When Taehyung teleported all nine of members of the group, you ended up falling and swallowing some sand, which was both very disgusting and unhygienic. Of course, Yoongi helped you stand but he was also chuckling, laughing at the sand in your nostrils. He earned a slap on the shoulder because of that.

Since Taehyung was starting to bleed from his nose, wobbling out of dizziness, Namjoon decided that we should find the entrance to the pyramids ourselves — which resulted in the nine of you being split into groups of three. Nine, this made Jin ask where Jia was and Hoseok told everyone how he had left her behind to keep her safe. It touched you, how Hoseok loved Jia so much to the point that he would leave just to protect her. It made you think of Yoongi, how you loved him so, and how the smallest gestures from him just assured you — you were alright.

Thus, you marched towards the smallest pyramid together with Yoongi and Emily, while the others jogged towards their respective pyramids. Now you fully understood why they were marked as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was gorgeous, the clay blocks polished to fit into the crevices of the wall, creating a perfect infrastructure. Then you remembered its history, how this structure was made with the blood of numerous slaves, and suddenly it didn't look as beautiful as it was when you first saw it.

"It's a shame how humans think that laboring others to the point of death would please deities," K whispered as you continued to stare at the pyramid. "Sad, really."

"Yeah... it's sad to think about."

Running your fingertips across the brick, you recalled Jungkook's words, how most of the citizens have been gathered in Cairo due to the chaos they made, even all the tourist employees and guards who were supposedly stationed around the pyramids, thus you and the gang were safe to explore and eventually enter them. You turned to the side, seeing Emily looking around with crossed arms, just as you felt a hand slip into yours.

"Calm down babe, it's just me," You sighed when Yoongi came into view, swinging both of your arms around as he pulled you towards him to walk. You raised an eyebrow at him and watched him whistle a tune. "Your friend Emily looks bothered."

"She does," You sighed whilst you and Yoongi walked behind Emily, who was still examining the pyramid with an exasperated expression. You realized that you didn't have much opportunity to talk to her, and you only had a proper conversation at Jin's vacation house once, when she gushed about her training and her experiences as a Vredeian. Other than that, there were only a few words thrown at one another during battles or chases. So, you decided, you were going to help your best friend. "I'll talk to her for a while."

"Sure, go ahead babe. I'll be right behind you," Yoongi pecked your cheek and let go of your hand, your face flushed as you started to walk towards Emily. You could just imagine the cocky expression he had behind you and it made you click your tongue. It was unsure if Emily had noticed your presence or not but it was a fact that she was in deep thought. "Hey, Em."

Finally, Emily snapped out of her trance, smiling brightly when she faced you. Running a hand through her brown hair, she released a heavy sigh, glancing at her broken wristband with a frown. "Hey, Sky."

"You two make the most awkward conversations, even as best friends," You decided to ignore K's comment.

"Is something wrong?," You didn't know if you were being oblivious, God forbid, but right now you had no idea why Emily could look this frustrated at the moment. You could only think that it was because her shirt wasn't pink but that obviously wasn't the case. "I've never seen you this bothered before."

"It's just...," Tapping her wristband, Emily flinched when it sparked. Somehow, despite your confusion, you knew that it wasn't the main root of her current status. "Sky, how exactly did you and Yoongi get together?"

"No apparent and plausible reason," You had the strong urge to slap duct-tape on K's mouth, if that was even possible. "It's the truth."

Still, you choked on your spit, your face reddening at the sudden question. This made you look behind you, seeing Yoongi still whistling with both hands in the pockets of his red varsity jacket — a new one from Jin, compared to the old and tattered one he wore when you first met him. To answer Emily's question, you had a major flashbacks of  the months that zoomed by. "It... just happened, I guess? When we found out that we felt same towards one another, he asked me, and I said yes... Emily, this is about Jin, isn't it?"

