Warning: Incredibly gory scene up ahead but it's only mentioned, not described explicitly.

*********************************************************

"We're not even scratching the thing!" Seokjin barely manages to dodge another punch by the Berserked Wendigo as he skids on the ice, stabbing his sword into the ice to stop sliding. The Wendigo roars again, charging at Yoongi now, who leaps to the side and crashes into a pile of snow.

"You alright?!" Namjoon calls.

Yoongi yells back an "Okay!" but he can see something...something in the sky. He looks up, and sees a small machine hovering a distance from the ground in the air. The cold wind is whipping about his ears, and he can barely hear anything, but from the looks of it, the machine is definitely an Al Bhed's machina, and it looks like a machina that casts White support magic and the like, like Protect and Shell, which reduces damage done by physical and magic attacks respectively. 

And Berserk is a support spell.

The Wendigo didn't cast Berserk on itself, there was an Al Bhed machina spying on them all along! Bringing his arm up, Yoongi directs the blitzball up towards the machina, splitting the unsuspecting machine in two. The flying Watcher machina falls to the ground, electric sparks flying from its broken body. 

The Wendigo rears its bloody head up, roaring and this time, running off into the distance of the snow mountains, ignoring Seokjin, Namjoon, Taehyung and Yoongi completely now. 

"What...da h*ll did you do?" Taehyung pants, clutching his knees, two tiny bombs held precariously between his fingers, as if he was going to throw it anytime soon. Heck, he probably would have, had Yoongi not brought down that machina first. Yoongi raises a thumbs-up as he pushes himself off the snow pile. He raises his hand and his blitzball comes back to him. Seokjin has to admit he felt bile rise in his throat when Yoongi showed no signs of pain when the blitzball's spikes stabbed into his palm, making blood ooze out from the wound at a quick rate, soaking into the bandages already on his arm.

"There," Yoongi says, pointing to the broken machina in the snow. The sparks have long since stopped flying the wires are lying lifeless on the ground, the machina's camera's screen broken and the screen practically smashed to bits.

"It's machina," Seokjin growls in disgust, refusing to touch it, letting Taehyung "handle the dirty Al Bhed work". 

"Yah, it's not dirty Al Bhed work," Taehyung snarls, proud of his heritage despite being looked down upon by most Spirans. "Most Spirans won't even understand these stuff." But Taehyung, as he likes to say, is one of the best in Besaid when it comes to putting stuff together and dismantling them. Most say it's an Al Bhed thing, and would just leave Taehyung to his own devices, simply avoiding the Al Bhed. 

"That's because we don't need to understand these...stuff," Seokjin says, for lack of a better word. "The world would work in a much better state if stuff like machina didn't exist--" 

Namjoon grabs Taehyung's arm as the latter's fist comes flying at Seokjin's face, the eldest reaching for his sword instinctively. Namjoon grits his teeth, "No fighting. We have to get to Macalania Temple ASAP." 

"Right," Taehyung rips apart the wires, until he finds a sparkling blue gem-like object. "It's a Machina Core. Particularly valuable, especially in the Al Bhed community." 

"As if we're going to pass by any Al Bhed communities," Seokjin continues, and Namjoon glares at the elder.

"You'd better shut the up, Jin. I may have known you the longest, but if you continue like that..." 

Seokjin knows when to shut up. He knows Namjoon's temper, and it isn't pretty. Taehyung fiddles around with the camera a little more, finding a tiny chip lodged between two circuit boards.

"This is the camera's memory. We gotta take this before that person who was operating this come looking for it, in case there's a spy," Taehyung says, keeping the Machina Core and the camera's memory chip in a tiny pouch attached to his belt. He hops onto a revved-up Jet Ski, beckoning Yoongi to follow him. Yoongi nods, climbing onto the Jet Ski behind Taehyung, while Namjoon learns (quite easily) how to operate the other Jet Ski before both Jet Skis are gliding through the icy roads and straight towards Macalania Temple.

*******************************************************************

"We're almost there, Jimin!" Jungkook calls. Jimin nods, clutching tighter to Jungkook's waist as the younger speeds the Jet Ski up, until they skid to a stop outside Macalania Temple, right before its red and gold-lined carpets, screaming "ROYALTY" at Jungkook.

Jungkook gets off the Jet Ski. He sniffs the air. Something's wrong. He perks up his ears. It's too quiet. Normally, there'd be day-to-day affairs in the temple, be it Summoners going through the Cloister of Trials or something as simple as the preparation of lunch and whatnot. But there no sounds at all, save for the rushing gales of wind.

"Let's go inside," Jimin says, stepping forward towards the temple door.

Jungkook senses a presence, but it's way too late. "Jimin!"

