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"You did?" Micha'el asked, casually putting two and two together. "He's been spying on us?" Lottie asked, staring at Tsuna's hand. Tsuna's burst of determination caught Micha'el of guard. He expected her to be angry, or disheartened, but was pleasantly suprised. Nodding, he agreed with her. Lottie held up her hand and said "Team Sun are gonna best Professor Solomon!" as she placed her hand down between them. "To Team Sun!" Micha'el placed his hand on top of Lottie's before Tsuna followed suit.

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Solomon Hope sat upon his leather pinned chair, the colour of sacramento green that complimented his various shades of green, black and gold. Before him was a large tome, of which he had been studying for numerous hours. He stared at the pages, turning them after a few moments one after another, scanning the pages for something he couldn't find. He knew the answers weren't here, but still he searched as though he missed something. A glimmer of green light then flashed from his finger, reflecting from a golden ring inset with emerald. Scowling, he leaned back and closed his eyes as vague shapes of familiar people formed in his mind's eye. Green outlines showed Micha'el Maeus, Tsuna Miki, and Scarlot Tamiya-Satoru. On your hand. I think.. Micha'el said, the ring on Soloman's hand growing warmer as a bright white light began to blind Solomon's clairvoyance. Solomon pushed back. I can't sense anything else, its masked... I-. Solomon had managed to pushed back on Micha'el's intrusive magic, until another colour, blue like stardust, began to mingle with the green images in his mind. Then, before he could react, Micha'el had mostly deciphered the spell - but luckily was not able to confirm the source. That sly b*****d! I shook his hand that night as the ball before I said goodbye. My troublesome reputation must have had him and the others worried. Tsuna's voice faded away as Solomon opened his eyes, leaning forwards to rest his chin on his hands, fingers woven together.

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"Just over here" Nyru said as his jet black horse climbed up the hill. It was early afternoon, and whatever fog was covering the land was now spread thinly, like a spectral dusting across the grass. Behind him were Team Sun and Claudia, who could all now see the hill drop off ahead, where a large, fenced off area as large as many football pitches could be seen keeping the coralled Harrowsteeds. They were spread far apart, none liking to be too close to one another. "I left two guards here to keep watch on them"
"Do they always stand so still?" Lottie asked. "We're quite far, Lottie-" Micha'el said, but was interrupted when Nyru already replied. "They're somewhat solitary, and prefer the safety of others nearby but not at their side." But if anyone paid close enough attention, it didn't look like they were grazing, or moving at all. In fact, it looked as though they may be laying down. Claudia would have also noticed that there wasn't any guards.

The moment Claudia spoke, the atmosphere become dark and heavy, as if something dreadful was waiting for them. She prepared to grab for her weapon and everyone followed suit. Micha'el summoned the Aria from his necklace but before he could grasp it something struck him from behind, sending him soaring across the hill and down its slope like a ragdoll. Lottie's instincts told her to follow him, so she launched herself down the hill to check on him. Nyru pulled his snakesword and attempted to move but found that his feet were being held down. He looked down, shocked to see bony limbs climbing his legs. The unknown assailant had somehow come from behind, hunched over beneath a tattered black cloak with a shadowed face but pin-p***k glowing blue eyes. He raised his arm as tendrils of necromantic magic summoned up corpses from the earth. A few dozen stood before them, ready to charge. Then, the figures other arm raised up and summoned a circle of dark magical symbols in the sky above them. The moment it hummed to life, the air around them became heavy. Nyru tried to pull against the limbs at his feet but struggled to even keep standing. "A curse" Nyru muttered. Looking back at the hunched man, dark magic could be seen lingering in his clenched fist, concentrated and maintained.

"Micha'el!" Lottie came to a skidding stop beside him as he rolled over with a painful groan. He was clutching his side, wincing as he pushed himself up. "Go" he said, "go help Tsuna, i'll be alright." She shook her head, torn between duty and... compelling feelings. He ignored her, already flicking through the pages of the Aria as an enchantment activated. For a moment Micha'el glowed white and suddenly his pain wasn't so bad. "Go, I won't let anything harm you." She felt a rush of energy fill his body as the same white aura enveloped her for a second. "Okay" she jumped up, turning to run up the hill as she watched Tsuna obliterate the risen dead.

