[PRP] So....when do we break things? [ Aodhan & Ruria]

[Vanilla Cryptid]

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The conflict and agony she saw in his eyes was as readable as any written words. Ignoring his request that she not answer, she did so anyways, always disobedient.

"Sometimes it is necessary to become a monster in order to destroy them. He was not a hungry soul, but a ravenous one, a gluttonous killer drunk with power. His life was not about living, but inflicting suffering on others. His end was fitting." She withdrew her fingers from his face, letting her hands drop at her sides.

"Don't be silly, I was the bait. To be honest with you, I ..." she paused her words, letting her gaze falter from his for a moment. "...I..." her words wouldn't come. She wanted to explain to him just why she hadn't actually used her magic, why she'd let the witch eater get as far as he did. She felt ashamed. She had seen a par of Aodhan's dark side, and she still feared if he should see hers. "...My magic is...sometimes...its..unstable." she mumbled, shame soaked into her words. "So it's a very good thing you went after him when you did. But don't worry -- his attack was more an attack on the senses rather than something actually painful. Just a diversion so he could try to escape." It was really a half-truth -- It had hurt quite a bit to have such a force sent against her body at pointblank range, but she'd never admit to physical pain. Even if she were bloodied and missing limbs, she'd stand up again, her resolve for strength numbing whatever pain was there.

Things seemed mostly quiet as they began to walk back to their makeshift campsite. Ruria looked forward to having actual shoes on again, and being in her blackheart gear, though these little comforts did not distract her from occasionally regarding Aodhan's face, seeing the conflict and guilt still melded into his expression. She wanted to do something to reverse those emotions, but what, or why, she didn't know.

"Aodhan," she said his name softly, clearly, stopping just behind him. "I still think you're wonderful, even if you have the ability to be brutal. People want to think of heroes as being kind and noble, innocent and gentle, and somehow strong. They forget the dragons they had to slay to gain the title of hero. Your honor as a knight does not dissolve because you slew a rampaging beast. Though, if I were to speak honestly, I wish he had gotten away....only temporarily. Maybe a couple days." she let her gaze lower to the ground, staring at his feet. "I would have liked to spend more time with you."

Her cheeks reddened slightly, surprised she had admitted it so bluntly, and she scratched a finger against her earlobe out of nervousness, and continued towards him on the way to go past, towards their tiny excuse of a campsite.

Their mission was over now, wasn't it? He didn't have need of her cooperation any longer, and she found herself with a knotted stomach and a tight feeling in her chest.

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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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"The stories you've heard...they're probably true, you know." she smiled casually as she sat down on a felled tree, pulling her greaves back on again, wincing slightly as her ribs smarted when she leaned over. "I am high in rank, but not a bigshot. I'm not a hero among my kin, nor someone to respected. I'm a necessary evil used to blot out worse evils." she kept smiling, now turning her gaze back on him. She wanted to keep a distanced, cold look to her face, but when she saw the warmth returning to his expression, the butterflies manifested in her belly again. He looked at her in a way a little different than before...what was it?

As she listened to what he said next, her eyes slowly opened wider, an innocently surprised look showing on her pale face. She opened her mouth to reply excitedly when he cornered her about her secrets, and she was left staring at him slightly abashed, lips still parted just so. Her heart was thumping hard against the inside of her chest, and her cheeks felt hot as a bittersweet feeling of affection and fear mingled within.

"I think.....that...would be wonderful to experience. It seems I like you a lot, Aodhan." she smiled softly, still embarrassed. "I wish I could be more like you." She stood back up, making her way towards him, and looked up at him from her smaller height with wide, curious eyes and silent expression. He made the butterflies stir rapidly in her belly, a peculiar, pleasant warmth flutter in her chest. He had been so warm in the night, and who knew if she'd be able to be that close again? So, without thinking on it, she acted on impulse and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his middle in a gentle embrace. She remained that way for a moment before nearly jumping out of her skin at the realization of what she had done. "A-aah! S-sorry, I didn't mean...to...to.."


