Note: Very, very, VERY special thanks to Falchion1984 for pointing out all my idiocy. I got myself Grammarly and here's hoping that things will be smoother. I've gone and edited the past chapters, but I'll admit that even then, I may have possibly missed something, so if you see anything from here on (and maybe back if you want to) I missed, let me know.

As for the ship, the same puzzle's going to be here, yet it'll be a bit different to better space it out, as all six are here.

Ghostly Game

"Game?" Duran asked. "The hell are you talking about?"

Though he couldn't see it, he could imagine that the unseen speaker was smirking. "The game, boy." the voice said. "A game I play with all the newcomers on my humble ship." the unseen phantom's words projected to all three groups. "All through...wait a moment. A few adjustments need to be made."

Suddenly, a specter appeared behind Angela, she ducking and immediately casting Holy Bolt on it. Then another appeared, then another and another. Duran found himself feeling quite useless at the moment, the swings of his sword doing nothing to these ghostly figures. Just then, a long tail seized him, pinning his arms to his sides and whirling him around to face the balloon-shaped spirit. Then, the hand emerged from its gaping mouth and plunged into his chest.

"Duran-ah!" taking advantage of the moment of distraction, another specter had struck Angela through her back, the journey a bit more difficult than if it had penetrated her chest, yet it could make it to its destination all the same.

Duran struggled, yet found the chilling pain near unbearable, rendering him only able to focus on the wispy hand plunging into him. "Oh, no you don't!" Faerie cried out, a glow emerging from the soldier's chest. The specter began to tremble, its hand slowly being forced to retreat. It still tried to grasp and grab at the human's chest, yet whatever was inside, it was too heavy. Finally, it was forced to withdraw and release him, Duran falling to the floor.

"Angela!" he went over to the magician, the specter assaulting her having finally backed off, disappearing from view.

The voice then spoke again. "Finally, everyone's on an equal playing field." and while he couldn't see it, Duran felt a pair of eyes on him. "Well, almost everyone." a looming presence fell over him. "It seems the 'seventh' guest aboard is a little 'attached' to you. Instead of one, there are two that must be taken. And combined, they're too heavy and inseparable."

"What?" Duran asked. "What are you even saying? You're making no sense!"

"Essentially, our souls are linked," Faerie said, emerging from Duran, seeing no point in hiding anymore. "It's a perk that comes with my bonding to you. Looks like it's a good thing you picked me up, huh?" though before Duran could answer, the voice spoke again.

"Nevertheless, I've been itching to start this all night, so let's get this show on the road! But first, a small explanation of the rules." the three separated groups listened, seeing as there was little else they could do. "It's simple, really. Catered to mortals, such as yourselves." he paused a moment to chuckle, clearly holding back excitement. "On each floor of this ship is a way to travel upward. In particular rooms, you'll find books that need to be shelved. Once put in their proper places, the way to the upper floor shall be opened to you. Make it up to the deck, and you win."

Hawkeye crossed his arms. "I'm waiting for it."

"But," the voice began.

"Called it."

"You shall not simply be told which book is the right one. Thus, you must choose carefully."

"Wait a minute!" Kevin shouted from the third floor. "How are we supposed to know, well, anything about which book might be right? Don't we get a hint or something?"

The voice seemed pleased at the beastman's distress. "Of course! I would not leave you with nothing! That'd just be unfair! Yet it won't be spelled out for you. You all look like smart little boys and girls though. I'm sure you'll figure it out just fine! And furthermore, none of the specters are allowed to harm you while you search. The only danger is what you do to each other." its tone then grew dark. "But don't dawdle, for I may have forever, but you don't. Or, perhaps you do…or will. After all, the most likely outcome is that you shall become acquainted with the other passengers of this fine vessel. Fine people they are. Some young, some old, yet ultimately, all going nowhere…"

Angela raised a brow. "And...what if we just don't feel like playing?"

"Then you can just sit there and wait for time to run out." Suddenly, her chest felt constricted, her lungs burning like one of Koren's fireballs It felt as if unseen hands were choking her, though she could breathe fine. The sensation was coming from somewhere within. She sank to her knees, Duran coming over to her. "Oh, I forgot to mention...aside from your boyfriend there, I have marked all of your souls."

