He groped in the darkness, reaching.

Reaching…

He could hear her calling him, but he couldn't see her, didn't know where she was because her voice seemed to call him from different directions, if the black pit of despair had any direction…

Saruhiko….

Amaya, where are you?

Saruhiko, I'm here… but I can't see you….

It's so dark…!

Saruhiko…!

The silence enveloping Scepter 4 could be felt in every corner of the building following the return of the Blue King with the bodies of his third in command, and his fiancee.

News had reached headquarters about the deaths of Saruhiko Fushimi and Amaya Tenjin, along with the obvious impact that it had on the Blue King. Following their arrival, he had overseen their delivery to the medical examiner, and once the doors had closed, he had gone to the dorm, and opened the door to Fushimi's room with the key that had fallen from Fushimi's pocket as he was being loaded into a body bag.

As Munakata closed the door behind him, he turned on the lights, his eyes moving to the picture frames atop the drawer set beside the bunk beds. Moving closer, he saw that they were pictures of Fushimi and Amaya; one frame held a picture of them as children holding hands, the early morning light casting a soft glow on their faces. Fushimi looked to be eight or nine, and his little brunette friend, not surprisingly, looked like she was four or five years old despite being older, her mother behind them, smiling lovingly as they looked up at her.

The other picture showed them together, standing together, apparently not long after Fushimi had joined Scepter 4. The years of suffering that they had endured was obvious in the sadness in their eyes even as they shared a tender moment together. Amaya Tenjin was dressed in her uniform from Ashinaka High School, her hair loose and blowing in the wind, her arms around Fushimi who was dressed in his Scepter 4 uniform. The look on his face as he his eyes rested on the smiling girl embracing him was different from the shuttered way he regarded the other people around him, even though he wasn't smiling back.

Pained, Munakata was about to sit down on the edge of the lower bunk of Fushimi's bed when something under the upper bunk's mattress caught his eyes. Puzzled, he lifted the cushion, and found himself looking at a large brown scrap book. Taking the newly discovered treasure in his hands, Munakata sat down on the lower bunk and began going through the pages. There were various pieces of paper that looked like receipts, wrappers that looked like they had come from chocolate bars, wrappings from various items on different pages, all with dates and brief descriptions of each. One discovery in particular near the middle of the scrap book provided a little more insight into the relationship between Scepter 4's third in command, and the girl who had loved him until her last breath: it was a plastic wrapping beside a slightly faded receipt with a short, yet detailed description:

May 18

Purple wristbands – a present from Amaya since she knew that today was the day I would be initiated into Scepter 4. She gave them to me before the ceremony, and watched from afar as it took place.

I can't believe that she still remembered those wristbands from last week, and went out of her way to buy them for me since today is supposed to be her birthday, but then again, that's how she's always been…

The window to the morgue had been left open after the autopsies on Saruhiko Fushimi and Amaya Tenjin were done, allowing the silent observer easy access into the room, its eyes on the table where the body of the one who had cried out against death lay covered by a large sheet….

It perched on the table opposite the body, making itself at home among the surgical tools, and ingredients, watching…

Watching….

All the members of the Special Task Force had gathered in the Information Room upon orders from the Blue King following the conclusion of the autopsies done on Fushimi and Amaya.

" Both of them died from the massive loss of blood after their major arteries were severed by a sharp blade, " the medical examiner revealed. " Although, there is something else… "

The Blue King regarded him silently, waiting.

" Amaya Tenjin's eyes were torn out of their sockets post mortem, " the examiner explained, looking ill.

The collective gasps uttered by those who had heard the news filled the room, some of the men looking sick enough to throw up.

He was adrift in the endless darkness, unable to move, unable to speak.

Amaya….

He needed to hold her.

If he could just hold her, everything would be alright.

He could feel her nearby, could hear her calling him, trying to reach for him just as he was for her, but like him, she was also adrift, unable to move or speak.

