1: Death
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So this is how one dies.

The solemn expressions of her family will forever be burned to her mind. They tried to smile for her, but what they didn't know was that she could still hear them weeping for a while, before everything else was obscured and left her conscious in nothingness.

They even promised they wouldn't cry. If she could smirk, she could've. But she was sure her facial muscles were paralysed by now. 

'Till when will I be able to think? Yun was patiently waiting to just black out indefinitely. The anticipation of what's next to come was growing—will she just die? Have a quick flashback of her life? Or will there be an angel or spirit that would fetch her soul and take her to the afterlife?

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe.

Huh?

She was doing fine just now. How come she suddenly couldn't breathe?

Her lungs grew painful as seconds pass by, and Yun flailed her invisible arms around like a living body in desperate need of oxygen.

I can't... breathe!

A bright light then blinded her, and everything else was enveloped in white. Like a soothing balm to an insect bite, the need for breathing stopped, and she suddenly forgot all about the struggle just now.

Her vision cleared, and all she could see was blue.

It's my favourite color.

Before she could even revel in the relaxing hue, she felt a tingling sensation beneath her skin, so she turned her head to the side in curiosity.

Turns out she was laying on a flowerbed.

White, red... the flowers looked pretty. But it smelled so much of metal.

Is this heaven?

The view she could see from where she was, it was beautiful. The flower fields stretched far and wide until it was out of sight, and the trees scattered were lush and looked whimsical.

Even the place sounded serene. The occasional whispering of the wind to the fields was a great accompaniment to the running water of the lake not too far from where she was, and the melody the birds chirped was soft, too.

Yun tried moving her hand, but found that she doesn't have the energy to. Same goes for the rest of her body parts—the least she could do was move her head and blink.

She decided to turn her head to the left this time, and only then did she saw a pointy ivory building.

Is that where spirits rest?

I have to go there.

Before she could put all her concentration on "flying" like she assumed all dead people do, she saw figures slowly growing, coming from said pointy building.

"There she is!"

A woman in white robes pointed at her, and the two women and four men with her paled.

"Y-Yun!"

They're calling me. Yun widened her eyes. I don't know them though?

She really wanted to know why they approached her so aggressively, and with ugly expressions at that.

"Yun! Yun..!" The largest man of the group scooped her into his arms, and gently shook her. But even if he did so cautiously, the short woman beside him shrieked.

"Don't shake her so much!! Her head might fall off!!" she couldn't even say it properly because of her continuous sobbing.

Why will my head fall off...

"Support her damn head, fucking hell!" The other man shouts, and right after, Yun felt a hand on the back of her head.

"Lots of blood..." The boy with them could only comment with a horrible expression on his face, staring at the once pure white daisies. Right after, he followed the adults who were running towards the church.

Yun didn't know when they entered the premises of the building— she swore they were at least a hundred meters away, and it wasn't even a second ago when a butterfly almost landed on her nose.

Everything inside was ivory and gold—at least that's what she assumes.

As expected of heaven.

"Father, pardon our intrusion!" The one holding Yun declared in a loud voice that echoed in the hall, in front of two tall wooden doors.

To their relief, it immediately opened, and the group rushed inside.

Yun wanted to see what was in front, but she found that she couldn't move her head anymore. She could only stay motionless in this man's arms and have her face buried in his chest.

"What happened to Nayun?"

If the voice of the man carrying her was powerful enough, then this guy just now is indeed God. Just a simple sentence, uttered without ripples, but it vibrated all around, and even shook her chest. She wasn't even able to see in front, but she was immediately overwhelmed by an unknown pressure.

"Her yothagou betrayed her."

"We should've known!"

"We failed to protect her."

"Hand her over." The voice was even nearer now, and by instinct, Yun trembled.

The large man holding her gently transferred her to the arms of the owner of the powerful voice. She could not refute and only stared at her carrier for the past few minutes in an aggrived manner, but paused when she saw his white shirt.

It was completely soaked in blood.

