Hoseok does not want to be here more than he has to.

He’s not even sure why he’s here considering he’s been registered not only as deceased but also still a criminal under the GLA, the Venture Unit (of course), and the GIU. Twice.

He feels strangely, comically, insignificant sitting in between Ilya and Yisheng Lim.

Or maybe that was the medication coursing through him- help support him exhausted and wearied body for a couple more hours before he could crash. Though the idea of sleep doesn’t appeal to him just quite yet. He clutches his compressor pouch closer to himself, grounding himself with its light weight. He can’t- he won’t sleep.

In fact the idea of it terrifies him.

‘Thank you for coming to meet me.’

Hoseok doesn’t know about the other Ilya, but he sure as hell wasn’t quietly and courteously invited.

Summoned, would be more accurate. Summoned under duress, surrounded by GIU soldiers, dozens of Transporters hovering over them. Not wanting to cause a scene or make things difficult, Hoseok follows the soldiers to the Transporter awaiting him. To his surprise, Lim stops him and gives him a curious raise of eyebrow.

Doing his best, Hoseok had mimed and explained to him he was being summoned by K’mara. Lim eyes the mothership curiously as his people talk behind him. He nods briefly to them before he gestures for Hoseok to continue.

Hoseok is even more surprised when Lim follows after him.

Hoseok is not surprised when the soldiers stop him.

‘If K’mara wants to meet with me, she’s going to have to accept him too. This is, by all right under the still existing Treaty between the GLA and Menigišiti, his planet, his System.’ Hoseok says tersely.

They all pause, shivering a little in the strange cold that settles all over the quiet and still planet. Hoseok glances back as Jungkook is carefully taken into one of Ilya’s Transporters. Lim gives him a reassuring pat on his shoulder, as though telling him the youngling would be okay. Hoseok gives him a nod in thanks, breathing out a tight exhale knotted in his chest. He glances up at the mothership, behind it the new asteroid belt that glimmers as it slowly stretches out, affixing onto Menigišiti’s gravitation albeit weak pull.

Hoseok immediately looks away, hands unconsciously gripping into tight fists, strained against the compressor pouch.

The GIU soldiers clearly receive some form of confirmation as they step aside and allow Hoseok and Lim to walk to the Transporter that awaited them. Strangely, Hoseok feels comforted having the Yisheng with him even though they couldn’t communicate a single word with each other.

It takes them a criminally long time to get around to finally walking up to K’mara’s office and Lim has a very openly irritated expression on his face. Just as they walk into the great and long marble paved hallways with massive columns bracing them on each side, Hoseok is taken aback when Ilya exits a doorway from the opposite side of the hallway. He doesn’t seem too surprised though, giving Hoseok a tired wave. Jaen walks behind him, expression neutral, posture rigid and alert.

And that’s how Hoseok ended up sitting in between the two, facing K’mara who sat behind a frankly ridiculously large desk. Hoseok briefly wonders if this was just part of some grand presentation or if it was actually practical and was some form of custom Navigation Table because the projection of the Known Universe over her desk was coming from a screen to the side.

When they walk in, K’mara’s focus is on Lim and Ilya. Hoseok feels weirdly invisible and he wishes he were.

‘Tea?’

Hoseok wants to stand up and leave.

But he doesn’t.

Ilya responds with a polite no and Hoseok shakes his head.

K’mara picks up her own teacup and gestures to Lim, tilting her head in question, her horns catching light in a mesmerizing way in the process. She is nothing but courteous and elegant- warm welcome in everything she did. But there’s a wariness in her eyes, the glint of red that gleams uncontrollable in Lim’s unknown and strange presence.

Lim snorts, which is not a reaction Hoseok was expecting, and nods his head.

Ilya seems surprised at this, looking almost as though he wants to tell Lim not to accept any form of drink from a Khol’isa.

K’mara smiles beatifically at Lim, pouring him a clear rosy liquid with a hint of dusky blue into a clear cup. Lim takes the cup and places it before him.

K’mara pours herself a cup, takes a sip and then rests the cup down before bringing her pale hands together, rosy tips gently touching.

‘Thank you for coming to meet me.’ K’mara nods her head elegantly towards them. ‘I cannot imagine what you’re going through. Please accept my most heartfelt condolences.’

No one says a thing.

It’s unbearably loud, the silence that stretches after her statement.

‘I would have preferred that this discussion would take place later, after rest- after wounds have been healed, mind and body rested.’ K’mara sounds sincere, ‘But time does not wait for anyone.’

It really didn’t.

‘I am grateful that our guest here has joined us as well,’ K’mara nods towards Lim. ‘Does he have a translator?’

‘No,’ Hoseok replies.

K’mara looks at Lim expectantly, as though asking without words, why he chose to come here.

‘Ka-mara?’ he intones slowly.

K’mara nods.

Lim scratches the side of his face before he readjusts his sitting position and retrieves a device from his pocket.

K’mara doesn’t react to this unknown device, but Hoseok is more than willing to bet every single security defense mechanism was locked onto them at this point.

It’s flat, sliding out wider in Lim’s hands. He taps a few times on it, the surface reminiscent of the material that covered their strange and massive transporters and ships and even clothing. A few moments later the device blossoms into light that stretches out across K’mara’s grand office, replacing it with a scene-recording.

‘Wow,’ Ilya says quietly, sounding genuinely impressed, ‘Now that’s something.’

Lim points at K’mara who’s eyes narrow a little, looking around the newly projected space, recognition in her eyes. Then he points at a figure to the side.

It’s not the clearest, but she’s recognizable instantly. And Hoseok immediately understands what all of this was.

This was surveillance footage of the meeting between the GLA and Menigišiti.

K’mara nods.

Lim must have studied in scrutiny, like so many others before him, the sequence of events that took place before their System was torn apart the way it was. Hoseok wouldn’t be surprised, if he thinks about it, that all the Beings – including Jimin and his sister, were all noted figures at the center of their System’s history and slow disintegration.

He hadn’t seen Jimin, though he knew he was alive; Hoseok has no confirmation on this, no eye-witnesses, but something tells him things would be very different if it weren’t so.

Lim leans back on his seat, one arm resting on the side of the chair to support his chin as he looks at K’mara thoughtfully.

‘I was there for the signing of the Treaty, as well as other meetings,’ K’mara tells Lim, gesturing to herself and then pointing around the room before miming signing.

He taps the device and the projection dims away.  

Lim takes a long slow breath.

Hoseok is riveted. He has no idea what’s going on in Lim’s mind, or what he hoped to achieve coming here.

Strangely, Lim starts by gesturing to the room and then points at K’mara. Then he points at her ridiculous desk, and then at her again. Then he points to the teacup, and points at K’mara again.

K’mara nods slowly.

‘Yes, these are mine,’ she gestures around with a hand and places it over her chest. ‘Mine.’

With a half-smile Lim takes the cup of tea poured out for him and with a simple slow motion of his hand, draws out a few drops of liquid from within the cup. The droplets keep afloat while Lim swallows down the rest of the liquid. K’mara doesn’t blink or look away from Lim as he places back the cup, droplets of the strange liquid still afloat. Clearing his throat, Lim nods out towards the window, briefly gestures in a circular motion and then brings his palm to his chest.

Mine.

Then he offhandedly waves around the ship and at K’mara and then the projection of the Known Universe, shrugging dismissively. K’mara’s eyes narrow just a little.

I don’t care about what you are doing out here with each other. This is yours.

Then he picks at Hoseok’s black sleeve and briefly mimes a helmet, and then pats his own back and draws a single line down in the air before he points at himself and then spreads his hands wide and brings them together, weaving his fingers together.

The GI, the New Borns, they’re connected to me and my System.

Then he points at K’mara and gives a brief wave away.

Even without using symbols or projections, Lim makes it clear.

Stay out.

K’mara looks at Lim, the same wary caution lingering in her eyes, hidden carefully though she’s not fooling any of them. Briefly, she looks at the droplets still lingering in the air above her desk.

Lim just leans back, huffing out a breath like he found all of this annoying. His leg bounces, as though impatient.

‘I do not see why we would not need to uphold the ongoing Treaty signed between Menigišiti and the GLA,’ K’mara mimes signing again and brings up the projections of the scans.

Lim barely even glances at them.

There’s a very long awkward pause during which Ilya readjusts his seating and Hoseok plays with a frayed thread on his cuff.

‘I assume this is an agreement to extend the Treaty,’ K’mara concludes with a nod, sitting back, ‘I would like to once again offer my condolences-‘

Standing, Yisheng Lim nods towards him and Ilya before getting out of his seat and leaving. As soon as the door closes, the droplets from the air neatly drip back down into Lim’s empty cup.

Ilya and Hoseok pointedly look away from each other as K’mara grimaces faintly, fingers tapping lightly on her grand table in what Hoseok can only guess is annoyance.

‘Lim,’ K’mara says his name slowly, memorizing it, ‘If I’m not mistaken, he’s a Yisheng?’

Neither Ilya or Hoseok reply.

K’mara smiles again, back to her usual self before she turns her focus on Ilya.

‘If it weren’t for the current circumstances, I would say I am honoured to meet you,’ K’mara tells him. ‘How terrible that our first meeting would be under such horrible conditions.’

Ilya simply reclines his head in response.

‘We have, of course, been keeping tab on you and your network for a long while now,’ K’mara explains, ‘I’m sure you have placed your own here within the GIU, undoubtedly.’

The silence is sticky and Hoseok wishes he could follow Lim out.

‘What I wanted to know is why you are here.’

‘Your tabs couldn’t tell you?’ Ilya remarks.

‘I’d like to hear it from you.’

‘I suppose I can tell you, if you tell me why you chose to protect Axudar and not send investigative recon despite being aware of what Ndica was doing to his System.’

A cold rush washes over Hoseok. He’s unable to control his reaction, head swiveling from Ilya to K’mara a few times before he stops himself.

K’mara doesn’t respond.

‘You were aware of what Ndica was doing in his System, you were also aware of the development and findings of what are called Origin 2 Hatchlings under the Trifecta files, as well as what Ndica was doing with them. You helped keep it quiet. I wonder why. What did you, K’mara, have to gain from Ndica.’

It doesn’t sound like a question. In fact, Ilya doesn’t even word it like he’s interested- instead he sounds as if-

‘-I’d like to hear it from you.’ He smiles.

The air is charged and Hoseok is both thoroughly riveted as well as fighting the absolute urge to just run out. He clutches on to the pouch a little tighter.  

‘I had asked for Jn’young to join us. Is he well?’ K’mara asks instead.

Ilya gives her an amused smile, ‘He’s doing quite well.’

‘Then why hide him? I would love to meet the only known Khol’isa not born under the Bloodmoon.’

Ilya raises an eyebrow at that.

K’mara laughs lightly under her breath, taking a final sip of tea from her mostly empty cup.

‘You should know I have people everywhere.’ K’mara smiles beatifically, ‘Of course I know.’

‘If you’re talking about E’nid then I’m pretty sure she’s the one giving me your information.’

For the second time that day Hoseok witnesses K’mara’s expression falter. But also E’nid?!

‘When I first met E’nid she had only recently been rescued from the Alliance. I actually met her in Šerdesas, right outside one of the GIU outposts there,’ Ilya chuckles. ‘I was there looking for another Orvan but instead I met her.’

Hoseok has no idea where this was headed but K’mara, for all the demure gestures and expressions that made up her countenance, looks incredibly misplaced somehow.