Jimin looks back at Jungkook, and that's all the distraction the Guado guards need. Guado people emerge from behind the grand, giant pillars holding the temple up, accosting both Jimin and Jungkook. Jimin's arms are grabbed and led into the temple, by wordless Guados. Jungkook put up more of a fight than his friend ever would be able to (unless Jimin summons an Aeon, that is) but eventually, there were too many Guado to fight against and Jungkook was seriously outnumbered.

He was brought into the temple, and he sees Jimin's panicking face, held down by Guado as they all look in the same direction. There aren't only Guado now--there are Warrior Monks too, flanking somebody who looks familiar, dressed in orange robes and a black, funny-looking hat. One of the Four Maesters of Spira, along with Maester Mika, Maester Kelk and Maester Jyscal.

"How do you do, dear Summoner?" the man approaches Jimin. "I don't think it's the first time we've met." 

Jungkook wants to gag at the greasy tone the man was using, as if he hadn't had a care in the world about Jimin's condition. Maester, his foot. Maesters were supposed to deal out justice during trials, and to maintain order and peace in Spira, not threaten Summoners. It's obvious that whatever this Maester wanted to do to Jimin, it wouldn't be good, and Jungkook isn't staying to find out what. He glances around the room, finding it a little hard to move his head, considering that the Guados were holding his head down--he can only stare straight at the entrance of the Cloister of Trials and the left and right of his peripheral vision.

"I don't think so, either, Maester--"

"Kinoc," the man says. "You wouldn't happen to have seen my dear friend Namjoon, have you?"

"N-Namjoon? What about him?" Jimin asks, voice shaking now. Think, Jungkook, think! 

"He and I have a score to settle, but that's a story for another time," Kinoc laughs, and it doesn't sound like he's joking. "You just happened to get in the way, but I have to say, you make a good hostage."

"Hostage?" Jungkook's veins are popping out from his neck and forehead as he tries his hardest not to break free from the Guados holding him down in a surprise attack and punch that man's face. Even better, stick his spear through him, but Jungkook has been disarmed, his spear thrown across the chamber of the temple.

"Quiet, Ronso," Kinoc waves his hand in Jungkook's general direction and another pair of Guado arms grab at Jungkook, pushing him down further towards the ground.

Wait a minute...Jungkook suddenly has an idea. There is a way out...if only...It would be a split second thing, and Jimin would have to cooperate, but usually, Jimin would rather die himself than put his Guardians in danger (kind of ironical, Jungkook thinks to himself. His Guardians are meant to protect him from any danger). 

It's now or never. 

"Jimin!" Jungkook yells, dragging himself off the Guado guards holding him down. Fire burns deep in his stomach as he breathes out the flames, straight at the guards holding Jimin down. "Run for the Cloister of Trials!" 

"I'm not leaving you here!" Jimin shouts, managing to break free as the Guado guard that Jungkook just hit releases Jimin to dodge the fire blast. Jimin swears strands of his hair just got burned off.

"You gotta survive, Jimin!" Jungkook feels arms grabbing him. "You gotta go!" He turns around, and doesn't come face-to-face with Guado guards, instead, he sees Warrior Monks, one arm grabbing each of his, and two shotguns pointed at his forehead. Jungkook knows better than to struggle, but if it means Jimin's survival...

"Shut the h*ll up and go, Jimin!" Jungkook shouts, trying to wrench his forearm from the Warrior Monks, who push him down with feet to his back--one foot from each Warrior Monk. Jungkook grunts as pain shoots up his stomach, to his neck, to his jaw as he hits the ground, hard. His vision is blurring as he tastes metal in his mouth. He must've bit his tongue or something.

"You will know when to open and shut your mouth, Ronso!" Kinoc kicks Jungkook across the cheek, and Jimin tries to run over, avoiding the grabby Guado hands. 

Jungkook can feel his eyes closing any minute now, but before they do...He sees a shimmering form appear behind Kinoc. 

"Take Jimin and run!" Jungkook yells. "Cloister of Trials! Hurry!" 

Jimin feels arms circling his middle and hauling him up, making their way towards the Cloister of Trials. His saviour carries him effortlessly up the steps and they leap into the Cloister of Trials, leaving the Guado guards behind.

***************************************************

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Namjoon slams his fist down in the middle of the handlebars. The Jet Ski's muffler splutters in protest but it does speed up, almost hitting the wall as Namjoon grunts, the Jet Ski whirling through the snowstorm that suddenly just started up. 

"There're...Guado!" Taehyung, who's way ahead of them, sees the cluster of Guados hanging around the entrance of the temple. Their faces are blank, almost as if they are mind-controlled and have no will of their own. 

