Once Upon a Time

Kim Taehyung, Divine Mess-Up

 

*Taehyung's POV*

 

"Duck!"
I whirl around, eyes wide, posture wary. For perhaps a fraction of a second, I see nothing. And then the evening sun is suddenly blocked from above, casting a shadow over me that grows in size and area in a matter of microseconds. I whip my head up.
"That is no *duck,*" I inform with conviction.
And then I drop down, protectively covering my head with my arms. Not sure what good that would do. There was a literal car flying my way.
Hi. My name is Kim Taehyung. Up until two weeks ago, I was V, visual and sub-rapper for the Korean hip hop boy band BTS, or Bang Tan So Nyeon Dan, which translated to Bullet Proof Boy Scouts. So far, I'd managed to live up to my group name by being bullet-*free*, but 'bullet proof' had yet to be proven.
Today, I was still V, but not in the sense that most common people would understand. I was V, as in the Fifth, and by the Fifth, as in the Fifth Aamon, which, if anyone had been paying attention in religious classes - which I hadn't, because who the heck does - meant that I was now the reluctant ruler of the Underworld, Guardian of the Forty Legions of Heaven and Hell, Seer of the Past and Future. And I wasn't doing such a good job, was I?
Due to unavoidable (and pretty unwanted) circumstances, the fourth Aamon, Ezekiel - the person, not the Angel - had died, and the power, which chose the successor rather than any other competent and logical governing body, had dropped its load on my unwilling shoulders. I was still in the middle of grasping what was going on, as well as trying and ultimately failing to control my powers. This kind of thing took *years* to master, with the Aamon him/herself usually training the most likely successor. 
And yet, clearly, Ezekiel's choice had been wrong, because the power had breezed right past Layla, his used-to-be favourite heir, and fell right on me. And I had a rat's body of a clue how to even work the power in my favour.
On my tail right now were the Seraphim, beings which, had the circumstances been somewhat different, were supposed to be servants and protectors of my Court - my rule and my kingdom. Yet because I'd fallen out of favour or quite frankly was not a brainwashed initiate the Parliament of my Court could control according to their whim, they had sent my own servants after me and as a result, the Seraphim had been trying their very best the past fortnight to kill me, and hope the power would pass on to another, more complacent, initiate.
Unfortunately for them, I had *no* plans on dying so soon.
If I could avoid the car hurtling my way, that is.
I look up, peeping through my fingers covering my face.
Yup. Car still hurtling my way.
I hear a scream, and for a wild moment wonder where it's coming from.
Oh. Me. It's coming from me. I was screaming.
And why the hell shouldn't I.
I'd just wanted ice cream. It was just across the street from the stronghold of a hotel I was housed in. It would've taken five minutes, seven at most.
And I. Didn't. Even. Get. My. Ice cream.
Why was my life like this.
In the few microseconds it would've taken for me to meet my death, I felt an arm - hard, secure and probably a tad too tight - wrap around my waist and the both of us are soon flying, moving at such a speed that I feel my head snap back against the warm chest behind me.
And then we make a jarring landing, tumbling against the asphalt floor as the car finally lands on where I'd been standing half a second ago, exploding in a show of screaming metal and dancing fire.
"Thanks," I breathe, feeling the arm fall from my waist as my self-appointed bodyguard stands, peering back at the carnage.
"No problem," Jungkook answers, sniffling lightly, the smell of gasoline burning bothering his sensitive nose. "But I think it's time we get out of here."
"No problem," I murmur, steadying myself as I stand too. I'd hit my already bruised head pretty badly on that landing, and the feel of my brain bouncing against my skull had me momentarily dizzy. "Let me just *poof* us out of here."
He turns to me, eyes bright with wonder. "You can *do* that?"
"Of course not!" I snap. And even if I could, I wouldn't know it. I hadn't even read the manual on exploring my powers. But I would, once I found the damn thing.
"Oh," he says, blinking once and looking away.
A Seraphim suddenly steps forward. The image of an angel fizzes out momentarily, the being stuck between existence and simply disappearing. It shouldn't have surprised me. They'd been adamant on ending me since signs of the power started appearing a month ago, so I'd seen them plenty. But the onset of fear is almost unavoidable.
These beings weren't human, weren't mortal, weren't even from this Earth. Right now, they held on to the form of a human in order to blend in. But their true form, ones I'd seen only once, had been enough to send me careening into panic-induced nightmares for days.
Then Jungkook is in front of me, an arm out to hold me back.
What the squirt was planning to do, I wasn't sure.
"Can you hold out for a bit?"
"No."
"I'll just take a moment." And then he runs forward, and it is no longer a human Jungkook that I'm staring after. A fully formed wolf, standing at about my height on all fours with black and streaks of grey covering its massive form, charges full speed ahead, straight at the Seraphim. 
Jungkook's massive jaws clench around the head of the Angel, and he twists, flying as the head disconnects from the shoulders. There is a burst of blinding light from the Seraphim's empty shoulders, before the being disappears completely. 
I was lucky the BTS maknae was part demon, because not many species could inflict harm on a being so holy. I look up at Jungkook again, seeing him swallow the thing between his jaws. I had to close my eyes at that. I was *not* going to be sick in the middle of the battlefield.
Contrary to popular belief, magical beings did not go much into hiding, as human lore assumed. We hid in plain sight, blending in well enough that we could live undetected before the same community for decades, before the lack of aging caught their attention. And by then, we were long gone.
And until that happened, we lived, we went to school, we worked. We were just like the average human, except maybe stronger, lived longer and had way higher energy levels than Usain Bolt.
What? Did you honestly think your favourite kpop stars were fully human? No human could possibly sustain the lifestyle of an idol without collapsing at least once a month. It was a reason why we were so commonly employed. We were just better. And with our natural prey being humans, we held that charm and looks not many of them could resist.
But those things weren't going to help me in the fight against these monstrous beings.
And as I stood there, alone and without my usual barrage of bodyguards by my side, another Seraphim heads towards me. It is floating, feet hanging off the ground, and moving at a speed that had me wary to even blink. I tensed. There was no way I could outrun it, but I could at least avoid its touches. Those were poisonous to me.
It strikes, and I duck, the wind over my head breezing through my hair. I send a quick burst of power towards it, and it staggers a few steps back. Then Jungkook is charging again, straight at us.
He grabs me, biting down into the collar of my shirt and rips me off the ground, throwing me against his back. I fist my hands into his fur, crouching down low as a burst of power travels over our heads. The power hits another Seraphim, and for a moment, it freezes, before bursting.
"You have a destination in mind?" I ask in a whisper, as Jungkook runs between obstacles of Seraphim at the ready to snatch me out the air. 
*Nope.*
"Well, isn't that just *dandy*." I peer to my left, seeing three Seraphim, and then to my right, where another two are heading our way. "Where's Jin?"
"Heading your way." That voice hadn't been Jungkook's.
I look up. There was nothing but clear blue skies above me, but that didn't mean no one was there.
And then the five Seraphims lunged towards us. 
Jungkook grabbed me, holding me between his teeth without hurting, and threw me upwards. I rose maybe six stories, before the force of that idiot werewolf's throw dies down, and then I am falling like a sack of potatoes.
I scream. Heights were one thing I didn't do well. An arm suddenly wraps around my waist, and I feel the familiar tingle of magic dark enough to send goosebumps up my spine.
"Gotcha," Jin, my other self-appointed bodyguard, murmurs, as we hurtle towards the ground.
I was still screaming, because in case no one noticed, we were *still falling*.
"Do something!"
"Trying," he murmurs, his breath tickling my neck.
"Try harder!"
And then he whispers something, and for a moment, I thought it was an incantation, a spell that could somehow save our plummet. But it only proved to be a profanity.
"JIN!"
"Spell's jammed." He sounded strangely calm for someone who was about to hit the ground like a bug against the windshield. Then again, it wasn't like he wouldn't survive the fall.
It was more a matter of whether we'd survive the dozen Seraphim waiting for us to hit the ground.
I panicked. I had to do something. I had powers, surely, but I had no bloody idea how they worked. I also had another fear that the powers I used would somehow create repercussions because *nothing* in this Earth came for free.
But it was either that or die, and right now, I was pretty confident which I'd prefer. I called forth my power, feeling the familiar refreshing feeling from my core that was a force used for centuries by Aamons before me. I knew it was powerful, knew that the power could sustain the Earth and still have enough left to power another inhabited planet, but I was not that strong to sustain such an insane amount. Yet I had to try.
I made a throwing motion, literally having no idea what I was doing. And then the ground below us explodes and the scream dies in my throat. Because a literal fountain of fire was cascading upwards towards us.
I heard Jin gasp, feel his already tight grip around my waist tightening. I bet he thought that we were going to burn to death or something.
And we would, had this been a normal flame.
But something in my core was telling me that this fire, this cascading whirlwind of flame hurtling towards us, was mine. Mine, as the Aamon of the Forty Legions of Heaven and Hell. And it would keep me safe.
"Hold on!" I yell, as the fire envelopes us.
The flame is soft, the heat is merciful, and the power is exactly as I'd expect it.
Wearing me down at a startling degree.
It caught us like a warm embrace, softening our fall with whatever it was these flames held. It felt like cotton.
Something was screaming in my mind that fire was *not* supposed to feel like cotton. This was going way beyond any form of logic my mind could wrap around.
"What did you -"
But the question dies in , because the flames enveloping us have wrapped around my legs, quickly snaking its way upwards.
And then we continue falling.
"Taehyung…" I ignore Jin's warning, ignore the frission of fear that I could hear in his normally controlled voice. I was too busy concentrating. These flames were mine and if what I thought was correct, then the ground they were erupting from, the fountain of fire leaping skywards protecting me...
Was coming straight from hell.
And I could use that to my advantage.
The flames wrapped around my legs somehow strengthen, feeling like a relaxed muscle that had suddenly flexed, supporting me in mid-air.
"Grab Jungkook and the other bodyguards," I murmur to Jin. I hoped he wouldn't question. Jin had a habit of assuming that any decision I made was a dumb one, which had been ultimately true so far. "Get them off the ground."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Let my servants meet their Maker."
And then, Jin lets go of my waist, falling the rest of the way down, before he suddenly disappears in a burst of smoke. The smoke spreads, fading away before my eyes.
I had utmost faith in Jin, in his powers.
Like his name hinted, Jin was a Djinn, a being that fleeted between worlds like a stone skimming over a lake. Most Djinns were incorporeal beings, much like the Seraphim. But unlike the Seraphim, Djinn could, at will, make themselves visible to the species they chose. And Jin was also of an extremely powerful specie of Djinn, a descendant of Lucifer himself. Lucifer's children all wield black magic, feeding it with their own energy when it usually killed off any other species that tried to use it.
But Jin was spent, his energy levels dangerously low. When hanging around me, that tended to happen more often than not.
I throw out an arm, feeling the fire below me suddenly spread against the asphalt ground like snakes set loose from their cage. I concentrated. A throbbing - and honestly pretty painful - headache was starting to creep up the back of my mind, gnawing against my brain like a parasite. I ignore it, concentrating further.
The snakes of fire slither at breakneck speed. One manages to wrap around the leg of a Seraphim. I make a pulling motion. The dull throb suddenly becomes an excruciating stab and for a moment, I black out. 
And then I come to, just enough to see the ground below the captured Seraphim break open, and my rope of fire pull the Seraphim down. The angel screams this time, a keening sound that threatens to shatter my eardrums. But the rope holds, and the Seraphim falls deeper and deeper.
Straight into hell.
I move on to the next Seraphim, methodically eradicating them one by one. The descent to Hell wouldn't kill them.
But it would take a long time to claw their way out and heal. And I was going to take all the extra time I could.
I managed to get three Seraphims in the span of two seconds, but was starting to get lightheaded. I couldn't keep this up for long.
I'd have to finish this quickly.
But the rest of the Seraphim seemed to figure this out too, and they moved. Nine Seraphim fly towards me, and the frightening image of them getting closer and closer was enough to shock me to attention.
The fire at my feet fizzles out, and I am soon falling, missing an outstretched hand of a Seraphim by about two inches. But its nail rakes against my arm, and I feel the burn of its touch, despite my shirt being unharmed. I bite back a scream, which was not too difficult considering I was spent.
Something winks into existence and catches me just three feet before I slam against the ground. 
Jin.
"I thought I told you to -"
"Shut up," he scolds me, quickly lying me against the ground as he tears off my shirt sleeve. "They're safe. You're not."
I lift my head slightly. My barrage of bodyguards were back with a vengeance, Jin bringing them into the fight once more. I see Jungkook leading, his sheer size and speed as a fully formed wolf dwarfing the others.
He leaps, and crashes straight into a Seraphim.
"Jin!" I say, because the idiot wasn't allowing me to get up and join the fight. "They need our help!"
"*You* need help!" he snarls, as he shrugs off his jacket and starts shredding it into long pieces. Jin as an idol and Jin as a bodyguard were two completely different entities, as I'd soon learnt when he became my protector. When the cameras weren't on him, Jin was seemingly a perpetually angry and on edge Djinn who was fully expecting everything that cast a shadow to jump me.
I bet he lost a few years of his life already.
I blink up at him. I *felt* fine.
"You're bleeding!" he informs me, as if I'd never done so before. "The Seraphim touched you!"
I blink again, this time looking down the length of my body.
I was drenched in blood, which for a moment, left me confused. I don't remember hurting myself that -
A nosebleed, I realise, my eyes widening in confusion. But there was so *much* blood.
