Chapter Text
The scream shocked Jungkook so much, the flowers in his hands withered and died.
The nature fairy was carrying out his daily duties, gossamer wings flitting around the Moors as he took in stock of the trees, the animals, the earth. Sunlight streamed down over the ancestral home of the Fey, warming Jungkook's pale skin. The winds had taken him to a wide meadow, and Jungkook relished the feeling of the soft grass underneath his bare feet. He had settled down by a patch of daffodils, pruning the blooms, gathering the stalks ready to be carried away.
And then he heard the noise.
It was a wail of anguish, a guttural sound that carried across the moors. Something so filled with pain that the fairy's heart throbbed, and his empathetic magic robbed the flowers in his hands of all life, overcome with grief. Jungkook caught movement in the corner of his eye, saw a kaleidoscope of butterflies flutter away in distress. He heard the birds squawking in fear, felt the trees stir in discontent. The fairy inhaled sharply, a stray daisy falling from his brown curls as he snapped his head around. His eyes darted, trying to find the source of the noise.
Another cry. A little softer, a little more broken, but no less agonized. Coming from the edge of the Moors.
Jungkook’s insect-like wings fluttered, carrying him off of the ground and over the fields of green and brown. His heart also flew, pounding in his chest with nerves and fear. He didn’t know what had made that noise, which sounded like it had been ripped from the very core of the poor creature. Jungkook just knew he wanted to help.
His flight led him to a misty pond, where firm dirt had given way to marshy grass and tall cattails. Large drooping trees with thick barks curved around him, blocking out most of the sunlight. The ground was cool behind his feet as he landed. Jungkook titled his head, biting his lip and trying to listen for an aberrant noise among the frogs and the crickets.
He heard a choked noise, and half-sob, half-rasp that came from somewhere behind him. He quickly leapt over damp moss, pushing aside bulrush as he followed the sound.
And then he saw.
A humanoid figure was lying on the ground curled into themselves, head pointed down to the dirt. The figure was wearing a dark robe, limbs shaking as they struggled to maintain the figure's weight. And-
Jungkook froze for a moment, because - the figure didn’t have wings. The was a conspicuous lack among the figure's back, visible even in the low light. The lack of limbs could only mean one thing. All fairies had wings, and if a human had managed to enter the Moors…
But then Jungkook paused. Crept closer, footsteps soundless in their lightness. He smelled the rusty pang of blood, and his large brown eyes widened in horror as he realized.
The creature in front of him was a fairy. But where a fairy’s wings should have been were two bloody, bleeding lines, angry gashes that spoke to immense loss. The fairy's robe was loose around their waist, and blood trickled down from the gaping wounds in their back, raw and exposed against the cool air. Jungkook’s stomach churned at the sight, and thorns of fear grew at his feet.
He managed, somehow, to find his voice. “H-hello?”
The fairy immediately reacted to the sound. He turned around, frantically scrambling away from Jungkook, backing up on his hands and knees. A beam of light fell upon the fairy and his features came into view - violet eyes, dark hair, tanned skin, and two long black horns that rose from the fairy's head. And Jungkook’s heart plummeted even further.
Everyone in the Moors knew Taehyung. The fairy was considered near royalty, protecting all of Fey with his powerful magic - far more powerful than any other fairy around. He was brash, bold, soaring over the Moors with his large raven’s wings.
Jungkook had never spoken to the dark fairy. Only admired from afar, twisting the flowers in his hair as he hid in a tree, captivated by Taehyung’s tall build and chiselled face. He had seen Taehyung flying overhead on his brilliant wings, and a couple of times Jungkook had dreamed of joining the dark fairy, offering a flower that he had coaxed into bloom. But those thoughts were just daydreams. Taehyung would never deign to notice Jungkook - the latter was just a lowly nature fairy.
