"...Hic.."

"There there, let it all out…"

"...Bastard…"

Tartarus smiled as he stroked Minnie's hair, in front of them was the corpse of a werecat, Six-claw had never liked her, and she never liked him, but she respected his strength. She gazed sadly at his corpse, then at her own blood-stained hands and skin. She felt as Tartarus wrapped a cloak around her body. She looked into his eyes, in her few years of life, after entering the city, she had seen many gazes. She saw the gazes of men and women lustful for one another, slightly narrowed but alight with passion. She saw the gazes of men and women filled with hatred, with their dilated pupils, and inflamed visages, she had also seen fear, hope, despair, and all sorts of emotions. Tartarus's eyes reflected none of that, he gazed at her, and even though his face was smiling, his eyes reflected nothing. She shivered in fear, realizing that despite her words, even though she could kill him and he could not attack her back as a form of defense due to Faris's oath, he looked at her as if she was nothing. The other werecats, the ones who derided and hated her, looked at her with disgust, but they only reserved a look of nothingness to the lessers. She felt rage overtaking her as Tartarus, Faris, this one too, the one she thought to call friend, stared at her like she was an animal deserving nothing. As her face twisted in rage, those eyes regained a cruel light, and Tartarus's smile widened.

"You fear being overlooked, trodden upon, and cast aside." He grabbed her beautiful face and held it close to his. "You're too dangerous to me as you are now, but you have no one else. Given your reaction to the dead one's words, you have no one left." He let go of her, "Well, if you want to kill me, you better do it now, you won't be able to by tomorrow."

Minnie stared at Tartarus's back, which seemed lonelier than she remembered. "Had you always been this small?" Werecats ranged in height, but were all typically around the height of children between 8 and 14, though this ultimately ranged and there were a few rivaling humans in height, Minnie at the moment was taller than Faris.

"My size is ultimately irrelevant," Tartarus shrugged, "this is the host I was born to." He turned to look at Minnie and flinched as he saw her kneel before him.

"I… I cannot win, I cannot best so many werecats who hate and despise me, not by myself. Help me, please, help me, and I swear fealty to you."

"Do you know what you ask?" Tartarus asked, voice softening, "I will be honest with you, as you've gained a modicum of my approval, I will not cherish nor care for you, while I will be forced to protect and heal you, I do not have to care about your mental condition, in fact, the oath is so simple that my mindset can easily change the outcome, I can contemplate that death will be your salvation, of course, that is if you are miserable enough. Do you really want to sell yourself to me, knowing that?" Tartarus had a wide grin on his face.

Minnie flinched at his reaction but quickly nodded, repeating herself in the ancient language, stating her fealty to Faris.

Tartarus's eyes narrowed but he continued smiling. "That is your choice, then as your first order, follow me." He walked over to Six-claw's corpse, shaking his head in sorrow, "It is too far away for me to prepare a proper dissection… dammit." He lit a match and set the corpse ablaze. "Alright…" He turned to Minnie, "let us return."

Minnie wrapped the cloak around her tighter, without her fur, the nightly chill made her uncomfortable, but for some reason, as she left the flames behind her, she was warmed.

…

Vulcan stared at the Ra'zac incredulously, the creature had at this point fallen asleep, but it was difficult to tell, the Ra'zac's bulbous compound eyes contained no eyelids, so they could not close their eyes to sleep, instead, it was as if a certain shine was lost.

If the monster's words are true, those enhanced children are truly dangerous. Volund spoke after a time of contemplation, he was tense and confused but understood that his rider was likely in much greater turmoil.

Vulcan had found the enhanced children to be tough opponents, they were as strong and fast as elves, contained raw destructive energy similar to a shade, and regenerated from blows that would kill any mortal being, their weakness was their arrogance and lack of fighting experience, but even then, it was a tough fight he had not been confident in winning, to learn that there were ten of them running about and that they were created through the torture of children and spirits then unification of the two chilled him. His only solace was the understanding that it was rare for one to be generated, a one-in-one-thousand occurrence. But that did little to ease his heart. "...How many children were sacrificed for those ten…" He narrowed his eyes.

