~Senna~

@Hammerman@13org@BurningDaisies

---

Senna inspected the blade with mild interest, making a few motions with it before sighing lightly to herself. She had gotten a few stares from a number of people passing, but thankfully no one seemed to question her too much. Good, she didn't want to stick out so much...at least not yet, anyways. Honestly, she was disappointed in the selection of arms. They were of sub-par quality at best. Either the mark of a poor smith or was it indeed the average quality here? It was very likely the latter, judging from the selection of pieces available. Why, she could probably crush them with her bare hands! Well, might as well then. It would be quite amusing to see everyone's reaction at least.

"So, what'd you think? Fine quality, isn't it?" In response, Senna simply sighed in disappointment.

"Fine quality?" Her voice spoke from under her helmet, surprising the stall owner with the feminine voice she spoke with. "Well...lets compare swords, hmm?" She chuckled, laying the blade across the table. She only gave the merchant a few seconds to ponder her words before she withdrew Bloodlust from its scabbard, letting the shiny silver blade gleam in the bright sunlight. The merchant seemed to widen his eyes at the blade itself, clearly seeing the blade at least for what it was. The silver and gold sword tended to draw a few stares whenever she used it.

She only gave him a moment to admire it before she slammed the sword into the table, making a clean cut right down its center, snapping both the blade and table in half with a single, swift motion.

"Gods, watch it! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Tell whoever made this blade they still have a ways to go, eh darling?" She laughed, sheathing the blade before something else caught her ears.

"Oi, that little rat robbed me blind! Get back 'ere you little weasel! You don't steal from Ole' Gilfrey! I'll make mince meat out of you!"

A thief? Now, thieving was bad, wasn't it? Well, maybe she'd at least take a look and see what was happening. Without even paying for the blade or other damages, the demon sauntered off at a quick pace. She could at least easily keep up with both the boy and the guards without much of a problem. She would only watch for now, maybe intervene if things got interesting. Whichever struck her fancy at the moment. So she vaulted over a few stalls herself, swiftly moving through the crowd with superior agility and athletics.

After a bit of travel, she ended up on the roof of the alleyway that the boy had ducked into - surprised to see Selena there. Or should she not be surprised? Eh, either way she'd watch from her perch.

Worrisome developments snare the attentions of the newcomers to this world, and up from the depths to confront them rise their first choices



The sudden, threatening bass in Revanmar's voice instilled a twinge of fear into the hearts of the men present. Randy whistled, saying, “Hate to be that guy,” while Effin tugged on his collar. Neither questioned why a sneak attack devious enough to slay any man had failed to draw even a drop of blood; they assumed it failed to pierce the silver knight's armor, instead lodging in the plate. A glance at his protection's obvious quality was all the convincing one might need to believe such an assumption. Instead, their thoughts had drifted to the possible ramifications of associating with these outsiders. Both men gave serious doubt to their ability to stomach a knife wound as well as their new acquaintance. Of the two, though only Randy commented further. “So, are you going to try and find this villain? There's some time before the attack tonight. If we looked around, we might be able to find some clues. Starting with the knife.” Pompadour a-wobble, he nodded at the blade in Revanmar's hand. “I'm not an expert, but to me that looks like a pretty well-made carving knife. Not meant for battle. You might start at the mess hall. Even if someone there's not the owner, they might have an idea who took it.”

Emile, listening to the eccentric man's reasoning, gave an impressed nod.
“Sounds like a plan. The sooner this spy is dealt with, the better for Woodstop. Right?”

A surprised smile graced Effin's craggy features, as though he couldn't believe how helpful these people were being. “Not an hour in town and ye'r already gettin' busy! Why the hell ain't more folks 'round here like yew two gennlemen?” He laughed before standing to his feet. From the way he framed his plans, he took Emile's comment as indication that both newcomers were on board with the investigation. “Randy, why don't ye find Oz an' bring 'im along to look for clues? We can split into three groups. I'll tail Sir Revanmar here to the mess hall. It'd be good fer now if ye just kept an eye out for anythin' suspect, Sir Emile.”



A tense moment passed, the yellow eyes of the fox captains affixed on the nebulous strangers who slew their underlings. Then, the mounted beastman barked a sharp command, and after a second of quiet the surrounding warriors began to move. They gave Lenore and Kallahar a wide birth as they circled around, an orange-brown stream parted around an insurmountable pair of stones. The highlander split off to join the right column, while the Spellsword accompanied the left. Down the middle, toward the two interlopers, the mounted fox cantered. “'Tis plain thou art inhuman, and no prey of ours,” the Cavalier observed. “If 't be true thou shareth our kind's hunger, or our grudge, thou wouldst doth well to march with us on the warpath. If 't thou doth want purpose altogeth'r, seeketh the enchantrix of the mountain.” A dark brown, clawed finger pointed toward a copse of strangely-positioned trees about halfway up the mountain in whose foothills Kallahar and Lenore stood. “Bid her yond Vranmahr hath sent thee.”

Having said his piece, the trident-wielding warchief followed in the footsteps of his army in the direction taken by Emile and Revanmar not too long ago. Lenore watched them go, thinking. “Wait...they're goin' after humans? Like, the village Uncle E was talkin' 'bout? Shouldn't we...uh, stop them?” She held her head in her hand, glancing up at the mountain. “Or were you thinkin' of goin' up there to find this 'enchantrix' person? I guess it could be some kinda leader.”

It wasn't too long until something caught Yasha's attention.
"Oi, that little rat robbed me blind!" a surprisingly loud shout surprised her. A quick search soon would show the owner of that shout. It was a middle aged man, apparently the owner of one of the stalls.

"Get back 'ere you little weasel! You don't steal from Ole' Gilfrey! I'll make mince meat out of you!" the man continued, chasing after a small boy, which sprinted through the market quite skillfully. Maybe it was only an impression, but Yasha thought to have seen a familiar face running after the boy as well, was it Selena?

"Well... I guess carrying this thing around, showing it to everyone is not a good idea if I want to gather some information..." she mumbled to herself, picking the magic rifle from her back and retracting its barrel, making it just slightly bigger than a pistol and sliding it inside her sleeve.

"Now... Where was I?" she said, looking to the alleyway where the small kid had run to.
"Maybe it won't be a bad thing to draw a bit of attention to myself..." She said, with a mischievous smile.

Strong gusts of wind started surrounding her, as she carelessly, flew up above the market, calmly hovering towards the alleyway. That small performance would obviously draw a lot of attention, but she wasn't concerned with that. In fact, maybe drawing a bit of attention could even be beneficial for her...

Getting above the alleyway, she was presented with two familiar faces. Selena and Senna. The first one was apparently trying to talk with the boy, while the other one was just above them, on the roof, silently watching.

"What coincidence..." she thought to herself, as she started simply hovering above both Senna and Selena in a very comfortable position, almost like she was laying down in the air, watching the entire situation. Senna would probably not interfere, and Selena was trying to talk with the boy, with her cheerful and bright smile. But there was one thing that wasn't as calm as Selena's expression... The middle aged man was still running after the boy, yelling and causing quite a ruckus.

"So loud and indelicate..." she said, sighing, before hovering towards the middle aged man and landing just in front of him.

"I saw everything that happened. I agree that the boy needs to pay for his acts, but don't you think that using violence is a bit too much?" she asked, looking towards the man with a slightly annoyed expression.

"And you're being ridiculously loud and indelicate! There is no need to be so loud..." she continued, looking at the middle aged man with a face of disappointment.

"The boy in question ran to that alleyway over there..." Yasha said, pointing to where the boy and Selena were.
"Although he stole from you, he is just a boy. Maybe it would be a good idea to make him work for you until he pays his debt?" Yasha said, trying to calm down the man.

@Rune_Alchemist @Hammerman @BurningDaisies

---

Spooky did not answer the man. Letting a few quite seconds, as if to let the breeze do the talking for him. He didn't trust the man. Why was he here? Why did he help them? Why is he so calm? It must be some sort of trap, but what could he possibly do to them. Better yet why would he want anything to do with them.

