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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.

Chapter Text

The Moors had been quiet since Taehyung’s outburst. The sun that fed light into the fields had been overtaken by grey clouds, gentle breezes replaced with cool winds. Jungkook did what he could, using his touch to keep the flowers alive. Whispering words of reassurance to the animals cowering in the trees and burrows. 

But he worried. Worried about how the branches of the old oak tree had closed off to visitors, worried about the flashes of purple he saw from the shadowy enclave. He still flew by every day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fairy inside, yet it was a futile venture.  The flowers in Jungkook's hair wilted and darkened from his discontent. 

Taehyung owned him nothing, certainly wasn’t beholden to open his home to Jungkook. Yet being shut out left Jungkook with a particular sense of longing, a hurt that he knew not the source of. The nights he spent asleep in the trees didn't seem as comfortable as before.  

Jungkook realized that he had become used to Taehyung - used to the fairy’s wry looks and subtle smiles, the quiet strength he exuded even while so visibly damaged. And Taehyung seemed to respect Jungkook, in return - looked at him as an equal, even though Jungkook’s power was insignificant compared to the dark fairy's. Jungkook missed the smiles he'd give seeing Jungkook sing a peach into perfect ripeness, the way he rolled his eyes while Jungkook gossiped with a robin on his shoulder.  

So when the nature fairy flew up over the Moors on his way to check on the tomato vines, he stopped in his tracks when he saw that the branches of the oak had parted. He hovered in the air for just a moment, before Jungkook was swooping down, original intent forgotten. His knees buckled landing in front of the tree, hitting the ground too quickly. 

“Taehyung!” he called out, quickly running up the steps made from mossy rock. “Are you alright-”

He cut himself off as he looked around. Eyes widened as took in the scene in front of him. 

Taehyung stood behind a large black cauldron, an opalescent white liquid simmering inside. The potion splashed and gurgled, almost as if disturbed by Jungkook's presence. Taehyung held his staff in one hand, his other hand hovering over the cauldron. Purple magic swirled around his fingers, dissipating into the potion.

He glanced up, and then smiled slightly when he saw the nature fairy. “Jungkook. I’ve missed you." He lowered the hand held above the cauldron, and the potion quieted. “I’m sorry for closing the tree, but I needed to focus in order to get the spells right. I’m just about done, however.” 

Jungkook tilted his head in confusion. “What spells?”

Taehyung’s eyes flashed darkly. “It is not enough for me to merely take Dante’s life.” His voice was low. “For what he has done to me, I want him to watch as everything he loves withers away. Everything he has gained at the cost of my wings.”

He passed a hand over his staff. Fire sparked into existence around the twisted wood, obeying his command. “I’ll begin by turning that precious throne room of his to rubble. Rip that crown from his head, and melt it into his skin."

He pulled his hand away from the staff, and the fire disappeared. “And as for his darling little Queen…” His twisted his hand, and in a flash a dagger appeared in his palm. Jungkook inhaled slightly looking at the object - long, pale, and thin, like a sharpened bone. 

“One cut of this dagger against her palm, and she will fall into a sleep like death,” Taehyung proclaimed. His eyes stone brighter than usual, the dark purple color piercing through Jungkook. The dark fairy held out the dagger, and slowly lowered it into the liquid inside the cauldron, blade first. 

Jungkook could do nothing but watch with silted breath as the liquid inside the cauldron turned from pale white to inky black. As Taehyung pulled the blade back out, the potion clung to the dagger, a sickening residue. Taehyung glanced over the dagger, careful not to let the potion touch his skin. “But the curse isn't even the best part,” Taehyung continued. “No, Dante deserves something...special.” 

He carefully tucked the dagger into a sheath at his side. “The potion’s curse can be broken,” he explained. “But only by True Love’s Kiss.”

Jungkook broke out of his stupor enough to manage a question. “But couldn’t Dante break the curse then?”

Taehyung laughed cruelly, as if Jungkook’s question was ridiculous. “True Love doesn’t exist,” he spat. “And even if it did, it would not thrive in a heart as rotten as his. True Love’s Kiss was what he claimed he gave me .” His shoulders stiffened, as if just feeling the scars on his back. 

“And look at what Love gave me.”

Jungkook shook his head, trying to find the right words to say. “But Taehyungie, the Queen didn’t do anything wrong,” he pleaded. “Dante is the one who hurt you, your anger lies with him. Don’t punish an innocent woman-”

“I was innocent when Dante mutilated me,” Taehyung retorted. He walked out from behind the cauldron, approaching Jungkook. His violet eyes focused on the nature fairy. “It’s not enough to kill him. I need to make him understand how much he took from me.”

The nature fairy’s eyes widened, and his voice dropped. He looked at the withered grass on the ground, bit his lip.

And then glanced back up, shoulders squaring with resolve. “...No. Taehyung, no,” he repeated, more firmly. “This is wrong.”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes. “I thought you supported me. I thought you were here to help me.”

“I am,” Jungkook pleaded, “But Taehyung, you can’t do this-”

“You don’t understand !”

Taehyung’s eyes depend in color, almost black. A wave of magic passed through the room, like a rush of wind that chilled Jungkook's skin, brushed the flowers from his hair. He froze in fear. 

“You have no idea how it feels,” Taehyung spat, “to be stripped of everything you are. Everything that gave you freedom. He took everything from me, /everything./ You have no idea the pain - the humiliation-”

“Taehyung,” Jungkook whispered, unable to even move. 

“He violated me,” Taehyung continued, too blinded by anger to notice Jungkook’s fear. “To know that someone I loved - someone I laid in bed with - ruined me in such a way.” He shook his head, his coat bristling. 

“He took something from me that will never be replaced, something that can never be fixed. Not just my wings, but my heart.” Taehyung’s beautiful face hardened. “And I’ll be damned if I allow Dante to live without suffering as I did.”

Jungkook acted on instinct. Without thinking his wings fluttered, pulling him away from Taehyung and into the air. He shrunk back into himself, shoulders hunching protectively.

Taehyung snapped out of his rage. He blinked up at Jungkook, taking in the other fairy's wide eyes and trembling arms. The snarl fell from the dark fairy's lips, replaced with an open-mouthed gape, the fire that burned behind his eyes simmered down. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "Jungkook...."

"You're scaring me," Jungkook whispered, hovering in front of Taehyung. His voice was a frail as a butterfly's wings. "Taehyungie, please stop."

Taehyung stretched his arm out, desperate. "Jungkook-"

He couldn't stay. Jungkook's wings beat quickly as he turned, already dashing away from the oak tree, into the cover of the forest canopy. Taehyung dropped his arm, saying nothing as the other fairy fled. Couldn't do anything, but watch him leave.

***

Jungkook held back his tears until his feet hit the soft mosses of the forest floor, a gentle cushion against his bare skin. His shoulders shook, and he took uneven gasps. The forest was dark and quiet, as if observing his distress. 

He understood that Taehyung wasn’t like him. Nature fairies were bound by their magic to never hurt another creature, unable to injure another even if their lives were at stake. The thought of revenge nauseated Jungkook. 

But Taehyung’s magic was more wild, more uncontrolled, more powerful. Taehyung wasn’t held back by the same rules that Jungkook was. He could shape the world to his will, and make the very earth tremble in fear. Jungkook walked alongside nature. Taehyung was a force unto himself. 

And that terrified Jungkook. 

The fairy stumbled through the woods, leaning his hand on a grizzled tree trunk for support. Quiet tears rolled down his cheeks, soft whimpers escaping his throat. As his tears fell, lilies of sadness bloomed by Jungkook’s feet. 

After a few minutes Jungkook rubbed at his nose, trying to sniff back the rest of his cries. Feeling sorry for himself wouldn't do anyone any good. He needed to do something - he couldn't just stand by and allow Taehyung to take the life of an innocent woman. Maybe he could convince Taehyung to spare the Queen. Maybe he could just go back and change the dark fairy's mind.

Jungkook knew that deep down, Taehyung was good. He could see it in the way he cradled an injured bird that Jungkook had found, healing a broken wing before the nature fairy could even speak. Or how he looked onto Jungkook with honest respect, admiring the fairy's earth mature just as much as his own. Jungkook knew that Taehyung had a deep capacity to love and be kind. He was just hurt - hurt so deeply, the kind of hurt that fractures your very soul. Jungkook recalled the pain that he had seen in Taehyung’s eyes as he recounted Dante’s treatment of him, and shivered. 

He could fix Taehyung. He had to. Jungkook could use his magic of growth and rebirth to pull the damaged fairy back together. Jungkook just needed time. And Taehyung deserved everything the nature fairy had to offer. 

