⊰ chapter eighteen ⊱

"Jungkook!" Dara whispered as she tugged on her husband's cloak, both of them pushing past people before making a fuss, "Will you stop running like a horse here, Jungkook? I am losing control, I might throw you to the butchers if you avoid me one more time!"

"I told you, we just have to ignore Skovier," Jungkook whispered as Dara caught up, "I cannot deal with this right now."

"I cannot believe you are ignoring it—,"

"I am not ignoring it!" Jungkook argued, "If my wife is so close to her little soldier, there is very little a Prince consort can do about it. If you want, I will assign him as your doorman when I take over Zisk, okay?"

"Jungkook!" Dara hilariously smacked the back of Jungkook's head, "I will send you six feet under if you talk like that again!"

Laughing, Jungkook pushed Dara inside an alley, the silence between the walls making their footwork against the snow covered ground harsher as they passed through. Dara sighed, shoving her hands in her cloak's pockets, "Why are we going to the Elf's anyways. You could ask me if you want to know something."

"How will you know anything about the Curve? We are on the same page," it was probably the first time Jungkook was urged to meet the Elf for himself and by his own interest, "I am worried about the nightmares. Besides, I need translations of my dreams too. Some dreams I cannot comprehend. They are different. I need to know how to execute the war. People are worried.

Dara felt guilty for hiding but she had very little proof to prove herself the things she knew of the Curve. Besides, Jungkook's connections to the Curve would require her an entire speech to explain him. But most of all, it would need her audacity and bravery to tell him who he really was. And is.

What plans fate had for her. The same man she was walking with was once her husband without any children and ruled the Great Curve. The elf was not lying when he said history would repeat itself; but how did it repeat itself so damn clean and flawlessly?

"There you go," Jungkook nodded impressively as the wall opened back to the elf's door at the end of the alley, "Looks like you have become their favorite guest to sell clocks to."

"I am the greatest clock," Dara murmured sarcastically before walking inside the fairy scented shop. An immediate smile to her lips upon seeing the old elf up on a ladder, looking at her as he paused stacking the books, "Busy today?"

"Ah, you are alive!" the grand elf hurried down, almost tripping as the fairies grabbed him by his shirt. Dara laughed slightly upon seeing the scene before bending on her knees to embrace the grand elf. The grand elf nodded, stepping away to look at Dara's face, "You have returned! I felt your presence at South!"

"How so?" Dara shrugged, "The realm has been dead!"

The grand elf winked at Dara, "The walls are not dead, my dearest. I have felt the flick of your compass when you accessed the Eastern Odyssey. Well done—,"

"You have the Eastern Odyssey?" Jungkook asked.

"Oh, gentleman, you are here too," the Grand elf nodded, "Yes, Deborah had sent me the Odyssey through your sister Sam the moment she came back to West. It was not safe to keep it with you anyways, you have too many enemies here. Are you healthy?"

"Yes," Dara nodded, smiling but nervous about Jungkook's new knowledge about the Odyssey.

"What does this mean?" Jungkook looked down at Dara who hesitated, "Am I being counted out of your plans or do you not consider me trustworthy anymore—,"

"Dearest, no," Dara stood up, unable to meet his eyes, "I did not think it would be right to disturb you with that. It was nothing special, anyways. Just, my origins. I was a slave...Southern slave before my reincarnation. Yes, exactly that."

Before Jungkook questioned Dara any further, the grand elf cut them both, "Deborah found out that she used to be a great map maker. Explains one of many reasons she has the compass. How are you handling the strengths of the compass?"

"Greatly," Dara nodded with a smile, "I see parallel lines that I haven't seen before. Even when I'm walking and if I feel lost, I see golden constellations on the ground and I am found again. Sometimes, they appear in my head when I am unable to think. I have stopped hearing Illari...,"

"Illari must have left the compass, Deborah," the elf nodded, "I truly hope her soul rests well. Her purpose and promise to Zurien was alas fulfilled. You have consumed the compass."

"Fully?" Jungkook blinked.

"She will need the Western spirit for that," the elf warned, "And without the Western spirit, it will be impossible to fight the summoner at the Curve. You must know how strong the spirit is."

"Yes, it is a spirit. We know," Dara confirmed, "It possessed Jungkook two nights ago."