Besides, Taehyung had his own paramour. The rumors circled through the lands, from fairy to flower to fjord. A human that Taehyung had allowed to witness the Moors in all its beauty, the first allowed to set foot on the land in centuries. Taehyung had been spending more and more time away from his homeland, and the birds chirped that he was always by the human's side. And if the rumors were to be believed - and the chipmunks were very reliable - they had shared True Love’s Kiss.
Yet here lay the protector of the Moors, mutilated, face gaunt and terrified. His purple eyes fixed on Jungkook, wide with fear. Jungkook could barely look at the carnage, at the violation of everything that a fairy was .
But Jungkook had never turned away from something - or someone - that needed help.
The nature fairy dropped to his knees, slowly moving towards Taehyung. “Shh, it’s okay.” He murmured. The other fairy breathed heavily as he stared at Jungkook, breath catching in his throat. The pain must have been unbearable. Jungkook kept his voice low and soothing. “I have healing magic. I can make it hurt less.”
“N-no,” Taehyung rasped. One of his arms was wrapped around himself, reaching towards where his wings used to be. “Don’t t-touch me.”
Jungkook could feel Taehyung’s magic sparking around him, hurt and barely contained. Like little wisps of flame fuelled by droplets of oil. “I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to,” Jungkook reassured. “I just want to help.”
He held out his hand, and vines appeared in his palm. The stems wrapped around Jungkook’s wrist, and trailed down to the ground extending towards Taehyung. When the vines reached the other fairy, a spring of pale purple salvia bloomed, bending forward to greet the dark fairy. Symbolising honesty, healing.
A peace offering.
“I’m just a nature fairy,” Jungkook said, keeping his voice soft and calm. “I don’t have any offensive magic. I couldn’t hurt you if I wanted to. And I don’t want to. I just want to help.”
Taehyung stared at Jungkook for a few more seconds, eyes wide, skin pale. He still took ragged breaths, but they were no longer the gasps on the edge of hysteria that they had been before. His shoulders trembled.
“Please,” he whispered.
Jungkook moved as soon as the syllable hit his hears, quickly but quietly settling next to Taehyung. His hands hovered about the other fairy. “Can I see?” he asked quietly.
Taehyung scooted a bit forward, bending at the waist so that Jungkook could get a better look at his back. Jungkook bit his lip to his reaction from spilling out. The dark fairy's wings had been savagely hacked off at the root, as if the attacker were a butcher or a forester. Only a few lonely feathers remained, sticking out from between Taehyung's shoulder blades.
Jungkook’s mind raced. How did this happen? It had to have been the humans - their attacks on the Fey had become more and more frequent as of late, threatening to breach the boundary of the Moors. But Taehyung was so strong, and confident - he had nearly single handedly driven the humans and their iron weapons away from the boundary. How could any mere human reduce the fairy to this?
He pushed his questions away, focusing on the wounds on the trembling fairy's back. Not only were there the two hideous gashes, but Taehyung was also burnt - the skin alongside the cuts also angry and red. Signs of the presence of iron.
Jungkook took a deep breath, trying to settle himself. “I’m going to put my hands on your shoulders,” he murmured. Taehyung said nothing, just kept breathing erratically. Jungkook took that as permission to continue.
He rested his hands on the outer curve of Taehyung’s shoulders. Then he cleared his throat, and began to sing.
His voice carried a soft tune, lilting over high notes. As he sang, his hands started to glow, the golden light pouring into Taehyung’s back. The wound began to slowly close, skin knitting itself back together. Golden dust danced over the open gashes, coaxing them to reform into fresh skin.
Jungkook could feel himself beginning to fatigue from the effort it took to heal, his own magic draining. But he kept singing, didn’t stop until no more wounds lay across Taehyung's back. As the lash cut closed into smooth tan skin, Jungkook sagged, his hands falling off of Taehyung's shoulders and his breath leaving him in a heavy exhale.
Yet Jungkook knew taking away the pain was merely a pittance compared to the loss of Taehyung's wings. Jungkook didn’t have the magic to heal such a wound - and as strong as Taehyung was, no fairy’s magic could be used to effect themselves. Only the world around them.