The investigator sitting across from him sighed. "Let's review what we've learned." He took out some notes he took. "Ronny is the eldest of the group, he is the children's main caretaker. 'Raggy' is the name they use denoting the ra'zac. Ronny's parents worked for Lord Wilkons but died, his father of an injury complication, and his mother of mysterious causes. Ronny eventually ran after 'discovering' the ra'zac egg in the hands of one of Lord Wilkin's retainers. Despite finding their underground alcove and gathering resources, they were found and attacked by men in dark robes wielding black-feathered arrows reminiscent of Kull and Urgal make. Those men were killed by the combined efforts of the Ra'zac and one of the enhanced Children, who had made a deal stating that in a month's time they would come to rescue as many children as they could. Ronny chose then to start reaching out to children who looked like they were either abused or taken advantage of."

Vulcan's expression darkened, "How could so many children be hurt and tormented like this?!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the investigator, "The dwarves allied with the Varden to change the corrupt empire, how can you call yourselves better if others continue to suffer like this?"

The investigator was silent for a moment before speaking. "If you are in front of a cherry tree, can you prevent all the petals and leaves from hitting the ground?"

"Of course, I am quick and strong, stalwart, and steadfast, and if they all fell at the same time, I would use magic."

The investigator smiled, "then I ask, would you be able to grab hold of every single leaf and petal from every tree within your great mountains?" Vulcan was silent, allowing the man to continue. "There are over 2 million humans in this city, this is a population rivaling the empire's population only 50 years ago, within one area. It is impossible to stretch one's arms, sight, and heart to look over and protect every single citizen, that is where the importance of delegation comes in. 10 will be watched by 1, and of that 1, he will be brought into a group of 10 himself, watched by a new 1, so that the new 1 will be watching over ten and one hundred by looking to the works of the 10 below him and the 10 below each of them." The investigator shook his head, "Humans are not universally good, and power is an addicting thing, the weak are easy to trample on because they cannot fight, and pain and hardship create strong, but cold beings, or weak, fragile, and easily jealous creatures."

"Aren't you a human, why are you so disparaging of your people?"

"It is because I'm human that I can admit these things easily." He wiped his glasses, smirking. "Everyone has good and bad within them, it is simply a matter of how much one is over another, ideas such as pure good and pure evil are fruitless." He turned to Vulcan, "Do you think the act of killing is evil?"

Vulcan was about to answer but was silent again, after a bit of struggle, he spoke, "It… it depends."

"Really? But isn't all sentient life equally important?"

"Well, yes, but if someone is trying to kill me, and the only choice to defend myself leads to their death, that is not an evil action."

"So you make yourself a god? Because your life is now more valuable? Why does your desire to live trump theirs?"

"That's sophistry." Vulcan scowled, "Of course everyone's life is more valuable to themselves than to others."

"Oh, then what of a parent sacrificing themselves to save their children? Do they value their children's lives above them, or is it in conjunction with your assertion. That they value their life so much, the idea of their children gone while they still live is torture they'd rather die than face?"

Vulcan pounded his fist on the table, causing the wood to crack.

Calm yourself Vulcan. Volund cautioned, His words are meant to be inflammatory, do not let them get to you.

"What are you playing at human?" Vulcan growled, "Do you imply with your words that all good in the world is simply a byproduct of selfishness?"

The investigator shook his head, "No, that would be an excuse for my own sake, I dare not assume that, but rather…" He chuckled, "Look at me, acting like I'm drunk, let's get back to business."

Vulcan studied the man's face, the Investigator was a man in his early 40's, though he looked more youthful than that, even then, 40 was considered barely teenage to dwarves.

It is life experience, rather than actual age, that denotes maturity Vulcan, unless you wish to call me a child. Volund voiced out jokingly.

Vulcan smiled wryly, "Yes."

"So, as it is, the Scarlette Heart seems to be targeting children, much like they did when aided by Rembrant, meaning there are still secret entrances into and out of the city that we aren't aware of."

