"Do you feel like it's getting any better?"
"Not really," I confess. "Even when they're not saying anything, I can still feel that they're there. Like they're just… waiting."
Adam is quiet, sitting on his throne as he rests his chin against his propped up hand. He is thinking, his golden irises practically piercing through me.
"Why can't I get rid of the voices in my head?" I sigh.
"What you are experiencing is a tricky concept to heal. If you had depression or bipolar disorder, maybe I could heal it. But what you have is tied to your memories."
"PTSD," I mumble under my breath.
"I could make you forget the memories," Adam offers.
I shake my head. "That's just as risky."
"For you risk losing important memories tied to your duties. The only real solution is for you to grow stronger on your own and overcome those traumas."
"I keep thinking I can. But I guess just believing I can isn't enough."
"What are you so afraid of?" he asks me.
"Nothing," I answer, before correcting myself. "Everything. I don't know."
"You're afraid of messing up." Adam stands, walking towards me as his braids and robes drag across the ground. He is, as I have always, always described him, as regal as royalty. "I have experienced that fear before."
"You have?"
"Every Aamon experienced it. We have a lot on our shoulders." Adam reaches out, resting his fingers against my temple as his eyes start to softly glow. I feel the calmness in my mind, travelling down my form to quell any hidden worries resting in my soul. "Your mental state is extremely fragile, Taehyung," he says, as he makes his way back up his throne, before gracefully sitting down again. "Periodically, I can strengthen your mental walls to prevent possession. But I can't do it forever. Know that you are at your mental limits. Be careful."
"I don't know what to do," I sigh. "I feel like I'm going crazy."
"You're not," he says. "People like us, people who have been through a lot, will always have moments like this."
"Not you, though."
Adam smiles softly, a quiet smile that hinted to me that there was so much I didn't know. "I was banished from Heaven for disobeying God, and then sent down to Earth where I walked alone for forty years, learning how to survive in strange lands before I finally found my loved one. The mental torment I experienced from these events alone almost drove me insane."
"What happened to her? Eve, right?" I feel like I've known Adam for years due to the flexible timeline between Heaven and Earth, but one thing I've always noticed was that Adam was alone - always.
"She left me to enjoy her Heaven," Adam answers, saying it as if it weren't a big deal.
"I'm sorry," I automatically say.
"Did you cause it?" Adam rhetorically asks. "Do not apologize for things beyond your control."
"Sorry."
Adam gives me an unamused glance.
"Eve made the right decision. I carried responsibility from the moment I was created. I don't know rest. Even when Eve died, I carried on with my duties. I didn't grieve. Perhaps I didn't know how."
Well that's literally the most I've known from Adam about himself since ever.
"How did you make it through alone on Earth?"
"I don't know," Adam confesses. "I had no purpose and no support. Days and nights had no meaning. I don't know how I made it through that period alive, but I did. And so can you."
"I don't know if I can."
"So will you give up? Heaven will always welcome you as your final resting place."
I shake my head. "I can't die now. Not when the initiate is still young."
"The Aamon's lineage will continue even after your death."
"I don't care about that," I say. "I'm just worried about who will take after me. What if the Sixth Aamon is just like me, untrained and unprotected? Worse, what if the prophecy about him comes true? I can't take that risk."
"That's not your responsibility."
"It is!" I counter. "Why else would I have a vision about it? That's why I can't die yet. I need to raise my initiate right. I need to teach him what I know and how to rule with compassion. I don't want him to struggle like me."
"Are you strong enough to do it? You could save the trouble and kill him."
I look up at Adam, gauging the look on his face. "Would you?"
"Swiftly."
I shake my head, looking away. "I can't do it."
"Not even to avoid the end of the world?"
"No," I say. "I'll find a way to save everyone. That's why I'm Aamon."
"I commend you for wanting to raise a noble initiate. But what of yourself? Can your body and mind take it?"
I am quiet again, unsure how I can answer that.
"As ruling Aamon, you have priority over yourself."
"I know," I whisper.
"If your mental state is not well, you endanger maybe just as many people as a corrupted future Aamon might."
I didn't want to endanger anyone. If I couldn't protect the people under my rule, what was the point?
"What should I do?"
"Do what is logical," Adam says. "Do what you need to do."
"But I don't know what to do."
Adam studies me, the look in his eyes enough of a hint. "Yes you do."

I wake up. Caine is sitting by my side, quietly studying my face.
"How'd it go?"
"The usual."
"So still no end in sight to the voices in your head."
I run a hand through my hair, pushing it off my face as I sit up. "Except for when I'm in Heaven. The voices get quiet."
"You could stay there."
"No. I belong on Earth."
Caine tilts his head slightly to the side, arms crossed over his chest.
"You care so little for yourself."
"Thanks?"
"It isn't a compliment." I have nothing to say to that, so I keep quiet.
"How's the initiate? It's been almost a month."
"Better," I muse. "Not as destructive."
"Not the person you saw in your visions?"
My smile fades away as I remember. "I still get them. I feel like the future keeps changing. I don't even know what I need to change anymore."
"What do you see?" Caine asks.
"Flashes. Too many to put a concise story, but I see the destruction and chaos and I just know I'm a reason for it somehow."
"And the initiate?"
"He's there. Always."
Caine falls into silence, staring into the distance.
"Have you seen the orbs as of late?"
"I thought Adam was responsible over them."
"Of course. But have you seen them?"
I shake my head. "Why the question?"
"They're clouding over." He turns to me. "It's a bad sign."
I tilt my head. "What does it mean?"
"A calamity nearing, one strong enough to change the written fate of a lot of Creation."
"What did Adam say?"
"He thinks Doom's Day is coming."
I stare at Caine, unsure whether he's serious.
"Is the world ending already?"
"We don't know. No one does."
I look away to stare into the distance, suddenly nervous and insecure. "What if I can't stop it?"
"It's not your job to stop it."
"Yes it is," I breathe.
Caine is quiet for a while. "You're afraid of fighting Azazel?"
I belatedly realize that I'm wringing my hands distractedly, and stop.
"Terrified," I confess.
"Would you do it?"
"To avoid Doom's Day? Do I have a choice?"
"What if that prophecy comes true, that you must kill him in order to stop Doom's Day from happening?"
"It won't," I softly whisper.
"What if it does? Will you kill him to save the world?"
"Jin is my world, my sun and stars. I would kill myself before I would kill him."
"You would let everyone suffer."
I clench my hand into a fist, gripping it tightly enough that I feel my nails dig into my skin. "If it comes to it, when the decision is presented before me, I will act as needed. But for now, let me try change the prophecy, Caine. Why am I the Aamon if I can't save everyone?"
"You were not made the Aamon to be a saviour, Taehyung. Bearing such strong responsibility on yourself will drive you insane. This is Creation. They will drive themselves to destruction regardless."
I stand, running my hands through my hair as I walk several steps to calm myself. "Please stop pressuring me."
"I'm not trying to pressure you."
"It sure feels like it." I turn to Caine again. "Everyone keeps trying to control my rule."
"We're not. We're just trying to advise you to make the best decision."
"You tried to kill my initiate behind my back."
"Heaven is trying to keep you safe. The child is prophesied to kill you."
"He's still just a child. He hasn't done anything yet."
"Will you wait for him to?"
I stare at Caine as he levels his gaze at me. "Yes."
"Prevention is better than cure, Taehyung."
"Not when an innocent life is at stake."
Caine sighs, almost deflating. "Taehyung -"
"Shut up, Caine!" The full length mirror, windows and vase by my bed explode, bursting like little balloons as the shrapnel falls to the floor. My temper is rising. "You talk about forgiveness and hope that God wipes your slate clean. You want God's mercy but can't afford the same to His Creation? I'm protecting around me and that's final."
I stalk out the room, slamming the door behind me. I couldn't be in the same room as Caine for the time being. The voices in my head are loud, almost bubbling with excitement.

*it's coming, it's coming*
*the end of times is coming*
*and it will be all your fault*

I keep walking, without a destination but with a reason to. The voices have not stopped despite therapy. In fact, I would say that they've gotten more aggressive, growing in number and resilience as they whisper little distractions in my ear. I won't say I've gotten better at ignoring them - they are difficult to ignore. But I will say I've gotten better at pretending. Jin no longer asks about whether I still hear them, and I've stopped reacting so catatonically to their presence. Maybe I could just ignore them out of existence.
I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my palms against my eyelids as I try block out the mental intrusions.
They were just voices - small, insignificant whispers of my own insecurities.
I open my eyes to see that I've been shifted - transported to my Parliament without me realizing.
"Your Highness Kim Taehyung. Your presence is needed."
I stare at my eleven members of Parliament, twelve including myself. They are seated in a row on a long table, all collectively staring at me. It felt like I was being interviewed.
"I'm here," I reply.
It's strange. I see them a lot more often now that I'm a member of Parliament myself. Technically, the Parliament don't need to refer to me to make decisions, since as the Aamon I couldn't remain partisan to any side, but I was expected to be in the know and contactable at all times, and that included ripping me out of thin air to attend their meetings.
"What do you need?"
"Have you chosen the new member of Parliament yet?" Peter, the oldest and the person of highest authority amongst the Parliament asks me.
"Not yet."
"And what is taking you so long?" James asks.
"I have certain qualifications I want them to have."
"Choosing an individual to create conflict between us will only inhibit the flow of your natural power," the Other James, the man, warns.
"I'm not trying to create conflict. I just want someone who will stand for what's right."
"And how much longer do you need to find this person?" Simone asks.
I shrug my shoulders. "I will take as long as I need."
Peter leans forward, elbows resting on the table. "You hold in your hand a portion of our power, Your Highness. This, along with the natural power you have as Aamon, is too much power for one individual. It may drive you to ruin."
"I'm working on it," I quietly say. "I just need time."
"Time is exactly what we have given you," Matthew speaks up. "One month to assimilate the initiate into our Court. The Parliament granted your request and the time to give him up draws near."
"Hanaan is just a kid," I point out. "He doesn't need the training you intend to give him."
"He is the only initiate we have. He must be prepared."
"He is nine. Let him be."
"You requested thirty days to spend with the initiate without our interference," Peter reminds me. "We mused you. But time is almost up. The initiate must begin his training."
"He is being trained," I argue. "By me and Jin -"
"The son of Lucifer, your fated enemy. You allow that outsider into your social circle and trust him as an advisor to carry out your decisions. He is not fit to train the future Aamon."
"You killed Sobekneferu *and* Ezekiel for what you called dissent. You tried to kill me when I was an initiate. If I know anyone who's fit to raise Hanaan, it definitely isn't you guys."
"Only the Parliament is aware of the secrets of the Aamon's Court -"
"Which you refuse to even share with me!" I bite back at John.
"In due time," Peter calmly replies.
"Then I'll give you Hanaan in due time," I say. "When I think he's ready to make his own decision and stand his ground."
"You endanger the boy," Andrew warns.
"I endanger him even more by handing him over to you. Hanaan stays with me until I deem him ready to join you."
"You are aware that you are creating conflict in your own Court?"
"Good! Someone has to stand up to your wack decisions."
"You would trust a demon over your own Parliament."
I stare at Peter, challenging him. "Jin has been there for me in the many instances you were not. I chose him to be my Earthly Advisor and he has the authority to help me when needed. If you want to win my favour, then do more than sit around telling me what to do!"
A burst of power leaves me, travelling like a ripple around me. I am forcefully shifted, teleported to the fields outside. My power continues to travel, slamming into nearby trees as it rips them all in half.
I close my eyes, taking in a shaky breath.
With my power growing, outbursts were only going to hurt someone one day. I had to learn to control myself. Otherwise, I was only going to prove them right.

