[CONTENTID1]【Author's POV】[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]The moment all ten boys were in Jay's core and behind the protective bubble-like structure Lay had created, they were in complete shock at the various scenes of memories they were looking at. No matter which direction they looked at, all they could see was destruction, blood, murder, suffering, chaos and darkness. This was the part of Jay that Kai has had a tiny glimpse of but were never truly shown.


"We can deal with all of this later. For now, we have to go get Suho Hyung and Xiumin Hyung. I know where they're bonds are; follow me." Kai spoke up, his voice trembling with emotion from the horrors he's witnessing before him; horrors that Jay has been through for decades, horrors that Jay has kept mum about and dealt with in silence and in solitude.


Walking through Jay's core, more horrifying scenes unfolded in front of them and had it not been for Sehun's ability of Air Absorbtion gained through the trainings over the past few weeks - which enabled him to absorb air from a given area to form a vacuum - they would have heard all the sounds those scenes came with. The closer they got to Suho's bond within the core, the more horrifying the scenes before them became.


"The memories that are near the bonds are memories that have to do with the specialities the person linked to bond has... At least that's what it looks like." Kris commently softly as he looked around to find scenes of people drowning, whirlpools and literally anything to do with water. Kris didn't know exactly how on-the-mark he was about how Jay's core worked.


The moment they got to Suho's bond, they were stunned to see Suho hunched over seemingly in pain at what he was seeing and hearing around him which made all ten boys rush over to him with Lay in the lead, hoping to get to him with the bubble before he passed out. Minutes after Lay had placed a comforting hand over Suho's shoulder, the latter looked up with tears in his eyes and fear etched on his face which turned into relief when he saw the ten boys standing around him.


"That... Angel... Or Valentina... I don't know which... But one of them forced me here and left me here... I... Is this what I'm capable of? All this destruction? All this killing? Am I going to turn into a monster who finds pleasure in killing people?" Suho choked out just as a couple of footsteps echoed through Jay's core, sending the ten boys into defensive mode while making sure Suho was in the middle of their circle only to get shocked when they saw Xiumin and a little girl running towards them hand-in-hand.


The most shocking thing about the scene about it was that the little girl was dressed the exact same way Jay almost two centuries ago when she had to leave the Palace for her safety. That sight a lot made the hearts of the boys squeeze in pain even when the little girl pushed Xiumin closer to them and just stood there with that familiar warm smile on her face.


"I'm sorry. She's a part of me so I did this to you. And I'm sorry. I can't do much for you. She's going to find me soon and she's going to lock me away again. She already hurt Myeonie Oppa because I didn't know she forced him in here first before targetting Baozi Gege." Little Jay said sadly before turning to look over her shoulder in slight fear.


"She's coming for me. Oppa, Gege, Sehoney. All of you are strong enough to tame her. You may not match up in terms of power or strength but you have something she doesn't." Little Jay said just as slow footsteps echoed softly in the darkness.


"What would that be, Lovebug? What do we have that yo - she doesn't?" Baekhyun blurted while Little Jay smiled at his small slip of words before saying, "Love. For me, for us, for who we are. She hates herself... No... I hate myself for everything I've done. Yet all twelve of you have loved me, worried for me, cared for me unconditionally. Use that against her, against me."


"She also hates you, you know. Because you broke the promise even if you didn't mean to. She hates me for forgiving you. She wanted you to suffer because of it. Now she hates me for helping you... I have to go. But please... Save me, save us, from myself, from ourselves. You're the only ones who can. I believe in you, I trust you and I love you." With that, Little Jay turned and ran into the darkness just as the footsteps halted completely before it returned and faded away.


"Let's keep moving. It should give us a little more time to devise a plan because her dark side can't walk properly. And from what I've experienced when she first forced me here, she really does intend to hurt us; so staying in one place too long will only make her find us faster." Suho choked out, his voice shaky from his mini mental breakdown.


"You've seen the other her? How did she look like? What was she like?" D.O asked while looking around, flinching every few seconds at the gruesome scenes that unfolded. At his question, the remaining ten guys' ears perked up; with the exception of Xiumin who had seen her seconds before Little Jay made her appearance.


"Her outfit reminded me of the Thief video game that the Maknaes love to play. She also has chains wrapped around her body on top of the knives and daggers that were strapped on. Her eyes and face are completely void of any emotion. She has a limp as she walked though; almost as if her leg got injured. The way she carried herself despite that is incredible. She's extremely confident." Suho said, shuddering at the memory of seeing the Demon Queen in the flesh.


"So basically she had the intention of hurting you, maybe even killing you?" Chanyeol piped up while the group wandered around Jay's core aimlessly, occasionally flinching or jumping in shock at the vivid scenes playing around them as they walked by.


"That's obviously her dark side. What was she called again? ... Ah! Yes! Valentina Dragomirova. Little One says that she hates herself. I don't know about the rest of you but I love her regardless of what I see here. I love her not because of her past, her present or her future. I love her because of who she really is." Lay spoke up.


"No, I'm not deluded by the Little One in my memories. Our Little One has grown to be a beautiful and intelligent woman who is capable of loving and caring even after everything she's been through. Sure she may be a little intimidating with all that power, but she's still that adorable little girl who depended on us, loved us and sat in the entryway with all her toys to wait for us and welcomed us home with that bright smile on her face." Lay added on before anyone else could speak.


His words were nothing but the truth. Even now that she was a grown woman, Jay had always greeted them with a smile even if it was but the ghost of her actual smile. But the one thing that never changed was the way Jay depended on them in one way or the other even if she could solve it on her own and the way that Jay showed how much she loved them with all the little things she did.


"But you know... All of this... No one deserves to experience any of this... I wouldn't want anyone to live a lifestyle as harsh as this... It hurts even more that it's our little Angel that had to go through all of this." Suho chimed while waving his arms around at the scenes that was unfolding all around them just as a figure limped out of the shadows and stopped right in front of the boys with a teary-eyed Little Jay in one hand and twirling a scythe around in the other.


"Well... Would you look at that? Such a little liar this tiny little thing here. Told me she got you out of this damned place without my knowledge. How do you like this it? You should've listened when this little brat told you that her mind isn't a nice place to be in." Valentina Dragomirova said, her voice huskier and smoother than what the twelve boys were used to.


"Why are you doing this, Beautiful? She's a part of you. Both of you are the same person. Sure you have different personalities, but she is you and you are her." Kris spoke up, his protective leader instincts kicking in the moment he sensed the other boys tensing at the sight of the Demon Queen.


"Beautiful?" Valentina hissed as she pulled the down to reveal her face causing the guys to tense even more, "This isn't beautiful! You think I wanted this? I don't! I wanted you to come bring me home! I wanted to stay with you! I wanted to be with you!