Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vera I

It was less than ONE WEEK until my Birthday. FIVE days. That's it. But I guess my plans for sneaking into an R-rated movie, eating ten pounds of frozen yogurt, and attempting backflips at the giant trampoline park (IN that order, since I was feeling daring in my soon-to-be old age) weren't going to happen.

Judge me all you want for that being my first thought when I woke up in a foreign place and realized I'd been kidnapped but turning EIGHTEEN was a big deal and I'd had PLANS.

I'd been super offended when the only person who seemed excited for my big day was a creepy old "Uncle" I saw once a year. He wasn't my REAL Uncle, just, you know, the kind of person that your parents make you call Uncle so that it's not TOTALLY weird when they want to spend alone time with you (even though it SO is).

Any time "Uncle" Moebius would come to town, I would have to do my community service for the year and indulge him by listening to his reject fairytales about a depressing, made-up place called Nosgoth. Stupid sounding name, right? In these stories, he was always the star — an epic sorcerer who was way smarter and stronger than anyone else. His stories were no Lord of the Rings, I'll tell you that much.

The two of us would always go to the downstairs den, me dragging my feet with a plate of gross tea that my mom had shoved into my hands. My parents and the undefeated winner of the Worst Sister of The Year Award, Lily, got to stay upstairs and watch TV. Not that I cared to Keep Up With The Kardashians, but it was better than Keeping Up With the Crazy, Cataract-Eyed Baldy.

He wasn't just the worst to be around because he was boring. He was also SUPER creepy-looking. I mean, most old people are with their wrinkly raisin skin, but he took the cake…and not JUST because of the cataracts and liver-spotted, hairless head I mentioned before…but they didn't help anything. His cheeks were all sunken in and he had what looked like a prison tattoo of an eight on his forehead. In fact, his ugly hooked nose was probably the LEAST offensive looking part of his face. The most was definitely his smile, which just looked off somehow, like some cartoon evil villain grin. Maybe he had cheap dentures or something.

That cheap theory held up — he definitely didn't like spending money on clothes, because he wore the same Renaissance Faire get up every. Single. Year. With the tackiest-looking cane known to man. I figured his outfit came from Party City and he just wore it for Vera's Birthday Boring Story Time to make things seem more interesting. It never did.

He would always come over with the same violet pants and shirt, with a gold sash around his waist to break up the purple on purple. It seemed like a LOT when he could've just…worn different pants? Over top of the purples was a dark blue cloak with gold trim that matched the sash. When he came to the door, he always had the hood pulled up like HE was embarrassed to be seen hanging out with ME.

Now, let me talk about that cane for a second. Like, I know he needed it to walk, but had he HEARD of the ones with tennis balls at the end that most old people use?! His was tall and thin and made of metal, but on top of it was some cheesy crystal ball-looking thing with — get THIS — a damn SNAKE twisted around the metal, biting the orb at the top. WHO THE HELL TOLD HIM THAT LOOKED GOOD?

And my parents would just let this dude stroll (ok, shuffle those arthritic feet) down into MY downstairs den where MY room was feet away ON MY BIRTHDAY EVERY YEAR. WHAT IF HE DIED ON MY RECLINER?

I'd roll my eyes while he went off about how vampires were a plague to society (as if they were real) and I always ended up falling asleep within half an hour of his visit. I mean, could you blame me? Old people stories go on FOREVER. Uncle Moe never seemed offended when I would wake myself up from my nap with a loud snore hours later. Weirdly, he seemed happier than ever, smiling that smile I hated so much. I'd guessed that he had just been glad for the captive audience.

Like I said, he usually showed up ON my actual birthday which was a TOTAL downer, but last year he'd gotten VERY excited and said that he had a special surprise for me THIS year that would happen before the big day.

Fast forward to said day, and I was just putting down my empty teacup. He was finishing up a story about how serving his God was the greatest honor anyone could have and blah blah blah — then he was oddly quiet. The rounded ball on the top of his walking stick suddenly lit up. He must've installed LED lights into that thing. I didn't think it could get uglier, but I guess I was wrong.

"Almost 18," he said in a sing-song voice, his milky-eyed stare on me. "I so look forward to our adventure together. No need to pack a bag — I have just the outfit for you here." He reached down beside him and put a brown sack on the ring-stained coffee table in front of us. "And everything else you could ever want, or need will be at the Stronghold."

Uh...What? He must've traded what was left of his sanity for those lightbulbs inside that dumb walking stick.

I scrunched my face up, eyeing the dirtied brown sack. Hope that thing came with a gift receipt. It smelled like dust and moth balls, which I definitely should've expected since Moebius smelled the same way.

"Uh, I'm all for you boring me to sleep with your stories, but smelly costumes and make-believe places that involve me doing ACTUAL physical activity to 'travel to' are where I draw the line. I know you're probably out of touch, 'cuz you're an Old or whatever, but I'm going to be 18, not 12." I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to touch the bag.

"You drank that tea, then?" he asked, ignoring me, getting up slowly with the help of his flickering cane. He dropped the sack in my lap as I rolled my eyes again and nodded. Yeah, I had choked the disgusting tea down — he always pressured me to before he began his stories. From the bag, I pulled out an outfit that was almost exactly the same as the one he was wearing now, though his color scheme was different. The pants were dark brown, the shirt was dark green, and the jacket over top of it was a darker purple than his and without the gold trim.

"Yikes. What do you want me to do next? Shave all my hair off and tattoo an 8 on my head so we match even more?" I scowled, dropping the hooded jacket on the ground. My Mom always told me to be nice to Uncle Moe, but I was about to be 18 which meant I was an ADULT and adults could do whatever they wanted.

His horrible smile dropped at my sick burn, but then picked back up in less than a second, his voice suddenly deeper and less frail. "That would be your choice. One of the few you'll have."

Was he…taller all of the sudden? He definitely didn't have that old person hunch thing going on anymore. Even though I was sitting down, I could tell he was at least a few inches taller than me. He also didn't seem to NEED that cane at all anymore, which was glowing brighter and brighter every second.

What a creep. I tried to stand up off the couch to go tell my Mom I was done playing this game when I fell back into the sofa. I felt my eyes get super heavy and the room spin, like the time I drank a 12 pack of White Claws not realizing they were alcoholic.

There was no puke THIS time, but last time, at least I got to wake up in my own room.

THIS time, I sat up in a rock-hard bed. Where the hell was I? I was supposed to be at school in a few hours, guilting my cousin Ayla into driving me around all week for my birthday in just…four short days. That didn't seem like it was going to happen.

I jumped off of the uncomfortable mattress, hurting my neck from whipping it around to try to figure out where I was and what was going on. Stone floors, walls, and ceiling? Whoever owned this place needed to watch more HGTV.

I couldn't find a light switch and the torches on the wall made me feel like I was in a place that hadn't even heard of electricity yet. It had to be the middle of the night, but it must've been a full moon, because the blue light coming in from the huge window made it so I could see everything…not that there was much to look at.

The room was super small, with the bed pushed against the wall and a desk at the end of it with candles, a couple of books, and a bowl of the worst type of food imaginable — fruit — on it. I hated fruit almost as much as I hated Moe. That was about it besides the window.

The window! I ran to it, hoping I'd be able to dive out of it and get far away from this nightmare of a place. I quickly saw that I was on the 3rd or 4th floor, so that dream was crushed pretty fast, but maybe I could recognize where I was.

There were a few houses I could see in the distance, but they all looked like they were made out of stone too. No paved roads, no cars, no nothing. Okay, I might be bad with directions, but this place couldn't have been anywhere CLOSE to my house. It was like I had travelled back in time or something!

I suddenly got a big whiff of that mothball-y stank and looked down.

"I'm wearing the ugly clothes from the potato sack?! WAIT! UNCLE MOE UNDRESSED ME?!" I screeched in horror, clutching at the itchy fabric. "I ALWAYS KNEW HE WAS A PERV!"

I'd been right all along about my parents' weirdo friend! I wish I could rub it in their faces! But oh yeah, I couldn't because he KIDNAPPED ME, UNDRESSED ME, AND TOOK ME TO THE MIDDLE AGES! I didn't care if I didn't know where I was — I just needed OUT of this room ASAP.

The beaten-up bag that these clothes had come in was on the floor next to the desk. I dove for it, actually excited to see it this time. Maybe it had my old outfit in it.

The only thing in the sack were the boots that finished off this crappy ensemble, so I quickly put them on. My dark blue jeans and "Go Step on a Lego" shirt were nowhere to be found.

As much as it pained me to do it, I dumped the apples and oranges that had been left on the desk into the bag and threw it over my shoulders. It wasn't like I saw a 7-Eleven out there and I needed to bring SOMETHING to eat with me if I was gonna make a break for it…even if fruit barely counted as food.

I ran for the doorknob with both hands, hoping it wasn't locked. It wouldn't turn, and I started to panic until the knob broke right off the hinges with a weird green spark. I knew that guy was cheap. He couldn't even spring for good doorknobs.

I took a deep breath, realizing I had to do one of the things I hated most of all, but I was desperate. I had to run. Outside of the tiny room was a spiral staircase, so narrow I kept bumping into the walls on my way down. I must have been straight-up locked in a tower Rapunzel-style based off of all these stupid stairs. I was sure Rapunzel didn't have to worry about her hair catching on fire from the torches that lit up the staircase like I did, but I would take being my own savior over some guy climbing my ponytail any day — I did NOT look good with an updo.

I was wheezing by the time I made it down, but I was determined to keep going until I made it outside.

FINALLY, I busted out of the staircase into a huge wide-open room with stained glass in the high windows. The glass had pictures of men stabbing at what looked like demon-y monster things. I wasn't exactly interested in seeing the details. It was just one more unsettling thing I couldn't wait to leave behind when I got the HECK out of this place. I couldn't believe my luck that there wasn't anyone else to stop me, but if everyone Moe hung out with here was as old as him, they probably wouldn't be able to catch me leaving without hearing aids.

