~Chapter 57~

­­­­­Little Fairy

Taehyung’s POV~

            Jimin has been away for a few days and there is no way for me to contact him. Should I pretend to be hurt to lure him out? I think, but quickly shake off the silly idea. Baekhyun hyung has been keeping me company since being alone makes me feel uneasy. The White Masked Hero’s wolf is here after all, so it’s not like I don’t feel safe. I just don’t feel…right. I hold back the urge to jump up the moment I saw him walk through the doors. I hold my composure like always and give off my blank face. After a quick bow to greet me, Jimin leaves to his room right next to mine.

            I bend down and whisper to the White Masked Hero’s wolf, tired of waiting around for Jimin to tell me what’s wrong. The wolf understands and quickly enters Jimin’s room to keep him company. I choose a good spot to hide and listen attentively, hoping Jimin would talk to the wolf. After a while, Jimin finally speaks up, “Why are you hiding, Your Highness?” I clear my throat and fix my posture before entering. Okay…this is either going to end with us not talking to each other for at least a whole week or we become friends-ish again. What can go wrong…I say sarcastically in my head.

            Before I open my mouth, Jimin finally says, “The White Masked Hero was captured.” I freeze a bit as the news shocked me. We did not see the White Masked Hero last time we visited Taemin and Minho hyung. For the emperor to get a hold of him and capture him? That’s unbelievable. “The king wanted to use Taemin hyung to lure the White Masked Hero in. He used my whistle that Taemin hyung gifted me,” he says, his voice full of guilt. “The king clearly knows where Minho hyung is living, but he lied and used the White Masked Hero to lure in Minho hyung, so we could kill him on the spot, only his plan failed. The blood he gathered from the White Masked Hero was no use to him and now he sent out a new decree…Tomorrow morning, Jong Kook hyungnim and I will lead an army to bring the Peacekeepers dead or alive...and if anyone dare gets in our way…they will be slaughtered.”

            “N-no, Minho hyung, Taemin hyung, and the White Masked Hero will defend their home. They will fight back. You can’t kill them!”

            “I was more worried that I would not make it back alive,” Jimin says with a faint smile. “Glad to know that you have more faith in me than I have in myself.”

            “They will never hurt you,” I say. “They simply want to live a peaceful life. Jimin-ah…someone needs to go tell the emperor.”

            I turn around and prepare to run off but stop as soon as Jimin shouts, “You want to die?” He runs to me, grabs me by the shoulders, and turns me around. “The point is for you not to die,” he says. “If you go to him now, he will kill you. You know he does not tolerate those that oppose him.”

            “So, I let my friends kill each other for his gain? We know he is a terrible king. We can’t give him what he wants.”

            “If he is not king then who will be!?” Jimin shouts and punches the wall next to me. I flinch for a bit but remain still. The look in Jimin’s eyes were not pure rage, but frustration, disappointment even. “Tell me, Taehyung-ah. That man has all of us in the palm of his hands. The moment you have a weakness, he will use it against you. If we were to risk it all and take him down, who will be the one to replace him and fix everything? Hmm? Because it’s not going to be you, now is it?” Jimin exhales and turns around, his back facing mine. “No one is strong enough to kill him and no one is good enough to solve anything he started. If you can tell me what it is that I can do to save us all then tell me…because all I can do now is obey his commands.”

            I stand there powerless and look at the ground in defeat. He’s right…I have been rejecting my role as the crown prince and I have been hiding behind his shadow all my life. One by one, those around us have perished and the king will soon become invincible. Is there really nothing I can do? I look at the wolf who is clearly restless. Hearing the news has also made him nervous. He nudges my leg with his snout and his eyes are gleaming, almost like he was expecting me to do something. Don’t worry, I will take action. I can’t be a coward. I need to fight back.

