Bricolage [19/20]
Title: Bricolage [19/20]
Author: ixjaydee
Pairing: Jongyu;; TaeSeob;; minor!Minkey;; minor!JongKyung
Rating: PG-13
Genre: drama;; action/adventure;; romance;;
Disclaimer: I own the world, just not the people in it.
Summary: Prince Jonghyun, ruler of the Kingdom of Carmadon had his work cut out for him already. In between taking care of the uneasy townspeople, and searching for a traitor in his midst, he must leave his kingdom in the hands of his younger brother and his royal adviser as he prepares to set out on a conquest to the Unknown World in search for a cure for the disease sweeping through the kingdoms.
The journey wouldn’t be easy. The Unknown World was riddled with shady characters: sorcerers, shape shifters, outlaws, assassins, bandits, monsters of every sort. As if that wasn’t bad enough, things get a little bit more complicated when he falls in love with someone that he should have never fallen for in the first place, a love that would bring the downfall of his kingdom.
AN;; Ahh, it’s been a while since I updated two days in a row, right? Haha. Guess what’s coming tomorrow guys? :3 I seriously shed a few tears writing this. I think I’m going to be bawling tomorrow.
--
19
--
“Just stay in the Archives where it’s safe! Don’t come out for any reason!” Yoseob yelled as he pushed Taemin through the doors.
“No! Yoseob!” He reached out for Yoseob with panic on his face. People ran through the castle in hysterics behind him, screaming and running away from the vampir combing through the castle. Yoseob grabbed his arm and pulled Taemin close to him one more time before crushing their lips together.
“Stay safe,” Yoseob whispered as he pulled away. He shoved Taemin back into the Archives and slammed the door shut, bolting it closed with a piece of wood. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and disappeared into the crowd.
--
“NO!” Taemin pounded his fists on the door a few times before slumping against it and sliding to the ground. He flinched when he felt someone touch his shoulder. Jinwoon gave him a worried look and ushered him towards his desk, holding up a book.
“What is this?” Taemin opened it with shaking hands and read the front cover.
The Fall of the Kingdom of Lucia.
--
It was hard to run against a crowd of people running in the opposite direction. Yoseob ducked and weaved his way through the crowd before he made it to the entrance of the castle. The front gate exploded in front of him, sending debris and shattered rock into the river.
Yoseob shielded his face and coughed before squinting at the sudden open space. He could hear echoes of maniacal laughter followed by angry yells. “Yoseob! Yoseob!” Kikwang jumped over some broken stone and dodged some more flying rock.
“His Majesty, Jonghyun is back!”
--
Jonghyun wasn’t ready to see the sight he saw when he entered the town. The bone dragon was suddenly uninterested in them after they crossed the barrier. Instead, it flew off towards the castle with a low roar.
Jinki was still coughing out sand on Jonghyun’s horse, groaning as warmth flooded his body for the first time in centuries. “God, I feel like an old man,” he muttered to himself, sliding off of Jonghyun’s horse as soon as they entered the town.
There were body parts scattered around the town, torn and bloodied. Blood stained the streets and the water. Jonghyun didn’t even want to look at what was floating down the river. Farther down, he saw a couple of vampir fighting over someone’s severed leg.
“My kingdom...” he said in horror, looked around at the ruined town. There were loud crashing noises and screams coming from the castle.
“Sire! Sire!” Jonghyun saw a familiar figure running towards him, waving a sword. The vampir turned on him as soon as he got close enough, only to scream in agony as he cut through them like paper.
“Yoseob! Where’s my brother? What’s going on?”
“Your brother is safe. Everyone else is in grave danger. I’ll explain on our way to the castle. We need to stop the vampir!”
--
The more Yoseob talked, the graver Jonghyun’s expression got. Minho joined the rest of the knights in fighting as soon as he could spot them, leaving Jonghyun to follow Yoseob as he lead him to the Archives.
Jinki disappeared as soon as they entered the castle, but Jonghyun was more concerned about his brother. Yoseob gave him the highlights on what happened in the time he was gone. Jonghyun breathed a sigh of a relief when he heard Key was okay.
Yoseob unbolted the door to the Archives and opened the door slightly, allowing Jonghyun to step inside before catching a glimpse of Taemin’s face. Taemin only had enough time to see Yoseob turning away before the door closed again, and his attention was turned to the newest occupant.
“Taemin!”
