Silent Screams (6)

Nia, Fenrir and Marquis Vanra left the courtyard soon after their duel ended, despite the requests from some of the knights to have their own duels with Nia. She was tempted to grant their request, yet the heat of the midday sun along with her desire to see the supposed spear the Marquis wanted to give her dissuaded her desires. 

Within the castle, the temperature was much cooler, a consequence of the material used to make it, and there was a constant shuffling of maids and servants moving throughout it. Yet every time the Marquis walked towards one, they stopped in place and bowed, despite how urgent their work seemed to be. The Marquis didn't seem to pay much attention to them, only giving a minor acknowledgement to their existence, yet that seemed to be enough for them.

It took some time until Nia and Fenrir entered what the fallen noble presumed was the Marquis' office, a simple room where unbeknownst to them, Silvo had been slightly over a week ago. 

"Around one year ago, the black market attempted to sell a runewoven spear after Crown Princess Adjest had returned to the Capital from Trowan. They had thought the noise of the Roguepalace Family's death had quieted down enough from the Crown's side for them to be safe enough to make such a sale."

Nia didn't pay much attention to the Marquis' words, instead her attention focused on the room and its appearance. Unlike most studies Nia had entered, whether it be her parents or Gallows, the Marquis didn't have many bookshelves or desks to store documents. Instead there was a large couch on the side of the room, reaching from the back wall almost to the front wall, and sitting opposite it were a series of banners and paintings, completely coating the wall.

Yet none of those compared to the extravagant window that led out from the back wall behind the Marquis' desk, a multitude of stained glass depicting the sigil of the Zacarias Family, a lone gray castle sat atop a mountain. Nia didn't know much of the history of the Zacarias Family, but she did know they dated before the Roguepalace Family, and the only reason they weren't Dukes like the Quinten Family, was because instead of serving the Ether Family loyally, they largely remained neutral.

It's why merchants love the Zacarias Marquisate, because unlike most nobles the Zacarias Family retained most of their autonomy through the transition from lone country to territory.

Fenrir on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, instead focused on the Marquis' words, especially after the mention of Adjest. He still remembered from Iris Gallow that she was a person of interest, or more accurately, a hurdle that posed a risk to Nia's wellbeing and objective. It wasn't like he wanted to stop the two from encountering each other, and if he believed that Adjest would help Nia's mental health, then Fenrir would be more than happy to get the two together.

Yet Fenrir wanted to be cautious, because the wolf boy knew there was a reason as to why Nia abandoned her friends in search of vengeance. It was Nia's choice to leave them behind, it will be her choice to reunite with them.

"Turns out, it was a trap, the Crown Princess had sent someone in advance ready to see if the black market would mess up. It was their own folly for underestimating the Crown Princess, and in return, they found themselves under a series of assaults from the network connection of her informants."

Despite what Fenrir and Nia expected, the Marquis moved towards the couch, and not the paintings, and lifted up each cushion atop without much of a care for where they landed. Only when the cushions were lifted did the duo notice that the couch was surprisingly big, not just wide but also in depth, as if it were actually a large chest instead of a couch.

"The poor fool who bought the spear found themselves completely ruined, but I don't pity them, they did believe it was the Roguepalace Relic despite the black market dismissing it."

The mention of the Roguepalace Relic perked Nia's attention towards the Marquis' words, especially since he finally started to talk about the spear itself and not how he gained possession of it. Of course, she knew full well it wouldn't be her family's relic, she had admonished the thoughts before, but then again, a part of her had wished it would've been that easy to acquire her family's legacy so soon.

Before they realized it, the chest that was hidden as a sofa was completely revealed to them, a simple wooden crate however would be a more fitting term. It did have a lock however, and when the Marquis used the key he had in his possession, the lock on the crate simply fell off. 

"So the Crown Princess twisted my arm into acquiring the spear, and no matter how strong a Marquis family which dates back to before the Ethernal Kingdom is, disobeying the order of the Crown Princess isn't something I wanted to do. Especially since it was in regards to the Roguepalace Family."

Whilst Nia thought Vanra mentioned the Roguepalace Family being a threat to his due to her family's powerful status amongst the commoners and knights, Fenrir knew better. More accurately, he knew the person the Marquis feared was the Crown Princess herself, and that speaking ill of the Roguepalace Family in her presence is the last thing many noble families ever do.

