Chapter Text
ACT I: OUR LUMINESCENCE--The start of a not so heroic journey.
"Who the hell is that?"
A solider startles back from his station and he knows it's his duty to stay, to protect the wall but fear seizes him all the way to the base of his neck. It wrings his throat out like a wet sponge. The trees are burning, like someone has lit a match to it's roots and smoke rises into the sky in black billowy shapes. Unnatural fire. Fire that's been tamed and fire that can burn a whole city down while keeping a grass blade in tact.
A magical fire.
"Alert the Jeon family."
The solider is still frozen.
"Dammit! Do you have a fucking hearing problem? I said alert the Jeon family, alert HQ, do anything but stand there!"
The solder runs at that order, able to hang onto something solid and something he's been trained with. Holding his gun close to his side, he runs a few feet. But he doesn't make it far without a huge explosion of fire throwing him to the ground. Shouts of his fellow soldiers follow him to his fall. His knees buckle, his eyes water from the smoke. Legs surround him and the soldier's eyesight blurs until the fire, his commander face, and the ground mix into one color.
All he knows is one thing.
It's not something of this earth that's attacking them.
It's some kind of monster.
THE LIGHT CLAN: TRAINING CENTER FOR ELITE FIGHTERS: LIGHT CITY
Light filters in through the windows, bathing the training studio in a pre morning hue. The smell is the most remarkable thing about the morning. It smells of the dust gathering in the corners and the coffee machine brewing only a few rooms away. It smells like home. Two birds perch outside one of the open windows that are slung open, wide and inviting while the rest of the training room is in the shadows because of a huge fabric curtain covering most of the sun from coming in.
This is one of the things that keeps Jungkook alive.
A loud shout comes from Jin hyung as he tries to knock Jungkook down with his staff, angling it for his chest but Jungkook averts the hit with a quick bend down. He feels the staff brush the back of his back and clenches his jaw. Jungkook picks himself up by using one of his staffs to carry his weight then swiftly spins, deflecting another hit.
Jin thrusts the staff for Jungkook’s abdomen.
Struggling, Jungkook swivels around to get Jin’s back but feels the staff hit the side of his leg and he winces. Jin is about to tackle him to the ground when Jungkook spots a space he could use to his advantage. He pretends to be vulnerable in his position, purposely gritting his teeth but right when Jin’s about to strike he takes the other by surprise.
Swiftly, not allowing Jin to pick himself up, Jungkook rams his staff into Jin’s left leg and kicks the other one so Jin ends up flat on the floor with a thud, staring up at Jungkook.
Jungkook feels his win lift him off the ground.
Jin pants, “You’re an asshole”
Kim Seokjin is his older brother, but has never been as invested in his training like Jungkook has even with their five year age difference. Jin prefers to enjoy the pleasures of their luxurious life and the peace since the last war. He’s always laying around writing in his journal or in the room fiddling with different weapons trying to fix them rather than use them. Seokjin is a skilled fighter and Jungkook thinks it’s a shame how disinterested he is in their family practice.
Fighting runs in the veins of the Jeon family. Their father always tells them that this is what they were made to do.
Jungkook narrows his eyes at his brother, the thrill from the fight still coursing through him. It rushes in his arms, his chest then eventually to his head, “I’m not an asshole. I’m just a better fighter.” There’s a triumphant air to his words.
“See, that's very asshole behavior right there. Your nickname is even Hyu for Light’s sake. That should tell you a lot.”
Jungkook isn’t affected, not even a little bit at the little bite in Jin’s words. People around the headquarters have a nickname for him. They call him Hyu. Hyu is an infamous warrior of the Light clan from many centuries ago. He was best known for his unsmiling face and cruel fighting technique, which included hanging the heads of his enemies in his room’s wall.
As Hyu was a great fighter from his clan’s past, Jungkook doesn’t see it as an insult.
Jungkook throws his staff to the side where a servant will pick it up later and hangs a towel around his neck. He stretches the tense muscles in his shoulders, groaning at how they ache. He’s been training for a few hours now, until Jin came in provoking Jungkook to duel.
Jin may act like Jungkook’s the only competitive one between them, but the truth is he thinks of Jungkook as his competition as much as Jungkook does of him. Their father has always pitted them against each other from a young age, always comparing every little thing.
