[Novel] The Mirror [Chapter 8 (3/6)]

The half asleep Kichul is still guarding the sleeping bodies of his friends. He just realized he actually hasn't taken a full rest since their adventure in the mirror world two days ago in their invasion of Fred Country. And the battle inside the maze is no joke. Even princess Sungmi is looking tired, thought Kichul. It's past 8 PM and Kichul is ordering food for his dinner. He is enjoying his jjajangmyeon when the bell is ringing. He peek on the small monitor.

"Oh, it's Minseong. But who is that girl who is coming with him?"

Kichul was still thinking hard as he opened the door's lock. Kichul is sure he has never seen this girl before but somehow... her eyes remind him of someone. And the fact that Minseong is taking her here... Maybe she is our new guardian or warrior, guess Kichul. Minseong is all smiles when he enters the living room with the girl, looking pale, following him. 

"Oh sorry Mijoo, the scene must be looking unpleasant," said Minseong.

In the living room, there are 7 sleeping bodies: 3 on each of the sofa (Daesun, Daejoon and Doyeon), the other 4 on the big mattress (Minsook, Minjoon, Hyunki and Joochan). She hasn't seen Myungwoo who is sleeping in Bonhwa's room. Kichul is standing up in between the living room and dining area, he also apologizes through his gaze.

"So they are now in the mirror world," said Minseong, "oh hyeong, have you eaten? I brought some snacks. And also, if you aren't busy, I have some questions for you... about Chemistry."

"Sure, no problem, we can study together and thank..."

"DAEJOON OPPA?"

"Shh, why did you scream... but wait, you said, Daejoon... oppa?" asked Minseong, confused.

"He is my oppa," said Mijoo before she knelt beside Daejoon's sofa. 

"Oh that's why! Both of you have the same eye smile!" said Kichul.

"He is in a mirror world, having adventure. By the way, Kichul hyeong, she is Do Mijoo, my classmate and eventually Daejoon hyeong's sister. Mijoo, he is Hwang Kichul, one of the Light guardians."

Mijoo quickly stood up before Kichul offered his hand for a handshake.

"You can call me oppa too," said Kichul, "because we'll work together a lot in the future."

"Nice to meet you, oppa. I'm Mijoo. Please teach me a lot."

Mijoo one more time staring at Daejoon's body.

"Don't worry a lot, he is one of our best guardians, he will be okay. You will soon meet him. But how can we put Mijoo into the mirror world?"

"We should wait until Myungwoo hyeong is back or... ah, Bonhwa hyeong should be here any time soon. We can arrange in which team we can put Mijoo," explained Kichul, "have you checked on her ability or who she is?"

"As far as I know, she is a warrior. And since she didn't mention about having ability, maybe she is like Hyunki hyeong or Sikyung noona, just a strong warrior."

"Alright. We'll discuss about her later on. Just let her stay here with us for now."

"Then can we study while eating now?" asked Minseong.

"Sure. I've been feeling so sleepy... it will be good to distract myself now."

They are about to sit on the dining table when the door is opening and it makes them startled. Luckily, it's just Bonhwa who just returned from work. He looks extremely tired, but still handsome at the same time.

"Hello Kichul and Minseong, you're here early, Minseong. I bring food for us," said Bonhwa, all smiling, while raising up a package of food, "and this girl is..."

"Do Mijoo, she is my classmate and apparently also Daejoon hyeong's sister. She is our new warrior. Mijoo, he is Cho Bonhwa, our vice leader of the guardians, a Fire Guardian, and..."

"Oh, I know him. Hi Bonhwa oppa, I'm Mijoo. Bonhwa oppa is so famous!" said Mijoo while smiling.

"You make me shy, Mijoo. By the way, enjoy your time here and don't worry about anything. We are here to fight along with you," said Bonhwa long.

"Where should we put her, hyeong? Can you think of it because Myungwoo hyeong is not around?" asked Kichul.

Bonhwa is thinking hard while looking at the sleeping bodies.

"Let's put her with Minsook since he is alone, but she probably needs to find her way to find Minsook. Do you think it will be dangerous for her?"

"As I remember, usually the enemy near my group isn't that dangerous. I think we can put Mijoo there to accompany Minsook hyeong," said Minseong while nodding his head.

"Don't worry about that for now," said Kichul, "we can study first before that. Bonhwa hyeong, do you wanna join our study group?"

"What are you guys going to study about?" asked Bonhwa as he put the food package on the dining table.

"Chemistry," said Mijoo as she took her books out of her bag.

