As Great Mage Mirlie approached one of the more less incinerated corpses, she pulled back the black hood which had been covering the face of the assailant.

Only to regret her action and freeze as she saw what lied beneath it.

As she lifted the hood, an old wooden mask met her gaze. A symbol she never wished to see, inscribed across the mask. Perfectly etched along the exact centre of the mask, the leviathan cross.

It had been many decades since she last saw this symbol. They had returned...

-

Seeing the puppies take to Nora so thoroughly, Sev closed the guestroom door and headed back down the massive staircase. He had just sent off Lucius to do some less than honest errands.

"Brook, Scraps!" Sev yelled out.

The sound of rattling bones immediately followed, in a mad dash, both Brook and Scraps raced towards Sev. Tripping and falling several times in their efforts.

"It's about time I give you two an upgrade..."

-

Nora sat lying in bed, one puppy on each side of her. She had been contemplating a name for them for several hours. Ever since Sev mentioned something about names holding power. In her old world, names only gave power to those who came close to divinity. Their name coming to hold meaning or representation in a Dao.

Yet, for some reason, giving a name to some River Wolves apparently held some similar power. Using similar reasoning, she went through countless names in her head. Everything from Yin and Yang, a representation of duality, too far more traditional names of Beihai and Nanhai.

Yet, nothing seemed to stick. She kept poking flaws in her own selection. 'Wouldn't this name be too harsh? What if no one understands it? Does it even make sense in this world?' her own questioning, an onslaught.

Quickly, she burned out on names. No name seemed perfect, let alone two. Deciding that she would continue her search for a perfect name later. She too concluded that she should probably cultivate. She still lacked the strength she desired.

Resolute, she propped herself up on the bed and sat in a lotus position. The two puppies unwanting to leave her side simply found new positions to cuddle around her.

'Too damn adorable...'

-

Great Mage Mirlie, with new found resolution peeled off the mask, the act taking far more strength than she originally believed. With a strong pull, the mask flew off the face. The being which lied below confirmed her worst fear. They weren't imitators, they truly had returned.

What had once been a man, now layed in front of Mirlie, the face torn clean off, still firmly attached to the mask. Revealing exposed muscle which had been permanently contorted into a wicked smile. A pair of ferocious black eyes now rested in death. Yet the most unsettling part of the corpse, being the full set of pristine razor sharp teeth which lined its smile.

'They sent actually twelve Newborn Revenants...'

Now knowing who had taken Percy, reinvigorated, began to make her way towards Retford. Only to realize that she was still nearly completely stripped.

She begrudgingly stripped the corpse and dawned it's black-robe. It wasn't her proudest moment but it beat being nearly naked for the remainder of the journey. It felt almost wrong to wear a black robe. She had detested black magicians for such a long time that even their apparel now disgusted her. Even though she did not enjoy her current situation, she knew that the problem at hand far surpassed her own qualms.

Before leaving, she made sure to grab the mask of the corpse she had stripped. Prior to burning the remaining corpses. Reducing their existence to nothing more than piles of ash.

Now prepared, she restarted her journey to Retford, with newfound purpose.

-

In a secret room within Lucius' Mansion, Sev had begun to slave away at a new experiment. It had been many years since he created Brook and Scraps. Compared to his current self, these skeletons were a stain on his past. Indicators of his naivety as a young mage.

Now that he had returned, he could improve then, remake them, strengthen them...