Chapter Text
“You’ll regret this,” the demon told Yoongi, voice steady. Yoongi knew he had to be in pain – the chains he was bound with were soaked in holy water, which was pretty much poison to demons. Yoongi raised his sword and held it to the demon’s neck, but the demon just stared coolly, crimson eyes neither defiant nor scared – just uncaring.
Yoongi pressed his sword into the demon’s neck, just slightly and nicking the pale skin. Dark, inky black blood trickled from the cut, but the demon didn't even twitch. He snarled, “How could I possibly regret capturing a demon? The gatekeeper of hell, of all demons.”
The demon's eyes didn't waver even the slightest, and that ticked Yoongi off. He was expecting some of it, of course - they've never caught anyone as highly ranking as the gatekeeper, so he'd expected some kind of pride to be present, but he hadn't expected this. He'd had Jimin bring the purest of the holy water available and the demon was standing in a room cleaned completely with holy water, chained in bindings that were soaked in it, but he didn't seem to be feeling any of it.
"You'll regret it," the demon repeated, and a corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk.
Yoongi left him, more frustrated than he'd ever been, and posted sentries in front of the prison
room. He glanced back and the demon was openly smirking at him now, and he slammed the doors shut.
--
Seokjin sighed as soon as the doors shut, and raised his bound wrists to examine them. The chains burned, and being in the room was exhausting him unlike the façade he'd put up for the angel. Most of all, his leathery wings hurt, tied over and over again in thick chains.
He had no doubt that Namjoon and Jungkook were planning to bring hell straight into heaven. He gritted his teeth. He was angry that he even let this happen. He'd never been in danger before - Jungkook was the gatekeeper's personal guard, but he was also Namjoon's right hand. But heaven and hell were forever at raging war against each other, and Jungkook had to be overlooking that as well. Seokjin had never even had an attempt at kidnapping before, but of course it would be the one time that Jungkook wasn't present that this would happen.
He looked around the room, and tugged at the chains on his arms. The holy water hurt and it made him weak, but if the angels thought that this was all it takes to keep him at bay, they were horribly, horribly wrong. Just because he couldn't break the chains didn't mean he was useless.
--
"General!" Yoongi looked up at his title. There was an angel, panting heavily, his armor askew and his wings charred at one end. "It's the demon - he's-"
Yoongi didn't let the angel finish that sentence. He was running out immediately, Jimin and Taehyung hot on his heels and Hoseok right behind them. He heard the chaos before he saw it - there were a lot of yelling, a lot of crashing, and Yoongi saw the crack in the wall before it crumbled into rubble. "What the hell?!" Jimin cried, ducking under the debris and dashing ahead. "I thought we had holy water on him!"
"We did!" Taehyung yelled back, wrenching the doors open. The demon hadn't moved a single step from where he stood before. His arms were still chained, but dark, crackling energy was gathered in a ball in his hand. "What the fuck-"
"Nice to see you, too," the demon smirked before launching the ball at Taehyung, and Yoongi tackled him down. He put up a shield, and the next attack didn't make it through but did crack it on the first try. The demon scowled and then suddenly there was a barrage of dark energy onto Yoongi shield and Yoongi's knees buckled under him until Taehyung got his bearings and set up his own shield, expanding it outward until the barrage dissipated. The demon smirked at them, tossing a ball of dark energy up and down, like he wasn't chained at all. "A little unfair, isn't it? Four high-ranking angels against one me?"
Yoongi hissed. The holy water was bothering the demon - he could tell that much from the way the chains crackled violently, whipping dark burns where they touched. But the demon was keeping himself from letting them know. Hoseok had his sword drawn, as did Jimin, but the demon didn't look too bothered. "Sheathe your swords," Yoongi snapped, and Hoseok and Jimin protested. But when he glared at them, they complied. Yoongi hadn't bothered to unsheathe his. A power like this could probably deflect the sword as if it was made of sand. "I didn't expect Hell's gatekeeper to be so powerful."
"Wait until you see the general's power, then," Seokjin replied easily. Yoongi had seen the general's power. They'd clashed in battle all the time and always came out on equal grounds. That was, after all, the problem with hell and heaven. Neither one was more powerful than the other, and there was constant friction. He was fairly certain that this gatekeeper, if he could pull such strength even with the chains, would be even stronger without them.
Thankfully, Yoongi was prepared for strong demons. He walked straight up to the demon and slapped his palm onto the forehead, muttering the incantation before the demon could react. The demon immediately realized what he was trying to do and growled, lashing out, but Yoongi finished the spell with a smirk, watching the sealing circle appear on the demon’s forehead.
