BTS Imagines

The first chronicle: Babel

Inspired by the song ''Babel'' by Mumford and Sons. Listen to it whilst reading for the optimal experience.

The blue clear sky overhead, white clouds dotting it with incoherent patterns, signifies another beautiful day in this year. It is the day of his homecoming.

Though it has a grave side to it, for the young man knows that time has numbered his days, he does not think of that and will go along with everything the God of Light tells him. Especially since he visited the youthful fugitive one night in his tower far away from the city on the plains and granted him the courage to return to the place he once called home.

Whereas the horse's hooves at first had sounded infernal and caused a great ache in his heart as he rode away from the only place he had ever known, they now give joy and throughout the ride home the boy is laughing.

Look at me now. Beaming and eager to go back to the very people that once loathed me.

He remembers how they had cast him out, accusing him of delusions and witchcraft whilst all he tried to do was protecting them from disaster. Their king - Namjoon - would bring the kingdom to ruin, but they would not listen to the warning.

He fled the city and holed himself up in a tower located in a strange village in the Desolate Valley at the edge of the realm. However, when its walls came crumbling down and his ears heard the calls of his unborn sons, he knew it was Hope trying to get him to return.

'Thank you, Hope. Because of thou I now know that my choices color all I've done,' he silently thanks the Light once more, reminiscing on the time he had felt as if he had lost all comprehension and purpose.

'It is good that thou knowest that now,' the god answers. 'Go forth, Jungkook, and spread my word again. Bring them back from darkness.'

'I shall, but I'll explain it all to the watchman's son first. Certainly I ain't ever lived a year better spent in love.' His affection for The Light is what has kept him going, but it is shared with the only friend he has left: Jimin.

He will be the first to be brought back. As long as he is by my side as well, I can bring down the broken crown.

A sudden sense of doubt comes over him as the city walls come into sight, because he knows his weakness. Knows his voice and the danger it will impose. Yet he believes in grace and choice, the two vital elements that will grant salvation from oppression.

Perhaps he knows that his heart is fast, racing with the longing for justice, but the Light said he will be born without a mask. A man who does not hide, is the man who shall be the saviour.

Another memory resurfaces as the last bit of the last disguise crumbles, the old him dying and almost breathing his last breath. The ghosts of his former greed and pride haunt him briefly as the crimes he committed in his former life as a thief come back to him.

He was the best. If you needed to smuggle anything or desired a certain very valuable object, you would go to him and pay a big amount of money. The prices for his services kept rising as it was never enough.

This lead to his downfall, as with each raise his credibility lowered and his recklessness heightened. It is this carelessness that caused great mistakes and made nobody no longer believe him, not even when he wanted to save them in a rare moment of compassion as he saw his line of work threatened with the rise of the new king.

Now as the city that nurtured these feelings stretches out before him, Jungkook stretches his arms towards the sky where two sparrows fly side by side in a graceful flight.

'Babel, Babel, look at me now,' he calls out in happiness. 'I have become a better man, for the walls of my tower came crumbling down.'

Approaching the heavy dark wooden gates, a tall broad-shouldered knight blocks the way into the world of the sinners. He is either new or the fugitive is forgotten, because Jungkook is not attacked when he comes closer. Now that he thinks about it, he has not seen any affiches promising a reward on his journey.

'Ho, there.' As he walks over to the horse, the intricate dragon pattern on his armour becomes more visible. He is not just a knight, he is the captain of the guard. 'Who goes there?'

'Just an adventurer on a quest who wants to stay the night in this splendid settlement.'

The young man gets a look of distrust as a reply. 'If that is so, then where will we stand in the winds that howl as all we see will slip into the cloud?'

A test of loyalty to the emperor. Hope had warned him for this, so he came prepared. 'What a curious question, but I have an answer nonetheless. We shall stand tall nevertheless for the king is the shield that protects us and the law is his sword, slaying the monster of the Forgotten One.'

The captain nods in approvement and gestures to the watchmen to open the gates, letting the messenger of the Light through.

No sooner has Jungkook brought his horse to one of the many stables of Babel or Hope speaks again. 'You are now here in the city of Sin and must set to work at once in spite of your desire to see your friend right now. There is no time to rest yet and perchance it is better if you were to speak to the mass first. Go and start spreading the word. Do not worry about any adversaries, for I shall stand with you.'

Though it hurts him to not be able to see his long lost companion yet, Jungkook does not argue with his ally. 'With all the trust we have put in each other I can see that your promise is true, so I shall set to work feeling safe in your hands.'

And thus he finds his way to the main plaza where he ascends the stage which normally functions as a podium to exact justice upon criminals like the one he used to be. The castle on the hill looks out over it, so the emperor cannot miss the often gruesome trials.

'People of Babel, hear my voice,' the former delinquent starts. 'Your monarch is nothing but a lie, an imposter who has corrupted your very lives.' In a swell of sudden courage Jungkook turns towards the immense palace where he can see a figure standing on the balcony, knowing it are Namjoon's watchful eyes that regard him. He addresses him, sounding as mighty as he can. 'So come down from your mountain and stand where we've been. Where we continue to linger day by day until our dying breaths, in this perverted version of reality. The one of your making. You know our breath is weak and our bodies thin. These people deserve better!'

The royal bystander shows a faint sign Jungkook has pressed his nose up to the glass around the ruler's heart, but just as briefly it disappears and Namjoon returns to his slightly disgusted yet amused expression. He sees himself untouchable and as a result of that, invincible. It is this fierceness that instills a crippling doubt in Babel's prodigal son.

I should've known I was weaker from the start.

In spite of a sinking feeling of failure somewhere deep within his being, Jungkook knows he cannot yet lose hope, because his mission to free the world of this swindler's darkness has become his life. Coolly he does not avert his gaze from the ruler.

You'll build your walls, and I will play my bloody part. To tear, tear them down.

'I see what you are thinking, young one. Are you sure about this?' When even a god has his doubts, it means the enemy is not an ordinary one.

'There are many ways to remove an emperor from his throne. One is by destroying his defenses. And well, I'm gonna tear, tear them down. Because I know my weakness, know my voice. Yet it is also my strength, for it will free these innocents. I'll believe in grace and choice, for your word provides them as salvation and they will be my weapons in this battle. Lastly I perhaps know my heart is fast, but as you said I'll be born without a mask. Like every divine messenger before me.' Justice runs in the boy's blood in spite of his unlawful past and he has found something new to believe in.

'I knew I picked the right person to do my bidding when I chose you. Alright then. If this is what you make of the meaning of my words, then I will stay by your side to see them executed.' The god sounds pleased and immediately is no longer hesitant in any way.

This is the beginning of the young man's journey and the fall of an empire. Darker times are ahead, but somewhere, albeit faintly, one can discern a tiny light amidst the blackness and know it is the one the prophecy spoke of.

Babel will be free once more.

The wicked king will be brought to his knees in the ruin that was once his castle and the one to make him do this will be a man with a god on his side.

The golden prophet has come.