The Last Fallen Star

by Graci Kim

  Emmett is sending death glares at Auntie Okja after what his mom said through the gwisin halmeoni, and Taeyo and Austin are standing staunchly with Sora. Judging from the way Taeyo keeps glancing at his water bottle, I’m half expecting a water snake to burst out of there if things go south. It’s not a great reunion by any means.

  Sora scoffs. “You stole her from us thirteen years ago! She should have been raised with us, not the people who killed her parents.”

  “We did not kill her parents,” Auntie Okja clarifies. She’s standing near the door, keeping her distance.

  “What lies have you told our daughter?” Appa jabs his finger in Sora’s face. “How did you deceive her to join your cursed clan? And what is the purpose of all this?”

  “No one forced me to do anything. Least of all Sora,” I interrupt, trying to pull myself together. “I made a conscious choice.” Appa’s accusation makes me feel protective of the Horangi clan, and it surprises me. “It’s all a huge misunderstanding.”

  Eomma’s and Appa’s grips on my shoulders momentarily tighten. It’s clear they have no idea that the Horangi clan was framed by the council. I steal a glance at Auntie Okja. But she is putting on an innocent face, and something inside me kindles with frustration. How can she pretend she knows none of this when she is responsible for so many deaths—including those of my own birth parents? How could she have betrayed me all these years?

  Eomma spins me around and holds my face in her hands. “You chose to initiate into the Horangi clan? Why would you do such a thing?” Deep lines are etched into her face, and I have to avert my eyes.

  “I did it for Hattie.” I reach into the neck of my top and pull out the heart vial. The whole room gasps and my blood curls at the sight. The decaying must be speeding up, because over half the organ is black rot now. “And I did it for all of us. To stop the prophecy.”

  “But why didn’t you come to us?” Appa asks, his face pained. “We’re your family, and families tackle things together. As a team. You know that.”

  “I know…” I say, looking at my feet. But how do I explain all the complicated feelings I have? That I love them and yet hate the fact that they kept my roots hidden from me. That I wanted to show them and the council I was more than what they said I was, and prove I could be a Gom, too. How do I admit that maybe I was too scared to tell the truth because once they heard it they might not want me anymore…?

  “But it doesn’t matter,” I say, running my finger along the bump on my wrist. “What’s done is done, and now the scholars are going to help us find the last artifact so we can save Hattie and destroy the star. Then all of this will be over.”

  “No thanks to you,” Emmett finally blurts out at Auntie Okja, who has been unusually quiet this whole time. Sora, Austin, and Taeyo all glare at her, too. If eyes could scream, Auntie Okja would be deaf by now.

  “What is Emmett talking about, Okja?” Eomma asks. Her eyebrows are knit together.

  Auntie Okja frowns but stays silent, which fires up Emmett even more.

  “Go on, Auntie Okja,” he eggs. “Tell them. Tell them how you were the one working with the council to steal the seventh artifact for your own use, and you framed the scholars. Tell them how you wanted my mom’s position as elder and how that got her killed.”

  “I did what?” Auntie Okja looks stunned.

  Eomma and Appa shake their heads, clearly thinking this is some kind of sick joke.

  “He’s right,” I say, backing up Emmett. My heart is beating in triple time, but I try to speak calmly. “The prophecy says:

  ‘When the blood moon and black sun appear to the gaze

  To mark the start of the end of all days,

  In the one last divine, a weapon shall rise;

  Unless the gold-destroyer ends the soul who lies.’

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about the last line, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s talking about you, Auntie O. The way I see it, it’s saying the end of all days is coming because of the last artifact, unless we stop the soul who lies. Are you the liar?”

  Everyone stares at her expectantly, but she remains speechless.

  “Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Sora asks in a steely voice.

  Austin bristles. “Do you know how many of our people died because of your actions?” There’s so much pain in his voice it makes me shudder.

  After a moment, Auntie Okja moves. Austin starts rubbing his wrist in preparation for an attack, but she just grabs a nearby wooden crate. She smooths out her skirt in one long movement before sitting on it. “When Sookhee died, I was so grief-stricken over having lost my best friend that I believed what the council told me. That the Horangi were responsible. It was easier that way—to have someone to blame.”

