Beyond the shattered world.
Dunn found himself in a lit altar site. A wooden totem was placed at the center.
It had the bearings of a hawk, a visage of a man by the top and another idol below the man featuring a woman, painted only with primary colors.
He tried changing the dream, but it stayed inside the basement.
The place was unusually quiet, Dunn's steps echoed prominently.
After he reached their staircase, light began seeping from the upper door's crevices.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He got to the living room, there he saw Morroy, leisurely sitting on his recliner.
The gentleman's sleeves were rolled, revealing a huge laceration by his left forearm.
"How did you get to my basement?" Morroy instinctively raised his voice.
"That is none of your concern." Dunn's voice was cold yet soft.
"What are you planning with the Heath family?"
"Heath family?" Morroy answered, befuddled. "I do not have any disputes with the Heath family!"
"Then what are you doing with the altar by the basement?"
"I..." Morroy hesitated.
"I want to obtain power! Power to retrieve what's rightfully mine!"
Power... Dunn ruminated in his heart. Then he probed, "How are you going to obtain this power?"
"By... by..." Morroy's voice trembled. "Ms. Roy's...
"Blood..."
Dunn froze. He subconsciously knitted his brows and further added.
"What's stopping you from taking Selina Roy's blood? Why do you need it?"
"The Heath... The Heath family have her by their flock!" the voice of a tearing man resounded in the living room.
"I need them gone. I have her by my porch and she fled my grasp!"
"And if I... If I get her blood... and sacrificed it" a sinister flesh crawled into his skin as he finally said.
"I'll received... the Single Eyes's blessing!"
At that moment, unexpectedly, his body spewed out blood from his head.
Crimson stream gushed from the scalps of his hair, pooling onto the floor.
His eyes bulged and forced themselves into one.
"Aaah....! No no no! I take that, I take that back!" he cried as each of his limbs retracts from its joints, trying to form a triangular symbol.
Agony and pain carried his cries as the space began trembling with great frequency.
Dunn narrowed his eyes.
...
Outside of the residence.
Selina watched as Leonard succeeded in picking the door.
He used a hairpin's end, in doing so the handle clicked.
Mr. Mitchell's quite experienced. Are they... used to doing this? she mused, finding it a bit ironic.
By the entrance hall. They saw heaps of dust blankets each furnishings they passed by.
At the end of the corridor, a spiral stairwell leads to the upper floor.
"Let's split and search for the basement." Leonard suggested.
Royale, who's holding the suitcase nodded and chose the living room.
Klein went separately to the kitchen while Leonard and Selina head to the library and the short hall to the left of stairwell respectively.
The layouts of housing units at Daffodil Street varies due to the demand by tenants. Due to this, the design were more or less similar in certain aspects, for example the entrance hall.
The short hall on the left extending from the stairwell leads to a storage room.
In the duration of her time, Selina did not find any door leading to a basement, only wooden trays and sacks of potatoes greeted her.
Returning back to the entrance hall, she saw Klein walked out of the kitchen. Seeing this, she thought.
I guess Klein didn't find the entrance as well... Actually, doesn't it seem a bit odd if he did?
Having the entrance of the basement from the dining hall... That sure is peculiar... While musing, Selina approached.
"Should we head to the living room?" Klein suggested upon facing her.
Selina agreed and walked along with Klein side by side from the hall to a door where Royale had entered.
Inside, Leonard and Royale were already in front of another door, placed in between the bookshelves.
"I guess this spares us the trouble of calling the two of you..." said Leonard after noticing them.
"Is this the door to the basement?" Klein asked, stopping just at an arm's length from Leonard and Royale.
Leonard's mouth curled into a smile. "What do you think?"
I think having a cane acquaint your face would lessen the tense of the situation... Klein answered in his heart.
"Let's enter before captain loss his hold of the dream..." Selina proceeded before Klein.
If the dream regarding a totem and a circle of blood are true. Then the ritual site is undoubtedly beyond this door, inside of the basement.
Divinations aren't to be trusted entirely, this is what Klein advised her during their return trip from the divination club. She hoped this is the case.
Klein averted his attention from Leonard and watched Selina twist the handle open.
Click.
