I HAVE SEEN IT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘You said you wanted to go home, that they would take you home. But they can’t right now- not without losing.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘They’re all trying very hard- especially Yoongi and-‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘-I think he’s in trouble right now.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Can you leave? I will try to help you, I don’t know if I can.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Follow it.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Follow their voices, their dreams, follow their souls, follow their memories, follow their hearts- they will guide you.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘My name is Jimin.’

When Jimin wakes up he understands that he was now perceiving a time past the realm of possibility. Yet, he was whole, he was intact – as though he had simply stepped out of the continuum and returned to it simply at a whim. But he’s not here because of an accident. He’s not here because he chose to be here- all acts of life are rarely an occurrence of chance. Every single minute action or motion sets forth a network of changes visible and calculated but more so inconceivable and unimaginable.

And yet here he was, in this moment, apart.

But he was also, in this moment, a part.

A part of something much more powerful, much more terrible, and much more heartbreaking than Time itself.

When Jimin wakes up he understands that he has been betrayed.

Before him stood the Being he had been talking to- sharing voices and memories that echoed in that space beyond Time. Behind him stood 4 others- all of them simply watching.

An ancient light dwells in him- chaotic and powerful, yet dormant and somehow uncared for. And Jimin instantly sees him clearly- a Child, from a time that birthed his home, his life, his Fate.

Please remember please remember please remember please remember

Jimin remembers too much. He can still feel the gnawing pain that ripped through him- his heart heavy and tied and knotted with their last breaths.

He will remember. He will. He just needs Time.

Jimin looks behind him slowly, sees another Child, much younger, torn apart and brought together with pain unfathomable and undeserved. The light of a dying star enshrouds him in dull neon red. 

‘All right so who the are you?’ he demands angrily.

Jimin has seen his dreams- no, not quite dreams. Sk’jin did not have dreams- he lived a nightmare that stretched into one continuous coil of dread that lost all detail yet never lacked in pain. Reaching up, Jimin places his hands over Sk’jin’s temples. And he can see all of the loss- the broken promises that thread together his sorrow that follows him, a dark red sun just a little out of sight.

‘Where have they gone?’ he asks quietly, looking past the neon red and into the same expanse of endless white.

He hears a distant roaring voice, formless shapes stalking him in a dense jungle, countless dying eyes holding contact, unable to look away.

‘I promise,’ he whispers, unknowing, hopeful, and so full of love.

So full of pain.

There was too much to comprehend- too much to see, understand, feel; but Jimin does not have time. Even if Taeh’yung tells him he can trust them- can listen to them, Jimin cannot do it. Not when he is stranded, his heart torn out.

Namjoon observes him with curiosity over anything else- Jimin feels studied. Jimin doesn’t have to look far to observe his pain. Jimin has never seen a Being who has been this altered in their entirety- he can see his wholeness, and he can see where he is empty too.

‘Is it what I need?’

He feels the heat of a pyre burning around him, the searing cold of realization that displaces you entirely. Almost leaving afloat with no anchor. Hoseok always has him under observation, always places himself in a way where he can defend himself or remove himself if needed. He never presents himself as physically intimidating- he moved quickly and lightly, eyes trained to catch any subtle gesture, ears trained for anything moving too close. Hoseok does not observe him the way Namjoon does. He does not fear Jimin the way Sk’jin does. Hoseok watches him the way a hunter tracks a potential prey; carefully, casually, closely.

‘I’ll be fine dad- it won’t be any different than what you or mum did.’

There is so much horror, pain- heartbreak.

‘That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.’

They ask him all sorts of questions. Jimin answers as best as he can, based off of what he has gleamed into their dreams, into their conversations, into their fears. Taeh’yung translates the language as best as he can, but Jimin doesn’t need a translator to understand the hostility, doubt, paranoia, and fear in their eyes.

And he can’t blame them for it either. Because Jimin cannot trust them- not yet, not without knowing more. He doesn’t, however, have the time to think.

But he knows that he needs to show himself as unthreatening, declare himself safe; convince them that they have to take him back to Menigišiti. He smiles, his movement and gestures practiced to be approachable, to be perceived as someone no more than a curiosity. And Jimin knows how to behave- how to watch and observe without being realized. He approaches each and every single one of them, listening to the songs of their souls.

‘Give them a chance,’ Taeh’yung tells him.

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘I know what you’re doing,’ Taeh’yung says with a grin before adding with a giggle, ‘I mean, it’s not that difficult if I’m being honest- Namjoon and Sk’jin can barely look at each other for more than 5 seconds and Hoseok is barely keeping everything together.’

Namjoon had just walked past, eyeing them curiously. Somehow the timing of it all makes Jimin laugh too. He notices how Namjoon rolls his eyes.

‘You do it too,’ Jimin tells Taeh’yung.

Taeh’yung just grins lazily at him, leaning back on the couch lobby, the shadows behind him murmuring at a constant low level. How did he live with all of that?

‘Isn’t it better that I do?’   

Taeh’yung tells him what he can, the 4 around him whispering and murmuring, recounting their witnesses from eons past. Taeh’yung tells him of what happened almost four sols ago; describes the appearance of the Red Evil, of a betrayal that links to his heart, of life robbed.

‘I don’t know what to tell you,’ he adds quietly, turning somber, ‘Will you allow yourself to see it?’

And Jimin understands the threat he’s facing- the threat he carries by existing here, the threat his System was facing. When they arrive at that moon, air dry and arid, Jimin takes a moment to observe and understand the ship he was in. It was simpler than what he was used to- yet somehow strangely complex where it needn’t be. But he’s fairly certain he could pilot it by himself even with the language barrier. Perhaps he could convince Taeh’yung to go with him. He would gently suggest to Namjoon, Sk’jin, and Hoseok to remain back at the moon. Of course first he would need to ask them for information: their truths. It would be better for them- they were here not because they understood, but because of their own desires to gain some form of redemption.

Jimin knows this because that was what he was about to do too. And he can’t allow them to be dragged into this.

But when Yoongi opens his eyes and looks at him, his soul, his mind, his heart calls out to him and Jimin is there to answer.  

This is what he did not understand, out of everything he woke up to.

Jimin understands betrayal- he could already sense it when he left for Megibīya.

He understands loss- when he couldn’t even say goodbye.

He understands pain- pain from fear, anger, loneliness; Jimin understands these but this.

Jimin remembers how it was when he was ripped out of his arms- glaring red lights burning all around them. He remembers his cold lips pressed against his, the gentle touch of a tired and yet still shining soul.

‘Sunshine,’ he says to him, his heart beating anew.

How was he here? How did it come to this? What cruel fate awaited him as punishment for his blindness?

And Jimin knows he cannot simply leave them here and go back to his System. Not when he doesn’t understand how Yoongi is here – but he has a fearful hunch that it’s connected to him. Connected to his Fate.

They all were.

So here he was, the same warmth, the same acceptance, the same adoration – here he was, once again, stepping out into the sunlight, hand outstretched towards a desperate hope.

Yoongi smiles at him and Jimin cannot go. He knows he can’t.

He won’t.

‘It would be just like this.’

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

Yoongi has long lashes.

They’re quite dark, and quite long like this. Normally it’s not something most Beings would notice – either because Yoongi was so adamant in being unnoticed and unknown, perceiving him in minute detail was not something anyone could easily do. But here, in this moment, Jimin can learn Yoongi to his heart’s content.

Even here, Yoongi is tired. He sleeps more- sometimes Jimin catches him sleepwalking, headed for the doorway that’s somehow open no matter how many times he closes it shut. So Jimin does not sleep here. Instead he spends quiet hours of sunlight, rain, shooting stars, and dreams holding Yoongi close to himself. He likes to listen to his breaths- and the rest of the Universe simply falls in to step.

Yoongi’s facing him, hair soft and a mess, one hand resting close to his face. The thin band of dark ink is stark in contrast to the paleness of his skin. He’s completely relaxed, completely at peace here, like this, with him.

Jimin carefully takes his hand in his, kissing it gently, glad to find them warm.

Sitting up slowly, Jimin makes sure the blanket around Yoongi is secure. Yoongi shifts in his sleep, reaching forward as though looking for him. Jimin doesn’t move, simply watching the Human with a soft smile as he grabs at his still warm pillow and breathing out, stops fidgeting.

Getting out of bed, Jimin steps towards the tall windows.

It’s dusk outside- and though there’s a thick mist right outside, covering any semblance of the grounds outside, Jimin can pinpoint distant mountain ranges, the white of their snowy peaks transparent almost. The sky is slowly turning inky, stars appearing slowly, as though waking up.

And with them, Yoongi too stirs awake.

‘You’re here?’ he sits up, blinking as though clearing his sight. Jimin goes to sit next to him. ‘You’re-‘

Yoongi looks over him in concern and it’s only then that Jimin realizes his clothes are splattered with a strange black liquid.

‘I-‘ Jimin stares at his hands, his clothes, and the spot he just vacated on their bed. There’s a black pool of liquid there. Wet footprints lead up to where he was standing, and suddenly, his hair starts dripping.

‘-‘ Yoongi yanks at the blankets and whips it over Jimin.

‘Oh-‘ Jimin stammers again, his mind rushing, ‘I- I think I just- I just came here – I uh-‘

‘What’s happening?’ Yoongi pulls him close, as though to protect him.

But this place was shelter. That’s why he came here- out of instinct, he sought after where he knew he would be safe. And he was here- with Yoongi. He was safe here- yet somehow, he was bringing with him something that wasn’t supposed to be here. Something that was trying to follow after him.

‘I can’t- I can’t be here,’ Jimin quickly stands, dropping the blanket.

‘Are you all right?’ Yoongi asks, standing up quickly and holding onto Jimin as though worried he might sprint off. The lights in their bedroom winks on and that’s when Jimin realizes it’s dark out. Not dark in the way it normally was- not dark in the way it is when Yoongi’s mind is wracked in fear and despair, the storm of his emotions ravaging and breaking things.

No, this darkness was different. It wasn’t here for Yoongi- it wasn’t here because of Yoongi.

‘I think so,’ Jimin says as firmly as he can, taking Yoongi’s hands in his. ‘I think- I think I was scared. So I came here.’

Yoongi’s worried expression is replaced with something soft, something akin to relief.

‘Do you need help?’ he asks, threading their fingers.

Jimin shakes his head, ‘Tell- tell the others I’m okay. I think…-I’m just um-’

‘It’s okay,’ Yoongi says quietly, ‘It’s okay to be afraid.’

To Jimin’s horror, the dark liquid is seeping through the windows, pooling around his feet. There’s a splashing sound, and turning quickly, Jimin notices how water is cascading down the stairs at the hallway at a gushing speed. Somehow, Yoongi doesn’t seem to notice, or care. He’s not affected by the water, it’s up to their ankles now but his clothes are still dry where as it’s staining up Jimin’s clothes rapidly.

