Ragnarok Solstice
Part I: The Admonitions
By Healing Spirit
Chapter 7: Crystal Assault (South Korea)
Emergency State Conference – Washington D.C.
A splash of pure drinking water disrupted the fantastic pattern of black marble streaked with white. Twenty heads turned to the speaker, no sound penetrated the eerie stillness saturating the tranquil ambiance. His face was burned with dread and contoured with wrinkles crisscrossing his face. His hand still clutched the now half-empty glass, shaking in silent trepidation.
"500,000 dead."
Everyone remained silent, some staring at their folded hands, respectfully waiting in synchronized stillness. The nicely furnished room was aroused with a deep sense of sorrow and contemplation. The flustered man leisurely laid down his hand, relieving the glass. He gazed down in shame- in shame that he had failed to contact help for the terrible deaths of thousands on that faithful night in Egypt.
"We cannot fail them again," heads lifted in curiosity as the respected figure's face was etched with hope. "We have to gather our best teams and figure this out."
His eyes flickered from scientist to scientist present in the room until they rested on one particular one. "Mr. Hawkins."
Immediately, Professor Hawkins lifted himself from his seat. "Yes, Mr. President?"
"Prepare your team," his fingers enclosed on the wet glass dripping from its spilled contents. Taking a quick sip, he swallowed the purity with great poise. "Do not fail us again."
"Yes, Mr. President."
"Do you understand, Minsis? We cannot risk the collapse of our kingdom and the death of our people. Do not fail again, or there will be serious consequences."
"Yes, my Pharaoh…"
000
"Yukari!" Susan burst the door of the hospital room wide open and rushed to her side. Clutching her frail hand, she felt all eyes draw swiftly to her. Nevertheless, she became oblivious to all except the safety of her close friend. "Yukari, are you okay?"
"Susan…" Takashi sighed in deep exasperation; gently stroking Yukari's other hand with his thumb. "She can't hear you."
Sarah, who had been standing against the wall for some time, exhaled sharply and pushed herself off the wall. Turning the knob and opening the door, her feet felt heavier to lift as she sat on the provided chairs beside the room. She wasn't that worried about Yukari, since she has the best medical care in New York, courteously of Kaiba and his load of cash, but there was something else that bugged her.
"Yukari… what happened? Who hurt you?" A deep growl emitted from beneath her throat as her hand clutched in a fist. "I promised that I would protect you, Susan and Anzu from any danger. I will revenge you, Yuki."
Without warning, Susan popped her head out of the door with a look of shock and surprise. "Oh my god! Sarah, did you just do the impossible?"
Sarah just blinked in bewilderment and surprise at how Susan could have heard her talking to herself. "What do you mean Susan? What did I do?"
A snicker sounded as Susan tried hard to cover it. "You… you just called Yukari, Yuki!"
Sarah's eyes slightly widened as she shouted a comical "no!" and clutched her head. "Anzu's rubbing off on me!"
000
Seoul, South Korea
"Hey Sara. Which one do you think that your cousin would like best?" Lisa questioned, holding up two identical han boks (han bok: a traditional Korean dress), except one was spotted with pink flowers and the other with swirls of brilliant blue ocean water.
"Hm," the peach-skinned Korean cutely cupped her chin with her hand and pondered for a while. "That one," she pointed to the han-bok the color of the vast seas, lifted it out of Lisa's hand and examined it more closely. "Definitely this one."
"All right then. Wait till we surprise her in Egypt! Won't she be surprised!" the Asian beauty snatched back the dress from Sara and looked about the store for Sarah's sisters and mother.
"Sejin! Jin! Are you guys done yet?" She called, watching as the three came into view from behind a colorful stack of fashionable shirts. The oldest one, Jin or Lydia, looked up annoyingly and uncharacteristically walked away, and said. "I'm not done yet. Can you all wait for me for a few minutes?"
"Jin-unnie, how long are you going to take?" Sara asked curiously, running her fingers down a baby blue shirt that caught her attention. "We have to get home early enough to pack up for Egypt."
"I know, I'll be done in a few minutes."
On the other side of her mom, Sejin or Esther sighed exasperatedly and crossed her arms. "Mom, are we done yet?"
"Not yet Sejin. Just wait for your older sister to finish and then we'll leave." Sejin pursed her cherry-red lips and gave a toss of her glossy black hair. When her red-haired mother saw her disappointed attitude, she laid down the dress she was about to purchase and touched her daughter's shoulder. "And then we can go where ever you want to go, okay?"
Spinning around, she stared quaintly at her mother, "REALLY, un-ma?" Her mother couldn't help but shook her head amusingly, her beautiful smile lighting up on her face.
"Sure, now come along," she motioned to Sara and Lisa to follow them.
After about ten minutes of waiting by the changing room where they suspected Jin to be, she finally appeared in the doorway, with a fanciful han-bok wrapped about her.
"This makes me look fat, doesn't it?" She mused to herself, scanning all about her.
"No, it doesn't. Can we go now?" Sejin asked as politely as was possible, remembering her mother's promise. "All right."
Once outside, the cool night winds chilled Sara proficiently; she shivered in the sudden impact. The lights of Seoul were in full affect now, the brilliant streets lined with stores and buildings towered high above them. The sidewalk was luminously lit with intense light- it seemed like day- even though it was well into the night. Most windows in the giant apartment buildings were still on, casting a marvelous glow into the streets below.
The dazzling moon far above the city faded into the ebony sky, though still standing out from the enormous unfathomable heavens sprinkled with millions of stars. Such was the beauty of Seoul; this image could never be fully be captured in a picture.
