Leon found himself in what looked to be a large ballroom, with old yet burnished decorations running along the walls and silver chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. Chairs and long tables lined the edges of the room with an old piano in the corner, its fallboard and lid propped up as if waiting to be used.

There was almost no dust to be seen, and the space had an air of expectation to it that belied the apparent dereliction. Leon didn’t know why he felt like it, but it was as if the emptiness was only temporary, and any second now a suite of guests would stream in through the wide entrance at the end as a quartet started playing.

It was also strange how there were no visible lights here, the chandeliers empty of any candles, yet it was still bright enough for him to make out so many details. He had encountered similar phenomena in places with a lot of dormant magic in them before, but it wasn’t common.

Behind him, Scarlett appeared as she stepped through the same black curtain that he had. On this end, the portal leading here was also camouflaged as a simple wooden door, standing on its own at the center of the room. A strange sight if one didn’t know what it was.

Scarlett’s retainers soon arrived as well, and the woman seemed to look them over for a moment before proceeding to move past Leon.

His eyes followed her as she pulled out a strange knife from the pouch at her waist and raised her other hand.

“What are you doin—” he began.

A large sphere of fire suddenly formed above one of the chandeliers further down the room, enveloping the crown completely.

A shrieking wail sounded out.

Leon raised his sword as a transparent shape in a flowing blue dress flitted down from the chandelier to escape the flames.

A face twisted in rage turned towards Scarlett.

Several smaller spheres appeared, swarming around the ghost’s figure and reflecting the flames’ light in a strange way.

Leon frowned. Was the outer layer of those spheres water? What spell was that?

The spheres exploded in bursts of steam that tore through the ghost’s dress, each attack removing parts of its body and causing more shrieking to fill the room. The ghost started flying straight towards Scarlett when, suddenly, a wall of fire bore into existence in front of it. One last wail sounded out as it ran through the flames, its form quickly reduced to nothingness.

The fire died out soon after, and Scarlett lowered her hand.

Leon relaxed the grip around his sword’s hilt and turned his attention to her. “What was that?”

She looked back at him. “I believe that was a Malignant Apparition,” she answered matter-of-factly. “I have read that they are quite common in places such as this. One would have thought you would notice it before I did.”

“I meant whatever spells those were. Since when could you do that?”

As far as he knew—despite coming from a famed family of magic casters—Scarlett could barely be called a mage. The display he just saw shouldn’t have been possible for someone at her level.

His eyes shifted to the knife in her hand. It had a bronze cavalier hilt and a short iron blade that had rusted over on most parts. Was that some sort of artifact?

Now that he thought about it, Scarlett seemed to be wearing several items that looked like they could be enchanted in some way. The most obvious were the two rings on her fingers and the necklace around her neck. The necklace, at least, was an odd choice of attire for a place like this if it wasn’t magical in some way.

“It has been some time since I learned those ‘spells’, as you describe them.” Scarlett seemed to have noticed his gaze on the dagger in her hand, though she didn’t make any further note of it as she returned it to the pouch hanging from her waist. “But if you must know, they were applications of pyrokinesis and hydrokinesis. Not spells in and of themselves. They have their limits, but prove quite effective against opponents of this sort.”

She turned away from him and walked deeper into the ballroom, looking around for Ittar-knows-what. “That should be all for this chamber,” she announced after a moment. “If you would all gather here. Soon, we will proceed onto the other sections of this mansion.”

The other members of Scarlett’s little group walked past Leon. The curly-haired woman, Rosa, gave him a small smile as she went by. “You’re not going to get far here if you get stumped by even the smaller things. Here’s a tip: when you don’t know what’s going on, just smile and nod.”

He watched her as she walked up with the others and gathered around Scarlett, like this was something they were used to.

…Was that in reference to what Scarlett just did? If so, should he expect more?

The last couple of days with Scarlett had been filled with more questions that he lacked answers for than he cared to admit, but what he had just seen was perhaps the farthest from the truth he thought he had known. Forget about Scarlett being a mage or not; she wasn’t a fighter. That much he had been certain of. Yet the ease with which she moved here showed at least some familiarity in the area.

The woman in question turned to look at him. They were waiting for him.

Leon walked up to their group, stopping behind Allyssa and Rosa, keeping a close eye on Scarlett over their shoulders.

She didn’t look out of place at all. Just like in Lord Withersworth’s cellar, her air was that of someone in complete control of the situation, despite being in a place that could be filled with even more ghosts, undead, and Ittar knows what else. The ballroom aside, it was an environment far removed from anything Leon had ever associated with Scarlett.

How much of her composure was an act?

“As you may all be aware,” the woman said, looking over the group as a whole, “we are currently in a separate location from the Withersworth’s home in Autumnwell. This is an old mansion on the northern ends of the Withersworth Barony. Once, it belonged to an artificer and wizard named Abelard, but that was long ago. As you might have surmised from the cellar we were in before, and the apparition I just dealt with, Abelard was a man that dabbled in some rather esoteric and dangerous subjects.”