"You what?" Duran asked. "You can't just say this stuff! You have to explain it!"

"He means that he has possession of your souls." Faerie explained. She then gestured to Angela's neck, Duran placing his thumb on her throat and realizing, both to his and her horror, that the princess didn't have a pulse. "As of now, none of you can leave the ship. Not unless he wills it."

"But...does that mean I...we're…" Angela stammered, growing panicked.

"No, dear. You're not dead. You're more...teetering on the edge of it." the voice said. "Your bodies have stopped functioning, yet your souls still remain inside you. But with that, as you know, flesh tends to rot and decompose not long after the heart stops beating."

Riesz contemplated all of this, weighing their options. Ultimately, it seemed that there was no other way. "Should we win this 'game' of yours," she asked. "What is the reward?"

"The reward?" the voice asked as if it didn't know. "Ah, yes! Of course! I lose claims to your souls, and your bodies will be up and running again, blood pumping through your veins, and back to your normal selves! That is if you find your way up to deck in time." Suddenly, ghostly glows formed over all of their chests (save for Duran), a slowly draining hourglass in the ghostly blue hue. Some, like Kevin, Charlotte, and Angela, tried to wipe or shake it off, yet found their hands only phasing through it. "You all have one hour. Make well use of your time. Or don't. I'm always in the mood for more company." and with a sinister chuckle, the voice faded away, leaving each couple on each floor in silence once again.

Bottom Floor

"For the Queen and Little Prince," the voice spoke a moment later. "I was written in life, but I now lie in the dust. Red I once was, now the color of rust."

That was their only clue, the two set off not long after they received it.

It was childish, she knew, yet Riesz couldn't help but feel trepidation as she made her way down the silent, still hallway of rotting wood and darkness, the 'hourglasses' that had formed on her and Kevin's chests being their only source of light in the whole place.

"Books...books…" Kevin said to himself, golden eyes looking all over. While the glow from his 'timer' provided illumination the beastman's heightened senses allowed for him to better perceive the world around him in comparison to the amazon traveling with him. "Where would books be, do you think?"

"I'm not sure," Riesz admitted. Indeed, a 'book' could be anywhere: by the dresser of a rotted out, soaked, algae-covered mattress, on one of the shelves that lay in some of the rooms, just laying on the floor or stuffed under one of the planks under their feet, anywhere. All of these possibilities had to be accounted for, thus, both of them were looking around without much sense of direction. "Our host hasn't given us much to go off on."

"Well...at least he let you get dressed before 'officially' starting," Kevin said, trying to find some way to ease the tension.

Riesz gave a small huff, not directed at the beastman, yet rather for her situation. When the attack happened, neither she, Hawkeye, Kevin, or Charlotte had changed out of their nightwear. And, as 'humorous' as the voice said it would've been to force them to 'play' like that it 'generously' allowed them a few more moments to slip into more proper garb. Duran and Angela didn't get this luxury though, having to start early to 'make up for the 'handicap' they placed on everyone else.

"I should've asked for a map instead of a few moments to change." the blonde murmured to herself. Though after a moment, images of a nearly undressed Kevin flashed in her mind. Then of Hawkeye. 'Oh Goddess, please…no.' it took her a bit to force out the last part in her thoughts.

"Riesz, are you ok?"

"Y-Yes." she sputtered. "I apologize." she cleared her throat. "Perhaps it'd be best if we start looking for rooms with shelves or dressers in them." she mentioned. "Although…" she paused, looking at the number of doors around them. "I wonder if it'll be wise to split up."

"Hey, that's no problem," Kevin said. "I was actually kinda worried about leaving you behind. I mean, well, your eyes can't see as well as mine."

"I believe I'll be fine," she assured him. "Besides, I believe this will suffice." she gestured to her 'timer'. She didn't want to give her host any credit, yet there was one upside the timer to her doom provided.

Both amazon and beastman separated, going in parallel directions and entering each and every room that was down that side of the hall. Sure, there were shelves and dressers, and with that, books, but there was no such book that needed to be shelved, all of them surprisingly kept up neat and well despite the decay of everything else. Still, there was no sign of any misplaced or discarded book.

