Crypt Keepers [Kouri, Mirage]

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna accepted that her answers would come once they reached the surface, simply marching in step and trying to keep as calm as she could given the circumstances. The tall woman actually felt relief wash over her as the Courtyard came in sight, the looks over her shoulder becoming less frequent. In their first meeting Daren had showed an aversion to the place, so she would likely be safe in this place. As safe as one could be in Sahova of course, which giving the circumstances was not that much. Only in Sahova could a raving mad man like Roknus Maelstrom be considered safer than an alternative.

The sorceress was approached by a decrepit looking Nuit, who wasted no time in gripping her jaw without her consent. Grey eyes flashed momentarily at the touch, losing their fire just a bit as Wanda mentioned spirits. So those things had been spirits of some kind, an interesting thing to note as she now had a name to those things. The Mistress of the Courtyard then lost interest in the pulser before her and addressed the ghosts, Anna’s follow up questions dying upon her lips. Her jaw clenched in irritation, opting simply to wait and see at this point, her eyes catching Kouri and Mia briefly.

As Wanda produced a key to open the door, stating that somehow they had escaped the tall woman lightly pat at her pocket and noted the key looked rather similar. Anna kept her silence for the moment, having a pretty good idea of just what that somehow was by this point but figuring it best to just follow as the Spiritist directed. Mia, as the eternal child she was, was seemingly uninterested by this whole affair and just wanted to go play. Anna was rather pleased her rank in the Citadel prevented her from being harmed by the ghostly girl.

Anna stooped to enter the tomb, brushing aside an errant cobwebs in her way and kept her head down as she passed under the entrance. After entering she pleasantly found that she could actually walk at her full height, following Wanda closely as she began to hear the errant whispers of spirits. It made sense, considering her slight attunement towards ghosts, but it made her look over her shoulders a couple of times out of paranoia.

Then they came to a massive chamber, truly great in scope and far outstripping the Elements Sanctum for sheer size. Anna would never have expected such a place to exist under the Courtyard, having simply passed through the place a number of times. She could only wonder at what kind of hidden secrets existed down here, all of a sudden mentioning the key to Mistress Wanda seemed a rather disadvantageous idea. If it was indeed what she thought it was it might very well be an ace in the proverbial hole.

Finally they came to a roundish chamber, three cracked urns adorned with arcane Glyphs drawn it what looked like blood in the center. Wanda examined them and Anna approached them as well, though her interest was on the Glyphs as a moment of idle curiosity. The sorceress would examine the glyphs to see if she could understand the purpose of the sigil, shrugging after that and regarding the Nuit. She ignored the presence of discomfort Mia had in this place as she had more important matters to address.

“Right, so Mistress Wanda, these spirits you speak of that have taken control of Daren, how dire is their power? He’s affected my mind in the past, was that due to their influence? How can one fight that influence then?” Anna initially inquired, idly reaching into her pocket to toy with the key between her fingers in indecision.

“Also, as for the how he was able to get in here tell me; does this key happen to look familiar to you?” The tall woman asked, producing the tiny key and holding it out to the older Nuit though the reluctance to do so was clear in her body language.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Kouri kept holding onto Mia's form as she took comfort in the child's smaller form, they were both just children in this cruel, cruel, world. Granted, Mia might be centuries old, but still, she looked and acted like a child to Kouri's eyes, a younger child to boot, that prompted the older-looking ghost to act as her big sister, unlocking the usually rare motherly side of the ghost girl. Due to her Vantha upbringing and her personality, Kouri would make a great mother if only she was allowed to grow normally, however, fate had other plans, and here she was, as a phantom and tied in the convoluted Sahovan plots, at least she could take solace in her 'family' which comprised of Rena, Mia, and Kriem. Little did she know that the human sorceress would be her future adoptive mother.

