Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[Zetaark]

"Why do you care about that sword so much anyhow? Special gift or something? Not that it matters too much," Fey mutters, wondering if he even used the thing. After mulling about how to shut Darcy up, Fey comes up with an idea.

 

"Well, the way i see it, a hard smack in the head with an axe should be able to knock most people out. Rose, want to do the honors?" Fey asks, holding up her axe to be used.

[Flannelmagician]

Tabitha looked at Fey and gave a solemn nod. The adrenaline and anger pumping through her prevented her from truly expressing to her friend how much this act meant, and the closure she would hopefully receive from bringing justice to King Darcy. She slowly walked towards the pitiful man before her, thought about everything he's done, all of the lives he's ruined, and the people he's taken from her. 

 

"Because of you... Because of people like you she had to die." She could feel anger welling up inside of her once again. "Have you ever stopped to think what happened to those who's lives you ruined. HAVE YOU EVER STOPPED TO THINK OF THOSE LEFT BEHIND BY WHAT YOU'VE CAUSED!" 

 

Tabitha clenched the axe in her right hand holding it so tight that it began to twitch along with her hands. Her left hand was clenched deeply into a fist, blood boiling inside of her. 

 

"Darcy... Do you know that magic has multiple purposes. It can be used for both healing and torture?" Tabitha fought back to her recent scuffle with Shin, how something vile inside of her had been awoken, and she realized that due to her abilities she'd be able to vent her frustrations endlessly. She knew she wasn't a good person anymore, once the only person who brought joy into her world was taken away, Tabitha realized pursuing piety was a futile task. "You're gonna spend the rest of your life in a state of constant agony, think of it as repenting for everything you've done. I want you to feel the pain you've inflicted on others. I want you to realize that we're not going to allow your current twisted world to go on any longer. I SWEAR, I'LL HELP CREATE A WORLD WHERE FILTH LIKE YOU CAN'T HURT ANYONE ANYMORE!!" 

 

With that Tabitha had said everything she felt necessary. Darcy should be aware of his place as her punching bag, she was an angry woman with a role in Virtuous that required her to calm her temper to not cause another scene. She couldn't afford to make anymore mistakes, if that required her soul to be forfeit due to torturing others so be it, she was used to taking the "gods justice" into her own hands. 

 

"I'm going to enjoy scraping your face off the palace floor once we're done here." 

 

With that last remark Tabitha grabbed the axe with both of her hands, swinging it downwards and smashing Darcy's head with the blunt end. She looked downwards at the pitiful man hurling towards the pavement and spat in his general direction.

 

She didn't feel any better, but felt some form of closure. 

[RedMageCole]

King Darcy could only kneel there, watch Tabitha and listen to every single scathing word she had. He glared at her the entire way, seething with hatred, the occasional smirk coming to his lips almost as if it were a taunt— what could some goody-two-shoes priest do with an axe? He almost doubted that she could properly lift the thing... but the longer she went, the more his eyes turned from taunting to fearful as he realized that there was a burning hatred inside of her, one he knew that even his death would not be able to quell... Fearful, and for a brief moment, fight or flight instincts took over. As Tabitha swung the axe down, Darcy attempted to parry it with his sword. The blade dug deeply into his hand as he used it to reinforce the blade, King Darcy wincing in pain...

 

"I... won't allow you... to make a mockery... of me...!"

 

The crescendo of steel rose to a pitch as the Killing Edge began to crack, giving into Darcy's weakness and Tabitha's strength alike, forgotten of all innate advantages that came with a sword against an axe— before Tabitha pierced straight through the blade, leaving nothing more than a stump, and forced the blunt edge right into Darcy's cranium, knocking him out. He almost looked as if he were dead, and from the force it would have surely killed him had it have just been a little bit harder— but he was still breathing. Faintly... but breathing.

 

"Well done, Rose... I'm sure that was immensely gratifying." Kane immediately got to work with tying him up, noting the broken Killing Edge. "Probably not necessary to tie him up, I doubt he's coming to for the next few hours... sorry about the sword, Thistle."

