"You look good, by the way," Marcus remarked as he perched comfortably at the cathedral’s edge, one leg dangling over the abyss below. His eyes glimmered mischievously as they roamed over Serah. "I mean, I’ve gotta say—even in all that formal attire, your body still manages to be well-defined beneath the layers. Honestly, I can’t help but imagine how you’d look in a gown."
Serah froze for a heartbeat, her crimson eyes narrowing as she flicked them toward him. A faint blush crept across her cheeks before she swiftly turned her gaze back to the breathtaking view of Ilis sprawled beneath them.
"Do you always have to come up with new nonsense every single time we meet?" she asked, her voice sharp yet tinged with exasperated amusement. She gave him a side glance, lips curving faintly.
"Of course," Marcus replied instantly, his smirk widening. "How else am I supposed to keep you interested in a handsome man like me?" His tone carried that smug, comedic flare only he could pull off.
"Handsome, you say?" Serah muttered, tilting her head slightly before giving a small, amused smile. She looked away again, crimson hair shifting with the night breeze. "Tell me then, why are you in Ilis? Last I recall, you had no intention of stepping foot anywhere you could be hunted so easily. You’re certainly not here just to hustle like you did in Heyh. So tell me, Marcus, why are you here?"
She paused deliberately, then turned back to him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Don’t tell me you actually missed me? That you cared enough not to return to wherever you were headed, and instead came here just to look after me? That’s... sweet."
Marcus tilted his head, blinked once, twice, then a third time, as if processing her words. Then, without warning, he burst into laughter. It came so hard and sudden he clutched his stomach, doubling over. He rocked so much that he slipped from the edge, vanishing briefly before catching himself and climbing back up. His laughter slowly subsided into breathless chuckles as he looked at her with a grin.
"Wow... who would’ve thought the princess herself would flirt with me? Oh wait, I would’ve. Of course I would’ve." His smug tone earned nothing but a roll of the eyes from Serah.
Marcus stood up fully then, brushing imaginary dust from his attire before pacing a few steps along the cathedral’s stone ledge. "That’s very cute of you, princess. I’ll admit, you just made me fall for you two times over. Not that I needed much help," he said with a playful wink as he strolled past her.
"But..." he stretched the word deliberately as he leapt onto another gargoyle with practiced grace, balancing effortlessly. "I’m not here because I was worried about you. That’d be a damn insult to you. I mean, you’re the Phoenix of Solara. The blazing flame of the great Magna family. How could I ever let myself think you’d need help catching some pathetic ’Empire lord’ wannabe who happens to have a fetish for slavery?"
Serah tilted her head at him, crimson eyes gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
"Besides," Marcus added with a shrug, "I’ve already helped you enough. No reason to worry about you now."
Serah gazed at him as he crouched easily upon the gargoyle, eyes drifting lazily down to the glowing streets and dwellers of Ilis. She allowed a small, genuine smile to tug at her lips. "Thanks for the praise, I suppose," she said softly.
Her expression hardened a moment later as she tilted her head. "But tell me the truth—why are you here? Ilis isn’t any less secured than Heyh. In fact, security for dark mages here is ten times worse. So why come to the capital of Solara, of all places? And more importantly—how did you even get in undetected?"
"Same way I got into Heyh," Marcus answered without hesitation, his tone matter-of-fact. "Concealment, and staying the hell away from using magic."
Serah’s eyes widened slightly at his words. "Wait... then that means you still haven’t used your magic since the last time we met."
"Yep. Bingo," Marcus said, grinning as if it were the most casual thing in the world.
"I see," Serah said evenly, her crimson eyes fixed on him. "Then why are you here?"
"Demon hunt," Marcus replied, his tone dropping into a brief seriousness that cut through the night air.
Serah’s eyes widened slightly. "By demon... you mean a Blood Demon?"
"Yep," Marcus answered casually, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.
"And if a Blood Demon managed to slip past the arrays of Ilis... then it has to be a Pureblood, doesn’t it?" Serah asked, her eyes narrowing in thought.
