"Nari, what happened?" Sofia stood in front of her, and she beckoned Nari to come closer. Nari did, and she leaned into the hug Sofia offered. "What happened to Yoongi?"
"I had to tell him what Dohyun told me. I had to tell him why his wife died." Nari's words were muffled in Sofia's shoulder since she was too afraid to speak them clearly into the open hallway. She was vaguely aware of Taehyung listening from the other end, but she paid him no mind.
Sofia only hummed in response, unable to come up with the words to offer Nari or Yoongi or Eunjin any comfort. Finally, she said, "Let me take you to Jungkook. Ana almost has everything reversed."
She guided Nari towards her bedroom, but when they passed Taehyung, he held his hand out to stop them.
"It should have waited, Nari. You do not know the vulnerability Eunjin has been displaying because Yoongi cannot let go. She destroyed a building all because your stupid boyfriend egged Yoongi on into breaking her heart further." He took a small breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It should have waited."
Nari regarded him for a moment. "Tae, I know you're worried for both of them." She ignored his scoff. "But I think this will help him let go."
Before Taehyung could chastise her further, she dragged Sofia down the hall. She ignored the sounds of crying and shuffling and conversations coming from the various rooms. She needed to check on Sam and Jina to see how they were holding up, and she needed to find her brother. There were too many things to do, but the moment she finally set her eyes on Jungkook lying weakly in their bed, the concern for everyone else vanished.
"Hey, princess." He smiled and held his hand out to beckon her closer. Sofia let her go so she could move forward. "What's wrong?"
Was she crying again? She wouldn't be surprised if she was, but she also considered that Jungkook just knew her facial expressions so well by now.
"Dohyun knew the elves were in Min Manor the night Hana was taken," she whispered to him.
"And you told Yoongi?" He didn't sound disappointed in her, so she feebly nodded her head.
"Eunjin is with him," she explained as she sat next to him. "Can you move now?"
"A little. It'll take a little more time for me to come back fully, but Ana worked her magic."
Nari laughed a little, and she leaned forward to kiss him. She heard the door shut, and she took the opportunity to lay with Jungkook. They were spiraling deeper into a war, and she knew opportunities like this one were going to be slim.
"Jungkook," she whispered as she cuddled into his side. "We are going to have a daughter."
A smile broke across his face. "A girl," he said. "My little girl." He placed a hand on her stomach and rubbed gently. "She will be a force to be reckoned with. She will more terrifying than Eunjin could ever dream of being."
Nari's laugh was loud and bright, and Jungkook's grin only got wider at the sound. "She will be ruthless like her father," she said.
"No, she will be like her mother. I don't have to see the future to know that."
——
Amarian looked solemnly at the dying vampire. He had tried everything he could think of, but nothing helped. No amount of blood, no amount of spells, and no amount of pure willpower could heal Kwangsun.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "The stab from a Phoenix is deadly, and I'm not powerful enough to fix it."
Hoseok held tightly onto Jina and Sam as they continued to cry, and he nodded his head at Amarian. "You did everything you could," he told him.
Despite how horrific it had been to watch the phoenix's hand stab through Kwangsun's torso, the man himself looked so peaceful. He looked... relieved.
"It won't be long now," Amarian told them. "I'll step out to give you some privacy."
"I need Sungjung," Sam whispered thickly past falling tears. "She needs to know, and she should be here."
Hoseok felt Jina nod in confirmation, and Hoseok sighed a little.
"Let me go find Nari," Hoseok whispered softly. "She will be able to locate Sungjung."
He reluctantly let them go, and he took one last glance at Kwangsun. Unbidden flashes of Jimin's head falling to the ground entered his mind, and then the harsh and raw and painful image of the Phoenix's hand piercing Kwangsun replaced them.
How many more were going to die in front of him?
He didn't ponder on that; he simply left the room and searched made his way to Jungkook and Nari's room.
He knocked softly on their door and opened it. The sight before him had him grimacing and almost smiling. Jungkook had a hand placed on Nari's stomach, and he was peppering kisses across her face while she giggled and pushed him away. They hadn't noticed him, and if it hadn't been so important, he would have just left.
"Nari," he said. She was startled, but Jungkook's grip kept her from falling off the bed. "I need you to locate Namjoon and Sungjung."
Nari sat up, and Hoseok watched as she closed her eyes and focused all of her energy on both her brother and Sungjung.
Time seemed to pass slowly. Hoseok moved further into the room, and Jungkook rubbed soft circles on her back, and Nari was completely still as she crossed the dark path to the two others.
When the scream ripped past her lips, Hoseok and Jungkook both were cradling her and coaxing her back from what she was seeing.
It took even more time, but eventually, Nari's breathing turned to slow, ragged bursts of air, and her tears no longer fell. Hoseok waited almost impatiently for her to talk; only him reminding himself that Nari obviously had been through a lot and had seen something terrifying kept him from coaxing words from her.
"The prophets," she said between breaths. "The prophets are torturing her."
There was a pause, and Hoseok's mind was stuck on the fact that no one had come running at the sound of Nari's screams. There was a lot happening in the manor, and it was likely that screams were expected by everyone.
But he was wrong in that regard. Areum came into the room, and she crouched next to Hoseok on the floor. She brushed Nari's hair from her eyes, and she said soothing words that helped guide Nari through a proper explanation.
