Maria walked into a room with several tables with covered bodies on them. "Mistress, where….?" She trailed off as she searched for Aya. She heard the sound of a waiting chainsaw behind her and turned to see the doctor walking in. "Where did Aya go?" He asked.

Maria nodded her head. "I apologize… I lost sight of her."

"What?" The doctor said, becoming angry and beginning to advance on his assistant.

Maria backed away slowly. "I-I'm terribly sorry! I-I am certain that she could not be far… let us search elsewhere-"

"You useless!" The doctor lifted his chainsaw and swung at Maria, cutting open her torso and arm, then running past her and cutting through the door that wouldn't open for Aya, calling out for his daughter.

Aya sat up and uncovered herself and gasped when she saw the state Maria was in. She rushed over to hear Maria groaning. She kneeled besides her and hugged her. "Maria… what do I do?... so much blood…" She stood up and looked around. "Maybe something in here I could use?" Aya spotted some bandages on a nearby shelf lined with medicines.

Aya picked it up. " A bandage…" She looked over at Maria. "Well, I can't wrap this around your clothes… life your skirt a little, Maria." Maria did as she was told and lifted her skirt as much as her body could handle her to do.

Aya wrapped the bandages around her waist and lower torso. "This should stop the blood."

Tears began to streak down Maria's face. "Mistress… thank you for caring for me."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Aya smiled.

"… I should be most loathsome in your eyes…" Maria stated and looked away.

"You shouldn't say that…" Aya said comfortingly.

"No, it's true. I've known how you've felt, Mistress. I took away your most beloved. Of course you would hate me…" Maria looked down at her dressed wounds. "But you are very kind to show me such compassion…"

Aya looked down at the floor before standing up and holding out a hand to Maria. "Maria, can you stand?"

Her father's assistant looked up. "Mistress?"

"Let's get out of here together."

"…But… Mistr-"

"We're both the same, Maria. I can't live without father's love… but if father doesn't want us…" Aya paused before continuing. "We've been abandoned. We have to live without him now. Even though you and I can't live alone… even so! We'll help each other to keep living even if father's gone!"

Maria stayed silent for a few moments before taking Aya's hand and standing up. "I shall accompany you."

Aya smiled, but Maria collapsed, making Aya rush to support her with her shoulder. "Oof… thank you, Mistress…" And the pair walked back through hallway until they both heard Aya's father's voice calling for Aya.

"…Father…" Aya said.

"Mistress, you must hurry!" Maria said, which beckoned both of them to begin walking faster, but then, Maria fell.

"Maria!" Aya gasped as she was rushing over to pull her up.

"Mistress… forget about me. Escape! Please…" Maria said.

Aya was taken aback. "No… we're leaving together!"

Maria's expression showed pain as she said, "I can go no further… you must escape alone, Mistress."

"…N-No, I couldn't…" Aya said.

"It is fine." Maria said. "I shall not leave you alone. I will follow behind for sure. Believe me, please…" She pleaded.

Aya stood there for a moment before nodding and running to the door.

Maria put her head down as Aya went. Suddenly, footsteps were heard behind her and she was kicked violently out of the doorway as Aya's father ran in from the other doorway.

Aya ran into a small hallway and then a small study room, which she was about to exit when she heard footsteps and a chainsaw.

"I found you!~" Her father said behind her as he ran through the door she'd come from.

Aya screamed and ran into the chapel, but then something grabbed her ankle from under the alter and she fell. "Huh?!" She said as she looked down at her leg.

"Hehehheeehe…" A doll said as she held on to Aya's leg and stared her in the face. "Come be with us…" She said.

"No!" Aya screamed, struggling against the doll's surprising grip strength.

"That's enough of our little game of tag, Aya. I have to keep you still, don't I?" He said as he stood on the alter with a grin.

"Let go!" She cried at the doll.

Her father jumped down. "I didn't want to hurt you, Aya… it's a shame, really."

Aya looked up at him. "No.. stop, father, please…"

Her father's smile grew. "But I can cover your legs with a skirt easily enough, so it should be fine.

Aya began to struggle again. "I don't want this…! I wanted to stay with you… I love you, father! Please… stop this…" She pleaded.

He blinked. "Aya… don't worry! Father and Aya will always be together now!" He raised his chainsaw. "Aya… I love you."

He was about to swing when a few knives came flying and sliced into his torso. He gasped and looked down before looking at Aya. "Aya… I… Love… you… Aya…" He said before more knives were thrown at him, making him fall over.

