Chapter Text
“I chose you, you can’t die now either. Now, WAKE UP!”
Mu-deok immediately sit and woke up from her dream. She was out of the lake and breathing heavily, trying to focus on her breathing as her mind is trying to organize what just happened.
She just killed her father and Jang Uk.
How?
The bell? That fucking bell. It drove her crazy.
“Kill Jin U-Tak”
Sounded like Jin Mu.
Not a surprise that he was involved.
Her father? Why- he wasn’t her father.
He left her at the lake. He never went looking.
Her father? No, he was Cho Yeon’s father. Bu Yeon’s father, not hers. She was Mu-deok, Naksu.
The weirdest and realist dream she had:
Mu-deok was in the lake with Bu Yeon, which essentially was the same person, but with a fabric fold on her eyes. They were floating in the water.
“I think deep down inside of you… you knew, right?” Bu Yeon’s voice echoed in her head, her lips didn’t move, they were smiling.
“What?”
“I wasn’t your first choice…” for the soul shifting.
“You pulled my soul during the ritual, why?”
“A chance came to me and I took it”
“I kept thinking about this, you being who you are, you were already going back to your family, I-you were sold to Chwiseonru, it was just a matter of time -“
“Things needed to happened the way it did, Mu-deok”
“Why?”
“I’m not entirely sure…I was living a simple life, but inside of me something was brewing, and when we bumped, I knew right away what it was for”
“Why would you do that, you died, I live in your body”
“Do you? Or I let you live in my body?”
“Why it always felt like me all the time then?”
“I like watching through you… I couldn’t see before but now I can”
She blushed for some reason, and that lead to:
“Jang Uk, is he…?”
“He is alive, he does have the ice stone and also… he isn’t exactly an ordinary man”
Mu-deok didn’t say anything. She was still a bit numb for the whole killing spree earlier. She remembered some flashes: Cho Yeon, Dang-gu, Park… but all still felt like a dream, or watching a dance or a play. It didn’t feel real, not even when she cried for killing Jang Uk.
“What do you know about the bell? Did you hear it too?”
“Yes, I think you will be stronger now, but better avoid the bell for the time being”
“Do you know what it is?”
“Not sure, but Jin Mu is definitely involved”
“I will definitely kill him”
“We should plan first”
“We?”
“Mu-deok, I think it’s fair to say this now. You are not Naksu anymore nor Bu Yeon”
“Yes, we are, both our souls are here”
“I am here just because you wanted me to be”
“The fuck”
“This conversation is in your head”
“This is a dream?”
“Yes and no”
“Answer me this: is your soul in this body?”
“Not entirely… most of it is gone… what remained was the strongest portion”
“What do you mean by that”
“I am a priestess of the Jin family”
“Then WHY am I so weak!”
“Hum, let’s say both our efforts were allocated to somewhere else”
“To not lose my shit, basically”
“In a way”
“What would have happened if I had another choice back then, in the ice stone”
“I wouldn’t have minded”
“But, I would have killed everyone”
“Yes, but probably not Jang Uk though”
“Why is he so special?”
“He is the king’s star”
“I don’t actually know what it means…”
“You will, soon”
“How?”
“When you wake up, my memories will also be with you, you should probably wake up by the way”
“Why me?”
“I’m not entirely sure, after we switched souls, I understood what I was lacking and what Naksu is lacking. You are basically the perfect result of us”
“I’m your baby then”
Bu Yeon laughed, sounded weird.
“In a way, I guess. We both died that day, you were born with Naksu’s memories and now you will wake up with mine too”
“Again, why would you make that choice for your life? You were at least healthy!”
“You will understand… when you wake up, I wasn’t exactly suppose to live, you know? I had a good life, two actually… as Bu yeon and as Mu-deok, it’s more than I asked for. But, for Naksu, her one life was quite miserable… and I saw everything, if it wasn’t me pulling your soul, she would have died”
“I-“
“Enough”
“I chose you, you can’t die now either. Now, WAKE UP!”
So, part of Bu Yeon was always here, inside her. It is a weird feeling to have new old memories back. Also-
Mu-deok opened her hand and conjured a ball of water.
