a/n: don't forget to vote and comment <3 long chapter ahead! happy reading ❤️✨

"drop your weapons!"

jungkook sighs, laughing mockingly at the imperials surrounding him. they are six and jungkook is alone, yet his victory is guaranteed. his laid back behaviour probably bothers the men, for they growl and glare at him, one even steps inside the circle made by his mates. jungkook lifts up his sword, slaughtering the man right from his torso, dedicating the body to the ground.

"you don't need to capture me." jungkook puts forth, wiping off his sword casually, as the rest five men stare at him with unsure eyes. just the fear in their eyes makes jungkook smirk and tilt his head, cocking his chin towards the nearest one. "you. what's your name?"

"wonshik."

"full name, darling."

"lee... lee wonshik." he mumbles, earning a smile from jungkook.

"right. so, lee wonshik, i'm going to tell you once, listen to me very carefully, hm?" jungkook says, watching as the man gulps, nodding his head slowly. "perfect. i want you and your useless group of friends to return back to the palace, straight to your king, fall on his feet, cry in front of him, pray of your life," jungkook insinuates with a serious tone, until he lets out another mocking laugh about something that no one else finds funny. he steps closer to the man, pointing the sword to the scared man's chest and smiles, "ask me why."

"huh?"

"don't make me repeat, wonshik-ah." jungkook hisses, clicking his tongue as he turns his head to the next man, "he has a wife? children?"

"why?" wonsik asks instantly, voice shaking under the pressure he is right now. but it gains jungkook's attention back along with an impressed nod.

"because the moment i step inside the palace, it's death— all you, your king and this fucking kingdom will see. i'm going to decorate the ground with bodies, paint it with blood. you see, wonshik, you must pray to your king to save your lives, right? so, please convey my message to your king, let him know that i, jeon jungkook, am coming for his life. he must prepare himself for the begining of end."

wonshik shakes up like a leaf, eyes moving to his side, exchanging glances with his equally traumatized fellow imperials. he manages to nod in response to jungkook, moving back with rapid, messy steps heading back in the direction where they initially came from.

jungkook scoffs, staring at their backs as they run for their lives, disappearing into the woods that jungkook is currently yet to cross. he's sure it's not too far, the palace, from here. he is heading to the redver lake, where he is going to rest tonight and wait for seokjin to return with his excellency, namjoon. to avoid any negative light on namjoon and threaten his position in the royalty, thereby comprising lily's safety under taehyung's men, seokjin suggested that they must wait until midnight when namjoon shall come out of the palace towards the lake, west of the palace, where all three of them will meet and help jungkook course his way into the palace the next day.

seokjin, meanwhile, is also heading towards the palace, but from a path different than jungkook's, for he is going to visit port and dungeons turned into dragon cages, find his way to sink in and hopefully find something useful.

jungkook continues downhill, going along the trees for hours and hours, spotting some animals too on the way, which makes his stomach grumble in need, reminding of the fact that he hasn't eaten anything since yesterday morning when areum cooked for him before he left to the palace. sighing softly, his gaze lingers around, as he carries on with his journey, fortunately finding a healthy looking rabbit. it's grown for its size, grazing quietly under a tree, although its ears twitch every now and then, letting jungkook know that the animal, despite feeding, is absolutely alert for any danger.

jungkook steps beside a tree and pulls out his throwing knife. with the rabbit as the target, jungkook throws the knife in the air. the little animal looks up, almost hopping forward, unfortunately its reflexes didn't help much, for jungkook's knife gets buried into the side of its neck, leaving it yearning for life, although it's snatched within a few seconds.

when the rabbit becomes still with death, he comes forward, pulling out the knife and carries the animal up by its ears, smiling at his dinner. "chief might like it after years of trash in the name of food." he hums, hooking the dead rabbit to his belt, before venturing further towards the lake, where he's going to set up fire and cook this thing to satisfy his hunger. at least for his stomach, for the actual hunger will only suffice when the noble sword is dripping of the king's blood.

walking in the forest for a few more minutes, makes jungkook groan in frustration, as dehydration, humidity and the heat starts getting to him. he takes off his shirt, using it to tie to rabbit securely to his side instead, also freeing his upper body to get some air, even though there's none here. sweat makes his body glisten, scars burning with the uncomfortable heat, leaving him with no option than to stop walking for a while and sit under a tree.

he breathes deeply, gulping his saliva down to wetten his dry throat and licks his chapped lips, now feeling the symptoms of his body begging for even a single drop of water. he needs to make it to the lake sooner than he had initially thought. "fuck..." jungkook mumbles, closing his eyes and rests back against the trunk of the tree, almost dozing off, when he's struck with the harsh reality.

he cannot fall asleep.

it's his mind and body playing tricks at him to make him give in against the urge and lose everything he ever wished for. dying here in the forest while trying to reach the palace, especially after sending threats after threats and aching for revenge all his life, will be ridiculous. so, he shakes his head and stands up, hoping to push delusion out of the way and starts walking again.

with no more pauses and disruption in the journey, jungkook keeps strolling with his eyelids trying to betray him, mind playing tricks which he forces himself not to fall in the trap of. soon the sun is near the horizon again, shimmering in the reflection over the water surface, making jungkook frown, stopping by one of the last trees before the water body.

staring for a minute, jungkook realises it's not his brain fooling him, rather the actual lake redver. with a deep sigh grumbling past his lips, jungkook pushes himself forward, finally letting himself fall near the water. taking a few desperate sips of water, he lays down on the mud, breathing deeply now.

after resting for a few minutes, jungkook sits up, scooping up more water with his hands curled as he drinks some more water, thanking the good lord for allowing him to survive the wild today. slow wind blows over the lake, providing a calming scene to sit and relax to, however, the palace situated over the cliff, just south-east to the lake, reminds jungkook of the harsh reality he's yet to face.

as the sun settles, the lights of the palace shine bright like stars in the night sky, beautiful and dreamy, as though gods and goddesses themselves live in the very palace, made out of the best kind of marbles, stones and glass. jungkook wipes away his sweat, setting down the rabbit he has secured for dinner, and starts looking around for some wood to burn.

