Hell is empty and all the demons are here - William Shakespeare     

 

AUGUST 19

 

     Namjoon's health had improved to near peak after a few days of recuperating at the ranch.

     "A leader must look after his own health just as much as he does his pack," Sunoo had told him after he introduced him to the healing spa he frequented on the weekly, "Stress is a killer, you're no good to them dead."

     "Wise words," Namjoon had agreed as he melted into the calming waters that Sunoo referred to as aquatic seawater therapy. He had the feeling that Sunoo was pampered his whole life and things like spas and self-care were essential like water and air to less fortunate people. The exception being most people in Sunoo's circle were arrogant whereas he was the most down-to-earth guy you could know. 

     As of today, the pack was back at the estate and after a smelly, grueling cleanup of twenty-some corpses... and five showers later, Namjoon was feeling even better.

 

AUGUST 20 

 

     Namjoon had paid a visit to Dagma earlier that morning, she had plenty to say... and plenty to be upset about. Cato coming to the god realm wasn't exactly favorable, but there were circumstances that led up to the decision.

    Namjoon leaned against the wall of the whitened room, that today seemed a bit dull, sullied from the events of the last fortnight. His actions at the lab the day Cato became braindead were unbeknownst to all but Dagma and Cato knew she wanted to keep it that way. It was expected that the demigod would conk out somewhere in the middle of the vast experimentation, and they figured they'd wash their hands of him once that happened... but he was an obstinate bastard... and Akiyama was just villainous enough to pull off a whole scheme disguised as good intentions. Since the gods did not concern themselves with the affairs of mortals, he could dupe them a little too easily and none would be the wiser. Dagma never was specific on why Akiyama was given Cato to study in the first place, what were they hoping to find?

     At this point, the council was just looking for any excuse to put Namjoon to death, since a child born of two gods did not live past their first birthday because of very strict rules. The fact that Namjoon was hidden away with a human family to bypass the rule was already a huge strike against Dagma. Namjoon was a good soul, which is why he was allowed to live after everyone found out he was empyrean. Since then, the Council of the Gods was waiting with bated breath for Namjoon to screw up just once with a questionable moral dilemma.

      "So this is my fault?" Namjoon sulked. Oh, how foresight would be a keen skill to possess.

     "Cato wishes to have the protection of the gods so he can continue his plans, which is to grow his 'family' and drain the werewolves."

     "So they plan to keep the puppy mill?" the very same establishment that Yoongi inherited and whose manager supplied Cato with 'stock' in years past.

     "That was part of his terms," Dagma disclosed, "We have a signed blood contract that the terms he set forth would be granted for him to keep his mouth shut about the events of his 'accident'. I also asked that he call off this vendetta he has planned against your pack."

     "I'd rather be put to death than have this buffoon get his way," Namjoon grumbled, "I have no strikes against me, I am sure the gods would take that into account."

     "You shunned this world once, becoming a witch to be with your pack, Lupius is none too happy about that," Dagma frowned, "and Cato's description of events is loads more anti-Namjoon than I am comfortable with. Gods are not forgiving when crossed."

     "Jungkook killed a god-"

     "And Yoosun was offered as a sacrifice, only Tempestt knows the real story. To spite his hatred for Jungkook's conception, he still does possess a sense of loyalty," Dagma countered, "I am not going to take the chance that you be put to death for something as trite as this, at least he will have rules to abide by and people watching him."

     "Cato does some of his most evil work while under scrutiny."

     "I will be keeping an extra keen eye on him," Dagma assured.

     "Are you ever going to divulge why he was sent to Akiyama in the first place?"

     "In other news, one of my children is part of your new brotherhood pack-"

     Namjoon gave a sigh, today would not be the day he would learn such things. "Felix?"

     Dagma gave a nod, "He is your half-brother by blood."

     "What's his story?" Namjoon queried, "I'm not sure at this point which parts of the rumors are fact or fiction."

