~ Diana POV ~

I've been cooped up in my cabin with Namjoon right beside me as we began to try and piece together a sentence that we hoped was what the puzzle conveyed.

'The', 'within', 'the', 'hidden', 'Reality', 'light', and 'lies'. Those were the words that the paper showed.

Their idea had worked perfectly; They had smashed the bottle against a rock they brought from beside the waterfall, then they used the shattered pieces of the glass to hold the paper open while Jimin and Hoseok read what was written for them.

'Reality' and 'light' were what they got respectively.

"Uh, 'within the light, the lies hidden inside reality'..." I tried again but Namjoon shook his head once again.

"That doesn't make sense, Diana." He chuckled, "The 'Reality' and 'lies' are contradicting." He explained and I huffed a breath, already fed up of this, "Reality holds lots of lies, too. Otherwise everything would've been perfect." I grumbled.

Namjoon rolled his eyes, chortling at my saying, "We're talking about different meanings of reality here, babe. In this sense, Reality is obviously the real world. It's more literal." He retorted.

Babe??? Holy Cheeses in crackers, babe????? I think my face is radiating some heat... Aw flip flops, it is.

I patted my cheeks, turning away from Joon to rid of the redness I'm sure it sported. I heard him laugh, having caught me out on my flushing face.

"What's got you all flustered?" He chuckled, nudging at my shoulders from where he sat beside me on the bed. "N-nothing." I coughed out, hoping my long hair would cover for me.

"Whatever you say, babe." he crooned teasingly. "Y-you keep calling me that..." I whined, feeling my face burn up once more. For some odd reason, being called babe by Namjoon does things to me.

I wonder why :/

shut up omg

"Calling you what? Babe??" He asked, sounding genuinely curious. His tone seemed to convey something else too, but I was too focused on calming my red cheeks and getting them to turn back to their original colour. "Y-yeah." I stammered out, answering his question.

He quietened after that, bringing silence into the cabin while I finally managed to compose myself. I cleared my throat, glancing up at Joon to see him already staring at me.

I straightened up when I noticed a flash of hurt pass through his eyes but once I blinked, it seemed to disappear like it was never there.

Hhhh I might need to get my eyes checked...

He shuffled on his spot, turning back to the book we were writing down all sorts of possibilities that could be made using the words. "Sorry. I-I was just joking around." He mumbled timidly but I rushed to assure him that it was okay, "It just caught me off-guard, that's all. It's totally okay!" I laughed it off. When he simply nodded, I cleared my throat awkwardly before turning back towards the book he held.

"So any more possibilities?" I redirected the topic towards the words. He hummed, "Maybe 'lies' doesn't have to be a lie. It could be indicating something is laying somewhere, too." He pointed and I made a sound of agreement.

"Right." I replied.

-

We both were now just laying on the bed, talking pointlessly as we took a short break from solving the puzzle. There were so many possibilities, honestly. It's hard to decide which one is right and which one isn't.

It was about time we took a break anyway. I don't know exactly how long we spent on this pain in the arse, but I noticed that the scene outside the window was glazed over with an orange hue, indicating that the sun was setting.

There must be something that could indicate the right order with which word goes after the other.

"Diana?" Namjoon snapped me out of my roaming thoughts and I hummed in response, "Uhm... is there something that helps you remember things you might've forgotten?" He asked.

I puckered my lips in thought, "Something that helps me remember things?" I mumbled out loud in wonder, he hummed back. "Uh..." I dragged out.

Something that makes me remember?

"Smell?" I questioned more than answered, "I guess I've had instances where I've.. like- "unlocked" a memory I thought I had forgotten." I continued and Joon made a noise of acknowledgment.

(A/N: anyone else? 😗😗✨)

I chuckled, finding the question random and out of the blue, "Why? Do you think you've forgotten something?" I asked.

He shook his head, shifting to lay on his side to face my way. I turned as well, showing my curiosity towards him as I looked at him expectantly. He blew out a breath before displaying a sad smile, making me frown. Was it something I said?

"No. There's one dear friend of mine... in the real world. She's..."

' She...'

Sooo...

...

omg Diana stop- listen to him. Whoever his friend in real life is, it shouldn't concern you about their friendship.

Jesus Christ on a motorbike- stop emphasising those words. You're fooling yourself.

"Hello? Earth to Diana?"

I blinked, pursing my lips as Namjoon looked at me with a hint of amusement, "Did you just doze off?" He snorted and I spluttered, "N-No! I... could you repeat what you were saying?" I asked, feeling sheepish even though he waved off my lack of attention.

