You stumbled back, not understanding what Seokjin was saying.
"Killed?" you repeated. "That's impossible. I could never..."
"Your pure soul wouldn't understand your tainted soul," Seokjin said, repeating the king's words. "As you've suffered, your morality has purified. You wouldn't be capable of the same sins now."
You couldn't fully understand his meaning, but your mind was too frazzled to understand much at all.
"It would explain your human obsession to protect your family," Seokjin continued. "Just as Taehyung's adulterous soul would be obsessed with true love."
You looked at Taehyung, who now looked like a complete stranger. It wasn't just the wings. There was something about him that was now somehow mature and battle-scarred, as if all the lives he once lived had caught up to him. Something flickered in his eyes as he looked at you, and you couldn't understand why he was looking at you in such a way.
Was it because you were a murderer?
"But your sins have been cleansed," Seokjin said, squeezing your arm to get your attention. "And you have a decision to make."
You glanced at the platform in the middle of the lake where Taehyung had received his wings. It was somehow drawing you in... you were a clueless moth to an eternal flame.
"I can't," you managed to whisper out.
His eyebrow bounced, unamused. "I had a feeling you'd say that."
"It's just too much information at once," you replied. "I don't understand what's happening..."
"If the woman waits too long, she may slip into the next life still cursed," Yoongi commented.
"Yes, but to make any decision in haste could be tragic for all of us," Hoseok replied.
King Namjoon stepped forward, approaching both Seokjin and you.
"Y/N..." he said gently, "come with me for a moment."
He held out his elbow like a gentleman, nodding for you to accept the invitation. You took his arm mindlessly, wrapping your fingers around his biceps. The touch was warm and nostalgic, like a childhood blanket wrapped around your shoulders.
Yoongi and Hoseok followed behind you, but Taehyung and Seokjin stayed in the throne room. The King led you into the maze of halls, taking one slow deliberate step after the other. Hoseok and Yoongi stayed ten feet behind you, walking in unison.
"I know you, don't I?" you asked, looking up at King Namjoon.
His lips pulled to the side in a confused smile. "What makes you ask that?"
"Because Taehyung spoke to you as if he knew you. And when I touch your arm, I feel like I should know you too."
The king paused for a long moment before answering.
"I know all my people," he said, "from the moment they came into existence. We knew each other once, yes. And should you take your wings again, you will recognize me."
"But when we first came --"
"I treated you both like strangers. It's unfair, I know. But after doing this for a thousand years, I've learned that explaining everything upfront only creates more problems."
You swallowed, sighing. "I feel like I'm split in two, Your Majesty. I can't understand any of this."
He stopped, turning to face you with a warmth in his eyes you felt was unearned.
"I won't force you to return to us," he said gently. "I won't force you in any direction. Our den is missing one without you, but I understand that your human home is missing one as well."
"You've been very good to me, Your Majesty. But my father has been good to me too. I don't know if I could live for an eternity knowing I abandoned him."
"You are not the first to have such anguish, and you won't be the last. It's difficult to let go of the only life you've ever known for a life you know nothing about."
You were at a loss for words, overwhelmed by both his kindness and his wisdom.
"Take your time," he said. "Should you desire your wings, I will give them to you whenever you ask - whether it be in ten minutes or ten years. But remember that should you pass away in your human body in this life, you'll be sent to another human body immediately, with no recollection of any of this."
Something pained your heart to hear such a thing, yet you weren't sure why. You only knew of this place since yesterday. How could you be so homesick for it when you hadn't known it?
"Your Majesty?" you asked. "Do you think I could find this place again if I passed into the next life?"
He laughed. It was the first time you had ever heard him truly laugh, and you didn't understand why he was so amused at the question.
"My dear, you don't remember a thing at all," he said, "but let me tell you a secret. This is the third time you've found us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You and the king walked around the hallways a little more before his paleness alarmed you. There were deep shadows behind his eyes, and you knew that even though he was happy to see you and Taehyung return to the Den, he had still lost more sirens than he had gained. You insisted he rest, and Yoongi and Hoseok took the king back to his room.
You wandered around, somewhat in the direction of your own room, the room for incarnates. Now that Taehyung was a siren again, you would be in the room alone. You weren't sure how you felt about it.
Something fluttered overhead.
You looked up just as Taehyung soared over and landed only three feet in front of you. With his siren robes and straight posture, his physical form was suddenly classically masculine, like a statue of Hercules or a painting of a Roman gladiator. His wings expanded twice the length of his arms, yet he seemed completely in control of them.
There was a shyness in his eyes, however; an emotion you were not accustomed to seeing from him.
"You refused your wings?" he asked, his voice softer than normal.
You wrapped your arms around yourself and nodded. "For now."
"Will you ever...?"
You shrugged. "I don't know."
He chewed his lip, looking around the room as if he was trying to find his words in the rafters.
