The Dance of Chaos [IC-Fantasy-OPEN]

[Castle Crashers]

Citadel of Aurilly
Kingdom of Duivene
Under the control of the Ecclesiarchy

"Oh my, little girl.. just how determined you are to take the first step on the way that will lead to your doom..", Justitia told her in a voice that sounded just as if the red eyed girl was really, and honestly feeling bad for her.."Of course I get to decide the fate of your enemy, Archbishop of Kindness, if you are so weak.. justice will be done, even if the world will perish. Your enemy has sinned, and he must pay and repent for those sins. You feel bad for him, and you say that you want to save him, even if you do not know the whole truth, even if you do not know what he has really done.. how naive you are, little girl." And Justitia smiled. "He is an abomination! Invidia was able to take advantage of him because envy was present in his heart and soul from the very beginning, because he betrayed what was good again and again."He did things that should never be mentioned, and even so, he refused to die and to be punished like he deserved to. His soul is broken and corrupted, sinful and envious, and he has manipulated you so much.. how can you be so blind? How can't you notice it? All those who have tried to help that boy in the past have suffered for their decision..
And the girl took a step forward. "Kindness has its limits, it must have its limits, when it turns into weakness. Your purpose isn't to save his soul, but to destroy the sin within it! Of course that he hasn't made you directly turn against us, that would have been suicidal.. but look where he has led you. You are rebelling against your Faith, against your Cult, against your Church, you are doing something unthinkable and you are ready to hurt your brothers and sisters in faith in order to liberate a servant of the sins, a servant of the darkness? That is worse than heresy.. and if you do it, if you continue to try to save him, you will fall into darkness and sin too.. and your soul will be lost." Justitia sighed. "You should realize that when a soul is beyond salvation, that when it can not be cleansed or freed from sin.. if you try too hard, you will fall on the other side, like so many others before you. You are far too innocent, little girl.. and if I will have to save you by force, I will.."

As soon as she finished speaking, the white haired girl snapped her fingers, and she quickly whispered a word that Julie would have been unable to hear.. just as hundreds of spears of light, like the fiery rays of the sun, appeared above Justitia, shining brightly in the darkness of the night. And not a moment sooner, all of them were thrown against the blue eyed girl at full speed..

Julie frowned as Justitia spoke, only seeming to grow more aggravated by her words. Why was it her right to decide the fate of her enemy? Her rival? It was up to her to decide who to save...who to spare...as the Archbishop of Kindness...and she watched as the spears of light generated above Justitia, and as she threw them forward, Julie was prepared. She yelled, "Protect me with your light, Benevolentia!" As Justitia generated her spears, and as they flew forward, on a sure course to turn the brunette into a kebab, a giant shield of hexagonal, golden light spread in a curve in front of the girl, the spears generating sparks of friction as they met the hard light surface. She took a light step back from the force before she looked up, her eyes fiery as she looked at the white-haired girl. She brought the shield to her side as the girls attack finished, this time generating a whip of light in her left, free hand.

"In the eyes of Benevolentia, everyone deserves a chance at forgiveness, a moment of kindness." She said with a growl. "Celio is no abomination...I have seen him face-to-face! I have revived him from near death, I've seen him laugh, and I've seen him cry. He's corrupted, yes, but he's just as human as you and I!" She yelled, grimacing at the memory of Celio, of how much he could be suffering because of her trust, her ignorance...she needed to get to him as soon as possible. "Sure, yes, he had envy in his heart, but so did I before Benevolentia saved me! That's a terrible excuse! You just want an excuse for your bloodlust, your sick entertainment at bringing suffering to others." She spit the words out, as if they tasted sour in her mouth. She cracked the whip against the ground before she ran for the white haired girl, cracking the whip at her, an attempt to distract her before she rammed her light shield into her side.

"Perhaps others have been corrupted, but none have been as strong as I am! None have been as faithful and true to Benevolentia as I!" She yelled, slamming her shield into the girl again before she jumped back, whipping her whip at the girl again, an attempt to grab her wrist, tie her up, grab anything to try and restrain her. "I am not rebelling against anything. If anything, I'm following it. We're supposed to forgive and help our enemies, we're supposed to treat others as we would treat ourselves!" She yelled, a look of emotional pain on her face as she had (possibly) tightened her light rope on the girl. "I don't want to hurt you. I never wanted to. You just...you have to let me try and save him! Please...I know I can save him. I know I can touch his heart, convince him how to be good...I just need the time to do that!" She told her, a frown on her face. "And if you don't let me...then I will just...be forced to go against your wishes. He is not as far gone as you think he is...he's just...scared and confused...just...let me give him someone to trust, someone to help him get away from Invidia!"

[Aellex]

"So, Pride, you aren't gonna introduce me to your friends?" A voice said, somehow seeming to come from all around the sins and the artefact. "That's shitty, it really is. And after everything we've been through too... It's difficult to express how hurt I am. Well at least, it is from up here. Lemme come down."

And then Leide jumped down from the roof, a series of semi-corporeal barriers forming beneath him to slow his descent. Around his shoulders was a large cloak, which was seemingly formed from little more than black, floating runes, and floated around him as if he were underwater. Two 'horns' of a similar form sprouted from his forehead. However, despite being probably the least noticeable change, quite possibly the most important difference was his eyes, which were now glowed a burning orange.

"Hey there gang..." He said, a smirk on his face. "I'm Leide. The smart one, not the "have to save everyone" idiot from before. I'm sure this is the start of a beautiful friendship. But I've gotta say before it's too late, there is one thing you're both wrong about."

And then he wandered over to Pride, casually slinging an arm around his shoulders.

"Pride has already declared his undying love for me. Now, I'd be happy to step aside, but you two'll need to show him that you love him more than I ever could. So, you know, go nuts, I'll be cheering you both on."

And then he brought his hand to his forehead, smacking it in mock frustration.

"Oh, but how could I get so ahead of myself! I don't even know your names yet! Can't build a good friendship without that... Why, the team dynamic would be awful! So, let's all introduce ourselves properly. Like I said before, I'm Leide, and I'll be here... Oh, probably until we leave the city and this whole negative aura thing fades enough for the idiot to take his body back again. I hope this love triangle continues far into the future, as it is very, very funny..."

Frederica smirked gleefully at the man's flamboyant entrance, truly things were becoming more interesting by the second !
"Love? Kihihihihi, if only! I haven't felt it, I haven't felt anything really, for eons. I was just having a little fun, that is all; but it seems Master has been getting truly upset by it and now that we've gotten a new guest, I'd better drop the act before I push him too far."

She turned to face him and with a mockingly sorry face continued "Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, boy, but a creature such as I has no bother for concepts like sex or gender. Don't be fooled by my appearance or behavior, I truly am a "Being" in the most literal sense of the word.
People always seem to be quick to forget that, no matter how many time I repeat it to them, and it's way funnier to let them continue to mislead themselves anyway so I guess you can't really be blamed for it since it's the first time you're seeing a thing like me.
I do am interested in your and Pride's relationship however, and I'd be glad if you could tell me everything about it.
I was wondering why he had been so concerned about that kid Rafal but if he fancy boys, I guess that would explain his reluctance to gift him to me..."

Leaving purposefully the last words trail for a couple of seconds, she clasped her hands affectedly before anyone could react and continued "Oh but I forget even the most basic courtesies, before we get to talk to our content, I should at least introduce myself properly!" holding the tails of her dress, she made a noble curtsy to the horned boy : "I am a thing of nothing, a Slave of Sin and currently bound by vassalic oath to our dear Archbishop right there."

With a mischievous smile on her face, she continued "I'm quite glad that someone with working eyes and a similar mind is joining us, theatrics are just not as fun with no one to witness them! I go by "Frederica" for now but since I sense already we're going to be the greatest of pals, I will let you call me just "Rica". Tis an honor I wouldn't bestow on any mortal so cherish it deeply."

She started to jump up and down in a childishly excited fashion but the grin that barred now her face had no innocence in it, just ugly maliciousness "Oh we're going to have so, so, so much fun together!"

[Castle Crashers]

It was a long, long period of darkness before Dax could open his eyes. No dreams, nothing; just silent, inky black. More often than not, Dax didn't dream. He couldn't remember the last time he had, and he was sure being forcibly put into unconsciousness didn't help. But when he opened his eyes, he expected pain. Dull, throbbing, ugly pain in his skull...but...it was all gone. He sighed, sitting up from the...bed..? A bed? He couldn't recall how he got here, but he felt fairly displeased by what he was certain the answer would be. It didn't look like a hospital or anything similar, after all. He sat up and scratched his head, noticing the dried blood on his forehead and in his hair with mild distaste. But...it was interesting to see that someone had, in fact, healed his wounds. Did the thick-skulled, idiotic knight really know how to heal? Interesting.

The situation was not ideal. He was pleased to see that Dante had not gotten curious enough to search his jacket either, finding most of his knives in absolute perfect condition; he made sure to keep them hidden, and the remembrance of his prized knife either being somewhere else in this odd home or out on the street somewhere filled him with a distant sense of displeasure. He stood, curiously looking around the small room a moment, heading for the door and--no surprise--the door was locked. As he had begun to suspect, this must've been Dante's home. The idiot had thought to lock him in the bedroom, but hadn't considered if Dax could use magic...however...Dax was no idiot. Now was not the time to utilize his escape. Dante knew more about Dax than he would've preferred, and the killer simply couldn't let that be. He had to know more about his captor, though, before he could do anything...and if he knew he could use magic, well...he might just try to restrain Dax more.

So, with a sigh and a deadpan look, he gave a knock on the bedroom door, expecting Dante to hear...if he was home, that is.

He Might Have Forgotten About His Guest...,
The Streets In General and the Apartment, The Coastal City of Terrohl,
The Grand Principality of Arghyo, Protectorate of the League of Anslem,
Ser Dante d'Aquila, the Stumbling Blade

"Morning, Signora di Falco!" the knight announced, his metal covered form clanking into the front of a cafe quite noisily. The old lady behind the counter, a Calarian of some culinary renown in the city, smiled at him and tilted her one good ear in his direction. "What was that, Dante dear!?" she practically screamed back, cupping her hand over the ear in order to seemingly hear better as well as startling several of the patrons that had already settled in for breakfast. Most of them either shrugged further into their meals or glared unappreciatively at the two Calarians for their morning vigor. "Oh... Right, sorry!" Dante whispered, smiling apologetically before walking back out the door. He returned literally a second afterwards and then, with a slight bow, said in his inside voice, "Buongiorno, Signora di Falco. How are you this morning?"

The woman's smile shifted from her previously caustic grin into a genuine smirk filled with warmth. "Much better, Dante, now that a certain swallow has decided to stop chirping so loudly." she responded, raising an eyebrow as she was already putting together his order. A blush somehow found its way onto the knight's cheeks as he meandered to the humble counter. Calarian cafes had never really taken off in Anselm nor any of the other countries that Dante had visited, so one could imagine his surprise and joy when he had wandered into one such cafe one day during his patrols of Terrohl. And it was even just a block from his apartment! Since then, he'd made it part of his daily routine to break his fast with a little Calarian delicacy known as espresso and a rather hefty sausage filled crepe. That was one of the top things he loved about his culture; they knew how to feed someone. And real, good, lovingly prepared food. Not the watered down shit-still or crap in a sausage skein that the Anselmians hawk as some sort of sustenance. A Calarian knew how to eat; everyone else were just amateurs acting like barely civilized barbarians.

Just before taking his breakfast, the knight suddenly remember the difference that he had going on right now. "Oh, Signora, I apologize, but I do have to bother you fo-"

"Dante, you bother me every fucking day when you walk in. What's a little more on top of the heaping helping I already have?" Regina di Falco, owner and proprietor of the Archon's Delight Cafe, interrupted, handing her customer a wax parchment wrapped crepe and a small mug full of espresso. The blush on Dante's face grew brighter as he grabbed the mug and crepe and looked another direction. "I, uhm..." he began, not knowing exactly how to continue but knowing he'd have to jump into it soon. "I, uh, have a visi-... a gue-... I have a person in my residence in dire need of some sustenance right now and I would so like it if you would be kind enough to make hi-he- that individual an extra hearty crepe!" the embarrassed knight spluttered out, bowing almost to the counter top.

Regina sighed put a hand over her face, concealing the genuine smile that was threatening to bloom across her face. "Dante, it's my goddamn job to make people food. I'd bring a fucking banquet to your house for this 'person' as long as you paid me enough... You are going to pay me, right?" Her eyes flashed like a bolt of lightning before a storm.

"Of course, Signora, of course!"

"Good... Now, you go sit in the kitchen while you eat your food so you can tell me all about your new boyfriend while I cook his breakfast." she said, motioning for her waiter, who happened to be her son, to take over the counter for now.

If Dante was blushing before, he was about to die of some sort of blockage in the heart, now. It seemed as if all the blood in his body had migrated into his face, causing the normally rather tan Calarian to become a rather peculiar shade of slightly sun dried tomato. "Signora!" he hissed, leaning forward. "H-He's not my boyfriend... I, uh, I-"

"With the way you talk about him already, you should probably work on that. Or he should, if he's already staying at your home."

And with that, they both wandered into the kitchen whispering at each other, Dante looking absolutely distressed while Regina barely held back her mischievous smile. Just because she was a seventy year old pastry chef didn't mean she could throw her weight around in the mischief category.

After a quick hour of conversation and general humor, the knight finally made his way out of the cafe with a rather large crepe wrapped in wax parchment and stuff in his shoulder bag. Now, all he had left to do, was to get back to his apartment and check up on his little guest. A smile slowly spread across his face as he started almost skipping down the road. It was a beautiful day on the coast, with the wind whipping through the streets, carrying the smell of the salt air. There was the perfect amount of cloud cover and everyone seemed to be walking around with a smile on their faces. Dante was included, of course, and he nodded to several other individuals he knew from his various deeds in the city. Absolutely, positively, certainly the perfect day to make that little murderer back in his flat into his boyfriend. He just needed a good meal and a few smack across the ears and then his delightfully melancholy face will be all 'Oh, thank you Dante! How can I ever repay you?' and he'll get that glimmer in his eye that says 'Yes, I totally mean it that way' and he'll slowly inch toward Dante's che-

"Listen here, you little Achisian bitch-bred, if I ever see you on my street again, you'll get more than a fist in the mouth, you hear me!?"

The voice, despite its message, seemed to tinkle with the sounds of innocence. It was definitely a child saying all of that and that fact just made Dante's shoulders rise and tense even more. His smile soured into a sneer as his eyes closed and his head tilted toward the sound. When his lids finally lifted, he was looking down an alleyway at a rather mature scene, if it wasn't for that fact that all of the actors were around the age of ten. Three Anselmian looking kids, mainly because the main one spoke Anselmian with a Northern accent, were huddled over a starved orphan who's brand on his face clearly marked him as Achisian. Dante gritted his teeth, straightened his spine, and did his best impression of an actually intimidating knight. As quietly as possible, which was strangely silent, the Calarian stalked right into the alley. The bullies didn't even notice him until his shadow had fully eclipsed the leader and, by proxy, the beaten Achisian on the ground. "I wouldn't happen to be seeing three children beat up another for no reason, would I? Because last time I checked, unprovoked assault was a three month sentence in jail... and a death sentence if you resist..." the knight whispered in his best danger filled tone and then punctuated it with a quick half tug on his sword, clashing the metal against his armor and causing a harsh rasp to ring out. All three bullies started to scatter, but sadly for the leader, Dante caught him just in time. "And if I see you doing it again, you'll get more than just a fist in the mouth, you hear me?" The squeeze of his harsh metal gauntlet was enough to make the bully piss himself and run away even harder than before. Looking down at the orphan, Dante smiled. "Sorry about that. You okay?"

All he received in response was a whimper.

Frowning, the knight stared at the helpless orphan for a moment, before sighing and mentally chastising himself for being wrathful. That was certainly not what a good, patient, temperate, and otherwise virtuous knight would have done. In order to make up for his sin, the man knelt down in front of the child, reached into his sack, and presented the crepe. Holding up a finger to represent one second, he carved the crepe in half and gave one to the child. "Go find the Archon's Delight Cafe on the Black Twins' Avenue, off the Main Road. Ask for, and this is important so remember it, Signora di Falco. Say that Dante sent you and that you're an orphan. She'll help you... I'm pretty certain." Waiting until the boy nodded, Dante smiled and continued on his way.

Literally a minute later, he helped stop a mugging, nearly got mugged himself, accidentally tripped up a thief running away from the guard, and, right outside his apartment, prevented the potential murder of a husband by his wife by helping carry a sofa up to their apartment. All in a day's work for Dante and it wasn't even noon yet! As soon as the young man had opened his door and set the crepe on the small table in the room, he heard a knock on the bedroom door. "Oh, you're awake already!" Dante said loudly, hopefully loudly enough to make it through the door. He reached into himself again, pointed at the door, and muttered something. It unlocked. "Come on out, then! The door should be unlocked... I was just starting up a fire to make some coffee!"

As soon as Dax heard the boy's cheery voice, he withheld the urge to groan. Of course he was home. If he hadn't, Dax might've almost, maybe, perhaps, had the chance to get out of the room...find a place to take the blonde boy by surprise, by the entrance, or something...and as he walked in, take him by surprise and slit his throat open. He desired to watch his wide eyes as he looked at him and fell to his knees, clutching his throat as his sweet, red blood poured from the wound...oh, it sounded so divine...Dax's fingers curled with excitement at the mere thought of listening to the boy choke on his blood...

But, perhaps, the moment would have to wait for now. Right now, he had to deal with actually finding a weakness for the idiot behind the wooden door besides the element of surprise. He listened as the lock came undone on the door before him, a discreet click as he turned the knob, opening the door...and seeing that the boy was not right at the door, but was instead across the room, by the fireplace. So he has some magical abilities... He thought with intrigue as he entered the main room with a fake-yet-convincing yawn, giving the impression that he hadn't already felt fully aware and awake. Not ideal. "So...how long have I...been out..?" He asked as he rubbed an eye, seemingly tired and worn as if the day was over and not beginning. He gave the blonde boy a lookover with his red eyes for a moment, seeming disoriented. "I guess a better question is...how long have you been out..?"

