20 September 20XX 11th day of waning period

A week had passed since the Heretic God of Steel Ama no Murakumo had appeared in the Mortal Realm before being swiftly defeated by the seventh Campione, Godou Kusanagi. More importantly however was that it had only been three days since Ena had told Joel Kranjcar that they were engaged and were to be wed to one another in the future. That was really something that had caught our resident schemer off guard and for once he was slightly regretting his decision of revealing his identity as a Campione to the Head of the Kranjcar family.

It was only the fact that the Head held the truth of Joel's identity that had landed him in his current situation. However that was not to say that Joel was unhappy about the turn of events. No indeed, for even if he was already above normal mankind, Joel was still a straight male adolescent that could recognise the beauty that was Ena Seishuiin.

The [Hime-Miko of the Sword] was a classic example of a Yamato Nadeshiko, one that wielded both strength and beauty and had a rather pleasant and up-lifting personality if you are willing to look pass her bluntness. Even with how straightforward she is, being married to such a person would no doubt bring happiness to you regardless of the ups and downs of life.

While it can be said it was because he had saved Ena that this situation occurred, Joel still does not regret doing so. In a way, he truly was taking responsibility for his action so he did not mind that a good part of his future was already decided for. And despite being able to call off the engagement as soon as he wanted to, Joel decided not to since he himself knows that underneath all her strength Ena was just a lonely girl. The engagement had been Ena's idea so she must have wanted it to happen one way or another, calling off the engagement would just break her heart and leave him with nothing on that front in the end. In conclusion, there was nothing he could do and nothing he wanted to do in regards to his engagement to one Ena Seishuiin and in the words of the hidden eighth Campione the decision was final.

It was the memory of what Hecate had said however that bothered him to no end. Coming out of nowhere and then leaving him to ponder over her words was just like the enigmatic Goddess of Magic to do so. Not to mention what she had did that time…..

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13 September 20XX 4th day of waning period

"Come out Hecate, I know you're there."

Immediately, there was already a different atmosphere around the area where he stood.

"I have been waiting, Ye who dealt me death."

Hecate has arrived.

Her blue hair and mostly white outfit stood out in the dark surrounding while her equally blue eyes shone. She stood there looking at the one who had in a way killed her and become one of the eight to surpass the rest of their species.

"Heretic Hecate….You couldn't have arrived at a better time. I have questions that I think you have the answers to." Joel said without any emotion.

"…."

Without a doubt, the bo- no, that was a wrong term to use, he had already grown passed that- the young man in front of her had become powerful. The spells he casted had little flaw that will no doubt disappear into the sands of time before long and she could feel that his will was stronger than even the hardest diamond. To think that a being like her had helped to create such a being, it sent a rush of pride through her and Hecate could not help and give a small smile.

Obviously such a thing would not go unseen. The eyes of a Campione were too strong not to.

"Are you mocking me, Witch? Do you find this funny?" He ground out, his face showing the smallest tinge of anger.

"Calm yourself Godslayer or I will do it myself."

"Oh…Did you come out all the way here to pick a fight with me? Is this what it is all about? A revenge match?" Said Joel with a smirk. "The others are not around so I am not afraid to settle this once and for all." Fists were clenched and a stance was taken.

But it was all for nothing. One moment he was still standing straight and the next he was already pressed into the earth. The hollowed out gold triangles that signified the use of Joel's favourite Authority appeared in his two eyes without any hesitation and he scanned around with [Wisdom] as much as he while he was still being crushed into the ground.

"A localised gravity amplification spell." With [Wisdom], nothing of a mystic origin was out of his grasp. Joel raced through his options and not a second later, the force that had been pushing down upon him disappeared and he immediately jumped a distance away from the Heretic Goddess.

"Stand down Godslayer, I did not come to battle today." The way he treated her hurt her more than any weapon or spell was able to but she knew that he was not being himself and he could not be blamed for his actions.

"What is reason for appearing before me then?" Joel was still sceptic that the Goddess did not come to fight though if he could get his answers without having to fight then it was a win-win situation for all.

"To simply convey a message to your ears, child."

"A message? What did you want to tell me that you would risk Kusanagi Godou seeing you?"

"What I needed to say is more important than any risk in the mortal realm, it mattered not if the other Godslayer were to see me, there was little that he could have done either ways. Don't let the darkness control you and don't attempt to contro l the darkness, simply that. The moment you understand this is the moment you know the truth of what happened the day you killed me."

That got Joel to widen his eyes. A clue! Finally a clue to what he wanted to know! It a vague clue but a clue nonetheless.

"…..I killed you once before, so why help me?"

"It is all a part of my plans. I expect great results from you." Hecate said sagely as she nodded her head a few times with closed eyes.

"You really are mocking me, aren't you!?Yo-!"

But Joel could not finish his sentence for Hecate had suddenly appeared right in front of him, the distance between them near non-existent and her arms out stretched towards him as if reaching for something behind his back.

At that moment, Joel knew it within his own mind that the situation was just too against him for him to do anything. The distance between him and Hecate was just too little and he was just too slow to stop whatever Hecate had planned for him.