He took in a breath before repeating, "My friend, She's suffering with... memory loss. Amnesia." He revealed and I frowned. That's not good...

Pause.

I swear to god, for some reason, I felt a very strange déjà vu. Not the typical "I did this before" it's more so towards the single word Namjoon said. 'Amnesia'. When did he say that before? Has he said it before?

"She's slowly beginning to forget things she holds dear to her." He continued and I nodded, urging him to go on. "We both.. well, I view her as a very close friend of mine. But she seems... uh, seemed to slowly forget about our bond. Not entirely our bond, per say... more like tiny snippets. Nicknames, for example. She's close to Yoongi, too." He sighed dejectedly, making my heart feel heavy at the sight. He seemed so sad about it.

Was she really special to him? She must be. He looks so sad about the thought of losing a close relationship with his friend.

"He writes- Uh, he wrote a.. special song for her a while ago, and... she listened to it very often. She became his biggest fan, too. But recently, she revealed that she didn't know Yoongi wrote anything regarding music." He added.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she recalls everything in the end. That must really hurt you, huh?" I frowned. That story sounds very familiar. I can't seem to connect it to anything, though. However the feeling is still there.

But... why is he telling me this? Does he think that I could possibly help?

Namjoon nodded slowly. "We became friends a short while ago. I mean- before...this.. uh, But we quickly grew a close bond." He explained and I nodded, listening closely to his words. "You miss her, don't you?" I voiced and he seemed to be caught off-guard, his eyes momentarily flashing with confusion before they widened in realisation.

"Ah, y-yes. I miss all of my friends." He mumbled. "I'm sure she'll recover soon enough. Just help her through the process. Was there something that she mentioned very frequently?" I wondered, hoping to help him the best I could. He'll probably meet her once he gets out of this game.

Namjoon seemed to ponder over that question before nodding, "That she wishes to have her grandma's—-"

"OH MY GOD!!!"

The two of us bolted upright, getting a huge fright from the scream.

Jimin.

I scrambled out of my bed, eyes wide in alert as I dashed out of the cabin. Namjoon was right by my tail as he rushed out with me.

We both felt our breaths hitch, eyes bulging in shock and terror.

"W-what the hell is that?!" Hoseok shrieked, having also rushed out of his cabin to see what happened.

"H-help!" Jimin squeaked out, facing an ominous, giant creature that was unlike an Olfstin's.

It glared daggers at Jimin, slithering closer towards him as he was pressing himself against the ladder of our treehouse, having been cornered against it.

Jin was down there as well. He was by the pantry, having kept Jungkook and Taehyung beside him, a protective arm outstretched before them to play as a protective shield.

My mind screamed to get to Jimin, not at all comfortable at the targeting glares of the creature.

'Jimin, jimin, jimin'

I took a step closer towards the ladders, freezing when it's eyes snapped towards me. Red, glowing eyes shimmering under the golden glow of the sun setting before it diverted back to jimin.

It was a cobra-like snake with multiple spider-like legs while some were pointy like a crab's. It's teeth were bared predatorily, spiky horns sticking out from above its head, down to its long body.

I can put a face to the other creature now.

It didn't hold any hint of letting go of its prey like an Olfstin did. It's eyes wide and highly focused on its target.

Jimin is no target under my watch, however. I took a more discreet step closer, crouching down to place one leg on the ladder that would lead me back down to the ground. It was terrifying just what was beholding before me. My heart was hammering loudly, ringing in my ears, reminding me of my unaltered fear of the giant beast so alarmingly still and predatory in its approach.

Jimin was frozen on his spot, tears gathering in his eyes for fearing his life. I won't let anything happen. My eyes stopped scanning the giant cobra-like creature when it zeroed in on a white material pierced on one of its spikes. It was just about a little bigger than an Olfstin if you gathered it's whole body in one spot. I couldn't really point out just how long it was, as the rest of its body disappeared behind the trees and bushes leading into the forest.

"Ji-Jimin." I breathed out, lowering down more with a laboured breath as the creature's eyes narrowed in on Jimin's shaking figure, its mouth slowly falling open, ready to strike at any moment.

At this point, the blonde had lost his voice at the sight of the creature, I was shaking myself.

Namjoon had watched me with great dismay as I brought myself closer, though he was too horrified to do anything - fearing that if he moved, the creature would be triggered to strike. He didn't trust himself to move carefully, fluidly, fearing one misstep would trigger it to pounce.