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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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Warm...even though he had his armor on, there was still warmth, melted away with an emptier feeling as she pulled away. It had been a sudden thing she had done, a reflex almost, and she felt ashamed and embarrassed, but then realized...he had returned the embrace, she had felt his jawline resting against the top of her head. He smelled good... she couldn't pick up a cologne or fragrance, but the way his scent was naturally was calming.

She returned his smile, small and unsure at first, but she blushed and it cracked into the most childish of grins, making her seem like an entirely different person all together. That was when...they appeared.

The first manifested behind Aodhan, at his ear, making obnoxiously raspy breathy noises into it, like the kind of breathing people hear on the phone when a mysterious, stalkerish person calls them. Ruria's mouth gaped open and her eyes widened in horror, but her voice was one of agitation as she cried out: "BITER! Desist your ill-mannered ways immediately!"

Biter, one of two disimebodied, animated skulls was harassing Aodhan, whispering sweet nothings into his ear, and gave a disgruntled shriek as Ruria attacked him, the girl nearly toppling Aodhan over in her mission to swat the cranial terror. He avoided the swat easily, joining the other of the pair, Bitter, who seemed to be studying the scene with a sympathetic gaze.

"Ah, a passionate interlude...destined to crumble into the chasm of eternal sorrow," Bitter Lamented in a woeful voice. Ruria bristled at the both of them, and then looked to Aodhan with an apologetic face. "I-I'm sorry, they...they're the atrocities I told you about. They have a habit of appearing when they are least wanted." she glared at them, and Biter began cackling madly.

"You two got caught trying to steal body parts from the crematorium again, didn't you?" she frowned in displeasure at them as they both nodded sullenly.

"Sibelius says to return promptly if your mission is completed," bitter said, his voice full of pride and know-it-all. "As he has something important to discuss and it is a most urgent matter~"

"Perhaps," biter giggled evilly. "He needs you to lend h im..a...hand! Gahahahhaa!" Ruria deadpanned at them, her face bright red. Aodhan must think her absolutely bizarre now, for having summoned such ridiculous abberations.

She turned towards Aodhan, a hopeless look on her face. "I told you they're terrible." she whimpered. She didn't want to return to Poena Privus so soon, she had wanted to stay at least a little longer with Aodhan, to walk and talk with him, indulge in the comfort his presence provided.

"I...I don't want to go," she murmured. The skulls quieted their rash demeanor as they noticed the change in hers, silently convening with shared looks. "I wanted to stay with you a bit more, but Sibelius is ...he's our leader, it would be unwise to ignore orders. B-but..." she met his eyes again, a wide-eyed, almost pleading look in her own. "Y-you promise? We can play again soon?"

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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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Ruria had kept the piece of paper held tight in her hand the entire time as they left the forest together, as if it was suddenly her most prized treasure, though she had hoped he didn't notice the fervor in which she grasped it eagerly.

She did not enter Lumena with him, but waved back with one hand, as the other clutched the doll she had bought before, and offered him a soft smile in return, which slowly faded as he turned and disappeared into the town, and her hand slowly lowered, dropping to her side.

"Let's go," she murmured to the two craniums.


Days passed, and then weeks. It was simply having another person around for once, and it had addled her brain, put those maiden-like feelings in her chest, and she knew for certain it would fade after a few days, and she would continue her life as usual, but...it had not ended in such a way. Rather than forgetting about Aodhan, Ruria couldn't get him off of her mind. She found that she kept fondling the small piece of paper with his address, glancing towards the direction of Lumena hopefully, or constantly searching the crowds of Poena Privus for traces of him -- As if he would be there! He couldn't possibly know how to find her there, and she wouldn't have been allowed to give him the information.

Yet, as the days turned into weeks, the yearning feeling began to overwhelm her. She wanted to see him again, she wanted to hear his voice and see him smile. Before she knew it, she was standing before the grand gates of Lumena again, the streets sparse of people in the dark hours of night. At first she debated actually entering, wondering if it was too late to call on him, if she could even find the place in such a big city -- and she heard a scream, cut short by the sound of violence.