"No thank you... I better sleep for a bit before guarding. Don't you need to sleep too, Kichul? You look exhausted."

"I'm okay hyeong. I guess food helps me a lot... and also I'm not alone now, so I'm ready even for another adventure!"

Bonhwa just about to enter his room when the door is opened wide one more time tonight. Bonhwa and Kichul were so shocked until they made their weapon ready on their hand. Mijoo is shocked too, because of the weapon on Bonhwa's and Kichul's hand (both have trident) and also because of their guest. 

"Put... put down our weapon, Kichul," said Bonhwa, sounding rather scared.

"OPPA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THIS PLACE?"

The girl is looking mad, aside from that, she is actually a pretty girl with long black hair.

"Oppa?" asked Kichul in confusion.

"Well everyone, let me introduce you to my only sister," said Bonhwa as he made his trident disappear and stand up beside the girl - who is still staring at him angrily, "Cho Moonhye. Hye, this is Hwang Kichul, Kim Minseong and Do Mijoo, and they are..."

"EXPLAIN TO ME!" Moonhye is screaming one more time, "WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT? ALL THIS SLEEPING PEOPLE AND... AND... THAT WEIRD WEAPON!"

Kichul just made his trident disappear. 

"She almost never comes here, but I don't know what makes her come here tonight," explained Bonhwa to the others, "but anyway... I guess I can't hide anything from you now."

"Don't you dare to hide anything from me," said Moonhye, still with a dangerous tone.

The five of them are sitting on the dining table while Minseong and Mijoo are helping to serve their food there. But it seems like nobody is too hungry to eat, as they all still feel scared of the fire on Moonhye's eyes. She doesn't seem happy, and as Bonhwa stops his story, Moonhye looks even more angry.

"Why do you involve yourself in something dangerous like this oppa?" asked Moonhye, her voice trembling, "you can have yourself get killed anytime!"

"But I can't let the Darkness Lord back. If he does, our world will be over too. The world where our parents and you live."

"So you think it's better to be the one who dies to save us?"

"Moonhye noona," said Minseong softly, "Bonhwa hyeong is one of our best guardians. He won't die."

"And we won't let him die either," said Kichul while Minseong nodded his head.

"Don't act as if you're a hero, oppa," said Moonhye.

"But I can't leave what I'm doing now. How can you hope I can let my friends fight alone?"

"Then let me in. I wanna help too. I wanna protect you too."

"This is not a game. I don't wanna let you get involved in this. Hence, I'm not the one who can decide whether you can join us or not."

"Then ask whoever is that, I wanna join!"

"No you can't!"

"Or I won't leave this place!"

Minseong, Mijoo and Kichul are looking at each other. Moonhye looks so stubborn, but her reaction is natural since she loves her brother so much. But Bonhwa hyeong is correct, we can't decide whether or not she can join us, that depends on the princess, thought Minseong, I wonder if princess Sungmi is able to know about this... and what should we do? But suddenly, Princess Sungmi appears in front of the front door. Minseong is sure Sungmi doesn't have telepathy skill (as far as he knows, only he and Daejoon have this ability) but maybe he can hear their struggles?

"I found a save spot," said Sungmi while smiling to all of them, "and I'm using a little of my power to send me here."

Sungmi is nodding to Minseong. Luckily, she is here, thought Minseong.

"Welcome Mijoo," said Sungmi while smiling to Mijoo, "and Cho Moonhye, right?"

"Yes, my sister," answered Bonhwa.

"Are you the leader? Are you the one who can decide whether I can join this group or not? If yes, then let me join!"

Princess Sungmi is staring at Moonhye who is standing in front of her. She finally smiled again.

"Are you sure you wanna join our group?" asked Sungmi.

"I want to. Please, let me join," requested Moonhye, now with a softer voice.

"You are strong. You have the talent to be a warrior. Bonhwa, do you let her join?"

Bonhwa is exchanging glances with Moonhye, then lets out a long sigh.

"I do. Let her join us, princess."

Actually I don't know how much more power left in me, thought Sungmi, but I want to do as much as I can. Sungmi is raising up her morning star towards Moonhye. They can see a bright rainbow color line shining from that weapon to Moonhye. Everybody is so excited to see this moment as no one ever witnessed how Sungmi created a warrior. The light is surrounding Moonhye for a while before it got absorbed into her body. Moonhye raised up her arms and stared at it, as if she felt something different in her body. 

