Seen better times than yesterday

[Anonymous]

For as long as she could remember, Moriander Wynter had loved living in the main Wynter estate. The entire mansion seemed to be innumerable in its many rooms, hallways and secret passages – when she was younger, she had made a game out of exploring all of its twists and turns, sometimes getting lost and nervous whenever she couldn't find her way back to her room. Those had been carefree days – back when she had Marius were both young, back when they had no worries or responsibilities – back when her aunt and uncle, Marius' parents, had been alive. This house held many memories for her, but even so, there were some places in the estate that Mori would just rather not be in.

The basement of the Wynter estate was musty, dark, and dusty – a combination of conditions that made Mori frown and cross her arms over her chest. She had been down here for quite a few hours now, organizing and filing away archives in alphabetical order, by date, by title... It was boring work, so Mori hummed to herself to keep her spirits up; really, she wasn't a girl who could work by herself, in such a secluded area. However, the basement had grown quite messy over the past few weeks, and she wasn't sure why... Normally, the basement of the main Wynter estate – which was put under lock and key, for this was where the Wynter family secrets were kept – was kept tidy and neat, but last week, Mori had come down here and found it a wreck – as if a hurricane had been through the area.

She tucked a long strand of white hair behind her ear, her hawkish yellow eyes scanning through the archives, dusting scrolls, wiping dust off books and encyclopedia... After hours of work, she had finally made it to the restricted section, where the Wynter family's top secret had been locked away, by a series of magical spells only known to the Wynter house. Mori closed her eyes, snapped her fingers, and sent a beam of spirit energy towards the door, which unlocked it promptly. The large door swung open, creaking eerily as it did, but when it finally swung open all the way, Mori's eyes opened wide, shellshocked.

The restricted section of the library was empty. She took a step backward, biting her lip. Either someone in the family had decided to pick up some reading over the weekend... or they had flat out stolen the information from the archives. Taking out secrets from the archives in itself was an offense to the family – the documents here were sensitive and fragile, taking them out of this room might damage the paper, or worse, leak their secrets out to the entire world. Shaking her head, Mori leapt up the stairs, back to the living area of the Wynter estate. This wasn't something she could solve by herself...

Standing outside of Marius' main room, Mori rocked back and forth on her toes, hesitating, before finally knocking lightly on the door. Please be in your room, please be in your room... she hoped, praying that he was actually in today, instead of hunting for other Great Spirits. She knocked thrice more, a little nervously, wondering how she'd explain this sort of thing to him... "Marius, are you in there?" she asked, her voice small and anxious. "I don't mean to bother you but... we've got a serious problem!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest, hoping he'd be in today. Oh, if he wasn't here, how was Mori supposed to solve this huge problem by herself?

[Scythe-Nova]

A great dinner indeed, Marius had just gotten out from the dining hall as he saw Moriander run by the hall besides him looking somewhat spooked, Curious Marius followed her somewhat covert and when he saw her stop outside his private study he raised an eyebrow looking at her somewhat amused as he made his way toward her without making a sound, He found it amusing how akward Moriander were around him and took every oppertunity to tease her.

-"...And what kind of problem would that be?"

Marius said as he stepped up behind Mori, Marius had been home since the last weekend and were simply lounging about in the mansion resting amongst some other things also. He looked at moriander with his usual monotone expression while rasing an eyebrow slightly while having his arms crossed on his back. Ignis were as usually floating beind him simply looking about but now focusing his attention to Moriander as something were happening.

((Ehe.. feels so short compared to your post XD))

[Anonymous]

[ Psssh, don't worry about it! ]

The last thing Moriander had expected was for Marius to pop up out of nowhere, right behind her. At the sound of his voice, she jumped, squealing in surprise – she had never been good at handling surprises well, especially when that surprise was Marius. She looked up at him, and realized that she had lost all of her composure, and had totally forgotten everything she was supposed to say. Oh, think, Mori, think! She had always wanted to impress Marius, but how could she, when she was a total spazz and forgot everything she was going to say, as soon as he appeared?

"M-Marius!" she stammered, taken off guard. She pressed a hand to her chest, taking a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "D-Don't scare me like that...!" Mori huffed indignantly. "You nearly scared me to death..." The spirit mage shook her head, but knew that there were bigger problems at stake here. How could she stand here dilly-dallying when they had a serious problem on her hands! She bit her lip, recalling what she had seen in the library, knowing it would be best to tell Marius – he would know what to do, he always did.