As the game continued, Alina found it harder and harder to support herself, and finally just let gravity take over, pulling her to her knees. He was winning. That little boy-creature was winning, and that meant--

She covered her mouth, trying to suppress the frightened whimpering that threatened to escape, the reactions that had become almost second nature to her--to freeze, and cry, and wait, because nothing else she might have tried would do any good.

They spoke in Thyrian, the two players, words she vaguely, distantly understood, something she'd learned--a long, long time ago, lifetimes ago, before the endless cycle of horror she'd been caught up in. Everything from before that had become a blur, really. There had been times, even, where she'd believed that she'd had no prior life, no existence as anything but Luxuria's slave.

She didn't know what this strange boy would want her for, beyond that or her magic. She didn't know how strong it could really be, not yet. Would that be it? To be little more than a weapon, that wouldn't be so bad. It was better, better than the only other possibility, the only other thing she was good for. The nightmare.

She felt so sick, thinking about it. The lingering nausea she'd already been feeling multiplied with the memories, even as she tried to push them back--gods, they were disgusting, horrible. After some of the things she'd done--

Her thoughts were rather mercifully interrupted by some of the further words of the small boy. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what he meant by 'interesting' or 'exciting'--but at the very least it was a distraction from the memories.

Broken, he called her. She supposed he was right. Broken and ruined, to the point that she'd allowed so many depraved things--

And then again, she was distracted--this time, by Rafal stabbing the little boy in the back.

For a moment, she thought there might be some hope--but he didn't even flinch, and just turned around, grabbing Rafal by the wrist and pushing the blade away, speaking as if he were about to--

"No!" she shrieked, and pushed herself between them as much as she could--the little boy was still holding Rafal's wrist, but she could mostly separate them, could put her own body between theirs. A human shield, much like the cultist had attempted to use her as before... but this time, done of her own free will.

"Don't kill him," she begged, yet again--how many times had she asked that, now? How many times had she--it didn't matter. He'd saved her, so she'd do whatever it took, she'd ask again and again in order to try and keep him alive. "That won't--that won't be exciting at all, will it? You should j-just let him go, right? It'd be... more fun for you that way... Please, just don't kill him... If you have to kill someone, if you have to, then you can kill me, instead... or, or hurt me, or whatever you want. I'll do whatever you want. I don't care. I'll scream or cry or do whatever you want. Even if you want me to not react at all, I don't--I don't know how I'll do it but I'll figure something out, I promise. I promise I'll do it. Whatever you tell me to. I can be--I can be interesting, as interesting as you want me to be. Just don't hurt him. Okay? Please. Please."

To say that the boy was scared and confused was an understatement. He had nearly been slaughtered by the boy across from him, separated by a giant vine wall, watched it burn, and was now forced to watch a game of keis, that of which was deciding whether or not he and the others around him's souls would soon belong to the skull-headed boy in front of him. He was terrified, and was stuck in an admittedly filthier and humiliating state than desired...and now, he could hear that this odd, cocky mage guy spoke Thyrian. Throne Thyrian admittedly, which Wulf couldn't understand much of, if any, but the wording...the accent...it felt familiar. It was recognizable, almost, the few times he'd ever heard nobles of any kind in Histria speak. Of course, very few usually hung around, so the language felt distant and broken to the boy.

And then...yes, then, he watched that boy that'd nearly cut him open earlier, break his frozen spell and slice the back of that boy...he felt relief, hope, for a mere second before fear took its place once more. He watched as the boy turned and forced Rafal to drop the sword by grabbing his wrist, and Wulf felt his heart speed with horrible, anxious adrenaline again. His attention was ripped away as the girl, the one that generated the vine wall, shrieked in opposition and stood between Rafal and the deity. She seemed to beg the boy to forgive him, that it wouldn't be exciting, that he should kill her instead. His heart felt fearful once more, knowing that, maybe, he'd made this situation more worse than it needed to be. The girl pleaded him, before--

"No!" He felt the words fall out of his mouth, frozen as he was, humiliated as he was, it just happened. "If you're going to kill someone, kill me!" He yelped, feeling the tears that'd fallen from his face before dry on his cheeks. "I'm the one that turned this situation worse than it needed to be...I'm the one that ruined your fun...I'm--I'm the expendable one!" He yelled, feeling fresh, hot tears prickle the corners of his eyes. "I'm the youngest, I'm the one with no future! If you're going to kill anyone, if you're going to enslave anyone, make it me!" He knew that, maybe, perhaps, he still had a chance at being the hero...at saving the day...as young as he was. He just...wanted to help. That's all he ever wanted.

[Tracian Empire]

Citadel of Aurilly
Kingdom of Duivene
Under the control of the Ecclesiarchy

For some reason, despite her usual battle prowess, Justitia was just too slow to react.. as if she did not expect Julie to be able to deflect her spears of light. Seemingly distracted by the blue haired girl's words, she was just too slow to react when she attacked, ramming the shield of light into her side. Julie was filled with just so much resentment and bitterness that the second time when she hit the white haired girl with her shield of light resulted in Justitia falling to the ground, coughing blood. Wounded like that, the Cardinal of Justice was seemingly unable to defend herself properly - so the Archbishop of Kindness was able to restrain her, tightening her rope around her. But the red haired girl just started to laugh painfully, between her coughs. "You're just so stupid, little girl.. acting all heroic like that.. heroes don't exist, and you should know that all too well. Remember the Prince of Duivene, Auguste? He was such a hero for his people.. and yet, your beloved Celio killed him without mercy, even if they were friends back when they were little. Celio's corruption started long before he even became the Archbishop of Envy, and the envy that he carried deep within his soul pushed him again and again to do unspeakable things.. " The girl laughed again, but she seemed to choke on her coughing for a few moments, before she spit some blood on the ground in front of her. "You don't want to hurt me? You want to help your enemies? You want to save him, to change his heart? You are more than free to try.. but don't come crying to me when your fantasies will be burnt to ash.."

Justitia seemed to be completely immobilized, and no matter of what else Julie would have said, she remained quiet, staring blankly into the distance. And most certainly, the brunette girl would have rushed towards the citadel, running to save Celio.. but when she arrived there.. she realized that she was too late. Far too late.. and she quickly also realized the reason for why the forces that had been defending this town were so small.. A massacre had happened in the courtyard in the middle of the citadel, and what she was now seeing in front of her were its remains. Someone or something that magically blown a hole in the wall of a nearby tower, allowing someone to get out of it.. and a large number of Scripture knights and Faith Keepers were lying dead in the middle of the courtyard which was filled with blood. Many of those bodies were dismembered, eviscerated, or horribly cut into pieces, and the girl would have soon realized that most of those wounds were probably created by a scythe.. but many of them had also been killed by black arrows, with clean and perfect hits. Celio was nowhere to be found, and even her magical compass seemed to be useless there.. and then, she heard a familiar giggle, with a liberated Justitia entering the courtyard.

And behind her.. a huge group of Scripture knights and Faith Keepers invaded the courtyard, stepping over the dead bodies of their former comrades, surrounding Julie.

"It's too late, isn't it? But I couldn't have told you about it of course, or you would have raced off after him.. he escaped, unfortunately, right around the time when you and your mysterious other friend attacked this city. Our forces were already weakened, so I had to draw you into a trap.. and well, it seems that you have fallen for it" The red eyed girl smiled, just as innocently as always. She covered her mouth with her right hand for a moment, distracting Julie as she murmured a word - and not a moment later, golden chains appeared from magical circles of light all around the blue haired girl, binding her arms and legs, and forcing her to kneel. Justitia took a few steps forward, stopping right in front of her before she suddenly kicked her right in the belly, with an amount of force that was just strange, coming from a little girl. "And don't you dare to fight back. The Faith has ordered to bring you back unharmed, but there is nothing I can do if you try to resist.. and what are you going to do? Kill everyone in this courtyard, like your beloved friend did?"

Justitia looked at her with disgust. "You've seen just how good of a person he is, right? Just look around you, and see how many people he has killed just for fun, in horrible ways. And don't think that he has done that just to escape.. you need to be more careful." Remaining quiet for a moment, Justitia kicked one of the dead bodies, revealing another one beneath.. the body of a peasant woman. And sure enough, if Julie were look carefully around her, she would have quickly realized that beneath the dead bodies of the knights and of the soldiers, there were civilians.. the inhabitants of the city.. revealing just why the city itself had been so quiet when she had entered it.. and why she hadn't seen a single civilian so far.. they were probably hiding in the citadel.. before Celio escaped.

"How certain are you that he is truly a victim, and that he truly needs your help, huh? You're not the first one that he has fooled, that's for sure.. and all of the people who have tried to help him ended dead, one way or another. You don't know the most heinous crime that your dear Celio has performed, right? Just as you didn't know that he had two half-sisters, right? " For a moment there, Justitia shuddered. "This monster was broken and corrupted long before he even met Invidia, he was a necromancer of Achisia, after all. He betrayed his own country when the war seemed to be lost, of course, and he fooled the Ecclesiarchy into letting him fight for the Faith.. only to attack his former brothers in arms. He brutally sacked some of Achisia's biggest cities, and he personally killed and mutilated his half-sisters when he found them..you think that there is any hope left for someone like him?" And the girl looked directly into Julie's eyes. "If you do, then you certainly don't deserve to live either."

---

Somewhere, in Achisia
A Forgotten City

Pride simply closed his eyes - even if of course, whether they were open or not didn't change the blackness that surrounded him, he still sometimes acted like that, especially now, when he took a few deep breaths as if he wanted to calm himself down.. but well, unfortunately for this new and extremely annoying Leide, Pride wasn't always the angry one..and the half-demonic boy was going to really, really regret his choice of acting like that, while turning his back to a certain person who wasn't exactly known for her ability to control her rage... and certainly, just a few moments after Leide stopped talking, a bloody red colored glaive, with its blade burning, pierced his back, all the way forward to his belly, going through his body as if it was butter, the wrath fueled magic of a certain ashen haired girl completely messing with whatever defensive magic Leide had prepared as if it was nothing. And sure enough, blood started to trickle from the corner of Wrath's mouth, showing just how much mana and anger she had spent for this one hit, but she leaned forward, whispering something into Leide's ear. "Do not ever, ever, touch him like that again, you vermin. You are funny and everything... but you are starting to annoy me.." Those looking at the scene would have quickly noticed that Wrath's eyes, normally gray - were now of a fiery red that nearly seemed to glow in the night...

Pride sighed, yet again, opening his eternally hollow eyes as he pushed Leide's arm from over his shoulder, turning around, and hesitating for a moment until he managed to clutch Leide's neck with his right hand, rising him in the air as if he was nothing. No blood was flowing from the wound, since well, the advantage of a burning magical blade was that it also easily cauterized a wound, and Wrath took a step back, removing her weapon from Leide's body. "Listen very well, fisher boy,", the silver eyed boy said in a really calm voice, and with a smile on his face, "We don't have time for your stupidity here, and we most certainly don't have any time to debate who loves me the most. We are here in order to do what my Lady has ordered me to do, and I will not let your nativity destroy our mission. You can act like a moron in your free time however you want, but I will not allow a little pawn like you to intervene in my plans, understood? " The people around them could nearly feel the temperature in the air dropping bit by bit, as Pride's tone became colder and colder. "I don't have time to comprehend your bipolarity here, but if you would stop trying to anger and annoy the people around here, that would be amazing.. and that also applies to you, Frederica."

Of course, Pride's empty eyes weren't actually looking at anything.. but the boy turned his head as if he wanted to keep his face in the rough direction of where the void elemental was. "As long as you are my servant, Frederica, you are a part of the Cult of Sins.. so I would really appreciate if you wouldn't try to make Meta want to put you to sleep.." And the boy sighed again. "Listen well, all of you.. the Night of the Bloody Moons is drawing near, and I am not waiting in this forsaken city for no reason at all.. there is something that we have to do for our sinful masters. Will you follow my orders, and will you help me do what I have to do? Or do I have to teach all of you some obedience?.."

[Charlia]

Despite his best efforts, Jeremy found he could only stand there, face blank, as the world around him erupted.

"Barbatos, what's happening?" He asked, looking in the direction of the weapon that had flung itself into his hands, been flung back out, and was currently being smashed against the wall by Miri's telekinesis.

"She's an relic, partner." Barbatos said, and Jeremy was surprised to find that as the sword spoke, his mind seemed to feel clearer. "An ancient magic weapon. She probably won't die from this, but you should probably step in anyway. It's entirely possible that Miri will keep going no matter what the vampire says."

"Wowthatssocool..." Jeremy whispered, before shaking his head and running over to Miri. "Miri, stop! Look, I'm fine, see? She didn't hurt me."

He put a hand on the girls shoulder, trying to at least make her look away from the poor weapon girl, maybe even calm her down!

"Please Miri, just calm down. It'd take more than a weapon flying at my face to hurt me. Besides, I honestly feel like we can all be friends here, but that means we can't fight each other, ok?"

He only partially noticed Liz leaving, but he decided that whatever she'd left for might be enough to help solve this whole mess. He spent a few seconds to build up his plan, nodding to himself and hoping to god that it would work.

"Hey, how about we all go and see what Lizzy's up to, yeah? I bet whatever she's doing must be pretty cool, especially if she didn't tell us about it. That means she wants to keep it a secret!"

"...I don't like her," Mireille said, turning to him with a scowl. "She could've hurt my friend. No one hurts my friends. Ever. Especially not a bad toy like that. Why not break her? She's just a stupid toy who should be broken--" Only a moment later, though, her eyes lit up slightly. "Secret? I like secrets. I wanna know. I wanna know what the secret is. Tell me, tell me! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase, Jermee? Let me know what the secret is! I wanna know!"

Somewhere, in Achisia
A Forgotten City

Pride simply closed his eyes - even if of course, whether they were open or not didn't change the blackness that surrounded him, he still sometimes acted like that, especially now, when he took a few deep breaths as if he wanted to calm himself down.. but well, unfortunately for this new and extremely annoying Leide, Pride wasn't always the angry one..and the half-demonic boy was going to really, really regret his choice of acting like that, while turning his back to a certain person who wasn't exactly known for her ability to control her rage... and certainly, just a few moments after Leide stopped talking, a bloody red colored glaive, with its blade burning, pierced his back, all the way forward to his belly, going through his body as if it was butter, the wrath fueled magic of a certain ashen haired girl completely messing with whatever defensive magic Leide had prepared as if it was nothing. And sure enough, blood started to trickle from the corner of Wrath's mouth, showing just how much mana and anger she had spent for this one hit, but she leaned forward, whispering something into Leide's ear. "Do not ever, ever, touch him like that again, you vermin. You are funny and everything... but you are starting to annoy me.." Those looking at the scene would have quickly noticed that Wrath's eyes, normally gray - were now of a fiery red that nearly seemed to glow in the night...

Pride sighed, yet again, opening his eternally hollow eyes as he pushed Leide's arm from over his shoulder, turning around, and hesitating for a moment until he managed to clutch Leide's neck with his right hand, rising him in the air as if he was nothing. No blood was flowing from the wound, since well, the advantage of a burning magical blade was that it also easily cauterized a wound, and Wrath took a step back, removing her weapon from Leide's body. "Listen very well, fisher boy,", the silver eyed boy said in a really calm voice, and with a smile on his face, "We don't have time for your stupidity here, and we most certainly don't have any time to debate who loves me the most. We are here in order to do what my Lady has ordered me to do, and I will not let your nativity destroy our mission. You can act like a moron in your free time however you want, but I will not allow a little pawn like you to intervene in my plans, understood? " The people around them could nearly feel the temperature in the air dropping bit by bit, as Pride's tone became colder and colder. "I don't have time to comprehend your bipolarity here, but if you would stop trying to anger and annoy the people around here, that would be amazing.. and that also applies to you, Frederica."

Of course, Pride's empty eyes weren't actually looking at anything.. but the boy turned his head as if he wanted to keep his face in the rough direction of where the void elemental was. "As long as you are my servant, Frederica, you are a part of the Cult of Sins.. so I would really appreciate if you wouldn't try to make Meta want to put you to sleep.." And the boy sighed again. "Listen well, all of you.. the Night of the Bloody Moons is drawing near, and I am not waiting in this forsaken city for no reason at all.. there is something that we have to do for our sinful masters. Will you follow my orders, and will you help me do what I have to do? Or do I have to teach all of you some obedience?.."

As the events continued to unfold in front of her, Meta touched the vial hanging around her neck almost reverently--but Wrath's actions brought a bright smile to her face, and she simply folded her hands in front of her, smiling still, though her eyes betrayed none of her feelings, made of glass as they were. And then, she turned to Pride, her smile widening slightly, before taking the folds of her dark blue dress into her hands and sweeping into an elegant curtsy, though of course, Pride couldn't see it. At the end of it, she sank to her knees, taking one of his hands in both of her own and kissing it gently, her lips soft but cold against his skin.

"You know I have never been anything but obedient," she said softly, her head bowed in a gesture of respect. "That will not change now, or ever. Tell me what you need of me."

[Charlia]

She didn't know how long it had been dark. She had no concept of time, not really. Sometimes things were dark. Sometimes they weren't. She always wanted it to be dark, and felt almost happy when that wish was granted.

But the lights came back, eventually, and the colors, and the pain that always came with them. It hurt, hurt, hurt. That was one of the words she knew, at least. Hurt. Pain. Things they did. They had taught her the feelings, and they had taught her the words that meant those feelings through their own speech.

She had never said those words, though. She was afraid to try.

She was dizzy, confused, trying to figure out what was going on--she was on the floor, as usual, legs tucked underneath her, arms spread out and chained, head bowed by exhaustion.

Cold. That was another word she knew. She was cold. She'd had something on her, once, something that had been soft and almost warm, but it was in pieces now, and she was cold again, the chill of the stone beneath her creeping up and into her bones. She didn't have the energy to move, to try and lessen the contact she had with it. She just wanted things to be dark again. She felt better when it was dark.

She could hear the sound of metal clinking as her chains were pulled tighter, forcing her to stretch up as far as she could to try and relieve the pain. She knew what that meant. They were going to hurt her again.

