Previously...

"You are here... you did not kill me?", asked Yvette as her eyes widen at Benedict.

"What the heck of course not! You're my friend, aren't you?"

"Friend... I thought you were weird. But you are EXTREMELY weird."

"At least she talks now. Who knew the only thing we had to do is to make this guy show up.", Uriel slaps Benedict's back.

"There's no time to be relaxed. We have to keep on our toes and continue the pace. For now, let's leave these two be.", says Fiona as she stands up from her chair.

...

"Let them wait. We shall set camp here and spare Fhin. Let them give the warning. He will be their doom."

...

The ringed city descends further into madness. Countless murders had been recorded within the outer rings, specifically those people who speak against Prince Apollo. However, this is all but a set-up as Prince Apollo's men are all busy patrolling and fending off the infected. Someone from the inside had been framing the authorities to further ruin Apollo's image.

"There is an election going on. That is of the utmost importance here. My public image does not matter, as long as the people I serve are kept from the clutches of the Weeping Rose. I must put my sister's death and grief another time. I am sorry, my little Artemis... but at least you're with our butler now, huh?", a tear runs down his cheek as he looks at the childhood pictures of his sibling and butler who was a bigger father figure towards him than the king.

"Kaiyn, Renji... so this is how it feels. To lose a very beloved family member. I did not feel this way when Fafnir assassinated my father. After all, the only good thing about that man is his blood and crown."

Aquarius's men have set up their own camp deep underground just outside the ringed city. The regime troops who pledged their loyalty towards Aquarius have captured one of the regime captains guarding the outskirts of the wall.

"What are you doing here?", asks Aquarius as he sharpens his harpoon.

"Hey! Answer him!", the man yells as he kicks down the captured captain.

"I was not talking to him.", Aquarius stands up and slowly walks to the captors.

"I-It's one of the captains from the regime, sir.", the other captor nervously spoke, intimidated by Aquarius's mere breathing within his mask.

"So you have brought him down here?"

"We didn't know what to do with hi-"

"You panicked. That is what you did. This weakness of yours has cost the lives of two of our men."

"N-No he's-", the goon cut off by Aquarius immediately stabbing his harpoon on the man's thigh.

"You'd do well to start what you finished. Follow him.", threatened Aquarius as he kicks the henchman away.

...

Somehow, Belle manages to hold Kaiyn and Mary at bay. She moves faster and calculates better due to her experience battling their kind. Kaiyn slams his sword and bounces back from the impact.

"MARY! GET OUT OF HERE! THIS WAS A BAD MOVE!"

"Oh, dear. In your case, intelligence seems to be an unhappy accident. I am afraid I still have more professional matters to attend to so I must end this quick."

The fighting pauses as both parties see a little girl exiting the orphanage.

"Big... bro?"

It was Sapphire, seeing her own father figure as a monster, like the rest she has seen so far.

"Is this not what you want? Avenging your father's murderer?", asked with a mix of intent to conflict Kaiyn's mind, Belle turns her head to Sapphire.

"My father's... murderer?"

"DON'T GET HER INVOLVED IN THIS!", Kaiyn trembles and goes teary-eyed, losing his focus and being swept off the ground by Belle as Mary retreats and Kara attempting to catch her.

"Are you fighting back? Tsk, tsk. How selfish of you.", taunted Belle as she immediately knocks Kaiyn out by hitting the back of his head.

"I shall deliver this traitor to the authorities. Make sure the other civilians nearby evacuate safely.", Belle adds up, carrying Kaiyn's unconscious body on her back.

"But Belle... the little girl and about her father. Won't this cause an issue?", Kara asks as she places her arms on Sapphire.

"There are only two sides on every issue: MY side, and the wrong side. I shall deal with it myself.", Belle replied as she leaves without warning.

"Big bro Kaiyn... killed my daddy? But why? I thought he was good- he helped me!", Sapphire weeps as she begins sobbing and holding back tears.

"Sweetie, I know things look complicated for now, but we'll find a way to fix things. For now, let's find a safe place, and after that why won't we get some ice cream?"

Belle throws Kaiyn in the middle of the meeting room of councilmen where Clyde sat and Kara being absent due to orders from the church and protecting the city from Kaiyn earlier.

"Your little favorite huntsman here has been conspiring with Aquarius. Make up your minds quick because I still have a lot to do today.", says Belle as she slams Kaiyn against the floor and looks at her watch.

"Why exactly have you made this decision, young man? Do you have any idea how many casualties you could have caused? You're not just ruining yourself, you are also ruining the image of the regime and church alike.", one of the councilmen states angrily as he stands up and points his finger at Kaiyn.

"Calm down, we shall settle this matter in a civilized and timely manner. So, do you mind explaining yourself?", asked Clyde as he defuses one of his fellow councilmen sitting next to him.

"....."

Kaiyn merely looks down, barely breathing, and functioning. Belle grabs him by the hair and repeatedly slams his head against the floor, checking his face to see if he was still alive. This was followed up by her slapping his cheek via a backhand.

