A/N: So...I started college!

It's...wow. So busy.

And it's getting colder here. And very rainy.

At least I like the rain.

Also, if you want any music suggestions, I would highly suggest the album Norman Fucking Rockwell by Lana Del Rey. It's one of my fav albums <3

thanks for reading :)

~ izzy ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir, there's someone here from Laurel Castle who wishes to speak with you." the servant stood patiently in the doorway as the blonde set Rose down on the floor. "They say it's pretty urgent."

"Urgent?" Taehyung stood up from his bed, his night gown made of silk brushing Rose's back. "Did I read your lips correctly?"

The servant nodded, smiling when the little silver-haired toddler rushed at him with her tiny arms out. They wrapped around the servant's legs and she squealed when he bent down to lift her up.

"Ah, Miss Kim Rose. Lovely to see you so early this morning."

"Yeah!" Rose's voice dripped with the innocence that all three-year-old's possess. "Good morning, sir! Tae was flying me like a airplaene!"

The servant laughed, ruffling Rose's hair slightly. "Sweetie, that sounds fun! Would it be alright if I played airplane with you for a while? Tae-erm, Mr. Kim has to attend to something."

Rose looked over her shoulder at Taehyung with a little disappointment in the way her lips sagged. The servant tickled her sides, bringing her attention back to him. "Just a few minutes, hon."

"Yes, Red--it won't be long-" Taehyung said while stepping closer to them. "I just need to speak with someone. I'll come back and we can play duck, duck, goose some more, yeah?"

Rose nodded against the servant's shoulder, a cheesy smile pressing into the black fabric of the man's suit. "Okay, daddy."

The servant gave the blonde a thumbs up to deliver the message. Taehyung stepped towards his closet while humming a tuneless song, letting the servant know that he was glad his daughter's entertainment was ensured.

After the man left with his daughter, Taehyung launched himself at the closet doors, ecstatic to pick out a posh outfit for the day. Sure, he should've been worrying about the frantic news he was likely to receive, but at the moment his eyes were drawn against the blues and creams in his wardrobe.

"Perhaps...a cream tunic embroidered with gold threads--ah! Where did I put that turquoise cloak? Where are my snakeskin pants?"

The blonde's unrestrained joy led him to make a complete mess out of his closet--tossing unwanted clothing pieces across his messy bed. If Jungkook was there, he would surely be irritated by the other's sporadic, messy behavior. But the other couldn't help it; it was in his genes to be a tad impulsive, a tad indecisive about what he wanted. The ravenette would tease him about it from time to time, but Taehyung knew that the Oak Prince enjoyed the daily surprises--being always on edge spiced things up in their relationship.

"Ughh...if only Kook could see me in this now..." the blonde admired his side profile in the bedroom's grand mirror hanging on the side wall. His proportions deliciously complimented the stray locks of golden hair sticking up naturally. Today, he was wearing a fluffy cream-colored tunic dancing with sparkles of long golden threads. Covering his legs were smooth black scales of snakes caught in the south--from an extremely rare strain of cobra. To complete the look, a body-length blue overcoat flowed effortlessly down his slender back--attached at his neck with a dapper bow that he had tied himself.

His reflection posed back to him joyously. All he needed to do now was pick out some matching black boots and put on some eyeliner and oils for good measure. Then, he would be ready for...

Ready for...

Why was he getting dressed?

"Hmmmmm..." the blonde plopped on the messy, clothing-covered bed and thought. "Wha-oh yeah! A Laurel servant wants to talk with me..."

They say it's pretty urgent.

Eonjin? Oh no...

Thoughts of his sister rushed through his mind. He hadn't seen Eonjin in a few months, not since they got into a huge fight. A fight about her and Florian's upcoming wedding. He hoped his sister didn't send a messenger to uninvite him from the wedding...boy would that hurt his ego. Being uninvited to his own sister's wedding? What could be worse?

But he didn't have time to think negatively about what could happen. First he needed to see what...or who came all the way from the Laurel Castle to deliver news.

"Eonjin, I'm still going to this wedding..." Taehyung mumbled as he finished getting ready. "Or I won't let you babysit Rose anymore!"

