Day 03: The Masquerade Ball; Ceremony Proper [Open]

The amount of chaos only seemed to increase. The more things dragged on, the more the destruction only managed to spread.

When the commander told Ser Charmr what to do, he gave the man an incredulous. "Eh? Protect that lady? Sorry, but I'm only interested in protecting my pri-"

The man was cut off when Richard suddenly teleported away with the black knight. He stared at the empty space for seconds, his eyebrow twitching as he processed what just occurred before turning to the remaining scene.

Maia tried to strike the assailant from his blind spot, aiming for his armpit while he was raising a spear overhead, however as she went for a lunge, the knife went through only empty air. A second later, the spear fell from overhead and clattered harmlessly on the ground.

Meanwhile, a shadow loomed behind Maia. a shadowy figure seemed to rise from the ground behind her, easily towering over the girl.

"Children should fall asleep. You will join the mother another day." The voice was cold and hollow, like the arctic winds blowing into a deep cave. The figure lifted up an arm from under its tattered cloak. It was wrapped in some sort of gauze the color of ashes. Pinched between its index and thumb was a long, thin needle he moved towards the back of Maia's neck.

If Maia felt the prick, it wouldn't be long before an overwhelming tiredness settled over her and she'd pass out. However, as this was happening, Goibniu's thorny bindings started to loosen.

The witch glanced upwards, her brow scrunching in annoyance, however when she saw the masked lady, her expression soften. Still relatively blank, but soften.

"You are..." she finally spoke, her voice monotone and emotionless. Slowly and gradually, she started to float upwards. "... like..."

"3..."

Jinn laid still in the crater, however in a hushed whisper, he's been counting slowly and patiently.

"2..."

Sparks started to fly from his body.

"1..."

Jinn's body glowed red, his eyes snapping open.

"NOW!"

The ground suddenly cracked and erupted, geysers of fire shooting outward. The witch turned around to find the ginger Expiate officer rocketing towards her, his body covered in flames from head to toe.

"WICKERMAN!!" Jinn yelled as he threw himself towards the witch in monsterous speed. His fist flying  towards the witch. Her eyes widen for a moment before her spear moved and blocked, a shockwave ringing out from the impact.

Wickerman is a dangerous Expiate spell which increases the user's physical performance remarkably and nullifies their sense of pain or feeling. On top of this, it covers them in a protective armor of crimson fire. However, the caster suffers a lot of backlash as a result. On top of this, no other spells can be used while it's active. The aftereffects are considered so disastrous that few officers learn to cast it.