“Jonghyun! You’re alive!” Taemin dropped his book and ran towards his brother, flying into his arms for a hug. Jonghyun held his younger brother while he cried into his chest.
“I’m okay. I’m okay. What’s going on, Taemin? Yoseob gave me the gist of it but...”
Taemin sniffed before standing up right and picking up his book again. “I’ve been translating the books in the First Language. I finally got to how the Forgotton Kingdom fell.”
--
Yoseob fought side by side with the knights, with people that he grew up with all his life. The sheer number of vampir was almost overwhelming, and it didn’t help that Junsu and Taecyeon were running, flying, jumping, magicking around the castle and destroying things.
But suddenly, he could feel a presence, something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A figure was walking down the hallway, freezing vampir to their spots as they tried to attack him.
”Freeze.” Everything started to slow down until it stopped. Jinki muttered a few words, allowing the people to move, but the vampir were still frozen.
“What? What’s going...” Everyone stared at Jinki as he got ever closer, a glowing seal forming underneath his feet.
”Dissolve.” And then they were gone in a burst of sand. Jinki stood next to them for a moment before turning his gaze towards Junsu and Taecyeon.
Yoseob squinted his eyes at him for a moment. “Wait. You look familiar. You’re... You’re... You’re Lee Jinki! The king of Lucia!”
“I was. A long time ago.”
Junsu hurled a spell at him, cackling as the stone above him started to melt. “Jinki! So good to see you again. What’s it like to be in the land of the living? Being undead for centuries really takes its toll on the body doesn’t it?”
Jinki fired his own spells at him before joining Taecyeon in the fight against Junsu.
“Good to see you, Jinki. I take it things went well in the Unknown World?” Taecyeon asked, dodging a large flying rock.
“I guess you could say that. I’m not dead,” Jinki said with a smirk on his face.
“Two against one? Not fair!” Junsu pouted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small golden ball before shaking it. A familiar sound pinged through the castle, followed by a roar.
“You get a Jinki, so I get a Jinki too!”
--
“The fall of the Kingdom of Lucia began when the vampir known only as Junsu appeared to the king late one night while he was working in his workshop. I still don’t know how he got in there, and the king himself states that he doesn’t remember.
“But the strange seemed nice, so the king spent time talking to him of the wonders of technology and magic. As he listened to the stranger talk, he became more and more curious about what could be in the world.
“He made new devices each day and tested them out, with guidance and advice from Junsu until he completely earned his trust. To this day, I’m still not sure why he never confided that information in me, his royal adviser.
“The king came to me with a preposterous notion one day. ‘What if people could fly?’ he asked me, eyes wide with excitement. I told him it was ridiculous, and to not dabble in things he didn’t know about. I must have insulted him with that statement, but I was beginning to fear for him.
“I was wondering why he never went to bed at night anymore, or about the screams of agony I heard randomly from his workshop. I always assumed he got into another accident and healed himself to be done with it. Little did I know what he was doing in there until one day, I looked out of the window of the my study and there he was.
“My study is several hundred feet off of the ground. But he was there, floating outside. I stepped towards the window to get a better view, and the look of shock on my face turned into horror. Wings. He had wings. Large, white wings.
“I told him to come in that instant, and to get rid of those monstrous things before someone saw. But he didn’t listen to me. He went soaring off into the sky.
“Then it happened. The sky turned red, and that cackle, that evil cackle. I turned around in my study and met with a pair of black eyes. A piece of my soul was taken from me that day. The vampir jumped out of my study and landed on the ground like he’d just hopped down from a rock.
“ ‘The end will come now! As the Fates have dictated!’ he shouted. Lightning struck the king out of the sky, sending him falling to the ground. I could feel it. The Gods were angry. Lightning struck at every part of the kingdom, and it rained blood.
“The people were screaming, confused as to why the Gods were punishing them. And then we got the message clear as day. The king had overstepped his boundaries. God only gave wings to birds and his angels. The king was an abomination.
“Instead of killing him, they destroyed his kingdom, killed his people. They punished those closest to him by banishing all of us to the Unknown World, and gave us curses. Being cursed as a vampir forever was bad enough.
“The king got what seemed like the worst punishment. He was essentially dead, but alive. No matter what happened to him, he wouldn’t die. He would always feel cold, and never fear for his life, even when in imminent danger. His luck was horrible, but I think that carried on from his human life.
“He still had his powers, but there was a limit to their use. One of his eyes turned blue, a gauge to how much he could them. The largest spells that he could perform with ease as a human were now the most draining on him, sending him into an almost comatose sleep, the only time he could rest.
