by J D Astra
“It also puts you squarely in enemy territory under the guise of friendship and collaboration, in a prime position to gather intelligence. The king of Kokyu is allowing several Bastion instructor escorts next year, to help us feel comfortable about the exchange.”
“You’re sending us on a mission!” Yuri said with excitement.
Min-hwan pressed a finger to his lips. He pulled it away, then said, “It is treasonous to use the exchange students for warfare. We would be executed by King Il-suk. I was not suggesting that Bastion is charging you with a reconnaissance mission against the wansil-ne Dokun.”
I glanced to Hana. She looked back, wearing the same determined expression as me. I looked back to Min-hwan. “We understand, Grandmaster.”
He nodded. “That said, if you would like to surrender your seat in the exchange program, or not perform the role of instructor escort, you may choose to do so. We will detract enough points from your score before the end of the year to drop you out of the top twenty, and you’ll never think of this moment, or the true nature behind the attack, again.”
Min-hwan paused, then looked to me. “You may take the rest of the day to decide. Please return back here just before dinner with your decision.”
I took a deep breath at the sheer enormity of the choice before us. With the fate of our world at stake, I had the opportunity to spearhead the first effort to stop it. It wouldn’t be the only opportunity, I knew, but this could be the pivotal moment that prevented calamity.
Or we could die failures, dishonored by our king and kingdom. They would label our family lines as traitorous, and my family would be cast out of Busa-nan. They would be forced to fend for themselves in a world without community, friends, or support—in a world without me.
The determined confidence evaporated as I looked to Hana.
Could I risk sentencing my family to exile?
Could I risk sentencing them to death?
Chapter 43
HANA HELD MY FACE IN her hands. “Smile, please. By Jigu, Jiyong, you look like you’re dead inside.”
I smirked, then pecked her lips. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”
“We all do,” Yuri said as she fluffed up the flowers in the vase on the counter. She and Cho had decorated my family’s new kitchen wonderfully. There were pictures and murals saved from the fire that they worked into everything.
The whole apartment was decorated from top to bottom. Mother’s room had two beds—albeit one smaller—so she and Minjee didn’t always have to share, and a bathroom with running water. The boys had stacked bunks—as requested—and a nook not unlike a miniature version of my workshop in the Rabid Rabbit. Suyi and Eun-bi opted to share a room, leaving the fourth for me.
I had planned to live in my apartment only a few stories up, but the family was insistent about us being together. Mother was particularly adamant about me not being ready to live on my own yet, though I had already lived on my own for several weeks over the summer.
Eun-bi was getting older. I wanted her and Suyi both to know the joy of privacy, but when I had moved to protest, Mae stopped me. I realized it wasn’t that I couldn’t live on my own, it was that Mother needed me. So, I’d sold my apartment back to Woong-ji and cleared out.
I could get another room above the Rabbit any time, but for now, Mother needed some constants in her life to adjust to the kingdom. She needed all of her family members home—especially after the one we’d disowned.
My stomach turned with guilt and worry.
“This is too much for them,” I whispered.
“It won’t be. We’ll all be here for them, and for you,” Hana said. She smiled, her face glowing with kindness. She pecked me on the cheek and went back to organizing the pillows at the table.
I nodded and swallowed back fear. We could do this. I could help them adjust to this... but not if I was thousands of kilometers away hunting for clues in the Kokyu.
“That’s a whole six months from now. You can get them settled in,” Mae said out loud.
“What’s this you’re worried about now, Jiyong?” Yuri asked with amusement.
I sighed, then whispered, “What if I leave them behind for good?”
Cho put his hand on my shoulder on his way to the kitchen. “This is a hard choice we each have to make. I don’t want to do this without all of you. I’m scared. I’m not strong, I’m just good with li. What can I do over there on my own?” he asked, looking helpless.
We were silent, not wanting to say what was on our collective minds. None of us would be very effective on our own.
Cho sighed. “But I will. I’ll go over there completely alone if I have to. This isn’t about me surviving or not surviving. This is about the world surviving or slowly succumbing to an evil man who will torment and enslave them. I have to go.”
“I already decided I was going,” Hana said, determined. “This is my path. When I asked to attend Bastion, I wanted to protect our people. I wanted to protect Busa-nan. I have seen what the powerful do to the weak.
“Even if my role is small, I must do my part to save those who can’t save themselves. I must protect my family,” she said as she reached out for my hand. I took it, and we smiled at one another.
Yuri shrugged, sheepishly. “You guys are my best friends. Where you go, I go.”
I gripped Hana’s hand tightly as I looked between my friends. There was no guarantee we would find anything to help us against Dokun. Worse, we could be caught trying to spy on the other kingdom and be executed by our own. My family would be exiled and struggle the rest of their lives.
On the other hand, the benefits of staying behind were a great many. Mae and I could work on reverse engineering the signal to see if we could craft a cure for Mother. I could see my siblings every day and help them with school or their apprenticeships. I could fix Tuko.
