Chapter XXIV "House of Prophecy"

"The promise we made together, disappeared somewhere with time." ~ Bangtan Boys "Let Me Know"

Jungkook stood in the middle of the training room, the walls were purely white and the floor was entirely a black mat. He’s been thrown into that mat floor and fallen over it so many times it was now his best friend. It was stained with his blood and his perspiration.

Jungkook was taught to defend, to get comfortable with the attacks and using his enhanced senses to target where the attacker will hit. He came to realize that his reflexes got better with the powers he holds.

His hearing is enhanced and so has his eyesight, he can analyze Junhoe’s extreme speed and track down his movements as if Junhoe was not even using his powers. He kept silent, his breathing was heavy and his brow was soaked.

For the first part of training tonight, he was simply defending. Jin stood in the corner, analyzing Jungkook’s movements and taking notes for further lessons. But as Jungkook’s head snapped to the side to se Junhoe covered in a cloud of smoke, he could see Jin smiling.

Jungkook huffed, his heart jumping as his arms stretched out to block the kick his body sensed at his right. His hands holding onto Junhoe’s foot and they couldn’t ache because he dropped his body down once Junhoe swung his other leg in a spin. He rose his arm quickly and took Junhoe’s foot and swung the boy forward, his body crashing onto the floor.

“And we have a survivor!” Jin yelled, his melodious voice echoing in the enlarged room as Junhoe simply laughed on the floor, not in a hurry to get up.

Jungkook felt his lungs burn, his throat was on fire as he was craving water. But the more he breathed, the more he felt his exhausted body relax. He was recovering fast, because his chakra was only getting stronger with the physical training.

“Twenty minutes, he could not land one hit and you finally took him down. Nice job,” Jin spoke, his genuine felicity was giving him energy.

Junhoe simply smiled from the floor, his body a little worn out to be standing up. He simply set up two thumbs up for Jungkook to see. It all felt like a happy drug, Jungkook felt this surge of energy from their smiles and congratulations. It was a nice change after having no practice the day before and being so worried about the raids.

“You improve more every day, that is a good sign. You need to start getting comfortable attacking, and today you have proven your fighting senses have been awaken,” Jin spoke, his warm touch lingering one Jungkook’s head.

Jungkook felt the warmth and assurance from Jin’s touch, he simply wanted to feel like this forever. Accomplished, proud and happy. But it was too early to feel happy, there was so much going on, he could not afford to be distracted.

“Today, we need to get you comfortable attacking. For that, Mina will join in,” Junhoe spoke, his voice dreadfully speaking as the had to bring in Mina into the training sessions.

Jungkook’s body froze slightly, remembering that they had said the nocturne child that kidnapped him and feed on him, would be training with him. But since she wasn’t here all week, he assumed it would never happen. Yet, when Junhoe spoke, there was this inevitable shock that ran throughout his body and made him stiff.

“Don’t worry Kookie, she’s already been through trial and has officially chosen to stay a Light Warrior, besides, we’re here,” Jin spoke, his hands falling smoothing down to cress Jungkook’s neck.

In the set of a few minutes, Mina walked in through the door. Her blue hair was simply vibrant and brighter, he hair was longer and cascaded down from her high pony tail. She was fully geared up in army green shorts and a black tank top. Her body was exposed enough to show a symbol spiraling from her thigh down to her knee. There was a small sense of remorse in her eyes as she stared at Jungkook.

“Before we start, I would like to apologize Jungkook for my actions and behavior. I have chosen my side and will serve my punishment,” she spoke, her voice shaking but confident and at the same time, it was sincere.

“What punishment?” Jungkook asked, his words coming to him as he stared at Junhoe and Jin.

There must have been something with that mark. He knew that punishment in the land here had to deal with marks because a legal system that puts creatures in jail was to humane. Everything had to be done with marks and bonds.

“Mina killed five humans, intentionally. The law itself calls for death but the council thought of a more suited punishment because she was mislead, she will be bound to you when training is completed,” Jin spoke, his words spoken softly but they had a weight to them that caused him to speak slower.

