Lotsa angst ahead and a lot of Yoonseok + a little bit of Jikook i'm getting yoonseok feels recently :3 

Thanks for staying with me till now! I swear they'll be continuing their journey sometime in the next two chapters! Either that or the third! Enjoy!

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"We're back."

Yoongi sounds less than enthusiastic about coming back to this godforsaken wasteland.

"Let's just go get it," Jimin flexes his arms, clasping his fingers in front of him.

"Careful out there!" Cid calls from the airship and Seokjin gives him a dirty look. "He's the one who failed and he's sending us all back here."

The seven of them walk along the twisty ruined roads as they make their way to Baaj Temple. Cid has already told them the location of the Celestial Weapon, so they all end up near the water pool where Yoongi almost got his leg bitten off by the Geosgaeno the other time. He shivers at the thought of it.

"Someone's gotta go down there," Jimin says, clutching the tiny radar in his fingers. 

"And you're not going to be the one," Jungkook says. "I'll do it."

"If you're going, I'm going," Jimin crosses his arms.

"It's not safe there, Jimin! I'm not going to let you risk your life for something as meagre as that!"

It's only then that Jimin and Jungkook notice that it has become deadly quiet, only to find the other five looking at them with grins on their faces.

"What?" the two ask in unison.

"Nothing," Namjoon has to stifle a laugh as the rest of them shake their heads, sighing.

It turns out that Hoseok, Yoongi (since he has experience in the water), Jungkook and Taehyung will go in, as the other three wait outside.

Jungkook swears he's going to strangle Taehyung when the latter whispers, "Lover's quarrel." 

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"Where the is it?" Jungkook surfaces for air, his lungs grateful for the sudden intake of the goodness. 

Yoongi surfaces also, "I don't know. Hoseok and Tae are still down there."

"Found anything?" Jimin asks, yelling down into the water pool, and Jungkook shakes his head. 

Suddenly, someone surfaces beside Yoongi. Taehyung removes his goggles and wipes the water from his face. "Hobi found something."

"Is it the Onion Knight?" 

"Oh-nien?" Jungkook scrunches up his nose. "Isn't it ah-nien (onion) night?"

"Onion?"

"Onion!"

"Onion?!!"

"Onion!"

"He isn't gonna cut onions, you know!" Taehyung flails his arms.

"Shut up!" Yoongi growls as he heads into the water yet again, followed closely by a bickering Jungkook and Taehyung (then agian, not like they can bicker the moment they enter the water).

Hoseok is waiting for them, as if trying to reach his hands into a small crack in the rock wall. He withdraws his hand when he finds nothing.

Yoongi gives a "what?" gesture, and Hoseok nods. He continues trying to reach inside, and he gives a thumbs-up sign as he finally digs something out. (Yoongi could laugh at the expression he was making though).

Yoongi almost grins as he Hoseok fishes out the weapon, and his eyes betray his excitement. The four of them begin to kick at the water to surface, finding the task a little too easy when there is a roar. A roar from deep within the water as something swims towards them. 

Yoongi yells as he sees something. No, two things. Swimming so quickly towards them, mouths open and fins moving in earnest.

Yoongi starts kicking hard, propelling himself through the water. He makes his way through the water, Hoseok, Taehyung and Jungkook catching on as they follow suit. They've got to get out of the water! But how can there be two? Yoongi grits his teeth as he is the first to surface, and he grabs onto rubble, pulling himself out of the water pool. He climbs onto dry land, and so does Taehyung and Jungkook, panting as Jimin, Namjoon and Seokjin run over to them. 

Someone else surfaces also, barely being able to pull himself out of the water after the entire ordeal, but he throws the Onion Knight (it's actually a doll) onto the shore as he grabs the rubble, arms giving out after swimming for so long.

"Come on!" Yoongi makes a grab for his arm, but misses, and Hoseok's eyes widen the moment red stains the water. Yoongi yells as Hoseok is dragged down under the water. Yoongi, ignoring the calls of the other Guardians, dive into the water, adrenaline rushing through him as he continues kicking the water. He dives deeper and deeper as Hoseok is dragged deeper and deeper through the water, his leg caught in the spiky mouth of the Geosgaeno.

Yoongi clutches the World Champion, its spikes cutting into his skin. He throws the blitzball, and the blitzball hits the Geosgaeno squarely in the back, the monster opening its mouth in pain as it releases an ear-splitting roar again, Hoseok coming free and he starts to swim. He kicks the water furiously, but it was futile, since one of his leg is practically broken.

