Her feet barely touched the ground, her legs burning, her body was begging her to stop, to rest yet she kept moving. She had to, ears ringing as she zeroed in on the source of the screaming. She rounded the corner only to come to a slow stop outside an apartment that was tucked in the corner of the hallway. She stumbled into the door, not at all surprised to find it locked. Cursing under her breath, the only thought going through her head was that she had to get in there.
She had to.
Fighting the urge to lean on the cool hard metal and take a breather she shoved away from the door and took a few steps back. She gathered what little strength she had left and rammed into the door, it barely made a dent. Her body however was shaking and she had no doubt she would have bruises yet as the crying sobs got louder she shoved off the door and readied herself to ram into it again.
It was said that in times of great stress and duress that mothers were able to summon superhuman strength...well she wasn't a mother but she had at times in the past been able to achieve some pretty unimaginable things when her wards were in danger...
Add in the fact she was not your average everyday female she dug deep down inside of her, pulling her powers to wrap around her like a protective shell. She had no idea if this would work, having never tried it before, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Inhaling a deep shaking breath she got a small running start and willed her powers to stay wrapped around her body like a cocoon, a protective layer between her tired and abused flesh and the one thing that stood between her and those kids.
It was like finally, finally, the gods were taking pity on her. The door creaked as the dead bolt gave way under the battering ram that she had turned herself into. The door slammed open, the sound deafening, as she stumbled into the entryway trying to stop herself from barreling too far into the room as she had no real idea about what was waiting for her in there.
Just that there were children that needed help.
There, cowering by an open window were two children, curled in on each other, as what looked like a rokurokubi yokai with an eyeball for a head wound around them. Like a snake getting ready to pull its prey into a strangling embrace. She willed her body to move, fear gripping her as her joints seemed to lock.
Move.
Move!
Her mental shout urged her body into action yet just as the eyeball monster moved to wind around them and yank them outside something came flying from the upper floor to slam into its extended neck. It made the eyeball monster jerk, unwinding itself from its docile prey to instead retreat back out of the window to find whatever new threat that had attacked it.
She heard muffled shouting, the voice semi familiar, from the still open window. Using the god sent distraction she rushed forward and grabbed the two children, flashing them a small smile as they trembled in fear. Without so much as a word she herded the two away from the open window to the farthest corner of the kitchen. Holding her finger to her lips she moved towards the busted door and shoved it shut.
It did not close fully and she knew that it was due to her busting the lock, even so she quickly used the chain to secure it shut. Task done she moved towards the window and cranked it shut. She didn't bother locking it as she drew the curtains shut, if that monster really wanted to get in there was nothing that was going to stop it from bursting through the panes of glass.
She just hoped that like most low level yokai encounters from her past that its form of thinking was the same.
Out of sight, out of mind.
If not, well...honestly she would go down fighting.
She jumped as a loud-sounding pop rattled the window pane. It was like nothing she had ever heard and she was hard-pressed to not peek out the now-closed window. Shoving the foolish thought down she decided she had far more pressing matters to tend to.
Making her way into the kitchen, her body tired and begging for rest she sank to her knees in front of the children. She forced a small reassuring smile as the slightly older female stood in front of the younger boy. Even though she was scared, tears still leaking down her chubby cheeks, she stood tall with a small glare on her face.
It brought back memories of her doing the same to the bullies who used to pick on her younger brother. She was hard-pressed to shove the now fond memory from her mind, part of her was scared that it was all she had left of her family.
Memories.
No, that was just her mind trying to pull her deeper into the depression she had fought tooth and nail to overcome.
That was one habit she would not give into.
"W-who are you?" The small boyish voice pulled her from her thoughts, her smile widening to show pearly white teeth as the obviously older sister hissed at her brother to shut up.
"We're not supposed to talk to strangers!!" The boy flinched back, his glassy eyes letting more tears stream down his pudgy cheeks.
"You're right, my name's Kagome. What are your names?" Her voice was light, friendly yet not at all condensing like most adults were when speaking to children.
Su-Yeong trembled, trying her best to shield her younger brother from the woman who had literally barged into their home. She looked tired, her shoulders stooped as she sat criss-cross applesauce on the ground before them.
Her complexion was pale, the dark purple bags under her eyes making the deep blue of them stand out, her face was smeared with dirt and flecks of blood. Her skin was flushed, a sheen of sweat glistening in the artificial light of their kitchen. She was wearing a plain black t-shirt that clung to her due to her sweat, dark bruises dotting her exposed arms, her skinny jeans were torn in places and had blotches of blood on them.
