ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗙𝗧𝗬-𝗢𝗡𝗘
─◌✰್ 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒
❝𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀...❞

You felt like an absolute fucking idiot.

"The show is officially over... You've all failed... None of you could forgive one another, and have therefore fallen into my trap..." You could feel your stomach turn, as Yeonjun's words echoed over and over in your head.

Ever since Minho had exposed the secret that Yeonjun was your father, you'd been filled with conflicting emotions. It made no sense. How could a man that you'd never met, that you'd never even heard of until he'd appeared at the courting ceremony, be your biological father? Neither of your parents had ever so much as mentioned you not being related to one, or both, of them. And it had opened another question for you: had your mother been with Yeonjun? The thought made you want to hurl.

But now you knew; Yeonjun was a dark spirit. And while you had no idea what that meant, seeing as you were just as confused as JJ, Jeongin, and Mya, it strangely... made sense. As much as you didn't want to believe that a monster like Yeonjun could be related to you, you were also not entirely shocked when Minho had shared the news with you.

How could that be? That contemplating this could be simultaneously horrendous and normal to you? It was because of this feeling, that Yeonjun was actually more familiar to you than he'd originally acknowledged, that you now believed Yeonjun was indeed your real father.

And that was why you had sided with him. He'd been the only one, not Minho or your friends, to tell you the truth. Besides, family counted for something, didn't it?

But apparently not. Clearly, Yeonjun did not feel the same way. He held no love for you. All he wanted to do was use your conflicted emotions to his advantage. Unfortunately, it had worked, too well.

And to make matters worse, you were cold, and damp. You and the rest of the group, sans Minho, were sitting on the floor of a jail cell, in the Lee castle. Soyeon and Taehyung had grabbed you all, thrown you unceremoniously into the back of two separate limos, and taken you here, locking you all inside. Everyone was shoved into the same cell, and it was getting quite cramped.

You wondered where Yeonjun was. He hadn't even taken the time to bring you here himself. Was he already tired of you? Was he going to leave you here forever? It was obvious that King and Queen Lee were directly involved with Yeonjun, or how else would Yeonjun have gotten access to this jail cell?

And what about Minho? Your heart ached just thinking about him. Oh, Lee Minho. The man that made you believe in love since the first day you met. The man who, no matter how many mistakes he'd made, how terribly he'd treated you, you forgave him. That was how strong your feelings were. As hard as you liked to pretend, he could do no wrong in your eyes. You'd loved him for so long, he had become a part of you. The fact that you loved him was as constant as the rising sun, it was always there. Something you could count on.

But those feelings were no more. He'd gone to far this time. Ignoring you, you could understand. Snarky comments? Those were a given. But the moment that you knew he was lying to you, that was a deal breaker. The Minho you knew was always honest, almost to a fault. Since when had he lied to you to spare your emotions? The husband you needed, the man you loved, always told you the truth, no matter how it made you feel. Clearly, Minho had changed. And you could no longer just take it.

Tears pricked your eyes. Would your parents allow you to get a divorce? Or would you just be stuck in this loveless marriage for the rest of your life? Just as you started gaining hope that this relationship could actually be a good one, he'd gone and done this to you. And fuck, if you werent pissed as hell.

Renee and Robin, who sat on either side of you, glanced in your direction. Renee had been sitting with her arms around her legs, trying not to shiver. Robin had been trying, unsuccessfully, to sleep.

"You good, girl?" Robin whispered.

"You look sad." Renee frowned in concern. "Is it about Minho?"

You swallowed hard, a stone-like lump stuck in your throat. You nodded wordlessly, unable to voice your emotions. You weren't ready to talk to anyone about Minho's betrayal. Honestly, you were too embarrassed. How had you fallen for a guy like him? Honestly, how had you been in love with him, excusing his shitty actions, for so long? It was humiliating, and you were tired of it.

You were just about to close your eyes, maybe try to sleep just like Robin, when the door to the dungeons swung open, and Yeonjun marched inside, black cloak swishing in his wake.

Everyone immediately scrambled to their feet, dusting off their pants and skirts hastily. You assumed they were all eager to hear what was going on. What Yeonjun's plan was for you really was.

You opened your mouth to demand that he tell you everything, but Christopher beat you to it.

"What are we doing in here?" he called sharply, pointing an accusing finger at the man. "And what are you going to do to us?"

"And where is Minho?" Jisung added. "What did you do to him?"

"You will let us out right now!" Mya cried. "My parents will not be happy knowing that I was kidnapped by a crazy person!"

Yeonjun waited for everyone to quiet down, before speaking. "I think you all know that I will not be letting you out of here anytime soon," he began silkily, voice like poison honey. "I have a very important plan for you all. I had hoped that we would get all sixteen of you down here, but unfortunately, Mr. Lee did not want to cooperate. So I will be dealing with him soon. As for you all... your mission is to help me defeat the light spirits."

"Light spirits...?" Jeongin echoed, tilting his head in confusion.

You were just as lost as him. The two of you shared a dumbfounded look. Clearly, a ton of stuff had gone down while you were gone. And it hadn't helped that you'd stayed in your room all day. Damn you and your stubbornness!

"I know that not all of you know about the light spirits," Yeonjun continued, indirectly addressing Jeongin's question. "But they are... creatures that have spent their entire existence trying to destroy me. They have tried to protect you, all of humankind, from me. But you understand how terrible humans can be, right?" He fixed each and every one of you with a piercing stare. "How terrible your parents are. How awful the war between your kingdoms has been. If humans were good, wouldn't they have forgiven one another, in favor of less killing? But no. They just couldn't stop, even when they can't remember what they are fighting for. How disgusting." He spat out the last words, voice uncharacteristically harsh, a stark contrast to the put-together tv-show host.