"Lord, are you alright, Prince?" the Grand elf extended his hands and Jungkook slid them into his, "Let me see your eyes."

The elf examined as Jungkook kept speaking, "I had a dream first. Where I heard myself and saw my own blood on something. I cannot recall what, but I had spread my blood all over it. And before it took my body, I told myself in the dream to cut myself and bloodshed. I have no idea what it was."

"You look alright. You are clean," the Elf nodded, "Wait here. I will give you something."

Dara looked at Jungkook nervously who sat there on his knees with his palms locked. The Elf came back with a tiny locket, "Here. Wear this around your wrist."

"What is it?"

"Dried garlic and lime inside this locket. It is not ordinary," the elf informed, "It is a common protection used against spirits in the East and South. The summoner did not possess Dara. It possessed you."

"Maybe because it knows Jungkook is my weakness...I mean," Dara bit her tongue mentally as she noticed the slip of words, the sly smirk on Jungkook's lips making her turn away from her words at once, "I mean it could possess anyone, right? Any of my other weaknesses, Adona, the children. Sam..,"

"It could. But it did not. It wanted to kill you, I am sure," the elf thought hard, "So it used Jungkook as bait. Only by killing you can it take your soul and powers, Deborah. Or else, there is nothing to worry about as long as you are in the West. You need to keep your eye on Jungkook, very closely. What more dreams do you see?"

"I see my wife a lot," Jungkook hesitated, "I cannot tell if it is foreshadowing or not. But when her hair becomes red and her features become softer, I believe it must be her past when she was married to the King of the Curve. I heard the man in my dreams too, but I never saw him. I saw her ... .being pushed from...the stairs."

Dara's facial expressions looked like a destroyed leaf. She shook her head like a warning at the elf, lips tightly closed. She looked away when Jungkook glanced at her hesitantly.

"She was pregnant," Jungkook said, "She lost her child. And I think it must be some reflection of her past that is revolving around her too. Is this some curse on her?"

"Deborah is no curse, Jungkook," the elf said, "She is the answer to the King's prayer, plea and the last cries of the Outerns and mine included. If anyone who was cursed by the Curve, was the summoner and the King itself. But the Odyssey is only about Deborah herself and the Curve's summoner. So the King is out of question."

Dara sighed in relief.

This was no time to inform Jungkook of the disaster of the past.

The sky would break over Dara's head.

But she couldn't hide forever.

If this man found out he couldn't save his throne at the Curve centuries ago and let his wife die to the hands of the summoner and cursed the realms into division, he would burn himself alive. He would never accept to rule Zisk again if he finds out about his carelessness...the death of the child; Jungkook would never be able to forgive himself.

"I apologize," Jungkook nodded, "What should I do to stop these dreams?"

"Deborah can stop it," the elf glanced at Dara, "Only she is capable of walking to your dreams using her parallel constellations, maybe even visit the Curve and sneak a peek at the summoner—,"

"I do not allow it," Jungkook objected, "That is the last thing I want her to do, alright? No need. I will see whatever dream I have destined to see. Maybe it will even help us find more clues about that King and even the war, right? Right, Koveski?"

Dara was too stunned to speak. She nodded quickly, "Yes. Whatever you say. We should return, we are late for lunch."

Jungkook nodded back before wrapping the locket around his wrist, "I will keep this. Are you sure the summoner will not disturb me or my family? I have children living under my shelter. If anything happens to them, I will kill you first, grand elf."

"Jungkook!"

The Grand elf laughed holding his stomach before patting the Prince, "My prince, if anyone dies on this quest, it will be Deborah. Not you."

"What do you mean?" Jungkook barked, his senses lost.

The Grand elf shrugged, "Why are you worried, Prince? You are no reincarnation who was sent here for his incomplete quest, are you?"

The two stared at each other for long seconds before Dara quickly grabbed Jungkook's shoulder, forcing him to stand up, "Come on, we need to be home. I have to change your gauge too, the wound needs to be checked. Come on—,"

"I can walk, Koveski," Jungkook shook himself off, eyes still on the elf before storming out of the store.

Dara smiled at the elf, "Thank you for not telling him. But mischievous aren't you? You knew about me and Jungkook, the summoner and the Curve. Unbelievable, really, Grand Elf?"

