Chapter 1
As her light slowly fades away and the Sun’s mourning starts anew, Ryujin watches.
It's not long till daybreak, maybe an hour if the shadows creeping along the sky are anything to go by, but this human — Yeji, Ryujin corrects herself — still works, narrowing her eyes to focus on the wiring she's been fiddling with since she first arrived here.
Ryujin reaches out, undoes a screw, lets it fall at by the river. Far enough that Yeji might miss it if she leaves earlier than usual today, close enough that if she doesn’t she’d think that maybe she’s the one who set it aside for some reason or the other.
The process seems symmetrical — Yeji just has to replicate everything she's already done on the left wing. And that's probably why she's so outwardly frustrated. She has a template that works, she has the knowledge necessary to recreate years and years of work in a week and she can’t.
Ryujin could help her. She's most powerful by the river, it wouldn't take much to be a little brighter for a few more minutes.
But she won’t. At least, not until Yeji remembers.
Instead, she watches. Defeat is written all over Yeji’s face, from her pouting lips to her saddened eyes but she still works.
Ryujin doesn’t understand. She’s not the first, and she won’t be the last. She’ll fail, like all heroes do. She’ll be replaced, like every other fool that thought they had the determination to defy gods has been.
So why won’t Yeji call to her again?