"But now, you will use those angry emotions, how you feel towards one another, your families, or the opposing kingdom, to fight the light spirits! Then, with them gone, I will be able to fulfill my goal of turning all of humankind against one another."

"Why would we help you destroy humankind??" Renee exclaimed in disbelief. "Just because there are some people that I'm upset with doesn't mean I want them all to die!"

"Yeah, my parents are actually crazy, but they don't deserve that," JJ agreed. "If I had known this was your plan, I wouldn't have agreed!"

"If you don't have us, you won't have a plan!" Seungmin declared, in support of his girl and his best friend. "And I'm saying no, I won't follow you!"

"Me neither!" the rest of the group chorused, nodding in resolution.

"Well..." Yeonjun grinned, that smile sending chills down your spine. How was it possible that this man, who looked to be the same age as you, was your father? But even through your revulsion, you couldn't deny that you felt an unexplainable pull towards him. A feeling that you wanted to stand by him, no matter how insane as he was. You shuddered in horror, but it was uncontrollable.

"I had a feeling that you would try and overturn me," Yeonjun tsked, like a disappointed parent. "So I've taken it upon myself to create something more... convincing as to why you should do what I say." And then, he waved his hand in the air, like he was summoning something.

An image appeared midair, like a projection screen. You squinted to see what it was.

Suddenly, Riley let out a gasp, pointing at the screen. "That's my parents!" she cried, hand shaking.

On instinct, Christopher whipped around to Yeonjun, eyes blazing. "What have you done to our parents? Where are they?"

The closer you looked, the clearer the image became. Everyone's parents were crowded into a cell, much like the one you were currently in. You tried to see your own parents, but it didn't look like they were there. Neither were Minho's. How strange. But everyone else's parents were, huddled on the floor, looking a far cry from the haughty royals you knew them to be.

Yeonjun smiled smugly. "They are in a cell, just like you all." He motioned around him. "And if you disagree to help me, I will kill them all, live on this screen for you to see. But if you agree to work with me, I will allow them to live. You will be allowed to live a peaceful life. Marry whoever you want, stay with your family, be happy. It's your choice."

Everyone stared at one another, stricken. No matter how terrible some of their parents could be, they were family. Your friends loved their parents, and they didn't want them to die. You didnt want them to die, either. Even if JJ's parents were a little crazy, they would never allow JJ, or any of her friends, to get hurt. Lanhua's parents always welcomed you into their home, even turned a blind eye to your raucous parties. And seeing their scared faces staring back at you... it made your decision for you. That conflict in you, your heart and head battling with the knowledge that Yeonjun was your family, and also a monster, was outweighed by all-consuming fear.

There was no way you, or any of your friends, could stand against Yeonjun. He was just too strong.

"What do you want me to do, Yeonjun?" you asked, forcing the quaver from your voice. You would not show that you were scared of him, no matter the situation.

"Dad," he snapped back, cutting a sharp glare at you.

"W-what?" you stammered, instantly failing your promise, as he caught you off guard.

"You will call me dad." He narrowed his eyes. "The king and queen are not your parents. I am. And... and Choi Dal."

"Dal?" You repeated dumbly. But you could feel your chest tighten at the name. "I-is that..."

"Your mom," Yeonjun responded, eyes filled with reverence. "My true love. She was murdered by humankind and their selfishness."

"And she's the reason you're doing all this?" you asked quietly. You were battling between relief, knowing that your mother, for all her faults, had stayed loyal to your dad, and sadness that you had never gotten to meet your real mother, as sick as it was.

Yeonjun didn't respond. He swallowed, and continued. "When you were born, there was a prophecy made about you. The light spirits didn't want me to know about it. They didn't even want me to know that you had been born, that I had offspring. But right when I found out, when I heard the prophecy, I came to earth, so I could see you. Because I knew that you, my daughter, would understand. You would help me, and with our combined dark powers, that you received because of me, we could take down humankind once and for all."

"Tell me the prophecy," you demanded, face heating. How could this happen? When had you been born? From what you could tell, Yeonjun was immortal. Were you immortal, too? You needed more answers. You needed to know about your past. But first, you had to find out what had driven Yeonjun to get you, after all this time.

Yeonjun nodded. "Only because you are my daughter, and I love you, will I tell you this prophecy." He paused and swallowed, for what felt like a lifetime, before speaking. "As the season of joining approaches, the moon child will be reborn, despite their struggles, hatred, and anger. The dark one will be drawn to the moon child, because he believes they are one in the same. He will try an uprise, but the moon child is the dark one's only ally, and he will prevail."

You sat in silence, attempting to digest the prophecy, and what it might mean.

"The moon child is you," Yeonjun whispered, voice echoing eerily throughout the jail cell. "You are from the Moonstone kingdom. Dal, my true love's name, means moon. And you and I, together, will avenge her death."

laska's note —
whoa! so there you go, yeonjun just shared what the prophecy is. it essentially says that tessa and him will work together to take down humankind... does that mean everyone is doomed?? 😰 will everyone else agree to help yeonjun because they're scared? or will they stand up against him, even if he ends up hurting their loved ones? where is minho, and the kings and queens? and what about the fabled light spirits...? dang there's still so much questions to be answered! 😩😩

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟱𝟮 - 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀,
┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