     "Ah yes, a fallen angel sent to the demon realm for betraying me," she gave a chuckle, "It really makes no sense, he is part demon, this would not be a punishment."

     "Rumors usually are ridiculous, easily twisted lies with no semblance of truth," Namjoon had his fair share of rumors in his lifetime, "Sad that so many choose to believe so easily without one shred of proof or research."

     "Human nature seems to favor believing the worst and to gossip about it to as many others as one can," Dagma shook her head, "Do not even get me started on this cancel culture thing that I spy on Twitter. It is perplexing to say the least."

     "Misery really does love company," Namjoon figured most people just hated on others to ignore the fact that their own lives were not satisfying. Also, the image of Dagma scrolling through Twitter daily made him chuckle internally.

     "Felix's father was a Dokkaebi hybrid I met in Australia during one of my mating rituals."

     "There has to be a better term than that," Namjoon was a tad uncomfortable with thoughts of mating gods clambering around in his head.

    "Ver Aeternum, the eternal spring," Dagma smiled, "Our annual tradition."

     "You bear a child every year?"

     "No, not all gods participate every year, just when we do search out a mate, the spring is the season of new beginnings."

     "Makes sense."

     "On the first day of Spring, we choose a suitor to help bring a new life into the world. It only takes around six months for the baby of a god to gestate, so every September a new demigod is born."

     "All demigods are born in September?" 

     "Some are born in October as well, but it's rare," Dagma explained, "There are the spare few that are born in other months, because pardon my tongue, gods tend to be . But the majority of them yes; you, Jungkook, Cato, Felix. Of course, children of demigods don't share this trait, as you are aware with Seokjin and Yoongi."

     "I mean technically they aren't even demigods, just legacies."

     "Ah yes, the human vernacular can sometimes be lazy," Dagma gave a smile, "That aside, Felix's father was a fisherman, I met him while he was at port. Felix was born in the god realm and he wasn't very receptive to it, so I sent him to live with his father. Nothing as sinister as the rumors suggest."

     There was a brief silence as Namjoon mulled everything over.

      "I am sorry, Mother, I have caused so many problems with just one ill-planned decision."

     "Had Akiyama not brought Cato back, there would be no concern from me over what you did, I dare say I even agreed," Dagma admitted, "Though, I will deny it with all my being if questioned."

     Namjoon smiled.

     "I know I told you that there has been an unbalance in the stars of late," Dagma went over to sit in the chair, beckoning Namjoon to join her, "Jungkook and Seokjin, how are things between them?"

     "Not good, Seokjin left the estate to find himself after a misunderstanding, he's asked to be alone for a bit, which is making Jungkook upset," Namjoon took a seat, "I told him to let Seokjin have this time to heal."

     "He is not having it?"

     "Not at all. He doesn't agree with my decision in asking him not to go after Seokjin, I'm afraid it's caused a bit of a rift."

     "His attachment to Seokjin is bound by more than just their souls," Dagma explained, "their story is written in the stars."

     "Their love is not the problem, it's the hurt that accompanies it."

     "There is a Chinese word for what they share, 'Yuánfèn," Dagma smiled, "a binding force that keeps their connection alive, made to stand the test of time against all odds. So while they are not currently together, they will find their way back to each other."

     "The whole fiasco has caused one of my members to leave the pack."

     "Yoongi," Dagma knew.

     "He's part of Sunghoon's pack now."

     "Yoongi and Seokjin are also designed by fate, in other dimensions they have always been together in some form," Dagma exhaled a love-filled sigh.

     "I thought Seokjin and Jungkook were destined through legend?"

     "They are, but Jungkook's a first soul, so this prophecy was only foretold here in this timeline."

     "So there isn't another Jungkook in other dimensions?"

     "No, demigods aren't born twice."

     "This is so very confusing."

     "Understood," Dagma sympathized, "In the simplest terms, if you are born of a god, there will not be another of you in any other dimension."

     "So legacies like Seokjin and Yoongi are born in others?"

     "Yes, but not always born to a demigod."

     "I think I need a rule book on this one."