Aya looked at her dead father and then looked to where the knives had come from. She saw that Maria was the one who'd thrown the knives and was now walking over to Aya. She pulled out another knife a swiped at the doll, which fell off of Aya's leg easily. "Mistress…" Maria said.

"…Maria…" Aya said as she rubbed her eyes.

"Are you hurt?"

Aya looked down and sniffed. "…Mariaaa…" Then she reached up and gave her a hug. "…Father… isn't moving…" She sniffed as she pressed her head against Maria's chest. "Is he… dead?" She sniffed.

It was Maria's turn to begin crying. "…I apologize, Mistress. I had no other choice left to protect you."

"…Okay… I guess… this is for the best." Right, mom?

Suddenly, her father's corpse stood up and towered over both of them. "Ayaaaaa!" He shouted as he laughed. He stopped laughing suddenly though, before he could strike, and fell onto his back.

The boy from earlier stood behind him. "…I'm glad I made it in time!"

Aya them gasped and fainted in Maria's arms. She heard Maria say her name before going completely unconscious.

Aya, Snowball in her arms, Maria, and the boy stood at the front entrance. "You saved us… thank you…" Aya said.

The boy shook his head. "No need for thanks. I just did what she asked." He stated.

"You mean my mom?" Aya asked.

The boy nodded. "I said I was sorry for scaring you. I didn't intend to get injured… believe that, at least…"

Aya smiled. "I understand. Mom wanted to protect me. Thank you, mom… I want to see you again."

"She wanted that, too." The boy smiled. " But I don't think she wanted to be seen as she is now."

Aya blinked. …Whatever mom'd look like, I'd…"

The boy smiled again. "It's all right. She's watching you from afar. So don't be sad. If you are, it will only make her sad."

Aya stood silent for a moment. "…Right."

The boy's smile disappeared. "The curse will wear off soon… so it's almost farewell."

"You go away?" Aya said.

"We're only alive now because of the curse…" The boy responded.

"…I see." Aya said as she looked at the ground.

"…but there is something I must do before I go… and that is to set fire to this mansion." The boy concluded.

"What?" Aya said, shocked. "Wha- You can't do that! All those memories of being happy here…"

The boy shook his head. "It's not my intent to burn those… but it's possible that someone could find traces of your father here. We can't let the same tragedy happen again."

Aya shifted. "…Is that what mom wanted, too?" The boy stayed silent, but nodded. "…Okay. If that's what mom wanted, then do it…"

Maria stepped up next to Aya. "Mistress…"

"It's okay, Maria." Aya smiled. "Even if the house is gone, my memories of father and mom won't go."

"…Mistress… Yes, that's right." Maria said, smiling back.

"Aya, there is one thing I ask of you…" Th boy said. "Do not ever forget the people who were sacrificed here. None of us had any relatives. No one looked for us… no one remembered us… no one knew we existed at all… our existence will be forgotten to the world… but we did indeed live. So I don't want you to forget all that. I want you to hold proof in your heart that we were here… that is the least you can do for us."

Aya looked at him. "…Yes… I'll never forget." She promised.

The boy smiled. "Well, this is goodbye, then." He walked up to Aya and kissed her forehead. "Goodbye, Aya… may you be smiled upon." He said softly before he stepped back. "Now, Go." He urged.

"…Goodbye." Aya said as she and Maria escaped through the door.

Ogre walked into the chapel and stood next to Aya's father's corpse. "…Humans are utterly foolish creatures… I have seen countless many foolish humans…" He looked over the corpse before stating, "…but you are the foolish of them all. A human mad with desire is more fearsome than any demon… yet, I adore such foolish humans." His eyes began to glow even reder than before. "Come to me. Come to me and you may research to your heart's content."

As he said this, the doctor's body began to twitch.

Maria and Aya stood in the front yard of the mansion, looking at the house burn down. After a moment of awe, Maria said, "…It is just the two of us, now…"

Aya nodded. "Well, and Snowball." She said, looking down at her pet rabbit as he sniffed at the patch of flowers they were standing in.

Maria chuckled. "Yes, that's right." She looked back at the house. "…what shall we do now?"

"…I don't know." Aya said in return. "We have to find somewhere to live… but I'm sure I can't live alone. Maria? Will you come with me?" She asked.

"…Yes, of course." Maria agreed. "You have taught me much, Mistress. Now it is time for me to help you. Whatever awaits us up ahead, I wish to protect you all the way.