*It's hard, isn't it?*

"Yeah," I sigh aloud, unintentionally answering to the voice in my head. Great. I could barely control my mouth too.

*I know.*

I freeze this time, feeling the hairs at the back of my neck stand. Had the voice just…responded?

"What do you know?" I hesitantly ask.

*Your pains, of course.*

I feel my heart race, my breathing slowly getting erratic.
No way. No fcuking way. The voices were figments of my imagination, broken pieces of my mind. There was no way they could have a conscience, enough thought to respond to me.
"You're not real," I whisper, mostly to myself than to any of the voices I was hearing.

*I am to you.*

That voice resonating in my cranium would've been enough to freak me out, but no. God would never be that merciful to me.
I stare at the person before me, knowing with all the logic and sense bestowed in me that this was impossible. That this would never make sense.
Because I'm staring at myself, a version of myself that was evidently not as shocked and confused as me. He - or I? - stares right back at me, smiling almost assuringly, before he takes one step forward.
He's not real. I *know* he's not real because his shoes had went right through the grass like water. The wind that was blowing around me doesn't move a strand of hair on his head despite blowing my own into my eyes.
"You're not real," I whisper, knowing this made no sense, yet unable to comprehend what was before me. "You're not real." I was hoping to speak it into existence, chanting it again and again against my lips.

*You really think so?*

He takes another step forward, this time so fast and sudden that I don't even see him move. He is just suddenly an inch from my face.
There is something very terrifying about seeing a figment of your imagination that didn't make sense. Maybe if it were a ghost, an angel or a demon, I would've fought back. But this was me.
This was myself staring back at me.
I scream, scampering back and lose my footing, falling backwards just as another burst of power leaves me. It is powerful enough to shake the ground I'm standing on, throwing bits of earth upwards and raining back down on me, like a landmine had suddenly and randomly been stepped on.
I feel a hand against my forearm, firmly pulling me up to stand. I wince and panic, turning to whoever had grabbed me, and never thought I'd be so relieved to see Caine.
"Caine," I breathe, as I steady myself. Caine only gives me a cursory glance, dusting the bits of earth of me. "Did you see that?"
"I saw the explosion," Caine answers. "And I see the crater you made."
He glances over my shoulder and I follow his gaze. I turn back to him quickly. I don't really give a damn about the crater. I could fix that later.
"No," I say. "Did you see the person I was talking to?"
Caine gives me a look, an are-you-being-serious look that tells me he doesn't have the time to muse any jokes. "I don't see souls, Taehyung."
He didn't see it.
It was just me. It was just in my head.
"What was it you saw that freaked you out so much?"
"Nothing," I reply, still trying to catch my breath.
"Nothing?" he repeats.
"Nothing." It was the truth. I didn't see anything. Anything that was real, anyway. "Did I worry you?"
"Not any more than usual. What are you doing out here?"
"Venting," I say, letting my answer be vague.
"Get back inside. It's not safe for you to be outside alone."
He takes my wrist and starts walking back to the Court, and I follow him from behind.
"I know you have a lot of emotions," Caine starts, making me look up at him. He hasn't turned to face me. "And they are overwhelming at times. Try focusing on sources of calm instead of anger." He glances at me this time. "It will help." He lets go of my hand, and it drops to my side. "You'll be alright, Taehyung."

Caine shifts me to my Court again and I sit amongst my files and papers, staring at another book.
It has been exactly thirty days since Hanaan joined my Court, since Jin had tried to kill him, since Heaven had tried to have him assassinated.
I'd moved into another court again, settling in Japan this time, the same country Jungkook's Court was in. It was easier to have him in the vicinity. Jungkook was gradually falling into his role as the Alpha of his Court, and he is away more and more to fulfill his duties.
Namjoon is fitting right into my Court. He had no official role, but I've recognized that I refer to his opinion a lot in making decisions. One thing I've always respected about Namjoon was that he was a voracious reader, having a near photographic memory. I could see why he was so precious to PETRA. The guy was a walking Wikipedia. He carried himself as the leader amongst us, as he always had, even when we were part of BTS.
Hanaan, as I recently found out, is actually older than Jungkook by six whole months, being born in March. He carries himself like a younger brother though, and it somehow makes sense, especially since Jungkook is nearly two feet taller than him. Hanaan carries himself very distinctly. He is rash and outspoken, yet insecure and clingy. He throws a fit when you tell him what to do, but will seek you out for comfort. Granted, he's much better than how he was a month ago when we took him in, but he's still very much a rollercoaster. I don't think I've ever dealt with a child like him.
I close the book. The answer I was seeking wasn't in here. I move to push it to the side, and freeze when I see the familiar face sitting on the couch a small distance away.
Resolute to deny its existence, I ignore it, not faltering in my movements as I place the book on a growing pile to the side of my table.
*I know you can see me.* I hear it say, my own voice resonating in my mind. *I am an extension of you. You cannot hide from me.*
I continue ignoring it, taking another book from my unread pile. I ignore the feel of my heartbeat picking up, the sensation of a rising form of panic creeping its way up my spine.
*Look at me.*
I flip through the pages of the book, knowing as I run my fingers down the paragraphs that I'm not actually reading anything. I can barely concentrate.
*Look at me.*
I reach for my pen, jotting down some notes on a piece of blank paper. Maybe if I just keep ignoring it, it would -
*LOOK AT ME!*
The voice is a loud jolt this time, and I instantly look up.
But there is nothing there. I stare at my surroundings, knowing that I clearly saw myself sitting there on that couch, staring at me.
I drop my pen, realizing that I'm panting as I lean heavily against my chair. This couldn't be good. I was deteriorating faster than I could anticipate.
I run my hand through my hair, pushing my bangs back.
As if the voices hadn't been enough.
I stand, leaving the study room. I couldn't deal with work right now.
I walk down the hallways alone. It's just past sunset, and the inhabitants of the house should be up and running soon.
The hallway leads into the leisure room, where signs of it being lived in are apparent. The TV is still on, plugged into the Xbox with the theme music for Fortnite still blaring. The sofa is a mess, and snacks and opened canned drinks are strewn on the table.
Introducing both Namjoon and Hanaan into my life meant reintroducing human habits I'd long forgotten. Like Hanaan, who thrived on soda and bread.
Not the complicated kind of bread, but just bread. Plain, sliced white bread. He'd eat them by the loaves, with no spreads at all. I'd tried introducing him to Nutella on bread once but he'd only shrieked at me for ruining his meal. But now he left crumbs everywhere.
Namjoon, much like how I remember him back in our BTS days, never fcuking picked up after himself. He'd drop food everywhere and just leave it. It drove Jin, and myself admittedly, crazy.
And if Fortnite was on, that meant Jungkook was here. My little one is unhealthily addicted to this stupid game, even though Jin and I hate it.
I pick up the remote, turning both the Xbox and the TV off before I start cleaning up the mess they'd left behind.
Despite the mess, I find myself being quietly dependent on the little signs that this court was lived in. The mess made me feel sane. The chores kept my feet on the ground and the noise… well, the noise was a given.
Once the leisure room is clean enough, I leave and head for the kitchen.
Another human habit incorporated into my life again is meals, something so trivial I'd never given it much thought prior. Jin was a demon who didn't need to feed on human food, and I had the ability to sustain myself over extended periods of time without it. Jungkook stopped craving for food since becoming a vampire and even prior, ate mostly on the go.
With Hanaan under our wing, we had to ensure the initiate ate proper meals for his growth and overall health. And since Hanaan didn't particularly *like* eating meals, it had forced us all to sit at the dining table and pretend to need to eat human food to encourage Hanaan to eat as well. Now we sit for meals nearly three times a day, a concept that I always thought was beyond us.
Noise greets me as I near the kitchen. There is the sizzle of food on a frying pan, footsteps, voices, and overall laughter. The most audible person in the kitchen is my future initiate.
Everything he did was so *noisy*.
I stand at the doorway of the kitchen, looking in.
Everything was a mess. Namjoon is at the stove, making pancakes with one pan and scrambled eggs on another. There is flour in his hair and some stains on his shirt. Jungkook and Hanaan are running around the island, laughing with glee as they attempt to evade Jin, who's trying to stop them from running in the kitchen.
Counter intuitive, if you ask me.
Jin finally catches Hanaan, grabbing him by his waist and lifting him off the ground as his free hand reaches for Jungkook. Hanaan is still laughing, the grin on his face a far cry from my memory of him from a month ago. Jungkook is grabbed by the forearm, and from the look on his face, I can't help but laugh.
It's almost hilarious. You have the Heir to the Kingdom of Hell carrying the possible Heir to the Aamon's Court in his one arm, while the other grabs on to the Alpha of the Lycan Court, an abomination of a Demon-Lycan-Vampire hybrid. The human from the most powerful peacekeeping organization on Earth is at the stove making breakfast. And here I was, the ruling Aamon, staring at all of this in amusement.
It's amazing and incredible - how everyone in this room grounds me yet keeps me going. My own little support system.
Everyone in the kitchen looks up at the noise to focus on me, and Jungkook's smile widens.
"Taehyung, you're back!"
Jungkook rips his arm off Jin's grip, running towards me in excitement. He slips on something on the floor - probably some flour or egg yolk - and skids. I hear Jin yell his disapproval at Jungkook just as the said child crashes into me.
I catch him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders while he catches himself by wrapping arms around my waist.
"Jungkook, I told you not to run!" I hear Jin scold.
"Welcome home," Jungkook hums, ignoring Jin.
"It's good to be home," I reply as he straightens and steadies himself. "Why aren't you two listening to Jin?"
Jungkook opens and closes his mouth a few times as I place my hands on my hips, staring him down.
"It's fun to bully him," Jungkook finally answers.
"Excuse me?" I hear Jin say from behind him.
I break out into a smile. I could never stay angry with this little one. I look up, signalling Jin to put Hanaan down. He complies, and I study my potential heir who stands by Jin's side, looking unflinchingly back at me.
"What did you learn while I was away?"
"Not to play in the kitchen."
"Very funny. And?"
"Aaaaand," he hums, holding on to Jin's hand as he sways from side to side on the balls of his feet. "How to detect poison in food."
"Did you do anything beneficial?"
"I learnt some traditional songs."
"Wow. Like what?"
"NAN BIT TAM NUMMUL," he sings, breaking out into choreography.
I laugh aloud. Never mind that he got the lyrics wrong, but the punch line? Traditional song??
Hanaan runs to me this time, smiling as he wraps his arms around my waist. "Welcome home!"
"It's good to be home." I kiss the top of his head, wrapping an arm around his shoulders in a half hug. I straighten to see Namjoon looking at me. The man looks exhausted.
"So how many pancakes do you want?"