"It's about the archives, down in the basement," Mori began, her voice composed – or as composed as it could be. "The restricted section of the archives.... It's totally empty. It's like someone just... just stole all of our family's secrets." She looked up at him, her yellow eyes frowning, not wanting to jump to conclusions. "The only people who can get into that section are members of the family... Who would do such a thing?"

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius laughed a bit muffled at Morianders reaction and looked at her with a very amused expression. When she started to speak he started to laugh out loudly and almost doubled over as he laughed so hard, He got back his composure as she were about to tell him about what all this was all abou.

-"Yes what about the Archives?"

He said and looked at her a bit impatiently and tapped his foot lightly. When she finally said what she were so spooked about he almost dropped his jaw, the supprise quickly changed to rage and small flames started to dance around him and on his clothing without burning anything.

-"WHAT!!!!"

He shouted in a clearly enraged manner as he looked at Moriander with wide eyes, Family only section? It must be one of the branch houses he thought to himself as he tried to regain his calm an started to rub one of his hands over his forehead clearly very disturbed by theese news. The flames slowly changed into a blue colour as he breathed out much calmer than before t'was almost as he had gone full circle with his anger. He then looked at Moriander with his Hawkishly Yellow eyes that now had slit pupils like a cat's. His eyes clearly showed that he were extremely angry but looking at his face you could not tell that he were angry at all.

-"Just.. Wh..."

He sighed heavily and suddenly smiled heartfully as he put his hand on Moriander's shoulder while looking at her with a clearly fake calm. The smile and all were obviously a front Marius had because the flames that were dancing around were beginning to become white in colour and Ignis looked very nervously at Marius.

-"Moriander let's go to the Archives.."

He said with a falsely calm voice and started to walk down the hallway as he made his way towards the Archives with the white flames dancing after him as he made his way through the hallway, The flames danced violently but they did not even burn the flowers or fabrics they danced over as they moved with Marius.

((Hehe i like Marius when he's angry XD))

[Anonymous]

[ Lol, Marius is hilarious when he's angry. xD ]

Mori squealed and jumped back from her cousin after hearing his outburst, and covered her mouth with her hands, dancing lightly on her toes. Oh, Marius was so scary when he was angry, especially whenever something pertained to the Wynter House... When, finally, he seemed to have calmed down a little (but looking in his eyes, Mori could tell that he was still super ticked off...), Mori allowed herself to relax, hoping that he'd be able to take this news with a clearer head now. By her side, the white wolf, Vuka, who watched Marius a little nervously as well.

The flames were white now, and as Marius suggested that they go down to the archives, Mori nodded, and lead them downstairs. She used her frost magic to glide down the stairs, so that she could get to the archives faster, then stopped at the door of the restricted section, looking towards Marius, waiting for him to come down the stairs. The door had closed on its own after she had come running up the stairs – as a safety mechanism – so Mori had to open it again.

"Y-You're not gonna like what you see, Marius..." she warned, shivering, but turned toward the restricted section, sending a bolt of spirit magic toward the door. The door swung open once more, revealing that it was completely and totally empty – there was not one scroll or book to be found in the area at all. Mori toyed with her fingers, looking up at Marius, wondering if he would get even angrier after seeing that her news had been true after all.

"I hate to make assumptions..." Moriander began, biting her lip. "But do you think... someone from the branch houses could've done this?" She knew that not everyone from the branch houses had it out from them, but since no one knew what had happened to the heads of the branch houses, well, their relationship with the main house had always been a little shaky... Mori started to bite her nails, nervous, but knew that Marius would come up with something – he always had a plan, after all!

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius Calmly followed Moriander down the stairs, He Stopped next to her looking at the door in front of them. When she said that he would not like what he would see he sighed a bit before looking into the vault now that it were open and almost imediatly the flames that still danced around him lit up into large flames burning bright red, His expression however did not change at all.

-"Well... The next step should be obvoius Moriander, We will have to find the culprit and take everything back... and then kill the culprit"

His voice were wavering a bit almost as if he repressed a great anger inside himself. He lightly ran his hand through his hair before looking at Moriander with the same expression he had before, Ignis floated around Marius and into the vault looking around for a bit. the flames around Marius slowly died out as he drew a deep breath and cleared his head.

-"Vuka is a wolf eh? Have him sniff the culprit out..."

He said and glanced at Vuka before looking back at Moriander with a serious expression.

