The battle was decent enough, the crowd cheered and clapped politely, but it was obvious that the fight between Minstrel and his opponent was considered to be mediocre when compared to the skills and showmanship displayed by Nya and John. Minstrel had won, but he had a bitter look on his face as he left the pavilion. Many fighters laughed behind his back as he left, and he slowly walked out of the stadium and into the city. He stopped by a bread shop.

"Ah… Minstrel, I heard you finally passed the preliminaries for the great games, you were so young last time, it's good that you've made it." The large man smiled as he took out a large loaf of bread stuffed with a sweet syrup.

Minstrel smiled, "Thanks Butch, I won my first fight."

"Oh! Good job young man! But you look upset, did the crowd not appreciate your efforts?"

Minstrel's face twisted, "Well, they did… but two really talented swordsmen came before me, they were so good, I don't hold a candle to them."

"Oh hush!" Butch shouted, causing Minstrel to flinch, "you train every day, I've seen you swing your blade hundreds of times, make those silly but difficult footsteps every day, I'm proud of your effort, your win is a demonstration of your talent and hard work."

Minstrel's smile widened, "Yes… you're right! Thanks, Butch." He took a massive bite off of the loaf, causing the baker to laugh.

"Alright, glad I could give you a pep talk. You be good now! It's getting dark." He waved off the boy, who ate the bread and walked down the street, humming a tune. As he made his way down the streets he'd walked for years, he broke habit, taking a turn into a narrow alleyway. Soon, the sound of the city and talking was dimmed by the distance, leaving only the sound of footsteps over shallow water and crunchy dirt, eventually, he stopped, licking his fingers and turning around. Gone were the innocent eyes of youth, cruel, hardened eyes that had seen the horrors of the world took their place as he glared at the boy who tailed him. As his eyes met those of his stalker, he flinched. The pain, rage, insanity, and despair reflected within those violet eyes left him feeling fear, the intensity in those eyes were different, the face was the same, he recognized the face, the boy, but those eyes, it was someone different, something dangerous, something red.

Tartarus grinned as he saw the fear in Minstrel's eyes. "Long time no see, I'm here to make a deal Minstrel."

Minstrel's response was to ring out every death spell he knew, he took out a dagger, charging towards Faris at the same time, his movements now leagues apart from the pitiful performance he displayed in the tournament earlier.

Tartarus's response was to smash a rotting wood plank into Minstrel's face. The young man flew back as the plank shattered in Tartarus's hands. As Minstrel fell, Tartarus straddled him, striking him in several pressure points. Minstrel eventually shook Tartarus off, but as he tried getting up Tartarus kicked him in the jaw. "A little different from the last confrontation, wouldn't you say?" Tartarus smirked, winding up his leg and kicking Minstrel in the groin. He chuckled as the would-be assassin collapsed in pain. Tartarus grabbed Minstrel by the hair, "apt that you were named Minstrel by your mother, an up and coming but highly respected musician who passed away a few years after childbirth. Your father abused and neglected you, leading to your stunted growth, and despite your efforts and talents, the opportunity passed you by. You are an excellent dancer but considered too ugly and stocky for work in a theater. You have a good grasp on the ancient language, but terrible magical capacity and efficiency. And most unfortunately, you are an excellent weapon user, but your talents were found by the wrong people, and you can't demonstrate your efforts to the world, truly a miserable existence." Tartarus laughed, "I pity you, who fate decided to turn its back on, but unfortunately for you, you aimed for my life."

"Then kill me." Minstrel said calmly, his chest burned with rage at Faris's words, but he could not fight against the boy. "Isn't that why you're here?"

"Oh? Why would you think that?" Tartarus tightened his grip on Minstrel's short brown hair.

"I… I was hired to silence you, you recognized my movements, but you have no guards with you, this means you care more about vengeance than justice for the dwarves, or… you have a third motive."

Tartarus blinked in surprise, then grinned widely, "You are smart…" He whispered something, causing Minstrel's face to go blank.

"What… what were those words?!" He shouted.

"Your essence, who you are, I learned of your backstory from various sources, watched you fight, fought you twice, and have spoken to you, I knew enough to guess, and if I was wrong, there are only a few dozen possible options, you're too young for your true name to be very long anyway."

"But… that's impossible!" Minstrel had learned about true names, but he also read that it was almost impossible to determine one's true name, and even more impossible to find the true name of someone else, it required experience and wisdom beyond a human lifespan. "What are you?!" He screamed at Faris.

