A Wish for Damnation

Yomi darted around a corner at the end of an alley.

"Cut her off!" Jun shouted.

Shimol ran through the alley to the left while Jun charged ahead following where Yomi had run. The neon lights and shadows all blurred together around her, and the details of the traditional buildings around her faded as she focused only on the single shadow running before her. Jun and Shimol ran into each other at the corner of the main street.

"Where did she go?" Jun asked.

"I didn't see her," Shimol answered.

Jun looked around. In the middle of the street was a fur coat. "She took off her coat to change her appearance. But she forgot to throw away her scarf in her hurry. Let's go!"

They hurriedly crossed the street and into the alleys on the other side. In the distance, a silhouette turned right. Jun and Shimol made a mad dash towards her and spun right around the corner. They continued chasing her. Jun leapt up onto the shingled roof covering a low wall. She ran until she had caught up with Yomi.

Jun leapt down in front of Yomi, who screeched to a halt and stumbled while turning around. Shimol appeared from behind her and cut her off.

"What do you want from me?" Yomi cried.

"We should be the one asking questions here. Why did you run? Even a courtesan who doesn't trust police wouldn't have run so desperately. What are you hiding?" Jun asked.

"I haven't done anything wrong! I only thought what everyone else did? Why should I be the only one who's punished?" Yomi screamed while in tears.

What was she talking about? "Calm down. I haven't accused you of anything."

"We just want to talk," Shimol said.

"I won't be deceived! You all look down upon us. You never listen to our problems, but the moment someone higher up gets hurt, you find a way to pin all the blame on us!"

Jun ignored her nonsensical outburst. "What do you know about the disappearance of Mr. Yang?"

"Why is it all about Mr. Yang? Has it ever occurred to you what the people he looks down on feel like? I didn't do anything to him, but he must have gotten what he deserved."

She prepared to lunge at Yomi to capture her, but remembering all the times Shimol had stepped in to reassure witnesses, Jun stopped herself. "Then I'll ask. What did you feel like?"

Yomi paused, apparently shocked that anyone had actually listened to her pleas. "It felt… like nothing had changed. My brother fought in the rebellion five years ago. The dogs of the government mowed him and his comrades down like they were mere vermin. They promised change after all that. I was overjoyed when slavery ended, but look at what I am now. A harlot looked down upon by the upper classes. What did my brother even die for?"

Indeed, what had her brother died for? What had Jun's parents died for? The apparition of flames that had decimated her province was a sign that the government would resort to any means to maintain control. What was worth such atrocities? Taking in the scene at this seedy underbelly of the capital where many nobles lived, Jun couldn't fathom what vision the government had for the nation. "Did Mr. Yang say something to you?"

"When he was drunk, he rambled loudly bragging that he had refused to treat anyone, even women and children, from the provinces where the rebellion was raging. That he had done a patriotic service to the national blood by letting 'those animals' die." Yomi sobbed and grinded her teeth. "I couldn't take it. I prayed that misfortune would befall Mr. Yang. And then someone showed up to tell me it would be done."

"Who showed up?"

"That's—" Yomi gurgled and staggered back.

"What's wrong?" Shimol asked.

Yomi spasmed and crumpled to the ground.

"Hey, are you alright?" Shimol rushed to her.

Yomi grabbed his wrist tightly.

"Urgh!" Shimol cried.

"Shimol!" Jun took her sheathed sword and struck Yomi's hand, but even though it was bruised, it didn't budge.

Bluish flames emanated from Yomi's eyes and mouth. "A person's prayer is something private to them. You shall not meddle. The gathering wishes will bring damnation." The flames evaporated, and the light in her eyes faded.

Jun checked her pulse and shook her head. "It's no use. She's already dead." What had just happened? A spirit had possessed Yomi for a moment, but its actions were unnatural. It had delivered a message and killed her to silence her. She had never seen a spirit act so precisely and quickly before. This was no mere spirit with lingering regrets.

Eugene and Desun came running up to them.

"What happened? I sensed some weird spiritual aura," Desun asked.

"This is…" Eugene examined Yomi's body.

"Someone or something is out there controlling these spirits, and that entity just silenced our witness," Jun said. A chill set in at the thought of an entity capable of something like that, and Yomi's last words echoed in her mind. Damnation. Just what was happening in the capital?