[Anonymous]

Kill the culprit, he said. Moriander sucked in her breath at that – she had never killed anyone in her life, unless they were some monster, or demon, or creature that was terrorizing a town somewhere. She had known – that sometimes, in order to exact justice in this world, that people had to die – especially people who upset the balance – but she had never thought that she would bear witness to it, a murder. Then again, hadn't someone from the Wynter House itself killed off her aunt and uncle – Marius' parents? She had never known what had happened to the culprits, but she was starting to realize it now. They were probably dead, buried six feet under, where they could no longer murder again.

Was that justice? And if it wasn't, then what was?

Despite her mixed up feelings towards this matter, Mori nodded once, determined. "Right," she replied, her voice sturdy and clear. "No matter what, we have to find the culprit, and..." But she couldn't say it, that they'd have to kill him. Couldn't they just reason with him, or lock him up in some sort of prison? She brushed a free lock of white hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear, shaking her head. Whatever Marius said was law – if he said that the culprit had to be killed, then... then that was what they would have to do. Besides! She couldn't let Marius down! This was her one chance to impress him, and let him know that she  had  been growing powerful as well!

"Vuka!" Moriander called out to the white wolf, who looked up at her expectantly. "Sniff out the culprit! His scent must still be lingering in the archives." At once, the white wolf took to her request, sniffing around the empty archives, before finally picking up a scent. He barked twice, and then bolted up the stairs, having picked up the scent. "C'mon, Marius!" Mori urged, following the wolf back up into the first floor. Vuka lead them outside of the house, however, and sniffed around once more, pointing like an arrow towards the branch estates, that lay some miles away from the main Wynter House.

Mori looked at Marius, petting Vuka's head. "Vuka says that the culprit is in the branch house. From the way he's pointing, it looks like it's the branch house that's settled deep in the Niahi Woods..." Man, she hated going in there, especially now, when the sun was about to set. But, if it was for House Wynter, and for Marius, she'd do anything. "We've got a long road ahead of us... But we should probably set out now, while there's still some sunlight out..."

With Vuka leading the way, not so quickly this time, she started towards the woods. She looked up at Marius, curious. "Marius, do you think..." she began, and paused, unsure if she should ask, but decided to do so anything. "...Do you think whoever did this had some connection to the people who... who killed your..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. "Ah! Nevermind, it was silly of me to ask!" She tried to change the subject. "It sure is pretty this evening, hm? The sky is a pretty blend of pinks and purples – it's so serene~"

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius Saw the hesitation in Mori when he said that the would kill the culprit, He understood that though she had never needed to bloody her hands with a human life, When she shouted to him he followed her through the mansion keeping a steady pace after Mori and Vuka when they got out he looked towards the mansion befor looking back at Mori mentioned the branch houses.

-"...Yes"

He said when Mori suggested that they should set out before the sun went down, He followed Vuka walking besides Moriander in deep thought, he did not even notice her question about the incident about his parents, But when she talked about the sky he looked towards the sky and nodded agreeing before looking at Mori calmly.

-"... Did you notice that we did not run into any of the mansion guards as we made our way out?"

He asked her and looked at her waiting for at response, It was true as they had followed Vuka through the halls they had not even seen a guard as they rushed through the halls. He then remembered how Mori had become tense when he said that they would Kill the culprit. "...She's still a pure white sheet of paper, I don't think that i want to paint that sheet yet.. especially not with the colour of blood" He thought to himself and looked at Mori with a thoughtfull expression still waiting for her reply.

[Anonymous]

Mori looked up at her brother curiously when he mentioned the mansion guards. She hadn't really been paying attention to anything else back then. As Vuka had led them through the hallways, she had been focusing on keeping up with him – the spirit creature could really run quite quickly when it got worked up. Mori closed her eyes for a moment, remembering their rush through the mansion, and saw that there really had been no guards walking through the hallways. Huh! How strange... And yet, she hadn't even noticed it. Of course Marius would though - something that seemed like such a slight, insignificant detail really could make a different in a case like this one.

"Now that you mention it... yeah, I did notice," Mori began, looking down at her feet while she thought. "I didn't think much of it though. I guess it seemed like such a small detail..." She looked up at him, her eyes curious. "We normally always have guards in the mansion, too... Why were they gone today?" She couldn't even fathom the idea. "Were they off duty, or something, Marius?" She shook her head at the thought. "No, that seems silly... But if they weren't off duty, then why weren't any in the hallways?" A chill ran down her spine as she pondered the question – she couldn't figure out why they weren't there for the life of her, but she was sure that she wasn't going to like the answer.

