A blissful Eve sprawled on a bed, decorated in acceptable white sheets, blankets sewn seamlessly with a ruby red fabric. All the while, her head was burrowed into a feathered pillow.

Morning had arrived only a few minutes before as sunlight found its way onto her person. This light soon struck her eyes and attempted to wrestle her back into consciousness. It failed to outright pull her away from her slumber.

But it was close.

Futile as the effort became, Eve soon gave up and allowed herself to wake. Time to embrace the morning air, emulate her day as close to any other. Her ambitions were struck down abruptly when a Halsberth guard braced like a stone inside of her mysterious resting place near a door.

A moment of panic ensued.

She screeched, flailing about the bed till she collapsed off the side. The guard acted immediately, taking a knee and offering a helping hand in true chivalrous fashion.

"I'm so terribly sorry ma'lady, I did not mean to startle you!" pleaded the guard. "Surely, I mean you no harm!"

"W-where am I?" the startled teenager pressed to the red-haired gentlemen in gold armor.

"Never fear, for you are safe within these walls." At least one of them felt safe.

"I'll be the judge of that, you creep!" The guard sneered. He retracted his hand as his guardian demeanor shifted.

"Well, if we're going to have such an attitude, then perhaps you don't belong in Halsberth after all!"

"What?" Eve gasped, sprang up. "I'm in Halsberth?!" The guard nodded.

"That's right, in all her majesty! For years, the central grounds for-" Her head appeared to slump down in disappointment.

"Then that means ... he just-"

"Up and vanished? I assume you're talking of that delinquent."

"Not a damn delinquent!" Eve almost instantly corrected. "The stubborn oaf with the long, grey hair. Yeah. I guess he's long gone."

Though she found relief, she also felt a sudden surge of ... betrayal?

Nonsense.

Just another body to leave her in her time of need.

She began scanning the room subtly, even outside of a narrow window, thin and castle-like in its design. Eve was instilled with a sense of vertigo as she caught on to the familiar three-pillar monument formations; and how her sight met with their middle base. Just shy of one-hundred feet off of the ground. Immediately darting her gaze aside, she pinpointed her bag, lying next to the guard's position on the ground.

"You wouldn't happen to have a puppy running around here, would you?"

The guard pondered for a moment, snapped his fingers in no time at all. As if giddy, he stepped out of the room and called out in the halls.

"Estabon! Could you be a good pup and come forth?" As the phrase escaped him, so did the sound of tings and crunches, as if his plated armor was being gnawed at. The guard pulled back into the room, noticeably taken aback by a—quite frankly—unsurprising betrayal.

Delusional, the flustered guard laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, this is no time for rough-housing, Estabon!" he grimaced, slightly attempted to shake his arm. "Not in front of your mother!"

Once more, the name alone only caused more retort.

However, as those beady, little eyes resonated with Eve's, he only growled before dismounting the arm. The guard cleared his throat with sense of relief and soon returned to his honored 'damsel.'

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, my dear, we need to get you processed if you're going to stay-"

"Are you kidding me?!" Eve yelled. "I live here, you dunce!"

She pulled a small, card from within her dress. It displayed much of her information, along with a picture of her. Fairly new, as though it was taken just days before her rendezvous with the Battered Bastards.

The card read as such:

Eve Muroshi. Age: 17. Citizen of Halsberth.

One skim of the text flooded the guard with a still panic.

W-wha-what? The Muroshi's girl? High Priestess Malo's daughter?! Dear Maiden, I must get her out of here!

His rapid panic showed, clammy hands pining for a solution. Soon, his face fell as cold as the sweat bleeding from his forehead as he scrambled.

Eve caught on quite easily.

But as she opened her mouth to throw down, he stumbled over, nervously stroking his goldish-red goatee.

"Oh, but of course I knew who you are, Miss Muroshi! Ha ha ha!" he nervously forced, "I'm such a prankster, you see!" He cleared his throat as he dared to dig further, holding out a hand to newfound royalty within his midst.

At this point, she retrieved her bag. The pup kicked itself snug inside the improvised holder. His eyes trained at the man, glowing. Eve slipped her worn formal sandals on her feet, most definitely in a hurry to leave.

"No time to waste! Allow me to escort you back home!" the guard insisted. "Surely, your mother is worried sick about you!"

Then reality kicked in for the evading girl.

Her expression fell at the word, mother: the high priestess, Malo. Without any desire to exemplify weakness, she turned aside, evaded to the door with an auspicious walk.

Just then, a playful thought burrowed through her sorrow. A fitting goodbye for the man who ensured her safety for the night. Eve turned back to him as she twisted the knob, creaking the door open.

"There's no need for that ...

"Not unless you want to explain this to her yourself." Satisfied, she strolled out, but not without stealing a smirk from the abyss of her troubled mind.

The guard stood at attention, swiftly retracting his offer.

"Oh no, no, no! Off you go now!" He shooed her out the door with a wavering gesture. "Glad to be of service to her family! I'm sure you have to get ready for the rally today anyway!" He slammed the door behind her and pressed his back against it, exhaling a sigh of relief.

"Damn it all!" he gritted through his teeth. "This one's going to bite your butt, Harian ..."

