On the day the Bloodwing Butterflies established contact with the Scattered Bones via messengers, a young man and woman met in the depths of an old ruin. Surprised by his kindness and carefree demeanor, Princess Alisha let herself be led upward and toward her original goal.

At the same time however, the earthpulse atop this same mountain began to ripple and open. Another being stepped into old Zenrus' blessed domain, her structure so intimately familiar that he recognised it without even having to think. They had been comrades, friends, for longer than the youngest Empyrean existed. Had lasted through the many cycles of humanity's rise and fall together.

He could tell the other seraphim were curious about his visitor; many had come out to see Zui Fuu once they sensed her strong presence, but they all stayed back when Zenrus himself strode out of his home. She looked no different from the last time they met, feathery wings immaculate and of a pristine white like the rest of her skin. Her stubby legs rested comfortably on the ground, long ears alert for even the smallest sound.

"Zui! What a surprise!" He could not help but smile, something he had not done often in the last decades. Under the eyes of his people, he stood before his oldest friend and drank in her presence. They did not exchange any physical greetings, for they had long since grown beyond any need for them. "Are you crawling back out to ask for help again, little piggy?"

He could not help but rib her a little; Zui merely let out a loud grunt and peered up at him imperiously. "As if I needed an old idiot like you to deal with my delicate artes. Get on my level first." Now it was for Zenrus to huff, but their little exchange could not continue beyond this; Zui lowered her head, one foot slowly circling over the soft earth. "I don't have much time, you know I can't stay away for long. I needed to speak with you."

"Of course, of course. Right this way, and don't trip over any sticks again." He led his old friend into his own hut, ignoring the incredulous stares following them; there would be questions later. "But I meant it," he continued once the door closed behind them, "this is a surprise. What's important enough to leave the Heavenly Steppes unsupervised?"

He could not see Zui's expression as he led the way, but her pregnant pause was hard to miss. When she did speak, she immediately interrupted herself as a few curious winds roiled through the window and beneath the door. Zenrus frowned before sending a spark of lightning along the trails of mana, which led to a few panicked yelps outside. Zui chuckled and cast an arte to seal the area off. "They are certainly lively," she commented while Zenrus added to her own defense. Then however, as they both sat opposite to each other, Zui changed the subject. "How is your shepherd coming along?"

She knew he knew that this was not a courtesy visit and there was no time to waste, yet she stalled. It was a little shocking to Zenrus, after all this time. Or perhaps, he reasoned, whatever she visited about was related to the boy. "Is this about Sorey?"

Zui heaved a deep sigh in response and lowered her head. "No, no. Apologies, even I still get nervous in my old age. I had to interfere in human affairs."

Zenrus made to speak, but stopped himself and instead motioned for his friend to continue; he could ask clarification later. She would have a good reason to neglect her own duties to infringe upon his. Zui remained silent for long seconds before finding the words to begin: "Years have passed since Maotelus has been subdued by Malevolence. Darkness grows stronger slowly but surely, held back by something which I know not. Hellions and dragons walk the land in ever greater numbers. I waited a long time to witness your shepherd, Zenrus. But at this point, I feared he would take too long, falter before a task which grew nigh impossible over time."

Well, he could understand her worries; his were much the same. Yet Zui had said this was not about Sorey, so it was simply a prelude. "I understand, of course I do. Twenty years is a long time for humans, doubly so for the flow and propagation of Malevolence. But you did not make the way to-" Zui fidgeted, no, twitched. A twitch he knew she would never make voluntarily.

Looking closer, Zenrus noticed it for the first time: his friend was filled with Malevolence, the sensation hidden behind her mana to appear pristine. Another shock to his system. "Zui, what happened to you?" His old voice cracked with worry as he leaned forward to examine her, hands gently running over the rapig's back; he felt deeper into her being, felt darkness roil through the ancient malak. Her blessing of eternal purity had already removed much, going by the traces all over her; on a guess, she had been on the brink.

