Waking up at the lamppost in front of the Mansion, I headed over to the front door and opened it, revealing the majestic lobby. The big painting of Remilia Scarlet stood on the wall above the T-junction staircase, and most of all...

It's quiet, very quiet.

"Hello!?"

No answer. Where is everyone?

I explored the mansion a bit until I heard footsteps and sounds of brooms being swept across the floor. Further inspection, I found one of the fairy maids, backfacing me while she sweeps the hallway.

"Excuse me, Fairy. Do you know where everyone is--"

The fairy turned around, revealing her face, being riddled with eyeballs, and her mouth opens to reveal a row of fangs and a long tongue.

"What the--"

The Maid screeches, before running off towards me with the broom in hand, and tried to strike me down with it. Dodging her strike, I readied my own broom-spear and stabbed it through her back.

I pulled it out and kicked her back sending her falling to the ground. However steam begins to erupt from the wound, which heals itself. She stood back up, turned around and tried to attack me again by lunging at me.

Instinctively, I took one step back to avoid being pounced, and thrusted the broom-spear through one of her eyes, and she screamed before falling down to the floor, lifeless.

However she made one final squeal before stopping completely. It was then when I heard multiple footsteps. I dash off from the area, and went inside one of the many rooms of the Mansion, which is a storage closet and hid inside the cleaning equipment locker.

I hear their footsteps dashing through the hallway, and one of them opened the door, evidenced by the sound of it's loud and slow creaking.

She took one step closer, and inspected the rack full of cleaning cloth in front of the locker.

She turned around, and walked towards the locker as I covered my mouth shut as to not make any noise. My heart is now beating as fast as Nitori's propeller, as I hoped that she wouldn't find me here.

My prayers were answered, as a noise is heard from the room next door, and the fairy maid ran off to check.

Looking at them again as they scour the halls, it felt like they weren't affected by magic nor the blood of Sanae. What happened to them, exactly? After they are giving up in finding me, I walked out of the room and walked the long hallway until I managed to reach Remilia's room.

Opening it, I see the Charismatic Vampire sitting on her bed, looking at a wine glass full of blood on her hands.

"Ah, is it you Marisa? Have you come to visit Patchy, perhaps? She's at the library, like usual."

"What happened to the maids, Remilia? where's Meiling and Sakuya?"

"You could say they eloped. They ran off to Makai... The Mystic City, if I must make myself clear. How on earth do they managed to reach that forsaken place, I don't know it myself."

"And the other maids?"

"Patchy used every single one of them, to test out her hypothesis. Turns out this made them into monstrous savages, ravaging for more human eyes."

"Eyes?"

"Yes, her hypothesis involved the use of human eyes. We took in several humans from the outside world, took off their eyes and implanted them onto the fairies' heads. She believes that this way, they would have more insight to see the beings that ascended into godhood."

"I never knew Patchy is into this, ze. Considering she's a magician like me."

"And, if the library is locked, here's the spare key I kept. No need to return it to me, however."

She handed me an ornate key, and I took it before leaving the bedroom. I wandered through the halls again, until I finally found the door with the sign that says 'Unmoving Great Library' on top of it. I used the key, and it worked as it opened before my eyes.

It's well lit, just like usual. I walked through the maze of bookshelves, until I reached the center where I find a familiar figure sitting on her chair, in front of a tower of books on top of a reading table. Her hat which adorned a crescent moon accessory is the most defining of her appearance aside from her long purple hair.

"Patchy, I came here to--"

"Talk about the incident, caused by that Outside World Professor Okazaki?"

"H-how did you know...?"

"As you see, Marisa... I've got enough insight to read your thoughts. Maybe if I keep it up I can finally talk to the ascended ones?"

She turned her head around, revealing her face.

her bangs covered most of her forehead, however I still see the bronze masque she wears on her eyes. There seems to be tentacles of some sort snaking around them, making wet sounds every each second.

"what on earth..."

"I need more eyes, Marisa. Fresh eyes to gain more insight..."

"What insight!? What do you possibly want with this!?"

"Simply... To find out if it's really possible to ascend to a level as high as Godhood. Maybe this way... Us magicians can evolve"

"You're no different than Okazaki. This is just inhumane!"

"So you think injecting people with blood of someone special is more humane to you? You already see what happened to those people... It can also happen to you, if you lose yourself in the bloodlust like many others."

"What happened between you and her?"

"We started a small school in this library. Koakuma is the acting headmaster while I am in fact the grand headmaster myself. This school would attract those from either the Mystic City or the Outside world to study magic here. And of course some aspects are forbidden to be used, like the utilization of the Moriya Miko's blood."

"Where is Koakuma?"

"She's in her own little world now. Maybe I can lead you to her."

She then pulled out something from her chair, something long, slimy and it reeks of organs.

"Eat this umbilical cord fragment. This shall provide you with the insight, and the next time you sleep you may find Koakuma in her realm."

I shakily took the slimy cord, and I struggle as I put the entire thing into my mouth and chewed it. Sure I prefer Japanese food, but eating an umbilical cord from God Knows what, it's just really disturbing.

After a full minute, I swallowed it before I fall down to the floor, unconscious.

- To Be Continued