Did you think I was dead? It's alright; I would think I was dead to.

Sorry for the late chapter, I told you guys that I got punished for school problem, right? They prevented me from using my laptop for a whole school year . I was barely able to update my YuGiOh! GX and YuGiOh! 5D's Crossover Rebirth to Destiny because of this. Oh well.

I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Don't own -Man, nor do I own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. God knows it wouldn't be as good as it is now if it did.

Come Forth! Innocence! Chapter 5: The Statue of Misfortune

"This song is meant to be forgotten,"

?

?

"…who are you?"

"I am nonexistent,"

"…It is rude to tell lies,"

"You don't believe me?"

"…I can't talk to the nonexistent, that's just weird,"

"Hm, Is that so? Who are you then?"

"…Me? I am…nobody,"

"Is that so? Then you are blessed,"

"…huh? Why is that?"

"Because even a nobody has the right to exist,"

?'s POV

What do Humans search for?

Humans are so greedy

Humans are also so ignorant, to a worrying degree

Their like the children that find "pretty things" on the earthen ground. They would take these things and name it there's; not knowing, not caring, whether it be man or monster, if they send another to despair. The child would not know at what extent this item was beloved by another. All they would see is that brand new "pretty thing" that they picked up with their dirty hands…

…their dirty yet warm hands…

That's why I find it worrying to think that somewhere in this world, a man looms, using this human weakness to his advantage

The man would come offering a particular "pretty thing" to one that craves for something that can never return. They would always accept it, always readily accepting in their point of depression…

That shiny "pretty thing" called resurrection

Ignorant as they are, humans do not deserve to be pawns in this little game; yet here they are, pulling each other's strings without knowing who the true puppeteer was. How many lives were stolen by both sides of this ineffectual war? How many seeds of despair had been planted and sprung into forests of demons? How many colorful futures were utterly bleached by that holy light?

I really don't know who I should detest more; can I not just be indifferent towards these unfolding events? Humans are just much too complex to think about…

"Hm?" It seems a group from one of the sides has arrived, you could tell from their uniforms. A man in a cream colored cloak, his jawbone covered in bandages, was escorting the three sporting black cloaks marked with the rose cross. One was an elder, with dark eye bags that resembled a creature from the East; another was a young red headed man wearing and eyepatch, a mask of a smile plastered on his face. The last was a peculiar man that had an air of anonymity, sporting blue hair that covered one of his gray eyes; he was seemingly in a trance by his surroundings and was slowly lagging from the group.

I watched as they exited a church and headed towards a fairly large town, the town I currently reside in, right into imminent danger…

I see. It seems both sides are on to that person now…

I grumble at this

Riverview City-Marketplace

Morning

Lavi's POV

"OI! Toma-san! Did you find him yet?!" I shouted as I weeded out the remaining Akuma in front of me, only for more of them to appear. Damn!

"Not yet! I can't reach him with my golem!" Toma, the finder accompanying us in this mission, said with a panicked tone, his eyes evidently showing his worry as he put up a barrier to prevent Lv1 Akuma from making things worse. I glanced at panda-ji for a second; he was dealing with an equally large horde of Akuma as I was, I grumbled, there was no way for us to move freely in this battle and look for Mina-chan! Speaking of that guy, is he a kid or something?! Getting lost like this?! It's the beansprout all over again!

Mina-chan had been acting weird since we left the Ark and started traveling to the town, he kept on stopping at the smallest little detail and kept on looking up in the sky, well that part wasn't really new to me; he was like that while we were traveling to the Dark Order, looking around as if he was a kid in some "magical kingdom", But then again…there was always someone who stopped him from straying too far.

But he didn't have to get lost like this! Is it a coincidence that a horde of Akuma just so happened to have attacked us the moment we realized we lost the blue haired squirt?

I sighed as I pounded another Akuma to dust, and here I thought this would be the perfect time for solving that blue headed kid.

I pounded a level two Akuma to dust before checking my surroundings. Four down, six left to go. An Akuma fired a missile at my right; I dodged the blow with little effort, swinging my hammer to the left before whacking that Akuma of its momentum. The remaining five fired their missiles at me simultaneously, doesn't look like I can dodge this one, better use…!

"Man!" I jumped in the air and enlarged my hammer; no sooner crashing it down at the five Akuma huddled together, flattening the Akuma completely with the sound of their metal coatings breaking at the weight and pressure. I landed on the extended handle of my hammer, but the moment I did so, ten more of those nuisances came along, and more were just coming in. This number wouldn't usually be a problem; it weren't for my stamina dwindling by the second.

I hissed when I felt my strength that I had been oh so careful of saving was starting to decrease. I would have had more if it weren't for the fact that I had a very tiring fight with one of those mysterious guys. Oh well, Better end this quickly, or else I'll be too tired to fight any other surprise attacks.

"OI! Panda! I'm gonna wipe the floor now, kay?!" I warned, not that there was any need to, I just wanted to irritate that old panda with that nickname.

"Brat!" I snickered when it got to him before turning back and staring the spell.

"Ki Ban: Tenchi Bankai!" The wood seal glowed on my mallet as I stamped it on the ground, summoning a whirlwind of air to exterminate the Akuma quickly. Then, turning around as I enlarged my hammer even more, I took out the remaining Akuma behind me by whamming my hammer on them. I was about to finish of the job when-

"AHHHHHH!"

Loud, high pitched, screams started echoing throughout the square, making me freeze "Shit! Don't tell me!" I muttered as I looked around to find the source of the scream. When I did, any form of hope that they were just some girly level 2 Akuma was thrown out the window.

Surrounded by dozens of Akuma was a group of five civilians huddled together in fear, about three children, one male teen, and a female adult. The teen was protecting the other four with a long pole from one of the fruit stands nearby, although the best he could do was push away some Akuma or divert a missile. I cursed, they must have been walking by when they heard the commotion outside and went to see what it was, only to be ambushed by the Akuma.

"DUCK!" I yelled to them as I made my hammer grow longer, the teen, a Blondie around our age, understood what I meant immediately and made the four others duck along with him, just in time to dodge my hammer as it cleared away the Akuma around them. The children clung to the woman with a fearsome grip, I realized this when the woman winced slightly at the sudden pressure on her body, before starting to cry, poor kiddos.

"Ah! Sir. Lavi! Are you alright?" I turned away from the three sob machines to see Toma running towards me with the old panda walking right behind him; it seems that all the Akuma had been dealt with. I took a glace at our surroundings and grimaced, the marketplace had better days. The area was shaped as a large eight pointed star covered in cobblestone, on its better days, the sides of the star would be covered with vendors and buyers, but right now, with all the wrecked stalls from the attack and the fountain in the center ransacked of its beauty, it just looks like a mess.

I gulped; I hope we don't have to pay for this

"…Excuse me, but could you really be…an exorcist?"

I turned my head at the sound of the voice and found myself staring at the blond teenager who was protecting the other four. Now that I take a good look at him, he could pass of as a girl if it weren't for his unfeminine body. He had curly blond hair that reached the nape of his neck and deep blue eyes, not like those of typical Englishmen blue either, it was a really deep blue, like an aquamarine blue. He had an unnaturally pale complexion for a healthy boy, and was rather dainty, like he had never done much labor in his life, which couldn't be true considering how he was able to ward off those Akuma with just a stall pole.