And then I peer at my arm which the Seraphim had grazed. 
It looked like my arm had exploded. The flesh had torn open where the nail had raked against my shirt sleeve, the touch seemingly going through fabric unharmed, only to eat away at my arm. I was still bleeding. And I could see bones.
I bit down the urge to panic. Not now. Not in the battlefield. I was in too much panic to register the pain, but it was starting to slowly creep up on me.
Jin finally takes a strip of his torn jacket, tying it mindnumbingly tight around my shoulder, another around the crook of my elbow, and another around the wound, attempting to close the wound enough to allow it to heal. Or to stop the flesh from separating any further.
"Don't move," he commands, a tight hand against my chest.
But I do anyway, mostly to crane my neck up and see how the fight was going along. 
We outnumbered the Seraphims, but it didn't really matter when the only person who could properly kill them was Jungkook. The bodyguards surround a Seraphim, who swats angrily at them like they were Lego blocks, and then charges our way.
Jungkook manages to intercept it, tackling it to the ground before the Seraphim has a chokehold on my precious Werewolf's neck.
"Jungkook!" I yell, attempting to get up.
"Stay down!" Jin commands, practically slamming me back on the ground. "Jungkook has to concentrate. If you keep calling him, he's going to lose focus."
"And if we don't help, he might be in serious -"
"Believe in him," Jin interrupts, surprising me by his words and the conviction in his tone. "He can do this."
And then we hear Jungkook roar. It is from pain. Jin and I instinctively turn our heads at the sound.
Somehow, a Seraphim has raked its nails into Jungkook's face, latching on by digging a thumb into Jungkook's left eye and the rest of its four fingers below his jaw. It drags him forward, using my Maknae much like a whip as it brandishes him around to attack the other guards.
That *had* to hurt, I think, just as four bodyguards jump the sentient being.
"Believe in him," I repeat numbly, eyes stuck on the wolf who'd somehow broken free of the hold and was tearing at the limbs of the Seraphim.
And then something strange happens. Well, stranger than what I'd been experiencing the past few weeks.
My body suddenly jerks, and I feel a shot of pain travelling down my body. The pain is so sudden, so quick and so *insane* that I physically shut down, though my brain is wide awake, scared and confused as hell and panicked from the pain.
Oh crap, I think. I was going into shock.
And then my head rolls straight into my skull and I cannot stop convulsing. Jin is soon yelling, and I feel him holding my shoulders down, though my legs and arms still flail about, hitting him several times. I can't really tell what he's saying, but I know he's trying to keep me awake, to bring me back to reality so I could at least heal properly.
And then he gives up, and pulls me tight against his chest, my head tucked beneath his chin despite how I convulse and flail about. His hold on me was borderline painful, though of course, it couldn't compare to the fire of my arm.
I hear him whisper spells beneath his breath - healing spells - as he attempted to heal me. I feel the incantations fall against my arm, trying and failing to stop the wound from spreading, to quell the bleeding. I'm sure Jin is slick with blood now too, but he doesn't let me go.
"Taehyung, stay awake! Come back to me, Taehyung!"
I had no idea what he was prattling about. I was right here, wasn't I?
A shudder racks my body, and I hit my head really hard against Jin's chin.
I hear him swear with passion. Was he really angry that I'd clipped his chin?
And then his lips crash against mine, hard enough that my head whips back. I feel the energy transfer almost immediately, Jin the Djinn wasting no time to provide me with a portion of his own magic as he wills it into me to heal. He moves with the kiss, shoving more and more of that magic down my throat, concentrating it into my ravaged arm until I feel my energy level rise again and my arm work to patch itself back together.
As soon as I obtained the strength, I shoved him back. Knowing the type of person Jin was, he was going to continue to feed me energy until it killed him. I sit up straight, feeling Jin's arms fall away from me. His eyes are unfocused and the exhaustion radiates off him in waves. I take a second to slap him - hard.
And then he whips his head to face me, that familiar angry expression on his face once more.
"I'm all healed," I say. "We have to move."
And then a bodyguard - mine, obviously - flies over our heads, his own missing. I stumble to stand, pulling Jin along. I nearly trip over my own two feet, cursing under my breath.
Damn it. How hard was it to just get a damn tub of Strawberry ice cream these days?
And then it hits me.
I feel the familiar, rushing, and ultimately nauseating sensation of a vision hitting me, a power I had yet to control. Seer of the Past and Future, remember?
The sight before me melts away, and then jars me when it shows me a scene two minutes into the future. I wasn't sure how I knew, I just did. It was a gut feeling that somehow gnawed at me all the way down to my toes.
I see Jin and I, running in the direction of the ice cream store. Man, I must've *really* wanted that ice cream.
Jin was stumbling behind me, but was doing his best to keep up as I dragged him on. It is an extremely strange sensation, to say the least, seeing yourself when you're standing right there.
Something makes him stop, and then I hear him scream a spell. A shield appears before us, a measly looking wall of glass that was the loudest testament to how exhausted Jin was. And then a Seraphim literally slams into it, and I watch both myself and Jin being thrown as the shield shatters.
And then Jungkook whips his great wolf head around at the sound of us crashing into a van hard enough to tip it over. He immediately charges for us, intercepting the Seraphim who was looming over the van, ever at the ready to kill me. He makes a great leap, jaws wide and ready to bite and probably tear a limb off in the process.
Only the Seraphim turns around at the last second, and for but a moment, the human image it had been trying to hold fizzles out and I am left staring at its true form, a frightening mesh of every nightmare I'd ever seen. 
The Seraphim catches Jungkook mid-jump by , and then proceeds to rip it out. The sound of fur, skin and flesh tearing would probably be another thing to add to my ever growing list of things to have nightmares about, along with the sight of Jungkook's neck literally exploding in a shower of blood, painting the Seraphim, Jin and I.
The Me two minutes into the future and the current me scream as Jungkook falls against the ground in a quivering mess, pool of blood widening as I stared in horror.
And then I am pulled back with whiplash inducing speed, landing right back at my correct time.
I trip on air, falling and landing on all fours. Jin is beside me, the sight of his pale, clammy face somehow giving me the necessary energy to plough on.
I force myself to stand, grabbing his hand and running the exact opposite direction I'd seen in my vision. Which was headlong into a Seraphim.
"Taehyung."
I don't reply. Even Jin's warning sounded weak on my ears.
I called my power forward, feeling the fire start at my feet with each step I ran. The heat of my fire cracks the asphalt and concrete ground, and I literally see and feel my fire spreading below the lengthening crevices. Fire sprouts from between the cracks - high, hot and angry.
Then the ground bursts, and a ball of fire large enough to cover the Seraphim in totality, erupts from the ground right before it, and swallows it just like that.
Guardian of the Forty Legions of Heaven and Hell. There had to be some advantages to such a lengthy title.
The ball of fire moves, its direction controlled by my thoughts, as it swallowed another Seraphim. I could feel blood trickle down my chin. Probably another nosebleed.
I tighten my hold on Jin's hand. I am wary for Jungkook's safety.
And then a Seraphim suddenly charges our way, so fast and sudden that I am literally frozen in terror at the thing.
And then Jin literally screams a spell, and I see the sheen of a shield before me. Nothing stops the charging sentinent being, as it crashes headlong into the projected shield, and send Jin and I flying. We crash into a van hard enough to tip it over, and the sense of déjà vu that overwhelms me threatens to freeze me to my bones.
I whip my head towards Jungkook, totally ignoring the Seraphim looming over Jin and I. As totally expected, Jungkook is charging towards us, jaws wide in a ferocious roar and ready to clamp down on the enemy.
And then he leaps, and the Seraphim has turned around, arm outstretched and at the ready to rip my little squirt's neck out.
"NO!" I scream.
I lose focus for a moment, my concentration gone from the very real fear that I might lose Jungkook in the next few seconds. I had an arm outstretched towards him, why I don't know. It wasn't like I could reach out of the air and grab him.
But something else happens.
Just as the Seraphim's hand is about to wrap around Jungkook's throat, a powerful burst of energy leaves my hand, slamming into both the Seraphim and Jungkook, and the both of them are sent flying.
The force of the blast of energy is enough to send me flying too, and I am thrown tumbling to the ground behind me like a rag doll in a washing machine. I stay down as Jin runs to me, his hands giving me a quick once over for injuries, before he grabs my shoulders, sitting me up and shaking me.
"Why didn't you do that sooner?!"
Coming from someone like Jin, that was a big compliment.
"Because I didn't know I could do that," I snap, pushing his hands away.
"You really should learn to explore your powers," I hear him murmur.
"Yes, find me a teacher while you're at it!"
*Guys,* Jungkook's voice echoes in my head, and by the look in Jin's eyes, in his head too. *We need to get out of here. There's no way we can continue on in this fight.*
I whirl my head around, scanning my surroundings momentarily. Three Seraphim left, seven bodyguards still alive. Considering that I'd come with nine, the loss wasn't *that* bad.
"We have to get back to the hotel," Jin breathes. "Your suite is warded against Seraphim strong enough to drive them out." 
"There are people in the hotel," I say, shaking my head. "People who won't fit in my suite for protection."
And then Jin looks up at me, the look in his eyes incredulous, as it always is when I make a decision that would refuse collateral damage.
"And I suppose you have a *better* idea?" He seethes.
"Yes," I say. I didn't have a better idea, of course, but I was not going to let the people in the hotel die. Not on my watch. "Kiss me."
Jin stares at me, and by the look on his face, he was calculating how off the rocker I was.
"What -"
"I need your power," I explain curtly, because the Seraphim currently fighting Jungkook is heading straight towards us, its hands glowing with a power that I was sure would hurt like if it hit.
"Taehyung -"
"I'll give it back!" I shriek, because the Seraphim is looming over us, and strikes down. Jin grabs me, and we jump out the way. The ground where we once were half a second ago splits open at the impact of the Seraphim's power.
We land in a tangle of limbs, of which I practically kick Jin out the way to free myself.
"Hurry!"
He grabs me again, a warm hand against my cheeks and pulls me towards him, crashing my lips against his. The transfer of power is quick, rushed and slightly dull, because Jin was already running low on power as is. I don't push him away this time, but Jin breaks the kiss before I had expected, looking pale and weak as he stares at me with gaunt eyes.
"That better have work," he murmurs, breath shaky as his hands fall from my face. "Because I'm empty."
And then he collapses, falling against my lap like a broken doll. For the umpteenth time today, I swallow the urge to panic. The Seraphim has located us, and is heading our way.
It looms over us, the image of a human completely gone as it reveals its true self to me. I guess it had grown tired of appearing so small.
What I assumed were eyes were staring back at me. They were the cruelest pair I'd ever seen. For an Angel of Hell, the Seraphim was pretty unholy looking.
"I am the Fifth Aamon," I murmur up to it, not sure what I was doing anyway. "And with orders that bind, I command you to stop."
For a long, long moment, the Seraphim stares at me. It isn't moving and I dared to hope that maybe it had listened. But then it screeches, the sound like nails raking down a chalkboard. I instinctively cover my ears.
"STOP!" I scream. And the ground moves.
What now? I thought deliriously, as I fall forward, my weight supported by my palm planted firmly on the ground.
But everything was still moving, from the Seraphim itself, to the cars on the ground, to the buildings surrounding us.
An earthquake? Now?
I clutch Jin's unconscious form close to me. The Seraphim is still screaming, joined by the other two whose faces are pointed skywards. What the hell was going on.
Were their screams causing the earthquake? Was I the one causing the earthquake?
I whip my arm out in a wild throwing motion, half expecting my power to act up and half expecting it to fail me entirely. 
It acts up.
A wild line of fire appears where I swung my arm out in an arc, the fire spreading and growing in circumference frighteningly fast. It hits the Seraphim, which catches into flames, literally exploding in burning God-knows-whatever-it-is-these-things-were-made-of.
And still, the line of fire travels, spreading as fast as a visible shockwave.
"Jungkook, move!"
And he does, leaping up and missing the fire by perhaps half a foot. But then the other Seraphim does not, and in what could only be described as guilt gnawing at the pit of my stomach, I see it combust in flames. My flames.
And then the final Seraphim, the only one left, turns to me. I can see its currently human eyes stare accusingly at me. These angels were supposed to be the protectors of my Court. They were beings whose sole purpose was to serve the ruling Aamon. And I was destroying them.
And then it disappears, winking out of existense just as my fire spreads over it. And then the line of fire is gone too.
What had been an intense battle scene five minutes ago, was now a field of destroyed roads, cars and buildings. The numbing silence of a sudden victory disturbs my ears more than the screaming Seraphims had. We are all somehow still standing, frozen where we were.
We'd won, I think blankly. We won.
The great bulk of a wolf which I knew was Jungkook suddenly morphs back into human form, the familiar boyish face panting and shaking in both exhaustion and shock. Blood was pouring out of his left eye, though I assumed that it was healing just fine, since the eyeball was just fine. And Jungkook was blinking well too.
He turns, and I see the claw marks running down his cheek, where the Seraphim had grabbed him. He immediately grins when he spots me, and I'm reminded of just how young the boy was.
"You okay?" He asks, running to me and kneeling by my side.
I nodded numbly.
His blood had run down his shirt, making it stick to his chest like some sort of war paint.
"You're bleeding pretty heavily."
"You too," I murmur.
And then he wipes the blood on his face away with the back of his hand, emphasizing his youth even more.
"I'm okay," he says, giving me that boyish grin. "I've stopped bleeding." And then the grin falters as he looks at me, the concern clear in his eyes. "But you haven't."
"Oh."
No wonder I was feeling so weak.
"Taehyung?"
The world goes dark, and I feel myself fall. Well, I think, at least we'd survived.
This time.

