"I was given a heart before I was given a mind
A thirst for pleasure and war, a hunger we keep inside
We fell from sky with grace, and life gave us a sweeter taste
You can drink, you can feast
There's beauty in your beast"
Blood in the Wine - Aurora

🩸

"Leila."

I am asleep. I know I am.

My head lifts without permission. That familiar voice directed only at me once before.

I am standing in a chamber, there is water beneath my feet. I panic, splashing gray liquid. My yells echoing. There is only gray clouds around me, and endless sky.

"Leila."

I look up, my heart pounding. I know that voice. I know it like my own.

Sorina stands before me, a ghost. She looks onto me with concern, black material draped around her thinness like shadow itself. I do not know how or why she stands before me. I do not know if I am awake or asleep. All I know is she is looking at me, saying my name. Her footsteps making the gray, placid water beneath us ripple. Moonlight painting us gray, silver, and blue.

I am frozen as she approaches, her features becoming more clear with every step.

I have watched her for months now, known her face and her pain. For her most vulnerable moments, I have been a pained member of an audience.

She stops a few steps before me. Smiling softly, expectantly.

It was entirely different to be standing right before the second daughter of the moon. To be acknowledged by someone long gone. A character in a story that I continued in her wake. Now flesh and blood like me.

She was beautiful in the way the sky weeps.

If I am the light of the moon, she is the shadow. The creeping darkness of the forest, the water underneath the foam of a wave. I know why Jae was lost, for her face exuded something past aristocracy, like she was the chaos of nature incarnate.

Pale skin, full lips, and sharp chin, she looked like her son in all the ways he was soft. The raven blackness of her hair, to which Taehyung possessed, was just as striking. The silver of her eyes which was the only feature similar to mine, shone in a way that startled me. I wondered if that is how people felt when I looked at them, like we saw past the flesh.

I could see just how much Taehyung took from her. His graceful, calculated movement. That unyielding, almost playful confidence. The stark glare of intelligence behind weaponized beauty.

Taehyung had been right. We are different. Her eyes still held the wild light of being wronged, and wishing to make things right. They were snow dipped in night, the plight of winter's edge. I am the shells that sprinkle along the beach, pearlescent and naïve.

We.

I feel emotion swell in my throat, as she continues to do her best to smile.

"What are you doing here?"

I sound unintelligent. Here is the key to all of my problems, and that is the first thing I ask?

And it is strange, because all I want to do is run into her arms.

Most of my life I have been alone, knowing my fate chose my life and my end for me. Until Taehyung, I had not other reprieve. But here is a person who was sentenced to the same curse. The same corner. Who knew her life would end before it ever truly begun. Who knows how lonely our title and our power could be.

She regards me with a warmth that feels like a bonfire in the middle of a blizzard drenched field, "Listen. Listen to me well, daughter of the moon. Do not speak of what Lily tells you to anyone else. Not even my son."

I am not sure what I expected her to say. But I would have never guessed that would be what she wished to speak of. There were so many other things left unsaid and unknown.

The water chills around my feet, "What? How-"

"Your present is my future. I can see it clearly, as we are connected." She said, hoping to soothe me.

It only confuses me further.

There were so many things I wanted to see. Wanted to say. Taehyung's mother was right before mw, in the flesh. Or at least of some sort of vessel. I wanted to know how, why. Why was I not allowed to say anything to Taehyung about Lily, when that was part of our agreement?

Out of all the things Sorina could say...it seems like she did not want to elaborate further.

I need to know more. It is my only chance, considering her visions seemed few and far between. If she could see the future and knew our past, why could she not tell me what we truly need to figure out?

"You have never led me astray, so I will heed your warning. Since you are somehow here before me, you can tell me the origins of the curse. Tell me how to break it without dying. Tell me how to bring back the sun without incinerating the Immortui. Because I cannot-" I stutter, my breath escaping my nose, my hands gripped tightly by my sides, "I cannot leave him, and I cannot live if he leaves me."

Sorina steps forward, her silver eyes dipping below ink lined lashes. Like she understands just how much I love her son. Her hands reach forward, and I gasp. Her hands are colder than ice, and stronger than I imagined. Like she was holding the fragile state I am in, solely with the palms of her hands.

Her voice is adamant, "I want to help. I want to help you so much it hurts. I see myself in your eyes. I see that fear of the unknown and I am sorry that we did not succeed in breaking the curse. I am sorry that the burden passed onto you." I already feel my heart sinking as she shakes her head. Her silver eyes turning liquid. She seems frustrated, words clipped behind her tongue, "Lună plină, I cannot. No matter how I try to explain, the powers that still bind the curse will not let me. Especially not in this form. The deities who are responsible are without mercy. You are close, so close. And when the time is right, you will see all that you need to see. And you will tell Taehyung the entire truth of what happened in the past. He deserves to understand."

I want to scream, though I know it is not her fault. No, she was just another victim to the gods and I am the prey sent after. We are all just silly amusement, petty bribes and game pieces. I know though we are painted as gods, there are things above and below us that pull strings and make them impossible to cut.

If she cannot speak of anything related to the curse than-

"Why me?" The words are jumbled, pathetic.

Because why would his mother choose me, instead of her own child. Why would she choose to give me some vague warning, instead of running to Taehyung and telling him all the years she had missed loving him as a mother.

My own hurt reflects back in her eyes. I see the moon in them, and they comfort me despite my distress.

"I cannot visit my son. I have tried over the years. It is only by our shared blessing of Lunaith that I am able to speak with you." She pauses, giving the practical answer first. One I understand and respect. Then, she says words that make me want to weep like a child, "Jae and I knew about you before anyone else. We had spies in every village, across the territories. We could not intervene much since we did not want to alert the Queen to your presence. We visited you once when you were young, when Jae and I had been left alone in the castle. I am not sure you even remember. We saw you growing up, we wrote letters to you. I see now that you were never given them. They are somewhere in Elder Fareena's temple, and it is how we arranged for your marriage with our son." Sorina grips my hands tighter, as I am stunned into agony, "I am sorry I could not do more. I was kept in my cage, and you were stripped of your wings before you even realized you were not allowed to fly. I regret every day that I could not be there for you, but you are my family too Leila. We are some of the only family we have; us daughters' of the moon. I am a mother, a sister, a friend, and you are everything to me."

I cannot speak. I cannot speak because I will cry and never stop.

To know that I may have not been alone all my life, and that someone loved me before I knew it still existed, I felt my entire body collapse with the weight of it. I miss her. I miss the King. I missed people that I never even met, because they had been my guardians.

I was not alone.

I was not alone.

I was not alone.

I heave with emotion.

Sorina brings me to her chest, and I finally know what it is like to be embraced by a mother. A person who cares for me, and sees me as hers to protect. I hold onto the smoky material of her dress, clutching so hard my fingers ache. My head rests along the soft bone of her chest.

Please do not be gone when I wake.