By now, I was right beside jimin. He was quick to grab onto my hand, trembling tremendously as the cobra hissed threateningly. It's eyes narrowed onto me this time, making me freeze.

"You."

I gasped.

IT TALKS?!?! That's 10x more freaky!

The Slithery beast took notice of my horror as one for understanding it's speech, a dangerous aura suddenly vamping up twice it's original level, causing a chain reaction of goosebumps to erupt around those close enough to notice the change.

"D-Diana," Jimin choked out, squeezing the hand I held his with. I swallowed thickly, trying to bring some hint of comfort to Jimin in this situation by rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. "I-it's okay. Nothing will happen." I shakily let out. I pulled on his hand to bring him behind me while I stepped a bit forward. Sweat was already gathering on my forehead, a trickle sliding down my back, causing me to shudder.

I dared to take a better glance at Jimin, noticing his other hand clutching on a sword. I gulped again, sneaking my free hand to grip it. Jimin wordlessly let go of it. I felt him clutch tightly at my shirt by my back. My eyes diverted back on the snake.

(A/N: I've yet to think of a name for this creature xD so let's just refer to it as a snake. Diana will think of a name soon enough... or u could! :>)

"Diana, p-please. Don't do anything." Jimin whispered from behind me, followed by a shaky exhale. He caught onto my subtle actions, feeling dreadful and fearing an ounce more on my behalf, figuring that I'd forgotten that emotion in this moment. I gulped, bringing one hand to reach behind me so that I could touch Jimin, a brief caress to his forearm as his hold tightened on the fabric of my shirt.

"Diana, p-please." Jimin choked out in a whisper, his breath brushing faintly over my neck, making me tense.

"Don't be a hero. Please, it'll go away on its own." Jimin spoke more desperately, fearing for me more than himself at that point as he noticed my stance grow tense and defensive.

I furrowed my brows as the creature hissed again, its own body turning incredibly tense under its glaring eyes. Did I mention it had more than just a pair of eyes? Three on either side of its face.

I noticed it's fangs push out more, immediately noting that it had retractable canines.

"You don't belong here."

I winced as it's voice sounded thunderously loud and distorted. I took a step towards the right, towards the area closer to the waterfall.

I pushed Jimin to stand behind the wood-work of the ladder, partially hiding his frame from view while I distracted it by moving it away from our camp, ignoring him cry out my name in retaliation.

"N-none of us do." I stammered back at the snake, voice barely audible but it seemed to catch onto my words nonetheless. At my response, the creature was taken aback for being comprehended, finding a confirmation within my reply. It served to fuel its savage stillness, its eyes deadlock on me now that it has cleared its first notion.

It snarled, "Cheater."

My eyes bulged at that, my foot stumbling away from it as it rushed towards me shortly after the sound of an electric buzz.

D-did it just produce electricity?!

The crackling sound confirmed my disbelief as the remnant sounds of it died down. I edged further away, subtly directing its gaze away from the camp as I discreetly began moving closer towards the forest, making it turn slowly to face me.

I clutched fiercely on my sword, scrutinising the snake to pin-point how I could possibly weaken it. I couldn't let fear control me through this.

I yelped when I felt something behind me, my breath turning shallow and quick as I came into contact with its long body. My hammering heart doubled its pounding pattern, leaving me to desperately hold onto my intention. I can't let it get the others, plus it's somewhat after me. Now that I'm it's centre of focus, I can lead it away from harming the others completely.

When the extended tail of the snake began to circle intently around the surface I stood, I understood one thing.

It's closing in on me - I realised. My eyes darted back to the snake before they turned towards the others. My lips pressed tightly against each other as their eyes held terror and fear. I noticed Jin hold Jungkook back as the younger tried to push past the elder, his eyes zeroing in on me with a silent demand to not do anything stupid. Despite the obvious terror, he was actively glaring at me for what I'm bringing upon myself, he was shouting after me all the while yelling at Jin and Taehyung to let him go.

"Diana, dare you move from there!! Don't you dare do anything!!! Fuck's sake - LET ME GO!!!"

Still, Jungkook's rough plea fell on deaf ears to the predator, but clear as glass for me. I actively ignored his cries, dead set on luring this monster of a creature as far away from them even though his voice brought me a sense of guilt and anguish.

I promised him...

It's to protect them.

...You're right.