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius placed a hand at his chin and closed his eyes as they walked, He then looked at Moriander and nodded as she said that she had noticed. Then it were not just Himself who had been seing things. But the guard could not have been dead that would have been noticed before the morning, No the Guard were in the mansion just not where they had passed.

-"The Guards cannot be dead that would have been noticed in the morning, It's more like a flaw in the patrol routes in the mansion"

He sighed and looked at Vuka with a slight smile before looking back at Moriander, he looked at her for some time before looking back at the road and thinking for himself, Marius had an expression of deep thought and he still seemed angry of the theft of the Wynter Archive.

[Anonymous]

"A flaw?" Moriander echoed, biting her lip. So, whoever had stolen the documents in their archive probably had preplanned this. There was no way they could've just happened to stroll around during the same time when none of their happened to be on duty. No, somehow... they had studied the guards' patterns, and had used that opportunity to strike. That had to mean that the thief didn't want to be noticed – he wanted the documents, but he obviously wanted no quarrel with the head of House Wynter. (Obviously, they knew what they'd be up against, considering Marius' power...) But didn't they know – that as soon as it was realized that the documents were missing, that they'd be up against members from the main branch of House Wynter? The thief couldn't have been too bright...

Unless...

"Marius!" Mori suddenly exclaimed, clenching her fists, keeping them near her chest. "What if... what if the thief knew that we'd come after him? What if he didn't want the documents – what if he just wants to bring us to him?" It seemed plausible, in Mori's mind – after all, if they were from the branch house... well, the main house and the branch house didn't seem to get along, no matter what happened.

Mori bit her lip – she had hoped that maybe whatever the thief had done could possibly be forgiven, but... "I guess... there's no choice then," she realized. Marius was going to kill the perpetrator, she knew, and she... she'd have to see it. She was a little girl anymore. She was a spirit mage of House Wynter, and she'd do anything to uphold her honor. "I think I see the branch house up ahead," Mori noted, and Vuka barked, as if to confirm it. "But I don't like the aura around here, Marius... It feels like someone's watching us..."

[Scythe-Nova]

-"Hmmm? that could be a possibillity but then again it's a useless effort since i will just kill them if they stand against me"

He said simply and walked besides Moriander silently in thought and then looked up again when She said they were almost at the branch house and he looked at the house before looking at Moriander again.

-"That's probably cause someone is watching us."

He said and looked around and small flames started to appear floating around in the air around Marius.

[Anonymous]

Of course, Mori should've known – even if they tried to trick Marius into their domain, he would just kill them if they got in his way. Mori nodded gravely, keeping her eyes on the road up ahead. "Right," she acknowledged, wondering how it was possible for Marius to treat murder and death so lightly. Then again, that was why he was the Head of the Wynter House. She admired that strength of his – his cold ability to keep people in line, and dispose of anyone who treated the stability of the House. He was a force to be reckoned with – and Mori found herself wishing that she too, could have that same, rock-hard strength.

 "That's probably because someone is watching us."

Marius was right – the air around here felt tense, thick, as if someone was peering at them through the bushes. Mori let her hand glow, an eerie white aura forming around her hands, preparing herself for a battle – she knew that fighting would be inevitable, it was almost as if she could feel enemies surrounding them. And then...

In the blink of an eye, masked men sprang from the bushes, at least two dozen of them appearing or teleporting before their eyes. They were dressed in black, and sported a white 'W' on their uniform – were they part of the branch house? Or were they another group, sectioned off from House Wynter all together? Either way, they all seemed to have a magic aura about them – they too, were spirit mages.

The tallest one of them stepped forward, adjusting his mask, his voice a low, harsh whisper. "Turn back," the leader hissed. "The archives are ours now, and with them, all of the main branches secrets. Leave now, and you can leave with your lives. Otherwise, we'll have to make things messy..."

Mori took an offensive stance, not wanting to move before Marius did. "On your mark," she acknowledged, looking up at him with her hawkish yellow eyes. When she was on missions by herself, she did not wait for anyone's command – but when she was with Marius, she would not move unless instructed. She was a tool for him to use as he saw fit.

[Scythe-Nova]

The flames around Marius died down as he sighed heavily before looking at Mori with a serious expression before smiling slightly.

-"Mori... You take care of them... should not be any harder than herding cattle"

He said with a very mocking tone as he walked up to a felled tree and sat down on it before turning his Gaze towards the Masked men with a gaze that truly looked down on them.

