Joohyun

One month later 

After the surgery, she discovers she has a new ability—overthinking. She lies awake at night with too many thoughts swirling in her head and memories that she doesn’t remember having before. She can’t sleep and sometimes she can’t eat. She feels restless like part of her personality was previously blocked too. It’s hard to make sense of all of it, so she just lets it seep through her, ignoring the anger that bubbles in her chest and accumulates as the days pass. She’s still powerless as a consequence of having that device for so long, but she guesses it could have been worse.

It’s not all bad, though. Seulgi visits her every day, for hours at a time. They talk about them, now that they have time to know each other. She realizes Dimland brings her peace, and it must be the darkness and her somewhat romantic atmosphere. She wonders if Seulgi is running away from something, since she spends all her time caring after her, posing as a nurse; but when she asks her, her answer is simply that she’s important to her. She doesn’t doubt that, because they’ve been through hell together, but she knows that’s not the only reason. 

Other times, Yerim visits her. She does it very late at night—not that she would know when night is if it weren’t for the lamps turning off and the diminishing of activities.

Joohyun pushes the topic again, asking for her help. She seems reluctant the first couple of days, but if Joohyun is good at something it is convincing. She tells her how she could practice her skills, how she’s the greatest witch of all time and should be able to do it. She also tells her the worst outcome would be that Seungwan would stay dead instead. She agrees after a week and starts planning, still a little reluctant but more interested in proving herself. Joohyun doesn’t know the details, and she doesn’t want to, leaving the dirty job to Yerim while she recovers completely. 

“There’s just one thing,” Yerim says some days later. “I need you to check the body,” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Check if you like it. I have to use a recently deceased body along with something that belonged to your friend. I have the latter, but I need you to check if the body is of your liking,”

Joohyun takes a spoonful of her new obsession, the creamy mashed turnips before answering. 

“What—how—how am I supposed to rate a dead body? Like, from 1 to 10? Are you crazy?”

She stops eating altogether, disgusted by the thought. 

“I know you didn’t want to know the details, but I didn’t know this girl. The body needs to be as similar to her as possible to at least increase the probability of doing this successfully.” 

“And what are you planning to do if no one similar to her has died recently?” 

The silence is more disturbing than she expected it to be. 

“You asked me not to give you details,” 

The tone is clear behind her words, and her intentions too. She will kill someone if she needs to. 

“She was short, short hair, oval face, big round eyes, straight nose—”

“Joohyun,” Yerim stops her. “I still need you to take a look.” 

Joohyun sighs, leaving the cream abandoned to follow her outside the castle. 

“What are you going to use that belonged to her? I don’t remember giving you anything,” 

“You,” she says right away. “Whatever potion she gave you she marked you as hers. I don’t think she knew, though. It looks like a side effect.” 

It’s quiet after that, following at a fast pace. Yerim takes her to five funerals in the area, which end up being two women and three men. She’s left with a very old woman that they quickly discard and a child.

Yerim raises her eyebrows, pointing at the child.

“No way, I want someone I can kiss, not a child to be the mother of,” Joohyun hits her in the shoulder, strong enough to make her lose balance. 

“I didn’t mean her,” Yerim rolls her eyes, pointing again. Joohyun has to force her eyesight to be able to see what Yerim is pointing at. A woman is standing a couple of meters away from the burial, dressed in a black crop top, white stand-up collar, and skirt. She has long hair, opposite to Seungwan, but her bone structure is quite similar. It’s as if she’s looking at Seungwan herself. 

She blinks away Seung Wan's face. 

“She’s… pretty similar,” she chooses her words carefully, not wanting to let Yerim know how much it affects her. “But she’s alive.” 

It sounds final, but Yerim opens again.

“So?” 

Joohyun hesitates. 

“I can’t do what you’re suggesting.” 

“That’s why I will do it for you instead.” 

Joohyun takes her eyes away. 

“No, forget it. I won’t do it. Let’s cancel all this.” 

“Joohyun,” Yerim grabs her arm when she tries to run away. “We have a chance now, but we won’t have that if we let more time pass. The black magic decays with time, it’s already difficult to do it now, and it will certainly be impossible later. I need you to make a decision, a stranger’s life or your lover’s.” 