Emily fell silent for a moment, pursing her lips together into a thin line. Egypt's sunlight basked over the two of you, but the scorching heat couldn't beat the confusion burning in your best friend's heart. "How did you know?"

"I'm your best friend, Em, of course I know!," You smiled cheekily, brushing strands of your silver hair away from your face. "Also, I won't ignore the fact that I personally witnessed you and Jin making out in the airplane's washroom — the men's even! I mean, how why were you even in there—"

"Oh God, please shut up," Emily covered her face with her hands in a desperate attempt to hide her red cheeks. Of course, she failed.

You chuckled at how Emily was flustered at the mention of Jin alone, twirling some strands of hair between your fingers as you did. "So it is about Jin, then. What happened? Did he hurt you? I swear, I'll stick my katana up his butthole if he—"

"Sky, calm down! Jin didn't do anything wrong!," Emily said a little too loudly, her eyes widening whilst she glanced around, trying to make sure that nobody else heard her. Then there was Yoongi, who was staring at her direction and tonguing the inside of his cheek. She knew she was screwed. "Ugh, it's just... I don't know, are we allowed to be doing this even if we haven't started dating? I... may have kissed him more than once."

"Of course it is, as long as the two of you are sure about your feelings for one another...," You glanced at your shoulder, laughing at the sight of Yoongi fiddling with the zipper of his jacket with his eyebrows scrunched together. The thought of him wanting to find out what you and Emily were talking about but deciding not to interfere put a smile on your face. "It'll be fine."

"But that's just it," Emily's words caught your attention and you looked at your best friend as she palmed her forehead. You stopped walking, a bit concerned at how she was taking it all in. "I'm not even sure if Jin likes me back the way I do."

"Jin initiated the kiss, didn't he? And all those small gestures he does with you? Why are you doubting him?"

"Because... it might all be in my head."

"It definitely isn't all in your head," Yoongi suddenly stepped forward, giving you and Emily a big shock that both of you screamed a bit. The thoughts you had of Yoongi wanting to be let out of the girl talk flew out of your head as he placed both his hands behind his head, grunting a bit while stretching. "Jin talks about you a lot when you aren't around, Emily. You should have seen how the idiot gushed about your kiss to me after we left the plane. I wanted to burn that smile off his irritatingly good looking face but he looked too happy. It was actually terrifying."

Yoongi nodded at you after that with a smile, then you realized that he was actually listening the whole time, waiting for the right moment to enter. Emily was blushing now, covering her face with one hand.

"I—"

Just when Emily opened her mouth to speak, a shadow suddenly casted over the three, making them alert, you grabbing the shield you strapped to your back and Yoongi creating fireballs on his palms. It was Emily who instructed the both of you to calm down when she recognized the white feathered wings.

Jungkook landed on the ground with a loud thump, shaking his head and making his blonde fringe fall over his eyes, wings outstretched behind him, sunlight right above him and giving off a very heavenly vibe. He rolled his shoulders, exhaling loudly before he spoke. "Jimin found something. I think it will be better for you guys to see."

-

Hoseok tailed behind Namjoon, panting as he desperately tried to catch up to the older male. Why was he so fast? He wheezed and grunted when Jin passed him, and now he was at the back of the line. Looking up, he saw a figure in the sky and it didn't need a genius to figure that it was Jungkook soaring in the air. The air gem bearer frowned at this, wondering if it was safe for the angel to be flying around in the open but then again, oddly nobody else was present but the nine of them.

Nine. Hoseok was suddenly hit with the realization of Jia's missing presence, the space next to him feeling more empty than it should without her. He missed her, that itself was a definite fact, but he knew that Jia would be safer if she stayed with her parents instead. Sighing, he just prayed that they could somehow save Earth before jeopardy strikes, if not then all their effort would be in vain.

Hoseok finally spotted Jimin, who was wiping the brick wall of the center pyramid, the biggest one among the three. Taehyung was standing next to him with crossed arms, chewing on his bottom lip with boredom, his staff barely hanging on one of the belt loops of his pants. The rest were already crowded around the thunder gem bearer with confused expressions.