Officer Brettman's appearance was akin to a humanoid pitfire, seeking only witches to burn.

````

The black knight craned his neck, looking plainly at the ice shards that surrounded him. No matter how a man could swing a large sword like his, they would get needled with dozens of ice spikes in moments.

However, he clamly raised his sword up and thrust it downwards. However, instead of stabbing the ground, the blade seemed to... melt. The moment it touched the ground, the blade seemed to flatten and spread out like a shadow. The ice spikes flew inward and at the same moment there was a flash of black and white accompanied by the sound of shattering.

When it cleared, it showed long, thin masses stretching from a black pool at the knight's feet. Each tendril twitched and slithered like snakes but were as thin and sharp as any sword. What more, they seem to split vertically and snap like long monstrous jaws and teeth.

"That determination... that courage..." the hollow, unbelievably deep voice rang in the air. "It reminds me so much... of that cursed mage saint!"

Thousands and thousands of eyes opened along the tendrils and the black pool, each one glowing red.

"You got it!" the girl said raising a thumbs-up as the two started approaching the two injured officers. At this point, they'd have to urge them to get out of the way considering how chaotic things were getting.

However, as the girl was watching Higini and Cassima, she noticed a blonde girl who had an assailant behind her about to prick something into Maia. She wasn't sure if she was going to make it, but she fired a lightning-enchanted bolt at the figure behind Maia, hoping to pierce it and electrify it.

WHO WERE THESE CREEPS?? More importantly, where were Saki and Lyon!??
***

As the witch turned to Liseran hovering on her glyph, Liseran shouted.

"Why are you attacking!?" she demanded. "What do you want!?"

But Officer Brettman suddenly screamed and Liseran would then see a burning man charging at the girl, trying to embrace her while the latter held her spear.

"Wait, NO--"

Liseran's glyph would flicker underneath her and she started to fall. She quickly rang her bell, causing her to flip and land on her feet in a kneeling position. She looked around. There were too many things happening at once.

She could see Maia and Goibniu being assaulted, a girl and boy rushing towards an officer in the blast fire, the witch, Jinn, the odd figures...

Liseran had wanted chaos tonight...but not against these people. This wasn't what Cantus was supposed to be about.

Liseran raised her bell to her forehead and closed her eye. A flurry of marks started coming from her pocket, probably a charged stone, and started circling her. There were multiple marks, but they didn't look like typical marks. Their marks were more jagged, and more angular. The marks also glowed...a light gray, transparent almost.

Remember what you practiced... she thought.

Opening her eyes, her pupils seemed to vanish in a haze, her eyes become a dull and blurry blue. As she rang the bell, a high-pitched sound would pierce the air, like a dull ring in everyone's ears. What looked like a hazy dome spread across the square, damping out as much as possible any emission of Cantic or Cartic magic.

The Silencing Spell had been taught to her by the Abbess a long time ago, and she had warned Liseran of the consequences. It was a spell that aimed to nullify all magic in a radius. She explained if roars disrupted the magic flow and made it hard to cast spells, nullifying the spell would stop the source entirely, even if temporarily, like a wind blowing out a lamp and a finger damping the wick so it couldn't be lit again.

Liseran felt the only chance they had at this moment was to tackle the witch and the other figures by stopping all magic sources period. However, the bell in her hand would drop, and Liseran would collapse onto the floor.

***

The slightest trace of sweat ran down Richard's face. He had seen powerful Walpurgis before, but he had never met one that was just so...monstrous. He glared as the ice proved ineffective and the tendrils started glaring at Richard as the knight shouted at him.

"I'm going to purge you so that nothing like you ever walks the face of this earth again," Richard said under his breath.

Gritting his teeth, he stomped a feet, causing a mass of ice to form underneath him and propel him into the air. As he flew upwards, he saw a flurry of blue land next to where he stood--a young woman with dark hair wearing a blue cape. For a moment his eyes widened, the girl's hair for the slightest second flickering dark purple, her blue cape tattered and red, her pale skin a warm tan.


...Althea?

Whoever the woman was, though, didn't seem to be with the knight. Rather, she was pointing her sword at him. Had this stranger really come to help him?

He quickly came to his senses though, and mid-air, pulled himself into a flip using Cartic marks. As he made his way just above the knight, Richard called upon more marks. The two would hear something akin to gears reversing in one of Richard's rapiers. A glyph would appear behind Richard, this time resembling a clock with whirring gears going at a faster speed. Richard would then fly towards the knight, his two rapiers swinging down with him as he tried to cut into the blades the man's armor. If they made contact, the man would feel a burning sensation and be blinded by the bright white light his blades would start to glow as.

Hopefully, the distraction would prove enough for Kassandra to get her own attacks in as well.

Cassima fell over a chair that had fallen over in the hall because Higini interrupted her by telling her to be careful. She quickly got up, but not before glaring at Higini.

She continued to make her way to the Officer's soon reaching them as she leaned down to one of them.

"Quick, grab onto my shoulder. My friend over here will rescue your partner." Cassima said to the Officer. Her friend of course she was referring to was Higini as she gestured towards the girl under the table.

"We're going to take you to safety at that table over there. That girl under it is going to cover for us in case we get hurt by that crossfire." Cassima said looking over at the duel just now as she started to help the Officer towards the table.

"Let's go." She told Higini and the Officer's.

"Ngggh!" Without realizing what was happening behind him, Goibniu suddenly feel his binds loosen up, making it easier for him to remove the throny vines around his neck. The bind broke, air quickly rushing to his lungs with much ease, and making him smile in relief, as he quickly tried to remove the binds from his wrists as well. His moment of victory was very brief however, as a voice was heard behind him, making him turn and see a shadowing figure, and... Maia Tommelise?

