For so long, I have waited
So long that I almost became
Just a stoic statue, fit for nobody
And I don't wanna get in your way
But I finally think I can say
That the vicious cycle was over
The moment you smiled at me
Rain - Sleep Token

Spice - O - Meter: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

It was the first thing that came to mind when the morning rays caressed Aera's face. The brilliance of that moment of feeling the sun had worn off, in light that a much more unlikely phenomenon occurred.

She was sheltered within Jimin's arms, and had been the whole night.

Face to face with him now, she was able to take in all that she had missed in years of darkness. The dark brown of his lashes, the slight scar that ran across his face, invisible until bathed in light. His Cupid's bow was rounded, and he smiled slightly
in his sleep.

The man had never looked more at peace, and for once she wished to bring it to him instead of chaos.

Her heart stuttered pathetically when his eyes opened, enveloping her more than the warmth of the sun. She felt his gaze run over her like the summer wind, poised at the front of a ship. He said nothing at first, and she wished he had. Instead he ran his fingers over her bare shoulder.

Stories really never told this part, the morning after. Just the happy ending. But that didn't seem right, as there was so much still left unsaid between them.

Attempting to gather the courage she felt last night, she placed the sheets over her chest and slid closer to him. The man did not move away or make a face in disgust, no. He seemed shocked that she made a move, but did not attempt to scurry away.

He looked happy. Aera shuddered, not entirely knowing what to do with this information.

Can things be different?

Did Aera want them to be?

"You know my name." She said, as if that would explain everything she was feeling to him. About what happened last night, and about what both of them confessed.

Aera was sure she was not alone in wanting to know if it was a farce, or the work of their bond. The slight uncertainty in Jimin's eyes urged her line of questioning on.

He swallowed once, before answering. Looking every bit a god as his hair lit with spun gold, his dark eyes intense like the edge of a smoking mountain, "I told you, I know everything. Your likes, your dislikes. Everything you hate. Including your name." The man's lips lifted at a hidden thought. "I heard it while spying on you. Your mother called you by your name out of anger, and I remember your face turning beet red before you stomped away from her. How could I not stow another way to tease you in my arsenal?"

Aera lifted a brow, not truly understanding. Last night had been magical, but beyond the feelings she wondered if it all really was a delusion.

"Yes, I guess that way you tortured me showed a great deal care."

Jimin gave her another long look that sent a flare of warmth up her spine and into her chest. It's more than that, isn't it? He had made that very clear the night before, and still she could not quite grasp it.

"Attention to detail, I would call it."Jimin said so softly, she had to lean in. He smiled once more, settling his hand on the curve of her hip over the sheets, just feeling her. "I am utterly obsessed with doing all that I can to wind you up, just to watch you spiral." He did just that, when his hand moved from her waist to her back and pulled her into his taut body. "I wasn't interested enough to do it to anyone else, nor did I see them as an equal they could contend with me."

"No one else?" Aera froze over once more, remembering that it wouldn't be this way forever. No matter what either of them claimed or betted, they would both be returning home to the other Immortui.

This little getaway would not be forever.

"Leila-" Jimin started, wincing.

Her heart fell like the sun at dusk.

Aera was not silly enough to forget. Other than their tenuous meetings, there had been another to pull his attentions. Her cheeks burned with the shame of it.

"Leila, right. You still love her too? I understand if you need time to figure things out—" Aera could barely recognize the sound of her voice, and the cold plunge of defeat.

She had seen him soft before, and it hadn't been with her.

Panic gripped Jimin's expression. Suddenly her hands were pressed against his bare chest, his heart thundering under her palms. "Please, listen first. There is a lot I haven't told you because frankly, I am not sure you would have believed me before."

Aera pursed her lips together. "One chance." It was all she had left in her. Yes, Leila was with Taehyung. No, she didn't want the man before her.

But you had to be blind to miss what had occurred before. Jimin had been pining openly. The entire court had watched them play with each other to stoke Taehyung's wrath. But it was more than a game to him, she had seen it the night at the ball.