the dense forest helps jungkook by all means, as it's not that hard to find a couple fallen branches and dry leaves that should burn without any problem. jungkook sets the fire up and crouches down by the water, cutting and washing the blood off dead rabbit. he cleans it up too, before hooking it on a long, moistened branch, hanging it carefully above the flame. seokjin and namjoon aren't here yet, so the rabbit has plenty of time to cook.

during this time, jungkook decides to wash up a little. nothing can be as relaxing as swimming in a beautiful lake, known for its miraculous freshwater, harbouring life with mystical blessings. redver also gives rise to three major rivers, one of which curves around the cliff on which the palace is located, before merging into the moros sea with the other two sisters.

ancient myths say that when the god of the seven waters and godess of mystic creatures came together, they had three daughters, an elder one first and then a pair of twins. elder daughter had healing powers in her tears, and the path she chose when she saw her death nearing is now where the eldest river, raelyn, flows. the twins were blessed with fertility and harvest, enabling a wide variety of flora and fauna to flourish around them, marking the course of the twin rivers, ramera and rhenette.

"prince?"

jungkook opens his eyes, turning around and smiles at the sight of namjoon heading towards him. he sweeps his wet hair back and rubs his face, splashing some water over one last time, before heading out of the lake. "i was tired, so i thought why not wash up a bit?" he says, walking past the elder and picks up his pants, standing close to the fire. "stop staring at my ass, sir."

"i can't believe you're naked in the woods when the king has his men after you. you're incorrigible." namjoon laughs amusedly.

"i'm surprised you expect me to corrige, sir, if i'm so incorrigible." jungkook chuckles, putting on his pants and turns around, gesturing his hand towards one of the three rocks, offering the elder a seat. "i've arranged a meal, your excellency. please be my guest."

"oh, i hope it's actually edible." namjoon says, sitting down across jungkook, who smiles, nodding his head and takes the cooked rabbit off the fire.

"it is. might as well taste delicious if you haven't eaten in two days."

namjoon smiles sadly, accepting a piece of meat that jungkook offers, taking a large one for himself, "mm, not bad." jungkook moans, chewing the well cooked meat, nodding his head, "i'd prefer pork, but this will do for now." he muffles out, wiping off the drool from the side of his lips and glances at namjoon, gesturing him to eat as well.

"i know it's nothing compared to your regular meals, sir. but i'd suggest you give it a try." he says. in silence, namjoon takes a small bite of the cooked flesh, face scrunching at the awkward taste, as there are no spices, not even salt, which makes it a bit hard for him to gulp down bare meat.

"hm, did you see lily? what about suho and areum?" jungkook asks.

"ah yes, they're not fine, i don't want to lie to you. areum and her son are really suffering this way. the king might decide to spare lily for now, but areum and her son are the ones who are in actual danger inside the palace. we know that his majesty loathes slummers and people of the lower rankings."

"please don't let anyone touch them, sir. i will take them out as soon as the sun rises tomorrow. i can finish everything off later, first i'm willing to get areum and suho out of there."

"that'll be better. i cannot assure you how long his majesty lets them live. prince taehyung has locked areum up, even suho was taken away and locked up when they didn't get any information from him about you." namjoon sighs, and jungkook shakes his head, staring blankly at the fire.

"nobody touched areum, did they?" jungkook asks. the question makes namjoon lowers his head in shame, recalling the scene he had to witness, and is ought to live with it till the day of his death. "answer me, sir. is she okay?"

"prince taehyung seems to be taking care of her. yet, i'm not sure how long that will last... you must rescue her and her son, prince. the princess still has me, prince jimin and even prince taehyung to protect her from the king, however, i cannot say the same for areum and her son. their lives are in the hands of his grace."

jungkook hums softly, dusting off his hands as he's done eating and looks up, taking a deep breath, "where's chief? it's taking him too long to return..." he mumbles.

"he must be on his way." namjoon smiles a little, patting jungkook's shoulder, "don't bother yourself a lot, prince. rest up tonight, you need to end this for good tomorrow. don't worry too much about the princess, either. prince jimin has taken her responsibility upon himself. his majesty isn't happy about it, but i guess it's safe to say that as long as prince jimin is with her, nobody will harm her, not even his majesty."

"so it's true?" jungkook hushes out, earning a confused look from the elder male, "prince jimin being the rise of difference with his reign?"

"fortunately, yes." namjoon smiles and stands up, "it's my queue to leave now." he says, patting jungkook's arm, as he takes a few steps back, whirling his cloak around him and disappears with a gush of wind, leaving jungkook to smile, hoping that he too, had such a tempting ability. his manipulation powers and physical strengths help only a little in his daily life. they're of basically no use other than getting people to obey him, and having upper hand when fighting, as he can quickly catch on his opponent's fighting skills and use it against them.

taehyung doesn't have any extreme powers like jimin, either. the former can read minds, and also possesses healing powers, one that jungkook envies. because healing powers mean that jungkook can go on damaging taehyung, and the man will easily be able to heal himself up. that is one of the biggest reasons why jungkook needed the noble sword to kill taehyung. not just him, but his father too.

taehyung is not even the real danger. jungkook doesn't hesitate getting mad, however what leaves jungkook to ponder is the eldest brother. jimin. namjoon was right, nobody can harm lily as long as jimin is protecting her, for jimin can literally destroy and remould everything around them, cause a havoc if he gets real angry. so, for now, jungkook doesn't really worry about his sister being in the wrong hands.

jungkook sighs, lying down on the ground itself, gazing up at the stars while waiting for seokjin to return, not even realising when the tiredness weighed down on his eyelids, taking him to the deepest corner of his mind where the present, past and the future sit together, each awaiting him with their own monsters, wanting to claw him down until only remnants of his life remained, devoid of any memory.

with nightmares, have a sound sleep.

"that jungkook boy thinks he can threaten me in my own land? he wants revenge, huh? i'll give him exactly what he wants and have him on his knees in front of me!" karol barks, as he rises from the throne, standing in front of his council of ministers and both of his sons. "tae, you'll interrogate that filthy slummer and her son. do whatever it takes, just get them to speak."

