Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 25

2 1/2 chapters before the war! Are you excited? I'm excited. Finally time to get into the teà🍵🍵

XXV: Taehyung

12 hours later

The silver mask lays in my drawer; forgotten, unused.

But still alive.

The metal seems to yearn and stretch in my hands, wanting to dig its way into my skin. Wanting to become a part of me. I took it off long ago, hating the way that it clung to my face like a leech, sucking me dry of any emotion other than bloodlust. People wondered why my mask hadn't melded to my face yet, considering that I was the best fighter Bloodcrest had seen in a century. That was probably because I took the damned thing off every moment I was alone. If I had kept it on for my whole stay at Bloodcrest, no doubt that I too would have become a steel-hearted killer by now. Just like my fellow classmates. But even I couldn't deny that the mask held an essential part of my soul. It felt somehow right in my hands, and I hated the feeling more than anything.

"You should wear it," A voice comes unexpectedly from behind, and I turn around. Yoongi stands there, face filled with mild curiosity as he glances at the silver mask.

"I don't want to," I reply gruffly, shoving the mask back in my drawer. Foolish of me to ever even bring it out.

"But you should," Yoongi says, seating himself on a chair at the entryway of my room. "It signifies your power, prestige. Becoming a Mask is no easy task. Take pride in it."

I whirl on him, twenty years of torment evident in my eyes. "Take pride in it? Pride? You want me to find pleasure in killing innocents mercilessly? The endless massacres? When I kill, I kill with a purpose. Not because some high-ranking centurion ordered me to. A Mask is no more than a murder tool. I want to be more than that."

"And you are. No one will deny that," Yoongi's calm voice placates my anger. "But it's foolish to let those feelings override your sense of judgement." He nods towards the drawer. "That silver mask is part of a Mask's soul. Even I know that much. Force it off, and it won't give you back as much power as it could. To truly use some of its abilities, you have to put yourself into the mask. Embrace it Taehyung, at least for the duration of this war. We need our leader at full power."

"I know that," I sigh. "Am I being selfish Yoongi? I'm trying to do everything so that the past doesn't repeat itself... but it's getting hard. So hard. This mask and the monster are almost the same. They feed on death, blood, and the sufferings of others. I don't want to become like that."

"As long as you keep your devil side in check, nothing like that will happen," He says with confidence that I wish I had. "Even if so, it will probably take the monster more than a century to gain full control. We have plenty of time to plan―"

"I don't have that long," I interrupt. "The barrier won't last another 100 years. I can feel it. I'm losing the battle. More than that, I'm afraid―afraid that wearing the mask will only speed up the process."

Yoongi is silent for a minute, slowly taking in this new information. His mouth tightens into a grim line. He's been my stalwart friend for so long, that he can clearly see how much this is affecting me. But now is hardly the time to be obsessing over my worries when we have a war looming on the horizon. Before he can voice his concerns, I cut him off.

"No matter. We should focus on one problem at a time. Right now, our first priority is winning this war. Am I right when I say that all the soldiers have assembled in the forest and will be ready for attack by dawn?"

"Yes sir," Yoongi immediately snaps into military position, the earlier alarm in his eyes cleverly concealed. "10,000 troops from every corner of our territory. They're ready for your orders at any moment. 10 troops are still left on the eastern border in case Shadow Valley would be sly enough to launch a sneak attack."