Not until Riesz heard Kevin's voice. "Hey! I found something!"

She quickly made her way to where he was, being a few rooms ahead of her, and found him holding a book with a red cover, crude lettering carved into the cover's surface. Or perhaps that was just how it was labeled, the marks looking as if they were made from claws being raked across the material.

"Book...of...Blood." Kevin read, feeling along the book's surface. "What was the clue again?" he asked Riesz.

"I was written in life, but I now lie in the dust. Red I once was, now the color of rust," she repeated the voice's words. Then she looked at the book's 'title'. "Blood…" she pondered aloud. "Written in life...that could mean a million things."

"Or maybe it was written in 'life'?" Kevin suggested. "As in, 'life blood'?" he was just going off his own experiences, yet whenever he or his fellow beastmen had killed, there was a saying. 'Spill and tear, yet take no more life than needed'. And since a young age, while 'life' meant much, such as breathing and generally having a functioning body, they ceased their kills when there was no more blood to be spilled, ensuring that the prey was surely dead, arteries severed, and/or choked of life.

"Well...yes, that could be," Riesz answered, running a finger over the cover and looking at the collection of grey particles on it. "At least the 'lie in the dust' fits it well." Yet the same could perhaps be said for all the other books as well. Still, what did 'red I once was, now the color of rust' mean?

Just then, Kevin opened the book, seeing the calligraphy inside, the color brown and dull, and from what he could tell, was smudged in various places. It was then that both he and Riesz realized that it looked as if it had all been written not in ink, but blood. Written in life...and was once red, now the color of rust. It all made sense now!

"Where does this go?" Kevin then asked, Riesz unsure, yet there were shelves in the room with several other books, and one open space waiting to be filled.

Going over, the beastman and amazon watched as Kevin's tanned hand slid the book into the empty slot, pushing until he could push no more. Just then, a loud 'BANG!' was heard, as if something was being broken into. Daresay, it sounded as if someone had just kicked down a door with immeasurable force.

"I suppose that's our cue to look for the exit," Riesz suggested, she and Kevin making their way away from the shelves-

SLAM!

When the door shut on them.

"What the-" Kevin began, yet got no further as the book fell from the shelf it had been placed on, opening and flipping through the pages rapidly.

Riesz and the beastman looked on as the pages kept turning and turning, white soon turning into red, red droplets being flung off due to the rapid movement. Some droplets made contact with the two, they realizing that, upon touching it, what it actually was. Then, the book finally stopped, open with an even amount of pages on each side.

They both saw a short sentence written. 'Here is the blood split by those before you.'

Then, the calligraphy began to lose its form and liquify, dripping off the page and seeping out on the floor, a puddle of red forming and steadily growing bigger and bigger as more and more blood poured out from the text. The blood washed over Riesz's and Kevin's feet, all the while the two were trying to exit the room, their attempts ranging from prying to trying to break down the door.

It was then, that during this, they both heard a gurgle.

Turning around, they saw the blood begin to retreat and somewhat solidify, though only just enough. The blood transformed into multiple forms of slimy red, dark, sunken in eyes forming with misshapen mouths. One reached out and grazed Kevin on the arm, the 'skin' of the creature feeling acidic and burning when it made contact.

"What ARE these things?!" the beastman questioned aloud, even if he knew Riesz wouldn't have an answer.

"But...but this makes no sense!" the amazon shouted, holding her spear up. "He….they...that voice said that we wouldn't be harmed!"

Yet she realized, no. No, it didn't.

'None of the specters are allowed to harm you while you search.' and whatever these creatures were, they certainly weren't specters. 'The only danger is what you do to each other.' she remembered the voice saying. 'You do to each other…'

'Opening a book...you do to each other...putting yourselves in danger…' Riesz lamented on what a fool she had been, the creatures coming closer.

Lower Deck

'It comes for all, at dusk or dawn. These are the names that didn't last long.'

Hawkeye stopped for a moment to think about the riddle. It was vague, obviously (and that was probably the point), yet if it was a book for sure, then it had to be some sort of magical text of some kind.