With a renewed resolve Jungkook stepped away from the tree, straightening himself up. He took a few steps into the forest, the sounds of birds disappearing into that of crickets. He needed to go back to the oak tree-

Snap.

The moss disappeared under Jungkook’s foot, and he fell down into a hidden burrow. His weight landed awkwardly, and there was the sickening sound of a bone snapping. 

Jungkook screamed, falling to his knees. Fire raged around his ankle, a pain so intense that his vision blurred. He gasped, gagged, fingers gouging trenches in the dirt as he tried to keep himself from collapsing. He forced his teary eyes open, filled his lungs with air. Cautiously, he went to move his foot. Another shriek was ripped from his lungs. 

Slowly Jungkook forced himself into a sitting position, gasps and sobs permeating the quiet of the forest. He could sense the field mice gather from a distance, chattering quiet worry amongst themselves. His ankle was already swelling, plum purple blooming on his skin, and a bone jutting against his skin at a sickening angle.

The fairy’s hands shook in the air. He couldn’t use magic to heal himself - magic only applied to the world around them. Not to yourself. He didn't know what to do. He was hurt , and couldn't walk , and he was - alone. He was alone. 

There was nothing to be done. And so Jungkook dropped his head and let his tears nourish the dirt, his sobs echoing into the night. 

***

Jungkook shivered in the cold night air. When the sun went down a chill followed, and his loose linen tunic did little to shield him from the cold. His tears had dried on his cheeks, a scab on his lip from biting down so hard. 

He had managed to drag himself to a standing position, coaxing the tree branches down to help pull him up. But now he limped through the forest, each shuffle forward bringing a little whimper of pain from between his lips. 

The fairy couldn’t fly. He was in too much pain, his magic and strength far too compromised. And try as he might to make his way through the forest and to somewhere , eventually it all became too much. He simply couldn't continue any further. 

He sagged against a tree, gasping in pain as he slowly lowered himself to the ground. Jungkook used the palm of his hand to wipe at his eyes, forcing the fresh tears away. Cradling his leg in his hands, the fairy painfully stretched the limb out. He only sighed in relief when he was able to gently place his ankle on the ground, closing his eyes and dropping his head back. He filled his lungs with the cool night air, trying to slow his pounding heart. Just a little rest, and then he would get back up. 

“Jungkook?”

The call carried out throughout the forest. Jungkook snapped his eyes open, straightening, his breath catching in his chest. “H-hello?” he forced out. 

“Jungkook!” The voice called against, somewhere deep in the woods, louder this time. Jungkook’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice calling for him. 

“Taehyung,” he forced out, his voice breaking. Hope bloomed in his chest like the first day of spring. “Taehyung!” 

He heard his footsteps before he saw Taehyung. Quick and heavy through the forest, wasting no time in getting to the injured fairy. When Taehyung’s dark form was illuminated by the moonlight, some twnety feet away, Jungkook sagged in relief. 

Taehyung hastened to Jungkook’s side, kneeling right next to the fairy. His eyes were wide, and he panted from exertion. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” he forced out, voice low. Purple light glowed in his palm, and the bruise on Jungkook’s skin became evident. Taehyung winced in sympathy. 

“How did you know where I was?” Jungkook whispered. He found himself unable to tear his eyes from Taehyung's face, dark brows furrowed, violet eyes narrowed with focus. 

“The animals told me,” Taehyung responded. “Blasted hells, you’ve had this for hours -”

“I didn’t know you could speak to animals.”

A sheepish expression crossed Taehyung’s face. “I can’t,” he admitted. “But I figured it out. I was… worried.” The magic in his palm shifted and grew. “I couldn’t fly. So it took me a while to find you.”

“It’s okay,” Jungkook managed, trying to keep the worst of the pain from showing on his face. But Taehyung shook his head. He reached up and cupped Jungkook's cheek with his free hand, looking directly at the injured fairy. Jungkook felt his breath still. 

“No, it’s not okay. You’re hurt, darling.” He hovered his free hand over Jungkook’s ankle. “But I’m here now. I’ll take care of you.”

Purple descended from his palm, reaching out and enveloping the joint. Jungkook's eyes fluttered shut and he let out a deep of relief as the pain began to recede. Unconsciously, he leaned into Taehyung’s palm, the weariness of his body catching up to him. 

After a few moments, he felt Taehyung shift, and he opened his eyes once more. His ankle looked healthy again, the bone in place and the skin unblemished. He straightened and flashed the dark fairy a small, grateful smile. “Thank you, Taehyungie.”

“Don’t thank me,” Taehyung said lowly. His eyes dropped to the ground, ashamed. “This should have never happened. I scared you, and you were just trying to help. I’m sorry-”

Jungkook stopped Taehyung with a single finger pressed against his lips. Taehyung froze. His eyes went wide, comically contrasting his coat of black feathers and the powerful magic that radiated off of him. In that moment, the dark fairy looked like a child caught in the sweets jar. “It’s okay,” Jungkook said gently. “I’m not mad at you.”

Taehyung hesitated, then slowly reached up and grabbed Jungkook’s hand. Giving the nature fairy the time to pull away if he wanted to. When Jungkook made no move to retreat, Taehyung spoke. “I know you don't understand. But this ...this is something that I need to do." The fairy seemed uncertain, hesitant, hardly the vengeful force that Jungkook had witnessed before he fled. “If I have a choice in the matter, though... I don't want to do this alone.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“When I go to the castle. I want you with me.” Taehyung’s purple eyes flashed. “I’ll keep you safe, I promise. I just… want you by my side.”

The nature fairy blinked in shock. He was weak, a nobody, and yet - Taehyung wanted him there. Taehyung trusted him. 

“...alright,” Jungkook said softly. “I’ll go with you. Of course I will.”

Taehyung broke into a relieved smile, showing a pair of elongated canines. “Thank you, Jungkook,” he murmured. “I don’t know what I would do without you.” He let out a shaky laugh, eyes crinkling. “You’ve grown on me, petal.” 

Jungkook chalked up the butterflies in his chest as the aftereffects of magic. 

***

Taehyung’s knowledge of the stars was greater than Jungkook’s. They fell asleep lying on the soft grass of the meadow, staring up at the twinkling skies above them. Their hands brushed against one another, tender yet scared to touch. Eventually Jungkook's eyes slipped close as Taehyung told him the story of Cassiopeia, the dark fairy's smooth baritone pulling him under. 

But the fairy’s slumber wasn’t restful. He awoke only a few hours later. Taehyung now sleeping next to him, lips slightly parted, a peaceful expression across his face. Jungkook smiled. Taehyung’s coat looked less like armor now, and more like a blanket, the feathers swaying slightly in the night breeze. 

But Jungkook's smile didn’t last long. A tightness still pulled at Jungkook’s gut, a nagging tension that could and would not go away. As much as he loved Taehyung, he also loved nature, and life. He was beholden to protect all living creatures. His magic was meant to heal, never to harm. 

So he quietly got up, footsteps soundless in the dirt. His wings fluttered, anticipating the approaching flight. He paused, and looked back down at Taehyung asleep on the grass. 

He couldn't leave without a promise he would return. Jungkook crooked his finger, calling on his inner magic. On Taehyung's outstretched a swirl of golden dust settled, and then begin to settle into something more substantial. A stem formed, and then a purple bloom, delicate in Taehyung's loose hold. An azalia, for care and affection.

Jungkook needed to save the Queen. Warn her that Taehyung was coming, reveal to her how depraved Dante was. She could escape before the fairy enacted his plans of revenge. Jungkook just had to convince her, spare her from a fate that she did not deserve. And with that, his feet left the ground, the Moors slowly disappearing beneath him, his wings riding on the evening breezes. 

It wasn’t long until the castle came into view. 

The palace at night was quite different. Instead of the hustle and glamour of the nobles of peasants, instead there were only solemn-faced guards. It was easy for Jungkook to avoid detection in his tiny form, just a little ball of dim yellow light.

A challenge presented itself to him, however, one he hadn't thought entirely through in his desire to help. Jungkook wasn't sure where he was to find the Queen. Last time he was at the castle he had seen little other than the throne room, only stone hallways leading towards the great hall. He had little intuitive knowledge of the castle's layout - human architecture was unfamiliar to him. 

