"Sometimes I wonder if your life wouldn't have been better if you'd never met Aera. Don't you?"

Jimin looked up to see JB picking at his nails casually. His pitch black hair fell across his venom filled eyes. These eyes held a great deal of evil, staring down emptily. It looked as if only a part of him was there, the other one was far, far away somewhere in his wicked mind.

More feebly than he anticipated, Jimin tried to jerk his way up to stand on his feet. Something was holding him back. Grunting lowly, his head snapped to glance behind his back.

Thin misty veils of darkness enveloped his wrists, extending upwards to something gray, foggy and formless, resembling both a dark cloud and a very thick spider web at the same time. A pair of yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Jimin shuddered.

Shadow Knights.

Their grip was painless but still very palpable, insisting and seeping at his skin and bones like a snake readying itself to tighten around its victim. Jimin knew better than to try and escape. He remained as still as possible and eyed the perimeter attentively. His gaze cast over Aera, her own wrists immobilized by the ghostly tentacles, her face sweaty and creased with agony.

"Hm? What do you think about that?" JB spoke, drawing Jimin's attention back to himself. "You would have lived a normal, happy life. Both of you would have."

His jaw tightened so hard Jimin thought his teeth would break. His gaze jumped back to Aera, a silent begging in her teary eyes. Don't fall for his provocations. You're strong. We're strong.

"I am not cut out for normal." Jimin said gruffly.

"Ah," JB released a long sigh, strolling down towards Jimin and falling to his knees in front of him. "Of that you are absolutely right." He whispered ever so tenderly, gliding the back of his fingers across Jimin's cheeks.

Almost robotically, JB deadpanned and leaned backwards. He cut the air with his arm, chasing the shadows away and shedding light on their surroundings. A black velvet carpet panned into view, leading down to something that resembled an altar. Lines of gold engraved elaborately across it. Several candles lit the gloom, placed in tall stands next to the high structure, suggesting of something sacred, or godlike.

Resting on an elevated platform right in front of the altar was a woman's body, her long fingers locked on her stomach. Her beautiful skin lucid as the moonlight on a clear night.

Frost grew over Jimin's skin as his mind went empty. He couldn't quite comprehend what his eyes were telling him.

"No."

Aera's voice reached his ears, kind of distant as if they were underwater. A couple grunts followed, telling him that she had violently tried to free herself from the shadow prison JB had put them in.

"Meisa!" Aera belted, angry tears pooling at the corner of her incensed eyes. "What have you done to her, you monster!"

"Nothing yet." Despite the rising tension, JB snickered.

A simmer of the lively glow on Meisa's skin brought relief to Jimin; it meant she wasn't dead yet, just in deep slumber. JB rounded the altar and hovered right next to her, watching over her affectionately as if she was his most precious possesson. Meisa was easily the most beautiful person in every room and it seemed like her bewitching beauty left even this devil of a man speechless. There they were both, straight out of a classic fairytale – the sleeping beauty and the not so chivalrous prince who was perfect only on the outside.

JB removed a strand of her luminous hair from her chest, grazing her collarbone gently. Then his hand gravitated even lower, reaching her abdomen.

"Keep your hands off of her!" Aera thundered, her face red with rage. Twinges of danger scintillating in her eyes made Jimin shudder, but he knew that she, too, was weakened by the Shadow Knights' grip.

"I don't want to hurt her." JB declared almost sincerely.

"As if your word means anything around here." Aera spat, baring her teeth at him.

JB's hand still hovered over Meisa's stomach and the sight made Jimin feel slightly nauseous. A part of him wanted to go up and beat the living shit out of him for touching his best friend's girl like that.

Then JB did something neither Jimin nor Aera expected him to do. The scene unraveled in slow motion, as if their brains refused to digest it. He lowered his face and rested an ear on top of Meisa's stomach, his eyelids fluttering as his eyes widened both with insanity and ill-placed delight.

"Ah, yes," he gasped blissfully. "The unwavering heartbeat of the unborn life."

The realization struck Jimin harder than a lightning. Meisa was pregnant. Meisa was fucking pregnant. Of course. Of course she was. He just couldn't see it, too involved in his own despair, never bothering to look around and see what's happening to those who love and stuck by him. Jungkook and Meisa had been to hell and back while trying to help him find Aera and he hadn't given them an ounce of his attention. Because if he had, he would have known. He would have noticed. But no. He was too selfish. Too ignorant, too great of an idiot to care for anything else than himself, unable to protect his friends and be there for them.