I already know my wishes fall deaf to death's ears.

Sorina pats my back lovingly, shushing me the way her son often did when I woke up in tears. I am a mess once again. She does not push me away.

I could have had everything. I could have had a relationship.

I hate Nox. I hate the Queen. I fucking hate fate. And like Jimin, I burn with the will to take back what was stolen from the prince and I.

Please come back. I need you. Taehyung needs his mother.

I let go first, and I step away.

Sorina wipes the tears that fell down her face, a silvery blue pith left in their wake.

I remember her last words before she died.

"Did you find him?" The words come out strangled, my throat sore. Meeting Jae once again was all the woman begged for.

It would kill me to know that Jae and her never met again.

"We found each other." Sorina said, placing her hand over her heart. Where he always remained, even when they were separated. She more than likely would return to him, after she left me.

At least the gods did something right.

I let out a sigh of pained relief. My smile is watery, but I hold it up on my face proudly. I nod my head, letting her know that I can handle what is to come, that she can trust me.

She steps away, fading slowly like the flicker of a dying flame. The water rising from her ankles, to her calves, though it remained just above my toes for me.

She fixes me with an artic look, "I have known you like you have known me. And I wish I could be there to know you even more. You are kind, you are bright. You are a witch. You are brave." She smirks playfully, biting like the prince, "Men will be men. But you are the bringer of light. Remember that."

Sorina dipped her chin, bringing my body forward so she could press a kiss to my forehead.

Goodbye.

I woke up. And the nightmare began.

•

"It feels different, when they are right in front of you and staring back."

Killing Jimin had been a theory. A passing of word with a far away future. When they spoke of it, in anger, out of hatred, it had not been real. A friend, no longer a friend. Family turned foe.

The throne room had been cleared of all seating. Looking more like it had the day Sorina died than the day Leila arrived. It made her skin prick with a startling awareness.

Tall obsidian walls, littered with thick glass panes. Sapphires that littered the walls in decorative patterns, and vipers etched into flat surfaces. Every twitch of the eye made the room glitter with moonlight and the large chandelier that hung high above their heads. The iron throne remained without a King to sit in it.

And Jimin sat in the middle of the black and white checkered marble floor, at the center of it all. Pristine and tied before the unseated throne, the anti-prince to his own making. Leila let her heart pound as she looked onto him, his head bent and hiding. That bright shock of silver hair still as strange to her as it was when he cut her throat. The silver of my eyes. The silver of Sorina's. The silver of Lily's skin. And the silver that had been embedded into Jae's heart. The silver that Leila saw in Taehyung's eyes when he looked at her. Are we all that different?

She felt nothing like fear, and everything like anger. It was her first time seeing him in person after her attempted assassination, and she wished she knew what to make of it.

Look at me. She wanted to say. Look at me after what you did.

Leila stared at him, pondering whether she should be strong for Taehyung and lie. Because this was his child hood friend. His brother. Her prince stared straight ahead, his hand twitching like he would soon grab onto hers. Or fling himself in front of her body.

But they could not, as the rest of the nobles and their closest allies stood in a semi-circle around them. Waiting.

She decided it was best to be honest. As much as she could be. The strange meeting she had with Sorina still sat, discarded and ostracized on her tongue.

"It is different." Leila lifted her chin, speaking louder so the man before them could hear it, "I feel that hesitation in me. And I wonder how he could not feel the same."

Jimin did not flinch. Nor lift his head to look at her.

That settled Taehyung, just enough for him to remember her body limp between his arms.

They could not stray from their strategy today, not if they wished to do what was right. Discarding all other emotions, they needed to see if Nox truly resided in him like Aera suspected. For there could not be a fair trial if the man was not fully in control of his own actions.

His punishment would be dealt with after accordingly. Considering the various possibilities and time frames of possible possession. Jimin would still have to pay for his deeds.

The nobles knew of this. Setareh and Jeongguk were set closer to the side, so they could bring their leverage.

Leila looked to Aera, who watched the man with her hands folded in front of her. Looking paler than ever, as she fiddled with her thumbs.

Not one of us wants to do this.

Leila let out a dry laugh, her head falling back to look at the high vaulted ceilings. At the stars and moon depicted with pearl and gold leaf.

What balance is there in death?

"Is there anything you regret?"

Leila stilled, her head turning indiscernibly to the prince beside her.

Not a sound came from those behind and beside them.

That is not as they had practiced. A trial, a true one. That is what Taehyung was meant to do, if he had been following the script. Apprehension already arrested her body with the unknown. But she trusted him, she always trusted him.

Jimin lifted his head slowly, eerily. His dark eyes swallowed by his fair skin, his hollow cheeks. The lavender of the sockets of his eyes matched with the colorlessness of his full lips. He looked at Leila, and her body jolted from the memory of his murderous yet caressing stare. He gazed upon her with little care, an object in his field of vision. Like he doesn't even recognize me. He took in a single breath, his nostrils flaring before his face contorted from reserved blankness to disgust.

He shifted his gaze to Taehyung, lifting a dark brow as he offered smugly, "I regret I did not get to fuck her before you made her your Pereche. Now she reeks of you."

(A/N: The word is changed from tovarăş to pereche because it makes more sense in the context of the Romanian language, as explained by a lovely reader <333)

Leila felt nausea in her throat, and she hated that it came before rage. Her hands felt clammy as she pressed them to her sides. You were my friend, does it not matter?

Taehyung was seething. Leila turned, watching his teeth elongate, his jaw tensed and his shoulders frighteningly still. His chest heaved wildly, his hands balled by his sides as he bore into his brother. Murderous. But he could not ruin this for her honor.

"Do you not feel any remorse for hurting me?" Leila questioned, finally addressing him for the first time.

"You were my reward, not a keepsake." He stated with a ferocity that ripped into her. Even she was not prepared for how deeply it cut, that he wished to use and discard her.

She grabbed onto Taehyung's hand, already knowing he was prepared to leave her side and rip off the arrogant man's head. Leila looked at him, and Taehyung reluctantly met her gaze because he knew she would get him to think before he acted.

"He is trying to bait us into killing him before he is questioned. I wonder what he doesn't want us to know." Leila eyed the prince carefully, hoping for him to read between the words.

If Nox resided in the man, he would not want to be found out. Leila did not know all the rules of the deities, but meddling this far into the curse could have dire consequences that were even out of their own hands. It would be convenient if they executed Jimin, so they would never know the truth.

The man nodded, his lip curling as he brushed his thumb along the top of her hand. He was not convinced. Leila wasn't either, but she could not tell whether Jimin had been hiding beneath the cloak of his charm, or this was a whole different person altogether.

Where was the man who called her beautiful on her wedding night? Who averted his eyes when he dressed her. Where was the advisor that learned everything about her to help Taehyung curate her new home? Where was the man that held her hand as they fell asleep, and was afraid of the dark?