I jolt awake, finding myself between tussled sheets and fluffy pillows. I sit up in a panic, eyes wide as I scan my surroundings.
Where was I? What was I doing here? Who brought me here?
And then the vertigo hits me, and I flop back down on the bed.
Oh that's right.
This was my bed. And this was my room. 
So I must be in my suite. And that meant I was back in the hotel.
Which meant, of course, that we'd made it. Somehow, we'd survived that insane attack and were safe and in one piece, in the few places that the Seraphim could not extend their reach towards me.
Jungkook runs in, his hypersensitive ears picking up the slight sound of my ruffled sheets. He is clean, free of blood and the claw marks completely healed and gone. He'd changed too, smelling like his favourite sea salt shampoo that reminded him of home.
And he jumps, flying into my bed and wrapping arms around my neck, burying his head against my chest. I blink in surprise.
Not that the Maknae *wasn't* someone who disliked touches, but to see him so frazzled in the fraction of a second before he'd run towards me had me on edge.
"Jungkook?" I prompt, a hand resting against the top of his head. "What's wrong?"
He doesn't answer, his hold tightening, pressing against my chest hard enough that I had trouble breathing. And then he inhales, a loud sound in our close proximity.
Ah. So that was it. I was wrong.
Unlike what public records say, Jeon Jungkook wasn't born in the late nineties. He'd been born a decade after that and was a literal child despite his size. He did have the maturity to prove it though.
His Were blood and the fraction of demon blood in his system basically meant he had a Were's accelerated growth and a demon's immortality in his veins. He looked fifteen when he was two, and had stopped aging just as suddenly.
"You're okay," I hear him say, voice whisper soft. "You're okay."
"Why wouldn't I be?" I frown, just as he looks up at me.
"You've been asleep for two whole *days*, Taehyung. I kept waiting for you to wake up, but you didn't."
I blink.
Using my power so excessively on the battlefield must have winded me more than I'd thought. I knew I rarely brandished my power around since I was basically still very much afraid of it, but to be knocked out two whole days after the fight was over the top, even for me.
I slowly wrap my arms around Jungkook's shoulders, holding him close to me, as he rests his cheek against my chest. "I was so worried," I heard him pout. "What was I going to do without you?"
Another aspect of Jungkook's life I kept under a pound of secrets was that I was his first memory. I was the one who'd found him wandering the streets and brought him home, and I was basically the one who raised him. That wouldn't have mattered much to any other species perhaps, but to a Werewolf, the first person they remember as a child would be the one thing they'd identify as guardian.
That's right. I was basically Jungkook's mom.
It didn't matter if it made sense or not. Instincts override logic, and the attachment Jungkook has to me is physical as much as much as it is psychological. I know with a frightening certainty that this boy would kill for me, and with the amount of people at my tail, the thought gives me no peace of mind.
"Sorry," I soothe, resting my cheek against his hair. I run my hand up and down the small of his back, feeling him relax under my touches. "I'm sorry I had you so worried. I'll fight harder next time."
I feel him nod at that.
"My poor, poor Jungkook," I continue, dropping my voice to a whisper. "I bet you didn't sleep while you waited for me to wake up, huh?"
He nods again, hold on my waist tightening fractionally.
"You must be so tired."
Jungkook nods his head a little too vehemently at that, pushing his hair up my nostrils as I swallow the urge to sneeze. My body always had the worst timing, somehow.
"I couldn't sleep without you," he says, closing his eyes as he does so. The lashes catch against the fabric of my shirt - the exact same one I'd been wearing when we went to get ice cream before being ambushed. Looks like no one had bothered to wash the exhausted me.
"I'm here now," I soothe, kissing the top of his head. "Go to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."

