CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Friends in Danger

FROZEN ON HER SPOT, Haeyoon’s heart dropped to her stomach as she stared at Jin’s body on the ground. Fear and pain gripped her whole being when the possibility that one of her friends could be already dead crossed her mind—and it’s all because she wasn’t able to save him despite her powers.

“Haeyoon!”

The voice snapped her back to reality. A few meters in front of her stood Yoongi, his face paler than usual. Then she also saw her other friends’ frightened faces as they were stunned on their spots. They look so shaken to even register that the five cloaked men are slowly approaching them.

“Run!” Yoongi shouted desperately at her. “Get out of here!”

As if her brain wasn’t connected with the rest of her body, she wasn’t able to move at all. 

“,” Yoongi cursed under his breath when his sister didn’t even move a bit. His eyes darted frantically towards his friends then at the seemingly unconscious Jin. He gritted his teeth and tried to think of an escape plan as the five sorcerers walked closer to them. They weren’t prepared enough for this, not for five powerful evil sorcerers that seemed to want the Prince and Princess dead. He looked back at Haeyoon and Jungkook and yelled, “Jungkook, go now!”

Even if he’s still as shaken as all of them, Jungkook had enough sense in him to understand what Yoongi wanted to happen so he grabbed his sister by the hand and dragged her towards the gate and away from the field. Those cloaked men are after them and he knew they wanted them dead. They need to escape.

However, before they could even reach the end of the field, one of the enemies suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking their way.

“Not so fast, Your Highness,” the sorcerer said in a voice that sent dreadful shivers down their spines.

Out of instinct and utter surprise, Haeyoon squeezed her eyes shut as she raised both of her hands. A thick and tall wall of rock rose from the ground right in front of them, effectively acting as a shield. Her eyes flew open and she wasted no time as she grabbed Jungkook’s hand and they darted towards the buildings.

“EVERYBODY, RUN!” YOONGI barked at his friends. “Namjoon, Jimin, bring Jin, quick!”

“But Yoongi what’s hap—,” Hoseok was cut off by Yoongi.

“Damn it, Jung Hoseok!” he snapped. “Just run away from here, I’ll answer you questions once this is over!”

‘That is…if we ever survive from here,’ he thought forlornly.

They all scampered away like scared little children, not even daring to look back. They all saw Haeyoon and Jungkook enter the main building and they followed their lead.

Out of fear, panic and desperation, they entered the first room they could find, which was the library.

“Taehyung, help me move the shelf,” Yoongi said as soon as they were in. They had blocked the double door with nearest shelf. He knew it won’t do much considering that they were dealing with powerful creatures but it’s better than nothing.

No one spoke for a moment; only the sound of their harsh panting could be heard.

“We have to do something,” Haeyoon whispered in a shaky voice. “We’re not safe here, they can easily find us if they want.”

“Who are those people?” Namjoon asked, his voice deep and quiet in the dark library. They had laid Jin on one of the tables. “Are they even human?”

“It’s safe to say that they are nothing like humans,” Yoongi muttered darkly.

“What’s happening, Haeyoon?” Taehyung asked, his voice laced with fright.

Haeyoon took a deep breath. Her fear had become reality; the moment when her friends and loved ones get harmed because of what they truly are. They deserve to know the truth.

With the little help of the pale moonlight shining from the small windows, she surveyed the scared and confused faces of her friends. She was worried for their reactions once she told them the truth but she has enough faith in them that they would still accept them for who they are.

“The truth is…” she started and she felt a hand wrapped around her and she knew it was Jungkook, silently giving her strength and encouragement. “…We are sorcerers and those we encountered back there were the evil ones that were after us.”

She paused and waited for their reactions. She half expected them to laugh and not believe her and half expected them to get scared so it surprised her when Namjoon asked something instead.

“Why are you only telling us this now?” Namjoon asked and there was a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Don’t you trust us?”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, guys, but we don’t want to put you in danger but…here we are now, and this is our entire fault,” Yoongi said.