Leila squeezed Taehyung's hand, hating that it seemed so far away. Hated that all of those memories were now doused with her blood. The man pressed a kiss into the side of her head, making her heart squeeze, before he let go.

Moving only a few foot steps before the captive advisor.

She hated this. She hated everything. She wanted revenge, but it felt so feeble before them. She felt claustrophobic, stuck between the past and the present. Knowing exactly what this floor looked like drenched with red, and covered with bodies.

She turned to look for support, finding Setareh and Jeongguk already gone. At least that pair followed the original plan. Aera now messed with a pocket on the side of her dark, almost wine-colored dress. Yoongi, Jin, Hoseok, and Namjoon all stared faithfully at the ground or at the prince. Masking their emotions as best as they could.

Taehyung's footsteps were crisp against the marble, his voice unyielding, "You want to die. And I am in no mood to give you what you want."

In any other context, Leila's stomach would have fluttered. Instead, her heart pounded with uncertainty.

Will this work?

She did not know. Their prisoner did not look particularly interested as he sat back onto his heels further, his eyes lifted in mock confusion, "What? No dramatic speech of how we were once inseparable, and I betrayed you like no friend should? You won't recall our best moments for me, even before my final breath? What about all that we have shared? We are apart of the same curse. We grew up living in the castle together, sharing the same rooms and food. Hell, we share a father. Having kissed the same bitch I thought-"

There was a loud sickening crack as Taehyung's fist met Jimin's face.

The gasps behind Leila did not register, as she attempted to step forward. But Taehyung already turned to her and Aera, holding up his hand as he fixed his blue uniform. Aera eyed Leila slowly in question, before Leila nodded and they both stepped back. He was under control.

Taehyung's breathing was calm as he wiped the blood from his knuckles. Waiting for the advisor to collect himself.

Jimin's head still stretched back towards the ceiling, blood the color of thick ink leaked like branches of a river across his face. It ran down to his lips and the sides of his neck. He let out several scoffs, before dripping his enraged gaze down to his brother.

"I said I would not kill you." Taehyung eyed him blankly, "I can hurt you as much as I like."

Leila watched for the side door to the throne room, her foot tapping endlessly. Skittish as the men had already turned violent in words and actions.

Come on, come on.

Jimin spit some of the blood that pooled into his mouth onto the floor. Grimacing at the prince who stood as a King above him, the sun cutting across night.

"I can hurt you in ways you do not believe I would dare to. Because you think I am good. That I am the hero." Taehyung said lowly, his face moving menacingly closer to Jimin's, "You touched her, and that was your biggest fucking mistake." Then, he smiled. And despite knowing just how gentle her prince of the eclipse could be, she shivered in fear. She was fully convinced, and hoped Jimin would be too. "Bring her in."

Leila held her breath, eyeing the double doors, to which Jeongguk walked faithfully through. Lily was held by her chains, Setareh taking up the rear. Lily did as she was told, sputtering as tears and snot ran down her face in feigned fear.

"Please! I did not do anything, I am sorry-" Her violet eyes were hysterical as she passed in front of Leila, "Please." She grabbed onto Leila's dress, and she did not have to pretend that her heart was hurting. Her desperation seemed so real as she held onto her with a death grip, "You know I did not mean it Leila. Spare me, oh gods, spare me!"

Jeongguk pulled her off, making the chains rattle. Setareh stepped to the left of Leila, silently crying and keeping her head bent so that Jimin would not see the lack of tears. Jeongguk bent, Lily sobbing loudly as he hooked the chains into iron hoops found on that floor. Leila swallowed her fear, knowing it was the exact same position from which Sorina was forced to watch Jae's death.

This is not real.

Tears already formed in her eyes, making her vision blurry.

It will not happen again.

Leila's eyes found the person they wished to deceive.

Jimin's bravado faltered, his black-slacked sneer thinning. Watching as all that carelessness coiled, slithering from his bound hands and around his neck. His dark eyes widened, the color swallowed by white in their impossible darkness. Humanity seeped into his movements, looking more tired than angry as he leaned toward Lily with his restraints.

Then, it all faded back to gray impassiveness. His eyes appraising his twin like a meager stranger. But it was too late, Taehyung already caught the change in expression.

The fear in his eyes.

"You said she would be spared." Jimin started carefully, his lips thinning.

Lily's shoulders were concave as she sniffled, looking past the tangled mess of her hair to look at her brother. She seemed genuinely shocked he said anything at all, and Leila held the same sentiment.

What game is he, or Nox, playing?

Clearly showing his desire for his twin to remain alive could be another lie. It would not be the first time he had bested them all.

"I said nothing of that sort." Taehyung burrowed down further, looking satisfied by the hatred painted onto Jimin's face.

Leila's chest ached pitifully. Hatred was an emotion. A path diverged from the void in which the advisor wallowed. She watched carefully, waiting for the catch.

"I told you everything! I have nothing left to give." Jimin yelled out, startling the room. His usually honeyed voice, bleeding.

Lily continued to weep, curling in on herself on the floor. "I am sorry I failed you. I am sorry I could not do it."

Leila swallowed harshly, her throat constricting. She knew there was some truth to what she was saying, and that hurt more. Lily never wanted things to end this way. She was genuinely crying, because she knew if he did not break, he would die.

Only Leila knew the truth of just exactly how far Lily had gone to save Leila, just how deeply she turned on her own brother. The rest did not know of what she placed in her drink instead of poison.

"Do you not?" The prince asked without sympathy. He gestured to the crying girl to his right, their sister, "You have her."

Jimin remained silent, his white shirt bunching as he squeezed his hands within his chains. Slowly a tremor started in his lip, his hands the longer he stared at Lily's form. His nonchalance breaking apart with a single cry, "Damn you! Just kill me and be done with it!"

Taehyung stepped back, a wide smile breaking across his handsome face.

Leila stepped forward, doing her best to look unimpressed as she passed by Lily. Jimin was giving all the right reactions, just as he had before. And before, she ended up on the floor bleeding out of her neck. Was showing his humanity a last attempt to receive mercy? To get himself killed? Or was Jimin screaming inside of his mind, unable to break through except when his sister was paraded as a sacrifice?

"You did not seem to care about Lily when you sent her to poison my drink for weeks. You knew what would happen to her if things went awry. You made her do the dirty work for her." Leila sneered, hurling venom at Lily who pretended to cower. Jimin watched carefully, his jaw working.

His glittering eyes narrowing as he parted his lips, "You and I both know she could have never done it."

Leila exhaled heavily, taking a step back. She regarded the man, suspicious of his answer. Had he heard of their meetings in the dungeon? The only people who knew of the details of Lily's lack of involvement were Jeongguk, Setareh, Taehyung, Aera, and Leila herself. And they just knew she was not poisoning her.

The man said nothing more, but she saw it. Just for a moment.

A plea. Like he was begging Leila to step in, to save his sister. And it only messed with her mind further. Taehyung was right. Lily was Jimin's only weakness, possessed or not.