Taehyung’s shaking had ceased, his breaths calming down to something more normal. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at Jungkook from the corner of his eye. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “What is your name?”
The fairy hastened to respond. “J-Jungkook,” the fairy replied. His translucent wings fluttered.
Taehyung nodded once, keeping his dull eyes on the ground. Then he made to push himself to his feet, using his arms to support his weight as his legs straightened.
As soon as he had stood, he stumbled forward, knees buckling. Jungkook shot up, grabbing Taehyung by the forearm and around the waist. The other fairy pitched, leaning his weight into Jungkook. “My balance-” He forced out.
The nature fairy understood. Without the weight of his large, heavy wings, Taehyung barely could right himself to walk. His entire center of balance was thrown off. “Lean on me,” Jungkook said gently. “We can get to the old oak tree by foot. It’s not too far.”
Without warning, the ground underneath Jungkook's feet blackened and withered, spreading like a plague and dying in seconds. Jungkook nearly jumped away in surprise, were it not for the fact that he was supporting Taehyung. The absence of life was a symptom of the broken figure he supported, the dark fairy’s magic nearly howling in grief.
Taehyung dropped his head, saying nothing of life that he had just sucked from the earth around them. And Jungkook knew better than to ask.
***
“You haven’t asked me what happened,” Taehyung said. His voice was low as he rested by the base of the old oak tree, eyes dim.
Jungkook froze. He stood awkwardly in front of Taehyung after he help the fairy get back towards the center of the Moors, unsure of if he should stay or leave. “...I didn’t think it was my place to ask.”
“You’re not curious? Not going to wonder how I, with all my power, was brought to this state?” Taehyung challenged, the words dark and bitter in his throat. Jungkook swallowed nervously, twisting his hands together.
“What...what happened?” he asked softly.
Taehyung's eyes darted to the side, a twisted smile coming to his lips. “Last night I fell into a heavy sleep in my lover’s arms. I woke up, and both he and my wings are gone." His eyes darkened. "I found a vial of some sweetened substance next to me when I woke up. It smelled the same as the water he gave me did.”
Jungkook’s eyes widened in horror. “You think your...lover did this to you?”
“He was only able to enter the Moors because I escorted him,” Taehyung growled in response. His eyes narrowed, looking at something far away. “No other human could have found me, and no fairy would ever do this to their own kind.”
Jungkook’s wings wilted, lowering with their owner’s sadness. “But...why would he do that? Doesn’t he love you? Didn’t you - didn’t you share True Love’s Kiss?”
Taehyung let out a single dry laugh, harsh and bitter in the back of his throat. “True love doesn’t exist.”
He reached down, and snapped a twig off from a branch near the bottom of the tree. Jungkook winced, feeling the wood die as it was separated from the tree.
Taehyung’s eyes glowed, the dim purple now becoming a brilliant violet light. The hand that held the twig started to glow with magic, purple wind and mist swirling from the fairy's palm. The branch began to shift, to grow, taking on a longer form, doubling, tripling in size. The wood twisted and knotted around itself, taking on a new and intricate form.
The purple magic disappeared, and Taehyung seemed satisfied. The fairy pushed himself up to his feet with his newly-formed walking stick. His eyes still glowed, his magic not ready to rest yet. His voice dropped down, and as he spoke his clothes shifted and transformed. The fairy's simple black robe was taking on a new form, gaining weight, texture, turning into something more opulent, into - feathers.
“Mark my words,” Taehyung snarled. His feathered coat bristled around him. “Dante will pay for this. I will make him feel a pain as deep as the cuts on my back." The fairy's long dark nails curled around his staff, and a beam of purple magic awoke from the top of the staff, set like a jewel. Taehyung's lips curled, showing elongated canines. "He will curse the day that he ever laid eyes on me.”
The sky above began to darken, storm clouds rolling in. A cold breeze swept through, knocking some of the flowers in Jungkook’s hair to the ground. The nature fairy shivered, feeling the angry magic coast around him, spreading through the land. The Moors felt the effect of Taehyung's words - the birds quieted, squirrels retreating. The forest was taking cover.