It wouldn't end like this…

It couldn't…

He would not let those who had taken her from him live to breathe another day.

He would find them, and make them pay.

He would find her again.

And when he did, everything would be right…

It was like sinking into the ocean's depths, unable to move.

But suddenly, he was able to move, and the feeling that he was being dragged upwards through the layers of darkness, towards the harsh light that was the world of the living.

He saw Amaya smiling at him, felt her holding him as he trembled, the circle of her arms his refuge.

Amaya…

Suddenly, he saw both of them lying in the pools of their blood, saw Chou tearing her eyes out after they had breathed their last, and when he turned around, he saw her crying, blood pouring from the empty holes where her beautiful eyes had once been as she called his name, turning this way and that, trying to find him…

Pain…

So much pain…

It tore through every cell of his body, causing him to gasp and cry out louder than he had ever done, and it wasn't just the physical aspect that made him cry out.

He cried out against the darkness that had taken his chance to be with Amaya away, at the violence that had been done to her when she hadn't been able to defend herself, the mutilation that had taken place because he wasn't able to protect her….

He would find her eyes.

He would find her.

He would find those who took her from him.

And he would make them pay.

Anna gasped and bent over, wrapping her arms around herself as the force of the cry from the world of the dead reached her, and filled her with its chill, causing her to whimper helplessly. The sound caught the attention of all those present, including a shell shocked Yata who was still unable to comprehend that his best friend turned enemy, along with his childhood sweetheart were gone. They had just received the news that had been relayed by Lieutenant Awashima about the results of the autopsy, as well as the post mortem mutilation that had been done to Amaya Tenjin, the latter part of the news making them sick.

" Anna? "

It was Chitose who reached her first, and caught her as she fell off the barstool she had been perched on, her eyes closing as she went limp in his arms.

" Oi! "

Everyone gathered around their little princess, and even Mikoto moved from his spot on the couch so Chitose could lay her down. She was shivering, and her skin was clammy. Tatara immediately appeared with several layers of blankets in his arms, and they wasted no time wrapping her up before Mikoto created a red bubble around her to give her additional warmth.

" Misaki…! "

At the sound of his name, the brash young man moved closer, and knelt beside her. Anna opened her eyes, and looked directly at him.

" Saruhiko won't let it end this way… "

The sound tore through the night, startling all those who heard it, and causing chills to run down their spines.

The cry was one of despair that stemmed from the soul of one who'd had the only light in his life taken away, a cry for revenge against those who had wronged him….

Munakata rose to his feet at the sound, and strode in the direction of the morgue, noticing, but paying no mind to the medical examiner who looked like he had just seen a ghost as he sat with his back against the wall, his papers scattered around him, the door open. He didn't know what he was expecting, but somehow, he wasn't surprised at the sight that greeted him upon entering.

His resurrected third in command was sitting up, the sheet that had been used to cover him concealing the lower half of his body, but not the upper half.

Saruhiko Fushimi had always been pale, but his appearance at the moment could have made a vampire's pallor look like the full bloom of health. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he had gone an entire month without sleep, and the look in his eyes was enough to make the Blue King cautious; his hair, while never neat when he was still a living person, was disheveled despite the blood being washed out following the autopsy performed on him.

" Fushimi-kun? "

" Where is she? " the younger man asked, his eyes wild.

Munakata sighed, not wanting to have to tell the young man that his beloved was dead, her body desecrated by her own flesh and blood, but he knew that he had no choice.

" She is right beside you. "

At his words, Fushimi turned to the metal gurney beside him, noting the sheet covering it. By now, most of the Special Squad had gathered outside the morgue, and were gawking in disbelief at the sight of their resurrected third in command, although he paid them no mind.

Slowly, as if in pain, Fushimi slid off the table, revealing that he still had his uniform pants on, and took hold of the sheet covering his childhood love's body, pulling it back.

" Amaya… "