Gilded (11 page)

“Jae Hwa,” he says. “What you did, sneaking out like that, you should be ashamed of yourself!”

“I know.” I twist the black belt around my waist. “I just wanted to be with my friends.”

“Eun will take you home, and don’t you dare leave her. Do you understand, young lady?”

Eun.
Wasn’t that the name Dad mentioned back at the cave? “Who is this lady? How do you know her?”

He sighs. “I should have introduced you two when we first arrived in Korea. I’m partly to blame. She’s your aunt.”

I gape at Ginseng Lady.

“I know this is a bit of a shock,” Dad continues. “Eun and I have just gotten back on speaking terms again, even though she
sides with Abeoji. Promise me you’ll come home after you have some time together.”

I somehow mumble out a yes before I hear the dial tone.

“You’re my aunt,” I say.

“Yes.” And there’s relief in her voice, as if she’s glad the truth is out. She places her palm on mine. It’s cold. “In fact, I would rather you call me Komo. How does that sound?”

“Komo.” It means “aunt on the father’s side.” It could work. “But why didn’t Dad ever talk about you before?”

“Time is against us, ticking away every breath you take,” she says. “You are here to train and learn.”

She moves to the far wall and bows. I bow in return, but, barely before I position myself, she charges and whips out a jumping front kick.

My instincts take over. I jerk back and then meet her front jab with a block. She spins and back kicks. I grab her leg and shove her to the ground. She leaps up before I have a chance to pin her in place and struts around me, her chin up. Well, if that’s how it’s going to be, I can strut, too. I might not have feathers, but I can be a peacock.

“Haemosu is all-powerful in his territory in the Spirit World,” she says, and then grunts to whip out a roundhouse. I’m ready and sidestep around her quick and light. “But in our world he is powerless. He can’t even maintain a physical form.”

“So why should I worry about him?” I ask, bouncing on my toes.

“Because he brings small amounts of power from his world through objects such as his dragon’s claws or amulets. He uses our sunlight to help him travel about. My guess is he will seek you out during daylight.”

She turns to face me again. I see the attack and land a front kick, planting it directly at her chin.

She stumbles backward slightly, her eyes widening. “Not bad,” she says. “The best I have seen in a long time.”

But then she does a move I’ve never seen. It’s like watching a movie. She leaps up, spins and double kicks, one foot after the other knocking at my shoulder and nose. Pain shoots through my face, and blood spurts through the air.

I fall, my turn to be surprised. I expect her to land on her butt, the way her legs are stretched out in front of her, but she folds over her torso and flips backward and onto her feet.

Unbelievable.

My nose burns, wet and sticky. But I don’t care, because I’ve found someone who truly is a master. Someone I can learn from. My heart skips. My fingers twitch. She tosses me a cloth, and I wipe my nose clean, willing the room to focus after being knocked so hard. I’ll probably have black eyes, and faintly I wonder if I’ve broken my nose again.

She motions with her palms upward, fingers bending for me to stand back up, and makes the ready position. “There will be no rest for you tonight. At the first rays of light Haemosu will once again search for you. And you must be ready for him.”

I pull myself up and take my stance. “But what about those dragons in your house?” I ask. “They were trying to get in, and it was dark out.”

She attacks with a side jab. I block. “There are three different categories in the Spirit World.”

“Categories?”
Why is everything about the Spirit World so confusing?

“Those creatures that only belong in our world, those that belong only in the Spirit World, and those that can go back and forth for limited periods of time.

“Haemosu and his five dragons are restricted to the Spirit World. But he has found a way around this. He fills their scales and claws with sunlight so they can hunt. But as time progresses, the light in their scales fades, and so does their power. They must return to the Spirit World when their power is depleted.”

We spar for another ten minutes and then she has me do one hundred push-ups and two hundred sit-ups. After I’ve finished I lie flat on the floor, panting. She grabs me by the arm and leads me to a small table in the corner of the room to sit on a silk cushion. I’m sweaty and bloody, unlike her. Every hair is still neatly tucked into her braid. No sweat on her forehead.

“The Spirit World exists,” she continues. “But we live in a very busy, noisy, and hurried world. Too modern to hear Good calling. Too rushed to feel the pull of Evil.”

She pours hot tea from a tiny celadon teapot while I consider her words. So maybe Kumar’s multiple-dimensions theory is legit.

“Why can’t this Haemosu get over his obsession or choose some other family? Am I that unlucky?”

“Luck, fate, chance—whatever you want to call it—has nothing to do with it.” She sips her tea and studies the mural of the crane beside our table. “We are given moments, and we must choose what to do with them. This is your moment.”

“You’re not telling me that this is some kind of destiny thing.”

She laughs. “No. Your destiny is up to you.” Then her eyes
become hard, like onyx. “If you are to defeat Haemosu, you must let me teach you what I know.”

“You want me to defeat a demigod?” I lean forward in spite of myself. “Is that even possible?”

“Your grandfather showed you the generational chart, yes?”

I shake my head. She pulls out a charred scroll. My eyes widen. “How did you get that? It’s one of the scrolls I saved from the fire in Haraboji’s cave, isn’t it?”

“The very one,” she says. “The immortals must have guided you to save the right scrolls. Your haraboji stopped by this afternoon. He explained what happened and how you might show up. I have analyzed all the data so far, and this is what I have.”

I scan the generational chart. “This is the same list I saw on the pagoda.”

Komo looks at me oddly, and I explain what had happened. “So who is Sun?” I ask, pointing to her name. It has a dash next to it. “She was your sister, wasn’t she? Haemosu took her.”

“I searched for her and failed. But I will not let him win again. This time he will be stopped.” She takes my hand in hers and clenches it with such fierceness that I believe her.