She waited only a moment for the sound of someone nearby to respond to the cry, but when she heard none, she hastened towards it, eventually finding her way into a dimly lit, circular alley, which looked as if it was used as a public laundry fountain. On the ground within was a young girl, curled into a fetal position, scarlet dripping out of her mouth as she trembled. When she saw Ruria, she attempted to stand up, large tears sliding off her cheeks, and reached for her, toppling back to the ground, too weak to stand.

Ruria closed the gap between them, wrapping an arm around the shoulders of the girl and propping her up in her arms. Why, she couldn't be more than nine or ten! "What happened to you?" she asked. The girl whimpered and trembled, opening pale green eyes to look up at her. "Don't...don't leave me," she pleaded, little fists clenching Ruria's sleeves. "T-they'll come back...I'm scared!"

Ruria's brows furrowed together in confusion and she stood up, lifting the girl up with her.She was too shaken for it to have been an accident. This wasn't a fall, a trip, a scuff. She had been attacked, but Ruria could sense nor see anything. "Hush now, I'll get you somewhere safe. I'll protect you, child." She turned to leave the enclosed alley, the girl weeping softly into the nape of her neck, her arms wrapped tightly around her, still shivering. Ruria took not more than half a step when she saw just what had attacked her.

He stood there, barricading the only entry into the alley, a hulk of a man with black hair and pale, dead-looking eyes, teeth sharpened into fangs that formed the most wicked of grins upon his features. He might have been handsome if not for these monstrous features, or the dark laugh that bubbled up from his throat as he was joined by several others. They, she noted, were witches...maybe a couple majin mixed in, but mostly witches, but he....he was a Spiritus.

"Well, well. It looks like the pot has been filled with more honey." he laughed, a dark smirk creeping its way into his face. Ruria backed up, holding onto the girl defensively. He approached closer, extending a clawed hand towards her. "I can smell your fear...won't you allow me to taste it?"

His comrades chuckled.

"I have to put you down, now." Ruria whispered to the girl, and did so, turning to face them again. Guillotine manifested in her left hand, and she readied the ring blade, glaring darkly at them all.

"You're feeders. Picking off other witches to feed to a Spiritus so you won't fall prey to a monster like him. You're like the parasites who latch onto the underbelly of a shark. Pathetic pond scum!"

She didn't waste time. She threw Guillotine into the air, reaching both hands up after it, and warped its path, sending it flying into the crowd of witches as they all charged towards her. The sickening sound of flesh being sliced echoed through alley, and then screams of men as limbs were torn from their bodies by the raging weapon -- but where was the Spiri----

A heavy force hit Ruria in the back of the neck, making her world grow dim. She had thought she merely blinked, but when she opened her eyes, two of the four remaining witches held her arms tightly, and the dark Spiritus was holding the girl up by one arm, as if she was a caught fish he was examining at the market. She squirmed and screamed and cried, and he cast his pale gaze towards Ruria, his cheshire grin ear to ear as his other hand gripped the girl's jawline.

"Take your hands off her!" she cried, trying to bolt at him, but being held back by the witches. "She's just a child, leave her al------" her words cut short as she heard the distinct cracking and popping noise, and the child's screams were abruptly cut short as the Spiritus, still staring Ruria dead in the eye, broke her neck, and dropped her like trash. He didn't even bother to take her heart, he simply...killed her, for no reason other than to see Ruria suffer.

"You killed one of my own," he said casually, still grinning. "Well, perhaps not directly. You and that knight..what's his face. Wears a horned helm. Think of this as revenge."

His words fell on deaf ears. Ruria couldn't tear her eyes away from the corpse of the child, and could only hear the sound of her heartbeat pulsing louder and louder in her head. She was just a child...just a child. She had promised to protect her, and now she lay dead, dead!

"Hearts, I find, taste so much better when drowned in hate and fear." he chuckled, reaching a hand towards her as he approached.

She was...just...a child.