Vulcan nodded, "I can speak to Arya, she and the council can likely pull up and give us copies of the city plans, we may find some more ancient drainage systems."

"That would also help with internal security, on our end, we'll also have to plan around the idea that the Scarlette Heart and whomever Lord Wilkons is working with are unrelated, or even opposed to each other."

"You thought that too?"

"Yes, the enhanced children strike me as mentally unhinged, especially given what was reported about them, but the men who attacked Ronny and the ra'zac seemed to be aiming for their lives as opposed to just a simple capture. What could they have aimed for with the Lord?"

Vulcan shook his head, "I do not know, but you must immediately secure a warrant, the great games are still ongoing, and the knurlans were appeased with the corpses of the men and the black arrows being tied to them, but they wish to know who truly did this crime. The fact the opposing Clans vocally called out Orik and the Urgals is enough to keep them appeased with information showing the Urgals had nothing to do with the assassination of three Vrenshrrgn members. I sent a fairth of the statue to a Quan historian friend of mine." Vulcan said, "he will likely find something relating to the stolen statue." Vulcan thought for a moment, then asked, "there were several investigation teams, and an independent team of investigation, were they able to find anything?"

The investigator smiled wryly, "a shop that sold recreations of items used by urgals, dwarves, and elves, among those items, urgal styled arrows, which were sold two weeks before the incident. Two Knight apprentices poured their time and attention into tracking the identification number of the purchasers, the times people moved through different checkpoints in the city, and the descriptions of the purchasers to fairths made of various people captured by guards in relation to petty to major crimes."

"Those two worked hard." Vulcan sounded impressed.

"They did, after asking around and double-checking, they were able to trace three men, two of which were petty criminals, to the estate of a local lord."

"Lord Wilkons?"

"Bingo."

"That seems like enough evidence to generate a warrant," Vulcan said, sighing. "So, we try to arrest him early in the morning, correct?"

"Yes, in fact, I'll bring those two apprentices with us, the rest of their squad is participating in The Game's student division, but they deserve the merit for the discovery."

"As long as it is not too dangerous."

"It shouldn't be too dangerous." The investigator said, "but… I will secure insurance just in case."

"Bah, I will be there." Vulcan laughed, "It will not be too much trouble."

…

"Three cheers for victory!" The former first-year pearls raised their mugs in celebration.

"I'm glad all of us passed the first round of student duels." Morgan said, smiling, "And Nya, you passed the adult's division easily." They cheered turning to Nya and ruffling her hair in turn.

"Well, not easily," Nya said, shaking off their hands. "John did better against me than he's done in a long while."

"You were both a little too slow for my taste." Seya laughed, "though it was fun seeing the two of you flail like ballerinas on the arena floor."

"Oh ignore her, she's just mad she couldn't compete," Katya remarked, hushing Seya up. "More importantly, Venka…" She turned to Venka and smirked mischievously. "So… what did you talk to Faris about?"

Venka blushed, "Nothing! I just asked if he was okay, he looked tired, but he told me he was fine."

"That wasn't all, you wouldn't be blushing like that." Nya asserted.

Seya rolled her eyes, "this girl would blush if Faris told her his favorite color was red."

Venka retorted, "at least I've made Faris blush." After the chorus of oohs and aahs died down, she sighed, smiling, "he called me pretty." She looked up at her friends' faces.

"And?" Morgan asked.

"And… what? He called me pretty."

"He's called you pretty before, he hasn't taken any steps in courtship though, so…" Katya trailed off.

"We're still just children, it's enough that he thinks of me."

"You're so naively pure it's gross." Seya remarked, "Really? Is this the same girl who told us you liked him a few months ago, come on, you haven't even kissed him yet have you?" She raised an eyebrow at Venka's face, which was now beet red. "Oh ho ho… you dare try to get ahead of me?!"

As the two of them began to bicker, with Katya and Nya watching and interjecting to keep the fight going, Morgan turned to look at Bartholomew who was scrawling notes down on a sheet of paper.

"Bart? What's up, you've literally not touched your food."