And his clothes, you'd think he was Irish with all the green and Four-leafed cover symbols all over his clothing. He wore a long sleeved blouse with yellow rings on the upper arm, making the cloth on the shoulders puffier, a green vest with small gold buttons, and a small gold ribbon that was pinned around the collar with an intricate crystal Four-leafed clover brooch. He had brown pants, a black belt with another Four-leafed clover design as the buckle, long socks, and brown loafers. And to complete his looks, he wore a green fedora with a brown strap and yet another clover pin of the exact same design, as well as a brown satchel with a shoulder strap and the same clover design for the button.

Seriously, four Four-leafed clover pins? Way to stick to a theme

"Yeah, name's Lavi," I introduced myself with a grin on my face as Toma and the old panda reached us "Who're you?"

The teen blinked in understanding as he put his hand over his chest and introduced himself "I am Eliot, Eliot Andersen, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sir. Lavi," He said with grace and poise as if the whole 'Akuma almost killing you' didn't happen. I was about to comment about this when the old panda came up to us and joined in on the conversation.

"The pleasure is ours, Young Andersen," The old panda gave a small nod of acknowledgment, which Eliot returned but with more grace and enthusiasm. That's when a realized who this boy was, or at least, who his family was.

Even with the church on its side, the Black Order can't stand alone; it needed the cooperation of many noble families and others to gain access to its multiple privileges all over the world, so multiple nobles and high ranked officials funded the cause. They didn't just fund money though, machinery, scientists, soldiers, even information was given. If it weren't for the noble families that decided to aid the Black Order, they would not be as powerful and influential as now. One of the many allies of the Black Order is the Andersen House, a relatively old house that had aided the Order for quite some time now.

But, I turned back to the Blondie as I stared at his hair, from what I remember, the members of the Andersen House were known for their unique hair color and naturally tanned skin, and, despite it being more vibrant than the others, blond was not unique…

"Young Master!" My thoughts were once again wrecked when the woman in the group, accompanied by the three sniffling, but no longer crying, children, ran towards us in a worried pace "Are you hurt? Do you need medical aid? How are you feeling?" The woman asked worriedly. Compared to Eliot, the woman looked fairly normal, she had long dark brown hair that was tied in a bun with a few black pins holding it in and small green eyes, with a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. Her body was covered in a worn out looking trench coat, long brown boots, and a pair of white gloves. Completely normal…but

I took a glance at Eliot and noticed him frown slightly at something, I knew that look; it was a look of suspicion.

I guess things aren't as normal as it seems to be.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Genevieve, are you hurt?" In less than second, the frown disappeared and was replaced by a happy and relieved smile. It looked so natural on his face that even I would be fooled. The teen walked towards the woman and children and knelt in front of the three squirts, and patted each one of their heads.

"Richard, Louise, Mary, don't run of again, okay? If there weren't any exorcists here, who knows what could have happened," He said in a gentle, scolding, tone. I blinked, just now…his voice sounded different from when he was talking to us, it sounded more…sincere, I could tell due to my experience as a Bookman apprentice. I bet the old panda noticed it to.

"Ah! I apologize for forgetting your presences! Please forgive my insolence!" The teen, Eliot, exclaimed in a shocked tone as he stood up and turned towards us once more.

"I must thank you for helping us. This is my caretaker, Mrs. Genevieve; and these children are Anya, Richard, and Mary, they are orphans under the church's care," He explained to us as he gestured towards the woman and children, I blinked, what? I'm pretty sure that guy should be about our age, maybe a few years younger than us at the most, but not young enough to still need a sitter. What's up with that?

"Since you already know my idiot apprentice, I feel it is best we introduce ourselves as well," Bookman said as he stood beside me and Toma "This man here is Toma, a finder aiding us in our mission. As for me, you may simply call me Bookman," I saw the eyes of the caretaker, Genevieve, widen while Eliot simply hummed in understanding. They know of the Bookman tribe?

"Would it be alright to ask how you got in to this situation?" Old panda asked, in which Eliot nodded his head

"Let me. Me and my caretaker here often visited to church to aid in some of the daily housework in their orphanage. The children often play with us after we finished our part. These three here-," he pointed to the three children who were no longer crying, but instead are making guilty faces "-Love exploring the town and are more often seen outside the church than inside. A few hours ago, when the marketplace was ransacked by Akuma and the people started fleeing for their lives, we were worried because they weren't accounted for when the nuns did the head count, so we came looking for them," He said

"We were lucky we found them, they were cowering under one of the stalls," Mrs. Genevieve said in a relived to as she put her hand on the back of one of the children "Thank you again for saving us, sir. Exorcists,"

"There is no need to thank us, Miss. It would be best to take them back to the church, would it not?" Bookman said, Mrs. Genevieve nodded as she smiled "Yes, everyone in the church must be worried for them, I'll take them there myself,"

She turned to Eliot, who was just silently watching "I apologize Young Master, but could you please tell Master Andersen that I will be gone for the whole day? One of the nuns has actually asked me to aid her in a project, if that is alright, of course," I frowned, years of recording nothing but war and treachery heightened my instincts and perception. Because of that, it was obvious in my eyes.

She's was lying

But why?

Once more, I saw Eliot frown slightly; I guess he saw through the lie to.

"…Alright, I will inform Father of your absence today, but as always, you are to report to the Head Butler once you return tomorrow," Eliot said, his frown looking more anxious and worried, but for some reason, I felt like the these weren't for the woman.

Toma must have noticed this to, because he slipped into the conversation "Why don't I go with you? There may still be Akuma running around," he offered "Through I'm not an exorcist; I can at least use my talisman to ward them off," For a second, Mrs. Genevieve looked hesitant to accept his offer, my eyes narrowed.

Suspicious

"That would be wonderful! Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Finder!" I jumped a bit when I heard Eliot exclaim in sincere relief, he was really happy that Toma was going with the other four. But when I looked back at the caretaker, she had the completely opposite look, barely covered in a mask of relief.

Or at least, to us Bookman

Me and the old panda turned towards Toma, who was taking out his golem and talking to someone from the Order. When he finished, he turned to us and gave us a sheepish smile. At least, I think he did, his mouth is completely covered in bandages after all.

"I apologize, Sir. Exorcists, but I felt it was necessary," I shook my head, Toma is one of our most experienced Finders in the Order, it's said that not one of our exorcists didn't have him in a mission at least once. Not only that, Toma actually has frighteningly sharp intuition if he calms down enough to use his head, and recently, he's become more perceptive towards things. If Toma felt it was necessary, than it most likely is.

"It's alright," the old panda said "While you're at the church, could you contact the Order? There is something I wish to confirm," with that, I decided to leave the two to talk to themselves, whatever the old panda want's to confirm would be brought to light eventually, just like always.

"Sir. Lavi," I turned to see Eliot coming towards me "Might I ask why you are here? Father would most likely wish to know why two exorcists are strolling around town," I grimaced, not that Eliot said anything wrong, but when he specifically said two exorcists.

