"How much more walking are we expected to do!?" Maisie complained. Her feet were sore, and she could feel them swelling up. The group had been given a map by the old man to lead them to the river, where the nanushi's daughter's remains were. They trekked through the bamboo forest, where the sound of streaming water reached Maisie's ears. She pushed past Hide, Lyon, Kalthona, and Bonney and walked in front of them, effectively leading them to the river. Once the group reached the body of water, they sighed, feeling the small energy they had effectively drained.

"The river is too deep to do any real searching." Hide spoke, placing a finger and thumb under his cheek as he inspected the flowing water. "It's conveniently the deepest river I've ever seen." He added.

"Same here." The group replied in unison. Maisie looked at the river for another minute before leaving the group and grabbing her spell book out of her bag.

"I'm going to learn something to help with water." She told them as she sat down by the dark-leafed tree.

"I'll begin searching for the body using my mana vision. It could take me a while, though." Bonney stated. The crimson-haired woman then removed the blindfolds from her eyes, revealing pearly white orbs with gold triangle pupils with a cross underneath. A third eye on her forehead appeared with the same sort of pupil. All three eyes began glowing, and Bonney started scanning the depths of the river. She picked up the mana that belonged to a plethora of freshwater creatures. However, when she began to scan deeper into the river, her stomach began to turn. Maisie, on the other hand, had completed her research and closed her book. The elf then slowly stood and waltzed up to the rest of the group.

"You done?" Kalthona asked, slinging her arm across the pale girl's shoulders.

"Yeah. I'm ready when you are, Bonney."

"You're not going to like what I've been exposed to." The crimson-haired woman said her usually calm voice was shaking. The group were worried too, and without waiting much further, Maisie began casting her spell. She placed her arms out to the side and took a deep breath. The area around them became windy as the elf and the river began to glow. Maisie then brought her arms slowly upwards, and the water followed along, moving upward. Finally, Maisie brought her arms to the side rapidly, splitting the river in half and giving a clear vision of the river bed. Bonney was right. What lay below the river was truly horrifying.

Bodies upon bodies lay there, decomposing until there were nothing but skeletons and their torn kimonos left.

"They're all women. Hell, they're all young girls." Bonney said, her voice wavering again. The group stared at the ground in horror. Not even in the war had Maisie witnessed this amount of bodies carelessly thrown somewhere. However, for Lyon, the pile of corpses reminded them of the great defeat he and the Crusaders faced.

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"I don't think all these girls were relatives of the Nanushi," Maisie commented. "There's at least over a hundred bodies." She added. A shiver ran down Kalthona's spine.

"Something about this place is not right." She said this, hugging herself.

Snap

Hide drew a dagger from his pocket and cut his palm, creating a sword with the running blood. He then stopped the oncoming attack, pushing the assailant back. The rest of the group's guard rose, preparing their defence. Maisie kept the river split apart and turned her head back, looking at the all-black-dressed woman standing there. Hide's eyes widened when he recognised the attacker. The same went for the assailant.

"Tsubaki/Hide!" They exclaimed in unison. Maisie looked at the crimson-eyed man and then at the crimson-eyed woman. She did this five more times, finding more similarities between the two. Kalthona squealed when she recognised Tsubaki. The axe-wielder ran up to the woman and hugged her. Tsubaki was more than happy to reciprocate the action and even laughed warmly as the two girls spun around. They pulled away from each other, and then Hide walked up to the swordsman and hugged her tightly.

"Who is she?" Maisie whispered towards Bonney. The voodoo mage whispered back.

"Hide's older sister." The elf nodded, their similarities making even more sense, and then her eyes widened.

"Wait, older sister!?" Bonney laughed at this.

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Tsubaki took a step back, and her eyes landed on Maisie, who waved at her. She did the same with a soft smile on her face before focusing her attention on her younger brother.

"My guild sent me out to investigate our members' disappearance." She said. "They had sent letters of their arrival in the village, but radio silence followed suit."

"Have you made any progress?" Kalthona asked. Tsubaki shook her head as she placed her katana back in its sheath. After a while, the elf dispelled the spell. Maisie, Lyon, and Bonney then joined them, encircling the swordsman.

"No, I haven't made progress. I'm fairly certain they came here; I got confirmation of that." Tsubaki stated, looking off to the side, where Mina hid behind the bushes. "You can come out, you know!" The swordsman then yelled. The brunette timidly sidestepped from the bushes and then walked slowly towards the group.

"Hello." She grinned as she latched onto Tsubaki's sleeve, hiding behind her. The group all waved as they stood there awkwardly. Everyone except Hide and Kalthona began closing in on the girl and inspecting her, making Mina highly uncomfortable. Tsubaki was quick to swat them away before speaking up again.

"Why are you here?" She asked. Maisie was the one to speak this time.

"We're stopping here to rest." Tsubaki nodded her head.

"You're on a job, I'm guessing." The group nodded.

"We're on our way to Milhania," Kalthona added. Tsubaki's eyes widened.

"Why on earth would you go somewhere so far!?"

"The crowned prince!" The Sabre Soul group replied simultaneously.

"Anyways," Hide began. "Old man Seikichi told us that Nanushi's daughter cursed this place during her execution. That's apparently the reason for strange things happening here." He added. Mina's eyes widened at the mention of Seikichi's name, and she hid further behind Tsubaki. This reaction wasn't lost on the swordsman, nor was it lost on the white-haired elf.

"Is there something wrong?" Maisie asked softly. Mina bit her lip, averting her gaze. She was biting back her words, not really sure if she should speak up or not. Tsubaki urged her to speak, and after a while, Mina cracked.

"Seikichi is the nanushi and has been for twenty years now."