I slip a weary foot into the bath tub. The water was too hot and honestly the bath salts and amount of bubbles b over the top was a bit too much, but I step in anyway.
I *needed* the bath.
I position myself in the tub, resting my head against the edge while my body relaxes.
I'd left Jungkook as soon as I was sure that a bomb wouldn't wake him, squirming out of his hold and quickly filling his suddenly empty arms with a duvet that he wrapped tight against him. I wasn't sorry for leaving him, because a bath was a bath, but it hurt me somehow to fool him to think that the duvet was me.
But Jungkook won't sleep without a trace of my touch somewhere on him, and it'd be damned if I missed another day's worth of a bath, because I *stink*.
I smelled like what I imagine the rooms in the Saw films smell like; blood, sweet and hopelessness. I close my eyes, feeling the endless knots in my muscles unwinding as the heat and pressure of the water dulls the pain momentarily.
As to my knowledge, the suite I was currently housed in was the only place the people of my Court could not reach me; protection spells and powerful wards lining almost every possible entrance. It also helped that four powerful kinds of supernatural species were housed in the same room as me, with a round the clock rotation of twelve guards always at the ready to throw themselves in the line of fire to keep me alive. The thought of it wasn't all that nice.
Welcome to my life. 
A mere two weeks ago, my only purpose in life was to entertain the massive crowds that followed my groupmates and I around, religiously attending every concert we held and buying every song we sang. It was an easy life. The pay was okay, the job was fun, and the gifts were amazing.
And that all ended when a Seraphim had gate-crashed into Big Hit, the company that employed me, with its intention being pretty clear that the one he'd wanted was me. It had gone into rampage, killing several employees before I managed to escape, bringing that lunatic angel guard chasing right at my heels.
Fast forward a bit and I was now reigning Aamon, with my reign being basically unrecognized by the organizations that were supposed to support me. That had resulted in a lot of death threats, half insane warnings, and full insane assassination attempts on my head. The only thing I could basically do was dodge and run the longest I could before the Seraphim caught up to me and presented my head on a stick to whoever was in charge of this whole fiasco.
But then I'd managed to seek refuge amongst the Hunters, a species I'd been raised amongst. Unfortunately, it wasn't a goodness of the heart sort of thing. The Hunters were under fascination that someone as powerful as me was seeking refuge in their courts and were probably just thinking of ways to exploit my power and status as we speak, finding a way that would make the other species kowtow to them since they had such a powerful ally by their side.
Joke's on them though because a) my power was powerful. I was not b) I wasn't their ally. The amount of guards they had in here was *stifling* and c) I had no bloody idea how politics *and* my powers worked.
I was help to none.
I sink lower into the tub, completely submerging myself as I sink to the bottom. Big Hit had basically gone into meltdown after the assassination attempt and I'd been forced to leave. Jungkook had obviously followed and the story that was allowed to be spread around was that we were going back to school, since the terrorist attack seemed to be targeting artists rather than the public at large. Jin left under the premise of joining the army, but had then joined me, much to my own surprise.
So here we were, three band mates thrown into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
I sigh, despite being completely underwater, staring at the bubbles of air rising to the top.
So far my reign as Aamon had been nothing but trouble.
I wasn't sure how Ezekiel thought I was a better candidate than Layla, or why the power chose me of all people. As Aamon, I was supposed to be in charge of souls, ensuring those who ascended would, and those who descended would stay put. From time to time, I would be expected to interfere with the state of affairs on Earth should a warning - in the form of a vision - hit me and force me to change the present in order to alter the future. So far, my visions were nothing but confusing nightmares and the only souls I saw were those who refused to move on to the Afterlife. That was ultimately not my damn problem because I was only a guide, not a goddamned prison guard.
I sit up, not noticing where the time had gone when I see my pruny fingers. I spare a glance at the wall clock hanging over the bathroom door. I'd been submerged for over an hour.
Man, was I a deep thinker.
I get up and drain the tub, before showering down and dry myself off, wrapping the towel around my waist. Now that I was standing again, I am suddenly reminded of just how sore I am. The exhaustion seemed to cover my head all the way down to my toes.
I grab a face towel, running it through my hair as I dry it off.
I head to the dressing mirror to do what I've been habitually doing after every bath for the past two weeks - check my injuries.
Not bad, I vaguely think, blinking at my reflection.
I started, as I always did, from the bottom. My feet were pretty much unharmed, save for the soreness of a few blisters. My knees had scrapes that I was sure would disappear in a day or two. Running up the side of my thigh up to my waist though, was a long purple bruise. I rack my brain for a moment to figure out where I got that from and came up with nothing. It was probably due to one too many rough landings from being constantly thrown around. Below my navel too, is a long bruise, this time running horizontally along the length of my waist and I think accusingly of Jin. I knew him throwing me around like a rag doll was sure to bruise this fragile body.
My arms are red, raw and decorated with a multitude of colours that were bruises healing at different speeds. On my collar bone is another bruise, this time an odd yellow and green. I could honestly say I had no idea where I got that from.
And then I look up, staring into my own eyes.
I didn't know what I was expecting to see, but right then, I was just happy enough to be alive.
My hair was still dyed a dark auburn, with blonde highlights running through my hair. Promotions for the previous song hadn't even finished yet when I was attacked. My face stared back at me. I was gaunt. I looked exhausted and the bags beneath my eyes were cardinal sin. I had another bruise along the length of the left side of my jaw, which once again, I had no idea how I'd gotten.
I looked like I was eight, not like I was ruler of the Underworld.
I turn, peering over my shoulder to inspect any damage to my back. And there was, though it was just one big bruise along my left shoulder. I could live with that.
If I were still a celebrity, I'd be long dead by my company for harming my body so much.
I sigh, moving away from the mirror as I grab my clothes. I didn't have the accelerated healing Jungkook possessed, nor the extensive knowledge of spells to heal me like Jin. As the day wore on, I found it more and more difficult to ignore the gnawing thought that I was basically the most useless Aamon the pair had the misfortune of dealing with.
I slip on the oversized t shirt and the pajama shorts, feeling extra childish tonight with the batman logo printed all over the shorts that fell barely halfway down my thighs.
Some things one must just learn to just deal with.
I instinctively head to the kitchen, ignoring the men standing outside my bedroom door, around the hallway, even in the kitchen doorway. I ignore their eyes on me, feeling somehow like a showgirl in my pajamas. I was used to eyes on me, as a celebrity, that was a good thing. But the bodyguards stare at me like they were expecting me to explode. Or have a Seraphim launch itself through the walls straight at them.
I couldn't exactly blame them.
The kitchen is empty, which is a relief. I grab a carton of milk from the fridge and a pack of unopened digestive biscuits. There wasn't a lot of food in here. Most of my bodyguards survived on either raw meat, fresh blood, pure energy or a tar-like substance they called black coffee. And also an insane amount of alcohol.
I never liked any of those, so high energy human food was what I'd been forced to tolerate. I head to the balcony, eating in silence as I curl against the love seat I'd managed to push out a few days before. I sense a bodyguard standing behind me a few feet away, always wary and at the ready to grab me.
I ignore him, setting my concentration on the view before me. Los Angeles was always an amazing place to be, even when you did have a pack of assassins always on the lookout to kill you. We'd been forced to leave Korea for safety reasons. There were just too many people and buildings and security cameras around to guarantee my safety.
Los Angeles was honestly not much of a difference. There were a lot of tourists here, since the hotel I was housed in was a pretty swanky one. It was holiday season too, so that meant a multitude of ethnicities hanging around all day every day. And even my suite had security cameras in every corner.
But it was a home away from Korea, where the stronghold of the Daemons was, and that was good enough, I suppose.
I finish my meal, emptying both the carton and pack of biscuits. I didn't always have time to eat, so when I did, I took advantage of it.
I head to bed, Jungkook using up the other half of the bed in his slumber. I was exhausted, and though I'd already fallen asleep for a solid two days, I needed a few hours extra.
I lie beside Jungkook, an arm outstretched to place a hand atop his head. I play distractedly with his hair, slowly getting longer and longer throughout the months. I close my eyes for sleep.
And then feel the bed shift softly, as a weight presses itself against my side. I open my eyes once more, though I really should've been screaming in a panic.
But then I realise that there is no need to, as I glance over my shoulder to see Jin, his back against me as he stares at my bathroom door. I hear him whisper something, and then the open door closes with a soft click, and the sheen of a powerful ward covers the door.
I blink, nonsurplussed. It was a bathroom. I don't think a Seraphim would be charging out of there anytime soon. Then again, this was Jin. He put a new meaning to the word paranoid.
"Something wrong?" I ask, my hand falling from Jungkook's head as I roll over in bed to face him. Jin's lower waist is pressed against my side, and he places a soft hand against my hip, distracted and involuntary as his eyes roam my bedroom, searching for weak spots of his wards and spells.
"Everything," I hear him breathe in answer. "Everything's wrong." He glances over his shoulder right then, looking me straight in the eye in a way that usually unnerved me.
Perhaps I was just tired, but I blinked right back.
He was dressed formally, I realised, in a black formal dress shirt and black pants. He should've looked like a waiter, but he didn't. He looked like a ing stud.
"Nothing's wrong," I say, curling against my side as I tuck my hands beneath my resting cheek. "We survived. We're okay."
"Nothing's wrong?" Jin repeats. His neutral expression has turned into an angry frown, as he looks at me in disbelief. "Nothing's wrong? There have been assassination attempts on your head an average of thrice a week. The Seraphim will find us one day, will learn how to bypass my defences soon. We can't run forever."
"And we can't live in fear forever, either." I didn't get why he always seemed to get worked up over concerns of my safety. As far as I was concerned, we were alive and safe. That's all that matters. 
My eyes travel down his face, to his shirt which had two top buttons open because he found every damn thing stifling. 
"Where have you been, anyway?" It wasn't like Jin to disappear for hours at a time without at least warning me and warding me down to my toes. "I haven't seen you."
I'd half expected him to accuse me of trying to avoid the topic at hand - which I was, partially - so his shrug surprises me.
"Just hanging around."
On anyone else, it would've been a hell of a lame excuse, but with Jin, it might just be the truth.
As a Djinn, Jin's natural state was that of air. Or somewhat. As legend has spoken of long ago, Lucifer's descendants were able to whisper in the ears of mortals without being seen, tempting them to immorality. As such, Djinn have three states of visibility, that of being unseen to all except their kind, being seen to only those they chose, and being seen to all.
The final state expended quite a bit of energy, which explained why Jin himself was so powerful. Being in the limelight, he had to be visible an average of sixteen hours a day.
