A/N: Wow, the first Bannermen book hit 12K today!

I'm so excited! 

Lol anyway,

the story continues so

I'll shut up :P

Izzy.

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

Jimin left the Stone Castle happy with the outcome of his and Florian's conversation. He pranced along the exterior of the large castle walls, joyously stealing glances of the huge stone statue of himself and giggling. 

Why, he didn't look like that at all now! He looked even better, was even stronger now!

For once, Jimin felt hope coursing through his veins. Florian was a great help to him, and now the only thing they were battling was the clock. The half-demon knew this would work out, because in the past it had saved them during war. This one thing, indispensible and rather over-looked-

Jungkook's brain.

The Oak Prince hardly had time to invent things now, to tap into his true potential. As a father and a ruler, Jungkook's research/mechanic side had stepped into the shadows to make room for more important things, and Jimin needed to pull that person back out. 

"Jimin...after what you did at the wedding, Jungkook probably will refuse." 

Florian warned him. The half-blood knew this though...knew how to get around it.

"Don't worry, I know something that will force him to help me..."

Jimin rushed past an on-duty Stone Soldier and headed south for the Oak Castle.

*     *     *

Rose shifted uncomfortably in her bed. 

It was around midnight, not that she knew that as she shivered against the covers in her small, specially decorated bed. The bed was a light hue of red, with silver sparkles trailing down the sides. Taehyung had helped her specially design it one night as they sat on her bedroom floor.

"Do you want red and silver for your bed, hon?" 

Rose cheered happily. Anything that involved red and silver interested her naturally. Not that she really had any strong personal taste for the colors, but as an impressionable child, her fathers' association of her with these colors rubbed off on her. 

"Yes! Silverrrr rrreeedddd! Ssoooo pretty! Pretty pretty!"

Her small fingers had traced along the wet paints that Taehyung was using to design the piece of furniture on his sketchpad. The messy paints brought an excited smile to her lips and she asked her dad to let her try to paint. After reprimanding her for touching the wet paints, the blonde was more than happy to let her try out painting. 

"You can paint whatever you want, Rosey. Just be careful not to spill on the ground, okay?"

The memories offered her no comfort as her small hands wrapped uselessly around the cold bedframe. Shivers cut through her already thin body, and the covers gave her no protection from the chill entering through the window.

She sat up and groaned. Tears started to build up in her eyes as the need for a parent bulit up in her system. 

She was just so cold. She needed someone to hold her and warm her up. The amount of nights she spent restlessly cold and unable to warm up was increasing in frequency. 

"Daddy!" She choked out in a low whine. Of course no one would hear her this late at night...they were all sleeping next door and she should just lay back down and try to go to sleep again, right?

Rose whimpered as she pulled the covers as tight as possible against her body. "Daddyyyyyyyyy..." A tear slipped down her cheek as her nose started to run.

Then, hands were being wrapped around her. She flinched, because the door had not even opened yet, and even if she was young she knew that that could only mean one thing-

"J-Jimin?"

As she was lifted, she turned her head to meet a warm pair of red eyes gazing calmly down at her. "Yes, honey...I'm here."

Rose buried her face into his shirt, which smelled of cinnamon. The tears and snot wiped off on his clothing, but he didn't mind. 

"Where is daddy? Where is Tae? Did you fly through the window?" Rose sniffled and wrapped her tiny fingers around his neck.

The half-demon placed a finger over his lips, to quiet her down. He continued to sooth her in a soft whisper, the hands supporting her weight heating up to warm her to a comfortable temperature. Although the child suspected nothing of him, Jimin was helping calm her down and warm her up through his emotional powers.

"They are sleeping, but I'm here to help you, okay baby? We are going to go on a short trip away from here. Your fathers will come too, later on. Think of it like a fun adventure! While we travel there you can sleep, okay?"

Rose listened attentively. The tears had all but dried up now, her complexion a lot less stressed than before. The blanket was bunched at her side, useless. Her body was dependent upon the heat radiating from Jimin's powers.

"Yes, Jimin. I...think I'm slleeeppyyy."

She laid her silver hair down upon one of his shoulders as he whispered in her ear.

"That's it Rose...go to sleep."