Sure enough, she heard footsteps behind her, and then--

A hand against her neck, pushing her hair out of the way, long, wild white strands falling into her face and obscuring her sight. She tried to ignore it, tried to make things go dark again--she wanted the dark to come back--

"Last chance to do what we asked," one of them said--she no longer had the energy to care which one was which--and a whimper built up in her throat. She was trying. She was trying. But she couldn't--she just couldn't--and then, and then--a hand right between her shoulder blades, and then there was warmth.

Warmth, but not the way she wanted. Burning through the cold, heat and pain radiating through her entire body, forcing her to try to pull away, struggling against the chains, a long, wounded cry tearing through the air, thrashing and sobbing, just wanting to get away, to get as far away as she could, to hide and let the dark take her again so that they couldn't hurt her anymore--but it was a futile effort, and in the end she was left simply hanging there and crying. She didn't have words to describe the pain. All she had were her own screams.

"...still nothing?" A sigh, followed by the chains loosening--but she didn't have time to move, didn't have time to do anything before one of them grabbed her shoulders and pulled at her, dragging her. She was too tired, too hurt to fight. There wasn't any point, anyway. She'd learned that a long time ago.

And then they let go, and she fell--and the cold was back, so cold, so cold, covering her, surrounding her, closing in on her and seeping inside of her so that it reached her blood and made it freeze. She couldn't breathe, and when she tried, she found icy water flooding into her mouth--and then she was pulled back up above the surface, and the air was back, but she was still too cold, the shivering pulling at some of the healing wounds littering her back, and there was a numbness in her that felt a lot like pain, spreading far too quickly. She felt like the tears had frozen on her face. She wanted to be warm again. She thought she'd take the burning pain back if only she could feel warm again. A strangled sob escaped her, and she shuddered violently.

She couldn't. She couldn't. She was trying, but she couldn't. She was so cold, so cold--she didn't have the energy to move. She tried to, but she just couldn't--couldn't--

She was so, so cold.

[Castle Crashers]

Citadel of Aurilly
Kingdom of Duivene
Under the control of the Ecclesiarchy

For some reason, despite her usual battle prowess, Justitia was just too slow to react.. as if she did not expect Julie to be able to deflect her spears of light. Seemingly distracted by the blue haired girl's words, she was just too slow to react when she attacked, ramming the shield of light into her side. Julie was filled with just so much resentment and bitterness that the second time when she hit the white haired girl with her shield of light resulted in Justitia falling to the ground, coughing blood. Wounded like that, the Cardinal of Justice was seemingly unable to defend herself properly - so the Archbishop of Kindness was able to restrain her, tightening her rope around her. But the red haired girl just started to laugh painfully, between her coughs. "You're just so stupid, little girl.. acting all heroic like that.. heroes don't exist, and you should know that all too well. Remember the Prince of Duivene, Auguste? He was such a hero for his people.. and yet, your beloved Celio killed him without mercy, even if they were friends back when they were little. Celio's corruption started long before he even became the Archbishop of Envy, and the envy that he carried deep within his soul pushed him again and again to do unspeakable things.. " The girl laughed again, but she seemed to choke on her coughing for a few moments, before she spit some blood on the ground in front of her. "You don't want to hurt me? You want to help your enemies? You want to save him, to change his heart? You are more than free to try.. but don't come crying to me when your fantasies will be burnt to ash.."

Justitia seemed to be completely immobilized, and no matter of what else Julie would have said, she remained quiet, staring blankly into the distance. And most certainly, the brunette girl would have rushed towards the citadel, running to save Celio.. but when she arrived there.. she realized that she was too late. Far too late.. and she quickly also realized the reason for why the forces that had been defending this town were so small.. A massacre had happened in the courtyard in the middle of the citadel, and what she was now seeing in front of her were its remains. Someone or something that magically blown a hole in the wall of a nearby tower, allowing someone to get out of it.. and a large number of Scripture knights and Faith Keepers were lying dead in the middle of the courtyard which was filled with blood. Many of those bodies were dismembered, eviscerated, or horribly cut into pieces, and the girl would have soon realized that most of those wounds were probably created by a scythe.. but many of them had also been killed by black arrows, with clean and perfect hits. Celio was nowhere to be found, and even her magical compass seemed to be useless there.. and then, she heard a familiar giggle, with a liberated Justitia entering the courtyard.

And behind her.. a huge group of Scripture knights and Faith Keepers invaded the courtyard, stepping over the dead bodies of their former comrades, surrounding Julie.

"It's too late, isn't it? But I couldn't have told you about it of course, or you would have raced off after him.. he escaped, unfortunately, right around the time when you and your mysterious other friend attacked this city. Our forces were already weakened, so I had to draw you into a trap.. and well, it seems that you have fallen for it" The red eyed girl smiled, just as innocently as always. She covered her mouth with her right hand for a moment, distracting Julie as she murmured a word - and not a moment later, golden chains appeared from magical circles of light all around the blue haired girl, binding her arms and legs, and forcing her to kneel. Justitia took a few steps forward, stopping right in front of her before she suddenly kicked her right in the belly, with an amount of force that was just strange, coming from a little girl. "And don't you dare to fight back. The Faith has ordered to bring you back unharmed, but there is nothing I can do if you try to resist.. and what are you going to do? Kill everyone in this courtyard, like your beloved friend did?"

Justitia looked at her with disgust. "You've seen just how good of a person he is, right? Just look around you, and see how many people he has killed just for fun, in horrible ways. And don't think that he has done that just to escape.. you need to be more careful." Remaining quiet for a moment, Justitia kicked one of the dead bodies, revealing another one beneath.. the body of a peasant woman. And sure enough, if Julie were look carefully around her, she would have quickly realized that beneath the dead bodies of the knights and of the soldiers, there were civilians.. the inhabitants of the city.. revealing just why the city itself had been so quiet when she had entered it.. and why she hadn't seen a single civilian so far.. they were probably hiding in the citadel.. before Celio escaped.

"How certain are you that he is truly a victim, and that he truly needs your help, huh? You're not the first one that he has fooled, that's for sure.. and all of the people who have tried to help him ended dead, one way or another. You don't know the most heinous crime that your dear Celio has performed, right? Just as you didn't know that he had two half-sisters, right? " For a moment there, Justitia shuddered. "This monster was broken and corrupted long before he even met Invidia, he was a necromancer of Achisia, after all. He betrayed his own country when the war seemed to be lost, of course, and he fooled the Ecclesiarchy into letting him fight for the Faith.. only to attack his former brothers in arms. He brutally sacked some of Achisia's biggest cities, and he personally killed and mutilated his half-sisters when he found them..you think that there is any hope left for someone like him?" And the girl looked directly into Julie's eyes. "If you do, then you certainly don't deserve to live either."

Julie sighed softly and looked away as Justitia spit her words of venom (and some blood, too), laughing, telling her not to return to her when her dreams are crushed. Julie said nothing, and instead kneeled in front of the distant, white-haired girl, gently brushing her forehead as she whispered a spell, standing as Justitia's wounds began to heal. "...I told you I wouldn't hurt you, even if I might regret it later." She said softly before she continued on her way into the citadel, more determined and hopeful than she had been before. She had only wished Justitia hadn't been so stubborn...perhaps, maybe, she wouldn't have had to touch her at all...she could've avoided conflict. She just...hated fighting so much...

...and as if her words had struck a venomous cord, before her lay a reason on why she seemed to hate fighting so much...the courtyard of the citadel, full of debris from a blown out hole in a nearby tower, a pile of eviscerated knights and Keepers lay in front of her feet...blood flooding the once clean, pure floor. She covered her mouth in shock, in horror...the sight made her stomach knot. Dismembered body parts...missing legs...missing heads...horrified expressions...fatal shots by black arrows that...could've almost seemed familiar if Julie had been even slightly more aware of what had really happened here...but the horror...was too great...

But as she heard Justitia giggle, as the knights and Keepers surrounded her, she couldn't take her eyes off of the many bodies that lay before her. She couldn't move...she wouldn't move...it was so terrible, such a...violent sight...and as Justitia explained everything, Julie seemed to have no reaction. She was simply stuck on the sight before her...and the only thing that seemed to really snap her out of it was when the red-eyed girl summoned chains to bring her to her knees, forcing her skin to make contact with the still-wet blood the drenched the court...and then, tears began to fall down her cheeks. No...no, he...he wouldn't...he...he couldn't--

And then, Justitia kicked her in her belly, evoking a quick yelp from the shocked girl as she bent again, her red cape shielding her back from being drenched in the blood of the knights more than she was already. She sat back up, unsurely, tears still running down her blank face...before, finally her face crumpled as the white-haired girl chided about how good of a person Celio was, that he killed for fun, that he hadn't done so just to escape. And it was perhaps then that she noticed the bodies of civilians, innocent people...so many of them...and she sobbed.

There was so much loss in front of her...so much death...and as Justitia continued to inform her of the horrors that her Archenemy had committed, that he was a necromancer of Achisia, that he betrayed his country, that he attacked Ecclesiarchy soldiers after he'd joined them, that he'd killed his sisters...and she sobbed. There was no need to look the Cardinal of Justice in the eyes. Julie cried, feeling guilt, pain, mistrust...she didn't want to believe it...she knew Justitia shouldn't be trusted...and she sobbed more, leaning her face into her cuffed hands. Oh, Benevolentia...Benevolentia...how am I supposed to forgive him..? How can I...shrug off all of this..? She pleaded to her goddess, hoping, somehow, she would hear her. How can I have the strength to let this by..? There is so much death...so much sorrow...how...how can I ever show kindness to him again..? It is my duty, my code, my moral to forgive and show kindness, but this...

She continued to cry. She wanted to believe in the good in him, in the fact that he'd saved her life, that she'd saved his...that he'd atleast held faith, and truly trusted her in his younger age...but this...She squeezed her eyes shut, wrapping her hands around the back of her head as she cried into her bloody knees. Benevolentia, how can I forgive this!? I want to believe it is Invidia, I want to believe he is good...but how can I when all of the cards are simply turned against me like this..!? And then--she stopped herself. This is horrible, this is terrible, a massacre...but I...I have to remember...who he really is... She screamed to herself, trying to cling to the dying faith she had in the boy she was supposed to save. He is not this death...he is not this horror...he is more than this! YOU are more than this! This breakage of faith...this mistrust...it's what Invidia wants...it's what...everyone else wants... She thought, sniffling, carefully considering her thoughts as she sat back up, her eyes still seeming distant. You cannot give up on him...he's all you have...if you can't break Invidia's control...no one will.

"...okay..." She said softly, weakly, appearing defeated. She didn't meet Justitia's gaze. "...I get it...just...let's leave this place..."

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Pynus of the Wind and Nym
Outside of Sedia, The Ecclesiarchy

---

“Very well. We shall take our leave.” Nym said as she turned back into her weapon form, and returned to Pynus’ side.

Pynus just sighed, and looked to Marina with a smile. “I have the feeling we will definitely meet again. Until then, stay Marina, don’t change.”

With that Pynus left, leaving Marina, and heading to put distance between her and Sedia.

---

The Forgotten Prince, Az'goxaak
A certain prison, The Ecclesiarchy

---

“Ummmmm… What do we have here?” Az said as he peeked out from an alley, looking at the citadel within this small city. There was definitely something strange within its walls. He felt it. He felt it from quite a distance away. It was a power that was similar to something he hadn’t felt for a long time. It was the power of an angel.

However, it felt ever so slightly off, which was why he decided to seek out the source. If it didn’t feel off, well, he would have turned tail and ran, as he didn’t want to deal with an angel as doing so would likely force him to reveal his existence to Heavens. But this, this power, while no doubt it was angelic, the fact that there was something off about it was enough to grab his attention.

So, here he was, in an alley, not far from the citadel, and planning. How was he going to get in? He doubt that he could bluff his way in, or make deals like he did back in Chovers. He would have to sneak in, but if they had a way to detect his presence that would be difficult. Then again, he doubted they would be expecting a demon to break into such a location, much less a Prince of Hell.

He spent some time just watching the walls. Watching the patrols, watching those who would leave and enter the citadel. When the time came, he acted. Using an illusion, he caught the attention of one guard, and drew him away from the citadel, towards an alley. A few minutes later, the guard left the alley and returned to the citadel.

Except this wasn’t the guard. This was Az, using his illusions to appear just like the guard, and slip into the citadel. The real guard was not harmed though, just unconscious back in the alley, with more of Az’s illusions cast on him making the unconscious guard appear like nothing more than a pile of crates and barrels.
Anyways, once Az was in, he found a place out of sight, and dropped the illusion, before casting a new illusion, this time making him practically invisible. With this new illusion, he began to slowly, and carefully sneak his way through the citadel. He would avoid guards and people within the citadel as much as possible. Making his way for the source of the strange angelic power he felt.

---

The Bestial Butcher, Auryon Rakhasa
A Forgotten City, Achisia

---

“As long as flesh is provided…” A voice spoke, from the ruins of one of the nearby buildings, where Auryon, without a cloak, could be seen standing on one the higher level of the ruined structure, holding something rather long. She remained only for a moment before disappearing and reappearing in front of Pride, and extending a severed and slightly chewed up arm towards him, “I’ll lend a hand.”

“Oh, not this one though.” She laughed and took a few steps back before taking a bite out of it, “This is my snack. Tasty man flesh. By the way Pride, you owe me. You owe me more man-flesh. I was busy you know. Driving a southern nation into a sudden winter takes time you know. Time and flesh. But since you called, I had to come. Time is something I have, but you owe me man-flesh. Lots and lots of man-flesh. I don’t see that though. No man-flesh here… Unless I can eat that one who pissed of Wrath…”

“But that would be a no now wouldn’t it... “ Auryon sighed and looked around. Her gaze stopped on Meta, and Auryon smiled as she walked over to the only being that she kinda cared about, “Hey, look. It’s Flesh-Mother. How are you doing Flesh-Mother? How long has it been?”

[Tracian Empire]

A cruel prison
The Ecclesiarchy

Most of the knights in that large room refused to even look at her, pretending that nothing was happening, ignoring her cries, her screams, her sobbing. It was rather obvious that most of them were uncomfortable with what was happening here.. after all, they were soldiers..they were used with killing monsters, demons, or enemies of the Faith..during battles, and during times of war. But.. hurting someone like this, in times of peace? Someone who was unable to properly defend herself? Where was the honor of doing that? This should have been the job of those sick and twisted Faith Keepers.. so why were they, the Knights of the Morning Star, forced to do it?

But still, none of them did anything against it, no matter of how wrong it seemed to be. They had been told that this experiment was important for the protection of the Faith.. so they just stood there, doing their job. Some of them guarding the door, others were just staying around, looking at the floor or keeping their eyes closed, as the priests, in their white robes, handled the chains, the burning, the water. The pain. They were trying to hurt her, to hurt her as much as possible.. but why? To awaken her powers, they said, but none of the knights were able to understand it.. just as they had no idea who the girl that they hurt was. They weren't demons of being of higher power, so they were clearly unable to feel her angelic energy.. and since the girl was seemingly unable to manifest her powers into their mortal realm, they had no way of knowing it.. all they could do was to listen to their orders and to just.. pretend that nothing bad was happening. Except for one of them.

One of those knights wasn't looking away on purpose like the others. One of them was looking directly at the girl, and had been looking straight at her for a while, ever since he had entered this room, presumably to start his shift, and even before then - he had been there for a while, for a few days at least.. or was it weeks? Instead of the normal, silver and golden armor of the Knights of the Morning Star, he was wearing a simple and mostly white uniform, with some black and golden accents, and he was also wearing a crimson red cape, which set him apart from the rest - just like the white scarf that he was wearing around his neck was weird. . His skin was relatively pale, and his hair was short and somewhat messy, of a light blonde color. But his eyes.. his eyes had a light golden color, and they clearly stood out in the poorly lit room, even if they were not glowing.. but they seemed to be.. hollow. Emotionless. Empty, like the entrance into a bottomless pit. They weren't like the eyes of blind people, but they were strangely similar, and they never betrayed their master, never telling whatever could be going on inside his head. And that was just how he acted. He was quiet, never talking to any of his comrades, never saying anything, just looking at the girl a blank expression on his face. He wasn't enjoying it, but he didn't seem to be pitying her either, and he didn't act as if he was ashamed like most of his other brothers in arms, and yet he wasn't as cruel as the priests or some of the guards either. He was just.. there, constantly watching her in silence, for every moment when he was in that room. He wasn't doing anything special, just tightly gripping his spear, with its black, wooden shaft and the two golden blades, one on each tip.

But all the pain that the girl was going through..eventually made him do.. something. Anything. As they pulled her up from under the water, the knight slowly took a few steps forward. "Let her go.", he said in a cold, empty voice, barely loud enough so that the priests would hear him. "What is he talking about?", one of them asked, while another one smirked. "Who knows?", he asked, hitting the girl with a wooden cane. Absolutely nothing changed in his expression.. but the knight talked again. "This is enough.", he seemed to declare, and the priest who was standing right in front of him laughed. "What are you even talking about, you dumb.."

The poor bastard didn't even manage to finish what he had started to say, as a golden blade pierced his throat in one swift move. The priest gurgled as blood stated to flow out from his mouth, and the knight simply withdrew his spear - letting the cruel servant of the Faith to fall on the ground, to choke on his own blood. One of the scared priests shouted something, while another one quickly chanted a spell - throwing a sphere of fire at him, but swiftly moving his spear, the knight somehow used it to stab the ball of fire before it could reach him in a fluid move, and the spear seemed to absorb the fire. Not a moment later, one of the golden blades launched a golden bolt of lighting forward - killing two of those priests at the same time. They fell on the ground too, as the smell of burnt flesh started to fill the room, and the one who was holding the chains tried to run away, only for a knife that the knight had thrown with his left hand to bring an end to his life.

Of course, with no one actually holding the chains, the girl plummeted into the cold water again, but before he was able to do much, he turned around, hitting one of his own brothers in arms with the wooden shaft of his spear right in the head, and as the first knight had fallen unconscious to the ground, the golden eyed boy pierced the thigh of the second with his, right in the space between two pieces of the armor, and as the man fell on his knees, the boy simply punched him straight in the face with his other hand. The third knight simply turned around and ran away from the room, as far as he could, while some other guards in the distance just remained where they were, too scared to move.

