"D-Do we really have to do this, mistress?" Charlotte asked, fidgeting beside the woman whom she calls herself Mistress Karamazov. Tears had started dimming Charlotte's visions, exerting much effort to stop herself from crying as she watch the three men in black cloak tying her unconscious and blindfolded child to a metal cross bolted upright in the middle of a pentacle.

Even though some individuals associate pentacles with evil spirits, the Karamazovs believe that it represents sanctity, thus, greatly helps in driving evil forces away, providing protection to individuals whose soul has been retained by the devil.

They've now transferred at the household garden to where the ritual must be performed before Takumi wakes up. The pentacle he's in is surrounded by torches placed on each corner on five different points.

"You wanted to save your child, don't you?" Mistress Karamazov's voice sounded hoarse with age. She, then, carefully took an old book underneath the black cloak she's wearing. As a matter of fact, all of them in the place wore the same clothing.

"B-But they're just children, mistress. Isn't there any other way?"

"Let the Mistress do what she has to do, Charlotte," Takuya stepped into the frame. He placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, reassuring her with a smile. "We know this day would come and Tomoya knows he's destined to face the fate of being sacrificed in Takumi's stead."

Charlotte's lips quivered. "I know, but isn't there any another way that we could save them both?" She turned to the Mistress.

"We have no time to waver, Charlotte," she sighed; her thin and crusty lips curled into a grim line. "It's Takumi or Tomoya. You choose."

"Of course, I'm choosing my son. It's just that..." Charlotte paused when she saw Tomoya walking towards the pentacle, innocently following the foot steps of the man who's guiding him.

"Tomoya felt like a son to me, too," the tears that she has been holding finally fell one by one.

"It can't be helped," Takuya muttered and turned back to the Mistress. "Please finish everything. Takumi's curse showed up a year before the said deal, we won't know what other things he's capable of."

Mistress Karamazov nodded and called her men to assist her with the ritual. Truly, in order to complete such custom, a life must be sacrificed and, in that event, it's Tomoya's. He might have known what his life is for, but as a child, he didn't really have the idea that he'd die that day in the most agonizing way. Tomoya watched himself being tied on a pole bolted just opposite to Takumi's and smiled.

"It's okay, nii-san," he beamed and Charlotte who saw the innocent encounter broke down in tears even more.

"If you think you can't stand watching what's going to happen, I suggest for you to get in the house, Charlotte," the Mistress warned. "This will be a very much different occasion than what you had before in order for you to conceive a child. You'll see death, not life."

"D-Death... yeah," caught up with the warning the Mistress had offered, Charlotte had forgotten that her priority is to release the demon's possession on Takumi's soul.

As a woman who could never bear a child, Charlotte Persson has been denied of inheritance by her own family and was believed to have brought misfortune to the Takahashis. 'Twas a belief no one dared questioning, so in order to be a postulant to both sides, the couple decided to make a deal with a powerful yet extremely malevolent entity.

Indeed, Takumi was born from the devil's will and has been destined to be taken on a said time unless the couple finds someone who is suitable as a counterpart—and they did.

Eventually, Charlotte decided to stay, so she could watch over her son in case something happened. After all, he's all she needed. Once settled, the Mistress started the custom by opening the enigmatic book she's holding and began mumbling words no one could understand, shifting from language to language.

Without any command, twelve men in black cloaks began to surround the pentacle, chanting the same words, the Mistress is speaking.

In no time, the ground shook as though it's breaking into half followed by the sweltering air which came from the forming fissures, tracing the pentacle sign wherein Tomoya and Takumi are in. Astoundingly, Tomoya did not panic. He only watched the ground around him crack and fall down to small pieces underneath him to which humans identify as hell.

Piercing cries reverberated, bringing the entire locus, counting the air and any life forms to shake; indicating the arrival of a formidable yet ghastly being.

"Do it now, Takuya!" The Mistress ordered and much to Charlotte's surprise, Takuya pulled out a sharp poignard from the holster hidden underneath his cloak and charged towards Tomoya. He had to kill him quick before Takumi wakes up or else, they're going to lose him to a point of no return; however, things went into a difficult sailing when the wind had gone strong and started sweeping each of them from their feet.

"This is bad," The Mistress groaned, falling down in one knee.

"The devil is too s-strong," Charlotte winced, fighting the force just to get near the Mistress. She covered her with her cloak for protection from dusts and any solid substance circulating the ferocious wind. The men are struggling to stay on the ground either and none of them should break the circle, otherwise the bidding ritual will break lose.

"I-It's Takumi. He's unconsciously stopping the ritual t-to save Tomoya," seeing that Takumi is starting to gain consciousness, the Mistress looked at Charlotte. "You have to help Takuya. Once the boy opens his eyes, it's all over."

With a sense of radical fret, Charlotte sprung to her feet to help her husband who struggled standing up. "C'mon," she clutched both hands on Takuya's arm. "We have to end this now!"

Takumi watched the remaining waters drop from his fine, bundled hair strands. Sizzles from the water pipes still faintly echoes through his capacious bathroom; see-through glasses misted by moisture.

Palms pressed against the wall, he snarled, lifted up his head, and looked at his reflection on the hazed mirror in front of him, specifically his eyes where the Mephistophelian contract has been placed by the demon who once owned his soul—the contract which killed everyone, including his parents, that tragic night.

***

Takumi winced when the symbol of the covenant glowed into different shades of red. Quickly, he grabbed his glasses on its customized compartment and wore it to prevent himself from seeing more things that would trigger the remains of his curse.

It’s clear, Takumi doesn’t have a run-of-the-mill colorblindness and the glasses he’s wearing do not have the purpose of bringing vibrance to his world, but to seal the eyes of the devil he awakened earlier than expected. His vision might be lacking in colors; however, in return, he could see people’s life span in exact days, hours, minutes, and seconds… except for his own.