‘At first I thought she was lost- maybe in a panicked frenzy she ran off before being taken to rehabilitation,’ Ilya shrugs, ‘It happens. But she said she just wanted to sit outside in the sun for a while, to get a tan.’

Hoseok winces internally, thinking about the near-permanent scars that were embedded into the skins of every single Being from Orvan.

‘I asked when she got there. She replied that it had only been a couple of hours. I wasn’t too surprised by her lack of reaction; we all process our shock, trauma, pain differently from each other. I’ve seen nearly every singular form of it. I asked her if it would be all right if I sat with her.

And then she said to me, and I remember being stunned; she said, calmly ‘what would it cost you?’.’

K’mara doesn’t even blink but Ilya doesn’t look away, not at all discouraged by her hypnotic gaze.

‘I asked her what she meant. She said everything costs something- her cuffs, her life, her freedom, her rescue; so she asked me, what would it cost me to sit with her.

I said nothing.

And then she asked me what would it cost her.’

Ilya shifts in his seat, angling himself a little to rest his arm on the side of his chair.

‘I asked her why she would ask me that. She said it was because the price to remove her cuffs was to accept the other placed on her. I asked her what she meant.’ Ilya pauses, nails lightly dragging over the fine and rare polished D’rvo wood that curved to create their seats arms. ‘She had no light in her eyes. She was empty- robbed of everything that made her who she was, robbed of a life she was meant to live- she held no value for her own existence anymore. This was different from being reckless- for her at that time, nothing mattered. So telling me, a stranger, meant nothing to her.

She said that she was now being asked to work on behalf of the GIU, to be field operators- basically allow themselves to be sold back into the Alliance in order for the GIU to keep tabs on their operations without the knowledge of the Venture Unit or the GLA.’

Ilya suddenly laughs as he says, ‘You know once E’nid was on a trafficking ship and half of the captured “slaves” were all field operatives from the GLA, GIU, and Venture Unit? E’nid was very good in weaving every single one of those operatives into her ploy. We ended up with some excellent informants from one source.’

K’mara doesn’t say a word. Hoseok can practically see her mind whirring at the speed of light.

‘That wasn’t the very first day of our alliance of course,’ Ilya continues. ‘After that day I lost track of her for decades. And then one day she appeared out of nowhere- said I was too difficult to find.’

Ilya laughs fondly and K’mara smiles but it’s forced.

‘On that day in Šerdesas before I left she asked me what she owed me. I said nothing. But she insisted she give me something. I asked her for her friendship. And she gave it to me. And well, here we are. After all these years.’ Ilya drags out the last syllable a little before grinning toothily at K’mara. ‘She told you what I allowed you to know. Jn’young’s existence would have been made known regardless, and our stunt at –prison was undoubtedly going to create some form of trail. So rather than it be not within our control or context, I allowed this information to be leaked so that you would protect it in order for you to feel like you have an upper hand on me.’

The silence if overbearing and Hoseok wants to hide his head inside the compressor pouch.

‘Considering we are now completely honest with each other and are on the same level, then I see no harm in meeting Jn’young,’ K’mara smiles but it’s a little strained. ‘Of course, database would have excellent resources but it’s not as good or applicable as when it’s coming from the Khol’isa Sect or even from someone like myself. It would be wonderful to have him acquainted with the culture, our memories-‘

‘I don’t think he’s interested,’ Ilya says in his light frank manner that offers no room for argument unless you’re stupid. ‘He’s done his own research. I don’t think it’s quite his cup of tea.’

Hoseok fights the violent urge to giggle hysterically.

‘Besides, he’s met the only Khol’isa that matters,’ Ilya stands with a small groan and with a short bow of his head towards K’mara adds, ‘I will repeat what Lim so eloquently explained: stay away from me and my network.’

He stretches a little, groaning under his breath.

‘Oh my knees. Well, here’s to never meeting the second time.’

He winks at Hoseok before ambling away, muttering about his old knees.

K’mara stares after the Ožkan until after the door closes. Her eyes seemingly boring through the doorway.

Hoseok sits there politely as K’mara seems to process their conversation. Nothing seemed to be going her way and he braces himself mentally to prepare for assault on his mental awareness.

With a small sharp inhale she turns to pay attention to him.

It really was different, Hoseok thinks to himself, as he looks back at K’mara unflinchingly. Something about the hue, maybe the depth of it- their eyes were completely different. And somehow, Hoseok finds that he’s no longer afraid to look at K’mara as he once was.

Standing, K’mara makes her way to the elegant and fragile looking table to the right. She picks up a slender pot and pours out hot water into an elegant teapot.

‘Tea?’ she offers again, not looking back. Her robes slowly fall in line with her movement.

‘No thank you.’

She nods, making herself a cup.

She doesn’t say anything during this whole time and Hoseok has no problem with that. He takes a moment to stare at the pouch in his hands, breath leaving him slowly and steadily.

K’mara finally takes a seat.

‘You have questions for me.’ K’mara states. It’s not even a question.

And Hoseok is just so so tired.

Behind her, Megibīya looms dully. Yino is a dull star beyond.

The shield that protected Menigišiti for so long now disrupted and unbalanced occasionally gives way to show a clear view of the System hidden away for so long. It’s mostly all asteroid belts that seem to thread its way in every direction across the System.

Hoseok briefly wonders what will be done with it, and who would step up to represent Menigišiti, if anyone chose to. If anyone would want to. Because there was no telling what K’mara would decide to do.

High above, just edging the frame of the windows is the new addition to Megibīya’s planetary status – a slowly forming ring of asteroid; a glimmering ring not quite visible, but brilliant with starlight.

‘Actually I don’t,’ Hoseok looks away from the wide windows back to K’mara who was patiently waiting for his answer. She raises one eyebrow delicately but doesn’t express more than that. ‘If there’s nothing more needed from me, I will be taking my leave now.’

Hoseok does not have anything to say to K’mara.

And K’mara has nothing to say to him either- he’s heard plenty enough from what Ilya had to say.

Some sols ago, maybe he would have stayed. He would have had questions. Maybe there would be some Beings who would very much like a word with K’mara if given the opportunity, demanding answers for her actions, or attempts, she made on Megibīya. But Hoseok is tired. And he’s not here to listen to her speak in circles and riddles and answer questions with questions that mean nothing in the end.

Nothing being said or discussed would mean anything anyways.

Not to him, not to them.

K’mara doesn’t say anything and as Hoseok is legally deceased he decides he doesn’t need to wait for permission from figures of authority. So he turns around and makes for the door.

‘For what it’s worth, I am truly sorry and deeply saddened by his death too,’ she says as he walks away. ‘As a Khol’isa this loss is-‘

Hoseok doesn’t bother to stay and listen.

Waiting for him at the end of the hallway, to his surprise, is Jaen. She gives him a nod and he follows after her.

They walk in silence for a while as she hands him an energy bar. Hoseok tears the packaging off and hands it back to Jaen’s waiting hand before stuffing it into his mouth.

‘Want me to take that?’ she asks, nodding to the pouch.

Hoseok immediately shakes his head, hand clutching the pouch a lot tighter.

‘Seems like K’mara is not going to have a good time with this.’ She continues.

Hoseok shrugs, ‘None of the meetings certainly went the way she wanted that’s for sure. Damn, can’t believe I wasted so much time for nothing.’

‘She knows she lost,’ Jaen says simply. ‘There’s nothing she can do. Unfortunately Amme’s death will be categorized under an accident. Or maybe they’ll try to spin a story out of it- either way, K’mara’s presence has no basis when there is literally no evidence of any altercations having taken place.’

Not a single Axudarian transporter or ship- not any of those mountain-like ships, the false Sanctuaries were to be found. Not a single trace- just absolutely nothing, erased completely as though they just never existed in the first place.

K’mara would have security surveillance no doubt, but that would be pointless without actual concrete physical proof. A recording could easily be staged. And of course now she couldn’t place the blame on Ilya and his network, not without clearly exposing herself or the potential of Ilya releasing information on her.

‘K’mara and Axudar?’

Jaen whistles.

‘It’s a sticky situation- one that K’mara for sure absolutely regrets. We believe it’s one of the main reasons why she chose to come here, to make sure everything would be cleaned up and destroyed so that her involvement in what was happening to Axudar would be erased too,’ Jaen tells him before adding, ‘Meaning you and everyone else.’

‘What did she do?’

‘Complicated,’ Jaen sighs, ‘I’m not going to be someone who praises K’mara or think she’s a good Being. But I believe what she was doing, in light of the information presented to her at the time, was done in order to protect the rest of the Universe.’

‘Well, those never work out how they’re supposed to.’

‘No…- no they don’t,’ Jaen hums in quiet agreement.

‘E’nid?’

Jaen snorts.

‘Safe to say she’s not working for K’mara at any capacity.’

‘I can only assume Ilya has plenty others to step in her stead?’

Jaen doesn’t respond to that, instead she glances at Hoseok questioningly. And somehow, Hoseok feels the need to continue talking.

‘But wow, gotta say though. For E’nid: that must have been incredibly risky and dangerous.’ Hoseok comments as they come to a pause in front of a lift. ‘Tricking someone like K’mara? I would have given up.’

Jaen doesn’t respond or react, simply looking at Hoseok, eyes grave and filled with-

Hoseok looks away, chewing the last bits of the bar. He’s not sure if he’s even tasting it.

‘Namjoon and Jungkook are stable,’ she tells him quietly, looking straight ahead. And then she adds: ‘Taeh’yung is with them-‘

‘-what?’

Hoseok comes to a complete halt, every single thought in his mind just stops, his whole being suddenly awake.

Jaen looks at him, confused and concerned.

‘Uh- yeah, Taeh’yung-?’

‘He-‘ Hoseok barely breathes it out, ‘He’s here?’

Jaen nods, unsure how to react to Hoseok and what to make of it.

‘Where?!’

Hoseok hates how large the GIU mothership is. Hates how it takes him so long to get out, and then make his way to Ilya’s ship which isn’t as large but also significantly sized.

His pulse is out of control, thrumming under his skin. He feels lightheaded and he can’t hold onto to a single thought to ground himself. He doesn’t remember how he got here, waiting for the lift to take him up the medical bays in Ilya’s ship, a calm and supportive Jaen by his side even though Hoseok has done nothing to explain why he was the way he was.

They don’t say a word until the lift doors open Hoseok finds himself in the massive Medical Wing.

‘Thank you,’ he manages to get out.

Jaen just nods and gestures ahead.

He follows her through the massive Wing and finally into a closed off unit.

All of a sudden, as though the physicality of his being decided to return to him, Hoseok feels incredibly heavy, taking the last steps towards the door that slides open before he can prepare himself.

Firstly he sees Namjoon on a Medical Bed. He’s knocked out, with tubes feeding into him. He doesn’t look badly injured or wounded.

Jungkook is on the next bed. He’s a little pale, patched up, and also knocked out. Similar tubes are patched up to him as well.

And then-

‘Hobi!’

A head pops into view- wavy messy hair, wide grin, and-

Taeh’yung bounds over to him in a motion of light and music and energy that overwhelms him, paralyzing him on the spot from the sheer awe coursing through him.

He knows this- this strange raw power- this chaos, he knows this-

‘-that was you-!’ he manages to gasp out as Taeh’yung hugs him, lifting him from the ground and spinning him in a circle. Hoseok feels as though he was going to be torn apart into impossibly insignificant parts but at the same time feels incredibly solid and complete as Taeh’yung holds him close.

‘I stopped by to see you,’ Taeh’yung tells him, dropping him gently to the floor, still supporting him because Hoseok’s knees are weak. ‘You’re so warm.’

