CHAPTER III: MARCUS
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Night had already decorated the sky with a brilliant display of stars when Clarielle and Falorgeant left Lord Viarre's estate. Suggesting that Falorgeant and her split up to cover more ground to look for Marcus, Clarielle cloaked herself against the biting northern chill as she made her way towards the Saint Valeroyant Forum. There, she walked to and fro, taking caution not to blow her cover as someone up to no good in the late of night. In Ishgard, eyes were always watching from every corner be it the Temple Knights or a poor soul looking for food.
Standing underneath the statue of Saint Valeroyant, Clarielle sighed at the thought of minutes turning into hours and that her search tonight would be nothing but a waste. Still, she continued to wait and not before long did the doors of The Forgotten Knight slammed wide open and an armored knight stepped out. This of course was Marcus Vale and to Clarielle's curiosity, Marcus carried a rather large woolen sack which he tossed over his right pauldron. Quietly, Clarrielle waited for Marcus to distant himself before she followed him into The Brume.
'Strange, what would someone like Marcus Vale be doing down here?' she thought, slowing down and hiding behind a wall every now and then as not to draw attention to herself.
Clarielle's interest surprised her when Marcus disappeared into the darkness around the corner to the left. Quietly looking over, Clarielle saw Marcus stooped to one knee as he handed a small elezen girl a wool blanket from his bag.
"Thank you, Ser Marcus! Can you read me to sleep again? Da is sick and he is already sleeping."
Marcus frowned, petting the girl on her head with metal claws as he shook his head.
"Not tonight, young one. Where is your father?"
Pointing behind her, the little girl turned around and led the knight to a much older elezen who laid beneath stacked crates, shivering under a torn spread while lying next to a small dying fire. As Clarielle watched from afar, Marcus knelt down and began to remove the rest of the bag's contents in front of the elezen and his child.
"It seems the nights have not been kind to you."
"Don't they ever?" joked the sick man.
"I thought you would have recovered from your fever by now. I have brought medicine, food, and blankets."
Starring at Marcus with sorrowful eyes, the man frowned. "Ser Marcus, you do not have to do this for me. I cannot thank you enough for watching over Edith. If only... there were more like you."
Marcus kept his expression emotionless as he stood up slowly and walked away.
"I will return soon. Keep Edith near you."
Coming towards the corner where Clarielle stood, the female dragoon turned to hasten her steps out of The Brume. Realizing what she saw, Clarielle turned back to look at the wandering knight once last time before leaving the area.
'Marcus is most likely heading back to Lord Viarre. I must tell Falorgeant and perhaps we can intercept him there.'
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Ascending the steps that would take him out of The Brume and back towards The Pillars, Marcus ceased in his walk. The hyur's eyes quickly filled with cold antipathy as he heard the screaming of a familiar girl back in the darkness. Purposely slow, Marcus made his way back toward Edith and her father; his shadow loomed over the figure of two other homeless elezen whom surrounded the sick man and his young daughter, shank in hand.
Seeing the shadow that cast over them, one of the thieves turned and before he could let out a scream, the hyur's metal hand grabbed tightly onto his face - the knight's clawed fingers digging into his flesh as he dragged him into the darkness. Edith and her father watched in horror as one of the thieves in front of them completely vanished.
The second thief turned, his eyes wildly scanning the pitch blackness in front of him for his vanished comrade. The first thing to linger out of the darkness was the tip of a metal sword that dripped with his friend's blood. Marcus approached the thief slowly, his claws and his armor sprayed fresh with his prey's crimson gore.
"Do you know why the other knights call me 'The Nightmare'?"
"Ser Marcus The Unceasing? W-wait, I'll leave! I'll n-never come back here again!"
"You poor insolent creature... let me show you."
The ill elezen pulled his daughter close and covered her eyes as the thief in front of them was torn to shreds.