Kariya expected to wake up back at his father's workshop, to be surrounded by his familiars and be mocked of how much of a failure he was.

He did not expect to wake up in a gothic looking clinic.

He looked around to see only one person in the clinic with him, busy inspecting various blood vials and tools. She was humming a little tune to herself as she cleaned the various tools of her clinic.

Looking around and feeling his body not be bound to the bed, he tried to leave the bed and leave the room. He could still feel his connection with Berserker but couldn't call him at the moment. Maybe something about the clinic made it impossible for him to call Berserker.

Slowly navigating his feet off the bed, he made sure to keep his eyes on the other person in the room so that he could react fast enough if she decided to turn her head around. However, his focus on her had severely hindered his peripheral sight.

And he would pay of it by his foot loudly smacking into a metal bed frame, its ringing as clear as day.

Kariya swore as the woman dropped whatever she was working on and zeroed on noisemaker. Stealth was thrown out the window as he begun scrambling out of the bed and make a beeline for the door. His legs, unfortunately, were still weak from his self-sacrificing back at the alley way so he flopped onto the floor with a thud.

"Oh dear," The white clad woman said before kneeling down to help him. The wounded master flinched as the hand came closer to him, he closed his eyes fully expecting to get hurt. Imagine to his surprise when a soft hand caressed his cheek, the side that held the extent of his damage by his crest worms. Her soft hands eased any pain that he had felt as he looked up at this angel.

"You must be so confused and scared right now but don't worry. I, Iosefka, promise to nurse you back to health." Her soft voice was so angelic that he allowed her to lead her back into the bed as she eased him back in. "You should rest now, the time for questions and answers can come later," She assured him as the door opened up.

"Miss Iosefka!," Two children yelled before running at the doctor. Giggling she knelt down with her arms open wide as she caught the two children in a massive embrace. She peppered the kids with kisses as they laughed in her arms.

"Now what are my two favorite children doing here?" She asked.

The one on her right, who seemed older than the one on the left, responded. "We got bored so we wanted to visit you!" The girl on the her left nodded in agreement.

"Hmm and what of your father and mother? I'm sure Gascoigne and Viola would be worried sick right now."

This time the youngest answered. "Nope, papa's helping Mister Logarius at the Clocktower while mama was invited by Miss Maria for a tea party with the other ladies."

As the three ladies talked, Kariya squirmed in his bed as felt out of place. He wondered if he could get some sleep until the eldest child noticed him. "Oh, you're the mister that saved us in the alleyway!"

Quickly putting down the children, Iosefka gave the children a stern teaching. "You two were out while the hunt was still going on, what if you got hurt or worse!?"

"I mean mister Brador wouldn't have hurt us," The youngest protested.

"And if he didn't recognize you? You know that Brador tends to forget faces when he gets into a fight. What then!?" She put a hand on her hip as she expected some sort of reasoning for their actions.

Realizing now that their actions weren't the safest thing to do and feeling guilty about it, they apologized. "W-w-were s-s-sorry!" They both bawled out before running back into Iosefka's arms, who soothingly rubbed circles on their backs to calm them down. "Shhh..it's alright now. As long as you promise not to do this every again."

Both girls nodded as another woman entered the room. "Oh, that's where you guys ran off to."

"Miss Arianna!" Their little moment was forgotten as they once more ran into another familiar figure. Chuckling she patted the heads of the two girls as they hugged the hem of her dress. "Now, now we can't have you ruining this dress before our little tea party."

Realization dawned on both girls as they realized what was happening. "You don't mean!" They said excitedly.

Arianna nodded at their guesses. "Yes, Lady Maria has invited both of you to the tea party. After all, as future ladies of Cainhurst, one should familiarize themselves in our customs." She patted down her dress before addressing Iosefka. "Now dear Iosefka a favor if you would. These two need the appropriate dresses for the party so could fetch them some dresses. I have something to do with our dear guest."

Nodding Iosefka took both of the girls' hands before leaving the room, not without a goodbye from the children.

"Bye mister!" They said before leaving the two alone in the room.

"So, you are the guest that has Caster's interest piqued." She said as she moved closer to him. As she got Kariya took note of how beautiful she was. Refined features that lend credence to the fact that she seemed to be some figure of nobility. "I-I guess," He lamely said as she stopped at the side of his bed.

