Work Text:
The spirit world was as Mina remembered it, strange and disorienting. The walk she had taken to visit Mask, Dai, and Miki seemed much longer on the way back to the palace. The street was familiar, with its cobbled surface and the small tea shop Mask had brought her to a few weeks back, but she was sure that there had not been a house with red columns on any of her previous visits. She observed the expansive house curiously, but moved on, turning a corner and moving through the bustling market, browsing without purpose as she slowly made her way back to the palace, Nari walking beside her.
The spirit world seemed more settled with the return of the sea god. It was hard to say what it was, but before one could sense that something was missing, something was wrong, people had always seemed wary, but now that sense of foreboding was gone. The spirits made way for Mina as she passed, recognizing her as the bride of the Sea God. A small girl was pushed forward by a giggling mass of young children. She held up a paper boat, smiling shyly. Mina accepted the boat, which had clearly been folded with care if not talent. She bent down to meet the child’s eyes.
‘Is this your wish?’ She had not heard of the spirits using boats to send wishes. ‘May I?’ She began to unfold the boat. Inside was written may my brother live a happy life and always have oranges. Mina smiled, the wish made her think of Joon. ‘Are oranges your brother’s favorite?’ The girl nodded then ran off followed by her small cadre of friends, their size cloaking them quickly in the crowd.
‘You have become a hero of the people. They tell stories of the bride who can make any wish come true.’ Nari explained to Mina as they resumed their journey.
‘I cannot grant wishes though’ she refolded the wish carefully and tucked it in her bag. Mina might aid in the collecting and sorting of the boats at times, but the granting of wishes remained the job of the gods and goddesses.
‘Yes, but you ended the storms and have the ear of the Sea God’ Nari turned to look at Mina as they approached the palace gate. ‘Your power is that of persuasion.’
Mina wasn’t sure she agreed with that, stories were powerful and storytelling was her power, she thought that differed from persuasion, slightly. Nari left her side as they entered the palace grounds. Mina briefly considered heading back to her rooms, but the weather was so nice today, hardly any mist at all and pleasantly crisp. She headed back to the lake where Shin was sitting in a pavilion dutifully working his way through the day’s wishes, paper boats piled next to him. Daily, the boats were collected as they appeared on the palace lake, then Shin sorted through them, sending the wishes off to the respective gods and goddesses in whose purview it was to grant them and occasionally granting a wish himself. Mina paused a small distance away from the pavilion to watch, it made her happy to see humans being cared for again. Shin was nothing if not diligent and, though some wishes could not be granted, fate being set, at least every wish was read and given consideration.
Shin looked up as if sensing Mina’s gaze. She walked over to the pavilion and sat down next to him, placing a quick kiss on his cheek.
‘How was your visit?’ He asked, taking a break from the boats.
‘Good. Miki is starting to become quite the talker.’ Mina always enjoyed her visits with her ancestors and she was a devoted aunt to little Miki, who adored her, always clapping when Mina entered the room. Like most things in the spirit world, time seemed not to affect Miki the way it would in life. She grew in odd fits and spurts, she had stayed an infant for years, but a month ago Dia and Mask had awoken to find she had become a toddler overnight and was crawling about with a fierceness that suggested she had time to make up. Dai and Mask spent most of their days chasing her about as she attempted to explore further and further. This past week Miki had begun speaking, though perhaps labeling the mixture of babel and the few words Miki knew speech was an exaggeration. Dai had been trying to teach her to say Miki, but right now it sounded more like Mimi.
‘You come from a family of magpies.’ Shin commented, looking down at Mina fondly.
‘Not all of us can be dragons,’ Mina grinned, she was rather proud of being a storyteller. She glanced at the pile of boats and remembered the wish from the girl in the market. ‘I have a wish.’ She pulled the boat from her bag.
‘I would be glad to grant your wish’ Shin quirked his eyebrows at Mina, taking the boat and unfolding it.
‘It isn’t my wish.’ Mina hurriedly explained. ‘It is a wish given to me by this adorable girl in the market. For her brother.’
‘And I suppose you would like me to send some oranges?’ He asked teasingly, already reaching for his pen.
‘Many oranges,’ Mina nodded, loving Shin for his benevolence and caring personality. As Shin worked Mina began to sift through the unfolded boats, reading the wishes that had been set aside for the other gods and goddesses. Shin picked up a boat covered in writing from the far edge of the table and passed it to Mina.
‘Another message from Joon.’
Mina grabbed it eagerly, nearly tearing the paper as she quickly unfolded it. Since she had returned to the spirit world Joon had been sending her messages on boats every week, letting her know how their family and village was doing.
In this missive, he wrote that Cheong is pregnant and if the child is a girl they plan to name her Mina, after his sister who stopped the storms. Mina didn’t realize she was crying until Shin gently wiped her face, pulling her in for a hug. She isn’t sad, not really, she is glad she moved to the spirit world, but that doesn’t stop her from missing her family. She cuddled closer to Shin, allowing his familiar warmth to comfort her.
