"An unexplainable incident occurred yesterday night at Hinayu’s Ghost Festival during the opera performance."

"No serious casualties occurred, but witnesses reported supernatural sightings of spirits and demons." 

Marina absentmindedly crunched on her bowl of Pistol Puffs cereal while her finger traced the horse-shaped maze on the back of the cereal box.

“Some witnesses believe angry ghosts were taking revenge.”

Marina’s finger hit a dead end in the maze.

"Other witnesses claim seeing a mysterious young woman fighting off spirits. Some believe she was a Goddess."

“Goddess?” Marina groaned, giving up on the maze as she pushed away the cereal box. “What a mess!”

Tiamet blocked the middle of the TV screen as her small gray body covered the face of the news reporter.

“You barely come close to a Goddess,” Tiamet scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Did I miss anything about me?”

“Hey!” Marina glowered at the three-eyed cat. “You would only make it on the sci-fi channel due to your deformation.”

“Hmph!” Tiamet stood proudly with her head held high, her tail flicking in annoyance. “Having three eyes is an aesthetic that you humans will never understand.”

Marina narrowed her eyes.

I don’t even want to know what world she’s coming from.

“The one-week long festival has postponed due to the incident.”

Reese tiredly entered the living room all dressed and ready for work, wearing a pink-red pinstripe shirt. Her attention was drawn to the television about the incident that happened at the Ghost Festival.

Last night, Reese had trouble sleeping, tossing and turning in bed as she tried to get rid of the demonic black creature haunting her mind. The flashback of the beautiful divine-like lady also never left her mind alone, fresh in her memory like the morning’s sunrise.

Who is she? Reese wondered. Is she a Goddess like what the witnesses say? Should I tell Marina what happened?

The short red-haired woman stared at Marina sitting on the couch.

Nah, she’d never believe me.

“Good morning,” Marina greeted Reese quietly.

Reese gave her a small smile. “Good morning, Marina...” Reese seemed somewhat distracted as something was on her mind.

Marina stared at Reese’s dark bags under her eyes as guilt itched on the surface. The festival must kept her up all night..

 It’s my fault for putting her in danger. I need to be more careful around Reese. She was also surprised Reese did not mention anything about the ‘divine lady’ during the evacuation.

“Hey, Marina…” Reese began slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Remember that thing last night?”

Thing. The hideous tall monster with glowing red eyes burned Marina’s brain. She gulped, thinking hard about what to say before answering. 

Tiamet said those creatures were demonoid spirits. 

Good spirits possessed by gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins turning them into demonoids.

“I think the monster that attacked us was an evil spirit,” Marina replied, pretending to be oblivious of the situation. She felt like a wasp stung her heart, lying to Reese about the whole thing when she knew what was going on. It felt so awkward to be the only one who knew the truth. But Reese could not find out about it. Tiamet warned her Reese could not know, and not any other ordinary human being.

“Evil spirit, huh,” Reese remarked, rubbing her chin. “The whole point of the festival was to keep them happy. It’s unbelievably strange isn’t it? It’s like something from a nightmare.”

Marina nodded silently. “Yeah...” And I’m living in that nightmare.

“At least no one got hurt,” Reese continued, bringing a box of supplies from the kitchen. “Anyway, ready to make donuts?”

Marina met a pair of excited amber eyes as a grin stretched on Reese’s face, erasing the memory of the incident. It felt like all Marina’s troubles were dissolving away.

Excitement returned to Marina as her lips curled into a big smile.

“I’m ready.”