Yoongi lets out an inaudible scream in his mind as the blitzball returns like a boomerang, managing to hit the Geosgaeno in the head again. The Geosgaeno shakes its head as Yoongi catches the ball, eyes fixed on Hoseok's struggling form. He swims towards him, continuing to delay the Geosgaeno until he finally reaches Hoseok, the latter looking as if he's barely able to keep the air in his lungs any longer.

Yoongi catches the blitzball as it whizzes through the water towards him, speed undelayed since it was made to pass through water in the first place. He grabs Hoseok's arm and begins to hoist him through the water, and for a moment there, he swears Hoseok has gone limp.

Yoongi can stay for at least twenty minutes underwater at a go (trained from blitzballing) and this is no match for him, but for Hoseok, an average living being, he can't sustain himself for that long. Yoongi swims, a sudden unimaginable force pushing him upwards and he bursts out of the water, a snap coming from his right (probably the Geosgaeno's teeth, but he and Hoseok can move surprisingly well, so they must have avoided it). He pulls Hoseok out of the water, panting as he does so, Hoseok's body unusually cold as he lays him down on the rubble, heartrate increasing so much that he was sure it would jump out of his mouth.

A rush of anger fills his entire being. Those fish will pay for what they did to Hoseok. Power surges through his blood, and his heart starts to beat faster.

There is only one word in Yoongi's mind as he dives back into the water, barely hearing the sounds of people screaming his name.

Kill.

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Jimin doesn't believe what he's just seen. Yoongi and Hoseok had emerged from the water, and by the looks of it, not very well and healthy. Hoseok's leg is a jumbled mass of flesh and bone, blood steadily oozing from the wound, but not something a Curaga can't fix...but he has to do it fast. He runs down the pieces of rubble, yelling Yoongi's name, followed closely by Jungkook and Taehyung as they nearly trip over the giant pieces of rock and debris.

They finally reach Yoongi and Hoseok, but Yoongi doesn't seem himself, instead exerting a dark aura, entire being giving off a dark vibe. Jimin gasps as he notices Yoongi's left arm glowing a dark, black color as bright wings form on his back, like glyphs against a background of desolate ruins. 

"Yoongi!"

Yoongi snarls, looking up, his sclera turned black, and he dives into the water, Jimin screaming his name. He has to attend to Hoseok first, though. He quickly places his hands on Hoseok's wound and closes his eyes, concentrating and he works the magic into the wound, a green light illuminating the nearby rocks and the wound closes up, skin knitting close and the blood is no more.

"Let Hobi rest for a while," Jimin says, standing up. "I'm heading in after him!"

But no sooner does Jimin say that is there a giant blast from the water. Something orange appears above the water pool and light shines down from it. Rubble and rock fly everywhere, and the party is drenched from the water rising like a water geyser. Namjoon splutters as he wipes the water from his face and Jimin, with Jungkook's help, brings Hoseok somewhere safer as something big appears from the water. No, not something big.

It's Yoongi holding up the barely breathing Geosgaeno. Jimin can see the demonic wings shining against the dark sky as the water drops back into the water pool, the emblem of light above Yoongi shining light down on the Geosgaeno.

"Emblem of the Cosmos."

They are a simple four words, but Jimin hears them as clear as day. The Geosgaeno is burned to a crisp as Yoongi releases his hold on it. 

The weird thing is that there are no pyreflies bursting from the fish's dead body. Yoongi flies down, landing lightly in front of the group of six. His sclera is still black, and the wings aren't disappearing. Jimin is a little worried as Yoongi walks toward them with a slight limp, face looking weathered and weary, yet his gaze powerful, wisps of black surrounding his demonic arm. 

Jimin feels a tug on his sleeve, and someone nearly drags him down as he pulls himself up. Jimin stumbles backwards a little as Hoseok stands up, leg still a little injured but he can get by.

"W-Wait! Where are you going?!" Jimin calls, but Hoseok doesn't look back. His eyes are fixated on Yoongi, as if he knows.

He remembers.

Jimin stares straight ahead, Jungkook having a firm grip on his shoulder to stop him from running forwards, as Hoseok trudges towards Yoongi, both moving at an unbearably slow pace, at least, until Hoseok stops. He stares into Yoongi's eyes, as if begging for him to change back, to the Yoongi they all know.

But in a flash, Yoongi is gone.

Jimin hears a gasp behind him, and he whips around to see Jungkook falling forwards, eyes widened in shock and blood oozing out from a wound he got on his back, Yoongi disappearing again, appearing behind Hoseok and grabbing him by the waist, dragging him away from the rest.

"Yoongi! Stop!"

