The Moon Tear
"You know, I can't help but think about that first guy who discovered cow's milk and him trying to explain himself to his neighbors why he was sucking on a cow's nipple."
"Son-join, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I mean, think about the first person who discovered your Guardian and then him trying to explain to his fellow villagers that something in some dark pool of water by the waterfall showed him how to use curses as a means of gaining power. I'm just thinking about how in hell did he avoid not getting lynched or beheaded."
"So, you are comparing that to some guy sucking on cows' nipples for the first time?"
"Hahaha, just imagine it. I mean...."
"Hey! Stop talking nonsense, you are on your break. I called to tell you that I am going to another world today and I might not see you for a while and that you will need to come to the village in order to train your ability before we can meet again!"
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Did you get rejected or something? Is Nala that more powerful than you? Has Mr. All Mighty finally met his match?"
Nolamine was on the phone with Son-join. He wanted to say goodbye to him before he went to Aapep, but Son-join was already talking out of his ass as soon as he heard that he would be training his ability in the village after Mi-sun convinces his mother somehow. At that moment, he regretted telling him about Nala.
"Man, how can I calm down when our last conversation for a while will be about men and cow nipples?"
Son-join laughed and even though Nolamine tried to keep a stern tone, he ended up laughing too. They talked for a bit and then hung up.
"You know Mr. Woo, I can't help but think that on the upcoming camping trip, if we can't start a fire, we can just use the top of your head to do some stir-fry when the sun is up."
Son-join said as the principal walked by after he finished talking with Nolamine.
"What did you say!"
The principal turned around and to make things worse since he was angry the top of his head turned red. The students around laughed.
Son-join took off running as he charged at him. It was amazing because the old man could almost keep up with him. He had folded the newspaper he was holding, wanting to smack some respect back into the boy.
He gave up as the bell rang.
"Damn it! How did these students get to be so fast?"
The principal yelled in frustration. He looked on as Son-join dashed to class and he smiled.
"They did not get to be too fast, Principal. It is you who has gotten slower. Age is the enemy of men after all."
Miss Park said as she walked and stood next to him.
"Hahaha, well, that's true."
He said.
"So, you were smiling just now."
"I was just happy that he is still himself even when his best friend is not around anymore."
"Well, that's true. Or maybe it's the fact that the school has one of the best principals around."
"Huh? Come on now, you are making an old man's heart start beating faster. You will need to have an ambulance on speed dial."
"Hahaha, just what I was talking about. I don't see any other principal who can take jokes from his students and still command respect."
She said as she left him, making the top of his head turn red again.
"Not forgetting protecting them."
She said as she looked at the roof of a building not far from where they were. The principal looked over to where she was looking but saw nothing. He looked at her again as she went to teach and then he went back to his office. Her last words were still in his mind.
In the village, Nolamine was looking at himself in the mirror as he prepared himself to go to Aapep. He was angry with a little bit of disgust as he looked at himself.
"Hey, you scorn of the Earth... who told you!... Who told you to look so! To look so god damn handsome!"
He said as he flexed a little. Mi-sun opened the door to see what was going on and after seeing the scene in front of her, she slowly stepped back while wishing that she was a ghost so that he would have never seen her. She slowly closed the door as quietly as she could.
Nolamine was looking at her while in an awkward pose the whole time, which was better for everyone to never know about. Mi-sun wished to pour bleach into her memories so to clean the stain that scene had coursed in her mind.
As he took what he thought he would need, he remembered the events of last night. He touched the center of his chest that now had a tattoo and he sighed.
"This is what we have been working on for more than two months, Nolamine."
The Grand Witch said. He did not know whether to be amazed by the beauty of the tear he was seeing or the fact that she called him by his name for the first time.
"It is only the third one to ever be brewed. It is called 'Moon Tear'."
She said as she showed it to him. It looked so delicate that it might be lifted by the night's wind at any time and vanish. It had a tranquil and horrifying feel to it at the same time.
"We are descendants of the Moon Warrior. One who carries the Moon's will to the Earth. Legends say that the Moon is the lover of the Earth and that he sometimes cries for her as he sees what we men have been doing to her over the years."
It was a story every tribe or clan had no matter where you were in the world.
"He believes that we are a curse to her. But as the Cursed, who remove and use the power of curses to fight the true infection to her, which is those who wish ill on others and thus birth curses, we have been passed the knowledge on how to brew his tears, but the ingredients are ones that come on a whim and that can never be replicated."
She said and Nolamine remembered Mi-sun collecting her tears. With them talking about 'infection to the Earth', he could not help but think of the Dark Forest and the black goo.
"From the tears of the Damned and the tears of the new-born Moon Warrior, this is a gift from us to you. Something that will guard you through your journey and help you in your greatest time of need."
It was the first time she talked this much. Mi-sun took his shirt off as the Grand Witch walked over to him.
"With Mi-sun's help, I am sure that it will work even in the other world as we synthesized the core that was in her blood to use it as a casing. No other beast core would have worked, and for this, Mi-sun we thank you."
She said as she put it against his chest. Mi-sun nodded her head in response while Nala stepped over to them and stood next to her master. She too pressed her hand to his chest. Her Moon Eye started to glow green and Nolamine felt his chest getting hot.
In an instant, it was over. It was like he had just been branded a brand new tattoo. He looked at it and thought that it could not look more real.
"What does it do?"
He asked.
"While with the other two it is believed that they could open the gates of Heaven, yours is the first that can open the gates of Hell."
She said what she just said nonchalantly like it was nothing. Nolamine looked at the Grand Witch thinking she was joking. He started laughing as he did not know anything else to do. The Grand Witch smiled and again, everyone knelt.
"You amuse me, Nolamine. Just know that it is said that those gates will only open at your weakest, when you feel despair and hatred of the world, when you have nothing but the desire to damn the living. Once they open, no ally of yours nor the enemy shall be spared and only you shall be protected from what comes out."
Nolamine had stopped laughing.
'This old geezer is not joking. What kind of power is this?'
He had thought as he touched it, like he was now scared of it.
'A tribe that can brew such an artifact or whatever this is should be feared. How strong are these people?'
He asked himself.
"With this, I ask you again. Please do not forsake us."
She said. They were the same words she had said after beating him up last time. Now she was saying them after giving him a gift.
Nolamine still did not know what they meant, but he just nodded and said...
"This is my birthplace. I shall never."
The Grand Witch went back to her seat and nodded her head. Nolamine could not put his figure on it but it seemed that she was not convinced by his words as she had sorrow in her eye.
She had tried to hide it, but she could not hide her feelings from him for a split second.