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Fates Parallel Chapter 240 - Fear
🕑 Added 2022-07-18 16:11:41 +0000 UTCSeong Misun was uncharacteristically silent as Yoshika explained the events that led up to Eunae joining them on the trip to Qin. Given how deadly their previous miscommunication had nearly been, she left nothing out. Yoshika described what she could remember of speaking to Eunae's inner spirit and the trial that followed, the discovery of her unwillingness to leave Eunae, and finally her recent discovery of the scar on her soul. When she finished, Misun was staring at her with a severe expression.
"So you're telling me that the Kumiho herself—"
"—just a fragment, actually."
"—a fragment, sure—lives inside my sister's head?"
Yoshika nodded slowly.
"Her soul, but yes. Actually, you've probably got one too. We are not sure what exactly causes it, but spiritual cultivation seems to trigger an awakening in some half-spirits. It's just a guess, but we wouldn't be surprised if the entire Seong clan had fragments of the Kumiho living inside them."
Misun's face paled, horror dawning on her face and reflected in her aura.
"Who else knows about this?"
Yoshika shrugged.
"Just us and a few of our close friends. Oh, and Magus Hwang, the Queen of course, Do Hye—"
Misun buried her face in her hands.
"The Snake knows?! Ancestors, what a disaster."
Yoshika frowned—something wasn't right. The princess was horrified, but not surprised. Yoshika's eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
"You already knew about this, didn't you?"
Seong Misun scoffed and brushed her hair over her shoulder.
"Parts of it, yes. The fact that my clan is related to the Kumiho isn't exactly a secret, but this is the first I've heard of a piece of her waking up and exerting her will. If it's true, then it’s a huge problem."
"Why? In our experience, our inner spirits are benevolent, albeit confusing. As parts of us, they want us to thrive."
The princess shook her head.
"Maybe yours are, but the Kumiho is different. We may venerate our ancestors, Lee Jia, but that's only because the truth is too dangerous. The ancestor spirits of our race were monsters, and the Kumiho was the most monstrous one of all. What do you know about Seong Heiran?"
That was the second time a member of the Seong clan had asked Yoshika about their legendary ancestor.
"Not much. Only that she had the same power that Eunae does, and that she was a bloodthirsty warlord. Your aunt asked us the same question, though she didn't elaborate why."
Misun crossed her arms under her chest and turned away as she spoke.
"Well, you're already ahead of the history books. Officially, she's a hero. They even have statues of her in Kucheon—though I'm pretty sure she commissioned those herself after she conquered it. But the truth is that our great-grandmother was a monster that nearly brought ruin to both our clan and our country."
Yoshika scowled.
"What does any of this have to do with Eunae? We are sick of everyone comparing her to her ancestor as if they're the same person."
"They are!"
Misun's sudden outburst took Yoshika by surprise, and the princess heaved a long-suffering side before shaking her head and continuing.
"Okay, not literally, but they have more in common than you realize. You've met the Kim boy, right? The one that looks like a white tiger? He's not unique—some half spirits are just born like that. They have a deeper connection to their spirit side, to the point that it's stronger than the human part. Seong Heiran was like that—she was like the Kumiho herself, personified."
“And you think Eunae is the same?”
“Well, no. Eunae’s spiritual affinity is actually really low—or at least it was. I don’t know how or why she ended up with Heiran’s bewitching gaze, but whatever it is you’re teaching her, it’s making her stronger.”
Yoshika crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation.
“Of course it is! That’s the entire point. She’s our friend—we help each other!”
“Is she? Or has she just brainwashed you into thinking so? Is your trust real, or was it something she inflicted on you? The only reason I know I’m safe is because her powers don’t work on me, and even then I sometimes question myself!”
“You’re being paranoid.”
Misun whirled on Yoshika furiously.
“You’re not being paranoid enough! Nobody is! Our aunt dotes on her, Min thinks we can use her as a weapon, Haeun is too young to know any better, and our mother—”
The princess caught herself and schooled her expression, shaking her head ruefully.
“I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. The point is, if the Kumiho—or a fragment of her—is awake in my sister’s soul, shaping Eunae into another Heiran, it needs to be stopped.”
Yoshika scoffed.
“You’re just saying that because you hate her. You’re not even willing to give her a chance.”
Misun shook her head.
“I don’t hate my sister, Lee Jia. I’m terrified of her. I could tell you stories about the things she did as a child that would sicken you, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve obviously made your choice. You do whatever it is you’re going to do, but I’m warning you now—I won’t be able to protect you from the things she’ll do to you when she reveals just how much of a monster she really is.”
The princess turned away and returned to her meditation—a clear dismissal. Yoshika turned to leave, but paused at the threshold, turning back to look over her shoulder.
“You might be right about the Kumiho, Princess Seong, but you’re wrong about Eunae. As scared as you might be, you’re underestimating her and we’ll prove it to you. Thank you again for saving our sister.”
“Tch, whatever. Say your goodbyes, we’re leaving in an hour.”
—-
After another tearful farewell—and more than a little effort tearing Narae and Heian away from the nice lady who happily spoiled them both rotten—the group gathered around Seong Misun as she prepared to cast her spell.
Jia was glad that they had visited—it had been surprisingly productive. Lady Tennin’s insights were invaluable as ever, and it felt like they finally had a hint towards fixing the imbalance caused by Eui’s core—though Jia wasn’t sure how she was going to manage a suitable act of charity to satisfy her own core.