The words weren't able to escape his mouth, as the woman seemed to stagger tremendously, as if she was about to faint. He quickly went behind Maia to hold the woman protectively, and tried to back away from the shadowy figure, not knowing that the thief girl already had her sights on the figure. But suddenly, the ground shook violently. A quick allowed Goibniu to see that it came from Officer Jinn, now being some sort of human torch, directly confronting the witch!

He would have shouted an adulation at the officer, if it weren't for the fact the witch was still managing resisting his attack. Just what was that woman made of? Despite was what happening, he knew that Maia was in danger, and needed to take her away as soon as possible. Reaching for his fallen pistol, Goibniu quickly dashed away, taking  her to the area where the other fallen officers were.

-----

Their arrival was a little belated, as Cassima ended up tripping halfway through their run in a rather comical fashion. The glare she shoot him deterred him from properly assisting her back up, but nevertheless, they reached the fallen soldiers. "Alright, don't move too much, it might hurt!" He said, as he picked one of the officers, and quickly moved them away from the ensuing battle. But as Higini and Cassima had their hands busy, Goibniu quickly ran to the scene, holding Maia. "Lads! I have someone in need of help!"

Carefully, Goibniu and Higini placed Maia down with the other injured officers, with the latter asking what was happening. "What's wrong with her? She doesn't seem very hurt?" It was rather confusing, but Goibniu shook his head at him. "She is not, but one of those fiends did something to her. She's still breathing, but its as if she's slumbering." Goibniu answered.

And right before Higini could say anything, another spectacle hit the scene, as Goibniu and Higini felt something ring strangely in their ears. The two peeked, and saw a circle of light engulf the arena and the area surrrounding it, with Liseran at the center of it! Of course, neither of them felt anything, as Goibniu was an Enkidu, and Higini didn't harness any sort of magic, but the officer would notice that the effect would cause the Witch's floating to wane.

Was this... another magic dampening trick?

"Lad, please watch over her." He told Higini, as he prepared his pistol. "We might just get a chance to stop the enemy." And of course, Higini merely nodded at him, as he turned to the sleeping Maia. Standing from his position, Goibniu aimed at the Witch again, and this time around, he wasn't gonna do any fancy tricks. The chamber had 6 more bullets, and the sights were placed on his target. Surely, whatever stopped his first shot wouldn't stop him again, would it?

With finesse, Goibniu quickly fired all 6 shot at the Witch, his thumb and index fingers working like, quite literally, clockwork to fire rapidly and steadily. Hopefully this will give Jinn the edge in battle, as Liseran's trick would also affect him.

-----

Kassandra's cobalt cloak flowed with the wind, as she observed the Black Knight perform a strange trick with his blade, creating a mass of tendrils surrounding him, all moving with a mind of their own, and even with the grotesque features of eyes decorating them. It was rather offputting, and it only made Kassandra hold her blade a bit more tightly.

Her mind was set on trying to cut them down, as she thought that perhaps they were meant to be some sort of additional protection in case either of them tried to fight the Black Knight head on. However, Richard decided to take a different approach, by trying to reach the Black Knight from above, something which Kassandra found... clever, assuming the tendrils won't get to him.

And that's the angle she decided to tackle. While the Commander approached the Black Knight from above, Kassandra's feet kicked into action, hopping on the rooftops to quickly approach their enemy directly. Holding her sword with both hands, Kassandra used the momentum of her speed to perform a horizontal swipe, in an attempt to penetrate the shield of tendrils with cutting them down.

However, something she didn't expect once her feet touched the ground. Using Kassandra's same idea, Trebax came out of her cape, lunging at the Black Knight, snout open and flickers of flame sparkling on his paws, as if aiming to bite his neck. On any other circumstance, she would have quickly berated him for trying and jump into the fray, specially considering she had an Expiate person right in front of her, but at this point she didn't care. Would the Black Knight reach to a two front attack quick enough?

"Ah hahahaha, much more powerful forces than you have tried that and failed," the taunt came in response to Richard's threat. "Even that cursed Mage Saint could only bind me temporarily."

The tendrils whipped out, crossing eachother as a massive shield. Rapier's blades would hit only metal before being swatted away along with their wielder.

"Pathetic sons of Man. It is your foolishness and pride that has earned you only the ill will of the gods. You will learn that even your saints have failed you when everything returns to the void."

The hollow voice bellowed as the black bladed tendrils slithered about like a mass of snakes. Kassandra and her incantus companion tried to lunge after the black knight with the same idea, only for the blades to block Kassandra's own and slapped her down. The incantus however was met with a multitude of eyes opening up and looking at it in unison.

"Ah..." the hollow voice gasped, "A snack has come."

An intense wave would wash over the magical entity like an intense pressure, very likely causing it to retreat back instinctively.

"Mmm... your magic looks rather bland anyway," the hollowed voice commented as as the eyes glanced away with disinterest. "Not even worth the time. Speaking of..."

The tendrils sunk into the ground, pulling inwards into a black pool that shrunk progressively as the knight pulled the massive blade off the ground.

"Hey. Prisoner," the hollow voice called out. "I no longer sense the artifacts in the city. We've missed our opportunity..."

The knight perked his head up, speaking in a clearly different voice. "Understood..."

Suddenly, the knight's back started to writhe, two lumps pulsing and enlarging wildly before a pair of black, leathery wings sprouted from his spine! The knight let out a sigh before the black wing raised themselves up and flapped down hard, causing a gust of wind to blow outward before rising again. The wings repeated this motion and with each flap, the knight rose from the ground higher and higher.

"Right, so, you should stay out of our way next time," the hollow voice stated matter-of-factly. "The next great mark in history is already underway. You're only delaying the inevitable. Best you spend your remaining pitiful sunrises while they last with your loved ones. Now, We'll be taking my leave..."