"No books hewe." Charlotte said, peering into yet another room. She then groaned. "This is bowing." this wasn't a game, it was a needless search for what basically seemed to be a needle in a haystack. And all the hay was wet and rotten. She then noticed the thief seemingly contemplating something. "What's up?"

"Kinda strange that there hasn't been any sign of anything." Hawkeye mused. "That...well, whoever it is, said that those ghosts wouldn't bug us." he then looked around. "But there was no mention of anything else."

"He doesn't seem wike the type of guy to honow his pwomises." she said. Well, assuming the owner of the voice was a 'he'. Suddenly, a loud, ghostly creak echoed throughout the area, the blonde immediately getting a deathly cold chill. "Uh…" she scooted over next to the larger Hawkeye. "Gee, it's gotten kinda cowd in hewe…" she said, shivering. "N-Not that I'm scawed or anything."

"You want me to hold your hand?" Charlotte huffed and puffed out her cheeks. "Hey, I'm only teasing." the thief said.

"I'm a big giwl." the blonde declared, puffing out her chest. "I can wook fow that book all by mysewf if I want!" she then began to march forward with her head held up high. "EEK!" only to immediately shrink back down when another creak came, quickly rushing and clasping onto Hawkeye for dear life. "But...two paiws of eyes wooking awe bettew than one."

He was tempted to say something, yet ultimately decided against it. On Hawkeye and Charlotte went, looking for any book off a shelf or perhaps laying under the floorboards, wherever a small object could easily be stuffed or hidden away.

"Uh, Charlotte?" the thief said. "Not saying you can't or anything, but you're kinda cutting off circulation to my leg."

The blonde looked down at her hands, having clasped onto Hawkeye's pants leg so tightly that his limb began to feel stiff. "Oh." she released it. "Sowwy." she then shook her head. "No, I-I mean, sor...sorw…" she scrunched up her face, trying to sound out what she wished to, yet her tongue seemed to refuse to cooperate with her.

"Hey, it's fine," Hawkeye told her. "Don't strain yourself."

"No. I can do it!" Charlotte declared. "I can! I just...need to…" she bit her lip, her tongue curling and twisting. "Sow...sor...sorrrrwwwy, no!" she growled. "...oh, shit." she huffed, folding her arms in frustration.

Hawkeye was rather shocked to hear such a word come out of her. "Shouldn't a girl your age have a more refined vocabulary?"

"I'm fifteen!" the blonde shouted, yet then tugged on her hat. "Wook...grrr. No. I'm sowwy. No, I mean, I'm...sorw...sowrrrr….ugh! I can't do it!" she shouted, kicking at a wall, her booted foot tearing right through it. She tried to get it out but found herself stuck. "Uh...a wittwe hewp, pwease?"

Hawkeye obliged, dislodging her from the hole. "Blow off enough steam?" he asked.

Charlotte sighed. "Not weawwy." she cursed her speech pattern. "I...I hate being twapped in this tiny wittwe body!" she pulled at her clothes. "Evewyone at home tweats me wike a kid! I'm dwessed wike a kid, I'm showt wike a kid, and...and I can't…" her tongue began doing gymnastics again. "Ugh! I can't even tawk wight eithew!" she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "I wanna...I wanna wook wike my age," she said. "And if I can't...then I at weast wanna be tweated wike it." she then slumped. "Nobody does though. Not gwandpa, nobody in the tempwe, not Mick...not even Heath."

"ou feel like you're being belittled." Seeing Charlotte's perplexity, he amended "Treated like less than what you are.

Charlotte looked at Hawkeye, shocked at what she heard. "No! They...they don't tweat me bad or anything. It's just…" she then sighed again. "It's nothing. Nothing you'd prwobawy get. You WOOK wike you'we supposed to."

Hawkeye was about to speak, yet before he could get words in, both he and Charlotte heard some sort of voice speaking. A voice that was different from the one that had forced them to play this little 'game'. They looked at each other as if to confirm they were hearing the same thing, then back in the direction the voice was coming from. It was low and deep, yet, curiously, they could not tell if the voice was male or female. As they traveled down the hall, the voice grew louder and louder, seemingly drawing in its pursuers as they made their way forward. They went further and further, drawing closer and closer until finally, behind a closed, rotted door, they heard a voice coming from inside.

