This wasn't the least entertaining venture Coventina had taken on. The Countess of Oak - still named, at the time - did little that didn't directly benefit her, let alone served to the benefit of anyone else; but she had been right in her call to scour the corpses of these legal guilds for contracts like carrion crow after nuggets of gold. Something shiny would always catch her eye. She had already marked a few targets: it had become something of a rarity for dark guilds like her Phantom Lord to take on 'light' mages in the current times of the Rune Knight's extreme prominence, but that didn't mean there wasn't still money to be found. What? She was hardly above murder for her goals. She ate people. A little headhunting was barely a distraction from the vacation she had taken in the Hosenka hot springs. She yearned for home, for quiet, for darkness and sultry whispers between goblets filled with blood.

This would be her last night here. Simple enough. She waved away the criminal element who directed her toward one problem & another; find a swarm of Salamanders that had taken to infesting one of the springs, an oddly recurrent problem in the season, and take down the legal mage who took on the same bounty. This would allow them to claim the greater reward for themselves and free up space for their various activities as Blue Pegasus and Fairy Tail had both begun to clear out, leaving very little of notoriety in terms of competition.

She'd fit on silken gloves of striking red, tightening them at her forearm with a sleek pull down, and considered herself handled of any chance to be found in the aftermath. It served equally to hide her guild emblem; it helped to lay the blame elsewhere. She'd smile in the cold air - or at least her approximation of one, never quite brightening any aspect save the curiosities that bubbled in gems of topaz, a molten edge to silent murderous intent that smelt them near-red. It wouldn't take long to stride under starlight toward the case of these baskervillian pests, no hounds to worry, and ...

[ 375 ]

Vesper had made more than enough precious memories in his time in Hosenka, a blessing in the gift given by his guild, Blue Pegasus. An adorable best friend in Briar that felt almost destined, a red string of fate leashed around his pinky that would always draw him back to the little bunny's side. He would spend the most time with Briar, but he would make excursions on his own, participating in some of the activities that his friend wasn't quite as enthused about. Vesper was blessed again by the oddly chaotic creature that called himself Momo; a masquerade in the roles assigned, but Vesper was still delighted by the loving aura displayed in return to his princely vow and brotherly bond.

Today would be one of those such tasks on the docket that would leave Vesper to his own devices. It only felt right to give back to the place that bore witness to such wonderful memories. His trip would be coming to a close soon enough and so, he decided to help the inn with a pest problem. Vesper was a sentimental creature through and through. A hand raises, tidying his vest and straightening the tie fastened so securely around his neck. He was dressed regally, a testament to his dedication to presenting his best so regardless of the situation, just as his guild teaches. His clothes adhere to his skin, the tepidness of the spring, sweltering droplets clinging to the exposed fairness of his frame.

A pink in his cheeks that reminisces on his meeting with Briar as if it were in the nostalgic past. He shakes it off, gauntlets creaking with the strain of his fists clenching. Vesper fastens the leather straps and ponders a moment. He was almost positive that another was to join him on this hunt, but they were still nowhere to be found under the luminary spotlight shining down upon the open-aired oasis.

Rubies glisten, breaching the misty murk; the opaque shroud surrounding the penumbra. The soft patter of footsteps lacing the stillness of sitting water, a ripple in every stride and click of heels. Vesper's ears would perk up, tail wagging in anticipation of his new ally and potential friend. "Good evening! Vesper Lovera, at your service~ I'm a mage with Blue Pegasus" He would bow, arms folded in front with a timid jitter, a flutter of his heart. "It's a pleasure to work with you~"

[411]

A strange vibration in the air. It rippled past her from its source, sound-waves that hit her mind before her ears could catch up with the meaning behind them. It was as if time slowed in the span of no more than a passing second, claiming with it a sluggish sense and a sudden tiredness to her bones. "Oh," was her initial response, turning her head on its slow axis to fall with a gently sloped gaze on this singularity. Anomalous. This isn't how this was meant to play out. She roamed the little boy with carnelian, his general disposition burning them to sunstone and forcing her eyes to blink and look away again.

