Brown mana surged through Unalla's fist as she punched one of her assailants, or at least she tried. Her fist went right through the rippling cloak, only hitting darkness. She leaped back just in time to evade the slash of a sword, though the blade managed to nick her sleeve.

She glanced at the sleeve and saw the blue fabric turn a sickly brown as it began to sizzle. Without a second thought, she tore the entire sleeve off and tossed it on the ground. Orange mana flowed into her body as she cast an agility spell. Her body's weight lightened and her muscles practically vibrated with energy.

Unalla leaped back in time to dodge an attack from another intruder. She scurried backwards into the corner of the room to make some distance. Four figures closed in around her, or at least she was pretty sure it was four. Their silhouettes seemed distorted as if she had drunk a gallon of ale. She was seeing triples, no, quadruples, and each version of them seemed to be going in different directions.

Had they poisoned her?

She had just been sleeping on the couch next to the fire when a barrage of explosions had rippled through the mansion. Unalla wanted to rush outside and find out what was happening, but her father's warning had resounded in her mind. She was to stay inside the manor.

Something was happening. Her parents were missing and so was her grandmother. Indecision to leave or stay wracked her mind, but before she could make a decision, the assassins had burst into the room. If she had reacted a moment too slowly she would have been riddled with arrows.

As it stood, she had no idea who these people were. Unalla briefly considered casting a powerful flame spell to incinerate them, but releasing that sort of magic in an enclosed room would guarantee mutual destruction. And that was assuming their enchanted cloaks didn't have some sort of protection against heat. The fact that they attacked House Noir, a mage House known for their flame magic, made her doubt that was the case.

Gods, she wished she still had Votum. The orichalcum sword had been reclaimed by Caligo during the siege. Despite the strain the weapon put on her body, Unalla found herself sorely missing the sword's overwhelming power.

"What do you want?" Unalla shouted as she glanced around the room, searching for options.

The assassins said nothing and moved in closer. Unalla kicked off the floor and threw herself into the window. Someone shouted behind her. The glass shattered on impact and Unalla leapt into the night. She felt herself go weightless as she fell from the fourth floor. Black mana pooled into her shadow and an inky arm shot out of her silhouette, latching onto the roof's edge.

With a mental command, Unalla willed the arm to yank her up. She grimaced at the sudden pull as the world blurred past her. She landed on the rooftop and almost slipped on a tile before finding her footing.

The sound of several more windows shattering resounded underneath her. Unalla scurried from the edge and turned to face her attackers. The four rose onto the rooftop, their cloaks billowing and rippling as if underneath a river. The way they moved made it seem as if they hadn't climbed, rather they had hovered right over the wall and onto the roof.

"Bring it on, you fuckers," Unalla growled. She still had no idea what was wrong with their cloaks, but her instincts screamed at her to not let them get close. The rooftop wasn't ideal, but it was far better than her family room.

"I suggest you rethink that statement, Unalla Noir," said a voice from behind.

Unalla spun around and found another figure standing atop a dormer. He wore a black cloak like the others, but his face wasn't hidden by a cowl, rather a green porcelain mask.

"Who are you?" Unalla called out. "And what do you want with me!?"

"I am simply called Eight. And what I want is for you to not resist and come with us. We mean you no harm."

"Yeah, right," Unalla spat. The poisoned blade that had almost cut her arm told her all she needed to know about their 'harmless' intentions. They wanted her dead and if she gave them the opportunity, they would sink a knife into her back.

Eight shrugged and threw his hands up. "The choice is yours, Miss Noir. But the longer you resist, the more people my mages will kill. Even now, your family and servants are being slaughtered inside the manor."

"Is that why you attacked my home?" Unalla glanced at the flames rising from the other side of the manor. "Because you care about my family and servants?"

Eight crouched and looked down at her from above the dormer. "Let me be clear, Miss Noir. They do not need to die. Their deaths are an unfortunate casualty that need not be if you simply choose to not resist."

"I'm going to kill you first," Unalla snarled.

"Ever the bloodthirsty scion of Death." Eight shook his head.

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Unalla faltered. "How do you know about Death…? Who are you people?"

"We are the Blessed, tasked with the burden of saving this world." Eight reached into his cloak and pulled out a golden dagger. "Let it be known that I did try and reason with the monster until the end."

Unalla went to charge at him, when he pointed his dagger at her. Pain blossomed in her chest and she stiffened with a spasming choke. Her mana dissipated like water in a broken glass, flooding outwards into the air. The sound of her heartbeat thrummed in her eyes like a drum. Unalla clutched at her heart and gasped for air. She fell to her knees, her vision fading at the edges.

"There you are," came a rippling voice of two. "I was wondering where the last of you had gone."

The cloaked assassins turned in unison and stared at a lone figure shambling across the roof. Unalla looked up with what little strength remained and saw her cousin, walking towards them with a heavy limp. Was that… blood? Was she covered in blood? How was she even still standing?

