In the the abandoned opera house of Mitakihara, the Warlock, Zed, reached a long, dark hallway as he scoured through a relic of a past long gone. Noticing the footprints on the dusty floor, he brushed a bandaged-wrapped hand on the floor and rubbed his fingers together. He brought it to his mask and sniffed them through his mask's nose slits. Zed deducted they were of human origin as he expected the possibility of Warlock Hunters coming to search for them again.

But, he knew they wouldn't stand a chance against his brethren. Once the blood of a 3rd Generation Artificial Incubator was in their hands, they were practically invincible.

Moving forward, he felt a great presence further ahead and the cloaked swordsman stopped in his movements at the sight of a familiar, sleek suit of armor standing guard in his path. Its metal plating shining like fresh steel, it protected the door to the main performance house as a translucent Warlock barrier glowed behind the possessed suit of armor, "Ares," Zed addressed him with respect, "I came to answer Phantom's call. Let me pass, Iron Guardian."

The suit of armor's deep voice echoed through his glowing visor slits, which glowed with a purple hue, "I heard you on your way in, Zed. It is an honor to have you back with us," the suit of armor made way for the masked man with the sword on his back, gesturing a hand to the barrier which shut down for Zed's entry, "He is already waiting for you."

Passing by the Warlock armor which carried a shining rapier at his waist, Zed tipped his Chinese straw hat and turned the knob on the door. Zed entered the main house where a symphony of music was played by floating instruments as candle-lights lined up around the stage's edges. They flew through the air and over Zed's head, who found the musical impressive as he descended from the audience to the stage through a decaying flight of stairs. There, on the middle of the stage, was a large coffin held up by ebony chains like a royal throne, black mist seeping from its seams.

Zed paused in front of the stage and knelt on one knee, saying, "Lord Phantom, I heed your call. I, Zed the Oracle, have come once more to replenish our once great army."

The mist from the seams were then sucked back into the coffin, before a tendril of black smoke burst from it and dove into the ground in front of the Warlock with a great wave of wind blowing away all the instruments and candles. Zed's cloak fluttered from wave, but he did not flinch, as the smoky silhouette of a humanoid formed in his vision. Gazing on his kneeling figure with demonic red eyes, Zed lowered his head in the manifestation of his great leader, Phantom.

"Zed, you've returned," Phantom stroke his black chin, a hand on his waist as this presentation of the leader's mind was as real as a physical body, "As expected of one of my best swordsmen. I assume you were training in Mount Fuji whilst I was in slumber?"

"I heed your call wherever it is, Lord Phantom," Zed said, a fist brought to his chest,, "My skills have sharpened from the days I have spent in that icy tundra."

"Of course, of course. Clyde! Get over here," Phantom called his left-hand man with a clap of his hands and the summoned Warlock came out of the curtains, donning his suit, expressive mask and fedora. Zed gasped at the sight of burning injuries around his body that seemed to slowly, but ineffectively, melt away Clyde's person. His mask also damaged, a large crack running down one one side of its surface, "Give him a vial," Phantom ordered, "He will need it if he is to face the Puerum Magi."

"'P-Puerum Magi', my lord?" Zed rose to his feet, shocked, "Did Sanbey actually-?"

"Yes, Zed, it has - They're a festering thorn on my side and a plague that needs to be extinguished before I begin my plans," Phantom snapped his black fingers and a large image of a gigantic Witch floating in a grey sky flashed above them, a laugh so terrifying echoing through the remains of the city it floated above from before the image disappeared, "Walpurgis: A Witch so powerful that its very presence will cause this city's destruction. It will arrive in a month from now. I have plans for its arrival."

Clyde produced a suitcase and opened it to show off the glowing vials neatly kept inside it through straps and locks. Clyde unlocked one of these with a key and presented it to the swordsman, speaking through a forked tongue, "Don't worry. It won't hurt... much," he whispered the last part of his sentence with a quiet, sinister cackle which Zed did not hear.

"The blood of Sanbey," Phantom proudly called it, "Once you take it, your powers will sure to stabilize, and humans' weaponry will be a minor problem. Our weakness to sunlight, though, will not disappear. Be wary, as the Puerum Magi's energy carries the same effects as sunlight."