"How long was I away?"
"Not that long," Namjoon replies. We sit on the patio steps. Jin, Jungkook and Hanaan are a distance away, training. After the hurricane that was breakfast time, Jin usually schedules training for Hanaan, since the energy from food usually has the initiate bouncing off the walls.
Namjoon has a book resting on his lap, which he glances down to read from time to time. On his left hand is a tally counter, which he periodically clicks. "Less than a day."
"What are you doing?" I ask, as Namjoon clicks it again.
"I'm calculating the amount of movements Hanaan makes before Jin defeats him. It helps me gauge his progress in training."
I blink. Wow.
"So how many is Hanaan at right now?"
"Twelve."
"Better than before?"
"Not really."
I smile in amusement. "He's a kid. I don't expect him to defeat Jin."
I glance down at Namjoon's open book. "What are you reading?"
"Accounting. You realize your wealth is perishable? You've been spending so much lately, someone has to keep track!"
"You've been keeping track of my spending?"
"The Aamon's Court's spending," Namjoon corrects me. "You allowed Jungkook's Court to tab you on their new residence."
"The previous one got destroyed, remember?"
"They spent *fifty million*."
"Won?"
"USD."
"Oh."
"Also you bought two buildings for your Court."
"The old one got destroyed."
"Including renovation and necessities, you spent a combined hundred and fifty *million*."
"I did not," I gasp.
"Yes, you did. You also have a backlog of unpaid taxes ever since you became Aamon."
"I pay taxes?"
"Taehyung, the Aamon's Court is worth billions of dollars. The amount of zeros you owe the government is astounding."
"How many zeros?"
Namjoon turns to me, a half-amused, half-exasperated look in his eyes.
"Don't you remember paying taxes when we were BTS?"
"No… you always paid them for me," I grin. "Also, where does the Aamon's Court even get money from?"
"Protection fees from other Courts." Namjoon takes out another book from under the book he's reading. It's an ancient and dusty looking thing. He places it atop his book and starts flipping through the yellow, fragile pages.
I stare at the numbers and codes, not really understanding.
"All of these were payments from other Courts given to the previous Aamon." He runs a finger down one of the lists. "The payers are written in code but can be deciphered if you change the date the Court was established into alphabet." He stops at one code word. "ZXAXPCD. The letter X acts as a fullstop, so 26011634. 26 January 1634. And the Court that was established on that date was -"
"The Salem Tribunal Court."
Namjoon's finger continues to travel horizontally across the page, till it reaches numbers at the end. "Paid one million pounds per year since 1822. Not adjusted for inflation."
I stare at the notebook, before looking up to stare at Namjoon. "This is what you've been up to in the library?"
"I have time and no internet."
I inch closer to him as I skim through the pages of the notebook. "I don't even know where all this wealth is kept. How do I pay all these taxes?"
"Says here that Ezekiel wrote cheques since the seventeen hundreds. Maybe you can just follow the address he listed."
I nod in agreement. "I don't know why I thought my Parliament would do all this stuff for me. Thanks for pointing it out."
Namjoon only smiles. "I'm just happy to help."
"I'm sorry you had to burden yourself with all this."
"It's not a burden. Like I said. I have a lot of time."
Namjoon glances up at the sound of an explosion in the distance. I don't bother to look. I'm more than used to the sound of destruction as Jin's training carries on. The shockwave hits us as I shield my eyes from the dust.
"I keep thinking I'll get used to that," I hear Namjoon say as I straighten. He's brushing dust off his hair and clothes. "But I'm a china doll compared to your bulletproof bodies."
I laugh as he smiles in amusement. "I don't expect you to be fighting in battles," I say. "But if it comes to it, we'll protect you."
"Please. I've never been good at combat. Just give me a gun and I'll shoot my way out."
"We don't use guns," I muse. "Or anything that can be disassembled." I reach for the ring on my finger, sliding it out. It was the one Jin had originally given Namjoon, who'd passed it to me, after which I'd given it to Caine before he'd passed it back to me again. The gem is still red from the time Jin had placed some of his power into it to show me how it worked.
I press the ring into Namjoon's hand. "Keep it. Just in case."
"I'm not suddenly gonna get super powers, right?" Namjoon jokes.
"If only."
We look up together this time at the sound of running footsteps - noisy and untrained - heading towards us.
Hanaan is stomping his way forward, face red, lips pouting and eyes watery. He looks defeated.
"It's not fair!" he yells, as Jungkook trots from behind him in wolf form. Jin is a distance away, staring with arms crossed over his chest. Training isn't supposed to end yet, so this must only mean that Hanaan is throwing a tantrum again.
"What happened?" I ask as the young child squeezes between Namjoon and I to continue stomping his way up the patio steps.
"I don't wanna talk about it!"
I reflexivity reach for him, catching him by his wrist as I pull him back. "Problems don't get solved by sulking. Talk to me about it, Hanaan."
It's enough, as Hanaan comes down the steps again to stand in front of me, his cherubic lips forming a plump pout. I hold both his hands in mine as I look up at him. "I keep losing! I'm trying my best but I keep losing to Jin. It's so frustrating."
"If it makes you feel better, I've never defeated Jin in my entire life."
Namjoon gives me a look, and I discreetly jab him against his ribs to shut him up.
"He's *really* powerful."
"It's upsetting to lose!" Hanaan argues.
"That's life. You can't win at everything," Namjoon murmurs.
"Well, life ," Hanaan huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "When will I be as strong as him?"
"Probably never," I admit. "Jin is on a level of his own."
Jungkook the wolf comes to us, and nuzzles his head against mine.
"And that's okay," I continue, as I scratch Jungkook behind his ears. "We all have different capabilities."
"But I need to be strong," Hanaan whines, Jungkook gently rests his head against Hanaan's. Its an endearing sight. "I need to defeat my enemies."
"A good leader knows how to deal with enemies without resorting to violence," Namjoon says.
"Power is used to protect," I add in. "Not to threaten."
"And what if I can't protect everyone?!"
"You will," I soothe. "Trust the process. Now get back to training."
"I don't want to!"
"You won't get better if you don't put the effort in."
Hanaan groans loudly but gets up, heading back to Jin, who's still waiting.
"You go, Hanaan!" I half-heartedly cheer. I had no idea how exhausting it was to parent this child. Even the very act of holding my tongue from him at times gave me a headache. When Namjoon mentioned Hanaan was headstrong, I didn't expect his head to be made of concrete.
Hanaan could move mountains with his stubbornness alone.
*Baby, won't you see to it that Jin doesn't try to kill Hanaan again?* I send the thought to Jungkook.
My little one sighs loud enough to send my bangs flying, but complies, turning back to head towards Hanaan and Jin again.
I stare at the three forms in the distance.
My entire world, in those three individuals.
"You okay?"
I shift my focus to Namjoon, who's staring in concern.
"You were zoning out."
"You ever had that sense of impending doom when things are too alright?"
"Um… I guess?"
"It's been nearly a month of peace." I realise that I'm fidgeting, rubbing my thumb against my palm. "There have been no attacks, no issues, no threats. It's almost too good to be true."
"So you want something to happen?"
"No. I want to be stuck in this moment. I want everyday to be like this."
"But it can't."
"And it won't," I add in. "So I'm just waiting for the future catastrophe about to happen."
I know Namjoon is staring at me, a certain look on his face. "That's life in politics, I guess," he says after a moment of silence.
I'm about to say something when the landline rings - my only means to the outside world.
Jin set up multiple landlines around the house ever since we moved into the new court. It had a dual purpose of contacting anyone in the house without needing to actively search for them and also for the outside world to contact us, since we lived in a pretty secluded place now.
Only Heads of Court or Sikyung call from outside and notwithstanding the fact that I'd just ended all alliances a few weeks ago, a call might be something serious.
I see Jin pause the training as I get up and reach for the phone.
"Yes?" I say, placing the phone against my ear.
"Taehyung." I know who it is the moment they spoke. "I need to see you urgently."
I glance behind me to see Jin staring directly at me from where he's standing. I'm pretty sure he can hear the conversation.
"Sure," I reply. "I'm free tonight."

All four of my members of Court - Jin, Jungkook, Namjoon and Hanaan, sit around the conference table. We are all uncharacteristically quiet. Namjoon is reading a book, Jungkook writes idly on a notepad, Jin leans heavily against his seat, zoning out while Hanaan…. Hanaan plays with his Iron Man action figure.
It will be the first time Hanaan will sit in an inter-Court meeting. Namjoon, Jin and I have trained him the best we could, but Hanaan is predictable in his unpredictability. You can't quite anticipate what he'll do. I'd say he's scared of no one.