And now, he'd put them in harm's way.

He felt the ground under him shift and heard Aera's wail echo in his head.

"NO!!" her scream rose, desperate and powerless.

Jimin felt something pierce through his heart. Another realization hit him, this one harder than the previous one. It practically fell on him like a giant rock, literally stopping his breath. He was once again reminded how unworthy he was of her. Aera was a living, breathing angel – quite literally a saint. She had given her own life up while fighting against Jiah to keep her friends alive. And she would do it over and over again, without a second thought.

And him? He was just poison to those around him, quite literally dragging them down towards their doom. Jungkook, Meisa, Namjoon, Jin, even Hoseok... they were all in Abaddon because of him. Because he'd let them follow him to hell and their deaths would be on his conscience. He had never hated himself more than he did right now.

"Don't touch her!" Aera's voice snapped him back to reality as his gaze cast over her form, quite pitiful in the remains of what looked like to have been a ball gown. He realized her hair was shorter than he remembered.

"As I said," JB sounded slightly annoyed. "I don't plan on hurting her."

"Why not?" Aera shot back, choking on her tears. "You already hurt so many people. Jungah, Taehyung. Even Yoongi. Your own brother..." she straightened her shoulders, something she used to do unwittingly when she didn't want to appear vulnerable. "Why are you doing this? If this is some kind of personal vendetta against me, I give up. I surrender to you, JB. Do whatever you want to me, just let the people I love walk away from here. Let them live and I'll do whatever it is you want me to do."

"Oh sweetcheeks," JB clicked his tongue. "This has nothing to do with how I feel about you. This is bigger than you and me."

"What is it, then? What do you want?" Aera asked desperately.

"Why does everyone keep talking to me as if I'm the bad guy?" for the first time JB seemed outright irritated. "I try so hard and no one ever appreciates me."

For a moment there was a glimpse of a little wounded boy flashing through JB's expression.

"I've worked so hard to build this place so that lost souls could feel welcome here. So that they could have a home. You know who didn't have a home? Me," he pointed at his chest. "Life wasn't kind to me even though I never did anything wrong. All I ever did was be born as the result of tainted love. Is that my fault? Did I choose my parents? Does anyone ever, really? This world rejected me even before I came into it. I fought fiercely to have what I have now," he gestured around the cavernous hall, the candle lights flickering from the motion. "A safe haven. I tore little pieces of my soul and engraved it in every inch of this world. Here, I am not just one of the outcasts anymore. I am royalty."

The last words he pronounced as a menacing drawl. The sound of JB's cane hitting against the floor echoed across the room, making Aera wince.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment. The moment when I won't be alone anymore."

"Fine, then rule this hell of a land however you choose. Not one of those innocent people that came here to save me is standing in your way." Aera uttered, glaring at him.

"Of that you are right," JB nodded. "Not only are they not standing in my way; they are also going to help me."

"What?"

"I am not eternal, Aera. And I'm already struggling with keeping all this together on my own," he admitted, throwing everyone off with this honest declaration. "My only hope was to seal my existence to a powerful one like yours – that of a Keeper. I've been waiting for you. Our Powers would have preserved us together for a long time," the way he said it, so formal and disengaged. It was chilling. "But since you're being uncooperative and refuse to claim the throne with me..."

Elegantly, JB swung to face Meisa's still form. His gaze cast down her abdomen again.

"I might just have to try and choose my own heir."

Jimin felt something inside of him crack. Up until now he'd been watching everything from afar like a silent observer. Too much information had made his brain stutter. But this- this was the last drop he was willing to accept. It was outrageous. Overwhelming. Wrong. So, so disgustingly wrong. Too much.

"You... what?" Jimin's growl rose from his lips like thunder rolling amongst the clouds on a stormy day.

JB turned to him lazily, almost as if he'd forgotten about his existence.

"You heard me, Protector," something about being called by this name evoked a surge of power in Jimin's bloodstream. It had been so long since he'd felt like he deserved it. JB sneered arrogantly. "I need an heir and this is the only way for me to get one."

"Leave Meisa and the baby alone!" Aera said. "I'll do whatever it takes. I'll stay here. You don't need to involve them!"