  Sora and Austin growl.

  Auntie Okja gives them a guilty look, massages her temples, and continues. “But the truth is, I always thought something was off. The pieces didn’t add up. It was too convenient that the scholars were there at the wrong place at the wrong time when they were the keepers of the artifact in the first place. But it wasn’t until things went sour at Hattie’s initiation that I started digging. And no matter where I looked, the same answer kept coming up. It all centered around one person who was adamant about keeping the scholars in the community’s disfavor.”

  We all lean in. “Who?” I demand. “Who was it?”

  “Bongjoon Pyo. The Samjogo elder. The chairperson of the LA council.”

  I let out a yelp, and then feel a weird sense of relief wash over me. I want so badly to believe Auntie Okja. “So it wasn’t you?” I ask. “You weren’t the one who wanted the sunstone ax? You’re innocent?”

  She hangs her head. “I’m far from innocent. I should have spoken up about my doubts a long, long time ago.” She looks at Emmett and the three scholars. “And that’s a burden I will forever carry on my shoulders. But I swear on my life, I didn’t want Sookhee’s position, and I never wanted the sunstone ax.”

  “Why do you think it’s him?” Emmett asks dubiously. “What proof do you have?”

  Auntie Okja’s forehead crinkles in concentration. “He claimed that as chairperson of the council, only he had the authority to report illegal interactions with the Horangi clan to the Godrealm. But it was odd, considering that council elders always communicate collectively with the goddesses. Plus, he’s always been dead set against my attempts to bring more diversity and inclusion into the community. I thought he was just old-fashioned, but after Hattie’s ceremony, when I tried to reason with him, I saw a different side of him. A darker side.” Her eyes crease with concern. “And then, the other day, when he told the council about his vision of Sora breaking into and entering the temple—”

  “I never did such a thing!” Sora interrupts. “I tried to meet with Gumiho Elder Kim to warn her about the prophecy, but she wasn’t willing to talk to me, so I left it at that.”

  Auntie Okja nods. “I know, I know. And that’s what I figured out. Elder Pyo claimed to have seen you breaking in, but the next time he described the vision, the details were different. Each time he told us the story, it changed. That’s how I knew he was making it all up.”

  “So why come clean now?” Sora asks, her face somber.

  Auntie Okja looks at me and Emmett, and then Hattie’s dying heart. “Because if these young people can be brave, then so can I. I believe Elder Pyo has been after the artifacts the whole time. He’s the one responsible for all the deception, encouraging Sookhee Harrison to steal the ax, the deaths, and the banishment of the Horangi clan.” The three scholars tense, and I see Austin clenching his fists. “Furthermore, I believe he is on the hunt for the last artifact as we speak. And we need to stop him before he finds it.”

  Austin puts his hand on Sora’s shoulder and whispers a few words. He must not be sure about Auntie Okja’s testimony, and I can’t say I blame him. Not after everything they’ve suffered.

  But Sora shakes her head. “If the end of days really is
coming, and the last artifact will bring it on, then we need to find it before anyone else does.”

  She looks at Auntie Okja, her eyes like pinpricks. “I don’t trust you, Okja, but I do believe you. So let’s go find this monster of a human and stop him before he destroys the world.”

  MY PARENTS, AUNTIE OKJA, the three Horangi, Emmett (with Boris), and I all drive to the Woori America Bank’s LA headquarters. When we park and I jump out of Eomma’s SUV, the sky goes dark. I frown and look up, only to find that it’s not a storm cloud that’s blocked the sun, but a bird. A ginormous bird with a human woman’s face.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask Areum. “What if the saram see you? You don’t exactly…well, blend in.”

  She shrinks to dove size and gently lowers herself onto my shoulder. “I yielded to you, Riley Oh. Wherever you go, I now go.”

  That alarms me. I’m flattered that this mighty bird-woman has decided I’m important enough to follow around, but I’m finding it hard to imagine having her on my shoulder for the rest of my life. It’s a bit too pirate-y for my liking.

