Emius

"The sun watches what I do, but the moon knows all my secrets." Unknown.

"How much I have looked for you!" Taehyung walked toward the diamond-haired and rested his hands on his shoulders. "I thought I lost you forever."

Jimin smiled. "I didn't know where to go so.. uhm I came here." he lied. He wasn't sure if he could tell him about the voice he heard the last time he got lost.

Yoongi stared at them, confused. "You know each other?" he asked.

"He was lost and the guard Woozi brought him to my house." the Elf answered. "He was so confused and scared." he smiled and caressed the younger's hair.

"He welcomed me and treated me well." Jimin smiled, staring at the King whose eyes shifted to dark green.

"I see." Yoongi mumbled.

"What are you doing here, your grace?" Jimin asked Taehyung.

"Oh, I came for business." the long-haired Elf answered. "And I was lucky to find you here, my dear."

"My Lord." Namjoon bowed to his cousin.

"Oh, Namjoon." the younger smiled to him and gently hugged him. "How have you been?"

"Well, I guess."

"I heard you have been visiting the village very often. This is very generous of you."

The Healer nodded. "You know how much I love helping other creatures."

"You are very kind." Taehyung patted his back.

"I haven't seen you in ages, my Lord." the silver-haired mumbled with a sad voice. "Why do you never visit us?"

The handsome Elf sighed and stared at the King whose eyes were now a very clear blue. "I..I have been busy lately, I am sorry cousin." he said.

"It is alright, you are here now." the Healer nodded.

Jimin was watching them, not getting their situation. He knew Taehyung was related to the healer but he ignored their relationship with the King.

"So, my dear." Taehyung turned to Jimin. "Now, that I found you, shall we go home?"

"H-home?" the younger gulped.

"Yes, you were going to stay with me anyways." the Elf smiled. "You said that you had nowhere to go and you know that I would be more than glad to welcome you in my mansion."

"But, my Lord, we already spent two weeks with Jimin and we've grown fond of him, can't he just stay?" the Wizard asked.

"Oh, it seems like someone else fell for your charms." Taehyung told the diamond-haired. "Well, uhm, the decision is yours then."

"Uh.." Jimin shyly rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know.."

You can stay with us Jimin." Hoseok smiled. "Please?"

Jimin stared at both the Wizard and Taehyung. Both were very kind to him so he didn't know what to decide. "Uhm, I had a good time here in the castle." he smiled, looking at the Elf. "Hoseok and Namjoon took care of me and we spent time together."

Taehyung nodded. "I understand."

The two friends approached Jimin and ruffled his hair. "Thank you." they told him.

Everyone was smiling but the King had to interrupt, "Who gave you the permission to stay?" he asked.

"Oh?" Jimin gulped, feeling his grey eyes piercing his. "C-can't I?"

"I do not want you to stay."

"Your Majesty?" Hoseok raised an eyebrow. "I told you he is under my pr-"

"I do not care!" Yoongi shouted. "I do not need a stranger inside my castle."

"He is no stranger anymore, your Majesty." Namjoon said.

"He is to me." the King mumbled, his eyes not leaving Jimin's shocked face.

"But-" Namjoon and Hoseok tried to protest.

"Enough both of you! He is a distraction to you, you haven't been doing your work properly since he arrived."

The diamond-haired felt tears burning his eyes but he took a breath and lifted his head to make himself look stronger in front of the King.

Taehyung was watching and approached to take his hand, which did not go unnoticed by the King who eyes turned into the previous dark green color. "Your Majesty." the Elf smiled. "We are sorry to burden you, now we will go." he bowed.

"Oh, Jimin.." Hoseok hugged him. "Do not go, you can stay with me."

"There is no way." Yoongi mumbled. "Go back to your work."

"Your Majesty, Jimin did nothing wrong, he never bothered you during two weeks!"

The grey-eyed raised an eyebrow. "Did you just raise your voice?"

The Wizard sighed. "I am sorry." he whispered.

"Go back to your work." Yoongi said. "You too." he told Namjoon.

The two friends smiled sadly to Jimin and hugged. "We are sorry."

"It's alright." the boy was so focused on Yoongi's eyes that he didn't realize his friends had already left the castle's hall.

"It was a delight to see you, your Majesty." Taehyung said.

"The delight is all mine." the King nodded. He gave Jimin a last look before leaving too.

The Elf gently squeezed his hand. "Let's go home Jimin."

????