Leila was not demure by any means, but she was balance. There was light in the dark, and something that Jimin could aspire to.

Aera was the thorns and the weeds and the fog that resisted any light.

Jimin nodded, using his once chance wisely. He thanked her with his eyes before speaking seriously. "I remember the day that I left you. It was a week after Taehyung asked for me to marry you, and I told him you would be happier with Garnett. He sent me on the assignment out of pity I suppose, so I wouldn't have to watch you marry another." Jimin laughed painfully, and something inside of her cracked. Oh how wrong she had been. "I didn't want to leave, but I knew that I would have to in order to keep living. There was nothing for me at the castle. I think that my mother had been watching me before, but finally I was broken enough to allow her in. The entire way to Leila, all I could think was how much I did not care to meet her. I was fucking maddened that Taehyung threw you to the side, and saddened for you that you would never get your prince. I was angry that he had everything I ever wanted, you. And yet it wasn't good enough for him. It brought back all the resentment I had felt our entire lives, being best friend to a prince as an orphan. I was weak, I was vulnerable, selfish and more. They knew that."

"I thought I met Nox that night, at the inn just before I met Leila. That is when I was told about the King, and my brother. How Lily and me were discarded. That I was from Nox's bloodline, and that is why Clarisse forced us to dye our hair, and Bianca taught us blood magic to hide it." Jimin shook his head, his eyes haunted. "That's when everything changed. I had went to bed with tormenting thoughts of you, and I woke up feeling murderous towards Taehyung. My brother. When I went to go see Leila, my mind had been foggy. I was devastated by being abandoned, and frightened by being contacted by a god. Even then, I knew that my rage towards Taehyung was wrong. But when I saw her my mind cleared entirely." Aera would have been offended, but the man looked nauseous. "In that moment I forgot every moment of happiness I ever experienced. All the beloved moments with Taehyung, all my affection towards Lily. My friends seemed to matter as much as the dirt below my feet. My mind let go of you entirely. Like it was stolen from me."

Jimin was looking at Aera, but his gaze was much further away. She wished she could comfort him, but something as horrible as his life being wiped away was something that time alone could fix.

Aera touched his cheek, using the pad of her thumb to smooth along the bone. "You're here now."

Jimin's gaze focused back on her, "Now I am. But then, I wasn't. I am not sure if it was entirely my mother's doing, or the curse of the black sun snapping into place, but Leila replaced my thoughts of you. But I could only see her as an object stolen by my brother. I had seen her first, why was she his? Why did he get her if I was my father's son? Why is he the prince?" Jimin winced once more. "It's horrible, I know. But I need to explain. So for two years I visited back and forth, and my envy and greed only grew. My memories were blurred and warped as my mother visited me as Nox, telling me things I did not recall but suddenly believed. I thought I loved Leila because I was owed her. And I thought Taehyung knew the entire time and didn't tell me to protect his crown. When I saw you around the castle it was like..." Jimin bit his bottom lip, "A wall would go up in my mind. I think I started avoiding you because I would get headaches. My memories were probably trying to break their way out, and you were the only person that happened around. But something, someone, wanted me to stay away from you. To make sure I thought I wanted Leila."

Aera's heart skipped a beat. "Thought?"

Jimin brushed his thumbs over his lips, wiping away the word. "Can you not hear what I am telling you? I wanted you so badly that Nox made it clear that all my feelings for you had to be suppressed." He pulled her closer, his warmth seeping into her bones. "It was not cutting Leila's throat that woke me up. It was not you drowning Lily that woke me up." Jimin's lips quirked in disapproval at that, and Aera just shrugged impishly. "I felt the lock release my mind when I used my power against you. It was your blood and your near death that made me strong enough to fight the hold my mother had on my mind."

Aera felt her eyes prick with moisture, and she did not want him to see. She swallowed it, and instead washed it away with humor. "Are you sure you weren't just tired of being bitched around?"

