"No...it cant be." Aera whispered as she quickly took out a locket that she wore around her neck.

Picking up the locket that lay on the ground, she compared their gemstones as her breath grew uneven.

They looked exactly the same...

-

"Aera?"

On hearing her name being called out, Aera immediately kept the two lockets in a pocket of her dress as she then turned around to see the Prince standing behind her.

He had a confused expression on his face as he noticed how Aera looked really worried and nervous, "Are you ok?"

Aera looked at Taehyung and gave a small nod, "I am o-ok." She replied as her eyes then looked away.

Taehyung took note of this action of hers, not quite believing the reply he got. Something wasn't right.

"Ok, if you say so..." He said as he decided to not press on this topic any further and moved to another talk, "What do you think of this place. Cool isn't it?"

Aera gave a smile, "Yes, it is." She replied as her mind could not help but keep wandering to how the two gemstones in the lockets looked exactly the same. 

"But how is it possible? What is Jimin's locket doing here?" The thought puzzled her as she could only think of one answer.

"If this truly is his locket then could it mean that Jimin was or is...in this realm?"

"—and then Wizard Alf showed me this magical mirror which could tell you the past. So once I saw into that mirror and can you believe what I saw?"

A far voice echoed in her mind as Aera continued to be lost in deep thought.

"I saw...Aera, are you even listening?"

No, she was not.

"Aera...?"

Nope, still not.

"AERA!" 

And that's when Aera's presence of mind finally came back as she immediately snapped out of the thoughts and looked at the Prince with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I am...so continue, you were being chased by a tiger? Wasn't that what you were saying?"

Pause...

Silence...

Aera looked at the Prince as she formed an 'o' shape with her lips and gave an awkward laugh. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked to which Taehyung gave a look of disbelief.

"Aera, you really are lost somewhere aren't you?" He asked to which Aera looked at him with an awkward smile.

"Sorry, I am just not feeling right. Can we go back to the castle? I think I have had enough for one day." She replied as the Prince looked at her and gave a small sigh.

"Ok." He said as he then turned to his friend  who was excitedly studying a magic pot which could multiply anything you put inside it. "Jungkook! Come on, we are going."

Jungkook turned around to Taehyung and Aera as he pouted, "Already?" He asked to which the Prince folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

Seeing this action, Jungkook scoffed, "Fine, boss." He said as walked away from the magic pot and out of Wizard Alf's house.

Aera followed next as she once again started getting lost in thoughts.

Taehyung, carefully noticed this as he sighed in worry. "Aera, what are you so deeply thinking about? I hope everything is fine." He thought as he walked out of the house and closed the door from behind.

But Taehyung wasn't the only one who had noticed these actions of Aera. 

As the three walked farther and farther away from the house, an invisible man stood behind them, watching them walk away from his small cottage.

///

After returning back from the village, Aera had bid a quick good bye to the Prince and rushed to her room, the two lockets safely held in her closed palm.

Entering the room, she closed the door from behind and then sat on her bed while placing the two lockets side by side.

Minutes passed by as Aera studied the two lockets carefully, trying to find a point which would prove her thoughts wrong.

Finally, she gave up and sighed in defeat as she lay her back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"I don't understand...how did Jimin's locket come here? And what was it doing at that wizards house?" She whispered to herself as she could hear the sound of birds chirping outside.

A little while later, Aera was still in bed totally confused.

The birds too had stopped chirping and there was complete silence for a while after which a sudden noise of metal clanking was heard.

Aera immediately got out of bed as she heard the sudden noise and rushed towards the balcony to see what was happening.

Resting her palms on the rails, she looked down to see Taehyung practicing sword fighting with another man.

One blow on the left and then on the right, a duck below and then a sudden attack as the other man's sword fell out of hand.

"Whoa, cool!" 

Aera thought in admiration as she saw the other man take out his protective gear and give a smile to the Prince. The two had an exchange of few words as Aera could make out that the other man who was probably a person who taught the Prince how to do sword fighting, was pretty impressed.

