The figureheads.

A few minutes passed since we left the island. Now its feeling better. Airi-chan is humming without any worry in the world. Wait... why isn't she scared? Didn't she face a life threatening situation?

I looked at her, but the waves caught my attention. I quickly stopped to look at the black shadows in front of me. I recognised the shadows immediately, it was that of a ship, probably the one who showed me the way. But the problem is, it is not one ship...

I saw more than ten ships at that time, surrounded by the thick fog. I could only see the shadows. Until...

The fog disappeared into nothingness. I didn't know what had happened. But what I did saw, I don't want to explain it...

Before me stood those ships, not just the shadows this time. The decapitated heads of my friends were... stuck on to the ships' figureheads... all of them were medieval ships. Maya, Miko and Sensei were among them. On the deck, I could see their limbs hanging like the freshly killed meat of animals. In the middle of it, I could see their lifeless bodies without limbs, and in all of the ships, there was one thing that was similar.

That girl in a white dress. She was there in all ships, with blood in her body. She was slicing the bodies with a butcher's knife, hitting it at insane speeds. I felt scared by the sound of her hitting the dead bodies. It was like an explosion. I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

She was the same person, I could vaguely see her face. Which was even more confusing. Some of the sliced up pieces fell into the sea because of her force.

"Mom...?", Airi-chan uttered.

"Airi-chan?", me calling just her name would be enough to know what I am asking.

"Sorry... I said that without thinking. Anyway, lets get out of here. I am not feeling good about this.", she held herself tightly.

I saw a small space in the middle of them. That was our only option, otherwise we would have become minced meat too. I maneuvered the boat through that, I didn't know how. But those heads still flashed in my head, blinding me from seeing up ahead. But its the sea of the blood moon, so I think I can be blinded a bit.

She was with me too. But before that, how will I tell this to others? That their friends have been decapitated? I didn't know the answer.

I crossed the fog, when the bright light again shone on me. It was Teiji this time too. He was waiting for me.

"What is this...", Airi-chan asked. She was suddenly blinded by it too.

"The watchtower light. Teiji is giving us directions."

"You have got yourself a good friend."

"Yeah. I have got you too. I am very lucky!"

It wasn't long before I reached fujigawa again... but this time, the whole atmosphere of the fujigawa was different. It was heavy. Did something happen? I don't know.

I escorted Airi-chan down the speedboat on the deck. It was the same deck from where they had disappeared... now they are gone, without any hope of return... Teiji might be happy to see Airi-chan alive, but what about others?

I could hear the footsteps of running as I looked back. It was Teiji, well I figured that one out before turning. In an instant, he went up the deck and started gasping.

"Why were you in such a hurry? Come on you didn't have to hurry like that."

"Katsuhito! There is no time!! Our classmates, and the village people are-", he looked up. His face looked terrified as he looked towards Airi-chan. "Katsuhito... who is that...?"

"Huh?" What was he talking about? "This is Airi-chan?"

"That... is not her..."

I looked at her. She was the same Airi-chan I remember before she disappeared into the sea. She looked at me with an innocent face. She was confused too, about what he was saying.

Airi-chan took a step at him, trying to reach out. He was gasping for air so much even I was concerned. But he took a step back. "Don't come near me!!" He yelled on the top of his lungs. My heart ached for Airi-chan. She was just trying to help, why is he acting like that again? It was all over again...

He ran to the opposite direction of us, leaving us stranded in the beach, with the blood moon right on top of us. It was shining intensely, the beach was red-shifted too. I tried to reach out to him, but Airi-chan stopped me.

She was looking blindly at the blood moon, she was captivated by it too. But her mind was in a different place.

"Katsuhito-kun, you haven't seen your mom in ages, no? How long has it been since you visited her grave?"

"A long time."

"Thats bad, you know. Let's go there right now!"