SPELLBOUND | BTS AF

GEM

LOCATION: SOUTHERN ICE GLACIER, EISMITTE
TIME: 18:44

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THE COLD SIPS through jasmin's fingers, causing her to take in a sharp breath as she pulls her hands away from the ice. resting her arms on her knees, she puts her warm gloves back on. her bottom lip juts in a tiny pout as she flexes her fingers to get the blood flowing once more.

this is doing nothing for her condition, well aware that her fingers are already losing colour thanks to the disease shaking hands with the cold of greenland. the pain only builds in the warmth of the gloves but she tries to ignore it.

"well?" jeongguk urges while staring down at her crouched form, ignorant of her pain. "wait, are you okay?" nohemi notices the grimace the younger girl tries to hide in the low lighting after kamaria subtly nudges her and draws her attention to it. "ah, it's just a little cold. no biggie." jasmin giggles in response. nohemi's eyes narrow in suspicion and crouches in front of the girl. "give me your hand."

reluctantly, jasmin stretches out a hand to her, bouncing slightly in her position. slipping the warm glove off jasmin's hand, nohemi's eyes widen when she sees the gradually reddening digits. "holy shit." the three boys chorus as the sight.

the oldest girl meets kamaria's trained gaze and the quiet girl tilts her head. looking back at jasmin's hand, nohemi lets out a sigh. "jas, do you happen to have raynaud's phenomenon?" she asks seriously. the youngest assumes an innocent expression, lips pressing together and going bigger. "maybe?" she pops out.

nohemi throws her head back the same time kamaria pinches the bridge of her nose. "you should have said something!" she chastises. "but we needed to find the gem!" jasmin pouts, glancing down. she does not like that nohemi seems mad at her. seeing the expression on her face, the older girl lets out another sigh.

"give me your other hand." she demands softly. jasmin does as she's told, watching her take the second glove off. taking the younger girl's hands in hers, nohemi sucks in a breath. "you might feel a little tingling sensation." she informs before resting jasmin's hands on her knees and pulling her own gloves off.

she mumbles incoherently and hovers her hands over the excitable witch's. there is a small twinkle of light before jasmin's hands begin to return to their original colour. the girl beams brightly, eyes sparkling in childlike awe. "so cool!" she holds her hands out in front of her, waving them back and forth. "thank you!" she pulls nohemi into a hug, nearly toppling them over.

"will never get over this abracadabra shit." jeongguk mutters, staring at jasmin's hands. "um, i'm glad you're all better, jasmin but we need to hurry." taehyung mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. "oh, yeah!" the girl jumps up suddenly. nohemi follows suit, handing jasmin back her gloves. "thanks."

"well, let's get this show on the road!" jeongguk claps his hands together impatiently. "okay!" jasmin grins brightly, chest rising as she takes in a deep breath. it is quiet for a moment as everyone stares at her in waiting. she rocks on her heel cluelessly, eyes darting around the now dark area they are in. "yo, powerpuff." jeongguk shoots her a pointed look and she stares back with big eyes.

"jasmin, you haven't told us what you saw yet." hoseok tells her with a slightly amused smile. "oh, sorry!" her eyes widen in realisation, cheeks slightly warming. "i forgot." she adds sheepishly.

jeongguk lets out a frustrated groan, throwing his head back. his lips curve slightly and he shakes his head. "just tell us." he looks back at her and she nods.

"well, the wizard who hid the gem was certainly something. it's literally lodged at the very edge of the glacier." she tells them. "he was probably an ice magic specialist seeing how he was able to easily mess with the ice. i wish i could do that too. the glacier was melted down pretty deep and then frozen again after the gem was dropped in the water. then the glacier was broken off probably about half an inch from where the gem was buried."

no one says a word for a long moment while they process her words. hoseok is the first to make a sound, throwing his head to the side and letting out a small sigh when he pouts. "it's almost like he didn't want anyone to retrieve the stone." he says, voice laced with irritated sarcasm.

"did you see his face?" taehyung turns to jasmin. she shakes her head in response. "i tried but i couldn't. i guess he hid his face so the ice couldn't see." she answers, puffing her cheeks.

"cloaking or manipulation?" nohemi muses out loud. "probably a hybrid." kamaria answers, appearing to sink further into her winter coat. "does it matter who he was or how he hid his face right now?" jeongguk pipes up, sounding even more impatient than before. "how are we going to get the stupid gem out of the fucking ice without anyone having to die a cold watery death and get the hell out of this geo-freezer before we become goddamn eskimos?"

"calm downes, relaxation, chill out, stop scream–" kamaria drawls out, pulling off one of her gloves. everyone gawks at her, but only for a second before hoseok and nohemi start laughing. "did you just quote a vine?" jeongguk looks at her with incredulity. "not her first time." hoseok chimes, remembering when they'd suddenly been transported to st. petersburg.

"his overdramatic outburst aside, the game addict is right." kamaria remarks, ignoring their comments. "whoever the wizard was, he's made it near impossible to get the gem." she plays with one of the many rings that adorn her fingers. "at least not unless you can control water or ice with ease."

"i don't understand." hoseok's brows draw together in momentary confusion. "not just any spell would do the trick. you have to have had half a century of experience to know the right combination of spells to use if you aren't an ice or water magic user. any wrong move and we'll lose the gem forever." nohemi explains quietly. "well that's just great." jeongguk chirps sardonically, throwing his hands up.

"i see." taehyung glances back at the barely visible border of ice and water. the skies are dark now, the only source of light coming from spells cast by kamaria and nohemi. he turns to face them once more, hand on his chin, index finger tapping against his cheek in thought.

"if you try to melt the ice, the stone would probably sink down to the bottom of the ocean. if you try to blast the ice off, we don't know how delicate the gem is and you could end up destroying it in the process. breaking the edge of the ice off... well, you get the picture. so we need someone like than..." he trails off, noticing the change of expression on the faces of the two older witches. their attention seems to be drawn to something else. "something wrong?"

neither of them reply for a moment too long. it instantly has the rest of the group on edge. "girls?" hoseok calls with a hint of nerves in his tone. they both turn to him at the same time, the muscles on their faces tense. nohemi presses her lips together before answering, "the gem can wait. we need to get to the others before they get hurt."

their heads snap up at her words, eyes wide with shock. looks like they'll be finding their way back.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GOLDEN BOY AKA THE RESIDENT SPELLBOUND ASSHOLE YEET!! I WISH HIM ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD UWU (also um, justin bieber really–)