The shelter beneath Raizen High was dimly lit, the hum of the emergency generators filling the silence between muffled conversations. The air carried that heavy stillness that only comes after a storm — the kind that made people whisper instead of speak.
In a corner, away from the crowded benches, Marigold sat curled into herself, face buried deep into the soft golden-brown fur of the ferret cradled in her arms. Natsumi, in her animal form, didn't move except for the slow rise and fall of her breathing. Her green eyes, half-lidded, were fixed on the far wall, avoiding the staring glances from those who didn't understand.
The little girl's shoulders shook violently. Her tiny fingers clutched at Natsumi's fur as though letting go would mean losing something forever.
"Gr… G-Granny M-M-Muku…" She stammered between sobs, her voice breaking into fragments. The rest of her words dissolved into hiccuping cries.
Kotori, leaning against the wall nearby, closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't need to ask — she already knew. Natsumi knew. Yoshino, sitting silently with Yoshinon limp in her lap, knew. The three of them shared the same grim understanding… and the same unwillingness to voice it.
Across the shelter, Shido watched, brow furrowed. He took a step closer, but Kotori's sharp glance stopped him.
"Why is she crying like that?" Kaguya whispered to Yuzuru, her voice low.
"Speculation: something bad has happened." Yuzuru replied, but her tone lacked its usual mechanical playfulness.
Origami stood in silence near the door, her eyes scanning the room, but her gaze kept flicking back towards the child.
Shido finally turned to Kotori. "Kotori, what's going on? Did something happen to Mukuro?"
Kotori didn't answer. Not directly. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she looked away.
The silence from her was answer enough to those who noticed it. But to Shido — and most in the shelter — it only deepened the unease.
~~~
The wind howled like a wounded beast, tearing at the blackened shoreline of Arubi Island. Salt spray lashed against Tenka's dark armor as she trudged forward, boots sinking into the rain-slick gravel. Beside her, Kurumi moved with measured, deliberate steps, her dress and hair whipping violently in the storm.
In the distance, beyond the crashing waves, a scar in the ocean stretched where the land had been torn apart. The separated mass of rock and soil jutted out like a broken tooth, now shrouded in a strange, black mist.
"You're walking too slow." Tenka snapped, turning to glare at Kurumi, her violet eyes burning with impatience. "If Mukuro's out there, we don't have time to—"
"If she's even still herself." Kurumi said, her tone calm but edged with something bitter.
Tenka's jaw clenched. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Kurumi's gaze didn't waver from the distant isle. "The key blade....you and I both saw it, it cracked. Shattered along the edge. That doesn't happen without reason."
Rainwater streaked down Tenka's face, dripping off her chin. "So you think she's dead?"
"No.." Kurumi said, voice lowering to something almost inaudible beneath the roar of the storm. "I think she's worse than dead."
Tenka stopped in her tracks, whipping around to face her fully. "You're pissing me off with your riddles! If you know something—"
"I know enough to fear what Salem can do." Kurumi interrupted sharply. "Do you think The Hound just was? No, Tenka. Someone was made into it. How else do you think it could talk?!"
The words cut through the rain like a blade. Tenka's breath caught for just a second, her mind conjuring images she didn't want to see.
Kurumi continued, her voice now as cold as the sea spray hitting their faces. "If the Hound was her experiment… then Mukuro may be her next."
The blackened landmass was silent, save for the constant hiss of waves breaking against its jagged base. Strange ridges of crystallized obsidian jutted from the ground, and pools of bubbling, inky fluid dotted the terrain.
In the center of the largest pool, the air shimmered with a faint, cosmic glow — faint, but wrong, like light trapped in tar.
Salem and The Hound stood there, watching as the pool bubbled. Salem stood tall and proud. A Menacing Aura flowed from her. The surface of the ooze rippled, as if it was alive and breathing. The Seer Grimm floated around the pool, Salem's hologram flickered. The Hound lowering its head, sniffing the bubbling black Grimm ooze.
Beneath the surface, a black cocoon had formed around Mukuro, it pulsed. Once. Twice. And then, the pool exploded. Black ooze rained down from the explosion. The Hound yelped as it backed away from the oozing pool.