‘I didn’t…I never thought they would still somehow be here,’ Jimin tells him, slowly taking a step back.

Yoongi doesn’t let go of their hands.

‘They’re gone,’ Yoongi tells him reassuringly. ‘I saw them all die. I saw them all destroyed. They’re gone.’

‘Their memories still linger,’ Jimin replies shakily, ‘It’s-…they never existed in a way that was strictly of this Universe. They were not really born of this Time either, so they still remain in ways we cannot comprehend.’

The Red Evil were forcefully remade, reborn; Yishengs who took upon themselves strange and horrible experiments, and later in their reduced and dying stages, abandoned to be forgotten and torn apart by the force of a blackhole. Their existence already went against every single possibility of reality – why would their deaths be any different?

‘And it still ties to the others, the New Borns, the eggs-,’ Jimin pauses, blinking away the water still dripping from his hair, ‘Still ties to you, to us.’

‘What can I do?’

‘Just-,’ Jimin shivers, ‘Just be here. I’ll come back.’

Yoongi doesn’t look away, studying him carefully in the dim light.

‘Um- and don’t…-‘ Jimin’s throat tightens, ‘-don’t go out the door. Whatever happens. Don’t…don’t leave.’

‘I won’t,’ Yoongi promises.

They go up the stairs, hand in hand, to the landing upstairs- to the area Yoongi had made in this little haven just for Jimin.

Red lightning forks the normally serene blue skies, and furiously whirling grey black clouds rip through- and just in the horizon, a cruel sun, ancient and dying pierces through, staining everything. The usually calm sea is roaring, water black and now risen up, rushing waves crashing onto the sides of the house, rushing inside and pulling back as though attempting to drag Jimin in.

‘I’ll watch for you,’ Yoongi says as they step up to the edge, water knee deep. The curtains whipping about dangerously, seconds from being torn.

Jimin nods, turning his back to the ravaging carnage behind him.

‘Call for me,’ Yoongi says, his voice clearer than the storm awaiting him. ‘I’ll come find you.’

Jimin can’t speak, their hands letting go slowly, he takes a step back and the water rushes around him, wrapping him up and pulling him down.

‘I’ll always find you.’

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

[TEMPORAL LOBE FUNCTION AT MAXIMUM]

[SYSTEMATIC FUNCTIONS AT MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE]

[OVERDRIVE]

[OVERDRIVE]

[OVERDRIVE]

[OVERDRIVE]

[SYSTEMS CRASHING_PROCEED Y/N]

[SYSTEMS CRASHING_PROCEED Y/N]

[SYSTEMS CRASHING_PROCEED Y/N]

[SYSTEMS CRASHING_PROCEED Y/N]

[SYSTEMS_ - _]

_

_

_

_

SETTING UP INTERNAL AUGMENTATION_

_EXPANDING_

_EXPANDING_

_

_

_ANDROID CORE DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.

_INSTALL? Y/N_

/-Y_

 

 

The whole Known Universe is open before him.

And Jimin finds that there’s too much.

It’s all forced onto him- it’s overwhelming just how much is hurtled at him. At first he tries to see it all, hear it all, understand it all – but every time he tries to see past the blurred flashing light, hear past the shrieking murmuring, his entire being feels like it’s being torn apart.

Suddenly, he falls out, above him a universe of information beyond comprehension, beyond time – and below him, from where he’s suspended, an expanse of white.

Jimin understands that he was probably going under an intense overload – that his consciousness could not take it, and so he slipped back. Into here- away from the madness of information before him, just slightly above completely losing everything below.

He was eclipsed- two sides overlapping- and if he didn’t decide now, he would lose it- he would be lost.

And he can’t be lost- not when everything that mattered, everything that meant something, everything that he held dear, needed to be found.

He could do this; he had to.

Bracing himself, Jimin takes a deep breath and starts walking briskly forward and upward. Picking up his pace, he sets off into a jog and then soon enough into a sprint. He jumps high up, stretching upwards and extending his arm up and he’s violently whisked off by some great force.

He’s immediately bombarded with an overwhelming torrent of everything- Jimin gasps a pained inhale, but he can only taste smoke, fire, explosions, extermination- but then suddenly in the next moment he is growing, his form barely gathered, a genesis observed under careful surveillance telescopes situated high above the clouds of a foreign and strange young planet- then he’s rushed through a crowded market street- bright lights, clear clean display cases of everything from clothes, food, pets, robots, androids- he slips and plummets downward into a bog, salty stalagmites around him, ammonia thick in the air, abrupt bursts of flames fan over the wet expanse and a massive roaring creature rears its head at him- Jimin sinks down the bog and lands solidly in a clean office space, bored employees walking about and sitting at their work stations. Jimin is shoved hard and he falls through a wall, landing into a living space shared by two Beings of the same species, same race- maybe a family, they’re eating dinner, watching something on a screen- one of them suddenly notices him and Jimin falls again-

With a scream, Jimin lands back into the borders, falling heavily onto his side. He lands so hard, so painfully, he wonders if he’s bleeding somewhere. But he’s unharmed- in fact, even his pulse that had been ringing in his ears is completely gone. He wasn’t even breathless, throat no longer raw from screaming, overwhelmed by everything he couldn’t see.

But Jimin wasn’t going to back down. He would find a way through that- whatever it was, he would push his way forward.

And he tries, and tries, and tries- again, and again- over and over and over until-

He slams down hard again- he hasn’t moved, hasn’t pushed past anything. And now, a strange pain was shooting up his back, past his neck, and directly into his head. Clutching at his head, Jimin finds that his temperature is high-

There’s a strange exhaustion settling over him- not physical, but something eating at him, tiring him out. Without preamble he retches painfully- nothing comes out but his stomach is revolting against him. Nothing comes out- Jimin is half expecting himself to throw up something vile and poisonous. But there’s nothing. Just air.

‘Jimin?’

Jimin sits up so fast he retches again. Clutching at his throat and abdomen, eyes tearing and skin burning up, Jimin tries to get a grasp of his surroundings that wasn’t just the chaos above him and the void beneath him.

‘Jimin.’

‘Yoongi?’ Jimin gasps out in disbelief.

That was definitely Yoongi’s voice. It was.

But that didn’t make sense- he couldn’t be here. Right? Jimin was clearly losing his mind now- he was just hearing, projecting, wishing-

‘I’m here.’

Jimin has long suspected a heightened difference within Yoongi. Subtle, but growing slowly, day by day. Taking a deep breath, Jimin stands on weak legs, feeling battered and bruised. He looks about the vast border of this place, looking for a familiar outline- a familiar face. But there’s no one- nothing here.

‘Where…where are you?’ he asks hesitantly, almost as though afraid that by asking, he would, like in some strange desperate dream, lose that voice.

‘I’m always with you.’

The voice is closer- all around, and yet not quiet. Somehow, now that he thinks about it, he’s not too surprised to hear and find Yoongi here.

‘How are you here?’

‘I awoke here.’

Yoongi had, so long ago, dawned on his helmet and plugged in the android-core, pushing him past the hollowed void of beneath, throwing him through the chaos above. And that’s where he was now. In a strange sense, Jimin understands that while Yoongi was, one, whole and complete- separated within himself by many lifetimes of void memories and suspension, he was also somehow made of two.

‘How did you find me?’

‘I’ll always find you.’

‘-are-‘ Jimin sobs out, ‘-are you all right? How are you here-?’

Yoongi doesn’t answer and Jimin fears for the worst. Yoongi, desperately reaching for him as he fell out of the Užkulisai, out of reach- what if he had tried to do something reckless?

‘I don’t know- but I’m always following you. Someway, somehow – sunshine?’

Jimin breaks out in a watery smile, nodding vigorously.

‘I’ll help you. Just listen to me. I got you. Just past this – it’s okay. You can do it.’

A small light, like a star, blinks at him ahead some ways.

Past this.

That’s where everything was. Beyond the chaos above- Jimin just needs to navigate his way.

‘Have you…have you always been here?’ Jimin asks, walking quietly forward towards the small star.

‘This is database. This is Memory.’

‘So…so you’re…you’re a memory?’ Jimin asks.

‘We are all memories.’

Jimin stops right before the tiny star. Another one lights up, but this time it’s upwards, midway between where he stood, and the chaos bubbling, eagerly waiting for him, to swallow him and throw him out.

‘I’ll help you. I got you.’

Jimin carefully reaches upwards, hands touching brilliant and fast moving streak of lights. Light-years of information, data, research, documentation. Lifetimes of memories, emotions, birth, death.

‘It’s…there’s too much,’ Jimin hesitates.

‘I’m here- I’ll show you.’

His voice is right behind him- and Jimin can almost feel his warmth.

‘You-‘ Jimin turns around just a little, sees a faint form, an outline. ‘If you’re…if you’re just a memory, of the past when you…when you first came and traversed here…how do you know me?’

‘Because I know that I’ve always missed you.’

‘-Yoongi-,’ Jimin could cry, looking around desperately.

‘The moon is always there, even if the sun doesn’t see it.’

He feels himself floating up- the chaos above parts and he’s floating gently, adrift a strange but welcome current.

‘-I-,’ Jimin hesitates, lifting his hands to feel the movement under his palms. ‘Have you heard about the story, about the Sun and the Moon?’

‘No. Will you tell me one day?

‘I will.’

‘I will wait.’

Jimin feels himself lifting up. Lights slowing about him, dimming slightly only to give way to a forming constellation.

‘Follow me.’

His voice comes from before him and Jimin doesn’t hesitate to chase after it- each star in this stationary constellation over this space of chaos quiets down everything but highlights the way forward. Like this, Jimin can simply watch, observe; he is not being forcefully sewn into the fabric of Memory, where he didn’t belong- he was simply a guest, and he would simply watch and observe what he needed.

‘You’re almost there. Almost there.’

‘Will you be there?’ Jimin asks desperately, standing on the last glowing star. He hesitates a little, glancing back slowly, afraid of ruining everything. But he has to see.

A small familiar object glitters some ways behind him- tiny sparks of purple from the sequence and glitter not quite rubbed off just yet.

‘I’ll come. Because I’m yours.’