Zui, still under his hands, spoke up: "A bit more than a year ago, I... ascended. To the sleeping god up high." As the words sunk in, Zenrus felt a sudden chill and paused in his examination. Every one that followed made him feel heavier, understanding before she even said it. "I still hope, still wish, for humans and malakhim to one day join hands. I could not bear the thought of taking so much of a risk."

His hands fell and they stared each other in the eyes. Zui had done it, done the unthinkable. She committed the ultimate sin.

"I awakened Innominat, as well as the first Lord of Calamity, now Empyrean Minkkubi."

Her words struck like lightning, confirmation of his own thoughts. Zenrus stepped back and flopped down to sit, needing a moment to get his racing thoughts into order. Zui gave him that time, waiting patiently until he spoke: "How did they react, what did they behave like, and why did it take you so long to tell me?"

His questions were succinct and his friend lowered her head in thought for but a moment. "Going with the last one first, I pushed myself to the brink drawing mana from the Malevolence-filled earthpulses, so I had to recuperate a bit first." He nodded, that made sense. "And the two young gods, they were... amicable. And amenable to saving Maotelus. Their thousand years of slumber fundamentally changed the nature of Innominat and turned this incarnation of him into an actual person instead of a husk. One of their first acts was to incinerate the remains of Artorius and spread them out onto our world."

This... did not sound as bad as he had feared. He expected not to hear an apology, though; none were needed between two who knew each other as long as they did. Zui arrived to inform him of the situation, not beg forgiveness. They spoke a little longer of the new Empyreans and from what he heard, Zenrus figured there might be potential in the matter. "Can you still observe the human realms from within the Heavenly Steppes?" he finally asked. The intent of his question was understood and Zui nodded.

"They spent most of the last year traveling, meeting people, setting roots. That aside, I doubt they will interfere with your shepherd unless he makes himself into a problem for them."

Zenrus had to chuckle at that. "Well, that might be an issue. Sorey is stubborn to a fault."

"Much like the man who raised him, then."

He gave a snort and a telling look to the woman in front of him, then leaned back. "Ahh, he and Mikleo will leave soon. I can feel it. Those two only need a last push."

"As it always was and always will be?"

"Indeed." He threw a smile to his old friend. "Humans live such short lives, yet so bright ones." Some days, he wished he was not cursed with this longevity; once he ceased to pay attention for what felt like a moment, Sorey would have died of old age and turned to dust. Meanwhile, he and the other malakhim persisted, unchanging.

Zui peered at him with a cheeky wingbeat. "Perhaps, then, having once human perspectives among the Empyreans might lead to further change."

"Well now, we can at least hope for that. Take care on your way back, Zui."

"I will. You do the same here."

Abrupt it may seem to some, but they knew the conversation was over. Zui had to return to her own duties as soon as possible. So the two malakhim parted, the only true seraphim remaining beside the elemental Empyreans; it was only the six of them who were left of those who so long ago arrived in this world through the Heavenly Gate, now guarded by Zui Fuu until the day it would open again. The malakhim outside, whom were now also called seraphim through a strange twist of fate, received no answers to their curiousity. Zui took wing and ascended into the sky.

Elsewhere, a group of three left the sprawling ruins and stepped into bright sunlight. A young woman with pale blonde hair. clad in fine cloth over her armour; two young men, both of average height and just a bit taller than the woman. One had messy brown hair, the other orderly blue tresses. Both were dressed more ordinarily than her, though the blue-haired one's features were a fair bit sharper.

"Come on, it's just a few minutes from here to my home," the brunette man told his female companion; she appeared to completely ignore the other one and listened to him carefully. She did not seem to feel threatened by someone dressed in leather trousers and a simple blue shirt, either. His name was Sorey, and he had found Alisha after she collapsed in the ruins below. Behind her, unbeknownst to Alisha who could not perceive him, the water seraph Mikleo watched cautiously.

Sorey led the way without much thought given to potential threats, being so close to home. Then however, he spied something in the sky and called out: "Whoa, is that a flying rapig?!"

Alisha's head snapped up. "What, where?"

Sorey pointed at the creature as it soared through the sky above them, yet Alisha did not see anything. Mikleo understood the problem before his friend did: "That's a seraph."

"Wait, seriously?"