‘Oh- oh okay-?’ Hoseok manages to get out. ‘You- you’re okay-?’

Taeh’yung nods vigorously, pulling himself away and keeping himself in arms length from Hoseok.

‘Never better- everything just-…everything feels so complete,’ he says the word with so much reverence and joy.

‘Was- was it you? Who called me?’ Hoseok clings hard onto Taeh’yung, scared he would fall and break. ‘You- you asked for my hand and pulled me out-‘

Taeh’yung shakes his head, smiling a little before he takes Hoseok’s free hand in his.

‘You’re so warm,’ he says, pressing a kiss to his palm.

Warmth shoots through him and Hoseok closes his eyes against his will. But he catches himself, shaking his head, and opening his eyes, blinking rapidly.

‘What about Namjoon? And Jungkook? What are their- what are their readings like?’ he asks desperately, stepping back and concentrating on maintaining his strength to stand.

‘You need to sleep,’ Taeh’yung tells him, eyes wide with earnestness, ‘Hobi-.’

‘I don’t-‘ Hoseok pauses, shaking his head, ‘I don’t know if I can-‘

Horrified, he finds he’s tearing up, hands shaking against his will.

Taeh’yung hugs him again and this time Hoseok simply crumples.

He doesn’t care if there are witnesses or not. But Hoseok is just so so tired. But he’s so afraid-

‘-I’ll see them-‘ he chokes out. ‘-I can’t-‘

Taeh’yung hums, hand slowly smoothing up and down his back. It’s the only warmth he feels and it makes him feel incredibly hollow.

‘You’re carrying something important,’ he hums quietly.

Hoseok nods.

Taeh’yung pulls away, taking up his hand and the pouch. He smiles, pressing his cheek against the taut pouch.

‘Everyone is at rest now,’ Taeh’yung tells him gently, ‘So you need to rest too, okay?’

Hoseok allows himself to be lead to one of the Medical Beds already set up for him.

He doesn’t let go of the pouch and Taeh’yung doesn’t ask him for it either.

As he realizes he’s about to rest, about to sleep- his body stiffens, back uncurving, knees unbending- his breath locks into his lungs, refusing to settle down. But Taeh’yung simply steps in, hands warming over his being, allowing him to lay back. A rush of prickling pain washes over him.

‘You’ll be okay,’ Taeh’yung tells him.

And Hoseok believes him.

‘Just go to sleep.’

His eyes are the colours of stars long gone and not yet born.

‘You’ll be okay.’

 

 

 

*

 

 

Lim doesn’t think he’s every stopped burying his people.

Ever since before he was aware of death and loss and grief, Lim has been surrounded with it.

And today is no different.

It’s strange, seeing them – children of Yino, born outside of Menigišiti, and now rely to be buried.

He still can’t quite process what he had witnessed. What he saw within the facilitator and when he came outside.

This was beyond the scope of both Jimin and the Heart though both proved that they weren’t incapable of changing the literal course of Time and Space and Matter.

He still remembers it.

The stench of a darkness so far from a future that held no light or music.

But it’s gone.

Everything is gone.

The corrupted and twisted hearts of those mislead and misused. The void of timelessness and formlessness. The strain of lives stretched past their time.

It’s all gone.

The sky is clear once again- no cruel mimicry of the anchors of their balance is stationed overhead.

The ground beneath them is no longer crying out in pain and fear but rather humming a quiet and soothing lullaby, drawing their last breath before they slowly wake.

‘What do we do with them?’

Lim looks at the GI who all quietly fell. He no longer feels their tiredness, no longer feels the ache of longing within them. There is now only quiet and peace.

These were members of Jimin’s guard. Beings he knew, had met.

‘Bring them all here- we will wait and see what he would want first.’ Lim says. He glances up at the Omhlophe, also gathering their dead.

It’s strange, Lim decides, as he observes them placing their palms over the chests of the fallen before making a fist and pressing it over their own. It’s strange that somehow, isolated and separated, they were still all united in their death, and in their grief.

‘Was it his doing?’

Lim shakes his head. This wasn’t Jimin. What happened wasn’t Jimin. Nor was it the Heart.

This was something more powerful- something that went beyond what could be described merely as power.

‘Is he still alive?’

Lim looks over at the facilitator and then up towards the mountains.

‘Yes,’ he nods. He glances up at the massive mothership. The readings that they took from it showed them that it had been prepared to destroy the planet, and quite possibly the rest of Menigišiti.

Lim instantly decides that he doesn’t like K’mara. Besides the fact that she immediately tried to poison him during their first meeting obviously pushes back on the trust factor Lim doesn’t like the red light that thrives in her eyes.

It had been many hours now, since he returned back down. K’mara had retreated all of her forces it would seem, and Lim hasn’t seen Jimin’s friends again. The other Beings, from the other ship were here, helping them clean up to find and bury the dead.

‘Lim, we’ve accounted for our fallen and are being transported to the ships right now. We are ready to leave.’

Lim nods at that.

‘Should…should we take them with us too?’

Lim looks down at the GI once more before he replies, ‘I’ll go talk to Jimin.’

Making his way back into the facilitator, Lim still doesn’t know how to feel about the missing corpses of the thousands that had crowded over him in droves in this massive low chamber. He can still feel their hands on his skin, trying to pull him under them, diving down regardless of how he drained them.

He had nearly drowned when all of a sudden they just vanished.

A horrifying shocking emptiness instead took over and Lim had fallen to his knees with a strangled scream.

It’s still unsettling, walking through the chamber. Even the ship that had crashed through was missing, carved away perfectly, taking no more than the shape it carved itself into the mountain and into the facilitator.

He quietly makes his way, listening carefully for guidance.

It feels as though hours have passed, but also mere seconds, as he makes his way up a narrow and lone stairwell carved into rock. It’s broken open in many places, allowing Lim a glimpse through ancient mountain rock into the expanse of the crescent below.

It’s incredibly lonely, Lim decides. Megibīya was filled with a loneliness that made him want to cry.

He quietly climbs all the way up, stopping to catch his breath a few times before he finally reaches the top.

Lim guesses this was once an observation deck- maybe a crude lookout post in the past, or a signal tower. Because from this point, Lim can make out faint indications of some of the distant asteroid belts that orbited Yino. A faint twinkle from a star just above the dull sunrise colours could very well be Ma‘ikelawī. And from this height, he can see the extension of the crescent until it curves away.

The yawning barren expanse is riddled with remnants of great landslides overwhelming most of the valleys below. The cautiously standing cities covered in mountain rock and ash. Nearly nothing remained of what was strenuously preserved for so long.

It’s cold, the light of Yino barely holds any warmth. At the far end of this hewn deck, Lim makes out a lone figure sitting on the floor, silhouetted by the faint light of the sun.

Lim frowns.

He had read and so therefore expected and was rewarded for his studies the first time he saw Jimin. All of the surviving archives written by previous living S’wezete all spoke of the radiance of light that eclipsed the Fate of Menigišiti. A sign of hope- that light and guidance existed in all of its brilliance just past Fate.

And yet now, looking upon him, Lim sees no radiance of light he had witnessed himself no more than a day ago.

Quietly, he approaches Jimin.

He’s more than sure Jimin knows he’s there. He wasn’t trying to be discreet or sneak up on him; Lim was trying to listen.

The Heart and Fate were always connected to Yino. And Lim does not hear her song entwined with Jimin.

In fact, as he steps closer he-

‘I came up here as a child once,’ Jimin says quietly, pausing Lim in his steps. ‘I thought to myself, at that time, there was nothing more beautiful than this view.’

Lim glances up and away from Jimin, looking over at the desolate and changed lonely view once more.

‘The promise is broken. Yino is broken, I destroyed them.’ He says calmly, ‘I do not know what this will entail for Menigišiti in the future though.’

‘We have been broken for a long time now,’ Lim replies frankly.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says, voice echoing all around.

Lim doesn’t know to whom he’s apologizing, about what, or in what context.

‘I hope you’re not too tired S’wezete.’

Lim takes a few steps closer, heart heavy as he realizes Jimin isn’t quite alone.

‘I was about to come down,’ Jimin tells him.

Lim doesn’t step closer.

The same quiet and peace he sensed from the GI weighs gently before Jimin, cradled in his arms, leaning against his chest.

‘We have them with us,’ Lim says quietly, ‘We found all of them. We…we thought that maybe, if it was okay with you, we would take them back home.’

‘I think, that would be perfect,’ Jimin replies, still not moving, not looking back.

Lim pauses, hesitating before he quietly says, ‘We can take him back with us too. If you want.’

Jimin doesn’t reply and Lim is worried he’s said something insensitive.

‘I’m not coming back,’ Jimin says quietly.

This isn’t particularly surprising. Lim actually understands Jimin’s decision.

‘But it was still their home,’ Jimin says quietly. ‘They deserve to return home.’

‘I had- I had worried,’ Lim says hesitantly, ‘I didn’t know what would happen, but I knew it would…it would be risky for them to stay. They are all…connected- we are all connected, just somehow. And I knew that…’

Lim exhales quietly.

He remembers the weight of Time straining upon him, upon all of them.

‘I asked them- why they would not go,’ Lim says quietly. ‘They said it was because they were finally found.’

He thinks of the quiet sleeping dreams far below- so many buried in quiet and darkness, alive and well, existing.

‘Then I asked why Yoongi, of all Beings, would not go- or would not try to leave.’

Jimin turns his head just a little at that.

‘He said it’s because the moon will never stop following the sun.’

They stay in silence for several more minutes before Jimin moves.

It’s slow, quiet, private.

After a few seconds Jimin raises his hand into the air, waiting in utter silence. Just as the breeze picks up he closes his hand into a fist and lowers it over his heart.

He’s lighter and smaller in death, Lim thinks to himself as Jimin stands carefully, his arms weighed in peace and quiet. No radiance shown around him, no song echoed from within him.

His eyes are brown, Lim notes.

He guides him back down. No words are exchanged, only silence is shared.

When they arrive outside, his people are standing some ways back, their stance unsure and rather wary. At the center, clearly waiting for them, is that Being, Jimin’s friend-

Lim can barely perceive him.

There’s too much and nothing within and without him- all of the universe is within him, and yet at the same time, he is completely void.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ Jimin tells him quietly. ‘Taeh’yung is not a danger to us.’

For how long? Lim wants to ask, but instead he swallows his question and does his best to look upon this entity.

‘Everyone is in recovery,’ he speaks their tongue- but that wasn’t quite right.

Rather, he spoke in Matter and Time- he spoke in everything that made Lim, he spoke in everything that put him together.

‘Ilya says we should leave before things get messy.’ Taeh’yung continues, walking forward towards them before coming to a pause before Jimin. He smiles down, hand gently reaching out to caress the quiet peace cradled in Jimin’s arms.

He breathes out a happy hum.

‘It’s beautiful.’

Jimin nods.

Lim doesn’t make to follow as Jimin walks away, past the Beings who were once his people too, and into a transporter clearly awaiting him. Taeh’yung doesn’t follow after him, instead watching with Lim as the transporter lifts and takes off.

‘What will happen now?’ Lim asks, glancing up at the massive ships high above like strange moons. ‘I think I made my statement to Ka-mara quite clear. But statement means nothing, I’m sure.’

Taeh’yung hums quietly.

His form doesn’t feel all quite complete- but if Lim looks at him more, there is an inexplicable understanding- or a realization, that he was in fact, perfectly whole, and everything else was missing.