She blames her dark thoughts on the dark magic poisoning her blood. She should hate Seungwan, she should let her stay dead, but she can’t bear her existence without her. She deserves her happy ending after all that she’s gone through. 

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“Then, who is it gonna be?”

Seulgi

Seulgi paces around the room, avoiding flying objects in her direction from time to time. Sooyoung had been mad at her after she found out Karina ceded Dimland to Winter, but she got way worse after Yerim’s detox treatment. Sooyoung is supposed to help Winter coordinate matters at The Front, now a fortified and militarized border, but in her state Seulgi had no other option but to substitute her. She has too much going on to be able to balance her personal life with it. 

“Baby, please stop with this, it’s for your own good.”

“I know, okay? I just don’t want to be sober now. I lost my only reason to live because of my decisions.”

It hurts to hear she’s not one of those reasons to live, but the months away have deteriorated their relationship, and wanting to help her off the black magic turned her into the villain of Sooyoung’s story. 

“She will come back someday, Sooyoung. You have to give it time, okay?” Sooyoung sighs, throwing her head back on the pillow. “I will tell Irene the news. I’ll be back in a few.”

She had requested secret asylum for Joohyun in her hometown, Sunless City, a place where she knew she would go unnoticed until she figured her life out. Winter had been clever enough to leave Joy as the queen figure so she could manage things without causing a civil war within Dimland. People knew she was behind most of the recent changes, but as long as she remained beside Karina, she would be accepted as legitimate as if Winter had married into the Dimland royalty instead of overthrowing the regime. If someone were to ask Seulgi, Winter should feel offended by it, but she is too clever to not use it to her advantage. 

She goes out to the back of the castle, rounding it toward the training area where Joohyun has been spending all her time trying to get some manifestation of her potential powers (in vain if you ask her). She usually finds her on her back with Yerim on top of her and makes some dirty jokes, but not today. They are not training, which is weird for her because they never miss it, as far as she’s aware. She doesn’t like leaving Joohyun alone with Yerim because that girl is a very bad influence, but she’s seen her change. She doesn’t have any morals to judge when she’s Joy’s assassin, anyway.

She walks faster towards the stables, passing the garden and ending at the old chapel beside the pond. They don’t use the chapel anymore and she’s sure Johnny advised them not to enter, but it’s worth taking a look.

When she opens the doors, she realizes she ed up. The first thing she sees is a dead body in the center of a pentagram. They—It has no face as if someone had peeled it off with a grater. 

She finally sees Joohyun at one side of the circle, where a point of the star is. Each point has a candle. Joohyun has her eyes completely black and Yerim chants in darkspeech, the language of invocations.

"What the do you think you’re doing?” She yells, her voice piercing the air with a mix of fury and desperation. Her eyes widen in horror as she watches the scene unfold before her, her heart pounding with fear. Reaching the altar feels like an eternity away, each step hindered by an invisible force pushing her back.

“We are going to bring Seungwan back,” Joohyun says, her voice unnaturally deep and haunting, resonating with an otherworldly presence. It's as if the words are not her own, but rather a sinister force speaking through her.

“Yerim, stop this! You know this will have consequences!” Seulgi pleads, her voice trembling with urgency as she tries to reason with her friend.

“She’s aware of them already!” Yerim retorts sharply, her determination unwavering as she continues the ritual, oblivious to the dangers ahead.

“No, she’s not!” Seulgi's voice trembles with emotion, her desperation palpable as she struggles against the inevitable.

But it’s too late. With a sudden burst of energy, there's a mini explosion, sending Seulgi stumbling backward in shock. The figure on the altar stirs, a chill running down Seulgi's spine as she sees Seungwan's face twisted into an unnatural expression. Her eyes, once warm and familiar, now gleamed with an eerie darkness, veins snaking across her pale skin like the ones she saw in Karina not so long ago. She has a different haircut from the one she remembers, her hair as long as the original owner of the body. 