Alisha had missed the response to Mikleo in her attempt to locate the rapig. Finding nothing still, she blinked at her odd new acquaintance before giggling. "Ohhh, that was mean, Sorey! I really thought there was one!" She laughed freely over being had in such a simple way, unaware that there truly was a flying rapig.

"Uh, sorry. I really thought I saw one."

Sorey scratched the back of his head and chuckled ruefully. Mikleo just palmed his face as they kept walking, unaware that a story was about to unfold.

That very night, at the edge of a small woodland some paces away from Ladylake, a woman clad in black waited for her contact. Her face was obscured by a white skull mask that gleamed orange in the firelight; a torch illuminated her front, being stabbed into the ground a scant few metres ahead of her. They met off the roads, far away from prying eyes. She absently played with one of her throwing knives, flipping it up and down, catching the weapon at its handle or the flat of its blade. She did it both to kill time and to have the knife ready just in case. Whenever she shifted to just the right angle, a single strand of dark red hair glinted between mask and hood, discoloured by the moonlight or the torch in front of her.

This woman's name was Rose. This night, she acted as negotiator for the Scattered Bones assassins' guild. She felt odd, calm mixed with curiousity mixed with worry. Everyone had been acting like a herd of headless chickens when the message appeared earlier that day, delivered right to her friend Eguile's hands. What bothered them, and her as well, was that no one saw the messenger. They were an assassins' guild, yet their best completely failed to spot someone walking straight up into the middle of their camp and literally putting a letter in Eguile's hand.

Rose had read it several times, to the point she could almost recite it from memory; not that she needed to, it was standard fare. A curt introduction, a mention of the Scattered Bones by name, a time, a place, and an insignia. A sign which had popped up more often over the past months; a pair of crimson wings, known to belong to the Bloodwing Butterflies. The message was clear. She shuddered, wondering once again just what kind of creature could creep up on someone as capable as Eguile, then leave without being spotted by anyone. Her mind immediately jumped to ghosts and the shudder grew deeper.

"No," she muttered to herself. "My people and I, we're real. We are true."

Her fear should be illogical, should have been crushed under her determination long ago, but it refused to leave her be. Sometimes, she saw silhouettes or almost-heard disembodied voices; she knew it was her imagination and yet those feelings, those sensations would not leave her. Thankfully enough, there was none of that right now. No strange figures, no voices. Rose hoped it would stay that way.

A twig snapped behind her and Rose took a step to the side on instinct, her knife ready. When no attack came, she turned around in a fluid motion, only to find a tall figure looming in the dark. Their appearance was as concealed as Rose's, hidden by a flowing crimson robe that the torchlight cast long shadows over. Something flickered behind them and put her on edge, but she paid it no mind while returning the knife to her belt; just a trick of the light, surely.

Rose only needed a single gaze to be unimpressed with the attempt at a disguise, however. "Yeah, uh... nice try, but I can see your tits. Concealing them doesn't really work with girls that big. Should've bound them."

If the stranger took offense with her giving lip, she did not show it. Haunting laughter echoed from nearby and made Rose flinch, but she caught herself. The other woman's words drew her attention away from the attempt of scouring the area with her gaze: "I'm not stupid and there would've been no disguising my voice to begin with." Said voice was a dark drawl that made Rose shudder, if not in fright this time. Just by that, she was dealing with the kind of lady she... appreciated. The Bloodwing seemed to eye her from behind that veil, somehow. "You are a woman as well."

"Yep," she chirped, her winning grin hidden by the mask.

She got a quiet huff in response and the stranger leaned against the tree she stood next to. "Just to confirm, you are the one the Scattered Bones sent to meet us?"

"Yep... wait, who is 'us'?"

Rose glanced around again without moving her head, but found no one else around. It was just her and that mystery woman, whose veil shifted without revealing anything; her posture had changed as well, turning from relaxed to alert, even a little tense. Rose tensed up in response, but then a voice whispered unintelligible things again and her muscles locked up for a moment. The torch flickered, drawing a longer shadow over the Bloodwing. "Don't try to play dumb," she growled. "You carry a seraph with you, so you know there's one with me."

