Disappointment.

This was the word that described the most precisely what Aera was feeling at the moment. None of her many and varied imaginings of the day she saw her father again included him melting away and transforming into one of the most diabolical and foul beings in the existence of the universe.

None.

"You don't seem happy to see me." JB commented sardonically, casually adjusting the elegant watch on his wrist.

Is anyone ever, was what Aera wanted to reply, but her lips wouldn't move.

He slipped a hand in his pocket, the other clutching tightly onto the hawk-shaped handle of his cane as always, a sly smirk dancing on his deadly lips.

Aera felt oddly left down, like a child someone had promised to buy a gift but had ended up not keeping their promise. Whilst pretending to be her father, JB had been dangling these visions in front of her like candy in front of a baby, just to lure her into some false sense of security and trust. Like a snake luring its victim to its lair. She felt deceived. Betrayed. Played.

But most of all, she felt foolish.

The reason JB had managed to use her foolishness against her was because she still kept some imaginary hope that she'd be reunited with her father one day. All this time she'd been living with the useless thought that he was out there somewhere; he was just waiting for the right time to appear and come to her rescue while she was in distress like the old tale told.

But that was nonsense created by her silly brain. Better stop letting this false hope haunt her. Better strip herself of all of the lies she soothed herself with and face the truth.

No one was coming to save her.

Not her father. Not Jimin. No one.

And that was it.

She raised her mournful gaze to meet JB's triumphant one. He was thriving right now, relishing in witnessing her process how it was all one enormous lie.

"What do you want exactly?" Aera asked, struggling to keep her voice steady. Ultimately, JB was one giant enigma. He didn't seem to cherish anything or hold anything dear. Nothing mattered to him. He had no weak spot. It seemed like all he took pleasure in was humiliating and torturing others. Was bloodlust and suffering all he wanted?

"To be friends." He gave her a coy smile.

"Why should I be friends with you?" she scowled. Honestly, being friends with JB was the last thing Aera wanted in this life.

"Because friends share everything," JB said in a singsongy voice, toying with the cane as he flipped it carelessly. Then in one swift motion, he caught it with his other hand and pointed it straight at her. "And I want you to share your Powers with me."

"What if I don't want to do that?" she gulped. Knowing what he could do with this cane, she felt like she was being held at gunpoint right now.

"Well if you don't, I'm just gonna have to make you." JB's lips twitched and he bared his teeth in a manner that seemed much more animalistic than human.

Aera felt a subtle rumble coming from around them as thin, dark red light extended from the cane, snaking its way up in the air like a viper. It whipped straight towards her like a lightning bolt, threatening to struck her.

She could swear she saw her whole life flash right before her eyes. In less than a second, her body would fall down to the floor like a rag doll, just like Jungah's did. She wondered how it would feel. Whether it would hurt. She had already died once, but this was different. This would be no natural death. How would it happen anyways? Would he reach into her body and take her soul, collect it into his cane? Would she be able to feel it? Would it hurt? How does one die in Abaddon exactly?

Perhaps she could try to run, but there was no way she'd be that fast. The ray of dark red traveled to her and JB's sardonic sneer in the background would forever stay engraved on her mind.

This was it, then. She'd been given a second chance at life but it had to come to an end eventually; it would be naïve of her to think that this would go on forever. She just wished she'd made more out of it. It felt like she failed at the many things she aspired to do, but perhaps that was how it was supposed to be. Maybe there was someone better, stronger than her that could do them and actually have an impact around here.

Aera squeezed her eyes and prayed it would be quick and painless. In those last few seconds of her life, she wished that whenever she went after this, she would be reunited with Jimin. Or at least that this place she was heading for would have some version of Jimin. That would make her happy. Yes, that was what happiness felt like to her. Her eyes filled with tears and she could feel the impending doom looming closer.

Jimin... Having you close again was what kept me going all this time in this world. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't be together again, my love.

She held her breath, anticipating the final hit. At first she felt it at her sides, raw and possessive. The heat fled her body as a swoosh of air picked her up roughly and she could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet. She felt as if she was being sucked into a vacuum, her atoms struggling to stay together. Unseeing hands wrapped around her and she started moving at the speed of light, her body paralyzed from the terror.

