Sungjin stood at Death's door once again, wondering why he was here. "Did my body fail me this time?" He asked as he looked above him, wondering if he could see the speck of light in the distance. He could hear Brian and the others calling for him, and turned looked at death's door. "Sorry death, maybe next time," he said, turning around and running. He could faintly see a light in the distance and pushed his body to run to it.

Brian blinked, looking down at Sungjin's body as Minhyuk made his way back to camp with the cart and Shownu and Kihyun ready to defend them with their lives if needed. "I think he's going to make it," he said, smiling a bit. "Oh, that's good," said N. "An orb user right?" He asked. Brian nodded. "I'm one too, and I can confirm that Sungjin is coming back," said Wonpil. "Good! Maybe this time we can have him sit out for the battles," Dowoon called back. "You know he won't," shouted Jae as Shownu snorts in agreement.

"You alright over there Kihyun?" Brian yelled as Kihyun nearly stumbled. Kihyun paused for a second, shaking out his fur while being mindful of the two people on his back. He pushed his body to catch up as they finally reached camp.

"Jesus Kihyun," said Wonpil as he hopped out of the cart when Minhyuk came to a stop. Dowoon hopped off of Minhyuk's back and quickly untied the rope, letting it drop. "I figured since you were larger than Minhyuk that you'd be able to carry two people," he said, snickering. Kihyun snorts, shaking his head as Hongbin and Hyuk got off his back. Brian checked on Sungjin, keeping his orb summoned as he waited on Sungjin to wake up.

It'd be another few minutes while everyone was settling down in camp before Sungjin woke with a gasp, sitting up. "Whoa there," said Brian as he rushed over. "You alright hyung?" He asked as everyone else made their way over. "Looks like I saved myself from death's door again," said Sungjin. "Why am I in a cart?" He asked. "We just got back to camp, we were preparing one of the tents for you, and then you woke up," said Jae. "Mind if I have a look at you?" Asked Hyuk. "Go ahead," said Sungjin. Hyuk nodded and checked over Sungjin to see how his health was.

After a clean bill of health by both Hyuk and Kihyun everyone forced Sungjin and all the shapeshifters to rest so they could plan for the attacks on the smaller camps in the kingdom.
 

~

A few months later the camps were finally cleared, and everyone prepared to head home. Brian waved to N and his friends as they headed back across the border. Minhyuk would be heading back with them, while Shownu and Kihyun headed across the borders.

"After this, we can finally say goodbye eh?" Asked Sungjin as he helped pack up the cart that they were taking back to the capitol. "Yep," said Brian. "And we can see who finally killed the king," he said. "Mhm," said Sungjin. "I want to slowly kill the idiot who thought it was funny to kill our king," said Jae as he walked over. "Don't we all?" Asked Wonpil as he walked over with Dowoon and his dog.

Once the cart was packed and there was room for everyone that was riding in the cart Minhyuk shifted and Dowoon attached the harness to him before attaching the rope of the cart to the harness. Once that was done Dowoon hopped onto Minhyuk's back. "Josh," said Sungjin as he looked in the direction of the capitol. "We're coming home," he said, before hopping in the cart after getting Junhyuk in the cart. The others got in the cart and Minhyuk howled before making a u-turn and heading back to the capitol.
 

~

Once they reached the capitol Sungjin was arrested by Sungcheol, who stood with Jeonghan and Mingyu. "What? What did I do?" He asked as he held his hands up. Sungcheol's face turned serious as the others protested. "According to all evidence we gathered we have come to the conclusion that it was you who killed the king," he said. "Now, unless you want to die right here and now I suggest you drop your weapons and come quietly," he said. The others were surprised, but Sungjin complied, moving to take the sword sheathes off his back and handing them to Jae.

"The rest of you can go see Josh, I'm sure you know where his apartment is," said Sungcheol as Jeonghan and Mingyu stepped forward to walk beside Sungjin to make sure he wouldn't try anything. Sungjin looked at his fellow guard members just as confused as they were, before Sungcheol walked into the capitol with Jeonghan and Mingyu making sure Sungjin followed after him.

"What the hell Josh?!" Yelled Jae as they entered Joshua's apartment. Joshua looked up from doing some paperwork. "Oh, you're back," said Joshua. "Why did Sungjin-hyung get arrested?" Asked Wonpil. "All evidence stacked against him," said Joshua. "I wanted to believe that it wasn't true but Kris mentioned that he disappeared for an hour that night," he said. "I had been so busy with the twins, but I figured he had gone to pay rent or something," he mumbled.