Stepping in front of her, Hawkeye was about to open the door, yet Charlotte pushed it open instead, looking up to him with a determined expression as if to say 'I'm not scared.'.

Both looked inside and saw a violet-covered book sitting on the table, the pages flipping back and forth on their own, the voice appearing to come from within the text itself. The words and phrases emitting from it seemed to mean nothing, sounding mostly like gibberish. Though it sounded anything but humorous, even if neither understood it, both Hawkeye and Charlotte could tell that these words meant nothing good.

"These…" Charlotte said, feeling the energy radiating off of the book. "These awe…"

It was long ago, a few years before she had first had the vision that led her to try and save Heath, yet upon hearing those words, the blonde remembered something she heard once. She had wished to see the sunset from high above in the bell tower, so she went up that particular day, only to see that someone was already there, knelt down on the ground and had a flower pot with him, a wilded, very dead flower inside.

"Heath?" she whispered, hiding and not wishing to be seen. Yet she listened in, hearing the young priest recite chants over and over again. Just what was he doing? Better yet, why did he feel the need to hide it?

He looked around, searching for someone as he heard a small breath, but upon seeing no one, the young priest went back to his chanting. He positioned his hands over the flower and strange energy in the shape of wisps emerged from his palms, which began 'wrapping' onto the wilted plant and began to glow. Heath concentrated, pouring his energy into the plant, yet it seemed that after a while, he was beginning to struggle, wincing as if he were in pain. Still, he persisted, going all-in with whatever spell he was casting. Then, finally, he could do it no more, a collection of magic sending him flying back.

"Heath!" Charlotte couldn't stay hidden anymore, rushing to the priest's side. "Heath, awe you ok?! What was that?!"

Heath didn't answer her, only looking up to see the pot had smashed, yet planted in the dirt was the flower, blooming as if it had just blossomed moments ago. "I...I did it." he breathed out, going over to the plant and feeling its petals, stem, and leaves. "I did it!" he then realized just who was with him. He turned around and took Charlotte by the shoulders. "Charlotte," he said calmly, yet she could tell he was nervous. "I need to ask you for a favor." he told her.

"Heath? What did you just do?"

"Please, Charlotte." he told her, she was surprised by him begging.

"S-Suwe." she said, Heath was beginning to scare her.

"Don't tell your grandfather...don't tell ANYONE about this." he then stood up. "I've got to clean this up." before he left, he turned back to her. "Please, wait here in case anyone comes up here."

"Heath, wait-" the blonde called, yet the priest rushed off, leaving the girl alone.

She looked back to the flower, noting how full of life it was. Yet...the energy she felt radiating off of it didn't feel like a simple healing spell. No, this was different magic. Magic that had left her with an unsure feeling in her gut. Whatever it was...it definitely wasn't any magic she felt safe around.

"Charlotte?" Hawkeye asked, seeing how intensely the girl looked upon the book. She then rushed forward and closed the book.

The chanting's volume was lowered, yet the voice still continued to recite and say similar phrases she had heard come from Heath's mouth. The book began to vibrate and shake violently, fighting against the girl's hold. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't hold it forever, the book opening and a violet beam shot forth all over the room, hitting various places and breaking through the floorboards and walls. Hawkeye grabbed Charlotte and ducked down to the floor to avoid the beams, they continued on and on until finally, at long last, they stopped, the book then falling to the floor.

The two youths lifted themselves up, seeing, to their horror, a grisly sight. Bodies. Decaying forms of flesh and boney remains trapped behind the walls, men and women...and Charlotte couldn't even bring herself to look at the skeletons around her size trapped with them.

Then, the voice began again, only this time, it seemed to be chanting names instead of gibberish. Names such as Michaels, Matildas, Gareths, Cecils, all sorts of titles. It went by so fast that Charlotte and Hawkeye only caught a few of them. Then, on the last page, there was a saying seen when the reading stopped.

'These are the troubled souls that once traveled aboard this vessel.'