I looked down in defeat. None of those things was more important than understanding and stopping Dokun’s plots. He was using powerful machina from the ancient ones, and Hiro had a piece of Mae controlling the signals for the drugs, two things that didn’t seem coincidental. Those things would surely kill my family faster than their exile if I was caught and executed.
I had also made a promise to Mae. I would find her pieces and put her back together to restore her memory. But this was about so much more than just that promise. She was dangerous in the wrong hands.
Like the Machina Spear, Mae could be used like a tool. The other piece of her had coded the malware that attacked the students of Bastion and so many citizens. If Dokun could make that worldwide, every kingdom would fall under the heel of his boot.
“I’m sorry,” Mae whispered to me.
I winced. ‘I didn’t mean to think of you like that. You’re not a tool—”
“Yes, I am,” she cut in, coldly. “We saw it Hiro Kumiho using me to broadcast the signal. I was the tool that killed all those citizens.”
My hand slipped from Hana’s and I turned to the glass patio door. I stared out across the city and breathed deep. ‘We will find all those pieces and get you in control of them. I promised you, and I’m not going back on it. You—the you I know—would never do anything like that. I trust you.’
“I hope I can merge with them without losing myself,” she whispered, fearful.
‘We’ll face that together.’
She sent a tiny blue heart up through my vision. “Thank you.”
I nodded and turned back to my friends. “I’m in. Let’s upend this madman’s grand design.”
The buzzer at the door rang, and I jumped. That noise would take some getting used to. I walked to the panel beside the door and held down the talk button.
“Who is it?” I asked the speaker.
“It’s us!” the whole family yelled at once.
I grinned. “Be right down.”
They were here.
What if they hated it?
The view outside that window was nothing like they were used to. The tall ceilings a
nd open spaces would be alien. The patio garden wouldn’t be enough.
I turned to my friends, and my grin morphed into an anxious frown.
“It’ll be fine,” Hana said with a coo as she wrapped her arm in mine. “Let’s go get them.”
We made it to the bottom, where everyone waited with a bright grin—even Mother. I hugged them all and brought them into the elevator, their first one. I showed them how to activate it with their ma. Minjee and Mother would both need help using it, but I already had an idea for a device that would give them the power to work it on their own.
We moved down the artificially lit hallway, and everyone’s smiles faded. This was not what they’d had in mind. I grinned as I turned the handle and pushed open the door. Looks of awe came next. Everyone’s mouths hung agape as they looked into their new home.
The glass door to the patio was straight ahead, and Eun-bi rushed toward it. We’d filled the four-by-two-meter patio with two trellises on either side, pots of all sizes filled with rich, dark soil, and a comfortable couch for enjoying the view.
Daegon ran to the kitchen at the scent of curry. Cho was there, stirring a boiling pot with a grin. Who knew that Li Alchemy could teach him how to cook! It was all a matter of careful measurement and following the rules, he’d said.
When my mother didn’t cross the threshold, I put my hand on her back. “Welcome home.”
She looked to me with tears in her eyes. “And to think I resisted for so long. What a wonderful home we have to fill.”
We gave the full tour, then sat down for a meal. The table was able to fold in or expand to fit more guests, making it easier for my siblings’ friends to come over. We would have normal, happy lives.
The curry was excellent, and none remained at the end of the meal. Do-hwan and Daegon ran off to explore their room while the others helped with cleanup or decoration. My mother, though, stepped out onto the patio. I followed her, closing the door tight behind me.
She leaned on the railing as she looked out over the kingdom.
“This really is wonderful. You’ve done so much for us,” she whispered.
I wrapped my arm around her. “You’re my family. I will do everything I can for you.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. The view wasn’t too bad, for the lower kingdom. Off to the left we could see the bay between a few other tall buildings. The blue water shimmered like gems in the afternoon sun. We could also see the hints of the palace through the tallest buildings near the center of the kingdom. It wasn’t a forest outside our back patio, but it was still something special. We could make it special together.
“I need to talk about something,” my mother said after a moment, and my stomach lurched with worry.
“What is it?” I asked, keeping my voice steady through my anxiety.
She moved to the plush wicker couch and sat back. I joined her.
“I miss the swing,” she said with a sigh. The swinging bench had been destroyed in the blast from the foreign Mae’s explosion.
I chuckled, relieved that was all. “I’ll make one.”
She smiled, hiding sadness as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it, then held it out to me. It was a poster about Ambassador Dokun’s arrival in a week for the closing ceremonies at Bastion. The subtitle read that he’d be making several stops, including the palace.
“It’s the foreign ambassador from Kokyu,” I said stoically and handed it back.
She crumpled the paper in her hand and crossed her arms. “There’s so much I haven’t told you. I thought you were too young.” She tutted sarcastically. “I was wrong.”
I let her gather her thoughts. She shook her head, her eyes focused on one point in the city as she chewed her lower lip. Finally, she was ready to relive the life she had hidden from us all.
Chapter 44
“YOUR FATHER’S PARENTS left the Kokyu when the second war broke out. They feared for his life and possibilities. Your grandmother’s brother wasn’t pleased. He was head of the family line—uh, things work differently there. The whole family clan is presided over by the eldest male of the previous clan leader.