Now Rose was confused; her tension sapped away and she peered at the other woman, who was clearly seeing things that were not there. "Um, no? I've never seen a seraph in my life. How'd I know if there was one?" Much less 'carrying' one, whatever that meant.

Perhaps it was her tone of voice, or maybe the benefit of the doubt given to Rose. She was not attacked and not called a liar; the other woman's tension seemed to shift somewhat and she leaned a little closer. Whatever misunderstanding led to this, at least it was not likely to end in a fight just yet.

"You," she growled at someone not Rose, "come out, before I tear you out of her."

Then the skin on her back tingled, the air shifted the slightest bit. Something was there, right behind her. Another voice whispered and the Bloodwing's veil shifted. She was looking at something over Rose's shoulder, who immediately threw herself four metres to the side with a startled screech, away from the ghost. Her pulse began to race almost belatedly, chest growing heavy as she rolled off her momentum on reflex and came up in a crouch. Frantic searching found nothing where she was before.

The Bloodwing stood with her arms crossed, one finger tapping on her bicep. From where she now crouched, Rose could see something that looked like bandages up her sleeve. The mask strangulated her, she could not breathe. Through her panic, that wisp by the woman's side persisted. Then the air around her shifted and her chest constricted in fright, heart hammering against its confines in an attempt to escape. Rose's breathing grew laboured and her vision blurry. Only a faint "Stop that" reached her ears before the air fell still, but she couldn't breathe-

Then something physical touched her and she started; crimson met her gaze even before her eyes focussed, the hand on her shoulder squeezing gently. "Relax. Deep breaths. In. And out. In. And out." It was a calm voice ordering her, and Rose did as she was told, eyes still wide as saucers, breathing. The whispers continued somewhere at the edge of her hearing, but that calm voice refused to let her focus on them, on what they meant.

Time passed, she did not know how much. Her chest slowly stopped clenching, her heart stopped hammering its way out of her breast. Slowly, ever so slowly, Rose could breathe again.

She had not panicked like that in a long time. And, with concious thought returning, her mind began to piece everything together. She looked up at the crouching Bloodwing, still remaining in this half-embrace she found herself in. "They're seraphim? Not ghosts?"

It still made no sense for she had never seen any, yet this woman sounded so certain before. She continued to do so: "Yes. The one with you is a sharply dressed man with a top hat, his bangs are so long they cover his eyes."

"A-and the other?"

"Try to see for yourself. You were gifted with powerful resonance upon your birth; don't throw it away any longer." She was gently pulled to her feet and let go. Rose slowly turned her attention from the now silent Bloodwing and to the two wisps. Her heart seized up for a moment, but she forced herself through it with a mountain's worth of effort. Unless this was a cruel prank just for her, there were no ghosts. There were no ghosts.

She peered through the moonlight and slowly, the wisps took form as she repeated to herself that they were not ghosts. There was the man her contact described, tall and with his arms crossed; he stood at a distance. Another stood next to him, obscured similarly to the human Bloodwing if with a few strands of hair falling out of their hood, not to mention much shorter.

Rose slowly wetted her dry lips, swallowed a few times, and then spoke up: "I see... a girl next to him, but I can't see her face." She heard how weak her own voice sounded, but could not find it in herself to care. Strangely enough, her words drew a snort out of the other woman. More whispers began, but this time Rose strained her ears to truly hear... and the words became intelligible.

"Just what exactly did she do to block her own resonance like that?"

"I couldn't tell you. It started when she was still a little girl, she began to get scared of disembodied voices and ghosts."

Her eyes were wide, directed at the two talking figures. "I can hear them... and so clearly." Then they faded from her sight entirely, their voices turning back to whispers that made the hairs on her neck stand up.

The Bloodwing slowly reached for Rose's shoulder and gave it another squeeze. "It's fine. Take slow steps. You two," she barked at the two non-humans, "back into your vessels." A moment of further whispers passed, then she felt something brush against her before fading from her senses. Then there were just the two of them and Rose slowly continued to breathe.