Tartarus laughed, Faris and he had more than 50 lives lost to them who's experiences were absorbed, Tartarus had their memories, their tendencies, and their habits, from their small lives, he could make a baseline understanding of the human condition, and combined his findings with his understanding of his host, Faris. With all that combined with the fact that Tartarus was a Shade, a being who understood the principles of magic without any assistance, and Tartarus could likely glean the true name of several people. Minstrel's name was surprisingly ugly and beautiful, representing both his dreams and inner nature, and his evils and vices, he loved the pain on Minstrel's face as he repeated the word, binding the mage-assassin to Tartarus's will and forcing him to swear fealty in the ancient language.

"...Damnit…" Minstrel felt tears welling up as he struggled in vain, the words Tartarus forced him to speak were binding.

"Yes… you must follow my orders without fail, as for my first order…" Tartarus got off the young man, smirking as he dusted himself off. "Purchase communication crystals, as small and discreet as you can, meet me in this alley in 2 hours with those crystals, failure to adhere?" Tartarus was lost in thought, then rose a finger as if he achieved some great enlightenment, "That man you call Butch? If you fail to adhere, I'll order you to kill him." The look of horror in Minstrel's eyes made Tartarus giggle, "I'll be waiting for an answer, if I'm not here in 2 hours, wait." Tartarus turned to leave.

"W-wait!" Minstrel stuttered out, "How… how did you resist the spells of death! I heard you lost your magic!"

Tartarus laughed in response, "you aren't worthy of an answer, but you seem clever, so figure it out on your own." He turned to leave, his white sapphire ring illuminated by the street lights, which cast a warm light over the streets lining the capital of the nation.

Tartarus stopped by a medicine store. The storekeeper flinched when she saw him. "You.. you're Faris right?! You did amazing during your match, and that run earlier today! Wow!"

Tartarus laughed lightly, voice taking a polite tone. "Oh, thank you, it was tough, but I pulled through." He took out a sheet of paper and began scrawling a few things down. "I need… these items please."

The apothecarian read the notes, looking up at Faris oddly, "Oh, those are rare medicines, what are you using them for?"

Tartarus smiled lightly, "One of the grannies near my home has a very bad head-and-toothache, her sister told me to get her these, I have the money now if that's the issue."

"No no, I have them." The woman smiled at Faris, "Yes, these are pretty good for head-and-toothaches, but if you don't mix it well and the temperature isn't good enough, it will give you a bad stomach ache."

Tartarus smiled brightly, "Thanks! I understand!" The woman handed him the items, a few roots, a flower, and what looked to be a moldy rope, placed them in a bag, and handed it over to him. Tartarus paid her and walked out slowly.

…

"I… still have about an hour and a half to return to that place…" Within Faris's mindscape, Tartarus was in deep thought, "what a fun world, humans are hypocritical and short sighted, he cares about his few close to him, but would let ally nations attempt to tear each other apart, which could endanger this kingdom even more." He turned to Faris, crippled and chained, "Quite funny, wouldn't you agree?"

"...Shut it!" Faris struggled against the chains, his mind roaring as he fought to reassert dominance over his mind.

"Touchy subject, do my words hurt you? Perhaps the truth of the human condition weakens your nerves?"

Faris simply glared at the Shade, despite the appearance within this shared inner mindscape, the fight between the two of them was close.

"The worst part is you seem to be stimulating the false egos…" Tartarus murmured. Those killed by Faris and Tartarus, who also had their memories from birth until death absorbed, developed into pockets of personality, false lives that interacted with and attempted to pull on Faris's psyche, with the loss of his magic, Faris had lost much of the strength that allowed him to remain fully himself, and the Faris that Tartarus took over, at least, the Faris on the outside, was a markedly different person due to the amalgam of emotions and personalities within him. "But… you wouldn't want it to return to normal, would you? I mean, they stoked your temper, your egotism, and your ignorance, you were like a fierce hawk tied down by feathers meant for ducks, flippers instead of talons, and a bill instead of the beak. The sharp beast, attempting to attack and destroy me now? I appreciate this type of creature more."

...

Tartarus put away the ring Weyonna gave him as he opened the door to Gurant's house. What met him was a tearful Bianca and a sad-looking Dustin.

"Faris!" Marla shouted in surprise and anguish, "Please! Help her!"

"Help who?" Tartarus asked, confused, he allowed them to drag him deeper into the room. What waited for him there was Minnie, covered in horrific injuries and several bandages. Martha and Yura were attending to her at the moment, and even Gurant, who stated he hated animals, was quiet and tense, sitting a bit away. "Minnie?" Tartarus asked incredulously.

I knew this werecat was young, but to be this incompetent?

"Are you okay?" He fell to his knees, reaching over gently.

