Emerald Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Two

Yuta

The bartender slid another drink towards me. I needed to lay off of the alcohol, but it was the only thing that could ease me. Sleep was hard to come by, and when I did manage to, nightmares haunted me. There was no end to it and that was something I came to accept.

I downed the hard liquor. It tasted like acid and stung the back of my throat, just the way I liked it. I'm becoming more like my father it seems. He would have drinking sessions after every council meeting. On those nights I stayed far away from him, I had learned that the hard way.

"Hit me again," I said to the bartender.

She shook her head and poured me another glass.

This search for Tisun has proved to be most difficult. The emerald was getting popular, so there were going to be a bunch of people that would throw me off course. I lost so much time over that werewolf attack. All it did was lead me to the one person I wanted to avoid.

That woman was a distraction with her power and beauty. My attempts to discourage her only did the opposite. I can't say that didn't excite me a little. Though I didn't know her reason for pursuing the emerald, I had a feeling that it was not for her own gain. She seemed to genuinely care about others. I wondered how long that would last. Regardless of the curiosity I had, we were not to meet again.

The bar door swung open. A teenage boy entered in a panic. He looked no older than fifteen and was dressed in a black jeogori with matching wide pants. Under his right arm was a wooden crutch. His dark brown hair was short and spiky.

"Please anyone help!" He limped to the center of the room.

The people in the bar stared on, but were too focused on their drinks to care.

A man who was resting his head on the table shot up. "What's with all the noise?" he asked with slurred speech.

"It's my sister. Please, she's been kidnapped," He then went into a coughing fit. When he regained his composure he continued. "He's taken her into the woods out west."

The patrons shook their heads and went back to drowning their misery with liquor.

"Do you hear what I am saying to you?" The boy said as he tugged on a man's arm. This prompted the man to shove him forcefully to the ground. He laid there in pain and sobbed.

I do not need any more distractions.

I downed the last of my drink and left ten coins on the table. The exit door was my priority at that moment.

"Swordsman, wait," he said as he struggled to stand.

I ignored his plea and walked out the door.

The boy was resilient and followed me outside. With a bad leg he could not keep up. "Swordsman!"

I pretended not to hear. He then tripped and fell. I knew I was going to regret it, but I turned around anyway.

Damn it.

He looked at me with wide eyes. I silently offered him a hand, which he took nervously. "T-thank you. My name is Joon Gu."

A pain started to grow at my temples. Life liked to through diversions at me it seemed. "What happened?" I asked, a bit aggressive.

"M-my sister, s-she- I saw the man-"

"Speak clearly," I ordered.

He took a deep breath. "Her name is Chae Sol, she was taken into the western woods."

"Do you know who it was?"

"No, I've seen him around town a few times." His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to recall the man's description. "He had a topknot and was dressed in all black. A scarf covered his nose and mouth. I tried to follow them, but because of my leg, I lost them."

With a description like that, any man could be the culprit.

"What would he want with your sister?" I asked.

"Well, she's..." He trailed off, hesitant to speak.

"She's what? Speak." I ordered.

"An oracle. She has these visions of the future. That's why I tried to protect her by keeping her from the outside world. But I couldn't even do that." He held his head down, the tears falling to the ground.

It was beginning to make sense now. Most choose to leave the future a mystery, but this man was after it. He was looking for something, but what?

The emerald?

That was a strong possibility given the emerald's rising popularity. This was going to be difficult considering the fact that there was no name to this kidnapper.

"He dropped this as he rode away. It's a message, but I can't read it." He then handed me a folded piece of parchment.

I can see why Joon Gu could not read it as the message was written in Kanji. The sender was unknown.

Yosuke, my patience is wearing thin. Find the girl and pry from her mind the location of that Emerald.

I hadn't seen that name in years. Yosuke worked alongside my father, but was found to be a traitor like Tisun. I should have known better than to think he was dead. A snake was always hard to catch but not this time.

I held the paper up to the moonlight and found the imprint of the word "Jeongotgyo."

I grinned and held the paper tightly. My change in expression made Joon Gu uneasy. "Sir?"

"I'll return your sister to you." I assured him and headed west. An old friend of mine was due for a visit.