The man then walked away as Aera saw the Prince lift his sword and start doing some moves with it.

The clock ticked as Aera completely forgot about time passing by, her eyes eagerly watching the Prince practice his fighting moves.

Finally, after sometime the Prince brought the sword down as his chest heaved. He ran a hand through his hair which were now quite sweaty due to the continuous practice.

A smile was in his face as he recalled the words said by his tutor;

"You are doing well Taehyung, I am pretty impressed. Keep practicing and working hard and you will surely master this skill."

"I am doing better!"

Taehyung thought, happy that he was actually making good progress.

Just then, a consciousness hit him as he felt a pair of eyes on him. He immediately became alert.

"Never ignore your gut feeling, because it is never wrong." His tutor would say as Taehyung took these words seriously and slowly looked around.

No one.

He then looked up as his eyes settled on Aera who was standing by the railing of a balcony, looking at him.

Aera immediately blushed as the Prince looked at her.

Taehyung smiled noticing how Aera had shyed away as he called out to her, "Aera! Do you wanna come down?" He asked as Aera looked at him.

"Uh, sure." She replied as she walked away and then after a few minutes came running towards him.

Panting, she rested her hands on her knees as she took a deep breath. "Wow, the castle surely is really huge." She said in between breaths as the Prince smiled.

"You were seeing me practice sword fighting?" He asked as Aera looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, I was." She replied as her breaths slowly started stabilizing. "Sorry if I disturbed you though."

Taehyung just shook his head as he then looked ahead and pointed his sword forward. "One, two. One, two, three..." Aera heard his mutter under his breath as he continued practicing.

Aera's eyes then wandered around as she saw something shiny kept on the grass a few paces away. Walking towards it and leaving the Prince behind, she picked up the shining thing which was a sword, sharp as a razor.

Picking it up, she looked at it in admiration as its metal dazzled under the sun.

An idea struck her mind as she walked towards Taehyung with the sword in her hand.

"I want to try sword fighting."

The Prince stopped as he wiped away the sweat on his forehead and looked at her. "Sorry?" He asked as Aera spoke once again, this time louder.

"I said, I want to try sword fighting...with you."

Taehyung looked at Aera for a few seconds as he then slightly tilted his head. 

"With me? You sure?" He asked as Aera then walked infront of him and raised the sword which she found to be a bit heavy.

"I may not be the best but bring it on."

And there went the sound of metal clashing as the Prince for the first try, attacked Aera in a slow and gentle manner. But after realizing how good Aera actually was, he went on the tough mode.

One blow after another as Taehyung kept being amazed at how effortlessly Aera was able to protect her self and attack.

But, though Aera may be good Taehyung was better as one last blow was made from his side and the sword fell out of Aera's hand.

"Aww, I lost." Aera mumbled with a pout as she sat down on the green grass, tired.

Taehyung gave a successful smile as he then sat down beside her. "You are pretty good at this. How come?" He asked as Aera simply shrugged her shoulders.

"My grandma used to teach me sword fighting when I was a kid. I guess that is the reason why I didn't loose in the first few minutes of the fight. But Prince, you too are really good! Your tactics and style is different but it definitely reaps good results."

Taehyung nodded, as he looked to his side at Aera. "Your grandma must have been a great fighter. The moves she has taught you are pretty smooth."

"Yeah, she was..." Aera whispered with a sad smile as she looked at the blue sky.

"Aera, can I ask you a question?"

The girl gave a nod as she continued to look up.

"Why were you so nervous and...I don't know, maybe a bit lost back at Wizard Alf's cottage? You were not present and kept looking at something which you held in hand. If you feel comfortable then, you can share whatever you have with me."

Aera finally stopped looking at the blue sky as she then turned to the Prince, "Why wont I feel comfortable with you? You have been really kind to me Prince and even took out time from your daily schedule to show me around the whole village today. I did not say this earlier, but, thank you."