Darkness rushes about him but it’s not terrifying- rather it was welcoming, soothing to his mind- almost like he was about to fall asleep01001001001000000111011101100001011011000110101101100101011001000010000001110111011010010111010001101000001000000111100101101111011101010010000001101111011011100110001101100101001000000111010101110000011011110110111000100000011000010010000001100100011100100110010101100001011011010100100100100000011101110110000101101100011010110110010101100100001000000111011101101001011101000110100000100000011110010110111101110101001000000110111101101110011000110110010100100000011101010111000001101111011011100010000001100001001000000110010001110010011001010110000101101101010010010010000001110111011000010110110001101011011001010110010000100000011101110110100101110100011010000010000001111001011011110111010100100000011011110110111001100011011001010010000001110101011100000110111101101110001000000110000100100000011001000111001001100101011000010110110101001001001000000111011101100001011011000110101101100101011001000010000001110111011010010111010001101000001000000111100101101111011101010010000001101111011011100110001101100101001000000111010101110000011011110110111000100000011000010010000001100100011100100110010101100001011011010100100100100000011101110110000101101100011010110110010101100100001000000111011101101001011101000110100000100000011110010110111101110101001000000110111101101110011000110110010100100000011101010111000001101111011011100010000001100001001000000110010001110010011001010110000101101101He’s back in the vent.

His breathing is harsh and his mouth tastes like bile. His entire body shakes violently, his mind is filled with a sort of buzzing that reminds Jimin of night-insects but just amplified at least 10 times in volume. 

Jimin thinks he might have fallen unconscious again because when he opens his eyes again, everything feels strangely normal.

He made it out of the chaos. And now that mean-

‘Good evening Jimin.’

It’s eerily silent. It is also dark, and it’s impossibly cold. The very air around him is still and Jimin only just realizes he’s on his back. But he doesn’t care about any of that.

 ‘Your health-tab suggests that you have sustained a concussion, please do not move too much. You have also sustained 3 cracked ribs, a cracked fibula, and bruised your 4^th and 5^th lumbar vertebrae. Your suit has aligned to support you, so please do not strain yourself.’

As though the words triggered it, pain floods Jimin’s body and he can’t help the cry of pain that comes out of his mouth.

This was a dream. It had to be a dream. But the pain was too real- this vent was too real. The soreness of his throat, and the heaviness of his tongue was too real.

‘Li- Lisai?’ Jimin croaks out, willing himself to wake up. This was a dream. It had to be. It wasn’t possible- this wasn’t possible.

‘How can I help you?’

This was not a dream. This was real.

This was all too real.

He can hear the words. Hear the foreign tones and by all means, by all logic Jimin shouldn’t be able to understand.

But he does.

‘Y-Yoongi-‘

He said he would come.

Pain blossoms along his chest and Jimin coughs violently.

‘Weapons-specialist Yoongi is out of reach. Channels from Ynqaba do not allow off-planet communications.’

Off-planet?!

Jimin racks his pain-fevered mind, bright spots appearing before his eyes as pain floods his body, leaving him shaking to his core.

‘Lisai- where-…where I am.’

‘You are currently located inside the XBI-001-43, a trading ship under the command of Van Seulgaan of Raksane Tayi. You have entered the country of Luargeri in the planet of Ynqaba illegally. Please obtain your pass at the nearest Immigration Office, located 3.1 light years in the System of Ymir.’

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

Still smiling, Yoongi tugs at Jimin’s shirt with his free hand.

Jimin shuffles even closer, till there’s less than a few inches between their faces. Yoongi smiles and with a small nod forward presses a kiss on Jimin’s lips.

He says something I’ll always find you knowing full well Jimin wouldn’t understand.

And Jimin knows that this was the last of his breaths. That he was going to be forced to watch Yoongi die, the same way he was forced to watch everyone die. And despite how heavy his heart felt- how weighed his soul was- he would save Yoongi’s last word permanently in his heart.

‘Yoongi-‘

He’s suddenly yanked back and the stench of rot overwhelms him.

He tries to scream- to pull them away from Yoongi but he can’t. His head hits something and his world turns black.

‘We do not bring death.’

Jimin gasps awake.

He pushes his way out of the water and back onto the forest floor. He coughs out the water, his body heaving violently from the force of it. The forest floor is dry, only a few tubes pulling through here and there.

‘You are here.’

Jimin only just manages to brace himself defensively, his throat aflame, his sight blurred- but there’s no mistaking the stench or the glaring red of their robes.

Every little detail has been inscribed into Jimin’s memories. The Red Evil stood before him, looking down at him from their stretched heights, featureless faces almost like masks observing him.

‘Why are you still here?’ Jimin demands, spitting out the remains of the black liquid. ‘You were destroyed.’

‘We are always here,’ they reply, bending down with a strange swiftness that has Jimin peddling backwards involuntarily. ‘We will always be here. Because we are here.’

A fragile looking hand, long fingers that look charred and flaking at the side of Jimin’s head.

‘We are embedded here,’ they reply, ‘We will live, in memory, in sanctity, in oceans that fill the mind.’

‘Why did you come here?’ Jimin demands, looking around at the woods.

But the Red Evil doesn’t seem to care for him anymore. It simply straightens their back out and walks away.

Rage fills Jimin and he stands up.

‘Why did you come here?!’ he yells, ‘This Universe will never be what you want it to be- it can never be what you want it to be!’

The Red Evil all pause, turning to look at him. There are 9 of them in this clearing. The sky above them is brilliant red, streaked with flashes of magenta lightning and grey storm clouds. Faint edges of sunlight still linger but it is corrupted.

‘We do not bring death.’ They say.

Thunder explodes overhead and the air is rendered red; Jimin falls to the ground, hands covering his ears, eyes shut tight, overwhelmed. When the light abates, he gingerly opens his eyes to a busier clearing. Now mingled with the tall red cloaked Evil are the Omhlophe in their dirty white robes.

Jimin stares at the Omhlophe as they carry in the strange OrTanks, filled with Beings neither waking nor dead- suspended nowhere in their existence. A long pipe is embedded against their backs, connecting them like some umbilical cord to the pit of black liquid he had come out of.

‘You are…you are doing nothing more than tearing lives apart,’ Jimin yells, ears still ringing, ‘Tearing them apart, stretching them through time- they’re not supposed to-‘ he chokes up, throat tightening at the sight of Nineti curled up inside the OrTank the Omhlophe carry in. Right behind his OrTank, Dehin is afloat, one arm curled around his middle the way it did when he slept.

‘We want them to live,’ they tell him, ‘We do not bring death.’

‘And yet that is all you have shown me,’ Jimin hisses. ‘Death, suffering, cruelty – pain- you are doing exactly what you feared- what used to drive you! Do you understand?!’

‘They will lead good lives- freed from hiding, from pain,’ the Red Evil state. ‘They need to come back home.’

Jimin stares at them, unable to understand or comprehend.

‘What- what do you mean- they are home! You’re the one that’s-‘

Suddenly it moves, large charred and fragile hand slamming Jimin down to the ground by his head. Its face is too close, strange diminished hollow dark spots that could only be the eyes. A thin crack to suggest lips that barely moved, yet its voice was clear and smooth.

‘What home is this, where they hide?’

When it moves away, lightning bright and magenta illuminating a massive moon-like ship in the sky above, nearly occupying Jimin’s view, Jimin is more than breathless.

When he sits up, the Red Evil are no longer there, and the Omhlophe are few, simply pushing in the OrTanks through the trees, unfurling large coils of wires.

Suddenly, past the tree line high above, there’s bursts of lights followed by screams and yelling. Jimin hurriedly runs out of the clearing, ignoring the familiar faces inside the OrTanks.

He watches in horror, as the clouds clear to bring down burning stars that pummel into the planet. But they’re not meteorites or asteroids or other spatial objects. Jimin knows that they’re ships- ships that returned, ships carrying children lost, simply trying to come back home, refusing to die away from their home.

Even more stars fall- smaller this time, fewer, and no longer shining or aglow. Jimin watches as they’re pried open, investigated, inspected, salvaged. He watches as the Omhlophe bring out bodies, remains, corpses.

Jimin stares at the familiar face. Almost disbelieving. Yet he knew that this was what had happened to him. They had tried to save him, ejecting him from the ship, forcefully trying to push him into safety but fate had already grabbed him- destining him for something past and beyond this calamity.

‘He is too injured,’ the Omhlophe state simply, ‘He cannot be born again.’

‘He is beyond repair.’

‘Then he shall help others be reborn,’ another states.

Jongdae was supposed to be like them. Reshaped, reformed- but not reborn.

It’s curious, Jimin thinks, that the Omhlophe were outcast from being reborn for not being, for lack of a better word, salvageable. Is that why they insisted on being perceived as pure? Khonen had described them as such – The Pure Ones.

Jongdae has sustained massive burns, his body broken and bruised- he’s not handled with the most care when he’s unceremoniously dunked into a tank of sorts. It’s not like the OrTank Jimin has seen- it’s filled with a strangely viscous liquid that thickens into a white powdery form towards the bottom.

‘He will be resuscitated here.’ The Omhlophe states.

Jimin is suddenly filled with the urge to rescue him, watching him struggle fitfully in the strange liquid. But he stops struggling and with some trepidation, Jimin realizes that the fluid he was suspended in was healing him- or more like replacing what was lost. The white sediment moves, almost as though alive attaching itself onto burns wounds injuries alike- settling white and sticky until he’s entirely covered.

‘He will live like us,’ the Omhlophe say in unison, turning to look at Jimin.

Startled, Jimin stumbles backwards, his back hitting something. Turning, he finds more Beings like Jongdae suspended in the strange liquid. Some of them are still bleeding as they’re placed inside the tanks- some still struggling, some appearing nearly dead.

‘They will be remade.’

Jimin steps away, watching as more of the Omhlophe bring in others- mostly Megibīyan, and other Beings dressed in GLA uniform.

‘Is this what you were looking for?’

Jimin quickly turns around, ready to defend or strike- when he’s come face to face with a sight he knows will break him.

Yoongi float inside the OrTank- long black wire attached to his back.

It’s him- this was the Yoongi Jimin met. He still looks haggard even like this- in this strange state of both death and rebirth. He’s been stripped of his uniform, the bulk of his gear no longer adding to him. He looks small- fragile and alone.

‘Why did you come here?’ Jimin asks, a sob fighting its way to his voice but he pushes it down.

‘We want to live,’ the Red Evil replies. ‘Live and be free.’

‘But at what cost?’ Jimin demands, eyes blurring as Yoongi slowly turns in the liquid he’s suspended in. His hand floats ahead of him, as though sensing him there, reaching out for him.

‘All life is continuum,’ the Red Evil say simply, ‘It is a cycle. This is how it will be. How it will always be.’

Jimin turns to look up at the stooping figure.

‘You came looking for us- you wanted Menigišiti,’ Jimin states- he tries not to sound accusatory though he’s not sure why he’s still attempting some form of diplomacy. He was living in the preserved memories of those no longer there. ‘You wanted Menigišiti- you thought, just like Ndica did, just like Tlun’hla- like all of the others, that Menigišiti was the key. Why?’

The Red Evil doesn’t move- an unnatural stillness to its form- even its red robs are stiff, motionless.

Yoongi’s fingers quietly brush up against the clear casing around him. Jimin wants to reach out, hold on to it as best as he could.

‘Because of a promise,’ the Red Evil replies.