As the aforementioned Sorceress, named Annalisa Marin, arrived, Kouri's crimson eyes perked up, she wanted to run and glomp the human but held her position due to Mia embracing her and also due to Wanda taking interest in her friend, Kouri simply waved a greeting at Anna, relieved that she turned out alright. The sight of Wanda's guardians didn't intimidate her anymore, she saw them as friends now. The Vantha girl simply let those 'grown-ups' speak among themselves, listening with curiosity, So uhm... Darren is the scary monster? I see... She assumed such from Dasshna's words, it wouldn't surprise her for that evil man to be an evil spirity monster.

"Mia?" Kouri tilted her head when the smaller ghost asked permission to play, she truly acted innocent and in a way, Kouri couldn't disagree with her, she also wanted to play but she had other priorities for now. Kouri simply smiled when Wanda dismissed Mia which resulted in the smaller ghost pouting and floated back to her, "There, there, it's okay, Mia," Kouri patted Mia's head, "We can play in peace once we kill those annoying spirits, don't you agree? Ehehe~" She giggled, giving a quick peck at Mia's pale cheek. She then took the girl's hands as they both followed Wanda, it was better to leave her with Anna for now, Kouri would be contented to just watch and learn.

As the tiny lock opened, Kouri entered together with Mia, it turned out the tomb contained a deceptively huge sanctum after traveling down twenty narrow steps. "..." Kouri could only hold Mia tighter, she knew nothing of this place and Wanda was the only person she could rely on, she doubted Anna could do much if those spirits decided attack here. The ghostly duo followed Wanda down the right staircase, to the ground floor, then straight to an opening. Among hundreds and hundreds of entrance, Wanda picked one, there must be something special in there, whether for better or for worse. At last, they arrived in a round-shaped room, with three ominous urns adorned with ghastly patterns, "Is that... blood?" Kouri tilted her head, the slight stutter in her voice revealed her anxiety. She was used to seeing blood, heck, she drew them all the time with her blades and serrated tendrils, but this particular kind of blood? It was a first. "W-well, w-we should kill them, right?" If this 'Darren' let those monsters free, it was their job to hunt them all down, they couldn't be invincible, there must be a way to kill them.

"U-uhm..." She was desperately trying to ignore it, but ever since they stepped down those stairs, Kouri could hear terrifying screams, roars, and cries, along with haunting moans echoing all over the tomb. She felt her very own ethereal body pressed down by the sheer dark presence, if Kouri was a lesser ghost, she would be repulsed immediately, but even for her, the screams were taking their toll. It was likely Mia felt the same thing, evident by her literally shrinking down to half her usual size, she looked like a baby now, Kouri held Mia close in her embrace, like a mother, then her eyes narrowed to reptilian slits as her mouth curled into an insane grin, "He... hehehehahaha! Ha... I- I can't... I can't take this anymore! D-don't you hear it, the screams, the moans, a-all around us... they know..." The ghost girl curled in the air, still holding Mia close, "T-they know, they will come f-for us... haha... Hahahaha! A-and... w-we will die, we will all dieeee~! K..kihihihi~" So great was her fear, the ghost girl's fragile mind finally snapped.

[Mirage]

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"Dire does not even begin to describe them..." Wanda said simply, taking the collected pieces of pottery and setting them back on the pedestals, "And there is nothing you can do to fight them. That is the point." As she turned and saw the key the Spiritist's mouth turned downward in a frown and she literally snatched the key from Anna's grasp, her movements perhaps quicker than one might expect from a nuit, "Where did you find this? This is the key to the tomb, the one that was lost..." She grumbled, sliding past Anna and continuing on back the way they had come, "Well come on then. We will finish speaking on the surface where I don't have to listen the the screams or these children's complaints."

