FELLOWSHIP || Ateez Fanfiction

Chapter Fifty: Dugang

Yeosang POV
After we stayed up late because we had to air out the ship, it's already noon when we leave the ship and walk into the city.
Of course the first thing we do is go to the marketplace to look around and sell some things. We try a few different booths, look at some books and buy a new board game that we can play when we are bored. Suddenly everyone stops in front of me. I follow their gaze. To our right is a booth with a crystal ball, lots of small crystals, pendants with weird symbols and lots of different card decks. A pale woman with short, curly hair in a purple dress with black embroidery is shuffling some cards. A big sign next to her booth announces:
"TAROT CARD READING! Only 10 gold for a ten card reading by authentic clairvoyant."
Authentic clairvoyant? Well the woman does have a strange aura to her, similar to the librarian in Vretefokl. But what is a tarot card reading?
"Ehm? You have been staring at me for a while. Do you want a reading?", she mumbles.
"Oh, sorry. We were just fascinated by how fast you shuffle the cards.", Yunho says.
"Ah okay... Eh I'll still pull a card for you. It will be free."
The woman shuffles the cards even quicker and a few seconds later two fall out.
"I guess it will be two then. Let's see..."
She puts down the deck of cards and puts the two cards neatly next to each other before she reveals what is on them. The first card shows two people who lovingly stare into each others eyes. Underneath are the number 6 and the words "The Lovers".
The second card reveals a figure holding a big wheel. At the bottom are the number 10 and the name of the card "The wheel of fortune".
"You guys must be really close. I see a lot of love between you. And will become even closer as time goes on.
Together you can achieve anything that comes to your mind because the universe will be on your side. You will have a lot of luck. But if you fall out with each other that might change really quickly. Separated you will feel hopeless and attract bad luck.", the woman tells.
"Yes that seems pretty accurate, we had a lot of luck on our journey together, thank you.", Hongjoong says.
"Before you walk away. You might want to visit me tomorrow and get some more information from me. My address is temple street 666."
"... What do you mean? Information about what? Why can't you tell us now?", Seonghwa asks.
"You will know it tomorrow."
We silently look at each other for a few seconds before we say goodbye.

We leave the market place and visit a statue near by that is supposed to be of the first grand priestess. Why does she look a little bit like the tarot card lady? Next up is a museum about Tongcheoks history. According to it the people of Tongcheok always had strong beliefs but they didn't always have the same beliefs which is why Tongcheok was a split up in five different nations. The nations were constantly at war with each other and the other countries. We look at weapons, clothes and cultural objects of the five nations, followed by pictures that show wars. Then someday the first grand priestess appeared. She preached about peace and spirituality and quickly garnered a big following.
She united the country and the people built a temple for her. An important rule is that the grand priestess can't have any children. Before she dies, she goes to her retreat and sacrifices her soul to the heaven. The heaven will give her soul to the next grand priestess that will be appear at the temple spring a week later. She will just appear there? Sounds weird. Above the text are all the grand priestesses until now. They all look very similar to each other and like I already noticed earlier, similar to the tarot card woman too. I briefly think back to what people told us about the clairvoyant in Vretefokl. But that seems ridiculous. Nobody can actually shape-shift, can they? If she could then it would mean that she is... No nobody can become that old. What a ridiculous thought.

We leave the museum and go into the library that is only a few streets away.
The library is a little bit different than the others that we visited before. It is brighter due to big windows and more spacious. Instead of the big massive wooden shelfs the shelfs are made out four wooden poles and thin boards which makes them accessible from both side. While there are a few tables, you can also just take a pillow and sit anywhere you want. I instantly feel more at ease in here.
"Where do we start? In what section do you think we need to search?", San asks.
"Well..."
Hongjoong opens his notebook and skims through it until he finds the notes that he made when we were in Vretefokl.
"A key that seals away the knowledge of the world. Hmm... Let's just ask someone."
We find a bored-looking worker that is rearranging some books.
"Hello, we are searching for information about a key that seals away the knowledge of the world.", Wooyoung explains.
"That sounds like a meditation."
"No what we are searching is a physical key or artifact.", Hongjoong clarifies.
"Oh. Hmm... Over there are a lot of books that have stories to a lot of historical artifacts in them. Maybe you can find something there. Otherwise if you know from which time period it is you can look at history books from that time period."
We thank them and go to the bookshelf with the books that she recommended. There are quite a lot of books to go through. We each take one and go into a corner by the window. I quickly read through my book but find nothing of relevancy.
I put it back on the shelf and take the next book with me. I'm halfway through it when suddenly Yunho starts speaking.
"I think I found something. It says here that the grand priestess kept several important artifacts after the big war. It then speaks about a different artifact but it could be a lead."
"Okay, if we don't find anything else we could try to organize a meeting with the grand priestess.", Hongjoong says.
We keep reading through books, eventually we move on to history books but still don't find much else.
"This book states again that after the war and after the rulers gave away a part of their power, the priestess took care of some artifacts.", I tell.
"I guess that means we really need to go to the grand priestess tomorrow."
"Why tomorrow? It's still early. We still have two to three hours of daylight left.", San says.
"Well the temple is in the middle of the rainforest. It will take a while to get there."
"Okay what are we going to do then?"
"We can organize a meeting with the priestess through one of the temples in the city and then we can look at some more sights."

