*audio above is the call of the chapter's creature*
Its sharp looking feathers slowly glows and softens, waves gently against the mountain breeze. Faint bone cracking sounds echo through the temple, snapping everyone's attention towards the ceiling above them. Debris starts to fall on them as its body wiggles it way out of its seemingly uncomfortable position. Silence simultaneously falls upon the entire temple as well, locking all eyes on the shifting statue as it cracks its massive red head out of the ceiling and claws unfurling from the pillars. It closes its opened beak before its eyes brightens and rolls around, eyeing its surrounding like a hawk except it's not a hawk but a goddamn statue of a phoenix.
Then, it zooms in on the group of visitors below it. She isn't sure if she's seeing things but Ara thinks it's staring down at her. Her blood runs cold, so cold that she can feel her limbs paralyzing. Sharp shock down her spine accompanied by a galloping heart and hitching lungs and breathing, she is sure to die from sheer fear. The mountain sized statue is fucking alive and it is eyeballing her. Though her skin is pale and veins are drained of blood, her guts tell her to plant herself to the ground and never waver under the fierce stare of the statue but before she can even get a hold of Jungkook whose breathing gotten uneven, a terrified scream tears through the suffocating air and it pulls the last death straw.
In just a second, all hell breaks loose. The statue that was sealed up the ceiling a second ago is plunging down to the ground the next, letting out a hollow scream, one that doesn't pierce your ears but vibrates at such low frequency that it paralyzes your bones. And it certainly did when the running people suddenly freeze and become immobile. Their skin glow in the bright shade of jade, turning their body green and illuminating just like a jade stone. Everyone's screams muffles as the glowing jade invades their veins and throats, turning them into a jade statue. Everyone except Ara and Jungkook who dodged down when the phoenix came falling upon them. "GO! RUN!", Jungkook shouts and shoves Ara onto her feet to bolt them out of the temple but the similar scream tears through again and this time Jungkook is the target. Green glow crawls up his legs and plants him on his spot, stopping him from moving. He feels his throat closing up and veins freezing. The mountain begins to tremble as the phoenix unfurls it's long tail from it, making him helpless fall.
Upon the absence of the shouting man, Ara turns back and weakens at the devastating state of the temple. People are running everywhere, bloodcurdling screaming for themselves as their bodies become lifeless from the phoenix's scream. The temple itself miraculously stayed unwavering even after a damn statue deployed itself from its ceilings. Now that she's a step further away from the phoenix, she can finally see the sheer size of it. One word, gargantuan. Absolutely monstrous. Its red feathers had shades of green in it, creating a gradient down its body til the tail it is now swinging and swiping everything in its path and there's spiky and fiery feathers circling its head like a crowd of flames.
Lowering her eyes, Ara meets eyes with a pair of dark orbs, one she'd gotten familiar and fond with and also one she never seen this desperate before. Jungkook was paralyzed by its scream and now he's staring at her with painfully desperate eyes, desperate for her to turn and escape. But she doesn't do that, she doesn't leave her people and she's sure not abandoning him. Just then, the phoenix rises its crowned head again with beak wide open as if it's preparing for its next deadly attack which will surely kill everyone here.
Her body reacts quicker than her mind as she bolts for Jungkook who's knees are already on the ground, buckling from the cold and paralyzing blood rushing through his veins. His shoulders caved in and vision blurred but he's able to catch a glimpse of Ara running towards him before feeling her arms embracing his figure. Then, she stares right at the phoenix with her blinding green eyes that bleed with rage and fear. Deep within her, Ara feels a raising presence, the presence of mad bravery, the presence of inclemency that strangely brought her comfort, the presence of an unpleasantly strong power. It bubbles in her stomach, so deep that she swears it reaches her soul.
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𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗥𝗦 // 𝗝𝗝𝗞 (FT 𝗣𝗝𝗠)
FanfictionSomeone once said, "a simple life isn't one to be born with, but one to achieve instead". Jeo Ara thought her life was as simple as a university student who is trying to figure her life out and seems to be failing to do so. But after unfolding her t...
