The sky had given way to the inky darkness that was the oncoming dusks. The night seemed to go on forever, the war was still fresh on everyone's minds. While it had all seemed to happen so quickly, the scars and grievous wounds inflicted upon the innocents and defenders were new and deep. One of those lucky enough to survive was Fenrir, Lycan and Saiyan combined into one. The battle, though he didn't face any dominant members of GH, was still lingering for him the hardest of all that took place possibly. He had killed a man, bit his neck and spilled his blood so much so they had found the villain they were after and easily apprehended her. But at what cost?

His mind was clouded with images from the battle field, he saw people die, families were torn apart, the wall was nearly destroyed and chaos has consumed the holy capital. Now, Fenrir didn't know much of Crocus, but if this place was holy it was tainted now, tainted with the blood of wrong doers and innocents alike and it wasn't fair. Not to those who lived nor those who died. Whatever the goal was he did not if it passed or failed, he didn't even know what happened with the royal family after his episode, now he was fearful that he had lost and Asmo would be further disappointed in him.

He sat in the windowsill of an abandoned home, rundown and battered it was the perfect symbol of how he felt. It was once someone's home, sitting in the middle of two others like it as it overlooked the still road. One foot rested on the sill the other hung on the inside for support. In his hand was a silver coin, he looked down at it as is shimmered in the moonlight. "I should have saved more..." he clenched the coin in hand, had he not had his little episode of paranoia he probably could have saved more people, but instead he had lost himself to his instincts.

"I have the stupid magics, why aren't I stronger!" he threw the coin at a an already tattered wall, holding his head down, "Why couldn't I save more people..." he turned back to the window, head hanging as the night air blew past him. He could have saved more had he not been so busy killing and fighting, he should have saved more. What if they needed him? The people of this city.. What if they needed his help? If only he understood this magic... "Why can't I use it.." a tear streamed down his nose.

Although the war had ended, the consequences of the event had left quite an impact on those who had aided in the defense of the capital and survived to tell the tale. A certain obsidian-haired trickster was one of them. Although she found peace and comfort in the embrace of her lover, those moments where she could forget the horrors of the war and bask in the blissful sensations her love for Fia brought forth, those moments were just a temporary escape from the hardships of reality. Perhaps it was for that reason that the young lady found herself wandering the streets of Crocus, thinking back on the events that had recently occurred. Fear, regret, and anger were all natural emotions to feel, and it seemed she wasn't the only one troubled by negative feelings, for a familiar voice came from nearby and allowing her gaze to wander she soon found Fenrir seemingly lamenting his lack of power out loud. A hand raised for her chin, seemingly wondering about something before she whispered a word under her breath.

A few moments of silence passed when suddenly Fenrir would likely notice a familiar scent, a pair of arms gently trying to wrap around his chest while a soft pressure leaned against his back, a soothing voice that was as sweet as honey whispering into his ear. "To lament the past is a natural thing for mortals to do, but those with resolve to make things better end up asking 'How do I become stronger? How do I save more people?'"

It was Asmodeus, the demon lord who was surprisingly enough trying to comfort the man who was both Lycan and Saiyan in nature. "Don't believe that you can save everyone, even the heroes from legends can't do such a thing, a hero who never fails to save someone is something that only happens in a fairy-tale."

Finally letting go of the young man she took a step back and smiled gently at him. "But your feelings are understandable, even little Esperia has them for all her bravado and cheerfulness."

All he wanted was one more chance to save others, just one more chance to make it all right. Not only to prove himself but to show those around him that he deserved to be the Legendary Super Saiyan. The title was his sure, but in nature it was nothing more than empty words spared by a tomb of legend. When he first found the scripts, the ancient secrets of the Saiyan before he him he was certain that he was fit to be the one to fulfil the prophecy, yet when he was called to action he failed himself and the others. Just like in his dream, Asmo and Esperia overwhelmed by the darkness, the heartless creatures with no shape other than cruel monsters just below the beast that had been burdening him. He never wanted to feel such fear again, he wanted to feel righteous and powerful! Yet he just couldn't stop whimpering like a scared child.

Just as he began to pity himself once again he felt a soft pair of arms wrap around him, the scent of fresh lilac and gooseberries invaded his senses. Asmodeus? Here? He didn't know how to respond to her words, he felt humbled, "I am sorry you saw me like this mam." he wiped his eye, "I just... I wish I could have done more for you and the others as well as the people of Crocus."