‘Oh things will just continue forward,’ Taeh’yung tells him with a shrug. ‘There’s a sort of beauty to that I suppose. You find that time just doesn’t stop-,’ he pauses to give him a huge smile, ‘-and that is, I think, the most comforting thing we could all ever hope for.’

Lim can’t look at him for more than a few seconds. He absolutely understands why his people had somewhat stepped away, cautious and in awe.

‘Everything repeats itself, you see, and there is a reason for it- it’s not necessarily because we don’t learn, or because we’re meant to- it’s just,’ he shrugs. ‘It is Continuum,’ Taeh’yung smiles at him, ‘Things will…things will sprout again.’

Lim snorts. He’s heard every variation of jokes made using the meaning of his name.

‘It’s cute!’ Taeh’yung huffs out, ‘I didn’t like my name for the longest time- it meant the exact opposite of who I was. But then I realized, maybe, maybe I should take it as my fate, you know?’

Lim doesn’t know but he nods anyways. He feels wildly out of focus, out of center, the more he stands before this entity.

‘What does it mean?’ Lim asks.

Taeh’yung stretches a little, smile wide as he replies.

‘It means everything.’

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Hoseok wakes up to the sound of something crashing and shattering.

He pulls himself from the dredges of a dream he no longer remembers and pushes himself up to his elbows, feeling slightly winded and heavy with fatigue.

‘-it’s okay-!’

That was Taeh’yung’s voice.

Hoseok finally manages to focus his eyes. There were a few other Beings in the Medical Bay, all slightly apprehensive as they hover uncertainly.

Jungkook is half out of his Bed, wires and tubing still attached to him, his whole body shaking as he engulfs Taeh’yung in a vice-like embrace.

‘It’s okay,’ Taeh’yung whispers to him, soothingly, eyes closed.

Jungkook suddenly pushes him off, eyes wild and streaming, hands clawing and pushing at Taeh’yung’s chest as though searching for something. His breaths are loud, coming out in gasping sobs. Hoseok is pretty sure if this were someone else, Jungkook would have already hurt them by now but Taeh’yung doesn’t seem to mind.

‘Hi baby, I’m here,’ Taeh’yung takes his hands and places them on his face. ‘See? I’m here. I’m here.’

Jungkook falls off the bed, taking Taeh’yung with him, causing panicked gasps all around.

‘It’s okay!’ Taeh’yung tells them, ‘We’re okay- give us a minute.’

Hoseok sits up properly, causing a flurry of medics to approach him too.

‘I’m fine-,’ he gets out through a dry throat and heavy tongue. He’s a little dizzy as he leans over Jungkook’s recently vacated bed, watching with pained fondness as Jungkook won’t let go of Taeh’yung, body shaking and patches falling off him, leaving beads of blood scattered around at random.

He looks up to the next bed and finds that Namjoon is already awake, sitting up, eyes staring at the wall in front of him. He doesn’t appear groggy or disoriented- almost as though he’d been awake for a while now. Had he been talking with Taeh’yung?

Hoseok leans a little more over the bed to look down properly. From the floor, Taeh’yung gives him a bright grin as he continues to Jungkook’s hair.

‘I’m here baby, I’m here. I’m sorry for scaring you.’

Hoseok thinks he hears Jaen’s voice telling the medics to leave for the time being as Taeh’yung rocks Jungkook in his arms.

It takes a while for Jungkook to let go of him, hands still desperately grasping onto the front of his tunic. Taeh’yung picks him up easily and puts him back on the bed. Freeing one hand, Jungkook roughly wipes at his face, smudging the side of his face with a small amount of blood that had beaded over from a torn off patch. Taeh’yung fondly wipes it off. Jungkook looks around wildly, chest still heaving from barely contained sobs.

He reaches his hand out to Hoseok, no strength in his limbs from his sudden burst of movement. Hoseok takes it immediately, pressing a kiss over stained knuckles.

‘It’s okay Kookie,’ he says quietly, ‘We’re here.’

Jungkook nods, trying to smile through his tears, breathing shakily.

‘Where-,’ he croaks out. His voice is hoarse and dry. ‘Where is Yoongi?’

Cold washes over him.

Where was his pouch? Wildly, he looks around, letting for of Jungkook’s hand as he throws himself back to his bed. On the storage stand next to his bed, in the lower shelving, Hoseok finds the pouch. He grabs it quickly but gently and cradles it to his chest. He finds that he’s heaving.

Jungkook stares at him, eyes wide and tearing up again. He turns to Namjoon, his voice barely a whisper-

‘-Sk’jin?’

Namjoon stumbles out of his bed with energy and strength that confirms to Hoseok that he had been awake much longer than any of them.

‘Namjoon-!’ he coughs out, pushing himself off of his own bed and following rather clumsily after the Kutsoglerin. But he doesn’t have to chase after him. He nearly walks straight into Namjoon’s back as he exits their room, stopping just some inches from doing so. Behind him, being supported by Taeh’yung, Jungkook follows after them.

Hoseok shuffles around Namjoon, worried at his sudden actions when he understands why Namjoon suddenly stopped.

It’s Jimin.

He’s standing alone in a small room down the end of a connecting hallway. There’s a Medical Bed before him, and he was slowly closing it, the casing opaque.

Jungkook pushes past, Taeh’yung quickly helping him keep balance. But Hoseok stays put and quietly takes Namjoon’s hand in his.

Jungkook cries out Jimin’s name, faint, but clearly Jimin hears him.

They rush to each other.

‘I couldn’t stop him,’ Namjoon whispers so faintly Hoseok thinks he’s imagined it.

‘What?’

Jimin is wiping Jungkook’s face with his hands, saying something as Jungkook sobs in earnest though he’s smiling. Taeh’yung is giving him encouraging pats.

‘I couldn’t stop him. I did-…I did everything I could.’ Namjoon stops himself.

Hoseok looks away from the others and up at the Kutsoglerin.

He looks diminished; defeated, and tired.

‘But I couldn’t- I couldn’t even speak, it was just red, endlessly red and- and so lonely.’

Hoseok isn’t sure what Namjoon is talking about and is seconds from calling the medics back in.

‘I’m sorry,’ Namjoon whispers, ‘I couldn’t stop him.’

‘Namjoon-‘

But Namjoon just shakes his head and gently pulling his hand out, walks away.

Hoseok makes to follow but a hand stops him.

Jimin’s eyes are brown.

‘Jimin,’ Hoseok looks back at where Namjoon’s disappeared and then back at Jimin and then up towards the hallway.

Jungkook is kneeling on the floor in front of the encased Medical Bed inside the room Jimin had been in, hidden partially from view by Taeh’yung who was rocking him gently.

‘I-…’ Hoseok doesn’t know what to say.

He just stares, at Jimin and to the room with the opaque Bed, and back to Jimin.

‘He didn’t-,’ Hoseok’s throat seizes up and he closes his eyes.

‘I know,’ Jimin says softly, arms coming up to hug him.

‘Are they- they’re okay now- right? They’re not…-they’re not in pain anymore?’ Hoseok chokes out.

He feels Jimin nod.

‘What- what do we do? Namjoon-,’ Hoseok pushes himself off carefully. ‘We should go after him.’

‘He needs time.’ Jimin tells him quietly, brown eyes holding his gaze steadily.

Hoseok nods, taking deep calming breaths before he remembers what was in his hand.

Jimin seems to notice it just as Hoseok remembers it too, body stilling, as though somehow he knew- as though he could just sense it.

Hoseok’s hands shake a little as he undoes the ties and from inside pulls out the soft yellow blanket he found at that chamber.

It’s been squashed up a little inside the compressor pouch, but other than that, it’s in perfectly good condition.

‘I uh- I was tracking his signal- I found Jungkook’s, and then I found his, but I just- I found this instead. It was still warm.’

Carefully, reverently, Hoseok holds it up for Jimin who lets out a shaky breath before taking the soft blanket from Hoseok. Maybe he would never quite understand how this blanket came to be, but he knows for sure that it belonged to Jimin. That it was kept there for Jimin.

‘Thank you,’ he says faintly, holding the blanket up to his chest carefully, movements delicate. ‘Thank you.’

There’s movement down the hall and Hoseok spots Ilya. Jn’young is with him though he’s stepped into the room with Jungkook and Taeh’yung. Ilya holds his gaze for a while as Jimin turns around, arms wrapped tight around the blanket.

‘I think we will need to- we will need to have some sort of discussion,’ Hoseok says quietly.

Jimin nods.

‘We’re about to fly out soon,’ Jimin informs him instead. ‘But Lim wanted to talk. To all of us, if possible.’

Hoseok nods.

He needed something to do. Something to think of- more importantly, he doesn’t think he can quite be alone at the moment.

‘I don’t think-…I don’t think Namjoon can come for the talk.’

Jimin nods, carefully and evenly folding the blanket.

‘Jungkook too.’

Jimin nods to that too.

Ilya approaches them, glancing back at the Bay where Jn’young is talking quietly to Taeh’yung.

‘I think Taeh’yung would prefer not to be involved,’ Jimin tells him before anything. ‘It’s not something he would take for his own.’

Neither Ilya nor Hoseok understand what Jimin means but they nod anyways.

‘We’re not going too far- just outside in the private lobby,’ Ilya points one way, ‘Yisheng Lim will be with us soon.’

Jimin nods, following after Ilya.

‘What’s the uh, update, on K’mara?’ Hoseok asks. There are no windows here so Hoseok doesn’t know what was going on beyond the ship. If he remembers right, the Medical Bays were nestled pretty deep inside the ship, at the safest and most secure point.

‘Well, I can’t say for sure what she’s planning now, and I hate to say it but I think somehow we’ve got her cornered. Things haven’t worked out how she wishes it did.’ Ilya sighs. ‘There’s no knowing how she’ll react to this- if she does at all- or maybe at a later time; K’mara is not impatient; just look how long she’s waited to come to this point since her involvement and information regarding everything that’s happened so far.’

Hoseok grimaces, glancing at the back of Jimin’s head before asking, ‘So- she was involved in what was happening in Axudar?’

Ilya sighs.

Jimin doesn’t react to this piece of information. Maybe it wasn’t surprising, or maybe he somehow figured it out.

‘Ndica was powerful, yes- and what he did while under the protection that came with being not just a Yisheng but one of the Directory was nearly entirely covered. Except we can’t forget that K’mara has never trusted anyone- regardless of who they are.’

‘She’s fair in that regard,’ Jn’young remarks as he catches up to them. Hoseok finds that Jn’young’s eyes are different too – clean, bright, and unburdened.

Ilya snorts.

‘Besides, K’mara has it within her own mind to regulate and watch what the Yisheng do- her eyes were always on Ndica. As a result, she very clearly came to know of New Borns- the eggs,’ Ilya explains. ‘She was also, at one point, made aware of the GI.’

Hoseok can’t help but glance at Jimin, at the yellow blanket in his arms.

‘But for K’mara, the creation and existence of the New Borns was too strange, too unknown- in her mind, it was better to get rid of them before they caused some sort of imbalance- before they became a threat to the Universe,’ Ilya shrugs as he comes to pause before a door. ‘In her mind, she was shielding the Universe from a potential threat. But in supposedly doing so, turned a blind eye to what Ndica was doing, and why he was doing it.’

‘That seems like a flimsy reasoning,’ Hoseok frowns.

