Healing Castle | TXT Fantasy Novel ft. BTS

23 - Huening Kai

Huening Kai is on his way back to the dormitory when the alarm hits the Castle. He knocks against the side of the hall, barely avoiding colliding against Soobin.

"What is happen—"

Screams echo from the direction of the living area. They're quickly followed by the clashing of skills. Kai makes out the popping of the pirate's pistol, the familiar buzz of a mage's energy. A deep voice is shouting something about falling into formation. The place begins to shake from the amount of movement. The walls and floors hover as if stuck in a never-ending earthquake.

Soobin and Taehyun stand ahead, protecting Kai. But he doesn't want to be protected. He moves along just as quickly with the two boys to find the cause of the alarm.

When Kai sees the cause, someone might as well have hit his chest with a sledgehammer. Two black cats run at the three boys with their fangs bared. They are small, barely above kitten-hood, but they run like trained fighters. When they stop in front of the members, they give off a deadly hiss. The little war cries pierce Kai's eardrums and remind him of the times he accidentally stepped on Sesame's tail. Only a hundred times worse.

How could his greatest ally turn into his worst enemy? Both cats look like Sesame's little brothers.

Their hisses turn to tiny cries. The word is barely distinguishable, but it's there. Huening Kai knows that Soobin and Taehyun are hearing the same thing.

"Suga, Suga, Suga!"

Huening Kai feels sick, the result of hearing his sunbaenim's name from such bloodthirsty animals. But he has no time to process it's strangeness. The cats show claws dripping in purple venom.

When they pounce forward, Taehyun and Soobin are forced to act. The former throws several magic orbs that come close to the monsters but end up missing. Soobin also shoots a few arrows, but just as expected, the cats are much too quick for novices like them.

Even though everything in his body seems frozen, Kai manages to form his sword. With tears welling in his eyes, he strikes out against both cats at once. Up close, they fade into black mist once his weapon comes into contact. The attack is a hundred percent successful, but Huening Kai feels as though he might as well have stabbed himself.

"What was that?" Soobin mutters. "I thought the Black Mage could only control people."

Huening Kai can hear the next question already, but no one wants to voice it. And why were these cats hissing Suga's name like their lives were depending on it?

"Back to your rooms!" Topaz's voice resounds from the opposite end of the hall. "Quick! There are way too many of them for you to handle."

Way too many. Kai's heart weighs heavy at the thought of hundreds of cats being forced to fight against their will. Even though his immediate emotion toward the Black Mage is fear, liquid anger falls on his cheeks and colors them red. He can't believe someone could be so evil to trade the innocence of such beautiful animals.

Although Soobin begins to argue that they should help out in the battle, Taehyun grabs their leader and convinces him to take the route to the dorm.

"What about Beomgyu and Yeonjun?" Kai asks.

"They've probably already locked up the hospital area," Taehyun responds.

They reach their dorm, a small apartment with five bunk beds and not much else. The walls were once illuminated by the skylights peering up toward the Mushroom Castle, but now the sun seems hidden. Perhaps the Black Mage carries his shadows everywhere he goes.

Now, the stone brick is gray and dismal, and Kai's mood immediately falls. He had to strike out against cats of all things, and he hates that he now has the memories of them hissing right before being erased from earth.

"So it's clear now," says Taehyun.

"What's clear?" Huening Kai says. He leans his head back so the tears don't fall from his eyes.

"BTS is hiding something," Taehyun responds. "There's no good reason why the Black Mage would ally himself with cats who are somehow hissing Suga's name."

Soobin's mood is just as dim as Huening Kai's. He's staring at the floor, crossing and uncrossing his legs. "The Black Mage is a master trickster. You know he could just be using their names to mess with us."

Huening Kai wants to believe Soobin, but there has been something odd about how BTS has treated them since they revealed their experience revolving MapleStory. Why was Jimin so adamant about him not playing the game again? Why did Jungkook freeze when they mentioned it? Why did Namjoon not offer to help the boys, when he's been there for them for years?

Still, Huening Kai can't help but fight for his mentor. "I don't think Suga would ever be... involved with the Black Mage. He's the kindest person in the world. His rapping may be rough and powerful, but his heart would resist the Mage."

Huening Kai could cry. He hates how he's even suggesting how anyone within BTS could be under manipulation, or worse....

"I've always admired Suga," Taehyun agrees. "But we have to keep in mind all the possibilities. BTS is the biggest musical artist in the world right now. Wouldn't the Black Mage target them if he wanted control of Seoul?"

"These are all just guesses from hearing alley cats hiss his name!" Kai begins to yell, making sure he's heard above the outside clamor.

"I know," Taehyun says, sighing. "But I don't trust them anymore. We can only trust ourselves."

Taehyun's words are daggers through Huening Kai's chest.

"How could you not trust the person who practically saved our lives? They gave us this opportunity to become artists. Without them, we wouldn't even be TXT." Kai's voice is strained, and he pounds a fist against his bunk's mattress.

The question weighs heavy on all of them. As they wait together, praying that Yeonjun and Beomgyu are also safe, Kai squeezes his eyes shut and remembers all of the moments where he attended BTS' concerts. Admiring their vocals, shell-shocked by the dance and stamina, being reminded that he should love himself no matter what.

Even though it hurts Kai to think of it, he would rather fight a thousand more of the minion cats to prove BTS' innocence.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did a comment and vote would help a ton. if you're going through finals, fighting!