Her magic is back.
Now, she must have a plan.
But, before she was even able to step away from the lake, Jang Uk arrived, well alive, with her sword in his hands.
“Hey” he started, still a bit afar.
“Hey” Mu-deok returned, she didn’t step away nor any closer.
He moved forward.
“I don’t- I don’t think you should get any closer.” She stepped away, failing her voice a bit. “I did kill you, as you ask me to, if I ever-“
“What happened?” he interrupted her.
“Does it matter?”
“How come you are not-“
“How come you are not dead either?” she also interrupted him, and before he could say anything:
“You should go back, I caused quite a lot back there, you should think about it, help your friends”
“I want to understand what happened”
“I’m not sure either”
“Was it really you back then?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, it does”
“You always knew this could happen, that I could go wild”
“You didn’t recognize me at all, you looked like you were hypnotized”
“Maybe I was”
“But, you came back to me later, last thing I heard was you calling me”
“I don’t remember” Mu-deok’s voice sounded a whisper.
“Then why are you crying?”
She didn’t notice and cleaned her tears with her sleeves.
“You should leave, stay away from me” she shoo him away with her hand.
“What are you trying to say? You don’t love me anymore?”
She hesitated, her heart skipped a beat.
“No, I just- I think we should have some time apart…”
“Mu-“
He tried a few steps towards her, but stopped when she unshielded his sword.
“How? Did you get your magic back?”
“Didn’t you?”
Jang Uk also unshielded her sword. He was surprised.
“You came here with my sword without even knowing if you got your magic back?”
It sounded like a scowl. Like old times, like a distant memory now.
“Well, I just walked out from my own funeral. Cut me some slack. Wanted to see if you were-“
”I’m fine.”
“Do you want this back?“ He offered her sword from his hand.
“No, you should keep it. I can give this back to you though.”
“No, give me back later.”
A few moments passed, they were in silence.
“You shouldn’t put that much faith in me. I think I just lost it.” Mu-deok said softly, almost like a thought said out loud.
“You’re just feeling guilty. But, I thing you’re still hiding something, what is it?” he tried pressing her.
Mu-deok thought that after having this sea of memories from Bu yeon, the amount of knowledge that she has now would help her with her feelings for this guy. But it did nothing, not one tiny thing. She didn’t care that he was the fucking king’s star and probably destined for much bigger things than her own her little crush.
Little crush.
She would still die for him.
“I can’t share anything now. I need some time. And really, I think you do too, by yourself.” She needed a plan, and also need some distance from him, she can’t think straight with him so near.
He didn’t say anything for a while, but was searching in her eyes for something, anything.
“Will you return that sword to me?” he asked, more softly.
She looked at it then back at him.
“Yes, for sure.” She actually wasn’t sure.
“It’s a promise, then.”
And then it hit her. Hard. He was even smiling a bit.
She sprung towards him, placed both her hands on his cheeks, pulling him down and crashing her lips to his.
Jang Uk was about to return the kiss, but she suddenly disappeared.
And he also wasn’t sure why he was there. Was he talking with someone? He was by himself at the Gyeongcheondaeho lake.
Then, he felt something missing, something leaving, a fleeting memory. He grabbed and said internally:
“It is mine, give it back.”
A whisper came to his ears.
“How?”
“You are not taking it away! Do you know how many times she kissed me?” he didn’t wait for the whisper’s reply:
“Once! When she was drunk!”
He pulled his fleeting memory back, and it seems that something else came with it:
“Hey! Not that! That is not your memory!” said the voice.
Suddenly, another memory came and appear before him, it was when Mu-deok killed him.
“Jang Uk!” Mu-deok was shouting, after she killed him, her hand was together with his.
An overbearing bell invaded everything, it disturbed everything, everywhere.
Mu-deok was pulled into a bubble of water.
“Not him, just not him, please… everyone but him” she was crying, desperately.
The memory faded, he came back to himself. He remembered all his conversation with Mu-deok, and the kiss…He was about to shout her name again, she probably wasn’t far. But, he held it. She wanted some time and she will return his sword.