Baekhyun’s POV~

            I take a hold of the poisonous dagger and feel a chill run down my spine. The blade looks like any regular dagger, metallic and simple. The handle is wrapped with grayish brown fur and its blade has a beautiful wolf carved on it. “The poison on the blade will not harm humans, only monsters. Every monster can make its body part into magical or powerful objects. I blessed the dagger with my spiritual breath. The wolf symbol on the blade is meant for protection.” I look at Kai whose face is flushed. Could it be the weather is so cold that his cheeks are pink, or is it something else? Nonetheless, his face remains calm as he helps me push the dagger back into its sheath. “I can’t always be around to take care of you,” Kai says plainly and clears his throat. “The fur on the handle is mine,” I gasp as I continue holding onto the dagger close to my chest. The fur is silky and warm in my touch. He continues looking around, not looking at me straight in the eyes. “No matter how far the dagger gets tossed, the handle with the fur will come back into your hand,” Kai nods and clears his throat once again. Realizing the silence must mean that he is done, I give him a smile.

            “Thank you,” I say. “I really appreciate it.”

            “It’s whatever,” he shrugs and finally looks at me briefly before he looks away once more. “If you ever miss me…ah forget it,” he waves his hand behind his neck and turns around. “Don’t forget to eat regularly and go to bed early. When I don’t check on you, you always lose track of time. Also, try making friends with some guards so they can take care of you. It would be annoying if I were to come back and see you beaten up.”

            “Wait,” I blurt out. “Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye? Is this a farewell gift?” I ask as I hold up the dagger.

            “I…” Kai turns around slowly and looks at me straight in the eyes. He furrows his eyebrows before he sighs and pulls me into a warm embrace. My breath hitches as this is the first time Kai hugged me so abruptly. As my chin rests on his shoulder and his rests on mine, I take in a breath of his scent. It may be because he is a monster, but his scent was plain, yet very sweet. I remember reading that monsters tend to have a very specific smell because they don’t want people to smell their animal-like scent. Although he smells sweet, it is nothing like the fragrance of flowers or any desserts. It smells simple, very alluring. It was to the point where I do not want to smell anything else but him. His powerful arm wraps around my waist while the other was around upper back. Although he is strong, nothing about his gesture felt controlling or a threat. It made me feel protected in his arms. His body heat warms me up on this cold day. “I have very strong instincts,” he finally says as the arm around my upper back travels up and he starts playing with my hair, petting it. “I have a feeling that we will never meet again—”

            “Don’t jinx it,” I cut him off. “Where are you going?”

            “Tomorrow, the army will head off to challenge the Peacekeepers. I need to get there first to give my hyungs a warning.”

            “That means you’re going to betray His Majesty,” I pull away from our hug and look at him with concern. “If anyone were to find out, you’ll die. Are you crazy?”

            “I can’t just let them overpower my hyungs. Last time Jong Kook hyungnim battled them, it even involved innocent people. I overheard that Taemin hyung is terribly hurt. At this point, they won’t be able to fight off the army. Key and Jonghyun hyung are off to battle the bandits and monsters, Joon and Onew hyung are watched by the king’s men, and Jimin and Jong Kook hyungnim are off to get my hyungs. They have no one on their side. I can’t let them be at such a disadvantage.”

            “And you are clearly prepared to leave everyone here behind for them,” I say as I look at the dagger, now feeling colder than ever in my hand.

            “I swear to you,” Kai holds onto my hand. “When my hyungs are safe, I will come back to you. That dagger is not my parting gift to you, but a representation of my promise. Even if they recognize me and I am deemed a criminal, I will find my way back and take me with you.” My heart warms up at the sound of his promise. Kai is willing to take me away with him…

            “W-what makes you think I want to leave with you?” I stutter. “The palace is beautiful, I have loads of money, and my brother and Jimin live here. What makes you think I would want to leave all this behind and go with you?” I say, teasing him.

            “You’re right,” he says solemnly and expresses a wounded face. My heart jumps as I realize that he might not get that I was teasing him. Before I get to explain myself, his sad face switches to a mischievous one as he pulls me to his body. Our faces are nearly touching, and I can feel his warm breath tickly my cheek. “I’ll steal you from the palace and take you away with me, whether you want me to or not,” he smirks. At that moment I knew…Kai has completely and undeniably won over my heart.

