The next few weeks, I lived in fear. The handsome young God, I adored so much could turn into a monster in less than a second and feast on a living, screaming human like it was his favorite dish, had my mouth go dry every time I thought about it.
"You seem off these days" Jimin commented as we walked to his court, the court of hell.
The room large enough to accommodate as many demons as there could be. The dark creatures occupied the area, leaving the high raised podium empty for their king..and his sheild.
Stepping onto the elevated platform, Jimin sat down on his throne, his dark clothing and eyes in perfect contrast with his milky skin and silver hair. I loosened my grip around the sword tucked in, standing up straight behind him as my eyes scanned the hall.
The dead would be brought into this court of hell by the demons and Jimin being the God of all, would decide which stage of punishment the human deserved, based on all the sins he/she had committed.
This was our daily routine. And just like the humans, Park Jimin took one day off in a week...that day was tomorrow.
"My lord" one of the demons bowed as four others brought in a woman in her forties.
I let my eyes scan her face and as far as her features were concerned, she had dark hair, wrinkled face, tall built and an expression of hope painted on her face.
"Sin: murder of her husband and suicide the next day"
I watched Jimin closely and he raised a brow.
The woman really did not look like someone who could kill her husband. She had dried wounds and bluish pink bruises on her skin and a slit across her neck, which was sealed by clotted blood. I assumed, that is how she must have killed herself, by cutting her own neck.
"Why?" Jimin asked calmly, his eyes fixed on the lady who was kneeling on the ground.
The court remained pin-drop silent, and I sucked in a shallow breath the moment one of the demons whipped the lady's back, "Answer the lord!"He commanded. She only gasped in pain, no sound leaving her lips as we waited a few more seconds, and she finally spoke.
"My husband.." She started and I listened carefully, "he-" She began to cry.
Jimin was a God. An omnipresent, omnipotent and an omniscient entity. Why was he questioning her inspite of knowing everything there was to know? I did not know. All I could do was stand there and wait for her to let it out.
The demon raised his whip and I looked at Jimin, hoping he'd tell that thing to stop hurting her.
The God's eyes shifted from the woman to the demon and with a raise of the his finger, the dark being found himself pushed away from the human, towards the far end of the court.
"Speak.." I tried, and Jimin looked over his shoulder, surprised that I'd spoken something for the first time since he'd shown me hell.
"He always came home drunk. Beat me and my children. H-he stabbed two of my daughters to death, th-they were only little babies" She let the tears flow down her cheeks, "all because he wanted a son and I couldn't give him one".
I bit the insides of my cheek.
"Murder.." Jimin started and the court's population was attentive on what he had to tell, "is a sin, no matter what the reason.."
"He killed my babies!" She yelled and I gripped my sword.
The tension rose in the air but Jimin sat back calmly as he dealt with her.
"You don't have the right to end someone else's life, just because they're making yours miserable" he stated.
The lady stared at the man before her for a few seconds before rising onto her feet, almost collapsing in the process.
She tugged at her clothing and let her clothes loop around her feet as she pushed them off, revealing a body full of scars, wounds and bruises.
"This is what my husband did to me" a single tear rolled down her cheek and she didn't bother to wipe it away, "I don't regret killing him ".
"Regret it or not, you're in hell already" Jimin smirked.
The lady held onto hope as she slowly kneeled down again, wincing at the pain that spread through her body as she did so.
" I belive in you.." She smiled, "I'm at your mercy".
My heart softened at that, and I turned to look at Jimin who maintained a hard, unyielding expression.
'Jimin, please..' I begged in my head, knowing he would hear it.
'I don't want her to go through pain anymore'
'You hear me, don't you..my lord?'
I watched his every move as the man only sighed. "Rebirth" he concluded, and the woman looked up at him, an expression of hurt lacing her features.
"You want me to suffer all over again?" She questioned.
"Suffering isn't all there is to life.." Jimin smiled, and as the man looked at her naked form, the cuts and injuries on her body closed up one by one, leaving no marks. The wrinkles on her face disappeared as her skin tightened and her hair turned darker by every second.
"I want to stay here! I want to serve you!" She begged, her fingers intertwined as she looked up with hopeful eyes.
"This is not a place for women" Jimin stated and the lady's eyes shifted from him to me, and back at him in confusion before the floor cracked upon and white smoke enveloped her until she disappeared completely.
---
"Not a place for ladies?" I asked, as we walked back to Jimin's chamber, through the hallway.
"No" he smirked and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Are you telling me that I shouldn't be here?"
"No" the smirk on his face was stagnant.
I fastened my pace to catch up with his quick walking.
"I'm the most capable individual here, if you don't already know.." I argued, praising myself on the go and Jimin stopped walking completely.
"What?" He raised a brow and I felt a shiver run down my spine.
"Uh-huh" I shook my head.
"Most capable?" He raised his brows, taking a step towards me and I stepped back reflexively.
"No.." I whispered, my hearts pace rising with every second.
"Shouldn't you be thanking me for obliging to your requests and letting the woman go unpunished?" He questioned, stepping forward again and this time, I felt my back hit the wall of the narrow hallway.
"Thank you" I said quickly and he only chuckled, closing the gap between the two of us and my eyes widened.
"Are you afraid?" He chuckled at my expression.
"Yes" I answered, honestly.
"Don't be" he inched closer, his chest brushing against mine.
"Uh- y-yes my lord" I stammered, swallowing repeatedly as my throat went dry.
"Red.." He started, and I could almost feel his breath on my face, "wear red tomorrow" is all he said. Backing away, he walked off to his chamber which was now only a few steps away, leaving me breathless and extremely close to passing out, against the walls of the corridor.
--