Chapter Text
The best love is the kind that awakens the soul;
that makes us reach for more, that plants
the fire in our hearts and brings peace
to our minds.
That’s what I hope to give to you forever.
-The Notebook
Prologue
The heavens are dark, black like the devil’s soul. The sky breaks open with thunderous rolling, like a thousand horses carrying a thousand chariots. Magic, it's all magic, a cloak of sorts to shield and protect the heir. The newborn child with the deep, dark eyes and gummy bunny smile. Each peel of thunder hides soft gurgles and baby giggles, coos are masked by lightning strikes, and tears mix into the beating, pounding rain.
She mustn’t know; she can’t find out the child has arrived. They’ve been playing this game of hide with no seek for the past twenty-three hours. Just one more to go. One more hour, then... then the child will be free from harm.
The participants for tonight’s birthing have gathered from all corners of the kingdom. In attendance are nobles: kings, queens, lords and such. Magic is represented too because the child himself is the bearer of magic, the newly born heir to the mystical throne. His magic will come to power in less than an hour. If they can keep him safe until then, keep her distracted until then, then magic will be safe once again.
“We need to leave.” The mother paces about the room frantically. The child is wrapped in swaddling clothes and pressed against her bosom.
“Sweetheart, we’ve discussed this. This the safest place for him, here among our friends and family. We’ll keep him safe. I promise.” The king’s voice wavers with uncertainty and the queen doesn’t miss it.
She can’t lose her son, not to her, not to that shriveled shrewd, not to Moyrah, the smoke mountain witch. Not to her sister.
“You don’t know her like I do love,” she replies, quickening her steps. Twenty-three hours and thirty-eight minutes, they just have to keep her at bay for twenty-two more minutes, then she can breathe properly, then she will know her child is safe.
“Helena, have some faith in those we trust.” The king sounds tired, and she feels guilty, but she knows Moyrah best. She knows the blackness that bleeds within her sister’s veins, the vengeance that coils around the woman like a snake, seething and hissing. Moyrah had warned her, had told her she’d never forgive her, that she’d have her vengeance.
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“You did this? You told?” The hurt in Moyrah’s eyes is evident. It’s true that she did tell, but she didn’t know it was a secret. She didn’t know there would be backlash or that it would be so severe.
She stands dumbfounded, staring at her sister, her best friend, the one person in the whole world she’d never intentionally hurt. Her careless speech had cost more than she is willing to pay.
“I-I didn’t know, I swear. We-I. Moyrah I swear it’s not what you think.” She tries desperately to explain, but it’s too late.
The air has already started to turn frigid, and a steely glare has replaced the warmth that normally fills Moyrah’s beautiful gold-green eyes. Dark magic is taking up residence. It’s what happens when thoughts of revenge creep into the heart of a good witch. Moyrah isn’t fighting the change and Helena can see that she’s losing her closest ally. Her beloved sister is being swallowed up by the blackness, and she’s powerless to stop it.
“Moyrah, NO!” She grabs the girl, pulling her out of the twisting tornado-like blackness.
“Let go of me! You caused this. Because of you I’ve lost the only thing I’ve ever loved. I’ll never forgive you, Helena. Mark my words, I will repay in kind. Before the hour of protection has come the thing you love the most shall become the thing most feared by all. A life for a life, sister.” With the utterance of the curse the young woman vanishes, leaving Helena reeling in pain and regret.
It was all a mistake, just a stupid misunderstanding, a slip of the tongue. Helena falls to her knees.
“What have I done?”
Many years have passed since that day, and everyday Helena wondered what it was that she loved the most. It’s wasn’t until the first time she felt the baby move within her that she realized the answer and remembered what she had accidentally taken from Moyrah, and she knew, this child, her child was what her sister had meant.
She looks down at her gurgling infant. He’s beautiful and her whole world. He’s the very definition of joy and happiness wrapped up in a tiny, fragile human body. She looks up at the moon. Twelve minutes to go, just twelve more minutes.
“We can do it,” she whispers, her lips pressed against the child’s forehead.
“Helena, sweetheart,” the King’s voice breaks through her fears. “Everyone in this room is willing to do whatever it takes to keep our son safe. We need to believe in the power of good magic, in the power of love.”
She turns to look at her husband. She smiles despite her trembling heart, despite her discomfort and unease, because… she trusts him. He had disarmed her with just a smile five years ago, and even now the authority and love in his voice melts any and every wall she could ever think of building. The day he took her by the hand and asked her to be his is a day she’ll never forget. She’s his, now and forever, and her son, their son, will be safe because her beloved, her Jin, the King, has promised.
