joy.

“Augustine, please rethink this!!” begged Yasha. She, Cyril, and Althia walked quickly behind him, barely able to keep up with him.

“Why, what’s so wrong for about me following them?” asked Augustine aggravated.

“Because what they are doing is their business!” shouted Yasha. “We’ll only get in the way!”

“He’s a fool for becoming a Lieutenant,” muttered Augustine. “And now, she’s been dragged into this--”

“Look, there they are!” exclaimed Althia, pointing straight ahead. Augustine began to make his way towards them.

“Ago!” he yelled. Ago turned with widened eyes of cold anger.

“Please, Brother August, don’t--” started Ago icily. He turned his gaze to Eva.

The sight she beheld was frightening to her faint heart. Blood splashed into the shadows dancing within the snow. A swinging performance of a jagged blade and piercing claws traced over the winter bed of white.

A man with a poisonous grin and a jagged dagger fought recklessly with a feral, fur-covered beast with sharp, gore-splattered fangs. It swiped it’s large, sanguine-soaked claws at the man, but failed to make a hit each time.

It used it’s long and mangled tail to try and trip up the man but missed each opportunity. Blood oozed from the beast’s fox-like face, his greying eyes mirroring his pain.

“Tsubaki...” she breathed, shakily. She began to walk closer to him until Augustine gripped her arm.

“He’s hurt!!” she screamed, looking at him in the eyes with frustration. “I need to stop him!!”

“If you do that, you could get hurt...” replied Augustine. “You don’t have any way to protect yourself!”

“I’m Half-Hamadryad, I’ll find a way to protect myself!” she retorted.

“What, by growing flowers for him?!”

A rosy rush or distress and aggravation colored her cheeks as she grimaced. She turned away from him and faced the direction where chaos ensued.

Augustine’s eyes softened, abandoning its rancor and embracing entreaty.

“Please, Miss Eva...” he began.

“He’s just like me,” stated Eva, her words unwavering. Only tinges of grief stained her words, amplifying her empathy. “He’s lost like I was when I was a child. He’s afraid to die, but he feels as if he’s a burden to others. He’s all alone in this world, without a single person to call his friend. But I said I wanted to be his friend. He said he wanted to be my friend, too...”

Her fists tightened, and she stood up tall, turning her head slightly to glare boldly at Augustine.

“I’m going to stay by his side...that is my choice!!” she declared. Thereafter, she ran towards Tsubaki.

Augustine’s shoulders dropped as he watched her go. The unsettling echoes of a young girl’s laughter played in the back of his mind, tempting him to stray from the scene at hand.

Heavy-hearted, Ago watched Evangelique run. He could not go after her as he did before, for he knew each Lieutenant had a test of bravery--and it was her time to face her trial.

“Tsubaki, stop!!” shouted Evangelique, despairingly.

“Ah, so a new opponent has come to play...” called the man with a toothy grin.

Evangelique grabbed hold of Tsubaki’s left arm. It took both of her arms to wrap around it to get a grip. As a beast, he wasn’t as thin and was close to fifteen feet tall. Apprehension and becalming Tsubaki in his untamed, choleric state was no task easily fulfilled.

Nonetheless, she remained steadfast and headstrong, despite the wild agita that pressed into her heartbeats.

“Please, Tsubaki, you’ll kill yourself if you keep fighting like this!!” cried Evangelique.

“That’s cute, girly,” chimed the man. “But I’m afraid he’s gonna die, whether you like it or not. The old hag betrayed him, after all.”

Tsubaki growled ferociously. He lunged towards the man, knocking him down. Losing grip of Tsubaki, Eva fell into the snow a few inches away.

“She kept crying over how much she didn’t want to curse you to die, yet she did it anyway,” hissed the man as he spat out blood. “True family, ain’t it?!”

Tsubaki took his jaws to the man’s left arm, ripping it from its socket. The man’s bloodshot pupils dialated as howled in agony.

“Hahahahaaaa...that’s just lovely...” he spewed vulgarly. He stabbed Tsubaki with his dagger, piercing through his left arm. The let the blade slide upward, slicing up to the shoulder.

Tsubaki howled as he staggered away from the man. Evangelique picked herself up from the snow, struggling to move quickly. Her right leg had become loose due to the pressure of her fall into the snow. The metal screws clattered against the squeaking prosthetic, and her leg shook precariously.

Using her Hamadryad abilities, Eva grew vines around the man, securing him where he was. The force of the plant’s growth knocked her down, and the metal covering and minute cogs and gears of her right leg fell apart.

Snow piled up her nostrils and entered her mouth, causing her to gag.

“What happened to you, sweetheart?” cooed the man in a mocking tone. “Did your disability get in your way again?”

Evangelique shot his eyes at him, stunned by his remark.

“Yes, that’s right dear, I know all about you as well,” he stated slyly. His index finger danced on his full lips, allowing them to curl into a malicious smile. “You’re just a throwaway, just like this wretched creature you wish to save. Your mother had a brutal death, didn’t she? And Daddy Dearest couldn’t bear the sight of you after that tragic incident, so he abandoned you.”

“How in the--” gasped Eva.

“It’s a gift from my master, Miss De’Sejour...” he jested. “Or should I call by that other name you keep so well hidden?”

Evangelique’s stomach churned, and her blood boiled over with rage. Rose thorns grew from the vines around his body as her eyes turned to lavender.

The man giggled at the excruciating penetrating of his flesh. Evangelique crawled on her stomach, gripping onto the ground under the snow as she moved.

“Who sent you?!” shouted Eva; vexed by his remarks.

“What a self-righteous tone you have...” informed the man playfully. “You Lieutenants allowed the genocide of my compatriots, and have the right to think I’m the villain?”

“What...?” breathed Evangelique, eyes widened and taken aback.

“I’m the victim here, sweetheart,” he spat in antipathy. “It’s you Lieutenants and Clan Leaders who are the real villains...all I was doin’ was givin’ this damned world some service by killin’ you all!”

“Answer me!!” shouted Eva; livid and confounded. The detestation within the man’s words held signs of irredeemable guilt and heartbreak, a type of mourning that could only drive one to bloodlust and revenge.

The man began to laugh slowly; alerting Evangelique. His cackling became more audible within the snowy night. Tears formed in his eyes as his lungs pushed out his deplorable laughter.

“Exaithalos...welcomes you to hell...” hissed the man. A pure, white foam spilled from his mouth as his eyes widened with death.

Evangelique staggered away from the man, horrified by his actions.

His breath had disappeared into the ghostly cold, leaving behind the traces of vengeful despair he once kept contained in his cardiac clock.