"What's going on?," Hoseok pushed through the crowd, grabbing Namjoon's forearm and squeezing through.

"Jimin found something, look," Jin pointed at something so Hoseok followed his gaze and saw a hollow mark on the wall, taking up four clay blocks and was big enough for two fists to fit inside. It's shape was weird, resembling and infinity sign, only wider by a few inches.

"What is that?," Emily asked, her chin resting on your shoulder, grunting as she tried to squeeze in as well. She gasped when Jimin blankly tried to stick his arm inside and slapped him. "Hey, be careful! You never know, your hand might be bitten off."

"Sheesh, don't give me that image, God," Jimin shivered, ghosting his fingertips over the hole. Hoseok wasn't sure if it was because he was the bearer of the air gem but he swore that the wind coming from inside the hole was cold, and somehow this made him think.

Tuning out the confused voices of the rest, Hoseok started to analyze the situation. At first he wondered why none of the guards noticed this hole on one of the pyramids then he shook off the thought. A strange hole in the biggest pyramid, shaped as if something was meant to be placed inside. Look around. Only you and Taehyung were carrying something by hand — you with your shield and Taehyung with his staff. His staff, the rounded snake coil tip made a different shape when looked at from above.

Bingo.

"Everyone stand back," Hoseok stepped forward with confidence, everyone giving him strange looks before they made a path for him. Jin stayed, about to question what he was about to do, but Namjoon pulled him away and told the eldest boy that he knew what he was doing.

Just as Hoseok suspected, he brushed a finger on one of the clay blocks, finding it to be extremely dusty. He inhaled, puffing his chest and blowing out a strong gust of air, dust flying around and making everyone else cough, including Hoseok himself. After the dust settled, what they saw was completely different — there was a line running through the bricks, forming an arc, the strange hole in the center.

"I knew it," Hoseok stroked his chin, turning around and scanning everyone's expressions. Among the surprised looks was Namjoon's awe, Yoongi's boredom and Taehyung's blank face. He raised a hand, making a gesture towards the bearer of the gem of darkness. "Taehyung, could you come here?"

Taehyung raised an eyebrow with silence, staring at Hoseok for a while before he complied and walked towards the air gem bearer. Pulling down his hood, he rubbed the back of his head with one eye closed, some drops of blood still evident on his upper lip. "What is it? If you want me to teleport inside this pyramid I'll let you know that I'm tired as fu—"

"Stick your staff in there," Hoseok cut off Taehyung's rant, pointing a finger at the questionable hole.

Everyone took a moment to process Hoseok's words, Taehyung being the first one to react with a loud scowl. "I just got this staff and I'm not breaking it."

"Taehyung, listen to me," Hoseok huffed, displaying a bright smile to hide his already drying patience. He pointed at the hole again. "That thing is a slot — a keyhole to enter the pyramid. Your staff fits, it's—

"—The key," You breathed out, eyes widened in shock, Yoongi clasping your hand in a strong grip.

"So we're standing in front of a door?," Jin questioned, thick lips forming an 'o' shape and unintentionally making him look like he was pouting.

"Exactly," Hoseok nodded at Taehyung, who already had the staff out and was carrying it with one hand. This gave him a closer look at the weapon, the length of its metal body combined with its steel snake coiling around it made it look extremely heavy, yet Taehyung was carrying it as if it was nothing.

"Wait," Namjoon spoke up just as Taehyung stepped in front of the keyhole with the staff raised, making everyone turn towards him. "Taehyung, don't you already know how to get in? I mean, how did you travel across two planets?"

"I used a different method of travel and it definitely wasn't as complicated as this," Taehyung shrugged, his brown hair bouncing as he did.

"The staff is fairly new too," Yoongi started, his grey fringe falling over his eyelashes. "Why is it the key?"

