Island: The Legend

Chapter 12

Gungtan had been wondering around for hours now. He had to admit that when he woke up and didn't find Van in the spot where he fell asleep a little worry tugged on him. What if he went berserk somewhere near in his demon form? For some reason, Van didn't seem to able to control himself as well as Gungtan was able to. He thought that maybe it was due to the fact that Gungtan never had his human side in focus all these years, while Van did. He was always pissed at how weak Van became because of his guilt towards Wonjeong and his desire to protect her reincarnation Mi-Ho. He was more than surprised that after they were both pulled out of the barrier Van couldn't think about anything else but kill Wonjeong. He knew that the men of the white circle somehow altered his memories but he still questioned the reason behind it. What were they after anyway? What did they gain from taking him and Van out of the barrier and train them into killer machines?
As Gungtan made his way through the forest he couldn't feel any of Van's energy. He picked up some energy concentration a few hours ago but lost it because it faded so fast. That's why he ran into the forest. He wanted to find out where it came from but wasn't able to find the source. But he was sure that it wasn't a demons energy. It felt more pure. He soon realized that he came closet to the huge villa where Mi-Ho and those priests were living. Was Van there? Did he go there to kill her?

The closer he came the quieter it got. The gardens were empty, there were only faint traces of a fight left. He could still pick up the holy energy from the young priest and the pure energy from Mi-Ho, whatever spell she spoke or barrier she created, he could feel that it was very powerful. He wondered when she became so much more stronger than last year. He couldn't lie, he had been scared of Wonjeong and he also had been scared of Mi-Ho last year. The energy waves she let go off sometimes felt like they could kill him in an instant. But it always seemed like she couldn't control it and it came to her randomly. He didn't fight her himself yet but he could tell from the time they were on that small island and he saw Van after fighting her that she must have learned how to use those powers properly. And even if he didn't want to, it made him nervous to know that she was able to use those powers freely now.
Gungtan made his way to Mi-Ho's balcony. He found her doors wide open and couldn't help but wonder why she was so reckless. She knew that tons of lust demons were after her and that Van and him were out there also chasing after her and she just slept here with her doors wide open, practically inviting them all in. He slowly took a few steps forward but froze on the spot when her bed slowly became visible for him when the curtains slowly swayed to the side from the wind. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, he didn't want to believe what he was seeing. He was running around for hours, searching for Van and he had been here the whole time and was now silently sleeping next to Mi-Ho whom he wanted to kill a few hours ago. What did happen? Why was he holding her like that in his arms? When he got a bit closer he saw that she rather pale, maybe she was sick. But that didn't explain why Van was like this? When he reached out his hand he startled when Van's hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and took it away from them, jumping out of the bed and pushing him back.
He grabbed Gungtan by the collar and forced him out of the room, onto the balcony and jumped off with him into the darkness. Gungtan was taken back by the force Van used against him. He felt it immediately when he entered the room and was sure of it the moment Van opened his pupils and they were simply black, like before. His demon energy was gone. He was the way used to be. There was no murder intent, no dark energy, simply Van. How did Mi-Ho manage to pull that off?
They crashed against some trees in the forest and Gungtan managed to pull himself away from Van's grip. They both slid over the ground until they both came to halt and glared at each other.
''What's this?''
''Gungtan... what are you doing here?'' Van asked with a deep voice. He was alert about this situation, either because he was scared that Gungtan would try to do something to Mi-Ho or because he knew that in his current state he wouldn't be able to fight Gungtan anymore.
Gungtan chuckled before he sighed and looked up at the sky. The sky was clear tonight, no clouds covering the stars.
''I was looking for you.''
His eyes travelled back to his brother who was still standing in front of him his whole body tensed up.
''But I see you were in very good hands.''
''What do you want?''
''Relax, brother. I am not here to start a fight. Like I said I was simply looking for you.''
Gungtan slowly took some steps towards Van who instinctively backed up a bit. This situation was felt dangerous to him and he was worried about something. Gungtan guessed he was worried about Mi-Ho what immediately made him mad again.
''How did she do it?''
''What?''
''How did she turn you back?''
Van wanted to answer at first but decided to keep his mouth shut to which Gungtan only laughed again. Was he scared that he would know then how she did it? Or did he himself not know how exactly she turned him back into his miserable half demon form?
''Are all your thoughts of her gone? You wanted to kill her not even a day ago.''
''My memories are back Gungtan. I remember what happened.''
Now Gungtan stood still and only looked at Van. There weren't any signs of disappointment or hatred towards him it almost looked like compassion. It made his blood boil.
''What the hell is wrong with you? This isn't you.''
''This is who I should have always been. Gungtan. Mi-Ho can help you, she can also suppress-''
''Why would I want that?! I am more powerful than ever. Why would I turn into a weakling like you.''
''What about Yeom-Ji then? She is your responsibility, you took her in.''
Gungtan didn't know if Van knew what he did to him by mentioning her name but it seemed to work. He felt like his body responded to the name, he felt nervous all of a sudden. Now it was Van who took a small step towards his brother.
''You care about her, and that is the humanity that is still left in you.''
''Then maybe I should get rid of that small part that is still left.''
''Gungtan...''
It seemed to him that Van wanted to say more but they were interrupted by a loud scream.
''Van!''
Gungtan knew whose voice that was and Van looked like he wanted to run back to the villa immediately but seemed to be struggling if he really should and just leave Gungtan here.
''You should go, she sounds worried.''
Before Van could say something else, Gungtan was already gone in the darkness. He didn't know if Van immediately ran back or still looked for him a bit but he kind of knew that it probably was the first. Van wasn't thinking when it was about Mi-Ho, it had been like that last year and it would continue to be like it now as well. He would jump into danger just to protect her not caring about what might happen to him. Gungtan couldn't understand these motives. He couldn't understand how someone could be so reckless just because of another person. He slowly made his way back to the villa through the woods and saw the two priests and Van and Mi-Ho no in the garden. They were gathered around a small circle that seemed to be surrounded by some kind of barrier. He faintly picked up what they were talking about but couldn't understand everything. All he knew was that they were trying to stop these men in white and he would do everything he could to sabotage their plan.