A Tiger Called Rapunzel ✓ || TaeGyu || HYBEPride 2021

Two Mistaken Identities

"Whoops, guess I missed," Heulin called out from atop Mae. She flew in a circle and prepared to dive-bomb Beomgyu with the death spell again, but froze in mid-air before she could, rendered immobile by a spell. A huge lion bounded into the clearing, roaring loudly as it stood between Heulin and Beomgyu. And on the lion was His Royal Highness himself, King Namjoon of the Naeil Kingdom.

Her brother.

Beomgyu was paying no attention to the stranger who had ridden in on the lion, or the fact that his mama (or the woman who used to be his mama) was about to strike again. All he cared about was Taehyun, getting to Taehyun, being by his side. He put Kai down, and the penguin waddled as quickly as he could behind him as he ran. Taehyun was lying collapsed on the ground, unmoving, and Beomgyu reached him, rolling him over. His eyes were closed, and his fair brown hair no longer blew in the wind.

"Taehyun, Taehyun, can you hear me?" Beomgyu tried to feel for a pulse, not knowing where to look. But Taehyun wasn't breathing. The life had literally been stolen from his lungs.

Beomgyu traced the lines on Taehyun's face, rubbing his thumb against his cheek. "No, no, you have to wake up. Please." He choked back tears. "Please, Taehyun -- no, you have to -- Kai!!"

Kai reached Beomgyu's side, putting a flipper on Taehyun's arm. "He's gone."

"No, he has to -- you have to know -- I was waiting for you, I waited, Taehyun, every day." Beomgyu wrapped his arms around Taehyun's lifeless body and pulled him close, while he was still warm. "You have to know that I'm a boy, and I'm the lost prince, and I -- I love you, that's the word for it, I think, but I don't understand it, and I -- I can't live without you, Taehyun, not with how things are now so please wake up!" And he sobbed into Taehyun's shoulder, oblivious to the tiger who was now in front of him, to the man with black hair and a gentle smile who knelt by him.

The man dressed in royal purple took Taehyun's hand. "May I?"

Beomgyu looked up at the man. "Who are you?"

And in an instant, Min Yoongi, Royal Consort of the Naeil Kingdom, knew this strange blonde man in front of him was his son. It was a dead giveaway, with the crown. He looked exactly like the pictures the court artists had painted years ago. He wanted to lean forward, give his son a hug, cry. But there were more pressing matters at hand. Namjoon was taking care of Heulin, but Yoongi knew how strong Heulin was. The King could not hold her off forever.

He pressed his forehead to the back of Taehyun's hand. "His soul hasn't left his body yet, but we have to act quickly. The magic can only be undone if the source of the magic is eliminated." He stood up, letting Beomgyu hold onto Taehyun. "Forgive me, but I must join the battle now."

"Let me go, too," Kai said. He also had no clue who this man was, but he was a magic user, and that was all that mattered. His little penguin heart was breaking for his human. All he wanted was to see Beomgyu happy. He had been through so much!

"You should stay here," Yoongi said.

Beomgyu took the crown off of his head with one hand and put it on Kai. He refused to let go of Taehyun, as long as there was still hope. "Kai, I don't want to be a prince unless Taehyun is with me. Please. Bring him back."

"I'll do it for you. No matter what. Even if it costs all the magic within me." Kai adjusted the crown with his flippers, and it began to glow. "Because I am your daemon."

When Kai secured the crown on his head and it began to glow, it released the spell that Heulin and Mae had put on him long ago. He first remembered the days at the castle, how Saja and Horangi taught him how to be a good daemon for his human. And he remembered little baby Beomgyu and his fluffy blonde hair, the crown that barely fit around him, and how happy the kingdom was. But he always viewed Beomgyu from above, not below. It made Kai realize that he had been living his entire life as a lie.

Now I know that Cholongkkoch is Beomgyu. But I also know one more thing. I'm not a penguin!

The crown slowly undid the identity spell Heulin had designed, and Kai's small penguin body began to grow and transform. Beomgyu watched in shock, still holding onto Taehyun, as Kai grew to a height taller than his own. When the light faded, there was a huge roar, and Beomgyu realized it had come from Kai. He was huge and furry and brown colored and --

"A bear?" Beomgyu asked in shock.

When the spells had broken, they had revitalized enough of Kai's magical energy to stand and fight against Heulin. Namjoon rode on his lion daemon's back, and Yoongi did the same with his tiger. It was three against one, Heulin in the air, still frozen by Namjoon, and the three royal family members on the ground.

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," Beomgyu whispered to himself. He closed his eyes and said a prayer, almost, prayed the spell that would release Kai's magic to those that needed it most. The King and his Consort could borrow Kai's magic for their own spells without Beomgyu having to recite it with them.

When the King and his Consort said their spells, they didn't simply say them; there was a rhythm and a cadence to their art. They worked in perfect sync, as all blessed couples do. And when Kai joined his power with theirs, it made them even stronger, united knowing their daemon son had been returned to them as well. The spell surrounded Mae and Heulin, ribbons of light cascading through the air, and Heulin was unable to stop any of it. The manipulative woman who had robbed Beomgyu and Kai of their identities had been blindsided. Her own plans had backfired.

Namjoon had been waiting for this day for years, so he knew exactly what spell to use. It took nearly all of their energy, but they brought Heulin down from the sky. Then, they let go, set her free. Heulin was exhausted, and when she tried to get Mae to fly away, Mae's wings would no longer flap. Heulin tried to climb off of Mae and collapsed to the ground. Both daemon and human were still alive; Namjoon spared them a hasty death. Instead, Mae was a normal hawk, her magic and her speech gone, and the two would live without their magic until the end of their days.

Castle guards rushed the clearing, easily capturing Mae and caging her, doing the same with Heulin. Kai turned his head back to Beomgyu, who was sitting alone nearby, the lifeless Taehyun still in his arms. He sauntered over to Beomgyu, still not used to his new, massive body. Beomgyu looked up at Kai, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Turns out we're both not what we thought we were," he said, and both daemon and human laughed.

The King and his Consort followed behind Kai, still riding their daemons. Neither one of them said a word to Beomgyu yet. They were unsure if Beomgyu knew the truth, what Heulin might have done to him during the years he was gone. What they did know was that Beomgyu was tied together with Kang Taehyun, the vigilante who had been stealing the castle's gold. And all of a sudden, the rules and regulations and taxes didn't seem to matter as much anymore.

Namjoon whispered a spell under his breath, Yoongi doing the same. And soon, the air began to shimmer, sparkling and crackling around Taehyun, forcing the breath back into his lungs before it was too late. Beomgyu held on tight to Taehyun until the spell was completed, as the three then waited for what seemed like an eternity, until Taehyun finally inhaled.