The demon sighed and watched his magic fade away. He looked directly down into Yoongi’s eyes, crimson gaze more amused than anything else. “You don’t play very fair, do you, angel? Sealing spells. Not fun at all. Must have taken a blow to your pride, though, having to put me down with a sealing spell. At least you’re strong enough to seal my powers, though.”
“Pride has nothing to do with it,” Yoongi snapped. “I do whatever I do to keep heaven safe.”
The corner of the demon’s lips pulled up into a smirk. “I forget; Pride is a deadly sin. You aren’t a very good liar, though, are you, angel? I suppose it comes with being one.” He tossed his hair. “Now that I can’t use magic, can I get a bath?”
--
Seokjin was pretending he was fine, but he wasn’t. He was pretty fucking pissed. Namjoon always told him he had to be careful of sealing spells because even though Seokjin was a fearsome mage, he wasn’t much for physical defense or offense. And now he’d let his guard down enough for a short little angel to seal him in.
They'd unchained his hands and ankles but left the heavy chains on his wings, which was still a nuisance. At least, Seokjin thought, it was an improvement.
The bath that’d been provided for him wasn’t holy water (thank Lucifer for that, or Seokjin would’ve just swerved back on his heels out of the bathhouse), and it was nice. Jasmine, he thought, smelling the jar of oil. The only thing getting on his nerves was the angel standing guard about a meter away. It wasn’t one of the low-ranking angels, but a high ranking one with a gold shimmer to his white wings. “Hey,” he called, and the angel glanced over like he hadn’t been checking Seokjin out the entire time. “Are all the angels short like you and the general?”
His jab made the angel flush a bright red and start stuttering, and he smirked. He rubbed the bath oil on his arm. It smelled nice and he wondered if he could get Namjoon to get him some once he got back. “Hey,” he called again, and the angel glared up at him, probably wary of another jab. “What’s your name?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because for you angels, it’s easy to call me just ‘the demon’, but for me there are a lot of you.” Seokjin snapped, patience wearing thin. He didn’t have much to begin with (patience was a virtue, after all), and this angel was frustrating him.
The angel examined him for a while, and then finally shrugged. “You know, your attitude doesn’t match your face.”
Seokjin raised an eyebrow, turning back to the angel. “What? What’s wrong with my face?”
The angel blushed a bright red again. “There’s nothing wrong with your face. That’s it. I thought demons weren’t supposed to look.. like you.”
“Like me.” Seokjin repeated, and then a grin spread on his lips. “Oh, you mean I’m pretty.” His grin turned devilish and he turned back to his bath. “Too bad for you guys, fucking demons is a sin.”
“I wouldn’t – that’s blasphemy.” The angel snapped, and Seokjin glanced back to see him running a frustrated hand through his hair. He chuckled and lifted himself out of the scented water and reached for a white, fluffy towel. “Jimin,” the angel said, and Seokjin looked up. “I’m Jimin.” When Seokjin just nodded, Jimin frowned. “You know, it’s common courtesy to give your name back.”
Seokjin only chuckled, drawing the white robes that they’d given him on over his shoulders. It looked weird on him. He was so used to wearing nothing but black, and the white cloth felt awkward. “I’m a demon. I don’t have common courtesy. Do you treat all your prisoners this way?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jimin shrugged. “Not this well, but we’re not like you demons. Also, you’re kind of a high end prisoner, so.. Yoongi said we should keep you unharmed and relatively comfortable. I don’t really know his reasons why, but we listen to what he says.”
“Yoongi.” Seokjin repeated, testing the name out on his tongue. “That’s the general’s name.”
Jimin hesitated. “Uh… Was I not supposed to tell you that? You can’t, like, kill things with their names, can you?”
Seokjin scoffed. “You angels and your bizarre beliefs. If I could kill you with just your names, your entire army would be wiped out. Not to mention you just gave me yours.” He angrily adjusted the chains on his wings, wishing he could just rip them off. But they were knotted so tightly he couldn’t even figure out where the chains started, and he figured the angel general was counting on that anyway. Plus, even if he started to get to work on the chains, he was apparently going to be closely guarded anyway.
--
Yoongi walked in to find the demon sleeping on the bed they’d provided for him. His black wings and black hair contrasted starkly again the white sheets, and Yoongi made sure not to wake the demon as he made his way over.