"Do you see your father?" Jin and Sejin's mom questioned, as they all squinted above what seemed like thousands of people swarming through the sidewalks. So many different faces, it seemed almost impossible to recognize anybody.
"There he is!" Sara shouted, gesturing to an approaching man adorn with a friendly smile on his handsome face.
"Yuh bo!" (Yuh bo: darling!)
He and their mom embraced, lovingly whispering undistinguishable Korean into each other's ears. Sara, Lisa, Sejin and Jin ran up to crowd around the loving father, as he led them all to his light-crimson car.
"So Esther (Sejin), where do you want to eat?" He grinned at her, reminiscing what his wife had told him.
"Well, what about Kyung Wheru?"
"All right! Is that okay with Jin, Lisa and Sara?"
"Sure!" they all said in unison.
Upon arriving at Kyung Wheru, they were seated at a large table with a wide circumference out of the 50 around the restaurant, admiring the decorative walls composed of habitual wood, smooth and shining. The entrance was in the style of ancient traditional houses called Giwa Jjip, adding on the centricity of the old-fashioned architecture.
"Moh muk eeul le?" (Moh muk eeul le?: What would you like?)
After placing their orders with an excited Sejin who ordered Kim-chi Jji-Gae, which is this spicy soup-like dish, they chatted endlessly, enjoying each other's warm company.
Among the festivities all around the restaurant, the televisions stationed above them all in the corners of the room blared out with the everyday Korean news.
However, one particular sentence caught Lisa's ear.
"Storm clouds are moving forth at an exhilarating pace, immediately engulfing South Korea's capital, Seoul…"
Leaning over to her neighbor beside her, she nudged Sara's arm. "Sara, take a look at the TV." The two girls drew back their attention to the television; the news now caught most of the consumers' awareness in the room. Even the waiters stopped serving, stopping to look at the screen.
"It seems like a minor storm, but strong rain nonetheless. Also, the air is showing very strange affects by the upcoming storm, scientists cannot confirm what is actually happening."
Jin and Sejin's father leaned over to his wife and gently laid his hand on her arm, whispering, "Let's go." The group of six grabbed their coats and hurried out of the restaurant, having already paid the bill. Exiting the door, they were greeted with the sight of sprinkling rain, but not quite at the strongest stage.
"Quickly," his voice came out harsher than intended, hastily rushing his family down the sidewalks now filled with rushing citizens running home at the impending rainstorm.
Climbing in the car, the girls' father drove into the crowded streets, stuck in the barraging traffic caused by the storm warnings. Cars all around them blaring their horns and screaming their throats hoarse at each other. The rain was coming down harder, making a loud plopping sound as it hit the glass of their windows. The plops grew louder and louder with each passing minute. Jin's mom tuned the radio to the news station.
"The rain is getting worse, with no intention of stopping, it seems. Now there's nothing to be done but wait for it to get better. For now, stay indoors and stock up on food. The president-"
It was abruptly cut off but a sudden electric current, immediately stopping their only chance of getting some information. As soon as they got out of the traffic jam, they zoomed down the streets, the visionaries beside them mellowed out into a blur.
"Yuh bo, slow down," their mom said nervously, clutching onto her armrest for needed comfort against the accelerating speed. But his face remained furrowed with worry. "We have to get home as soon as possible."
Soon they were stopped by an officer, who ordered him to step out of the car. "Yes, sir."
Emerging from the dry atmosphere of his car, he shivered violently at the hard wetness pounding onto his back.
Lisa, Sara, Jin and Sejin watched as the voices of the officer and the two girl's father talk. "Let's go out," Jin stated. "No," they turned to their mother, who demanded that they not leave the car.
"Can't you see the heavy rain? Stay inside."
"But un-ma, dad's out there," Sejin pointed outside her window.
"Let's go," Lisa unlocked her door and stepped outside to be welcomed by a suffocating wave of freezing rain-water rattling her down to her very bones. "Oh, God!" She shivered violently, rubbing her hands against the popping Goosebumps on her arms. "It's freezing out here," she sputtered, blinking hard to keep out the salty water from her delicate eyes, her teeth rattling.
"So, would you care to-"
THUMP!
The policeman was cut off by the sudden crash of a strange object. The rest of the group slowly eased out of the car to observe the mysterious crystal-like object resting on top of the front window-wiper. They stared at it in prudent suspicion, barely anybody making am abrupt movement. Several of its pieces lay scattered among the pouring rain, rolling off the car.
With an impending swoosh that grew louder with each split second, a diamond-like entity rushed down from the looming skies and crashed into the policeman's head.
"Ugh!" With a final groan, he collapsed onto the wet floor, as still as the dead. Everyone stared at the still policeman in paralyzed shock. Seconds flashed by as another one raced down the saturated atmosphere followed by another one of its brethren at an exhilarating rate. There came a sound like an endless number of marbles, except its clinks emphasized times a thousand.
Screams rang out all around the streets as Sejin, Jin, Sara and Lisa were pulled along by the parents to a place of refuge when it was nowhere to be found.
"Run for cover!"
"What's happening?"
"Sunge!"
A shout broke through but was immediately cut off by a sickening thud. More and more bodies were struck down and many lay motionless on the ground. Lisa bolted for Sara, who was paralyzed with shock. "Sara, move!"
Pushing her out of the way, they were missed narrowly by a hurdling crystal which struck the ground and splintered into a million pieces, like shattered glass. Lisa stared at it hard, its true identity clearing into her mind.
"Its ice!" she gasped in hushed apprehension.