“But it’s more than just a status, it is power. The eldest male can command the family clan to do anything, and they must comply or face whatever consequences the head dreams up. Infighting isn’t uncommon after a marriage.”
She paused, looking at me with a grim wince. “So, you can see how I resisted your control for this reason. I didn’t want the practices of Hiroto’s homeland to bleed into our lives... It’s toxic. But”—she rubbed her hand across my cheek—“you were never trying to control us. You’ve always been trying to serve us.”
“I have,” I whispered and held her hand.
“I know. Your grandparents returned to the Kokyu at Dokun’s beckoning. He wasn’t happy they left, but he let them. When things settled down in the Kokyu, he ordered them home, but Hiroto had met me.
“He was seventeen, and we were so in love,” she smiled, but tears streaked her face. I held her hand tighter. “He declared independence from his family clan and took a new name, Law. This was his right as the oldest male of his line, and his uncle allowed it.
“Still, the family held sway over him, and your great uncle controlled a great deal of our lives. I remember the day the message came. Your father took me out to the Valley of the Stars and swore himself to me. I had never been happier.” Tears flowed down her cheeks, and I produced my handkerchief for her.
She dried her eyes and went on. “His uncle came to our union. I remember he was stiff. He pitied me, my family, and our way of life in the outer-cities. But he wasn’t unkind. He loved his nephew.”
The train horn blasted in the distance, and she stopped to look out across the city. Her face became expressionless as she followed the train weaving through the buildings.
“I never told you the story of how I got sick. A lifetime ago, Hiroto was teaching us to shape our cores. I had been building mine for years—the wrong way. You were so young and eager. You soaked up everything and grew so fast. You were incredible.”
She laughed and squeezed my hand as she looked at me with teary eyes. “You are incredible.”
Her face turned down in desolation as her shoulders shook from withheld sobs. I pulled her into me and held her tight. “What is it, eomma?”
“I was jealous of you,” she said between heaving cries, and my world pulled out of focus. “I wanted to advance like you were. I wanted to see your father’s eyes light up like they did with you.
“I—I did something I couldn’t take back. He was furious.” She calmed herself and sat upright. “I drank a potion to help me break down my flawed core design so I could build it faster, like you.”
She was sick because of me?
My chest constricted at her words. It felt like I was breathing icy water. Every breath was heavy agony.
She went on. “When I started getting sick and the potion wouldn’t stop, Hiroto went looking for a cure. He went to Bastion, he went to the Guild of Historians, all over Busa-nan.
“Finally, he found out where I got the potion...” She unfolded the crumpled paper. “His uncle, Dokun.”
Tunnel vision swarmed in as I looked at the picture on the page. Rushing filled my ears, and my hand trembled as I reached for it. The tick-tick-tick of my heart in my throat made me sick, and I tasted digested curry at the back of my mouth.
My mother’s voice was far off. “He said it was a new trial potion, something he’d been working on to help save humanity. He swore me to secrecy with a Silence Pact. Hiroto broke it, broke me, and learned the truth.”
Her tears splashed onto the page and the ry scrawls darkened, then ran. “He still loved me, but he would never trust me again. He protected my core with the strongest ma spell he knew and left to find his uncle.”
I breathed deep and quelled the shaking in my arms. Hiroto knew my face and who I was. He had seen Hana, Shin-soo, Bo, and Woong-ji. Wou
ld my father betray us? Would Dokun know our faces, too?
I grabbed my mother’s hand. “What else did he say? What else do you know?”
She scowled. “What does it matter?”
“It matters,” I said as pain lanced through my head. I couldn’t reveal anything more to her, lest I break the bond I’d made with Min-hwan.
“Jiyong, what have you done?” Mother’s scowl deepened.
I breathed steadily through my nose as agony ripped at my skull. I gritted my teeth and looked away, focusing on the budding plants in the pot. Mother rubbed a hand over my back.
“A Silence Pact,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner. I thought maybe I would die and you would take the children to the kingdom and give them the life they deserved.”
The words fell like stones in the pit of my stomach.
“Eomma, how could you want that?” I asked, turning back to her.
She shrugged, tears in her eyes once more. “I’m a burden.”
“You’re my mother, and I love you.”
She trembled. “I don’t deserve to be loved by you for what I’ve done.”
There was a knock on the glass, and I turned to see Hana. Her expression softened in apology. I looked across the city and saw the shadows the buildings cast. It was almost time to meet with Min-hwan.
I nodded to Hana, then turned to my mother. “I forgive you, for everything. I love you.”
Mother frowned as she tried to hold back tears. She took a gasping breath, and couldn’t hold it in. My mother sobbed, and I rocked her as I sent bursts of calming zo down her back. After a moment, she sniffled, and regained composure.
When she pulled back, the page with Dokun’s face fell to the floor. She looked at the image and dried her eyes, then looked back to me. “I won’t ask any questions; I know how much it will hurt you. But know that I love you, no matter what happens.”