Melina stirred awake, sitting up groggily as she struggled to remember where she was. Then she spotted the faint beacon of moonlight trickling in through small windows. Looking up at the rows of windows in the somewhat Gothic architecture, Melina blinked on confusion.

"Where…am I?"

It took her several seconds before she came back to her senses and realized that she was obviously inside a building. The question was what building this was. It was deserted right now, and she couldn't see anyone else around. A large, open s.p.a.ce.

Melina dusted herself off and checked for wounds. She didn't have any injuries, which was a good sign. Shaking her head, she tried to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered, she was chasing after Iris's friend, Isabella, and her date, Edward. Then "they" came. Melina had tried to resist, but they had knocked her out in one blow, someone striking the back of her neck before she realized he was behind her.

She had blacked out, and the next thing she knew, she was here.

"Oh, you're awake."

"They" came. A man with a bandanna wrapped around his head, surrounded by hooded people. However, there was a strange group accompanying the hooded kidnappers, almost numbering as many as them. They looked humanoid, but their faces were…

"Jack O'Lanterns."

Those were humanoid monsters bearing pumpkin heads. They were not very powerful, but they were highly intelligent and skilled, which made them very dangerous.

"Good morning, Princess!" the man leading them greeted her cheerfully, his hands in the pockets of his flabby trousers. Melina stiffened.

"You are that man from earlier…!"

She clenched her fists and watched the man approach. Unfortunately, she didn't have a weapon on her. Why would she? She was supposed to be enjoying her date at the Weaver's Festival, not get involved in a battle. Especially in the middle of Flandor City, which was one of the most secure cities in the Global Federation.

The guy grinned as he watched Melina summon her mana, but he didn't move. Instead, he raised a hand and revealed a whip.

"Will you be faster at casting a spell, or will my whip be faster, I wonder?" he taunted. Melina ignored him and conjured the beginnings of her holy spell. Even though she desired to be a swordswoman, she was still a natural mage, good at casting spells. That was why people wanted her to stay as a mage instead of picking up the sword.

However, spells took time to cast, especially the complex, powerful ones. The guy's whip lashed out and almost caught Melina by surprise, forcing her to dive to the corner.

"I would refrain from doing that if I were you," he warned with a chuckle.

"Master James," one of the hooded, masked kidnappers whispered as he took a step forward hurriedly. "The preparations are almost complete."

"Oh, looking forward to it." James waved flippantly at his subordinate. "Hurry up. We don't have much time."

"Right away! The rites are almost done, we just need the sacrifice."

"Heh. Sacrifice. I like that word." James turned and his whip snaked out to strike at Melina just as she unleashed her spell. A golden beam erupted from her hands, but missed him, scorching the wall behind. A few of the hooded kidnappers dispersed to avoid getting hit. "I almost feel sorry for you, little lady. You have a lot of s.p.u.n.k, and it's a waste to use you like this."

The hooded subordinate retreated at a flick of James's hand and the leader turned his gaze back on the frustrated Melina.

"Don't waste your mana. Even if you can cast spells, there's no way you can take on all of us."

Melina regarded James, the masked kidnappers and the horde of Jack O'Lanterns, realizing that her chief captor was right. It would be difficult to fight her way out by herself.

"Are you a summoner? Is that how you're controlling those Jack O'Lanterns? But that's impossible, even summoners can't tame monsters. How did you get them into Flandor? Who are you? And who are these people? What do you want?"

"Ah…so many questions. Where should we start?" James chuckled and shook his head. "Firstly, you are mistaken. I'm not a summoner. But…well, I guess you can say that this is a form of summoning magic."

He raised his hand, and the Jack O'Lanterns s.h.i.+fted, appearing to move to his tune.

"In order to fight monsters, my organization performed some sort of surgery on me, embedding the genes of an alphtype monster into me. Thanks to that…these monsters see me as their leader." He stretched out a hand to stroke the pumpkin face of one of the Jack O'Lanterns, who didn't move. "They are actually quite lovable once you get to know them."

"…surgery?" Melina repeated incredulously.

"As for who I am…well, my name is Henry James. You can call me Brother Henry. Though your life will be cruelly cut short within the hour, that doesn't mean we can't become intimate friends."

Melina's mouth was moving, but she was unable to say anything. Henry James continued on, amused.

"Our organization…" he waved toward both the Jack O'Lanterns and the masked kidnappers. "…is called Grimaldus. I don't think you have ever heard of us, right?"

"…"

Melina clenched her fists, but didn't say anything.

"Seems like it." James shrugged. "Well, just think of us as the villains for now."

"What do you villains want with someone like me, then?" Melina demanded. James threw his head back and laughed.

"Are you really that dense? Did you not hear a single word of our exchange earlier?"

"…sacrifice…" Melina swallowed when she remembered the masked subordinate speaking to James from earlier. "You want to use me as a sacrifice for some ritual…"

"Bingo!" James waved his hands about excitedly, raising two fingers for victory signs. "Full marks! It took you a while, but I guess that should be expected from an honor student like you!"

"What sort of ritual…?"

"That will be a surprise!" James giggled hysterically. "Now, I wonder? We shall see! Oh…whoops! But you won't be alive at the end of it, so you won't get to know!"

