let the world burn — kim jongin
➳ published: 21.08.20 ➳ necromancer!au || magic!au || genre: angst || dark || fantasy || rated: m ➳ pairing: kim jongin x reader ➳ summary: Your death had caused a change in him. With your blood on his hands, Jongin knew he had to make things right, make it up to you in whatever way he could - even if you hated him for it. ➳ word count: 2.9k ➳ warnings: undead armies, game of thrones vibes, death and destruction, patricide ➳ inspired by @lolothebookworm’s drabble - basically a continuation feedback is welcome and appreciated
He had once offered you the world.
Now, you stood beside him as he burned it to the ground.
There was no way that Jongin was going to let you stay dead, he wouldn’t give you that luxury because he isn’t a good man and on top of that, he’s a selfish man. “Doesn’t it look beautiful, my love?” He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, inhaling the death and destruction around him, a smile playing on the corner of his lips like he’s breathing in the ocean rather than a sea of burning flesh.
You don’t look at the carnage around you, focusing on the blue flame that dances along the back of your fingers and around the paled flesh of your hand as you twist your hand this way and that. Jongin watches you, waiting for an answer, and you make him wait longer. His eyes don’t leave the side of your face as you continue to play with your flame, unable to feel the warmth because nothing can seem to heat your undead body; you sigh, closing your fist and extinguishing the flame inside it before looking at the ruins that once was the farmland that surrounded your homeland. “It looks wonderful, master.” You word it politely but your tone has enough venom in it to kill a snake. “Are you going to resurrect the soldiers and add them to your army? Use them to intimidate the King into giving up?”
Jongin shakes his head. “I will grow my army but it is not them that’ll get the King to give up his throne.” If you could feel anything other than resentment for the man, you’d fear the words that would soon come out of his mouth but that’s what happens when you die, when you are risen from the dead, you lose your soul and everything that comes with having one. “My Queen will be doing the honour of dethroning our former ruler.”
You bow deeply, feeling that resentment grow as you see that sparkle in his dark eyes. The same sparkle that Jongin would get when he would sneak you out of the house; the one that made you believe that he was the most amazing boy you’d ever met. The same sparkle that had caused you to fall in love with him. That was all history now, all in the past but it seems that Jongin truly believes that you are by his side willingly, not because he’s bound you to him when he gave up some of his blackened soul to bring you back to him. “Whatever my master wants, I will do.”
He softens when he approaches you, placing his hands on your shoulders and you shudder in displeasure because it seems that even though nothing can make you feel anything – Jongin is the exception to that rule. “Why do you call me that?”
“What else would I call you, master?”
“Jongin…”
You look at him, really look at him and once upon a time, the look of despair and desperation in his eyes would have caused your heart to ache but as you look into those eyes that once saw the world in such a bright light, you feel nothing but bitterness towards him. “Is that what you want me to call you?” He nods, biting his bottom lip as his brow knits together and he wishes that he could see a glimmer of the love that you once had for him. “Okay, Jongin. I will do as you command.”
Jongin sighs, hands dropping to his side as he turns to face the chaos that he created. His undead army tears through the final defence that stops him from storming the city. Bodies, his undead and the King’s army, are scattered across the fields, fires burn unchecked and destroy the once plentiful farms, and in the distance, Jongin can hear the bells toll. “It is time.” He pushes the pain he feels from your coldness to the back of his mind as he inhales deeply and lifts his arms in the air, chanting the dark incantation to raise his army.
You watch, disinterested, as the groans of thousands echo around you and like you, the dead rise up to obey their master. You are sickened by the favouritism that Jongin shows you because he still uses you as a pawn in his game, he doesn’t know how to love you because if he did – he would have left you with the dagger in your heart.
You didn’t believe the rumours at first, they never contained any evidence and they only seemed to be nothing more than whispers in the wind until the kingdom next to the one you served burned to the ground and its citizens sought refuge with your King. That was when you heard the horrors first hand instead of in the corner of some tavern with a drunk bard singing out of tune. Your beloved Jongin had gone dark, given up the light and turned down a twisted path for reasons that you still don’t know; he was out to set the world on fire and you just happened to be another casualty, someone who had gotten in the way but also, someone he couldn’t leave behind.