Taehyung stilled, a calmness in the middle of the chaos he was creating. “I was a fool to love.” he said quietly, almost to himself. His eyes drifted to the side. “I will not make the same mistake again.”
***
Jungkook didn’t know what drove him to fly back to the oak tree a couple days later. On that cloudy morning, he was busy collecting the freshly-ripe blackberries on the side of the eastern hills, his hands stained blue with the activities. The vines welcomed his touch, curling up to his fingertips, the fruit ready to be collected. The forest of the Moors responded to Jungkook like an old friend, offering its sweetest bounty.
As the fairy raised a plump bite of fruit to his lips, he realized that the blackberry bushes laid over a high hill, a grassy cliff that ended in a steep drop off. One couldn’t reach the fruit bushes other than flying over the drop of, a feat that only the fairies and birds could accomplish. And if flight was required... then there was someone who couldn’t taste the berries.
Jungkook paused, considering. His eyes lit up, and he waved his hand over the grass, bits of golden magic clinging to his fingers. The blades of grass began to knit themselves together, weaving the fibres to form a basket. The fairy quickly collected a couple handfuls of berries, selecting the largest and juiciest fruits. Jungkook hugged the basket close to his chest, his wings fluttered, and his feet left the ground.
The fairy expected to find Taehyung where he had last seen him - by the old oak tree. It didn't take long to reach the center of the Moors, as Jungkook knew every single plot of land, every shortcut by heart.
Yet when he reached the oak tree, the scene that presented itself to him was an unexpected one. A chill ran through Jungkook’s body when he saw how much had changed. The branches and trunk of the tree had reformed into a room of sorts, with walls of roots and a roof of leaves. There was something twisted about the formulation, like the tree had been bent to someone’s will, not coaxed into its current shape. Magic seethed from the wood, as if laid so thick it now coated the bark like a sap.
Jungkook suppressed a shudder. He landed by the entrance of the chamber, daring to take a step up the stone stairs and into the open archway. It was dark inside, almost completely blocking out the golden sunlight of the Moors.
The sound of a walking stick striking the ground distracted Jungkook. He jumped, and turned around to see Taehyung standing behind him, his striking purple eyes narrowed.
Taehyung's mouth set into a thin line. “What are you doing here?” he asked, words sharp with suspicion.
Jungkook swallowed. “I - I brought something for you,” he stammered, words suddenly feeling useless in his throat. He held out the basket of blackberries, offering them to Taehyung.
The fairy looked down at the collection of fruit in Jungkook's hands, and his jaw tightened. “Are you mocking me?”
Jungkook's eyes widened. “No!” He exclaimed. “I just… I just thought you might like some.”
He dropped his head down, retracting the basket a little bit. His shoulders rose protectively in the face of this rejection, eyes dropping down to the dirt. Translucent wings drooped.
Jungkook heard a sigh. “I...apologize,” Taehyung said, his voice now softer in tone. He reached out, and took the basket from Jungkook’s hands. He looked down at the berries, considering. “You helped me," Taehyung continued. "I never thanked you for your kindness. Your magic was... indispensable.”
Jungkook’s cheeks colored at the praise, like a freshly blooming rose. “It was the right thing to do,” he replied softly.
The dark fairy picked up a blackberry, holding it delicately between two long black fingernails. He placed the berry between his lips, and swallowed. The smallest of smiles crossed his face. “...they’re sweet,” he admitted.
Jungkook nearly glowed.
***
The nature fairy found himself returning - spurred on by what, he wasn't sure. Maybe pity, seeing how Taehyung leaned onto his staff for every uncertain step. Maybe admiration, at the way Taehyung's magic seeped out, refusing to rest stay down. They were rarely planned, Jungkook's excursions over to the dark fairy. Yet whether he was healing an injured bird’s wing in the forest, or planting rice in the marsh, inevitably Jungkook would flutter over to the old oak tree.
