Ghost Hunters BTS

The legend of the Tree (pt 2)

The 2 of them are alone in the bath. Both of them have a fair 2 meters between them. They are face to face. "Y-you are gorgeous..." He brings out. "Thank you, your majesty." "Am I the first man to ever see you like this?" "Yes, Cheonna." She answers every question in an obedient way. "Will you be able to protect me from there?" "Yes, Cheonna." "Are you sure?" She nods. "It is a scary thing." He says while she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. After seeing her initially, he only now notices the blemishes on her arms and neck. "What are those?" "They are marks, your majesty." "Marks?" "Every time I use my powers, I lose a bit of myself." "What happens when you are completely covered?" He asks. "I don't know, your majesty. I'm the first to ever experience this phenomenon." The king nods. "That is a scary thing too." He answers compassionately. She smiles at hearing the sincerity in his words. "Thank you, majesty. I do make due as it is. It cannot be helped." She smiles gently back. She then leans back and closes her eyes as she lets the warmth cradle her, and the scent take her to exotic places. The king notices how she is relaxing and decides to not disturb her anymore.

After a few minutes, the king softly leaves the bath, careful not to disturb her and gestures to the maid to keep the water warm for the priestess. He quickly presses the charm on his chest and makes his way to his chambers.

The next morning, she ate a full breakfast and went to do her duty. Research time. She enters the reception hall and takes a seat on a very luxurious looking chair with pillows on. It is clear that the king spared nor expense or effort into making her feel very comfortable. A boy comes in. "M'lady." He bows down for her and she stands up. "Please, call me Si Ah." She tries to relax the kid. He looks up and she gestures that he can take a seat in front of her on a pillow. "Tell me everything about that day." The kid tells her everything. She nods after careful listening. "I see. That is very strange. And you say that in the village, more people have had the same thing?" The kid nods. "And do you happen to remember when it started?" she asks. The kid thinks. "There is something that is being said in the alleys." His voice lowers to a whisper. she leans forward, intrigued. "Tell me, boy, what is the word on the street?" "It is said it is the curse of Jo In Sub." "Who is he?" "I don't know either. But the word is that the curse is that he will haunt people who wronged him." "Wronged him? But doesn't that mean the list will end soon anyway?" She doesn't laugh away the curse theory, since she has in fact experienced it before and knows it is a real thing. A very scary, but real thing.

"I don't know more than that, m'lady." She sees he isn't lying. "I see. Well, I'm sure you can ask the head maid for some extra fruit and food to bring home to your family. You've been very helpful." The boy bows. "I don't think I was, but if you say so, m'lady."

She walks through the hallways, her skirt rustling softly by the wind she made from the speed she moved in. She walks towards the throne room. "Is the king in?" "He is, but is in a meeting with the court at the moment." "Very well, please tell him I will wait for him under the magnolia tree." She looks outside, it's a beautiful day. She makes her way to the huge magnolia tree that fills the air with its blossom. Time goes fast when she is dreaming away and suddenly she gets awoken from her thoughts by his voice. "Mylady. You have asked for me?" He inquires politely. "I did. Could you please find out more information about a certain Jo In Sub? He apparently left a curse behind that might be the origin of it all." The king holds his chin, thinking. "I will give the royal inspector the word to find out all he can about that man. You have my word. I'll keep you informed." She bows to the king. "Thank you, Cheonna." "In the meantime, I want you to keep up your research here. In the palace. With the people that were involved. You never know where another clue could be hidden." He says before lifting his flaps of his robe and turning around to make way again to the palace to resume his duties as king.

Si Ah was sitting on her cozy chair in the reception room when someone entered. He looks very handsome and tall. He wears an official military uniform and has a long shaped face. He greets her briefly and a heart shaped smile forms on his lips. "My Lady, I am the royal inspector. The king sent me on a quest to find out more about Jo In Sub. I have returned with news." She immediately sits up straight and gestures that he has a seat too. He takes the seat and starts his story by taking out his notes. "Jo In Sub was a higher up official that lived in a neighboring province. It was said he was cruel to the townspeople and had a taste for the sadistic. Some even said they never saw him do any rites for the Elderly or go to a temple. He also milked people out of extra taxes under the nose of the king. This is an unforgivable crime against the king and the Heavens. So of course, when word of it spread to the capital, our benevolent king took action and made sure to punish the criminal severely. He died in his cell but according to the guard he uttered last words and before they entered the cell, the smell of sulfur was strong. So strong they actually got alerted to it because they thought there was a fire in the prison." Si Ah listens intently at the story.