The doors of a highly decorated domain slid open as Eve unlocked her home, located atop the city's center. Her family's renown was prominently on a pedestal atop the middle child of rock pillars.

This luxurious abode was saved for key players within the area's three main religions – each peak representing different holy bodies. Banners hung from the cliffside as to oust them from miles away to the public eye. In Eve's case, she scaled for the beauty of the Church path.

Not so much a climb up, but more so a long stroll through the city's elaborate upper streets, crafted of fine cobblestone. And the lesser homes, too, shared each peak's support. Though, they relied on manmade pillars and struts to fully embrace their weight the more they expanded.

Trollies scaled the scaffolding.

Back alley ways crafted breathing room for the high-class homes like a system of veins. For the eager, young Eve, she opted for Halsberth's bloodlines to find her way up, as to not draw attention from the public.

The early morning sun shined onto the floor, dimly illuminated the area while the circular windows drew in sparse amounts of light themselves.

"Dad!" she beckoned as she closed the door behind her, stepped further into the first-floor den. A statue carved of fine marble hung from the balcony, resembling a robed woman holding an open book. Her gaze set to the ceiling with a peaceful smile.

"Dad!—you here?!"

No response. Dead silence like a disease.

Her spirits plummeted further into her stomach. But the search continued. She slowly ascended a staircase left of the way in. She observed her surroundings lazily: a brush she appeared to be far too accustomed to.

"Great ... he's working again ..." she grumbled. "'I'll catch up with you guys,' my ass!"

She soon returned downstairs when she had finished checking both her room and her parent's own master. Nothing special. Surprisingly minimalistic and plain when compared to the elaborate architecture of the house itself.

Breaking down slowly, she hurdled desperately to the dining area where only some open cupboards showed any evidence of passing through. Any little morsel she could hope for, at this point.

The table was clean.

Window shutters were sealed.

One more pass-around to the living area and Eve was back where she started.

But it never changed.

Nothing ever changed when she thought back on her dad. He was never home, why start now? That was when the barrier she had crafted for herself began to crumble. Her family would never be that close to whole ever again. Heartbroken, the troubled teen cried out once more, crackled by an inevitable resurgence of tears, "Dad—She's ...

"S-she's gone." Eve threw herself against the staircase in defeat and clung onto the wooden railing.

She's dead. Eve dare not utter aloud.

Suddenly, the front door creaked open.

With her eyes closed and conscience flooded, she paid no mind. That is, until the pup voluntarily hopped from the bag and ran towards the door. Audible now was the sound of crunching on the other side. Her gaze arched upward as crumbs hit the clean floors.

To her surprise, Gyone emerged from the door, slowly chewing the last of some packaged snack chips.

"God, you leave one hell of a breadcrumb trail, Eve," criticized Gyone as he stopped his advance. "And what are you on about? Get a hold of yourself! I could hear the commotion all the way from outside."

Eve almost became embittered.

Regardless, she accepted his presence as a piece of hope. At the very least, he was more than capable of prying an old man from his scientific research at Genshika Inc, if need be.

"So you came back to me?"

"Well ... it's only common for a follow-up. Huh." He took note of her abode. "You never told me you were loaded, Eve."

"Remember the carriage?" she scoffed.

"Damn right I do." He leaned his elbow against the wall near the door. "I knew that was a pretty penny the first time I saw it. Yep. Kinda hard to forget."

"Well ... my mother was with me when those Anubians attacked us." Eve recollected as best as she could, but she remained adamantly indifferent; it must've took all her might to keep a straight face. "She didn't stand a chance ...

"I only survived because she was the one they wanted. A decorated priestess over her nobody daughter. They left me to escape, but only for a little while.

"If you're looking for some cash ... it died with her."

"Hey," with perked brows. He began pacing closer to the girl as he went on. "With that attitude, you might as well be dead, too! Have some pride in yourself."

"It's not that. I'm glad to be alive, but ..." Eve halted momentarily. Her eyes sank to the steps below her feet. "Her status will fall on me.

"I haven't even finished school yet!"

"Well, who the hell has the right to say you're nothing? To me, I think you showed so much just being alive! In fact"—he wondered as he cusped his chin—"they underestimated you."

Eve began to laugh.

Flattery aside, she felt nothing that would justify any sort of comment.

"Why the hell do you care, skull boy? Why are you even here?"

"Because we're not done. Neither of us are."

Muroshi was flabbergasted. She erratically placed her hands around her body.

"I'm alive! I'm home, thanks!" She wildly jested the hunter, of whom feared his client was going mad. "Buh-bye!"

"Where's your dad?" Gyone produced a smirk. "Wasn't part of the deal making sure that your dad was safe, too?" Caught in a sort of metaphorical legal tape binding the two, the maniacal Eve slouched over and groaned.

"Alright, macho man. I guess I could use the company."

Eve let go of the rail, immediately turned herself around. She began trotting up the stairs slowly, only looking back briefly.

"Come on – let me talk your ear off for a while ... Thanks in advance." A faint glimmer of moisture escaped her right eye, ousted by the light. Gyone nodded and promptly followed.

