[Sketches of Eous in casual and uniform]

"For a place called Ballet Twins... not seeing any twins." Eous muttered, arms crossed as he, Billy, Anby, Nekomata, and surprisingly Eliza, approached a dock.

"They're across the river inside the Hollow." Anby replied.

"I think this is a good location for me to park. Pretty inconspicuous, and a short drive if you all get into any trouble." Eliza commented.

"Ah, wait, isn't that one of the twins?!" Nekomata pointed to the sliver of building peaking out just at the end of the Hollow's spherical space.

"Yup. That's one of them." Eliza confirmed. "The companion Hollow shrunk recently."

"So, that must mean Nicole got that bizarro message from there, right?" Nekomata questioned.

"Probable. Anyway, Eous," Eliza turned to him and watched his uniform shine over his casual clothes. Nova made his appearance.

"Sup?"

"I need you to use this in the Hollow. Have... Fairy, right?" | "Affirmative" | "Fairy connect to this so we can monitor and observe the Hollow from you two's data scans."

She held out a black patch with a green light. Eous took it in his hand before Eliza guided it to his mask. With a quick snap, Eous watched as his entire vision was updated with an entirely new UI.

When he looked around, through Fairy's database and analytical prowess, he could measure his team's vitals and even their Ether levels.

"I'm getting the readings. Perfect. You all set?" She asked him sternly.

"Woah~! This tech yours? I've never seen this before."

"Sure is, but that's for another time. We've got work to do." Eliza began strutting back to the van with a determined leer.

Eous would bet she wanted to make a good first impression with Belle and Wise.

The dynamic of Nova would change drastically with her addition. Eous, the physical Proxy, Eliza the connect between the Hollow and outside, as well as transit and Medical, and then Belle and Wise on data analysis alongside Fairy.

They were becoming quite the force.

"Alright, you three. Let's work." Eous waved the Cunning Hares on and made his way to the bridge to cross into the Hollow.

"Right! Glad to have you back, Nova!" Billy cheered, jogging after him with Nekomata beside him.

"Ditto!"

•

The four slowly walked by a small ceramic statue of two Bangboo.

"Ooo~... Impressive." Billy awed at the internal architecture of one of the Ballet Twins' towers.

The four paced slowly through the lobby, a foreboding feeling and an eerie chill oozing from the atmosphere.

The dim lighting and slight fog only added to the unnerving feel of the entire place.

"This place looks super glitzy... but it doesn't feel right..." Nekomata whispered, holding her arms and trying not to shiver.

She skipped over to Anby and clung to her free arm, trying to warm up and seek protection.

Anby kept her other hand trained on her sword's handle. "Careful, everyone. The fog's thick. It may hold danger."

Suddenly, a light thud made Billy, Nekomata, and even Eous jump and yelp. The four turned around and saw one of the small Bangboo statues they had passed fell over.

"Phew! That... that almost made me jump..." Billy fixed his jacket and acted as if he hadn't leapt the highest.

"Ugh, this is straight out of a horror flick. Let's just get a move on— don't wanna be here any longer than necessary..." Eous waved them on to follow.

•

"The lights to the Ballet Twins was compromised a long time ago. There's limited visibility alongside the fog, so keep windows where possible." Eliza recommended.

Eous could detect small traces of Ether lingering around the halls. Ethereal apparitions seemed to stalk them like the ghosts that were rumored to lay here, but something he noticed was the hesitation in their hiding spots.

It wasn't as if they were hiding, but simply observing. They were called Ahriman, Fairy learned from the HSO database. Apparently they had the ability to disrupt your senses and send you into disarray.

It was almost a blessing they weren't messing with them.

Eous and Fairy approached a terminal at a floor's desk. Fairy didn't take but a second to suddenly activate the lights in the vicinity, but it only allowed for sight within the small space of that hall.

"Oh, guess some lights do work...!" Billy whispered cautiously, tip-toeing over to him.

"It seems the building's smart terminals are still functional. Guess you can try and find other's along the way." Belle mumbled.

"The Ahriman... I can't feel their presence anymore. Did they run away?" Eous wondered.

"Maybe they're afraid of the light. We can assess this as you proceed." Eliza jot it down on a notepad in the van.

"Let's try and find more of these terminals, guys. Should make exploring this place easier and note of us a way back if there's no Hollow mutations." Wise instructed.

"Roger!" Nekomata began skipping ahead with far more confidence now that the lights were on.

Eous looked at the palms of his claws and wondered if he could manipulate something...

•

"Man, I didn't think fighting in the dark would be this hard...! Good thing some of the Ethereals can't see that well either."

Billy was sprawled on his back in exhaustion from fighting a Farbatui in such a narrow hallway for the massive creature. Not only that, it seemed that Specters were far bolder than Ahriman Ethereals.

A horde of them tried to ambush the four during the fight, but Eous handled them while the Cunning Hares held off the Farbatui.

Anby was taking a knee, and Eous helped Nekomata to her feet.

"When did you get tails too?! Don't copy me, okay?" Nekomata glared at the swaying tails behind him. "You even have two as well..."

"Recent evolution. Been up to a lot while you guys were busy with the case." Eous smirked and showed off the tails ability to form claws.

"What?! I wish my tails could do that..." Nekomata pouted and stomped over to Anby.

"Fairy, can I divert power to the panels in my ears?" Eous asked with a grin.