I suddenly felt a little draft, rounding one last corner before seeing a double door. YES! I may not have been a fan of my outfit, but at least I had a hood to put up against the cold before I burst out of the stone building, determined never to look back.

Being eye-level with all the old timey stuff I saw from my window was just as much of a shock as it was the first time around. Even the TREES looked different. And I had never seen the moon as bright as it was here, even when it wasn't full.

It helped me actually see what I was working with, so I couldn't complain, and I booked it to the left, not sure where I was heading but sure that I was going to get as far away from Moebius and the horrible castle thing as I could.

"Side stitch!" I gasped, hunching over and grabbing at my ribs. I really, really hated running. In a few minutes, I could start old lady power walking, but I needed a second to stop and take a breather.

Suddenly, I could hear more than just my heartbeat and heavy breathing. I felt someone or something whizz by me and…was that…barking? I straightened up and looked toward the animal sounds.

I THINK they were some type of dog — someone had covered their heads in helmets, so it was hard to tell. If they were dogs, they were dogs on steroids. They got more terrifying the closer they got. I could see they were JACKED, foaming out of the mouth and through the metal, and that the sides of the helmet had straight up BLADES attached to them.

At first, they were distracted, chasing whatever it was that had passed me first, but then they stopped and began to circle me.

"The ONE part of this awful outfit Moebius couldn't give me was the giant stick?!" I screamed, looking around for a branch or tennis ball or something to throw and distract the dogs. Of course, there wasn't a single thing around this cruddy place that could help me. I was done for.

Wait a minute — maybe that fruit was good for something! I desperately took off my bag and started whipping apples and oranges. When I realized they weren't going to play fetch, I started throwing the produce AT them, missing every single time. I couldn't believe I was going to die dressed like the lamest dude ever, with the last thing I ever touch being my one true nemesis — fruit. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, ready for it to be over.

I heard one of the dogs whine and risked taking a peek.

Woah.

There was a blue skeleton wearing a scarf, taking a flaming sword out of one of the three dogs' bodies. I blinked a few times to make sure what I was seeing was real. Yep. Still a skeleton man in front of me. Still blue. Still naked except for the scarf.

I couldn't stop staring at his ribcage, his white eyes, his flaming sword, his perfectly-styled black hair. After he killed the dogs, he turned back around to face me. I picked my jaw up off the floor.

"I almost had 'em there, but I appreciate you finishing them off for me. I...OW!" As I went to talk to the blue nudist, he charged me, grabbing me by the throat with one hand and lifting me into the air.

"I heard you call to your leader. Did Moebius send you here as a spy when he figured out I outsmarted him? Answer me, boy!" he demanded, bringing the flaming sword to my face and shaking me so that my hood fell off. He drew his head back, eyes narrowing, "Girl?" It must not have mattered what I was, because he still wouldn't let me breathe.

"L-let me GO, crazy! I can't breathe!" I flailed, choking while his clawed hands squeezed my windpipe. I wasn't going to answer ANY questions until he learned some manners. I hope he learned them quick, because I was about to pass out.

He dropped me hard, so that I fell flat on my butt into the dust. "Thanks." I said, voice dripping with sarcasm as I started to get up, but he pointed the flaming blade back at me. I glowered up at him. "I don't work for ANYONE... Well, okay, I worked a summer at Wendy's before I got fired for making too many fart noises through the drive thru speaker, but NOW I don't work for ANYONE. ESPECIALLY not Moebius. He drugged me, took me to this gross place and LOCKED me in there," I pointed my thumb back at the castle thingy, "Also he definitely changed my clothes when I was knocked out, which is all sorts of wrong. It's almost my Birthday, and THIS is the present I get?! Can you believe him?! Turning 18 is, like, a HUGE deal! I could vote if I wanted to, or buy cigarettes! Not that I'd ever be dumb enough to give myself cancer, but I'm just saying I COULD if I REALLY wanted to!"

The skeleton's sword disappeared as his eyes seemed to dart from me to the castle, his head tilting. "Your speech pattern is quite unusual. I've never heard it from any region of Nosgoth." He paused. "If your story is to be believed, perhaps Moebius took you from another time."

Did he say Nosgoth?! Was I dead? Did Uncle Moe's stories finally bore me to death? Nosgoth couldn't have been REAL, right? I pinched myself to see if maybe I was having the worst dream ever, but nothing happened.

So, I guess this was Nosgoth. I wish I'd listened to even HALF of Moebius's stories, but in my defense, I didn't think any of it was REAL, let alone useful. Yet here I was, watching a naked dead dude kill demon dogs. Woulda been great to know literally anything else.

"I'm not from Nosgoth. I don't even know if Nosgoth is on EARTH. And even if it was, I stink at geography so it's not like it'd even help." I stood up. My butt had fallen asleep and I didn't like this guy towering over me. "Either way, where I'm from, we start by introducing ourselves, NOT choking someone out." I rubbed at my throat with a scowl, "I'm Vera."

"What could he be orchestrating? Moebius must be absolutely desperate if his plan involves a weak, useless human girl..." The skeleton guy turned away from me entirely at this point, lost in his super-rude thoughts. WOW.

"Useless?! I have a number of participation trophies that say otherwise," I huffed. He still wouldn't turn back to me. "Hey, I introduced myself! I think I should get to know the name of the rude guy who saved me and then almost killed me right after!"

"I am Raziel," he said flatly, like the conversation was over. He finally turned around to face me. "If you are of use to Moebius, perhaps I should just leave you here for another pack of beasts to find. That will disrupt his scheme and in no way complicate mine."

It wasn't that I WANTED to spend more time with Raziel the Living Dead Doll, but I also didn't exactly WANT to die, and he seemed like good protection, even if he wasn't good company, "Uh, OR, OR! I could come with you! Because..."

I had nothing.

"Because... Uhh... It'd...be a great Birthday present?" I shrugged, hopefully.

Chapter Text

Raziel I

The insolent girl was already giving me a headache and arguing with her was wasting precious time. All that mattered was finding the last of the ancient vampire race left alive, Janos Audron, to get the answers I needed.

I may have exchanged only a few sentences with the teenager, but I could already tell she did not possess the mental capabilities necessary to outsmart Moebius. She would have been able to escape the Sarafan Stronghold only if the Time Streamer had wanted it so.

Since I was not interested in babysitting and had no desire to walk into one of Moebius' traps yet again, I resumed hiking towards the mountains in the direction of Janos's retreat, intent on leaving the girl behind. Her presence was a mystery, but a mystery I did not care to solve.

I was forced to stop when she jumped in front of me, several inches shorter and with no more muscle mass or definition than a young boy. Her pale face was twisted in determination, large sapphire eyes staring aggressively at me. It was as if she was unaware of her stature and hoped to intimidate me. She failed miserably. Moebius had dressed her in an outfit very similar to his own, although much less ornate, another confusing detail in all of this.

"Hey! Stop!" She held her hand palm-outward to halt me. "I might be able to remember a thing or two Moe told me. The stories were SO boring but I'm sure I have information to help you do...whatever you're doing!"

"Might I remind you, little girl, that I could strike you down as I struck down those dogs," I said menacingly, swatting her hand away, but to my bewilderment, she shrugged nonchalantly.

"I told you — the name's Vera. And we both know you're not going to do that."

"Do we?" I asked rhetorically. "Quite a show of confidence for someone who only moments prior was cowering in fear."

She responded with yet another shrug, "Just give me a sec to think, okay?"

I watched, bemused, as her face scrunched up, eyes closed and hands balled into fists. The full moon must have been playing tricks on my eyes, for there appeared to be a faint white glow emanating from her hands as she focused on her memories.

"I know I've heard about a...Kain? And an Elder God? Some Pillars? But wait — there's more!" Her eyes opened back up, frantically searching my face for approval, "Okay, maybe there's not more, but he checked on me EVERY year from the time I was a BABY so I'm doing YOU a favor by coming with —"

"Enough." I cut her off. It was clear she knew nothing of importance, just names she'd picked up from Moebius's stories. But she was right about one thing — if he had taken that much of an interest in her to visit yearly, she must play a pivotal role in his schemes. If nothing else, if she was being truthful, she would be a great bargaining chip.

I was not looking forward to the long trip ahead with this irritation by my side, but if she did prove to be too troublesome, I reasoned that I could always cut her life short in an instant if I so chose.

"We will be going through a swamp, then headed up a mountain. We'll have to do some hiking to get to the top, but I believe the person we find there will grant me resolution."

Her triumphant expression suddenly faltered. "You want me to HIKE? On PURPOSE?"

"That is usually how it works," I deadpanned, then began walking. I had wasted too much time already thanks to this cantankerous woman.

"Maybe that person can figure out what I'm doing here, too!" She scrambled up next to me with a grin, then winced and began itching at her clothes, "I get why you're not wearing any actual clothes because this Nosgoth fabric SUCKS, but why keep the scarf on? Naked with just a scarf is a BOLD fashion choice!"

I didn't dignify her prying with an answer. This pest was going to take some getting used to.

We walked on for over half an hour, passing through the swampy forest. It was quite a different landscape than the open plain near the Stronghold. Crooked trees surrounded us, the air was dense with fog, and the vampire Vorador's crow spies watched us from a distance. Of course, the girl noticed none of it. She was too preoccupied with giggling at the noises her boots were making when they went into and pulled out of the muddy ground.

I knew the vampire Vorador was no threat to us. Though neither of us trusted the other, we had a common enemy in Moebius. The crows seemed to examine her more closely than they did me. Perhaps Vorador thought me imprudent to be traveling with this straggler, a thought I myself entertained as the girl prattled on.

"Hey, so like, I get why you'd hate Moe because he sucks a fat one, but what'd he do to you? Did he steal your clothes, too? Is that why you're naked? I guess I'm lucky he gave me this getup — even if it is ugly and itchy." She had lost interest in her boots and her attention landed squarely back to me.

Moebius' main intention was always to deceive, to manipulate, to twist a situation to his favor. I felt a flare of anger as I thought about how foolish I had been to trust the Time Streamer in the first place. Instead of sending me to the past to meet Janos as I had asked him to, he had propelled me into a dystopian nightmare, what he claimed to be the future of Nosgoth, in his attempt to manipulate me against Kain.

