Chapter VIII "House of Answers"   

"I hope that as the tears and cherry blossoms fall, There will be new life sprouting from them." ~ iKON 'Miss You So Bad'   

As the pain subdue, the bite mark was left to be healed. Gold poison being rejected by his body, she could see he was growing stronger, as if the poison itself awoken something inside of him. A warmness in the pit of his stomach engulfed his body as he dared sit up and feel his muscles clench at the movement, not from pain, but from energy.

"Impossible, his chakra was just awoken.” Minyoung gasped, taking a step forwards towards the boy as if it was a phenomenon. She saw the wound and her eyes widen at the sight of his skin closing in the gap that the fangs left on his bare skin.

He felt stronger and more in power than he has ever felt before. That warmness in the core of his body, spread through his blood stream, it felt warm and eased. It was like drinking alcohol, your stomach feels bubbly and warm and the feeling engulfs your body all at once.

"We need to get him out. We won't be able to keep him a secret for a long time, we need to get him to the academy." Junhoe spoke, his words drowning in worry as he looked at Jungkook with a pained look. The golden snake coiled around Junhoe's arm, taking its usual position before the boy came closer.

"What happened?" Jungkook whispered, seeing his ocean eyes up close. The sea green blue showed so much depth. His eyes glimmered as if they formed sea foam and the blue green only got richer in color. He could see the sea dancing in his pupil and he knew he wasn't at all human.

"I'll tell you, but not here. It isn't safe, can you trust us?" His voice was sweet and warm, it was hypnotizing to see how welcoming it made Jungkook feel. He begun to smell that scent again, the smell of Jin’s cologne. But the daze didn't last long, he felt a cold rush run through his face as he snapped out of the sleepiness.

He begun to remember, the last time he smelled that scent. He was in a room, it was completely trashed and a white wolf with glimmering silver fur was next to him. Junhoe was in the room, a body in the distance that didn’t move and a girl, who was whispering hypnotic words at him. He had too many questions.

"No. What is going on?" The questions came out as panic and he soon tried scooting back. His heart pounded loudly as Minyoung approached, taking a stand next to Junhoe. She looked at him with confusion and fear, she didn't want to go near him but she seemed like she wanted to reach out and make sure he was there.

"You’ll know soon enough. Look at me." She ordered with calmness and without harsh words. Jungkook felt compelled to follow through and he saw the burning fire in her eyes. He was caught, she approached him and he didn't have any sense left to back away. The burning autumn leaves rested in her eyes, the bright heat of a fire radiated from her pupils. The beauty of fire was all he could see and then he started smelling the cologne again. It was engulfing all his senses and cradling him to sleep.

"If you are right, and he is a Phoenix, he'll have a lot to learn. Let’s take him home, Nimbus is bond to look into this.” She spoke, catching the fallen body in her arms. His weight wasn’t something she couldn’t handle, she was more than capable. It was that way his heart eased and his cheeks were tinted. 

“I think he likes your presence the most Min.” Junhoe murmured with a wicked smile, his lips curving upwards as he took notice of the flush of his cheeks. It was a transparent cloud floating on his cheeks. It was odd how the gravity of the situation, the level of urgency that was in the atmosphere and he could still joke about things.

“June, we don’t have time. I’ll take the lead, you cover me just in case.” She spoke, she laced her hands under Jungkook’s legs and the other under his back. It was inevitable noticing his heart eased when she touched him. She nodded towards Junhoe and then ran towards the edge of the building.

She ed her feet, and before she knew it, she was on the ground, running down the street. Her speed was incredible, her strength was inhumane, and no one seemed to bat an eye towards her. The air rushed through her hair, her ears muffled by the whistling of the wind as she felt Jungkook’s body was adjusting to the ride.

“Mikey, slow down.” Junhoe ran up next to her, yelping as he almost hit a car that came through the ally. He ed his feet, pounding into the ground as he flew over the car. His calves tighten from the jump and he caught up to Minyoung.

“June, how many times do I have to tell you not to use our names unless we’re in the academy?” Minyoung asked, wanting to sound a bit angry or just annoyed but Junhoe’s smile eliminated any signs of those feeling.

Minyoung hated that she could hardly get mad at Junhoe. They spent so much time together, they were a team and he became her best friend. That stupid smile didn’t even allow her to hold a grudge for five seconds.