My god, only an idiot would allow this level of injury.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, you must have been overwhelmed."

Stupid, her chance of surviving past this night is slim.

"You'll make it, okay big girl? I'm here, I promise, I'll save you."

Stupid cat, stupid women as well, they attempted to nurse it? Pft, their attempts were laughable at best.

Martha and Yura watched as Faris smiled sadly at them, "Thanks so much for finding her, she would be in worse trouble if not for you."

They nodded, "It… it was no problem." Martha said quietly.

"Faris… you can save her, right?" Dustin asked.

Why would these brats even give a crap? Tartarus thought as he smiled gently, he rubbed their hair, "It's alright, I'll do my best." I'll pull some crap show, well… I did want to see how their body ticks, I guess after the 'botched surgery', I'll say it was able to recover and left, then find somewhere to dissect it. He maintained his sad smile as he looked down at Minnie. Minnie peeked at him, his eyes held no warmth, the coldness within those eyes terrified Minnie, and she felt remorse for thinking that this monster who took over Faris was equivalent as long as she could achieve her goals. But she was too weak to fight against him, feeling like a trapped prey animal, she couldn't help but sit as tears fell down her face.

Tartarus's first thought was that his dissection would prove fruitful, from what he knew, normal cats didn't have tear ducts and couldn't express emotions in any way, werecats would therefore have to be something a little different, though he had already imagined that their organ structure would be different from the norm. The second thought Tartarus would have had was replaced by a feeling of blinding pain as Faris tore through the Shade's mental walls, asserting dominance. The boy fell over, his head striking the floor hard enough to cut through skin and cause bleeding.

"Boy!" Gurant shouted in concern. Faris struggled to get up, eventually being helped by Martha and Yura. They observed him, worry in their eyes. Faris looked up at them, his eyes shaking as he nodded.

"I'm alright, get me some bandages please." He held his head, temple throbbing as he, with every fiber of his being, fought back against Tartarus. He turned to look at Minnie, who struggled to rear her head to face him. "Minnie...Eka weohnata vardi un heill ono." (I will protect and heal you.) The words were difficult to let out, with Tartarus redoubling his efforts to strike back down Faris's mind, Faris eventually succumbed, but not before finishing his statement and ensnaring himself in his statement. Yura was the only one to notice Faris's pained face flash to hatred for just a second before turning calm.

Tartarus looked at everyone as they handed him the bandages, wrapping some around the wound in his head, he then created several tourniquets for Minnie's limbs. Silently, he picked Minnie up, ignoring her yowl of pain. "Shh… I'll, I'm getting help, a friend." Tartarus turned to Martha, "please put a cloak on us." His face was emotionless, causing even Martha to feel discomfort, but she covered him.

"Alright Faris, be safe."

Tartarus did not answer.

It was only until he was out of earshot that he began to curse. "Damnit you fool, you've bound yourself to a new oath, just to save this werecat? Why? Are you a deviant? You moron, you could only barely save her, from what? Now you've exposed us when I needed secrecy…" He eventually arrived at the entrance of the Alleyway, then walked further in. He noticed Minstrel, who looked as if he had waited for some time.

"Here…" Minstrel dropped the crystals in Tartarus's hand. "Can I go now?"

Tartarus smirked, "You work fast, but unfortunately, no." He dropped Minnie, causing her to yowl in more pain. "Shut the fuck up, beast."

Minstrel winced as he looked at the werecat's bruised body, and held a hand to his mouth when Tartarus ripped off all the bandaging.

"Shut the fuck up you assassin, you have no right to be squeamish, and you know it." Minstrel glare at Tartarus. "Heal it."

"...What?" Minstrel asked, surprised.

"You heard me… fucking heal it!" Tartarus commanded. Minstrel sighed, bending down and extending his hand out, as he did, his hands trembled.

"Are you deaf or just stupid? Heal it!" Tartarus demanded.

"I CAN'T!" Minstrel shouted back, "YOU SAID IT YOURSELF, I'M A MEDIOCRE STUDENT AT BEST!" His arms flopped down.

Tartarus's frown deepened. "Attack me mentally, NOW!" The quickness and force by which Minstrel struck reminded Tartarus that the incompetent before him was indeed an assassin and Minstrel first hand began to experience the famed mind of Faris. It took seconds for the young mage's defenses to be battered down, then seconds more for Minstrel's movements and control to no longer be his own.