The relief on Mia's expression was obvious as she clung to Fubuki, floating with her as close as possible until they were once more in the Courtyard. Once there Wanda closed and locked the tomb, returning the key to one of her pockets before pushing past them to crouch before a tomb stone, collecting some wilting flowers there, "Those three were spirits I could never tame, and so I locked them up deep underground where I believed their influence would never reach the surface again. It seems I am wrong. They have ensnared a new host, and they shall be up to no good at all..." She grunted, stuffing the flowers in her bag and turning to walk to the next stone, "There's nothing to be done for it now. No use in crying over spilled ichor. I shall deal with them as I did before, swiftly and without mercy. There shall be no imprisonment this time." She turned and pointed at Annalisa, "Should you see him again AVOID him at all costs or you will not survive a second possession. I call them the three stages of madness, and for good reason. Whoever they grow fond of eventually go insane and end their own life. They then move on to their next host, wrapping them up in pretty words and lies of their power. They give their posessor some of their abilities and make themselves out to be Gods," Wanda spit to the side, disgust apparent in her words, "That is how they would like to be seen. Once you have been touched by madness, you will forever be susceptible to its influence."

Mia floated apart from Kouri, approaching Wanda slowly and biting her lip, "A-are they going to eat me?"

"If you give them the chance, then yes. They feed on Soulmist and on the inner darkness in living souls. All of you should stay out of this. I shall have to deal with the matter personally." She cursed under her breath, more annoyed than truly fearful. Despite it all the Spiritist seemed fully confident she could handle the situation, "I doubt that we shall see them for some time... They are cowards by nature, and so shall slink away to bide their time and gather strength. When they return, THAT is when I shall act."

OOCI think this is almost done! Just a couple more posts, so feel free to ask any questions and we will wrap this up and work on picking it up later ^.^
e

[Annalisa Marin]

Kouri was unhinged by something in this place, that much was obvious in the manner in which she began to lose her composure ever more. The sorceress herself felt there was a bit of unease in this place, but nothing overpowering like Kouri was feeling. Perhaps that was due to the fact she was less of a powerful spiritism and rather lack luster in matters concerning ghosts. She was a reimancer and a Glypher, she dealt in the physical world and manifested things into that world. This talk of spirits and souls was a little beyond her at the moment as pitiful as that was to admit.

Wanda snatched away the key from her fingers, earning her a slight narrowing of Anna’s grey eyes in response. Still, now she knew how Darren had managed to gain access to those spirits and judging from Wanda’s correction to her gross understatement things were not looking well in her favor. The spiritist also mentioned screams along with the complaining on Kouri and Mia, what wasn’t Anna hearing? Was she simply not attuned to ghosts as well as the Mistress of the Courtyard was? Was that why she only felt mild unease from standing where she was?

As they left the massive chamber and returned to the surface Mistress Wanda explained what exactly those creatures were, chills running down Anna’s spine as she explained their power and strength. The fact that Nuit was planning to go after them now hardly comforted the sorceress, if she did not go about it in an expedient manner then the human was dead. Somehow she doubted preserving her life was high on the undead’s list of priorities, which was unfortunately. She had no defense against creatures like that, not like Wanda had. All she had was her Reimancy and Glyphing with very little else.

Anna took a cold comfort in hearing that the host eventually took their own lives, hoping very much Daren would just hurry up and take his. He was a thorn in her side that needed to just fall out, to just die already and save her the trouble of doing it herself. Though, she would not argue with the chance to slowly kill him, to flay him alive in the Dungeons and let his screams fill her ears. Never had she wished someone dead quite as much as she did him, then again it was not as though many could blame her for wanting him dead.

The sorceress did not need to be told twice to avoid creatures like that, however somehow she doubted Daren would be giving her any choice in the matter. The petching mad man was likely going to be away from her from the next week at least, her curse would no doubt be a fun little souvenir. However she likely would not have the chance to curse him again after this little incident, he would be more careful around her now. Her mark from Rhysol was no toy to be idly toyed with, anyone marked by the god of betrayal and lies was a force not to be trifled with.

They also apparently fed upon soulmist, that was just lovely as it rendered Kouri as being rather useless in the grand scheme of things against these beasts. The tall woman was realizing how very out matched she was by the moment, she needed to find some way to fight them off if they tried this to her a second time. She had no doubt they would; she had survived their attacks and their tricks already and harmed their host. They would seek retaliation against her, and she needed to be well prepared by the time that they did.