And yet in the scheme of things it doesn’t matter if Jungkook always wins , in fighting and in being a better elite in general. His father always favors Jin, without fail.
It really pisses Jungkook off.
“Here.”
Jungkook turns at the sound of his best friend’s voice and allows his face to change a little from its normal poise. Not quite a smile, but not an unpleasant expression either.
“Jimin hyung. This is unexpected.” Jungkook takes the water from Jimin and gulps it down. When Jungkook’s finished he continues, “What are you doing here? I thought you were out on a mission.”
“Yeah, it ended quite early though.” Jimin places his hands on his hips, “It was just a few outsiders causing trouble. Nothing much.”
Outsiders always cause trouble. They’re the stragglers that hang on the outside of the Light clans borders. The outsiders' territory makes up most of the middle of Korea while the Light clan’s territory stretches over the tip of it. They’re in the far opposite area of their enemies, the Moon clan or more commonly referred to as the shadows who are on the northern tip of Korea.
In the Light clan, Jungkook’s father is strict to not let anyone in and especially people who are not in their race come into their protective borders.
“They’re unclean people.” His father’s face grows grim, “Disgusting, dirty people. All of them: the shadows of the Moon clan, the outsiders, and anyone outside of our clan. We are the only pure nation left, son, and I expect you to keep it that way.”
Jimin bows towards Jin’s direction, “Hyung.” He says and grins. Jimin loves to smile. “You lost again?”
Jin is more friendly with Jimin, then Jungkook so he smiles back. “Looks like little brother’s all grown up.” The words have a sting to them, a sting that only Jungkook’s supposed to feel.
Jungkook is unmoving, “I was grown up a long time ago.” Wanting to leave his brother immediately, he gestures to Jimin “Let’s go.”
They walk through the hallways together and receive bows from lower ranks and respectful nods from commanders that he’s grown up with. The training station is where Jungkook feels most like home, because here he’s respected for his skills, whereas outside he is only revered for his high rank and authority.
The only reason anyone cares is because of the Jeon attached at the end of his name. If not, no one would want someone like him.
“Jungkook, there’s some rumors going around.” Jimin whispers carefully as they walk, “That you rejected Karina, the daughter of one of the lead council members last week.”
“That’s not a rumor.” Jungkook adjusts the blade on his belt so it’s better in his grasp, “I did reject her.”
Jimin gapes, “And you didn’t tell m—“
Jungkook suddenly becomes alarmed and jerks Jimin away from a loose blade hanging from someone’s shoulder who was passing by. It almost sliced Jimin’s eyes off but Jimin doesn’t seem fazed at all and continues, “You didn’t tell me about her? Jungkook, she’s the hottest girl in the Light clan.”
Jungkook mutters, “Barely.” And is about to go around the corner when Jimin stops him.
“I know you’ve rejected a lot of girls but Karina? You know how many guys would die to get with her?”
“Hyung, we’ve talked about this.” Jungkook looks around nervously, “My love life isn’t for you to analyze.”
“But, you’re young. 24 is the prime time for, you know.”
“I do not know.”
Jimin makes some crude motions with his hands. Jungkook clears his throat very loudly to stop him when his childhood trainer passes by. Without Jungkook’s warning to Jimin, Mr. Ko would know way more about him then Jungkook wants the person who saw him in diapers to know.
Jungkook pulls Jimin into a little dent in the hallway and hisses, “One place we don’t talk about my sex life is the training hall, hyung.”
Jimin sighs, “Look, I know you get this a lot which is why I didn't want to say this but, seriously, you’ve got a stick up your ass. Like c’mon. You're hot, young, and your father's son. Why the hell are you just sitting around training all the time?”
“Did you—“ Jungkook raises his eyebrow, “just call me hot?"
“Uh, yes?” Jimin says as if this is a known fact, “You are very hot and I’m surprised you’re not using that to your advantage.” He crosses his arms, “I don’t understand you sometimes. I don’t know why you're so closed off.” And Jungkook can easily say the same to his hyung.
