Dreamslinger, page 12
“Look—the petals! They’re trembling!”
Aria had been sitting with Lion at his garden, learning how to cast on and do a basic knit stitch, when Tui’s voice boomed from farther down the eastern wing. The red stalk had grown to be as tall as Tui’s shoulder, and now, the balloon-sized bud was almost at eye level with her. It looked like a ripe fruit about to burst, and as they stood there with their mouths open, the ruby petals unfurled slowly, one by one.
“She looks like a living, breathing rainbow,” Lion murmured, as a bright-eyed bloom dragon emerged. She was already the size of a cat—bigger than most of the others—and each petal-shaped scale on her body was a different color.
Aria nodded, mesmerized.
“Welcome to the world, Tweak,” Tui said as the dreampanion seedling crawled with confidence into her arms. “You’re gonna love this place—I promise.”
It was only a few hours later that Lion called Aria and Tui over to his plot, all breathless, his cheeks shiny with anticipation.
“Guys,” he whispered, “I think it’s time.”
Sure enough, a small bloom dragon coated with the most incandescent golden petals awoke from his flower pod, blinking timidly at Lion.
“Don’t be scared,” Lion assured, as he cajoled the shy seedling onto his palm. “I’ll take care of you. I think I’ll call you…hmm… either Cheerio or Echo.”
Aria had laughed at that. “Isn’t Cheerios a type of cereal?”
“In New Zealand, cheerios are little red sausages you eat at birthday parties,” Tui mused.
“Okay fiiine, let’s lock in Echo. Sounds cooler anyway.” Lion stroked his seedling’s head. “Welcome to the Awake, little Echo. Your name means that which continues to repeat and reverberate after the original sound has ended.”
Aria nodded appreciatively. “That’s beautiful.”
Lion smiled. “Hopefully he grows to do the name justice.”
There were others who hadn’t unfurled their seedlings yet—like Antoni Kowalski, a Polish trialeer from Winter Palace, or Maxwell Forsythe, the rude guy who’d called Aria and her friends zoo animals during orientation lunch. But many had. And when Aria woke up one morning to the news that six trialeers had been sent home after their seedlings wilted and died, she started to descend into a mild panic.
Trying to come up with excuses for yet another delayed report for the commissioner was stressful enough. But trying to convince yourself you didn’t want something that you so desperately needed felt like living with two people inside her head. She could no longer imagine a world in which she didn’t meet her dreampanion. But admitting that to herself felt like the biggest betrayal of her dad, his work, and her mom’s life. They were impossible to reconcile.
It was excruciating. And it must’ve shown. Because two days before the Unfurling deadline, Aria was still at the Nursery at midnight, and Tui and Lion staged an intervention.
“That’s it, we’re dragging your sorry butt outta here,” Tui declared, as she and Lion physically pulled her out of the Nursery. “You look like you’re about to snap like Mason’s guitar string did yesterday. You need to take a breather.”
“And I have just the place,” Lion murmured.
“Where are we?” Tui asked. “When you said you had somewhere in mind, this is not where I imagined you’d take us.”
Lion had led Aria and Tui down a secret doorway in the Spring Palace kitchens into what seemed to be an underground tunnel. The narrow pathways were lit with torches, and upon closer inspection, they seemed to be little glowbugs, each one emitting a different color of the rainbow.
“It’s a network of underground tunnels that connect all five of the palaces together,” Lion explained. “They were built a long time ago in case we ever had an anti-slinger attack on the kingdom. Hardly anyone knows about them, but my mom used to bring me here when I got too overwhelmed and needed to get away.”
“Hope she doesn’t mind you sharing it with us,” Tui said with a grin.
Lion lowered his head. “My mom’s dead. She was killed during the Great Tragedy ten years ago.”
Aria assumed he was talking about the Great Outburst. “Mine too.”
Tui winced. “Guys, I’m so sorry.”
Aria looked at Lion and saw him in a different light then. He might’ve grown up here, but he’d lost his mom in the same way she had. She felt… understood. His expression mirrored her thoughts.
