The night fell upon Seolhart, the streets now calming down and settling in for the night. Lee Su-Yun brought Luciel home with her as a guest since Su-Yun's parent were still out at work at their seafood shop, and she couldn't bear the weight of facing her parents after another let down.
Opening the large double gates, the sight of a modest one story home came into view, placed behind a large fence separating gathering area from the main lawn of the house. Lee Su-Yun made her way toward the gathering area, setting her bag down with a light exhale.
"Finally home," Su-Yun sighed, standing in front of a well in front of her then crouched down in front of her bag to open it.
Luciel watched Su-Yun closely, wondering what she was doing and watched as Su-Yun tossed her books into the well, her life long work going down the drain. "Su-Yun..."
"All my work for nothing... rejection after rejection. Stuck as a C-Rank forever living with her parents," Su-Yun said softly, taking a lighter out of her bag and sparked a flame, tossing it into the well to burn away her pained memories.
Both girls watched as the flames consumed Su-Yun's dream, her sweat and tears all becoming ash before their very eyes. Su-Yun began to break down into tears, unable to look away from the fires within the well, her heart shattering into thousands of pieces.
Luciel, though only knowing Su-Yun for a few hours, walked over to her to comfort her, wrapping her arms around Su-Yun to allow her a shoulder to cry on. Su-Yun softly cried upon Luciel, turning away from the flames while Luciel stared at the flames, the orange fires reflecting from her eyes.
After an hour of soothing Su-Yun, Luciel sat with her back alongside the well and watched as Su-Yun was finished with her third bottle of soju with an amused expression. "Su-Yun, are you sure you're alright? Consuming that much alcohol isn't that good for you."
Lee Su-Yun hummed lightly with a light spirit, gentle tapping her forehead with her palm and smiled at Luciel with a thumbs up. "Ne...jota~ Cha cha Cha..~ Mr. Kim?"
Su-Yun walked over to the container holding soju inside and opened it, humming with delight as she grabbed her fourth bottle of soju from the container. "Cha~ Mr. Kim Soju~ It's our fourth meeting already..~"
Luciel couldn't help but chuckle at Su-Yun, half of her feeling bad for Lee Su-Yun for the circumstances that brought her here but the other half relieved she's only doing such at the safety of her own home. Soon, she heard the sound of a cat nearby and turned to see an orange cat sitting atop of the fence.
Su-Yun looked at the cat as well, her eyes sparkling with recognition and she closed her bottle to set it on the ground. "Oh..! Mr. Kitty, you're here again to see me? Awh...do you see me as pathetic like everyone else..? It's alright...I know you like me.
The cat mewled at Su-Yun and began to walk away as she grew closer, startling her by jumping off the fence and toward her. Su-Yun watched as the cat jumped on the well, surprising both her and Luciel and causing Luciel to stand up.
Su-Yun gasped as the cat slipped off the edge of the well and falling into the well then quickly jumped into action with a leap to save him. "Mr. Kitty!"
"Lee Su-Yun!" Luciel gasped, covering her mouth and hurried to the well in horror.
Su-Yun reached out for the cat as she fell down the well for what seemed like eternity, her eyes sparkling as she noticed the cat glowing an ethereal light. Once she grabbed hold of it, the long fall in reality as a short tumble, Su-Yun grunting loudly as she hit her head against the other wall of the well.
"Oh—" Luciel began, covering her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. "S-Su-Yun? Are you okay?"
Su-Yun slowly rose her hand up with a thumbs up, her hand trembling in pain as her other hand clutched the top of her head. "Ne..."
Helping Su-Yun out of the well, Luciel carefully dragged Su-Yun into her house, heaving and huffing with every pull, complaining to Lee Su-Yun to use her legs to wall herself. Lee Su-Yun whined about her head, patting her head and leaning on Luciel for support.
Ten minutes of struggle passed and Luciel finally got Su-Yun into her bed with a loud huff before falling on the floor beside her bed. She heard the sounds of Su-Yun's soft snores, letting out a relieved sigh and leaned her head against the mattress.
"Lee Su-Yun, we're home!" An older woman called out as she entered the house, toting in bags of groceries and supplies for dinner.
Luciel and Su-Yun heard the sound of Su-Yun's parents walking inside, Su-Yun yelping and leaping out of her bed to the bedroom door to shut it closed and lock it. Luciel quickly stood up, panicking alongside Su-Yun on what to do.
"Su-Yun? Are you okay?" Su-Yun's father asked, hearing his daughter's door slam closed and began walking toward the door.
"Yeah, I'm alright! A wind blast just hit my room!" Su-Yun blurted, smacking her forehead and cursing herself for her poor choice of words.
Luciel smacked her forehead as well, shaking it then looked around for an escape from Su-Yun's room. "That was the best you could come up with..?"