Turning around again, the blonde haired knight dropped his spear, and for some reason, he bit his left hand so hard that blood started to drop, but he seemed to ignore the pain - he spit some of that blood that had remained in his mouth and he took a deep breath, as he also jumped in the water, getting the girl out, and using a weird golden dagger to cut off the chains and her cuffs. Getting out of the water, he gently placed her on the ground for a few moments, as he looked at her with those dull eyes of his, before he took down his red cape and used it to cover her. Strangely enough, the remained quiet for a few moments after that, but screams and shouts quickly informed them that well, someone had finally noticed what happened.. there was no time to lose.

The knight took his spear again, and an even bigger lighting bolt crashed through the nearest wall, breaking it and creating a hole that led directly to the outside - they seemed to be somewhere in the upper floors of a high tower. A citadel's tower. Putting his spear in the weird, sheathe like thing on his back, that was being held in place by a black leather belt, he gently lifted the girl up.. before he suddenly jumped right through the hole. A few good hundred meters from the ground.

Wonderful.

---

Some time later, the knight slowly placed the girl on the ground, right next to a tree somewhere in a deep forest. The girl was still wrapped in that red cape of his, but the knight had remained quiet for all of their way here - from when he had used magic to land more or less roughly to how he fought his way in order to leave the city, abandoning it and eventually also losing their pursuers.. or well, most of them, but they had no idea to know that. So now, the boy looked once again at her with those golden eyes of his, and with the same blank and somewhat bored expression on his face...and he said something. "You're safe now."

[Faal Lot Himdah]

The Forgotten Prince, Az'goxaak
A certain prison, The Ecclesiarchy

---

He found it. Or rather her. The source of the power he felt. He found her, as they tortured her. Now, as a Prince of Hell, he'd seen his fair share of torture back when he was with Hell, and had always felt disgusted by it. But in this situation, could he do anything? Well, yeah he could. He could have gone to town on the entire citadel, let his wrath level the building. But if he did that, well, those he wanted to hide from would know of his existence, and his mortal body would be practically useless. Even if he went less loud, his invisibility would break, and he'd have to fight a bunch of soldiers and some priests. If he used illusions, no doubt someone would have noticed them as fake.

So, basically, if he did anything, he'd be in a bad position. So, all he could do was watch, and wait. Perhaps when there were less people he could act. Or he could hope that one of these humans had the courage to stand up against this horror. It wasn't long till his hope was realized, and he watched as one human, with some of the deadest eyes Az had ever seen, not only had the courage to speak his mind, but also fought for what he believed. Well, less fought, and more slaughtered.

Impressive... Az thought as he stood there, invisible. When the knight saved the girl, and the screams signalled it was time to leave, Az decided to follow the knight. Though, Az lost him after the knight jumped. With that, Az snuck out of the citadel, and began to follow the angelic power once again, until eventually finding himself up in a tree, not to far from the impressive knight and the girl.

"I wouldn't say that..." Az spoke as he sat there on the trees branch, the illusions that allowed him to get to his position without being noticed faded. "By saying that you are practically challenging fate. And fate does not like to be challenged. Ah, no need to reach for your weapon, I am not here to harm you, or the girl. The names Az by the way. Just a harmless traveller."

[Charlia]

The Bestial Butcher, Auryon Rakhasa
A Forgotten City, Achisia

---

“As long as flesh is provided…” A voice spoke, from the ruins of one of the nearby buildings, where Auryon, without a cloak, could be seen standing on one the higher level of the ruined structure, holding something rather long. She remained only for a moment before disappearing and reappearing in front of Pride, and extending a severed and slightly chewed up arm towards him, “I’ll lend a hand.”

“Oh, not this one though.” She laughed and took a few steps back before taking a bite out of it, “This is my snack. Tasty man flesh. By the way Pride, you owe me. You owe me more man-flesh. I was busy you know. Driving a southern nation into a sudden winter takes time you know. Time and flesh. But since you called, I had to come. Time is something I have, but you owe me man-flesh. Lots and lots of man-flesh. I don’t see that though. No man-flesh here… Unless I can eat that one who pissed of Wrath…”

“But that would be a no now wouldn’t it... “ Auryon sighed and looked around. Her gaze stopped on Meta, and Auryon smiled as she walked over to the only being that she kinda cared about, “Hey, look. It’s Flesh-Mother. How are you doing Flesh-Mother? How long has it been?”

"..." Meta stood up and turned towards Auryon, smiling slightly. She briefly considered reminding the other Archbishop that she did possess a name of sorts, but decided against it in the end--they'd gone down that path before, and obviously it hadn't exactly changed much.

"Hello, Auryon," she said softly. "It has been a while, hasn't it? Have you been eating well?" Had her eyes been real, they might have sparkled with humor, but as it was, she had only the wry smile on her face with which to communicate the intent behind her words.

---

When the knight stepped forward, she whimpered, cringing back and away from him--he was holding a weapon, and even if she didn't know what it was called, she knew that it would hurt her. But he spoke, using words that she didn't fully understand, that her clouded mind couldn't comprehend. They responded, and then there was a crack--she flinched, a pained, sharp cry cutting through the air as the cane snapped against the newly-formed brand, a sixteen-petaled flower nestled directly between the white wings sprouting from her back.

But then--

Blood, blood and screaming, but this time not her own. They started falling, and soon afterwards, the familiar smell of burning flesh reached her, the same that had been there when they'd marked her so cruelly. Only a moment later, the one holding the chains that bound her collapsed, and she fell again, back into the icy water, the cold flooding into her body again. With the chains dragging her body down, she couldn't reach the surface, could only struggle in vain against the metal weights, making no progress against their steady descent no matter how hard she tried.

Somewhere in her mind, she knew what was going to happen. No one was going to pull her back out this time. The dark would come back, just like she wanted, and this time it wouldn't ever go away again.

But then another dark shape entered the water with her, and she soon realized it had been the one who had started the bloodshed--she tried to pull away, afraid that he was going to drag her out and hurt her more like he'd hurt them, but he took out a golden dagger and cut through the shackles on her wrists with impossible ease. The metal fell away, and her body felt a great deal lighter, though the water was painful against the raw, broken skin the chafing of the cuffs had caused.

He pulled her closer with one arm, using the other to swim back to the surface, climbing out and taking her with him, before setting her down with a gentleness that was entirely unfamiliar and covering her up--she clutched at the cloth desperately, not out of any sense of shame but out of a desperate need for warmth. He said nothing, but the cries of others seemed to startle him into action once again, and he created a hole in a nearby wall before lifting her, still strangely gentle with his touch and movements, and then jumping out.

The next period of time was a blur, in her mind--shouting and running and fighting, though the one who'd taken her stayed quiet through all of it. When her mind was once again able to process events clearly, they were in a forest, and he was laying her back down, still wrapped in what he'd given her--she didn't know what to call it, but it wasn't cold, and that was good.

He looked at her the same way as he had looked at the others before, and he spoke, though she didn't fully understand what he was saying. The words were directed towards her, though, she could tell at least that much. But, she didn't know how to respond. She could understand some of it, but not enough.

She made a small, confused sound, trying to puzzle out his meaning in her head. There was only one she was really having trouble with--she knew the other two, but 'safe' was a word with no meaning to her.

And then another, another one spoke, using a lot of words she didn't know, making her head spin with bewilderment as she tried to understand what was going on.

She tried to think of something she could say, anything, to express her confusion. "...Safe?" she tried, her voice faltering slightly as she endeavored to say it the way he had.

Only a moment afterwards, though, she fell silent, her eyes widening slightly as if she were surprised by her own ability to speak.

She wondered what it meant.

[Zapatha]

Jacquesville, Duievene

It had been roughly a week since Peter and Jean had killed the cyclops in the nearby village, yet Peter still felt like it had happened just yesterday. Somewhat immobilized with the broken ribs, Peter left Jean to attend to wiping out the rest of the bandits in their lands while Jacques, his youngest brother, tended to daily matters of running the city. I would most likely remain that way for awhile too, as Peter would soon have to return to Chovers to carry out his duty as Minister of Economics to Duivene. Peter got up from his bed, wincing from the pain but still making his way over to his desk to overlook his papers.

In recent days, Peter had gotten reports of some sort of demon having a meeting with Princess Alexis which he highly doubted though if true could be useful for later purposes and put away the letter. Also unopened were letters regarding how Duivene should go about getting more funds for increased border patrols due to reports and sightings of members of the Cult of Sins, which unsettled Peter as he knew the kingdom was barely covering military expenses as it was, and adding any more would certainly result in economic backlash. To Peter, the best course of action it seemed was to get the assistance of Scripture knights and the Inquisition to hunt down these Cultists instead of immediately conscripting more and more soldiers for patrols.

Rubbing his temples, Peter said "You never told me how hard it was dad." as he contemplated how to deal with these threats in a way so as to lead the country in the right course of direction. Perhaps when he returned to the capital, he would have a chat with the Seneschal...

[Tracian Empire]

Somewhere
The borderlands of the Ecclesiarchy

As soon as Az started to speak, the knight immediately turned around, tightly gripping his spear and pointing one of its golden tips right at the demon who was standing there, on the tree branches, the sparks of golden electricity that appeared on the blade revealing that the spear's wielder was a moment away from using his lighting magic. Nothing had changed in the golden eyed boy's expression, even if he seemed to be vaguely distraught by someone's sudden appearance so close to them - he had probably been under the impression that they were alone. His first thought was probably that this man was hostile, but as he continued to speak, the Scripture knight recognized him as a Loroi...since he wasn't another knight of the Scriptures or a Faith Keeper, the boy slowly lowered his lance, but he continued to hold it in his hands, ready to fight at the first sign that the newcomer was hostile.

Since the Loroi didn't seem to have any intention of directly attacking them, the nameless knight remained quiet for a few good moments - as if he was pondering his next words carefully. "I don't care.. about fate. A knight's duty is to protect.. those who are in need. If fate will try to stop me.. I will fight against it." The boy then looked directly at Az with those dead eyes of his.. "If fate is.. as cruel as it seems to be.. then we should all fight against it.. "

And then the knight remained silent again, for a few more awkward moments.. before he heard the girl asking something..and of course, he turned around to look at her.. but he seemed to be.. perhaps a little confused? He then whispered something, in a voice that was so low that none of them managed to hear hit.. before he continued to speak in his usual cold and blank voice. "Yes.. safe..you will not be.. hurt again." A few more sparks of electricity started to twirl around the blades of his spear. "As for you..if you are not here to harm her.. what are you doing here?", the boy asked Az, remaining with his back at him. "It's not safe.. for a Loroi to be so close.. to the holy places.. of the human race.."

[Tracian Empire]

Much later
Somewhere else in Achisia
A field of death
The evening before the Night of the Bloody Moons

It was drawing near.. and they could all feel it. Those without any magic, the peasants, the soldiers, the townsfolk throughout the human realms, even the Karaki in their cold steppes and the Zemrai in their mountains of stone, they felt the horrible sensation of fear that it provoked, making them shiver, forcing them to hide in their homes. The mages, the humans with their chants, the Loroi with their magic from ancient times, they all felt how the magic around them was turning wild, pushed into insanity by cries of crimson. For the servants of the light, this spelled doom, it terrified them to feel the magic that was so helpful and obedient being filled with such a primal sense of chaos. This was the night when their spells were going to turn into darkness, this was the night when they were going to have to fight for ever chant and every spell that they used..as the normal balance of magic was going to be crushed for as long as the moons of crimson were going to shine.. while those servants of the darkness were going to rejoice, as the untamed magic was their slave this night.. This was the night when the Virtues were nearly powerless, a night of Sin, of chaos, of wildness, of evil corruption. All those servants of the holy virtues, from the lowliest knights to the cultists and even up to the first servants, to the Archbishops, were going to feel the corruption and the call of the sins that they loathed..while for the servants of the unholy sins, from the lowliest necromancers, to the slaves of the Cult of Sins and and to the personal servants of those accursed deities, the Archbishop of Sins.. they were are all going to have the most beautiful night of their lives.

This happened once every seven years, as a reminder of the harmony that the world had lost with the Calamity. Once the sun would turn to darkness, the three moons on the dark skies were going to cover each other, the stars themselves were going to disappear as the skies and the moons were going to be covered by blood, glowing in an unholy crimson. This was the Night of the Bloody Moons.

She had spent the last few weeks in prison, but with the Night drawing close, they couldn't hold her there. The entire Faith was shivering in fear, and all the servants of the light were going to have to fight during this night, from dusk till dawn. They had just told her where her dreaded archenemy was.. and they just let her go. If she was going to try to save him again, or if she was going to lose the fight.. she was going to die.. but the Faith didn't really care. It was a great thing, to sacrifice yourself in order to bring justice to the Faith's enemies, wasn't it?

She eventually arrived on this huge, empty and dead field somewhere in the Fallen Achisia. The site of another long forgotten battle, of ages past, of a war that had drowned the entire world in blood and pain. The grass itself was dead, and nothing was growing here anymore, the ground was burned and dry, and filled with bones and rusty armors and weapons. A mass grave filled with just so many dead bodies that no one could even count them, from the hated Achisians in their black armors and robes, the once proud knights of the blue unicorn in their broken armors, the Faith Keepers in their discolored, once white robes, the peasant soldiers of Velikiya in their furs, the paladins of Wyzkia with their wings broken, the mercenaries of Calaria and Anselm, their crossbows burnt, thrown in the ground over their green and ashen flags. Death, death and destruction everywhere. The sun was still there, on the sky, even if it was close to twilight.. and that's where she found him.

A boy, wearing black robes, with pale skin, and black hair, with the same metallic cuffs and collar, kneeling down in a deep pool of still fresh blood, doing something with a black dagger on the ground in front of him, whispering something that she couldn't hear, with a black and crimson spear thrown on the ground to his right.

He was all alone.. and the night was near.

[Tracian Empire]

Royal Palace of Chovers
Kingdom of Duivene

For a few rather obvious reasons, Alexis seemed to be a bit uncomfortable in her current, aristocratic attire, but she clearly made an effort to ignore both that and her exhaustion in order to listen to what Eric was trying to tell her, and when he described it, she couldn't help but shiver. It clearly reminded her of the War of the Seven Realms.. and memories of that godforsaken war were horrible, no matter on what side you had fought. She had tried her best, ever since the war had ended, to protect her realm, her people..from all and any of those who would try to harm them, and her constant campaigns were one of the biggest reasons for why she was just this tired...but to find out that a village had been destroyed, and that she hadn't been there to protect it.. it was painful. It truly was.

But when Eric had started to describe the woman who had apparently been leading this group of evil people.. Alexis pretty much froze. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but she then closed it, remaining quiet for a few moments, as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "A black blade, with a dark pink crystal.. that's probably.. a coincidence. Only the Gods know how many blades like that could exist throughout the realms..." And another few moments of silence followed. "But we can't just ignore this threat.. that group could still be somewhere within our borders... I've spent too much time resting. I'll send my knights to that region in a few hours, and I will prepare myself to leave tomorrow.. or maybe even tonight.. there is no time that we can.. lose.."

The blonde haired princess suddenly stopped talking, putting her left hand on a nearby column as if she was desperately trying to remain standing. "But say.. Eric..", she asked, in a voice that was much lower than before, "Did that woman.. also use a lance? Or a..spear?"

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Anselm
Near Heydekrug
Camp Black

Helvetica nodded, gifting the girl before her with an appreciative smile before taking her hand and shaking it. She then followed the girl to the table, taking a curious look at the map which she unfolded on the table. She immediately recognised it as one terrible map of the Loroi realms. When it came to showing the human realms of Velikiya and Anselm in the area, the map was very detailed but the truly interesting parts of the map, the Loroi realms, were mostly blank. The girl, who had introduced herself as Karelia Krizenek, the spymaster of the Black Band, pointed at a Velikiyan island, stating that they would need a base of operations closeby, giving several reasons for why this specific island was perfect for this purpose. She then pointed at the Great Steppe of Kanadroviya mentioning that the very commander of the Black Band, the Colonel, was deployed there with a mixed bag of mercenaries, fighting undead forces and complaining about it.

It seemed strange to Helvetica that the commander of a force, yes, the supreme commander of the Black Band would just complain rather than do something else. It gave her a hint that there was someone equal or above him in rank, yet in which organisation and who, that was unknown to her. But to return back to topic, the spymaster had given her the option to send that Colonel to the island to conquer it for her. Now, she could just let the spymaster handle that stuff for her but she felt as though she wanted to get a good first look at how well these mercenaries performed and how eager they truly were to work with them and so she put her hand onto the small girl's shoulder, who had been about to send a pidgeon with a message and said with a friendly smile:

"I will bring the message to the Colonel myself and help out in the capture of that island if it isn't too much to ask."

The small Karelia looked at her for a moment before shrugging and saying:

"Your money, your aching feet, your possible wounds. Not my problem. Do what you want to do."

Velikiya
Approaching that darn lonely isle
On board the "Wavecutter"

"Enjoying the view, Fräulein?"

, a raspy voice said behind Helvetica. And despite the sudden appearance of this voice, she did notn't even flinch. She had gotten used to this voice, knew to whom it belonged and knew all too well that its own was very fond of appearing behind her. And so she didn't greet him or turn around and just continued to stare at the Island, watching as ever new waves of Black Band mercenaries jumped from row boats into knee deep water and waded to the shore. The houses of the settlement on the coast may have been blocking her view but the sounds drifting over from the settlement were all she needed to know that she had chosen soldiers with the right mindset for this dirty work.

A pair of hands landed on the railing next to her. A quick glance to the side confirmed the the Colonel, this Dietrich, was apparently not yet done. But something was off about him. Don't get me wrong, he was an unusual specimen already right from the start, terrible like few others among his inferior race. But now he seemed different. His posture was more straight and not as hunched over as usual and he seemed to radiate energy while his eyes were hefted on the fighting on the island. Seems like he really does like war a lot, no surprise that a character like this made it to the top of the greatest mercenary organisation in Lonriel.

"Quite a bit, Colonel. I believe this is a good start to what will be a long and profitable partnership."

The man snickered before answering:

"I don't know how long this partnership will last. Things have a tendency to not last very long when one is as flexible as we are."