"but-"

"and if," the king glares at taehyung, making him sigh and look away, "—that harlot doesn't open her mouth, you know exactly what to do with her."

"father!" jimin raises his voice, "that's no way to talk about a woman."

"she's jungkook's property, son. he's most definitely aware that we have her captive, and so far that we've known him, he wouldn't sit still. we must show him the consequences of going against the realm." karol states firmly, glancing at taehyung. "get to work, enforcer."

taehyung, with a heavy heart, stands up straight like a soldier, bowing to him once before taking his leave. jimin shakes his head, glaring at the father, but says nothing and jogs out of the meeting chamber, following his brother. "tae!"

taehyung ignores the voice, unbuttoning his shirt angrily and throws it aside and unbuckles his belt, wrapping it around his hand, as he cracks his neck, heading straight to the room where he locked areum. "your highness! she escaped!" a guard pants, stopping in front of him, making taehyung frown and halt too. now jimin catches up as well, grabbing him by his shoulders and turns him around.

"don't lose your calm, tae. bringing areum into this isn't right. cannot use her to—"

"i'm not going to kill her." taehyung whispers, staring into jimin's eyes. "trust me. i have nothing against her. i've saved her before, i'll doing it again, and i will keep doing it. right now, we need to find her and get her out of the palace. the king won't spare her otherwise."

jimin breathes out in a relief, smiling a little as he nods quickly, "you go back to your room, jim. it's not safe for you to be anywhere unguarded."

"what? that's ridiculous! i need to—"

"no. just listen to me, please. go back and if possible, keep the princess with you."

jimin blinks a few times and nods, giving taehyung a hug before walking away. taehyung now, sighs deeply, and turns to face the guards waiting for his order. he steps in front of them, pulling out his sword and pushes it straight in the first man's stomach, "how did she escape when i left you on guard outside her chamber?!" taehyung yells, kicking away the man who collapses near his feet, blood bubbling out of his body, while the other man shudders.

"she- she used the windows, your highness..."

"is that right?" taehyung looks at him almost mockingly, snapping the belt in his hand, tearing a scream from the man's throat. "move your ass now and find her!"

"shh, don't cry..." areum hushes out, hugging her son tightly with one, holding a sword in the other hand as they quietly make their way through an open hallway, leading to the west wing of the palace. "stick with me, okay? we'll get out of here." she promises the boy.

"are we going to leave lily?" suho mumbles.

"no. i'll look for her." areum says with a shaky breath, flinching with the sounds coming from across the hallway. she hurries beside a pillar, pulling suho behind and holds the sword firmly in both hands, ready to strike if anyone dared to come near her or her son. a man walks down the path when suho whimpers, drawing attention from him.

"there," he smirks, "you've created a ruckus here, woman. now i'm—"

"stay back!" areum threatens, moving back, holding the aword in his direction. the man only laughs at her trembling hands and teary eyes, stepping closer to ger with no fear. she shuts her eyes, dropping a few tears, shouting in anger when her arms lift up to attack, silencing the man's laughter once and for all. he falls to the ground, bloodied.

"run." is all areum says, holding suho's hand, beginning to run in the opposite direction, when she meets more men. two of them, launch towards her, while the third grabs suho, earning a glare from her as she strikes the aword again, cutting off the man's hand who touched her son. the other two, yell oit curses at her, however, only one of them managed to dodge her stab and attack her, making the sword fall to the ground.

"eomma!" suho cries on the side, the blade pressed to his throat, making areum cry and fight against the hold of the men, begging them to leave her son.

"leave him!" she screams, falling to her knees, thrashing to free herself, which probably looks funny to the guards and imperials surrounding her, for they laugh and mock at her, hurting her son a little here and there to watch the woman weep.

"go. save him." one of them pushes her to the ground, bumping her head to the stony floor. tears blur areum's eyes as she lifts her head, staring at suho and then the man holding him. she wipes the blood from the side of her mouth, taking a deep breath, looking around his feet, finding the a dagger peeking from his boot.

"ah! get her!"

"suho, run!" she stumbles, running away from the men, cutting and stabbing anyone who tried to stop her, tears continuosly flowing down her face as she keeps telling herself that if she doesn't kill them, they won't hesitate killing her and suho.

"listen," she pants, crouching down behind the bushes in the garden and cups suho's face, pressing a kiss to his temple, "go from here... go back to the slums and wait for me in the alley where lily and jungkook lived, okay? and don't let anyone see you..."

"no! i'll stay with you, eomma... i don't wanna leave..." suho sobs, hugging areum tightly. she bites down a son too, rubbing his back and pulls away.

"i know, baby. but you need to leave. you have to stay safe for me, alright? i'll come back to you soon. lily's still inside, she must be scared to, right?"

crying, suho nods his head as areum pats his back, hugging him one last time and kisses his cheek, "eomma loves you, suho. remember that. don't be scared, okay? you're my strong boy. now go." she says, forcing a smile for him to gain the strength she has to offer. suho rubs his eyes, sobs never ease, even when he steps out of the bushes and starts running. he disappears out of sight soon, leaving areum alone to cry, scared for life, not even sure if she will be able to see suho ever again or not.

"she's there!" a voice yells from above, making areum gasp and move quickly back inside the palace, hoping to find lily as soon as possible, so they can leave too.

running and hiding for a few more minutes, leads areum to an emptier hallway, where she's the only one panting and groaning. even the guards who are always found every few meters are not present this way. she frowns, stumbling forward weakly, opening doors to look for lily, however she finds no one.

