When Battler finally woke up, it took a while before he realised where he was. He glanced at the clock. It was six am. He had fallen asleep on the sofa.

His back ached. He slid off his makeshift bed and stumbled out of the kitchen. The first rays of sunlight were peeking through the windows, but the mansion was silent. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be walking around. Battler rubbed his eyes, patted down his messy hair, and went out. He faintly knew he was going to the guesthouse, but his mind was on the events of the previous night.

As he passed through the rose garden, he saw Genji. The manservant looked up from his bushes, and turned to greet Battler. 'Good morning, Master Battler.'

'Morning, Genji,' said Battler hollowly. If Genji was surprised at the sight of Battler wandering around in the rose garden early in the morning, he didn't show it, as usual. He bent back to his bushes as Battler continued towards the guesthouse. A movement in the mansion caught his eye, and he looked up to see Eva and Hideyoshi in one of the upper windows, wrapped up in each other's arms and looking at the sunrise together. Battler immediately looked down, and continued forward.

Ascending the stairs seemed harder than usual. The thought of facing his cousins again somehow raised feelings of guilt and shame in Battler's stomach, and he didn't know why. On a whim, he punched the side of the banister, but it didn't help. By the time he reached the cousins's room, he was in a bad mood.

They were probably still sleeping. Knowing this, Battler grasped the door gently, and pushed it forward.

The door jerked to a stop, nearly throwing Battler off balance.

He stared at the door, startled. He pulled back the door and pushed it forward again. The door halted, as if hitting an invisible barrier.

Battler peered through the gap the door managed to make. It was tiny, impossible for him to squeeze through. Inside, the curtains were drawn and the lights were off, shrouding the room into an unnatural darkness. But Battler could still barely make out the glint of a golden chain, joining the door and the wall.

So George and the others had set the chain lock in their room. It didn't make sense, though, there were hardly any unwanted visitors on the island anyway. In any case, Battler couldn't enter the room. He didn't want to wake the others inside, either. In the end he just closed the door. It looked like he would have to tough it outside from now on. Half of him was actually relieved.

He needed to be alone. He needed more time to think. He stuck his hands inside his pockets and went back outside.

Rudolf slowly awoke. His back was aching. He opened his eyes, and found himself sprawled across the dining table. He sat up, blinking, confused. Krauss, Kyrie and Rosa sat on both sides of the table, all fast asleep.

Rudolf tried to remember what had happened the previous night. After Natsuhi, Hideyoshi, and Eva had been taken out of comission, it had only been the four of them. At about twelve midnight, Rosa wanted to leave as well, but Rudolf needed more manpower, and he had forced her to stay. So Rosa had simply gone to sleep on the table while the others continued arguing. Then at about one Kyrie had dropped off as well, and Krauss had left to get a drink. At that point, Rudolf remembered nothing more, and figured he must have fallen asleep as well. When Krauss had returned, he must have found the three of them sleeping peacefully, and took a few winks of his own as well.

Rudolf stood up, stretched, and walked over to Kyrie. She seemed oddly peaceful with her eyes closed. He shook her gently, and the first thing she did when she woke up was to kiss him lightly on the cheek.

'What a wake-up call,' she murmured.

'Yeah,' Rudolf said nervously. Despite all Kyrie's good points, and despite the fact that Rudolf did accept he was lucky to have a wife like her, there were certain times where he had felt uncomfortable with his new wife. There was a kind of darkness circling around her, and also a kind of unhealthy obession that bothered him more often than not. He quickly shook it from his system.

'So what did I miss?' Kyrie said, rubbing her eyes.

'Nothing much, actually. Looks like we'll have to continue the conference today.' Rudolf walked over to Rosa, and patted her head. 'Wake up, Little Sis. You're drooling all over the table.'

Rosa opened her eyes and closed her mouth. 'Go away,' she muttered drowsily.

Krauss had already roused himself. 'We all fell asleep?' he grunted, stretching his arms.

'Yup. Since we're all awake now, why don't we continue?'

Rosa couldn't help but hide a small groan. Krauss smiled sheepishly. 'I think we all need a break, don't you think?'

'Alright. We'll resume the conference after lunch, everyone in agreement?'

