[F28-PP-PT] Stranger the Fiction

[Raidou 1]

♫

The simplest of journeys can often lead to the unexpected. Time had a way of burying all history, leaving only those that survived it to remember what had happened. This hatchet lay buried for all trapped within the confines of these 4 digital walls, allowing those within to flourish and thrive. But there would always be those that refused to forget, or those that would unexpectedly walk through the dusts of time and awaken what slumbered within its confines. Sometimes its best to leave well enough alone, sometimes the truth is stranger then fiction.

The soft crunch of leaves under his feet as the slightly burned expanse would breathe at every step of his intrusion. Glyndebourne was under siege but two nights prior. The event spoke to activities that the nomad had long since abandoned for others to become beholden to the mantle. A stalwart defender with a rusted blade. Shops broken into, the streets themselves burned. Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew the culprit and purely by necessity would he seek it out. Some drive within him. He trusted his companions, his allies to handle the affair but Raidou couldn't not offer a hand. Even if his intervention was much less involved, he could at least allow solace and repair.

The forest reeked of fire, of brimstone and the tinge of something acrid. It lay smoldering ever still against the recurring blackness to which the sunlight never touched. Where it always found scarlet hues, they had since grown black and that orange was not its standard fare. No the illusion broke to heat upon its very thresholds, as if some rogue elements had brought destruction to its mist. The man would stop, placing his right hand to the soil. A roughness and dryness that spoke as evidence to the betrayal. A glance to his index and thumb, a twist of them sees the charcoal broken up into pieces as it draws itself upon them. A stain that would remain long after such chaos. He'd raise, tracing the lines and finding the shapes of rings as they foretold what had occurred. A flash of green on his eye would hone his senses down as he played the part of investigator. Scanning the brush, his attentions jerk to a focal.

Eyes like predator in the dark, hungry for a kill or for vengeance. Yet it was not he who drew their hunger but another. The trap was sprung, yet not by the one caused it to be set. Instead, where they aimed a rabbit they had caught a lion. Metal on metal, a flash of sparks that threatened to set a fire again. A streak of color bounced harmlessly, allowing that streak of crimson on his back to flow gently. Around the spires long since burned, beneath a tapestry of flame and anguish. Marker on marker would slide into view, pulling knives and swords. Licking angrily at their next meal to the taste of vengeance. Yet they would not be sated.

A tap from his right wrist, like blood down the palm but thick like ink as it dripped to the earth. The film of red as hatred rose, untamed in its thick and suffocating drain. He'd reach for the glasses on his nose, taking them off and leaving behind this thick cable of black ichor that adhered itself like decay. It transitions and begins to stick itself to his body like syrup, pouring itself down his throat and into his eyes in a painful display of unity. Jagged teeth cascade of a soupy black mass, like spines before folding inward.

Death was on the menu.

---

<<Assisting System Engaged>>
Level: 34
Paragon: 69
Tier: 4

True Tier: 17
Final EXP reward: +5%

---

Activated:
Guild Rank 5 (+5% Final EXP reward)
Mega Slime Farm (+10% final EXP reward)
CS: Ill Omen in Red
CSA: [x1] Grand Mass Parry

---

Actual Block | Raidou | HP: 940/940 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 11 | MIT:117 | ACC:2 | TAUNT | F-SPIRIT | EVA:4 | BH:52 | VAMP-D: 103 | VAMP-O: 155 | REC: 8 | BLI: 32/-20  | LD:6                                                                                                                            

Spoiler

Narrative Block | The Red Wanderer | HP: 1128/1128 | EN: 132/132 | DMG: 20 | MIT:521 | ACC:4 | TAUNT | F-SPIRIT | EVA:7 | BH:62 | VAMP-D: 124 | VAMP-O: 186 | REC: 8 | BLI: 32/-20  | LD:6 | CAIN (50) | Para-IM | FRZ-IM | BLI-IM | ENV-IM | BRN-IM | BLD-IM

---

Spoiler

Name: Raidou, The Red Wanderer
True Tier: 17
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 69
HP: 940/940
EN: 132/132

Stats:
Damage: 11
Mitigation: 117
Accuracy: 2
Evasion: 4
Battle Healing: 52
Loot Die: 6
TAUNT VAMP-D: 103 VAMP-O: 155
REC: 8
BLI: 32/-20 

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Ebon Star - Vanguard Revenant [T4/Demonic/Straight Sword]: V.O 2, Taunt, Blight 1
Armor/Trinket: 
  - Red Wanderer's Resolve - Sympathy [T1/Demonic/Cloth] 2 Evasion, 2 Vampiric Defensive
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Vision of Wisdom - Whisper [T4/Demonic/Trinket] Evasion 1, Recovery 2, Accuracy 1

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Mitigation R3

Combat Shift:
  - TECH Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - Ill Omen in Red

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Charge
  - Cloth Armor R5
  - Energist
  - Fighting Spirit
  - Howl
  - Quick Change
  - Searching R5
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Survival
  - Parry
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Concentration
  - 
  - 
  - 

Inactive Extra Skills:
PhotosynthesizeBrawlerFrozen Hide
Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Focused Howl
  - Nimble
  - Precision
  - Reveal
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Athletics
  - Detect
  - Justified Riposte
  - Tracking
  - Vengeful Riposte

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Crippling Composition - Lullaby [Tierless/Rare/Debuff/Instant] Hypnosis 2 | [224055] x1
  - Teleport Crystal x1
  - Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [Tierless/Perfect/Support/Instant] +15% HP [160898][161641][161642][162018][162529] x1

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Guest Room: Players can have one «Amenity» in a «Guest Room» and the «Amenity» cannot be recovered. Players are allowed to change which «Amenity» is in the «Guest Room». Multiple instances of the same «Amenity» do not stack. This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Greenhouse: +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Trading Hall: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +2 crafting/identification attempts per day.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:
  - Tanos
Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

 

 

[Mari 1]

She was back at that clearing; the place her and Lancaster had doomed each other into a messy and heated passion fueled descent into mutually assured destruction. The pin that dropped and created ripples so large that neither could escape. Yet Mari…wouldn’t have it any other way. She had found something in the man that had changed her, forever, for the better.