‘Punished cruelly the gentle harmony of a promise into hiding,’ Amme had said to him. And Jimin is- Jimin is just filled with a sudden and overwhelming fury and rage.

‘We want safety, unity- we wanted fate to tie us, we wanted a heart to beat for us.’

‘And you thought- you thought you could come here, and just redo everything?’

‘We can rebuild it anew, perfect and whole again, but with no attachment, no mistakes built into our memories- we start anew, again.’

‘You know that’s impossible!’ Jimin all but yells, making Yoongi inside the tank frown a little.

Suddenly something explodes overhead and the Red Evil look up as well.

‘They are here for you,’ they say, ‘But we cannot allow that. So we must leave.’

‘What-?’

Jimin is forcibly grabbed from all sides. He kicks hard and pushes but he’s suddenly weakened, tired, and-

‘We do not bring death.’

‘What do you want?’ Jimin asks, kneeling in the empty room, his hand clasped around the glittery purple hair clip over his chest.

‘We want life.’

‘You have already fallen,’ Jimin shakes his head, standing with weak legs, the air still red around him. ‘You have already been destroyed.’

‘Life is continuum,’ they respond, a large thin hand reaching out to wrap over his head and Jimin falls and falls until quite abruptly, he’s not.

He’s inside a strange dark chamber- it’s large, overwhelmingly spacious and yet Jimin feels intensely crushed in. He’s as well, he realizes, but clutched inside his fist is the purple sparkly hair clip. He keeps it hidden- doesn’t want to reveal it- taint it with this memory. They would not take this from him.

He’s alone in here- afloat in this OrTank that he knows will now house him for many many lifetimes.

He sinks into the darkness just as the chamber starts to glow faintly, and the outlines of bodies and forms appear in hazy muted shapes all around him. The darkness fades- seeps, into a strange muted light that he’s too familiar with.

‘I have to wake up,’ he says out loud.

But he can’t- he’s oddly trapped.

‘We shouldn’t linger in our memories too much,’ Taeh’yung had said to him after he made the decision to try and wake Yoongi up after his first Awakening, ‘You’re carrying the weight of the dead, don’t let it crush you.’

Jimin’s been in here for too long- the Red Evil were right. They lived in memory- and here, in Megibīya, in Jimin’s waking and sleeping mind, in his thoughts, in his heart (borrowed), the Red Evil nestled in every crack, every dark corner. And Jimin had brought them straight to where Yoongi rested.

Fear kicks through him, and darkness rushes all around him at once, slamming into him harshly, knocking air out of his lungs and bubbles erupt around him in a flurry. Gone is the large chamber, filled with walls of dark OrTanks of dreaming souls and memories- and instead Jimin is now crushed in the expanse of nothingness- of the darkness that stretched between stars, of a void where even memory held no sanctity.

A shimmery purple light erupts in his clenched fist- a star forming, creation, heat, motion, life.

With his whole might, Jimin turns to face the nothingness head on.

Abruptly, everything around him stops.

‘I will wake up,’ he declares, staring out into an abyss.

There’s a dull flash of red, magenta lightning fork all around him and oceans crash onto him, forcefully throwing him out of the mouth of the abyss, suspending him temporarily in the borders of darkness and depth. Jimin faces the maw, teeming and crawling with large pale hands, long fingers attempting to reach out to pull him back down again, to flood this place of safety.

He remembers Jongdae’s quiet and neat hallway, doors lined up all along the side. He remembers an empty space, where a door once opened. It was a memory sealed away, keeping in it a danger beyond understanding, beyond remembrance-

‘You will never escape,’ Jimin tells it, ‘You will be diminished here.’

It thunders but it cannot move anymore- the ocean above him moves to push them down, back into the maw, rushing in to drown them forever.

But it’s too much- too much force, too much of everything- he can’t control it now, he’s never done this before and it’s going to drown him too it’s going to take him under and-

‘Call for me. I’ll come find you.’

‘Yoongi!’ Jimin cries out, bubbles erupting around him as he falls further into the water, dragged with tremendous strength.

‘-imin!’

Jimin’s not sure how much of Yoongi’s voice was just in his thoughts- a desperate plea, a cry for help- but he can’t speak. His lungs feel crushed- his body frozen cold as he’s thrown out of the numbing darkness and past sediments of time and rage.

But he’s being pushed out of that- he’s hurtling out of the depths of his betrayal, a raging force overwhelming as a storming ocean, and into clearer shallow clarity. Something is drawing him out- something pleading for him, to return, to come back.

He hits the surface of the water, pain and shock erupting out of him, but he can’t push past it. The water ripples above him, serene and calm but he can’t push past the surface.

Air bubbles suddenly escape him and Jimin suddenly realizes he can’t breathe- water fills his mouth and his eyes are stinging. He pushes hard- kicking his feet and-

‘Jimin!’

The sky is suddenly clear and high above him- the sun warm and gentle, shining down serenely. Far above, afloat in the sky he can see the opening to their home. He can see the room Yoongi made just for him, the long thin curtains fluttering in the wind. He can see the gleam of the telescope perched there, can almost feel the soft warmth of the yellow blanket now a permanent fixture of that space.

‘Yoongi!’ Jimin screams, but he’s not sure if he can even hear him.

But it didn’t matter- because reaching for him through a sun-filled sky, hands breaking the surface of the water with shattering force, is Yoongi.

‘I got you,’ Yoongi says, his grip strong, his voice reassuring as it gets clearer. ‘I got you.’

Jimin kicks his legs, breaking past the surface of the water and lands in a heap on the strange coils of wires and pipes weaving through the ashen floors of the woods.

The planet is thrumming under his palms. Murmurs, cries, sighs, weary voices- moving and lifting high up. Like a great vacuum pressure lifting, the whole planet seems to shed a great stain, the effort of which creaks through the trees, the very air howling- it’s so loud- like crashing waves.

Jimin coughs out violently, his whole body heaving and he’s set firmly on the grounds, the dry dead bits of foliage around him sticking to the damp of his clothes and exposed skin.

‘Jimin!’ Hoseok is there in an instance, practically lifting him away further from the pit.

‘He’s out!’ Namjoon is saying quickly, ‘-checking his vitals-‘

‘-fine-‘ Jimin manages to get out before he’s throwing up large quantities of water. Hoseok is holding him steadily, supporting his head and keeping him still as his body shakes with the force.

‘-where’s all that water coming from-?!’ Namjoon demands before he asks incredulously, ‘-Yoongi too?! What do you mean-?!’

Jimin is wide awake, heaving in lungful of air as he coughs out more of the black liquid that dissipates the moment it makes contact with the ground.

‘That black water is gone-?!’ Namjoon sounds somewhat hysterical.

Jimin feels a jacket being pushed over him- he’s soaked in sea water warmed under a gentle sun, blessed by a waning moon. Jimin draws his arms over himself, relinquishing in the comfort of the fragrance that sometimes blew in with the breeze in their home.

‘Jimin,’ Hoseok kneels before him, his expression worried, ‘Are you hurt?’

Jimin shakes his head, teeth chattering slightly.

‘I- it’s done-‘ he coughs out, waving vaguely behind him, ‘They’re gone-‘

‘What’s he talking about?’ Namjoon asks worriedly before saying, ‘How far are you?’

‘What’s gone?’ Hoseok asks, helping him kneel upright.

Jimin turns to the now innocent pit at the center, dry and completely free of any dark fluid. The air is light- no memory of terror lingered here. Only a quiet thunder that echoes from the depths, too far in the darkness to be remembered anymore.

‘Is- is this yours? Did you drop this?’ Namjoon asks, coming to kneel beside him as well, reaching down to pick something from the ground. Jimin nearly lunges for it, startling both Hoseok and Namjoon.

‘Are you okay?’ Namjoon asks worriedly.

‘Yeah-,’ Jimin nods, clutching his closed fist to his chest tightly for a moment before he looks down. Opening his hand, the slightly chipped glittery hair clip gleams at them.

‘The -‘ Namjoon genuinely sounds hysterical now.

‘-they’re here,’ Hoseok is saying, ‘Come on. I’ll take Jimin with me, Namjoon, we should get going.’

Jimin allows Hoseok to help him stand, and Jimin is vaguely aware that a few HoverPorts as well as 2 of the GI have arrived, landing in from above the tree line.

He takes in a deep breath, throat still somewhat soar.

‘Hey wait,’ Hoseok pauses, head tilted as though questioning something.

‘What’s wrong,’ Namjoon asks at once, looking around suspiciously.

The stirs, and a quiet breeze hums through the trees. Soft light filters through the mist, the eternal Megibīyan sunrise shining through the branches and trunks that groan and shift in welcome of the much missed warmth of their sun.

‘The air, it smells…’ Hoseok frowns, sniffing the air. ‘Smells like the sea.’

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

‘Should you be walking around?’ is the first thing the Khol’isa asks him.

Jimin just chuckles.

‘I expected you to come and find me,’ Jn’young states, ‘After what Camil said, I think it’s fair to say there is much that needs to be discussed.’

Jimin nods.

‘Well, take a seat,’ Jn’young gestures to the seat by the wall. He had evidently cleared up everything in his quarters and it looks different from before. ‘Are you sure you should be walking about? In secret?’

Jimin just smiles in reply.

‘Everyone is busy right now- busy, resting, preparing,’ he explains, ‘And I want to make sure, that whatever we do next, is not for nothing.’

‘You want to talk about Axudar.’ Jn’young gets straight to the point.

Jimin nods.

The Khol’isa takes a seat, gesturing for Jimin to start.

‘Regardless of what we try to do, in regards with the Eggs, the New Borns- even what remains of the GI, if Axudar remains as it is, nothing will matter,’ Jimin states clearly. ‘I want to bring Axudar down.’

‘I mean, me more than anyone else,’ Jn’young shrugs easily, pushing an uneven lock of hair away from his forehead, ‘Not to mention we have no chance at a surprise approach- they will be expecting us. Everyone probably knows where we already are. I’d say the best thing to do would be to go deep into the Underverse. But even there, who knows. It won’t be easy.’

‘You’re not saying it’s impossible.’

‘It’s not,’ Jn’young shakes his head, ‘And I’m not saying this from an optimistic or egotistic point of view- the main issue here lies in the fact that Axudar is not the way it is just because of some twisted belief. It’s been allowed to become like this by Beings who aren’t even in Axudar- their power over it is not something we can overcome- not without risking too much.’

‘It sounds like you have a plan,’ Jimin jumps straight into the point.

Jn’young squints at him, leaning back to lounge back carefully.

‘When I first awoke,’ Jimin says, easing back carefully and trying not to groan in pain as his body protested moving about, ‘I was filled with intention- plans and fixes, ideas and remedies. I had to change all of that- once I understood more, once my eyes were seeing how my worst nightmares were turning into a harsh reality for so many. But I never stopped- I knew I had to do something- that I would do something. We are both Beings with agenda greater than who we are- beyond understanding and beyond any peace we can hope to achieve while turning a blind eye.’

