joy.

A cold afternoon darkness shadowed the alleyway. The sunlight loomed above the ceilings, not wanting to come close to the snowy ground.

Evangelique exhaled then inhaled, wheezing. The man was fast, and because of her heavy metal legs and her heeled boots, she was at a disadvantage.

Why did she think running after the man was a good idea?

Did she even think at all?

As she ran farther, she saw a dead end come close to both her and the man. The man turned to face Eva and took out a knife from his left pocket.

He lunged towards her in hopes to fatally wound her, but instead, missed. Eva tripped to the ground, landing on her bottom. The man violently grabbed her long, maroon hair tightly and pulled her upward.

“Who sent you?!” raged the man. “Do you want to die?!”

Rather than being composed, he was quite frantic. Eva felt foolish for following after the man with no help, no weapons, and no plan. Nonetheless, something within her heart urged her to pursue him.

“Answer me!!” scowled the man, pulling her more. She winced at the pain coming from her head. If he pulled tighter, she was sure he could rip out her hair.

“I-I...” stuttered Eva. She opened her eyes slightly and looked at her hands. They carried the markings of the Hamadryad once more.

Evangelique grinned involuntarily, and her irises turned a concerning shade of Byzantium violet.

“No one sent me,” she replied, smiling sincerely. “I came by my own choice.”

The man’s grip loosened due to the confusion he faced.

“What do you mea-”

His voice was cut off by a sudden attack that was not from another mortal, but rather, a plant. Saturated cerise Rhododendrons grew from his mouth, spilling to the snow. He gagged and gasped for breath.

Eva stood up from the ground and brushed snow off of her coat. Her eyes glowed with a violet flame in them.

“How about you tell me why you set the tavern on fire?” asked Eva sharply.

The man looked at her with wide and bloodshot eyes. Tears of searing pain welled up. They glared at her, telling her his silence remained.

“If you do, I will tell the flowers to go away.”

The man continued to stare at her defiantly. More rhododendrons began to grow, but this time, from his ears.

A muffled scream came from his throat.

“Next they’ll be coming out of your eyes,” warned Evangelique.

The more and more the flowers grew, the less and less she seemed to be human.

“Thank you, Miss Evangelique...I’ll take it from here.” spoke a soft voice.

Eva’s once glowing eyes turned back to its original blue. She turned around to see Tsubaki standing with his sword in his hand.

“O-Oh, it’s you!” exclaimed Eva in an innocent tone.

“I think you might want to let him go...” replied Tsubaki, pointing to the man. The flowers had stopped growing, but he was struggling to continue breathing.

“Oh my goodness, what did I do?!” shrieked Eva in panic. She waved her hands frantically as the flowers disintegrated.

“You’re a halfling, correct?” asked Tsubaki.

“Yes,” replied Eva. “But--”

“Hey!” croaked the man.

Eva and Tsubaki looked at him. He pointed a pistol at the both of them. His dirty hands shook with his whole body as she tried to stand up straight.

“Y-You won’t take me alive!” proclaimed the man.

“Yes we will,” replied Tsubaki, deadpan.

“No, you won’t,” said another man with a deep voice.

Evangelique and Tsubaki turned to see a tall and burly man with a bald head and well-grown beard stood with five other men, all well built and intimidating.

The two looked closer to see the man held another person by the back of his garments, right at the nape.

A man, who was none other than the nervous yet smiling Ago Nagisa.