"So I make this wish
To have something more for us than this."
~Wish, Ariana DeBose~

Power.

An intangible thing that most men would kill and die for.

Power.

A force so strong enough to make anyone bow before the feet of the person who held it.

Power.

Sometimes associated with magic but could be a position so high, meeting the person's eyes which yield it probably has a death wish.

The cave where the magic lamp of Pangaea sits, radiates an unhealthy amount of power.

Goosebumps rose on my skin as soon as I set foot on the rocks which led to the magic lamp. The lamp sat on a glistening stone, surrounded by different types of treasure from diamonds and gold to other luxurious items.

I approached the lamp and carefully removed it from the glistening stone where it sat. A nagging feeling the back of my mind is prominent as I stared at the purple lamp. It seemed strange from the lamps that I see in movies. My gut tells me to not rub it as it won't release a genie but a disaster. The reminder of the sorcerer that the lamp must be brought to him also weighs on the decision I have to make.

Turning the lamp to see its full bodice. My eyes caught sight of a writing which made me suspicious over what I'm seeing.

'Kim Namjoon, The Dragon'

With a frown, I was about to leave when I saw the captain running towards me.

"Run! There are armed people coming this way!" The captain yelled and ushered me to go to the depths of the cave the lamp resides.

We ran for a while until we reached a dead end. We tried a couple of reroutes yet it seems like the cave is playing tricks upon us. Each turn we took a dead end awaits us and when we go back to our starting point, we face a new set of tunnels that wasn't there before.

Both exhausted, the captain and I decided to take a short break after reaching yet another dead end.

"What happened to Taehyung? Did you kill him?" I asked, worried about the youngest prince who I found comfort on in the past.

"Did not, lassie. But I do not know what the armed men I saw coming would have done to him." The captain said, rolling his eyes.

"Do you think he was bluffing about the sorcerer?" I asked, recalling the imprint on the lamp I now kept in a satchel.

"The sorcerer knew best, lassie. He's the only one that could led you home, ya'know?"

I didn't reply to that. Instead I brought the lamp out from the satchel and showed the captain the engraved words on the side of it.

"Dragon? The sorcerer's a dragon? I mean I wouldn't question if he could shape shift. He is indeed powerful." The captain voiced his thoughts.

"That's what scares me, Yoongi. The sorcerer, although friendly and somehow generous is very secretive. Who knows what he will do once this lamp falls on his hands. He might not really fullfil my wish." I sighed.

"What if you make your wish right now? You could go back home already if you had done that. Unless you want to stay by my side already. I wouldn't protest to that." The captain winked.

"The sorcerer clearly said that it should be brought to him in order for me to come back home. I wouldn't want to lose that chance because I disobeyed his orders." I retorted.

"Fair enough." The captain replied, stretching his legs before getting up.

"I wish the huntsman and the hatter didn't die back there." I mumbled, tears forming in my waterlines recalling the moment both died helping me to acquire what I needed.

"They loved you. Love requires sacrifice. And they have done their part. You're safe." The captain replied.

"Still, I don't think I would ever be able to forgive myself for losing two precious people that helped me so much." I said, looking down reminiscing the presence of the hatter and the huntsman.

"They wouldn't want that, lassie. Of course, they would like to be remembered by you. Yet, I think they would want to be remembered like they never left our side." The captain assured.

I let out a sigh when I heard a whisper.

"Darling."

"Did you hear that? I think someone just  said 'Darling'." I asked the captain who looked at me with raised brows.

"You must be hearing things. I did not hear anything." The captain snorted.

"Darling."

"I absolutely heard it coming that way. Follow me." I said, rushing to the path where the call gets louder the further I go.

At the end of the path was a dead end but different from the other dead ends we encountered earlier, this one had a large mirror engraved on the cave wall.

"Darling."

"The voice is coming from the mirror." I said, shocked.

When we were close enough I saw that the mirror does not reflect our forms. Instead, the face of the sorcerer was there looking intently at the captain and I.

"Sorcerer? Is that you?" I asked.

"Yes, it is I. Come now, darling. Return to the castle and give me the lamp."

"How? All the paths here lead to a dead end. We do not know how to get out." I explained the situation to the sorcerer.

"The mirror you see right now is a portal just like the mirror you went through the first time. Just say thee words, "Mirror mirror on the wall" and the mirror shall transport you back here in the castle."

"Are you fucking with us, sorcerer?! If you have a portal that would lead you straight to the lamp through a mirror, why would you let us go through that shitty journey?! We lost two people! We lost the huntsman and the hatter!" I angrily yelled, at the image of the sorcerer in the mirror.

"Calm down, darling. I have my reasons. Besides, this mirror only leads you back to the castle. It does not let you pass through from the castle to that cave. It wouldn't have worked either way."

I glared at the image of the sorcerer in the mirror, refusing to oblige.

"Say the words, darling. You're homecoming is near. I assure you."

Swallowing the words of insult I wished to call the sorcerer was hard but the idea of finally leaving this place weighs more in my heart and I utter the words the sorcerer provided.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall." I chanted and the image of the sorcerer vanished and the throne room of the castle appears before me.

I walked pass through the mirror and found myself inside the castle's throne room the captain not too far behind me.