  Taeyo studies Areum’s shrunken form curiously, but all the adults keep a safe distance. They’ve seen her in fury mode, so I can understand why they’re wary.

  Emmett nudges me in the side. “Come on, Rye, you tamed her. You gotta take responsibility for her now. Besides, she might come in handy—you never know.”

  Areum turns her little head and stares expectantly at me. I guess it can’t hurt for her to stay with us for the time being. “Well, you can’t come into the building with us, or else the saram are gonna think they’re hallucinating,” I say. “But maybe you can stay outside until we come back? And keep out of sight, if you can?”

  She squawks in response and flies toward the roof of the bank.

  Auntie Okja ushers us to the front of the mid-rise office building, and then she turns to Sora, Austin, and Taeyo. “I’m sure you already know this, but Elder Pyo, when not acting as chairperson of the gifted council, is also chair of the Woori America Bank.” Then she addresses the rest of us. “I called his assistant earlier, and he said Elder Pyo is here for a board meeting today. I say we go in there now and strike while the iron’s hot.”

  “That’s all good and well,” Eomma says, “but how are we going to get past security? They won’t let us through unless we have an appointment.”

  “Already ahead of you.” Taeyo holds up a slim laptop that he brought from campus. “On the ride over, I hacked into Mr. Pyo’s calendar and added an appointment with his relatives from out of town. His assistant won’t know any better.”

  I slap him on the back. “Great work, Taeyo!”

  Emmett crosses his arms and mumbles under his breath, “Guess the dude’s got some skills.”

  I can tell my parents are anxious, but they dutifully follow Auntie Okja to the entrance. The three scholars, on the other hand, are so ready they’ve already walked through the revolving doors. Emmett and I exchange a determined look and follow them inside.

  When we get to the reception desk, Sora tells the security guards about our appointment with Mr. Pyo. We glaze on the cheesy smiles, and Taeyo puts on a class act, telling one guard how excited he is about visiting his “favorite uncle, Pyo.” That earns him a compliment about his colorful attire and bow tie, at which he grins sincerely.

  The guard calls Mr. Pyo’s assistant to let him know we’ve arrived, and if the muffled voice on the other line is anything to go by, he seems surprised by the last-minute appointment. Taeyo must have done a convincing job, though, because before we know it, we are handed visitor passes and directed to the top floor.

  Once we’re upstairs, Mr. Pyo’s assistant meets us at the elevator, and his eyes widen as all eight of us file out, one by one. “Oh wow! There are so many of you….”

  He leads us to a reception area that’s furnished with fancy leather couches. Hardcover copies of the bank’s annual strategic report have been artfully arranged on the glass coffee table. “His board meeting should be wrapping up soon. Can I get you some coffee, tea, or water while you wait?” He takes our drink orders and hurries off.

  Emmett waits until the assistant has disappeared around the corner and then leaps to his feet. “Okay, let’s make our move.”

  We sneak through the doors to the inner offices and pass row upon row of impersonal cubicles just big enough to fit a laptop surface and a chair. We file past the cramped kitchenette, where people are making bowls of instant ramyeon, and enter the client-meeting area with a series of small conference rooms separated by glass walls. As we make our way down the hallway, we spot Mr. Pyo running a meeting in the biggest boardroom. He is lounging in his black leather chair at the head of the table, nodding absently as young executives in tidy suits go through stacks of papers. I’m pretty sure he’s starting to doze off.

  “There he is!” I say, pointing.

  Pyo must get that weird feeling of having eyes on him, because he suddenly sits up straight. We probably look like quite a sight just standing there in the hallway, staring at him.

  At first he quirks his head to the side, as if trying to figure out who we are and why we’re here. But once he sees Auntie Okja, then me, then Sora, his eyes widen. And before we can register what’s happening, he has leaped out of his chair and made for an exit on the far side of the room. His employees stare at his retreating back, practically scratching their heads.

  “He’s getting away!” Emmett screams. “Everyone, after him!”