"You don't remember me then," he said.
You cocked your head to the side. "What do you mean? I haven't forgotten you."
"No," he said with a laugh. "I mean, from the life we had before."
He held your gaze.
"We knew each other once, yes. And should you take your wings again, you will recognize me."
If you knew the king at one time, did that also mean...?
"I wondered why I was instantly drawn to you the moment I saw you," Taehyung said. "In all honesty, I thought it was love at first sight since I had never experienced anything quite like it before. I often heard older people talking about how they met their true love and felt as if they knew each other for a lifetime."
Your heart fluttered at his words, and you couldn't help but rub the goosebumps on your arms.
"When I realized you were a siren, I dismissed the love at first sight notion," Taehyung continued. "I decided it was because we were both from the same world, and that was why I was drawn to you. But now that I remember all my lives - every reincarnation I've ever had - I realize the truth."
He stepped forward, a playful smile bursting across his face. The sudden change in emotions threw you off, but then again, Taehyung was always unpredictable. To add in more confusion, he swung his arms out wide and then wrapped you in a hug, his wings expanded out next to you both.
"We were friends here, you and I," he said in your ear. "From the time we were pure sirens, barely having a body to call our own."
He leaned back to look at you, the stars practically dancing in his eyes.
"There were five of us: you, me, Liwei, Sophie, and Renaldo." He pointed to the ceiling. "We used to play hide and seek in the upper suites. And we'd go to the surface and see who could skip rocks across the ocean furthest. Liwei's record was 642 skips."
His wings fluttered and he held you close as your feet came off the ground. You gripped onto his arms.
"Taehyung...?"
"I know you don't remember any of this, Y/N," he whispered. "But I wish you did. I wish you could remember what it was like to live together here... before we all chose our dark paths and were cursed for our sins."
His lips flattened and he pressed them together. Your heart sank.
"They're... gone?" you asked, not sure why your heart was breaking.
Taehyung brought your feet back to the ground.
"Renaldo was cursed first," he explained. "And then you. Sophie, Liwei, and I tried to find you both for a time... and then I was caught... and I don't know what happened to anyone after that."
Before you could catch his facial expression, he leaned his head on your shoulder.
"I don't want to look for you again," he said softly. "As a siren... as a human... I've spent too much time searching for people that can never come back to me."
You wrapped your arms around his back, the soft feathers of his wings brushing against your hands. His embrace became strong, almost desperate.
"Please come back to us, Y/N," he said in your ear. "Please come back home."
You lost all the words in your throat, pain and confusion taking over your entire body. The pieces of you that were hanging on by a thread were now completely shredded.
What could you do...?
Someone cleared their throat.
Taehyung and you turned to Seokjin, his eyes somehow hollow and blazing at the same time. He glanced between you both, a bitter smile across his face.
"What a sweet reunion," Seokjin taunted.
You scowled at him, too emotional for his sass. "What do you want?"
He put his hands in his pockets and stepped forward. "I came to tell Taehyung to be at the courthouse tomorrow afternoon. You can come too if you want, Y/N, but you'll be absolutely useless as an incarnate."
"She could ask for her wings by then," Taehyung replied defensively. "Then she would be able to participate."
"I'm sorry, but have you really known this woman your entire life?" Seokjin returned. "Even I know she won't agree to her wings until she's seen her father. Don't be stupid."
"I've known her longer than you've been alive, so I suggest you take your opinions and --"
"Enough!" you said, annoyed with their childish argument. "Just what on earth is happening tomorrow that we need to come to the courthouse for? Didn't we already have our trials?"
Seokjin's eyes met with yours. "You did. The humans didn't."
Your mouth went instantly dry. "You mean tomorrow --"
"Yes," Seokjin said, monotone. "So if you want to say goodbye to your star-crossed crew members, I suggest you do it by tomorrow. They might not exist by sundown."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy New Years, Tigers!
I keep writing the year as 20201... so close, yet so far. 0_o
I know 2020 was a crazy whirlwind of URRRNGGHHH, but we made it. I pray that 20201 -- omg I legit just wrote the year like that AGAIN -- 2021 is full of blessings and encouragement.
I'm happy to say that the commercial version of THE REBELLION is almost ready for preorder, so don't go anywhere! Updates are coming soon!
Side note: If you ever get depressed about 2020 or 2021, go look up the worst year in history: 536 BC. Spoiler alert - it involves a volcano eruption blocking out the sun for a year and a half, resulting in a mini-ice age, all the crops in the Northern Hemisphere dying, people dying of starvation (including 80% of China), and everyone else dying by Bubonic Plague (which had a 33% survival rate).
We managed through that. We can manage through whatever comes next. God's got it taken care of, and the end of the world ain't comin' until He says so.
Let's make the best of each day we have.
And PS... I'm glad I get to spend my days with you. ^^