“I’m assuming they won’t exactly give me much choice or chance to flee should I encounter them again, Mistress. They immobilized me once already in the Caverns. Are you absolutely sure I can do nothing against these things? There is no defense that can hold them back or even slow them down?” The sorceress pressed, her tone rather urgent.

[Fubuki Kouri]

By this point, Kouri was passed the point of sparing anymore attention to this bumbling two adult fools who prolonged their time in this horrible place. Her right eye twitched, a half-grin on one side of her lips, a frown on another, rather anatomically impossible for a normal girl, but she was no longer a normal girl. Even with all her phantom powers though, she was powerless against those three malevolent spirits and that made her angry, she would tear them limb from limb if given the chance. Kouri didn't care about their history, their dealings with Darren, or any other shyke, she just wanted them to be gone! Gone, crushed, done, forever from her (un)life.

"Mia... mia, mia~" Kouri followed the smaller ghost behind her then wrapped her arms around Mia's small body, nuzzling her forehead on Mia's crown, "Don't worry, we'll kill them... ehehe, haha! That's right, yes... we will kill them! They shall die, die die die!" The ghost girl clearly snapped, for the moment though until she recollected herself, but it wouldn't be anytime soon. Kouri followed the party out of the tombs then immediately floated away, curling up on top of a tombstone, fully agreeing with Wanda, "Y-yeah! Yeah! Haha! M-mistress Wanda can do it, yes... hehe! K-kill them for me, hehe... t-then, hehe... k-k-kill, kill..." She was spouting nonsense, the only thing in her mind was her immense desire to hunt those spirits, yet held back by the fact that she was powerless against them.

Kouri turned her head at Anna, her eyes narrowing at the woman's perceived foolishness, "W-why, Madame Anna, it's easy of course! Haha... hahahaha! You just have to... to, haha! Kill that man! Yes! Kill kill kill everyone! Kill la kill! Ahahahahaha!" It was obvious she was being more of a burden than an asset at the moment.

[Mirage]

Wanda looked at Fubuki and sighed, waving at Mia, "Take your friend and go play elsewhere. Just do not disturb the Wizards."

Mia instantly brightened, clapping her hands and then leaning toward the Spiritist, whispering in the loud way children often did, "Can I take her to the you know what place...?"

Wanda's frown deepened, but after a tick she shook her head and looked back at the tombstone, "Do whatever you like, but do not disturb the others resting there."

"Oh thank you!" Mia made as if to hug the Spiritist, but an annoyed grunt quickly changed her mind and she flew back to Fubuki, smiling happily, "Come on! I wanna show you something, something cool! But..." She leaned closer, casting looks at Anna as she whispered loudly once more, "It's a secret kay?" But of course, whether Fubuki agreed or not Mia would happily begin leading her away, leaving Anna and the Spiritist alone.

Once the two ghosts departed Wanda would slowly straighten, using the tombstone for aid as she turned to level a serious gaze at Anna, "You want to learn to defend yourself? I suggest you learn to cast out Spirits yourself." She shuffled forward, rummaging in her robes as she did, "As you are now you are easy prey for them. These creatures are still Spirits, and they are still susceptible to the arts of Spiritism. Train in this and you might be able to defend yourself next time." Finding what she was looking for Wanda reached for Anna's hand, and when she gave it the nuit would press something into her palm and curl her fingers over it, "Until then, keep this on you at all times. If they try to possess you crush this item and they will be driven out. It will only work once, and after using it you will become more vulnerable to possessions after the effects wear off. So, use it only as a last resort. That is all I can do for you girl. Now leave me be." And with that she shuffled away.

The item in Anna's hand was a small orb crafted from what looked like twigs and thin bones, perhaps from a bird or a bat? It was set on a thong that would go around Anna's neck. There was nothing more remarkable about it.