Jimin rolled his eyes, "I did grow up envious of Taehyung. There were moments I truly hated him, but it was because of the attention you gave him. I didn't want his power, I wanted his freedom to choose. I wanted his righteousness. I wanted to be someone you wanted. Yes, I was also annoyed at petty things like losing sword fights and such. But overall, I loved my best friend. I appreciated my position at the castle. Those emotions were manipulated." He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then more pale. "I regret how I acted with Leila and Taehyung. I did genuinely terrible things. I hope to make amends with Leila specifically, because beneath it all we were friends. Before I hurt her, I told her that her love meant nothing. That it wasn't good enough. I think I regret that most of all. I realized how much I didn't mean it when I held her in my arms, covered in her silver blood and she did not wake up to tell me she forgave me. I love and appreciate her dearly, but I am not in love with her. I want my brother back. I want my friend back. I was so fucking mad at myself for falling for a gods parlor tricks, that I let myself believe I loved a woman that I did not. That I let it ruin my relationship with Taehyung."

"Oh, Jimin."

"I told Taehyung I would take her from
him. I told him he would never be my brother. I said things I cannot take back Aera." He clenched his jaw, "How would it feel to them if I tell them it wasn't entirely me? Well, not really me at all."
He down at her with saddened eyes, "If you still don't believe me, think about what I said to you in the throne room."

Aera remembered that day. She had asked him it seeing Taehyung and Leila together bothered him, considering her tried to murder them both for it. He had said, "it should." She had mistaken it for an attempt at being ominous.

The man had been saying it should, but it did not matter to him. He had told her the truth of what happened even then.

"I believe you, and I am sorry it took so long for me to see you." Aera took his jaw in her palms, and she could see the visible relief in him. His body relaxed as if it had been carrying a thousand pounds and he just breathed.

The man wasn't the kindest. He was not the hero of the story, and often he acted as the villain. But he did not deserve this. He had been entirely alone, being mutilated by his dead mother and a god.

Aera had been so wounded by his lack of attention, that she had completely missed it. So far up her own ass with her own worries and problems, she hadn't dared to check on him.

Jimin grabbed onto her wrists, his thumbs running gently over her. "Don't apologize, I can already see it on your face. It is not your fault. It's not anyone's fault but mine. I should have told someone. I shouldn't have suffered alone." His tears were tinged with a soft gray, "I would have laughed and then killed someone if they told me I would forget you, for even a second. And I did. I should be the one who is sorry. I almost, I—" He breathed through his nose, collecting himself. "I wasn't there. A man thought he could take your choice away from you, and I wasn't there. In my ignorance I made fun of you for killing him, when that was mercy compared to what I would have done to him. You hated me, truly hated me, so much you believed I tricked you into being my pereche. I gave you no reason to believe otherwise."

Aera could not answer that it was all she needed to hear. Her life had not been a game to him. No, she was worth more than that to him.

In her silence, his eyes darkened. "It is why I need to find my grand father, and Nox. Because I plan on making them regret ever taking me away from you."

A chill ran up her spine at the ferocity of his promise. She would love to fucking see the day he got his revenge, and she would do everything in her power for him to enact it.

"Fine, I won't apologize." Aera said, laughing through her own tears. He wiped them away. "But promise me that you will tell Leila and Taehyung about Nox."

"They won't listen to me. Why would they? And sometimes I feel like it wasn't all my mother's fault. She took feelings that I already had and used it to her advantage. Besides, we still have to find his ass first to prove a fucking point."

Aera laughed, "It just makes me wonder why Nox made you practically forget me. Was I really on your mind that often?"

"Mhmm." His tone turned sensuous, his smile liquid. "All the time."

"When?" Aera inquired innocently, while her hand began to ran down the expanse of his chest.

He watched her path with hunger, his lids becoming heavy as his muscles tensed under her touch.

"In the council room. In the throne room. In the rafters of the ballroom. In my bed, alone at night. In the morning when I woke up."