We put all books back to their place and leave. Hongjoong briefly looks at the map to find the nearest temple. It's a very small temple with only an small altar, a few pictures, two plants and a pretty carpet on the floor. A fairly young priest greets us.
"Hello, you seem to be travelers. How can I help you?"
"We want to meet the grand priestess.", Mingi says.
"Well a lot of people want that. She has taken this week off and there is quite a long waiting list. You're also a big group."
He takes out a small book and looks through it.
"It's also okay if only one of us can talk to her."
The priest nods.
"The earliest I can fit you in is three weeks from now."
"Three weeks from now!", Wooyoung exclaims.
"We'll think about it.", Hongjoong says.
We exit the small building.
"What are we going to do? Three weeks is a long time.", Jongho comments.
"I'm not sure. It sure is a long to spend here and do nothing. Maybe we'll have to think of other options to see her or try to get more information from somewhere else."
"What about the tarot card reader? She told us to visit her tomorrow if we need more information.", Seonghwa mentions.
"No, she told us that we WILL visit her to get more information.", Mingi corrects him.
"I guess she is right because I don't see any other options. But the address is weird. Temple street is the street that leads to the main temple which has the house number 1 there are a few other buildings that belong to the temple but I am pretty sure it ends at number 5 and the street ends behind the temple."
"Which number did her house have again?", I ask.
"666."
"Seems like a joke address."
"We'll just go to the temple tomorrow and ask. What else can we do."
Our captain sighs. He seems a bit tense because of the uncertain situation. I put my arm around him and give him a warm smile.
"If it doesn't work out tomorrow, then we'll find a way to spend the three weeks here well.", San utters.
Joong smiles and nods.

We continue our sightseeing tour. Hongjoong brings us to a beautiful fountain in the north east of the city. A lot of coins are on its ground. Apparently a lot of people throw them in for luck.
From there we go to a botanical garden near by. It contains lots of flowers from all around the world. I know some of them but most of them are unfamiliar. I wish we had this many flowers in the Nekra Kingdom. All the different colour, the different smells, it's beautiful. I can't help but feel sad when I see the two flowers that bloom in my country, one is black, the other is dark purple, next to all the beautiful flowers of other countries. Even Pfryspungt and Wajasi have more different flowers than we do. What is also surprisingly interesting is the section about different soils in Wolkmaar. All the different kinds of dirt were put directly next to each other with the exception of the one from the Nekra Kingdom. According to the info panel it's because the dirt will "bleed into" the other soils and turn them blood red which I find kind of creepy. Unfortunately the researchers haven't found out yet why this is the case.

After we leave the botanical garden, we buy some things that we need and go to a restaurant. We meet another group of treasure hunters there with whom we talk all evening. Later most of us are super tired, so we go back to the ship. I lay down in my bed and think back to all the flowers but somehow they turn into the face of the blind man's daughter that I met a few weeks ago. She was so pretty...

??? POV
I am about to go to bed when a familiar energy is calling me.
"Are not going to lay down honey? Don't tell me that she is calling again."
"What do you mean again? She normally only calls once a month."
I open up a window to her.
"Hii, I saw that you invited them to you. Don't you think that is risky? Especially after were already in your old home and saw my letter."
"You said that they need to learn."
"Yeah, but not so quick."
"Don't worry I won't tell and show them to much."
"Okay. I just don't want to make a mistake again."
"I know. Have you heard of the others?"
"Well, everything is still the same. Brother is still trying to solve the weather anomalies. Sister is still as busy as ever and our cutie is still as cute as ever."
"Nice to hear. My daughter also here since yesterday."
"Ah, I guess that is another reson why you invited them."
"And you? Are you still not feeling lonely? Don't you want to go to the city and meet some new people?"
"Ehm... You know that I can't move on yet. I... still am not over it. I-I don't understand why he did it. He said that he didn't care but why did he do it then?"
"But it's been thousands of years since his sacrifice. He would want you to be happy. He wanted you to survive. You know how he was. He always said he didn't care but his actions spoke differently."
"I still miss him. Sometimes I dream of him when it rains."
My boyfriend pulls at my clothes.
"Ah I think I need end the call now. Goodnight, we'll talk tomorrow I think."
"Okay. Goodnight. Sleep well."