Jungkook can fight a pack of goblins and monsters with trained grace in ease. He can slay sea monsters and hold his breath underwater for minutes at a time, because of how many hours he’s practiced. Jungkook is the only person in the Light clan who can fight ten men at once and beat them all in a record time of five minutes. He’s created battle plans, peace treaties, and led so many missions in his life that he can’t even count at this point .
Yet he doesn’t understand love. Or people. Or friendships outside of clan work or parties, or really anything about his own race. If you asked him to name the weakest part of a goblin, he could tell you every single detail of how to kill them but if you asked him what the prettiest part of a girl is, he would stutter a weak response.
Eyes? Or is it their waist? Or the soft dip of their neck?
Jungkook just doesn’t know. He doesn’t understand things every person should understand. He would rather burn in the pits of hell than ever be at a party alone, with no mission to accomplish.
“Jungkook,” Jimin softens when he sees Jungkook’s hesitance, “I’m just worried about you, okay? I don’t want you to rot away in this training hall doing missions all the time. I want you to have fun and fall in love. Your father has already taken your childhood, I don’t want him to take away your adulthood too.”
Jungkook argues, “But this is fun for me. Fighting, doing the best for my clan. That’s what I was meant to do.”
“Oh, but it’s not.” Jimin just shakes his head, “There’s so much more to life than this.”
Jimin’s always been with him since his childhood. Since their father’s are very close, there was no doubt that they would be close too. Jimin’s family has always been supportive of Jungkook’s father leading the clan and stepping in place of Jungkook’s deceased aunt.
It was a long time ago that Jungkook’s father stepped in and since then, the pressures have only been harder on the Jeon children to be perfect. Jeon Junhee, the former clan leader was involved in many scandals, chipping away at the perfect exterior of the Jeon family. Their image is the most important in order to keep the Light clan bright.
That’s how it's always been.
Because of this, Jungkook’s only been focused on training, being better than his brother, and crafting himself to be the perfect son for his father. He needs to be the replacement when the time comes for the ultimate clan leader and he’s been preparing for it his whole life.
So having Jimin with him was like having a built-in best friend. Jungkook doesn't need to distract himself with friends or relationships when he has Jimin and that’s all he wants and needs. He just wants their quiet moments when they sit down after a mission or when they talk in the depths of night about their fears being Elites.
“I don’t know.” Jungkook looks Jimin’s straight in the eye, “This is perfect for me. My life right now.”
After a moment of time Jimin sighs, “I usually don’t try to prod but there’s another reason I did.”
“What is that?”
“There’s been other rumors going around about you.” Jimin opens and closes the satchel that carries his arrows by his side, which is a nervous fidget of his. Jungkook’s memorized all of Jimin’s movements since childhood since they’re constantly partners in battle and that includes Jimin’s small personal ticks too. It helps in fighting together in battle but also in regular conversations like this. “It’s about you not liking girls because—“ He pauses, “Because you like boys.”
Jungkook is taken aback. This genuinely takes him off his guard, so off guard that he can’t speak for a couple of moments after what Jimin says.
Out of the blue, Jimin starts laughing. Jungkook isn’t sure if Jimin’s doing it out of nervousness or because he actually finds it funny. “Can you believe that? You liking boys.” Jimin abruptly stops his laughter, confirming that it was a nervous laugh not a humorous laugh. If it was a real laugh then Jimin wouldn’t be able to stop. “You don’t, right? I mean— just because you reject every girl who ever confesses to you and just because you are never interested doesn’t mean—“
Jungkook cuts him off, “Don’t be ridiculous hyung. It’s nothing of that sort, just that I have no time for relationships.”
“That’s what I thought.” Jimin suddenly grows serious and hushes, “But if you do, Jungkook, you know I’ll always support you no matter what. Right? Even if you are, gay.”
“Of course. But you don’t have to worry about that.” Jungkook is confident, amused at the silly thought. “That is never going to happen.”
It’s a new thing. Jungkook’s heard about boys liking other boys around the clan rarely. Just one Elite almost a decade ago got caught with a male commander and eventually was stripped of his ranking along with the commander. Word has it that a few months afterward the commander moved out of the clan because of all the shame and married an outsider girl, which is only a little less horrifying than being caught with a boy.