Of course, that begot the question what someone so powerful was doing in a freaking boyband instead of controlling his own faction of a Court. But to each his own, I guess. I was Aamon, one of the very few beings able to control Heaven and Hell as well as all its inhabitants, yet here I was, running and hiding like a mouse in a room full of lunatic cats.
Yet I could tell that Jin wasn't telling me the whole truth.
I reach up, a hand resting against his cheek. He leans into my touch, closing his eyes. Something was wrong. Something about Jin was wrong.
"Jin?" I ask. "Where have you been?"
He opens his eyes right then, and I finally see what he'd been trying to hide.
Hunger. Exhaustion. Weakness. Fear.
"The Courts have been in meltdown ever since the attack. The Hunters you care so much about are vying to retaliate against the Daemons for attacking you so publicly. They're accusing them of planning the attack and hurting one of their own. All alliances are being pulled forward to support each Court's stand. We are this close to starting an all out war."
"So why did you disappear?"
In a grander scale of things, Jin was exactly the type of person to undermine his own existence for those of others. It wasn't much selflessness than it was an extreme suicidal tendency and lack of self worth.
"I had to speak to the Courts, testify as neutral witness." 
My eyes widen in surprise at that. So far, no one had recognized me being Aamon, save for my own Hunter's court. The fact that my bodyguard's opinion mattered to such massive political figures was a good sign, at least. I was slowly starting to be able to pull my own strings.
"What did they say?" I ask, my hand falling from his face. He frowns just a bit deeper, as if lack of my touch was a hard loss.
"They demand the Aamon's presence, asking for a word from the King himself."
I frown. "I wish they didn't call me that," I say, my hand brushing against his chest. "King Taehyung sounds like a nauseating title."
Jin doesn't say anything, face oddly tight as my hand travels. It is only a light touch, just my knuckles barely grazing against the fabric of his shirt.
His suddenly wet shirt.
I frown. Why was it wet?
I glance to where my hand had travelled, against his hip, where the black fabric was damp and noticeably darker. I press my hand against it, taking my hand away to glance at my palm.
My palm was wet. Wet with thick, silver liquid.
I'm confused for a bit. The hell was this? Why was Jin wet with it?
It hits me like a freight train. Djinn blood was silver in colour. Jin was bleeding. 
Jin. Was. Bleeding.
"What the Hell," I breathe, sitting up as I stare at the wound. "What neutral witness comes back like this?"
The façade falls, and I finally see Jin hide a grimace in pain.
"I had to break up a few fights," he confesses, though his voice is still even. "And I wasn't careful."
"A *few*?" I repeat incredulously, lowering my voice to a whisper so I wouldn't wake Jungkook.
"A lot of the representatives thought it would've been a good opportunity to try win over the Courts."
"By fighting?" I am tugging at the hem of his shirt, trying to pull it out from the line of his pants. "Were they insane?"
"No," Jin answers, his breath growing heavier now. "Merely… opportunistic. Fairly so." He finally turns to me, as I manage to tug out his shirt and am trying to lift it up and see the extent of damage done. "What are you doing?" A heavy hand rests on mine.
"Trying to see how bad that wound of yours is," I snapped, fighting to keep my voice down.
"I'm fine. It will heal in the morning."
"And what type of injury would take that long to heal?" I say, the anger dripping off my tone. I wasn't just angry. I was *pissed*. Jin should've waited for me to wake up, I should've gone with him. I knew something like this would happen.
He was a Djinn, a descendant of Lucifer himself. He was my bodyguard. Everyone would see him as a threat. Everyone would want to kill him.
"How could you have just gone in alone?" I seethe. "You could've gotten yourself killed."
"And if I had brought you, so would you," he flatly points out.
"I could've protected you!"
"You can barely protect your self. Why would you think -"
He has stopped, staring up at me. Something about the look in my eyes must've made him hesitate.
"I'm fine," he says instead. "Isn't that what matters?"
"You are *not* fine." He was trying to use my own argument against me, this pretentious prick. I lift up his shirt, peering at the injury beneath.
And feel my blood run cold.
Claw marks. Large and ruthless. Five long cuts running against his hip, extending to just beneath his pants. He hadn't even bothered to patch himself up.
"Werewolf," I breathe.
Jin doesn't bother denying it. I've raised a Werewolf for nearly a decade now. I knew one when I saw one.
"The Lycan courts had been present then," he confesses. "They wanted to lay a claim on Jungkook. They accused the Aamon of bewitching their kind to work with him and contended that that was a breach of the Alliance."
I am numb, a numbness that bore down to my bones.
I glance at Jungkook, sleeping peacefully beneath the tangle of sheets and pillows. If the Lycan Court was laying a claim on Jungkook, then I couldn't stop them. Hell, even Jungkook couldn't stop them. The blood of the pack was what bound Weres together, and when the Alpha made a decree, it was impossible for the pack to defy it.
I turn to Jin. I would deal with that later.
"So why did they attack you?"
"Because," Jin says, words careful as he bears down on me. "The people of the Court answer to the actions of the Court."
"But you're not *from* my Court," I argue. He wasn't. Jin wasn't part of my Court. He *couldn't* be part of my Court. The bounty on his head would… would… The repercussions behind that action would be insane. Jin would be labeled a traitor to his kind, a wayward vanguard to his Court and a terrorist to the people at large, for supporting a stray Aamon like me.
"I am now."
"Idiot!" I scold. "You stupid, stupid idiot!" If he wasn't already bleeding so heavily I would've strangled him. "Do you know what that means? You've sworn your damn allegiance to me and I'm not even a competent Aamon! You're going to get hurt because of me and not to mention how your loyalty will --"
I stop when Jin closes his eyes, leaning forward, finally resting his forehead against my shoulder.
"You talk too much."
"Jin!" I say, resting my hands against his biceps. And then his hands are on my chest, and he's pushed me hard enough for me to flop down against my bed.
"I said," he growls, looming over me with that look in his eyes. "You talk too much."
I nervously swallow. Jin's normally mellow voice had gone to a frighteningly deep baritone that was the clearest indication of his hunger for energy. And with his status and power, only one source could properly satisfy him. Me.
I look up at him. When Jin was truly, truly weak and hungry, his eyes turned a glowing red, just like legends say demons do. 
He supports his weight by resting a hand by my head and another lightly on my waist.
"Now," he starts, breath suddenly thick and foggy. "I distinctly remember your promise to return the power I loaned you." I feel the blood from his wound drip down on to my shorts. Jin must be really weak and hungry. "May I make my claim now?"
Always the gentleman, I think to myself, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.
"Yeah."
And then his lips are on mine, and he is moving.
Djinn actually have a multitude of ways to feed off of their prey, the most popular being that of possession. As Jin had once explained to me, it was the most satisfying and most thorough. Much like the Exorcism of Emily Rose, a Djinn could force himself onto a host and feed for days, ultimately killing the host when there was no more life energy left in their body. 
But Jin avoided it like the plague because it went against his morals (which I found a bit strange, to be honest) and that he was merely too strong. A host would never be able to withstand the power running in his veins, and would in all likelihood, simply explode from the humongous onslaught of power.
And so Jin simply took the safest route, that of lust.
It is strange to say aloud and even stranger to try and explain, but the human body gives out transferable energy in a multitude of ways, all of which a Djinn could feed off of.
But lust is of a category on its own. 
As most know, lust was one of the seven deadly sins proclaimed by God and agreed upon by Satan. And as a descendant of Lucifer himself, no other form of energy could sustain as well as a sin. 
Lust was also the most pleasurable of feedings, with the transfer of energy feeling much like getting high. Think of an incubus, if you will, a demon that fed only by feeding off the energy of their victims through . Jin didn't have to go to that length, but it was still mostly the same thing.
Such as what he was doing right now.
His kisses are gentle, hesitant even, as I instinctively run my hands through his hair to pull him closer. And he muses me, pushing the kiss deeper as his hand on my hip travels upwards, going inside my shirt. I bite the urge to laugh. I was ticklish.
But Jin's touch was electrifying, the feel of his smooth hands on my skin enough of an aphrodisiac. I was already high.
And then the feeding begins, the gentle tug of my power as Jin's own prods at it, calculating, hungry and waiting. Jin's wandering arm suddenly wraps around my back, and he roughly pulls me against him. The sensation is surprising, and I arch my back as the friction between us makes me breathless. I feel him smile in the kiss, nibbling lightly at my lower lip. I was too high to scowl.
And then the prod becomes a pull, and the high becomes one massive migraine.
Jin was feeding alright, but I'd underestimated how fast he could do it. 
My hands travel to his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin. I wanted him off me but I couldn't. He was like a drug, a drug that was going to kill me if I didn't get it off soon.
"Jin," I gasp, breaking away from the kiss. And immediately feel the intense craving for more of him. He wasn't done feeding yet. He hadn't let me go. Jin travels downwards, kissing my jaw, the nape of my neck, my collar bones. Every kiss was electrifying, mind-numbingly pleasurable in ways that I could never think to imagine. And every kiss was a feed. 
The more he kissed me, the more he fed. And I was already dangerously low.
My migraine was starting to escalate too, already seeing stars from how weak I was.
"Jin." I try again. It sounded like a pleasurable groan. Damn it!
And his kisses go lower.
They weren't electrifying any longer. Each kiss, each feed was a stab of pain that ran down my spine like active currents. Technically still electrifying, but not in a great sense.
"Jin!"
I think something finally came through, as Jin stops, his head just below my navel, at the hem of my shorts. His face seemed to be set in stone and there was a far-off look in his eyes. He was trying to regain control, to relinquish the hold he had on me.
"Stop," I pant, fully aware of how pained I sounded. "Please."
And then Jin pulls himself upwards, facing me once more. He looks calmer, I note, trying to regain my breath while at it. The strange colour in his eyes is gone, and I am left looking at the familiar warm brown orbs again.
"I'm sorry," I start. He obviously wasn't satisfied yet. But I had nothing left in me. And then he places a warm hand against my chin, holding my head in place. He inches closer and I panic.
No more kisses!, I think frantically as I begin to struggle.
My hands are on his chest as I try to push him away, and my legs flail, which only allows him to get a thigh between them, ultimately squashing me in place.
And then he kisses me.
And I relax immediately.
He was returning the energy, I realise. Not by much, but just enough to sustain me and at least keep my head from swimming with the clouds.
This time he breaks the kiss quickly. The awkward thing is that he doesn't move away from me, so I'm left with a full-on view of his face practically two inches from mine. 
He has a good-looking face, I quickly decide, as I blink up at him.
And then he closes his eyes, and reaches up to plant a soft kiss between my eyebrows.
"I should be the one to apologize," he says, moving away from me. "As the representative of the Aamon's Court -"
I could hear the amusement in his tone which coming from him, signified the only trace of a joke you'd ever get. But I still panicked, backtracking as I look up at him.
"You're a Djinn," I numbly point out, still trying to arrange my thoughts after that mind-numbing feed.
"I'm aware."
"My Court -"
