[NC] The Grail of Blood

@Vita and Renavin

What she saw was the lifeless body of the youngest daughter of the Tempus house hold. Her skin was immensely pale as if there hadn't been life in her for many days, she was ice cold and it was a sad sight to see. You would think she was suck completely dry of her blood, this was obviously by the big gaping stab wound exactly where her heart would be on her body.  

She was dry as a husk and its mostly likely the rest of the bodies was completely the same.

As they both was observing the body, the sound of the bird chirping in the room ontop of the book case started to go silent as an uncomfortable silence enveloped them until it was broken by two swords being drawn from behind. "No lose ends..." one of the two knights said who were previously standing outside now was behind them with weapons drawn about to strike. "Lose ends? They're my new favorite thing.'"  said a new voice who stood at the entrance to the house only briefly as he ran forward towards the aggressive knights. Harden steel plates which resembles silver and blue, golden underclothing this was custom version of the knight armour. His golden blonde hair stood out the most and his green piercing eyes showed a frightening calmness about him.

He was Sir Alexander Beathen.

And before he reached the offending knights, one of them had turned around to intercept the Alex by swinging his blade right for him and as a natural response Alex did the same striking his sword forward to meet it. The show of strength between them was very obviously favoring the aggressive knight as he overpowered Alex sending his sword arm backwards from the sheer strength of the enemy. Stumbling backwards from the clash the same knight followed him for a further attack as the second knight who was briefly distracted by Alex's arrival had turned back to Vita and Renavin readying himself to strike when...

Vita grimaced. It was plainly obvious that this had not been a natural death. Before, news of the bodies had inspired lighthearted musings about whether or not they'd been killed by some kind of vampire, but now that she'd actually seen the body such innocent thoughts were forever beyond her. Beyond the initial grimace, Vita took pains to ensure that she didn't let her thoughts show on her face. She was an empress; showing weakness was simply not acceptable. However, there was also another reason.

Aside from the way the bodies had ceased to be things she knew of and become things she'd seen first hand, and the changes to her mindset that they effected, there was one other thing to note regarding the condition of the corpses. It was something that hadn't been mentioned in either their briefing or the official report they'd received. This corpse was missing its heart. Such an important detail had somehow been left out of all official information that had made it their way. She didn't believe that there was anyone within either the Anglican Church or the knights that was so incompetent to have made such a mistake, so there could only be two possible reasons for this...

"No loose ends."

And just like that, her suspicions were confirmed. That voice had come from the knights guarding the door, and it was anything but an innocent remark. Without waiting to see if they had anything else to say, she thrust her hand into her bag and withdrew a single grape, and started to move. But before she could begin to do so, a third party interfered.

"Loose ends? They're my new favorite thing."

A young man hurtled towards the two guards, sword in hand. For a short moment, they focused all their attention on this unknown interloper. And Vita did not let that short moment pass without taking advantage of it. She continued the motion she'd already started and began running towards the knights with the grape still in hand. By now, but the knights had already reacted to the situation, but things were still in Vita's favor. One, despite knocking back the intruder with a single blow, was still preoccupied with him, and the other had marked Renavin as his target. In all likelihood, he had saw her age, her gender, and her build, and judged that she wouldn't be much of a threat, allowing him the leeway to focus on taking out the target he perceived to be the most dangerous. However, he'd pay a steep for that lapse in judgement. There were consequences for those arrogant enough to look down on an empress.


"Do ut des, deos!"

The moment the words left her mouth, the grape she was holding burned, leaving nothing behind save a few traces of smoke. With that, the preparations for her counter-offensive were complete. She continued running, heading straight for the knight who was aiming for Renavin, and leaped straight into the path of his blade. But before she could be struck down, she flashed an audacious smile, and a great explosion of force and flame impacted the knight at the same time, as it had been the ignition to the blast. Having been hit at point blank range, there was little doubt that neither knight nor weapon were in any condition to attack any longer.

Renavin looked down on the body with slight disgust. A young girl laid on the floor, lifeless and without color. She was completely drained of the most important fluid in her body, blood. Whoever they were dealing with showed no concern or value for human life. Meaning if he ever met them in person, he could go all out without restraint. There was no reason to give mercy to foes of this caliber. However, he was itching for a fight the moment he eyed the bodies, or more specifically the young girl's. It too much reminded him of his cloned companion, whom is held captive by his superiors.

"They sure are something...Caesar-chan, does any of this magic ring any bells? While I handle the manipulation of blood, the source of it was Aztec and I don't remember any techniques involving sucking the blood of my opponents, clean and dry." Renavin asked just to be sure as he stood over the body with his arms crossed and a hand just tucked under his chin, as thoughts conflicted and reemerged in his mind.

"No loose ends." The voice of a knight echoed throughout the hall as two swords were drawn, aiming to slice at their hearts and bring only silence to their lips.

Renavinn couldn't do much else but smile, as the two knights intended to approach both him and Vita, but the intrusion of a third party, or rather an individual, brought things to a confusing halt. The proud young knight announced themselves in their presence, rather foolishly in Renavin's opinion. Though he posed a good distraction as Renavin looked toward the first knight, in which tried to subdue the lovely Empress. He didn't much appreciate being ignored, but all was well once Vita casted her magic and put the unruly knight in their place. The broken pieces of the sword landed around Renavin and the wounded knight, as he slowly picked up the broken handle, with the sharp point of a broken blade.

"Why didn't they expect anything else..." He sighed casually as he flipped the broken blade like a dagger, and tossed it toward the back of the one trying to engage the Blonde distraction. He doubted it would penetrate the armor, but at least get his attention perhaps. "My lovely highness, should we kill them both outright, or see if they know anything~?" He turned to Caesar, with a gentle yet ominous smile.

@Vita @Renavin

Alexander was a Knight of England, but he wasn't the typical knight of the realm. Most see knights exemplars of physical combat and they have proven that reputation throughout history. Alexander however had focus on study of tactics and human behaviour. He study on aspects that would make him an effective leader and developed abilities which would support others. This however had made Alexander one of the weakest knights physically and that fact is rather known throughout the many circles of the Knights of England. But that doesn't stop him from fighting in the front lines or taking other knights on.

This wasn't some foolish wish to deny how weak he was in comparison to other knights, this was the obligation of what a Knight must do and that is to protect the innocent. No matter how strong the enemy is the knight within Alexander would stand strong, with a sense of bravery belonging to a real knight and the calm behaviour to follow through with tough decisions during dangerous situations.

