"Do you want me to find any loopholes, Noah?"

King Noah nodded, "Are there any?"

"Yes," the old man smiled, coming near Noah who he's seen since young. "But it won't be easy..."

"People will be outside the gates tomorrow, Sir Akin. What will I say to them? What could I do to compensate for their loss and pain? It would be fair for them to want me to feel the same pain as them..." Tears rolled down Noah's cheeks, which Akin couldn't take anymore.

"I've always seen you as a great King, Noah. But you're a good father too." He patted Noah, his elderly eyes sorrowful. "Send him out of the Kingdom."

Noah's pink eyes widened in shock, "What? No. Anything but that-"

"That would be the only way he'll live."

"He'd die rather than that," Noah said, knowing that the situation couldn't get any worse.

"Noah, people will not accept him. You know that the word already spread throughout the kingdom."

"What about Evelyn and Luminous? How would they be away from him? Do you even hear how you sound, Akin?"

Akin sighed, "They all must go, Noah. They wouldn't let Evelyn and Luminous live here."

"The kid did NOTHING, AKIN! If they won't accept Marcus, then they should accept Luminous, he's their Prince!"

"Our people will go savages when pain blinds their eyes. This is the best decision, for the people, the Kingdom, and Marcus." The King searched in the Old man's eyes for any hint of mockery, but no. He meant each and every word he said.

Noah hid his face behind his hands, the pounding in his head getting sharper with each passing second, maybe he did that to hide the tears that flooded his eyes.

"This way he is alive, Noah. Think about it."

Akin left the room, leaving Noah to his thoughts.

What would someone in his place do?

The night's breeze hid deep inside its haven, scared to sweep over the vast lands of Arcturus. The night was the quieter one that Arcturus ever experienced, but still, it was the noisiest one too. The cries of people for their loss were loud enough to make the suns shine on Arcturus sooner than ever. Noah dreaded this day, he had two choices.

Have his son dead or have his happiness leave this world in every possible way.

The people in the court stood in his presence, taking their seats after the King sat. The whispers of people filled the courtroom and this made Noah's heart clench even more.

He could see Inez and Evelyn staring from far, eyes begging.

But he could see thousands of eyes staring at him too, asking for justice. Why should he do justice to them? Why should he sentence his son to death for the sake of them? He's their King, after all, one word from him and that's all it takes to stop this nonsense from taking place. Why did King Nolan let the investigation take place? Why Marcus was found guilty? Why was Marcus brutally honest and said that he was the one who did it without defending himself with anything?

Call it fate, destiny, or anything. It loved to play on that day.

It was the day when Marcus was deprived of his royal status and sent out of the Kingdom, along with his family. Yes, if it was not his home, then how could it be his wife's and son's home? He wouldn't let them stay there. And Evelyn was more than happy to go with Marcus.

"I can't believe he did this to us..."

"I refuse to believe he did it..."

Many voices raised like this, showing their support for the Prince. Those people know him, after all, visiting the town's people and talking to them personally in disguise while he was young didn't go waste.

"We will come with you, Our Prince," a soldier bowed his head, a few hundred people were standing behind him, ready to do whatever Marcus says.

"I'm not a Prince anymore, my friend." Marcus can't help but smile, somehow, saying that made him feel much lighter, like a heavy weight being lifted off his chest. "I'm not even a citizen of this kingdom anymore. What will you do by following me?"

"Marcus, we're your friends. We know what you will do and what you won't," Raehyun said, his blue eyes glittery.

Along with Marcus, a few hundred people moved out of the Kingdom, just because they love him.

________________________________________________________

Luminous was still confused, "You could've stood your ground. It wasn't really your fault, Father..." These words left his mouth before he could weigh them.

"Do you think they would've believed me, Luminous?"

"Many did."

"Where are they now?"

Luminous shook his head, where were those people who said that they'll stay by his side?

"No one lasted. Each and every single person left. Except you, your mother, Lucas, and..."

"Bethany," Luminous said, that bird has been around them forever. "I don't trust her at all."

"Do you trust yourself, son?" Marcus' lips curved slightly, "You may have your mother's looks, but you act just like I did back in those days."

Luminous smiled a little, "I wish she was here." He regretted it as soon as he said that. Marcus' warm smile curved to a sad one, grey eyes deep in thought.

"I wish for that every single second, Luminous." He turned his head to stare at his son, eyes dead serious, "We need to get the throne back. For her."

The Prince locked eyes with the King, "Mother never wished for royal life," Luminous said under his breath, a lingering feeling in his heart that the dark side of Marcus was taking of him again.