"We made a promise to go say goodbye, all of us," mumbled Dowoon. "Now, that promise may not even be kept," he muttered. "We'll make it work, somehow, we will all go say goodbye," said Jae. "He won't get the death penalty," said Joshua. "It's already decided that if he chose to, he can become a fugitive with a bounty on his head," he said. "Everyone knows how loyal he was to the king," he said. "If he chooses to he can go say goodbye after his trial, and then you can go home," he said.

"This isn't fair," said Minhyuk as he scratched the back of his head. "It's better than getting executed as soon as he enters the throne room," said Joshua. "Come on, we need to get to the palace," he said before getting up and grabbing his papers. He left the apartment with the others following after him.

"How are the twins?" Asked Brian. "Fine," said Joshua. "Rose is taking care of them right now, I think she took them to the park when you guys got here," he said. "How old are they now?" Asked Jae. "2," said Joshua. "Have we really been gone for 2 years?" Asked Wonpil. "Man, time flies," he said. "They were a few months old when Sungjin left right?" He asked. "Yeah," said Joshua as they reached the palace.

"I've never been here," said Minhyuk as he looked up at the building. "Oh, you're from the east aren't you?" Asked Joshua. Minhyuk nodded. "I never came to the capitol, we just protected the east," he said. "Of course, I didn't join the pack until after Wonpil rejoined but," he said, shrugging. "I'm surprised, that you accepted him so easily," said Joshua. Minhyuk shrugged. "I know what it's like to be abandoned by your pack so," he said, shrugging again.

They entered the palace, where Chan was waiting with his dog Hoshi. "Hey Chan," said Joshua. Chan forced a smile before nodding to the others. "The queen is waiting on us," he said. They headed to the throne room.

Sungjin was forced to his knees as he had his hands tied behind his back. He looked at the queen, wondering what evidence they had against him as Joshua entered the room with the others. "Joshua," said the Queen. "Your highness," said Joshua. "Present the evidence," said the Queen.

"Brian and Wonpil can confirm this with their own gods," said Joshua as he cleared his throat. "But the night the king had been assassinated Sungjin said he had to do something and had disappeared for an hour," he said. "He came back with bloody clothes and he made some excuse about going to the butchers but it was midnight," he said. "I brushed it off but then I got called in because the king had been assassinated," he said.

"Do you have anything to counter this?" The Queen asked Sungjin. "To be honest your highness, I had been so busy that night, my memory of what happened is very vague," said Sungjin as he looked at the floor. "I am innocent," he said, looking at the Queen again.

"What the hell," said Sungcheol as he stepped forward. "Hey now," said Joshua as he put a hand on Sungcheol's shoulder. "No, he needs to be punished, I call bull on the fact that you don't remember," Sungcheol spat, going up and kicking Sungjin to the side. "Oi, and I thought Mingyu had the temper here," said Wonpil as he stood in front of Sungjin. "I suggest that you step back or we arrest you too," said Sungcheol. "This isn't right," said Jae. "He has no memories of that time," said Brian. "If he had disappeared for an hour then that's fine, he probably went to cool off," he said. "Stress and everything, you know how he is," he said.

"What does your gods say?" Asked the Queen. Wonpil, Brian and Joshua summoned their orbs. "Sungjin-hyung is innocent," said Wonpil and Brian after a few minutes. Joshua shook his head. "Kris says he isn't," he said. "Your highness," said Mingyu as he spoke up. "Those two weren't here when the king had been assassinated, is it wise to trust them?" He asked. "Going against your alpha huh?" Asked Wonpil as a growl escaped him. Minhyuk put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't it's not worth it," he said.

"As it seems," said the Queen. "I want the final verdict from my guard," she said. "Minhyuk, since you're an outsider and I know you won't do anything, bring Sungjin to his feet please," she said. Minhyuk nodded and helped Sungjin stand, mumbling a sorry. "It's alright Minhyuk," said Sungjin as he kept his head high. "I can't believe that after all these years of being loyal to the King only gets me accused of murdering him," he said. Minhyuk pushed him forward, and Sungjin was ready to receive the final verdict.

"I vote guilty," said Sungcheol as he went to stand with the others. "I'm sorry hyung," said Chan. "But I vote guilty," he said. "Our parents would be disappointed," Joshua said with a straight face. "But I'm voting guilty," he said. "I held a lot of respect for you Sungjin," said Jeonghan. "But I vote guilty," he said. "My vote is guilty," said Mingyu.

