Jungkook screamed.
His screams were those of horror, of pure fear and pain. It shattered throughout the kingdom, tears sprouting from his eyes, escaping into his wide mouth. Mingyu reached forward, grabbing Juungkook's arm, pulling the boy away from his own mother's lifeless body.
Namjoon's eyes twitched, his own lips trembling. He met Mingyu's eyes who shook his head, warning him to not reveal the fact he'd escaped from this spell from Hell.
Aphrodite laughed loudly, her eyes meeting Jungkook's as more tears ran down his cheeks, kissing the top of his lip. "See? Isn't this just such a fun game?" She hummed, tapping her cheek, glancing back at Taehyung. "It seemed killing your worthless mother did nothing for Taehyung," She sighed, turning to Jungkook.
Jungkook wanted to wrap his hands around her neck, squeeze so hard that she lost consciousness before destroying her. But he knew he would never win against her, never win against whatever she had created. She would destroy everything Jungkook knew and loved before he had a chance to even blink.
Aphrodite sighed, leaning back in her chair. She glanced up at Mingyu, the way he was slowly stroking a hand down the boy's back. "Bring him to me," She declared, reaching a hand out, Mingyu sucking in a breath, gently pushing on the boy's lower back.
"She'll be more annoyed if you refuse to go,"
Jungkook reluctantly stepped forward, not wanting to even look at the woman who had just taken his own mother's life. Aphrodite hummed, glancing over at Taehyung, his eyes still glazed over. Jungkook's stomach swirled, as he felt vomit shoot up to his mouth. He felt sick - the whole situation making his head pound as he daren't look behind him, not wanting to see his own mother's lifeless body laid behind him.
"I think..." Aphrodite sighed. "I think you know what's coming, Jungkook. I'll let you go, and you can live your pathetic human life back on Earth, with no memory of anything," She smiled a little. "I'm offering you a way out, a way out from me taking your life,"
Jungkook tightened his jaw. He glanced at Taehyung, the love of his life, the only thing that had made him feel complete in years. He didn't want to let any of this go. He wanted Taehyung to live happily, to be happy. He knew Taehyung would never be happy if he was cursed into this life. He narrowed his eyes.
"Burn in Hell," He hissed, spitting at her feet.
Aphrodite paused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing before her eyes flashed red. "You dirty whore! You come here, seduce Taehyung, take away my husband, ruin our lives and then have the audacity to spit at my feet? Make me look a fool in front of my court?"
Jungkook felt his neck tighten, Aphrodite holding her hand out, squeezing Jungkook's neck through her powers, lifting his body effortlessly off the floor. He squirmed above her, kicking his legs out. She flung him high in the air, his body falling down.
"You ungrateful bitch,"
Just as Jungkook felt his body falling, his back poised to the floor, his own life flashing before his eyes, Aphrodite reached her hand out, stopping him just before he hit the floor, a soft gasp escaping his lips, eyes hurriedly glancing around the room. He saw Jimin's face of worry, Namjoon's eyes brimming with tears and Taehyung - Taehyung's eyes were narrowed and full of anger, a hand gripping the edge of his chair.
"You will never see any good in your life again, never experience what it feels like to be free," She hissed before flinging her hand up, Jungkook screaming as a loud crack sounded throughout the room, his back snapped in half, his neck hanging down - his entire body lifeless.
Taehyung roared from beside Aphrodite as she turned to him, the demon not even allowing her to open her mouth before he stuck his hand in her chest, ripping her heart out and throwing it onto the ground.
"I should've fucking killed you the moment I knew something was wrong,"
The court was quiet, the only sound being soft whimpers escaping Jimin's mouth as he held onto Jungkook so carefully - as though he was a porcelain doll. In Taehyung's eyes he was, he wanted to step forward, embrace his cherished. But instead he was left with Jungkook's ruined body, his back in half, eyes wide and mouth open, the look of pure terror still printed helplessly across his features.
"What has she done?" Namjoon whispered, eyes glancing around the court. No one was moving, the curse still hanging heavy in the air. "Why hasn't everyone broken out of it?"
