Double update because the first one was way too short. Although the normal update schedule for this will be every other week.

With a parting smile Flynn walked away from the bookstore and Estellise to his next destination - the hospital.

The moment he slid open those light doors, he was greeted with a familiar voice who always made things far too improper, despite their upbringings.

But every time Flynn brought it up, his friend dismissed it.

"Hello, Yuri."

"We're friends, come on, drop the formality." But they both knew that was nearly impossible for Flynn. His other best friend was given a nickname, and he refused to call her by that. It just felt improper, calling her by a nickname instead of her given name.

Flynn dropped his bag by the single chair in the room, moving closer to Yuri now that his body was free.

"How are you doing?"

"Y'know, dying."

There was silence that was eventually accompanied by a sigh of disbelief from Flynn and a sigh of frustration from Yuri.

"Yeah, I know I know, don't joke about dying."

"Well, it is a grave matter."

"Still, what do you expect me to do lying here? Not die? Might as well be mentally dying! But hey, at least I'm here all week, right? First time I get to ease your little mind now isn't it buddy?"

Flynn had to smile at that. At least someone retained their sense of humor after the incident, although Yuri would argue Flynn never had a sense of humor to begin with. But those rather rude jokes aside, he was glad to see his friend was alright.

"You're right, first time." He, really shouldn't have been joking about his friend being in the hospital, but it kept Yuri happy, so it kept Flynn happy.

Still, there was this lingering feeling in the back of his mind that Yuri really only joked to hide because he was always like that - sharp tongued in nature.

But then something reminded him that Yuri always spoke his mind.

"Don't you have homework to do? Don't want my grade A friend falling behind."

"Right, but how are your lessons going, Yuri? I can finish my homework soon enough."

At that, Yuri grunted. "Fine. Can't do anything, but I mean, I guess it's okay ."

"Need hel -"

"Go do your homework, jeez. Stop worrying about me."

Per his request, Flynn finally stopped fussing over Yuri and sat down at the chair his bags were near. He took out his homework, doing it with ease and little entertainment. Sometimes Yuri would say something, like a comment on his concentration, but those comments were few and far between.

Instead Yuri would look out the window, unable to do anything. And everytime Flynn looked up and caught him at the window he had to look away. He couldn't break that ice. Yuri could, but not even he dared joke about it. It was just too sensitive.

So sensitive Flynn wanted to do something about it.

When the sun started to set, Flynn took his leave.

"Try not to be too bored, Yuri," he said, getting a wink from Yuri in response.

"I'll try."

The next day at school Estellise came to him, her arms flailing and her speech unnaturally stuttered.

"What's wrong?" Flynn finally managed to say after her stuttering of multiple pronouns that he didn't have the context for.

"She -"

"Who's she?"

Her eyes shifted. "Rita, well, that's what she wants me to call her. But she told me something. I don't… I just, don't know what to think of it."

"Estellise, calm down," he tried to say. But the bell rang and cut off his words. Lunch was over; they had to return to their classroom.

On their way to class he caught a glance of Rita Mordio, who stared Estellise down with those harsh eyes of hers. Something in his mind told him he better do something.

And so he did.

Once the school day was over Flynn told Estellise to wait for him at the bookstore while he went to find Mordio.

She wasn't in the hallways, nor was she in any classrooms. The roof was his last bet, and, sure enough, she was there, standing on the ledge.

"Stop! That's dangerous!"

Mordio turned around, her eyes locking with Flynn's. Her stare was cold, very cold, something he knew Estellise couldn't handle.

"Oh look, it's Flynn Scifo. What do you want?"

Her tact was almost the same as Yuri's, so Flynn easily pushed it aside. He was used to rude, although he supposed the both of them weren't rude and were just being themselves. So he attended to the matter at hand. .

"What did you say to Estellise?"

She jumped off the ledge closer to Flynn.

"What does it matter to you?"

"You hurt my best friend."

"All I'm trying to do is to protect her from reality."

"But you can't possibly -"

Mordio stepped closer to Flynn and spoke. "She's in danger, she might die if we leave her be. And to be honest, I'm not so keen on leaving her with you. There's no telling what you can do to her."

"I will nothing. Estellise is my friend; I will not cause her any harm."

"You say that, but I still can't trust you." She walked past Flynn towards the door. "But if you really valued Estelle's sanity and life, you… wouldn't hang out so close to her," she said, nearly tearing up at that part.

