Kurumi didn't hear Tohka's distant cry. The clangor of battle was swallowed by the oppressive silence of Salem's domain, but the reverberations still reached her bones — a low, ominous shudder that caused dust to drift from the vaulted ceilings above.
The castle's labyrinthine corridors seemed to shift as she moved, twisting angles that led nowhere, or worse, led back to where she had been moments before. Kurumi was a phantom, pressing herself against the deepest pools of shadow, letting the darkness cling to her like armor. Her heels made no sound; every step was a thought, calculated and controlled.
This place was not stone and mortar — it was alive. Veins of pulsing crimson threaded through the obsidian walls, sometimes flaring with light as though some monstrous heart deep within the castle had quickened its beat.
She was halfway down another hall when the temperature dropped in a heartbeat. The air thickened and grew viscous, as if invisible hands were pressing on her from all sides. The hair on her neck prickled and rose.
Then, a whisper. No, not a sound — an intrusion.
"Little spirit... where are you running to?"
Salem's presence slid into her mind with the cold finality of a blade. Kurumi's pulse spiked, but she moved not a muscle, flattening herself against the archway's shadow.
A figure appeared at the far end of the hall, gliding toward her in unhurried grace. Salem's skin was corpse-pale, marbled and laced with veins like strands of midnight. Her crimson eyes glowed faintly, and in them burned an ancient, predatory patience. She strolled as a queen might survey her throne room.
"I must admit, your resilience is... amusing," Salem murmured, her voice resonating from the walls themselves, as though the entire chamber were her mouth. "But this castle is a part of me. You cannot hide from me in my own home."
The obsidian walls began to liquify. From the slick surface, black tendrils burst forth, each tipped with a needle-sharp point. They swept hungrily through the air, probing the darkness where Kurumi hid.
Kurumi manipulated the shadow — bending it, shaping it — letting it flow around her body to blur her outline. The strain gnawed at her reserves.
One tendril froze, the end hovering inches from her face.
The wall beside her bulged, and a Seer Grimm materialized, its giant, blood-red iris locking onto her in an instant.
A psychic shriek rattled her skull. Found you.
"There you are," Salem breathed, smiling without warmth. She raised a hand. The very air solidified around Kurumi, forming crystalline walls that folded inward to trap her.
No more hiding.
Kurumi snapped her wrist, and her flintlock pistol appeared in her hand. She fired — a single bullet. It didn't shatter, but its creeping advance faltered for one precious second.
She bolted.
The castle shifted with her flight. Grimm faces rippled from the walls, their jaws opening in silent screams. The floor melted into a grasping mire, the tendrils becoming skeletal claws reaching for her legs. She leapt, twisted, ducked — each movement a desperate flourish in a dance that could not last.
Salem was not chasing her in the physical sense. She was already there, in every stone, every shadow. Kurumi could feel it — the witch's amusement bleeding through the structure, as if she were a cat letting a mouse believe it had a chance.
Kurumi rounded the next turn — and there it was. An ornate balcony, wide and open, laced in wrought iron, overlooking the roiling sea that battered Arubi Island's cliffs.
Freedom.
She poured the last dregs of her strength into her legs, sprinting toward salvation.
Salem materialized in front of her in a swirl of black smoke. No spell, no attack — just presence.
"The game is over, Nightmare," she said, her words glacial.
Kurumi's breath caught.
A thunderous crash tore through the ceiling above them, showering Salem in debris. Violet light blazed through the falling shards.
Tohka Yatogami, wreathed in the blinding corona of Halvanhelev, dropped like a meteor, striking the stone between Kurumi and Salem. The shockwave sent cracks spidering through the floor.
"Get away from her!" Tohka roared, her blade blazing like the sun.
From either side, golden keys rained down, pinning Salem's tendrils to walls and floor. Mukuro Hoshimiya descended gracefully, her deep blue eyes cold as the void.
For the first time, Salem's smile faltered.
"More pests." she murmured.
Tohka charged, Sandalphon and Halvanhelev merging into a beam of divine destruction. The blast smashed into Salem—her form dissolving into black smoke before reforming with cold fury.
That was the opening.
"Now, Kurumi!" Mukuro called.
Kurumi vaulted the balcony railing, plunging into the night. A heartbeat later, Tohka and Mukuro followed, their spirit energy flaring to cushion the fall.
But midair, the shadows twisted.
A new sound cut through the wind—the guttural growl of something primal. From the mists below, it leapt—the Hound. Its elongated limbs and distorted body surged upward, jaws gaping.
Time seemed to slow down, just for a moment. Kurumi fired her flintlock pistol down at the Hound, the bullet moving in slow motion. It bounced off the Hound's shoulder, nicking the Grimm but not wounding it.
"Move!" Tohka yelled at she swung Sandalphon downwards. The blade of Tohka's sword slicing The Hound in half, but it wouldn't be a victory worth celebrating just yet. The Hound began to heal.
"Just can't stay satisfied with yourself huh?" Tohka asked, she grabbed Kurumi's hand and started running as they landed on the ground below. "Come on, let's get some distance from this place."
