Mirror World: Destined Return

The cold winter wind chilled Seong-Hwi’s cheeks, and the pure-white snow fluttered across the canvas that was the night sky. A small church stood in the middle of the white world, and the light coming through the church’s windows seemed so warm that it could melt anyone’s heart.

Seong-Hwi arrived at the Calasanz Home for Children, the place of his beginning and his end, waiting and abandonment, and his sorrow and agony. He approached the children’s home’s arched door, and the crunching of the snow under his feet sounded as if welcoming him. No matter what he became, what he experienced, or even if he lost his humanity, this place alone would always welcome him.

“Mother Maria. Growing up… showed me how amazing you were,” he mumbled as he reminisced.

Using one’s life purely for others was far more difficult than saving the world, but Mother Maria had done it all too easily.

Seong-Hwi arrived at the door and pushed it open. Around this time, he was supposed to spread the Major, Element, and the Court Cards so that he could be moved to the place needed for Borrowing Destiny. However, he did not do so this time.

Until now, he had used Borrowing Destiny to choose the figures to borrow destinies from and negotiate with them. However, borrowing a deity’s destiny was not that simple. He had learned from past failed attempts that he couldn’t have the attitude of a dealmaker, but a devotee. Hence, Seong-Hwi decided to look around his memory palace a little more. He had taken two pills of the B-rank ayahuasca, so he had more than enough time.

He closed the door behind him, took off his shoes, and walked to the familiar shoe cabinet. There were large foot-shaped stickers inside the bottom-right cabinet, labeled Cheon Seong-Hwi.

“It’s… so small,” Seong-Hwi mumbled as he tried putting one of his black boots inside; it completely covered the foot-shaped sticker.

He smirked at seeing just the toe portion of his boots barely fit in the cabinet, and walked inside. A statue of the Virgin Mary was right across from the front door, which the children used to bring their hands together and pray in front of whenever they came back in. However, Seong-Hwi simply stood crookedly and stared at the statue.

“There is only one Maria in my life. I believe in Mother Maria more than you.”

He had the right to say that as one who had witnessed Mother Maria’s love and benefited from her warm heart. He felt like her words were echoing inside his head.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t believe in God. I believe in the beautiful and desperate feelings of those who believe in Him.”

Borrowing her words, Seong-Hwi did not believe in the Virgin Mary, but Mother Maria, who believed in her. Since she believed in her, he thought he might as well try it out, too.

“Why not?” he said as he brought his hands together to pray and closed his eyes, his heart as unfaithful as it had been when he was little.

He explored the children’s home after he was finished praying. It felt as if time had stopped in the children’s home. Even the creaking of the floor was the same.

“Stop right there!”

“Catch me if you can!”

“Hahaha!”

The phantoms of children ran past Seong-Hwi. Among them was the young Shin So-Eun, who was no longer in the world. He looked around the playroom, cafeteria, bedrooms, and other places as he reminisced about his time here.

“I wonder if… all memories become targets of yearning after enough time passes?” he wondered.

If that were the case, one would have to spend the present as best they could. No matter how agonizing it was now, the memories would one day be remembered as beautiful days.

Is that really the case? Will my struggles to shine brightly become meaningful if I think back on them in the future?

He suppressed the gradually rising aura of futility and arrived at the director’s office. The door was slightly open, and Seong-Hwi looked inside. The office was empty, which he wasn’t disappointed by since he had expected as much.

The children peeked into the director’s office often when we were young.

Children lingered in front of the office, especially on the weekends, because patrons often arrived to talk to Mother Maria. The children clung to the patrons and acted like babies, asking for toys or snacks to reward their deficiencies. However, Seong-Hwi hated it when the patrons arrived because he felt they were infringing on his space.

Moreover, he hated seeing Mother Maria bowing to them. He hated their expensive foreign cars, happy smiles, and proud attitudes as if they were occupiers. They sometimes brought their children to play with the other kids, which he hated the most.

There had been so many of them ever since I was little.

He opened the door to the director’s office with a smile and looked around. All that was in her office were several bookshelves covering the walls, an old wooden table in front of a stained-glass window, and two chairs.

What did you think about when you sat here? Seong-Hwi thought as he tried sitting in Mother Maria’s chair.

It was too small for him now that he was all grown up, but someone larger than he could ever be had spent her days here. Thinking of it that way, this room gave Seong-Hwi infinite strength.

He got out of the chair and walked to the bookshelves filled with various books. He looked through the titles of the books on the top row, and they were as follows:

The Bravest Gamblers, A Thief’s Biography, Industrial Society and Its Future, The Worst Serial Killers, The Shining Valor of Goryeo, and The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, The Magnus of Macedonia, Greek & Roman Mythology, The Bible, and The Ring of the Nibelung.

Among them, the books Greek & Roman Mythology and The Bible shone dimly with a golden light. The books on the second row were all shining with a golden light. They were as follows:

Maya Mythology, Aztec Mythology, Inca Mythology, Mesopotamian Mythology, Hindu Mythology, Celtic Mythology, Norse Mythology, Egyptian Mythology, Korean Mythology, Japanese Mythology, Inuit Mythology, and more. The books in the second row were of myths passed down from an entire country or a group of people.