A soft hand ran itself over the new flower buds that poked through scorched earth. Brushing away some of the ash to better allow the new growth to sprout. The patch would survive and flourish.

Mari stood and wiped her hands on her tattered scarf. Looking around. The same couldn’t be said about the surrounding area. The trees remained burnt, and the flames and licked up and over the clearing and had scorched the nearby area. Mari shook her head. There was no real way to control that flame. Not that she wanted to - but this was a beautiful area. It was a shame so much of it had been scorched.

Screams

Mari jerked her head upward - toward the scorched hillside. The clash of metal, the slide of blade against blade. Mari pulled out her weapon and equipped her satchel - filled with a few spheres. Just in case..just in case. Mari almost slipped on the wet dewy grass as she ran up the hillside - She had to dig her miasmatic halbard into the dirt to lift herself up. Not long now - she saw figures in the distance. A green cursor? And…Orange ones.

Shit.

Mari quickened her pace - even more so when she saw a familiar red coat. Raidou? Mari hadn’t seen him fight in…what felt like years. It had been years. The last time she had seen him fight was when they were both fledgings struggling against a Sand Shark. There was something different about him though. Strange black bubbles danced on his form and Mari’s first thought was the Gemini- but this was different. Somehow…

“RAi!” Her panicked shout managed to reach him as she slid in almost seamlessly to join him by his side. Immediately she had to block a sword with her polearm. What the fuck was he doing here? How did he get into this situation? She glanced over her shoulder at him, eyes widening as she saw the inky blackness leak into his eyes. “W-Whats happening to t-” She wasn’t able to finish, she had to duck-she used the blunt end of her weapon right in the mans sternum to push him back several feet. Doing her best to not land killing blows on another player. How many people were here?

It was difficult to tell. 

Another drew in close - ready to stab her with his Katana - but when her eyes met his flashed with recognition and he pulled away from her in shock. What? 

She used his distraction to her advantage, stepping in forward and using her head - ramming it up against the underside of his chin and twisting his blade out of his hand. She threw it several feet away, disarming him.

 

<<Assisting System Engaged>>
Final EXP reward: +5%

Mari | HP: 960/960 | EN: 134/134 | DMG: 21 | MIT:44 | ACC:4 | AA | EVA:4 | BH:53 | BLI: 32/-20 | ENV-O: 32 | PARA-V | LD:1

Activated:
Mega Slime Farm (+10% final EXP reward)

 

Spoiler

Name: Mari
True Tier: 11
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 70
HP: 960/960
EN: 134/134

Stats:
Damage: 21
Mitigation: 44
Accuracy: 4
Evasion: 4
Battle Healing: 53
Loot Die: 1
Stealth Rating: 5
AA BLI: 32/-20
ENV-O: 32
PARA-V

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket:
- Paralytic Contagion | T4 | Absolute ACC I | Paralytic Venom I | Envenom OFF I | Blight I
Armor/Trinket:
- Infernal Shadow-Redemption | T4 | EVA III | MIT I
Shield/Armor/Trinket:
- Glasses | T1 | ACC III

Combat Mastery:
- Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
- AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
- Rending Familiar

Custom Skill:
-

Skills:
- Battle Healing R5
- Charge
- Cloth Armor R5
- Energist
- Polearm R5

Extra Skills:
- Survival
- Hiding R5
- First Aid R3

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
- Focus
- Nimble
- Precision
- Stamina

Mods:
- Athletics
- Night Vision
- Surpise Attack: Trickster
- Untraceable
- Vanish

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:
- Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
- Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
- Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
- Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
- Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
- Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
- Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts.
- Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:
- Alchemist[exp] R
Gathering Profession:
- Fishing[120exp] R2

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

The thickened black ichor suctioned to his skin, drawing itself along him like furthering death on a low tide. Surrounded by the hounds of man, wolves in the shape of people who to which they'd worn the pelts of sheep. Far too long it had gone on on table scraps, failed potions, and the like. It was eager for a feast that it had not had for far too long. The resonating shriek of a woman who had since escaped her own heartache, her own turmoil. An echo through a cavernous death trap it would echo for miles down those somber woods. "Mari?" It would hiss in a horrid twist, a layer of voices spoken in a possessed chorus. One was unmistakably Raidou, but within it in tandem was one that wasn't. "You need to leave!" he'd growl as she'd dance easily under an attack and send her aggressor rattling to the ground clutching his mouth. A chipped tooth, and a whole new sense of belittling. His katana bouncing limply at his side

"Now!" The man barked, the dark howl spoken as his gaze became hot and a violent red glowing as if a skill was active before his face is swallowed in that writhing black mass. An exhale, one of relief. As Mari would look upon him, her targeting would convey not man. No green cursor. But not an orange one either. A halberd slams into that glossed black skin, which hardens and jumps up the length toward the woman's hands. Clothes rip, hair pulled as sharpened spines extrude like bullets through her avatar. Instantly the PKer's body would go limp, impaled on those spikes. Teeth extend from the figures shoulder, that was once Raidou but now it would be hard to tell it was. The large mouth fit with shark like teeth emerges from its shoulder, snapping its jaws over the woman's head in one gut wrenching snap as her bones are broken like the skin of an apple. A wave of red mist would ooze out of the man, and even Mari would see her life begin to tick down slowly. The woman's battle healing would struggle to keep up, as trails of red would flow in thin tethers toward the creature at its nexus.

"Please, you don't need to see this." It would murmur, the conjoined voices state it like a prayer. His cursor stood proudly a stark red, denoting a monster of the game. The black blade on his back drawn by an array of sharpened claws masquerading as fingers, tightening like teeth on a constricting jaw.