“What do we do? We can’t just take him to the academy while he is unconscious.” Minyoung murmured as she placed the boy’s body on top of Junhoe’s bed. Junhoe hummed, agreeing with her statement as he ruffled his hair, the golden locks getting tangled a bit more in his fingers. Minyoung looked at the sleeping boy, worry was tinting her eyes as she knew he was going to have a bounty on his life.

“You’re right about him needing a lot of help. To think, that sleep control of ours worked on him so easily, his human side is strong.” Junhoe sighed, his chest falling heavily. His skin itched at the simple thought of a half-human, half-being, it was still impossible to them. Their entire life revolved around this idea that it was impossible. That if they even tried to make a human like them, they will be killing that human. And their laws stand for protecting the human world at all costs.

“We have to warn the academy of this. We need to take him there, but he needs to know why. A human can’t just vanish from their world like that, he must make known of his leave.” Minyoung’s stiff voice echoed in the room. The boy groaned softly at the sound of her voice and shifted positions.

“That’ll be breaking rule two.” Junhoe spoke with a stern strain in his voice. Minyoung snapped her head, looking at him with her burning fire eyes. “Okay, this is one exception.” Junhoe put his hands up in defense, giving in to Minyoung’s eyes. They didn’t need to speak much physically to know what they were thinking.

“I just wonder, what phoenix saved his life? What phoenix made him out of a human body instead of creating him like they did to us?” Minyoung’s heart spoke without much thought. The apartment fell into a spell of silence. Nothing moved and no noise was echoing at all. Time had a hold of the apartment, it was toying with the people inside as all they could do was wait for the boy to wake up from the slumber.

He rose from an unfamiliar bed an hour later. His senses searching for that familiar smell of Jin’s cologne. The smell of cool freshness and masculinity. He was feeling slightly drowsy as his head begun to remember everything that happened.

“Why am I here?” A muffled voice spoke. His feet were dragged on the floor as his voice croaked. His sleepiness feel upon her as she felt a surge of relief. She didn’t know how his human body would react to the sudden surge of chakra that was awoken from the snake bite. Seeing him breath was a miracle in itself.

“You’re here because you want answers. Every question you ask, we shall answer on one condition.” Junhoe was the first to really break the silence that had held on to them tightly. The boy closed his eyes, forcing them to close and moved his head to the side and back, it looked like a bad feeling had just crept up his spine. It was like something crossed this sense, this protection shield and it caught Minyoung’s attention immediately.

“Jiwoo’s here.” Minyoung felt it seconds after the feeling crept in Jungkook. The color in their flushed skin faded, they didn’t expect to have to deal with her so quickly. Minyoung was in awe, she felt the presence of Jiwoo so close by but Jungkook beat her to it, he found her presence, he felt the wind being close by faster than any of them.

“. Look, we need to,” Junhoe paused, looking at the pale and very confused boy just standing there. His hair was messily tossed, his eyes were glued shut but he was scared. He didn’t know what happened, he didn’t know how he got here, he just knew something had awoken inside of him. This surge of energy that was never in his body.

“Jungkook, you came to me asking for answer. You had questions as to who we were and I promise you we will answer them. I give you my word but please, act like nothing is wrong. Act like you don’t suspect anything until Jiwoo leaves. Please.” Her eyes were brown, they were back to being that deep rich color but he could see the fire hidden there. She wasn’t pleading him, she was asking him with an honest voice.

That voice felt like it was promising everything good the world held. It gave him a sense of hope and assurance that everything in the world was sunshine and rainbows. He nodded and that smile she had, that slick grin that took over her face filled him with energy. He felt a surge of guilt the moment the door was being pounded on by an angry fist.

He felt guilty that he was there, the L.A. girl standing so close to him and his best friend had strong feelings for her. When she grasped his wrist and pulled him into the kitchen, he remembered how Yugyeom looked when he talked about her. How his eyes sparkled when he talked about touching her skin.

“Calm yourself, we have company.” Jiwoo didn’t have time to speak, Junhoe’s annoyed voice caused all emotions to fall from her face. She rolled her eyes, pushing her way in, her breathing hitched the moment he saw Jungkook and Minyoung speaking casually.

“Oh sorry I dropped in unexpectedly.” She spoke, her voice was soft and Minyoung could tell she was hurt. Minyoung knew this because Jungkook’s cheeks flushed a pink peachy shade, a tint only they can see. Jiwoo’s smile was scary, it was as if some thought or some plan rushed through her head.

