"There were waves over me
I was lost at sea
'Til you found me, 'til you found me"
Lost at Sea - Lana Del Rey

Aera
🥀

"The light within. The light without. Darkness is only fleeting. The light within. The light without. Darkness is only fleeting."

"Hello?" Her voice was flat, echoless.

Aera was not in the temple with the unhinged god of night anymore. She was in an endless lake, flat and unmoving. There was no horizon, no end. Misty gray fog clung to her skin and made her long hair stick to her chest. There was no source of light, but it was not dark. Gray, gray, and gray clouded her senses.

The quiet, yet sharp female voice that awoken her spoke again. Aera spun, trying to find the source.

"I need to speak with you before he notices."

Aera wanted to laugh. Disembodied voices? Stolen from her already caged scenario? What difference was a monster to a god at this point?

"Who are you? Where am I?" She shouted into the void. They likely wouldn't answer.

Nightmares often got worse before they got better. Or they killed you, letting you return to your real body.

Aera stopped moving, spotting a flash of ebony hair. She jolted back, moving into the placid lake. Her movements cause no ripple or sound. Silent, unnatural. She hated it.

"Show yourself a coward." She attempted to draw her fangs, curling her fingers into near claws.

A woman appeared before her. The shock of her appearance made her reel back another step.

"My name is Daria." The woman said as if she had the right. "I need-"

"Stay over there." Aera was trembling. The woman did not listen, putting her arms out and walking by closer. Aera tried to bare her teeth, but no fangs were present. "Did you not hear me? Stay back!"

The stranger wore a long cloak, her slim body still visible. Somehow wearing a fashionable deep red drop waist dress, the color of dried blood.

More unnerving than her clothes were her pale skin, narrow chin, and jade-uplifted eyes. It was like looking in the mirror.

For a moment Aera thought this nightmare had been showing her the future. Fully aged as an Immortui at thirty years old, and somehow more beautiful. But the image did not follow hers, instead, her eyes held a blunted edge that even she did not possess.

"My, how you have grown. I suppose it is my fault." The woman tsked, a smile behind her unfamiliar and yet too familiar lips.

She is not me. She is someone who I never wish to face.

The attempts to push her away only increased. Aera felt the burn in her eyes and chest, she tasted the blood on her tongue as she bit her cheeks. She wanted this woman, this stranger gone.

"I like what I am." Aera bit out viciously. The woman did not sway at her tone, only observed. It incensed her further because only she could be that unimpressed. "And I love that I am nothing like you. Mother, if what Nox said is true."

Hurt flashed across the ghostly woman's face. Or maybe Aera was imagining things.

Truly, she had no idea what this woman was like. But if she appeared before her now in her dreams, she was dead. Aera did not know how to feel about that. Surely the hole in her chest wasn't from the realization.

It was the newfound resentment for being lied to her entire life.

This woman, her mother, was not begging at her feet. She was not rushing to hold a grown Aera in her arms. She did not cry, did not swear for forgiveness. She was reserved, calculating. Holding back despite all she felt.

She was just like me, and I hate her more for it.

"Ihrin."

No. No, no. That tone is reserved for lectures and adults who were around. That was there for her. She hadn't heard it in so long, that assured authority and it made her throat clench. She wondered if the rest of them, Taehyung and Jimin and the other nobles craved it too ever since the massacre made them all grow up a little too quickly.

"Do not speak my name. You gave up the chance when you left me with the people who raised me. So please, give me useful information or leave my head. I do not have time for your regrets or pities." Aera breathed out harshly, clenching her hands into fists.

"I do not regret a single thing." Aera tried to spot differences between her and her birth mother. She was taller, that was for sure. Her eyes were more of a gray-green like a foggy sea. Her voice was deeper, her hair a shade lighter. Her mother lifted a full brow, "You are alive standing before me, aren't you?"

Aera placed her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes.

"Held captive by the god of night but I guess it's better than being dead if we are comparing. I survived and made it here myself, no thanks to you."