"I cannot believe you. And here I thought you were already being a better person. You are a disgrace to mankind and your family name. You sicken me."

"Fadir... modir... I miss you both.", whispered Kaiyn, barely having any volume because of his damaged body.

"This is a waste of time. Guards, take him away.", Clyde raising his voice a bit in irritation.

"My cousin's all grown up. Don't worry, your wild heart shall begin its pulse once more. But for now, rest and follow my voice."

As the guards grab hold of him, Belle's cybernetic censors immediately notice that something was wrong in his body, he was on the brink of becoming a hallow.

"GET BACK !", screamed Belle as she fails to rescue the guards taking Kaiyn outside as his body erupts with power. To Belle's surprise, they did not see a filthy beast like other hallows. He was inside a cocoon-like container that was somehow made out of crystal. It was a little transparent and they were able to see a silhouette of someone in a fetal position within.

Kara detects a dark and slim figure running away from the shadows. She tells Sapphire to keep going forward into the evacuation point as she focuses her attention on chasing this figure. She briefly tries to fly but forgot the fact that she broke her wings long ago as they drag against the soil of the earth.

"Right... how tedious."

She instead climbs the platforms and ledges to face this unknown figure. She immediately notices the familiar sword and posture. This figure was wearing an oversized jack-o-lantern helmet and was an excellent swordsman. Amidst the fight, she manages to knock off the helmet to see the face behind it, yet to her surprise...

There was no head at all.

A headless swordsman capable of demicorpse-like blood manipulation, something no one had ever seen before.

While Kara was dazed at the sight, the headless swordsman slits his own arm and uses the splatter to blind her, running away without any evidence. Even his own blood that was spilled in the scene seemed to evaporate in mere seconds.

"First we have the murders being pinned on Apollo, Renji's exile, Kaiyn's sudden betrayal, and now this... a headless swordsman. Fhin also hasn't reported back from his mission to capture Aquarius too..."

...

"Where is everyone?", Orpheus awakens within his hospital bed. Still recovering from the poison given by Maddox, he straightens his body a little to take a peek outside the window, seeing several citizens evacuating into the inner ring.

"What are they doing? They can't just leave the sick be here right?", Orpheus grasps his tightening chest, inhaling and exhaling from his mouth.

At this time, Lyrah emerges from her cocoon. She has been in a strange and sudden coma for almost a month now. The last time she was awake no one knew that Benedict was the first celestial and Renji was still around. Kara explains what she could on what was happening from all around the world to her.

"That's all that I can explain for now. I know it looks like it's a lot to take in but we are doing our best. The elections will start tomorrow and I request you to be there as a guard. I am sorry if this seems like a selfish request because you have just woken up..."

Lyrah holds Kara's hand and looks into her eyes, "It's okay. In my sleep, I've been reminiscing on myself a lot. I've gathered myself better now."

"If you say so then... I'll ask Samantha to provide communications support as well to make sure this operation will go smoothly. We're going to have to put your concern with Renji and Kaiyn on hold. If you want to find Benedict he's inside the hospital with a captured member of the pack of Aquarius. Good luck."

Flashback

A nervous individual walks into a clinic in the outskirts of the town to meet this kindhearted doctor he was hearing about. Just as soon as he enters, the doctor welcomes him. Wearing a face mask and having a soothing voice, he felt at ease already.

"Now I want you to close your eyes and relax. The syringe just makes it easier for you to sleep. By the time you're awake, you'd be fixed in no time.", the doctor places his hand on his patient's shoulder.

"Oh, I'll fix YOU in no time. Now, drop your syringe and put your hands and head on the floor before things get ugly.", another man shows up with a gun being Neo. During this time he was still human, aware of how dangerous the demicorpses from the underworld were. He acts as a detective meant for chasing down people with high influence within the criminal world.

"Oh, dear. Are you also one of my patients? Do you have an appointment or have you considered making a reservation? I sincerely apologize for your impatience but you're gonna have to wait in line, my friend.", the doctor replied with a smile, keeping his cool despite being held at gunpoint.

"Cut the playing innocent facade. I know who- no. I know WHAT you are.", Neo continues to point his gun at the doctor's head. He turns to the patient and says, "Calm down, I'm here to save you. If you value your life and body then step aside. This person's no counselor or doctor."

Yet the patient refuses, replying, "N-No that's not possible. I don't believe you. Show your badge if you want, but all my friends got better thanks to this doctor. He's the only one who can save me!"

The doctor walks to the patient and gives him a warm hug, "Thanks for taking my side. I'm just a man trying to make a living and I don't think I deserve this level of kindness from my own patients. You've really touched my heart."

As he embraces the patient, a flow of blood suddenly bursts out from the patient's chest, being stabbed with a pocket knife from the doctor.

"DAMMIT!", Neo yells as he rolls and shoots the doctor straight to his forehead.

