After three hours of slow tortured fear, little Yukio was eventually found.

The child could hear the voice of his fathercalling from afar. Sobbing, he ran towards the noise, nearly tripping over two awkwardly skinny legs.

'Father – FATHER!'

Even with Yukio's weak eyes, the silhouette of Fujimoto came into focus. Everything was all right now…. Dad was here… he would protect him. After crashing into the priest, the boy could feel the man's strong hand placed firmly on his head. Father's voice was compassionate yet powerful.

'Yukio… don't worry… only the most scared demons hide in the dark.'

'R-really…why?' the boy hiccupped.

'Because they aren't strong enough to fight what's in front of them. But not you…you are strong, Yukio.'

If only Father Fujimoto's voice didn't seem so far away. The memory was fading, submerging itself into the harsh realities of the present. The powerful, intelligent, and resilient Paladin was no longer here. The only thing left to keep Yukio alive was his own vulnerable mind and the metal pistol clenched tightly between his hands.

The red-haired man in front of the doctor was not what he seemed.

"Don't shoot, Yukio, and don't call for your teammate. The creatures outside are waiting to feed on those inside."

The young man squeezed a response out of the tightness of his throat.

"Who are you?"

The stranger gracefully set the candle down by his feet. "I am your friend… or adversary, I suppose…. But I could be your friend, if you do me a favor."

"…"

"Come with me."

"What?"

" 'What – What?' Why ask such a thing? It would be much easier if you just followed my instructions."

Yukio released the safety of his gun.

"Tch – I'm not going to ask you again – who are you?...!"

The man closed his eyes and sighed.

"I am Sanguis."

"Sanguis?"

"Yes, that is the name I have chosen for myself."

"Alright then, tell me, Sanguis – is this so-called 'missing son' of yours even real? Or is he just an excuse to get into the Monastery?"

"Well, that's a ridiculous question, of course, I'm seeking a boy."

The man lifted his index finger directly at Yukio.

"You."

"What?...!"

"You. You are the child I am looking for."

"I am not your son!"

"Well, I never said that. I only said I've come to retrieve you."

"Then why did you tell the clergymen you had an abducted son?...!"

"How do you know I don't? Perhaps I do have a son. Or perhaps… that's just a figment of your imagination…or my imagination… who knows…"

"Enough with the mind games!"

"Oohh so bland…," Sanguis mumbled under his breath. "Perhaps I should've sent the cat demon for you after all."

"What was that?" Yukio's voice hardened.

To the doctor's irritation, the man seemed to perk up after hearing the edge in his voice.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, smiling.

"What you said about a cat demon… are you saying that while you're here, a familiar is after my brother?"

"Oh, you have a brother? How charming."

The young man pulled the trigger and fired two shots at the wall, right next to Sanguis' head.

"ANSWER ME!" he boomed.

Citizens from the other rooms must've heard the firing, because the once quiet area now echoed with terrified hollers and stomping feet.

"Oh my!" The man's tone was full of surprised amusement as he looked at the bullet holes. "That wasn't rational – not rational at all! HAHA! I was told you were cold and calculating!"

Sanguis' smile no longer seemed calm… It was a wild, curled thing that slinked at the edges of his face, full of insidious white teeth. Yukio couldn't tell if they were sharp. Was he possessed? The young man didn't know, and truthfully, he did not care. All he wanted to do was put a bullet through this bastard's head.

"You were told? By who? The Goddess? The Dollmaker? Answer me."

"What a predictable question. Why don't we continue that conversation about your brother!"

"I TOLD YOU TO ANSWER ME!"

"Ha….hahaha… Such concern for your sibling…such…. foreboding…"

Yukio bit the inside of his lip and the taste of copper flowed over his tongue.

"I told you to ANSWER…"

"Don't you remember? I told you not to shoot…. Are you losing your sense, Yukio? Do you want the people here to diiiiiiiie?" His voice was light, jovial, a singsong pitch.

Yukio wanted silence that voice.

He hated the way that man talked to him on a first name basis. He hated how he avoided all of the doctor's questions. And he despised how he was one step ahead of him.

"D-damn you…"

"Yes – yes – oh yes! HAHA! 'Damn you! Damn you, Sanguis! Damn you – you villain – you scum – you vile, despicable creature!"

"….!"

"Ha…haha…." The man gasped and caught his breath. He began to relax, but there was an edge to his quiet tone, stillness before the storm.

"How delightful…how…" he looked at Yukio. "…Charming. I believe this will be amusing, after all."

Sanguis began to approach the doctor, who laid presser on the trigger, ready to fire once more.

"DON'T MOVE! Stay right where you are!"