His voice carried into the hallway outside of his and Jungkook's shared room, but he couldn't hear it. In his silent (and cranky) bliss, the handsome husband to a prince of Noirwood stalked over to the nightstand by the bed. His tan hands pulled the drawer open and he picked out a familiar black bottle that brought him the much comfort he needed.

After applying a spritz of Jungkook's rich, musky oil to his wrists, the blonde felt less alone. He was in much better spirits as he exited the room to meet with someone who could possibly...change everything.

* * *

Wren's raspy voice echoed in the lengthy tunnel. "Prince Jeon, there's no one in this room. You can head in now."

Jungkook's face popped into the entryway of the first room branching off of the fourth tunnel. Swinging his oil lamp in front of him for visibility, he cautiously crept into what looked like a living room. Unlike the rest of the other rooms in the underground tunnels, this room was inexplicably dry--not a single drip splashed the ravenette's face.

"This...wow. When was this furniture made? The 1500's?" The Oak Prince stepped up next to an ancient purple velvet armchair. Its sides were peeling and it was sunken in from use, but the cushions were intact. At a closer look, the ravenette noticed that the surface was free of dust.

"I don't know...I'd guess this furniture dates back to the 1500's. I'm surprised it doesn't smell that strongly of rot in here..."

Jungkook waved the oil lamp to a pristine, jewel-encased mirror. His reflection spooked him a bit, but he recovered quickly. "The family takes really good care of this stuff, that's for sure. Everything is clean and orderly...but who would want to live in the complete dark? That seems a bit-"

"Stupid."

Wren eyed the room with disgust. He came upon a child's bed in the corner of the room after avoiding a coffee table with three place mats and intricate carvings. "What...why would...does this 'family' have a child?"

The ravenette stepped closer to the bed, leaning down to examine the covers. Red hairs? Long, red hairs? "This bed is currently occupied. They must have a child..."

The tiny bed brought memories to the prince's mind. Memories of his own, made with the daughter his husband was now watching.

He missed Rose...

"I think I'm going to check the other room in the hallway, Wren, if it's okay with you. I'll promise to shout if anything seems awry. Okay?"

The younger didn't wait for Wren's approval before he started towards the exit, too nauseated to continue examining the child's bed against the side wall of the dark cave. That was child abuse! Holding a minor in a location of such dark and cold circumstances...it made Jungkook want to flee just thinking about it. What if that was his own Rose down there?

"Okay, but I see you'd go anyway--regardless of what I'd say...and I see you're going now..." Wren grumbled at the ravenette's back. "Just be careful and don't touch anything, Prince Jeon!"

The Oak Prince hurried out, glad when he was back in the smooth rock hallway, edging to the far end of the space. He wasn't claustrophobic, but in such tight spaces he forced himself to mentally repeat a mantra so as not to panic.

Roses are Red, Laurels are blonde-

He was cut off by the sudden intrusion of a soft rumble echoing through the cave system. Perhaps the Stone Soldiers were working to remove the water in the mummy room? He didn't know...all he knew was that the rumbling noise acted as a soothing source of white noise that distracted him form his current situation.

As he approached the end of the tunnel where the last room was supposed to be, the rumbling intensified. Must be at hard work down there...

The ravenette scooted towards the last room, clutching tightly to his lamp. Shadows flowed across the wall like evil spirits rushing out to get him. He normally wasn't a jumpy person, but he had no idea what to expect out of such a mysterious place. His pulse pounded in his ears as he reached the base of a staircase.

"What?" he breathed out raggedly. In the spot of a door was a staircase leading up to...God knew where. Lifting each foot to carry him up the stairwell took physical effort that left him panting. Stair after stair presented itself in his path; soon he was questioning whether the stairs were looped, whether he was above sea-level or not, whether he was walking into heaven itself. His thighs began to burn and his wrist was aching from grabbing the oil lamp handle so tightly.

"Roses...a-are Red...Laurels...are..." by now he was struggling to catch his breath, a combination of fatigue and anxiety combating his athletic capacity. At long last, he spied a door at the top of the centuries-long flight of stairs.

"Fucking finally!"

As he turned the knob to the inconspicuous door, he realized that he could no longer hear the rumbling sound. He was too far above the cave system to hear anything, he guessed.

