Upon stepping outside the Grim Archives, Levi immediately noticed Anastasia seated on a wooden bench beside the building. She sat quietly, her gaze lifted skyward—as if admiring the vastness above.
Levi caught the reflection of the night sky in her eyes. Curious, he followed her gaze upward… and what he saw took his breath away.
The stars glittered across the canvas of the sky, and even the faint curvature of the galaxy shimmered above them. It wasn't just beautiful—it was enchanting.
"It's pretty, isn't it?"
Anastasia's voice came softly—almost like a whisper.
Yet Levi heard it clearly, despite the distance.
"…Yeah," he replied, still mesmerized.
But just as he lowered his eyes, he froze.
Anastasia was suddenly right in front of him—close. Staring directly into his eyes.
Startled by her sudden appearance, Levi flinched and stumbled backward, landing flat on the ground.
"W-What the hell?! How did you get here?! I didn't even notice you move!" he exclaimed, voice shaky and stunned.
Anastasia looked down at him, a faint smirk on her lips. "You scare pretty easily."
"Pretty easily?!" Levi shot back, quickly standing up. "You move with supernatural stealth! How am I supposed to just process that?!"
"B-Bwahaha!"
She burst out laughing, genuinely, not mockingly.
"I'm just training you to react faster," she added with a playful wink.
Levi stood still, frozen with that same blank face and ghost-white expression—completely lost on what was going on anymore.
Anastasia, now smiling wider, turned and began walking ahead. "Come on. Let's get this started—oh, right. What's your name, boy?"
Levi paused for a moment, staring after her. Then, calmly: "It's Levi, Miss. Levi Kurose."
Anastasia slowed her pace slightly and smiled again—this time, softer.
"Anastasia Everhart. It's nice to meet you."
He gave a small nod.
"Right. Nice to meet you too… Miss Anastasia."
And with that, Levi took his first step forward—toward the unknown.
Toward whatever came next.
Grim Archives, Chapter 4: Let the Zen Trial, Begin.
The two walked under the dim glow of Osaka's night streets. The streetlights above flickered—on and off, again and again—casting the road in uneven shadows. It was the kind of darkness that made everything feel just a bit off.
Unsettling, for sure.
But somehow… not with Anastasia around.
"You seriously haven't been to Suteki Street?!"
Anastasia's voice rang out, loud and genuinely baffled.
"No! This is literally my first time even stumbling onto it!" Levi snapped back, clearly irritated.
"I didn't even know it existed until now!"
They were already in the middle of a heated back-and-forth—one that seemed to have been going on long before this stretch of the walk.
Anastasia: "Huh, then I guess your sense of exploration is dookie."
Levi: "Can't someone just not know a street exists? I ran into it randomly! The realization didn't even hit right away—your street is so mysterious, it caught me completely off guard!"
Anastasia: "Well whatever. At least some of us aren't totally foreign to where we live."
Levi: "Seriously? I could've called the police on you guys for like, trespassing reality. The way I found Suteki Street felt like the world glitched—like something supernatural broke through!"
Anastasia: "Sounds like denial to me—"
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Mid-step, too.
Noticing this, Levi glanced at her, confused.
Anastasia's gaze was steady ahead. Then she said quietly, "I think we're here."
Levi followed her eyes—and realized she was right.
"Y-Yeah… This is my home.
Wait—how did you know?"
Anastasia looked at him with a small, playful smirk. "Nothing, really. Just instincts."
Upon opening the door to the house, everything was just as Levi had left it—dark, cold, and empty.
As they stepped inside, the silence greeted them again like a memory refusing to fade. Anastasia wandered a bit, her eyes scanning the photos hanging along the walls—family portraits, solo shots, moments frozen in time.
Levi, meanwhile, moved through the living room, eyes searching for anything. Some clue. Some sign. Maybe even just a mistake—proof that this was all some elaborate dream.
His hand stopped on the same family photo he had looked at before leaving. The one where they were all smiling. Still whole.
"The feeling… it never left."
"Even before I went to the Grim Archives… maybe I never really faced what my heart was trying to tell me."
He stared at the photo, brows drawn tight.
His thoughts tangled—regret, guilt, unease. And something else he didn't want to name."
Anastasia, noticing him slowly drifting into his thoughts, finally spoke up—soft but clear.
"All this must've been beyond bizarre for you."
Levi glanced at her and let out a dry chuckle.
"Yeah. I still can't believe any of it."
"But what I really can't believe more is that you didn't know about Suteki Street. I mean, Grim Archives is kind of a big deal there"
Levi groaned. "Oh, cut it out!"
The mood broke. Just a bit. And that was her plan all along. After a short pause, Anastasia looked toward the stairs.
