June 3rd 1912 - Minjeong

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╔═══*.·:·.★ ✦ ★･:･:*═══╗

To replenish the flora and calm the fires

To bandage the wounded and carry the heavy-hearted

To restore sight to the blinded and heal the ears of the deaf

Let those of plants and fire not destroy what was, but kindle anew

Through the hurtful past and the treacherous present, I give myself for the hopes of tomorrow.

╚═══*.·:·.★ ✦ ★･:･:*═══╝

~Zerath's preservation and transformation spell

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Has really nothing changed?

I miss my sons. I mean, what they were before they took what it meant to be clan leaders too far. My lineage has always been renowned for being powerful enlightened, so I thought it was only natural for them to start new clans - little did I know it would pick apart our family one by one.

You're probably really confused right now and that's understandable. Now, where do I begin? I suppose I'll have to start from the very beginning. I used to live in the Land of Regulars after falling in love with my husband while completing my tasks there. You see, enlightened academies usually require you to make rounds to the Land of Regulars to not only observe Regulars' society, but to also learn more about how we can utilize resources there. The number one rule, however, was to never let them find out about the enlighteneds. As such, they only let top students of the most prestigious academies, like me, visit. I remember the moment my to-be husband caught me picking flowers in his backyard vividly. I was scared of the initial interaction and thought it would end there, but it didn't. I fell in love with him in the end, got married with him and became pregnant. I knew I was living an unstable double life but I was satisfied. But as is anything of an unstable nature, I got caught by officials within the realm of enlighteneds. For my punishment, my husband was set to be assassinated. They might have done nothing to me physically, but that was by far the worst they could have ever done. The incident turned me into an outcast and I fled to the outskirts of the realm within my clan's land. Aquinnium has long since been disbanded so I figured it was the perfect spot to raise Minyong and give birth to Minhyuk.

Things went smoothly after that hectic event, more or less. I was perfectly satisfied with living with my sons until that very day. I remember that day like it was yesterday: the day my sons started their very own clans. It sickens me. It all started when my eldest son Minyong was intrigued by a story of my own clan back in the day, so he asked me about it. My other son, Minhyuk, followed Minyong around a lot as a kid, since he didn't know how to speak for himself very well. At the time, I thought nothing of their questions and answered truthfully.

You see, a clan is a very special bond like no other. It's one where you work with established members towards a goal. Once that goal is achieved, the clan disbands. That 'goal' part is where I ran into the deepest problem ever, one that I still haven't exactly solved years later.

I've always found their curiosity for the world of enlightened fascinating, as most people would be scared. They asked me if they each could start their own clan, and me, not thinking it through, decided to let them.

That was back in 1892 and it's been 20 years since that very day. I wish I said something to stop them, or at the very least, got them to make a clan together and now, I'll pay the price for it.

The most dominant clans of today are Flores and Ignus, both of which are names too familiar and heartbreaking to me. These very names stir feelings of pride, anger and resentment within the enlightened realm. The only things that comes to me are large swaths of guilt. My sons have been blinded by so much hate from the past that they'll stop at nothing to see the other's clan crumble.

I've been told countless times from many fellow enlightened ones from either side of the clans that I should be proud of raising the leader of their clan. For that, I've gained my status back in the realm and recognition. But what good is it to me if it's never what I wanted in the first place?

I would've loved to see my sons pursuing their interests as their career and furthering developing the realm of enlighteneds. I recall clearly of whenever Minyong would build mini battle trinkets like traps and weapons. He'd show them to me anytime he made something new. Watching him make these works was mesmerizing. He used his enlightened ability of fire to melt and bend the metal he'd use. He would have made an amazing craftsman. As for Minhyuk, he seemed to always have his nose in books, scrolls and research papers. He'd always score top in his academy so I was never surprised that he did this. It was only later that I found out that he studied plants. He admitted to me that while he enjoyed studying, there was nothing he adored learning about more than the greenery around him.

