In France...

A gray and cold dawn had just risen over the city of Chartres. As the sun's rays struggled to pierce through the cloud layer causing a fine drizzle to fall over the region, Hella and Mana had returned inside the crumbling building that served as their temporary lair. But this time, they were no longer alone.

Their new companion, Otus, had come, kneeling beside the corpses of cultist humans slain by Mana. Otus had removed their masks, revealing humans with horribly scarified faces. With a metal forceps, Otus was busy, like a macabre surgeon, extracting eyes or tongues, to store them in small vials filled with a liquid similar to formalin and kept them preciously in a bag hanging from his belt.

Hella and Mana watched him do it, a little taken aback and keeping a reasonable distance from him. Even though he had come to their aid, they didn't know who he was and what he wanted.

_ "Do you know what that creature was? And why did these humans attack us?" Hella asked, annoyed by the awkward silence that had reigned for several minutes.

However, Otus remained silent and continued with his human organ harvesting. This voluntary refusal or not to answer did not really pleased Mana who took a step forward.

_ "My friend just asked you a question, you could answer her." said the pastor, still calm as usual, but expressing his discontent in the tone of his voice.

_ "I could indeed ..." Otus replied without turning around and without hostility. "... But having no answer to give because ignoring everything myself, it was useless to waste my saliva."

Hella and Mana looked at each other with the same confused gaze. Was he serious saying that? His calm and his way of speaking was confusing compared to his appearance of a bloodthirsty executioner. Otus finally decided to turn to them.

_ "It's been several days that I track this group of individuals. It all started in the valley where I lived, with other monsters, isolated from humans. Several days ago, a sort of huge black triangle with Glowing red spirals on its sides appeared above the valley, floating in the sky and completely disrupting the climate. Then, these masked humans arrived in droves, accompanied by several of these degenerate misshapen creatures. I was the only one to survive the massacre. I saw all my friends die and be transformed in their turn into insane living deformities."

He spoke calmly but with a certain anger in his voice, mixed with a melancholy, Hella guessed and felt sorry for him. She and Mana had no idea of what that giant black triangle hovering in the sky could be, but another detail caught their attention.

_ "Did you say, you and other monsters? But I thought all the monsters that came into the human world were in Oakville, Canada." Hella said, intrigued.

Otus nonchalantly shook his head and explained.

_ "Soon after your victory over the demon Vexus, the boundaries between the human and monster worlds narrowed, allowing more of our people to be able to pass through dimensional rifts that had opened. Our world being devastated and dying from the too many wars with demons, we chose to go into exile. I and others finally arrived in an isolated valley, somewhere in this region which is called Transylvania. I don't know how many of ours are here and how many communities have formed right now, but for now, it seems they haven't been noticed by humans yet."

Hella and Mana exchanged a look again. So other communities of monsters were present on earth? They were shared by this feeling. On the one hand, they were happy to see more of their people coming, but on the other hand, it could only fuel the already great mistrust and hatred of humans against them, who could see these arrivals as an invasion and lead to a declaration of war.

_ "And you, Otus? Tell us, who were you in our world?" Mana then asked for more.

_ "A very long time ago, I was the executioner of a powerful and cruel warlord, who had only passion for the killings, the tortures and the rape of slaves. I killed a very great number of prisoners under his command, most of whom were surely innocent. I put my feelings aside and did what I was there for. But one day my master ordered me to put to death a child girl slave who had refused to to sleep with him. I refused and beheaded him. Following that, I fled the estate and since then I have wandered endlessly in the most remote lands of Lapland, having to live with the weight of everything the innocent blood I had shed."

A really sordid and sad story, Hella and Mana thought as they looked at him. He was telling the truth, Mana had sensed it in his voice and possessed this gift of being able to probe the souls of those he was watching, and could see a quiet but sincere regret in Otus' mind.

Hella walked over to Otus, gently resting her hand on his shoulder for support.

_ "I know how you feel, Otus." she said. "We were both slaves to tyrants, but we broke our chains to follow our own paths. You also feel guilty for not being able to help your community, but know that you are no longer alone now. I am not the decision maker among my community, but I would like to suggest that you join us."

Mana, like Otus, raised an eyebrow.

_ "Hella? Are you sure? Lord Lordi will have to decide." said the pastor.

_ "Otus has proven his worth in battle and he's on our side." Hella replied, turning to her friend. "Mr. Lordi has always recognized strong and valiant souls, as he did for us when he came with Emily to meet us and helped us. From now on, we must prove ourselves worthy of him and in our turn, help others."