"It's settled then," said the Queen as everyone protested. "Park Sungjin, you are hereby guilty of murdering the King and starting the civil war," she said. "What will you receive as your punishment?" She asked. "I want to return home," said Sungjin. "Leave my fellow guard members to do what they want, but I want to return home," he said, his voice breaking at the end as he took a deep breath to try and not break down in front of everyone. Joshua and the others could see the tears in his eyes, but said nothing.

Sungjin continued to hold his head high, as the tears started to fall. "I made a promise, to everyone, that we would all go say goodbye, but it seems I won't be able to," he said. "I want to become a fugitive, give me a chance to go north and say goodbye," he said. "Let me run to my death, have someone track me, I don't care anymore," he said. "It's been a long two years on the road, I just want to go home," he said.

"It's settled then," said the Queen. "You get your wish, but Chan will be tracking you and you get no supplies," she said. "All you will get to get you north is your swords," she said. "Fine with me," said Sungjin as Jae came forward to cut the ropes off with one of his knives and hand him his swords. Sungjin wiped his face with his shirt sleeve before grabbing the swords and slinging the sheathes onto his back in their trademark x position. "Dismissed, I expect you to be gone in an hour," said the Queen. Sungjin nodded, bowing before he left the room with the others following after him.

Jae shoved him against the wall once they were outside the throne room. "What the hell Sungjin!" He shouted. "Oi, leave him be," said Brian as he put a hand on Jae's shoulder. "No! Why didn't you fight any harder?!" Said Jae as he shoved Brian's hand off. "You could've fought for your innocence here," he spat as Sungjin looked down. "What about the twins? What about us? What about going home?" He asked. "Did you start this mess?" He yelled. Wonpil and Minhyuk dragged Jae away from Sungjin as Sungjin still didn't answer him. "Let me beat him, let me kill him myself!" Said Jae as he fought against Wonpil and Minhyuk's hold on him.

Sungjin just looked down as he walked away from them, going to do some last minute things before he left the capitol. "Come back damn it!" Yelled Jae as he finally broke down, sobbing into Wonpil's chest as he slid to the floor with Wonpil hugging him.

"Something isn't right here," said Dowoon as he left the palace with Brian and Junhyuk. "I know," said Brian. "There has to be something more to this," he said. "We'll go say goodbye," said Dowoon. "After Joshua or you and Wonpil confirm his death," he said. "Then I want to leave this god forsaken kingdom," he said. "We'll head east," said Brian. "They offered to let us join them if we needed to leave," he said.

Sungjin went to see Rose and the twins, smiling when they ran to him. "Hey you two!" He said, picking them both up. "Oh, you're back," said Rose as she came over. "Unfortunately I'm leaving again," said Sungjin as he explained what was going on. Rose looked surprised. "What?" She asked. "There's a reason for me to not fight more for my innocence," said Sungjin as he took off his leather strap holding his guitar pick and brought out a note after putting the twins down. "Give this note to Josh after he confirms I'm dead," he said. "And hand this to Jae," he said, giving Rose both items.

"I must go now, my time for staying in the capitol is limited, I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer," he said, hugging Chanyeol then Jongdae. "Daddy," said Chanyeol. "Sorry kiddo," said Sungjin as he tousled Chanyeol's hair. "Be good for uncle Joshua okay?" He asked. When Chanyeol and Jongdae nod Sungjin smiled, waving to Rose before walking away, heading towards the gates.

Sungcheol met Sungjin at the gates. "I'm sorry it had to end this way," he said. "No, it's fine," said Sungjin. "After everything, the king was corrupted, and we had to put a stop to it," he said. "The civil war was convenient timing," he said. "It was, good luck, Chan will be tracking you a day from now," he said. "I hope you manage to make it home before he catches up to you," he said. Sungjin nodded. "I have a general direction of where I need to go, I wish I had more supplies but," he said, sighing. Sungcheol shook his head. "Good luck," he said. "Thanks," said Sungjin before he left the capitol, heading north.
 

~

It took a few days, but Sungjin found himself lost in the forest at the foot of the mountains, with Hoshi's barking alerting him that him and Chan were near. "Damn it," he said, panting as he stopped behind a tree. "This is complete bull," he muttered as he tried to catch his breath.