She needed to know who she was speaking to.

The princess stepped forward, past the invisible line of protection Aera had charmed. Taehyung yelled her name, but she did not cower. Aera crept up closer to her side, and she remained holding Jimin's gaze. He did not look away from her, only the clear expression of vulnerability anchoring her to reality.

She kept her face neutral as she craned herself over him. Keeping her voice as indifferent as possible, letting her eyes fade in a way that had scared people into avoiding her, "Does it matter? Maybe I just want you to suffer like I did."

Jimin always had a skewed view of the world. Falsifying and idealizing who Taehyung and Leila were as people, as future martyrs. Slowly his view of them was falling apart.

But he knew one thing to be true.

"You would have killed her already if you wanted her dead."

Chains fell beside him, a thunderous sound. Leila's ears pounded with blood, as Jimin's hands began to materialize once more. He had turned his limbs to shadow in order to escape his restraints.

The sun erupted into the room, a bright golden light encasing Leila. She would have had little time to move as Jimin stood outside of the light, throwing both hands up at her. A vortex of shadow erupting from his hands, his face gaunt and expressionless as he worked against Taehyung's powers.

Leila watched, the rest of the nobles moving to do as they were instructed to do. Yoongi grabbed Setareh and Jeongguk, pulling them out of the room. Even as Jeongguk screamed, fighting against his grasp.

Hoseok and Jin sealed all possible exits with magics, then slipped out of the room.

Leila held her hand up, searching for Namjoon. Lily looked up, whimpering and waiting expectantly for him to get her. She turned, encased by light and trying to push down her fear of the ripping sounds that threatened to tear her apart if Taehyung failed.

She spotted a figure in a far corner, picking back into the room with a hurried look.

"Namjoon!" She screamed out, unsure if he could hear her over the chaos.

The man looked over, hearing her voice. And then down at Lily's chains. He shook his head, his eyes full of apology, before he fled from the room.

Leila's mouth fell open in horror, as she turned back to Lily. The girl stopped all movement, her eyes growing dull. Watching as her lover left instead of grabbing her and taking her to safety like he was supposed to.

The only person left was Aera, who stood still. Looking between them all with trepidation, her jade eyes like river rocks under her despondency.

"Aera! Get Lily!" Leila screamed, holding both arms over her head now. She could not see if the woman listened to her. Shadow became darker at the top of the golden sphere Taehyung still erected around her, fraying.

She knew Taehyung had to stop before he ran out of energy. They had no clue what Jimin's limits were, or even the full breadth of his power.

Leila was even more unsure of using hers. She had never been allowed to show anything past restraint. Nor had she been given an opportunity for anything greater. That exhilaration she felt when she broke all the windows of the throne room was something she feared more than an enemy. It was nature. It was boundless.

It is why everyone but the three of them was supposed to be gone.

She took a deep breath in, pretending she was the ocean. A wave that would eventually stop on the shore. Even oceans had their limits.

Leila lifted her hands, silvery light pouring from the center of her palms. And she practiced, nudging gently against Taehyung's golden energy. Taehyung's power caressed her back, before retreating altogether.

The prince fell to his knees, and Leila kept her head forward. She wanted to run to him more than her will to live. He is fine. He will be fine. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Aera undoing Lily's chains and both of them running to the prince. He will be fine.

Jimin stood before her, his face contorting further into madness as he now faced Leila.

She forgot the beauty of being underestimated.

Using her power was not tiring. No, instead it was the stretching of wings. She soared the more she let her essence pour out, the light of the moon seeping from her with an ease that was almost frightening. She let her light meet his shadow with an ease, barely exerting herself as she gently nudged him from the dias and closer to the iron throne. She wanted the man as far away from the others as possible.

When Jimin stops throwing his vortex of shadow at her, she is almost disappointed. She folds her power back into herself, uncomfortable with the intensity of it under her skin that she was not able to relieve.

The man stood, his breath escaping him in quick pants. His dark eyes boring into hers, hands fixed into claws. The man looked haggard and yet also charged, his light hair brushing into his eyes and the dark circles above his cheeks only making his eyes brighter. Black blood now dried over his face, marring his once delicate beauty into something horrific.

Leila refused to breathe, eyeing the man carefully as he stalked around her. His steps a new nail in a coffin. His dark eyes perusing her as she lifted her chin high.

"You should have died for me moonchild." Jimin's face twitched, his head cocking to the side before he settled on a glare.

Strange.

Her heart beat turned frenzied, "Why should I?" She was tired of being the sacrifice. Tired of being placed as an obstacle in front of those who only wished to gain.

Why did her life have to only mean something when she was gone?

Leila let him circle around her, only because she could. Her rage growing with every arrogant movement he made. "All you've wanted to be is important. But I am the only one who matters."

She swore she heard her name being called from behind her. Was it Lily? Aera? All she could focus on was the need to hurt him. They were connected, Leila could see that now. She could not tear herself away from wanting to make him regret turning her back on her.

The man smiled, and for a moment it seemed like his pupils flared out with it. Blocking away all the whites of his eyes. It was gone in a flash.

"Is that so?" His honey voice felt like two tones. One curious, one offended.

Her neck prickled with awareness, like a thunder cloud opened above them and lightening would choose to strike. She still kept speaking, "If Taehyung or Lily dies nothing happens. If you die nothing happens. If I die, the world will change forever. You just want me to hold up my hands and surrender to you so that you're significant in some way when you wouldn't be otherwise." Then, Leila focused on the hand behind her back. Pulling, reaching until she felt a pressure in her palm, "You should have died that day. You should have drowned. And we all would have been better off for it."

She watched as her words hit her mark. It stunned the man enough for him not to realize her next movements.

A torrent of ocean water crashed through a single glass window, swarming into the room like a black plague.

Jimin leapt away from her, his eyes wide as he stared at the torrent of water to which Leila controlled.

Lily and Aera gasped, and she swore she heard the prince groan from the floor about needing to replace the windows again. Still she focused on bringing the cloud of water before Jimin.

She smiled ravenously, pure raw energy seeping between her fingers. She swallowed the chaos of the ocean, letting it take over her as much as she willed to manipulate it. It was without give and take.

He gazed at her with a raw fury, one foot propped up on the stairs leading to the throne. He had little time to spare before she sent the first burst of water at him. The man cowered, throwing up his hand in a swiping motion to send night back at the ocean. And as Leila continued to strike, and as the man moved back parry, she realized her suspicions were right. He was afraid of the dark because it reminded him of the night he almost lost his sister. Stuck in the ocean, only the pale head of his sister to guide his way through the wading midnight.

Leila refused to relent, trying to make his eyes go dark once more. To make him so frightened, that maybe he would snap out of it.

I know you are in there.