     Dagma chuckled, "Of the hundreds of dimensions, you are the only Namjoon, but there could be hundreds of Seokjins. However, not all of them are onyx hybrids. In fact, I can assure you of this, this timeline's Seokjin is the only onyx in existence."

     "Are there onyx in all dimensions?"

     "No, only a spare few actually."

     "Do you rule all these dimensions?"

     "Some have different gods, some have solitary gods, some even have no gods. But, in every dimension, Dagma is me," Dagma disclosed, "some of my children were conceived in those other dimensions as well."

     "And yet you have the time to take out of your day to talk to me."

     "I will also never admit this to anyone else, but out of the 239 children I have birthed, you are by far, my favorite."

     "I feel honored, but also a little sad."

     "When you leave this world, you will take your place at my side, the angel of protection."

     "So I am officially the only child of two gods that hasn't been killed off?"

     Dagma gave a nod, "I know there have been rumors about that as well."

     

     Namjoon joined the balm squad down in the lab, witnessing the chaotic headstart to their annual 'let's cultivate and bag our herbs' ritual. Since autumn was fast approaching, Hoseok and Taehyung were up to their eyeballs in greenery. Namjoon confided with them about most of what Dagma had said, minus certain bits he wanted to keep confidential.

     "For being the goddess of angels, she sure isn't very angel-like," Hoseok commented.

     "She has a soft spot for me," Namjoon shrugged, "and not all angels are virtuous."

     "Imagine having 239 children," Taehyung was still trying to wrap his head around that.

     "Imagine having one," Hoseok joked.

     Jungkook walked in, his face still sporting a few bruises, which was weird since he usually healed within minutes to hours after receiving wounds. Hoseok felt it was because he was depressed over Seokjin being gone. Also maybe a bit jealous because Hyunjin was still with him.

     "Hey," Jungkook called out, biting his lip extra hard today.

     "Hey, everything ok?" Taehyung asked, worried his best friend was once again brooding and needed a distraction.

    "Yeah just bored, wanted to be around people," Jungkook sat up on the counter, "and no I don't want to talk about it."

     "Understood," Taehyung looked towards his hamster, "you should play with Mochi, he has a knack for making people smile."

     "Maybe," Jungkook shrugged. He wasn't sure his mood could be cured by a furry critter, unless maybe it was Seokjin and they were chasing down a deer.

     Hoseok's phone vibrated, Seokjin was calling, "Ooh. Seokjin." he answered it, "Hey bro, what's going on?"

     "News."

     Speak of the devil. Jungkook could so easily rip that phone from Hoseok's palm and confess everything to his ex, even if Namjoon were to pull him away and banish him to a tower someplace where he'd have to stew in his sadness as punishment, forever. Be real, Jungkook.

     "Alright if I put you on speaker?" Hoseok asked.

     "Please."

      Hoseok set his phone to speaker and set it on top of the lab table, "Go ahead."

      "First issue, Joy left Zane, she won't forgive us for killing off her brother, expected, but, she is on a rampage, so whoever actually killed him should be watching their back."

     Namjoon exchanged glances with Jungkook.

      "Two, Zane is not happy about Cato's decision nor is he willing to work with us, but he is not going to be a problem. He backed out of the orphan project personally but is being honorable in his promise to give them a home. He's put some of his people on it."

     "So he isn't raising them as soldiers now?"

     "Nope, which also made Joy very unhappy. She's kind of psychotic."

     "Understatement," Taehyung huffed.

     "Cato is hiding something that I can't seem to access, I think he might have realized I was in his brain and has shut some things off."

     "I saw Dagma, I might have an idea of what that could entail," Namjoon voiced.

     "Okay, good, but also something doesn't sit right with me, the Cato we know would not sit around and let Akiyama get away with what he did."

     "He still hasn't gotten his revenge on me either," Jungkook said aloud to himself, "maybe he's just all talk."

     Everyone looked over at him.