What had risen from the oozing pool was no longer Mukuro, but something far worse.
There stood upon digitigrade limbs, towering at 2.1 meters, its fur was different from the usual black fur Grimm had, it had midnight-blue fur, and what shot through the fur were constellations that pulsed faintly like far-off stars. A tattered cosmic mantle clung to its shoulders, its edges dissolving into motes of light that vanished into the air. Its claws were tipped in crystalline obsidian and ice, and its face was obscured by a skull-like wolf mask, within which burned two cold, crimson red eyes.
The creature's breath came in slow, deliberate exhales, each one misting the air. Its head tilted slightly — almost curious — as Salem stepped forward.
"My… Heavenly Wolf." Salem spoke softly, her lips curling into a smile that held no warmth. "Lupus Caelestis."
The wolf's gaze fixed on her, unblinking.
"Your stars no longer belong to you." Salem murmured. "They belong to me."
The wolf, or rather Lupus Caelestis. Let out a bellowing loud howl, as if it were howling to the moon. The howl was loud enough to break through the raging storm and reaching far and wide.
~~~
Back beneath Raizen High, Marigold suddenly screamed. The sound was raw, jagged, tearing the room in half. Everyone turned. Marigold's small hands clutched at her chest as if something was being ripped away from her. "She's… she's not… Granny Muku's gone! She's—" Her voice broke, devolving into sobs again.
Shido approached again, unable to shake the gnawing sense of unease in his chest. He knelt beside her. "Marigold… what's wrong? Did something happen to Mukuro?"
Marigold's lips trembled. Her eyes, red and puffy, lifted to meet his for only a second before fresh tears welled up. She shook her head violently and buried her face into Natsumi's fur again.
Shido was getting frustrated, he wasn't getting a clear answer from her. But Kotori spoke, her voice calm and a low whisper, as she didn't want to sound like she was yelling.
"Shido." Kotori spoke softly. "....You need to prepare yourself, you all do..." She glanced at Mana and the others who didn't seem to grasp onto what happened, not yet at least.
Turning his gaze to his sister, Shido spoke. "What do you mean?"
Natsumi wriggled and shimmed her away from Marigold as she poofed back into her normal form. "Geez, how dense can you be Shido..." Natsumi muttered, her gaze looking at him. "Mukuro isn't with us.....not anymore she isn't..."
Shido stumbled back, as if he were hit with a tone of bricks. "That can't be....there has to be some misunderstanding."
Reine adjusted her glasses, she felt it. She didn't understand how she didn't feel it sooner. The way Marigold cried, the silence, the screaming. "Shin....Natsumi is telling the truth....Mukuro isn't within our plane of existence anymore..."
Shido clinched his fists, he was seething with anger. Shaking almost, his gaze hardened as he went to the hatch of the shelter. However, Kotori punched across the face. Knocking him back.
"Don't be a fool Shido!" Kotori snapped. "You're going to get yourself killed! Don't you see! We've lost! Mukuro's gone!"
Everyone gasped at Kotori's sudden outburst. Marigold was silent, she was rocking back and forth, her hands on both sides of her head. "...Mama.....Mama...please....."
Natsumi turned her gaze to Marigold, she poofed back into a ferret. Snuggling her way back into Marigold's hold, but Marigold didn't want to hold her. Not anymore.
"Salem isn't going to stop, we may be the resistance. But Salem is one step ahead of us...." Kotori spoke. "We have to wait, wait until we're for sure Tohka and Kurumi make it back, we lost Mukuro....we can't lose you too Shido."
Shido was silent, he rubbed his cheek as he looked down at the floor. Kotori was right, Shido wouldn't last ten seconds out there in this storm or against the Grimm. Not alone, no by himself.
"We can only wait Shin." Reine spoke. "Don't let yourself be consumed by hatred or darkness. You will only go down a dark path....a path of no return." She walked over to where Marigold was, she scooped her up in her arms as Natsumi fell from Marigold's lap.
"Where are you going?" Mana asked quietly.
Reine turned her attention to Mana. "To see if I can get her to sleep." She answered as she carried Marigold in her arms and headed down the hall.