"Well, I would bite my tongue."

"I will-" Cut yours out.

Daria seemed to be at the end of her patience. She fixed her gaze, cutting off Aera's unfinished threat. She held up a hand in quiet surrender and defense. "Settle down. I do not have much time, and neither do you."

"Then get on with it." Aera crossed her arms, waiting. She wanted this little reunion to be over.

"Thank you for your permission Aera." The woman acknowledged her dryly, deepening the pit her stomach at their shared biting sarcasm. "When Sorina first left home, my parents confessed. They told me our mother came from a long line of women bred from the daughter of the sun and moon, and the deity of the ocean. They had gone years generations without showing signs of magic." Her eyes shifted, "And they wanted to keep it that way. For daughters born that could sway the moon and the ocean would be the mark of a new age, an age of life. But to create life, they would have to forfeit their own."

I fucking hate prophecies. Watching Leila almost die a thousand times in one year was more than enough. If Sorina knew that Jae would die before her and her son would be left alone, she doubts she would have ever sacrificed herself.

Aera clenched her jaw. "Sorina died fighting. What about you?"

"Once I learned of this, I did my best to reach Sorina. It was hard being alone for almost 100 years. I watched my parents age and die. I lived with the burden that I would one day have to sacrifice myself, so I did my best to stay isolated by the sea. To not pass on my curse." Her green eyes locked with Aera's, "I received a letter from Sorina one night. It detailed her and the King's mutual relationship. She spoke of their love and how they were figuring out a way to end the curse of night. It gave me hope."

Silence stretched for a few moments, as Daria let an echo of a smile grace her full lips.

"I met your father shortly after. He was a handsome male who liked to sail. His boat needed repairs, and he needed a place to stay. And I-I loved him very much. We conceived you shortly after. I believed my life would remain as such. Happy, joyful, and with the hope Sorina would solve everything. My fate no longer frightened me."

A father? She never thought about it. If he was human, he must have been sweet. She let her mind wander, to a phantom farm overlooking the cliffs and sea. Running into a much taller man's arms, with soft brown hair and warm skin. Smoke and salt clung to him, and it reminded Aera of home.

She shook away the strange thought, replacing an even worse thought.

"Taehyung is my cousin. Sorina is my aunt." She held her stomach, trying not to wretch. "We were to be wed."

Daria hung her head back and laughed. "Please! You were never meant to wed your cousin. It was all planned as to not bring suspicion to who you were. I am not sure how you didn't recognize it yourself, but we all look alike. The Queen would have had her suspicions, especially as you aged. You already met Taehyung as a child, and you did love each other. That is why you more than likely felt attached when you went to live with them. After that night of the escape, your engagement was meant to break off and they would tell you the truth. We were all meant to be a happy family together."

I met Taehyung? Why don't I remember? It explains my comfortability, which I mistook as a crush at such a young age. Aera still felt like she was going to wretch, even though practically all her life she's loved Jimin.

"What changed?" Her words came out strained. She coughed, taking a step away from Daria.

The space they were in grew darker, placing more shadows over her mother's face. Aera could now see why people were frightened by her, considering their shared features. What she saw was a woman torn to pieces and then reforged.

"I should have never believed it. I got another letter from my sister, Sorina. She was pregnant as well. Then, worse news, so was the Queen. Letters became worse and worse as you age, once a babe and then a toddler. Paranoia, the children that were swapped. Sorina received worse and worse treatment from the Queen. Sorina warned me that soon the Queen would visit her family home, looking for ways to make Sorina weaker. I sent you to a good friend of the King's the next day. With only your name and your favorite rabbit doll. When you next visited the castle, Sorina took away all memories of us so the Queen could not question you."

Aera murmured the words, "Mother and father." They still raised her. They still loved her. Her memories were taken from her, just like Taehyung. Just like Jimin.