Taking the glowing vial from Clyde's hands, a syringe sprung from the bottom and Zed held out his bandaged-covered arm. Inserting the syringe in, he plunged the glowing liquid into his veins as his arm started to shiver. Slowly, he took it out with a gasp of air and dropped it to the floor where the glass vial shattered into pieces, "By the Heavens," Zed's breathing was hoarse beneath his mask, as he dropped to one knee again and grasped his shaking arm. Suddenly, he howled out in pain as his mask glowed with immense power and energy. It created a cone of bright light which shined on a silent Phantom and cackling Clyde, who monitored Zed's complete unlocking of his powers.

The light then dimmed, the swordsman rose back up, panting as smoke rose from his cloak and mask. Stomping his foot on the ground and gripping his sword, Zed unsheathed and twirled the nodachi blade in the air at unspeakable speeds, exclaiming with a voice full of passionate zeal, "I... I can feel it! The power... the stabilization of my body... Lord Phantom, I promise you this," Zed swung his blade through the air and sheathed the blade in a split second, kneeling on both knees as he fully submitted to his leader, "I, Zed the Oracle, will follow your orders without question once more, for my blade is yours to command."

"Good," Phantom appreciated his loyalty with a clap, "Now then, Zed, I only have one request of you," he looked at Clyde, who stared back with a meaningful look. The manifestation of Phantom started to wither away, leaving his new servant with only the words: "Kill the Puerum Magi, and bring his head to me. Make his death slow and painful."

"As you wish..."

Saturday morning came with heavy rain that poured on the streets as everyone that stood outside headed back in for warmth and shelter. Staying out in this kind of rain would give one a bad cold, if not a fever, and the person that ignored this was the ever-so-punctual Tateyama. Running in this terrible rain on the way to school, he shielded his head with textbooks as his laptop bag bounced up and down on his back. Tateyama's school uniform was completely soaked and it would only take a few minutes for him to get a flu.

The boy had overslept last night from all the tiring training and since he was working on some tools he wanted to show to the team after school, Tateyama slept at precisely 5 o'clock in the morning. The black spaces underneath his eyes grew darker from this and Teacher Sei was going to kill him for being late. Maybe he should have brought an umbrella with him instead of sprinting out of the house in a panic? Tsukuyo wasn't there to wake him up since she went to work early and it didn't help that Tateyama had dissected his alarm clock for spare parts.

Reaching the street near the main path to school, Tateyama wiped the rain splashing on his face and avoided the water that had by kicked up by passing cars. Oh, he was having a perfect day already. He violently sneezed and shivered as even he had his limits when it came to tolerating the cold. Tateyama tried hard to ignore the alluring sight of the warm drinks inside the cafes he passed by.

Taking a turn around a corner, Tateyama collided head-on with someone and heard a yelp as he fell to the wet floor on his butt. His increased endurance shrugged off the impact and Tateyama opened his eyes to see that he had knocked into a girl from his school, rubbing her head as she winced. Both of their books were on the concrete sidewalk, drenched in rainwater.

Looking at his wristwatch, Tateyama had no time to spare, but he couldn't just take his books and run off like that. Kindly, he picked both of their notes from the floor and presented the drenched books to the girl with a quick apology, "Sorry. I'm in a hurry," he offered another hand to help her up just in case.

Although, ever since he entered middle-school, Tateyama expected to receive a scared look instead as any girl would've been frightened by his rugged appearance. It was a thing you get when you cover one side of your face with your hair to hide some nasty scars. He got that response too many timess to a point it felt normal. But when she took notice of him, the older girl surprisingly gave a warm smile, which made Tateyama's cheeks blush slightly.

The girl shielded her head with a hand and took her books back with a thankful bow, "It's fine. With this kind of weather, a walk to school is quiet the hassle, isn't it?" she spoke in a refined tone similar to Mamoru as she produced an umbrella from her bag and clicked it open to shield them both from the rain, "You're a second-year, aren't you? Well, if you'd like, I could lend you this for a while. I was thinking of just waiting for this weather to die down."

She gave the handle to Tateyama, who took it, perplexed. Looking at her, she was a third-year student and was a few centimeters taller than himself. Blonde hair with twin, drill-like corkscrews and an aura of maturity he expected most seniors to have, she was undoubtedly stunning. He suddenly felt a guilty for staining such a girl's notes and looked away with a flustered face, "Umm... I-" he sneezed, cupping his mouth with a hand as he felt a cold grow in him.

The girl tilted her head with wonder, taking the look of his red cheeks as the sign of a fever instead of embarrassment.