*Watch it all fall apart.*

I close my eyes, ignoring the image of myself standing in the corner of the room, staring at me with his arms crossed and expression haughty. I don't have time to entertain illusions.
"Taehyung?" I open my eyes again, seeing Hanaan watching me curiously. He has his head tilted to the side, his action figure still held in his hands. "What do you see?"
I watch as the focus shifts to him, before all eyes rest on me again. They all hold quizzical expressions on their face.
"Nothing. I'm just thinking."
There is silence again, before Jin moves to stand. "He should be reaching soon. I'll greet him at the door."
"I'll come with you," Jungkook says. The both of them head out together, leaving Namjoon, Hanaan and I in the conference room.
"You've met him before right?" I say to Namjoon, mostly to distract myself from the figure that I knew wasn't real in the corner.
"Yeah. He used to come by the dorm a lot, right?"
"Yeah," I muse.
"He'd always check in on you and Jungkook."
"We used to be really close. I grew up with him."
"What happened?" Namjoon inquires.
"Nothing. Politics prevents us from spending too much time together."
He nods in understanding as I shift my focus to Hanaan.
"Nervous?"
"No," Hanaan easily answers, distracted with his toy. He makes the action figure fly about, soft shooting noises coming out his mouth.
"You're gonna have to put that away when our guest comes, okay?"
"Okay," he agrees, before looking at me. His eyes are serious. "Who do you see in the corner?"
I pause, processing his question. "Excuse me?"
"Who do you see in the corner of the room?" He turns to stare over his shoulder, at a spot I was trying very hard to avoid looking. "There."
"I don't see anything."
Hanaan turns to me again, his gaze unflinching. "You're lying."
I know Namjoon is looking too.
Could Hanaan see it too? How would he know in the first place?
"I'm just tired. I might be seeing things."
"Just like how you hear things?"
I feel the goosebumps travel up my arm this time. I had never told Hanaan, and I don't think he'd ever overheard.
"Who told you this?"
"No one. But I can tell."
"How?"
Hanaan shrugs his shoulder, uninterested again. "I just can."
I lock eyes with Namjoon. I don't know what I'm expecting to see from his face, but he shrugs as well.
A knock at the door signals the guest has arrived and we automatically stand. Hanaan puts his toy away just as the door opens and Yoochun walks in.
"Yoochun," I greet. "Glad you arrived safely."
Yoochun moves to the side, and I see Yunho behind him.
"Your Highness," I greet, unable to hide my surprise. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I apologize for the sudden intrusion," Yunho starts as Yoochun comes forward to give me a quick hug in greeting. "I hadn't intended to come along."
"But I requested him to," Yoochun curtly explains. "I'll explain it to you shortly, Taehyung."
I nod in understanding, signalling to the empty chairs across from me. "Come sit down."
As they settle, Jin comes to sit on my left. Hanaan is on my right, with Jungkook beside him. Namjoon sits beside Jin.
"Thank you for hosting us at such short notice, Your Highness," Yoochun starts. "We apologize for the inconvenience."
"I'm sure the matter you need to speak to me of is serious."
"These are your official members of Court now?" Yoochun goodnaturedly muses.
I nod, signalling to the young child beside me. "This is Hanaan, my possible successor."
"It's an honour to meet you," Yoochun greets, as Yunho nods in Hanaan's direction.
"How should we address you?" the Vampire King asks.
"Hanaan, Your Highness. Jin says I'm just here to listen."
"You've met Namjoon," I continue, signalling to him. "He acts as my advisor."
Both Yunho and Yoochun nod again in acknowledgement, though neither pay much attention to him.
"I'll get straight to the point, Taehyung." Yoochun says. He sounds rushed and slightly panicked, a weird sight to see from the Yoochun I knew.
He slides the envelope he'd been holding across the table towards me. Jin takes it, opening it up before he takes out the document inside. He glances momentarily at it, before he lets it fall into the envelope again. He passes it to me without a word, and somehow, in his silence is a loud enough signal.
I take the envelope and let the document inside fall out.
'This is a declaration from the Vampire King Jung Yunho and the Sovereign Michael Park Yoochun on the contract that will be stated in the terms below'.
I stop reading. I know exactly what I'm looking at. And I know precisely whose signature is missing amongst the three dotted lines at the bottom of the document.
"What happened?" My voice is whisper soft - I can hardly catch my breath.
"It doesn't matter what happened," Yoochun replies. "I just need your signature at the bottom of this document and we'll be on our way."
"My condition was that I get to decide the situation that would warrant this."
"We have done multiple favours -" Yoochun starts.
"What. Happened."
The both of us are glaring at each other, unmoving. I could hold my ground and stare at him all day, but I wasn't sure Yoochun could go that long holding his temper.
Slowly, Yoochun sits back down again.
"Taehyung, please. I don't have the time for this. I just need you to sign this document and we'll be on our way."
"You want to kill Yoohwan?"
"No. But I need you to stop him."
I glance at Jin, who locks his gaze with mine.
"Yoohwan got captured."
The both of us turn to Yunho, who had spoken.
"His mental traumas have gotten the better of him and PETRA sees him as a danger. They have him and plan to put him to trial."
I instinctively glance at Namjoon.
"How did they capture him?" Namjoon asks.
"That's not important," Yoochun interjects.
"Answer him," I say. "Namjoon used to work with PETRA. He may be able to help."
Yoochun pauses. He seems to be deliberating with himself on what to do. I don't know why he's so hesitant on revealing the truth.
"Years ago, Yoohwan made a deal with the dark forces." Yunho is the one who's started talking, addressing us as Yoochun only sits quietly in his seat. "We were in the midst of a war, and we needed all the help we could get. Yoohwan saved my life, and many others."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I quietly ask.
"Dark forces," I hear Jin murmur. "Yoohwan made a deal with a demon. A powerful one."
Yunho nods, almost unwillingly. "Yoohwan is a very powerful individual. So powerful that he needs restraints to lessen his power. The deal he made with these dark forces weakened him, made it easier for him to control his powers and use them to help people."
"But Yoohwan is getting stronger. We think the spell might be wearing off," Yoochun finally speaks. "He doesn't act like himself."
"How?"
"He walked out of our home last week. Just left in the middle of the day. Then a few days later, we received a formal report from PETRA. Yoohwan had entered a church and killed some PETRA agents stationed there."
"How did PETRA find him?"
"Someone tipped PETRA off. They subdued him and now he's gone."
"This isn't like Yoohwan," Yunho adds in. "He would never hurt anyone - much less kill them."
"What do you think PETRA will do to him?" I ask, directing my focus to Namjoon.
"They'll either kill him or demand something from the Sovereign's Court."
I turn to Yoochun. "You're going to negotiate with them, right?"
"The longer Yoohwan is with them, the bigger danger they're in. If the spell wears off, it would be equivalent to a dam bursting. Yoohwan has decades of suppressed power in his body. He could very well obliterate the whole island."
Although I honestly don't see much loss if PETRA is blown to smithereens, I get Yoochun's concern. Destroying PETRA would place a bounty on his Court.
The realization comes to me as I stare at him.
"So you're just going to allow your brother to die there."
"I need to kill him before he kills everyone there."
I know he was going to say it. But I need a moment to process his sentence.
"You want me to kill your brother." I close my eyes for a moment. I really needed to properly process this. "Because PETRA might be in danger."
I open my eyes to see Yoochun staring very seriously at me.
"Yes."
"No."
Yoochun's reaction is immediate, as he stands quickly enough to make his chair fall behind him. He slams his hand on the table, leaving an indent and ugly cracks on the expensive wood. I was going to ask him to pay me back for that.
"This was not part of the deal," he growls.
"I haven't signed it," I say, standing as well. "There is no deal."
"This isn’t a game, Taehyung!"
"I know! It's your brother's fcuking life."
"There are hundreds of people on that island. If they die -"
"So their lives are above your brother's?"
Again, there is tense silence between us.
"I'll find a way to save your brother without hurting anyone."
"Taehyung, he's a walking timebomb at this point. He could explode and I honestly don't know how many people he could kill. We had armies who could not stop him."
"We can save him."
"Even if we do, there's no guarantee his spell won't wear off. What then?"
"You said it for yourself," I argue. "Yoohwan isn't acting like himself. What if it isn't him? What if someone had a spell cast on him?"
"I would have detected it," Yunho says. "If there was even a trace of a spell inside him, I would have known. The Yoohwan with PETRA is still the Yoohwan I knew."
"So you're telling me someone who you say would never hurt a fly suddenly changed his mind and started killing at random?"
"It's simple." Yoochun sounds remarkably calm as compared to our argument previously. "Yoohwan no longer has control over the power in his being. The power controls him now. And for the safety of everyone around him, that power must cease."
"The only way we can do that is to kill him," Yunho quietly adds in.
"Believe me, Taehyung, we have considered every option. This is the quickest and safest way. Yoohwan is someone incredibly precious to me. I would lose myself if I lost him. But as a leader, when faced with a difficult choice, you choose the one with lesser casualties."
I study Yoochun, looking deep into his eyes as he stares right back.
He didn't hesitate. He *wouldn't* hesitate.
I turn to Namjoon. "What are our odds?"
"Yoohwan would definitely still be alive. I would say unharmed too, knowing how dangerous his power is."
I shift my focus to Jungkook. "What's your opinion on the matter?"
"Every life is precious. If we can save him, we should try."
Lastly, I turn to Jin.
As one can expect, Jin is *very* unhappy. The negative aura radiating off his entire being was like black smoke suffocating me.
"Jin?"
"I will follow your lead."
I deliberate for a few seconds. "I want to see Yoohwan. Then I'll make my decision from there." I lock eyes with Yoochun. I know he doesn't like his decision being challenged.
"How will you convince PETRA? So long as they hold on to Yoohwan -"
"I'll speak to them," I interject. "And I'll speak to Yoohwan. I'll make my decision then."

I slip on my blazer, doing up the first button.
"PETRA has been contacted?" I ask Jin, who nods.
"They will greet you at the helipad. Are you sure you want to do this alone?"
I nod. "I can't risk having any of you with me on that island."
"Let me come with you," Yoochun offers. "I would understand my brother best."
"No. You would be too emotional," I frankly point out.
"Taehyung is right," Yunho agrees. "You would falter at seeing Yoohwan. You are also the only heir of your Court left. You must stay behind." And then Yunho turns to me. "Let me go with you."
"You'd turn human," Jin warns. "You would lose all your powers. Injuries to your body would be fatal."
"I know. But Taehyung would not understand Yoohwan's situation the way Yoochun or I would. I think it would be best if I came along."
I lock eyes with Namjoon. Discreetly, he nods.
"Okay," I say, turning back to Yunho. "You're accountable for your own decisions."
Caine pushes himself off the sofa. He's been here since an hour ago, quietly listening without providing any input. He distanced himself from matters between Courts since they don't concern him.
He comes towards me, standing before Yunho and I.
"For your own safety, I've been instructed by Heaven to accompany you. If it comes to it, I will pull you out, no matter what the negotiations going on." Caine stares very pointedly at me. "Alright?"
I nod. Caine turns to Yunho.
"Do you have successors to your Court?"
"Yes."
"Those who die in the Bermuda Triangle stay dead, even if those injuries normally wouldn't have killed them if they weren't there."
I don't know why Caine is being so serious. His expression is stricken, a combination of worry and disdain. I wonder why.
Then Caine opens up a portal behind him. "Come."

I step out of the portal, Caine and Yunho behind me.
*This entire space reeks of power*, I hear Caine's thought in my head.
*I thought the Bermuda Triangle nullified power.*
*Exactly. I don't have a good feeling about this, Taehyung.*
Tanya stands in the distance, dressed in maroon this time, her lipstick and shoes matching her outfit. I take a moment to wonder if that's how she plans her outfit on a daily basis. She must have a lot of lipstick shades. Her platoon of guards stand behind her, as well as around the helipad, their weaponry pointed at us.
"Your Highness, King Taehyung," she greets.
"Tanya," I reciprocate. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
She only smiles, before turning to Yunho, who positions himself to stand by my side.
"Your Highness, Vampire King Jung Yunho. I thought we agreed that correspondences would only be through e-mail."
"He's not here to speak to you," I say. "I am."
And Tanya glances at me, a quiet, calculative look on her face.
"If you are here to threaten us -"
"I'm not here to threaten you," I interrupt. "I'm only here to ensure that Yoohwan is in good hands."
"The matters of the Heir Apparent are no business of yours."
"They are if they affect the souls I am responsible for," I reason. "If the Heir Apparent is as big a danger as how I've been informed, then it becomes my duty to protect the souls he may harm."
Again, Tanya falls quiet. She shifts her focus between me and Yunho. She knows that so long as we were in the Bermuda Triangle, the only non-humans with power would be myself and Caine. So long as we remained on this island, we were under PETRA's power. She was - technically - on the safe side.
"What do you want?"
"I want to see Yoohwan. I know you have him."
"We do. What do you offer in return?"
My annoyance shoots up as I stare at her. "Listen -"
"The Vampire Court will be indebted," Yunho interrupts me before I can say anything else. "PETRA will be on a higher social standing to the vampires."
Tanya seems to consider for a moment, before she agrees. "You may see him. But the Heir Apparent shall remain here."
I glance at Yunho. This would be his call.
Yunho nods. "If it is for his own good… we will allow it."