“Joohyun, listen to me,” Seulgi takes a cautious step forward, her voice laced with concern as she tries to reach her friend through the darkness that has consumed her. “That thing you brought back is not Seungwan.”

“We’ll fix her,” Both Joohyun and Yerim speak in unison, their voices eerily synchronized, sending a shiver down Seulgi's spine. It's a rehearsed response, a chilling reminder that this was no spur-of-the-moment decision.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Seulgi whispers, her words heavy with sorrow as she pushes open the chapel doors, her mind racing with the realization of the horrors unleashed by their actions. She flees from the chapel, her footsteps echoing in the empty halls as she tries to escape the darkness that now surrounds them.

Wendy

It’s just after one or two days when she finally surrounds The Badlands and arrives at Weeping Lake that she realizes she should have listened to Yeji. Portraits of her face are plastered all over each town she passes by, blaming her for “multiple” bombings, forcing her to only move at night when there's less chance she will be seen. The old man that caused that has, of course, disappeared from the face of the earth; essentially making it impossible for her to tell the truth. He’s a myth, like Yeji said. Damn, she was always right, after all. 

Night comes sooner than expected. Weeping Lake is a very vibrant place, well-known for its nightlife. It’s a floating city, one of the few that is built to survive the water level increase. A marvel of modern engineering gracefully rests upon a colossal platform in the heart of the calm Weeping Lake. Buildings of steel and glass pierce the sky, their sleek forms contrasting with the elegant domes and spires reminiscent of a bygone era. Boats glide across the water, while others are anchored to the main building, the place of reunion. 

She’s been practicing with her powers in solitude the last couple of days, managing to shapeshift into a man she has seen in her dreams before. He’s tall, with curly hair. He dresses in bright colors, just like a wealthy person would. He must be someone she knows from her past life, probably a friend that awaits her back at home. She has so many questions she’s starting to get desperate. 

It turns out it wasn't the best idea to practice so much. She ends up power-draining the next day, forcing her facial muscles so much she's lucky it didn't cause her paralysis too. She doesn't know when it will come back, so her only option is to lay low, getting lost in the homeless refuge in the poorest part of the city. She already looks the part, her long hair irregularly cut and dirty from sleeping on the floor.

If anyone from the homeless community recognizes her, they don’t say anything. They must think she’s some kind of hero, attacking the filthy rich politicians. 

She’s startled by a noise. She’s closer to the south gate than she would like to be right now, and just a quick look towards it lets her know what that noise is. It looks like a strike team, the ones she usually saw swiping The Ruins. It doesn’t take two to know they are after her. 

She quickly slips away, going from tent to tent, hiding behind the poor structures they call home. The strike team follows her up close, and she has a hard time thinking under pressure. If she gets to the east gate, then maybe she could throw herself head into the water and try to hide in a boat.

She gets inside a tent, and to her misfortune, there’s a man with his wife and a kid inside. She has seen the man around, listening to the empty promises of the leaders of the settlement, as many others do.  

He looks at her curious, looking back at the newspaper in his hands which has a drawing of her.

“Can I…” she tries, her voice hoarse. “Can I see it?”

He hands her the newspaper without hesitation. 

Her face is on the front page, informing of another bombing that happened just yesterday. He looks at her like he’s realizing it couldn’t have been her if she was there all the time. 

“It wasn’t me,” she feels the need to defend herself anyway.

The man shrugs, raising his free hand in peace. 

“I’m no one to judge,” 

“That sounds like you don’t believe me,” she goes further, skimming through the newspaper. “I swear it wasn’t me.”

She omits the part where she was the one who started it. It would only strip her of all her credibility. 

The man sighs. 

“Look,” he says, “I have seen you around. You’ve treated everyone with kindness and that speaks more than this newspaper. Because of that, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” 

She nods, crumbling the newspaper against her chest. 

“You need to leave,” he continues. “I’m pretty sure they’re looking for you. I believe you, but they won’t.” 

She hears the strike team just outside the tent, breaking into the other tents.

“Where—?” She only has minutes, if not seconds before they enter that tent. “What direction should I go?” 

His wife hits him in the arm, pointing at her. 

“Akatä florka!” 

