The sky was engulfed in the semidarkness of twilight, causing a direful orange tinge to shine through the window and cast a strange pattern on the wooden floor. It set an apocalyptic mood that made Jungkook's imagination go wild. How peculiar, is this what the end of the world looks like? Jungkook pictured a world of flesh-eating zombies chasing down terrified humans and devouring them alive, gulping down handfuls of brains until every last man, woman, and child was extinct. Hmm, I wonder if zombies even exist. He was trying to occupy his mind, but it just seemed to wander to graphic scenarios. Abram and Taehyung had not returned from their excursion yet and he was a bit worried. The elder, on the other hand, seemed unfazed. Seokjin had immersed himself in the books on Abram's table, determined to learn all he could about Jacker and demon wolves. Jungkook divided his time between gaming on his phone and sighing loudly every ten minutes.

     "They're back!" Jungkook yelled out, seeing headlights shine through the window. He leaned up and peered through the lace curtains.

     "Thank , another sigh and I might have killed you," Seokjin mumbled, not looking up from his book. Jungkook frowned.

     Abram came in and went straight to the kitchen, muttering something about dinner. Taehyung sashayed in after him, his face was lit up like a Christmas tree, exhibiting the widest grin Jungkook had ever seen someone make. It was like he had just come from discovering the secrets of the universe. 

     "Where did you go?" Jungkook whispered to Taehyung.

     "Did you know the world's biggest supernatural museum is here, in Russia? Every artifact you can think of, sitting out in glorious cases," Taehyung was excited, "You can actually interact with them."

     "Oh?"

     "I got to hold the petrified hand of the great wizard of Versailles," He held out his palm like he was reliving the experience. The notion meant nothing to Jungkook, seeing as he had no clue who that even was, but hey, Taehyung was happy, so he was glad for him.

     Seokjin glared at him over the top of the book, "Learn anything useful?" 

     "Yes, did you?" Taehyung smirked, bending down to give the dog a quick pet.

     "I hope so," Seokjin stared back down at the book, "If not this is going to have a parlous ending."

     "The prophet is coming here tomorrow, so we won't have to go to Japan again, Abram feels the fewer people that know of the plans, the less likely someone can intercept," Taehyung informed him as he stood and then collapsed onto the couch, grabbing the pillow and sticking it behind his head, "I am exhausted."

     "You should get some sleep," Jungkook sat down next to him. 

     "You two can take the bedroom tonight if you want," Taehyung rubbed the back of his neck.

     "Sure, thanks." Jungkook looked over at Seokjin, who didn't seem to register what Taehyung said, "Test out the bedsprings tonight, Seokjin?"

     "Yeah, whatever," Seokjin answered, miffed.

     "Maybe you should put the book down for a minute and take a walk," Jungkook pointed out, giggling with Taehyung.

     Seokjin looked up at him, eyebrow raised, determined to tell Jungkook off, but he settled down when he saw Jungkook's eyes were blue again.

     "Yeah," He set the book down and stood, stretching his arms, "Good idea."

     "Really?" Jungkook gasped.

     "You're coming with me," Seokjin seized Jungkook's arm and pulled him up.

     Jungkook smiled, "Of course."

     They made their way over to the door, Taehyung was about to lay his head back when he noticed Jungkook's eyes reverted from blue back to their usual color. What the hell?

     "See ya later, Tae," Jungkook followed Seokjin out the door into the night.

     Outside was chilly, Jungkook zipped his hoody up, wishing he had grabbed his jacket. He glanced back at Seokjin as they traipsed through the snow to the barn, "Thought I'd have to fight you more to get you out here."

     "Your eyes were blue again," Seokjin stopped, he leaned against the fence and looked up at the moon.

     "So all I have to do is make my eyes blue and I can get you to do anything?" Jungkook smirked, joking.

     "Don't get cocky." He expelled his breath to watch the stream of air transform into fog and turned to Jungkook, "I needed a break anyway."

     Jungkook leaned against the fence and glanced upward, observing the moon, "Almost full." 