With a sigh of confusion, Spooky softly wrapped his gauntlets around Nyna's abdomen and gently took her off his shoulders. He planted his sword directly into the Earth by his right foot. Slowly, he reached for his hood that hid his face and brought it back to his shoulder. Revealing the evil armor that wrapped around his Undead skull.

He still didn't answer. He looked at his small rabbit friend, waiting for her to speak first. Maybe she could get a better feel for this Man's intention.

 
The Death Knight shoo her head and put her helmet back on her head.

"I think, instead, some sort of seer. Given that he said that it provided 'purpose'."

Finding a leader did sound like a good idea though butbeing called inhuman toouched a deeply buried nerve within her. Kallahars thughts and actions might be monsterous but she was indeed human and perhaps all the more abhorrent for it. No, this insult demanded retribution.

"Emille and Ravenmar should be able to hold the village. Perhaps an attack from behind would route the entire force. A survivor fleeing such an engagement would be easy to follow home."

She swung up onto her mount and wheeled it about towards the direction the foxes had gone.

@drewccapp@Spanner@BurningDaisies

---

"Besides! I can easily make money seem more valuable to others if money is an issue!" Tania giggled brightly, earning a sharp glare from the Elf.

"But we won't because we're not dishonest traders."

"Right, right, suuuure." This earned a sudden pull on the ear from the elf, causing the pixie to wince slightly.

"Well...anyways, it would be best not to linger here any longer." Lena said, looking over her shoulder in the direction of Whiteside village. "A group of outsiders standing around outside of the village is likely not going to make for a good first impression on these people." She was certain anyways, that they could handle whatever questions the village threw at them. Honesty was the best policy in her opinion - even if she had technically been created with that in mind. Even if the village didn't entirely trust them to start with - deception only would make them seem more suspicious of the truth was found out.

"Right right." Tania sighed. It would appear to everyone else that the small, child-sized fae suddenly lost her wings as she stood next to Lena. "There we go! Should be good. My illusions are the best after all, so no one gonna see through this." She confidently chuckled.

"Mhm. I want no shenanigans from you, Tania. Keep your hands to yourself and please, try not to offend anyone here."

"Jeez, I know how to behave. I just don't because it's not any fun. Like you!" The elf resisted the urge to face palm, and instead turned, leaving towards the mountain village. "Come on, demon face lets go then! You too, Vander, your queen demands haste!" Tania zipped off after Lena, following closely behind the elf as they made their way down the rocky, narrow path towards Whiteside.

The rest of the trip to the village was blessedly short. Lena didn't know what to expect upon entering the cold mountain village, but Rath's description may have been somewhat of an understatement. The cold, rocky village was about as welcoming as Tania was when she was throwing a tantrum or pouting over something. Only a few people milled about outdoors, most of which gave the traveling quartet a few suspicious glances. Thankfully though, no one seemed to bother them out on the streets. For the most part, Tania remained silent, shivering slightly and hurrying the others along. Her illusions might have made her wings vanish from sight, but it didn't mean they still weren't numb from the cold by now.

The lodge itself, was likely one of the more important buildings in the village and fairly easy to find. Large, thick, smoke from the fireplace billowed into the sky, promising some form of warmth within the building. Lena walked up to the building, deciding it would be best if she was the first to enter. The elf pushed open the door, walking inside as the warm air from the large fireplace met her face, a welcome change from the harshness of outdoors. Tania was quick to shove past her, waltzing into the building with little care for who might be inside.

At least she remembered to make herself look like an elf.

The undead were weak, but their numeric superiority was undeniable. Even if they could easily defeat them, it was getting dark... And if things continued like that, it was very probable that the sound of fighting would attract even more undead... Killing every single undead at the Katze Plains wasn't a pleasant thought...

The wave of undead didn't seem to end. As soon as Nyna's Lunar Edge sliced one, two more appeared from the mist. Sure, she was pretty safe standing on Spooky's shoulders, but they weren't in a very good situation. The Death hounds continued in their futile attempts to either pass by Nyna's blade or tackle Spooky, immediately meeting their demise or finding out that Spooky was quite literally a wall of armor.

"We will most certainly not be able to arrive into the city before night..." Nyna thought to herself, looking up for a brief second before a strange voice interrupted her thoughts, immediately making her look at the owner of the voice, ready to defend herself and Spooky.

"While you appear to be able to fend for yourselves allow me to assist you." the man said, with a rather unsettling, almost monotonous voice, before throwing a flask with a dark colored solution into the ground, emitting a foul, repugnant smell of Sulphur and other indescribable substances... The smell was very faint from where Nyna were, on top of Spooky's shoulders. But even if it was weaker compared to the ground level, it already made her head spin a little. Her enhanced sense of smell was suffering with that foul odor.

Interestingly enough, all the undead around them seemed to suddenly lose interest, ignoring the other carcasses on the ground and simply walking away. That action made her visibly more relaxed and more alert about the strange man's presence. He had helped them, so at least for now, she could trust him... just a bit though...

The strange figure stepped forward, sweeping back the ominous dark cloak, revealing a face covered in dark paints of grey, black and brown, camouflaging itself very well in the bleak and ominous Katze Plains. Aside from that, the man also had quite a few accessories with him... Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings... all of them made of bone... The strange figure indeed looked like he was right at home in the Katze Plains. He looked like some sort of shaman or something like that? It was indeed hard to trust him with that appearance, but he had actually helped them, so the least Nyna could do was offer him the benefit of the doubt.

"Please do not be alarmed, though, if I may suggest that before the effects of anti-life detection potion wear off that you stay the night? If you decide to trek on regardless you will not doubt face a lot stronger and more numerous foes than before." He spoke again, clearly trying to calm down them, and reassure his good intentions. After he said so, Nyna brought the Lunar Edge near her, making it stop spinning and holding it on her hand.

"I- Oop!" Nyna started to say, before feeling Spooky's gauntlets gently wrapping around her abdomen, lifting her and putting her on the ground, letting out a surprised yelp.
She was rather surprised with Spooky's gentle and smooth grasp, she expected something stronger and brutish, seeing as he was an undead...

"Thank you. My name is Nyna, and he is Spooky." Nyna said, looking to Spooky with a kind smile, silently expressing her gratefulness for him helping her.

"I've already thought about that... It will be impossible to get to the city before getting dark... But spending the night on the Katze Plains is very dangerous, especially for me... And excuse-me! Its not my fault if I'm alive..." Nyna said, with a slightly annoyed expression, replying to the man's commentary about Spooky being able to easily pass through the Katze Plains alone.

"Anyways, I am indeed grateful for your help, but... I hope I'm not being rude, but why did you help us? You had no reason to do so..." She said, trying her best to not sound ungrateful or impolite.
The man didn't gave off a threatening aura, but neither did he give off an aura of safety and warmth... His position was neutral at best right now. His help right now would be very welcomed, but she did want to at least probe the man's intentions a bit more before deciding to trust him.

"Again, I hope I'm not being ungrateful or sounding rude, but could you tell us a bit more about yourself, including what was your intention and motivations for helping us? I do recognize that talking right here in the middle of these undead infested plains might not be a good idea... Do you know any ruins or a hideout where we can be a bit safer?" she asked, looking at him with a curious, but serious expression. It was quite obvious that she was trying her hardest to not offend the man with her questions, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to sound arrogant or demanding, after all, that man had just helped them. It didn't matter if he was rather shady, odd looking and sinister...

Nyna was trying her hardest to endure the smell, but after she finished speaking, it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to endure it much more. Her nose was too sensitive for that smell, and being near to the ground only did make it stronger, making her head spin, her vision blur and making her stumble, almost falling on the ground. She immediately covered her nose with her hand, letting the Lunar Edge hanging on her arm, and holding onto Spooky.

