Jungkook took his first step - but nothing happened. They were just normal stairs. Realizing that nothing was happening to him, he picked up his pace.
However, after a few steps, he could feel Momo's hand tighten around his. Her nails were digging into his skin, and her eyebrows were furrowed.
'Momo, are you okay?' Jungkook asked. Momo was still walking as normal, able to keep up with Jungkook, but her face was stuck in an expression of anger and confusion. Her mouth never opened once.
With every step she took, her head felt heavier. Her body was guiding her up the stairs, but her mind was far away. Although her eyes were open, she saw not the staircase but instead a large room.
The floor was made of black marble, reflecting what was on the ceiling: a starry sky. The ceiling glittered with specks of light, illuminating the entire room. The walls rose to a great height, made of polished cement, with 6 pillars creating a rectangle around the area. She sat on a large chair, at the far end of the room, with a colossal door on the opposite wall.
She grew dizzier with every passing second, her vision blurring, not allowing her to make out any more objects. She could hear murmurs, an especially loud one coming form beside her, yelling, almost, but she couldn't tell what it was saying.
A figure shifted from the door to right in front of her; a blur of motion. It seemed to bow down, but when it opened its mouth to speak, Momo couldn't hear anything anymore. There was a ringing in her ears.
Jungkook could see she was growing tired, her steps beginning to slow down. He lifted her into his arms without hesitation, running up the stairs, hoping to reach the top floor before anything got to him.
Her eyelids closed. She was still breathing, but she appeared to be in a deep sleep. At this point Jungkook could see the end of the steps, but he was starting to feel tired, and his thighs were on fire. Was he going insane or was Momo too heavy for him, he didn't know.
Momo showed no signs of waking up. She lay lifeless in his arms, eyes shut tight. Jungkook couldn't take it anymore. He fell.
He awoke on the Power's floor. Well, he didn't really wake up, as he was still passed out, but was instead in a dream. He was on his knees, in front of - not one, but two thrones. Upon seeing this he knew this was an old memory. A memory from when Momo was still queen.
He looked up and saw the Power looking down at him, on his large, iron throne, staring at Jungkook in disgust. He glanced beside him, and his heart softened when he saw Momo, sitting on her throne, looking down at him.
She gave him the same expression the Power had, but when he looked in her eyes, he could see: it was the Momo from the present. Her eyes pleaded him to explain, to tell her what was going on. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't. He was restrained to his actions, his body moved for him, his mouth spoke for him. He was merely re-experiencing a memory, not creating a new one, and he knew it was the same case for Momo, who could only sit there quietly.
'Anything to say, Jungkook?' The Power questioned, his voice like knives stabbing Jungkook in all the vital places, 'Me and my love, the queen, demand an explanation.' At the mention of the Power's love, the sharpest blade struck him right in the heart.
But he couldn't do anything about it. 'Yes, sir.'
The power sat back in his throne, waiting for the explanation. Jungkook knew, he had just failed a mission, passed the deadline without scaring his subject. 'I-I failed my mission, sir.'
'And this is the what? 3rd, 4th time you've done so?'
'11th, sir.'
The Power smirked. Jungkook shut his eyes tight, not wanting to see the smug expression he knew the Power was wearing. He braced himself for his punishment.
'You know your deserve a punishment for this, right?' The Power tilted his head, raising his eyebrows (although it just looked like he lifted the skin on his face - the Power didn't really have eyebrows), knowing he wasn't going to get an answer but felt the need to taunt the young boy, 'If I wasn't so kind, I would have sent you to clean the troll room, but since I am so generous, you'll be feeding the goblins everyday for a year!'
Jungkook knew better than to protest at this. 'Yes, sir.' He looked up at Momo, who kept silent, sitting still, but he could still see the pained expression in her eyes. Her confusion, anger and sadness, all mixed together, lay in a pool in the brown orbs. Jungkook stood and left the room.
'Such a gangster, that one. Don't you think, my love?' The Power turned to Momo, his voice softening, but it still felt as if something was strangling you.
Momo gave a fake smile and nodded. She struggled to move, to break out of the restraints that kept her locked in her own body, keeping her still and silent. She wanted so bad to just scream, throw a tantrum, even just move a finger, but she just couldn't.
Millions of her own thoughts raced each other in her head, questions overpowering each other, impatient and wanting to be answered. Where was she? Why can't she move? What is the creature that sat beside her? And why does this situation feel oddly familiar?
Suddenly, she felt a sting on her hand, the feeling travelling through her body, almost freezing her brain. She swiftly jerked her head to the right and saw that, the creature had placed its hand on hers. She wanted to retract her hand, disgusted by what she saw. It spoke with its spine-chilling voice.
'I've finally found you, my queen Momo'.