-"Do not dissapoint me Mori"

[Anonymous]

"Do not disappoint me, Mori."

Mori's yellow eyes narrowed with determination — of course, she wouldn't disappoint Marius, she was not programmed to do so. She had spent her life training diligently in the hopes that one day she would be able to impress him, that one day, he'd be able to see how much she'd grown — not just as a spirit mage, but also as a...

Her aura began to grown colder — the temperature in the area around them dropped at least ten degrees. A cold chill wrapped around the men, who began to make their charge on Mori. Alas, they saw her as everyone did — a girl who could not be a threat in the least. But Marius, at least, knew she was much more than that. The mana charged in her hands, and she shot bolts of ice at her attackers, wounding several through the soldiers that had charged nearest her.

Others brought out their blades, but Mori dodged them easily. She was as light as a feather, riding on the chilly wind that she summoned with her. Vuka growled and took care of any who might've come too close to Mori, sinking his teeth into their arms, sending a wave of frost over their bodies, chilling them to the point where they could no longer point.

She left the captain for last, who had played unfair, and teleported in front of her quickly, meaning to slash at her with his knife. Mori dodged the blow, but not quickly enough — the knife nicked her face lightly, causing the smallest bit of blood to drip from her cheek. Mori narrowed her eyes and flung her hand out towards him, knocking him over with an icy cold blow. As he fell, she froze his hands down to the ground, so he could no longer move.

Effectively, she had knocked out every last one of them — but she had not killed or crippled any. She returned to Marius, and bit her lip, embarrassed that she had taken a hit at all. It should've been a flawless victory! She hoped he didn't think less of her, for not being able to dodge that last blow, for letting the man nick her face like that. Her face was still red from where the knife nicked her face, and a drop of blood fell onto the forest floor beneath her.

"I've left the leader conscious, in case you wanted to speak with him, Marius," she informed, gesturing towards him. The man was yelling and screaming for mercy, and Mori wondered briefly what Marius had planned for him, if he had any plans at all.

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius calmly watched the fight as it began and followed all movements of all the participants and sure enough he did not seem impressed at all so he decided to follow Mori's movements as she glided through the air dodging and attacking her enemies. As she took out the last on he sighed as he saw the small cut on her cheek.

-"..."

He Just Kept silent as he rose from his seat on the felled tree, He walked up to Mori and reached out to her with one hand and wiped the small dropplets of blood from her cheek with his thumb and then he licked the blod off from his thumb, he then reached with his other hand to the wound on her cheek and just as his index finger touched the wound it was surrounded by a gentle blue flame closing the small wound not even leaving a scar.

Marius then walked towards the leader and on the way he nonchalantly reached his other hand out to one of the others who were incapacitaded and his hand suddenly started to glow bright white hot as he placed his hand on the man's face who took a second or two before he began screaming in agonizing pain, Marius only held his hand on the mans face for some seconds but the man kept screaming until he snapped his fingers and a large hand appared from thin air and grabbed the screaming man before a squshing sound was made and everything was silent again.

The arm was Ignis right arm who appeared in his large form and where a mouth would be on his face a crack appared that spread and opened itself making a horrific mouth and the place where the man's body had been now was a blue flame like mass vaugely resembling the man, Mori would know this as the soul of the man. Ignis held it over its mouth before dropping it into it's mouth consuming the soul enhancing it's own power.

-"Now tell me where is and why did you take the Archives?"

He said to the man as his right hand flared with the white scorching heat as he held his hand well over the leader's head as to not melt the Ice around him. Marius Eyes were ice cold almost like a glacier with every bit intentions to kill without hesitation. Ignis Sat down on the Ground looking around ar the other men in a hungry manner but he did not do anything as Marius was his master and only when he gave his okay he would eat them all.

[Anonymous]

The blood that dripped from her cheek was a sign of imperfection — truly, she had faltered under Marius' gaze, had been less than perfect, despite all of her training. She looked at him, hardening her hawkish yellow eyes, with the hopes that he wouldn't take her wound as a sign of being weak.

Instead, Marius gently swiped his thumb across her cheek, licking it off his digit casually, as if such a mark was of no consequence to him. Mori's eyes widened at the gesture, and her pale cheeks flushed red at his gesture. She would've looked away, tried to avert her eyes, as if to distract from her blush, but Marius' finger waltzed against her skin, as healing flames licked against her wound, closing it, as if it had never been there.