Both my sons as individuals are great people. Minyong leads Ignus with true leadership. He's a man of the systematic structure in his clan and is able to sway people with words alone. Minhyuk, on the other hand, is just as fit of a leader. Leading Flores, he's calculated and wise for his age, not letting emotions blind his judgement. If only they could see how much the war has become a problem in the realm of the enlightened. Maybe then would they stop - but that thought remains only in my dreams. I strongly believe it would take so much more.

It all started with a small misunderstanding, which turned to accusations then to real, cold-blooded hatred. I couldn't bear to see it anymore. So that's why, today, I've decided to set all my hope into one plan. It'll take decades or perhaps centuries for it to finally carry out, but if my predictions are correct, then the war between Flores and Ignus will last for longer than that.

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I lean back in my chair, pulling myself away from my journal and heaving a large sigh before glancing back at the spell pages in front of me. I know I'm ready. I recite the words of the spell one last time. Once it's done casting, my body will die, however, not my soul and powers. They'll be left for the chosen one of my future generations. That chosen one will be my final hope in restoring the true intentions of Flores and Ignus and reuniting the clans as one.

I didn't think I'd ever have to rely on this spell, but I suppose we're here now. Lifting my head and closing my eyes, I recite the spell with desperation in my voice. Letting my ability flow through within me, I mumble the words at first, feeling ashamed of even needing to rely on a spell like this, my voice getting louder and clearer with each passing word that goes through my mouth.

I let the last word linger with an air of anticipation. Before I even know it, the spell finishes and my head begins to spin. Black spots begin to take over my vision before I feel myself limply falling to the ground, my field of view completely blackened. I don't regret my choice and I plan on my future generations living in peace, rather than hatred. I'm giving up my own life so that perhaps many others will be saved. After all, wouldn't you do the same?

I open my eyes to a dark void of nothing encased in a sphere-like water flowing around it. After looking around a bit more, I find myself lying on the cold ground and pick myself back up to wander for a bit. The space looks to be infinite, though I'm not willing to test that idea out. I try to activate my abilities but nothing happens. So it really did work? I catch a glimpse of light and shift my sight over to a growing pin-shaped blinding light, walking towards it while shielding my eyes at the same time. In the darkened patch, I barely make out a platform-like clearing and stand on it. As soon as I do, the light begins to fade from the source and seep down into the ground to light up the area I'm standing on. On the perimeter of the lit area were orb-shaped crystals that refracted the light to the rest of the dark void.

I reach down and graze my fingers over the crystals as a voice begins to speak. The voice sounded soft and smooth, yet firm and powerful. I cock my head to the sound and wait in anticipation. I'm not able to make out what exactly it's saying in the chantings of the voice but slowly, the voice becomes clearer. I gape in amazement as I can hear the voice inch closer and closer towards me.

"Are you sure about this, Minjeong?" I pause for a bit after hearing the voice ask me that. Choking back tears, I reply.

"More than ever."

The sun peeked above the horizon and flared through the window onto my eyes, signalling to me that it was time to wake up. I reluctantly do so, until I realize it's not the weekend anymore. I groan, resting my head on my hand and ruffling my hair.

"Minji? Breakfast is done, come down whenever you're ready." My mom calls. Those words alone are enough to force me out of bed. Really, who would turn down food already prepared? Without wasting any more time, I make haste and go to get changed into a pair of white jeans and a bulky sweater. Before dashing down the stairs for breakfast, I take one last look at myself in the mirror. My wavy black hair fell in messy curls past my shoulders. Combined with my puffy face, I looked like the perfect specimen for the monster of a horror movie. I rake my fingers through my hair, attempting to pat it down before giving up and heading downstairs.

I glance over at my mom who's making pancakes and prop a seat at the table, watching how she makes pancakes. Prepare the batter, let cook, plate, then add final toppings. It's simple yet it tastes so good. It's also easy, yet I can't seem to make it without burning the batter. I eye the finished product, mesmerized by the glistening syrup on the stack of pancakes. She turns to me and places the dish right in front of me.