I peered over my shoulders, having turned my back right towards the forest. The bottom half of my body being blocked by its circling body, moving closer in and slowly approaching me and limiting my exit and movement.

I cannot let that happen.

"You're a mistake."

My eyes twitched as I held back another grimace at the loud voice. That's obviously nothing close to something that lives on Earth. It sounds demonic in my short conclusion. The blend of multiple scratchy and otherworldly voices talking at once was hurting me ears.

For a split moment, I notice Jin yelling as Jungkook broke free from their hold, his speeding legs heading towards me without a thought.

Shit, shit, shit, no!! He'll get hurt!!

With a deep breath, I gathered all the remaining courage I had this very moment and I spun on my heel. I stepped on its lengthy body and jumped over it, running into the forest as fast as I could.

"Diana!!!"

I heard the others call out for me but I didn't let up, knowing the snake was following close behind me shortly after it let out it's animalistic roar. The continuous rustling of leaves and the swishing sound of air being cut through indicating that it was slithering speedily towards me.

"CHEATER"

Why am I being called a cheater?! How am I a cheater?!?!

Since when was I in a relationship, hUh?!?!

I made a sharp turn towards my left, moving further away from the river to my right. I'll need to somehow find some time to avoid its gaze so I can land some hit without its knowledge.

"Cheaters must be destroyed. You don't deserve to be here."

Oh, for fuck's sake!

I took another sharp left soon after, just barely dodging its launching figure baring its fangs my way. With a gasp of air, I spun on my heel, running towards the snake with my sword pointing right at it.

I could try and blind it, right? It won't know where I am then, right??

Just as it backed up to follow me, turning its head in my direction, I let out a loud bellow, jumping forward as I fixed my gaze on where I want to strike.

I clench my teeth tightly, holding my ground as best as I could as I stabbed at one of its eyes. My own eyes darting towards its scrambling body whipping behind its head as it roared loudly, making my ears ring painfully.

My eardrums are practically on the verge of bursting. Truly.

I pulled the sword back out of its eye, intending to blind the creature as much as I could. I swiped the sword again, cringing internally as it roared even louder, it's mouth just hovering below my figure as I placed myself over its head, using my free hand to clutch tightly at one of its spike to keep myself over its head and not fall off from it's movements.

The spikes were pointy and slim, so I grunted as my palm pressed against it tightly even though it hurt as I clutched at it.

"You cheating, good-for-nothing being! You glitchy, unworthy scum!"

I gritted me teeth, clenching my eyes for a brief moment as I pulled the sword back out, feeling hot, thick, liquid spurt my way before I shot my eyes back open, striking mercilessly at its 3rd eye at the right side of its face.

I shrieked, feeling it's long body wrap around my hanging feet, pulling aggressively at my body, making me lose my hold on my sword still stuck deep into its eye.

It let go for a split second and intense pain shot through my ankle, making me groan loudly. I used my arms to prop myself back onto my feet, cringing as my right ankle was close to giving out on me.

I gasped when it's body slammed itself around my legs before I grimaced prominently as it began to circled further up until my mid-riff. My hands pushed at its body, trying to get myself to push out of its hold.

Cobra-python mix?

I grunted when it squeezed my legs tightly. I shook tremendously, my eyes landing on the face of the creature as it spun to look to my left, so it's remaining eyes on its left landed on me. The other side of its face having lost its vision from my impulsive attacks.

I whimpered, watching as its body gathered closer and wrapped itself around me, my body being squeezed till my chest while I intently kept my arms over my head, not wanting to lose my ability to hold and to push out.

I was lifted above the ground by the creature while I cried out, the air going in my lungs felt limited as it put pressure around my body.

"Cheater deserves to vanish. Cheater must be gone."

It continuously repeated those words, presenting me further up in the air, before I cried out, feeling some of its smaller spikes pierce at my legs. Not long after, I screamed out of pain beyond my tolerance, feeling jolts of electricity strike around my body.

Tears spilled out of my eyes uncontrollably as I tried to recover myself from being electrocuted for a good few seconds.

Not even another second to spare, it zapped again and I screamed once more, feeling my body wreck with tremors all around. I gulped down on air that hardly helped with my restricted lungs being squeezed to death.

"Cheater deserves to rot. Cheater deserves to die."

"AAGH!" I choked out, feeling my thighs being pierced as well. I shot my eyes around, looking for something, anything that could get me out of its unwavering grip.