She groaned, finally putting effort into her attacks. Slashing water at him from every angle. He screeched like a caged animal, his eyes going wide and bloodshot. It was horrible. Horrible. He was scared beyond comprehension, and Leila did not give up. Not even when she got past through his defense, and let the water enter his throat. Choking him. He gasped, clawing at his neck. Blood ran down into his white shirt.

She let him go. He fell to the floor on his hands and needs, spluttering. Hitting the ground to make sure he was on something solid.

I cannot.

She refused to acknowledge the tears that were running down her face.

"Jimin." She said out loud, hoping he would answer.

When he lifted his head, it was not him who stared back.

It had not been a trick of the light. His eyes were entirely black, painted over the whites. His fangs were sharp, his jaw slack as he threatened her with a voice that was both too high and too low, "You really should have died the first time. Now I will make it painful."

He roared, hardly human, black lines appearing where his veins were. He lifted his hand quicker than Leila could react, flicking his wrist out. Shadow was sent at her in the shape of un-hilted blades. One caught her shoulder and she cried out, grabbing at the skin. With the other hand she knocked the rest of the shadow away with a thin wall of water.

"Leila!" She knew it was Taehyung this time. She heard shuffling, and running. She couldn't peer back.

Sweat dripped into her eyes, her heart bursting with both adrenaline and impending burnout. Holding the amount of seawater while injured was no longer invigorating her. She let a wave of it crash to the floor and wash over them, keeping some to form a sphere around Jimin's face. His hands waved wildly as he threw sharpened shadow at her blindly.

"I am here." Taehyung said, his voice weak but determined as he stepped next to her.

She let her shoulders sink completely, the sphere of water dousing Jimin. Her body swayed as she looked to her shoulder, and almost vomiting when she saw the ivory of bone beneath cut flesh.

The prince looked at her once, his eyes flashing dangerously, before he sent a torrent of brilliant light at his brother. It stung the air, making the water Leila had conjured evaporate in seconds. Jimin screamed as the light began to seep around his defense, singing his fingers.

The advisor glanced up, feral. Taking in both his reflection and his potential. Taehyung and Leila faithfully standing beside each other, tethered by choice.

He hold his arms out to his sides, his body shaking. His eyes still entirely black, burning coals to their ambition. Shadow erupted from all sides, blanketing the room

Leila grabbed onto Taehyung, his weight supporting her as he held her up by her waist. Her vision threatened to go as stars appeared in her eyes, but she willed herself to stay awake. Her shoulder was not healing at the rate wounds were before.

Jimin glared at the pair as Taehyung prepared to draw his power once more.

"Stop! All of you stop!" Aera screamed, forcefully grabbing the warring trio's attention.

Taehyung refused to look, his gaze focused on Jimin in case he used the distraction to attack. But Leila saw the way Jimin paled and slacked, his expression faltering.

The man dropped his hands to his sides, his inhuman eyes taking in the spectacle.

Leila yanked on Taehyung's sleeve, "Look."
He turned their bodies gently after taking in Jimin's bone-white expression.

"Take another step towards the Queen and I will end your sister."

Aera stood behind Lily, holding her to her body with a knife pressed to her throat. Lily did not dare to move, did not dare to even breathe, as Aera placed the weapon close enough to slice her skin.

The knife. It's handle was dark black, along with its blade. Only the glint of the knife showed it's jade edge.

"Where did she get that?" Leila whispered. The sight of it deepened her nausea.

It was the blade Bianca stabbed into the King. Killing him.

Taehyung sounded just as mystified, "I found it in my father's room. I gave it to her to look into its poisonous properties, to see what had incapacitated my father. I didn't think she would bring it."

"It can kill a Dimidium." Leila stated.

"Yes, it can." The man nodded, pulling her closer to his side.

They had no idea what Aera was thinking, but it had distracted Jimin enough for him to stop attacking. And Leila wasn't entirely sure herself if the woman did not plan on ending Lily. She didn't particularly like either of the twins.

But she trusted her. Taehyung did as well, for he did not rush to grab Lily away from her himself. It would be more likely to injure her with the poisoned edge of the blade if anything.

So they had to wait; watch.

Jimin's body started twitching and convulsing, stepping closer to Leila while he looked for Lily. Like his body and his mind had other plans. But Aera was not patient. The woman pressed the knife closer, making Lily wince. Aera drew blood on her neck, blue as the sea. Lily's violet eyes catch Leila's, her expression swimming with pain. The advisor grabbed at the silver of his hair, pulling on his strands as he shook side to side. His eyes switching back from entirely night, to a dark brown. Fighting himself. He is fighting the deity. His body bent painfully as he gripped at the sides of hit head, before he straightened once more. The rest watched, terrified at what they were seeing.

At the proof that dangled right before their eyes.

Aera's eyes were evergreen as Jimin stalked forward. She met his advance with her harsh, unyielding gaze without a hint of fear.

The advisor made no move to injure her, or to pull Lily out of her grasp.

Leila had an epiphany as the man stood before the woman threatening his sister's life. Still locked inside of whatever trance Nox had him in, and still refusing to make any advances.

Aera was the only one he believed would actually
kill Lily.

"Let her go." His voice is still strange, layered. But there is an edge of hopelessness.

Leila hoped it won out.

Aera gritted her teeth, and Leila was once again hit by a wave of admiration. She had never seen such defiance in a single person. "Make me."

Jimin twitched, like he was confused by the notion. He stepped back unsteadily.

Lily caught the expression, "Please Jimin. Please end this. Save me instead."

The world ceased to spin as it fell into silence.

Taehyung clutched me to his chest so fiercely I cannot feel my own heart beat. We watch, two helpless spectators as Jimin's black eyes take in Lily's bleeding form. The poison already working, for her limbs began to weaken, her eyelids dropping heavily.

Jimin's face fell, the human expression ghastly paired with viperous eyes. A twinge of sadness rippling his coal eyes as he stepped closer to the woman, his frame towering over his weakening sister's and latching onto Aera's formidability.

Leila exhaled sharply, wanting to close her eyes. Her wound was pounding, and she was not sure if she could continue after this.

Wake up Jimin. Wake up.

The advisor looked the woman up and down, her frown deepening. And then he leaned closer. Leila could see from his stark profile that he was smiling.

It happened before anyone could react.

Without moving, Jimin sent forth his shadow up and around Aera. Leila heard the squish of many sharp points entering the body all at once.

No.

"Aera!" Leila cried, her face hot and her body constricted. Taehyung held her like a vice, his own breath sucked out of him. She cared little of her shoulder as she fought him, fought him to make it to her. The woman crumpled, dropping away Lily's body. Before she fell to the floor, her body littered with a thousand cuts. Red already started to pool underneath her, her eyes wide open as she paled.

Lily, fatigued and weak looked up to Jimin. Her violet eyes blazing with vitriol, "What did you do?" Then louder, her voice splintering, "What did you do!"

The man said nothing, just looking down at the river of red. Aera's chest still moved, though weakly. More cuts seemed to weep the longer he stared. Across her face, chest, legs. Cutting away at her clothes. Lashing through muscle.