"Come now, you're going to have to be a bit more clever than that… guns are boring, after all," he trilled the words, his voice cultured, like a bored gentleman, "Now, my playmates flooding into this place – ravaging everything – tainting this holy sanctum – killing and eating everyone – now, that sounds entertaining! Wouldn't you like to see that? Actually, why don't you shoot me, Yukio?"

There was no doubt in the young doctor's mind…

…that Sanguis was a madman.

Everything the stranger said was either a stealthy riddle or blind hysteria. Even so, the man's obsessive rants contained a grain of truth – he was the one in control. The infected outside could break in at any moment. All the innocent citizens crowded in this place were at risk. Yukio needed to think of a way out of this dilemma.

Carefully, he lowered the gun a fraction of an inch. Sanguis' smile widened at the motion.

"Sit down, good sir. We have plenty of time before I take you. Perhaps we can have a tea party?"

"S-Shut up!"

"Oh dear. I suppose you don't like tea. Or parties."

No… this is what he wants… Don't let him have power over your emotions…

Think….just think. Clear your mind.

Why am I getting so upset?

An exorcist must be able to deal with any type of foe…including ones who are unstable.

The young man did everything he could to be rational.

"If the infected listen to your orders, that must mean you work for the Goddess and the Dollmaker," Yukio stammered, "What do they want from my brother and I?"

"Did I say I was after your brother? Well… I suppose I am…or not. Though he does seem like quite the sociable one. After all, that child is the reckless twin, perhaps you could introduce me."

"Rrrrgg…don't mock me…"

Sanguis walked closer – until he was only ten inches away from the doctor.

"Do you know…what makes the two of you brothers… hm? I'll give you a hint, the answer is something I absolutely adore… above even my own life."

"…"

"Above even my own life… It flows through us and marks our identity… a loss of this substance means death."

"W-what?"

The man tapped on the glass of Yukio's protective helmet and spoke in a whisper.

"BLOOOOOD."

In a matter of seconds, the young man kneed Sanguis in the solar-plexus, pinned him to the ground, and grimaced.

"Keep in mind… never get to close to your opponent."

The man laughed maniacally as Yukio called for Shura and the priests.

"Shura, this man – "

Before he could finish the sentence, his female colleague barged through the doors.

"Good! Took ya long enough! I was just about to sic my familiar on 'im."

"You were eavesdropping the entire time?...!"

"Well, yeah, but don't take it personally. I overheard that sick f*ck's threat so I went to strengthen the barrier around the monastery first."

Yukio couldn't argue with this. By increasing the churches defense, the infected could not get inside.

In other words, Sanguis was powerless.

"…Fine…. Hold him down while I switch to tranquilizer bullets."

"Kay – okay don't be so pushy, Wimpy."

The man pressed his forehead against the wall as he cackled through gritted teeth.

"Heheheheh… w-why does one brother care for the other? Hehe-haha… BLOOD. It's always BLOOD. A brother wouldn't be a brother without BLOOD, no, without BLOOD, he'd be a hopeless fool one the street – HAHA – You'd pass him by without a single glance. He could die – he could shed his BLOOD and you wouldn't even know, let alone care – "

Yukio placed his gun firmly at the back of Sanguis' head.

"QUIIIIEEET! You're done."

"Hey – hey, Yukio…." Shura warned. "Cool it… Don't let this guy get to ya."

"Too late." The man moaned as he pulled out a needle and stuck it into the doctor's wrist.

"ARRGG!"

"YUKIO!"

Yukio felt light-headed as the man yanked the sharp object out of his flesh. Gripping his dripping wrist, the doctor looked closely at the needle. It was a skinny glass tube, roughly the length of his forearm. The object was filled of Yukio's blood; Sanguis had drained it from him.

"This…," the man cooed, kicking the doctor off, "Is why I do what Mother says…"

After being struck, Yukio fell on his back. His blurred vision gradually came back into focus as he leaned forward. The doctor wobbled onto his feet only to watch in horror as Sanguis stuck the needle deep in his own arm. The red fluid sank down from the tube and into the man's body. He kept his eyes shut, expecting to feel something powerful.

However, Yukio noticed disappointment on Sanguis' face.

"Not enough," the man mumbled to himself, throwing and shattering the glass object to the ground. "It's not enough."

He opened and laid his yellowed orbs on the doctor.

"You truly are the runt of the litter, Yukio. I suppose I have no choice but to befriend your brother after – "

Before the man could finish speaking, Shura slashed him across the chest with her sword. He fell backwards, twitching and bleeding with amusement. Following the assault, Yukio loaded his gun and shot Sanguis with a tranquilizer. The man lay motionless as the doctor faced his colleague.

"It's over."

"Not exactly, wimpy…"

"What?..! But he's – "

In order to avoid the man from overhearing, Shura pulled Yukio close and whispered in his ear.

"The barrier. It's stronger, but I don't know how long it's gonna last."

"What do you mean..?"