Jimin sniffled, looking over at where Aphrodite laid still, her red eyes glowing still even though her heart laid, crushed by her feet. "Because we haven't killed who is behind all of this,"
Taehyung closed his eyes, pressing a hand to his head. He couldn't escape the image of Jungkook, lying so helplessly. It was as though it was burnt into the back of his eyelids, a picture placed there by Aphrodite herself to torture him throughout whatever was going to happen.
Namjoon placed a hand on his shoulder, jumping him from his thoughts.
"You take Jungkook out into the valley. Me and Jimin will stay here and fight," Namjoon whispered, eyes glazing round at the court members, their eyes now glowing red too as they compelled to the spell holding them captive.
"I'll be right behind them," Mingyu promised, a stone face placed over his once emotional features. Hoseok smiled, holding a sword too as he gestured to Jungkook.
Taehyung knelt beside his soulmate, gripping his cold hand, the fragility of him coming to life. Jimin smiled, eyes and cheeks wet, his lips bitten and raw. "Just remember that you're still here,"
Taehyung quickly nodded - Jungkook wasn't gone yet, as long as Taehyung still breathed, so did Jungkook. That was the promise of soulmates. He held onto that small stab of hope.
♡ ♡ ♡
Taehyung finally reached the small camp site they had stopped at before everything had gone downhill. The fire crackled as he carefully placed Jungkook amongst a small pile of blankets, having used his magic to hover him gently behind him as he walked.
He hated leaving his friends to fight, but he couldn't abandon his soulmate - he loved Jungkook so much, that he wanted him to understand that he would never leave him again.
"Is it bad?"
Taehyung jumped back, hands blazing with fire as he met Seokjin's eyes, the angel looking dissolved and tired. He clearly had worried for Namjoon.
"Everyone, including me was under some sort of spell. We couldn't save anyone who was brought to us. Not even Jungkook's mother, or-" Taehyung held back a sob as he gestured to Jungkook's lifeless body, his face pale. He looked like a bitter version of Snow White, beautiful but haunting.
"I'm sorry," Seokjin whispered. He quickly fished around his own blanket pile before producing a small vial. "It's an elixir. It should help Jungkook recover quickly - if he is stable enough too," Taehyung took the small vial, nodding his head.
He carefully knelt beside his soulmate, pressing the rim of the jar against his lips, letting the silver liquid slip past the petals and down his throat. "How long?"
Seokjin smiled. "Not too long, it has the blessing of an angel,"
Taehyung nodded, once again reaching for Jungkook's hand, laying down beside his cherished. He wanted to curse, to let out a giant sob. But instead, he stayed quiet, watching Seokjin cook up something in a pot nestled above the fire, he watched the flames light the sky orange and watched the rest of Hell as he knew it, burn to the ground.
He watched Seokjin add more blankets to the camp, the whole area feeling far more homely than what it did before. He smiled at the demon as he sat across from him, the crackling fire inbetween the two opposites.
"How did you get here?" Taehyung mumbled, reaching forward to brush some hair from Jungkook's face that had blown in due to the slight wind.
Seokjin hummed, laying his head onto his knees. "Namjoon left me here. Not that I minded, Aphrodite would've had my wings if she saw them," He chuckled a little, sprouting his wings from his back. They were no longer a pure white, instead they were ashy, the darkest at the top, the colour making its way down. "Me and Namjoon consummated our soulmate tie the other night. I can't live without him so..."
"Jungkook wanted too," Taehyung whispered. "But I told him he would feel all of my pain. But now I wonder that if we did, I would've snapped out of my curse alot quicker,"
"This isn't your fault. I was protected from the curse, Namjoon wasn't. I saw him turn before he left. He was so emotionless, he would've killed anyone with just a click of Aphrodites fingers," He bit his lip a little. "Is he okay?"
Taehyung nodded. "He's no longer in the curse. I think almost everyone broke out of it when Jungkook-" He shook his head lightly. "But there are still those being controlled,"
Seokjin nodded, letting out a sigh as he stared ahead at the burning city. "Everything will work out. I know it will. Even if we have to die for it," Seokjin smiled a little. "I know Jungkook will live,"
♡ ♡ ♡
END OF PART ONE