No One’s POV~

            Because Taemin moved around too much the past few days by making Minho carry him around, his injuries have reopened, and he is strictly kept in bed today. “No physical contact,” Mr. Dragon warns them. “No hugging, no cuddling, no kissing, nothing at all. Let him rest. The chains will continue locking his energy, so healing will be much slower than usual. If you keep moving around and reopening the wounds, he’s never going to heal properly.” Both Taemin and Minho show looks of disappointment after Mr. Dragon’s warning, but they know it must be done. “If I see one more injury reopen, I’m banning you from seeing Taemin,” Mr. Dragon points at Minho and walks away.

            Minho is making Taemin some food. After the warning from Mr. Dragon yesterday, Minho doesn’t dare to carry Taemin to the kitchen to join him. Taemin secretly tries to summon some of his energy when he was supposed to be resting in bed. Using the same method as usual, he tries to draw the energy from within and expel it through his hands. Suddenly, his chest grows heavy as he feels something threaten to come out. Before he could stop in time, a mouthful of blood splatters on his sleepwear. His body slumps over slightly as he puts a palm on his chest, trying to hold back throwing up more blood. He quickly wipes the blood off his chin with his other hand and curses to himself. By trying to draw energy while the chain suppresses it, he just ended up hurting himself more. Hearing the door creak open, Taemin quickly throws his blanket over his body and gulps down some water and swishes it around in his mouth to clear off any remanence of blood in his mouth. Minho carries in a tray of food and smiles when he sees that Taemin is awake. “Are you hungry yet? Let me help you to the table and we can eat together.” Taemin was about to get up but remembered the blood that managed to get on his clothes. He quickly shakes his head and murmurs that he is still sleepy. “I know but you need to eat…” Minho comes over to Taemin’s bed and nudges his cheek. “Come on, sleepyhead.”

            “No really, I’m not hungry,” Taemin lies and waves his hand to shoo Minho away. Minho’s smile wavers as he saw a glimpse of red on Taemin’s hand. The blood Taemin wiped off from his chin is now dried on his hand and he was too rushed to wash them before Minho came in. Minho quickly catches Taemin’s hand and throws the blanket off Taemin’s body, revealing the bloody outfit underneath.

            “Mr. Dragon!” Minho calls out.

            “No, hyung, it’s nothing really—”

            “Don’t act like this is no big deal,” Minho scolds. The dragon quickly runs in with his babies following behind like a trail of ducks. “Taemin threw up blood.”

            “What did you do?” Mr. Dragon asks as he takes a hold of Taemin’s wrist to check his condition.

            “I was just being reckless and tried drawing some energy,” Taemin says in shame. “I’m sorry. It’s really no big deal.”

            “You have internal injuries,” Mr. Dragon declares with a sigh. “I already told you that the chain can’t be easily defeated. It was designed to incarcerate you after all.” Mr. Dragon then pauses for a bit as he notices that the chain is even more worn down. Was the chain always like this? Mr. Dragon’s thought gets cut off with Minho’s question.

            “Is he going to be okay?” Minho asks urgently.

            “I think it’s best if we consult with his master. At this rate, we shouldn’t stall removing the chains any longer. Quick, get on my back. I’m going to fly you two to the mountains.”  

            As Minho, Taemin, and Mr. Dragon are away, Moonkyu and Wonshik are moving around more freely. They have been searching around for a while but have not gotten the chance to explore the bedrooms since they didn’t want to be discovered. They rush into the bedrooms and search around frantically, not sure how long the three would be away for. Mr. Dragon is a celestial beast after all, so his flying would cut down the traveling time by a lot. The must be careful as the three are usually very attentive and would notice that they have been searching around if something is off. “Aish, I really thought it would be here,” Moonkyu groans as he finds nothing in Taemin and Minho’s room. “How’s it over there?”

            “Whoa!” Wonshik yells followed by a loud crash. Hearing the commotion, Moonkyu quickly rushes over to find his friends on the ground in front of a wall that is now wide open. A secret room?! After Wonshik gets up, Moonkyu helps him brush off some of the dust and they both enter the room. “We should’ve guessed that Mr. Dragon would have a secret room,” Wonshik shakes his head as they both look around. The room has various treasures and weapons or all kinds, spread nicely throughout. “Do you see it?”