He rarely came empty handed, as well. One day he presented an armful of flowers that he had collected, ones that he had sung to in order to coax them to a perfect bloom. Anemonies for hope, Proteas for courage, Craspedia for health. Another time he brought a pair of crisp red apples, giggling when the juice dripped down his chin. Making sure that Taehyung wouldn't miss the bounty of the forest.
Taehyung never seemed bothered by Jungkook's presence. He spoke little, but smiled when Jungkook made flowers grow from the ground, bringing a touch of color to Taehyung’s gloomy abode. He accepted all of Jungkook’s gifts with quiet murmurs of thanks, occasionally smiling when Jungkook insisted he try the peaches that had just reached perfect ripeness.
But even though the scars on the Taehyung’s back had healed, the ones on his heart had not. When Jungkook’s hand brushed Taehyung's while handing him a loaf of bread, the dark fairy recoiled like he had been burned. The oak tree kept growing and shifting, the gnarled knots in the bark twisting thicker and thicker. Dark magic continuously swirled around Taehyung, whispering revenge.
Jungkook hoped that with time, the darkness would subside. That maybe Taehyung would let go of the hatred that he nursed, and the dark clouds that continuously swirled over the fairy’s oak tree would disperse.
He was soon to be proven wrong.
***
Purple wisps of air swirled around the base of the oak tree, whispers of magic. They retreated as Jungkook fluttered down, his bare feet landing on ancient wood. The fairy's pale skin prickled from the energy in the air, like the air before a summer storm. The grapes Jungkook had gathered his arms slipped to the ground, forgotten. The fruit rolled away, bruising when it hit the ground.
The nature fairy hesitated outside, waiting to see if he'd hear Taehyung's voice, or perhaps see a slender hand beckoning him inside. Yet there was nothing.
Summoning his nerves, Jungkook crept closer, until he had entered the makeshift antechamber inside the oak tree. Once inside, he saw a familiar black feathered coat, Taehyung facing away from him as purple magic poured from his hands. The space around them crackled with electricity.
Jungkook paused, uncertain if he should approach closer. Then there was a brilliant flash of light, and Jungkook instinctively flinched and shielded his eyes. After a few seconds Jungkook could sense the light fading from behind tightly squeezed eyes. His wings fluttered with apprehension. Jungkook opened his eyes to see Taehyung once more.
The dark fairy was breathing hard, as if he had exhausted himself. He reached out and picked something up, an object that Jungkook couldn’t see. Then he let out a growl of discontent, and harshly tossed the object to the side, the item clattering as it struck the bark.
Jungkook’s eyes followed the object as it bounced and clattered against the ground. It seemed to be a statue, carved out of the same dark wood of the oak tree. Jungkook narrowed his eyes and realized it was a statue of a raven, clawing with its wings outstretched. The bird's eyes glimmered with a strange purple color, like set amethysts.
Jungkook looked back over at the other fairy. His shoulders were tight with frustration. “Taehyung?” The dark fairy turned around, finally noticing Jungkook’s presence.
“Jungkook.” The tension in Taehyung’s shoulders seemed to dissipate a little bit, face relaxing as he looked at Jungkook. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
The nature fairy gripped onto the hem of his white shorts, fingers fidgiting. “What are you doing?” Jungkook asked cautiously. Taehyung’s eyes flickered to the statue thrown on the ground.
“Failing,” he spat miserably. He walked over to a corner of the room. The tree seemed to respond to him, roots growing to form a chair that Taehyung comfortably fell into, branching curling outwards to respond to the fairy. “I thought I could coax the wood into something new. But turning plant to animal is beyond even my reach.”
Jungkook frowned. “Why.... would you want to do that?” He hesitantly walked closer to Taehyung, wanting to be closer for reasons he couldn't explain. His footsteps left behind patches of bright green grass, a hint of light amongst the darkness of the branches.
Taehyung sighed, looking to the ground. “I need… I need something to go the places I cannot. I can’t travel to the castle in this state, but I need answers. I need….” Something dark flashed in his eyes. “I need something to be my wings.”
