COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The music does not belong to me, nor the video. Please credit the original sources
💜

◦◦◦─╌⊰ ⚜ ⊱⧐ ♛ ⧏⊰ ⚜ ⊱╌─◦◦◦

It was pure darkness outside, when someone knocked on the door of the carriage while Jimin and Eulissah were in each other's arms, still laying in bed, kissing passionately.

"Madam, I brought the boy!" The muffled call of the old healer sounded from behind the door.

Eulissah had already heard and felt the presence of Seokjin and the healer for quite a few minutes now, but purposefully ignored it to savor Jimin for just a little longer before dropping the news on them.

Jimin ignored it as well. He enclosed his hands around her cheeks and neck, giving her a last, entwined kiss, that churned Eulissah's stomach.

When they finally parted their lips, they heard Seokjin's irritated call.

"Hey, Jimin! Open the damn door! We've been standing here in the cold for FAR TOO LONG!" He shouted angrily while knocking on the door with his fist.

"Alright then," said Jimin with a whimsical smirk.

Eulissah rolled her eyes teasingly, got up, fixed her half-undressed shoulders and legs, and went for the door. Jimin buttoned his shirt and wore his waistcoat.

The girl opened the door, allowing a pale and annoyed Seokjin to walk in the cozily candlit carriage. He wore new clothes, given by the healer, and a scent of herbal medicine wafted around him.

Jimin showed him to his seat. He wondered how, after everything he's been through, the lack of hygiene, and nutrition, his older brother still managed to look so handsome and beautiful.

"What were you two doing, huh?" He snapped at his younger brother, eyeing him and Eulissah.

"Well, we---"

"No, no. You know what? I don't think I wanna know. Nor why you left me and that poor lady out there to freeze to death!"

Jimin chuckled and sat next to Eulissah on her bed.

Seokjin blinked and looked at them both, waiting for Eulissah to start talking. In turn, she was waiting for the healer to exit the carriage and seal the door shut.

"Your Highness," she smiled, after the sound of the wind and gypsy community outside were silenced, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm sure you're wondering who I am."

The young man gulped, suddenly nervous and self-aware of his royal mannerisms. He smiled awkwardly and bowed his head, trying to ignore how trully pretty she was from up close.

"Yes, well, a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Nelson," he said after clearing his throat, "We thank you for your help..."

Eulissah let slip a faint giggle.

"You can call me Eulissah. I'm a friend of your brother's from the good old days."

She laid a fiery glance at Jimin, who was enthralled by her instantly.

Seokjin perched his eyebrows after hearing the words "old friend", which was clearly an understatement considering the tension between them. Or the fact that they spend approximately four hours alone in her carriage.

"Right...," he said suspiciously.

"Very well, you're correct. We are not just friends," Eulissah replied to his inner thoughts.

'Clearly,' thought Seokjin while blushing, whilst Jimin was snapped out of ogling Eulissah.

"But, forgive me for my frankness, but I did not summon you here to discuss our romance. Rather a matter of great urgency, that you both need to know," the girl explained, her expression and mood turning serious.

"What's it about?" Asked Seokjin.

"A prophecy"

The two brothers exchanged a curious look. The prince shrugged his shoulders with skepticism and confusion.

"No need for skepticism, brother, she's the real deal," said Jimin reassuringly, "Her gift is real."

Eulissah waited for Seokjin to show approval. Which he did when he saw Jimin's rare, earnest expression, which he would only manifest when the circumstances required it.

"Very well. I want you to listen to me very carefully," Eulissah began.

Her eyes unfocused and zoned out as if gazing into the depths of her consciousness. The dead space between the present and the future swung in her motionless, blinded eyes.

Eulissah concentrated.

The two brothers stared at her, growing nervous as they waited for her to speak.

The air in the carriage froze. The candle lights flickered and waned. Eulissah opened her mouth, and the voice she emitted sounded deeper and somewhat distorted as if talking through an old radio.

"In a sinking Realm,
when darkness is feared, light will be shed.
When death is expected, life will birth.
When sickness plagues, a cure will heal.
When war wages, peace will thrive.
When poverty is suffered, the Golden Age will rise.
But such will be the fate only while a King rules, when a Queen will be crowned instead."

The candles ceased to flicker, the air rose in temperature.

Eulissah shut her eyes and exhaled. She breathed heavily and when she opened them again, now able to see, she carefully gazed at Seokjin.