A small pulse of blue floated around her eyes before she succumbed to the slumber grasping at her mind. Jimin released a sigh of relief when he felt her breath steadily fanning against his neck.

The half-demon smiled at how cute his daughter was and planted a warm kiss against her temple before leaning over her bed. With a free hand he reached into the back pocket of his black pants to pull out a note he had written beforehand. A note made out to the two 'fathers' of Rose, who had yet to discover their daughter missing from her bed.

So much for 'never seeing Rose' ever again.

Jimin smirked. No amount of security could keep him out. All it took was a little manipulation of the guards patrolling the outside of the castle and he was good to go. After tucking the note face up under a corner of Rose's tear-stained pillow, the half-blood walked back to the window and gazed out. 

"It's going to be a long drop baby...hold on tight..." He caressed her silver locks before clutching her small body closer to himself. 

And jumped.

*     *     *

Taehyung rolled to the side of the bed, only to be met with the bare chest of a shirtless Jungkook. He opened his eyes and closely watched the way his lover's chest rose and fell against the back lighting of the sunrise glaring brightly through the window. 

It made him feel better inside, knowing that the Oak Prince and him were on good terms. He missed Jungkook actively, even if their quarrel only lasted a few days...it felt like forever to the blonde. 

He rolled over to check the pocket watch on the dresser, which read 6:43. Normally Taehyung was a keen over-sleeper and refused to get up anytime before nine. Unlike Jungkook, he didn't need to be in meetings or fight against deadlines to keep the kingdom in check. He did things on his own time, which usually meant getting plenty of beauty sleep.

But for some reason, he couldn't sleep. Something odd was tugging at his stomach, telling him that he needed to get out of bed. Maybe because he wasn't used to waking up this early? Maybe it was the leftover adrenaline from last night, when the two lovers had-

No. Something was wrong.

Taehyung pushed himself off of the bed, careful not to wake the ravenette next to him. He pulled on a robe that was hanging nearby their shared bed and wrapped it around himself. 

Boy, was it chilly in the morning!

The blonde tied it tight around his waist and inched to the door, hoping he wasn't being too loud. Since he didn't know how loud he was being, Taehyung could only hope he was quiet. He turned the door handle and felt it click under his fist. 

Shit. 

He turned around to peek around his shoulder, but Jungkook's covered figure hadn't stirred. Taehyung internally relaxed and entered the hallway barefoot. He gave a small smile to a passing servant in the hall who immediately bowed to him.

"Good morning, Lord Kim."

An uneasy smile plastered itself to the blonde's face as he muttered "morning" back to the over joyous servant. For some reason, the atmosphere felt off today. Instinctively, he went to check on Rose, walking slowly to the door that seemed to be calling out his name. 

Upon opening the door, he tiptoed into the room. 

It hit him like a brick to the face. That smell.

Taehyung couldn't hear, but he could smell a lingering cinnamon floating around the small room-

"Oh no. NO no no!"

Taehyung ran to the bed, which he found empty. The blonde tossed the covers around angrily, heart dropping lower in his chest when he realized she wouldn't suddenly appear within them. His hand slid against a paper object, and he froze.

Panting heavily, Taehyung grasped the letter in shaky hands. He unfolded the neatly lined paper to reveal a message in a handwriting all-too-familiar to him.

"No, fuck no!" Taehyung didn't care how loud he was being at this point. His daughter was missing and he knew exactly who was the cause of it. All he had left was to find out why.

The words blurred against the cream-colored paper as he anxiously read them out loud. 

I'm sure this wasn't a pleasant surprise for you two at all. Trust me, if I was in your shoes, I would be panicking as well. But you have nothing to worry about, as she is in the best hands with me. Obviously I wouldn't hurt my own blood...but if you want to see her again, you have to do as I say. 

You've made this too hard for me. You both view me as the enemy, but we have bigger monsters to fight...like my father. Florian is on my side in this...doesn't that say something? Jungkook, you have to help me as well, I can't do it without you.

Unless you never want to see Rose again, meet me at the dueling spot at 9 AM. The same field from years ago, you remember--don't you? 

(If you're reading this, Taehyung...please relay the message. I'm not trying to steal Jungkook away from you. I'm not a bad person.)

