[Novel] The Mirror [Chapter 5 (1/3)]

This is for the first time all Guardians and Warriors are gathered together in the second floor of CAKE AND BISTRO, the cafe owned by Daesun. It was the second day of their resting day and they should advance to the next adventure tomorrow.

But they can't all go together at the same time. The fact that Minseong's vulnerable body is being attacked by the evil guardian, they need people to take care of their sleeping body from now on. Minjoon got healed a lot faster than Princess Sungmi could have expected, but she wants him to take rest for three more days before he could continue his activity - in their world or in the mirror world. He still looks pale as he sits in between Minseong and Daesun.

"As we already know, we can't postpone our adventure for too long, and the situation is getting serious in the mirror world," said Myungwoo, "so we should arrange the schedule now. Princess Sungmi said we should at least arrange this for three days straight."

He sees the faces around him who all look excited. Now there are 9 people in their group - 10 if they count Sungmi. Without being asked, Hyunki takes out a piece of paper to write their formation.

"I can go directly tomorrow and come back on the afternoon of the third day. Sungmi said that's the longest time we can stay in the mirror world - it's 5 shifts, so I'll take leave from the company," Myungwoo glances at Bonhwa as Bonhwa nods his head.

"I can help for tomorrow morning, then I'll come back to mirror world again on the third day for a full journey," said Bonhwa, "and I can guide sleeping bodies on the second day - for a full day. We have no important events in the company anyway."

"I can go to the mirror world on the second and third day!" said Minseong excitedly, "luckily I have those free days before our next schedule. For tomorrow I can even guide sleeping bodies."

Hyunki listens to people attentively and writes down their schedules.

"My schedule will look like Bonhwa's but I can't guide the sleeping bodies on the second day, I need to stay here to work. But contact me if the guards need me," said Daesun.

"I can go all day tomorrow and the third day! On the second day, I already have an appointment for my job," reported Minsook.

"I can only go tomorrow morning then the second day evening. I'm sorry that my schedule is quite tight these days," sighs Kichul.

"I guess I can't help anyone?" Minjoon let out a long sigh.

"Listen, Kichul, your activities are important too so don't feel guilty," said Myungwoo, "and Minjoon, you can't go to the mirror world but you can help as the guard here. Just in case."

"Really? I can do that, hyeong?" asked Minjoon, can't believe what he just heard.

"Yes. You can just stay in my place while you're recovering while keeping an eye on the sleeping bodies."

"That would be a good job for me. Thank you hyeong!"

"For me, I can be the guard tomorrow, then go to the mirror world for the second day, then come back to work on the third day. Can I do that, Cho Sajangnim?" asked Hyunki.

"You got my permission," said Bonhwa while winking.

Hyunki said "yes" loudly and made the people laugh.

"While for me, I can help for tomorrow morning, then be guard at evening because I need to go for important event on second day morning," said Sikyung while looking at her phone, "but I will join into the mirror world again on second day evening and third day morning, then be guard again for third day evening."

"Roger that, noona!"

"So how many people did we get?" asked Myungwoo while looking at Hyunki's messy writing.

"For first day morning and third day morning, we have a lot of people in the mirror world," said Hyunki, the only one who understands his own writing, "while Minjoon will only be alone taking care of sleeping bodies on the third day morning."

"So Kichul and Hyunki need to be close to your phone all the time on the third day morning," said Myungwoo while the two men nod their heads, "I can tell Princess to advance our pace faster on the first day and the third day morning."

"That would be a nice idea hyeong, I agree," said Kichul.

"Princess also said that Hyunki and Sikyung will do some training when you all can," said Myungwoo while smiling at both of them.

"I can't wait to be a good warrior," said Hyunki while giggling.

"I can't wait... ARGH!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

Everything happens so fast - Sikyung hasn't finished her sentence yet when she gets interrupted then screaming - Myungwoo automatically takes out his ax - some people are gasping and stand up leaving their chairs.

"Oh... it's only a cat," said Sikyung as she looked down, a black cat jumped to her lap, "I'm so sorry... Did I scare you?"

Sikyung's hand automatically caresses the cat's fur.