I had been lucky enough to find an old Time Streaming chamber of his in that future, and though I had never used one before, I had been able to send myself to the past after all. It was only a matter of time before he figured out I had made it here despite his treachery, and continued to try and throw me off the right path to figuring out my fate.

"Moebius's trickery knows no bounds," I answered curtly, not wanting to encourage conversation.

"That was helpful." She rolled her eyes. "Are you on a daily word limit or something? I bet mimes talk more than you. I've never actually met a mime, but they seem a lot less scary than clowns. One time, at the state fair, a clown was hitting on my cousin, so I punched him square in the nose. It made the honk noise and everything. Then, we got some churros and..."

Her useless stories and constant references to things I did not understand were drowned out by my thoughts of Janos and figuring out my role in all of this.

Would he be like the murals depicted him? Evil, powerful, and bent on torturing and destroying all humans? Would I have to deliver unto him my newfound nuisance for sustenance before he would help me? That seemed a small price to pay, especially if she was Moebius' lapdog. The images I had seen of Janos showed him as a demon who had terrorized and tortured the townspeople of the nearby town of Uschtenheim.

Until recently, I myself had believed it as well - I'd thought Janos a monster, and the Sarafan virtuous defenders of humanity. I had been a Sarafan in my human life, and I suppose I thought that what I'd accomplished during that time meant that I was still entitled to some of the integrity I had earned through my deeds as one of them. Deeds I could not remember in my current life but had thought to be noble and just.

However, when I had arrived in this time, I had seen dozens of vampires brutalized and left to rot on pikes. The Sarafan seemed to delight in their kills and proud displays of violence, and with that realization, my idealization for my past life had ended. I should not have been surprised to see such violence, knowing Moebius was their leader.

I decided to reserve my judgment concerning Janos until I met him myself.

"It smells like BUTT," my companion exclaimed loudly, jolting me from my contemplation as she pinched her nose. "I know Shrek was supposed to be gross, but for him to CHOOSE to live in a place that smells like this seems preeeeetty unrealistic if you ask me. This mud is so sticky! It's - AH!"

A loud squelching noise made me turn around to see she had fallen forward into the muddy ground. She had broken the fall with her hands and knees, but a horrified grimace spread across her face as if she'd been stabbed.

"Now I smell like butt…" she whispered to herself, despondent, but then when she noticed I had turned around to look at her, she scrambled back up, almost losing her balance again. "I meant to do that! Parkour!"

I kept on without a word. Perhaps this was Moebius's plan all along — he'd meant for me to cross paths with the girl and had counted on her aggravating me to death.

"Are you ignoring me?!" She caught up with me, each step producing an even louder wet squishing noise than before, as she glowered incredulously at me, as if I'd missed a recitation of epic poetry, not her crude proclamations and pratfall.

"I apologize if I did not make that more clear," I said sarcastically. "Yes, I am."

"WOAH! LOOK!" Her arm suddenly darted across my face to point at The Pillars of Nosgoth, undeterred by my comment. "Are those THE Pillars I've heard Moe old-man ramble about!? Those things look like they're going up past the sky!"

They did, and she had been much closer to them when she was at the Stronghold, but I was not going to engage with her. She quickly lost interest in them, noticing she'd gotten my attention when her finger flew toward my face. She circled back to ask about my 'scarf.'

Continuing to pay her no attention only seemed to lead to even more protestation and more whining. I was incensed at the sound of her grating voice as she continued to probe.

"This is why," I finally snapped, my voice rising, ripping off the cowl with my clan sigil on it to reveal my grotesque face. "Kain, who you mentioned earlier, did this to me. I'm a revolting wretch. A shell of my former self."

Vera's already large eyes seemed to bulge out of her head. She grabbed at her own jaw and felt at it, as if making sure it hadn't been lost as mine had. Good. I had finally gotten her to stop talking out of sheer shock and disgust. I threw the cowl back over my exposed face and continued on.

Several silent minutes passed. Finally, she opened her mouth, "I don't think you're gross. You've got great hair, and can beat up monsters. I think you look like a superhero. I mean, look at this blue skin!" Her warm hand slid up my exposed arm and I drew back sharply at the foreign sensation and the discomfort it caused.

I had not been handled so gently for many years. My skin had spent half a millenium burning as I tumbled through the abyss. Following that, what was left of it had been nothing but aggressed by creatures hell bent on seeing my demise.

"Oook, so ya don't like being touched. Good to know. Sooo, how do you eat? Cuz I'm trying to imagine you shoving a turkey sub up in there, but without a jaw...or lips...or anything...where would it even go?" She stroked her chin as if her words were some philosophical question for the ages.

Why couldn't this small woman with utterly no boundaries just fear me like the rest of her kind?

We were approaching the village said to be preyed on by Janos Audron. His retreat was on the highest mountain top, visible from the moment we reached the clearing of the swamp.

"Woah, it's like the Renaissance festival. Lookit how old timey everything looks AND WARM! Every house has a lit fireplace in those huuuge no privacy windows! Let's bust into one of 'em!" Vera made to hurry forward toward the town, but I put my arm out, stopping her. "What, don't you wanna warm up by a fire? The second we stepped outta the butt swamp, it started getting cold again!"

I should have known that it would have looked very inviting to a human, with its mix of colorful stone buildings and large, many windowed, half-timbered homes.

"We cannot go through Uschtenheim. It may be the early hours of the morning, but I'm sure there are guards in and around the perimeter. One look at me and they will attack on sight. We must go around it."

"Okay. I don't really wanna go into a town that sounds like a sneeze anyway." She rubbed at her arms, her eyes lingering longingly on the street lamps and the flames that danced inside them, at the warm firelight pooling in parlor and kitchen windows down the high street.

We made our way around the cottages, all the while Vera rambling about how she guessed the village did not have something called "Why-fie" and that she felt sorry they could not "watch Net flicks." The sentences I heard when I was unable to tune her out were purely nonsensical.

The base of the steep, rocky mountain contained a well-worn trail that I assumed had been put in place back when humans and the ancients were allies. I was curious as to why it was not blocked off, but assumed Janos had other traps in place to halt those who wished his demise. Surely, hiking it would be the easiest part of our trial.

The girl eyed the mountain up and down, looking overwhelmed, "I changed my mind — I wanna go back to sneeze town."

I began up the path without her, knowing I'd hear the fast-paced clambering of her feet and ragged breathing next to me soon enough.

The benefit of having to endure her disruptive panting was that she did not have the lung capacity to talk as much and breathe at the same time. It made the next forty five minutes of the trip much more endurable.

Tufts of green and yellow grass sprouted beneath our feet, thick and plentiful to either side of us. As our altitude climbed, it became clear the Sarafan had long abandoned their hope of reaching the vampire this way. The path became less worn and more wild. Rocks from the weather-beaten mountain littered the ground, and the girl who was already tripping over her own feet prior seemed to be stumbling with every step.

"How much...would you charge...for a piggyback ride...right now?" She caught up to me again, her face and ears a bright red from the trek and cold winds of the mountain. "I've got...seven dollars...in my sock drawer...back home...but I promise...I'm good for it."

There was suddenly a slight tremor to the ground and a crumbling sound progressively getting louder. I looked up and saw several boulders on the mountain had broken loose, making their descent down the hill toward us.

"Hey, WATCH OUT!" I felt Vera shove me hard, pushing me out of the way in an attempt to take my place in the boulders' path. Being crushed by a boulder simply would've sent me back to the Spectral Realm, but they surely would've killed my female companion.

What would compel her to voluntarily sacrifice her life for mine?! Foolish girl. I looked up from the ground, expecting to see her crushed body in a pile of rubble.

Instead, I saw the young girl still standing there, arms extended outward and glowing an amber yellow. The rocks were frozen in place, stationary in midair. She looked over to me in wonder gasping, "R-Raz? Am I doing this?"

She was. My immediate thought had been that she had deceived me and only pretended to be as inept as she had appeared to be at first, but the expression on her face showed this clearly came as a shock to her as well. This was telekinesis like Kain's, but Kain had developed his as one of his many "dark gifts," something vampires gained through time.

The girl was a sorceress. There was no other explanation. It would explain Moebius's interest as well as how someone so thick-headed had managed to escape the Stronghold.

"This changes everything for us." I stood back up slowly, eyes darting from her hands to the rocks, still in disbelief.

For better or the worse, I couldn't be sure. Of course, having someone with me who wielded unfathomable power at her fingertips would prove valuable, but Moebius would most certainly come looking for his protégé.

She swung her hands effortlessly and the boulders flew above her head and down the rest of the mountain.

"There's an 'us' now, huh, Blue Guy? No more ignoring me?" She smiled smugly at me, then looked down at her still glowing hands. "I can't BELIEVE I'm Harry Potter! Except I'm even better than that nerd, because I don't even need a wand!"

I watched her touch her nose as it changed in shape to resemble several different animal noses as she laughed, cross-eyed, trying to look at it. So it was more than just the telekinesis. She was a sorceress, yes, and a powerful one at that. But how was this even possible? The Circle of Nine were the only humans capable of such strong magic and they had died off years ago, save for Kain and Moebius, which is why there could be no more. How was there another? And why had it taken as long as it had for her skills to manifest?

"I recommend being careful with those powers. You do not know how draining using magic could be for you, and I'm sure you'll need your strength to get through the trials we'll have to face to get to the vampire."

She stopped suddenly, looking dizzy. "You mean there's more we gotta do?!" she squeaked, frowning with a pig snout, "I don't feel so good, Mr. Stark." It went back to her normal nose, and she seemed to recover with a smile. "I wish my parents could see me! Who's below average now?!" There was suddenly an uncharacteristic sadness and softness in her voice as her smile faded. "I bet they probably haven't even noticed I'm gone."

"Judging by how vociferously you make yourself known —" I started my statement harshly, as an insult, but felt a peculiar pang of guilt. She had just put her life on the line for me when she barely knew me — she was owed some kindness. The rest came out in a more sympathetic tone, "I'm sure they're very aware you're no longer there."