As for the Elite, Jungkook has no idea. He just disappeared one day after the public stripping of his rank and his family didn’t appear out in public anymore. People think they must’ve cut the boy off of all contact because of how it ruined the family. Maybe a mass suicide. It’s not uncommon in the Light clan.
Jungkook, himself, has no opinion on the matter as he doesn’t have an opinion on a lot of things. All he knows is his father is very disapproving of it so he should be the same.
Jimin and Jungkook enter the lower ranking training wing and hear a familiar voice coming from one of the rooms. Hoseok hyung is training a group of newer Elites, who must’ve passed primary training in a building close to them. It’s been a long time since they’ve had a proper time to visit Hoseok. Watching through the window, that’s shaded from the inside so students can focus on training, Jimin bumps Jungkook’s shoulder.
“Remember when we were at that age. So eager.”
Jungkook is fond of the memory, “Yes, but our fathers insisted we were privately taught because you were so distracted by people and I was so distracted by you being distracted.”
Jimin laughs, “We were always a package deal weren’t we?”
The class ends and the two of them enter to greet Hoseok. Hoseok is more than happy to see them, hugging both of them tightly. They frequently used to partner with Hoseok during their teenage years to go on missions until Hoseok decided to become a trainer instead of an official elite.
“Jungkookie, Jiminah, what are you two doing here so early? Aren’t you usually out on missions during the mornings.”
Jungkook, too, was wondering that. It’s been unusually quiet this morning and it's putting him on edge. Maybe after they catch up, he’ll ask Shin about that. He typically handles giving out missions to the official elites.
“There’s been nothing today.” Jimin checks his wristband where a 3D screen appears in the air and Jungkook can see Jimin swiping through the mission catalog. Jungkook does the same and finds nothing.
“That’s weird.” Hoseok taps his lip and grows concerned as more time passes, “When have there not been any missions in the mornings? This is the time most Goblins and monsters pop up on the borders. Lets not begin talking about the outsiders tribes that try to breach the walls.”
“And—” Jimin adds, “We haven’t been called to our border checks even though it's already eight. Usually our patrol would be out in ten minutes. The only mission I had today was cut short and barely a threat.”
A bad feeling enters Jungkook, “Jimin, you and I should check with Shin and go to HQ if things get too bad.”
“You’re right.” Jimin looks apologetic, “I’m sorry we have to leave so quickly.”
“No,” Hoseok says, “you guys are the official elites. You all have your shit to do. I get it.”
Jungkook and Jimin are about to leave when Hoseok grabs Jungkook’s arm. He immediately looks to see if something is wrong, but there is no sign of that in Hoseok’s expression. It just appears regretful.
“We should catch up. All of us.” Hoseok lets go of Jungkook with a smile, “It’s been a while since the old days.”
Jimin nods, grimly “I think all of us deserve a vacation.” He eyes Jungkook, “And some time to finally catch up.”
They briefly leave and head to the front desk in search of Shin. However Shin is nowhere to be found. His assistant who usually mans the front desk, Lily, sits in the chair instead, quickly tapping the keys deep in concentration.
“Lily.” Jungkook places his palms down on the desk and Lily startles a little at the sound the bang makes, “Where is Shin? Is something wrong?”
She looks up wryly, “Head of the Elites, Jungkook, and assistant head-nim, Jimin. I’m so glad to see you two. I was just about to send out a message.”
“Just, Jungkook and Jimin.” Jimin pleads, “No need for formal titles.” He’s asked this of Lily since they’ve met her a few months ago but she’s strict about their names. She said once that there’s no reason that they should wear their official badges and titles if she doesn’t treat it with respect.
That is the mindset of most of the light clan here.
Lily ignores him, unintentionally, because of how frazzled she is and shuffles through their papers. Lily is the most put together person Jungkook knows. This abnormal behavior disturbs Jungkook greatly. “There’s something that has happened, which is why Director Shin-ssi was called to the headquarters. I’m not exactly sure what it is but there’s been a Shadow breach of our walls. We relieved you of two of your duties this morning because you two are called elsewhere.”
Jimin inhales sharply “Shadow breach?"
A shadow breach has never happened in Jungkook’s lifetime or Jimin’s for that matter. Since the last war, the Moon clan has been eerily silent. Jungkook knew something would spark up eventually but today was not the day Jungkook would’ve thought it happened.
