As Hecate and I continue to spend a lot of time together every day, things began to become a little more normal. There are even times that Hecate seems like a normal, introverted and timid girl, and I forget that she's actually a Crimson Lord who needs to feed on the existences of the inhabitants of this world.

Kneeled in the darkness of the night, Hecate, whose role was that of the Priestess of the mysterious Bal Masque, prayed with her hands clasped together. Her eyes were shut, and her body unmoving, like a statue garbed in white.

It was something she had always done without problems. But, not for the first time, as she attempted to perform her duties as the Priestess, she found herself unable to hear a certain voice. Straining her heart and mind to their limits, her brows creased.

Giving up with a sigh, she glanced towards the clock next to the sleeping form of Chigusa Sakai. It was 11:45 in the evening.

Every night, however, I am reminded of that fact as she drained the energy of existence out of me.

A Silent Anguish

As she did every night, Hecate snuck into Yuji's room. Although she stayed in the same room as Chigusa, it wasn't too hard to quietly slip out. Her ability to hover a few inches from the ground helped greatly.

As she floated in, she found Yuji studying a certain brass mirror, the true vessel of the Haridan, while lying on his bed. It was dark, but she could still see him in the dim light coming from outside. Noticing her presence, he stood up and put the mirror on his desk.

"Feeding time again," he said jokingly, to which Hecate made no visual response, but retained her usual indifferent demeanor.

Yuji facepalmed at how dumb he must have sounded, then extended both hands to her. The Priestess took his hands in hers, intertwining their fingers, and closed her eyes. Tiny particles of light streamed from his body and into Hecate's.

"Concentrate and feel the amount of energy you have to channel," Hecate reminded him. As she absorbed his energy, she shut her eyes. "But leave just enough to exist for ten minutes."

"Alright," Yuji said. The first time they had done it, he had let much of his Power of Existence rush into her in one go, nearly causing himself to disappear.

"Release a little more energy, but keep it steady," Hecate told him.

As he willingly poured more Power of Existence into Hecate's being, the particles of light increased in number and size. Just when his flame was no more than a wisp, Hecate spoke.

"That is enough," she said and let go of his hands.

Yuji sat on his bed and looked at Hecate's face. It was as emotionless as usual, but she seemed to be satisfied. The boy smiled at her as she sat down beside him.

Will this really let me be able to use spells like Aster?" Yuji asked.

"Aster is a very high level Unrestricted Method unique to me alone," Hecate explained, looking at him in the eyes. "But even if you could use it, casting just one beam of it would completely wipe away your existence."

That was a frightening thought. Then Yuji recalled how liberally Hecate had used the spell and found himself wondering just how many times she had to absorb his existence in order to fully replenish the energy she had used in the past battles. Come to think of it, just how many people had she consumed to even come to the point of being able to use it so much. He shook his head violently at that thought, she was different now, he at least hoped.

"So, what kind of spells would this be training me for then?" he asked.

"When you eventually develop a deeper capacity, and learn to channel your Power of Existence efficiently, you can use support spells such as the Fuzetsu. Support spells normally do not use up as much energy as defensive spells, and even more so when compared to offensive spells."

"I see, so I'll be more useful as support. Well, with how overwhelmingly powerful you are already, I guess I can be happy with that for now. But, just in case, how about some more practical skills like maybe melee fighting? I've seen you handle Margery-san pretty well with that staff of yours."

"Trigon, it is a Treasure just like the Reiji Maigo within you."

"Seems like yours has a lot more uses though."

Hecate nodded. "But using Treasures like it, or even regular weapons like swords, would need proper channeling of Power of Existence to be even remotely effective against the kinds of strong enemies we would face. When you learn to master it, you will be able to lift the heaviest of weapons as if they were lightweight."

"I get it," Yuji said. "Basically, before we can get to actually using weapons and stuff, you're making me work out."

Hecate just blinked and tilted her head slightly, not understanding the expression. Yuji waved aside his own comment.