Aya looked back and smiled at her. "Thank you…"

The trio stood there before Aya turned her back on the mansion. "Let's go." She proposed.

"Are you sure? Without watching to the end?" Maria asked.

"…Yeah." Aya said as she bent to pick up Snowball. "It's fine."

Maria nodded and began walking away with a slight limp.

Aya, as she was bent over, looked back at the flames licking the mansion. "Actually, I wonder where that guy with the black coat went? I kinda hope he's okay…" Snowball sniffed her hands before climbing into them. "I'm sure he'll be alright, though. He's a really strange guy. Come on, Snowball."

As Snowball settled into the crook of her arm, she stared at the house once more. "Father… mother… goodbye…" As she turned to walk away, she noticed a red book lying on the ground not far for her. She walked over and picked it up. "… A book?" She asked aloud.

Maria was walking along the path until she looked behind her to see Aya running towards her.. "…Mistress?"

Aya stopped in front of her.

"What is the matter?" She asked.

"Hm? Nothing. Let's go." She said as she began to walk along the path. Maria joining her not too soon after. The Mistress is so hardy. Walking away from such a terrible experience without shedding a tear. With the Mistress besides me, I feel like we can overcome anything… However… What is this uneasiness I feel?... Doctor? She thought as she walked along behind Aya.

~~~~~~~A few years later~~~~~~~~

A girl walked up, huffing, to the door of a quaint house in a forest. "I'm finally here!" She said as she walked up to the door. "I've heard about this place…" She said to herself. A sign next to the door said: Drevis Clinic.

The girl smiled and chuckled. "Clinic? Yeah, this must be the place… it's out in the middle of nowhere… no one would even notice it. She grew nervous as she knocked on the door.

The door opened and out came a lovely, short black haired woman with a pendant around her neck. "Ah! A patient! Welcome!" She greeted.

She's so pretty! Is she the doctor? The girl wondered as the woman herded her inside.

"What seems to be the problem?" The woman asked as she closed the front door.

"Oh! Yes, well… I was born rather feeble… I asked my local doctor for a checkup, but… how do I say this… my family is really poor, so that doctor's given up on me." She said, looking glum. "That why I came here." She smiled. "I heard the doctor here does checkups for free…"

The woman nodded. "Yes, we don't ask any money from our patients. So do not worry."

The girl looked taken aback. "Really? I honestly don't have any, so… I can really get examined?"

The woman laughed and smiled. "Of course!"

"Th-Thank you so much!" The girl said happily.

"Now, what is your name?" The woman asked.

"I'm Jean. Jean Rooney." She replied.

The woman smiled. "Jean… that's a wonderful name. I'm Aya Drevis. Nice to meet you, Jean!" She said, holding out her hand to the girl.

"Yes! You, too!" Jean said, shaking Aya's hand. Suddenly, she began to cough.

"That doesn't sound good! We should examine you right away. Come in. Come in!" She said as she ushered the girl into an examining room. "… Considering you're not all that healthy, your legs sure carried you a long way… Was it difficult for you?" Aya said as she looked over her shoulder.

Jean looked up. "I met a kind old woman on the way here who took me part of the way on a coach. It was really so kind of her."

Aya smiled. "There are some really nice people out there…" She said.

Jean smiled. "Just like you, Dr. Drevis."

Aya giggled. "You think so?" She went and stood next to an examining table and patted down on the hard wood surface. "Now, lie down here." Then, she went over to some shelves lining a corner and got some bottles down.

Meanwhile, Jean hoisted herself up and laid down. Boy, am I nervous… She thought as she twiddled her thumbs. Then, she heard the sound of whinnying come from somewhere. I hear horses! They don't sound far off. Maybe they're in the back?

Aya returned wearing a facemask. "Stay very still while I apply some anesthesia." She said.

Her patient obeyed, saying, "Okay…"

Aya worked silently before commenting, " You have very pretty eyes, you know… so beautiful… I can't stop looking at them…"

Jean blushed. "N-No one's ever said that to me before… thank you very much?"

Aya giggled. "Nervous, huh? It's fine, just relax your shoulders…"

Jean closed her eyes as she relaxed. "… Doctor? Do you think you can make me better?"

"Of course!' Aya said without a moment's hesitation. "From now on, you'll never suffer again… so take it easy… and go to sleep."

Maria stood in the next room over, which was the stock room, sitting and looking out the window at the horses. "Indeed, the Mistress is much like you… it does run in the family…. Doctor…."