 

[Mari 1]

"Mari?"

His voice didn’t sound right, it reverberated and layered over itself over and over and over again till it was nigh unrecognizable. 

"You need to leave!" 

 “Like hell I am.” Mari hissed as she grabbed the collar of the man who scrambled to pick up his Katana again - she used the momentum of his charge and  grabbed his collar - ramming his face into a tree - he slumped to his knees then fell face first into the dirt. Unconscious. Why did he recognize her and only start aiming for Raidou? There wasn’t something quite right about this situation. Everything screamed at her to run. Mari had never been afraid of Raidou. But words he told her a long time ago echoed in her head ‘you’re not the monster…I am.’

"Now!" 

No cursor? Mari had seen something like this before…from Freyd. Just what the hell is happening? What is going on? He seemed to jerk in pain before his body slumped, almost in relief. There was a slight glow from his eyes - tinged red like the blood that pumped hot and fast through her veins. This was dangerous.
 

"Please, you don't need to see this."

His body contorted, sick and twisted pops as the black ichor finally seemed to take its hold. A sickness dripped into his cursor staining it a deep, dark red. Something saved for savage NPCs, mobs, bosses, and the like. That can happen? He barely looked human anymore, large spikes protruded from his back , his signature red coat in tatters on the ground. Mari winced as in an instant one of the attackers had been impaled. Head crunched in giant dripping Maws. Another name on the monument. But would it say by Raidou? Or whatever he was now??  No wonder Baldur was worried about the sheer number of names 

“Raidou….” Mari whispered. Nothing but pained concern in her tone. The creature turned to her, blackened ichor and blood alike dripping from its maw. She held firm. Refusing to shift from her place.

Mari shook her head, coughing as she struggled, watching her life tick slowly down - then jump back up as her battle healing kicked in. “You’re my friend.” Mari hissed at him. But because it was dangerous…she wouldn’t leave her friend. Whatever this was…whatever he was going through - she’d keep by his side. Even if it was slowly chipping away at her health. She had crystals. She had healing. She’d not leave him. Even more so when he was like this.  Mari turned her back to him, showing just how much trust she had in him - even in his current state.

She counted the attacks. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Six in total if she counted the one hanging off the spikes.  They had formed a circle around both Raidou and Mari - cautious.

“Whadda we do? Byron never said anything ‘bout this shit!” Called one - a bald man who looked like he fought with a pair of large spiked knuckledusters. He jerked a thumb toward Mari. “An Her?”

“Just say the monster killed her.” Another said.

“What? Nah man, we cant lie.”

[Raidou 1]

A black cable races across the ground latching the unconscious ones ankle and ripping it into Raidou, that black blade tearing through it as its whisked up. Across the waist, its carved in twain and shatters like glass upon the branches and terrain. Mari was just as headstrong as always, the endless pain in the butt. In another age he would have forced her, afraid of his own control for fear of turning on her. Watching her health flash in and out, the blood red miasma tearing at her vitality like many more before it. The man flicks his screen open, choosing to trust her. Put his faith in her in ways he did not allot to nearly any. A hiss almost like a serpent as he'd exhale, inhuman. A flick of his hand would see a screen open up, but it would sputter and flicker distorting and inconsistent.

The prompt would appear on Mari's screen, and with it a darker secret of a hatchet long buried:

The moment its pressed, the damage to the woman would stop as the system recognizes her as an ally instead of a potential hostile. The names drawn to the side of her screen to portray her party members would list herself, and just beneath it ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ⱠØⱤĐ. With the leap of faith offered, he no longer needed to concern himself too much with if Mari would survive this. Instead, he bounds straight into the group like a feral monster. His left arm reaches out, growing in size and length slamming a large black wave of liquid like out of a firehose into the closest standing target sending them into one of those spires of wood and pinning them. It grips tight, the bladed fingers grasping and cutting into the burning oak and works like a wench to pull him into them. His weapon tears out the back of the tree, sending a spray of splinters and burying that blade up to the hilt into their chest. A tilt as he'd look down to bloodied lips, a clicking like predator over prey. The man was dying, and his fear tasted so sweet.

[Mari 1]

The creature was breathing heavily behind her, short breaths coming out ragged and wet. She could feel its hot acrid breath tickle the skin on the back of her neck and arms - tinged with a sort of prickling pain that continued to tick down her health. A slow crawling sting that if she stayed would threaten to end her very life. She was less worried about that, and more worried about how it was affecting Raidou. Where was the glasses wearing dork? Mari blinked - seeing a warped screen pop up in front of her. She couldn’t read it. Text too jumbled. It glitched and pulsed and felt very wrong. It reminded her of what happened on the 29th floor with the drinking quest. Confused. Mari reached out and clicked ‘Accept’ without much thought. Pure instinct, and pure rising concern for her friend drove her forward into a reckless decision.

 

The moment she pressed the button the pain stopped. Her health stopped ticking down, and instead started to tick up as her battle healing chugged along in an attempt to keep up. “W-What?” It was a party invitation? The name was barely legible.  ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴  ⱠØⱤĐ.

What was that? Mari had never heard of such a name before. Who was it from? An unseen player? Her eyes kept scanning the area as she stood defensively in front of the creature that Raidou had become. Heart pounding, she could practically taste her heartbeat. No one?? So then… She shifted her gaze over her shoulder at the creature and caught a window in front of him closing. That was Raidou? Was he...this ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴  ⱠØⱤĐ.?? Or was this just some sort of glitch in the games system. “What jus-”

Fwoosh

The creature bounds past her and straight into the group, Mari barely had a chance to keep up, her hand instinctively reached out and managed to grasp one of his spiked quills that protruded from his back. Mari used it to heft herself up - Wind belt against her face as he ran. His arms were stretched out, waves of pressurized black gushed into another player, sending him into a burnt tree. Mari winced hiding her face into the squirming black depths of his back as wood splintered.  “You’re killing him!” She screamed out in futility. “Rai!” A slight shake of whatever covered him to try and snap him out of it, but to no avail, whatever she managed to clasp slipped through her fingers to settle back onto his form. “Rai..!” 