And his attitude remain calm as he was forced back by the sheer strength of the enemy, something which was logical in any sense as this knight wielded his sword with two hands. While Alexander used a sword and shield he didn't have the same strength behind them. But what had Alex besides strength was his defensive strategy in battle. Alexander stepped back further the moment the enemy begun to strike once more swinging his mighty blade downwards at the golden haired knight. Seeing this and knowing two handed blades are heavy, Alexander had stepped backwards then to the side before swinging his own sword in a downward swing to the right smacking the top of the two handed blade. The weight of it pushing it to the side and for a moment the enemy knight seemed to have lost his grip. But that was only for that second as the knight clenched on the handle with both hands instantly and struck back swinging it straight at Alexander's side.

There it was the knight's weakness clear as day, Alexander was physically being overpowered since if he was like any other knight. Then what he did just before would of worked and the enemy knight would of been stumbling to the side. But no the complete opposite happened and despite being outmatched Alexander remained calm and tried to stop the strike with his sword following through with his shield slamming it against the blade grinding it to a stop. The clash would of continued immediately afterwards if it wasn't for the broken blade thrown at the back of the attacking knight. It bounced off the armour as predicted, but it got the attention of both Alexander and the hostile knight.

They both oddly looked annoyed by the action and with a strange act both knights simply turned to each other then created distance between them. Neither of them took advantage of the distraction and ready themselves once more as the antagonist Knight ready with his two handed sword. The enemy knight stared towards Alexander who with sword and shield stood beneath the book case with the blue bird on top watching silently.

Both of them took a glance towards the fallen knight near the magicians.

"As you can tell you're completely outnumbered. As much I would like a honest duel with you, there is more to life then the enjoyment of a battle and that is answers." Sir Alexander had said who lowered his sword arm but his shield was still ready to intercept anything. The enemy knight was clearly angry and Alexander seemed awfully calm. "I can understand their presence here." the knight said pointing towards the magicians but turned his hand towards Alexander afterwards. "But I don't understand why the heir apparent of the Beathen household is running about in the House of Tempus. Your guys London residence isn't that far away, but we thought you all were away at home. We even had confirmation of you being there just a few hours ago. How did you know?" the knight asked and Alexander first responded by tapping the bookcase behind him with the hilt of his sword. This caused the bluebird to move from the book case and to the one across thinking something was going to happen.

"Nothing special, just people seemed to be rather chatty while things they intend to ignore seem insignificant. But the truth is that my Lord Farther has received a rather disturbing letter from the Godiva Household...." Alexander said which only caused an shocked stare from the knight before him, he looked less angry and more like he was defeated.

"That's the thing about the Godiva people. They're rather stubborn folk even when they're near to death. It seems to me they just attempted to warn anyone they could and we happened to be on that list." Alexander continued as he rose his sword in the stone artifact. It was a fine crafted blade with a golden handle with rose etched design. He did this in response to the enemy knight who seemed to be getting into a different fighting stance by now holding his large sword with one hand.

"You interfering bastards. You all brought it onto yourselves." the enemy knight said who didn't seem like he was going to give up, but he wasn't in any mood to charge Alexander. "Spout your hot air all you like but people have died, people that actually has done my family harm. But personal differences ultimately doesn't matter to a knight as even we're are citizens of this country. We all serve the crown as subjects to our Queen. And a knight's duty is to protect the crown, this country and most importantly its people. As the crown cannot protect this country without it's people and last time I checked we knights are still people... Now what was that about lose ends..." Alexander said who remained calm and stepped just one foot closer while keeping his guard up. The hostile knight expression said it all, there was no sense of respect but the complete opposite, since it was clear to anyone who saw their brief clash that Alexander was severely outmatched in a fight."Nice speech, but it matters not as the truth will not leave here." the knight said who also took a step forward closer to Alexander and while he seemed prepare to take on Alexander a slight gaze with his left eye told a different story.

@Birdway

Actions have consequences and so does inaction. Every decision always has an ending, even if the decision is to lay a trap for the enemy. But the thing about standing in enemy's territory is that they know it far more then you do. Not long after the bluebird had stood on the window side, there was something which caught its attention before the air had become suddenly felt less think. The magic which seemed to have stopped people from taking notice of the clearly bloody and dead knights at the door had disappeared. But it wouldn't mean the attention of the busy public would take notice of them instantly.

There was time for the blonde hair girl to take action and reverse this sudden change. But there was a careful plan of order to these actions to make it harder even for anyone to react. A sudden gunshot, something of a rifle calibur fired from inside the window and blown the bluebird apart instantly not only removing an eye for a certain old lady. But creating a loud noise which caught the attention of nearly everyone on that busy road....

The gazes on the bloody knight, the sound of the gun shot had lead to the most obvious reaction you would expect... Panic and panic they did...

"They sure are something...Caesar-chan, does any of this magic ring any bells? While I handle the manipulation of blood, the source of it was Aztec and I don't remember any techniques involving sucking the blood of my opponents, clean and dry."

"No, I don't. There shouldn't be any Roman spells that involve the removal of the heart and the draining of blood, and I can't think of any other traditions that might, either."

Though she waited until after she had dealt with the knight to do answer Renavin's question, once she turned to face him her response was immediate and without hesitation. Part of it was that she simply had that much faith in her own memory, but another factor was in play. She was focusing her attention on the newcomer knight, and had neglected to put forth the effort of trawling through her stores of knowledge as a result.

"Why didn't they expect anything else... My lovely highness, should we kill them both outright, or see if they know anything~?

"Interrogation is one of Necessarius' specialties, isn't it? While I'm sure they could extract the information from their corpses in a pinch, it'll probably be easier in the long run if we catch them alive and let the guys in the Tower do their thing."

Her answer to this question, too, was halfhearted. While she had put forth the minimum amount of effort to give a decent response, it was plainly obvious that her attention was focused on the content of the two knight's conversation. They were spilling information like there was no tomorrow. Like this, they might not even have to interrogate them. And the information itself was very interesting, as well. The Godiva had sent out a message to other knight families before their demise? If that was true, then that meant there the Knights of England were actively withholding information pertinent to the investigation from Necessarius. On the one hand, that indicated that things would become very complicated very soon. But on the other, Vita was certain that that archbishop that lead Necessarius would be sure to make full use of these 'actions against the welfare of England' to attack the knights in the political sphere,

However, while all of that was of great interest to her, there was another piece of information she'd gleaned from the knight's conversation that she was far, far more interested in at the moment. The guard had called the intruder the heir to the house of Beathen. The guard had no reason to lie about it, so that meant that the blond-haired blue-eyed weakling of a knight before her was the next head of a great knight house, and one with a history of amicable relations with magicians at that. Knowing that, she observed him with greedy eyes.

That man was a possible gateway into the realm where people of influence gathered together and decided the fates of nations, and fought on battlefields where neither blade nor spell existed. And entering that world was the first step in the path she would need to travel in order to procure land for her country. While there were several other methods to do so, going through the proper channels and fairly obtaining land would have the least complications in the long run. However, before she began plumbing the man for his power, there was something she had to check first.

