Jin stared in horror as Queen Daphne, who was now a humongous light blue water dragon, roared at both him and Emily, the murderous intent fueled by rage evident in her sorrowful purple eyes. Dust from the ceiling mixed with the water because of how wide the dragon's wings were. He glanced around the room, trying to find anything that could help him fight.

"Are you seriously considering fighting a giant water dragon with just your fists, Em?," Jin questioned as he glanced at Emily without turning his head towards her. The fighting fish had a stern expression on her face, both fists balled next to her head. "I mean... I know you're a very strong warrior and all that but isn't that a little, I don't know, dangerous?"

"I can handle it. Always have," Emily snapped, her tone making Jin flinch a bit. She side-eyed the golden koi, expression softening just a bit. "Do you have a plan? The look on your face tells me that you do."

Jin went silent, the dragon watching them closely with bared teeth. His eyes scanned its long, blue tail that coiled and nearly filled up the whole room, wondering why it had wings despite being a sea creature. The water gem bearer then noticed the two statue decorations just behind the dragon, one bloody and the other sparkling. Facing Emily, who looked more serious than ever, his eyes lit up. "Do you see the spear and the trident? Maybe we can use them weapons."

"Sounds like an idea," Emily smiled and Jin blushed at how beautiful his girlfriend was. He didn't turn around to hide his flustered expression. He didn't need to.

Before Jin could reply, however, a booming voice came from none other than the dragon. It roared loudly as it began to speak in a voice that resembled Queen Daphne's, except it was deeper and more terrifying to hear. "Fools! Do you think of me as a worthless opponent? Chatting instead of facing me in battle? Fight, you cowards!"

The dragon flipped around, intent on slamming its tail on the two. Jin glanced at Emily for a split second before swimming to his right, just before the tail slammed into the rocky ground, shattering it and creating a crater line. He looked around for Emily, panicking because he couldn't see her at all. "Em?!"

Then, a silhouette swam across the water, becoming a blur in Jin's eyes, and suddenly the dragon had been struck by the jaw, causing it to groan loudly and throw its head back. He blinked, processing the fact that Emily was swimming above him with a raised fist that looked a bit bruised. Damn. "I'm okay, Jin!"

Jin realized that he shouldn't just watch Emily fight the dragon like an idiot, so he formed spinning water slicers around his wrists, remembering how Taehyung was doing the same with purple mist. He had no idea how to kill this water dragon yet but one thing was for sure, they had to weaken it somehow.

Tossing one of the spinning water slicers, Jin watched as it cut across the dragon's face, leaving a large gash on its cheek. It turned towards him angrily, thankfully leaving a semi-tired Emily alone. "How dare you ruin my beautiful face?!"

Oh.

"Jin, watch out!," Emily's voice served as a heads up for Jin, who barely dodged the clawed hand that attempted to crush him. He swam in a diagonal pattern as the clawed hands kept coming, shattering the already broken floor even more. Somehow, this gave him a strong sense of de ja vu.

However, the pattern broke when the dragon suddenly swung its tail, hitting Jin right at the face and throwing him backwards. He tasted the metallic blood in his mouth, his eyes widening when he saw a clawed foot attempting to stomp him.

Jin raised both of his palms, creating a dome of water above him, turning it into ice in a split second. The dragon effortlessly shattered the ice dome but it prevented him from getting stomped. So, he kept making ice, hoping that it would tire out.

But instead, it was Jin who got tired. He was panting now, the pace of his forming ice slowing down. The dragon smirked and raised its foot. "Despite being a rare breed of golden koi, you are weak, Kim Seokjin. You're a disgrace to all other koi. Now, you must—"

"Could you stop being racist for one second?!," Emily's voice boomed and Jin squinted his eyes when he saw her holding a spear in her hands. Glancing at the statue decorations, he noticed that the other one was missing its weapon. "It's pissing me off!"

With that Emily charged towards the dragon and made dodging its attacks look easy. Jin's eyes widened when the dragon wrapped its tail around the fighting fish's waist and started whipping her around like a sack. As she stabbed the tail with her spear, hoping to escape, the blonde realized that he still had a spinning water slicer on his right wrist. "Let go of Emily, you dumb fuck!"

Jin channeled all his rage before tossing his water slicer, Emily looking a bit stunned at how he had released a few swears. She then noticed the incoming weapon and leaned her body backwards, helping with its aim. The tip of the dragon's tail was severed as it screamed, blood mixing with the water.

