HEX

CHAPTER 16

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JUNGKOOK

"I managed to nab Winner's flag," Jimin said as he came running back to our base. The blue flag swayed with the wind as my hyungs started to rejoice.

"So we still need to get Exo, iKon and Blackpink's flags to win this," Jin stated. "Where can we find them--"

"Jungkook!"

A female's voice echoed a few meters away. It was Jisoo.

"It's Lisa! She needs your help!"

The mere mention of my wife's name sent me running. But Jimin stopped me.

"It might be a trap!" I stopped on my tracks and looked at Jisoo.

"Jungkook, I swear on Jin's big thing, I'm not joking!" That made hyung turn crimson. "Ppali!"

"Don't, Kook," Jimin hyung held my arm. "Lisa managed to trick you during your one on one--"

"I don't care about winning, hyung. What if there's really something wrong with Lisa? I'm not taking any chances."

Suddenly, a panting Namjoon and Suhao came running towards us. "She's telling the truth. Everyone, let's go!"

And with that I sped off following Jisoo. We arrived by the riverbed with and unconscious Yixing and Lisa on the ground. iKon was there too with their bodies covered in mud. Exo and Winner came following.

"Lisa!" I immediately moved next to her and brought her lifeless body towards mine.

Uncontrollable tears fell from my eyes. She wasn't breathing.

"What happened?! Why isn't she breathing?! Who did this?!" I turned towards a crying Rosé.

"Yixing fell into a shaft then Lisa jumped in to save him. Then there was this explosion of light. We got worried so Sehun and Chanyeol came down as well and they were unconscious since then."

Beside me was Suho, examining Yixing's lifeless body as well. Then she turned to Lisa.

"They're still here," he said that made me sigh in relief. "But they're barely holding on. We have to bring them back to the Manor--"

"Wait! Don't move them!" Seunghoon who suddenly emerged from an underground opening said. With him are Mino and Jinwoo. They held a samll treasure chest. "Their spirits were transported somewhere. They touched a time capsule."

"Time capsule?"

Mino opened a treasure chest. There we can see three gems. Taehyung was about to touch one when Seungyoon stopped him.

"This time capsule has been hexed. All three of them," Mino explained. "Anyone who holds them will be transported somewhere along the memories encased in these jewels. It will be in just a couple of minutes but we have to make sure that their bodies are close to the Gems at all times. Or else, they won't be able to come back."

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

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LALICE

"Where are we?"

I looked around the place. It looked like we were in one of South Korea's temples. And the people... they were all wearing hanboks.

"Joseon," Yixing stated. "We're in the 15th century."

"How did we get here?!"

"The gems. It's shreds of memories. I just have no idea who owns those gems."

"Time capsules?!"

"Yes. You touched one and I held on to you making both of us transport to this time--ya watch out!"

Before Yuxing could pull me out of the way, uniformed men walked through me. Literally walked through me.

"Woah! What was that?"

"Were astral images of ourselves," he explained. "So that we don't mess with history or change what happened."

"Whose memory do you think this is? I mean, 15th century? None of the Wayji trainees lived this long. Even Namjoon wasn't alive during this era."

"Maybe a past trainee?"

"Hmm... the eldest members of Wayji are Jinusean and Seckskies. I'm just not sure whether they were already alive in the 15th cent."

"Let's just follow the memory. Maybe we'll find out along the way."

I agreed then walked around. A little while later, it suddenly turned dark. We were transported into an open ricefield. A woman's scream echoed.

"You have to push, Hyori. The baby will suffocate. Just a little bit more--"

"Aaaaaaah!"

My eyes grew wide at the sight. The infant literally clawed his way out of its mother and devoured the human mid-wife. The mother had fangs too but suddenly fell lifeless.

The demon baby became an ordinary baby and its cries echoed in that small hut.

"The halfling Psy said back in the club... the baby of the incubus and the female vampire--"

Then, the setting changed again. A male child was running in the forest wearing a black cloak. I gasped as I saw the man who the child was running towards to.