He turned to spare her a gaze, "I guess part of me wanted to be like a hero of legend, another wanted that date with Shalltear, and tiny part wanted to touch those elfy ears." he laughed at himself as he tried to lighten up a bit, "I do what to thank you though... For everything, saving me and all, had it not been for you or your servants I'd probably be dead. I know I've thanked you a lot but... If there's anything I can do for you to repay you, just let me know?"

He faced the window again, "No matter what it may be you've given me a chance at life and I want to repay you anyway I can."

Asmodeus chuckled briefly at his lamenting comment, shaking her head in return to his comments. "Heroes aren't born Fenrir, they are made by overcoming countless trials and enduring hardships." Yet the bit about Shalltear brought a smile to her lips, a hand raised to her cheek while she mused softly. "Oh mai~ I didn't think Shalltear was your type of girl. That's quite a pleasant revelation." Asmodeus clearly seemed both pleased and amused by the fact that Fenrir had seemingly been getting along well with her servants, yet the last bit made her giggle softly. "Touching Mare or Aura's ears might be a bit more of a challenge~ Since for them that's at the same level as... what did I hear you call it before? 'slurping a lady's noodles?"

A mischievous wink followed as she turned her gaze to the sky and mused softly. "Well, there is something you could do for me Fenrir~" She paused for a moment as she lowered her gaze back at the man, a finger raised to his chest as she tried to poke it lightly. "Find something you desire, and chase it with all your resolve and passion~ As the Demon Lord of Lust that brings me the greatest joy, to see mortals pursuing their desires so strongly."

Find his desire? That was a difficult tasks as he desired nothing. He was told that before but it just wasn't something he could do like this. It was easy for her probably, she was the demon of such a thing, but him? he didn't know anything about lust or desire, he couldn't chase strength, he knew very well those who chased it never earned it. The fact he was any good was solely because she and her servants had willed him to do it and led him to the correct pieces of the puzzle that he needed to become a Super Saiyan, yet there were so many in Fiore that were more powerful than he.

"I can try, but i don't know the first place. As for slurping noodles, well Little Mare and Aura will need to watch themselves I suppose, because I want those ears one way or another and one day..." he chuckled, "I'm gonna touch them both." it sounded worst that it was. Apparently touching ears was rather what was called "sexual"

"I get that it's "sexual" but between you and me they're pretty cute for some powerful beings, next to that vampire of yours." he crossed his arms and looked out of the window, "But I'm rambling, sure, I'll find something I desire, or at least I'll try to do so. Rather it be love, wealth, or lust." he shrugged.

"What of you all though? I take it you'll be leaving Crocus soon and all, oh and believe me Shalltear is that kinda girl, she said it herself that she'd take me on one of those date things if we won! But yeah, what's the plan for you? Head up North?"

"My plans for the future?"

Asmodeus raised a hand to her cheek, seemingly pondering the question for a bit. "Considering Esperia wants to travel with her lover and her childhood friend I imagine they will be leaving Crocus in the future. I believe last time she was thinking of starting their journey toward Hargeon?"

She shrugged her shoulders lightly while she mused softly. "It remains to be seen where that girl's journey will take her~" Indeed, Esperia still had a lot of time left, and in the company of Fia and Liana she doubted the girl would get bored of traveling anytime soon. "Oho~ So Shalltear promised you a date if you survived the war? I'll look forward to hearing how your date with her went." Judging from the smile lingering on her lips she truly was amused at the thought. "I do agree with you, Aura and Mare are very endearing, especially Mare looks incredibly cute for a boy, right? You should have seen Esperia's first reaction to him. She didn't believe it at all till she pulled down his pants to confirm, both end up being traumatized by the event as a consequence..." Snickering mischievously it seemed the Demon Lord was clearly entertained right now.

It seemed Esperia had plans, but Fenrir could well guess what she was going to do. He was more concerned with what the demon lord had in mind after her stay in Crocus was up. She could have done quite a few things with herself, she had the followers all she needed now was perhaps the right path? Given just how eerie she was there was no way she'd capitulate entirely to Esperia's plan of going to Hargeon without wanting something for herself. There was more to her than she led on in short and Fenrir would find out what she was hiding, not that he'd do anything if it was heinous but his interest was all there.

"I see, I think I may want to check for myself aswell, hard to believe they're a boy, almost hard to believe Aura is a girl, regardless if I ever cross their paths again I'll have to do... Checks." he smirked, "I know it sounds "sexual" but bare with me." he put his hands in his pockets, "Bare with me indeed." he placed his hand on the windowsill.

