Royal Flush | pjm; jjk

Chapter Twenty Five

Nora descended down the stairs, still not grasping the reality of the situation. Jumping a few steps down at the time, she grabbed the handles of the staircase for support. Stopping for a second, imagery of Jungkook falling flashed before her eyes. Unable to hold herself atop, Nora fell on her knees feeling like she was about to vomit. Retching continuously, she felt air leaving her lungs, unable to breathe in again. The image of the Prince falling and falling again kept playing and rewinding in her mind, making her lose her breath even more. Even so, the actual apprehension still avoided her consciousness, mind still cloudy, Nora saw Ji-yeon's face again. The grasp of the sacrifice she made for her made Nora get back on her feet.

Leaping from the final staircase, Nora opened the only door in the room which lead her to the King's kitchen. Luckily, all of the workers seem to have ran out and Nora managed to slip out of the building discreetly. The whole palace was in chaos, magnificent flames started to surround the fields around it, emitting black smoke to the sky, painting the whole world black. Feet barely moving, Nora pushed through, running around the building, looking for an escape. Like shot by a lightning, Nora stopped at the image in front of her. Guards and nurses were lifting the Prince on the carrier, his limbs bent in different ways, unnatural, blood surrounding the flowers underneath him. Knees trembling again, Nora stood there frozen, looking at the man who became her friend, who opened his heart to her, lay there not breathing. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. The apology spun inside Nora's mind, hitting at every part of her skull, bringing her heartbeat up.

Suddenly, everything inside her shut down. She was not afraid, she was not sad, she felt nothing. Feet moving on their own, Nora walked forward grabbing a bucket of water, fastening her pace. Unfocused eyes, not really seeing anything in particular lead her towards the gate. Now almost running, Nora quickly slipped through the guards, under the pretense of any palace worker trying to put out the fire. The very moment her feet left the premises of the palace, Nora bolted towards the forest. Under any other circumstances, the guards would have instantly caught up to her, however, the distraction around them was far too vast for them to notice a single girl running away.

Vision still clouded and smoke filling her lungs, Nora pushed herself into the forest, frantically looking for the familiar faces. All of the suppressed emotions started to rise again, sending her into a spiraling panic attack. Unable to locate Yoongi and Hoseok, Nora started to imagine their bodies laying somewhere around and she felt like the final breath was leaving her lungs.

"Nora!" A familiar voice shook her out of her breakdown, Nora quickly spun around on her knees and saw Yoongi and Hoseok waving from deep inside the forest. Getting back on her feet, Nora started to run towards them, legs still unable to hold her fully. Stumbling and grabbing onto the trees for support, Nora pushed herself towards her friends, who were waiting for her with wide smiles on their faces. "Nora, we accidentally started a fucking burn down! I don't kn-" Hoseok's smile was ripped from his face the moment he read through Nora's expression.

Yoongi saw Nora stumbling towards them, holding onto the branches for balance, unable to walk straight with eyes filled with panic. Her clothes were bloody, sword and dagger missing. As usually, Yoongi grasped the situation first. He ran towards her, quickly stretching his arms for support and Nora fell inside them like a wounded child. "What.. what happened?" Hoseok mumbled, but Yoongi quickly shot him a glance and shook his head. He gestured for Hoseok to come help, and they both got under Nora's armpits, hugging her on the waist. Dragging her barely moving feet, the boys started to carry her away from whatever horror she just witnessed, hearts full with fear and pity.

Jimin saw the trio turn up from the window of his bedroom. At first he was excited to see them back so quickly, but once the silhouettes became clearer, Jimin's heart sank. Dropping everything, he ran outside and quickly picked Nora's limp body up, who in turn simply stared at nothing. For a second Jimin got scared that she was dead, but the slight movement in her chest made him relax a bit. Jin quickly noticed the commotion and ran outside too. "Help her!" Jimin yelled out panicking, showing Nora's body to Jin, unsure of what actual help she needed.