Well, fuck. Her hands were brought up to cross under her bodice, holding firmer to her chest, and she mused her line of sight off into the distance before willing her feet to move in their usual unbothered cadence. She'd cut closer to this Vesper, the cusp of her high cheekbones balancing out the briefly withering look in her eyes from alarming him. It took a few seconds longer - running inexplicable calculations in her head of just how to navigate this mess - only to loose all tension from her laced shoulders, her lips lifting in a half-smile she'd then offer to him. "Hello, Vesper Lovera," came a voice as soft as the satin it spilled from, her lips redder under the moonlight.

She'd lean, a curtain of black falling across her bangs, and her eyes would close to an ascent that left her expression pleasant and welcoming for the boy. Her hand stretched out, gently brushing back his hair, and patted him on the head. "My name is Coventina. While I'm unaffiliated, I assure you ... you can count on me. We'll do our bests, won't we?" Her eyes opened to a half-lid, bestowing a clear amber to clear all concerns from his own timid view. She stroked down the side of his head, ruffling off before lifting her hand away and curling her fingers beneath her chin. "You'll stick close to Auntie. Yes?" She wasn't leaving his safety up for debate; and her chagrin was tucked away in the disrhythm of her undead heart, having already concluded how this evening would go.

She'd hold her right hand out to him while turning to lead them both inside. "I'm told there's a nest inside. I believe this means we should expect multiple active targets. Are you ready, my dear?"

[ 442 ]

Vesper stared up at the woman who towered even higher than he, the shade of her eyes dimming into a familiar luster. Warmth in contrast to the pale, spectral figure that emerged from the mist. He'd be bewitched. Awestruck by the billowing of currents that had seemed to pulse with something far scarier and intense than what was currently in view. It was the peek in his curiosity, ears flitting in tandem with the trumpet's call; the herald of clacking heels that grew louder. Whoa, pretty.

Her appearance was majestic and imposing, adorned in dark lacy attire and ebony hair that was only visible under lunar light. She was such a departure from what could be considered the norm, but despite everything, the glint in her eye resonated with something soothing. Like everything would be alright as long as she was there looking out for him. Vesper's smile betrays his play at professionalism and the illusion shatters completely when he hears the comforting falsetto. He rises from his bow, a smile on full display that lingers in the ambiance of her echo.

He was used to the attention of older women, so eager to dote on children, and any remaining delusion he possessed about his objective symmetry as temporary colleagues was immediately peeled away with the grace of her touch; the gentle whisk of his hair and ruffling that was left in the wake of her introduction. His tail would wag and his cheeks would saturate just as they always do. A bashful display in the sounds that get stuck in the chaos. Vesper should be used to it by now, but perhaps the environment had weakened his defenses. "Awa Ah! M-Mi-Mi- Miss? I'm not just a kid! I'm a mage, too!" He was a big boy! Err- He was on the same footing as the unaffiliated mage and yet he was so callously treated like a kid. It should annoy him, and leave him embarrassed, but it doesn't. No, Vesper Lovera eats it up and craves it even more, a butterfly spreads across his face vibrating as fast as his fluttering heart.

Vesper would stare down at the offered hand, peeking back up with trepidation and pleading eyes, glistening like moonlit rubies. Fairy tales oft tell the story of a kind and beautiful witch that lures innocent children away into the night for some nefarious purpose; a ritual, a sacrifice, the odd pie or two, but Vesper felt like there was no greater asylum from the dangers of the world than to be in the care of this woman. A trembling hand finds stability in hers, entwined and tugging with an apprehensive excitement. "O-Okay, Auntie... Cov? Is it okay if I call you that?" He'd lean into her, beaming up to preserve hints of amber, and then continue with a nod, face burning in a modest rosy red. "Mhm! There's a nest so... I'll be depending on you, okay, Auntie? I'm a lot better at one-on-one fights so it's nice to know you'll be there protecting me~"

A shooting star in the radiance of an innocent boy's smile, swaying back and forth with little wiggles, completely melted away in the care of his dear old Auntie.