"Thanks…I think. I don't know what vocfearos means, but it starts with V, and so does Vera, so it's gotta be good." She grinned gratefully, and then seemed to snap to attention, processing what I had said earlier. Her loud and manic questioning returned as her eyes bulged, "Wait, did I hear right about this dude we're seeing being a VAMPIRE? That is EPIC! Moe mentioned them but I thought that was more old-dude rambling! This is so AWESOME!"

With a reaction like that, vampires must not have existed at all, when or wherever this girl was from. No aspect of this woman made any sense. What game was Moebius playing by introducing this anachronistic girl to the equation?

The rest of the trail was spent with her joyfully prattling on about all of the things she planned on doing with her newfound powers while I pondered more about the ploy of Moebius, discontented by my lack of even the smallest clue.

"I'll turn my bed into a bunk bed, then I'll poof away all the empty pizza boxes in my room, aaand then I'll make the school flood whenever I have a test! Another thing I'd do is...WOW!"

She gaped at a massive set of ornate steel double doors that had been built into the rock itself that stood before us.

"So what's the deal with this dude? I get not liking people, but building your castle on top of a MOUNTAIN?" She scoffed after the shock of the sight had worn off, "With STEEL doors? This is all kind of extra."

"An order of humans led by Moebius called The Sarafan have been trying to kill Janos for years. Janos possesses wings, so his retreat at the top of a mountain protects him from them," I answered, pushing on the doors. They would not budge in the slightest. "Let's test out those powers of yours now, shall we?"

"Oh heck yeah!" She immediately marched confidently to the door, and threw her arms out dramatically. A red glow surrounded her hands before the doors blew open as if they were weightless, almost flying off their hinges. She beamed back at me expectantly, waiting for praise.

"Good. I suspect there will be a few more tests before we get to the vampire. Be at the ready." I nodded to her, and she nodded back enthusiastically, doing a bizarre gesture that included lifting both of her thumbs up as we walked into the unknown together.

The room was pitch black, aside from torches on the bare walls lighting up a set of narrow stone stairs that stood before us in the center. There must have been hundreds of steps, ascending to a platform where I could barely make out another set of double steel doors. A large chunk of stair missing right at the middle would've connected the stairs to the landing with the doors — an easy obstacle that I could use my tattered wings to glide across.

"You lead," I motioned in front of me for Vera to start up the stairs. I could already tell from her fall in the swamp and from our trek up the mountain that she was clumsy. The narrowness of the steps could pose a challenge and I intended to move faster than we had on our ascent here, as well as to keep an eye on the girl were she to lose her balance.

I waited for a few moments, but she refused to step forward. "If you are going to whine more about the damned exercise, I will —" I started angrily, turning around, ready to advance on her, but I saw she was looking up at the stairs with frightened eyes, her already pale coloring even paler. Her eyes darted over to me before fixing on the floor in embarrassment.

"I don't like heights, okay?" she mumbled quickly with a scowl, her eyes locking back on to mine as if daring me to mock her.

"You were completely fine walking up a mountain. So fine, in fact, that your loquaciousness knew no bounds until this very moment," I snapped, holding myself back from grabbing her by the scruff of her shirt and forcing her forward.

She was unbelievable.

She began animatedly gesturing to the mountain behind us, her voice rising in volume and octave, "Okay, LISTEN, the trail was actually wide enough that I didn't have to see the bottom or even think about it! I stayed on the inside of the path, which is the whole reason I was able to save your butt from those rocks!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "You're welcome for that, by the way!"

She hadn't truly saved anything of mine besides time she was now wasting, but it was an unnecessary argument. I had no idea why I was quarreling with her about her fear in the first place. Either she came with me or she did not.

"Alright, then. If you would rather stay here and wait for Moebius to find you, so be it. It makes no difference to me." I whirled around and started up the narrow stairs.

"Fine! I'm coming!" I heard her bark out behind me after a few seconds. "It doesn't help that all these candles make things super creepy. Ya know, everyone in Nosgoth could really learn something from the Property Brothers!"

That was the only quip she managed before I heard nothing but grunting every few seconds. Still loud, as it echoed around the almost empty room, but better than her constant talking. I turned to see what was causing her to make such odd noises to find that she was climbing the stairs on all fours like some kind of animal.

"Taking a primal approach?" I asked mockingly, stifling a chuckle at the absolutely ridiculous sight.

She caught me looking at her and paused mid-step, continuing to glare defiantly, "So what? I'm doing it, aren't I? Mind your business!"

That would be easy enough. I continued upward until I reached the large gap in the steps, getting a running start and grabbing the ends of what was left of my wings. I soared across the gap and landed gracefully on the other side.

"Those're WINGS?!" I heard shouted from behind me and was pleased to see she had caught up quickly with her unconventional method of travel. "I thought they were just pieces of skin that didn't fully fall off your skeleton or something!"

"I suspect you're going to need to rise up on your hind legs again if you want to use your powers," I continued to tease, and her scowl deepened, but she obeyed. "It should be unchallenging to lift yourself up and over this."

As she shakily took to her feet, her hands began to brighten up a fiery orange. Just as soon as I thought she'd had it, I saw her eyes dart below to the center of the chasm between the two of us, and the glow in her hands fizzled out. She began to wobble where she stood. "I can't do this!" she yelled hysterically.

"Vera," I started sternly when her powers completely died out, "You have to focus. You can do this."

She dropped down to all fours again, shaking her head and holding it in her hands, "You're just saying that because if I fall, you won't have to deal with me anymore!"

Surprisingly enough, this was not true. The girl had shown me her skills with magic were much more than I could've imagined — something that would aid me greatly on my journey. Not only that, but it was a change, not unpleasant, being spoken to like I wasn't an abomination, and though I didn't listen to most of her speech, it was better than the constant silence I normally faced. Not that I would ever admit to any of that.

"I'm not going to let you fall," I said as reassuringly as I could. It was a foreign tone for me, and came out sounding forced and hollow.

"What're YOU gonna do? Cuz I trust those 'wings' to carry both of us as much as I trust my magic right now!" She refused to look up, preferring instead to curl into a tighter ball on the stairs.

"Your powers stopped the rocks from coming down on me earlier. I know you can get yourself across this." I was getting impatient, but I was determined not to show it, lest it make her more anxious. She did not react. I sighed, then continued with all of the encouragement I could muster, "I believe in you."

Those seemed to be the perfect words. She paused a few moments, then nodded and straightened up.

She was still shaky, but she backed up, took a running start, and jumped. Just as I instructed, she hovered in midair, forcing herself onward toward me. Her palms, still glowing that fiery orange, were faced downward. She kept her terrified eyes on nothing but me, barreling toward me with a relieved smile that quickly faltered.

"Woah! Hold on!" She seemed unable to stop, finally dropping down on top of me. Her warm body felt so small compared to some of the foes that had thrown themselves on me in the midst of combat, but again, so much more uncomfortable. Her face was inches from mine and I could see the faint smattering of freckles on her nose, now disappearing a bit as she pinked.

"Sorry about that, sensei. Guess I overshot." She scrambled up, backing off and looking over the edge she'd just cleared, "I can't believe I did that! Princess Peach ain't got NOTHING on me!"

More references to things I did not understand gave me an excuse not to comment on the unintentional intimacy. The girl had yet to demonstrate an ounce of inhibition. I rose, turning toward the doors that stood before our next challenge.

"Let's move on." I turned back to her to see that she had sat down, looking lightheaded and pale again.

"Give me a break — I just FLEW!" She ran her fingers through her windswept hair, then her face scrunched in disgust, "I gotta eat an orange or something... Ugh, they're so gross." She ripped open her backpack and pulled out the citrus fruit.

It was odd that her fear of falling had caused her powers to wane. In times of high stress or anxiety, they should've been at their absolute peak. I expected her to be somewhat drained by their usage, but not to the point of needing to stop our journey entirely. Perhaps Janos could assist her. Having to break when we were so close was exasperating.

"Ya know, I totally almost got scurvy once a few years back," she was blissfully unaware of anything but the present moment in time. "Not fun. It's like Moebius wanted to kidnap AND torture me with this crap. I mean, when you had a jaw, you must've eaten fruit. It sucks, right?"

I stiffened, realizing I did not remember. "'When I had a jaw,' as you so callously put it, I was a vampire. And even that was thousands of years ago. I have no memory of myself as a human at all, much less would I remember something as trivial as whether or not I've eaten a piece of fruit. I haven't been human since...since this time specifically."

"You're reminding me of Uncle Moe right now, talking in stupid riddles. What does that even mean?" Her head cocked as she threw an orange peel off the edge of the landing, sending it to the floor hundreds of feet below.

I sighed, realizing I'd have to explain in the simplest of terms both my situation and any historical context that would be useful to her now that she was an asset to my journey. This was to be as exhausting for me as using her magic was for her.

"We're currently in the past. I am here from the future where Janos has been dead for many years." I braced myself for denial or confusion, but instead, she pumped both fists victoriously.

"I knew we were in the past! It explains EVERYTHING! Like why I haven't seen a single car so we have to walk everywhere, but mostly why you're not laughing at any of my solid references!" She lit up excitedly. "Man, I am SO smart!"

"We have no time to devote to your delusions of grandeur." I chided, and was relieved by her puzzled expression. She'd had no idea what I'd said. I could continue without another burst of emotions from her.

"Moebius is a sorcerer like you, only unlike you, he has a specific kind of magic — Time Streaming. In fact, each member of the Circle of Nine, who are the only other sorcerers in recorded history, have just one specific facet of magic each at their disposal and were only created for one specific purpose. You remember the Pillars you almost jabbed your finger into my eye screaming about outside? Each sorcerer coincides with a Pillar."

"Uh, I think you mean when you thought you were too good to talk to me but then found out I had magical powers so you gave me the time of day?" She finished peeling her fruit and threw the last piece of the rind at me with her tongue out.