Just as he said that a volley of fire arrows rose up from the keep controlling the bay to the sky before coming down on the landing mercenary forces. But it was too little too late. Considerable amounts of mercenaries had already landed and where inside the settlement, making their way up towards the keep while butchering whoever they came across. The now continuos volleys of arrows raining down from the keep into the bay were simply the last, desperate attempts of a small garrison to cause casualties among the ruthless mercenaries who slaughtered those the garrison was supposed to protect. Now Helvetica had no clue why the Velikiyans were even bothering with fire arrow, seeing as the place they were shooting was full with water but next to her Dietrich facepalmed before saying:

"Damn fools want to set the row boats on fire. That's going to be about as easy as trying to slay a dragon with a company of young lads armed with slingshots. RETURN FIRE!"

The last part was shouted towards one of his underlings, accompanying him like always. It was a mage from the looks of his black and red robes. The man nodded before starting to cast some sort of illusion spell, a small magical circle appearing before him which then suddenly flew up towards the keep overlooking the bay all the while getting continuosly bigger so that it was relatively easy to see. A short time later a large magical circle hovered in front of the keep and while at first red, it quickly changed colours to green. And shortly after the circle had changed colours, the small fleet began firing. Small catapults and ballistas mounted on the ships fired their projectiles which seemed to travel so slowly through the sky above them, leaving behind their smoking trails before hitting the keep. Meanwhile the Colonel bowed before her, excusing himself:

"Excuse me Fräulein, I think I need to go ashore and coordinate the efforts there. I want this thing to fall as quickly as possible. In the meantime I would be very glad if you could assist our mages in ensuring that no plea for assistance leaves this island. See to it to interfere with magical means of communication and try to shoot down any courier you see, wether animalistic or humanoid."

She could easily see that he only wanted to land in order to see the slaughter and its aftereffects from up close but didn't say anything against that. Afterall he was the commander of these forces and she was only their customer. And so she simply nodded and joined the mages spread out over several of the ships in their efforts to keep the island isolated and helpless while Dietrich entered one of the rowboats and made landfall.

“My name is Mélanie Trebond, head of Clan Trebond. And I was on my way here before this man set upon me...I have no idea why he did it or what his purpose was, but he attacked me then. Not here per se, I was on my way to another part of town.” Mellie explained, why she was talking to the girl whose brother happened to be the employer of that savage she had no idea...but it felt good to tell the story anyway. And another vampire, it was rare to see another vampire especially where she was stationed.
“So...may I ask you your name?” she asked Lizbeth.

Anselm
Merkburger Fen
Outside the Manor

"Clan Trebond? You must excuse my lack of knowledge but I am relatively new to the entire vampire thing and have had little to not actual experience or knowledge about vampires."

, Lisbeth seemed pensive. She indeed didn't know about Clan Trebond, hell, she didn't even know Vampire Clans existed. This is what happens when you get turned as a small girl and then locked away for decades. No knowledge of anything apart from what you're focusing on. Now that she knew that something like a Clan or several existed, she was curious and had to make further question:

"Say, where is your Clan located? Where is your home? That might explain things a bit better since this dog usually doesn't attack if he doesn't have to, so if he isn't bound to it by the parameters of his mission."

Calaria
Border Region
War, plain and simple

Konstanze watched with a strange feeling as the forces of the Black Band marched past in front of her. Was this the feeling of might, of power? Probably she thought as she watched them marching past, their steps perfecty in sync with each other and the formation being four men wide and every block 20 men long. Despite their sometimes often ragged apparel, one could not deny that they were well drilled. They were highly disciplined as they just showcased in front of her and in the past month they had also showcased their immense skill when properly paid.

The past month saw the fall of several of the smaller forts as well as the end of the siege preparations for most of the larger bastions blocking the way of the Anselmian forces into the Calarian Heartlands. All of that had been spearheaded by the Black Band forces which had made up the bulk of the forces in the initial stages of the Calarian theatre. It was their merit that had substantially eased her task and given her nicely prepared siege camps and siege trenches as well as plentiful siege engines to continue the siege. Hence why she was withdrawing the Black Band from the frontline. One entire month of fighting and preparing sieges under fire had tired out the mercenaries although they did their best to not show it. Now with substantial forces made up from smaller mercenary groups as well as Anselmian forces, she was in a position to rotate her forces to keep them fresh and ready while the Calarians in their fortresses would be tired out.

A quick look at her own forces which were watching the Black Band marching off of course diminished her optimism. Sure, it was necessary to let her good forces rest but the forces she was then left with were pitiful. The Black and Yellow uniforms of the Anselmian forces looked nice but little could distract from the fact that apart from a cheap uniform and a spear and maybe a knife, most of these men had no equipment or even training. They were the militia forces of her homeland, only their numbers being sufficient enough to maintain a siege or fight a field battle. They were for the most part the poor sods, beggars and criminals picked from the streets of Anselm's cities and with promises of food, clothing and coin lured towards this war. She would have to let the remaining mercenaries train these poor men, the nobles and merchants surely wouldn't do it. Maybe then their combat worth would improve a bit.

Suddenly something caught her eye in the endless stream of red and black pushing past below her. A series of cart, covered by brown tarpaulins. What was off about them was, that they were not the supply carts because she knew that those were driving closer towards the end of the column of troops (although still protected by a sizeable rearguard) while these here were more in the middle of the column. What could it possibly be that they were protecting so much? She had to find out and so she shouted:

"Halt!"

The effect was immediate. The waggons stopped as well as the entire column though it took a while untill they all stopped. The mercenaries standing in front of her looked up to her, not even confused, merely as though they were waiting for her to be done already. She rode down around the rock from which she had been watching the mercenaries depart and came to a halt in front of one of the cart drivers, asking him:

"What are you transporting below those tarpaulins?"

The cart driver answered a bit bored:

"Spoils of war m'lady."

Konstanze motioned for one of her aides accompanying her, Vivian Thorne, to reveal what was below the tarpaulin. The small girl did so without hesitation, slinging her weapon over her shoulder and then using both hands to pull the tarpaulin away, revealing a rare sight. Furs, gold, silver, metalware, food etc. She knew that the Black Band had a reputation for sucking the lands it came across dry but to see firsthand that they took everything with any worth was something new to her.

This doesn't belong to them.

"This is not your property!"

The cart driver seemed to get annoyed now and said:

"Sure, that's why they're spoils of war. Taken by the right of force. Got a problem with that?"

This belongs to me.

But why she wondered? She didn't question the voice in her head, afterall it sounded ust like hers so it was probably just a different aspect of her bringing forward its thoughts on the situation.

They have been paid. They have no right to collect their payment from the land. The spoils of war are yours.

Indeed, this made sense. They had been paid and they sure as hell didn't need more valuables, especcially not in these quantities, just to drink them away in a tavern. Especcially because the lands they sucked dry were lands she later sought to integrate into Anselm. It was not good if they were going to be filled with a completely impoverished population. Or maybe she could use the valuables to finance the war. A war was always expensive and with the money she could make from such loot she could very well continue paying the Black Band and other forces far longer than she had originally anticipated. Yes, that was far better than just letting these mercenaries steal it from her and drink it away.

"Yes, I have a problem with that. The Black Band is under a paid contract and so far all of you have been receiving their pay on time so I do not see why you should attempt to extract more than you agreed to get. I order you to hand over those spoils of war to me right now!"

The mercenary stared at her with big eyes, confused, before breaking out in laughter and saying:

"Y'er joking, aren'tcha? This is war, this is what we do. Did you epxect us not to loot?"

Konstanze stayed serious though, staring at the man and stated coldly:

"I expected you to loot. However, since your contract defines your payment, I expected you to give that loot to those it rightfully belongs to. To me for instance."

The smile vanished from the mans face and now he growled, clearly not wanting to give up the loot. And the Black Band forces within earshot also started moving, their hands tightening around their weapons, possibly to defend their loot. Konstanze saw it and said:

"Do you really wish to fight over some loot that doesn't belong to you while in marching formation and surrounded by an army that follows my orders?"

As if to support her words, the Anselmian forces within earshot started grabbing their weapons, Vivian was aiming her weapon at the head of the cart driver and another aide, a weird, pale girl called Etheltryth Todesglanz, her face and neck obscured by a scarf and a hood, held out her scythe, ready to cut off the man's head. Seeing the odds stacked against him, the cart driver relented, pushing his sword back down into its sheath. Meanwhile a superior officer of the Band had appeared, coming to see what was the hold up. He talked a bit with the cart driver, probably asking what had caused the stop and what was going on. Then he slapped the cart driver with an armoured glove and saluted before Konstanze:

"Apologies Mylady. The Black Band is of course a highly professional organisation and we will gladly follow the terms of our contract. All spoils of war are yours."

Konstanze acknowledged that before personally overseeing the carts breaking formation and guiding them to a spot where she wanted to store those valuables for now. Sure, she wouldn't be able to get all the loot since many of the mercenaries carried much of the smaller and more valuable pieces of loot on their body but atleast she would now make a good of additional money. Good.

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Royal Palace of Chovers
Kingdom of Duivene

For a few rather obvious reasons, Alexis seemed to be a bit uncomfortable in her current, aristocratic attire, but she clearly made an effort to ignore both that and her exhaustion in order to listen to what Eric was trying to tell her, and when he described it, she couldn't help but shiver. It clearly reminded her of the War of the Seven Realms.. and memories of that godforsaken war were horrible, no matter on what side you had fought. She had tried her best, ever since the war had ended, to protect her realm, her people..from all and any of those who would try to harm them, and her constant campaigns were one of the biggest reasons for why she was just this tired...but to find out that a village had been destroyed, and that she hadn't been there to protect it.. it was painful. It truly was.

But when Eric had started to describe the woman who had apparently been leading this group of evil people.. Alexis pretty much froze. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but she then closed it, remaining quiet for a few moments, as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "A black blade, with a dark pink crystal.. that's probably.. a coincidence. Only the Gods know how many blades like that could exist throughout the realms..." And another few moments of silence followed. "But we can't just ignore this threat.. that group could still be somewhere within our borders... I've spent too much time resting. I'll send my knights to that region in a few hours, and I will prepare myself to leave tomorrow.. or maybe even tonight.. there is no time that we can.. lose.."

The blonde haired princess suddenly stopped talking, putting her left hand on a nearby column as if she was desperately trying to remain standing. "But say.. Eric..", she asked, in a voice that was much lower than before, "Did that woman.. also use a lance? Or a..spear?"

Eric de Villegagnon

As if checking the information he gathered at the scene and the reports of the soldiers, he reminded of one particular soldier who told him of a peasant who described the attack in its minor details. At the start of the attack, the peasant said that a piercing sound could be heard, like a projectile thrown at great speed. And then, a man fell to the ground. Judging by his wounds, they said it was a weapon highly similar to a spear or a lance.

"I think so, yes. The reports were filled with terror and most of the inhabitants could barely speak, but... yes, the most specific one said that the attack started with a lance flying straight to a man's chest. I am not an expert at long distance weapons, but... it takes some skill to do that, even if your target isn't trained.

Now, if you don't mind me asking... You seem scared about that. But not normally scared, I mean... intimately scared. The type of fear that doesn't come from the rational realization there's a threat around the Kingdom, but the type of fear that comes from the heart. I will understand if you don't want to talk about it, but... Well, I will avoid that conversation. Anything else you need or want to know, Princess?"

[Granis]

Somewhere, in Achisia
A Forgotten City

Pride simply closed his eyes - even if of course, whether they were open or not didn't change the blackness that surrounded him, he still sometimes acted like that, especially now, when he took a few deep breaths as if he wanted to calm himself down.. but well, unfortunately for this new and extremely annoying Leide, Pride wasn't always the angry one..and the half-demonic boy was going to really, really regret his choice of acting like that, while turning his back to a certain person who wasn't exactly known for her ability to control her rage... and certainly, just a few moments after Leide stopped talking, a bloody red colored glaive, with its blade burning, pierced his back, all the way forward to his belly, going through his body as if it was butter, the wrath fueled magic of a certain ashen haired girl completely messing with whatever defensive magic Leide had prepared as if it was nothing. And sure enough, blood started to trickle from the corner of Wrath's mouth, showing just how much mana and anger she had spent for this one hit, but she leaned forward, whispering something into Leide's ear. "Do not ever, ever, touch him like that again, you vermin. You are funny and everything... but you are starting to annoy me.." Those looking at the scene would have quickly noticed that Wrath's eyes, normally gray - were now of a fiery red that nearly seemed to glow in the night...

Pride sighed, yet again, opening his eternally hollow eyes as he pushed Leide's arm from over his shoulder, turning around, and hesitating for a moment until he managed to clutch Leide's neck with his right hand, rising him in the air as if he was nothing. No blood was flowing from the wound, since well, the advantage of a burning magical blade was that it also easily cauterized a wound, and Wrath took a step back, removing her weapon from Leide's body. "Listen very well, fisher boy,", the silver eyed boy said in a really calm voice, and with a smile on his face, "We don't have time for your stupidity here, and we most certainly don't have any time to debate who loves me the most. We are here in order to do what my Lady has ordered me to do, and I will not let your nativity destroy our mission. You can act like a moron in your free time however you want, but I will not allow a little pawn like you to intervene in my plans, understood? " The people around them could nearly feel the temperature in the air dropping bit by bit, as Pride's tone became colder and colder. "I don't have time to comprehend your bipolarity here, but if you would stop trying to anger and annoy the people around here, that would be amazing.. and that also applies to you, Frederica."

Of course, Pride's empty eyes weren't actually looking at anything.. but the boy turned his head as if he wanted to keep his face in the rough direction of where the void elemental was. "As long as you are my servant, Frederica, you are a part of the Cult of Sins.. so I would really appreciate if you wouldn't try to make Meta want to put you to sleep.." And the boy sighed again. "Listen well, all of you.. the Night of the Bloody Moons is drawing near, and I am not waiting in this forsaken city for no reason at all.. there is something that we have to do for our sinful masters. Will you follow my orders, and will you help me do what I have to do? Or do I have to teach all of you some obedience?.."

Leide's eyes widened when he felt the glaive pierce his back. Sure, he had really only projected these specific barriers for his appearance, but they shouldn't have fallen apart that easily. Maybe, just maybe, it was probably time to play damage control. After all, Wrath was... probably a friend? He didn't want to upset her too much at this point.

"Blaaaeurgh."

Oh, ok, maybe talking wasn't the best course of action here. That was a lot of blood that just blasted out of his throat, and he was pretty sure that one of his lungs had been punctured. Alright, lets just look at this logically and find a way out of it. First things first, get off the glaive.

Still trying to keep the smirk on his face despite the HOLYCRAPJESUSFUCKINGCHRIST levels of pain he was currently feeling, Leide quickly stepped forwards, finally getting far enough for the glaive to exit his back. Alright, step two, circumvent the whole blood loss problem, which was now significantly worse after removing the blade. Thankfully, the glaive had started to cauterise the wound due to the fact that it was all but on fire when Wrath stabbed him. Still, the main problem was the internal damage. Thinking for a moment, he decided that the best course of action was to use his water magic. Controlling it was difficult without the ability to chant, but he managed to use some very intricate and precise staff movements and hand signs to improvise it, causing the blood that would have otherwise flowed freely from the ravaged veins to seek out the other side instead. It was a very temporary solution to the problem, but it was the best he could do for the moment.

Once that was done, he got to work on sealing off his lung, returning his ability to breath and maybe giving him some level of speaking ability once again. To this end, he performed a similar series of staff and hand movements to before, and he formed a temporary, but exceedingly fragile barrier over the holes in the lung.

"Done..." He said finally, but he realised in the process that speaking would not be very easy like this. "Pride... Wrath... Sorry... Too... Funny... Not to... Dying now... Heal?"

[Castle Crashers]

Much later
Somewhere else in Achisia
A field of death
The evening before the Night of the Bloody Moons

It was drawing near.. and they could all feel it. Those without any magic, the peasants, the soldiers, the townsfolk throughout the human realms, even the Karaki in their cold steppes and the Zemrai in their mountains of stone, they felt the horrible sensation of fear that it provoked, making them shiver, forcing them to hide in their homes. The mages, the humans with their chants, the Loroi with their magic from ancient times, they all felt how the magic around them was turning wild, pushed into insanity by cries of crimson. For the servants of the light, this spelled doom, it terrified them to feel the magic that was so helpful and obedient being filled with such a primal sense of chaos. This was the night when their spells were going to turn into darkness, this was the night when they were going to have to fight for ever chant and every spell that they used..as the normal balance of magic was going to be crushed for as long as the moons of crimson were going to shine.. while those servants of the darkness were going to rejoice, as the untamed magic was their slave this night.. This was the night when the Virtues were nearly powerless, a night of Sin, of chaos, of wildness, of evil corruption. All those servants of the holy virtues, from the lowliest knights to the cultists and even up to the first servants, to the Archbishops, were going to feel the corruption and the call of the sins that they loathed..while for the servants of the unholy sins, from the lowliest necromancers, to the slaves of the Cult of Sins and and to the personal servants of those accursed deities, the Archbishop of Sins.. they were are all going to have the most beautiful night of their lives.

This happened once every seven years, as a reminder of the harmony that the world had lost with the Calamity. Once the sun would turn to darkness, the three moons on the dark skies were going to cover each other, the stars themselves were going to disappear as the skies and the moons were going to be covered by blood, glowing in an unholy crimson. This was the Night of the Bloody Moons.

She had spent the last few weeks in prison, but with the Night drawing close, they couldn't hold her there. The entire Faith was shivering in fear, and all the servants of the light were going to have to fight during this night, from dusk till dawn. They had just told her where her dreaded archenemy was.. and they just let her go. If she was going to try to save him again, or if she was going to lose the fight.. she was going to die.. but the Faith didn't really care. It was a great thing, to sacrifice yourself in order to bring justice to the Faith's enemies, wasn't it?

