GUESS WHOS BACK GUYS! Haha, I've only been grounded since December, no big deal. Anywho, I decided to update this story, but at the same time, I had to tally up the polls first, and darn you all for being so indecisive about this! I'm gonna have to flip a coin, or roll a die or something. Anywho, from the results, most of you want Jaya (I'll still throw in a bit of bruiseshipping here and there because one of you wanted it, and so did I) and for those of you who wanted NyaxCole, THAT WAS NOT AN OPTION. PICK ONE OF THE TWO I GAVE YOU.

Ahem. My apologies.

Now, for the second one I literally had to look up an online die-rolling simulator because it was a three-way tie. And I had it set up that (a) was 1 and 2, (b) was 3 and 4, and (c) was 5 and 6, and it was a five. You all seemed to agree that Pyro and Cameron were NOT going to join the Sharpie Pact. Now, without further ado, onto the chapter.

Also, I just remembered that Kai isn't in the village anymore, and that I started off this chapter using him in the village, WHEN HE ISN'T EVEN THERE ANYMORE. Darn my memory.

(One Month Later)

Jay was shivering as he stood outside of his old cabin, wearing an old jacket that was too big for his body. Cole was inside, trying to settle a small dispute between Don and the new boy who had been assigned to Dylan shortly after Cole and Jay had moved out. Irvin was a small boy, yet, for some reason, he would simply sit and take it until Dylan would send for Cole or Ryan. Jay had never been a fan of the arguing, and would simply wait outside.

"Are you okay?"

Jay's eyes widened and he flinched, before looking over at Lloyd, who was standing on the steps.

"Sorry for scaring you," Lloyd said, sitting down. Jay shrugged, sitting next to him and rubbing his arms. "Cold?"

"Yeah," Jay admitted, switching to breathing onto his hands. "But I'm not a fan of all the yelling." Lloyd let out a small chuckle, flicking his gaze to the road in front of him. His green eyes were dull and tired.

"I don't blame you, sparky," the boy then pulled a small worn book out of his pocket, before opening it to a certain page and passing it to Jay. He looked over at the blonde, confused. "It's the journal we found before, remember? The one about Kyle?" Jay's blue eyes lit up, and he quickly grabbed the book from Lloyd's hands.

"What did you find?"

"Well, apparently Kyle was able to watch the process of wiping the memories from a person's head," Lloyd explained, pointing to the shaky scrawl that covered the page. "It's... pretty horrific." Jay turned his gaze away from Lloyd, and began to read over the process, and the description made his stomach turn. Then he noticed a diagram that Kyle had apparently drawn, and he actually had turned his head to the side and vomited. Now Jay was shaking for more reasons than one. He thrust the book back into Lloyd's hands.

"Please, keep that thing away from me," Jay said, hugging his knees as he sat on the steps next to Lloyd. The blonde nodded, standing up and kicking loose snow over the vomit. Jay wiped his mouth on his sleeve, clearing his throat. "I don't want to know what else is in this thing." Lloyd let out a dry laugh, shoving the book into his pocket.

"I don't blame you," Lloyd said, shuddering. Fine, white powder began to swirl down from the sky, sticking to Jay's rust-colored hair and the green wool hat that Lloyd had on. "Irvin doesn't even want to look at it, and he's so... quiet? Boring might be a better word. It's just been so strange since you and Cole moved into the main building. Don has more of a temper, especially since Irvin decided to be a Night Owl like Dylan."

"It's been weird for me, too," Jay admitted quietly.


The two boys sat outside until Cole was finished, simply talking about the past month.

"How's Nya, by the way?" Lloyd asked, tilting his head. "She has the Hybrid and her friend, right?"

"Yeah," Jay said, "and she's doing okay. Sure, they're both a handful, but other than that, they simply run off on their own in the village. So she usually just spends the days by herself."

"What about you?" Lloyd asked. "I thought she usually stayed with you." Jay looked off to the side, feeling his face heat up.

"W-well, uh..." he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I check up on her every once in a while-"

"It's every few hours, isn't it?"

"N-no! Well... yes."

Lloyd rolled his eyes at Jay's reaction, brushing some of the snow off of his sleeve. Then he sighed, folding his arms and resting his chin on his arms. Jay looked over at him, before tapping his shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something, but Lloyd cut him off first.

"Do you ever think about your parents?"

Jay looked curiously at the younger boy, unsure of how to answer.

"Well... yeah, but why wouldn't I?"

Lloyd sighed again.

"My... my parents aren't like most parents," Lloyd said. Jay had looked over at him, wanting to say something but letting Lloyd talk. "I don't remember my mom. When I was little, she dropped me off at some... foster home or whatever you wanna call it. And my dad- You won't tell anyone this, okay? It would pretty much ruin everything for me here."

"I promise, this'll stay between the two of us."

Lloyd nodded.

"Well, have- have you ever heard of the Underworld?"

"Of course! My parents used to tell me stories about it!"

"Well... my dad..." Lloyd let out a sigh. "When I was little, my dad was banished to the Underworld... Meaning that I never really got to hug him, because how can you hug a shadow with red eyes...?"

Jay blinked at him.

"I haven't seen him or even heard his voice since I got here... I miss him..." Lloyd screwed his eyes shut, hanging his head. Jay looked over at the eleven year old, not sure what to do. Hesitantly he wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and when Lloyd didn't flinch away, Jay hugged him. For a few minutes, they sat in silence, Jay quietly comforting the younger boy.

When the door of the cabin opened, Jay jumped back and Lloyd quickly rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Ready to go, Jay?" Cole asked, jumping down the steps. "I think everything is set here, and Ryan wanted us to go into town for... Oh! Somebody talked about seeing some kid sleeping on a bench."

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said, getting to his feet. "Can Lloyd come with us?"

"No... no, I'd like to stay here," Lloyd said, Jay being able to hear the slight shakiness in his voice. "Thanks for asking though." The younger boy smiled up at Jay. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, of course," Jay smiled at him, before getting on his bike and going after Cole.

Woo! Alrighty then, now this chapter is FINALLY done! I hope you guys enjoy because I have no idea when I'll be able to update again. ^-^' CameronNinjaDragons, signing off.