Jn’young doesn’t say anything, his expression is casual- as though only just mildly interested in what Jimin was saying. But Jimin has lived with another Khol’isa, a much more experienced, more cunning, more elusive Khol’isa so he’s not deterred.

‘I was recently informed by Namjoon of his experience while he was away- taken by a Being who was involved from within Menigišiti who collaborated with Ndica in some direct or indirect way,’ Jimin states honestly, ‘And based on the lies, half-truths, and truths he relayed to Namjoon, and his own personal behavior, and what I’ve been able to find on my own from within the GI ship, I know that you know, that we cannot simply overwhelm or rush into Axudar.’

Jn’young’s interest is very evidently arrested, his body stilling as he listens closely.

‘Which is why, I would like to request your help, alongside Jaen, alongside Ilya, to force Axudar to face us outside of their blanket protection from the GLA.’ Jimin explains.

Jn’young doesn’t say anything, just quietly observes him for a while, bright neon red eyes gleaming faintly, refracting occasionally on his horns.  

‘I cannot promise anything,’ Jn’young tells him after a sigh, but his eyes hold a certain light. ‘But I will speak to Ilya about it. As well as Jaen.’

‘Thank you,’ Jimin inclines his head.

‘I haven’t promised anything,’ Jn’young chuckles.

‘Maybe not in words,’ Jimin winces a little as he stands.

‘You understand what you’re asking me…what you want to do, it won’t save everyone,’ Jn’young asks carefully, ‘It’s not going to guarantee safety for anyone, even if everything proceeds in a way that maximizes our success.’

Jimin nods heavily, shuffling a little to alleviate the pain on his feet. 

‘I know that.’

‘You sound unsure.’

Jimin hesitates, turning as he walks slowly to the exit. His heart (borrowed) twinges as though yearning.

‘For the longest time,’ Jn’young says quietly, ‘I didn’t want to do anything with Axudar- out of fear, out of pain, out of anger. And mainly…mainly out of loss. I just didn’t want to lose anything anymore.’

Slowly, he walks back to the Hangar. He pauses by a wide window and looks out. Somewhere out there, Menigišiti lay hidden, ruined, hollowed. And Jimin has known, ever since he awoke, ever since he watched their dreams, experienced their fears, pains, broken promises, their loss- when he was in Ynqaba, in Grisial- that he would have to do this.

‘Should you be walking around?’

Jimin grins at Sk’jin.

‘Should you be walking around?’

Sk’jin snorts, crossing his arms to stand next to him and look out as well.

‘I won’t tell the others you were sneaking off by yourself if you don’t tell them I was sneaking off too.’

Jimin looks at Sk’jin curiously, ‘Why were you sneaking off?’

‘Had to make some calls- wanted complete privacy,’ Sk’jin replies, ‘What about you?’

‘Making investments,’ Jimin smiles.

‘Hah!’ Sk’jin snorts again before he exclaims again, ‘Hah! That’s a good one.’

They start to walk back, pace slow and easy and slightly pained. They don’t talk at all- but Jimin doesn’t mind. It’s oddly peaceful like this.

‘You know that we’d back you up right?’ Sk’jin asks suddenly.

‘What?’ Jimin looks up at the Khol’isa, a little surprised by his sudden words.

‘You know that we will support you,’ Sk’jin repeats, looking forward, ‘Don’t forget that we’re all here because of the same reason- we’re all connected, intertwined so to speak, because of the same thing. None of us are here because we were forced- I mean at first sure, but-‘

Jimin laughs a little.

‘-but don’t think this all solely rests on you,’ Sk’jin says almost gently, ‘Menigišiti, Kutsoglera, the Venture Unit, that Nightmare, the GI, the eggs and New Borns, Earth- , even the “Red Evil”, y’know? We’re all one in the same- just spanning out through time.’

Jimin doesn’t know what to say.

‘This is as much, all of our decision,’ Sk’jin continues, ‘It’s Ilya’s, Jn’young’s, Jaen’s, E’nid’s- it’s Jungkook’s, Hoseok’s, Namjoon’s, Taeh’yung’s, Yoongi’s- it’s mine. It’s now, whether or not any of us like it, our fate.’

Jimin can’t help but look up at the bruised and pained Khol’isa, quite unable to say anything back.

‘So whatever bull self-inflicting responsibility bearing kink you have for yourself is unnecessary,’ Sk’jin proclaims loudly, drawing attention from those around them, ‘I’m not one to kink shame of course-!’

‘Sk’jin-!’ Jimin shrieks, flapping his hands at the tall Khol’isa in protest, ‘Shh!’

‘Don’t kink shame kinks!’ Sk’jin dramatically gasps, flapping his hands back at Jimin, ‘Embrace it! Share it with all of us!’

Namjoon looks at them with some confusion when they both returned to the ship red-faced and slightly breathless and definitely in pain. He sends them off to rest, though Sk’jin argues that Namjoon is underestimating him, and goes on a tirade about how he once broke 58 bones in his body and still managed to win a marathon covered in mud during an electric storm. Namjoon looks like he doesn’t know whether to be impressed or concerned.

Yoongi finds him nearly in tears with laughter- he automatically laughs too though, asking curiously why he was laughing, looking to Namjoon and Sk’jin for answers. But Jimin just throws himself at the Human, who gently holds him up against himself, looking down at him confused but fond.

‘What is it?’ Yoongi asks after Jimin has recovered a little, almost carrying him to the side to sit. He looks over him as though worried he was laughing as a result of some strange physical trauma related pain.

Jimin just smiles and shakes his head, ‘Just…just glad that we’re all here, together.’

Yoongi takes his hand and places a gentle kiss over it.

‘Me too.’

When the time comes for them to leave, Jimin feels a sense of calm despite his fears and worries. But he’s not shunning his fears- instead he would now be able to look through it- share it. He quietly steps out of the ship and pauses at the end of the ramp tracking down from the hangar.

There’s a heaviness in the air.

There always was, with farewells.

But it mostly centers around Sk’jin and Ilya.

They’re still talking, separate to the side while the Axudarian and Orvan Jaen and E’nid talk to Hoseok and Namjoon. Yoongi is speaking to several gathered units of the GI, voice inaudible.

‘You seem to have made up your mind.’

Jn’young, like Sk’jin, and like other Khol’isa Jimin is assuming, looks impeccable despite being rather battered and bruised himself. He had sustained some serious injury, but he didn’t display any signs of pain or discomfort.

‘I have,’ Jimin nods.

‘Well, if that’s the case…’ Jn’young trails off, ‘It won’t be easy.’

‘It won’t,’ Jimin agrees. ‘But I have to.’

‘It needs to work.’

Jimin smiles at the Khol’isa.

‘When it does, can I count on you and Ilya?’

Jn’young gives him a charming smirk, ‘Oh, of course your highness.’

‘Ah, you heard about that,’ Jimin mutters under his breath.

Jn’young just smiles in a pleased manner, eyes wrinkling in a mischievous way.

It would work. Jimin knows that now.

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

‘-know what? I dunno what you did, and don’t particularly care, but the regurgitated are all doing super well, literally the epitome of health I guess, so I’m guessing we’re back on our scheduled plan, I mean it’s not like I have any authority here,’ is the first thing Jimi hears as he attaches the Comm Device back to his ear, ‘-no one listens to me, it’s just substitute pilot needs at this point, love the appreciation so much- it’s just “Sk’jin fly back towards us”, and “Sk’jin make sure we’re still on track”, no “Sk’jin thank you for gracing us with your tenure and intelligence and handsomeness”. Amad’la is the only one who appreciates me here. If Yoongi could he would have bolted just like Taeh’yung-‘

There are flashes of green as they approach the edge of the forest, Udāvana coming to view, flanked by waiting GI on HoverPorts, headed by a worried looking Jungkook who all but jumps off of his own HoverPort to hug Jimin. The closer they get, the more sporadic the green lights get, strobes flickering all about. Then suddenly, the lanky Zhak’gri bursts through the woods, looking extremely delighted.

‘CHIM!’ he yells, little bright green sparks erupting all around him.

‘Oh no-‘ Namjoon says just as the Zhak’gri sets off sparkles all about him in his joy,

‘YOU DID IT!’ he yells, running towards them as they slow down. Jimin barely has time to get off from behind Hoseok when Taeh’yung tackles him onto the floor.

Jimin can’t help but laugh too, joining in on Taeh’yung’s delight.

‘You did it,’ Taeh’yung beams at him as they stop rolling on the dried leaves. Jungkook watches with disapproval and worry from where he’s standing, hands twitching as though to separate the two of them but stopping himself from doing it.

‘Oh Spaces,’ Namjoon snorts, looking at them with amusement before walking off. ‘Okay, as we’re clear for the area- let’s continue on with our plan- is the set-up still on track?’

‘Yes it is.’ Sk’jin replies primly.

When Jimin sits up, still partially engulfed in Taeh’yung’s enthusiastic embrace and green sparks spluttering about them in a way that distracts the nearby GI, he catches sight of the ship approaching them.

‘Come on,’ Taeh’yung beams at him, pulling him up from the ground, ‘You should have seen how everything changed! It’s so clean now!’

Jimin just smiles in response.

Jungkook walks with them, situating himself between Taeh’yung and Jimin as though to prevent the Zhak’gri from attempting to tackle him again. He pulls his jacket off and places it over Jimin’s shoulders, having noticed he was still somewhat shivering. Slipping his arms through the sleeves, it makes Jimin smile.

‘It smells better now,’ Jungkook tells him quietly. ‘The air. Smells better.’

The ship lands carefully and quietly, and even before the hangar doors can open properly, Yoongi trips out, the wind from the landing turbines throwing his still damp hair all about. He had clearly very hastily thrown on new clothes because his shirt is definitely turned the wrong way and he’s not wearing any shoes or socks and-

‘Yoongi-‘ Jimin smiles, relief at seeing the Human visibly looking better than just a few hours ago. ‘Yoongi I’m so-‘

Yoongi kisses him hard, arms holding him close. Jimin is only slightly surprised but he kisses him back just as fiercely. He feels his feet lift a little from the ground, Yoongi’s body against his.

He thinks he hears Taeh’yung groan, dragging Jungkook away saying something about how he hates couples.

Jimin’s clothes are still wet and it seeps a little into what Yoongi just recently worn. Yoongi places him down gently, pressing kisses to his mouth with fierce adoration and relief, hugging him close and tight. Jimin holds him back just as tight, arms wrapping over and around Yoongi’s shoulders.

‘It’s safe-‘ is the first thing Jimin knows to say. ‘-it’s safe.’

Yoongi just shakes his head, hands coming up to gently cradle his face close.