"Just one bullet is enough... two would be fatal for humans. I'm taking you to custody, so you have the right to remain silent-"

"That's just too bad, isn't it? One bullet is not enough for me. Guess what?"

"I just so happened to be half-human and half-demicorpse. Maybe you should have looked more into my documents, dear detective."

MADDOX removes his face mask as his left eye changes color to that of a demicorpse's. His patient desperately gasping for air on the ground.

"But I assume a human following orders like you would never understand what it was like to live this way. Maddox Houston is the name, and let that name burn in your brains for life. Until then all I can say is... GYUDBAI!"

...

Samantha reminisces about her rocky relationship with her father. With a broken-hearted mother and a father who had the principle of success over forging bonds, he had barely spent any time with his own daughter and got hellbent on researching weapons for the government. Yes, Samantha had a very successful education however she never had that parental love like the other children she witnessed.

She refused to let other people have this experience and that was why she decided to pursue a medical career specifically catering to people who require psychological help. Perhaps all people, no matter how mentally unstable she was always ready to welcome with open arms like a mother to her child.

Forging bonds with her patients treating them almost like family, she found both joy and financial success alike in this job. Everything was perfect- or else that was what everyone had thought at first.

She never knew it at the time, but it was a lie that forever left a scar inside her heart. According to her father who was a researcher working for the government that all her patients have been infected by an unknown disease and that only the most classified authority of the government can do. Samantha of course offered to help but she was somewhat forcefully shoved away by her father. She knew that something was not right- sure, she was used to her own family shunning her but this time felt... different.

After secretly eavesdropping inside offices, gathering paperwork and documents, sleepless nights of research, and mere hypothesis she finally decided to take a peek at what has been going on herself. Secretly following a scientist working in her father's lab, her eyes were not ready for what she was about to witness.

"Dr. Samantha? Is that you? I... I'm flying...!"

Horribly deformed patients experimented on for weaponry of mind control. Their heads cracked open, being injected by an unknown fluid connected to an intricate tube from dextrose. Though in this case, are they really still called patients... test subjects would be the harsher yet closer to the truth type of word.

This was the phenomena that started it all, a tool meant to keep people in the line of what used to be just for a cure for deadly diseases such as cancer, now warped and deformed into a catalyst of mankind now. All those researchers that had ambitions and dreams even, lost within the Hollow Moon. Though the mystery about where this fluid came from remains unknown...

"I hate my old man. To be honest... a part of me is thankful for the Weeping Rose for taking him down, though that does not mean I completely agree with everything they have done. Every story has two sides to it, after all. Being neutral during these times will get you in a lot of trouble. Lucky for you just sleeping inside that cocoon."

Countless attempts and ways have been tried out by Samantha to awaken Kaiyn stuck inside a trance inside his cocoon after being taken to court by Belle.

"Looks like he won't be getting up any time soon. I heard from Kara that Lyrah's awakened from her stasis too. Why are the demicorpses suddenly hibernating in a crisis like this? I can't even take a piece of this cocoon for my research back at the lab...", Samantha lights up a cigarette amidst her stress, exhaling a sigh of relief.

"Something tells me we're up for something that the public and council alike aren't even enough to comprehend. I see visions of it every night, right before I fall asleep.", Samantha very cautiously whispers to Lyrah to which she replied, "Yes. I've seen it during my hibernation too. I feel stronger- but at the same time further from my own humanity. I'm scared..."

Samantha tells Lyrah that it was okay to be scared of what was to come; because everyone is. People just had different ways of dealing with or hiding their gaze away from this until it eventually comes to us.

Benedict gives Yvette another visit inside the hospital. This time he brought some flowers and a little stitched animal. Noticing Yvette's improvement, he lets out a proud smile grasping Yvette's palm.

"Looks like you're doing great so far. Here, I made this in my spare time.", Benedict hands over the little stuffed animal. It had two small pieces of cotton for its eyes and everything else was made out of fabric.

"Why did you give me this...?", Yvette tilts her head as she continues to exam the little gift.

"Well... I figured that it'd be fair to tell you about me like how you've told me about you, like art for example! This IS considered art, right? The other kids at school used to make fun of me for liking things that boys don't normally like. I don't get what's wrong with enjoying cute stuff like this... I hope maybe you'd understand."

"It appears that your hobbies aren't quite like those of a common adolescent boy. You really ARE a weird one. Don't fret, it was not a mistake nor an insult. In fact, I rather find it quite amusing in a way."

"O-Oh I see. I just wondered why you're so scared of me getting close at times. I'm sorry for being too clingy-"

"No- it is not the personal space I fear most. It is... attachment. I am afraid that whenever I begin to plant affection in something and this case- someone... I always lose it."

The two faintly blush and look to the sides to break the tension inside the room. Benedict finally had a brighter spectrum of what kind of girl he was crushing on.

"Neither of us will leave each other's sides- no matter what happens. I've been chosen as a symbol of mankind's hope for a reason and for that, you will be another important reason for me to keep fighting and THAT... that is my promise."