Chapter XVIII "House of Intimidation"   

   "I can't take it anyore because you are cryng, I want to cry in your place." ~ Bangtan Boys 'Begin'  

“If you want to fight, let’s go right ahead. But, don’t forget what happens when blood is spilled,” Hanbin spoke, his smile reaching out into pure insanity as he chuckled. He looked like he had lost control of his life, as if he was simply staring at the devil himself and he wasn’t scared of the outcome, but happy that he’d meet pain with open arms.

He was lost in complete darkness, and Jungkook could see how little compassion he had for anything. Fear itself ran through Jungkook’s body as he stared at the boy because it just looked like someone who killed for sport. Even more when his had griped tightly a small javelin that was strapped around his thigh, as if just awaiting to draw pain and blood.

“Mikey, what do we do?” Someone asked, their voice full of worry and doubt. No one knew what to do, and since this was Minyoung’s fight, they didn’t know if the can step in or if they can even do anything.

“Lieutenant, we cannot let blood spill, you know that.”

There was an intense grip that tightly hugged all the beings. They were angry and wanted to do something, wanted to see some justice being done after their comrade was heavily injured. They have fought side to side as the council members, and when one is taken down, the rest respond without thinking twice.

But this was different. Sehun was just a light warrior, and drawing blood of an actual being on that soil will start something no one can stop.

It seemed to all lay on Minyoung’s shoulders, and Jungkook didn’t know if she was sane enough to make a right decision. She was obviously angry and her heart and mind should be drowning in hatred and revenge.

“Not so tough, are you Reaper?” The girl sitting on the ground taunted her, trying to drive her off the edge. They wanted a battle, they wanted to fight because that is the only thing that they feed on, battle.

The girl stood up, her dark black hair bounced in its ponytail as her smile spread wickedly wide. She was confident she could do it. She was confident she could draw out Minyoung into battle and war will be declared.

“You want that wouldn’t you,” Minyoung spoke, her voice rough and very agitated. Her rationality coming back slowly but it was coming back. Her emotions were suddenly returning to her control as she tried to think about the situation.

She gasped slightly, realizing they had done a direct encounter before but it was merely a distraction. Her life of knowing how they move and how they plan, she had a bad feeling that this was a distraction just like the last time. So, what was the target?

“Of course, I would like to destroy you Reaper, and finally prove I was way more powerful,” the girl spoke, her hand catching on what looked like black flames. They had a crimson tint to them, but they were so dark they could pass as black.

Jungkook could clearly puzzle everything together, even with a delayed language translation. The black flames, and the dark beings desire to prove she was more powerful, only meant that she was once a fire being. A fire being that could never be as powerful as Minyoung and got consumed by darkness and betrayed the academy.

“Lieutenant Leo, Venus and Spark,” Minyoung spoke, at her voice, all the beings stood straight and attentive, “you three will stay here. The rest of you, go into defensive Plan C, this is a distraction,” Minyoung spoke, there was a sudden realization to all of them once Minyoung spoke the orders. As if something clicked and they were slowly realizing they can’t be here playing their games and falling into childish traps, there was something else.

But before either one of them moved, there was a problem they all saw.

They all looked at Jungkook with desperate eyes. They had been keeping him behind a barrier of their bodies in case a dark being were to attack him, but with them gone, he was a clear target. They could not just leave him here in a harmful situation.

“You will do as you are ordered, I have the rest,” Junhoe spoke with an exasperated breath. He seemed to understand why no one moved, and he was slightly annoyed that they didn’t think Minyoung thought that through.

He stood up, and with a grunt, pulled the head of the javelin out of Sehun. The wolf howled painfully before his eyes closed, his chest still moving up and down. Junhoe felt his entire heart fall out of his chest as he was trying to control his anger and desperation. Sehun was drifting into a comma state.  

Junhoe snapped the weapon in half, infuriated with it. He needed to break something, to ruing something before he attacked the dark beings. He then rushed to Jungkook, grabbing the crystal bird on his wrist, he simply whistled a tune and everyone seemed to understand what he meant.

In a rush, in a cloud of fog, each being ran off and disappeared in seconds. The three beings Minyoung ordered to stay back remained there. There was a boy with crimson red hair, the same one who defended Minyoung at Jungkook’s trial. A girl with gray purple hair, her eyes fogged and a boy with blue silver hair, his eyes almost electric.

