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“She’s going to knock?” paused Fenrir.

“Let her do her thing,” said Staxius, “-maybe it’ll be entertaining to watch, you know?”

“You and your entertainment,” her voice trailed – the lock clicked.

“Who are you?” echoed a loud man, “-I don’t take visitors. Wait, how the hell did you cross my gate?”

“Shut it, old man,” her golden bangles morphed into a dagger that plunged through his stomach, “-I don’t care much for pleasantries,” he fell, gasping for air and coughing blood, “-problem removed,” she spun and waved her bloodied hands, “-come on in,” she gestured.

“Direct approach,” said Fenrir, “-you owe me cash.”

“Fine, I lost the bet,” he shrugged and shook his head, ‘-anti-climactic.’

“Honey,” the wife shuffled downstairs with a belt in her hand, “-please don’t beat her again, she’s coughing up blood,” her nervous gaze landed on the hall headed to the door. Her husband lay in a puddle of blood, three strange figures made their entrance.

.....

Her heart sank, “-please, don’t hurt my children. Do whatever you want, take whatever you need, just leave my kids alone.”

“Nice,” said Cleopatra, “-you, my lady, are quite an actress. A commoner if I remember correctly, the man sure has a loud voice. Enough about the past, tell me, do you mean your words or is it simply an attempt to rationalize the hurt this monster’s,” she kicked the dead body’s head, “--action?” The wife shivered.

“This the first time you’ve seen death?”

“Probably not,” whispered Fenrir, “-the family photo, look at it. Four children and two of them of the same age. Yet, I feel only one child, and the one I feel is the one who has a twin. I guess the man played a little too hard and killed the poor lass.”

“Please, let us go,” she dropped to her knees, “-I’ll do anything, leave us alone.”

“What do you mean alone?” Staxius stepped forward, “-take this opportunity to start again,” he snapped the body into ash. So on, they entered the living room and were served warm tea.

“A commoner turned wife of a noble. Pretty impressive.”

“I was the cutest girl in my village,” she said with a hint of disappointment, “-I was lucky this one turned out a fool.”

“There you are,” Cleopatra rubbed her hands, “-the wife isn’t a fool after all. No commoner has the guts to think of them as equal to the nobility, you, you have intellect and the means to accomplish your purpose,” the living room warmed by the slow cooking fireplace. Space was abundant but not too empty, the intricate couches were evenly spaced. Firewood crackle added a touch of sense to the rising tension, “-and why are you telling us this?”

“Why?” the wife looked around, “-I sense your powers. You, people, aren’t normal, I feel gods and greater gods… the strong rule the weak, such is the rule I was taught. I easily got in that man’s favor and became his wife by ending the lives of the other rivals. I had his attention and his assets, that was before the Emerald City imposed a heavy tax on the nobility, citing our failure to bring peace to our lands. Like us, many families were pushed to the brink and forced to move into the lesser nobility. The duke made arrangements for our manors to be built, you know, to carry favor and also impose his dominance.”

“Thus the warning, without me, there’s no nobility, am I right?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “-but I’m curious. Why would you come here?”

“That, my lady, is a story for me to say,” added Cleopatra. She went into details about how the noble son was slain, the wife simply bat her eyes and nodded, “-that boy was a fool, like his father.”

“Not your son then?”

“No, not my son,” she nodded, “-well, what is it you people want? Surely my life has no value…”

“It has plenty of value,” said Cleopatra, “-allow me to become your son.”

“How?”

“Leave the details to us,” she smiled, “-we hail from Inux, and we have plans to usurp the Emerald City,”

“Shouldn’t have given me that information,” the wife smirked, “-but I see you’re testing me,” she looked at Staxius.

“Yeah, and the words she spoke will forever be a scar etched into your heart. The faintest sense of traitorous motive and your heart will implode. Such the devil’s guarantee. In any case, how about we strike a deal?”

“I decided the moment you stepped in,” she looked at Cleopatra, “-to the one who valiantly ended my tyrant of a husband’s life, I’m grateful. Though the family name, Espo, doesn’t hold much value, it will parve an easier way to your goal.”

“Son of the Baroness Ellan Espo, Cleo Espo,” Cleopatra nodded, “-I will make you proud, Mother.”

“Good, I’ll love to see it,” she smiled, “-why not head upstairs and meet my daughter? She’ll be pleased to have a new brother.”

“Won’t she be confused?”

“No, the lass takes after her mother. She’s wiser than her age,” Ellan, a short but hard-looking woman rose to her feet, her long dress flowed, her kind and innocent face structure boldly hid the truth, a coldly calculated schemer.”

Fenrir looked over the second invitation, “-right, I’ll go look for them, any idea, Ellan?”

“The Eir, they’re quite high-ranking nobles. Why not check the first district,” she reached out the western window and pointed at the cliff over their heads, “-there, you should strike to the first wall, the closer to the cliff’s edge, the more prominent,” she tucked back inside, “-Eir’s are pretty secretive. Not much information apart from their reputation as guardians of the duke’s court. We’re looking at a Viscount.”

*Come forth, Vengeance,*

“-master.’

“Go with Fenrir, we’ll switch after you’ve discovered their lair.”

“Understood,” he stood, “-lady Fenrir, please lead the way.”

“Okay,” she fixed her tie, “-be right back,” a white shirt, a black tie, black formal trousers, a man’s outfit that completely made her figure ‘-pop’.