"Guess who's turning 16 tomorrow?" My mom says excitedly while reaching over to hug me. I smile, smelling the strong scent of syrup all over her.

"Yeah, don't worry. I didn't forget my own birthday."

That was a bit of a lie. I practically forgot about my birthday. Not that I completely forgot it, it's just that they've never been memorable to me. Of course, as a birthday should be, they were enjoyable, but nothing was setting it apart from any day I spend with my mom or my best friends Seoyun and Dahyeong. The mere notion of a birthday is strange to me.

"I know, but you've seriously grown-up. It seems like just yesterday I saw you for the first time, staring at me with beady eyes." My mom chirps back. "Alright, now hurry up. I don't wanna make you late to school again."

I nod in between mouthfuls of pancake, scoffing the remainders down my throat and grabbing my plate. For as long as I can remember, I've always eaten extremely fast to the point where the people around me would get concerned. The speed was even more so the case when I was eating something I enjoyed. No one has the time to sit down and eat one bite at a time, so I don't.

I place my plate in the sink then run off to get my school bag ready. With the speed I'm running at, getting ready for school might as well be a sport. I open my bag to cram my textbooks and computer in then close it back. Opening another pocket, I rip out my hairbrush and comb at the literal bird's nest on my head. As much as I love having my hair to the small of my back, it not only takes forever to comb, but it also hurts and is a tough process that really tests your physical capabilities. I stuff my brush back into its pocket and make final adjustments to my hair. Regardless of how much I try to maintain my hair, it still ends up in an unspectacular frazzled display. I give up on my hair and turn my focus to the ground and dart my eyes around, scanning for my shoes. Once I spot them, I grab hold, hop into them and pick up my bag. I rush out of the door, waving my final goodbyes to my mom.

"Right, school." I say to myself while locking the door. I put my keys back in my bag and begin to walk to the bus stop to meet up with Seoyun and Dahyeong. I definitely know they're going to be planning something for that day I turn 16. After all, they know how I feel about birthdays so it only makes sense. Don't get me wrong, every birthday before was great, but I can easily do that with them on any other day.

I turn my attention to the ground, watching my feet go one in front of the other as the ridges of the paved cement pass my field of vision. I walk down the street and make my way to the sidewalk towards the bus stop. Every morning I go to the bus stop, something about it is so refreshing. The cold air across your face and hair blowing in the breeze, the sound of birds singing their morning calls and cars driving by me and the sound of wind passing your ears and leaves fluttering about. As long as the weather is not scalding, any morning walking is a good morning. I look up and spot the bus stop in the distance and make my way to it.

"Minji!" I turn to the direction of the voice. A grin makes its way to my face and I dash over to Seoyun and Dahyeong.

"We've been waiting for you for a while now." Seoyun greets, mimicking me by smiling back.

"There was a bus that came earlier but we decided to wait for you." Dahyeong chimes.

"We're getting new people in the school, remember?" Seoyun grabs hold of my hand and tugs at it with a glint of eagerness in her. "Dahyeong and I wanted to be able to talk to some of them."

Right. At our school, we get new people every quarter. As much as I love meeting up with people, today, my sleep came first.

"How many new people do you think we're getting?" I ask.

"Most likely the usual. 5-10 people." Dahyeong replies, bringing a hand up to fix her hair from the wind.

Seoyun gestures towards the bus arriving at the stop. I nod in acknowledgement and grab some loose change from my bag and pay the fare. Once we board, Seoyun, Dahyeong and I make a beeline for the back seats, dropping onto them and putting our heavy binder and textbook filled bag on the ground in front of us. The bus takes off and I notice that Seoyun seems very excited.

"You that thrilled for new people?" I tease.

"I guess. I don't know why I'm so happy."

"Alrighty, smiley. Whatever you say." Dahyeong playfully shoots back at Seoyun, earning her an equally as playful slap on the back.