Then, one of the rotten forms began to move. A hand slowly outstretched itself, then a leg stepped forward, coming out from its burial shelf and it then looked towards the still living youths. More and more zombified figures emerged from the walls, all available eyes, some in pairs, some not, looking at them. Even those that had no eyes seemed to look upon them and they all collectively had one thing in mind.

Food.

Orlop Deck

WHAM!

Another door was kicked off its hinges, Duran and Angela looking inside to find no sign of a book. "Damn." the soldier cursed. "Nothing in here either."

"Well, by the way, you're kicking everything down, I'd imagine that whatever may be in the other rooms is hiding by now." Angela chuckled. True, the voice had promised that none of those ghosts would be giving them trouble, yet given that the owner of the said voice had fed them rotting food and was holding their souls captive unless they played its 'game', she wasn't exactly trusting of anything it had to say.

'Spells and tricks, free to try. Choose wrong, then you'll surely die.'

"You could help a bit, you know." Duran noted.

"No, I think you're kicking down doors just fine," she replied. "Besides, I AM helping. You break it down, I look inside." and as if to demonstrate, she peered inside the room. "See? Nothing here." she then gestured to the other doors around them. "Proceed."

Duran was left bewildered. "Uh, yeah. No. Not unless you kick in your fair share of doors."

"Hey, I've been stepping around in sludge and rot all night! I'm not about to damage these boots anymore."

"So have I." Duran protested. And given how many doors he already kicked in, he wouldn't have been surprised if some splinters had gotten through his boot and lodged in his skin. "Just blow the doors down or something!"

"Oh no," Angela said. "I am NOT going through that again!"

By 'again', Angela referred to a short time ago after she'd had the chance to process the implications of discovering the dining room on the ship. And, the chance to come to grips with the fact that her stomach had been filled with what was essentially a cocktail of maggots and mold, though the illusion of the fine meal it had looked like lingered on her tongue. Even if her tastebuds told her that it was savory meat and fresh produce, she knew the truth. Thus, she proceeded to 'give it all up' then and there, kneeling down on the floor and expelling seemingly every single thing that resided in her stomach. At least, that's what Duran and Angela believed. A few more steps later, she vomited again. A few more steps, again. Purged. Another few steps. Hurled. Another. Puked. This pattern continued for some time, yet slowly, spans in between vomiting sessions grew longer and longer. And as of now, it had been only a good few yards since Angela had lost what little else she had in her gut. And while she was now able to keep herself stable, she wasn't about to risk another 'hurl spell' coming on.

"It's been a while! You probably don't have anything in there anyway!" Duran told her, poking her in the stomach. It was right then and there that he realized his mistake, Angela's face contorting, cheeks growing large and eyes bulging.

He immediately backed up, his back hitting the door and it was knocked off its hinges. But he wasn't out of trouble yet. Angela was still heaving and he rolled out of the way, hiding behind a wall. After a bit, he peeked out, seeing Angela taking in deep breaths, mouth open and seemingly about to hurl again,

"Oh, look! The book!"

He turned and indeed, saw a book on an old, moldy bed. Entering, Angela looked around, noting that there was a shelf here, yet there was also a wooden chest in the western corner of the wall. She reached for it, yet Duran stopped her, drawing his sword and poking at the cover. Nothing happened, but still, she looked at him.

"Oh. Thanks for that." she said.

"Well...hey, nothing around her seems safe," Duran explained, feeling some heat come to his cheeks. "Besides, this counts as that favor I owe you."

"Oh, yes. Thank you for reminding me." Angela said, then thought for a moment. "Hmm...no. I didn't ask for it, so it doesn't count."

"What?!"

"Shh. I'm trying to read this." Angela said, seeing as the book wasn't dangerous. She was surprised to see that what lay inside wasn't new to her, as it was a spellbook. Various charms and spells were before her, mostly simple ones. None she had been able to do, but which she studied, for after all, if she couldn't perform these, then she'd never get any higher. At least, that's what Jose said to her all the time. "Well...jokes on you, old geezer. I've moved WAY past all this crap."

She was feeling quite proud of herself, yet at the same time, the princess couldn't help but wonder about her teacher. And Victor. And...and…

"What's wrong?" Duran asked.

"I would hate to have to bring it up," Faerie popped out. "But you're technically being timed, so…"

Angela realized, looking at her 'clock'. "Oh, sorry. Got a little distracted."

