Ping

The ride is extraordinarily peaceful. Queen Ren isn't saying anything and neither do us. Even though awkward silence has dominated our surroundings, we do not dare to speak as none of us knows what else can provoke the Queen when he's enjoying the tranquility.

However, the actions I'm going to do next might provoke him. With my eyes closing and reopening, they change colour from black to pink. I manage to figure out the colour according to my vision. They somehow remind me about my mood swings and eventually warn me to control my emotions.

Leading out my strengthen vision, I try to see through the panther's skin, to scan the inner part of its body from the oesophagus to the lungs, where its giant heart beats healthily at the centre.

I try to zoom in my view as I look harder, but a pat on my shoulder alerts me. It's Beomgyu. His expression serious when he shakes his head warningly. "Hajima (Don't)," he mouths.

My eyebrows are knitted as I comprehend his words. I need to save my father. I need to know where he really is. My desperate voice collides against Beomgyu's brain walls as he has his mouth agape. But then, he comes to his senses and eventually denies my action by shaking his head slowly.

This is not the right time. His voice echoes in my head instead of my eardrums. The Queen will notice.

On the other hand, I can see the Queen standing up and places his sharp, intense gaze at us. My teeth begin to chatter when I notice the strong dark aura mingling around Queen Ren's body, making him glow bright like a diamond, especially in this place surrounded with insufficient amount of light.

Following my point of view, Beomgyu whirls just in time to receive a painful strike of the Queen's vicious kick. At the sight of such unexpected incident, the three of us are shocked with eyes wide. Clamping my hands over my mouth, I raise my head to see Beomgyu's body flies into the air due to that forceful kick and gasp upon the pain signals transmitted throughout his brain.

His ribs are crushed. One of his lungs punctured. His eyes have turned bloodshot due to the rush of adrenaline and blood. Unlike his usual tamed self, his new form appears for a mere second - sharp canines, striped face due to protruded dark purple veins, lengthened fingernails and even changed clothes. A bubbly groan escapes from his parted mouth as blood gushes out.

In an extremely fast speed, Queen Ren has already stood in front of me. Soundless. Before I can even react, his hand has already reached my neck before lifting me up. A sinister laugh gurgles from his throat when he looks into my eyes filled with terror.

***

Jimin

Ping is in danger. Her protector is seriously injured, while both Wonho and me are restricted by the vines coming from nowhere. "Damnit!" I curse through gritted teeth while struggling to get free. Slithering like pythons, the vines end up entwining tighter around my body parts. "Ping!"

The panther is moving fast with low growls vibrating its body, thus, Beomgyu is left behind as I've seen him falling onto the ground through my peripheral sight. Seriously, the Queen has plans. And they are unfriendly.

My breath turns rough and messy, stopping me from thinking rationally. I miss the golden moment when I can perform my sleep spell on the vines or the panther. At that time, the only thing that comes into mind is to get free. Nothing else. "Tie them onto the tree, Earth Fairy," orders the Queen before the vines take us far away from the running animal, leaving Ping alone with the wicked royalty.

"Earth Fairy?" I echo with doubt before realisation hits me hard like a lead ball.

"We meet again, dream elf," a female voice says in a surprisingly calm tone, as if she had predicted this to happen. "You did a really great job saving the girl from my hands back in the hospital, Park Jimin." The voice is still speaking, but both of us couldn't find the talking person. She must have hidden somewhere, probably under the ground like an earthworm. "But how foolish you two are to send her here." Now, she appears under the accumulation of soil and dust.

Each of her black eyes contains a white cross, meaning she is controlled by the Queen and have become her puppet. "Sleep spell, Jimin," utters Wonho as he turns himself into eagle form, freeing himself from the grasp of those merciless vines. "I'll distract her, you perform your spell and hopefully, we can save Beomgyu and Ping in time!" The plan is shouted under the eagle's scream, yet I am the only one who can understand that since I've spent all of my teenage life with him.

Aside from training me to become a proper elf, a disciplined FaeChildren, he also taught me eagle language. Although I couldn't reply with the exact same pronunciation, I can understand every word he says. Wonho begins to lead the Earth Fairy's attention away from me after acknowledging my knowing nod. He screams again, trying to provoke her to toss the vines at him.

"Foolish eagle," the fairy tuts. "You do not know who you are messing with."

