This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written, so enjoy!! 

12 years later

LIX: Jungkook

The two children play in the meadow: a small, dark haired girl, chasing her even smaller brother. Both of them have dark raven locks of hair, but while the girl has striking crimson eyes, the boy has soft, gold-flecked brown ones. Exact mirrors of my own. Neither are older than six, the boy only four, but they have already become the light of my life.

My children.

The first time I felt her stirring inside of me, I was overcome with surprise and fear. Never in any sex education program had I learned that boys could become pregnant. It was unheard of. I was afraid of what Taehyung would think when I told him the news, but I needn't have worried. Taehyung was overjoyed, no, ecstatic. The whole of the Sirius clan seemed to have heard the news in less than a day, and word quickly spread that King Taehyung would have an heir at last. The people were delighted, Taehyung was delighted, and I... well, I was afraid. A new life was growing inside of me, and I didn't know if I would be responsible enough to take care of it. Even though Taehyung assured me that I would be perfect, doubts still clouded my mind.

During the last few weeks of my pregnancy, Taehyung had become even more protective than usual, snarling when anybody tried to touch me. Though I was grateful for his protection, Jin was not, as he had to put up with Taehyung's anxious questions and concerns after countless times of telling him that I was fine. I was anxious too, but I never said a word about it. I could only hope that the baby would be born without any complications.

And then Areum was born.

All those times, I had thought that my mother had exaggerated the joy of holding her child in her arms. But now, I realized she had not captured it sufficiently enough in words. Those eyes, much too intelligent to be a human newborn, had stared back at me as the small mouth opened in a cry. Those hands, impossibly small, had grabbed my thumb with strength that she couldn't possibly have in that tiny body. There were no words to describe the feeling I felt at that moment. It was as if my soul had been replaced with a ball of light, shining with strong love and fierce protectiveness over the small child in my arms. Before that moment, I never knew that I could feel so strongly for someone who wasn't Taehyung. All of my fear and doubt flew from my mind right then and there. What did it matter, when I was holding my daughter in my arms?

Taehyung stayed unmoving by my bedside for three whole days, whispering into my ear how beautiful I was, how brave, how much Areum looked like me. With my sweaty hair sticking to my forehead, and my eyes glazed, I didn't understand how he could call me beautiful. Areum's eyes were a bright crimson; just a shade lighter than my own, though she spent much of her time either sleeping or crying. 

Taehyung wouldn't move an inch from my side, until Jin finally shooed him out of the healing center. But in less than one hour, Taehyung was back again, and there was nothing Jin could say or do to deter him. It didn't help that Lisa and Hoseok were all starting to crowd into the healing center on a daily basis, much to the annoyance of Jin. "Why don't you all just move in?!" He had snapped, after a particularly large crowd of vampires, including Xian, had asked to see me. "Jungkook can't have any rest with you all crowding his bedside. Honestly!"

But in the end, no matter how much I had enjoyed those visits from friends, I was glad when Jin pronounced me unable to see any more visitors. I was both mentally and physically exhausted, and craved alone time with just Taehyung and baby Areum. The new light of our lives. Even after I had been allowed to leave the healing center, Taehyung was still very, very gentle with me, as if he was afraid that I would break.

Carrying her brother two years later was easier, but not by much. Taehyung knew I was expecting, but got called away to an important mission in the south just weeks before I was due. Originally, he had planned not to go at all, but after days of pleading on my part, he had grudgingly agreed. But not before he pulled Jin aside to make him promise that I would not be in any danger, and asked Lisa to write to him at least two times a day with a report on my condition. Areum absolutely adored Lisa, and she was her third favorite person on the planet, after Taehyung and I. Since I was confined to the infirmary, Lisa took over parenting for a while, and I couldn't have been more grateful for her if I tried. Once Jihoon arrived in the world, as an even smaller baby than Areum, things started to finally settle down.

 Now, watching them playing so carefreely in the field of wildflowers, it was like a scene straight out of a fairytale. My own fairytale. I subconsciously smile at the thought.

Barely a second later, I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist, and instinctively lean back, letting Taehyung's warmth engulf me. His chin rests on my shoulder, and when I turn my head, his lips are right there, waiting for me. Even after a decade, his kisses make me feel like fireworks are exploding in my heart. I turn around fully, letting his arms wrap around me as I put mine on his shoulders. I weave my hands through his hair, tugging on it a little to bring us closer together. Taehyung lets out a laugh, low in his chest.