Jungkook’s heart fell heavy and it was pounding so loud he didn’t know what he was feeling. All he could remember was Sehun running in front of a javelin because he was forever bounded to protect Hanbin. He could not let someone bounded to him like that, especially as a punishment.

“She’s the one who suggested it. Our options were death, which was completely looked down upon by the entire council and serving the academy with imprisonment in the Maze until the next Light Festival.” Junhoe stood up and begun to wipe off the sweat with his light blue shirt.

“Yeah, and I would not be able to have a clean conscious since it was you who I hurt. It is already decided, let’s get this over with,” she spoke, her voice confident and full of amusement as she paced to the middle of the room.

“What’s with the mark?” Jungkook asked, his brows scrunching in confusion as he didn’t know why she already had a mark if the bond isn’t official until training is over.

“The Light Warrior mark, as long as you fight for the light, the mark appears on your body. It helps the rest of the land see who is a genuine Light Warrior and not an imposer. Mina got hers early because she just graduated this morning,” Jin spoke, his voice slightly distant as he returned to his usual spot, in the corner and looking over everything.

“First thing’s first, you need to get comfortable punching, then we’ll work on kicking, then Mina will start attacking and you have to defend and attack. You have to master hand on hand before we add a weapon in,” Junhoe spoke, his words spoken simply as he was trying his best to look fine and seem confident.

But Jungkook has realized that Junhoe was simply beat at the fact that Minyoung was gone and Sehun has not woken up. His condition has not worsened, he’s still breathing but ever since he has gotten the antidote, he’s in a deep slumber. And Junhoe was equally worried about both and couldn’t be for the sake of Jungkook, and everything just piled on him.

“Loosen your body, take a deep breath. I will throw a punch just to get your reflexes kicking. Trust your body and just keep hitting, Junhoe will instruct you on what to throw and soon, I will also start attacking,” Mina spoke, her voice slightly nervous as she closed her eyes and sighed softly.

Jungkook felt a heavy feeling on his stomach as he saw her take a stance. He wasn’t sure he was ready to start fighting her, he wasn’t sure he was ready to hurt anyone but it all went blank when she threw the first hit.

He felt her hand aim straight at his face, which his instincts and reflexes caused his body to move with absolute no hesitation. He dodged, his body jerked to the side and all of a sudden, he didn’t really feel anything.

“Right,” Junhoe mumbled, his voice muffled slightly as Jungkook’s body seemed to do what it was instructed.

He swung his right arm forward, his aim straight at Mina’s countenance. She dodged left, not even hesitating nor breaking a sweat and the pattern continued. Jungkook huffed, feeling his body fall into a rhythm that Junhoe had him in. Right, left, Mina shifted and he had to match her directions. She dodged every single one.

He listened carefully, analyzing Mina’s fast speed and his mind oddly understood more than he thought. He begun to try and hit Mina in other places aside her visage. Junhoe noticed how he would begin to shift along with Mina, already getting used to how his fighting instincts were working.

“Rick kick,” Junhoe said firmly, knowing very well that Jungkook was more than ready.

Mina huffed, realizing that Jungkook was listening but the area where he will hit became less predictable. The boy threw a last punch to the left side of her head, which she dodged but the boy quickly raised his right foot and it was aimed right at her torso. She was not excepting to be fighting at this level of improvement, and she was caught.

“Time!” Jin shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls in the room as Mina huffed on the mat since her body was thrown with a great force.

She underestimated the boy, and for that, she was knocked down. Junhoe felt like he should have warned her. Jungkook has a fighting soul inside of him, a soul made for battle and power that consumes him with the fighting experience of a Master Phoenix. He was bound to get faster and more unpredictable.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was getting ahead of myself,” Jungkook spoke, guilt filling his words and tinting his lips.

Mina simply laid on the mat, her body aching slightly but her energy was restored. She looked at Jungkook as the boy approached her, worried that she was heavily hurt. But the only thing she could see was a boy with dark hair and dark eyes approaching her.