The strength to be benevolent, and heal those close to him, as well as the power to crush any enemy that stood in his way... That was what made Marius the only man she'd ever follow without hesitation, the only man she'd ever pledge her wholehearted allegiance towards, the only man she'd ever love. Her heart beat a little faster at the thought, and she reminded herself to get it together.

She held a hand to her cheek, and meant to thank him, but he was already moving toward the men Mori had defeated — back to business, as usual. Vuka curled up at Mori's feat, taking this idle time for what it was worth, deciding to be patient until he was needed again.

The leader's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Marius' power. He had known the head of the Wynter branch was indeed powerful, but he hadn't known just how powerful a man he was dealing with here. At the sight of his slain comrade, the leader's eyes hardened, and he couldn't help but laugh — at this situation, and how dire things had become.

"Why?" the man echoed, laughing, in hysterics. "Shouldn't that be obvious to you, o wise one? The branches are tired of playing as puppets to our main ringleaders. The main house's reign should've ended with the death of your pathetic parents, Wynter. We're doing what we should've done a long time ago..."

He was still laughing — he knew what was to become of him. "The information in the archives... Now that we've got it, the tables have been turned, haven't it? You'll do anything... anything... to get it back, I bet. Like hell I'm telling you where it is. I'd rather die, first, before I help the likes of you."

Mori bit her lip. Why couldn't the man just cooperate? She knew, whether she liked it or not, she was going to witness yet another death. That was the way this world worked — people lived, and people died. She didn't like it, but she would do anything for the good of House Wynter.

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius kept the same expression on his face the entire time the man talked and laughed when he finally became silent Marius looked at him for a while just letting his silence be a bit too long and just as a wind blew through the forest Marius expression cracked up and he grinned like a maniac while widening his eyes staring right into the man's eyes. As he was turned away from Mori She could not see his expression.

-"...You would Die before helping me?"

His expression just became more manic as he raised his arm bending his fingers like claws and with a flash of flames his hand peirced through the man's chest so fast that he hid not even have time to scream in pain. His expression softened and he snapped with his fingers and Ingis grabbed hold of something in the air above the man and once again the blue soul of the man was held in Ignis hand.

-"So now that you are dead will you speak or shall i have Ignis eat you?"

He said looking at the man with dead cold eyes and a pleased smirk on his face.

[Anonymous]

Although Mori could not see Marius' face, he could hear the manic tone his face had taken while addressing the leader of the brigands. She clasped her hands together lightly, but her hawkish yellow eyes were impassive, taking in the event pensively. This was necessary, she knew — for the good of the House, making sure these branch family traitors learned their lesson was imperative. That was why Marius was their leader, her leader. He had the strength to kill and take a life, if it must be so. And today, it had to be so.

She winced at the squelching sound that occurred when Marius quickly launched his hand through the man's chest, averting her eyes away from the scene, lower lip quivering. This was necessary, she reminded herself — he hadn't talked, and so he couldn't be spared. Granted, Marius was still asking the man questions, even though his soul was hovering above his body. Slowly, she turned back toward the scene, wondering what he expected a dead man to say.

As she suspected, the man said nothing, as the dead are known to do. But from his soul, a very faint voice emanated from that blue ball. Anyone else would not have been able to hear the voice that leaked out from the soul, but a spirit mage from House Wynter would be able to hear it plain as day. "In the manor to the north... In the highest floor... In the tallest tower... Seek the tallest man... Who yearns for revenge..."

After such, he was silent, his life extinguished, perhaps in a more peaceful place now, where all of this fighting might've seemed trivial. "This is a measure for revenge," she noted wistfully, looking onward at Marius. Murder begets murder, as they say.

[Scythe-Nova]

Marius casually procured a cloth from his coat and began wiping the blood of from his arm and listened to the man calmly and when he finally became silent he nodded lightly not even looking at the dead man and Ignis tightened it's grip on the soul before opening it's fearful maw and consumed the man Whole before he turned to Mori with a less angered smile but his gaze went to the other men that was still frozen to the ground.

-"Not even in Death are you safe from me... that is what will be engraved in stone and displayed for all when i am done here, But you all who live now shall be spared, so rejoice knowing you have been spared my wrath."

He spoke loudly and very clearly as he walked towards Mori and as he reached her he smiled lightly and held out his hand looking at her his eyes now calmer that before but still as sharp as the allways had been.

-"Now let us depart, The Archives are waiting and so is the man who took them"