"Djinn aren't bound to their Courts, Taehyung." I can feel his hand leisurely go inside my shirt, as if it was the most natural thing to do. It travels upwards, knicking my skin with his nails here and there as I catch my breath. What is it with Jin and the effects he has on me. "I can swear allegiance to any Court I desire without repercussions from my own."
"And how is that?" I try to argue, as Jin's nail brushes oh so slightly against my skin. I squirm slightly, and then feel the pressure that was his thigh between my legs strengthen.
"Simply put, my King doesn't give a damn. Lucifer encourages his children to cause trouble on Earth because it allows him to find a way to weasel in and ultimately take over."
"So you're trying to take over my Court?"
"No," Jin answers, and his hand has travelled to my back. I find myself arching once more, as his hand roams the skin. "I simply do as I please, and if Lucifer thinks it is to his liking, well."
"Well?"
He lifts me once more, completely off the bed as he presses my chest against his. I won't tell you just how badly my breath hitched.
"Well," he continues, brown eyes bearing into mine, "I shall send his Kingdom crashing down on his shoulders in flames."
"Why?" I say, completely meaning it as I look up at him. "Why risk so much for me?"
"Because I already swore my name to your Court, didn't I?" He answers lightly, setting me down so I rest against the bed once more.
"Yes, but -"
"No more talking," Jin says smoothly, though the finality in his tone reverberates through me. He lowers himself to me, chest resting lightly against mine, and then kisses the left side of my jaw, right where the bruise was. And I feel the warm bloom of healing energy, as Jin heals it with just the slightest touch of his lips on my skin. "You're bruised. In a lot of places."
"Yeah, well running for your life tends to do that," I say breathlessly, as his innocent kisses travel lower. He lifts my shirt up, staring momentarily at the length of a bruise running across my waist.
"Did I do that?" And the innocence behind that question makes me laugh.
"Since you were trying to save my life when you did it, I'll forgive you." And then my breath hitches again as he kisses the sensitive spot.
"You're so jittery," Jin points out, each hand of his resting securely against the inside of my thigh to stop me from squirming. His weight was resting between my legs as he looks up at me with a frown. And he was expecting me to *keep still?*
"At least it isn't from nerves," I point out.
"Are you sure?"
And he runs a hand up my shorts.
"What the **," I breathe, squirming again as Jin tightens his hold on me.
"Language. Jungkook is eight, in case you forgot."
I bite down on my lip, instinctively turning to Jungkook, who is still asleep, snoring soundly despite all the noise Jin and I have made.
And then I feel Jin's hand quickly push the loose short up, planting the quickest kiss on the bruise I had against my hip, and pulling the sleeve back down before I could smack the top of his head. 
I belatedly feel the bloom of power that fixes my skin.
"Stop that," I say with feeling.
"You want me to stop healing you?" He asks me, innocent frown on his face in confusion.
"I'm healed enough!"
And then he pulls himself up again, looming over me. 
And then he kisses me, a light and innocent touch that barely gives me time to react before he separates to stare me down again.
"I'm sorry."
I blink. Was the man saying sorry? To *me*?
"I was unaware of how hungry I was," he continues. "I should've been more in control. I could've killed you."
"It's okay," I find myself saying. "You didn't, anyway."
He quirks his eyebrow at me, always amused by my sudden answers.
"I could have."
"But you didn't."
He pauses at that, correctly predicting that I would hold on to that answer no matter how the argument progressed.
"You're unusually adamant today," he points out.
"And you're unusually stupid," I counter. "How could you have sworn your name to my service *without my own damn consent*!!"
Jin suddenly glances at Jungkook, a wary look in his eyes. I follow his gaze, and see Jungkook squirm in his sleep, on the verge of waking up. Jin reaches over, rubbing his hand in smooth motions against the small of Jungkook's back as he makes quiet shushing sounds.
And then Jungkook settles, falling into the embrace of sleep once more, and I stare questioningly at Jin.
"Saw you do it once," he answers.
"And you managed to emulate my touch?"
He shrugs at that, as if mimicking my feel, my warmth and my movements to a freaking *werewolf* was no big deal. "I've been hanging around you a lot," he says, as if it is an explanation enough.
I decide to drop it. There was no budging Jin when he didn't want to move.
"And one doesn't require consent when swearing allegiance to a Court," he continues, smoothly picking up the conversation as if it hasn't been dropped in the first place. "Presenting it to representatives of the Court is enough."
I blink, catching on unusually quick.
"My Court was present?"
"Of course, when it has something to do with the Aamon."
"But they don't even recognize me as Aamon."
"Yes," Jin agrees. "But they don't deny that you are."
Okay, I wasn't getting in.
"Just because Israel doesn't recognize Palestine as a country, doesn't mean it isn't."
"But Palestine is a state… isn't it?"
And then Jin rolls his eyes at me, having had enough of my level of intelligence.
"Just because 1 + 1 = 2, doesn't mean 2 + 0 can't equal two."
"So they won't deny my existence," I say, slowly having it get to me. "But they won't accept my rule?"
Jin nods at that.
"So what will it take for them to accept it?"
"Kiss up to them," Jin shrugs. "As our politics usually go."
"Unlikely," I answer, snorting for good show.
"I knew you'd say that."
"So did you manage to resolve the conflict?"
"It will take time," he answers honestly. If there was one thing I liked about Jin, it was his dislike to beat around the bush. "But they'll get there eventually."
He straightens right then, and I swallow the physical loss I feel at the lack of his skin against mine. I curl against myself, suddenly feeling pretty damn insecure.
"Time," I murmur, gaze far-off as Jin stares at me. "Something I don't have."
"You are Aamon," Jin says, knowing my thoughts before I'd even thought of them. "Whether they like it or not. Sooner or later, they'll realise that a being of such power would work better on their side."
"You make me sound like a monster."
Jin's eyebrows bunch together as he frowns. "You are no monster. You're just powerful. Extremely so."
"And I don't want to be. I don't want to be Aamon."
"Many would die for your position," he points out.
"Well, I'm not 'many' people, aren't I?" I snap.
"No," he nods. "You're not."
"I'm just…" I swallow. I had been raised to never show my emotions around people. Emotions equate to weakness and weakness was something that people would take advantage of, no matter who you are. Pouring my heart out, even to someone as stone cold as Jin, was almost painful. "Scared."
"Of the Seraphim," Jin wrongfully concludes.
"No," I say, pushing myself to sit up instead. I lean against the headboard, my legs against my chest as I stare at Jin, who nonchalantly stares right back. "I'm scared… that I might not be a good Aamon."
"You'll learn the ropes soon enough."
"That's exactly it," I point out. "No one's here to show me the ropes. Ezekiel died before he could teach me. My own court is against me. I don't even know how to use my powers! How can someone like me be expected to rule the Underworld? No one would believe in me!"
Jin is quiet right then, and I'm confident I've talked him into a corner. But then something sets in his eyes, something hard, something pretty damn adamant.
"I believe in you," he says, voice so quiet I would've missed it if I hadn't been concentrating. "If I didn't, I wouldn't have sworn myself to you."
Then it's my turn to fall quiet. Jin's words tugged at my heartstrings. He believed in me. Someone, finally, believed in me. If I wasn't so exhausted, I would've bawled right then and there.
"But in the grander scale of things," I say instead, knowing the defeat in my voice was real. "Who are you? What power do you have to stop these people?"
He pauses, nodding once as he looked away. I wonder if I'd hurt his feelings right then.
"Lucifer," he says suddenly, after a pregnant pause. "Was my father."
"Yes, yes," I snap, not in the mood to get into another of his repetitive stories. "You've told me once before. Descendant of Lucifer, highest level Djinn --"
"No, Taehyung," he interrupts me, suddenly sounding infinitely old. "Lucifer was my father. I am the son of the fallen angel."
I pause, looking at him like I'd expect a neon sign labeled 'LIAR' flashing above his head. But the look in Jin's eyes could freeze hell, and the pain I see in them, at a secret he'd once guarded so closely but finally allowed someone to know, was real.
Son of Satan himself.
"Oh." I couldn't think of anything to say. "Was he a good father?"
"Nothing would please me more than to see him burn along with his kingdom."
Oh. Not very much then.
I thought of asking more, because wow, the son of Satan himself here on Earth! If word got out about this, surely the commotion it caused would undermine my own. Maybe they'd be so busy with his tail that they'd forget about mine.
But I see the wary posture, see the pain in his eyes. This wasn't something Jin was proud of, nor something he'd want to speak at length about. I'd already hit a brick wall as we speak.
But I had one question, one final question that had been gnawing at me since the first time I'd heard of the concept of God and Angels and Devils.
"Tell me," I hesitantly start. "Does Satan really have skin as red as a lobster?"
And the look Jin gives me is enough, as he's suddenly exploded in uncontrollable laughter, hugging himself around his waist as he flops down against the bed. I stare.
He'd hidden his face against the mattress, literally *vibrating* with laughter as I stare blankly at him. It is a rare enough of occasion to see Jin *smile*, much less laugh. And even less howling with laughter so badly that he was leaking tears.
"Jin!" I say. My expression must've been comical - I've been told that I have that face - because Jin breaks out into another round of laughter, rolling over onto his back and hiding his face in his hands to avoid looking at me.
The *hell*. Was my face that bad?
"Jin!" I call again, the singular syllable extending into a whine as I crawl towards him, leaning slightly against his hip as I tuck my legs against my side. "Answer me!"
And then the rounds of laughter finally stop, and Jin takes his hands away from his face. The smile is already gone and I pout. I had to wonder why this man was so selfish in his smiles. But his eyes are still moist from laughing so hard, so I guess that counted as something.
"No, Taehyung," he answers instead, reaching up to cup my face between his hands. "Lucifer does *not* have skin as red as a lobster."
I frown. "Oh. So are Lucifer and Satan the same person then?"
"Yes."
"So… you're son of Satan."
The hold against my cheeks tightens fractionally. "Yes."
"Do you have wings?"
The amusement in his eyes returns, and the hold loosens once more. "In my true form, yes."
"Can I see?"
"One day, perhaps."
"Do you have siblings?"
"In Hell, yes."
"And I'm the Guardian of Heaven and Hell."
Jin nods this time, his eyes narrowing fractionally as he traces the beginnings of an idea I knew he wouldn't like.
"So can I visit your siblings one day?"
"Have you ever heard of Persephone, Taehyung?"
Familiar, but I wasn't really in the mood to think so hard. I shake my head.
"Look her up," Jin says, "and you'll know why that's such a bad idea."
"Jin!"
And he laughs again, a quiet sound that makes his chest vibrate again. He pulls me forward, kissing my forehead.
"Never change, Taehyung."
And then he is gone, disappearing into whatever place it was he chose, and making me flop down against the bed since there was nothing to support me now.
Damn it, that man sure knew how to avoid an unwanted topic.
But if the Prince of Hell could spatially move as and when he pleased, maybe I, the ruler of the Forty Legions of Heaven and Hell, could do so too.
I just had to figure it out.
With no teacher by my side. And a full barrage of enemies wanting to kill me left and right.
But maybe I could do it. After all, I had the son of Lucifer by my side. I heard he was pretty powerful. And besides.
He believed in me.
Finally, someone did.
I really can't help the stupid smile on my face as I reach over to Jungkook, hugging him against me as he instinctively rubs his face against my chest, finding solace in my scent.
I had Jin. And I had Jungkook. And a few bodyguards, as well as the Hunter's Court by my side. We weren't much, but we were something.
Oh, I realize, and I was Taehyung. I was the damn Aamon, and I wasn't going to let a few opposers stop me from letting my rule be a good one.
I could do this. I believed in me.