"Apparently he cursed everyone who was involved with his imprisonment. Not sparing anyone. But he generalized it a lot. Almost like he wanted to curse the whole kingdom. It brought a shiver to the guards' spines." "Did anyone write down the exact words?" Si Ah sits up and leans towards the inspector in expectation. The inspector briefly seems to have lost his footing but soon finds it again. He quickly browses through his notes. "Well, I can't be 100% sure. But I think it must be according to the lines of: With the power of the Darkness invested in me I proclaim all who took part in this will suffer and die a death that won't allow them to ever be reborn again. There will be no escape, nor will there be relief. It will rage on until no one is left. Women and children will perish and lines will die out." The words resonate in the room as they carry the darkness that they hold. Si Ah shivered. "The Darkness invested in me...?" She repeats, more to herself than to the inspector. The inspector feels slightly uncomfortable. The words did sound more ominous when they were pronounced out loud. Si Ah is deep in thoughts. He coughs. "Can I continue, miss?" She is called back out of her trance and looks at him again. "Sure, is there more?" "Well, the way he died was weird. He took his own life, but there was nothing in the room to do so. There was no one in his cell nor did he receive any visitors. It was all kinds of weird. Even the local physician had no clue how he died. Then, to add to his mystery, his body disappeared before it could get burned. Again, no one came in or out according to the guards." Si Ah is stunned. She has never heard of anything like that. Curses, sure. But this is just plain weird. She isn't sure if she can stop it. Whatever it is. "I must say, In Sub traveled a lot before too. He went overseas towards the Qin." She nods. "Anything else?" He shakes his head. "Okay, that is enough. If you happen to find more or related things to it, please inform me. I shall try and form a consensus about what you just told me." He bows as he gets up and leaves the room.

Si Ah is eating at the table of the king. She wants to explain to him, but isn't sure what or how to explain it. She feels like she is missing some more information. Something important that can explain the weird things. Things like The Darkness, or the fact that there was sulfur and how his body disappeared. These things are unheard of in the Shinto or Buddhist religion. Maybe there is something in Qin that could explain it better? But most of Qin is the same as Goryeo in religion. Actually, every religion from Qin eventually becomes part of Gorgyeo's culture too. "What have you all caught up in that you have been poking that piece of kimchi against those sensitive lips of yours? They are becoming irritated by the spice and poking." The king's voice sounds above her thoughts, breaking her trance. She is startled and drops the kimchi from her chopsticks into the plate again. The king's smile disappeared and worry came over his face. "I'm sorry, did I disturb a priestess-thing?" Si Ah shakes her head and bows it. "No, your majesty, I was just lost in thoughts. Your inspector is a fantastic man, how he could find so much information in a short time." The king smiles again and leans back. "I only have the most capable surrounding me." He says. "That includes you. I have complete faith and trust in you." He says gently and taps her hand with his, almost comforting.

The king's affection was not unseen by all who were present. Even the concubines and the queen wife. They were less amused with the coming of the young, perfect looking girl at the table of the king. Even though she was in a pure state and untouchable, the king hadn't summoned any of the wives to his chambers since she came to the palace. Si Ah blushes slightly.

*********** End of Flashback*********

You wake up in your room by loud honking of the cars outside. It is already way past the rush hour and the sun is already unapologetic in the sky. You scratch your hair and yawn. You should stop watching historical Kdrama before you go to bed. You grab the tablet that was under your body all night and figure you fell asleep while watching. You charge the tablet and get up to dress and get ready. You still had a lot to do with your team. You turn on the tv and another report about the suicide wave is on. You sigh. It is about time to get to the bottom of this haunting. If it is a haunting. Since everyone is so riddled with it, it is hard to say if it isn't just the general public trend that the world is in such a bad shape, people just massively lose hope. You mean, it is true. The world isn't that nice to live in anymore. Despair grows every day, with every bad thing that happens in the world today. The Darkness of it all. Your eyes grow wide. Why did you phrase it like that? You look in the mirror while slowly wiping your mouth from the toothpaste in the corners.