Destined

Chapter 13: Freedom

"Astoria!" "Tori!" That was all she heard as the 8 guys went over to the door to reunite with her. Mingi was able to put his hands over hers. Astoria tears up. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I couldn't stand up to my own brother. I wish I was strong enough to protect you guys. I couldn't..." She was stopped mid sentence by Mingi. "It was never your fault, my dear. You were brave enough to defend us. That is all that matters." They all chime in saying how proud they are of her. This made Astoria cry. She wipes her tears and calms down.

"I got the key. We can get out of here." She shows them the key that she stole from the guard. The guys smiled wide. Astoria unlocks the door and they all hug her tightly. "We will get out of here. I know for sure no one is guarding the ship. Time to go home." They all nod in agreement. They then try to leave the dungeon as quietly as they could, but as they were about to climb up the steps, they spotted something. The guard from before manages to wake up and sees the group right in front of the steps.

"Hey!" He shouted at them. This made everyone run up the stairs and book it. The guard yells out as he is chasing them, "The prisoners have escaped! Princess Astoria is with them!" As they were making a run for it, the guard kept yelling out the same thing. This annoys Jongho, who was in the back. He stops in his tracks, which causes the guard to stop. He punches the guard in the face and runs to catch up with the others. Everyone heard it and Astoria spoke up. "Remind me to never piss you off." Jongho chuckles, "You never will, Tori."

After what felt like forever running through an endless labyrinth of hallways in the castle, the group finally managed to make it outside. Astoria looks around, "I know it has to be here somewhere." She spots a ship on the water down the hill where the castle was. "There she is! Atiny is safe!" Ateez cheers loudly and Mingi picks her up in the midst of the celebration. Just as they thought they were in the clear, every guard appeared in front of them from the castle. Their pistols were aimed right at them. Adam and her parents appear from the crowd.

"We are ashamed of you, Astoria. Who would have thought that you would be the one to help them escape." Her father says with the look of disappointment on his face. Astoria gets out of Mingi's arms and goes over to them. "Ateez is my family, my found family. I am no longer a princess. I am a pirate. I will be sailing the seas with them. Call me a criminal, put me on a wanted poster for all I care. But you will never separate me from them again." Adam looks at the guards and her. "Guards! Prepare to fire!" Astoria glares at him and glances over at Hongjoong. "Captain! Shall we?" She goes over to him. "We may not have our swords, but we can still fight. Hongjoong nods. "Ateez, 1..2...3" Everyone shouts, "8 makes 1 team!"

That was then when the fight broke out. Ateez was strong and quick enough to dodge the bullets. With what Astoria learned from them, she was able to take down the guards. After several minutes of fighting, Ateez was able to escape while the guards were distracted from their pistols either being empty or jammed. They quickly made their escape back onto their ship. Astoria looks back one last time at the life she once had. After 21 years of being trapped in a cage, she was finally set free. The key was Ateez.

"Hey, Astoria! Are you coming?!" San called out. Astoria looks over at them and sees them all watching her from the ship, waiting for her answer. She smiles and runs over them. She climbs up the ship. They all help her get up. Astoria looks at everyone and goes over to Mingi. He wraps his arms around her. He looks over at Hongjoong. He nods, knowing what was going on. The pair apologize and go downstairs for alone time. (Not gonna describe it! I don't feel comfortable doing so!)

After some *alone time*Astoria looks over at Mingi. She laces their fingers together. "An ex princess and a pirate in love and married. I like the sound of that." Mingi chuckles and brings her hand to his lips. He kisses it. "My star, nothing will separate us again. I promised to protect you long before we got together. I will always be here for you." Astoria smiles. "As will I." She kisses him and pulls back.

She gets up. "We should head back. If we stay any longer, the others will tease us." Mingi nods and the pair get up from his bed and get dressed. Astoria looks in the mirror to make sure no marks can be seen. The pair go back upstairs. Wooyoung was the first to notice. "Thank you for not being loud!" Astoria gets embarrassed. Seonghwa sighs and flicks him on the forehead. "Be nice to them. It's normal for married couples. No more talk of it." Wooyoung nods. Astoria smiles at the sight. Everyone was either relaxing or playing while Hongjoong was steering the wheel. She was finally home.