Tanya leads us down the hall.
My reasons that I'm not quite sure of, my head is quietly throbbing, a pounding in my temple that although is not not quite painful, is pretty uncomfortable and distracting.
*You feel it too, don't you?*
*That throbbing in my head?*
*It's a sign of a power so large that this place can barely contain it.*
What kind of power could be that large?
Up front, Tanya rounds a bend.
One thing I've noticed about PETRA's headquarters is that despite being underground, the place had few narrow hallways. Everything seemed to be placed in massive rooms that simply lead into the other. Which I suppose was a safety precaution, because what I thought would be maybe a few guards tailing us, turned out to be the whole fcuking room, each soldier positioning their weapons straight at us, their fingers literally hovering over the triggers. I would say there were about fifty of them tailing us in any moment save for the ones where we were in the lift.
In those moments, there were soldiers on every floor pointing their weapons through the glass doors at us, staring at us through opaque visors. Highly unnerving.
Yunho had been dead quiet throughout. His presence in the Bermuda Triangle meant that there would be no telepathic communication between us, nor any vampire speed, strength and agility for him.
Tanya finally leads us through a pair of doors, locked with a passcode, fingerprint-scanner and voice identification device, that was guarded by six separate guards. She walks us down a suspended hallway with transparent walls, floors and ceilings which again, had several guards pointing their weapons at us on the other side.
The hallway lead to what was very visibly a giant steel box the size and height of a two storey house, again locked and guarded. We had to walk through several glass doors, each one having a different password combination to get through.
I had to reconsider the effectiveness of the magic-nullifying effect this entire island had on everyone. What in the world would need this sort of security when everyone here was human?
We finally enter the giant steel box. Our entrance lead straight to what must have been the equivalent to the second floor, where we enter a room that was probably a third of the area of the box. Inside is nothing but a wall with a glass panel that was half its height. Two guards stand on either end of the panel.
"What is this." I finally hear Yunho speak.
Tanya only comes forward to stand before the glass panel, looking down at the lower 'floor' of the box. "It's where we keep the Heir Apparent safe," she says.
The three of us automatically come forward, staring down at whatever it is Tanya is looking at.
On the first floor, lying down on the ground fast asleep, is Yoohwan.
He looks… normal. In fact, he just looks like he's taking a nap.
But if I zoom out of his slumbering face, I would see the giant circle he's lying smack in the middle of, engraved straight into the steel floor. The circle carries obvious incantations, writings and images I am unfamiliar with, but know from experience that those exact engravings are what keeps Yoohwan locked in the circle. Those, and perhaps the chains on his wrists and ankles too.
Yoohwan has one lone wire attached to him, which leads to a heart rate monitor that doesn't beep, but continues to display those weird up-and-down arrows to prove heartbeats.
I see from my peripheral vision Yunho take a step back, before he turns to Tanya.
"What have you done to him?"
"We were forced to subdue him. The Heir Apparent is merely asleep."
I stare at the sleeping form, looking wildly innocent and small as he lay smack in the middle of the protective circle. Was he really that dangerous?
I raise my hand to rest it on the glass wall. Immediately as my finger touches it, a powerful zap of electricity hits me and I gasp, withdrawing my hand in shock.
Both Caine and Yunho stare at me, wide-eyed. I hold my hand against my chest as it throbs lightly. Well, I wasn't expecting that.
I watch as the sound makes Yoohwan, who I'd assumed was dead asleep, flinch violently. The chains attached to him drag across the floor, loud in the otherwise dead silence of the box. The guards react by pointing their weapons at him, bodies tense and wary.
Tanya only places a finger against her lip. "If you wake him," she warns, "we will all die.".

"Tell us what happened," I say.
Tanya had lead us to a different place, a conference room this time, where the four of us were sat at a long rectangular table with Tanya on one side, and the rest of us on the other.
About thirty guards line the room, on the other side of the glass. I'm beginning to guess that almost all the rooms of this place carried the same concept. It was weird, yet somehow ingenious. As humans, physical protection was important yet as political figures, so was privacy. The humans had found a way to work around this by building glass walls inside each room that allowed the guards to stand and look out on the other side to those inside the glass chamber without eavesdropping on conversation. Jin really wasn't playing around when he called the humans 'geniuses'.
"The Heir Apparent Yoohwan contacted us, seeking aid," Tanya replies. "And we directed him to one of our many branches across the globe, a church in rural Romania. Before we could physically reach him however, the Heir Apparent had killed all our agents in the church. He left everyone else untouched."
"Untouched?" Yunho prompts.
"The church acts as an active place of worship and a sanctuary for the homeless. They were all unharmed."
"So what happened then?"
"We found the Heir Apparent sitting quietly in the waiting room. We attempted to bring him over to the Bermuda Triangle from there."
"How is what he did a threat to humanity?" I ask. Granted, Yoohwan was powerful enough to end a lot of lives and he did kill some innocents, but to call him a threat to humanity and capture him and bring him here? I would say that was overreacting.
"As we were attempting to transport him, the Heir Apparent did something that made twenty one of my best men drop dead."
"What did he do?" I ask.
"We don't know. Body camera footage showed a large shadow engulfing the entire area before it disappeared and they all dropped dead. The darkness lasted about two seconds."
"He's done this before." It is Yunho who had spoken up. He'd been quiet throughout this whole exchange and hearing his voice makes me shift my attention to him. "But in reverse." He shifts his focus to me. "After the Antharax War, when we were counting our casualties. Yoohwan brought a sizeable number of people back to life."
"He healed them?" I attempted to clarify.
"He brought them back from the dead."
It takes me a moment.
"People who die stay dead."
"Not with Yoohwan."
That… didn't make sense. How could Creation bring life back to an empty vessel? How could he rip the soul back from the Afterlife?
"How did you manage to catch him then?"
"We sent men to collect him again and this time, the Heir Apparent was calm and cooperative. We placed him in an induced coma for our own safety. He hasn't woken up since."
"So long as he stays asleep, he'll be harmless."
Yunho turns to me. "You think you can find out why he did all those things?"
"I don't know. I will need much closer physical proximity to find out."
I shift my attention to Tanya. "Can you -?"
"No." Tanya isn't even interested to know the end of my sentence as she crosses her arms. "We are still deliberating our next course of action."
"He can't go to trial if he isn't awake."
Tanya smiles at me, a familiar frightening smile that hints of the power in the palm of her hand. It reminds me that no matter how civil she acted, Tanya would still kill me without a second thought if she deemed it necessary. "Him being awake is of no concern of us."
"It will allow us to know what's wrong with him," I say. "And determine whether it's something we can cure."
"And if it isn't?"
I glance at Yunho, who catches my gaze. I guess he knows what I'm thinking of.
"Then we'll deal with the problem when it comes."
Tanya considers for a short moment. "You may see him. Alone."
I was about to argue when I realise it made sense, in a way. Yunho could react negatively if he was in such close proximity to Yoohwan.
"Alright."