@Thecrash20 @IceHeart
(Sorry Burning!!! Tagged you by mistake! XP)

---

Basically, the Land of Fright Lethe mentioned are similar to Hell or Heaven from where SilverCoffee came from. But SilverCoffee still had little knowledge about The Neverborn that Lethe told him.

"...If it is your desire my Lord Kalduk, then I will offer my heart to you, so you may feast upon on it, drink my blood, and learn everything I know for yourself." Even though Lethe was gripped by her own hesitation, she still managed to finish her sentences. SilverCoffee was perplexed by Lethe. He stood in front of Lethe and the crowd awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Did she just offer herself to me? What should I do...Accept the sacrifice? But that means I will have to eat her heart and drink her blood...

The situation just turned like one of those exam math questions he took, no matter how he tried to find an correct answer there was just no right answer to it. After a few moment of silence between SilverCoffee and Lethe, he decided to turn down her offer, at least that was what SilverCoffee intend to do.

Out of the blue, the pilgrim crowd started to bow down like what they did when they first met their fake god. "Please accept her offer, Lord Kalduk!" "Please, my lord!" "If she's not enough for you, my lord, I'll gladly sacrifice myself too!". Once again, SilverCoffee was shocked by the "loyalty" the pilgrims has presented. If SilverCoffee was still in his human form, he would've started to sweat all over the place.

"Everyone! Your life is sacred, all of you. Your worth is infinite, just by existing and trusting in me will be enough for me." SilverCoffee could not believe he just said those words, his friends would've died from laughter if they hear what he said. "Nobody is going to kill himself today, not while I'm here alright? I have great plans for you all, so trust me and let's go back to your home." But the truth is totally opposite of what SilverCoffee said earlier, he had no single idea what should he do when they got back to their land.

Lethe did not say a single word after Lord Kalduk's short "pep talk", but instead, she somehow felt like boulders have been lifted off from her shoulder as Lord Kalduk thought that she was still worthy to be alive.

Wait...What if the others managed to see through my disguise as their fake god when we reach the destination..

---

Packed snow trailed in to the building past the threshold, leaving the foyer floor somewhat slippery and wet. The ground floor was spacious and cozy. A series of walls sconces, each holding a dim orb of magical light, cast a warm orange glow across the room; the light glinted off the lacquered wood furnishings. A long counter occupied one corner of the room; the older, mustached gentleman with rugged features standing behind it, gave the impression of an open bar, but the shelves behind him were filled with scrolls and other miscellany. He was tending to a heavy ledger with his pen, and paid the group no mind. Many of the patrons didn't share his disinterest and blatantly stared at the cadre of elves in favor of continuing whatever conversation they might have been having. All the idle chatter died in an instant.

There was furnace at the far end to the left, and its chimney had room enough to accommodate four grown men to stand shoulder to shoulder. Behind the brazier, a massive fire roiled atop a small pile of jagged stones reddened with heat. A hound dog with thick, ragged fur and lazy eyes was sprawled out on the floor near the fireplace; it perked its ears and quickly twisted its head to catch a glimpse of who entered the door.

The creak of a door broke the silence as a monstrously sized man squeezed through the threshold into the common area. Easily three heads taller than the tallest man in the room, and with arms the size of tree branches, a few of the stares flickered to him and then quickly resumed whatever it was they were doing before.

The barrel-chested goliath of a man seemed too big even for this spacious lodge. Short wavy hair hung from his scalp in messy rivulets and the rest of a face was framed by a prodigious beard and bushy sideburns. Small thoughtful eyes peered from beneath thick brows. In one hand he held a mop and in the other a wooden bucket, and he seemed distracted and didn't notice the newcomers until he was only a few feet from them. He cocked his head questioningly.

"Oh shi- Uh..." He sounded confused. "Hey Bertram, we have guests!" He bellowed at the man behind the counter.

"Can't you see I'm busy, Mahon?" He replied immediately, and sounded perturbed. "Deal with it."

"Ah, right. Uh..." Mahon looked at the elves, then at the mop and bucket in his hands, and sighed. "Are you folks here for lodging or did you have some business with the Adventurer's guild?"

It had been quite long.... an eternity even. Without Senna by his side, giving him orders, what was really the point of living?

But no, he was letting his mind wander again. It wouldn't be too long before he decide to just end it all and cut open his wrist if he continued on this train of thought.

"No, I cannot." He said to himself, shaking his head. "If Lady Senna awaits my return still, then I cannot falter, not now."

Vyrmain had had quite the ride... He was out, buying groceries for the week, and next thing he knew he was in the middle of a damned mountain.... at least, near enough to one for the whole fucking place to be a freezing hell. To top it off, in the nearest village, they didn't seem to take too kindly to strangers.

But, as it was Vyrmain's custom, he gave two fucks about that and quickly looked for a lodge in which he could stay. Thankfully, they had heat in there... he wasn't going to die for the moment being, but Vyrmain had other things to worry about.... for instance, was Senna, his master, in this world as well?

If so, then was she okay? Had her horns been polished? Had her nails been polished? Had she been taking the afternoon tea Vyrmain was so intent on shoving on her person every afternoon? Was.... was she worried about him? Vyrmain hoped the answer was yes.

He sighed, his sigh sounding somewhat as if it were lovestruck, yet it was mostly out of worry for his master.

And then, thumping came from the room contiguous to his.

A vein popped at his forehead and he slammed his fist against the wall, denting it slightly, "Damned humans! Shut the fuck up or I'll eat you the fuck alive!" The thumping then stopped. Thankfully... whatever they were doing, they were not very considerate about other people. "For fuck's sake.... if they want to move furniture then do it when no one's in the room besides yours."

Regardless of his naivety, Vyrmain readied himself... he had supplies to last him for days, coats and caps to cover his head and enough mana to tank through the most of the unknown, but certainly lengthy(at least, so he supposed) snowy escapade. He strapped his gigantic backpack to his back and nodded.

He made his way out of the room and to the lobby, where everyone was looking at a group of strangers with intrigued eyes. A group of elves, by the looks of it, and the gigantic janitor tending to them.

With a snarl, Vyrmain adjusted his backpack once more and walked past the group.

"Are you folks here for lodging or did you have some business with the Adventurer's guild?" The janitor asked, prompting Vyrmain to stop for a second and hear what they were talking about.

"Oh, yeah." The man turned on his heel, redirecting himself to the counter and speaking to the man behind it. "Guess I haven't paid for the time I've been here. How much do I owe you, old man?"

He was sure the answer would be an 'I'm busy, let me check.', and while he checked that book of his, Vyrmain could surely eavesdrop on the conversation of the group.... if they had business with the guild, then they probably weren't from around here.... at least, so Vyrmain hoped.

Having scapegoats to use/eat in his way back sounded like the greatest idea he had had in months. He had to remind himself of letting Senna know so she would praise him later.... as childlike as that might've sounded, he did look forward to that.

---

@drewccapp @Spanner @Rune_Alchemist @BurningDaisies

"As long as you keep Akena safe, you're free to do as you please, Lexus. Just don't cause trouble for the people here." She hesitated upon speaking those last few words. If she were honest with herself, she was more concerned about Lexus stirring up trouble than Himitsu. Its narrow view of the world was troublesome enough, that fact that December herself was the center of it only complicated matters further. While she appreciated his loyalty, she didn't enjoy having to choose her words carefully around the golem, and wouldn't mind a little bit of time apart.

"Once we find lodging, I'll come find you."

I decide to tell the group about my meeting with the god Abares some other time. "Look if it was about the thing I did a while ago, I'm sorry and it won't happen again. You guys could've even danced with us, you party poopers. Right now I'm fine going anywhere with you guys as long as it has food and as much as I want to explore the place on my own, I'll definitely be eye candy thanks to how I look though I can't compete with your level, Danielle. Anyways, you guys lead the way."

"Right, right the magician's guild sounds like a solid plan. But!" Danielle decided to strike an unnecessarily dramatic pose for good measure. "Before anything else happens I am finding the nearest clothing shop and getting myself some proper attire! You two can go there together first will I get a little shopping done, or can can come with me first if you like, but we'll meet up there regardless. If we're gonna be here for a while we better learn as much as you can."