She walked out the door and slammed it behind her, and he was very tempted to follow after her immediately. But instead he took a deep breath and counted to ten. Then he walked out, and Mordio was nowhere to be found.

There's no way I could cause Estellise pain

When he arrived at the bookstore, he saw Estellise squirming about. Flynn walked up to her, placing his hand gently on her shoulder, causing her to perk up before she realized the only person who could be doing this was Flynn.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard a voice, but I didn't know if I should go.."

"Want to go together?"

Estellise nodded, taking the lead. They ended up in the basement, much to the protest of the shop owner who was actually paying attention to them, and all they saw was the basement and a man in purple clothing.

A man in purple clothing and then papercraft dolls floating around, flaunting their clothing. They circled around Flynn and Estellise, chatting in gibberish, twirling around making sure their papercraft red dresses were being shown.

They were stuck, very much stuck in a gold color room, surrounded by dolls whose only concern was to trap whoever dared to enter.

But what about the man in purple?

Estellise was on her knees.

"Oh please, don't let us be stuck here!" she said, her voice wavering.

Seconds later Flynn heard the whizzing of an arrow, and his immediate response was to duck down to the level of Estellise. Moments after he looked up and all the papercraft dolls disappeared back into the walls.

"Sorry 'bout that," a man said. It could only be the man in purple.

"Thank you, sir," Flynn said, picking himself up. Estellise also picked herself up, and she bowed in response to what the man did

"No need for the formalities, and for the record, you can just call me Raven," he said, and gave the two of them a look down before finally sighing.

"School uniforms, darn it. I assume you guys wandered in here?"

"Yes, I heard a voice crying for help, and we came down here," Estellise said while Flynn looked him down. The man's - Raven's - outfit was different from what it was before. He was wearing a long dark purple coat before, but now his clothing was lighter and on the loosely fitting side, almost like he changed in here.

"Ah I see, well, there's nobody to help here. What you heard was a witch."

"A witch?" they both said in unison.

"First, names."

"Flynn Scifo."

"E-Estellise. But you can just call me Estelle."

"Cool, Flynn and Estelle. Well, little girl, there's no one here to care about."

"What do you mean?"

Raven sighed. "This person lost their humanity long ago. Now they're a threat to humanity. What you heard was their cry for help. No one wants to be a witch after all, y'know? But it's a little too late. They're already one, there's no turning back from that."

"That's terrible!" Estellise said, trembling. "But aren't they, isn't there…" She trailed off, falling to her knees once more.

"We're not giving up on anyone," Flynn said, standing in front of Estellise.

"Like I said, this ain't an 'anyone', it's a witch."

"What exactly is a witch?" Flynn asked, knowing that this was a question on both his and Esteliise's mind.

"Walk a bit further and I'll show you."

Flynn helped Estellise back up to her feet before Raven turned around and continued to walk. The two of them ran for about five seconds to catch up to him, for they didn't want to get stuck in this place.

They came up to a door that was papercraft as well, rendered painstakingly to appear as gold. Raven pulled the doorknob right off, and suddenly the door collapsed to pieces that instantly disappeared to reveal pure white. They stepped through it, transported into a vault of sorts filled with papercraft gold bars and fairies flying around, transporting those bars.

Estellise slowed down, and the group slowed to fit her pace. Raven had his bow ready in case the fairies came near them, for Flynn assumed they were dangerous. But he wasn't shooting, which could only be assumed was for Estellise's sake, for she was so adamant about not harming a soul in here.

Sadly though, as Flynn walked through the room, he figured whoever was calling for help was too far gone. He'd just have to prevent others from falling to the same fate as this one, although he couldn't help but say a prayer that whoever this was could rest peacefully once put out of their misery.

Which brought another question.

"Say, sir?"

"Like I said, call me Raven."

"Well, Raven," although, he had to say, calling him by his name felt weird, "How come you are fine with fighting these monsters?"

"Well, ya see..." He stopped for a bit before turning around to face the two of them. "I was saved from a near death incident and made a wish to live. I guess if that girlie really wants to save these witches, she could make a wish for it."

"You mean, I could save everyone with a wish?" Estellise said, removing her hand from Flynn's shoulder and stepping closer to Raven. "If I become the same as you, I could save these poor people?"

"Well, you'll have to fight, but yes."