"We are none but slaves of the King, Deborah. We have waited for you. But it was a surprise when we found out Jeon Jungkook reincarnated too," the elf said.

Dara frowned immediately, "What do you mean? You didn't know?"

"The King wanted to be remembered by you only. Of course we cannot remember him. I only knew when you found it out at South, that he is the King," the elf murmured, "Jeon Jungkook should be protected, Deborah. I don't know if the summoner knows who Jeon Jungkook is, or else it would never take his body to kill you."

Dara was silent.

"It fears Jungkook," the elf spoke, "The lands shook with terror when they heard the King's name. The summoner's death was tragic—,"

"The summoner. It is a woman," Dara snapped her fingers.

"Silver haired maiden—,"

"Yes!" Dara clapped this time, abruptly, "Yes. Silver hair. Even when she possessed Jungkook, his eyes became silver. We differ. We differ by gold and silver. What does that mean?"

"I don't know, this is more than what we have expected and thought of," the elf said, then noticed Jungkook's impatient face restlessly looking back and forth between Dara and the elf from the glass door, "Off you go now. Deborah, take care of yourself and the Prince. The sooner you tell him, the better."

"I understand. I will come see you again," Dara hugged the elf.

"See you on the other side, dearest," the elf said and before Dara could question his phrase, he pulled away, "Never run, Deborah. We, Outerns, have waited for you. Never run from your enemy. Fight for what's yours."

"Yes," Dara nodded.

"Time is short," the elf said, "You must think wisely. The bloodshed awaits us."

****

See you on the other side, dearest.

"The elf is a pure Outern," Dara commented on their silent walk back to the residence, "He used to be alive during the Curve's reign, can you believe how old he must be to even remember my mother?"

"I saw Illari in a dream," Jungkook sighed.

Dara stopped walking and pulled him by his wrist, eyes big, "What? Why didn't you tell the elf about it?"

"Because I keep forgetting. I keep forgetting what I have seen," Jungkook sighed heavily, his heart beating fast, "She was talking to the man on the throne of the Curve, Aevi was there too," Jungkook looked at Dara, "You were there too. Beside him."

"And, what were they talking about?" Dara asked.

"No clue," Jungkook closed his tired eyes, "Aevi had our answers all along. Why did they not tell us anything then?"

"Because their mouths are sealed, Jungkook," Dara said, "They and the ones who outlived the King after his death and my death, are cursed with silence about what they have known. Some don't even remember the King as he never wanted to be remembered by anyone but me. Even the summoner has no idea who he was or looked like."

Jungkook nodded, "Do you think it is necessary for us to meet Aevi?"

"You want to travel out of the West with the spirit lurking at the borders for your soul?" Dara protested, "I do not allow it. Absurd things you say sometimes. Jungkook, I got this. This is my issue, leave it to me. Focus on the war. How is the planning coming?"

"The citizens expect you to fight," Jungkook rubbed his chin with his thumb, his eye bags large.

"Then I must," Dara touched his arm, squeezing it, "You will have to keep giving me proper training for it. Whatever it takes, all the skills. I am sure there is more I can learn, more techniques I can use with the spirits. But for now, you need rest. Get enough sleep—,"

"The dreams are terrible, Koveski, I cannot sleep with them," Jungkook looked away.

"I will stay beside you," Dara urged.

"And let yourself get killed again? No need. Tie me up and lock me in my room if you need me to sleep peacefully and not kill anyone," Jungkook's eyes looked down at Dara's neck, the marks still fresh, "You should see the medic."

"I am fine, I have been through worse," Dara looked down at her feet before commenting on the situation again, "But you do accept that...I must fight the summoner anyway."

"I don't know," Jungkook's jaws tightened, "You are not telling me everything about the Curve's past—and hey, it's very visible from the look on your face. You are hiding things, aren't you? If I get to find out something unusual through my dreams, i forgive you."

"All your dreams are unusual," Dara chuckled before walking ahead of him, "In fact, I think you could be an Eastern too—,"

"Bad joke," Jungkook said, "Really bad joke, Koveski. Take that back."

"No, you wizard," Dara laughed as Jungkook pinched her arm, "Ow. You might as well see into the matter of Skovier."