[544]

It was something of a natural inclination; unnatural, perhaps, in the over-even turn of an ochre gold, but a force she couldn't fight and relented to in step. She couldn't bring herself to do more than move a lock of his hair from his cherubic little face, threading warm brunette around a thin finger that brushed through carefully. She didn't want to nick him with the sharp end to her nails, applying no more pressure than a pleasant stroke and a finished tap to wean herself off him. "My, Vesper," she speaks so low, so soft, soothing in her vocals, "You're a handsome young man. You must be very popular back home. What is a Blue Pegasus mage like you still doing all the way out here? And this late."

Some habits wouldn't die even in the face of your deepest yearning. Her eyes still burned with curiosity, an inclination unavoidable with the subject matter. This was what the legal guilds had to offer? Children? This might be dismissive from another in Coventina's position - for her, however, it was a certain level of incensed. They deserve better than this. "Don't you worry, sweet boy. You look perfectly capable. Matters such as this, however ... well, what kind of woman would I be to leave you to fend, mm?" She would only look at him through the warmth of her gaze, lingering on its edges, and lead him along despite his little protests; his heart wasn't in it, forever apparent on his sleeve already. "Especially a mage of my caliber." It was a level of playful boasting never before heard from the Countess of Oak, teasing the side of his cheek with a thump of her thumb.

Her heart would never beat again: but, oh, did it ache to the shy tenor of Vesper's voice. She wouldn't slip in his presence, her every fate consigned within seconds of meeting him, but she'd glide her hand fuller around his own and squeeze reassuringly. "There's naught to concern yourself with. Come now. 'Auntie Cov' will have this settled before you miss Reveille." Her half-smile turned from him to their destination as her free hand gracefully unbolted their way with a simple flick, taking one long stride that put herself in front of him and inside the springs.

The skittering began immediately. A sound from all directions; little eyes from little, conniving shapes made out in the dark by their bright gleam alone. Beady, she thought, and she'd whisk the arm that had led them inside to turn at the wrist and begin her craft. She hadn't done much one-handed magic in recent memory - but she wasn't going to loose Vesper until he asked to be set free, content to handle the situation as fast as she could before he felt he needed to involve himself.

The darkness, this gloam the creatures hissed and hid within, began to twist - lurch - and collect around her upturned hand, the red of her nails glinting opaque until nothing remained but an orb of shadows swallowing even her spell seal whole. She tossed it forward with a low hum, condensing at a point shortly away to shudder and burgeon with the shape of a wolf. It grew, and spread, and dug its newly formed ichorous claws into the hardwood floor, only to lift a heavy head and emulate a growl playing distorted through vibrating umbra.

Its lunge happened in an instant, diving into the thinned murk to began tearing into the shapes that lurked around it. She'd tut, turning her head with that crowned, kindly expression to make a request of Vesper. "My dear, would you mind hitting the light to your right? You shouldn't strain your eyes."

[ 660 ]

Little shifts intertwine with the fluttering of a thumping heart to lean into the reserved stroke that weaves through his hair and the soft graze of his cheek. Most of the ladies that would come to dote on him were more restrained, or at the very least needed to warm up to such displays of affection. Auntie Cov was different. Cruel in the way she controlled the tempo, protective and nurturing as if she were always family. An odd thought that causes Vesper to fidget, a peek up at the soothing sepia, a twinkle in ruby spheres, swelling in a misty radiance. She was still talking to him like he was a child, and there was little he could do to refute that very fact, nor did he feel like he should. Everything was okay now; Auntie Cov was here. He was already putty in her hands.

