In a remote underground lab, a girl opened her eyes.
The brightness above pierced her vision, blinding her. Instinctively, she tried to raise her hand to block the light—only to find she couldn't move it. Her limbs were restrained, held down by sleek metal cuffs.
She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust. The blurry outlines of wires, machines, and tubes became clearer. The room was cold, sterile. The faint humming of electricity was the only sound. Despite the unfamiliarity of her surroundings, she wasn't panicking.
She didn't remember where she was. Or why.
She didn't even remember her own name—until something tugged at her heart. A whisper: Shin.
A moment later, the door slid open. A middle-aged man entered, followed by two others in lab coats. Their expressions lit up the moment they saw her awake. Relief flooded their faces—relief mixed with something else. Worry. Guilt.
The man in front approached first. His eyes scanned the monitors, then her face. "Vitals stable... good," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.
He nodded at the two behind him. One of them pressed a button on the wall. With a low hiss, the restraints on her wrists and ankles clicked open.
She sat up slowly, her expression unreadable.
The man knelt beside her. "How are you feeling, Shin?" he asked. His voice was warm, but urgent. Not clinical. Not like a scientist. More like... a father.
She looked at him for a few seconds, silent. Then she replied softly, "Good."
A breath escaped him like he'd been holding it for hours. "I'm so happy to hear that," he said, his voice cracking. "So happy that I… I can't even put it into words."
Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her. Tears fell freely from his eyes, wetting her shoulder. She froze—but the feeling was unfamiliar. Not unpleasant. Warm. She didn't know why, but her throat tightened. A few silent tears slipped from her eyes too.
The two others watched in respectful silence.
---
SOME DAYS LATER
"Dad, something is happening to me!"
Shin burst into the lab, her chest heaving. Her face was pale, eyes wide with panic. Sam, hunched over a worn-out table tinkering with old circuits, immediately stood up.
"What's wrong?" he asked, rushing over.
"My hair—" she grabbed a few strands, showing the ends. "It turned white. Just for a moment. And then..." Her voice shook. "I felt something. Like the air around me was closing in. It got heavier. Thicker."
Sam's heart skipped a beat. "Did you feel faint?"
"No," she said. "But the wind… it was moving even when nothing else was. I wasn't imagining it, Dad. It was like I was breathing it—and moving it."
Before Sam could respond, a faint gust rippled through the room. The blueprints on the wall fluttered. A screwdriver rolled off the table. Sam turned, narrowing his eyes. There were no vents open. No fans running.
The air shifted again—this time stronger. Shin's hair lifted slightly, caught in a swirl. Her clothes tugged gently, as though nature itself was reaching out to her.
"Shin," Sam said carefully, "I want you to stay calm. You're safe."
"I can't stay calm!" she cried. "It's like something inside me is waking up, and I don't know what it wants!"
Suddenly, a violent wind burst through the lab. Equipment crashed. Monitors beeped. The overhead lights flickered as the storm spiraled from nowhere—around her.
Sam shielded his face, calling out, "Shin! You have to breathe! Listen to my voice! You're not alone!"
She clenched her fists, her eyes shut tight. She couldn't stop it. The air twisted violently, like a raging current. Shelves tipped. Glass cracked. She screamed.
And then—
She exhaled.
The wind died down in a heartbeat. Everything that had lifted sank. Silence returned.
Shin opened her eyes, tears brimming. "What's wrong with me?" she whispered.
Sam stepped closer, resting a hand gently on her head. "Nothing's wrong," he said, firm but kind. "You're special. That's all."
She looked at him, confused. "Was I always like this?"
He paused—just long enough for the silence to stretch—then smiled.
"I don't know what happened to you before I found you. But none of that matters now. You're here. With me."
Shin hesitated. "You said you rescued me… from where?"
Sam's gaze dropped for a moment. "From a bad place," he said finally. "Somewhere no one should ever wake up in. That's all you need to know."
She wanted to ask more. But something in his voice told her not to.
Still, questions clawed at her from the inside. Why had her hair turned white? Why could she summon wind like that?
Later that night, alone in her room, she stood by the small mirror. Her hair looked normal again. But she raised her hand... and the air rippled.
Just barely.
The wind brushed against her fingertips like it knew her name.
---
AT AN UNKNOWN MOUNTAIN PEAK
The moon was bright as ever. It glowed even more around a white-haired girl sitting at the very top of a mountain. Her eyes—blue, devoid of emotion—stared blankly ahead. Wearing nothing, only her hair moved in the cold wind. Everything else was as still as a statue.
Suddenly, her eyes sparked. A dark smile appeared on her face. Then her mouth moved.
"Oh! Those witches finally arrived, huh?"
She spoke in an amused tone. Then, in a colder voice:
"But where are you? Well, I'll just find you myself then. Hehe."
After a maniacal laugh, she jumped from the mountain.
Her destination: unknown.
---