"Affirmative. They will require a circuit of Ether, reducing your maximum power by 5%. Are you going to use them to illuminate the path ahead?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Eous nodded, before the hood's ears suddenly began to give off a warm yellow light.

"Woah, nice going, Proxy! Didn't know you could do that." Billy cheered.

"This will make navigation easier. Thank you, Proxy." Anby added.

•

"This place twists and turns like a maze. Not only is it cold and damp, we can't make heads or tails of where we're going..." Billy complained.

The four were walking into another floor's plaza, which would be the twentieth or so since they had set foot into the Hollow.

According to their proximity to Rain's message location, they had barely made any progress.

"Proxy, can you detect any Ethereals?" Anby questioned.

"Nah, what's up?"

"Ever since we set foot in here, I feel like someone— or something— has been watching us." She revealed.

"Same! I got goosebumps as soon as we got here! And I keep feeling something slithering around down by our feet!" Billy stammered, keeping his optics trained down at the floor until he suddenly jumped into Nekomata.

"H-Hey, watch the tails!" Nekomata stumbled around with him from the imbalance.

"Please tell me you can speed this up, Proxy..." Billy whined.

Eous shook his head. "The amount of fissures and lack of visibility make navigating a hassle. The data is pretty old too, so that's why Eliza is collecting data as we go."

"We could make a fortune off this alone..." She muttered, tracking their data on her laptop, her feet kicked up on the shoulder of the seat in front of her.

"Anyway, if you feel something is off, everyone stay on alert. Who knows what other Hollow Raiders are up to in here..." Eous shrugged, waving them on once again.

Eous moved his ears around to the hallway they were heading towards before seeing a red glint in the distance.

"Proxy!" Anby shouted in concern.

Eous brought up his claws and blocked the sudden projectile flying his way. It scrapped off his hardened hands and planted itself into the ground with a clank.

"Are those... scissors...?" Billy wasn't sure if he could take the weapon seriously.

The light tap of footsteps began to echo down the hall, setting the offensive atmosphere as their assailant approached.

Eous turned off the lights on his ears as to even the playing field, stepping forward and rolling his arms with a glare.

"Real bitch move for that sneak attack. Why don't you greet your guests properly, huh?" Eous taunted.

"As you request." A sophisticated voice replied from above.

Eous glanced up and threw his tails up to block the sudden dive kick overhead.

A white wolf Thiren in a butler's uniform and eyepatch was the attacker. He leapt off the tails and spun back down for another dive kick to his front.

Eous blocked with his claw, waving the kick away before needing to duck under another.

Anby hesitantly withheld from assisting him in battle, feeling more and more eyes on them than before— but with the scene so dark, it was far better to stick with the Cunning Hares.

Back to back, the three looked around as the chill began to whisk and coil around them.

Eous flipped back from an eruption of ice from the Thiren's steel greaves. Before he could land, the Wolf Thiren lunged for him swiftly with a jab.

Eous blocked again before using his tails to maneuver over his head and kick his back.

The Wolf Thiren slid to a stop and raced back around him, leaving a trail of frost in his step.

Eous decided he had enough of the 'warm' welcome and crossed his arms. He was playing with fire seeing the man had an Ice element.

Eous appeared in front of the Wolf Thiren with his fist cocked back.

Before he could land the attack, the Wolf Thiren slid under it just in time for a massive orb of electricity to crash into Eous.

An explosion brought the Cunning Hares attention over to the cloud of smoke and ash by the hallway.

"Nova!" Nekomata cried in shock.

"Wait, Nova...?" A familiar voice of sass mumbled from behind a pillar.

The smoke cleared and revealed Eous was completely unscathed by the attack, crackles of the blue lightning seeping into his body as he grinned.

"Refreshing. You got another?" He asked the woman hovering down from the stairs.

"E-Eous? Is that you?" Corin peeked out from the stairs with a nervous smile.

"Corin?" Eous and Nekomata questioned in disbelief.

"You've gotta be kidding me. Why are you here, Eous?" Ellen stepped out with a hand on her hip.

"Ellen? What the hell is going o—?" Eous looked between the four all dressed in Housekeeping uniforms, before realizing who they were dealing with. "Oh, come on..."

"You two... know them?" The Wolf Thiren asked.

"Yes, Mr. Lycaon! You don't remember him? They even helped me out of the Hollow that one time!" Corin exclaimed happily, skipping over to Eous.

Lycaon eyed Eous up and down before finding the uniform slightly familiar now that it was repaired.

"Ah. My apologizes. Last we've met, you were unconscious— in far worse condition than at present. Excuse my ignorance and lack of judgment." Lycaon bowed to him and then the Cunning Hares.

Eous shrugged as Corin lightly crashed into him with a tight hug. Ellen pat his shoulder and smirked seeing him again.

"Been awhile. You've got some... new threads it seems." She looked at the tails slowly waving behind him.

"And you too. Never seen you in this get-up." Eous smirked seeing the maid outfit.

"Single comment after that and I break your kneecaps." Ellen whispered with a glare.

"Fair enough."

"Well, if you aren't mere trespassers, that makes things easier. Allow me to introduce ourselves." Lycaon gestured to himself as the tallest of the maids flew around him and stood behind Corin.

Eous stepped back to allow them their grand entrance just as the Cunning Hares stepped up behind him.

"We are Victoria Housekeeping." The four bowed to the Cunning Hares.