‘Are you safe? You’ll be okay?’ he asks.

Jimin nods, leaning into his touch. He smells like home.

‘Yeah,’ Jimin nods. ‘I’m okay.’

‘I couldn’t see them,’ Yoongi tells him quietly, thumbs rubbing up and down Jimin’s cheeks, ‘Nor could I hear them- but it was almost as though I could smell them.’

‘They won’t come out,’ Jimin reassures him, ‘They won’t be able to- I don’t know…I don’t know about Earth, or other places they have gone to- but here, they will be contained forever.’

Yoongi pushes his hair back, fingers dragging through damp strands carefully. Jimin leans in to nuzzle their noses together, making Yoongi smile widely, eyes crinkling in the process.

‘Smells like the sea now,’ Yoongi says as he takes a deep breath before looking around, ‘It’s…I don’t feel like I’m falling anymore.’

Jimin holds him tight.

‘Thank you for pulling me out,’ he whispers, burying his face into the side of Yoongi’s neck, ‘I thought I wouldn’t be able-…I thought I would be stuck there.’

‘I got you,’ Yoongi rubs down his back soothingly and adds with a soft whisper, ‘Because I’m yours.’

Jimin calls for them to gather. They wait a whole long minute because Sk’jin was apparently t his nails and would not budge until he was done. When the Khol’isa arrives, proudly displaying neat clean fingernails (that makes Jimin feel almost conscious about the state of his own nails) (definitely makes Jungkook stare down at his dark ones with a frown) as well as shoving a tray of drinks (definitely not poisoned) at Namjoon, Jimin begins without preamble.

‘I don’t know if this explains something about…about what happened here but…’ Jimin starts, holding the tumbler of hot tea Namjoon passes to him close to himself. ‘The Red Evil- I don’t…I am not excusing what they did- and in no way attempting to even try to empathize on what they did-‘

‘-it’s okay,’ Namjoon tells him, ‘We understand. What did you see?’

‘I was…I was able to talk to them,’ Jimin tells them.

‘How?’ Hoseok asks, confused. ‘The Akramanese- uh, Red Evil, they were destroyed, all of them, around the borders of Earth 5 sols ago- how were you able to speak to them?’

‘They remained here,’ Jimin explains, ‘The same way great…great evil, when a great upheaval permanently changes or alters something- the scars remain. Like with the Living Nightmare in the planet in the dead space outside of Ymir- things…linger, all too real.’

‘Like living memories?’ Namjoon asks curiously.

‘Something like that,’ Jimin replies with a short nod. ‘I was first introduced to it when I first met JD. And later, I was able to build onto something I borrowed, something I knew was strong, and would keep, would hold.’

Yoongi smiles, still looking down at the his hands.

‘It’s not the most far-fetched thing I’ve heard of,’ Sk’jin adds airily. Of course it wouldn’t, not when the Khol’isa has lived this “living memory”; though in his case, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

‘When I spoke to them it confirmed what Amme said,’ Jimin continues, ‘I believe she was telling us the truth that day aboard her ship. Or at least, at the time, what she believed was the truth based on what she saw. And from what I was able to gather, the Red Evil were bent with this convoluted ideal, inherited from their previous obsession as Yishengs- and they came to the same conclusion as Ndica did, regarding Menigišiti.’

‘That they’d be able to do their whole taking over the universe by recreating all of life by essentially killing the whole universe plan?’ Sk’jin surmises with a snort.

‘Yes- they believed in a promise,’ Jimin says carefully. ‘It reminded me of what Amme had said, reminded me of what we believe in Menigišiti; that all those who live there, were made safe and whole by the strength of promise.’

‘Is this the First Children thing again,’ Sk’jin rolls his eyes.

‘It’s not something to dismiss!’ Taeh’yung argues hotly, crossing his arms at Sk’jin.

‘They knew that the First Children no longer existed as they did once before- but they knew, that in some way or form, they still existed and well-,’ Jimin hesitates.

‘They still exist in you,’ Namjoon says simply, ‘You are the Fate of Menigišiti.’

Jimin nods.

‘Spaces, really hoping you were royalty,’ Sk’jin mumbles to himself.

‘They wanted to…I guess, in a twisted sense, restart, within Menigišiti, they wanted to bring the New Borns, the eggs- into Menigišiti.’

‘Basically what we’re trying to do,’ Hoseok frowns.

‘Yeah but we’re not committing genocide now are we,’ Sk’jin remarks primly.

‘They said they would rebuild anew, perfect and whole- the same ideals as what Ndica wanted, with no mistakes, no-…no attachments- just restart all over,’ Jimin explains. ‘And they also said something I found peculiar.’

Yoongi looks up at that, a furrow between his brows.

‘There was something that exploded high above in the sky,’ Jimin glances up at the clear sky, gold-rimmed clouds afloat in the light of the sunrise. The storm almost feels like a distant memory, not something that was brewing overhead just hours ago. ‘And the Red Evil were taking me away, into their ship, they said they are here for you.’

‘Ndica?’ Hoseok frowns.

‘Wait no-,’ Namjoon frowns, ‘If Amme is right, and she knew what was going on in some level of detail, they only arrive to Megibīya much later.’

‘They said they could not allow me to be taken, so they were leaving.’

‘As a result, leaving behind the eggs all around the place,’ Hoseok frowns, looking back at the quiet and light forest.  

‘I believe it was the Great Council coming to check- possibly with aid from Axudar,’ Jimin tells them, ‘Especially as the sanctuary was not destroyed, I can only guess Yyna and the other Wenedi sent a message regarding the changes in the situation through there.’

‘So, in a sense, the Red Evil…sort of saved you?’ Namjoon frowns at that, ‘That doesn’t seem right.’

‘Rather than saving him, I think it was more of a fight over Jimin,’ Sk’jin surmises, ‘Again, Amme had said Ndica was surprised to find the Red Evil there- that was certainly not part of their plan.’

‘Also I noticed something about the Omhlophe,’ Jimin adds. ‘I believe they are rejected Beings- not cut out to be “reborn” like the New Borns.’

‘Ouch,’ Sk’jin replies dryly, ‘So, kinda like, not good enough, so this is all just some major daddy issue? Is that what it is?’

‘I hate how you describe things,’ Hoseok sighs.

‘Hey it makes sense,’ Sk’jin argues hotly, ‘In the-‘

‘-third installment of the Six Hands of Our Love!’ Taeh’yung chimes in eagerly.

‘-exactly!’ Sk’jin nods fervently at Taeh’yung, ‘Children who have been neglected by parental figures either compartmentalize and invert all of their emotions internally or lash out weirdly like the Omhlophe have done!’

‘Strange analogy aside,’ Namjoon clears his throat, ‘I believe that this is something interesting to take note of, didn’t Khonen say they were called the “Pure Ones”?’

‘That’s what I was thinking of too,’ Jimin quickly adds before Sk’jin can input some random storyline from his questionable choice in fiction. ‘I think the reason why they’re looking for the New Borns, is some sort of strange revenge- and the reason they’re after me, is to exact some sort of punishment over me.’

‘This is going to be interesting then,’ Hoseok says thoughtfully.

‘How so?’ Namjoon asks.

Hoseok doesn’t immediately reply, clearly thinking hard.

‘Have we had any updates regarding Amme and where she is?’ Hoseok asks Sk’jin who looks a little taken aback.

‘Uh- no, he didn’t specify I could ask-?’

‘Namjoon is Ems on call?’

‘Yeah-?’ Namjoon replies sounding confused.

‘Okay, give me a moment,’ Hoseok stands abruptly and heads back inside the ship. They all watch after him in stunned surprise for a while.

‘Uh-‘ Namjoon begins.

‘HEY!’ Sk’jin yells incredulously, making Jungkook jump at the sheer volume, ‘YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO LIKE THAT! WE’RE A ING TEAM!’

‘Well!’ Namjoon declares, ‘Anything else?’

Jimin shakes his head in reply, small smile on his face.

‘All right, let’s find the central harbour then,’ Namjoon nods as he stands, ‘Are the teams ready to set off?’

‘Affirmative,’ one of the GI behind them replies, making both Sk’jin and Jungkook jump a little at the proximity.

‘Okay- let’s get going then,’ Namjoon reactivates his screen before looking down at Jimin and saying, ‘You should go get changed- can’t have you catching some random flu at a time like this.’

Jimin laughs and nods, hugging Jungkook’s jacket closer around himself.

‘Kookie, come with me,’ Namjoon addresses the Vicitra, ‘I want to study those tanks properly and the area- Tae, you too.’

The two of them jump up at once, trailing after the Kutsoglerin in a rush.

‘Sk’jin could you-‘

‘-keep a watch on the transfer and Comms?’ Sk’jin yawns loudly, pulling out his screen from inside his pocket, ‘Ahead of you Cap.’

‘Come on,’ Yoongi holds his hand out for Jimin to take, ‘I should also probably change.’

Jimin takes his hand and stands up from his temporary sitting crate. He was feeling clammy as a result of his wet clothes and Jimin definitely needs to change his clothes quickly. Yoongi picks up the empty tray and tucks it under his arm, his other hand taking Jimin’s.

‘Hey!’ Sk’jin yells as they approach the hangar gateway, and Jimin already knows he’s going to say something regrettable. ‘We’re short on time! So no hanky-panky you hear me!’

Yoongi actually throws the tray at Sk’jin who dodges it with a high-pitched shriek.

Jimin finds a warm jacket, that he’s quite sure belonged to Hoseok at one point and he wears that over the clothes Yoongi brought over him. He’s wearing his clothes the right way round now, a combination of the GI uniform and casual clothes. He has shoes on as well.

‘I’ll go take these to wash,’ Yoongi says as he reaches for Jimin’s wet clothes.

‘Oh-,’ Jimin quickly takes the tunic back, making Yoongi blink in surprise at his odd action but Jimin just remembered something. ‘-I was…’

He’s not sure how to begin. Inside his pocket, still safely stored in there, is the glittery purple clip. Carefully he takes it out. Yoongi’s eyes widen at the sight of it, blinking rapidly as though in disbelief.

‘I was able to bring this back,’ Jimin tells Yoongi, holding the clip in the palm of his hand. ‘I uh- I’m not really sure how but…but I think…this was how I was able to ground myself.’

With a shaking hand, Yoongi picks it up.

He seems at a loss for words, mouth slightly open. Jimin lowers his hand but Yoongi takes it up at once, stepping closer, still looking at the clip.

‘Jimin,’ he sounds choked up, lips trembling. ‘I-…thank you, for bringing it back.’

Jimin squeezes his hand, holding it between two of his own.

‘Chaewon would have really liked you,’ Yoongi gently presses on the glittering accessory, opening it and closing, as though checking to see if it was still working. ‘I think she would have given me hell about it though.’