"By what?" Duran questioned, Angela, going silent for a moment.

"...what would Mother say if she saw me now." she answered quietly. "Would she regret it? You know, having me be…" she paused, biting her lip. Even now, she still felt the sting of where her mother's hand met her cheek.

"...I wouldn't count on it." she heard a voice quietly said, turning around to face the soldier.

"What was that?" she looked at him, eyes wide.

Shit, had she heard him? Judging from her expression, she had, and it also looked like she wouldn't let him go unless he repeated himself. "Angela," he tried to ease himself into this. "You seem to think your mother's a good woman, right?"

Angela thought for a moment. "Well...I don't know about 'good'. But…" she then saw where he was going with this. "But the attack on Valsena was Koren's idea! And me being sacrificed was too!"

"But your mother was still willing to go through with it." Duran retorted. "Would a 'good' woman do that? Hell, would a halfway decent woman do that?"

Angela stiffened, placing the book on the shelf before she spoke again. "I...no." she shook her head. "No. You're wrong," she said. "You're wrong about her." she scrambled to form an argument. "Y-Your King...no, the Elements, they said that she was a shy, quiet woman! They wouldn't have helped her if she were evil!"

"And that was before she invaded Valsena." Duran rebutted. "And before she set you up to be the sacrifice for the Mana Stone."

Angela began to tremble. "Sh-Shut up." she stammered, feeling tears beginning to prick at her ducts. "You...you're wrong." neither she nor Duran noticed the book had fallen off the shelf. "You're wrong!"

"Angela, I'm not meaning this in a way that-"

"No, I know EXACTLY what you mean!" the princess interrupted. "You think my mother is an evil woman! Well, you're wrong! She...she's one of the heroes that fought in the Peddan War!"

"So was Gauser, King of the Beastmen, and look what he's doing now." Duran countered. "Angela, I'm not telling you this because I want to-"

"Then why are you saying it at all?!" Angela shouted, not realizing that the book had opened and the pages were flipping on their own. "Koren...Koren's got her under some spell! Ever since he came back from…wherever he went, he's been different. And, mother changed just after, so he must've done something to her! He must have! And if he's not responsible for this? Then...then someone else is!"

'Keep telling yourself that.' Koren's voice echoed in her head. 'Be in denial.'

Angela flinched. "N-No." she looked away from the soldier, hiding her face. "She...she loves me. She has to." she whimpered. "Mothers...mothers are supposed to love their daughters. She…"

'She doesn't.'

Duran immediately regretted bringing anything up. He was just trying to rid Angela of any unobtainable expectations! Couldn't she see that Queen Valda was at the head of everything? Koren couldn't have done what he had if the Queen didn't give him permission to do so! And even if Koren WAS the one pulling the strings (a possibility Duran could see happening), the Queen was still accountable for what happened if she was complicit!

If she was complacent...if...was it possible that…

"Huh?" both of them were brought from focusing on each other and in the direction of where the chest laid.

Only now, it had changed.

It was no longer made of wood and bore a green surface emblazoned with golden linings and patterns, two horns of gold protruding from the sides and on the front and back of the lid and red extensions were present as well on the edge of the lid, fiery and red. Both Duran and Angela were confused, yet as soon as Duran took a step forward, the chest had opened its concealed eyes, the red extensions revealing themselves to be 'eyebrows' of sorts. It opened itself and displayed ivory, sharpened teeth of bone, and the inside looked as if it were a mouth, a long tongue lolling as the creature eyed the two humans hungrily.

Both of them were rather scrawny, but maybe its appetite would be sated if it ate them both at once.

Note: In case anyone's confused, Riesz and Kevin got the Blood Book, Hawkeye and Charlotte got the Death Diary, and Duran and Angela got the Curse Column. The 2nd part of how the group deals with these obstacles will come next time.

Again, BIG thanks to Falchion1984 for going through so much trouble! I won't lie that I would love to get a TV Tropes page on something I've written, and I'll admit that I have a good feeling about this one. Please forgive me if that sounds arrogant. Any errors you see here or in past chapters, please alert me.

Thank you for reading!