They stared at Rudolf like they were seeing him for the first time. Then, unconsciously, they began to shrink away from him.

'Genji!' Rudolf barked. 'Give me the key.'

Genji took a step backwards. 'I am afraid I cannot do that, Master Rudolf.'

'And why the hell not?'

'The Master left me specific instructions - '

'The Master this, the Master that,' Rudolf jerked his hands around his head, which would have been comical in other circumstances. 'The Master fucking this, the Master fucking that. Give me the fucking key, you fucking cocksucker.'

'Rudolf,' Nanjo swallowed. 'I think - '

'Shut the fuck up,' Rudolf strode over to Genji and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. 'Give me the fucking key.'

'I assure you, I am perfectly capable of opening the Master's study myself.'

'Fuck that, you're as spineless as fuck, won't even breathe unless your Master says so - '

'R-rudolf,' Rosa squeaked. 'Stop it.'

'Finally decided to grow a backbone, eh, Little Sis? Well, fuck off. The point is, Genji here is about as untrustworthy as a pile of shit, and you're all fucking bonkers if you can entrust him with the only key that opens our safehouse.'

Krauss came forward, wringing his hands, the pale shadow over his face having reasserted its position. 'Y-you can't just manhandle the family's most trusted servant like that.'

Rudolf looked at him, and laughed in his face. 'Are you fucking serious, Big Bro? Get into the fucking whiney corner and stay there.'

Not even Rudolf had ever spoken to the future family head like that before. Krauss stumbled backwards, shocked, and fell into a pathetic heap once more.

Rudolf's hands were still at Genji's throat, and the servant had made no attempt to break free. This seemed to make Rudolf even angrier than before.

'So do I get the key, or not?' Rudolf shouted.

'If you are so insistent, Master Rudolf, perhaps I can make a special arrangement.'

'Wipe that - that - look off your face and give me the fucking key, then.'

As Genji reached into his pocket, still encased in Rudolf's grip, a small voice objected.

'I don't think you should have the key,' Rosa murmured.

'What was that?" Rudolf whirled on her, causing her to flinch slightly.

'W-what I mean is...erm,' Rosa alternately lowered her head and then lifted her head up. 'You're unreliable.'

'What Aunt Rosa's saying, old man,' Battler said from his position on the railing, 'Is that you're a train without rails. In other words. I wouldn't trust you with that key.'

Rudolf slowly closed his eyes, and then opened them again. 'Fine,' he said.

Battler wasn't even facing his father. He was still staring into the rainy ground.

'Fine,' Rudolf said again. 'If you guys think I'm a fuckup, then I'm a fuckup, then fine. I would've though the same in your shoes, anyway.'

He took a step back, and then another step away. 'I'm going off. Yeah. Don't forget to send a postcard. Coming, Battler?'

'No,' Battler said immediately.

'Can't blame a man for trying,' Rudolf tried to grin. He looked at the crowd. Rudolf looked at them. He was suddenly conscious of far apart they were standing.

There seemed to be nothing more to say. He could see their judgement echoing through their eyes. He was about to turn his back on them and walk, when suddenly a new voice spoke.

'This ain't right,' Hideyoshi said. It was the first time he had lifted his head from Eva's body.

Rudolf spun towards him. 'What?'

'You - you guys can't just send him off like this,' Hideyoshi said. 'You can't. He'll be alone.'

'Shut up,' Rudolf said.

Hideyoshi winced, but continued to plead with the others. 'Come on. You can't leave him alone. He might - might get - '

'Shot in the head like my wife?' Rudolf said. 'Already fucking occurred to me, thanks very much.'

Hideyoshi looked at the small group in front of him, and they avoided his eyes. They didn't say anything, and that was an answer enough. Hideyoshi's shoulders slumped.

'Is this teary reunion over already?' Rudolf growled. 'Can I go now?'

'No, Hideyoshi said. 'You're staying here.'

'What the fuck is your game, Hideyoshi? I'm leaving, and that's that. Bye.'

'Then I'm coming with you.'

Rudolf flinched. 'What the fuck.'

After searching for what seemed like months, Will finally found her. She was floating in the sea of Fragments, her arms and legs spread out like a starfish, simply gazing at the tiny glittering crystals that dotted the surface of the ocean.

'Hey,' Will said, swimming up to her. She jumped, and spun around.

'Don't sneak up on me like that,' she said sorely.

'Was I disturbing something?'

'Yes! I was just thinking of what to write in my letter...I mean, I was just stargazing! What is it you want?'

'A letter?' Will said, and inwardly slapped himself when her frown deepened. It wasn't his aim to cause her any further distress, he knew, but he still hadn't gotten rid of his old SSVD habits.