"Well I know plenty," Wonho protests through his eagle scream. "And you are too foolish to think I'm weak." With his speed fast as lightning, he dives towards the fairy and leaves a nasty scratch on her face, leading her to gasp in shock.

However, the crook of her mouth quirks up into an evil smile afterwards. "Interesting," she comments, baring her sharp canines before her eyes change colours. They are different. They are heterochromatic like Beomgyu's, but one is turquoise while the other is bright yellow. "We'll see how long you can bear with me, Eagle!" she challenges before releasing more snake-headed vines at Wonho as he dodges the attacks as swift as he can.

I need to focus. I have to perform the spell before Wonho gets himself killed. Soon, I start to regulate my respiration after closing my eyes. To make the spell work more efficiently, there is a need for me to imagine something bad. Hence, the fairy will be trapped inside a nightmare instead of a sweet dream.

The lab.

This is one of the scariest memories I have. The only challenge is that I need to stay extra calm in order to make it work. Heaving in a deep breath slowly, I hold my fist before exerting my power, leading out hints of purplish gas from my skin. Sooner or later, the vines restricting me are all wrapped with the gas as I can feel it spread.

A flash of memory rushes pass my brain, sending pain to my temples until a deep groan vibrates through my throat. My eyebrows are furrowed deep as I try my very best to convince myself that everything is just a memory. It is the past. Everything I see isn't real.

"Nan halsu isseo (I can do it)," I whisper to myself before falling into infinite darkness. "Da gwaenchaneul goya (Everything will be alright)." And I open my eyes as they turn silvery grey, absorbing the power of my spell. Light glows all over the vines as the spell emits from my body, fulfilling my intention in mesmerizing the fairy to sleep.

"You can't bring me to sleep this time, dream elf," the fairy states with her evil laughter. "I've turned stronger, faster, deadlier than the day I met you in the hospital!" she shouts angrily with pure hatred before releasing more dangerous snake-headed vines to attack both Wonho and me. "If I kill both of you today, Queen Ren will approve me and bring me the land above ground." Thorns have grown on the vines, adding gashes and cuts on my body after her bold declaration. The more I struggle, the more pain I feel. "The only thing I need to do is to bring your heads to the Queen."

The eagle screams and so do I. My clothes are wet because of my blood. The vines wrap tighter around me, blocking all of my abilities to perform the spell. My body is wrecking and I can feel my flesh being torn to bits. My lungs are about to burst due to long period of suppression under great pressure. Soon, I begin to see stars.

Stars that block me from seeing colours. Stars that eat my consciousness and equilibrium away.

"Fight back, Jimin!" Wonho's eagle scream hits me on the eardrums before I give in and go limp. "You can defeat her, you are better than you think, Park Jimin!!" The male sounds tired as he is panting out the words just to motivate me not to give up. My body is shaking as I no longer feel the tips of my fingers. My mouth is opened wide when I crave for air. But whenever I inhale, my chest rises and triggers the vines to wrap tighter, suffocating me more.

This time, I feel as if my body is going to break into a few pieces with bones scattered. "Argh," I couldn't hold another silent scream that rushes out of my mouth as I close my eyes to let the tears fall. Hope is distancing away from me the more I struggle to stay alive, until the figure of an animal flashes across my head, thereby colouring my mind and filling it with life. Filling me with life.

It has beautiful fur mixed with the colour of magenta, rose pink and bright yellow. It gallops with a brief bellow before disappearing from sight. I've seen it during the day I sneaked out to The Bright. The kingdom full of good animal spirits. Its baby kicked me before I stepped onto a pile of poop.

They were the smell of sweet candy. And that's why I wasn't aware of the place I was stepping on.

Once again, I close my eyes to enter the realm of my own memories. Both good and bad. Instead of excluding the good ones, I let them flow like a calm river, welcoming and stop fighting against them. Blood peeps and runs pass the side of my lips but I don't care.

The only feeling I'm focusing on is the returning power that fuels my body with strength and energy. The smell of my sleep spell is more saturated until I feel nauseous and dizzy. "Focus," I remind myself while shaking the thought of throwing up. Resultantly, I snapping my eyelids with rage while letting in the views for my retinas, my vision is laced with lemon yellow, the colour which is nearly similar to the Earth Fairy's.

Question: will Jimin and Wonho survive the fight?

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴏʀ ᴘᴏᴘᴘɪɴɢ ɪɴ, ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs 🤗🤗🤗