"How can a mother not wish for her son to sit on the throne? You were just a baby, do you know the rants she did about you being the Prince? Do you think she doesn't wish to see you as the King?" Marcus chuckled, making a strange feeling stir inside Luminous.

"I don't know, Father."

"You have her diary." Luminous' silver eyes widened, no one knew about it... "Flip the pages, Luminous. Sometimes, you forget to read between the lines."

Luminous frowned, by now, his every move was watched by Marcus and his father knew him more than himself.

It scared him.

"I've never talked to you like this, have I?" Marcus asked, his grey eyes distant, staring at nothing.

Luminous shook his head, the whole place strangely silent enough for him to realize that there are millions of thoughts going on his father's head.

"Everything will go back as it once was, Luminous. Your life will be much much better than it was, once everything comes to an end."

"Can I ask you something?" Luminous swallowed, eyes lost, "Will you be like this after all of this gets over?" He paused, observing the serenity over Marcus' face that he never remember seeing. "I like you this way."

Marcus didn't see the fully grown-up Dark Prince at that time, all he saw was his eight-year-old son back in the days, "I swear it. I do realize I haven't been a very good father, Luminous. Just wait till this gets over." The Dark King nodded at the Prince.

Luminous' lips stretched into a smile, he nodded back. Marcus ruffled his hair gently, his hands grazing his cheek. "I need to go now. Don't waver, Luminous. I can see that it's hard to choose a side but-"

"I know which side I belong to, Father." Marcus seemed to be satisfied by the sincerity in his voice.

"See you soon then," Marcus vanished into silver dust, leaving Luminous to his thoughts.

He realized why he was hating the Light Palace and its people all along. True, they were never there for him, not his family. There was no fault on their side, yet he has to spend his life in a place like the Dark Palace. He didn't hate them now, no he didn't. He despised them.

Maybe that's why he snapped at Ji Ah when she woke him up in the morning, resulting in a smack on his head for talking like that to the Elder Princess.

Even now, walking one behind the other, he couldn't stop thinking about all of these. His heart raced so fast, his mind wasn't working. He clutched his heart and stood for a moment to steady his raging nerves and pounding head.

His fingers touched something... The quarer, the gift that Queen Inez gave him.

Oh god, how well she knew about things around him that she gave this little orb linked with a chain to him on that day?

His fingers fiddled with it. It wasn't the first time he tried to ask it. And even now, it showed the answer. The exact same one it's been showing all the while.

And he decided. He is his father's son. What did these people do to him? Who are they? The only thing that he should do is to protect the only person he has now, yeah he may be a little tight on his head, but still...

He was startled when he felt someone's hands over his shoulder. "You okay?" Luminous wasn't even surprised to see his own face looking back at him, except that it had blue eyes and blue hair.

"Never been any better," he smiled and dragged Taehyung towards the others. The younger shook his head and followed without complaints. Still, Taehyung couldn't help but notice the smile on the Sebran's face was much different than the ones he has ever seen.

Jungkook halted when the huge firefly stopped in the middle of nowhere. They were in an alley with an old abandoned house to their right.

The smell of ash and dark swirly patterns on the walls were hard to miss. The house was burnt, just like all the other houses nearby. The village was destroyed to its core and all of their hearts tugged at the thought.

"Great, he's burning houses now?" Yoongi said, hatred coating every word that left his mouth. He just couldn't accept it, the harsh reality he's facing now. This has been their home... What about the people in it?

Observing the soot and dust-covered area, it was clear that whatever happened, must've happened a long time ago.

"He didn't burn it," Luminous said. Seriously? Will they be blaming the Dark King for every misfortune they come upon?

"How're you so sure?" The Verde snapped at the Dark Prince, emerald eyes warring with the starlit ones.

"The people must've set the fire deliberately," he said, gesturing to the houses behind, "like they had something to hide..." His carved brows were scrunched in deep thought.

"Luminous is right, there's nothing valuable inside, no photos, books. Just a whole bunch of furniture." You said, clapping your hands together to get the soot off. You and Namjoon didn't hesitate to go inside the houses to check upon and according to the Sebran, this fire wasn't an accident nor set by the Dark King's men.

"Why would they burn their home?" Hoseok breathed out, "They must've tried to hide something from the Dark King's men..."

All nodded, thinking what could possibly be the reason behind this. Jungkook's gaze stayed on the huge fly that was still in one place, its light scaring away the darkness around the place. Soon, his red eyes fell on it, and he couldn't help but experiment.

"Did anyone bring coins?" He turned to the colourful heads who were busy in their own thoughts.

"Think I may have some..." Jimin said as he rummaged through his sling bag, his mind already figuring out the Laal's thoughts.

