The purple-colored clouds of Grimmhoth.
Imagine clouds … purple … beautiful as they float and drift onward. Grimmhoth may be a frightening world, but it can also be very cool.
A world where the clouds are purple, where the moon is purple, where the rain looks like glass but feels like normal rain. Buildings that look like they're from the 1800s or even older. A sea … floating right above the buildings … while the stars, the moon and the clouds are below. The houses, the towns, the villages, the kingdoms … all stand on clouds.
Fiona: "Hmm…"
(1478 January)
Fiona: "Hmm."
She flipped through the books — and by books she meant the magical books. She searched in the magical books of the well-known magicians: Zephyr, Estrold, Vivien … and also in the forbidden books, like Necromancer, by Oz.
Fiona: "Even there … there's no information about an ability that makes a body get a hole without blood … that's strange…"
Suddenly an idea came to her.
Fiona: "Wait! … What if … this didn't happen from outside … but from inside…"
She flipped quickly.
Fiona: "There … there it is … the Curse of the Organ … It causes an organ to suddenly disappear … the whole area, not just the organ. You only need … a toy … a doll resembling the person or a doll placed near the victim … It's an extremely dangerous magic that was forbidden … I see … that also explains why there's no blood … but what about the fight marks … The victims … both … the second victim … was also a noble … His name was Herold Stevensberg … a noble, also known for crimes … hmm."
Fiona stood up and once again heard it … the same … a laugh.
(Hehehehe)
Fiona: "Huh."
She turned around, a shadow moved past the shelves.
Fiona: "Ugh…"
And again.
Fiona: "Huh…"
Suddenly it appeared in front of her.
Fiona: "Huh!"
A dark figure … looked at her. It sat on the table … dark … two eyes … just staring.
Fiona: "What is that."
She stared at it.
Fiona: "Hmm…"
Suddenly from its mouth came a letter … on it was written … To the girl whose life was ruined by stares … Fiona Hamilton.
Fiona: "Huh!"
(16 years ago)
(Who killed her parents?)
(There are rumors it was the daughter herself)
(Was it? … but she was 4 years old)
(So what. It could be she's cursed … Maybe the Curse of Little Red Riding Hood!)
(What?)
They took her to the Academy of Detectives and Agents. There they performed experiments … on Fiona. Torture. Pain. Loneliness. After all, she was in an empty room. The other students weren't even allowed to touch her … but she wasn't the only one … there were many children … imprisoned and not allowed to do anything … except sit in that empty grey room. They printed numbers onto the students. Fiona had 412 … That's why Fiona hated the organization. But when they saw how talented she was … they took her as a detective.
(Current time)
Fiona: "Hmmmm…"
She opened the letter. It said Meet me on Horse Street.
Fiona: "Hahhh…"
Fiona left the place.
Fiona: "Hmm."
It was raining again.
Fiona: "The rain…"
Rain that looks as if it's made of glass but is still rain … it lands and drips … the splashes of water all around the city of Big Ben … but that didn't matter now … Fiona stretched out her hand so the rain fell into it … (Splash!) … such a nice feeling, but for Fiona the rain was always something she feared … the day her parents died … the day of the painful times imprisoned in a room … the splashing, the dripping … loud enough to hurt the ears … some children broke under it … some got sick … some killed themselves just to stop the sounds … until Fiona was the only one left … the only one who survived that room.
Fiona: "Ugh!…"
Fiona shook her head and kept walking toward Horse Street.
(Patch!) (Patch!)
Fiona: "Hmm."
There stood a person … with his umbrella … he grinned. Well, he wore a mask … white on the left half and black on the right.
(Hello)
he said. He looked at her. He called himself the Clown.
Clown of Envy: "I am the Clown of Envy …"
Fiona: "Hmm … you're a member of the Forbidden Library of Rapunzel."
Clown of Envy: "Yes … hahahaha … exactly … We've been trying for a long time to make contact with you … Miss Fiona …"
Fiona: "How do you know my name?"
