Oda sighed, it had been far too long since he last had a cigarette but when he checked the pack that he carried with him at all times he found it empty. Just his luck, and Oda wasn't carrying enough money to buy a new one either. He leaned back against the park bench that he was sitting on, the small paved road in front of him cut the rather small park in two as it crossed, the sun was beginning to set which was something expected to happen this early in the day in November, its yellow and orange light illuminating the dozen or so people that he could see on the parks grassy field. He had not yet received an answer from the government in regards to whether he was getting into the rehabilitation program or not, in all honesty, it seemed like the most likely outcome at this point was that he was never going to get into it. But, he had to keep clinging onto his hope, for if he gave up now then all his previous efforts would have been wasted. Just as Oda was about to close his eyes and simply let the last few rays of sunlight soak against his skin, an unfamiliar voice called out from behind him. At first the blonde man did not believe that the greeting was directed at him, but when he turned around and recognized the woman that not so long ago had recognized him.

Evelina was leaning against one of the few trees within the otherwise barren park, the tree was just a few meters away from him and he wondered for how long she had been standing there without making her presence known. He sure did not remember anyone standing next to that tree when he first sat down at the bench a few minutes prior. Before he could get up from the bench, she had already walked over to him, moving swiftly, “Hey, how are you doing?”

Oda would put on a pained smile as he clearly gave a fake answer to her question “I’m doing fine… could use a cig about now though… ha.” Well, the second part might not have been faked, still Evelina saw through his act as something was clearly wrong with the young man. “Is there something wrong?” He would be quiet for a moment after she said that before answering. Yesterday he had visited the hospital to check on Alice, when he asked the receptionist about her he found out that the girl had disappeared from the hospital just a few hours ago, halfway through her psychological examination, although the police were still officially looking for her, given the state of things in Pandemonium it was very unlikely that they would bother to make an effort at finding a single woman.

Truth be told, Oda regretted helping Alice in the first place, the anxiety and angst that her constant charades had caused him was enough to blow away any good will that he previously harbored. Now he was just tired, the warm and fuzzy feeling that he once felt towards Alice was swept away and now replaced by a cynical coldness. He felt ashamed about his new feelings towards the girl but couldn’t help it, after all his kindness she still put herself in trouble at every possible moment, there really was no saving it. “Alice disappeared from the hospital yesterday, didn't leave a trace, didn't say a word to anyone.” He blurted out without thinking his words through. It took a moment for the look of shock to form on her face but when it did it became clear that Evelina was genuinely worried. “Do you have any idea where she could be?”

“Well, she sure as hell isn't at my apartment. Found her key right below the mail slot this morning.” He looked at Evelina, truth be told Oda was too tired to even attempt putting on a mask of worry, all that was showing was genuine exhaustion. “She ran off then…” The conclusion that she reached mere seconds later was spurred on by Evelinas seemingly infinite energy, the girl never having to exert herself to achieve anything having more than enough to spare for an extra project or two as a result. “We should look for her ourselves, the cops simply aren't reliable.”

Although Oda did agree with what she was saying he himself did not want to have any part in it, just wanting to leave this entire episode behind. “Y-Yeah.” Although she could hear in his voice that Oda wasn't particularly keen on searching for Alice she could not pass up the opportunity on getting an extra set of eyes out there, as such she decided to drag him along despite him clearly not having the energy for it. Just as Evelina was about to ask Oda what he was waiting for, he got up from the park bench and began moving in the opposite direction from her. “Let’s split up.” Still, that bright haired girl really had a way of making people invested in things, even the exhausted man who believed that he had lost all motivation to care about Alice found himself once again yearning for her well being.

Although Evelina was uncertain whether she had actually managed to inspire the taller man or not, she believed that the only thing she could do was to have hope in his good will. At the same time, Oda could feel guilt weigh down on his shoulders as he walked away from Evelina. He told himself that he was truly going to make an attempt to look for Alice but there was something nagging at his soul, something that made him believe that he would only make a half-hearted effort before heading home. Oda sighed, as soon as he left the park he could see an empty beer can on the ground, he hazily kicked it before accelerating his pace until he was almost jogging. After maybe half an hour of just moving through the city, Oda felt much better for some reason, he couldn't really put a finger on it but somehow he felt as if everything was going to turn out alright.