At that very point in time, Joel had already simply gave up. Resigning himself to his fate, Joel shut his eyes and waited for his death to come.

He could feel that he was pulled down upon. And then then was a soft feeling being pressed onto his lips. This was-

Joel rapidly threw his eyes open in shock and with them, saw just what had happened. The entire form of Hecate was pressing up against him, her arms were wrapped around his neck and both of them were connected by their lips.

He really wanted to throw her off yet for some reason Joel could not find the strength to. He had also tried to resist the kiss however he just ended up kissing her back. Joel knew that the whole thing was wrong yet…. it just felt so right to him.

Mere seconds were considered an eternity for this kiss of theirs but the moment was to end soon. The kiss ends and they separated, looking at one another in the eye with her arms still around his neck.

But Hecate was not done.

Pushing her form up till she was beside his ear, she whispered ever so softly to him,

"Please do not keep me waiting."

This derailed Joel's entire train of thoughts and before he could boot up his brain again Hecate had already pushed him away, leaving him to stumble a bit as he lost his balance momentarily. While the Campione struggled to keep himself upright, Hecate had already begun her exit from the stage.

A strong gust of wind blasted through the area, forcing Joel to shut his eyes and when the winds had finally quelled allowing Joel to open his eyes again, Hecate was already gone.

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20 September 20XX 11th day of waning period

Of course the first thing that Joel had thought about was their kiss and the meaning behind it. He would pretty soon throw it to back of his mind in favour of the notion that Hecate was just throwing him off his game and sending him on a goose chase. To waste his time and efforts or for some other reason he did not know but one thing he did know was that it was too big a bait to not bite on.

Joel knew that he was playing with fire as it is, listening to the words of a Heretic Goddess like Hecate. If not for his need to learn exactly what had happened on the day he became a Campione, Joel would not have taken heed to a single syllable that Hecate had said. The unknown conclusion of that day ate at his mind till no end and the only way to get even a semblance of mental peace in the future was to get to the bottom of the whole situation and if that included listening to what Hecate said then so be it.

"Don't let the darkness control you and don't attempt to control the darkness." was what Hecate had said and the only thing that Joel could think that linked darkness to him was his Authority of [Waning Moon Shroud]. Fuelled by the darkness caused when the moon wanes, it was what linked Hecate, Joel and Darkness together. Speaking of which, the current number of [Shrouds] that Joel could use at the moment was 30, bring him back to around the original amount of [Shrouds] that he had before fighting Perseus.

Experimenting with different spells of the darkness element and his own [Shroud] while checking the effects on his own self, Joel was quite shocked to see his own soul being encroached by darkness every time he used anything related to darkness. The effects were minimal so far but they were there. To help visualise, let us presume that a person's soul was a pure white ball of solid rubber while letting a strong acid take the place of darkness. What Joel saw was that his rubber ball had small parts missing with the areas around them melted off just like what happens if someone were to drip drops of acid onto the rubber ball.

Our Campione in hiding could simply not believe that one of his greatest assets had such a side effect at first and thought it to be something from someplace else however [Wisdom] was able to confirm once and for all that his [Shrouds] did indeed lead to darkness encroaching upon his soul. The effects of such a thing happening unto himself were still going by unnoticed if there were any in the first place however who was to say that something might not happen in the future. Around five per cent of his soul was already taken by darkness and who knows what would occur if he continued on his current path and his [Shroud] without care.

That was why experiments were needed to see the effects of darkness.

But every time he remembered that day, the kiss would pop up again without fail, leaving him to think while he felt no worries kissing Hecate, giving him more questions than answers.

Today was a day where an experiment for his research on darkness was about to begin.

It had started out as pure curiosity when he had found a forum site about the occult while surfing the web. It had been quite amusing looking through what uninvolved people thought of magic and the like. Eventually Joel had participated into the conversations and from it went till a group of them decided to have an offline meeting.

It was then that Joel had the thought to use this offline meeting as a chance to further his knowledge on interacting with darkness. People he knew had obviously been off limits so who better than a sheep that wants to wander about in the wolves' den. This would give who he finally chose the chance of experiencing true magic and provide him with the findings of a mortal interacting with darkness and the effects on them and their soul. For the sake of a King, one or two ignorant sheep were a small price to pay.

The group had decided to have the meeting at a conveniently nearby café. The café was located in such a way that the only way to find it was with directions from someone who knew the way or to stumble upon it by chance, perfect for their purpose for the day.

The café was a quaint little shop that was decorated like a wooden cottage, complete with wooden table and chairs. When Joel had entered, there were already a number of people inside. He looked around for a while till he found a person that matched the description of what the organiser of the meeting said she would be wearing on the day of the meeting.

Walking over towards the table, he saw four people sitting at a long table, with three girls and only one guy

"Excuse me but are you all part of the Midnight Hex?" Midnight Hex was the name of the forum itself and considering the discussion held within, it was quite apt of a name.