Jungkook’s lips quirked down in a frown. “The castle? Taehyungie, the man who hurt you is there.” For a second Taehyung’s violet eyes seemed to light up at the nickname. But the light was so brief that Jungkook barely registered it, and it continued. “Why would you ever want to return to that place?”
“For information.” Taehyung answered. “Dante did this for a reason. I need to know why.”
The nature fairy looked to the ground. Bit his lip. Then-
“I could go.”
Taehyung’s eyes snapped up to meet Jungkook’s, violet touching warm brown. “What do you mean?" Taehyung blurted out. "The humans hate the Fey. You’d be shot down with an iron arrow before you ever breach the gates.”
“Not if they don’t see me,” Jungkook responded. He closed his eyes, calling on the magic the rested deep inside of him.
His power responded like an old friend. Golden dust spun and swirled around the fairy's body as he began glowing, and then - shrinking . Taehyung’s eyes widened as he watched the fairy change form, magic dancing around him like ribbons of light. Jungkook’s feet floated off the ground, his wings fluttering. The transformation settled, and he shook the last of the golden dust out of his hair, letting it fall to the ground.
Jungkook flew over to Taehyung, hovering in front of the dark fairy. “It’s much easier to hide when you’re small,” Jungkook said, his words almost impish as he quirked his lips into a smile. Taehyung looked at him in wonder, and then held out his hand. Jungkook gently rested upon the dark fairy's tan skin, as light as a field mouse.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” Taehyung murmured. Jungkook shot him a dazzling, if tiny, smile.
“All nature fairies can,” Jungkook explained. “We need to see the world from the eyes of the field mouse, the ladybug, the lizard. To learn that their concerns are just as great as our own.”
Taehyung leaned forward a bit, enraptured. From Jungkook’s point of view, his amethyst eyes were even more captivating. Large and enchanting, like Jungkook could find himself lost in them. “You would fly to the castle?" Taehyung asked. "For me?”
The nature fairy nodded. “I’d be back before the dawn shines on the Clearwater lake,” Jungkook reassured.
Taehyung seemed to consider for a moment. His eyes glinted with determination. “Here. ” Taehyung hovered his hand over Jungkook, and the younger fairy glanced up, curious. Purple fell from his palm and settled onto Jungkook’s skin, glowing before disappearing. The magic felt cool, like a fresh stream on a spring morning. Jungkook shivered as it settled, shaking his head, purple falling from his curls.
“This will help shield you,” Taehyung explained. “It won’t render you completely invisible, but most eyes will avert themselves.”
"Thank you, Taehyungie," Jungkook said quietly. “No one will spot me." He raised his chin, confident. “I’ll bring you the answer you seek.”
***
Jungkook floated like a crisp autumn leaf carried by the wind, crossing the distance from the Moors to the Castle, the no man’s land between Fey and human. The wind danced on his skin as he flew, opalescent wings fluttering on his back. Behind him, he watched as the ground turned from the green and lush valleys of the Moors, to the yellowed and browned tilled soil, and then grey cobblestone build for carriages and processions. The castle, too, grew in size as Jungkook approached - going from a distance figure to an imposing tower. Once he saw a few distant farmers on the outskirts of the castle, he pulled on his magic, shrinking in size.
The fairy was near invisible above the peasants below. As the sun went down he was no more noticeable than a bat or a bird, save for the little bit of luminescence that exuded from his skin. Jungkook’s eyes went wide looking down at the castle grounds. He had never been near a human city before, never dared approached their kind. He didn't know that the humans were capable of this - buildings and infrastructure that seemed to conquer the earth itself.
The sights made him feel uneasy in his stomach. So much nature that could have grown where the castle stood, and instead granite and marble dominated the earth. He winced at the sight of the iron armor the soldiers wore, their pointed spears.
Best not to get too close.
Jungkook followed the tall curves of the castle towers, and landed lightly on an open window still. He paused, listening for voices. Echos reached his ear from deeper inside the castle, and he fluttered up, above tall wooden rafters. The fairy was silent as he passed over polished tile floors.