"You're right." She said after a nervous pause. "We should find you suitable clothes first. I couldn't tell you how many lecherous looks you've gotten just this morning." An impish grin played across her lips. "I stopped counting at 50."

Lexus Dominiel was not made to recognize any higher beings besides December, and was thus, the only one in the party that was oblivious to the presence that had spoken to Himitsu. "I will do my utmost to remain innocuous and uphold a policy of non-interference." Lexus Dominiel said, replying to December's order. "But before I leave, might I suggest a disguise for Lady Himitsu? For putting a disguise on me, your judgment, Lady December, is perfect as always, and the cagey mortals here seem to be averse to beings they cannot fathom, as their attitude at the gates would suggest."

Whatever December's response, Lexus Dominiel would accept her decision wholeheartedly, and begin to make its way towards the place of worship, looking for some spire or belltower that might signal such a building. Taking Akena's Reliquary Heart, Lexus Dominiel wore the necklace around its neck and tucked the stone under its armor. Lexus Dominiel could not afford to lose the heartstone of the Prophetess, so decided that wearing the necklace was the most secure method. Lexus Dominiel did not know how it could atone to December should the Reliquary be lost or stolen. While walking, Lexus Dominiel opened its eyes to observe the mortals of the city, silently judging them, measuring them, seeing their acts of wickedness as well their acts of kindness, how the law was upheld, if at all, and what systematic oppressions were present. If the church or temple were too difficult to locate, Lexus Dominiel would deign to ask a passerby for directions.

---

Surprised, terrified, and angry, the boy leered up at Selena. His eyes gleaming feral as before when the shop-keeper shouted after him. Tension coiled in his face as if he were going to hiss.

And now, in front of him was Selena, still smiling warmly.

"Hello. Mind if we have a little chat?" she asked, extending her hand towards him, bowing down a little thanks to their height difference.

His features softened almost instantly at those words. He cocked his head as if to say "I don't understand".

Before he could speak one of the guards approached from the main road from behind. He was agile in maneuvering through the crowds, and didn't wear the full raiment of the local guards, making him less conspicuous. A scarf partially concealed the red scales that covered both sides of his neck, belying his otherwise human features. His face was red with effort, and his look was one of disappointment rather than anger.
"Damnit kid, I told you to stay out of tr-"

He shut up the moment he saw Selena. "Uh..."

The boy turned, and after realizing who was behind him, immediately started to cry. "Theo... -hic- I dun take nuthin'. I swear I didn't."

"No, no, no! Hey, its... I'm not mad." He let out a haggard sigh. "Please stop crying." He looked to Selena and wanted to ask for help, but the word caught in his throat. Gods preserve me... What kind of captain asks a complete stranger for help in this situation?

---

@13org

Gilfrey was beyond furious. If he had his way, all thieves would be hanged at sunset each day to send a clear message to other would-be thieves. He was stopped in his tracks after a young foreign girl floated down to stand before him.

Dumbfounded at first, he said nothing, but as this haughty girl started reprimanding him, his anger quickly rekindled.

"Who do you think you are, you arrogant brat! I don't care what spellery or magic you got hidden up yer skirt, but Ole Gilfrey doesn't answer to likes of you. I got mouths to feed and I won't have some street rat stealing from me, and I don't have time to entertain your damn magic tricks. Now begone!"

He brushed past her, a throbbing vein bulged on his forehead.

---

The guardsmen glanced over of his shoulder after hearing Gilfrey's all too familiar shouting. "Damnit." He cursed under is breath and inwardly resigned himself to the grim fate of having to deal with that loudmouth. Troubled, he looked back at the boy and then at Selena. "Can you watch him for... five minutes? ...Please?"

He looked desperate.

---

@Rune_Alchemist

A few other guards were making their way through the crowd toward Gilfrey, wanting to investigate the incident properly and find the culprit. One of them, ventured a look above and beyond the sea of people, and by chance, caught sight of a horned woman perched on the awning of an apothecary's shop; her figure partially was occluded by the store's sign.
Too much distance and too many people made it impossible to approach quickly, but the female guardsmen kept a watchful eye on the strange woman.

---

@BurningDaisies
Selena merely smiled back at the boy's confused reaction. Of course, she had already expected his confusion. For someone who was used to this kind of life, it wouldn't be odd for him to mistrust any adults that happened to approach him.

Before Selena could hear his reply however, they were interrupted by the arrival of another person, who seemed to be a guard though he didn't wear the full outfit set.

And then, the boy started crying.

The guard now looked at her, as if he was asking for help.

To make matters worse, now the shouting angry man was going towards their direction as well.

"Can you watch him for... five minutes? ...Please?" the guard suddenly asked to her, his expression looking desperate.

Selena then looked back at the kid, who was still sobbing. Immediately she felt a pang on her heart. She couldn't help but to feel pity at him.

Gah, she had never done this before but she just had to do it. Selena, use your instinct as a motherly, feminine female!

"Sure!" Selena returned the guard's plea, before bending down to the kid's level and immediately led him to her embrace. Slowly and gently brushing the back of his head, she said to him, "Shhhh, it's alright. You'll be safe here with me, your big sis Selena..."

She hoped that would be enough to calm the boy down.

---

"Say that for yourself, darling. I'm a devil, as dishonest as they come." Cain grinned cheerfully as he happily countered Lena's claim. He was, after all, someone who frequently used his charm skills to get better prices in the game right after he started playing, so the fact that he would get to do so again in the start of a new life was almost poetic - and undoubtedly amusing, at least for the Devil himself.

"Yeah, yeah. We're already fairly suspicious as of now, no need to make it even worse." In despite of the agreement, the Devil hardly seemed to be that anxious to get in the town. After all, the perspective of having to avoid playing around for a while wasn't all that attractive for him - specially because the not so big village would hardly give him the opportunity of waiting until Lena wasn't around and go out to do something fun (and most certainly wrong).

"... Killjoy." He couldn't help but mutter a small complain, ignoring his standing and unceremoniously pouting as the elf warned Tania to behave - something yhat, while needed, would undoubtedly make this trip considerably more boring, as the mischievouness of the fairy brought quite the amusement to the Devil, who loved interesting situations to the point where he wouldn't even care about getting in dangerous situations as long as it entertained him. "Demon face my ass, chatty wasp. Be a good subordinate and call me your highness." Cain couldn't help but voice a retort as he followed behind the duo, unsurprisingly grinning in despite of the somehow annoyed tone that he used less than a second ago - letting clear that he wasn't truly bothered by the fairy's irreverence and merely felt the need to answer with an equally preposterous retort.

---

Turns out that the village was as cheerful and welcoming as Cain expected - AKA not cheeeful or welcoming at all, lacking any particularly interesting feature to attract the devils attention. Even more unsurprisingly, most of the people in the way took their time to boudly stare their group without even trying to disguise the suspiciousness in their gazes - something fairly rude to do with newcomers, even from the Devil's point of view. Their open rudeness was such that the whole lodge actually got silent as soon as they entered, without even trying to hide the fact that they stopped their conversations just to stare the group of elfs - earning a sharp stare from Cain himself, who seemingly completely entered the character of a proud elf. "Unsurprisingly, the inside is also filled by a whole bunch of uncultured hillbillies." He snorted, not even bothering about hiding his dissatisfaction.

By the time the burly attendant approached their group, Cain's formerly apathetic expression had already changed into one of cold disdain, openly demonstrating how "truly" annoyed he was by the way they were received - thought it was hardly real, for the current Cain hardly bothered about the way humans acted, having unconsciously acquired an elitist mindsed, that hardly recognized the new world's humans as being equal to himself as a result of his new identity as a devil coupled with the lack of contact with beings of this world, that unconciously made him regard them as naught but NPCs (Something that he failed to do with actual YGGDRASIL NPCs, as demonstrated by how he interacted with Lena normally.) unworthy of his attention - and leaving the conversation for those interested on it, such as Vander and Lena (for he couldn't see Tania being interested by such a boring affair).