"Moonhye, you have the combat ability. So you can help guardians to combine their power so their attack power is stronger. Aside from that, you also have a prophecy ability. You can predict the future, but don't always count on it since it might be corrupted too. You can ask Minsook when you meet him, he is mastering this skill now. Welcome to the pack, we are counting on you too."

But as soon as she is finished talking, she falls to the ground.

"Princess!"

Everybody is screaming and running towards Sungmi. Bonhwa is holding Sungmi's weak body.

"Princess... What's happening?" asked Bonhwa as his voice trembled.

"I just... I lost all of my energy."

"Please rest for a while. Let us take care of the rest," said Kichul.

"It's because of the phoenix and that Fire Evil Guardian," explained Sungmi, "luckily I crossed paths with Myungwoo, Minjoon, Hyunki and Joochan. If they weren't there..."

"It's okay, princess," said Minseong, trying to comfort her, "it's good that you met them. My hyeong will finish up the mission. Please rest for now, princess."

Since she has no energy left, Sungmi just closed her eyes, being in complete rest. 

It's exactly one hour ago in the maze when Sungmi is still fighting over the phoenix. Suddenly, the small alley behind Sungmi is forced open and four young men run towards her.

"PRINCESS!" screamed Hyunki as he is excited to meet the princess.

Sungmi is turning around after she dodge away from the phoenix's attack. Joochan is running towards her.

"Are you okay princess?" asked Joochan as he checked on Sungmi.

"I'm okay. Why are you guys here?" asked Sungmi, confused.

"I think we just eventually crossed paths, princess."

As Sungmi looks at the phoenix again, Minjoon (as an alpha wolf), Myungwoo (half naked) and Hyunki are fighting fiercely against it. The phoenix is dead and turns into ash again. But Minjoon got his tail burnt. Suddenly everyone is in panic as they try to extinguish the fire.

"Minjoon, I think you better not stay as a wolf or you'll lose all of your fur soon," said Myungwoo as he slapped the fire bravely with his palms.

Minjoon then changed into human again and cursed as he realized his pants are a bit burnt on the hem of it. 

"Damn it, luckily I don't lose my pants... or I'll end up like Myungwoo hyeong," cursed Minjoon. 

"Or worse," said Myungwoo while laughing, "I just lost my shirt so that's okay."

"Phoenix... How many times has it died before it, princess?" asked Hyunki, poking the ash with his sword.

"This is the 6th time," said Sungmi, who can't help but sometimes stare at Myungwoo's body.

"Then we just need to kill it 3 more times. Let's do it fast then we can proceed to find the way out."

"Damn it..."

As the girl in the cloak saw Sungmi got 4 reinforcements - and they look powerful - she is getting ready to sneak out through the forcefully opened way. But Minjoon is faster - he jumps in front of her.

"Where are you going?"

"Be careful, she can do attacking shield and zoolinguist."

"I supposed that she must have commanded the phoenix to attack you, princess," said Joochan, "like a combo attack with her?"

"Right. She is the fire guardian."

"So sad we don't have a water guardian with us now but Hyunki, let's attack the phoenix with me. Princess and Minjoon can handle this guardian?"

"Sure, hyeong! On your command!"

Hyunki is getting ready as the phoenix is resurrected beside Myungwoo. Sungmi and Minjoon are standing near the fire evil guardian. As the phoenix fully resurrected, Hyunki slides on the ground then raises up his sword to attack it as it's flying. Hyunki missed his attack. But Myungwoo jumps high and slams the phoenix's left wing with his axe - it hits - with so much damage.

"Hyeong, that's cool! Let me do the same too!"

"Attacking shields!" screamed the fire guardian.

"Be careful, Minjoon!" warned Sungmi.

Minjoon stopped in the middle of his attack, he quickly rolls away before he hits the big red bubble around the fire guardian. The fire guardian is preparing her arrows and he attacks with three arrows at the same time towards Minjoon - who is forced to roll away again several times. While attacking, she runs to the nearest exit.

"She is escaping!" shouted Minjoon.

"Attack from her back! Remember the shield will blink! I supposed she doesn't have too much energy left!"

Minjoon's eyes spotted a scar on both of her arms, and those scars are bleeding. That must be princess Sungmi's attack, thought Minjoon, couldn't hide his smile. Sungmi is blocking the fire guardian's way - and while she is attacking Sungmi fiercely - Minjoon (who is tailing the girl) saw the shield is blinking. He thrust his sword to the back of the girl - but the girl turned around so fast and shot an arrow at Minjoon. It's too late for Minjoon to dodge this attack, the arrow hits the side of Minjoon's neck. Minjoon is holding his scar - it feels like burning his skin - and saw blood on his palm. Joochan quickly ran to put his palm on Minjoon's scar.

