Chapter 14

The boy bowed continuously to the traveling group, “I am so sorry he never usually attacks people out of the blue like this, he means well.” Donghyun smiled and replied, “It's alright the main thing was that no one was hurt, but may I ask how you know this demon?” The boy straightened up, “right, I owe you a bit of an explanation. My name is Jeongmin and Hyunseong here is a half demon. I met him when I was hiking up a cliff not far from my village, it was raining that day so I slipped and hurt my ankle. Hyunseong found me and helped me recover, so I owe him a lot. My father wants to get rid of Hyunseong because he thinks it was Hyunseong who injured me. We were traveling to the capital together when he suddenly took off saying something about an evil presence and I had to sprint just to keep up with him, I'm sorry if he caused you any trouble.”

            Donghyun smiled and reassured the boy that his friend did not do any harm. Youngmin and Kwangmin were looking at each other in distraught. They both knew that Youngmin's powers of light had finally been awakened and now it was going to be hard for his light to not harm Kwangmin. The light he had before, wasn't as strong enough because it was dormant, but now it was awakened and in full power and it would be hard for Youngmin to stop Kwangmin's dark powers from taking over. “we are in trouble, aren't we.” Youngmin stated, he wasn't asking he knew this would become a problem. Donghyun looked over to the twins and said, “Are you two, alright? No injuries?” The two nodded and made their way over to the group. Donghyun looked at the boy and the half demon. Smiling he said, “My friends and I are also traveling to the capital, why don’t we travel together, I’m sure it would be better to have some comrades traveling with you.” Jeongmin smiled and nodded, “That sounds great, what do you think Hyunseong?” The half-demon sheathed his sword and tsked, “Whatever.” Jeongmin saddened, “I’m sorry about Hyunseong, he means well.” Donghyun nodded, “I’m sure he does, now then lets get a move on shall we.”

            The group continued to travel in a comfortable yet odd silence. Hyunseong was traveling next to Jeongmin his arm resting comfortably on his sword, just in case he needed it. Youngmin and Kwangmin walked side by side in silence. Youngmin was trying to figure out if his newly awakened power would harm Kwangmin, he couldn’t risk it at the same time. It was at this time that Jeongmin broke the silence, “So why are you traveling to the capital?” He wondered. Youngmin answered, “we are searching for something, and we need to get to the isle that is off the coast of the capital to start our search.” Jeongmin nodded in understanding, “What are you looking for?” He wondered. “The purification stone.”  Youngmin replied in a monotone voice. Jeongmin thought for a moment, he looked to Hyunseong wondering if he had ever heard of it. When he received a shrug from the half demon, he asked, “What is the purification stone?”

            Donghyun explained, “The purification stone is a mythical stone which is said to have the power to purify the evilest of men with a single touch. It was said that a god had once brought the stone with him in order to help a village that had been polluted with evil and when the god did his deed, he left the stone with the village as a precious artifact, but as the years went on, the stone was lost and is now a bounty treasure. It is described as a stone that is clear as a mirror, pure as the cleanest of water, and the power of many gods.” Jeongmin looked impressed almost mystified by Donghyun’s explanation. Hyunseong looked at the twins and asked, “What in the world would you two need with a stone like that?” Youngmin looked at his brother and said, “You can believe me or not, but Kwangmin and I are sons to the Sun God. When we were young, the God of the Underworld sealed my brother’s powers of light and replaced them with the powers of darkness. It is because of this that he can’t talk and why he sometimes looses control. We were raised by a human family when we were brought to earth. I was told by my father that the stone could be a way to help him, and so I promised him that I would find the stone and help him.”

            The others couldn’t decide whether to believe Youngmin or not, but Donghyun smiled and replied, “of course, I sensed your powers and-“ “What a liar.” Hyunseong said. Youngmin and Kwangmin turned to the demon as he looked at the twins a little disappointed. “Obviously you two are not telling the truth. If the stone you are seeking is so rare to find, then all you want from it is its money value.” Kwangmin’s expression soured, his hands fisted and his eyes began to darken. Hyunseong immediately stopped speaking as he watched the dark aura seep from the younger boy. Youngmin looked at the appalled demon, “How about now, do you believe me now? This is how he gets, when he looses control. It used to take only me to calm him down, but now it takes me and Donghyun to calm him down.” Donghyun turned to Kwangmin and took out a sutra, “May the darkness within you disperse.” The sutra worked immediately, releasing Kwangmin from the darkness.