"Exactly," I said, picking it up, inspecting it, and then flicking it back at her. "They correspond with the well-being of Nosgoth. There's the Pillar of Time, obviously, which Moebius is the Guardian of. The rest are the Pillars and Guardians of Energy, Balance, States, Mind, Nature, Conflict, Dimension and Death. In my time, they are ruinous versions of what you see here."

"Ok, so that's a lot." She mumbled thoughtfully, biting into her fruit, "My favorite part was how I'm better than everyone else you just talked about, but now I gotta hear more about the Raziel of this time. Is he just as uptight? Does he have a thing for scarves too?"

"All that I know about myself is that in this time, I was — am — a human, and divine member of the Sarafan I mentioned earlier. My brothers and I dedicated ourselves to purging the land of vampires with Moebius as our leader. After our human selves die, Kain, the reason for the Pillar's demise, desecrated our tombs and turned us into his vampire sons. It was all some sick ironic joke to him."

"Moe was ALWAYS talking about how much he hated vampires. I still can't believe any of that stuff he told me is real… So Kain brought you back as a vampire, turned you into…whatever you are now, AND destroyed all the pillars?" Her brow furrowed deeply. She seemed intent on taking the information in, but didn't quite seem capable of comprehending it. "Busy dude."

"Eventually, yes. The Circle of Nine sorcerers became corrupted, as I said. This was due to the murder of the Balance Guardian, Ariel. The Mind Guardian, who was Ariel's lover, plunged everyone in the Circle into madness and tainted their brains upon finding the body of his beloved… Is this getting to be too much for you?" I questioned, wondering if her face could get any redder or crumpled from her straining to keep up.

It took her a moment to realize I had addressed her, but when she did her face eased back to a normal shade and she shook her head.

"I think I got it, but lemme just add that the word lover is gross." She noted, nodding solemnly. "So what, Kain must be the Mind Guardian?"

"No. Upon Ariel's murder, a new Balance Guardian was chosen by the pillars. A child just born. Subsequently, as that child drew his first breath, it was infected with the Mind Guardian's curse."

"Okay, so," she paused, making sure she had it correct, "The messed-up baby was Kain?"

"Right. He was murdered, resurrected as a vampire, and told of his destiny as the Balance Guardian by Ariel's ghost, who haunts the pillars."

"Woah woah woah?! HOLD THE PHONE. There's vampires AND ghosts here? And if there are vampire hunters, does that mean there are Ghostbusters?!"

I winced at her escalation in volume and tone which echoed around the large room. It was what I had been waiting for, but there was never a way to prepare for the sheer shrillness of her explosions.

"Calm down, Vera." I wasn't about to explain to her that souls were the only thing I could consume, especially when the mere mention of them elicited more outbursts and silly questions, so I continued, "Focus. Ariel told Kain that he had to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars, but he refused. The decaying Pillars exploded, until all that was left were the ruins, upon which he built his empire. My vampire brothers and I were both his sons and his lieutenants, helping him rule over the remains of Nosgoth."

She began rubbing at her arms, her teeth began to chatter, and I could tell I no longer held her attention. Well, she had grasped more than I anticipated. It would be enough for now.

"How is it colder in here than outside?!" she yelled, her voice again echoing off the large cavern. An idea seemed to form suddenly behind her focused scowl. "Hey, does that swordy flame thing you used on the dogs give off any heat?"

She got up and slid up next to me expectantly, staring at my arm. She claimed to be cold, but the warmth her body gave off was like a flame within itself to me. It was just as searing as it had been when she'd landed on me earlier, or touched my arm at the swamp. Damned humans and their body heat.

"If you're so cold, create a fire," I instructed, leaning away from her uncomfortably. "The Soul Reaver is nothing but a sword. It does not produce heat."

"I thought this was my time to rest and eat crappy fruit!" she whined, but her arms effortlessly lit up blue and she pointed at a spot on the ground before us. An equally dark blue fire appeared before us as she declared smugly, "It's the same color as you."

She elbowed me a little with a smile, then curled her knees up, putting her head in her arms and staring into the flames, "So if my magic gets stronger and more dependable, I could send myself back home, right?"

"I'm not sure," I said truthfully. "It's truly unusual that it ebbs and flows the way it does." I wasn't sure what she was capable of and what the limitations were on her abilities. I had never encountered anyone like her, powers or not. It was both possible and probable that Moebius was responsible for the inconsistency, but my knowledge of magic was limited.

She stared a few more moments into the fire before she looked up at me with those determined sapphire eyes of hers. They were so large that I could see the fire's reflection shimmering in them.

"I don't think I want to go back. At least not, like, right away. I never felt like I fit in there anyway. My parents never really seemed to care about me, I got bad grades even in remedial classes, and it's not like I wanna use my powers on something lame like homework." She seemed pensive, as if she wasn't positive of her choice, but then smiled, "Maybe I'll be the one that fixes the pillars and Nosgoth and then I get so super famous they build a statue in my honor! It'd look like this."

She hopped up and tossed her almost waist length hair back behind her shoulders. Her chest puffed out and her arms slammed down onto her waist as she dramatically turned her head up and to the left, gazing out into the distance with a smirk.

The girl might have been obnoxious, but being in the presence of someone who had no ulterior motive and who unapologetically (and often unnecessarily) shared her thoughts was a new experience. The corrupt Nosgoth would inevitably harden her.

"I don't give a damn about saving this hellscape," I said bitterly. "I'm tired of being a pawn in someone else's game. Kain, Moebius and The Elder God have all used me in their machinations. No more. I am going to find my purpose myself. You would be wise to be more concerned with your own destiny and finding out your own role in all of this," I said with certainty. "Once I find out mine, perhaps then I'll consider thinking about Nosgoth."

"I'm sorry people have sucked so bad," she started bluntly, "They do that. But I bet we could do both. Kick butt AND figure out what we're doing here. Uncle Moe and Kain and the Oldy God won't know what hit them! We got this!" She made that odd thumb-up signal at me again confidently before heading toward the circular lock in front of us. "By the way, if the next room has any more heights, I'm gonna hurl Vitamin C all over you."

Chapter Text

Vera II

We faced the second set of giant double doors together. They were exactly like the ones I blasted open outside — super wide and tall with tons of squiggly designs on them. The only difference was these ones had a HUGE, circular lock slapped on ‘em. Man, the key for this thing must’ve been as big as my arm! That gave me an idea…

I raised my hand and wiggled my fingers around theatrically, ready to shove my entire arm into the slot, but felt a cold grip wrap around my wrist that stopped me in place.

“You really don’t think before you act, do you?” Raziel sighed heavily, and even though he didn’t have pupils, I could tell he’d be rolling his eyes if he could. “What do you think will happen to this arm if there is some creature beyond this door? Or if the lock is enchanted to only respond to one key, and it crushes your fragile bones into a fine paste?”

“I’d just use my powers to make it grow back like a lizard, duh,” I said with confidence, but eyed the lock suspiciously now. I wasn’t gonna risk it, and when he knew that, he dropped my arm like it was something toxic he didn’t wanna spend another minute touching.

“You know what? Fine. Maybe I’ll have more luck looking into the thing. All I’m sayin’ is, it’d be great to know what we’re up against before we’re…up against it,” I proclaimed, and when he didn’t protest, I pushed my face against the metal. “Now, let’s show the audience what’s behind door number two!” I said in my spot-on announcer voice, moving my head from one side to the other to see if I could catch a glimpse of ANYTHING besides darkness. Nope. Ugh.

“No luck.” I pulled away impatiently, my skin practically sticking to the metal. It was still super cold, but I had amped myself up between creating the fire and getting excited about my future after my Nosgoth History Lesson with Raz. Even thinking about it now, I felt like that warm blue fire I’d made was burning inside me. I was gonna save the world with my unreliable powers but reliable awesomeness!

When my powers actually decided to work, they made my whole body feel warm and tingly, like when I drank too much egg nog last Christmas Eve. My cousin Ayla’d had to yank me out of the chimney when I wanted to find out what I’d gotten for Christmas early and couldn’t find our presents anywhere. I’d been convinced our parents had somehow stashed ‘em up there Santa-style. Turns out, I’d forgotten to look in the coat closet.

Raziel leaned against the door, crossing his arms all casual-like, and eyed me thoughtfully, “I have a theory about this lock, but first.” He gestured to me with his head, “Humor me, sorceress.”
“Ooh, ooh, ok,” now was my time to shine. “So, there once was a man from Nantucket —” I started excitedly, but he cut me off with a groan.

“Please, no references. I haven’t the stomach for any more of that nonsense,” he said in annoyance, which was his trademark tone. He left his spot on the door to stand back behind me, gesturing impatiently, “I meant try to unlock the door with your powers.”

“Alright, fine, but you’re gonna regret missing out on a prime dirty joke.” I raised my eyebrows suggestively and tried to elbow him playfully, but he pulled away sharply, almost making me fall backward. Oh right — I already forgot the dude didn’t like being touched.

I focused as hard as I could on the door, throwing my arms out, and they began to spark white. It was always pretty cool to see what colors the aura around my magic hands decided to glow. I mean, if it were up to ME they’d always go purple — my favorite color — but I was fine with Skittles hands.

The lock shook a little against my powers, but nothing else. A sharp pain in my head stabbed at my temples and I had to stop. The white light on my hands sputtered out and the warm tingle disappeared.

I didn’t know what the dang problem was - it didn’t feel like my powers were DRAINED or anything. I’d had more than enough time to rest up in between the stairs and now!

“I can’t do it.” I glared at the doors, rubbing at my head, then perked up, “But I CAN still tell you that Nantucket joke if you’re interested.”

“That’s about what I anticipated.” Raziel nodded and stepped forward, raising his arm up and making his crazy green sword thingy appear. He stuck it slowly into the lock.

“So it’s stupid for ME to put MY arm in there but you think your undead nightlight is the key to this dumb —” I stopped when I heard the lock click loudly, and he took his arm out, totally smug about it all.

