by Daju Lee
"No!" Juna shouted, trying not to see the violence. Jinho doubled up his fists, and rushed to Mapi without even thinking for a moment.
"Pieces of memory that soothe your mind!" Jinho shouted unconsciously and grabbed Mapi's shoulders. He was then overcome by a strange feeling. He saw an enormous wave engulf the ship and everything was washed away. He was suddenly seeing old memories from his past, whilst everything else disappeared. It was now a summer night, and he lay down with his mum on the low bench in the garden. The memory appeared quite sweet. Mum would fan young Jinho from time to time, which made him feel better from the summer heat. Father would stop by and make silly jokes and everyone would laugh at them. When Jinho giggled at the memory as if it were in real, it vanished into thin air. Unlike before, when he was shaking with anxiety and fear, he felt comfortable.
~
He gradually came to his senses to find Juna and Hyun standing by him.
"What did you just do?" Juna asked, with a look of incredulity on her face.
"Where are Mapi and Louie?" Jinho asked, confused.
Hyun hurriedly replied: "They went back to their rooms, as if nothing had happened."
"And you are alright?" Jinho asked.
After bleeding, he had managed to endure the pain. Hyun wrinkled his nose: "Thanks to the Strong Sailor."
"Strong Sailor?" Jinho asked back to the now smiling Hyun. "Yes, you. You are a Strong Sailor."
Hearing that he was a Strong Sailor, the pain of his injured stomach faded away. "Did the Strong power really come from myself? Is that true?" Jinho asked Juna. Juna, who never lies, made an uncertain look towards him. "…I asked if it is true!"
"Well, I saw something strange coming from you." Juna reluctantly replied.
Though the situation was concluded, Hyun and Juna, who had followed Jinho to his cabin, could not move. Still with nervous excitement, Jinho paced around the room reading his father's note.
"Jolting water shadows, power of the black storm…" As if brandishing a magic stick, Jinho quickly spun one hand, calling a Strong power one by one. Nothing happened. He slumped down with embarrassment, closing the notebook. "Are you sure that I really became a Strong Sailor?"
"Yes, I am. I did see it. The light, that only comes from a Strong Sailor. I can't describe exactly what it is but observing it makes one feel enchanted."
"I see."
Flattered by Hyun's words, he still was not completely sure that he had such power. If it was a dream, he did not want to wake up from it. Being good at something, especially being better than Juna was, is something that he experienced there for the first time. A feeling of delight and satisfaction filled up his heart.
"This isn't the time to be so proud. You've changed so much already by coming here. It's strange. We don't need to be so involved here, it's not wise." Juna saw him as if he were a much younger brother. He would have normally be offended and shouted at her, but instead he just smiled.
"No worries. I am not who I once was."
"By the way, I don't quite understand how you could be a Strong Sailor of the Mari." Hyun said, wiping the smile off his face. "As all the sailors of the Mari were decided a long time ago. There's no way of someone else becoming a sailor. Especially a Strong one. That's really strange."
As Hyun tilted his head and explained, Juna, as if she had been waiting for him to say this, added: "That's right. It's very unlikely. He must have somehow been overpowered by a weird energy. I am worried he will become driven by vanity alone if he is a Strong Sailor or something."
"It's fine. Even if I had been overcome by something weird, as you put it. But for now, I have the confidence to find my dad with my new powers. I don't mind you mocking me for showing off. I feel like I can touch the sky now, and you guys look so lovely." Gazing at both of them softly, Jinho outstretched his arms to hug them.
"What? Don't touch me! You're so creepy!" Juna moved away, freaking out.
She felt that Jinho had changed from the person he was minutes earlier. She wasn't sure if she felt comfortable with the changed Jinho.
Mapi, Island of Destruction
One day passed without a single incident. Jinho realised once again how peaceful it is to spend time without anything at all happening. Mapi and Louie had not caused any problems ever since. In fact, they were probably avoiding each other. Since there were no more fights between the two, time in the ship passed so slowly, to the point that Jinho and Juna started to get bored.
The Mari, now slowed down by the calm sea, was still heading endlessly eastwards.
"Where on Earth is the place where my dad is? Will this ship ever find it?"
Doubts arose within Jinho, but he did not lose all hope, especially with what he had experienced yesterday. He decided not to worry about his mum anymore as well. If he found his father, and returned home with him, everything would be fixed.
"The air smells a bit different." Hyun casually said, whilst observing the sea. He was sitting on the bow near Jinho.
"Smell? I can't really tell." He replied, gazing at Hyun.
Hyun closed his eyes and deeply inhaled in the air. "Yes, it is different. I can smell the shore. The smell of soil, trees and…"
"And?" Jinho asked Hyun back.
"Blood." Hyun's face hardened. No sooner had he finished his words than the sound of whistles came out from the Mari.
"Ready for the port entry!" Mapi's deep voice was heard from underneath, in the cabins below.
"Ready for the port entry!" Repeating after Mapi, Hyun sprung to his feet. Mapi, coming up to the deck, grabbed the anchor rope and Louie hurried up a rope ladder to the look-out tower. Judging from his absence, Berr must not have come out of his room yet.