"Hey, I'm panicking along with you..! Aishh..! I didn't know they would be home this early..!" Su-Yun stressed through her teeth, searching for a way for Luciel to escape as well then looked at her sliding window. "There..!"
"Su-Yun? Is everything okay in there?" Su-Yun's father asked, knocking on the door gently to check up on her.
"Yeah! Don't come in! I'm... changing clothes! I'm really sweaty right now!" Su-Yun answered, gesturing for Luciel to leave through the window.
Luciel nodded and hurried to the window, sliding it open and slipping out of the home then began booking it down the street. She made a sharp left, hurrying down the street and huffed heavily with quick steps.
Su-Yun unlocked the door and opened it quickly, meeting her father face to face with an awkward grin. "Appa, welcome home...hehe.."
Mr. Lee stared at Su-Yun with confusion and looked around her room, humming softly at how messy her bed was and seeing a few items scattered across her floor. "Looks like a wind blast did hit here. We're you practicing again? Did you Stigmata evolve?"
"If it did, I would have a job by now...I was rejected again and now I don't know what else to do," Su-Yun sighed, holding her arms and looking up at her dad with dejected eyes.
Mr. Lee placed his hand upon Su-Yun's shoulder with a reassuring smile and met her sorrowful gaze. "If you didn't get accepted at Manaport, how about you find a job elsewhere in Grushia or go to Bulan? There are many opportunities for you, but you have to have faith in God because His timing has never failed before."
"Yeah, I hear you, Appa...I just wish they didn't look down on me so much. It's because of my Stigmata and it's only rated 1 Star. Ever since Princess Athena and Prince Zephyr came into power, things have been trash! I'm 28 now and still living with you," Su-Yun pouted, lowering her gaze.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way! As long as you get married to someone who loves you, you can stay in here for however long you want!" Mrs. Lee called out from the living room, overhearing the conversation with her enhanced hearing while peeling potatoes.
Mr. Lee looked back at his wife then back at Su-Yun, chuckling lightly and agreeing with her. He gave her a soft pat on her shoulder before leaving Su-Yun to take time to herself. Su-Yun thought about their words and rose her head, her gaze shifting to the window behind her were Luciel left.
---------------------
Luciel panted softly as she stopped at a local shop hidden at the end of an alleyway, glancing around to gather her surroundings only to find the shop was the only store that was open. She glanced at the sign at the top of the antique looking store, noticing it read Aetherpoint.
She walked toward the entrance, the bell at the top of the door ringing as she pushed open the door. Inside the store were shelves filled to the brim with orbs of Aether, each one glowing a different brightness, some shining brightly and others shining dimly.
"What brings you to my store?" The shop owner asked, the older man sitting at the desk looking at Luciel with a discerning gaze.
Luciel looked at the man at the desk, noticing him wearing sunglasses indoors and staring at her intensely. She took another careful glance around the shop, looking at each orb with careful inspection, noticing each one was carefully placed in a small decorative container.
"What is this place?" Luciel asked curiously, turning her attention back to the man at the desk.
He adjusted his sunglasses and exhaled softly, glancing around at his merchandise as well and looked back at Luciel. "Aetherpoint. It is a shop connected to Manaport, a shop that holds Stigmata."
"Stigmata? All of these are Vows?" Luciel asked, looking at one container and noticing the tag read: Natural Vow of Edenia.
"Yes, each one is a Vow or Spirit of previous Valkyrias and Heroes. These Vows are like life forces, if these are destroyed then the Spirit is also destroyed from the physical and inaccessible," The man answered, adjusting his glasses and keeping his eye upon Luciel. "Is there something you're specifically looking for?"
Luciel thought about the Stigmata on Lee Su-Yun's back and continued to stare at the various Stigmata in front of her. "There's a Stigmata I'm looking for. It looks like a cat, an orange one, and they give you cat like powers."
"Ahh, the Vow of Night and Day. That is a rather rare Vow and only shows up in the form of a cat known as Sa Nu Rim, a legendary Valkyria in her time," The man explained, looking down at his book of Stigmata and flipping through the pages. "I believe coming into contact with the cat will activate some kind of Shifting Ability to where the wielder will literally become Sa Nu Rim."
Luciel froze into place, her mind immediately tracing back to Su-Yun's encounter with the cat and gasped, covering her mouth and looking over at the man at the counter. "Oh no..! Mister, my friend came into contact with Sa Nu Rim!"
The man rose a brow and looked up at Luciel, lowering his sunglasses and standing up. "What? She did what?"
"Ahh geez...she was really drunk earlier and this cat jumped on the fence and then slipped into the well and she kinda just swooped into action y'know...oh! And then there was this bright light and suddenly it's only my friend," Luciel explained with gestures, pulling her hand back to not accidentally knock something over.
