[center][img] https://i.imgur.com/5ILCycx.png[/img][/center]
[hr]

As unexpected as the mystrel’s striking resemblance to Miina was, the words that came out of his mouth made Éliane immediately stop. Her mind momentarily blanked out, her face frozen in a rictus grimace at that simple statement. 

A city of the dead.

Impossible. 

Her thoughts immediately flashed to her family, at their bakery, and then her own team, both experienced and savvy. If there was any truth in what the man was saying, then of anybody, they should be fine. She shoved the other, rising, dark thoughts down. Hard. Either they escaped, or they were hunkered down somewhere, she reassured herself. That was if this person who was alleging themselves to be Zeke was actually Miina’s brother. It could just as easily be another plot from the traitor. Her grip tightened on her weapon, before she forced herself to relax, glancing at the other Kirins.

She could see that both Rudolf and Esben were taking this very seriously. That they immediately jumped to necromancy or worse came as a surprise to her, though; Éliane had immediately thought disease or chemical disaster, but either way, she approved of Esben’s caution to keep their distance. Whatever the hell it was, if Zeke had been exposed to it none of them yet knew how contagious it was. 

“One more question,” she began slowly, racking her brain for trivia from her interactions with Miina. As paranoid as they all were now, they needed to confirm his identity, and this one issue provided a healthy distraction for the pink-haired woman to pursue instead of other, less helpful things in the immediate moment. “If you are Zeke Malina, what was the first magic your sister learned?”