A buzz of power tickled Jimin's skin. He felt something calling out to him, but he couldn't quite figure out what.

"Nuh-uh," JB waved his forefinger as if scolding a child. "If anything, your foolish stubbornness has managed to show me that there's been a better plan for me all along. Why link my existence to you - someone who'll always be looking for a way to stab me in the back when I can get myself a true ally I can mold into whatever I desire?"

"Someone you can get rid of whenever you like?" Aera gritted. "Just like you did with Jungah?"

"Yes, and your beloved Yoongi and Taehyung."

"You fucking monster!" Aera shouted. "What is wrong with you?!"

Swiftly, JB walked up to her and sank to his knees.

"It didn't have to be this way, Aera," he whispered almost gently. "If only you'd been slightly more reasonable. I was kind to you. I invited you into my home. I threw you a party. That you ruined, by the way. That wasn't so nice," he pouted childishly. "I was willing to give you a throne... instead now, I'll give you the show of your life."

With those words, he retreated even more quickly than he'd approached. Before Jimin knew it, JB was leaning over Meisa's lifeless form once again. The prolonged moment in which he savoured the sight of her was hair-rising. Then, he tersely unglued his gaze from her and directed it somewhere to the left.

"It's time." JB announced, more to himself than to Jimin and Aera. It was evident they were quite nonexistent to him now. In that moment, he wore the calculated face of a man with a very clear purpose.

The tension pressed in, making Jimin's heart rate skyrocket. The shadows materialized in the shape of a blonde girl. Her elfish features even more prominent in the dull light and her ashy tresses tumbling a little bit over her shoulders glowed like the full moon on a starless night.

"No."

Jimin couldn't quite figure out if he'd said it out loud or if it was in his head. All he could do was stare helplessly in shock as Iris emerged closer, her bony physique covered by a loosely fitted black robe, strings of red embedded on the fabric.

"Iris!" he called out her name and her sad azure eyes met his. Jimin reeled back, surprised as if he didn't expect her to react. "Iris, don't!"

Iris's expression faltered and she seemed scared for a moment. She stopped and looked around. The trauma in her eyes reminded Jimin of the night she almost took her own life in front of him.

"Keep going, love. You know what to do." JB's words were gentle, but his tone was insisting, threatening. Iris shook like a leaf upon hearing it.

"I have to do it." She murmured, slightly dazed.

"I don't know what he's promised you," Jimin said breathlessly, reminded of JB's big speech about Abaddon being a safe haven for the lost ones. "But this man is a liar, Iris. Don't listen to him."

Iris seemed conflicted, her eyes darting back and forth from Jimin and JB.

Confusion washed over Jimin. His brain started operating on a higher gear, the thoughts racing through his mind. Iris looked scared, yes, but also determined. There was no struggle in her composure. She did not look like a person who had a gun pressed to their skull. More like a person who'd been waiting in the back and had been trained to make their entrance at the right time. The robe was a giveaway; embedded by his color – everything had been prepared beforehand, orchestrated by JB himself.

Jimin thought back to Iris's tragic backstory. Abused and ostracized by her own coven. Always failing to fit in. Desperate to belong. Anywhere. To anyone. Starved for love, or even for a little acceptance.

But then he also thought of how conveniently she turned up at the right moment for him. How she took advantage of his vulnerability. How she kept telling him she didn't have any witch magic, but shortly after he'd seen her shatter glass with the sheer power of her emotion.

"Iris..." Jimin grumbled, eyes smoldering with anger. "You shouldn't have done this."

Her eyes quivered and her cheeks flushed. She lowered her face, her tiny nose wrinkled.

"You've been working with him this whole time. Haven't you?"

Betrayal left a hollowness inside of Jimin that helped him gain some clarity. His gaze hardened, drilling through her shaking form.

"You don't understand," she mumbled and her gaze locked with his once again. "I need to do this."

Jimin heaved a staggering breath, sensing the fury wash over him like a wave of destruction.

"My friends, they all accepted you as one of their own," Jimin's tone was accusing. Flashbacks of Jin healing and comforting Iris in that bedroom played in his mind. Good, kind-hearted Jin. Naïve Jin... Somehow the fact that someone might have played with Jin's heart made him even more angry than before.

"You don't understand," she sounded broken as the words escaped her. For some reason, that was all she could say. "You don't understand, Jimin..."