“His guilt was his worst punishment. The Unknown World seemed to multiply it tenfold. He wouldn’t speak to any of us, instead choosing to isolate himself and wander the Unknown World to face its dangers. I have no doubt in my mind that he wanted to die. I would find him completely drained of magic when he managed to croak out my name to save him.”
“Wait. Who was the king? You never said his name?” Taemin looked up from his book and gave Jonghyun an incredulous look.
“The King of Lucia? The Forgotten Kingdom? Lee Jinki?”
And then it all clicked in Jonghyun’s mind.
--
Jinki could feel himself fading fast with the rapid succession of spells. Damn his punishment to hell and back. Taecyeon could sense his fatigue and stood in front of him to defend against incoming attacks.
“Jinki, are you okay?”
“Yes, I just... my eye.” Taecyeon grabbed him and dodge-rolled behind a pillar, the acid from the scorpisaur melting the ground where they were standing.
Taecyeon looked him in the eyes. “Forgive me. I know how to remove the magic limit. I just wasn’t allowed to. I don’t want this kingdom to fall though, and I’m ready to accept whatever punishment the Gods have for me after this is over.”
Taecyeon reached up and covered his clue eye before concentrating with all his might. Jinki let out an agonized scream as he felt something breaking inside of his body.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Junsu taunted. Jinki took a few deep breaths to calm his beating heart.
“You can die now, Jinki. You’re not immortal anymore. Be careful.” Taecyeon squeezed his shoulder and dive out from behind the pillar, firing spells at the scorpisaur.
“Does this thing never die?” Jinki heard him yell.
“Die? It’s not even alive in the first place. It’s a bunch of bones. And you lot. You look bored. Have some more vampir!” There were yells as they crawled up the side of the castle. Minho and his knights were surrounded.
Jinki moved to take care of them again, only to have Junsu land in front of him with a sadistic smile on his face.
“Tsk, tsk. Oh no you don’t. I’ve heard a lot of things from the vampir in the Unknown World. What’s this I hear about you getting rather attached to the king of this kingdom? Jonghyun, is it?”
Jinki’s eyes blazed at him in fury. “Don’t. You. Dare.”
“I will if I want and want what I will.” Junsu took off with blazing speed. “I can smell you on him. I will make sure this kingdom falls.”
--
“You met Lee Jinki? You were traveling with him in the Unknown World the entire time, and you had no idea?!” Taemin yelled at his brother.
“I just- This isn’t the time for this, Taemin.” Jonghyun turned around and jogged for the door of the Archives.
“Wait, I’m coming with you!”
“No, it’s too dang-” As soon as the door opened, Jonghyun could feel a cold hand wrapping around his neck. The next thing he knew, he was pinned against the back of the Archives, struggling to breathe.
Taemin’s desk was destroyed, sending his books everywhere.
“You, my dear king, were supposed to die in the Unknown World. What luck do I have that you would run into Jinki, and he would care enough to take care of you?” Jonghyun tried to pull his hand away from his neck. This all seemed too familiar.
Jinki appeared just as Jonghyun’s vision was starting to blur, and pulled Junsu off of Jonghyun. “Jonghyun!” Taemin ran for him but got held back by Jinwoon, tugging him towards the entrance of the Archives to get him to safety.
Junsu groaned as he rubbed his head, dusting off debris from his clothes. “Never thought you’d get attached to a flimsy little human. Makes my job of making you suffer just a little bit easier.” Jinki turned around with a growl, meeting Junsu in the middle, both of them pushing at each other with all their strength.
“Come on, Jinki! You’re supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer the World has ever seen!” Junsu said, eyes going wide as he laughed. Jonghyun caught his breath before turning his eyes to Jinki.
Jinki’s hand glowed blue before pushing Junsu back and sending lightning after him. It hit his shoulder and burned a hole right through his clothes. Jonghyun tried not to throw up from the smell of burning flesh.
“Oh ow. Look what you went and did.” Junsu cradled his shoulder, but a smile never left his face.
“Well. There’s always the brother,” he said, eyeing Jonghyun behind Jinki.
“Bye bye!”
--
Yoseob saw Taemin running with Jinwoon before anyone else did. He also spotted Junsu coming after them with a wicked smile on his face. “Yoseob! Look out!” His moment of distraction was all that was needed for a vampir to clamp its jaws down onto his sword arm.