"You certainly made Myungwoo hyeong scared, noona," said Minseong while giggling along with Minjoon.

"You better keep that ax away before you crush my table, buddy," reminded Daesun, "this cat is one of our loyal customers."

"Oh I'm... sorry," said Myungwoo with a blush on his cheeks as he made the ax disappear.

"So are we gonna sleepover in Myungwoo hyeong's place start from tonight?" asked Minsook in excitement.

"I will join you guys tomorrow morning, sorry I can't directly join tonight," said Kichul while smiling, "have a lot of fun!"

"I hope Myungwoo hyeong's place will be safe," said Minjoon.

"Please take care of my things well guys..."

It looks like nobody is actually listening to Myungwoo. Everyone - except Kichul who said he is working - is having fun in Myungwoo's apartment. It looks like Minsook has found his long-lost-mate: Hyunki. Both of them are the most noisy people - but no one could deny that Sikyung, Minseong and Minjoon are the next three people who are following those two the most. 

He already set up his room for Sikyung to sleep, while the maknaes - Minseong and Minjoon - will sleep in Minseong's bed. The rest of the people are feeling happy just to occupy all the couches in the living room - with only Hyunki will sleep on the couch in Minseong's room. Myungwoo actually doesn't mind having people in his place sometimes. Bonhwa came to poke on Myungwoo's shoulder.

"Don't worry, for the next adventure pack, they can live in my house."

Actually the plan of moving places for every pack of adventure (3 days adventure and 2 days full rest) is Sungmi's idea. She said it is important to keep everyone in secret easily by moving places.

"They will feel happier because your place is bigger, Bonhwa," Myungwoo is laughing.

"I can't wait to spar with others," said Sikyung, the only girl in their group now.

"Maybe noona can spar with Myungwoo hyeong," suggested Minjoon.

"And Myungwoo hyeong will lose for sure," added Bonhwa.

"What do you mean!" said Myungwoo as he tried to hit Bonhwa's arm but the guy avoided it successfully, "we need to sleep now."

"Ah right, you all will go really early at 6 tomorrow, right? It means we need to wake up early too, as the guards," said Hyunki.

People are saying "good night" to each other obediently at 9 - after Myungwoo glaring long enough to Minsook and Hyunki. 

"Uhm, Sikyung, if you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me," said Myungwoo before Sikyung enters his room.

"No, I think this is good enough. Thank you, uhm, oppa? Can I just call you oppa like the way I call Bonhwa oppa and Daesun oppa?"

"Of course, I don't mind it."

"See you tomorrow, oppa," said Sikyung as she smiled, "good night."

"Good night, Sikyung."

He never felt happier to be called oppa by anyone else before Sikyung. Myungwoo even smiled before he fell asleep.

At 5 in the morning, Minseong is the first one who wakes up. He quickly wakes the people who will go to the mirror world first (all the people except Minjoon and Hyunki). Sikyung happily prepared a simple breakfast with Minseong - a double kimchi toast for everyone - and they packed some for Sungmi. 

Kichul joined them half an hour later, looking fresh and all ready. In the midst of all the chaos and the noise they make, Hyunki is amazingly still in his deep sleep. Five minutes before six, everyone is in their last night's sleeping position. 

"We'll take care of your body well, so don't worry about anything," said Minseong, "I will wake Hyunki hyeong up right after all of you go."

"You all should stay safe too," reminded Myungwoo.

"Don't worry, hyeong, we all will be fine," said Minjoon.

In the next minute - because of constant training they had - except for Sikyung, they easily fall asleep. Sikyung needs to toss and turn several times before she finally falls asleep. 

It's still midnight in the mirror world. Sungmi doesn't sleep, she has so many thoughts in her mind that prevent her from resting or sleeping. She has walked around 2 km from the shores in these two days. She can walk more but she promised Myungwoo to stay safe. It's not wise for her to walk alone, even though she is a really strong guardian, in these uncertain times. 

Darcy Country isn't the same as she has ever seen before. What happened to the king and the queen? What about their magic ball? Are they all safe? The night sky is clear tonight. The light from the full moon and the stars shining through the trees around her in this forest. She shouldn't worry too much, right?

