Jeon Jungkook opened his eyes with a start.

It was black inside of his unit's hot, smelly tent. He could hear the slow, uneven breathing of six other sleeping men tucked into the bunks and hammocks that were crowded around him in the night.

He could also feel something besides corn chip smell and sweat pressing into him through the darkness.

Get up. We want to talk to you, Jeon Jungkook.

That feeling.

That presence.

It was becoming too familiar, he thought to himself, as he pushed himself angrily out of bed.

He was getting tired of this unwanted presence following him around ever since he'd gotten to Camp Cheonghae.

Ever since their ship had breached the atmosphere in shaky rhythm.

Jungkook pulled a jacket off of the floor and slid into it before stumbling his way out of the front flap of the tent. The thick jungle heat swelled around him, but he still felt a touch of chill in his skin.

Jungkook's feet padded along through the rows of tents, quiet and earnest. He had gotten his feel for the campgrounds well enough and knew exactly where he was heading. His eyes adjusted to the moonlit night as he walked. He made it past the last row of tents at the edge of the campgrounds and he could see an ominous jungle treeline, like big cat teeth rising from the earth and falling from the tropical palm treetops, waiting to snap.

He walked on for a while in silence right into that dark treeline. Palm branches rustled. Jeon Jungkook walked until he felt the presence that had crept over him settle—as if he had permission to stop.

"Alright. I'm here." His quiet murmuring felt like a screech to his ears. "Let's talk."

He couldn't see the presence... but he could feel a dark joy about it as the words echoed within him quietly, It's not often we get to meet someone touched with Eternity. It is our great pleasure.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Jungkook's voice was acidic now. Something in the voices felt... threatening.

His eyes were wide and glassy like he'd become a night beast who could see clearly in the dark.

We used to rule this region of the galaxies. Once a great House, we have been left without a lineage. We want to make you an offer, Jeon Jungkook, to help us remedy our plight.

Left without a lineage?

Jungkook's mind was clicking together, piecing puzzles of personal experience and historical knowledge into place.

Then he gasped out loud, for he realized exactly what dark spirits were addressing him now.

Jungkook?

A pause.

"What kind of offer do you want to make?"

You are an Ai-Gi—marked by the eternal, yet bound no longer by a House's family name. You have the blessing of deep magic... AND of personal choice. A rare combination of the strongest powers that be.

"And?" His skin trembled and heart quaked.

And we want you to bear our lineage. Our name. The spirits of our great House of Reed. Our ancestral Tree. That we may be childless no more. For, in your freedom, and in the holy mark within you, you have the power to make that choice—where you stand.

Jungkook felt that pressing chill swelling around him again. His breath became tight as if the air had thinned around him. He zipped his jacket fully shut, all the way up to his neck.

We can offer you a power beyond what you could ever imagine.

He answered in a low growl, "No."

The darkness hissed.

"I CAN imagine it. I've been a Gwangju Ai once before. A slave. But not again."

That is not what we are—

"No. Your ancestors chose their doom. I will not sacrifice my life, my freedom, for power I do not want. The answer is no."

Why not think about it? Perhaps you'll want to... change your mind...

"I won't. I may not be spirit-bound to a Satoori Ai house anymore... but I DO serve the House of Card, and the House of Card alone. My loyalty is not divided, nor will it ever be."

The hissing grew louder.

"I have chosen my allegiance—so leave me alone. Be silent, House of Reed. Be gone! And leave... me... alone!"

Just then, a figure stepped from between the trees, and Jungkook thought for a moment that he was seeing things. That he was mad.

He saw a man with silver hair and electric blue eyes, eyes that gleamed as if they were fireflies lighting up the night.

"Tae?"

Jungkook's skin felt clammy and cold. "What are you doing out here?"

Kim Taehyung's voice was small and weak when he answered, "Kookie. I don't know what to do."

Jungkook rushed forward and put his arms on Tae's bare shoulders, for the young man was wearing nothing but gym shorts.

"Don't do it, Tae. Don't give in to what they want."

"B-but the House of Card... is not my House. Not the way it's yours. I don't belong with you."

"They're just lies, Tae! They're lying! They want to use you—but don't let them!"

"I don't belong in my freedom, Kookie, not after what horrible things I've done. I don't deserve—"

"TAE, listen to me!"

"I should just let the House it Reed take me—"

"LISTEN TO ME!"

"This guilt won't hurt so badly... if I can't control it all anymore... If it's not my fault anymore..."

Jeon Jungkook didn't know what else to do. In his desperate fury, he hoped to shock and breathe the breath of life back into Kim Taehyung, to remind his soul mate and friend who he truly was.

He yanked Kim Taehyung by the scruff of his silver hair, half-tackled his whispy friend, and then sent Tae's head down, down into the rushing cool water of a small river near their feet. He held Tae's head under a moment--yanked--and in a great gasp, Tae breathed loud and clear and heaving.

The Jungkook's dry forehead pressed into Tae's dripping one, and Jungkook's lips inched so close to Kim Taehyung's that it was as if the fierce young pilot were slowly sucking the fear out of each of Tae's breaths, and trading it for all the whisps of courage that Jungkook had.

Then Jungkook pulled Kim Taehyung into a strong, fierce embrace and he held him. He held him as if he would never let Tae go.

He felt it. He felt the fear in Tae melting away.

Jungkook pulled back. He could hear their heartbeats, the heavy grace of their breaths, and it gave him hope that Taehyung was still there. Still with him.

Kim Taehyung whispered as he pressed his forehead against Jungkook's and closed his eyes, "Thank you, Kookie."

"God, Tae, we've been talking about this since our first night here! There's no way I'm gonna let the darkness take you. The House of Reed. The voices. They can't have you, do you hear me?! They're not allowed to take you, you got that!?"

Taehyung was crying quietly as Jeon Jungkook pulled him tightly into his chest and held him there, his arms firm and unyielding.

"It wasn't your fault."

Tae sniffed loudly.

"And you don't deserve to die. And I'll tell you every damn day for the rest of your life until you believe it."

He felt the heave of Tae's sobs into him.

"Choosing your own path when you've been stuck at rock bottom, in the pit—it's hard. It's terrifying. But don't let shame try to steal you away. You don't deserve to give yourself up because of what happened to you... and, God, I don't know what I'd do without you. So just don't, Tae."

In a few minutes, Tae's sobs settled. He was still and calm in Jungkook's arms.

"Don't. Please."

"Ok."

Jungkook growled in a furious, low voice, "The House of Reed has marked this planet for some reason in a strong, strong way. Maybe we should find out why. Maybe it will help everyone if we do."

"K-Kookie, I don't know if I'm strong enough to..."

"Then let me. You don't have to do anything, Tae. ...Let me."