  We chase him down the hallway as Mr. Pyo stumbles ahead and shoves anything within his reach into our path. Flower vases full of lilies, decorative statues of semi-clad ladies, and perfectly groomed bonsai plants fall to the floor as if an earthquake just struck, and we jump over them like we’re in a hurdle race. If I was in any doubt before, I know for sure now. This is one guilty man.

  He makes it to a window and tries to budge it open, which would have been bad luck for him if it did, since we’re on the top floor. But it doesn’t, which is also bad luck for him, because we’re quickly closing the gap. He panics, searches for any escape route, and then, in a moment of inspiration, jerks open the fire-exit door and flees down the stairwell.

  We chase after him and, even though the emergency siren is blaring in my ears, I can hear the man wheezing like an accordion all the way down the stairs. Still he somehow manages to get to the ground floor and out into the fresh air before we do.

  By the time we all file out of the exit, Mr. Pyo is by a car parked out front.

  “What do you want from me?” he shouts, sweat dripping down his face. Auntie Okja and Sora both take a step forward.

  “We need to talk,” Auntie Okja says.

  Sora nods. “We definitely need to talk.”

  “I have nothing to say. I’m innocent. Leave me alone!”

  “A bit hot under the collar for an innocent man…” Emmett comments.

  Appa nods. “Definitely looks like he needs to cool off.”

  Austin smirks and rubs his wrists together. Instantly, the water hydrant next to the parked car unscrews itself, and water shoots into the sky. Taeyo cups his hands and animates the water to snake around and dive straight for Mr. Pyo’s head in one big flow. The water pressure is so great, the man’s body thumps to the ground under its impact.

  “That should do the trick,” Taeyo says, grinning.

  Mr. Pyo gags on the water and gets drenched from head to toe before Austin shuts off the stream and allows him to get back up.

  Mr. Pyo glances down at Austin and Taeyo’s empty wrists. “How did you do that?” he asks, fear clouding his face. Then his eyes light up as if he’s suddenly remembered something. He scrambles to the trunk of his car and takes out a baseball bat. “Don’t come any closer, or I’ll use this!” He waves it around like we’re mosquitoes about to give him malaria.

  I shake my head. Too bad he doesn’t know what Sora’s dominant element is.

  Sure enough, she rubs her wrists and snaps her finger
s. And just like that, the baseball bat breaks into two clean pieces.

  Mr. Pyo’s jaw drops. Then, finally admitting defeat, he falls to his knees and starts begging. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll tell you anything. Just don’t hurt me!”

  Sora steps forward and glares down at him. “Tell us why you did it. Why did you frame our clan and get us banished? Why did you go to such lengths at the expense of so many lives?”

  Austin spits on the pavement in disgust, and even Taeyo’s face has gone red with anger. “And where is the last artifact?” I add.

  “She made me do it! She said if I did, she would reward me with the artifact. But if I didn’t, she would kill me.”

  “Who’s she?” Auntie Okja demands.

  “Sookhee Harrison. She made me do it, and then she killed all those people to get the ax. But after Sookhee was killed, it was too late to come out with the truth. I couldn’t reveal the part I played. So instead, I blamed the Horangi…. What else was I supposed to do?”

  Emmett gasps and I frown. That couldn’t be right. Emmett’s mom had told the gwisin halmeoni that she didn’t kill those people. She said someone she trusted had betrayed her. Someone who was working with the council.

  “You’re lying!” I say. I want to shake the man until the truth rattles out of his mouth.

  Then I remember something else Emmett’s mom had said through the gwisin halmeoni. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I was possessed.

  The cogs start spinning in my head. “Are you sure it was her?” I ask Mr. Pyo. “Are you sure it wasn’t someone who just looked and sounded like Sookhee? Someone who happened to be using her body?”

  Emmett grips my arm. “What are you talking about, Rye? The man is clearly delusional!”

  Mr. Pyo gapes at me as if I’ve just asked him to eat his arm. But then his eyebrows merge until they look like one long caterpillar on his forehead. “Wait…” His face goes as white as Appa’s makgeolli, and he drops his head in his hands. “Oh Mago, that makes so much sense,” he mumbles.