Bartholomew scoffed, "ignorant assertion brought on by your lowly estimation." He flinched at Seya's glare, "Uh… Seya asked me to make a golem based on Donovan's movements."

"The Surdan kid mage? Yeah, he fought today, but he wasn't impressive at all, he barely won, and it was through luck." Katya dismissed Donovan, but with good reason, Donovan had one of the first fights of the tournament, but behaved atrociously…

The tournament grounds were bright from the daylight, the race had just finished and runners participating in the adult division were getting ready to fight. Donovan had been called out to fight, his opponent a stocky but not too muscular looking man by the name of Darren. Darren wielded a curved sword known as a scimitar and swung with great speed, while Donovan was equipped with studded knuckles and a quarterstaff. Donovan was comparably quick but extremely sloppy with his blocks and counterattacks, the only reason he won was due to running around the stage, getting Darren to tire out by chasing him, and smacking him behind corners. It was cowardly and dishonorable, and even the crowd booed him as he won. But the easy-going smile he had on made Seya angry, and she asked Bartholomew to design a golem that copied his movements.

…

"I mean, I understand he won, but there wasn't anything special about his victory."

"Actually, I think there was." Venka added, "I got a weird feeling off of him when he first introduced himself, and Seya herself said it, he was extremely fast."

"You have a weird feeling too?" Morgan nodded, "Alright, if both of you, who can't even agree on Faris's favorite fruit, agree on something, it must be right." He stood up, "though, as it is, it is getting late, we need to get ready for the next events, we'll have one junior martial competition, and the obstacle course will be ready, so we need to rest up." Everyone got up with him, except for Bartholomew.

"I paid for all your food, I'm finishing my dinner at the least." He muttered, taking a bite out of his chicken angrily. "I'll have… mmm, your designmsrpghs…" he mumbled between mouthfuls of food.

Seya grimaced but gave him a thumbs-up, and the group turned to leave.

"Don't strain yourself!" Venka called.

Bartholomew nodded once as he continued to wolf down his plate.

…

Minnie had been reluctant to enter Gurant's home, it smelled of smoke and strange foods and plants, and the number of people there had been bothersome to her nose, but due to her swear to Tartarus, she followed him in. Tartarus's explanation that they had found a mage healer seemed to satisfy the two human women, who began hugging and petting Minnie's human form. Minnie found it hard to form some words, she had a strange accent as if the words she spoke felt foreign to her, but eventually, she began to get used to it. The old human looked at her once before grumbling that it was another mouth to feed but shook his head, leaving to go rest. Tartarus had just smiled, pretending to be Faris, this irritated Minnie, but she had sworn fealty. Meeting Ventus again though was surprising, he expressed shock at her transformation, but could immediately sense who she was.

Your face is flat now.

"Not as flat as yours is, bird." Yura had found old clothes that she had worn as a child, these clothes were still too big for Marla, but they would fit

Are you alright?

"I… I will be better." Minnie shrugged, she was still reeling over Six-claw's words, so many werecats, gone, many of them like her, outcasted by the majority of her people. Pastel's death especially hurt her. He had been extremely sociable and made fast friends with humans, elves, urgals, and even stubborn dwarves, he had stood up for Minnie whenever Maud wasn't there and took care to teach her the customs of their people whenever she was too embarrassed to ask Maud. Of the werecats who were competing to become king, she believed Pastel would be the best king. Tears began welling in her eyes, she gritted her teeth in anger. "Werecats… are a proud race, we are not soft, like humans, I will not succumb to my wounds, I will heal and tear the throats of my assailants." Her tone turned vicious, "And they will be the prey!"

Ventus stared at her with his deep brown eyes. It was almost impossible to tell what emotions went through his mind, he had no ears, his beak was not flexible like a mouth. Only his mental voice allowed one to ascertain his emotions if they could not read an owl's behavior, his voice was tired but happy as he spoke, I will be there to slash out their eyes and peck out their tongues.

Tartarus watched them silently, within his mind, however, he was fighting for the fate of his identity. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, even while spent, Faris fought unceasingly.