As the door pushed open, dread began to flood into his nervous system. Would Wren be able to hear him? Did the soldiers really travel all the way up these flights of stairs to check if anybody was up here?

The ravenette shivered at the thought, hesitantly stepping into the room. His boots seemed to catch on the stone floor with each shuffle they took toward the end of the...

The hideout?

The room he had entered was small, only about half the size of his and Taehyung's shared room. A neatly made bed was pushed against the wall. A wardrobe filled with dark clothing sat open in the opposite corner. A vanity--with tiny objects lying strewn on its polished wooden surface--was next to a night stand that supported a vial of-

Flowers?

The Oak Prince hurried to the side table, nose brushing against the purplish flowers to ensure their existence. Yes, a scent definitely was there, they felt smooth and soft against his skin--definitely real. Sweet-smelling and purply...what strain of flower was this?

He stood there, pondering what kind of flower was in this person's room, when something caught his eye. A sparkling, silvery piece of jewelry sat on the wardrobe he had walked right past. He picked it up, rolling the familiar object in between his fingers. Where had he seen this before?

The rumbling, softly but surely, started back up again. Pricking his ears up, he realized that its intensity was increasing rapidly. Unconsciously, the Oak Prince began to gnaw on his lower lip.

Something was off.

He couldn't put his finger on it--until his finger was in it. The ring he held in his palm slid onto his middle finger easily, next to the wedding band him and Taehyung each had. He had seen this ring, and many like it, before.

On Jimin.

"Ohhhh...oh holy-"

"I'm sorry, Jungkook."

The voice came from the darkness enveloping him. The prince whipped around, almost dropping the oil lamp on the stone floor. His eyes desperately searched the room for signs of the half-demon, who was no where to be found. The rumbling was almost deafening at this point; the ravenette needed to shout just to be able to hear his own voice.

"Jimin?! Where are you?!"

As an answer, the wall began to shift behind him. The Oak Prince almost peed his pants as natural light flooded the room. Squinting his eyes against the sharp brightness of daylight, he realized his previous thought of climbing up a mountain wasn't far off from reality.

Standing in the secret doorway behind the vase of purple flowers was Jimin. Behind Jimin was a grand overlook of the wastelands from a very, very high altitude. Jungkook gasped.

"What...how...what do you mean you're sorry?"

The white-haired man waved at Jungkook to exit the cave via the hidden door. As the ravenette reached down to place the ring back in its spot, Jimin clucked his tongue. "Don't. Keep it."

With shaky hands and an even shakier heartbeat pattern, the ravenette pocketed the ring before shuffling towards the open air that was blowing his black locks around. Jimin nodded solemnly as the Oak Prince stepped around the flowers and stood next to Jimin on the outside. The rumbling had reached its peak, shaking the bones of both boys with its intensity. Jungkook couldn't hold back his question.

"What is that sound?"

He turned to face Jimin, whose black-marked arms wrapped around his torso protectively, as if he were holding himself together. As his red eyes briefly flicked onto Jungkook's, the sorrow in them was evident. "You just...just have to be so curious...and stubborn."

A sad laugh came out from his lips.

"What is that supposed to mean-"

"Look, Jungkook." Jimin turned back to the open door that led back into the bedroom.

His bedroom--his home.

"I'm sorry. I can't...I'm being watched and you don't know how much it hurts me-"

Suddenly, the rumbling ended, resulting in a roaring silence. Ears ringing, Jungkook noticed a figure rising out of the ground in the distance. Right behind the three charred trees that marked the entrance of the tunnels. The figure was crawling in the pool of water that flooded from the stump in the ground, trying to get away from whatever horrors he had faced in the tunnel.

Jungkook cried out with disbelief.

"FLORIAN?! Oh fuck! Jimin--what...was that water? Was that a flood?"

The Oak Prince began to put the pieces together. Rumbling...water? Did the water table in the mummy room rise? Some sort of trap...?

"I knew he'd make it out." The half-demon sighed, walking back into the cave. Before Jungkook's eyes, the door began to shut as the half-demon pushed it close.

"WHAT? JIMIN, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNEW--DID YOU KNOW THIS WOULD HAPPEN? IS THE WHOLE TUNNEL SYSTEM FLOODED? DID...DID YOU-"

"I'm sorry."

The door closed shut.

+ + + + +