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(The Devil of Helm's - Prologue)

(Some time in the past.)

A fresh new looking rookie showed up. He looked nervous, couldn't stop lurking his eyes and rubbing his fingers together.

"You are?" The detective approached the rookie.

"I'm James. I'm the one with the assignment." James answered, eyes scanning the man. His hairs were grey and eyes were full of bags.

"Oh, so it was you." The detective said. "Follow me."

The detective turned around and started walking. James followed. Time had past midnight and the hallway was deserted. Only two blur silhouette wandered.

"How did you get here?"

"I'm sorry?" James didn't quite catch that.

The detective said again: "Why did you get assign to this case?"

"Well. Isn't it obvious? This is a cold case and we are seriously in need of men power."

The two got to the evidence room. It's dark in there, even the bright light outside couldn't shine through it.

"But a rookie like you and a homicide like this. It just doesn't add up." The detective unlocked the door. A single click sound was heard.

"Oh! You mean WHY?" James said. "I vonlunteered. Detective Sevani say yes and that's the end of the story."

The detective opened the door and turned the switch. Light covers the whole room, exposed an infinite line of steel drawer.

"Number 0468, line two." The detective leaned on the entrance and crossed his arms. "Better get your mentality prepared before look into that."

James grinned: "What? People got their head chopped? Nothing new."

"No. In other places they got their head chopped but in Umbra, they got their head chopped and eaten."

(Curcio - Present)

The morning starts and Curcio's flower shop are opened.

A guest walks in. This one is very unfamiliar. A tall and slim man, has eyes sharp as a knife. He wears a long black coat outside a navy suit with a pair of gloves.

The man saw Curcio and his eyes perks up. He observes Curcio from head to toe. Finally, he approachs and says: "Hello, I'm William."

Originally arranging some flowers before the costumer came in, Curcio turned his head to look at the guy. He saw the way he dressed and was a bit confused, but he walked towards William with a big smile.

"Hello William, what can I help you with?" He said, grabbing his ponytail and running his fingers through it.

"Well, I need a pot of Peace Lily." William says, slightly frowns. "Good, healthy and a lot flowers. Yes, a pot of Peace Lily with a lot of flowers."

While talking, William slowly walks around, checking all the spot in the store.

"Do you have it?" William sniffs the air.

Curcio watched and listened, seeing the sad expression that came across William's face. Trying to keep his smile up, he replied in a cheerful voice. "Y-Yes! I'll get you them right away sir." He said, going over to the corner of the shop to retrieve the strangely shaped flowers.

Once he had returned he presented the flowers to the guy, looking into his eyes. "These are the ones correct?" He asked, his voice sounding light and almost mistakable to be a woman's.

"Yes. Yes, it does." William takes the flower and gives it a closer look. "Not at the quality I imagined but it will do."

Williams carefully touchs the petals: "I take it."

"By the way, is there anything strange lately? Maybe like an unfamiliar face in the neighborhood?" William asks, never considers he is one of the answer of the questions.

People at Helm was a little freak out when they saw William earlier. He seemed very shady. Especially with that long dramatic black coat in a cool morning.

Curcio felt a bit insulted by the what he said about the flowers, after all, it was difficult to grow them this time of year. He decided to ignore it though as it didn't seem like that much of a big deal and as he began to walk to the cashier, he heard William speak again.

Stopping in his tracks, he looks behind him, his feet scuffing against the ground. "U-Uhm..." He stuttered. " I-I haven't really seen anyone unfamiliar here....besides you that is....." The boy began to feel uncomfortable and tense as he said this and he started to fidget with his bolo tie. Was this guy looking for someone? He didn't seem to be here on a leisurely stroll, that's for sure. It was strange the way he dressed and he had a strong musk coming off of him, making Curcio wonder how long it had been since he got the chance to shower.

"Good." William says. "That's good, but not really. It's not safe out there, you know. I would be extra careful if I was you."

Afer the payment is done, William holds the pot tightly to his body, making an impression like he afraid someone will took it from him. The white petals give out a light comfortable scent.

"I'll be going now." William leaves a card near the cashier. "Call me when you need me. My profession is helping people."

William runs straight out of the shop, leaving Curcio alone. His voice echos from afar: "You are way too cute for a boy."

That was one weird man.

Curcio's phone vibrated in his pocket.

After he had rung the guy up and the card was sat down, he picked it up to look at it, so he might figure out what his profession was exactly. As he was doing this, he heard what the guy had yelled at him and his eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, yeah....." He mumbled, slightly displeased, but he guessed he could just take it as a compliment.

Once he had examined the card, he went ahead and placed it in his left pocket only seconds before the phone in his right pocket began to vibrate. Jumping a little from surprise, he took the blue and pink phone out and looked at the number and answered. "Hello, this is Curcio from The Great Flower. How may I help you?" He said in the kindest voice possible.

Curcio examines the card. It says: William Horace - Private Investigator - 172 Night Gown St. Bilge District - 719 221 XXX

Curcio presses answer and he speaks. At the other line, a soft and silvery woman voices replies.