"Awaa- Th-Thank you!" An awkward response to the compliment in instinctual politeness. "Well, ma'am- It's not that late is it? I'm a healthy young man and this was simply the allotted time for the job." He tried so desperately to reaffirm his position as an equal. but he's betrayed again in the way he leans into her frame, squeezing the hand that enveloped his own with a tender dependency. He'd offer a playful giggle at her vain bow, but he truly believed in her. Vesper would glimpse the dawn of her smile, the way the light seemed to bubble out from the captivity of a normally gravely solemn woman. His eyes would glimmer in her shine for that moment and saturate his cheeks a bolder red. "Pretty~" He'd hop on one leg, sauntering backward to face her, shining upward with reverential scarlet. "Okay, Auntie Cov. I'll leave it to you, then. Just this once, because... I think I saw something really special. Hehe~!" He'd follow her lead anywhere, knowing without a doubt that she would do everything in her power to keep him safe.

The den of the beasts in more ways than Vesper had initially realized. The sounds of screeching and hissing filled the vacuous void that they called home. They were simple prey awaiting slaughter and yet they behaved as if they stood any semblance of a chance of their imminent extinction. Auntie Cov was still holding his hand so gently while the other spun strings, woven in shadow usurp the salamander's domain with such ease. The shape is familiar and he ponders a passing thought; If she were to call forth a hound, why not call the one snugly held in her grasp? Vesper felt an odd well of emotions, yearning to jump into the fray and show off to his new auntie, gnash and tear at the smoldering lizards until nothing but cinders and ash remained.  But, he made a vow to let Auntie handle it, so he sat - he heeled, and tapped along the softness of her pale, wagging in the sway of his body.

Vesper would meet her eyes, a tilt in the rise as his request graced the eager ears of a well-behaved boy. The accompanying snarls that resounded through the room were already a familiar sound, and he was no stranger to combat, though his beloved Auntie had seemed to want to protect his eyes from the impending horror. She was unaware that Vesper could see perfectly in the dark, but the sentiment was endearing to the young werewolf. He'd flash a smile and lift a hand to graze the edges of the light switch. "Yes, Auntie~" Click. He'd shutter his eyes, divert his gaze to honor the kind woman's wish.

[606]

And the beast, it hungers in place of its master, and it hunts and tears and devours in dichotomy to her softspoken warmth. If she smothered herself - and Vesper, too, in her embrace - to a still lit ember, the ashes of a woman that once existed and could still pretend to love; then the wolf roared out of the herding shadows, burning to an inferno through the streams of such. Firelight danced. It came from the maws of these skittering creatures in the depths of their darkness, fending off an unburdened hound with a single drive and an inability to feel its pain. It would break, over time. Crack, sweltering between the folds of a specter's form, and when its curtain came so did the overhead lights of the spring.

It dispersed, milky blackness rushing back to her side, and passed its show to the next actor; for the performance hadn't ended, and Coventina had an adoring audience to keep entertained. She'd chuckle, a disconcerting emission from the framed turn of her lips, and she'd appear so much more gaunt in the sterilized lighting -- it was when she'd glance to the side, offering her gaze back to Vesper with pleased, refracting topaz, that her expression didn't look so sharp. Her hair would fall with the tilt of her head, offering an opening between their eyes and a shroud to the rest of the world. She fit so easily between these moments. And the ash, it stirred. It believed, and it came to shape, and it acted out.

She'd flit her wrist at the illuminated salamanders, a small horde thinned by teeth-sworn carcasses, and her only indication to their doom would be a hum she shared with Vesper. A lullaby, perhaps? It brought their monsters to rest in the prop of inky tentacles shooting from every edge of darkness in the room, crossing in a lattice that speared through a pack of the fire lizards. They would fall limp from either a bisection or strangulation, the sea witch's limbs melting away as soon as they appeared; another rumor of the night, and another play of light through her eyes.