"Jin, I'm gonna need some help," Emily spoke with a clutched spear once Jin used his claws to free her from the dragon tail wrapped around her. The dragon was wailing in pain, still a bit distracted by it. He nodded as a gesture to tell her to say what she needed and helped her regain balance. "I need some leverage."

"Huh? Why?," Jin asked with a raised brow.

Emily glanced at the dragon, which had glassy eyes due to the pain, Jin following her gaze. There was a few moments of silence before the protector spoke. "Since we still have no idea what this dragon's weakness is, the best we can do is weaken it. According to my trainer, the best way to disarm an opponent is to get rid of its sight."

"You're... going to blind the que— the dragon?," Jin asked once more, failing to hide the disbelief in his tone of voice. He knew that his girlfriend was a warrior who could definitely pull something like that off but he couldn't help but feel worried for her safety. "That's both and crazy and dangerous, Em."

"I know," Emily turned towards Jin with the most serious expression she ever had and he realized that there was nothing he could say or do to change her mind. After all, the fighting fish was a woman of her word. "But it's gonna work. Trust me."

Jin trusted Emily enough to know she wouldn't put herself in harm's way, no matter how bad the idea sounded. So, he swam behind her and slowly created a spinning water ball in between his hands. He waited for a bit until he could create a strong current around the both of them. "Ready?"

"Ready," Emily nodded and fixed her stance, pointing the spear upwards. Jin took deep breaths and opened his now blue eyes before stretching his arms and opening his palms, creating something similar to a beam of water, except it just had a strong current, forming bubbles everywhere.

Emily yelped in shock when the force hit her back but she quickly regained her posture and continued to point the spear ahead. Of course, the dragon noticed the girl and swiped its hand but she flipped forward, dodging with ease, before landing on its forehead and releasing a battle cry.

"This is for flirting with my boyfriend, you slut!"

Shoving the spear right into the dragon's eye, it screamed something in the lines of it hurts, voice filled with immense pain, Emily turning away as the blood spluttered around. Jin flinched, his stomach turning queasy at the sight, then he realized that another weapon was needed to completely blind the dragon. The gold trident was still in the statue's hands. "Hold on, Em!"

"I'm already holding on!," Emily snapped, her grip on the spear's wooden body so tight that her knuckles were turning white. The dragon was flailing around wildly, both in pain and in attempts to get the spear out of its eye. The protector was barely holding on as she was swung around.

Jin quickly swam towards the statue, flicking his eyes towards Lilith's corpse for a few seconds before looking away. Before grabbing the weapon, he paused, noticing that the trident was glowing more the nearer he got. Shaking his curiosity out of his head, he grabbed the weapon and pulled it out instantly before turning around. "I'm com—"

Suddenly, Jin was hit right at the face with the dragon's tail, which had regenerated back to its original form. Emily screamed his name as his back hit the wall and he slumped to the ground, every part of his body aching, the trident far from his grasp. He could taste the metallic blood at the back of his mouth.

Jin was surrounded by rubbles of rock and dust, his hearing turning into rings as Emily continued to scream. He wanted to get up and help but he couldn't move his tail, as if something broke. He started healing himself but the process of repairing a broken bone was slow, too slow, even for his powers.

The dragon grabbed Emily in her moment of distraction and threw her to the ground, the spear falling out of its eye, Jin barely hearing her yelp in pain. Seeing how the dragon was stomping towards his girlfriend, who seemed to have fallen unconscious, he used all of his leftover strength to create a dome of ice around the fighting fish.

Jin was taking deep breaths but he still sighed in relief when the dragon paused and turned towards him instead. He tried to wriggle his tail, which lead to instant regret because of the pain that shot up his torso. Purple mist surrounded the dragon as it got closer, its silhouette turning smaller and more human like.

When the mist faded, Queen Daphne was back in her normal koi mermaid form, blood staining half of her face and covering her now empty eye socket. She was smiling sickly, hair disheveled, a scar made by the amputation evident on her orange and white tail. The crown of Tranen was nowhere to be seen and Jin assumed that it had fallen off her head at one point. Her royal poise had completely disappeared and in her hands was the golden trident, which was no longer glowing, and Emily's spear, its body broken in half.

