Chapter 47
Grace stood in front of the large fountain in the center of the Winter Lake mall.
It looked exactly like it did in her dream.
Except this one trickled gently as it sat in the large circular atrium at the center of the shopping complex, the water distorting a few wayward coins. Wishes waiting to be granted.
Rain tapped rhythmically against the glass ceiling thirty feet above her head.
Just like in her dream.
“Explain to me again this epiphany you had?” Hae asked. He was watching her carefully, like he was worried she’d break down. Something he’d been doing all morning after witnessing her embarrassing rambling last night.
But Grace refused to talk or even think about the night before. It was better to focus on what she saw in her dream.
And this morning it had hit her. Why the colors of her dream had felt so cartoonish. Because they were. It was like standing in a scene straight out of her webtoon. A scene she recognized.
The mall was practically empty, a victim of online shopping. Half the stores were shuttered with For Rent signs in front of the lowered security gates.
And though she hadn’t come here in years, she’d still based an important place in Sun God on this spot.
“Habaek couldn’t seem to control the location of the dream.
It’s like we were in a dozen places at once, maybe because his powers are wonky in his new body.
But I could see scenes from my webcomic, and one reminded me of something important.
Of course, it might be a dead end like the portal.
But it feels different, I mean the portal was only mentioned, we never saw it.
We did see the sword. But there’s no proof this will work, so maybe it’s a waste of time.
” Grace had been talking herself in and out of the strategy all morning.
She was so afraid of failing again. But she also felt an urgency.
The dream had terrified her. She felt like Habaek was preparing to make a big move soon.
In the webtoon, a comic-book store had been framed right behind the fountain. The place where Hae’s sword Yonggwanggeom was hidden.
It wasn’t a comic-book store here, though.
It was a Build-A-Bear.
“I don’t get it,” Hae mused.
Grace squeezed her eyes closed, feeling embarrassed at how insistent she’d been about this idea.
“I know, maybe this was a mistake.”
“No, not that.” Hae looked at her worriedly. “You helped thousands of people believe in us again, but you still can’t seem to believe in yourself.”
Grace no longer felt completely disconcerted by his unblinking gaze. But still, she didn’t know how to answer him.
“I—I just don’t want to be wrong.”
“What’s so bad about being wrong?”
“It’s failing. I don’t fail. I’ve gotten straight A’s since first grade.”
“Grades are a modern invention mortals made to congratulate or punish themselves. Trust me, they’re not as important as you’ve been raised to believe.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
“Maybe not. There are so many things about this world I still don’t understand. But I think this concept of failure and success might be something you humans have wrong, not me.”
Grace felt like she’d just been chastised, but she wasn’t quite sure how to take it.
She didn’t have time to dwell on it either as Hae held out his hand. “So, are we going to check out this bear builder store or not?”
Grace took a deep breath before placing her hand in his. “We might as well, since we’re already here.”
His fingers closed firmly around hers. “So, explain to me again your theory about my sword?”
“In the webtoon it was sent here for safekeeping by your father.”
Hae lifted a brow. “Does my father have some fondness for stuffed animals in your webtoon?”
“No, it’s a comic-book store in Sun God. It was kind of symbolic, I guess. Or meta? I don’t know. I just thought it was kind of funny to hide a comic hero’s weapon in a comic store.”
Hae paused to look at the window displays. Bears and animals posed in outfits that customers could buy at an inflated extra cost. The only employee was seated by the giant stuffing machine, waiting unenthusiastically as a customer and her daughter perused the options.
“Come on, we need to pretend to be regular customers.” Grace pulled Hae to the wall of deflated stuffed animals and feigned interest in the hollowed-out husk of what seemed to be a brontosaurus.
This space was half the size of the comic store she’d put in the webtoon. It had been a long room with rows of shelves. All of the comic and anime memorabilia for sale was in the back. That’s where Hae’s sword had been hidden.
Grace saw a door to a storage room and had a bad realization. If the sword was in the back, it would have to be in there. She waited until the little girl picked her bear, hugging the husk as her mother led her to the employee.
With the other people in the store distracted by the stuffing process, Grace pulled Hae to the back room. She thanked her luck when the door wasn’t even locked.
It was a storage room on one side and a break room on the other.
Though break room was probably too generous, as there were only two janky folding chairs and a beat-up table.
A backpack and a purse were shoved onto an old shelf.
The rest of the space held boxes and boxes of horrifying deflated stuffed animals.
“Nightmare factory,” Grace muttered, wondering how kids didn’t run screaming from this store.
“Where is the sword?” Hae asked, and Grace had to shush him. Even though they were alone back here, she didn’t want anyone out front hearing them.
“In the webtoon, there’s a display of reproductions of famous swords,” she whispered before leading him to the rear of the storage room, but instead of display cases, there was a shelf of cleaning supplies.
“It would be in this area.” She gestured toward a box filled with paper towels. “If it was here.”
“Let me try to sense it.” Hae closed his eyes, hands lifted toward the shelves.
“Maybe this was a silly idea,” Grace started to say.
“No, I think I feel something.” Hae opened his eyes again.
“Wait, really?”
He reached into a box, and Grace held her breath with anticipation, until he pulled out a spray bottle.
Grace’s shoulders fell with disappointment. “Well, maybe we could spray this in Habaek’s eyes to disorient him?”
Hae gave her an unamused look.
“Okay, yeah, bad joke.”
“No, that’s not it. I can still feel something.” Hae reached toward the shelf, fingers searching the air.
“What are you doing?” Grace asked, but he shushed her, waving his hand over the boxes.
And then, he just leaned forward and his hand melted through the wall.
“What the—” Grace cut off her own exclamation as Hae pulled his hand back out, gripping a nondescript flat box no longer than his forearm.
“It can’t be,” Grace whispered. “It’s too small.”
Still, when Hae opened the lid slowly, she held her breath.
He let the lid drop to the floor, exposing the glinting metal of what looked like a long thin dagger, etched with ancient lettering. The pommel was a dragon’s head.
Grace whispered, “Is it…”
“Yonggwanggeom,” Hae breathed.
Though it was closer in size to a butcher’s knife than a sword, Grace knew he was right. This was the dragon-light sword.
Hae caressed the hilt like it was an old friend and Grace heard a hum pass through the air. Like the sword recognized the touch of its owner.
He pulled it from the box, and the moment it was free, the dagger grew three times in size. A full sword now, gleaming under the bright fluorescents.
“It’s working,” Grace whispered.
Hae grinned at that, lifting the sword. Its shine brightened, no longer a reflection of the overhead lights, but a glow it emitted all on its own. It began to vibrate, and Hae’s expression dropped, eyes widening with distress.
Before Grace could ask what was wrong, he winced, doubling over, dropping the sword with a clatter to the floor.