            “Not yet,” Moonkyu says as he continues looking at the array of items. “Which one of these is the Dagger of Resentment?” He pulls out the sketch of the dagger painted by the king himself. He finally stops on his tracks as he realizes that there indeed was a black-bladed dagger on one of the shelves. He quickly calls his friend over as they both admire the weapon they were sent to find.

            Key shoots Jonghyun a look as he gets on his horse. Jonghyun’s face is bright, unlike before. Key thought Jonghyun would be upset and ignore him, but on the contrary, Jonghyun greeted him energetically without a moment of hesitation. Seeing Jonghyun in such a good mood, he can’t help but feel flabbergasted. Key does not know that Onew also paid Jonghyun a visit last night after their long talk. Onew is Jonghyun’s hyung after all, so of course he wouldn’t send his dongsaeng off to a dangerous battle with a heavy heart. Although Onew did not tell Jonghyun everything Key told him, he gave Jonghyun hope and encouraged him to love Key as much as he wants. There was no way to measure how much more time they would have together, so Onew told him to love him openly and passionately. “Don’t let yourself have any regrets,” was what he told him, and Jonghyun happily obliges.

            Onew, Joon, Mir, Thunder, and a few other closer guards from Heroes’ Rebellion wave at the two as they lead the army. Jonghyun gave them all their respective farewells and gets on his horse next to Key. Although they are sending them off with laughter and smiles, they are doing so to mask their worry. The best they can do is to wish them the best of luck. “Onew hyung, Joon hyung, when we come back, you better have your wedding all planned out! I’m getting impatient for you two~” Jonghyun jokes. Onew immediately blushes as Joon wraps an arm around his shoulder to pull him closer.

            “Don’t worry bro, you’ll be the first to find out!” Joon promises and waves them off as Onew hides his face. Yesterday was definitely an eventful one. Before Onew actually came to Key to talk, he was on a romantic date with Joon.

~FLASHBACK TO YESTERDAY~

            The date started off with Joon and Onew riding on a horse together to tour the location the queen found him back when he was a wild monster. As they rode, Joon would tell him stories that he hadn’t have the chance to tell Onew before. “I remember the empress mentioning that you used to be different. She also warned me to never break our bond because there will be consequences…what was that about?”

            “Well, I used to hate humans actually. Before the empress brought me back to the palace, I had to go through a lot of training.”

            “Oh…” Onew nods.

            “You’re not going to ask why I hated humans or how training went?”

            “I mean…if you wanted to say it, you’d tell me even if I don’t ask,” Onew says.

            “Right,” Joon smiles and sighs. “Well, I might as well be honest with you…Since monsters are hundreds of years old, a lot can happen before we mature and take human form. I used to live in the forest near this small village where they hunted animals for fur. Once, there was a little boy that followed his father on the hunt and when he encountered me, he hid me so that I wasn’t found. Thanks to him, I survived. From then on, he would come visit me and we became great friends. Unfortunately for us, things did not end very well.

            “My entire wolf pack was slaughtered, and I vowed to get revenge. When I came to the house and slaughtered their family, I realized that the family I killed was the boy’s. I ran out and the entire village caught me since I was a very young monster. Nonetheless, the little boy came to my rescue…and he was killed. Skip forward maybe a hundred years and I eventually hated humans. They killed animals and they also kill their own. They act strong and powerful, yet they easily die. I just couldn’t trust them, and I hated them for acting like the superior species. Of course, there are more stories between then…but I’ll save that for next time.”

            “I’m happy you’re able to tolerate us humans now,” Onew says with a loving smile and hugs Joon. “Why did the empress recruit you?”

            “Well, I did a lot of things the human society would deem as evil…so they decided to hunt me down. The queen eventually dueled with me and said she would let me do whatever I please if I defeat her and if I were to lose to her, I’d have to come back to the palace and change my ways. If I knew she was a fox fairy, I would’ve ran away.” 

            “Are you kidding? The powerful and heroic general would run away from a fight?” Onew teases.

            “Hell yeah,” Joon laughs. “You need to pick and choose your battles. Fox fairy verses immature wolf, there’s no way I would’ve won.”

            “So, then what happened?”

