Joohyun

Joohyun used to be right about everything, always, and if she wasn’t, everyone else would make it seem as if she was, anyway. No one wanted to go against the future queen. Now, Joohyun is rarely right, which proves to be true the next morning. She slept almost , which wasn’t the best idea because now, barely awake at a quarter past five in the morning, she rushes to get dressed in no time. Seulgi is ready, always on guard although she had promised not to. 

The screams woke them up, along with the gunshots after. The smoke is thick outside. It makes Joohyun cough, quickly covering her nose and mouth with her sleeves. Seulgi guides her through it without letting her hand go, pushing people around. They can see the creatures from there, the same ones that took over River Pond just a few months ago. If that was what Jennie was trying to tell her, then it didn’t make sense. She doesn’t have time to dwell on how could have Jennie known about an attack and not stop it, though, because Seulgi drags her as fast as she can towards an exit. 

She watches as the girl suffers, the darkness trying to consume her. Black veins cover her, similar to the ones she saw in Jimin, and her eyes turn completely black. It’s as if she’s watching a demon. 

They are closer to the border with Dimland than they are to The Swamp, so she figures The Front was overrun. She can only imagine that The Swamp is not doing much better. From what they heard, that part of Waterland was now a ghost land. It got to the point that it was even affecting Winterland’s border towns. The Oasis, once a thriving market, was now a ghost town too. 

Amid the attack, she sees something else, though. The human army is hidden behind the shadows, using the creatures as cover. It wouldn’t be weird in any other situation, but they don’t seem to be going after normal people. 

As she learned, most people in Waterland didn’t work on their powers, so they eventually went dormant. However, most soldiers trained for it. Depending on the power, people could be immortal or not. Seulgi, for example, was supposed to be immortal, but Joohyun knew better after Tao’s death. Seungwan was also immortal given her reshaping body, which was similar to jelly even when not actively used. There were workarounds, though, which were power blockers, but they weren’t practical in a war. 

A group of Waterland soldiers dressed in red—flames—whose whole bodies were made of fire tried to stop the attack. They were supposed to be immortal, but she’s proven otherwise. She can only watch, helpless, as Winter’s army releases a substance in the air. At the beginning, nothing happens. They cough, going back to attacking them. The Waterland army dodges each hit, keeping their distance. The flames start shining more and more, their powers increase to the point their faces are not recognized anymore. Just as quickly, they are turned into ashes in front of her eyes. 

She averts her gaze, following Seulgi as best as she can. She feels the bile rising in just as they leave The Northern Gate behind. 

➼➼➼

As expected, their plan goes to the dumpster. They run and run, Seulgi in better shape than her even with the influence of the creatures on her. It’s chaos everywhere. She doesn’t want to say it out loud, but it’s also a blessing in disguise. What was before a day and a half distance by foot due to them having to hide during the day and just move at night, was now just a few hours away. They don’t look behind, but she can see flashes of light, almost like lightning, hitting the town at her back. The noise is too much for her senses, but when it finally stops, the silence turns deafening. 

Dimland’s soldiers keep coming from the border, destroying everything in their path. Seulgi fights for her, quite literally, using a sword she found on the floor. Joohyun was trained when she was young, so she helps too, with a sloppy technique of years of disuse. They mostly dodge them, and the armies seem more preoccupied with fighting each other rather than focusing on the civilians, although that’s not the case with the creatures. 

She doesn’t know how, but luck is on their side. Hours later, they find themselves on what used to be The Front. There’s only havoc there. Piles and piles of dead bodies block their walk, and clouds of smoke fill the air with an iron smell. She realizes a little too late that she’s silently crying. A man asks for help, raising his hand in the air. She wants to reach for him, but Seulgi stops her right away. She wants to protest, but then, it clicks. They are all infected by the darkness. She can’t help them, even if she tried. 

“I’m sorry,” she mutters, letting Seulgi drag her again against her will. She’s way past crying, a full-blown panic attack making its way. “I’m so sorry.” 

It’s a scene that she’s sure will come back to haunt her, a decision that breaks the last of her resolve.

With Waterland’s army dead, Seulgi has no problem making her way past the barriers. Her soldiers recognize her, bowing briefly before continuing their way to Wasteland City and the small towns around. The Seulgi from before wouldn’t have given a second of her mind to think of the consequences, she would have thrived in their small victory, but Joohyun’s consciousness rubbed on her, and watching the soldiers in that field also affected her. 

Still, she would be lying if she said she didn’t feel quite happy about the overall outcome, minus the deaths. She feels guilty about the innocents, but at the same time, she recognizes the positive impact Winter and Jimin’s agreement brought to the other side of Dimland, back at the Sproutland border. She tells that to herself, trying to convince herself that some lives are more important than others. However, she can’t stop the single tear that rolls over her left cheekbone for the fallen on both sides of the war. 

