Chapter Text
Taako was sitting at a table, tapping it impatiently with his pointer finger and shaking his leg. His gaze was shooting around the club, unnaturally intense. His darkvision made the dim club bright and loud, giving him a great view of it. He could see couples dancing on the floor, waiters passing out drinks, and people chatting, but not what he was looking for.
“Have you ever seen Taako this focused?” He heard Magnus whisper to Merle.
Merle stroked his beard in a mimed act of pondering, responding, “One time I was teasing him about his hair and he almost killed me when I said it looked ugly. That’s it, though.”
Magnus gently tapped Taako’s shoulder and caused him to jump. He forced a lazy smile, saying, “What’s up, Mag-o?”
“Mag-o?” Magnus blinked and shook his head. “You alright, bud? I know this is important to you but you look like your eyes are gonna bust out of your head.”
For what seemed like the first time all night, Taako took a deep breath. “Look, I know, but this is the closest I’ve been in ten years to finding them. To finding her . I don’t wanna miss anything that might point to them.”
“Damn, you usually miss everything,” Merle said.
“Not helping,” Merle said and gently punched his arm.
“Ow, asshole!”
Taako looked away from them bickering and back to the crowd. His eyes flashed to anything that might hint at his missing family; a flash of red hair, a white shirt, blue denim jeans. He felt like all of him was screaming, ready to move and look and find them waiting for him.
After half an hour of sitting there with his friends, he started to doubt. If they haven’t shown up anywhere in the past decade, why would they appear now? When Lucretia told him that they were seen at the Neverwinter Club, he was even unsure then. She sweared up and down that her source was legit, that she wanted to find them as much as he did, but it didn’t make sense. If they were in such a public place, did they even want to be found? Were they running away from him ?
Finally, he saw it. Long, fire red hair in an undercut. He would recognize that haircut in his sleep. He got up without a word, ignoring the confused exclamations from his friends, and followed after the person with the long hair. He pushed through the crowd and heard Merle and Magnus hurrying behind him.
The end of the trail led to a door. He tried to open it, but found that it wouldn’t budge. Merle and Magnus caught up to him, both breathing heavily. He tried again and again to open the door to no avail.
“What… the fuck , Taako?” Merle gasped out.
“I saw her,” Taako said, gripping the Umbra Staff and pointing it towards the door. “I saw Lup.”
At that, both of them straightened up. Magnus said, “Taako, are you sure? Is she really here?”
“It had to be!” Taako said and casted Knock, hearing a lock click. He pushed the door open and ran inside.
He was faced with a long hallway in front of him. There were three doors on each side and one at the very end. As he hurried down the hall, he heard noises in a door to his right. He didn’t hesitate before reaching over and opening up the door.
A handsome, long-haired man turned to face him. His face wore a look of surprise. His hair was in braids, reaching down halfway down his back. The whites of his eyes weren’t white at all, instead it was black. The color of his eyes was a deep, blood red. His ears were pointed at the tips, but nothing like Taako’s long, pointy ears. He was wearing a nice, black suit with a cape made of feathers. His skin was a dark gray. It didn’t take much for Taako to realize he was a vampire.
The man quickly recovered, a smile crossing his face as he said in a cockney accent, “Well, this is convenient, isn’t it?”
Merle and Magnus followed Taako into the room. Taako hardly noticed, his eyes focused on the man in front of him. He was enchanted with this handsome man. He was staring at his wide lips, that beautiful smile that perfectly framed his face. His wide cheekbones looked like they were sculpted from a statue. It wasn’t until Magnus talked that he was shaken out of his trance.
“Excuse me?” Magnus asked.
“A vampire? The hell is he doing here?” Merle asked.
“‘He’ has a name. Kravitz, charmed,” Kravitz said. “You see, I am here on some very important bus-”
“This isn’t really a great place for you, my dude,” Taako said. “A handsome man in the middle of a packed club who kinda has creepy eyes and cloak doesn’t exactly fit in.”
“Boy, you’re not intimidated by me at all, are you?” Kravitz said.
“Come on, the guy introduced himself, don’t be rude,” Magnus said. “I’m-”
“Magnus Burnsides, I’m aware. In fact, I know all of you,” Kravitz said, the smile disappearing from his face. “You see, you boys are in a lot of trouble. I am a bounty hunter for the Raven Queen, the lady of life and death. Your actions under the monster-hunting organization called the Bureau of Balance have called for your capture.”
“Ohh, a Raven!” Merle said. “Maybe coming here was worth it.”
“I was here to get another bounty of Lucas Miller, who I have reclaimed, but I didn’t expect you all!” Kravitz said and gestured, a book appearing in his hand. He flipped through it as Magnus spoke.
“But what does that have to do with us?” he asked.
“I’m getting to that. Let’s get to Taako first,” he said, turning to Taako.
“Hellooo,” Taako said, smiling and winking at him.
Kravitz blinked and stared at him, shaking his head, “Um, yeah. Taako. You have killed eight of the Children of the Raven Queen.”
They all stared at the reaper in shock. Taako tried to count on his fingers, saying, “I thought it was closer to three? Vampires aren’t that easy to kill, and we hunt more monsters than that…”
“Well, we knocked two out,” Magnus said. “That’s just five, though.”
“Cut, the goofs,” Kravitz said and turned to Magnus. “Magnus Burnsides, you have killed… 19 of the Children.”
“That doesn’t seem right,” Magnus says immediately, looking at his friends in confusion.
“Merle-”
“No, no, wait. How have I done that? I would have remembered,” Magnus argued.
Kravitz ignored him, saying with the most irritated voice Taako had ever heard, “Merrrllle… fuckin’ Highchurch. Do you know- do you know, my dear friend, how many of my kin you’ve killed? Care to take a guess?”
“Closest without going over. Taako, go,” Magnus said.
“I’m just surprised my middle name is ‘fuckin’!’ I had no idea,” Merle answered.
“At least one?” Taako guessed.
“I’m gonna say 1999,” Magnus said.
“In between there,” Kravitz said. “Merle Highchurch, easily the largest bounty I’ve hunted, have killed 57 vampires. 57! Fifty se-veh-eh-en!”
“Damn, why didn’t you tell us?” Taako said.
“And we’ve never been able to catch you! Not even one pitty capture. That’s just rude!” Kravitz said.
“When you say ‘killed-’” Magnus started.
“Murdered, caused them to stop unliving, gone,” Kravitz said.
“When have we done all that?” Taako asked.
“Yeah, that’s- yeah, great question! I’ve been wrestling with that myself!” Kravitz exclaimed.
As he spoke, he got visibly angrier. His eyes turned a brighter red, almost glowing. His handsome features slowly sunk into his face until he was barely more than skin hanging onto his bones, his cheeks and eyes sunken in. His cloak was billowing behind him, his suit becoming more tattered. He grinned, showing off a row of sharp teeth.
“Now, the Raven Queen demands revenge. I can’t allow you all to stay here, so I suggest you come with me quietly. But I wouldn’t complain about some free dinner tonight.”