In the end, though, something did attract his attention in the lodge - the appearance of a new person that he actually recognized. The person in question, a tall man with tribal markings in his face that was seemingly also interested in their group, even if he tried to hide that. Now what was weird about such an individual? Easy: Cain knew him from before transmigrating - though not as a sentient being. The person in question was, without a hint of doubt, Senna's pet npc (A butler, as she liked to declare), a being to who Cain was already more than familiarized - not only from his time with Apocalypse Now but from even before, as he and Senna were, even if not specially close, somehow acquainted due to being two of the few high-leveled players of the demon race. His immediate reaction was, of course, letting go of the dissatisfaction visible in his face as his expression changed into an amused grin, clearly demonstrating his interest in the man - going as far as directly staring him in the hopes of attracting his attention (maybe even causing some interesting event, if he inherited his creator's wild nature). For now, he didn't feel the need to expose his identity to the rest of the party, for most of them would probably try to discreetly contact him and avoid conflict - an utterly boring way of handling things in Cain's not-so-humble opinion.

---

@GrafRoy Zeppeli@BurningDaisies@Rune_Alchemist@drewccapp

@Stern Algorithm@BurningDaisies@13org@Thecrash20



When Spooky revealed his helmet and face, the strange man's suspicions were confirmed without a doubt. The tall being in front of him was indeed, the strongest and maybe even the most intelligent Undead he had ever seen. The fact that this Undead was traveling along with a living being and was certainly too powerful to be under anyone's control, meant that this tall warrior was indeed a sentient Undead.

The man was ecstatic at such a find, but his calm face kept that emotion from showing. He also made sure to listen to what the beast girl was saying. He brought a painted hand up to his chin, making his bone necklaces and bracelets rattle around. The girl asked an obvious question which the man was more than happy to respond to.

"A fair question to be sure. My name is Ikebode Rathorne, I am what you might call, an Undead researcher who currently lives in this infested wasteland." He motioned to the whole of the foggy plains with his free hand. "I have lived here for many years as a way to better understand the driving forces behind the Undead that continuously rise up in this area. In all my years though, while I have seen the creation of many a powerful undead, I have never seen such a fine specimen before." The comment was of course directed at Spooky.

He then noticed the girl was having difficulties blocking out the scent of his anti-life detection bomb. He reached into his clothes and brought out some strong smelling herbs in a small bottle, to prevent the smell from leaking out, and handed it over to her. "This will help you deal with the smell, forgive me it is not often I deal with the living or beastmen who have particularly strong senses."

The man turned to point in the distance at what appeared to be a dark tower in the mist. "There is a ruin over there where I make camp, it is protected by wards to keep the Undead away so I may do my research in peace when required. I am sure my large friend here will have no trouble with them. You can rest there for the night and be on your way at daybreak." The man started to show them the way, after some walking, they would arrive at a partly demolished tower that had been part of an old outpost.

Along the way the party would seen random Undead roaming around and the remains of other structures from a time before the Katze Plains were associated with Death.

---

The group soon got on their way to get Danielle some new clothes. It turned out to be a bit more of a hassle than they had hoped due to a few reasons. First was it appeared that the currency was different from what they had, thankfully they were able to find a place to exchange their game currency for some normal currency and it appeared that the YGGDRASIL coin was worth quite a bit due to its weight. Second was, Danielle had absolutely no experience buying women's clothing and especially not putting them on. Underwear proved to be extra tricky as well since there was little that could accommodate her well-developed body.

Thankfully, with the help of some female advice as well as the skills of her servant who seemed to know much more than a man should about such things, Danielle was able to put together some outfits that were modest yet aesthetically pleasing. Her new outfit consisted of a white dress with a cross-laced, black bodice on top, and some new white stockings and white shoes. Danielle purposefully tried to make the outfit simple so as not to draw much attention, but because of her looks and proportions it could only cover up so much.

With that little nightmare out of the way, and a few other side trips, the group made it to the magician's guild. It was one of the more high-class looking establishments in the area with decorative carvings on the outside depicting myths and dragons. Aside from the detail work though, it was a building of solid construction due to the contents it contained. Magic casters could be seen in the area discussing recent events and trying to figure out what spell they should try to master next. There were plenty of more normal folks as well, who were either there to buy useful scrolls to help out with work, or even just to get a look at people who dabble with things they could never use.

While there were people doing things here and there, the magician's guild was not the most lively of places, the adventurers' guild had the monopoly on that. Magical scholars and researchers were mostly likely to visit this place and so aside from the odd conversation among energized magical scholars, most were content to just do their business or read quietly. This was more of a place for learning.

"Let's learn what we can here and then we'll need to secure lodging for the night. We are certainly lucky the auto-translation from the game still works for conversation otherwise we would really be in trouble. Unfortunately our translation services don't seem to extend to the written language here." Danielle squinted at the sign above the magician's guild which had a bunch of symbols that didn't mean anything to her.

"I don't suppose anyone has one of those translation devices from the game do they?"

---

Underneath the streets of the capital, several beastmen traveled silently through the underground. These were beastmen who had managed to sneak into the capital undetected, they consisted of mostly rat types and other smaller beastmen that tended to be good at infiltration. They had made good maps of the underground so far and now knew where all the best exit points were. Mapping of the street level went a lot slower since only a few of the beastmen were able to disguise themselves as humans.

Their goal was to figure out a way to enter into the palace and to incapacitate the queen. If they could accomplish this task then they would no longer have to fear their enemy resorting to Wild Magic to defeat the invaders. A weasel beastman cracked his neck as he looked at the crudely drawn map in his hands by the light of his dim lantern.

"We need to make a move soon before our operation is discovered, even if we can get close enough though, we'll still need to find a weakness in their security to find a way in." The weasel grumbled as he put the map away carefully to not let anything happen to it. "That, or we need to somehow lure the queen outside..."

That Gilfrey man was really out of himself, as it was evident by the tone of his voice and the way he talked. Yasha hoped that her little demonstration of power would be enough to make him listen to her, but alas, she was wrong.

"Such rudeness!" Yasha said after he brushed past her. Was he like that just for that small loaf of bread on the boy's hands? That was a bit too much, wasn't it? It was worth it seeing what it would happen...

"Well, Mr Gilfrey, there is no need to be so rude and brutish!" Yasha said, following and hovering around the man in a light and graceful manner.

"Tell me, what did he steal from you to make you so enraged like that?" she asked.
"All this is only for that small loaf of bread the boy was holding? If it was only that, I can pay for him. Surely, you do care only about money, and would easily let a poor boy starve to death only to earn your pay, right?" Yasha asked, with a mischievous smile. She didn't need to be so cruel and say such heavy words towards the man, but well... If Yasha were a truly good character, she wouldn't have a negative karma...

"Oh, and don't be fooled, I am capable of many things, flying is an elementary and basic spell..." Yasha said with a giggle.
"Although, it is quite a hassle to control how strong are my spells..." She whispered behind the man.

"Oh, would you look at that!" she said, as a small magical screen popped up near her, showing the alley that the boy ran off to from a top down perspective.

"It looks like we already have some guards and... other interesting guests already taking care of the situation..." she said, moving the screen with a flick of her hand, making it stand right in front of Gilfrey's face.

"I wonder what would happen if you tried to hit the poor boy with the guards and that girl already there..." she said, with a slightly provocative tone in her voice.

The screen showed enough details for Gilfrey to be completely aware of what was happening on that alley.
"After all... Neither the girl nor the soldiers seem to be that inclined to use violence to solve the situation..." she said, hovering in front of the man.

@Rune_Alchemist @Hammerman @BurningDaisies

---

The weird man presented himself as Ikebode Rathorne, an Undead researcher. After hearing that, it was quite obvious the reason behind the paint in his face, the weird bone accessories and his overall ominous appearance. If he was really living there, on those undead infested plains, he would have to disguise himself to not attract the undead, right?
The reason behind his research also seemed to be a good one. He said that he was there to investigate why the undead were so numerous on the Katze Plains.