A warm feeling settled in Taehyung's heart as he looked at Aera, a euphoric feeling passing through him.

Why though? He did not know but one thing he did know was that he enjoyed having these peaceful and calm moments with the girl who sat beside him.

During the past few days she had become a very, very close friend to him. Maybe, even more that that. And if so, then what was she to him? What was this foreign yet beautiful feeling that would form in his heart every time he was around her? Around Aera.

"No problem. If its for you then I would walk the whole universe to just see that smile on your face and make you happy." The words just naturally slipped out of Taehyung's lips as his cheeks immediately flushed on realizing what he had just said. "Don't take it in the wrong way though!" He immediately added as he then mentally facepalmed himself and scolded,

"Idiot! What are you trying to say?"

Aera looked at the Prince with surprise as she could feel her heart hammering against her chest.

"Uh...that's...sweet." She mumbled not quite sure of what to say but then remembered the question she had been asked.

The Prince gave a shy smile as he looked at Aera, "So, would you tell me the reason why you have been worried?"

Aera gave a small nod as she turned back to look ahead at the sky, "Taehyung, before, when I used to live in the other realm, the only family I had was my grandmother and a very close friend of mine. Remember when I told you that a ghoul had attacked me and for my safety my grandmother and Jimin sacrificed their lives while fighting with it?"

"Yes..." Taehyung slowly replied as the flashbacks of the night when he had come to the prisoners room to comfort Aera passed by his mind.

"Earlier today, when we went to Wizard Alf's house, I had seen a locket over there."

The Prince raised an eyebrow as he muttered, "A locket?"

"Yes, or to be more exact a friendship locket which me and Jimin had made using two gemstones. Here, I'll show you." 

And with that Aera took out Jimin's locket from a pocket of her dress and removed the locket she wore around her neck. 

Placing them next to each other on the green grass, she showed Taehyung the two gemstones which were placed in the middle.

Taehyung looked at the stones carefully and then at Aera, "The two look exactly the same!" He said as Aera gave a small nod.

"I too noticed that and Taehyung, if this locket truly is the one that Jimin used to wear then how can it be here? That night, my friend was severely attacked and I don't know what happened afterwards because I too was injured and had lost consciousness. Could it be..."

"...that Jimin was here somehow? At Wizard Alf's house?" Taehyung completed as he snapped his fingers and got up.

"Aera!" He exclaimed, "Do you know what this means?"

"What?" Asked Aera in confusion as she looked at how excited the Prince was starting to get.

"Wizard Alf is known for his powerful healing magic and if your friend's locket was found in his place then this may mean that he somehow found Jimin and may have brought him to this realm." Taehyung said as Aera's eyes widened and her heart thumped.

She gulped and then rubbed her eyes as a smile slowly made its way on her face, "Then maybe, Jimin isn't dead. Maybe he is still alive, somewhere in this kingdom...Taehyung, you are a genius!" Aera exclaimed in excitement as tears of joy formed in her eyes.

"Well, that I am." Taehyung replied nonchalantly as he shrugged his shoulders, proud at himself.

Area just chuckled in response as her heart raced, "We need to find Wizard Alf and ask him where my friend could be."

Taehyung on hearing this suggestion slightly shook his head, "Wizard Alf is known to be a very mysterious person. You can never find him and meet him whenever you want, he will find you and meet you when he thinks its the right time."

On hearing this, Aera's excitement deflated a bit as her shoulders slumped, "So what do we do?"

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows as he fell in deep thought, "Maybe, tomorrow, we can go the Fantasy Library of Magic and Past and try to find a book which gives us the recipe of making a magic portion which helps in locating people's position. Using that portion we can try to find your friend."

"Well, we can do that! So its a plan then. Tomorrow afternoon?" Aera asked to which the Prince nodded.

"Sure, tomorrow afternoon it is."