“I’m sorry Seokjin, I’m sorry for my fears. I trust you so much.” She walks into his arms, the baby between them.
She watches in fondness as her love lowers his full lips to the baby’s forehead, kissing their son and whispering words of love that only she and the child can hear. Jin whispers words of protection, words of healing, words that can combat even the most powerful of evils. Helena breathes a sigh of relief. She understands what he’s doing. It’s a spell, a backup plan of sorts, ensuring that even if Moyrah wins the battle, good magic will win the war.
“You’re worried too, aren’t you?” she whispers. A part of her is relieved to know he is.
He doesn’t respond, only smiles, and it’s like the sunlight chasing away her darkness. She steps away, continuing to stare at her spouse. He’s the very picture of strength and royalty. He’s beautiful with broad shoulders that carry the weight of a nation, an equally big heart that he wears on the sleeve of his regal garment. His lips are full and red, and right now they are spewing words of encouragement to all that are gathered there to help. He thanks them with humility and urges them to fight with authority. He’s a leader through and through, their leader, her leader…and she trusts him to protect her, to protect their son.
Seven minutes. Just seven more minutes my precious son. Seven more minutes until you’re safe, until magic is safe. Just. Seven. Minutes.
The moon is her enemy, as is the slow movement of time, but every second that passes with her child still safely snuggled in her arms is a small victory. So she waits and prays and believes in the goodness that surrounds them both like a warm, comforting blanket. The baby rustles against the cloth he’s wrapped in, and the movement momentarily startles her and a tiny chuckle escapes. It’s good to laugh. She feels a small bit of her tension melting away, and at that moment it hits her…a name, his name.
“Jungkook, let’s call him Jungkook.” She turns to face the crowd before her, family, friends, dignitaries, the keepers of good and pure magic.
“It’s a fitting name, Jungkook: from a beautiful country. He’s the future King, and his name is a reminder of his calling and position,” Jin says with a smile, and Helena finds herself smiling back.
“Jungkook,” she repeats the name and yes, it is fitting. “Our little King.”
Time continues to pass as the child’s name is discussed. Despite the quiet murmurs and hushed tones, the excitement of the moment can still be felt like an invisible current of energy passing from one individual to another. Helena bottles it all in her heart, storing it in the place she puts all her precious memories. Their son has a name.
The alignment of the moon in the sky furthers her hope, two minutes, just two minutes until she can release the breath that she’s been holding, two minutes until she can lay her child in his bassinet and know he’s safe from all harm…just two minutes. She hugs the child as he yawns and tiny eyelids flutter shut, pink lips pursed in a sucking motion. She smiles; Jungkook looks so peaceful in slumber. She wonders how something as innocent and pure as this baby could be tangled in such a wretched, dark, evil scheme.
Then she remembers that her past actions had brought about the destruction of innocence as well. She shudders and pushes the memory down. Yes, she had done wrong. She had hurt Moyrah and maybe she deserved to be punished, but her actions were unintentional. She held no ill will, but this, this revenge, is very, very intentional. A shiver runs down her spine as Moyrah’s words ring in her ear.
“A life for a life, sister.”
The moon’s placement is almost complete, as light begins to replace the darkness in Helena’s heart and the landscape beyond the windows. Twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-two seconds have passed, and Jungkook is still here, still asleep in her arms. They are going to make it, eight seconds, just…
“Did you really think you could hide this Helena?” The voice is cold, like shards of ice penetrating Helena’s soul and shattering her hope.
“Moyrah please, don’t do this. Take me, get revenge on me. This child has committed no crime, he deserves no punishment,” Jin begs as comes to stand between his wife and her sister.
“So then, your Highness,” she spits the title out venomously. “did my child deserve his punishment?”
“You-your child?” Jin turns to face his wife and the shock in his eyes leaves her speechless. She has no defense for the truth.
“Did my dear sister not tell you the whole story? She didn’t tell you how my child was ripped from me, magically removed from my womb? Did she tell you she was the reason why? My child did nothing wrong, yet he was punished. There is no such thing as innocent your majesty. A life for a life, sister.”
With those words, Moyrah leaves in a puff of smoke.
A blood-curdling scream rips from Helena’s soul, and the pain fills every corner of every home in the Kingdom.
The child, her son, Jungkook…is gone.