As midnight struck, Yuji felt the flame of life rekindle within him and spread throughout his entire being. He put a hand on his chest.

"With this, we can both continue existing in this world," he said.

Hecate nodded with a tiny smile, but for a brief moment, she averted her eyes.

"It's a strange feeling, being consumed," Yuji said aloud. "It must be a terrifying and painful experience for humans and other Torches. In a way, although it renders them helpless, I'm grateful for the time-stopping Fuzetsu."

Hecate simply gave a single small, slow nod with her eyes closed. Then, she stood up and headed out.

"A-ah, Hecate?" Yuji called to her.

The Priestess turned back and looked into his eyes. "Hm?"

Yuji hesitated, then said simply, "goodnight."

Hecate nodded in reply before hovering out, closing the door behind her. As the door clicked shut, Yuji lay down on his bed once more.

As Hecate floated down the stairs, she voiced her thoughts to herself softly. "I could not hear him again tonight. Why, ever since I came to this city?"

It was just another day as Yuji and Hecate walked to school together. This time, they had not run into Yukari, which actually happened only a quarter of the time. As usual, they walked together in silence, a companionable silence.

On the way, Yuji glanced at Hecate. He could still remember how cute she looked just the other day. When he looked at her a little more closely, even though her face was as blank as normal, and her posture no different than other days, he could tell something was bothering her.

"It seems like something's been really bugging you these past few days," he said.

Hecate stopped in her tracks and turned to him with a blink and slightly wider eyes. "You can tell?"

Yuji scratched his cheek. "You don't really show it in your face or your tone," he said. I don't know how really, but it's like… I can read you or something. Or I could just be guessing."

As cheesy as it sounded, Hecate believed him. But still, the fact of the matter was…

"You cannot do anything for me," she said. "In the first place, only I can reach him."

"Him?" Yuji repeated. "Now that I think about it, you are called the Priestess, but I still have no idea about what you really do. Could it be that you can talk to some god of the Crimson Realm or something?"

Hecate just stared long and hard at him, then shook her head before continuing onward.

"You won't tell me huh?" Yuji said, catching up to her. 'Is it some big secret?"

"It's better if you did not know," Hecate told him with an icy cold voice, intentionally avoiding his gaze.

"Hecate… But I want to help you somehow. Isn't there any way for you to maybe focus better so you could reach out to this god of yours?"

Hecate listened to him and gave it some thought for a while. "Sometimes, I would leave the Palace and pray on mountaintops, where all was still, silent, calm, cold, and above all, far away from any form of life."

Ominous as that sounded, Hecate pretty much just described herself, Yuji thought. He turned to the direction of the bridge with massive A-shaped arches that crossed over the Mana River. He pointed in its direction.

"How about that?" he said. "It should be worth a shot. We can climb to the top that after school. It's not exactly a mountain, but it's the closest thing we have to one. Maybe you'll be able to reach him better from there."

Hecate looked in the direction of his gesture, blinked, and nodded once. "Perhaps we can try it," she said.

Later that day, during lunch, Keisaku leaned against the doorway as he observed his "poolmates" from the other day having lunch together.

"Hey, how's onee-san?" Eita said as he approached his friend.

"Same as always. She just found an abandoned Rinne a little while ago and crushed it. Seems like she wanted to kick aside anything that might distract her from them later on." Keisaku gestured to the Mystes and the Crimson Lord next to him.

"An abandoned Rinne?"

"A Rinne – Margery-san's already explained to you about them – whose Denizen master has bit the dust. Pretty much doomed to die no matter how much they consume."

Keisaku watched Yuji thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, even if he's a Mystes, like Margery-san said, he should have burned out by now, right?"

Yuji, Hecate, Kazumi, Yukari, Ike, and Ogata were once again seated together for lunch. As they ate, Kazumi took out a box and revealed six cups of homemade pudding within.

"Did you make these Kazumi? They look great!" Ogata praised.

"I am amazed," said Ike.

"I got the recipe from my friend, and I thought I'd give it a try," Kazumi said as she offered the pudding to her friends, including to Yuji.