Everyone nodded gratefully, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

'See you later, Big Bro,' Rudolf said, as he exited with Kyrie. He suddenly wondered what on earth had possessed him to say a goodbye to Krauss. He had always hated the arrogant bastard. Maybe it was the drowsiness.

'Do you think we gained any headway?' Kyrie asked, as they walked across the hall.

'Nope. Not a smite. We'll try again today, though.'

He stopped. The portrait of the Blue Witch had suddenly rose up from behind the staircase. In it's early years in the mansion, he hadn't especially noticed it often, but as the conferences grew more heated and as his voice grew more strained, he found the sight of that angelic looking girl like a beautiful sunset after a long and tiring day.

'She's still as cute as ever,' he said, walking up to the portrait. 'A little older, and I would have hung this up in my bathroom - I'm joking,' he added hastily at Kyrie's sudden glare.

As Kyrie's expression smoothened, Rudolf walked over to the plaque. The epitaph was as exactly as he remembered. 'Hey, Kyrie, you solved this yet?'

'No,' she admitted. 'If it's even a riddle, it's a good one. The thing is, I don't really have time to access resources concerning Ushiromiya family history, so...'

'I think it's just a big trick played by Grandfather anyway,' Rudolf shrugged. 'Gruesome stuff like "Gouge the head and kill" - right up his alley for a halloween prank. Though I can't imagine a sweet thing like that,' he glanced once more at the blue girl, 'gouging anyone with anything.'

'I don't really care. Actually solving the riddle is the main attraction, right?'

Rudolf was suddenly reminded of Kyrie's good points. He chuckled and put an arm over her waist. 'Well, I've got a riddle for you. How many times can you - '

'You were going to say something dirty, weren't you?'

'...no.'

Kyrie smirked, remembering her husband's own good points. 'Let's continue this discussion in bed, shall we?'

Will held the epitaph in his hands, studying it closely. In front of him, Bernkastel tapped her fingers impatiently. 'Are you done yet?'

'Yeah,' Will said, tossing the epitaph behind him, where it slipped into a space-tear and vanished completely. 'It's exactly the same. Word for word, except that you replaced the words 'Beatrice' with 'Blue Witch'.'

'I told you already, didn't I? Not much has changed.'

'Something has. The hidden gold. The way Rudolf and Kyrie were talking, I don't think they, or anyone else in this Fragment, know the existence of the legend of the hidden gold. Which brings up another question: does the hidden gold exist in this game?'

'No. Hidden gold of any sort does not exist in this game.'

'But the riddle still remains,' Will pinched his chin, deep in thought. 'So that means someone still wants something to be found.'

'Stop wondering about that, already,' Bernkastel frowned. 'It doesn't matter.'

'Hmph,' Will glared at her. 'Well, if you're so eager to get on with the first twilight and all the bloody murders...'

'How astute, Wright,' she flashed one of her rare grins. 'You're smarter than you look.'

By the time Battler returned to the rose garden, Genji had gone. He stuck his hands in his pockets, walking vaguely along the path, not knowing where he was going. A dozen thoughts rose in his mind and cancelled each other out. Things today had been so, so confusing.

He heard running footsteps, and turned. Genji was jogging up the path, something heavy packed in his hands. It was a massive pair of bolt cutters, their edges gleaming wickedly in the dim sunlight.

'What the - ?' Battler stopped in his tracks. The bolt cutters in itself were ununsual, but he was more concerned with the fact that Genji was actually running. With sweat on his face. And his eyes, so very slightly, opened wider.

'What's going on?' Battler called.

'Master Krauss - ,' Genji gasped out as he jogged past Battler. 'Lady Natsuhi's room - '

Then he was gone, breezing past Battler like a silent ghost. Frowning, Battler started after him.

Gohda appeared from behind a bush. 'Genji,' he beamed. 'I have prepared breakfast - '

Genji shot right past him. Taking Genji's unusual impoliteness into consideration, whatever it was, it was serious. Battler started to run.

They stopped in the corridor outside Natsuhi's room. Krauss was already there, and he was pacing up and down with his hands buried in his hair. He saw Genji and instantly rushed forward. 'Do it! Now!'

'What's going on?' Battler said.