They reach Dimland’s border without issues. At the other side of the trenches used to be the first settlement to ever set foot in Dimland, but the war displaced them, and with that, all that heritage got lost. Death Valley is quite far from there, a few days at least. She already feels her skin prickle with how close she is to Sooyoung, finally. 

She’s worried that all that time away may have worsened her condition. 

“You okay there?” Seulgi asks the other girl, squeezing her hand when she doesn’t get an answer. 

“I lied,” she murmurs, looking into Seulgi’s eyes. “I don’t think I will ever be okay again.” 

Seulgi squeezes her hand again in acknowledgment. 

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s not your fault, I just… I wish I could be useful somehow.” 

“Don’t give up just yet. I’ll make sure to make you happy again,” 

The phrasing is weird in Joohyun’s opinion, almost like Seulgi will take care of her, but she knows the assassin just means well, in a friendly way. She smiles at her, clinging to her in a half hug. If there’s something intimate in their contact, they feign ignorance. 

Seungwan

She did what Yeji asked, for the most part. She did go inside, she did rest a little, and then ate and went to sleep, or at least pretended to. She needed answers and she wasn’t gonna get them from any of them. Maybe going out at night in a land she didn’t know wasn’t the best of ideas, but she needed to find something. The farm was nice, but she could only stand to be isolated for so long. 

She walks as silently as she can, tiptoeing around Lucas’s bed. Yeji’s bed is in another room, thankfully, so she manages to open the door without much hassle, except for the jingle of the keys at the last second. She looks back at Lucas, but he’s still peacefully asleep. She closes the door the same way, rushing to put on the boots she purposely left outside. Lightning streaks the sky right above her, making her jump in place. 

She thinks of asking Lucas to go with her, but she doesn’t want to antagonize the siblings more. 

She asks the gods to hold the rain a little longer so she won’t get caught in it. 

She’s been there a month already, or two, she’s not sure. The nightmares haven’t left her yet, and every night she sees those gray eyes, but nothing further than that. Something moves in her guts like she’s supposed to be someone important in her life, and anguish invades her.

There’s a half an hour walk to the closest town, Havenshore. The area is formed by multiple small towns just on the border of The Badlands, and from what she heard one of those is a ghost town, River Pond, where she was found. She wonders if that occurrence had anything to do with her death, or if her death had anything to do with it turning into a ghost town. She’s probably giving too much credit to herself. 

She increases her pace, thunders signaling the impending storm. However, the noise is not enough to cover the crackling sound behind her. She turns around, expecting to see Lucas, but to her surprise, it’s Yeji who looks at her with curiosity. 

“What are you doing here?” Segunwan asks accusatoryly, taking a step closer. 

“Pardon me? I should be the one asking you that.” She bites back, closing the distance to grab her arm painfully. “My hospitality has limits, Hamster. It could do you some good to remember that.”

Seungwan shakes the other girl’s hold of her, a scold visible on her face.

“You either help me or let me go. I feel like a prisoner there, even when I’m out in the open. I want to get my life back, and I won’t do that by staying in the same place every day. I need stimulus.” 

“Look,” Yeji sighs, putting her hands in the air as a peace offering. “I understand, okay? I’m not some monster. I know it seems like it, but I swear I’m not. I’m just trying to protect Lucas, so if I’m gonna let you do this, we’ll do it my way. It’s either that, and you keep our support, or you go alone and can also say goodbye to us.” 

Seungwan ponders for the time it takes another lightning to hit. 

“Doesn’t seem like I have many options, does it?”

Yeji nods, following a now angry Seungwan. They walk in silence, mostly, except for Seungwan’s grumbling due to the effort of walking for a prolonged time on that aqueous terrain. Her boots get stuck multiple times, and her pride doesn’t allow her to receive Yeji’s assistance, although the girl does try to help her.

They reach a crossroad after some time walking. At the left, River Pond. At the right, Havenshore. Seungwan hesitates just for a second, long enough for Yeji to perceive her uneasiness. 

“I should have guessed Lucas would tell you,” she says, coming to a stop beside her.”

“Is it…” she murmurs, balancing her weight from one foot to the other. “...dangerous?” 

It’s a really cold night for a Thursday, and it seems Hamster didn’t consider that when she decided to sneak out of Wong’s Dwelling. Circles of vapor come out of every time she as much as breathes.

“It used to be,” Yeji shrugs, “Now, it’s just a ghost town. People stopped going there as a sign of respect, and all the stores shut down so there wasn’t really a reason to go back there.” 