"Then explain it to me!" he boomed, making her wince. "Why'd you lie to me?"

"I am sorry." Was all she said. Then her eyes turned empty as she looked over to Aera and said something so out of place it was almost chilling. "You really are beautiful. I can see why he loves you. I wish the both of you nothing but happiness."

Then she proceeded forward, taking JB's outstretched arm, bearing the face of a person heading for the gallows. Jimin could hear himself shouting something incoherent as he threw himself forward, only to be reminded of the ghostly cuffs tightly wrapped around his wrists.

Jimin heard Aera screaming for JB to stop this, all of it – her scream was coming from a place of absolute terror. Chaos reigned the air as his brain frantically took in the sight of Iris standing in the middle of the alter and placing her palms across Meisa's body. Her lips moved with the silent murmur of her horrifyingly wicked spell. Tears streamed down her red cheeks, her fingers starting to tremble as the candle lights flickered almost imperceptibly.

Meisa's body shuddered. JB's lips stretched in a delighted grin. Very slowly, the maniacal glint in his eyes returned. Aera wept with anguish. Out of the corner of his eye, Jimin could see her trashing and tumbling on the ground, desperately trying to free herself. A high-pitched sound claimed the room, piercing his ears. It was spine-chilling, coming from the shadow creatures behind them. Their own personal choir of destruction, illuminating the devious ritual with their sinister voices.

This couldn't be it. This couldn't happen. He couldn't let it happen.

Fury rose within Jimin's chest. It was merciless, seeking out a way to destroy. He felt the surge of power ignite from deep within, scorching hot, permeating his mind and his body. Every inch of his skin felt as if it were burning as he sprung up abruptly, catapulted by his urge to fight.

How he broke through the Shadow Knights' shackles he had no idea, but before he knew it, Jimin found himself at the other side of the room, inches away from the altar. Iris's eyes snapped open and her horrified face turned to him.

"Keep going!" JB roared fiercely, his voice filling the hall, coming from everywhere. "No matter what, you know what to do!"

Iris looked as if she'd been brainwashed, her arms stretched out like those of a robot. There was a glimpse of her real self somewhere far, far away in those sapphire blue orbs. But Jimin ignored it, too engulfed by the primal part of him, determined to protect.

"Stop this, Iris!" Jimin tried to reason, but she just shook her head despairingly as if her body wasn't listening to her.

Tension rose. Meisa's form broke into violent convulsions. The spell was starting to work. She was going to die. Jimin's balance wavered. The sight paralyzed his thinking. He looked to the side, his gaze falling over the candle stand to his right. Without a conscious thought, he grabbed it and snapped it in two. He tossed one half aside and before he could hesitate, he stabbed the sharp edge into Iris's chest.

The murmuring stopped as her lips popped open. Time slowed down. Jimin could feel the faint beating of her heart where the sharp edge had pierced right through it.

"I—" he stuttered, watching as a tiny streak of blood left her mouth.

"It's alright," Iris breathed, a small smile forming on her lips. She peered deeply into his eyes, lovingly as if to say she understood. "It's alright, Jimin."

His labored breathing boomed in his head. His hands started to shake as he realized all muscle strength had fled him. Stiffly, he fell to one knee and placed her body on the cold floor.

"You had no choice," she mumbled quietly. "I'm sorry... sorry I was a nuisance."

"No, I-" he breathed unevenly as immense guilt started to suffocate him. Two tiny drops fell from his eyes and onto Iris's cheeks.

"You are good. You are good, Jimin."

She murmured softly as if it were a spell. Her eyelids fluttered as she released a long exhale, eyes open as if admiring the heavens.

"Thank you... for being my friend..." Iris said in between sharp exhales. "Let's meet again..."

He peered down at her. She didn't look in pain at all. She looked at peace. A burden had been taken off of her.

"Sorry," she mouthed.

He watched as her warmth left her body and her eyes turned dull. Jimin wanted to cry, but simply couldn't. What have you done?

You are a weapon, and weapons don't cry.

There was no time for that. Reality drew him back in like vacuum and he stood up slowly, getting back to his feet. Almost in a trance, he looked down at his own two hands covered in blood.

He shivered.

Not at the crimson splashed over his palms.

Across the room, Aera was staring wordlessly at him, eyes enlarged, full of complete and utter terror.

a/n:

I think I made myself sad help

In other words, I'm back 💁‍♀️