 

Arthur also came to chime in.

 

"I'd join in on spitting on his body, but I feel like my own saliva doesn't deserve that."

 

As Kane finished with tying him up, he began to write something on a folded card. As he did, the Dancer looked out from behind Cecily, looking at King Darcy's fainted body. She was silent, though she quickly turned her attention to Tabitha and looked at her instead. Kane finished up the card and placed it on the throne.

 

To the people of Ulux,

We have taken the man you called 'king' into our custody. Do not attempt to go looking for him; you will never find him even if you wanted to look for him.

King Darcy has gotten in the way of our mission to bring peace and unite all of Purgus. He was a selfish, lustful tyrant who only cared about fulfilling his own desires. He has lied to you, cheated you and killed those who were close to you. For those reasons, we have decided to steal him away and keep him until further notice. What happens to Ulux next is dependent on you, the people of Ulux, from the upper class to the lowest class. Do not make us regret our decision.

Signed, Virtuous

 

"How many 'master thief' stories have you read, even? This thing is painfully cliche."

 

"That doesn't matter, the purpose is telling the public that he is with us. The method doesn't matter, and if anyone tries to cover it up we'll bring them confirmation and further reason to distrust the higher-ups. Now, we'd better get out of here. The book can wait another day, if he's confident in where he hid it I doubt anyone would find it in the near future... A couple of you give me a hand over here..."

 

...

 

You managed to sneak out of the castle to the side where the wagon was. Simeon was waiting for you, Sid as well was there chewing on his nails. Simeon and Sid both noticed King Darcy first as you threw him into the back— Simeon just started guffawing as Sid started freaking out.

 

"Th-The freaking king of Ulux!? You stole the entire king of Ulux!? What the heck did I get myself into!? And who is that!?" Sid pointed frantically at the dancer, now having dismounted but now clinging onto Mim. She tried to hide behind Mim in response to the pointing; a fruitless endeavor considering Mim was two inches shorter than her. Simeon slapped Sid over the back of his head.

 

"Ye point at a lady like that again and I get me mallet. Whatever her reason and their decision is, she's comin' with us. Ye do wanna stay with us, right, young lass?"

 

"J... Just the night... i-if that's okay..."

 

"More than okay. Snowbird, Scarlet, I'll set up a bedroll in your room if that's fine, it'll be a bit of a tight squeeze but we'll make it work. Come on, course straight for home— move through a field though, I don't want anyone tailing us."

 

"Aye aye."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

"Hey, um... They're... They're gone!"

 

“Whoa-hoooooooh! Did you see the swinging arm on that Rose girl? Man, that was pretty awesome! Whoever built these rafters is my hero! I give it a solid nine point five out of ten for a first-time axe user! Point five points off because that sword did look pretty cool and I wouldn't have minded picking it up."

 

“There's no cause for celebration, Famine. Stop acting so excited. Hmph... and here I thought they were going to make our job easier. Such a deplorable man deserved to be killed."

 

“Wow, sharp-tongued as ever! If you wanted to kill every person as rotten as that, you should have just buried the hatchet between us! Haha! Get it? Get it?"

 

"Self-pity like that is not going to earn you good points in my books, Famine."

 

“Yeah. Quit embarrassing yourself, for fuck's sake."

 

“Good morning, sleepyhead! Or good night?"

 

"Death, you should be resting. There's a limp in your step."

 

 

“I'm going to kill someone tonight and it's either going to be that vile monster who calls himself a king or a member of Virtuous, preferably that fucking knight—"

 

“Haha, woah! Murderbox, much? If you want to kill someone, shoot me right now!"

 

 

 

"Oh, right! You just took a stabbing to the gut! How about we agree you don't murder anybody tonight and consider it an unpaid debt later?"

 

 

“Hmph... Fine. More importantly, we've got a more important job to do. Those blades he had— Lust, yes? The way he worded it, there must be one for every country. And I'm willing to bet that our employer has one too."