"Sure, I'll have one, thank you," he boy said as he took a cup and took a spoonful to his mouth.

Kazumi turned to Hecate and offered her a cup as well. The silent Denizen girl just blinked, not sure what to do.

"Would you like some?" Kazumi said with a very gentle voice.

The Priestess looked at the pudding for a brief moment, then nodded once and took a cup to try it herself. She blinked again as a new sensation swept through her taste buds.

It was sweet.

"You know Yoshida-san, you're a good cook," Yuji complimented.

"Oh no, I just really love baking," Kazumi replied.

"You're so modest Kazumi-chan," Yukari said, halfway through her own pudding. "But the fact remains that you've always been a great cook."

Their meal was interrupted as someone from the student council entered the classroom. "Excuse me? Are there any library committee members?"

Ogata stood up in response and gestured to herself and Kazumi. "Over here, that's the two of us," she said.

"Do you have a moment?" the student continued. "They've changed the schedule, and they're going to be restacking the books today. If you can't make it, try to find someone to go for you."

"You can't go?" Kazumi asked Ogata.

"No, we're visiting my grandma in the hospital, she's sick."

Yukari cheerfully clasped her hands together. It was just as Ike was opening his mouth, but the idea came to her faster.

"Sakai-kun, how about you go with her?" she said. "I've gotta pick up something later, so I can't go."

Ike blinked, and glanced at Yukari. She had the same idea as him, apparently, and quickly played along. "I'll accompany you Hirai-san," he said. "I've got prep-school, and it should be on the way."

Yukari suddenly flustered. "O-oh no, I'll be fine," she said, but quickly remembered for whom she was speaking for. "In any case, it looks like it's just you and Kazumi-chan, Sakai-kun," she said, smiling brightly.

Next to her, Hecate bowed her head, as if staring at the pudding. But she had actually been listening the whole time, and she was even frowning a little. As much as what she heard was displeasing to her ears, she maintained a cold and isolated silence.

When class was over, the first thing Hecate did was grab onto Yuji's sleeve, more forcefully than the few previous times she had done so, and tugged at him on the way out. Their friends just stared at them with confused faces.

"Hey, I thought you were going to help Yoshida-san out?" Ike called after him.

"I am!" Yuji said as he was being dragged out by the quiet girl. "Let me just deal with this first."

When he and Hecate had gone far enough through the corridor, Yuji wrenched his arm away from Hecate's grip. The girl turned around with an expression of anger and surprise.

"Hecate, what is with you right now?" Yuji said with a serious voice. "I know I promised we'd go to the bridge today, but I have to help them out too. And didn't you say that you normally prayed on those mountaintops alone anyway?"

"Now you want me to be alone?" Hecate said coldly while glaring at him.

"That's not what I meant."

"Liar."

"I wasn't lying! Besides, I still owe her for leaving her that time," Yuji said, recalling the time he had to rush out of his date with Kazumi at the art exhibition.

"So, you really will leave me today instead. Whatever happened to how you treated me before?"

"It's just one day. Can't you handle just one day apart?"

Hecate bit her lower lip. As the two had been arguing, a number of student passers-by paused and cautiously walked around the couple, whispering to one another. Hecate did not care for them however, and Yuji tried to avoid noticing them to focus on what was right in front of him.

"Why are you suddenly so riled up right now Hecate?" Yuji asked her, his tone now full of concern.

Indeed, why did she act like this? It was not the first time she had been angry, nor the first time she had been left alone, but somehow, the thought of Yuji being away from her and with another girl made her feel strangely… unhappy. She only felt worse as she remembered the satisfied look on the boy's face when he had tasted Kazumi Yoshida's pudding.

Just what was this twisting, wrenching feeling inside of her? Come to think of it, ever since she had met Yuji, she had been neglecting her duties as the Priestess. Ever since she met the existence known as Yuji Sakai, she could not hear his voice.

"I understand now. It's because of you that I cannot hear him."