She eventually arrived on this huge, empty and dead field somewhere in the Fallen Achisia. The site of another long forgotten battle, of ages past, of a war that had drowned the entire world in blood and pain. The grass itself was dead, and nothing was growing here anymore, the ground was burned and dry, and filled with bones and rusty armors and weapons. A mass grave filled with just so many dead bodies that no one could even count them, from the hated Achisians in their black armors and robes, the once proud knights of the blue unicorn in their broken armors, the Faith Keepers in their discolored, once white robes, the peasant soldiers of Velikiya in their furs, the paladins of Wyzkia with their wings broken, the mercenaries of Calaria and Anselm, their crossbows burnt, thrown in the ground over their green and ashen flags. Death, death and destruction everywhere. The sun was still there, on the sky, even if it was close to twilight.. and that's where she found him.

A boy, wearing black robes, with pale skin, and black hair, with the same metallic cuffs and collar, kneeling down in a deep pool of still fresh blood, doing something with a black dagger on the ground in front of him, whispering something that she couldn't hear, with a black and crimson spear thrown on the ground to his right.

He was all alone.. and the night was near.

It had been a cold few weeks for Julie, full of loneliness, confusion, and insecurity. She'd spent it trying to find solace in her faith, wondering if she really was doing the right thing, if Justitia was right...but...she knew she had to stay strong. She had to remind herself that no one would save Celio if she didn't. She worried of what might've happened to younger Celio, since she had mostly left him to his own devices after running into Justitia and the Citadel. And now...it was time for the Blood Moon. The last time such an event had occurred, the brunette had only been a child; the only thing she really remembered was the world around her soaked in red, and the fear she saw in the peasants, and in her own mother's eyes. Now, she saw that such a fear existed in the Faith, too. So terrified, so honestly desperate for fighters that they...let her go. They even told her where she could find her archenemy.

She was surprised, confused; why would they let her out now? Just because of this night, the night where their enemies got stronger? Would they try and retrieve her after tonight? She had no way of knowing, but she didn't take the moment to question it much. Instead, she headed on her way, making haste for the last known location of her enemy. She admitted that she felt a little scared, a little worried, a little doubtful...it was hard to deny everything Justitia had said. But...she had to keep faith. She had to stay true to her morals...she needed to forgive. He couldn't truly be a bad person...she had seen the flashes of good in him...she just needed a way to lure them out of him more.

It wasn't long before she arrived to the battlefield, old, dry, and dead as one would expect. The area stayed dead, empty of life, almost as a memorial to all the lives lost here. She knew that this battlefield must've belonged to the Great War, but she had no true way of knowing besides the array of armor and equipment scattered across the barren landscape. It felt...unsettling...and creepy. She didn't like being here, and as the night grew closer, the sun sinking, the world becoming pinker and pinker, she saw him. Her heart seized.

He was kneeling in a large, unsettling pool of fresh, wet blood, whispering, scratching something into the ground with a dagger, a spear to his right...and she felt...negative. She took an uneasy step forward, worried to disturb him...yet happy, relieved even, to see him again. He was alright...maybe...she guessed not so much now by the blood. And...from what she'd learned from younger Celio and his show before, on the smaller field...the Celio in front of her now was likely about to raise the dead. She doubted it was with good intention...and she knew she had to stop him before it was too late. "...hi..." She said softly, hesitantly, worried to startle him, worried he wouldn't want her there. She wanted him to turn, to smile at her, happy to see her, happy to see she'd came for him...but...she doubted he would react such a way. He...was her archenemy after all...wasn't he..?

"...I suppose I finally found you...I'm...sorry it took me so long; I kind of got stopped by the Faith," She gave an awkward, short laugh as she stood, worried of what his reaction would be. She had taken a long time to get here... "...they...threw me in prison. But--but I'm here now...I...hope you didn't miss me too much..!" She put on a weak smile, waiting for him to atleast acknowledge her, if he would even give her that...

[Tracian Empire]

Somewhere in Achisia
A field of death
The evening before the Night of the Bloody Moons

The dark haired boy remained quiet for a while, just continuing to scrape the blade of his black dagger across the ground in front of him, trying to draw something in that ground that was soaked in his own blood. A few moments passed in silence.. until Celio stopped, standing up and turning around.. finally noticing that Julie was there, next to him. His appearance was slightly different, compared to how he had looked back then, during that night in the forest, when Invidia had called him her toy, the last time when Julie had seen him before Justitia and the Faith had arrived. Celio used to wear simple, black robes, covering his head with a hood, and more often than not, his face had been hidden behind that white mask of his, but now, he was wearing a really good looking black robe, with long sleeves and with golden accents and models embroidered in it. The robe itself wasn't tied and wrapped around his body like it usually was, so it acted like more of a cloak than anything. Beneath it, the boy was wearing a black leather tunic, embroidered with the golden coat of arms of Achisia, the Eternal Flame and Serpent, black leather pants, and black leather boots. The metallic collar was still in place, around his neck, and the metallic cuffs were still wrapped around his wrists and ankles, with the remaining chain links making him look like an escaped prisoner.. but he was no longer trying to hide his appearance. In the dying light of the sun, and with those decorated clothes.. for a moment there, he no longer looked like the scared and envious boy that he normally was.. but like a prince. A true prince, but a prince of darkness, a prince of death.

And that's when she would have noticed it. His arms were filled with deep cuts scratches, his black sleeves were stained in red, and it just looked as if someone had tried to mutilate him, cut after cut, some covered with scabs, others bleeding abundantly, the blood continuously dripping to the ground. He was holding the knife in his left hand, and he looked directly at Julie.. he was smiling... and he looked happy... but his crimson eyes were hollow, empty. Despite his smile, he had been crying for a while, and he was still crying, but the tears that were rolling down his cheeks were bloody red..

"You're here!.. I'm.. so happy to see you..",Celio said, in a voice that sounded cheerful and strained by pain at the same time. "You've arrived.. just in time.. look, look! I'm helping them.. I'm helping everyone.. isn't that nice?", he asked, pointing with the tip of his dagger at the bloody markings on the ground around him. "They all died.. they're all dead.. everything is dead.. but I am going to help them.. I am going to save them.. I am going to give them back the gift of life.. I am going to bring them back to this world...I'm going to steal them back from death itself.. and give them another chance.. they all deserve another chance.. they all deserve to live again.. "

And Celio laughed. "The Gods are cruel and evil.. we're going to kill and save as many people as possible, and them I'm going to bring them back, so that they can truly be free and happy..this is a good thing to do, right? You're proud of me, right? This is kindness, isn't it? This is a kind thing to do.. to help everyone.. and you're going to help me, right? You're going to help me to give this gift to as many people as possible, right?.."

Somewhere else in Achisia
A forgotten city

Sighing, Pride simply grabbed Leide by his collar again, raising him in the air without any effort, as if the half-demonic fisherman and mage was as light as a feather. "If you die, then I'll just have someone resurrect you, as simple as that. The last thing I need is you running around and ruining everything.. so, a simple yes or no question for you, Leide. You are not a part of the Cult..but will you follow my orders tonight? Yes or no?" Behind the poor Leide, the ashen haired Archbishop of Wrath giggled. "You'd better say yes", she told him, tightening her grip on her glaive's pole, as if she was just itching to pierce Leide's back with it again.

But then of course, Pride had to sigh again.. as another Archbishop arrived. He admired her reputation and her ability as an Archbishop of Gluttony.. but she was just so difficult to control..and it was nearly impossible to predict what she would do. When she appeared in front of him, the silver eyed boy instinctively took a step back, still holding Leide by the collar, but of course, he was unable to see what she did.. but he was able to smell the cut off and decomposing piece of meat that she was holding in her hand, even if he was well, unable to understand her joke. And then as she took a step and she clearly started to eat it.. Pride felt a little sick...and then he sighed again.

Being the Archbishop of Superbia was a horrible job.

"Well, thank you for coming, Auryon..and well, you will be able to eat this poor fool if he gives me a wrong answer.. but don't worry, you will get lots of flesh. What you did in that southern nation is good, but our powers will grow during the Night of the Bloody Moons.. and we will bring pain, sins, death and corruption to as many mortals as possible. You will be able to eat as much flesh as you'd like.. but you need to listen to my orders that night...and it's the same for all of you. There is no room for discussion, you will listen to what I'll say that night and follow my orders.. if you do, you will be rewarded, and if you don't, you will be punished. You will be obedient, or you will suffer the consequences.. what do you all say?", he asked.

Still unable to see anything around him, the white haired boy waited..but he felt that Meta approached him, falling to her knees in front of him, taking his other hand and kissing it gently, her cold but soft lips touching his equally cold skin. And as she started to speak.. Pride smiled. "Good, good.. I will reward you for that, don't you worry..", he told her, offering her his hand to help her stand back up. "Anyone else?.."

[Free Empire of the Low Isles]

He Might Have Forgotten About His Guest...,
The Streets In General and the Apartment, The Coastal City of Terrohl,
The Grand Principality of Arghyo, Protectorate of the League of Anslem,
Ser Dante d'Aquila, the Stumbling Blade

"Morning, Signora di Falco!" the knight announced, his metal covered form clanking into the front of a cafe quite noisily. The old lady behind the counter, a Calarian of some culinary renown in the city, smiled at him and tilted her one good ear in his direction. "What was that, Dante dear!?" she practically screamed back, cupping her hand over the ear in order to seemingly hear better as well as startling several of the patrons that had already settled in for breakfast. Most of them either shrugged further into their meals or glared unappreciatively at the two Calarians for their morning vigor. "Oh... Right, sorry!" Dante whispered, smiling apologetically before walking back out the door. He returned literally a second afterwards and then, with a slight bow, said in his inside voice, "Buongiorno, Signora di Falco. How are you this morning?"

The woman's smile shifted from her previously caustic grin into a genuine smirk filled with warmth. "Much better, Dante, now that a certain swallow has decided to stop chirping so loudly." she responded, raising an eyebrow as she was already putting together his order. A blush somehow found its way onto the knight's cheeks as he meandered to the humble counter. Calarian cafes had never really taken off in Anselm nor any of the other countries that Dante had visited, so one could imagine his surprise and joy when he had wandered into one such cafe one day during his patrols of Terrohl. And it was even just a block from his apartment! Since then, he'd made it part of his daily routine to break his fast with a little Calarian delicacy known as espresso and a rather hefty sausage filled crepe. That was one of the top things he loved about his culture; they knew how to feed someone. And real, good, lovingly prepared food. Not the watered down shit-still or crap in a sausage skein that the Anselmians hawk as some sort of sustenance. A Calarian knew how to eat; everyone else were just amateurs acting like barely civilized barbarians.

Just before taking his breakfast, the knight suddenly remember the difference that he had going on right now. "Oh, Signora, I apologize, but I do have to bother you fo-"

"Dante, you bother me every fucking day when you walk in. What's a little more on top of the heaping helping I already have?" Regina di Falco, owner and proprietor of the Archon's Delight Cafe, interrupted, handing her customer a wax parchment wrapped crepe and a small mug full of espresso. The blush on Dante's face grew brighter as he grabbed the mug and crepe and looked another direction. "I, uhm..." he began, not knowing exactly how to continue but knowing he'd have to jump into it soon. "I, uh, have a visi-... a gue-... I have a person in my residence in dire need of some sustenance right now and I would so like it if you would be kind enough to make hi-he- that individual an extra hearty crepe!" the embarrassed knight spluttered out, bowing almost to the counter top.

Regina sighed put a hand over her face, concealing the genuine smile that was threatening to bloom across her face. "Dante, it's my goddamn job to make people food. I'd bring a fucking banquet to your house for this 'person' as long as you paid me enough... You are going to pay me, right?" Her eyes flashed like a bolt of lightning before a storm.

"Of course, Signora, of course!"

"Good... Now, you go sit in the kitchen while you eat your food so you can tell me all about your new boyfriend while I cook his breakfast." she said, motioning for her waiter, who happened to be her son, to take over the counter for now.

If Dante was blushing before, he was about to die of some sort of blockage in the heart, now. It seemed as if all the blood in his body had migrated into his face, causing the normally rather tan Calarian to become a rather peculiar shade of slightly sun dried tomato. "Signora!" he hissed, leaning forward. "H-He's not my boyfriend... I, uh, I-"

"With the way you talk about him already, you should probably work on that. Or he should, if he's already staying at your home."

And with that, they both wandered into the kitchen whispering at each other, Dante looking absolutely distressed while Regina barely held back her mischievous smile. Just because she was a seventy year old pastry chef didn't mean she could throw her weight around in the mischief category.

After a quick hour of conversation and general humor, the knight finally made his way out of the cafe with a rather large crepe wrapped in wax parchment and stuff in his shoulder bag. Now, all he had left to do, was to get back to his apartment and check up on his little guest. A smile slowly spread across his face as he started almost skipping down the road. It was a beautiful day on the coast, with the wind whipping through the streets, carrying the smell of the salt air. There was the perfect amount of cloud cover and everyone seemed to be walking around with a smile on their faces. Dante was included, of course, and he nodded to several other individuals he knew from his various deeds in the city. Absolutely, positively, certainly the perfect day to make that little murderer back in his flat into his boyfriend. He just needed a good meal and a few smack across the ears and then his delightfully melancholy face will be all 'Oh, thank you Dante! How can I ever repay you?' and he'll get that glimmer in his eye that says 'Yes, I totally mean it that way' and he'll slowly inch toward Dante's che-

"Listen here, you little Achisian bitch-bred, if I ever see you on my street again, you'll get more than a fist in the mouth, you hear me!?"

The voice, despite its message, seemed to tinkle with the sounds of innocence. It was definitely a child saying all of that and that fact just made Dante's shoulders rise and tense even more. His smile soured into a sneer as his eyes closed and his head tilted toward the sound. When his lids finally lifted, he was looking down an alleyway at a rather mature scene, if it wasn't for that fact that all of the actors were around the age of ten. Three Anselmian looking kids, mainly because the main one spoke Anselmian with a Northern accent, were huddled over a starved orphan who's brand on his face clearly marked him as Achisian. Dante gritted his teeth, straightened his spine, and did his best impression of an actually intimidating knight. As quietly as possible, which was strangely silent, the Calarian stalked right into the alley. The bullies didn't even notice him until his shadow had fully eclipsed the leader and, by proxy, the beaten Achisian on the ground. "I wouldn't happen to be seeing three children beat up another for no reason, would I? Because last time I checked, unprovoked assault was a three month sentence in jail... and a death sentence if you resist..." the knight whispered in his best danger filled tone and then punctuated it with a quick half tug on his sword, clashing the metal against his armor and causing a harsh rasp to ring out. All three bullies started to scatter, but sadly for the leader, Dante caught him just in time. "And if I see you doing it again, you'll get more than just a fist in the mouth, you hear me?" The squeeze of his harsh metal gauntlet was enough to make the bully piss himself and run away even harder than before. Looking down at the orphan, Dante smiled. "Sorry about that. You okay?"

All he received in response was a whimper.

Frowning, the knight stared at the helpless orphan for a moment, before sighing and mentally chastising himself for being wrathful. That was certainly not what a good, patient, temperate, and otherwise virtuous knight would have done. In order to make up for his sin, the man knelt down in front of the child, reached into his sack, and presented the crepe. Holding up a finger to represent one second, he carved the crepe in half and gave one to the child. "Go find the Archon's Delight Cafe on the Black Twins' Avenue, off the Main Road. Ask for, and this is important so remember it, Signora di Falco. Say that Dante sent you and that you're an orphan. She'll help you... I'm pretty certain." Waiting until the boy nodded, Dante smiled and continued on his way.

Literally a minute later, he helped stop a mugging, nearly got mugged himself, accidentally tripped up a thief running away from the guard, and, right outside his apartment, prevented the potential murder of a husband by his wife by helping carry a sofa up to their apartment. All in a day's work for Dante and it wasn't even noon yet! As soon as the young man had opened his door and set the crepe on the small table in the room, he heard a knock on the bedroom door. "Oh, you're awake already!" Dante said loudly, hopefully loudly enough to make it through the door. He reached into himself again, pointed at the door, and muttered something. It unlocked. "Come on out, then! The door should be unlocked... I was just starting up a fire to make some coffee!"

As soon as Dax heard the boy's cheery voice, he withheld the urge to groan. Of course he was home. If he hadn't, Dax might've almost, maybe, perhaps, had the chance to get out of the room...find a place to take the blonde boy by surprise, by the entrance, or something...and as he walked in, take him by surprise and slit his throat open. He desired to watch his wide eyes as he looked at him and fell to his knees, clutching his throat as his sweet, red blood poured from the wound...oh, it sounded so divine...Dax's fingers curled with excitement at the mere thought of listening to the boy choke on his blood...

But, perhaps, the moment would have to wait for now. Right now, he had to deal with actually finding a weakness for the idiot behind the wooden door besides the element of surprise. He listened as the lock came undone on the door before him, a discreet click as he turned the knob, opening the door...and seeing that the boy was not right at the door, but was instead across the room, by the fireplace. So he has some magical abilities... He thought with intrigue as he entered the main room with a fake-yet-convincing yawn, giving the impression that he hadn't already felt fully aware and awake. Not ideal. "So...how long have I...been out..?" He asked as he rubbed an eye, seemingly tired and worn as if the day was over and not beginning. He gave the blonde boy a lookover with his red eyes for a moment, seeming disoriented. "I guess a better question is...how long have you been out..?"

This Isn't A Date, Right? It Totally Doesn't Count!
Dante's Apartment, The Coastal City of Terrohl,
The Grand Principality of Arghyo, Protectorate of the League of Anslem,
Ser Dante d'Aquila, the Stumbling Blade

With his back turned to Dax, the knight began placing logs into the fireplace lightly. "Well, those are two pretty similar questions, sir." he responded, turning his head slightly and giving the man a smile. He then returned to the task at hand, covering the logs in some kindling before starting to strike a flint and tinder. "Let's see... I brought you in at around midnight last night, but the moon had definitely been past its zenith.
And currently the sun's pretty near its zenith, so... you've been out for around twelve hours. I bought you a crepe while I was out! Sadly... I found an orphan being beaten along the way and just had to give half of it to him. It's rather hearty though, so it should be enough to sate your hungry along with this coffee!" With a fire just barely starting at the bottom of the logs, Dante bent lower to start blowing on it. "Meanwhile, I've been out since around a quarter past sunrise. My late nights patrolling give me a bit of leniency from my neighbors to wake up later. Oh, speaking of people, I should probably do that thing where I introduce myself. I'm Dante d'Aquila, a free knight!" He turned his head again to level a smile at Dax.