A dagger was thrown, aimed at Mari’s chest. Raidou growled, a splitting and clicking hiss as red miasma fell from his lips- the spikes on his back wrapped around Mari defensively. She felt like she was being hit buy a truck- the woman tumbled off of Raidou’s beastly back with a pained scream, trying to tear it off.

Every time Mari tore a hunk of it off it’d slide back onto her. She panicked. This was too similar to what she experienced with the gemini.

 

Her body burned hot - and she began to choke as the liquid trickled down her throat, suffocating globs that felt like hot, molten glass. A hitch in her breath as it was caught and Mari struggled to breathe. She glanced over at Raidou, her eyes silently pleading as tears ran down her face. She'd try to call out for help, but no sound came. The sting as the dark miasma would leak into her eyes, clouding her vision. Her world blurred. Then turned black.

An overwhelming sense of pain overtook her before her consciousness blacked out, like a torrential wave crashing down into her small form causing it to jerk violently.. Her body began to contort and seize. Twisting and snapping just like the charred trees branches around them. Her legs and arms, limbs bending the wrong way as they lengthened and reshaped. Her spine arching and popping as she rose. Standing several feet tall she was taller than any of the players that scrambled beneath her blackened form. Her eyes blazed with a white so bright it burned to look at. "HHEhhehahh..." A warbled laugh bubbled up and over her jaw as it dislodged, stretching far too wide as row after row of sharp teeth surfaced like razors.

The writhing black darkness finally settled on her skin. It split in places, orange veins pulsing beneath as though her skin was nothing more than a thin layer containing a raging inferno beneath. Fingers grew to sharp points, practically knives where there once were fingers. Mari's hair shot out, impossibly long as it cascaded down into a black curtain that hit the floor with a muted thud. Her player crystal shook and its surface cracked, breaking away to reveal an angry red. She stood, slightly stumped - her breathing in short shallow breaths. her form trembling. Fear. Rage. Excitement.

Her name glitched.
in this moment, she was no longer Mari.

₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ₭₦ł₲Ⱨ₮: Ɇ₥฿ɆⱤ
-FACELESS KNIGHT: EMBER -

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

The dark sludge finds itself tearing into the man like a knife through paper, a ruthless tug up causes the tree to topple as he is split up the middle. The blade spins up to neutral, drawn across his body and held aloft. That faint glow of crimson, as the essence of the man feeds that steel and it charges by the system for more. Mari would find herself trapped in Juiblex, who found her strength useful, her emotion functional. Writhing in a mix of breaks and snaps, it would adhere itself to her frame as if it knew she would give in. A dagger from the floor, disappears into the black ooze and it sinks into Raidou as the familiar subdivides and gladly finds itself upon Mari.

"Breath." He'd exhume with those coals of red leaving trails at it turns, providing the role of mentor. Perhaps she was finally strong enough for this, but perhaps not. "Focus on what your doing." Memories flash in a ripple to the frozen lake, to smiles on sunsets. To sands desolate. To records listing her name, and a refusal to acknowledge them. To a cure in bottle, to the monument. A prison cell overseen by but one warden. A testament to her journey and the steps she had taken, and the support she'd always had from the dark. Her trials and tribulations and all she had overcome since, all her own with a shadow and omen to guide her. The voice a twisted echo beneath the layers, instruction to stem the tides of madness that he'd long since bested. "Control yourself, let it raise to a boil. When you feel like your about to burst..." The knife slides from Raidou's chest on a small black cord. Driven into the mans foot causes the Pker to scream. A pair of jagged fingers slip into his mouth and out through his eyes. "Give judgement to those who have earned it..." A snap toward him sees its head ripped from its shoulder in a spray of blue glass, those long nails unfurl and open a palm to the hideous laughter. "Cut them down, prove your strength. Shed no tears for wolves in sheep's clothing!" 

[Mari 1]

 

₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ₭₦ł₲Ⱨ₮

♫♫♫♫
 

"Breath." 

She breathed deep, a gargled and raspy breath. The pain in her chest subsided with each ragged inhale, rising and falling in an uneven rhythm as she listened to her friend…friend? Yes. Friend.

His voice somehow rang out perfectly clear in her mind. "Focus on what you're doing. Control yourself, let it raise to a boil. When you feel like your about to burst..." 

Her hair, now long  black tendrils with a molten sheen of gold dragged against the ground as the Faceless Knight took one, two, then three steps forward. With a flick they lashed out and thin strands wrapped around one of the players, like a garrote it clung tight to his neck. Another strand for his wrists, and a final for his ankles. With nothing more than a thought and a whim, they tightened.

He screamed as he tried to stab the tendril, to cut away the thin ropes of silken hair. They tightened like wire, with strength like steel. His futile efforts did nothing but cause them to tighten further around him, Digging into his flesh as thin red lines began to appear. The more he struggled the tighter they wound, practically dancing with his panic. The Faceless Knight closed her eyes and breathed deep, as though she could taste the palpitations of his struggles vibrating up her hair.

"Give judgement to those who have earned it..." 

She approached slowly, poised as each step seemed calculated. A deathly calm in her movements was a stark contrast to the fever that burned in her white hot gaze. “wHy, KitTen?” She asked, her voice warbled and choked, audibly glitching as it sounded like a chorus of pained cries. “Why …attack…m…my FFriEnd?” She struggled to get the words out - focusing on talking was difficult. A waste, almost. The Faceless Knight struggled to focus on anything but an insatiable curiosity. She leaned down, her tall form towering over his cowering form.  Elongated fingernails that shimmered faintly in the waning sunlight caressed his cheek in an almost loving gesture, as though she were looking at a sparkling gem before jerking his head to the side; 

“DiD yOU knOw if you APlly PreSSurE hErE….” A single clawed finger pressed against a particular spot on his head. Long blackened nail glinting as he whimpered, then with a satisfied hiss it pierced his skull with an eerie precision. It bore deep as he screamed. A pained cry tearing through his throat as eyes rolled into the back of his head. “TrUTh..” Mari rasped, her jaw separating as her grin grew.