Her voice was back to its old monotone, but now it bore a threatening coldness to it. That was right, she believed. It was because of him that she had become so distracted.

Yuji warily reached a hand out to her. "Hecate?"

"Stay away from me," Hecate said with a chilling, commanding tone. "Stay away or I will consume your existence and take away the Reiji Maigo. I am only the Priestess, nothing more, nothing less. But you are right about one thing: you cannot do anything to help me."

With those parting words, she turned around and walked away. Behind her, Yuji bowed his head.

"Hecate…"

The rest of that afternoon, Yuji and Kazumi stacked the shelves in the library with books in silence. Kazumi had noticed the troubled expression on Yuji's face, as much as he had tried to hide it.

"Hey, did you see those two arguing earlier?"

"Yeah, the normally mild mannered Sakai-san and quiet Konoe-san had a big fight in the hallway not too long ago."

"A lovers' quarrel you think?"

A pair of hushed, gossiping voices not too far away did not go unnoticed by Kazumi, although Yuji was too preoccupied with his own thoughts on the matter himself.

A little while later, the two ended up walking home alone together as well. Even then, the air around Yuji was still as gloomy as when he had parted with Hecate. Meanwhile, Kazumi was troubled as well, remembering what the gossiping girls had said earlier.

"A lovers' quarrel?" Could it be true?

"I really have to know, what are you and Konoe-san really like?" she suddenly said out loud.

Yuji stopped in his tracks and turned to her in surprise. Kazumi instantly regretted it and hastily came up with an excuse. "W-well, you two seem to be having trouble even though you seemed close before. I was just worried."

"I see," Yuji said. He forced himself to smile, doing his best to reassure her. "It's nothing to worry about. She can handle herself."

After all, she has been that way for centuries, he grimly recalled.

It was late when Yuji had arrived home. He found his mother waiting for him at the dining room, already done with her dinner. He noticed that his own food, as well as Hecate's still had smoke rising out of it, as if it had just been re-heated.

"Welcome back Yu-chan, it must have been a busy day for you today," Chigusa said.

"Yeah, it was," Yuji said.

"Heca-chan isn't with you?"

Yuji's eyes widened for a brief moment. He had figured Hecate would have gone home ahead of him, but then, perhaps she really did go by herself. She didn't really need him after all.

"She's still got something to do," Yuji told his mother.

"Oh, I see."

Once again, Hecate knelt with her eyes closed and her hands clasped in prayer. She was a deep, dark abyss, longing to be filled with a great presence, a presence normally filled by a god, her god, who would fulfill the desires of the Crimson Denizens.

Yet she still could not hear him. No matter how much she sent out her desire for him, no matter how empty, cold, and alone she was, she could not feel the touch of his presence. Somehow, he seemed even farther away than before.

Why? Why can't she hear him? Why can't she feel him?

Her thoughts strayed to Yuji at some point. He was nowhere near her either, she could not feel him; she could not touch him. She felt even emptier than before.

Even now, when he was away, he still diverted her mind and heart away from her role as the Priestess. No, she could focus even less than before now that he was gone. He was not there to comfort her with his warm presence, not after she had pushed him away.

She was all alone.

As Yuji quietly ate his diner, his mother still sat before him.

"Are you worried about Heca-chan? Tell me honestly," Chigusa said.

Yuji's motions paused halfway and he put down his utensils.

"Yeah," he said. "She's actually trying to get in contact with someone important to her, but she doesn't need me. I'll just get in the way."

"How long has it been since she's last seen this person?"

"I really have no idea. I still don't really know anything about her."

"Has she had any luck finding him?"

"From how she's been the past few days, no, she probably hasn't. But what difference could I make?"

Chigusa looked out the window for a short moment. The sky was dark, and the city was alight. Even so, a few stars were out that night. When Yuji finished his meal, she spoke again.

"You know what I think? Even if she says that you can't help, you are actually more help to her than either of you think."

"What do you mean?" Yuji asked, listening intently.

"I can tell she's very lonely. And deep down, she is actually quite fragile, despite appearances. Perhaps what she needs right now is someone who is right there, who she could touch, rather than someone far off."