Now It's Time for Diplomacy,
The Clearing, A Forest,
Voivodom of Kroikoy, Grand Duchy of Wyzkia,
Professor Morgan the Mad, Currently as Himself

Nostalgia? Morgan thought, his mind suddenly contorting into a spiral of theory and suspicion. Old Mage in his Palace... Nostalgia. Well, he's obviously referring to the Mage Emperor, because he certainly had Throne Thyrian spoken at court and he was, of course, the most powerful to ever exist for all intents and purposes. That certainly reckons the use of the moniker 'Mage'. But... Nostalgia? He couldn't possible mean... No, that's not... I had always had a tiny suspicion but it just couldn't be. But the Outcast is a Thyrian... being. God? He said others with temples and worshipers, which obviously means the gods, and others means a place of equality. Siblings even? Comrades or colleagues certainly. So the Outcast is a god but is able to interfere directly with humans unlike the others simply due to the lack of stories like the one currently happening. Maybe that's why he was thrown out? He refused to sign a pact, perhaps? Or maybe he did something so drastically evil that the other gods could not possibly allow him to continue... Was it the Shadow? Did he cause the Shadow? Perhaps the Blight? Hell, with these speculations, he could have been behind both! Maybe he's the cause of all these mysteries! The disappearance of the Thyrians themselves!

The mage's eyes were unfocused as the others reacted to the situation. Somehow, the knightly child had been able to break from his paralysis and strike the Outcast, causing him to lose his control over the situation for a few seconds. From across the clearing, the girl from earlier which had seemed to be the cause of the thorny wall came running , crying and pleading with the Outcast for some sort of mercy. Begging him to kill her instead. To be completely honest about Morgan's initial reaction to her, he was incredibly annoyed. The high, piercing tones of her suffering somehow ruined his trail of thought and threw him back into the proverbial brambles. As the god had been attacked by a relic, which it was quite obvious that the blade that the boy wielded was a relic, it having struck a god, the younger boy in the clearing ran forward and begged to be killed instead. The plea was slightly more endearing than the girl's due to the sodden state of the boy's clothes and his obvious fear, but again, it disturbed Morgan's thoughts and caused him annoyance more than anything.

Morgan didn't again focus on the situation until the Outcast addressed him yet again, causing him to narrow his eyes slightly and turn his unfocused gaze toward him, for the moment the Outcast's words and the implications of his existence being far more interesting than whatever he was currently doing with that existence. Wait! Waitwaitwait! Morgan interrupted himself, his eyes focusing, This is dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. I have to find some way to... dissuade this god from directly interacting with these children in myself right now before I can start even possibly thinking about what's happening.

A deep breath filtered into Morgan through his nose and he let it out quietly. "If I may... be allowed to posit something, Outcast." he began slowly, his accent strangely adapting to the god's Muddy Thyrian, "There's something the girl said that makes sense. If you kill him, you lose another toy. He's much less interesting in Zyraxes domain than he is here, where he can... more easily suffer. As I'm sure you already know, I've... discovered that you're a little bored. So, along with clarifying calmly what the girl tried to say, I would like to expand upon it."

Standing up, Morgan started acting far more like the professor he was. His voice was calm, unperturbed, and the interest that he had in what he was saying was clearly obvious. "Despite the protestations of these children here, you shouldn't want to kill any of them. Killing them, just like killing the boy, ends the fun far too early. Sending them to Zyraxes... sends them out of your reach and into his hands. Surely the other gods would not let you play with their souls, especially after you've been... cast out, obviously." Morgan slowly started stepping toward Rafal, making to get between the boy and the god, refocusing the attention away form the children and on to himself. "And further... this isn't really interesting either, is it? This whole... play you have going here. Yes, you've made them sad, angry, despaired... You've traumatized these children and that was fun. But it's not interesting. You know what's going to happen, because you're setting it up. A little threat here and the girl is crying. A wave of your hand and the boys begin trying to kill each other. But you control even that. There's no chance for you to be... surprised."

Morgan stopped, his hands behind his back as he stared the skull in its eyes. "I hope that you don't think I'm overstepping my bounds when I say this, but... I would like to suggest a course of action. Let these children live and... watch them. In a world as cruel as ours, they're surely not destined for happiness! The girl is a freak of, I assume, your own creation: she'll surely be hunted down by the Faith or mages or knights for the intent of execution or experimentation or exploitation. The boy holds a relic of strange construction and is obviously attached to the girl and the girl to him. Whatever suffering is also his, possibly doubled due to his possession of a relic. The child... well... He's a child. Alone. And now he's wrapped up in whatever drama is currently happening with all of these children! If he leaves them, then he's due a life of starvation! All suffering, all interesting, and at the end of the day... you could interfere with their deaths as much as possible, or prolong their lives so they may suffer more for your entertainment."

[Castle Crashers]

Somewhere in Achisia
A field of death
The evening before the Night of the Bloody Moons

The dark haired boy remained quiet for a while, just continuing to scrape the blade of his black dagger across the ground in front of him, trying to draw something in that ground that was soaked in his own blood. A few moments passed in silence.. until Celio stopped, standing up and turning around.. finally noticing that Julie was there, next to him. His appearance was slightly different, compared to how he had looked back then, during that night in the forest, when Invidia had called him her toy, the last time when Julie had seen him before Justitia and the Faith had arrived. Celio used to wear simple, black robes, covering his head with a hood, and more often than not, his face had been hidden behind that white mask of his, but now, he was wearing a really good looking black robe, with long sleeves and with golden accents and models embroidered in it. The robe itself wasn't tied and wrapped around his body like it usually was, so it acted like more of a cloak than anything. Beneath it, the boy was wearing a black leather tunic, embroidered with the golden coat of arms of Achisia, the Eternal Flame and Serpent, black leather pants, and black leather boots. The metallic collar was still in place, around his neck, and the metallic cuffs were still wrapped around his wrists and ankles, with the remaining chain links making him look like an escaped prisoner.. but he was no longer trying to hide his appearance. In the dying light of the sun, and with those decorated clothes.. for a moment there, he no longer looked like the scared and envious boy that he normally was.. but like a prince. A true prince, but a prince of darkness, a prince of death.

And that's when she would have noticed it. His arms were filled with deep cuts scratches, his black sleeves were stained in red, and it just looked as if someone had tried to mutilate him, cut after cut, some covered with scabs, others bleeding abundantly, the blood continuously dripping to the ground. He was holding the knife in his left hand, and he looked directly at Julie.. he was smiling... and he looked happy... but his crimson eyes were hollow, empty. Despite his smile, he had been crying for a while, and he was still crying, but the tears that were rolling down his cheeks were bloody red..

"You're here!.. I'm.. so happy to see you..",Celio said, in a voice that sounded cheerful and strained by pain at the same time. "You've arrived.. just in time.. look, look! I'm helping them.. I'm helping everyone.. isn't that nice?", he asked, pointing with the tip of his dagger at the bloody markings in the ground around him. "They all died.. they're all dead.. everything is dead.. but I am going to help them.. I am going to save them.. I am going to give them back the gift of life.. I am going to bring them back to this world...I'm going to steal them back from death itself.. and give them another chance.. they all deserve another chance.. they all deserve to live again.. "

And Celio laughed. "The Gods are cruel and evil.. we're going to kill and save as many people as possible, and them I'm going to bring them back, so that they can truly be free and happy..this is a good thing to do, right? You're proud of me, right? This is kindness, isn't it? This is a kind thing to do.. to help everyone.. and you're going to help me, right? You're going to help me to give this gift to as many people as possible, right?.."

As Celio turned to face her, Julie felt...unsettled. He was dressed differently, more elegantly, with golden embellishments, and she...felt it wasn't for good reason. It must've been Invidia...what for, then? To make him look more...threatening? More important? She didn't know why he'd dressed differently now...but that wasn't the most important topic at the moment. He seemed...prideful, almost, of his appearance, his shackles, his pale pallor...she wondered if this could be taken as a good thing at all. His arms were permeated with deep, dark cuts, scabbed scratches, his skin irritated and stained red from the blood...she flinched, wondering how he could bear to do that to himself...if he had done that to himself. The knife in his hand made her assume as much...and it was then she noticed his face.

How could she not have before? He smiled an empty smile, his eyes distant and devoid, his cheeks stained red with bloody tears...it was terrifying...he truly did appear as a leader of the undead in that moment; a true prince of darkness in the dying light. He explained that he was happy to see her, cheerful yet twinged with pain at the same time. It felt...forced. He explained that she was just in time...that he was helping everyone, pointing his dagger to the markings in the ground around him; he said that they'd died, but that he was going to give them the gift of life again, that he was going to give them another chance...that they deserve to live again...and he laughed.

He laughed, explaining that the Gods were evil, that "they" were going to kill and save everyone, that he was going to bring them back so they could be truly free and happy...that it was a good thing...and he asked her if she was proud of him. Her heart ached. He asked her if this was kindness...that it was kind to help everyone, asking if she was going to help him...that she was going to help him gift as many as possible...and she covered her mouth. What had happened..? Why was he happy, why did he feel this was right now..? Before, before she had come for him at the Citadel, the younger version of him had been so shameful and disgraced by bringing them back to life...and now...the conclusion was simple.

He truly, honestly thought he was helping. "...no..." She said softly, weakly, her mouth still covered as she struggled to get the words out. She didn't want to kill his happiness, his hope, his joy in thinking he was doing good...and after a moment, she removed her hands from her mouth. "Celio...this isn't helping them...they've been dead for too long, and...bringing them back from the dead like this...after so long..." She choked on the words. "...I agree they deserved another chance, they deserved to live again, but now...if you bring them back like this, to kill and save them...to bring them back under your spells, Celio...they will never be free..." She took an easy step forward, a pleading look in her eyes. "...you will force their souls to obey you...to be enslaved by you...they can never be free if you...revive them like this..."

As she took yet another step, she gently took his arm into her hand, a sore, pained look on her face. "...I know your heart is in the right place, I know you think you're helping them...but...they're free in the afterlife now...they're happy...if you bring them back...they must suffer against their will once more..." She looked to his arm, gently whispering a spell to heal his wounds...and they did...sort of. She was alarmed to find that they didn't heal completely, and instead...the oldest wounds simply scarred, and the newest would only scab...and some still bled slightly. She sighed softly. She had a bad feeling about this...and she looked back up to meet his gaze. "...I am proud of you, I know you want to help...but this...isn't right...please...leave this place, come with me...together we can help people in another way...if you just believe in me..."

As soon as Dax heard the boy's cheery voice, he withheld the urge to groan. Of course he was home. If he hadn't, Dax might've almost, maybe, perhaps, had the chance to get out of the room...find a place to take the blonde boy by surprise, by the entrance, or something...and as he walked in, take him by surprise and slit his throat open. He desired to watch his wide eyes as he looked at him and fell to his knees, clutching his throat as his sweet, red blood poured from the wound...oh, it sounded so divine...Dax's fingers curled with excitement at the mere thought of listening to the boy choke on his blood...

But, perhaps, the moment would have to wait for now. Right now, he had to deal with actually finding a weakness for the idiot behind the wooden door besides the element of surprise. He listened as the lock came undone on the door before him, a discreet click as he turned the knob, opening the door...and seeing that the boy was not right at the door, but was instead across the room, by the fireplace. So he has some magical abilities... He thought with intrigue as he entered the main room with a fake-yet-convincing yawn, giving the impression that he hadn't already felt fully aware and awake. Not ideal. "So...how long have I...been out..?" He asked as he rubbed an eye, seemingly tired and worn as if the day was over and not beginning. He gave the blonde boy a lookover with his red eyes for a moment, seeming disoriented. "I guess a better question is...how long have you been out..?"

This Isn't A Date, Right? It Totally Doesn't Count!
Dante's Apartment, The Coastal City of Terrohl,
The Grand Principality of Arghyo, Protectorate of the League of Anslem,
Ser Dante d'Aquila, the Stumbling Blade

With his back turned to Dax, the knight began placing logs into the fireplace lightly. "Well, those are two pretty similar questions, sir." he responded, turning his head slightly and giving the man a smile. He then returned to the task at hand, covering the logs in some kindling before starting to strike a flint and tinder. "Let's see... I brought you in at around midnight last night, but the moon had definitely been past its zenith.
And currently the sun's pretty near its zenith, so... you've been out for around twelve hours. I bought you a crepe while I was out! Sadly... I found an orphan being beaten along the way and just had to give half of it to him. It's rather hearty though, so it should be enough to sate your hungry along with this coffee!" With a fire just barely starting at the bottom of the logs, Dante bent lower to start blowing on it. "Meanwhile, I've been out since around a quarter past sunrise. My late nights patrolling give me a bit of leniency from my neighbors to wake up later. Oh, speaking of people, I should probably do that thing where I introduce myself. I'm Dante d'Aquila, a free knight!" He turned his head again to level a smile at Dax.

As Dante turned to give Dax a slight smile, answering that his questions were similar, he gave off a tired, curious expression, but as the knight turned again, he dropped it. Dax simply watched as he began to light the fire, and explained that he'd brought the raven-haired boy in at midnight, and that he'd been out for close to twelve hours. He also explained that he'd gotten him a crepe, and then seemed to play the whole "oh, I'm a saint!" card by saying he'd given half of the crepe to an orphan on the way. Sure...I'm sure you just got hungry and decided to eat it. He thought with...mild amusement, almost, at the thought of a dirty, lying knight...it was interesting. He then explained that he'd been out since a little after sunrise, that his night patrols allowed him the pleasure of sleeping in; and he proceeded to introduce himself, turning to give the murderer a smile.

He returned a pleasant smile, looking down slightly to give the impression of some level of shyness. "Well...that was very kind of you, Dante." He spoke, a warm tone to his usually icy voice. "It seems you're more of a hero than I originally thought...I'm surprised you managed to think of me in the midst of your heroic activities." He explained, brushing a few dark strands out of his face, turning his red eyes to meet the knight's. "I suppose I should introduce myself as well." He considered whether it was a good idea to truly introduce himself, but knew it wasn't likely there could be much dirt on him other than what he'd inherited from his dead family...he was very good at hiding his craft. "...my full name is Damocles Castell Pennington, but...as common nicknames go...a lot of people simply call me "Dax." You can call me whatever you prefer." He sighed softly. "I suppose you can call me a travelling noble...I never really felt comfortable at home...and have simply traveled place to place since then; just trying to find somewhere I can fit in, I suppose." He spoke softly, turning his eyes to the ground again with a soft smile. It was all a ruse, really, but it was easy to gain trust and a sense of comfort from a sympathetic story. Not that the knight needed to know, of course.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

The Forgotten Prince, Az'goxaak
Borderlands of the Ecclesiarchy

---

"Well said." Az said with a smile and applauded the knight, "When fate is cruel, stand against it. When fate would lead to the death of innocents, stand against it. Do what you must do, but know that taunting and standing against fate is a dangerous game. As for what I am doing here, as I said before, I am a harmless traveller. While I appreciate you worrying about my safety, just because I am a harmless traveller, doesn't mean I have no way of defending myself. Though, I much prefer to avoid fighting. In fact, if I didn't want to converse with you, you likely wouldn't have realized I was here. If my interest wasn't peaked by that girl, then I would have kept walking."

With that he jumped down from the tree, landed, and approached them slightly more before kneeling and looking at the girl, "It seems my words are confusing, so I doubt you'll be able to answer any questions I have, but I will ask. I will ask one question, but you do not need to answer it. And you do not need to fear getting hurt if you don't. I will not harm you if you don't answer, I am not that kind of being. So, here it is. What are you?"

---

The Bestial Butcher, Auryon Rakhasa
A Forgotten City, Achisia

---

"I have been eating well, but the hunger... the everlasting hunger will not go away. I eat, and I starve. I eat more, and I starve more. Never satisfied. But hey, at least the hunt still provides its thrills."

With that, she turned her attention back to Pride, "I'm not sure... I can get lots of flesh on my own so.... what sort of consequences?" She paused and started to laugh, "I'm kidding of course. As long as I get to feast, I guess I'll have to listen and follow your orders. But really, if our powers grow on that night, all you need to do is point me somewhere, and I'll cause all sorts of mayhem there. Especially if I gather those cultists that serve Gula as well. Ah, then the Night of the Bloody Moons will really be bloody."

[Tracian Empire]

Somewhere in Achisia
A field of death
The evening before the Night of the Bloody Moons

As soon as Julie started speaking.. Celio's smile slowly disappeared, leaving only the hollowness in his eyes.. and the despair. The black haired boy remained completely silent as the brunette girl told him all of these things, as she took yet another step, taking his wounded army into her hand..but he didn't seem to be listening to her, his dead eyes fixated on something in the distance, on something that clearly wasn't there. She tried to heal his wounds, but she couldn't do everything.. the boy had cut his arms again and again, in a desperate frenzy to get more blood for the magical ritual that he was trying to initiate..and that knife, the knife in his hand... there was something.. there was something off about it.. it seemed.. it seemed to be wrong, somehow, and Julie could certainly feel it. And she looked back at him, to meet his lifeless gaze...Celio just dropped it, the dark knife falling down. "Some of those scars.. they.. they disappeared..back when I was.. in that prison.. it's.. not right... I have to.. I have to remind myself..that you need pain.. you need pain to dominate.. the magic.. to bind it.. to your will.."

And then, the crimson eyed boy just.. fell on his knees, on the blood covered ground, staining his black clothes, as red tears started to roll down his cheeks again. "It's not right.. death his horrible.. no one.. no one wants to die.. no one wants to leave this world..b-being under the rule of those c-cruel gods.. it's not fair.. it's not right.. I will.. I can set them free.. I know that.. they're not happy.. you can't feel it.. but I can.. their screams, all of the pain, the suffering, the eternal torture, the pain..how can you not hear it? How can you not feel it? They're screaming and screaming and begging for me to help them to save them, all of them, everywhere.. I can't.. I can't stay in silence anymore, death is everyone, and I can feel it all..they know me, I was here when they died, I know it, and they're asking me, they're beginning.. I have to.. I have to help them.."