Upon turning the wooden pane, a chilling wind swept them by their shoulders.
"Wait." Leonard placed his hand on Selina. "Let me take the lead."
Selina didn't stand on ceremony, letting Leonard took her spot.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Four unison steps resounded in the confined room.
The quartet navigated the stairwell cautiously and not long did the floor of the basement came in sight.
When they took another step, a heavy muskiness and sickly scent wafted out the decaying rats.
Selina instinctively placed her hand, lower of her face. What is that smell?
Klein and the duo each covered their nose with disgust.
Just as what the dream had depicted; a large wooden totem featuring a carved frozen eagle, a man and another, stacked in a column.
It was at the center of a circle of blood, with symbols and crests written in Hermes. Its only distinction is the absence of the Heath family dangling on a metallic hook.
This now become a testament to her, that danger are always near.
Regardless, with a silent reconcilation, she sighed. Easing the tension of her fingers across her lips.
She's not in the comfort of her hometown, so she had to adapt.
By the totem, standing high and mighty across a sea of candlelights. A man laid lifeless onto the floor.
He had a pale face, akin to an effect cause by a desease in blood. The wrinkles on his face bore the passage of time while his body clad in a shirt and pants.
"Morroy Roundel..." Leonard said in a low-sounding voice.
He turned to Selina and explained, "Beyonders of higher sequences will always have the upper-hand against the lower ones. The fact that Morroy was easily pulled into a deep dream confirms that he's of the lower sequence than captain."
"I see..." Selina murmured softly.
"Still..." Klein had an intuition. "That totem. I believe there had been no cases of members from any distinct organizations have ever construct one."
The Rose School of Thought, The Aurora Order, Theosophy, Demoness and Moses Ascetic Order do not use such a figure for a ritual... Selina had caught on to Klein's guess.
"Perhaps we're on the track of a new organization?" said Leonard, smiling as he took another step.
Soon, they reached the ground floor. The poignant scent of rotting made Selina's face contort.
The sea of candles opens up a path illuminated by light.
There was a table, a stone-made kind that had a book, a pestle with strange bloody strips and a pile dead rats.
"It seems he's using the rodent's blood for the ritual. Perhaps adding his own to increase the success..." Klein approached the table with caution while Selina followed.
Next to the pile of dead rats was a book. It was open.
The content title read, in the language of Hermes:
"Interdimensional Blessing"
Blessings... Selina snickered to Klein's side and began reading.
An existence of untold power have granted me the knowledge of blessings...
"He", a being of multi-dimensional body had crossed layers upon layers of existence to reach me...
An unspeakable truth did he granted before me, the presence of multiple dimensions...
I am bounded in a single plane. In a three-spatial existence I must lose shackles of. To see the truth in but one angle!
The High-...
The entry was smudged with deep-red liquid. Forcing Selina to skip pass the following words disheartened.
Shaman... I like it... the last words of the page.
Following this was a language unbeknownst to both Klein and Selina. However, it made clear of itself, the totem part to be constructed.
"This doesn't have any relation with the Feysac, Loen, nor any mysticism languages..." Klein said in a hushed tone.
Multi-dimensional... Parallel world... Selina's heart palpitated.
Could he... Be referring to the world outside? Earth?
Her hand subconsciously reach for the book. Selina's eyes glued to the dark-red ink of the paper.
Just as her fingertips pressed against the surface. A hand stopped her.
"Ms. Roy." Klein turned to her and said, "It's not safe to touch anything, it could be a blood..."
Seeing this, Selina snapped awake and withdrew her hand from approaching the book.
"Y-Yes, I'm sorry..." she said while caressing her hand.
At this point in time, Leonard had crossed the bloody circle, the totem and finally right before the sleeping Morroy.
Suddenly, Leonard creased his brows, a strange of foreboding stirring in his heart.
He turned to Royale, Klein and Selina. His mouth curled up genially.
"Don't you find this a little too... How do I put this, bathetic?"
Klein's eyelids drooped. As if he wanted to criticize Leonard's anticipatory for danger.
But at the same time, he couldn't help but let his mind whirred in thoughts. What Leonard suggested made him deeply consider the situation.
"Let's focus on restraining Roundel..." Royale handed the suitcase to Selina and approached the body.
