Chapter Text
It is said in a distant land deep in the underworld there is a cave. And in this cave dwell 6 unfortunate souls. If you find this place, within the cave there will be one of the 6 sitting upon a rock in the center of the lake. You may ask them one question and one question only. In rare cases, if you have a particularly lucky spirit, more than one will appear and you can ask each a question. Never have more than 3 appeared at one time. Your luck also comes into play when the fate of which of the 6 appears before you.
There is Kim Seokjin, formally Zeus' favorite and most beautiful angel in heaven. He was the right hand man of the god and thus forth was witness to his many cruelties. The crude way he handled women, his wife, the mortals, and his own children. Over the years Seokjin became more and more angry at the God and slowly started planning. Finally upon the day of reckoning, done with the tyranny of the god, he betrayed Zeus and started a revolution amongst the angels. The fight was neck and neck as Seokjin knew every one of Zeus' tricks, but he was ultimately defeated by the powerful god and cast out of heaven. He was the first one cursed to stay in the cave in which the 6 dwell. Legend has it that he is especially knowledgeable about war and can find the most efficient way to smite your enemies.
Next is Min Yoongi, the son of the Moon Selene. The moon goddess was particularly overprotective of her only son and forbade him from ever leaving her comforting glow of night. One day, growing curious of what was beyond the horizon he snuck away and watched the sunrise. He immediately fell in love with the man pulling the sun across the sky and the man had the same sentiment. He met Yoongi at the sunset where the two domains meet and tried to convince him to leave his overbearing mother and come to the light of day with him. So in love, Yoongi said yes but as he was going to leave, Selene caught them and tore them apart. Having been betrayed the Moon was sent into a rage and in her rage she banished him to the cave, never to see the light again. Legend has it that shooting stars are the couple's residual tears from that fateful day. Yoongi will expertly answer any question about love and loss thereof.
With a twist of fate, also within the cave is Jung Hoseok, Son of the Sun god Pheobus. It is said that the mortals who received Hoseok's light grew so fond of him that they no longer prayed to the Sun. Hoseok was tasked with pulling his father through the sky each morning and Pheobus grew furious in jealousy hearing the mortals words as he passed by. While he was saddened by the loss of Yoongi, Hoeseok still dutifully pulled the Sun every day and smiled at everyone he met, enchanting the people below. This only made his father angrier. One day, having had enough, Phoebus burnt his son's pure white wings to black, sending him barreling to the ground and into the cave. Upon finding his beloved, he of course decided to stay. Ask him a question about finding courage or happiness during dark times and you will definitely see positive results.
After this came Kim Namjoon, a scholar turned philosopher turned sorcerer. Having become an expert in the dark arts Namjoon became arrogant and questioned the validity of the gods. He claimed Zeus to be a false god to his many followers and any who would listen. He would perform miracles on mortals and boasted of his skill. Having provoked the rage of Zeus a lightning bolt was sent down to kill him. However, having expected this, the lightning bolt simply rebounded off of his protection spell and astounded those around him. He laughed in the face of the gods and lived to tell the tale. Rumour has it that he is the only of the 6 who are voluntarily in the cave, having gone to seek the fallen angel who challenged Zeus and deciding to stay for an unknown reason. Ask him any question on magic or scholastic endeavors and you shall become successful in life.
Park Jimin's tale is a sad one. Once a siren who dwelled near the shores of Jeju, Jimin was particularly beautiful with lovely voice and thus forth very skilled at luring men to their death. This beauty came to be a curse as he one day caught the eye of Poseidon. He was imprisoned and kept as a singing toy, given immortality in order to forever be gazed upon by the king of the oceans, and it is unclear just how long he was kept hidden away. Poseidon eventually grew bored of Jimin, as the king was known to do, and casted him aside for a newer shinier thing. Enraged by this treatment, Jimin set free the poor young girl but was caught by Poseidon before he too could escape. The king exchanged one prison for another and banished him to the cave. Poseidon gave him legs and took away his singing voice so he could no longer swim or sing as he did before, the cruelest punishment for a siren. If happened upon by someone who wanted to take revenge upon a man....well, Jimin has had a long time to think of several creative punishments.
If you happen upon Kim Taehyung and you are a farmer your spirit must be infinitely lucky. While he was the Deity of Winter, Taehyung is infinitely knowledgeable in making things grow even in unbearable conditions, much to the happiness of his mother Skadi, who was known to be unconventional. Her little winter bear loved to grow fruits and berries in the middle of blizzards to help all the townspeople who suffered through the cold season. This however, caught the attention of The Grim Reaper Charon who garnered most of his business during this time period. As he was rapidly losing the mortals coins of passage, he placed a curse on Taehyung to wander around and become confused. This led him through the underworld and into the cave, Charon sealing him inside. After entering the cave he happened upon Namjoon, the 4th lost soul, and asked the simple question "who am I?". Sensing the curse on this poor lovely boy he eradicated it by answering "our friend". Since then Taehyung has regained his memories and not so reluctantly stayed in the cave with his newfound friends.
The six souls are gracious with their answers to the pure of heart and will always help those in true need. However those with dark intentions are fairly easy to deceive. They live in limbo, some trapped and some not. Until a boy with big eyes and a shy smile one day walks up to their rock. They are caught off guard having not heard him come into the cave, what's even more strange is that all 6 happen to be sitting on the rock this day.
Out of all the questions asked to the 6 throughout the centuries and years, all had been about the self, their longings their fears. All for the benefit of the asker whatever their troubles may be. Never had anyone, before the boy, asked, "How do I set you free?"