She waits, but the other girl doesn’t move.

“We can go if you want,” Yeji mutters. “It’s closer than Havenshore, anyway, and safer for you since no one will be there to identify you.”

It sounds final, so they make their way to the left instead. It makes Seungwan anxious to think of the place where she was killed. 

The landscape changes rather quickly, going from aqueous soil to a very old brick bridge. At the other side of the bridge stands The Ghost Town of River Pond, as it is now called by everyone. 

Seungwan takes a second to admire the place. Tall edifications built with parts of boats surround the Pond below, and a rather large body of water serves as their ground. It’s quite dark, which makes it difficult for her to see anything past that. There’s another bridge ahead, quite wide. River Pond was probably a buzzing town before the siege happened. 

She walks reluctantly, not trusting the infrastructure to hold its weight. 

“We found you down there,” Yeji points to a place below the bridge ahead. “On a little piece of land. You were all alone. We came to help the survivors, and we found you instead.” 

“What made you help me? I was practically dead, wasn’t I?” 

Yeji sighs, closing the distance between them. She stands beside her, also looking at the place she found her.  

“I didn’t do it to help you if I’m being honest,” she murmurs. “The ritual I performed was one of resurrection, yes, but I wasn’t trying to resurrect you.” 

“So I was your test subject, it’s what you’re saying,” Seungwan looks at her, a frown on her face.

Yeji keeps looking elsewhere. 

“In a sense, yes. The ritual did a good thing, but my intention wasn’t saving someone, I was just trying to see if it would work.” She finally looks at her, almost too close for Seungwan’s liking. She sighs, the weight of her actions evident in her slumped shoulders. "Using you as a subject was reckless. I never intended for you to suffer. I just wanted answers, and in my blind pursuit, I lost sight of the human cost."

Seungwan can't help but see Yeji as a person consumed by regret, trapped in the consequences of her misguided ambitions. Her presence feels less menacing now that she knows the truth. Seungwan doesn't know if she should be mad; after all, she's alive. The uncertainty lingers, a silent question hanging in the air. If she was capable of doing dark magic for research purposes, what else was she capable of? 

She seems to have it under control, also.

“Why aren’t you corrupted like I was, then?”

“That happens when you use it for prolonged periods or multiple times in a short period. This is the first time I tried it.” 

Seungwan simply hums, going back to walking around. She’s seen a lake of some sort in her nightmares, and she’s more convinced now that those nightmares are memories, probably the bad ones. Maybe, her death was deserved, after all. 

“Rings a bell?” Yeji’s voice interrupts her thinking. The place is deserted, almost like no one was ever there. Her voice, although a whisper, sounds like she’s yelling. 

“I…” she hesitates, not sure if she should trust Yeji after that revelation. “I remember this place, I think. But every time that it appears in my nightmares, I feel… anguish. I think I really did something bad.” 

It’s silent after that, Yeji merely follows Seungwan around. It would have been peaceful if it weren’t for the cold, making its way to her bones. She hugs herself, rubbing her skin to heat it. 

Seungwan feels defeated, the weight of unanswered questions pressing down on her. The place that should hold answers only amplifies her sense of dread.

“Let’s go back,” she finally says, the words escaping her lips as surrender. Yet, even as they turn away from the haunting place, the chill in the air seems to seep deeper into Seungwan's bones, mirroring the unresolved turmoil within her.

Later, that night, she wakes up covered in sweat, with just one name on her tongue: Wendy. 

Minjeong

It’s much, much later when Jimin comes back. The fire has been put out already, but the burnt smell still lingers. Jimin comes back surrounded by some of Winter’s guards, but it’s clear from the way they are keeping their distance that she came back voluntarily and they had nothing to do with it. Not that she expected anything different, given that her guards had proven multiple times to be useless. Containing the force of the nature that was Jimin would have been impossible. 

She’s bathed in blood, her hair sticky with it. She smells awful also, so Winter dismisses her before she can even reach the throne.

Jimin distracts her too much. She couldn’t even enjoy her victory in Wasteland City, although not planned in detail, Waterland’s defenses were still very poor. From then on, they will just keep conquering, she’s sure of that. She hopes it will be rather quickly, so she can go back to her land. Sproutland will not require her presence anymore, not now that Jimin has killed all her opposition, along with the nobles and lower-rank royals left without even consulting her. The People really believe she came to change things for the better with that maneuver, a reign for the people. 

She wants to laugh. Nothing further from the truth. To have the people controlled, you have to feed them first. They will think twice before biting the hand that fed them. 