Each one went up in flames, turning to dust within seconds from the scorching heat of her weapon. Nyru looked on and couldn't help bet let out a cheap exhale. "She's smart" he said, sighing as he tried to budge his legs again. Tsuna closed in, her target now within arms reach as she swung her axe for decapitation. The axe landed on an invisible barrier that rippled for a moment, reflecting light through its edges. The necromancer groaned and in a low, raspy voice said "gReATeR nEg-ati...on shIeLd - de...flect AUgMent." Suddenly the ripple of the barrier reversed, coming back towards her axe. The barrier shattered, and the force of Tsuna's swing was sent right back through her weapon.

"I have an idea" Nyru said, swinging his snakesword around them both. Its blade divided and coiled around them, each sharp edge digging into the bony limbs holding them prisoner. With a twist and pull dark magic shot through the whip like lightning as it let rip. The limbs were shredded and destroyed but quickly attempted to apprehend them again. "Jump!" Lottie shouted to them both as she passed, summoning spectral glaives for them to tread upon until they were outside the radius of the decaying arms. The necromancer released the spell concentrated in his palm, noting how the curse wasn't effecting his victims like he had hoped. He then let out a burst of cold air that froze the ground around him, pushing back anyone that was too close. He then pulled out a crystal that glowed like twilight and crushed it. Two wisps of light escape, then screamed like banshees before bone and sinew formed around them. For a moment, Nyru and Claudia then recognised the corpses as the guards that were stationed here prior. Then, as soon as they had formed, they were transformed into hulking formed that stood twice as tall as they did. Dead muscle doubled in size, bone stretched and broke, armour of dark magic condensed into metal until both were unrecognisable and wearing horned helmets. Blue light formed in their eye sockets as they let out a roar and stomped on the ground, shaking the earth, as one pulled a gigantic kite shield and the other colossal sword. "In the name of Declasia" Nyru muttered, "did he just..."

Micha'el caught his breath, holding his side as he spoke between breaths. "That sounds sufficient - I'll cover from above". Lottie nodded, agreeing with the plan also. As Claudia reluctantly agreed, Nyru couldn't help but smirk at her. He had to admit, he was proud of Tsuna, and had to respect Team Sun for getting together so quickly and going ahead with the plan without second guessing any of it. "we'll take each side, spread Declasia's darkness all around."

Micha'el launched himself up, feeling the rush of air sweep around him in a flurry until divine wings of white light unfolded from his back. There he hovered - looking down to see two small figures running around the two gigantic knights. The knight with the great sword attempted to chop Nyru in half, but he skidded beneath the blade just in time to slash up with his snakesword, arcing the blades like a whip toward's its torso. Just as Tsuna suspected he thought, "the armour is strong as you said!" Nyru then jumped backwards to create some distance as the knight turned to face him. He had to get the darkness spreading, needed to cover Tsuna and Lottie as they worked on weakening the armour of these monsters. He needed a lot of power to spread this much darkness so he called upon his Queen's mark. Kneeling, he drew her symbol into the dirt and placed his palm down on it. Purple light flashed for a brief second before darkness seemed to crawl towards him from all nearby shadows. It then began to spill outwards all around him, licking the feet of all within it. The sword knight then attempted to slice down on Nyru, but Micha'el used divine chains to hold it back. "Gotcha" Micha'el muttered, then seeing Claudia, Tsuna, and Lottie running around the shield knight. Darkness Micha'el thought, noticing the shadows engulf the ground around Nyru. Could Nyru see through it? If the enemy couldn't, could the others? He imagined Tsuna might have some amount of nightvision thanks to her Therian genes, but he decided not to risk anything. "O radiant heavens, part the veil of darkness—let my allies see with the light of the divine!"

Lottie was running in a wide arc behind Claudia when she saw the hulking undead pound the ground with its boot, causing a ripple in the dirt that she had to jump over to avoid being swept off her feet. She felt the force pass beneath her, momentarily distracted by the realisation of just how strong these things were. She looked up, heart skipping a beat when she couldn't see Tsuna, only to look the other way and see her at her side. With a nod, she ran ahead, preparing formation for once Claudia completed spreading the shadows with Nyru. The giant knight raised up its shield, then began to charge in Claudia's direction. Once close enough it would try to grab her. ((Feel free to fight it however you like before Claudia casts the shadow magic!)).