Daria acknowledged them with a nod of her head, "Yes. I am glad I did. My sister was right. The Queen did show up within the week. Your father was home alone, I had just come back from the market. I found him there." Her pristine exterior started to crack at the mention of Aera's father. She clamped her jaw, lifting her shoulders back with determination. "I would have been useless, even if I was there. I had not yet used my powers. I started practicing then."

There was a defining moment in everyone's life. All Daria had done was run from her problems and her sister's. She wanted to hide all of her life from fate's wishes. After that, she was no longer afraid.

"My sister and Jae could not escape by themselves. I learned to brittle locks with salt water. I learned to use the water in the body to drown their lungs. It was enough to break into the castle and to kill all the soldiers posted outside the castle. I gave my sister a clear path home." Regret took over her expression for the first time, "When she escaped, eventually we were going to come back for you."

Aera stated the obvious, a quick breath escaping her nose. "That didn't happen."

"No. It did not. The servant caught me, Bianca, I believe her name to be. She tortured me before my death, telling me I would pay when Nox made night eternal. That he had planned to use my body for the goddess, Stellwyn to cross over into the land of the living. That is all I remember before passing over. I watched my sister fall to her death. In the end, we fulfilled our prophecies and I am here to make sure that does not happen again."

She had remained detached for most of this story, reminding herself that this was only a piece of her mother's soul before her. But the rage she felt at her mother being tortured and taken from her made her snap. While Jeongguk was her friend now, she wished she could have been the one to end his mother's life.

She was going to come back for me. Now that Aera knew the truth, it hurt worse than the lie. Her mother did abandon her. Her mother wanted her back. Her mother failed to see her again. Her mother is dead.

Nox prevented that reunion, manipulating his descendants once again. 

Don't cry. Don't cry.

"There isn't much of a choice." She gritted through her teeth, feeling the chasm in her chest widen. Her cheeks felt warm and she wiped at them, enraged to find that her fingertips glistened with pith.

Her mother looked at her with concern, keeping her distance. She bound her hands tightly in front of her body, her knuckles turning white.

"There is always a choice." She shook her head, lips pursed. "Aera you are from the same bloodline. While our death was written in the stars, so was your life. One with the sea would become the conduit for a star's soul, to become one with night. I think you can figure out what that means, as Nox already told you."

"Yes, he wishes for me to be the bodily vessel for his dead lover. Any suggestions on how to prevent that mother?" She should have stopped talking then. She blamed it on Jimin, who always talked so much that now it was starting to rub off on her."Or maybe instead of sacrificing yourself you could have been happy with just me."

Silence hung in the air. Aera felt like a child, and she wrapped her arms tighter around herself. She looked at her mother, waiting for an answer that she could not give.

Daria stepped closer, her gaze softer. The Immortui before her practically crumbled as her mother took her sharp face into soft hands. Her mother smelled like peony and summertime. Aera bit her lip, her chest heaving with unshed sobs. "Aera, Aera. We cannot escape our fate, no matter how far we run. No matter how hard we fight."

"Yes, I can!" She screamed, used to being able to battle any enemy before her with sheer will. She could hear fate deny the tantrum, swatting her feeble attempts away.

Nox made her promise to kill Jimin. She would never. If she didn't Nox would kill the man himself. If he dies, her soul dies. Aera will gladly let the goddess take her then.

It was all shit, and she was not sure her plan would work.

"How long have you been hiding your magic from your friends? How long have you suppressed it?" Her mother demanded, lifting her chin. She perused Aera's skin looking for cuts and bruises, not knowing what damage lay underneath.

Healing gave her a place in the castle. Letting people think she was weaker than she was gave her an advantage. She did not know she was Dimidium, as she now understands she is, she assumed that her powers were through blessings. Still, she refused to mess with water as to not draw attention as a threat to power.

Eventually, she just forgot how to do it at all.

Aera wrenched herself out of her grip.

"Leave me be. I will solve this myself."