Taehyung opened his mouth but was cut off by Jungkook, who was leaning next to the pyramid's entrance, his wings positioned in a way that they wouldn't be pinned between his back and the wall. "It's because he's the bearer of the gem of darkness. It basically means that we can't travel to Vrede without him."

Hoseok watched as Taehyung and Jungkook nodded at each other with a silent understanding. Somehow, this made him question Jungkook's words. He did trust them but he had a feeling in his gut that Jungkook wasn't really saying the full truth. Still, he shrugged it off, deeming himself as paranoid.

Taehyung took in a sharp breath and slowly pushed the staff inside the keyhole, eyes widening the moment he realized that it really was a perfect fit. Everyone held their breaths at the sight and once the staff's head was fully in, there was a loud click. He twisted the staff, the hole now upright, then the ground started to shake.

Hoseok slipped and landed on his ass as the ground continued to tremble violently. Despite this, he saw the clay blocks of the door sinking into the side walls the moment Taehyung took the staff out. In a few seconds, there was an entrance leading to darkness.

"Whoa," You hopped to your feet and walked towards the entrance, Yoongi trailing behind you, telling you to be careful because you could fall in and get hurt. You peeked inside, Hoseok's head spinning as your upper body disappeared in the shadows, though your voice echoed. "I can barely see but there are stairs leading down!"

"Well," Jungkook opened his palm, a ball of light forming, so bright that Hoseok had to block his eyes and glasses with both of his hands. "I can take care of that. Let's go?"

All nine lined up and walked into the dark entrance in a heartbeat and Hoseok wondered why nobody was even hesitating to walk into the unknown. Not to mention that he was third in line, right behind Taehyung and Jungkook, so the sight of the entrance getting farther and farther made his anxiousness grow by the second.

Hoseok would usually hide his fear whenever he was around Jia but this time, he couldn't help but tremble a bit at how he couldn't really see what was up ahead, the balls of light from Jungkook just enough to illuminate themselves. He swore that the walls were closing in and it didn't help that the pathway was so narrow that they could barely fit — the tallest of them (Namjoon and Jin) slightly crouching.

"Hey," Hoseok nearly jumped at the voice behind him, sighing loudly when he realized it was Jimin, although his face was really close to this. He understood because of the minimum space but he still felt uncomfortable. "Are you alright? I can hear your rapid breathing patterns."

"...I'm fine," Hoseok placed a hand over his chest, the other one pressed against the wall to guide him, even though there was already a bright light just before him. "I'm just not a fan of dark places and tight places."

"Oh," Jimin broke eye contact with Hoseok, scrunching his nose and sniffling awkwardly. "Uh... I'm sorry about biting you."

"Huh? Oh, that. Don't worry, I don't really mind. Jin took care of it and I know you weren't yourself, don't worry about it," Hoseok pulled up his sleeve, showing Jimin the exact area of his arm which was bitten, but his skin was intact. He showed off a heart-shaped smile, hoping to reassure Jimin.

Jimin chewed on his bottom lip and ran a hand through his orange hair. "I just don't understand what happened. It's like... something took over me."

This time, Hoseok didn't reply. Instead he recalled Jungkook's words while they were in the airport, how the gem of darkness had the ability to corrupt Taehyung whenever he was vulnerable. He then remembered how Jimin was overtaken by anger after he went berserk. Somehow, it all connected in his head and he had a theory — what if the gem of darkness could corrupt others as well? It seemed farfetched but it was possible... maybe.

Hoseok decided not to think of it that way, knowing that it will only make him think of Taehyung differently, they couldn't afford to doubt each other, especially because they were so close to Vrede.

Due to how caught up Hoseok was in his own thoughts, he didn't notice how Taehyung and Jungkook had stopped walking and continued to push forward. It was only when someone grabbed the collar of his shirt that he noticed that he had almost walked off the path, plummeting approximately fifty feet below, not being able to float out of fear, he knew.