His brows were furrowed lightly, no doubt, Yoongi thought, because of the chains still knotted around his wings. But otherwise he was sleeping pretty soundly while he was in enemy territory. Yoongi knelt, carefully raising his hand to swipe black bangs from the demon's face so he could see better. The demon was almost intensely good looking. He'd always thought Taehyung was the best looking he'd ever find, but here the demon was, shattering his belief.
He looked too kind to be a demon, sleeping like this, but awake the red eyes were too sharp to be an angel's. (Although Yoongi had been told on multiple occasions that his gaze was sharp enough to slice rocks).
He reached his hand again to swipe the bangs away again, but red eyes jolted open and he found himself staring face-to-face with the demon. The demon blinked quietly, and the corners of his lips pulled up into a sleepy smirk. "I am kinda pretty," he snickered, and Yoongi scowled. "You have a habit of watching people when they sleep?"
Yoongi narrowed his eyes. "If you're trying to fluster me, it's going to take more than that."
"Well, boo-hoo. Why are you staring at me while I’m asleep, anyway?” The demon stretched, back arching as he yawned and pushed his arms above his head. He tried to stretch his wings – Yoongi saw it in the way he curled his back, and then paused with a frown when he remembered the chains. He kept his chin high and swung his legs off the side Yoongi wasn’t on, muttering lowly under his breath. “Is there something you wanted, other than to gawk at your prisoner?”
“I had a question for you.” Yoongi stood straight, scowling and crossing his arms across his chest. “You didn’t kill any angel guards, even though you could have. Why not?”
The demon glanced up at him, regarding him quietly for a while before shrugging. “Killing is overrated. You angels, you act all so high and mighty, but you’re not much different from us. You’ve slaughtered just as many of us as we did of you.”
Yoongi’s eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t my question.”
“Of course it wasn’t.” The demon smirked, tossing his hair. “But that’s my answer. Anyway, this sealing magic’s pretty impressive. Better than the one I taught Namjoon, I have to say. I’ll have to teach him a better one once I get back..”
Yoongi scowled. “What makes you think you’re going back at all?”
Seokjin smirked. “General, if you don’t think Namjoon and Jungkook are doing everything they can to get me back, you’re far stupider than I thought.”
--
Seokjin sighed and shook out his wings. He’d finally managed to pick the lock and untangle the chains, and he kicked away the mess of dark chains on the ground. He still couldn’t use magic with the seal on him and flying probably wasn’t gonna get him anywhere far, but at least he wasn’t dealing with the constant throb or the weight of the holy-water chains. He massaged his shoulders, sighing in relief.
“Holy..!” A familiar voice said, and he found Jimin at the door, jaw dropped and holding a plate of food in his hands. “You – how did you work your way out of the chains?!”
“I picked the lock,” Seokjin rolled his eyes. He snatched the plate from Jimin’s hands and bit into the bread. He gave Jimin a look. “Go on. Shouldn’t you be running to tell Yoongi?”
Jimin stared at him for a while. “Why aren’t you – why aren’t you trying to fly out of the place? Or like, wreaking havoc like what you did the first day?”
Seokjin tapped his forehead, pushing his bangs up so Jimin could see the seal since he’d clearly forgotten. “I’m not a very good flier, either. No point. The chains were getting on my fucking nerves, but that’s it.” He chewed through the bread and picked up the tea. “Shouldn’t you be reporting this back to your general?”
Jimin rubbed his temple and poked his head back out. There was a muted conversation that Seokjin didn’t bother listening to, and Jimin shut the door again. Seokjin just shrugged and walked back toward the bed, letting his wings stretch out fully. He heard an intake of breath and he looked back, raising an eyebrow. Jimin looked embarrassed, and then he sighed. “Sorry. Your wings are pretty magnificent. I’ve never seen any like that. I thought demon wings were supposed to be ragged..”
“You’ve never seen a high ranking demon’s wings, evidently.” Seokjin shrugs. After a bit of munching on the apple, he looks back at Jimin. “The name’s Seokjin. You wanted to know, right?”
Jimin looked surprised, then nodded. “You’re kind of nice. As nice as demons go, I guess.”
Seokjin snorted and bit into the apple. The ones down in hell tasted better. “Tell me about your general.”
--
Yoongi wasn’t surprised when Hoseok came in telling him that the demon had managed to break the chains off his wings, and he took his time getting to the room. He found Jimin sitting on the floor, talking to the demon about something. “-he’s seriously the best we have. And he looks like he’s cold, but once he likes you he starts smiling and really, it’s the best thing ever because you know he cares about you.”
Ah. Yoongi frowned and cleared his throat. “I appreciate the compliment, Jimin. But I wasn’t aware you were so close to our prisoner.”