Jungkook goes into business mode quickly, “A shadow breach? Is it another sign of war?” He feels where his elite mark is burned in his chest, tickled with distress. “How many?”
“They’re not telling me.” Lily’s tone is just as frustrated as Jungkook’s, “It’s very secretive information. All I know is that I needed to relieve you of two of your duties and you need to head to HQ right now.”
That’s all Jungkook needs to hear to grab another long edged sword from the weapons rack, settling it into the leather scabbard on his back. Jungkook pulls out his official sword in his other hand watching the blue light flicker out of the golden hilt, soaking the front office with an ocean tint.
Jungkook traces where his mark of J is carved into the hilt and settles it back into the sheath wrapped around his waist. Jimin does the same thing, checking his blue tipped arrows and securing his bow.
Jimin nods at Jungkook once he’s ready.
“We’ll be going.” Jungkook tells Lily, then questions “Who's going to be in charge when I’m gone?”
Jimin interrupts, “It should be Sunnee. She’s Jungkook’s understudy after all.”
“Don’t worry about that. Everything is already taken care of.” Lily pushes her glasses up, with a stern expression, “Good luck sirs. You have much bigger things to worry about then the Elites.”
Before they leave, Jimin pauses to ask Lily with a tentative tone “Is it bad? Like really bad?” Jungkook’s never heard that kind of tremor in Jimin’s voice. This shadow breach must be putting everyone on edge, even someone as easy going and lighthearted as Jimin hyung.
Lily doesn’t try to reassure them because she’s not someone who sugarcoats anything. They learned that pretty quickly, while working with her. “It’s bad. If clan leader Jeon asked for Jungkook-ssi himself then I would suspect this is serious business.” Seeing Jimin’s face, she sighs “But we’ll handle it. The light clan always has.”
Jungkook doesn’t need to be a genius to hear the doubt in Lily’s voice though right now there’s no time to reflect on it. They need to get to HQ.
The light rail is already ready for them when they reach the transportation tube. The driver quickly urges them in then goes to the drivers shuttle. Usually there would be other Elites, official elites or commanders in there with them but today there’s no one.
The light rail speeds up without warning and Jimin holds on to Jungkook when he almost falls off his seat. Without a word, they pass by Light city in all its glory and splendor. It’s been 26 years since the last war between Moon clan and Light clan but the Light city still stands strong, not being affected by the war that dissipated in the Outsider land.
There’s tall white skyscrapers, towering over the rest of the city and billboards lighting up advertisements from almost every building, so it becomes a spectacle of whose advertisement is most enticing to the Light citizens. 3D screens pop up once in a while from citizen’s wristbands with news of this morning and what's going on with the Elites. Jungkook even sees his face on one of the screens of the citizens, suspecting there’s more gossip about him since yesterday when the biggest story was that he was eating for breakfast.
One thing he’s sure won’t pop up on those screens is the shadow breach information. Citizens are kept from a lot of information about Elite official business in order to keep order and peace and anything about the Moon clan is especially concealed. Light city is bright, but what happens in the Light clan’s official buildings is surprisingly dark.
Today, the beautiful light city is only a blur because of how fast the Light rail is going. It is interesting to Jungkook how one huge city can become just a brush of color on a canvas. A swab of white and gold.
“Aren’t you freaked out?” Jimin asks, breaking their shared silence. Jungkook feels Jimin’s leg shaking against his own, “There hasn’t been something like this since the last Shadow-light war and that was twenty four years ago.”
“Jimin hyung.” Jungkook says, calmly. On the outside, he may be unmoving but in secret his out of control nerves are buried deep in his chest where no one can see them. It’s how his body is trained. Even if he’s dying he’ll make sure to do it in silence and calm if he has too. Hiding his own fear is the only way he’s been able to lead a dangerous group of fighters to success for five years. “We’re on a stand off with them. It may have been peaceful now, but we all knew they would’ve done something soon enough.”
Jimin’s voice is quiet even though there’s no one else on the light rail, “Yes, I know it makes sense but after twenty six years of complete silence? This has never happened in history, Jungkook, there has never been silence for that long between the two clans. There’s always been little advancements from the Shadows or even battles on the borders. They’ve disappeared off the face of the earth. I haven’t even seen a Shadow myself and I’m the second in lead of our highest ranking fighting group.”