The organiser then stood up and turned to greet Joel. She looked to be a pretty energetic lady and was dressed quite stylishly. She was wearing a bluejacket, a white blouse and a green denim skirt with leg stockings. However, the point to note about this young lady's attire would be that her jacket and skirt were really short, with the jacket ending just below her more than modest womanly assets and her skirt only covering till her mid-thigh. The outfitstood out against her brown hair and created a very appealing combination.

"Ah welcome! Could you say the phrase?" The lady said with a gigawatt expected of such an event, a password phrase that was flamboyant and overly exaggerated was required to fit the mood or just to satisfy the Chuunibyou of the organiser.

"Mine name be Cloudian, one of the six Hexes." Indulging in such fantasies was fine from time to tie as long as one knew where to cut the line between reality and fantasy.

"Ah Cloudian-san! Do sit! Do sit! We all just arrived not long ago and we were just discussing what we are going to talk about today. Ah, where are my manners. My handle name is Witch of Stardust."

"Glad to be here today. I was pretty excited to meet the rest of the group." Replied Joel as he took a seat on her left hand side. The sitting arrangement was such that there would be three people on each side of the table at the end.

"Hahaha! Likewise, likewise! Let me introduce you to the rest of the Hexes." Witch of Stardust then faced the three sitting across of her with the only other guy within the group right across Joel.

"Starting from my right is Hazel-san, Mic Check-san and Loki-san." First impressions were important and Joel reacted like anyone would. He smiled and said his hellos along with shaking with guy named Loki.

If one were to describe the three with a single word, it would be plain. Their looks were completely average and so were their cloths. But they are unimportant characters so this is excusable. Yes, even the guy called Loki. He had not even a single shred of divinity within him and that was something that even the famed God of Tricksters would be hard-pressed to hide.

"Is Wonderland-san is still not here" Joel asked as he had noticed earlier onethat the seat on the other side of Witch of Stardust was still empty.

"Oh, Wonderland-chan is already here. She just went to the toilet before you had arrived."

"From the way you refer to her, I take it that Witch of Stardust-san knows Wonderland-san IRL?"

"Yup! We are taking the same course in college at the moment and are also in the same club." While he had sort of expected it, Joel was still kind of shocked that the lady in front of him was older than him. With how she acted and the way she talked, Joel figured that she was at most a year or two at most older than him but it was still bafflingly that there actually existed someone who was like Witch of Stardust.

They say that everyone had to grow up sooner or later but it would seem that Witch of Stardust was one of those whowere forever a child at heart or at least till the situation called for her to be a responsible adult.

Joel was still giving his brain some time to process the lady with the almost blinding smile in front of him when a voice could be heard calling out to who he was talking to.

"Witch-chan~! Is that Cloudian-san?"

Looking behind Witch of Stardust, Joel saw who he presumed to be Wonderland. She was wearing a white ribbed sweater and a pair of jeans that all hugged her body nicely and her black hair was straight, ending off at the small of her back. Joel was about to stand up and greet her when he noticed her face. It was not one would expect when you were just meeting a stranger, there was surprise all over her face but more importantly there was recognition within her eyes.

"Jo-joel? Is that you?" It was definitely recognition and add that to the fact that the lady had spoken to him in English then there was definitely something going on.

"Umm…" But before he could say another word, he was instead grabbed by the lady, her two hands a tight grip around his shoulders with surprising strength while she held Joel at arm's length.

"What are you doing in Japan? Are Uncle and Auntie also here? Are my parentshere?" She asked rapidly with increasing urgency.

"Excuse me? Do I know you?" Joel asked a little bit hesitantly, this lady seemed to know him but he could not say the same for her.

"Don't yo-Don't you recognise me? I am your cousin, Alice!" seeing that English did not get through to the person she was speaking to, the lady swapped back to Japanese.

"My cousin?"

"Yes! Your name is Joel Tan, right?"

"Sorry lady but I think you got the wrong person. While my name may be Joel but my full name is Joel Kranjcar." Joel then dug out his ID and showed it to the now named Alice or Wonderland, nice naming sense though.

"I-I see…Sorry about that." Passing back the ID, she then looked crestfallen as she took her seat beside Witch of Stardust.

"Do I look that much alike to the other Joel?"

"Scarily so, calling you an exact copy would not be too far a stretch but I am also not sure since the last time I saw him was around five years ago." The tone she said it with left no way for Joel to continue.

Without a doubt, the atmosphere had taken a giant dip and the group was all now feeling awkward.

"Mah mah! Let's forget about that shall we? With Wonderland-chan back, we can begin the meeting." Witch of Stardust said, trying to salvage the situation as she looked to each and every member of the small group. Luckily, it was enough to get the whole meeting going.

The meeting was quite interesting but the earlier outburst from Alice constantly weighed on the back of Joel's head. He had already chosen a candidate for his experiment and after an hour or two the group began to get smaller as the members left one by one, finally leaving Joel, Witch of Stardust and Alice.

The atmosphere got even heavier then with both Joel and Alice looking only at the drinks in front of them while Witch of Stardust looked at the two with concerned.

