(in the year 1599)
Jill: "It all started in this forest… the point where Liza… changed. This forest… I will never forget it… because… from then on, the hesitant, smiling Liza—the shy Liza—changed. Understandable… in this forest… we saw things… Liza changed, Sophie changed, and the others too… I believe… this day… was perhaps the worst day of my life. That's why we called it the Day of the Damned."
(1595)
Dante: "We have to get through the forest."
Sophie: "Stay close… nobody wanders off… you too, Dylan…"
Dylan: "…hmmmm… mmh…"
Dylan sounded and looked odd. Since they found him again, he hardly spoke.
Jill: "...(gulp)… alright…"
They moved on.
Sophie: "A forest beneath the earth… who would have thought."
Jill: "Mhm…"
Dante: "We need to be careful…"
The Gift: "Hhhhh…"
Hansel: "…ugh… look… over there…"
He pointed at a tree. A corpse hung there, split into two pieces—the upper half in the branches, the lower half on the ground.
Liza: "Ugh…"
Sophie: "Hah…"
They approached.
Sophie: "No human could have done this, that's for sure…"
The Gift: "The internal organs are missing…"
Sophie: "The eyes… I think he tried to run."
Liza: "Look… over there… a body… a woman this time."
Hansel: "Mhm… she wasn't split… but her internal organs are also gone…"
Zoe: "Hhh…"
(Crash!)
Sophie: "Ugh…"
The Gift: "Huh!"
They heard something. They turned—something was charging at them… on four legs… tall, about four meters… long legs… but they couldn't really see it because it was so fast—only a shadow and its screams.
(rarrr… roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!)
The Gift: "Should… a ghoul be that big…"
Jill: "…in… the books it's… actually that big… but this isn't a ghoul! I don't know what it is…"
It rushed them.
Sophie: "Run!"
They bolted.
(Patch) (Patch!)
(Roaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!)
Sophie: "It's almost here…"
They ran.
(roaaaaar!)
(Splach!)
Sophie: "Ugh!"
Liza: "Ugh…"
Jill: "…Huh!"
Kenn: "Ugh…"
The Gift: "…hahhh…"
(Splach!)
It slashed Hansel… it tore Hansel in two.
(Hrrrrr)
Sophie: "Hansel!"
She tried to run to him.
Kenn: "No—are you insane."
Sophie: "Let me go I have to get to him please… Hansel!"
Kenn: "Look at him! … damn it… just look…"
Sophie: "Ugh…"
Hansel had been ripped in two… the monster didn't care about them… it was eating him…
Sophie: "Hahh…"
Kenn: "We… we have to get out of here…"
He pulled her along.
Sophie: "But—"
The Gift: "Hahh!"
He hoisted her up.
The Gift: "We need to… move!"
They ran on. Sophie kept looking back.
Sophie: "Hahh…"
(Apocalypse!)
They kept running.
The Gift: "Ugh…"
Dante: "Ugh… do you… see that…"
A number—the number of another bunker?… Bunker No. 442. They stopped.
Sophie: "…hahh…"
Kenn: "A bunker here…"
The Gift: "But the town is built differently."
Jill: "More like… a village… or a small town… there's even forest… nature… and above there's a big hole, so you can see the sun."
Dante: "But… bunkers were built to protect from the poison and the atoms… why is it like this?"
Jill: "I think… rather… that hole formed after the bunker—so it was closed when this bunker was built…"
Dante: "Hmm."
The Gift: "That makes sense… especially… if you look over there—you can see some broken houses… probably from the collapse, though it's near the lake, so only about two houses seem really damaged."
They went down.
Sophie: "…hahh…"
Kenn: "Pull yourself together now…"
Sophie: "What?"
The Gift: "Shhh… Kenn… let her be… Hansel was like a little brother to her… she thinks she couldn't protect him and failed her job as protector…"
Kenn: "She didn't have to."
Sophie: "Hah…"
The Gift: "Since Hansel was younger and she was his instructor… she likely feels… that she should have protected him… that's how she thinks…"
Kenn: "Hmm."
Jill: "…this town… it's oddly built… huh!"
Zoe: "What… is it."
Jill: "Down!"
They ducked. Suddenly, several guns aimed at them from the house windows.
(Who are you!)
Dante: "People live here?"
Sophie: "What…"
Dante: "We're survivors."
(Normal… or Black Eye!)