The mans voice was warbled, barely coherent as he choked on his own words. “Looking for Bryons Murderer. Waiting for the culprit to return.”  The Faceless Knight laughed as she jerked the mans head to the side, finger still wedged firmly in his cranium.

“WrOnG.”

She lifted him effortlessly to her height, almost as tall as the tree. His body dangling like a limp puppet before she slammed him into its trunk, she drew him in close. Her words a whisper that only he would hear.  

“You were looking for Lancaster.”

 

"Cut them down, prove your strength!”

She released him, hair unfurling from his body and her finger jerked through his skull, ripping it in half.

Quote

Another name writes itself on the Monument of Life, flickering in a faint glow.

X49X.BallBlaster.X49X
Player Killed by Mari

 

So. Raidou was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her neck cracked, a series of sickening snaps as she turned it toward another player. She was running, crying, screaming. A single crystal of green floated above her head. Mari’s hair slithered across the ground, thin serpentine strands as they whipped out to her, eager - hungry for the knowledge she could possess. They snared her ankle in their thin wirelike grasp. She fell hard against the ground “P-PLEASE LET ME GO!” Raw. Afraid. So terribly, boorishly human. She screamed as she clawed helplessly at the ground, trying to pull herself away. But the strong hair simply tightened, pulling her back, dragging her across the ground toward the Faceless Knights looming form.

The Faceless Knight tilted her head, a sickening snap as it tilted almost a full 90 degrees to the side as she watched the crying pitiful woman pleading for her life. How many names did this one write on the wall? How many people begged her for that very same thing? A green crystal meant nothing. Innocence? Bah. More like lies. The Faceless Knight knew that now. “Boato” Her voice gurgled, and sounded like an orchestra of an unholy harmony of sound. With the simple exclamation ‘boom’  fire burst forward - dancing along the strings till it wrapped around her ankle. Her screams grew louder.

The Faceless Knight pulled her up, the crying woman dangling upside down - swaying as she shook. Clawed hands cradled her crying face, like a mother comforting a sobbing child. The Faceless Knight studied her, her features. What made her tick. What made this one choose to be a killer? “WhY?” A command as her nails dug into the womans cheeks, tiny plops as the supple skin broke under pressure. She couldn’t answer and she kept crying. “Boato” Flame engulfed her body, and she fell to the ground with a thud. Dead. Nothing more than ash.

 

Quote

Another name writes itself on the Monument of Life, flickering in a faint glow.

Serpentine
Player Killed by Mari

 

The Faceless Knight’s burning gaze glanced around. What was once a loud battlefield was now left in a bleak silence. The calm before a bigger storm would tear through the land. Nothing remained. Naught but a single comrade. Curiosity itched at her, she wanted to tear into it. What gave that strength? That fury? How to encapsulate it? But she could not.

Her gaze shifted to the jagged shape of rooftops in the distance. A town. She stepped toward her new objective. A single whisper beating hard in her ear louder than her heart, louder than reason.

Why?
Why?
why?
WhY?

The knight would not feel, nor acknowledge it, but tears fell from her empty gaze.

Shed no tears for wolves in sheep's clothing!"  

She stilled. Her mind racing. What was…she about to go do? It was…difficult to concentrate. She turned to look back at the Faceless Lord. Burning eyes white hot flashing with recognition. She took one glance back at the town. Ready, waiting - a yearning to explore every nook and cranny - every being within threatened to overpower her but she held firm. A resolve.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

The man twists and bend to take in their surroundings, finding that they were now alone. No witnesses that would be able to recount what they had witnessed. Instead, the wall would offer that the detachment was slain by another pair of frontline assholes. But the secret remain as such. "Enough!" The man barked and his body would start to drip in response, as the heavy layers of black would start to fall off like slices of dead skin. They collide and splash into a large black puddle, leaving both players rigid and out of breath. His blade turns and finds itself slid into a sheath awaiting it on his back. That massive puddle of black ooze begins to creep in toward his feet, as he reaches down and grabs his robe tossing it over his shoulders.

A glance to Mari would show his eyes still a stark red, but the faint film of blue as his [concentration] fired away causing it to shift back to an amber just like her hair. "Lancaster." He'd respond quizzically with recognition in his voice, for the mans senses without his living armor were already absurd. "We have a lot to discuss, and I am sure you have a lot of questions." Reaching down into his pocket, he'd remove a pair of glasses and unfold them. Without warning, he'd open them up and put them on Mari's face. "But not here." To his neck, he'd clasp a small blue necklace with what would look like a teardrop. "Floor 13, x 365.43 y 216.86 z -9.4" The thing flashes in blue light and within an instant a portal seems to form out of thin air. "I need you to trust me, for at least one more day, Amari."

[Mari 1]

"Enough!" 

With the order barked Mari began to feel an odd pain. A shattering command that echoed through her body. Every word he spoke she almost felt an allure to follow. It felt like as though someone was peeling her very skin away. Something inside her shifted. It tore at her very being, the fibers of her soul. Layer by layer- and with each layer Mari could breath a little better, the heavy weight on her heart a little lighter. But with it..a clarity as memories of the events that just transpired began to set in a mind that was entirely her own again. It caused her shoulders to lurch as it globbed off her in thick trails she stumbled forward a few steps. Trying to regain her composure but failing Mari fell to her knees - arms outstretched to catch herself. What was that? What the fuck was that? What the absolute FUCK was that? She thought to herself. Breathing was a battle. Her eyes stung. Had she been crying? A trembling hand reached up to wipe her own tears away.

