A beauty in parts

At this point in time, Zhen Liu had closed the door into the creepy altar room and had begun to lean against it. He took several heavy breaths as he felt his aether circulating like crazy and his heart pounding in his chest.

<Forty five seconds remaining, home stretch.>

'Remind me...to...never...do this...again..'

<Noted.>

'...I... I want Jin Fang...to...tie me up...'

<Gods above, you are down bad.>

'...shame me more.'

<Dude!>

It should be noted that the lewder Zhen Liu's thoughts were becoming, the denser his aether was becoming as well.

'These side effects better be worth it...where am I going to find a P*wer R*angers outfit out here!'

_________________________________________________

"Apologies, sir knight, but I'll have to refuse," Wyvara rejected with a bow and a sincere tone. She walked pass the kneeling knight and made her way over to Draigo, who was knocked on his ass earlier due to the wolf knight's sudden charge.

The knight looked relatively stunned on how easily his proposal was rejected, but the cause of this sudden stun didn't care, she had a...friend, to look after.

"Are you alright, Draigo?," Wyvara asked as she pulled him to his feet.

"Y-yeah. Ain't a problem."

"Dear muse! Why did you reject my humble proposal?!"

The knight on the other hand, still cared and sounded a bit indignant.

"You must recognize this stately garb and badge, yes? If you were to become my bride, you'd be one of the most powerful women in the Kingdom! You'd want for nothing and have all your needs fulfilled now and forever after! Why would you refuse such a generous offer?!"

With careful composure and an easy smile, Wyvara turned towards the knight to give her answer.

"Good sir, you are a knight so you should understand this. Years ago, I made a promise with my partner here that we would be together forever, playing music and seeing the world," Wyavra answered as she smiled at Draigo, "And that is a promise I intend to keep."

Draigo was over the moon when he heard Wyavra's answer.

'She.. remembered...'

The two of them had made that promise years ago when they were just children. A lot had happened between the two since that day, from fights, to relationships and everything in between, that he had honestly thought she had forgotten about it.

If he was unsure about putting a ring on finger before, he was sure as hell gonna try and do so now.

"Wyvara, I-'"

"HAHAHAHA! I see!, I see," the wolf knight loudly declared, interrupting Draigo's chain of thought. "A vow! Of course, like our own code of chivalry. One dedicated to our masters..."

In that moment, both Wyvara and Draigo felt that something was clearly off about the atmosphere.

"Of course, a vow like that is something to be cherished! Something that must be kept no matter the consequences, thick or thin!," the knight seemed to monologue, either unaware or very aware of the couple who served as his audience(victims). "Then again...a vow like that is only as good as the parties being alive to keep them...[Shattering Howl]!"

"Look out!"

A burst of howling aether fired from the knight's hand and flew towards the two musicians, followed by an explosion of force.

BOOM!

...

...

...

Draigo can't remember much from that night...

...

...

...

All he could recall was whiteness...pain...blood...screaming...and bottle, after bottle, after bottle of booze.

...

For a spell after, Draigo went on a wild journey of sorts.

...

He became a playboy, a vagabond, a wastrel, a killer and a force of rage and power, in the coming decades. Anything to get him to stop remembering that awful night and that wretched sound.

...

He still came back to music though.

He had to.

For her.

....

A terrible epilogue to an otherwise, "happily ever after".

...

But then again...this epilogue didn't end.

_________________________________________________

Draigo was stunned silent as stared petrified, terrified, horrified of the sight before him.

"It-it can't be..," Draigo repeated, his brain unable to fully comprehend the horror before him. "I watched as they buried her! Why is she here, what's did you do to her?!"

"Oh very simple really, I am improving her!," the Marquis said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Laying on the stone altar, a few feet away from Draigo's head, was the body of none other than his beloved Wyvara...well...most of it.

From what Draigo could see, Wyvara's head and arms were stitched onto a torso that wasn't hers, legs of different colors and feet that were stitched of several parts. He could only assume the same was in regards to her innards. "Completing" the look was a strange metallic device embedded in the chest, a red aether beast core quietly glowing inside it.

"Yes my old rival. After our little...'accident', I took it upon myself to find the means to bring my beloved muse back from the dead. But during that quest, I realized that if I did bring her back, she'd probably still attempt keep her vow to you," the Marquis said to Draigo as if he was an old friend, and not a victim of his madness.

"So I took it upon myself to try and replace all those parts, with that of maidens in love! That way, when I bring her back, her mind will cause the first person she see. Namely, yours truly," he added with a flourish. "But tell me, old rival, why do you look at me with such hate? I thought you'd be happy, not for me, but at least upon seeing her."

Draigo stared at the Marquis with complete and utter malice. He wanted nothing more than to jam his fingers into the man's eye sockets, but try as he might, he couldn't break the force pressing on him.

"Damn it! Why are you telling me all of this? You wanted to make me angry, is that it?!," Draigo yelled.

When the Marquis first caught Draigo, fear invaded his heart.

When Draigo was shown the stitched abomination of his beloved, despair settled in.

But after hearing the Marquis's words, both gave way to rage.

"Oh no no, that wasn't my intention," the Marquis said with a chuckle as he slowly and methodically walked in front of Draigo, "I merely wanted you to see her one last time, before you shuffle off this mortal coil."

The Marquis stopped a step before Draigo, staring down at him with disdainful glee on his face.

[Armor on.]

A small gust of wind blew through the room, as the Marquis's body began to glow with the power of condensed aether.

"It would be rude not to execute without the proper attire," the Marquis said as the condensed aether began to take the shape of armor.

The familiar shape of a wolf helmet soon came into being.