Lightly tapping against the stone staircase, the black haired girl would lift up her dress slightly as she walked to keep it from getting dirty. Violet soon reached the end of the staircase that she had just ascended and looked out at the view below her, the town of Pandemonium was stretching out before her eyes. Its electrical lights were completely drowned out by the midday sun as it bathed the rather gray and unassuming town in rays of light. The long haired woman would pout a little, in her childhood, architecture had been much more interesting but nowadays most houses amounted to little more than concrete boxes to host people. As she looked at the town below her she would concentrate on the blue river flowing right through it.

There were several bridges built over it to allow easy passage and it even passed through the town's park at one point. Adjusting her gaze she would look towards a pretty shabby and run down area in the west of the town. Apparently there had been some kind of explosion there yesterday but the police had little idea what its origin had been, some things never really change do they? Putting her hand down on the wooden railing as she felt a cool wind breeze, sweeping through these hills on the outskirts of Pandemonium, Violet would sigh a little. Reaching into one of her dresses many pockets, she would pull out a cellphone, Junsei had been the one to gift her with this technological wonder. When Violet grew up the ability to speak with anyone regardless of distance was considered magic.

Looking at the machine's display she could see that the clock was 12:20, more than an hour before she was going to meet with the man of her dreams. Sighing, she would once again look out at the town, thinking through her options for a few minutes. She could stay here and enjoy the impressive although rather dull sight or she could head into the town and explore it up close. She decided to head into the town after some thinking, her goal was to get to the park. Violet had always had a close connection to nature, so heading into the town the park seemed like the most natural spot to go. Heading down the stairs that she had climbed up not long ago, her dress once again lifted slightly to avoid getting dirtied. She was quite a bit away from the town which meant that going there would take quite some time. As she walked she would look up at the sky, trying to count to clouds to somehow pass the time. After a while she could feel herself bumping into someone, looking back down she saw an older businessman with an irritated look on his face who quickly hurried past her. As he quickly walked away from Violet, he would let out a snide remark about kids these days or something similar to that before hurrying off to whatever important thing he had to do.

Not being able to compose herself quickly enough to give a response after that incident the black haired woman would walk away in the other direction while coming up with some witty response to what he had just said, a response she was never going to get the opportunity to use. After a while her anger about the incident faded and she was able to see it from a more self critical perspective. She probably shouldn’t have starred in the sky like that while walking. After thinking through it some more, Violet would feel a bit of shame as she realized the entire incident had basically been her fault. But she still could not get over just how judgmental that strangers look had been as he looked down on her. Junsei wasn’t like that, not at all, he didn’t look down on anybody, he was the kind of man who would treat anyone with love and affection. That was the belief Violet earnestly held and her passion for the man was as great as ever before. With swifter movements than before, Violet made her way through the city until she was eventually at the park that she had seen from afar before. Looking at her cell phone again she would see that less than half an hour had passed, her rather quick walking speed surprised even Violet herself. She had never been a physically inclined girl so to say.

Now at the entrance of the park, she would scout the area as she entered it. Looking around, she saw a few families playing with their children in the cool weather. They were all dressed appropriately in different forms of coats and jackets, with Violet being the only one who stood out in her black and purple dress in the cold weather. She had gotten used to cold long ago, but standing out was something that still embarrassed the apparently young woman. Despite that, she had decided to wear the old-fashioned dress anyway because she wanted to impress Junsei. Keeping her eyes lowered, she would think back on her childhood as she walked through the park. Despite having the appearance of a young woman, Violet was actually well over a hundred years old. She had grown up in the eighteenth century to a family of wealthy nobles who were very overprotective of their young daughter. Not being allowed far from the mansion's walls, she spent a lot of her younger years inside the mansion's walled garden. In there she learnt a lot about different types of plants and flowers, from that knowledge she could discern at a glance that the bush she was walking next to that was flourishing with various flowers was a lilac bed. Letting it brush against her pale hand she could feel its cold branches touching her skin.

Despite being content with her life growing up, Violet could not help but fantasize about the outside world, so to sate her curiosity she read books. Her fathers study was the place where one could expect to find her at any time that she was not sleeping or in the garden, and through her years she ended up reading hundreds upon hundreds of books.