Clown of Envy: "Hahahaha … Of course we know you … we watch you."
Fiona: "Are you the killers?"
Clown of Envy: "Hmm … the killers of the nobles … actually, no."
Fiona: "What…?"
Clown of Envy: "That's not really our way of killing … but … what we want is for you to join us."
Fiona: "Is this supposed to be a joke?"
Clown of Envy: "Oh … no, my dear … we mean it seriously … we're not like those corporations … hehehe … We need you … you belong to us … you — exactly you — should be full of hatred … toward the people … what they did to you … and above all … the Organization of the Dark Umbrella …"
Fiona: "Hmm."
Clown of Envy: "Please … We will turn this world into a world of chaos … we will bring suffering … This is the opportunity, isn't it?"
Fiona: "…hahhh … my interest is not revenge … That's not the path I want … I think … hurting people who had nothing to do with what was done to me would be an uncool thing …"
Clown of Envy: "You're like them."
Fiona: "I am not like them … and now excuse me … I have to go."
Clown of Envy: "Hehehe … you'll regret this …"
Fiona: "If you say so."
He disappeared.
Fiona: "(Sighs) … hahh … Guess I still have to find the killer."
She returned to the Organization.
Lady Natasha: "There you are … I've got something for you. We have a candidate for the murder."
Fiona: "A girl?"
Lady Natasha: "Mhm …"
Fiona: "Hmm?"
Lady Natasha: "Her name is Mona Petersburg … She's 15 years old … her parents were poor and were murdered by a noble with a weapon because he claimed they had robbed him …"
Fiona: "I see."
Lady Natasha: "We'll send a squad … rest until then."
(A few minutes later)
Fiona: "Rest … I won't let them catch her … I must be there …"
(Meanwhile)
A small house on a street near Horse Street.
Mona: "Huh…"
She saw the squad coming, she hid.
Mona: "Hhmmmm…"
The squad entered and searched for her … exactly then someone took Mona's hand and pulled her.
Fiona: "Sshhhhh…"
Mona: "Mmm."
They stood at the window — below were the clouds. If you fall, you're finished …
Fiona: "Hmm…"
She took her with her.
Mona: "Who are you … you're one of them, aren't you…"
Fiona: "Shhhh…"
The squad approached.
Fiona: "I'm not your enemy … I want to help you…"
She reached out her hand.
Fiona: "I'm not them … I'm here to protect you …"
She stretched her hand farther. Mona took it. Fiona pulled her and ran quickly with her.
Fiona: "Hmm…"
She took her hat, threw it, and jumped on it — a portal opened, they landed … in Fiona's apartment.
Fiona: "Hahhh…"
Mona: "Hahh … where are we."
Fiona: "In my apartment …"
Mona: "Why did you help me."
Fiona: "Hmm."
Mona: "I killed people."
Fiona: "I know … but I don't care … they were nobles who treated others badly …"
Mona: "Hmmm."
Mona looked at her.
Mona: "Why … I killed people …"
Fiona: "I know that … But they were nobles who did terrible things … besides, if they take you they won't just kill you … no, they'll use you for experiments and then train you as a detective or agent … that's what they did to me … and to many others … no matter what, children who did terrible things or were suspected of doing terrible things are taken by the Dark Umbrella …"
Mona: "What exactly is this Dark Umbrella Organization …"
Fiona: "The Dark Umbrella Organization is an organization that controls supernatural cases, serious cases and magical cases, investigating them … But as nice as it sounds they're only there to find the secret of the Black Hole … why it appears …"
Mona: "What is it?"
Fiona: "The first time the Black Hole appeared … was … in the year 1140 on a bright day … A huge Black Hole appeared. This hole caused several disasters … people disappeared, creatures called Nemesis appeared … And … in the year … 1254 it appeared again … only … this time an entire kingdom … vanished without a trace … and then … four years later … it reappeared, the whole kingdom … but … in a completely different form … The houses looked different, clearly more modern, the people wore suits that were clearly more expensive and newer … it was as if this kingdom …"
(Silence)
Fiona: "As if it came from a completely different time loop …"
Mona: "What?"
