"Focus"

It is getting dark. Few more minutes, and it will really be dark soon. They enter the hole to investigate the inside. It is all silent at first, but as they go further into the tunnel, they start to hear some cries of children. They think that they are probably the children who are kidnapped by the woman. Marces is scared. Kei can feel his fear and asks, "Focus, Marces. Having fear is natural, but letting it have control is not."

"I'm sorry. I'll do my best. Don't worry." he then takes out his knife.

Kei also takes out his dagger and spins it on his fingers. They stealthily move. There are skulls and bones on every corner. The bird on Kei's shoulder flies away. He does not know why but he lets it. They reach the room where the witch is keeping the children. There are 23 children all in all, but 9 of them are dead. 8 have gone depressed and silent while the rest are crying. Kei quickly break the locks using his dagger while Marces is observing outside the door for the witch. The kids hug Kei after freeing them, however the 8 kids stay in their cages. Kei tells them to get out, but they are just staring at him.

"What's wrong with these kids? Now's your chance to get out of this place. Come on." he said. But the kids have no response at all. They are just staring at him. A girl says to Kei, "They are already consumed by the witch."

Kei looks at her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't really know, mister."

Marces then quickly rushes to Kei to say that somebody is coming. Kei tells him to go hide the children. He goes outside to see the one who will come. Then, they hear an eerie voice of a woman speaking, "It's nice to see you again, my dear, Kei." For Kei, it is a familiar voice.

"You know her?" another voice of a woman asked.

"My dear, Samantha, you're still too young. You're lucky I'm here. Otherwise, you're in big trouble."

They then went out from the darkness. Samantha's face has changed. She is not the same person as she was in the Cora's Bar. She looks so old. Her face is wrinkled and her eyes are dull. On the other hand, the one beside her is tall and white. Her eyes are glowing yellow. She grins at Kei. "I just met your friend a while ago. He's badly wounded right now." she said.

"Where is he?" Kei said in a cold voice.

"Kei... you're always too cold. I really love that in you."

"Enough with your talking, Wickella. If you're not going to tell where he is, I'll make you spit it out." Kei said.

He prepares his daggers. Samantha and Wickella grin at him.

"I'm scared deep inside, really. Just a few days ago, you almost killed us with your friends. My sister, Victorina, was so angry to you, you know that? I'm going to make you pay ten folds!" she said. She suddenly transforms to an ugly batlike monster. She moves toward Kei without moving her legs. She is definitely like a ghastly spirit. However, Kei charges to her and throws his dagger at her, but she dodges it. Kei then leaps at her and grabs her neck, but Samantha helps her take him away. They push him to a wall. Then, while on the ground, Wickella sends him away with a kick. Kei quickly gets up and dashes right in front of them. He swiftly kicks them. It was too fast that they failed to counter it. Then, he dashes again to stab Samantha with his dagger. He cuts off her arm and tries to cut off her head as well, but Wickella charges at him and pushes him away. Marces went outside to help but he remembered that he cannot fight. The two witches spotted him. The children are behind him. Marces orders them to get away from here as soon as possible. The children run away in fear. Kei gets up. He comes closer to Marces.

"Hey, can you take on that old hag?" Kei asked.

"I apologize Kei, but I can't fight. I don't know how to fight that monster." Marces answered.

"Seriously? Why did Deikher invite you then? Sheesh. Nevermind. Just go and find Yuki. I will take care of these two right here."

"Okay then. I wish you goodluck."

"Just go."

Marces runs and finds Yuki. Meanwhile, Kei is facing the two witches.

"Samantha, that man is after Yuki. Go chase him. I'll handle this fittie right here." Wickella said.

"I won't let you." Kei responded.

Samantha tries to go after Marces, but Kei swiftly sends her back to Wickella with a strike. Samantha is badly injured. Normal wounds should have healed right away, but the wounds she received seem unnatural.

"What are you planning to do with the children?" Kei queried.

"You know our thing, Kei. We perform sacrificial rituals to gain power from a fiend." Wickella answered.

"A fiend? That sounds trouble."

Wickella laughs. "Yes, it is. Join me, dear. Give up your humanity and be one of us. Being a human makes no sense at all. You'll die of old age. You'll wrinkle and deteriorate."

"That's stupid. Your horrible friend looks old though."

Wickella laughs. "Stop joking. No need to be so straight." she said. She grins at him. They clash again against each other. Meanwhile, Marces is running through a tunnel. He arrives to a room. He hears the voice of Yuki.

"Hello? Hey! I'm here!" he shouted.

Marces enters the room and he finds Yuki bleeding. The woman beside him is Milda, the worker in the Cora's Bar like Samantha. He thought that Milda is also a witch, but it turns out she is not. Marces tries to break the chains binding Yuki using a knife, but it does not work.

"Are you stupid? You're going to cut these chains using your knife?" Yuki asked.

"I'm sorry. Kei just broke the locks of the cages using his dagger a while ago." Marces responded.

"That's Kei. His daggers are no ordinary daggers. Get me my sword back there."

Marces takes the sword on the table. He asks Yuki of what to do next.

"Use it to slash through these chains."

"What? I can't. I might cut you."

"Dammit! We have no other choice. Do it. I trust you." Yuki said.

Marces turns in an anxious face. "That just made me more nervous, you know?"

"Just do it, Marces. All you have to do is relax and cut these chains. Concentrate, Marces. Concentrate."

Marces raises the sword and closes his eyes. Yuki panics and shouts at him, "Marces! Don't close your eyes! You'll cut me!"

Marces opens his eyes and sighs. "Man, I can't do this!" he said.

"Marces, Marces... Remember your goal, why did you join our hunting band? This is your first step. The first step in becoming a fine hunter. Conquer that fear and do it like it is just a normal thing. You heard me? Focus. It's important for a hunter."

"Yes." Marces whispered. He concentrates and breathes deeply. He thinks of his father and the Nephilims that killed him. Then, he slashes the chains with the sword he is holding on. Yuki smiles at him.

"See? That's my man." he said.