 

"You want to steal from our employer?"

 

 

“What the fuck has he done for us to not warrant it? 'Go kill this,' 'Go kill that,' and what do we get? We get to sleep out-fucking-side and not get shit for it, we didn't even sign up for that bullshit—"

 

“Woah, you mean you don't like killing people? And you didn't voluntarily sign up for this? Because last I heard, War and I were the only non-volunteers around here!"

 

 

“Put a fucking sock in it, Famine, you know that I'm referring to you both. We may be killers, but we're at least more integrated and functional than that sorry bunch."

 

“Yeah! They don't even threaten to murder each other on a near-hourly basis!"

 

 

“Forget it. If you're not going to acknowledge a brief moment of respect then I'm just going to tell you to shut your yap and prepare to infiltrate the castle tomorrow. I'm going back to camp."

 

"Do you wish for us to follow their wagon, Death?"

 

 

“Don't bother, they'll probably make a detour through that wasteland they call Ceda and then you won't have any kind of cover. Feel free to mop up any loose ends here and meet me back in an hour."

 

"Very well... then I'll be taking my leave. Famine, are you going to waste any more time here?"

 

“Yep! Pestilence was just thinking about looking for that book of Darcy's! It'd come in haaandy for us, you know!"

 

"Huh...?"

 

"...Fine. But you're both wasting your time. After we've finished our infiltration, we'll know where our employer's copy lies and then we'll have it for ourselves. They're all functionally the same thing... Goodbye."

 

 

 

 

“Hah! Pleasant as ever, aren't they? Now, what's on your mind? Come on, tell Uncle Famine!"

 

"N... Nothing..."

 

“Nope! Pestilence, you and I know I'm the best liar on the face of Purgus, I can lie to your brother's face and he won't think anything of it! First rule of lying is that you never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever stutter at the beginning of your-"

 

"O-okay, okay...! It was just... well... you didn't see it, but..."

 

 

“Hmmmm... Oh hey, weren't there four girls slobbering over the king? And look! Three corpses! What do you think they did with the fourth one?"

 

"No, no...! They... They saved the fourth girl. She... She was the only one who was scared of that monster. And yet... They saved her. She didn't even want to raise her sword at them..."

 

“Ooooh... I'm getting it... It's time to enact Plan Z, right?"

 

 

 

“The plan, Pestilence! Ya know! Plan Z!"

 

 

 

"...That thing you were telling me that you theoretically might want to do theoretically in the case that theoretically your brother goes more bonkers than anticipated and theoretically decides that grabbing and theoretically reading the cursed book is a good idea? Theoretically? I think that's exactly as much 'theoretically' as you said, anyway."

 

"Oh...! I... well..."

 

“Pestilence. Pestilence. Pesty-baby. You sure about this? You kinda met them like, less-than-a-day hours ago. Sure, they basically line up with pretty much everything we want to do, just in a less murdery way. But you don't know if they'll string you up and I know your brother won't be happy when he finds out..."

 

"I... I know that it's risky, and I might even die... and I know that he'll hate me for even attempting it... But he'll be happy with me in the end. He'll... He'll know I did this for him. I still love my brother, Famine... And I know he loves me." “I think you and Death need to look up 'love' in a dictionary." "But if he reads that book, I... I don't know if he would love me anymore."

 

“...Alright. I getcha. You know him too well. I'll help you out, Pestilence. When we do our reconnaissance at probably ohhhh I dunno four o' clock in the morning I'll do something stupid like, uhhhhh, tell Death that we need to split up because Virtuous was trying to rob the..."

"...Hm. That's an idea... Oh, right! Plan! Virtuous trying to rob that new trade route that took over after they kicked Diezel into the dirt, they only have a few members though, blah blah blah conveniently don't mention the knight or Snowbird, blah blah blah probably say Ficus is a part of the small group so he thinks it's even more of a waste of his precious time, suggest I babysit you while he does the important work, and then..."

 

"But... You'll get yelled at."

