Hello my subjects! First of all, I would like to formally announce that the Prince no longer is sidetracked by annoying schoolwork! This previous two weeks, I was swamped with four projects, three tests, and a stupid spanish exam. I hope to get serious shit done this week, so look forward to it, I suppose.

Alice skipped towards the center of the room, surveying the smashed pot on the elevated ground. It looked like it had tipped over in the earthquake, and, because the pot is probably as old as fuck, had shattered into only a few pieces. Nothing badly damaged; it looked like an easy fix.

Phlegming thought so too, because he kept marveling over it. "Fascinating! This jar has to be over a hundred years old!... But, it's just as I feared, it was damaged in the earthquake."

What was your first clue you piece of shit?

Alice snorted, the action not going unnoticed by Sheila, who was watching her verrry closely. As if the jar smashing wasn't enough of a rather ominous clue to GET THE FUCK OUT, Phlegming walked right up to where it was placed, and started fiddling around with it.

"...Ah~! We're in good luck today, it seems. The section of the jar with the seal drawn on is still intact! Patching this up will be a piece of cake for a top-notch archaeologist like myself... just gotta take out my special glue.." Alice could only watch him with owl-like eyes as he started shuffling around on the ground, looking for pieces.

"...What the flap does Catarrhina see in this egocentric doofus?" Stella voiced Alice's inner thoughts, surprising her at the same time. Alice had been so caught up in watching Phlegming be an idiot that she had momentarily forgotten all else. Smacking her cheeks with her hands, Alice kept herself alert.

It turned out that she was right on time, because just then a weird purple monstrosity that had blue specks all over its... "skin", three eyes, and what seemed to be green haze floating out of its mouth came out of the jar, and it was pretty fucking pissed.

"You no-good, nose-pokin' buckaroos are here to try and cram me back in this teeny-tiny little ol' pot, aren't you?! Well! I ain't gonna let y'all do that, y'hear?! The Ragin' Contagion's gonna keep a-ragin'! Ragin', ragin', ragin'!" It shrieked right in Phlegming's face. Phlegming took a few terrified steps backwards, but didn't drop what he was doing.

"D-Drat! I haven't finished f-fixing the jar yet!" Phlegming turned his head towards Alice's group, who hadn't really bothered to try and help him. To be honest, they didn't really like him (except for Iris, who had heard about him many a time, and could no longer bring herself to care anymore), and therefore didn't really mind if he was slaughtered. They could just report it as an accident, right? Mayor Laria would definitely have accepted that, hands down.

But, no. The quartet must always rise to justice; helping those that need help, even if they're incredibly unlikable. That is the way the script for this game was written, and that's how it will be carried out, whether they like it or not (and they don't)!

"What are you doing?! Don't just stand there, Alice! If you don't do your job and fight this... abomination, I can't do mine! Keep it occupied while I get this jar back together!" Phlegming made it no secret that the little group of girls by the entrance were there to beat the living hell out of the monster. The Ragin' Contagin' turned towards them, and let out a deafening roar.

"Get lost, ya pesky critters! I'm gonna have to send yer sorry hides to the bone orchards early!" The Ragin' Contagin' grew in size, towering far over Alice, who had to bend way over backwards in order to look it in the... multiple eyes. "The Ragin' Contagin' must keep on ragin', ragin', ragin'!"

Ugh, I hate his accent! Hurry up and finish this hick, Alice.

The two engaged themselves in a long, merciless stare down, lasting many centuries within only a single moment. The Ragin' Contagin' was so distracted that it didn't notice Marine and Iris sneaking up behind it until it was too late.

Marine impaled her iron spear right through the mouth-looking area of the monster, whilst Iris executed her Flailing-Nails technique, blinding all three eyes in a single swipe. In the background, Sheila cast an anti-magic spell on the contagion, preventing it from doing any magical harm on her pals... oh! And her client, too.

Pitifully, Sheila's anti-magic spell fell to shit, and the Ragin' Contagin' turned it's (literally) blind rage onto her, spitting out soporific vapors, which embraced Sheila tightly, inducing her into a deep sleep. Alice wasn't too pleased that her match had been disturbed, and unsheathed her sword. With on small jump, she landed on the top of the contagion (which was surprisingly sturdy), and started stabbing it to hell, holding her sword like it was a knife.

Unfortunately, this made Alice a rather easy target. It took just one tilt of the head, and Alice tipped backwards, falling into the jaws of evil. With a sickening crunch, Alice's body disappeared down the throat of the Ragin' Contagin', who was quite pleased with having one brat gone.

Pissed off to hell and back, Iris cracked her fists inside of her claws, and gave the Ragin' Contagin' a good uppercut (with the claws sticking upwards) into the jaw of the thing, producing a good amount of pinkish-green blood, which was absolutely disgusting. Then, for some unknown reason, the Ragin' Contagin' suddenly split in half, dissipating into the wind. Left behind, was the one and only Alice, who was clutching what appeared to be a clump of dirt, covered in the pinkish-green goo. She also looked royally pissed off that she even fell into that state in the first place.

