Pneuma | BbangHyun✅

Arrival

[현]

We walked around town for the house the grandson had described. "Maybe they repainted?" "And redecorated apparently." We had been just about everywhere in town, but no house. I stopped a few locals, but none of them knew who I was talking about. Did he send us on a wild goose chase? I rubbed my temples then noticed something different. "Hoon..." "Yeah?" I walked over to a house then touched it. As I expected, a ripple came off of it. "Wait, this isn't real?" I checked to make sure no other areas had the same effect.

I stepped through the ripple and was surprised by how opposite everything seemed. Younghoon soon joined me in my wonderment. "Maybe they live on this side of town." We walked through and received looks from the residents. "I don't feel safe here. How did the grandson do it?" They were only looking at me, which didn't help. We spotted the house and immediately rushed over. "Anyone home?"

The door opened and revealed a slim and well dressed woman. "State your business." I showed her the grandson's signature then she let us in. "So you're friends with that boy?" "Yeah." Her eyes softened as she served us tea. "He's a good kid. Yet he suddenly left without a word." I looked at Younghoon who looked just as curious as I. "What happened?" "A little mishap perhaps...in our minds." "Do you mean...?" She only smiled and set her cup down. "Now, why are you here?" I produce the box from my pocket then returned it to its original size. "We heard you could tell us about the song that plays from this."

The song winded down and we looked at her for an answer. "It's the Lily Lullaby. It was very popular back during the monarchy days, but it's been banned from being listened to and sung. Not many remember this tune." I ran my hand over the box then sighed. My other mother must've sung it for me. "Do you know why it's been banned?" "No. I was only a little girl when they placed the ban. I think the only way to find out is through the source itself." "Thank you." We stood to leave, but I found myself needing to sit down. "Jae?" My head was throbbing along with my wings.

"Who's there?" I weakly looked around as the bright room was now dark. I felt arms wrap around me and hold me close. "What is that thing!?" I could barely lift my head to look. "No..." It was that shadow creature again, but bigger. "Jae, hold on!" What was it doing here? How did it find me? The throbbing started to subside as we moved farther away. "Cutie! Where is she?" "She's still inside with her." "Those things are dangerous..." "You know something about it?"

I noticed the woman had exited the house as lights continued to flash inside. "Cutie and I ran into them a long time ago...If you let them near you, you start to sink into the ground. I don't know where it leads, but I'm content without knowing. But that was before I had wings...I don't know what'll happen now..." I touched my back as I remembered the throbbing sensations. The lights had ceased and the dark fog had lifted from her home. Younghoon slowly landed back on the ground near the woman.

"I'm assuming those weren't friends of yours?" "Not at all." I looked and saw Cutie walking out with Gin tow. "My, what are those?" "We're furmiliars, miss." She looked taken aback by Cutue's ability to speak and comprehend. "I haven't seen a furmiliar in years..." She soon held Cutie in her hands then poked and prodded her all over. "This is advanced magic..." I felt her eyes on us. "You must know a really strong angel." I quietly exhaled as she wasn't suspecting us.

"Well, what do you both plan to do now that you know of the song?" "Find out why it was banned and who had a part in it." She tapped her chin then pointed to her left. "There's a crazy historian quite a few towns and cities over. He might know something." I looked at Younghoon who only smiled. "You both seem to know a lot." She simply smiled then conjured up directions for us. "Be careful when you get there. I heard a decade after the fall of the monarchy, the city of Paldin is heavily wary of outsiders. They even do wing inspections." My mind filled with worry at the mention of wing inspection. What would happen if they saw I was royalty?

"Why do you look worried? Are you sick? They don't let sick people in in fear of disease." "He's just never had a wing inspection. That's all." "I see. I wish you both luck in your travels." I couldn't stop thinking about the wing inspection. I felt Younghoon lift me up in his arms and take flight. It was strange to see him so quiet. "What's on your mind, Hoon?" He held me a bit tighter but didn't say anything.

I leaned my head against his shoulder as I decided to wait before bringing it back up. "I'm afraid." I looked at him in surprise. "Afraid of what?" "Of what we could possibly learn. What if things aren't exactly as they seem?" He stopped then looked at me. "What if we're actually a threat to the world?"