Under a sky that was weeping, a girl driven by rage was running across the rooftops. The loud, thunderous claps of thunder did not make her falter; her feet kept moving, chasing a shadow whose form she did not even know—all she knew was that she wanted to tear its body to pieces.
Her strides grew faster and, before long, she was running with both hands outstretched, just like a wolf chasing its prey. "Kill… Kill… Kill…!" From her side, the sound of whizzing bullets reached her large ears; she dodged immediately and her blood-red eyes darted to the side.
She had pinpointed the location of the man she was looking for; her feet struck the roof and, with all her might, she shot into the air, causing the roof tiles to crack and shatter, scattering in all directions—her feet landed on the roof of another house, and there, her red eyes fell upon an old man with a head full of grey hair, lying sprawled out whilst clutching a birdshot rifle.
"RIP VAN WINKLE!"
The girl named Redelle Wood pounced like a predator and immediately cornered the old man; they spun round, and Red was now sitting on top of him, her prosthetic arm—shaped like a shotgun—pointed straight at his face. "Why did you do that...?" she asked, breathlessly. "WHY?! ANSWER ME!!" She screamed until her voice went hoarse.
The old man could only lie there, unable to fight back, yet rather than showing any sign of fear or panic—he simply smiled resignedly, the rifle still clutched in his right hand. "Surely to avenge your betrayal, Juliet—or is that no longer your name?" That retort left Red speechless; the man usually known as Old Man Rip would normally steer well clear of such behaviour.
"You… You've just been putting on an act all this time, haven't you?! You've been lying to all of us with your charade as an old man who's far too frail and just wants to laze about, haven't you?! HAVEN'T YOU?!" Although Red was applying pressure and his ruby-red eyes looked utterly terrifying, it did not faze Rip in the slightest. "…I should've guessed. There's not a single person left in this world I can trust."
"Don't you have her? Juliet—ah, no, what's your real name? The one with a name that's the same as a colour, isn't it? Oh! I remember!" The smile on his wrinkled face widened even further. "Yellow, isn't it? Yellow-bellied?"
Red hurriedly pressed the muzzle of his rifle firmly against the old man's forehead; his heart was pounding uncontrollably as if it were about to explode at any moment. "You'll go to hell, you bastard!" he shouted again, even though Rip realised his left hand—which he was trying to hide—was trembling. "Your body will be consumed by the fires of hell, which will keep making you feel as if you're being cremated alive night after night for millions of years!"
Surprisingly, the man burst out laughing as though he'd never heard anything quite so funny before. "All our bosses are indeed hiding in there like a bunch of cowards." This made Red freeze for a moment, as though he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "They want to keep hiding and have you come to them, because they're—home-court heroes."
Rip immediately swung the rifle round, pointing the barrel straight at his temple. "This isn't our last meeting—as you said, I'll go to hell and wait for you to visit me," he said, causing Red's eyes to widen in shock, whilst the rain grew heavier and felt increasingly painful as it pelted down upon them. "There, you'll meet old enemies who'll exact their unavenged revenge."
"Get yourself ready. Bring every bit of backup you can muster. Add an extra life if you can. And finally, keep your heart beating right to the very end."
"No—don't, not yet—!"
"See you again in hell, Red."
BANG!
The bullet had pierced the old man's head, causing Red to freeze—not because of the cold, but because she couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed. "Why did you kill yourself?! I should have been the one to do it! I haven't even had a chance to vent my anger yet!" She pounded the roof repeatedly in sheer frustration.
From behind, a hand touched her shoulder, causing Red to turn round instantly and point her shotgun—which was integrated into her prosthetic arm—at whoever was behind her. "…Alice?" She lowered her arm when she saw that it was me.
I couldn't bear to see how drained Red looked–her eyes were bloodshot, her eyelids slightly swollen, and her breathing was irregular. "Come here." Red slowly stood up, even though both her legs were still trembling; she walked slowly towards me, closing the gap between us.
Her hand then reached for my shoulder and slowly she sank into my embrace; just as I could no longer see her face—she whimpered loudly like a baby, my hand stroking her blonde hair. And I could see the pair of ears on top of her head shrink back, followed by her wolf-like tail, which became hard to make out before disappearing completely. The shotgun that had replaced her arm had also reverted to an ordinary prosthetic hand, and her hair was back to how it had been before—she was now once again the Red I knew.
Night had turned to morning, though the hot sunlight beating down on the skin of those at the graveyard could still not alter the atmosphere surrounding a group of people grieving before a grave with the name 'Romeo Montague' carved into its headstone. Those present at this visit were Robin, Snow, Holmes, Ciel, Felix, Mother, and, of course, Red and myself.
A man's hand touched the shoulder of the girl who was grieving the most amongst us all. "I hope you're given great patience; it must be difficult to lose the person you love most—I can understand that a little," Holmes said, yet the words of London's greatest detective were not enough to soothe the girl's heart.
Red didn't look up or even glance in her direction; she simply replied coldly. "The one who loves him is Juliet—and I am not her; she is merely an alter ego I harbour within myself." Her red eyes remained fixed on the grave, which was already strewn with flowers. "She is not the person Red loves most, but…" She glanced in my direction, though she did not say a single word.