"Baby, if you don't want me to pull you down into the flowers right now, I suggest you stop before I lose self control."

"I wouldn't mind," I murmur against his lips, making no move to pull away.

Taehyung's eyes flicker towards our children. "Are you sure?"

I reluctantly pull away.

He laughs again, and kisses me on the forehead. "They grow quickly, don't they?" His deep, velvet voice whispers in my ear. "It just seems like a few weeks ago when Jihoon was still a small baby."

"Mmm." I watch as Areum finally catches Jihoon, and they both go tumbling down a small hill and out of sight. My motherly instincts kick in and I start to get up, but Taehyung gently restrains me from running to them. 

"Relax, Jungkook. There's nothing that can hurt them here. Besides, they're vampires. Our kind doesn't get hurt so easily. A small hill is nothing." Even though I hear the logic in what he's saying, my body stays tense until Areum and Jihoon come climbing back up the hill, not a scratch on them. Only then do I let myself relax again, fully pliant in Taehyung's arms.

Taehyung chuckles. "You're so overprotective sometimes, Kookie. I wonder if that has something to do with your human upbringing. How will you survive when Areum has to go to school?"

School. Such an innocent word. In the human world, that would mean learning how to count, or reading storybooks. Areum, being six years old, would be going into kindergarten.

Here, it means Bloodcrest. The bloody, harsh institute which all first-born children of rulers must attend. I had been trying not to think about it, but now the future was too close to ignore.

"I don't want her to go, Tae," I murmur, pressing my face into his chest. "She's too young. Too innocent. If Bloodcrest is as bad as you say, it'll break her."

"I've tried," Taehyung's voice is horribly strained. "You know I've tried. If we had any choice, I wouldn't be sending her. But going to Bloodcrest is a tradition thousands of years old. Even I don't have enough power to change that. I've already pleaded with the school countless times, but they refuse to make exceptions." His hands ball into fists, and it's easy to see that he's frustrated and scared enough to punch through a brick wall.

"So that means... Areum will have to go." A lump forms in my throat, and suddenly, the ground seems to tilt beneath my feet. No. Not Areum. Not my child. My face slowly drains of color, and Taehyung notices, because he holds me tighter while planting a kiss on my lips. But even his kisses couldn't make me feel anything other than the growing fear and uncertainty this time. In less than a year, Areum would be going off to the most ruthless, most heartless school in the whole vampire world. My two children are the light of my world. And they were still so small, only toddlers, really. How could Bloodcrest expect me to willingly let my children go to an institution that trained them to kill? From the way Taehyung described it, that place was absolute hell. And if Areum didn't survive...

"I won't let them go," I say, making up my mind. "It's too dangerous. Bloodcrest can't make me give up our children."

Taehyung sighs. "Trust me, they can."

"Then they'll have to kill me before they lay their filthy hands on Areum or Jihoon. I'm not sending my children to a place where half the students die! I won't let Bloodcrest take them!" I shoot back.

Taehyung looks pained as he cups my face in his hands. "Kookie, listen to me―"

"They're going to take them away, Tae!" I cry, finally feeling the weight of hopelessness crush me. "From me. From you. How am I supposed to live every day wondering if my child is still alive? It's only been six years, and Areum will be gone in less than a year if we do nothing. Look at her," I point to the small figure picking flowers a short distance away. "Does she look ready to you? You know more than anyone how cruel Bloodcrest can be. How can you ever expect a child of six to survive it? I'll die before they force me to send her to a school like that!" And the scary thing was, I meant it. I was ready to die if it meant that my children survived.

Taehyung's eyes flash, and he suddenly seems to tower over me. His face is inches away from mine, and I'm struck by the ragged desperation in his ruby eyes.

"I am not losing you, Jungkook," he hisses through clenched teeth. "I will not lose Areum, and I will not lose Jihoon. Never. Do not talk about sacrificing your life for something that is inevitable. Do you know what happened to the last family that tried to disobey Bloodcrest?" He nearly spits the words, and I would have backed away if his grip wasn't so tight. Taehyung could be very scary when he wanted to be. I shake my head no, hoping that he would leave the conversation there. But he didn't.

"Bloodcrest killed them," Taehyung says in a flat voice. "They sent six Masks to murder the entire royal family, save for the oldest son. A vicious, slow killing, meant to show the whole vampire world what happens when they disobey. And then the son was shipped off to Bloodcrest against his will. But not before he had to witness every single member of his family falling dead in front of him. It drove him mad." Taehyung pauses, eyes boring into mine. His hands tighten on my shoulders. "I won't ever let that happen to my family."