She drinks from her glass, filled to the brink with red wine. Maybe not so elegant or proper, but it does the trick of getting her wasted, and as a consequence, it gets rid of her anxiousness. 

It’s almost five in the morning when Jimin shows up again in the throne room, closing the doors behind her. The guards leave them alone. 

Jimin opens to speak up, but Winter raises her hand, with her usual gesture.

“Before even speaking to me, I hope you have a good excuse for what you did. Killing the last remaining of the nobles? Are you out of your mind?”

Jimin kneels, so uncharacteristic of her since she used to be a princess too, but she does it out of respect for Minjeong.

“That wasn’t the plan. I needed information, but they went a little… aggressive, and I…”

“You lost control, is it?” 

Jimin nods still with her gaze fixed on the floor. 

“I…” she breathes in a way that shows she’s about to cry. “...tried so hard, believe me. But it—this consumes me. That’s why I went there for intel, and I got it.” 

“I hope it’s a good one since you were so adamant about putting your precarious health at even more risk than it already is.”  

“It is,” she finally stands up after Winter says so. “Guess who is the witch you’ve been looking for?”

“I’m not up for games, Jimin, so you better tell me right now.” She wants to sound mad, but it comes up as worried instead. 

“The one and only, Kim Yerim.”

At that moment, she thinks she did something right when she let her live. 

➼➼➼

She remembers how Winterland almost didn’t exist. Three siblings and three lands was the original plan. Then, Jessica had twins, Taeyeon and Jaejong, and suddenly, deciding the true heir was a difficult task for kids who had always shared everything. So she divided their land in two, giving each piece to her children, back when Dimland was still a prosperous country, similar in size to the others. 

Jaejong, always the black sheep, married Yoona, who was already pregnant with another man’s child—although, he didn’t know (and she would go many years hiding her real power, a rather passive one). He had a previous relationship, from where he got a child that he named Yerim. Yerim’s mother died—or at least that was what he told everyone. She, on the other hand, always thought he killed her. 

He killed Yoona, eventually, although he made it pass as a natural death. But Minjeong knew, always a smart little girl. Her mother had told her before passing away the truth about her birth, but Jaejong was still clueless about it. 

After that day, at only ten years old, she started planning her revenge. He didn’t see her coming until it was too late to stop her. She focused all her energy on it that she forgot about Joohyun, an unconscious decision that would come to regret later. 

Yerim always resented her, she didn’t know the truth and couldn’t understand why would she kill him, but Minjeong wasn’t the monster people made her out to be. She didn’t tell her the truth, anticipating that the little girl wouldn’t believe her. So she banished her from Winterland and never looked back. She taught herself to be ruthless and not feel anything for anyone. Just in that way was she able to live with her decision. 

Years had passed since the last time she had thought about her sister. 

“With that information, I was able to unlock some predictions that I think you will be interested in listening to,” Jimin brings her back to earth with her strong voice. She sometimes forgets that Jimin is an oracle and she should use it to foresee all her plans.

Besides her, Winter’s real power is useless—being able to tell when someone is lying. Her power is so passive that people have to create rumors about its existence and what it was. She got everyone fooled. 

“I do want to know,” she says, her voice wavering. “I do want to, but… not today. Today I just want to go back to sleep with you.” 

Jimin is used to the sweet side of Minjeong through actions since she rarely uses her words, but when she does, they chill her blood with the strong feelings behind them; so she nods, grabbing her hand without a second thought and pulling her toward their shared bedroom again. 

A/N2:

I want to thank all of you who read the first part of this.
This year was the first time I finished a WIP so long since the rest of the stories are very short in length. Especial shoutout to: 

txnchxtt  
areytrea 

You guys have been supporting me all alone. There are far better stories out there with very great writers and you still decided to take your time reading this one and comment all along. I'm very thankful for that.

Now some points:

1. I don't know if you noticed but I changed the cover because I felt having Winter in it seemed like clickbait since in book 2 they are not the main (at least at the moment they don't have much presence). 

2. Can you see the whole chapter's name? Because if not then I'll probably go back to publish them nameless. 

3. I may have created some illustrations for this Part II. If you're interested in me putting them here in the chapters let me know. 

4. It's possible that this series change its name in the future, I think the plot has deviated a little from the original scheme of things so the name may not be accurate now, at least for this second part. 

5. What do you think of self-publishing? I still have editing to do and the Part I is far from being good enough for a book, but I've been thinking. I can publish it in my native language in my country with traditional publishing (I still have to correct the translation made by my friend GPT bc there was no way for me to translate 80k words) or I can self-publish or something. It's more to have the experience of how that process works. I'll probably end up doing both but later in the future. I'm open to suggestions.