I stare at Yoohwan. The least they could do was put him on a bed. Why put him on the floor directly?
*Be careful, Taehyung. I sense a dark power coming from him.*
I didn't need to be told twice. There was something about Yoohwan that highly unnerved me as I stare at his sleeping form.
To be able to kill someone and bring them back just like that - even I didn't have that sort of power.
I look up to see the two guards, Tanya and the rest all looking down at me from the upper floor.
Technically speaking, I knew exactly what to do.
Literally speaking, it still scared the hell out of me.
I kneel down, placing a hand against Yoohwan's chest, just as Sobekneferu had taught me.
Yoohwan's chest is warm, and the feel of his beating heart against my palm tells me he's still human here in the Bermuda Triangle. That at least meant that he wasn't a danger to us.
I sigh softly, letting my power flow through me, into my palm and then spreading into Yoohwan's chest. I feel my power spreading in his being, analyzing the unfamiliar territory, before I lean forward and mentally throw myself into his mind.
I slam into something the moment I enter his mind, hitting it with such force that I am literally hurled back, being ripped out of Yoohwan's form just as I open my eyes - and see Yoohwan lunging towards me. His hand is almost immediately wrapped around my neck as he slams me against the floor.
"Taehyung!" I hear the panicked yells above me, as I grab Yoohwan's fingers and attempt to pry them off my throat. I instinctively start thrashing, just as Yoohwan sits atop my chest and wraps his other hand around my throat as well. So much for being less of a danger.
"Do not -" The voice that escapes his lips doesn't match his face, being far more guttural and way too loud. "- touch me."
Spots start appearing in my vision as I gag, and my power activates. A burst of power leaves my entire body, hitting Yoohwan straight on. It throws him back against the floor, the chains on his limbs preventing him from moving much further.
I get up, scampering back as I get out of his reach. I clutch at my neck, coughing wildly as I stare at Yoohwan getting up.
What was wrong with him? Why was he acting like this?
"Yoohwan?" I prompt. "I'm a friend of your brother. I came here to see you, to help you."
But Yoohwan says nothing, or rather, says nothing legible.
He starts growling, his body posture changing, as if he is about to call on some very, very powerful magic.
And then the circle he's standing in starts to glow, the incantations lighting up, a humming in the air so strong that it resonates in my chest. What was going on?
The wind picks up, which obviously makes no sense, since we're between four walls. Yoohwan himself starts to glow, his eyes turning black as the humming in the air turns into full screeching, and I press my palm against my ears.
*Taehyung!* I hear Caine's voice literally screaming in my mind. *He's about to blow!*
*Shift him!* I yell back.
"Don't let him leave the circle!" Tanya's voice echoes loudly in the chamber just as a portal opens up beside me and Caine comes to my side, quickly assessing my injuries before he helps me get up.
"What's going on?" I yell, trying to make my voice go above the noise.
"He's trying to break the incantation holding him. We have to contain the power. This whole island is going to explode into smithereens if we don't stop him!"
I nod in understanding. "A forcefield?"
"The strongest one you have."
I push myself off the ground as Caine creates the first bubble of power around Yoohwan. And then another and then another and then another.
I quickly follow, before looking up to see Tanya and Yunho staring down at us. Yunho looks worried. Tanya looks… like she's trying very hard to hold back a meltdown.
And then the screeching reaches a crescendo, the lights turn blinding as Yoohwan's power explodes.
The circle Yoohwan is standing in burns out dramatically, disappearing from the floor as nothing holds Yoohwan back save for our barriers.
I physically *feel* Yoohwan's power shatter through the first few layers of Caine's barriers as if they were nothing. Caine must be in considerable pain.
And then Yoohwan starts shattering through my own barriers and the pain I feel jolts me to attention. Each blow is like a sledgehammer against my mind and I struggle with the effort of being on my own two feet.
"This isn't going to work," I hear Caine say, as he only calls for more and more barriers over Yoohwan, who shatters them all with constant ease.
"What do we do?"
"I'm shifting him."
"But Tanya said -"
"We can't hold this power, Taehyung. He will destroy everything."
I bite my tongue. I had probably two seconds to make a decision.
"Shift us above ground. Keep us on the island."
"I don't agree," Caine says. "He might be able to destroy this place."
"The magic here might be weakening him. And I can't risk endangering the public."
Caine nods in understanding. "I'm shifting the three of us," he says, loud enough that Tanya would most definitely here.
And in that moment, Yoohwan explodes with a burst of power so strong that it shatters all our barriers at once.
Both Caine and I are thrown back from the force of the power, the both of us slamming into the metal wall behind us.
Caine reacts immediately, as Yoohwan's power starts to spread, threatening to end the lives of everyone in the vicinity. The portal appears behind Yoohwan, travelling to quickly swallow him and his power, before it heads towards us.
I look up again. Yunho is completely stricken now as he stares back at me, while Tanya is speaking urgently into a walkie talkie. I can't make up what she's saying because the portal swallows me too.
Both Caine and I slam against the ground, the grass and soil softening the blow. I look up just to see a massive power heading towards me and I curl into myself, enveloping Caine and I in a barrier just as the power hits us directly.
I feel my power start to give way.
Yoohwan is too fcuking strong and it didn't make sense. Where was his power coming from?
"Hold your shield steady," I hear Caine say, just as he looks towards Yoohwan, and sends a blast of power in his direction.
The power from Yoohwan ceases almost immediately, and I waste no time to get up and stand, Caine doing exactly the same.
The both of us stare at Yoohwan, not expecting what's about to happen.
Yoohwan is staring right back at us, completely calm despite the sheer amount of power he's just produced.
"Yoohwan?" I prompt again. "Can you hear me?"
I take one hesitant step forward. "I'm here to help. You don't have to be -"
And then a blast of power is thrown in my direction so quickly that I almost miss it. Caine slams into me, physically moving me away from the danger as we fall against the ground. Yoohwan's power misses us by a hair and I turn to Yoohwan again, confused and livid.
"What the Hell," I murmur under my breath.
"He's not going to stop attacking anytime soon. Immobilize him."
I nod, just as the both of us push ourselves off the ground and start running. I head towards Yoohwan, calling on to my power onto my hands. I throw several blasts towards him.
Yoohwan evades them all easily, until I am finally within physical striking distance of him. I condense a ball of power into my hand, intending to throw him back, but Yoohwan moves faster than I expected, catching my wrist and twisting my hand upwards. It throws my power towards the sky. The blast that leaves my hand lights up the night like a solar beam, and Yoohwan moves again, striking me with his palm hard against the middle of my chest.
It throws me a distance as I start coughing wildly, pushing myself up to stand.
I call for the weather, calling forth storm clouds that immediately darken the evening sky. Thunder starts rumbling in the distance as Caine pulls golems of rocks ten feet high from the ground. The golems charge towards Yoohwan.
Yoohwan moves like a feather, evading each strike of of those monsters before he counters them with one single blow of power that makes them all disintegrate into nothing.
Again, I am struck with the same question. What the Hell is going on? How can one person be so powerful?
Caine resorts to using blasts of power which he throws at Yoohwan.
The vampire heir doesn't even move from where he's standing, catching each blast as if they were lights, before the blasts are swallowed into his hand. They disappear just like that.
I shift my focus, calling for the winds and the storm. The thunder grows louder, the wind starts to scream, lifting the debris around us and throwing it at our faces. I plant my feet hands against the ground as Yoohwan starts to move from the force of the storm.
A distance away, I hear the undeniable sound of engines, of vehicles travelling right towards us.
Oh shhit, oh shiit, oh SHHIT.
Don't tell me Tanya and her army were coming here? I'd shifted specifically because I wanted to protect them!
I call for lightning, watching it flash across the skies in response.
Caine has started throwing spells at Yoohwan, who is barely deterred. The sound of engines draw nearer until I see the literal platoon of soldiers driving towards us, their weapons already pointed towards Yoohwan. They position themselves around Yoohwan in a wide circle, who still stands calmly, unaffected.
The jeep parked by my side opens its door, and Tanya and Yunho walk out.
"What the *Hell* are you doing here?" I growl.
Yoohwan moves, calling on to a power that makes the ground below us shake and growl in anticipation. He's preparing to hit us with a lethal blow.
I call for the lightning in the skies and they respond. I raise my arm as lightning from multiple points in the clouds comes to me, hitting my hand head on as I practically buzz with electricity, acting as a conductor.
I direct the lightning towards Yoohwan, hearing the lightning roar and light up the ground with the extent of power it produced. It slams into Yoohwan, and I anticipate something to happen.
Maybe Yoohwan would be knocked out, fly out of the way or even hit me with his own round of power.
I feel my face go pale as I stare at what he does instead.
Yoohwan catches the lightning with one hand, making himself act as a conductor as well. The current travels in his body, making odd bursts of lightning surround him. I stare in disbelief. This was my power, my lightning, that he held in his hand.
And then he throws it.
Lightning travels fast. Probably everyone knows that it travels faster than the speed of sound. I wasn't anticipating what Yoohwan was about to do.
I thought he'd attack me, or the humans around me. He'd want to inflict the most damage, right?
Bur Yoohwan shifts his focus, and directs the lightning right at Caine. It hits him head on, throwing him back. He lands like a sack of potatoes against the ground, and doesn't get up.
"Caine, no!"
I start running before I can stop myself, feeling myself slowly lose control of my powers. I kill the winds around us, they were getting in my way.
Yoohwan unexpectedly throws a blast of power at me, landing probably a foot in front of me as the ground explodes, throwing soil upwards as I duck when it rains down on me.
I turn to Yoohwan, feeling my rage hit the ceiling. "What is your *problem*?" I screech.
I change my direction, throwing bursts of power towards Yoohwan as I stalk forward. Tanya seems to move, commanding the soldiers to fire their weapons at Yoohwan.
I stop my attacks immediately as I turn to her. I wanted to stop Yoohwan, not kill him.
"Tanya, stop!" I yell.
But her human ears don't hear me.
The sound of gunfire suddenly fills the sky, a cloud of dust forming from the bullets that hit the ground and for a few moments, Yoohwan is unseen. It unnerves me.
The round of gunfire stops after several long seconds, and I feel everyone stare in anticipation and fear. What was going to happen? Would Yoohwan survive?
The dust cloud settles, and Yoohwan is standing there *unharmed*. You can tell that the bullets either missed him completely, or breezed through him, because they are all imbedded deeply into the ground.
What the fcuk.
A change in the air signals something is wrong. I instinctively take a step back, letting my power course to the palms of my hands just in case I need to be on the offensive.
I call for the Seraphim, who appear out of nowhere, standing before the humans surrounding Yoohwan. They slam their staffs into the ground as a signal of their presence and a warning to the attacker.
I stare at Yoohwan. What was he going to do? How was he going to act?
And then suddenly he opens his mouth to scream. But what comes out sounds like a thousand banshees screaming in unison. A massive black shape comes out of Yoohwan's back, growing so quickly in shape and form that it blocks out my view of the night sky in the time it took me to blink.
I stare up at the gigantic mass, not knowing what I'm seeing but feeling a primal fear creep up my spine as I attempt to register what's going on.
The mass falls on me as the scream catches in my throat. What the hell was that thing? I'm frozen where I stand, my body almost refusing to acknowledge the fact that I needed to fcuking *RUN*.
I hear running, and feel someone slam into me, bodily forcing me out of the way just as the black mass slams into the ground I'd been standing on. The resulting explosion from the impact is so powerful that I feel the aftershock ringing in my ears, pieces of the ground raining down on us.
"Taehyung!" I don't see who it is, but from the voice, it sounds a lot like Yunho. "Are you okay?"
I'm staring at the thing, Yunho's arms still held protectively around my waist.
And then the black mass turns its head and for the first time, I see its face staring right at me.
And then I scream.
I scream and I scream and I scream as my throat, already ravaged by Yoohwan's chokehold, works itself hoarse, my brain simply shuts down and my body collapses in on itself.
Because I'm staring at nothing, and yet I'm staring at everything.
I see Malala's face, her face swollen enough to look bludgeoned and skin blue from lack of air. I see Luna, face frozen in screams of pain and fear as she bleeds out from her internal injuries. I see Louis, torn to shreds as he screams for mercy, just like how he died. I see my parents, I see Fenrir, I see Layla.
And then I see Jungkook, and Namjoon. And then Yoochun and Caine and Hanaan. And Jin.
And it's driving me insane.
My world is suddenly shrouded in darkness as Yunho lays a heavy hand against my eyes, and the mere fact that I can't see that *thing* anymore somehow clicks my body back into place.
I throw the strongest burst of power in the general direction of the monster I can produce, and metaphysically feel it slamming into it. I push Yunho's hand out of the way just as I see my power slam into the nearby trees, completely blowing them apart as I force myself to stand.
"Protect the humans!" I command the Seraphim, just as the mass grows impossibly wider, almost buzzing with some kind of power that I couldn't put into words.
This motherfcuker was insane.
It slams an extension of itself onto the ground, swiping at the humans.
I panic. Tanya had said that the black mass killed people within seconds.
The Seraphim move, shooting blasts of power at the mass. Some of the Angels head straight into battle with the thing, fighting with an assortment of different weapons.
One thing I notice is that the thing is tangible. It's a physical form the Angels can hit, and it reacts like it's being hit too. The sheer size of this mass could be a disadvantage for it too. It was nearly impossible for it to evade an attack. I glance at Caine. He's slowly getting up, obviously injured and in pain.
I turn to the Vampire King.
"Can you stay by Caine's side and make sure he's alright?"
Yunho nods, immediately getting up to run to Caine. I shift my attention to the black mass.
The Seraphim were fighting a losing battle. The soldiers have started to blindly shoot at the mass, gunfire physically hitting it this time.
I turn to Yoohwan. Where is he? Was he controlling this thing?
And then I see Yoohwan lying in the grass.
Unconscious.
I put two and two together as I call on to every inch of power I had left. I create a bubble barrier around the black mass and I, careful to leave every other thing out. I let the power course through me as I light up from the sheer amount of power I was calling. If I could just destroy this thing right here and now, Yoohwan would be okay. The humans, Yunho and Caine would be safe. The island wouldn't be destroyed.
I let loose, feeling the power leave me in one mighty explosion that lights up the entire night sky and blinds even me.
I feel the power slam into something as I drop to the ground on all fours, completely exhausted. The light slowly disappears and I look up.
It's not there.
The thing isn't there. Yoohwan isn't there.
It's just us in a now barren field.
I automatically turn to Caine, who is making a move to stand, his arm slung over Yunho's shoulder.
He meets my eyes, but says nothing.
I don't know what to say or feel as I stare at him, before shifting my attention to the clearing Yoohwan had been standing at? The clouds clear, the Seraphim vaniah and there is general quiet as the shock of what happened hits us all.
That monster had been right in front of me, a humongous being that came out of someone who was maybe just a few inches taller than me. How was that possible? How did that work?
"Taehyung." Caine's voice is soft, almost hesitant as I turn to him. He looks at me like I'm broken glass. "Are you okay?"
The emotion returns to me almost all at once. My mind still can't seem to put it into coherent thought and I still can't seem to decide how to react.
"What happened back there?" Tanya's sharp voice breaks through the silence, coming towards me as I shift into a sitting position.
"I don't know," I whisper.
"You lost the Heir Apparent. And now you risk putting the world at large in danger!"
"Tanya," Yunho interrupts, as he and Caine finally reach us. "With all due respect, no one could have anticipated what just happened. Who would have known Yoohwan wouldn't be affected by the Bermuda Triangle and who would have expected him to be this powerful? Or have the ability to call on to monsters like that?"
"How will we find him now?" Tanya practically bites. "How do we even stop him?"
"The least you could do is thank His Highness. He saved your life and everyone on this island."
"It's fine," I say, hiding a groan as I push myself up to stand. My hands are shaking from the amount of power I'd just used. "I'll find Yoohwan and I'll stop him. By any means necessary." I turn to Tanya. "But I need your cooperation too."

