The sound of screaming woke Bianca up.

The child dove from her bed, heading towards her room door, hearing the sound of crashing and fighting echoing throughout the manor. As she opened the door, she saw what appeared to be a man, who would turn around as the door opened. He had an eyepatch on, with messy blonde hair, holding an oversized sword in one of his hands.

"A little girl?" She heard him say, as he started to approach her. "You have to come with me. It's not safe-" He was interrupted as a great stream of blood shot out across the hallway, slamming into his side and sending him through the wall at the end of the hall. The stream would soon be interrupted, cleaved in two by another person's blade, causing it to stop. Bianca watched in shock as a woman with short black hair looked at her, the sight of those mirror-like irises becoming something she could never forget.

"Keep your head down. And go." The woman would say, lifting her sword and shield and charging towards the direction that the blood came from. Within moments, the house began to shake as the intensity of the clash heightened.

"What is going on? Where's Nero and Umbra?" Bianca would ask herself, stumbling out the door and running after the woman and towards the source of the loudest sounds. Was there an attack? Who were these people? Did they come for the Countess?

Bianca's footing became lost as the house began to shake viciously again, and the floor beneath her crumbled and broke apart, the girl screaming as she fell through to the ground floor below. Landing hard on the ground, she'd wince and groan as she slowly pushed herself off of the floor, seeing her leg was bleeding. There was no time to stop it. This place was falling apart at the seams from whatever was going on.

Before she could fully recover, she heard a massive crash, the house shaking harder than ever before. Heading to the main hall, her eyes would widen in shock and awe as the entire side wall had been destroyed, the debris strewn all over the courtyard outside. Her bare feet hurt as she ran over the chunks of rock and glass, but all of that subsided when she saw what was happening outside.

The two people she saw before were in the courtyard now, seemingly thrown out from the same action that had destroyed the manor wall. They were exchanging blows with attacks from all sides as a massive wave of blood taking the shape of a dragon rose in front of them, at its head stood the Countess Taivas, bringing her all to bear.

"Bianca? Is... Is that you?" She'd heard a voice call out, and she'd look over to the guest house to see it had completely crumbled, surrounded by fire and smoke. Laying on the ground, his leg caught underneath the rubble, was Nero. In his arms was an unconscious Umbra, the toddler quieter than Bianca had ever seen her.

"Oh no... Nero! Umbra!" Bianca would shout, rushing towards them as fast as she could, stumbling over her own feet and ignoring the pain in her body as the adrenaline filled her. Reaching the two of them, she'd crouch down to check on them.

"Umbra is okay, but I got hurt protecting her. I... I can't get out. My leg is stuck, I can't feel it..." Nero would say, and Bianca looked over at the debris, seeing it had all but crushed Nero's leg. She would take hold of it, doing her best to lift it, but it would only budge slightly.

She heard shouting, and she would turn to see the Countess draw on a scythe of blood, engaging the two warriors in direct combat. The woman with the sword and shield was an agile, terrifyingly precise fighter, and the man with the greatsword wielded it as though it were as light as a feather. The Countess drew on armor of blood to protect her, but it shattered nearly as quickly as it formed.

In her desperation, she would let out a gutteral roar, and a great tsuami of blood would shoot out in all directions. Bianca's eyes widened as she saw it coming towards them, and she would dive between the wave and her siblings, her back to them as she stared at the blood coming at her head on. She remembered the basic fundamentals of blood magic, but she had never utilized it properly. Still, she had to try.

Using the blood that poured from her leg, Bianca would hold her hands out before her, creating a clumsy, round shield to try and block the oncoming wave. The pressure was great, and the girl screamed from the sheer weight of it all.

In the distance, she could see the three of them. The Countess unleashed a massive stream of blood towards the other fighters, and the man would jump in front of the woman, using his massive sword as a shield as the two hid behind it. She watched as the two of them stood their ground, before the man began to move, pushing back against the wave with his sword as the two began to run through it. Soon, he would swing his blade, and the woman jumped out from behind cover as the two of them cut through the blood and fire.

After a painful few seconds that felt like an eternity, Bianca watched as the two fighters got close to the Countess despite her best efforts, striking at her from different angles as Bianca screamed out. The wave of blood would suddenly stop, easing the pressure the young girl felt as she collapsed onto the ground. She looked on in horror as the Countess's head flew through the air, landing on the distant ground with an unceremonious thud.

The children screamed, an inexplicable wave of emotions- fear and rage and sorrow- all anguished through them. Scrambling to her feet, Bianca would rush towards the debris, forming blood gauntlets on her hands without realizing it as she lifted the wooden beam off of her brother's leg.

The duo approached them, offering their help. But the children backed away in fear.

"Leave us be, you monsters... you took everything from us..." Bianca would hear Nero say, and she looked down to see his crimson eyes filled with an uncharacteristic rage and anger as he looked upon the pair. Try as they might, they could not convince the children they wanted to help, and it was clear they would be hostile if there was any attempt to get closer.

Her legs trembling from a mixture of exhaustion and rage, Bianca would take her brother's arm and start to run away from the pair, who could do nothing but watch them leave.

She ran. And she didn't look back, even once. No matter where it took her.

A grown woman with long, white hair tied up in a ponytail would be standing in the middle of the courtyard, staring at the hole in the manor as she held a torch in her hand. The fifteen years since had not been kind to this place. It was but a graveyard. A testament to the end of a bloody era. A story heralded as a victory cry that ended a war. A call for peace at the subjugation of others.

Bianca looked at where the finishing blow was dealt. The damage was so severe that the earth was still struggling to heal from the events of that night, the ground dyed a shade of dark red even still. The body was long gone, left to the elements, but Bianca could still see it when she closed her eyes.

"Are you ready?" A voice would call out, and Bianca would turn to see Nero step up next to her, the same solemn look on his face. Bianca would give the house one final look.

"Of course." She'd say, moments before tossing the torch at the manor. Within an instant, it'd catch fire, spreading rapidly to engulf what remained of the building. When at last it became a brilliant blaze, Bianca and Nero would turn their backs to leave.

"There's no going back."