Hoseok looks back towards Yoongi's face, expressionless, and his eyes are still black...and that red pupil in the middle is unsettling. Yoongi shows no signs of obeying, so Hoseok conjures ice, the cold substance gathering between the two of them and enlarges into a giant icicle, Yoongi grunting as he's forced to let go of Hoseok, sending the latter crashing onto the rough ground.

Yoongi launches himself towards Hoseok, shoving the latter behind him in a protective gesture, as he turns to face the other five. Hoseok then understands. Finally understands.

Yoongi's only goal in that primal mind of his is to protect Hoseok from any other threats. No wonder he's not attacking him. Hoseok looks past Yoongi's shoulder to find that Jimin's face has contorted into one of rage as he attends to Jungkook, and Seokjin and Namjoon have their swords drawn. Taehyung is bent down over Jungkook, helping Jimin with the healing process.

Yoongi points at the five of them, light gathering at the tip of his claw.

"No! Yoongi! Don't do it!"

Hoseok dashes in front of Yoongi just as the light flares, blasting forward, straight into Hoseok's chest and Hoseok barely feels the pain. There isn't even blood. It's all been obliterated by that one blast of light. His legs give out, and he falls forwards, landing nicely into Yoongi's chest.

He closes his eyes, a wave of tiredness washing through him as he tastes something sickly metallic in his mouth. He gags, blood splashing onto Yoongi's shirt as he in a breath, probably his last.

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There is silence for a moment while Taehyung watches the scene unfold, and he watches in shock as Hoseok falls, the light dissipating into the air the moment it went through his lung, a gaping hole in his chest and Taehyung feels like he may puke any moment.

Yoongi's pupils dilate for a moment as the black dissolves, his sclera turning white yet again, his red pupils replaced by green ones. He stumbles forwards a little, head dipped, as if trying to regain his bearings. The wings on his back has disappeared, and the black aura from his claw is gone, almost as if it wasn't there in the first place.

Taehyung watches as Jimin is nearly done with Jungkook, and Taehyung wraps the bandage of feathers on Jungkook's back, like a bandage, for now. Blood is now oozing out of Hoseok's wound, creating a blossom of red on his leaf green shirt.

All hell breaks loose as Yoongi's eyes roll upwards into his head as he falls backwards, Hoseok landing on him, the two of them collapsed in a heap on the ground as the other five rush over. Namjoon and Seokjin silent as Jimin screams, seemingly poised to attack, Nirvana taken out from its place in his sash.

Yoongi opens his eyes mere seconds later, blinking a few moments as he tries to digest the sight in front of him. It's as if a part of his memory is missing and he has no idea how he got into his situation, with three weapons pointed straight at him. Namjoon's sword is jabbed so close his face that Yoongi swears that he'd lose an eye if he even moves an inch. Seokjin's sword is at his neck, and Jimin's staff is held at his forehead.

What the h*ll happened? Yoongi then notices that he's pinned down by a weight, and his own singlet is wet. Wet with...the scent in the air is unmistakable.

Blood.

Namjoon carefully removes his sword, and so does Seokjin, the two of them sensing that Yoongi is no longer a threat. But one weapon remains, adamantly, pointed at Yoongi, and it's the staff's sharp end. Yoongi'd cut himself on the forehead if he even so much as moved.

"You hurt Kookie."

Yoongi barely makes out the words whispered as he watches Jimin's mouth move, the anger on his face nothing like Yoongi has ever seen before.

"That's enough, Jimin," Seokjin places a hand on Jimin's shoulder, but the tension in him fades and he lowers his weapon, allowing Yoongi to look at whatever's holding him down.

He gasps as he notices Hoseok's collapsed form on him, blood spread to almost his entire back, and he looks fragile as a porcelain doll. Yoongi nearly screams as he grasps onto the younger, a sudden feeling thrumming through his body. Something foreign, like he's never felt before.

Is this what fear feels like?

"Who...?" Yoongi looks over at the five of them, and the looks on their faces instantly give him the answer. With a shaking finger, he points at himself. "Me?" 

He doesn't dare to believe it. Taehyung walks towards him tentatively, as if scared that Yoongi is going to attack him. Jimin still looks angry, Jungkook sitting up and leaning against him. Seokjin and Namjoon are still standing in a defensive position.

Yoongi has never felt so alienated in his entire life. He hoists Hoseok up gently, before handing him over to Taehyung, the younger struggling under Hoseok's weight.

"T-Take him," Even Yoongi's vocie betrays him as he fights back the sting of the tears.

"Where are you going?" Namjoon calls.

"A-Away from here. Far away."

There is no response from any other member as Yoongi begins walking. And walking. Further and further away.

Until he disappears behind a pile of rubble.

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