Tateyama rubbed his sides and coughed. Looking at the umbrella, he felt hesitant on just simply taking it, "Thank you. But... can we... ummm... share? I-I ruined your books when I knocked into you, so, well..." Tateyama felt a shiver go down his spine, "I don't want to trouble you."

The girl chuckled and Tateyama wondered if he was just making a fool out of himself in front of a upper-class student, "Of course I wouldn't mind helping one of my juniors," she said and turned to the direction of the school with a smile, "Shall we? I'm sure you don't want to be late for school."

Tateyama swore he felt his heart skip a beat and he wasn't even sure why. Holding his books tightly to his chest with red cheeks, Tateyama quietly nodded and they both made their way through the heavy rain. He no longer felt the rain's cold grip, but warm sensation teeming inside him. The white-haired boy did his best to avoid being seen with a red face by looking away, to the girl's amusement. She certainly showed a sense of class, which was even invoked her movements as he held the umbrella over their heads.

"By the way, what's your name?" the girl asked.

"I-Ikezawa," he answer with a slight stutter and not his usual lazy, deadpan monotone, "Ikezawa Tateyama."

"'Ikezawa'?" she placed a finger on her cheek and pondered, "I think I heard of that name before. Ah, you're part of that Freelancer club, aren't you?" she asked with some innocent curiosity and Tateyama wondered of she knew about the rather trivial stuff they've done on purpose and by accident. He was worried since he remembered accidentally setting the science lab on fire. It was a pretty bad accident.

"Y-Yes," he tried his best not to stammer, wondering why he was acting like this.

"Well, I'm Tomoe Mami. A pleasure meeting you, Ikezawa," she said with another smile that nearly gave him a stroke. And so, for the rest of the walk, Tateyama just kept quiet and nodded at everything she asked. 'Tomoe Mami', if he recalled correctly from the student database he hacked multiple times, was a third-year girl in a class far from his. Smart girl; Not much friends; Usually seen walking alone. He wondered why she was so lonely for a girl so refined and mature. She certainly wasn't like any other girl he had met.

Once they reached the school lobby, the place was dead quiet and everyone else were most likely in class. Tateyama closed the umbrella and the rainwater on it dripped to the ground. Tomoe looked back to him, saying, "It was nice meeting you, Ikezawa. It's nice having someone to talk to on the way to school."

Tateyama nodded with a red face looking at his feet that shifted uncomfortably, "T-Thank you, for the umbrella. It was-" the school bell's ringing then echoed through the hallways, interrupting his words as Tomoe suddenly looked worried.

"Oh dear," she muttered, excusing herself with a bow and apologetic smile, "Well, I'll see you again next time, Ikezawa. I have to get going now," she ran off into one of the corridors in a hurry, all before Tateyama could say his thanks. After a second of being speechless and unsure of what to do, he looked at his hands and saw that he still had her umbrella.

"Oh," was all he could say.

He guess he could give it back to her during break.

When he reached class, Teacher Sei sent out Tateyama to stand in the hall with his uniform and bag dripping rainwater on the floor. The umbrella still in his hands, Tateyama sighed and ignored all the glances he got from students passing by. He put a hand to his stomach and felt it growling. Having not eaten breakfast, all he could do was take out the memoir of his mother and listen to its soothing tune while thinking of that girl, Tomoe Mami.

He was let in after Teacher Sei's class had finished.

Break time came and most of the students had rushed out for their lunch break at the cafeteria or any other place students loved to hang around. During Teacher Kuragawa's class, Mamoru decided to leave Tateyama be and practiced his woodwork under his table. Takuya chatted with Sanbey about trivial stuff through telepathy and Hideki spent most of the class penciling some drawings in his notes. Tateyama now stood outside the class with Tomoe's umbrella in his hands, eyes staring at it with wonder if he should just barge into the third-year section to give it back to her.

Was he really just too hesitant to barge into the third-year section, or was he suddenly just shy to go and see her again? Tateyama honestly felt more pressure doing this than he felt during that time he fought a giant scorpion in training. She was a cute girl, to be honest, but... all he wanted to do right now was give this back to her. That was it. She did a favor for him and now he just wanted to show his appreciation for it. He didn't know why was it so hard for him to simply to do this. Taking in a deep breath, he turned to the direction of the third-year section.

"Hey Tateyama!" Takuya called him from behind and the boy froze. Slowly, Tateyama looked over his shoulder to see the brunette standing just behind him, the archer curiously looking at the object held in his hands, "What are you holding there?"