He fluttered in the rafters, listening for heavy footsteps on fur rugs, searching for any sighs of the Queen's whereabouts. He needed to move fast - he didn't want to leave Taehyung for too long, he'd promised he'd be here for the fairy-

Something tugged at his skin. A pinprick of a familiar touch, barely more than a whisper, but enough to make Jungkook pause in his light. He frowned, and focused on the sensation. Almost without his permission, he followed the strange call, changing direction towards a hallway branching off to the right. Jungkook’s eyes widened as he realized what the feeling was. 

Magic. 

He chased the feeling, following the magic until it almost embraced around him, making him shiver from its power. He turned a corner, and found himself facing a heavy wooden door. A layer of dust had gathered on the ebony, but there was no mistake - the magic was pulsing, almost pleading behind the door. 

He didn’t know what was behind the door. But he could feel whatever it was calling to him. Something that tugged at his tunic and pushed him forward. Something that was hauntingly familiar. 

He returned to his full size, a pile of golden dust drifting to the ground from the transformation. Jungkook paused, tilting his head as he examined the door. The gate was guarded by a heavy iron padlock. Jungkook couldn’t hope to even handle the lock without burning himself. But he had his own means of solving problems. 

With another whirl of golden magic he shrunk once more. He dived down to the floor, searching until he found a small hole made out of chewed wood. Jungkook smiled, knocking politely on the base of the wall before peeking his head inside. “Hello?”

Jungkook needed only wait a moment before he heart a scratching noise, one that grew louder as it approached. A small door mouse scurried over out of the darkness. She tilted her head curiously when she saw the nature fairy, instinctively understanding him to be a friend. 

Jungkook pulled back and pointed at the door, using his innate magic to communicate. “I’m trying to get behind there,” he said. “Can you show me the way?” 

The mouse chattered her response. She turned, and scampered off back behind the walls, and Jungkook quickly followed. She led him through the walls of the castle, through passageways no one but the smallest of creatures could ever hope to find. Cobwebs stuck to the fairy’s hair, and he shook it off, leaving behind miniature golden footsteps.

Eventually, he was lead to a small hole, an opening to somewhere new. He bent down as he step through the hole, and then smiled. He was now behind, the wooden door, standing in a dark, forgotten hallway. 

The mouse squeaked, and Jungkook deeply bowed . “Thank you so much,” he said. He held out his palm, with just the slightest coax from his magic, a single raspberry grew with a flourish of golden dust. “Please, take this.”

The mouse accepted the berry in two tiny paws, and quickly scurried off. Jungkook grew to his full size once more, and began to make his way up the stairs. 

With each step he took the call of magic grew stronger, like a siren coaxing a helpless sailor deeper and deeper into the ocean. It made goosebumps rise on Jungkook’s skin, caused his breaths to become shorter with anticipation. Yet despite the strangeness of the magic, there was something soothing about it. Something that reminded him of both power and comfort. Instead of feeling afraid, Jungkook felt excited. 

It wasn’t until Jungkook reached the top of the stairs that he realized what was so familiar. 

It felt like Taehyung. 

His legs were weak underneath him as his foot left the last step. He pushed open a creaky door, and entered a dark, unit chamber.  His eyes struggled to adjust to the dark, trying to make out specific shapes. His eyes settled upon what appeared to be a wardrobe in the room, but without any light, he could not make out any details. 

His rubbed his hands together, and golden dust collected between his palms. He cupped his hands to his face, revealing a small pile of the dust. He blew, and the golden flecks scattered around the room, drifting through the air. It took a moment for the dust to settle and for Jungkook to see. But when he did -

He inhaled sharply and clapped his hand over his mouth, just barely holding back a cry of horror. His wide eyes stared transfixed at the sight in front of him. 

Chains of iron wrapped around the box, tall like a wardrobe, but without the usual materials. The container was made of mostly glass, like a sickening display trophy. One that was inevitably custom-built, so estranged from usual constriction. 

And trapped within the glass were Taehyung’s wings. 

Jungkook slowly walked forward, as if in a trance. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Taehyung’s wings were here - complete, encaptured, waiting. 

He needed to tell Taehyung.

He needed to leave, and then tell Taehyung. All had to do first is walk up to the case, and confirm that what he saw was real. Then he could leave. Then he could return to Taehyung. 

He took a couple hesitant steps, still in a state of amazement at what he was witnessing. He let out a shaky breath, his hands trembling.

And that was when his foot hit the trip wire. 

There was a tiny click. Jungkook looked up, gasped. His hands flew up to protect himself, but there was no time for any other reaction. 

The iron net fell upon him, draping around his form. The metal forced him to the ground, burned into his skin with every point of contact. Jungkook screamed, partially in pain, partially in shock. He tried to push up onto his hands and knees, but his limbs quickly gave out under the weight of the iron. 

He heard several pairs of quick footsteps running up the stairs, and he flinched, curling into himself. As he heard the door swing open Jungkook strained his head to see who was entering, tears appearing in his eyes from the burn of the iron. First came the guards, in polished armor and brandishing lethal-looking spears. They surrounded Jungkook, who shrunk back as much as he was able, terrified of the weapons pointed at him. A sob break from his chest, brutal and hurt. 

A silken dressing robe trailed behind the guards, adoring a tall, lithe figure. Ice flooded the fairy's veins as he recognised the newcomer. A man who looked as cruel as he did beautiful. 

“Well, well, well,” Dante mused, his arms crossed. “What do we have here?” He stepped closer to Jungkook, who curled in on himself. His shoulders trembled. 

“Always thought someone would come back for these,” the King continued, a drawl in his tone. “That’s why I had this little trap set up. You’re not who I was expecting, however.” He smiled meanly. “Taehyung sending his servants to do the dirty work now?”

“You hurt him,” Jungkook forced out, saying the only thing that came to his mind. His voice shook, but a rightous anger carried through. “You hurt him. How could you?”

Dante sighed, as if Jungkook were a naive child. “We all need to make sacrifices for the things we love,” he said. He turned to the guards. “Lock him in the dungeons. Make sure to use iron chains,” he ordered. “You’ll prove to be quite the interesting specimen, little fairy.” 

***

The field mouse told the barn owl. Who told the sheep. Who told the red squirrel. Who told the swallow. 

Who told Taehyung. 

He had awoken that morning, a single flower left in the palm of his hand, the kindest of presents. The fairy had smiled when he saw the gift, rolling over and inhaling its aroma. It seemed both sweet and musky, almost ike his nature fairy had managed to combine both of their scents. 

Taehyung straightened himself, looking around in the morning light. “Jungkook?” he called out. But he received no reply. 

He wasn’t worried. He knew that Jungkook often flew around the Moors, stopping to heal an injured wing or water an abandoned bush. The nature fairy breathed life into everything around him, giving with a kindness that awed Taehyung. He gave like it was a sacred duty, without ever once complaining about his charge. 

So Taehyung set off to his oak tree, deciding to wait patiently until Jungkook returned. He carefully placed the flower the fairy had left him in a crock of the tree, smiling when the petals took root and began to bloom. He shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, everything associated with Jungkook brought beauty. 

But as the day passed and sunlight gave way to sunset, a frown tugged on Taehyung’s lips. His day felt empty without Jungkook fluttering down on gossamer wings, with his sweet voice and infectious smile. He found himself leaving space for a person that wasn’t there, something unsettled in his stomach that he couldn’t quite place. And as the sun sank slower and slower into the sky, discontent grew heavier and heavier in Taehyung’s stomach. He felt a phantom ache along his spine, and his grip on his staff tightened. 

The last time Taehyung had fallen asleep next to a beautiful boy, he had awoken mutilated. Yet he had fallen asleep next to Jungkook with a smile on his lips, eyes fixated on the nature fairy’s long dark lashes. There was no fear to be found as his eyes drifted shut, only peace. 

But Jungkook’s absence the following day gave Taehyung pause. Made him wonder if he had miscalculated. If he had...assumed too much. 

The unease caused something in Taehyung’s chest to ache, something he thought was too broken to ever feel again. Something that had begun to bloom even in crisis. So when he saw a sparrow approaching the oak tree, with frantically beating wings, Taehyung immediately stepped out to greet the bird. Hoping, maybe, that there was a daisy delicately carried in the bird’s claw, a sign of Jungkook’s touch

Yet instead, Taehyung’s brow furrowed as he saw how fast the bird was flying. The sparrow landed on a branch of the oak tree and started chirping wildly, and Taehyung cursed the fact that he lacked the magic to speak to animals. “Is this about Jungkook?” he asked.

The sparrow let out a series of high pitched chatters, jumping up and down. Taehyung’s frown deepened even more. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he mumbled. “Where is he?”

