Theodore was flipping through the compendelium of his mistress. Her personas are in the most remarkable shape. Has he never seen such power in the sea of her soul. It even surpassed his own. He remembered the first time he had battled her. She remembered the uneasiness she felt when she stood in front of him. He smiled at the thought. He had to reassure her that it was alright for her to use her true power on him.

It was decided at the end of the battle that she would win. And Win she did. The face his Mistress gave him, were mixture of pride, worry, guilt, and her comfort. As soon as the battle ended she came to him without hesitation.

His Mistress is the most generous person he had have ever known. As he glanced at Minako's sleeping face he came to notice the free red strands of hair covering her face. Gently brushing them off, she shifted a bit, letting out a satisfied groan. His heart ached, deep inside he knew they can never be.

Morning came. Minato walked with Yukari to school, they've talked about the assignment that Mitsuru gave her and her plans, she looked a bit tired, 2 more nights and the bags around her eyes would definitely grow.

"Don't overdo it " Minato reminded her. A pink tint spread across the girl's face.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine ... remember this Friday okay? Bye !" Yukari waved at him as she ran towards the school, his class was on a different building. Maybe he could do some research on his own. Fuuka Yamagishi a girl from 2-E went missing. That's one thing he got on his lead. He wondered why is it easy to find some stranger and not find his sister ?. No use worrying about it now. The school was still buzzing about the rumour. The subject was altered in so many ways it's difficult to tell which one was the real story. Mostly the subject revolved around the ghost and revenge.

He can't seem to find any information that would be at least plausible. He asked about every junior in school, and was running out of options until he was called by a teen.

"You heard about the rumour ?"

"There's a lot of stories going around now, it's getting pretty tough to find good info. They all go back to the same conclusion of being a ghost. Say, you might be wondering how this thing spread so fast huh ? "

This could get useful

"As a matter of fact, I am would you give some head line about it ?" The teen looked at him as if he was some creepy spy pressing for information. That was not far from reality but he certainly wasn't that kind of spy.

"I didn't think you seniors were into stuff like this. Anyway. It wasn't the first time this happened it was the third. The 3 girls that were hospitalized, The one they just found recently is the 3rd. They're not related, they just hung out a lot." The teen shrugged while typing on his phone.

" Word on the street is that they've been hanging out back at the port island every night. You know that alley ? with the thugs ? yeah. Crazy ... they're all in different classes and they're all juniors too ..." he added

This proved to be really informative, The guy knows more information plausible rather than anyone he was talking too.

"That's really interesting... thanks for the information." Minato fished threw his pocket and took out 50 yen, tossing it to the teen. Wide eyed the teen caught it without hesitation. Glancing back in forth to the cash and Minato.

"Consider keeping it a secret." Minato said flatly .
"sure no prob." The teen said nervously "Hey ! I'm always here to keep you up ... Come back anytime"
"I'll Inform you if I need information. " Minato turned to his heels and went out.

He caught up with Yu, Yosuke , Junpei and Yukari. All heading back to the dorm. 2 more days until Yukari's deadline. She took the assignment really seriously, he thought of letting her handle the work of her own. Yosuke and Junpei seemed to pay no mind.
"Found out anything ? " Yu asked.
"About ? " Minato raised an eyebrow.
"2-E " Yu cleared.
"I tend to save the information I found until the dead line Yukari seemed to be having fun collecting information." Minato said kicking pebbled out of his way.
"No gist... I tried. but all they ever told me is ghost story and ghost. You found a reliable source"
"One would call it that."
"Fine... how about Minako" Yu asked in a whisper.
"none yet."

Minako placed herself alone at the back of port island, the thugs tends to avoid her having seen her as a killer made it really convenient for her. She has no reasons to stay here, and also she has no reasons to go either.

"What are you doing here ... " A gruff voice called out from behind that almost made her jump and run, luckily she didn't but her knees wobbled a bit. It was Shinjiro.

"I was just ... killin- ahem- killing time." So much for cool composure her voice cracked as she replied. "Girls like you shouldn't be here" He countered.

"I can handle my own, thank you." Her voice sounds steadier now. "I don't need your thanks" Shinjiro replied leaning back against the wall in front of her. She studied him from under her hood.

"I don't need you sermon ... I'm here on the job" She said coldly.

"You kill for a living ... " Shinjiro said in a matter of fact. "You're Nyx right ?"

"Talk about memory loss" The joke didn't impact as she expected, there was another meaning in those words that she could think. It somehow managed to pierce her heart. Ouch.

"I'm not kidding here"

"Neither am I" Minako snickered.

She didn't realize it but it was already late, the dark hour will soon start.

The Clock Strikes twelve, the world was again consumed by the eerie green light, The calm waters under the bridge of moonlight turned crimson in a raging storm. The people sunk into their slumber inside coffins. Moving blobs of black substance begun to crawl on the pavement, screeching their nails in the concrete streets. Blood continues to flow, through creaks and pipes of which drained waters once moved.