Hoseok yelped, his foot already hanging off the ground, and was pulled backwards, landing at the last step of the stairs. He met eyes with Taehyung, who was staring at him with a frown.

"Pay attention to where you're walking, idiot."

Hesitantly nodding, Hoseok stood up with the help of you and Jin. He squinted his eyes, looking ahead, seeing an even more narrow path to the other side of the pyramid — which looked exactly the opposite of what he expected to see. Contrary to clay brick exterior, the inside of the pyramid looked eerily smooth, almost as if everything was made of glass, the colors fading from seven different hues — each one representing a gem. Looking down, he realized that the floor itself was glass as well and he could see the pit at the bottom, his heart racing at the tremendous height. Back to the bridge — also made of glass, the entrance to a glowing room just across it.

Hoseok knew what was coming and he hated it.

"We need to get to that room," Jungkook pointed ahead, everyone following his gaze, his wings flapping behind him lightly. "The bridge looks stable enough so I guess we're walking."

"It's too narrow," Jin's eyebrows scrunched together in worry, gulping, his throat dry. "What if we fall?"

"Hopefully not but if that happens, one of us will catch you," Jungkook towards himself, Taehyung and Hoseok, the last two giving a nod as a sign of approval.

Once more, the next events were a blur to Hoseok. They had formed a line again and were carefully walking across the glass bridge with small steps. He did his best to swallow his scream and looked up instead of down, knowing that the height would make his knees wobble.

Creak. Everyone paused when the bridge started to squeak, which was weird because Hoseok knew that glass didn't make that sound when it was starting to break.

"What?," Namjoon spoke up when everyone faced him, who was at the back of the line. "Guys, I can't break this bridge with my footsteps alone."

"You never know," Yoongi mumbled and Hoseok sighed when he could see a safe platform just a foot away. Suddenly, the ceiling started to tremble, and everyone broke into cold sweat.

"The door is closing—," Taehyung seethed through gritted teeth, using his staff to balance himself. Everyone paused once more when there was a loud crack from above and Hoseok looked up just in time to see a boulder falling. Breaths hitched in their throats and tension thickened — until purple mist solidified under it, right before it could hit you on the head. With blood running down his nose, Taehyung continued: "Hurry up!"

Everyone shuffled, struggling to get passed Taehyung, who was one of the first people in the line. Hoseok and Jungkook had to resort to flying, helping the others cross for Taehyung's sake.

Taehyung stepped backwards in a pattern until he was safely on a platform, letting go of the boulder and making it shatter the glass bridge, cutting the way to the other side. Literally, there was no turning back for the nine of them.

Nobody seemed to be bothered by it, after all everyone was aware that it was must to travel to Vrede in order to save Earth. Namjoon led the group to the glowing room, which blinded Hoseok's view for a few seconds until his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness.

No longer having a structure of glass, the room was glittering with gold, all over the walls and the floor, which made Yoongi's thief instincts tingle in him. There were scriptures carved on the walls, something Hoseok couldn't recognize, all surrounding an individual logo — each one different in color — which were all located above a small podium. To sum it up, seven podiums were positioned in a circle around the room, the center looking a bit too bare for Hoseok, who just knew that something was supposed to be there, because it was empty.

Hoseok was drawn to one of the podiums, his gut telling him to walk towards it. He stared at the logo above the podium — one that resembled a tree, a circle of what he assumed was wind surrounding it. Tilting his head, he tried to analyze what he was seeing and faced the podium, confusion hitting him at the sight of a small square shaped glass, glowing slightly red, fading in and out per second. He then noticed that each podium had a different color, his being green.

"Oh my God!"

The scream instantly caught Hoseok's attention so he turned around and saw Jin flailing his arms around, his face distorted into some kind of meme as he pointed at the blue podium. This time, his logo resembled a very artistic water drop dotted with snowflakes, and it was glowing bright blue, along with the podium itself. Water ran from the podium's core and lead to the center of the room.