"You can play pretend no longer. Do you think it was easy learning my life meant nothing? That it all was just a means to an end for some deities I have never met? No. You will not become a chess piece Aera, not if I can help it. You will not make it out alive if you do not unleash the light within. You will be without light at all, it will be taken from you by Stellwyn. It is lonely on the other side if you are without loved ones." Her mother spoke passionately, her once tepid voice raising with every breath. "The goddess's soul grew more beastly with every year of betrayal, of captivity, of banishment. She is not our matron deity as she once was she is—" Daria lowered her voice, "Broken. Even Nox does not realize what will be undone if she replaces you."

"Is that what you're scared of? Is that why you're here? You can't even pretend this is for me, and not the greater good." Aera squared her shoulders, defensive.

"You are the greater good." She pointed far off to the right between there two bodies. "Look."

There sat two little girls, around the same age. They were up to their knees in water, but neither seemed to care as they played.

One little girl had long, straight white hair and fair skin. Her green eyes squished happily between ruddy, dimpled cheeks. Her dress was a deep shade of green.

The other child had deep tan skin and seemed a bit older. She held the hand of the smaller girl, her wavy black hair swirled around her lavender dress. The silver glint in her ink-lined eyes was too familiar.

Her blood thickened, her mouth glued with honey. "Who are they? What is this?"

Daria smiled gesturing to the taller girl, "That is Sora Otrava Anvari. My great-niece ." Her smile wobbled as she stared sadly at the white-haired little girl, "Daria Jaen Dragan. My granddaughter." With a swipe of her hand, the little girls were gone. Aera felt a hollow ache in her chest for the child she did not yet know.

Our child. She and Jimin, together. If they survived this.

Her mother sighed, and then spoke. "Our curse is not to die, it is that we pass our suffering onto the ones we love. Our death brings us underserving peace, only for them to carry the burden of disaster in our wake."

Aera shook her head, balling her fists. She felt like just a child, how could she take on a god?

"I will not have children."

Daria fixed her with a look.

"It won't matter."

It will end the same.

"I will let Nox kill me!" Aera surrendered, feeling the heat of it in her veins. There would be no bloodline if she was gone. Leila would figure it out herself one day.

"No, you won't." Daria's green eyes flashed in the darkness, cutting through it. "Leila ended the curse her mother could not. You're stronger than me, Ihrin.  You will not fail your daughter as I have."

Aera let out a ragged breath. Cold seeped into every pore, and no matter how tightly she wound herself together it would not cease. She let her mother in on a little secret she would not tell anyone else.

"I never wanted to be strong."

I was carved, hacked, and abandoned into being the woman I am. I am nothing without my armor. I put it on, but I am not the one who stitched it into my skin.

"Strength without a soul is greed. Corruption. Barbarism. What you are is powerful. Enough to fight a god, a bloodline has made it possible. I doubt it's your magic that will help you win in the end, but your mind. And the same fatal devotion we have to our loved ones, even if it kills us. I feel it will help you, just this once." She finished with a genuine smile, showing her blunted teeth.

Her father had to have been an Immortui, not a human. But who?

Her heart squeezing painfully in her chest as she realized there may not be another visit for her to hurl all her anguish at this woman. This could be the first and last time she sees her mother. She did not have a lifetime, as other daughters do, to blame their mothers for their woes and then beg for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry." Aera yielded to the woman, thinking about who her parents could have been. There life could had been happy. If. Maybe that version of Aera would see the woman she is now and be horrified.

"Do not be sorry." Daria shook her head, stepping forward. This time, Aera let the woman take her hands into her own. Like she could see into her head, she swept away her fears, "Continue to be you. Continue to bare your teeth, and sharpen your claws. You knocked me out with only a glass of water when you were two years old. You didn't want to come inside so you sent your father into the sea a mile out when you were three. You waved at our house when you realized I was sending you away. Live and forge war without apology as you have always done Ri."

Her mother's smile told her that Aera had always been ferocious. A being to contend with.