He cried out in pain, dropping his sword. Junhyung dashed forward and sliced it clean in half through the stomach. The jaw slacked enough for Yoseob to push the remaining part of the body off of his arm. He cursed slightly as he looked at his wound. It broke bone.
“Yoseob!” Taemin yelled, running for the other boy. “No! Taemin!” Jinwoon turned around to see Junsu ready to fire another spell towards the running boy. He dived forward and wrapped his arms around Taemin’s body, shielding it with his own as the spell hit.
The two of them fell forward while Junsu let out a growl of frustration. Jinki appeared behind him almost immediately, using inhuman strength to send him flying through a few pillars.
“Jinwoon, Jinwoon!” The man’s eyes fluttered for a moment before closing, a final whisper on his lips.
“Run.”
--
Jonghyun ran out to the knight’s training grounds where the majority of the fights were taking place. He felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around, drawing his sword.
“It’s just me, Jonghyun.”
“Key! Oh my gods. You’re. You’re okay.”
“I’ve gotten the survivors to the dungeons. It’s the only safe place left here. I’ve taken care of at least six or seven vampir on my way here.”
Jonghyun’s gaze turned back to the fighting people. Yoseob and Taemin were back to back, Taemin with tears in his eyes and Yoseob cradling an injured arm. The rest of his knights were doing their best to repel the mobbing vampir.
Taecyeon was taking care of stragglers, and glancing over at the battle between Junsu and Jinki. Jonghyun had never seen so much rage on Jinki’s face. The sky was burning an unnatural shade of red, almost the same color as the one in the Unknown World.
Crashes of thunder and breaking stone echoed through the world as the two fought. There was a roar as the bone dragon landed in the ruined training grounds, swinging its tail and snapping its claws at vampir and human alike.
“Jinki, you take care of the bone dragon! I’ll take care of Junsu!” Taecyeon yelled, sliding under snapping claws to fire spells at Junsu in the air.
“THIS KINGDOM WILL FALL! I WILL SEE TO IT!”
“And I’ll make sure you go down with it,” Taecyeon said quietly.
Jonghyun ran to Jinki’s side sword down by his side as the bone dragon reared up on its hind legs.
“Ready?”
--
Prev | Next
Author: ixjaydee
Pairing: Jongyu;; TaeSeob;; minor!Minkey;; minor!JongKyung
Rating: PG-13
Genre: drama;; action/adventure;; romance;;
Disclaimer: I own the world, just not the people in it.
Summary: Prince Jonghyun, ruler of the Kingdom of Carmadon had his work cut out for him already. In between taking care of the uneasy townspeople, and searching for a traitor in his midst, he must leave his kingdom in the hands of his younger brother and his royal adviser as he prepares to set out on a conquest to the Unknown World in search for a cure for the disease sweeping through the kingdoms.
The journey wouldn’t be easy. The Unknown World was riddled with shady characters: sorcerers, shape shifters, outlaws, assassins, bandits, monsters of every sort. As if that wasn’t bad enough, things get a little bit more complicated when he falls in love with someone that he should have never fallen for in the first place, a love that would bring the downfall of his kingdom.
AN;; Ahh, it’s been a while since I updated two days in a row, right? Haha. Guess what’s coming tomorrow guys? :3 I seriously shed a few tears writing this. I think I’m going to be bawling tomorrow.
--
19
--
“Just stay in the Archives where it’s safe! Don’t come out for any reason!” Yoseob yelled as he pushed Taemin through the doors.
“No! Yoseob!” He reached out for Yoseob with panic on his face. People ran through the castle in hysterics behind him, screaming and running away from the vampir combing through the castle. Yoseob grabbed his arm and pulled Taemin close to him one more time before crushing their lips together.
“Stay safe,” Yoseob whispered as he pulled away. He shoved Taemin back into the Archives and slammed the door shut, bolting it closed with a piece of wood. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and disappeared into the crowd.
--
“NO!” Taemin pounded his fists on the door a few times before slumping against it and sliding to the ground. He flinched when he felt someone touch his shoulder. Jinwoon gave him a worried look and ushered him towards his desk, holding up a book.
“What is this?” Taemin opened it with shaking hands and read the front cover.
The Fall of the Kingdom of Lucia.
--
It was hard to run against a crowd of people running in the opposite direction. Yoseob ducked and weaved his way through the crowd before he made it to the entrance of the castle. The front gate exploded in front of him, sending debris and shattered rock into the river.