He slowly started pushing the door open for us to go through, but I wasn’t gonna let him get away with it.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT. REALLY? You knew THE WHOLE TIME that my powers wouldn’t do crap?! You gave me a headache for NOTHING?” I threw my arms up in the air incredulously, my head still pounding.

“You give me a headache every time you decide to scream something that could just as easily be spoken, so I’d say we’re even,” he said simply.

I thought it was an accident, but he hesitated a little and then elbowed me the littlest bit like I had tried to do earlier to him.

“DID YOU JUST JOKE WITH ME?” I screamed excitedly, proving his point but not caring.

He winced at my volume and the echo it created in the quiet, cave-like room. “I have been known to joke on occasion,” he said defensively. Yeah, right.

Taking down those dogs that almost killed me and bossing me around seemed to come so much easier to him than joking around did, but there it was! It was awkward, yeah, but it was great seeing a different side of the uptight skeleton dude who was teaching me how to use my magic.

“Uh, I’d bet my whole novelty t-shirt collection that you’ve probably taken down more monsters than you’ve EVER made jokes.” I laughed at the idea of Raz telling a knock-knock joke, and made myself giggle until I snorted imagining him wearing my red shirt with a Corgi puppy wearing sunglasses that said ‘inCORGnito.’

His brow furrowed while he thought about what I was asking. “If I didn’t have so many brothers, I might have won your collection. Lucky for me, whatever ‘teed shirts’ are seem like something I’d have absolutely no interest in.” He was still talking casually, like he hadn’t just DROPPED A GIANT BOMB.

“Wait, WHAT? You kill PEOPLE? You killed your BROTHERS?!” My voice jumped so high that it cracked as I scrambled back from him in shock, stumbling over the stupid boots Moe got for me. I thought he just killed evil monsters like those dogs at Moebius’ pad!

I mean, yeah, I knew he WAS kinda creepy looking, but the first thing he did was rescue me, so I thought he was one of the good guys! He might’ve choked me, but I probably would’ve done the same if I saw some nerd dressed like Moebius, and even though it was RUDE it wasn’t like he’d REALLY hurt me! But finding out this dude killed his actual FAMILY was making me rethink EVERYTHING.

There were times when I wanted to murder my sister Lily for being a prissy brat, but I couldn’t imagine actually going through with it! Usually I just threw a red shirt in when she was washing her white cheerleading uniform or stuck my chewed-up gum on the bottoms of her shoes.

“They were the ones who made me like this.” Raziel’s tone turned cold and his white eyes narrowed after my totally normal reaction to hearing the news. “I would do it again one million times over.”

It was like he was OFFENDED that I was freaked out by hearing such a crazy and messed-up thing! Buuut the last thing I wanted to do was piss off this guy who was capable of killing his family. I mean, I felt like he barely even liked me, so who KNEW when I’d be next?!

“Uh, not to like nitpick or whatever, but I thought you said earlier that Kain made you like this?” I tried to ask casually, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced by my trying to be chill when I was absolutely NOT chill.

“It was all of them,” he snapped, his voice raised. Well, there goes trying not to piss him off. “Kain ordered it, three of my brothers watched, while two cast me into an abyss, all with smirks on their faces. I burned in agony for thousands of years until I became this creature.”

For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say. My cousin Ayla always told me I needed to be more empathetic and put myself in other people’s shoes. It was always hard for me to do it, but this was even harder than usual. The whole revenge murder-ing five people thing was just a LITTLE intense. I’d always heard growing up that two wrongs don’t make a DON’T KILL YOUR FREAKIN’ FAMILY!

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the phrase, but close enough in this situation!

It was starting to hurt, holding back all these thoughts that wanted to burst out of me, but I breathed out and asked the first thing that I could think of when the silence was getting awkward, “Was it...hard? To, uh, kill them?” I asked, cringing at how weird it sounded coming out of my mouth.

Stupid Ayla. This was the last time I was gonna take her advice. Not only did I feel like an idiot saying it, but he scoffed at me.

“Kain asked the same ridiculous question. Was it hard for them to kill me? Not in the slightest.” His venomous anger turned to disgust, “Besides, in the thousands of years I spent suffering and burning in the abyss, they had mutated into revolting creatures thanks to the Pillars’ corruption.”

Woah. Nosgoth had a LOT going on. So, by my count, we had whatever the heck Raziel is, vampires, sorcerers, ghosts, aaand now the Avengers joining the fray.

“Mutated? Like...spandex superheroes? Like Spiderman flinging webs out of his hands or like Thor with his lightning powers or like —”

He cut me off before I could mention any more hot dudes wearing tights, “Like absolute monsters. Finally, their outsides matched their grotesque insides. We thought our new abilities were gifts, back when I was alive. Rahab gained an immunity to water’s burn, Dumah’s strength became beyond that of even a vampire, Turel’s hearing enhanced to supersonic levels, and I grew wings, which was the gift to trigger Kain’s jealousy. Gaining these now-pathetic things was the death of me.”

He gestured to the light blue, hole-filled, veiny things off his back that I had thought were hunks of leftover skin before I’d seen him glide over the gap in the stairs. I hadn’t really cared about them when I first met him because I was focused on everything else he had goin’ on, but ever since he used them to get up on the platform, I couldn’t stop looking at them. I wondered what they looked like when he was a vampire, but it wasn’t like I was gonna ask him now when everything that came outta my mouth was pissing him off.

“After these gifts developed, my brothers began a long transformation process that made them more...animalistic.. Zephon became a giant bug-like creature. Melchiah, who was the last of Kain’s sons and therefore the least stable physically, became a giant bulk of flesh.” I could tell by the tone of his voice that he REALLY enjoyed the karma that had hit his brothers.

Hearing all that made me feel a little better. I mean, they were still his bros, but a mutated blob that screwed you over is a lot easier to get revenge on than an actual person… Hopefully, I’d never know from experience, and would just have to take his word for it.

“So you kinda got lucky then, right? I think what you are now is way better than hamburger meat. Plus, you got to meet me!” I gestured to myself with both thumbs and a wink, but Raz’s hands curled into fists.

“Lucky?” His cold voice hissed out in disbelief. I saw the sword on his arm light up, then flicker a little before deciding to disappear. “Yes, thousands of years of suffering to come back as this carcass. How lucky. To be manipulated by everyone I come in contact with, and then be stuck with the most obnoxious woman I’ve ever spoken to in all my years of life and death, who passes judgement on me when she can barely see a set of stairs without wetting herself. I am so incredibly lucky."

I felt my cheeks flush with anger and embarrassment and growled through gritted teeth, “Shut up, Blue Boy.”

Maybe I HAD almost peed myself back there, but I’d only gotten to go ONCE since leaving Moe’s behind a bush in the swamp, which was HOURS ago!

“Eloquent as expected,” he spat, fuming just as much as I was. His short sentence rang through the cave and grated on my still-throbbing head.

“Can we stop yelling in a room that echoes everything we say?” I matched his tone, and of course the stupid stair-filled room rebounded my words back at me as we glared at each other.

“Actually suggesting something helpful for once, are we? I would love for us to move forward so you can stop wasting even more of my time.” He whipped around and pushed open the double doors, cutting me off to walk in first. I was fine with that; I was close to punching his dumb, jawless face anyway.

This room was way more lit up than the last one, but only ‘cuz it was smaller. It still had just the torches on the wall and was just as depressingly grey and stone-y as the last room, only this one had a dirt floor.

We were standing in front of what looked like four gravestones spaced out horizontally. Creepier than the stair room, but I could handle it as long as there were no more heights. Besides, it almost seemed like it was trying too hard.

Raziel stomped ahead past the graves like a big baby. Both sides of the room had a few stairs on the left and right walls leading up to a landing and three doors — one in the center, one to the left and one to the right.

He could go ahead with his sulky, bony butt and check those out while I looked at the graves. That was where the prime comedy opportunities were.

“I know we’re mad at each other, but I learned after my grandma got buried next to a dude named ‘Richard Butts’ never to pass up looking at tombstone names,” I called out. “I got kicked out of the funeral for laughing, but it was worth it.” I looked over to the blue skeleton, who didn’t react. I guess he didn’t get it. “His name was Dick Butts, Raz. Dick BUTTS!” I snickered so hard at the comedy gold that I straight-up snorted.

“Four dead,” the blue skeleton muttered, rudely ignoring me as he continued to stare at the dumb, boring doors, “There’s a sign on each door that says Four dead.”

“Weird. If we needed help counting to four, why would they even think we’d know how to read?” I asked disinterestedly, more focused on finding a name on the gravestone. I wasn’t seeing anything, but the stones also seemed pretty worn down. This one even had a few hunks taken out of it.

“I wasn’t positive you could do either, so it’s nice to have that reassurance,” Raziel said snarkily, and I whipped my head up to glower at him.

“I liked you better when you didn’t joke,” I huffed, while he continued to pace from one door to the other in thought.

“Who said I was joking?” he shot back, not bothering to turn around.

I threw a middle finger up at his back. Even if he DID turn around, I don’t even think he understood what the gesture meant. He always cocked his head to the side when I gave him the thumbs up. That didn’t make it feel any less better to do. In fact...I lifted my other hand and made the gesture with that one too for good measure, sticking out my tongue until I got bored.

I did one more once-over on the worn gravestone in front of me for a name and found nothing. No Hugh Jass. No I. P. Freeley. Bummer. I gave up on it, starting to walk over to the next one, when I heard a crunch under my feet and looked down.

Pieces of what looked like....bone?! — yep, it was bone — were all over the ground. It looked like someone’s cheesy Halloween decorations, but I could tell nothing here was plastic or bought at Walmart. I tried to back away from the spookiness, but there were bones EVERYWHERE. I guess I’d been too busy being pissed at Raz to notice I had been stepping all over chunks of skeletons from the moment we walked in. Ew. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.

“I think there are a lot more than four dead over here!” I grimaced, hopping around and trying my best not to step on any more crunchy bone bits. It was no use. They were everywhere.

Suddenly, the floor began to shake. I tried to get away from the tombstones (I had seen enough zombie movies), but something blasted out of the ground and grabbed on to my ankle tightly.