The voices eventually led him to a grand chamber, and - oh. Jungkook couldn't hold back a small gasp as he looked down at the chamber below him. It was the largest room that the fairy had ever seen, dripping with opulence and human possession. So many humans inside, packed and bustling together. Jungkook’s eyes passed over the lords and ladies wrapped in velvet and silk, marvelling at their attire. Weren't they uncomfortable under all that cloth?
Yet there was one man that Jungkook looked for. Taehyung had shown him his memory of Dante - conjured in it the still waters of the lilypad pond. A tall, handsome man, with platinum blonde hair and features that seemed to be carved from marble. What Jungkook remembered most were his eyes, deep like a well, but hollow.
But Jungkook didn't find the betrayer amongst the gossiping monarchy. No, he thought that maybe his venture was all in vain until his eyes flicked to the front of the room - and there he was.
Sitting in a chair gilded in gold and pearls, wearing a fur trimmed coat, a crown of rubies upon his pale head. He looked over the proceedings in front of him with clear disinterest, lips only curling into a smile when a noble bowed before him. He sat on the throne stiffly, like the chair was not built for him.
Jungkook didn’t understand - Taehyung had said that Dante was no royal, but a mere’s farmer’s son. A boy with large dreams, who wanted to see the world beyond his father’s grain fields.
Yet the man looked over the room as the fairy watched, servants jumping to his every will. Jungkook noticed a woman sitting to the right of Dante, in a throne that was slightly smaller, yet no less ornate. A silver diadem nested on her long black her, and her large kind eyes took in Dante fondly.
She said something to Dante, and the man looked over at her. He took the woman’s extended arm, and pressed a kiss to the pale hand adorned by a pearl ring. His touch lingered.
Jungkook felt sick. This was all wrong, none of it made sense. Jungkook's wings beat quickly as he fled the room, leaving behind glittering golden dust. He slipped away amongst the darkness of the shadows.
He had seen enough.
***
Taehyung was waiting by the base of the oak tree when Jungkook returned. The nature's fairy's wings were sore and tired from the journey, exhaustion settling in his bones. Taehyung glanced up, face breaking into an expression of relief when he saw Jungkook in the sky. Jungkook's magic swirled around him as he returned to his full height, and he landed quietly on the moss in front of Taehyung.
"I was beginning to worry," Taehyung admitted. When Jungkook didn't speak immediately, he frowned. "Jungkook? Is everything alright?"
Jungkook hesitated. The forest around them was quiet, the sound of crickets and frogs a constant hum as other creatures slept. With an uncertain voice, he recounted what he had seen to Taehyung - the castle, the throne room, the woman, Dante. He stammered over his words, cautiously watching the dark fairy for a reaction.
Taehyung didn’t look at Jungkook. His eyes were distant. His body was still, but his coat moved a little bit, like a faint wind caressed it, the feathers rustling.
When he finally spoke, his voice was like the ocean receding, right before a tidal wave.
“Dante told me,” he began softly. “On the last night I saw him. He came to warn me that the old king had asked for one last thing on his deathbed. As he died from the wounds that I dealt the bastard, for daring to approach the Moors with barrels full of oil.”
Taehyung’s tone shifted, gaining an edge that brought goosebumps to Jungkook’s skin. “He promised his crown to whoever brought proof of my death.” Taehyung’s eyes glowed, like amethyst against a fire. His voice dropped to a growl. "Dante always wanted more than he was born with. And he - he took my wings. He presented my wings."
The dark fairy dropped his head. The air suddenly dropped in temperature, like a storm about to break.
“He did this to me...so that he could be king.”
Taehyung lifted his fists in the air, brought his staff down on the ground, so hard that the wood nearly splintered. In an instant magic exploded around him, a vast purple beam that reached up into the skies. A gale force wind coursed through the air, the skies darkening, thunder rumbling.
The fairy threw his head back, and roared.