"Passengers are asked to return to the cabin and wait until the port entry is completed." He spoke to Jinho with a serious look on his face.
"What's going on?" Waiting in the cabin, Juna nervously asked. "Port entry. I guess it's about to reach the shore."
"Is it?" Juna's face brightened upon hearing the word 'shore'. "Which means, we can go home?"
"Well, I doubt it," Hyun said. "We are reaching the island to search for the lost sailors."
Jinho could not tell her that Hyun had smelt blood. He did not want to frighten her too much.
~
Some time later, they felt the ship stopped, and heard the sound of sailor's footsteps.
"Dear passengers, we all are about to disembark. Please prepare yourself." Hyun said, entering the cabin.
"But… isn't Juna allowed to stay here? It might be dangerous for her outside."
Hyun pondered for a moment, then said calmly: "Maybe. Do you wanna stay here then?" Feeling the unusual atmosphere, Juna started to worry slightly.
"Then, are you gonna stay too, Jinho?
Jinho shook his head with a determined look in his eyes. "No, dad might be here, I need to look for him."
It was obvious that Jinho had changed. He used to be the first to run away, whenever a difficult situation approached. Juna would happily take care of it, even if she was left alone.
Even if Jinho had changed, this was a very unusual situation. The possibility of going to the island seemed dangerous. Juna could not help but hesitate.
"I'll come with you too, then." She had decided. Although she did not want to get off, she disliked the idea of remaining on the ship alone even more.
~
Reaching the island, they found that something there had such a stench, they felt a strong feeling of nausea.
"What is this smell?" Juna asked, holding her nose.
No one dared to answer the question. Mapi was walking at the head of the group, facing depressing, cold winds.
"You are gonna see something interesting." He seemed strangely excited, his body flinching.
Leaving the seaside and reaching the top of a low mountain, a fine view of the plains could be seen. Fire was roaring up from chimneys all over the extensive landscape.
The sickening smell became stron
ger, so that even holding your nose was no help. Looking carefully towards the places where smoke came from, Mapi's eyes twitched.
"This is a war." After mumbling to himself, he hurriedly ran down from the mountain.
"A war?" Juna took two steps back in surprise.
"What? A war?" Louie shook his head. "Does it mean that I, such a noble person, have to walk through such a terrible place?" He sat down on a rock, placing a handkerchief carefully to avoid any dirt. "You guys go on by yourselves. I should've stayed in the Mari like Berr." Gathering up his hair, Louie made a snooty face.
"No way! We go together. We are the only people who can save our colleagues confined to the island." Hyun dragged Louie's arm.
"You've got fine friends beside you. I am not really inclined to save them." As if he had touched something dirty, Louie shook off Hyun's hand. Unsure what to do, Hyun looked at Jinho.
"Let's just go by ourselves." Not having had much expectation of Louie, Jinho made up his mind and took the lead.
~
The closer they came to the bottom of the mountain, the more isolated the ambience became. The forest was nearly completely burned by the fires, and smoke now bellowed out from the trees, which glowed with embers.
"What kind of heroics do you have in mind, going in there? This is just your reckless bravado." Following him, Juna vented her grievances. As Jinho still carried on ahead without any reaction to her words, Juna kicked a burnt tree next to her in anger. Now split into two pieces, the tree erupted murky ashes into the air. Dusting the ashes from all over her, Juna shouted to Jinho:
"Let's not go through there!"
Only then did he sigh and turn around.
"That's why I told you to stay there."
Juna didn't know what to say. As a matter of fact, Jinho recommended that she stayed with Louie before they came down from the mountain, but she did not want to be with a weird man in this possibly dangerous island even for one minute. She had wished that Jinho too, had stayed, but could not ask because of her pride.
"Do you have any reason to think that Mr. Kim is here?"
"Of course not, but that doesn't mean there is any evidence that my dad isn't here."
Jinho concisely answered her question. Juna had always thought that he acted selfishly. Nothing had really changed in him.
And you are talking about change?
She thought, kissing her teeth in disappointment to his actions. However, since Juna had no other choice but follow him, she could not object to it anymore. She just had to think about herself and step carefully in this perilous place.
The road became tougher and tougher. Sometimes they were frightened by the burned branches, falling right in before their eyes, other times they had to shelter themselves from the radiant embers blown by winds. The mountain fire seemed to be extinguished, but it roared again when the winds blew. This made them forever cautious.
"Look over there!"
Hyun, having gone through the forest, saw something and made a gesture towards the downward slope. It would sound strange to call it a spectacle, however there was no other way to describe it. You could say it was a bleak and horrendous spectacle. It was the war that Mapi spoke of earlier, and from afar the two groups of people were fighting with swords and shields could be seen.
With the strong smell of the blood approaching nearer, they found several people who had fallen in battle. Some of them were still alive, wriggling in agony and covered in blood. The moaning sounds were heard all around. Juna, shocked, turned her face away.