I flailed as the rock came up out of the dirt, feeling the blood rush to my head. The stone kept getting bigger and bigger and I realized as I was LIFTED OFF THE GROUND UPSIDE DOWN that the tombstone was this thing’s head, and it now had a hulking body made of more rock that had been hiding underground. Its rocky hand was clamped hard onto my ankle.

The weird monster yanked me around in the air as I heard more rumbling, trying to wiggle around to see what was happening.

The other three tombstones had also come out of their spots in the ground and were lumbering towards Raziel, who was at the ready, crouched with his sword out.

“Put me down NOW!” I screamed at the faceless monster holding on to me, but it didn’t listen.

It started slowly going toward Raz too, who I could see dart out of the way of the other rock creatures’ punches easily as he met us in the middle of the room. The blue dude was FAST, I’d give him that, but anyone would be with no fat or skin on their body to hold them back.

“I know the concept of being helpful may be foreign to you,” Raziel started to snap at me, dodging more attacks before whipping out the sword arm thingy and jumping onto the shoulders of the stone dude that held onto me, “but using your powers would help right about now.”

“Even if they decided to work, I can’t exactly do anything with my hands from down here, smarty pants!” I yelled back, trying hard to swing myself up to the monster’s hand that gripped hard on my leg. I couldn’t do a sit-up on a normal day, but this was a sit-up on hard mode and it was NOT happening.

“Try creating something you can throw at them, like a ball of fire,” he instructed annoyedly from above me, using his sword to cut off the head of the monster holding me. “You made a whole fire by yourself earlier, this should be nothing!”

Easy for him to say. Slowly (but not slow enough for me to get my ankle out in time to make a good landing) the monster holding on to me fell. Raziel met me at the ground in time to catch me before I face-planted, but then tossed me over to the side to face the other rock creatures. What a charmer.

I hopped up quickly, but kept my distance. It was hard enough to focus while I got my sense of balance back, but it didn’t help that every time the tombstone trio took a step or punched, there was an earthquake.

It’d be three against two now if I could get my stupid powers working. I put my hands together and then slowly brought them apart, seeing a flickering ball of flame in my right palm. If it was good enough to take down Bowser, I was positive it’d work on these goons. I whipped the fire hard at the closest rock monster aaaaand it immediately fizzled on contact.

“Mama Mia!” I face palmed in frustration, at a complete loss for what to do next.

Use ice, you idiot.

The jarring thought vibrated through me, like when you turn the car radio on but forgot last time you were JAMMING out to Chumbawumba and left the volume all the way up and get BLASTED with sound.

Was that...my conscience? It’d never been so loud or mean before, but maybe all this craziness was causing it to be more of a jerk.

“Alright, I got this!” I yelped, running after one of the rock monsters. “Let it go, bitches!” I screamed, hurling ice out of my hands and absolutely coating the tombstone creature in it, causing it to freeze in place. It slowly fell backwards and shattered into a bunch of pieces.

“BOOM, BABY!” I fist pumped, grinning as I stared at the remains of the hulking giant I had easily taken down.

Raziel nodded at me in approval, doing his best to dodge the two creatures who kept taking shots at him. He seemed to be running out of steam — he was still able to move out of the way, but he was definitely slowing down.

“How’s this for useful, Razzle Dazzle?” I called to the scarf-wearing dead guy, running up to a rock dude confidently after taking down the other one so easily. I did my best to “Elsa” this one too, but nothing came out of my hands.

Not again.

I skidded to a stop and swallowed hard as its rocky fist came toward me, scrambling away from it. The tables had DEFINITELY turned.

My legs felt like jelly, and not just cuz the big oaf hitting the ground had narrowly missed me. I hated being powerless and relying on Raziel, who’d only recently decided he kinda sorta thought I was an okay person to talk to, aaaaand then changed his mind. I would rather eat my boot than be a damsel in distress.

The good thing about the tombstone brothers being massive was that they were slow as all heck, and I was able to create some distance between myself and the one focused on me at the moment to sneak a peek at how Raz was doing.

He had taken out the other one with the same method as the first — slashing its head off and letting the body fall to the ground to crumble.

One left. If only I could do literally anything other than focus on getting away from the hulking monster.

My task got easier when the thing changed course and suddenly charged Raziel, who had been heading toward us anyway, catching us both off-guard. Its fist collided with my blue travel buddy, who hadn’t gotten the chance to move away fast enough.

“No!” I screamed, feeling icy sweat down my back. The monster’s punch hurled Raziel across the room where he bounced off the wall and landed hard on the ground.
He couldn’t die now — not when the last thing we’d done was get in a fight!

When he got up slowly, I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding in relief. I didn’t care if my powers didn’t want to work. I’d MAKE them work. I’d help Raz take down this last dude and maybe even think about apologizing for earlier…if he apologized first, of course.

I tried to run over to him to see if he was really okay, but before I could make it to him, he seemed to flicker and fade and then disappear into thin air. UH, WHAT?

Had he just nope’d out of here just when things were getting hard?! I knew we were mad at each other, but he was going to just leave me like that?! I guess he thought I wasn’t worth the effort. I was all alone now.

My chest tightened up, and it suddenly felt harder to take in air. I bet Raziel was relieved he didn’t have to deal with the ‘Most Obnoxious Woman he’d ever met’ anymore. I shouldn’t have been surprised. He wasn’t even the first person to call me that this month.

I tried to swallow a lump in my throat, but my mouth was too dry and I choked. The cold sweat on my skin started to prickle, and all I wanted to do was curl into a ball until my brain felt like it wasn’t melting. What was happening to me?

I remembered Ayla having me help her with her psychology test and making me read out the flashcards. The words “anxiety attack” flashed in my brain, but I couldn’t think clearly.
A sting of tears cut the corner of my eyes, and I flushed with embarrassment. I wasn’t even sure if the rock monster could see without a face, but I still felt dumb. As I wiped at the tears with my sleeve, I noticed my hands were glowing the dark purple I’d been hoping for.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. End this. Now.

There was that voice again. I felt the knot in my chest and stomach untangled almost immediately as power surged through me, and just in time, because the last rock dude was ready to pummel me. I took in a deep breath, feeling the rest of my anxiety melt out of me.

“Go back to some cheap old person’s lawn who gives out Almond Joys for Halloween!” I pointed at the headstone, getting ready to fight, but then the fiery purple light emitting from my hand built to my finger and blasted out, hitting the monster square in the head, causing it to explode immediately. After its head had turned to dust, the rest of its body broke apart with it.

I did it. I didn’t even have to THINK about what I wanted to happen — my powers had just pummeled a monster into GRAVEL.

I was fully prepared to do a dope victory dance, but after one jump in the air, my knees buckled and gave out, making me fall to the floor. I felt heavy all over - my head, my eyes, my body, and then everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Raziel II

Dammit. I had become so careless since that infernal girl had forced her way into my life. How long had it been since I had fed? It had to have been over a day, and she had ruined my one opportunity with the Sarafan dogs. Although that was hardly the only thing she had ruined.
I was positive I would not have taken the hit from the stone golem had it not been for our argument, or the fact that my attention was constantly split between looking out for myself and my burdensome travel companion.

“Joining me again, are you, Raziel?” The booming voice of the omnipresent Elder God greeted me, smugness in his every word. “I warned you that should you return while still choosing to disobey me, that you would never see the material plane again.”

Disgust overwhelmed me, as it did each time I took in his many eyes, the slitted pupils focused on me as his squid-like tendrils slithered along the walls of the spectral realm. How had I believed this horrid creature’s every word at one point in time? How had I readily become his “Soul Reaver”? He was nothing but a controlling false deity who thrived on chaos and every tragedy that had befallen Nosgoth.

“Your confidence is baffling,” I started mockingly, looking around for a soul that might be nearby so I could gain back some strength. “I have escaped you several times since you’ve closed off the entrances you once gave me. I have no doubt that I will again.”

I spotted two wayward souls a short distance away. The monstrous squid tried his best to keep them at bay, but I worked fast and drew them toward me, opening my cowl and drawing in breath. They came quickly to me, nourishing my weak, rotted body, but then nothing more.

I had wanted to ingest several, but knew I was fortunate to have gotten a hold of what I did.

“I see you’ve become close with Moebius’s young protégé. You may refuse to kill Kain at our command, but I promise you that every second you spend with her is another closer to your demise.”

“You think me so credulous?” I scoffed, tired of the lies. This was yet another way to manipulate me, but I knew the truth. Vera had slipped from their grasp and they thought me ignorant enough to give her back. “That you believe I would listen to anything you have to offer is laughable.”

“You don’t know what she is, Raziel. As your gracious previous benefactor, I feel I owe you some helpful advice.” His thunderous voice had a ridiculously artificial concern to it. It seemed he was taking acting lessons from his faithful time-streaming servant.

“And as your bitter former puppet, I know never to trust a word out of your lack-of-mouth. I know perfectly well what she is. With the proper training, she will be more powerful than Moebius could ever dream of being. You both must be quaking since she escaped your clutches, as I did not so long ago.”

I was more than happy to gloat about derailing their malevolent plans. It felt exhilarating to be creating my own path, one that seemed to terrify the both of them.

“Best to stop your bragging, Raziel.” His tone shifted darkly when he realized I would not be swayed by his words. “Who knows how long she will last up there? Do not say I did not warn you.”

Though he had blocked off the portals that he had created for me to do his bidding, I had devised a way to escape the spectral realm, should I find a cemetery or body of some sort in the material realm to project into.

I had taken note of the skeletons and bodies in various states of decay that had littered the room of the second trial in case such an occasion were to arise.

It took more energy than I would have liked to force my spirit up to reanimate one of the corpses, but it was a necessary act. I did so with relative ease, and once back in the material realm, I was able to discard the physical shell of the body I had inhabited and return to my wraith self.

A sense of dread immediately came over me. The room was silent — the lack of Vera’s persistent chatter a bad sign. I had remained on the material plane long enough to witness her destroy the second-to-last golem with a sweeping blast of ice, screaming profanities confidently all the while. The last thing I had seen was her powers giving out again as I faded back to the Spectral Realm.