Fiona: "That wasn't all … because this kingdom was called Nief … In 1296 another kingdom disappeared … and reappeared in 1350 … now … it was like before but different … this time … it looked as if the people came from a much older period … 1050 … Also the Dark Umbrella found something … everyone who had been born before 1296 … in the year it disappeared … was … gone … that means the people who were there … were gone and everyone living in that kingdom looked young."
Mona: "But how …"
Fiona: "That's why the Dark Umbrella tries to learn the secret of the Black Hole."
Mona: "What exactly is it?"
Fiona: "Hahhh … a few years ago … someone managed to go into this hole … and come back. But … the person … who went in … did come back alive … but … in a terrifying state … not because years had passed … but because he saw things … that … simply scared him … horrible things … One figure he also saw … This figure … was called Darksider … It was a dark figure … in an unknown place, the person called the place Grave of the Dead … The only thing the person also said before he took his own life a few days later … was … A code … Code … 5 0 ,4 T T O D. 5 0 4 meant the time the person spent there, 504 … thousands of years … even though he was gone for 4 days, in the Black Hole this was the time he spent … But the T T D — The Tears of Death! … Of course everyone was confused … but this was a codename for the monster … the monster … apparently said its name … This name was … Darksider … or also Dark Reaper … Nobody else knows what it means with this figure whether the guy just said it or he really saw the person behind the dark figure … Darksider …"
Mona: "Hmm."
Fiona: "But I have my own theory … no … I'm sure … it's about this being."
She showed a photo from a book.
Mona: "What is that … an octopus?"
Fiona: "That's a dark figure … it has many tentacles but if you look closely it's not an octopus … but a figure with purple-colored eyes … Without question … it's the Dark Prince of the Star …"
Mona: "What?"
Fiona: "Faust!"
She took a book. On it was written Dark Prince of the Star.
Fiona: "Hmm … this is the story …"
Long, long ago … there was once a kingdom named Sora … But this kingdom … was a kingdom that made a name for itself by using the forbidden magic of the Necromancer of Oz. As punishment the kingdom was cursed by the Guardians. First they were turned into stars. For days you could hear their screams, including the screams of the Dark Prince Arthur Faust … After they were transformed into stars, it was made so they couldn't age. The third part — the stars consisted of many curses inside that caused unbearable pain … And in these stars … the inhabitants of Sora were trapped and suffered pain! But the Dark Prince Arthur managed to free himself from this form at least from the star curse so he had a human body … So he swore revenge on the world of Grimmhoth and that every person would suffer …
Fiona: "Do you understand it now…."
Mona looked at her.
Mona: "But…"
Fiona: "It could actually be… that some survived this curse besides Arthur Faust, and through the necromancer they created this black hole…"
Mona: "Hmm."
Fiona: "The other theory is that this is the work of the Forbidden Library of Rapunzel… after all… Rapunzel was once a witch who was cursed by Holle and trapped in a great library… That could also be a third theory. It is Death itself… Death has a shape. That would also explain the Tears of Death… According to the legends of Grimmhoth, Death looks dark because of its cloak but has the form of a wolf and many shadows!"
Mona: "And why are you telling me this."
Fiona: "Because from now on you're going to help me… with the detective work…"
Mona: "No, I don't want to."
Fiona: "Hahh… I thought so… Then I want you to stay in my house… and keep things in order here…"
Mona: "Do I look like your maid?"
Fiona: "Do I look like I'd otherwise let you live… Think about it. I won't just kill you… I'll kill you so slowly and cruelly that you'll wish you'd never been born…"
Claws of steel slid out from her suit.
Fiona: "You have the choice…"
Mona: "Ahh… I knew it, you're not nice."