Signed,

You know who.

"FUCK!" 

Taehyung turned to rush out of the room to share the letter with Jungkook when the other appeared at the doorway wearing nothing but his boxers.

The ravenette paused sleepily at the doorway, confused as to why his husband was awake, why he was being so noisy and why--

"Where is Rose?" The Oak Prince's face paled as the look in Taehyung's eyes confirmed his suspicions.

"Here here! Read this letter, Kook! Jimin left it that fucking piece of good for nothing shit-"

Jungkook rushed over to him, mouth open in shock. He snatched the letter from the blonde's hand before he could give it over and studied it intensely. Taehyung watched the ravenette's face fall as he read through, brows furrowing. When he was finished, he glanced up from the letter at the wall in front of him, blank-faced.

"Why...me?"

The blonde grabbed worriedly at his head, shaking it hard. "I don't know I don't know I don't know! Why did he h-have to t-take Rose and-"

Jungkook reached out and pulled Taehyung closer to him. "It's okay, Taehyung. He's right, Rose is safe with him. He won't maltreat her...we don't have to worry about that at least."

The blonde exhaled. "But...he's being so selfish! I don't give a shit about his damned family problems! He doesn't need to blackmail us by kidnapping Rose and scaring the fuck out of us! Jimin can deal with his dad on his own."

Jungkook's grip tensed along Taehyung's shoulder. "If only it was that easy, Tae. I don't know what he wants with me, but something about the situation must be serious...you read it too-"

"Yeah," Taehyung escaped from his husband's hold and stormed off to get dressed. "Florian's on his side too. But since when have I trusted Florian?"

Jungkook frowned, following after the blonde. Once they had both returned to their rooms and were pulling on random clothes as fast as they could, the ravenette spoke. "When have you trusted Eonjin? I mean, c'mon. Those two trust Jimin more than we do and they don't seem to have any problems."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up. My sister is pregnant with a fucking demon and her husband doesn't even know it's not his. Isn't that a pretty big fucking problem?"

Jungkook buttoned up a blue blazer as he slid his shoes on. "Not unless he finds out it isn't his."

Taehyung stopped for a second, an angry pout molded onto his face. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. Jungkook gave him a funny look as he struggled to put his belt through the loops of his pants because he was cracking up too hard.

"Gosh! HAHAHAH! The way you make it sound a-as if HAHAHAHAHAH! Who's going to tell him?! HAHHAHAHAHAH oh no, Jungkook, I think I'm so stressed I'm fucking dying I HAHAHAHAH it's so funny!!! What the fuck are we doing here? AHAH Rose isn't even our child and she's half-demon for FUCKS SAKE HAAHAHAHA!"

Jungkook watched carefully as the blonde lowered himself onto the floor, wracked with heavy peals of laughter that kept coming. It wasn't until they turned into sobs that the ravenette rushed over and bent down next to his husband. Taehyung's breathing was thick and heavy as his laughter became pained, accompanied by loud sobs and small, choking sounds. 

"Taehyung..."

The blonde pushed away his husband's attempts at comfort, shooting straight up to a standing position. He wiped his face aggresively and brushed the hair from his face. 

"N-no. I can't...we don't have time...we n-need to go to the spot NOW. I'm not g-going to wait until nine to g-get my daughter back."

Turning on his heel with the ravenette in his stead, Taehyung sniffled as he exited their shared bedroom to reclaim his daughter from a demon.

*     *     *

When Jungkook and Taehyung arrived at the deserted duel site from years ago, Jungkook couldn't help but be reminded of the events that had happened in that very field. When Taehyung and Jimin were both princes, battling to prove nothing but who was the stronger and more able prince...

Now, Jungkook was the only original prince left. 

His tired and anxious eyes peeled the land for any signs of Jimin or Rose, but it was empty. Taehyung stood shivering next to him, probably thinking the same things as him.

Thinking of what happened here last time...

"Yield," Jimin demanded, hardly showing signs of exertion give for the small sweat beads forming at his forehead.

Taehyung eyed the swords that were dangerously close to his face in denial. His eyes met Jimin's grayish ones, which showed no sign of any emotion. 