He received another high-pitched chirp in reply, and then the bird flew up higher into the branches of the oak tree. The dark fairy bit back a number of frustrated curses. “Where are you going?!” Taehyung hissed. 

He sighed, knowing he had no choice but to follow. He struck the earth with his staff, and the roots and bark of the tree reformed themselves. Wood flowed into a more concrete shape, and a spiral staircase appeared around the oak tree, nature itself bending to Taehyung’s will. 

Taehyung quickly climbed the stairs, rising to the peak of the oak tree.  His accent took him above the treeline of the Moors, giving him a clear view of the surrounding lands. He could hear the sparrow calling to him, still chirping desperately. 

“I’m coming you blasted ball of feathers,” he grumbled. “What is it-”

He froze. 

Taehyung could see far and wide over the fields, well past the boundaries of the Moors. The bird chirped for the dark fairy’s attention, facing the direction that pointed to a structure just visible in the dying sunlight. 

The castle. 

His staff slipped from numb fingers, falling to the ground. His body was still, muscled seized in horror. He could only stare, horrified, as he wondered how long Jungkook had been gone. 

How long he had been taken.

Taehyung understood. 

“No,” Taehyung whispered. “No, no, no .” 

Not him. Not Jungkook . No. 

Taehyung didn’t know the details. He didn’t know how Jungkook had ended up in the castle in the first place - if he were truly being held captive or merely stuck, if the cause was already hopeless, or if Taehyung could still dare to believe. 

Yet none of that mattered. The only thing that Taehyung focused on, the only thought that resonated through his shell-shocked brain, was that Jungkook needed him. 

Jungkook needed him.

Dark clouds began to collect above the oak tree. A cold breeze swept through the Moors rustling the trees. The birds quieted their song, rabbits and squirrels ran back to their burrows. Taehyung’s eyes glowed, his hands began to itch with magic. 

And then the sky went black. 

He hoped Dante was prepared. Because there was no power on the earth that was going to keep Taehyung from Jungkook. 

Chapter Text

Jungkook shivered in the cold air of the dungeons. His linen tunic and shorts did little to protect him from the environment. Hunger gnawed at his stomach, and his throat was parched, having been without water for nearly a day at this point. Bruises bloomed on his knees from kneeling on the stone floor.

Yet the bruises were nothing compared to the pain in his arms. They hung chained to the wall, the position causing Jungkook’s shoulders to ache, unable to lower them to gain any relief. Still the greatest agony came from the two thick shackles of iron wrapped around his wrists. 

He was tired, so tired. But the burn of the iron made it impossible for Jungkook to rest, a constant searing pain against his skin. He trembled in their grasp, wretched whimpers ripped from his throat. Every so often, a tear would roll down his cheek, falling uselessly to the floor. 

Jungkook was cold, and hungry, and thirsty, and tired, and in pain. But most of all, he was scared . 

Scared that he couldn’t escape - the iron in the shackles suppressed his magic and kept him weak. Scared of what the humans might do to him - his wings shook against his back at just the thought of someone touching them. Scared of Dante - of the King’s cold smile that promised only pain. No one had approached him since the guards locked him in the dungeons, but occasionally Jungkook heard voices, footsteps walking by. And at every sound he flinched, afraid of what it might bring. 

His head hung low, his body limp in the grasp of the shackles. Every so often a tremor would run through him, forcing a gasp from between chapped lips. The flowers had fallen from his hair, lying dried and dead on the ground. A single traitorous tear slipped from the corner of his eye, despite Jungkook’s best efforts to stifle his cries. 

Jungkook heard a noise, a distant clang. He jerked his head up, eyes wide, listening for more. 

Then, a couple of hushed, angry noises. The sound of something striking the floor. Silence. 

The fairy shrunk back into himself as much as he was capable, his breaths quickening. He heard footsteps approaching him, making their way down the halls of the dungeon. Maybe if he kept quiet, they would leave him alone-

“Jungkook?” 

No. Impossible. More tears slipped from Jungkook’s eyes, a gut-punching gasp of relief ripped from his lungs. “Taehyung?” he sobbed out.

Out of the darkness stepped a black-coated figure, staff in his hand which glowed with purple magic. His eyes flashed with a burning rage for a moment, before shifting into a heart wrenching sadness. 

“Oh, my darling,” Taehyung breathed. 

He rushed forward, holding a set of iron keys in his hand. Jungkook gasped in alarm. He could hear the way Taehyung’s skin seared as they held onto the keys. “Taehyungie, you’re hurting yourself-”

“How can you worry about me?” Taehyung choked out, quickly undoing the lock on Jungkook’s cell. He ran inside, dropping to his knees in front of Jungkook. The nature fairy winced as Taehyung began to undo his shackles, his wrists raw with burns. 

“I’ll kill them all for this,” Taehyung forced out, seething with fury. “I swear I will.” The shackle holding Jungkook’s right wrist opened, and his arm fell to the floor. A gasp of relief was punched from the nature fairy’s lungs, even as Taehyung winced looking at the circle of red skin around his wrists. 

“Taehyung - I need to tell you something-” Jungkook’s voice broke from hoarseness. 

“Shush, petal,” Taehyung soothed. “Nothing else matters. Just you.” The second shackle opened. Jungkook sagged forward, collapsing in relief as he was released from his restraints. Taehyung caught him by the shoulders, bringing Jungkook flush against his chest. 

Jungkook felt Taehyung’s magic wrap around him, slowly coaxing his pain and injuries from his body. He sighed, burying his head in the crook of Taehyung’s shoulder, allowing his eyes to flutter close. Taehyung rubbed the back of Jungkook’s head. 

“I was so scared,” Jungkook whimpered. Taehyung’s grip around him tightened protectively. 

“I’m right here,” Taehyung murmured back. “I’m not letting them hurt you any more, I promise.” Jungkook felt Taehyung shift on the ground, and then he placed something gently in Jungkook’s hair. One of the flowers that had fallen to the ground. 

The nature fairy relaxed further into Taehyung’s hold. He was okay. He was safe. Taehyung was here.

But suddenly, his eyes fluttered open, and he jerked away. “Your wings!” he blurted out. “Taehyung, I saw them, they’re here-”

The dark fairy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Easy, easy,” Taehyung soothed. “Jungkook, what are you saying-”

“Dante still has your wings,” Jungkook babbled, his words leaving him in a flurry. “He’s keeping them in a sort of glass box, I can show you where they are-”

Taehyung froze. Jungkook could feel the fairy’s grip on his shoulders tighten, his mouth fell open. He shifted his shoulders almost unconsciously, as if feeling a phantom movement. Bit his lip.

Then he looked back up at Jungkook. Something in his face had changed. “I’ll find them myself. You get out of here.”

“What? No,” Jungkook sputtered. “Taehyung, you don’t know where you’re going-”

“I’m not letting you get hurt again-”

“And I won’t ,” Jungkook insisted. “I know you’ll keep me safe.” He gripped one of Taehyung’s hands with both of his own. “You said you wanted me by your side. Let me help you.”

Taehyung hesitated for a while, indecipherable emotions running through his purple eyes. Then, his jaw clenched, and his eyes harded. 

“Okay, Jungkook,” he said softly. Determination thrummed through his tone. “Let’s finish this. Together.” 

***

The castle was dead quiet. If Jungkook’s absence from the dungeons had been noticed, then the guards were moving in silence. As Taehyung couldn’t shift to a more inconspicuous size, the pair had to move quietly, sticking close to the shadows. 

“The staircase to your wings is on the other side of the throne room,” Jungkook whispered, sticking close to Taehyung’s side. “I couldn’t open the door, but - but  maybe you can?” 

Taehyung nodded, looking around the corner at into the throne room. There was no one in sight - no guards or royals, just heavy velvet banners and empty thrones. He reached behind himself and grasped Jungkook’s hand. “Stay with me.”

They carefully walked into the throne room, footsteps soft and dampened. Jungkook looked around nervously, his wings fluttering in agitation. Taehyung’s eyes flashed with focus as they reached the center of the throne room, determination thrumming through him. Jungkook squeezed his hand, a quiet reassurance. They were going to get his wings back. They-

The clang of metal rang out from behind them. The pair whirled around, and saw two men pushing an iron gate up against the opening they had just entered from. There was another deafening noise, and with a gasp of dismay Jungkook saw the other entrances being blocked off as well.

Footsteps thudded, flooding the room from the one remaining entrance. Jungkook gasped, seizing onto Taehyung’s hand as armored guards rushed into the room, carrying long spears and tower shields.

The castle guards swarmed around the pair, encircling them before they could react. And walking behind the guards in a gleaming suit of white armor, carrying a sword that nearly dragged along the ground, was Dante.

