Slowly opening her eyes, the charming Jolene Aurora gazed above, and after a few seconds of silence, she turned her head while she was still lying down to view the young man's face.

Naturally, he had been eyeing her too, and as they exchanged glances, he said:

"Looks like you finally woke up, huh? About time. It got to a point where I thought where you were actually in a coma or something, you sleepyhead.

".....How long was I out for?"

Liohime Kitagami pursed his lips, pondering before he answered.

"I don't have a clear grasp of time, but maybe somewhere between six to ten hours."

"S-Six to ten!? Dumbass, why didn't you wake me up-"

"Because I need you to rest up completely before you take on this final layer with me, Jolene," she declared. "I still feel perfectly fine, and now, you must be feeling much better, so our chances have definitely improved now."

He stood up, took a quick, cautious peek at his surroundings, and then helped her to her feet.

"Let's finish this shit together."

Jolene gently bit the inside of her cheek.

"Alright."

As they began to leave the comfort of their hiding place and scope the area once more before descending the rough terrain that lay beside the Waterfall of Hell, Liohime spoke once again, but this time with a tone that hinted a slight tinge of unease.

"There's something that I don't get."

"What? Your lack of intelligence."

"You're one to talk, but no, I'm obviously not talking about that. I'm talking about there being no signs of a presence from our enemies or Magical Beasts when you were asleep.

Jolene tilted her head in confusion.

"What…do you mean?"

"It's been so many hours since you were asleep, but while I was keeping watch from our safe hiding spot, I didn't hear anything that aroused suspicion. No voices, no footsteps, no nothing, from either the Dalquestis, Killcounts, or rogue Magical Beasts, for hours on end. That's really fucking weird, don't you think, especially for a place that is literally the gateway to the final layer. I was even expecting some guards here at least, but there seems to be not an ounce of security here as we walk downwards."

Jolene narrowed her pupils, and she thought about what Liohime had said.

That was a fair assumption. Something was not right here.

"So, what do you think? Do you believe that it's a trap or a misdirect?"

"I doubt, for either of them. Still, ensure that you are always on high alert from now on. This is our last hurdle, the strongest obstacle in our way before we retrieve the Magical Beast egg, so be prepared for the worst problems that we could face."

"Naturally, damn it. I'm not a kid."

"S-Sorry. I guess that I just care about my workmate, you know."

Jolene averted her eyes instantly on hearing that, and sighed.

This…guy…

The journey downward was somewhat simple, as a descending slope of hardened, jagged earth beside the waterfall leading into the mist below was trekked on, and although it took about nearly five minutes of walking, the two Shinigami Soldiers of Polar Town were finally heading straight into the foggy haze, completely unaware of what lay beyond.

Liohime began to inhale and exhale with more rapid breaths, while Jolene held her breath on several intervals as they entered the mist, while still on the jagged slope.

With no further direction on the client of the Paradisus Legion mission concerning the third layer due to the lack of knowledge and survival rate, they were now completely on their own, with nobody to tell them exactly where to go, which increased their anxiety even more as they advanced further and further with no clue.

"T-This isn't where we slowly start to lose our minds and go fucking crazy, right, Lio? This mist doesn't do that, right!?"

"Huh? Oh, n-no, that…..well, that's what happens when you're in the dungeon district in the third layer, but…I don't even know where that is, exactly, and I'm not sure what this mist does, either."

"Shit, okay. Stay close to me, okay."

"Yeah, you got it."

As they continued to walk, though, they encountered a higher concentration of the mist, and it seemed like the further they ventured, the thicker the fog became, until…"

"Fuck, I can barely see shit in front of me," Jolene muttered with annoyance, trying her best to squint while walking forward.

Her voice somehow also became slightly distorted, which made her even more confused and anxious.

Since when can mist cause this!?

"Are you still doing okay, Shrimpdick?"

She looked at the corner of her eyes, searching for the young man who had been by her side all this while, but merely found a shadowy figure that aimlessly angled away from her.

"Shit, Lio!?"

With her vision obscured, Jolene panicked, and tried to briskly walk to that shadow, and at the same time, hearing her distorted voice, Liohime turned to face a shadow that was nearing him with an outstretched arm.

"Jolene? I…I can't hear you well, but take my hand!"

They both reached towards each others hands, and then-

Time stopped.

Reality changed.

--And they had both been separated in an instant of distorted space.

***

The young woman woke up with an excruciating pain that quickly faded, but her senses were all mixed up, as if she had been whirled into another dimension while spinning around constantly, never stopping.

Placing both palms on the wettened, slimy ground, she arose, pushing her body upwards, and then stared.

"You like a little bleak, don't you think, honey? That's a shame."

That voice.

That disgusting, aggravating, hurtful voice.

As she stood on a floating platform in the middle of nowhere, she gazed with dread at the only other person who existed and circled her on this massive slab that hung upon nothing.

--Jolene's father, Hitaju Aurora, glared at her, equipped with a bloodied sword in his left hand, and the head of her mother in his right.

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