Rena Moon

 

She decided to hide out somewhere before breaking into the Pocheung. She remembered a place that wasn’t too popular. There was a garden nearby. She remembered that not many people were permitted to enter the garden. The Emperor restricted people from entering the garden.

This garden belonged to her Aunt Yuna that passed away years ago. The emperor had fond memories of her and didn’t want anyone else to ruin it for him. He restricted access to the garden for everyone including the Empress. After the emperor’s death, she would come to this garden frequently. Since the emperor is still alive, no one should be there.

Yuna found a patch of grass and laid down behind a tree. She watched a bunny shaped cloud float by. She could easily spend the rest of the day watching clouds. Fifi interrupted her thoughts without a second thought. She grumbled, “Instead of wasting your time doing useless things, I suggest you do something useful.” She questioned, “Like what?”

Fifi felt that Yuna was stupider than she thought. She gloated, “At this rate, you’ll never become strong like me. I’m already struggling as it is trying to speak to you. You’re so weak, it’s hard for me to appear in front of you.” Yuna rolled her eyes, “So then tell me what I should be doing.” Fifi sighed, “You should be meditating.”

Yuna frowned, “Meditating? Like what people do when they do yoga?” Fifi had no clue what the term ‘yoga’ meant. She asked, “Huh? Yoga? What’s that?” Yuna tried to explain, “You know the thing that people do for exercise. They do a bunch of stretches. Kind of like this.” Yuna did a downward dog and went into a cat pose.

Fifi’s beak fell open when she saw Yuna, not that Yuna could see her reaction, “Preposterous! Aren’t you supposed to be a lady? What kind of behavior is this. You should also avoid laying down on the ground.” Yuna sighed, “It’s not like you’re a rich madam or anything. You’re just a bird, what do you know?”

The fire on Fifi’s wings glowed brightly in fury. She complained, “If it weren’t for your weak constitution, I would’ve shown you my human form. Unluckily for me, I got stuck in the body of someone useless.” Yuna frowned, “That’s not nice. Although I’m not strong, I have some skill. Don’t judge me by your standards!”

Fifi scoffed, “As if. I’ll pluck out all my feathers and feed it to the dogs if you’re capable of anything.” In the end, Yuna decided that fighting with Fifi like this was foolish. Sooner or later, she’ll discover her talents. She didn’t feel the need to prove herself to someone that judged a book by its’ cover.

Yuna said, “Enough with the fighting, tell me why you want me to meditate and how.” Fifi explained, “First off, close your eyes and feel your surroundings. Try your best to feel the energy coursing through your veins.” Yuna closed her eyes and felt the wind gently caress her skin. She could hear the birds chirping from a distance.

She began to notice a burning sensation moving up her arms and legs. It was almost like lava flowing through her veins minus the pain. The lava-like energy was thick, and it moved through her veins slowly. Fifi continued her explanation, “Once you’ve sensed the energy coursing through your veins, slowly absorb the energy into your core. You should know when you’ve done it correctly.”

Yuna followed Fifi’s instructions and tried her best to absorb the energy. The lava-like energy formed into a ball inside her body and began swirling like a hurricane. Yuna’s eyebrows scrunched up. Fifi shouted, “STOP! You’re not absorbing the energy, you’re collecting it. If you continue, you’ll explode!” Yuna complained, “How do I absorb it?”

Fifi explained, “Try to imagine that you’re a fish and you’re breathing in liquid.” Yuna complained, “How am I supposed to know how to do that? I’m not a fish!” Fifi sighed, “Just do it.” Yuna imagined herself as a fish with gills. The ball of energy broke apart and gradually began to flow into her core.

Yuna continued to meditate like that until she felt this refreshing feeling cover her entire body. She usually felt tired and out of energy, but after meditating, her mind became clear, and her five senses were heightened. She could hear the fish swimming in a pond nearby and the birds were louder than before.

Yuna slowly opened her eyes. The world was brighter, and her eyesight had tremendously improved. She could see beyond the hills and the outskirts of the palace. She had never imagined in her wildest dreams that she could one day see beyond the human eye.

Fifi was excited to see Yuna’s improvement, “You did great! It’s become a lot easier for me to speak to you now. I’m sure that if you continue to meditate, I’ll be able to appear soon. If you become stronger, I can also transform into my human form.”

Yuna was eager to improve and so she closed her eyes to continue meditating. Fifi interrupted, “Enough meditating, If you strain yourself, it’ll be detrimental to your growth. You need to take it one step at a time. Don’t push yourself too hard. Your body won’t be able to handle it.” Yuna opened her eyes and responded, “Then how often should I be meditating?”

Fifi observed Yuna’s core and noticed that her body had grown stronger, but it was still too weak. She answered, “I think meditating at least once every two days should be fine. Once you’ve become stronger, you can meditate more frequently.” Yuna agreed and laid back down on the soft grass.

The sun was still high in the sky, and it would be a while till it got dark. She was starting to get bored. Usually when she was bored of studying, she’d play her harp. She didn’t have her harp with her at the moment. Since she had nothing to do, she decided to sing one of her favorite songs. She sang IU’s ‘Good Day’.

She liked to challenge herself with this song because there was a part of the song that went up three octaves. It was a challenging song to sing. In her past life, she wasn’t able to sing it very well. She wondered if this body was capable. She began singing the song and grew immersed in the lyrics until the ending part with the three octaves. She seamlessly sang through the song without much effort.

Once she finished singing the song, she spun around happily until she met the eyes of a stranger.