The man's personality, values, and nature. Was he of proper character to act as an ally? Was he simply a fool putting on airs; someone she could manipulate and use as a tool? Or was he someone who would stand in her way, and impede the growth of her nation? Before anything else, she had to know. And so, would give the knight a simple test. His reaction to it would allow her to gain some insight on disposition, and it would also serve to be the first point of contact between the two.

"You want any help?"

His reaction would decide everything.

@revian @Vita

"You want any help?"

Alexander turned his eye for a moment to nod in response to her words, but it was that moment which had given the enemy the chance to make a move which none of them had foreseen. As without a moment of hesitation, the enemy knight which was facing Alexander had suddenly thrown his two handed blade with immense strength at his partner. It happened so fast and Alexander couldn't do nothing but shout in response.

"Watch out!!" the golden haired knight shouted towards the magicians, his concern clearly showing but he couldn't keep his attention on them for long as the one who threw the blade had already made a further action. What he did was unthinkable in such a way a knight and was about to commit a cowardly act.

Which had started when the Knight had pulled out a knife straight after... "What do you think you're doing. It doesn't have to be this way." Alexander said as he looked towards him with concern. Just like he had said before even those who had did him and his family harm are still citizens for the knights to protect. But despite his concern the enemy knight did what would be considered cowardly for his profession.

Pulling his own tongue out without any hesitation, the knight suddenly sliced through with a knife. The shock stunned Alexander for a mere second as the enemy knight started to fall to his knees as he dropped the knife on the floor. Cutting the tongue was like committing suicide, since you would either bleed to death or choke on their own blood.

But a more important fact, they could never speak again.  

And in response to this act Alexander who held his magical shield on his left, the same left hand had begun to glow with a type of healing magic. Racing towards the one who had cut his tongue, the golden haired knight was too focused on the suicidal knight to notice exactly what had happened with the magicians and the knight they had restrained.

Tomokota Renavin ignored all the noise the other knights were spouting as they fought, as it bared no real significant information other than 'The Truth will not leave here'. So these knights are involved some how. And here he thought they were jealous of his hair or something. He smiled a bit knowing that with one of them in his 'care', they can extract enough information for a proper lead. It might take some persuasion as these guys are quite stubborn, but he's sure a talk with Stiyl Magnus will loosen their tongues, if they don't die from 2nd hand smoking.

"So you two are involved. Interesting~." Renavin didn't seem care too much as to help the third night, since his partner was free to make the judgement herself.

However, what he didn't suspect was a thrown blade coming right at him. He quickly pulled out his dagger to block. Keeping the broken blade on hand, he made an X with both the broken blade and the dagger, having the sharp part of the thrown projectile caught but had to redirect the movement behind him, as the blade clattered to the ground. As soon as he guaranteed his safety, the knight proceeded to to pull out a dagger, but Renavin knew what was about to happen.

"Stop him, NOW!!"

It was already too late however, as his tongue was cut clean off, and blood would gush from his mouth. He would bleed out if they waited long enough, but it seemed the blonde knight wanted to try and grasp at what life the other had left and pulled out a magical cross. Renavin at first thought it was pointless, being that it wasn't sufficient healing magic to restore or reattach the tongue in which was severed. That is until he realized something. "...He favors the right hand..." Renavin made what could be a pointless comment, but he quickly moved forward and restrained the night the best he could, especially his arms. "Oi, Caesar-sama, mind helping out while making sure I don't get stabbed in the back~."

The moment after she voiced her question, Vita was rendered speechless. The remaining knight abandoned his weapon, throwing it away, in order to kill the one that Vita had incapacitated just a moment earlier. His motivations were obvious, and her newfound disdain for the man was all the greater for it. Fortunately, Renavin had been quick to deflect the blow, but it seemed that the knight had yet to finish with his foolery.

"What do you think you're doing. It doesn't have to be this way."

The knight had taken out a knife, and just as the blonde scion of the Beathen house spoke, he cut off his tongue with a single sharp motion. First, he had attempted to silence his partner, and now he was attempting to do the same to himself. If nothing else, he definitely had conviction, but that was all the praise Vita could give the man. His attempt to end the life of his comrade was just that contemptible.

"Oi, Caesar-sama, mind helping out while making sure I don't get stabbed in the back~."

”Of course not.”

With that, she ran over to Renavin and assumed a position directly behind him, eyeing the blonde knight. While her seriousness was readily apparent, it was only from her terse response that one could tell that she was upset. She was no naïve little girl, especially after her time spent with that gang of fanatics in the Roman Catholic Church, but things like these, didn’t sit well with her, and not just because they were acts that would stain her name as Empress if committed.

Suicide was something Alexander hated deep down inside. The act of killing yourself was a coward's way out from the truth of what they had done. But from his position now standing in front of that same knight who committed such an act. Something was off-putting, the look in the knight's eyes as he's slowly bleed to death. That wasn't someone who's mind was lost to fear of dying, but someone who was crazed and lost in zealous tendencies. Alexander wasn't even sure if this knight knew what he was doing and that is when he decided to take action.

Reaching out with his left hand which was not holding his sword, Alexander grabbed the face of the suicidal knight and without warning. At that same time a warm light started to appear around the shield which was strapped appropriately to his left arm and started to surround the same hand. "Don't think you going to die that easily, you have questions to answer and even without a tongue there are other ways to extract information." Alex had said angrily as his magic was healing in nature and this had started to heal the wound caused by this suicidal knight's action. It may not able to replace his tongue, but his magic worked enough to ensure he doesn't die from bleeding out.

Letting go of the suicidal knight's face, the knight looked confused as he fell forward holding himself up with both hands. Alexander continued to stand above him before kicking the knife he had originally used away from the suicidal knight. When he had done that he turned his head towards the two magicians to ask a simple question.

"What should we do with them? Since I do imagine information extraction is more of the church's area of expertise." Alexander had ask which was followed by the familiar sound of the blue bird chirping away onto of the many bookcases.

Renavin sighed, as the situation was now under control. Seems that these knights were very loyal to their cause, enough to kill one another to hide their secrets. This was certainly odd how they behaved. While the guards didn't seem to like their presence, why bother letting them in at all? And they even went ahead to announce themselves before attacking, while there guard was down. While knights have a sense of honor, these guys showed no such glory in their eyes or fighting styles. And a grizzly fate only showed how barbarically dark they were.

As Alex was healing the tongue of the man, Renavin pulled out some cloth from his inventory and wrapped it rather awkwardly, but tightly around the man's right hand, and later would also tie a very strong rope around his wrists to restrain his motions with his hands. While the blonde knight spoke, Renavin smiled as he found someone with a matching train of thought.