“You seem to be so certain that we’re up to something?” Hanbin spoke, his entire team not even moving an inch since Minyoung called orders. They just stood there, amused at the entire situation and awaiting to see what would happen.

“Are you not going to fight me Reaper? Are you too scared?” The girl spoke again, her leg kicking the dirt bellow her feet. Minyoung’s jaw clenched when the dirt landed right on her feet, she was being mocked.

“Kookie,” a soft gasp was echoing in the arena as Jin ran in, hardly even visible in the distance. His eyes were drowning in worry as he ran to Jungkook. His hair was in the middle of turning back to the warm coco brown it always was.

“Master Blaze, take Jungkook out of here and take Sehun to the hospital wing, its urgent,” Junhoe spoke, his tone a bit demanding and all Jin did was nod. Minyoung and Junhoe, along with the other three begins formed a shield in front of them.

Jungkook didn’t know what to do or what to say. He was frozen in shock and didn’t want to leave Minyoung and Junhoe. They looked back at him, realizing he was hesitant about leaving. But the warm smile and assurance in their eyes told him he should go, that they would be fine.

Jin creased his face softly and quickly, enough to sooth every bit of anxiety and worry inside of Jungkook. The look in his eyes, it was the look that was preceded by a soft ‘it will be okay’ assurance. Jin had a hold of Sehun’s body, the boy was sweating and the blood coming out of his stomach had stopped due to a familiar golden snake wrapping around his torso.

Sky. If Jungkook remember correctly, the snake was named Sky, and she had stopped his bleeding before when Junhoe had the vampire open his arm. Jin creased the snake and the snake let go of Sehun’s torso, dropping on the floor.

“Get on my back,” Jin spoke, ordering in a rush. Jungkook didn’t hesitate, he knew the blood would be drained again and so he wrapped his arms around Jin’s neck. The familiar and intoxicating cologne engorging his senses that he almost forgot Sehun was dying.

“Beautiful rescue,” the girl spoke, clapping her hands as the other two beings with her laughed. They considered the entire thing a joke, a simple cheesy play that they dreaded seeing.

“So, where is my soul?” Hanbin asked, walking over to place his arm swiftly around the girl’s neck. The other boy, who was knocked off his feet by Minyoung simply squatted on the floor, his fingers drawing figures in the sandy dirt.

“You know it isn’t easy to fish out a soul form the river of Amnesia,” the boy with red crimson hair spoke, his arms crossing his chest as he was angry that the day had unrolled so unfortunately.  

“Leo, I almost forgot you are alive,” the boy playing with dirt spoke, his black eyes picking up and peering deeply at the boy who spoke.

Those words caused the boy to take a deep breath, trying to control himself from getting set up to fight. It is what they want, to start a fight but they were stronger than that. They couldn’t give in.

“I could say the same to you scumbag, I diced you like an onion,” Minyoung spat, those words hitting a chord with her that she was not able to hold in her anger that Junhoe had to clasp a firm grip around her forearm to keep her from even moving.

“Why are you guys so on the edge, we came in peace,” Hanbin spoke, his lip curving wickedly as the girl inside his arm hug suddenly pressed herself more into him. They were purposely showing this affection, desperately trying to get the slightest reaction from Minyoung.

“You say that like we’ve always had a peaceful meeting. You already attacked a light warrior, dare attack me,” Minyoung spoke, her blood rushing in with adrenaline as she felt mocked and like a huge joke. They invocated so much hate and anger inside of her, she hardly knew how to control it.

“Yugyeom,” her pet whispered, its tongue dragging on the syllables in a soft manner. She looked at her weapon, the coiled snake around her staph was sensing her aura and wanted to calm her down.

Yugyeom, the person who has her love. She must stay alive. She cannot start a war where she could leave Yugyeom all alone. She must hold back the desire to attack so she could see the boy again, so she could be with him again.

“Is that an option? Are you guys ready for a war that your masters can’t even be a part of?” Hanbin asked, his voice taunting them and looking down on them. The five beings held their breath, knowing very well that a Master cannot fight in a war because after all, dark beings are their blood.