They arrived at the top of the steps. Immediately, Eve walked into a sort of cylinder room through a thin-lined glass sliding door centered in the den. The inside resembled that of a shrine. Before the hunter an alcove which oversaw a large portion of Halsberth.

From this height, the peaks revealed two other, equally-elaborate estates; one low to the left and one seemingly taller to the right. Either of their towers being impossible to measure, but the roof workers were in for one hell of a fall if they took a wrong step.

Gyone promptly followed her lead without question, not even going as far as to search for any underhanded traps. The balcony was in of itself, an extension of the room. No door dared cut the wild winds passage from the shrine itself.

The renowned daughter rested against the overwatch's edge, her shoulders bunched up and supporting her weight off the edge. Wind chimes hummed, crafted a delicate, impromptu melody from the balcony's ceiling.

Gyone met her here, resting his bottom onto the edge, looking out and engrossing his body in sheer vertigo as he surveyed the blooming night lights slowly flickering away to the amber sunrise.

"This was the only place I didn't check yet," admitted Eve, never ceasing observation. "Dad always hated this room."

"Hmm." Gyone acknowledged lazily, words failing to come to mind. Despite the lack of any prompt, Eve continued, directed her attention to the hunter undividedly.

"You see that building way down in the middle of these peaks?" she questioned.

Gyone looked down to a tall building out of uniform color, instead painted with a royal red and gold. The build was different as well. It was crafted like a temple, only without a middle roof.

An empty ground of sand was all that met a straight line down into the center of the structure.

"Nifty architecture," Gyone shined on, giving his attention to Eve as well. "What is it?"

"It's where all paths meet every year to further ourselves to an ultimate truth. To settle who is actually right, in a sense."

"So, it's a festive pissing match?" Gyone wasn't going to let that passage go unmocked, a chuckle escaping him.

To his surprise, the decorated, holy child chuckled along.

"In a way."

"Why does that matter to you?"

"...Without my mother, the Church path has no representative. I have to take her place ... But that's only going to work in our favor, right? Everybody loves a sob story ..." Eve turned away with a smirk, face distinctly doused in shame. "That house on the left is Academo"—she fell to an addressing tone suddenly—"while the one on the right is Spiritmother ... That house's been deserted for years ..."

"Well, aren't you an open book today ..." Gyone brushed off, yet fully attentive.

"You're here, I guess ..." She sighed. "Holds me accountable for something.

"To say that I tried."

Gyone turned away and returned to his observations.

After a time, Eve dismounted the edge and walked back into the sanctuary. She shuddered at the foot of the glass door for a solid minute, soldiering back into the empty estate soon after.

"Don't come in," she said, "I'm getting changed." Gyone dismounted as well, turned his attention to her as he nodded.

"Seems a little unnecessary," said Gyone, crossing his arms. "You're already dressed for an occasion." Eve rivaled The Silent Death's wit.

"I kinda feel like wearing something without blood on it, y'know?" She presented the stray, muddled viscera stains lining her now-ragged kimono dress. Gyone chuckled, shooed her away while claiming his position on the edge once again.

And it's there at the edge where he waited for some time, silently contemplating and planning around this fresh, new terrain.

The itch is in his blood after all.

A dead end of intel means a dead end of progress. Or even a dead hunter.

This was a feeling all too familiar.

With not quite enough time to progress much further in his own understanding, Gyone was brought back from his scouting by a timely sweep of an open door.

Muroshi appeared to him fully rinsed out and refreshed, dressed in a red, gi-like top with dull white, softly shaped stripe patterns running along the fabric like gusts of wind. A purple silk belt tied around her waist to hold it all together.

Upon her head was a wide circlet hat made of velvet where a transparent, white veil hung down and disguised her face. She also appeared to have replaced her sandals with a fresh pair, unscathed as if they were never introduced to a foot before.

Eve held a sort of garb out in her hands. It looked to be a white ceremonial robe folded up seamlessly. When she shot Gyone a telling stare, she immediately chucked the robing in his direction. Thankfully he caught it, albeit off-guard and sloppily.

A priceless robe just inches away from freefall.

"While you're here," began Eve as she lifted her hat upward to reveal her face, "that skull crap's gonna get your delinquent ass in trouble.

"So like it or not"—she then stretched her arms upward, around to rest behind her neck, leaning against an open doorway—"you're my bodyguard and defender of the path: Yarn."

"Yarn? Are you serious?!"

Eve nodded and advanced delicately, trained in a subtle step birthed of nobility.

"Ceremony's coming up—lot's to do. No complaining. Get dressed!

"That's an order," followed by a smile.

* * *

"Huh ..."

"What is it?"

"Our two strays seemed to have got themselves mixed up in Cannibal affairs."

"Some pretty shit scouts, if you ask me. You should've taken the shot, Arrok."

"That's an easy meal. No fun in giving them any freebies."

"Hrm ..."

"C'mon, Taoron. Time to move out and get our boys outta the fire pit."

"If they're up to no good-"

"We put them down, right between the eyes. Easy. Simple as it gets."

"Hrrmm ... Yes, sir."

"As close to content as I'll get from ya, big guns! We've got work to do."