“I want to show you guys something. But we need to go all the way to Central Palace,” Lion said. “Directly underneath the Devotion Hall. You game?”
“If it’s going to get Aria out of her head, then yes,” Tui said, pulling on Aria’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
They’d been walking for a while in silence when Aria remembered the last time she’d been in the Devotion Hall.
“Hey, Lion,” she called out, “you don’t happen to know who Ko Iseul is, do you?”
Lion stopped abruptly and turned to face her. “How do you know about her?”
Aria wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction. “That’s the thing—I know nothing about her. But for a minute I thought it was the mudang’s name, until I learned the mudang’s actual name was Ko Garam. So then who is Ko Iseul?”
“She was the mudang’s older sister,” Lion said carefully. “But she died during the Great Tragedy, like my mom. The mudang was never the same after that.”
Tui grimaced. “Man, I can see why you guys call it the Great Tragedy now. You lost so many people.”
Lion exhaled deeply. “We’re not supposed to talk about her, but Ko Iseul… She’s kind of my hero. She was the one who convinced the king to organize the world tour ten years ago.”
Aria startled. “But that’s what caused the Great Outburst! How can someone like that be your hero?!”
“The world tour didn’t cause the Great Tragedy. The anti-slingers did. If they hadn’t provoked the royal slingers, it would never have happened.”
Aria frowned. “But it did happen. And it could happen again. Think about it. A hermit kingdom suddenly appears to the world, parading their military prowess in the form of hot-blooded teenagers. Of course people questioned the League’s motives. It was essentially an invitation for trouble.”
Lion’s brow furrowed. “Are you saying they got what they deserved?”
“Of course not. But—”
“And the motive was peace. A public act in good faith to show that royal slingers needn’t be feared. To quash stupid ignorance about the kingdom and the League. To raise awareness and bridge understanding between—”
“But they proved exactly the opposite,” Aria pointed out, feeling rather incensed by the direction of this conversation. “Whatever their motives, they ended up killing thousands of people.”
“Only because they were forced to fight!” Lion argued, his voice rising. “Can you blame them for defending themselves and their loved ones?” He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a huge scar running down the full length of his arm. “My mom died while trying to protect me. How was that her fault?”
Aria retreated a little, both physically and mentally. She hadn’t realized Lion himself had been there. He must’ve only been five years old at the time. Her heart wrenched for what he must’ve endured.
“The world didn’t even give us a chance,” Lion said quietly. “They just saw something different to their ways, saw us as a threat, and immediately decided to stamp us out.” He continued thoughtfully. “That’s why this year’s Trials will succeed where the world tour failed. By allowing people into our borders, the world will start to understand that our intentions have always been honorable.”
He paused. “I really hope the League continues to invite international trialeers to the Trials—that it becomes something that repeats and reverberates even after this year has ended. It’s why I named my bloom dragon Echo.”
Aria frowned and chose her words thoughtfully. “But, Lion, as long as the League trains teenagers to wield the powers of the Asleep, there will always be the risk of another Great Outburst. People will never stop seeing royal slingers as a threat.” She hesitated. “Even if they’re not.”
He shook his head, visibly frustrated. “But that’s so defeatist. You’re only looking at the risks. What about the opportunities? Fellows could do so much for the greater good. Imagine using our seasonbilities to help counter climate disasters, or using nightjoys to help in conflict zones or humanitarian crises, or…” He petered out, as if suddenly exhausted. “Outside Royal Hanguk, dreamslingers are being taught to hate themselves—to be ashamed of who they are. I’ve heard some are even being recruited into the anti-slinger movement! We have to at least try, don’t we?”
Tui suddenly piped up, after having been silent this entire time. “It seems to me that both of you are buffetsplaining. And yes, I just made that up on the spot. But the point still stands.”
Aria and Lion both stared at her blankly.