Even though I see fire in his eyes, it isn't from anger. It takes me a moment to realize that Taehyung is absolutely terrified. Terrified, not for himself, but of what Bloodcrest could do to me and our children if we didn't obey. I had never known exactly how much power Bloodcrest held over the vampire world, but it scared me. If they could kill the whole family of a clan leader without a word of protest, how much of a stretch would it be to assume that they would murder all who spoke against them?

"So there's nothing we can do?" My voice shakes. "We just have to send Areum off to Bloodcrest, and... hope for the best?" The words taste like sawdust in my mouth, and it's an effort to get them out.

There is a pause. Taehyung's eyes, so alight with fire before, dies down until it is only the embers left of a dying flame. His silence is worse than any answer he could have possibly given me. Finally, he speaks.

"I meant to tell you this later, but Bloodcrest offered Baekhyun a teaching position two weeks ago. As a combat centurion. He means to take it, and I've asked him to keep an eye on Areum for us. He'll be a more than suitable bodyguard for her. She'll be as safe as she can possibly be, I promise."

"Baekhyun?" The surly but fierce warrior had been oddly subdued ever since Jimin's death. The two had been frenemies, and Baekhyun just didn't seem as lively without him around. But there was no question that he was fiercely loyal to his friends. I nodded slowly. If Baekhyun was there, I knew Areum would be safe. The black-haired warrior would guard her with his life. But still, the very thought of sending her to a merciless school for fifteen years, where neither Taehyung nor I could protect her, felt like a horrible kick to the gut.

I barely feel Taehyung's arms as they pull me close again, perhaps craving my presence in this moment even more than I craved his. I bury my face in his chest, feeling the hot tears stream down my cheeks. What good would it do to cry? It didn't change anything. And yet, try as I might, I can't stop the liquid from wetting Taehyung's shirt, and the broken sobs rattling my body. It hurts. It hurts so much.

"Daddy?" We both turn at the sound of the anxious voice, while I desperately try to wipe the remaining tears from my cheeks. I didn't want my children to see me cry. Areum stands there, her crimson eyes wide as she stares at us. Jihoon has his hand tightly clasped in his sister's, while the other holds a bouquet of wildflowers. They both look worried.

"Daddy, why is mommy crying? Did we... do something wrong?" Areum asks, her concerned eyes drifting to me.

"No Areum, you didn't," Taehyung answers for me, in the soft, sweet voice that he used for children. Without loosening his hold on me, his free hand reaches out to stroke Areum's cheek, and ruffle Jihoon's hair. "Mommy's just tired, that's all."

"Oh." Areum still doesn't look completely convinced. For only six years old, she seems to be more perceptive than most adults. Jihoon holds out his hands to me, wanting to be held. I pick him up, and he snuggles up to me, his flowers still clutched tightly in his hands. Areum giggles. "Jihoon is still a big baby."

Jihoon frowns, his eyebrows furrowing together. "No I'm not. You are!" Taehyung tries to stifle a laugh as Areum glares at Jihoon.

Just then, Lisa's voice rings throughout the clearing, telling the children to come home. Areum lets out a sigh. "Auntie Lisa wants us back. Come on, Jihoon. I'll race you." The little boy pouts, but he squirms in my arms so I gently put him down on the ground. But instead of running after his sister, he shyly holds out the flowers, which are an assortment of beautiful colors. Jihoon, unlike his sister, is a small, rather shy child. "For you" he whispers.

"Thank you Jihoon," I do my best to smile at him, even though I feel like my heart is breaking. I take the flowers from him carefully in my hand. "They're very beautiful."

Jihoon beams with pleasure, his small eyes twinkling. Lisa calls again, and he waves his small hand as he runs to the door behind his sister. I keep the smile on my face until they're out of sight, before letting it fall. Taehyung notices.

"Come," His voice is gentle. Even more gentle than the tone he had used with Areum and Jihoon. "Let's go sit at the edge of the lake. It's more peaceful there."