"Sooman..." Yixing mumbled. Judging from his clothes, were still in the 15th century.

"Aigoo," the older man said as he picked up the boy. "Where did you hide this time? Your Hyunsuk samchon will be mad at you again."

Far from the ill-tempered Sooman that I know, this Sooman was calm and very gentle. He looked geniunely like a father to the child.

"Hyunsuk?" Yixing said that made me look at him. "If my calculations are correct, the First Coven broke off around this era. 15th century."

"Min Jae-ah!"

My mouth flew open. Sajangnim--wearing the funniest hairstyle I've ever seen, walked towards Sooman and the child.

"Stop escaping training! That's not a good thing to do!"

The kid pouted in the most adorable way possible.

"Aigoo Hyunsuk. Stop scolding Minjae," Jinyoung sosangnim appeared behind sajangnim.

"Woah. So this must be the kid's memories."

"I think so too..."

"Wait, where are we transporting too again?"

Again, the surroundings warped into a different setting. From the forest, it became a small village with everything caught in fire.

"What the--"

"We have to get Minjae out of here!" Sooman begged his brothers. "The council... they'll kill him if they find out about this."

"We have to turn him in, Sooman!" Hyunsuk sajangnim said. "He killed hundreds of innocent lives!"

"He didn't know what he was doing!" The man insisted. "He's just a child! He didn't know any better--"

"He's a demon, Sooman!" Jinyoung shook his brother. "He'll destroy us all!"

"No! Not if we teach him not to! Please, brothers. He's my child. We have to save him--"

Again, the setting changed and warped into a different place.

"I will get you out, I promise," Sooman told the innocent child as hooded figures took him away. "I will save you. I will get you."

Then everything turned pitch black.

"Where's the kid?" I asked Yixing. "Where are we?"

Them the sound of metal hitting metal echoed. A door opened and illuminated the room. A teenage boy--with worn out clothes gazed at the hooded figure.

"Those eyes..."

"He's the kid."

"What have they done to the kid? They made him a prisoner!"

"He killed inmocent lives, Lis. That's his punishment."

The figure left and the sound of metal echoes again. I used my ability to light up the area. Being an astral projection, Minjae wouldn't be able to see.

The prisoner dug in the food given to him as though he's been starving for days. Still, innocence can be seen in his doe eyes.

"Where are we now?" I asked as the surroundings shifted into an open field.

"It's his execution." Yixing looked at the hooded council members standing on the platform. "Law states that they cannot pass a sentence to a child. And by the looks of it, they sentenced him when he reached maturity to avoid problems."

"On the day of February 17 1489, the Chongin village was engulfed in flames killing hundreds of innocent lives. The supernatural Lee Minjae was charged for this crime and was imprisoned. But due to his age, his sentence was waived until he reaches maturity. And that sentence is death."

Minjae sighed. As if he accepted the sentence.

"But, it has come to the council's knowledge that the charged Lee Minjae is innocent as the real suspect finally stepped forward."

Minjae's eyes widened as he saw his father, Sooman, handcuffed.

"Appa!"

The elder man smiled at his child. It was very warm and bright. Even I felt mushy inside.

"From this day on, the council bestows freedom to Lee Minjae and will be given insentives as a form of compensation for him being wrongly accused."

Again, Sooman smiled at his son who's now crying. I did too. I was crying at the sight of how much a father loves his child even if they weren't related by blood.

"And as a form of punishment for the crimes committed, the council sentences Lee Sooman, death."

I gasped.

"No!!" Minjae screamed as he watched his father beheaded. I felt Yixing block my sight with his hand as the axe of the executioner fell. "Appaaa!!!"

A headless Sooman fell off the platform. His head rolled away too.

Minjae was furious. His eyes turned black and his skin changed its color to jet black. He transformed into a demon which made all council members take a step back.

The fury of a child witnessing his father's death showed. No council member, even guards, lived to tell the tale. Bodies ripped in half and pools of blood filled the ground.