“Don’t say that,” Jimin shook his head. “If anyone’s at fault in here, it’s those scary guys out there.”

“Aren’t you even surprised or…scared at us?” Haeyoon can’t help but ask.

“Surprised, yes, but scared? Why would we be?” Taehyung spoke. “We’ve known you for as long as I can remember and nothing can change the fact that we’re friends even if you, guys, are sorcerers, or vampires or wolves or whatever.”

“Besides, I think it’s cool to have sorcerers as friends, I mean you can do magic or something, right?” Hoseok remarked and despite the situation he managed to lighten up the mood even for just a bit.

“So, I take it that Jungkook is a sorcerer, too?” Taehyung asked.

“Yeah, and he’s my brother, too,” Haeyoon explained.

“What?!” they all asked in unison, shocked.

“, keep it down, guys!” Yoongi shushed them.

“H-how come?” Namjoon asked and they were all utterly confused.

And despite their situation, Haeyoon managed to tell them everything.

“Okay, information overload,” Hoseok said after.

There was a soft groan and they all turned to see Jin getting up from the table.

“Jin,” Haeyoon exclaimed and they rushed to his side. “Thank goodness you’re awake, how are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been ran over by a truck a hundred times,” he croaked as he rubbed his sore head. “What happened?”

“We’ll explain later but don’t worry; the help is coming and—,” Haeyoon said but was cut off when there was a sudden loud banging on the other side of the door.

Yoongi cursed under his breath. “They’re trying to get in.”

Haeyoon’s trembling eyes flicked between the door and her friends and a decision was made in her mind. They can’t just wait for the Guardians anymore, they have to do something.

“We have to fight them ourselves,” Haeyoon said. “Or else we’re all gonna die here.”

She was scared, yes, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long us she would fight it. And she will, for her friends and her brother.

“Are you sure? I mean—,”

“We can’t let Jungkook and the others die,” Haeyoon insisted, determination burning in her eyes. If she’s really supposed to be as powerful as the Guardians were saying then she could do this, with Yoongi. “They need us and we won’t die without a fight.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Yoongi broke out into a proud smile, “Since when my little sister became so brave?”

“I am always brave,” she said, smiling a bit.

There was another loud bang again, making the books resting on the shelf rain down the floor.

“Okay, how could we get them out of here?” Yoongi asked.

“We’ll stall those sorcerers while they escape,” she said.

“But the door’s—,”

Suddenly Haeyoon threw a ball of fire on the opposite wall, creating a big hole on it.

“Whoa!” the now conscious Jin exclaimed, “How in the world did you do that?!”

 “I’ll tell you next time but for now, you all have to get out of here,” she said.

“But what about you?” Taehyung asked worriedly.

“We can handle ourselves,” Yoongi reassured him. “We’ll fight them so you can get you asses out of here.”

“Come on, Tae!” Namjoon urged then he turned at Yoongi and Haeyoon. “Don’t you dare die, yeah?”

They both nodded and their friends went out of the hole.

“Jungkook, you have to go with them!” Haeyoon said.

“No, I’ll stay here!” he argued. “I can’t leave you two alone.”

Before Haeyoon could retort, the door finally opened, sending the book shelf flying over their heads.

Yoongi immediately summoned his spirit sword, preparing himself for the fight. Haeyoon pulled Jungkook behind her and took a rather defensive stance. But they were both surprised when they saw only two of the cloaked men standing before them.

“No, !” Yoongi blurted when he realized that the remaining three went after their friends. 

So much for hiding.

“What do you want from us?!” Haeyoon asked as she tried hard not to show the fear in her voice.

“We want the Prince,” one of the sorcerers answered. “If you’ll just give him to us nicely, we won’t hurt anybody.”

“Like we’ll do that!” she spat at them and sent a harsh blow of wind at them with a flick of her wrist.

The three of them darted for the exit and once they were outside their eyes widened at what they saw.