"If Sa Nu Rim is already gone, that means she already chose your friend as her vessel. Sa Nu Rim isn't particularly a bad Stigmata, but she is very active during the day...and very ANTI Manaport. She will certainly have the entire ACU on her tail if she isn't careful," The man explained, looking at Luciel sternly.
Luciel grunted heavily and hurried out of the shop in a hurry to get back to Su-Yun's house while spam calling her as much as she could. As she rushed out the door, she caught sight of a young girl heading toward the shop and noticed a Stigmata on the back of her neck and stopped running with a slide.
"What the— A girl that young has one too..?! What the heck is this city..?!" Luciel exclaimed with exasperation, looking at her phone as she heard Su-Yun's tired voice. "I'm sorry to call you like this, but can we—"
"Hello? Su-Yun?" Luciel asked, hearing Su-Yun's snoring on the other line and groaned softly to herself. "C'mon..."
The night began to pass by peacefully, the moon lowering so the sun could rise above the horizons. The city of Grushia began to wake for their morning activities, the citizens of Grushia going out for morning jogs and walks alike, the community gathering for their every day service for one another.
Lee Su-Yun groaned softly underneath her covers, confused on why she felt tighter and lighter, her once long black hair becoming a gracefully long platinum color. She slowly moved the covers from over her body, sitting up on her bed and stretching with a soft grunt.
"Man...why am I so tired..? Did I passout last night?" Su-Yun questioned to herself, looking down at her bed to see her phone next to her with 30 missed calls from Luciel. "Mwo..? 30 missed calls? Did she get in danger?"
Su-Yun sighed softly and grabbed her phone, walking out of her room and toward the living room and greetings her parents good morning. The couple did the same, their attentions drawn to the TV in front of them as they ate sliced apples on the couch.
"Whatcha watching?" Su-Yun asked, slipping in between them with a pillow on her lap.
"It's a show from United Korea called Ace Detective Kim Sol-Bae. It's really good," Mrs. Lee said with enthusiasm, enjoying the show with a smile on her face.
"Aah.." Su-Yun nodded, reaching over to Mr. Lee's plate of apples.
Mr. Lee glanced down at Su-Yun's hand then at her, jolting backwards with a yell, the plate of apples flying on the floor. "Who are you?!"
"Huh? I'm your daughter, Lee Su-Yun! Did you forget?" Su-Yun answered with confusion then turned toward her mother, noticing her jolting back as well. "Eomma! You too? Is this some prank?"
"Honey! Who is this woman? How did she get into our house?!" Mrs. Lee yelled, hitting Su-Yun with a pillow to get her off the couch.
"H-Hey!! Mama, stop it! I am Su-Yun! I was born on August 19, 2X67, I have a birthmark on the top of my head, and you frequently go playing bingo with Mrs. Bong at Bulan on the weekends!" Su-Yun cried out, slipping past her mother's next swing and standing behind the couch with confusion and fear.
"You steal my daughter's name and stalk my life?! What did you do to my child?! Answer now or I will make sure this will be the last house you ever break in!" Mrs. Lee threatened, her Stigmata upon her back activating and blue lightning began to crackle around her body.
Knowing there was no convincing the couple that she was their daughter, she did the one thing she knew how to do. She ran quickly out of the house in a hurry with Mr and Mrs. Lee chasing after her, screaming for their neighbors to stop Su-Yun.
Su-Yun quickly ran down the street with confused neighbors watching her run off, some of them calling the Grushian Police to come deal with the situation. Quickly thinking, she slipped down an alleyway and looked down at her phone to call Luciel.
"C'mon... c'mon...please pick up..! What is going on? My parents are going ballistic all of a sudden..." Su-Yun said, continuing down the alleyway before coming to a stop and seeing her reflection upon broken glass shards on a wall.
She gasped as she noticed her new appearance, her eyes which were once a light brown now a feline green and yellow with star pupils. She let out a panicked gasped, stumbling backwards with her back against the wall in deep confusion about what was going on.
--------------------
On the other side of Seolhart at Bulan, the city was equally as active with cars bustling to and from the city and shops opening to begin their shifts for the day. I stood outside against the wall of a convenience store with my phone in hand, texting Luciel while taking a bite of a burger.
〘Luciel: Things are really turning up on the first day on my end... _(_^_)_〙
〘Luciel: There's this corporation named Manaport and they don't sound like good guys at all. Oh, and thess things called Stigmatas, I did some research and these "Vows" are connected to Hisumi from The Chronicles!〙
〘Me: Manaport and Stigmata huh? I believe I saw one on the Bong Clan yesterday as well, but I didn't get too close of a look.〙
〘Luciel: You definitely should...it might be what could help you find out what the Bong Family's curse is.〙
〘Me: I'll keep you updated if I find anything out.〙
"Stigmata...I haven't heard of those since Hisumi's Age. They are Heavenly and Cursed Vows that grant the host a specific ability or boosts. They are like Materia," Sephora explained, hissing softly as she looked away from my phone and up at me.