"I didn't ask where you wanted to take me, but thank you for the imagery." Aera bit her lip, stopping right at the flat of his navel. His eyes lifted to her own, volleying between her lips.  "Why did you kiss others and look at me?"

"Well." Jimin pulled her roughly, making her yelp. He bit gently on her shoulder, not breaking the skin. "I knew I couldn't have you, but I wanted so fucking badly I would take scraps. When my brother would dance with you at ceremonies." Aera arched when his tongue hotly caressed her earlobe, "I'd imagine myself just holding you. Feeling you tremble as I brought you to pleasure from just my kiss."

Aera breathed out a laugh, pushing on his chest. Jimin seemed to hate the distance between them, but she kept him waiting. He didn't even realize her hand disappeared beneath the sheets.

"So from what you're saying, it's always been me?"

"Don't get too cocky." Jimin started to say, before his lips parted. "Oh."

Aera carefully stroked him, finding more pleasure in his loss for words than anything else. His affinity for not knowing when to shut up did not disappear with their newfound confessions.

"What if I say the same? What if it's always been you?"

Aera was sure they weren't quite ready to mention the word love.

A smile mixed with both desire and elation filled the man's face. "I'm not sure if I will ever believe it. It doesn't seem real. We were at each other's throats."

That sent an image into Aera's mind that got her heart racing.

Using both surprise and her fighting skills, she quickly straddled the man. His breath came out in harsh pants as Aera held onto his throat with slight pressure.

"I still have yours."

It took a few seconds for the man to thaw, and then his expression grew pained. He held onto the thinnest part of her waist, pressing her down onto him. Jimin knew their torture of each other would continue in other ways.

"Fucking hell."

Aera leaned over, her fangs glinting. She delighted when he shivered under her touch, not removing her hands from his throat. She felt him
catch his breath, his veins full. His hard length was pressed against her bottom and lower back, for she had not allowed him in yet.

"I heard a whisper, that you love that I am your pereche." Jimin took the chance to whisper into her ear.

Aera pulled back, lifting herself upright.
"You know what Jimin. You're right."

"Music to my ears, coming from my venomous Aera." Jimin smiled, looking all the more devilish as he laid under her, ready to submit.

"Solis fucking shit." Aera exclaimed, a memory slamming into her. Her body shook as she began to laugh, laugh and laugh at the pair of them.

Of fucking course.

"What, what?" Jimin sat up, her long fingernails still digging into his neck as he held her torso. He probably thought she was having a fit, and Aera was not entirely sure she wasn't. "Why are you laughing? It's kind of hot, but why is it happening? You know how to make a man feel inadequate, it's a talent."

She dug her nails into him harder, watching the way it only heightened the need in his gaze. "You fool! Think about it. I know why we are pereche."

"Because my father could have two?"

"No. Not at all. He was the original Immortui, and that is a different story. I believe it's something much more innocent." She opened her eyes, her usual condescension in full supply, "Whispers, our game. When we lost, one of us would have to drink from the other. But do you remember what we did when we were both wrong?"

"Fucking fuck." Jimin's eyes widened, his hands playing at her sides. "That's right. We drank from each other at the same time."

When they were twelve.

"I heard that you fancy Iza." Aera had accused him of.

Jimin scoffed, throwing dirt on her skirt. She flicked it off, but not without it leaving stains.

"I heard a whisper that you stole from Clarisse's herbs."

Aera smiled. Wrong.

"You lost! I get your blood—"

"You lost too, idiot. Let's just get this over with, I have sword lessons soon."

The boy held out his wrist. Aera felt shy all of the sudden, and she didn't know why.

She slowly held out her arm. Her blush only grew hotter when he started taking her blood. His mouth was covered in it when he barked at her to bite him.

It was the first and last time Aera had lost this game.

"We already started the process of the bond. Albeit we didn't complete it, and couldn't at that time, but there was only one more step." Aera shook her head. "I didn't even remember I drank from you before that day you offered your blood to heal me."