"so, you've come to me yourself."

that's not taehyung. areum gulps in fear, turning around gradually, eyes landing on a bulky figure, a royal cape draped from his back and a large crown sitting on his head. he's old now, not too old, but enough to drain his stamina from the battlefield that he might've mastered in his young days.

areum steps back, clutching the dagger tightly in her hand, earning a chuckle from the king. "you're the girl from the slums, aren't you? the one whom taehyung saved years ago. a filthy whore, who lures boys from the royal house and ruins their lives for some money."

areum shakes her head, "i never met your son! he did it by himself. i never asked anyone to help me."

the king scoffs, stepping closer as he shakes his head, eyeing her from head to toe with revulsion in his gaze. "taehyung has never been the same. all because of you." he hisses, snatching the dagger from her hand easily, when he had her distracted with his talk and uses the very weapon to trace the sharp tip along her cheek. "he was captivated by your beauty. tried looking for you all while i was trying to shape my new enforcer. a monster he was supposed to be, without a heart, one who knows nothing but torture. he beared all of the pain and i was nearly successfully in making him what i wanted to, but then you came in his life... filthy slummer."

the blade presses harder, making her wince and stumble back, landing on her back on the ground, and the king places his shoes over her chest, pressing down harshly right between her collar bones, hearing a cracking sound along with a cry of pain from the struggling girl. "you're licentious, a disgrace to this kingdom. women like you are required to be reminded of their true place," he smirks, throwing the dagger away and pulls out his sword, placing the tip where her heart is supposed to be.

"i didn't do anything..." areum coughs painfully, moving her hands, but stops instantly when the king stabs her hand. he steps aside, dragging the blade of his sword down, tearing through her fabric, making areum cry louder, bringing her arms closer to hug her clothes close to her body. "please, don't... i swear i didn't do anything. i- i'll go away and never return, please don't— ahh!" she screams, sobbing loudly as the sword leaves a cut on her stomach, clothes torn at places along with her will to survive.

"daring to lure the prince into your vicious trap and causing all this... you must die." the king declares, pressing the sword deeper into her stomach, ignoring her cries. however, right then a loud roar shakes up the entire palace, and soon bright orange flames fill in through the hallways, craving flesh to lick and burn.

karol looks down from the large, floor to ceiling windows, eyes widening at the sight he witnesses.

when jungkook enters the palace, a few imperials are already guarding the gate. slaughtering them mercilessly, he moved further, not having the time to fight everyone who crossed paths with him. he passed through the hallways, running towards the king and princes' chambers, hoping to find someone at least. however, right then a loud roar echoes through the palace, making him stop and look outside.

there, sits on a dragon's back, kim seokjin and behind him on another fire breathing dragon is the legendary dragon rider, jung hoseok. every age has a man with the power to control the mystical creatures, and jung hoseok is known to be the dragon lord today. he works nobody but dragons and other mystical creatures, staying hidden from the general world in his own world of mystic creatures and arts. he masters what many have failed to gain.

jungkook bows head in respect for him, earning a nod and a similar gesture of courtesy. "the king is further inside! outside the council chamber. i think areum is with him!" seokjin shouts over other noise and jungkook nods in response, running down the hall until the king's figure appears before his eyes. there's fire smouldering and cries of a girl, makes jungkook grot in anger.

"karol!" jungkook yells, walking towards the man, raging like the flames around him. the woman is indeed areum, tired and barely conscious with all the injuries she bears. "is that your virtue of strength? targetting and attacking a defenceless, injured commoner? my future wife." he cracks his neck, "you cannot be so desperate for death now, can you?"

"jungkook. finally." karol faces him too, pulling his sword back from areum as his complete attention is on jungkook. "you survived one time, but luck doesn't favour everyday, boy. you'll face the end of your life just as your mother did."

"well, start fighting then." jungkook insinuates, holding his sword, strongly in his right hand, waiting for the king to take the first attack. however, seeing the old man trying his best, while jungkook doesn't even move his other hand to defend himself, comes like a mockery, making him laugh at the king. "hey, you need to fight better, step-father. i'm not even using my abilities, in fact all of my strength yet, and look at you, already panting."

that's when jungkook feels his sword flying out of his hand, leaving him with nothing to defend himself other than his own strengths. the king laughs at him, not looking like he's going pass out any more, and jungkook sighs, cracking his knuckles before taking the man by surprise with a swift jab to his nose, followed by a few continuous blows to his stomach.

the king uses his sword against jungkook's jabs and blows, tiring either one down until, jungkook finally gets an opportunity to knock the man down on his back. with heavy breathes, jungkook kicks his face, pressing his foot down against the king's cheek, "fucking douche... you thought you could do whatever you wanted and nobody will come to show you your real place, huh?" jungkook grits, crouching down and gets a hold of the man's hair, smashing his head on the floor. "you killed my mother, took my sister's voice, now you've hurt areum too. of course, i had to come back."

"jungkook!"

he looks up and spits out the blood from his mouth, grinning at the son, watching them from the other side of the burning hallway. "look, your majesty, your son's watching." he chuckles, standing up and picks up his sword, "say goodbye to him."

"tae..." the king muffles out with some blood, and jungkook presses the tip of his sword against the man's chest. taehyung's already running towards them, his own sword out in his hand.

"leave him." taehyung growls.

"no." jungkook replies and glances down at the king, "what did you tell your sons about my mother? that she left the kingdom at will, hm?" he grits out, stabbing the man's stomach, earning a gurgled groan. "tell him it was you."

"wha—"

"fucking tell him how you gave her an exile and summoned people to kill her!" jungkook yells, twisting the sword inside the king's bleeding stomach, and taehyung just watches it all. unable to strike at jungkook, as there tears in his eyes too at the sight of his father and younger brother, like this.

jungkook stabs him again, fisting karol's hair and makes him look at taehyung, "tell him, i said. it was you who killed my mother, you took my sister's voice and because of you my areum is on the verge of dying!" jungkook shouts in anger, hitting the king's head against the floor.

"son..." the man is barely audible, but taehyung hears it anyway, staring at him with aversion in his gaze. "i- i had to..."

"no, you didn't..." taehyung mutters, "she was your wife. how can you..."

"jimin has to be the- the king... my son..."

"see? that wasn't even hard." jungkook hums, letting go of the man and finally with one last strike, he digs the sword into the king's chest, ending his life right there. there's only a short second of relief washing over jungkook, until he pulls away and wipes the blood from his face, turning towards taehyung, pointing his bloody sword in his direction. "come on, i don't have all day to fight you." he says, glancing at areum, with pained eyes.

taehyung follows his gaze as well, a fire burning inside his chest just like jungkook on seeing the girl barely breathing, blood flowing out of her, leaving her face pale and fingers curled as though as she about to sleep.