In the background, behind the field of bodies, new troops could be seen advancing towards each other. They were each holding banners, one with an emblem of an axe and the other had an eagle on its crest. The soldiers' war cries sounded off, trying to intimidate each other and to show their might. They commenced battle, clashing and tangling together chaotically.
Gradually, the army with the axe emblem began to lose to the eagle clan. The axe flags fell down to the ground one by one and they started to retreat. Not missing their chance to defeat them, countless arrows and spears were flung from the eagle clan, and many of the axe army soldiers succumbed to the assault.
There was one soldier riding on a horse from the axe clan territory. Raising a large spear and a shield into the air, he courageously rode forward. It was Mapi. He was excited, feeling at home on the battlefield like a fish in water. Shouting in joy, he easily deflected the flying arrows and spears aimed at him. He rode towards the Eagle flag territory confidently and the enemies were swiftly dispatched by the spear he brandished. With every successful mark, Mapi became more excited. Tirelessly he pierced their chests with his spear one by one in quick succession.
As the tide of war turned in their favour, the Axe army arranged the last remaining troops again and forged an attack. Under Mapi's command, the Axe army troops mercilessly killed the soldiers from the other side. As the leader in a chariot retreated in defeat, the war had ended and the Eagle flag could be seen scattered in all directions.
"What is happening here?"
Jinho was surprised to see the Axe army soldiers revering Mapi, as if he was a hero.
The surviving soldiers all flocked to Mapi and chanted his name.
"Mapi! Mapi! Hail the king!"
The chant became a song and was spread out. The soldiers carried Mapi on their shoulders and headed out.
"Let's follow them." Jinho hastened to run after the soldiers.
They followed the soldiers to a fairly large castle which was in a state of decline; the traces of the war evident on the outside walls. The stone buildings stone were blackened and no grass was to be seen, making the place feel desolate. Bizarrely, every townsperson they saw, even kids, were carrying weapons and wearing armour like a soldier.
As Hyun and Juna were trying to pass by a house, an old woman standing outside the door kept staring at them, with a sceptical look.
"Who are you? Are you enemy troops, spying on us?"
Watching for her chance, the woman suddenly grabbed Hyun by the scruff of his neck as they passed and shook it.
"What's wrong with you?" Jinho forcefully peeled off the woman's hand from Hyun.
"Who are you guys?" The woman fiercely turned on Jinho.
By the sounds heard around them, the townspeople were already slowly approaching them. They all looked savage, not unlike the woman. Just before they reached Jinho and were about to wield their weapons, the loud sound of trumpets was heard from the main square in front of the castle gates.
"A new king has arrived to our lands! He led the War of May into victory!"
In reaction to the cavalryman's shout, people around him yelled out a cheer and people from afar stopped what they had been doing to flock to the square.
"What? A new king, who led us to victory?"
By the cavalryman's word, the woman who was harshly dragging Jinho, put down her hands and ran towards the square. The townspeople around her followed after her, not caring about Jinho.
"Mapi, Mapi. The king of ours!"
Mapi, appearing among the chanting soldiers and the people, indifferently waved his hands towards the people, welcoming him. Even when the march disappeared into the castle, the chanting of the people did not stop. They kept calling Mapi's name in front of the closed gate of the castle. Working himself into the crowd, Jinho and the others stood in front of the gatekeeper of the castle.
"Who are you?" Stopping them with a long spear, the gatekeeper stared fiercely at the group, thinking that they were a threat.
"We are colleagues of Mapi." Answered Hyun briskly.
As if he could not believe, the gatekeeper looked him up and down and saw Hyun's red scarf. He then conferred with the gatekeeper next to him and went inside the castle. He then soon hurriedly ran out.
"I apologise. Please come inside."
"Are we okay to go inside?" Juna looked around, feeling worried.
The stone building, once decorated prestigiously, was blackened as well like
the houses in the town. Statues were left broken and unattended in the castle garden and beside them stood military tents for training. The soldiers were either training or maintaining their weapons in the tents. They looked bloodthirsty, without even a sign of tiredness.
"What on earth is this country?" Juna felt horrified to see the canons laid out in a row on the rampart.
The gatekeeper led them to the throne, where Mapi was now sitting. Mapi wore a long magisterial cloak, which was stretched to the ground over the chair. Sitting arrogantly down the chair and wearing a crown on a tilt, he called them over with gestures.
"Come on in. This is now my kingdom." He continued, arrogantly. "This country is governed only by power. Welcome to these courageous lands. Here, we fight until death." Mapi beckoned a royal guard to his side: "Now, prepare a bountiful feast for me."
On his word, the servants brought a long table to the throne and delivered food in turn. They were various fruits and rare dishes. Finding the cloak he had on the shoulders and the crown cumbersome, he took them off and sat in front of the table to eat ravenously.
"So different from those horrid lumps of charcoal." Once full, Mapi sat back from the table and said with contempt. "How come you are not eating?"
Upon hearing his question, Jinho realised he had never felt hungry since he used the words 'the
pieces of memory that soothe mind'. As if Juna and Hyun had felt the same, they did not even touch the food.
"Don't we have more important things to do? We should search for the lost ones." Jinho finally spilled the words he had been suppressing.