And at the center, a crying Minjae, with the body of his father Sooman on his lap were left alone.

"If Sooman's long dead... then who--" I found the answer to my query.

Another explosion of light suddenly happened. Yixing held my hand.

"We have to go back and tell everyone. Before the portal closes."

I nodded and went through the light with him.

"Doom is near in the face of a half 

but the blood of fire will save us in behalf."

•o•o•

"Lisa!"

My eyes flew open and the worried face of Jungkook greeted me. I slowly sat up and looked at everyone.

"Lisa! You got us all worried--"

"Sooman's already dead!" I cut Rosé off earning weird gazes from everyone. "We saw him get beheaded. Lee Sooman is already dead."

"What are you talking about?" Suho asked.

"She's telling the truth," Yoxing said as he too sat up coughing. "Sooman already died during the late 15th century."

"Then who did we just fight off--"

"Minjae," I said. "The Sooman we think we're fighting is actually his adoptive son, Minjae. We have to tell the sajangnims. We have to tell them the truth right away before he finds out we found his memories."

"I'll summon him right away," Bobby said. "Let's head back to the manor and secure ourselves. Then tell us everything you guys saw."

I nodded. Jungkook carried me back. As Sehun and Kai assisted the still injured Yixing.

•o•o•

"So that explains why he suddenly changed after the execution..." Hyunsuk sajangnim said after we told them everything. "Minjae... we thought... Sooman really loved him like his own. He was a good kid. But he had these times when he gets angry... he couldn't stop the demon inside."

"How did these gems end up under the shaft, sajangnim?" Jennie asked.

"Beulping... this was the old Chongin village. I restored this place in memory of Minjae." He sighed. "If only we helped our brother break Minjae out. He wouldn't have sacrificed himself..."

"The council's prison was well guarded," Yixing said. "There's no way--"

"We should've at least tried," Jinyoung sosangnim cut him off. "We were his uncles. We should have saved him too. This war would've been prevented if we helped."

"But what's done is done," sajangnim said. "What we need to do now is find a way to end this war. Jennie's unborn child is still in grave danger--"

"Doom is near in the face of a half but the blood of fire will save us in behalf," I blurted out. "Sajangnim! It's not Jennie's baby who's gonna bring us doom! It's Minjae! He's a halfling! A demon halfling!"

"What are you talking about, Lisa?" Jinyoung sosangnim asked.

"Sosangnim. A war is about to happen because of Minjae. And he wants to kill all supernaturals including humans. That's doom, right? And he's a halfling. Face of a half. His face, his face is not exactly his right now. So the halfling mentioned in the profecy... it's Minjae, not Jennie unnie's baby!"

"And the savior... Blood of Fire? Who has the blood of fire?" Yixing asked.

Everyone fell silent.

"Our only hope is the blood of fire. But what does that even mean?" Jennie said. "We have totall to the oracle HyunA about this--"

"We'll talk to her, Jen," Jinyoung sosangnim cut her off. "It's best if we are the ones to fix this. But for now, I advice you to take a rest as your baby is about to start growing."

"I agree," sajangnim said. "I will be taking Ikon and Winner out of Beulping for the time being. Exo is welcome to stay for as long as they want given the current condition Esem's members are going through and help BTS protect Blackpink especially Jennie."

"We'll take our leave. Ikon and Winner, just follow us when you're ready."

After that, the brothers vanished. Ikon and Winner said their goodbyes and left a while later.

I looked over to Jungkook who. Was deep in thought. I nudged him breaking his trance.

"Kook, is there something bothering you?" I asked him.

"The blood of fire..." he said--more like whispered. "It's another term for supernatural nobility."

My forehead creased. "What are you trying to say, Kookie?"

"You were born of noble blood, Lis," he said. "Noble supernatural blood. That means you have blood of fire. You also told me a hooded man killed you fifty years ago. Don't you think that Minjae was the one who tried to kill you?"

"And that you are 

the blood of fire?"

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