“Come, my love.” He holds out his hand and the control from the bond compels you to take it. This causes Jongin to smile with pride. He’s not proud of how you came to this point, preferring the warm touch of your lips against his rather than feeling you lay cold and lifeless in his arms, but Jongin won’t complain about having you by his side.
No one can separate you from him again and if they try – he’ll kill them.
You walk beside him, using your magic to clear the flames from your path. “You will be a strong ruler. Fair and kind.” You roll your eyes, choosing to bite your tongue least he orders you to bite it off. “A beauty that’ll be spoken about across the other kingdoms.”
“What kingdoms?” You interject, unable to stop the words from tumbling out of your mouth as you stop in your tracks and look at Jongin. You want him to see the hatred that you hold in your heart and it kills you more when you notice that he doesn’t even register it. “From what I remember, you killed all who opposed you and left everything in ruins.”
“You are mistaken, my love. That is only fair because they wanted fear to be spread but I didn’t kill everyone – only those who stood in my way.”
“Like me.” You see it then, the pain and regret flash across Jongin’s face before disappearing behind his carefully crafted mask.
He lifts your hand to his lips and kisses the back of your palm; the warmth of his lips is the only thing you feel until he pulls away and looks you in the eyes. “You are my biggest regret. I had dreamt many times of us being reunited but I never thought we would turn out like this but fate can play cruel cards when it comes to love.”
Love.
Does Jongin even know the meaning of that word or does he faintly remember what it was once like to be loved and to love someone that he desperately holds onto the memory even as it fades? Jongin’s not even entirely sure if he knows what love truly is but he knows that he would rather feel life draining from his veins than live another day without you. He’s lived several years too many without you, several years that shaped and warped him into this twisted, broken man, he doesn’t think he could live another day like that.
“Please,” he sighs, composing himself for the march on the city. “Let’s not speak about such sad times, I want you to focus on the task at hand.”
Suddenly, all thoughts about what Jongin has done to you vanish from your mind and all you can think about is the city that you are going to be ruling. Jongin has made it clear that he will be ruling by your side but he doesn’t want to be the one they bow to; he wants that to be you. His Queen, something he always called you even when you were training to be sorcerers, knowing full well that you could never rule, only serve. He didn’t believe that though, and that was where this all started, after you had been taken from him and he dreamt of you sitting on a throne with the world burning around you. Jongin didn’t know what that meant but something inside him wanted it to be real and every day he spent without you, without your smile and laugh, caused him to fall deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole until he figured out a plan to make this dream come true.
Oh, how close it was to being true.
“They aren’t going to bow to an undead Queen.” You mumble, the undead army controlled by Jongin surrounding you as the citizens flee in fear. “There will be more chaos and death if I am placed on the throne.”
The grin Jongin wears would send chills up a normal man’s spine but all it does for you is cause you to raise an eyebrow in suspicion. “They will bow. I am the most powerful sorcerer in history, we command an undefeatable army and you, my dear future Queen, will be loved and revered by everyone who crosses your path. Just you wait and see, they will bow.”
The King is surrounded by his guard, the final stand against the threat and you find it comical almost. They know that there is no surviving, that if they try and take on Jongin that they will lose and yet, they bravely stand in the throne room, protecting their King. Jongin looks at you, nodding his head and you lift your hand. The flames dance up your arm, the blue glowing in the room and causing a few of the men to move backwards; you grin coldly at their retreat and lift your arms, the flames in the room turning blue. “Oh, come on now, don’t be afraid of me.”
Jongin looks over at the King, smiling at him like he’s greeting an old friend. “Hello, Father.”
“You are not my son.” The old King replies, his booming voice echoing around the room. “My son died three years ago; you are nothing more than a twisted shell of the man he once was.”
You look at Jongin, wondering what the King is talking about. You don’t remember any news about Jongin having died, Jongin doesn’t seem to be undead either, so you aren’t sure what has happened in the past years since you left the kingdom to take your new position.
“Still, whether you acknowledge me or not, I am still the rightful heir to the throne.”
“I am not dead, boy, and even when I am, you will not be getting anything.”
Jongin shakes his head, shoulders shaking slightly as he laughs. “You are still an old fool. Have you not heard the power that I hold?”
“You are an abomination!” The King shouts, standing up and pointing at you. “You killed the woman you loved and kept her alive because her death means you are truly lost.”