‘You miss them.’ It is not a question, he knows Mina misses her family. ‘Come with me, there is something I want to show you.’ The Sea God stood, pulling Mina to her feet and leading her out of the pavilion, by the lake, which was now shimmering in the early evening light, and out of the palace.
They traveled for what felt like a long time to Mina, traversing cobbled streets she had yet to explore and then exiting through a tall gate. Mina looked about curiously, she had not left the city yet and the landscape was strange yet familiar. The fields were similar to those near her village, but there were no workers. Somehow the landscape managed to look both wild and cared for, as if created from a dream. They walked along the road which faded from cobblestones to packed earth, then grew smaller and fainter until it was barely a trail at all. With the return of the sea god the fog had dissipated somewhat, but outside of the city was still difficult to navigate and Mina made sure to stay near Shin as he confidently traversed the lonely trail. Mina twined their fingers, tucking herself a bit closer to him. The scene was picturesque, but perhaps a bit too expansive to feel comforting, it looked as if one could walk for eternity and never find another village. Not that the Sea God would ever let her get lost, or rather if she did become lost he would be sure to find her. Shin stopped and Mina realized that they were by the shore of a small lake, though she had seen no lake as they walked. Shin seemed familiar with the place and led her toward a large, smooth piece of driftwood laying on the shore. Sitting, he beckoned Mina to join him, pulling off her slippers and digging her toes into the damp sand.
‘Why are we here?’ The lake was nice, shimmering orange in the evening light, but didn’t appear to be anything special or different from the lake within the palace grounds at all, so Mina wasn’t sure why they had made the journey.
‘Just wait.’ Shin looked out over the lake, relaxed. He is a very patient person, perhaps this comes from living in the spirit world where time means less, but no one would ever describe Mina as patient. She liked to keep busy, helping the maids at the palace, running errands, visiting her ancestors, or working with Shin to sort wishes. Not sure what they were waiting for or how long it would take, she quickly began to fidget, picking through the rocks on the shore, sorting out the smooth ones and trying to skip them across the water. When one of the rocks skipped twice she turned back grinning at Shin who was smiling fondly at her. Eventually Mina settled down, curling into Shin’s side and dozing off.
‘Mina,’ Shin nudged her gently, waking her. She looked about, while she slept the sun had set completely and it was now dark, except it wasn’t. The sky was lit up brilliantly with countless stars. More stars than Mina had ever seen before, brighter than the stars had seemed at home. It was beautiful. Mina searched for the seven stars of the north, her grandmother used to point them out and tell her the story of the widow and how her sons became stars, but she didn’t see them.
‘I don’t recognize the constellations,’ she turned to look at Shin only to find him already looking at her.
‘These are the spirits of stars that have died. All the stars there ever were.’ He turned to look up at the sky. ‘This is my favorite place. I came here many nights in the year I didn’t know I was missing you.’
Mina cuddled closer to him, she knew it had been hard for him to miss someone he could not remember ‘Shouldn’t the sea god look to the water, not the sky for comfort?’
Shin laughed lightly and pointed toward a set of stars a little off to the right ‘That is the great spring dragon.’ Mina inspected the patch of stars and thought it did look a bit like a dragon on its side.
‘Why spring?’ She asked. Her grandmother used to tell her stories of the stars, as she told her stories of everything else, but she had never heard of the great spring dragon.
‘It is said that the great spring dragon spent the year circling and warming the earth, bringing spring with her. The people were so grateful that they prayed for her to stay with them forever, so when she died she joined the stars and her constellation heralded the start of spring. The constellation was considered a blessing, but she was eventually forgotten by the people and her stars died one by one.’ Mina stared at the stars wondering how anyone could forget someone so dear to them, someone who brought blessings and warmth. She had been angry before at the gods for forgetting humans, but she now saw that humans too could forget the gods.
‘Can dead stars still grant a blessing do you think?’ Mina pondered aloud. ‘Perhaps they are like ancestor stars.’
‘The gods of the stars are unlikely to grant a wish. They are tired after working so hard in life.’ Shin explained. ‘If you have a wish, you should tell me as I would be glad to grant it.’ Mina hummed in response, shivering slightly against his chest. ‘We should go.’ He helped Mina up, wrapping her in his overcoat. She pulled the large coat around her, slipping her arms through the sleeves, glad for the extra barrier against the growing fog. Time had slipped by quickly while they were by the lake and it was now quite late, Mina’s eyelids were growing heavier with each step and her thoughts became sluggish. She stumbled over a small stone, and Shin scooped her up, carrying her easily, as though she weighed less than Miki. There were some benefits to having wed a god. Mina tucked her head into his shoulder, soaking in his warmth, and allowed herself to doze off.
~Fin~