Hoseok had fucking missed his best friend, and he felt a pain in his chest when he realized just how much he actually needed her. And the way she was talking to Nari in that very moment took him back to when he first met Nari. When Nari was Song Jihae and was screaming due to being kidnapped and surrounded by seven men she didn't know.
Then Nari's words finally caught up to him, and it was like rushing water had finally cleared his ears. Sungjung was being tortured, and Namjoon was locked in a cell.
Jungkook was grumbling about how Namjoon always had stupid plans, but Nari silenced him with a simple touch to his hand.
Perhaps Hoseok was still a little dazed from being saved by Kwangsun and watching him die. Now he had to tell his love and Sam that Sungjung was a prisoner to the prophets no thanks to Namjoon.
He really fucking hated wars.
——
Taehyung decided it would be a good time to go bother Eunjin and Yoongi. He heard Nari scream from her own bedroom, and Taehyung was still a little too upset with her to go investigate.
He was surprised, though, to see Seokjin with his ear pressed against Eunjin's bedroom door. He went to ask what Seokjin was doing, but Seokjin shushed him and beckoned him over to listen in on whatever conversation was going on inside.
"They're whispering," Seokjin breathed out so quietly, Taehyung could barely hear him.
He had to face away from Seokjin to place his one ear on the door, and he frowned a little. They were being quiet on purpose; Eunjin probably knew someone was listening in.
"What else about that night do you remember?" She asked Yoongi.
"I ran through the forest, but the elves are fast. I don't think I even let anyone else know. I should have known Dohyun would have known about the elves. He would have sensed them." Yoongi sounded so utterly broken that Taehyung wanted to be like a human and vomit.
"Yoongi, I'm sure Dohyun had a good reason to not say anything." Eunjin didn't sound convincing at all. She sounded bitter.
"My wife and my unborn daughter were killed, Eunjin, and now you and everyone else expects me to just be happy destiny plopped you into my lap." Yoongi took a deep breath. "I was with Hana since we were children, but I'm wondering what would have happened if I had met you first."
Eunjin didn't get upset with Yoongi this time. "Destiny is strange. Jimin and Hana, me and you, it's all messy. Now we have our souls and their souls just tethered together for eternity. Take your time, Yoongi, but let me fall in love with you anyway."
"How could you ever love someone like me?" The words were strangled in Yoongi's throat, and this was a moment Taehyung and Seokjin knew they definitely shouldn't be listening to. But Yoongi being vulnerable was an addicting thought, so they made no move to leave.
"There's a lot to love."
"I'm not Park Jimin."
"And I'm not Min Hana."
Yoongi sighed. "Hana was quiet and simple. She desired peace, and she hardly ever made any jokes. She wasn't scary at all. She was the softest vampire I think ever existed. I think she hated killing humans even if it kept her alive." Yoongi's voice kept getting quieter. "She was always the exact opposite of you. Even as a child, you were fierce. I don't want you to be Hana."
"Hana was always boring," Taehyung breathed out so silently. But Seokjin heard him, and he stifled a snicker.
There was silence on the other side of the door, and Taehyung and Seokjin feared they'd been found out. The ruffling of the sheets and Eunjin speaking her next words had them holding back sighs of relief.
"Jimin was wild. He adjusted emotions and fed on anger and harsh energy." Yoongi knew all of those things about Jimin, but he'd never heard Eunjin describe him. "He was reckless, but he loved a lot. And he was mine. That much was true from the moment I met him face to face when all of you came to the manor. I loved him so quickly."
She took a ragged breath, and Taehyung thought she could be crying. She continued on. "But I met you again at the same time. It was the first time I had seen you since Hana died, and there was a fondness there that I had always been confused about. You were taken away, and then Jimin died, and I fucking needed you, Yoongi."
She was crying. Her voice was getting louder, and Taehyung fought back his own tears.
"But I see Jimin everywhere. You see Hana. Taetae sees Daliania. What the fuck is wrong with us?"
"Eunjin," Yoongi said. Her name came out slowly, as if he wanted to hold onto both syllables. It held vulnerability that he hadn't shared with anyone since Hana.
"No, Yoongi, let me finish." Her voice was thick and wet from crying. "Let me love you. Let me make you happy."
Taehyung couldn't listen to it anymore. He carefully pushed away from the door. He nodded to Seokjin, and he walked away while fighting the urge to steal glimpses of Daliania as she walked with him down the halls.
——
Sungjung sat slumped against the wall of an open room. They had dragged her from her cell to torture her for more information. What was Namjoon planning? When was the demon child to be born? What was Jeon Jungkook planning?
She refused to answer any questions. She only spat out curses directed at Kim Namjoon.
Destiny could fuck itself in the ass for what it laid before her. Kim Namjoon. The weapon. The monster. And he wanted her to continue to trust him.
When the prophets returned harnessing a different type of stunner she had never seen before, her mind suddenly backtracked without her wanting it to. The sting from the sparks spreading across her skin had her begging for help from the one person she wanted to be so far away from.
"Namjoon!" Her screams were cracking from straining her vocal cords, and she was weakening faster.
She was likely going to die in the belly of the City of Prophets, and she wondered idly when the others would discover that fact.
They hit her with the stunner again, and drool fell from her mouth as the electricity shook her very being. She could no longer move. She could no longer talk.
She was nothing but a shell, and she wanted Namjoon to come and either hold her and save her or be the one to deal the killing blow.