Vynx was desperate for a straightforward job. Between the search for mermaid tears and the vampire thrall extermination, his personal funds had dwindled into the red. The hunter was close to giving in and going to the Alchemy Commission to beg for his allowance from Alfred. However, a man still had his pride, and Vynx wasn't about to let his female companions see him grovelling for money from his old man. 

Fortunately, a stack of letters awaited him at the Rose Garden once the party returned to the capital. The proprietress was willing to let their merry band stay until his next payment, and Vynx was all too grateful to put their lodging fees on his tab. After sifting through his mail, the hunter narrowed in on a crisp envelope with a decorative seal. Upon tearing through the envelope and skimming the contents, he announced, "Looks like another exorcism job. Care to join me, Hilde? You can come too if you want, Sol." Vynx waved the letter in front of them with a grin. 

"Oh? I would be happy to assist however I can." Hilde perked up from her chair. "Who is it for?"

"Some noblewoman who claims that her husband's been possessed." The hunter shrugged and leaned against the wall behind him. He could hear the muffled sounds of thumping from the other side, but he easily ignored the background noises resounding from the rest of the brothel. "That doesn't exactly narrow down the cause, but it's usually within the realm of an angry spirit or demon. With two sets of holy hands on the job, I'm sure we'll be done before sundown," Vynx chimed.

"The pay must be considerable if you don't mind splitting it." Soleil raised an eyebrow. 

"Sure is! You two probably won't even need my help, but since the letter is addressed to me, I'll just have to tag along to make sure everything goes smoothly." Vynx flounced his hair for dramatic effect, earning him another exasperated look from Soleil. He chuckled and pocketed the letter before returning to a more serious disposition. "Now let's get moving. It's been a few days since the letter arrived, so who knows how bad the situation's gotten." 

With Sophia curled up as a bat in his pocket, Vynx led the other two from the Rose Garden towards the address listed on the envelope. While Hilde and Soleil were wary of being seen leaving the brothel with him, Vynx assured them that everyone in the upper class visited the Rose Garden, regardless of whether they were new money, a noble, or a member of the clergy. The bustling streets of the capital were a noisome but not unwelcome sight to the hunter, and Vynx expertly wove through the crowds of people while holding Hilde's hand. It was her first time (that she could remember) in the city, and he had to make sure the poor cleric didn't get lost. 

The estate in question sat on the other side of the city, located on a private plot of land belonging to a minor noble family. To his relief, Vynx spotted gardeners trimming the hedges outside, and the home appeared to be intact.  A doorman let the party inside once the hunter flashed his official badge and brought them before the lady of the house. The noblewoman already appeared irritable as they walked in, giving Vynx a skeptical stare as she scrutinized him. 

Vynx shifted self-consciously; Sophia's needlework on his jacket was immaculate, but he could still feel the woman's judgemental gaze on the patches in his clothes while he cleared his throat to introduce himself. "Good afternoon, Lady Martell. We're here about the exorcism job. The name's Vynx. This is Hilde and Soleil." 

"It's about time you arrived. I sent for you over a week ago," the woman snorted. Lady Martell was a middle-aged dame who dressed as if she were far above her actual status. Like many other older upper-class women, her makeup was caked on to hide her dark circles and crow's feet with face powder far too light to match the rest of her skin. Her wide dress looked uncomfortable to even sit in, but Vynx refrained from staring too long at the gaudy garment and instead tried to focus on the woman's face. 

"Apologies. We just got back to the city after my last job." Vynx bowed, keeping his fake smile on while he awaited the details of their mission. The hunter could already tell she was going to be a prickly client, but he reminded himself that they needed the reward money. Badly.

Soleil and Hilde both bowed at the waist, each wearing their own strained smile while Lady Martell fanned herself impatiently.  

"So long as you succeed with this job, I'll be sure to make it worth your time." Lady Martell rose from her seat and gestured for the group to follow her to the stairs, moving briskly enough to force the others to speed-walk to keep up with her. "My husband, Maurice, has been cooped up in his room for practically weeks. He'll summon a servant to bring food on occasion, but he barely works, barely speaks to anyone else—and I can't simply kick him out without the other nobles and church getting in our business," the woman vented as she led them to the second floor. 

The hunter nodded along as Lady Martell ranted. "I can imagine it’s quite the hassle. Do you know how long he's been acting this way, or was it more of a gradual process?" He motioned for Hilde and Soleil to follow closely behind him—with nobility, it was always difficult to tell if their supernatural problems were genuine or just a display to hide the bottle of poison.

"My husband has been this way ever since he returned from his last business trip, nearly three months ago," Lady Martell responded. "He spent a fortune on baubles at some auction and then locked himself in his room with his new 'treasures,'" she scoffed. Bringing the three to the end of the hallway, she gestured to the door and then began to rattle the doorknob. "Maurice! I know you're in there; open this door up right now!" she demanded. Unsurprisingly, there's no answer at the door, and the woman rolled her eyes. "He cannot say I did not knock first." She pulled a key from her necklace and unlocked the door. "I'll leave him to your expert care." 