 

“Oh Lion, Pestilence, you are the cutest thing to have graced this sucky continent. I've been yelled at like a hundred times today, and just forget my whole life. What's one more, huh? Don't worry about me! Worry about you, okay?"

 

"O... Okay."

 

“Alright then! C'mon, you got a long walk ahead of you tomorrow and I know how much you like rehearsing before social interactions..."

 

[RedMageCole]

Morning came, and inside of the base there was peace. Kane was up bright and early as always cooking up breakfast, just finishing up as everyone began to come downstairs and see a hearty breakfast laid out, enough for the party that had started to accumulate within the house. Simeon rose quite early, stretching and yawning.

 

"Is he still out down there?"

 

"Kane, ye read too many books. He's still tied up, but he came outta unconsciousness not too long after we got home... but whatever head injury Tabitha did, he ain't comin' back from that for a while. Didn't even complain when I was hammerin' throughout the night, not like Sid who's sleepin' in of course."

 

"Works for me." Kane shrugged. "I'll deliver him to Queen Stella later."

 

Arthur continued to lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling and not even being tempted by the smell of breakfast. The dancer continued to sleep the morning away atop Mim's bed, she looked as if she hadn't been allowed to sleep in like that for quite some time. She was actually quite the heavy sleeper and wouldn't even wake up to an average amount of noise.

[Aurorix]

Once everyone arrived at base, Baldur immediately crashed on his bed and went to sleep. A rare occasion as usually a drink or two would be required for him to even have a chance to rest his eyes. What followed was the best night of sleep the boy has had in a long time. He wakes up naturally in the early morning, even before Kane had started breakfast. He boils a kettle of water before placing his apple cinnamon tea into the bubbling liquid. He heads out to the back of the base where he places an ornate tea pot filled with his freshly brewed onto their outdoor table. He sits down before slowly pouring some of his steamy beverage into an equally ornate cup and enjoys the morning nature and all the scenery and sounds that go along with it.

 

[RedMageCole]

As everyone began to get settled in, there was a quiet yet frantic knock on the door. The volume of the knock increased with every knock, before it suddenly went dead quiet. Kane raised his eyebrows, still handling a frying pan full of eggs.

 

"...? Can someone see who it is?... If it's Queen Stella or Sir Albert let them in, but if it's just solicitors tell them we're not interested..." Kane said with a small yawn.

[Swordstar]

Mim had spent the trip home calming the dancer down, reassuring her that she was safe now, and getting to know her a little. When they'd arrived back at the house, she had insisted that Emelia, as she had learned the dancer was named, take her bed. She could stay in a bedroll for a while until Emelia was safe and comfortable. It had been comfortable enough, but she had woken earlier than normal because of it. But it was no matter. She brought her tattered jacket with her down to the common area where she began to work on repairing it. She'd managed to get the stains out easily, which... was a relief. They were a memory of a situation she would rather forget, though she knew she would not do that soon. But repairing the jacket was a good first step.

 

She had made it most of the way done when the peaceful silence was interrupted by a frantic knocking. Kane asked for someone to get it, and she was closest. Jacket in hand, she headed for the door, forgetting one small detail... Her mask lay on the table she had been working at, a small piece of white fabric, forgotten. She started to open the door as she called out,

 

"Yes? Hello, who is it?"

[RedMageCole]

As soon as Mim began to open the door, the bombardment of words came from behind the door so quickly that it was almost impossible to distinguish them as separate words.

 

"GoodmorningyouknowmeasanenemybutIpromisethatIcomepeace-"

 

Of course, that was until Mim continued to open the door widely and reveal the visitor for who they were.

 

"EEK!"

 

The loudness of the shriek echoed throughout the Virtuous house, with Kane almost dropping the eggs he had been finishing serving and Arthur whipping his head up in alarm.

 

"Who the fuck-!?"

 

Kane rushed himself out of the room to get a closer look at the visitor.