“Those were the only clothes I had,” Ellan sighed, “-hopefully it’s not inconvenient.”

“I doubt she’ll hate it,” he stared over the third invitation, “-tell me, Ellan, why were you so quick to accept our invitation?”

She ignored and marched for the door, turned the lock, spun on her heel, and dropped her shoulders, “-I’m not a nice person,” she reached for her back and slowly unzipped her dress, “-and I know I’m not a nice person. I was born a commoner but gifted with great abilities. My parents thought I could be sold for more, so I took their lives and was soon taken in by this idiot of a lord. From an early age, I could sense and feel things other people couldn’t. I’d have strange premonitions at times… they’d come true. I knew when my husband would die, I had the same feeling when he killed my daughter. It’s annoying and unfair, but nobility has the power to do what they want,” she walked and talked, slowly undressing as the gap closed, “-as for you,” she dropped her dress and turned, “-I knew you were the lover of my mistress.”

“The mark of Syhton,” Staxius blinked, “-you have the divine blessing of the Goddess of Stars…”

“Yes, I was born in the wrong realm. I was once an angel, a high priestess who served my goddess. Alas, due to disturbances and the reawakening of the Titans, my soul was forced into Draebala… I had to resort to underhanded tactics to keep this vessel alive.”

“And you can’t exactly call out Syhton for help, she’s in a strange realm herself.”

“What I know is, my goddess, was killed by Zeus. Her energy disappeared somewhere and I was left in despair. Then, it came to me in a dream – I saw you, Staxius, I saw your face, the actions, and the lengths you went to save my goddess. ”

“Too big a coincidence,” he sipped the now colder tea, “-that’s definitely the mark of Syhton, her constellation carved on your back. Ellan, you might have the potential to be more than just a pawn in this game of war.”

“I hope I’ve proven myself,” she bowed.

“No,” he returned, “-no way, not like this. Tell me, would you believe someone if they just speak and did nothing to prove their worth? Sadly, that is not how to choose to do business. I rather we stay allies than anything deeper. Since you know more about nobility, how about joining us in the Emerald City?”

“For the celebrations?”

“Yeah, the invitation did the extent to all members of the nobility.”

“What about my daughter?”

They climbed to the first floor, and Cleopatra slept openly with the girl on her shoulder, “-seems she’s taken a liking to Cleopatra.”

“Well, the girl is of age,” he crossed his arms, “-how about sending her to Ragno.”

“Ragno?”

“To Lucifer’s academy. She’ll be safer at least.”

“Well, if that’s how it works, then sure…’

“Reservations about why I’d extend the invitation?” he smiled, “-she’s got the wings of an angel, I see it,” his pupils glowed, “-my eyes, they see a lot,” he tapped Ellan’s shoulders, “-as for the admission, leave it to me,” he smirked, “-I am the Devil after all.”

A circular wide chamber, lined by intricate golden drawings noticed by the few rays in the otherwise dark area, led to the center – an altar upon which rested an emancipated man; sacrificed to a deity whose name was unknown yet, whose appearance known for their status rose prominently beside the altar, “-so much for high nobility,” Fenrir shook her head and washed her bloodied hands, “-Eir turned out to be cultists,” she flicked her fingers, “-well, Vengeance, did you find the leader?” only the altar seemed visible, the darkness shrouded the surrounding.

“Yes,” he teleported, and noticed the strong smell of iron,”-here’s the Viscount Eir,” he threw the man on the floor, and looked for the lights, “-as for the others, they’re not here.” The ritual camber’s marble floor felt slippery as he shuffled, the extent of Fenrir’s cruelty remained unseen but not for long. Vengeance accidentally toggled the lights – torches flamed by small automatic incantations, “-my lady,” he widened his gaze, “-you went overboard,” there was blood everywhere. On the walls, across the ceiling, heads shoved into the ground, brain matter spattered to and fro, limbs torn and viscerally engraved expression, “-people have ugly deaths,” Vengeance shook his head, “-well, I guess this is warning enough for the Viscount,” he turned to see Fenrir chocking the noble

“MY LADY!”

“Tell me everything I want to know.”

“W-W-W-W-W-”

“He gets it,” he grabbed her wrist, “-please my lady, calm yourself.”

“Fine,” she clicked her tongue and threw the viscount, he landed in blood and gore.

Thirty minutes, it would take thirty minutes for the man to return to his sense, “-you’ve broken him,” Vengeance commented, “-even when then he pukes and screams.” They watched from outside the viscount’s room.

“I guess seeing that much death is bound to trigger some reaction, I mean, why wouldn’t it?”

“No,” he narrowed his gaze, “-less the violence more the fact that his whole family was just slaughtered. I don’t know what to do with a broken man, I’ll ask the master to switch.”

“Sure.”

“At least the viscount’s property is considerable in size,” he smiled, a puff of smoke and they switched.

“Staxius, help.”

“What happened?”

“I broke the man,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, I saw, Vengeance, shared the memories. Honestly,” he opened the door, “-you shouldn’t be caring about someone’s mental problems,” he rose his fingers, “-understand that entities with intellect and a sense of morality can be tainted easily, and where one can be tainted, you will always find… me,’ *Blood-Arts: Crimson Treads, Mind Control Variant – Erod* lines of silver dug into the man’s skull, the information flowed as seen by the waves of white, “-I see,” he nodded, “-maybe the Emerald City isn’t that simple to take as I thought,” he smirked.