Mukuro nodded as she followed behind them two, Salem watched from the balcony. Her smile returned to her face as she watched the three flee. "You can run, but my pet will find you....this world will burn, and I will be sure that every last speck of dust. Burns to a crisp."
~~~
The sky above Raizen High was a dull gray, clouds thick like an unbroken ceiling. Once filled with students' laughter, the school now lay in quiet ruin. Glass crunched under Reine's boots as she stepped over what had been the front entrance—now torn open like a wound.
She adjusted the satchel on her shoulder, eyes scanning for movement. No Grimm. Not yet. Her goal lay beneath—the underground shelter. Her fingers brushed the edges of a locked steel hatch hidden under fallen beams. She knelt, pulling a compact tool kit from her bag.
Somewhere deeper in the city, Natsumi was scavenging. She'd volunteered to search the AST's abandoned base for food supplies. MREs, anything shelf-stable. The girl had a knack for moving unseen, even in hostile zones. But the trip was dangerous. Grimm were drawn to negative emotions and fear, Natsumi swallowed her fear and negative emotions. If push came to shove, she could use her spirit powers to change her appearance to blend it more.
As Reine worked the hatch, a faint rumble shivered through the ground. She paused, hand hovering.
A shadow passed overhead. Her breath caught—no wings, no flying Grimm, just something massive moving between rooftops. It didn't linger. She filed the thought away. Survival first.
The lock clicked. Reine exhaled, pushing the hatch open. A stale gust met her, carrying scents of dust, metal, and faint mildew. She descended, flashlight cutting through the black.
Down here, the walls muffled the world above. Echoes were strange—muted, almost cautious. It would serve as shelter. But they'd need supplies. Her thoughts flickered to Natsumi. "I need to let Shido and the others know I made it." She mumbled to herself.
Natsumi moved like smoke through the AST base's shattered corridors. Shelves were overturned; crates split open where looters had tried and failed to take everything. She found a storeroom near the western wing—half-collapsed, but intact enough to shield its contents.
Stacked inside were military rations. Crates of MREs, labeled with faded stencils. The kind you could choke down even five years past their date. She grinned, pulling her cloak tighter and loading her pack.
A howl breached the silence—a deep, resonant sound that made the glass fragments on the floor tremble. Natsumi stiffened. The sound didn't come from outside. It was in the base.
She moved quickly, every step calculated. Her hands brushed the outline of her blade—but she knew better than to draw it unless she had to. She slung the pack over her shoulder and slipped into the shadows near a stairwell.
The howl came again. Closer. It was now or never, she needed to change her appearance...but to what? She didn't have time to think. With a quick switcheroo, Natsumi changed into a Ferret, luckily everything on her shrunk. Still, she needed to make this quick, she scurried off to avoid being detected.
~~~
Back at Arubi Island, the three spirits had fled as far as they could. The Hound chasing them like a game of cat and mouse. The ocean waters crashed against the shoreline, Tohka glanced around carefully as she looked back.
"Let's go, inside here." Tohka whispered, pointing to the hotel. "We can hold down here for now, give us time to plan things."
"If you're certain about this plan, then let us do so." Mukuro spoke
Kurumi nodded lightly to the idea, she slid her hand out from Tohka's. "It will give us a fair playing field, the layout of the hotel can come to our favor, as long as Salem didn't have any Grimm roam around the place."
Tohka didn't think of that, but she didn't give up, her grip tightened on Sandalphon. "We can only hope." She took the lead, walking slowly while keeping her eyes peeled.
"As long as we don't show any hints or signs towards fear or negative emotions. We should be fine." Tohka muttered under her breath.
As Kurumi and Mukuro followed Tohka, Kurumi's clone appeared beside her. "Shido and the others are relocating locations, they're going to the underground shelter at Raizen."
Kurumi nodded. "Then we can meet with them there, whenever we can get off this island." She looked towards her clone for a moment. "Can you buy us time?"
The clone knew what she was talking about, the howling of the Hound echoed in the air. She nodded as she stood her ground. "Don't complain if this comes back and bites you."
Kurumi knew she needed to conserve her time and power, but she needed to find a way to do so. To regain it, resting was not an option right now, still. She knew what she needed to do. "I know, I know."
The three continued onward to the hotel, Kurumi's clone pulled out her flintlock pistol and musket out, the clicking of the guns reached their ears. Then, gun fire, which was soon followed by the howling of The Hound. It had gotten closer than they had expected, Mukuro knew, if they had stayed any longer. The Hound would be right on top of them.
As they reached the hotel, the final gun shot from the flintlock pistol echoed in the air. A victorious bellowing howl from The Hound soon followed. Kurumi felt sick to her stomach, her stomach churned with an uneasy feeling, pushing past Tohka. Nightmare grabbed the nearest trash can and vomited.
Mukuro and Tohka came inside behind Kurumi. Tohka closed the door behind her, and made sure it was blocked off and locked tight. She knew it wouldn't do any good, but she wanted to be safe than sorry.
"Come on, we should go further." Tohka spoke, as she walked past Kurumi. "We should be able to get you some much needed rest, regarding a bath. We can use the hot springs, but we would still need to be on alert."