"help her..." taehyung mumbles, "i'm not going to fight you right now. just fucking help her out, or else she'll die."

jungkook frowns at him, and taehyung sighs, nodding his head to confirm his words. "i mean it, jungkook. help her. she shouldn't die in this mess."

"just so you know, taehyung, i'm not dying unless i kill you too. so, don't even think of taking advantage of me." jungkook warns and heads towards areum, kneeling down hear her and cradles her in his arms instantly, "areum, open your eyes, darling. i'm here." he whispers, close to her face, pressing a kiss to her temple. for a moment there's no reply, however, she soon lets out a sigh and opens her eyes slowly.

"jungkook..."

"yes," he smiles softly, tears pooling his eyes as he leans down and pecks her lips, "you'll be fine, okay? i'm going to end this and make sure everyone who hurt you lays dead by the time i'm done." he promises.

"suho..." areum whimpers, "town... i- i sent him back..."

jungkook falls silent at that, glancing outside where almost everything is burning, the east wing of the palace is destroyed by fire and the dragon attacks. he decides not to say anything and carries her up, heading down the hallway, midst the flames that lick his arms, however he doesn't react to it, focused on keeping areum safe from the fire.

"jungkook," taehyung's voice calls from behind, which jungkook wants to ignore but his words, make him think twice. "i have healers waiting down the west wing. take her there. ask some defenders to build a shield around."

with a frown jungkook looks at him, "why are you doing this?"

taehyung's eyes shift towards areum, but he says nothing about it and walks past him, "princess is with jimin right now. he'll keep her safe." taehyung mutters to jungkook, before heading away.

jungkook, too, takes areum to the healers quickly, threatening them to start with their job and save areum's life. he leaves soon after, spotting taehyung about to attack an injured seokjin. jungkook aims for his arm, shooting his knife in the direction, watching as it angers him alongside the obvious pain of a throwing knife stuck in the flesh of his upper arm.

"i told you i don't miss my targets." jungkook roars, "fight me, taehyung. don't bother going after people who have nothing to do with you."

"you're all bark and no bite, eh jungkook?" taehyung chuckles darkly, letting go of every other thing, advancing towards jungkook. both facing each other, raging and aching to perform their destined task of taking the other's breath away.

"you'll have to see for yourself." jungkook husks out, clutching the sword tightly as he pounces towards taehyung, taking the first strike that the elder successfully defends himself from. he doesn't take the initiative to attack, letting jungkook strike and try to get him disarmed all he wants, however nothing works.

"is that all you got, jungkook?" taehyung mocks, earning a glare from jungkook, who pants and observes the elder, thinking for any possibile way to—

thinking.

that's when taehyung chuckles, and jungkook is reminded of his mental ability to read his opponent's thoughts. fuck you, taehyung. the elder laughs, shaking his head at jungkook. "try me." he growls, "keep using that head and tire yourself until it's a child's task to beat you to death, brother."

"that's all you can do, can't you?" jungkook spits, "we both know you can't stand in front of me with this deceitful ability of yours. keep reading my mind, so you know how close you are to your death." and he strikes suddenly, tricking taehyung with his empty thoughts and decides to fight this way, not thinking and just going with the flow.

their swords clash loudly, sparking up and shaking the earth with the violent vibrations from the noble sword as it meets it's worthy opponent. taehyung looks frustrated with his failed attempts to get into jungkook's head, which the younger can see and smirks, despite his heavy breaths for taehyung isn't an easy man to defeat. both of the men are already giving everything inside them to overpower the other, however they only manage to beat themselves in the process.

a bright spark with explosive energy throws the two away, their swords lying away from their hands, groaning in pain. jungkook stands up first, tired and sweaty, blood dripping from all the cuts and gashes taehyung has left on his body, just like he did to taehyung as well. before jungkook picks up his sword again, he's pushed back to the ground, the elder brother hovering over him, blowing punches after punches to his face, making him cough blood out and tears blur his vision.

jungkook groans in pain, hands struggling to find a good grip on taehyung, and when he does, he switches the postion swiftly, smashing taehyung's head on the ground a couple of times. taehyung shuts his eyes in pain, probably feeling the world spinning before his eyes, until it becomes still to jungkook's bloody face in front of him, gritting in anger.

"you wanna follow your father, right? follow him to hell."

"i'm taking you with me." taehyung growls back, grasping jungkook's throat and clenches his fingers tightly. jungkook too, curls his hand around the elder's neck, with the purest intention of cutting off his blood supply to the brain, then he stares right into taehyung's furious eyes, the left one completely filled with blood due some internal bleeding.

taehyung's fingers start to loosen, and jungkook smirks, his own fingers tightening in response. the veins on the side of taehyung's forehead pop up evidently, his face flushing and he gasps for air, thrashing under jungkook. he's almost dead, and it gives jungkook an immense rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins, already declaring himself the winner. suddenly, jungkook feels himself flying in the air, landing with a groan on the ground a few feet away from taehyung.

he looks around to see who had the nerve to intervene in his fight with taehyung, especially when he had almost won. taehyung is sitting up now, coughing and catching his breath. jungkook's about to go for another attack, when a ring of fire surrounds him, his sword out of reach.

"stop it, jungkook."

"don't interfere, jimin. let us get done with this." taehyung speaks up before jungkook.

"so, you've asked jimin to save you from me?" jungkook roars mockingly at taehyung, hoping to instigate him enough to get jimin out of this and continue their fight. just the two of them.

"jungkook!" jimin raises his voice, followed by jungkook wincing in pain as he's raised up in the air, squeezing his body beyond comfort. "do not lose yourself in this quest for revenge. i assure you, you will not be wronged again. think of your sister. she needs you to live."