"Why are you doing this?!" Melina tried not to wail. "Why me?"

"Are you really that dense?" James snickered as he studied her. Then he shrugged. "Might as well let you know, or you'll die with regrets. We were hired to eliminate you, my dear Melina Franklin."

"Huh? But who would want to…?"

"Now, now, you know that I can't tell you that." James wagged his finger at her. "Client confidentiality and all that. I might behave like this, but I pride myself on being as professional as possible, you know? That's what Grimaldus is about. We might hide in the shadows and carry out the jobs that n.o.body else wants to do, but we are still the very epitome of professionalism!"

Melina gritted her teeth and prepared another spell. James didn't even bother to stop her with his whip this time, and continued.

"But…I can give you a hint!"

"Eh?" That really worked. Melina paused in the casting of her spell to look at James incredulously. He grinned.

"Yes. Now think about it carefully. Who benefits the most from your death? Perhaps someone who might feel threatened by…your current meteoric rise to fame?"

"That can't be…" Melina turned extremely pale. "Someone from the Franklin family?!"

"Well now…" James shrugged. "Who knows? But I must say, you're really intelligent."

More like that was so obvious only an idiot wouldn't be able to arrive at the conclusion, but I was't there to point it out.

"Who is it? Cousin Kureha? No, that can't be…Aunt Kathleen?" Kathleen Franklin was Kureha's mother, by the way. "Uncle Edward?" Edward Franklin was Eliza's father.

"So many possibilities! But, as I said, client confidentiality! I'm afraid I can't tell you who, exactly! You'll have to figure it out on your own…not that you'll get the chance! But…as a reward…I can tell you that you won't die alone!"

He snapped his fingers, and a couple of Jack O'Lanterns emerged from the shadows, dragging a single person along. Melina's eyes widened when she recognized the familiar figure, and she started forward with a yell.

"Adrian!"

However, James cut in between them.

"Oho, not so fast. I know you can't wait to be together with your beloved, but not yet. There are a few protocols that we must do before we can start the ceremony."

The Jack O'Lanterns dumped Adrian on the ground unceremoniously, and he groaned. Raising his head and looking all battered, he caught sight of Melina. His lips curled into a smile.

"Melina, you're all right…that's great…!"

"How touching!" James clapped his hands. "He fought to the bitter end to try and protect you, you know? The bond between the two of you is so great. So I thought it was only fitting that he joins you in death, so that you will not be so lonely in heaven. I felt so sorry for you that I decided to do you this favor!"

"Hmph…" Adrian lowered his head and sighed. "You're really underestimating us, aren't you?"

"Heh…" James chuckled as he peered on the sprawled teenager. "Big words from someone who got defeated instantly by us."

"…maybe. Brother Richie will reprimand me for letting my guard down. d.a.m.n it, even though he trained us personally, we still let him down."

Adrian then grinned, and his eyes flashed, an emerald gleam in those hazel brown pupils.

"But that doesn't change the fact that we're still his pupils."

"?!"

A ma.s.sive Treeant materialized in the collosal s.p.a.ce, its thick branches waving about to smack a score of masked kidnappers away. Its thick, gnarled roots stomped down on several unfortunate Jack O'Lanterns, crus.h.i.+ng them into a pulp.

"You…!"

James lashed out with his whip, but the Treeant lowered a thick branch to intercept it. The whip coiled around the branch, and the Treeant yanked on it. Thanks to its greater strength, it prevailed, almost pulling James off his feet. If he hadn't let go, he would be flung about.

"Melina! Let's go!"

Amidst the chaos, Adrian managed to make it to Melina's position and grabbed her hand. The two kids then took off while the kidnappers were still struggling with his Treeant, who was causing quite the furor.

"Sorry, but it took me a while to cast the summoning spell. You know how it is – the more powerful the Soul Beast, the longer it takes to summon them."

"No, I'm not blaming you. I'm very grateful. If it weren't for you, I would have…"

Melina trailed off, and shook her head. Adrian didn't press for more details and they plunged into the next room, hoping to escape from their captors.

"Whoa!"

Adrian almost skidded to a stop when he came close to cras.h.i.+ng into something. He blinked when he realized that it was a skeleton. A rebuilt fossil of some ancient species that once walked the earth.

"That's…a Tyrannosaurus Rex!" he realized, looking up and catching sight of the ma.s.sive skeleton. The poor dinosaur was put on display, lacking any skin, flesh or muscle. Well, of course, only its bones had been fossilized over the course of millions of years.

"This place is…" Melina paused to catch her breath, looking around and seeing a lot of skeletons. "The Morgana Scientific Museum!"

"Why did they bring us to a science museum?" Adrian wondered out loud. Melina shook her head.

"I don't know, but we'll figure that out later. We have to find a way out of here!"

"Agreed." Gulping, Adrian spun around as he tried to find a way out. Behind, James and his small army were approaching after having dispatched his Treeant. "They dealt with my Soul Beast so easily. They are no ordinary foe."

"You're right, we are not," James agreed as he burst into the exhibition hall and chuckled. "You two won't be getting away from us."

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