“We are trained to be prepared for anything, you all should know that very well,” the boy with blue silver hair spoke, his voice full of confidence that didn’t seem to shatter under the dark beings’ mind games.

“Here you go dark one, Nimbus’ soul,” the remaining four masters ran in, their speed hardly making their presence known until the delayed gust of wind rushed in and their voices filled the air. 

“You had enough fun tormenting our children, never forget that we might not be able to fight you, but where still a force you can’t ignore,” the master of fire spoke, his wise words of warning not even scaring the dark beings.

They all just looked at him like a joke, like he was ignorant for even saying that.

Hanbin reached out and grabbed a gray ball of light, it was not gray because Nimbus was an air being, but because she was being consumed by darkness that her pure white soul was being polluted.

Hanbin didn’t care much for the girl, he would have killed her himself because there was no use to her at all, she was just annoying. She was slightly obsessed with him and that was the biggest pain in his life, but the obsession turned to be useful. And before he knew it, he had the girl running back and forth throughout the world doing some undercover work.

“What’s Defensive Plan C?” Jungkook asked, his voice filling the room intoxicated by silence. He had just arrived with Jin a few minutes ago, and after Jin handed over the wounded boy, they sat in silence.

“Did they go with that plan?” Jin asked, his eye picking up slowly and looked at Jungkook with some concern. There was something in his voice, it was as if he was worried of something much more.

“Yes, Minyoung called the council into the plan,” he spoke, his heart aching slightly at the thought of Minyoung. She looked so hurt and so fragile around the dark being. In reality, she looked well put together, apart from having to control her anger, she looked fine.

But Jungkook has realized he is able to see deeper into a person. Whether it was the powers of a phoenix he didn’t know, but it didn’t take a genius to realize that Minyoung was hurt at the sight of Hanbin.

“You have a lot to learn, and you won’t know anything revolving that plan,” Jin spoke, his lips curving upwards and that small attempt at a smile brought a new surge of warmth into Jungkook’s body.

“Will Sehun be okay?” Jungkook asked, his throat forming a knot that made it difficult to even say those words. He didn’t want to even try and doubt he will be okay, because he had to.

“That depends on a lot of things,” Jin spoke, his voice slightly hurt and his heart throbbing at the fact that he couldn’t even assure the boy that Sehun will be fine. He couldn’t do anything to assure that. Sehun can’t drink chakra because he is a wolf, and if the weapon was poisonous, who knows if they’d have the antidote. It all landed of the Light and the stars, the two forces that determine the lives of everyone in this world.

“The boy, Hanbin, mentioned something about Sehun’s past. Why is Sehun bounded to a dark being? And why did you leave, this could have been prevented if you were there,” Jungkook spoke, his voice drowning slightly in despair.

His voice was shaky and almost sounded as if he was guilty of the accident itself. Jin looked at the latter, his eyes aching as he looked at how hurt and worried he was.

“I might not be the proper person to tell you Sehun’s story. Considering the first to encounter him were Minyoung and Junhoe, the should be the ones to tell you everything. And what Hanbin wanted was Jiwoo’s soul. Once a being dies, same with humans, their soul is put in The River of Amnesia, which washes out their memory of that life. The soul swims there until it’s ready to reincarnate, and to take a soul out of that river, the power of all five Master Phoenixes must be used,” Jin spoke, his voice confident and a little hushed.

Around them were nurses, people that looked very much human but radiated as if they were anything but humane. A few people that had pointy ears and leafy green eyes stared at him and continued with their day.

“Why am I so important again? Why do they want to recruit me,” Jungkook spoke, remembering that smile and those wicked words that seemed to have been dipped in the most dangerous poison for the soul.

Jin swallowed a lump that was formed in his throat from that question. He looked at Jungkook and clenched his jaw.

“Master Phoenixes can’t fight against them directly, they are still our blood, our children. The academy trains to fight them for us, since we can’t harm them, our nature is not destroying the soul life we create. But you, you have part of my power and your human nature mean, you can fight them and destroy them,” Jin spoke, picking his words very carefully and very clearly.

The gears inside of Jungkook’s head begun to turn, he looked off into the maze that could be seen from outside the window. He is the only one with Phoenix power that can fight the dark beings and that’s why the darkness wants him.