Mana had to admit that she was scoring a point and adding nothing more, just crossing her arms and letting her friend finish. Otus, meanwhile, looked hesitant.

_ "I ... Believe that I am flattered by your proposal, but for the moment, it is still too early. But I promise to think it over and to come back to give you my answer as soon as possible. From now on, you can count me as an ally."

_ "Thanks Otus." Hella replied with a smile and came to shake hands with the executioner who nodded.

Following this agreement, Hella returned to Mana, and the two began to walk away, but were held back by another sentence from Otus.

_ "And you? What are you going to do now?"

_ "I came here to repair the void that prevents my heart from being repaired. I am looking for a sincere soul, someone who can help me restore my self-confidence, and especially love me for what am I." Hella said with conviction.

Otus, for the first time since they met, showed a small smirk at the corner of his black lips.

_ "In that case, I wish you success." replied the executioner.

Hella and Mana nodded their thanks and both became invisible again thanks to Magnum's devices and leaped out of the building, resuming their search across the city. Otus was left alone, then returned to his organ harvesting from the corpses of the cultists, pulling a circular saw from his bag and starting to pry open one of the skulls to collect the brain.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, escaping the attention of humans walking down the sidewalks or driving in their cars, Hella and Mana now began the search, the scarbie paying close attention to any male humans she could spot in her field of vision, looking at their faces, but never feeling anything for any of them. The search lasted for very long hours, during which the two monsters roamed entire districts of the city, never finding anything concrete.

In the late morning, Hella and Mana were now on the side of the cemetery of the city, and could see further the great cathedral, whose summit disappeared almost in the cloud of fog that formed with the drizzle. Seeing no one, they were about to leave to look elsewhere, but suddenly, Hella stopped ... From the corner of her eye, she saw him ...

A little farther on one of the paths of the cemetery, a young man stood alone in front of two tombs, and contemplated them in a sort of minute of silence.

_"Hella?" Mana asked when he saw his doll friend jump and and moving towards the cemetery and hearing to answer from her.

Intrigued, Hella approached, taking care to maintain her veil of invisibility and taking care to walk very slowly on the ground so that her footsteps could not resonate on the gravel. She was now about ten meters from him.

She saw his young and white face, the blue-green irises of his eyes glittering with a certain melancholy, his long brown hair moistened by the drizzle. If most of the people she had seen were dressed in an ordinary way, this young man was dressed in a more singular way. Black boots, black trouser, black t-shirt, a big black jacket with the Ace of Spades symbols, black mitts on the hands and a big black hat, almost like a cowboy hat, on the head and dripping with small drops of drizzle.

Hella wondered if this was a mourning outfit or if he wass dress like that all the time. She looked at the names engraved on the tombs, and concluded, seeing the face of the young man, that they were people very close to him, perhaps his parents. Hella felt really sorry for him even if she didn't know him. This feeling of helplessness that she feel coming from him... It was the same she had when she was a prisoner of Ruiz...

The young man knelt down, and put his hand, several seconds, on each of the gravestones, and he spoke.

_ "Mom ... Dad ... I found out what you had hidden from me all this time ... There are so many things that I don't understand, I feel like making circles and it makes me crazy ... If only you were there, you could explain to me ... That's all I ask ..."

He spoke in a morose voice, and saw his hand trembling slightly with nervousness. Without being aware of it, Hella watched the scene, and although he was a stranger, felt sorry for him. But the more she watched him, the more he intrigued her. She felt it in her heart. This young man was lost, tortured, alone, but despite that did not want to give up and find what he's looking for ... just like ... her.

But as he stood up again, Hella saw another young man walk just beside her without seeing her or feeling her.

_ "Hi Mathias." he said in a calm voice as his friend had finished his minute of silence and also greeted him without smiling. The two men shook hands. So his name is Mathias, Hella said to herself while listening to the conversation.

_ "Hi, Aurélien." Mathias answered.

_ "Are you holding up? Mathilde worries a lot for you. She says you have not slept these last days." the friend, named Aurélien, asked.

_ "Well... I really have a hard time accepting what's happening to me these days. There are times when I would want to wake up, as if it was all a fucking nightmare." Mathias grumbled, rubbing his head.

His friend understood perfectly and patted him on the shoulder.

_ "You know we're here to support you, man."

Mathias smiled at him and gave him back his friendly pat.