"Don't think you going to die that easily, you have questions to answer and even without a tongue-..."

"-there are other ways to extract information."
"There are other ways to extract information, right~?"

Renavin smiled at the boy as he stood up, looking around the environment for the moment to sense or other hostile elements in the vicinity, before sitting on the knight's back as he was still on the ground at the moment. It's not like it would really hurt or kill the knight, far form it, but Renavin just wanted a comfortable place to sit, and he does not take pity on those who try to become obstacles on his path to success.

"What should we do with them? Since I do imagine information extraction is more of the church's area of expertise." The young man asked Renavin and Caesar, wondering what to do with their new prisoner.

"Caesar-sama, as my lovely empress, I'll leave it to you to contact our superiors to come pick the man up for interrogation. They can relay back to us what they can get out of this loyal soldier.~" Renavin knew that Necessarius had numerous techniques of torture in which can crack even higher tier magicians. This knight wouldn't be able to withstand it all for even an hour. Death is a form of Mercy, and necessarious has none of that. "Now...may I ask who you are? I'm thankful for your assistance, but I can't help but feel a bit wary of you as I do not know your intentions just yet. Judging by your timing, I'm guessing you might be here the same reason we are." Renavin took a gestures to the house filled with dried up corpses, that only days ago were brimming with blood vessels coursing through their veins.

"Caesar-sama, as my lovely empress, I'll leave it to you to contact our superiors to come pick the man up for interrogation. They can relay back to us what they can get out of this loyal soldier.~"

Until now, Vita had simply stood there watching the young knight who had appeared to assist them. She had seemed perfectly willing to obediently listen to Renavin’s requests without complaint. But now, she looked back over her shoulder at him with an expression of obvious displeasure, and all but ignored his attempt at conversation with the knight that still stood before her.

“Renavin, I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like some common courier.”

Directly addressing the source of her dissatisfaction, she had an air of total self-assuredness that would be rare to find even among the general population, and was made all the more striking by the contrast with her appearance. This was the magic side, so such eccentricities were far more common, meaning that people’s reactions would be far tamer compared to those who had only come in contact with such traits through the mediums of literature and television. But on the other hand, because it was the magic side, she was also all the more likely to be taken seriously rather than dismissed because of her age as would be ordinary.

“Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mind watching your back. That’s just a courtesy granted to comrades, and I know you’d do the same for me. However, that just now was a breach of etiquette. Do please remember the proper manners for dealing with an empress!”

Her tone contained no anger or indignity. Instead, it seemed more a terse reprimand given to a child who had said something vulgar. The intent was clearly correction rather than complaint.

“Anyway, sorry for interrupting you two. You can continue now.”

And without waiting for a response, she walked off a few steps to the side and removed her communication tool from her bag, beginning her report immediately after.

"Now...may I ask who you are? I'm thankful for your assistance, but I can't help but feel a bit wary of you as I do not know your intentions just yet. Judging by your timing, I'm guessing you might be here the same reason we are."

“Renavin, I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like some common courier.”

“Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mind watching your back. That’s just a courtesy granted to comrades, and I know you’d do the same for me. However, that just now was a breach of etiquette. Do please remember the proper manners for dealing with an empress!”

“Anyway, sorry for interrupting you two. You can continue now.”

Alexander took note of everything that was said within his mind, both of their names included. This was a safe action to take around people he doesn't know and frankly there is real reason why there is distrust between the knights and church. Even if he has no personal distaste for the magicians, when you're on a mission there is good reason to be extra careful.

"Much obliged." Alexander said bowing slightly in response to Vita's last words and turned his attention to the one known as Renavin. Alex's eyes were sharp as he looked towards Renavin, probably because he was sharpening the words he was about to say or maybe the distaste of fact the magician was sitting on a fellow knight.

Crazed or not, the act was utterly distasteful. But the act was a minor issue, since now it was time for proper introductions.

"I am the heir to the Beathen household one of the oldest knight houses in Cornwall. My full name is Sir Alexander Beathen and you have guessed right about my intentions here today. Though my Lord father didn't tell me to come here I've acted in accordance to my own will. This house known as Tempus has a history with a Beathens and for this to suddenly befall them..." Alexander said before falling silent for a moment and clearly thought about the situation before continuing. "Is rather regrettable... and I want to find out why it happened." he continued before looking at the blue bird which was rather silent on top of the book case. It looked back at Alexander without even flinching before suddenly flying off from the book case towards the entrance and to the outside.

"I have no idea if that bird is going to inform the others at my house in London to offer back up. Or to inform my Lord father of my actions here today. Either way I'm going to have to talk myself out of a very deep hole. So I might as well enjoy it down here while it lasts." Alexander said who made sure to be as open as he could while placing his sword back into it's sheath. This act was normally foolish before people you didn't know much about, but it was an intentional sign of trust which would hopefully ease tensions.

But he didn't stop there the knight knew he didn't have an abundance of time and crouched down to the knight whose life he had saved. The fallen knight was still alive, but his will was rather shaken and probably the effect of accepting he was going to die. His mind was obviously broken from his own actions, but it doesn't mean he wasn't unreachable.

Until the time came for these magicians to perform the needed methods to extract the information. He would at least try something. Since Alexander understood information through words aren't always the complete story, sometimes important information can be found visibly and hoped he would see something...

But he stopped for a moment and looked back at Revian "Oh I do apologise, introductions haven't been concluded. May I ask who you are?"

---

Back at the Beathen residence located in London, Stiyl was still engaged in an act of conversation with Martha. Though it seemed to have boiled down to a game of chess which was giving him a very hard time. It seems this old women the head maid of the Beathen house was very good at chess and had Stiyl on the run.

Though as timing was in his favour, the communication talisman on his person would active informing him someone was trying to get into contact. There was no doubt this was one of the two teams of magicians he has sent out to investigate and stood up from his seat to respond accordingly.

"What do you have to report?" Stiyl asked.

"Ah, apologies Caesar-sama, I didn't mean to make it sound the way it did. Do humbly forgive me~." Renavin wasn't entirely used to playing the role of loyal servant just yet, and can be a little clumsy on how he talked to someone like Caesar's stature, who believed they were on the highest pedestal of glory. He would turn back to the knight as he began to talk.

"I am the heir to the Beathen household one of the oldest knight houses in Cornwall. My full name is Sir Alexander Beathen and you have guessed right about my intentions here today. Though my Lord father didn't tell me to come here I've acted in accordance to my own will. This house known as Tempus has a history with a Beathens and for this to suddenly befall them..." Alexander said before falling silent for a moment and clearly thought about the situation before continuing. "Is rather regrettable... and I want to find out why it happened."

