★ Hold me ★

-·=»‡«=·-

- We're a team -

Taehyung's POV

A second.

That's all it takes for the fire to spread from Jungkook's body at lightning speed and hit the monsters dead on. A lot happens in that one second. The ice held the monsters in place, darkness sprouting the wings upon my back again as the heat of the flames begins to hit the atmosphere.

And in just a second, I'm flying straight up, fire filling the whole bottom part of the arena in the glass dome, screams echoing and bouncing off the glass walls. The wings keep me in the air, my eyes scanning over the dark orange flames, trying to spot where Jungkook might be.

My eyes land on him, standing in the middle of the arena, fire seeping off his fingers, hands, arms, and his entire body. His orange and red eyes glow through the fire, his body deadly still as the monsters, one by one, fall to the floor. I barely have a chance to glance at the clock before I'm diving back down.

Three seconds until the next disaster.

I'm acting on impulse, diving straight down into the fire, arms outstretched and grabbing onto Jungkook, pulling him up and flying back towards the top of the glass dome, lava beginning to melt the glass in a millisecond.

It's a volcano.

"Snap out of it!" I shout, one hand clamped down on his, stopping his fire. He blinks rapidly, shaking his head from side to side. "You are in control, Jungkook. You have control of your power, your power doesn't have control of you." That's all it takes for him to snap out of the trance, holding onto me, legs wrapping around my waist while I fly to the top of the dome.

"Jungkook, look at me," I speak quickly, eyes scanning over the arena that's beginning to fill with boiling lava. "We're on a time limit," I speak, holding him so he doesn't fall. "You can absorb the heat, the lava, can't you?" I see him look down, eyes narrowing onto the dangerous lava that's flowing beneath us.

"I haven't tried. Smoldris hasn't shown me," He whispers, his voice filled with fear. "Look at me. Smoldris won't teach you everything. There are some things you need to learn on your own." He meets my gaze, eyes big, lips parted and a blush spreading across his cheeks.

"You are not Smoldris, Jungkook. His fire magic is yours now, yes, but you are not an exact copy of him." We're running out of time, yet it seems like this natural disaster is lasting longer than the first. "You're your own person, so be different from Smoldris," I say, looking him in the eyes.

"You can do it. I believe in you."

He nods, letting go of me, falling out of my hold and straight for the lava. I want to scream, time seems to stop. He smirks up at me, diving straight into the lava. Flames dance around him, then he's gone, lava shooting up a bit from the spot he fell in.

Then, just a second later, the lava is clearing from the middle of the arena, the floor beginning to show again. There's a rush of relief when I see Jungkook, lava being absorbed through his body, magma on his arms and legs. He looks up, eyes glowing red, a smile on his face.

"It's now or never, Kim!" He roars, the lava slowly clearing. I nod, both arms turning into ice, my wings pushing me towards the wall. I'm flying around the dome, palms just inches away from the glass, ice encasing the walls slowly but surely. The lava is almost gone, my ice magic slowly hitting the floor.

I fall down, wings gone, landing on the floor as the ice compacts. Jungkook's levitating above the ground, half of his body on fire while the other half has magma on his arm and leg. I scan over the arena, seeing that the ice has fully replaced the glass, meaning that the spawners, wherever they were, should be encased in ice.

"What's your plan?" Jungkook asks, smirking, the heat making me sweat. I somehow manage to laugh, looking around again. "I'm positive my ice has encased those spawners," I speak, seeing him cock an eyebrow. "Meaning?" It's like I'm skating, my feet letting me slide over my ice. "Meaning that," I pause, smirking.

"We completed our training."

The wings are back, my body spinning vertically as I fly to the middle of the dome, twenty feet above the ground. I let my anger return, finally allowing myself to unleash the magic deep within me.

Now!

Scalding hot water, spikes of ice, and darkness tendrils all escape from every inch of my body, flying straight at the compacted ice, everything shattering within five seconds at max. Jungkook helps too, sending fire and lava straight at the ice, melting it within seconds.

Then, the arena is gone, the two of us breathing heavily as we're transported back into the training room, falling onto the ground with a thud. It's silent, the only sounds managing to fill the room is our gasping as we inhale then exhale. I look at Jungkook, the flames and magma still there, my arms still ice instead of flesh.

My wings are gone though.

"Yup. I think we've found the ones, Drift." I recognize Glacius' voice, my eyes flickering up to see every God ahead of us, standing there, shock written all over their face. I stand up, my arms changing from ice to flesh, eyes going back to their normal color.

Jungkook tries to stand up too, falling back to the ground. I catch him before he hits the floor, his fire and lava disappearing, his human body left in my arms. He sighs, leaning his head on my chest. "Thanks," He mumbles weakly, eyes shut, body shaking.

"Seems we've found our Elementals," The gods say in unison, my eyes flickering onto them again. Soros is standing in the far corner, away from everyone, barely seen as the darkness surrounds the corner. The rest of the gods are already walking towards us, smiling wide.

"Congratulations!" They shout, a smile stretching upon my face. "You did it!" They shout again, a weak laugh heard from Jungkook while I chuckle lowly. I set him down on the ground gently, letting him relax for a bit, knowing he's exhausted.