"What do you mean by fight? Is it the same as what you're doing?" Flynn asked.

"Exactly. I fight witches to save people from getting hurt. That was the trade off for extending my life."

"Then I wish -" Estellise started before getting cut off by Raven.

"Hold it girlie. Think about it first; it involves a drastic change. You won't be the same ever again. You'll be forced to fight every day. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Estellise took a step back and Flynn looked towards her in confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Rita… she told me not to change my life for anyone if I value what I have now…"

"That's what Mordio told you?"

Raven's face went from neutral to disgust. "RIta, ey?"

"She transferred into our school yesterday." Flynn said for Estellise.

"Can't exactly imagine what a girl like her wants with your safety."

The two of them looked at him, their eyes just a little wider than normal. "What do you mean?" Flynn finally said, breaking the ice. He didn't know exactly what experience the two of them had with Mordio, but he did know his own., But she was a transfer student from a further part of Japan. There was no way Raven should know who she was.

"Well, we magical beings all work together, but she's… well she prefers to do things completely on her own. I heard stories about her, and let me tell you, they weren't the nicest."

So it wasn't just me , Flynn thought. But he thought of nothing more to say and Raven was already on his way, so the two of them continued forward, moving past the gold bars and shooting down any papercraft fairies that swooped down too close to them to eventually hit more doors, until they reached the door that lead to a room that was just a huge vault. Inside was a princess type figure, whose dress was far too large for their frail frame. Their long hair was spiked out, looking like spears that could come down and stab you. Their skin was cold, a bluish-grey that could only signify death.

This looked human, but Flynn knew there was no way this could be human.

"It must be in pain!" Estellise yelled, trying to run up to it, but both Flynn and Raven placed their hands on her, getting her to stay in place.

"Estelle, that's too dangerous for you to take on. That's a witch in its finest form. Now both of you stand back; I'll protect you."

Before Flynn could protest, Raven held out his bow and shot two arrows on either side of him. Flynn tried to run after him, but strings that looked like his bow string formed a knot in the middle, preventing Flynn from moving any further.

All the two of them could do was watch.

Like Flynn had presumed, its spiked black hair came forward and attempted to pierce through Raven's defenses. But somehow Raven managed to jump up and run on the presumably solid hair, shooting and ducking and changing lanes as the witch attempted to stab him multiple times over. Eventually the witch gave up with stabbing him with its hair and knocked him back by rocking back and forth. Flipping himself in the air, Raven landed on the bars of gold that were high enough to let him properly aim at the witch and for it to actually do something. But large papercraft tears were flying around, forcing him to jump around and aim in the air.

And the fact that he was wearing loose clothing did him no favors.

Somewhere between the tears and Raven attempting to aim, the witch tried again with its hair, immediately landing a perfect blow within his long flowy jacket. And then the tears…

For some reason, Flynn couldn't look away, even as Estellise shuddered away in fear and he was holding her. He just, watched as Raven spat out blood, his insides bleeding out… And yet, he raised his bow and still kept fighting. He was literally spewing out blood from his mouth and stomach, but Flynn kept watching. Kept watching as Raven shot multiple arrows repeatedly until the witch cowered in fear, disappearing into nothing, letting Raven go…

The Raven who should be dead…

But he calmly walked over to where the witch was and picked something up from the floor. The knot disappeared, the room disappeared, and they were in storage.

Immediately Estellise ran over to Raven, and Flynn followed suit.

"Are you okay? Should we call an ambulance? Flynn, call an ambulance!"

Flynn immediately got out his phone, shaking to dial the numbers, before Raven shot them down.

"No need, this body ain't human anymore." To go along with that, he picked up his shirt, and there wasn't a scar. There was a bloodstain, but he looked fine . He looked like he massacred the witch and it bled, instead of the other way around.

He looked fine.

And Estellise was crying.

"Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry, one thing I forgot to say about us, we ain't human. Not really, anyways." He picked up something that was chained around his neck. It was a little glowing purple gem in a gold container that was tainted black. "This? This is my life. If this breaks I'm dead." He touched a little black object to the gem, and it was restored to its natural purple state.

"So with that you can survive hits like that?" Flynn asked.

"Barely even felt it. Say, kids, I wouldn't want to force it upon you guys, but if you really feel like it, would you like to join me?"

"Yes if it wou - Flynn?"

Flynn shook his head, his arm in front of Estellise. "We'll think about it; thank you for your service, Raven."