     "I'm gonna call you back in a bit," Seokjin ended the call abruptly and Jungkook realized it was probably because of him.

     "Sorry, shouldn't have said anything," Jungkook pouted, "I'm gonna go for a walk."

      With that, he was out of the room in a jiff.

      "Now I just think they are both being tortured for no reason," Taehyung objected to the whole let's keep Jungkook and Seokjin apart so they can find themselves theme, "This issue can be resolved if Jungkook just went to him-"

     "And what? Everything is instantly better?" Namjoon shook his head, "Seokjin needs the time, they both do and I suggest you help the kid realize he needs to figure himself out too."

     "What?" Taehyung could not understand why it would be a bad thing if Jungkook went to Seokjin and spilled his guts, "At this point, it couldn't possibly be worse than being miserable over a stupid mistake."

     "Jungkook and Seokjin aren't going to magically realize they should have been together this whole time, they both need time alone to figure out their real feelings."

     "You said Dagma even said there is an imbalance," Taehyung debated, "What if that's part of the problem?"

     "Jungkook lied to him for months, he let him stew in utter emptiness to teach him a lesson, how do you think Seokjin is going to feel when he hears this?"

     "Probably the same way Jungkook felt every time Seokjin lied to him."

    "I don't agree with how their relationship has played out thus far, but I agree that they need to find themselves apart from each other if they ever hope to be a part OF each other," Hoseok spoke up.

     "I don't know, Seokjin is out there trying to get over Jungkook, I don't see a point."

     "Well we're just going to have to agree to disagree for now," Namjoon insisted.

 

     Later that evening, Namjoon summoned Yoongi to the estate, sitting him down in his office to go over an issue with one of Yeolgwi's dealings. Yoongi, who had been found guilty of intent to harm Jungkook. Namjoon felt that after he was questioned as a witness that their friendship might have been tested. Jungkook had decided not to pursue the matter, which of course surprised everyone, especially Yoongi.

     "If he thinks this earns him a favor, he's mistaken."

     "This new cold persona doesn't fit you."

     "You think this is cold?" Yoongi laughed, shifting in his seat, "this is lukewarm."

      "You're lashing out at everyone to avoid facing any turmoil from your estranged friendship-"

     "Not everyone, just the person responsible for it," Yoongi corrected.

     "You miss Seokjin and it's affected you more than you realize."

     "I never once said I didn't miss him, but I chose to let him go," Yoongi insisted.

     "You chose to let him go, but you never faced the emotions that come with that."

     "You brought me here to talk about my father's , not Seokjin," Yoongi stood and moved to the window.

     "I can't have a repeat of what you did to Jungkook, just a fair warning."

     "I will not beat his down at the estate ever again," Yoongi held up his right hand, "Vampire's honor."

     "Yoongi, not just at the estate," Namjoon leaned back in his chair, unwavering, "You can't kill him."

     "Fine, just keep him away from me and nothing will happen," Yoongi crossed his arms like a defiant child, "Now can we get down to business?"

     

    Beomgyu and Jungkook were watching Hoseok and Taehyung mix up some balms, replenishing their stash of ultra-important ones. Beomgyu stood to scour through the tinctures and draughts and elixirs, wondering what the hell was the difference between all of this stuff.

     "Aren't they all just glorified potions?" Beomgyu picked up an elixir of Capitis Remedium and held it up to the light, the light blue color was quite serene.

    "Noooo," Hoseok disagreed with a violent headshake, "not even, you would never want to mix them up."

     "Will I blow up?" Beomgyu joked, setting the elixir back.

     "Anything and everything is possible," Taehyung set a balm tin down and wrote on the label, Body Evaporator Goo.

     "So explain to Jungkook what the differences are, since he has no clue," Beomgyu smirked.

     "Hey," Jungkook scolded, "I know the difference with some."

     "Go into the library, on the third shelf on the left wall, 5th over is a book called, 'The Witches Brew', the very first couple of pages is a poem. Read it, it's very helpful," Taehyung ordered.