 

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but can you please keep it down? We're-"

 

Of course, he stood dead in his tracks, for the visitor was not one that the house would have expected. Perhaps they might have entered through a window or something, but certainly not the front door. And certainly not without trying to hide themselves. And certainly not shaking like a leaf and sweating bullets. And certainly not fumbling on the ground for a piece of paper that they had dropped on the ground, picking it up and reading it as they try to avoid eye contact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"G-Good... morning... you know me... as an enemy... but I promise... that I come peacefully..."

 

"You— What are you doing here!? Come to turn us in, have you!?" Perhaps a bit rashly, Kane drew a knife without hesitation and had it pointed at Pestilence, about a second from hurling it between her eyes.

 

"I-I'm unarmedandtheothersdon'tknowwhereyouareIswear!" The unhooded Pestilence practically hurls her tome onto the ground at Mim's feet. "I'mheretoaskyoutotakemeprisoner!"

 

 

 

"...What?"

[Swordstar]

It took Mim a few seconds longer than Kane to realize what was happening. But the second she did, as Pestilence said she was there to be taken prisoner, she threw herself in between the seemingly terrified girl and Kane, refusing to let him throw that knife. It occurred to her only then that she had opened the door without a mask on. Perhaps a bad move but too late now.

 

"Phoenix, no! Please... She's clearly been scared this whole time. And she seemed so nice before... When I got to talk to her. Please. We have to give her a chance... She's here, unarmed, alone, I know it could be a trap, but if it isn't, we have to give her a chance. She's so scared, just look at her..."

[ElfCollaborator]

"Check her."

Lenore, having been attracted by the shouting and the speaking, comes in. She sizes up Pestilence calmly, looking between her, Mim and Kane. This was....not entirely unexpected.

But then again, having seen Famine, she knew there could be mischief afoot, and her gut was telling her something was really off. Famine had had her fooled the first time, at first impressions. She wasn't playing around with Pestilence.

"Snowbird, check her for weapons. I don't care if you trust her, I don't, and neither does the boss."

[RedMageCole]

Though Kane's guard didn't go down for a moment, keeping his same stern face and holding his knife up, even as Mim went in between the two of them. However, it was evident that he was listening intently to Mim especially as he looked over her shoulder to continue to see Pestilence trembling and tearing up slightly. Before he can speak up, Lenore says what's on his mind.

 

"My thoughts exactly. Snowbird, if you could. If there's no objections?"

 

Kane sternly says to Pestilence over Mim's shoulders, to which Pestilence almost yanks her arms up into a straight line. She slightly winced as she yanked her arms quickly upwards like that.

 

Mim would find that the tome was the only weapon on her— the only other thing she had on her was a full vulnerary.

[Chevaleresse]

Justine was in her room, staring down at a blank sheet of paper in front of her. Around here were more of the same, save these had been written upon, crumpled up, and scattered. Her fingers were black at the tips from the ink stains, and her eyes held an unmistakable exhaustion. No matter how hard she tried, the words simply wouldn't come together on the page the way she wanted, the way she needed. The former actress had hoped that the act of putting her thoughts down in writing could organize them, quiet them, help her think through her decisions, but all it had really done was use up time that could have been a good night's sleep. There was too much to consider, things that didn't sit easy, and choices she did not want to make. Darcy was alive, Tobias was not, and she was faced with a decision her heart could not make for her.

". . . Justine, everyone always told you that you'd get yourself in trouble." She sighed, shaking her head ever so slightly. "If only I'd known what kind of trouble they had actually meant." For better or for worse, the commotion downstairs brought her back to the real world. She picked up her belt from where it'd been tossed - the back of her chair - and buckled it around her waist as she headed down to investigate the commotion. She was met by more people than she expected: Kane, Lenore, Arthur, Mim. . . and Pestilence?

"What's the story here?"

[Zetaark]

Drawn in by the commotion, Fey also arrives at the scene, takes a glance around, and shrugs.

 

"Well here's an unexpected guest. You coming around here by yourself, or are there any of your friends around?" Fey decides to ask, seeing what other information she can grab.