Yuji repeated her words to himself, trying to understand what she meant, as well as what he should do with what he had learned. As he stood up, he came to a decision.

"Thanks mom," he told Chigusa on his way out.

"You're welcome," Chigusa said. "Take care."

In the cold of night, Yuji raced through the street to find Hecate. She was still in the city; he could still feel her presence. But where could she have gone?

When he remembered their prior agreement, it wasn't too hard to find her. He ran to the bridge that crossed over the river which divided the city. Here, he could feel her presence even more than before. As he looked up to the dark abyss above, he knew Hecate was at the pinnacle of the arch.

The only way up was a service ladder on the side of the structure, although it was too high up for him to reach by ordinary means. Even so, he jumped and jumped towards it in vain, grunting as he slid on the cold steel surface.

Above, Hecate also felt a familiar presence, but it was not who she had been calling for nor was it someone she had expected. But it was welcome to her now. Leaning over the railing, she found a certain boy slide to the concrete floor of the bridge, once again failing to reach the ladder.

"Yuji," she said in a soft voice that was more of a sigh. Lifting herself off the edge of her perch, she slowly descended to the Mystes.

Yuji did not miss the approaching Priestess. "Hecate," he said, surprised yet relieved to see her coming to him.

The more she neared, the faster the Priestess closed the distance. Finally, with arms outstretched, she came onto Yuji, clinging to him tightly. The boy nearly fell over backwards from her landing on him.

"It's never hurt this much before. It hurts to be alone," she said in a voice that was almost weeping. Her face was buried in his chest, but if Yuji could see it, her expression would probably be one of pain and relief.

Yuji returned her embrace and put his arms around her.

"I'm sorry. I won't let you be alone, Hecate," he promised. "Never again."

In an alleyway, three delinquents fell to the floor in pieces. Before them, a young boy in princely garbs and blonde hair held a gigantic broadsword taller than himself. Opening his mouth, he consumed the existence of the chopped up corpses, leaving behind little blue flames amidst their remains.

"That was very well done dear brother Sorath," said a petite girl in a pink, elegant and frilly dress. Under a hat with a ribbon to match were long, curly, golden locks of hair. She touched the boy's cheek with a gentle, dainty hand. "You remembered to leave enough for three little Torches."

"Of course, because that's what you told me to do sister Tiriel," Sorath said with an innocent tone and face, as if his action was no cause for any sort of remorse.

"I'm pleased," Tiriel said before pressing her lips onto Sorath's, intertwining her tongue with his. As she held him closely and continued to swap spit with him, they also passed the recently gained Power of Existence to the girl through the same passage. After a long time with their lips locked together, Tiriel broke from Sorath with a faint gasp for air. She smiled with satisfaction.

Suddenly, they felt a presence enter the city and turned in the direction of the other new arrival.

"You think that heartless woman will find us?" Sorath asked. "The last Flame Haze we met got away before we could kill him, and he must have told her about us."

"We have no other choice but to hide in this city for now, dear brother," Tiriel said. "The hundreds of Torches here should throw her off, not to mention that the Flame Haze already here might distract her attention long enough for us to give her the slip."

"Can you sense it sister? A huge presence is here too," Sorath said.

"That's right," Tiriel agreed with a smirk on her face. "Maybe we could get some protection from this very powerful Denizen."

Elsewhere, atop a building, a woman with magenta hair and dressed like a French maid, frills and all, overlooked the city. On her back, she carried an absurdly large camping pack. Her voice, like the heroine of this story, was in monotone, albeit that her voice was more mature sounding.

"It seems as if we have finally caught up with them ~de arimasu."

A second voice spoke from her headband. It was even more lacking in tone than her contractor's or Hecate's, to the point that it seemed mechanical.

"Pursue priority targets: He-Who-Loves-Himself and One-Indulged-in-Love-of-Others."

Author's Note:

Here's where our story starts to really branch out. Don't expect a copy of the anime this time~