[h2][center]Zeke von Genbu[/center][/h2]
The stench of blood that hit the second that he and Pandoria walked through the door was met with an almost synchronized expression of distaste. It wasn't often that they came across scenes of recent carnage, and the smell of death that hung in the air only served to make them feel more disgusted.

"This place is... I'm not sure how to describe it. If I had to pick between the city we were in before or the one we're in now... I'd definitely take the former," the Driver said, taking a few steps forward before noticing the corpse being consumed by the oversized ravens on the ground. "And no respect for the dead, either."

There was a solemn look on both Zeke's and Pandoria's faces as the former stepped forward, his sword now gripped in both hands as he stepped forward. The somber atmosphere was promptly broken, though, as Hibiki's sudden transformation caused both him and his Blade to turn towards the girl in confusion.

Which, given the subsequent spontaneous loud background music and singing, only served to further confuse them. After a few moments, Zeke simply shrugged in acceptance and, with a smile on his face, rushed forward after Hibiki to take out the remaining crow.

"Okay, I have... Many questions! Chief among them is why the heck you'd pick that sort of track for a place like this, but I'm not complaining! Let's go! Dynamic Spark Sword!" he shouted, holding his sword horizontally as he moved his left hand across it and covering it with an apparent full sheath of electricity. With one swing, he threw the bird to his left; with the next, his right. By now, the monster was all but dead, but a final swing downwards, with the blade crackling after having doubled in size, made sure that it was most definitely dead.

"Seriously, though, you get [i]background music[/i]? By the Architect, I'd love to have that sort of thing, too! Oh man, I can just imagine how [i]cool[/i] it'd be to get my own theme music when I dive into battle!" he said excitedly, the apprehension about this whole scenario having been overtaken entirely by this point.

[@RolePlayerRoxas][@Raineh Daze]

[hr][hr]
Youmu's inquiry would result in an abrupt turn of the head from the old man, as if suddenly acknowledging her arrival from the moment that she spoke. Though the grin on his face remained on his face as he looked over her, the notice of a letter in her hand (that had most certainly [i]not[/i] been there when the group had entered) caused his eyes to widen. As if seeing that piece of paper alone allowed him to understand everything, the old man nodded his head in "understanding".

"Ah, yes, yes, I see! You must be that man's long-lost daughter! Or grandaughter? I care not! For this land is yours now, and all of its sins are no longer just ours to bear!" he said, his hands clasped together over Youmu's hand, which he thus firmly shook. "I, in all my years looking over these lands... Yes, yes, you have vigor in your eyes. Surely, surely—!"

And with that, the old man, just as quickly as he had approached her, let go and walked back to the ruined statue. With a nod, he picked up what seemed to be a journal, desiccated and missing half of its pages before walking over to Youmu and handing it over.

"This was his, and his words have been left to you," he said, glancing between the other three people that Youmu had arrived with before nodding. "You have hired mercenaries already, it seems? Ah, but the words of that odd child in blue must mean that you have not told them of everything yet, am I wrong? Now, I must leave you to tend to my own work; these lands are vile, but I must make sure to tend to them even so."

And without giving a straight answer to anyone present, the old man left.

The [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlRBzoKN4NY]letter[/url] that had found its way into Youmu's hands, unnoticed as it had been until now, seemed to be hastily written out in ink. Even so, the words remained legible, and what it had said bore nothing but ill omens.

[hider=Letter][quote]Ruin has come to our family. You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial. Gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor. I lived all my years in that ancient, rumor shadowed manor. Fattened by decadence and luxury. And yet, I began to tire of conventional extravagance. Singular, unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous and unnamable power. With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on swarthy workmen and sturdy shovels. At last, in the salt-soaked crags beneath the lowest foundations we unearthed that damnable portal of antediluvian evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth but we were in a realm of death and madness! In the end, I alone fled laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity. Until consciousness failed me. You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial. It is a festering abomination! I beg you, return home, claim your birthright, and deliver our family from the ravenous clutching shadows of the Darkest Dungeon.[/quote][/hider]

[@VitaVitaAR][@Crusader Lord][@Rune_Alchemist][@KoL]