"You idiots really thought working together was the key to beating me?," Queen Daphne cackled loudly, laughs dripping with a mixture of evil and insanity. Jin could only watch her because his tail was far from healed. "Well, you were wrong. Your little girlfriend is as good as dead. All I need to do is finish you off in order to seal my side of the deal with Hel and gain permanent power."

"You'll never win, Daphne," Jin spat, eyes welling with tears at the idea of Emily being dead. He knew that somehow, she was alive, but the thought alone shattered his heart into pieces. He grunted, Queen Daphne staring down at him with a sly smirk. "Why do you even do this? Even if you gain power, the king of Hel will destroy both planets. What's the point?!"

Jin screamed in pain when he was hit at the face, yet again, with the blunt edge of the spear. Before he could say anything, Queen Daphne stabbed him with the trident, the three pointed blades going through his stomach. He choked a cry and ended up coughing out blood. The koi queen leaned down with a smile, the water gem bearer flinching at how close she was. "It hurts, doesn't it? Be glad. It isn't even close to the pain I felt when you killed my daughter right before my eyes."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Jin managed to choke out, despite all the pain he was feeling and how his throat was burning due to lack of oxygen. "I really am."

Queen Daphne's smile faded into a frown and she just stared, Jin hoping that she was considering letting him go. Instead, however, she screamed out her next words angrily, eyes burning with rage. "Why in Tranen's name are you still being polite to me?! It pisses me off. No matter, after I end your life, it will not be a problem anymore."

Jin watched with a blurry vision as Queen Daphne raised the short spear, loud laughs echoing in the area. He faced the side, trying to see if Emily was moving or not, but he couldn't see from his point of view. He was doing his best to heal himself and although his tail was almost completely healed, he couldn't do anything about his abdomen since the tri-blades were still stabbed into his skin.

Closing his eyes, Jin remembered this familiar feeling of close death. He recalled how the mutated Sam had almost killed him and at how he had unlocked the powers of his gem at the last minute.

Most importantly, Jin remembered the gravity of the situation. He remembered his role as the wonder, how he was one of the only people who could save the world. He remembered Yoongi, who needed the comfort of a friend. He remembered Emily, his girlfriend who he loved all his heart and soul. He remembered his friends. He remembered how far they have gone and how they were so close to reclaiming all the kingdoms.

Jin realized that dying wasn't an option, it never was. Anger filled his system. He couldn't believe that he had considered giving up. He couldn't believe that self-privileged people like Queen Daphne, which resulted in the suffering of the innocent. He couldn't believe that he had let Emily get hurt.

And these thoughts made something snap inside Jin.

Scales appeared on Jin's cheeks, matching the golden color of his tail yet mixing with the blue hue of his eyes. The claws on his hands grew longer, sharper, fangs growing to the point that they protruded from his lips. Pointed blue fins started to appear on his arms and spine, lining downwards to the tip of his tail, the golden fin widening and looking more powerful.

Noticing this transformation, Queen Daphne's eyes widened as Jin growled with a low voice and bared his fangs. Before she could say anything, he raised both of his palms, pillars of strong whirlpools shooting out and throwing the koi queen across the room.

"How—," Queen Daphne coughed, her own voice choking her throat as she trembled in both disbelief and fear. "How?!"

"The answer is simple, Daphne," Jin slowly raised himself from the rocky flooring and stared at the trident, which was still stabbed through his abdomen. He pulled it out with one hand, wounds healing instantly and weapon glowing as its grip on him tightened. His ocean blue eyes, filled with absolute rage, pierced into the queen's soul. "I... am Kim Seokjin, only son of Kim Luna and Kim Hyukji, senator of Seoul, master of former butler Sam and proud boyfriend to Emily. I am one of the seven wonders and was chosen to bear the gem of water, which my father had entrusted to me. It gives me and only me the right to rule over Tranen. Not even you can do anything about that."

Despite how Queen Daphne felt fear, she held what was left of her spear and charged towards Jin, who just tilted his head at her. He watched her swim towards him furiously whilst screaming a battle cry. Smirking to himself cockily, he raised his trident in the air, noticing how it was glowing powerfully now, before striking it to the ground. There was a strong surge of energy that rippled in the water, making the queen lose her balance.

