The Last Snow

Chapter 77: Team Starfish part 4, Gone

A few weeks ago.

It's been ten days since Seulgi and Rose arrived at the island of Theridiidae. They've finished Seulgi's application, audition, physical test, emotional test, and final interview during the first week. And to Rose's surprise, Seulgi was appointed as a special lecturer for the other ladies of their family.

After her first three lessons, Seulgi already became friends with the other new members. She also caught the attention of other madames that had been part of Theridiidae for a long time.

Because of that, all of Rose's apprehension's disappeared. Her beloved Seulgi was genuinely enjoying her time.

"Can I interrupt everyone's favorite acupuncture instructor to have dinner with me?", said a voice behind Seulgi.

Seulgi looked up from her books and saw her betrothed with a plate of food in each hand.

"Hey! Ohhh? Food? YEY!~ Yes, please. Heehee~ Perfect timing, Rosie.", replied Seulgi with the happiest smile of all. She had been preparing her lesson plans all afternoon and was starting to crave food when Rose arrived.

"Let's eat at an empty table. Madame Ellie will kill us if we get food on the books. And I don't mean that figuratively.", answered Rose as she gestured to an empty table.

"How's your training?", asked Seulgi as they sat down beside each other.

"Difficult but fruitful. I can now fully open two of my meridians for three minutes."

"OH WOW!!! That's great news!", said Seulgi excitedly as she sat closer to Rose despite the eight-seater table they were using. She embraced Rose as tight as she could as she planted a kiss on her cheek. "I'm so proud of you. Congratulations, Rosie!"

"SHHHH!!!", shushed Madame Ellie from a hundred feet away.

"Mother believes that with enough training, I'll be able to move and fight again as if nothing ever happened. She thinks that there's a small chance that I'll be able to use the forbidden dance again.", whispered Rose.

"Is that something that seldom happens?", asked Seulgi while chewing on some noodles.

With her right thumb, Rose wiped a little of the pesto sauce from Seulgi's lower lip. She licked her thumb clean before answering, "Among all the members that used the dance, about forty percent end up paralyzed and unable to move. Of those who could still move and walk, only twenty percent can still fight. And of that twenty percent, only three were able to use the forbidden dance again. That's what my mother told me."

"Whoa. Just three? They must be super strong."

They finished their dinner, and after cleaning up, Seulgi returned to preparing her lesson. Instead of returning to their room, Rose waited for Seulgi to finish. She decided to search for a record of all the past users of Overflow.

With the help of Madame Ellie, it took only two minutes before they found a thick hand-bound leather tome.

"That one contains a list of every member of the family that had to use Overflow. We update it weekly. But this one-", Madame Ellie reached for a smaller leather tome bound by a black and gold ribbon. "This one contains all the special cases."

"May I borrow it, Madame?", asked Rose.

"It can't leave my sight. You can read it here. It's not that long.", replied Madame Ellie.