"Taehyung, what happened back there?" Yoochun is practically yelling at me as I sit dazed in my seat. Yoochun has been yelling at me a lot these days.  "Not only did you allow Yoohwan to escape, you jeopardized the Vampire Court's relationship with PETRA. Do you know how much danger you've placed us all in?"
"The fault was mine," Caine interjects. "I should have immobilized the Heir Apparent first. I hadn't foreseen the events that followed."
"Not only did Yoohwan escape, you also lost him!" Yoochun is yelling over Caine directly at me, wholly ignoring the First Son's presence. "How do you lose someone six feet tall in the open fields?"
"Yoochun, enough," Yunho warns, standing before Yoochun to bodily block his view of me. "You are getting too emotional and blaming this on anyone won't help. No one could've expected what happened."
Yoochun bodily pushes Yunho away harshly. "I'm about to not only lose my brother but endanger the general public because he escaped from right under our noses."
"And you won't solve anything by losing your temper," Yunho about growls. "You haven't even allowed Taehyung to explain himself yet you are so set on blaming him that you refuse to listen."
I sense everyone in the room shift their attention to me, and I feel like melting into my seat. Everyone holds that same concerned yet helpless expression on their face, except for Yoochun. He seems to be pretty adamant on being angry.
"Taehyung," Jin says, a calm, soothing voice after the tirade of emotions from both the Vampire King and Sovereign. "Can you tell us what happened?"
I take a moment to gather my thoughts, glancing at a still healing Caine, who sits at the edge of the sofa, saying nothing but studying everything with a careful face. He hasn't said a word since he brought us back from PETRA.
I turn to Yoochun.
"I tried to enter Yoohwan's mind to see what was going on. To know what triggered his attacks. But there was a powerful spell blocking me, and I got thrown back immediately. My movements probably woke Yoohwan up and he tried to choke me. I panicked and called Caine for help. We shifted outside because we thought it would be safer. I didn't anticipate that Yoohwan would just disappear."
"What happened then?" Yunho asks. "After you went into the portal."
"We stepped out into open fields and we fought, two against one. Yoohwan was *so powerful*. Tanya, Yunho and the armies came not long after that. Nothing seemed to be working on Yoohwan, not Caine's power, not the bullets from the armies, not even my own attacks. And then he suddenly went silent and…"
I trail off. The memory is almost unbelievable. Did that really happen? Did a massive black shape come out of a vampire or was that all in my head? Was it my voices manifesting themselves into reality again?
"And?" Yoochun prompts.
"A massive black form came out left Yoohwan's body," Yunho explains. "It started attacking everyone and Taehyung called for the Angels to protect everyone."
I have to pause again to brace myself. The very thought of having to remember its face, what it looked like as it stared at me, has me nearly in hysterics again.
"What did it look like?"
"Everything," I whisper, feeling my vision suddenly blur with tears. "Everything I've ever feared. Every life I've ever lost. And they all stared back at me in the way they died. Torn to pieces, blue in the face, pain in their eyes." I pause again. My tears trickle down my face as I carelessly wipe them away. Jungkook flinches in his seat, torn between wanting to run to me and needing to respect the meeting going on.
"And then I screamed." I know my voice is whisper soft now as I stare at Jungkook, who acts as my anchor to the ground, making sure my two feet are still solid on this carpeted floor. "I screamed until Yunho forced me to stop looking. I probably closed my eyes for half a second. We started attacking the black mass again, until I hit with one final blow. And then it just… disappeared, along with Yoohwan."
I close my eyes, not knowing why I feel like I really needed to.
"The shape was massive," I say. "And those faces staring back at me… I saw so many people I knew… all dying in agony."
There is short silence in the room as everyone allows me to breathe for a few moments.
I open my eyes again just as Jin turns to Caine.
"What do you make of this?"
It takes a while for Caine to answer, as he considers what to say.
"I don't know."
"What?" Jin says. He couldn't have misheard.
"I don't know," Caine repeats, enunciating every word clearly as he turns to look at Jin. "This is beyond me."
"Beyond the First Son?" The tension is starting to rise again as no one seems to be able to have the answers we're looking for.
"The person in question can supposedly raise the dead, so forgive me for being out of my area of expertise."
"Impossible."
"The Heir Apparent can reportedly rip souls right out of their bodies and put them back. The only other person I know who was able to do that was a Prophet."
Jin turns to Yoochun to clarify.
"It's true."
"What kind of Creation is he?"
Yoochun suddenly snaps, appearing before Jin as he grabs his collar in an obvious threat. "He is my brother. And you will *watch your mouth* when you speak of him."
"Says the person who is so willing to kill him," Jin growls in return, obviously undeterred.
Yoochun roars, lifting Jin off the ground as he throws him across the room. I yell as I stand, just as Jin catches himself and lands almost perfectly at the other end of the room.
"Stop it!" I scream, slamming my hands against the table. "Enough! No one is killing anyone."
The sentence makes everyone pause, and shift their attention to me again.
"What?" Yoochun says.
I resist the urge to back down and stand straight as I stare at Yoochun, holding my ground.
"I said no one is killing anyone."
"You saw what my brother did!" Yoochun exclaims incredulously. "Did you not read the report I gave you about what he did during the Antharax War?" He stalks forward, standing across the table from me.
"I did. Yoohwan has not done anything that warrants for my action."
"Will you wait for him to do them?"
I take in a shaky breath. "When that…thing… came out of Yoohwan, he dropped to the floor, unconscious. There is a chance that what's wrong with Yoohwan is simply possession. I don't know from what, but its attached itself to Yoohwan pretty adamantly."
"I've seen the form before," Yunho speaks up. "I believe the form exists beyond this dimension. Twice, when I was hurt and when I died, Yoohwan called on to the being to save me. I know that it granted Yoohwan's requests obediently.
I turn to Yoochun again. "You asked for my help and I said my only condition was that I choose the situation that deemed it necessary for his soul to be destroyed. Yoohwan has done *nothing* -"
"He killed innocents on consecrated ground! He calls forth monsters that kill in one full sweep. What more reason do you need?"
"Yoochun -" Yunho is by his side, trying to quell his anger.
"I am the Protector of Souls!" I yell, feeling my own anger rise. "It is *my* decree that Yoohwan will not face death for his actions."
"It is not your right to choose what happens to my brother!" Yoochun yells right back.
"And I suppose it's yours?"
"I have killed my father for the greater good of my people and I will not hesitate to kill my brother as well!"
"FCUK YOU!" I scream, momentarily losing control. A burst of Hell's fire leaves my body, heading straight for Yoochun.
"Taehyung, no!" Jin had yelled, moving as he grabs the Sovereign. The fire slams into them both, throwing them back against the ground.
Collectively, everyone in the room freezes. Vampires are allergic to fire.
Yunho is the first to rush forward to Yoochun's side as Jin gets up.
I stare horrified, my hands against my open mouth as even Caine gathers around Yoochun, who hasn't gotten up.
Yoochun's back is to me, so I can't see the extent of his injuries, but he isn't moving, which couldn't be a good sign.
Everyone looks calm, their movements focused as they start moving to save Yoochun. But the panic is evident in their eyes, in their lack of communication.
I see Yunho bite his own wrist, harshly enough that the blood trickles out. He places it against Yoochun's mouth. Caine murmurs a spell, his hands glowing as he places them against Yoochun's chest.
Jin chants spell after spell, touching each of Yoochun's burn wounds lightly as he attempts to heal them. He looks up momentarily, catching my eyes.
"I'm sorry," I find myself whispering. "I didn't mean -"
"Taehyung." Namjoon is suddenly before me, bodily blocking my view of what was going on. "Let's wait outside."
"I can't -"
*Taehyung.* Jin's voice suddenly resonates in my mind. *It's going to be okay. Wait outside.*

"Taehyung."
Jungkook and Hanaan stare at me from where they sit, Jungkook resting his chin on my knees while Hanaan sits beside him. Automatic puppy eyes study me in concern.
"It's going to be okay. Don't be sad."
"I could have killed him, Jungkook," I whisper, feeling tears gather in my eyes.
"But you didn't," Hanaan bluntly points put. I know Hanaan is uncomfortable as he says those words. He doesn't have much E.Q, but he's working on it. The very act of him saying those words soothes me somehow.
"It's not about whether I succeeded or not. It's about the fact that it happened."
"Accidents happen."
"Hanaan is right, Mama," Jungkook agrees, as he reaches up to wipe at a tear on my cheek. "Accidents happen to everyone."
"What if that accident killed him?"
"But it didn't," Hanaan says, tilting his cheek slightly to rest it on my other kneecap.
I smile slightly in amusement, reaching out to tuck a lock of his hair behind his ear. "Thank you for being so sweet. You too, Jungkook."
"Taehyung."
I look up.
"Yunho," I start. Both Jungkook and Hanaan straighten as he comes forward. Yunho raises a hand to stop them.
"It's alright. The both of you are welcome to stay and listen."
Both little ones relax immediately, as Yunho comes to sit by my side on the patio sofa.
"Yoochun is alright. Your Earthly Advisor, Jin took most of the blow."
The relief is too much for me is I crumble, tears falling off my face. "Thank God."
"He'll need a bit of rest, but Yoochun has been through much, much worse."
"I'm sorry," I sob. "I should never have -"
"Mama, don't cry," Jungkook mewls, immediately reaching out to clutch my hand. "Yoochun is okay."
"Jungkook is right. And you had every right to refuse Yoochun. You are a leader, Head of Your Court. You shoulder countless responsibilities and you must not kowtow to the whims of others just because you feel bad. You have the right to hold your ground. Yoochun should not have verbally come at you like that."
Yunho glances at both Jungkook and Hanaan a few times as he speaks, obviously directing what he says to both of them as well.
"We should stand by our decisions," Hanaan says.
"No," Yunho corrects. "You should listen to opinion. But if you feel, morally and legally, that your decision is best, then you shouldn't let anyone force you into changing your mind."
"I could've killed him," I sigh.
Yunho turns to me. "But you didn't. And now he knows not to mess with you just because he didn't get his way."
"People shouldn't mess with me," Hanaan pipes up, processing what he hears.
"No," Yunho patiently corrects again. "People shouldn't bully you. And you shouldn't be afraid to stand up for yourself when the need arrives."
The understanding comes to me late, but I get it as Yunho studies me.
"You don't want him to kill Yoohwan."
"I don't," Yunho confesses. "And truthfully, Yoochun doesn't want to either, but he fears what happened in the Antharax War could happen again. He doesn't want to take the risk."
"Why does Yoochun want to kill his brother?" Jungkook says. He knows why, but the reason doesn't make sense to the young one. I hope I've taught him enough to never give up on anyone, and to see someone he looks up to do exactly that confuses him.
"Because he thinks it's the right thing to do."
"So we shouldn't stop him," Hanaan points out, attempting to understand as well.
"We should… if we feel like it's the right thing to do."
Hanaan leans back, frowning slightly. The little one is confused.
"Do you really think Yoohwan could be that big a danger?" Jungkook asks.
"To be honest, I don't know. The Yoohwan I know would never hurt a fly. I still can't seem to process that he killed those people in the church. It doesn't sound like him." Yunho sighs deeply. "If it is his power taking control over him, then we have no choice but to either contain the power, or contain the source of it."
"I'm not gonna let Yoochun kill him," I say.
Yunho studies me. "What will you do?"
"Find Yoohwan before Yoochun does, for a start."
"And after?"
"I'll find a way to stop him - a way that doesn't hurt him."
I can precisely imagine what Yoohwan is going through - to be fearful of your powers, to have hurt others, to know that others believe your life is not worth living simply because your powers were too much.
"Yoohwan is alone out there," I say. "Probably scared and pretty confused. The last thing he needs is everyone giving up on him."
"Thank you. Sincerely."
"But what about Yoochun?"
"As I've said… Yoochun doesn't want to lose his brother. He just doesn't know any other alternative."
I hesitate as I ask the next question. "Is he…mad at me?"
Yunho finally grins, chuckling lightly. "He probably will be, once he wakes up. But I think he knew he had it coming. Today will be a hard lesson for Yoochun to not mess with you and I hope he remembers it."
"I don't want to lose his friendship."
"You won't. He treasures you too much to lose you." Yunho crosses his arms just then, leaning heavily against the wall behind him. "But if I know Yoochun, he is as stubborn as the word can define. He will proceed to find his brother."
"He'll kill Yoohwan?"
"I don't know," Yunho sighs. "I keep thinking he won't."
"He kept saying he killed his father. Is that true?"
"Yoochun's father, the previous Sovereign, was a monster. He'd captured a witch, harnessed her power, and used it to start an interspecies war between vampires and hunters. Thousands were killed, Taehyung. Every family I know lost someone. I lost my mother. The only way for Yoochun to ascend as Sovereign was to defeat his father in battle, which he did."
"Yoohwan isn't like that."
"Yoochun fears he might be." Yunho looks up to face me. "He was their father after all."
"Then Yoochun is no better!"
"You don't understand, Taehyung. If Yoochun hadn't killed his father, many more lives would have been lost. He's thinking that if he could save these lives too, then one sacrifice would be worth it."
I bite my lip, looking away from Yunho. I hate to admit it, but he was right. I didn't agree with it, but I could see the logic.
But I couldn't let him proceed. Yoohwan was Yoochun's only family left. He hadn't turned evil or betrayed anyone. He deserved to at least have someone help him.
"Will you help me stop him?"
"I'll help you!" Jungkook pipes in.
Yunho smiles. "I want to save Yoohwan as much as you do. But if Yoohwan proves to be unstoppable, I *will* help Yoochun rip his head off and burn his body"
Hanaan's eyes widen at the sentence, and Yunho notices.
"It's the only way to kill a vampire of our kind," he explains patiently. "If it is the only way… then it is the only way."