"Try to focus on this a bit every day until the block dissolves," the other woman advised kindly. "I never heard of anything like it before, but your bonded seraph should be able to help with the matter."

As her focus returned, Rose realised she was drenched in cold sweat. She had completely blown the first impression of her guild. And her heart was still beating hard. She honestly did not care and rather gave in to curiousity while trying not to freak out: "What's that mean?"

A moment passed in silence while the two of them returned to the torch, standing opposite of each other but at ease. The Bloodwing made a sweeping motion. "The seraphim in this world are capable of bonding with people or objects to stabilise themselves somewhat. They turn someone or something into their vessel by doing so and can then dwell within that vessel whenever they want. By their nature, they also improve their own vessels to a certain amount, to make sure they don't break as easily. Objects become more sturdy, humans turn outright superhuman. I'd expect that your physical prowess is unmatched even among your guild, which is because of that seraph dwelling within you."

Rose listened carefully, her changing expression unseen beneath her mask. "Does that mean he can read my thoughts?"

The Bloodwing shook her head visibly. "An old friend of mine once described it as being in a box. Just because you are in the box does not mean you can tell what it thinks or feels."

That made sense to her. Rose nodded, took a deep breath, then frowned and thumped her chest. "Hey, you! Just so we're clear, getting into a woman without asking is poor manners! Especially as deep as you went!"

There was no response, at least none she could hear. The Bloodwing palmed her face. "If you can joke around again," she judged, "you are good to actually negotiate; assuming you are allowed to do so for your group."

She only barely remembered not to mention that she was the boss. "Duh, of course I am! Lay it on me."

What followed was a not particularly interesting negotiation where Rose brought all her skill as a merchant to bear, only to find her counterpart with interesting propositions and no intention to talk exact prices. The Scattered Bones already possessed many allies and intermediaries, but the Bloodwing Butterflies were simply faster through a trick she was not told, as well as capable of acting with secrecy that put the assassins' guild to shame. They already gave proof of that by delivering that letter into the middle of their camp in broad daylight, with none the wiser about the messenger.

The only direct comment she was given about the information brokers had been made without hesitation or doubt: "We're a young guild, but we will expand and thrive."

"Hm," Rose could not help but muse. "I'll give you that, we don't have any front dedicated to information gathering." Even if most of them were created for that purpose at one point or other. "We do have to check all of our targets before the dagger falls."

"Your targets? Not your clients?"

Rose raised her eyebrow a bit, the motion unseen below her mask. "If the job is necessary, the client doesn't matter. That's our motto." She paused a moment to let the Bloodwing's noise of understanding pass. "So we have to figure out if the target deserves to die first. The thing is, we don't know how trustworthy your intel is."

That earned her a soft chuckle. "Quite true. What would you consider a worthy sign of trust?"

"How about the names of your bosses, and where we can find them?"

The other woman considered this for a moment, then shook her head. "I can offer the position of our headquarters, but not the identities of our leaders."

Well, it was worth a try. Rose mulled over the counter-proposal for a moment; she already decided to give them a chance, but the merchant in her shouted to milk this opportunity for all it was worth. "Okay, I'll take that, and... your face."

A beat.

"My... face?"

"Yep, show me your face... and gimme your name while we're at it."

Rose was almost sad that her winning grin could not be seen. The Bloodwing considered her offer for a few seconds before nodding. "Fine with me."

"You have yourselves a deal then!" Rose almost chirped the words while holding out her hand, which was taken without hesitation. They shook.

Then the Bloodwing took a step back and lifted her veil to reveal amber eyes and sharp features beneath. She pulled back her hood and flicked a braid of raven hair from wherever it was tucked before. "Velvet is my name, and you can find our headquarters in the Crowe's Nest tavern in Lastonbell."

"Wait, the one where you can talk to seraphim?!" When she got it confirmed, Rose groaned and slumped to the ground in defeat. "I wanted to go the last time we moved through there, but we didn't have time!" Now she was doubly sad about it, especially after being reminded of the fact she did not get to go before.

