Explanation

Avin escorted Adrian back upstairs, his eyes darting to the collection of mirros in the great hall. Seeing nothing out of place, he still hurried her along and pushed her further down the hall, past her room and his until they were standing at a padlocked door. Moving his free hand to the lock he tore it off the door and hurriedly pushed her inside.

Adrian allowed avin to move her. She could tell her body was starting to go into shock, her ears ringing a bit and her mind felt far away. She felt a little better once inside the room that had been locked and her right ear felt strangely warm again.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Avin gently led Adrian to a chair, noting she looked faint. After making sure she was seated, he pulled up his own chair and took several, much needed, deep breaths. He hadn't expected to see Black Crow, that was for sure. And that message...

Adrian was so in shock that Avin's  touch didn't even faze her. She normally would have shaken it away, or felt highly unconfortable. She looked at him blankly, waiting for him to speak

"I know you have lots of questions," Avin whispered, "And I wish I could answer them all, but that would take years of explaining to do so." He looked at her, eyes hard, "First off, that was Black Crow, a Crow Demon who was bound to my grandfather, Logan Kane. He served my grandfather for many years and his devotion to my grandfather seemed genuine."

Aidrian just continued to stare at him. She had heard every word, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Avin's eyes tightened as emotions threatened to burst, "But he was working for another man; a man who's sanity was constantly in question. Why he served him I don't know, but I do know that Black Crow was found out and banished from my family name and sent away. At least, that's what was suppose to have happened." He faded off, thinking how to word the next bit, "Black Crow is a very special demon. Unlike most demon's he doesn't need to go through the Witch Dimension to get here. That was one of the reasons why my grandfather was so eger to make him a servant."

"And from what I've learnt, Black Crow was a very good servant. He was loyal and level headed and willing to follow my grandfather into the Hell City to stand before Lord Lucifer!" Avin growled then, hands reaching into his hair and pulling at it, "That's probably how the whole mess started!"
"It was before my grandfather met my grandmother. Black Crow went to Hell City to retrieve something for my grandfather and it was during this trip that he was arested for 'treason' though he had never done anything. He was placed in Lord Lucifer's personal dugeon for torture." Avin looked at his hands, "I don't have to go into details, but suffice to say that when Black Crow came out he had lost most of his sanity. My grandfather was furious, and tried his best to help Black Crow adjust. But the damage was done. Lord Lucifer saw to it that Black Crow would do anything to make his goals for my grandfather happen, even if it meant lying and killing behind his back."

Adrian felt a wet trail down her left cheek- she reached up woodenly, brushing a fingertip against it, seeing a droplet of water. She brushed her hair back with her hand, and felt a subtle warmth relax her body slightly, warmth radiating at her shoulder blades. She reached out a hand and touched Avins slightly. she looked at him with large eyes, the star under her left eye showing slightly, the tear had removed some of the susbstance she used to cover it up.

Avin looked at Adrian, masking his surprise as he watched a star appear on her cheek. 'She must cover it,' he thought, 'otherwise i would have noticed it by now.'
He moved his hand so that he was holding onto hers and gave her a soft smile, "Thank you, but now is not the proper time for comfort. I have yet to tell you about Lauxian and the evil he has caused my race."

Adrian nodded once, slowly.
Taking a deep breath, Avin began in a low voice, but soon confidence entered his words, fueling his resolve to tell her what she needed to know.

"Lauxian didn't start off insane. Rather, he started off as any other child should. He was surrounded by family, had mentors eager to pass on their knowledge, and had personal wealth needed to find happiness. It was with these things that Lauxian was able to grow into adulthood, and it was by the loss of this things that caused his fall into insantiy."
"It happened not long after he reached what is considered 'adulthood'. It really isn't adulthood, but it is the age when a child is treated like an adult and taught how to live the life of a proper demon. One of the responsibilites is to keep peace with the other tribes. You see, the demons during that time were mostly nomadic in nature, with only a select few tribes settling down in Hell City. Lauxian accompanied a few of the peacekeepers, leaving his brothers, sisters, and parents behind. He had thought there was nothing to worry about, but when he returned from the first meeting, he realized how wrong he was."