[Swordstar]

Mim smiled gently at Pestilence and gave her hair a small ruffle, trying to calm her down at least a little bit. She then carefully checked her, knowing that if she didn't do a good enough job, someone else would do a less polite one. She pulled the vuln out and gave it a quick look, before carefully smelling it. 

 

"Seems to just be a normal vulnerary. And before anyone starts going on about how it could be poison, yes their team knows their poisons, but I know my potions. I know when something has been tampered with. Besides this, she doesn't have anything on her. So can we please let her inside at least?"

[RedMageCole]

"I'm alone, I promise..." Pestilence whispers to Fey as she's patted down. She looks to Justine, opening her mouth briefly to try and explain herself, but finds herself silent.

 

Kane mulls over the whole thing as Mim confirms her inspection and her insistence, before slowly nodding.

 

"...Very well. We let her inside for now. If she's willing to talk."

 

"I promise, I'll tell you everything I know...!"

 

Kane makes a head motion to her coming inside. Arthur still looked somewhat skeptical, but let it slide. Pestilence hurries in and keeps standing in the living room, too antsy to take a seat.

 

"Alright. You can start with-"

 

"Lucy...! Lucy Belial..." Kane tilted his head. "M... My name."

 

"...Right. But I hope you don't expect that to be an indicator for us to share our names with you. Some of us have families we'd rather not have your brother killing."

 

"M-My brother wouldn't do that...!" Kane raised an eyebrow. "He... um... well, he wasn't always a... he wasn't always like that. But now... well- he's not interested in senseless killing! He's... He's just following orders... You're— You're trying to get the Relics, right...?"

 

"...You spied on us at Ulux Castle? And how do you know about the Relics in the first place?"

 

"Yes..." Lucy's voice drops. "I... I don't know why you're trying to find them all, but I saw it all. It was you all saving that dancer that inspired me to-... I-I want to help. E-Even if not on the field, if you don't trust me, at least let me please tell you about... about us. The Icons of Sin. And... I know them, because... my brother and I, we're... It's..."

 

"...You look like you have something to tell us. If it's wording, how about this. Tell us- who's giving your brother orders? Is it the one who told you about the Relics?"

 

Lucy nodded.

 

"Our... Our employer..."

 

 

"...He's... while not in name, he's the rightful King of Perus... Our father."

[Shauntaro]

Spoiler

 

Oblivious to the commotion is happening in front, Shin was outside behind the building. He had been up for quite some time that morning, the one night he somewhat managed to get some sleep. He sits in the shade, next to him a sack filled with various ...items as well as a large basin filled with water and what appears to be some fabric.

He says nothing as he stares at the sky, his hair swaying in the wind.

[Aurorix]

Out of the corner of his eye Baldur finally notices Shin hiding away in the dark corner of the house. Great, is about to ruin one of the better mornings he's had? What is he even doing out here? Placing his ornate teacup and matching tiny plate on the table he turned back to get a better look at the guy.  "Shin... How long have you been there? What are you-" The butler notices the big sack and water basin,  "Are you doing your... laundry?" He was surprised to see the man actually practicing some basic hygiene. There really must be a blue moon tonight.

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta had spent much of the night... well... really, there was no way around it, she had spent a lot of the night more or less pouting that she didn't get her way. She had at least had the courtesy to make sure that she wasn't disturbing the dancer now sleeping in the middle of their room, though -- it was more silently fuming than anything else. What was going to happen next? Was Darcy just going to hang around in Stella's castle forever until either he killed her or some other brand of royal nonsense? Was it just going to be a status quo where nothing happened with Darcy and some regent just ended up taking his role for the foreseeable future? Ugh. Admittedly, Lizaveta hadn't been prepared to work for revolution in Ulux, but... to see the chance to give the people some control over themselves and to be unable to take it hurt.

 

To her surprise, though, Lizaveta found that there was something else entirely to take her focus away from that. The arrival of Pestilence brought many questions, really too many for Lizaveta to straighten out in her head, much less ask... so she elected to just ask the question that she found the most important.