There was a moment of silence, which a glance to Velvet told Rose was because the other woman was amused, then she spoke up again: "All of us Bloodwings carry red scarves or something similar somewhere. It will usually be us initiating conversations and you can't expect everyone wearing red to be one of ours, but you can trust that no one not wearing red will approach you in any official function. We're... still working on a way to mark trustworthy allies to our members." Velvet closed her eyes as if to think, then added one more thing: "That aside, you can usually find me around the Crowe's Nest. I was on a business trip of sorts, which is why I'm here tonight."

"Alright, noted." Rose considered the situation and decided they were about done with this meeting. So she pulled off her mask while rising back to her feet. A wink was thrown at the taller woman, who studied her curiously. "Now that that's over... how about I treat you to a drink?"

There was a notable pause where Velvet looked at her with narrowed eyes; only then did she seem to realise. "Are you propositioning me?"

"Well duh, of course I am!"

She was, admittedly, a little surprised about Velvet's bluntness; though she appreciated it, as it saved time. And was that a hint of a blush she spied in the torchlight?

"Sorry, I don't swing that way. And I'm seeing someone already."

Now that was disappointing, but nothing Rose could do much about. She shrugged and threw the other woman a grin. "Sorry about that then. Should have known a gorgeous lady like you already has someone." At least she got Velvet to blush a little bit more and huff at the comment, though there was no other response. Rose dropped the subject there. "But really, if you need a place to rest, my camp isn't too far away."

"I know." The certainty in her voice and her knowing smile told Rose their secrets might not be as secretive anymore. Velvet then shook her head again. "I'll be fine, but thank you for the offer. If there was nothing else, I should head back and pass on the news now."

Rose considered for a moment, but then gave a shake of her own. "Nah, nothing right now. You'll stay in touch?"

"We will. Have a good night."

"Same to you!"

They both turned to go their own ways and Rose had to admit she was a little sad she failed to seduce Velvet, but one did not always get what they wanted. So she shrugged off the feeling and took up speed. Speed she now knew she had because of a seraph.

Left behind, voices carried through the night but were lost to any curious ears: "You could have come up with a better excuse."

The silence was broken once again by Velvet's response: "That was no excuse, I am seeing someone"

"...I don't believe you. Who is he?"

"Someone nice. I'm not going to tell you for now, no need to start trying."

"I still won't believe you until I see him."

A long pause followed before Laphicet change the subject: "That woman had a worrying purity about herself."

Velvet did not sound concerned, though. "Why is that worrying? Eleanor was pure, too."

"Her occupation did not consist of killing people."

Another pause as Velvet thought back. The Eleanor Hume she remembered could not bring herself to kill humans. She became horrified of having killed daemons, or hellions, after realising they were still people even after they turned. She remembered how Eizen once described it, that Malevolence was born by "leaving one's inner contradictions unadressed". Such as, say, taking a life and then pretending nothing was wrong. Eleanor maintained her purity through being the kind of person to accept her own flaws, address those contradictions, and work to alleviate them.

"So you say that this woman has some way to address the fact she murders others."

The response was nonchalant: "She said it herself: 'if the job is necessary, the client doesn't matter'; it sounds like a creed of honour, but it is also one of judgement. They judge for whether one deserves death, then become the executioner."

"Hm, that makes sense." A pause. "Wait. Didn't Melchior stay pure through absolute faith in the righteousness of the exorcists?"

"Correct. Despite the torture, experiments, executions, and other dark deeds he committed, there was never a speck of Malevolence within Melchior Mayvin." Laphicet did not have any audible reaction to the list of actions he just gave. It was merely recounting facts. He sighed then. "So I assume the Scattered Bones are the same. They have absolute faith in their judgement being correct. If they decide someone deserves death by their rules, then to them, it will be just and necessary."

There was another pregnant pause as they both pondered the implications of all this. "This group is dangerous," Velvet summarised. "But we should be able to deal with them if we play our cards right."

"I agree. We haven't found any hellions among them... beside that man you ate a while ago. So the group as a whole must be of great purity and mental strength."

"Or all the weaklings were weeded out over the years and the rest is deranged."

Laphicet's laughter rang out and the night swallowed them soon after.