Jin twirled the trident in his hands as Queen Daphne stumbled and struggled to find her balance. She cackled once more and spat out a tooth, using the spear to support her. "What? Why don't you fight me with all your might, Jin? Are you afraid that you'll end up like that weak bit—"

Queen Daphne was cut mid-sentence by Jin, who was suddenly swinging his trident inches away from her face, having intent to slow down. She defended herself with her spear as the two clashed their weapons. There was a pause, the two's faces less than inches apart, only separated by the thin bodies of their weapons. The water gem bearer growled at her face, fangs bared. "Don't call Emily a bitch, you bitch."

With all sense of politeness flying out the window, Jin used water current to slightly push Queen Daphne away before swinging the trident. She blocked her face with his arms, which caused her forearm to have three large gashes. He continued to spin and swing his weapon until her arms were decorated with bloody wounds.

Jin paused for a moment when Queen Daphne fell to the ground, her spear now completely broken and unusable. Flicking his eyes towards her tail, he wrapped it in ice and stuck it to the ground to prevent her from escaping. He balled a fist and raised it, freezing the water around his hand to form an ice glove with a pointed edge, intent on dealing the final blow.

Queen Daphne, however, cackled loudly instead. Jin raised an eyebrow at the koi as she continued to laugh, her shoulders trembling. Spitting out another bloody tooth, she licked her lips with a smirk. "Go ahead and kill me, Jin. What's stopping you? Do it. Come on! You won't earn anything from my death. None of you will. Tranen will crumble without me and your palms will be stained by my blood for all eternity."

A silence. Jin stared at Queen Daphne blankly and was currently collecting his thoughts. He let his ice glove fade away and lightly sat down on the rocky ground next to the koi queen, the scales of his disappearing, his features turning back to normal. "...You know, there isn't really a need to beg for your life."

Queen Daphne sighed in relief, seemingly thinking that she was going to be spared. However, Jin raised a hand, two ice spikes growing from the ground and stabbing through the queen's abdomen. She wheezed loudly, blood seeping out of her mouth and mixing with the water, before turning towards the blonde man who was glancing at her with a mixture of pity and joy.

"Because I already made my decision," Jin continued as Queen Daphne took her last breath, eyes glazing over. Truthfully, he wished that there was a way to reclaim Tranen without spilling blood but he knew that sparing the queen wasn't option if he wanted to reach his goal. So, he felt bad for taking a life, accidentally or not, even if the person he had killed was evil. "I'm sorry."

Turning around and spotting the crater, Jin quickly swam towards it, remembering what had happened to his girlfriend. He dropped the trident the moment he saw Emily lying in the rubble, completely unconscious, and carefully cradled her body.

"Em. Hey, Em," Jin breathed out, eyes widening when he realized that Emily wasn't breathing. He lightly brushed his fingertips down her cheeks, tears spilling out of his eyes and mixing with the water around them. "Please..."

"I'm not dead, Jin," Emily suddenly spoke with a deep inhale, eyes fluttering open. Jin let out a sigh of relief as she reached out a hand and cupped his cheek. "Just... let me rest for a bit."

Jin laughed as Emily responded the same before a silence came and basked both of them. He flicked his eyes towards her lips, the expression she had on serving as a sign of approval. So, he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on her lips, one that only lasted a few seconds before he engulfed the protector in a big hug. "It's over now."

Emily pulled away from the hug and glanced around the room, sighing when her eyes landed on something. Jin followed her gaze and was silent as he watched both Lilith and Daphne's bodies dissolve into sea foam before ultimately fading into the water. She held his shoulder in a way to comfort him. "Hey, it's okay. It had to be done."

"I know," Jin replied with a small smile, squinting his eyes when he caught something shiny buried in the rubble and dust. He glanced at Emily before swimming towards it and digging into the rocks, using water currents to flick the heavy ones away. When he realized that it was the pearl crown of Tranen, his eyes widened.

Emily picked it up before Jin could say anything, a big and proud smile evident on her face. She stared at the crown for a moment before turning back towards him. "You ready?"

Jin pursed his lips, knowing that wearing the crown would seal the deal of him becoming Tranen's king. He wasn't really that nervous but still, he couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed by the responsibility. Shaking the negative thoughts away and deciding that he should just work with whatever obstacles are thrown at him, he nodded at Emily. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Nodding as well, Emily swam upwards, just high enough for her to see the top of Jin's head. Carefully and slowly, she placed the crown on the bed of the blonde's hair and almost instantly, there was a ripple of waves that nearly swept her off her feet.