Leila screamed so loudly she threatened to pop her own eardrums. She scratched wildly at Taehyung's skin, but he wouldn't let her go. She didn't want to be protected. She wanted to protect.

Lily drew her fangs in disgust, falling to the ground and placing her hands onto Aera's body. They could only watch as every single wound that Lily started to heal, a new one seemed to appear.

Aera started to choke, her green eyes looking out into the distance. She found Leila easily. She tried to smirk but more blood rushed out of her mouth.

"I am going to kill you!" Leila erupted, placing her hands on Taehyung's.

"Leila please stop, if he does that to you-"

"I don't care." She frosted his skin with moonlight, and Taehyung sucked a pained breath through his teeth. She would apologize later.

But as Leila stepped forward, ready to end Jimin and every ounce of darkness he promised, the man fell to the ground. Beginning to convulse without end. Taehyung ran up beside her, placing himself in front of her as Jimin now lay in a fetal position at his side. Lily glanced up, crying as she worked over Aera's body and watched her brother's pain.

He screeched again, the sound of tragedy and torture. More primal than any human could manage. His back arched as his lifted from the floor, his shadow bursting out of him haphazardly.

He scratched at the marble floor, his fingers seemingly all bone. He scraped his nails on the ground to the point that black streaks of blood were left. His mouth fell open, his eyes flashing from black to normal, until they started to roll back into his head.

A mist began to pour from his mouth. Lighter, thicker than his shadows. A line slithering out and into the air. The room swelled with it, holding its breath as the blue mist started to materialize into a humanoid figure. 

It grew hands, pale and a wintery blue. A long, black dress that seemed to disappear when facing a different angle. Hair formed, the brightest of all whites. Plaited in a crown around her head, with the rest falling down like linear starlight. The figure held its floating arms out to the side, skin flaking into existence as flesh trailed from it's arms to its neck as they solidified. Creating a porcelain, and translucent face. Severe upturned eyes, with irises a snowdrop blue. A harsh mouth, surrounded by a frame of rounded and somehow sharp bones. Tall and thin, as they began to make their descent to the ground. Their smiting eyes victorious as they took in the scene underneath them.

Disturbing and beautiful and terrible. Not of this realm.

But it was not Nox who appeared before them. 

It was the old Queen, Anastasia who now stood before the group of beings. 

Leila could not move. Taehyung had ceased to breathe, and she wished she could whisk him away. His face only spoke of torment, as she peered at his profile. Fear trapped her, as the woman who had managed to ruin them all, even in her passing was now placed before them.

Lily paused her healing, staring up in revolted awe.

Jimin coughed, catching his bearings as he looked up at the Queen in despair. His eyes were no longer an endless sky. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Jimin scoffed, enraged. Blood covered him, both red and black. It seemed like he was just as ignorant to what happened as the rest. His face was filled with terror, flinching when his eyes traced around the room and took in his sister and Aera.

Taehyung let out a dark huff of laughter, not impressed by the man's display. He was sure he was going to play the innocent when whoever inhabited him left. They already all discussed the possibility that he would play pretend, and pass over all the blame. 

The bigger issue stood before them. A fissure of nature that should have not occurred.

Where is Nox? Why and how is the Queen here?

Taehyung shocked Leila, sending a blaze of light so strong at the Queen that a few of her hairs singed. 

She looked unconcerned, as his power passed through her body. Unreachable by the earthly elements of their powers. She was an apparition. 

No one else dared to move as the Queen walked forward, towards Leila. Her footsteps made no sound as she glided. Her awful smile formed, fangs in full view as she pressed against blood red lips. All of her was wrong. Everything was wrong. And though she looked exactly as she had in Sorina's memories, it was like whatever she had done to appear again was unable to make her look as human as she did. 

"Years later, and the daughter of the moon is still in my way." Her voice scraped against Leila, just as barbarous as she had been to Sorina. Her painted mouth fell, a deadness to her eyes that distorted her beauty into something monstrous. Her detest did not end with the woman that stole her husband. It extended to Leila too, who had the same moonlight eyes. Her expression brightened artificially as she stepped back, holding out her hands in regards to the rest of the room, "I feel like not a day has passed. Ah, you all look like your parents," Her eyes froze on Taehyung's face. He stiffened, sending her a killing glare. She only grew more delighted, "Especially you."

Taehyung's fists tightened, but he showed no other reaction. Leila stepped closer to him, in front. Shielding him. She could feel his entire body coil, as he did his best to disappoint the woman. 

The Queen was proud. Proud of killing both of his parents. Proud of manipulating his mind. Proud of stealing his love for his parent's and harvesting it for herself. She wanted to see his suffering, and the stoic prince would not give it to her. 

She whipped her head, too fast for a human. Too fast for an Immortui. A ghost in every way. She turned her body to the side, and Leila could only plan the ways she wished to mutilate this woman into regret. 

"Son. Daughter." There was no motherly affection in her tone. Only a cold acknowledgement. Though a flicker of hubris could be seen as she looked at Jimin. 

The shattering man stuttered, trying to make sense of the wreckage. He looked to his mother for answers, "It was you? You-you've been inside my head?"

The Queen already seemed frustrated, a crack appearing in her smile. She did not care that both of her children seemed seeped of any life. Like his questions were that of a fly buzzing around her head. Leila's heart cracked under the weight of her indifference. 

"What? Did you think it was Nox? The gods have little time to talk with mortals. I am simply here to fulfill his bidding, as I always was destined to."

Everything snapped into place. Taehyung sucked in a breath, grabbing onto her hand. Leila already knew what he was thinking. She peeked a glance at Lily, who stared at the Queen like she wanted to rip her apart with her own hands. Still, she remained by Aera. Healing her. 

Jimin's face settled into acceptance. His eyes were blank as he accused the Queen, his voice monotone, "You were the one talking to me. All this time."

Leila could not interpret his reaction. Would he be obliged that is was his mother guiding him even in death? Would he be grateful to her? She squeezed onto the prince, feeling his grip go weak. She knew all he wanted to do was run and end her. He cared of nothing else.

"Wait." She whispered under her breath, low enough for only him to hear. He stepped closer, letting the warmth of his chest seep through her clothes, keeping out the chill of the undead woman before them. A silent yes. 

The woman tried hard to keep her expression of a caring mother. But it seemed like she was out of practice. She stepped forward, gently bowing before Jimin. 

