Marie stands in horror as she looks down to the bloody and beaten figure on the ground
Young Marie
Jean!!
Wake up, please oh please wake up!!
Jean!!!
The tall man's body guards go to grab Marie who attempts to shake them off with no success.
Marie
No…please be alright Jean…
Tall man
Ha ha!
This is great!
Who would have thought that you two knew each other!
Still, that's a pretty big surprise…
Who would have expected Jean to lose…
He was so strong despite how young he is.
Honestly, I expected better from him, but I guess this was as far as he could go.
Still, I can't be too hard on him, it's partially my fault for expecting so much from a no good street rat like him.
The tall man kicks Jean in the side as hard as he can, causing Jean to go into a coughing fit
Young Marie
St-stop!!
Please, don't hurt my brother any more than this!
Please, just let him leave!
It's my fault, I was the one who tried to steal from you!
Don't hurt him…
Tall man
Oh, so he's your brother, is he?
That explains why you've both got such weird powers!
Still he was quite disappointing…
…but you…you were impressive!
You managed to single handedly kill every last guard I had stationed here!
Tell me, what has to happen to such a young girl that she's able to kill so many people without shedding a tear?
Young Marie
Jean…please…don't die…
Tall man
…
Ugh, all that crying is killing me!
The man points a pistol in Marie's mouth, before cocking it.
Marie does not seem to recognize the pistol and instead, is still fully focussed on her brother's unconscious body
Tall man
Would you stop crying already!?
Tsk, your brother's already dead?!
What don't you understand!?
Sigh…
Take her away.
We can figure out what we should do with her later.
Grunt
What are you gonna do, sir?
The tall man removes his gun from Marie's mouth, before leaning over Jean's body
Tall man
I'm going to tie up any loose ends.
The tall man points his gun at Jean, before pulling the trigger.
Marie's eyes widen as she sees the gun fire, sending a bullet straight into her brother's chest.
Young Marie
Jean!!!
Tall man
I told you to shut up!
The man fires more bullets into Jean, as Marie starts to sob.
Tall man
He was weak, he wouldn't have lasted long in this business anyways!
Couldn't even stop some lousy little girl!
It's not fair you're the only one who gets to hurt him!
I'll make sure to kill him three times ov–
Before the man can finish speaking, something grabs him by the ankle
Tall man
Woah!
What's happening!?
Boys, do something about this!
…
Hey–
The tall man looks up in shock to see the two men holding Marie were missing their upper bodies, as their legs fall to the ground, making a large noise.
Tall man
H-hey…y-you don't have to do this!
W-what would you say I make you my right hand?!
Doesn't that sound like a great deal!?
J-just, let me off the hook, and I can make your wildest dreams come tru–
Young Marie
Shut. Up.
The man shudders and tries drawing away from Marie as he sees large black flames flowing off of her, and every shadow in the room inching their way towards him.
The man looks around the room, feeling as if the shadows themselves are watching him…waiting for their chance to devour him like they had his bodyguards
Young Marie
I'm sorry Jean…
I failed you as your big sister…
Marie starts to cry into his chest, but stops when she hears a faint voice
Young Jean
I…haven't…died…yet…
Young Marie
Jean!!
You're alive!!!
The tall man tries running away, but stops when he sees in front of him a large creature, resembling a composite of a wolf, a bull, and a lion. Black flames are leaking from every inch of the monster
Young Marie
How dare you put my beloved brother through this…
Do you really expect to leave intact after everything you've done?
I'm not the only one who's mad.
My friends have been waiting very, very patiently as well.
So how about you play nice with them?
Cirque Umbra emerges in its humanoid form to help carry Jean, as it and Marie leave the tall man trapped in the room alongside several vicious monstrosities being created from the shadows in the room.
After making her way home, Louis opens the door with a large smile on his face
Louis
Welcome back–
Marie collapses in front of him, dropping Jean at the same time.
Louis screams as he looks on at his siblings, covered in blood and injuries
…
Marie's eyes start to flutter open, and she is greeted by Louis, reading a book
Young Jean
Huh?
