A Take For Two

Chapter Two

The knife in my heart couldn't slow me down
'Cause power is power, the fire never goes out
I rise from my scars, nothing hurts me now
'Cause power is power, now watch me burn it down

💒

The guy's hands are still holding Taehyung's face, and Jimin is certain that this guy, whoever he was, is either blind or a fool, so he steps forward, taking his hands off Taehyung and addressing him directly, seeing the annoyed scowl directed at him. "Listen, we have no time for your games, so if you would kindly tell us where we can find Hoseok, that would be greatly appreciated."

The guy blinks at him, hands on his hips. "Well, he's standing right in front of you."

Jimin blinks once. This must be a joke. "You're barely in your twenties."

"Well," Hoseok grins at him. "Nature and magic can be quite on your side if you were on theirs." Jimin turns to Jungkook and Taehyung who are also looking confused and lost as much as he is. "Now, enough of this nonsense," Hoseok turns to the fireplace. "I was honestly expecting a letter from the queen to announce her arrival, but to get you lot instead," he turns back to them, grabbing Taehyung's arm and pulling him forwards much to the latter's protests.

"The queen is dead," it's Jungkook who pulls Taehyung back, a frown on his face as he stares at Hoseok, who must be who they're looking for since he already knows of the queen's plans to meet him. Hoseok is silent as he hears the news, his face blank for a moment before his lips turn downwards and he looks away.

"The army coming for the high city certainly didn't do much," he comments, and Jimin looks down. The army he had left behind. The army that should've protected him but didn't. If it wasn't for Jungkook, he might have been dead now. Hoseok lifts his head again to look at Taehyung, and it makes Jimin furious. He should put on some glasses to be able to see properly. "The city might have fallen, but not you," he offers a smile, this time extending an open palm instead of grabbing at him. "The carrier must have done his job wrong if you're standing before me now clueless as you are, but please, allow me to show you," he waits for a reply, and right before Jimin can protest again, Jungkook sighs when Taehyung looks at him, and he accepts the hand Hoseok offers. "The true son of dragons is not affected by fire. If that much is true, you wouldn't be burnt," he points at the fireplace, and Jimin remembers the tales his mother used to tell him about dragons, how their rider shall never be affected by their flames and how not once in his life has his skin been near an actual burning fire to test such theory.

Taehyung is hesitant, not sure why Hoseok thinks he's the son of dragons when he had been living his entire life as a servant, not even looking like the royals to begin with, but there's something inside of him that dismisses his worries away as his hand nears the fire. Jungkook watches by his side, ready to pull him back quickly if Hoseok is mistaken, and Jimin's eyes stay fixed on Taehyung's hand as his fingertips touch the flames, a warming caress to his skin instead of burning it, and the ground beneath him fades. He must be hallucinating.

Taehyung's eyes widen as his hand remains in the fire with no pain and Hoseok's smile widens. "I knew the city will be damned before you grow," Hoseok speaks up, retreating his hands and leaving Taehyung to adjust to the new feeling. "It's why I kept the egg hidden until you could hatch it." Taehyung whips his head towards him. The egg. The dragon egg as Jimin mentioned. "Threats were coming from your right and your left," he sighs. "To give you the egg when you were a newborn was risky. Your enemies surely were waiting for the first dragon seen in centuries to be the last to ever exist, and therefore, I hired a carrier to take you away since I couldn't be there at your birth. He was supposed to bring you here soon after, but I assume now that he died on his way," he looks up at Taehyung. "I actually thought that he failed his mission and that you were bound to be raised inside the city, so I kept in contact with the queen. She was to keep you alive until the egg is delivered to you."