The young man was hanging his jaw to his chest. Suddenly feeling lost, confused. Empty. The weariness and sadness that had been accompanying him for the past weeks, crept back onto his body. He felt the urge to drink again. But her words echoed in his mind, loud and clear.

"Just a week ago, my mother woke up from her sleep, chanting the same exact words. You know of what I speak, don't you Jin?" said Eulissah.

Seokjin sighed.

"What do these words speak of, Eu?" Asked Jimin in a confused state, "Jin, what does she mean by that?"

They both waited for him to speak.

"It's about...it's about Selenya, I think," he replied tentatively, glancing at a bewildered Jimin.

"Selenya? What about Selenya?" inquired the boy, "What the hell are you talking about?"

With her eyes still glued on Seokjin, Eulissah offered him a glass of water.

"The prophecy foretells of a Golden Age, where things are better, the world is at peace, and the people are safe. But only if a certain queen arises to the throne," she explained, still staring at Seokjin.

"Selenya?" exclaimed Jimin in shock.

Seokjin felt his gut being twisted in a bunch. He lowered his head and sank it in his palms, running his fingers through his hair. His head started to spin violently.

"The plague is killing more and more, day by day, faster and more efficiently than the war, or famine, ever could. And now an army of rebels called WRA is starting a civil war, right on the brink of collapse of civilization as we know it," continued Eulissah, now addressing both brothers, "A vision accompanied this prophecy. A vision that I will not be showing you."

"Why not?" whined Jimin.

"Because the events that will lead Selenya back to the Capital involve situations which you may try to change. You mustn't alter your fate, Jihmm," she replied dynamically.

"What events?"

"I said you cannot know."

"Eulissah, what events?!" Jimin argued.

"Would you let it go?!" Seokjin intervened, snatching their attention.

"No, I won't let it go, Jin! Our efforts to hide her will be all for not! And you seem to have forgotten that she does NOT want to accept her title!" snapped Jimin aggressively and sat up, as if he was about to assault his older brother.

The prince's headache increased.

"I'm well aware of that...but---"

"But what?!" Jimin nudged, looking down at him.

"But there are some things we are simply incapable of controlling!" Seokjin replied with a clenched jaw.

"Is that what you really think?"

"It doesn't matter what I think!"

"Yes, it bloody matters! You are the eldest and a prince!" snapped Jimin.

Eulissah grabbed him by his elbow and tried to pull him down to sit again.

"Jihmm, stop it. In a way, he always knew what was going to happen," she tried to calm him.

"No! He just thinks about himself, as always! Absorbed in his little world, whining about every little thing, instead of actually caring about the people around him! He does not even consider what it would mean for Selenya to be the Emperor's heir! What she would be giving up!" shouted Jimin ragingly.

"Jihmm, please stop!" urged Eulissah.

"If he really did care, THEN NAMJUNIEL WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!"

Like an arrow through his chest, Seokjin's heart skipped a beat. His blood boiled in his veins, almost enough to trigger a reaction in him. Punch his little brother, or shove him against the wall.

But why? Why were his bitter words slicing through him so sweetly? A long-awaited release. At long last, the blame he deserved, and not the moral support they all have been giving to him.

The atmosphere became as heavy as lead. Unbreathable.

Jimin glared at Seokjin, panting, waiting for some kind of reaction. But nothing. He remained still, sitting in his chair, sinking in his own misery, not even sparing him a glance.

"Jihmm, by the Gods! What has gotten into you?!" gasped Eulissah stunned by Jimin's harshness.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingers dug into his skin.

'Come on! Say something! Do something, damn it!', thought Jimin, guilt squeezing his throat.

A tear streamed down Seokjin's cheek. His expression remained unchanged. Extinquished. Staring at a corner on the floor, with one sentence kept repeating in his mind:

'I deserve this. I deserve this. I deserve this.'

He sat up with slow, shaky movements. And before he left he uttered, "You're right."

Jimin saw him fading away before his eyes. Such a tall regal man, slouching, closed the door behind him and simply vanished. Evaporated, as if he was never there in the first place.

Like the tides of the ocean, Jimin was engulfed with all manner of emotions. But most of his efforts were to replace the wave of grueling remorse with fury.

It felt like an explosion that happened in a closed metal chamber. Tears leaked like fire through its cracks.

Eulissah opened her mouth to speak, but Jimin had already stormed outside.