Taehyung immediately shoved Jungkook behind his own body, squaring his shoulders protectively. The nature fairy trembled, feeling his magic jump underneath his skin, restless and afraid. Purple wind kicked up around them, pushing the guards back with an invisible power. 

The king looked unimpressed by Taehyung’s display of magic. Dante smiled, so thin it could cut glass. “Hello, Taehyung,”

“You fucking worm,” the dark fairy seethed. “I’m going to tear you to pieces.” 

“And I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Dante retorted. He took a step closer to the fairies, and Taehyung shuffled back, still keeping himself between Dante and Jungkook. “But,” Dante sighed, “you just looked so beautiful lying there, darling. Your wings were even more beautiful.”

Taehyung’s eyes flashed,  and in a lightning-fast movement, he pointed his staff at Dante. A spiral of purple magic flew from his staff and flew towards the king, like a burst of violet flame. But Dante raised his shield with a speed that matched Taehyung’s, blocking the blow. When he lowered the shield, his smirk was gone, replaced with an expression as cold as granite. 

“This ends now,” he declared. 

The dark fairy smiled. “I agree.”

He struck the floor with his staff.  A blinding flash exploded through the room, followed by a purple cloud which enveloped the two fairies. Taehyung looked over his shoulder at Jungkook’s panicked expression.

“Get out of here,” he ordered. “You can turn small and slip through the gate. Go back to the Moors-”

“I’m not leaving you.” Jungkook protested. Taehyung shook his head. 

“I can’t fight them if I’m protecting you,” Taehyung said urgently. “Jungkook, leave now -”

The cloud dispersed, and Jungkook had no time to react before there was a shield lunging at him. Taehyung grunted, and a pillar of stone erupted from the earth The spear struck useless against the rock with a dull noise. 

“Go!” Taehyung snapped.

Jungkook felt wetness in his eyes, but he obeyed. He called on his magic, golden dust spiraling around him as he shrunk in size.

The guards only saw a small speck of light that danced over them. Jungkook slipped past the shields and spears, through the iron gate, and fluttered away from the battle that was beginning to rage in the throne room. He heard men shouting, smelled the burn of magic.

But Jungkook wasn’t going back to the Moors. 

***

Taehyung hissed in pain as the blunt end of a spear smacked against his shoulder, the attack too quick for him to try and evade. He jumped back, raising his uninjured arm, and the guard was pushed away with a brilliant burst of purple magic. 

He had no time to appreciate his defense. There was a whistling noise next to his ear, and Taehyung ducked down as a spear flew over his head. He stomped his foot and let out a roar, his eyes glowing bright purple. The guards were pushed back with a burst of wind, stumbling away.

Dante was keeping his distance. Allowing his guards to engage with Taehyung while he stood back and watched. His cowardice fanned the flames that grew under Taehyung’s skin. 

But as pathetic as the tactic was, it was also effective. Taehyung was tiring himself out fending off the guards, and meanwhile they closed in on him more and more, creating an increasingly smaller circle with their tower shields. Taehyung couldn’t engage too closely, left he burn himself on the guard’s iron weapons. 

In the past he would have just flown above his attackers, gained the advantage of the higher ground. But flying was no longer an option for Taehyung; he had no opportunity to try and reposition himself. Taehyung needed to draw his real enemy out.

“Dante!” he cried out, panting for breath, body aching. “Are you going to hide behind your men?” he sneered. “Or are you going to face me yourself?”

The dark fairy heard a cruel laugh in response. Dante stepped forward into the circle that was enclosing around Taehyung, his guards parting to allow him to pass and then closing the space behind him. “You’re looking tired, beautiful,” he said with a sinister smile. “Where is that fearsome monster that cast the killing blow to a king?”

“I’ve done it once, and I’ll do it again,” Taehyung warned. He threw both his hands down, and purple flames encircled his palms. “I will make you beg for my mercy.”

“I’d beg?” Dante scoffed. “That’s not quite the way I remember it. Have you already forgotten our last night together?”

Taehyung saw red. With a scream of rage he drew back his arm, and threw a ball of fire at Dante. The king smoothly stepped out of the way, avoiding the attack. 

“Did you hope that I’d be too broken by what you’ve done to fight back?” Taehyung seethed. His fire burned brighter around him. “After everything you’ve seen me do?”

Dante’s face twisted into a mocking expression. “You seem to have had some help,” he jeered. “Such a pretty little thing you’ve found.”

No. Fuck no. Taehyung would not stand to hear another word about Jungkook out of Dante’s mouth. His breath stilled in his chest as he stood nearly frozen with fury, the fire around him growing larger and larger. 

The king smiled. “Maybe I’ll keep him around after I take his wings.” 

Taehyung lunged forward with an enraged scream, fire erupting around him, scorching the ground. Dante raised his shield, and the two slammed against one another, Taehyung’s burning hands pushing into the king’s shield. 

Dante smiled. 

Something smacked against Taehyung’s knees, bringing him crashing to the ground. Dante drew his arm back, and then backhanded the fairy. His head whipped to the side as pain exploded in his cheek, and he crashed to the ground. 

Too late, Taehyung realized. Dante was using Taehyung’s anger to distract him, while his guards circled around and drew closer. He grit his teeth, called on his magic-

Something looped around his wrist, like a ring of fire searing into his skin. He gasped in pain and surprise as he looked up, trying to see what was restraining him. One of the guards grabbed onto his wrist, pulled, while another wrapped the joint in iron chains.

Taehyung roared as the iron burned into him, his magic fighting to be released. He pulled against the guards, the air cracking and sizzling with power. He was nearly free - almost - 

Someone else grabbed his other arm, slipping the other chains around him. Taehyung cried out, fighting against the chains. He could feel his magic soaring so powerfully through his veins, ready to burn and break and destroy - but it could not. The iron restrained him.

The guards pulled on the chains, stretching Taehyung’s arms out to either side, keeping the fairy on his knees. Hatred coursed through every fiber of Taehyung’s being as he saw Dante slowly approach him, sword drawn.

“I’d expected better,” he chided. “Seems like you’re nothing without your wings,”

“Take these chains off of me and I’ll show you what I can really do,” Taehyung spat. He would not die begging for his life. He wouldn’t give this fiend the satisfaction. 

Dante shook his head. The king almost looked disappointed. “I gave you a chance. I let you live, when I could have just slit your throat where you slept. If you stayed in your Moors, you could have survived.” He drew closer. “I spared you, Tae.” 

“Don’t call me that,” Taehyung spat, his skin burning as he thrashed against the chains. “You’re just a farm boy who got lucky. You don’t deserve that crown, and you don’t deserve the breath in your lungs.” 

“And you’re just a loose end from a past life,” Dante retorted. His eyes hardened into cold steel. “It’s time to cut you down.”

Dante’s sword glinted in the fires that Taehyung had cast. Taehyung thrashed against his restraints, tried to make his magic do something, anything. It was no use. All fairies were powerless against iron.

There was nothing he could do. 

Taehyung could have cursed himself to every single one of the dark realms. He was a fool. A blasted, cocky, pathetic, fool. And he was about to die for it. 

At least Jungkook was safe. 

Dante raised his sword, and Taehyung closed his eyes. He thought of flowers in soft brown hair, a melodic laugh, and the kindest eyes in all the lands. 

And then he felt it.

Taehyung gasped, his eyes flying open in shock. Tears sprung into existence. His body sagged down, limbs going limp. 

Dante stumbled back, magical light blinding him. The guards released their hold on the chains, and Taehyung’s arms dropped to the side. 

He was healed.

He was whole. 

His wings had returned. 

***

With a single, powerful beat of his wings, Taehyung flew up until the air. Dante could do nothing but gape with a stunned expression as Taehyung sprung above the humans. Despite the weeks of separation, instinct remembered. The raven wings extended to their full length as the fairy hovered. 

Taehyung could feel his wings again - from the tips of his feathers to where bone connected between his shoulder blades. But more than that, his magic felt whole once more - thrumming and singing inside of him after being amputated. 

His eyes and skin glowed with a radiant inner light, the power inside of him so strong that he couldn’t restrain it. Taehyung didn’t even notice the chains still wrapped around his arms, dangling down to the ground. 

The guards struggled to react. Taehyung’s body jerked forward as they grabbed onto the chains, multiple men straining against the fairy’s strength. Slowly, they began to pull him back to the ground, Dante barking orders at his men. 