After his brief explanation, and displaying interest behind Spooky (due to the fact that he was an undead himself), he was kind enough to give Nyna a bottle of smelling herbs, to help her with the strong smell the other strange potion had. Maybe she was just being overcautious this entire time? The man deserved to be trusted. After all, he helped them not only with the undead, but also with the smelling herbs.

"I'm sorry, Ikebode. Maybe I was being a bit paranoid. Thanks for helping us." She said with a kind smile on her face, after getting the bottle of smelling herbs and holding it just in front of her chest. The herbal vapors coming out of the bottle would be enough to negate the foul smell of the other potion.

Ikebode also showed them a dark tower on the distance, where his camp was located, and even let them spend the night there.
"Thank you a lot, Ikebode. Wandering these plains at night indeed would be rather dangerous. I assure you we will find a way to repay your kindness." Nyna said as she followed him.

After a brief walk, they arrived at the tower. The place was a partially demolished tower, probably it was once part of an outpost of some type. The idea of having an outpost in the middle of such a huge undead breeding grounds was incredibly strange to Nyna... Not only that, but on their way to the tower, they had also passed by some other ruins. The Katze Plains apparently wasn't always a completely dead place...

"Umm... Ikebode?" Nyna said, calling the man.
"These plains weren't always an abandoned, dead place, right? Why it has become like that? I mean... This tower was part of an outpost, right?" Nyna asked, looking at her surroundings curiously.

@Thecrash20 @IceHeart

---

Katenka was always the kind to trust her intuition, even if she couldn't act on it right away. She hadn't become a knight by chance. As a respected member of the Dragon Cavalry, her own determination and preternatural insight propelled her to her current position. Normally, members must be dragon-blessed to even be admitted into their ranks, but she earned the right through sheer grit and battlefield achievements.

No matter how normal the market looked, her instincts screamed something was terribly wrong. The spectre of catastrophe loomed over the crowd, and she could feel it seep into her skin and make it crawl.

It's her. I know it's her.

The source of her terror, the horned woman crouching atop the apothecary, seemed out of place. She eyed her carefully.

Those horns.... Vivid and bloody memories of fighting demonspawn and shadow stalkers in the hills raced through her mind. "She can't be kin to the Dragonfather.

Amidst the crowd, Katenka fumbled inside her satchel for a small glass lens. She closed one eye and held the lens before the other. To others it may seem like an innocuous, cloudy shard of glass, but its latent magic could reveal the aura of fiendish creatures. And sure enough, a faint shimmer of crimson shrouded the conspicuous woman.

"I knew it!"

The color drained from her face when she saw Knight-Captain Theomars exit an alley just under the demoness. No...

When she finally remember to breath, she drew in a large breath and called to him frantically. "Commander! Above you!"

Theomars was already troubled when he left the care of an incorrigible street urchin to a random stranger, but years as a soldier had taught him how to maintain his composure. Seeing his subordinate's face marred by abject fear, however, caught him off guard. His mouth slightly agape and his brow furrowed curiously, he tried to make out her words through the clamor and noise of the crowd.
She pointed finally and his eyes followed. Looking up, he caught sight of Senna. Some may mistake her features for being one of the dragon-blessed, but he knew better than that. Theomars carried a small bit of power from Brightwing the Dragonfather, and could sense it within others. This woman had none.

"Demon...!" he growled venomously.

Only the strongest of fiends could maintain human form for very long. Why it hadn't started massacring the town, he had no idea, but he aimed to stop that from happening at all costs. Cold steel leaped into his hand with one quick maneuver, and he pointed the tip of his blade at the demoness.

His eyes briefly flickered to the boy and Selena. "Take the boy and run!"

Before the last word left his lips a heavy crossbow quarrel whistled through the air at Senna. Katenka, not wanting to take any chances, tried to preempt the fight with a deadly accurate volley. With Senna's head in her sights, the seconds stretched into eternity as Katenka waited for the bolt to reach its mark.

---

---

The grand cathedral was a monument to decadence and opulence, lavished by years of pious offerings, charitable donations from power hungry noble houses, and its own sizable treasury. Curious, however, were the poor beggars across the street petitioning for alms, which seemed a bitter and desperate contrast to the cathedral itself.

Ornate stained glass, cut exquisitely to resemble jewels, filled the windows with colorful dancing lights. Each mosaic arrangement depicted a majestic dragon in stunning poses and a wide variety of perspectives. Their Most Holy Monarch and founder was exalted further in long, intricate tapestries that floated gracefully in the air, suspended in place with magic.

A lean priest stood upon the stage behind an altar. Billowing authoritative vestments draped from his shoulders, and a strange bifurcated hat added to his already formidable height and possessed the semblance of prodigious horns. His eyes were a clear and brilliant gold with a slitted, black iris which shimmered like onyx. His presence seemed to engulf the stage with a burning charisma only talented actors and entertainers could project.

"Listen well my brothers and sister! This world has descended into madness beyond anything we could ever imagined. Relentless invasions by the beast men, stirrings of undead flooding the plains, our allies betraying us to serve their own ends.
It is a dark time.
So many things that were right years ago are now wrong."

A tense and somber mood loomed over the gathering. They were hanging on his every word.

"But we are not without hope!
Everything the light touches is our Dragonfather's domain! His mere presence banishes the darkness in people's hearts and gives us courage! As his children, this is our greatest blessing: to have a relationship with the Dragonfather through prayer. His blood is our blood. His strength is our strength.
Seek him out!"
Open your eyes The congregation replied in chorus
"Open your heart to him!" He began again
Open your heart!
"Let him lift your spirit!"
Lift us up!
"He is the firmament! The holy Sun!"
Praise the light
"Rejoice in the Dragonfather's light! Feel his power!"
We are the dragon
"We are the dragon!"
We are the dragon

Like a conductor guiding an orchestra through a rising crescendo, the priest's flock responded dramatically. The more he spoke, the more exhilarated they became until every member of the congregation was standing with their hands raised and fingers curled to resemble a claw. The voices rocked the windows and made the central chandelier tremble with their glorious sound.

As the chorus grew more fervent, the stone around Lexus Dominiel's neck began to thrum with arcane power. Jolts of energy pulsed through him. A strange magic was at work and Akena's heartstone was reacting to it.

The pale, silvery light radiated from quickly increased in intensity, until the world around Lexus was dyed in its color. The floating specks of light swarmed like a cloud of fireflies and slowly coalesced into a delicate humanoid form. At last, Akena had awoken.

When she finally manifested in full, her deep amber eyes seemed hazy and she looked to be in a daze. "Lexus... Dominiel? Is that you?"

---

@IceHeart

@drewccapp@Spanner@BurningDaisies

---

"Aaah, it's so wwwwarm in here." Tania's sighed with satisfaction as she made a beeline right for the fireplace, brushing past both Vander and Cain in the process. "My arms were about to freeze off." She took a seat next to the dog, letting Lena handle the talking for the most part. She'd prefer it that way, plus she'd get to snuggle the warm doggo so she did just that. The Fey queen reached out, and gave the dog a pat on the head. "Who's a good wittle boy!" In her hands, appeared a well sized stick. It was a completely fake illusory stick, but the silly mutt wouldn't likely know that.

Meanwhile, Lena was dealing with Cain and another seemingly fairly rowdy person. Lena got the feeling she had seen him somewhere before, though couldn't readily place him. No matter, really, he was being quite rude to the man working there and she had business here as well, so she'd at least display some proper manners. She gave the janitor a soft smile as he asked what they were there for, unlike a certain rude someone else she wouldn't mention.