As she continued to walk through the park a cold breeze would grace her skin for a moment and she gained goosebumps. Suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind of a fateful day, it was the day Violet's parents had disappeared without a trace. One day when she woke up they were simply gone, no note, not anything and to make it even worse all three servants that had worked and lived in the mansion were gone as well. Not knowing what to do in this situation the young woman had chosen to do the only thing she knew, to stay walled off in her garden. Living from the fruits of the plants that she had grown so accustomed to, Violet soon realized they were not any ordinary plants for their harvests were always way more plentiful than what should have been expected. The woman would spend god knows how many years in that green prison. But she did not want to go outside, scared of what kind of dangers and horrors the outside world might have held.

What Violet does not know is the truth about her parents disappearance, for on the night on that fateful day a pair of burglars had snuck into the mansion. While they had no intentions of hurting anyone, it turned out that reality wasn’t always that convenient when they were discovered by her father and mother who had been awake even at that late hour. Not wanting to get caught and receive the punishment for their crime, the duo of burglars slaughtered her parents in cold blood. The commotion they caused shook the mansions maids awake who themselves were soon killed as they encountered the intruders. Shambling to get away from the mess they had created, the two villains tried to escape through the mansion’s garden, where Violet happened to be sleeping. They could not go far, however, as the plants awakened to life almost as if they were trying to protect the sleeping woman. With immense might, they crushed the two intruders mercilessly before burrowing them deep underground. Not long afterwards, the plants would reach through the mansion and drag the other bodies inside the earth as well, perfectly hiding any trace of what had happened that night from the innocent girl.

With each passing year after that, the plants surrounding the mansion grew larger and more viscous, eventually it reached the point where approaching the place was considered an impossibility and it became a common tale in the area's local folklore. All while Violet was trapped in a prison of her own making, reading book after book from her parents enormous library. As the days turned into weeks and then years, the woman would have explored the place inside out time and time again, yet she never did amass the courage to step outside its confines for her parents had always taught her that the outside world was a dangerous place, a place best left untouched.

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That was until one day, a certain person came to break her out. The wanderer from Japan had heard tales and stories about the haunted place and wanted to visit it himself. The ferocious plants whose durability and thorns would be enough to ward off any other adventurers proved little more than a nuisance to the man and his companion in black armor who easily made their way to the mansion. On that day when the strange man first entered the mansion Violet was enjoying the warm summer weather in her all so precious garden. She could still remember that day in vivid detail, she had been reading a book while lying on the warm grass when she suddenly heard a strange noise from the other side of the wall.

Junsei, not caring much for the courtesy of doors, had simply broken down the brick wall that surrounded the garden. Violet immediately turned her head towards the loud noise that had just grabbed her attention and as she did, she would see the first other human being in a very long time. But it wasn’t just anyone she saw, for his appearance was like that of an angel born on the earth, with golden blonde like the sun hair and pale white skin like the moon she was not sure whether she was dreaming or not at that moment. His deep gaze met hers and all it took was a second for Violet to fall in love with the mysterious stranger. It was love at first sight, the closest thing the black haired woman could compare the man to was the heroes of countless stories she had read about knights and kings. From that day, she had traveled the world with Junsei and although she hadn’t had the courage to make their relationship official, given just how nice she was to her Violet was certain that the blonde man saw her as his.

“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Hearing a silk smooth voice she knew all so well Violet would turn around and what greeted her was the visage of the most beautiful man she knew. Letting out a slight giggle without actually intending to do so, she would quickly recover from the surprise. “Me neither.” This wasn’t the location they had agreed to meet at, it was actually being around a kilometer to the east at a small cafe that she had enjoyed visiting during her stay in the city. Violet usually made sure to turn up earlier than agreed when meeting with Junsei, being scared of making him wait. It seemed that he had caught onto this and started going earlier to their meetings as well as to not make her wait. But this was unusual even for Junsei’s kindness. “Since we’re both here, what do you think about heading out a bit earlier. I have some important business that needs to be attended to.” They had agreed to head out for a walk in the nearby forest after meeting at the cafe, but apparently something came up which caused him to want to get this over with as soon as possible. Despite being a bit hurt by what she had heard, Violet would nod her head, she was understanding after all. She knew that her love interest had a very important mission that needed his attention, but Violet disliked just how much time it had taken from the two of them. Their time on this earth was limited after all, and she knew that she would regret not spending as much as possible of it with Junsei.

The two began to walk through the town of Pandemonium in silence, heading towards the nearby forest. Their unusual appearances, Violet with her purple gothic dress and Junsei with his white and golden suit caused the people to throw wary glances in their direction but no one wanted to confront them directly and ask them about their strange apparel. As they walked through the city the amount of people they met were fewer than normal, indeed, after the strange and unexplained murders that had been plaguing the town, topped by the sudden explosion near an apartment complex at the outskirts of the town, those who had the means were fleeing the city while those who were poor had little choice but to stay behind and hope for the best. All the while the government was ensuring that they had the situation under control and everything would be resolved with time, although people knew that wasn't the case.