"Skov, right? You call him Skov?" Jungkook made a face, "What can I do when you have given your royal soldiers little nicknames to call, the matter is in your hands. You are their Queen, go solve it on your own—,"

"You think I am cheating?" Dara's mouth hung open.

"Oh, you are?" Jungkook blinked sarcastically, "See? I did not even mention it! Are you—,"

"Enough," Dara threw her hands in the air, "You have been making these remarks since morning to provoke me, Jungkook. You cannot blame me though, you are so distant with me in front of people that I myself do not blame men if they want to sleep with me—,"

"Shameless woman, what are you saying!" Jungkook watched Dara storm inside the residence and never knew when they even reached home but he was not going to let it go so easily, "This entire family will send me to my grave one day! Shameless, everyone is shameless here—,"

"Why are you yelling?" Wineri motioned her hands towards Adona's child sleeping on her arms as she was settled on her arm chair, Adona knitting a sweater beside her, "The Prince is sleeping, he had a very tough night so if you would—,"

"Your daughter-in-law is such a careless woman. Men are sending her love letters and she wants me to be worried about it when she herself—,"

"Your son is the most unbothered husband in the world," Dara came down the stairs after having them half thundered over a while ago, "A man sends me a laces to wear and sleep with him and this man here has no shame in saying we should ignore the matter!"

"He is your soldier!" Jungkook argued, "Not mine! You go ask him why he did that, why drag me?"

"He is not my husband, you are! You should go and kill him if you cared!" Dara pushed Jungkook by his chest, "Where did all that envy go? When I first assigned him to be my soldier, where did all that go? Such a power hungry man, all you wanted was to be the soldier and get me killed—,"

"Oh my Lord, stop!" Adona yelled, Theodore's cry beginning.

Dara was huffing with mad anger as Jungkook stared back at her with his eyes bulging out of his face.

"Is this how two rulers of Zisk fight?" Adona stood up, "You guys are fighting like ten year olds, where are your manners? Jungkook, you should definitely look into the matter—,"

"Oof, there is nothing to look, this is a solid prank, Adona," Jungkook sighed, closing his eyes before palming his face, "The letter cannot be sent by Skovier—,"

"How do you know?" Dara asked.

"Era did it obviously," Jungkook blurted. When Dara's eyes grew wider every passing second, Jungkook grabbed Dara's wrist and pulled her closer, "My love, you will not do a thing that is cooking in your head alright? You already made the girl an orphan, she is under government processing and we cannot take her prank seriously."

"Do you have any idea how this very girlfriend of yours was going to be responsible for your murder in my hands?" Dara greeted her teeth, trying to budge Jungkook's grip from her wrist, "Leave my hands, I will choke her to death with my bare hands. Who does she think she is challenging with her foul pranks, I will kill her—,"

"Dara, Dara," Adona grabbed Dara's shoulders, "Dara, dearest, let's calm down. Remember our new policy? Calm, calm, please. Clam down, darling, we will find a way."

"I was going to kill Jungkook, what do you mean calm down?" Dara was all serious about her statement as Jungkook and Adona forced her down on the couch, exchanging smirks among themselves, "I am telling you, I will rag her hair out, I will pluck her eyes out."

"Of course, of course. We need to take our time, though," Adona encouraged, "We always need a plan, right? Now, I will bring you tea, and we can talk about—,"

The door of the residence budged opened and Yoongi ran in with a paper in his hands, "Dara, Dara. They took Sam and Hoseok! They took Sam and Hoseok behind the bars! You need to help!"

"BUT WHY?" Jungkook lost it right there.

Wineri handed over Theodore to Adona quickly before grabbing Yoongi's collars, "Tell me the truth."

The paper in his hands was snatched by Jungkook as he answered Wineri, "In the crime of Sam's illegitimate child in her womb that belongs to Hoseok, the two were caught living together without marriage. They are going to publicly cane Hoseok and kill Sam's child tomorrow afternoon. We have no evidence to defend them...Sam really is pregnant."

Wineri stumbled on her feet before Yoongi grabbed her by the wrist, her eyes swelling with tears, "Oh my dear, what have you done Sam...,"

"She did nothing wrong," Dara sighed, "I should have told you this before."