I let him lead me to the crystal water lake, no sound of protest leaving my lips. I'm too numb. We sit on the edge of the lake, and Taehyung carefully weaves the flowers into my hair, while I just stare at my reflection in the lake. It amazes me how much I have changed in a decade. Not physically, but emotionally. My once golden brown eyes are heavy with emotions, rather than the carefree boy I once was. They are the eyes of a person who has experienced grief, pain, and love beyond imagination. Love in the shape of my soulmate and children. But where there is love, there is also pain.

My mind wanders back to the day of Yoongi and Jimin's funeral. Taehyung and I, both dressed in white robes, carried lanterns which symbolized Yoongi and Jimin's souls. There was no candle inside; the lantern itself glowed with a soft light, its majestic yet calm radiance unmatched by any light humans could ever produce. Jimin's lantern felt strong and steady in my hands, just like him in real life. A small wooden box enclosing his ashes sat inside the lantern, with gold trimmings on the lid. Since no one had been able to retrieve Yoongi's body from the building, a perfect blood-red rose bloomed proudly in the middle of his lantern. The only rose that had survived the burning of Armad Castle.

The funeral itself was held in a secluded grove in the middle of a forest. The beauty of the place was mesmerizing. Liquid sunlight filtered through the dense trees, casting dappled shadows across the forest floor. A clear brook ran right through the middle of the forest, its water not quite aqua in color, but more a deep blue the color of Neptune. The meadow was perfectly small and round, and filled with wildflowers that I had never seen before. The guards accompanying us stopped just shy of the grove of trees which surrounded the river, but Taehyung motioned for us to keep going.

"Put it in the water," Taehyung had whispered to me. Looking down, I clearly remember that the river had been swirls of every shade of blue and silver imaginable. It looked like someone had condensed starlight into liquid, and emptied it into this grove. Carefully getting on my knees, I placed Jimin's lantern in the river. I had so much I wanted to tell him, but when I opened my mouth, the words wouldn't come. Instead, all I could get out was, "Thank you," before I stepped away.

I expected the lantern to bob gently away in the water, but it stayed still, like it was waiting for something else. After I had backed away, Taehyung knelt by the river, placing Yoongi's lantern right next to Jimin's. He murmured a few words, before letting go of the lantern completely and stepping back to join me. The two lanterns stayed still for a moment longer before they started to move, twining together in the river of starlight as they were chased downstream by the current. I felt Taehyung's arm around me as silent tears coursed down my cheeks. All the soldiers gathered bowed as a sign of reverence to the fallen. Jimin and Yoongi had been important figures in the army, and everyone had liked and respected them. As the two lanterns had finally disappeared from sight, I remember wondering where they were headed. Wherever Jimin and Yoongi's souls ended up, I hoped that they were at least together. The two silver-haired lovers deserved that much.

"You're crying, Kookie," Taehyung murmurs, brushing the tears off my cheeks. His words jerk me into reality, and when I blink my eyes, I realize that he's right. Tears blur my vision again, though I no longer know whether it's from fear of Bloodcrest, or Jimin and Yoongi's memory. Taehyung strokes my hair, whispering comforting words into my ear as I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Tae..." I find my voice, hating that it sounds so weak and shaky. "I'm scared." I say plaintively, like a small child.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to you or our children. Areum will be safe in Bloodcrest if she has Baekhyun by her side. I promise." His tone is so soothing and confident that I wholeheartedly believe him for one moment. But the moment of hope passes as quickly as it came. Taehyung sighs, knowing that I still wasn't convinced.

"We still have one year," Taehyung says firmly. "I have enough time to teach her the basics of sword fighting. She's smart, and she will learn fast. This way, she will be far ahead of her classmates when Bloodcrest starts." He gazes at me. "Would you like that?"

Usually, I would have despised the idea of my child learning how to wield swords so young, and Taehyung knows that. But this isn't any normal circumstance, either.

"Yes." My voice is a whisper. "Yes, I would like that."

Taehyung smiles, before pulling me close again. His breath is warm against my hair as I lean in, reveling in the comfort of his body against mine. Here is a man who has survived Bloodcrest before. And if Taehyung could survive it, then was it such a stretch to think that Areum could too?

"Jungkook," His voice is insistent. "If you died―if our children died, a part of me would die with you. Remember that, Jungkook. It's not just your life you threaten when you or the children are in danger."