Tartarus scanned Minnie's body through Minstrel's eyes, then he extended Minstrel's mind to Minnie's body, he began having the boy systematically heal the internal wounds first, moving from most life-threatening and going down the line until he reached the lightest of scratches. He had spared no effort, utilizing all of Minstrel's reserves till the boy could barely stand, then forcing him to reach into the reserves he saved into his crystal, taking away a good tenth of its reserves to heal Minnie.

Minstrel felt a tearing pain when Tartarus had entered his mind, the shade was cruel and merciless as he took control of Minstrel's body, it felt like white-hot pokers, so hot cold was also felt, stabbed through his veins. When he was forced to use magic, it felt like needles tore into his skin and mind, every second was an eternity, and when Faris's mind left him, he collapsed, exhausted and in pain.

"Pft… useless piece of crap, are you just a waste of breath? Get up!" Tartarus forced Minstrel up. "Haah." Tartarus sighed, he made a face as if he'd eaten or smelled something foul, and began speaking, "you are still in contact with those who hired you to sneak into the dwarf's lodgings and steal the statue, right?" Minstrel nodded. "Good, I expect a fairth of them in a few days, get out of my sight." He pushed Minstrel away then turned to the still laying down Minnie. "You, bitch…" He said, venom in his voice, "Get the fuck up now, I'm in no mood to pretend I'm exchanging pleasantries. You… you useless piece of garbage!" Tartarus struggled against the bindings keeping him from attacking Minnie, "How did you fucking loose?!"

Minnie was silent for a small bit, then tears began to well up again, this caused Tartarus's mood to drop as he cursed.

"You are a moron, let me guess, you lost all your cats as well?"

No… they, a few stayed with me… Minnie's mental voice trembled, it betrayed her youth with how sad and despondent her voice was.

"Feh, a failure is a failure, you were so haughty too, that werecats were a higher species." Tartarus smirked, "look at you, two normal human women had to rescue you, and that fucking waste of breath," he pointed to Minstrel, who struggled to walk, exhausted as he was, "saved your fucking life, you know what this means now? We aren't doing things your way anymore." He hunched over, "nope, we're doing it my way."

I see you didn't heed my warning.

"?" Tartarus turned, seeing a werecat that looked like a bobcat-sized Persian. He narrowed his eyes. "And who are you?"

The werecat licked a paw, preening itself as it spoke. "I am Six-Claws. I assume you are the human who's rescued her, twice at this point."

"Yeah, I did, not like I wanted to." Tartarus chuckled, "Anyways, I'm not in the mood, fuck off."

The werecat's fur bristled, I cannot 'fuck off' unfortunately, I told this… trash, she had until nightfall to flee the city lest I kill her. I'm surprised she's walking, I thought I maimed her and she would die."

Tartarus smiled, "It was you who did that to her? I'm impressed."

Yes, whatever deal you had with her, it's not worth it, step aside human.

Tartarus grimaced, "I'd love to, but a fucking moron sold my soul away, so I couldn't kill her if I wanted to."

I don't need you to kill her, I need you to step aside! The werecat charged forward.

Tartarus replied with a sword to the cat's neck, it barely dodged out of the way.

Y-you dare interfere!

Tartarus was already upon the creature again, eyes glowing red as he released the limits around his body. The blade swung with speeds even elves would have difficulty dodging. Six-claw barely moved out of the way, but received a long but shallow gash in his flank, he hissed in anger. Tartarus smiled before speaking, "I told you, I couldn't kill her if I wanted to, and I really want to kill her, so you'll do."

Foolish human kit... Six claw began to circle Tartarus, who held his sword to his side lazily. You'll die for insulting me! The werecat attacked with both mind and body. Its attacks ferocious and instinct-based. He was faster and stronger than any normal human and would have killed Tartarus if not for Faris's techniques.

Faris had spent the majority of his short life fighting those stronger than him, especially while he himself was weak. The tactics of the weak, movements to save stamina, struck that could move easily into guards, and short but quick movements saved Tartarus more than the shade would like to admit.

This bastard's fighting style, well, it's useful when not fighting something like those enhanced freaks. Tartarus frowned at the thought, and released the body's limit once more, slicing into Six-claw's flank. The werecat screamed in pain and collapsed. Tartarus smirked, then grimaced as his right arm exploded in pain, he turned to look at his dislocated right shoulder and elbow. Fortunately, they did not shatter. With a grunt, he popped first his shoulder, then his elbow back in place Turning to Minnie, he pointed his left hand at the werecat. "Finish him off."

I...I can't! I wouldn't have killed him anyway! I would have forced him to flee.

Tartarus raised an eyebrow, disgust evident in his voice, "He left you for dead, fully expecting you to die, he gave you an ultimatum he knew you couldn't complete, so if those two harlots hadn't found you, you'd be dead by now, as he'd have torn your throat open. Kill him."