"Say it," Jimin spit out at the man under his swords-

Taehyung paced around the exterior of the field, paying little attention to the dirt that was covering his polished, fashionable snakeskin boots. Jungkook remembered more of what happened that day as the memory flooded in. 

"I yield to no one," Taehyung said flatly before sheathing the sword and walking away in the direction of his carriage.

Taehyung would not say the words to Jimin.

He would not give the gray haired male that satisfaction. 

A twinge of sadness flew through the ravenette as he remembered the words, clear as day, exiting the Laurel Prince's mouth. Even after everything that had happened over the years, Taehyung hadn't changed that much. 

Fuck, the entire situation had hardly changed. 

Here they were, on this same field. Here Taehyung was, waiting to talk back to Jimin.

But two important things were different...and those were Rose's birth and Jimin's death. And of course, his rebirth as a demon. 

Jungkook closed his eyes against memory lane and wished he would've brought a thicker coat. It was a freezing cold late November day...he hoped Rose was warm wherever she was with Jimin. 

As if the thought brought him to life, the half-blood appeared seemingly out of thin air, walking calmly out from the bordering strand of dead trees. Jungkook's heart began racing extra hard as those red eyes centered on him. Taehyung hadn't noticed Jimin's presence yet until Jungkook pointed him out. Rose was no where to be seen. 

Taehyung's head whipped to the half-demon. "Where is Rose!? You promised-"

"Oh don't worry." Jimin's lithe demon form approached the two males on the other side of the field. His light footsteps and airy voice were so captivating, no matter how hard the Oak Prince tried to focus on other things. "She's sleeping soundly in a carriage not too far from here. Finally warm as a little bean, how cute she is when she sleeps!"

Jungkook opened his mouth to protest, but realized with great conflicting emotions that nothing Jimin had just said bothered him. Taehyung, however, took a step forward.

"How is she possibly safe alone there! What were you thinking!? Where is she, I'll go and get-"

The half-blood held up a hand. "You won't be able to find it. I put sensory camouflague around the carriage to protect her. If someone passes by, they'll feel the urge to instantly avert their eyes, as if the sun was glaring at them in that spot. No one is able to find it unless they can get past the spell. I used it at the wedding, with the balcony door, but Jungkook..."

He trailed off. Jungkook was able to glance at the door just fine that night, as he was able to resist many of the half-demon's powers. Taehyung stomped a foot and bit his tongue so he wouldn't say something rude in return.

Jungkook blinked at Jimin. "So...why do you need me to help you? If Florian really is on your side like you said...why can't he just help you?"

Jimin scratched at his chin and half-smiled. "Well, to make a long answer short, he isn't smart enough to think through this--and we only have six days until my father will release his undead army on Noirwood. So I need you to help me kill him my father first, before he can unleash the army...but I don't know how to kill him...I have faith that you can figure it out though."

The Oak Prince crossed his arms. 

That's what Jimin needed him for?

"What makes you so sure? First of all, I know nothing about demonology save for a few things I've hardly read up on and that you've told me, plus...I'm not some genius or something. How do you suppose I even get rid of a race that I don't understand?"

The half-demon sighed and kicked at a loose chunk of dirt in the ground. Taehyung eyed him suspiciously as he lifted his head to gaze between them. 

"I'll...let you use me for research and experimentation, Jungkook. You can do whatever you want, hurt me, study me, anything it takes for you to find out a weakness I can use against him. Even if it's just to slow him down. I don't understand myself yet either, and although it's not the best timing, he needs to die as soon as possible-"

"You want to be a lab rat?" Taehyung blurted out incredulously. He laughed while slapping his knee. "This is unbelievable! No way sir, get out of here-"

"I'll do it."

Jimin's eyes lit up as the ravenette earned a cold look from his husband. His curiosity got the best of him as he considered Jimin's words.

The possibilities! Finding out how to get rid of demons! He could help save so many people in need and make the world fair again!

The red eyes, white hair, black arm marks! The intellectual in him cheered at the chance to study such a willing creature with such vast and unknown powers. Jungkook scruntinized the man in front of him not as Jimin, but as his next project. His next code to crack. Jimin smiled brightly, causing Taehyung to turn away, irritated. Jungkook lifted his chin towards the gray sky. 

"I know exactly where to start."

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