"…Yeah, about that? There are actually three exorcists that came here, but the third one…eh…got lost,"

Shit, I completely forgot that he's still missing

"…eh?" I frowned at his lack of surprise and the slight pause in his question. It sounded as if he was trying to sound surprised but was failing slightly. It made it sound like he already knew about us.

"Sir. Lavi?"

"Eh? Sorry, just a bit hungry, hadn't eaten breakfast yet and all," I said quickly. Maybe I'm over analyzing things again, I tend to do that most of the time before me and the old panda joined the Black Order, he could just be the type that doesn't approve showing weakness, such as fear of surprise.

I mean, he was able to jump back after that Akuma attack so quickly…

"H-Huh? You haven't eaten breakfast yet?!" I stared surprised when Eliot threw me a sincerely surprised expression; I couldn't help but be amused when his face contorted from surprise to confusion, to sheer worry.

"But how were you able to fight so efficiently?! W-wait! Never mind that! You shouldn't be overexerting yourself! What if you collapse in hunger?! No one's just gonna wake you up and give you bread!" He said, his posture was still graceful to an extent, but he was starting to act like a mother hen would to her chicks

I was about to snicker when the guy I barely even knew just grabbed my hand and literally dragged me towards the old panda and Toma, what the-!?

"Sir. Bookman! Mr. Toma! I was informed by Sir. Lavi that neither of you had eaten breakfast yet, that is very unwise!" the teen said, regaining his posture slightly to at least make polite sounding sentences…kinda.

"As a token of my appreciation for aiding us, please accept my invitation to eat at my place! Father would most likely wish to speak to you anyways concerning your appearance here in the city!" He said, he had already let go of my hand by the time we reached them, so I was safe to cradle my swollen wrist. Man, for someone so dainty, he sure has a tight grip!

"…That would be wonderful…Young Andersen," The old panda said simply, but even I noticed the slight twitch in his eyebrow, could it be that even he was surprised by the sudden change of attitude? I snickered slightly as I glanced at the blond teen, well, this isn't the first time I met a bipolar person.

I'm pretty sure half of the Black Order's staff had gotten the "Bipolar syndrome"

I watched the blond teen smile happily at the acceptance, before completely regaining his composure in the span of a second. So instead of looking for Mina-chin, were going to the Andersen house with Eliot while Toma and Mrs. Genevieve will escort the children back to the church.

Sigh, what a detour.

Riverview City – Pedestrian lane

Morning

Minato's POV

Wow, there are so many people in vintage clothing! If I didn't know better, I would have thought everyone was cosplaying.

"The sky is so gray here," I thought as I looked at the cloudy sky before looking back at the crowds of people. I should be in a different dimension, right? From what I see, aside from this 'Holy War' against parasitic crystals and soul-made weapons, this place is exactly similar as my world down to the dominant language, just in the 19th century.

And here I was expecting something in the line of aliens.

"Master, I believe it was unwise of you to separate from the group," A voice in my head said in a sagely tone, I grimaced when I heard it. Honestly, godly or not, she really does act like the mothers that worship her

"I'll be fine, Fortuna," I replied softly so that the people walking past me wouldn't think I was crazy "Besides, this is my first time being in such a large city on my own in this world, I can't help myself,"

"Hihi-Ho! Who knew Master was a troublemaker?" A jumpy and annoying voice sprung in my mind, I sighed

" Jack it, snowball," I muttered to the persona, Jack Frost. I've had the ability to hear their voices ever since my soul was used as the Great Seal, they told me how I could here them now because I was neither dead nor alive. Apparently, I had more personas than I originally thought I did, but my physical body can only house so many at the same time, so when I died, the boundaries that prevented my Personas, or as they called themselves, Demons, from interacting with me just collapsed.

But recently, that boundary was pulled back up when I got my physical body back in this world. But it seems I can still talk to them.

"HI-HO! THAT WAS RUDE MASTER!"

eh…oops

I pissed him off too much again I thought when the spot on the wall where was hand was gliding through started freezing. This tends to happen sometimes. When my Personas get too emotional, they tend to use my body as a medium to replicate their emotion using their powers. Like this one time while I was still traveling with Allen-kun and the others to the Black Order, of all of my newly awakened Personas, Orpheus was the one that got pissed off and almost incinerated three drunkards who were bullying a defenseless traveling musician.

Of course no one was seriously hurt in the end. But I couldn't say the same for those drunkards' clothes

"WOW! Look mommy! Look at these pretty snowflakes on the wall!" I blinked before turning to find a small boy staring excitedly at the small line of snowflakes that I accidentally created, only for his mother to drag him away.

"Not now, sweetie, we have to get back home so that mommy can make breakfast, It's your favorite!" Immediately after hearing this, the boy turned his head towards his mother and yelled in excitement as he and the mother return back home. I starred at this scene for a while before deciding to go back to strolling around. Those two are humans, their actions and behaviors don't coincide with what the researchers have concluded.

…or at least…I think they are

I sighed

Was it the right choice for me to let Pharos seal my Akuma detector?

Black Order – Minato's Room

Flashback

Minato's POV

"Minato-kun…are you alright? You look like you're gonna throw up!"

"Ah, sorry for worrying you, Ryoji-kun," I told the black haired boy as he set me down on my bed, Pharos right beside him. After Komui-san had given me the report for my mission, I decided to return to the party down at the cafeteria so that I could grab a bite to eat and get some sleep, but in the end, it was never meant to be.

The moment I opened the doors, there was screams and shouts everywhere. The cafeteria was in chaos, tables were flipped to become makeshift barricades, chairs and plates were transformed into makeshift shields, and the innocently delicious looking food were being thrown as makeshift projectiles! Overall, it was a makeshift battlefield against-!

Beneath the smoke from their previous assault, was a large white robot, and on the top of the monstrosity was…

"OBLITERATE THEM! COOKING KOMLIN V! Use spaghetti assault!" That wacky superintendent the monster as it opened its robotic mouth and spewed out a hundred strands of spaghetti

…what?

"How DARE you attempt to replace me with such a useless contraption! This is WAR!" I turned to find Chef Jeryy-san wearing green, military-like clothing, which would have looked rather formidable if it weren't for the fact that he held a large sausage as a sword and wore a "Kiss the cook" apron

"Soldiers! Position forty-two! Grand Turtle cake!" Immediately after he said that, one of the researchers, Johnny, threw this small turtle shaped cake with a candle on its shell, then blew a dart on it, causing the little turtle cake to grow fifty feet larger.

…again, what?

The spaghetti strands pummeled ruthlessly on the lime-green icing of the cake, but the turtle held on and bounced off the spaghetti strands. I only stared at the entrance of the doorway, what happened while I was gone? Moreover, since when did Komui-san pass me? I just met him in his office a few minutes ago…

"Ah! Minato-kun!" my pondering was destroyed by the sound of a familiar friend of mine. I turned to see Ryoji-kun and Pharos-kun running towards me, or at least, Ryoji-kun was, Pharos-kun was floating towards me, not a speck on him to be seen. Whereas Ryoji-kun on the other hand was covered head to toe in ammuni- I-I mean food. I smiled at the two, they look like their having fun, even Pharos, that makes me happy-

*Throb*

"ugh," I clutched my head in pain, I hadn't taken any painkillers today, so naturally it was wearing off. It felt like my eyes were burning, like the very sight of something impure disgusted it. I turned away from the two before they caught up to me, the farther I am from them, the less the pain should be.