I couldn't help but smile; the fact that we could communicate without speaking showed just how well we knew one another. After our visit, we turned to head home, but our way was blocked by a man standing there in a neat suit. His tomato-red hair fluttered in the wind and his green eyes fixed on all of us as if he knew something.
"Dad—oh no, Dante"
Red, standing beside me, called out to the man; we were all taken aback to hear her. All eyes turned to Red, who was glaring at the man intently. "Come on, sweetheart, why are you being so cold to me?" the man asked, but Red didn't reply; she just kept walking forward until she was close enough to him. "Even though I'm not your biological father, I still genuinely think of you as my beloved daughter, you know."
"Dante." Red called out again, this time her hands clenched tightly as if he'd made up his mind. "Can you take me to Hell?" The question caused a long silence to fall between us; we were all bewildered and taken aback by what he'd asked.
Dante then gave a faint smile, as if he'd already anticipated he'd be asked that question. "Heh, that place is practically a second home to me—of course, I'll do anything for my beloved daughter." The man agreed more readily than I'd expected; from behind, Mother had already run over and grabbed Red by the shoulder, bringing their red and green eyes into contact.
"Red, I've only just lost one of my children—I don't want you going to such a dangerous place!" Mother forbade it sternly, yet she could see from the look in Red's eyes that he would not back down, no matter how great the obstacle. "…Are you serious?" Her hand slowly slipped off his shoulder as she stepped back; that stare was too piercing and too intimidating for Red.
Red turned round completely and looked at all of us standing behind her. "You're coming with me, aren't you, Alice?" Her eyes flicked in my direction, and I could sense her determination even though I was quite a distance away from her.
"I wouldn't fancy you losing your memory again. That's a bit of a nuisance." I replied with a chuckle; I wouldn't let myself make the same mistake as before—whatever happens, wherever she goes, I'll follow her and look after her.
Her eyes then glanced towards the man with ginger hair and the girl with her hair in low twin tails. "Robin, Snow?" When the offer came, the two of them exchanged a look before nodding simultaneously and turning towards Red with a smile.
"I suppose there's no harm in enjoying the summer a bit early," Robin replied, placing her hands on her hips with a confident smile, whilst the girl standing beside her clenched her fists as if trying to pluck up her courage.
"I'm so glad my help has made your burden feel lighter!" said Snow. Red knew that the girl actually harboured doubts, but the way she was plucking up her courage made him want to accept her help.
Red said nothing, but her gaze was clearly fixed on Ciel and Felix, who stood silently as if waiting for their turn to be called. She said nothing because Red herself wasn't sure whether they—especially Ciel—would even consider helping. "I'm not joining to help you; I'm going along because I want to take my revenge on someone in that organisation," Ciel warned before we could jump to the wrong conclusion.
"If Ciel's coming along, I'll definitely be coming too," Felix blurted out, just like me—the reason we were going was to protect our loved ones from danger, even if it meant putting ourselves all at risk. Everyone's eyes then turned towards Mother, who stood with her arms folded, looking confused and worried, tapping her foot on the ground as she pondered what else she had to decide.
Under pressure from all of us, Mother shouted in frustration. "All right! You may go! But you must use this." From her bag, she produced a small, square-shaped device made of iron that emitted a dim light. "This is a device that will allow me to monitor your situation; if you're in danger—I'll come and fetch you by force."
Red nodded in understanding and turned back towards the man who called himself her father. "Dante, how are we going to get there?" she asked, and the man still maintained his mysterious smile—from two fingers on his hand, a red light emerged and flared like fire. "Huh?"
Dante turned and swept through the air before speaking. "It's easy, though we'll have to go via the very start." Without seeming the least bit troubled, he drew in air and tore it apart, creating a wide-open dimensional rift whilst releasing a powerful gust of air towards us. "Are you all ready?" His green eyes glanced at all of us.
I turned around and saw everyone standing behind me; they were all still wearing their pilgrimage clothes—we hadn't received any information or made any plans yet, but Red was already itching to jump in. Her red eyes glanced my way, and she tilted her head slightly, making me realise she was showing confusion and curiosity about what I was thinking as I looked at her.
"Alice?"
She called my name, and the way she did so was something I'd missed terribly. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh and shook my head slightly. "No, it's nothing," I turned to the side, and she followed me until we were facing each other; I held out my hand—offering a bit of warmth to her heart, which was being bombarded by negative emotions. "Let's carry out our mission together again after all this time, shall we, Red?"
Red stood frozen, staring at the smile on my face—one she'd never seen so genuine. Her mouth hung open for a long moment, then her hand slowly clasped mine, returning the smile I'd not seen etched on her face for so long. "Right, I hope you won't be too hard on me, then?" she said, and I couldn't hold back a chuckle, causing me to immediately let go of her hand before giving her a gentle nudge in the side.
"What's with you? You're acting like we've only just met!"
"You know I'm absolutely hopeless at putting things into words, don't you?"
We tried to just laugh it off because a massive storm was about to hit us and tear us apart. There would be many people in there whom we might have met before, and given everything we'd done, they'd surely want to get even for all that we'd put them through. However, we'd face all those obstacles together.
Because as long as we had each other, we'd get out of there alive.