Yoseob shielded his face and coughed before squinting at the sudden open space. He could hear echoes of maniacal laughter followed by angry yells. “Yoseob! Yoseob!” Kikwang jumped over some broken stone and dodged some more flying rock.
“His Majesty, Jonghyun is back!”
--
Jonghyun wasn’t ready to see the sight he saw when he entered the town. The bone dragon was suddenly uninterested in them after they crossed the barrier. Instead, it flew off towards the castle with a low roar.
Jinki was still coughing out sand on Jonghyun’s horse, groaning as warmth flooded his body for the first time in centuries. “God, I feel like an old man,” he muttered to himself, sliding off of Jonghyun’s horse as soon as they entered the town.
There were body parts scattered around the town, torn and bloodied. Blood stained the streets and the water. Jonghyun didn’t even want to look at what was floating down the river. Farther down, he saw a couple of vampir fighting over someone’s severed leg.
“My kingdom...” he said in horror, looked around at the ruined town. There were loud crashing noises and screams coming from the castle.
“Sire! Sire!” Jonghyun saw a familiar figure running towards him, waving a sword. The vampir turned on him as soon as he got close enough, only to scream in agony as he cut through them like paper.
“Yoseob! Where’s my brother? What’s going on?”
“Your brother is safe. Everyone else is in grave danger. I’ll explain on our way to the castle. We need to stop the vampir!”
--
The more Yoseob talked, the graver Jonghyun’s expression got. Minho joined the rest of the knights in fighting as soon as he could spot them, leaving Jonghyun to follow Yoseob as he lead him to the Archives.
Jinki disappeared as soon as they entered the castle, but Jonghyun was more concerned about his brother. Yoseob gave him the highlights on what happened in the time he was gone. Jonghyun breathed a sigh of a relief when he heard Key was okay.
Yoseob unbolted the door to the Archives and opened the door slightly, allowing Jonghyun to step inside before catching a glimpse of Taemin’s face. Taemin only had enough time to see Yoseob turning away before the door closed again, and his attention was turned to the newest occupant.
“Taemin!”
“Jonghyun! You’re alive!” Taemin dropped his book and ran towards his brother, flying into his arms for a hug. Jonghyun held his younger brother while he cried into his chest.
“I’m okay. I’m okay. What’s going on, Taemin? Yoseob gave me the gist of it but...”
Taemin sniffed before standing up right and picking up his book again. “I’ve been translating the books in the First Language. I finally got to how the Forgotton Kingdom fell.”
--
Yoseob fought side by side with the knights, with people that he grew up with all his life. The sheer number of vampir was almost overwhelming, and it didn’t help that Junsu and Taecyeon were running, flying, jumping, magicking around the castle and destroying things.
But suddenly, he could feel a presence, something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A figure was walking down the hallway, freezing vampir to their spots as they tried to attack him.
”Freeze.” Everything started to slow down until it stopped. Jinki muttered a few words, allowing the people to move, but the vampir were still frozen.
“What? What’s going...” Everyone stared at Jinki as he got ever closer, a glowing seal forming underneath his feet.
”Dissolve.” And then they were gone in a burst of sand. Jinki stood next to them for a moment before turning his gaze towards Junsu and Taecyeon.
Yoseob squinted his eyes at him for a moment. “Wait. You look familiar. You’re... You’re... You’re Lee Jinki! The king of Lucia!”
“I was. A long time ago.”
Junsu hurled a spell at him, cackling as the stone above him started to melt. “Jinki! So good to see you again. What’s it like to be in the land of the living? Being undead for centuries really takes its toll on the body doesn’t it?”
Jinki fired his own spells at him before joining Taecyeon in the fight against Junsu.
“Good to see you, Jinki. I take it things went well in the Unknown World?” Taecyeon asked, dodging a large flying rock.
“I guess you could say that. I’m not dead,” Jinki said with a smirk on his face.
“Two against one? Not fair!” Junsu pouted. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small golden ball before shaking it. A familiar sound pinged through the castle, followed by a roar.
“You get a Jinki, so I get a Jinki too!”
--
“The fall of the Kingdom of Lucia began when the vampir known only as Junsu appeared to the king late one night while he was working in his workshop. I still don’t know how he got in there, and the king himself states that he doesn’t remember.
“But the strange seemed nice, so the king spent time talking to him of the wonders of technology and magic. As he listened to the stranger talk, he became more and more curious about what could be in the world.