Black fire swirled around Ruria, manifesting from the air around them. The lights themselves seemed to be suffocated by it, several of them popping, glass shards falling to the ground. Ruria looked up at the Spiritus with dead eyes, her face void of all expression.

"Die already." she said softly. Everything in the alley began to tremble and shake, and the black fire around her began to slice and cut at everything it touched, including herself, an eerie howling sound exuding from it, mixed with surprised shrieks as the witches were forced to let her go as the black aura ripped at their flesh. They tried to flee, but the blackness covered them, entangling them like chains, digging into their flesh, rending it bit by bit from their body, dissolving things it touched as it swirled violently around her. Ruria screamed, both from anger and from pain, her own magic also harming her, as it usually did. Her mind was blackened by her magic -- It was this very thing, this dark violence that slept within her, that she had so desperately wanted Aodhan to never see.

And then, the darkness around her converged within again, manifesting around her like demonic armor. She moved swiftly to one of two remaining witches, plunging the shadowy claws that manifested around her hands into his chest, cracking through his sternum and plunging into his chest. She gripped his physical heart, tearing it roughly from his body with a hard yank, crimson spewing across her face.

All rational thoughts were gone. She felt no pain, even as the remaining witch pummeled her body with piercing magic that ripped through her flesh, even as the Spiritus grabbed her roughly and threw her hard enough agains the wall to crack the old brick it was made of. She kept returning to the throes of violence, again and again through their attacks, until the last witch was dead, his head sliced off by Guillotine, and all that remained was the Spiritus.

Blood ran down her face, staining her pale skin scarlet in the dim light. Spiritus and blackheart ran at each other, and she sank her shadowy claws into his flesh, bit into his shoulder enough to draw blood, and refused to let go. She would drag him to Hel with her if she must. At this moment, she was no longer a blackheart, but a vindictive monster, blinded by the darkness that was her magic. It was consuming her with violence.

"Let go of me, you maggoty whore!" he screamed, horrified at the violence the small-framed girl was capable of.







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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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If she had been of sound mind, she'd have noticed the flash of blue and white that was Aodhan, but all she saw at this point were the shadows of monsters she needed to destroy. The Spiritus began smashing his fist repeatedly against her head, screaming at her to let go of him. Finally, he was able to pry her off, flinging her roughly into the wall, where he gripped her by her delicate throat.

"Just..what kind of monster are you!?" he growled to her, spitting blood out of his mouth.

Finally, Ruria spoke, her voice soft and dark, and laced with violence. "...The worst kind."

The Spiritus made a disgusted sound, and threw her out towards the entrance, past where Aodhan was hiding. She hit the ground hard, tumbling backwards and sliding a distance away on her stomach, but she stood up again, fresh blood trickling out of her mouth. Even though Aodhan was in plain sight, she couldn't see him through her bloodlusted rage towards the spiritus.

They locked in battle again, the Spiritus evading her, grabbing her roughly and throwing her to the ground, where he held a foot harshly over her chest, effectively pinning her there, slowly applying more and more pressure to her ribcage, intending to slowly break it, crush in her lungs and kill her. He almost flinched as he noticed Aodhan, but that cheshire grin spread across his face as he regarded him.

"Come to watch the show? You made it just in time for the best part." A crack was heard from Ruria's chest and she let out a sharp gasp of pain. The black flames returned around her, drowning out the life in her eyes -- they were lightless, eyes of something that belonged in the underworld, eyes that could not see life and color, only death and destruction. As the Spiritus laughed in his torture of the blackheart, the black flames manifested above him, forming the shape of immensely long swords -- three of them -- and his laughter was cut short as one after the other skewered him.

He mouthed voiceless words, blood gurgling up from his throat as the magic dissipated. He staggered, reached with trembling fingers for Ruria's throat, and then fell to his knees, and then to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Ruria stood up, her eyes still gazing out at nothing, her fingers twitching, and her body trembling. Various objects around her still responded to her magic, sliding around on the ground, rumbling, twitching, exploding into bits and pieces if they were more fragile. Her magic was consuming her free will, and she crouched down with her hands over her head as if in pain, trying her hardest to regain control.