"We are here!"

Sungmi smiled at the people who appeared from the mirrors she put on the forest's uneven ground: Myungwoo, Bonhwa, Daesun, Minsook, Kichul and Sikyung.

"Everybody is doing good?"

"Yes. And we can continue to walk now," reported Bonhwa.

Daesun packs all of the mirrors into the big backpack and he lifts it up, while Minsook takes another big backpack full with the chocolate healing potions.

"Princess should eat while we advance forward," insisted Sikyung as she hands her a pack of kimchi toast.

"Thank you, Sikyung. Let's do it  while we resume our adventure."

"So what's the plan, princess?" asked Kichul as he walked beside Sungmi.

"We'll arrive in the castle in around 3 hours walking. Let's check the condition of the castle first. We might meet more creatures, so everybody needs to get ready," Sungmi said while biting her toast.

"Is a forest usually this quiet?" said Sikyung while holding her bow cautiously.

"No, wait," said Myungwoo, who walks in the front alone.

"Why?" asked Bonhwa.

"Do you hear that?"

They can hear the sound of some wings moving, it's even getting clearer every second. They all look up but they can't identify the creature. Myungwoo focuses his eyes as he can see five of those creatures flying closer.

"Attacking Shield!" Daesun cast the shield at the right time, protecting Sikyung.

One of the creatures which almost attacks Sikyung is screaming and flying backward. The three of them standing on the ground in front of them. Now they can see a kind of new creature in front of them: a weird looking creature with long pointed ears, a dog-like snout, very skinny body and long arms and legs with a pair of wings. 

"Gargoyle," said Sungmi while holding her morning star tightly, "they are evil creatures who won't listen to anyone... before. But I guess someone must have sent them to welcome us."

"What's their weakness?" asked Myungwoo.

"Magic. We need a lot of magic, Minsook."

"I'm ready. I request more warriors or guardians with magic power, princess," said Minsook while holding his long staff.

Sungmi laughed, "you will get a partner soon for that! Everyone remember, they can't get killed by normal attacks but you can hurt them on a certain level. Let Minsook clean them up for you guys."

"Roger that, princess!" said Daesun.

"Everyone, charge!" screamed Myungwoo who charged forward faster than the others.

Myungwoo finds out that everyone has improving a lot during this tight time lately: Kichul can avoid the attacks easily because he reads his enemy's mind then attacks easily too; Sikyung start to have better accuracy - some of her arrows stabbed on the gargoyle's body, she is freely moving protected by the attacking shield which keep being re-cast by Daesun; Bonhwa is a very fast guardian who attacks fiercely with his trident; 

Daesun is improving a lot by using one of his hand to cast attacking shield while his other hand to use his telekinetic ability - some medium size of stone flying hitting the gargoyle; Minsook casting some fire balls this time to attack the gargoyle - he has successfully burn one of them; Sungmi is lightly fighting in her human form - her morning star hitting one of the gargoyle easily as she perform duel with it.

"Are they made of stone?" asked Myungwoo as he swung his ax to the gargoyle and instead of bleeding, some small stone broke from its arm.

"They are," answered Sungmi, "make them immobile so Minsook can finish them up easily."

"There! I pinned it for you, Minsook!" said Sikyung happily.

Sikyung pointed to a gargoyle whose wings got pinned to a big tree by her arrows.

"That's it, Sikyung! Thank you for improving a lot!" complimented Sungmi.

"Leave it to me!" said Minsook as he raised up his staff towards the stuck gargoyle.

"They should've sent us something stronger than this," said Bonhwa while jumping around, having fun attacking the gargoyle.

In his heart, Myungwoo has a bad feeling that there will be harder tasks for them to do soon. They don't need a long time to win against the gargoyle then they rush to the castle with no more obstacles in their way. 

But the view in front of them made them shocked: the castle looks ruined so badly - its entrance is broken, one of the high towers is broken and got cut in half. Since the castle is made of hard stone, there might be a powerful force causing a big disaster like this. 

"Oh no... king... queen..." said Sungmi sadly, "let's enter and check if we can see anybody alive and ask them what was happening here."