Tateyama fully turned around, still holding the umbrella with both hands as he saw neither Hideki, Sanbey or Mamoru nearby. He found their lack of presence worrying, "Where are the others?"

"Oh, Hideki, Mamoru and Sanbey went to go watch over Kaname. I think they'll head back to the club room for gadget training later," Takuya scratched his cheek and pointed again at the object in his friend's hands, "I wasn't hungry, so I was going go ask why you came late and since when did you have that kind of umbrella?"

At the back of his mind, Tateyama wondered if it was a good idea to bring Takuya with him to meet with Tomoe. He was one of his best friends after all, and as innocently naive as he was ,Takuya had a good heart that stuck the group together like glue. He guess it wouldn't hurt telling him the truth, "I... woke up late. I got here with the help of a senior... She gave me this. She forgot about it when we got here."

Tateyama lent it to him and Takuya got a close look at the umbrella. It was high-class, judging from the quality of its material such as the steel frame and solid rivets. It definitely wasn't cheap either, "So, you wanna go give this back to her?" he said, gaining Tateyama's attention quick, "I mean, we don't want it to break befo-" taking a step forward, Takuya tripped on his feet and was quickly caught by Tateyama before he could meet the floor face-first. Tateyama found it easier to catch him with the strength that came from Sanbey's contract.

Back on his feet, Takuya chuckled nervously and gave back the umbrella, "I think it's better if you hold it instead."

After a few moments of minor hesitation and convincing Tateyama to go see her, the pair made their way to the third-year section to give back the borrowed umbrella. The third-year section was really no different from the second-year in terms of architecture and table qualities, they had the usual stuff like the digital whiteboards. Although everyone the pair walked pass was significantly taller than them and knew of the Freelancer's infamy Most of them ignored their presence. Mostly.

They stopped at a small intersection and scratched their heads in wonder. They just realized they didn't have any info on Tomoe's class location and Tateyama put his face in an open palm, mentally slapping himself in the face for forgetting something so important. Behind him, Takuya looked at some of the students and wondered if he could ask them for directions. He was about to naively approach a large student that was twice his height and muscle density if they didn't hear someone call them.

"Ikezawa, Fujimaki, what are you two doing here?"

They looked behind and saw Makoto approaching them. He was carrying a stack of books in his arms as the pair greeted him and they couldn't help but feel respectful to him for playing beautiful music at Homura's funeral yesterday, "Hey Takamatsu!" Takuya began, sheepishly pressing the tips of his index fingers together, "We're kinda lost here. Can you help us with something? It's really important."

The orange-haired senior raised a brow at this sudden call for a favor and called over a nearby student. He passed her the stack of books in his hands and instructed the girl to pass them to a teacher before answering the boys, "Sure. What's the problem?" he dusted his hands as Tateyama stepped forward.

"Tomoe Mami," Tateyama asked rather bluntly, "Do you know where is her class?"

Makoto racked his brain, trying to remember that name before he snapped his fingers in triumph, "Ah, Tomoe? She's in the class over there," he pointed to the direction the pair's backs were facing, "She's at class trying to help Teacher Kuragawa with some papers right now, but I think you can talk to her. I could show you they way, if you'd like. You two don't really look like you know this section of school very well."

Takuya and Tateyama looked at each other and then back at Makoto, "Sure!" Takuya replied, "Was it that obvious?"

"Yes. Yes, it was. Now, follow me."

Following the senior student from behind, it only took a few minutes for them to arrive in Tomoe's classroom and it didn't involve any problems. There at her table, Tomoe was alone, sorting out some papers as she hummed a tune to herself. Makoto knocked on the glass door and gained her attention, "Tomoe, there's some students here to see you," he looked at the boys, "Now, I have to leave. Excuse me."

Heading off, Takuya waved at him goodbye while Tateyama took in another deep breath like just now and entered the classroom. Clean and organized, unlike his classroom, it had a very different atmosphere than a second-year's class, "Tomoe," Tateyama managed not to stutter, bowing in front of the girl and then presenting her with her belongings, "Here. You forgot about it."

"Oh, thank you," she gave a hearty laugh and took it back, "I was in such a rush I forgot about it. Ikezawa, was it?"

"Y-Yes," Tateyama nodded, "Again, t-thank you for just now. It was-" another sneeze came and he cupped his mouth with both hands while Tomoe merely smiled. Feeling like he was just making himself look like an idiot again, he felt like he should leave now, "Ah, I have to go. I-" he looked at the class entrance and saw that Takuya was gone, having left without both of them noticing. Before he could say anything about his best friend's sudden disappearance, another third-year student came rushing into the class, panicking.