Minako emerges as Nyx, walking around each coffin with her cloak swaying in every step. Shinjiro watched her as she move to one coffin to another. Examining the sleeping faces of the people.

"I guess he isn't here ... " She said with a sigh. Shinjiro walked over to her. "Tough luck"
"Ha-ha, I forgot how to laugh" Nyx said spitting sarcasm
"I wasn't joking idiot." Shinjiro grunted, irritated at her. Nyx made a face under her hood. She turned away from him "I can't find him without Chidori" Nyx complained.
"You seemed pretty close" Shinjiro commented.
"Thanks for the flash ... " Nyx said her tone hard and cold as possible.

"Mistress ! " Theodore's voice was heard behind. The two teens turned to look and spotted Theo jogging towards them. "Mistress I would like to escort you back now. It's no safe to be out this time."

"fine ... " Nyx agreed under her breath. She walked towards the pale man. Shinjiro watched as Theo leaned and whispered something to her, making Nyx's air change. He figured it wasn't good news,

Theodore turned to Shinjiro and arched his body in front of him, his hand on his chest "I thank you for watching over my Mistress during my absence."

Stunned Nyx stiffen, If both men could see Nyx's face flushed red, she would've died in embarrassment. Nyx scolded Theo. Her face bit red. Little did he know that Shinjiro was also turning hot behind his ears.

Theodore took it as a good sign and laughed playfully in front of his Mistress. Nyx hurried her pace urging Theo to stop his fit and go back home.

Leaving Shinjiro in his thoughts. He knows something isn't right. He just can't put his finger to it.

Tonight was scheduled for them to explore the last floors of Tartorus within their boundaries. The guardians' were not really that powerful to beat. Most of them only needed common sense to exploit the weakness. They just got home from training and the juniors were out of energy . After announcing the night All of the members proceeded to return to their rooms.

Yu snuck out from the dorm, while everyone was sleeping in their rooms to notice him escape. His shoes clicked as it came contact with the pavement. As he closed the doors. He wore his coat and Minako's handmade scarf. The air was colder than usual, and the lights of the city were pretty dark minus the light of the slowly forming moon.

The streets were lined with standing coffins and blood flowed from the corners of every building and pipes. The fog was green and eerie like any other things during the dark hour.

He went because he wanted to clear things in his head and he could sneak a glimpse at that back alley to find some clues on Minako's whereabouts. It unexpectedly occurred to him about the girl he met at the shrine. He was sure she looked familiar, but he didn't really had a good look at her.

The port island was still and silent, it was deserted . Slowly approaching the back alley of the said port. He was again greeted by lining coffins. And some lurking shadows on the move. He kicked a stone in front of him provoking the shadow. It dashed towards him with inhuman speed.

He touched the mouth of the gun with his temple and pulled the trigger. With one swift move it from his persona it disintegrated. The alley was pitch black from the right and left. The coffins remained undisturbed which is good. A hunch on his back made him feel uneasy like something is watching him from behind. He turned to look but there was no one there.

His eyes must be playing tricks on him, he must be more tired than he thought. Placing one foot after another quickening his pace. He went back to the dorm.

During the past few days, STREGA was beginning to accept Nyx. She's beginning to hold more request. Much to Theo's dismay, his mistress's attitude towards the requests is unnerving. She's becoming more and more exposed to this murderous favours and it didn't bother her.

He noticed that her eyes are becoming a bit cloudy too.

Within the circle, Chidori is the one that hungers her company. Silent and unsure she may seem. Nyx was interested in the persona more than the user. The black feathers begun to spread through her back from her neck. Of course she panicked at the sight, and ask Theo to pluck them.

It's was painful, just as painful as of both a stinging sensation and an irritated one. The feeling you get when a strand of your hair get's plucked out abruptly.

Theo would bring the topic of visiting the dark hour but was stopped immediately by her.

"Mistress ... I if may be so bold, I want to know why you despise the topic of the velvet room" Theo asked one day, while he plucks one feather from her back , making Minako squeal for a moment and waits for her to relax, then wipes the black ooze with a clean vaguely damp fabric .

Minako winced gripping the covers of her bed tightly, as the pain ceased and the feeling of the wet cloth eased her skin , breathed. "I don't think Despise is the right word for it"

Theo pulled another and she let out a high pitch yap . Burying her face on the covers muffling the pain emitting from her back. Followed by the contact of the soft mildly cold cloth. Her shoulders relaxed.

"I don't think this would work ... The Feathers will grow back eventually. " Theo reasoned, putting away the materials, for now all of the feathers were removed and she was left with small circular wounds. Nyx sat upright and unrolled her shirt. Her eyed were wet with tears, whipping them away almost instantly.

The feathers on her neck was no longer than her pointer, but the feathers that grew to her back was almost the length of her hand to her wrist.

"I don't despise the velvet room ..." She said her voice soft. Theo was putting away all the materials they used. He heard her whisper and turned to her. "Then why not seek help ? "

"I can't really say ... " Theo raised an eyebrow. Minako was silent as she stared onto her bedroom window. The sun was shining and warm, the winter air was almost gone. Summer must be near.