"I heard there to be a school opening soon, Vesper Lovera," she'd speak casually to the boy, tapping her thumb against the back of his hand to keep his attention from the carnage. "A magical Academy. Do you intend to attend? Might you already? I find it hard to keep up with such events - they're not meant for broads like me." Again, she teased, laughing in the current beneath her words. "I think it a lovely idea, all's said. I'd recommend it to any aspirants."

Something slithered too close from the herd to their right unimpaled, getting within meters of the two's distracted conversation; this earned only a flicker of Coventina's sight from Vesper, capturing the image of the salamander in dispassionate irides only for a wolf's maw to rise beneath it and swallow it in darkness anew. If it wished to skitter about like a rat in the night, she'd handle it like one. She'd return her attentions to Vesper. "What do you think you might study, my dear? You seem like such a sweet young man. Allow me to guess ...,"

She'd drop his hand only to lift it to his cheek and her other to her own, pinching painlessly at his gummy. "Cutie magic? Hmm? Haha ... hahaha." Her laughter, true as it was, a phantasm - a spirit that left her lips in each airy sound, gone as soon as it breathed to exist only in that single precious moment.

A peculiar feeling. A warmth in the incandescence of such soothing darkness. He could hear the snarling beast, gnashing teeth and claws that shred through the salamanders with such feral ferocity. But, he would pretend he could not. The cacophony of savagery would not defile this sanctuary that the woman would graciously extend to the boy. He wonders why she would call for another wolf to cull the herd, instead of the one obediently at her side. He'd be so eager to oblige, lap up the tiniest morsel of praise for a job well done all while his tail whipped with a flurry of elation. He was not quite the innocent child she believed, but his heart was melting at the sentiment. It feels nice to be protected.

He'd sit. He'd stay. As long as it made the kind woman happy, he was content to play pretend. Ignore the shrill howls, the blunt impact of a shut maw. He would not be a spectator in the carnage, nor would he be tempted to catch a glimpse. It was all drowned out, suffocated beneath halcyon tones that ripple between the seams of the abyss. Vesper is mesmerized by dulcet tones and his vivid imagination paints something far more serene. A bed of orchids saturated in deep violet. It's the image that she elicits. The kind auntie who would stain her hands so readily in the preservation of a child's innocence. And he would rest his weary head there, content to burrow in and embrace her guardianship.

A soft giggle escapes his lips. He's left speechless in the wake of such a marvelous vision, eternally grateful and longing to return that sentiment to her. His cheeks bloom; glowing cosmos. Vesper's ears perk up at the sound of her voice, a little shiver as he finds himself parted from his picturesque fantasy. Closed eyes peek up, and he tilts his head as he flashes a grin. "Mhm! Amaforth Academy!" He'd pipe up, pitched with an excited tenor flits with the beating of his heart. "I've already signed up together with my friend, Briar." His head would tilt with his lips downturned a bit, and a soft little murmur that cracks into: "Aw, Auntie... I think you should give it an honest try. If not as a student then as a teacher! You'd be so good at it! You're so kindhearted and sweet... The other students would adore you just as much as I do." He'd lean against her, a soft display of affection in the collision of their bodies and a gentle squeeze of her hand.

His body swayed a little restless wiggle for a boy on his very best behavior for the nice lady. The discrepancies of bloodshed clashing so apparently with the touching scene were so readily ignored by the young wolf. She'd posit a question of what his studies would entail, wrapped up in the coating of sweet saccharine. He opens his lips to answer, but she continues. The icy hand on his cheek; winter's hold was so strangely heartwarming. "Wah!? C-Cutie magic!?" She was laughing through his stammer. A tease. A mockery steeped in adoration. He made his pouting apparent in the scrunch with the scrunch of his nose and the little growly hum before returning to an enchanted simper, brimming with vivacity.