"Hmm not bad," She said she inspected him, huh what was she talking about...! His inner thoughts were cut short as she placed herself on his lap, a small smile on her face as she leaned closer. "W-what," He stammered out before she placed a finger on his lips, silencing him. "You're not bad yourself," She whispered as her hands roamed his body.

Kariya could smell the faint smell of strawberry on her body, it smelled exquisite on her. Somewhere in the back of his mind Kariya knew that this was wrong but as the women drew in closer, her lips almost meeting with his, he didn't care anymore.

"Kariya?" A little memory played out in his mind as he saw her back at their favorite ice cream shop. Even if she was dressed in casual clothes, she was still as beautiful as always.

"No!" He yelled as in a final moment of clarity as he pushed Arianna away and turned his head away.

Arianna looked at him before getting off the bed and straightening her dress. "It seems that you truly are worthy of interest right Caster?" She called out knowingly as the door opened as Caster walked in to Kariya's shock.

"Thank you Arianna for fulfilling my request," Caster thanked as he walked in.

"Anything for you old friend, now if you can excuse me; I have a tea party to attend to," She said before leaving the room.

"Come Kariya Matou, walk with me for we have much to discuss." Unable to refuse his request, lest he get on his bad side, he stood up from the bed and walked with Caster across the Ryuuduo Temple.

As they walked around the temple, Kariya felt awkward as they passed any Choir members for once they realized that Caster was in their presence, they reverently bowed to him. Just walking a foot away from him they would also bow to him too, such treatment had him highly uncomfortable.

"You must be wondering why you're here beside me and not six feet under?" Caster asked as they were walking down an empty hallway.

"Uh yeah," He said not knowing what else to say.

"Well I'll get right to the point." He turned around and looked the crippled master dead in the eye. "I want to help you rescue Sakura."

"Yeah no, like I'd join forces with... Huh!" He shouted in surprise as Caster chuckled seeing his response. "W-Why?" He couldn't even fathom why he was offering for help.

"It's simple really, I wish to save a child from the living hell that your father has placed on her." He turned his gaze to the moon, reminiscing on the past. "I have failed two children already; I shall not fail a third." He softly said before walking forward and opening a door to the outside.

The pair walked out into the courtyard and were greeted by a group of hunters. This group was strange as they seemed to be plucked right of a civil war documentary. Wearing navy blue uniforms that were tailored exceptionally. Many of them were chatting between themselves until they begun to notice that their lord had arrived and placed their hand over their heart and thrusted their other hand high up into the air, a staff in hand.

"Leave it to Valtr to make an extravagant show," Caster muttered while he facepalmed at the show that he was being given. Kariya was similarly in a state of confusion by what the group was doing.

"Valtr where the hell are you!" He called out as Kariya looked in shock, Valtr was here!? The group had ceased their posing as a single hunter moved through the crowd. He wore the same blue navy outfit that his fellow hunters were wearing but what made him stand out was that he was wearing a strange iron helm that resembled a bucket almost with a single eye opening for the wearer to see.

"V-Valtr!?" Kariya called in shock at seeing how the friend he made in the convenience shop was currently dressed.

"Greetings! It is good to see you unharmed my dear friend," Shouted Valtr as he came closer. He enveloped the master in a tight hug before letting go and shaking the hands of Caster. "I was told that you needed my League for something?"

"You could say that my friend, I am need of some bugs to be exterminated." He looked knowingly at the League Master.

"Ah then there are vermin to get rid of," Kariya took a step back at the sheer malice in Valtr's otherwise cheery voice.

Kariya begun putting the pieces together by what the two were talking about. "Y-you don't mean..." He trailed off as Caster answered him.

"Zouken Matou has overstayed his welcome in the living world."

"B-but you can't! He's..." He didn't know if mentioning the fact that he was practically immortal. He feared that the help he was given would be taken away.

"Immortal? Such a thing cannot deter us from our holy crusade," A voice called out.

Turning their heads, they saw Ludwig the Holy Blade joining them on the courtyard. Dressed in his church garb and his Holy Moonlight Blade strapped to his back, he bowed in greeting.

"Forgive me milord for taking too long, I was searching for Marianne but it seems that she has disappeared."

"Worry not Ludwig, a certain wizard is at play here and I will confront him soon enough," He placed a hand on Ludwig's shoulder just as he was leaving. "I trust you can lead this mission?"

"Of course milord, an insect is nothing," Assured Ludwig.

"Then I leave it in your care," Caster waved as he walked back into the temple.