“Wait!” She shouted, feeling this sense of nostalgia and déjà vu hitting her with pure confusion.

She’s remembered something. She remembered something she knew she forgot, she remembered something she knew was tampered with, all because the boy had made physical contact with her.

“Mina, are you okay?” Jin asked, his brow cocked to the side as he could hear into her head and was heavily concerned.

“Tell me what happened that day,” she spoke her voice was soft and almost out of breath, her eyes looked desperately at Jin.

They’ve had this conversation about a thousand times. She always knew she was missing something, that something didn’t add up. But Jin and Junhoe always said what everyone said. And this feeling she had, has not disappeared.  

“Mina, you were told everything that needed to be said. You attacked Jungkook, you have the death of five humans on your back and we had to bring you in. That’s it,” Jin spoke, his voice slightly desperate as he was a little tired of having to repeat himself.

“No! It isn’t it, something happened on the way here and I can’t remember and I swear to life, I need to know,” she spoke, her voice cracking as she looked at the three in a silent plea.

“Weren’t you attacked or something?” Jungkook spoke, his words being spilled out of his mouth faster than he had thought them out.

Mina sat there, her knees tucked in slightly as she looked at him. There was something about him that didn’t make sense, there was something about him that she knew was not correct.

“How do you know that? You weren’t even there,” she whispered softly and frozen in surprise.

She remembers leaving with the Death Sider team. Then waking up in the infirmary with nymphs tending to her wounds. But she blocked out everything between that journey. She can only remember the human attacks and kidnapping the boy.

“I had a dream about it. I dreamt that Jin was hurt and Junhoe and Minyoung came rushing in to help. He said that the nocturn child had information and must be protected,” he spoke, looking at Jin and Junhoe who shared a nervous glance.

They must not have told her, they must have wanted to keep it secret and he just exposed it.  

“I was attacked? Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” Mina asked, her voice full of disbelief that she was kept in the dark.

“Because you didn’t know why. You fainted in the middle of the journey and when you woke up, you didn’t remember anything. We didn’t know why you got attacked, just that you knew something important. And in case you can’t tell, we’re not the ones who would force you to remember, that’s why we left it alone,” Jin spoke firmly yet calmly.

Mina knew what he meant. The Dark Klan would not hesitate in tapping into her mind to get those private memories out. They were her memories, and the academy respected that. They simply needed to know an attack happened, and that she knew something but that something will be revealed with time. Not by force.

“Why can’t I remember? What happened?” She placed her hands on her head, trying to get her thoughts together.

Jungkook wasn’t so sure why she was acting like this all of a sudden. He begun to feel guilty that it was probably his kick, that he was a little too powerful and careless about his hits and he caused this.  

“Hey, calm down, don’t panic,” he whispered softly, his body falling on his knees as he tried to calm her down.

He placed a hand on her shoulder to sooth her but her body stiffen. She froze at the touch and it all became clear. There was a rush of adrenaline in her mind that felt like an icy storm was pelting her and stripping this invisible shield of her memories.  

“You,” she spoke, feeling Jungkook stiffen as she peered at him strongly. “Human parents shall birth a son, a boy burden by phoenix love. That’s it, it was you,” she spoke with realization as her eyes widen.

It was him, he was the reason her memories were blocked.

“Mina, what did you just say?” Jin spoke, the words that she had chanted sounding all too familiar for his liking.

Mina stood up, looking at Jungkook and further getting reassurance on what she was remembering, on what she was sensing. It was no coincidence that she was sent to the human world with Jake by Hanbin himself. It was no coincidence that she was attacked and all of a sudden, her memories were snatched from her.

It was all because of Jungkook.

“They knew about him before anyone, they’ve been trying to hunt him down for years,” Mina spoke, her voice shaking as her eyes creased in slight desperation that they must believe her.

Junhoe’s breathing hitched as he stared at her with an analytical set of eyes. That made absolutely no sense, he was the first to discover the true existence of the Mortal Phoenix.