She believed her for only a moment, because she remembered. Images flickered before her in the empty space, places and people curated out of foggy smoke. She saw herself as a child, laughing in a large man arms. He held her up near the sky, and she felt like she could float above the see. She saw her mother tying bows into her hair, and reading her stories until she fell asleep. She saw her mother and father dancing in their little house, the sea breeze making it just cold enough.

She remembered throwing her little hands at the entire ocean, trying to rip herself out of a stranger's arms. She remembered her father turning away and falling to his knees. She remembered her mother...

"Mom." Aera breathed out the title, the honor.

Daria saw it then, the flash of recognition. She tapped the outside of Aera's hand three times, a little code she had created to tell her that she loved her. Her mouth coiled in a bloodthirsty, yet proud smile.

"Do what you do best. Be a thorn in Nox's ass. Make him pay for what he has done to your family, and to your love's. Make him regret fucking with Ihrin."

*****

"Where is he?" Nox snarled, baring his teeth.

"What? Has Jimin foiled your plan by being late?" Aera shadowed her fear with condescension. She hoped all Jimin was was late. "Not hurrying to his death quickly enough?"

Nox closed his eyes, sinking back into his throne. Aera could not tell the time, as they were encased in ancient stone. The same lavender light continued to shine from his magicked firelight on the walls at their sides.

She liked it when the god's eyes were closed. It allowed her to keep her hands on the floor and think.

After years of bottling up her power, and pretending like it didn't exist even in her mind, she felt the rust of it inside her body. She had convinced herself it was a strange dream that she could move the ocean, just as she had once forgotten the faces of her mother and father. Rotting and weak, the magic sunk low in her stomach. Hiding from her.

Now is not the time.

She searched for water everywhere and found none despite the Temple sitting on the cliffs above an ocean. So, she started to pluck water from the air.

Breathe out. More mist would collect, and she would raise her hand and swipe down quickly. She started to collect the moisture from her own and stored it in the small chasm behind her body when Nox wasn't looking. Which was rarely.

At this rate, she'd be able to fill up a thimble by tomorrow night. Maybe her mother had been confused, and just said what sounded right. Or maybe she read the prophecy wrong, as they all once did before.

Either way, she would stick with her original plan. If she could somehow get her body to cooperate, then it would be a great fucking distraction.

"I bet you cannot wait for me to shut my mouth forever. Does Stellwyn act like you? Does she sit on a throne and brood all day too?"

Her insults had the opposite effect. She had to stop all of her movements when the god stood to his full height, stretching high above her. His silky white hair fell over his shoulder as she stalked towards her. His beautiful face was terrifying as he angled his head to peer down at her, inhuman in his movements.

She nearly stumbled and fell flat when he bent down on one knee, bringing his face closer to hers.

Aera held her breath, her chest pulsing as the god appraised her. Something flickering in those white gold eyes that made her want to sink into the earth.

"If Stellwyn could not be revived, I would not mind if you remained in your body." The god smirked, "I would just have to sew your mouth shut."

"Funny, I have said the same thing to your many-great grandson while in bed-" Aera was cut off when a cold hand gripped around her mouth, nearing her jaw.

The beauty left his face completely, leaving skin drawn over skull only to please the natural order of things, "Your body is mine, and it will soon be someone else's. Do not speak of being defiled by my incompetent descendent. He is nothing to me. He is nothing."

Aera gritted her teeth, keeping the distance between them even with her wrists bound. Pretend, pretend, pretend. "You are right, he is nothing to a god." She watched with triumph as the god followed her tongue across her top lip, "Maybe if the star goddess remains occupied..."

She let her voice trail off. The god groaned, bending closer when the sound of stone smashing into stone filled the air.

"Three days and you are already moving on?" The familiar voice shocked her system, making her hairs stand on end. Thank the gods (not this one) he is alive! Jimin walked to the pair slowly, his form blazing amongst the shadow like a beacon. His white hair shined along his forehead, his ink lined eyes narrowed at the scene before him. He was glorious as his sun-drenched skin glowed from under scraps of his clothing that seemed to have been burned from his body. Her mate looked scalding. She had to hold herself back from throwing herself at him now. He leaned on his one hip, tsking as his gaze flickered between the god and Aera. His smile was vicious, parting sun-burned lips, "With my own grand-father?"