Jimin jumped up at that, looking guilty and embarrassed at the same time. “Yoongi! Uh, I was, just, uh. Seokjin wanted to know about you, so, uh,”
Yoongi raised an eyebrow. Seokjin. Jimin had even gotten the demon’s name. He just waved Jimin away and glanced over the wings. There were no scars on them – it was just smooth leather, gleaming in the light. Wings that had never seen battle. But of course. Yoongi knew just how precious hell’s gatekeeper was to the general. He’d never let him be hurt, much less go into battle. “Seokjin, is it.”
“It is,” Seokjin smiled, almost lazily. “Although I would have told you, if you just asked.”
“I wasn’t particularly interested.”
“Ouch, I’m offended.” Seokjin’s smile didn’t waver. “Are you going to chain me up again?”
“Waste of resources. They were there mostly for show, anyway. You aren’t any better off now that you have them off.” Yoongi saw the smile twitch at his point. Seokjin wasn’t. He might have been powerful enough to create chaos with his magic, but Yoongi was well aware Seokjin hadn’t exactly gone around fighting or even preparing. He wasn’t weak, but he was going to be no match for seasoned fighters with training.
Seokjin seemed like he wanted to say something, but he ended up sighing. “Your arm.”
Yoongi frowned. “What?”
“Your arm.” Seokjin repeated. “Jimin told me you met Namjoon and he cut you. I know Namjoon’s sword deals cursed damage. I put the curse on it myself” He reached out and grabbed Yoongi’s arm. Yoongi frowned when Seokjin pushed the sleeves up, fingers brushing across the bandages. Yoongi had been cut by Namjoon enough times to know that the blade dealt unhealable damage to angels. It was annoying, but Yoongi dealt with it because his own holy blade dealt unhealable damage to demons. The curse faded after enough time, anyway.
He watched nimble fingers undo the bandages and Seokjin winced at the deep cut, blackened with poison. Yoongi shrugged. “He wasn’t very happy that I took his gatekeeper away.”
“No, I assume not.” Seokjin snorted. “He gets protective. This might sting a little.” Yoongi scowled and jumped when a black glow engulfed his arm and a sharp pain shot down his arm. His first reaction was that Seokjin had somehow disabled him, and his second was shock when he remembered Seokjin’s magic was supposed to be sealed.
He yanked his arm back and found it completely healed, his pale skin unmarred. Even his past scars had been healed. “You…” His eyes widened. “How are you able to use your magic when it’s supposed to be sealed?”
“I thought angels were supposed to have manners. What happened to plain old ‘thank you’?” Seokjin snorted, standing up and letting the bandage fall to the ground. “Whoever taught you that sealing magic wasn’t clear, obviously. You sealed off all offensive magic. It’s a strong seal, but if it’s that strong, it’s not going to be able to seal off everything, especially not for someone like me. It seals off everything that can potentially be harmful. My healing magic can’t be potentially harmful. So it stays.”
Yoongi examined his arm, brushing his hands where the wound used to be. “And you somehow were able to tell this just from what I did?”
“Of course. Any competent magic user should be able to.” Seokjin shrugged, getting up to take a bite of the apple. “Your apples fucking suck.”
“Why did you heal me?” Yoongi demanded, rising and narrowing his eyes.
Seokjin shrugged. “Pain. It’s overrated.”
--
Yoongi saw red eyes swivel down to where the cut should have been. Namjoon’s lips curled in an obvious snarl. “I wasn’t aware demons could heal,” Yoongi said, almost conversationally, like they weren’t meeting up at a table where one wrong word could spark chaos between heaven and hell.
The demon general’s eyebrow twitched, but he managed a lazy smirk. It reminded Yoongi a lot of Seokjin’s smirk and he scowled. “I’m flattered that you think demons can heal that fast without a healer.” Yoongi’s scowl deepened. He had the biggest urge to just draw his blade and start slashing away, but he knew that was going to just spark war, and he was trying to avoid more casualties at all costs.
He had the upper hand. Without their gatekeeper, hell’s gates stayed wide open, so with Taehyung still at their side, they could control when the attacks happened. Not to mention that Namjoon seemed to be placing Seokjin’s return above anything else. “You’re letting personal feeling get in the way of your work,” Yoongi commented, watching Namjoon’s eyebrow twitch again. “Putting everything at risk for one demon… Surely it can’t be worth it.”
Namjoon stood, and there was fury in his eyes Yoongi had never seen before in all their years of clashing. “You’ll regret this, General.” Namjoon said, voice clipped. “I’ll show you hell like never before if you hurt him.”