After all, it seemed to have been reacting to the dark matter they were both emanating

"e-eh?! Minato-kun?! Wait up!" I walked away faster, sorry you two, just for today, I just want to eat and go to bed already. I left the pills I bought at a store back at my room.

But unfortunately that plan would have to be thrown out.

Because right when I was about to lose them, the only other guy that my eyes react to appears

"Minato! There you are! Come join us!" I grumbled when Allen caught sight of me and dragged me to the battle field, I did my best not to look at his face so that I wouldn't be affected by the curse on his eye "Jeryy said that if we win, he'll make us this super big feast! But if we lose, all of us are on Kitchen duty!" W-wait, what was the last part?!

"…I'm just gonna eat and go to bed," I said, before pausing, since when was my voice so sluggish?

…what's going on?

"…Minato? Hey, you okay? You're swaying," My eyes widened when I realized that he was indeed true, and I was swaying dangerously, the pain in my head was just getting more and more powerful, and my vision is staring to fade. I have to stay conscious! If I could just escape the cafeteria-!

But then the headache suddenly sharpened, causing me to collapse in my knees in pain.

"Minato?!" Allen exclaimed in worry, he tried picking me up, but I just gently pushed his hand away "I'm fine," I said in the most neutral face I can manage, still crouched on the ground "I'm just really hungry since I haven't eaten since breakfast. Could you get me something to eat?" I asked, hoping that Allen-kun would get the message. I don't hate Allen-kun, definitely not, but right now, it's best he stays away from me.

"…O-okay! Just wait here until I get some help!" With that, Allen-kun reluctantly left me, no doubt getting his own idea of the situation, my headache immediately lessened, but who knows for how long? I should get out of here before Pharos-kun and Ryoji-kun get here, no doubt they heard Allen-kun shout my name, even in this chaos.

I tried to get up, but found myself unable to move my legs. Huh? What's happening? I've never heard of a nerve dysfunction that was a result from a headache before. I need to get out of here before-

"COOKING KOMLIN V! Use Mochi Ice cream cannon!"

Great

The machine's mouth transformed into a cannon, then immediately started shooting different colored Mochi ice cream balls. The Grand Turtle cake's weakness must have been the cold, because the moment the first ice cream ball touched it, the cake shrunk. Now the Mochi balls are free to wreck havoc on everyone on the battle field

Like me

Just. Great

I tried moving my legs again, why won't the move?! My headache is slowly coming back to. I heard a scream beside me, one of the finders got pummeled by one of the balls, w-wait, is that blood I see?! From a Mochi ball?!

This is not good; I just came here to eat; now I'm going to be severely crushed by a bunch of ten ton ice cream balls!

Suddenly, the dreaded sound of something being hurdled towards me appears, I turned to see five Mochi cannon balls being thrown towards me in a frightening speed.

I frantically tried moving again. Shit, this is seriously bad! None of my personas can resist that much Ice! Jack Frost can only block so much! And even with my physical capabilities, any human will surely be severely injured at least when so many large balls are going to pummel him to the ground!

The balls are only a few feet away from me, I decided to summon Jack Frost from the sea of my soul and proceeded to cover my head, I can only hope that the impact wouldn't hurt too much.

"Minato-kun!"

But it never came

"Minato-kun, Are you alright?" I felt a small cold hand touch my cheek, looking up I found large blue eyes staring worriedly at me.

*Throb*

"!" I gasped in surprise when the pain in my head skyrocketed, causing me to flinch away from Pharos, that's when I remembered, what happened to the cannon balls?

"How dare that thing try harming Minato-kun,"

My eyes widened and looked up in surprise, ignoring the throb of my head as Pharos searched my body for any injuries, now that I have a clear view, I can see what was really going on.

Surrounding me and Pharos-kun was a bright green barrier, when I looked closely, I realized that the barrier was actually made up of hundreds and thousands of Latin words, the source of the stream of words was a black decorated ring emitting a strong green glow as it floated gracefully on Pharos' palm

Pharos' Innocence - Ring of Darkness

But that wasn't the only thing that was hard to miss

Just outside the barrier, his back faced towards us, was Ryoji-kun, emitting a dangerously large amount of dark matter, on his right hand was a long black sword the size of an adult human leg, encircling the black hilt of the sword was a small ring of coffins similar to the coffins draped on Thanatos' back, except instead of a holy man holding a sword, it was a sleeping man cradling the cross

Ryoji's Innocence – Requiem

Even with his back turned away from us, I could tell he was glaring (I wish I could see it, never once saw that happy go lucky guy get angry) at Komlin and Komui-san, who was ignorant to the killer glare that was pointed at them. I saw Ryoji-kun level his innocence in front of him and the useless piece of tra- I mean the machine Komui-san was standing on, and jumped, bringing his sword down as he descended with lightning speed.

The machine was completely sliced in half

I was in too much pain to remember much after that, but I did remember Komui-san getting kicked by Jeryy-san as his troops (a.k.a, the remaining finders, researchers, and even exorcists that were either forced to fight or were too slow to escape the mayhem) destroyed what was left of the destroyed machine.

Before anyone noticed, Ryoji-kun was already carrying me in his arms because I was in way too much pain and, with Pharos by his side, left the cafeteria to return me to my room.

So now I'm here…

"What happened there, Minato-kun?" Pharos asked worriedly "Normally you would have been able to dodge that, what's wrong?'

"…I-It's nothing really, just got a minor headache,"

"Minatooo~!" Ryoji whined "Can you quit being so secretive for once? It really isn't good for your health!"

"I agree, please tell us, Minato-kun,"

I looked at both of them; their eyes were expecting an explanation as well as worry for my health. I sighed, it's best to tell them I guess. If I don't, they might keep me up for the rest of the night, worst case scenario would be that they outright refuse to even let me go on the mission tomorrow.

…But I really don't feel like telling them…

…I'm sleepy, I'm hungry, my head hurts, and god, way too many things happened today for me to recount

"…I honestly don't know," I said with a defeated tone, at that the two's faces perked up, most likely from the fact that I was willingly telling them instead of having to waste an entire night persuading me to tell them.

"I guess I should start from the beginning…," I started telling them the story as to how I got to this world, how Elizabeth used this mysterious power (Which I had a hunch was the Innocence) to get me out of the seal, how I was dropped off by the velvet room to this black void which in seconds transformed into this ruined tower, how I met Allen-kun and the others, how I was able to see the spirits of the Akuma that were suffering (Ryoji-kun and Pharos-kun grimaced at that part, apparently, they can't see it, but when it transforms they could hear them wailing whenever one showed up in their travels) and finally, how I realized my head would hurt every time something like Allen's eye or Ryoji-kun and Pharos-kun's Aura.

"So that's why you flinched away from me when you collapsed!" Pharos-kun said, his hands making a *bonk* sound as his fist collided with his palm "And why you ran away from us in the first place!"