Fiona: "Who ever said I was nice… I'm telling you now, for me it's the same whether a human dies or not… I do my job… if I manage to save someone, fine… if not, I'm still successful… long story short… dead or alive, I get results anyway… got it!"
Mona: "Ahhh…"
Mona wet herself.
Fiona: "Oops… that was actually… just a joke."
Mona: "Really now… that's not funny at all, I wet myself."
Fiona: "Not my problem… you clean it up or I'll tell everyone and then send you to the Dark Umbrella Organization… huh?"
Mona: "Hmmm."
Fiona: "And another thing… why are you acting as if you're the culprit…"
Mona: "What?"
Mona looked at her shocked. Fiona stared back, then went over and knelt slightly with the help of her cane.
Fiona: "Did you really think I wouldn't notice… did you really think… I'd save you… if you were a murderer…"
Mona: "I don't understand… I'm the murderer of those nobles…"
Fiona: "Hmm… you don't seem to be lying… I know that too…"
Suddenly she grabbed her, took her staff and hit Mona on the head. Suddenly Mona opened her mouth… and a dark figure appeared.
(Splash!)
Mona: "Ghhhh…"
Fiona: "Hmm."
It vanished.
Mona: "Gh…"
She fell to the ground.
Mona: "(silent)"
Fiona: "I see… someone took possession of you so you'd commit these acts…"
She lifted Mona and laid her on the sofa.
Fiona: "Let me examine you."
She removed Mona's suit. Mona lay on her stomach on the bed.
Fiona: "Hmm…"
A symbol… a skull pierced by a sword.
Fiona: "But… that's the symbol of the Necrologists… the Scythe of the Grave… that's what they're called…"
She checked further, covered Mona with a blanket, turned her over and opened her mouth.
Fiona: "Hmm…"
On the tongue was another mark, the sign of the wolf.
Fiona: "…Death…"
In the world of Grimmhoth the wolf symbolizes Death… because Death has the head of a wolf, or rather the body of a wolf, wears a dark cloak and carries two great scythes.
Fiona: "It really is the Scythe of the Grave… I thought they took their own lives thirty years ago… when they were found… hmm…"
She pulled down Mona's trousers. Mona was completely naked except for the blanket covering her.
Fiona: "Okay… I don't need to look at her butt… no desire for a harassment charge… unless you feel something, Crane."
Crane: "Hmm… no… not at the butt. Unless you mean the bruises all over her body."
Fiona: "Hmm… you're right… why's that?"
Crane: "Look at her leg."
She looked at the leg… the marks were strongest there, pressure marks.
Fiona: "Pressure… metal… she must have been imprisoned for a long time… slave?"
Crane: "More like a sex slave."
Fiona: "Hmm… that makes sense… thinking about it, the nobles were killed and she did it… only not voluntarily. Someone took over her body and did the deeds, and when Mona came back to herself, she returned home, only to be possessed again… The spirit, the banshee inside her, probably."
Crane: "Hmm…"
Fiona: "Hmm… damned nobles forcing even a minor into this…"
She checked Mona's breathing.
Fiona: "She seems to have physical problems… the smell from her mouth speaks not of poor nutrition but of kidney issues…"
She held her hand.
Fiona: "Her heart isn't beating as strongly as it should in a healthy human… 60-80 times is normal… mine is 80… hers is more like 50… that means her body is very weak…"
She looked at her neck.
Fiona: "Hmm… all good here…"
She pressed on Mona's stomach.
Fiona: "Empty… hasn't eaten for at least two days…"
She opened Mona's mouth and checked her tongue.
Fiona: "Mouth… hmm… tongue seems very dry… her breath smells like death… she'll die in at most two more days if nothing is done…"
She leaned closer to Mona's shoulder and sniffed.
Fiona: "Hmm… hasn't showered in a long time… not her fault, slaves are hardly allowed to bathe, and for nobles it doesn't matter how a sex slave smells as long as the body is fit enough for their lust…"
Fiona held Mona's hair.