            “As you can guess, I lost, and she brought me and some other monsters back. It took us a while to appreciate humans, but eventually we coexisted fine.”

            “Oh, what about the bond she mentioned?” Onew asks, remembering the warning the empress gave him.

            “A monster and a human should not naturally become a couple. There are lots of stories and rules that make the relationship taboo. So, monsters tried to get around that by forming a bond with their true love. Unfortunately, once that bond is severed, it means that they went against nature and will receive their punishment. Then, the human and monster can never be happily together again.”

            “How so?”

            “Hmm, I’m not sure actually. The elders never got into details. They just warned us that if we were to ever bond our lives, we need to make sure it is true love, or else there will be major consequences.”

            “Death?”

            “No, it’s worse than that…but I’m not sure what that means. Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Joon says. “It’s not like we would ever break our bond anyway,” he says and pecks Onew on the cheek.

            Once they reached a meadow with a variation of colorful flowers, Joon lays out a thick mat for them to enjoy their food which he brought along and cooked himself. Onew once mentioned that he enjoyed a Japanese eel rice bowl before and Joon actually researched and prepared his best imitation of the dish. Like always, Onew happily enjoyed the food Joon prepared for him. After the meal was over, Joon casually serenades Onew with a few songs he wrote during the time Onew and he first met.

            The array of songs expressed the journey his heart went through as he fell deeper and deeper in love with Onew. As a renowned general, Joon rarely talked about his emotions and showed them through his actions, so outsiders did not completely catch onto his growing love for Onew, but one day just noticed his undying love for him. It was almost like outsiders took it as Joon fell madly in love with Onew without anything that led to it.

            As Joon sings, Onew can’t help but to think back about all the memories he made with Joon. He saved him, brought him back to the palace, and let him live with him up to the point where they joined Heroes’ Rebellion. During the time, Onew did not know why Joon offered to let him stay with him. Since Onew had the memories of them as angels and demons, he was very much clear on his feelings for Joon. Joon on the other hand was a mighty warrior that has never shown any interest in men. Joon of course felt like he was bewitched by Onew. When he saw him dying, something told him he had to save the male. No matter what happened, Joon always felt the need to take care of Onew and make sure he was not suffering.

            As they spent each day together, Joon noticed all of Onew’s mannerisms and paid attention to his every move. He at first found an interest in Onew because the way he spoke was much different from the people at the palace and his actions were not the same as this time period’s. Onew then claimed that he came from a different time period. Joon then moved on past simple feelings of curiosity to learning about Onew’s life. That led him to be more and more invested in Onew and then he eventually realized that his feelings did not come from a savior complex, curiosity, or boredom, but he actually cared about the male. Like any monster, he believes that there is someone in this world that the red strings of fate tied to him. When Onew first appeared, he never would have thought that Onew can be his true love, but now the more he spends with Onew, the more he can’t fathom how he lived such a life without Onew before. It was undeniable that Onew was his and he belonged to Onew.

            As he sang his last lines, he takes Onew’s hands in his. He then uses his index finger and starts scribbling in Onew’s palm. Although it tickled, Onew concentrated to figure out what Joon was writing. After a few tries, Onew gasps as he thinks to himself, no way…did I read it incorrectly? Before he can ask Joon for a confirmation, Joon gets on one knee and pulls out a beautifully crafted wooden box and confidently opens the box. Inside the wooden box lays a ring. The ring itself was plain but took Joon a very long time to carve. The carving was not on the outside of the ring, but the inside, making it much harder to perfect. Aside from their names, a wolf and two feathers were carved which represented them: an angel and a wolf.

            Onew looks at Joon holding the box while kneeling on one knee and his eyes begin to water. He remembered telling Joon how modern couples would propose, but he never thought Joon would do so for him. Onew then pulls out a box, gets on one knee, and opens it, revealing an arrowhead that was carefully crafted by Onew himself. The shiny arrowhead was attached to a red string, it was a necklace. The red string mimicked the belief that lovers were tied together by a red string and no matter what, they were destined for each other. One flat side of the arrowhead had the word “Destined” carved on it and the other side was their given names carved in hanja. Onew prepared his proposal gift for Joon for a while now, but he never found the right time to propose as they were all stressed over the king. Now that he saw Joon proposing to him, he thought that one proposal wasn’t enough, but they both should propose to each other.