"Alice-san, could you tell me about your cousin? I feel that this is something we both need." Joel said.

"That's right Alice-chan! You should just let it all out. I am your friend and I think you can trust Joel-san." Clearly Witch of Stardust was worried a great deal about what her friend was going through.

"How about we redo our introductions, I think that it is best if we do so if we are going to talk about personal matters." Suggested Joel as he move to the seat across Witch of Stardust. His candidate was still here but with the way things were going he was not going to get a proper chance to approach her about it.

"You two already know each other's name so let me go first. My name is Nishino Ruri and as Joel-kun already knows, I am Alice-chan's best friend."

"I will take the next turn then. My name is Joel Kranjcar and am currently in my second year of High School."

"You are still a high school student?" asked a shocked Ruri.

"Do I not look my age?" Joel questioned sheepishly as he scratched his cheek.

"I thought you were more of around my age, at least the feel around you feels like you are of my age."

"Thank you for the compliment but I really am still a high school student."

The two then turned to look at the only one left but all she did was make glances at Joel, just like what she did through the meeting. They were short and sharp and if Joel had been a lesser man then he would not have noticed the lady sneaking looks at him.

"…"

"Come one Alice-chan it is your turn to introduce yourself."

"….My name is Alice Lee…."

Alice then began to talk about the own life leading to this point in time. She was eighteen when she had met her current husband who was older than her by a few years but he had not been liked by her parents for some reason and they did not allow them being together. Her parent had been particularly adamant about it and had forbidden her to even see her current husband. So when her husband was to be sent to the Japan branch of the company that he was working at, she saw this as a chance for her happiness. Alice took up Japanese and when the time came, Alice had eloped with her husband andsince then had been living in Japan. They had been well off enough that Alice could go to a local University where she had met Ruri and since then they had been best friends.

Even though she was happy with her current life, she always felt guilt for leaving behind her family in Singapore especially her cousin, Joel. She had always got along well with Joel and he had always looked up to her so when Alice had saw someone that looked so similar to her cousin, all the guilt came rushing back though she was able to keep it under wraps during the meeting. The Joel in front of her was even of the same age as what her own Joel would be this year.

She did not know why she was telling her life story to someone she just met a few hours back and someone younger at that but Alice could not find it within to care so much then. Maybe it was becauseshe always enjoyed talking to her cousin and becausehe just looks so much like her own Joel that she was willing to go so far. Yes that was most likely the reason, Alice told herself.

On the other side of the coin however was another thing all together. For the purpose of getting close to the two under-graduate, Joel had beenusing a subtle hypnotism spell that controlled the subconscious on the whole group including those who had already left. It was not as strong as the one that Liliana used to get them transferred into the school of course but it was more than enough and less likely to be detected. With the spell and a few hints here and there, he was able to get the rest of the group to leave one by one and while he could have made Alice left too it would have raised suspicions since Ruri actually knew Alice beforehand and they might have made plans for afterwards.

Taking the path with the least risk this time around turned out great in his favour and Joel got rewarded with Alice raising the flag to narrowing the gap between them on her own. For helping him out with his experiment and all the least he could do was listen to her worries and help her out any way he could as just a normal student, it also did not hurt to mention that he was himself was also interested in the story behind the person named Alice. Joel did not know why but he just feels strangely drawn to Alice as a person. Being drawn to a person you just met only a while ago, strange is it not.

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By the time that Alice had finished her story, she was already on the verge of tears and it had taken both Ruri and Joel the greater amount of an hour and a few servings of tea to calm her down. They had to constantly placate her by telling her that it was all alright and that her family back in Singapore did not hate her and have most likely forgiven her already. It was kind of like taking care of a child at one point in time where the waterworks had threatened to burst the dams only to get stopped in time by the unlikely duo.

When they had finally left the café the sun had already started to set and the sky was already beginning to darken.

"Sorry for taking so much of your time, I must have bored you with all my talking and must have made a big mess afterwards." Alice said apologetically to her companions as they walked off to the train station.

"No no, you had gave in to my selfishness and let me listened to your story so I was more than happy to help you. Honestly I still feel that it would be better if you could talk to other people about this more often. Ah, how about this? You can call me any time you want if you need someone to talk to, I insist."

"But wouldn't that be a big bother for you? You have your own life to tend to."

"You need not worry about that. I am quite free most of the time since I am not in any clubs or into any sports so feel free to just call at any appropriate times."

"I have been thinking this earlier but you two could really pass off as siblings. Even how Joel-kun is helping you and all is like a little brother just with less whining. Isn't that great Alice-chan? You got a cute little brother now! Now I feel all jealous of you! How about I become Joel's big sister too? I always wanted a younger sibling and your two sisters will take great care of you so what do you think, Joel-kun?" exclaimed Ruri, sounding pretty pleased at her own idea.

"Ruri-chan~!"

"T-that…I am not sure how to respond all of a sudden." For someone that had readily accepted being a part of Kranjcar family, Joel was sure being wishy washy with this, isn't he?

