Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lucius awoke the next morning after his confession to his long-time best friend, Rena. Remembering the fact that he thought to say such a thing brought a blush to his face. He was not one for emotions and sentiments, but Rena was his weakness…well her and his parents.

However, he did not regret his actions, because the moment he shouted out those words, the crowds in the street suddenly stopped and stared at the two. Lucius began to panic not realizing that he had yelled out his feelings so loudly. Before he could turn away from embarrassment, two small hands cradled his face.

Rena stood on her tiptoes and pulled herself into his embrace and gave him a deep kiss on the lips.

Lucius gently placed two of his fingers on his lips and smiled, remembering the sensation. However, he did not have to wait long to experience it again as the somewhat familiar weight on his chest seemed to move, as Rena gently rose from her slumber at his shifting.

Her eyes locked on his and she smiled at him, her cheeks rosy with slight embarrassment. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." Lucius returned the smile. Though they had slept in the same room and bed, nothing had happened between them. Rena only just turned fourteen and Lucius was still a little away from turning fourteen himself.

They had decided to wait until they were of proper age. Even though Lucius and her could not get married, due to the laws that banned Marked Ones from doing such a thing, it was still important to them and would make it feel more real even if the laws of the land would not let them.

Lucius pulled his love towards him and planted a small kiss on her forehead, which left her with a small pout. He chuckled to himself and gave her a second, small kiss directly on her lips.

"Better." She smiled. "Though… maybe you should do both. Every morning. Oh, and every night. And when we have lunch. Oh and when I do a good job.

And maybe…"

He laughed again. "Rena, that is a little too much for now. How about morning and night for now. We can play the rest by ear?"

Rena's pout returned. "Fine. But we hold hands whenever I want. Even if you feel embarrassed."

"Rena…"

"Don't 'Rena' me…I've been waiting for at least two years for you to say something to me. I'm going to have my fun dammit."

"Okay, you win, I give up." He held his hands up in mock surrender. They both looked at each other and laughed before getting up and getting dressed for the day. Changing in front of one another was slightly different now.

There was nothing between each other that they had not seen, though the context was different, such as his duties as a servant and when they needed to change or clean up out on the road.

Despite that, both of them seemed to have a flush to their cheeks and they shyly turned their backs to one another while getting ready for the day. When everything was settled they walked out of their room together, with Rena clinging to his arm and giggling all the way down to the main floor where the party was awaiting them.

Jen and Lethen had giant grins on their faces and even Paul had a slight smirk.

"Well, well, well!" Jen shouted. "Looks like we get to save money on rooms at the inns from now on!"

"So, it would seem." Rena giggled.

"Right, so let's turn the quest in. You still got the thing on you freakshow?" Jen asked.

"I do." Lucius responded, completely not caring about the insult. Together, they all walked up to reception and waited for a spot to open.

Jen informed the reception they had completed the request to investigate the missing hunters camp quest that also included a missing official and adventurers. She handed over the official's insignia and personal effects they removed before burning as well as the guild cards of the adventurers.

They did not gather any equipment because it was customary to take what you needed from a dead adventurer and burn the rest. It was a strange way to honor their sacrifice by having the dead support the living, then sending them off with the rest of what they earned.

"Ah, and proof of this… mist man?" The receptionist asked. Her tone was that of disbelief. It was likely that she thought they had simply skipped the quest and found some other dead adventurer's cards, or even stopped after they found the previous adventurer's corpses and left thinking it was too dangerous.

It was for this moment that Lucius had kept the hand. He placed the wrapped object onto the desk and said, "There's the proof."

The receptionist eyed the cloth warily, but unraveled nonetheless. She gasped momentarily before collecting herself after she remembered where she worked. She then pulled out a book and flipped through the pages while occasionally glancing at the hand.

Finally, she stopped flipping pages and said, "While we don't have exact matches in our encyclopedia of known marks, it does share characteristics of other 'mist related marks' that are documented. So, this quest is complete. I will distribute your rewards, you may pick them up further down the desk. How else may I assist you?"

"I need to register my mark. I finally figured out what it is. It was previously listed as 'unknown' and Lethal Grade."

"I understand. We can help you. Follow me to the area over by the harvesters." She advised.

They walked over to the harvesting area where there was another reception desk and a small area they had set up for testing marks.

"Please share the name of your mark, and showcase its ability. If your ability requires additional space, please let me know so we can set up a proper venue."

"This is fine. I have an inverse mark, so there are two meanings. The first is the Mark of Celestia. The second is the Mark of the Abyss."

Several eyes locked onto them as he finished his sentence. Most were in anger, though many were also out of curiosity. Lucius simply sighed and activated his mark's abilities.

He could not use them simultaneously at the moment, so he activated them one at a time.

"[Celestia's Grace: Heavenly Blade]" Lucius' had drawn his weapon and it took on a bright blue glow that hummed with energy. He swung it around several times leaving behind a streak of light as it moved through the air.

He then cancelled the ability and activated his other one from Grimm. "[Abyss Break: Abyss Armor]"

Shadows from around the room shot towards Lucius and wrapped themselves around his existing armor, amplifying its protective capabilities. He also felt a sensation that he thought was the tendril the skill gave him. When he thought about moving it, the tendril snaked its way out of his own shadow and leaned over his shoulder, giving the receptionist a slight wave.

"There you have it. My mark." He said plainly. All eyes were on him now and every one of them were confused. It was clear his words were the truth, but none knew what to do with the information.

"Alright, thank you. The information has been recorded. I have recommended that the classification for your skill remain at the Lethal Grade. If there is anything we can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask." If the receptionist was bothered or affected by Lucius' abilities, she hid it rather quickly and very well, unlike the momentary lapse with the hand.

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