‘Yeah?’ Jimin chuckles.

‘She would have said you were too good for me,’ Yoongi looks up finally, eyes searching all over Jimin’s face.

‘I think she’d say that just to tease you,’ Jimin holds his gaze. ‘I think it’s safe to say, from what I’ve seen of her, that she would just want you to be happy.’

Yoongi presses the clip up to his face, face scrunching up, his eyes closing before Jimin can see them well up.

‘You make me so happy,’ Yoongi barely gets out.

Jimin holds him tight, his own eyes filling with tears.

‘I mean, I worry most of the time like-‘ Yoongi says wetly. ‘-you sometimes do such reckless things-‘

Jimin laughs, squeezing the Human fondly in his arms.

‘You’re telling me?’ he laughs, swaying them side to side.

Yoongi laughs, a combination of a chuckle and a suppressed sob.

‘Thank you,’ he says again.

Jimin kisses his cheeks, wiping at the wet patches on his skin there.

‘HEY! I said no hanky-panky!’ Sk’jin yells over the Comm, making them both jump.

‘Really should’ve drugged him and kept him with Ilya,’ Yoongi comments wryly as Jimin doubles over with laughter.

‘How was it up there?’ Yoongi asks him as they step out of the ship a little later.

‘Still,’ Jimin replies, ‘Still, like the surface of a pond. And now, I’ve cast a stone into it.’

Yoongi breathes in and out as they step off completely from the ramp.

‘Was it them, being here, that continued to cause all of this?’

‘Partially,’ Jimin nods, ‘But Megibīya is slowly fading- even though it is now connected back to Menigišiti.’

‘I thought I heard you sing,’ Yoongi tells him quietly.

‘I uh, sent a message,’ Jimin tells him almost guiltily, ‘Into Menigišiti, I don’t…I don’t know, and I cannot possibly know or understand, what’s happened in there- so many of the Docks, the Sanctuaries, were…switched off. Purposeful, intentional. And I cannot really…understand the pattern of it. I know that Akramana is…most possibly, no longer there, or has been heavily compromised. Most of the planets are no longer aligned- with each other, using the Sanctuaries and their cores. I don’t know if that was done as a result of force, or something done out of desperation. Only three of the planets are still connected- and I don’t know what that means. I wish I could, but…but I don’t know, if I would be welcomed- or even allowed back.’

‘Is that why you wanted to bring in K’mara into this? So that you could request that she possibly take in the New Borns?’

Jimin nods, ‘I think, from what I’ve seen of Sk’jin, K’mara would understand.’

‘Hey guys,’ Hoseok says sharply, ‘I think you need to come back to the ship right now- Namjoon, Kookie, Tae. Back, now.’

‘What’s wrong?’ Namjoon asks immediately as Jimin and Yoongi share a look.

‘Do you have your screens on you?’ Hoseok asks instead.

Yoongi quickly jogs back up the ramp, heading inside the hangar, clearly to get a hold of the wall-monitor. Jimin makes to follow but quite suddenly, the light around him blinks- as though some great thing temporarily obscured the sun. His hair on the back of his neck stands on end, his pulse suddenly rocketing up, deafening him.

‘Something’s coming towards us-‘

‘,’ Sk’jin swears, appearing in Jimin’s peripheral vision in the distance but Jimin can’t pay attention- not when he can almost hear it- he can almost hear them- ‘I didn’t think Axudar would get here so ing soon?’

‘It’s not coming from Axudar’s direction,’ Hoseok tells them frantically.

‘Sunshine?’

Jimin snaps his head back down, not realizing he’d been staring up at the sky.

‘What is it?’ Yoongi asks worriedly, eyes roaming all about his face, hands reaching up as though ready to protect him, defend him, catch him.

‘It’s coming from Menigišiti.’

Jimin doesn’t know why but he’s smiling, he’s filled with a strange welling of joy.

‘They heard me sing,’ Jimin manages to get out, looking back up to the sky. ‘They’re singing back!’

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

‘The ending started here, in Megibīya. And this is where we will change that.’

Jimin look at every single one of them, faces brightened by the light of the sunrise. This moment feels strangely heartbreaking, and Jimin doesn’t quite know why.

‘I’ve been in discussion with Ilya and Jn’young,’ he begins, ‘In order to expose Axudar.’

If anyone’s surprised, they don’t say anything.

‘From the moment of my awakening, here in this timeline, I knew that I was betrayed from within,’ Jimin continues, ‘I already had my suspicions when I first left for Megibīya initially- but it was further proven to me when I awoke here, in this now. And with what we’ve learnt about Axudar, the nature of the New Borns and the eggs, of the GI- of the involvement and creation of the Red Evil, the Omhlophe- the roles of those involved within the GLA, the Venture Unit, the GIU, the Underverse – ultimately what happened on Earth was strangely another way to look deeper into the root cause of everything that has happened- or at least, a look deeper into what could have catalyzed these events. And I know,’ Jimin adds quickly, ‘I know that what happened in Menigišiti, our involvement, our connections and our hand in all of this, is not the source cause leading up to this. I know that this strange utopia wasn’t dreamt up only Ndica- that he too, at one point, was lead into this direction- but what he discovered in Menigišiti allowed him to vault further in his agenda- and we are now standing here directly as a result of it.’

‘You believe that exposing Axudar will stop all of this then?’ Hoseok asks, head tilting a little. ‘I don’t mean to make comparisons, but what happened on Earth was a direct result of all of this too, yet somehow the truth of it is practically unknown to the Known Universe- I mean, Axudar’s reach is far and wide- what’s to say anything we try can possibly have an effect on Axudar?’

‘Because what happened on Earth was a surprise,’ Yoongi says quietly, ‘No one was expecting anything- no one was even looking at Earth.’

‘Why does that change with Axudar?’ Hoseok inquires.

‘Because we will direct all attention towards them,’ Jimin states.

‘How?’ he demands.

‘By getting them to expose themselves,’ Namjoon finally speaks up. ‘We do not enter Axudar ourselves- there’s no chance of success in doing so.’

‘I was under the impression that we would,’ Hoseok frowns, ‘Ultimately, that’s what needs to be done isn’t it? We need to go and check on that place-‘

‘Prat’tna was misguiding Namjoon,’ Jimin explains, ‘He was one among the Great Council who orchestrated the partnership between Menigišiti and Axudar.’

Jimin notices how everyone, excluding Sk’jin, look shocked. He briefly recounts what he had told Namjoon a few days ago, of Prat’tna, and his actions, and the strangeness of it all, contrasted with what Jimin knows to be the truth.

‘All right,’ Hoseok says slowly, ‘We don’t go to Axudar. But then what do we then? Do we even try going to Menigišiti?’

Jimin sets down the NaviLet, tapping on the map projection Namjoon already had at the ready for him.

He pulls up both the projection for the Axudar System, as well as Menigišiti.

‘I first want to show you my plan,’ he says, suddenly feeling nervous. He’s carried out meetings, lead discussions on local, rural, metropolitan, and planetary economy, overseen natural disaster responses, conducted infrastructure planning sessions across several planets simultaneously while negotiating with builders, contractors, planners, and everyone else in between. And yet somehow, Jimin is more nervous, more anxious, presenting this before these 6 Beings in front of him. ‘I was listening, to what everyone was saying about potential plans and ideas, on how to approach this. Which is why I want to approach this, with all of you, together in this- but I’ve also…also-‘

‘It’s okay,’ Namjoon smiles. Jimin feels Yoongi’s hand resting on his back, encouraging him to go on. ‘Tell us what we can do in this plan.’

Jimin nods.

‘Axudar is protected by the GLA Environmental Protection Act- meaning those who are explicitly invited by the Axudarian government can enter, and that too only for specific reasons.’ Jimin explains, tapping on the projection of the System, ‘There is no way we can enter- according to Jn’young, the entirety of the System is not only heavily observed and watched, it’s basically designed to keep anyone from leaving or entering.’

‘How was Jn’young able to escape then? Or Jaen?’ Hoseok asks.

‘Please never ask how a Khol’isa is able to get in or out of a place,’ Sk’jin remarks dryly, ‘Also, Jaen is an Axudarian whose family was already trying to leave the place- they didn’t try and do this overnight- didn’t she say there were many who tried to leave, for generations, but most didn’t make it?’

Hoseok nods grimly.

‘I think it’s fair to say that those who didn’t make it literally died in the process- Jaen was lucky,’ Sk’jin says simply, ‘It’s why both her and Jn’young are so adamant about not returning- why they hate it so much. They know there’s no second chance of escape.’

‘It’s why I asked Jn’young for help,’ Jimin tells them, ‘It was his suggestion to make Axudar violate their own Protection Act.’

‘How do we do that?’ Sk’jin asks interestedly.

‘When I was first captured in Ynqaba, the Beings who captured me after Seulgaan was killed- they recognized me. Said I was “one of them”- at first I assumed they could identify me as being one of the Eggs- or because of my clothes, a GI.’ Jimin recounts, ‘But I came to realize that this wasn’t the case.’

‘Were they referring to Axudar?’ Sk’jin asks with a frown, leaning. ‘To the whole-‘ he gestures to his eyes, ‘-eclipsed eyes thing.’

Jimin nods, slightly amused at how Namjoon sends a glare at Sk’jin, as though telling the Khol’isa to be more sensitive on the topic.

‘After interrogating Camil, and after what we learnt in the beginning from Khonen, and with what Namjoon witnessed in Lowet, I was curious- just how far did Axudar extend out their reach,’ Jimin ignores the way both Sk’jin and Yoongi are looking at him. ‘Because by reaching out this far, their confidence, their arrogance, could have expanded too.’

‘Well, Ynqaba didn’t exactly have the best Beings there,’ Hoseok says slowly with a nod.

‘I asked Jn’young to send Beings there,’ Jimin explains, ‘If you know what you’re looking for, you will find it. I also sent the GI from Lowet for additional protection.’

‘And?’

‘The GLA Environmental Protection Act states that while you cannot enter the location that is protected by this Act, you cannot leave it either,’ Namjoon fills in, ‘It’s meant to protect the living species within the location- which means leaving the area, unless operated and watched over by the GLA, specifically the Yisheng Directory, is absolutely forbidden and a direct violation of the Act.’

‘Oh my ing Spaces-,’ Sk’jin snorts out, ‘The ing Collectors.’

Jimin looks at Sk’jin in surprise, but he pushes on ahead, there would be time later for questions, ‘Yes- the Collectors in Ynqaba. Jn’young’s sources were able to track and capture them and-‘

‘-funky eyes?’ Sk’jin raises an eyebrow.

Namjoon sighs heavily.

‘Yes,’ Jimin nods. ‘As well as other native Axudarians.’

‘Delicious,’ Sk’jin grins and it’s too gleeful.