Mari looked up at Raidou. Calm. Collected. An even look with filtered anger reflected in his gaze as his eyes flickered to various colours. Almost like a contained fire. She thought she knew him, but this…Was Mari completely wrong? This wasn't the Raidou she remembered. Hell...this was barely even the Raidou she knew. What did he do to her? He looked more different now than he ever had. His presence was almost overwhelming and commanding.

"Lancaster." 

Lancaster? She froze when she heard the name. Why?? When did she mention him? Did Freyd say something? This was bad. This was bad. He was a closely guarded secret, a man who had her heart. Not because she wanted to hide him, but out of necessity. Every single person that knew she was with him was another danger to him. Another reason they'd try to rip the two apart. Mari couldn't have that. She didn't want that.

Raidou reached into his pocket and placed a pair of glasses on her face. Then, he clasped a small blue necklace in the shape of a tear. A quick and sharp shout. Coordinates. Then with an explosion of blue fractals a portal opened up. A fucking portal? He could just portal around like Freyd? She didn't have to walk around all that time?

"I need you to trust me, for at least one more day, Amari."

Mari hesitated… how could she? Mari was trying so very hard not to kill anyone back there. Going as far as to disarm and knock them unconscious and yet…and yet..now more names were there because of her. She tried...Gods she tried not to kill. She knew sometimes it was a necessity, but was it back there? Did they all have to die? Really? Truly?

Mari’s head dropped. Feeling guilt. She had taken more lives. Grief. It hurt to think of what would happen to Lancaster if this was what Raidou was capable of. How could she stop him? How could she ever dream to stop the ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ⱠØⱤĐ from hurting those she cared about.

Still...

Mari reached out her hand. He had been there for her. She had to. She had to try.

Edited 5 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

Into the small cleared out dungeon, one of many that now served as safehouses whenever made relevant. The place was dark, empty and with the strike of a stone the nomad would start to spark torches around the room. A decrepit little place, some rundown wooden furniture sat silent inside. Raidou would move to one of the cupboards, opening it up and pulling out a linen bag clearly to new for its surroundings. "How do you feel?" He'd ask as she was clearly in quite a bit of pain, moving to a table and pouring out its contents and starting to rummage through it. A couple of bottles of green liquid, a couple of plain rations and a map to which he'd unfurl using a dagger and a small bag of coin to keep it from rolling up.

It was strange that after all this time, all of his efforts that she still somehow ended up wrapped up in all this.

“You were looking for Lancaster.”

Muttered so low she thought he wouldn't be able to hear it, yet the man had faced numerous sheathed opponents. Hunted an innumerable amount of targets. For something so close to slip through the cracks, that would be a rarity. Mari probably didn't even remember saying it. But that armor had a way of twisting the mind. Raidou would exhale sharply, discovering that he was so focused on all this discourse he'd forgot to take a moment to address everything that had transpired. "Are you hurt?" spoken with a stoic return to himself, and the progress he had made since then. His expression would convey that he clearly was at a loss, not sure where to begin deciphering it all. He'd look down toward the table cupping his mouth, waiting for her to finally make a reply.

[Mari 1]

Mari rubbed at her eyes, so much had happened everything was blurring together. It was a tired action. She wanted to remove the edges of weariness from them but it did little to quell the effect. The bright blue light disappeared, revealing what looked like a small square room. It felt familiar. She'd seen this exact size and shape countless times before. They were in a dungeon. The silence between them was broken by the soft fwoom of torches as they lit up the room - and provided it with touches of warmth that Mari didn't realize she needed. The light danced over a room filled with forgotten furniture. Broken and worn from time and misuse.

Mari turned to drag a chair to the table and sat down on it. It creaked under her weight and threatened to snap in half. Mari leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and bowed her head in her hands. She was trying to decipher what just happened. To piece it all together. The strange inky blackness. The pain. That strange name...

 "How do you feel?" 

“Mari didn't look up. Like I was hit by a truck.” Mari groaned into her palms. She could hear him moving around - the shink of blade in wood and the dry ruffle of paper. She wanted more than anything to just take a long hard drink and collapse in Lancasters arms, deal with all of this another day. But she had so many questions. Just a moment. Another sweet reprieve. It seemed more and more like that was too much to ask.

"Are you hurt?" He asked. Concerned.

Mari lifted her head then let it fall into her hands again. “Just my morals… I…” Mari inhaled. “I killed again huh…twice…so easily.” She forced a short and bitter laugh as her fingers curled into her hair, she felt frustrated. “I was trying so hard not to. But they were trying to hurt you Rai….” She fell silent. She’d feel better if they attacked her too, but most of them had avoided doing so. This was so fucked up. Mari was so ready to tell everyone around her she'd be willing to become a monster to protect her friends and loved ones. She didn't realize just how literal that became today.

“I dont know what that was…and I'm…at a loss. I mean-what…what was that? What the hell is the ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴  ⱠØⱤĐ.??”

Edited 5 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

Raidou would lean forward, giving her arms a look over and looking for any of those tell tale marks denoting damage on her body. "The exhaustion will pass, eat something." The guy would lean over and unfurl one of the few rations stored in here for probably a good month. It wasn't exactly the most welcoming meal, but it sufficed to recharge the excessive energy loss. A candle that burns twice as hot but lasts twice as long, which is why he did not hesitate or pull any punches. "I know I was there." The brown haired man would offer, folding the dry biscuit around in his mouth and trying not to cough. Like a fist full of saltines. His menu would pop open, and a little familiar thermos of green tea would flash into existence. Pouring out a helping into the lid, he'd start to drink from the main container. "Understand they would not have stopped, they made their choices. There are certain allowances that we can not afford to give. I know this is a sensitive topic for you. That your trying to do better. This is why I wanted you to leave. Keep the glasses on." He'd remark with the slightest turn of phrase as she'd start to fiddle with them.

