[A meeting in a dark room with a long table. The only light source is from behind drawn blinds. Only outlines can be made out clearly. But voices can be recognized...]

White Alice: ...and so, she activated Thursday, in order to thwart me. It's my fault. I was a greedy fool. If anyone needs to be punished for this, it's me.

Asako: Hn. And you, Black Alice?

Black Alice: *in very soft, almost inaudible speech* ....I relocated her some time after o-nee-sama was forced to leave her, but I couldn't bring myself to come anywhere near her location.

Asako: Really. And why was that?

Black Alice: *quietly* Her soul frightens me, Nishida-san. She is akai. She is red.

White Alice: What? That can't be. I definitely felt a green pattern from her.

Black Alice: *quietly* Forgive me, o-nee-sama. I only know what I feel.

Yuuryou: ...........*chuckles*

Asako: Yuuryou-sama?

Yuuryou: She's taken on her true form. The real colour of her soul cannot be hidden in such a situation.

White Alice: What? But--

Asako: Do not interrupt Yuuryou-sama! Do you not value your life?

Yuuryou: Asako. It's all right. She wasn't interrupting me. You were saying..?

White Alice: I... I do not understand, sir-- Shinryoku-sama. I do not understand how a soul's colour can be "hidden".

Yuuryou: It is indeed a mysterious thing. So far, only a few souls seem to be capable of it-- most of them are purple to begin with. But quite a few vary, and all of those belong to the ones who call themselves "authors".

Black Alice: *quietly* Forgive me for the intrusion, Shinryoku-sama... but what is an "author"?

Yuuryou: Usually, a self-appointed god, over an unwillingly subjugated people. Chatty is such a type. She "collects" souls for the sake of their usefulness and entertainment value. They mean nothing more to her than that. But...

[A long, heaving sigh.]

Yuuryou: But I must be fair. Not all authors are of that variety. A few, very, very rare ones, meddle in the lives of those below them as a means of searching for the truth. They throw difficulties into our way, that they may see how we overcome from them, and learn from our mistakes. They put love and friendship and death into our lives, that they may observe the beauty of our joys and sorrows.

Black Alice: *might actually be sniffling* Shinryoku-sama...

Yuuryou: But most are not like that. Most are manipulative, self-serving bastards that should mind their own business and leave the rest of us alone. Which also applies to us, I might add. We stick to our own business, and leave everyone else to theirs. Isn't that so, White Alice?

White Alice: H-hai, Shinryoku-sama.

Yuuryou: We all know what I brought the strongest of the Midori here for. Don't let it slip your mind again.

White Alice: ...hai, Shinryoku-sama.

Yuuryou: As for you, Black Alice... are you really that afraid of her?

Black Alice: *quietly* Hai, Shinryoku-sama.

Yuuryou: But with the Snow falling, and without... *disgustedly* ..."Thursday"... to feed off of, she's far too weak to be a match for you.

Black Alice: *quietly* The akai tamashii frightens me, Shinryoku-sama. The legends speak of one that turned entire fields of soldiers into a sea of blood... and that one was but a child...

Yuuryou: *softly* Very well then. I will go with you this time.

Asako: Yuuryou-sama!

Yuuryou: Yes, Asako?

Asako: But... ah...

[Long pause.]

Asako: ...it's nothing, Yuuryou-sama.

Yuuryou: And you, Black Alice? Are you all right with this?

Black Alice: *quietly surprised* Hai, Shinryoku-sama.

Yuuryou: Yoroshii ne.

[And the conversation continues without us...]