OOC: Section 22.1 will be posted in the WBC thread, while the Section 22.2 will be posted in the IBC thread. Combined piece will be posted at the TWGS megathread.
In the last day that had passed since the Battle in Perce Harbour, Hannah Moran was asleep.
Her eyes were frozen upon seeing the gaze of the Sea Monster, whose eyes held little to no interest at her anyway, and filled with tears from the regrets and the what-if's of her teenage days that had drizzled out of her eyes during that full day's sleep. Her breaths were light and movements constrained, with the nineteen-year-old's frame confined to the comforts of the guest room bed at Isabel Jurado's flat in Quartier Calanien, Joongyeong.
Her mind was still awake and aware, however, and the longer her eyes stayed closed, the less aware she was becoming over the current situation. As with the famous saying in Wight that when something that's supposed to be significant and life-ending is about to happen...time stops becoming time, Hannah knew that she was in middle of an important situation that she, unfortunately, was unable to find her way back into consciousness.
So the monster's defeated, but there is more to come. Is there a barrier eroding between the worlds we live in, and we are on run, thought Hannah, as she thought about it on the evening. Her eyes were still closed, almost as if a bandage had put on it, and the sensations felt in her fingertips perhaps too sharp to contrast with the numbness of her own vision. Like that, her minutes would turn into hours, and eventually a full day would come to pass, even though it's likelier that Hannah felt it more like twenty-four years than twenty-four hours.
Lying on physical comfort, but constant mental disturbance, he felt somewhat helpless and hopeless. Knowing that the streets of the Quartier Calanien, those that she had come to the capitol's bright lights in search of the 'Midnight in Joongyeong', were just outside the flat, she knew she wanted to get out. But she also knew that she couldn't, for the circumstances involving her and the company would require her to keep quiet and any attempt in voluntary disclosure had meant death for those part of the ancient, Koreano-indigenous magical community in Quebec and Shingoryeo. So she was stuck in a bizarre, non-awakening state of body, without sight but with all the senses. For someone whose abilities had quietly saved many lives, and whose abilities had also brought curiosities in her life that would allow her to venture further into the mountains, deeper into the water and higher over the sky, Hannah felt powerless over it.
At that moment Hannah missed her siblings and parents, who were either out in Songak or at their ranch in Jolbo (shortened term for Jolbonopolis) as the country musicians of commonfolk, rural heritage would. There was a lot of bond that her and her three siblings - two younger sisters and a six-year-old brother - had built over time, and during her time as a student in St. Croix, and also as an early-stage apprentice under her professor, Isabel Jurado, a lot of seemed to be drifting away.
Am I making a mistake? thought she, as the noon would turn into an afternoon. Sirens were heard outside as a car crash was followed by that of the ambulances and the news vehicles, with all the sounds of witnesses muttering nearby. She could hear all the sounds of the people, some maybe her age and even of acquaintance, chatting, and visualise the sound of music into a tool.
It would be that ability to visualise and materialise music that would allow her to escape the bind, as she would sharpen the notes. First putting the crochets of her choice, Hannah would then link that with a lyric of her choice, before putting additional accidentals (sharps, flats, and doubles) to accentuate their sharpness. Then slowly she would sing the notes, which, upon their playing, would leave the grill of the musical sheet, and make their way to her bandaged face. One after another, the musical notes would function on their own, slowly removing the bandage while acting as scissors, robotic hands and gloves to make sure that the procedure would go well.
Eventually, she's freed of it, and was able to open her eyes. The first thing she was the pastel blue colour of the roof, and how bright the room was. Sun still shines over it, even on the gloomiest of the times we may have to face, thought Hannah, as she quickly wiped off the dried tears from her face with her right hand. Then she would slowly look to the left and the right, and was made aware of a single presence sitting on a chair next to the bed, watching her for several hours now.
Joon-Gweon was waiting for her all this time. With his face grim and mouth motionless, due to self-attempts to remain silent by holding back his emotions, it was all but clear that many questions were up in the air.