We sit in silence for a bit. Not the awkward kind but the one where you just feel content. I stare out the window, lost in thought. I wonder who the new people are; are any of them nice? I pause for a bit before my expression twists into a scowl. I'm not too sure why our school always obsesses over new people and yet, I can't help but do the same as well. I suppose our school is just like that. Maybe everyone's just too interested in more connections, who knows?

"Next stop, Cheongju High." The automated announcer declares.

I look over to Dahyeong, who's already fallen asleep during the 10 minutes of the bus ride. I stifle a laugh and look over to Seoyun. We both exchanged glances before I put my hands on both Dahyeong's cheeks and squished them. She wakes up in a panic before realizing what happened.

"RUN!" I scream at Seoyun while laughing. We both jump out of our seats and make a mad dash towards the exit with Dahyeong following suite.

"Get back here!" I hear Dahyeong boom from not far behind us. Being a part of the school track team, Dahyeong is far faster than Seoyun and I. It's no wonder we sprinted as if our lives depended on it because it truly did. Seoyun and I run down the sidewalk and whiz by buildings, hearing Dahyeong's footsteps and hard breathing inching closer to us. I catch sight of the school on the horizon and motion for Seoyun to speed up. She looks up at me and begins to hasten her pace. Approaching the school, my legs start burning and my breathing shallows, which I can only assume is happening to Seoyun too. Dahyeong on the other hand is just at our tail within arms reach of Seoyun. I think we might have gotten a few glowers from passerbys, but that doesn't matter to me. It's a serious matter of life or death here. We keep sprinting till we reach the school.

"Hey! You guys are dead meat now." Dahyeong teases while seizing Seoyun just as we pass the gate entrance. I tap on Dahyeong's shoulder and point towards a clump of students around the gate of the school.

"Hm? What's that even?" Dahyeong asks, letting go of Seoyun slowly.

"Do you think those are the new students?" Seoyun turns towards both of us and continues, "Is this a new form of orientation or what?"

"They might be showing them around the school. Let's just keep going." I say.

Dahyeong, Seoyun and I walk past the new students, while of course, eyeing a few of them. I find myself looking at one of them in particular. The guy looked to be very attractive and was decently tall as well. He had his black hair parted down the middle and brushed to the side with an undercut. Apparently, he must've been looking at me and my friends too, as he catches me staring at him. I quickly dart my eyes to the ground and peek back.

"Kim Wonjun, are you listening?" A faculty member asks, slightly annoyed.

"Yes." He replies, looking straight back at them.

I decide to ignore him and catch up with my friends, who were already a few steps ahead of me. I felt antsy for no reason in particular. I can't tell if it was the expression the guy shot at me or the fact I embarrassed myself like that. The one thing I do know is that something tells me that very soon, nothing will ever be the same again.

After the awkward run-in with Wonjun, I quickened my pace to catch up with Nayun and Dabin, who were a few steps ahead of me.

"Thought you ran off for a sec there." Seoyun nudged.

"I did, well, kinda. We're good now." I babble, my voice dying down towards the end of the sentence. I considered trying to explain what exactly happened, but I know it wouldn't come out nearly as eventful as it actually played out, so I didn't bother.

"See anyone you'd wanna talk to?" Dahyeong says quietly by my ear.

"I noticed someone staring at me as well, but that's probably because I have a problem with people watching." I say dryly while scratching my head.

I look over to Seoyun and notice her staring at the ground, seemingly uneasy for a bit.

"Hey, you good?" I bend over a bit and cock my head her direction. She turns her attention to me and smiles.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about how I recognized someone of the group of new students." After saying that, Seoyun proceeds to dart her eyes right back to the ground. Dahyeong has a puzzled expression for a bit, before turning to me and gesturing to Seoyun. We weren't exactly surprised at Seoyun recognizing someone, after all, she's the most popular out of all of us. Rather, the reaction was one that neither Dahyeong nor I have seen.

"I see, spill." Dahyeong grabs Seoyun's arm and tugs on it in a light-hearted manner.

"Alright, alright. The guy I know is Kim Wonjun." Seoyun pauses and seems to think for a bit. She continues, "He was a real pain so don't even bother with him."