They left the castle, hand in hand, not saying a word. They arrived to the forest that leaded to the village where Vulas, the Elve's mansion is.

The diamond-haired's eyes grew wider as he was welcomed by the forest's greatness. Plants and strange flowers, everything is filled with magic in this place. Some ferns give off a bluish light, and attract tiny insects, fireflies and many more. The sunlight filters very little through the trees but the whole forest shines with a mysterious and fantastic glow. But it was unfortunately just a small part because the eastern edge of the forest is the least safe because it is in contact with the forest of the dark. This place is endowed with incredible magical power, and no one has ever come out of it. The minds of the curious who enter it are immediately bewitched by the power that emanates from nature. Those who are lucky are quickly devoured by wild beasts, others are condemned to wander in more or less nightmarish delusions, dark influence of the Forest of the dark. On the contrary, the heart of the forest is much clearer and more welcoming. At night, sometimes, we find the same phenomenon of spell but in a more neutral way this time, even positive.

"Do not take it personally." Taehyung finally broke the silence. "The King can be quite cold sometimes, do not mind his words."

"I know." Jimin whispered. "He acted like this since I arrived there. I know he hates me."

"He does not hate you." the older said. "Trust me, hate is the least thing he feels about you." he chuckled.

"How can you know it? You just saw him a while ago."

"I can read emotions." the Elf answered. "Is it easy for me to tell what he thinks."

"You read emotions?" Jimin widened his eyes. "How do you do it? Can you read mine now?"

"Haha!" the white-haired laughed. "It is not like this." he shook his head. "No, I can not read yours."

"Then..how do you read his?"

"Because of his eyes."

"His eyes.." Jimin mumbled. "I knew his change of colors meant something."

"The King is an Emius, his eyes can shift into different colors in a short time and each color represents an emotion. Not many can read them easily without learning."

"Oh, I see." the young man nodded. "Now, I understand better."

"This is why I told you that he does not hate you."

"Well, that's a relief..I guess." Jimin said. "But do the lake's colors have something to do with the Emius?" he asked.

"The Coloribus Conspiratus has nothing to do with them. Indeed each color also represents an emotion but it is the only similarity between them."

"I see."

Taehyung smiled and ruffled his head. "We are approaching." he said when they finally arrived to the village to be greeted by many creatures. They stopped in front of a stall to buy Gelatius, the Elf could not forget how happy the younger was when he first tasted it.

After a few minutes, they were in front of the mansion. The Elves guarding the portal bowed to them, "Good evening my Lord."

"Good evening, my friends."

The King's castle had nothing to do with Vulas. The environment is dark there, but the mansion was rather bright and welcoming. The broad walls were white, decorated with gold frames. Everything was clear, giving a harmony inside.

"Follow me, my dear." Taehyung said before climbing the stairs, slowly and elegantly, letting his long hair move majestically behind his back as he took more steps.

Jimin followed him in the middle of a large corridor until they stopped in front of a white wooden door. The Elf opened it to reveal a room where a queen-sized bed was standing in the middle with his luxurious white and golden sheets. "This will be your room." Taehyung said.

The young man widened his eyes. "R-really?"

"Of course." the older smiled. "I hope you will feel comfortable."

A large desk was on the corner, near a small empty library. A small door inside revealed an elegant marble bathroom equipped with bath products. The room had an interior that perfectly combines luxury and comfort.

"Oh!" Jimin ran to the balcony with a fantastic frontal lake view. "It's beautiful!" he exclaimed.

"I am glad you like it." Taehyung patted his back. "I will see you at dinner, I have to take care of some things now."

????

Jimin couldn't stop thinking about what happened at the castle earlier. He didn't expect the King to ask him to leave them. He thought that their relationship had improved since the evening when they spoke in front of the moonlight, but it seemed that nothing had changed, Yoongi didn't care much about their conversation.

His thoughts were troubled, that's why he decided to sleep, with the balcony wide opened to let the gentle breeze of the evening caress his skin.

He dreamed of creatures with two heads, and colors. To know that the change of the King's eyes color actually meant something only made him more curious about him. He wanted to know what he felt when he was around him, he wanted to know what blue meant or green.

"Sir." someone knocked at the door, waking him up.

"Come in." he stretched his arms and sat on the bed.

"Dinner is served." a blue-haired Elf said. "Lord Taehyung is waiting for you in the dining room."

