The three boys followed Igayoi further in the most recent campus building, the one most were occupying. Nothing outlandish at first glance for this wasn't first time they sneaked in at school past curfew hours.

Yoshihiko lagged behind, holding onto the handrail. A mild frown contorting his face. He brought a hand to his temple and massaged it, as he lifted his gaze, he wasn't the only one experiencing the same pain. "Guys, do you experience migraines consistently? When did it start?" He was ready to brush this aside as trivial but Yoshihiko was noticing a pattern and he needed to confirm.

"...must be when..." Hayato trailed off, he closed his eyes first and exhaled. "Since Mafuyu left us, it's not all the time though but there are moments it happens, I never pay attention"

Maou was leaning against a wall, he applied some menthol ointment on his temples to at least help easing the pain and he gave it to his friends. "Weird, I'm starting to believe we're all in the same crazy bandwagon." He looked ahead of them remembering the friendly maintenance staff. "Where is Sir Igayoi?"

Their elderly companion was nowhere to be found, he was silent the whole walk and one brief moment of them stopping, they no longer lost sight of Igayoi. They continued ascending the staircase and stopped again upon reaching the area where a huge porcelain figure of their school's patron saint was displayed, all garbed in pure white and face covered with white veil inside a glass.

Yoshihiko observed the saint figurine, an idea making itself known to him. "Come to think of it, Evergreen used to have holy figures displayed almost everywhere outside but since the chapel burned to the ground years ago, we didn't have any religious images anymore."

"Except Saint Catherine-Sierra," Maou seconded, "The only religious figure in Evergreen of whom we know nothing about." The patron saint of their school yet they never taught anything about her nor any background information was displayed in public.

Hayato squinted, gaze traveling from the figurine's head down to the glass stand it was encased in. "And we never questioned anything..." His eyebrows knitted further as he leaned forward on the side, obscured by the tall saint statue. "What is that?"

Yoshihiko noticed and he wasn't certain of what to feel about this, "A hidden passage?"

They worked on moving the statue and to increase their bafflement, the square portion where the saint statue was placed made a humming sound as it slid backward and revealed a passage. They stepped inside, finding another flight of staircase.

Maou's expression couldn't be painted at this point, "What the hell?!" His hands curled into fists.

"Let's go" Yoshihiko told his friends, he knew cold fear was clawing at them now and he couldn't shake off that sense of an unseen eerie gaze watching them in amusement but there was also a part of him—the strongest part shouting he was close to finding something of importance. His bizarre dreams flashed randomly behind his eyelids—the black fire and those people telling him to stay awake.

---

There were many connotations about truth. It could be fabricated, toned down or just served it plain in the open. Sometimes truth contained an intensity that was too much for a human psyche to handle, that could make their faith crumbled and stop fighting for their stand.

This was the truth Yoshihiko nor his friends did not expect Saint Catherine Sierra Academy to have.

Walking past a wide archway, they were led in the Untouched Sanctuary. Its structure and interior design mirroring the previously burnt chapel of Evergreen, some of its designs were inspired from it. But there was nothing hallow about this.

Lined up on each sides up the wall were people...some of them were familiar. They were displayed in grotesque angle and missing body pieces. But there were two person part of this appalling and rotten display that rendered them completely helpless.

"Zenji! Sir Igayoi!" Yoshihiko felt himself choke and tears brimmed out of his eyes, he was instantly filled with rage, approaching the huge frames where they hung almost unrecognizable. His sobbing was loud, raw and a mixture of pain and anger.

Hayato shook his head in disbelief, turning ashen-faced. He plopped down the floor and trying not to scream, he punched the floor with his fists. Meanwhile, Maou clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug on his palms painfully, his tears ran down his face.

Another person came and seeing her in this impure place only heightened the boys' anger. Hayato did not hesitate lunging at Sushi, holding the cutter out in mid-air and ready to bring it down to her face.

"You fucking murderer" Hayato heaved loudly, blinded by the rage that overtaken his fear.

Sushi struggled under her classmate, she cried loudly and glanced at Yoshihiko. "Please let me explain--"

"What's the noise about?! Can't you be quiet, Sushi?" Reina came, her hands were stain with crimson whilst holding a whip. "I haven't finished punishing Nayra--" She halted in mid-sentence seeing who was in the entrance hall of their Untouched Sanctuary. "BASTARDS! HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!" The way Reina showed upset was foreign to them for she always presented herself in a proper manner, almost same level as Parfait in class and managing school acts. She swung the bloody whip and hit Hayato in the arms—he groaned painfully as he was pushed backwards.

Maou ran towards Reina ready to rain fists on her face but his hesitation came up like a barricade wall as he recalled his deceased friends and that the reason they were dead was because of him. No, he couldn't be having these nasty flashbacks now, it wasn't the right time and place!

Reina held Maou by his neck, lifting him up mid-air with such surprising strength. "What's the point of pretending? You are already here anyway," Half of her face became porcelain-like, similar to the saint statue's features but with a diabolical expression. "I hate your group the most" She spoke loudly, curling her hands tighter around Maou's neck, digging her nails.

"What the fuck are you all doing?! Why are you killing people?!" Yoshihiko stepped forward but he felt cold touches on his arms, his eyes bulged out seeing moving saint-like statues on his side and they were holding him off. The statues were eerily similar to Saint Catherine-Sierra's features too like a mimic of her and based on the dried blood stuck on them, this wasn't the first time they were used for such monstrosity.

