Devil's Wonderland

Lucy

Halo Twenty-Four: Lucy:

-Project Heaven-

Daichi and Osamu were setting up for the night shift.

"So have you thought about grad school yet?" Daichi asked his partner. Osamu rolled his eyes.

"Did the old man tell you to ask me?" he asked. Daichi shrugged.

"Just curious," he said.

"I don't know, okay?" Osamu asked. "I don't think about that sort of thing, you know?"

"I understand," the younger man said.

"I mean, I don't have the time or money to go to a fancy grad school like all of you do."

"Kitano-sensei can pay for you to go to grad school, you know?"

"That's not the point." Osamu set down his sears and turned his head. Daichi put up his hands.

"Okay, okay," he said. "I'll drop it."

"Thank you," the older man said. "And I still say blonde will be the next player in the game. We just need to kill the girlfriend first." Daichi raised his eyebrow.

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Yes," Osamu said with a grin. "Once the girlfriend is gone, he will be a perfect addition to the game."

"If you say so," Daichi said under his breath. His older partner looked up at him out of the corner of his eye.

The whole time, their interns watched with blank looks on their faces. Osamu turned his head.

"You're not getting paid to stand around and look pretty," he said. "Get back to work." The interns rushed back to work. Daichi and Osamu got back to work as well.

Six more days until the gate opened.

-Lucy-

The nightcomer sat holed up in a motel room. For five days, she didn't know what to do. Hecate didn't even bother to soften the blow.

-Six Days Earlier-

Hecate and Lucy stood in front of Raira Academy. The younger sister whistled.

"That gate is massive," she said.

"Uh-huh," Hecate said. "The core is in the basement." She turned to her sister.

"Wow," Lucy said.

"However, we're not strong enough to open it alone," her sister said. The younger nightcomer had a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Hecate gave her a cold smile.

"Hecate?" Lucy asked. Her sister put her arm around her shoulders.

"You see, this is a special gate," Hecate said, fanning her hand out towards the empty academy. "It can't simply be opened by magic."

"Are you serious?" Lucy asked.

"Not even mother with all of us combine can open it with our problems," the older sister said. The other nightcomer gave her an odd look.

"So... How do we open that gate?" Lucy asked. Hecate leaned in with a grin on her face.

"The blood of a nightcomer," she said in a low voice. Her sister's eyes widened.

"You can't mean..." she said. Hecate smiled and patted her on the head. Lucy's stomach dropped.

-Present Day-

Lucy shut her eyes.

"I don't want to die," she whimpered. But what else could she do? Hecate was determined to sacrifice her to the gate. Allison was okay with this too.