Jin trembled a bit at the power that surged through his limbs, eyes glowing a bright color and matching his gem, which now a Vredeian inscription in it. King. The stone on his crown was now glowing a powerful blue color. Looking around, he watched as the castle became brighter, the water clearer and more refreshing. He couldn't see what was happening outside but he felt there was a huge cha—

A loud sound of shatter rock suddenly rang throughout the area, shocking the two so much that they jumped in their own skin. Dust was coming from the entrance to the secret passage. Jin gritted his teeth and raised a hand, a bit stunned by how the trident had come to him as it was magnetized, before standing in front of Emily in a protective stance.

Jin kept his stance until the dust faded, revealing who he was facing. When he realized who it was, he nearly burst into laughter. The first person he noticed was Namjoon, whose eyes were dark brown, fist raised with fingers pointing to the right as rubble littered around him, Yoongi mirroring the pose at his left side with the most unamused expression ever. Jungkook was making some strange pose that closely imitated the thinker statue in between the two, looking serious for some odd reason. Below him was Jimin, who looked like he was trying to pose like a martial artist even though he didn't have legs at the moment, both arms raised and hands pointed downwards.

"Fear the wrath of the Single Men Club!," Jimin's voice boomed and the fact that he had a perfectly straight face made Jin want to die of laughter at that very moment. He would have if he hadn't just killed someone. Yoongi flinched inwardly at the sudden noise, almost breaking the formation. "Taste our scales, Queen!"

For a whole minute, there was a moment of silence, the single men club still retaining their poses. Jin and Emily stared at them blankly, unsure whether they should laugh at their randomness or at how stupid they looked at the moment. Finally, Namjoon broke the silence. "Wait, where are Queen Daphne and Princess Lilith?"

Jin opened his mouth to try and come up with a professional sounding way of explaining that he had killed them both but Emily beat him to it with a shrug. "They're dead."

"Wait, what?," Yoongi hissed, finally breaking out of his pose with pursed lips as he rolled his shoulders with loud grunts. "So all that last second practicing was pointless? I can't believe I agreed to this stupid thing."

"Hey! I didn't know that they were already defeated!," Jimin defended, his arms crossed over his chest and lips forming into an evident pout. "Besides, this is our first club activity! We officially welcome you to the club, Yoongi."

Whilst Yoongi whispered something amongst the lines of I want to fucking die, Namjoon noticed that Jungkook was still in his thinking pose, eyebrows scrunched together, fingers pinching the bridge of his own nose. "Jungkook, you can stop posing now."

"I'm not posing," Jungkook replied monotonously, making Namjoon stare back blankly.

"Can you idiots move out of the way?," Taehyung hissed, Jungkook instantly scooting away the moment he heard the darkness gem bearer's voice. The eel swam into the scene, snake staff in hand, you and Hoseok closely following behind him. "I told you it was a stupid idea, Jimin."

"For once, I actually agree with the snake," Yoongi shrugged with crossed arms, earning a look from both you and Taehyung. Jin sighed loudly since he knew the meaning behind those words.

"I'm an eel," Taehyung deadpanned with squinted purple eyes, the tension in the water thickening. Jin gulped, Emily's grip on his arm threatening.

"Did you not think I knew that, you motherf—"

"Hold up!," Hoseok exclaimed, his awkward expression telling Jin that he had cut off the conversation on purpose, which the water gem bearer was thankful for. The angelfish pointed forward towards the blonde. "Jin, you've reclaimed Tranen!"

"Uh... yeah," Jin replied slowly, not really knowing what to say since Hoseok was obviously just blabbering to cut the tension, although Taehyung and Yoongi were still glaring at each other.

"Which means we only have Vlam, Hemel and Hel left. We've got like a month and a half left too. We can definitely pull this off," You said with a smile, sighing in relief, katana and shield still in your hands. Suddenly, chants and cheers could be heard from above. It didn't take a second for Jin to realize what was going on inside the castle. "Jin... I think you should show yourself to the Traneians."

"Yeah," Emily nodded and gave Jin a warm smile. "They should know who the true king is."

Jin smiled before inhaling deeply. He definitely knew what he was going to say. Raising his hand, he unconsciously rubbed the crown on his head before nodding and grabbing Emily's hand. "Em, you should come with me. Tranen needs to meet their future queen too."