OOCI think that ends your part Anna! So one more post from you should do it

*****

Mia hummed happily as she lead Fubuki to the opposite end of the Courtyard. A ghost or two blinked into their path from time to time, but in such cases they often quickly blinked away once more once they saw who it was they were in the way of. The little ghost did not lead them far, and in fact Anna and Wanda were still only a few yards away. The act of keeping this place a secret did not seem to fully settle in the childish mind of the ghost, for when they reached their destination she practically shouted, "Here we are!"

She giggled and patted a large stone monument. It was all one slab and leaned slightly to the left, and on top was a statue of what looked like a woman in long flowing robes holding a lantern in one hand. Vines and ivy had grown over the entire thing, obscuring most of the strange writing on the front of the stone, but the face of the stone woman was very beautiful. Mia looked up at the woman fondly, "That's Wanda when she was alive. This is her grave." Once more she did not quite seem to grasp the importance of what she was saying, "I don't know how she died. She doesn't tell anyone I don't think, but this isn't what I wanted to show you. Its down down down!"

She smiled and began descending through the ground, motioning for Fubuki to follow. The decent, however, was not far and very quickly they found themselves on a staircase leading down. Apparently there was a hidden door somewhere in the courtyard that would lead here. Mia quickly floated down the stairs, and it opened into... not a cavern, but a very finely crafted temple of sorts.

The room was large, stretching beyond the walls of the courtyard underground. It was a large rectangular room, pillars stood at each of the 4 corners, and the walls were all made of some form of shining rock that reflected a blue light off of a single lantern that was held by a replica of the statue onto of the monument above. This one, however, rested over a highly polished stone coffin. Looking around the room there were other coffins as well, each with a statue over it possibly to depict the people who rested within them. In total there were 13 coffin's with the one that held the lantern at the center.

Wanda floated over this one and patted it, looking back at Fubuki, "This is Wanda's remains. I do't know why she keeps them though. They are probably only bones by now." Then the little girl pointed to the left and to the right indicating the other coffins, "And these are Wanda's friends! Or... at least I think they're her friends. She doesn't talk about them."

From left to right the statues above were of a man in monk robes carrying a staff, a Symenestra woman with daggers strapped to her thighs and upper arms and 2 in hand, a giant of a man who carried a club that looked more like a fallen oak trea, a short man with an off colored left arm with an axe on his back, a dhani woman with flowing robes, a male Zith with fangs bared in a ferocious snaral, another man who was on the Wanda's statue's left side was an older gentleman with a long beard who held a book in his hand quietly reading, a charoda who held up a piece of coral high in the air, a konti with twin suvi in hand, a wild looking man with a tiger at his side and a long blade, and finally a woman with short cut hair who looked human, but unlike the others here eyes were made of a different kind of gem that shifted colors depending on what angle they were looked at from.

The entire chamber felt calm and peaceful, a true safe haven for ghosts where nothing could harm them. It even felt like a little bit of soulmist was being replenished over time. Mia sat on Wanda's coffin, kicking her feet, "I come here to play sometimes because it smells nice, but it's supposed to be a super secret. Wanda said that no one other than us ghosts should ever know about it because... because..." She frowned, confusion on her face before she shrugged and smiled again, "I don't actually remember why."

OOCI think your part shall be ending soon as well! Just another post or 2 from you and it will all be wrapped up

[Annalisa Marin]

Kouri was led away from the area by Mia, Anna sparing her a glance and a tiny smile before returning her attention to the situation at hand. The child had earned a tiny amount of respect from the sorceress, though she was still rather annoyed by how easily she had sided with Mia against her. The tall woman would not forget that little slip up, not anytime soon as it had reminded how very fickle the child was. Anna would take her revenge upon the girl in some way for that, though at current she knew not exactly how she was going to do it.

Wanda’s advice was for her merely to improve upon Spiritism, which Anna supposed made some logical sense given what she was faced with. Still it was somewhat relieving to know that she fought against things that could be defeated with the right methods. She could probably Void them if the need presented itself, they were not undefeatable as Wanda had imprisoned them previously. Of course she had very little grounding in the finer points of Spiritism so that would no doubt take a good deal of research to figure out, hopefully she could reach the stage where she could more easily fight off possession.