“You did, like usual Jiwoo. What is it that you need now?” Minyoung spoke, her words were spoken through gritted teeth as she low handedly referenced her pure presence there. She came from Japan so unexpectedly and she has still to take her leave.

“Nothing, I’ll come back later. I need to discuss something with you two.” Jiwoo spoke, Jungkook could see how her deep blue eyes stared at him. He hasn’t seen her at all, not since he escorted her to the café Minyoung and Junhoe worked at. Her blond hair cascaded over her shoulders as she took her leave with no other protest.

Silence followed the door closing shut. No one spoke, and nothing moved again. It was like they were waiting to see what would happen next, anticipating something that was not arriving. Junhoe cleared his throat and without saying anything, he walked towards the closet. His hands being busy searching for something that was buried deep in the piles of clothes.

He came back, a backpack hanging from his fingertips as Minyoung simply took the bag and moved onto the living room. She searched quickly and then pulled a book that was covered in a soft red leather.

“Take a seat, this will be a long talk. Mind if we let lose the snakes?” Minyoung asked, her voice filled with worry as she didn’t even know where to begin. Jungkook nodded, noting what she meant when that black snake peeked from her sleeve and didn’t waste time falling on the ground.

“What are you guys?” Jungkook asked, his throat hurting from repeating such a question over and over again. The two looked at each other, biting their tongues as they were really unsure if this was the best idea. Fundamental rule number two, never reveal your existence to a human. They were doubting this was breaking the rule but since Jungkook is still human in a way, they were scared of the consequences.

“A better question being, what are we?” Minyoung corrected his statement, signaling that what he was is also a matter of questioning. She took a deep breath and flipped the book that was in her grasp. A beautiful phoenix bird drawn in ink was spread in the cover of the soft material. Jungkook noticed that it was a sketch book and seeing that beautiful bird send a sense of anticipation throughout his body.

“This will sound crazy, but we promise you it’s the truth.” Junhoe spoke, not bothering to take a seat because he walked to the kitchen. His voice was comforting and for some reason, it made Jungkook want to believe him more. Minyoung looked at him, pointing at the book as she sat on the floor, floating over it as if she was about to tell an ancient story

“This is a phoenix bird, one of five different kinds. Back in ancient times, where our world was first created, there was light and dark. Monsters that were created by the darkness and warriors created by the light. The light created protectors for the human world, they were the phoenix birds. Their tears have healing powers, a simple way to protect and save humans. One day, five phoenix birds were caught in a predicament. One of the birds was drowning, a second was burning in a fire, a third got his wings caught in a vortex, a forth was struck by lightning and the fifth,” She hesitated a bit, she flipped through the pages.

Each page depicted a phoenix bird being caught in the predicament she spoke. They were drawn so beautifully and with great detail. Jungkook forgot how amazing of an artist she was.

“A fifth flew south, freezing to the verge of death.” She swiftly turned the page as she took a deep breath. Jungkook could note the burden she felt of telling such a tale. “Seeing her most precious creations on the brim of death, the light casted a spell. The element that was killing the birds, swept into their feathers and into their blood. This allowed them to control the element and therefore, they can withstand being inside of it.” Jungkook nodded, understanding the take so far but she must have noticed the smug look on his face because she whispered a small pardon before continuing.

“The darkness only focused on their foolishness and casted a punishment on them. The birds are immortal and will be reborn out of their ashes, this was the norm. He wanted to bestow a burden upon them, he took away their immortal bodies and placed a rule upon them. Every hundred years, they will be reborn, but not from their ashes. The darkness’s punishment meant that they must find a body to reborn into.” Jungkook felt a lump on his throat as the pages seem to continue with no end to them. Minyoung’s voice was soft but Jungkook could still hear that slight fear of something bad happening because she was telling this story.

“That’s when the phoenixes decided something. They were to protect the human world, not harm it. They can’t simply kill a human and take their body. Aside from that, the human body was simply too weak to host the spirit and power of a phoenix. So, they began to create offsprings that take the form of humans but are more like them than anything. These creatures were immortal and held great powers.” She spoke, her words flowing softly as if she was finally comfortable telling him all of this.

“The burden of the darkness fell upon these children too. Every hundred years that the phoenix will reincarnate, one of these being would be chosen to be the host body of their parent being. That’s what we are, we are the sons and daughters of these powerful phoenixes.” Minyoung spoke, flipping the page and penciled in was a detailed drawing of five people. He recognized neither of them but he somehow knew that they were the first of their kind.