Emily's eyes widened, her cheeks turning beet red as you snickered behind her. Jin laughed as the protector continuously slapped his shoulders, which was more amusing than painful. "I hate you."

Jin smiled. "I know."

-

Emily considered the title of Tranen's queen as a huge upgrade from her status as your protector, although she still preferred being a warrior, but thankfully the kingdom accepted her with open arms. Still, she was a proud of Jin because of how he had changed for the better during his journey to reclaim Tranen. He had recited a long speech about equality, confidence and the importance of one's role in society, which moved most of the Traneians to tears. Now, they were gathered in front of Greta, in preparation to travel towards Vlam, Yoongi's kingdom of fire.

"Your Highness... are you sure about this?," Alec questioned with a raised brow and fiddled with the crown on top of his head. Emily stared as Jin gave the squid a warm smile, both hands folded over his stomach. "I may not be the best choice as Tranen's temporary ruler."

"Nonsense, Alec, you're perfect for the job!," Jin exclaimed with another smile and clasped his hands together. Emily nodded in agreement. "The way you handled the rebels tells me that you're a great leader and since you came from the village, I'm sure that you aren't self-privileged like how Daphne was. Besides, the Traneians like you. You're a good man, I mean, squid."

Alec chuckled and shook his head a bit at the pun before turning towards the person who was quietly standing next to him. Witch Cassandra was watching them with a smile, pointed teeth sparkling along with the small light floating over her head. Emily was honestly still a bit terrified by how the anglerfish looked. "I... thank you again for saving my grandmother."

Oh?

"Grandmo— wait what?," Hoseok suddenly spoke from the side, pushing through Jin and nearly giving Emily heart attack. The air gem bearer squinted his eyes as he glanced back and forth between Alec and Witch Cassandra. "Dear Lord, I can't even fathom this! An anglerfish being the grandmother of a squid. Assuming that Witch Cassandra's husband is also a squid, not even the Punnet Square can explain why the mixture of genes isn't evident in Alec's bir—"

"Hoseok, you're barfing words again," You said with a small, Jimin giggling lightly next to you. Emily was confused because she didn't understand a thing that Hoseok said.

"Relax, angelfish. I am merely Alec's adoptive grandmother. You don't have to worry about our gene pool," Witch Cassandra chuckled at the flabbergasted Hoseok before facing Jin and Emily with a toothy grin. She then bowed, nearly folding her body in half. "I would like to thank you for saving our kingdom again. Thanks to you, Tranen is finally at peace. My gift to you is in the cakes I gave you and your friends. From now on, all of you will understand Vredeian."

"Thank Macht," Taehyung whispered, obviously tired of being a translator to most of the people in his team.

"Thank you," Jin bowed back, Emily doing the same.

"Grandma, you could have escaped on your own, right?," Alec then questioned, making Emily stare at the squid and anglerfish. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I knew that they were coming and I knew that they needed my help," Witch Cassandra with a smile and glanced at Greta behind them. "Now, you lot should go before the spell fades away. We don't want anyone drowning, do we?"

Emily chuckled a bit and nodded. "Of course. Thank you again."

Alec and Witch Cassandra nodded before Jin turned around, a hand on Emily's waist. The Traneians were all waving at them. Taehyung used purple mist to switch on the lever to open the ship and the moment they stepped into Greta, right after the water subsided and spilled into the ocean, their tails faded away into sea foam, their legs returning. Emily was glad that they still had their clothes on.

"Oh legs, I missed you so much," Jimin was curled on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. "I don't ever want to be a shark again."

"It was much worse being a koi," You commented while shivering badly. Both Yoongi and Taehyung were staring at you, making Emily shake her head. "Especially because of the queen and the princess."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually missed my wings," Jungkook was wildly flapping his wings, spraying drops of water everywhere.

"That... was honestly so weird," Namjoon was rubbing his thighs, jeans dripping wet along with the rest of his body. Due to that, he was shivering, purple hair matted over his forehead. "It's like I didn't have a di—"

"Before anyone says anything foul, we should dry up," Hoseok spoke up, thank God, whilst hugging himself. Emily glanced around, seeing everyone trembling in the cold and dripping wet, with the exception of on person. Yoongi was ruffling his hair, which was now dry, steam rising from the rest of his body. Then, the air gem bearer's eyes turned green as he opened his palms, strong gusts of wind blowing inside. It took less than a minute for them to be dry. "There you go."