 

 

 

================================

So, that's basically it. 

Do leave a comment below for your thoughts and opinions! Also, if you want me to extend this into multi-chapters, leave a not too! If demand is high, I might consider :)

Also, does anyone know *why* AFF only lets me put my fic on subscriber and member only settings? So weird!

 

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nochutaekook
#1
even after almost a year of the ending, I still come back here for comfort :) words can't be enough to express how grateful I'm for finding it. thanks for all your effort <3 hope you're doing fine auther-nim
Bidell #2
Chapter 14: This is amazing! Thank you so much for writing this. I enjoyed reading this so much.
VanteKook
#3
Chapter 14: I normally don't care about commenting (let alone having an account) or reading lng fics. BUT your fanfic broke every rule in me :") I was never this attached to something and here I am reading till my eyes burn. This fanfic is the best thing that ever happened to me during this quarantine. It gave me multiple emotions from crying to laughing my off and my friend, this fic of your is O R I G I N A L. I need a live action\anime adaptation of this right now! someone in the comments said this should be turned into a book and I couldn't agree more.. I'd buy the first copy and would like to have your signature on it!
I'm left speechless at the end. this made me ship Taejin tbh xD and I don't regret it. the characters are really interesting and it's honestly terrifying how real their emotions are. like the characters are so real! everything about them. their reactions and actions feel so real..... H-how? not only that but you also know how to capture and write down emotions\al scenes so well that make the reader drown into it deeply. so detailed. chef kiss~
I'd LOVE to read more from you. be it any ship or story. as long as it is written by you.
take care author and thanks for the time you put into this~ :)
Aubrey19 #4
Chapter 14: Your story is just amazing! I was not bored at any point. Even if I wasn't able to read it continuously, I was able to ride on each characters' emotions easily.