‘So long as Ndica wasn’t harming others outside of his System- lets also not forget that the Axudarians were, generally speaking, willingly listening to Ndica and following his instructions, and the issue around the Alliance was being cleaned up, K’mara effectively solved two issues,’ Ilya replies before he taps the panel on the side of the door. ‘Come on, let’s at least sit down. Jimin, do you need to be looked at?’

Jimin just shakes his head, giving Ilya a small smile.

‘I’m untied now,’ Jimin tells him, ‘I no longer carry their weight.’

The lounge isn’t extravagant or decked out. It looks like a Bay that’s been refurnished to become a lounge instead. The seats are soft and comfortable and Hoseok slumps into one immediately. Ilya slides open a cabinet in the wall and brings out containers of ionized water. He hands one to each of them.

‘Lim has said he will take back the fallen GI to Menigišiti,’ Jimin says as he carefully places the blanket over his lap. ‘I believe this is a good idea- to make sure that at least they will remain safe and hidden.’

Ilya nods to that.

‘What about the uh, Omhlophe fellows?’ Jn’young questions, ‘Not going to lie, that was an interesting turn of events.’

‘We nearly attacked them,’ Ilya confesses.

‘I think they will care for their own,’ Hoseok comments carefully, ‘It’s also possible they would uh, follow whatever Lim says. Which brings up a question I think is going to be difficult to answer: what is to be done about Yisheng Amme’s ship?’  

‘K’mara has sent me a report about that actually,’ Ilya tells him, ‘They are covering up the entire situation by saying that Amme approached Bhumi due to the sudden release of radiation from the nearby quasar. Believing there were Beings in need of rescue she approached the volatile system and was overwhelmed. She was manning the ship alone.’

‘How did she know to come?’ Jn’young asks. ‘Was she following the Omhlophe?’

‘I asked her to come,’ Hoseok tells them quietly. ‘I asked her to investigate the Omhlophe and I guess- I guess I was right.’

‘K’mara has also continued that she will now, collect Yisheng Amme’s ship, and approach the nearest GLA port,’ Ilya pauses before snorting quietly under his breath, ‘Which is in Axudar.’

‘What?’ Hoseok does a double take.

‘She’s drawing attention away from Menigišiti to Axudar.’ Jimin says quietly, ‘Almost as though discovering the situation, exposing what’s happened, and in a way, she’ll be able to win.’

‘Not much to win,’ Ilya says slowly, but they know it’s not quite true. ‘But K’mara is patient. This is just another layer she’s willing to set out and let it sit until the right opportunity comes.’

‘For most Beings in high positions within the GLA, their trust in the Yisheng Directory is falling,’ Jn’young comments, ‘This behavior will follow out to public, if K’mara continues to slowly expose situations like these, which I think she will continue to do. It’s easy to make demons out of your gods.’

Footsteps approach them and they all turn in time to see Jaen bring Lim in as well as a squat Omhlophe.

He’s changed out and cleaned up, making Hoseok feel extremely grimy now that he thinks about it. Numbly he realizes he’s literally the only one still very much dirty and dusty. Even the Omhlophe is cleaner than him. There’s a weird comfort in the way Jn’young is completely and elegantly dressed up. Hoseok wonders if he should suggest bells to him.

‘Merry greetings in this somber time!’ the Omhlophe waves a hand before hopping up next to Jimin. It’s still comically jarring to witness the contrast of the bright polite voice and blank unnerving masks that covered their faces.

Lim gives them a grim smile and nod before he sits down, accepting a bottle of ionized water from Ilya.

‘I’m sorry to ask you to translate,’ Ilya says to Jimin who just gives him a small smile and shakes his head.

‘It’s okay.’ Jimin replies before he speaks to Lim, clearly introducing them to him properly. Lim’s eyes narrow a little as he looks at Jn’young; was it because this was the literal third Khol’isa he’s met in the span of a couple of days, or because he was seeing something else that made Jn’young different from the rest of them.

Jn’young tilts his head away casually, light catching beautifully on his horns, casting gleaming spots of colour over his skin briefly. Both Ilya and Hoseok roll their eyes but it’s fond and wistful.

Lim clears his throat and starts speaking.

Jimin listens, head down, hands folded over the yellow blanket on his lap.

‘He wants to know what we intend on doing with the New Borns on Megibīya.’ Jimin translates, ‘And if K’mara is aware of their presence, and if she has any form of legal authority over them.’

‘As far as I know, K’mara is not aware of the New Borns in Megibīya,’ Ilya says slowly.

‘Might I speak?’ the Omhlophe raises their 7 hand. ‘If it is all right with everyone here, we may take the ones you call as New Borns with us, as we have been doing this, for many sols now.’

There’s a strained silence only disturbed by Jimin’s quiet translation as Lim listens intently.

Hoseok realizes that now, of course, the Omhlophe weren’t looking for the New Borns to destroy them- but rather to save them from Ndica.

‘There are many who have discovered them across this wide wide universe!’ the Omhlophe explains, ‘We have done our best to keep them safe, children created by our creators- unlike and like us, pure and precious. Many have been horribly harmed, unmentionable in fact, some of these details! And we would keep them safe!’

Ilya and Jn’young exchange a look, seemingly having a conversation with quick and subtle gestures. Jimin translates what the Omhlophe says to Lim while Hoseok thinks.

How many were just in Lowet. In Ynqaba, where Jungkook was born and raised with his many siblings. His mother knew of their existence, and Hoseok is sure, purposefully searched for them to keep them safe. There’s no doubt, considering everything now, that the collectors in Ynqaba were selling to Axudar, seeing as the Verktaë had been there. Ndica had so much time to plan and execute his twisted ideology- how many planets and Systems had he championed and out of those how many did he use to house his attempts?

Without a doubt, K’mara would be tracking his movements, would know where he frequented. She was aware of the New Borns, she could very well now try and take matters into her own hands, and there was no knowing what she would do with the New Borns if she found them.

Lim starts to speak, eyebrows furrowed as he pauses a little before continuing, as though unsure. Jimin frowns a little, looking up from his hands at the Yisheng. He asks him something quietly and Lim replies back, sounding more sure.

‘Lim says, if everyone here agrees, that he would like to take the New Borns with him, into Menigišiti,’ Jimin translates, ‘He says they were born because of Menigišiti, it makes sense if they awaken there. And if the Omhlophe are willing to work with him, to bring the New Borns here, where they can be safe.’

‘But isn’t Menigišiti a little,’ Jn’young pauses, ‘Unstable now?’

‘It was,’ Jimin answers instead, ‘Menigišiti has not been in balance for longer than I would care to admit. What we know about it, its security, its balance- it’s all…it’s broken now, leaving Menigišiti how it was supposed to be, I suppose. It will progress forward as it should have.’

Jn’young nods slowly to that, eyes flitting between Jimin and Lim before asking, ‘Are you two the same race.’

Jimin looks a little surprised at the random question but nods.

‘Is that why you’re both short.’

Jn’young asks the question so pleasantly, voice warm and elegant, gesture deceivingly polite and filled with naïve eagerness.

The Omhlophe gasps comically, hands raised to the front of their mouth.

Jimin actually laughs, causing Lim to look confused, clearly asking in a low voice what was going on. Jimin’s laughter quiets to giggles before he says something to Lim whose reaction is to raise one eyebrow a little before he says something. Jimin snorts, smacking him on his arm, shaking his head.

‘Why do I not want to know what is being said,’ Ilya grumbles under his breath as Jn’young smiles a little smugly. ‘I don’t want to be that Being but are you sure, about the stability and safety of Menigišiti?’

Instead of replying, Jimin translates what Ilya asks and Lim listens carefully before he replies.

‘A lot has happened,’ Jimin begins, ‘And truthfully, I speak at a selfish level. You’re not wrong to be suspicious, or to think Menigišiti is not a safe place. We worked hard, to rebuild her- and because of reasons I cannot explain or even begin to properly understand, our people are diminishing.’

‘If he’s thinking of basically pulling a similar stunt as Ndica then I will personally kill him,’ Jn’young says smoothly.

‘-and what was left of Menigišiti and her people, will fade away,’ Jimin continues, ‘But the planets will still exist- can exist, if those born because of us, because of Yino, because of me, continue to live on, as we were meant to: safely, but not hidden. We are still protected by the Treaty- we are independent and honestly even without the extensive shields in place, entering our System without our specialized technology is nearly impossible.’

Jimin pauses and Lim continues. The sincerity in his voice is very clear even if they don’t understand him.

‘If you will allow it, allow them to live in my home, and let them continue to do so, long after I am gone,’ Jimin breathes out, ‘They will not be lied to, they will be made aware of the truth; if they wish to leave, then they can. But they will always have a home in Menigišiti, they will always find shelter.’        

There’s a loud wet sniff from the Omhlophe who wails out dramatically, ‘Such touching words! Yisheng, we shall bring forth to you, all New Borns that you speak of! Let them go home!’

‘There are others- I mean, look at Jn’young, there’s Jungkook- the ones who are already awake,’ Hoseok says carefully, ‘What of them?’

‘Well considering I was one of the lucky ones,’ Jn’young reclines gracefully, ‘Those who were clearly forcefully awake and used will be rescued- as we’ve been doing.’

Ilya nods.

‘It’s possible with all of this happening, the Underverse is going to be quite aware of the existence of New Borns,’ Hoseok says slowly, ‘They could be in danger- the ones that, for example like Jungkook, in other planets- living with families, possibly living a good life. They could be in danger. If you want to, you can see business anywhere, and it’s very obvious that for many, this would be very good business.’

‘We will find them and help them!’ the Omhlophe cheers.

‘It’s not going to be as easy as that,’ Ilya ruminates quietly, ‘But that doesn’t mean we won’t try. Is that why you wanted to talk?’

Lim nods as Jimin translates.

‘From everything I’ve heard, and after meeting K’mara, I believe that beyond my own personal selfish reason, this is one of the better ways of securing the New Borns,’ Jimin translates carefully just as Lim turns to address Jimin directly, asking him a question.

Jimin looks surprised before he gives Lim a gentle smile and says something back. Lim looks at Jimin seriously before nodding.

‘If we are all in agreement to this, then we will work together to bring the New Borns into safety here at Menigišiti,’ Ilya nods. ‘We can further plan the details and logistics once things have calmed down.’

Lim nods along as Jimin translates before quickly saying something.

‘There are nearly over 10,000 OrTanks under the crescent,’ Jimin tells them.

Hoseok is blown away by the numbers though considering where he fell through, it’s not all too surprising in the end. Neither Ilya nor Jn’young seem to surprised, and neither does the Omhlophe.

‘He’s working fast to retrieve them before there are an inquiries or, uh, outside interference,’ Jimin says, ‘He would like to request for back-up to quicken the process.’

Jn’young nods to that at once.

‘Jaen will have excavation units ready within the hour,’ he says.

‘Jaen will have them ready in half an hour,’ Jaen says from behind the doorway.

Jimin thusly translates the interaction.

‘We will of course help!’ the Omhlophe exclaims, ‘We will return the ones we were sneaking out!’

Ilya gives Hoseok a bemused look.

‘Is there anything we need to know, about how to handle the extraction? A briefing, or something.’ Jn’young asks, throwing the Omhlophe a slightly disturbed look.

‘No,’ Jimin answers, ‘They are disconnected.’

There’s a short loud pause before Jimin presses forward.

‘What news do we have about the rest of the Jury?’ he asks, ‘Lmiura is missing from what we were made aware of unless there’s been some changes.’

Ilya nods to that, ‘She’s still missing- and in fact, Lal Haenoon, Xmi, Sh’now, and S’ava Hhlai are all currently missing.’