Rosa raised a hand. “This Abelard fellow wouldn’t have happened to be a dragon of any kind, would he?”

Scarlett gave her a long look. “No, he was not.”

Allyssa leaned close to the woman. “What did I tell you?” she whispered.

Scarlett continued. “Our primary aim while here will be to remove the root of the curse that is haunting this place and its immediate area, as agreed upon with Lord Withersworth. Beyond that, however, the usual priorities for these excursions apply. Lord Withersworth has agreed to relinquish any artifacts or other valuables to me, so if you find anything that you believe to be valuable and safe to bring with, you may do so.”

All of the others’ heads nodded along with her words. Leon wasn’t sure what these ‘usual priorities’ were, but it seemed they were, at least. How many times had Scarlett done this before?

“This estate houses many secrets, as well as dangers, so take caution as you proceed. To achieve our first objective, we will divide into two groups. Fynn and Mister Thornthon will move with me while Miss Hale and Miss Astrey will be joining Sir Leon.”

“We’re splitting up?” Allyssa asked. “We’ve almost never done that before, except when, you know…” The girl looked over at Fynn for some reason.

“It has never been necessary before,” Scarlett answered. “Under the current circumstances, however, it is the best course of action to take if we are to proceed with things in an orderly and productive manner. From what I have gathered, amongst the many inhabitants of this place, there are two that could be considered the mansion’s ‘custodians’, for lack of a better description. Locating and dealing with them is a prerequisite before we begin addressing any of the other objectives. They also have to be dealt with in a relatively close time-frame of each other, which is why we are taking this approach.”

Leon crossed his arms as he considered her words.

How would she know something like that? From what Lord Withersworth had told him, this mansion was supposed to have been closed to all outsiders for over a century. Yet Scarlett was speaking like she already knew everything there was to know about this place. Whatever source of information she had found was unlikely to be that accurate. If priests and mages had already tried investigating the matter before, with little success, it probably meant that any sort of divination magic didn’t work.

“How do we find these ‘custodians’?” Shin asked. The young man with a scar across his eye looked ready to start moving with his sword and shield in hand.

“One of them should be present somewhere in the east wing, which is where we currently are,” Scarlett said. “The other will be wandering around in the west wing, which is where my group will go. As for how we will be locating them, that will be left up to all of you. Their appearance should be conspicuous enough, so I do not think it will be difficult identifying them. Fynn and Sir Leon will hopefully be able to aid in tracking them, as well.”

The group’s eyes turned to the two of them.

Leon raised his eyebrows, looking at Scarlett. “You’re expecting me to find this ‘custodian’?”

“That was my hope, yes. Though I will admit they have diminished somewhat, seeing as you did not immediately detect the Malignant Apparition in this room,” Scarlett said. “But you are a Solar Knight, no? Sensing the presences of the dead and beings of that nature should be something you are accustomed to.”

He drew his mouth together. “It’s not our expertise, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“It may not be, but you are still capable of it to a certain degree. Is that not so?” Scarlett gestured to the others. “That is more than can be said for the rest of us, barring Fynn. But even were you unable to detect it by yourself, I do not believe it will hamper your chances significantly. It simply means the three of you will have to be more observant.”

“Did you just choose these groups out of who you thought had the best chance of finding these custodian fellows then?” Rosa asked.

Scarlett shook her head. “It was also based on what I deemed to be the safest compositions available. Sir Leon is more than capable of acting as a front for the two of you by himself, and I can provide sufficient support to Mister Thornthon and Fynn. It should allow both groups to move about relatively unchallenged in this part of the mansion. We have also brought a suitable amount of mana and healing potions, should they be needed. Is there a reason you are asking?”

“No, I was just curious.” Rosa fiddled with the neck of her instrument. “Sounds good, though. I’m sure you and your noggin’ have spent a good amount of time thinking all this through, so there aren’t any complaints from me.”

“I still feel a bit unsure about this, actually.” Allyssa looked between Scarlett, Shin, and Rosa. “Isn’t it still dangerous? Splitting up like that, I mean. We’ll have Sir Leon with us, but you guys…”

“There is nothing that poses an unsurmountable threat to us in this part of the mansion,” Scarlett said. “You have the Philters of Dawnlight that I asked you to brew, do you not?”

“Ehm, yeah.” Allyssa walked over to Fynn, who had a green satchel hanging over his shoulders. There, she pulled the satchel over to his front to reveal the strange face that was sewn onto it and put a hand inside. Leon had assumed it was a bag of holding of some kind, and the fact that the girl managed to pull out a number of large bottles with a pale yellow liquid in them proved as much.

“Here they are. I also have the Brews of Fireworks.” Allyssa pointed to another line of vials hanging off the bandolier on her chest.

“Good.” Scarlett gave a short nod. “There are several variants of specters in this place, so all of you should imbibe these before we leave. Otherwise, you may risk falling under their possession.”