"i am... living..." jungkook speaks out with difficulty. "let me finish my fight with taehyung... you can't stop me." he mutters, sneaking into jimin's gaze with a subtle smirk when jimin's eyes soften, accidently letting the younger in his head.

within a second jungkook's back on the ground and a harsh gush of wind, slams taehyung's body against the palace walls, earning a loud groan from him. jimin groans too, fighting against jungkook's ability to control his mind, not wanting to attack his own brother. jungkook, however, laughs devilshly, watching how taehyung struggles to keep himself alive against jimin's powers.

the fire surrounding jungkook vanishes and he picks up his sword again, making his way to jimin, placing the blade on his shoulder. "your father killed my mother, so i killed him. he ruined my life, lily's life. and now this brother of yours had the audacity to lay his eyes on my areum. you see, jimin hyung, i know no limits when it comes to fighting for people whom i love. and believe me when i say this, i love areum more than your fucking enforcer can imagine."

"he didn't hurt her. he cares for her too, you don't know this but... he does." jimin says.

"areum is mine."

"no, she's not." taehyung grumbles, glaring at jungkook. "all this for her? killing the king, now me, burning down the entire palace, countless guards and imperials lost their lives, all for one woman? you must be demented, jungkook. and funnily enough, i doubt if she even loves you back, or you've just manipulated her too just like you do everyone else to get your way."

"she loves me." jungkook pushes taehyung back, "hear that, taehyung? she fucking loves me!"

"yeah? is that what you tell yourself?" taehyung smirks, hand moving swiftly to grab jungkook's hair and pushes his hair into the wall behind jimin. "you're just using her. you wanted all this to happen because it benefits you, motherfucker!"

"i did not!" jungkook yells, kicking taehyung away and punches him again. "i love her and she loves me! i'm not like you to seduce other's girlfriends and wives into my bed, you fucking bastard!"

"i never touched her." taehyung growls.

"because you knew i had my eyes on you." jungkook grits back, kneeing taehyung's stomach and steps on his shoulder, turning around mid air to land another hard kick to his face. "areum has nothing to do with this. if anything happens to her, i'll make sure nobody exists to even tell the tale how disastrous jeon jungkook can fucking be. get that?"

"right," taehyung chuckles with pain and blood gurgling out of his mouth as he lays on the ground, features twisting in pain. "your mother, sister, they don't matter as much as this new girl does to you, huh? but do you..." he winces, "do you think areum will love you the same when she comes to know her son is dead out there? all because she got involved with you."

"shut up." jungkook says, although he fears taehyung's words in the back of his head, advancing towards the man with his sword, himself facing difficulty walking, but he needs to end this.

"jungkook. i'm warning you for the last time." jimin's voice rings deep his ears, which he ignores and lifts up the sword anyway, groaning as the building behind them collapses and strong blows of wind remoulds the debris, aiming straight at jungkook. he's pushed roughly against the ground, digging up at least a few feet in depth with the crushing weight of natter piled above jungkook, suffocating him and rendering him immobile.

"jim..." taehyung sighs, standing up with a pained expression, glancing at the mountain of stones and marbles. "you did not have to step in. you know i can handle him."

"yes, but have you seen yourself fighting? one of you would surely be lying dead if i didn't stop you two in time." jimin hisses, shaking his head as he too, takes a glance at the debris, not moving a bit. "do you think he's unconscious?"

"after you attacked the boy with a chunk of the palace? yeah, sure." taehyung laughs dryly, walking with difficulty towards the 'chunk', however with each step, his body heals and the blood disappears except for the stains on his clothes.

he cracks his neck and stretches his body, gesturing jimin to use his powers and let jungkook out. "why didn't you heal yourself sooner?" jimin asks, although his eyes remain fixed on jungkook, who takes a while to cough and move in his place, lying in a pit in the ground.

"i do need time for that. jungkook isn't easy to deal with. he knows how to fight against powers... unless it's breaking a piece of a building and throwing on someone."

"i had to do it, okay? stop rubbing that on me." jimin hisses. "now, come on, stop fighting and bring him to the healers. or just do it yourself. but do not start fighting again. both of you have ruined half the palace."

"as if it wasn't already about to turn to ashes." taehyung grins, looking around and finds the dragons hovering above the palace, flames going off gradually and large clouds of smoke rising. the gardens and the architecture of the palace has been destroyed, and if assuming right, probably the elite societies nearby must have caught fire too.

"tae, you don't seem to be in the mood to kill jungkook. however, that's not what you said earlier." jimin asks, crouching down near jungkook, who is lying unconscious for now. the elder strokes his hair, "poor boy, i didn't mean to hurt him so bad."

"trust me, if he gets up right now, he'd cut my head off my body." taehyung clicks his tongue as he bends down to reach for jungkook's shirt, not picking him up but drags him like that, towards the healing chambers.

"taehyung, he's your brother! you could pick him up!"

"after he almost killed me? yeah, no. i think differently, your majesty." his last words make jimin stop, staring at taehyung with wide eyes and taehyung glances down with a sad smile. "guess, we'll have to do your coronation three days prior."

"did jungkook..."

"yes." taehyung sighs, "this brat, even though, is annoying and killed father right before my eyes, i must say it's not his fault that he's mad at us. the queen didn't leave the kingdom at her will, jim, she was given exile, later murdered by the summons of the king. under the same attack, princess lily lost her voice too. none of it was an accident, but a well planned and executed action by our father. it's only fair for jungkook to be mad and want to seek revenge."

"when did you even learn all this?"

"when i saw him with father before he killed him." taehyung says, ignoring the faint wincing sound from behind. he shakes his head, stopping only when jungkook punches the back of his knee, making him land on the ground without a warning. jungkook quickly hovers over him, grabbing his hair and collides his head into the ground.

"fucking bastard!" he breathes heavily. "i'll kill you, kim taehyung."

"look," taehyung lets out, "i think we can spare this fight, however, since we've given each a word. let's fight it off when you're healed. it will be unfair for me to kill you in this state."

"you can't kill me." jungkook growls, clutching taehyung's throat, and eyes boring into the elder's, and taehyung blinks a few times, his arms flattened on the ground as though he wasn't in control of his will. the younger smirks, spitting blood off his mouth and throws a few hard jabs to taehyung's face until the latter bleeds, still under jungkook's power, unable go do anything to protect himself.

"jungkook, please stop it. we get it you're mad, and i apologise for everything you had ro go through, but please, don't do this. i know we can end things on a good note. you don't have to kill your own brother."