"Just accept! You are not paying anything and you get two beautiful big sisters, some people will kill to be in your position you know?"

"Ruri-chan! Can't you see you are bothering him?"

"Eh? Isn't it fine? You like someone to call you Onee-chan, right?"

"I…I…." Ruri: one, Alice: zero

"Then it's decided. So how about it, Joel-kun?"

"I-I leave myself in your hands then… A-Alice-nee, Ru-Ruri-nee." Being so demure was seriously unlike our scheming mastermind and all this ordeal really did was to make Joel guiltier than he already was about what he was going to do.

"Wah~! Joel-kun is so cute! Is this what having a brother feels like?" Ruri shouted out as she grabbed Joel into a hug and lifted him off his feet, leaving the Campione feeling perturbed at the experience.

"Ruri-chan, put him down, you are making him uncomfortable."

"Alice-chan already acting out the role of the big sister?"

"You were going overboard. You have been like that ever since I met you."

"Mah mah! It was just good fun. How did you feel getting swung around, Joel-kun?" Finally after a few good swings was Joel finally able to feel solid ground at the soles of his shoes again.

"It was a new experience to say the least." Joel said as he lightly the back of his head.

"I say that you and Alice-chan are just too wound up. You two should just relax and enjoy life once in a while."

"Ruri-chan is too relaxed and not serious enough. Even Joel-kun is more mature than you."

"Joel-kun is Joel-kun and I am myself."

"It was nothing, Alice-nee. Just calm down."

Seeing a chance, Ruri ducked behind Joel and stuck out her tongue while she pulled on the lower eyelid of her left eye saying "beh" all the while. The two older ladies fooled around for a little while more as Joel gave a small laugh the entire time. These two really did not seem their age and Joel was really thankful for that as it made getting along with the two much easier than it should have been.

"Ah! I almost forgot!" exclaimed Joel. It was finally time to start the experiment.

"What's wrong? Is it something urgent?" Ruri asked while she hung on his back.

"No, it was just something I had brought to show to the group for the meeting today but I had completely forgotten about it till now."

"What is it? Show me! Show me!"

"Ruri-chan…" Alice sighed out as she slowly shook her head.

It was the moment of truth. He was about to bring in someone who would have no link to Magic in the first place into his world for his sake.

'It is for her sake! It is for her sake! It is for her sake!' He kept thinking to himself but no matter how he tried to justify it, the truth was still that he was about to change the life of another person, most likely for the worst.

He hesitated for a moment but then persisted on. Digging around his bag, Joel brought the core of the entire experiment, it a book that was bound by hard black leather of around the same thickness as cement brick with archaic symbols scrawled upon the entire thing.

"I found this just the day before and thought to show the group but I guess it was a bust."

"Can I have a look of the contents? Please~?" asked Ruri with big sparklingly eyes.

"I don't mind, you can also go ahead and keep the book if you want to."

"Are you serious? It looks it is very valuable and giving it to someone like Ruri-chan would be a waste."

"Mou~Alice-chan is being mean. But Joel-kun, is it really alright for me to keep this book?"

"I don't mind at all. You can feel free to just treat it as thanks for organising the group meeting or as a greeting gift, one of the two. I got the book quite cheaply so I don't really mind."

The book actually came from the Kranjcar Family libraries and Joel had gotten the Head to send it over to him but they did not need to know that.

"Then I will not hold back and keep this wonderful gift from my new little brother! I can't wait to read it!" Grabbing Joel into a one-armed hug, Ruri then rubbed their cheeks together, getting a bright red blush from the teenager and a sigh from her friend. It was only after seeing that her friend was not going to stop any time soonand with great effort that Alice was finally able to pry Ruri off Joel who was now the colour of a ripe tomato.

Their time together soon came to an end when the three of them reached the train station. Looking at the time, Ruri had to run off to catch her train after saying her goodbyes and exchanging contact details, leaving Alice with Joel.

"I haven't seen Ruri-chan this hyped up in quite some time. She is really into the occult so you really made her day when you gave her that book."

"It was nothing. I had bought it for fun and couldn't see the use of it so rather than letting it collect dust at my house, giving it someone who would appreciate it like Ruri-nee would be much better."

"Hmm….I see…." A sceptic look then appeared on Alice as she looked at Joel with a grin across her face.
"Wh-what is it? Is there something on my face?" Naturally anyone would be unnerved if they received such a look.

"Nothing really….Just thinking that perhaps Joel-kun has an older sister fetish?"

"Wha-What are you talking about, Alice-nee?!"

"You see, that's what I mean. Calling me Alice-nee so readily."

"But that's what-"Anything that Joel wanted to say was unfortunately drowned out by the laughter that Alice had released.

"I am just joking Joel-kun. But Ruri-chan might actually be on to something when she called you too wound up."

"That was a terrible joke."

"But I think Ruri-chan might not mind having you as a boyfriend, you know?"

"Alice-nee!"

On such a note the two of them went to their separate ways and Joel headed home to prepare for the consequences that were to come from his actions today.