"What the hell, Curcio?!" She sounds piss but still, her voice just likes music in the ears, making any listener's heart flies out. "Did you not keep my number in your phone? Seriously?!

Arrgh! Well, today is a big day and I shouldn't be angry. Do you still remember our date tonight? You better!"

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't think about how I was supposed to put your number in my contacts, b-but I did remember our outing tonight!" He said with a nervous laugh, beginning to think about what would've happened had he forgotten about it.

Shivering from this thought, he spoke once more. "Hey....I'm going to have to get off of here soon though. I have some deliveries I need to get done.~" He sounded almost happy about having to deliver some flowers as he talked.

The tone of the woman's suddenly shifts. It's became much softer and calmer. The heat from before just vanishes.

"I know you wouldn't.

The Premiere won't begin untill eight but we will get going sooner. The driver will pick you up at six at your flower shop.

Remember to wear something formal. It's the red carpet after all."

At the end of the other line, Evelynn sits on her fancy couch with nothing more than a thin red night-dress. It shows her curves well and the sunlight highlights the perfect smooth skin. Any man would drop down to their knees for a chance of seeing this.

Many men have and none succeeded.

"Oh, delivery? Business is going well ain't ya.

Also, I need to ask this. Did you see anyone strange this morning at the neighborhood?"

(Vivian - Bowsprit - UWAS - Present)

It is a little crowded here at UWAS when Friday comes. Students from local colleges and high school comes to volunteer. Some come because they do want to help, others because the school told them too.

Vivian is a carer here. She takes care of the animal. Feed them, wash them, make sure they do not cause trouble. In Friday, her work is double. Not only the animal she has to look after but the volunteer also. They sometimes cause a lot of problems. Help they do not provide much but trouble they do.

Jude is the manager. He comes infront of Vivian and says: "Viv. There's a group of student over there. Their name is Vu, Alex and Penelope. They're first timer. Go over there and tell them what to do.

I have to go take a look at our tiger. She seems sick."

I nod, kindly smiling while my mind was worryful for the tigress. I walk over to the group of three and show a wide smile, "I assume you three are Vu, Alex, and Penelope? I am here to show you guys around."

Penelope is a gorgeous girl, slightly tan with black hair smooth like silk. She takes a look at Vivian and doesn't even hide her detestation.

The other girl saw that and quickly takes the initiative before Penelope cause a scene.

"Hi! My name is Alex. This is Penelope and this guy is Vu. What do we need to do?" Alex says with a bright smile. She's blonde, slim and has a very positive vibe around her.

Vu, the only guy in the group, is an asian. He's the shortest in the group, has very short hair that are dyed in two colors, white and brown. He doesn't seem to care much but still listening to the conversation.

Completely not noticing Penelope's facial expression, I hand them all a list with things to do. "I am happy to guide you all through it if you have any questions on how it works. First of all, I do ask that you not be harsh to the animals. Most of them are rescue and there are some that are still recovering from an injury. Not to mention, being harsh to them will possibly result in you being brutally hurt." I give a serious look before walking towards a metal door. "Behind this door, you will find suits and tools to use when caring for the animals. At the moment, five animals are in need of their daily feed and two of them need washing. Any questions on how that works?"

"Wait!" Penelope says with a disgusted look. "You are not expecting us to actually wash those filthy animals?"

"Well, princess." Vu finally speaks. His voice is low and soothing. "Why do you think we're here?"

Without any hesitation, Vu walks to the room, puts on a suit, takes some tools then goes to wherever the list tell him to. He didn't even wait for the girls.

"Aren't we supposed to be working as a group?" Alex murmur.

"Ugh. That nerd." Penelope rolls her eyes. "Always acting likes he better than us."

"Pen! Please stop bitching and let's get to work." Alex goes into the rooms and repeats Vu's action.

Penelope's mouth is wide open, says: "Bithching is my specialty!"

Although not happy about it, Penelope still joins the others two and get to work.

A man approachs Vivian. He wears a brown coat, hands holding a briefcase and has a pair of glasses on his face.

"I hope my students didn't cause troubles for you."

I stand idle while they fight, wanting to stop it but when I decided to try, they walked away. "Kinda hope they-" I am cut off by a man approaching me. I swiftly turn and look at him with a blank expression. Then I smile, "They are your students? Ah, okay! Yes and no. Two of them act as if they were born for this! Penelope, on the other hand, is... well... Not that much of a team player. I don't think she will be that good with the animals."

The man lets out a laugh.

"Yeah. Penelope is... quite extravagant. Her last name is Stringer by the way. THAT Stringer. The very rich family that always appears on the news. Even in my class, she's a troublemaker.

But you don't need to worry. See that blonde one. She's Alex Guinevere. One of the upper student and she's friend with Stringer. Guinevere will make sure Stringer behave."

"I'm Charles Pierce." The man puts a hand toward Vivivan, attempts to initiate a handshake. "Pleasure to meet you."