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Amidst the chilling aftermath of the horrific incident at the Great Hall, the once grand, now haunting, red castle resounded with nothing but screams and the shattering of precious possessions, all at the hands of Malice. Fear had descended upon all its residents, paralyzing them with terror.

In the midst of this chaos, the young guard dared to step forward, his courage defying the oppressive atmosphere. He approached the Queen cautiously, well aware that no one else in the castle dared to question her authority.

"My Queen, what do you want me to do with the bodies of the princes?" the young guard enquired from Malice, a fragile thread of curiosity amidst the madness. No one else dared to question her except him. She turned to the young man and grabbed his collar as she screamed once again.

"You, who appointed you?" she asked him furiously.

"Mr. Poxire" he mumbled, still looking down as a sign of respect. The queen turned her gaze, to her minion who always followed her as that was his name.

"H-H-H-He is smart! H-H-He knowledge. M-M-Magic." The little man spoke between the hiccups, stammering at each word that came out of his mouth.

She diverted her attention back to the young guard. "What extraordinary knowledge do you have about this Magic?" she asked him sarcastically.

"I know how your powers come from the... Realm." the young man whispered in a low voice, deliberately leaving a blank where the true source of her power resided. Her eyes widened at the mere mention of the word. She ordered everyone else out of the room, leaving only Malice and the young guard in the eerie silence.

"Fill that blank." she demanded, her voice now challenging him.

"You'd rather have me not" he said this time looking back into her eyes; chills ran down her spine as she let go of his collar, the young man then just passed her an innocent smile as she took a step away from him.

"How do you know that?" Malice questioned him, her tone laced with a hint of passive aggression.

"It's rather obvious, isn't it? Perhaps you should ask me about all the other things I know." he suggested, his composure unshaken.

"What?" Malice was growing increasingly confused. "What else do you know?" she demanded, her anger rising.

"I know the purpose of your possession of Forgeraes Inubisus" he bowed to her once again. He then continued, "I know your intentions and I can also predict your next moves." His words were not taunting; instead, they were delivered with a calm certainty that left Malice feeling intrigued. 

"What do you want?" she questioned finally cutting through the enigma that surrounded the young guard.

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In the dimly lit prison cell, a solitary lamp cast eerie shadows on the faces of Taehyun, Jino, Jhope, and Lisa, who found themselves once again trapped in their confines. The heavy silence weighed on them, each lost in their thoughts, oblivious to the passage of time in this never-ending nightmare. Another night had passed away but no one kept track of time anymore. 

 The same young guard voiced, "Guardians, I bring food." There was silence. No one responded back to him. His patience etched across his face, before attempting to speak again; he took a deep breath and said, "I understand your feelings for you have suffered a huge loss. I am so sorry about it but you will need energy to survive."

"Survive for who?" Taehyun's voice held a bitter edge as he chuckled, his gaze fixed straight ahead, seemingly lost in an abyss of despair. He leaned against the wall facing the prison bars, seemingly resigned to their fate.

Lisa's teary eyes met Taehyun's, Jhope's face grew warm as tears welled up, but the room remained consumed by silence.

"For your Dynasties, for your escape," the young guard whispered, dropping to his knees, the sincerity in his voice unmistakable.

Jino, maintaining eye contact, walked closer to the bars. He extended his finger but refrained from touching the bars, instead reaching out to touch the guard's forehead. However, before he could employ any of his mind tricks, a disturbance in the dungeon drew the guard's attention away.

"Have your rice." he whispered, and with that, he retreated, leaving the cell behind. Jino stepped back from the bars, deep in thought, trying to make sense of the situation. He turned to the others, his tall figure towering over their slumped forms, still lost in their trance-like states.

"We need to get out, alive." Jino declared, his words heavy with urgency. Jhope glanced at him and nodded, rising to his feet.

"Lisa." Jhope whispered, seeking her gaze. The pain from their losses had left its mark on her, the scars deep, but she nodded in agreement.

"Tae?" Jino called out to Taehyun, who remained lost, staring into the void.

"Tae, we need to get out! We cannot sit here like this doing nothing" Jino was louder than before, an attempt to get Taehyun's attention. 

"Get out and do what?" Taehyun's response was laced with aggression as he looked up at the three, his eyes bloodshot.

"We need to get out for our dynasty." Jino urged.

"You can leave." Taehyun said, resting his head against the wall facing up, his eyes closed as he avoided the others.

"We are not leaving without you." Lisa declared. 

"And I cannot leave with the fact that Liz and Gukk lay dead outside. Taehyung's dead, and so is Prince Jungkook and your friend Jimin." Taehyun's words carried a heavyweight, echoing the depths of his pain. "Everyone's dead, who am I fighting for?" he screamed as his voice broke and tears rolled down as if his fresh wounds were being opened once again.

"For the people of our kingdoms who rely on us." Jhope interwined. 

Taehyun scoffed back in response. "My people are... dead." he said curling himself in a corner, defeated.