"I'm gonna be blunt. When it comes to 'Noire Du Sang,' we got nothin'. Almost every demon has some kind of weakness, a death verse…an aria… some way to combat it… But we don't have that for the infected outside."

"So we're still in danger."

"Yeah, I managed to cook up a-couple-a powerful spells around the church but, like I said, it wont last."

"How long?"

"Heh?"

"How long will it last?"

"Uuuhhh..forty minutes… an hour tops."

"Alright, that's all I need to hear," the young man stated as he zipped open his suit and retrieved the bandages he always carried on him. As a doctor, it was his responsibility to be ready to treat any injury… including his own.

"Shura, you need to get out of here."

"Whaaaaat?...! You really did lose your marbles!"

"We don't have a choice – I'll stay here and protect the civilians while you go and get help from True Cross…get Mephisto… anyone."

"You're friggin' bleeding all over!"

Yukio wrapped his wound tightly; the pressure further creating pinches of sharp pains that seeped up his arm. He wasn't looking at Shura, rather, his eyes were fixed straight ahead… at the psychotic man on the ground.

"I can last," he nearly whispered.

The woman placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Fine, I still think you're nuts, though… Don't die on me, Wimpy."

Yukio nodded as she bolted from the room.

"Yukio – YUKIO! What on earth happened?...!" Kyodo yelled as the priests ran into the bedroom.

"We heard you shoot, but your colleague told us to stay outside."

"Don't worry," the Doctor stated calmly, "I just need to – "

"What are you talking about – YOUR ARM!," Izumi protested.

"I handled it. Everything's all under control… I'm fine."

Nagatomo was silent for a moment, searching for the words to say… Finally he spoke.

"What do you want us to do…?"

"We need to restrain this man as soon as possible. He's a spy… for whatever demon's responsible for the plague."

The clergymen glanced at each other with startled and worried faces. Yukio continued…

"He's threated to send the infected into the monastery."

"We know… Ms. Kirigakure warned us about the barrier."

"So you know we don't have much time."

Nagatomo nodded reluctantly, "We don't have rope to tie that man… But I can create another barrier to put around him. A small one… that would prevent him from moving."

"That sounds like enough."

The priest pulled out a piece of chalk from his pocket and kneeled down. As he drew the magic circle, Yukio noticed something. Nagatomo made a conscience effort not to look at the stain of Father Fujimoto's blood on the ground… all the clergymen did, actually.

For some irrational, reason, this filled the young man with a fiery rage. His foster father was dead – why couldn't they accept that? Why couldn't they acknowledge what happened? Yukio did – he forced himself to everyday! What made them deserve the luxury of denial?

The doctor clenched his fists until they were paper white, his teeth gritted until it seemed like they would all crack. These men… he hated them… he HATED them! Immediately after the thought, Yukio's anger was replaced by fear.

W…what was that?

How could I think such a thing?

Yes…true, Father Fujimoto was the one that raised me… but these men… they're part of my childhood as well...

They too are like family…

So WHY - ?

"I'm finished, let's place the body on here now."

The doctor snapped back into reality and helped the others lift Sanguis. As they did so, he looked at Maurta.

"Ms. Kirigakure and I originally came here searching for a girl named Arisu L'Écarlate. Have you seen her?"

"Yes, your colleague asked about that a while ago. A young French lady was here, we found her mumbling nonsense to herself outside the monastery."

The memory of Isaac flashed in Yukio's mind –

'Needless to say she came home every night with gashes and bruises all over, muttering stupid sentences from ze corners of 'er mouth!'

They rested the unconscious man on the circle, hopefully preventing him from doing any harm.

"So… she's here, then?"

Maurta looked down sadly.

"Unfortunately, no… she ran out moments after this man broke in… "

'Now look, Meister Okumura, she iz gone due to zat foolishness.'

"I told you – I should've gone after her," Kyodo interrupted.

"Kyodo…," Izumi said carefully, "You would've died…and the rest of these people need your help."

The priest looked away with shame.

"I just can't stand the thought of a little girl out there by herself…"

"Don't blame yourself," the doctor stated coldly, "I's obvious the girl was unstable. Her actions could never have been anticipated."

"All the more reason to have looked out for her! Yukio, where is your heart?"

"In the GROUND with Father Fujimoto!"

Who said that?

Whose voice did that belong to?

It surely didn't belong to Yukio…right? He would never say anything so awful to his own family…

The expression on Kyodo's face was of shock and anger.

"How could you say something like that – about your own father?"

The other priests stood there hopelessly, unsure of what to do…

The young man didn't know what came over him… but he just couldn't stop, "At least I say something. All of you ignore his end, like it didn't mean anything – you left his damn blood on the floor."

Kyodo walked out of the room and Maurta went calling after him.

The rest were still silent, uneasy.