 

"Wait... the Icons of Sin work for the King of Perus...? What, uh... what are your goals? Why are you doing what you're doing?"

[ElfCollaborator]

"We really should've seen that coming, considering Death. The hot-tempered assassin working for Perus. Land of the great and proud, where the roads are paved with gold and you don't go hungry."

Lenore, it seems, isn't the biggest fan of her own homeland.

"One part of me wants to say that Our Majesty's doing it for exactly what you'd think he'd be doing it for; like every single wannabe king in the country, he wants those things to stake his claim, and his claim might just well be the whole world. But I'm sure he'll find a way to shock us. Go on."

Lenore is probably even less of a fan of the Perusian royalty than Lizaveta, if that might be possible.

[RedMageCole]

"..." Lucy freezes up— it's evident that she is not used to answering all of these things. Lenore in particular intimidated her; the aura of hostility was not lost on her and she knew full well that she was still unwelcome. She tried to take a deep breath to collect her thoughts before speaking. "The King is... h-he's actually..." For a brief moment, Lucy looks at the same piece of paper she had been reading from earlier— by the look on her face, it's clear that it doesn't help. She hurriedly puts it away. "Well, y-yes... the King wants to stake his claim, I guess... but he's... he's actually trying to run something like a... uh... business."

 

"A business?"

 

"Makes sense to me. Ruslan always ranted and raved about Perus getting other people to conspire against him... thought he was insane. He's still insane, but..."

 

"Everything... Everything's been run like a business to get more and more people on Perus' side. My brother works like an assassin as the rest of us support him... and lately we've even been getting orders to kill other members of the royal families by the royalty themselves. King Jasper of Gul wanted King Tobias of Ceda dead so that they could watch Queen Stella fall and take the Relic and Ceda for themselves..." Lucy gulped, shivering and backing away as if she were a defenseless animal. "Queen... Victoria of Vini... She wanted King Cyrus of Vini dead... She wanted the kingdom to herself-"

 

"What!?" Kane balled his hands up into fists. "Damn that woman...! So it's her fault that Vini's been on the verge of collapse...!? This is outrageous!... Damn it, I can't believe..." Kane hung his head, gritting his teeth.

 

Lucy fiddled with her hands, uncertain of if she should say more. She briefly looked at Lizaveta with a look of worry, but found herself not wanting to say anymore.

[ElfCollaborator]

"....you know, I should be surprised. But no, it really doesn't surprise me to see the King's no better than everyone else under him.."
Lenore, too, refrains from saying much more. This was Liza's backyard, after all. She knew all about Perus; it'd been her stomping grounds her whole life, and the crooks and cons of that land she knew like the back of her hand.

Really, what spooked Lenore, even a little, was just the sheer magnitude of the whole operation. The whole damn continent was in on it. She'd seen webs of conspiracy like these, dancing between them and robbing the shakers and movers. She'd never been involved in one, of course; killing was against Lenore's code, and it still was. 

She couldn't help but be a little impressed at the size of the man's operation, but not surprised. It made sense that the biggest crooks on the continent were the people in charge. After all, how many of the rich and powerful had Lenore robbed blind?

[RedMageCole]

"You know what? I've got a question, then." Arthur stands up, staring down at Lucy. The height difference was evident even from afar, but the moment Arthur looked at Mim he relaxed himself just a little bit. Lucy welcomed the gesture, relaxing herself as well. "You and Death both claim to be the heirs to Perus. I think you know what I mean— where's your proof? Where's your Mark?"

 

Lucy did not look thrilled about Arthur's question, her hand immediately drifting up to protect her shoulder. Kane looked at her with a somewhat stern look.

 

"...I... It's here... j-just give me a moment..."

 

Lucy's hands shook the entire time, unclasping her mantle and hurriedly rolling up her sleeve before anyone could begin to tell her that it was okay to not show anything if it made her uncomfortable. The reason for her discomfort was evident in the moments before she hid her arm and thrust her shoulder out— scars wracked her arm, made from various slashes and a few claws. She hid her arm in the process, only leaving her shoulder to be seen.