Dahyeong and I both nod our heads. We trust Seoyun's judgement of a person so we don't give it a second thought as she's more people-orientated than Dahyeong and I will ever be combined.

"What'd the guy do to make you that pissed?" Dahyeong asks, genuinely confused. "Last time I checked, it's really hard for someone to make you hate them."

"Let's just say he did a lot of things that I can't forgive him for." I glance at Seoyun, who was still looking at the ground, now biting her lip. I can't help but feel guilty and partially responsible for bringing up her sensitive past. I stop mid-way through walking; Seoyun and Dahyeong do the same. I reach over to Seoyun and hug her.

"It's okay. We won't bring it up anymore, and you can tell us when you're ready." After I attempt to cheer Seoyun up, I gesture towards Dahyeong to join me, and she follows suit.

Seoyun finally looks up from the ground. "We should go to our lockers. School's starting."

Seoyun holds both of our hands and we travel the rest of the distance to each of our lockers. Dahyeong's locker being the closest to the entrance, then Seoyun's, and finally mine. I like my locker because no one has one near it, even though there are countless unclaimed lockers beside it. However, the enjoyment I find in my locker placement will no longer exist anymore because of the new students.

I turn around and spot a faculty member leading the group of new students to the empty row of lockers, in which only me and a junior at my school share. I hurriedly dash for safety behind my open locker door - not like it would do much, but it was something. I peer over the edge of the locker door and listen in on the welcoming tour.

"Cheongju High welcomes every single one of you. Your lockers for the school year are located here and labelled with your name. If any of you need anything or have a question, you may inquire the office about it." With those words, the faculty member bows and leaves.

I don't have to worry about someone new being on the left side of my locker; that's junior Lee Yuna. I grab my final books from my locker before deciding to take a look at who's taking the locker right of mine. Grabbing the sticky note plastered on top, I begin to read.

Kim Wonjun

I hastily place the sticky note back where it was while trying not to panic. Seoyun told me that Wonjun was a pain. I must say, I don't think I can exactly avoid him much when he's right beside me. I finally finish repasting the name tag back up, turning around with my bag in hand to see someone standing directly in front of me. I gulp and look up to see Wonjun himself towering over me.

"What's that face for? Not happy you're beside me for the rest of the year?" He teased.

"Of course not!" I spit back with utter disgust. He stays quiet for a bit, before breaking the silence.

"Has Seoyun told you anything about me yet?" Wonjun says with a hushed voice.

"She has, is there a problem?" I retort, slightly irritated. He chuckles to himself before his mouth twisted to a smile. One that was as sweet as honey, yet as poisonous as, well, anything really! It's so annoying. I slam my locker shut, startling Wonjun and breaking his calm composure. He takes note of my bad mood and crosses his arms, examining me.

"You seem ready to beat someone up right about now." He states bluntly before breaking into a cackle at his own supposed joke.

"So what if I am?" I say, ignoring what just happened. Wonjun stops laughing and puts an arm to my left on the lockers, leaving me pressed against the locker with his face inches from mine.

"Hey. I'm not the bad guy like Seoyun makes me out to be." He says using a serious tone. I'm confused. This guy is either very good at lying or he's being real with me.

"Yeah, keeping lying. You might just be able to fool yourself." I reply, trying to free myself from the awkward position he has me in right now. I attempt to move his arms aside, but it doesn't work. My squirming encourages him to put his free arm to the other side. I bite my lips, witnessing it all.

"I'm serious." He continues, pressing this idea on me. We stay in this position for a while, making me extremely uncomfortable. I'm not too sure what or how to feel about this Wonjun guy. Looking up from the ground, I catch a full glimpse of his face. I must say, he's so crazy handsome that it's making me mad. Wonjun begins to lift the back of his hand to my face until he's interrupted by the bell. Scoffing, he frees me and calls out to me as he leaves.

"By the way, call me Jun. I don't like hearing my full name."