Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Some say the world will end in fire, and some in ice, but few know with certainty.

She was one such person… she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if the end were to come, it would be in fire, and the soaring Fire Bird in the night sky of Daeho was confirmation to that. Lee Yeonhwa wasn’t there to save the world, however. Her role in that was made redundant the moment Jin Seolran returned. The owner of the Ice Stone would see to saving everybody, she would save his world instead, or she would try at least.

Moving through the rows upon rows of houses in the capital of Daeho, Yeonhwa’s goal was the Choeonbugwan, where brave souls had come together to defeat a great evil descending upon them, an evil born of human greed as much as divine punishment.

The fire spread from one courtyard to another; terrified people were spilling out into the streets of the Daeho Fortress, trying to get as far away as possible from the Gyeongcheondaeho Lake, where a great one last battle was taking place. Yeonhwa skilfully guided her horse through the swarms of frightened peasants, doing her utmost not to trample on anybody. As she advanced farther and farther away from the residential areas, fewer people could be seen frantically running about.

She could just about make out the Outer Gates of the palace in the distance, when she heard it – a great cry of rage and despair, the shriek of a dying creature.

The moment the great priestess confirmed Jang Uk’s victory, everybody inside the Choeonbugwan breathed in a sigh of relief. It was finally done. The apocalypse of the world was no longer hanging over them like an executioner’s blade.

Only one person’s happiness was dimmed, for he lost her once more. The person in front of him wasn’t the one to share bird songs with him, nor was she the foolish friend he had unknowingly regained. The loss hadn’t felt so acute when death was imminent, when her unseeing eyes were their only hope at surviving the inevitable calamity. Yet now he felt like weeping, his throat dry.

Seo Yul was so very tired. He wanted to take his leave as quietly as possible, when Jin Buyeon, or truly Jin Seolran, collapsed on the dais of the celestial basin. Perhaps his heart, wounded so many times by repeatedly losing the same person, could hardly reconcile the fact that Jin Buyeon’s body merely bore the appearance of his first love, but not the spirit. In reality, Naksu was long gone, yet he hurried to her side nonetheless.

With a great shout, Seo Yul fell to his knees, arms desperately holding onto the unconscious woman.

“Naksu!”

Every single person behind him froze. Nothing could be heard in the celestial room, nothing but Seo Yul’s pleas for Naksu to wake up, tears flowing down his face unrestrained.

Sang Ho thought that he surely was delirious, there simply was no way. He saw Mudeok fall to her death himself –

“How did you know?” Jin Choyeon was looking at Seo Yul in disbelief.

This time, it was her turn to be stared at as if she was crazy.

“Choyeon-agassi, what – what do you mean? How can this be? This is Jin Buyeon… isn’t she?”

Both impatient and simply baffled, Choyeon ignored Park Dang Gu’s question and repeated hers.

“Seo Yul, how did you know?!”

In her dismay, Choyeon’s voice went so high Seo Yul finally snapped out of his fixation on the woman in his hold. Slowly raising his head, the Seo family heir looked at his friends, each waiting for an explanation. Go Won’s face was perhaps the palest of them all, for he could simply not fathom the idea that Naksu Filthy Mudeok could be alive.

Surely not?

“So you knew just as well as your mother who she was, didn’t you?” replied Seo Yul with a question of his own. However, he didn’t let her answer and continued on –

“I wager, though, that I know things of which even you are not aware, Jin Choyeon. I found out from Master Lee; I very recently found out the truth. Since she is no longer here to tell you herself, I will do it, for I hope you will not ask anything of Jang Uk. This must feel beyond torturous for him as it is: to get her back, only to lose her once more.”

If any of the present had previously thought that he was joking or was talking rubbish, at this point they were certain that Seo Yul knowingly addressed Jin Buyeon as Naksu.

“It all started 200 years ago,” Seo Yul started his tale with a whisper, still holding onto Jin Buyeon. “When Seo Gyeong and Jin Seolran saved Daeho and founded Songrim and Jinyowon, respectively. Jin Seolran was dying and Seo Gyeong, who desperately wanted to protect her, left one Ice Stone for her salvation. However, as you well know, she refused to use it. Instead, upon her death, her soul got attached to the Ice Stone inside the Jinyowon. It stayed there all that time, unknown to all, until Jin Hogyeong begged Jang Gang to save the child inside her belly using the Ice Stone.

“How could have anybody predicted that the soul of Jin Hogyeong’s baby would not come back? How could one know that Jin Seolran’s soul would return in the newly born body of Jin Buyeon? She was blind and very powerful, exactly like Jin Seolran, and when foolishness and greediness drove powerful mages to use the Ice Stone once more, Jin Seolran as the 10-year old Jin Buyeon tried to destroy it only to be lost in the Gyeongcheondaeho Lake. Nevertheless, she didn’t die… no, a blind girl appeared in the Sari Village. She was called Mudeok.”

