1 1. Out

. ~Hani~.

The gates of hell have finally been open, the shackles that held me captive in this dark cave slowly disappeared, releasing me from my eternal imprisonment.

Seven hundred and fifty years...

It's been seven hundred and fifty years, since I found myself in this same sitting position with greasy rusted shackles that hanged around my neck, wrist and ankle.

Finally, the day has come when I will be out of my eternal punishment.

What did I do that I had to be punished? Is a question I have pondered on throughout the years I've lived in this dark cave.

The cave roughly shakes before I feel a force pull me through the light, the doors to my freedom.

The loud shattering sound of glass fills my ear, then am roughly dropped on the floor, I land on my arm.

Pain cruises around the area i have landed, a stinging sensation follows.

I groan.

I move, the little crystal's I have landed upon pierced through my worn sleeve and into my skin.

It hurts.

"Welcome." A deep voice resonates through the air, it's a male.

I open my eyes only to close them back quickly because of the bright light which I have been deprived off for the past Seven hundred and fifty years or more, left in the dark as punishment.

I don't have anyone to speak to, my food always appeared out of thing air and clothing which was a given to me once in a while, I didn't understand the reason why I was being punished in the dark cave when I was once their queen.

"Your majesty. Are you okay?" the voice asks me.

I wriggle my irises then give another shot in opening my eyes which have adjusted to the light but it's still blurry.

I see a man, he is tall with black short hair, fit but not so muscular in strange clothing, standing in front of me

He takes a step towards me but i stop him with a question, alarmed at the strange man in front of me "Who are you?" I ask raising my head to look at him only to meet his eyes moving across my body in astonishment.

What is he looking at? I wonder looking at myself, I notice the tattered Hanbok I have been wearing for as long as I can remember.

I knit my brows, offended at how he is staring at me. "I wasn't given a change of clothing since… I don't really remember." I explain dryly.

He nods and throws his head in understanding, he clears his throat. "you might want to add five hundred to it your majesty." he says.

Surprise takes over me, my heart skipped a beat, then it thumped! and thumped over and over again against my rib-cage.

That is like one thousand, two hundred and fifty years... I must have done something really atrocious enough to be locked up for that huge amount of years, but how comes I don't remember the five hundred years.

What did I do?

Why can't I remember what I did? I look at the man in front of me, who also looks back at me strangely.

An uncomfortable feeling of being looked down fills me up, I let my right hand out to him to help me up. That way I will be able to feel confident when speaking.

The strange look in his eyes is replaced with confusion as he studies my hand.

I wonder if he is just naive or stupid. I shake my hand out.

Getting the message, he quickly takes my rough and dirty hand into his clean and soft hand.

I smile "Thank you."

As soon as I stand on my two feet, I stagger back like a fragile plant which is being blown by the wind I put my arms out to balance my unstable self, while he cautiously looks at me on standby ready to catch me before I fall.

When I am able to stand on my own I look at him, questions dancing in my eyes. "Am Jin your majesty." he introduces, answering my first question.

Just as am about to acknowledge him and ask him why I am being released, an apparition of another man that looks just like him appears in the room, beside Jin.

The moment our eyes meet he bows. "Welcome back from the dead your majesty." he greets, humor dancing in his eyes and a smirk playing on his lips.

Dead? Did I die at some point of my punishment or was I originally in hell from the very beginning? Jin hits his look alike who has just joined our party. "what… its true that she died." He retorts, rubbing his arm which had received the hit.

"What do you mean?" i ask, authority and fear in my voice as I take a shaky step backward, afraid to hear his answer.

"I don't feel like talking." He grumbles and turns around with a pout.

Jin bows. "I am sorry your majesty, this is Min my brother and just like me he is also a scheduler of the Hanul clan."

Hanul... I mouth, allowing the word to resonate through my brain. Hanul my kingdom, my home and also what has been punishing me for the past decades.

If only I wasn't crowned queen that day.

"Don't you remember what Hanul is your majesty?" Jin asks, I look at him, Min turns to look at me curiously.

I do, my memories of Hanul was the only thing that kept me company in the dark cave over the years, I remember all but the night after I was crowned queen.

I keep on thinking of that night, trying to remember everything but I couldn't even figure out how I had woken up that day.

It just disappeared from my brain.

I sigh and slumped down which caused me much pain "i remember everything excluding the event that happened on the night I was crowned queen." I replied.

Their eyes grew wide and they both look at each other, anger flashes in Min's eyes. "You don't remember. How can you not remember when it's your memory?!" Min yells, kicking his leg while clutching his hand in a fist. He brushes his short hair back.

I purse my lips wondering why he is getting angry at me for forgetting that part of my memory.

Jin seems just as frustrated as his brother but doesn't shows it instead he is being composed. He smiles at me "Don't worry your majesty i will cast a spell to help you remember." he says to me taking a step closer to me.

I nod without arguing as am also curious of what happened that night, the night after I was crowned queen, it feels Erie and ominous.

Jin raises his right hand and directs two fingers at me, his index and the middle, confused and startled I stagger back, the corners of Min lips quirked up as he sensed the fear in me. Is he enjoying this?

"What are you doing?!" I demand pulling back my lower lip trembling.

He raises a brow. "Restoring the fragment of your lost memory." he deadpans as if it isn't a big deal.

A spark of blue brilliance ignites on the tip of his fingers, that sight made me elicit a gasp, even before i could ask him how he did that, I feel the tingle of his magic spread through me, images replayed in my brain.

