March 6th, Secret Hideout…

The next day, the sky is filled with heavy loaded clouds making it dark. Thunder and lightning can be seen from afar. Slowly, it started to rain….

Alejandro opens his eyes; “Where am I?”

He looks like he is in a secret hideout. He tries to move but he notices that he is tied up; “Hey, what’s happening? Why am I being tied-up...damn it…”

“I see that you are awake…” Alejandro sees Uriel seated on one of the beds reading a book. Alejandro gets angry:

“You bastard, why did you tie me up...let me go now…” Uriel sighs with his eyes closed; “It appears that you haven’t snapped out of it…”

“Snap out of what? What are you talking about?”

(KNOCK KNOCK)

“Coming in…” Tiwa enters the hideout. Alejandro immediately screams; “Hey, you can’t be here, this is a secret hideout…”

“So what? I don’t need your permission…” Tiwa puffs her cheeks. She walks to the other bed and brings out food; “Here Uriel, you should eat…” Uriel grabs the burrito; “Thank you…”

Tiwa looks at Alejandro and says; “I brought one for you too…” Alejandro chuckles:

“I don’t want anything coming from your filthy hands…”

“What did you say?” Tiwa gets mad, she walks towards him and stuffs the burrito in his mouth; “Now you will eat it by force...you piss me off damn it…” Alejandro is forced to eat the burrito. Tiwa takes out a bottle of water and puts it in his mouth; “Now drink up, I don’t want you to be choking…”

(COUGH COUGH)

“You bitch…” Alejandro looks at both of them and begins to say; “Why the hell did you come here? Why now? Don’t you know that when I needed you the most...you were never there…”

Tiwa and Uriel are speechless as Alejandro continues; “I thought you were my friends...I thought that with you here, I wasn’t going to be left alone anymore...but I was wrong...when those bastards attacked Yggdrasil, I was left alone...and now Jairo is dead...because of me…” Alejandro begins to cry:

“I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU….”

“I see…” Uriel doesn’t say anything at first, he looks at Tiwa and begins to speak; “Let me tell you something...you are not the only one who was alone...that’s something that we three have in common…”

“Have in common? Have you ever lost anyone precious to you?”

“Of course we have...Tiwa lost her entire tribe and her life...I lost my father, my family and even my own memories...we were too...alone like you…”

“You bastards...playing mind games with me…” Alejandro struggles once more.

“My...oh my...it appears that he is in a bad situation now…” Alejandro hears the voice of a woman. The door opens and a woman with red hair enters the hideout. Alejandro looks at her and asks; “Who are you?”

“My name is Heidi Muller...I am the Vice-Director of the Yggdrasil American branch...oh my, what a splendid hideout you got here…” Heidi walks towards him, Alejandro asks; “What do you want with me?”

“Well, you are a member of Yggdrasil after all...so it is obvious for me to worry about you…”

“Cut the crap...I am not an official member...you guys only want me for my golden key...that’s all…”

“Fufufu...this curse that he has is something right...Charro Negro?” Heidi looks at Uriel who nods in agreement; “This curse is called “Corrosio”(Corrosion), which slowly begins to rot the person who is cursed...I’m afraid I won’t be able to cure him…”

“Oh, and what about your mother?” Heidi asks Uriel who shakes his head; “Mother is busy right now...but don’t worry, I asked someone else, and she is about to arrive at this moment…”

Suddenly, someone opens the door; “Alejandro…” Alejandro looks at a beautiful girl with purple hair and a school uniform running towards him; “Valerie…” Valerie stands in front of him; “Are you alright...what happened to you?”

“Stay away...I hate you...you...have been avoiding me for weeks...and now you come here...don’t try to fool me you bit….”

(SSSSLLLAAAPPPPP)

Everyone is surprised by what happened. Valerie breathes heavily as her hand is red, Alejandro’s cheek is also red as he exclaims; “Why did you do that?”

“You idiot...you don’t understand at all...you know how hard it was for me to see you like that with Marjorie? Sheesh…”

Alejandro is left speechless. Valerie continues to speak; “Alejandro, do you know how much I care about you? How it pains me to see you that way...it breaks my heart when I see you suffer.”

Valerie slowly leans towards him and hugs him; “Alejandro, please...come back to me...I miss seeing the enthusiastic and carefree guy...seeing you with anger and sorrow is just not normal...Alejandro please...smile once again…”

Alejandro begins to cry; “Valerie...I…” Valerie slowly closes her eyes and says; “This may hurt you, but it’s for your best…” Slowly, Valerie shines in a golden color as she begins to pray:

“Oh Dios, Libera a tu hijo de esta maldición...y traelo de vuelta a tu gloria…” ( Oh lord,free you son from this curse and bring him back to your glory…)

“AAAHHHH” Alejandro screams as he feels pain all over his body. Valerie holds him tighter; “Alejandro, hang in there…”

Soon, dark green mana begins to come out of Alejandro’s mouth and eyes as the curse is slowly lifting. Valerie uses more mana making the whole area shine. After a few moments, Valerie stops shining, Alejandro slowly closes his eyes.