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23 September 20XX 13th day of waning period

"No one will get in our way again."

It was this dream again.

"Everything else is unnecessary."

He could not move a single muscle.

"For ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever, we will be together forever!"

A voice was constantly speaking to him.

"Rejoice at the happiness that we have and will have!"

Why was he even having dreams of this yandere-esque voice talking to him in the first place?

"If I cannot have you…."

He needed to wake up.

"Then no one can!"

He needed to wake up!

Shooting out from his bed, Joel was ready to kill the first thing he saw. He was covered in sweat, his heart was pounding in his chest threatening to burst out and he was breathing heavily. It was only after a few moments that he finally recognised his own room and started to calm himself down. It did not help that his alarm was already blaring at him.

A cold shower for at least twenty minutes seems to be in the order here. Even if it was not cure all, it would at least take off the edge so he could function at a higher level than a shivering wreak. Yeah, that cold shower was sounding really good to him.

As expected, standing under the shower with cold water pouring down on you can help get your feelings back to normal however little the effect. It washed away the sweat and slowed down his heart rate so that it was finally slower than formula race car so Joel was not complaining. The voice that was still constantly talking to him however would be something that he needed to deal with himself.

When he finally left the showers, Joel could smell of breakfast wafting the apartment. Thinking that Liliana had gotten tired of waiting for him to come out and decided to start making breakfast first, Joel released a sigh. Liliana was going to worry and because of that she was no doubt be going to asking questions. With what had happened through the night, Joel could really do without someone breathing down his neck this early.

Sitting down at the table after he changed into his school uniform, Joel saw Kallen setting the table while Liliana performed the final touches on their breakfast.

"Kallen, do you mind getting me a cup of coffee? I need something to freshen me up for the day."

"Certainly, Joel-sama. But Joel-sama usually doesn't drink coffee, what brought about this change if I may ask."

"Just a lack of sleep, nothing more so no need to worry."

"That was also what you said yesterday. You sure you are well?" piped in Liliana as she came over and served up the morning meal to her adopted brother, bringing over a plate for herself and their maid.

Today's breakfast was German sausages with bacon, a sunny side-up and toast.

"You want to call in sick for the day? Keeping yourself healthy is important no matter what, you know?"

"Something like this wouldn't keep me down, Lily nee-sama. I just need a cup of coffee then I will be fine."

"If you say so but tell me immediately if you don't feel well. I can't have you collapsing while I am around."

"Your order is received and acknowledged. Seriously though, Lily nee-sama is the best sister anyone can have. Wouldn't you agree, Kallen?"

"Indeed, Joel-sama. Here is your coffee, please enjoy."

"Thank you Kallen."

A delicious meal and a good cup of coffee, hopefully it will be enough to put the events of the night behind him. Checking his phone as he finished up his coffee would then bring about a smile to his face as he read the mail that had been sent after he had went to sleep last night.

"Can I meet you after your school has ended? I need to talk to you about something urgent." The message read. It was from Alice and whatever could she want from our elusive Campione so soon after their first meeting? Maybe the next stage of the experiment had already begun? It is unexpected but this was all to help his understanding in the end so there was no harm done there.

Joel almost could not control the big grin that wanted to spread itself over his face as he mailed over to Alice an approximate time of when he was free and just where they should meet.

"Did something happen? You're smiling all of a sudden." Evidently he was not able to keep it under wraps well enough if s smile still leaked through for Liliana to see.

"It was nothing, just an interesting article I saw." Waving things off nonchalantly either kills the curiosity of other people or it just makes them dig even deeper. In this case, Joel was lucky that Liliana trusts him and takes his word as it is. He was not joking at all when he had said that Liliana was the best sister any one could have.

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Joel really was not one to pay much attention to class normally in the first place and with him meeting Alice later on, he could barely stay still in his seat. Barely half of what had been taught that day was registered into his brain and he knew it himself. Thankfully, Joel could still remember somewhere in his wandering mind to take notes so all was not lost even if he did receive a few glares through the course of the day.

Lunch was a short respite from the monotone of lessons but it did not held the appeal it usually did that day for Joel. He did however used the time to clear up his plans with Liliana lest she became worried and came looking for him when he was not home by the usual timing. That secured his freedom to go carte blanche for the day and Joel was going to abuse it for all its worth.

The lesson after lunch were, if it was even possible, more boring than before. Maybe it was the contrast with relaxation during lunch that made it seem so but boring was boring and Joel was not going to beat around the bush and call it by another name.

When the lessons for the day had ended, Joel allowed himself to let out a sigh of relieve. Packing his stuff and going over a mental to-do list, he noticed one of his classmates coming towards him. If he was not wrong, it was a girl by the name of Chiaki.

"Um….J-joel-kun. A group of us were going to sing karaoke later on and we were wondering if you like to join us?" A soft spoken voice that did not waver much, the girl must have pulled up quite the amount of courage to speak to him. They were not exactly friends and the two must have spoken to each other at most five times only so just brought this on? No need to bring up her hopes in any case.