Alice looked across the dimly lit alleyway, the tanned girl that blocked the only exit had a mischievous grin on her face. "To believe that you would seek me out on your own, what a pleasant surprise!" Maru-Maru exclaimed without acknowledging the red stains that surrounded her mouth, just a few meters away from her laid what appeared to be the corpse of a cat which were painting the backstreets cement with a deep red hue. "Yeah… I just don't want to curse anyone else… so maybe being eaten is the best thing I could do." The dozens of people that had been killed because of Alice were imprinted in the back of her mind, even Oda and that old man, although they had survived, had been hurt because of her. But Alice was unable to carry the guilt anymore, her two previous attempts at taking her own life had been unsuccessful but as people said, third time's the charm.

The white haired girl quickly closed the distance between the two with a few quick steps, being close enough to practically smell Alice's fear as a result. "Good, good. Quite tender." A most unusual comment in regards to another human being for anyone other than a cannibal, but it was all too clear at this point that that was exactly what Maru-Maru was. With a single swift step she was able to position herself behind Alice, leaning closer to the black haired girl probably to get a better grasp on her smell. "Now I am quite gluttonous, normally I would swallow you on the spot if you were just anyone. But, you… you are special." She took a step backwards, giving the pale girl a greater chance of escaping if she started running this very instant. “The last time we met, I was pierced by something I couldn't eat. It was an interesting experience, I want another try.”

It took Alice a moment to understand what she was talking about, the black spear that had appeared between them. She had no idea how that phenomena was conjured, she could absolutely not recreate something like that even if she were to put all her might and mind into it, something that so blatantly broke the rules of reality was beyond any humans reach. “Go on, use that thing again, this time I will be prepared!” to think that she could get away with an easy death was far too selfish, Alice realized as Maru-Maru spoke again. She took a step backwards, away from the monstrous girl as she stuttered: “I… I can’t do it. Whatever happened back then… i-it wasn't my doing!” Stating what she felt must have been an obvious truth did not seem to affect the white-haired girl in the slightest, the best it amounted to was a somewhat irritated expression appearing on her face.

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“No… I am certain that thing had the same smell as you, whatever it was you caused it.” Her words had fallen on deaf ears, Maru-Maru seemed to believe that Alice was in fact the culprit. There was a slight delayed before she spoke again, seeing that the black-haired girl clearly had no intention on amusing her “Well if you don’t want to it is fine…” for a moment Alice thought that she had somehow managed to escape this ax-crazy person unharmed but all hope of that was soon shattered “... I’ll just have to beat it out of you.” Her blood froze cold, truth be told Alice had anticipated that something like this could happen, after all if you expected a psychopath to just kill you without any suffering from the goodness of their heart then you probably belonged in some kind of mental institution.

With a single slap across her face, Alice was sent to the ground in pain, it was not that the attack had carried much force, but the open palm had caused her so much pain that she could do little but sob like a child in response. Still, the pain was only able to pacify Alice for a moment as she quickly stood up and began running away from the monster, realizing just how foolish she had been.

But her efforts were wasted as Maru-Maru scaled the distance between herself and Alice in an instant by jumping towards a spot on the wall above her, that was not all, kicking it with superhuman might she propelled herself in such a way that she would block the exit of the alleyway and the pale girl. With a swift kick to the abdomen, Alice was sent flying back into the shadowy alley. When her back hit the cold ground she felt like she was going to vomit from the pain, although she managed to fight off that impulse. After a few seconds she had regained enough strength to slowly crawl backwards but it became apparent that her efforts amounted to nothing as Maru-Maru closed the distance between them and hunched down next to Alice. “Does it hurt?” the tanned-girl had a bright smile on her face as she asked that question, it was like regardless of how Alice responded her reaction would be entertaining. She was keeping surprisingly calm, gritting her teeth in pain as she slowly tried to move away from the monstrous girl, looking straight at her with hate in her eyes.