"EH? Why didn't you tell us when we were talking to you earlier?! I feel all guilty now for not knowing," Ryoji-kun said, brooding silently as he sat on the edge of my bed cross-legged

"Cause your noisy,"

"THAT'S IT?!"

"Hai,"

"Minato-kun, you really shouldn't be hiding things like this,"

"I know," I said as I clutched my head once more, that explanation took a toll on me, my headache is hurting like hell now. Pharos-kun noticed this and put his tiny hand on my forehead.

"Amrita," He whispered, immediately afterwards, a black light shone from his hand and healed my head ache, my body immediately calmed down. For reasons unknown to me, or even my Personas, I found myself unable to use many of my previous arsenal of skills, such as many of my more powerful Recovery skills and all of my Enhance and Ailment Skills, Orpheus has theorized that it was also because my Psyche was broken by Erebus while I was in the Great Seal and had to restart once more, which meant that unless I up my game more, I won't be able to use any of my favorite skills.

But…hang on…

"How do you know Amrita?" I asked him after he finished healing my headache. I'm pretty sure none of my personas from the Death Arcana can use Amrita, or heal in particular. It's just illogical, Death doesn't heal; it does the exact opposite.

"Thanatos actually knows many more spells than the ones you were accustomed with, that is the same for many of your more powerful personas," Pharos-kun explained "But a normal human can only hold so much or their power within them before losing their own sense of self, that's why many of our abilities are often blocked out when we appear in the human world," I nodded slowly in understanding, if I had known this, I would have asked Pharos to heal me long ago.

"But still…I fear the healing is only temporary," I frowned at the thought "As the Death Arcana, I can remove it, but after me and Ryoji separated, I'm unable to use half of my powers," I sighed, they told me the details earlier this day while we were walking alongside Lavi-kun and Komui-san to Hevlaska's Chamber, it was before they learned English, so no one should have understood anything.

Apparently, Thanatos was on the other side of the Great Seal, trapped in an eternal sleeping state alongside Nyx, when he felt a disturbance happening to the Seal. Worried that something had happened to my soul, he tried using our bond to check on me. Only something that wasn't supposed to happen happened, something on my side of our bond had forcefully pulled him through the Seal, which, Pharos-kun said in worry, may have damaged the Seal somewhat.

Ryoji-kun said that he remembered feeling this intense pain when forcefully opening the Great Seal. By the time the pain had disappeared, they were both lying on the top of a bunch of haystack on a moving wagon, already separated. Pharos-kun had theorized that the pain of being forced trough the Great Seal had severed Thanatos' mentality, causing the two unique personalities that weren't originally there, Pharos-kun's and Ryoji-kun's, to split their consciousness and hold a part of Thanatos' true form inside them.

Ryoji-kun had acquired Thanatos' attacking power and battle instincts, while Pharos-kun had acquired their true form's magical abilities and mystical knowledge, both had inherited faint hazes of memory belonging to Thatanos, but they were too vague that they gave up on finding out what these memories meant.

It was a rather unbelievable story, but in the same time, it made sense.

But back to the topic. I watched as Pharos used a spell to search for the anomaly that was causing my headaches as Ryoji-kun fidgeted on the edge of my bed, most likely unsure of what to do. By the time Pharos-kun found the anomaly, Ryoji-kun was already sprawled on the lower portion of my bed, watching me and Pharos-kun in barely lidded boredom.

And it only took a minute for pharos-kun to find the source

"It's in your eyes," Pharos-kun said simply "I should have guessed, this anomaly is the reason you can see Akuma souls in the first place," At this, Ryoji-kun looked up from his moment of boredom.

"Oh! So that's why Minato-kun's eyes look different!"

?!

"What do you mean?" Pharos-kun asked glancing at my face "I don't see any difference," Ryoji-kun looked at Pharos-kun in bewilderment and crawled closer to me to get a closer look, his face was only inches from mine as he studied eyes.

Dude. Personal Bubble here. Back off.

"Can't you see it?" Ryoji-kun asked, turning away from my face to face Pharos-kun "There's this weird green Aura encircling Minato-kun's gray eyes. I realized the difference when his eyes reminded me of the dark hour instead of a normal night," I blinked, green Aura?

"That's the aura of the Innocence," I blurted out my realization, I'm 100% sure I'm correct. From what my Personas told me, as Demons, there are a lot of versions of themselves in the other side, like how I know only one Jack Frost, but in reality, there could be hundreds of them. The only things that let's them see the difference between each other are their personalities and Auras, which are like fingerprints for us.

"I see…then the ability in your eyes is similar to the ability they had given to the giant stone face," I blinked, really? Oh, no wonder he hates seeing Allen-kun and these two, even I would be pissed off "But why is it that only Ryoji-kun can see it?" I shrugged, maybe Ryoji-kun inherited more than what we think he did.

"Never mind that!" Ryoji-kun exclaimed "If we can't remove it, what are we gonna do?!"

"Simple," Pharos-kun said "We'll just seal off his ability so that it won't react to anyone!"

…Huh?!

"That's genius!" Ryoji-kun exclaimed "Let's do that!"

O-Oi, don't I have a say in this?!

"Okay! Let's do it!"

I felt sweat drip down from my forehead as I stared at those eager faces that aren't gonna listen to a damn word I'd say about this

I just sighed

One was trouble enough; both of their presences are just too overwhelming…

But…I guess this once, I'll let them. After all…

I really don't want to stay away from them just because of a headache…

Riverview City – Pedestrian lane

Morning

Minato's POV

I felt myself grimace once more at the memory, you can barely get a word in between those two talking, who knows? Maybe their unconsciously the reason why I like to keep my mouth shut at times? I chuckled at the thought.

But still…being with those two… I thought listlessly. It's so strange, that should have been the first time I spoke to both of them at the same time…

…and yet, why does it feel like I've known them for years…?

I wasn't that close to Ryoji-kun, and I can't recall any moment between the incident 10 years ago and my arrival to Iwatodai that showed Thanatos interacting with me. Or maybe I just can't remember? Pharos-kun did say once to me that the burden my original shadow had when Death was sealed within me may have caused a slight Amnesia.

I sighed

Why is that my past is so troublesome?

"Hurry! Get them to the hospital quick!"

"There's no time! We can't carry this many in time!"

?

I blocked out my thoughts at the sound of hurried footsteps and relentless gasps of breath. When I turned, I saw a small group of people carrying a slightly larger group of dying civilians to, if I heard right, the hospital. I frowned, there are many people in the street, and yet no one are bothering to aid this group.

I sighed as I walked towards the desperate group; I guess a little charity wouldn't harm me.

"Do you need any assistance?" I asked the group, a man from the group looked at me is surprise, before giving me a deeply grateful look.

"Thank you! Were a little short on hands here you see," The man gestured towards the group. I simply nodded a greeting towards the people and carried the child that was handed to me, a paling girl with brown hair.

"What happened to them?' I asked as I followed the group to the hospital. One of the persons from the group grimaced as she carried the sick child on her back.

"These miscreants broke the rules and went near that cursed statue!" she said in annoyance and worry. My ears perked up at that, a cursed statue? Could it be the same one that we were told to investigate?