“Say you go to a buffet. You might only choose seafood on your plate and argue it’s a seafood restaurant. Or you might only choose meat and argue it’s a meat restaurant. Neither of you are wrong, but it’s not the full picture. The full buffet is a lot more complex, so it’s easier to choose the facts that fit your own stories.” She bowed. “And that’s buffetsplaining. You’re welcome.”
Aria harrumphed, but on the inside, her chest felt heavy and prickly. This whole time she’d assumed the Great Outburst was something the League had imposed on the rest of the world. But it seemed that Royal Hangukites were as much the victims as anyone else. Things suddenly didn’t feel as black and white as they used to. And that just made her mission here all the more complicated. She didn’t know what to think anymore.
They were all lost in thought as they kept walking through the underground tunnels, and Aria was relieved when Lion finally stopped at their destination.
“We’re here,” he breathed. “Isn’t it incredible?”
They were standing before a gigantic hourglass spanning the entire height of the tunnel. Thick crimson liquid seemed to be dripping from the ceiling, filling the glass vessel.
“Is that—is that blood?” Aria asked, aghast.
Tui gaped. “Whose blood is it?”
He pointed up. “We’re directly under the statues in the Devotion Hall of Central Palace, which is the very heart of Royal Hanguk. As per legend, the Holy Trine so loved this kingdom that their blood continues to flow through our heart.”
He paused, as if trying to decide whether to elaborate further. “The blood flows from a flower hidden inside the statues, which the Holy Trine gifted to humankind before they left this world. It’s a fragment of the divine that continues to bleed for us. To remind us we haven’t been forgotten. That we matter. We call it the Bleeding Bloom.”
When Aria and Tui remained speechless, Lion shrugged. “I know people have different beliefs, and you can take it or leave it. But coming here reminds me that regardless of all humanity’s issues, there are benevolent beings out there who love us. Despite our flaws.”
Aria’s head felt woozy. So the literal blood of an ancient flower flowed into the underground tunnels as a reminder of the Holy Trine’s love for this kingdom? Was this for real?
“Lion,” Aria started. “Say all this is true, what do you do with all this blood? What is it all f—”
“Who’s there?” a voice boomed from up ahead, stopping Aria mid-sentence. “You better get out of these tunnels if you know what’s good for you!”
“It’s the mudang,” Lion whispered. “There’s a door from the Devotion Hall down here.”
“I mean it! If I catch you, you’ll be as good as dead!”
The footsteps got closer and louder.
“Run!” Tui hissed.
And run they did. All the way back the way they’d come. And it was only when they found their way through the hidden passage into the Spring Palace kitchens again that Aria realized she hadn’t worried about her unfurled dreampanion the entire time.
“THANK YOU FOR THE INTERVENTION,” Aria said to Tui and Lion, meaning it. “I think I’m ready to go back to the Nursery now.”
Despite the heated conversation with Lion, the trip to the underground tunnels had settled Aria’s mood. She felt calmer, even though her mind was more confused than ever.
“I’ll come with you,” Tui said. “I want to check on Tweak.” The already-unfurled seedlings had to stay in the Nursery until the Unfurling Trial officially ended in two days’ time. Or technically one, since it was three in the morning now.
“Are you sure?” Aria asked. “It’s really late.”
“I’m coming, too,” Lion said. “Sleeping seedlings are so adorable.”
They used their norigae to enter the Dreampanion Nursery and headed toward the eastern wing. Starlight shone down through the glass, making the conservatory look almost otherworldly, and Aria was overwhelmed by how beautiful it was.
It was then that Tui screamed.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Lion demanded. “Have you lost your mind?!”
Maxwell Forsythe, the trialeer who’d called Aria a pig at orientation lunch, was swinging a machete at Antoni Kowalski’s dreamslinger plant.
He grunted upon being caught in the act. But then he gripped the machete tighter and swung it again, slicing the remaining part of the attached stalk. Antoni’s watermelon-size bud dropped to the ground with a sickening thud, then immediately shriveled and wilted away.