Yoongi caught the look on Jungkook's face, his lips curling into a snarl as the angel bent his knees, in preparation to fly. "No. No! Jungkook, don't you da—"

Too late. Jungkook already flew towards Yoongi, colliding with the fire gem bearer as he embraced him in a tight hug, the two falling to the ground. The angel released a groan of satisfaction as everyone laughed except Taehyung, who just stared blankly. "So warm."

"Get off me before I burn your feathers."

"I dare you."

"You little—"

As Yoongi and Jungkook bickered, Emily turned towards Jin whilst blowing a raspberry to adjust to the cold. Before she could say anything, however, Taehyung stepped forward and spoke up first. "We're wasting time. Just across is the ocean is the industrial city of Vlam. Everyone get their asses to the deck."

"Who pissed in your cereal this morning?," Jimin asked with a snicker, earning a sharp glare from Taehyung.

"Just get going," Taehyung hissed before snapping his fingers, putting on a completely new set clothes before stomping up the stairs. Emily assumed that he didn't like damp clothes. Jimin shrugged and followed as Jungkook sighed loudly, Yoongi staring with fiery eyes.

Emily was making her way to the stairs to follow suit but was stopped by Jin, who suddenly grabbed her arm. She turned around, confused. "Hey, Em... you should have this."

Jin took out a small piece of paper from his pocket, which was folded into half. Emily took it, wondering how it didn't dissolve in the water, before tilting her head at it. "What's this?"

"Mathilde gave it to me before we left Aarde," Jin spoke slowly and rubbed his own nape. "She said to give it to you when it's the right time and... I think now is. She said it's for your eyes only and that you should read it alone. I'll meet you upstairs after you finish, 'kay sweetie?"

Emily nodded as Jin kissed her forehead and disappeared up the stairs. She stared at the paper in her hands, absolutely confused because she couldn't think of any reason why Mathilde would need to give her a letter. A feeling of dread filled her gut, as if this letter was going to change her whole life, and it took all the courage of a warrior to open it. Sitting on the floor, she read every word quietly to herself. It was in English too, which was weird. Maybe the spell could make her understand Vredeian writing too.

To Emily Jaager,

You may only know me as the rebel leader of Aarde but I promise you that I am much, much more than you think. I gave this letter to your boyfriend because I knew that he would give it to you at the right time. He is a good man, an ideal husband.

Emily chuckled at this, cheeks turning pink at the thought of Jin becoming her husband in the future. She shook her head and continued to read.

I... also have no courage to face you. Every second I spend around you fuels the guilt in my heart. I did not want to send you away to a foreign land but it was what I needed to do to keep you safe during the war in my kingdom. I apologize for ruining your childhood. I apologize for not being there as you grew into the beautiful lady you are now. You have your father's eyes. You remind me so much of him.

I love you, my daughter. I apologize for not telling you myself but I love you. I, your mother, even when not around, will always be there to guide you. Find me in the stars and in your heart. Continue to move forward and never look back.

Until we cross our paths again,

Mathilde Jaager

Emily stared at the letter blankly, not knowing what to do or say. She was more frustrated than surprised, the letter crumpling in her hands as her emotions mixed violently inside her, confusing her. What was she supposed to think? Should she be happy about her mother's sudden appearance? Was it right for her to still feel angry?

Since Emily had no idea how she was going to silently express her emotions, she decided to train instead. Looking around, her eyes caught a spare pipe lying on the ground. She grabbed it before disappearing up the flight of stairs.

-

A/N - unedited 6k words : ) I'm so sorry for the late upload but I won't be able to update next week because of my finals :((( but after that I'll be free for a month which means more updates!!

Jin's arc has officially come to a close! Emily's hasn't ohoho and Yoongi's kingdom is up next! Expect lots of cameos and weaponry!

Also yes! Mathilde is Emily's mom! It was hinted by the rebel group being women warriors while Emily herself is a female warrior hehe and Mathilde and Emily both have archery as their specialty too hmm

Anyways, expect lots of feels in Yoongi's arc as I tackle post-break up coping, the trauma of abuse and abandonment issues! See y'all in the next chap!