"Cursed Statue?" I repeated in question form. At this, a man carrying a young teen nodded remorsefully

"Ay, it's a blasphemous thing, that statue," I noticed his jaw clench in anger "Anyone near it never lives past a week; it took my wife in its damn clutches!" I frowned at this; yup, this is the statue.

"I don't know when it started," said another man, a teen maybe, carrying a fully grown man on his back "But one day, anyone near the statue, or even went to the central park all collapsed and got a disease. What's worse, everyone in town is certain that this disease is contagious and won't even lay a finger on these poor saps!"

"Codswallop!" Said an elderly man on my right, holding a small child in his arms "Were holding them! So do the doctors! Those prissy rich people are just selfish!" I frowned once more as I stared at the child I was holding.

What could possibly be wrong with them?

Soon enough, we reached the hospital, it was larger than most buildings around here, but not as large as many of the noble houses scattered around town. The hospital looked rather old to, faded paint half peeled of, dirty windows, and a barely hanging sign. I made a face at this.

What kind of hospital is this?

Without so much as a word, the small group entered the Hospital, me following close behind. When we entered, I realized just how bad this disease was.

Even from the entrance, you could here the wails of the dying and the grieving all mixed together. Doctors were rushing left and right, mad and tired gazes were seen in their eyes, as well as a sheer amount of hopelessness and defeat, as if they knew that no amount of work can help these dying people. There were people slumped on the corners of the rooms, eyes vacant from shock, grief, or even bleakness, like they had just…given up.

I didn't even realize that they had already taken the child off my arms as well as the people I was with leaving to get back to their families; it was that shocking of a sight. I gulped slightly; can this really be a hospital?

"Gah, this place is ridiculous, I need a smoke,"

?

I turned to see someone go down the stairs. It was a large gruff man, he had dirty blond hair and tired (not mad, I realized) eyes. His shoulders were hunched in exhaustion as he took a cigarette from his coat pocket (A white coat with a special pin, he was a doctor) and lighted it using one of the still lighted candle on a desk.

"Sir! You still have patients! Please reconsider!" I heard the loud voice of a younger man from upstairs. My eyes widened when the gruff man just sighed and continued smocking. This guy-!

Just as the man was about to leave the hospital to smoke in peace, I blocked his way and said in my default voice

"Sir, that's rude,"

The man looked at me, flabbergasted for a moment, before straightening once more. He sighed deeply as he placed the hand that wasn't holding the lit cigarette to his forehead.

"Look kid," I felt my eye twitch, Kid? "This ain't your business to deal with; besides, can ya really say they have a chance?"

I froze

"I'm sorry son, but it's too late for them, your parents are…,"

I felt a large and warm hand rest on my head; I blinked "Things are hell here, kid. Even doctor's need a rest from the pointless," With that he passed my frozen state and left the hospital, I blinked as I turned around, only to see the doors I had just entered from.

Huh? What a weird guy…

"Aaaah! He left again didn't he~?" I turned at the sound of the same man that was calling for the smoker, what I saw was a young man with unruly brown hair and thick square glasses, sporting a white coat similar to the one the other doctor was wearing, minus the special looking pin.

"Who was he? A doctor," I asked the other man before he started hyperventilating. The man immediately turned around, shocked to find a person was actually there, and straightened himself, coughing slightly.

"I-I'm sorry you had to see that," The man said "He's Gus Spiegelwald, a German doctor that's stationed here for a year now, he wasn't always like that," I frowned, really? The man must have read my expression correctly, because he coughed again

"R-Really! Before this disease was brought into light, he was a very hardworking doctor! But recently, he's been saying that our medical knowledge isn't enough to help the people, but there are so many patients that need aid that he doesn't have the time to search for an antidote!" I blinked, huh? That ain't an excuse to let people die!

"What does he mean by that?" I asked

"H-Huh? Eh…well," The doctor (Apprentice, maybe, that's why he doesn't have that pin) "Why don't I show you? The rumors about this disease is true, but only if you make direct contact with the victim, so it should be alright so long as you don't touch them with your bare hands," …Wait…me and those people touched them…oh wait…all of us were wearing gloves at the time, so we should be safe.

the man (Landon, he says, weird name) led me upstairs, we passed three rooms (Three rooms filled with people who were grieving and people who were dying) before stopping by the fourth room, there were no sounds, no one grieving for a dying soul, no one cursing the gods for this misfortune, just…silence.

The doctor opened the door slightly and motioned me inside, what I saw was heart wrenching.

Inside the not so empty room was a little boy, barely older than four, lying motionless in a bleached white bed, with only a rising and falling of his lungs to prove that there was still life in him. The morning light from the dirty window only made this pale child look ghostly in appearance as it touched his skin. There was no one else in the room, but on the bedside table was a small vase of wilted flowers, as if the last visitor put it there…but never came back.

"…I thought so," The doctor muttered as he went closer to the boy "Dr. Gus had already put all of his pending patients in a state of unconsciousness using the Anesthesia," I turned to him, shocked, so this boy was one of that doctor's patients? I looked at the frail and thin boy who was barely hanging on; even I can tell that there was no hope for this child.

"This child was one of the first victims of the disease you know, Dr. Gus had done his best to keep him in a healing coma, but the boy's health just kept degrading, that was about the time Dr. Gus said that our medical knowledge can't comprehend this disease…," Dr. Landon said with a grim smile "At the same time, he predicted that this boy, plus the two other patients under his care, would die on this particular day, and he's never been wrong with predictions before," I stared at the boy once more, faintly hearing one of my Personas, Unicorn and Pixie, agreeing sadly to the Doctor's prediction.

Ah…so could the real reason why he left the hospital be…?

"…he was right…it's starting…,"

I snapped myself out of my thoughts when the doctor herded me away slightly from patient, i couldn't even retaliate because of what I saw.

One minute, the boy was perfectly fine, the next he was wincing ever so slightly, yet his face held no sign of pain. The trembling of his body worsened, his head hitching continuously as his limbs shivered from something.

Then suddenly, a black pentacle appeared

More and more, in a matter of seconds the boy's pale body was blemished with hundreds of black pentacles, the boy just kept twitching and twitching, as if something inside the boy was pushing around his insides, leaving no space untouched.

And when his entire body became pitch black

He screamed

And crumbled into nothingness.

This…is…this is the…

Akuma Poison

My mind relayed, but could not comprehend it while in front of such a miserable sight.

"…See?" The Doctor said sadly "Although I don't agree with him abandoning patients…I do agree…that we have no power over this," I chose not to respond, I just stared at the empty bed that held no signs of there ever being a boy that existed on it. Their right, they have no power over this, I've never really seen it before, but from what Toma-san explained to me while we were inside the Ark, when a normal human is touched by Akuma blood, the infection will cause their body to be covered in hundreds of black pentacles, then crumbling away as the virus envelop their bodies.

This is the same

I gulped slightly as I remembered the rooms containing similar victims. If this isn't stopped soon, there's no doubt that this city will become a ghost town. I remembered the conversation I had earlier, about the cursed statue, with my Innocence, It should be alright if I get closer to it, right?

I took a deep breath and turned to Dr. Landon

"…By any chance, do you know where this Cursed Statue is?"

…Right?