     "You remember where a single book is located?" Beomgyu's lip curled up into the biggest display of 'WTF' Taehyung had ever seen.

     "Which part of eidetic memory did you not get?"

     "Okay, I'll bite," Beomgyu strode out of the lab and into the library next door. Sure enough, the book was right where the older had said it was. He shuffled back into the library, impressed, "That's a scary good trait."

    Taehyung smirked, "every witch will recite this poem at least once in their life."

    Beomgyu heaved himself up onto the counter next to Jungkook and began to read:

    

     "This is... forreal?" Beomgyu exchanged glances with Jungkook.

     "Witches like verse, kind of a...curse," Hoseok earned an arm smack from Beomgyu, "Ow."

     "Lame," Beomgyu threw the book aside.

     "Rude," Hoseok rubbed his arm.

      Jungkook giggled, "Didn't realize potion-making could be so deep."

     "People write sonnets about poop, anything can be deep if you know the right words," Hoseok smiled.

     

     Hyunjin and Seokjin had settled for the night in a quaint little seaside town. They booked an Airbnb for three days to test out the waters, maybe they'd stay a week or more if things worked in their favor.

     "We need food," Seokjin called out as Hyunjin popped the trunk and moseyed to the rear of the car to grab their luggage.

     "We passed a store on the way in-"

     "On that road you almost killed us on?"

     "That was not my fault," Hyunjin pulled the suitcases from the trunk and set them down, "That car ran the red light."

     "Yeah, I'll give you that," Seokjin grabbed his suitcase from the driveway, "but you were also too busy cursing at the GPS to pay attention."

     Hyunjin shut the trunk, frowning, "It had us going ten miles out of the way just so they could get us to pay a toll."

     Seokjin chuckled, "Just to be safe, I'm driving us to the store."

     "Okay, fair," Hyunjin threw him the keys.

     The tiny grocery store sat on the corner of the busiest street, but the store itself was dead, not one soul other than a cashier. There was only a half hour to go before she could close it down and she kept checking the clock as she tapped her nails against the conveyor belt at her checkout lane to make the point obvious. But, Seokjin was oblivious as he nabbed a case of water from a shelf and set it inside his cart. Hyunjin rounded the corner, arms packed with five bags of different flavored chips. He heaved them into the cart before toddling off to the next aisle, out of sight seconds later.

     "Health food nut I see?" Seokjin yelled out, picking up one of the bags and reading the flavor; salt and vinegar, gross. He stuffed it back onto the shelf, sighing.

     "I still can't find the coffee, have you seen it?" Hyunjin perused the shelf of canned veggies.

     "Haven't looked," Seokjin grabbed a bottle of cheap wine, "getting drunk seems like a better option-"

     "Why are you and Yoongi so alike?" Hyunjin grabbed a jar of dill pickles, ", sorry."

     Yoongi never liked the weird stuff. Seokjin put the wine back and grabbed a bottle of vodka, yeah, this is more like it. "I'll be in the fruit section."

    "Get some watermelon," Hyunjin yelled after him.

     Seokjin had pondered several times just telling Hyunjin to go home, but if he was going to be followed everywhere anyway, at least this way he would have someone to pass the time with. Since Namjoon's guy had found him after the meeting with Cato and didn't even hide that he was tailing him, Namjoon agreed and called the guy off.

     Seokjin plopped a watermelon into the cart and reached for a bunch of bananas as Hyunjin appeared and stuffed ten more items into the cart.

     "How did you even get that many things in the twenty seconds I have been over here?"

     "I'm done," Hyunjin smiled.

     "How old are you?"

     "One hundred and twenty-two, why?"

     Seokjin looked over the contents of the cart, "How have you survived this long?"

     Hyunjin laughed, "Elves have iron stomachs and high metabolisms."

      "Good thing vampires don't have to worry about cholesterol."

     "I'd say your alcohol consumption is far more concerning than my junk food habit."

      "Yeah, let's just go before I stuff you into a freezer."

     Hyunjin gave a chuckle as they headed off toward the checkout.