"Luciel said they were connected to Hisumi, so that means whoever runs Manaport has to be a part of the Tribes of Eyica. A Descendant of Hisumi Yuta Nomura... meaning the Bong Clan's enemy isn't of Korean descent," I said, slipping my phone in my pocket and crumbling my empty wrapper into a ball.
"Percisely... Since Hisumi was of Japanese descent, their enemy is more than likely at the Cancer Kingdom of St. Goken. However, before you can fix that issue, we have to focus on the one now," Sephora said, uncoiling herself from my body and taking human form once again.
"I am aware of that," I replied, looking ahead and taking a glance and the sky with my arms crossed. "It would be easy to plan something, but I don't have a way of communicating with the Bong Clan at the moment."
"You could always go to Baekjin Sauna. I'm sure Do-hari works there also if her sister does," Sephora said, looking over at me and keeping her hands held in front of her.
I shrugged my shoulders as it was worth the shot, pushing myself off the wall and tossing my wrapper in the recycling bin before heading off to the sauna. I flagged down a taxi, Sephora and I getting inside and requesting to be dropped off at the sauna.
The taxi drove off at our request and began making the route to Baekjin Sauna. The scenery sped by us while we rode down the busy streets, my heart growing faster at the thought of seeing Do-hari again for a chance to help her and her family.
Soon, the taxi made it to the large building sitting between a gym and a smoothie shop, parking in front of the sauna and letting us out. After paying the taxi driver, Sephora and I made our way toward the front door and walked inside.
As per the sauna rules, I grabbed sauna clothes and a towel to go change into while Sephora waited outside the changing room since no one other than I could see her. Exiting the changing room, I began making my way down the stairs to the main area.
Do-hari let out a soft sigh as she came out of a sauna room, wiping her hair with a towel and grabbing her bottled water off a bench. "Imo, I heard I had a visitor?"
Ms. Baek, who was leaning over the bar counter, pointed over at me with an amused expression. "Seems you've attracted some attention again."
Do-hari glanced over at me, her heart nearly stopping and she let out a panicked yell, dropping her items then ran off quickly. Dong-hee and Gloria glanced at each other then at me, the two of them confused on what was going on.
"Hey! What did you do to my sister yesterday?!" Dong-hee barked with protectiveness, raising up from her seat and marched over toward me and pressing her finger against my chest. "I shoulda known you were trouble the moment John brought you..! Are you with them..? Spying on us? Do you work for the Japanese in the Cancer Kingdom?!"
I cleared my throat lightly and stared at Dong-hee, gently taking her finger off my chest and lowered her hand. "Firstly, I'm Exzodian and Eyican, nothing close to asian descent. I would be more close with mesopotamian people than anything else."
Dong-hee grunted softly and scoffed, taking a step back and held her arms under her chest, looking away from me with a pout. "Hmph, so you don't work for them...that still doesn't explain what you did to my sister!"
"You two were following me nearly the entire day from meeting Do-hari until our separation. You come to a conclusion on what I could have possibly done to her," I said, crossing my arms and tilting my head with a raised brow and a hint of sass in my tone.
Dong-hee's face shot as red as a tomato, a guilty tone rumbling in her throat then she huffed loudly at me, pointing her finger at me. "Hey! I don't know how you know that, but I refuse to have this spun back on me!"
"What? I didn't spin anything. Besides, you've seen the news about me so you should know I have eyes literally everywhere," I said, holding my hand out and making one of my Sovereign Butterflies visible to the human eye.
Gloria stared at the butterfly then stood up quickly from her seat as well, gasping and pointing at the butterfly. "Bong Don't Eat! I told you I saw a silver butterfly and you said I was lying! You said 'Silver Monarchs don't exist dumbass!' now look!"
"I clearly see the evidence, Swindler! Imo, get your daughter!" Dong-hee whined, looking over at Ms. Baek while pointing at Gloria.
"Hey, don't involve me in your little drama. New lover, old tales. If he wants to get close to you all, put him to work or something. I'm going to work. These customers won't massage themselves," Ms. Baek said casually, grabbing her towel from a stool and walked off.
"Hey! Imo! Aunty! I know you hear me! Aishh, why don't you scam the next customer while you're at it," Dong-hee scoffed, sucking her teeth and looking away from her aunt.
"That's what I'm doing right now," Ms. Baek replied sarcastically, leaving the sauna area to the massage area of the building.
My gaze shifted between Ms. Baek and the two girls, the words of Ms. Baek echoing in my head about getting close to her nieces. Knowing another set of Odd Gigs would arise, a sense of dread fell over me, a soft sigh leaving my mouth as I knew I was in the season of Long-Suffering, Yuvah's game of Patience.