Nothing voiced by Seo Yul had surprised the others like that last sentence. Horrified, Sang Ho's thoughts straight away jumped to the torture they put the Jin heiress' body under. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince tried his best not to remember all the times he'd seen the girl in rather demeaning situations. Park Dang Gu was perhaps the only one who'd treated Mudeok with sincerity from the very start, but it was still incredulous to find out whose body Naksu took over. Even Choyeon, who had known about quite a few of the details of her sister’s life, was shocked to hear about Jin Seolran being the true owner of her sister’s body. By all accounts, Jin Buyeon’s soul had long departed their world.

“Mudeok stayed in Sari Village, perhaps because she didn’t have all her powers, I do not truly know. So-I, who knew Mudeok since their days in that place, couldn’t shed any light on that. Neither did Master Lee. However, when Naksu appeared in Sari Village, she was able to use her powers to entrap Naksu’s soul inside Mudeok’s body. Naksu, as Mudeok, than appeared at Chwiseonru, where she met Jang Uk.”

At that point in his retelling, Seo Yul voice wavered.

The blue marks in her eyes. Is that all it took for Uk to fall in love with her?

Seo Yul had never seen that mark, and he was grateful for that. There were enough things he regretted; he didn’t want to add the memory of blooming flowers to that as well.

“Jang Uk became her pupil and young master, and Naksu his master and maid. They fell in love; she gave up her identity and power as Naksu, choosing to be just Mudeok; he gave up his powers to save all those trapped in the Ice Stone during the disastrous Unanimous Assembly three years ago. They wanted to get married and live happily together.

“That day…” Seo Yul deeply inhaled before continuing, “That day, she didn’t pick up her sword because she chose it. Jin Mu fed her the bell potion, the same one that tortured the late Queen during her captivity in Gaema Village. He forced Naksu to run wild; I confirmed it with her. She could hear the bells ringing all the way till she jumped to her death into the depths of Gyeongcheondaeho. It seems Jin Mu had played a similar role when Naksu’s father, Cho Chung, had run wild massacring his whole clan. Jin Mu took her away after the massacre, manipulating Naksu into becoming an assassin. He had manipulated Naksu her whole life.”

If Go Won had previously felt miserable with the part he had played in the tragedy of Naksu, now he felt it even more so. To have aided a horrible monster like Jin Mu; didn’t that make him, a proud Crown Prince, an even bigger joke? How he wished he hadn’t listened to the poisonous words of his previous master. He could only clench his fists harder; his anguish deeply buried.

“That is when we saved her,” Choyeon continued where Seo Yul left off. “After she jumped into the Lake, we rescued her and brought her home. I do not know how mother found out about Mudeok’s true identity. She also got Master Lee to help us reverse the petrification process. It took a long time.”

“Indeed,” added Seo Yul, “Master Lee had to remove her memories to help the soul remain in harmony with the body. As a consequence, Mudeok’s body, or should I say Jin Buyeon’s body, changed. It reflected the visage of the one whose energy it used to recover – Naksu’s. As her powers came back, she started regaining her memories, but her soul energy also got spent. Jang Uk and Naksu had finally recognised each other after coming out of Gwido, only to part once more. Naksu’s soul had to leave this body, for Jin Seolran’s soul to come back and help defeat the Fire Bird... and here we are.”

Park Dang Gu had listened intently to everything Seo Yul had to say. As he did so, he realised that Jang Uk and Seo Yul had once again kept him in the dark.

But can I really blame them? So much heartbreak and it keeps on happening over and over.

Park Dang Gu meant to approach Seo Yul and offer him as much support as he could, when at last Jin Buyeon started moving.

Initially, Cho Yeong could only see the light pink gauze in front of her eyes. She felt as if she was in a daze; a haze so powerful, she couldn’t make out anything but somebody’s calming tone very close to her.

Her limbs felt like lead and mouth like cotton. As she regained more and more of her consciousness, she realised who was talking – Seo Yul, and about whom – her, Cho Yeong.

When Seo Yul finished retelling her sorrowful story, despite the lethargy she felt, she endeavoured to remove her blindfold, hungrily taking in her surroundings.

It worked like a spell.

Her eyes moved from one friend to another, while the room fell utterly silent for the third time that evening.

Why would she remove the gauze?

Unless...

The first to recover was Jin Choyeon, swiftly kneeling in front of her elder sister.

“Eo – eonni?”

Taking her hand, the youngest Jin lady tried to help Cho Yeong into a seating position and out of Seo Yul’s frozen-like arms.

“Are – are you Buyeon-eonni or Naksu-eonni?”

Cho Yeong, looking at the young woman who had become so very dear to her, sweetly smiled in reply.

“Hmmm, how about neither? I am not Buyeon, though to most other people, I will remain Jin Buyeon; yet I am not Naksu either. I chose to stop being Naksu a long time ago. You can use the same name my parents gave me at birth, and the one I used when I married Jang Uk.

“I am Cho Yeong.”

Jin Choyeon, tearing up, quickly embraced her still sitting sister.