Jimin held her closer, his fingers careful as they caressed her.

"Which means that Garnett was never yours." His eyes were trained on her lips.

"Mhmm." Aera responded softly, the intensity of the moment filling the air. Her heart pounded against his chest, and she could feel his own moving in time.

"Which means that you chose me?" The man asked allowed, satisfied at hearing the words he always wanted out loud.

Aera laughed nervously, as she started to ramble. His midnight eyes were unraveling her, "Yes, your intelligence amazes me. Though I think we were much smarter as children. We made better choices then and did not fight the inevitable."

He kissed her then, and Aera knew he loved her back.

"I have always been yours, Aera. I think our hearts knew before we did."

****

"Please, don't change. I don't want things to be weird between us despite everything." Aera said, finally taking in the beautiful landscape as they moved outside.

The southern Italian town was beautiful in the morning. It was stunning at night. The streets were bursting with life, and music sailed across the stone walk ways. Even the overwhelming scent of human food could not disturb her as she looked out into the open see from layered houses and cliffs.

"What? Change you say?" Jimin asked dramatically, his face deadpanned. "Aera, my love. I cannot breathe without your goddess-like touch. I will never call you an uptight little piggy ever again."

Aera pretended to gag, swatting at the man's open arms. "Awful! Awful man, get away."

Jimin smiled, all prince as he stood out against the velvet blue sky. The stars scattered around him like a crown, his smile the jewel.

"So you're telling me I can't kiss you?" The man lifted a brow, encroaching upon her.

Aera looked around at the families and humans beside them, clapping to some strange wheezing instrument. 

"Mmm, not in public." She turned on her heel, moving away from him.

He followed after, playfully stopping in front of her. She felt her body respond to him immediately as he looked down at her, his intoxicating scent enveloping her from his loose white blouse. His voice was low, much lower, than his usual tone.

"Why are you ashamed of me?"

"Well our little dalliance will get me in major trouble with our king and queen. Considering I am directly fraternizing with the enemy."

"Fucking the enemy." Jimin commented, taking the chance of Aera being off guard to kiss her cheek.

She moved back, touching where he kissed her. The woman laughed, feeling a warmth spread in her chest.

When her laughter tired out, it was quiet. She turned to look at Jimin, who was just staring at her with an awestruck expression.

"What?" She asked, growing defensive.

Jimin stuttered for a moment, his mouth moving with no words coming out. Then he found his voice, "I've never seen you smile so much."

Aera rolled her eyes, nudging him with her shoulder. He stumbled back a step, not fighting her touch.

"What, am I not allowed to be happy for at least an hour? Don't worry I'll be back to scowling in no time."

But Jimin wasn't teasing. No, something close to adoration and longing colored his voice.

"I just never thought that smile would be because of me."

Aera stood before him in a black dress, her heart racing. Not out of lust, not out of anger, and not out of fear.

That's it.

I am going to tell him. I need to tell him.

"Jimin I—"

Aera's words caught her throat when the man disappeared right before her eyes. Her body went from complete peace to being burdened with havoc.

"Jimin?"

"Run!" A human screeched in her ear, louder than the wind.

Aera could not move, even as the crowd of people began to swarm around her.

She would not move, her world was not with her. The wind could soar and the water could try to wash her away, but she would not leave without Jimin.

She lost her mind. She moved humans around like they were mice, not caring when they bled from her careless pushing. Her one goal was to find him and run.

Where are you?

He promised her things wouldn't change too much. So he must be playing a prank. She laughed as she moved through the screaming crowd, knowing he would appear soon.

"They're coming!"

Whoever they were would have to wait.

She was upside down, the stars below her feet. The waves ceased to crash. Her heart stopped beating the minute he had left her view.

That was when she became angry.

"Jimin!" She yelled out his name, louder than the crowd. Humans began to avoid her. She heard them yell demon, as her fangs extracted. It didn't matter to her. "Jimin stop this at once! We need to leave."