His brows were furrowed with an unseen softness, bright from the wetness that formed within his eyes. She brushed a translucent hand across his angled cheek, making contact. "Yes. Yes, my son. I have been with you all of this time. I knew who you wished to be, and who you are are very different people. I did not have to disguise myself, for the spirit realm is hard to pass through. I came to you as a phantom, claiming myself to be Solis. Leading you to your eventual destiny as my heir," She sighed, a puff of icy air leaving her wretched mouth, "Even when you were a child, I knew you would grow up to do great things. I perished earlier than I expected, before I could reveal myself to you as your mother. But it was always my intention if I had claimed the throne as planned. My prodigy, I knew you would get me this far. You just needed a little coercing." She stepped back, Jimin's eyes following her as she addressed the whole room, "I took my opportunity to connect with you when you were sent to watch the daughter of the moon. When I knew your feelings for her would be discarded when the prince of the eclipse decided to take her for his own. I know how it feels to be ignored, unwanted. And I knew you would do what was right if given the freedom to unleash."

Do what was right?

Leila felt sick. All she had done is taken advantage of her own son when he was most vulnerable to the strange phenomenon of covet. Manipulating him just as she had done to Taehyung. Lying, pretending she was bestowing a great honor as the sun god onto him.

Jimin paused, "How did you-"

The Queen interrupted, "At first I could only visit you in the night, when we were most at one with our blessed magic. I was only a whisper, a figment of a memory. After years of feeding off your resentment, your hurt, your envy I was able to partially form myself. Waiting until you gave me permission to enter your mind, so I could make sure you went through with our plans." 

All his life.

He had always been afraid of the dark. 

How fucking sick.

"You are deranged. All you have done is use, and lie, and mold people into game pieces for you to toy with. For what? You are dead and gone." Leila burst into speech, and she could feel Taehyung running his hand along her spine in encouragement, "You pained Taehyung for years, forcing him to watch his parents feigned torture. And that was when you thought he was also your son! You ruined any chance for him to know his parents. You made sure to fall pregnant with Jimin and Lily so they were born on the black sun, hoping one day you could manipulate them to dethrone the King." Leila felt her cries brimming, but she kept them at bay, "You killed Jae and Sorina just as they were about to reveal the truth. Just as they were off to venture, to learn more of the curse and better the world. All because your husband did not want you? All because you could not let others be happy when you were fucking miserable?" 

The Queen let her head fall back, her fangs ringing with the horrible sound, "Moonchild, do not insult me. I am of Nox, no one can manipulate my mind. I knew that Taehyung was never my child. They were terrible at hiding her pregnancy, I almost knew before they did. And I was fucking tired of being dishonored. So I took a potion magicked with her blood, and I wore the bitch's skin. I sent her away with Bianca to get "fresh air" and I let him visit me in her cell. I led him into thinking he was bedding his whore, and planned it so that I would have a child by the black sun. I let the King believe he tricked me, that Sorina's false memories worked. It gave me great pleasure to steal their son from them slowly over time. Making him hate his father, and making Sorina an insignificant stranger that could not even hold her own child for too long. I am thrilled they died before they could make amends with their child." Her blue eyes blazed like the hottest part of a flame, her teeth bared, "Could I not? For a man who refused to love me, though we joined in marriage. Who despite are mating avoided my skin as if it were diseased? Against the woman that sunk her claws into who was mine. I knew she would bare him a child. I knew that bitch would take her chance to make their bastard child an heir instead of mine, taking my only right as a Queen. They insulted me, their court spectacles. Spitting in my face with every touch, as if I did not know they were meeting. As if I did not hold onto the information, that if the court knew, they would force him to abdicate the throne. A hundred years, moonchild. I was treated like a memory, when I was a corner of the curse. A Dimidium by birth. A descendent of the great deity of Night." She flared her nostrils, collecting herself once more, "What other reasons are needed? There is revenge. My honor. My legacy. My place in the curse. I do not need to explain myself to the likes of your devious kind." 

There was too much to comprehend. She had chosen the route of torturing Jae and Sorina by acting as Taehyung's mother. That means she let Jimin and Lily be treated as less than for years on purpose. She had assaulted their father, by tricking him into bed. 

Taehyung, oh Taehyung. His hands were cold against her for once, losing all their light. Like the soul  had been sucked out of him, Leila wanted to take him far away, far away from all of this and weep with him. The truth burned worse than their curiosity ever could. She did not even know how he was still standing, as the person who destroyed his entire family boasted of doing it. 

She also knew of her role in the curse. Which even Jae and Sorina did not know of until close to their deaths. 

"How did you know you were dusk? And Bianca dawn." Taehyung asked harshly, speaking Leila's thoughts allowed. She was prideful that he shone no fear in his voice. Which made the Queen deflate that he was not intimidated with her as she wished. 

"Nox visited me only twice, reciting to me the full curse. Letting me know of how the cycles work, and a various paths it can take. That is all I will say. Or can," She sucked at her teeth, "Bianca was not dawn, until I forged her to be." 

This time Lily spoke, her voice full of years of hurt, "What do you mean? The curse only recycles every hundred years. That means if one of us dies now, our next in like shouldn't appear for another 78 years. We are 22 years into this cycle." 

The Queen turned to her daughter. Leila had not realized just how similar they looked until right now. But their was a kindness that bloomed from Lily, that made the white of her hair and the blue of her eyes enchanting instead of daunting. Lily did not cower, even as her mother peered from above and under her nose. Looking unimpressed and inconvenienced by her interruption.

Leila knew in any other circumstance, they would all be dead. But the Queen was not only here to reenact her revenge fantasies. She wanted to gloat that she had won all along. That though she had lost a battle, she believed wholeheartedly that she won the war. She was only telling them all of this because she was planning on killing them. 

She just wanted to gloat first. 

"You fools know next to nothing. The curse only renews every hundred years for the daughter of the moon. The prince of the eclipse is passed through blood, through being named heir and live for a very long time." She smiled, her lips twinging at a secret, "Dawn and dusk are renewable and chosen through Nox's line. Once they are killed, they reappear in who is directly next in the family tree." The Queen grew bitter, sneering, "That is why when my twin Clarisse refused to help me take the throne, to raise the family line and to take her place as dawn by my side, I killed her. I should have killed her years before, when she took my children into her home as her own. For the sake of Jae and Sorina. How could she have chosen that bitch over her own blood right is beyond my comprehension. But she was weak, and loyal to the wrong people." She paused, remembering, "Bianca took little convincing years later. She was much more receptive to the prospect of power. She thought it was sick that Jae bedded his dog, and that they planned on bringing back the sun. Taking away all that makes the Immortui superior to all other beings." 

Dawn and dusk are passed immediately through death. That means it was only two years ago that Lily and Jimin were anointed as corners. Right when the Queen and Bianca had died. Right when Jimin was most susceptible to manipulation. They had not been prepared their entire lives to take on their new surge of feelings, the surge of their powers. 

Lily's expression snarled, "You are not my mother. And I am not your child. Clarisse was the only mother we ever had."

Jimin did not say a word, did not support Lily's statement. Only continued to stare numbly at the Queen, his lips fixed in a straight line as he sat on his knees. 