On the stairs before the throne was the sorcerer, a gleeful expression covering his face.

"You did well, darling." The sorcerer commented. "Now, hand the lamp over so you can go back to your land."

The sorcerer reached out his arms and I was about to place the satchel containing the lamp in his hold when an arrow pierced through the satchel, making me lose hold.

"How many times do I have to warn you that the sorcerer should not have the lamp, Y/N?" The youngest prince appeared out of nowhere.

The captain turned towards the prince, drawing his sword. "You shouldn't have come here, prince. Do you want a part two of what occurred earlier?"

"This is my castle. Therefore, you are the intruder." The youngest prince challenged.

"Ah, so you have informed them of what occurred during their absence, beast." The sorcerer chuckled earning a confused glance from the captain and I.

"What are you talking about, sorcerer?" The captain asked, baffled.

"You should have not trusted anyone here, my darling. I warned you already yet you still trusted so blindly." The sorcerer stated, his voice ice cold.

"Stop speaking in riddles, sorcerer. Tell me what is going on right now." I pressed on, feeling my body heating in anger and agitation.

"Well, you see, Taehyung told you the truth back there." The sorcerer started, glancing at the youngest prince, "I am in-charge of everything here in this world and if you stab his heart which I gave you, your heart replaces his, which is under my control. However, that was just half truth." The sorcerer, chuckled. "Care telling her about the other truth, captain?"

I turned my gaze to the captain and I saw his stance stiffening but his eyes never met mine. His icy stare was directed towards the sorcerer.

"I don't owe her anything. Give your end of the deal, sorcerer. The lamp is here. You have what you want. Now, it's time for you to fulfill my desires." The captain stated.

"You're all talking as if I'm some ghost in this room. What was your deal about?" I asked annoyed at all the people present in the throne room.

"I heard them the other day. After you approached the sorcerer about going home and your quest for the lamp. The captain wished to speak alone with the sorcerer yet they didn't know that I was there. Of course, Namjoon learned about it but that was not the point there. The point was that the captain brought up a deal in which he'll bring the lamp to him if he could have you in return. The worst part was getting the hatter and the huntsman killed was a part of his plans so he could have you alone, Y/N." The youngest prince explained.

"Enough, you beastly prince. If there's a killer in this room, it is you. You killed your brother. Do not let his words get to you, lassie. I wanted you to get home so I helped you the best I could." The captain said, trying to make eye contact with me to which I avoided.

"I never killed my brother. It was that wretched sorcerer who manipulated me into it." Taehyung snarled.

"How selfish one becomes when blinded by their feelings. See, darling, the captain you trusted, deceived you all along." The sorcerer snickered.

I turned to the captain, a teardrop slithering down my face. "I trusted you and depended on you throughout our time together just for me to find out that you never really intend to take me home? How could you look at me still straight to the eye without feeling any guilt, you pirate?!" I speak in rage.

"I was never a honest gentleman, lassie. I am no honorable captain but I for sure am a great pirate captain." The captain admitted, walking closer to me. "We, pirates steal things we see valuable for us and I intend to steal you from that man that was never there to protect you."

I slapped him and his face turned to the side. "You do not speak of my lover that way." I snarled at him. "And I would never let myself be stolen specially by a low-life like you."

"Such harsh words, they do not suit you, lassie." The captain smirked. "Your end of the deal sorcerer. I want Y/N's memories about her lover to disappear and be replace with memories of me as her partner."

I turned to the sorcerer, my eyes pleading. "Namjoon please, I was the one who brought you the lamp. Lead me home to my lover."

All of a sudden a harsh force send the captain and the youngest prince flying to the walls of the throne room in which they got stuck. I remained standing and the sorcerer led me to the center of the throne room where a large circle was engraved on the floor.

The sorcerer raised his right hand and the lamp came flying towards his hand. He placed the lamp on the center of the circle and made me stand before it.

"Repeat the words I will utter after me." The sorcerer said and closed his eyes. When he opens them again, his eye color changed into a fiery orange.

"I own this world and will always will. Thus, I wish to set my mind, Kim Namjoon, The Dragon, free."

I opened my mouth to repeat those words when I heard the captain yell.

"Do not repeat what he said! Y/N please!" I heard the captain yell and I hear him running towards the sorcerer and I.

"If you listen to him you will never get home." The sorcerer murmured to me.

Taking a deep breath of air, I repeated those words. "I own this world and will always will. Thus, I wish to set my mind, Kim Namjoon, The Dragon, free."

Things that occurred after that was in a blur. All I remembered was the sorcerer's smirk before he raised to the ground and sat at the throne that was originally for Jimin, the crown prince.

The circle I stood on opened and I felt myself dropping into cold waters. 

I'm drowning again.

I'm drowning and I can't swim.

I flailed around to no avail. Trying to come up and breathe to escape the thunderous waves the water is pulling me into.

Once I got tired, I let myself sink closing my eyes in defeat. But not before seeing the sorcerer one more time looking down at my pathetic attempt to save myself. I also heard him uttering the last words I think I would ever hear in this life.

"Death is necessary, darling. So drown and be dead."

A/N

~RG2108~