Avin was silent for a moment before he continued, "They had been slaughtered by the very tribe that Lauxian had spent the last few days negotiating with. Those that were there say it was like a horror show gone wrong. They had never seen so much blood spilled from one specific family. It was just unfortunate luck that it was Lauxian's family as he learnt later. It was through this act of finding his little siblings ripped appart that planted the seeds of madness inside him."

"Naturally he sought revenge and he got it. Those that had killed his family were quickly taken care of by his hand and his tribe started to move on." Avin smiled at Adrian then, "Demons are cold creatures. Once vengence is carried out, they move on. Well, Lauxian was unable to. He started to kill those who moved on. He became a monster, slaughtering anyone who either pissed him off or mocked his family. He spent a hundred years killing people before he decided that there was a better way."

"Lauxian decided to become Lord Lucifer, a role held only by the strongest demon. Suffice to say Lauxian had no trouble taking the position. His insanity brought him greater control over the shadows, making him untouchable as the shadows were attracted to his madness. He ruled as Lord Lucifer for over a thousand years, bringing God's soldiers to our Dimension and killing many innocent. He was only kind to those who were of kin, but even they had to be careful not to bring too much attention to themselves."

Avin stopped then, hesitant to continue. Should he tell her more, or skip to the part that she should know? 'I suppose what she should know. If she needs to know more I'll tell her later on.'

"Lauxian was overthrown awhile ago when he attempted to make my grandmother unlock all the dimension gates that lead to the mundane world. I'm not entirely certain why he wanted to do this, probably just an episode of madness, but he was stopped by my grandfather and banished into a sub dimension." He leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the ceiling, "I'm not sure what he's up to now. Last I knew he was in solitude confinement, so how he got Black Crow I have no idea."

There was a timid knock at the door, causing both of them to jump in surprise. Avin looked to the door and was relieved when it was just Vivian with a tea tray.
"Thought you could use some tea to calm your nerves. Especially yours Miss Adrian." Vivian was smiling, though Avin knew that it was more to keep herself together. She hadn't met Black Crow before, but she had heard the rumors of his insanity. It was probably nerve racking to see what had become of her fellow kin.

Adrian nodded, still a bit out it, but not nearly as out-of-her-mind as she had been before. She accepted the cup of tea. The first sip warmed her completely, bringing her mind completely back to the present. "Thank you Vivian" She sighed "That does help tremendously."

Vivian nodded, "Glad it helped. I myself had a cup or so before I came up here."

White the two girls talked, Avin spaced out, mulling over what was happening.
Ever since he had come to this city, things had been thrown out of balance, keeping him busy and preventing him from getting any investigation done about what could be causing the increase in sinners. And then there was Adrian with her weird glowing mark. There were several different theories he could come up with, but how to know what the cause was. Did she even know about it? And that brought about a whole round of new questions!! Just how much was she going to tell him about herself? He had been very truthful about his family and his work, but all she supplied him with was that she was an inventor with a weird glowing star on her cheek! He turned his gaze on her. She even held herself in a manner that suggested she was hiding something.
He would definately have to investigate her before providing her with further information about his world and people. And what a better time to do it when one of the Sin's was coming to do the work of collecting for him...

Adrian finished up her conversation with Vivian along with her cup of tea, and looked at Avin "So....what now?" she asked. Were they just to continue on? Avin going to work, her inventing, supper burning in the oven downstairs?

Vivian clapped her hands, "We'll carry on and eat dinner! What you do afterword is none of my business, but I recommend a walk to help ease your minds." She looked pointedly at Avin, "Especially you. You've been working too much as of late Mister!"
Avin grunted, "Whatever you say."

Adrian wholeheartedly agreed, ready for something substancial to fill her stomach. She glanced at Avin quickly, noting that he did still look tired.

They went to supper, chewing in silence, each thinking about the events of the day. Adrian felt both tired and restless, as well as a bit awkward around Avin. She wasn't fond of showing fear or weakness in front of people, and Black Crow had affected her beyond what she had thought possible- she had never been so out of mind in terror. She quickly excused herself, heading to her room.  It took a while to fall asleep, since she did not feel safe, but eventually exhaustion took over.