“Your mother and I kept in touch while she was alive because we were good friends,” Komo says. “When I grew determined to stop Haemosu, your father forbade us to speak to each other. He is convinced that your grandfather lost his sanity after Sun, your other aunt, was taken by Haemosu. Your father is furious that I believed your grandfather. So this must be our secret. Otherwise he will never let you come see me.”

Secret.
I smile, liking the sound of that. And I love the idea
of getting an instructor all to myself who can really push me to my limits.

“So is there a way to break the curse?”

“You will only have a chance if you fight him in our world, not the Spirit World,” she says. “His powers are far greater there.”

“That pinnacle that I went to,” I say. “Was that the Spirit World?”

“I believe so.” She takes a sip of tea and sighs. “Our ancestors discovered that only the firstborn unmarried girls are taken. They solved that by having the girls marry before fifteen, and often it worked. But then about a hundred years ago, all the grooms-to-be suddenly went missing. So they stopped that practice because two people were lost rather than one. Those were hard times for the oldest daughter, knowing she would never marry, waiting until her fifteenth birthday to be kidnapped. To have a daughter was a curse. It was almost better if she had never lived.”

The image of a girl standing next to a thatched-roof house fills my mind, her
hanbok
waving in the wind and tears streaming down her face. Haemosu rides in, surging out of the clouds, his chariot led by his five dragons, all gleaming like golden rays of the sun. He snatches the screaming girl into his chariot and soars back up into the clouds, his laughter sharp and hard like thunder.

“Jae Hwa?” Komo is staring at me, her eyebrows knitted together.

My muscles are all knotted up like they get when I’m about to face an opponent in a match. I shake off the vision and nod.

Komo continues, “Many, like your parents, do not believe
in Haemosu. But your grandfather is a believer. He pored over these scrolls to save my sister. Your father thought it was an obsession, and I suppose he was right. When Haemosu came to take Sun away, your grandfather stood in front, claiming Haemosu must fight him first. Your grandfather lost. Sun was taken. Haemosu let him live because sometimes it is more painful to be alive than dead.”

Komo falls silent, and one tear trickles down her cheek. I trace the geometric pattern on the table, trying not to invade her reverie. She wipes her face dry and continues. “Your grandfather sent your father away to America to study at a university and told him never to return to Korea.”

“Wait,” I say. “I thought Dad chose to leave.”

“He did, but your grandfather made it next to impossible for your father to stay. Of course, it did not help their relationship either. But your grandfather felt it was necessary. You see, Haemosu’s power cannot reach other lands. All immortals are limited to their own lands. We thought it had worked.”

“Because I’m sixteen?”

“You are older than any of the other girls. He has not bothered you until recently, right?”

“It started at the museum,” I murmur half to myself. “In the sun banner. He caught my arrow. I think that’s when he first showed up.” She doesn’t say anything, so I keep talking. “Then the next day this glittery guy attacked me.”

“Haemosu.”

“Yes, I suppose it was him. But then Haechi stopped him and saved me.”

“
The
Haechi?” Komo leans back. “Are you sure about this?”

I shrug. “He said he’d been sent by Palk to protect me.”

“Palk is involved? And he has sent Haechi? How peculiar.” Komo stands and clears off the table. “We have no record of any other girls receiving help from other immortals. I will have to talk to your grandfather about this. It sounds like the immortals are up to something. I am not sure I like it.”

Grandfather had already told her about my cave experience, so I finish off by telling her about the dokkaebi.

“He was trying to make a deal with me.” Komo frowns, but I continue. “He was saying something about saving my ancestors by opening some tomb. And all kinds of weird stuff.”

Komo sits very still, staring hard into space. “These are new developments. I will have to tell the others about this.”

“Others?”

She pats my hand. “You must worry about saving yourself. You are what is important.”

“Komo, how did I end up here tonight?”

She smiles a knowing smile, and I get the feeling there’s a lot more to my aunt than she’s letting on.

“You must come to my house every night. You have much to learn. Only travel here once darkness settles in, when his powers are weak. Even still, Haemosu will send whomever he can to do his dirty work. You must be careful.”

“Every night? I have piles of homework! And Dad will wonder why my grades are dropping. What about once a week?”

“Jae Hwa.” Her hands are back on her hips. “I have suggested to your father that as a punishment for sneaking out, you come each night for one month and work for me. He has agreed.”

“Dad agreed?”

Komo smiles. “I might have mentioned how upset your mother would have been for keeping you from seeing me while you were here.”

Figures. Any mention of Mom and Dad goes to mush. As much as I don’t like Dad getting involved, I still don’t like being told what to do. “Don’t I have a say in this?”

“Yes. You have some choice.”

I glance at the door. A part of me wishes I could just walk through it, wake up in my bed, and realize this is some bizarre dream. That different dimensions coinciding side by side is some fantasy.

But this is my chance to use my training to defeat something powerful and bring meaning to my life. This is an adventure I’ve always dreamed of.

My aunt clears her throat.

“I’m listening,” I say.

“You can leave the country, although I doubt Haemosu would ever let you on that plane. Find someone to marry you and hope he does not die before you make it down the aisle. Haemosu gets terribly jealous of suitors.”

“Komo.” I give her an incredulous look. “I’m sixteen.”

“Or stay and fight. But whatever happens.” Her eyes narrow as thin as slivers. “Do
not
let him touch you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it will be the beginning of the end. When he touches you, he will leave his mark. Think of it as the engagement rings they have in America. You are promised to him, and your courting begins.”

“Like when Haemosu kept trying to convince Princess Yuhwa to come with him?”

“Exactly. Each time you meet, he will pull a little piece of your soul into his realm.

“Until you are no longer with us.”