"Beathen house, huh. Can't say I'm too surprised, but it is rather odd for the heir himself to be out here on their own. Then again..." Renavin would take a rather awkward glance at his faithful and graceful companion, who was supposedly the true heir of the Roman Empire. Saying that it was odd for royalty to show up here, would be so ironic that he'd actually consider this world be but a dream. "Certainly, I can tell why you may be concerned and wish to know about how these events came to be, but as of right now we have little evidence to go on. Though these knights were acting rather sporadically...We'll have to do a little poking to see what we can get out of them.."

Renavin couldn't think of any scenario in which could bring this up, meaning this could be entirely a personal matter between two conflicting magic groups. Why target Tempus and potentially the Beathens themselves? This was all too strange.

"I have no idea if that bird is going to inform the others at my house in London to offer back up. Or to inform my Lord father of my actions here today. Either way I'm going to have to talk myself out of a very deep hole. So I might as well enjoy it down here while it lasts."

"Ah, the bird..." He wasn't sure if the bird was just trained or was a form of familiar magic to keep an eye on Alex. Someone as important as him surely could not be left alone entirely, and probably had this bird follow him at all times. "Can't say I would blame the Beathens since you are acting on your own accord."

"Oh I do apologise, introductions haven't been concluded. May I ask who you are?"

"Hmm..." Renavin went to deep thought, considering his options. He could give him fake names by the off chance this boy was not telling the whole truth and/or lying to them outright. But then again, if trust is not established, having an additional ally would be off the table. It was best to keep the Beathens in a good light right then a bad one. "I am Tomokota Renavin, I'm a magician under Necessarius. And this...!" Renavin would suddenly slide casually over to Caesar, who was currently occupied with contacting Stiyl. "Is the her future magesty, Empress Caesar-sama, who with great ambition will construct the Roman Empire back from the ground up!!!!" He would wave his arms around Caesar in pizzazz at fireworks were going off in the background in his mind. Though really he was just humoring himself.

"Is the her future magesty, Empress Caesar-sama, who with great ambition will construct the Roman Empire back from the ground up!!!!"

Vita had been in the midst of detailing everything that happened since arriving at the mansion to Stiyl, but the instant she heard Renavin's sudden announcement, she abruptly cut off the report in favor of making her introduction. Since she hadn't even bothered to disconnect the charm, there was no telling what Stiyl's reaction to his associate's sudden outburst would be.

"Indeed I am! I am Vita Vesta Caesar, Empress of the Roman Empire! It is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alexander."

She spoke loudly, bombastically, and with great pride. On the one hand, the fact that she was able to correctly refer to Alexander by his name indicated that she had been paying attention to their conversation even as she conversed with Stiyl. But on the other hand, despite the complete awareness of the other party's social status that that implied, she spoke to him in a manner that could only have been appropriate if she were several ranks above him, showing almost no respect for his position and lineage. Though that was because she was indeed several ranks above him, being an empress speaking to a knight, rather than intended disrespect, it still sent quite the mixed message.

"I am Tomokota Renavin, I'm a magician under Necessarius. And this... Is the her future magesty, Empress Caesar-sama, who with great ambition will construct the Roman Empire back from the ground up!!!!" The one known as Renavin has said which made Alex pause for thought.

"I see..." Alexander thought knowing there was a few odd balls even in the knight community, and some say he was kinda odd but compared to what he is used too the magicians were rather eccentric in comparison.

"Indeed I am! I am Vita Vesta Caesar, Empress of the Roman Empire! It is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alexander." the blonde girl known as Vita had said and in Alexander's mind it was only confirmed.

"Magician's are very eccentric." Alexander thought further as he didn't really care much about the lack of respect coming from the young blonde girl. He wasn't such a stick in a mud when it comes to formal titles, since Alexander only use the formal tongue as a means to an end. Though the style is very much a part of his life he cannot abandon that way completely.

"Renavin..." Alexander said nodding slightly in response as a form of greeting and turned to the young girl. He honestly thought that the idea of revving the Roman empire is a joke and looking at this girl it was hard to believe she would even able to make it a reality. He doesn't understand the true scope of her dream, since it may come to bringing back the old borders of that empre. Which means the UK would also be part of it at least the English region. He had no intention of allowing any harm coming to this country while he is around.

But than would it even be possible? Was that even her real intention? He has no intention of judging a book by it's cover specially when he feels like his own dream is more far-fetched in comparison. "To create a better world... huh..."Alexander thought on his dream for a moment before addressing the hopeful Empress.

"Pleasure to meet you, Caesar." Alexander said making sure to stick to both last names as a sign of formality. "So I guess we need to discuss what to do next. I may not have all the time in the world, but whatever I can do to help it would be my pleasure to assist." Alexander continue proclaiming his intention to cooperation the best he could with these magicians.

---

Meanwhile at the Beathen house in London.

"Indeed I am! I am Vita Vesta Caesar, Empress of the Roman Empire! It is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alexander."

Stiyl looked rather speechless in response to what he suddenly heard of the talisman and Martha was in listening distance to their conversation. There wasn't really much to hide and a sign of cooperation between the two was already clear. "Your subordinates are rather odd aren't they?" Martha said which sparked a quick response from Stiyl.

"Martha you're the last person I want to hear that from." Stiyl said as he turned back to the head maid only to hear something further that annoyed him. "Checkmate" Martha said who suddenly won the chess game between them.

"How th--- Just work with that Knight whose with you and come up with some answers!" Stiyl shouted who was further annoyed with his sudden defeat and cut the connection off between the talismans.

Tomokota Renavin adjusted his collar slightly after giving a very eccentric entrance for his beloved Empress Caesar, and would continue to look around the temple. Rather than no wasting time, they should investigate the area before their time slot runs out. They aren't supposed to be here for more than a couple hours after all. He would walk over to the bodies again, wanted to examine them more closely and rummage through their pockets.

What was he looking for exactly? Other than the cause of death, any punctures in the skin, any signs of magic other than the loss of blood, documentation or letters, something to possibly point them toward a suspect. He would have to ask for a list of factions that didn't get along with the Tempus Knights. As far as he knew from the initial briefing, they did not have many enemies, especially those capable of such ways of killing.

"I'm personally fine with working with you, young Alex. Did you Beathen's know the house of Tempus well? Have they acted strange lately? Did they have any notorious enemies?" Renavin didn't shy from snooping around the entirety of the building, as he would look through certain doors in order to find some sort of study or perhaps a small library, anywhere someone would keep important information and documents.

"How th--- Just work with that Knight whose with you and come up with some answers!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Caesar. So I guess we need to discuss what to do next. I may not have all the time in the world, but whatever I can do to help it would be my pleasure to assist."

"I'm personally fine with working with you, young Alex. Did you Beathen's know the house of Tempus well? Have they acted strange lately? Did they have any notorious enemies?"