"Why're there so many Guado there...?" Seokjin mutters, breath whispering around Namjoon's ear.

"I don't know," Namjoon replies, as he manages to catch up with Taehyung, now the two Jet Skis are side by side. That's when they catch sight of the third Jet Ski--the one that Jungkook and Jimin took. 

And also, that's when they notice the Guado preparing a common Firaga spell, the fireball growing large.

"Swerve to the left!" Yoongi shouts at Namjoon, and the latter obeys, almost falling off the icy cliff edge while doing so. 

"Yoongi! Attack Reels!" Taehyung calls as the Jet Skis are approaching the place.

Yoongi leaps from his seat, landing on his feet as he readies his blitzball. As if by magic, a thousand other blitzballs appear from behind him, all of them darting at the group of Guados. Taehyung stops the Jet Ski abruptly, but the blitzballs are still flying. Taehyung looks away as soon as the blitzballs stop, unable to look at the bloody scene in front of him. 

Yoongi kicks a still-struggling Guado to the side, before the Guado lies still. Namjoon and Seokjin have seen enough bloodshed to last them a lifetime as they step over the fallen Guados to rush into the temple.

What they didn't expect was that among the fallen Guados...

Was a fallen Ronso.

***********************************************************************

"Put me down!" Jimin cries, struggling against his saviour. "J-Jungkookie is--!" 

"There's nothing you can do now, Jimin!" 

From the look of Jimin's face, there is still panic, even as the man has put him down. Jimin tries to run towards the entrance of the Cloister of Trials, but the man holds his shoulders, effectively holding Jimin in place. 

"Jimin! Look at me!" 

Jimin is turned around, and he comes face to face with Jung Hoseok. Surprise washes over him, and Jimin is standing rooted to the spot. 

"W-Why're you--?" Jimin can barely get the words out, his panic suddenly melting into great surprise. "I thought I Sent you..." 

"It's me, I'm back," Hoseok shrugs. "Looks like I came at the right time." He looks past Jimin. "But Jungkook is..." 

"Jungkookie is not okay!" Jimin roars. "How could you have left him back there with all those...those..." 

"Guados," Hoseok clears his throat. "My people." 

"Yeah," Jimin continues his rant. "Don't you know what they can do to him? I gotta go back!" 

"Jungkook wanted this too," Hoseok's eyes blaze as he grabs Jimin's wrist in a vice-grip. "Do you think that if you went back and got yourself killed, Jungkook would be happy? Don't be so selfish, Jimin. What about Tae? What about Namjoon and Seokjin? What about the people of Spira? If you died, there'd be no one to bring the Calm! If you want to avenge him so much, kill Kinoc after you get Shiva, at least. Jungkook's sacrifice won't be in vain." 

Jimin drops his head, and Hoseok knows he's holding back tears. 

"I...don't want to think that way. Kookie's alright! He's stronger than that!" Jimin moves on, towards the Macalania Cloister of Trials. He approaches the first pillar and picks the blue, glowing Macalania sphere embedded in the pillar. The ice bridge that was in the middle of the room breaks into sparkling icicles, raining onto the icy floor.

"I'm gonna get Shiva, and if Jungkook's dead, I'm gonna kill him again." 

*******************************************************************

"KINOC YOU ING B*STARD!" Namjoon yells, grabbing the hilt of his sword and letting the blade cut free of its sheath. Namjoon roars as he runs forward, cutting through the Guado guards who try to block his path. 

"Namjoon!" Seokjin calls, trying to run after his friend, but he is blocked by the numerous Guado guards coming in the tens...probably hundreds.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Namjoon reaches the man and leaps into the air, bringing his blade with him, preparing to swing it down, teeth gritted. 

That's when Namjoon sees him. A boy with blue hair...he looks very familiar. The boy holds up his hands and immediately, a blue light shines around Namjoon, hoisting him up into the air and throwing him backwards, straight into the ceiling of Macalania Temple. Namjoon gives a cry of pain as he hits his back full-on on the ceiling. 

"I got this!" Taehyung grabs a Star Curtain and Water Gem, making a water cushion to catch Namjoon. The older falls straight onto the cushion and groans as his sword lands right next to him, its hilt hitting the unlucky Guado that was standing there. 

"He's still okay!" Yoongi hoists the hefty Ronso up; Jungkook's head is bleeding, his black hair matted with blood still oozing from his wound. There is a large bruise from his jawline to his cheek, coloured a darker blue than his already dark blue skin tone. His armour is ripped in shreds, and his arms have burn wounds all over it. Well, Jungkook wasn't that okay, but he was still breathing. 

"Cloister of Trials..." Jungkook opens one eye, looking as if he's using all his strength to o so. "Jimin...Shiva...Cloister..." 

