The Descendants | KTH | ✔️

Chapter Eighteen - The Key

"A city?" I repeated, still slightly confused.

"I don't know what it looks like, because none of the descendants have entered it in... well, since the Gods were there" Joonie added.

I recoiled back slightly.

"Where is it?" I asked.

Joon pursed his lips, "it's not somewhere you can just walk to, it's hidden, and not in plain sight. It's a different realm. There isn't much else about I know about the place because of the small information that's been passed down through the generations, and it was to dangerous to write down about it, in case it got into the wrong hands. But I know there is something very special about the place, there's something there that we need to keep away from mankind"

"What do you think it is?" I asked.

He looked thoughtful for a few seconds, "I can't even guess. But it has to be something pretty big... for us to be who we are"

I nodded, agreeing.

"So a Key? What does that mean?" I wondered.

Tae looked up at me, and I felt the warmth flooding from my core again.

"You" Tae said matter of factly.

"Me?" I rose an eyebrow.

Joon nodded once I looked over at him, "you are the Key. The gate will not open if you aren't alive. But you also have to be the one to open the gate, it won't just open with the seven of us"

The pressure I felt on my shoulders came crashing down, and it took me a moment to compose myself. Tae leant his cheek on my thigh, as he looked up at me, sending comfort with his black glittering thread going right into my core.

"But... I don't even want to say it, but what happens if one of you die?" I asked, and the drop in my chest made me feel queasy for a second.

"It will still open. We are your Guardians, Erin, our first and main priority is to get you to the gate, alive and unharmed. It seems like everything over the past centuries has been leading up for all of us finding one another... it's my guess that it's time for us to enter the gate, and protect Gaia. The threat is to close" Joon muttered out, and glanced around at his brothers around him.

The mood in the room was full of thought, you could see the look on every one of their faces. JK's eyes creased together, looking down at his oldest brother, Jin offered a small smile to him.

"Whatever is in there, better be worth protecting. If I loose any of you, I'll tear down Gaia apart myself" JK breathed out.

Joon made a scolding sound at him, "none of us are going anywhere. And I'm sure the God's wouldn't have made Gaia and then in turn all of the descendants over the history, if it wasn't worth protecting. It's the exact reason why we are here today"

Jin nodded, "just thinking about the City of Gaia, fills me with some sort of... fierce feeling. A sense of purpose, and knowing that is where we belong, and the need to protect it"

"I feel that too" Hobi said, nodding.

More nodding from Yoongi and Jimin made me glance at them both.

"I don't have that," Tae began, making all of us look down at him still leaning against my legs, "I mean, I do feel a protective need for Gaia, but my main thought, is Erin. Everything in my body is pulling me to her. Even thinking about what might come, sets me off"

I had to purse my lips together, as Joon had a soft smile looking down at him.

"It's natural for you to be more concerned about Erin than protecting the gate, Tae. It's your link, and most likely the reason why the link has decided to show up again after three hundred years, so one of us is more tied to her than just the Pantheon link and being her Guardian. Of course none of us will let harm ever come to her, but I understand you feel more emotionally invested" Joon breathed out.