"The teamwork you two possess! And to think that you both hated one another just a little over sixteen hours ago." Now, I'm laughing, sitting on the ground, ice on my fingertips, and water dancing around my arms. I glance over at Soros, making out the smile within the darkness.

"We'll continue to rest of your training after you eat and rest up," Illume announces, nodding at Soros as a portal opens up again. I stand up, picking up Jungkook, carrying him towards the portal so that we could grab some food. As we enter Illume's palace again, I spot Soros nearby, lips forming a perfect line but his eyes dancing with excitement.

"Meet me at my palace after you eat." I can't even get a word in before he's gone, swirls left in his place. I shake my head, smiling, heading for the dining room. I set Jungkook down, hearing him mumble thanks again, food placed on the table.

The gods are gone and we Elementals are the only ones left in the dining room. "How did you do that?!" Jimin shouts, clamping his hands over his mouth in an instant, squeaking out an apology. I laugh, shaking my head. "Who are we talking about here?" I ask, elbowing Jungkook gently.

"Both of you! How did you two manage to pull it off?" I look at Hoseok, his eyes big and bright, sparks flying off his body. "It's... It's different when you understand that it isn't a game," I speak, sighing as I look at Jungkook. "There's something you need to know."

"The gods are sending us to a death sentence, honestly," I speak, seeing everyone's eyebrows raise. "I'm not calling them assholes, trust me I'm not. Glacius and Drift are like, well, parents to me, so I'm not hating on them," I say, hands placed on the table.

"But this training, simulation training, it's so dangerous," I state, looking at them. "It's not a game, so please don't take it as one. If you think it's a game then you'll face consequences." Their eyes are wide, shock filling them. "The consequence is death."

"They're trying to kill us?!" Jin shouts, panic laced in his voice. "Honestly, no. I don't think they're trying to kill us. They're trying to train us, really they are. They're trying to make us understand that our job, as Elementals, is just as dangerous and maybe even worse."

"We need to understand that this isn't some game. This is real, we aren't supposed to take our powers as some joke. We were chosen for a reason, a very fucking important reason and we can't take it for granted. In that training, fight for your lives," I speak, looking at my hands.

"Because everything in that training is real. Those natural disasters could have wiped us clean in seconds." I look at each of the Elementals, extending my hand. "We may have not known one another for long, but I mean what I say when I say that I believe in you all."

"There's no limit to your power. You can keep improving, keep gaining magical power, you just have to know you can. Find that spark inside of you, find that fire burning deep inside you, and fuel it," I said, looking at Jungkook, seeing him nod. "You can make it out of this alive, and you will."

"How do you know what to do? In a situation like that, between life and death, how do you know what to do?" Yoongi asks, eyes looking down, staring at his untouched plate of food. "I can't explain it, you just know. Trust your power, your heart, your mind." Soros' words ran through my mind, a smile stretching upon my features.

"Always look for different angles. Get to higher ground if you need to, get an advantage point. Don't rush in alone, back out if there's too many. Fight together, don't split up. Don't rush in without a strategy or plan, always think fast. Don't stand still, move. Don't get cocky, don't think it's easy, don't give up," I spoke, my mind racing.

"Keep fucking fighting. Even when you think you can't keep going, think again." They nodded, my hand being placed on the table, the others reaching forward to place their hand on mine. "We work as partners in the training room, but in reality, we're a team," I say, smiling wide.

"So, we share what we know, we develop plans and strategies, and we grow stronger together." They all nodded, smiling too, our magic swirling in a small circle around our hands. "We're Elementals!" I roared, the rest following behind me.

The atmosphere changed from shock and fear to determination and excitement. We're a team of seven, so we need to work as one. Whether we work as partners in the training room or not, we need to rely on one another at all costs.

We ate in silence, whispering, and mumbling a few words every now and then. A bell signaled the start of the next training session, Namjoon and Jin heading towards their corner. Soros was back, opening up a portal for them to be transported to their simulation training.

"Fight hard! We believe in you!" I shouted, seeing them smile then vanish. A monitor on the wall displayed where they entered, an arena similar to Jungkook's and I's seen on the screen. My eyes were glued to the screen, studying what their training would be.

Monsters appeared, the glass was back. It was like our training, just different monsters, and different natural disasters. They had ten minutes, just as we did. Yet these monsters didn't spawn from the walls, they spawned from the ceiling.

I smiled, taking my eyes off the screen and looking around the room. I saw Soros nod, disappearing again. With one last look at the screen, I walked away, leaving the rest of the Elementals to get ready and watch the training. Repeating the words to enter Soros' palace, I felt power surge through me, my eyes locking with the God of Darkness.

"You told them, didn't you?" He asked with a smile, my head moving up and down in a nod. "Good because they need to know. The gods won't tell them." I cocked an eyebrow, staring at Soros. "Then why did you?" He smirked, shrugging, and turning towards the throne he sits upon.

"Because I'm not like the other gods."

-·=»‡«=·-

I want to clarify that the other gods are not bad. Their intentions aren't evil, and their goal isn't to kill the seven. If it was, then they would already be dead.

They're trying to prepare them, even if it means doing so in extreme and dangerous conditions.

Ready for these Elementals to grow stronger?

I purple you 💜

~Pisanthrophobia.