Love In A Sinking Realm ⊰BTS⊱ Steampunk

CHAPTER 6 ✑ Hostage

"Okay, so, Jun and Yoon, you two come with me. The rest of you stay out of sight," Jihmm examined the building while delving in his waistcoat and dragging a dagger from a hidden pocket.

"No bloody way! We're coming with you!" Jinghim cut him off.

"Yes, Jihmm, you can't make us stay! We can fight, too, you know!" added Taehberius indignantly and Selenya nodded in agreement.

"Guys, please! These are highly trained agents of the Royal Secret Service, not some random muscles for hire! Besides, it's most likely going to be a trap! If anything goes wrong, you must go on without us!"

"Absolutely not!" stated Jinghim adamantly, "We go in there together, or we don't go in there at all!"

"What if he's dead, Jinghim?" quivered Jihmm thinking of poor Hosea.

Selenya and the five brothers sighed grievously.

Prince Jinghim swallowed hard, "We are a family. If we survive, we survive together. And if we...if we die...we die together. Now lead the way."

Having no choice, he split them into groups based on their skills. Himself with Jun, Yoon with prince Jinghim, and Selenya with Taehberius. Jihmm, knowing the furtive methods of the agency, he went ahead first, peeked inside the cellar through a narrow window. After a moment he signed for them to follow.

"Is there anyone in?" Yoon whispered as they all crouched in front of the wooden door.

"I can't see anything, it's dark and the window is half-covered with a cloth," Jihmm replied with a troubled expression, "But I could've sworn that I heard noises."

"Someone's inside then, what are we waiting for?" said Jun eagerly.

"Because, Jun, they probably already know we're here and if they haven't tried to stop us yet, is because they're waiting for us inside. One big trap to ensnare us all at once!" asserted Jihmm irritably, "Imagine the lucky catch! The prince and all his bastard brothers in a sack! Not to mention the daughter of the traitor Duke Maximus, younger brother of Emperor Yujin of the Eastern Kingdom!"

They all stared at Selenya, who rolled her eyes sourly. It was no secret that the execution of her father was what officially started the conflicts between their Realm and the Eastern Empire.

"Okay, Jihmm, we get it! So, what's the plan?" Jinghim impelled.

Jihmm explained that they needed a diversion. He sent Selenya and Taehberius up on the roof of the building, using the fire escape ladders. Jinghim and Yoon were to secure the central part, also using the fire escape, meanwhile, Jihmm and Jun remained at the bottom, waiting for the cue to bust inside the cellar.

The bells of the cathedral rang eight times.

Once on the terrace, with the sun shining and the view of the city sprawling, the girl took one of her potions and mixed it with another, to create a substance that when in contact with oxygen it creates massive amounts of smoke, removed the cap and thew it down the chimney. Taehberius signaled his brothers after white gas started escaping the hole. Yoon and Jinghim broke the middle window and entered first. Taehberius and Selenya followed inside through the terrace door, holding up their pistols.

Rumbles and gunfire sounded from within the thick smoke. They went down the stairs, took out a few agents, and met with Jinghim and Yoon, busy in a gunfight against a few agents, hidden inside various rooms. The other two, broke down doors, looking for Hosea.

"We're clear!" shouted Yoon after his bullet hit the last foe, "Let's move!"

They searched the rest of the rooms on the current floor, but Hosea did not appear to be in any of them.

The group moved farther down, where they heard Jun and Jihmm breaking in the cellar and facing the rest of the agents. Violent commotion, shouts and gunfire filled the room, after Yoon kicked the door of the cellar, swinging it open. The opaque smoke, now mingled with the agitated dust, clouded their vision and smothered their lungs. Coughing, they dodged bullets that spurted erratically. Bleary figures, bathed in the fog, moved impetuously, friend or foe, impossible to tell them apart.

The boys pushed inside, while Selenya squinted her eyes, adjusting to the dark mist, looking around for the sixth brother. Taehberius pulled her down on the wooden floor, to avoid being hit by the blind gunshots, and in all fours they moved parallel to the wall, barrels and crates hindering their path. Jinghim and Yoon joined their brothers in combat.

An accute slice of an agent's blade slivered Jihmm's cheekbone, who groaned and fell only centimeters away from Selenya's nose. Taehberius pulled her by her waistcoat and into his embrace. The girl raised her pistol and shot the agent before he could finish off Jihmm. And that was when, between the swirling of smoke and dust, a severly bruised and wounded figure was unveiled.

Tied up on a small wooden chair in the corner of the storeroom, Hosea's beaten body laid senseless. His shirt was stained with his own blood. Under his worn-out trousers, dirt was smudged all over his bare feet.

Once a jolly fellow, as was accurately described by the librarian, with raven wavy hair, cut shorter on the sides, with a benevolent spirit reflected on his solar, heart-shaped smile. Hosea, the former bookkeeper in the capital, anointed Guardian of Literature by the queen herself, now a mere brutalized wretch.

"Oh my god...," uttered Selenya, "Hosea..."