"he's not my brother!" jungkook yells, hitting taehyung more and stands up, kicking the man harshly, panting as he too, falls on the ground next to a grunting taehyung. "because of him areum.and suho were dragged in this... i know he's the one who gave orders to summon them..."

"i'm sorry... i just wanted to get to you. kill you before you did major damage." taehyung mumbles.

"major damage?" jungkook lets outs a breathy chuckle, lifting his head and turns to see taehyung's face, "look around, taehyung. there's nothing left of your father. if jimin didn't stop me, you'd be lying among these lifeless bodies too, just as dead as any of them."

"thanks, jim." taehyung sighs, standing up and dusts his hands off. his wounds heal again and this time he smirks at jungkook. "don't insist on fighting with me. i don't kill you with just one punch. get up, heal, and we'll have a fair fight. i promise you."

jimin rolls his eyes at the two brothers, glancing back where he finds seokjin and hoseok walking towards them. the former chief is missing one arm, while the dragon rider is mostly fine, ignoring jimin and taehyung, they stop by jungkook. seokjin quickly, shifts him onto his lap, running his only hand left over jungkook's body, earning a loud groan from him, eyes squeezed shut as his body sews itself up and closes all the open gashes.

"fuck... chief..." jungkook breathes out, "lily..."

"she's fine." seokjin assures him, "you've fought bravely, prince. her grace must be proud of you today."

"i couldn't kill taehyung," jungkook speaks with difficulty, sitting up slowly, hissing at the pain that still resides somewhere inside him. "it still hurts, cheif."

"that's probably because you were attacked by earthly powers." hoseok says, gesturing towards jimin, who curses under his breath, apologising to jungkook. "healing abilities are not enough to cure wounds from supernatural abilities, especially the ones like your eldest brother possesses."

"he's not my—"

"prince," seokjin looks at him with a soft gaze, shaking his head. "it was their father who did you wrong. not them. the noble sword won't allow you to kill a person unworthy of death, just due to your anger and rage for revenge."

jungkook frowns, turning back and stumbles up to his feet, walking slowly to look for his sword, however it's nowhere to be seen. "it's gone, prince. the purpose of the sword is served. you vowed to end treachery and use the sword to seek justice for your family. you did it." seokjin says, patting jungkook's back.

"you've done a good job, prince." hoseok smiles, "now i allow me take my leave. it's an honour to have proven of some use to the noble warrior of the age." he says, getting on one knee and places his hand over his chest, lowering his head. seokjin does the same and soon namjoon and min yoongi too.

"noble warrior?" jungkook frowns.

"yes. not everyone gets to have the noble sword, prince. you were chosen for it, the one to put an end to this cruel era of king karol." yoongi says.

"what?" jungkook laughs in disbelief, "and you knew it? chief? sir namjoon?"

"not until you took the sword." namjoon says, standing up and motions his hand towards the back, where a maid comes with areum and lily. jungkook hurries towards them, lifting lily up in his arms and hugs areum too, kissing the aide of her head.

"are you okay?" he asks.

areum hums, pulling away with tears welling her eyes as she glances up at jungkook's face, "suho..." she whispers, clenching jungkook's heart as he hugs her tightly, glancing back at taehyung, who nods, motioning his hand for namjoon and seokjin to go with him.

"i'm coming with you." jungkook voices out, stepping away from areum and lets lily down, patting her head, as he forces a smile for the little girl. "i'll go and find suho, okay? stay here with areum till then."

lily sniffles, but nods her head, holding areum's as jungkook shifts his gaze towards the scared mother, "i'll get him, okay?" he mutters close to her lips, leaving a short kiss and cups her face, "take care of yourself and lily for me, yeah?"

"you too. please come back alive." she hushes out and jungkook smiles softly, taking off his necklace, the crystal that used to shine with divine powers, now behaves like any normal stone. jungkook puts the necklace around areum's neck, chuckling as lily observes eagerly, her comfort stone from jungkook is now close areum's heart.

"you have my word." jungkook says, kissing the back of areum's hand, before jogging towards the rest of the men.

hoseok bows to jimin, then to lily and areum as well and takes his leave too, sitting on the dragon, leading the other back to the last mountain in the karvon range, where the den sits hidden many miles under the erbos forest.

lily stays by areum's side, hugging her, as she sighs softly, meeting jimin's eyes and instantly looks away, not knowing what to say. jimin, on the other hand, smiles, patting lily's head and leads the girls inside, while the lower elites and  other men who have acquired the special abilities, start with the repairment of the palace.

when jungkook returns with suho in his arms, walking into the healing chambers, he did not expect to find commander min on one of the beds, getting his gashes treated. seokjin beside him, stiffens, letting jungkook know that it while fighting him, that he lost his arm and yoongi ended up with such deep gashes on his body. jungkook says nothing, exchanging a glance with taehyung, who seems to be unhappy seeing yoongi in pain.

jungkook lays suho down, while taehyung sends for areum, before moving near the young boy. "what are you—"

"i can heal him." taehyung says, moving his hand over the boy and watches the wounds disappearing. suho opens his eyes soon, whimpering at the sight of taehyung, and quickly tries to move away.

"hey, it's fine." jungkook speaks up, sitting down near the boy and hugs him, stroking his head. "everything is okay."

"where's eomma and lily?"

"they're fine too, and eomma is coming to see you. don't worry."

suho nods, closing his eyes as he hugs jungkook tighter, "they were hurting eomma... she said that you will come and save us. thank you for coming, appa."

apart from everything suho said, jungkook's attention remains on the word the boy used to address him, making him smile and hug the little boy tighter. "i promised you that i won't let anything happen to you. how could i not come then?"

"suho?" areum rushes in quickly, hugging the boy and jungkook at the same time, crying as she kisses her son a few times. "thank god you're fine..." she hushes out, sighing in relief, kissing suho again, then looks at jungkook with teary eyes, leaning closer to kiss his lips.

"now," jungkook lets out, glancing back at the men who seem to be happy and contented with everything, especially namjoon and seokjin who can't hide their wide smiles on seeing jungkook with areum. he chuckles shyly, focusing back on his girl and sighs, "will do me the honor of actually being your husband?"