"Tomoe, bad news! We need you over quick! "

"Oh dear. I'll be there soon," Tomoe stood up and gave an apologetic smile to Tateyama, saying, "Sorry. Can we continue some time after school maybe? I'm very busy at the moment. We could talk at the Mitakihara Shopping Complex later over skme tea."

"I-It's fine," Tateyama stammered, "I... also have to get going, too. B-Bye," quickly leaving the classroom, he heard Tomoe's footsteps heading in the opposite direction, slowly fading out with the red he did not notice accumulating on his face. Stopping to put a hand on his chest, he let out a long exhale of air, mentally making a note to see her at the Mall later. He was too mentally occupied with this that he didn't notice Takuya calling him from behind until the 9th shout which finally reached his ears. He looked back and frowned, "Where were you?"

"Oh, me?" Takuya pointed at himself, unaware of the offense he had made, "I just wanted to leave you two alone. You looked kinda occupied around her anyway," he laughed and then proceeded to ask with innocent curiosity, "Hey, tell me. Do you like her?"

Tateyama opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Just something you would hear from a dying radio. He closed it and then turned around to head back to the club-room with a flustered face, "Let's just go."

"Aw, come on. Tell me!" Takuya pleaded, trying to catch up to Tateyama who was walking with increasing speed. But little did they know, on a nearby window, a white cat-like creature spied on them from a tree branch. Lacking the stripes and three tails Sanbey had, it watched from the shadows and left the moment the boys were out of sight.

Meanwhile, back in the second-year section of the school, Mamoru, Sanbey and Hideki were nearly done with their shift of monitoring Kaname Madoka, the very girl Homura had asked them to look over as her last wish before she passed on. Mamoru had headed over to the cafeteria with Sanbey to get some food for the trio, so Hideki was all alone during this shift. It was something they have to get used to every school day from now on and they had no complaints doing such a thing for a friend who had already left.

Kneeling on the glass window pane which gave Hideki a good view of the school lobby, the hundred of students walking around the area and the cafeteria that was flooded with students, Hideki looked over his shoulder to monitor Kaname Madoka who was on the floor section opposite of where he was. She was heading somewhere for lunch as she chatted cheerfully with two other girls. He did not know the one on the right of Kaname, but he certainly did know the other.

Miki Sayaka, he remembered that name as it was the one stuck in his head ever since he came to this school. A tomboy-ish, energetic girl who was one of the top runners in this school, Hideki had always been watching her from a distance last year. He just loved the way she was: her enthusiasm and easy-to-get-along-with attitude was what kept his eyes glued to her every time he saw her. When he heard from Tateyama that she had a crush on a famous violin prodigy that she had been friends with for years, Hideki knew he couldn't top that. Almost regrettably, he stopped aiming for her since then.

Running a hand through his face and staring down on the floor, Hideki sighed, wondering if he still had the interest for her that would motivate him to talk to her. Now being on the team for the upcoming competition and slowly changing the way he usually behaved, Hideki pondered if he now had a chance.

Sanbey popped onto his shoulder out of nowhere, but Hideki didn't even notice him. Seeing the depression on his face, Sanbey felt worried about his recruit and asked, "What's wrong? You seem to be bothered about something."

With the rising of shoulders, Hideki shrugged and gave an empty laugh, "It's just something that's been stuck in my head for a while now. It really isn't an actual problem, but sometimes, I just can't help but think about it," he pocketed his hands and forced a smile, "You wanna head back to the club? 'Teyama and Takuya could be there by now. We need to finish up our training, remember?"

Through his forced smile, Sanbey could feel what was inside the boy that was mentally tormenting him. Suppressed feelings that most likely have been held back for far too long, Sanbey knew this as one of the things a adolescent boy goes through in his life, "Alright," he answered, as Sanbey didn't want to possibly reopen some old wounds, "Let's go get Mamoru first. We'll head back together. Just don't do anything that'll hurt yourself, alright?"

"Roger that," Hideki said with a two-finger salute and headed to where the Puerum Magi leader possibly was. Before that, he looked back at the trio that were heading up a flight of stairs and shook his head. Hideki loosened his collar and folded up his sleeves to get some air. Reminding himself about his duty as a Puerum Magi, he had no time to spend thinking about this.