‘Are they congregating in Ynqaba because of what Ndica did there?’ Hoseok asks.

Jimin nods, ‘More eggs, I believe.’

‘So Axudar has been breaking their own protection act,’ Sk’jin cuts in, ‘We can report them right? But what would that lead us to? That would just be some boring investigation bureaucratic-level slow the GLA love processing.’

‘Not if we link them to the trafficking?’

‘What trafficking? Of the eggs?’ Sk’jin asks, confused.

‘Link them to the Alliance?’ Hoseok asks, breaking out into an impressed huff.

Namjoon nods, ‘That was Ilya’s plan.’

‘But…but I thought Haenoon and Seulgaan were in on this together? With our mission?’ Yoongi asks carefully. ‘Linking them will-‘

‘-linking them will force everyone involved at the highest level to risk exposure,’ Namjoon completes, ‘This includes the possibility of the Special Jury being involved and it causing them to reveal themselves. If I’m not mistaken, Jn’young and Ilya should be just about done setting it all up for us now, ready to deliver Axudar’s violation of their Protection Act, involvement in the Alliance that not only throws them down for trafficking but adds additional weight to their violation for bringing in alien-species into their supposed fragile planetary balance.’

‘It also exposes them for lying about ever needing the Act in the first place,’ Sk’jin hums with approval, his eyes sparkling quiet ominously, ‘This is not only going to trigger half of the GLA Divisions, but also the Venture Unit, the Yisheng Directory, and the GIU- Axudar is ed.’

‘But…won’t that possibly expose Menigišiti?’ Jungkook asks hesitantly, speaking up for the first time from where he stood, worriedly gnawing at his lips. ‘Menigišiti is supposed to keep the eggs safe?’   

Jimin nods hurriedly and adds, ‘There are steps, layers to this. First, is making sure we can expose Axudar for what it is doing, what it has done. The next is we go to Megibīya. I need to be there, to check on several things.’ Jimin taps over to the projection of Menigišiti. ‘Around the System, we have these um, balancers, cells, like Docks here, set all around- this allowed us to channel the flow of energy from our sun, Yino, to shield us. It helps create a balance, with no possibilities of gaps appearing in the shield.’ He taps one more time to show them the placement of each Sanctuary. Or at least how it was the last time he remembered them. ‘You can see the concentration is higher here- but towards Megibīya it’s smaller- there’s this primary one here though you won’t be able to see it.’

‘Handy,’ Sk’jin remarks, looking down with a raised eyebrow.

‘When I left for Megibīya and saw how it had been overwhelmed, I ordered for it to be destroyed.’ Jimin explains, ‘And from the fact that Megibīya can be perceived right now, means that the Dock was not destroyed. By having that destroyed, it would shut down the easiest gateway into Menigišiti.’

‘So what does that mean?’

‘I thought hard about this- for months and months I couldn’t-…I couldn’t quite understand it,’ Jimin tells them honestly, ‘If the Great Council planned for me to be taken, planned for all of this to happen, in collaboration with Ndica, why didn’t Ndica simply freely enter Menigišiti?’

‘…isn’t it because he has your sister?’ Sk’jin asks, his tone gentle.

Jimin’s chest hurts, a dull echo of what once was. He shakes his head.

‘Ndica couldn’t take Menigišiti, Prat’tna couldn’t enter either, and those before him either couldn’t enter because they can’t- Menigišiti is most probably locked,’ Jimin explains, ‘And I don’t know how, or in what conditions that would be done, but no one can enter, and possibly, no one can leave either, especially if the other cells- the Docks, are compromised or shut down.’

‘What does that mean for us?’ Hoseok asks sharply.

‘Once the news of Axudar hits the Known Universe and the Underverse,’ Namjoon obliges, ‘Those who are continuously instigating all of this- meaning the Great Council, and those probably in Ndica’s inner circle living in Axudar, will flee.’

‘You’re counting on them to flee to Megibīya?’ Hoseok raises a skeptical eyebrow.

‘No,’ Jimin shakes his head, ‘I will make it known that I am there. And they will come to me.’

‘What?’ Yoongi takes a step to the side to look at him properly.

‘This plan was going on quite well until you said that bit,’ Sk’jin sighs, ‘Okay, let’s say this all works out well- also assuming Megibīya is safe in the first place- like, didn’t Camil say it was a drop-off point for delivery? Let’s assume everything goes to plan and we’re on track, and lets say that these panicked, selfish, cruel s with Spaces knows what capabilities all rush to Megibīya as a result of your invitation and don’t immediately reign fire down on us, what do you intend on doing? Fight them all? 1 versus thousands?’

Sk’jin crosses his arms over his chest, foot tapping, waiting for Jimin’s response.

‘I mean, I could do that?’ Taeh’yung offers hesitantly, raising his hand.

‘You lower that hand right now,’ Sk’jin reaches over to whack the Zhak’gri over on his head, ‘You can barely form your triangles, let alone take on thousands of angry egotistic s all high on panic.’

Taeh’yung hides behind Jungkook, rubbing at his head with a pout.

‘How do you intend on extending this invitation?’ Hoseok asks.

‘If the Dock near Megibīya still exists, and I’m sure it does, I will reactivate it. This will also potentially cover Megibīya from sight- from the rest of the Known Universe.’ Jimin replies at once, ‘Megibīya has never quite been able to remain completely hidden from the beginning- it will make a good place to observe and not be observed when Axudar is being overturned.’

Hoseok nods slowly to that before asking, ‘But there is no guarantee here is there?’  

‘Admittedly this part is still a working progress,’ Namjoon says evenly, ‘However, this is the best way that we’ve managed to bring this to some form of conclusion that has a chance of success- and at the very least, somehow bring to light what is happening in Axudar.’

The sea is loud behind them, the sun bright on their skins and hair. No one says a word, clearly thinking things through.

‘There’s a lot in Megibīya that we- uh, we can learn a lot more, once we’re there,’ Jimin says haltingly, correcting his words carefully, ‘I also thought of- well, asking the GIU to potentially um-‘

‘-lurk,’ Namjoon offers, ‘I’m sure K’mara would be more than happy to comply.’

Sk’jin is still frowning, eyeing Jimin carefully.     

‘Amme is a good choice too,’ Namjoon continues, looking about at all of them before adding, ‘Also not to pause on this, but Jn’young’s calling and well-‘

‘-patch him through,’ Hoseok gestures to the NaviLet.

A few seconds later, during which Jimin resolutely doesn’t look at Yoongi, a full size projection of Ilya, Jn’young, and Jaen appear.

‘Good morning,’ Ilya smiles, and directly addressing Sk’jin, ‘It’s good to see you looking better and healthier.’

‘Ah, what a nice place-‘ Jn’young begins abruptly, looking about the scenery as though he could see it all. ‘Clearly, this is a good place for the fragile elderly to recover.’

‘Oh yes?’ Sk’jin laughs airily at Jn’young, ‘Clearly pupa, you’ve only ever shed twice in your whole life, so your horns aren’t screwed on properly-‘

‘-oh, I highly doubt someone of your, respectfully speaking, age, should say much of anything,’ Jn’young smiles back just as charmingly, ‘-isn’t it time you took a much needed nap?’

Sk’jin’s smile is so saccharine Jimin – but before he can say anything Ilya loudly clears his throat, giving both Sk’jin and Jn’young warning looks. Funnily enough it works and both Khol’isa cross arms and look away pointedly, leaning back casually, effortlessly stunning and handsome.

‘We’ve laid out the whole plan out now,’ Namjoon tells them.

Ilya nods, glancing over at him with a quick smile, ‘And we’re ready on our part as well.’

‘How long until you get to Megibīya?’ Jaen asks.

‘4 days,’ Yoongi replies.

‘We can refine the delivery better during that time, as well as set up plan B’s,’ Ilya states, ‘But for now, we’re all set, and ready for whenever you need us to start.’

‘Thank you,’ Jimin says again, despite having thanked the Ožkan countless times before.

‘Hey, I didn’t raise you to be such a good liar,’ Sk’jin suddenly starts scolding the Ožkan. ‘When I asked you yesterday, ‘Ilya, how are things, how are you?’ you lied to my face and said nothing much was going on!’

Ilya laughs sheepishly, holding his hands, palms facing outward, as he says, ‘Well I uh-‘.

‘He doesn’t need to tell you everything,’ Jn’young smoothly interrupts, looking about still not sparing Sk’jin a glance. ‘You need to let go of the whole paternal thing. It’s getting old.’

‘Let’s get going shall we?’ Namjoon says with a blinding smile, quickly picking up the NaviLet and leaving the rock they were all gathered on. Jimin takes a step forward too, ready to continue their meeting indoors to discuss more details when Yoongi takes hold of his arm gently.

Yoongi doesn’t pull him back or anything- but Jimin knows he wants him to stay back so he does. Sk’jin is still snapping back at Jn’young while Ilya and Namjoon converse to each other on the side. Hoseok sighs as though exhausted and follows after the Kutsoglerin.

‘You’ve always been able to see it,’ Taeh’yung says, a hint of sadness in his tone as he turns to leave as well.

Jimin just nods, unable to reply.

The Zhak’gri drags Jungkook away, claiming they needed to drag in sand to make into a sand pit in one of the rooms for recreation.

‘You’re not saying everything,’ Yoongi says. It’s not accusatory. ‘What are you afraid of?’

Jimin looks back at the calm morning sea for a while before he replies.

‘I’m afraid of being right.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Author’s Notes)

Yeah so like, have you guys listened to Wonho’s solo album
Did I mention that despite that fact this song is clearly about a one night stand and its super y and Wonho’s muscles are just god-tier an amazing sight to behold, I was super emotional and nearly cried because I’m so proud of him? I have literally never opened up an account for voting for music banks in SK, not for any group or act, but I was like I AM GETTING WONHO THAT NUMBER 1 I AM GETTING HIM HIS FIRST WIN AS A SOLO BECAUSE ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO DID THIS TO HIM 
Yeah so like, I am very emotional about Wonho, as you can tell. 
So yeah! Please stream his album ITS SO GOOD NOT A SINGLE SKIP!! And please check out his music video if you haven’t already!!!! 
that being said GUYS ITS HAPPENING WE ARE NOW IN THE FINAL ARC FOR THIS FIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
also please send me lots of positive juujuus since february of this year ive been sending job applications and signing up for anything i can possibly do within what my degree expands to and i've recieved NOTHING not a single word but???????????????????/
since yesterday and today?????????????? i've recieved both a call AND 2 emails??????????????? i mean they're not saying they'll hire me asap, they're just telling me they're interested and will respond to me once the HR department finishes their discussion with the company etc but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
acknowledgement
Acknowledgement is beautiful, thank you so much for acknowledging my emails 
also self promotion time but please check out my latest 2D illustration project!!! it's reimagining BTS as travelling witch merchants!!!!