"Not only do I have no problems with it, I've even received orders to do so~ I'm looking forward to working with you, Alexander!" Vita replied, completely failing to reciprocate Alexander's courtesy of using their last names.

She'd agreed with Renavin's conclusion without hesitation, and had done so with a cheerful smile on her face. In fact, it looked like she might even start humming a tune, she was happy. It was truly the last sort of expression you'd expect to see on the face of someone who, while investigating a murder, had witnessed an attempted murder-suicide, and even gotten told off by their superior at the very end. But despite how it was utterly it clashed with the circumstances, that smile was certainly not a lie. Because at this moment, Vita was truly, truly happy, and for entirely selfish reasons. She'd lived in London for a year at this point, but it was only now that she obtained her very first opportunity. To gain leverage on the political stage!

She'd confirmed from Alexander's own mouth that he was from a prestigious family, she'd seen a small glimpse of his character, and gained the assurance of prolonged contact with him by working with him on this job. Many people had died, suicide had almost been committed before her eyes, and all of those things were certainly sad, but she'd long since been desensitized to such simple tragedies. So, what showed through far more brightly than that lukewarm sorrow was most definitely the radiant joy she felt from finally taking a great step forward, towards her dream.

"Renavin, isn't this more my area of expertise? Stick to the corpses for now. We should both look into the areas we have the most insight."

Her words, on the surface, were a simple suggestion to encourage greater efficiency in their work. But really, her actual motive was to ensure that she would have as much contact with Alexander as possible. She wasn't lying in the slightest when she said that the realm of motives was more her color than Renavin's, and the corpses were more Renavin's than hers, yet to her that was all merely a convenient justification. A reason to stick to Renavin as much as possible.

To have an empress try and stick so close to him... Rather lucky, isn't he~?

"Anyway, Alexander. In addition to my partner's questions, I have a few of my own. The Tempus and Godiva families. The both of them. What did they have in common, besides the obvious? Are there any deep relationships or secrets outsiders wouldn't know about that might be relevant? Did they have any common enemy? And, are there any other houses that bear the same traits in common?"

She buried her selfish intentions with very real competence, displayed in the form of pointed questions. Her self-declaration as empress wasn't anything halfhearted. She had truly studied and trained, and developed her talents to the fullest to ensure that she could take up that position. Compared to someone like Renavin who had dedicated himself to battle and the creation of corpses, someone like her who had made the creation of a country her goal was most definitely better suited for probing the intentions of living humans.

"I'm personally fine with working with you, young Alex. Did you Beathen's know the house of Tempus well? Have they acted strangely lately? Did they have any notorious enemies?" Renavin said who soon after went on a search.

Alexander observed carefully the responses and reactions of his magician comrades in this line of investigation. Renavin despite the young Ceaser's interjection in the next step the male mage had already journeyed up the large stairs before him. Since it became rather clear only dining halls, Receptions areas and the kitchen was on the ground floor.

But as he reached the top of the stars he was hit with a question from the young Ceaser.

"Anyway, Alexander. In addition to my partner's questions, I have a few of my own. The Tempus and Godiva families. The both of them. What did they have in common, besides the obvious? Are there any deep relationships or secrets outsiders wouldn't know about that might be relevant? Did they have any common enemy? And, are there any other houses that bear the same traits in common?"Ceaser had said and Alex looked rather awkward hearing that question.

"Well the Tempus are a rather competitive bunch. Always striving to achieve what the others couldn't and that had earned them many admirers. Though they can be counted on when the going gets tough to achieve results." Alexander answered who thought for a moment. Trying to remember when he had personally learned about them, their name is often met with a lukewarm reception among his family.

"They were enemies of ours once. Long ago, they saw us as weak because we studied objects and secrets of the past. And like those aggressive lots, they attempted to absorb our family for their own gain. But as you can tell the result of that it never happened. After many years of rivalry, relations seemed to have calmed but they always seemed to feel like they look down upon us. I guess we never proved ourselves in their eyes..."   Alexander said who ironically now look down upon the dead family members of the Tempus house.  "Shame... I guess we will never get the chance..." Alexander continued further as he draws the subject on Godiva next. "Well the Godivas were a good bunch but they hated the church a bit too much. If there was any connection between the two on my knowledge is they had worked together in the past. But so have we and many other knight families. The only other thing which they have in common is that they died in the same way. A family with a long history, if there was any secrets neither of them would of shared it with the Beathens at least." Alexander answered finally as he looked up the stairs towards Renavin. Who at the same time heard a distant crying from within the many doorways of the upper stairways.

There was eight in total and four on the left with the others on the right.

The noise had seemed to come from the right.

---

At the Beathen household the meeting between Martha and Stiyl was continuing but as heavily armored knights in a group of five had started to leave the manor. Two magicians with very different backgrounds and reasons had arrived at that very same time. With a respectful nod from the departing knights, the two magicians found themselves in the manor of one of the oldest knight families.

Without even asking their names as if they had already expected their arrival. A knight who seemed to a heavy guard had addressed the arrivals just as a blue bird arrived to land on his shoulder. "It seems Martha has given you two permission to make yourselves at home. At least for you Erin you know the reason why you're here. But for our other arrival, not so much but I guess introductions with me  can wait at the moment as I shall report your presence to Martha. So while you wait why don't you introduce yourselves to each other or something?" the guard said who started to walk upstairs after talking.

It seems someone has been well informed of their arrival ahead of time. But they're dealing with a old spy of sorts. Something which the church has known and shouldn't be too surprised when they get tracked coming to the home of the Beathens.



Standing in a beautiful hallway with a magnificent large stay way in the middle, dark brown oak stairs and red lined carpet with the usual old paintings and bookcases doted around the old estate.

The long, blue-haired maiden named Erin Lightheart had arrived dressed in an elaborate, frilly purple ball gown with her hair straightened out, hat removed, and wearing...boots. It looked as though she were dragged from some kind of formal gathering, but the truth was that she was simply told to look nice by the one who invited her, and took the request to extremes. In fact, the state she was discovered and hired in was the opposite of appealing, so her overcompensation in attire and appearance may have been the result of this first impression. It's not as though she wanted to impress a group like Knights in particular; it was only that she was self-conscious. That said, she took a look around at the estate without trying to seem too impressed or curious. The overdressed private detective then shot a glance to her companion, being unfamiliar with him other than her presumption that he was too a fellow outsider hired to deal with the problem.