~~~~

The masked man seemed to have glowered when Goibniu freed himself from the thorns. His cloak rustled as he moved forward, only for him to spin and narrowly deflect the crossbow bolt. In his bandaged hand was a crooked dagger with a blade that had many curves and twists. He hissed but his attention turned back to Goibniu who was already a good distance away thanks to his Enkidu strength.

Something started to rattle under the bone mask and hood, like the sound of bone clattering together, before the cloak started to sink into the ground, disappearing into a swirling shadow that slid along the floor after Goib at quick speed.

Then without warning, the cloak was suddenly shot out from the floor long before he reached his target, as if ejected forcefully from the ground.

"What-!?" he hissed, unaware of the nullifying magic.

The wave washed over the area without warning. Officer Jinn who was set literally ablaze had spontaneously been extinguished and with a surprised gasp, he started to freefall along with the wide-eyed witch.

Jinn tried to twist his body to make a safer landing, but suddenly every muscle he had screamed in pain. Without Wickerman active, he was immediately suffering the backlash of the spell. He ungracefully tumbled onto the ground in a heap. The witch tucked and rolled, softening her landing like a professional acrobat before pushing herself up. Her spear fell and stabbed into the ground close by.

She scowled aggravatingly, not paying attention to Goibniu as he aimed the gun towards her, firing off six shots simultaneously. The bullets zipped through the air towards their target, but just before they made contact, a big red mass got in the way! It sprouted from the ground while the witch was distracted. It showed when she suddenly turned and looked surprised before scowling.

The thing that guarded her looked otherworldly, it looked strong, it looked impossible, and most of all... it looked like a hand? It sunk into the ground, disappearing just as soon as it had appeared. The witch raised an fist high, her eye looking furious. Something big was coming when-

"Hazel. Kurse."

Both the witch and the masked man looked up the sky simultaneously. Floating in the air fifty feet above on demonic wings straight from the stories of demons and dragons was the black knight staring down at everyone. He slowly descended, his presence causing a sudden hush just as soon as it had caused complete chaos.

"The artifact is gone. We should go," the knight stated as he landed on the ground gracefully.

The witch's raised fist twitched, but she slowly and calmly lowered it, walking towards the knight quickly.

The cloak hissed, glancing between his comrades and the group of people seeking respite.

"Death will claim you another day, animal," the masked man announced, his statement directed at Goibniu. "Take these remaining days as a blessing from the Mother."

With quick steps, the cloak went to his comrades' side.

"W-Wait..." Jinn gasped, pushing himself off the ground. His body was literally smoking, but he was forcing it to move. "I won't... let you escape..."

"Oh please," the hollowed voice sighed tiredly. "I've already wasted enough time here. You heroic types need to give it a rest already."

"Not so fast, scum!" Duke Charmr roared, charging in with sword in hand. Even without magic, a sword is still a sword!

But suddenly, something lashed out. The Archknight blocked with the flat of his sword narrowly but he was pushed back with great force. The Black Knight's blade had elongated and stretched to over ten times its length, having nearly pierce the Eislyn general like a ballistae if it wasn't blocked. It immediately started shrinking back to its main size.

"You can still use magic too??" Duke barked incredulously. "What trickery is this??"

"That's a story for another day," the hollowed voice stated. "For now, it's farewell. You should pray to your god in these last days... though I won't be listening."

A black dome suddenly formed around the three strange assailants, covering them in a solid sphere. Then suddenly it split vertically, opening up to reveal a giant red eye before erupting into a pillar of black fire shooting to the skies above. When the pillar gradually faded, the three were gone, leaving behind complete disaster in their stead.

A fire-breathing dragon, a flying witch, and a silent curse of death; it was like something out of a fairy tale...