"Is it bad Minjoon?"

"No but it just feels like it's burning... maybe because of her fire element."

"If it keeps on like this, she will escape..."

"Two more times," said Myungwoo as they are getting ready to fight with the resurrected phoenix again.

"It's not that easy to fight it," complained Hyunki, "imagine the princess killed it six times. She must be tired."

"But she is our princess, she is doing so fine until now."

They are staring at the fire guardian now. She keeps on attacking the princess while hiding under her attacking shield bubble. Myungwoo and Hyunki jump at the same time to trap the phoenix. The phoenix is confused who to attack first before it thinks that Myungwoo might be looking more appetizing and about to attack it with its beak - before Hyunki slash its neck with big damage. The phoenix screamed loudly before falling to the ground - into ash.

"Hyunki, you did it so well! Let's do it one more time and help the others."

"Why is the fire guardian so strong?" asked Hyunki while frowning. 

"She is level 10. Guess that the evil guardians are trained well."

Minjoon is now taking the role to distract the fire guardian while princess Sungmi is tailing her. Minjoon takes a safe distance from her shield and uses his sword to dodge her arrow. But at one point, her shield disappeared.

"Attacking shield!" the girl re-cast her shield.

But her shield won't appear again. Minjoon and the girl are shocked at the same time, but she is faster than Minjoon - she took her arrow and stabbed it on Minjoon's arm before running away from Minjoon's sight. Sungmi takes over - she jumps then runs towards her before she swings her morning star towards the girl's back. It hits her back: the sharp part of its morning star stuck to her back as the girl screams loudly - and when Sungmi pulls it again, she can see the visible holes on her black cloak and blood dripping from the holes. At the next second the girl falls to the ground. Sungmi is chasing her again to attack her, but the phoenix suddenly blocks them and makes her morning star hit the phoenix's leg instead. Myungwoo is chasing the phoenix to slash his axe at the phoenix's body - which hit it perfectly. But as the phoenix turns into ash, they only can see the blood stain on the ground, but the girl has disappeared. 

"Where is she?" asked Myungwoo in confusion.

"She must be taking advantage of the phoenix blocking us to run away," said Sungmi, "we failed to capture her."

"But at least the phoenix died," said Hyunki while pointing forward, "the alley is open."

"Should we catch her or we move forward?" asked Joochan.

"Let's just move forward. We can't spend too much time in this maze," decided Sungmi, "good job in defeating the phoenix, Hyunki, Myungwoo."

Minjoon is grimacing in pain as he pulls the arrow away from his arm. They are all now looking at Minjoon. His scar, it's quite big, is now bleeding. Sungmi puts her palm on Minjoon's scar but Joochan quickly holds her hand and puts it away.

"Let me. You don't look fit, princess. My energy is not much but I think it won't take too much energy from me to heal it, right?"

"Is it poisonous?" asked Myungwoo as he looked at Minjoon's arm.

"No, luckily it's not," answered Sungmi.

While they are walking towards the newly opened alley, Joochan is healing Minjoon's scar. There is only one way in front of them so they keep following it. When they turn left, there is a small pond in the corner of the alley. 

"Oh, that's a save spot. It's not the time for us to change shifts yet, right?" asked Hyunki.

"Yes, because if it's the time, me and Minjoon should go back to the real world," said Joochan as he looked at the watch, "oh apparently there are still 4 hours left before we change shifts."

"So should we just pass this save spot?" suggested Minjoon.

"Wait for a while," said Sungmi.

Everybody is quiet as Sungmi seems to be thinking of something.

"Let me go to your world for a while. I'll use my power a bit to go there because I don't have my mirror in your world."

"What happened, princess?" asked Myungwoo, looking worried.

"It's not a big problem but it might take some time. Myungwoo, will you lead the others to move forward if in one hour I haven't come back?"

"Alright princess, we'll wait here for one hour."

"Don't worry, I'll settle the problem quickly."

They all looked at Sungmi who disappeared in the pond.

"You guys know what?" said Hyunki as everybody went silent, "Princess Sungmi is looking paler lately."

"I agree with you. I think she needs rest," suggested Joochan, "isn't she never resting while we rest in our world?"

"I'll tell her to do so after we find the magic ball of this Fred Country," decided Myungwoo.

Minjoon is sitting on the ground, leaning against the maze's wall.

"Let's rest too while we are waiting for her to come back."