"Ah, the Lady of the House— Wait. You're not…" Eight frowned, then his eyes widened in realization. "Abomination…!" He withdrew his dagger and leveled it at Loh with an accusatory thrust of his hand.

Unalla sucked in a breath of air as the excruciating pain suddenly disappeared like a weight lifted off her chest. Loh stood still as the dagger's strange power was focused on her.

"Cousin!" Unalla called out weakly. She tried to stand, but her body still felt like it had been through a wretched beating.

Loh stared at the dagger and narrowed her eyes. "Fuck."

Eight gripped the dagger even tighter and sneered underneath his mask. "You will die first, abomination."

Lily, what's happening to you? Loh asked frantically in their shared mind.

"That dagger… I wasn't entirely certain who attacked us, until now. I had hoped I was wrong." Lily closed her red eyes and sighed in defeat. "...Fuck it." She opened her eyes with purpose and strode forward.

"How can you move?" Eight fell back a step.

"Did you think pain would stop me?" Lily bared her teeth in a malevolent smile.

"Kill her!" Eight yelled as he scrambled for something in his cloak.

The four other assassins rushed Lily, swords in hands. Lily cracked her whip and flicked her wrist. The whip disappeared from sight and the wind cracked with a cacophony of strikes. One by one the charging assassins were flung back in a spray of blood, dyeing Loh's clothes more red.

"Enough!" Eight pulled out a circlet triumphantly. He tossed the circlet into the air and it broke apart, expanding into a massive ring high above Lily. Suddenly, a powerful light beamed down on her, trapping her in a magical prison.

Lily staggered and her limbs stiffened to a halt as the rays froze her every muscle in a magical lock. Her veins bulged as she tried to move to no avail.

"Did you think we came unprepared!?" Eight yelled.

"Loh!" Unalla pushed herself to her feet, but Eight pointed the dagger at her and she collapsed once more, helpless.

"That is not your cousin, not anymore," Eight hissed, before turning back to Lily. "I had hoped not to waste such a precious artifact as the Radiant Ring, but my master will be ever so pleased to learn that I used it to capture a remnant wraith."

Lily tried to move her neck, but failed. Even breathing was becoming difficult as the magic prison bore down on her. "I'm sorry, Loh," she whispered.

Lily… Loh recalled Lily's question, 'What are you willing to endure for those you love?' Loh didn't know how, but she reached out through a mental touch and took hold of Lily's hand. I'll endure anything.

Lily's lips curled in a faint, tired smile. "Good answer."

"Tell me, abomination, how did a remnant like you manage to escape our sight all these years?" Eight asked.

Lily clenched her teeth and glared at the masked man. "...We are no remnant. And we are no one's prisoner."

A dozen shadow arms arose from her back, each one moving of its own accord, writing grey arcane sigils in the air.

"That's impossible." Eight stared in disbelief. Each hand was writing a different curse. To cast so many spells simultaneously would require a grand archmage, but even then, none could split their mind so many ways to write a dozen arcana expressions at once.

"H-How…?" Eight whispered. No remnant wraith could possess such abilities, even with a talented host. Unless… It was no remnant.

"You don't know our limits," Lily said.

His eyes widened in horrid recognition. "Lilandria?"

The arcane sigils flared with power and the curses wrapped around the prison of light, covering it entirely in grey markings. The Radiant Ring wobbled briefly, its golden seams tearing, and then the whole thing shattered abruptly.

Eight turned to flee, but the curses lashed out at him, a hundred swirling vines snapping onto his body and yanking him back. His scream died on his lips as his body withered. He was no more than a husk on the ground when he reached Lily.

"Loh!" Unalla stumbled towards her.

"Sorry, I can't… hold on…" Lily's eyes rolled up and Loh's body split in two in a flare of red light. Lily fell on all fours, coughing and covered in sweat.

Loh collapsed. She cried in pain as she began to spasm. Lily scrambled over to her and held Loh's head in her lap, and placed her hand in Loh's mouth to prevent her from biting her own tongue. Lily didn't flinch as Loh clamped on her fingers, drawing blood. "It's okay, I'm here, Loh. I'm here," she whispered.

"What's going on? What's happening to her?" Unalla asked, bewildered.

"She's suffering from severe mana burnout and the heavy backlash from using advanced life arts… and her first bonding. She needs a healer, find one," Lily said, she tried to keep her voice steady, but it broke midway through her speech. She had adored feasting on Loh's pain and yet as she held Loh in her arms, Lily felt the pain stab into her heart as if it were her own. No, this was far worse. She hated this feeling. "Stay with me, Loh. Please," Lily whimpered.

"Kaitlin is the Troupe's best healer. She shouldn't be too far," Unalla muttered to herself in thought.

"Then hurry!" Lily screamed.

Unalla nodded and moved as fast as her battered body could.

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