Richard gritted his teeth as his blades were once again met with resistance. Realizing the danger of remaining too close, he leapt backwards just in time to see Kassandra and her Incantus attack. Richard narrowed his eyes but merely prepared for a second strike. He'd never get the chance though as the monstrous knight's tendrils morphed into wings and started flying.

"Oh no you don't," Richard said under his breath. He pulled out a silver pistol from his side and aimed. Its barrel started glowing as marks engraved in it charged with white light.

Kassandra would hear loud firing rounds as the shots flew into the air, each one trailing a thin white line of light behind them. Richard was about to run after the disappearing assailant, but stopped as on top of another roof a zip of lightning flashed. The lightning would subside and reveal another Expiate officer in a long coat. It was a woman with bright blonde hair tied up and blue eyes.

"Don't worry, Richard, we'll take it from here," the woman called out from where she was. "Focus on the men in the square."

Richard said nothing as the woman jumped again, a flash of lightning followed her as she tried to chase after the flying knight. Kassandra would see several other officers on the rooftops jump as well, each one in pursuit.

Richard stood stiffly where he was and clutched his fists. He then slowly turned to where Kassandra was, his eyes staring at her with gravity.

"I don't know who you are, witch, or what you're doing up here," he said with a low and raspy voice. He then turned his back away from her with his hands still clutching his weapons tightly.

"But if you don't leave right now, you're going to give me no choice but to arrest you..So getgoing."

He'd face away from her as if to turn a blind eye, waiting for the sound of her leaving lest she wanted to wait for the consequences of staying.

***

The officer would look at Cassima weakly and latch on, nodding. Looking around, the girl would notice several of the scattered and beaten Expiate officers, some even dead. Suffice to say, she and the others were lucky to be standing. Cassima would hear footsteps behind her and see the girl with the hood from earlier approach.

"Is everything okay here?" the girl said before seeing the injured officers. Upon seeing who Cassima was holding, she'd frown and take off her satchel. She'd then kneel down and start pulling out bottles of potions. "Hold on, let me help heal you..."

Near Higini, Liseran remained on the floor unconscious. He would also start noticing more Expiate officers as well as robed sorcerers wearing the Aldmerrian coat of arms appearing.

Two officers would approach Cassima, Higini, and the red-cloaked girl raising a hand with a Cartic glyph and motioning them to stay in place.

"Halt!" the officer said. "We have been asked to escort all present individuals here at the square to Expiate headquarters. If none of you are harmed, you are to come with us immediately."

"What?" the girl demanded as she uncapped a healing potion for the injured man in Cassima's arms. "What did we do?"

"You are to come at once."

Another officer would swat the bottle out of her hands it out of her hands. The glass shattered on the floor and the bright yellow light from the potion dispersed.

"Hey! What the heck!? I'm trying to heal your fellow offic--"

"We will handle healing from here," a second officer said firmly, also raising a Cartic mark. "Now all of you drop any weapons you have and follow us."

"This is ridiculous!"

Seeing as the officers' moods weren't changing, the girl glared and tossed her crossbow to the ground and raised her hands. The officers would then force Cassima and Higini to do the same.

Another officer would approach Goibniu who instantly recognized him.

"Officer McCrae!" the person said. If Goibniu looked, it was a nurse cadet with brown hair tied in a braid and purple eyes. It was Medic Marthe. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you? I heard things were just chaotic!"

Before Goibniu could answer, he'd see even more Expiate officers coming in, some tending to the injured, some approaching whoever was in the square. Whatever had been going on might have been over, but things were only about to get more confusing.

Cassima would look around at the fallen soldiers and cringed in disgust over the ones that had died thanks to the magical duel. She can tell that this hall was going to receive some bad word once this incident get's out to the public. "Aren't we the lucky ones." She said to the solider, as expiate officers soon appeared.

To take away the woman that was going to heal the officer that Cassima was healing, causing the girl to snicker. "Hehehe, busted." Cassima said to the woman's fate.

Only to gasp when the officer's did the same to her and Higini. "Hey, me and him were only trying to help. We didn't steal anything!" Cassima said to the Officer's as she was lead away, likely for questioning.

Unfortunately, the bladed shape of the tendrils weren't for show, as they weren't cut down easily with her strike. In retaliation, they struck her down, making her body lose balance and fall on the rooftop, which made her quickly roll back, and stand up again, her sword ready for another attack. Trebax wouldn't have much luck either, as his lunge would be stopped mid-flight by a tremendous pressure, both in his body and his mind. His body dropped, unable to reach the Black Knight, as he began thrashing about, as if trying to get rid of something in his body, puffs of fire escaping his snout. It was as if something in his being was forcing him to retreat, even if he tried to push every fiber in his body to null that order, specially after the Knight insulted him.