 

      Eleven PM and the lab was just as busy as it was in the morning hours. Hoseok set down his dimensional spectrometer and gave it the once over, peering over at Mochi on his wheel, watching him for a good ten seconds with thoughts brewing.

     "Don't even think about it," Taehyung warned, seeing the cogs turning in the witch's mind.

     "I need something to test it out on-"

     "Then test it out on yourself," Taehyung frowned, popping some herb leaves into a bag and sealing it up.

     "I only have enough juice at the moment to send through and bring back one small thing."

     "So send a CHIM, we can get a picture too," Jimin suggested as he came through the doors, setting down his CHIM case.

     "Are you psychic?" Hoseok questioned.

     "I'm a werewolf, I have good hearing," Jimin popped open the case, "I brought these down to stash in the store room, but hey two birds one stone, right?"

     "I mean, at least if something goes wrong, I won't have to add rodent murderer to my resume."

     "Why would you even add murder to your resume in the first place?" Jimin handed him a CHIM, not catching the sarcasm.

     "Yeah, never mind," Hoseok set the CHIM down on the lab table, "You guys might want to back up, just in case the polarizer isn't tweaked right."

     "Maybe you should test this outside?" Taehyung suggested.

     "I would much rather the rift swallow up a room than a whole estate," Hoseok picked up the spectrometer and aimed it at the CHIM, "Fingers crossed."

     "Chimmy, picture mode in twenty seconds," Jimin called out.

     "Picture mode activated, countdown 20, 19, 18..." 

     "How can he be stealthy if he has a countdown sequencer?" Taehyung objected.

    "He has a quiet mode too."

     "13, 12..."

     "Okay, here goes," Hoseok talked over the counting.

     "9, 8, 7..."

     Jimin and Taehyung backed up into the doorway, ready to run for cover if needed. Hoseok hit a switch and a quick beam of purple light shot out from the tip of the machine. An electrical buzzing filled the air and then a definitive *POP* sounded out and Chimmy vanished seconds later. Hoseok counted to ten then hit the reverse switch and Chimmy snapped back into the room, upside down. Several sparks shot out of it as it righted itself back to all fours, legs stiffened and wobbling to the side.

     "That's ummm, not good?" Hoseok scratched his head, walking closer.

     Jimin reached down to pick Chimmy up, then dropped it just as quick, "Oh he's cold, like ice cold."

     "I need to see those pictures," Hoseok rushed over to Jimin's laptop on the counter, popping up the CHIM interface.

     Jimin clicked the photo folder and several pictures popped up on the screen. Jimin and Hoseok leaned in as Taehyung peered over their shoulders.

     "Snow?" Taehyung noticed the ground was covered in a thick white blanket of shimmery snow.

     "Hmm, either the timeline is in a different season or I ed up the coordinates," Hoseok scrunched up his nose, deep in thought.

     "Either way it was still a successful first try," Taehyung held up his hand for a high five.

     "Yeah, but hardly something to write about in the science journals," Hoseok walked over to the spectrometer.

     Taehyung put his hand down, "You put a CHIM in another dimension, celebrate the small victory."

     "Yeah, and it didn't explode, I'd say it was a good first run," Jimin added.

     Jungkook gadded into the room, a look of boredom at the forefront of his expression.

     "What's up, Kookie?" Taehyung pepped up.

     "I said not to call me that," Jungkook propped himself on the stool, "and bored."

     "You missed Chimmy's maiden voyage to a parallel universe," Jimin grabbed some surgical tongs.

     "Yeah well, you missed Beomgyu talking to some cats before inviting them inside his cabin."

     "Like meowing at them?" Hoseok stopped what he was doing to glare at Jungkook, weirdly fascinated.

     "No, human words, the ?" Jungkook thought Hoseok might have been sniffing too many herbs lately.

     "Isn't that some Goofy verse Pluto ?" Jimin asked, picking up Chimmy with the tongs and maneuvering it back into the CHIM case, "O