"Aha, a bit of both, I think." She replied warmly, a sharp contrast to Vyrmain. "Simply put, we aren't...exactly from around here, and have been traveling for quite some time and do need a place to lodge." The dullahan glanced over to Tania, giving her sharp glare, a clear message to behave herself, though the small fey merely stuck her tongue out and continued to wave the stick over the dogs head before throwing it in a random direction in order to get him to 'play fetch' "Forgive the little one." Lena said with a sigh. "She's weary of traveling and has a...very short attention span." She turned her head back towards Mahon. "As for the adventurer's lodge...we ran into a man on our way in who told us of some problems you may be having with some troublesome Fey. We might be able to help with that."

~Senna~

@Hammerman@13org@BurningDaisies

---

Senna watched the events unfold with mild amusement. Selena was being her usual happy self. At least, that was her usual demeanor from the way Senna saw it, in the short while she had known her. Would be a shame if something happened to her. Perhaps that was the real reason she was watching from above? Hm, maybe. She couldn't decide if it was because she was hoping for a chance to jump a random stranger or because she felt somewhat attached to the other people she seemed to be stuck in this situation with.

Heh.

It was enough. Just enough. Enough to keep her agitation down, watching the scene, thinking of the various outcomes and various ways she could possibly 'play' with either of the two of them. The kid or the guard captain. Violence or conversing? She could just...hop down, say hi to Selena and see his reaction to a demon getting along seemingly so well with a human. It'd be funny, at least. In fact, she thought about just disappearing quietly and waiting on Selena and the others to finish before deciding what to do next. She didn't fit in with these people. Never did. Neither back in the real world, or here it seemed.

She watched the captain quietly leave, almost making a move to jump down and greet Selena as he left. It'd be best if she kept a low profile. It seemed though, fate would not give her the chance. Another guard - a subordinate of his likely, ran through the crowd. She couldn't really make out what was being said - but she knew that she had been seen. The guard captain looked up towards her, and his face immediately contorted into a scowl followed by a growl.

"Demon...!" Steel was in his hand faster than she thought he'd be able to achieve it. Still, though...he was weak. She could tell. "Take the boy and run!"

Tsk...so predictable. So predictable it was boring. There was a low whisper in the back of her mind. Under her helmet, she opened her mouth, exhaling sharply. Control herself. She could do that. Her hands gripped the roof of the building, tearing into them with unnatural strength. It was easy enough. Perhaps they'd like to converse, hm? A sensible thing to tell the child to leave. So she'd jump down there - a whistling in the air just as the man had barely finished speaking. In a flash, Bloodlust had been drawn. The silver, unholy blade gleaming in the sunlight as it sliced cleanly through the bolt, the useless pieces falling towards the ground.

Her mouth curved upwards as sharp, vicious teeth painted a macabre smile on her visage.

So she'd jump down there...and give them something to be afraid of.

The armored demon jumped from the roof onto the ground in front of Selena, between her and the Guard captain. She was crouched low to the ground, hands resting on the ground as Bloodlust had been sheathed cleanly again within seconds. By now, she was exerting her demonic aura to its full capacity - not caring who might feel it. An intense, heavy, oppressive aura filled the area as she stood slowly to her full height.

"Tsk," She exhaled sharply. "Didn't your mother teach you manners...attacking someone is just rude, you know." She chuckled darkly, in her usual sultry tone. There was a throbbing in her skull, sweet whispers of violence and excitement flooded her mind with a single urge. She tried to suppress them, but there was already blood in the air. She could sense it. These soldiers, guards...they smelled of it. The throbbing whispers in her head intensified, demanding, screaming, yelling for her to paint this day in a beautiful sanguine paint.

"Ah...and here I was considering just passing through without any sort of trouble. Quite a heartwarming scene this was, after all, wasn't it Selena? Even calmed my baser desires." She chuckled darkly again. "But...I suppose...if it is tragedy you fools want...then tragedy you will get. I wonder how you'll feel if you know that attacking me has lead to the destruction of this entire town? Not that you'll know." Before she could give Theomars a moment to think about what that meant - Bloodlust had already been drawn. Almost too fast for the eye to follow, Senna closed the distance between them in almost a single instant. Theomars would feel an intense pain in his chest. The guards eyes went wide with shock. How did she move so fast?

The sanguine blade was impaled perfectly in his chest - whatever armor or natural defenses he had been wearing, didn't seem to matter at all. Senna twisted the blade, the lifeblood of this man seeping out through the wound, onto the ground beneath him. She licked her lips under her helmet.

"Captain!" Katenka's voice barely registered to Senna.

"Oh sweet, songs..." She laughed. The blood from the wound began to seemingly coagulate, the unholy blade drawing the blood along it. Like pulsing veins, the blood fed into the blade as it enlarged - going so far to even cover Senna's hand in a hard, pulsing red substance. "How I've missed thee." In one swift motion, she grabbed his head with her free hand as his feet failed him, having nearly all of his blood drawn out of his body. In a sweet, mocking tone she gave him his final words. "Enjoy the afterlife, darling."

She tossed the guard captain to the side, his shriveled, bloodless body falling to the ground as she removed the blade from his body. However, the blade was no longer a gleaming sword. The blood around the blade coagulated as she pulled it out, elongating the blade and solidifying alongside it as it transformed into an entirely different, beast of a weapon. A vicious looking halberd, almost twice as tall as a man. The vicious looking blade was large, extending at least halfway down the blades handle. Upon it was twisted and riddled with spikes, pulsing as the blood moved along the weapon.

Before Selena or anyone else could stop her, she moved onto her next target - Katenka. Senna crouched low before jumping, throwing her entire strength into the leap in an almost bestial like nature. The guardswoman not even having time to draw her own weapon as Senna was upon her. The obscene halberd sliced at her, the guards woman barely having time to dodge the initial strike but was not prepared for the follow up. Senna landed on her feet, immediately pivoting and slamming the halberd right into Katenka's midsection - using just enough force to cripple her as the demon walked over to her.

"My, my." Senna giggled. "And here I was hoping you could at least entertain me. Such a pity. I might have let you live." She kicked Katenka in the face, sending the out of breath woman flat on the ground as she writhed in pain. "No, no, instead...you get a special, death." She laughed. "A special little curse...just...for you! So sing, sing!" In an instant, Katenka's blood seemingly started to rebel against her own body. It leaked from her eyes, mouth, and ears as veins popped and bulged beneath flesh. It lasted only seconds before ruptures formed along her body - blood spraying from the wounds and coating Senna's own black armor in shades of red.

"Ah...such a sweet smell..." She laughed. "Such intoxicatingly sweet smells!" She turned her head towards the civilian population Those who had watched the display, only could watch on in horror as merely a few seconds passed, and two guardsmen were slaughtered in front of them. "I wonder...if I can paint this entire town in that scent?" By now, any hope that someone might have had at stopping her seemed to evaporate as all of the demons reason was lost. For a second, she simply stood there, laughing quietly before she turned towards the civilians.

"The sun is high
The feast has begun
the streets will run red
Men will flee
but none shall escape
so let the feast of blood begin."

Sanguine colors drenched her vision. She leaped at the nearest grouping of civilians who had started to scream and flee. She swung widely, the 'blood blade' beyond the edge of the weapon cutting down a handful of the defenseless souls in nearly an instant.

Screams erupted.

Blood was spilled

the streets ran red.

---

What happened afterwards was beyond Selena's wildest dreams.

She thought they would clear the misunderstanding between the angry man and the boy, and that everything would be fine. Yasha was already there talking to him, and she seemed like good enough of a negotiator.

However, everything soon spiralled to hell when one knight who seemed to be the captain's subordinate shouted, "Commander! Look above you!"

He looked up, and Selena looked up as well.

And Senna was there, perched on the rooftop.

"Demon!"

The voice came from the captain, whose expression was a combination of fear and anger. Without wasting any second, he drew his blade, pointing it towards the demoness.

"Take the boy and run!" he then shouted at Selena, not knowing that the two were working together.

Selena didn't know how she should react. Should she run, pretending not to know Senna? Or should she try to clear up this new misunderstanding, telling him that her friend didn't come here to kill anyone?

