𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐒

#.. THIRTEEN

the spirit world was scary. it was identical to the real world, but with the sole difference that everything was still different in a way jiseok couldn't tell.

arriving at the said village, everything around there was based on magic. in the middle of the village was a big golden fountain, yet instead of water, it leaked a glowing substance.

"it's an indicator about the wellbeing of the village" hyeongjun explained as they stopped in front of it, as jiseok was captivated by the bright color.

"see, it's purple. it usually is white and pure, that changed ever since i had to replace the fire princess.

the white liquid was healing wounds, illnesses, everything. now that it's purple, it does the exact opposite, so don't touch it.

gunil believes in peace more than anyone else, so we have to expect that gyuri will be attacking us. she'll recognize me instantly."

jiseok felt a pain in his heart, it came so suddenly, he had to sit down for a moment, hissing, he closed his eyes and put his hand on the spot where it hurt, alarming hyeongjun.

opening his eyes again once the pain subsided a little, he saw a girl in the distance, also clutching at her chest, seemingly in pain. once their eyes locked, jiseok felt trapped.

it was like he looked at himself through the mirror, yet the mirror showed him a different reflection. hyeongjun looked at him, then towards the direction he was looking.

"fuck.." he cursed and decided to stand in between the two, blocking jiseok's vision and pulling him out of the trance he was in. "ji, that's your spirit. do not look at her!"

someone tapped hyeongjun's shoulder in a try to gain his attention, yet hyeongjun didn't move. "didn't expect that you'd return one day, hyeongjun."

the coldness of her voice indicated that it must be gyuri. jiseok couldn't even comprehend what happened next, he just heard hyeongjun's loud cry of pain.

looking at the spot next to him, he saw how hyeongjun was drowned in the fountain, desperately trying to move but by trying to use fire to scare the attacker away. but air was the weakness of fire.

jiseok figured that it must be gyuri, taking him too long to react as he quickly stood up and used a gust of wind to push her away. the girl stumbled back in surprise, not having expected jiseok to be an airbender, before she realised who it was.

she turned around, waving the girl jiseok looked at earlier to them. "i found our brother." jiseok's confirmation that it was gyuri.

quickly, he pulled hyeongjun out of the fountain, who was too weak to do so before. it was like his face was just dunked into acid, his skin was peeling off, blue blood gushing out of open wounds.

yet hyeongjun ensured him that he was fine, standing up shakily as he faced gyuri, a stern gaze. the two just looked at each other for a few moments.

"how does it feel like to betray your own kind?" gyuri suddenly said, scoffing. "to betray your own fate?"

hyeongjun coughed up blood, noticing the effects of the purple liquid touching his skin faster than expected. "it feels great" he replied cockily, trying to not seem hurt.

jiseok's spirit stood right next to gyuri, looking at the two with hypnotising eyes, mainly directed towards her human self. yet jiseok didn't dare looking at her, forcing himself to look at gyuri.

"her fighting is like gunil's" he thought, trying to find a way to defeat her. "i know gunil's techniques, but how will i be able to tell them to hyeongjun?"

and before he could realise it, it was suddenly extremely hot around him. hyeongjun attacked first, using his firebending to shoot a jet of fire towards them.

gyuri blocked it, extinguishing the fire and using the smoke as a way to attack them, yet jiseok dissolved the smoke with a whirl of the fresh air.  he couldn't really do anything, there was too little time to react.

his spirit faced the same problem, watching the two fight in shock, before facing jiseok. jiseok saw it in his peripheral vision. it was his turn to fight.

closing his eyes, he turned to face his spirit. he couldn't look at her, so he had to trust his instincts.

it was like fighting with himself, he had to think in two ways. first, how to attack, and second, how he would react to such attack to dodge anything from her.

hearing hyeongjun's grunts and screams, he quickly figured that the boy must be losing. jiseok's purpose was to help hyeongjun, that's why he came along. his spirit was bothering him.

their duel was a pretty fair one, both having the same skill level. yet it started to annoy jiseok that neither him or her stopped.

so he sighed. he really didn't want to kill, but it was necessary now in order to help hyeongjun. gunil once explained to him how to remove the air from someone's body.

"air is everywhere but not in a vacuum" he recalled gunil voice. "the body isn't a vacuum. you just have to find a way to reach into someone. concentrate on their body, their movements."

jiseok stopped being aggressive, just dodging her attacks as he focussed on how her body moved, envisioning her every step.

"it is very unethical and brutal, so i only recommend doing this technique when you're in true danger." that situation could be count as danger. hyeongjun was injured, and he could die as well.

"you should feel a tingling in your core and in your fingertips. once the feeling is there, you have to be quick. locate the air the person breathed out and grab it and twist it out with that motion."

jiseok remembered the move gunil did. as he never thought he'd be using this method, jiseok never practiced it. so it took him quite a long time to feel that tingling gunil described.

once it was there, everything happened so fast. he carried out the next step, hearing her faint gasp as her body thudded down to the floor.

only then jiseok dared to open his eyes. his spirit was dead. her lifeless body laid on the floor and just then jiseok realised the heaviness of his act.

the pain in his chest resumed, making him cry out as he fell down to the floor, unable to stand. it felt like a part of his soul was ripped out, his vision started to blur and his head was pulsating.

he barely registered hyeongjun's pain-filled scream before a lightning brightened up the place, losing his consciousness right after.