The god, after all his meddling, barely acknowledged Jimin. His protégée as he had once called him. Jimin was a means to an end, just as her mother described. It only made her thirst for more blood.

Aera wanted to scream, cheer, fuck the man before her. She could not. Nox reached out, pressing a hand to the small of her back to press them closer together. Jimin cringed, moving his gaze to Aera and Aera alone as he searched for answers.

All that she was blind too before was visible on the man now. He loved her, he loved her with everything he had. There were too many emotions, words to sift through but she could see the desperation to understand.

She nodded her head once, her green eyes wide. See me, do not hear me. She pressed herself away from the gods, using her hands and then decided to address them all.

"He's mine Jimin. Leave." She created more distance from the god. Her heart was leaping into her throat when Jimin's insane grin only widened.

Flames danced in his eyes and his body relaxed. He knows this is all fake. She would praise him for being intelligent later. Right now, they needed to focus. He sent her another look, relinquishing the control of the situation.

"It's in your hands now." Jimin looked at her, letting her know he would follow her lead. He addressed the God to not draw suspicion. "Nox. I am not leaving without her."

Stupid man! He needed to leave!

Aera rolled her eyes, standing up to her feet. She hated the way Nox took in her body as she did, impressed she didn't have to use her hands. Jimin caught Nox's hungry look, and the careful arrogance he carried was starting to slip into rage.

"Nox isn't doing anything, I am choosing of my own free will. I need more than a man, I need a god. You simply aren't enough for me."

The god preened, cocky as he took his seat back in his throne.

He wanted to watch. So powerful, that he decided he would barely have to lift a finger.

Jimin lifted a brow, his toned arms crossing. "That is not what you said the last time I was inside of you." The man laughed, "Should I remind you? I'm sure good old grand dad here wouldn't mind spying like he has into every part of my life."

Aera tried not to join in on his laughter. If only he knew just how much she was lying right now. He was...effervescent at the moment. Every movement every sound was drawing her in. Her need for him only doubled while they were separated and she wasn't sure she could handle all of the mortal man before her.

Nox ignored the jab, sitting forward. He traced his tongue over his teeth, his eyes narrowed. "Aera, you choose me."

She swallowed, "Yes."

White gold flared hot. A curling smile made it onto the god's face. "Then you are willing for me to untie the bond between you?"

Jimin's face grew pale. He stepped back, shaking his head at Aera as his eyes plead to her.

I'm sorry.

"Yes."

🩸🩸🩸🩸
Jimin

That one actually hurt. Literally, physically hurt.

He knew Aera was pretending, and she had some kind of plan curated to get them out alive. She always did. But it would be a lie to say he wasn't shocked when she so easily accepted that their bond be untied.

It was a myth to them that the bond could be undone. But it was known that with a god's blessing it could be erased.

She looked into his eyes the entire time. They were jade, and blank. But he knew that stare, he knew that what she looked like when she pretended not to care about him.

It felt like his soul was stripped from his body, and slowly it was flayed. He held strong, but he wanted to fall to ground and writhe. He wanted to rush to Aera, the blood rushing to her face as the god placed his palms in front of both of them. She refused to make a sound, and he could never be more infatuated with her.

When it was over, a piece of him was missing. A piece of Aera that had burrowed its way into his soul. He placed his hand over his chest.
Jimin felt no differently about her. He already loved her before it was set into place. Aera looked at him with shock, realizing the same thing.

"Aera my love." Nox called to her without any feeling, holding out his hand and waiting on her to be at his beck and call despite putting her through obvious pain.

Jimin had to fight to keep his feet planted in the earth. But Aera was strong, gritting her teeth before moving to the god's side and taking his hand.