Reina sneered, "Do asking questions matter now that you are close to your fated tragedy, Yoshihiko? You and your damn curiosity, but that nosiness is also what led to your girlfriend's end. If she wasn't too fucking selfless and sacrificial, she wouldn't have been disposed like that."

No more explanation was needed, it already clicked like puzzle pieces being completed in Yoshihiko's mind after Reina's statement, he lets out an anguish scream with this dawn of revelation hitting them on the back like titanium.

"We do not need any one else in Evergreen, the only goddess and saint you need to give yourself to is our goddess. Everything and everyone must be made from her image." Reina declared in an ecstatic tone only her was feeling excited about the whole thing. Her high on ecstasy was short-lived after feeling a stab on the leg, it made her release Maou and glancing down, she saw Sushi stabbing her with a knife. "AARGGGHHH!!!" Reina countered attack by slashing Sushi's throat, her nails grew longer and sharp made of porcelain.

Sushi gasped for air, blood sputtered from her neck but she willed not to fall just yet. With tear-stained gaze, she forced herself up and stabbed Reina repetitively on the chest. Reina fell on the floor and crashed into a heap of glass, ceramic, polyresin and some flesh with blood.

Hayato was now up on his feet with wounds on both arms, he helped Yoshihiko fight off the diabolic statue figurines, bashing it against the wall and like Reina, it ended up as a mixture of ceramic and flesh.

"Y-Yoshihiko..." Sushi cried softly, smiling amid her pain. Blood didn't stop flowing out of the open wound on her neck. She staggered towards him and felt warmth when he didn't push her back.

Yoshihiko wanted to be angry but he was also confused, a small part of him was in agony for seeing Sushi like this. He held her in his arms as she struggled to breathe.

Their memories of hanging out, walking back home after classes during elementary days and those simple childish moments in the playground came flooding Sushi's consciousness. She continued smiling. "My actions are unforgivable, I ask that you do not accept my apologies no matter how many times I say sorry to you. I was selfish..." It was a decision driven from her heart that maybe if Mafuyu was out of the picture, there would be a probability of getting Yoshihiko again, even if the probability was small. "But I was wrong, it was never justifiable..." She sobbed loudly. "The goddess is unmatched, she is powerful and ruthless. But...I believe...I believe it's your calling." Her flickering gaze glanced at the three boys. "Ahh, now I realized why Mafuyu said those words...she was right, your blooms are what will put an end to it all...I wish I can see you all bloom..." Sushi closed her eyes and went stilled but the smile not lost in her face.

---

"Hi Caroline." A girl wearing an old, dirty school uniform with moss sat on the old sofa slightly hidden from view. She stood up and walked out in the open to be exposed under the illuminating moonlight, revealing a short pixie cut dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

Caroline screamed hysterically, backing away and pressed herself against the closed door—she had been trying to open it after seeing the album but it wouldn't budge. "GHOST! AHHH! HAYATO! HELP ME!"

The old photo album fell open on the floor, showing the girl standing across Caroline was one of the students in the picture standing close next to Mafuyu.

"My name is Karla," She introduced without a care, still standing a few good distance from the startled and freaking out Caroline. "Roan took a great liking of you, he never brought anyone in his secret reading lounge except us of course." Karla sighed, expression deadpanned. "You must understand that tonight there are worst adversary you will face than a ghost."

Caroline stopped her attempts to pull the door open, she slowly glanced back at Karla and swallowed nervously. "You're not even denying it..."

"I don't see the point, I'm never the one to beat around the bush whether I'm alive or somewhere in between." Karla shrugged. More moss covered her uniform and arms, from those mosses, tiny flowers sprouted out. "I didn't come here to do a get-to-know each other moment, I'm here to make you an offering. Once you step out of this room, there is no guaranteed safety for what happens next. Even this room will be gone, if you want to escape from all this nastiness quickly, I can get you out of Evergreen."

"What about my friends?"

"Sorry Caroline but their fate is already written on stone. But you however, there is still a way for you to not partake in this questionable madness."

A tense silence fell around them with Caroline harboring more questions than answers but based on the photos she saw earlier, she sensed that the school had been hiding something from them since the beginning. And Mafuyu's death was never suicide.

Karla broke the silence as she spoke casually again. "Parfait is quite fond of you and I know why, you are a sensible character. I'd say the most grounded among your circle."

"I don't want to go." Caroline finally declared, staring at Karla with an unwavering gaze. Yes she could see the slow deterioration in the other girl's features like how those dark blue eyes sockets were sporting darker circles around it and the crawling small flowers and leaves on Karla's skin became more evident. But if she would choose to revel in fear forever, what would it do?

Karla was surprised, "You don't want to go...?"

"Yes I might die or get tortured first before dying." Caroline spoke gravely, she touched the white bracelet on her wrist. "Honestly I am scared, I never felt a deeper level of pain before and whatever is happening in this school is beyond my understanding...but...Mafuyu...her life was taken away and everyone concluded she killed herself. I never believed it, we never did. I want to be by my friends' side."

By now Karla already had no eyeballs, just hollow black sockets but Caroline didn't look bother as if she already resigned to her chosen route tonight. "You really are something else," Karla smiled. "Mafuyu never died in vain when she has you and your friends."

The locked door finally opened on its own.