[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]Nieve — Red Light District[/h3][/center]

Between her and Rayne's combined efforts, the soul-sucking butterflies seemed to be kept comfortably under control, which meant that they had at least [i]some[/i] leeway to keep pushing forward. As they did so, though, the shift from 'butterflies of death' to 'infinite hallway' did absolutely [i]nothing[/i] to help the situation. While the young woman assumed that it wasn't actually endless, she had no desire to test that theory—doubly so when the hallway was promptly lit aflame. Her first instinct was to prepare the same spellcard she had used back at Aventon to quell the flames, but it seemed that Rayne had a different plan in mind.

Instinctively, Sanae shielded herself from the debris of her companion's summoned lightning bolt as it carved a hole straight through the building. There was a brief moment of consideration as she glanced between the fire and the hole before nodding.

"Then down we go! It's probably a better idea than cooking ourselves alive!" she called out before diving down into the hole. It was possible that Qing'e wouldn't be able to follow them regardless, but if the flames that threatened to consume the building were magical in nature it was quite possible that putting them out for any reasonable amount of time wasn't [i]exactly[/i] an option.

In other words, they were now on a [i]bit[/i] of a time limit to exorcise whatever was causing problems here; hopefully that wouldn't take too long to do...

Maybe the other woman had some other tricks up her sleeve to get out of this mess? Hopefully that would be the case.

[@DracoLunaris][@VitaVitaAR]
[hr][center][h3]Nieve — Odd Cemetery[/h3][/center]

With the fire-wielding woman occupied by a cursed spirit, the monk turned his attention back to the swordswoman—who, despite any immediate expectations, shouted something that sounded [i]vaguely[/i] like the name of a technique before disappearing from his sight in an instant. A bevy of emotions crossed through his face in an instant—anxiety chief among them—before he attempted to scan his surroundings for any attempted sneak attacks headed his way. When the girl reappeared overhead, however, he could do little else than block the attack. With both hands now occupied as he caught the blade with the center of his staff, the monk gritted his teeth and pushed back against the downward momentum of his opponent's weapon and took a step to the side while releasing his grip on the weapon with one hand. With the slash able to follow through towards where he [i]had[/i] been standing, the next course of action would be a counterattack—in short, whipping the weapon around to try and catch his opponent where she was left unprotected.

Out of the corner of his eye, though, the sight of the other woman who [i]had[/i] chosen to answer the curse's question as she was summarily chopped up into little pieces by the shears that manifested themselves—and the pieces promptly [i]lighting themselves aflame[/i] as she seemed to casually regenerate from complete dismemberment—before dodging through any that appeared soon thereafter and cleanly annihilating the spirit caused him to pause, at least for a moment. It would hav been obvious to anyone watching that he was at a disadvantage, but given that the alternative seemed to be fighting to the death yet again...

"Well, I can't say I expected that," he quipped as he moved to take a step back the instant his weapon whipped back around to him. "Sorcerers in this day must've come a long way since mine. I couldn't have been dead for [i]that[/i] long, right?"

As he mused to himself about the current state of affairs, though, a black spiral of energy seemed to begin swirling over his head, aimed—naturally—towards the two women bearing down upon him.

"That said, I'd rather not get sliced in half today. Once was enough."

[@VitaVitaAR][@Raineh Daze]
[hr][center][h3]Nieve — Mages' Guild[/h3][/center]

After the trio had signed off on the paperwork, Serena promptly marked the paper with her own signature before gesturing for Bren to take it elsewhere. There was little else to handle on that front, at least, and with the confirmation that their contract wasn't anything that abused either of their positions it only made sense to make sure it stayed that way.

Granted, it only really applied to the three of them at the moment, but that offer could always be extended if need be.

"Well, in that case, I've got something for you to do now, then," the princess said, responding to Anne's smile with one of her own. "I need you to retrieve some goods I ordered from a shop on the north side of the city. I usually get updates on the shopkeeper on their status, but he hasn't sent his usual correspondence. As this is a bit more of a personal matter, I'd like you to go see if everything's prepared, and if they're ready, to bring them here."

With that, the princess handed Anne a letter marked with what appeared to be a seal of some sort—one marking it's origin and importance, no doubt.

"If he questions you, just hand this to him and everything should be settled. Payment will be given on your return."

[@VitaVitaAR][@Drifting Pollen][@Rezod92][@Lugubrious]