"So, while we're out there, mind telling me something else? Since this is the first we've gotten to talk I thought I'd hog all of the time I could, how well did you know that other demon lord? The one I almost met? The uh, the glutton?"

"Hmm The Demon Lord of Gluttony?" Asmodeus asked while she raised a hand to her cheek. Although she was idly pondering about the matter she had to admit that it been quite a long time since she caught any sign of the other Demon Lords. Although she had sensed one of them near Baska, his presence had long faded away and when speaking of the others their whereabouts she only knew about the possibility that Lucifer was working with Grimoire Heart, if 'Varian' his information was to be believed. "Well, it is difficult to say anything more than what I did previously. Mammon is a Demon Lord renown for her seemingly infinite appetite, her hunger unrelenting~ if I seek satisfaction through my desires, she seeks it through her meals. Then again, she is still pretty powerful, especially when motivated~" Asmodeus explained with a brief smile yet it appeared their conversation would soon be cut short when a familiar figure appeared from the nearby rooftops, a light hop and a glide with her umbrella causing the vampire to stop right beside Fenrir and Asmodeus. "Master Asmodeus, I apologize for interrupting your conversation but I need to borrow Fenrir for a while."

A gentle tug on the man's arm followed as she tried to drag him along, and once out of hearing distance, she whispered softly. "We got a big problem, a very big one... Someone who is supposed to be dead isn't dead, and that's going to cause a huge problem for our master..."

Fenrir listened to her words as she spoke on this "Mammon" he couldn't quite understand the name, but she sounded interesting. If she was a woman that could eat he wouldn't mind meeting her that was for certain. Though it would have been weird to transform into a woman now wouldn't it? He'd lose some parts and gain some, and what if she tried to take over his mind? Or worst yet try to give him marriage?! Marriage was bad from what he knew, the men at the noodle shop said so! That women use it to get men to stay with them... Though in his case she'd be in his mind.

He nodded to Asmo, "I think I might want to meet them some ti-" just as he was about to finish he had found himself perplexed when the vampire entered the room, was it really her? So sudden?She tugged him away from Asmo and into a seperate room, how unkind it was to leave the master like that but he listened to her all the same kneeling to make eye contact with her. "Really? Who? What? When?" he crossed his arms as he awaited an answer, "Are they evil?"

"Hah! if she's evil then I'm the pope." Shalltear said as they rounded a corner and finally after ensuring they were far enough that nobody could hear them she resumed her explanation. "You likely don't know: but Esperia, the vessel that contains Asmodeus had an elder sister. This sister was supposed to have died years ago, I mean her grave is in the Crocus Gardens and everything... Just one major problem..."

The vampire went silent for a moment, a hand raised to her chin as she pondered for a moment. "According to Esperia she never saw her sister being buried and... Well, I had some suspicions so I went to do some investigating myself. The grave is as empty as can be, not even a skeleton is inside the coffin!" Wow, speaking about a startling revelation... "I can't tell the twins or Sebastian about this, they'd go straight to master Asmodeus, and if she finds out who knows what it will do for Esperia. So for both Esperia and Asmodeus' sake, we got to figure out what happened. Why is her sister's grave empty, and where the hell is her sister for that matter? Consider it a special type of date~"

This sounded pretty bad, or good, or bad? How was he supposed to know, he knew nothing of a sister nor did he know of how such a thing could happen. For that matter what was Shalltears plan if there was a body? Go about it normal after acting on a hunch? How crazy would it be if she was caught? Kami, what was she thinking about? Why would she involve him? Oh right the date... What even was a date? Gosh they were moving so fast, one moment fighting in a court yard, the next she wants him to help her solve mysteries, next thing she'll want to go do something even stranger.

Going along with her he nodded as if he understood but in reality he didn't have a clue what she meant by any of this. She wants to go look for a girl who was supposed to be dead, but isn't dead... How do they work that one up? Just, look around the city? If there was never a body then they may not be in the city, so what would be the point? "Okay, I guess we can do some looking, but how am I supposed to do anything?|

"That's where our 'skills' come into play Fenrir."

the vampire girl seemed quite confident as she started guiding the man toward the Crocus Gardens, and soon she resumed her explanation. "With my sight I can track down anyone who is bleeding even the slightest bit, and you got quite a good nose, don't you?" She smiled playfully as she tried to raise her finger to bop him lightly on the nose as they reached what appeared to be a small graveyard, but curiously enough there seemed to be two things. The first was some sort of blood stains near the edge of the grave and a piece of cloth, the inside of it showing some sort of hair, or perhaps even fur. "I don't want to make any assumptions yet, but can you try to catch the person who this cloth piece belongs to their scent? If you can lead us to the general direction then I can likely help us pinpoint her whereabouts."