My memories are being tugged from my memory panel being arranged and organized all except the memories of that night.

I fall on my knees because of the force of the magic, breathing in and out heavily.

"Is it all back?" Min asks hope in his voice, I shake my head as I raise my head to look at them, disappointment fills their feature.

Min throws a ball of brilliance at the wall, making a deep hole in it.

Jin glares at him, anger buzzing in his eyes. "Are you a kid! It was not going to be easy we both knew it!" Jin bellowed, grabbing Min by the arms. "it hasn't even begun." He grints.

"What hasn't?" I ask, curiously.

"The war." Min snaps, staring blankly at his magic fingers. I rise my brows at the word war, questions began to run through my head.

Why will they need to go to war all of a sudden? for all I can remember everything was going peacefully, but what can I say I have been locked up for one thousand, two hundred and fifty years.

"is that why am needed?" I find myself asking trying to stand up but my knees keep on shaking min looks at me and allows a smile to curve his lips. "should i help you?" he offers his voice filled with an unpleasing tone to it, I decline.

Then he begins to laugh hard. "Your appearance shouldn't deceive you, you're an old woman." he insults I gawk at him, he is one strange man. He frowns then he laughs.

"Min that's enough!" Jin orders and shoots out a beam from his fingers, a chair appears. He tells me to sit on it politely unlike Min.

I do not say much and keep on staring at his fingers which keep on amusing me, before I was locked up the common people cooked up their spells then transferred it to sticks when they needed it. My family was different we had magic in our blood so we didn't really need to cook up spells or read it from books all we needed to do was to conjure and still us an item to transfer the magic but him he just shoots it out from his fingers.

Min claps his hands jolting me away from my thoughts. "What are you dying to ask?" Min asks looking at me with irritation "or is my brother that mesmerizing?" I glare at him. I proceed to ask Jin how they do magic with their fingers, he tells me that he uses his body to control it. I do not get too ask him how when Min cuts me off "yes you were released because you are needed."

That made us all serious. "why?"

"A three decades ago while you were locked it was found that your mirror has a great source of power, greater than the moon magic" he begins.

I cut him off "is that even possible?"

He shrugs. "That was, what i was told so i believed it. Anyhow no more interruptions please." I wish I could punch his face that rude brat.

Jin continues earning a glare from Min. "The mirror's magic is more powerful than the moon magic and with its power the Hanul gem which is buried under the tomb of one of the founding masters of the Hanul clan could be found." He ends looking at me if I got the whole story.

he paused searching my eyes to know if I am getting the whole story.

"So why am I needed." i ask, telling him in a way i understood what they had delivered to me

"because it's your mirror and only you know where it is and only you will be able to wield its power." he answered, it sounds as if someone is trying to write a legend with me as the protagonist.

Min adds to his brothers' words with his arms on his sides. "The Shamid are also looking for it to go to war with us so they will be able to conquer our kingdom."

The Shamid again, the opposing shaman clan.

"I have no idea where my mirror is." I say simply, crossing my legs.

Min laughs "that is why you are being released idiot to look for it and save us all." Jin hits him on the arm, he frowns.

I couldn't help but chortle at his words. "so, I die the second time. No thank you." I don't even know how I died the first time and he is telling me to go and look for the mirror to save them.

Who are they trying to kid. I stand up from the chair I sat on. Min asks me what I am doing as I scan around the room "am looking for the door to go back from where I came out from." I nonchalantly answer.

Min stomps his feet angrily. "Are you crazy, you won't be safe there either!"

"The moment the door is open your majesty you will die." Says Jin. I slump back down on the chair.

What in the world is this? Lazily I close my eyes trying to organize my thoughts, trying to remember where I hid the mirror knowing me I won't be able to keep it in a hard place to find. So where did I hide it?

Slowly I open my eyes "is there a hint because I really do not remember where I hid it."

Min's eyes shone with elation. "With a beating heart filled with love the true love shall return were the words of the witch priestess."

"What does that mean? Does it mean I have to fall in love?" they both chuckle.

"Sure, you go and do that and see if your life would be spared." Min says now laughing.

I roll my eyes at him as I fold my arm across my chest. "I will, just tell me what i need to do."

"i just told you with a beating heart filled with love the true love shall return." he repeats.

"then what happens when he returns?"

He beams lifting his hands up. "the mirror will appear miraculously."

My mouth fell open. "Are you joking with me right now?!" I fired.

"That's what i was told and am telling you. Anyhow you have to look for it in six months' time that's before the lunar eclipse."

"Sure, i will do that." I hiss, looking at Jin who hasn't spoken for a while. He nods and bows at me before flicking his fingers, a black door with strange curvy drawings appear I look at him. "it will take you back to where you first died then your mission begins."

"You have to look for it." Min says.

I have to if I want to regain that fragment of my memory which is missing, only that will answer all the questions I harbor in me.

"Aren't you going out?" Min asks with a screwed face.

I sigh and get off the chair then i walk to the door when i glance at my cloth. "Are you sending me off like this?" I ask he rubs his chin. "we weren't asked to be your wardrobe. It has all been decided." Min snapped walking towards the door, he opens it.

"is that a yes?" he grins, his eyes shines with something mischievous then he nods slightly.

"Good luck" and he pushes me out, a scream escapes my mouth as I fall down the bottomless pit.

Am going to look for it.

~**~