The flowers fall out of my hair and onto the ground as Taehyung kisses me. My back meets the soft grass underneath, as Taehyung leans over me to deepen the kiss. His hand slides under my shoulders as mine reach up to cup his cheeks. I flow into his arms like water, finding solace in his warm lips, his strong hands, his beautiful face. Taehyung connects our foreheads together as we lie in the meadow, needing each other's warmth and support. I curl into the side of his body, feeling his soft lips on my cheek. If possible, I want to stay like this forever, enveloped in Taehyung's warmth in this cool, serene meadow. It is the only way that I feel completely safe.

But even if I was safe, my children were not. And I couldn't be happy until they were. So when Taehyung finally gets up after kissing my forehead again, I don't try to stop him. "Ready?" He holds out his hand, and I stare at it, before nodding. He takes my hand in his, and pulls me up. The familiar weight of his body as I lean against him keeps me grounded, and his arm wraps around my waist. We start walking in the direction of the house, and Taehyung walks slowly to match my steps.

Halfway there, I step on something metal, and shift my foot, wondering what it is. What I see takes my breath away.

It's the mask.

I don't dare touch it. I can't. I'm frozen in place, staring down at the sheet of silver that had brought so much despair in my life. Taehyung turns around when he sees that I'm not following him anymore, and his gaze is also quickly drawn to the mask. His lips tighten into a thin line, and he walks over, bending down so that his fingers brush the surface. I flinch.

Picking up the mask, Taehyung scrutinizes its gleaming silver surface. It looks exactly the same as twelve years ago, and dried blood still glints on the sharp spikes. I feel a shiver up my spine as I look at it, even though the evening air is warm. Here is a piece of Bloodcrest, right in Taehyung's hands.

"What are you going to do with it?" I ask, shifting even closer to him. In answer, Taehyung walks over to the edge of the massive lake, glancing at the mask one last time, before throwing it with all his might into the middle of the lake. It falls with a distant plop, submerged in the crystal clear waters. The only sign that it had even fallen was the small ripples on the surface of the otherwise undisturbed water. Turning back to me, he gathers me into his arms, pointedly not looking behind him in the direction of the lake.

"Someone will find it, eventually. But until then, it will stay at the bottom of that lake. That is where it belongs. That is where it should have been from the start." He sounds more like he's speaking to himself rather than me. He meets my gaze, and his crimson eyes suddenly look so soft as he brushes a lock of hair off my forehead.

"You are my life now, Jungkook," he murmurs. "You and our children. Use me, ruin me, love me. I do not care. Just don't ever leave me." His eyes beg an answer even more than his words.

My answer comes as a smile, and I entwine my fingers with his. "What makes you think that I could ever leave you? No. My life is here with you, and our children. I couldn't wish for anything else." And this time, it's me who leans in. Our lips dance together, as the fading light of the sun bathes us in twilight. His hand curls into my hair, and my palm presses against the skin over his heart. I love it. I love him.

Bloodcrest looms over us like an ominous cloud in the horizon of our future. Of the future of our children. But Taehyung says it will be okay. We have each other, and we can make the children learn different from Bloodcrest's teachings. And someday, we can tell them about our own adventures. With Lucius, Shadow Valley, and V. We can make them understand that the world is far, far, more complex than the good and evil they will learn at Bloodcrest. Perhaps one day, we can even introduce them to the human world, the city where I grew up.

And as dusk starts to fall, and the moon starts to shine as it slowly rises into the indigo sky, I remember another night. Another night, long ago, when Jimin found me in London. The first time I had been introduced to the vampire world... and Taehyung. So when I look at the silvery shape of the moon now, I do not think of it as the ending of a day.

It is the dawn of a new beginning.

☆☆☆

The mask lies at the bottom of the lake, gleaming with an untarnished glow that promises power and control to whomever is unlucky enough to stumble across it. Masking lies and blood underneath its pristine silver surface. Looking at it, who could ever know that it was the symbol of Bloodcrest's most feared soldiers: the Masks. That it had once been on the face of the most deadly Mask of them all. And yet, the same Mask had learned how to love, fallen in love with a human, and made him his queen.

The Mask is now sated.

But the mask is not.

It is still waiting.

Waiting to become the cause of the next bloodthirsty regime.

Waiting for its new owner.

The End

And... CUT!

You guys!! We are finished with the chapters of "briar rose"! 😊😊Thank you so much for reading my first fanfic, and I hope you enjoyed it. 

For all of you who are like "BUT WHERE'S V??," Fear not! There's still the epilogue to come, and I promise that everything will be explained there. But for now, thank you again for taking this journey with me. I loved reading all your comments!

Stay tuned for the epilogue!! - XxghostinxX