‘All of them?’ Jimin asks, his expression stunned.

‘S’ava’s been missing ever since we started our mission,’ Hoseok frowns, ‘He hasn’t appeared since?’

Jn’young shakes his head.

‘Lal Haenoon too?’ Hoseok frowns even harder. ‘You’d think he would be-…does K’mara have anything to do with this?’

‘Taking matters into her literal hands?’ Jn’young ruminates, ‘Won’t be too surprised.’

‘Or it’s also possible they’re in hiding,’ Ilya states.

‘This was all going to either explode in their faces or they were all going to die,’ Hoseok says bluntly, ‘Won’t be surprised if they went into hiding.’

‘Or were encouraged to go into hiding,’ Jn’young points out, ‘Honestly I’m not above suspecting K’mara for everything and anything.’

‘Let’s not insinuate that K’mara has killed them,’ Ilya intones. ‘It is definitely strange that they’re MIA, not so much Lmiura but the others- especially Haenoon. We can try to find them but for now the New Borns are our priority.’

‘What will you do?’ Jn’young turns to ask Hoseok.

For a moment, Hoseok is reeling, shocked to be asked that question.

‘Let them rest,’ Ilya says quietly, ‘They’ve been through enough. There’s no need to be making personal decisions right now.’

Jn’young gives him an apologetic look, sitting back in his seat.

‘The mission has ended,’ Jimin says instead, ‘We- we started out with the intention of coming to Megibīya and we’re here, and it’s done. I will continue to help rectify the wrongs that were enabled through me, because of me- I won’t be able to fix everything, but I will do what I can to start anew, rebuild and regrow.’

Jimin looks at him, giving him a tired smile.

‘The mission is over. Your mission is over. You don’t have to be a part of any of this anymore.’

Jimin was right.

The mission, by all means, was completed.

That meant his part was over too.

He could leave if he wanted. He had nothing more to do- he was legally deceased, he had no obligations anywhere. He was just free to go.

‘But I am,’ he finds himself saying. ‘I am a part of this. I’ve always been a part of this, without realizing just how much. And maybe I still won’t understand just how deeply I’m involved in all of this but-…the mission has ended, but I want to stay. Even with the mission ended, none of this has actually ended- it’s…it’s started. It’s starting, and I want to make sure it starts correctly, with the safety of the New Borns as the main priority.’

‘It will be so helpful to have you with us former agent of the Venture Unit!’ the Omhlophe cheers. ‘If you like, you can use our ship anytime you please as you are already familiar with it!’

Hoseok doesn’t know if he feels offended or not.

‘If you will have me,’ Hoseok says quietly, looking at everyone and then finally at Jimin, ‘I want to continue with this- I want to-‘ he pauses, taking a steadying breath, ‘-I need something to do.’

Hoseok knows he will lose his mind if he doesn’t occupy himself. He needs to distract himself, for now at least. He needed to rebuild too, he needed to grow anew, out of this darkness that took so much from him.

Ilya nods in understanding but Hoseok finds himself looking only at Jimin.  

‘When we started the mission, we didn’t know what- we didn’t fully know what we were getting ourselves into,’ Hoseok says carefully, ‘I already left once. But I came back. And I’m not leaving. Not now – so this time, for this mission, let me join you.’

Jimin breathes out shakily, eyes never leaving his own.

‘I was trying to sound brave, but I would- I’m so happy you’re staying-‘ Jimin starts out with a smile before he hides his face behinds his hands, taking a deep breath, steadying himself.

‘No! Please don’t cry! You’re so pretty!’ the Omhlophe cries out desperately as Lim shifts uncomfortably, looking at them, eyes desperate for an explanation though he reaches out to place a comforting hand on Jimin’s shoulder. He says something, sounding a little apologetic as Jimin shakes his head in response. They wait as the Yisheng speaks, Jimin nodding as he speaks.

‘How long will you be able to stay for the time being?’ Jimin asks.

‘There’s no knowing how quickly we will be getting inquisitive probes sent our way,’ Ilya says carefully, ‘And we’ve existed in anonymity for a long time, and for the future of our success, I’d rather it stay that way though I’m sure K’mara will have something to do with that.’

Lim nods as he listens to Jimin translate.

‘If it’s okay with you, we can assist you in setting up our cloaking devices,’ Jimin tells Ilya, ‘Not only will you be undetectable but you will be shielded from view.’

‘Honestly I was going to ask if you would be willing to share,’ Jn’young pipes up to which Ilya elbows him.

Lim takes out the same device he had taken out back in K’mara’s office, saying something to Jimin who nods and listens with interest before looking at Ilya and pointing at his screen.

‘May I?’

Ilya hands it to him.

‘It seems like K’mara is leaving,’ Jn’young tells him and Ilya in a quiet voice, tapping at ear where his Comm Device was secured. ‘She’s headed towards Axudar where they’re gonna set up the whole scene.’

‘If Jaen is no longer going to be getting information from K’mara, who are you getting your information from?’ Hoseok asks, intrigued.

Jn’young just smiles benignly in response. Well, Hoseok shouldn’t have expected an answer to that.

‘Here,’ Jimin says, putting both the screen and Lim’s device on the table to one side before setting up a projection of Megibīya, overlapped with the same projection from Lim’s device but with different adjustments and angling. ‘If you situate yourself here, you will be able to take some camouflage from Menigišiti for the time being.’

Ilya nods, stepping over to quickly pinpoint the coordinates.

‘We will make our way immediately,’ he tells them, sending off the readings. ‘K’mara’s moving, so I best suppose we should too.’

‘Lim will be returning now too,’ Jimin tells them as they stand up as well. ‘I uh, I’ll head down with him.’

‘Shouldn’t you rest?’ Ilya asks gently.

‘I’m not physically hurt or wounded,’ Jimin replies with a small smile, ‘Lim healed me- I’m…-I’m actually feeling light. It’s okay- I know my limits.’   

Lim asks something, nodding towards Hoseok in the process.

‘Will you be coming with us?’ Jimin asks.

‘I uh- I think I need a shower,’ Hoseok scratches at the side of his neck, glancing down at himself, ‘Honestly, I don’t know what’s on me anymore.’

Jimin chuckles, shoulders shaking.

‘I’ll join Jaen’s teams and come back down,’ Hoseok tells him.

Jimin nods.

They walk out though Hoseok draws Ilya to the side.

‘Can you find Namjoon? Do you know where he is?’

Ilya immediately lifts his screen, searching for the Kutsoglerin.

‘You were the one who found him right?’ Hoseok asks, ‘After-…after everything.’

Ilya nods, sighing quietly as he waits for his surveillance system to track the Kutsoglerin.

‘You- you knew him longer than we did,’ Hoseok manages to get out, ‘I’m…-I’m sorry we couldn’t-…I’m sorry.’

‘This is not your apology to make,’ Ilya tells him gently, ‘You are not at fault, none of you are. And you most certainly don’t owe me an apology. I’m just-‘ his voice cuts off. Ilya breathes out quietly, giving him a faint smile, ‘I’m just so happy I could see him one more time.’

Throat constricting, Hoseok nods, trying to smile back.

‘Yeah,’ he manages to get out, ‘Me too.’

Ilya gently squeezes his arm before his screen lets out a small sound.

‘Found him,’ Ilya tells him, ‘He’s in the 16^th Bridge.’

‘Can you show me where? I should go to him.’

‘If it’s okay with you, I think I would like to speak to him,’ Ilya looks at him with a sincere expression.

Hoseok finds himself nodding.

‘Thank you,’ he adds.

Ilya just smiles, giving him a somber smile, ‘I am simply fulfilling my promise.’

Hoseok lingers in the room for a while, collecting himself in a manner of speaking. He’s still tired, though no longer weary. It’s an exhaustion that will follow him for a long time, he knows, because he’s never quite recovered from his previous fatigue.

Quietly, he exits the room and rather than turn into the hallway that would lead him back inside through the Medical Wing, he follows the hallway leading outwards until he finds himself in a quiet secluded atrium that has wide open windows.

Megibīya looms above them, giving Hoseok a clear view of the drastic changes wrought by Jimin and his sister over the expanse of night. The crater is clearer, more sunken in. Yino’s light is incredibly faint and only creates a dull ring of light across the crescent.

Stepping closer to the window and looking past Megibīya, Hoseok studies the shimmering asteroid belt forming in the darkness.   

For a moment he feels null. The blackened void that swept past him, the voices beneath the earth, the hand that pulled him out; he almost feels disconnected from it all. It resonates within him and outwards.

But as he loses himself in the shimmering asteroid, he understands it so much better now than he did before.

This was loss.

And now, as a result, he was simply afloat.

Hoseok looks down at his hands, no longer engulfed in the heated flames of a pyre he did not make.

‘So are you really showering or are you coming down with us?’

Hoseok turns and finds Jaen changed and geared up, holding a long coat up that’s clearly for him.

Chuckling, Hoseok shakes his hands out a little before forming fists, nodding more to himself than anything.

‘Didn’t you say you would get the teams in 30 minutes? I was waiting for you.’

Jaen lets out a bark of a laugh before throwing the coat at him.

Hoseok glances back out at the stars one more time, at the shimmering streak of light reaching across an expanse that once was covered in darkness.

‘Well, come on then, let’s get going before the GLA start swarming the area.’

‘Lead the way.’

Slowly, with time, this emptiness too will be filled.

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

Namjoon blankly studies the reports flooding the database in both the Underverse and the Known Universe channels. K’mara certainly worked fast, orchestrating an elaborate story spun with elements of the truth and the horrors that came with it. It wouldn’t be long now for the GLA to come snooping – not long before they were all somehow exposed to a new danger all of this would inevitably lead to.

‘We have over 20 Bridges in this ship and you managed to find one that is empty.’

Namjoon jumps a little.

Ilya walks into the dark and empty Bridge, carrying a tray with him.

‘I believe you’re in need of some extra medication,’ he tells him, ‘We were lucky enough to have a few of the things you need in stock.’

He places down the tray and on it is a small bowl with his pills in it and a bottle of ionized water.

‘Thank you,’ Namjoon says quietly, ‘You didn’t have to bring this yourself, I’m sorry.’

‘Not at all,’ Ilya sits on the footstool opposite him across the Navigation Table. ‘So, what’s the update on the channels.’

Namjoon shrugs, absentmindedly fiddling with his capsules.

‘Just a circulation of information K’mara has set out.’

‘Ah, of course,’ Ilya his beard thoughtfully, ‘She had invited me, well, requested a meeting with me.’

‘What sort of arrangements have been made?’ Namjoon asks. He’s not sure he’s interested really- he was just…-he was just talking. Asking and responding as anyone would but none of it really mattered to him.

‘I’m sure she tried to arrange something, but the fellow, Lim, he wanted to come along with Hoseok for this meeting, and I think we might have ruined K’mara’s day.’ Ilya tells him with a small chuckle. ‘For someone who we cannot communicate well with, he sure knew how to speak to K’mara. I don’t think K’mara would be willing to meet with Lim for several centuries.’

Namjoon takes the pills and swallows them down dry.

‘We’ve decided to work with Lim to secure and bring in the rest of the New Borns from around the Known Universe, back to Menigišiti,’ Ilya tells him, ‘We are currently removing all of the New Borns in Megibīya to Menigišiti where they can be safe. I’ll be working alongside Lim as well those fellows, the Omhlophe, to continue this to the best of our abilities.’

Namjoon opens the bottle of ionized water and gulps it down, nodding absentmindedly.