Fiona: "Hmm… also not washed… already many white hairs… hmm…"
She let go of the hair and looked at Mona briefly.
Fiona: "Hmm… she wasn't only the sex slave of one person but of several… Crane… any idea?"
Crane: "Liam Stewart, Herold Stevensberg and a noblewoman named Terresa… after all, she's Mona's owner…"
Fiona: "How did you find that out."
Crane: "Red marks on the shoulder under the right shoulder… lipstick."
Mona: "(silent)"
Fiona: "Hmm… I see…"
She went to the window. Outside, Mona lay unconscious. Fiona lived in a small house on a meadow with some wheat and lots of nature. Right in front of her the city, Big Ben, only a few steps away.
Fiona: "She'll be the next victim…"
Fiona quickly went to the kitchen.
Fiona: "First I have something to do…"
(A few minutes later)
Terresa: "No… please… don't… don't kill me… please…"
Scythe of the Grave member: "Hehehe… I, Dave, will kill you."
Suddenly the window opened… maybe from the wind.
Terresa: "Hh.."
Fiona: "Am I interrupting?"
Dave: "Huh?"
He looked at her. She was sitting on the window sill, legs crossed, leaning on her hand.
Fiona: "Hehehe."
Crane appeared and went straight through the attacker.
(Splash!)
He dropped dead to the floor.
Terresa: "Thank you… thank you so much…"
Fiona went over to her. Just as Terresa was about to stand up… Fiona stabbed her in the stomach with her staff.
Terresa: "Ugh… urk… (bleargh!)…"
Fiona: "Who said I wanted to save someone like you…"
She grabbed her by the throat.
Terresa: "Urk."
Fiona: "You abused a little girl and passed her around as if she were merchandise!… I'll show you… real… fear…"
Fiona smiled briefly.
Fiona: "Bob…"
Bob appeared, a huge figure. Fiona changed a bit, black paint under her eyes, her suit turned black… She took out a card. It said: Door of Suffering!
Fiona: "You're going to regret this for sure…"
Suddenly eyes and hands appeared from Fiona's hat. They grabbed Terresa and pulled her into the hat.
(Swoosh)
Terresa: "Huh… where am I… what."
Suddenly several eyes opened, about five, and a mouth… it grinned… and suddenly blood came from Terresa's eyes and she began to scream, clutching her head… Plants sprouted from her eyes and her eyes turned into flowers… then she fell to the ground… and died.
Fiona: "Hmm."
Terresa's corpse lay on the floor.
Fiona: "Not really suitable as a bedtime story…"
She left the building through the window.
Fiona: "The Dark Umbrella members will think Terresa was the culprit and will leave Mona alone."
(Meanwhile)
Mona: "Huh…"
Mona woke up. She was wearing an undershirt and small shorts. Fiona must have dressed her before she left.
Mona: "Huh…"
In front of the bed a table full of glasses and cups… food and drinks.
Mona: "Huh!"
A small note lay there: eat as much as you want… you've suffered enough.
Mona: "Ugh…"
Mona got up, took some bread, dipped it into the sweet honey and ate.
Mona: "Mmm… mmm…"
She had tears in her eyes.
Mona: "…ghhhh… it's so delicious… mmmm… thank you… thank you so much… Fiona…"
From the window Fiona watched her through a tree. She sat in the branches and watched Mona.
Fiona: "…hmmm."
Crane: "You can be nice after all."
Fiona: "Shut up…"
Crane: "You can be nice."
Fiona: "I said… shut your mouth… or I'll cook you and give you to Mona to eat."
Crane: "…hehe… okay… still… explain to me why you did it."
Fiona: "I know… I don't even know myself… maybe… because I also… know how it feels… to be trapped…"
Crane: "Look at her… how she's crying while eating… you've made a human happy…"
Fiona: "Huh…"
Crane: "They say… when you make people happy… you become happy too…"
Fiona: "Hmm?"
She looked at Mona again… and suddenly Fiona smiled.
Fiona: "…maybe you're right…"