Allyssa handed the bottles out to everyone. Leon took his and downed it quickly, grimacing at the taste. If the girl truly was an accomplished enough alchemist to brew these, then it was impressive enough considering her age, but it was clear she hadn’t quite learned how to stop her concoctions from tasting like dirt yet. That was common among alchemists still focusing on the efficacy of their potions. He was used to it tasting better when working with the order. Still, what mattered in the end was the effect.

Not that he was at much risk of getting possessed by a specter of any kind. But it wouldn’t do for a knight to get complacent. Before an assignment, members of their order strived to always take as many precautions as possible. One could never be too prepared.

“Aren’t you taking one as well, Scarlett?” Allyssa had handed the red-haired woman the last bottle, but Scarlett had just placed it into her pouch instead of drinking it.

“I have no need for it,” the woman replied. “Perhaps I should have informed you of as much earlier, considering the price for the materials. For now, I will keep it and see if it can be sold at a later time.”

Leon blinked at the statement. Exactly how desperate for money was Scarlett at the moment? And where did that self-confidence come from? The woman had never been averse to throwing money around before. If anything, he thought she would be the first to make use of philters like these.

“Any further questions?” she asked, seeing that they were all ready.

He raised a hand. “What sort of threats can we expect from now on? If we’re talking specifics.”

Whatever was up with Scarlett would have to wait. It was best if he got as good a handle on the situation as he could now. If anything went sideways, it would be up to him to get everybody out of here safely, no matter what she might have to say about it.

“As I mentioned, there will be several variants of ghost and specters here.” Scarlett gestured to the chandelier where the ghost had been hiding before. “The Malignant Apparition just now was such an example. Unfortunately, it was also one of the few which I knew the name of. I can tell you that you should expect to see more of the dolls that were in Lord Withersworth’s cellar, though they will not be as docile now that we are in their domain. In addition to that, there may also be some undead, such as skeletons and their kin. As far as I am aware, however, we are unlikely to encounter those on the upper floors of the mansion.”

“…Alright.” He was just going to ignore his growing concern over where she was getting all of this from. For now, he would act under the assumption that she was telling the truth. “Then, these ‘custodians’ we are looking for. What do they look like? We’re going to need more to go off of than them simply being ‘conspicuous’.”

“I was about to expound on that.” Scarlett turned to look around the room for a moment, her eyes stopping at a large painting hanging off one of the walls. “This is quite convenient. Inspect that painting closer, if you would.”

Leon looked at the painting. Its canvas had faded to nothing more than a bleak, grey surface, so there wasn’t much to see.

Scarlett walked closer to it, however, and so the rest of them followed.

“What do you see?” she asked, pausing in front of it and looking back at him.

“There is nothing—” He stopped right next to her. Suddenly, there was a pale, green sheen around the painting. He looked closer, closing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. When he opened them again, the painting had changed to show a drawing of a ballroom on it, with masses of people dancing around on the floor.

“Oh, wow,” Rosa muttered. “That’s…macabre.”

“What?” Allyssa peered at the image, stepping a bit closer. “What is? They’re just people, right?”

Leon narrowed his eyes. After a while, he realized what the woman was referring to.

The painting most certainly wasn’t depicting people. Or rather, not real people. Some of their limbs were in odd or unnatural positions, and there was a strangeness to how they were all arranged. And after looking very closely, one could see that there were strings attached to them. Every single figure in the painting had a thin line drawn from their bodies that led up to somewhere in the ceiling, where some unseen hand was ostensibly directing their movements.

Had this been here since before the mansion was abandoned? It would be a strange piece to have in a ballroom, unless you were trying to make a statement of some kind.

A strange growl left Fynn’s throat as the young man glared at the painting.

Wondering what caused the reaction, Leon’s attention was brought back to the canvas when all the dolls suddenly moved. Dozens of lifeless eyes turned to stare at them.

“Wait.” Allyssa stepped back. “Are they looking at us?”

Shin stepped closer to the painting, and the girl’s hand shot out to grab his shoulder. “Don’t move closer when you hear that, stupid!”

He looked back at her. “Calm down, I’m not touching it. And besides, it’s still a painting.”

“Since when can paintings do that?!”

“Since now, it seems.”

“Pay attention.” Scarlett’s voice brought everyone’s focus back to the image in the painting.

The figures in the painting had moved again, a step towards all of them. It was as if the dolls wanted to escape out of the frame, clambering to freedom. One second when you looked at them they would be in one position, then you blinked and they were in the next. Yet… Their movements were awkward. Their limbs got caught in one another and they stumbled over their own legs. As they scrambled forward, many of them fell over each other, and soon all the dolls were just lying in piles on the floor.

That was when another figure entered the frame. A transparent man, with an almost palpable gloom hanging over him. He was dressed in an antique black suit, with an arrangement of iron chains dangling off his arms. Floating over to the dolls, he stopped momentarily at each one to cut its string and pull it free from where it was stuck, lobbing the dolls over his shoulder where they disappeared into nothingness. It looked like he was cleaning up just another mess.

Soon, all the dolls were gone, and the man left the ballroom, the canvas returning to the bleak, empty surface it had originally been.

“That,” Scarlett said. “Is your first target.”