Jin, Namjoon, Taehyung, Hoseok and Jimin were hanging a few feet off the ground. Black fog was encircled on each of their necks, strangling them. Their faces were contorted with pain and they can hardly breathe.

“No!” Haeyoon cried.

“Stop resisting and give us what we want,” one of the three cloaked men in front of them spoke. “Or your friends here will die.”

The second sorcerer released a mocking laugh as he turned at Yoongi’s direction. “A Gieldan,” he clucked his tongue. “Always in the way, very stubborn, must run on the veins, eh?” He took a stepped towards Yoongi. “You’re quite stupid, too, just like your parents, thinking that you can take on someone like us.”

Yoongi’s eyes hardened. “You know my parents?” he gritted. “What did you do to them? Where are they?”

“Maybe dead, maybe not?” the black sorcerer said in a taunting manner as he summoned a spirit sword, too. But unlike Yoongi’s, it wasn’t glowing white but pitch black. Like a black lightning.

Yoongi clutched his sword even tighter, anger seeping out of his every pore. But he knew he can’t attack or else they won’t hesitate to kill the boys.

The third sorcerer disappeared from where he stood and reappeared right in front of Haeyoon and before any of them could react, he grabbed Haeyoon by the neck with one hand. 

Every squirm and every struggle was useless for she can’t breath and she started to feel light headed. Then she noticed something on the back of his hand, a symbol, like a black tattoo.

“Haeyoon!” Yoongi exclaimed but before he could even attack, some force kept him rooted to his spot. His struggled hard but he still can’t escape the seemingly invisible bindings.  

“So, it’s true,” he uttered when he saw Jungkook fell on the ground, desperately grasping for air. “You two are bonded by the Marked seal.” The way he said was like it was the most repulsing idea he had ever encountered. “This can’t be…”

The fourth sorcerer appeared, maybe the one Haeyoon attacked earlier, and he put a hand on the shoulder of the one strangling Haeyoon. “Stop it, Siwon; you’re hurting the Prince, too.”

“Stop…hurting…her…” Jungkook gasped from the ground and when he opened his eyes, it was the color of crimson.

The sorcerer holding Haeyoon seemed to lose his strength, causing him to drop her. He staggered back and even though his face can’t be seen, it can be clearly seen in his demeanor that he was completely frightened.

Frightened of Jungkook.

Jungkook stood from the ground and they all watched as he slowly walked towards the sorcerer on the ground. He was paralyzed, unmoving, until he suddenly started clawing desperately at his neck, as if something was squeezing him there.

Yoongi stared and wondered if Jungkook was the one doing that.

“Jungkook,” Haeyoon called in a disbelieving voice, “Jungkook!” and it seemed to snap the boy out of whatever he is in. It was just like that night at the hospital…those terrifying red eyes of his…

Blinking, Jungkook looked around him, utterly lost. His eyes went back to its original color.

The sorcerer stopped clawing at his neck as he took deep breaths.

“As expected from someone with the same dark spirit as him,” the fifth sorcerer appeared. “And to think you are still sealed? What more can you do once you’re free?”

“What are you talking about?” Haeyoon asked him as she pulled Jungkook to her side.

“He is not what you think he is,” he said in a knowing voice. Haeyoon could almost sense his menacing sly smile behind that black hood.

“Haeyoon!” someone called.

“Jackson?!”

JACKSON WAS SUDDENLY distracted from what his classmate was telling him when they passed by the school where Haeyoon goes. A crease appeared on his forehead when he noticed the dark clouds hovering above the place, like a storm is just concentrated on that particularly small area.

“That’s…weird,” he murmured to himself as he stopped on the side of the road.

JR also stopped on his tracks when he noticed that Jackson did. Without words, he traced the latter’s line vision and his eyes widened at the sight. “What the…”

“Hey, guys, what’s wrong?” Seo Kangjoon asked when he saw that his classmates are no longer on his side.

“That,” Jackson said, pointing a finger at the school.