That problem was a rather strange mass murder mystery. She was surprised to be approached by a rather conspicuous old lady to be asked for assistance in the case, but also cynical. Upon learning that the case dealt with nobility, Erin's suspicions rose up to a boil. Nobility has always had a dark and twisted history behind it, with power, wealth, and influence empowering them to perform and get away with twisted deeds that would easily see the layman imprisoned and put to death. Ultimately, a person was still a person like any other. But when infused with unearned and disproportionate wealth, power, and influence, their dark sides would be rendered immensely more frightening and successful. She was hiding a suspicion behind her friendly demeanour, one which made her believe the case would eventually revolve around either an old inter-nobility grudge, or perhaps even a commoner who has sworn revenge against Knights for something they had done in ages past. The roads these cases tend to travel end up being eerily similar, but it was still her job to try and puzzle out the specifics.

Our young detective was having yet another bad day when she was approached and hired. In fact, this occurrence had been getting suspiciously commonplace ever since she took up residence in that old detective's flat and former office. There was a storm the earlier night, and naturally, the electricity had yet to be restored while she was hoping to clean her clothes from her previous outing. An attempt was made to hang dry her clothes from the window after a vigorous hand-washing, but all that resulted from this was her ending up headfirst in a rubbish bin in her pyjamas. It was there that the old lady who introduced herself as Martha appeared and took action immediately to assist in her great escape from the vagarious device. It was made clear that Martha was looking for the detective's office, and delivered a hearty laugh when Erin informed her that she had taken up residence there and was now the new detective. Over some cold tea, Martha inquired as to Erin's availability and need for money. Having drained her bank account over the last case she had taken on, she was in no position to turn the old lady down.

She was promised more detailed information once she arrived at the estate, but what she did learn was that some Noble Knight families had been murdered in succession, and at a rapid pace. Judging from her previous experiences in Sweden, this whole incident was likely to involve other Magicians. Or even...them. That group of Magicians she had previously encountered during her last assignment. Well, it wasn't as though she could curse her luck at this point in her life. Problems presented themselves, and no matter what she thought of them, it was still up to her to decide how to deal with those problems. She accepted without letting the client witness her unease and distrust of the very social class she was being asked to solve a problem for. Once Martha had taken her leave for Erin to ready herself for the assignment, the power returned. She stifled a laugh as she quickly rose to find where she had placed her formal attire.

So, this is why she was now dressed as she was. Erin was once again lost in her wandering thoughts as the quiet of the waiting period had sunk in, but when her eyes met with those of the person she was brought in with, she snapped out of it, cleared her throat, and awkwardly curtsied in his direction before introducing herself as formally as she could.

"How do you do? I am Erin Lightheart. It is a pleasure to be working with you, sir."

She hated this formality with every fiber of her being, but it was necessary to follow social conventions and customs in the presence of the nobility, especially if the very same people were in fact going to be paying her handsomely for this case. Just getting these formalities out of the way as quickly as she could before getting to work was what she hoped, and perhaps the stranger would not be entirely social or try to ask her about herself, forcing even more formalities to be observed.

Slung over her shoulder was a small bag containing a few pairs of gloves, a small package of freshly picked blades of grass found near her flat, her laser pointer with the strange sheathe made of stone, some fingerprinting equipment with sheets, some rolls of duct tape, a marker, a magnifying glass,  and even a taser and small can of pepper spray. She was paranoid, but it was better to have all these things if they were needed, rather than the alternative. Any single guard, knight, or visitor was a potential suspect, after all. If she couldn't rely on herself for protection here, then her life may as well be forfeit. Still, she awaited the stranger's response patiently, as there was likely to be several minutes of waiting lying ahead of them.

Completely to the contrary of the formal attire and appearance of his new found companion, the young navajo shaman Atsa Tsinaajinii's appearance was quite plain and was even a bit disheveled. His pure white hairs stood on edge in an untidy manner that could be easily mistaken as bed head, on his feet he had what appeared to be a generally new pair of dark blue sneakers followed by a worn out pair of jeans that was even slightly torn at the bottom. Above his jeans he was wearing a black t-shirt that had a few scatter red design covering it and the opened brown jacket that had slightly rolled down off his left shoulder. The only part of his outfit that seemed generally tidy was his favorite red scarf that was coiled around his neck.

Now it wasn't like Atsa had planned to come to a noble family's house looking like a mess, he actually felt a bit out of place standing in the beautiful hall of the Beathen's house and felt even more out of place when he looked over at his companion who looked well prepared for her visit. Atsa silently cursed himself for his disorganization that had caused his untidy appearance but tried to hide his feelings of displeasure  by masking it with his usually grin while casually looking about the Beathen's hall reading some of the book titles of the shelves and admiring the paintings from a distance.

Earlier, Atsa had been wandering about his apartment looking for something to due with his time and thus at first his sudden orders from Necessaruis report to the mansion of a knight family seemed like a blessing. This was until he came to realize that he had to find all the necessary items for the mission that were buried in his apartment that appeared as though it had been through it own personal windstorm. Needless to say he spent the next few minutes madly dashing throughout the room opening drawers, looking under his bed and behind furniture until he found his bow, quiver, and all the other odds and ends he needed. Then he whistled as he sprinted out the door, thus calling his pet  eagle to follow him. Somehow he managed to make it to the mansion on time, though a bit short of breath, and entered through its great door leaving his bow, quiver, and eagle outside.

Back to the present, Atsa had managed to become entranced by the elegance of the hall and had only paid enough attention to what the knight had said to know he was suppose to wait in the hall until further ordered. In his daydream like state he had not realize that he had made eye contact with the blue haired girl that was in the room with him until the her words had broken the silence and snapped him out of his trance.

"How do you do? I am Erin Lightheart. It is a pleasure to be working with you, sir."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Erin. My name is Atsa Tsinaajinii, I know the last name is a bit hard to pronounce so just call me Atsa." he said with a kind smile and his arm outstretched towards Erin as an offering to shake her hand

Our young detective was taken aback by contrast of attire between them, barely stifling an amused giggle upon realizing that there wasn't in fact a dress code. She'd need to have a word about that with Martha later....

"It is a pleasure to meet you Erin. My name is Atsa Tsinaajinii, I know the last name is a bit hard to pronounce so just call me Atsa."

After an awkward few seconds of suspiciously regarding the outreached hand, she finally took it with caution, giving it a hearty shake, the force of which was entirely unintentional and more of a result from her being tense rather than outright hostile or powerful.

"Well met, Atsa. I take it you'll be my partner for this case?"

Erin got to the point rather quickly, not wishing to spend too much time with pleasantries. She wished to get started right away, her curiosity already getting the best of her as she was drawn toward the room wherein lied the display of artifacts and paintings. This was the first time she was able to see artifacts like this outside of books! As such, much to Atsa's presumed bewilderment, she had seemingly walked away in the middle of the conversation to go look at shiny things. Not exactly the best impression to make, but her mind had become a quagmire for her attention span again. Pacing from display to display, she'd take special care to look at every detail of every display and painting to take it all in. She curiously wondered if these artifacts were in fact real, or just replicas for display purposes.