Taehyung’s wings beat in reverse, the chains digging into his skin as he struggled to free himself. He grit his teeth, magic and feathers working against metal and muscle. Despite his best efforts, the guards pulled him closerthe ground grew closer, bringing back to cruel iron and sharpened steel. 

An ear-splitting crack rang throughout the room, as the marble floors of the throne room shattered and broke. Vines spurted up from the earth, restraining the guards and forcing them to release their hold on the chains. 

Taehyung stared in amazement as he was finally able to slip off the chains, gaining relief from the pain. He saw a glimmer of gold out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see what it was, his wings and magic responding to the fairy’s command. 

Jungkook fluttered towards Taehyung on his translucent wings, smile radiant despite the angry red burns on his hands. “Taehyungie,” he breathed, his eyes shining. 

“You did this,” Taehyung said, understanding. “How-”

He cut himself off as he sensed something flying towards them. He soared in front of Jungkook and blocked a pair of arrows with a wave of his hand, his magic deflecting the attack. Taehyung looked down, and saw the guards cutting through the vines, trying to regroup themselves. 

Taehyung’s eyes flashed. His magic had been handicapped for too long, and now it begged for release. 

And he let it. 

He swooped down and landed on one knee, striking the floor with his hands. A powerful wave of magic exploded around him, sending the guards flying back. Many hit the wall and didn’t get back up. Some of the archers had managed to notch their bows and avoid Taehyung’s initial blast. But as their arrows flew towards Taehyung, he snapped his fingers and the arrows crumbled to dust in the air. Their weapons were nothing against his magic, vegenceful and uninhibited. 

A wild grin spread across Taehyung’s face. Wind screeched around him and the rafters above trembled and shook. His magic poured out of every part of him, unable to be contained after he had been weakened for so long. He felt alive. He felt powerful. 

Jungkook landed next to Taehyung. His wings flitted in agitation. “Taehyung,” he said nervously, “we should go-”

“I’m not done yet,” Taehyung snapped. He saw a few remaining guards pick up their weapons, trying to prepare themselves to attack once more. 

Taehyung wanted to make the humans burn for a change. He held his hand out, and his palm glowed with a blinding light. The spears and swords that the guards held began to glow as well as they rapidly heated, and the humans dropped them with cries of pain. 

“You have your wings, we can leave,” Jungkook insisted.

“Not until I deal with him ,” Taehyung snarled. He looked around for the king, his eyes blazing. “Where is he-“

“Look out!” Jungkook cried. 

But it was too late.

Dante used the smoke and the wind to his advantage, lunging forward out of darkness. Taehyung’s eyes widened as his arm shot out, his first instinct to push Jungkook away. Both fairies stumbled out of the way of the sword, the blade missing them by centimeters. 

Yet Taehyung hadn’t quite gotten used to the weight of his wings again, after spending weeks and weeks without them. And so when he jumped to the side so suddenly, his wings pulled him down to the ground.

Taehyung fell to the floor, and Dante quickly leapt on top of him. He raised his sword to bring it down on the fairy. Taehyung gasped, eyes glowing, and then the sword flew out of Dante’s hands.

Dante reacted quickly to the loss of his weapon. He grabbed onto Taehyung, the two of them grappling against one another. The king’s hand made its way to Taehyung’s belt, feeling the hilt of a dagger in his sheath. He grabbed the dagger in his fist and pulled back, his arm coming down to strike.

Vines suddenly wrapped around Dante’s wrist, holding him in place and yanking his arm back. “Leave him alone!” Jungkook cried out. Dante growled, and staggered back to his feet, slashing at the vines. 

Horror sparked in Taehyung’s stomach as he realized what Dante held. A stiletto dagger, pale as bone, tip as thin as a needle. 

The dagger Taehyung himself had cursed. 

Dante whirled around, lunging towards Jungkook. The nature fairy’s eyes grew wide and fearful as he scrambled back. His magic couldn’t hurt - only defend. There was little he could do against the king’s savage aggression. 

“You useless whore,” Dante spat, hatred in his eyes. Gone was his proud posture and satisfied smirk. Now he looked deranged, maniacal, unhinged. Jungkook gasped as Dante grabbed the collar of his tunic, the fabric ripping as he pulled Jungkook close. 

“ NO !” Taehyung roared. He was still on the ground. He couldn’t get up in time. 

Jungkook clutched onto the hand holding him, tossed around like a stray cat in the King’s grasp. His knees buckled, wings frantically beating instinctively. Trying to escape. His eyes caught Taehyung’s, and the dark fairy saw fear. 

No. No. 

Dante would take no more from him. 

Taehyung slammed his hand against the ground, his palm stinging from the force he used. The floor underneath Dante’s feet cracked and swallowed him up, one of his feet dropping into empty air. He suddenly dropped to his knees, clinging onto Jungkook for support. The fairy screeched, desperately trying to release himself from the King’s grasp. 

Licks of purple wrapped around Taehyung’s feathers as he stood, encircling the fairy like a halo. He reached out his hand, every part of his magic scorching and throbbing. 

He seized onto Dante with his magic, the King choking in the crushing grip. And then Taehyung turned, and threw Dante back towards his throne. 

The king was tossed like a rag doll. He flew through the air and hit the throne with a sickening crunch, one that reverberated throughout the entire room. His body slumped down on his throne, and then was still. 

Taehyung breathed heavily, staring at the body of the man he had once loved. The flames and wind around him flickered then died out. The room was still. He felt exhausted. 

“Taehyung?”

Taehyung turned around, and his brow pinched in worry. There was a strange expression on Jungkook’s face, like he wasn’t looking at Taehyung, but through him. He swayed as he stood, his legs trembling. 

“I - I feel kind of odd….”

The fairy looked down, and saw a drop of red on Jungkook’s pale skin. 

Taehyung went cold. 

A single cut, no more than an inch long, almost taunting him as it lay inconspicuously on Jungkook’s forearm. 

Jungkook collapsed. 

Chapter Text

Taehyung rushed forward with a desperate burst of strength, catching Jungkook in his arms before he could hit the ground. The nature fairy’s head wobbled before he blinked up at Taehyung sluggishly. “I’m...tired….”

“No, no no, no,” Taehyung gasped. Horror flooded his heart “Jungkook stay awake, do you understand me, stay awake -”

It was too late. 

Hungkook’s eyes were already closing, breath leaving him in a sigh. He sagged in Taehyung’s arms, his body going completely limp. His head rolled back, face calm and expressionless, his lips slightly parted. He looked peaceful. 

Taehyung fell to his knees, still clutching Jungkook against his chest. He pressed a hand to the fairy’s cheek, jostling him. “Wake up,” he begged, “Jungkook, sweetheart, please wake up-”

His own words seemed to mock him as they ran once more through his mind. A whisper that felt like it came from a lifetime ago. 

‘One cut of this dagger against her palm, and she will fall into a sleep like death.’

Taehyung’s eyes flashed with magic. He could reverse it. He had too. Taehyung placed his hand on Jungkook’s chest, summoning the ocean of power that lay within him “Wake up ,” he commanded.

Purple magic wrapped around Jungkook, encircling his body. Taehyung narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, feeling the curse that had settled around Jungkook, like an oil that coated the fairy’s essence. He pushed his magic against the curse, forcing its sickening power away from the one he loved. 

Nothing happened. The curse resisted Taehyung’s attempts to remove it. The dark fairy hissed in frustration, his magic burning brighter as he strained against the curse. His magic swirled around him like a small maelstrom, volatile and desperate. He pulled, and pulled-

Taehyung gasped as his magic escaped him, unable to maintain his efforts any long. His chest began to shake erratically as his throat closed up. Hot tears began to pool in his eyes. 

There was nothing he could do. The curse, once cast, could not be undone. 

Taehyung dropped his head down and let out a wrenching sob, embracing Jungkook. The fairy that had literally healed him, put him back together after Dante had ripped him apart. He had grown love in a place where Taehyung had only found desolation, like a flower blooming in a burnt landscape. 

And now Jungkook was gone. 

Taehyung didn’t know how long he stayed there on the floor, clinging onto Jungkook like the fairy might slip through his fingers at any moment. A distant noise registered to his ears, like an animal’s wail filtered through wool. His throat burned. 

He heaved for breath, lungs drowning, and the noise stopped. 

Oh. 

It came from himself . Howls of grief that echoed around the room, reverberating and bouncing against the marble walls. In fact, Taehyung was so lost in his own despair that he didn’t even notice at first a second noise that came behind him. 

Taehyung heaved a broken breath, his face buried against Jungkook’s neck, fingers digging into the nature fairy’s skin. In the stillness between sobs, he heard a faint rattle. A dying wheeze. 

