Footsteps seemed to echo through the cavern as a gentleman seemed to sauter through with flawless grace, whistling a rather upbeat tune in an area where death's veil seemed to lay like dew on the grass in Vrondi's morning sun. Brown leather boots trend along the cavern walkway with the occasional swish of the khaki colored pants. The figure adorned with a nice long sleeved white shirt, overlaid with a slightly longer azure and golden coat whose split tail flapped with every other footstep. In its hand a rather well maid looking box, designed in a deep redwood embellished by golden trim and accented with a few gems, ruby satin and silk fabrics. The hand that held this case was embellished with a few golden rings.
Its hair was white, short and seemed to bounce ever so slightly along the journey towards Nero's capital. His eyes glowed a dim silver as the dim light of the tunnel reflected off of his iris and quickly darted to the right as out of the shadows a cloaked figure stepped forward, a piece of parchment in hand, rolled and tied closed. He stepped forward and handed it to the figure who gave a pleasant smile.
"You know what you're doing, right? Nero isn't some jolly walk through Gaia, especially if you're looking for them..." The figure didn't even acknowledge the question as he untied the parchment, unrolled it and glanced over it but not before setting down the semi-large case. A bit of a toothy smirk etched on the side of its mouth. The cloaked figure stayed silent for a moment before speaking up.
"So...Piotheit...About the payment-" The silver haired figure glanced up from his parchment, his smile dropping ever so slightly.
"Look, it wasn't easy for me to get my hands on that information and I nearly died getting a hold of it. I want double of the initial offer..." The white-eyed figure stayed silent for another moment before nodding and put away the note before stepping away.
"He- Hey! Wait! What did I say! Grrrrrr....TAKE ANOTHER STEP AND ILL END YOUR WRETCHED LIFE WYRM!" Piotheit stopped, raising his head as he looked at the ceiling of the cavern.
"Ahhh...Very well. Sadly however, I gave you the last of my gold so I don't have much to offe-" His voice seemed to be as smooth as the sea yet held this aura around it. Young, spry and with a bit of wisdom and experience. He was mischievous and rather innocent in his words but the cloaked figure wasn't about to let him go.
"Empty your pockets..." Piotheit cocked his head to the side as the sound of a
shtinnng could be heard from the cloaked figure drawing his short sword. Piotheit's posture changed as did his tone of voice with slight irritation leading the words.
"...Very well..." As he emptied his pocket, his right hand seemed to let off a light green light before fading away, causing the clocked swordsman to step forward, pointing his blade at Piotheit. He stopped and turned his head towards the figure with a light smile.
"Sorry, it was just a pocket of holding I activated. Not to worry....Ah...here it is." Carefully he removed his hand from his inner pocket and withdrew what appeared to be a small gold and red box with a dragon embellishing the top of it.
"What's that?" Piotheit's eyes widened ever so slightly as a bit of emotion escaped his usual eerie smile.
"This? What is this? This is one of my most prized possessions. A music box from a noble Seraphim family, forged from gold, Ashwood and embellished by ruby, violet and azure fabrics and gems. It should be worth the extra payment for your endeavors. But may I ask, before I hand it to you that I give it a listen one last time?" The cloaked figure stared at him for a moment before begrudgingly nodding. Piotheit gave a slight bow before cupping the bottom of it with his left hand and gentle held his other hand over the lid and opened it.
The silver haired man stared at the small angel that seemed to rotate on the platform. It was molded in a position that made it seem as if it was dancing in the air. As the sound echoed through the cavern, two small clicks were heard before the sound of small footsteps seemed to vanish into the darkness of the shadows. This caused the cloaked figure to flinch and spin around to see....
Nothing....
Nothing but the empty cavern that laid behind him. However, he looked closer and his eyes widened. The case that the white haired man was carrying was not open and empty. Inside of it, there seemed to be a molding for a small figure but he couldn't be sure.
"Music-" The cloaked figure turned around to face Piotheit, eyes narrowed.
"You have to admire music. The synchronization of strings, pipes, brass or percussion. It's art. The box that I hold in my hand is another form of art. The intricacy of its design and the effort it took to make sure each side was symmetrical. Even making sure the little bumpy roller inside is tuned to the right notes takes time. It takes skilled hands to make such a piece. The simple and sometimes overlooked life of an artist." He looked up at the cloaked figure with a new look and this new look caused the cloaked figure to flinch. Slowly, Piotheit began to move towards him.
"You see. I am a bit of an artist myself but my art comes in a different form, a rather, unorthodox form to say the least. A form that took years upon years of preparation and dedication to perfect. I found my inspiration from a little Nayu Girl some time long ago." The cloaked figure started to move back, away from Piotheit.
"I saw her with a seraphim. She had taken out one of my procurers with swift haste and I found myself in awe with her. So I set out to make something similar. It took time but I managed to acquire my own. It took time to make but I had perfected her." His eyes seemed to go from a dim white to a lunar with wisps of ethereal like smoke in the corners of his eyes. Soon Piotheit was in front of him but the man couldn't move, paralyzed in fear.
"Isabelle....Would you care to do the honor please?" With what could only be described as the sound of bending metal,
a rather large scythe escaped the darkness from the side of the cloaked figure, with the tip of the blade barely grazing Piotheit's nose before lobbing off the figure's head. As it passed through the skin, the figure inhaled deeply as the light quickly left its eyes, along with its soul which entered into the scythe's edge. immediately afterwards, in the darkness off to the side, to small white eyes seemed to glow for a moment before fading with the sound of falling woods and metals.
"Ah, there you are Isabelle. Please, hurry along, we have a bit of a trip ahead of us." He said as he glanced back over at his case, small fingers closing it behind him. His smile remained on the case before he looked back at the decapitated figure with a condescending look before withdrawing a small emerald.
"Maybe next time you ask for a raise it will be to a necromancer...Come Isabelle, we have much work to be done." He pivoted on his heels before walking over to his case and picking it up, continuing on towards the Capital of Nero. The upbeat tune once again filling the cavern pathway as his sounds faded into the tunnel.