The ethereal woman darkened like a cloud over the sky. Her countenance freezing from snarky and mocking to something lethal, "I tried to rid the world of you. I only needed a son. Because I had changed fate, I thought you were to be next in line as the daughter of the moon, and I wanted you gone. I had not known about the new moonchild when you were both young." She cocked her head at Lily, "Or worse that you would be dawn, and just as weak as Clarisse was. Blood of a stronger twin, and yet you would turn your back on your brother, on your duties. On our family lineage." She leaned closer, "I should have held your head beneath the waves until you stopped kicking. I knew your brother would be made weak by you. I watched him risk his own life to save you, precious, foolish thing he is." Her voice dipped lower, her eyes almost glowing as her fangs appeared over her lip, "And here you are. Being the problem you were born to be."

Lily bared her teeth fiercely, getting up to her feet. The Queen just laughed, turning her back on the daughter she had attempted to murder. 

Silence filled the room. 

The Queen focused on Taehyung and Leila, stepping closer to where they were standing. She ground her teeth, her feet. Readying to lift only one hand, for her shoulder was wounded too badly for her to even flinch. Taehyung squared his shoulders, letting golden flame lick across his palm.

They were ready. 

The horrid woman opened her mouth, "Now Jimin, step beside me. Come claim your power, your birthright to which I have elevated you. Come stand with your mother, and bring forth night together. Take your throne." 

"Don't listen to her." Taehyung called out, his voice filled with sullen emotion. It had been the first time he had addressed Jimin with any sort of tenderness in months. 

Leila felt a different type of agony when the man ignored his old friend's final plea, in the favor of his heartless mother. Jimin stood up, and Leila let moonlight erupt from her chest and into her hands. Glass littered the ground from where she broke the window, and she could use it to stab into him. She thought of a million ways she could make them suffer, and Taehyung seemed just as ready. 

Lily turned, unable to watch. Dismay coloring her every movement as her twin took his place by the Queen's side. Choosing the mother who sent her to drown. 

Her prince stood up straighter, curving himself around her so that her injured shoulder was blocked. Taehyung did not look at his brother, instead his eyes were trained on the Queen. Her smile faltering the longer she looked at him, seeing both Sorina and Jae with his raven features. 

Leila waited, her chest heaving and her pulse a savage flutter. Fighting Jimin had been difficult enough. Fighting the pair would be impossible. The Queen could make physical contact with them, but they could not kill her. She was only a ghost. 

How would they be able to end this? 

Leila panicked, grabbing Taehyung's wrist with her injured arm. Her anger mixed with her desolation. They would not let her win. No matter what, she would make sure her love got out alive. 

"We will finish what your father and mother started." Leila said, letting her gaze fall to him.

He was already looking at her, a fire of adoration and retribution in the comforting darkness of his eyes, "Nothing less, Ignis."

"Son? Grab that knife. Kill her with it." Queen Anastasia commanded, not even looking at her child as she did so.

The advisor took a step, then stopped. His shadow deepened eyes taking in the Queen with a dead stare. What is going on? The Queen turned, her haughtiness turning to annoyance as she looked at her son who delayed their victory. 

"It was you?" Jimin asked into the void, directly at his mother. His hands remained limp by his side. 

It took the woman a few moments to gather what he referred to. Her stunning face once again grew deformed by her madness. Unable to even feign her care, "Do not be ungrateful nightfall, I chose you. I had no need for the other halfling. You were always my chosen heir, a jewel of our blessed deity. You were meant for greatness."

Leila bit her lip, her expression screwed with a plea. She tried to catch Jimin's eye. She is just using you. Do not listen to her. She would do the same to you. She tried to kill Lily, she tried to kill your twin. But his intense, blank gaze would not move from the Queen. 

It felt painful to hope, that he may turn his back to her. 

But the man lifted his brows easily, his resolve clear, "You are right." 

Her heart cracked painfully. Lily hid her face in Aera's still bleeding frame. Taehyung cursed under his breath, letting more flame move up his arm. 

The Queen smiled triumphantly, "Of course. I would never abandon-"

Shadow moved through the air, cutting the sound with a quick and deafening slice. 

A thump of the Queen's head hitting the floor, mouth open with unshed lies filled the room next. Her blue depths still open and awaiting victory. Then, her ghostly formed disappeared entirely from the room. As if she never existed at all. 

Jimin killed the Queen, her son the bringer of her second death. Ending their battle before it even begun. 

Leila stood, her mouth falling open as Jimin continued to stand there. Looking at his hands like he was waiting for her to reappear. Like killing her one time was not enough. His eyes were dark, exhausted. His chest moving calmly up and down, his fists tightening. 

She thought of how Taehyung's magic had been useless against the Queen. How she could touch Jimin. And it was a slow rising revelation. Only a person wielding shadow could reach beyond their realm. 

Not a being moved. Not a single sound could be heard, as the corners of the curse watched the man in absolute shock. 

Jimin did not give them the satisfaction of staring back. 

He just walked from the room, without another word. His footsteps as hollow as he felt. 

What just happened?

What the fuck just happened?

"Leila." Taehyung expelled, his voice a brittle cry as he grabbed her into an embrace. "Leila my love, you are alright." She felt his tears in her hair, and she couldn't help but cry with him. There were so many things she wished to say, wished to give him in comfort. But they had to deal with the aftermath. 

Pulling away quickly, they called the other nobles back into the room, sending a guard that had been posted by a hallway. Lily had been disparaged, and still she made Yoongi and Setareh carry a barely alive Aera to the infirmary. Taehyung sent Jeongguk to find Jimin, to bring him back since he had escaped. He still needed to stand trial, despite his astounding deed at the end. 

Jeongguk came back with even stranger news, "I mean I could. But he walked right back into his cell."

And Leila was left with a single thought.

Only Jimin could have killed the Queen. They all would have died without him. 

<><><><><><><><>

(A/N: RAH RAH RAH
DRAMA ACTION TRAGEDY WE LOVE IT

idk if y'all can tell I'm not really an "action" writer. The powers that they have in this book are supposed to be more symbolic rather than physically useful. But...in this scene it was kind of necessary. Like those scenes are the ones I struggle with the most, so I hope this was as intense and exciting as I tried to make it.

🫶🏻💅🏻💅🏻😈 Did you guys like the slight twist? There is still more to come hahah.

But yayyy for the Jimin girls (me + others) he gets to live. For right now.

But again...he wasn't inhabited by the Queen the entire time.

Lily -> came through

Aera 🥺 my girllll. I love how her relationship with Leila developed. Like they have each others backs 🫶🏻😭 i Hope she's okay

Jimin — ate in a way hahaha. At the end.

Queen Anastasia - she needed to come back because honestly I think her side of the story is important too. How she was able to counteract every part of Jae's and Sorina's plans. How her connection with Nox is so similar yet so different to Jimin's. How they are different in that Jimin had more humanity than her, and she wished to snuff it out. I just think that dynamic really helps to flesh out Jimin as the antagonist in this story.

But anyways, let me know your thoughts! We have 4 more chapters ;(