"Oh, I am coming right now." the young man quickly went to the bathroom to clean his face before putting on his shoes and heading downstairs.

"Your grace." he smiled to the Elf who was peacefully reading a book.

"You are here." Taehyung smiled back. "Sit, please."

"I am sorry for being late, I slept."

"Oh, you do not have to be sorry my dear. I am glad you could sleep, you looked tired earlier."

They ate as Jimin talked about how he spent his days in the castle and how happy he was to make new friends.

"Hoseok and Namjoon are indeed very kind." Taehyung nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jimin said.

"Of course, go ahead."

"I know that Namjoon is your cousin, but why aren't you close? I heard it was not the case before."

The older sighed. "Indeed, everything changed after her death." he mumbled.

"Was she important to you too? Were you..perhaps..lovers?" the young boy asked, thinking about how tense the King was around him earlier.

"Oh, no." Taehyung laughed. "I did love her very much but she was not my lover."

"Then..who was she to you."

The Elf hesitated before answering. "Kythaela was my younger sister."

Jimin widened his eyes and covered his mouth. "I-I'm so sorry." he whispered.

"You do not have anything to be sorry about." Taehyung said.

They stayed silent for a long moment, the boy felt bad for mentioning the princess to him, it must hurt a lot to remember a loved one's death and he knew the feeling.

"When I heard she died, I could not think anymore." the white-haired started talking. "Knowing that the King's brother did it just made me more angry. Yoongi did nothing wrong but I could not help myself for blaming him for her death, because Adalis did it out of jealousy. I knew he attacked her because she was the most important creature to him and I could not forgive it." he sighed. "Since then, our relationship changed. After the funerals, I started visiting very rarely, I cut ties with all the ones related to him, like my cousin. I know, it was very stupid of me to think this way but Kythaela was the only family I had a part of my cousin, I could not imagine my life without her, I still can not believe it."

Jimin gently squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry for your loss." he whispered.

Taehyung just smiled. "This is why I was happy to meet you." he said. "After her death, I felt lonely. I lost everything, even my closest friends. I spent my days alone, reading books and drinking wine. When Woozi brought you to me, I knew something was going to change, I felt it."

"I..I may not be your family but I hope I will be good company." the diamond-haired said. "If you ever need someone to talk to or to spend time with, I would be glad to help you."

The older nodded. "I know Jimin, I know."

They spent hours sitting on the same chairs, talking about their past. Jimin told him about his father and how cruel the world he lived in was. He talked about how people used to treat him there, how they escaped from him and called him a monster because of his strange hair. He talked about Junhoe, the boy who made his college days into hell and the old lady who was the only one to accept him and let him work for her.

As the days passed, they became closer, Taehyung would wake him up everyday to go for a walk in the village or the forest. He would teach him more about Fantasia's creatures, the good and the bad ones. Sometimes, they would met Namjoon treating some children and females, Jimin would make sure to make the conversation more comfortable for the two cousins. He wanted at all costs that their relationship would become stronger than it was before, it was one of his wishes because Namjoon was the Elf's only family member now and he knew how important it was.

He thought about visiting Hoseok at the castle but he was too afraid to meet the King once again, despite what Taehyung told him about Yoongi not hating him, he was still not convinced. He was not ready to see him again after all those sleepless nights he spent only thinking about his eyes.

????

One week has passed since he left the castle. He was at the library, reading a book about Elves. He learned that there were many types of Elves, the good and the bad ones. He also knew that Taehyung and his cousin were High Elves, they are considered the most purely good race of all and the most magically developed.

"Jimin." Taehyung called him. The older was sitting on a chair in front of his desk, responding to a letter he received from a general.

"Yes, your grace?"

"Could you please bring me my robe? It is drying outside."

"Of course." the boy closed the book and headed outside.

Several white clothes were hung on long copper wires.

He looked for the Lord's robe while humming a song he used to like in the human world.

He walked between the long white robes, searching for the one with a golden embroidery.

Suddenly, he spotted two blue eyes watching him from behind a robe that must belong to one of the guards.

He lifted it and was surprised to see the King standing before him, wearing a long black jacket embroidered with silver glass and bugle beads features hanging threads.

"Your Majesty?" he bowed.

"Hello Diamond." Yoongi said with his deep voice.

"Uhm the Lord is inside, if you'd like me to tell h-"

"There is no need to bother him." the older cut him off.

"Oh, then were you just passing by?" the young boy asked.

"I came to see you."

????