Jungkook’s hands tighten around the bench seat bar. Jimin is right. Jungkook hasn’t seen shadow or shadow magic for that matter, even though he is in his high rank. He’s never learned how to fight them outside of lessons and only ever heard stories of their witchcraft magic and their demonic spells much or less see it in person.
“We still don’t know what's going on.” Jungkook finally says, “We just need to get there and assess the situation. Then we’ll understand how we should react. That’s the Elite way.”
Jimin doesn’t respond, but his leg is still restless. Jungkook wishes that he was better at comforting but unfortunately people are not where his strengths lay. He’s never been good at showing affection or showing much care at all. He’ll fight for the people he loves, he’ll easily die in order to save their life, but in this situation he has no idea what to do.
Jimin gives him a reassuring glance when the light rail comes to a complete stop “You’re right. I’m worrying too much.” He pats Jungkook’s leg, “We’ll be okay.”
Jungkook feels his relief spill in his chest, “We will. Even if we have to go into a war, I’ll protect you."
“And I’ll protect you."
They bump their fingers together, purposely hitting where the other’s Elite mark is. This is the mark showing their leadership of the official Elite fighters and they’re the only ones in the whole Light clan currently who have it. Once you step down from being a leader, you get the mark removed and another mark showing your former allegiance appears.
Jungkook finds great comfort in the fact that Jimin and him will always have a mark in the place they bump their fists. It's something that they can always share no matter how much time passes. It’s a sign of their friendship and partnership, which won’t go away like a friendship ring or friendship bracelet might.
This mark will forever be there.
Jimin seems to be okay when they’re stepping off the light rail but when Jungkook secretly glances over at Jimin during their walk to the HQ entrance, the weariness is back on Jimin’s face.
Shin greets them at the entrance and doesn’t leave any time for questions, “Follow me.” Usually Shin is a bubbly, carefree guy who loves to chat with them in the hallways. Today, he’s in a grave mood, so grave you would think that he's attending his mother’s funeral.
Jimin and Jungkook share a look. Lily was not lying when she said things were serious.
At the arching entrance, Jungkook hits the mark on his fingers on a lit up panel and the building allows entrance after a quick blue scan to confirm their identity. Shin leads them in a fast pace through the offices of the HQ.
Typically in the rare times Jungkook visits HQ, people are working quietly in their offices or discussing with each other in the meeting rooms. Today, there is only chaos. People are running around, carrying piles of papers in their hands. There’s no discussion, only people huddled around the huge screens in the main work area where 3D screens light up every single corner and crevice. If they’re not huddled around a screen then they’re printing papers and flinging their fingers over their keyboard.
Everyone only pauses to bow in the presence of Jungkook and Jimin, then the spastic stream of frenzy continues. HQ has never been like this, even with the big outsider raid last year or the small Goblin war only six months ago. HQ has always been a calm ripple of water on the beach, not this huge wave crashing on the shore.
Jimin only looks more concerned at this and Jungkook hopes his expression doesn’t give it away too because that would worry Jimin further.
“What’s happening, Shin?” Jungkook uses his authoritative voice once they’re out of the main floor of HQ and in the elevator. Shin presses the button for the third floor. The elevator is made up of mostly windows on the outside, for a clear view into the city but they’re all not enjoying the view today.
“I’ve never seen HQ like that.” Jimin voices what Jungkook was thinking earlier, “It’s an absolute mess.”
Shin nods, “I’ll explain once we reach the control center.”
The control center is designed to be like a Roman amphitheater. Screens surround a huge panel in the very front of the room. Bows come their way but Jungkook barely has time to address them because of what's on the panel.
“What is that?” Jimin’s shock interlaces his words, “Is it—“
“It’s a Shadow Lord that we found on our borders.” Shin steps down and Jungkook and Jimin both follow to the computer that controls what the panel shows. Shin separate the pictures into a line on the screen so they’re in order of the time they were taken from.
Jungkook can’t stop staring at the image. It’s a quick succession of pictures that must’ve been taken from cameras outside the borders of a crowd of Light guards, who are another fighting force that’s less specialized than the elites, and what appears as a fireball in the middle. He’s never seen something like it. The pictures are too blurry to show the face of the magic user though or anything about his body other than a black smear on the screen.