'What I write to Rokkenjima is none of your business,' she said, and then covered her mouth.

'Letters to Rokkenjima?' Will said, and immediately bit down on his lip.

'It's none of your business! Someone there really likes me, and it's no problem if we're pen pals - and of course I don't mean we're lovers or anything,' the Blue Witch's voice took on an abrupt rattly tone. 'It's nothing like that, of course, I don't like him the same way - ' her face went red and she fell silent.

Once more, as his headache rose up again, Will wondered if the Blue Witch was specifically designed just to cause him as much trouble as possible. 'Come on. Bernkastel sent me to get you back to the game.'

'Oh, the game,' she said softly. 'You sounded like you didn't want to play it anymore.'

'I sound like it all the time. Don't worry too much about it.'

'So...you'll still play with me?'

'Yeah,' Will said, and couldn't help but feel relief at the smile that lit up her face. The gloomy sea around them melted away, and they were back in the hall.

'Are you sure you still want to play, though?' The Blue Witch said, her smile faltering. 'I thought you hated guts.'

'Yeah. I do. I'd appreciate if you didn't murder everyone in twisted horribly ways, but I'm guessing you will, anyway.'

'I-it's not like I want to.'

'Then?'

'I'm just bringing them to the Golden Land. To get in, you have to die.'

'Hmph,' Will grunted in displeasure, wondering whether he should pursue the subject, when Bernkastel faded into existence and decided for him.

'Enough sentimentality, Wright,' she said. 'And you too, piece. If you dare try anything like that ever again, I'll send you to waste away at the bottom of Oblivion.'

'Warning noted, Master!' The Blue Witch threw a salute, and Will could see she was more or less back to her old self again. Bernkastel's tail twitched in irritation at this, and Will actually grinned a little at that.

'Start the fourth twilight,' Bernkastel ordered.

'Coming right up, Master!' The Blue Witch turned to Will. 'After we finish this game, I'll throw a party in the Golden Land, and you'll be the guest of honor, okay?'

'Sure.'

When all of them - or at least, almost all of them returned to the mansion, Genji closed the door. 'Should I lock this?' he said.

'Better safe then sorry, I guess,' Nanjo said, and Genji did so. The door clicked shut, sealing them from the storm outside. They began the long trek upstairs. To her surprise, Rosa found herself leading the way, the rifle Rudolf had dropped in her hands. Rudolf had gave to her as he left, saying in that offhand way of his, to take care of Battler. And then he and Hideyoshi had vanished into the rain, presumably towards the guesthouse, although Rosa knew the two of them wouldn't be any safer there than anywhere else, except maybe here, where they were all walking together.

Battler was quiet the whole way, Krauss more frighteningly so. In lighter times Rosa had seen them the most vocal of the family, and their pathetic shells made her hands shake. She tried to keep the rifle steady, covering all the darkened doorways of the silent mansion.

As they crossed the main hall, the Blue Witch's face popped out at them. Her dress reminded Rosa of one she used to own whens he was younger, reminded her of innocent times, and she finally managed to point the rifle forwards. The same couldn't be said of Kumasawa, though, who shrieked.

Everyone jumped at her scream, looking ready to bolt any minute. Gohda actually took a half-step in the direction of the kitchen, his face a frenzied mask.

'I-I'm sorry,' Kumasawa sniffed, drying her eyes into her shirt. Nanjo immediately appeared at her side, and whispered a few comforting words to her. As everyone slowly began to calm down, Genji broke off and walked over to the epitaph beneath the portrait.

'Genji,' Rosa said warningly.

'Forgive me, Master Rosa,' Genji said, bowing his head. 'I simply recalled something the Master said a few years ago, that reminded me that the epitaph is actually a riddle.'

'A riddle?' Nanjo said, walking over to join him. 'Ah, I remember. There was a rumor that Kinzo designed this epitaph as a riddle, to test the Ushiromiya family and see if they were worthy of inheriting the Headship.'

'But I thought the culprit was using the epitaph for murder,' Gohda said.

'The epitaph may be a clue, then,' Rosa said, bending over to look at it, keeping the rifle tightly clutched to her chest. 'What happens if you solve the riddle?'

'Only Kinzo knows. If I could hazard a guess, it would be - '

A shrill scream split down up above and cut Nanjo off. Everyone froze. It was unmistakable a shriek, filled with pure terror, like the one they had heard before. It was unmistakably Kumasawa's.

Nanjo was the first to recover, and looked around wildly. 'Where's - where's Kumasawa?'

Rosa thrust her rifle forward. 'Wait - you mean - where is she?'

'Her scream came from upstairs,' Gohda swallowed.