Suddenly, a voice emerged from the reticence.

"I'm heart broken by that conversation– truly heart broken."

The young man and priests whipped around to see Sanguis lying wide-eyed on his back, staring straight at the ceiling.

"No…," Yukio huffed, more exhausted than he realized, "No, you're not…."

He approached the man, pointing his gun.

"I've had enough of you… I want the truth… Now."

"…."

"…What do your leaders want with Rin and I? And what are they trying to accomplish with this plague?"

The stranger continued to stare, lost in his own mind.

"This so-called 'truth' you desire…" he eventually moaned, "It's nothing more than a hopeless fantasy."

The doctor gave a sharp response.

"I hardly believe that once you're taken into custody, you'll be treated with hospitality…. There's no saying what kind of torture the Vatican will put a wretch like you through… Perhaps killing you here would be merciful."

"I'd tell you…," Sanguis whispered as he looked at Yukio, shaking his head with a false pity,"…but you don't want to hear it."

"Why did you inject yourself with my blood?"

"…."

"Tell me…"

"…"

"TELL ME!"

Once again, the madman gave a whimsical grin – ecstatic at the sight of the doctor's loss of composure.

"Why don't you look for the monster under your bed? The one daddy tried so hard to scare away?"

"AAAARRGG!"

Yukio fired at the man, but the bullets ricocheted of his prison.

'TSK – How could I've forgotten?...! A magic barrier like this keeps forces from leaving or entering….'

'He knew this too – no wonder that man never batted an eye the sight of my weapon…. This Sanguis is much smarter than I thought.'

'Which means…. There might be some relevance to what he says… I just need to look harder.'

"Go on…" the stranger cooed, "Go on – and prove how strong you are."

"Alright, " Yukio responded calmly, removing the helmet of his suit and approaching the bunk beds.

"Yukio…" Izumi stumbled, "Are you sure you should be…. doing that? I mean this man is…."

But the young man did not listen… instead he got on his stomach and crawled under the bedstead.

"He's lost it…" the priest mumbled to himself in disbelief.

The furniture's bottom was incredibly dusty. Yukio hacked on dirtied air as he left the candle's illumination behind. It was pitch black, so he yanked a flashlight out of the crevice of his unzipped suit. The young man didn't know what he was looking for. He jolted the light side-to-side, pushing away old boots and crumbled magazines Rin lost years ago.

When he was six, Yukio and his brother played tag all over the monastery. Rin was 'it' and the weak child was chased for hours. Big brother never got tired, see… and Yukio was nothing but tired. Eventually the boy stumbled into this very room. He stared at the bed, and pondered hiding underneath.

However, the thought was too scary.

So, instead little Yukio allowed himself to be caught.

"Ah – there! What's that?..."

"W-what?...! What did you find?...!"

The doctor spotted a marking on the floor. It was another magic circle… written in red… in blood.

A blood seal?

Here?

But why?

Yukio felt a burning sensation as he traced his fingers over the marks. In a sudden burst of determination, he dug his nailed in and began to rip up the floorboards. By tearing the ground, the young man reveled a hole filled with paper – the same type of paper he found in the photo album.

Shining his flashlight, he carefully examined the pages. Indeed, they too contained that bizarre scripture… only these were clearly studied by another expert in the past. Sentences were circled and notes were written in the margins. Yukio recognized that handwriting anywhere.

It belonged to Father Fujimoto.

The young man quickly placed the pages into his suit and zipped it closed. He wriggled out from underneath the bed and glared at Sanguis.

"How did you know – "

"I found it, of course!"

"….Alright…. Why did you so readily give me this piece of information?"

"Well, you're a man of many faces, Yukio! I thought you wanted me to give you information?"

"Yes, but you did so without a fight – when you knew I couldn't hurt you!"

The man shifted himself upward and sat cross-legged on the floor.

"I told you. I only do… what I do to get what I desire, and that is either BLOOOD or amusement."

"So this is all a game to you."

"Precisely."

"What's so amusing about leading me to my father's notes?"

" I no longer desire to hunt you, Yukio Okumura. Your blood is not what I desire….no…..not potent enough… I'll just have to find your brother for that."

"WHAT – "

"But I do like how your mind works… It's like a roller coaster – up and down – up and down – you're lost, you're found – you're calm – you're losing your mind – it's all quite fun actually."

It was obvious that this man wasn't loyal to those he worked for…. He only stayed because the Goddess and the Dollmaker gave him something 'interesting' or 'fun' to do.

So… they must only use him because he's powerful.

And now he has his sights set on Rin…

"Don't worry…," Maurta staggered, "He can't do anything as long as he's here."

"No… He can." Yukio murmured and stared at Sanguis, "Can't you….? You're just waiting for the right moment to escape."

Sanguis smiled gleefully.

"I was waiting for those words."