"Wow, you still remember," Marcus said with a smirk tugging at his lips. "Almost thought your grand mission might’ve kept you too busy to recall that little detail."
"Of course I do," Serah shot back confidently. "Besides, how could I forget when I have this?" She lifted her left wrist, showing off a simple yet elegant bracelet that rested just above her comm-rune. At its center gleamed a transparent crystal, faintly pulsing under the moonlight—one Marcus knew very well. After all, he had given it to her back in Heyh.
The Blood Demon detecting crystal.
"You turned it into a bracelet," Marcus remarked, smirking with approval. "Smart idea. I’ve been using that thing for a while and not once did I think to make it wearable." He chuckled, amused by his own lack of foresight.
"Not surprised, really," Serah quipped dryly.
"Ouch," Marcus pressed a hand against his chest in mock injury, grinning.
"Tell me," Serah asked, her gaze sharpening, "how did you even know a Pureblood Blood Demon was here?"
Marcus shifted slightly, his tone tinged with irritation. "I ran into it on my way back home after we last met. The bastard caught me off guard—stole my money and my leather jacket." His voice carried mock seriousness as he added, "The jacket I can replace, but my money? That’s unforgivable."
Serah stared at him for a long moment, crimson eyes flickering with disbelief as she tried to decipher if he was truly serious. Was Marcus really hunting a Pureblood Blood Demon... because it robbed him? And yet... she remembered clearly that Purebloods possessed the ability to take human form. Perhaps it did make sense that it would steal both money and clothes. Still, the motive felt far more complex than Marcus let on.
"Okay... I guess that’s one way to justify hunting a demon," Serah said slowly. "But do you have any idea what it plans to do with your money? A demon wouldn’t just take it for nothing."
Marcus turned fully toward her, then shrugged with a dismissive air. "No clue. Maybe it’s planning to hire some desperate underworld mercenaries for whatever scheme it’s cooking up."
"What? Why would it do that?" Serah asked, surprise flickering across her features.
"I don’t know," Marcus admitted, his voice casual again. "Blood Demons are clever, but their choices don’t always make sense to me. Honestly, it could probably handle whatever it wants on its own, but instead it chooses to play around with humans. Why? No idea. But it doesn’t matter. It’s not my problem. Whatever it’s planning, it can knock itself out." He smirked faintly. "I just want my money back."
Serah blinked, her expression shifting into confusion. She studied him carefully, searching for some sign that he was joking, but his nonchalant look told her otherwise.
"Wait," she said incredulously, "even if you don’t care about its motives, you can’t seriously think of just letting it go?"
Marcus scoffed. "Of course not. I’m not about to let that bloodwretch bastard walk around free after taking my hard-earned money. Dead men don’t get to keep coin purses."
Serah sighed, running a hand briefly through her hair.
"So where exactly is this demon?" she asked.
"Here in Ilis," Marcus replied confidently. "I’ve been tracking it all the way from Zone 17 straight into the capital. Last I felt its presence was here, before I lost the trail. Pretty sure it slipped into the underworld."
"There’s... an entrance to the underworld here?" Serah asked carefully, her voice low.
"Yeah, probably. Wouldn’t surprise me." Marcus shrugged. "The underworld’s the playground for every shady bastard, every twisted deal, every outlaw too rotten for the surface. If there’s a place in Ilis—or maybe even Ilios—where scum can crawl in and out unnoticed, that’s where you’ll find the entrance. I’d bet on it."
Serah fell into silence at that, her mind turning to the thought of the underworld. It was said to be a vast, hidden realm beneath Amthar, a place where only the most irrational, corrupt, and dangerous of individuals thrived. A realm entirely concealed from the surface world, making raids nearly impossible. Even if one kingdom dared to strike, they would fail; it would take the united strength of all three kingdoms to bring the underworld to its knees. That truth alone made it nearly untouchable.
After a long pause, Serah finally lifted her gaze back to Marcus.