“Impressive, to use that level of mana for such a young age...who is that girl?” Heidi asks Uriel. Uriel smiles a little and replies; “She’s my younger sister, the daughter of the Solitary Wolf…” Heidi chuckles; “I see...that explains everything...not to mention she is Maria, the Scarlet Maiden’s daughter as well…”

“Valerie?” Alejandro regains consciousness, Valerie separates a little; “Yes it’s me…” Alejandro smiles; “It looks like you saved me yet again…” Alejandro chuckles and hugs her saying; “I’m sorry...I’m sorry…”

Valerie pats his head; “It’s okay...you big dummy…”

Tiwa turns around and without saying anything goes outside. Heidi notices that and follows her.

Outside, Tiwa looks at the sky and thinks; “It appears...I already lost…” Heidi comes out and asks; “Is everything okay?”

Tiwa avoids looking at her and replies; “Yes, it’s just, I wanted to see the rain…” Heidi looks up and sees that it isn’t raining; “Rain...but I don’t…” Heidi looks at Tiwa shaking and tears falling from her face; “I see...that kind of rain…”

Heidi comes closer and hugs her; “You know, it’s okay for a maiden to cry...but don’t get discouraged, you are still young…”

“What are you talking about? I am only crying because I remember a sad movie...that’s all…” Tiwa replies with a shaking voice, Heidi chuckles; “Fufufu...you’re probably right…”

(PPPUUUMMM)

“AAALLLEEJJJAANNNDDRROOO!!” Heidi and Tiwa hear Valerie screaming, they immediately come back inside and see Alejandro on the ground.

“AAAHHHH” Alejandro moves around feeling pain. His left arm begins to shake as black veins begin to emerge from the golden key.

“Alejandro, what’s wrong...please...tell…” Valerie tries to touch him; however, she is immediately burned. Uriel holds her; “Valerie stops...it’s too dangerous to do that…”

Alejandro’s body begins to cover itself with the black veins that go all the way to his head and feet. “This is bad, if this keeps up, he’s going to die…” Tiwa says with a worried expression. Heidi walks forward; “Oh dear, Alejandro, by releasing the power of the golden key, it’s beginning to take over your body like a virus...you naughty child...putting two beautiful young women in such a worried state? You sure have to learn more…”

Uriel looks at her and asks; “What are you planning to do?” Heidi looks at him and chuckles; “Fufufu...I am about to save his life…” Heidi extends her hand and touches Alejandro’s left arm. She closes her eyes, her breath becomes visible, almost as if it was freezing. Heidi begins to chant:

“Absoluter Nullpunkt; Mars” (Absolute Freeze; Mars)

(CCCHHIIINNNNGGG)

Steam covers the room as Heidi slowly freezes Alejandro’s body. In a blink of an eye, Heidi manages to stop the black veins from spreading and freezes the left side of Alejandro’s body. Uriel carries him to his bed as Alejandro has his eyes closed.

“There we go...Alejandro is out of danger, for now…” Heidi says as she passes her arm on her forehead, cleaning the sweat. Valerie grabs her burned hand, Uriel notices and immediately heals her. Valerie looks at Uriel; “Uriel, that curse, it spread too much, I’m afraid, I won’t be able to heal him anymore…”

“I know, it’s too much for him…” Uriel replies, Tiwa looks at Uriel and asks; “So, what’s going to happen to him?”

“The golden key has burned Alejandro’s internal organs, he has only a couple of hours to live…” Heidi says to Tiwa. - CCCCRRRAASSSHHHH- Lightning flashes in the room, and rain begins to fall with intensity. Tiwa falls onto her knees:

“NOOO…..IT CAN’T BE…”

“Big brother, tell me she’s lying…” Valerie holds Uriel. Uriel hugs her, making Valerie cry. Heidi looks at them and explains; “I’m afraid it’s the truth, right now, not even a miracle can save him...he will need something divine…if only there was something divine on this region” Heidi smiles at Uriel; “Oh, yes there is...however, judging by his appearance. I’d say there is only a 20% chance of him surviving…”

Everyone looks at Heidi with a face filled with confusion, Uriel looks at her and asks; “What do you mean by that?”

***************************************************************************

CIBOLA Cemetery…

(DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP DROP DROP )

As the heavy rain falls, sitting in a boulder with his legs crossed, Navajo waits impatiently. He is throwing rocks towards Anastasia as a game:

“I can’t believe he is making me wait this long...it’s almost a full day...the sun is beginning to set...DAMN THAT ALEJANDRO…”

Navajo throws a small pebble to Anastasia’s head. Anastasia is hanging with her hands tied to a wooden post in the middle of the cemetery. She begins to bleed as she slowly opens her eyes. Navajo walks towards her:

“I’m sorry little girl, but it looks like your master isn’t coming...I’m sorry I had to treat you this way but...it will all be over soon…”

“Anastasia looks at Navajo with a blurry image as she thinks; “Even though I am bleeding...even though I am thirsty and I am starving...I can withstand all that...however…”

Anastasia remembers Alejandro’s words; “SHUT UP, I AM NOT YOUR MASTER...YOU ARE A TOOL THAT I WILL USE...I HATE YOU...I HATE YOU...I HATE YOU…”

Anastasia looks to the sky as rain falls to her face; “Those words, really...hurt more than any external wound...but the question is...why?”

Navajo walks to the exit; “Dusk is approaching my brethren...and we don’t need that stupid golden key, there are other ways...for that, go get me 30 sacrifices...I will do the ritual mannually….”

(RRRAAAWWW)

The Navajo warriors charge towards the city as Navajo looks to the sky with a sinister smile; “Soon, I will open the gates of the underworld...and this world will fall…”