"Why do we need coins now?" Taehyung asked, not focusing because of observing a certain person. The behaviour of him was very strange from the morning that the Neel could not concentrate on anything other than him.

Jungkook took a few steps forward and stood before the dustbin. He used his strength to move it and his lips widened in a proud smile. His red eyes roamed over the crowd, "Oliver really helped us a lot."

As he thought, the dustbin didn't move. He put three silver coins inside, the dustbin easily moved aside. "Do you know what this means guys?"

"I love Oliver!" Hoseok breathed out, not noticing the stare The Brain of the Palace gave him.

The Neel's lips stretched into a proud smile, "Good job, Kook. Let's hurry," Taehyung's blue eyes turned to the green ones, who got the message without any words.

The mint-haired man jumped in without any thought, making Jimin reminisce the way he scared the wits out of him the first time they met.

How long have they come?

How close have they become in this journey?

The Light Prince smiled, whatever the fate had led to, he felt thankful for it now.

"No harm here," Yoongi's voice resonated from below. They all jumped in one by one, assisting each other.

You were about to close your nose as you expected the same horrible stench of sewage, but there was nothing like that. Strange...

"It's pitch black down here," Loeva mumbled under her breath.

A small purple glow made them all stare at Jin. But the strange thing you noticed was that it was not from his hands, eyes, or hair.

It was his heart that was glowing?

"Seretine," Namjoon said, his eyes observing the brilliant glow of purple from the stone.

"Why is it glowing now?" Ji Ah asked, reflecting the confusion of the people around her.

The General remembered the Queen's words.

Seretine, a reminder to people to return home if it's been a long time after departure.

A symbol of hope in returning to your home.

It shows way back home...

Only one thought came to your mind, and your lips said it even before you can weigh it, "Home..."

Jungkook didn't fail to notice the subtle crack in your voice and the tears in your eyes, even if the seretine wasn't shining so bright, he would still know the way you felt.

Taehyung, on the other hand, was busy observing him. He couldn't take his eyes off that person... Luminous. He just had a gut feeling that something was not right with him. And the way his silver eyes kept avoiding everyone, it was highly suspicious to not notice.

"Then this will lead the way to Culcheth." Ji Ah almost felt everyone flinch at the name of the town. Even Luminous. The power that town's name had on them ...

"Then we will go to Culcheth," Yoongi said, his green eyes hiding the fear of the past. He remembered the last smiles of his family when he was just a kid on the carriage that set off to the Light Palace in hopes that they would grow safer inside the palace walls. Still, he could see the expression on his friends' faces. They screamed anywhere-but-that-place.

"Well, I'll lead the way, Jungkook. Your little friend can light our path," Jin said, his voice coming strained out like he is not into this whole sewage tunnel travelling thing.

"Grrkgaau grraa kruuu!"

Everyone's heads turned to Loeva, making the younger princess stare back with a confused look. Her pink eyes widened when she realised, "He says, he can show the way as light flies get tired soon."

Half a mile into the sewage tunnel with Mr.Mon leading the way and all the members seemed way too tired to take another step ahead. Your stomach grumbled, the tunnel was completely dark except for the light from Luminous' silver dust and the purplish glow of the seretine, you just guessed that it must be close to evening. You didn't want to imagine the rubbish that must be in your shoes. Oh, you wish those dreams that Noah gave you were preferable to travelling in this nightmare.

You can't help but smile. How that old man scared you in your dreams? You still remember how a cold hand came out of the sand beneath and gripped your foot. You almost cracked a laugh at the thought.

Just like how a hand gripped your foot now sending a shiver down your spine. You kicked your legs and moved on.

How can imaginations be this vivid... It must've been some garbage that caught on my foot.

How you wished you were true, but your happy little cloud disappeared when it caught your leg again and pulled you down with full force.

Great. it would be just great to fall face-first into this nightmare.

But why didn't you hit the ground?

Why did it feel like falling freely into an endless pit?...

__________________________________________________

A/N: Hello everyone! Hopefully, I'm still very much alive, thank you!

I apologise for the rare updates on TTSS. But lately, I've been very busy with my uni works. Yass, I'm into college this year!

There's just too much on my mind that I didn't feel the flow to continue writing.

But throw away the worries cuz I'm glad to say that I'm back on track! Yassss huns, you can expect updates every week!

Ooooh and hang onnn, the ride's gonna be a lot more bumpier than you think. I'm ready to smash your expectations and give you the best twists ahead! (at least I hope they'd be!)

Thank you for reaching this far in TTSS, your luv, and support is what keeps me going!

with luv,
Be 💜

05/05/2023