A/n: who wants to go on a roadtrip when Big Rona yeets

"It was Zeus, it must have been Zeus. Did you hear that sound? I'm sure it was thunder."

Yoongi shook his head. "There was no lightning. It was obviously Apollo. His son was about to be hanged and so he took away the sun. It makes sense in a way... An eye for an eye."

Taehyung leaned against the wall of the palace ballroom as he thought about Yoongi's words.

Like many other royal guests of the palace, the men were forced to remain inside the assembly hall, seeing as the guards claimed they would be 'safer' inside the palace than out. This logic however, proved quite flawed, as it left the people to do nothing but wait on a miracle that would never show.

"Well, taking the sun got him absolutely nowhere," Taehyung deadpanned. "The demigod was thrown right back into the dungeons, and he still carries a death sentence. His father has done quite the opposite of helping him if you ask me."

Yoongi stroked his chin. "That might be true... but he did awaken the people's fear of the Gods... I'd say that's at least something. The Gods have a plan, and it is clearly working. They are reminding the people of their power and if that continues... things may truly go back to the way they used to be..."

Taehyung rolled his eyes and rested the back of his head against the wall. "Hmm and let me guess... we would all be doomed if that happens?"

Jimin slowly turned his head away from the window he was sitting next to and faced his friends with tired eyes.

"The demigod is back inside the dungeons?" he asked, blinking tiredly. "Is he... Is he alive?"

Taehyung and Yoongi shared a quick glance, the both of them surprised to hear from their best friend so suddenly.

The young prince had been stuck inside his head for hours and seemed far too dazed to communicate with anyone. He stared out the window and gazed up into the darkness as though in a trance, unmoving and completely silent.

"Yes, Jiminie," Taehyung said, crouching down beside his friend. "The demigod is alive... but I don't know if we should be glad about that."

"He didn't cause this if that's what you think," Jimin said, turning his head back to the view.

Yoongi frowned. "How do you know that?"

Taehyung cocked his head in the hopes of meeting Jimin's eyes. "Jiminie... this morning you had a vision, did you not? Were you shown what caused the sky to darken? Were you shown who stole the sun?"

Jimin swallowed thickly, feeling the stares of his best friends burn into the back of his head.

Don't tell them

"All I know is that it wasn't him..." He whispered, touching the window glass with his fingertips only for a cold shiver to ambush him. "Why would Apollo take away the sun?" He asked rethorically. "It is his son's only source of power. What benefit would there be apart from scaring the people? Nothing."

Jimin turned his head back to his friends, but this time, they were the ones who averted their eyes.

Yoongi furrowed his brows deeply as he stared at the floor. "Then what was the cause? Who could be the one responsible for -"

"I need to stretch my legs."

Jimin rose from his seat and adjusted his robe around his waist. "I will be right back."

"No, Jiminie," Taehyung placed his hand on Jimin's shoulder. "I know what happened scared you, but you can't simply leave. Your brother ordered everyone to stay here and stick together. It could be dangerous to wander off on your own."

Jimin lookedat Taehyung's hand sitting on his shoulder with lifeless eyes. He felt numb, his friend's words barely reaching him as though there was a glass wall keeping them apart.

"I'll be right back, Tae," he said reassuringly. "The worst thing the gods could do to me is keep me alive."

Taehyung's lips broke apart in shock of Jimin's words, and Jimin fluttered his eyes as he repeated them in his mind.

"I - Sorry... forgive me, that was a tasteless joke."

Yoongi huffed and nudged Jimin's arm. "You really have never been the most comedic of men."

Jimin forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'll only be gone for a minute. Truly, there is no need to worry."

The prince created some distance between him and his friends when Taehyung and Yoongi gave each other a concerned look.

"Jimin... what do we tell Namjoon?"

"Tell him nothing, Tae," Jimin said as he turned around walked off. "Tell him nothing at all."

______

Where are you going?

"You know where I am going."

You shouldn't.

Jimin hurried through the dark corridors and peeked over his shoulder to check if he was being followed, wiping his hands clean on his robe though the red would not come off his fingers.

"I shouldn't?" He scoffed. "Weren't you the one who told me to make my own descisions for once? I am doing as you said. You do not get to stop me."

You are making a mistake. Your mind is troubled. Turn around.

"Be silent!" Jimin hissed. "Don't you understand I can't go back? I must do this."

You are unhinged... you are in shock. My child you have only just tasted what power feels like... what you are planning to do will not grant you what you wish. It will not lead to glory, it will not lead to power.

"I am not unhinged.... " Jimin mumbled as he tried to decide which path to take. "What happened was your fault... I do not desire any of those things! You made me do it! Your words are posion! You made me upset... y-you played with my emotions! It was your fault."

My fault? My child it is your hands that are trembling with guilt... your robe that is stained with blood.