"I'll have you know that I... practice Candy Magic~! ...Which is to be taken completely seriously, Auntie! Although... I'm pretty sure you have to be a cutie for that, too!" He flashes his tongue, a little blep aimed in her general direction. He didn't have a complex about the nature of his magic, but it was fun to play along. Vesper was enamored by the lovely laughter that echoed and dissipated so quickly. A transient existence that would remain etched in the young boy's heart forevermore. "I love baking treats. Candy, cookies, cakes. Any kind of pastry and I've probably made it at least once. I think the smile that people have after they satiate that sweet craving is truly... magical. It makes me happy to make others happy. That's why my magic is candy!" Vesper wasn't sure why he was being so forthcoming. It just felt safe to. He'd be spilling sparkles behind curtained eyes, jittery little movements in his jubilation. "I could even make you some if you wanted. I think I'd love to see your smile, too... If your laugh is anything to go by- I imagine it's quite wonderful, Auntie."

"A little friend, you say?" She purses her lips in amusement, trailing her hand up to tousle the side of his hair, a small action and one treated with the same careful gravity she did everything in his presence. She looks down on him with that same, continued contentment, softened in eyes of foolish gold that paid for their time together. She didn't miss a step. She didn't waste a blink. The twirl of one strand of brunette through pale finger would be a signal for a massacre; and more beasts descended from the shadows, silencing the last of the discomforting hisses that almost threatened to breach their conversation. She overclocked her mana for the weave of this finale, spinning her own curtain that put quiet to the performance. Their time for applause. "That sounds lovely. Are you excited?"

Then he'd offered his kindness in turn for hers, and it melted something very cold and very dead that had existed in her for more years than he'd ever be alive. It stung, venom pumping through icy veins, and a frozen lake cried out for winter again. Her jaw briefly tightened, just in the span of a single thought, and her expression remained uncreased. "A ... teacher, do you think? My oh my, Vesper Lovera. You're a little sweet-talker, mm?"  She'd take this chance to lean, bending down until she met him just over his height, and she'd cup his face with a steady hand. Pat, pat. "Maybe I should." Static. "Maybe someday." Black lines, and they curled and grew and dug and swallowed the image in her head until only darkness remained. The chuckle from her throat lived and died in its second of fame. "If all the students are like you, my dear ... I imagine it'd be a lovely time."

She'd wave her hand, though, dismissing it with that playful glint to each eye on him. "Alas, I believe I'm kept far too busy with my own affairs. You know us old creatures, deerling. Always something to do ... always somewhere to be. I'll see if I can't swing by and say hi if you remain on your best behaviour, though, hm? A gift from Auntie. You'll be a good boy? I fear I struggle to imagine that being a difficulty." She taps his forehead, standing back up. They are surrounded by corpses. The job was finished, and nothing remained save the two in their bubble of softness.

He was far too cute. Too precious. Too normal, and gentle, and innocent, and he deserved so much more than to be here right now with her, and she laughed that wanting ghost of a laugh through his abject endearment. "My," she rumbled, her voice raspy in its controlled playfulness and her hand curling under her chin to peer back at him. "You only get cuter. I fear your spell has worked on me - you and your wicked, wicked little magics, mm? Candy, you offer? I believe I'd l--"

He seemed to catch her off guard with his comment, the very rims of her eyes widening in what lingered longer than she could hide. Some feelings couldn't be swept beneath the rug; some things stood out too much against her gaunt expression, too real for the macabre performance. Her body seemed to slow and her edges eased, the warm lighting of the spring falling on her in a way that only illuminated her forbearance before it evaporated under his gaze. Her hand fell on his head, her own turned toward him, and she brushed his hair back whilst she smiled. It wasn't perfect, but it reached her eyes, rosied in a portière over her teeth without predation to ruin the moment. She'd tilt her head the other way, her eyes turning up in their close to offer complete serenity in those passing seconds ... and then it ended, and she broke it with careful movements, returned to her usual vantage.

"You succeed at everything you want to be, Vesper Lovera. Allow me to be your testament. Thank you, sweet boy. I'd love to try your treats sometime ... if they're any sweet like you."