“What are you talking about? The darkness knew of the Mortal Phoenix before he was discovered? That is impossible,” Junhoe spoke, not wanting to believe that Jungkook’s existence was known so early on.

It made no sense, why would they wait until now to try and get him. If they knew of him, they would have been able to hunt him down faster than it took for Junhoe to discover him.

“Prophecy, the prophet was reincarnated and the Darkness got a hold of her. She spilled a prophecy of a boy, that’s why they attacked me, Jake and I had overheard the prophecy,” she spoke, her words spoken in a fast pace as her arm simply shook as if she was trying to shake something off them.

Jin and Junhoe froze, the words prophet simply holding the air around their lungs as they could not believe what Mina just said. They were trying to get into her thoughts, into her intensions to see if she was serious. But no matter how much they looked, she was speaking sincerely.

“You mean to tell me there is a prophet and the Darkness has been keeping her secret,” Junhoe asked, baffled that the actual reincarnation of the prophet was snatched for the Darkness’s desires.

“Yes, the-um, bloody hell, what was it?” She spoke, her voice getting agitated that she couldn’t remember any more of the prophecy.

She remembered, but only when Jungkook made contact with her, it was too simple. How could the physical touch of the Mortal Phoenix bring back all of the memories.  

“Mina, don’t play with us. This is a very high accusation,” Jin sated, slight anger leaking into his words as he was not up to playing games.

The prophet was one of the reasons there was a war back when the first set of beings were born. Because it’s power to spill prophecies was highly desirable by both sides, and having it on one side tipped the balance of the world.

A peace agreement was made, and if breeched, war can commence. It was agreed that the prophet would be sent to the human world, where she made her mark in the history of mortal books as Delphi. And a reincarnation kidnapped by the Darkness was enough to declare war.

“Take my hand,” Mina spoke quickly and before Jungkook could protest, she had a deathly grip on his arm.

She closed her eyes, trying hard to remember what she heard that day. Jake and her accidentally heard it while they were hunting, a dark being accidentally spoke it. Hanbin must have known of the location of the Mortal Phoenix, he somehow knew who would find it.

That’s why he sent her to Seoul, to flush out Junhoe and Minyoung and flush out the Mortal Phoenix. It was no coincidence that Nimbus moved to Seoul exactly when Hanbin sent her and Jake there.

“Human parents shall birth a son, a boy burden by phoenix love.

The warrior shall make a choice, to challenge the balance that preserves the world.

Light and Dark, the boy with have both, but love or hate shall lead his choice.

The scale shall finally be tipped, with chaos or peace, he shall pick.”

Mina mumbled, the words rolling of her tongue with ease as she was remembering the prophecy more and more.

“Council Hall, now,” Jin demanded, his eyes shaking as they were glimmering with fear and shock.

The prophet was kidnapped by the Dark Klan, it was clear breech of the peace treaty. They had kidnapped a council member and attacked a Light Warrior and above that, the memories extracted form Yugyeom further back up the claims to commence a war.

“Junhoe, call defensive plan fifteen,” Jin spoke firmly, his voice roaring as he felt angry that everything was unraveling the way it was.

“What is going on?” Jungkook asked, his voice shaking as he saw the sudden transformation of Jin into the Ice Phoenix. His hair was white as snow and his eyes were like cracked ice.

He didn’t answer the boy’s question, instead, he took off running without a second glance back.

“Yugyeom’s memories with Jiwoo showed that the Dark Klan had some weapon. And it mentions a scale being tipped through love, a line from the said prophecy. That proves the Dark Klan truly has the prophet and that is a clear breech of the peace agreement set millenniums ago. The Masters will be furious that it was broken, and above all, Minyoung was kidnapped and Sehun was nearly killed. They’d want to take action,” Junhoe spoke, running to the end of the room to get some extra knives from the display and on the run back, his hair returned to that ocean blue.

He was preparing for battle, and the idea send shivers down Jungkook’s back. Action usually meant a physical action, and with so much tension at the moment, he knew Junhoe simply didn’t want to say the word War.