Riverview City – Andersen House

Early Afternoon

Bookman's POV

We separated from the Finder and left with Young Andersen

It was a relatively short distance from the marketplace, which was the reason why the young heir had not used a carriage when he was traveling to the church. Through he stated he was deeply embarrassed for allowing guests to walk, and had apologized multiple times on the way. My idiot of an apprentice had sighed once in exasperation due to this and had told the teen off once, but it seemed to be for the best considering how the teen's nerves seem to loosen at the thought of his guests not finding his actions disrespectful.

Hm, it would seem as he is less secretive when that caretaker is away

"We've arrived, Sir. Exorcists," The teen said as he turned away from the large mansion which proudly shows the Andersen Emblem on its gates to face us with a smile and bow.

"I humbly welcome you to our humble abode,"

I heard my apprentice whistle slightly in amusement as a pair of guards opened the gates at the sight of their young master and two Exorcists from the Black Order. Once we were led inside, a crowd of people, whom I can identify as two teachers and a butler, appeared and bombarded a surprised Eliot with questions, not noticing our presences at all.

"Young Master! Are you alright? You were never late for History before!" said an aging woman with fading brown hair holding multiple history books

"U-Um-,"

"You left the mansion again?! How many times are you going to disobey your Father's words, Young Master?!" Said an old butler

"P-Please wait-,"

"You went to that Church again, didn't you? Where is Genevieve? She's supposed to restrain you from doing such repulsive actions!" Said a sharp looking woman

"I-I was-,"

"-Inviting us Exorcists for a nice brunch,"

I turned towards my idiot apprentice and sighed inwardly, as Bookmen, we are proficient in telling lies as if it were the truth, but we do not usually use this skill for anything else but to record history. What my idiot apprentice is doing is strongly under the 'not usually done' section. He's been doing this for a while now, doing things that seem more 'human' than 'Bookman', it's easy to see that he is attempting in vain to keep this hidden from me though, he never learns.

Excusing my thoughts, the three tutors that crowded around the young master turned in shock at the sound of another person in their presence only to find us standing idly at the entrance, Lavi plastering a wide grin as he waved in greeting comically.

I must admit though, the faces those tutors made was worth the trouble

"T-That's right," The young master, Eliot, said as he regained his composure in front of his shocked tutors "The Order had confirmed that three Exorcists and a Finder would be coming to town today for a mission, as one of the Noble houses supporting the Order, I invited them here to eat as a token of hospitality," I nodded slightly, aside from the fact that he did not come out for that purpose, I detected no other lies. My idiot apprentice may have forgotten, but the Order often informs the noble house of the town about any happenings that may affect their area, such as missions centering that particular city.

Although, I detected a half truth concerning the reason why he invited us to eat.

"Mr. Johnson, could you please inform the cooks so that they may prepare for the guests?" The man blinked slightly, before answering to the boy's order with a bow and leaving for the kitchen.

"I apologize for missing my lessons today, Teacher Corawell and Teacher Estonio, but for now, may I have my leave for today? I must escort these exorcists here to meet father," The two tutors nodded quickly and left our presences. Once they had all left, Eliot let out an exasperated sigh before turning back to us wearing an embarrassed smile, one we had see much too often while we were coming here.

"I apologize for that, surprising as it may seem, we don't usually have guests here, especially ones from the Order, and our family have never been the kinds that require full respect, so our household may seem a bit…laidback as they say," The teen said, I heard Lavi hum in content, I fully understand why. Through our journeys, we had met many kinds of people, the easiest kind to extract information from are the gossiping types and the slacking types; the former because they freely spread information, although mostly unreliable, while the latter, though often they have little information, they give no resistance towards extracting information.

"Moving on! Let me escort you to my Father first," Eliot said "I'm not quite sure he knows of your arrival, you see," he then proceeded to lead the two of us through the beautifully decorated halls, we had passed many maids and butlers on the way, each giving their young master and us guests seemingly serene smiles, to which the young boy would reply with a smile and a small wave, his face held no weary and looked as if he had not just experienced a near death situation involving weapons of mass destruction.

My eyes narrowed

Wearing a mask to hide the lies, he is one of the more difficult types.

"We have arrived," Eliot said as he stood in front of a mahogany door with a polished gold doorknob. I straightened myself and motioned for Lavi to do the same, suspicious or not, it is unwise if we give the head of a noble house a bad impression. With a knock on the door, the teen turned the knob and peeked inside.

"Father, I apologize for disrupting, but we have guests," Eliot said in a formal tone "Exorcists from the Black Order,"

The latter sentence was rushed, as if preventing his father from sending us away without first knowing our reasons. But why? Why is the Head not accepting guests?

A few seconds passed before a soft shuffle was heard, followed by a light voice.

"Exorcists, huh? Alright, let them in," The voice said, with that, Eliot opened the door wider, revealing to us a large circular study room with books of every genre covering the walls, on the center was a small circle of sofas surrounding a glass table holding a tray of tea and snacks. Beside one of the sofas was the man with the light voice, the head of the Noble house of Andersen.

"Welcome Exorcists!" the man said cheerfully "My name is Jonah Andersen, I am the head of the noble house of Andersen," he said with a smile, accompanied with an air of friendliness, before giving a sheepish chuckle "Of course, I'm sure you can tell by looks, it's rather embarrassing really,"

It is said that one can identify a member of the Andersen family by their natural blue hair and gold skin, and while the young Andersen qualified for none of these; his father was another story entirely.

The man was of medium height, trademark gold skin and slightly un-kept blue hair made him unique among many nobles. Aside from this, he had blue eyes and a smile of goodwill and a hint of mischief and wore a black suit with blue linings, further causing his distinctive looks to be more prominent.

It was said that the Andersen head was one of the more laidback nobles.

"Please! Sit down, you must have been tired," The man greeted us with a smile as he motioned us to sit, after we did so, I noticed Lavi turn his head to the direction of the door. I turned as well to see what he was looking at.

"Oi, Eliot, aren't you coming in?" he asked, true enough, the teen that had invited us in was still at the doorway, feet planted firmly on the ground as he held on to the golden doorknob, intending to leave the room.

"Sorry, but I have things to attend to," Eliot said as he gave a small bow, I quickly noticed the change of tone used, it was as if he wanted to sound casual but in the same time, knew he had to sound formal, it was also slightly hurried as well an odd mix of tones. With that the teen had shut the door with a soft thud, leaving us in the presence of his father.

Didn't he seem rather quick to leave?

"So what is you purpose here, Sir. Exorcists?" I turned to see the man seated down, his hand holding a teacup filled with jasmine tea with a smile "I highly doubt you just came here to sightsee," I saw my apprentice frown slightly, still keeping his mask of cheerfulness firmly in place. It would seem as he had also caught the aura. As if his straight to the point sentence didn't hint it though

Why is he excreting such a hostile aura?

"We, plus another Exorcist and a Finder, were assigned by the Order to investigate the mysterious statue known as the 'The Frozen Beggar'," I said bluntly, it is unwise of us if we beat around the bush; this man seems to be the straightforward type.

"…I see,"

I narrowed my eyes, for a second, his entire body was frozen in shock. Is there a connection between him and the statue?