“Dekäm morte os!” He replies, and Wendy assumes it is a regional language in Waterland for she hasn’t heard it before. She understands, however, the word morte. 

“Skälä dränja valdär plakor fami morte i blä vallä os?!”

They throw a few more sentences she doesn’t get, all containing the word morte. She’s not sure if they are planning to kill her or help her. 

The man finally yields, standing up. 

“She wants me to help you,” he explains, peeking through the front of the tent to see outside. “We can’t go this way, so let’s get out through the back.” 

She does as he tells her, taking advantage of the riot outside to flee unseen. It seems an easy task until they get to an empty part of the settlement. The man keeps going, but she stays rooted in her place. 

“Wait!” she whispers and he obeys. She turns around, looking for anything out of place. It takes her a second to analyze the situation, quickly grabs the man by the neck and puts a blade to it. 

“What—?”

He shuts up right away when the strike team surrounds them. He sees her action for what it is—an act. She’s turning him into a victim instead. He can’t do anything else to help her now. 

“Hey, let him go,” the negotiator says, getting as close as he can. “You’re surrounded.”

She’s close to the boats, she could run fast and jump into the water. It seems plausible, but risky without her powers. She’s like a mortal now, and could easily die. Not that she was immortal before, but she could bounce most of the bullets off her body, depending on the location.

“Don’t try any funny business,” he continues, taking a step closer. This time, Wendy presses the blade to the man’s neck, cutting just enough to not cause any lethal wound but also to give the impression she’s serious about it. “They have orders to capture you however it is necessary.” 

She wants to ask whose orders are those, because she’s sure those aren’t Jennie’s, but decides otherwise, sensing it wouldn’t be well-received by her public. 

She could use the man as a shield, but that would be low, even for her. They wouldn’t care about him and shoot anyway, so she crosses it out from her mental list. She goes back to plan A—reaching the water. They would still have the upper hand, as they are capable of underwater breathing, but she doubts they would follow her. They don’t look like an official team now that she watches them from up close and it would be easy to get lost with the many visitors the town has. It’s worth a shot. 

She changes her strategy, pressing the blade to the man’s back, using him as a shield, but not quite. Since she hasn’t made any sudden movement, the officers stay in place, just closing the circle in her direction. When she’s close enough to the water, she pushes the man down, making sure he avoids any bullet and runs as fast as her feet allow her. She’s about to reach the water when the first shot reaches her in the back. She falls forward, hitting her face in the process. 

She thinks it is a preventive shot, that they did it to stop her from escaping, but it is not it. She discovers it right away when she receives another shot on her side even if it’s clear that she wasn’t gonna escape anymore. The plan was always killing her, not capturing her. 

“I’m sorry,” the negotiator says, using his leg to turn her around, laying on her back. She can barely utter a word, but it is a clear one.

“in—bastard!” She screams, trying to stop her side from bleeding. 

“That, I already know,” he smiles, hitting her on the same spot he shot her. 

She screams in pain. 

“Now,” he gives his attention to the team. “Tie her up and throw her into the water. Make sure you use enough rocks so she won’t come afloat.” 

She screams louder, saying things that sound a lot like profanities, but intelligible due to the pain and fear. 

“And please,” he continues. “Shut her up. It’s driving me crazy.” 

At that moment, she prays. 

Ningning

She goes back to work after Jennie screams at her through the public phone. She rolls her eyes, leaving the phone hanging from the cord not in the right mindset to hear more orders. Yes, it was her decision to serve her aunt, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t hate her sometimes. It is work, after all, and sometimes it is too much to handle. Even for a mercenary, planning kidnaps and assassinations requires physical and mental effort. 

She’s not far from the castle either, just a town away; and it’s just about time for the Luminara Festival to start, making it the perfect moment for a disappearance. 

She can see the sky starting to clear up on her way there, changing from pitch dark to dark gray. It amazes her as much as them since she had spent most of her time in the depths of the ocean, in the underwater hive cities in Waterland where the sun didn’t reach. She’s been to Winterland, of course, but even then it amazed her, and she tried to spend some minutes under the sunlight trying to get rid of her pale skin. 