Krauss looked at him in total confusion. 'What are you doing here?'

Battler looked at the door. It was slightly open, but couldn't be extended further, blocked by a chain, similar to the ones in the cousin's room. The chain was partially coated by a layer of red.

Battler was still wondering why someone would randomly want to paint the chain halfway like that, when he saw what was inside the room. Unlike the cousin's room, the curtain had been thrown back, bathing the room in sunlight, allowing the liquid on the floor to be clearly discerned. It was a blistering red and looked very much like blood.

'W-what the?' Battler jerked back.

'She's not answering,' Krauss gibbered to no one in particular. 'She's not answering and the door's locked and blood's everywhere.'

Genji stepped forward stiffly, and snagged the chain with the bolt cutters. He heaved down with all his might, and the chain slowly gave way, snapping only after Genji had put his entire weight against the chain. Genji stood back to recover himself for a brief second, than grasped the doorknob. He turned it open slowly, as if afraid to disturb whatever was inside.

As the door swung open, the river of blood grew longer and longer. Krauss went white. Battler stood in front of the room, perfectly rigid, trying to jam a dozen thoughts into his brain. There was blood everywhere - not only on the floor, but on the curtains, the overturned table - as if a bloody doll had been stumbling around the room.

Then they caught a view of Natsuhi. She was lying on the floor, eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her face. One arm was stretched out towards her desk, where the phone lay. She might have just trying to call somebody before she had fallen into a content slumber, and could have been mistaken for having been fast asleep, except for the fact that her stomach was split open from side to side and her intestines were spilling out onto the floor.

Krauss wailed. That sound was more horrifying than Battler had ever imagined, even worse than the thunderstorm in the family conference. The conference, curiously, seemed to have been wiped from his mind. Who cared about such things, anyway? Who cared about damaged sibling love when Natsuhi was lying on the floor with her guys piled up on top of each other?

Standing in front of the gruesome body, he thought he would never see anything worse than this ever again.

Then another horrible sight rose in his mind. The cousin's room, with the chain, the cold, dark chain, sealing them off from the world.

'What's going on here?' Nanjo and Kumasawa rounded the corner, drawn by Krauss's cry of despair. Battler ignored them, and turned to Genji. 'Give me the bolt cutters,'

'Master Battler?'

'George and the others!' Battler nearly screamed. 'Their room - it had a chain!'

Genji understood. Together, he and Battler dashed through the corridor, just as Kumasawa caught sight of the body.

'Wha - what is thiiiiis? Aaaaiiieeee!'

They managed to reach the guesthouse in less than a minute. Genji, his clothes drenched with sweat, wordlessly located the cousin's room and caught the chain. It seemed to take agonizingly long for the metal links to break.

Battler found that all this would be surprisingly easy to be believed as a dream.

The chain snapped. Battler immediately kicked the door open, and rushed in. His flailing hand caught the light switch, seizing the room with light.

George, Jessica, and Maria were all curled up in their beds, sleeping. Battler stared at them, and breathed a sigh of relief. He staggered backwards against the wall for support.

His hand brushed against someone's shoulder. Battler turned to see Kanon sitting in a chair, his head tilted upwards. A thick gash, red as the evening sky, had opened up on his neck, and Battler thought he could see the white of bone.

Shannon was in the chair next to him, her neck similarily obliterated. As Genji stared at them, Battler rushed forward and threw himself onto George, scrambling to remove his blanket.

George's head was only half-connected to his body. His windpipe flopped around the bed like a dead fish.

Not daring to breathe, Battler turned to the others. Now that he had studied them more clearly, he could see a deep red stain on the blankets where their necks should have been. All five of them were dead, killed - perhaps only moments after Battler had left the room. The cards were still scattered around the table. Battler recognised, faintly, a four of a kind where Shannon was sitting.

'What the hell,' he whispered, wondering at his utter failure to express the horror of the situation. He sank to his knees, heedless to the hard wood striking his kneecaps. A thousand thoughts were swirling around in his head, some tiny, and some sharp as razors, but there was one thing that would haunt him for the rest of this day.

They were all sealed in closed rooms with a chain.

No one could have entered the rooms.

How did they get killed?

How did the killer melt past the chain?

How?