Her answer, however, was soon made for her, when a crossbow bolt headed straight to where Senna was, fired off by the captain's subordinate.

Of course, such a meagre attack stood no chance against Senna, who cleaved the bolt in two with her blade.

And then, she jumped down to where Selena and the captain were.

Selena immediately knew what she was going to do when she stopped hiding her oppressive demonic aura. However, she couldn't bring herself to stop her. Before she could do anything, the demoness leaped towards the captain and stabbed her blade right into his chest.

"Senna!" Selena shouted. Her shout did nothing however as Senna pretty much reveled on her slaughter, acting just like a demon would, drawing out the blood from the captain.

And then, she leaped towards her next target, the subordinate. She, of course, stood no chance as well, as she received the full blow of Senna's newly-conjured halberd's blunt end, crippling her movement, making her writh in pain on the ground. Using her ability, she grotesquely coated her black armor in shades of red from her own blood.

And then, she went after the civilians.

Chaos ensued as everyone who was present fleed as fast as they could, screaming for their lives.

She had to stop this.

She and Yasha were the only ones strong enough to stop her.

She didn't care that she and the demoness were friends, though only for a short while. She had to be stopped. Call it her sense of justice if you would but she would simply not tolerate such a slaughter.

"...Get away from here as fast as you could," she said to the boy, who was visibly scared on what just happened in front of him, grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down, "Go to the opposite direction as far way as you could. Only return once you are certain it is absolutely safe to do so."

AFter that, she stood up, before switching gear into her combat mode. Senna was more of a melee fighter, so she had to keep her distance from her. So her plan was to hide in the alleyways and other places where she couldn't find her easily, and then unleashed all her curses towards her. Hopefully, Yasha would be there to be the frontline fighter against her.

@Rune_Alchemist@BurningDaisies@13org

@IceHeart@BurningDaisies@Stern Algorithm

---

Oh. My. Abares. I freaking love this city!

Every clothing that each store offers is so cute, I was even gonna try one until I noticed the store owner looking at me weirdly. That's when I noticed that she's looking at me weirdly because the dress I picked is only suitable for people with completely human bodies. I blushed in embarrassment, carefully put the dress back on its original place, and walked away.

I keep on forgetting that I'm actually not completely human anymore. Maybe it's because I'm now used to my harpy physiology. I also noticed that I can walk normally now, unlike back then when I walked like a baby who's walking for the first time. Because of my body, people also began to look at me strangely though without the lustrous stares the men made at Danielle. Thank Abares. I understand a few disdain, even scared, looks strangers kept throwing at me and I don't blame them. After all, I'm so white I might even look like a bird ghost or a bird demon from eastern folklore.

One thing that surprised me, though, is that some of their looks lingered quite a bit longer than the rest. When I turned to look at them, I can clearly see the awe and fascination in their eyes. Maybe it's because of the holy auras my kimono and my headdress are releasing? I looked at my talons and realized that because of my harpy body, I walk slowly and slightly cross both of my legs while walking. Yeah, I maybe used to this body, but walking with talons for feet is still a little hard to manage. As far as I can tell, I'm a very holy harpy priestess that walks with elegance and grace (ego level: over 9000).

That's when I heard someone.

"Well shuffle my feathers, you look like so gorgeous!"

I was startled by the noise the woman made. I looked up until I realized I'm standing under a tree and there's nothing but a pair of birds perched on different branches. I paused, thinking my hunger must've affected my brain and I'm beginning to hear voices, until I heard another man shouted. "You noticed? Like, thank you!". That is when I realized the conversation is not coming from humans: it came from the birds.

Yep, I can understand bird talk. I noticed this even way back when our group is still adventuring towards Brightwing. Everyday I keep hearing birds talk nonstop. They range from "Out of the way, beak-brain!" to "Darling, your plumage is fabulous!" to "Hi, is there any worms available around here?" to "I AM A MALE BIRD IN HEAT AND I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE EGGS WITH HOT SINGLE CHICKS RIGHT NOW". Back then, if we chanced upon meeting adventurers walking past by us and noticed the mortified-looking harpy among our group, now they know why. The thing is, I haven't even told them about my trait, and I plan to not tell them. It's not as if my ability to talk to birds can save our lives in the future.

Well... might.

"How did you manage to make your feathers look all glossy and smooth?", asked the female orange bird.

"Oh, I went like all natural. Don't you know mud-bath? It's like super famous among the birds now!", her red bird friend said.

"Mud-bath? Ew! Why would you even bathe in mud? I can't even!"

"Yeah trust me, at first I was also like disgusted, but once you tried it, it's not like even bad at all!"

"Uh, hi."

Both of the birds stopped and looked at me. If birds can show expressions, they surely looked surprised a half-human, half-bird can speak to and understand them.

"Y-you can like talk to us?", the red bird asked with awe in its voice.

"Yeah and I can't help but overhear your conversation. What are you girls talking about?"

The red bird fanned her wing. "I was telling Sisa here about like how wonderful mud-bath can be on your feathers!"

Sisa exclaimed. "Again Fani, gross! Mud on our feathers is like hard to clean off. Why would I even bathe in yucky mud that looks like poo?"

"That's because you can't just bathe in any mud", Fani said. She perched closer to Sisa and I leaned closer to them. "The secret to achieving this glossy plumage is... hot mud spring", she whispered.

"Why are you whispering? It's not like someone can understand what you girls are talking about besides me", I whispered to them.

We were silent for a few seconds.

"Oh... you have a point there", Sisa said.

"Anyways," Fani continued, "there's like this hot natural spring up in the mountains near Brightwing where the mud surrounding the spring is heated up along with the spring but it's temperature is like not that hot compared to it. Stories say a lady bird was so desperate to look beautiful that she bathed in the mud around the hot springs and continued to a river not far from there to bathe the mud off. When it came off, her feathers were so glossy and smooth she looked like the most beautiful bird the gods have ever created.

Upon hearing this story, dozens of other female birds flew to the mud spring to try it out and they all, like, looked so beautiful afterwards! It's like so amazing I can't even".

Sisa pondered about this for a moment. "So it like, works?"

Fani exclaimed, "I mean honey, LOOK AT ME" while displaying her feathers.

"Well you do have like a point there, but I bet I can't even stand one second being covered in like yucky mud."

"Well Sisa, you'll never really know unless you tried it, right?", I said.

Fani flapped her wings. "That's what I want to say hon! What's your name again?", she asked.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name's Himitsu."

"Himitsu, you're like super right. Okay Fani, take me to this mud spring you keep talking about", said Sisa.

"Finally!". Fani turned to me. "Thanks for like convincing my friend to come with me. Hey, let's all fly there together! It's not that far", she said to me.

I shook my head. "Sorry but I've got something important to do here in Brightwing. Maybe some other time?"

"Oh definitely. Until we like meet again! Come on Sisa!", Fani said.

"Okay, okay! Bye-bye Himitsu! It was nice talking to you!, Sisa said.

"Thank you as well! See ya later!" I said as they flew away while I waved my wing in goodbye. It's really a good feeling when you've made new friends in an unfamiliar place. They might be out-of-the-ordinary friends but still, a friend is a friend no matter what it is. I looked for the rest of gang and caught up to them near an entrance to the magician's guild. The symbols above the entrance made no sense to me at all.

"Let's learn what we can here and then we'll need to secure lodging for the night. We are certainly lucky the auto-translation from the game still works for conversation otherwise we would really be in trouble. Unfortunately our translation services don't seem to extend to the written language here." Danielle squinted at the sign above the magician's guild which had a bunch of symbols that didn't mean anything to her.

"I don't suppose anyone has one of those translation devices from the game do they?"

"I'm afraid not, Danielle", I said. "Do you think since this is a magician's guild, the symbols can only be interpreted through magic? Heck, why don't we just approach someone and ask what it means. I don't want to rush you guys, but I'm starting to feel like I can eat a dozen horses right now. By the way, nice outfit."