Sobbing, the black haired boy covered his ears with his hands, as blood still continued to drip from the cuts.."Just end it.. end it all.."

And then.. Celio looked directly at Julie.. and she could just see as he turned even more pale than he already was. "I don't.. I don't want.. to die..", he whispered, his voice still strained by pain. "They're all dead.. we were too late.. and it's all my fault.. they killed them.. one by one...I can smell it.. the death.. the blood..I couldn't do anything.. all of it was in vain.. but.... please.. I don't want.." Involuntarily, Celio wrapped his hands around the metallic collar around his neck, as if he wanted to remove it..before he hesitantly touched the scar behind it. "I don't want.. to die.."

---

A forest
Northern Wyzkia
A few days after the Battle of Kroikoy

The little deity just looked at Alina for a few good moments with his empty black eyes...as if he had no idea what to do next.. it was clear that the girl's sudden reaction had indeed surprised him, even if just a little. Rafal on the other hand...well, saying that he was shocked would have severely underestimated just how horrible he was feeling in that very moment. The green eyed boy looked at Alina, opening his mouth as if he had wanted to say something.. but he remained quiet. What could he even say, faced with something like this? What could you even say, when someone that you cared about is ready to die just so that you could survive? And what could you think when as a soon to be knight, believing in the ideal of sacrificing yourself for others.. the girl that you wanted to protect would try to sacrifice herself for you?

But luckily for everyone involved, right before Rafal would have probably tried to desperately fight back or something, which would have clearly meant that his life would have ended right there and then, Morgan answered the little deity's question..and as the weird newcomer was speaking, the small boy finally let go of Rafal's hand, turning around to look directly at poor Morgan. The deity didn't say anything, as he just listened, clearly a little bit intrigued by everything that he was hearing.. and when Morgan finally stopped.. he just giggled.

"After I've been cast out? Oh, you humans, always believing that you know everything...when will your race finally understand that things aren't always as they seem.. but oh well..it's not like I would share the secrets of the world with someone like you, Morgan.", the boy told the Achisian mage, his voice becoming colder and more serious with each of the words that the deity was saying, in the same dialect and accent of Muddy Thyrian as before. But this time, weirdly enough.. all the other three persons who were there with them were suddenly able to understand it. "But still.. I like how you think, mage of the flame and the snake. The world has been too boring for the past few.. how do you humans call it.. years? Playing around directly with mortals can be fun.. but being surprised by them and their actions would be even more interesting. So no one will die here.. and I will just let you all go away.. I'm magnanimous, am I not?"

And the deity giggled around, turning around to face the clearly horrified Alina. "My apologies for scaring you like that.. I wouldn't have killed the poor knight anyway, he's far too funny to watch.. and you shouldn't have been afraid by little bet with the snake mage anyway...being my slave is not such a cruel fate as it might seem to be..but oh well. I have given you the powers that you need now, and if you will ever need by help, don't be afraid to ask.." The boy took a step back, clearly smirking beneath his mask of bone. "Unlike others, I actually listen to prayers.. and it's a shame that humans always forget about me, sooner or later.."

And then, the boy literally turned into black smoke, which quickly disappeared in the air.. leaving them alone. In a rather awkward silence, for a few moments..but Rafal was the first to say something. "Why.. why did you do that, Alina?", he asked in a low voice. "Why.. why would you do that? Why would you put yourself in danger.. for me? You shouldn't die.. you can't die.. and.."

But the boy never managed to finish what he had started to say, as he was interrupted by a scream from somewhere above them..one that Rafal knew all too well. A griffin. And sure enough, if any of them would have also looked to the sky, they would have quickly noticed a small group of paladins riding on their griffins. And not before long, from behind them, they were able to hear the sounds of horses and men. And as they turned around, they noticed a group of knights riding towards them, dark red and white flags with griffins bound to their lances, fluttering in the air.. and on a lance longer than all others, the two griffins of Wyzkia, each of them crowned. The group stopped in front of them, as the knights calmed down their horses, while a few of them broke off from the main group, allowing Rafal, Morgan, Alina and Wulf to see an old man in a silver armor. With ashen hair, a long gray beard, and dark blue eyes.. and a crimson crown on his head.

Without losing a moment, Rafal picked up his jagged sword from the ground where it had fallen, taking a step forward before he fell down on one knee, tightly gripping the sword's handle with both of his hands and holding it in front of his chest as he looked down, in silence. The man was old, and he looked to be weak.. but there was a strength in his eyes that simply imposed respect. Without saying anything, the old man looked at Rafal for a few moments.. before he looked directly at the others, one by one... the moments passing in an excruciating silence.

[Charlia]

Somewhere else in Achisia
A forgotten city

Sighing, Pride simply grabbed Leide by his collar again, raising him in the air without any effort, as if the half-demonic fisherman and mage was as light as a feather. "If you die, then I'll just have someone resurrect you, as simple as that. The last thing I need is you running around and ruining everything.. so, a simple yes or no question for you, Leide. You are not a part of the Cult..but will you follow my orders tonight? Yes or no?" Behind the poor Leide, the ashen haired Archbishop of Wrath giggled. "You'd better say yes", she told him, tightening her grip on her glaive's pole, as if she was just itching to pierce Leide's back with it again.

But then of course, Pride had to sigh again.. as another Archbishop arrived. He admired her reputation and her ability as an Archbishop of Gluttony.. but she was just so difficult to control..and it was nearly impossible to predict what she would do. When she appeared in front of him, the silver eyed boy instinctively took a step back, still holding Leide by the collar, but of course, he was unable to see what she did.. but he was able to smell the cut off and decomposing piece of meat that she was holding in her hand, even if he was well, unable to understand her joke. And then as she took a step and she clearly started to eat it.. Pride felt a little sick...and then he sighed again.

Being the Archbishop of Superbia was a horrible job.

"Well, thank you for coming, Auryon..and well, you will be able to eat this poor fool if he gives me a wrong answer.. but don't worry, you will get lots of flesh. What you did in that southern nation is good, but our powers will grow during the Night of the Bloody Moons.. and we will bring pain, sins, death and corruption to as many mortals as possible. You will be able to eat as much flesh as you'd like.. but you need to listen to my orders that night...and it's the same for all of you. There is no room for discussion, you will listen to what I'll say that night and follow my orders.. if you do, you will be rewarded, and if you don't, you will be punished. You will be obedient, or you will suffer the consequences.. what do you all say?", he asked.

Still unable to see anything around him, the white haired boy waited..but he felt that Meta approached him, falling to her knees in front of him, taking his other hand and kissing it gently, her cold but soft lips touching his equally cold skin. And as she started to speak.. Pride smiled. "Good, good.. I will reward you for that, don't you worry..", he told her, offering her his hand to help her stand back up. "Anyone else?.."

When she looked up, and saw that she'd made him smile, her face brightened a little bit, and she smiled back, though he couldn't see it. It was so tempting to continue holding on to his hand, even after she'd gotten to her feet again--she didn't want to let go, but she did anyway, knowing that it was what she was supposed to do, now. The time for simple pleasures like that was over. Instead, it was time for night to fall--time for the world to sleep.

Somewhere
The borderlands of the Ecclesiarchy

As soon as Az started to speak, the knight immediately turned around, tightly gripping his spear and pointing one of its golden tips right at the demon who was standing there, on the tree branches, the sparks of golden electricity that appeared on the blade revealing that the spear's wielder was a moment away from using his lighting magic. Nothing had changed in the golden eyed boy's expression, even if he seemed to be vaguely distraught by someone's sudden appearance so close to them - he had probably been under the impression that they were alone. His first thought was probably that this man was hostile, but as he continued to speak, the Scripture knight recognized him as a Loroi...since he wasn't another knight of the Scriptures or a Faith Keeper, the boy slowly lowered his lance, but he continued to hold it in his hands, ready to fight at the first sign that the newcomer was hostile.

Since the Loroi didn't seem to have any intention of directly attacking them, the nameless knight remained quiet for a few good moments - as if he was pondering his next words carefully. "I don't care.. about fate. A knight's duty is to protect.. those who are in need. If fate will try to stop me.. I will fight against it." The boy then looked directly at Az with those dead eyes of his.. "If fate is.. as cruel as it seems to be.. then we should all fight against it.. "

And then the knight remained silent again, for a few more awkward moments.. before he heard the girl asking something..and of course, he turned around to look at her.. but he seemed to be.. perhaps a little confused? He then whispered something, in a voice that was so low that none of them managed to hear hit.. before he continued to speak in his usual cold and blank voice. "Yes.. safe..you will not be.. hurt again." A few more sparks of electricity started to twirl around the blades of his spear. "As for you..if you are not here to harm her.. what are you doing here?", the boy asked Az, remaining with his back at him. "It's not safe.. for a Loroi to be so close.. to the holy places.. of the human race.."

The Forgotten Prince, Az'goxaak
Borderlands of the Ecclesiarchy

---

"Well said." Az said with a smile and applauded the knight, "When fate is cruel, stand against it. When fate would lead to the death of innocents, stand against it. Do what you must do, but know that taunting and standing against fate is a dangerous game. As for what I am doing here, as I said before, I am a harmless traveller. While I appreciate you worrying about my safety, just because I am a harmless traveller, doesn't mean I have no way of defending myself. Though, I much prefer to avoid fighting. In fact, if I didn't want to converse with you, you likely wouldn't have realized I was here. If my interest wasn't peaked by that girl, then I would have kept walking."

With that he jumped down from the tree, landed, and approached them slightly more before kneeling and looking at the girl, "It seems my words are confusing, so I doubt you'll be able to answer any questions I have, but I will ask. I will ask one question, but you do not need to answer it. And you do not need to fear getting hurt if you don't. I will not harm you if you don't answer, I am not that kind of being. So, here it is. What are you?"

Oh. Oh, that was easier to understand. 'Safe' meant... no more hurting, no more pain... that was a good word, she decided. It was a good thing.

"Safe," she repeated, slowly, focusing on how it felt to say. Yes. That was good. "Safe..." Her voice sounded a little bit lighter, but her face stayed completely blank, expressionless.

The other person moved closer, and got down closer to her level, looking at her and speaking--some of it she could understand, though some of it was a mystery to her. Something about being hurt, she knew. Not fearing it. Safe. Like the first one had said. At the end, though, he asked what she was, and her eyes widened slightly.

She wasn't sure, she realized, and tried to think about what the answer could be.

They'd said lots of words, she didn't know which one was the right answer... She didn't know.

"Maybe it doesn't know how."

Ah. Ah, they'd said that, once, after trying and failing to get what they wanted out of her yet again. Not knowing was bad, she thought, and felt a little scared, but she was--she was safe, right? Right?

"...it... doesn't know," she said haltingly, sounding the words out carefully to make sure she was getting them right. Immediately after the words left her mouth, she shifted a little bit towards the person who had saved her, who had said she was safe, just in case. "Safe," she muttered, shivering a little bit and pulling the cape tighter around her. "Safe--" And then it hit her, he'd said 'you're safe now'. That was what she was. Of course! They wanted to see if she'd learned the word, right? She felt something unfamiliar, then, one she thought was a good feeling.

"It's safe now," she declared, her eyes bright even though her face still didn't change. "Safe!"

A forest
Northern Wyzkia
A few days after the Battle of Kroikoy

The little deity just looked at Alina for a few good moments with his empty black eyes...as if he had no idea what to do next.. it was clear that the girl's sudden reaction had indeed surprised him, even if just a little. Rafal on the other hand...well, saying that he was shocked would have severely underestimated just how horrible he was feeling in that very moment. The green eyed boy looked at Alina, opening his mouth as if he had wanted to say something.. but he remained quiet. What could he even say, faced with something like this? What could you even say, when someone that you cared about is ready to die just so that you could survive? And what could you think when as a soon to be knight, believing in the ideal of sacrificing yourself for others.. the girl that you wanted to protect would try to sacrifice herself for you?

But luckily for everyone involved, right before Rafal would have probably tried to desperately fight back or something, which would have clearly meant that his life would have ended right there and then, Morgan answered the little deity's question..and as the weird newcomer was speaking, the small boy finally let go of Rafal's hand, turning around to look directly at poor Morgan. The deity didn't say anything, as he just listened, clearly a little bit intrigued by everything that he was hearing.. and when Morgan finally stopped.. he just giggled.

"After I've been cast out? Oh, you humans, always believing that you know everything...when will your race finally understand that things aren't always as they seem.. but oh well..it's not like I would share the secrets of the world with someone like you, Morgan.", the boy told the Achisian mage, his voice becoming colder and more serious with each of the words that the deity was saying, in the same dialect and accent of Muddy Thyrian as before. But this time, weirdly enough.. all the other three persons who were there with them were suddenly able to understand it. "But still.. I like how you think, mage of the flame and the snake. The world has been too boring for the past few.. how do you humans call it.. years? Playing around directly with mortals can be fun.. but being surprised by them and their actions would be even more interesting. So no one will die here.. and I will just let you all go away.. I'm magnanimous, am I not?"

And the deity giggled around, turning around to face the clearly horrified Alina. "My apologies for scaring you like that.. I wouldn't have killed the poor knight anyway, he's far too funny to watch.. and you shouldn't have been afraid by little bet with the snake mage anyway...being my slave is not such a cruel fate as it might seem to be..but oh well. I have given you the powers that you need now, and if you will ever need by help, don't be afraid to ask.." The boy took a step back, clearly smirking beneath his mask of bone. "Unlike others, I actually listen to prayers.. and it's a shame that humans always forget about me, sooner or later.."

And then, the boy literally turned into black smoke, which quickly disappeared in the air.. leaving them alone. In a rather awkward silence, for a few moments..but Rafal was the first to say something. "Why.. why did you do that, Alina?", he asked in a low voice. "Why.. why would you do that? Why would you put yourself in danger.. for me? You shouldn't die.. you can't die.. and.."

But the boy never managed to finish what he had started to say, as he was interrupted by a scream from somewhere above them..one that Rafal knew all too well. A griffin. And sure enough, if any of them would have also looked to the sky, they would have quickly noticed a small group of paladins riding on their griffins. And not before long, from behind them, they were able to hear the sounds of horses and men. And as they turned around, they noticed a group of knights riding towards them, dark red and white flags with griffins bound to their lances, fluttering in the air.. and on a lance longer than all others, the two griffins of Wyzkia, each of them crowned. The group stopped in front of them, as the knights calmed down their horses, while a few of them broke off from the main group, allowing Rafal, Morgan, Alina and Wulf to see an old man in a silver armor. With ashen hair, a long gray beard, and dark blue eyes.. and a crimson crown on his head.

Without losing a moment, Rafal picked up his jagged sword from the ground where it had fallen, taking a step forward before he fell down on one knee, tightly gripping the sword's handle with both of his hands and holding it in front of his chest as he looked down, in silence. The man was old, and he looked to be weak.. but there was a strength in his eyes that simply imposed respect. Without saying anything, the old man looked at Rafal for a few moments.. before he looked directly at the others, one by one... the moments passing in an excruciating silence.

Events continued to unfold at a frighteningly quick pace, with the little boy saying that she shouldn't have been afraid, calling Morgan the 'mage of the flame and the snake'--she knew what that meant, and looked at him with fear for a moment, before the strange deity continued and told her that she had the powers she needed now, that she could call on him if she needed his help--that unlike 'the others', he would listen to her prayers--

The gods? Did he mean the gods? It was true, they hadn't listened to her. They hadn't listened when she'd begged for some sort of help, for rescue from Luxuria's grip. They'd left her in that awful darkness, alone and afraid and in so much pain, and she'd thought that her prayers had gone unanswered because of her sins. She'd never been good enough at all, and once Luxuria had taken her purity, one of the only things of value she'd had left--well, it was no wonder that the gods would abandon something as worthless as she was, right?

Yet the boy's words seemed to change that, implying that it was normal for the gods to ignore prayers, that her desperate, unheeded pleas were just a few of many forsaken. If that was true, though--if the gods cared nothing at all--what was the point? If everything she'd been taught was a lie, what was she supposed to do?

He disappeared, then, and left them alone in silence, at least for a few moments--until Rafal's voice broke the stillness, asking her why she had tried to save him. Why not? she wanted to ask, but the words wouldn't come--she was shaking, silently, not understanding why he was so upset but a little bit afraid even so. Why wouldn't I? I'm--not worth anything, my life isn't worth anything, so if one of us has to die, it should be me. It should definitely be me--

Only a moment later, a scream cut through the air, and she flinched, the loud sound automatically rattling her already-frayed nerves. She hated loud sounds, hated, hated them so much--but the sound registered in her mind as a griffin only a moment later, and she visibly relaxed. Griffins meant paladins, and paladins were safe, weren't they? The ones from before, they'd seen her humiliation, her shame, seen proof of what she'd done--but they hadn't hated her, they had bowed to her and treated her with respect, respect she knew she didn't deserve. And Rafal wanted to be a paladin, so she knew--she knew they were good, because Rafal was good and he wouldn't want to be part of a group that didn't share his ideals.

Even then, she wasn't given a lot of time to calm down before the sound of horses filled the air as well--again, loud, too loud, unsettling her, and then--when she saw who it was, she knew it was much, much worse than she'd originally thought.

It wasn't as if she expected him to recognize her--but at the same time, being in the presence of this man was no longer what it had once been. Before, she would have felt honored, excited, a little bit afraid of doing something wrong... but now she just felt ashamed. His presence reminded her of all the things her father had taught her, all the ways he'd tried to instruct her and bring her up to become a woman that could be a valued part of her bloodline--all the ways she'd failed.

She supposed things were different now. No one expected anything of her anymore, she had no family to disgrace. The only person she could bring shame on was herself. And since she'd already been shamed a hundred, a thousand times over--but he didn't know that, he didn't have to know that. It had been awful enough to see that contempt in her father's eyes, but this was on another level entirely.

Pull yourself together, she thought, and hoped that he wouldn't see the remnants of frightened tears still in her eyes.

"Y-Your Highness," she murmured, hating the way her voice shook, and curtsied as deeply as she could without losing her balance, the way she'd been taught a long time ago. Having done that, she simply stood and waited, her head bowed, trembling as his eyes swept over her. She hoped he couldn't somehow see her for what she was.

Of all the people who could see her shame, she hoped he, at least, would not.