Only a few minutes would pass before the manor doors opened and a lanky individual with gaunt features joined the group. Upon his arrival, it would be apparent that a large shield was casually slung over one shoulder.

Pulling it around front he give it a turn to look it over before shrugging. What the old hunk of metal meant to Sanina and the stranger didn't much matter to him.

Meanwhile, Sanina gave a wave of her hand towards him as he arrived, signalling him to wait while she awaited further remark from Aerona regarding the artifact and its location.

Several minutes would pass before the manor door opened and a youthful looking individual stepped out. He couldn't have looked more than eighteen or nineteen years old himself, though next to him, Avril looked downright healthy. His white hair and dark duster length coat only accentuated his gaunt pale features, leaving him look all the more ghostly.

“Hey lady, you can't stay here, this is private property,” he called to the girl at the base of the steps before closing the door the door behind him.

Given the emotional state of the girl, this could be more troublesome than it was worth and he had half a mind to just let the dogs loose.

Ugh tears. Just what he needed.

“I'm sorry, but Sanina isn't here right now. She's away on business.”

Great... what he hell was he supposed to do now. With a sigh he muttered, “Hold on.”

Stepping off to the side he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed in a number. It would seem whoever he had called was expecting him, as he didn't get a word in edge wise for several moments.

“What do you think I'm doing? She says she knows Sanina though,” he began before getting cut off.

“Yeah yeah, but you know how Sanina likes the crazy ones...” he replied before breaking off into low laughter.

“Let's just bring her in for the night, we can send her off in the morning. Then we don't have to worry about Sanina having our heads later, if its one of hers,” he said finally.

“Yeah yeah,” he muttered before snapping the phone closed and turning back around and opening the door for her.

“Alright, go on,” he said to Avril.

“There's a bathroom down that way, go get cleaned up. I'll have Bri bring you some clean clothes,” he said with a wave of his hand down a side hall as they made their way into the building.

The sound of children playing could be heard coming from the far door of the room. “We can't have you running about in your night clothes looking like that. You'll upset the kids,” he explained. That was one rule they all abide by here. Sanina's protectiveness of the children was not a point of debate.

“What's going on?” a familiar voice asked. Stepping out of the trees was Christian. Of all of the Lessard's, Christian's delving into the macabre had left him looking for the all the world like a walking corpse. His skin was pale and gaunt and the color had been leached out of his hair. He lacked the restraint and patience of Sanina and Vincent in his dabbling and his recklessness was beginning to show in its effects upon his body.

Christian seemed somewhat stunned by the whole matter as he gazed back at the burning manor, mouth agape. Finally he settled for simply following Vincent and Parson. There would be time later to figure out what the hell was going on.

It was still the pre-hours before dawn as a man entered the plaza under the cover of darkness, and the sun had yet to rise and reveal the nights massacre to the denizens of Wing City. Strolling his way through the plaza, Christian was whistling a cheery tune with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat. The streets were empty, devoid of life, or unlife as the case may be, and no movement was detected save for two hounds that slunk along at either side of him. They were spindly looking beasts with the flesh peeled back from their skulls to reveal the unnatural blue glow within their hollow eye sockets.

Since Sanina's death at the hands of Riaze, her once promising apprentice had taken to solitude as he delved into his macabre studies with a single minded intensity. He had yet to uncover the full extent of Sanina's research, and had yet to successfully merge demon with undead, but his progress continued to unfold exponentially.

The spectacle that had drawn him out of his reclusive hole at last was the mountain of bodies piled within the streets of the Wing City Plaza. He had read the decree, scoffed at it as openly as Varia. The Lessard family had claimed dominion over this city long before the Vankoryth had set foot in these lands, and they would remain long after the Vankoryth had turned to ash on the wind.

The Vankoryth's own actions would see to that. The Lessard's hadn't risen to power by force, or by massacres that would draw the ire of every hunter, lycan and law enforcement for miles around. Christian had learned Sanina's lessons well. Cunning, subterfuge, patience, these were the keys to success. One does not simply take Wing City by force, and come morning, this place would be crawling with investigators.

As he came to stand before the monument, Christian held a hand out, tendrils of blue necromantic energy seeping into the pile of mangled bodies. As if marionette puppets, the bodies began to stir, groaning and disentangling themselves from one another. Sunken milky eyes stared back at him as the group began to assemble.

Pleased with his handiwork, Christian shoved his hands back in his pockets before simply turning on heel to walk away, the congregation of shuffling zombies following in his wake. It was a rare opportunity to acquire so many useful bodies, all with no trouble to himself. The Vankoryth Detante's signature would see that any repercussions were directed elsewhere, well away from himself.

Christian entered last, his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat. He looked irritated, though Christian often looked irritated at these social events, however infrequent they may be. He would just as soon rather be burrying himself in his research than mingling about in public.

"So why are we here again?" he asked.

His white hair and gaunt skin left him looking perpetually sickly.

In the background, the sound of a thud was audible as Christian hit the floor.