Upon seeing Alice's lack of response, it became clear that was the only outcome that could have displeased Maru-Maru. Swiftly, she broke one of her fingers, even the scream that Alice produced as a result echoed between the walls that surrounded them didn't manage to restore the tanned girl's mood. She stood up, towering above the now crying girl, "Come on, show me that thing already! Don’t you realize that it's just going to hurt more if you don't?” Alice could do little but let out a faint whimper in response, upon seeing that her efforts were going nowhere Maru-Maru would sigh in disappointment. “Well if you really can't give me that… thing then I guess it's time to end this. After all…” She paused for a moment and leaned in towards the crying girl, “...playing with your food is bad manners.” A cold shiver ran down Alice's spine as she heard those words. Although she had come here to die, the prospect of having her existence ended by someone as beastlike as this once again caused fear to curse through the girl's body as she regretted ever having tried to catch Maru-Maru’s attention in the first place.

Alice had been looking down at the ground up until now, for some reason she felt inclined to meet Maru-Maru’s gaze but as her eyes were raised the only thing that greeted her was an inhuman mouth that appeared more like an abyss than a realistic body part. But, just as Alice saw her life flashing before her eyes and thought that this was going to be the end, just as Maru-Maru was about to bring her all-devouring teeth down on another victim a loud voice rang out through the alley.

“Stop! I don’t know who you are, or what you want… but I won't allow you to hurt Alice!” The one who had managed to find her first was Evelina, the brightly haired girl had somehow ended up in the same alley where Maru-Maru and Alice were having their confrontation. Upon hearing this interruption the monstrous woman would quickly turn around as she used her left hand to snap her jaw back into its original position, causing her face to appear human once again as a mischievous smile appeared on it. "A friend of yours? Excellent, I was waiting for an appetizer.” Before Alice was able to shout something, probably along the lines of telling Evelina to run or Maru-Maru to spare her friend, another death being far too much for her conscious to handle, the monstrous girl had already eliminated most of the distance between herself and the new arrival. All that the bright-haired girl could do in response to such a superhuman display of speed was to reflexively put up her hand in front of her as a meager form of defense.

But, just as it seemed like Maru-Maru was about to use her superhuman might to tear Evelina apart with a single swift swoop, something unusual happened. It could only be described as the same type of unusual and paranormal phenomena that was the spear of darkness that had appeared more than a week prior. As the tanned arm approached Evelina, it was split in half as if cut by an invisible blade the process of which could be likened to someone approaching a sharp blade at high-speed and being unable to stop in time. The look of shock as her hand was cleaved in half that Maru-Maru carried was something that could only be described as a rare occurrence, but the circumstances needed to produce it in the first place had been even rarer. As crimson blood stained the two and the dirty ground beneath them the monster could be seen taking a couple of steps back, not knowing how to react to this situation. Letting out a fearful roar, the very force of which was enough to almost knock anyone in the vicinity over, she jumped up against a nearby wall with the same superhuman might as before before kicking it to propel herself higher and out of the alley. After a few moments, any trace of Maru-Maru was gone except for the newly splattered blood that was now decorating the ground.

Not knowing whether she would come storming back like a pouting child who has had their honor dirtied, Evelina was unable to do anything but stand still in anticipation. But after just a few moments the sight of Alice’s suffering was too much for her and she rushed over to help the wounded girl. The whimpering girl tried to sweep away a few tears with the hand that was still intact, “Why do you keep trying to save me? Don’t you get it? I’m cursed, fated to live a life in misery, if you get involved you will just get hurt and…” Before she could say another word Alice would be interrupted, the interruption was not one of disrespect but one of kindness, “You’re not cursed- You’re a magical girl!” As one would have expected, Evelina did not think before she chose her words, still she did not allow that to slow her down as she continued speaking “And I am the same.” Evelina could see how much Alice was hurting, both in a mental and physical sense so with a swift sweeping motion she embraced the black-haired girl. The sign of physical intimacy didn't do much, but it did something for the scarred soul.

He had only come upon this dark alley by accident but as Oda peered into the dark alleyway, what he saw dumbfounded him, he saw Evelina and Alice on the cold ground, hugging. But that was not what had him in awe, no if it was something that simple then Oda could simply have walked away and kept on living his life like he always had. What truly shook his worldview to the core was the strange shadows that crept up and down the walls that surrounded them. They seemed alive, almost like they could pop out from the flat surfaces that confined them at a moment's notice. Although he wanted to write it off as an illusion, a trick off the mind, when one of the black silhouettes slithered across his foot and caused a chilling sensation to creep up his body he instinctively knew that what he was perceiving was no illusion, it was an reality stranger than any dream he could come up with.