The Nuit handed her a ball of some kind, and orb of twigs and bones and instructed her upon its use and what it could do. The sorceress wasted no time in around her neck, not caring how ridiculous it might look as if it could protect her she would use it when needed. She just needed a chance to actually combat these spirits, a fighting chance and this item and Wanda’s instruction could very well be the key to achieving that. The tall dark haired woman offered a nod to the powerful spiritist in gratitude and immediately started making strides in the direction of the Palsa Hydrasa.

She could not return to her room at the moment, Daren might very well think to try his luck again so the safest place for her was the domain of her Mistress. It was odd that she considered a building that solely housed corpses as her sanctuary upon Sahova, however if it protected her from Daren and his spirits she would embrace the place wholeheartedly. Anna ignored the occasional tugging of the ghosts within the Courtyard, knowing that Wanda’s wards would keep her safe from these ghosts at the very least.

Anna kept the Nuit’s warning very close in mind regarding the item around her neck, the fact it would only work once and that it would weaken her body to possession attempts. A dire thing to be sure, a last resort if she found herself cornered like she had been again. Hopefully it would not come to that and she could be better prepared against Daren and his ilk before meeting them again. Then again, if she did meet them again would she even know that she had? The thought alone was enough to quicken her steps to the Palsa Hydrasa.

OOCRight, last post from me here! Was a blast you two, many thanks for taking me along for the ride!

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCThank you from me as well. It has been an honor to thread with you both.

"Uhm..." It looked like Kouri wouldn't have a say in the matter as Mia practically decided her fate by asking her to a 'you-know-what' place, Kouri was half-scared, half-excited, still leftovers from exploring that whisper-filled crypt. The ghost girl tilted her head down as the shorter ghost child approached her, a happy smile on her face as if she forgot everything that had transpired just chimes ago. "Ok-wha!" Of course, before Kouri could even reply, Mia was already pulling her away.

The walk - float - to the other end of the Courtyard was rather uneventful, merely a couple of ordinary ghosts blinking into their path, but they mostly ran with their tail between their legs and Kouri wondered why, she and Mia wouldn't hurt them... or was it Mia they were afraid of? Kouri felt a pang of fear coursed through her ethereal form, would Mia ever hurt a fellow ghost? It sounded impossible yet... not that far-fetched, Kouri herself hurt ghosts far, far, older than herself in the past after all. "Er..." Kouri raised an eyebrow when they stopped, it wasn't that far away, Anna and Wanda were still within eye-sight, this place didn't look like very 'secret' either.

Keep it a secret? Being with Mia managed to bring out Kouri's 'motherly' nature as the ghost girl acted with more maturity, quite rare really, only Mia and Rena managed to bring this side of her. The Vantha ghost looked up as she examined the statue of the lantern-holding woman. The thing looked old, made obvious by the plants growing on it, one thing was clear though, the statue was pretty, and of course, everything odd in this Courtyard would be connected to the Master Spiritist, "Ah... t-that's.... uhm..." Kouri didn't want to continue, she was afraid Wanda would hear her doubting the spiritist's beauty when she was alive, took offense, and launched some master-level souldarts at her. Kouri simply gulped then nodded, confirming at Mia's words.

"Dow- Hey!" As always, before Kouri could ask anything, Mia was already taking the lead as the smaller ghost passed through the ground, sighing, Kouri had no other choice but to follow her. After exiting a crypt that stored those trio of spirits, Kouri was not surprised if this one would lead into another underground rooms, the staircase echoed no sound as Kouri floated a few inches above it, circling down as she kept trailing behind Mia, and then.. they finally arrived at a beautiful temple.