“Well, I know that they are our rival school but, honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with their infrastructure,” Kangjoon said.

JR sent him a look. “You don’t see those clouds?”

“What clouds?” Kangjoon asked with a curious face. “Actually, the setting sky is quite clear today.”

JR and Jackson exchanged alarmed gazes. If Kangjoon can’t see the dark clouds they are seeing, it can only be a work of magic, something that only sorcerers can see.

“Call the rest,” Jackson said to JR with a grim look. “I can sense that something is wrong.”

“What’re you, guys, talking about?” Kangjoon raised a brow at them.

“Nothing,” JR said. “Something urgent came up so we can’t join you at the arcade.”

“You sure?” Kangjoon was skeptical and weirded out by his classmates’ behavior.

“Yep, catch you at school tomorrow,” JR said as he forced a smile.

When Kangjoon was nowhere in sight, JR and Jackson immediately ran towards Haeyoon’s school.

“JB we have a situation here,” JR said to the phone as they ran. “We’re at Haeyoon’s school.”

Jackson flashed him a tensed look.

“I don’t know,” JR said. “We’re going to check it out. Bring the rest with you.” Then he hung up.

“What do you think is happening here?” Jackson asked and as soon as they stepped inside the gate, they felt the atmosphere heavy with dark magic.

“I…I don’t know,” JR said, looking cautiously around him.

The school looked like a deserted place and they can’t see a single student inside but they could feel something else aside from the dark aura. They both perked up when they realized a familiar spirit. It was so pure and so strong and it was a magic only a true Saperian can possess.

“Haeyoon,” Jackson and JR said in unison. They grew more worried as they ran faster and further inside the school grounds.

They knew. Yugyeom and Bambam told them. They can’t believe it at first and wanted to confirm but they just can’t find a chance to see and talk to Haeyoon. It was like she was always disappearing to somewhere and their house was often empty this past few days. But if Haeyoon was indeed the princess of Lucere—their princess—then this dark force surrounding them can only be explained as bad news. Really, bad news.

Many questions that needed answers arose when they learned that Haeyoon was the Princess of Lucere. How did it happen? How come the princess was in the Human world? Is it because she escaped like them? Is it because the King died? Are Queen Maya and the Prince still alive? What is a Guardian doing in the Human world? Is it because the Princess’ life is in danger?

They knew nothing about what happened because they left Lucere in the midst of the chaotic war. They didn’t know how it ended, that their King died in the war. They don’t know anything until a Guardian appeared and told Bambam and Yugyeom.

Was it a bad decision to escape? To save themselves first? Was it really an act of cowardice? A selfish act? But they watched how the members of their clan died one by one during that war and the others before that. They were not weapons and instrument yet they were being treated as one. Always being hired to kill those enormous beasts, those hideous killing-machines. They were being used and it went on and on for generations. 

Yet, no one ever cared. 

Until there were just the seven of them left, the seven strongest Hunters, and the group they had once led was no more. Their families had died. And that’s when they had enough and decided to escape.

But now that the only girl that had been so important to all of them was actually their Princess and was now in grave danger, there was only one thought in their minds and that is to save Haeyoon no matter what happens. Even if it cost them their own lives.

“There they are!” Jackson exclaimed the moment they reached the front of the school’s main building. “Haeyoon!”

“Jackson?!”

JR and Jackson both grabbed the pendants of the necklaces they were wearing. At first look, the pendants were just miniature weapons, roughly an inch in size, seemingly harmless and useless. However once held by their rightful owners, it will turn into actual life-sized powerful weapons that were meticulously crafted for its one and only purpose. 

Jackson’s pendant turned into a huge double-edged sword with gold and silver hilt while JR’s became a five foot silver rod with sharp blades at each end, laden with the most lethal poison that can be found in Lucere. All seven of them have their own weapons especially made for each of them.

“It’s been a while since I last held my sword,” Jackson remarked as he swung his weapon. “But my body remembers.”