"So what do you plan to do Taehyun?" Lisa asked him. There was silence for moments until Taehyun responded, "Stay here and rot to death." 

"That is not a true Guardian's behavior." Jino said strongly, reminding them of their oath as the guardians. 

Taehyun got up in his seat and faced them, his hands gripping his hair, his red eyes now meeting theirs who stood opposite to him. "I know I was born to be a guardian and my entire personality is supposed to revolve around striving through sacrifices and protecting the kingdoms and saving the dynasty but... " he paused as his breath wavered, "I cannot do this" he said, his tone rather pleading them, as he whispered "please", and choked onto his words tears as rolled down his eyes again, followed by hysterical cries. Taehyun had carried the weight of a lot on his shoulders all alone and like everything has a breakpoint, Taehyun's emotional strength did too. No one knew how to respond to Taehyun or comfort him. With Taehyun's defeat, everyone had quietly taken their spots back in the cell.

Jhope turned over swiftly as he knelt forward and pulled the plates of food left by the guard for them, which had rice with seaweed soup. Lisa and Jino watched him with confusion as he kept murmuring under his breath "Eat your rice!", he kept repeating it as he scanned and scattered the rice from each plate.

Moments before they could certify him insane for his irrational behavior, he stopped and backed from the plates with something in his hands. He held it in front of the others, Lisa gasped as Jino took the tiny sealed pouch in his hands and carefully opened it. 

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"Call him" she commanded Mr. Poxire, her minion.

"Him...? Him who?" Mr. Poxire questioned, perplexed.

"THAT GUARD!!" she screamed, her voice echoing like that of a spoilt maniac. Without delay, Mr. Poxire rushed out of the room to fulfill her order. Her eyes fixated on the enormous antique cuckoo clock, which had just begun to play a musical tune as it struck 12. It had been three whole days since the nightmarish incident.

In less than a minute, the guard she summoned stood before her. Malice grinned widely, her demeanor shifting from madness to something more sinister. The young boy looked nervously at being called upon so abruptly.

"So... My love?" she called out to him.

"Yes, Your Highness?" he bowed, his voice trembling.

"When will the pathetic princess be awake?" she questioned.

"In the next 11 minutes." he said, his words almost a whisper, which seemed to confuse everyone in the room. However, the queen had more pressing questions on her mind.

Malice kept looking at him with a psychotic smile. "What is your opinion about everything? The pathetic princess suddenly getting possessed, her warning, and the twin brother's bodies... Tell me, what do you think we should do, my dear?" she spoke to him with an oddly sweet tone, stunning those around her.

"Well... I think her warning holds weight, and..." he began to answer, but she interrupted him.

"Who do you think she was possessed by?" she asked him directly. He hesitated briefly, casting glances around, but continued, "Princess Athenia."

Her sweet expression suddenly twisted into one of horror. "Are you sure?" she questioned him sternly. The young man looked her in the eye and nodded. Just as everyone expected her to erupt in rage once more, she surprised them all by smiling at the young guard.

"My dear, what else do you know?" she questioned him with a twisted smile. He looked up at her with his large doe eyes, taking a moment to contemplate his forthcoming answers.

"What do you wish to know?" he countered.

"What did that warning mean?" she asked, her eyes turning red as she gazed deeply into his hazel orbs, a hint of red dust sparkling in them.

"Do you believe you could bear what comes ahead?" he countered, his gaze shifting from one eye to the other. She fell silent, and everyone else took this as their cue to leave, quickly emptying the grand hall. Soon, only the two of them remained.

Unable to answer his previous question, she asked him more questions, her sense of threat growing with each passing moment.

"Tell me, what should we do with the twin's bodies? Should we burn them? Should I use them for my trade as I previously planned, or what? Anything? What did she mean when she said they would be back? I need to know! They are dead, they cannot come back. No one can bend the laws of nature! Right?? If they are dead, then who could be the cause of my demise?" She unleashed a barrage of questions, her voice growing increasingly unhinged. Then she gripped her hair and faced him, shouting once more, "ANSWER ME!" Her voice echoed through the eerie grand hall.

"Do not ruin their bodies; you may use them for trade." the young guard responded nervous.

"What did she mean by them coming back?" she demanded once again, sounding insane.

"Incarnation." he replied with a single word, before the queen could get up and look at him in horror.

"I will kill every infant!! Every child born in the last 5 days!" she screamed.

"POXIRE!" she screamed as her minion entered, running into the room without a moment's rest. Before he could catch his breath or inquire about her summons, she said, "I want you to call 'Hellish Haughty'; I have a job for them." He nodded and ran out within seconds. Fear gripped the young guard as he realized that the queen's conclusions were not what he had intended.

Shortly after, another guard entered to inform Malice that the princess was now awake. Her eyes returned to the clock, which displayed the time as 12:12. As the words the young guard had spoken earlier echoed in her ears, she stared at him, her eyes not leaving his figure.

'Who are you?'

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To be continued....