After finding an opening, Claudia succesfully mirrored Nyru, completely covered the ground around them in darkness, mostly concealing all of them. Unfortunately, the knights appeared to have an amount of enchanted vision still, but he made their movements sluggish and easier to dodge now that they had to estimate locations. Lottie suddenly realised she couldn't see well, and gasped, but just as quickly the world around her lit up, as though it was the middle of the day. Micha'el she thought, peering up to him as he repetitively cast chains against Nyru's knight, then fired some blades of light from the sky into the knight fighting Claudia. Now that the shadow as cast, both Nyru and Claudia was free to move and fight as they please whilst Tsuna and Lottie weaked them from afar.

Running in a wide arc around each of the knights, Lottie asked Willow Morta for aid, then summoned many of her spectral glaives. "I can only summon so many!" she warned Tsuna who was running behind her. She then lined up a glaive ahead of her, then commanded the spirit within to materialise in the physical plane, allowing Tsuna to use it. Running some way further, she materialised another glaive, then another and another for Tsuna to use. Each strike hit the knights with such force that they recoiled, and after several more hits their armour was melting and weakened. Magical runes glowed on their metal plates, then turned black and fizzled out. Their movements slowed.

Micha'el landed on the ground behind Nyru and Claudia, who had regrouped. "Interesting magic you've got their, your enchantment worked better than even our racial nightvision."
"Thanks" Micha'el simply said to Nyru, watching then as Lottie and Tsuna arrived. "Ready when you are" Nyru said, drawing the mark of Declasia in the air before him, ready to use it was Tsuna see fit. Micha'el similarly prepared his magic, ready for the command. Lottie, who now had only her physical weapon to contribute, said "do what you need, i'll keep my glaives in place for you to hit the final blow!" She then held up Willow Morta, placing one palm against the flat side of the weapon as she shut her eyes and concentrated her power of manifesting the spectral glaives still lodged inside the knights.

((Letting you take command here!))

Their combined final attack was a flurry of light, darkness, and fire. The impact and subsequent explosion caused a devastating shockwave that cleared the area. Lottie collapsed in moments, dropping to her knees now that she could break concentration on Willow Morta. Tsuna acted quickly, telling everyone to grab onto her so that she might be their anchor. Micha'el reached out and grabbed hold of Tsuna's hand tight. He turned, noticing Lottie trying to reach out. He called out her name desperately but as their fingers touched, in that brief moment that he thought she was safe and a wave of warmth rushed up his arm and through his chest - she was swept away. Micha'el's chest thumped as he tried to jump into the chaos behind them but Tsuna wouldn't let go. He gasped, how long hadn't he taken a breath? Should he have suffocated by now? He hadn't noticed that during this time Nyru and Claudia weren't with them.

Nyru watched Claudia tumble backwards first, and then he soon followed, sailing through the air. Acting quick, Nyru saw Claudia and reached for her. He grabbed her arm tight then launched towards Lottie, embracing the two girls as he took the brunt of the force as he hit the ground, armour thudding and clinking as he rolled to a stop once the explosion finished.

Micha'el watched the dust settle and to his shock and relief, he saw Nyru roll over as Lottie and Claudia tumbled from his grasp. Shadows spilled from his armour, signalling that he was exhausted. In the last moment before impact he was able to summon up whatever darkness he could gather to brace his armour. It seemed to mostly do the trick, thankfully, but he was not, without question, knackered.

Micha'el nodded to Tsuna, wasting no time in going to the others. He felt a wave of relief the moment she loosened her grip on him, his legs moving already as quickly as possible whilst Tsuna went on to face the puppeteer of the death knights. Micha'el came to a sudden stop beside Lottie, looking over all three of them but lifting Lottie's head onto his lap. He looked over her body, he couldn't see anything too worrying, some scratches and scuffs, some bruising would be sure to follow later. Force of landing must have wiped them out. Micha'el summoned his Aria, quietly murmuring to it as he began a rejuvenating incantation to awaken their senses. Fresh air circled him, filling their lungs with clean, cool oxygen. Warm light kissed their skin, and energy pulsed within them. Lottie stirred, causing Micha'el to finally let out the breath he had been holding. "Did we... win?" Lottie asked, pushing up from her elbows. "Not yet, Tsuna is finishing the job." Micha'el looked over at Nyru and Claudia who also woke up, Nyru groaning loudly as he pushed himself up to one knee. He gazed upon Micha'el's white light, mesmerised by it for a moment before looking over his shoulder. They all followed Lottie' gaze which was now on Tsuna, standing over a hunched figure, motionless.