They jump over a pile of hard stone to enter the doorless castle. They still can smell some burned wood, they even can smell blood. 

"I think this happened not long before we arrived here, princess," said Myungwoo as he analyzed the disaster around him.

"Let's separate to find the king and queen quickly. Myungwoo and Sikyung, both of you go and check the two towers in the north, Daesun joins me, we can check the dining room and the other room on this floor, Bonhwa, Minsook and Kichul go check the dungeon. Let's meet here in one hour," said Sungmi quickly.

Sikyung automatically runs alongside Myungwoo. They head north to the tower. The stairs are broken here and there and it slows their movement.

"Whoever attacks the castle might have the intention to kill anyone they see," said Myungwoo, "they even ruin the tower like this."

"Do you think the king and queen are still in the castle, oppa?" asked Sikyung as she opened a big wardrobe and the things - all made of steel - fell to the ground with a loud sound.

"I think it's a good news if we can't find them here, it's still a big chance they're still alive," said Myungwoo while standing near a big crack in the wall where he can see the view outside, "I just hope we don't see their bodies or what."

"I hope so too. We really need their magic ball," said Sikyung while looking around.

"And I hope they still have their magic ball with them."

"It's empty here, princess," said Daesun after he checked on the second room on his left side.

"Now that we have checked several empty rooms, I just hope the king and queen run away smoothly and hide somewhere," said Sungmi, finishing checking the dining room. 

"And I feel weird that we meet nothing in this castle," said Daesun, "don't they expect us to come here?"

"Let's finish checking this up quickly and meet the others soon. We should stay safe."

The dungeon is dark. Bonhwa is holding his trident which has a little fireball on the end of its tip; the ball in Minsook's staff is shining brightly like a weird bulb; the tips of Kichul's trident are also shining in white color like three weird bulbs. But their weapons shine so bright and can help them to see around nicely. The dungeon is a place for a lot of prisons. They walk close to each other in a long hallway with Bonhwa in the middle. 

"I think there is nothing here, but we need to check until the end of the hallway," said Kichul while whispering.

Even though he is whispering, they still can hear his voice echoing around the room. At that time, they hear a loud groan. They realized something was moving under the shadow in the end of the hallway.

"Looks like we have guests," said Bonhwa, "get ready guys."

Something - nope, it's not one - but three giant ogres are walking towards them. They are exactly like the ogres Bonhwa fought several days ago when he met Sikyung and Hyunki for the first time as warriors. 

"What is that?" asked Minsook, moving his staff towards the ogres so he could see clearly.

"Their eyes are red... they are being hypnotized. So someone must have really sent them for us. They are stupid and weak of fire. I can finish them up while two of you make them weak," debrief Bonhwa.

"What if I hypnotized them back?" asked Kichul then he chuckled.

"Good idea, hyeong, try to do that!" answered Minsook.

"Let's go!"

Bonhwa jumped bravely to the ogre in the middle. The ogres are almost as tall as the hall but Bonhwa can jump and stab his trident to the ogre's shoulder. When he pulls away his trident, blood flows out from the three holes of the ogre's shoulder. He landed lightly to the ground while feeling proud of his attack. 

Minsook holds a thick old book in his left hand, screening it fast before lifting up his staff to the ugliest ogre among them - he thinks like that - and casts fireballs to the ogre. He is a darkness guardian who casts a fire spell, so it's not a pure fire that he made but at least it has half of the real fire power. The fireballs burn the ogre's pants and make it confused as it tries to extinguish the fire.

"Now you know I'm not an easy opponent for you," said Minsook while laughing.

Kichul is fighting the tallest ogre among them. He lifts up his trident as he jumps high, pointing his trident to the face of the ogre. He looked straight into the ogre's eyes for some time - the ogre is frozen. Then suddenly, the ogre groaned loudly, turned around and hit his spiked mace to the ogre whose pants burned.

"Kichul hyeong, you've succeeded! That's a very brilliant move!" complimented Minsook.

Bonhwa also laughs before he senses danger as the ogre which is his opponent swings his spiked mace, he automatically turns into hare and slips into a prison cell to avoid it. 

