'I must seek out Delby and Claudia to prepare horses and deliver them both from this land without delay,' she pondered, her fingers tightening around her crucifix necklace. "I shall fulfill this vow. The torment must reach its end this day... pray, believe in me."
The maiden offered her solemn pledge unto the departed child, casting her gaze upward toward the heavens. "I shall accomplish this task." Her right eye blazed with divine light once more. Parting the dense thickets and overgrown weeds, she stepped onto the road leading toward the city of Casletia, a city shrouded beneath a heavy veil of mist, as a howling snowstorm crept ever closer by the hour.
As the afternoon set in, Mary arrived at the familiar apothecary clinic. Yet the moment her feet crossed the threshold, an unnatural chill crept over her skin. Upon the wooden floorboards lay trails of crimson blood that had barely begun to dry.
"Delb! Claudia!"
The maiden searched frantically through room after room, following the crimson stains until they led toward the medicine vault. Everything lay shattered in utter disarray. Stepping inside, she discovered the lifeless corpse of a white-cloaked follower drenched in his own blood. Just beyond, Claudia sat trembling in the gloom, a sharp blade clutched tightly in her hands.
"AHH~!" Claudia shrieked in terror upon spotting Mary. "Mary! Oh~ Mary! Thou art yet alive!" She rose instantly, throwing her arms around Mary in a frantic embrace.
"What hath transpired here?! And where is Delby?!"
"Delby went to seek aid, yet she hath not returned to this hour! Violence hath erupted between the two factions, the townsfolk and the garrison guards! Those clad in white white robes... if any refuse to join them, they brand them as devils!"
"Sereza hath lost his mind entirely, and thou must flee at once!"
Before the two could finish their words, the agonizing shriek of a maiden pierced through the air outside the clinic. "Help me~~!"
Rushing out, they beheld white-robed followers pursuing Delby right up to the clinic doors. Together, they pulled Delby inside, hurling their weight against the wooden door to bar the lunatics out.
"This is madness beyond measure!" All three strained with every ounce of strength to hold the door shut.
"This is the Covenant of the Round Table! Unbar the door at once!" a booming voice roared from the opposing side.
CRASH!
A fist shattered the glass, hurling a flaming torch onto the building floor. Marilyn turned to her friends, offering a resolute nod. "Wait for me behind the clinic. I have a way to speak with them."
"Art thou truly certain?! Th-Those men..."
"Behind the clinic! NOW!" Mary's eyes blazed with an aura of overwhelming command.
Beholding her gaze, Delby and Claudia, though reluctant, still harbored faith that Mary could reason with the mob. Releasing the door, they bolted toward the rear exit, dust and snow scattering in all directions. Claudia cracked open the back door to peer at the scene within.
She saw Mary standing unmoving before the array of white-robed men. They raised their weapons to intimidate her, yet she showed not a single shred of fear.
The followers began to circle, threatening Marilyn. A rough palm slammed her head down against the floorboards, and for a fleeting moment, she cast a fierce, wrathful glare toward Claudia, who was watching from the shadows.
Then, her right eye unleashed its terrifying power once more!
Marilyn struck the floor, rising to her feet, a sight that made Claudia's heart freeze in sheer horror.
"What hath happened?!" Delby whispered frantically.
Yet in the next breath, she froze in absolute shock. One of the white-robed followers was impaled by a sharp wooden beam, hurled through the window frame. A spray of fresh blood splattered across the room as the men began brutally tearing into one another as if stripped of all sanity.
The gruesome spectacle filled both Delby and Claudia with sheer, paralyzing horror.
BOOM!
A blood-soaked blade burst through the wooden door, grazing past Claudia's cheek.
"EEEEK~!!"
The two backed away in sheer panic. When the frantic shouting inside the building finally died down into dead silence, the wooden door creaked open.
CREAK~
The maiden stood bathed in dark crimson blood, her face hollow and devoid of emotion.
"...The guards have dealt with them. There is nothing more to fear," Mary spoke softly.
"M-Mary... Art thou unharmed?" Delby inquired, striving to steady her trembling voice.
"No... I am merely a little nauseated. Ye must depart now... flee far from this place." Mary wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Claudia and Delby.
"No, no! I shall go with thee! We three shall never part, hast thou forgotten the oath we swore?" Delby invoked the solemn vow they had once shared.
"'Tis far too perilous for thy lives!" Mary persisted, seeking to persuade them, yet both maidens stood firm in their resolve.
"Our place is by thy side."
"I yet have something I must seek up above," Mary pointed her finger toward the high spire of Castle. "Art ye truly certain...?"
"We shall aid thee in seeking it out, and when this is done, all three of us shall go together." Delby wrapped Marilyn in a warm embrace, followed closely by Claudia.
Mary quietly wiped away the tears, which had been replaced by dark drops of her own blood—ensuring her companions never learned the horrific truth.