Inside the warm airs of Victoria Magika's well-decorated study, the pair of Maxwell and Alsop were sat with a welcoming hostess. Victoria was brighter, more vivid, and certainly more stunning at first glance. She had, of course, found her meaning for life again. But that meaning was behind closed doors. Her longing for a life that pleased her appetite, was through the thick barricade of Envy. The key to defeating the dark demon in front of her life was quite literally in front of her now. Alsop Dusseldorf.

"So, Alsop Dusseldorf. Where shall we begin?" Asked Victoria, circling the two with her arms crossed.

"I don't know where to begin...there is too much..." Stuttered Alsop nervously.

"The name. You remember a name, Alsop." Reminded Maxwell.

"Huh? Ah right. The captain. My captain. My mentor. I remember him but nobody else seems to." Said Alsop, he had been gripping the cushioning of the sofa with an upward gaze.

"It is clear, this captain is a victim of Envy's power. But why has the effect of forgetting not hit Alsop?" Pondered Maxwell.

"This captain. What is his name?" Asked Victoria, her back arched downwards to inspect Alsop's face.

"Captain Alister Sinclair." Replied Alsop, his eyes rising to shine hers with a sparkle.

"Ahah! I knew it." Victoria called out with a turn to herself.

"What do you know? Do you remember him too?" Anxiously asked Maxwell.

"No. I know the name though. Thomas mentioned it earlier, it's why he came here." Victoria replied.

"So, he knows the captain?" Maxwell asked almost instantly afterwards.

"No. He came to me with several voices meddling in his mind. One of these voices was Alister Sinclair. Except, I now know these aren't voices." Victoria said with her eyes on Alsop.

"What are they?" Asked Maxwell with intrigue.

"They are souls. The souls Envy has eaten. Thomas had the captain's soul in his head." Said Victoria.

"I see. Should the souls not have been, I suppose, digested?" Maxwell was clueless, quite like Alsop.

"You two fail to remember then? At the contest, Envy was sick on Thomas." Said Victoria.

"Hm." Alsop channelled his thoughts. "What can we possibly learn from that?" He pondered.

"Envy has rejected some souls. Not just recent ones, some very old victims made their way into Thomas' head too." Said Victoria.

"Older victims? Like who?" Asked Maxwell.

"Does it matter who?" Muttered Alsop.

"Of course. If you fail to recognise the older victims, it may help us." Said Maxwell.

"Thomas mentioned them. My mind seems to be fading with their names though. Was it a princess? But who?" Scratching her head, Victoria looked to Maxwell's shoulder.

Against his navy blazer, a quilted patch of tarnished white stood out to her. A frightening spark of light which had become tainted with the blood of Envy after Maxwell had fought him. Despite the stains of blood, the clear gold lettering could still be visible. HM. The initials gleamed like the moon as it called upon Victoria's eyes with a supernatural lure. She searched her mind for what was wrong with such lettering until she finally looked to Alsop. Against his shoulder, a simple white lacing lingered upon a black crest. HH.

"HH. HM." Cryptically said Victoria. "What do they mean?" She asked the two, her eyes glowing with a cool blue resonance.

"Huh? Your eyes..." Stuttered out Maxwell in awe.

"My magic is seeking something important in here. HH. HM. What do they mean?" Sternly asked Victoria.

Frightened, Alsop nervously looked to Maxwell, but it soon came to his eyes too. Victoria was no longer alone in noticing the strange phenomenon ahead of her. Shining with an eclipsing light, the patch against Maxwell's shoulder beamed the room with a myriad of light and darkness. Finally, Maxwell froze. His heart stopped at the sight on the ceiling.

'My name is Maria Marielle!'

"What is the meaning of this!?" Exclaimed Maxwell in uproar as he jumped out of his seat.

"Calm down Maxwell." Victoria grabbed his arm. "This is a soul. It is telling us their name. What a beautiful name." She smiled in awe.

"It is pretty." Muttered Alsop, his eyes watering at the elegance of the words on the ceiling.

"Does - does it have anything else to say?" Maxwell stuttered out.

With his nervous enquiry, the words on the ceiling fell into a whirlpool of both darkness and light, until finally, it evaporated into a single beam. A beam which rushed back into Maxwell's shoulder, where the patch reading HM rested. He stumbled backwards into his seat, completely lost for words.

"It seems she used all her strength to say her name." Said Victoria.

"But why - why is she doing such a thing?" Confused, Alsop asked.

"Alsop. Your emblem. What does it mean?" Ignoring his question, Victoria asked. "And why is it different to Maxwell's?" She followed up.

"My emblem?" Alsop looked to his shoulder. "House Hammerhead. Max, your one should be the same?" Muttered Alsop but Maxwell firmly shook his head.

"No. No, no, no. I carry House Marielle. Hammerhead is not who I serve." Scoffed Maxwell.

"I never - I never knew you felt that way." Thought Alsop in disbelief.

"So, Maria Marielle. That must be the princess. The one Thomas mentioned to me earlier. She slipped my mind so easily..." Hopelessly said Victoria.

"Well then?" Maxwell nudged Alsop. "Have you ever heard of this Princess Maria Marielle?" He asked.

"No. Not at all." Simply replied Alsop.

"So, you only remember the captain. The most recent victim we know of." Said Victoria with thought.

"Was there no other names Thomas mentioned?" Asked Maxwell.

"There was one more. Though I am struggling to remember their name." Smugly smirking towards Maxwell, Victoria replied.

"Wait a second! We are not summoning another bloody soul into this room!" Nervously shouted Maxwell.