Jimin pressed his hands against his ears and groaned as he strutted forward, choosing a corridor and running through it with determined steps.

"Leave me alone!" He roared. "I am not mad! This is your fault! I never wanted to hurt him do you hear me?! It was you! Not me! You!"

"FATHER!"

Jimin lowered his hands from his ears and came to an abrupt stop when he heard a familliar voice echo through the hallways.

"If this is your punishment for the things I said WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO BE HANGED, I would like to tell you that I will kill you one day, and that I do NOT appreciate your existence."

Jimin blinked. It was as though the chaos in his mind instantly evaporated. He edged closer to the owner of the voice and felt his worries disappear with each step he took.

"I AlSO would like to add that THE VISIONS YOU GIVE ME MAKE NO SENSE! The kind prince turned out to be a very, very mean prince and he seems like a pretentious drat. I would be grateful if you could show me Jin instead thank you very much. I need to know that he is okay."

Jimin walked down the familliar steps of the dungeons and took a torch with him before he entered the darkness.

"I SWEAR if I survive this I am NEVER setting foot inside a kingdom EVER again. No sir. Nothing but Dryads and Naiads for me... I'll be just fine in the woods... hmmm... Dryads... I like Dryads..."

Jimin came close enough for his light to reach the demigod, and halted when he heard the sudden rattling of chains.

"Hey! W-who's there?" Jungkook yelled. "Am I gonna be executed after all? I know the sun hasn't been returne - "

"Be quiet," Jimin whispered, slowly strolling forward until the light from his torch had completely illuminated the demigod's cage.

An odd sense of relief washed over the prince when he saw the half-god sit in a corner of his prison with his legs tucked against his chest and his arms wrapped around them in a self-soothing manner. The boy's body was littered with countless bruises, cuts and abrasions, but the young demigod was clearly alive, and his spirit seemed anything but broken.

"Shut the front door," the demigod breathed, his chapped lips breaking apart when he laid eyes on the prince.

Jimin glanced behind him. "There... There is no front -"

"Wait," Jungkook squinted, crawling forward on his hands and knees. "Why is it you've come here? I haven't done anything wrong, I promise! The sky turning all creepy isn't my fault... u-unless it was my dad... if it was him I guess I should take part of the blame..."

Jimin hung his torch to the wall before taking a few steps towards the metal bars of the half-god's cage.

He could clearly see the deep, purple mark the noose had left around the boy's neck, and Jimin touched his own  throat with a frown, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"You were able to escape," he sighed with a trembling voice.

Jungkook blinked with confusion. "Huh?"

"When you were about to be executed," Jimin clarified, squinting at the demigod as he went on. "You were able to draw energy from the sun. You could've broken your chains, killed a few guards, shoved aside some people and fled. You had the strength to save yourself, but you didn't. They put you on death's doorstep and you knocked. I want you to tell me why."

Jungkook pouted his lips, shrugging as though the answer was quite obvious. "I told you before Your Royal Person. My brother made me promise never to take advantage of my powers and never to harm the weak. He could've been there in the crowd... watching me like everyone else... I did not want to disappoint him."

Jimin huffed in outrage. "But it would've been self-defense! I am sure your brother would have valued your life more than your innocence."

"It wouldn't have been fair," Jungkook held on. "I would have become a monster! I would have become exactly what they make me out to be."

"You foolish demigod!"

Jimin let go of the prisonbars and threw his hands in the air.

"I am no fool," Jungkook hissed, grabbing hold of the prisonbars as the torchfire reflected in his pupils. "And I am more than just a demigod. I am the one who would have to live with myself if I ever decided to hurt anyone... I would be the one tortured by guilt and regret. What the people think of me is not important as long as I remember what's right and wrong... good and evil. It is what I believe, and I am perfectly comfortable living that way."

Jimin eged his brow and gave the half-god a look up and down.

"Perfectly comfortable?" He asked, smirking slightly.

Jungkook sucked in his lips and glanced at his surroundings. "W-well okay, maybe not right now... but - "

"Fuck me..." Jimin sighed.

"Oh - "

"Maybe that old goat was right after all..." The prince murmured. "Maybe this was a bad idea..."

"Y-your Royal Sirness..."

"What?"

"Might I ask why there are bloodstains on your clothes?"

Jimin's eyes fluttered. He straightened his back and quickly regained his posture. "N-no... no you may not."

The two men shared a period of uncomfortable eye-contact, and Jungkook only spoke when the silence grew unbearably tense.

"Your Royal Shortness..." he began carefully, looking up through his lashes. "Could you at least tell me... why it is you've come here?"

Jimin chewed on his lower lip and waited anxiously on his father's voice, expecting it to remind him again of what a grave mistake he was making.

But the prince's mind stayed silent.

"I... I have come to rescue you, I think..." he whispered, nodding as he grew more determined in his decision. "I'm here... to save you."