The candlelight flickered, casting shadows along the chamber walls as Jungkook read, his voice steady but distant.

Lyra watched him from the corner of her eye, noticing the way his fingers clenched around the book's spine, the way his jaw tightened between sentences.

He was restless.

"Jungkook," she murmured, interrupting his reading.

He hummed in response but didn't look up.

"You're thinking too loud."

Jungkook let out a breathy chuckle, but it lacked his usual ease. He flipped the page without reading it, eyes skimming words he wasn't truly seeing.

"I almost lost you," he admitted, his voice quieter now.

Lyra didn't flinch, didn't try to brush it off like she usually would. Instead, she sighed, shifting slightly despite the discomfort.

"But you didn't."

Jungkook shut the book. "I wasn't strong enough."

Lyra frowned. "You tore the sky apart, Jungkook. If that's not strong enough, I don't know what is."

Jungkook shook his head. That wasn't the point. It wasn't just about power-it was about control.

When he had felt Lyra slip away, something inside him snapped. It wasn't just rage.

It was something darker, something deeper-a force that didn't belong to him, yet felt like it had always been chained beneath his skin.

And it had nearly consumed him.

Lyra watched him closely, her sharp eyes catching something he wasn't saying.

"You're afraid of it," she realized.

Jungkook didn't answer. His grip on the book tightened.

Before she could press further, a gust of wind rattled the windows. Lyra's brows furrowed as she turned toward the sound, but Jungkook barely reacted.

Outside the palace, the sky had begun to darken.

--

Taehyung and V had barely spoken since they left the chamber. Their boots echoed in the empty corridor, moving like silent ghosts through the dimly lit halls.

V was the first to break the silence.

"He's changing."

Taehyung didn't respond, but his fingers curled slightly at his sides.

V smirked, sensing the tension. "You feel it too, don't you?"

Taehyung exhaled through his nose. "I feel that something is coming."

They reached the balcony overlooking the courtyard, where the torches flickered uneasily. The air was heavy, charged with something unseen.

V leaned against the stone railing, tilting his head as if listening to a song only he could hear.

"It won't be long now."

Taehyung's eyes remained on the horizon. He didn't like the way the wind howled through the towers tonight.

Something wasn't right.

--

Back in the chamber, Jungkook shivered.

Not from the cold, but from something deeper-something stirring beneath his skin.

He clenched his fists, trying to shake the sensation, but the air around him felt too thick, too charged.

Then, he heard it.

A whisper.

It slithered through his thoughts, soft as a breath, yet loud enough to drown out everything else.

"You are not ready."

Jungkook's head snapped up. His heart pounded, but the room remained unchanged-Lyra still resting, the candlelight still flickering.

But the whisper remained.

"You are waking, storm-bearer. But.... do you know what you truly are?"

Jungkook's breath came quicker, his fingers twitching as the room seemed to tilt. He pressed a hand against his temple, squeezing his eyes shut.

Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.

Lyra must have noticed the change in his expression, because she reached out, gripping his wrist. "Jungkook?"

He forced himself to relax, swallowing the unease curling in his stomach.

"Nothing," he muttered, shaking his head. "It's nothing."

---
The whisper lingered in Jungkook's mind,No matter how much he tried to shake it off, it clung to him, seeping into the crevices of his consciousness like ink bleeding into parchment.

He stood from his chair, pacing toward the window. The night was still, yet the air felt charged, as if the sky itself held its breath.

His reflection in the glass stared back at him-troubled eyes, tension coiling in his shoulders. He could still hear the words.

"You are waking, storm-bearer."

His fingers curled against the cool stone of the window sill. He had never been one to fear power-he had wielded it, honed it, used it as both weapon and shield.

But this... It wasn't something he had learned, something he had mastered. It was something inside him, something ancient, and it was stirring.

Behind him, Lyra watched with careful eyes. "You're shaking."

Jungkook exhaled sharply and turned away from the window. "It's nothing."

Lyra raised a brow but didn't push. She knew him well enough to recognize when his mind was a battlefield. "Try to rest," she murmured instead. "We both need it."

Jungkook nodded, though he doubted sleep would find him easily tonight. The whisper had unsettled something within him, something that would not be silenced.
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