This time, Aria and Tui both shrieked. He was cutting down the competition. Literally.
“Stop this mayhem!” Lion yelled, and Aria was surprised how commanding he could be when he wanted to. “Antoni will never fill his Soul-Gap now because of you. You killed his dreampanion! Put that machete down now.”
Maxwell wiped his forehead and sneered. “And if I don’t?”
“We know what you’ve done now,” Lion spat. “There’s no way you’ll be allowed to proceed to the next Trial. Give it up. You’ve failed.”
Maxwell slunk out of the garden plot, his machete dripping with the crimson sap from Antoni’s stalk. “You think I’m doing this to better my chances in this stupid competition?” He scoffed. “I’m doing this because it’s the moral thing to do! We can’t let this disease spread. We need to nip it in the bud before it festers and rots and ruins all of society. The world doesn’t need any more of our genetic curse. We need to cleanse the world of our dreamslinger filth!”
“You’re… you’re an anti-slinger?” Lion asked.
Tui gaped. “So you entered the Trials just to sabotage it from the inside?”
Aria felt a tsunami of guilt, knowing her objective wasn’t too far off his. But she wasn’t like him. She wouldn’t sink to such lows as to commit dreampanion murder. She wasn’t an anti-slinger—merely wary of the League’s methods.
“You’ve been taught to believe that you’re not enough,” Lion said calmly, as if changing tactics. “That somehow you’re faulty, and that you’re not worthy. But, Maxwell, it’s not true. Our mutation is not a curse. It’s an opportunity to—”
“This is what I think of your stinking opportunity!” Maxwell screamed as he ran to Aria’s garden, jumped over the white picket fence, and swung his machete at her plant.
Aria’s vision went white. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run and protect her sprouted dreampanion plant. She wanted to wring Maxwell’s neck. She wanted to do so many things. But all she did was stay frozen on the spot, too shocked to move a muscle, let alone utter a sound.
Tui and Lion, on the other hand, sprang into action.
“Don’t you freaking dare!” Tui cried as she ran and jumped on Maxwell’s back with a howl.
He swung his arm just as she slipped off his back, and his elbow jabbed her face. She yelped as blood gushed out her nose.
“Tui!” Aria screamed, her voice finally returning to her.
Aria ran toward Tui just as Lion approached Maxwell, his knees bent low and hands flapping dynamically. His feet were moving in a fluid triangle formation, and Aria’s first thought was Is he dancing right now?
Maxwell must’ve had the same thought, because he momentarily loosened his grip on the machete and smirked at Lion. Wrong move. Lion used his lapse in concentration to strike, propelling the weapon out of Maxwell’s hand with a perfectly timed roundhouse kick.
“What the—”
By the time Maxwell realized what’d happened, Lion had knocked him unconscious using a nearby spade and then used said spade to pin him down flat against the ground.
“What was that?” Tui demanded, her face still bloody.
“Taekkyon, an ancient Korean martial art.”
When Aria and Tui continued to stare, dumbstruck, he shrugged. “I told you I like knitting and martial arts.”
He turned his attention to Aria’s plant, and concern clouded his expression. “He struck the stalk. But I think it’s going to be okay.”
Suddenly remembering the arc of the machete, Aria ran to her garden, her heart in her throat. The stalk had been nicked, and bloody sap was trickling from its wound. She closed her hand over the cut, stanching the flow. For a second, she imagined what would’ve happened if Tui and Lion hadn’t run into the fire for her. If Maxwell had managed to kill her dreampanion before it’d even had a chance to unfurl.
A prickly lump formed in her throat, and her eyes burned with heat. “Guys, I… I honestly don’t know what to say.”
“Roar!” Lion said knowingly, as if he knew exactly what she was trying to say.
“Chirp!” Tui echoed.
They both pulled Aria into a hug, and it stole the breath out of her chest. In that winded moment, she realized she had well and truly crossed a line. These two people crushing her in their arms weren’t just her allies. If she was being honest with herself, they hadn’t been for a long time.