*You've messed up*
*You really have*

The image of me my mind has projected sits languidly on my desk, his legs crossed as he stares at me in amusement. I stare back at him, trying to find a flaw, a disrepency, *something* that proved that he wasn't real, that he wasn't actually there.

*I am a projection of you. I'm as real as you are.*

I close my eyes, breathing deeply. I know he isn't real. I know it's just a weird trick of my mind. But I see him. I see him as clear as day.
"What do you want?" I ask in the lowest whisper.
He smirks and leans back, resting his weight on the palm of his hands. It's very strange to see emotion actively moving on my face.

*I only want what you do*

"And what is that?"

*A definite answer.*

A knock on my bedroom door has me shifting my focus momentarily as Jin opens the door.
"Hey," I say, as he stands at the doorway, a hand against the doorknob. "Are you here to yell at me too?"
Jin is quiet, finally entering as he shuts the bedroom door behind him. "No," he says. "You did what needed to be done."
"You don't think I should kill Yoohwan?"
"If you did, it wouldn't be the Taehyung I know."
I force a smile, looking away as Jin comes to me and envelopes me in a gentle hug. I rest my head against his chest.
"How's Caine and Yoochun?"
"They're fine. Caine went back to Heaven to recuperate. The Vampire King brought the Sovereign home."
"I feel like trouble follows me everywhere," I sigh. "What kind of Aamon am I?"
"Caine got hurt because of Yoohwan, not because of you. Yoochun kind of deserved it."
I straighten to smack Jin's shoulder. I wasn't amused. Jin only smiles slightly, as he rests his hand against my cheek. His smile disappears soon after as he studies me.
"Caine knows what he saw. He just refuses to acknowledge it."
I look Jin in the eye. "What?"
"The thing you saw when you tried to stop Yoohwan. Caine knows what it is."
"What is it?"
"Taehyung," he says softly. "I think the end is near. I think it's starting."
"Why would you say that?"
He studies my face, almost trying to memorize what he sees.
"Jin, you're scaring me. Just tell me what it is."
"A long time ago, long before the creation of Angels, Demons and any sort of earthly being, God created Chaos, his first Creation. Chaos was the creator of the Cosmos, aiding God in design and execution."
I tilt my head in curiosity as I listen. What did that have anything to do with this?
"As more Creation came to being, Chaos's role diminished, but his power didn't. He eventually came to Earth, teaching magic to those willing to pay a great enough price."
"Is that where your magic comes from?"
"Every spell, every curse and every prayer can be traced back to Chaos. Those who wield magic by nature - wizards and witches - worshipped Chaos. And for a while, there was nothing."
"Until World War 2."
"Until World War 2," Jin confirms, "where wizards and witches were rounded up and driven to extinction. There were no worshippers of Chaos and nothing to distract him."
"Did Yoohwan -?"
"Yoohwan was born in the midst of World War 2, his powers so great that he swore to never use them. But lack of use of power only weakens your control. And Yoohwan was growing stronger as he aged. So he made a deal with Chaos, to give Chaos some of his power so he could use it without fear of hurting anyone. And every single day, Chaos grew stronger, feeding off of Yoohwan's power, sharing his vessel."
It all clicks into place as I stare at Jin.
"Chaos is inside Yoohwan," I whisper. "That's what I saw in the battle."
Jin nods. "I don't know how Yoohwan has an entity so powerful inside of him."
"But why? Why is Chaos so angry and why does he want to destroy everything?"
"Because that is his duty. To create. And then destroy."
"And God won't stop him?"
"I told you. God doesn't interfere."
"How do we stop him?"
"Taehyung, we cannot stop him. Neither I, nor Caine, nor the Archangels could ever defeat Chaos."
"So…so what do we do?"
"I don't know, Taehyung. Like Caine said, this is beyond me. This is beyond us. If Chaos decides that it wants to destroy the entire cosmos, I don't think we can stop him."
"But the prophecy -"
"There are many variations of the prophecy. This could just as well be one of them."
"I…I have to kill him, don't I?"
Jin doesn't say anything, and perhaps in his silence is answer enough.
"What if it doesn't work? What if Chaos will just move on to the next host? Or start becoming corporeal?"
"I don't know, Taehyung. But killing Yoohwan will stop the power flow. It will stop Chaos from getting any stronger."
I feel my panic rising. I don't have a solution. I don't even have any other ideas. "Yoohwan doesn't deserve this," I whisper, feeling my eyes fill with tears again.
"He doesn't," Jin agrees.
"I'll think of something," I say, knowing that I'm starting to scramble for ideas. "I'll think of a way to save him."
"Taehyung, maybe it's not your responsibility to save him anymore."
I stare at Jin, almost not believing my ears.
"What?"
"Yoohwan is beyond saving."
"I'm the Aamon," I argue. "It's my responsibility to *save everyone*."
"No, it's not," Jin answers, calm and soothing despite my own rising voice.
"I have to save him," I say.
"You're going to kill yourself. You can't save everyone."
I push Jin back. "What's wrong with you? What's wrong with Caine and Yoochun and Yunho? Why are you all so willing to kill an innocent -"
"Taehyung," Jin starts again, gently taking my hand in his.
"Don't 'Taehyung' me!" I yell, attempting to get out of his hold. Jin doesn't give, before he pulls me forward and envelopes me in a hug again, a warm and reassuring embrace in the overall grief I was feeling.

*There is no other way.*

I stare over Jin's shoulder, seeing myself seated on the desk again. Indifference is the loudest emotion on his face as he studies me.

*There is no other way, and you know it.*

I scrunch my eyes shut, refusing to hear and refusing to see. I don't believe his words.
"Jin," I whisper, noting how my own voice quakes with emotion. "I think Caine is right."
"What?"
"I think I am going crazy."
Jin separates the hug, hands resting on my elbows instead as he studies me.
"Is it the voices in your head? Are they still there?"
"Not just the voices. I see things now."
"What do you see?"
"Myself. Staring right back at me."
"Right now?"
"He's right there," I say, staring at myself. I see him smirk in acknowledgement. Jin doesn't look behind him. There is no point anyway. He wouldn't see it.
Jin places a hand against my temple, whispering a spell as he sifts through my memories, seeing what I see. And when he stops, Jin seems to take a mental step back, needing a few moments to collect himself.
And then he sighs, seeming to deflate on his own. He studies me, the hand on my temple lowering to my cheek. "What can I do to help you?"
"Can you even help me?"
"Should I block out the memories?"
I shake my head. "Adam says I might risk forgetting something important."
Jin leans forward, resting his forehead against mine.
"I wish I could help you."
"You're already helping by just being here with me. Promise me you won't leave me?"
Jin answers by resting his lips against mine, kissing me gently as I close my eyes and kiss him back. It is a fragile kiss, full of fear and doubt of the future. But just him being here was enough. Maybe I could deal with the future later.
I open my eyes just as Jin's arms fall from around me. The landscape has changed again, and I know exactly where I am. Jin is staring dead ahead, his gaze immediately wary and on guard.
"Your Highness."
I glance over my shoulder to see the members of Parliament staring at me, sitting behind their long table. Jin's hold on my hand only tightens. I turn around to face them. I know they'd seen that kiss. And I know they're angry. The disapproval is loud on their faces.
"I'm here," I say. "Why do you need me?"
"Your relationship with the Son of Lucifer has reached a point where it can be ignored no longer. For the sake of your own power, you must cease this immediately."
"My personal relationships are no business of yours," I answer to Peter.
"They are if they affect the Court."
"They don't," I answer, not in the mood to face this right now.
"Will you go against your own Parliament to support the Kingdom of Hell?"
"I am doing no such thing."
"Your power flow will -"
"I don't care about my power flow." At that, Jin's hold on my hand tightens. An obvious warning.
"Your decisions have become partial. You have become biased towards the Son of Lucifer instead of being loyal to your own Court."
"I don't know how many times I have to prove myself to you," I say, feeling my temper rise. "I saved the Kingdom of Heaven, Hell, defeated Lucifer in his attempt to start Armageddon and ousted the traitor amongst you! I have done *everything* for my Court, and my relationship with Jin has nothing to do with influence!"
"Taehyung…" Jin whispers in warning.
"We have no choice but to retrieve the initiate from you for his own safety."
"What?"
"We are aware of your lack of control of your powers and your episodes of schizophrenia. You are no longer safe to raise the initiate."
"You can't do this," I growl.
"We are your Parliament. We have the full power to decide such."
My temper reaches the ceiling as I stalk forward, ripping my hand out of Jin's hold. "I have given you *everything* and received nothing in return from you. You tried to kill me when I was still an initiate as well as when I had just become Aamon. You testified *against* me in Heaven in the hopes that I'd be trapped there forever and you could elect a new Aamon. You allowed Layla to attack me and stood by doing *nothing* while I fought with Judas. You tried to kill Hanaan and have *constantly* stood by and provided little to no aid when I was in trouble and needed guidance. I owe you nothing."
"We are your Parliament. Without us, you *are* nothing."
I lose it right then, feeling myself explode as I hear Jin yell for me, before everything turns to white.
The blast that leaves my body blinds even me.