“He made new devices each day and tested them out, with guidance and advice from Junsu until he completely earned his trust. To this day, I’m still not sure why he never confided that information in me, his royal adviser.
“The king came to me with a preposterous notion one day. ‘What if people could fly?’ he asked me, eyes wide with excitement. I told him it was ridiculous, and to not dabble in things he didn’t know about. I must have insulted him with that statement, but I was beginning to fear for him.
“I was wondering why he never went to bed at night anymore, or about the screams of agony I heard randomly from his workshop. I always assumed he got into another accident and healed himself to be done with it. Little did I know what he was doing in there until one day, I looked out of the window of the my study and there he was.
“My study is several hundred feet off of the ground. But he was there, floating outside. I stepped towards the window to get a better view, and the look of shock on my face turned into horror. Wings. He had wings. Large, white wings.
“I told him to come in that instant, and to get rid of those monstrous things before someone saw. But he didn’t listen to me. He went soaring off into the sky.
“Then it happened. The sky turned red, and that cackle, that evil cackle. I turned around in my study and met with a pair of black eyes. A piece of my soul was taken from me that day. The vampir jumped out of my study and landed on the ground like he’d just hopped down from a rock.
“ ‘The end will come now! As the Fates have dictated!’ he shouted. Lightning struck the king out of the sky, sending him falling to the ground. I could feel it. The Gods were angry. Lightning struck at every part of the kingdom, and it rained blood.
“The people were screaming, confused as to why the Gods were punishing them. And then we got the message clear as day. The king had overstepped his boundaries. God only gave wings to birds and his angels. The king was an abomination.
“Instead of killing him, they destroyed his kingdom, killed his people. They punished those closest to him by banishing all of us to the Unknown World, and gave us curses. Being cursed as a vampir forever was bad enough.
“The king got what seemed like the worst punishment. He was essentially dead, but alive. No matter what happened to him, he wouldn’t die. He would always feel cold, and never fear for his life, even when in imminent danger. His luck was horrible, but I think that carried on from his human life.
“He still had his powers, but there was a limit to their use. One of his eyes turned blue, a gauge to how much he could them. The largest spells that he could perform with ease as a human were now the most draining on him, sending him into an almost comatose sleep, the only time he could rest.
“His guilt was his worst punishment. The Unknown World seemed to multiply it tenfold. He wouldn’t speak to any of us, instead choosing to isolate himself and wander the Unknown World to face its dangers. I have no doubt in my mind that he wanted to die. I would find him completely drained of magic when he managed to croak out my name to save him.”
“Wait. Who was the king? You never said his name?” Taemin looked up from his book and gave Jonghyun an incredulous look.
“The King of Lucia? The Forgotten Kingdom? Lee Jinki?”
And then it all clicked in Jonghyun’s mind.
--
Jinki could feel himself fading fast with the rapid succession of spells. Damn his punishment to hell and back. Taecyeon could sense his fatigue and stood in front of him to defend against incoming attacks.
“Jinki, are you okay?”
“Yes, I just... my eye.” Taecyeon grabbed him and dodge-rolled behind a pillar, the acid from the scorpisaur melting the ground where they were standing.
Taecyeon looked him in the eyes. “Forgive me. I know how to remove the magic limit. I just wasn’t allowed to. I don’t want this kingdom to fall though, and I’m ready to accept whatever punishment the Gods have for me after this is over.”
Taecyeon reached up and covered his clue eye before concentrating with all his might. Jinki let out an agonized scream as he felt something breaking inside of his body.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Junsu taunted. Jinki took a few deep breaths to calm his beating heart.
“You can die now, Jinki. You’re not immortal anymore. Be careful.” Taecyeon squeezed his shoulder and dive out from behind the pillar, firing spells at the scorpisaur.
“Does this thing never die?” Jinki heard him yell.
“Die? It’s not even alive in the first place. It’s a bunch of bones. And you lot. You look bored. Have some more vampir!” There were yells as they crawled up the side of the castle. Minho and his knights were surrounded.
Jinki moved to take care of them again, only to have Junsu land in front of him with a sadistic smile on his face.
“Tsk, tsk. Oh no you don’t. I’ve heard a lot of things from the vampir in the Unknown World. What’s this I hear about you getting rather attached to the king of this kingdom? Jonghyun, is it?”
Jinki’s eyes blazed at him in fury. “Don’t. You. Dare.”