"Shh, stop talking," Taehyung comes over, brushing away the hair from Jungkook's head wound, before assessing the damage. Jungkook's eyes roll back into his head as he slumps backwards into Yoongi. "He needs stitches and at least a Curaga spell." 

"What the are stitches?" Seokjin growls, slashing away at Guados from the group. 

"Let's get out of here first!" Taehyung shouts. "We have to get out. Two of us are down, and there hundreds of Guados here! Unless..." He reaches into his pockets and dig out four things. A large, shining gem and a fragment of a bomb he found somewhere in the forest of Macalania. Supreme Gem and Bomb Fragment. In the other hand, he grasps a Star Curtain and an Antidote.

"Come closer to me!" Taehyung shouts, running towards Namjoon, who's fallen unconscious. Seokjin nods, and along with Yoongi, cuts through the crowd of attacking Guados. Taehyung hurriedly combines the Star Curtain and the Antidote together, forming a wall, before throwing a grenade (made from the other two ingredients) into the crowd. The grenade explodes the moment it hits the ground, and Taehyung has to cover his ears.

************************************************************

"I'm no expert, but I've done it once on Jiminnie," Taehyung says, readying the needle dipped in a bottle of X-Potion. "It came out pretty well, I have to say." What Taehyung would really like to say is that he'd rather not be doing stitches on Jungkook in the middle of what looks to be a post-apocalyptic scene. He dabs a piece of cloth soaked in Holy Water to clean the wound before he proceeds to thread a piece of Bite Bug silk through the needle. 

"It's gonna hurt a little, Kookie, but I swear it'll pass," Taehyung whispers into Jungkook's ear, before raising his head and saying, "Seokjin, Yoongi, do you mind holding Kookie down? You know, in case he...struggles." 

"That's a tall order, considering he's a Ronso," says Yoongi, moving forward and managing to straddle Jungkook, holding down his legs while Seokjin takes the youngest's arms. 

Taehyung begins his operation. He hears whines from Jungkook as the younger tries to move his head away from the sting of the needle. Taehyung skilfully threads the needle through the wound, closing up the skin. 

The room is tense, while Taehyung works magic on Jungkook's skin. The blood stops flowing, and the wound is...not fully closed, but Taehyung's handiwork is good enough that it doesn't look that bad. Quickly, Taehyung grabs another piece of cloth hung from a nylon string from his belt, dipping it in a bottle of Remedy and placing it on Jungkook's forehead. 

It's only then that Seokjin and Yoongi let out the breaths they've been holding. 

"Jimin's in there...huh..." Yoongi looks towards the Cloister of Trials, the door littered with Guado...remains. Yoongi swears he can see a bloody ear stuck to the wall, and shivers at the gore. 

"Yeah," Taehyung nods. "At least, that's what Kookie said." 

Wen Kinoc has disappeared. Seokjin looks around, but there seems to be no signs of where he disappeared to. Maybe he was caught in the blast? But Seokjin doesn't think so.

"We've nothing to do but wait for Jungkook and Namjoon to wake up, and for Jimin to come out," says Yoongi, sitting on the water cushion beside Namjoon, and staring at the younger. Namjoon doesn't usually rush into battle; he uses his analytic skills to Scan the enemy and find out his weaknesses, before using his intellect to order around tell the rest what to do. He's a lot smarter than Yoongi had given him credit for the first time they met. It wasn't like Namjoon at all just now. Exactly what had happened between Kinoc and him? 

He'd tried asking Seokjin once, but from the sound of it, it doesn't look like Seokjin knows any more than Yoongi does, except for the fact that it involved a girl, just like how his story had gone. 

"I wonder how Jimin's doing in there..." Seokjin settles down on the water cushion, one of the only places that wasn't covered by Guado body parts and blood.

******************************************************

"Whoa, you're out early," Hoseok catches a tired Jimin as the younger leans onto the older for support. It was always like this--Jimin praying so hard to the Fayth of the temple, putting all his heart and soul into it, before finally gaining his Aeon and moving one step closer to Zanarkand, to beat Sin. 

"Yeah...need a little...rest, is all," Jimin smiles, voice a little breathy. Hoseok lowers him down onto the steps, and the two sits there, Jimin grasping Hoseok's hands as he sits, leaning on the older's shoulder, eyes closed. 

After one or two minutes' worth of rest, Jimin stands up, fully prepared to face whatever's waiting for him outside the Cloister of Trials.

Or so he thought.

*********************************************************

Haha, I had inspiration so I came out with an early chapter (I originally published it on Tues but I realized I never took off the Hide Chapter thing I'm so sorry!) Anyway, hope you're enjoying it thus far!