‘K’mara is departing these spatial borders right now,’ he adds. ‘Nothing left for her to do here.’

They sit together in silence, Namjoon finishes the bottle of water without really thinking about it. He places the empty bottle on the edge of the Table.

‘It’s horrific, isn’t it,’ Ilya asks him. ‘There is nothing heavier than loss- there’s an emptiness that seems all consuming, spreading out from the shape once was occupied.’

Namjoon is acutely aware of the sound of his own breaths.

‘I know you’ve carried more than anyone should, from a young age, from before you were fully capable of understanding what it meant-‘

‘-have you seen it?’ Namjoon finds himself asking abruptly.

‘Seen what?’

‘The Bloodmoon,’ Namjoon replies, unable to look up from the now dull glow of the Table projections. ‘Have you seen it?’

‘No. Jn’young is born outside of the Bloodmoon.’ Ilya tells him. ‘Its light does not reach him, only takes shape in stories and archives. And Sk’jin didn’t believe in using it.’

‘I was so cautious- that’s what I told myself. I was suspicious, paranoid- when I knew who would be teamed up with me on this mission I did my research; I dug deep into archives hidden within the GLA database available only to a few Analysts, I accessed the GIU databoard, everything I could.

And I was terrified.

Of course we know of species that have existed since the beginning- or at least since what we’re aware of or understand to be the beginning. And here they just existed- lingering in our shortened existence, a looming presence. I was terrified- I watched the footage of those who saw the Bloodmoon.

I saw what happened to them. What happened to them for the rest of their lives- of their nightmares, both sleeping and waking. Even Yishengs couldn’t help them.

I saw what K’mara did to extract information- withdrawing from deep within, a poison that only came out with the truth- I saw her true form, her shape – her existence beyond how we see her now.

I was terrified.

What was I supposed to do with him on my team? How could I trust he wouldn’t do that to me?’

‘I’m sorry-‘

‘No.’

Namjoon looks up, hands shaking on top of his lap where they’re balled up into fists.

‘There are different levels to it- you know that right? I don’t know if Jn’young will be able to do or reach the heightened levels of what some of the Khol’isa can do, but there are different levels to it.

I know K’mara freely chooses to submit those she needs under her influence. I know of the Khol’isa who work as Interrogators for the GLA.

I studied it in depth.

How else was I supposed to beat it, if I didn’t know at least all that was available to me? I studied it all- removed any and all catalysts that could be used against me- studied cases that highlighted symptoms and signs. I did everything.

I was ready to face that fear- I couldn’t not be scared- but I could be prepared to the best of my abilities. And I was.

But when I met him- it wasn’t what I was expecting.

I thought I grew relaxed- I acted out on my paranoia and fear. Not realizing that what I feared the most was something he would never want me to see- something I never realize he never had.

Something he never realized no longer haunted him.’

‘He-…he used it on you? You saw the Bloodmoon.’

‘-I know it,’ Namjoon chokes out, ‘-and I know why- I saw it, I saw its light, I saw- I saw its cruelty, its weight- the pain and loneliness. I saw it and I know why.’

Ilya stands up and comes to his side.

‘-it was too much I know, and everything he found- everyone he cherished and loved- and there was so much- he had so much love- it was all taken and everything turned barren again-‘

Ilya’s hand comes to rest on his shoulder.

‘-and the only thing left with him- the only thing that remained was that- that ing red light-‘

Namjoon has to pause, taking deep breaths, rage wrestling with his mind, his heart, his tongue.

‘-and even so- even then he-‘

The arms of the footstool crack and break off, momentarily shocking Namjoon enough for him to shudder, releasing the pent up pressure around his being. But Ilya is kneeling beside him, ready to hold him in place before he can fall apart completely.

‘-he was so beautiful-‘

Ilya’s hold on him is nearly not strong enough to hold him together but Namjoon clings to it.

‘-and I wish I could- I wish I could have helped him find it again- I would have- I would have.’

‘I know,’ Ilya whispers softly, ‘I know.’

Namjoon finds himself kneeling on the floor next to Ilya, bowed over with the weight of his thoughts, of the tainted images vividly imprinted onto his mind.

Amidst such cruelty, abandon, and solitude that ate away at everything leaving nothing but barren dust-lands within ancient canyons illuminated by a cursed light-

‘He knew,’ Ilya tells him quietly.

Namjoon knows that too.

He could feel his apology- begging for forgiveness, guilt for showing him the abyss he was born out of.

‘I’m sorry.’

But it didn’t cover him.

The stain of the light- the cursed illumination that rendered everything barren fell away from Sk’jin and instead on him a light, made of starlight, laughter, love, and the sanctity of a selfless promise lifted him above it all like wings.

He was so so beautiful.

‘When we met again, in between Māho-5 and Cuab-D2, we had a long talk,’ Ilya says quietly, shifting around so he can sit comfortably. Namjoon falls onto the floor alongside the Ožkan but the latter doesn’t mind, simply propping him up gently. ‘I told him what I could in that short time of what had happened after we lost him, and he told me of what happened while he was lost and after he was made awake.’

Namjoon wasn’t there for their meeting, but he had heard from Hoseok what had happened to some extent.

‘He asked me for a favour,’ Ilya continues, ‘I said yes before I knew what it would be. Of course I did.’

Namjoon feels himself slide on the floor a little, body unfurling from the intensity with which he tried to hold himself together with.

‘He asked me to make sure all of you would be safe,’ Ilya says softly. ‘Especially Jungkook, and you.’

Namjoon looks up at that.

‘He said you would probably take things very personally- that your sense of responsibility would probably get you killed, or worse.’

‘You’re a good Captain, Namjoon.’

‘And that you would need someone to remind you to relax a bit,’ Ilya smiles.  

‘I know I’ve talked you down a lot, called you a fool – and maybe you are. We all are.’

‘I had asked him to keep a promise.’

‘But don’t change – yeah? Don’t change.’

‘It was a selfish one- desperate, because I knew the answer.’

‘You’ll be okay. All of you.’

‘He knew. He already made up his mind- more like, he knew it was time.’

‘It’s done. It’s done now.’

‘And he did keep his promise to me though,’ Ilya says quietly. ‘He came back home.’

Ilya doesn’t say anything anymore, simply handing Namjoon a small towel which he uses to cover his face, heels of his hands pressing into his eyes to stop his tears but it’s futile.

Ilya sits with him the entire time under the Table in the darkness.

‘Want to know what else he asked me to take care of?’

Namjoon is a little taken aback by the light and playful tone to Ilya’s voice. He looks over at the Ožkan, not bothering hiding his look of incredulity.

Ilya shifts a little, rearranging his legs.

‘I don’t think he told you but, Sk’jin is quite famous.’

‘-well, yeah,’ Namjoon frowns, getting whiplash from the change in conversation.

‘No, no- I meant, not because of who he was as a pirate- but as an author. In fact, one of the most prolific authors across the Known Universe,’ Ilya grins gleefully at him, ‘His work has been translated to nearly every registered GLA language- and non-registered ones too, I might add.’

‘What?’ Namjoon gapes at the Ožkan.

Ilya chuckles, nodding.

‘The Six Hands of Our Love- yes, Sk’jin wrote it.’

Namjoon gapes at him, unable to quite process the information.

‘But- but it’s been-…it’s been going on for so long?’

‘Sk’jin called it his private and personal financial investment, and technically, I am his editor. And my mother before me. And hers, before mine. After we lost him to the Nightmare, we continued to publish the series bit by bit.’ Ilya lowers his voice into a whisper as he says, ‘Honestly the series has very much indeed financed most of this ship.’

‘How-…how much has he written?!’ Namjoon vaguely registers he’s borderline hysterical, choking out a wheezing giggle.

‘Sk’jin used to write this as a past-time for a very long time. He didn’t start publishing it until much much later, after he had written enough to publish for centuries.’

‘How much-…how much is left?’

Ilya gives him a half smile as he asks, ‘Have you read the books?’

‘I uh- I read the first book,’ Namjoon confesses.

‘I would advise you to read it chronologically,’ Ilya suggests as he swipes through his screen, ‘And I would definitely never offer any spoilers- however I think, you will enjoy the new addition to the series. It’s actually coming out next week, but as the editor, I am willing to give you early access.’

He hands him the screen.

‘Some of the storyline might seem convoluted and you might not catch on with the plot as you’re literally missing 3181 books, 2197 short stories, 1643 poems, and 823 comics on the lore,’ Ilya counts off, ‘But I think you’ll enjoy this one. I would recommend reading it in its original scripted language.’

Namjoon takes the screen, looking back up at Ilya and down at the screen a few times.

‘If you need anything, don’t hesitate to contact me,’ the Ožkan smiles, ‘I’ll send over some tea in a bit.’

And with that, he gets off of the floor with a grunt and walks off in his slow and measured gait, hoofs barely making any sound on the floors.

Namjoon watches him walk away until he disappears into the hallway leading out of the Bridge.

He stares down at the screen, a singular tab opened on it. His hands move before he even registers what he’s doing, customizing the settings to his preferred lighting and language.

He pauses though, before he resets the language to Khol’isa.

It’s called The Six Hands of Our Love: Let Us Never Part and from what Namjoon has briefly skimmed of the very long anthology, it sounds just about on brand with all of the books. And poems and short-stories, as he’s been told.

He glances around the Bridge.

It’s intentionally dim, the windows blocked out even before he got here and Namjoon doesn’t want to change it.

Only the sounds of the ship, faint electric hum and quiet echo of an empty space surrounds him.

Further burrowing himself under the Navigation Table, Namjoon wipes at his face one last time before he props up the screen on his lap and throws himself into the book.

The style of writing and flow of the story is consistent to what he’s read in the first book of the anthology. The storyline is indeed insane and Namjoon doesn’t think he’d be able to really understand the plot even if he read all 3181 books, 2197 short stories, 1643 poems, and 823 comics. The characters he had read about in the first book aren’t even present and they’re replaced by other characters who have obviously been through some ridiculous level of romantic drama and separation.

But as with the first book, Namjoon finds himself invested in the characters of the stories, plunging into backstories that seem strangely a little too detailed to be entirely made up.

The voice that narrates the story as he read its gradually shifts even though at first Namjoon tries his best to not make it so. But there’s a captivating bit where the main character addresses a congressional debate on reevaluating their sentencing as it was based on false claims and ill-luck and it sounds so much better in his voice.

The main character is unfortunately not lucky in their attempts, and Namjoon guesses that the previous book might have explained why they were being tried in a case regarding crimes against sanctity of life because he’s not entirely sure what exactly the crime actually was.

The court process is strikingly familiar to that of the local Šerdesas court system though with some obvious changes here and there. There are funny and seemingly unimportant observations like the colour of the carpet, the shapes of the windows; all of them made due to a dislike of said design.

Most of the descriptions read very much like complaints instead and it has Namjoon rolling his eyes though he can’t suppress the smile that creeps up on his face.

He reaches the final chapter titled Heavy and it’s a short chapter, consisting only of a singular monologue from the main character.

It’s a sappy declaration of love, at least to Namjoon.

It reads as dramatic and bordering exaggeration at first but then each sentence loses the grandeur and proclamations and fancy words and metaphors and suddenly Namjoon’s breath is stuck in his throat.

I never minded being on my mine. I enjoyed it. By most rights, in this Universe, we are born alone.

We form and are born into this Universe, a singularity, apart: alone.

But it was as though something broke in me, and I wanted to come home. But that didn’t make sense because I was home- at least to my understanding of it. I was home, and yet I wanted to come home. I had to. I needed to.