Tears began to well up in Minnie's eyes.

Bah, you disgust me. Six-claw hissed. You first escape to the arms of a human, then you let him intercede on your behalf, now you don't have the guts to kill me? You truly are dishonorable.

I… I don't want to kill you! Minnie's hair stood on end, but her body language signified fear, not anger. I don't want to see my own killed, why do you hate me so much! Tears began to freely fall from the snow leopard werecat's face.

Six-claw answered brusquely, You were abandoned by your mother, you were a runt, not fit for survival, then you dared to survive by staying with the Lessers, werecats are born with innate intelligence and instinct, you sacrificed those traits of your lineage to survive and eat, to the point you couldn't recognize your own kind, you are a disgusting pox amongst us, and that you'd have the audacity to pretend that you deserve to even think of rising to the place of the king is insulting. I'd rather die than watch that happen, especially as you insult this contest with the aid of a h- His mental monologue was cut short by Tartarus stabbing his blade into the creature's flank.

"Pft… hypocrite, it brings tears to my eye, the image I had of werecats, lost… kukukuku…." Tartarus began to giggle and chuckle, snorting as he looked at Minnie. "This bastard is full of shit, they, at least the ones that conspired against you? They wagged their tails to humans, I was wondering, how, in a city with especially such high security, spies were able to move around so easily. Minnie, how did you first find Faris? Did you follow the smell of him?"

I… I smelled a large number of cats in my territory, it was only after rescuing him that I got a good smell of him…well, of you.

Tartarus's eyes curved like half-moons as he turned to Six-claw. "You're going to give us all the information, in fact, you're going to swear to speak truthfully in the ancient language, I have all night, and you have ten digits and four limbs." He walked up to Six-claw, who's ears flattened in terror and hatred. The werecat lasted for an hour and a half, but eventually, it spoke in the ancient language, binding itself to truth, then confessed of its and its co-conspirator's crimes, then of what it knew of the human, and dwarven organizations behind all of the chaos.

"... Of the 100 or so werecats in this city, how many are working with you."

...32.

"How many of the werecats not associated have you killed or sacrificed in exchange for aid?"

"I…" Six-claw was in his cat form by this point again, he had attempted to plead for mercy due to werecats appearing as children, but his plan failed, the monster before him simply cut him with greater vigor, his eyes were gouged out, ears scratched to literal ribbons of flesh, tendons were destroyed, and bones jut out in a few places, the fact he was still alive was a miracle, and clinging to the promise that Tartarus would not kill him if he complied, mixed with his ancient language oath, forced him to speak. "I...we entreated 6 werecats to join us, and targetted 10 who we considered unworthy, the 6 rejected us, all 16… were collected…"

Tartarus turned to Minnie and grinned widely at what he saw. She was in a humanoid form, she was bewitchingly beautiful, like a ghost-like fairy from a great artist's painting, her skin was as pale as the moon, her hair so white it seemed to glow in the darkness, her silvery eyelashes were long, and her cheeks had a slight blush. Her lips, pale pink and lush, were stretched in a grimace, and her small elegant nose was wrinkled as she glared at the dying Six-claws with an unseen before rage and hatred.

"Who…" Her voice was surprisingly soft, belying her true youth. Six-claw trembled. "Who did you kill?!" She screamed, voice cracking in rage and shame."

Six-claw heard the sound of Tartarus's sword swinging through the air and began to belt out a list of 16 names. On the 14th, when he uttered the word Pastel, Minnie began to scream and cry out in agony. Tartarus merely grinned wider as Six-claw shivered.

"Well…" Tartarus began, "Thanks for your assistance, and, as per our agreement, I won't kill you." He handed his sword to Minnie. She stared at it blankly, then looked into Tartarus's eyes.

"You are a devil." She whispered, "A monster born of hatred and boredom, you seek to cause hurt whenever you can, but you are bound by an oath made by my friend to keep me alive, I could kill you right now and put him out of his misery." She raised the blade to his neck, cutting into it slightly, blood began to seep down, Tartarus narrowed his eyes, but made no move to defend himself, eventually, Minnie's arm began to tire.

Tartarus grinned wider, "But you and I both know that you hate Faris now, you hate him too much to grant him that kindness, we all are living beings, so…" He stroked her head, "Be selfish every once in a while, we sorry sinners have suffered long enough." He turned to look at Six-claw, face impassive.

Minnie raised Faris's sword high, tears streaming down her twisted face. Tartarus's face softened slightly, his eyes still sharp, watching as she brought the blade down...