Hoseok noticed that there seven circles on the ground, all grey except one — which was now blue. It all clicked in his head, it represents the seven gems.

"What happened?!," Emily shouted in concern, tiptoeing to reach Jin's shoulders and shake them. By now, everyone had gathered around his podium to stare at it in fascination.

"I— I don't know! I just walked towards it, then the podium made this sound and that logo started glowing!," Jin rapped out while waving his hands around.

"Jin... I think you're onto something," Namjoon squatted down at the glowing blue circle on the ground, his eyes squinted in focus.

"I am?," Jin blinked, putting on a dumb expression. "I mean— Of course, I am!"

"He somehow activated the podium?," You were standing next to Jin's podium with Yoongi and Jungkook, staring at it with pouted lips. "How?"

As Jin started spitting out words of his confusion, Hoseok tuned out the voices once more and faced his green podium. He stared at his charm bracelet, the green air gem giving him a flashback of how he gave the other half of the couple bracelet to Jia. Somehow, his instincts told him to, so he placed his wrist on the square glass, a small ding sound resonating when it recognized his gem.

The logo above Hoseok's podium started to glow a powerful green then a gust of wind blew. Another circle on the ground lit up — green.

"Hoseok?!," Namjoon got up from his position, glancing back and forth between the green logo and Hoseok's heart smile. "How—"

"It wants to scan our gems! The color of the podium matches. Green and green, see? Jin's blue, too!," Hoseok raised his wrist, the one clad with the charm bracelet that held the air gem, then pointed at his podium. "I think Jin accidentally scanned his, since he's wearing it as a necklace."

"Now that I think about it... the gem did touch the small glass panel!," Jin announced with a clenched fist and wide eyes.

And everyone knew what they had to do, shuffling towards their respective podiums, you and Emily stepping aside to watch. One by one, each logo started to glow with its matching circle on the ground. Two guns crossed over one another, a burning flame behind. Yoongi. An image of a dancing lady, a bolt of lightning behind her. Jimin. A bow and arrow, a circle of rocks forming around it. Namjoon. Two angel wings, folded in between clouds, light beams seeping out from the bottom. Jungkook.

Then it stopped. Only one logo wasn't the glowing — it was the snake positioned to fight, fangs bared and eyes beady black, coiled around around a spear. It reminded Hoseok of Taehyung's staff, then he remembered that he was a Vredeian.

"Tae? What's wrong?," Jungkook stepped towards Taehyung, who was examining his nails whilst his other hand, the one with the gem, was placed on the glass panel. "It isn't scanning your gem?"

"It will take a while, I guess," Taehyung shrugged, completely unbothered by the situation. Meanwhile, Hoseok was starting to grow a tad suspicious but he didn't voice out his thoughts.

"Ours took less than a second to be scanned — how is yours any different?," Jimin said with a small scowl, his thick lips giving the illusion of him pouting.

"I don't know, okay?! Just—," Taehyung snapped, only stopping when his podium finally scanned his gem. He sighed, running a hand through his brown hair. "Ah, finally."

With all seven gems scanned, the ground trembled. After Namjoon immediately defended himself out of habit, the center of the room started to open up, and from Hoseok's view he could something underneath, rising slowly for them to see. And when it did — there was a collective gasp.

It was a ship so big that it nearly took up all the space in the room. It resembled a pirate ship merged with boat, except it had two separate sails, positioned to resemble wings, two huge propellers stationed at each side. The body was made of metal but designed to give the illusion of it being wood. A statue was carved on the front — a life-sized version of Taehyung's logo, the snake.

"This... is our ride," Everyone faced Taehyung, who displayed a cocky smirk, one hand on his hip and the other pointing at the ship. "Hop on, we're heading to Vrede."

-

A/N - istg I dropped so many hints in this chapter lol also I wanna hold a fan art contest but do I have enough readers to do this? ;;

They'll finally be in Vrede in the next chapter!! Which kingdom will they visit first? Hm