'But she was here just now!'

'Well she's not here now!'

'But she's upstairs!' Gohda protested weakly. 'You all heard her.'

A low chuckle broke into their thoughts. With every passing event, a little piece of Battler seemed to have scattered to the winds. 'It's another magical murder,' he said, throwing his head back to face the ceiling. 'I don't know how the hell Kumasawa got up there, but it looks like we have to go up to find her. Just according to his fucking plan.'

'Kumasawa...' nanjo closed his mouth with a snap, and squared his shoulders. 'We have to find her.'

'Wait - stick together - I'll go in front. Everyone follow, and - '

'Yes, yes, but hurry!' Nanjo was already jogging up the stairs. The confused mass of survivors lumbered after him, struck numb with pure terror.

It took them less than a minute for them to reach the top floor. The survivors dashed from corridor to corridor, bunching together, screaming Kumasawa's name.

'She's not here,' Rosa said.

'She must be,' Nanjo said.

'She's vanished!' Krauss croaked. 'Disappeared! The Blue Witch!'

'Come back,' Rosa said, for Krauss had been stumbling away from the safety of their group.

'Well, she's not here,' Battler grunted. 'But there's one place we haven't looked. Grandfather's study.'

Genji poked his head out from one of the empty rooms they had been searching. 'Are you suggesting, Master Battler, that the Master has committed homicide?'

'I'm not suggesting anything,' Battler said. 'Or maybe I am. Fuck, I don't know.'

'In any case, going to the study seems to be our best course of action,' Nanjo said heavily. 'For all we know Kumasawa could be inside, but she could be alive and safe. Maybe Kinzo let her in.'

'Or maybe he killed her,' Rosa muttered, and then caught herself. A few murders ago, she wouldn't have dreamed of saying this, but it seemed reality was slipping away from her, and everyone else sooner than she thought. She tried to calm herself, failed, and then pointed her gun towards the direction of the study. 'Alright. Let's go.'

The door to the study was at the end of a long corridor. It was silent, and radiated a quiet menace. This door opened only a few times a month. Rosa hoped, for everyone's sake, that it would open with happy tidings for the first time tonight.

Genji stepped forward, and rapped twice on the door. 'Master,' he called out.

There was shuffling from inside the room. Something got knocked over.

'Master, we must require your assistance.'

Something was stumbling towards the door. Genji stepped back. A moment later the door swung open, and Kinzo's emaciated face poked out. He looked drained, weakened, his skin just hanging on his face. His illness had taken its toll.

'What do you want?' he snapped.

'As I have informed you earlier, Master...' Genjo coughed delicately. 'There has been several murders on this island. Certain recent events have led us to - '

'You all want to hide in here, is that it?' he glared at them with sunken eyes.

'That is correct.'

'Well, you can't.'

'Why?' Rosa said.

Kinzo shifted his eyes towards her. 'Because you're a failure, my dear daughter. And the rest of you. Krauss, you look as spineless as ever. Where is Eva?'

'Dead,' Battler said. 'She's dead, and we will be, old man, if you don't let us in.'

'Huh. She was, by the far the most promising. A pity she didn't take care of herself. What a shame.'

'Is this just a game to you?' Rosa exploded. Her rifle swung slightly closer to his face. If Kinzo was surprised by her outburst, he did not show it.

'So now you ask me for help,' he said. 'Now you want me to shelter you, take you under my wing, protect you against the evils of the world. Only now, when I'm rotting and dying away, alone in my cramped office, do you ask for my help.'

'Father - '

'All my life!' Kinzo roared, 'All my life, I've had to deal with fools, idiots, and the collective stupidity of the human race! And what do I get to show for all of it? What do I get for eighty years of struggle? A painful, slow death! And now you want to ask me for help! What, do you people think you could end up carved up like Kumasawa over there,' he cackled. 'Finally, you understand the meaning of death - '

'Kinzo,' Nanjo yelped. 'You said - Kumasawa got - '

'Carved up, yes,' Kinzo nodded. 'What, you didn't know?'

They all shook their heads.

'You didn't see her when you came in?' Kinzo smirked. 'Why don't you turn around.'

They did. Kumasawa was pinned to the wall behind him, crucified. Both her palms had been nailed to the plaster with giant stakes. a third one protruded from her head. Apart from that, Kumasawa looked relatively peaceful. Her eyes were closed, and her clothes were mostly devoid of blood. The thin slit on her throat was what had killed her.

Gohda was the first one to bolt. Crying out, he pushed past Kinzo and stumbled into the office. The rest followed after him, their minds reeling in animalistic confusion, and the door slammed shut behind them. The auto lock clicked into place, sealing them away from Kumasawa's body.