“I am glad. I truly thought we lost you forever, and I hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.”

Softly chuckling, Cho Yeong brought her little sister closer.

“Worry not, I am here to stay.”

With that, she released Choyeon, and turned towards her oldest friend.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Yul-a. Are you lost for words or simply flustered?” she teased him.

Seeing his still bewildered face, she thought she'd let him regain his composure. She'd put him through enough. Instead, she chose to look for something among her various pockets. As her search was proving to be fruitless, she became more frantic.

“What is wrong? What is it you are looking for?” Seo Yul asked as he finally processed the miracle that had just happened. His friend was back.

And she is here to stay.

“The jade. I can’t fi – ” she stopped mid-sentence, her hands falling without purpose to her side.

How foolish of me!

How could the jade be on her person, when both of the Yin & Yang stones were with Jang Uk? She returned hers, just as she confessed her love for him in Danhyanggok.

Ah, perhaps there’s a way still… please, let it work!

Sans any explanations to those around her, most of whom were still recovering from this amazing turn of events, Cho Yeong extended her left arm, palm facing upward, focusing as hard as she could muster despite her dizziness.

The Yin jade, which once belonged to Jinyowon, appeared in her palm as if it came from very close by. In truth, the jade got summoned over from thousands of feet away, where a despondent Jang Uk hovered over the Gyeongcheondaeho Lake.

Cho Yeong continued to be in possession of Jin Seolran's divine powers. It both filled her with hope and wonder. However, that wasn't the appropriate time to ponder over such things.

Without wasting any more time, Cho Yeong wrapped her fingers around the precious symbol of their love, filling the stone with her energy. Her fist trembled from the amount of pressure she put on the relic.

Please, hurry back to me, my love.

I am here.

Even if the others wanted to say something or ask for explanations, they did not have the heart to do so. All of them knew what that jade meant, and whom it was meant to call. All of them were fully aware just how agonising the last few years had been for Jang Uk without her by his side.

There would be time for words later, now it was time for a much-awaited reunion instead.

As if an earth dragon moved under the foundations of the Choeonbugwan, the hall shook with the force of Jang Uk’s entrance. The doors almost flew of their hinges, while the celestial tablets quivered in their holders.

Jin Choyeon meant to hold onto her sister as she felt a strong wind coming their way. But when it finally settled, she found herself holding onto empty air. She would have certainly toppled over, if not for Seo Yul’s timely assistance.

Kneeling in front of his wife, Jang Uk held Cho Yeong’s face with both of his hands. His eyes burned with both despair and hope, as they gazed into her own.

Once more, the blue marks bloom like flowers in your eyes, my merciless master.

I might have an Ice Stone for a heart, but even a Stone will surely break from everything you’ve put me through.

“You are finally here, dear husband. I woke up and you were nowhere to be seen. What a good welcome,” Cho Yeong teased him, while pouting. Seeing the confused expression on his face, she continued, “I was sent back; I guess the priestess has heard our vows after all, just like Master Lee said.”

“Is this Jin Seolran’s newly-wed present for us, wife?” Jang Uk’s lips were gently smiling, but his eyes didn’t lessen in their intensity.

He wanted to drink her in, like the strongest wine in Daeho; and in his eternal drunkenness, they would never part again. Remembering their heart-breaking farewell as she got her last memory back, his hand grasped hers in their unique ring of promises of a lifetime together.

Without care for his surroundings or still present audience, he gently kissed both of her closed eyes and then her lips, as well.

Everybody else in the room felt rather embarrassed with the couple's blatant display of affection. It did not surprise them, but it certainly made them need to look elsewhere. Both Seo Yul and Jin Choyeon who'd been kneeling by Cho Yeong's side all this time, swiftly got up, leaving the couple to enjoy their moment alone.

On the other hand, Cho Yeong felt like she was going to expire from such sweetness. She was beyond exhausted and now that she could finally lean into the chest of her husband, she did so without any compunction. The fog she experienced upon her awakening wasn’t as strong, but it lingered on the edges of her consciousness nonetheless.

Seeing her so weakened, Jang Uk embraced her even closer.

"Let me take you to Sejukwon, Yeong-ah. You look a bit too pale."

She nodded into Jang Uk's chest, feeling like she could fall asleep any moment now.

He'd barely got himself and her back to their feet, when the abused doors of the Celestial Hall creaked as they parted once more.

Seven heads almost simultaneously turned toward the sound.

“I see you are back, Cho Yeong-ah. My heart is relieved.”

None of those present, bar one, recognised the newcomer’s face or her lilting voice.

Yet those two sentences was all it took for Cho Yeong’s fog to finally clear.

Turning toward her husband, her eyes full of tears, she slowly raised their locked hands.

“I guess that wasn’t my last memory after all.

"Yeonhwa-ya, you have finally found me.”

With that, Cho Yeong extracted herself from a wide-eyed Jang Uk’s grasp, running desperately with the last dredges of her strength into the stranger’s waiting arms. Her only hope.