A karaoke outing with a few classmates that he did not really know and his experiment. There was no comparison in the first place.

"Thanks for the offer but I already got plans for later on so I will have to pass on that. Maybe next time." Straight to the point without being too overly formal.

"Oh….I…I see. Sorry to bother you then. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

Now to hope that the rumour mill does not blow things out of proportion.

Though speaking of the girls in his class, recently Joel had noticed that there was an up rise of gazes from them and the girls of neighbouring classes towards him. Even a few of Shizuka's classmates were participating in this strange pastime whenever he brought Shizuka back to her class after lunch. He had really hoped that his introduction when he transferred in would be enough to deter them. It would seem that the rumour have died down and the girls were a little bit more than willing to see pass his evident flaws. He would have to devise some plan to throw off their attention as soon as possible.

Back to the situation at hand. Alice had arranged for them to meet in front of the train station roughly around half an hour after school ends so it gave Joel more than adequate time to reach their rendezvous point. Lo and behold when he had arrived for Alice was already there and wearing a poker face.

Making his way towards the target, Joel was more than a little ticked when he saw two guys approach her instead. Little nuisance would just create a commotion and just make everything more complicated than necessary. To make things worse, Joel clearly recognised the two punks from before.

"You two just don't learn your lesson huh? First Shizuka-chan then Ena and now Alice-nee. Are you guys that desperate for a lady friend?" Cracking his knuckles as he grounded out his words, Joel was really getting tired of these two appearing whenever he was out with someone. Making a show of intimidation would go a long way if you already know that who you were is afraid of you.

The sound got their attention and the more than familiar voice sent chills down their back, stopping their unsuccessful pickup session they turned to look at the guy that stopped them the previous few times.

"W-we we just leaving. Right?"

"R-right! Just leaving!"

Exit stage right. Hopefully that will be the last that Joel has to see of those two goons.

"Joel-kun! You're early."

"That is what I should be saying. So….Does this happen often to you, Alice-nee?" a slight gesture was made in the general directions of the two goons.

Alice then in turn released a deep sigh.

"More often than I would like to admit. Some people just do not take no for an answer."

"Alice-nee is a pretty lady after all. Say, I don't see Ruri-nee anywhere. Is she not with you today?"

"Yeah….About Ruri-chan….It has got to do with what I have to talk to you about today."

Score! The next phase has started and before long Joel would have the findings he needed!

"Lead the way then." A smile that could not be called a smile adorned his face but it would seem that it was either ignored or never noticed in the first place.

A nearby Starwucks was chosen and when they both got their own beverages, the two of them settled into a round table with cushioned seats facing one another.

"So what happened to Ruri-nee? Is it serious?"

"It depends on how you look at it, I guess. You see, I called my parents for the first time in a long time the day we met."

"I take it that it did not go so well then?"

"Oh no…Not at all. My parents or my mother in particular was more worried about how I was doing than anything else. They say they have already forgiven me and that I should come visit them when I have the time."

"That is great, right?"

"Yeah. I had actually called to ask about my cousin."

"The one you said that has the same name and looks almost the same as me?"

"The very same one. Meeting you brought back many memories and perhaps I just missed my family back home."

"I still don't see how there is a problem though."

"Well….The thing is that it seem that my cousin has been missing for a few months already."

"Is that so? And I suppose you think I am really your cousin, just pretending not to know you?"

Alice gave a sheepish smile at this.

"I guess I really am that transparent. But I was just worried about him so could you blame me?"

"I can see why you did it so no need to explain your reasons to me. A missing family member and a person that looks exactly the same with even the same name, there are not many people who would not jump to same conclusion as Alice-nee did. I assure you however that this is just a big coincidence and that your cousin and I are completely two different people. I was taken in by the Kranjcar family when I young after all."

Giving a big sigh, Alice looked like a heavy weight was removed from her shoulders and was visibly more relaxed.

"One problem down and another more important one to go. This is the main reason I called you out today. I think that something might have happened to Ruri-chan."

"…What do you mean?" Finally something that is related to the experiment. Joel really had no idea why the lady kept insisting that he was her cousin. As far as he knew, he had never been to Singapore in the first place.

"She has not picked up her phone since Sunday and she missed the lectures held yesterday. Ruri-chan is a perfect attendance student who comes even when she is sick so that got me worried. I even went to her apartment but no one answered the door." Even when she had been relatively relaxed just moments ago, the topic really took a toll on her and it could be seen from her worry stricken face.

"Why would you come to me then? Surely there were better people to call upon than me for this kind of situation."

"It was more convenient to think talk about the two things, I guess. I also think that you are the only one I can trust in such a situation."

That statement brought a whole onslaught of comebacks to mind but Joel decided not to call Alice on it.

"Surely you did not call me here to just tell me this. What do you want me to do?"

"I…I don't know. I'm just scared that something might have happened to her."

A grown women really should not be allowed to look so sad and it pained Joel to see Alice act like this even if it was for the experiment. Call him soft-hearted or whatever you like but Joel was just a sucker for sob stories and the whole situation was beginning to look like the start of one.