She hurries, pedaling as fast as she can in the dwarf bike she stole without hurting her legs. She needs to get there before the sun completely rises in the sky, using the festival as an excuse to enter the castle. If her intel is correct, Joy will be holding the festival in the castle terrains, making it quite easy for her to get inside.

She is already prepared for the occasion, her former blonde hair now of a strong shade of red, her usual leather clothes replaced by a white sundress to not draw more attention to her; however, she should have waited to get there to change in the first place, because now the white dress is dirty thanks to a puddle in the way, and her sandals aren’t any better. 

She wastes no time throwing the bike away, quickly joining the crowd that is entering the castle. They look at her for a microsecond, deciding that she’s not worth a fight on such an important day, and simply allow her to join them and celebrate. She recognizes Winter’s guards as the ones that are sweating, and also by their crests in the uniform. 

“...gentleman, I can’t let you in if you don’t show me your ID.” 

“I forgot it at home!” 

“Then I’m sorry!” 

The man sprints, trying to get in. He’s almost successful, knocked down at the last second by three guards. She chooses that moment to sneak in unnoticed. 

She wanders around the higher floors where, according to the map she was able to get, is where the dorms are. She hears them before seeing them, giving her time to hide in the corner. They stop by so close that if they turn around they will see her. It’s not as if a professional like her is nervous, no, the opposite, she just wants to avoid a confrontation so they won’t go after her. But if she has to, then she chose a good day, because a shadow like Seulgi thrives in darkness and a hydro like her just needs water close to her (which she, of course, always carries with her). 

“...no, it’s unacceptable.”

Seulgi's voice cuts through the air, sharp with defiance, as she stands her ground against Yerim's insistence.

“Seulgi—”

Yerim's attempt to interject is met with a steely glare from Seulgi, her jaw set in determination.

“I said no! I don’t care if you want to explain things to me, how could you do this? She really sent you to talk to me because she can’t face the consequences of her actions? If she wasn’t mature enough to come here and talk, then she wasn’t mature enough to revive her!”

Seulgi's voice rises with frustration, her words echoing with bitterness and resentment towards the absent party.

“She didn’t send me! But I can see she cares about you more than she lets me know and she needs you right now.”

Yerim's tone softens slightly, attempting to appeal to Seulgi's empathy, though it seems to only stoke the flames of her anger.

“No, she doesn’t. She didn’t before, when she was still alive, she certainly won’t now that she has her again.”

Seulgi's words are filled with a deep-seated hurt, her voice trembling with emotion as she confronts Yerim's attempts to placate her.

“Do you even hear yourself? You talk like she’s an object! Stop with your jealousy and go talk to Joohyun!”

Ningning takes a moment to observe the tension between Seulgi and Yerim, sensing the underlying currents of unresolved conflict.

“I’m not—jealous! I hope you brought back the correct person because if not, she will really kill herself this time.”

Seulgi's admission hangs heavy in the air, her vulnerability laid bare.

“...this time? Have there been other times?”

Yerim's question hangs in the air, punctuated by a heavy silence that speaks volumes of the unspoken truths only Seulgi knows. 

“Do you even care?”

Seulgi's voice is barely a whisper, laced with a raw vulnerability that betrays the depth of her emotional turmoil.

“Yes, I care, but I think you care too much, and she will find out if you keep up with this attitude.”

Yerim's response is measured, tinged with a hint of frustration at Seulgi's stubbornness.

“You’re wrong,” Seulgi finally answers, clenching her fists. “I don’t—”

“Hey, stop. I’m not saying it is a bad thing, it was just a logical development, but she loves someone else. And you love Joy.”

“I can love both,” Seulgi's admission is hesitant, her voice wavering

“That, I can agree with you. But Joohyun needs a friend. I have no doubts that she cares deeply for you too, but this is what she chose. You can still be mad and support her at the same time, you know?” Yerim's words carry a note of empathy, an acknowledgment of the complexity of their situation. “We’re all the family she has right now.” 

Seulgi sighs, massaging her temples. 

“Where is she?” 

“She should be in the infirmary with Seungwan.” 