She looked like hell.
Yet the smile on her face was sincere, friendly and welcoming.
"My name's Yeong-Su and this is my big sister Su-Yeong! Are you okay?" His voice was light, a few sniffles escaping him as he wiped his runny nose on the sleeve of his shirt.
God, children were so precious, so innocent. It made her heart swell as she let her aura leak out of her to offer comforting vibes to the young children. Here this small boy was, almost killed by a monster and he was asking her if she was okay.
Tears gathered in her eyes and she rapidly blinked them away and gave a watery laugh. "I'm fine, what about you two?" Su-Yeong sighed, her suspicions fading away as Kagome made small talk with them, sure she was still having a hard time not picturing her fathers fallen crumpled from, nor the monster that had almost killed her and her brother but at least they weren't alone anymore.
"We're fine...are you here to save us?" Her voice was light and full of hope and it made Kagome blink as Su-Yeong's image was overlapped by that of a young girl with black hair and bright brown eyes.
Yeong-Su nodded his head excitedly, moving to sand next to his sister, his eyes lighting with hope as he rocked on his feet in excitement. "Is the army here? Dad said they would fix everything!!" It was obvious he was still scared, confused, and just over all wanted an adult to swoop in and tell them everything was going to be okay.
She wished she could but she wouldn't lie to them, even so she knew she had to calm them down, to ground them until they were someplace safe, if such a thing existed anymore. Only then would she break the cold hard truth to them, there was no help coming.
The world as they knew it was over and now they would have to change and adapt. They would have to do whatever it took to survive and it killed her, she didn't want their innocence to be snuffed out but she also knew that feeding them sugar-coated promises of things going back to normal would only hurt them in the long run.
It was a hard line to balance, wanting to give them hope but not set them up for it to be crushed. Closing her eyes, her head throbbed in pain, part from the situation she was in and part from the sheer fact that she was exhausted in every sense of the word.
She wanted nothing more than to just let her eyes stay closed, to let her body curl in on itself. Yet she knew now was not the time nor place. No she had to be strong, these two were looking to her for help and protection and once the time was right she would begin to instill in them what it would take to survive in this cold new world.
"Big sis Kagome?" The concern in the squeaky boyish voice made her force her eyes open.
"Ah, sorry I zoned out. Guess I'm getting old." She gave them both a small grin, both of them returning it. Clearing her throat she let her calming aura fizz out, she had to conserve what little of it was left. At the rate she was going she was going to burn herself out from both ends and then they would all be fucked.
"Are you guys alone?" She felt no other presence in the small apartment yet it was obvious these two were well cared for and loved. Instantly she regretted her question as Yeong-Su's eyes were awash with tears that trailed down his face, his shoulders shaking.
"Our dad...he fell...he was going to get help when that monster knocked him off..." Su-Yeong's voice was quiet as she settled a hand on her younger brother's trembling shoulders. Trying her best to be strong for him like she had promised their father before he had left them.
Mood shot to hell Kagome could only curse her big mouth, back-peddling she tried to do some damage control because as much as she wanted to wrap her aura around them and comfort them she knew she could not afford it.
She was running on fumes.
"Ah, well he must have loved you very much..." Swallowing thickly she shifted, her gaze shifting towards the window, that monster hadn't returned and that was good but she really didn't feel safe staying here...plus she had promised to not only return to Hyun-Su but to also meet back up with Sang-Wook. If she could get these two with her back upstairs then she could not only get them to a safe place to rest but she could explain her findings to Hyun-Su and maybe convince the younger man to join her and the children in their venture towards the lower floors?
It wasn't the best of plans, and the backtracking up and down the stairs wasn't lost on her but honestly she was loath to just leave Hyun-Su after she had made a promise to come back to him. Plus, she had a sneaking suspicion that he was the one who had distracted the monster earlier which in turn had saved their lives.
Could it be wishful thinking?
Yes.
Did it really matter to her at this point in time?
No, not really. At the very least she could get them someplace safe so she could recover some of her energy stores, they were running on empty and while she knew her powers did not define her or her worth they sure as hell made things much better.
Mind made up she untangled herself from her thoughts, offering the two sad children a tired smile. "So, would you guys like to go on a small adventure with me?"