"Cheer up Alice-nee, I'm sure you are just overthinking things. I will call Ruri-nee and if she still doesn't pick up then we will go to her house and plan out from there, okay?"

"….Okay."

He then whipped out his phone and looked through his contacts for Ruri's number. After he found it, Joel called the recently obtained number and waited for his lab rat to pick up as he looked at how Alice was faring. Ring after ring passed and Alice's mood seemed to drop even further as time went on.

A minute had passed and yet the phone continue to ring without anyone picking up. Joel gauged around ten more rings before the call is cut, sending him to the answering machine instead. Slowly, he counted. One, two, three and so on. It was then on the ninth one that a response was received from the other side of the call. Quickly, Joel switched the call to speaker mode and placed the phone on the table so that Alice could join in.

"Hello?"

It was definitely Ruri's voice but without the energy that Joel had heard last Saturday.

"Ruri-nee? It's Joel."

"Ah, Joel-kun. What is the matter?"

Calling her voice weak would not be wrong in this case either.

After all her worries, hearing her friend's voice was a small ray of hope for Alice as she let herself into the conversation.

"Ruri-chan? Where are you? You didn't go for the lecture and didn't pick up my calls."

"Sorry Sorry. I just did not feel like going today."

"Are you feeling unwell? This is not like Ruri-chan at all."

"I'm fine, really."

"That is something I will decide for myself. Are you at home now?"

"Yeah bu-"

"Don't you dare leave! I am coming over with Joel-kun right now."

Now here was a thought that flew past Joel. Was it his imagination or was he being pushed around quite easily lately. The important things would always be out of his control and he would have no say in the decision making process. As his luck would have it, nothing really bad has happened so far but you can never know. That will a story for another time however.

The place that Ruri lived in was a small apartment building, only two stories high and a total of ten apartments. While not exactly in the best of conditions, it was above average. All in all, a stereotypical apartment building of a college student living by themselves.

Even from a distance Joel could see the faint wisp of magic floating about the area. Naturally, it had the feel of darkness to it, exuding a sense of oppression to anyone within the area. Prolonged exposure would probably be detrimental to the health of any living being and it was the effects of this that Joel wanted to find out.

As they got closer to Ruri's apartment, the wisp of magic gradually turned into a torrent of miasma that oozed out from the gaps of the door and pooled around the corridor. Darkness begets more darkness and the miasma was definitely causing the [Shrouds] within Joel to act up. They were raging about, wanting to be released and allowed to join the growing pool of emptiness. Burdened by Authorities that kept acting up was just another part of Joel's life and he was forced to allocate a portion of his thoughts to keeping them under control.

"Apartment 203. This is it." Other waiting game was started once again when Alice rang the bell and it frayed at Joel's nerves. He was anxious to see how Ruri had turned out after these few days and it was not like he wanted to end the life of another person so he definitely wanted to see if he could help Ruri recover from the side effects of this particular experiment.

"The door is not locked. Just come in." Still sounding as weak as before, Ruri's voice could be heard calling out to the two at her door step.

The end of the experiment was nearing and it was time to record the findings.

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Unknown to the two Campione in Japan was a meeting between two beings of Divine origin within their midst, hidden from all eyes and silent from all ears.

Within a pseudo-space that was closed off from the rest of the world was these two beings. Time was irrelevant to them and while they could have just looked at each other forever, there were better things to do.

"Why have you arrived in this far eastern country, Guinevere?" The one speaking had little emotion in her voice. With half-lidded eyes, she stared at the one before her.

"You and I both know very well why this Guinevere is here so stop hiding him from my senses!" With spite and venom in her every word, the blond girl of roughly twelve of age glared at the goddess.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, Witch Queen. I suggest you take heed to watch your tone when speaking to a true goddess for not all are benevolent as I."

"Do not play the fool, Heretic Hecate! I know he is here! I sensed him before you casted your spell and hid him from me."

"You were mistaken then."

"Do not presume I would forget his presence. Even after losing most of my memories of the past, I can still remember him clearly."

"He is that important that you would come without your guardian?"

"He is but second to the King of the End and for the two of them there is nothing I will not do."

"Then you should know that he is already mine."

"You have no claim to him! He had always been mine before you came."

"Are you seeking death by angering me, Divine Ancestor? You may be the Queen of the Witches but you still pale in comparison to the Goddess of Magic."

That was the truth without a doubt.

Like how Campione stood over even the strongest of mortal magicians, true gods and goddesses did the same with the Divine Ancestors. Their difference in power was too large and the two groups were each of a different league all together.

"…I will back down for now but make no mistake for when I find him, I will take that which is rightfully mine."

The departure of the Queen of Witches left Hecate by herself but with the purpose of her visit gone, she had also soon disappeared, going back to her dwellings to prepare for the future. This was however without taking a final look in the direction of the source of her musings.

"Stay strong."

With those finals words, the space became empty and collapsed on itself, leaving no evidence that it ever existed.