“We have five here,” JR told him as they took in the commotion in front of them. “You think we can take them on our own?”

“We can try,” Jackson shrugged.

“And here I thought all Hunters died in that last war,” one of the sorcerers commented mockingly.

“Think again, bastard!” Jackson snapped before initiating the first attack.

JR followed suit, attacking another cloaked man that seemed to be the one holding Yoongi captive with black magic, thus, releasing Yoongi. The Gieldan started fighting the moment he was free. But it wasn’t that easy because these five sorcerers were no ordinary.

“Looks like were fighting some high ranking sorcerers here,” Jackson said to JR when they stood back to back, panting hard. They each have one enemy to fight.

“There’s something wrong in here,” JR said as his eyes narrowed at the sorcerer in front of him.

“Oh yeah?” Jackson scoffed. “Besides, everything, what else is wrong in this situation?”

JR wasn’t able to answer as his opponent lunged at him with a black sword but thanks to his fast reflexes, he managed to dodge and slash him on the shoulder just in time. Instead of blood, a black smoke came out of the wound.

On the other hand, Yoongi was busy with his own fight, too, but he kept on checking on Haeyoon every now and then. She was having a face-off with one of the cloaked men and she’s trying hard to defend and protect Jungkook. 

They were in a really bad situation. Their friends are still being held hostage by one of the sorcerers.

The sorcerer in front of Yoongi took advantage of his distraction and he aimed for Yoongi’s neck. It could have been a fatal attack if Yoongi hadn’t seen it and side-stepped at the last moment. He managed to block it with his own sword before jumping back to gather his composure. 

Swallowing hard, he prepared for another offensive attack but before he could even raise his sword, a sudden searing pain pierced his skull. He staggered back as his eyes involuntarily shut because of the pain. With his free hand, he clutched at his throbbing head.

Then images—or more like memories—flashed behind his eyelids.

He heard people crying in his head, shouting, and more agonized crying. Then something that looked like a war flashed in his mind. There were also flashes of some of the Guardians. Then his father, his mouth was moving, as if speaking to him but he can’t hear his voice because of the loud and chaotic surroundings. Then a pillar flashed in his mind, as if he was hiding behind it. Then he was seeing two men, both of them holding a sword. One of them laughed maniacally and said, “Is he really your son, Zardus?”

Then there was blackness as the pain instantly went away.

It took him a few seconds to blink the tears away brought by the pain but when he did, it was a bit too late.

The sorcerer in front of him attacked again. It would’ve been a straight stab to the heart if he didn’t manage to side-step just in the nick of time but the black sword still managed to get him on the shoulder, leaving a huge gaping hole there. He let out a loud cry of pain as he clutched at his bleeding shoulder, bright red liquid soaking his uniform. He fell down the ground as his spirit sword disappeared.

“Yoongi!” Haeyoon cried and the moment her attention slipped away from her opponent, she failed to notice the he got Jungkook.

“Haeyoon!” Jungkook yelled but it was too late because the cloaked man dragged him away from her reach, trapping him in a choke hold.

She didn’t know what to do, who to save first. Her heart almost leaped out of her chest when she saw Yoongi’s opponent raise his black sword at him, intending on finishing Yoongi while a struggling Jungkook was being dragged away.

Everything seemed to stop for her when the sharp sword went down on Yoongi. Her eyes widened while she wanted to close them at the same time. Her heart that was beating wildly before seemed to stop.

Then she ran towards them.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ayo! How are you folks? This chapter is for you. A bit cliffie, huh, but since I love you all (and it's also my birthday today!YEHET!) I'm gonna post the next chap today!!! LOL! Though chap 22 is a bit shorter than my usual updates.

Maybe I'm gonna post a belated-birthday fic for Kookie and a birthday fic for Namjoonie next week. ^_^ Along with that is my cover of You're My by Taeyang.

Anyway, belated Happy Birthday MARKY and KOOKIE!!!! Saranghae! <3