“I ask you, gods. Are any of you willing to help me? I shall pay the appropriate price,” Seong-Hwi said respectfully in front of the bookshelf.

Just then, golden light flashed from the books in the second row, and various voices sounded from them.

“What will you give us?”

“A human dares covet the destiny of a god?”

“Denied.”

“Interesting.”

“What do you want?”

“Ahaha! Are you sure you can handle it?”

The banquet of diverse voices and the dense history infused in their voices tried to oppress Seong-Hwi, but he overcame them and shouted, “I shall give you causality! I need the power to split the sea!”

Just then, the Greek & Roman Mythology book flew out from the first row, and its pages began to turn rapidly. It stopped at a page with an image of a man with blue hair and eyes, holding a trident as he controlled the sea. The name Poseidon was written above the image.

A flash of golden light from the book engulfed Seong-Hwi. He groaned as he felt the light examining his entire being. Poseidon’s deep voice then echoed.

“You lack the mettle, human. Your vessel is too small to hold my destiny. This amount of causality is not enough for me to fix that arrogant Zeus’s habits.”

The pages started turning again, then stopped at an image of a merman with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish, blowing a trumpet. He was Triton. A golden light flashed from the book again to examine him, then the voice of a boy sounded from the book.

“Hmm, I want the causality, but I don’t want to let you borrow my destiny. As my father had mentioned, you lack the mettle, exactly the kind of human that the vast sea despises.”

The book’s pages turned again, stopping at the pages of the deities of the sea or rivers, such as Oceanus, Charybdis, Thalassa, and Achelous, but none of them accepted Seong-Hwi’s offer. The last page of the Greek & Roman Mythology book turned over, and the book returned to its place on the bookshelf.

The books of other mythologies flew out one after another and shone on Seong-Hwi with the same golden light to examine him, but each refused to let him borrow their destiny for varying reasons.

Set of Egyptian mythology tried to charm him. “Kekek! Want my help? Then destroy your star and hand over all your causality! Then, you can have what you want!”

Lir of Celtic mythology indolently mumbled, “Yawn… Your life sure is unfortunate. I enjoyed browsing through it, but I won’t let you borrow my destiny. It’s a chore.”

Sedna of Inuit mythology demanded that Seong-Hwi do something he couldn’t fulfill. “Hoho! If I let you borrow my power, will you come to live with me in Adlivun for the rest of your life? Will you?”

Hundreds of gods examined him, but none obliged.

Did I fail? Dammit! I thought it would work if I offered them causality, he thought with a frown, glaring at the golden light lingering around the books as if mocking him.

He had changed the Tarot Deck of Destiny’s rule to borrow an eight-card destiny and had even lowered himself from the one choosing to the one being chosen, but the deities weren’t willing to let him borrow their destiny.

Tsk, I should find another way. Should I look for Old Man Go Gil-Rae, as I’d thought?

He could reach Gurzes if the old man built him a submarine, but it would take a long time.

Considering the ones who attacked me, the situation in Gurzes seems much worse than I had anticipated. I might not be able to complete the mission if I am delayed any further.

If that were to happen, it would give Grandis enough justification to control him.

In any case, doing any more of this is a waste of time.

As he turned around and was about to walk out of the director’s office, he heard a crackly voice.

“You and I are quite alike.”

Seong-Hwi stopped in his tracks and immediately turned around. The other books had returned to their places in the bookshelf, except for one, floating in midair as it looked at Seong-Hwi. On the page of the Japanese Mythology book was an image of a man with disheveled hair, wielding two double-edged straight swords as he battled a monstrous serpent with eight heads and tails atop the stormy sea.

“You’re…” he trailed off as he read the deity’s name on top of the image: Takehaya-Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

“I am Susanoo, the son of Izanagi and Izanami, the god of the sea and storms who killed Yamato no Orochi,” the deity said.

“Did you say that you and I are alike?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“I did. You are a lone wolf and can turn from absolute serenity to a storm that devours everything around it.”

Susanoo… One of the central deities of Japanese mythology, known for his martial prowess alongside the God of Thunder, Takemikazuchi, Seong-Hwi thought.

He was one of the Three Noble Children, alongside Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, and his violent inclinations, evoked by his innate wildness and impetuousness, painted him as a god of destruction.

Did he react to my violent nature deep inside me? he guessed.

However, he was only half-correct.

“And… You deeply yearn for your mother.”

Seong-Hwi’s expression crumpled intensely.

“Since I looked into you, you may look into me.”

The page of Susanoo shone blindingly and engulfed Seong-Hwi.

***

[Eight-card Destiny.]

[Spread cards: No.16 The Tower, No.8 Strength, No.0 The Fool, Two of Wands, Ace of Cups, Seven of Wands, Five of Wands, Knight of Swords.]

[Destiny reading: A fool who possesses catastrophic strength and acts hastily in extremes, feeling a sense of loss and confusion from a deficiency of motherly love.]