“I will if I want and want what I will.” Junsu took off with blazing speed. “I can smell you on him. I will make sure this kingdom falls.”
--
“You met Lee Jinki? You were traveling with him in the Unknown World the entire time, and you had no idea?!” Taemin yelled at his brother.
“I just- This isn’t the time for this, Taemin.” Jonghyun turned around and jogged for the door of the Archives.
“Wait, I’m coming with you!”
“No, it’s too dang-” As soon as the door opened, Jonghyun could feel a cold hand wrapping around his neck. The next thing he knew, he was pinned against the back of the Archives, struggling to breathe.
Taemin’s desk was destroyed, sending his books everywhere.
“You, my dear king, were supposed to die in the Unknown World. What luck do I have that you would run into Jinki, and he would care enough to take care of you?” Jonghyun tried to pull his hand away from his neck. This all seemed too familiar.
Jinki appeared just as Jonghyun’s vision was starting to blur, and pulled Junsu off of Jonghyun. “Jonghyun!” Taemin ran for him but got held back by Jinwoon, tugging him towards the entrance of the Archives to get him to safety.
Junsu groaned as he rubbed his head, dusting off debris from his clothes. “Never thought you’d get attached to a flimsy little human. Makes my job of making you suffer just a little bit easier.” Jinki turned around with a growl, meeting Junsu in the middle, both of them pushing at each other with all their strength.
“Come on, Jinki! You’re supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer the World has ever seen!” Junsu said, eyes going wide as he laughed. Jonghyun caught his breath before turning his eyes to Jinki.
Jinki’s hand glowed blue before pushing Junsu back and sending lightning after him. It hit his shoulder and burned a hole right through his clothes. Jonghyun tried not to throw up from the smell of burning flesh.
“Oh ow. Look what you went and did.” Junsu cradled his shoulder, but a smile never left his face.
“Well. There’s always the brother,” he said, eyeing Jonghyun behind Jinki.
“Bye bye!”
--
Yoseob saw Taemin running with Jinwoon before anyone else did. He also spotted Junsu coming after them with a wicked smile on his face. “Yoseob! Look out!” His moment of distraction was all that was needed for a vampir to clamp its jaws down onto his sword arm.
He cried out in pain, dropping his sword. Junhyung dashed forward and sliced it clean in half through the stomach. The jaw slacked enough for Yoseob to push the remaining part of the body off of his arm. He cursed slightly as he looked at his wound. It broke bone.
“Yoseob!” Taemin yelled, running for the other boy. “No! Taemin!” Jinwoon turned around to see Junsu ready to fire another spell towards the running boy. He dived forward and wrapped his arms around Taemin’s body, shielding it with his own as the spell hit.
The two of them fell forward while Junsu let out a growl of frustration. Jinki appeared behind him almost immediately, using inhuman strength to send him flying through a few pillars.
“Jinwoon, Jinwoon!” The man’s eyes fluttered for a moment before closing, a final whisper on his lips.
“Run.”
--
Jonghyun ran out to the knight’s training grounds where the majority of the fights were taking place. He felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around, drawing his sword.
“It’s just me, Jonghyun.”
“Key! Oh my gods. You’re. You’re okay.”
“I’ve gotten the survivors to the dungeons. It’s the only safe place left here. I’ve taken care of at least six or seven vampir on my way here.”
Jonghyun’s gaze turned back to the fighting people. Yoseob and Taemin were back to back, Taemin with tears in his eyes and Yoseob cradling an injured arm. The rest of his knights were doing their best to repel the mobbing vampir.
Taecyeon was taking care of stragglers, and glancing over at the battle between Junsu and Jinki. Jonghyun had never seen so much rage on Jinki’s face. The sky was burning an unnatural shade of red, almost the same color as the one in the Unknown World.
Crashes of thunder and breaking stone echoed through the world as the two fought. There was a roar as the bone dragon landed in the ruined training grounds, swinging its tail and snapping its claws at vampir and human alike.
“Jinki, you take care of the bone dragon! I’ll take care of Junsu!” Taecyeon yelled, sliding under snapping claws to fire spells at Junsu in the air.
“THIS KINGDOM WILL FALL! I WILL SEE TO IT!”
“And I’ll make sure you go down with it,” Taecyeon said quietly.
Jonghyun ran to Jinki’s side sword down by his side as the bone dragon reared up on its hind legs.
“Ready?”
--
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