Rose sat in a chair next to Ino's bed. Ino looked bad. Not only was she back asleep, she was also looking as if she was having a horrible nightmare, she was twitching and flailing her arms all around. It was a miracle the towel on her forehead stayed put.

"How are you? And how is she?"

"Ah Eliza! You're finally awake! I'm fine luckily. Maybe just a bit sore," she said while trying to massage her shoulders, "Ino though, she has gotten worse. She has a fever, it's really bad. Did Belle tell you about what happened with her when we were away?"

Eliza nodded. She took a few steps forward, but it was as if she had to wade through some kind of jelly. The air felt heavy and she had trouble reaching the other side of the room.

"You feel it too, right?"

"Yeah, something is trying to hold me back."

Rose reached out her hand when her friend was close to help her through the last few steps. She pulled out another chair for her to sit on.

"You get used to this heavy atmosphere the longer you're here. Or at least, that's the case for me. Belle had a really hard time to stay here for more than a few minutes, so I think it differs from person to person."

"Is it coming from the President?"

Eliza's friend nodded.

"Unfortunately yes." She got up and reached for the towel on the Asian girl's head, "It's probably because of this."

She lifted the cloth, revealing damp locks stuck to Ino's head and three pentagram scars. Eliza got up too to inspect the awful sight.

"That wasn't there before, right?"

Rose shook her head, while soaking the towel in cool water.

"No, her first pentagram multiplied after that weird voice took over. Nora explained that it was the work of a very powerful being, normal demons would leave only one."

"Like Violette."

"Uhuh."

Rose wrung out any excess water and carefully placed the towel back. She looked at Eliza.

"Eliza, what's wrong?"

The witch looked like she had seen a ghost.

"There's something opening up in the wall."

Rose looked up to the opposite end of where the bed stood and saw it too. A crack had appeared in the wall, and red light seeped through. It quickly grew bigger and bigger, until it was large enough for a man to step through.

A black figure appeared through the hole in the wall, void of features except for glowing red eyes and dark, flowy hair that almost reached the floor. If the shadow wasn't emanating a menacing aura, Eliza would be jealous of this creature's hair.

"My dearest goddess, it's time to reunite," the shadow spoke, seemingly ignoring Eliza and Rose and focussing on the bedridden Ino.

In an instant he had closed the gap between him and the girl and had scooped her out of the bed.

"Hey, what are you doing with Ino?!" Rose yelled, he protective instinct kicking in. She wasn't going to let this man kidnap her sorority sister, not with her in this state.

"Ah, you must be one of the women the fox spirit fought. Unfortunately for you, your precious Ino now belongs to me and there's nothing that can make me stop bringing her home."

Eliza watched in horror as the scene unfolded in front of her.

"Home? This is her home!"

The shadow shook his head.

"Oh no no no. She's a goddess now. A true goddess doesn't mingle with lowly humans, in mind or body. And as I already have her mind, I just came to retrieve her body."

"No you won't!" Rose snapped, she could feel her fingernails digging into the flesh of her palms. Eliza wasn't doing any better either.

The shadow snickered.

"And what will you do to stop me? Me, the God of Chaos, Ahriman? Don't make me laugh!"

Fire appeared in Rose's hand and a second later a fireball hit the shadow in the face. He didn't even flinch.

"Is that all you got? Please do better next time."

He laughed, it was a cold laugh void of any emotions, fitting for a god of Chaos. He walked back over to the crack, the sick girl's breathing heavy and irregular. Eliza and Rose could do nothing but watch, knowing that if they did anything, not only would they risk their own lives, but also that of Ino. They didn't stand a chance. Not right now.

"I'll be waiting for the day you girls get strong enough, then we'll have a proper fight. But don't take too long, because I'm getting bored already!"

And with that, Ahriman disappeared with Ino in his arms, leaving the witches defeated and stunned.

How was this ever going to get better again?

- End of Volume 1 -