And that was before I understood the very gravity that holds this Universe together- before I met you.

And I understood: it was you. I needed to be where you were. That was it.

Namjoon puts the screen down, breathing forcefully slow and calm breaths.

And now I am there again.

Missing you.

An ache within me that never abates, a dull pulse of a phantom presence of what once made me who I am.

I can feel it, I know its shape, its warmth, its comfort – I know every detail, etched into my very being because-…

And maybe it’s just that I’m more tired than I usually am tonight than other nights.

Tired not just in my body- no, that’s a welcome fatigue. Deliverance, satisfaction.

No this tiredness is deeper than my bones- weariness that makes me wonder. Weariness that makes me believe because past the fear, past the dread, past the hatred and the anger and vile cruelty that surrounds us all, I am left with nothing but hope.

Hope that I am not alone.

It’s what I thought- it’s what we all think, really, in the end. That we are alone. This me this self just me, alone.

But I’m not- I’m not alone, we’re not alone. Aren’t we?

Because we isn’t-…it’s not something that really exists.

What we are is matter, space occupied, atoms that come together to forge the stars have also come together to forge us. The same energy that vibrates to create the chasms of space, the fury of stars, that same energy is what we are.

It’s who we are.

Bright, electric, formless, ever-expanding, ever-growing, interconnected.

And I see it in my dreams. I dream of us, of who we are- not just atoms that combine together to form mass and shape but I see us.

I want to go there now. To be there, where you are- where we are.

We are the rain drop- and we are the ocean.

We are the star- and we are the Universe.

And this is so clear to me- that passing moment between waking and sleeping, and I just know. I want to go there now, to be there.

But I can’t sleep. My mind won’t let me.

Not until I look into the night- taken away by the array of light that constantly shifts and moves but always moves forward without pause; a light that I know carries you in it.

It’s a light that carries me in it too.

And then, only then, I know I am at peace. Looking out into this darkness of space, into a darkness that is infinite beyond imagination and beyond thought.

It’s entangled in light that carries you. That carries me.

We are everywhere in this light- stretched out forever, continuing forward everywhere forever.

I see you in the light. I see us in this light.

So now, I will sleep.

I will dream of home again.

I will dream of life again.

And I will dream of you again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

They decide it’s best to keep the New Borns inside their casing than try and remove them. Extracting the casing isn’t too difficult. And hearing them now, after everything, is actually soothing and calming.

Jungkook presses his forehead up against one of the tanks and watches as the Being inside shifts, sensing his presence in their dreams. It didn’t matter how many times he witnessed it – he’s still in awe of the whole thing.

This was how he was born. This was how his mother found him.

They work quickly and efficiently – the Omhlophe already had a lot of experience in this and set up a sort of conveyer belt of gravity-lifts to slide through the numerous tunnels following a small magnetic stabilizer set on the floors.

They finish with one of the tunnels and Jungkook follows after a couple of the Omhlophe and some of Ilya’s people out. They had been here for many hours now, pausing for short breaks to eat or stretch stiffened muscles.

He glances at the mountains, their form reshaped and altered, no longer the same landscape that he’s sure will definitely be appearing in his nightmares for a long time to come.

Outside, Hoseok is talking with Jimin and Jaen as they all lean over to discuss something on a screen.

It’s definitely strange, seeing Jimin the way he was now. He looks tired- they all were, but there’s a strange permanence to his fatigue; and it’s not exactly related to grief.

Jungkook looks up at the sky, squinting at the dying sun far away.

It feels haunted.

Everything felt haunted now.

The ground glows some way to the side, strange light fading in and out before the physical manifestation of light appears before him momentarily only to blossom into Taeh’yung.

‘-oh they’re sleeping so well, I’m so happy,’ Taeh’yung says as though he had been having this conversation already though there’s no one else around with him.

And it’s strange not seeing anyone with him too.

The strange shapes and voices- it’s so quiet around Taeh’yung now.

‘I think we’re actually mostly done,’ he vibrates a little- his form seemingly disintegrating but shifting all together at once to create him once more.

It’s beautiful and terrifying but Jungkook isn’t afraid. In fact he reaches out to touch Taeh’yung again, reminding himself that Taeh’yung is here. Before him.

Taeh’yung smiles at him, a knowing look in his eyes. He takes Jungkook’s hand, placing it over his chest where Jungkook vividly remembers the spear piercing through. With the end of his sleeve cuff, Taeh’yung wipes at Jungkook’s brow.

‘Ah, so dusty.’ He comments, comic frown on his face.

‘Kookie! Tae!’

Hoseok waves at them where he’s standing with Jimin. Jaen is walking away to talk to her units just as one of the Omhlophe hops over to Jimin.

‘All right! We will do just that!’ they announce before performing some strange bow and pattering away as Jungkook and Taeh’yung reach them.

‘The last of the New Borns have been extracted,’ Hoseok tells them. ‘We’re getting a report that several official GLA ships have been spotted and are approaching. They’ll be here within the hour so we need to leave. Make sure you don’t forget anything.’

‘The Treaty still protects Megibīya,’ Jimin tells them, ‘But just in case, to be on the safer side.’

Jungkook nods, looking around to make sure no random item was left behind.

‘They’re sending transporters down to us right now- most of the units from the south of the crescent have already left,’ Hoseok tells them as they begin to walk down to the wider clearing.

Jungkook glances up and indeed, finds several dots approaching them from the sky, descending down to be on level with the mountain ranges high above. In the far distance, Jungkook spies a familiar waterfall and his chest feels tight again, throat closing up, eyes burning.

There’s a hand in his, and Jungkook looks over with wet eyes to find Jimin smiling up at him. He reaches up to wipe at his face with the edge of his sleeve.

They don’t say anything as they walk hand in hand through the fading woods down to the clearing, following Hoseok and Taeh’yung. Jungkook wishes he could say something to Jimin.

But he doesn’t know what to say in the face of a sorrow this monumental – a sorrow that expanded so many lifetimes, funneling down into one moment, into one tragic resolution.

So he just shifts their hands, lacing their fingers together and squeezing Jimin’s hands gently.

The transporters land in the clearing just as they arrive. The final New Borns of this area were being taken into Yisheng Lim’s transporters that disappear halfway in the sky, melting into the clouds and rosy light. It’s endlessly fascinating. Apparently the same was being done to Ilya’s ship.

‘They’re here,’ Hoseok nods towards one of the transporters.

Jimin pauses, watching the last ship of New Borns take off.

‘You don’t want to go?’ Jungkook manages to ask.

Jimin doesn’t look away from the transporter until it disappears and even so he tracks it, deep brown eyes seeing more than any of them could.

‘No,’ he replies simply.

Somehow they all seem to be on the same page, lingering until the last of the units track back into their transporters. Hoseok leads the way up to one of the transporters but Jaen suddenly appears and says in a rush: ‘This one is full.’

Jungkook glances behind her and finds that there is plenty of space for 4 more Beings.

Hoseok clearly seems to think the same, expression confused and incredulous.

‘There’s another one coming right now, see?’ she points out behind them. They all turn to spot a transporter approaching them.

‘Okay?’ Hoseok frowns, still confused, stepping backwards.

Jimin is the first to move towards the transporter, head raised up and watching its descent.

‘See you later!’ she calls, the doorway closing on her awkwardly bright wave.

‘That was weird,’ Hoseok frowns, shrugging at Jungkook who finds it both amusing and confusing.

They give the transporter decent space to land, walking slowly towards it.

‘Maybe this one will take us to a Hangar closer to our living quarters,’ Hoseok ruminates, ‘Honestly this is why I hate big ships-‘

He pauses- in both his commentary and walk as the doorway opens and a familiar figure appears.

Jungkook is running forward before he can think properly about it.

Namjoon gets out of the transporter, shoulders curled in a little, expression a myriad of emotions.

‘Hey,’ he says as soon as he’s in earshot.

Jungkook stops a few feet from the Kutsoglerin.

He hears the others arrive behind him.

‘As your Captain, thought I’d pick you all up.’ Namjoon begins with a smile but his expression crumples towards the end and Jungkook knows he shouldn’t be tackling anyone into a hug but he can’t help himself.

Namjoon holds him just as tight, as though he too desperately needed that hug.

He feels Taeh’yung crash into them because of course he would.

Jimin follows next, his warmth like sunshine on his skin.

And then Hoseok, who cards a hand through his hair fondly before painfully knocking heads against Namjoon’s belatedly realizing it was a bad idea.

‘Spaces, -!’ he hisses, making Namjoon laugh wetly.

After a while, Namjoon carefully extracts himself, looking at them with wet eyes, head bowed.

‘It’s over,’ he says quietly.

Jimin reaches up to cup his hands around Namjoon’s face, tilting it up gently.

‘We’re here,’ he says, ‘We’re here.’

Namjoon nods, lifting his hand to take Jimin’s in his.

‘I’m so-…’ Namjoon stops himself, closing his eyes and breathing out slowly.

Taeh’yung gracefully slides over, momentarily looming over the Kutsoglerin.

‘It was beautiful, wasn’t it?’ he asks.

Namjoon nods, eyes still closed.

‘Good,’ Taeh’yung smiles.

Namjoon lets out a sort of choked up chuckle before he nods again.

‘Yeah,’ he says again before opening his eyes. He clears his throat, smiling down at Jimin before looking at all of them again. ‘I uh- let’s go, I guess?’

‘Pa, do you have food in the transporter?’ Taeh’yung asks abruptly.

‘It’s a 15 minute trip buggy,’ Hoseok laughs, ‘Just wait.’

‘Kookie and I are hungry though?’ Taeh’yung says it with so much conviction Hoseok glances at him, as though to confirm with him.

‘Wait, did you pilot the transporter?’ Jimin asks suddenly, eyeing Namjoon with suspicion.

‘It was locked on autopilot,’ Namjoon replies, hands raised up and shaking his head.

‘This is ridiculous, you’re learning how to fly at least mini-transporter,’ Hoseok mutters, holding his hand out towards Jungkook as they enter the transporter. ‘You and Jungkook together. Actually you too Jimin. And Taeh’yung too. You’re all going to learn the legal and proper way.’

With a quiet atmosphere of laughter, a welcome heaviness, and a strangely painful yet warm sense of longing, they leave the planet, leaving behind its haunted and lonely skies.

No one says a word as the softly shimmering distant asteroid belt comes up to full view.

Maybe they were incomplete now.

And maybe they were haunted too.

But Jungkook finds that he can still rest here, amidst this security. Within this home.

Here, in this quiet resolve.

‘Okay but pa, seriously I really am hungry-‘

‘Taeh’yung I ing swear-!’

Jimin bursts out laughing as Hoseok actually gets up to find some sort of ration hopefully stowed away in the transporter as Namjoon groans.

It’s everything he could ever dream of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author’s Notes

 

Taeh’yung’s name more or less means “to hold everything” or “to have everything” as in, the person who has this name “holds everything” or “is everything” – when his “father” named him, it was the same name he gave his real child to represent all of the love he had for him and his other parent.

Also am I trash jjp shipper

Yes

I just thought it would be a funny interaction to have jaebum and jinyoung argue over nothing as is their brand and yes as a reminder because its been so long but Lim is Jaebum hehe, so please imagine him as so ^_^

Also yes, please be aware that I probably cried more than you while writing this chapter

Ahhh, here we are fellows, the upcoming chapter will be the last chapter =(

Thank you once again to everyone who has continued reading this and leaving comments and kudos it really means so much to me

See you all in the last chapter!!!