Marie!?
Jean hugs his sister, causing her to wince in pain
Young Marie
Ow! Ow! Ow!
Can you be a bit more gentle please?
You're hugging me too tightly!
Young Jean
Oh, I'm sorry!
It's just, I'm so glad you woke up!
We've been so worried, since you've been asleep for a few days.
What happened?
Young Marie
I-I'm not sure…
I guess I overused my power?
I was just so angry that I didn't even think about anything, and just used everything I had.
Young Jean
I'm just glad you're ok…
Really, I'm so glad you're alright…
Jean sits down next to his bedridden sister
Young Jean
I don't know what Louis and I would have done if you had really died.
Young Marie
I'm sure you two would have been fine, remember how we walked for weeks to reach Paris after the war?
Young Jean
Yeah?
Young Marie
We managed to do it when everyone told us it was suicide!
We're survivors, and I promise you, as long as we're together, it doesn't matter how, I know we can endure anything!
Marie shows Jean a large smile, as he replies with a soft grin
Young Jean
Thank you, again.
The first step to surviving is rest, so I'll leave you alone for now while Louis and I head to sleep too.
Young Marie
Alright, goodnight Jean.
Young Jean
Goodnight.
Jean closes the door on Marie, and as she drifts to sleep, she is haunted by horrible dreams that surpass any nightmare she had seen before.
Marie feels herself planted in place.
She tries to look around her, only to find her body won't listen to her.
Her mouth is filled with the taste of iron, and as she glances down, she finds a long snout where her nose was, and in her abstract and twisted maw, lay what looks like human flesh.
For hours, Marie feels herself tortured, forced to watch the horrendous events playing out before her, trying to wrap her head around why she has to endure such suffering.
In her desperation, Marie begins to pray. She had never been religious, however, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread, and fear for her safety.
The harder Marie prayed for her own safety, the less and less she thought about who or what was being devoured before her eyes, until she begrudgingly accepted her situation.
Time had lost all meaning, as she watched shadows dance and indulge in a gory feast. As Marie's eyes adjusted to the light, she felt she could faintly make out what the creatures, what she, was eating.
Marie's heart sank, as she looked deep into the eyes of a man she did not know the name of. Despite this, Marie did in fact recognize the man, he was one of the bodyguards that tried to attack her and her brother.
He was one of the men eaten by the shadows.
As the sight around her began to truly sink in, she understood now where she was.
Marie felt herself back in the mansion, seeing the world through the eyes of her Manifesto.
Marie tries to break away from the sight, before she is stopped by one of the shadows
Shadow 1
Where are you going?
Shadow 2
The feast would not be a true celebration without the guest of honour, hehe!
Shadow 3
We never would have been here if not for you!
Shadow 4
Without you, we would never have gotten to fill our stomachs like this again!
The shadows begin to wrap, and contort into a vaguely humanoid form
Cirque Umbra
Do not be afraid to call on us again.
We will also be happy to help you again
The shadows begin to snicker and cheer as the animals bow to Marie before continuing to indulge themselves.
The sickening sounds from their feast, paired with the mocking laughter from the shadows begins Marie's torture anew, when, in her darkest moment, she is awoken by a loud noise.
Marie's heart is racing, and her brow is drenched with sweat, she looks around the room in a panic.
The familiar shabby walls of her home, poorly held together with nothing but nails and dreams, reassure Marie, as she takes several deep breaths.
Unable, or unwilling to fall asleep, Marie gets out of her bed, not able to part with the horrible visions she saw in her dreams.
Young Marie
Jean, I'm going to head out for a short walk…
Jean…?
Jean!?
Marie rushes to the side of her brother, battered and bloody on the floor, lying in a pool of his own blood
Young Marie
Jean!
Who did this to you!?
Jean grabs his sister's shirt, struggling to string together a coherent sentence
Young Jean
They…k…Louis…
Young Marie
Louis?!
What happened to him!?
Who did this to you!?
Jean uses the last of his strength to tell his sister:
Young Jean
My boss…took Louis…
Young Marie
…
What…?