"i knew you weren't married." taehyung chuckles.

"well, we had no other option." jungkook shrugs, "but, i'm glad it happened."

"yes." areum smiles, letting go of her son as he's too busy hugging lily and asking if she's okay. areum wraps her arms around jungkook, standing up with him, his arms around her waist. "yes, jungkook."

"great! we must start soon with all the arrangements in the palace." jimin chimes, earning a nervous look from areum, and a knowing one from jungkook.

"palace...?"

"you're marrying a prince, you know that right?" taehyung states. "our noble warrior. he almost killed me a while ago."

"as if you weren't going to kill me too." jungkook retorts.

"hey, don't argue now." namjoon says, "in fact, you've met each other after seven years. the princess has returned after seven years, this calls for a celebration."

"definitely." seokjin nods, turning to jimin with a smile, "your word is of utmost importance, your grace."

jungkook hums at that, holding areum's hand as he steps in front of jimin, the king now, bows to him. areum does the same, earning a soft chuckle from the elder as he straightens the two, and pulls them in a hug. "i'm glad you're back, kook. especially with such a beautiful lady for the royalty."

jungkook smiles, too, nodding his head as he pulls out a dagger, cutting his hand to let the blood flow out. he kneels down on the ground, placing the dagger in front of jimin's feet, his blood dripping on the ground close by, "thank you for accepting me and areum. i swear on the noble blood flowing in my veins, that i shall live as your servant and protector. my duty will always lie towards the crown and to the land of schionberg."

"jungkook— tae?" jimin shakes his head, but stops as taehyung joins jungkook on the ground. both of them keeping their heads low, sitting in a similar fashion on their knees, that shows their respect and willingness to devot themselves to their king, accepting jimin as their lord.

"our blood is only worth keeping us alive, if it is spilled while protecting our nation. our death will be, thus justified..." taehyung says, this once without the weight of their father being on the throne. there's unsaid relief which makes his words come out easier. maybe it's jimin, whom he has to serve now, maybe it's the return of the princess, or probably that everything is fine with jungkook. taehyung isn't sure about what is causing this change inside his chest, but he can feel his heart beating better. way better than it did before.

jimin's about to pull the brothers up, when lily sits down beside jungkook, picking up the dagger and smiles, showing it to jungkook, then points at yoongi.

"it was commander min's?" jungkook frowns, glancing back at min yoongi, who is now strong enough to be sitting up and smiles at the little girl.

"i did lose my dagger in the slums." he says, bowing his head to lily, "my honour that it ended up in the princess's hands."

lily grins at that, standing up and hugs jungkook, too happy about something, which jungkook fails to pick up, but taehyung chuckles and nods, "you're the princess," he hums, holding lily's hand gently, "and i promise to protect you for the rest of my life. jungkook isn't the only brother you have."

lily tilts her head in confusion, pointing at taehyung, and he nods, "yeah. me and jimin, here, are your brothers too. well, step brothers but—"

"no," jungkook voices out, glancing between the elders, and seokjin smiles knowingly. "karol was lily's father. however, he didn't care because lily's a girl. if she were to be a boy, maybe he would've kept her back with you both."

"i'm sorry," jimin says and carries lily up in his arms, kissing her cheek. "no more bad things of our princess. she has all three of her brothers now, and everything is okay."

"yes," taehyung hums with a smile, glancing at jungkook. "i'm sorry for the things i said earlier."

"i apologise, too." jungkook nods. "chief always told me that you and jimin hyung aren't my enemies, but i was too blind to seek revenge that i didn't care about anything else."

"you're not to blame." taehyung says, opening his arms and jungkook accepts the gesture, hugging the elder brother after years.

one year later;

"—and then step forward with a strike. this way." commander min says, standing in front of the little girl, holding his sword firmly in his hands, while lily tries to imitate his actions. she's been given a smaller sword for her to first learn how to hold it properly and start with basic moves of attack and defence. "good. you should keep your arms tough. or else, if i do this—" he strikes the kid's sword, making it drop to the ground.

"like this?" suho tries to copy the commander, earning a nod.

"very well. you're a quick learner, prince suho."

the boy grins in response, teaching lily what he has learned about swords in the past few months, while lily has slowly started learning archery, advancing towards swords and other much slower than suho. she's also being trained to control and enhance her powers, the ability to summon and talk to mystical creatures. for this, jung hoseok, the great dragon rider, himself comes to the castle, or sometimes takes the princess to the erbos forest where mystic powers prevail.

lily has already made friends with a young fire breather, who listens to lily and loves to spend time with her. hoseok never missed telling the child about the importance of respect and clear boundaries of authority that the mystic creatures have over humans, or any other specie prevailing on the planet. fighting a dragon, unicorn, serpenthous, griffins or any such mystical beings, is like securing yourself a place worse than hell.

respect them, and even the most destructive of dragons will be giving in to your wishes.

lily seems to have learned this very quickly, for now her friend, flare, is already giving short rides over the forest and about the palace. everyone in the palace were surprised when lily stepped down the flare's back with a smile, caressing his rough scales with her little hand, as though the two were able to talk through their telepathy.

— T H E  E N D —

a/n: so far my biggest and the most happening series, TBOE, is completed here! claps please 👏👏👏 i'm really really really happy to be able to complete this finally. i'll be honest it wasn't easy, especially when a lot of things are going in my life (excluding wattpad and bts). but you guys are the ones who keep me going. so, again, clap for yourselves please! 😌👏👏👏

i hope you all enjoyed the series just as much as i enjoyed writing it! if was the biggest roller coaster of emotions and action and drama and idk what else 😚 it was amazing being on this fantastic, mystical and powerful journey with you. please don't do vote and comment, it's the end of TBOE 😭

about the Q/A, i know some of you must be waiting for the series to be completed, so you can ask better questions from the conetxt, connect and get to know each character. so, this is your chance. scroll up to the find 'Questions' chapter after this and leave everything you wanna ask or tell the characters. i'll make a slot of areum and suho as well, seeing how much you guys like them 😄 (i'll be accepting your questions till tuesday, ie. 23rd july)

thank you for your love and support. it isn't easy to stick by for so long. i love you all!