"This was its god damn heart, it seems. If we stick this is the jar/pot/what the fuck ever, it should stay sealed." Grumbling about how the worst shit always happens to her, Alice turned to Phlegming, who was putting the finishing touches on the jar. She shoved the clump into his hands. "Here, you seal this piece of shit."

Phlegming did just that, letting out a weird unofficial incantation of some sort. The jar glowed, and the dirt was sucked right in. Puffing his chest in pride, he turned to Alice, who was trying to transfer the goo into some of her vials.

"Did you see that, Alice? Did you see what I did? I sealed the confounded contagion that has plagued our town for god-knows-how-long! Ha! Now Father-in-law will have to change his blasted tune, and show me some damn respect!" Phlegming started chattering nonstop towards Alice, who had stopped her ministrations, giving him that owlish look again.

Iris was ashamed of her friend's husband's behavior, but she was more preoccupied by trying to wake up Sheila, who was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. It seemed she would just have to carry her. Just like the old days, eh? Chuckling, Iris lifted Sheila up, and cradled her like a little kid (or, Alice, if you require a reference).

Marine, meanwhile, was becoming pretty disgusted by this guy. He is boasting to a child. A child that was just eaten by the thing he just "sealed"- not only that, but he didn't do shit to help! She GAVE HIM THE JOB, and basically said "Here, can you manage to accomplish this simple task?"! Ugh!

Marine was going to have a serious discussion with Alice later on who she should and shouldn't associate with.

Putting parental-feelings aside, by the time Marine had stopped fuming, Phlegming was already long gone, having gone deeper into the ruins to investigate. His only request before leaving was if they would tell Catarrhina that he was going to be late for dinner.

Without bothering to knock, Alice paraded into Catarrhina's house, Marine and Iris trailing slowly behind her. Catarrhina wasn't in the kitchen/living area, so they went into the bedroom. Perhaps Catarrhina had taken another nap? Iris vaguely recalled her saying that she had been sleeping more recently.

They found Catarrhina curled up on top of her bedsheets, slightly clutching the pillow from the other bed, which Iris had to confiscate so that she could properly place Sheila on the unoccupied bed. Alice took one look at Catarrhina and knew it from the pits of her soul that Catarrhina was long dead. There was nothing they could do for her. She stood back as the others tried to wake Catarrhina up. It was Iris that noticed something was wrong first, as she had the knowledge of knowing that Catarrhina is not a heavy sleeper. She grabbed Catarrhina's shoulder, lifting her chest up towards her ear, searching for a pulse.

After five straight minutes of hearing nothing, Iris slumped, slowly releasing Catarrhina's dead body back onto the bed. Now that she stood back, watching, there was something more disconcerting that she should have noticed upon entering, and that was that Catarrhina did not appear to be breathing. It was a much more obvious clue.

It was at that fortunate moment that Phlegming decided to come home, despite having said that he was going to be staying late in the ruins. In a way, it was a good quality to come home before night, but it was meaningless now.

"I'm home, Catarrhina!" His voice came booming from the front entrance, "I'll be off again soon, though. I'm just coming back for a quick moment to fetch some papers that will help me explore those ruins better."

A moment of silence passed, and Phlegming's quick footsteps echoed towards the bedroom door. "...Catarrhina? You're being awfully quiet..."

He stood there in the doorway to the bedroom, looking at the three of them just standing around his sleeping wife. Iris was slightly tearing up, with Marine gently patting her back. Alice was no longer even looking at Catarrhina; instead, she had turned her attention towards the sleeping Sheila.

"...What's wrong? Catarrhina?" Phlegming quickly rushed to the bedside, and started shaking her dead body, "Catarrhina! Answer me! You-You're not...? No! The contagion couldn't have possibly have taken you!"

He fell to his knees, cursing the blasted contagion that had stolen his young wife away from him so early. Phlegming was so noisy that he managed to stir Sheila awake, who just tiredly took in her surroundings, and went back to sleep, not understanding the situation.

Alice could already hear the death bells ringing, but she couldn't quite tell if they were real, or if they were but a figment of her sick imagination. Shaking her head, Alice lead the others (with Iris carrying Sheila again) outside to give him time to mourn the death of his beloved. Once outside, Alice looked up at the sunset, wondering if there had been any way they could have prevented this.

...No. This was probably meant to happen. The consequences of being self-absorbed are harsh, but in the end it could bring about good things. I mean... I'm right here, aren't I?

She gingerly touched the back of her neck, lightly tracing spirals over it. It was not the first time she'd seen death happen before her eyes, and it would certainly not be the last, but at least she had that small bit of comfort, knowing that when her time soon came, at least she would be right there beside her. To achieve that goal, Alice would witness (and even take part in) a thousand bloodier deaths, if it meant she could see her in the flesh again.

Alice made a detour towards the church, while Marine went towards the mayor's house to report the death of his daughter. Iris, on the other hand, went to the inn to prepare a room for the four of them, so that Sheila could have a place to properly rest.

It's a shame that Catarrhina died. She was actually one of my favorite characters (mostly because she has green hair). Can anyone detect my not-so-secret hatred of Phlegming, or should I make it even more obvious that I wish the plague had killed him instead?

On a side note, I've recently gotten into Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love Plus... it's really good. ;n;