Then suddenly, the man sighed in discontent "Why was I not informed of this? The Order should have given me a call," he took a sip off his tea before pausing slightly "Oh wait, now I remember; the phone rang once, but before I could answer it, it stopped ringing, must have been the Order," He said as he placed down his tea cup gently on the table.

"I'm not quite sure he knows of your arrival, you see,"

So this is what the young Andersen meant, but why did he know of our arrival? Could it be that he had been the one who answered the call instead of his father? That would explain why the phone only rang once.

But why did he not inform his Father?

"Well, in any case," The man said, pushing me away from my thoughts "You and your companions are free to stay here for as long as you require," The man gave us a smile "If there is anything that you need, feel free to ask," Before I could say anything, my Apprentice spoke.

"Actually, could ya show us where this 'cursed statue' is located?" Lavi said with a smile, causing the man's smile to falter ever so slightly, I huffed slightly, that idiot apprentice of mine at least had the same idea as me. On the way, we could also continue our search for the blue haired teen.

"…If that is what you wish, I'll ask a coachman to take you there," Jonah Andersen said, his smile quickly fixing itself "Are you sure you don't want to have lunch first though? I'm sure you and your companion are famished from your travel here," Hm, it is easy to see that he is rather reluctant on letting us get near this statue, it would seem as the mysteries of this predicament is much foggier than what we had first anticipated.

"You don't need to worry, Sir. Andersen," I said before my Apprentice could reply "We are fine; aside from that, we also wish to search for our fellow Exorcist who we had, unfortunately, loss tracked of," I heard Lavi hold back a groan, I could agree with him, who knew such a serene boy would give us such trouble?

Honestly, it's Walker all over again

"Oh, I see," The man nodded, his muscles relaxing slightly, most likely from the thought that examining the statue was not our primary objective at the moment. I narrowed my eyes once more.

I will need to research more about this.

Riverview City – Central Park

Afternoon

Minato's POV

I never thought that walking through an empty street was so disturbing

When I had finally gotten the information I needed from the doctor ("No! Suicide is never the answer!" "Do I look like a troubled kid to you?" "…yes," "…,") I decided to head straight there; I couldn't stand another second being in that hospital. But as I continued walking, I noticed that there were less and less people there with each step I took, by the time I was but a few meters away from the Central Park, not a person was in sight.

I shrugged and continued walking, not letting it get to me. But it's still creepy; it's the middle of the day, yet the only sounds I hear is the trudging of my feet on the cobblestone and my own breathing.

And Ryoji took my mp3 player

"At least I'm closing in," I thought with a sigh, I'm actually relieved that nothing's happening to me at the moment, no virus killing me, or at least I think there isn't.

As I speculated, I didn't notice a woman looking at me with a surprised expression as she left the same park I was going to, nor did I notice her face of realization that came only seconds after she blinked. I only noticed her when she walked towards me.

"…Excuse me, but could you really be…an exorcist?"

?

I halted my train of thoughts in surprise when a woman's voice came in front of me. It was a middle aged woman, or at least I think she was, since she had a young face. She had pale skin, blond hair tied to a bun, and piercing blue eyes; she must have been very wealthy, since the green dress she wore and the jewelry on her neck and ears looked expensive, although what really caught my attention was the green crystal clover brooch on her left chest. Something about it feels off. It doesn't feel dangerous, just…off.

"Hai? What may I do for you?" I asked involuntarily, ah, even in another language, that habit of getting things over with doesn't change. The woman blinked at me again, before nodding to herself, as if she had just confirmed something.

"Oh, it's nothing, I just wanted to confirm that's all," she said simply, I tilted my head slightly "Why's that?"

At this, the woman looked taken aback, then embarrassed, most likely cause what she said wasn't meant to escape her brain. But after she composed herself, she just smiled at me with a hint of humor as she said…

"Actually, a little leprechaun told me someone would be visiting,"

Huh? Leprechaun?

Before I could straighten my thoughts, the woman had already walked passed me. But before she could walk too far, she stopped suddenly and turned around, a sheepish expression on her face.

"Oh! I apologize for not introducing myself!" The woman said to me "I am Elizabeth Andersen, of the noble house of Andersen," I blinked, Andersen? Isn't that the noble house Toma-san told me was an ally of the Black Order?

"It was a pleasure to meet you Sir. Morte Corporali,"

…?!

My mind just went blank from that one phrase she spoke so casually. I turned to ask her about what she said, but she had already vanished from my sights, I groaned slightly in irritation, what is with me? Why do I keep spacing out recently? It's as if my brain isn't working as fast as it should be or something.

But aside from that, what did she call me? Morte corporali? I heard that phrase before, but where? And why did she call me that?

…hold on, didn't she just come from the park? I thought no one goes there because of the curse, but she seemed perfectly fine. Is the curse false?

"Ugh, I'll sort this out later, right now I'll just do what I came here to do," I thought before entering the small deserted park. In any other day, this place would look beautiful, with its lush trees and vibrant flowers that give of a sweet scent, but right now it just looks dreary due to the garbage littering the ground and the ruined benches surrounding the apparent center piece, the apparent cursed statue.

Huh, I'm not dying or anything, so I guess I'm alright

I drew closer to the statue to get a better look at it. Even with all the grime and water stains it got from days of getting soaked in rain, I can still say that whoever made this was really skilled. The statue, known as the 'Frozen Beggar' was off a girl barely six or so kneeling with her hands clasped tightly together in a form of prayer with her head raised up as if looking at the sky, wearing nothing but a large, tattered shirt that looked so real that one wouldn't even guess that it was made of stone. The statue was on a low pedestal, so I was able to see the girl's face perfectly. The girl has long wavy hair reaching her shoulder bones and a round face, her pupil-less eyes stared blankly at me while her stone lips were half open for eternity.

Wow, I've never seen such detailed work before; this beats the ones in Kyoto all the way…

But…

I stared at its stone grey face for a moment, how is this causing the virus? Is it an Akuma? No…I'm pretty sure it isn't. actually, I'm not really sure if this legend about the cursed statue is real, at least, the part were this statue is the cause of it all.

My Innocence would have activated if it detected any Akuma virus that touched me…

But there is no doubt that this statue is important to the mystery of these deaths. There is more to this statue that meets the eye…

Unconsciously, I touched the face lightly…before quickly retracting my hand

!

"This aura…!"

Indeed, there is more to this that meets the eye

I knew that for certain…when the soulless eyes of the stone child

Glowed green.

The Statue of Misfortune Chapter 1

-End-

Done! Finally! Sorry it took so long again! As an apology for the long wait, I had made it twice as long as my previous ones, I hope you like it! I don't think I was able to do the suspects introduction nicely, since only one of them got a decent description. I wish I could just draw them, but I suck at drawing with a mouse, I have no scanner, and no tablet, and I hate the quality of photo taken drawings. One day maybe, hopefully before I finish this mission.

Speaking of which, I estimate that this mission is only four to five chapters long, including this chapter. I realized that aside from the 'locate the generals' mission, most missions are only one or two days at the least.

I was going to add an extra, but I'm going somewhere with my family tomorrow (err…today…it's 1:44 AM now…shit), I'm gonna be gone for a week, but I hope that by the time I can form the skeleton of the next chapter. Sorry

Read and Review please!