Tsuna's axe came down and struck true. It cut clean through cloth and bone, cracking the figure's skull clean open and then some. The force of her strike was only stopped once it had reached the man's chest. Shards of bone exploded outwards like shrapnel from a bomb, splintering like wood and cracking like porcelain china. The cloth fell away from his shoulders, revealing pale, sunken skin, unnaturally preserved. His face, now split in hair, hung slightly to either side of her weapon. A dim blue light glowed from his black eye sockets, and a guttural voice still emanated from him. He was a stranger, completely unrecognisable. The only defining features this hairless, malnourished man had was blue runes scorched into his cheeks and forehead. It appeared assured death was not enough to stop him from speaking some last words after a short laugh that only an old, old man could muster. "Even in death... I am... but a breath... of our Master's design." The glow of his eyes then went out, filling completely with darkness as an arcane energy delicately shattered within them. His body fell limp, legs giving way, bringing his body down in a slump as it dislodged itself from Tsuna's axe. There was no blood, no liquid at all in fact, as though his body was but sinew, skin and bones. It was then that Tsuna felt an overwhelming sense of being watched, as though something invisible loomed over her shoulder, like a ghost in the night, impossibly there but ever haunting.

"Are the preparations complete, Nyru" asked Declasia, sat at a writing desk in a small room surrounded by shelves or organised books and scrolls. Nyru ran his finger over the spine of a book studying the undead. "Yes, my Lady, a network of spies will be installed within Entei within 24 hours. When would you like me to personally oversee the operations?" He watched the Queen writing with a black quill, her handwriting was elegant, heavily stylised, ancient. His words hung in the air for a moment, and so he continued to peruse the books on her large desk. It was dusk, and the orange glow of the evening was casting a spread of colour across them. Declasia's hand paused, "as soon as you have collected information about the necromancer from Tsuna. Claudia can oversee the Royal Guard here afterwards." She carefully placed her quill away, then blew softly onto the parchment to dry the ink. She then rolled it up around a black metal rod, wrapping purple fabric around the outside to keep it closed. "Understood. I will head back to the Black Ward with Claudia on my way to deliver your missive." She handed the scroll to him, then he stepped back as she turned to face him and stood. She was tall, taller than him, and yet somehow her figure wasn't foreboding or overbearing. She was able to conduct herself with a grace and fluidity that made her appear smaller. "I am truly troubled to know that a necromancer managed to creep so close to the city." Declasia hid her troubles well, but Nyru could see the way her eyes were heavy with concern. "If I may" Nyru began. Declasia nodded, crossing her arms and casually leaning back against a bookcase - signally she was prepared for conversation. "The Kingdom of Crows is large and we no longer have the Obscuras to hide our continent from the rest of the world. It is impossible to find a needle in a haystack, especially if it moves. However, I will ensure you that the Royal Guard will keep the city secure, and I'll have all subordinate regions within the kingdom increase defences. We have a contingency of Shadowmancers prepared for this, not to mention graduates from Ravencrest Academy."
"Thank you for your reassurance, however my concern lies more heavily on what we may be missing. Your reconnaissance will be vital, do not let Alexis Truesvale out of our sight. I also suspect our young guests will likely head that way too, should they be interested in following the root cause of all of this."
"Yes, my Lady. As agreed I'll share what we know. I like to think that the Necromancers are truly to blame and not... not Alexis. She has too much to stand for."
"She has lost much, Nyru. Loss is a horrible catalyst for change. I would not blame her... and I do not blame you for thinking that way." She eyed Nyru beneath the lilac glow of the light above her. Nyru felt his chest tighten, he shouldn't have said anything. "Please do not allow your feelings to get in the way of your duty. I know Alexis' close ties to Laxion have you conflicted." His name cut Nyru like a knife through the chest, then he felt it collapse as if a black hole opened within him. But her words were soft, spoken from lips on a face that hid any thought or emotion. "Grieving the loss of someone that still walks upon the same world is a feeling I admit, no one should ever experience. But it makes us what we are, and I trust you to make the right decision."

