Fallen Lightbringers' Return

The sun had left its Zenith but still bore many shadows. Baek Ji-ah followed Lee Dojin, while out of breath and gasping. As he wished, Jyejin and Heeson did not follow. Although they were incredibly curious about what he had planned.

On the way, Lee Dojin had engaged with some small-talk. "Have you ever played any games?" He wished to prep her as much as possible, without the teacher thinking that he had gone crazy. He clenched his fist, and felt sweat on his palm? Why? Nervous.. . or maybe he was excited, for what the Mother of Ravens, no, Ji-ah's future looked like.

"Games, what games? Like tag?"

"No, more like the electronic kind. Like LoL or WoW." He kicked a branch out the way. A couple jogging passed them by, waving. "I personally haven't but what you are about to witness is the same as that, I heard."

"I'm not quite sure at what you are getting at," Ji-ah said. "But I've played some back in the day. I only played them casually though. We aren't going to a PC Bang or something, right?"

"We can do that after if you wish to. But right now, we have some business to finish." They stopped at an abandoned playground, which had become overgrown with dust and shrubbery. Large trees surrounded them, creating a sort of wall, with the light shining in at the middle. "So, what I'm about to say is of utmost importance." He stored his bag away and placed his hands on Ji-ah's shoulders. She had never seen him so serious. "Survive."

She tilted her head, confused. "Survive? From what?" Her eyes then widened, as if understanding. "Well, if you mean my illness, it's not something I can wish away with willpower." She wondered. Was that the reason for this guy to call her here? That would come as rather underwhelming.

Lee Dojin shook his head. "Say, are you a woman of faith?"

"What's with all these random questions?" She grew more confused by the minute. However, she still wanted to believe in Lee Dojin. Even though she herself knew it was hopeless, she, for some odd reason, thought he'd be able to make it possible. That may be why she answered honestly. "No. I'm not. I've long rescinded my trust in a higher power." In the beginning, she did hold hope to a guardian angel or something, but over the years, as she slowly realized she would not be saved, she had come to give up on anything supernatural—though she never said that out loud.

"I see." He nodded. "Not that it would be bad if you were, but what you will witness soon will be something hard for you to comprehend, and it would turn out to be quite the hassle if you misunderstood it as a miracle or something." He paused; Now serious. "Let me make this clear. What you are about to witness is neither divine providence nor a miracle. Rather, I'd call it heretical witchcraft—a power from Hell even. But it doesn't matter since you don't believe in that."

"Say, I really don't get anything you're blabbering. Did you hit your head on the way here?" Baek Ji-ah did not understand. Except for enjoying the idyllic scenery, she saw no other reason to be here.

"Fine, I'll show it to you." He nodded, then activated Cosmic steps. Soon after, countless stars, only for him to see, appeared around him, painting everything with bright light.

At a quiet playground, with the aroma of nature and a breeze lifting her hair, there were only the two of them. And thus came, what Ji-ah would refer to as the greatest turning point of her life. Greater than her brother's death, greater than finding out her illness, maybe even greater than her birth.

An old memory resurfaced from her mind. One she had forgotten so much, she had even forgotten to remember it. A dove passed her head. She might have been three or four. A time where she still believed in fairies and ghosts. She had been at her dad's workshop, a place with heavy machinery and sharp pointy knives. She was never allowed in, but somehow she still did. It smelled of damp wood, intermingling with an earthy scent.

She felt like little Alice in Wonderland, who had entered a hobbit-hole, and came to discover many foreign and new things. Strange gadgets and glimmering stones. But just like Alice learned, so did she too, that not everything shiny was gold, and while playing around, she toppled a shelf, that had gone straight for her. Little Alice, Big Trouble. She braced for impact, hiding her head behind her two hands, but it never came. Instead, she saw a white light, which she later attributed to an Angel, flash before her and pulling her out of reach.

Sadly, her parents did not believe the story, and instead of amazement, she got a good whopping.

But moving back to the present time. In the present time, she had been a bit overwhelmed with Lee Dojin's behavior, but the sight of him vanishing from one place and reappearing in another, caught her gobsmacked.

He effortlessly phased from space to space, while Ji-ah could only barely follow him with her eyes, which had widened so far, they may just pop out. She thought about her buried memory. At that time, the Angel must have looked like Lee Dojin currently did.

He stopped in front of her. She held her hands to her chest, her heart beating wildly as she held her breath. He didn't sweat or was out of breath. Whatever magic he did, it appeared effortlessly to him. "And that," he said, "is the new world."

Baek Ji-ah did not react. She couldn't. What was she supposed to say? The words failed her. Her mouth remained frozen for a long time. "Uh, I see." She then turned red at her stupid reply.

"Pfft," Lee Dojin let out a shallow laugh. "You're funny." He turned around. "Well, it's understandable, really. Stuff like this can be hard to comprehend. Really. So take your time. But you are smart, so I know you can do it. Preferably before sunset." He sat on the ground. "This power, you'll have to get used to it, for soon, it eill also be yours."

"Mine?" Ji-ah gasped. Such an otherwordly power.. . hers? As a woman that had nothing? She nodded her head. That seemed like the right reaction. "What have I just witnessed. And, uh, I won't die or something, right?"

"Why would I show you this only to kill you," Lee Dojin asked jokingly. "Otherwise, a good question though. How should I start?"

"Uhm," Ji-ah racked her brain. An answer formed in her head. "Is this some occult stuff? magic? No, most importantly, what will happen to our world?" She thought about it. Whether the powers existed since ancient times or had been created just now, she could not imagine any other outcome except mayhem. As a physics and math teacher, she prided herself on her logical outlook towards the world. This, without question, went against anything that science stood for.

"Well, just something minor we can do nothing about, let's move past that, and concentrate on what you do can do." He quickly shrugged her worries aside. "The most important thing was how you would find yourself surviving. The world will manage even without us."

"You're making it sound like there's an apocalypse before us." She laughed, but Lee Dojin did not laugh with her. "Wait, there isn't right?"

"Moving on." Lee Dojin turned around. "If you were a woman of faith, I'd have used the Free Will clause to explain this to you, but it seems like I have to do it the old-fashioned way." He stared into the distance, mulling over his words. "I like this spot because the sky looks so vast from here. When I was small, I always dreamed of being a bird, just so I could be in the clouds like them. That was to me, the definition of freedom. But as I got older, I learned about the stars, the different planets, and in the end, the whole galaxy." He stretched his hand out, longing to escape. "At first, I was excited, knowing there was a world out there for me to explore, but with time, I just thought to myself, what was the point? The universe was so ginormous, so complex, no matter what I did, it would not remember me. What constituted for me as a lifetime, would be less than a blink for our galaxy."

Ji-ah did not understand where he was going with this, but she continued to listen, enthralled by his words.

"The Mirage, the system that grants you this skill, it makes you forget that for a moment. It makes you feel special, unique even, as if you could finally make a difference. But just as the name says, it is simply an illusion." Lee Dojin shook his head with a wry smile, his hand slowly falling. "In the end, we only have ourselves. Nothing will have changed. In this absurd world with no purpose, the only thing we can do is to rebel. I've shown you a path, but it is up to you on whether to take it." He paused. "Will you?"

Ji-ah swallowed her breath; Great determination in her eyes. "I will."

He smiled. "Then say it with me," he stretched his arms out, welcoming the world. A slight breeze washed over him, uplifting his hair and clothes. The leaves rustled in the distance. "Mirage, show me your world."