“As you know, Shadow Lords are the highest form of magic users in the Moon clan. Magic users consist of three branches—“
Jimin interrupts Shin, “Shadow Lords, magicians, and warlocks.” He looks at Jungkook, “We’ve learned it.”
Shin gives them a strained smile, “Good, for paying attention in school. But what school might not have told you is that they all receive their magic from a source deep in Moon capital. We’re not sure what it is, but as you know one of the goals of the war was to destroy the source in order to bring back peace in Korea.”
Jungkook is slowly starting to understand and asks, “Shin, can you close up on the fire.”
Shin does and seeing the understanding creeping on Jungkook’s face, asks him “Do you see why this is a problem.”
“How is he still so powerful?” Jungkook feels the color drain from his face, “When he’s so far away from the power source?”
“That’s not the question you should be asking.” Shin leans on the desk which lights up different buttons and keys on its surface, “You should be asking how he can be weak and still have that much power.”
“That’s him at his weakest?” Jimin’s eyes go wide, “Who the hell is this guy? Why is he so strong?”
Shin says, “Well, I don’t think he has much control over his powers because this fireball is the only magic that came out when we captured him at the border. He seemed battered and thoroughly beaten up.”
Jungkook searches up a map of Korea on the Light web, “That’s almost 750 miles away from his home. There must be some reason he’s here.”
“Yes, that’s what we’re trying to figure out but right now he’s knocked unconscious. Since it's only been a morning, all we’ve been able to get from him is a DNA sample. We’re keeping him in the basement of HQ in a special prison cell and your father is making communications with the Moon clan.”
Jimin sounds breathless, “The first communications since the last war.”
Shin rubs his forehead, “But there’s something else peculiar about this Shadow Lord.”
Jungkook narrows his eyes, “Other than his unusual amount of power and the fact he appeared on our borders out of the blue. I can’t think of anything else that could be wrong.”
Shin presses a key and a picture pops up. It’s of a shadow mark, that is in many ways similar to the marks the Light people have. In Jungkook’s case, he has three light marks. One showing that he’s part of Jeon family on his neck, another on his fingers which is a Elite leader mark, and the last one on his chest that shows his allegiance to the Elites. Shadow marks are usually darker than light marks and instead of ranks shows what kind of magic a Shadow uses. They also have more intricate patterns, then the simple swirls that are on Jungkook’s body.
Shin clicks and drags a picture of the Moon clan queen to the screen, Queen Minsuh. Her piercing eyes cause a shiver to go down Jungkook’s spine even though it’s only a picture. Her dark woven cloak cascades down her back and she wears a tight leather bodysuit that cuts off at the upper thigh, along with sleek white boots. Her dark eyeliner only dramatizes her prominent features and her shadow lord mark blooms on her right calf. There are two other marks on either side of her neck, but they’re marks that Jungkook isn’t sure of.
“Queen Minsuh.” Jimin glances at Jungkook, questioning him. Jungkook has no answers for why Shin would bring up a picture of her other than she’s the Moon clan's queen so he shakes his head. Jimin turns to Shin, “How is she related to the prisoner?”
Shin’s lips tighten, “Look closer.” He closes up on a mark on Minsuh’s neck and then the prisoner’s odd shadow mark. Until something dawns on Jungkook about the two marks.
Jimin starts, “It’s—“ and Jungkook finishes for him, “The same mark.” He chews his lip, allowing some of his nervousness to show. “But it’s not a shadow lord mark or any mark we’ve seen. It’s a mark of the Moon clan’s royal family. But what does that mean? Minsuh has no husband or children as far as we know.”
Shin stands up straight and closes all the other photos so the only pictures on the screen are the fire cloud and the mysterious prisoner, “This means, Jungkook, that we were wrong. Minsuh has a secret child that we had no clue about and it also might be why the Moon clan has been so quiet the last 26 years.”
Jimin physically pales, “You’re saying that Minsuh, the cruel queen of the Moon clan’s, secret child is in our basement? Of this headquarters.”
“Unfortunately.” Shin nods, grimly “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”