The man would exhale softly to allow the steam from her cup to spread, sliding it over to her. Encouraging her to recoup her loss. "The Faceless Lord, is a manufactured title given to an entity that the system recognizes as half player, half mob. I was given a separate inventory, skills. The whole setup including a username the first time it was done. Its a means to an end, and I cannot allow those I do not trust to know of its existence." Tapping a finger on the table, he'd move something and allow the map to fold back into a roll. This was more important. Mari was more important. The chair would slide underneath, and he'd place his elbows on the table. Choosing to lay out his ante, allowing all of the reasons and motives for his interest in her progress to come out full swing. "Let's start this off with no games, no tricks. I think its high time I came clean with you Amari. Lancaster used to work for me, I was the Faceless Lord. In some ways I still am. I created Laughing Coffin."

[Mari 1]

Mari let Raidou carefully take her arm, one by one as he inspected it. Mari watched with a quiet sort of resignation, knowing it was his way of caring for her. Almost as though he was saying sorry for putting her through that with his actions. He turned her arms over. Making sure she wasn’t hurt. “I’m okay.” Mari reiterated, a weak attempt to try and reassure him. She knew she could tell him a thousand times and he'd still check her over. “Whatever that thing was. It didn’t actually hurt me.” He took a step back and pressed a half stale bread roll into her hands, asking her to eat. Mari took a bite of it and winced as she chewed. It was horrendously dry. It parched her throat but Mari ignored the slight discomfort.

I know." He said quietly. I was there." 

With a flash of his HUD a thermos of green tea appeared in his hands - Mari felt a wave of relief wash over her as he poured her a helping into its red plastic lid. The scent of green tea already healing aches she didn't know she had. Mari drank from it greedily and wiped her mouth before passing it back to him. He was right, she was already beginning to feel better. 

 

“A…part of me knows that. I just…” She shook her head. “Heh… Its funny…I was saying to someone the other day that I’d be willing to become a monster to protect my friends. I just...didn’t expect it to be so literal. That thing was really overwhelming. It felt like I had to use all my strength to control myself and keep what semblance of sanity I had.”

"Understand they would not have stopped, they made their choices. There are certain allowances that we can not afford to give. I know this is a sensitive topic for you. That your trying to do better. This is why I wanted you to leave. Keep the glasses on." 

Mari paused, lowering her hand. Listening to him. For once not trying to start some argument or joke with the man. She listened to Raidou explain what the faceless lord was. A manufactured title, another glitch she guessed. Considering it recognized him as half mob half player. Mari glanced down at her hand and stared at it. She flexed it a few times. The way she had killed those people…it was gruesome.

"I cannot allow those I do not trust to know of its existence"

“Then…thank you for trusting me with this.” Many people had trusted Mari with such information lately. She wouldn’t dare betray the trust he had just given her. Mari quietly poured herself another lidful of green tea. Then she took another few bites of the near stale bread. Watching as Raidou shifted everything out the way. Leaving nothing between the two.

"Let's start this off with no games, no tricks. I think its high time I came clean with you Amari. Lancaster used to work for me, I was the Faceless Lord. In some ways I still am. I created Laughing Coffin."

The cup slipped and Mari coughed, choking on the tea. She beat her chest a few times with a closed fist. He said Lancasters name again…whats more…

“W-What??” She spluttered “But you don’t…like-what?” She tried to make sense of it, but things began lining up… all of it. Like an intricate puzzle that had been in front of her this entire time. For years. Years. These things were set in motion. How was she only seeing this all now? Who else was involved in this?

So this was why the members apparently weren’t allowed to attack her. Why Raidou was so ready to help her and watch over her in jail. Why they had wanted to recruit her in the first place. It was all him. It always was. Hell…even the instances where she had broken his glasses and he got especially annoyed fell into place.

Mari had so very many questions for the man. She didn’t even know where to start. “Y-You’re the reason why they wouldn’t attack me?” She asked. “Why? I thought you didn’t like Player Killers?! You-” Mari stood. Her chair clattering to the floor. “You…” Her heart hurt. She was trembling. Her words tangled in her throat, her heart beat heavy in her chest.

“You still are?” Was he still their leader? Still pulling their strings? The 3 rules Lancaster had given her made more sense now. His reluctance to kill indiscriminately, and the lack of hesitation to strike down those that did break the rules. Her hands landed on the table and she hung her head.

This is the opposite of what Lancaster wanted, right? He didn't want those he worked with to know of their relationship, both of them afraid it'd mean they'd be ripped apart from each other and now the Leader  was standing right before her. … no wait..

Her head snapped up. Raidou said was, still am? “Multiple leaders? R-Raidou…” Mari climbed frantically onto the table, her hands clutching his shoulders tightly. “What are you trying to do? Are you safe? Are you okay? Is this why they have all those rules now? Who told you about Lancaster? What do you know??”

her questions came hard and fast and frantic in a desperate rush. Someone who desperately wanted to make sure her friend was okay, someone who wanted to keep her beloved safe.

Someone who just wanted answers.

Edited 4 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

The response that he expected as nearly any he'd relay this information always had a similar response. He'd bare the questions in that same stoic and cast iron composure, a truth hung heavy in the room as Mari's chair toppled over. "I am not sure how much you've been told. Or what your affiliation with the guild might be." Raidou offered an upturned hand as if encouraging her to sit before she flopped over. Refilling her cup with that same steaming mixture. "Laughing Coffin was quite interested in you, Opal exclusively. When I learned about it some years back, I wasn't sure what to think. You frequented different circles then the norm. I have been looking after you for a very long time. I know about your experiments, your mistakes. All of it. They wanted you like none other, but I forbid it. Because deep down Mari, you have traits they don't and cannot begin to fathom." The man would drink another swig to keep the ability to speak, before his entire face puckered into his mouth.

"Compassion. Empathy."

