Chapter Text
Chapter 30
For the first time in millennia, Seokjin felt the cold streak of genuine fear. He was only just aware of the chaos unfolding behind him, but his attention was fixed on the man beneath him—on whether Jungkook would survive the reckless sacrifice Seokjin had just made.
The moment Seokjin could no longer feel Sunjay’s aura, the definitive sign of his death, he tightened his grip around Jungkook’s heart until it stopped beating. He had to do it. If Jungkook’s heart kept beating, any connection Sunjay had established with him could re-ignite and bring Sunjay back to life.
But for Seokjin’s plan to work, he had to wait a few more seconds.
It wasn’t even a fully formed plan but more of like a theory. On the way here, after they had regained consciousness from Yugyeom’s ill-thought-out plan, the warlock had mentioned that the person they were trying to kill was tied to Jungkook somehow, drawing life force directly from him. So if Seokjin wanted to make sure Sunjay stayed dead after killing him, he needed to sever that connection first.
That’s why Seokjin was doing this. Why his fist was buried in the chest of the man he had sworn to care for, to love, and to always protect. And he still planned to protect Jungkook. He just needed a few more seconds.
With Sunjay’s aura completely gone and Jungkook’s pulse slowed to a ghost of a murmur, Seokjin let his fangs lengthen with a sharp ache then sank them deep into the side of Jungkook’s throat. His eyes rolled back as Jungkook’s blood flooded Seokjin’s mouth, a sweet, intoxicating ambrosia that clouded his every sense.The world around him seemed to tilt as a deep growl rumbled from his chest and the walls of the cave seemed to shake. He couldn’t stop. He kept drinking, taking more and more as the taste overwhelmed his soul.
“Stop!”
Jimin’s scream was shrill and fractured with horror, and was the only thing sharp enough to pierce the haze. Seokjin didn’t unlatch though, his teeth were still locked firmly in Jungkook’s flesh as he tilted his head back. His pupils were blown wide, his irises a bleeding crimson as they collided with the sparkling, tear-filled blues of his omega.
“Hyung, please!” Jimin’s voice was a jagged wreck of a sob, his face slick with tears and salt as he dropped to his knees. “What have you done? Y-y-ou have to stop! You have to control yourself!”
Above them, the mountain groaned. A massive stalactite shivered and snapped, plummeting like a stone spear to shatter just inches from Jimin’s feet. The sharp crack and Jimin’s terrified scream acted like a bucket of ice water. Seokjin’s blood-thirst haze vanished instantly; he ripped his fangs from Jungkook’s throat, his head snapping toward the sound, every instinct screaming to protect his omega.
The sight that met him was a nightmare. Yoongi was shifting. His body was already halfway into his dragon form, scales ripping through skin as his frame expanded violently. Fire burst from his jaws in uncontrolled waves, licking up the cavern walls and setting half the cave ablaze. The ground trembled beneath them as his wings forced themselves open.
The cave was massive but it wasn’t massive enough for a dragon. Stone groaned overhead. Cracks raced across the ceiling like spiderwebs before chunks of rock began raining down. The entire cavern was starting to collapse as Yoongi kept growing, his massive form forcing against the stone around him.
A firm tug on Seokjin’s arm snapped his attention to the side. He spun to find Taehyung, white-knuckled and desperate. Behind him, Hobi braced under the weight of an unconscious Namjoon, while Jimin clutched Jungkook’s limp body in his arms, holding him bridal style despite the shaking ground beneath their feet.
“We have to go!” Taehyung’s voice barely carried over the deafening thunder of the collapsing mountain and the ear-splitting roars of the dragon.
Seokjin looked back at his dragon just as Yoongi let out a roar of pure, unadulterated agony. It was a sound so hollow and shattered that Seokjin felt his own heart tremble in response. His mate was in pain but Seokjin wasn't sure how to fix it.
“Yoongi...” Seokjin breathed, his feet rooting to the trembling ground. Didn’t want to leave a single one of them behind.