"Now I understand what the princess means by becoming a hare will be useful," said Bonhwa who is in the prison cell now.

"Come on, let's finish them up quickly..."

But Minsook doesn't finish his sentence and suddenly stares blankly at the ground. Kichul knows this sign as he sees it often - Minsook is having his prophecy now - so he jumps quickly in front of Minsook to protect him. The fire on the ogre's pants has been extinguished and it swings its mace furiously against the ogre which Kichul hypnotized. The other ogre stabs his mace towards Kichul, but he parries the ogre's mace with his trident before Bonhwa comes and stabs his trident to the ogre.

"PROTECT THE BAG!"

That's the first sentence Minsook said when he is conscious. Bonhwa and Kichul just realized the bag that Minsook means is the backpack he is carrying, when the ogre which Bonhwa stabs just now tries to smash his mace to the backpack - the mace hits the ground because Minsook jumps away at the right moment.

"So they know what we are carrying," said Kichul, "better finish off all of them quickly."

"Backup me," ordered Bonhwa.

Having a lot of sparring and training time together surely makes their chemistry grow up well. Minsook steps back to the wall and starts casting more fireballs, Kichul is in front of him to parry more attacks by the ogres as he counterattack whenever he has the chance, Bonhwa is jumping lightly and attacking the three ogres fiercely - apparently the ogre which got hypnotized already conscious.

The ogre, who is Bonhwa's opponent - he stabs its throat several times. Kichul, using his shadow, disappears and appears near the ugliest ogre, stabs his trident to anywhere he can stabs to around the ogre's body, before Bonhwa stabs his big tummy and makes it turn into ash. Minsook's fireball hits the face of the previously-hypnotized-ogre, making him groan again before Kichul and Bonhwa attack its chest together - stabbing where they think its heart is located. 

"We should tell Sungmi that we did well," said Minsook while making sure his backpack is unscratched.

"Let's go back to the hall before something weird appears again. We need to save our energy," suggested Bonhwa.

The three of them ran fast to the stairs until they arrived at the hall. Their three friends and Sungmi are waiting for them.

"What happened? Why are the three of you sweating like that?" asked Myungwoo in confusion.

"And that's blood!" pointed Daesun to Bonhwa's shirt.

"No, don't worry hyeong, this is only ogre's blood," said Bonhwa after he can control his breath, "there were three ogres down there. We killed them. The dungeon is empty."

"And the ogres targeted my backpack," reported Minsook.

"Then we know they are waiting for us just like Daesun said," said Sungmi, "drink a bottle of chocolate, three of you. I'm afraid we should separate again while continuing our journey."

They step out of the castle and walk to the backyard. In front of them, there is a big forest with three pathways. 

"Let's separate like our group just now. We need one new backpack now as we need to separate our mirrors and healing potions."

Sungmi waves her morning star and one more backpack appears out of nowhere.

"Let's separate the mirrors and potions now."

Minsook quickly take out Myungwoo and Sikyung's mirror out of Daesun's backpack and put three chocolate into the new backpack then Myungwoo carry it; Daesun's backpack now has three chocolate and his mirror; then Minsook's backpack consists of Minsook, Bonhwa and Kichul's mirrors and four chocolate.

"Princess, what should we do with Minseong and Hyunki's mirror?" asked Kichul.

"Listen, we'll spend all day long inside this forest. Do you guys see the volcano there?" asked Sungmi while pointing far away.

They all can see a high volcano in the distance.

"We'll meet there tomorrow morning. Minsook, you'll be alone tonight. Will you be okay with it? Or we shouldn't separate you..."

"No, princess, I'll be okay. I'm stronger than what you predicted," cut Minsook while giggling.

"Then I predicted we'll meet in front of the volcano tomorrow morning when Minseong and Hyunki will join us. Daesun, we just bring their mirror along."

"Okay, I got it," said Daesun.

"Be safe everyone. If you're facing danger and you can't handle it, just run back into your world. It's better to restart your journey than something worse to happen."

"Don't worry Sungmi, nothing will happen. Me and Bonhwa will protect our friends," said Myungwoo.

"Then let's go and see you all soon."

Then they run into different pathways with the hope to see the king and queen soon.