Up to now, the forces are even. The academy has the ten council members that tapped their maximum power and rose above all. And the dark beings have unlocked their power instantly when they switched to the dark side. But he was the final thing to tip the scales to one side, he was the one that decided the winning side. And that is why Hanbin wanted to see him, to offer him a deal.

“What will happen to me?” Jungkook asked, his voice sounding more weak and insecure than he intended.

Jin reached over, clasping his hand on top of the younger’s knee, as if to calm him down. Jungkook’s breathing hitched and he felt his heart race and calm down all at once with Jin’s gesture.

“We’re not too sure either, but we will try everything to make sure you’re safe. First thing’s first, we have secured our forces around your family, and the second will be Yugyeom and whoever you want to protect around you,” Jin spoke, his voice alluring him into a warm embrace of assurance.

Sooyoung and Manager Song. Those were the only two names that came to his mind when Jin mentioned people around him that needed protection. His heart skipped a beat thinking about Sooyoung, remembering he hasn’t talked to her at all in days, maybe even weeks. He missed Sooyoung, quite a bit, but he didn’t know why he forgot about her, or the feelings he has towards her.

“We need to go, we need to talk about Yugyeom with the rest of the Masters,” Jin spoke, his voice drawing the latter back from his train of thought. A small little bird that looked like it was made from coal sat on Jin’s shoulder.

“Yugyeom?” He asked, confused that the Masters would even want to discuss Yugyeom as if he was part of this world.

Jin grabbed Jungkook’s hand, his warm and rough skin giving Jungkook an odd but not totally uncomfortable feeling. He didn’t protest, he simply let the older guide him out of the hospital wing, his bones aching slightly and his heart sinking low at the thought of leaving Sehun alone.

“But what if he’s not ready?” Jungkook heard Minyoung’s voice pleading, as if she was told something she was not ready to do.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jin walked into the familiar white room with a round white desk that Jungkook remembered being stuck in with Sehun during his trail. The Masters nodded and understood why he was late, because his duty to protect Jungkook was up front.

“Daughter, you may not have many choices. What does Jungkook think?” The Master of Fire spoke, his sunset eyes daring to look directly into Jungkook. The boy felt as if his entire body caught on fire at the sight of his eyes, but he was too confused.

“I don’t know what you mean sir- I mean, Master Rider,” Jungkook spoke, stumbling on his words as he realized he should talk to them formally and with their respected titles.

“Your friend Yugyeom, we could protect him even if our forces aren’t near him. It’s through a purity ritual where part of his soul can be retreated without any harm to him. That part of his soul will be in the academy, hidden and protected by the Light,” the Master explained, his voice not roaring like always, but it was a rough calming wave.

“What my father means, is that we could safely grab a piece of Yugyeom’s soul and have it protected by the Light. As long as the Light is protecting it, Yugyeom cannot be harmed by a single dark being,” Minyoung spoke, her voice slightly aching as her eyes looked at him in guilt. She looked as if she did not want to do it, as if she was not on the same boat.

“Why does that sound bad coming from your mouth? Anything to protect him, I thought you would be one of the first to agree considering you say you love him,” Jungkook spoke, his voice sounding angered and agitated. He couldn’t believe that they had a need to consult him, if Yugyeom was going to be protected forever and no harm will be done with the ritual, why would she hesitate.

“I do love him Jungkook but the ritual involves me taking away his purity, his innocence. I’d be stealing the most valuable thing a human holds,” she spoke, her voice shaken as she looked at him with swollen eyes. She looked so hurt and so unwilling to do it and Jungkook didn’t understand.

“She has to take away his chastity,” Junhoe spoke, realizing that Jungkook was not following.

“It’s what you humans call, ity,” Jin spoke, also realizing that Jungkook wasn’t too clear on what was going on.

“You have to sleep with him?” Jungkook asked, disbelief causing his stomach to boil at the thought.

To everyone in the U.S. I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, hope you had a good one.

I’m thankful for all of you guys who read my weird story that was created by my wild imagination.

BTW, the last part does not mean I’m writing a nor is this story going to have a rated R chapter. I may be 18 and in college but I will never have the guts to write that at all, so don’t worry.

Thanks for reading, and I do read your comments…I just feel so shy answering them, but I promise I will respond from now on because I seriously need to thank you all.