Huh? It wasn't there before.

"Child, look at me."

Like a puppet, her head moved on its own and turned to look at the one carrying her now.

A beautiful man. A very beautiful man.

His eyes were a bright paraiba tourmaline. Oddly enough, it is not of the color, but of the gemstone. It glimmered and shone, even behind those long white lashes.

"My poor child."

Just right after he spoke, tears began to form and dripped down his porcelain-white cheeks. 

Yun's tearducts followed suit. She realised she didn't have control of her own body anymore, and it could only move in response to him.

"It must be painful. I am so sorry you had to go through this pain." He leaned over to kiss the top of her head, and Yun's eyes began to produce a mass of tears nonstop, like that of a waterfall.

The cries of the group behind her was also heard, and in this brilliant room, grief was formed.

"You can rest now, Nayun." The man gave her a sad smile, similar to that of her family's right after she had died.

I can...rest now?

A palm lay on her eyes, shutting it close.

At that moment, she finally lost all consciousness.

•••

From the moment one was born, one was paired to a Yothagou.

Yothagou are beings that can't survive in this world alone for too long—born without magical abilities, and incapable to wield artificial ones on their own. However, without them, other beings can't process magic and absorb mana. Their very existence is a tragedy, as they are to serve one master eternally, and used as much as one pleased.

Not all Yothagou are keen to these circumstances, and as generations pass, a lot have rebelled against the fate put up against them. What better way to start, than to kill their masters.

On a warm sunny day in spring, Nayun of the renowed Jang household, had died.

....or at least she should have.

It was a quaint ceremony, consisting of only the Jang family of the sixth mansion. The sun was about to set soon, all the more reason to hurry and send her away.

"I would like to begin by thanking everyone present today. It is a hard sight to behold; to have a sister pass so soon. I too, have lost a child today, and the grief and anguish I feel is just the same." Hibis loomed over the small cold body on top of an elevated marble platform, eyes downcast.

"Moreover, to have a child of mine be harmed in the hands of her own Yothagou,"

There was no consideration for the faint-hearted's vision. In plain eyesight, the slender neck of the child was exposed: almost hacked off from the lower body, and bone sticking out like a sore thumb. The blood had been cleaned off long ago, the meat under no longer a vibrant shade of red.

To undergo this kind of torturing pain in the tender age of six... Nayun didn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve what happened to her, since she doesn't know anything. She was yet to get a hand on books—the only thing she knew was to eat, sleep, and play.

The Yothagou present were equally apologetic and remorseful. While it wasn't unheard of, they still knew of their much more rebellious kinds... but never did they imagine such inhumane methods of breaking free from one's fate. Besides, she was just a little girl. Even if she was bound to, she doesn't have anything to do with these sick histories and politics.

Other than the horrible sight of her neck, everything else looks normal. Nayun looked like she was laying peacefully, as if she had just taken a nap.

The ceremonial formation is coming to a close, but neither had accepted the fact that the youngest of theirs had already taken her last breath.

It was only this morning did they see her running around the garden, full of gusto—her tinkling laughter and eyes shining without a care on being soiled dirty.

Hibis accepted the torch blazing with orange-yellow fire, and stood tall in front of everyone.

"We wish you farewell in your journey to eternity. Nayun, may your soul finds peace."

The torch shone brighter, as if sucking all the light left from the setting sun on the east. The light reflected from each person's unaverting eyes.

"You shall be avenged."

Before Hibis could turn around and set fire to her corpse, the expressions of the people below changed drastically from solemn to lively shock and disbelief. The God of youth couldn't help but frown. Was what he said controversial?

No one was brave enough to talk—let alone utter a single noise—until a maid servant who was shaking badly, mustered up all her courage to cry out.

"Lord! Young miss came back to life!!"

It was indeed a miracle.

Hibis, God himself, turned around and saw the little girl sitting up, looking straight at him.

"Who are you?" the familliar milky voice asked him.

The heavy torch was dropped to the ground.

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