Just as she took her metal cuffs. Morroy's eyes bulged open.
The surrounding air turned heavy. Royale's body froze in place.
Morroy, who was previously unconscious, woke up from his dream, staring with vacant eyes.
Leonard and the rest was alerted. Instinctively, they've all reached for their revolvers in their holsters. Except for Royale Reideen.
Her right wrist was caught by Morroy's hand, tightening by the second.
Bang!
Leonard didn't hesitate to fire a shot. Crimson liquid spewed out of Morroy's arm, forcing it to loosen.
Royale managed to withdrew her hand and quickly, she drew out her weapon.
Laid on the cold floor, Morroy remained unresponsive, his eyes fixated on the ceiling.
The air was still, cold and harrowing, the eeriness grappled at their hearts.
Then, unexpectedly, Morroy's head bent toward them. His body faced upright yet his head was vertically upward to face them.
His eyes began bleeding, his scalps moistened with blood.
Morroy's limbs suddenly twists to accommodate a grotesque position. His arm and legs bent whereas his head turned by a degree no neck should allow!
His face was completely toward them, yet the front of his body continued remain upright to the ceiling.
There was no scream. Only the soft creak of joints protesting. This fact settled deeply into the hearts of the quartet.
By the time Morroy's body stopped the agonizing reformation. He's left crouched, akin to a dog.
However, something is wrong—the body still half-facing the ceiling, the head rotated too far, the limbs bent into angles that mocked anatomy.
Amid all this, Morroy's face was smiling.
Bang!
Klein fired a shot. His instinct was: Do not let the transformation finish!
The trio snapped from their trance, caused by the scene of deformation.
But just as they regained awareness, Morroy's body vanished.
...! Selina felt a strong foreboding coming to her right, as if an intangible part of her was frantically urging her to dodge.
She complied and ducked to cover her head.
A shadow lunged pass her!
At that time, Morroy's body, like an arachnid twisting his head and clinging onto the wall. His mouth hanged open all the way to his clavicle.
By the time he leaped toward Selina, mouth wide enough to encapsulate her head. His body flew and went straight to a wall.
Selina quickly recovered her footing and saw that the deformed Morroy had attacked from behind.
Although perplexed by that intuition, she centered her revolver on his head.
Bang!
A bullet shot out of her revolver. However, it was easily dodged.
Morroy's canine-like form crawled about in corners of the room, fast and unpredictable.
Klein refrained from using a slumber charm. Not only will it highly missed, but with its tendency to affect both foes and allies would result in a backfire.
In cases that the enemy is spontaneous, he had to find opportunities to safely use the charm.
Leonard withdrew from wasting more bullets. Noticing that this rampager had gave up its assaults after its attempt on attacking Selina.
Instead, he was circling the corners of the room, seemingly trying to play with their perception.
At one instance, it would brush his fingers against the surface of the walls, it bleeds due to the wall's ruggedness, allowing him to leave trails.
"What's it doing?" Leonard began reckoning the unusual behavior displayed by Morroy.
It was clear that the man is indeed experiencing a loss of control. However, this actions contradicts how the rampagers should behave according to the documents.
Said rampagers would assault anyone on sight, disregarding any rationale to wreak havoc to anyone. It does not address foes from allies.
So the fact that Morroy, who had the evidence of being mad displayed an act of painting nonsensical art on the four corners of the room, suggests a hint of intelligence.
As Klein conclude this, completely stopping on shooting Morroy. Thinking it would be simply avoided by his inhumane reflexes and speed. He suddenly began noticing a pattern.
Are those... as Klein tracked its unusual movements. He began articulating as well:
Each time Morroy had passed a certain point on the walls, his fingers would left a handprint.
There was four of them in each corners of the room. It started by him leaving trails occasionally, until they reveal a glimpse.
All of the paintings have the first glimpse of the tip of high waves, then extending from it, an ocean.
Upon finishing the four arts, her abruptly stopped by the wall facing the stairwell.
It slowly and calmly opened its mouth. Morroy's teeth bears great resemblance to a rotary tiller with his teeth sharply angled.
Just as the silence grew louder, a horrifying cry broke out.
"Ah!"