Dante: "Normal!"
They came out of the doors… they were… children… kids between 8 and 13 years old.
Sophie: "Chi…ldren?"
Liza: "What… is going on here…"
(Patch) (Patch!)
"Hello, my name is Rita…"
Said one of the children, probably the oldest.
Rita: "Rita Vende… pleased to meet you."
(Meanwhile)
Asmedous: "…who would have thought… that they'd make it here… Nita… would you care to explain?"
Nita: "Explain what."
Asmedous: "We may be two different races—you're a witch and I'm a Crimson—but… we share the same goal… Mother of the Abyss. We both come from the Abyss."
Nita: "…that may be true… but still… my goal is to find my parents' artifact… your goal is to use the Mother of the Abyss… don't forget—we are not the same just because we come from the same place."
Asmedous: "Hahahahaha… you're right… I would never say we're the same… the difference is… hehe… you witches were culled because of your link to that evil fairytale witch—what was her name again… Frau Holle?"
Nita: "Hmmm… 'fairytales'—that's what they called those who once fought against the Dark Wunderland… unbelievable when you think about it… The Abyss is in another dimension… so humans could never reach it…"
Asmedous: "Hehe… well then…"
Nita: "I'll be on my way… By the way, this is the last time… that we witches team up with you…"
Asmedous: "Hehehe…"
Nita: "Tell The Eye this: he and his Red Crimson King should keep their heads down—and watch the rails…"
She vanished.
Asmedous: "Oh dear…"
(1350)
Long ago… certain beings called the Grimms existed in the human world… creatures from another dimension—the Dark Wunderland—ruled by the seven deadly sins. Those monsters called Grimms arose from human fears… just like the Crimsons. In 1880, the door to the Dark Wunderland was sealed forever… but then… the First and Second World War arose within a span of not even 80 years… suffering… fears… negative thoughts grew so great… that a dimension called the Abyss… opened, and that dimension is like the Dark Wunderland—beings live there who, like the Grimms, feed on the negative emotions of living things… The leader of that dimension, born from human suffering… is called Abyss. As it appears, no one knows—it's another world… that much is known.
(Apocalypse!)
(Meanwhile)
Liza: "Ugh…"
Rita: "May I ask where you're from?"
Dante: "We… come from Mirica…"
Rita: "U… SA?… what is that?"
Sophie: "Ugh…"
Zoe: "How long have you lived here?"
Rita: "We've lived in the bunkers since we were born… well… not entirely—we lived in the upper world too—our parents at least… but people didn't want to take care of us, either because of too much food to fetch and responsibility, so they threw us into this bunker… through that hole you see up there…"
Sophie: "That… can be deadly… falling from there."
Rita: "Some died… many, actually—including my little sister… they threw us here… for no reason… no one is here for us…"
Sophie: "Ugh…"
Rita: "I'm sorry… this is the first time I've seen an adult… who isn't from the Black Eye. The people who come here are those Black Eye operatives you always hear about… but… mostly it's those… creatures…"
Sophie: "Creatures?"
Jill: "Describe them."
Rita: "They're big… the females have lilac-colored skin, the males have white skin, sometimes gray… and they always wear masks…"
Liza: "…Crimsons…"
Rita: "Huh?.."
Sophie: "That's what they call themselves…"
Rita: "Oh…"
Dante: "How about… you tell us exactly what they do."
Sophie: "…What do they do here… when they come…"
Rita: "They h… hunt us and eat us."
Dante: "Ugh…"
They realized it… they had arrived at a bunker… where the Crimsons hunted, killed, and ate the poor children… But what exactly was Bunker 442—and how had these kids survived so long?
Zoe: "And how have you survived this long…"
Rita: "We have Milim to thank for that… Milim is the one who helped us live here… If you want to meet her, you'll have to wait—she helped us, but we rarely see her… she's probably in the forests… We know the place… I'll show you."
They followed her. It took a while until they arrived…
Rita: "…Milim… Milim!"
Suddenly they heard a gentle, deep voice.
Milim: "Here I am, my dear… what a visit… I knew you would come and show me those people."
She appeared.
Dante: "Ugh."
The Gift: "What…"
Sophie: "But… that's…"
Liza: "…that's a Crimson!"
They looked at her—she had lilac skin, a mask over her eyes, and a staff.
Milim: "Hello… my name is Milim… Milim Dahlia… pleasure to meet you."