 

"My... My brother has the real thing... the Mark of the Lion..."

 

Lucy's Mark differed greatly from Stella and Arthur's that emitted a faint glow and especially from Darcy's which shimmered brightly. In Lucy's Mark, there was naught but darkness— no color, no light, and the picture was fragmented to the point where one couldn't even tell it was supposed to be a lion unless they looked closer. Lucy hurriedly rolled her sleeve back down, trying to put her mantle back on like nothing ever happened.

 

"I... I think it was because we were twins that I didn't get the whole thing..." Lucy whispered in an attempt to keep the room not so awkwardly silent (as Kane and Arthur had gone) while also trying to the subject away from her arm.

[Swordstar]

Mim glared at Kane and Crimson and quickly moved from a bit behind Pestilence where she had been standing and pulled Pestilence into a hug. She could only imagine where those scars had come from and the burden of carrying a broken Mark... She quietly whispered in Lucy's ear,

 

"It's ok. We don't care about that Mark, or at least I don't. I care about you and you being happy. So don't let them fluster you. You're important just as you are."

 

She took a step back after that, but gently placed her hand on Lucy's back, trying to give her a bit of comfort.

[rokubiraijuu]

Ferdiad had waited. After the battle in the castle had concluded, whatever part of him had seemed to come alive to protect former allies had trickled away again, leaving behind a vestige of the man who, before, would have earnestly engaged in the debate over King Darcy's life. But that was a decision enacted by Virtuous, and to be made by Virtuous. ( Still, a part of him had taken solace that they had not become Kingslayers. )

 

He waited, still. The return to the base elicited less so fondness and more guilt, like that of a dying man walking into a room full of life. But Kane did him the courtesy of letting him set out early the next morning, before the sun had even risen, to scout the area. Something in their exchange, and the way Kane looked at him, only deepened that twisting feeling in his stomach; he couldn't help but feel as though he was scurrying away shamefully, and that his former friend knew.

 

Things are surprisingly quiet when he returns. By this hour, there would usually be some outside — he purges the rest of that thought immediately. Their routine, or lack thereof, now is no longer his concern. Still, the instinct to find Kane and ask him what else needed to be done is difficult to shake. He's no longer responsible for them. His time is his own. That momentum is still heavy in his mind as he opens the door and steps inside. It's still heavy as he rounds the corner to proceed up the steps. Voices echo from the direction of the kitchen, sounding serious, but he makes to walk past—

 

He could have missed her entirely, she was so small and out of the way. But with the hood down, her violet hair was vibrant, and it was difficult to overlook a figure, no matter how small, when all other eyes in the room were on her too.

 

An innocuous group of four. Queen Stella falling to her knees. An arrow jutting out from a sleeping king.

 

A glimpse of a triumphant grin framed in red.

 

It's a long way to walk.

 

Steel slides from its scabbard, cutting through the conversation. He crosses the room in implacable strikes like an inevitability, sword raised.

[RedMageCole]

The air had already been awkward, what with Kane still looking uncertain and relatively unaffected despite Mim's harsh glance with Arthur being a contrast in looking away as a result of the glare. Lucy, on the other hand, looked comforted for a moment, taking a moment to take a deep breath. And yet— it was hard for her to not notice the tall figure, those long golden locks and armor, meeting eye with him as her face went completely pale...

 

"Y-Y-Y-You're..." Before she could get any words out past that exterior as cold as ice, he had already charged at her intending to shatter that ice into pieces. Both out of guilt and paralyzed fear, Lucy stood completely still in his path, not attempting to jump out of the way, but to protest— "W-Wait! No!"

 

Kane, on the other hand went to block Ferdiad's way, but at his distance there would be no getting in between him without any further intervention, Arthur had already begun to react too slowly—

 

"FE- KNIGHT!" But even Kane knew it was a futile exercise to simply use words to stop him from his goals...