That was odd. Aera could still breathe and she could still think. Surely this isn't how dying feels. And she knew that because she had already died once.

Her eyelids cracked open to a swirling blur of colors. It was as if she was in a train moving at a neck-breaking speed. Her head tilted to the side as it touched something warm. Instinctively, her hands started searching for something to clasp onto for support and she found it.

It was alive, she could feel another presence with her. Something pressed against her as she felt a slight jerk around her waist. She had felt this before. Her eyes caught glimpse of something blonde and golden. Something reminding her of...

"Jimin?"

Without a conscious thought, Aera raised her hand to touch his face. The violent swirling around them had ceased but his grip around her remained.

Was this real? Or was it the afterlife?

"Aera." Jimin husked, his face inches from hers. Beads of sweat covering his forehead, his chest heaving as if he'd been running.

With each second that passed, her anticipation grew but so did her fear. Fear that this was another figment of her imagination. Fear that the image of Jimin would dissipate as did all her other visions of him.

Since she'd been here in Abaddon she'd seen him a bunch of times, but none of them were real. This was different. All those previous times, he'd never looked at her. He'd never spoken to her and he'd never held onto her as if he was holding on for dear life.

Like he was doing right now.

"I can't- I can't..." was all she could stammer, her eyes overflowing with tears.

Her head was quivering as she choked back a sob. He knelt in front of her, strong hands clutching at her sides as he put her down but kept her grounded. Even so, her body shook violently, every particle of her crying to release the tension from all this long time they'd been apart.

"Don't go, not again." she exhaled as he used his thumb to wipe her tears, a gesture that brought more relief than her heart could hold. She grabbed his hand with hers, afraid that if she let him go her atoms would tear themselves apart.

"Never." He said in a low voice, thick with emotion. His face suspended between joy and bewilderment. His chest heaved, shoulders slumped with exhaustion but he still found enough muscle strength to raise a hand and cradle her jaw with his fingers.

His familiar touch brought comfort Aera could never describe. This was no illusion, it couldn't be.

"I can't believe it's you." she sobbed quietly, lost in the moment as she felt his fingers stroke her cheek soothingly.

"A love that moves the Universe," he whispered, bringing his forehead against hers. His breath was warm, fanning across her wet cheeks. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

This moment had the impact of a thousand earthquakes. It shook Aera at her very core, it moved her deeply. For the first time in forever her mind and body felt at ease.

This was him, it was really him. He was here. No one else would know the meaning behind those words. No one else would know the lyrics to the song of her heart.

Is this heaven?

Aera asked herself as she held him. Clearly it was, wasn't it? She was finally at peace, reunited with the one she loved. In a way, she was relieved. Finally it was all over.

Is this how it ends?

One of her hands left his to gravitate behind her back. She could feel something cold and damp and wanted to know what it was. Her skin was met with the chilly touch of concrete. The columns. Her head snapped up to glance at a ceiling that was entirely etched in charcoal.

No. Aera felt both confused and betrayed. This could not be heaven. Heaven wouldn't have these prison walls that suffocated her fear. The temperature wouldn't be near freezing. Heaven wouldn't be this sinister hall room. This abysmal blackness. This couldn't only mean one thing.

They were still in Abaddon.

"I'm here. I hold you," Jimin breathed close to her.

It was the first time she noticed how beaten he looked. Blindsided by her joy, she'd failed to see his sunken cheeks and how ghostly the ripped clothes clung to his weakened body. He'd been through something terrible to get here. She wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and give him all the warmth in the world. She wanted to kiss him and take care of him, cradle him and nurture him back to life, remove his fatigue. He looked pale and lost, struggling to keep his head leveled and instead he'd rested it on her shoulder. It wasn't only a gesture of affection, he just couldn't keep it together anymore. It seemed like it'd taken him all the effort in the world to carry her here.

"Oh my God, Jimin-"

"I love you."

Her breathing stopped.

"I love you," he repeated softly, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck as he kneeled in front of her. All Aera could do was stare blindly and watch him break down in front of her like a child. "Dear God, you have no idea how long I've waited for this moment. How many times I've dreamt about it," he sniffed. "The shit I've been through, Aera... you have no idea. You don't even wanna know..."

Her heart ripped apart and she gulped heavily. Her arms wrapped around his neck as her fingers raked through his hair.