She seemed fairly confident that the missing sister was still in Crocus, but what in the world would they end up doing once they discovered the whereabouts of the missing sister? A curious thing to wonder about...

There was no way this would work, he didn't know how to track people with his nose. He had never even done it before, maybe her plan was just paranoia. Sure, she probably loved Esperia and Asmo more than any of the other servants or Fenrir, but it was highly unlikely that a body could just up and go without some assistance. Given the kinds of people in the world, evil, disgusting, conscious-less people that would do a multitude of things to make their selves feel better about their frail, dim existence. There was no doubt that a grave robber could have taken the body, either for the value in cloths or anything else.

Though, despite his growing doubt he'd listen to Shalltear and follow her on as they had made it to the grave yard. Just as she made a pace for the tombstone and he walked beside her there were resonates of something on it with... Hair? That was eerie, "What in the world..." he paused as he watched her examine the cloth and blood. Now that was eerie, it made no sense. Why would such things be here now? And how would he track them?

He stepped up to the cloth and shook his head, "I doubt I can do any such thing like tracking, my nose isn't that strong-" he caught a whiff of the cloth and darted out of the grave yard, he caught something? A scent? why was he running? Shalltear could probably keep up, but he was hot on something. It smelled... Oddly familiar.

Shalltear's lips curved into a smile as she was rushing beside Baron. For all she might have looked like, it seemed the lass was surprisingly swift to be able to keep up with the Lycan. "Heh~ see? You got more in you than you take yourself for~" Shalltear remarked with a smile as the two of them rushed along the streets. Her eyes soon gave a subtle crimson glow to them, the path ahead becoming more lit up in her eyes as she could see the blood stains before them. "Hmm don't like this at all, be careful once we arrive at the source of this little 'corpsenapping' Fenrir, I doubt we are dealing with ordinary people." The vampire mused softly when suddenly as they neared a corner she tapped his shoulder lightly and pulled him gently closer to her against the wall, peeking around the corner.

"See that cellar over there, the one with the two cloaked figures? The blood stains lead down there, I judge whoever is responsible for this is in there... possibly with the corpse of Esperia's sister..."

Indeed, wherever they were heading toward, it seemed that troubles would soon await them! But the nature of what exactly those problems would be was a question they had yet to figure out...

They had arrived to the climax of the blood puddle. He looked over at the two cloaked figuers and narrowed his eyes. "Actually, what if her sister isn't dead? What if she came back?" he rubbed his chin as he looked at the two, "Let's just go take them out, it's an easy job and if they have magic I'm sure you can handle it~" he was confident in the vampire's abilities. Surely she could do this, even if they weren't normal citizens they could. Hopefully they wouldn't have to kill anyone, but given how pathetic he was in the last battle he felt the desire to push himself past his limit and at the very least fight it out.

He needed to sweat out this guilty feeling and the only way to do so was to fight, there were so few he knew that would be willing and shalltear would likely not oblige him because of her love for Asmo so this was the closest he'd get for now. Yes, that would be what he did, fight these two and get rid of his feeling of dread and pain. "Hey, if there's blood though, isn't there a chance espy's sister is alive? I doubt whoever took the corpse could get such a bad cut from railing."

The vampire raised a hand to her cheek, as if to think a bit more about the matter. "I'm not sure Fenrir, if Esperia's memories are correct her sister got murdered by a Lycan. As a Lycan yourself you can likely answer the following question: how many people do you think will survive if you were to transform and impaled their chest with your claw?"

She shook her head lightly and continued her explanation. "There are some ways for her to bleed, although I wouldn't be sure if calling her 'alive' is the right statement." As if on cue a moment later a sudden bone-chilling howl came from inside the cellar while she nodded her head at Fenrir. "Want to handle both of them? It be a good warming up for you."

It seemed Shalltear had recognized the troubled feeling of the Lycan, and his desire to prove his strength so she decided to show him some kindness by granting him the chance to beat up those cloaked figures. However, even if she could have handled them just as quickly that chilling howl she heard earlier was worrisome to say the least. What in the world could that have been? But for now they had no choice but to proceed onwards!