Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

To the Edge of the Sky

The magical purple-and-white light gave a SNAP like a spark and disappeared; four bodies appeared in it's place.

Mid-flail, Ava rolled herself out of Kim Taehyung's cautious grip and heaved her purse over one shoulder, into a swinging position once again.

Kim Namjoon's firm arms slackened off of Shae's collarbone, as she shrugged quickly out of his orbit. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

Then both young ladies gasped.

They were standing on something like a glittering helicopter pad in an ocean of clouds. The broad circular surface beneath their feet had spirals of indecipherable script etched into it's glossy surface, all whirling towards the very center of the platform. Four columns rose up around the platform like metallic tree limbs reaching for sky, bracing it into place.

Aside from those four metal columns, there was no railing separating Shae and Ava from the edge of the flat platform, and the sky itself.

Ava gaped. We sure as hell ain't in Kansas anymore.

Shae swallowed. Wow. This is.... I can't breathe.

Looking off of the platform, the girls saw countless towers and spirals of metallic magnificence, like spears driving towards the heavens. Skyscrapers: unearthly and massive.

Specks zoomed and whizzed along in the sky among these metal towers, and after a moment Ava and Shae realized that the buzzing specks weren't actually bugs. They were boxy floating vehicles hovering their way through the air at incredible speeds through cotton white puffs of cloud. Some of them skidded around the larger-than-life skyscraper styled buildings, slipping inside them by some means Shae and Ava couldn't quite see. Others were swerving and swooping to avoid collision with each other.

Each large tower had some kind of flat circular surface at or near the top of it. Some of them had specks, living humans, walking around on them just as Ava, Shae, and these strangers Joon and Tae were doing right then.

The sun glinted warm and pure over the mysterious, swirling landscape.

Shock at the scene before them momentarily blinded Shae and Ava from the kidnapping they'd just endured.

They'd just teleported?! Into...the sky?

Shae shuffled forward inch by inch and stole a daring glance over the edge of the platform. No land. The skyscrapers all descended into cloud and mystery. The thought made her knees buckle. When she took a clumsy step backwards, one of the metallic lines etched into the floor beneath where her foot landed immediately illuminated in a swirling pattern of white light that curled its way from where she stood upon it, the the very center of the platform. 

Simultaneously, Shae felt a strange jolt shoot up her leg.

"Woah there." Joon was quick to catch Shae as she fell forward in an almost-faint, holding her steady by the shoulders. He got a good look at her pale face. It was quickly getting paler. "You alright?"

Shae registered that she should push this tan stranger away. He'd just abducted her. He was no good.

Except her thoughts were being consumed by the word 'impossible' as it echoed louder and louder within her, until she was completely overcome...and all awareness slipped from her.

"Hey!" Joon scooped her right out of her faint and pulled her up into his strong arms and against his chest. Shae didn't wake.

Ava had a rather different reaction to their fresh circumstances.

Hell to the no. Shock can wait for later. 

Ava's voice rose with shrill, vengeful fury, "What did you do to her?! Where are we?! If she's hurt, you're both dead! The slow and painful kinda dead, you hear me?"

Taehyung stepped in Ava's path with his arms outstretched, as if trying to calm an angry animal. His sucker bobbed out of the side of his mouth like a candy cigarette.

"Please don't."

"Boy, boss me around one more time."

Tae sighed. "We promise there's nothing to be afraid of. You're safe here with us, and so is your friend."

"Nothing to.... You realize how ridiculous that sounds coming from some jerk who just dragged me through some freaky light portal--because apparently I've gone completely insane--and to God knows where?! And now Shae!" She waved an exasperated arm in her friend's unconscious direction. "And I had a hair appointment that I'm soooo not going to make now, and IT IS LITERALLY YOUR FAULT."

"Uh...I'm sorry?" Tae gave a boyish, apologetic shrug. "We're explorers and diplomats. Not monsters, I swear. No monsters here."

"Speak for yourself," the towering Joon said with a sly half-smirk, only making Ava bristle all over again.

"I have literally never been this stressed out in my life." Ava fumed. "Also, put my friend the heck down, sir! Where...hey! Where do you think you're going with her?!"

Kim Namjoon had started quickly walking across the platform towards its center—where a circular opening existed with a grand staircase down which they could easily descend. He ignored Ava's shouting.

Ava shouldered past Tae. He ran on her heels.

Ava came up next to Joon, finding it difficult to meet his long strides. "Hold it right there, mister!" She tried to pull his arm to make him stop, but he shrugged her off and kept walking.

"She's fainted. The rush of magic for the first time...the atmosphere shift...it can do that to anyone. It's best if she get checked by a medical officer right now, just to be on the safe side."

Ava answered sourly, "Did you say magic? What is this, Cosplay Camp?"

Taehyung's nervous laughter echoed behind them.

"This isn't a camp," Joon answered. "It's a fortress."

They finally reached the first landing below those sweeping marble-esq stairs. The crash of colors and textures in the room they'd just entered drew Ava away from worrying about Shae to worrying about what the hell kind of acid trip fairy land they'd just fallen into.

Surely this was all a weird dream. Surely this was those extra spicy tacos from yesterday, coming around to bite her in the brain waves.

Ava spun slowly around the room they'd just entered, shock and awe finally catching up to her.

The room was a hodgepodge of gnarled-footed chairs and golden trimmed sofas styled after Victorian England or pre-revolutionary France, mingled with angular white tables and splatter paint wall hangings. The giant fern hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier, the electric blue throw pillows clashing against a hairy pastel pink throw rug...it was a mouthful for the eyes.

Even the crispness of the indoor air was startling—like a fresh mountain spring was nearby.

"Where are we?" Ava's voice was free for the first time of fury. She was properly stunned.

Ava didn't even notice Joon ignore her completely and continue his long strides from the room with Shae in his arms.

Taehyung came up beside Ava, a tentative look on his face. His lollipop was gone now, and his hands were crossed against his black T-shirt and leather jacket as if he didn't know what else to do with them.

"Joon said he'd explain." Tae's deep voice was rich with kindness. He offered an encouraging smile. "Why don't you take a seat. Can I get you anything to eat, to drink, while we wait?"

"Uh."

"I'll go get a tray."

Ava found this statement an oddly hospital thing to say.

Taehyung started out of the room, and Ava sat down on electric-pink sofa cushions and let shock and awe have it's way.

Meanwhile, things with Shae were more serious than they appeared....