"I need to get somewhere," he said, pushing himself to run again, hearing the barking get closer. "You've become a great tracker Chan," he muttered as he ran. "I'm surprised I managed to make it up north," he said as he found himself in front of a rock face. He looked up at it, wondering if he could risk his life and climb it as Chan appeared with Hoshi growling at him.

Sungjin felt a sense of Deja vu hit as he turned around to face Chan, who had his crossbow aimed at him with Hoshi growling, daring him to move. "Well, you caught me," he said, unsheathing both swords. "It's a shame isn't it?" Asked Chan as he kept his crossbow aimed at Sungjin. "You could've had an easier death had you accepted it back then," he said.

"You are aware of why I killed the king right?" Asked Sungjin as he let the swords drop to the ground. "Of course," said Chan as he shot Sungjin in the arms. Sungjin let himself get pinned against the rock face as the fear of being unable to use his sword arms finally sunk in. Chan lowered his crossbow, before going to untie the sword sheathes from Sungjin and strapping them to his back before grabbing the swords and re-sheathing them. "I'm sorry hyung," he said. "Any last words?" He asked.

"Josh," called Sungjin as he looked up at the sky. "Tell them the truth," he said. "Brian, I'm sorry, Wonpil I'm sorry, tell Jae that I'm sorry," he said. "I know I said I'd make it but, I'm tired... I'm tired of running," he said, closing his eyes. Chan reloaded the crossbow before aiming it at Sungjin. "I'm sorry hyung," he said, before firing the arrow into his heart. Hoshi launched himself forward and aimed for the neck, ripping out Sungjin's throat.

Chan muttered his apologies before going to check to make sure Sungjin was dead. He then took the arrows out as Hoshi started to dig a hole. Chan waited until Hoshi was done before picking up Sungjin and putting him in the hole. He then helped Hoshi fill up the hole. Once done he headed back to the capitol with Hoshi.
 

~

Joshua read the note that Rose had given him, biting his lip. "Did you really need to give yourself this burden hyung?" He asked as he sighed. "Joshua?" Asked Jae as he walked over. "We're heading north," he said. "I know," said Joshua. "I think he'd want you to read this," he said, handing Jae the note. Jae looked down at the note in confusion, before recognizing Sungjin's messy handwriting.

Joshua or Jae,

I'm sorry it had to come down to this. I had a great time being with everyone again. But while you were gone Jae, the king had become corrupted, and I took it upon myself to kill him after everything, because the Queen herself had asked me to. I'm sorry to you all, I hope the twins live a happy life.

Brian and Wonpil lied about me being innocent, I knew they knew about what happened. I just hope that they understand that this was done because of the king becoming corrupt. I'm sorry Jae, that I'm putting the burden of being the leader on you now. I hope you do well, I will be watching from above.

I must go now. My time is cut short here. I will see you in the afterlife, bye you two.

-Park Sungjin

Jae felt the tears fall as his hands shook. "So he was told to do this because of the Queen..." He muttered. Joshua nodded. "But why did he come get us then?" Asked Jae. "Because, the civil war was timed perfectly," said Joshua. "If we just executed him right then and there you'd come and ask why," he said. "It felt better to do it this way," he said. Jae sighed as he wiped his face with his shirt sleeve, pushing his glasses back into place.

"Where will you guys go after heading north?" Asked Joshua. "East," said Jae as he walked to the gates with Joshua, packed for the journey. "We made some friends, and they offered us refuge if we needed it," he said. "Have a safe trip," said Joshua. Jae nodded as they reached the gates, where the others were already waiting. "You have his guitar pick hyung?" Asked Wonpil. Jae held up his leather strap, which now held his and Sungjin's guitar picks. "Yep," he said. "Let's go then," he said, hopping into the cart. The others got in while Dowoon got on Minhyuk's back with Joshua waving to them as they left.
 

~

Taeyong blinked in surprise as he looked at Doyoung. "So that's what happened huh?" He asked as he looked to see the twins fast asleep. "Yep, and I hope that the twins heard the entire story, that was exhausting to tell," said Doyoung as he looked at the twins. "I'm sure they did," said Taeyong as he went to put the twins to bed with Doyoung helping.

~

A/N: If you're confused of the ending this is basically another ending to chapter 20, while adding a little bit of chapter 21 before they went home before it cuts to Taeyong and Doyoung. I hope you enjoyed the story, this was a thrill to write~!