I landed weak hits to its scaly body with my clenched fists, a pathetic, uneless attempt to break free. Despite the piercings all over my legs, I kicked with all my might and bent my knees to somehow loosen the tight hold wrapped around me.

I clenched my eyes shut, feeling it's body tighten even further, pressing impossibly harder into me. I might just be squished to death.

"Cheater must suffer a painful death—-

Two loud 'bang!'s resounded through the forest and reached my ears that rung eerily as blood rushed to my head incredibly fast from the squeezing.

However, soon enough, I felt it's body loosen around my frame, making me flutter my eyes open, feeling numb and worn out. I noticed the creature's eyes blink rapidly before it leisurely turned to direct its remaining eyes to my right, making me do the same, dreading whatever that must've caught its attention.

I gasped deeply as it's body loosened further. I gulped at the air my body previously had lack of space for.

"A Cheater... A glitch... must disappear..."

I heard it trail off and blinked, feeling my vision waver as another zap of electricity passed through me, making me whimper, having already exhausted my vocal chords.

"You rogue.... You lousy, despicable.... wretch."

I coughed, suddenly feeling the painful feeling of my abdomen being penetrated before I fluttered my eyes back open, trying to get my vision to focus before my eyes landed on a figure stretching both its hand out towards the creature.

Yoon...gi...?

I wondered unconsciously, blinking slowly as I noticed him point a gun towards the snake, his eyes wide with fear and anger.

Someone else was there, too...

I let out another whimper when I felt myself being pulled back down to the ground with the snake's body as it went limp.

"You...—

Bang!

Jungkook...

I breathed shallowly, still feeling restricted as I pushed myself out of its hold with great effort. The creature resounded another roar - it's head falling to the ground before lifting up again with clear difficulty, as if it's head carried way more weight than before.

Bang!

I coughed, groaning as I tasted metal in my mouth. That's not good...

The creature zapped electricity again, just barely missing my foot that slipped out from its circulating hold as I crawled out, trembling hands using up the last of its strength to drag my body out.

I plopped onto the ground, clutching at my abdomen as it struck me painfully. I've lost all the strength in my body, feeling extremely spent and worn out.

I slipped out another groan, feeling a hand shift my body towards itself. My eyes fluttered, meeting with Jimin and Jin's.

Did they all...-?

I huffed out a weak laugh, "Just in time." I rasped, voice dying down at the end.

"Diana, oh my god!" Jimin cried.

A loud thump resounded soon after another 'bang!'. I strained my eyes to see what happened, worry driving my body to move more before my gaze landed on the creature laying unconscious. I noticed two other figures rush towards it.

Tae and Joon....

I squinted my eyes, feeling my vision blur incredibly hard as one helped the other lift upwards. One of them grabbed something before they retreated back, moving this way.

"We've got to get back!" Jin exclaimed, his own hand placing over mine laying over my stomach.

I grunted, more tears slipping out as a strong wave of pain rushed over my physique.

"Diana, you fucking idiot!" I heard Jungkook lament as he and Yoongi came to settle beside everyone gathering around me. "Such warmth..." I mused despite my condition. Expectantly, no one responded to it, clearly not in the mood for dry humour.

My eyes trailed with not much focus as they went over everyone here.

"Hobi...?" I wheezed out, realising I couldn't see him here.

"I-I'm right here, sunflower." I heard him voice out, having stood a little behind Jin as he peered over at me.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, feeling my body being moved, making jolts of pain wash over my frame before I was elevated off of the ground.

My eyes just barely made out Jin's face as they grew heavy with fatigue. "You'll be okay, dear. You'll be just fine." He was carrying me up and soon after that, I felt us begin to move through the forest.

My eyes fluttered shut soon after, my hearing catching onto the others chattering as they talked about what they needed to do and about what will happen.

I felt my mind drift away before I succumbed into darkness.

_______________________________

Some of u have pointed out that the main lead is always the one getting hurt.

Well she's the main character, it's all about her and her journey with the boys. If it's not made obvious by now, she clearly despises even pondering over the possibility of anyone getting hurt. So it's only natural that her first point of action is to put danger far away from them. Deal with it :/

That out of the way, I hope this chapter was fun! 🥰💕
I finally included some more of my drawings, but don't expect them to appear frequently!🤭🤭

I'm sure you didn't expect the new creature to have that cyan color, right? I thought it would've looked pretty cool, so I just made it that, lol😙✨

See you next week! Love youuu🥰🥰😘❤️💕

~ Ada