"..." The little girl was truly taken by awe, she simply stood there in amazement at the beautiful quad-pillars, shining rocky bluish walls, and the coffins around them didn't make the room scary, oddly, it only accentuated its eerie beauty. The blue light matched Kouri's eye color when she was alive and she liked it, Kouri floated to Mia, listening to her explanation, "Ah, I see..." her crimson eyes followed Mia's finger, so Wanda was buried along with her friends. "Are they... her guardians?" The first assumption that came to her mind was those powerful ghosts that was always by Wanda's side, a lot of them sure looked similar, the large man, and robed Dhani woman being the ones she could remember at the top of her head. The replenishing aura of the place only served to calm Kouri further, making her able to notice the last statue... the one with shifting eye colors... wait, shifting eye colors?

"A-ah..." As if tranced, Kouri began floating to the human woman's statue, floated up until she was eye-level with the gem-like eyes, then her hands reached out, materialized, then rubbed the gems, "A... Vantha?" she muttered under her breath, then looked at Mia, "Mia, come here..." When the smaller ghost arrived by her side, Kouri would look down as she gulped then spoke slowly, "B-big Sis... is a Vantha, you know? Our eye colors change like the aurora, like... this one..." She turned her head back at the statue then leaned her forehead with it, "D-do you think..." She paused for a couple of ticks before continuing, "We can see what is inside her grave?"

[Mirage]

"A few of them are guardians I think, but I never paid attention." She kicked her feet as she raised her doll in front of her eyes, "None of them talk about it. Most of them don't talk to me at all, the meanies."

When she was called Mia would hop down, dragging the doll behind her and floating up beside Fubuki to get a closer look at the statue, "Ohhhh." she whispered, tapping the eye with a finger, "Pretty! But..." Mia turned and looked in confusion at Fubuki's eyes, "Yours don't change colors like this one does."

As it was suggested that they try to OPEN the coffin Mia flinched, biting her lip and looking uncomfortable, "U-um... I don't think Miss Wanda would l-like that. This place it's... it's very important to her, like my dolly." she held up the doll for emphasis, "She might get mad if we try."

The coffin, at first glance, looked like it was completely solid, but there was a thin seam that ran around the entire slab of stone. There was writing on the side of the stone, written in Vantha.

With deepest regrets I leave this world, but while my eyes will no longer shine I will still be here at your side. Forever, until the end of days.

Ferena Snowsong

[Fubuki Kouri]

"I don't..." Kouri confirmed Mia's confusion, but her tone was half-questioning her own answer, she looked at Mia with sad crimson eyes, eyes that slowly turned to the color of sapphire just like she had when she was alive for a tick before it returned to the usual blood-red, "I could... but," She searched for the word, but her lack of fluency in common made her pause, "but... v-volun... voluntarily, i-it supposed to change on its own..." Kouri made a despaired sob, she lost that one defining trait of the Vantha and it crushed her, even now. "But it doesn't matter... I... it doesn't matter anymore..." Clearly, she was lying to herself. Kouri dropped the topic as she looked back at the statue's beautiful eyes.

"I want..." Kouri whispered as she floated down to the coffiin, clearly wasn't listening to Mia's warnings, "I want to know..." She examined the solid stone block, circling it around until her crimson eyes found the peculiar writing, in Vantha. "Ah..." Of course, she would bend down to her knees then focused the soulmist on her right hand to rub the dust away, "With," She began reading it, slowly and carefully, "Deepest regrets I live this world, but while my eyes will no longer shine, I will still be here at your side." It felt so soothing to read something in her mother tongue again, Kouri finished the phrase as she read the last swords, "Forever, until the end of days, Ferena..." then her eyes widened as Kouri put both of her hands to cover her mouth in shock, "Snow... song..."

Trembling like a girl who just lost her best friend, Kouri stood up with her back hunched forward lifelessly, then without heeding any warnings or protest from Mia, she focused her full soulmist energy on both of her palms as she pushed the coffin's lid aside, "Eeeergh!" Even pushing herself past the comfortable limits, her body wracking with pain, but she didn't care, she had to get it open, she had to meet with her fellow Hold member.