"Papa," Hana said softly, looking up at Jinhwan while sitting in his arms as they walked through the dead city.
Jinhwan turned his eyes toward her.
"What is it?"
"Did you see Spider Uncle? Hana wants to say goodbye to him before we go."
Her big crimson eyes shimmered with innocence as she looked up at him.
Jinhwan came to a slow stop.
"Why do you want to say goodbye to him?" he asked.
"He played with Hana. Told stories when Hana was alone,"
"..He did that?"
Hana nodded.
Jinhwan looked back at the ruined city behind them, its silence heavy under the crimson sky. The webs that had once wrapped the gate still hung in the distance.
Thanks, I guess, hope you have found peace....
Then he turned, walking forward again, this time with something quieter in his steps.
They passed through the webbed path where they'd first entered the city. Outside, Koko was waiting, the twin daggers wrapped neatly again in a piece of cloth, resting in her hands.
"Where are we going, Papa?"
Hana asked curiously.
"To the village,"
"There are more people there who still carry the curse."
Hana tilted her head, looking up at him with a puzzled expression.
"But Hana can do that from here. So.. why do we need to go there? Hana wants to go home first."
Jinhwan blinked, in surprise.
"Huh? You can do that from here? How?"
"What are you talking about? You're the one who taught that spell to Hana, remember?" Hana said, tilting her head with a faint pout.
Jinhwan stared at her for a few seconds, his expression unreadable.
"Hana... if I were the one who taught you that spell, does that mean I'm the one who can do that too? You know, turn people into those… things?"
Hana nodded without hesitation.
"Yeah. You told Hana that you created it. Why don't you cast it, Papa? You can do it too."
Jinhwan clenched his jaw, his gaze lowering for a moment. A sharp breath escaped his nose before he relaxed and smiled.
"Papa's not feeling too well right now," he said, voice low but steady.
"So can you do it instead, Hana?"
"Okay!"
She beamed.
"Put Hana down, I'll show you how much I've learned. Just watch, Papa!"
Her voice was full of pride, her whole face lighting up like she'd been waiting for this moment to show off.
Jinhwan crouched slowly, arms loosening around her. He gently set her down, and Hana stepped forward with purpose, her little feet crunching against the dusty ground. She stopped a few meters ahead, took a breath, then closed her eyes.
Both hands rose, and then she began to float.
Not in a jolt or burst of power, but smooth and serene, like a leaf drifting in still water. Her body hovered just a few meters off the ground, her limbs relaxed, as though gravity had simply stopped working.
She moved through the air like someone swimming through open space, weightless and calm, eyes still closed.
With her eyes still closed, Hana slowly opened her lips.
"Reverse."
The word left her mouth like a whisper carried by the wind, and then the wind itself stopped.
Everything stilled. The air froze mid-motion, as if time had forgotten how to move. Jinhwan and Koko exchanged glances, both sensing the shift, the world around them had gone eerily silent.
Then, in the blink of an eye, everything lost its colour.
The crimson sky faded first, drained of its hue like paint washed from a canvas. The entire world turned black and white, silent, surreal, like stepping into a forgotten photograph.
Then it changed.
White.
Then yellow...
Then purple.....
Then red......
Orange.......
Green.........
The cycle repeated, faster and faster, the world flickering through colours like a broken prism spinning out of control.
Jinhwan looked around in disbelief, his eyes wide—it was as if he'd suddenly gone color-blind, then hypersensitive to every shade. Nothing made sense. Koko had shut her eyes tight, overwhelmed by the chaos.
Then Hana opened her eyes a crimson light pulsed from her gaze.
Her skin began to glow, faint at first.. then stronger, brighter, radiant like the first light after a long winter night.
A blinding flash burst from her small frame.
Jinhwan flinched, eyes squeezing shut, there was nothing else he could do. The light was too much, swallowing everything.
The ground beneath them trembled, and then it stopped as if the world had exhaled.
Jinhwan opened his eyes as he felt the wind slapping on his face. As he saw around him, he froze in his place. He saw green grass under his feet, and dead earth. He saw that there was no crimson light anymore.
He looked up at the sky. His eyes closed instantly as they met Sun. Seeing the Sun's light after a long time, it burned his eyes for a few seconds.
Then he slowly opened his eyes, covering them with his left hand. Slowly, he looked up in the sky as he saw it. A Sun.. not one but two. One is red and one is white. Their light mixes with each other, making the earth orange.
Jinhwan then moved his head down, then he looked in front of him, but he didn't see her. He didn't see Hana anywhere, then his gaze fell on the ground. Hana was on the ground, her eyes closed; she was on her right side, unconscious.
Without wasting a second, Jinhwan takes a step forward, then gets on his knees, then reaches his hand to her shoulders, gently pulling his on his hand.
"Hana, get up. What happened?"
He shook her shoulder gently, but she wasn't getting up.
"Koko, come here, look at her. Why is she not responding?"
He moves his hand to her nose, he can feel her breath, so why is she not responding?
Koko opened her eyes, seeing the grass beneath her feet, and sunlight on the ground made her heart beat a little faster in excitement, but it didn't last long as she heard Jinhwan calling her. He was just a few steps away from her, holding Hana in his arms.
Koko took a step forward and reached out to Hana as she placed her right hand on Hana's back. Her silver eyes glow again as a silver dust blows around Hana's body. Then Koko's eyes went back to normal as she let out a breath in peace.
"She is fine, it's just she used all her Mana, so she needs rest. She'll be fine when she wakes up."
Hearing Koko's words, Jinhwan felt relieved as he let his shoulder rest as he sat on the ground. Looking at Hana's sleeping face a smile appears on Jinhwan's lips.
"You sleep like him, heh."
As he keeps looking, Hana, something appears in front of his eyes, something floating. It's the quest window.
[Episode 45 End]