After the top of the crate was lifted free, what was revealed was a spear completely wrapped in a red and black cloth, not a single bit visible. Yet even without being able to see it, Nia could feel the runes woven on it, not familiar ones, yet runes nonetheless. It was an artifact, not her family's relic to her minor disappointment, yet an artifact and a spear at that.

So Nia did her best to contain her excitement, as whilst it would break her dream of only ever using her family's relic as her runewoven weapon, she had always been excited to use a spear with runes woven on it after witnessing many displays of artifacts during her time in the Academy. These displays were not enough however to make her interested in Runeweaving however.

Surprisingly Fenrir wasn't as eager, as although artifacts were rare, his uncle is a runeweaver and as such although rare, Fenrir has witnessed artifacts being made. 

"Apparently it is a fire based artifact, or atleast, that is what the black market advertised. Who knows how accurate their information is."

Beneath the cloak was the second most beautiful spear Nia had ever seen, second to her family's relic. And even then, the only reason her family's spear was more beautiful was purely biased, as comparing their designs meant the one before her was far superior. Unlike her family's spear and all of the spears Nia had used throughout her life, the shaft of the spear wasn't made out of wood, but a slick silvery metal.

The tip of the spear was made of the same metal, yet unlike the shaft which had intricate designs all engraved on it during the forging process, the tip had runes of a red glow, very unlike the normal artifacts Nia sees. The only other artifact Nia knew that glowed a different color to the normal red was Lotho's sword, however her 'Blindness' mask didn't have any glow, so she knew the glow was more of a standardizing effect than universal.

But the fact the color was different meant the standard of quality for the weapon was likely superior to what the Marquis initially presumed. Of course, an artifact's true value can only be revealed by someone who could wield the weapon with incredible mastery, as runes could not make up for one's flaws, as Ragnir in Misty Forest proved.

Yet Nia wasn't afraid of that fact one bit, as although she had never wielded an artifact, her mastery in using a spear is simply incomparable to most.

"Although I give this to you as a gift, in reality it's more of a bribe, yet you know that don't you?"

Nia completely washed out the Marquis' words, uncaring for his opinion anymore. Instead she simply took the spear from his hands, rummaging her hands over the intricate design of the spear. A spear was a tool for Nia, something she was to use in order to reach her goal, but that didn't mean she didn't treasure them, as a good worker treats their tools like treasure.

No-one noticed it, yet when Nia got a hold of the spear, the slight red glow that looked like a vivid fire slightly darkened, closely matching that of Nia's bloody eyes. The fallen nobles attention was too focused on the engravement, which now that she had a closer look, mimicked the appearance of a large firebreathing lizard, often refered to as a dragon, which was known for their intense firebreath.

Of course, dragons didn't exist, yet they remained a creature admired by certain beast-tribes and even humans depending on their professions.

"It seems you like it."

Nia normally had a hard to read face, one often clouded with madness and anger, yet that didn't mean she was skilled with a poker face. It was simply natural, and as such she failed to hide her natural happiness at wielding a spear in her hands, a key stepping stone to the revenge of her family's death.

Yet what the Marquis couldn't see, and what Fenrir could see, was her screams of pain inside her mind, because as happy as she was to hold this spear, it also only revealed more vividly to Nia that her dreams were crushed and that everything she once had was gone. Her family, her friends, her goals were all crushed the day her parents died and her family's relic was stolen.

The fallen noble obviously couldn't cry out loud, she couldn't let the pain show on her face in front of someone who she had known for less than half an hour. She couldn't even show the pain to Fenrir, because if she revealed her thoughts, her unstable emotions, it would make her question the whole idea of revenge, make her wonder if returning is the right thing to do.

"Of course I do, I've been in need of a good spear for a while."

Without warning Nia struck one of the open parts of the castle with her spear, and at the same time only slightly pushed with her will onto the spear in an attempt to activate the artifact's runes. It was a weird feeling, one she had gotten used to after interacting with all the cheap runes in her household, but one she never got comfortable with, the feeling of pushing what she referred to as willpower onto a pseudo-physical thing.

Yet it worked just as smoothly as it did with all the other artifacts she held, a deep red flame igniting the tip of the spear with a heat that would make normal flames quiver. Despite the fact that Nia was attacking the Marquis' castle, he made no move nor word against Nia's actions, instead simply watching with a smiling face.

Nia's spear collided firmly with the castle wall, not with so much force that the blow would seriously hurt Nia, but enough that she could feel the impact. The flame also didn't spread far, but Nia had only let out a small bit of what she knew could be released, and even that small amount was too large for what Nia had intended.