"Calm down Maxwell. While the souls seem to be lingering in the air, we should be fine with the information we have." Laughed Victoria.

"Are you sure it won't start doing strange things?" On edge, Maxwell asked.

"I suppose Maria only reacted because her name was so nearby." Glancing at Maxwell's shoulder, Victoria said.

"Very well. We need to continue." Said Maxwell, his composure calming itself.

"We need to figure out why Envy has begun rejecting souls." Said Victoria, biting her lip.

"Maybe..." Alsop shook his head instantly stopping himself.

"What? What were you going to suggest?" Asked Maxwell intensely.

"Maybe Envy cannot stomach the souls of those who are too much for him? After all, the captain had a traumatic past." Suggested Alsop.

"Huh." Maxwell sighed. "You really do remember this captain. He has a traumatic past?" He returned Alsop's words.

"Well. If you doubt my words, Max, you must know that you told me of the captain's past once before." Alsop's reply was met with a ghost cold essence in the air.

"Well then..." Maxwell said after a prolonged silence. "I think that is enough for me tonight. Goodnight." He added as he hurried upwards for the door.

"Max, what are you doing?" Alsop quickly clutched him.

"Things are starting to get ugly, Alsop. I would like to go rest on it." Said Maxwell, his eyes sharp with worry.

He left with a woeful stumble about his feet, leaving Alsop with Victoria and the gentle fire. Except, the fire was not gentle any longer. It was vigorous and heavy, pounding with random gusts of wind. This was a clear conscience of what Victoria had now been unravelling. She was curious. She had been subconsciously curious about Alsop for some time now because his incident with his divine power struck certain chords within her frame of structure.

"Now that he is gone, I want to get to know more of you, Alsop Dusseldorf." Said Victoria with a snarling smirk.

"Huh...you do?" Pondered Alsop in confusion.

"Why don't you let me in on your little experiments with the Sin of Envy?" Asked Victoria.

"My - my what?" Receding into his seat, Alsop mumbled out.

"I think you have come to realise you carry a truly strange divine power. In fact, you have begun depending on it in your encounters with Envy. Am I correct?" Victoria pressed her eyes into Alsop.

"You - you know?" Sighed Alsop.

"Hmm. Your first use was at the Contest of Champions." Noted Victoria.

"You saw? You saw what I saw? How?" Raising his head with hopeful eyes, Alsop asked.

"All I could gather was you used your divine power. I can sense the use of magic, you see. You must not worry though, nobody else seemed to realise you used it." Said Victoria.

"Then, you did not see what I saw?" Disappointed, Alsop asked.

"Tell me. Tell me what your divine power is." Said Victoria, her eyes glistening with curiosity.

"I'm unsure. It is quite strange. Recently there has been a darkness that surrounds me when I use it. There is a light too. It calls for me." Confessed Alsop.

Victoria paused for a long moment in thought, her eyes gently resting on the calamitous fireplace.

"I saw it in your eyes, Alsop." Said Victoria.

"My eyes?" Wondered Alsop.

"Your eyes were identical to Envy's. Which is why I think the incident was connected to your exposure with Envy." Said Victoria.

Alsop took a pause, his eyes gauging upon the fire in the room.

"So, you saw the same thing in my earlier encounter with Envy too? I did not think anyone else saw me use my divine power there." Alsop said with a deep sigh.

"It must have been what spooked Envy into running away." Said Victoria.

"Did you see anything then? In my eyes, I mean?" Asked Alsop.

"Show me them now. I need to see into them." Said Victoria.

Alsop gently removed his eyes from the embers of the fire, and into the line of sight for Victoria. She had always been a great deceiver, but in this one moment, Victoria had a slight falter. She stared into him and saw something. Something that turned her face vicious with worry. But within a second, her sense returned. Her eyes, her face, her beauty. It had all returned once she pulled away from his estranging eyes.

"Alsop, may I suggest that you use your divine power again if we encounter Envy again?" She asked with a shy expression.

"I will likely end up doing so. From these two encounters with Envy, it just seems like he is unlocking my divine power." Said Alsop, his eyes fiery.

"I wonder though. Is that a good thing?" Gently wondered Victoria.

"What do you mean? If my power is so powerful it scares Envy into running away, is it not a good thing? It stopped him from eating my soul, did it not?" Suggested Alsop, his eyes ambitiously hopeful.

"My concern is not for the strength of your divine power. I worry about controlling your power. Because Alsop..." Victoria replied with the light in her eyes turning dormant. "I think there is something that sleeps within you. You say Envy is unlocking your power, but I believe you are being protected." Gravely said Victoria.

"Perhaps it was my spirit? I received one from Caspian Cull." Reasoned Alsop.

"No, it is not a spirit." Victoria said quickly. "But it is not a sin either?" She gently whispered aside afterwards.

"If it protects me, then we must presume it is not harmful?" Questioned Alsop.

"Hmm? No. It may be harmful. However, it may also be able to solve your issues with magic in general." Victoria said with a vivid, but thoughtful, set of eyes.

"My magic? Ah well, you see. I think I've adjusted myself well to a life without it." Alsop had dismally shut her down.

"I wouldn't be able to live without magic." Said Victoria after a brief glance of surprise.

"Well, I know first-hand it is possible. You should try to quit magic for a day." Alsop said with a sense of longing, for someone similar to him.

"The idea is nice, but I'm the best at what I do, so I must help the kingdom with my magic." Victoria replied with a sweet smile.

"Perhaps when the kingdom is free of evil then." Sighed Alsop.

"Hmm, we will see." Victoria's reply was fuelled by uncertainty as she headed to the door. "We will see." She said.