"I know... I understand."

"No, you won't. You won't understand."

"I said I do, Jimin."

"You'll hate me."

"No, I will never hate you."

"I'm a fucking mess. You weren't there to keep me together, Aera... you weren't there to make me better. I screwed up. So badly. I fucking screwed up."

"Shh, Jimin- We-We'll talk about this later..."

"That's what I am without you. A fucking monster."

"Oh my God, stop talking about yourself this way!" she whispered, as hurt by his words as him. This was supposed to be a happy moment, wasn't it? "Jimin, I just got you back, please stop this!"

He pulled away to peer at her, tears pooling in his eyes.

"You haven't seen the real me yet."

"I have, alright?" her fingers wrapped around his face, frantically removing the tears from his cheeks. "I have. And I know you. I know who you are. Your true self. So stop this. You don't need to be like this with me. Stop."

His gaze cast down mournfully. Aera could feel this raw, savage anger brewing around them but couldn't determine whether it was coming from him or not. She was almost afraid to ask.

"What's happened, Jimin? What did you do?"

He glanced up at her almost fearfully.

"What any man who loves you as madly as me would do."

Aera felt as if her heart was stuck in her throat. Her common sense was telling her this was no time or place for this kind of conversation, yet she wanted to keep it going. It must have been something horrible that was igniting this amount of self-hatred in Jimin. What had happened while she was gone?

"Listen to me," she breathed sharply. "Whatever you've done, I'll always love you. No matter how awful, foul or wrong you think it is... I don't care. I don't, Jimin."

His stare told her he didn't believe her. His hands clasped around her jacket, as if he felt underserving of her. Aera wanted nothing more than to drown in his embrace, but something in the corner of her mind reminded her she couldn't do this right now. Something evil was lurking around and she could almost feel it by the suffocating stench of malice.

"You have to believe me, Jimin." She whispered in an attempt to keep him level-headed.

"Aera-"

"Shh," she hushed him, inwardly trying to steady her heart that was thumping at an Olympic speed right now. "Someone- someone's here."

They both slunk in the shadows as Jimin pressed his back against the cold column next to her. His fingers found hers, squeezing her tightly as they exchanged knowing looks to keep quiet.

Whoever was coming was venturing leisurely, allowing their footsteps to echo off the walls. They were walking easily, fearlessly, at a slack pace.

The darkness pressed in on Jimin and Aera as they fought the urge to turn around. The footsteps sounded overly loud in their heads, matching the rhythm of their heartbeats.

"Hello?" a voice spoke, bouncing off the enormous hall room. "Guys, you there?"

Aera's hand bolted to her mouth as she suffocated her scream.

"It's Meisa!" she whispered, soul ascending to the sound of her best friend's voice.

"Be quiet!" Jimin hissed, brows furrowed as his grip around her hand tightened.

"It's Meisa, we have to go to her, Jimin!" Aera pled.

"We will do no such thing." He glowered, his arm shooting to the side to keep her in place before she did something stupid.

"Guys," Meisa's voice trembled. "I- I'm so afraid. Some Shadow Knights chased me, and I- I don't know where I am. Can somebody help me?"

"She's terrified." Aera whispered, swallowing back her tears.

"We don't even know if that's her." Paranoia swirled in Jimin's mind.

"Oh God." Aera bit her lip, battling the urge to get up and run to her best friend. This was a deadly dilemma if she'd ever seen one. But Jimin was right. What if this was a trap?

"I will try to get us out of here." Jimin took a deep breath in, summoning all the strength he had in his body.

"Jimin no, your Powers are dangerously weak-"

"Guys?" Meisa's crumbling voice came again. She was crying, it was so clear. "Someone is out to get me, please, I'm so fucking scared. They want to hurt me... they want to hurt my baby."

Aera's brain stuttered and so did Jimin's. Every part of them went on pause as they processed those last words. None of them was prepared for the cold wave of shock that came over them.

"Is Meisa-"

A swoosh of air caused Aera's words to halt as something red and bright materialized in front of them. JB's perpetual grin appeared before her as she gripped onto Jimin for dear life.

"Tag!" JB laughed sinisterly, his evil eyes thinning to slits as he pointed the cane at Aera and Jimin. "You're it."

author's note:

i am back, ily 🥺