Nox was the worst part of himself, and Jimin was less than impressed. Seeing him in person out a face to the shadowless void he had once been fearful of. He looked more like Lily, with his faraway eyes and long hair. But there was no familial connection between them. Under the shiny, pearlescent surface Jimin could see the rot. With enough time and without any humanity, it is what Jimin could become.

The way he looked at Aera made him wish it was possible kill a god.

Jimin was barely ready for what happened next.

Aera ducked, sliding her hand along the god's waist. The deity smiled at her touch, before he realized where it was headed. Jimin saw her launch for the long blade sheathed by Nox's side, and used her Immortui strength to run to the center of the room.

Holy fuck.

Aera stood between the two men, facing the deity, the knife pointed towards him as she was placed defensively in front of Jimin.

Nox's laughter boomed around the dark, temple cavern.

"What in the bloody heavens are you doing?" Nox asked calmly, carefully. Remaining in his seat.

"Fate made a mistake if it ever on your side Nox. If night was ever meant to prosper, I should have been chosen as the daughter of the moon." Aera yelled at the god, a smile on her lips. Jimin moved to the side just so he could see her stand up single handedly to the god. Her black hair fell around her like shadow, her green eyes like a panthers as she locked in on her prey. It was marvelous. She is ruthless. His heart skipped a beat, as she ripped it out of his chest and reformed it with her declarations. She looked at him longingly, before growling at Nox.
"I would choose Jimin a thousand times over the sun. What makes you think I would ever submit to you? You should've just asked Jimin who bows down to who and you could've saved yourself some trouble."

Jimin laughed, watching the god visibly simmer. His body hummed in anticipation as the god seemed to coil like a snake, realizing he had underestimated just how insane the pair of Immortui were before him.

"No matter who I oppose."Aera lifted her chin proudly, her fangs on full display. "I win every time."

Jimin's smile fell off his face when she stabbed herself in the stomach.

"Ihrin!" The scream tore out of him, turning his throat raw. He no longer cared about the god who tormented him, inches away. He caught her body before it fell, his body shaking as he held her gingerly to him.

Burgundy blood seeped from her, making them slick. He did not care. He did not care. "Aera." Her name cracked on his lips. He brushed away the long hair out of her face, and ripped the knife from her stomach. She groaned, staring into nothing as he pressed his hand over the spot. Her jade eyes were unseeing.

No. Jimin laughed. No, this can't be.

Tears fell from his eyes, covering her body in pith and mixing with blood.

She isn't dead. There isn't a world without his Aera. Soon she would wake up, and tell him to piss off. He cut his wrist, bringing the blood up to her beautiful mouth. She must have been so hungry all this time.

"Drink." The blood trickled from her mouth. She did not take him. Her body grew more still in his arms. "Drink!" He yelled desperately.

Nox exploded into shadow around him.

"No! You bloody moronic rat! You flesh-covered waste! I will end you!" He screamed at Aera, who was already gone. His face became thinner, flesh barely covering bone. Shifting into something other than human-like. "I will curse you. I will curse you all until the end of your days."

"Please Aera." Jimin leaned close, placing a kiss upon her bloodied lips. "Don't leave. Not for me, but you aren't finished here yet. There is so much left for you to do."

Jimin thought he was going really crazy when Aera winked up at him.

"What the fuck?" Jimin said, his voice muffled from tears.

She is alive. Holy shit she is alive! Of course she's alive, she's smarter than all of us. He kept the horrified expression on her face, hiding the hopeful beat as his heart started again.

"This is your fault!" Nox finally settled back into matter, his eyes flashing like lightening as he settled onto his descendant. "I will kill you, worthless offspring. You—"

The god of the night stopped talking, his mouth smacking shut. There was a deep rumbling low in the earth.

"What is this? What are you doing!" He lifted his hand, and with it shards of shadow.

Jimin couldn't hold back his smile this time, as he tucked Aera closer into his chest.

"Are you so sure it's me?"

A horrific snarl of beast and man left Nox as he was about to strike Jimin down. Just as a wall of shadow threatened to claim him and Aera, the temple erupted.

