In a place where before it was just darkness, it is now lighter, as there are now several huge stars glowing blue where the sky would have been. And in the middle of that vast place, was Noah, standing in front of two beings that compared to his size, it would be like comparing a small sardine with a big shark.
As he looked smiling at those two Noah asked "So you mean you went there and fixed that bastard?"
"You were at risk for your life, so we both decided it was better to step in and resolve that situation in a safe way." replied the huge bird.
The smile that had been on Noah's face immediately disappeared after he had finished listening to those words. And looking at them, almost angrily in his eyes Noah asked "How?"
They didn't understand what he meant by that question, and after looking at each other in confusion, the serpent asked "What exactly did you mean by that?"
"How the fuck did she control my body?!"
Indignant, the serpent stalked towards Noah as he said, "How dare you speak that way to us human! We just saved…"
Without looking away, or even changing his angry expression, Noah raised his hand and said, "Don't give me that shit! Listen! Both…" He slowly lowered his hand and, with that one small movement, Noah created a pressure so strong that he was able to send both of them to the ground, both the serpent that came at him with the sampled fangs, and the bird that it was immobile right in front of him.
"I didn't go from a fucking place where I was practically all the time controlled by two idiots, to come to another one, and my body turns into a fucking living puppet for the fucking spirits!"
As he struggled and lifted his head a little, the serpent exclaimed "So what are you going to do when your life is in danger, human?! Well don't expect me to help you next time!"
The pressure increased as Noah lowered his hand and, knowing that, he lowered it just a little more and as he smiled crouched in front of the snake he said, "Stop lying to yourself like that. Because I know that the continuity of my life interests you both a lot more than it does me. After all, if I'm not alive, you disappeared. So how exactly do you plan to see your child when he is born?"
"Why you..."
"He's right." the bird closed its eyes "We have no choice but to obey you..."
"Obey him?! I would never obey anyone, let alone a weak human like that!"
"Don't give me that! Because you were supposed to at least understand me a little. Since from what you had told me before, thanks to your destiny that forces you to always fight to evolve into a real dragon, trapping you and forcing you to always continue in that same direction. Tell me, doesn't it seem like you've always been controlled by him?"
Noah got to his feet as silence hung in the air here. And as he turned around and shook his hand, thus dissolving all the pressure that was being exerted on those two, he said "You're not even going to even think about controlling my body anymore, understand?"
As the bird stood up it said "We could even obey you, but as you said yourself, right now your life is the most important thing for us. So could you guarantee for both of us, with absolute certainty, that situations like the one before have never happened again?"
Noah turned around, and after thinking for a few seconds he asked "You should know that I can get rid of you whenever I want, right?"
"Of course!" the bird replied.
And when he heard it Noah smiled "So…"
"But if you did that, you would also be giving up all the benefits, including
of course, all our powers. You knew that, didn't you?"
"Powers? What powers?" asked Noah confused.
"Oh, don't you know? Well it's really a pity." the bird turned and walked away "But come on, throw us out of your body and break the only link that unites us."
But Noah, intrigued by the possibility of being able to use the abilities of such powerful beings, clenched his fists and said, "Wait! …Let's make a Deal…"
The bird stopped when he heard that and saw that he had really gotten what he wanted. But the serpent just stood there, speechless and completely confused by what those two were talking about.
*********
In the middle of the forest, next to a large tree, which different from those around it that had its green leaves, that tree, in addition to being a little bigger, the color of its leaves were red. And some of these leaves, which were being carried away by the light breeze, descended towards the ground, while rotating in circles and thus forming a little spiral.
Ting, who had a small white ribbon tied in the middle of her hair and wore a white hanbok, saw herself leaning against that big tree. she saw those leaves falling and smiling muttered "How beautiful..."
The leaves continued to descend and after a few moments a strong wind came and quickly swept them away, thus cleaning up the beautiful view Ting was having.
Noises could be heard on the other side of the tree she was leaning against. And from where these noises came from came Fusu's voice who wore a black hanfu, saying "Are you sure you want to be here?"
She walked around the tree while carefully passing through its large roots, and replied, "Of course! Even because there are no great reasons for me not wanting to be here. I barely saw my aunt. If I saw her 3 times in all that time that was a lot, so I have no reason to be so sad about her death and, the others… well, they tried to kill me, so…"
Smiling he said "So it's like that in..."
"And you uncle, are you sad about their passing?"
He looked at the hole he had just covered and, after turning around and letting the earth he was holding in the air with his IQ fall into the hole that was now behind him, smiling he said "…Maybe… well who knows…"
With the wind blowing in his face he was thinking 'I really wanted to know if she regretted what she did, or if she still thought she made the right decision by helping Er Shi complete his plan… well now I'll never be able to ask her that… so rest well sister, because I hope you at least forgive yourself for what you did…'
After being still for a few seconds, he turned and looked at Ting "Tell me, why did you insist so much on coming here with me?"
She averted her gaze and replied "For no particular reason... I just wanted to come here with you."
"You do not…"
"What?"
Seriously he asked "You're here because of the boy aren't you?"
"What?! No! Because I…"
"…Are you scared of him?…"
She put her hand on his arm and, squeezing it, said "…It's not fear… I'm just a little scared…" she let go of his arm and smiled "Probably before he wakes up I'll be fine, so don't be worry…"
Fusu stared at her for a few moments, but then he turned around and as he walked away he said "I understand you were scared by what you saw and despite the suspicions we have about him… Don't forget that despite that, he saved the your life twice. So he might deserve the benefit of the doubt, don't you think?"
Ting looked up after leaning her head against the tree behind her. 'Afraid? …I think that's not necessarily what I'm feeling. But whenever I remember what I saw, looking directly into his eyes for a few seconds at that time… those cold eyes, but much colder than they normally are. That feeling of sadness I felt, and all that hate and resentment he seems to be harboring… just feeling these things while looking into his eyes maybe made me sad actually."
After slowly crouching against that tree, Ting sat at the foot of the tree and, as she closed her eyes, she muttered "…But that darkness I found myself surrounded by… that darkness that is trapped inside him… just a few moments feeling it already it was enough for me, I don't want to feel that anymore, never again…"