Ningning hears footsteps after that. She takes a look again, meeting Yerim’s back. It’s the perfect moment, finally. 

The first thing she does is cover Yerim’s mouth so she can’t scream or use magic. The short girl tries to resist, but Nigning knows from experience that passed-out victims are easier to carry, so she quickly puts a cloth to her nose, administering the sedative. Yerim still tries to resist, so she puts pressure on her neck, inducing her to unconsciousness. She checks her pulse just in case. She didn’t have in mind that Dimlanders had a high tolerance to drugs when planning her attack, but you learn something every day, after all. 

Now, onto the second part of her plan: she needs a body of water connected to the sea. Frogs doesn’t have a river, but the whole land has a long coastline and every property of The Obsidian Throne has underground tunnels especially built by Joy just in case they lost the wars on both fronts. The tunnels should be flooded by that time of the year. She can create an air bubble so they can move quickly through the water without drowning Yerim. The tunnels should get to The Blind Docks and she can get to one of the portals from there. It all sounds like a solid plan in theory, but it’s rather an annoyance in practice. 

She throws Yerim’s body over her shoulder, praying to Tidal that she won’t find anyone around the corridors. It helps that all the staff and servants should be at the Festival, and Joy has never had many servants, to begin with. 

She walks at a fast pace, following the blueprints in her mind. She turns left and then right, ending up at the furthest place inside the castle, which is the private garden area. Her escape route is right there—the pond. It’s one of the secret entrances to the tunnels. She drops Yerim onto a bench, getting right into moving the water around to create the air bubble. Hopefully, it won’t take long to get there so they won’t run out of oxygen. 

She hears voices in the distance and a lot of chanting and shouting. It must be the Festival on the other side of the wall. She takes another minute to drag Yerim’s body into the water with her and to hold the bubble around them. They disappear underwater just as Joohyun and Seulgi turn around the corner and as the sun takes its place in the sky. 

It takes her longer than expected to get to the palace. She should have known that the portal would be failing also, as everything was in Waterland. This time she’s not completely soaked, thanks to the air bubble, but she’s irritated and tired of dragging Yerim’s body with her. Her face says as much when she enters the Throne Room. 

“I expect you to give me a raise,” it’s the first thing that comes out of before dropping onto one of the sofas. “I need vacations, also. I can’t keep doing this without pauses.” 

Jennie laughs, handing her a glass of lemon juice directly from Sproutland. 

Jisoo joins her on the sofa’s arm, giving her a side hug and handing her a plate full of her favorite dessert—Ocean Bliss. 

“I’ll send a shark with the message to the surface, and then we’ll need to find a way to get the message to Winter without the courier freezing to death,” Jennie informs, biting from her own plate. 

“So, I guess that crosses out sending birds.” Ningning points out. “Please, don’t tell me I need to do it myself. My whole body aches.”  

“We could send a penguin,” Jisoo suggests. 

“Yeah, if we want it to get there next year.” Jennie laughs. “A snowy owl, maybe?”

“I really doubt we have trained the sharks enough not to eat a snowy owl,” Ningning informs. “But, I mean, we can still try?” 

They all laugh, sharing the different desserts and drinks. Ningning is just glad goodness hasn’t rubbed on her, because then she wouldn’t be able to separate her work from her personal life, making it impossible to enjoy a family dinner while having a prisoner in the dungeons. 

➼➼➼

On the envelope, it reads:

From: Glass Palace, Nam Bay, Waterland

To: Celestia Palace, Sproutland

Deliver to Queen Winter

She opens it, breaking the envelope in half, almost ripping the letter too.

Greetings, Your Majesty. 

I’ll make it short for both of us. 

You have something I want, and I have something you desperately need. I’ll give you the witch in exchange for the notebook. You have twenty-four hours starting from the delivery of this letter to agree, or we’ll kill her. If you try anything, we’ll kill her too. 

Yours truly, 

Jennie, Queen of Waterland and the Isles 

Minjeong turns her head to the side to look at her lover, who is reading the letter over her shoulder.

“Just like you envisioned.” She says, giving her a quick kiss. 

“Exactly. Now, we have the odds in our favor.”