"You should check upstairs—maybe there's something in their rooms. I'll do a sweep around outside."
"Yeah," Levi replied quietly, taking one last glance at the photo before heading up.
Anastasia stepped outside and gently closed the door behind her. The wind was cold against her face, but she didn't shiver. Her eyes stayed on the house for a moment. Then she exhaled
Her right hand rested loosely behind her back. Without lifting it, she snapped her fingers—subtle, unhurried. The motion was quiet, but deliberate.
Then, a faint pulse of light shimmered at the tip of her index finger—deep blue, steady and precise. She drew a slow circle in the air, and from its center, a soft blue glow spread outward, weaving itself into a quiet barrier that formed just beyond the perimeter of Levi's house.
Surrounding Levi's home in a translucent blue field.
"Configuration Art: Field of Destiny."
The glow wasn't too bright—just enough to shimmer gently like a barrier cast under moonlight.
Anastasia's gaze shifted, now staring up—toward the second floor where Levi was.
She whispered under her breath:
"The Zen Trial will begin shortly. This field should ensure the trial's occurrence"
Then, a lingering thought followed in her mind. One only she would hear: "Whatever happens… I'll hope for the outcome I wish for. But if things go wrong,"
"I'll step in. And erase every trace of the Grim Archives from his soul."
Her part, for now… was done.
Meanwhile, Levi was upstairs, searching through his parents' room with quiet desperation—looking for anything that could ignite the faintest spark of hope. He checked under the bed, rifled through drawers, and opened the closets one by one. Nothing. No signs. No clues. Only silence.
He moved on to Yuki's room—his sister's space. The process repeated itself: beneath the bed, behind the closet doors, through every drawer. Again, nothing. Not even a whisper of their presence.
Levi collapsed onto Yuki's bed, frustration carved into his face—but beneath it, something far more hollow was beginning to show. A quiet kind of dread. A creeping emptiness that loomed like fog around his thoughts.
"Is hoping to be happy… too much to ask?" he muttered to himself, eyes fixed on the ceiling—unfocused, fading into the void of thought.
Then—drip.
A faint sound broke through his silence. He blinked, slowly returning to the moment. Another drop… and another. Something was leaking—dripping steadily from above.
Levi sat up slowly, his expression shifting to wary curiosity. His gaze followed the sound to a small hole in the ceiling. Blood. Droplets of red trailed downward, painting slow, quiet circles onto the floor.
"What the…" he whispered, a chill running down his spine. He stood, stepping carefully beneath the spot, and squinted upward—trying to see beyond the darkness of the hole.
Then—
An eye opened.
A single eye, staring directly down at him from the shadows above.
"Brother… help us… you forgot to knock" a voice echoed, soft and distant, yet impossibly close.
Levi staggered back, horror seizing his features. His breath caught, his heart racing. He recognized that voice. It was—
"Yuki…?" he stammered, voice trembling. "W-What's happening?!"
His tone cracked—somewhere between panic and exhaustion. As though hope itself had just turned into something unrecognizable.
"F-Forgot to knock? What are you talking about?" Levi muttered, still visibly shaken, his voice barely holding steady. He took several cautious steps backward, thoughts spiraling.
"How is this even happening...? We don't even have an attic…"
Then, he heard it.
"Levi."
"Levi."
"Are you home..."
Two voices. Whispered. Echoing. One after the other. Familiar, but wrong.
His eyes snapped toward the doorway. From within the thick veil of darkness just beyond it, arms began to emerge.
First two—his father's and mother's, unmistakable in shape but stained with blood. Then more. Dozens more. Pale, rotted, bloodied hands clawed their way out from the void. Each one reaching, twitching, grasping… for him.
Levi's legs gave out from under him as he stumbled back in a panic, crashing to the floor. Scrambling with his hands and feet, he backed up until his back slammed against the cold wall—cornered. Trapped.
And the arms were closing in.
"N-No... stay away," he whispered.
"I said stay away!" he shouted, his voice cracking as the shadows stretched toward him. There were no tears—his fear had gone far past that. His breath was shallow, heart pounding like thunder in his chest.
"What the hell is this... dream? Nightmare? I wish I never even started this day. I want to wake up. Please... Mom, Dad... Yuki... Miss Anastasia... anyone—please, get me out of here."
The hands were only inches away now, brushing the floor in front of him, fingers twitching and curling toward his limbs.
Terrified, Levi threw his arms over his head, shut his eyes tightly, and lowered his head, bracing for whatever was about to happen.
And then—
"STOP!"
His voice tore through the silence—raw, loud, desperate. It echoed beyond the walls, reverberating throughout the house… even outside. The Field of Destiny remained but, everything, went still. Everything went... Silent.