The man would look to her, as if she was almost his exact reflection in contrast. Orange Eyes to Blue, mistakes in excess. Only trying to do the right thing, in all the wrong ways. The man would relax the picture to one much more broad. "Laughing Coffin is a construct, that helps keep Aincrad's most nefarious in check. A check and balance, as long as they follow the rules I gave them back when I held all the cards. Before then, player killers would seek me out in droves looking for information on other players. To kill them, steal from them, extort them. I held a very expensive record of every player I had ever encountered, every players life had a price tag. Just so I could afford to eat. I didn't know, and I caused a lot of harm." The man spoke to his history and despite having reconciled with it, that didn't make it sting any less. The Ill omen in red, the man that after you met him you would find an early grave. In some ways it was entirely true. "I will be fine Mari, this game has been rigged from the start as long as you can keep one secret. Most of the fingers will not try to usurp the Faceless Lord, lessons they learned a long time ago. Those orders are absolute, and judgement comes swift. Now, please enlighten me." The man spoke with an honest conviction, one of aged temperance but leveled with a hardened hand. "What is your affiliation with Lancaster? Should I be concerned?"

[Mari 1]

 "I am not sure how much you've been told. Or what your affiliation with the guild might be." 

Mari shifted uncomfortably, sitting back down on the table as he gestured for her to calm down. Right…right…she had to be more calm about this. Mari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I know some things… the three rules you laid out. That there are like…” She tilted her head. Thinking for a moment before continuing. Attempting to talk in a trembling yet controlled tone. She was much better at controlling her emotions now more than ever. “Fingers. Hands. Terminology that would make me assume there are 10 of them. But I don’t know if that holds true.”

"Laughing Coffin was quite interested in you, Opal exclusively.”

Was that why Opal had kissed her? Seemed to show up wherever Mari was?

 When I learned about it some years back, I wasn't sure what to think. You frequented different circles then the norm. I have been looking after you for a very long time. I know about your experiments, your mistakes. All of it.” 

Of course he had…he had always been there, even longer than Freyd had. Mari listened to him quietly, taking in all the information as she focused on calming herself, steadying her breathing. He was trusting her with everything. Everything. They but heads so often, each constantly bickering as they missed the others meaning…it all seemed so juvenile now in this moment.

"Laughing Coffin is a construct, that helps keep Aincrad's most nefarious in check. A check and balance, as long as they follow the rules I gave them back when I held all the cards.”

Mari thought about Lancaster, and the dark shinsengumi. “They do.” She said quietly. “I’ve met two members, and they do.”

As Raidou spoke about his history with a little red book Mari reached out to comfort him. A hand on his cheek. She wasn’t Eruda, so she knew it’d not have nearly as much effect as her but. The gesture, the meaning behind it. Mari hoped it was still conveyed. “We’ve all made mistakes Raidou.” She didn’t know what else to say, it was a poor attempt. She hesitated as she pulled her hand away.

"What is your affiliation with Lancaster? Should I be concerned?"

“Please Raidou….” Mari begged with a trembling voice as she reached forward  and took her hands in her own, squeezing them. “I..I am trusting you with this. Much like you are trusting me with the Faceless Lord. So dont repeat this. Please. You perhaps don’t need to be concerned with us - but with what it could mean.” Mari paused and felt her throat tighten, and no amount of green tea offered would fix it. “I love him” She breathed. The words leave her like a strong and heavy confession. A conviction. A damnation. Her eyes beguiled a delicate joy but the admission was also a curse. An intense and icy fear in her heart. This could be the proverbial dagger that drops and destroys everything the two had worked toward. The moment everything would shatter.

“Neither of us can find rhyme or reason behind it, but it's like looking into a mirror. What I could have been if I strayed down a path that was just one turn different. We’ve spent so long talking about this. What it would mean. A supposed frontliner and a Laughing Coffin member? We know. We both know. Unthinkable. Dangerous. Wrong.” Mari’s shaking hands tightened around Raidou.

“He pushes me to be a better person. Not just to survive on autopilot like I have been all these years, but to live.  He makes me believe in myself and others. He has a charm and wit that is unmatched. I can’t…” She didn’t want them to, but tears came before she could will them to stop.

Her voice wavered and warbled.  “I can’t lose him Raidou. I can’t…We both know its dangerous, we both know how incredibly foolhardy it is..but when is love ever easy? If it were something I could control I would. Gods  I would. But…he’s one of the most important people in this world to me. I know he doesn’t want to kill the other frontliners, I know he just wants to stay here and dick around - I just…”  Her words faltered. What was there to say? Mari looked up at Raidou with glassy eyes, filled with a longing desperation. “I don’t know if I’d have the strength without him”

Edited 4 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

The man would squeeze his friends hand, one that he'd always been ready to pull her back up from the brink. Just like Haine had done for him so many years ago. Both of them had been drowning in graves of their own making, and it took someone else with the resolve to help pull them out. "Good, then I have little to worry about." Raidou adjusts the glasses on her nose, finding the symbolism quite fitting given she was now playing the diviner of truth. "You've always been so smart, Mari. When everyone else had given up on you, I had faith in you." The demeanor was staggering, her determination just as adamant despite her fears. "I believed Lancaster a lost cause, that his own selfish desires and greed would leave him spiraling in an utter lack of control. The man is fairly intelligent, persuasive and can achieve most of what he can set his mind to. I expected to have to kill him when he finally tried to repeat Opal's mistakes." The dark connotation was there, but he'd leave the specifics out.

"But it would be hypocritical of me to stop now. I may not trust him, but I trust you Mari. I trust your judgement. If you see a glimmer of hope or compassion, then pull him out of the depths of his own despair. Convince him to cut ties with Laughing Coffin, and I will see to it that there is no hunt. He will be stricken from history just like you and Hidden were. This is my trust in you. I am not asking him to join the war effort, to change his very being. Just escape, and put you first. Teach him to see what you do. Those glasses do look good on you." The man recalled the time in the bar as he'd tap the rim, and their little game. What he had told her on that rooftop, they didn't always see eye to eye. But that didn't matter, because friendship was built on trust.