Once this little adventure was considered over, she would idly return to the entrance hall and realize that she just abandoned her partner right after asking him a question.

"Oh, um...my apologies, Mister Atsa. I'm so used to working alone that I've developed a habit of just giving the place a look-over, and ran off without realizing it. Would you like to join me in conducting a preliminary investigation of the premises before we're formally asked to get to work?"

Yes, of course! She was only looking around for...work! That artifact and painting room was just coincidentally the first room she was looking through! Yes, she was certain that Atsa would come to this hasty conclusion as well. Therefore, she already led the way to the nearby dining room, presuming it was unlocked and able to be entered and observed by guests. Immediately she poured over the details of the room using only her eyes, as leaving fingerprints or dirt here was probably an unwise decision. However, at the back of her mind, she wondered why it was taking so long for the client to appear to welcome them. Were they left alone so that their actions when unattended could be observed and was in fact a test of character?

She kept this question in mind as she glanced around the room some more, attempting to look around for any cameras, or perhaps even spells that could allow a person in another room to watch or overhear them. As she peered at a particular corner of an elaborate chair, she thought back to the previous rooms and if she noticed any cameras or out of place items there. Putting on her serious face, she reminded herself of the seriousness of the case, and shook her head. Of course they wouldn't be trusted so easily to be alone like this for very long. Once at the actual crime scenes, they would likely not be given such leisure to explore on their own. With a sigh, she then returned to the entrance hall, going over the details she noticed in her head before the client arrived.

Atsa was surprised by the force behind Erin's handshake especially after the few seconds of hesitation that occurred before she accepted his outreached hand. However, the events that occurred after the handshake were far more surprising and even left Atsa dumbfounded.

"Well met, Atsa. I take it you'll be my partner for this case?"

"That would seem....." he began to answer but before he finished Erin had taken off towards a room filled artifacts and paintings, leaving Atsa behind with a half finished sentence and in a highly confused state. For a few moments he just stood there with a blank stare with his mouth still slightly open trying to figure out why Erin had just taken off after asking him a question but eventually he decided just to ask her for the reasoning later. Since Erin had left and it seemed that it was going to be a little while before they were given more details on what they were suppose to be doing, Atsa decided to go do some sightseeing of the Beathen's house on his own.

He decided to head in a different direction then Erin and found himself in a luxurious room that was furnished with elegant chairs and sofas. The room was beautiful to behold but Atsa attention was quickly dragged away by the sound of birds chirping just outside the room. Following the noise Atsa found himself wandering into a glass room with the blinding sunlight bursting through the glass panes. It took a few moments for Atsa's eyes to adjust to the sudden change of lighting but once they did he found the source of the chirping. All around him were bird cages with blue birds fluttering about within them. For an instant Atsa was tempted to open all the cages to set the birds free but decided it was probably not in his best interest to upset his hosts that had invited him into their house. Instead of leaving however, he leaned against the wall and began to speak.

"So it was you lot that were making all the racket. Would you all just quiet down a little bit I can't understand a single thing any of you are saying. Anyways it's nice to meet you all my name is Atsa."   To any outside viewer who was just passing by it would seem that Atsa was a madman who was talking to a ton of birds as if they were people but anyone playing close enough attention would notice that after he spoke the birds had gone quiet. All the birds look at him as if listening closely and when he finishes talking they began to chirp again but this time in a more orderly fashion. This conversation between Atsa and the birds went back and forth for a few minutes before Atsa got off the wall, gave a friendly wave, and left the room.

Slowly, Atsa made his way back to the grand hall in order to make sure that the knight hadn't returned yet to with news about the mission. It seemed he had gotten back to the hall just in time to meet up with Erin as she was returning from her little adventure. He turned his head giving a friendly smile towards Erin as she approach him.

"Oh, um...my apologies, Mister Atsa. I'm so used to working alone that I've developed a habit of just giving the place a look-over, and ran off without realizing it. Would you like to join me in conducting a preliminary investigation of the premises before we're formally asked to get to work?"

"No worries, I used to work alone myself so I understand the feeling. As for your offer I think I will take you up on it, as it seems it will be a little while longer before we are called. It seems you know more about investigating than I do, so I will just follow you. By the way you find anything interesting in the room you were in?" The question at the end of his response was only to satisfy his own curiosity about the artifacts that he didn't get to take a look at himself.

Erin took another long glance around the entrance hall to look for cameras or other possible surveillance devices before responding to her partner.

"No worries, I used to work alone myself so I understand the feeling. As for your offer I think I will take you up on it, as it seems it will be a little while longer before we are called. It seems you know more about investigating than I do, so I will just follow you. By the way you find anything interesting in the room you were in?"

"Well, investigation is my profession, albeit I'm still a novice. I'll be counting on your support from here on out. And as for whether I've found anything...that is difficult to say. The place is tidy, there was an room adorned with artifacts and paintings, and they don't appear to care very much that we're alone down here. So, it is only natural to assume that this place is low on their priority list, or that we're being quietly observed. Just in case though, I've detailed what I've learned in my head. I appear to have forgotten my notebook in my haste to arrive, however."

She then glanced up the staircase, wondering when their client would finally arrive. She didn't really blame them for being tardy when their entire world had been shaken up so powerfully thanks to the murders. But, all the same, she wanted to get started so she can get paid and be done with her involvement in a noble house as soon as possible. Plus, meeting people awkwardly like this was exacerbating up her anxiety considerably. She was beginning to feel silly for having shown up in such an expensive and impractical outfit too; she would need to do a very excellent job in order to make up for the assured poor first impression she was sure to make. Why was it that she made decisions such as this one only to regret them later?

"...So you don't know much about what happened either, right? Hopefully you have some means of defending yourself; I have a sneaking suspicion that we may encounter danger during the course of our work. And we can't rely on guards or Knights to keep us safe at all times, as it's not fair to them to make that expectation either."

Once again, her social embarrassment gave way to her getting her mind back into the game and the serious consequences the whole incident could spell for the both of them, if not for London as a whole. It was a worrying thing to learn that mass murders were taking place in the city which she was temporarily calling home, and if nothing else it would feel good to check into it for the sake of stopping a threat to the city. The fact that Knights were the victims wasn't nearly as important to her in that context. Magic was a power meant to accomplish feats that regular people were too powerless and weak to do on their own, so it was natural that there were those who would use this power for selfish and cruel purposes. But all the same, Erin felt disgust with Magicians who got into Magic for those reasons.

Unbeknownst to our young detective, her expression turned into one of depressive rumination. It wasn't uncommon for her to lose track of her thoughts while idle, and it was a miracle she hadn't turned to drinking or drug use in order to deal with these moments. Unless her new partner spoke up, or the client arrived quickly, an awkward silence would follow.