Taehyung snapped his head up, looking around for the source of the noise. It took him a few seconds to quiet his own breathing enough to be able to detect anything else. And then he realized.

His body lay broken in his throne, but Dante was still clinging to life, eyes glassy, chest managing a slow rise up and down. His legs were sprawled out in front of him at an awkward angle, bits of bone visible through punctured flesh. Taehyung had cracked the throne with the amount of force he had thrown the king with, and the mahogany seat was now barely more than firewood. 

The fairy stared at the King in shock. He blinked his eyes furiously, trying to make the room less blurry, even as he gasped through his cries. Then, slowly, delicately, he gathered Jungkook in his arms, and stood up. 

He walked over to Dante. Taehyung’s footsteps were slow and heavy against the marble floors, the castle quiet in its desolation. The King’s shell shocked eyes eventually made their way over to Taehyung. His jaw lolled, trying to form words, but he was incapable. No more than a mute. 

Taehyung stared at Dante, holding Jungkook bridal style in his arms. There was so much he had planned for his former lover - flaying him alive, burning his crown into his skull, crushing him slowly under the weight of his own royal robes. 

But now, staring Dante’s broken body, Taehyung just felt tired. He felt done.

He couldn’t give into his lust for revenge. 

It wasn’t what Jungkook would have wanted.

Taehyung’s magic began to reach out, approaching the King with a creeping purple dust. Like tendrils of ivy that trawled to the dark fairy’s former lover. 

“You hurt me to raise yourself up from nothing,” Taehyung said hoarsely. His voice was flat and blunt. “And to nothing you shall return.”

His magic gripped Dante, wrapping around the man’s body. A strangled gasp came from the King’s lips as his form began to change, forced into a new shape by Taehyung’s power. His body shrunk, skin hardening. He would have screamed, had he the facility. In seconds, Taehyung was done. 

The cockroach was almost unnoticeable on the throne, so small against a structure so large. Taehyung looked at the creature with dead eyes. “Goodbye, Dante.”

His wings extended and beat down, lifting Taehyung into the air. With powerful strokes, he left the castle behind, returning to the Moors. His home. 

And in his arms he held the still and silent body of the boy he loved.  

***

Nature felt Jungkook’s loss when they returned to the Moors. The flowers drooped, their stems weakening. The grass dried out and lost its color. The birds stayed in their nests, the songs silent. The mice hid in their burrows, the squirrels in their trees. It was as if the entire forest grieved. Taehyung grieved with them. 

Taehyung landed by the base of the oak tree, holding Jungkook in his arms as gently as a newborn rabbit. The dark fairy’s eyes were red and swollen, skin pale, voice all but shattered. He looked down at Jungkook.

The fairy’s eyes were closed, long lashes resting on his cheeks. His pink lips parted slightly, cheeks rosy with his natural flush. He was still breathing, chest slowly rising and falling. To anyone else, he looked as if he were just sleeping. 

But Taehyung knew better. He knew that while Jungkook’s heart might still beat and lungs might still fill, he was all but dead. He would never awaken from his eternal slumber - Taehyung had seen to that himself. 

The forest groaned, a cool wind rushing through the Moors, carrying bitter news. Weeping willows sagged even lower, branches cracking like old bones. Taehyung bit the inside of his cheek so hard he tasted copper, flinching away from the scene around him.

This was his fault. 

He gently set Jungkook down by the base of the Oak tree, making sure the fairy was supported by the tree. Adjusted one of the flowers in his hair. Jungkook always liked having flowers in his hair. 

Taehyung smiled brokenly. “Just spare me a moment, petal,” he whispered. “I need to build you a place to rest.”

He stood, and faced the oak tree; the large antechamber that he had carved for himself. Then he raised his hands and closed his eyes. 

His magic spread out from him slowly, respectful now instead of commanding. Over the barreren roots of the oak tree grass and veins started spurting. Pastel flowers bloomed across the roof, creating a canopy above the enclave. Snapdragons, daisies, orchids, delphinium. Flowers of honor, of remembrance. 

The wood reshaped, flowing into a new form. Branches curving gracefully to create a raised platform, the space inside wide enough to place a person. Vines wrapped around the branches, soft grass coated the insides. 

A final resting place as beautiful as the boy who would occupy it. 

The chamber of the oak tree was now transformed, from dark jagged roots to nature bursting in every corner. Some of the branches had even parted, allowing sunlight to beam through. Just like Jungkook always wanted. 

Taehyung finally opened his eyes and let his arms rest. The last of his magic settled, a longing breath of wind over the leaves.

It wasn’t as good as what Jungkook deserved. Taehyung couldn’t match the flowers that Jungkook sang into bloom. But it would have to do. 

Taehyung turned and went back to Jungkook. He gently picked the fairy, and carried him over to the cradle he had created, his breath ghosting over Jungkook’s hair. He placed the nature fairy down like he was setting a jewel in a diadem. 

Jungkook looked peaceful here, at home with the beautiful flowers lush around him. He looked so calm that for a moment Taehyung expected that he would open his eyes, flash Taehyung that smile as sweet as the first day of spring. 

But he didn’t. 

Taehyung’s knees buckled. He fell to the ground, body giving out on him. He grabbed at the cradle with one hand, stems crushed in his grip.

After he lost his wings, he wanted to die. He probably would have - would have thrown himself off the highest cliff in the Moors had Jungkook not found him. He felt like he was just broken pieces being held together by the thinnest of threads. Like nothing was worth it anymore.

Losing his wings was nothing compared to the pain he felt now. 

Taehyung stayed curled up on the floor, crying for what felt like ages, his heart resting dead on the pedestal behind him. Eventually - mercifully - he fell asleep. 

*** 

When Taehyung awoke the sun was low in the sky. A gentled light passed over, gilding the envalve he had created for Jungkook in gold. Taehyung slowly pushed himself to his feet, the long feathers of his wings trailing along the ground. His body ached from spending hours curled up on the dirt. 

Jungkook looked even more beautiful in the setting sun. His tan skin glowed in the light, from days spent out in the fields under cloudless skies. His soft brown hair spread out a little bit around him, adored with flowers. Taehyung starred. Something inside of him throbbed with pain, ached to be heard. 

Taehyung heard his own words before he realized he was speaking. “You tried to warn me,” he murmured, words soft and low, falling from his lips like petals. “That this quest of mine wasn’t worth it. But I was too blinded by revenge to listen.”

He thought he had run dry of tears, but one slipped slowly down his cheek. “I won’t ask for your forgiveness, my darling,” he said. “Know that I would rip off my wings myself if it brought you back. I’d burn alive just for you to smile once more.”

He raised his hand, used a single finger to trail down the soft skin of Jungkook’s cheek. His voice had turned raspy once more. “You stole what was left of my heart,” he forced out, “and now I’ve lost you forever.”

His hand dropped down, found its way over to Jungkook’s, clasped it. Taehyung raised Jungkook’s soft and limp hand, feeling as if he were committing a crime. He couldn't resist. 

“I love you,” he breathed. He pressed Jungkook’s hand against his lips. 

The nature fairy’s skin was gentle and cool. Taehyung allowed the kiss to linger for longer than he had meant to allow, closing his eyes. Finally, he forced himself to pull away. He carefully folded Jungkook’s head back over the fairy’s stomach. 

Taehyung turned around, walking towards the opening of the chamber. He would guard this place for the rest of eternity if he had to. He would never leave Jungkook’s side-

“Tae...hyungie?”

Taehyung froze. 

No. It was impossible. In his grief, his mind must have detached itself, creating constructions to allow Taehyung to keep on functioning. The voice he heard was nothing but his subconscious taunting him. 

But still. 

He slowly turned around, his entire body trembling. His eyes felt hot and wet. If this were an illusion, he hoped that there was a being merciful enough to put a swift end to his grief. One that would not make him suffer even more.  

And then he saw.

Jungkook’s eyes were open slightly, looking at Taehyung confusedly. He blinked, and his eyes drifted up, seeing the splendor that had been built in his name, the canopy of flowers that hung over him. Confusion flashed across his face. 

He looked back over at Taehyung. Who hadn’t dared move so much as a muscle. “Where am I?”

“ Jungkook ,” Taehyung gasped, and then nearly threw himself at the other fairy. Aided with a burst from his wings, he was at Jungkook’s side in a second, pulling him up from his reclining position. Jungkook’s body was stiff with shock, but Taehyung didn’t care, wrapping one arm around the fairy’s waist, the other around his shoulders. He dropped his head into Jungkook’s neck, his hands almost tearing at his tunic with how desperately he clung to Jungkook’s clothing. 