Even Ja Yun was looking a little better. At some point Lady Tennin had managed to get her alone and they’d had a long talk. Jia wasn’t sure what they’d discussed, exactly, but Ja Yun came out of it with slightly lifted spirits. She still had an air of uncertainty about her, but mixed with a sense of resolve.
With some of the internal strife lifted, Jia’s thoughts turned to what lay ahead of them. They were traveling to their last checkpoint before going straight into Qin. The empire was the largest country on the continent by far, completely eclipsing Goryeo and Yamato in both territory and population. They were also infamously xenophobic and isolationist.
The Qin Empire rarely treated with the other nations diplomatically, typically just expanding their territory and fighting any who disputed their claims. The most progressive move by the nation in a century was the establishment of a joint academy on neutral grounds—an unprecedented active cooperation with the other nations. It was a testament to Do Hye 'The Snake's' political prowess that he had managed to get them on board, though Do Hye's disappearance and the demonic sect that now took residence in the old academy grounds dampened that accomplishment somewhat.
Thoughts of the academy and its fall during the Descent of the Gods reminded Jia of her even broader quest. Her 'master' Jianmo had tasked her with finding their master's tomb and recovering a divine artifact from it. While Jianmo hadn't exactly given them a time limit on that quest, and assured them that they would have all the time they needed, Jia nevertheless felt extremely pressured. After all, the mission put her directly at odds with the descended gods, all of whom were after the exact same artifact, and some of which had the backing of the very hostile country that she was preparing to enter. It wasn't enough for her to just sneak around and avoid them either—Qin had one of the three keys to the tomb, two of which were required to enter. Of the other two, one was in the hands of the demons, while the other's status was unknown.
And speaking of impossible tasks from Jianmo—Jia and Eui were also still supposed to acquire xiantian grade magical cores in each of their elements. They had found a lightning core once—though they had been forced to use it during Rika's breakthrough—but destruction cores were almost impossibly rare even at the lower grades. The only ones they'd ever actually seen were all part of living demons—specifically, Eui herself, Jianmo, and the demonic sovereign Longyan. One ally, one enemy that was so unfathomably powerful that Jia felt a little bit sick just thinking about it, and literally herself. She wondered if Eui’s core would count if they advanced their cultivation far enough.
The more Jia considered the tasks before her, the more overwhelmed she felt. Before she even realized it, they had arrived at their destination.
The border outpost was a huge sprawling complex of wide, squat buildings in the style of Yamato. In Goryeo, it might have looked extravagant if not for the military uniformity of the buildings, each clearly marked by purpose. A series of barracks for soldiers to sleep in, a large mess hall, training grounds, multiple smithies—everything was laid out with utilitarian purpose. A sturdy wall surrounded the complex, but it wasn’t very tall—more to keep animals out of the supplies than to actually stop an attack.
Jia and her party appeared before the gates in a gust of wind, startling the sentries there. To their credit, they immediately raised weapons and prepared to call the alarm.
“Who goes there?! Foreign mages, identify yourselves!”
Rika quickly stepped forward.
“Ambassadors Takeda Rika, Lee Jia, and An Eui here by orders of Lady Hayakawa Kaede escorting envoys from Goryeo including Princesses Seong Misun and Seong Eunae accompanied by Captain Ja Yun as personal guard.”
Ja Yun’s face paled.
“C-c-captain?! Of what?!”
Rika glanced back and put a finger to her lips.
“Shush, you!”
The soldiers exchanged leery glances, but the invocation of Kaede’s name clearly held a great deal of weight.
“Stand by while we confirm your claims. Nobody move.”
One of the soldiers ran off, presumably to fetch a superior. Seong Misun crossed her arms and scowled.
“Is all this really necessary? One look should be enough to confirm that we are who we say we are. Just let us through to speak to your commander already.”
The remaining sentries stared uneasily at the princess, clearly wary of the xiantian mage. Eunae kicked her sister in the shin.
“This is a military outpost, Misun! Don’t make a scene!”
“Ow! I’m not stupid, Eunae! I just think this is all pointless. Ancestors, how do you kick so hard?”
Jia left the sisters to their bickering, sweeping her domain across the outpost curiously. The differences in military doctrine between Goryeo and Yamato were glaring. Goryeo’s military consisted mostly of mortal soldiers that acted primarily as internal peacekeepers and police, with mage officers that handled the actual defenses. Goryeo relied heavily on its powerful shield formations in order to make up for its relatively low military strength.
Conversely, there wasn’t a single mortal within range of Jia’s senses—aside from Jung—with even the lowest ranking soldiers having attained their first stage as martial artists. Most of the soldiers here were in the second stage—over a hundred of them—and several officers had reached the third, the peak for most body cultivators.
It was the largest concentration of cultivators that Jia had even seen aside from the academy. Jia had heard that Yamato’s military strength relied on its sheer number of awakened martial artists, but seeing it in person was almost awe-inspiring.
One of the third stage martial artists was approaching now, and Jia spotted the grizzled old man covered in scars as he regarded them warily. He wore heavy red armor—the same kind that Jia remembered her old mentor Ienaga Yumi wearing—and had two swords at his hip, both of which radiated essence. His voice was loud and gravelly as he addressed the group.
“I am Subcommander Uehara Norio, currently in charge of this outpost. I’m afraid that—”
A loud crash in the distance cut off Uehara’s words, and the man’s face immediately darkened as an alarm sounded from the other side of the outpost. Like a disturbed anthill, the entire camp began to move as one. The subcommander’s bellow cut through the din as he shouted orders to his men.
“We’re under attack! Secure the intruders.”
Comments
Katherine
Oh, really now? Thanks for the chapter~