“You need to take us to Galaxy,” Hobi shouted, but the demand felt impossible. Seokjin was hollowed out. Though he hadn’t struck his own heart when he drove the dabinett wood through his chest, the jagged splintering of his ribs and the puncture in his lungs were draining him. His immortal physiology was knitting the flesh back together, but the process was sluggish, starving him of the energy he needed to tear open a hole in reality.
He swept a frantic gaze over his mates. Hoseok, Jimin, and Taehyung were conscious so he could draw from them. Siphoning from an unconscious Namjoon would be like pulling water from a deep, frozen well, but he could do it. Yoongi, however, was a storm he couldn't tame; his aura was a chaotic thrum of agony that threatened to drown everything else. Then there was Jungkook. The bite had forged a fresh, raw bond between them, but the bond was still new, and Seokjin had never siphoned a Kotzer before. He didn’t even know if Jungkook had that power anymore after what he had done to him.
Another stalactite shrieked as it tore from the ceiling, shattering dangerously close to Jimin who had jungkook in his arms.
Seokjin’s jaw tightened. There was no more time for doubt. Closing his eyes, he reached inward, searching for the ancient power that lived in his blood. The magic responded immediately, dark and familiar as it stirred beneath his skin. The air began to hum, then crackle with a violent static as Hoseok, Jimin, and Taehyung’s powers surged into him, a burning infusion of strength. He found the faint, steady pulse of Namjoon’s latent magic and latched on, anchoring himself.
Then came Yoongi. The dragon’s aura hit him like a tidal wave of grief and jagged heat, nearly buckling Seokjin’s knees. Instead of fighting it, he let the overwhelming energy wash over him, riding the crest of Yoongi’s transformation to fuel the spell. With a guttural roar of his own, he tore at the fabric of the world, forcing open a portal to the plane he had crafted for his husbands lifetimes ago.
The air around them began to warp, the portal a jagged tear in reality that struggled to anchor itself. It churned violently, unable to draw them in while Yoongi’s dragon form continued to thrash in a blind, tectonic rage.
Yoongi, my love. Please... Seokjin plead through their bond. He poured every ounce of tenderness he had left into the link, praying for a moment of stillness. Just enough to hold the gate open.
You have shattered my spirit, the dragon’s voice came back, a deep, tectonic rumble that vibrated in Seokjin’s very marrow. You have stolen the very thing my heart craved most.
Guilt washed through him and it was heavy and suffocating. He felt the portal flicker as its pull weakened and his concentration wavered. Seokjin clenched his teeth, forcing the magic back into place before it collapsed completely. There hadn’t been time to explain.The idea, his desperate theory, had only come to him during his fight with Sunjay. By the time he had acted, there had been no opportunity to warn the others before he destroyed Jungkook’s heart and gave him the bite.
And Yoongi…
Yoongi hadn’t bonded with Jungkook yet. If this was the dragon’s reaction to what Seokjin had done, Jin couldn’t even imagine the depth of anger and betrayal the others must be feeling toward him now.
But explanations would have to wait. The mountain gave a final, terminal groan. Boulders the size of carriages rained down, filling the chamber with choking dust. Seokjin’s eyes snapped open, his pupils blown wide. A raw scream tore from his lungs as he threw every remaining spark of his life force into the rift. Then, the world folded and changed.
The roar of the collapsing cave vanished, replaced by a serene silence. The jagged stones were gone, traded for a lush, rolling meadow beneath an impossibly clear blue sky. A gentle breeze brushed against his skin, smelling of salt and clover. It was the scent of the Galaxy he had built for them. Seokjin felt his punctured lung seize, his body finally admitting defeat. Transporting five men and a two-hundred-ton dragon across dimensions had hollowed him out to the bone. As his knees buckled, the last thing he felt was Taehyung’s frantic hands catching his head, and the heavy, rhythmic beat of dragon wings as Yoongi took to the sky, fleeing from them all.