Shine
This isn't a mission drop-off point, but a damned, dirty, dusty warehouse.
I hold Jong close, exhausted and tired, despite having fainted from the sudden shift in space. He continues to look at me with eyes filled with terror, and I have no difficulty understanding his state of mind.
I appeared to him in my warrior form, the only form that allows me to be immortal and survive everything I face on these missions. I usually look like a young woman, in my mid-twenties, Caucasian, European, with long black hair and blue eyes. Most people like me; my face is attractive and my body proportionate, according to the human standards of Mediterranean physical beauty.
But with him, it was a shock, both for the situation I intervened in and for everything that is about to follow. Nothing has gone according to the rules—few, strict, and unimpeded. So I ask myself who this young man entrusted to me is, and what I should do for him.
He feels light in my arms, despite being tall and muscular, but he has that lean, very thin physique typical of Oriental men, in keeping with the dictates of modern aesthetic fashion.
I notice a pile of open boxes leaning against a column. I carry him there, creating a makeshift bed for him to lie down on. I check his heart rate and temperature again and find reassurance in the fact that he's stable.
I examine the deep bags under his eyes and wonder what could have driven such a young man to take his own life.
I don't have time to question myself further, because the darkness returns, and long, dense, icy streaks cover the room.
"What are you doing around here?" Kuroshi's stiff voice asks me, enunciating each word carefully.
That we don't love each other is known to all of creation, but that we hate each other is obvious only to ourselves.
Let's call it instinctive dislike, because that's what happened almost three thousand years ago, when our paths first crossed. Kuroshi is a shadowy general who presides over the Underworld and is responsible for recovering the souls of mortals who commit suicide, confining them to the most desolate and forgotten lands within his territory. His jurisdiction is a third of the Earth, a territory between the two poles, from north to south, encompassing Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica. All humans born in those lands, regardless of where they are on the day of their death, if they have committed suicide, belong to him.
Kuroshi is an 'oni,' a legendary creature who every hundred years is reincarnated as a mortal, who always ends his life as a suicide and who takes with him other damned souls. The last time I saw him, he was a Japanese actor who, at the height of his success, took his own life.
And now here he is again, facing me rather annoyed and demanding that I leave his territory. And, I fear, his prey as well.
"They sent me the coordinates of this place, I can't tell you more," I reply with a shrug.
"And how do you explain the annihilation of my disciples on Korean soil, where they came to take that mortal?" He points to Jong behind me.
"There must have been a misjudgment. 'That mortal' is my mission, and I don't understand why your henchmen attacked me. I was just defending myself."
He gives a chilling smile, and I never fail to notice that, even if he weren't the asshole I know, he has an irresistible charm.
"I fear it was more than a misjudgment, Shine." You pulverized emissaries of the Underworld on a mission to steal something that doesn't belong to you. You will pay the consequences, and it will happen now.
A long, dark sword appears in his hand and points it at me, not finding me unprepared because I've already unsheathed my two catapults, stored on my back, which sparkle with silver light.
- I've been pissed off and in the mood for a fight since this morning. And, as it happens, there's nothing more interesting than your unbearable presence... It will be a real pleasure to dent your arrogance a little.
I smile wryly at him and am about to fire a shot when a voice stops us.
- Don't fight over me.
His tired, low, monotonous tone makes me turn my head toward Jong, who has sat down and stares at us resignedly.
"Wherever you want to take me, I'll come," she continues, trying to stand up but staggering.
"You're not going anywhere with this asshole!" I reply, pointing at the dark emissary again.
"Apparently, your protégé is smarter than you!"
"I'd give anything to bash his face in, but I can't attack him if I can't provide a defense for the boy." I stomp my foot, furious, but I don't lose my grip.
"I'm afraid the matter is a little more complex."
"A sudden voice, which I realize is my supervisor's, brings me a moment of relief. Now we're going to give this idiot a hard time."
"How complex?" Kuroshi asks, annoyed.
"Very," Raidow sighs, flipping through several pages in his hand. "Apparently, Mr. Kim belongs to both of us."
"What?"
The question is clear, and we exchange heated glances.
- According to paragraph 8 of the suicide death protocol, Mr. Kim suffered a cardiac arrest at 4:32 PM today, December 18, 2017, and should therefore be considered dead for all intents and purposes. But considering that Shine performed energy resuscitation on him at 4:31 PM, which brought him back to consciousness at 4:32:35 PM, he's still considered alive.
"A person can't be dead and alive at the same time!" Kuroshi protests annoyed.
"But here we have proof, apparently. And considering that he's alive, breathing, and even talking, he belongs to me," I tease him, winking.
"You have nothing to do with this continent, it's not your case!"
"There must have been some problem, and they sent the first available operative, namely me. Are you worried that he's alive or that he's mine?"
"Both. And I want to speak to a superior! Get out of my territory!"
"With pleasure, just enough time to retrieve Mr. Kim and leave this stinking, asphyxiating place like you."
"Kuroshi's sword is coming dangerously close to me, but I keep smiling just to infuriate him.
"Shine, it's time to "Go," Raidow informs me, with a meaningful look.
I nod and sheath my swords, approaching Jong, who shakes his head.
"I'm not coming. I want to die!"