Jongin’s mask falters and you see the pain of the truth mixed with pure anger at the King’s words. “You tore her away from me!” Jongin shouts back, his palm facing the King and you can see that his magic has stopped the King in his tracks as he looks like he’s been strangled from several feet away. “If you hadn’t sent her away then maybe this would never have happened,” a cruel, twisted smile makes it way onto Jongin’s handsome face as he closes his hand into a fist and the sounds of the King’s choking begins to fill the room. “Though, there is a way you can make everything right.” Jongin looks at you and he gives you a sad smile. “My love, go and stand next to our former King.”
You raise an eyebrow in confusion but his command has you moving even if you didn’t want to. You have no clue on what Jongin has in mind but you are interested to find out. He looks at you when you stand next to the King, watching as Jongin’s face is overcome with determination as he begins to chant and you watch in shock as the men around you fall to their knees and the King shakes violently as his skin grows pale.
That’s when you feel it.
It hurts at first, like a shock surging through you and electrifying every cell in your body, and then you feel like your body is on fire. You clutch your chest, the scar that never healed but Jongin had sewn closed, begins to burn as the skin stitches itself together while you grunt in pain and you can barely breath as you fall to the ground, black spots clouding your vision. “Jo-” You try to speak but you merely squeak. “Wha-”
Hours feel like they pass by, days even, and when you finally regain consciousness, Jongin is crouching beside you. “How do you feel?”
He holds out his hand for you to take and the first thing you realise is that you don’t have this overwhelming urge to grab it. You blink several times, looking from his hand to his face and Jongin doesn’t give away anything as he waits for you to take his offer. “What’s happened?” You gingerly stand up, Jongin supporting you as you clutch your head. “What did you do?”
Jongin takes a moment, helping you to the throne so you can sit down. You notice that he looks like he’s aged years in such a short period of time, his skin losing colour and his hair no longer silky and brown. “I promised you years ago that I would make you Queen.” He looks out at the bodies lying lifeless on the ground and you wonder why he hasn’t raised them to join his army. “When my father sent you away, when we were separated, I didn’t cope very well. I trained harder, grew stronger, and vowed to get you back. While out on a quest to find out why several young virgin girls were missing from a local village, the party I was with was attacked by some undead and I was nearly killed. The sorceress who commanded them liked the way I looked and decided to spare my life and teach me her magic but it came with a price.” That must be what the King meant about Jongin having died a few years ago. “With each man I raised, I lost a piece of my soul, my sanity, until my view of the world had been twisted and warped. I barely knew who I was but all I knew was that I finally had the power to get you back and that was what I clung to for all these years.”
He smiles softly at you, wrinkles forming at the corner of his eyes as he takes in your beauty. “What changed?” You dare to ask, wondering what could cause a man so lost to find his way.
“When you said I wasn’t a good man…” He sighs, remembering your final words as Jongin drove a knife through your heart. “When I watched the life leave your body, I knew I made a mistake and I couldn’t live with myself so in a panic, I brought you back.”
“You expected me to love you if I was under your command?”
Jongin shakes his head. “I knew you hated me with every fibre in your body but I didn’t care, I finally had you back in my arms and I could finally give you what I promised all those years ago.” He coughs, covering his mouth to catch the blood that comes up. “I know that I’ll never earn your forgiveness for everything I’ve done but I hope I can show you that I do mean it when I say I love you.”
You reach for Jongin as he falls to his knees, bowing his head and offering his allegiance to you – the new Queen. “Jongin, what did you do?” There is the slightest hint of concern in your voice because he doesn’t look well – in fact, he looks worse than dead.
“In order to bring someone truly back from the dead, sacrifices need to be made.” You gasp as you realise what he’s done, sacrificing all those men and his own father to give you back the life he took from you. “I gave up my own immortality as well.”
“But that means…”
“I’ve only got a few more years to live.” Jongin nods, offering you a sad smile. “I hope in the meantime I can earn your forgiveness but if not, I hope I can help you rule like the Queen I know you can be.”
You don’t know what to say, you have no idea what to do but with new life coursing through your veins and a kingdom thrust under your command, you know that you have lots to do. Standing up and looking down at Jongin, you sigh. “Set up a council,” he stands, bowing his head, “I guess I’ve got a kingdom to run.”
