"what are you going to do after we bust minnie's girlfriend out anyways? stay behind?"
soojin's words echoed in her ears. what was she going to do?
miyeon would never let it slide. would she spend her life in Hell, if there was the only place where she could escape the wrath of Heaven? would she spend her life on the run, living in constant fear?
all of this didn't matter to her when she chose to help minnie rescue yuqi. only later on did she realise the possible consequences.
by choosing to follow soojin that day and plunging into Hell, her life flipped upside down. suddenly, there was no right and wrong, no good and evil- just love, and whatever the opposite of that was.
shuhua saw it in everyone: in yuta, whose broken heart still ached for his lover despite everything that had happened; she saw it in taeyong, who spoke to soyeon like an old friend with a deeper understanding to her that she didn't see in anyone else. she even saw it in soojin, who was willing to travel to Heaven for minnie, a demon she had just met a mere few days ago.
was Hell as bad as what she had been told? from the days she had spent in the realm, she had seen more love than she had seen in her entire time in Heaven.
what had soojin meant when she said that Hell has no love?
would shuhua be content with becoming a demon? being the next queen was her role, wasn't it? she had a position in Heaven, a part to play. she just had to play it, step into miyeon's shoes and bear her crown. was it so difficult to do?
with a taste of what the other side felt like, how could she return to her old life, pretending that she hadn't gotten to experience the freedom and power that many longed for, only to return to the cage? how could she go to Hell, tossing away what she was meant to do to become something else entirely, leaving behind all her friends?
is helping her best friend worth throwing away the world she belonged to, no matter how messed up the world is?
is this love that bound shuhua to her worth pushing aside everything she's ever known?
༻ ༒ ༺
shuhua was on watch as soojin went to rest. although nothing had attacked them when they slept, it never killed to be prepared, and shuhua's eyes had long since adjusted to the lack of light, the glow of her necklace almost blinding her as she stared off into the expanse.
while the others slept, she watched the sandy plains. on the lookout for any attacker, prepared for battle. soojin had handed her a knife in the name of self-defence, and shuhua gripped it tightly.
there was no movement except for the winds; no sound except for her companions' soft breathing. shuhua cast her eyes to the sleeping group, huddled together in the dark as if they had no one but each other.
and in a way, they did.
who knew what could happen to them? the path they were heading on was like no other, like nothing that had ever been done before. this strange band of misfits, not fitting both in Heaven and in Hell, had gathered to do the impossible.
as shuhua turned back to her lookout spot, her mind was filled with joy.
how could fate have woven our threads so tightly together that everything that happened allowed this quest to happen? surely, we would succeed.
little did she know that fate's hands weren't made of skin, but scales, the eyes that watched them glowing and unblinking, lying in wait......
the sound that broke the silence was a bloodcurdling scream.
༻ ༒ ༺
shuhua leapt to her feet and sprinted the few metres that separated her from the other four, her eyes scanning her friends, who began to stir.
one, two, three......
her voice pitched higher in horror when it hit her. "where's soojin?"
she rummaged past the blankets they lay on, moving their supplies to reveal where she had lain down to rest. the imprint of her body remained, but the demon herself was nowhere to be found.
she had just vanished.
in her place was a black feather from her wings and a single beautiful, unblemished apple the size of her palm.
༻ ༒ ༺
"we have to find her!"
"no, we don't," soyeon interjected, closing her eyes in frustration. "shuhua, i already told you. we have no idea where soojin went-"
"she didn't willingly go anywhere-"
"fine, where soojin got taken to. happy?" the queen of Hell rolled her eyes. "we have no way to search for her. besides, she's tougher than you think. she'll be fine."
"i don't think soojin would want you to look for her," minnie quietly added. "she will find her way back to us, i'm sure of it."
the demon didn't sound very sure at all, but shuhua relented. they took off into the plains once more with shuhua leading the way and soyeon bringing up the rear.
when the monsters came and went, shuhua realised how much they needed the higher demon. she was the main fighter of their team. without her, fights took longer and more of soyeon's magic. shuhua began to attack beasts with her knife instead of hiding, trying her best to replicate soojin's swift movements.
as days went by and patches of grass appeared in the sand, showing that they were getting closer to the borders of Eden and the gates of Heaven, she began to worry. would soojin be okay? could we have gone after her and somehow found her? what if she needs us to help her?
she found herself spacing out, spending hours staring at the apple left in soojin's wake that she had tucked into her bag. it was coloured a dark shade of blood-red and looked so pure and perfect that shuhua didn't dare to touch it.
a voice in her head had reassured her, whispering words that brought calm and peace into her frenzied mind. she's resilient. she never needed anyone in her life before, and she certainly won't need one now.
after a while, shuhua found the worry ebbing away. focus on your task, she'll turn up later. find Heaven first.
soojin is the most powerful in Hell. she would be alright.
soojin is strong. she would be fine.
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