Hopefully, you keep on writing, you have great talent! ? Thanks again for this! Borahae! ?
bcresserz
#5
Chapter 14: Firstly, thank you. This has been honestly the best thing I have read in a long time, and I'm saying 'thing' because it somehow feels degrading to call your wonderful work just a fanfic . In all truth I wish you would change the names to avoid copywrite and turn this into a physical book, purely so I could buy a copy to keep (and also so I could demand that everyone I know reads it without having the explain who the hell BTS are). Thank you for persevering and finishing it, thank you for writing so well and with such an interesting concept and thank you for making the characters feel so fleshed out and believable. If you wouldn't mind, may I print your chapters out purely so I can reread this in the future without fear of it being deleted? If you're uncomfortable with that idea I understand, please let me know if its okay :)
nochutaekook
#6
Chapter 14: The fic is over and everything is worse now :'D I honestly cried during it. why did you do this to me? you just killed me here T^T everything is so sad in general. I don't care they're happy at the end, the fact of what you've done to them remains :( I hope these trampolines were worth it. still, this chapter was such a rollercoaster. wow..wow.... I've never thought a human can write something as original as this! If I had the money or the job, I'd definately make a TV series adaptation out of this.

everything is so cool and everyone is soooo badass in here and how you so smoothly made two of the prophices occur. I was so scared there. also Jin and Taehyung's last scenes together hit so hard :( Jin and Jungkook's last arrgument also hit so bad. Jungkook was right there.

I think the saddest moment there is when Taehyung talked to Jungkook about his last plan. when he was on the bed and Jungkook was crying on his lap and Jin watching behind the door with Namjoon. it gets sadder when you imagine it for real. I'm really missing this so much. I wished to see the rest of BTS or Taehyung's reaction when he ses his parents or Lucifer's reaction to his son's death (maybe a bonus ;D lol kidding.. unless...). but I guess the ending is pretty satisfying. it's better than the thought of how you could have killed everyone and kept Jin to walk on this earth alone.... I honestly expected everything from you. your ending is the best honestly, so can't argue with that. despite how sad it is :")

I can't wait for your next work. you write about fantasy and emotions so well. idk if I want to read more of these from you or read about other catigories :) as for pairing.. maybe Taekook, Jikook, Minjoon , Sope or another Taejin :3 hehe~ work with what you feel is suiting. and I love how the morals of this story that redmption is always open and you still have the chance to atone for your past mistakes. and there's me who learned to hate the angels and sympathy Lucifer and his children xD

thank you so much for your effort and for that 66,084 words :( we don't deserve you.. and stay safe <3
OkBoomer69 #7
Chapter 14: Oh snap! this has been so great so far. that ending so satisfying and great. I think it was the best ending.

I'm really speechless at it. no words can ever describe how amazed I'm. damn. it breaks my heart how our trio are all.. :( each one made a sacrifice to save the others and it really shows. the message is so strong at the end. I'm so glad to read it. can't wait for your next work~
Sam_XD
#8
Chapter 14: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1154135/14'>Wherever You May Be</a></span>
Where can I start? Took me 12 hours and 15 minutes to finish it all.

I've N E V E R came across or read anything like it. What a rollercoaster. Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I'm thrown over the window. I kept murmuring "amazing. Amazing." Every time something new came up. 66k damn words. I've tried once writing and the furthest I reached was exactly 6k words. I complained so much and yet here you are done 11x times. Right in the face :") you are a goddess to be able to write that much while keeping everything detailed and barely a typo in there.

Sooooo much happened there. Too damn much that it felt I'm reading 3 chapters of yours. What a great ending. Great characters who I loved so much.

About this chapter:

I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT. Everything is so great and original. I'm always speechless at everything. From getting all heads to make a meeting to fighting Chaos. A masterpiece. A perfect, perfect masterpiece. How wild your imagination could take you? How could someone come up with all of that? Re building the court to look for the memories, Seeing how Taehyung trains so amazingly, how you arrange a meeting in two days and fight the evil. Wow.

I nearly lost it when you did that to Taehyung. I waited for a miracle with Jin. I had to stop before reading his will. I hated you at that part. You really broke all of the expectations.

I swear if this was posted on Wattpad (even though it's ty now) I would have wrote a comment on every part of this chapter. There's so much to talk about and it hasn't been 6 hours since I finished it.

-Jin achieving his dream and growing a soul in him was pretty a satisfying ending. I loved it. The sacrifice he did. He's soooooo badasss in here. Especially when he fought Chaos inside that dome. BADBICH ACTIVATED!!

-Astaroth is my favourite side-character (after mah man louis v_v) and seeing him was one of the best things that happened (I gotta say it)

- it's not a chapter written by you if it didn't have "fall like a sack of potatoes" I freaking love this line and it's your trade mark in every chapter. I hate how I forget to point it out xD

- Taehyung, doing all he could to save those around him, just proven how a wonderful soul he is. I wish we had a lot of him to rule our countries. Imagine how the earth would be on peace with his help. Him helping his family even when he's dead makes the whole thing sadder. I was finna slap or punch someone at his funeral. Girl that part stabbed a bish and that bish was ME!! Also I wished there was a scene where he meets his brothers. Although it wasn't the main goal/point, but a bish can still dream :")

- Jungkook, I don't really have to say it every time right? About how freaking adorable he is :( although his last argument with Jin made sense. I'm glad he let them all work together.

- Sikhyun (ig that's how you write his name lol) deserved better.
- Namjoon and Hannan, I feel sad for them, yet happy they're living with Caine. It's sad yet happy yet sad UGHHH D"""X

- I hated all the vampires in here for what happened to Taehyung because of them >:( even though Yoohwan is one of a character >://( and Yunho's siblings are highly appreciated here. I was curious about them

- when Chaos speaks in all caps, it terrified me somehow :)

- when I saw the title of the story at the end, I was like https://am21.mediaite.com/tms/cnt/uploads/2020/04/Rick-Dalton-Pointing-Is-a-New-Meme-Because-Thats-Where-We-Are-1200x672.jpg



Right now, I'm smiling because it was a satisfying ending. Started when Taehyung became the Aamon and ended with his reign ending and with the fact that he's the last one. So creative and the fact that you wrote it with no direction in mind????? Cut the lies, you've been planning for all of this since 1659 and this whole story passed down your family. You can't be serious there.

This fic has been more than a solace to me. The reason I'd wake up too excited in my weekends to check if there's a chapter up, instead of waking up lazily.

It was my good friend that kept me entertained and also watched me grow. It has been exactly 3 years since I accidentally came across it. Although the first chapter wasn't the greatest, but I somehow knew I should keep reading and that was the best decision I've ever made. I knew it when I was on my last year of high school and now I'm in third stage in college of Medicine and it still gives me the joy of my life. I re read every chapter between now and then whenever I'm down or alone. It has really been my little friend :3 and also my baby and my heart ❤

Thank you. Thank you so much for the effort. Thank you for your time and for your creativity. Thank you for making Taejin with an interesting fanfiction that I don't think any other ship would be as blessed to have you.

I can't wait to read your next work. Anything, but you seem to write so well when it comes to emotions or psychology in general. I still remember you wanting to write about orphans struggles, and it's a brilliant idea. You have this talent of you that you can touch the heart of the reader. Pairings don't really matter. Do whatever makes you happy~

And thank you ❤ stay at home ❤

Ps: when I read the status. It made my heart scream like a cat meme. Old me was never ready for that :(
Sam_XD
#9
Chapter 14: OMG YESSS FINALLY ToT
brb I'll be reading it!!
Thanks author! ❤
nochutaekook
#10
Chapter 13: only a 'wow' can never be enough to describe this chapter. first, heaven doing Tae so dirty like that. they broke him and destroyed him mentally. then those useless parliaments AFKJSGEWHKTHEM
it's like everyone to their own problems. they all seem broken inside yet try to keep a smile since they are together. it's sweet to see those five as a family (or seven if we add the two vampires) all hopes for Yoohwan :( seeing my man Yunho so calculative and boss-like when they went to Petra WAS HOT! how can he be like that!???
I love Hannan and Jungkook friendship :( <3 protect them at all costs and I will honestly agree with what he said, I mean if I had a person like Jin around, it would be hell of fun to bully him xD.
and UGHHHHH CLIFFHANGER NUUUUUU! the next gonna be A BOMB!! Tae dont die, dont fight Jin, Kook dont die you too, petra stay the duck away from Joon, and Hanna stop being a d, Yoohwan you be saved....... probably, Yoochun you okay? (he makes me feel devastated) Yunho you smexy ;) , illusion Tae go away, Caine stufo & Eve you bish