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Lottie awoke feeling groggy. Her muscles ached from the last few days and her eyes felt too heavy to open. However the morning sun beaming through the window commanded her to get up. She went downstairs to find Micha'el was already sat drinking tea in the drawing room. He was sat on an armchair beside the cushioned bay window. She saw him flick a page of his Aria over, then looked up to see her as she stood in the archway between him and the kitchen. "Good morning" he said with a smile. Lottie felt something in her chest thump. "I made a pot of tea, its surprisingly nice. Turns out they import Darjeeling from Earth". He gestured behind her, and Lottie nearly forgot to reply as she stared at him. "Oh, perfect, thank you." After collecting a china mug she joined Micha'el on another armchair on the other side of the bay window. He was reading the Aria again, eyes skimming the page intently. Lottie blew gently on her tea, "Learning something new from the Aria?"
"Hm" he nodded. He looked like he wouldn't respond at first, but then broke away from the paragraph. "Uhm, yeah. I've managed to decipher some new paragraphs in old chapters." Micha'el then closed the Aria, placing it carefully on the armrest before taking a sip of his tea. Lottie took in the delicate, fragrant aroma beside also taking her first sip. "Nyru and Claudia will be here in about an hour I suspect" Mciha'el said, looking out the window at the Black Ward. Lottie nodded, today was when they would get to see what the Daywalkers know about Necromancy. "I hope they'll bring something that will help Tsuna, and hopefully more information on where to go next"
"East" Micha'el quickly muttered before looking back at her, "well, towards Bloodholme I would assume, that's where necromancers are right?"
"That makes sense... do you think Isabelle will be with them?" Micha'el raised his eyebrows, "I hope not - she makes me nervous." Lottie smiled, holding back a chuckle. It was a good cover for the emptiness she felt in her stomach when she thought about the conversation she had with Isabelle yesterday. She wondered if... no. Fantasies will have to wait, at least until all this was over. "Tsuna can kick her butt for you yanno?"
"I'm not sure - Isabelle looked like she could squash strangle someone with her thighs. Not that I- no, I wasn't looking at her-" Micha'el straightened himself up and sighed, then calmly said "she's menacing - and obviously strong. And too noisy."
"I think she's cool" Lottie mused, "anyway. Let's wait for Tsuna."

When Tsuna appeared in the kitchen, Lottie and Micha'el greeted her in unison from across the room. Micha'el gestured to the tea pot, "I made tea" he said, gesturing as he did before, "feel free to grab some-" Tsuna pivoted quickly, nervously, and Lottie wondered if something had spooked her. But she assumed Tsuna was just eager to grab tea instead. Lottie exchanged a look at Micha'el, who shrugged, then returned to sipping his tea. There was a moment of silence until suddenly a crash from the kitchen cut through the air. Lottie jumped, spilling her tea slightly down her hand and onto her tights. She hadn't noticed Mciha'el jump up, alert, and rushing to Tsuna's side whilst she wiped her hand on her shirt, placing the cup down beside her. "Are you alright?" Micha'el asked, kneeling down with Tsuna to help with the broken pot. Lottie heard her apologising profusely. "Hey, nothing to be sorry for-" Tsuna flinched, pulling her hand back from a shard that cut her finger. "Tsuna" he said, just as Lottie joined them, "don't worry about this, please. We've got it, go sit down." Lottie softly placed her hand on Tsuna's shoulder to reassure her, smiling with a nod.

Micha'el and Lotie returned to the drawing room, resuming their places with Tsuna beside them. Micha'el had brought her a cup of juice, hoping that would suffice in place of the tea. Lottie felt compelled to find out what was wrong with her friend, if something was bothering her, she must not carry that burden alone. "What's up?" she asked, tilted her head slightly, "is it Ivan? Did... something happen with the necromancer? You haven't spoken about it since..."