“Please don’t let this be a dream,” he rasped, throat already growing tight. “Oh darling, please be real, please be here-”

His words cut off, too choked by tears to speak. Just a whimper came out as he squeezed his eyes shut, nearly burying himself into the crook of Jungkook’s shoulder. He felt the nature fairy wrap his arms around him, one hand gently stroking the back of his head. 

“Taehyungie, please stop crying,” Jungkook whispered. Taehyung’s chest stuttered with little cries. “It’s okay, whatever it is it’s okay, I promise.” 

Taehyung pulled away, unable to bear not being able to see Jungkook any longer. He needed to have those golden eyes look back at his own. He cupped Jungkook’s face with his hands, his thumbs brushing against the fairy’s cheekbones. “You’re awake. Y-you’re really awake.”

“Yes?” Jungkook asked, confused eyes looking at Taehyung with concern. The dark fairy’s lips trembled, cheeks wet. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt?”

Taehyung let out a laugh, wet and a little hysterical. “You don’t remember,” he said. He gently took Jungkook’s right wrist, turned it over so Jungkook could see a single thin red line on his forearm. “Look.”

Jungkook’s long eyelashes fluttered in bewilderment. He looked down, and then his eyes widened as he glanced back at Taehyung in panic. “Dante - he took the knife - he was going to hurt you-”

“You stopped him, sweetheart,” Taehyung said. “You saved me.” He gently stroked over the fading wound. “But he hurt you in return.” 

Jungkook inhaled sharply, eyes fixated on Taehyung. “Is - is he -”

“He’s not dead,” Taehyung said, noticing the way Jungkook’s shoulders relaxed slightly. Jungkook’s heart was kind in a way the world did not deserve. “But he’s taken care of. He won’t bother us anymore.” 

He drank in the sight of Jungkook reverently, like a monk finding a holy relic. “I - I don’t know how you’re alive - I cast the curse to last until the end of time-” Jungkook frowned, and Taehyung cut himself off seeing the downward turn of Jungkook’s lips. “Sweetheart?”

When Jungkook finally spoke his voice was as soft as a swan’s wing. “You must have broken it.” Jungkook kept his eyes down at the Zinnias at his feet. “No one else could have….”

Taehyung just stared at Jungkook, tears finally ceasing. “Broken it?” He repeated dumly. 

Jungkook’s frown deeped, and Taehyung’s heart beat a little faster seeing the hurt in the fairy’s eyes. When the nature fairy spoke, it was with the most hesitant voice that Taehyung had ever heard him use. “With True Love’s Kiss.”

Oh.

Oh. 

“True Love’s Kiss,” Taehyung repeated. There was something slowly growing in his chest, something more powerful than mere happiness or excitement. Something like euphoria. “Oh my darling. Of course. For you. Only you.” 

Despite Taehyung’s sweet words, Jungkook drew more into himself, shoulders rising, head dropping down. “Did you - did you not - I’m sorry, I misunderstood -”

“Petal,” Taehyung murmured. Jungkook stopped talking as Taehyung placed a gentle hand underneath his chin. “True Love’s Kiss,” he echoed, a smile growing on his face. He leaned in until there was the tiniest distance between him and Jungkook.

The nature fairy’s eyes were huge. The faded light reflecting on the earthy brown,  unable to look away from Taehyung. “May I?” Taehyung asked. 

For a moment, Jungkook did nothing, and Taehyung feared he had miscalculated. He was about to pull back, draw his wings around himself, just be thankful for the fairy in front of him. 

Jungkook prefered to act rather than speak. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Taehyung’s. Taehyung sighed into the kiss, his eyes closing, mouth falling open a little until he could feel the wetness of Jungkook’s mouth against his own, the taste sweet like a cool spring.  

The nature fairy pulled away, and already Taehyung wanted more. Jungkook smiled at Taehyung, rose blush lighting up his sun-kissed cheeks. “Taehyungie,” he said softly, yet implishly, “You forgot, didn’t you? About how to break the curse.”

Taehyung had the decency to look abashed. “I was so upset….” he muttered. 

Jungkook slid forward, wrapping his arms around Taehyung’s neck. Taehyung eagerly responded in kind, hugging Jungkook’s waist, careful of his delicate wings. “You told me that true love didn’t exist,” he whispered. 

“I was wrong,” Taehyung admitted openly. “You showed me.” His throat was beginning to grow tight again. “You saved me, darling-”

“Hush,” Jungkook commanded gently. “No more tears.” He pulled back a bit, framing Taehyung’s face with his hands. His eyes sparkled with love, the flowers around him deepening in color. “Kiss me again.”

Roses bloomed at their feet. 

***

Taehyung never grew tired of the flowers. 

They followed his love everywhere, peonies blooming at his feet, azaleas sprouting from bushes, wisteria drooping from vines. The plants appeared at the slightest blush, a melodic laugh, murmured words of affection. 

Even Jungkook’s skin glowed with adoration. Sometimes Taehyung found golden dust clinging to the trees, his hair, his feathers. At first Jungkook was self-conscious, but Taehyung adored it, promised the nature fairy to make him shine as bright as the sun.

Love looked good on Jungkook. 

Taehyung changed in more subtle ways. He shed his bristiling coat of feathers for simple flowing robes. His feet barely hit the ground for an entire wekk, relishing the feeling of cool air against his skin. He opened up the oak tree, discarded his staff, once more patrolled the Moors. The Taehyung that had been hardened by pain faded away, and a stronger one took his place. 

And of course, there were changes between the two. 

Jungkook falling asleep curled up against Taehyung’s chest, on a bed of woven grass. Taehyung feeding Jungkook strawberries, breath hitching when his fingers slipped between the fairy’s lips. Their hands clenching as they soared over a canopy of trees. 

Then the kisses. On their linked hands, the corner of Jungkook’s mouth, feather-soft on Taehyung’s cheek. On the lips, warm, comfortable, coaxing the gentlest sighs from each other, hazy eyes and low laughs. 

Other places too. Gasping when teeth hit skin. Bruises the color of marigolds, making Jungkook blush and Taehyung smile. Every night, daring a little bit more. 

Of course, it wasn’t always easy. 

The first time Jungkook casually brushed a hand along Taehyung’s wings, the dark fairy didn’t stop shaking for an hour. He couldn’t fall asleep with his back to Jungkook. Woke up screaming one night, begging Dante to stop. It took Jungkook nearly half an hour to calm Taehyung, remind him of where he was. After that, Jungkook sung the dark fairy to sleep every single night. His nightmares disappeared as if concealed by a thick fog. 

Jungkook was patient, undauntedly so. Made sure he stayed in front of Taehyung, never approaching him from behind. Let Taehyung fall asleep with his back on the ground or against a tree. Carefully danced around the raven-dark wings, so graceful and subtle that Taehyung almost didn’t notice. 

But the fairy did. Which is why he asked one day, in a slightly trembling voice, if Jungkook wouldn’t mind helping him preen some hard-to-reach feathers along the base of his wings. Knowing Jungkook would understand just what was being asked of him. 

Jungkook touched his wings almost reverently, hands slow and careful as he smoothed out the feathers. Taehyung slowly relaxing, having forgotten what it felt like to have a gentle touch on his wings. 

The nature fairy pulled away immediately when he saw a couple of tears slip out from Taehyung’s eyes, terrified that he hurt his love. But Taehyung explained, smiling wetly, that he used to wonder if he could ever stop feeling afraid, if the prima terror inside of him would ever fade away. Yet with Jungkook, he gasped through happy tears, there was never any fear. Only love. 

After that, intimacy was inevitable. 

They took their time, both perfectly content with the mere act of being in each other’s presence. But there came a night where Taehyung’s robe slipped off his shoulders; his hands trailed under Jungkook’s tunic. Jungkook fell back on a bed of grass, and Taehyung followed. 

They didn’t even realize until the next morning that a field of poppies and camelias had bloomed around them, bursting into life at some point during the night’s activities. Jungkook turned as red as the flowers while Taehyung laughed, pressing fresh kisses along his jawline. Murmuring that he’d like to see what other blooms Jungkook could summon. 

He never grew tired of the flowers. They were as much a part of Jungkook as his golden eyes and opalescent wings. Taehyung wanted to see all the colors that could pour from Jungkook, wanted to make him feel every species of love the dark fairy could offer. He chose to dedicate his life to learning the beauty that was Jungkook. 

Even if such a task might take a lifetime, Taehyung wasn’t daunted. 

After all, they had forever.