Kassandra struck her steel with the tendrils again, but to her surprise, the tendrils would suddenly retreat back into the ground, making her swing the air. Turning to the Knight, her eye squinted when she saw it manifest two big wings from his back, and began flying away. Once Trebax regained control of his body, he went ahead and tried to exhale a torrent of fire at the Knight's direction, and missing due to the height separating. With a clear look of frustration, Trebax could only roar at the flying figure, as he retreated back to Kassandra's person, vanishing under her cape. "Mark in history...?"

She turned to see the Commander try to shoot the wings off in vain, followed by many other Expiate officers coming in, and taking command over the pursuit. Seeing that the battle was over, Kassandra sheathed her blade, and heard the orders he gave her, orders which were met with a stoic look from her, undeterred by his voice getting louder. "... Do not waste your breath, Expiate. You'll need it to return to your flock and do your job."

And with that, she turned around, and began hopping away while her enhancement lasted, leaping from building to building until eventually disappearing by going under. She did all she could do, now she could only hope Higini was now in safe hands. Or there will be hell to pay.

-----

"Huh!?" Unfortunately, each of his shots were blocked by yet another giant hand, which managed to get in the way between Goibniu and the Witch. Frustrated, he let out a curse uncommon for him to utter, as he saw that there was something else coming to them; the Black Knight. Higini gasped in fear, almost letting Maia go, as the figure told his allies that it was time to leave.

But not before the masked figure addressed Goibniu directly, giving him a threat he wouldn't simply take. "Cease these threats, fiend! You will haunt innocents no longer!" He said, as he went to his pocket to find more bullets, when he realized that he forgot to bring his bullet pouch with him. Those seven bullets were all the defense he was able to provide to himself for the night, as he didn't realize things would turn out like this.

Eyeing Richard's pistol still there on the floor, and seeing how Duke Charmr tried to engage them one last time, Goibniu quickly pocketed his own gun, and went straight to the second weapon available to him. Unfortunately, the moment he managed to caught it, the three intruders already performed a display of magic that would make them disappear completely. The echo of their departure filling the area, things began to return to normal...

Or at least, that's what Higini believed. When he saw the thief approach them, and going straight to the officer Cassima held, he made a sigh of relief when he saw she was aiming to heal them. "Thank god it's over..." He said, when he turned to the sleeping Maia, looking rather concerned, then towards Liseran, who was fallen nearby. "Hey, the woman from earlier its still there!" He notified the thief, pointing at Liseran. "I'll try to bring her back."

Without waiting for confirmation, Higini went towards Liseran's body, kneeling down to see if she was still conscious. "Hey... are you awake? Hang in there!" Before he could check her status however, several other officers appeared at the scene, a sight to sore eyes. Yes, surely they will cover things from now. "Don't worry, help's arriving, you'll be okay." But his reassuring smile suddenly faltered, when the officers that arrived suddenly ordered him, Cassima and the thief to come with them, something which the thief was not happy with.

"Huh? What's the ma-" He said, standing up and turning toward the commotion, when suddenly he saw the officers pointing at him with dangerous glyphs on their hands. To say that he looked fearful was an understatement, he had no idea what was going on! "W-W-What?? What is happenign? Please don't hurt me." He blurted out, putting his hands in the air, and allowing himself to be escorted away with the girls, confused over what was happening.

Goibniu, on the other hand, remained perfectly still. During the Expiate's appearance, his sights were set on the sky, right where the intruders disappeared, a look of anger and contemplation in his face. This all happened so fast, and in the blink of an eyes, commotion and destruction took over what was once a peaceful festival. Who were those intruders? What artifact where they after? When will they return? Maybe only the pistol in his pocket knew for sure.

His reverie was interrupted however, when someone approached him directly. It was Marthe, one of the medics of the Expiate. Surprised by the sudden appearance, Goibniu quickly gave her a salute, taking the moment to inspect the scenery around him. There were people that were being taken away by the officers, a sight which made Goibniu look a bit concerned. But when he realized the medic asked him something, he turned back to her, and simply shook his head. "I'm well medic, thanks for asking. But I can't help but feel concerned for the others..."

This was going to be one of those nights. Papers were never good pillows.