"No problem kid, just doing my job."

Raven went his own way while the two of them went back upstairs to the bookstore, leaving behind the shop owner who was confused as to why he couldn't find them down there and scolded them for going down there in the first place.

The sky was setting; it was too late to go to Yuri, so instead Flynn walked Estellise home since their houses weren't a far distance apart.

"Flynn, why wouldn't you let me become a magical being there?"

"Because, I don't think I could let you succumb to such a fate. I understand you wanting to help Raven out, but…"

"I mean, it's the same as what Rita told me, right?"

"Well…" Well yes, he was taking away her free will. "Well think about it. I don't want you rushing into something you can't change. How about this, you tell me your answer in a month. I'm sure Raven can wait that long, right?"

"I think he can. Thanks, Flynn."

"No problem, Estellise."

"Where were you yesterday?"

Flynn sighed. He wasn't sure if he should tell Yuri what happened or not, so he decided to keep it vague.

"Sorry I was busy."

"The pink haired girl?"

Flynn felt the heat rise to his face. Knowing his eyes were going to betray him, he closed them. "No, Yuri. Get your mind out of the gutter."

He dropped his bag by the chair again, because that was practically a ritual at this point, and stood right in front of Yuri's bed.

"Say, Yuri?"

Yuri was looking out the window, the way he normally did, minus his hands propped up on his chin. "Spill it, I don't have all day."

"Well, say you were granted one wish -"

"Say no more. I got my wish."

Flynn smiled. "That simple?"

"I'm stuck in a hospital, of course it's that simple."

Right. "Of course, my mistake." With that Flynn moved over to the chair and sat down, taking out his work for the stay.

Ten minutes later Yuri posed a question. "Hey, where did that wish thing come from?"

"Oh, nowhere. You know me, always thinking."

"Right. Fair enough."

Once Flynn was done with his homework, he got up to leave.

"Just, don't do anything stupid," Yuri said as he walked out the door.

Flynn smiled at that. So he does care .

Once he closed the doors that lead to Yuri's room, he sighed and was met with a man who had shoulder length silver hair. Immediately, Flynn was taking back. No one else should be visiting Yuri - their parents were away.

But the man laughed and whispered something, something that made Flynn want to follow him.

"Let's talk on the roof," he said, and Flynn nodded. He didn't know if Yuri could hear him from outside, but he might as well.

Although, there was something telling him he shouldn't follow.

Regardless they walked up to the roof. The man sat on a bench while Flynn stood in front of him in case he needed to run away.

"There's no need to run, Flynn Scifo."

Flynn stepped back in surprise. "How… how did you know my name?"

"You have potential. As a servant of the society, it would be foolish of me not to know who you were. Especially when you are so close to serving us."

"What do you mean?"

"You ran into Raven, right?"

Flynn nodded. Oh so, was this the man that saved Raven's life? But he seemed so, human. How exactly could he have that power?

"Then you already know of my work. Marvelous, isn't it? So now my question is, do you wish to create a contract?"

"Is this where I get to make a wish?"

The man nodded. "You could wish for anything. Power, fame, fortune. You name it, I can grant it."

"But in exchange I'll have to fight for the rest of my life…"

The man stood up, towering over Flynn. "Think about it; it isn't a bad deal. You could live the life of luxury, and all you have to do is fight the occasional witch here and there. For that I would say it's a perfect life. But if you do not wish to choose now, simply call me out later. I can come out whenever you need me."

"No, I… I've made up my mind."

"So even knowing the consequences you've made up your mind?"

Flynn nodded.

"What is it that you wish for?"

"For my friend's injuries to heal and for him to get out of the hospital."

"How noble." But that tone sounded almost mocking.

Placing his hand on Flynn's chest, the man immediately begun to extract all the life away from Flynn. Flynn could feel it; his body felt like it was going through all of hell. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't do anything. He was at the mercy of this man in front of him, who was ripping his soul away from his body.

And soon he felt fine, and there was the same gem Raven had, only in blue.

"Take good care of it, we don't want you to die now, would we?" the man said before he vanished.

"Take good care of it," he mumbled back, clutching it in his hands. He had to find Raven. He had to find Raven and tell him he wasn't alone.

But most importantly, he couldn't let Estellise find out. If she did, then she would become one.

And Flynn didn't want that to happen. Even if that robbed her of her free will.