was the most angelic face staring back at him and for a moment he thought he had gone to heaven. He was still admiring the beautiful face when four other faces butted in, two of them showed concern while the other two seemed to be trying hard not to laugh. It was then, he realised that he was still alive and he became aware of a throbbing pain at the back of his head as well.

“Let’s go to the most expensive restaurant! Since you’re paying!” Seohyun exclaimed cheerfully as she dragged Yonghwa to his feet. Yonghwa groaned in pain, partially due to his head hurting and partially due to the fact that he was going to be bankrupted. By then, Yuri and Yoona could not hold in their laughter and burst out laughing; earning glares from Yonghwa and his worried weapon partners.

In the end, Yonghwa and Seohyun went on their first date, while their weapons went off to do whatever they wanted. That was when Seohyun was thirteen and for the next three years, she felt that she was the most blessed girl on earth. Ignoring the fact that her parents had disappeared off without a word when she was two, she had two unnis who spoilt her and an awesome boyfriend who obeyed her every command, what more could she ask for?

Then that fateful day occurred… It started as any other day where Seohyun would happily drag her unwilling boyfriend to the library for a date. Usually, he would grumble and try to persuade Seohyun to go somewhere else; eventually giving in at the end once Seohyun uses her aegyo on him. On that fateful day, he claimed that he was fed up with having to give in to her all the time. Seohyun was completely shocked and could only watch as Yonghwa walked out of her life.

That was when she began to think of sweet potatoes not only as her favourite food, but as her friends as well. That was also when she started to get an irresistible urge to kill any guy she saw. Yonghwa leaving her was the final straw and in addition to her apparent split personality, she also developed bipolar disorder.

Sometimes she would be happily skipping down the beach, cuddling a sweet potato, other times she would lock herself up in the room and cry her heart out. No one knew what to expect when they met her, since she had two different personalities, either sweet and innocent or evil and sadistic, as well as two moods, happy or downright depressed.

When she was happy and sweet, where she would go around helping anyone in need, spreading joy to everyone she met. When she was happy but evil, she would go around playing pranks on others and laughed at those who fell for the pranks. When she was depressed but sweet, she would usually stayed locked in her room crying.

The scariest thing was when she was depressed and evil, as she would go around picking fights with random guys and claim that all guys were no good and should have painful and miserable deaths. Many of these guys were armed with dual weapons and even against an unarmed Seohyun. Some barely survived, thanks to her unnis appearing just in time or when Seohyun’s mood or personality changed. Others were not so lucky…

This all changed when Seohyun, together with Yuri and Yoona, joined the Vanguard of Death and when she met Yonghwa again, who finally explained the truth behind his abrupt departure. She still had her split personality occur once in a while, but her bipolar disorder was gone after Yonghwa returned to her.

Her happiest memory was the day they got married, right after she had died and became the Goddess of Sleep. She also relished in delight when she recalled how she punished her parents for falling asleep for twenty years. And for the next three hundred years, it was bliss for the YongSeo couple. Not much happened during that period, except for Hyoyeon’s marriage, until the three hooded figures appeared…

Back to the present…

“Okayyy…Maybe I’m evil sometimes…Ah well…Hey look I’m at the training room already. And it’s been three hours…Where are those three boys? They’re sooo dead when they get here!”Seohyun thought, as she waited for Sooyoung’s children.

Right at that precise moment, the lights went out and the three boys walked out of their hiding place, holding a sweet potato flavoured birthday cake complete with lit candles. Together they shouted: “Happy 322^nd Birthday Aunt Seohyun!!!”

And then the ground rumbled slightly…