"Aera!" She heard her name. It wasn't him.

Closer and closer to the waves she went. Maybe he was waiting by the shore, annoyed by the humans.

"Aera!" She felt a tug on her arm.

The Immortui whirled around, baring her teeth at whoever dared to stop her.

It was Kasra, his hair saturated with sweat and blood. His eyes were frantic as he checked her for wounds.

She wondered why he was already there, but it wasn't strange because he mentioned he may run into them while he was on business. While she did not wish him ill intent, she was ready to break his hand from his wrist so that she could continue to search for Jimin.

He must have seen it in her eyes, because he let out a relieved breath. "Aera, Jimin told me to find you. He's held up my Nox's men at the temple, they pulled him into the shadows."

Sound flooded back into her ears. She could see the stars again, as her heart picked up its beat. The temple. Jimin had mentioned they would have to stop by the building for clues. "You saw him? He's fine?"

"Fighting, but alive. I'll take you to him."

"Yes, quickly."

Kasra grabbed onto her hand, and she thanked the gods he had found her. They snaked through people swiftly, and she had to commend the human male's agility. Night seemed to suffocate them, the air growing darker with shadow.

Aera shivered, wondering if the god of night would finally make an appearance. Either way, they would be ready.

"It's just this way." Yelled Kasra, as he continued to pull her through the last of the heavy crowds.

They slipped down a narrow alley way, stumbling over cobbled stone. Aera could only hear her breath and her boots hitting the ground. Kasra made no other conversation.

"Here." He said, stopping in front of a temple near the edge of the city.

Aera looked up at the crumbling gray facade. Columns held up the front face, and the rest seemed to weave in and out of perfection and decay. A large dark archway was filled with shadow right before her.

"I don't see him." Aera said, her voice hardening.

But it was already too late.

Hands pushed her from behind, and into the dark archway.

Aera turned around harshly, and was met with an invisible wall. She pounded her hands into the open archway, a puff of smoke erupting with every contact she could not feel.

Kasra stood, watching her with hawk-like eyes.

"What the fuck did you do!" Aera screamed, her throat raw. Jimin had been right. When it really mattered, she second guessed herself. Trying to be good and righteous, she had fallen into a trap he never believed. "You're with Nox, aren't you? I should have listened to Jimin when he told me you were a snake!"

Kasra smiled, walking towards her. She tried to claw her way through the shadow when he was right before her, gnashing her teeth and praying for the wall to disappear. His face would have been already ripped a part if it hadn't been for the blood magic.

He smirked broadly, taking pleasure in her attempts to hurt him. She hated seeing his eyes brighten with her every attack. "What? Does it wound you that a measly, putrid, useless human outsmarted the great Aera?"

She stopped fighting. Instead, she reeled her head back and spit at the man's face.

That wasn't affected by the magic. The man closed his eyes, dragging his hand over her spittle, his expression dropping.

The air was sucked of all the light. The stars truly dimming the longer she glared at him. With a voice that was not his own. "I see why he can't let you go."

Aera felt her stomach recoil when he licked the spit he had collected from her on him palm.

"One small correction, if it's any consolation." The man said, his eyes glittering. She wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on him as he grew taller, his hair, skin, and eyes lighter. "I am not a human, a snake, or any other wild primal beast you can mistake me for." His lips that were unlike the ones before curled up, "I am a god."

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(A/N: AahhhhhHHHHHHH this shít BANGS HAHAHAHAHA THE PLOT IS PLOTTING!

💅🏻💅🏻💅🏻💅🏻💅🏻😋😋😋😋 yall I told you I wouldn't disappoint!

THAT FUCKING ENDING THO SHIT BITCH I KNEW IT WAS GONNA HAPPEN BUT I SHOCKED MYSELF!!!

Ahhh Aera and Jimin????? What's going to happen? Crying !!!!

Stay tuned :) the next update might take two weeks cuz I have to work on other things 😉😉😉 but it will be worth it!