_ "Of course."

The two men began to walk towards the exit of the cemetery, and both passed near Hella, who stepped aside so as not to be touched. But as he passed right besides her, Mathias stopped speaking with his friend and showed an expression of doubt, looking in Hella's direction. The doll did not move, she almost felt that he was staring into her eyes, when in reality he saw nothing. Frowning, doubtful, Mathias held out his hand as if to touch in front of him. Hella pulled back slightly, seeing the young man's hand brew the air right in front of her. The other young man noticed it.

_ "Mathias, what are you doing?"

_ "Hmmm .... Nothing." he replied, then rejoined his friend, without justifying, although deep within him, doubt subsisted.

Perhaps it was fatigue or his imagination, but for a moment he had felt a presence right next to him. A presence he could not describe, but he had felt a deep aura of loneliness, sadness, but also determination ... Very strange. Hella, meanwhile, was both intrigued but also confident. This Mathias had felt her presence despite her veil of invisibility, and was the only human to have done it. Deep inside her, the scarbie felt it. And if the one she was looking for ... It was him?

Feeling that she had finally found the right one, she decided to follow him outside the cemetery, keeping a certain distance so as not to be detected again. They discussed various things, Mathias's friend obviously trying to cheer him up.

_ "By the way, reassure me, we are still making the concert tomorrow night?" Aurélien asked.

_ "At first I thought about canceling, but after all, I need to have some fun ... We'll do it."

_ "Hell yeah! You'll see. For the premiere of our band, it's gonna be great. Uh ... on the other hand, can you give me the name of the place where we are going to play? I forgot."

_ "Definitely, you have no memory ..." Mathias sighed rolling his eyes, but gently mocking his friend. "... It's the Jungle Café. To remember it, you should write it down on a memo on your phone, that's what it's made for you know?"

_ "Fuck you, man ..." Aurélien sneered, giving a firm but non-violent slap on the shoulder of Mathias, who shared this mockery with him.

The two men continued to talk and began to wander down the street, while Hella, who had heard everything, remained where she was hidden, and was joined by Mana who had witnessed the whole scene from the roof of a house. A concert? Interesting. Hella had listened to all this, and thought that it could help her better know the personality of Mathias and discover who he is.

_"So, what happened?" Mana asked.

_ "Mr. Lordi told me about the first time he saw Emily ... He had made himself invisible, had searched for hours without result, then arriving in a park, he saw her, sitting alone, thoughtful ... Immediately, his heart started to beat faster, he could feel what the other was feeling, as if they were connected even without knowing it ... It was at this moment, that he knew, that was her ... well, with this young man ... that's exactly what just happened ... I now understand what it's like ..."

_ "Hmmm, interesting, similar linkings and discoveries, except this time it's in a cemetery, not in a park." Mana commented thoughtfully.

_ "Perhaps this is how a monster and a human are destined to meet, linked to each other by the same heart and the same mind before even meeting? Both similar and different. Constants and variables." Hella said, keeping her thoughts on Mathias.

_ "Well, you seem very sure of yourself, I believe you." Mana said, seeing her friend with a dreamy look. "And what do we do now? I doubt that appearing in front of him and saying 'hello, I love you" is the right solution."

Hella turned to him, with a mischievous look and smile.

_ "Tonight we are going to a concert."

Mana looked at her, a little circumspect, but still agreed to follow her in this idea. However, he remained worried about an important detail.

_ "But ... what will we do if ever more of these masked lunatics come to attack us? Or worse, attack him? I don't know who they are but what Otus said worries me enough."

_ "Well luckily we are here now. I will make sure to protect him." Hella replied confidently.

But as Hella began to walk back to the lair and wait for the evening to begin, her attention was caught by something that left her puzzled.

_ "Uh, Mana ... Otus did mention a giant black triangle floating in the sky, didn't he?"

_"Yes... Why?"

Hella then indicated to him where to look at, which he did, and showed the same confused expression as his friend. Further on, in the window of an electronics store, a television was on, watched by a group of passers-by. The image appeared to be a news log, showing footage shot by a camera and showing a giant, distant object, floating in the sky in a stormy rain, and shaped like an obsidian prism. The images were apparently from ... Oakville, Canada!

Hella and Mana looked at each other worriedly. They had managed to find whoever could be Hella's chosen one, but at the same time, their friends seemed to be dealing with a very serious threat. Hella and Mana now felt that time was running out.