Eventually they started heading out from the town and into the nearby forest, the winter sun was high in the sky, illuminating the barren trees and bushes as they walked, it being far too cold for anything green to grow. Giving a quick glance at the man beside her, Violet decided that she wanted to give him a gift of her own and what better present to give someone you were in love with than a red rose. Not long after she thought that the black haired woman would spot a dead bush of wild roses near the path as they walked in silence. “Wait.” She let out meekly, almost immediately after she said that Junsei would turn around to look at her with a puzzled expression, not sure what she had in mind. Her intentions became apparent soon, however, as she extended a hand towards the dead bush and like a spell, it started to come back to life. The dead and dry branches quickly regained vigor and color as colorful red petals came to life one after another, after a mere few seconds the bush had not only been revived but grown to the point where she wouldn’t have to stretch her arm to reach out and grasp one of its beautiful flowers.

Not having any particular expression on his face as he watched her, Junsei would stand about two meters away from the woman as he saw her bring the rose she had just plucked up to her nose to smell it. She would then stretch out the arm she held the flower in towards him not saying a word. Not saying anything either, the blonde man would take it and smell it himself, a slight smile appearing on his face as he did. “It’s quite beautiful, just like you.” Putting the rose red flower in his breast pocket, it would stand out against the white and gold background that was the man. Realizing that her choice of gift didn’t match Junseis' style, Violet would feel a slight fluster across her face as she thought about how stupid that choice had been. But any such thoughts were swept away as the blonde man suddenly grabbed her hand and with a playful tone said; “Let’s go.” Moving faster than before, the two walked through the dead forest. Not having anticipated such a brash move from the man she loved, Violet could not muster the courage to say anything as her cheeks were visibly becoming red. After a minute or so, the two came to a small clearing where the path they had walked seemingly ended. Looking at the beautiful sky above her, a smile would appear on Violet's face. “Could you wait here for just a moment?” Junsei’s soft voice caused her to turn to face him, his hand slowly slipping out of hers.

Although Violet did not like being separated from Junsei, given the situation he was most likely going to surprise her in some way. Nodding slightly as she looked at him, Junsei would take that as an ‘yes’ and turn around before beginning to walk away from the woman. Looking in his general direction as he walked away from her, Violet would close her eyes in anticipation for the incoming surprise. Just as he was about to exit the clearing the blonde turned around and took one last look at the woman who had her eyes shut in anticipation, and behind her, he saw the monstrous girl who slowly but steadily made her way into the clearing with drool coming from her mouth. For a moment, he almost felt sorry for the innocent girl, but any such thoughts were immediately swept away by the blonde man as he turned around after seeing Violet for one last time.

Picking her teeth clean as she walked, Maru-Maru would stop a few meters from Junsei. “Thanks for the meal.” She looked at him for a moment, with the man not saying anything the white haired girl would keep speaking. “To get rid of her this early, were you perhaps sparing her from the coming death and pain?” She spoke with a genuinely confused voice, like she knew that was something people would do but she didn’t have the slightest idea of why they did it. He would visibly scoff upon hearing that. "Of course not, she was just getting annoying so I figured now was an opportune moment for getting rid of her. Since, you know, the wheel of doom has started spinning. “ Giving her a glance, Junsei did not look at the woman like she was a human being, from that one look it was clear that he saw more as a wild animal or a beast rather than a rational being. Despite that, Maru-Maru did not seem offended in the slightest. She would simply shrug and keep walking. “I feel stronger now, I might give that pesky Alice another shot.” She said, one could almost see the bloodlust emanating from her skin as she said the name, although it was uncertain if she was speaking about just Alice or if she was thinking about Evelina as well. Waiting until Maru-Maru had disappeared, the blonde man took out the red rose from his pocket and twirled it between his thumb and index finger.

He looked down at the flower, not sure about what he should be feeling. It had been the last thing he’d receive from Violet before she had been killed, so perhaps keeping it as memoria was the right thing to do? No, doing that would admit that he had had feelings for her, something that simply wasn’t true. He felt angry, why had even thought about doing something that stupid? “Hmph.” Throwing the flower behind himself, Junsei would walk in the same direction that Maru-Maru went, back towards Pandemonium.