            As the two kneel in front of each other, tears of joy spill from their eyes as they both say, “will you marry me?” almost like they rehearsed it ahead of time. Onew stretches out his hand and Joon tenderly slips the ring onto his finger. He then bows his head and allows Onew to put the necklace on him. The two then pull each other into a tight embrace and kiss under the stars.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

            Mr. Dragon, Minho, and Taemin dash into the room as they noticed the beam of darkness coming from Mr. Dragon’s room. They immediately knew that the Dagger of Resentment was touched. The three see Wonshik and Moonkyu screaming as they both are being up by the dagger. Although they are not directly touching the dagger, because of their lack of cultivation and spiritual energy, the dagger is completely them in. Mr. Dragon sends a blast of energy out of his palm and cuts right through the dagger’s energy. The celestial energy and resentful energy clash and the two men go flying backward. Minho catches Moonkyu while Wonshik is caught by Taemin. A loud crack is heard as the dagger flies around out of control. Mr. Dragon quickly tries to suppress the dagger.

            As Taemin caught Wonshik, his mask accidently slips off a bit since he didn’t get to fasten it tightly before rushing in. With Taemin’s face exposed, Wonshik is as if he was under a magic spell. Taemin looks down to see if he was okay, but Wonshik continues staring at him as his cheeks slowly turn rosy. He reaches his hand to Taemin’s face and utters in awe, “Little Fairy.”

            “Excuse me?” Minho questions.

            “Your hair is white,” Taemin says, ignoring what was just said. His comment breaks Wonshik from his trance. Instead of continuing his attempt in touching Taemin’s face, he reaches up and grabs his hair, which now is a silver-ish white color. “Mr. Dragon, are they okay?” Taemin asks as he notices Moonkyu’s hair has also turned white. Minho and Taemin sit the two down as Mr. Dragon checks their condition. Unfortunately for them, their hair is permanently white because the dagger has hurt them, but luckily, they were freed from the Dagger of Resentment before any more damage occurred. At least they don’t look completely like old men. A lot of people are into heroes with white hair, so Moonkyu did not mind too much.

            “Your chains are broken off,” Mr. Dragon points out. Taemin and Minho both look at Taemin’s wrists and ankles and indeed, the chain has fallen onto the ground.

            “What, what? How did this happen?” Taemin asks in awe. He then remembers the loud crack he heard earlier and how the dagger flew around.

            “The dagger must’ve cut by the chains and broken them off when it was out of control,” Minho exclaims. “That dagger is powerful.”

            “I should’ve known. I noticed that when he spat out blood, the chains were corroded in some areas that the blood touched. That means the chains are not made of simple material, but it was a spiritual weapon. His blood can cure poisons but alone it can also act as a poison. Since he is injured and his blood is tainted, when it was on the chains, it was starting to wear it down. The Dagger of Resentment has a lot of dark energy which cut through the chains. That was lucky.”

            Instead of paying attention to Mr. Dragon’s explanation, Wonshik can’t help but look at Taemin. Although his mask is now fastened on his face, the image of his beautiful face continues occupying Wonshik’s face. I can’t believe it’s really you, Wonshik says in his head. Little Fairy… “Eh hem,” Minho clears his throat as he pulls Taemin closer to himself. “So, what should we do with the dagger? The king clearly sent them here for it. If we leave it here, he’ll keep trying to take it from us.”

            “You’re right,” Mr. Dragon agrees and looks at Minho. “But first, you should come with me. I think it should be ready by now.”

            “What should be ready?” Taemin asks, not in the loop.

            “Remember when I told you I have something to tell you?” Minho asks. “Well, it’s about that. Don’t worry about it,” Minho kisses Taemin’s hand as it is the only area showing skin. “I’ll tell you everything once you heal.”

~Comments are loved~

I know I went on a month hiatus without announcing it but honestly I don't know if anyone reads my fanfic anymore so I am doing this mainly for me. If you are reading this, thank you <3