"I see… Well, I can only hope I bring good news in an hour or so," Vynx said before entering the bedroom. The chambers seemed more like an art gallery than a resting spot; the walls were adorned with images of the man in his younger years triumphantly defeating another nation’s army. "So he was a war hero? Or wants to be one—either way, it sounds like he might have picked up a cursed object or invited something supernatural in after his business trip. But to be safe…" He leaned in over the slumbering noble, listening to the man’s chest for any sign of a heartbeat. Luckily for Vynx, he was still living. "Good. We ruled out any chance of there being noble sabotage. Now to draw the creature out… Do you mind letting me borrow your holy symbol, Hilde?"

"Yes, of course!" Hilde removed her necklace and passed it over to Vynx. The golden crescent dangled at the end of the chain and glinted in the hazy afternoon light.

"No bloody summoning circles or infernal writing on the walls either," Soleil murmured as she inspected the room and furniture. Surprisingly, the chamber was more mundane than she expected, albeit cramped with the man's expansive collection of artwork and artifacts.

Maurice appeared fast asleep, though from the look of his complexion, his cheeks were sullen and his skin pale. "For a noble, he is bordering on the edge of looking malnourished," Hilde noted and shook her head. 

Soleil scanned over the nobleman's body for any other unusual signs. "Well, I suppose that's what happens if your life essence is drained from you." It was faint, but she could sense the aura of another presence with them. "The demon is definitely here." 

"I'll put up some wards to prevent it from escaping," Hilde whispered and retrieved some items from Vynx's bag, including some incense and a few other relics she knew would keep any evil creature from fleeing.

"Thank you." Vynx took the necklace and held it for a moment; waiting for Hilde to put up a ward first seemed like the better move. "See the half-eaten loaf of bread over there? Old Sport’s got enough sense to eat here at least." Maybe he could have been talked out of it before they tried the exorcism method, but it didn't look like the nobleman was going to awaken on his own anytime soon. "Let me know when you’re done putting up the wards. I’m just going to watch what he does when I place the symbol on him.” 

After setting a few enchanted wards around the room, primarily near the door and windows, the cleric stood in the corner to give Vynx the space to do what he needed to. "That should be it. Be careful, Vynx," Hilde said, keeping an eye on their victim in case he did anything bizarre.

Vynx sat on the edge of the bed, at first keeping the symbol away from the sleeping man. "No reaction, but that’s to be expected. Normally, they’d jump up as soon as I get on the bed with them." The hunter dangled the holy symbol over the man's face. "Now what about…" A surge of dark energy retracted from the body, making the man shiver and cry out in pain. "Gotcha! Now I just need you to come out and meet me in the open…" Carefully, Vynx got off the bed as the shade began to creep around the cracks in the room.

Soleil reached for her sword as her eyes locked onto the moving shadow. Just as she was about to slash at it, Vynx held out his arm to stop her.

"Hold on, Sol. Let's try to capture this thing and not make a mess of our client's house," Vynx called. He knew that attacking the shade in its incorporeal form would only work if their weapons were also enchanted, but there was a good chance they could miss entirely and damage any of the expensive furniture around them—and the last thing Vynx needed was for those to be deducted from their pay. 

The shadow darted around on the floor wildly. Yet every time it neared a ward, it recoiled to the centre of the room again. Vynx followed the shadow, keeping the necklace in front of him to steer it away from Maurice's body. It kept its distance from the approaching hunter and paladin until they managed to back it into a corner. With nowhere else to go, the darkness shifted across the floorboards until it began to grow in shape and materialize into a feminine form. The black shadows melted away into a scantily clad woman with light purple hair and bat-like wings sprouting from her lower back. A pointed tail waved behind her as she levitated a few inches off the ground. Violet eyes glared at Vynx as her face became visible to the group. "Get that thing away from me, or I'll snap this human's neck like a twig," she scowled. She lifted her hand, and the nobleman's body suddenly rose into the air in sync with her motion. Deliberately, the demon closed her fingers, causing the man to yelp and hack as if he were being suffocated by an invisible hand around his neck.

"So, you finally come out in the open," Vynx responded with a snarl. The nobleman hovered above his bed, writhing in pain while the hunter gripped the necklace tightly. "You mean this thing?" he asked, standing firm even as the strained yelps of their charge bleated behind him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, human," the succubus shot back. Her violet eyes remained locked on him, but she cast a cautious glance between Vynx and Soleil to assess which of them was the greater threat. With neither side backing down, she squeezed her hand harder, forcing another choking gasp from the nobleman dangling in the air. "Put the necklace and your weapons down, and I may be inclined to leave this mortal in one piece," she warned.