Salt water rushed up deep from below the earth, shooting up from the ground so forcefully Jimin could barely see in front of him.

Aera stepped up from him, pulling him in his stupor. "Let's go!"

Jimin followed his woman, stunned as the walls began to collapse. Nox had already shifted out of the building, as he was unsure what kind of force was behind the sudden cataclysmic disruption. It allowed the pair to escape into the stolen night.

As soon as they made it out of the Temple, sopping wet but alive, Jimin tackled Aera to the ground.

"Jimin!"

For a few seconds, there was blind kissing. He felt teeth, bone, and blood as they tore at each other. Skin, all he wanted to feel was her skin, warm to the touch. Smelling of rose and his destruction. Aera run her hands everywhere, along his back, the bottom of his spine, and the back of his thighs setting his body on fire.

"You're blood crazy." The man declared, nuzzling into her neck. It felt so good to have her body, alive and well under his.

She had healed herself as soon as he lifted the knife from her stomach. He still wasn't sure why, but it provided enough distraction for whatever the fuck happened in that temple.

Aera pushed at his chest, then wrapped her hands around his neck. Her green eyes were unguarded and beautiful, he wanted to devour all of her.

"I'm sorry I let him sever our bond. I needed you to truly believe I was dead, just for a moment."

Jimin groaned, his eyes narrowing. He leaned closer to Aera, his lips hovering over the wound that still needed time to heal.

"I do not care Aera, I just need you alive." She bucked under him when his tongue made contact with her stomach, licking up the mess all way to between her breasts. "And it means we get to do it all over again."

The woman whimpered, furrowing her brows. "You aren't mad at me?"

Jimin laughed again, kissing along her neck. She ran her nails up his back and into his scalp. Gods how he missed her.

"Honestly, it was the most fucking attractive thing you've ever done." He stole a breath from her lips, kissing her. "You wanted to die for me Aera?" His tone was the same as when he made her beg him to fuck her. "I won't allow it. I'm nowhere finished with you yet."

Aera smiled, and it was the all the light he needed. He placed his head into her chest before he started to cry. For once, she didn't make fun of him. Instead holding him close to her heart.

They had so much to share, and so much time left. He needed to know what happened while he had been kept away from her.

Aera's hands froze.

"Jimin." He heard the icy fear in her tone.

"What?" He sat up, pulling himself away so he could see her face. She was pale.

"Nox already said the plan was in motion. That Stellwyn needed an earthly route that could hold her body for a couple of days in order to get to us." Aera sat up, her hair still heavy with seawater. Her chest heaved as she scrambled to get up.

Jimin felt both confusion and frustration settle in his chest. This shit wasn't over yet? He could barely understand half of what she said. "What the actual fuck are you talking about?"

Aera pulled him up, forcing him to run. He could tell already their path was for the ship. It was what she said next that made him almost double over and vomit.

"I'll explain everything to you as we head back. But we need to get to Lily, before it's too late."

"Lily?"

Aera looked back at him, and held his face in her hands.

"We cannot run away, we must run towards what we fear. We will save her Jimin, if I have anything to do with it. I always win."

Jimin smiled, but the fear remained. Aera was by his side.

"We always win."

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(A/N:) alright, you don't have to tell me I know this chapter ATE!!!!!

AHHHH! Obsessed. I really did my best to not split up this chapter because I know you guys prefer longer chapters so here it is!

Warning for the next 2 weeks  I will be away working on a very important project ahahahha.

As an update once Ruthless is finished, I will be working on

1) Coming Soon - this is not the title it is just what it is published as. No, it is not BTS-related, but it IS very exciting for me and hopefully everyone who likes my writing in general.

2) Eden Rising - sporadic updates when I can.

3) Damned - love Damned, but she was a means to an end. That will likely either be updated VERY rarely, or deleted once or if coming soon is released.

Thank you everyone for your understanding and patience! I am very very busy atm but I have not forgotten this story or my readers :) I just hope you continue on this journey with me