With Caster gone all attention shifted onto Kariya who begun looking around frantically. He was never one to have so much attention on him at once. "W-what!?"

"Well we are waiting for a leader to lead us into battle," Valtr simply said as the League behind him gave shouts and cheers.

"U-uh..." Kariya was left dumbfounded but could not ponder on it as he shouted in surprise as black mist began pooling next to him. With a howl, Berserker had arrived.

"You know what I'm done, let's go," He finished as he began walking out of the temple and back into the city, not waiting for any more surprises. His servant and the League close behind him.

He gazed up at the moon and clenched his fist over his heart as made sure to fulfill his promise to Sakura.

"I'm coming Sakura, just wait a little bit longer."

Meanwhile in the deeper confines of the Temple.

Sola-Ui woke up.

Blinking back into reality, she noticed that she was in a darkened room. Trying to move, she noticed that she was simply tied to a chair with a simple rope. Testing the strength, she noticed that the rope itself wasn't tied that well and by flexing her hand she could easily get out of her predicament.

"So, you're awake," A familiar voice called out as she looked up to see Irene looking at her in amusement. She could feel her anger boiling at the sight of her smirk and promised a world of pain when she got out of her chains.

"You awoke much faster than I anticipated but no matter, you can stay awake while I do my work," She dismissively said before turning her back to work on whatever she was working on before her prisoner had woken up.

"Your funeral," She thought before beginning to wriggle her hands free of the rope. It didn't take long for her to get free of the rope before she brought her hand up to begin a spell to fire out the back of her captor. She would vaporize the poor vixen for underestimating her!

"Did you really think that I wouldn't notice," Irene called out as horrible pain suddenly erupted with her. The pain was too much to handle as she let out a strangled cry before collapsing onto the floor. It felt like her body was being turned inside out.

"You must be really dumb to think I didn't do anything while you were asleep," Irene said as she knelt down in front of the writhing magus. She taunted her as she held up an empty syringe and pointed to her neck where she had given her a dose.

"Scre-e-w you!" She shouted in pain as the writhing became worse. She could feel her mouth pool with blood as it underwent a hideous transformation, her teeth feeling like they multiplied tenfold and her head felt like it was ballooning. Her arms begun stretching past the normal as flesh tore themselves past their limit as bone revealed themselves. For a moment she was no longer seeing through her two eyes bit through multiple eyes. Her screaming had slowly begun to turn into screeching.

"Oh? You're not turning into kin?" Irene knelt closer to see what she was turning into. A few seconds passed before she realized what she was turning into. "Ah you're turning into that thing!? Astounding! Out of all my experiments you were the only one to turn into this creature, you should feel honored." Praised the vixen.

"Well I don't want to stick by and have you going berserk so I'll take my leave, but don't worry!" She stood up and walked over to a record player and begun playing a tune that she loved to hear when she was alone. "I'm curious to see if your singing is like the rest of your kind or can it be influenced by other means?" She pondered before closing the door.

"H-h-help me," In her last vestiges of sanity, Sola-Ui reached out to anyone for help with her now transformed arm. "Diarmuid, Kayneth, anyone!" She pleaded as the pain got increasingly worse, her head now in this bulbous state with tendrils now coming out of it.

"P-please," She muttered one last time before the transformation completed as she lost herself to a wave of pain. In her last moments as Sola-Ui...

Faint singing was all she knew.

In the hallways of the temple, Irene hummed to herself a tune before stopping when she heard an exquisite song play in the room that she had just left.

"Dear Patches," She called out as a spider crawled down the roof to greet her. This was no ordinary spider as he was the size of a human and also had the face of a man instead of a regular spider.

"Yes Irene," Patches gleefully greeted. Irene simply gave him the best of gifts and he was sure that this gift would be exceptional as well.

"I have a little gift for you back in my clinic that should spice up things in the sewer," She adopted a sick sweet smile as Patches did the same thing.

"Spice up the madness?" He asked

"Yes, it should do quite nicely there," The two shared a sick bout of laughter with each other, their deranged enjoyment clear as day.

Chapter 12 finished! Sola-Ui is our first casualty in this story and far from the last. I'm pretty sure you guys know what she turned into with all the obvious hints. Next chapter will be Kariya and the League confronting Zouken. In hindsight this chapter should've been before 'Oh Good Hunter' but now it's here.

Welp that's it for now and as always.

May the Cosmos Shine in Your Favor This Day!