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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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The monster was dead, but the world was still black, lashes of pain wracking her body, siphoning the very life from her veins. Two faces appeared in her memory...why was she seeing her mother and father, now, of all times? Her mother was crying over her magic-less daughter, her father casting a disapproving look. Reprimanding her -- stronger, become stronger! There was a flash of light, a whirl of shadow, the world was shaking, and she watched them die again, their lives snuffed out by the magic they so wished to fuel.

The swirls of shadow around Ruria faded in and out, the girl grimacing still as she held her head in her hands. She felt suffocated by the magic, how it pulled her, threatening to break her mind, and that was when she heard his voice -- Who was it? The world was still bathed in shadows, she couldn't properly see, but she looked towards the direction of the voice, where another shadow lurked, hovering near her, hesitant to come closer, but neither leaving -- that voice, why did it comfort her so? She was inexplicably drawn to it, and even now found herself slowly pulling herself together to try to approach it, as if it offered solace, sanctuary.

As he continued speaking, realization washed over her, even as the world was still a tangle of shadows, and she realized who it was, and even then in that dark moment, her heart fluttered a little.

"...Aodhan." she murmured. Color and light slowly filtered back into her vision, and she could see him now, and realized she had a hand reached out towards him.

Oh gods, he had seen it. Perhaps not all of it, but he had seen what she had done, he had seen what she was! Her fingers recoiled, her body tensed almost as if to run away from him, but she paused, still as a statue, as she beheld his image.

She was a weapon. She wasn't a shield to protect lives, but a weapon to destroy them. She had trained herself to shelter her emotion in a dark and hidden place, never to cry in front of another soul, though she had done so out of anger recently with Kian, but as she let her gaze steady on Aodhan's face, two large tears fell out of her eyes, one after the other, catching traces of blood that stained her face as they traveled silently down her cheeks.

She should run, get the hell out of there. Her body moved, but rather than move away from him, she took one unsure step towards him, then another, until she ran the rest of the way to him, throwing herself against him, taking fistfuls of his shirt in both hands as she held on for what might have seemed like dear life, her face buried into his chest as silent cries wracked her over and over. He was without armor, and she could feel so much more of his body and warmth, even hear the thrum of his heart beat inside his chest now.

"It..was..me.." Her voice was a barely audible whimper. "I wanted to come see you...but when I got here, it was strange, and I heard her scream...said I would protect her, but I ..." All I can do is shatter what I touch. "... ...I failed to do so, and you saw what I hoped you would never see...that my magic is turning me into a monster."

She felt sick to her stomach with anxiety as she finally raised her face to look at those pretty, pale blue eyes of his. She feared he would see her as a violent object, something just as volatile as the witch eaters and spiritus she lived to destroy. Would he see her as something that also needed to be destroyed? Would he fear her, despise her, cast her away? The ugly thoughts smothered her mind.

"P-please...don't...loathe me."

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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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The pain her adrenaline had numbed was beginning to bleed through, but it was nothing she hadn't felt before. Her body was littered with many scars from training and battles fought and won from a young age, pain was nothing new to her - at least, physical pain. But, listening to Aodhan speak in his gentle and calming voice, that voice that was honey to hear ears -- she felt a new kind of pain, a painless pain that was never the less painful in an odd way, the pain of yearning. Did she yearn for him? She must, because the idea of being cast aside from him felt horrifying, but then she felt his arms encircle her, hold her to him as firmly yet as gentle as they could be. She caught his scent as she was pulled into his warmth, felt the life flowing through him.

She wanted to tell him she wasn't courageous at all, but selfish, power-hungry, that she lived a life of dehumanization of mostly her own volition, to somehow retort his feelings of selflessness, but then..he smiled, and her heart fluttered again, like the warmth of a fluttery bird in one's hand.

She felt the warmth of his masculine digits stroking along her shoulders, and she was brought even closer to him as he leaned his forehead to touch against hers. Her heartbeat thumped louder in her chest, so fast she feared he would be able to hear it and pick up on the torrent of feelings brewing in her at that moment. Though he closed his eyes, she kept hers open, staring intently at his face, taking in his features from such a close proximity. She could feel every puff of his breath, and it felt like hers was entirely stolen away.

