Chapter 17: Meeting New People part 1

19th March 2024

Lydia

It had been three days since my former partner’s spirit had been sent to the Australian branch by the ancestors. Matilda knew I was the best person to look after Rose, with our shared history and my medical knowledge.

I had stabilised her spirit body and started to flush out the evening primrose from her system. Her body had its own sense of time, so I was prepared to wait. For a second her eyes looked around the room before she calmed down once she found my face.

“You’re in a room of the medical department in Melbourne. Please take it slowly, we don’t know how long the evening primrose will take to leave your body.” she looked at me, “Lydia you aren’t making any sense.”

“What’s your last memory?” and her answer surprised me “going to the toilet at the folk village in Korea.” She went quiet and a few minutes passed “what happened?” “Mia had a vision of you being kidnapped and getting badly injured.”

I’ve always loved her blue-green eyes with gold around her irises. I noticed she had changed her hair from red to black with a purple highlight. She exclaimed laughing “I can’t catch a break” and I joined in with her.

Once she had calmed down, I handed her a piece of paper with the key information broken down into steps. Her eyes followed along as I explained the recovery process. There would be plenty of time during the next five weeks for the two of us to catch up and help her process any emotions she might be feeling.

Without warning she started to yawn, my response was to laugh and in return she sent me an annoyed glare. “I’ve missed seeing this side of you, for now get some rest and I will be here if you need anything.”

Yeon

My sister stayed out of hospital for two months and two weeks, so to see her back in here broke my heart.

Start of flashback

We knew something was wrong when Hong-ju came back from the toilet by herself. Yun burst into tears, so Ji-ah comforted her, but nothing worked to calm her down. I heard an arrow heading towards me, so I intercepted it.

This was a common way to send messages so I knew it was important, “your sister has been kidnapped.” Hong-ju and Moo-young’s expressions matched my own anger. She was the calmest out of the three of us, “we need to visit the magistrate.”

“I promise we will find her” and embraced my family in an attempt to comfort them. Ji-ah and I knew where to go after last time so we led the way.

end of flashback

I was pulled into a hug by Hong-ju, she held me as I let everything out. When I felt more like myself, my grip on her loosened and my ears picked up footsteps heading towards us. The door slid open to reveal a man wearing a long-sleeved button up shirt with a stethoscope around his neck.

“What are you doing here?” she asked and a soft playful laugh rang around the room. His greeting was in a language I didn’t understand. He opened his arms to say come here and she went in for a hug.

She looked back at me, switching back to Korean “Andrew Clearwater, this is Lord Lee Yeon” and he bowed his back at 30 degrees. I gave him a nod in return and replied with “cheoeum byeopgetseumnida.” “We worked together in the Australian branch based in Melbourne, so he knows about the situation,” Hong-ju explained.

“Both parts of Rose will heal along with her immune system improved between Lydia and myself. This will allow her to cope better with future illnesses.” I felt lighter knowing both parts of my sister were being looked after and hearing about the Australian branch, made me curious of her life before us.

Moo-young and Andrew would hit it off with their shared love of medicine. He gave Rose a quick visual check over before adding a dark blue bag onto her iv stand and adding the line into her cannula.

I felt my body rocking every time I closed my eyes, so Hong-ju helped me to the couch and covered me with a blanket. The last thing I saw and heard before closing my eyes was the both of them catching up.

17th March

Matilda

I was working on paperwork when my mobile rang with a ringtone rarely heard in my office and without delay, I answered knowing it was the ancestors. They informed me of Rose’s arrival in the purple room within the medical department. It showed how she has always been seen as a favourite child to them.

My best agents in Korea were assigned the task of finding out the culprit of the kidnapping. I focused on processing the incoming information into a clear and understandable format to allow us to deal with the rogue demon.

Friday afternoon we had a breakthrough when we found out a demon mafia was behind everything. I had known Rose since she started working for the ancestors’ spirits in 738 AD as a messenger.

Normally I was able to keep my personal feelings from getting involved, this was becoming increasingly difficult once I found out the extent of her injuries. A message from Mia popped up in a chat window with two words “smash room?” She was waiting for me and together we quelled my anger. No words were needed between us as she along with a few others were dealing with the same sort of feelings.

Sunday afternoon I went to visit Rose and she wasn’t happy with the bed rest order given to her by Lydia. It was clear to me how much her body was in pain by the slow and limited movements. This showed how both parts of her were linked despite her physical body being unconscious.

Music had always been key to calm her down, once she had entered a mood. I was glad to see this hadn’t changed in 57 years. Her expression softened as she laid eyes on me, I gestured towards her right and I heard a tired {yes}. Looking at her closely I was able to see the positive changes in her despite the situation.

“I’m sorry Matilda for my mood; the last thing I was expecting was to be kidnapped.” I took her hand “you have nothing to apologise for”, I wanted to give her a hug to comfort her. “We have found some information related to who ordered your confinement.

A demon mafia family with a base in Melbourne and in Seoul gave the order.” She smiled and exclaimed “this is a first for me, having a mafia family after me. Is the name known or does more information need to be gathered?” “We will dig deeper to find the demon responsible. All you need to do is allow yourself to rest, this will help both parts of you to recover.”

I sent calming energy through her hand, “We have plenty of time to catch up so focus on resting.” She slowly fell into an uncomfortable sleep, so I stayed with her till Lydia came back.

Rose

My mind was getting restless after two weeks of bed rest and this didn’t go unnoticed by Lydia. I was surprised when she opened YouTube on her Ipad and went straight to my favourite role plays playlist. We shared a look as she passed me over-ear headphones.

My mind began to wonder and a random thought came to the surface about my situation. It was clear my Australian family knew I had been healed from the curses, but their actions showed they were treating me very carefully.

I needed to find a way to show them I wasn’t a delicate flower that wouldn’t crumple over in the wind.

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Chapter 16: The Folk Village

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Chapter 18: Meeting New People part 2