     Seokjin noticed that the light of the moon was making Jungkook's scar prominent, it brought all the thoughts he had in the last hour back. A seriousness took over his face.

     "What happens if I can't kill Jacker?" 

     Jungkook turned to him, "You will."

     "But if I can't?" Seokjin agonized, "He's gonna come after you."

     "Well, I won't go down without a fight," Jungkook promised. 

     "He is a lot harder to kill than I am," Seokjin shook his head, "I don't know if I'm strong enough."

     "You're the strongest person I know," Jungkook grabbed Seokjin by the shoulders, "Don't doubt yourself now,"

     "I'm being realistic," Seokjin took a deep breath, "I'm not scared to die, I'm scared of what will happen to you if I don't make it."

     Jungkook felt an instant sadness, Seokjin was more worried for him than he was for himself. He wasn't sure what to say to him, if someone as strong as Seokjin thought that he wasn't a match for Jacker... then how well was he, a literal noob, going to fare?

     Abram had made them all beef stroganoff for dinner, it was clear to see he shared Noni's knack in the kitchen. Jungkook almost felt like he was back at the castle, he had helped himself to two hearty helpings before burping and pushing away his plate. Taehyung recalled their day at the museum, telling them about all the artifacts he got to hold and how he was especially impressed with the late 1600 royal sword from some bloody human battle that had killed a king and almost ruined a kingdom.  

     An hour after dinner, they all wished each other a good night and Seokjin and Jungkook headed up to the bedroom. Jungkook kicked off his shoes and sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Seokjin took off his shirt and set it over the back of the chair. The elder had been quiet all through dinner and even though he wasn't much of a talker normally, the silence made Jungkook uneasy.

     "Abram is the male clone of Noni," Jungkook smiled, hoping to ease the tension a bit.

     "Seems so," Seokjin sat on the chair and removed his shoes. He just stared at the floor, deep in thought.

     "I really like him," He continued, only to be met with an unenthusiastic nod from the elder, "His dog is pretty cute too."

     "Huh?" 

     Jungkook could see his small talk wasn't going to do much good, so he cut right to business, "How hard do you think it will be to find those daggers?" 

     "We only need one," Seokjin glanced over, reminding him.

     "I'm sure Madame Kimura can point us in the right direction-"

     "Yeah, because she has been so helpful up until now about this whole ing thing," Seokjin exhaled, shaking his head.

     Jungkook felt dejected, he wanted to cheer Seokjin up, give him hope, but it seemed like nothing he could say would make a difference. He laid back on the bed and stared at the light on the ceiling. Seokjin felt the vibe in the room shift, he stood and climbed onto the bed and laid down next to him, determined not to be a sour puss. Jungkook looked over startled, Seokjin's face was so close to his.

     "Whatever happens, I want you to know that I will do whatever I can to make sure Jacker doesn't win," Seokjin promised.

     "I know," Jungkook nodded, somehow he sensed everything would be okay.

     The elder had this knack for calming him down, even with a gesture so simple as occupying the same proximity. He stared at Seokjin's lips, so tempting...

     A loud crash sounded downstairs and they both sat up suddenly, glaring at the door.

     "What was that?" Jungkook questioned, the hairs on his arm standing at full attention.

     "Stay here." Seokjin grabbed his gun and was out of the room in a matter of seconds. Jungkook hurried to the window and scanned the outside, there was no one out there; no cars, no henchmen, no machine guns aimed at the house. It was probably just the dog... Yes, just the dog.

     Downstairs, Taehyung was cleaning up a broken teacup that lay shattered on the floor. Seokjin crept into the room, gun aimed straight at his temple.

     "Woh,"  Taehyung held up his hands, "You wanna aim that away from my head?"

     "What are you doing?" Seokjin gave a quick glance around the room before he uncocked the gun and stuck it in his belt.

     "It was dark, I bumped the table," Taehyung started to pick up the glass again. Jungkook stepped into the doorway and leaned against the jamb, relieved there were no intruders to fight off.

     "I thought