"Your hero...? Hero...but don't you know.... that you're mine? B-because you smiled at me when others would rather not look at me...that's...much more heroic." She had thought she simply thought this in her head, so caught up in the thought that she had said it. It didn't even register to her that she actually said it, unable to tear her gaze away from his face, how close his lips were to hers, and regardless of the pain she felt, and the morbid situation and everything that had happened -- She tilted her head slightly to the side, leaned up on her tip-toes, her nose nuzzling gently against his, and her lips brushed against his, delicately and warm as they hovered before his mouth, and then softly and slowly pressed into his in a kiss.

At first, she hadn't comprehended entirely what she had done -- his lips were warm, the vague taste of him upon them, and it fueled that yearning in her chest -- but as she realized what she had done, and had pulled away, her face reddened and her brows furrowed in disbelief, immediately looking to the ground in shame. "I-I...I...m... I..." she fumbled with her words, and finally stammered out an apology. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. I didn't realize -- I didn't...I just... I ... I'm sorry!"


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[Vanilla Cryptid]

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Gods, how could she have...kissed him! The realization made her heart pound and her face redden. And of all times to do it, covered in the blood of herself and her enemies. Romantic, Ruria. Very romantic.

Just as she felt the peak of her shame, she realized he was smiling at her, and heard his gentle laugh and words. He wanted to do it a...again? P-properly?

She stared at him with wide eyes, feeling his digits working between her fingertips. Even though the night was cool, his hands were so invitingly warm. It didn't seem real, what he had said moments before, and what he was saying now. Special...? Her heart was fluttering almost violently in her chest as he brought his face closer, and she felt the warmth of his gentle lips press into her cheek, felt the delicate way his nose brushed against hers as he pulled back away. When she looked down to her hands out of habit, she realized he was still holding them, caressing his thumbs over her smooth, bloodstained skin. Her gaze hooded over as she watched his digits moving over her hands, shivering softly. She wanted him to keep touching her, she wanted to feel his lips again, both on her and on her own lips, she didn't want to let go, and had thought about him all the time during the weeks they had been apart, and how his heat had felt when they had slept tangled together in the forest, and she had yearned for it again. That meant special, didn't it?

"Special..." her voice cracked slightly. "That's when... you think a lot about someone, remember the oddities about them and smile...and want to be close to them, isn't it...? Wishing for them..?" She brought her gaze back up to meet his eyes, practically translucent as they caught the reflective light of the moon. "B-because..that's..how I've felt, since we met. I felt yearning, a pulling feeling in my chest. I wanted to see you all the time. I'm scared of it yet it pulls me into it, and doesn't feel dark."

She took one of her hands away from him, closing her eyes as she let it rise up, tentatively touching her fingers on his cheek, cupping the side of his face.

"Oy!"


She flinched violently and her eyes sprang open at the sound of a third person. A distance away stood another cerberus knight, brandishing lantern light towards them. It was clear he recognized Aodhan, paying Ruria no mind except to ask if she had been the victim of an attack due to her bloodied state.

She lowered her head, pointed into the corpse-filled alleyway, and kept her gaze lowered, almost ashamed as the knight went to inspect, and she heard his cries of outrage, terror, disgust, and sadness at the scene he saw. "What kind of creature did this?!" he cried.

Ruria's gaze lowered even more. "...I did."

The knight seemed confused, looking between her and Aodhan for some explanation.

"As a blackheart, it is my duty to eradicate any violent majin or spiritus and those who seek to aid them in their evil ways. What you see in there is a group of feeder witches, their victim, and the Spiritus they serve." Though her voice was matter-of-factly and serious, she refused to look up from the ground, and her fingers subconsciously gripped the hem of Aodhan's shirt.

The knight again looked to Aodhan, as if for some form of approval. "What do we do with her? I mean, it's all fine if a blackie kills a witch eater, but there are witches in there..."

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