However, here lay the remnants of the last golem strewn across the floor, meaning that somehow, she must have been able to defeat it in my absence.

Finally, I noticed her small form splayed out on the opposite side of the room. Surely, if she was dead, her corpse would have been the one I returned into from the Spectral Realm by default, as she would have been the most recently deceased. Though I was grateful not to have experienced something so unpleasant, the thought did little to ease my concern. I crossed over to her body quickly.

I shook her small shoulders, hoping to wake her, but it appeared she was unconscious. I saw the shallow rise and fall of her chest and sighed in relief, just as a snore erupted from her drooling mouth.

She had saved herself from the last creature without my help and without a scratch on her. I felt pride swell within me. She was getting better, slowly but surely, and that squid-like, parasitic false idol knew it. She would continue to be an invaluable asset on the road ahead.

I placed her back on the ground, still uncomfortable with both the intimacy of touch and the heat radiating from her human body. I was not eager to waste more time that could be spent facing Janos, but humans were weak creatures, and I understood her need for rest, even if it was an inconvenience. The girl had come to me in the middle of the night and we had to have been at this for hours, with her new powers sapping from her untrained body.

Utilizing the time I knew I had, the next few hours were spent trying to divine the meaning behind the signs on the three doors in vain, waiting for Vera to come to. I did not want to risk going in the wrong direction by choosing the wrong door. I had to avoid another trip to the Spectral Realm at all costs.

Clearly, there was some sort of riddle at work, but I could not yet ascertain the answer.

The girl awoke with a start, sitting up quickly and then hopping to her feet upon seeing me. “Raz, you’re back!” she started excitedly, then covered it with a scowl. “You know, you got a lotta nerve coming back AFTER I did all the work! I know you’re mad at me or whatever, but that was NOT cool.You left me for dead back there!”

I had meant to tell her that had it not been for me, she would have met her end by the enchanted cluster of rocks who had held her by the ankle, but her words stopped me, as the mystery of the puzzle clicked in my brain.

“That’s it!” I ran quickly to the stairs, jumping over pieces of rock and bone that littered the ground, “The signs on these doors say Four dead. There were four tombstones. The answer must be the door on the left. Left for dead.”

“Oh, I’m a genius!” the sorceress gloated, stumbling over the rubble on the ground to join me at the top of the stairs. Her hands lit up effortlessly to blast the locked door open, but then she stopped, an expression of anger and, if I was not mistaken, even a small amount of hurt crossing her face. “Are you sure you wanna keep going with the most obnoxious woman you’ve ever met?” she exaggeratedly air-quoted, doing a poor imitation of my voice.

I sighed heavily. I should have known the argument wasn’t over. “I will say this only once, so do not ask me to repeat it,” I snapped sternly, and as quickly and flatly as I could said, “Truthfully, your antics are occasionally a welcome reprieve from my unyielding inner dialog.”

“I thought so!” she broke out into a large smile. “I don’t really know what any of that means, but you REALLY didn’t wanna say it so I’m sure it’s good! So anyway, where the heck did you go back there?! If you can teleport after making us do all of this, you’re a real jerk!”

“I’m sure with practice, teleportation will join your ever-growing list of abilities, but it’s not something of which I am capable.” I waved away her asinine theory, unsure of where to begin.

There was so much to explain. She seemed to have grasped the information about The Pillars, albeit while impassioned about the existence of just about everything except humans. I would have to keep things as simple as possible and hope she did not interrupt too frequently.

“If you were paying attention earlier, you may remember that vampires burn when water touches their skin, which is why when Kain ordered my execution, he chose to have me thrown into the abyss. Not only would it do the job nicely, but all evidence of my surpassing my master would be erased from history.”

No matter how many times I told the story, I could not keep the bitterness from my tone. Kain’s murderous act would always fill me with blind rage, and ignoring that rage to face a common enemy as well as concede that perhaps the situation was more complicated than it seemed was one of the most difficult things I’d ever had to do.

“Kain seems like such a petty bitch…” the girl muttered, her gaze shifting to my tattered wings. I had caught her eyes flicker to them often since I had used them to glide over the stairway. If they awed her so even now, I could only imagine how she would have marvelled at seeing them in their prime. I myself had hardly had the time to appreciate my glorious, bat-like wings before Kain had broken them and sent me to my destruction.

“This is not about Kain, no matter what he maintains,” I said sharply, returning her focus back to my account. “When I finally reached the bottom of the abyss, I had been dead for years. I awoke in a place called the Spectral Realm in this ghastly form to a voice telling me that I had been reborn. This squid-like creature claiming responsibility for my resurrection called himself the Elder God. I discovered the Spectral Realm is below the Material Realm, which is where we are now. It is essentially the same physically, but it contains the souls of those that are dead, like me.”

“So the Spectral Realm is just like here only...super, extra, ultra haunted?”

I knew to ignore her nonsensical additions and continued on. “The Elder God instructed me to feed off my anger and thirst for vengeance against Kain and my brothers. The more I killed, the more I kept his Wheel of Life turning. Anger wasn’t the only thing I was feeding off of...” I paused, looking away from her to avoid another look of fear tinged with disgust like I had received when I mentioned killing my brothers. “The Elder God had raised me from death with a hunger for souls. If I go for too long without consuming them, I phase from the material realm and end in the spectral realm with him again. This is what happened earlier.”

“Woah...” I heard her exhale deeply, “ I have so many questions! What do souls taste like? Do you know the names of the souls you eat? Did you eat my Grandma Muriel after she died last year? Is the Elder God, like, ACTUALLY a God? Cuz I feel like Gods don’t look like giant squids?! I mean, my only reference point is Disney’s Hercules and I don’t THINK anyone in that movie looked like an octopus, but it has been a while since I saw it…”

“That is something I doubt with each new piece of information I acquire,” I said, replying to the least foolish of her questions. “Everything that I’ve been led to believe makes me suspect that I was going to be revived one way or another. There are prophecies at work.”

There was so much I did not know, like what the prophecies fully entailed, and I was hoping beyond hope that Janos could give me the information that would gain me the upper hand for once.

“Nor do I know how much power the squid actually has. He is stationary in the Spectral Realm, which is why he relies on those he manipulates to carry out his wishes. Moebius is his mouthpiece on the Material Realm. I was his pawn that could traverse between realms. However, when I refused to kill Kain, he and Moebius became enraged. They must be incapable of killing Kain themselves, judging by their relentless demands for his demise.”

“Moebius would be BFFs with a squid.” Vera’s confused and scrunched face returned as she tried yet again to process the information I provided. “Does that make you and Kain friends now or something?”

I scoffed at her ridiculous question, “Far from it. He has his own agenda. If it should suit me in the future, I won’t hesitate to end his life. I just need time to gather more information and discover my destiny.”

I had originally thought Kain selfish when he refused to sacrifice himself to restore The Pillars, but had since learned it wasn’t so simple. Kain was the last of the vampires, and Moebius and the Elder God desperately wanted them eradicated from existence. Not that that made Kain anywhere near a saint. Not only had he had his most loyal lieutenant murdered in cold blood, but the madness from the previous Circle of Nine still ravaged his brain.

“Do ya think there’s a prophecy about how awesome I am?” The girl had clearly reached her limit for critical thought, lost in her reverie as she ran her fingers through her hair, catching it on various knots and yanking them out unceremoniously.

“I doubt it. My working theory is that Moebius brought you here in a desperate attempt to change the future. I am guessing he saw something he did not like and brought you in to try and change the outcome.”

I hoped I was right. As much as I had dismissed the Elder God’s warning, I knew that Vera’s mysterious presence was going to affect every person she interacted with ― for better or worse.

“Oh, I’ll change the outcome alright. I’m gonna kick his wrinkly butt.” She smirked up at me, and then I saw her attention on my cowl. “Seriously, what do souls taste like? I’m imagining cotton candy for some reason. Is it cotton candy?”

“Please....” I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation. “We need to move onward.”

“Fine, but I’m gonna assume the answer is yes. Alley-OOP!” She threw her palms out, which glowed a dark fuchsia, and blasted the door open.

Instead of torches on the wall of this room, there were many golden candelabra, all standing taller than the girl and some even taller than myself. They provided flickering light and a sinister tone in the small chamber. Also gold was the only other item sitting in the center of the room ― a sacrificial basin.

“I was afraid of this...” I sighed as we walked up to it together. The many candles around us flickered ominously, enchanted to burn forever and never melt.

“Uhhh, you make fun of me for being afraid of stairs when you’re afraid of a bowl?!” the sorceress’s eyebrows rose judgmentally. “I could eat like THREE whole boxes of Captain Crunch outta this baby!”

“It’s not a ‘bowl,’ Vera, it’s a blood basin,” I explained in irritation. She blinked cluelessly. “For sacrifices.” She blinked again. “The only way to go forward is to provide it with blood,” I snapped, curious as to how much blood it would need before allowing us to progress.

“NOT IT!” the young girl yelled, her index finger impetuously flying to her nose in another odd gesture.

The force of her elbow bumped one of the candlesticks, which wobbled dangerously. She reached out and grabbed on to steady it with both hands, fortunate that she was short enough that her waist-length hair did not go up in flames. She smirked when she had averted the disaster, as if it was all intentional.

“I believe I just got done telling you how very dead I am, which means I have no blood to provide for this next task. So, you are it,” I sighed again, knowing this would undoubtedly take a while with her flair for the dramatics.

“UGH! That’s the first time I’ve been fast enough to win that game, too,” she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared into the bowl curiously. “But hey, can’t I just poof blood into this thing with my powers?”

“Blood isn’t something that can be summoned. It’s a very powerful ingredient for those with and without powers. It can help those without your gifts create spells, seals, and basic lines of defense. Small balls of fire and the like. If you were to use blood to cast a specific spell, it would be all the more powerful. Ironically, Moebius condemns vampires for draining blood, when I’m all but positive he and his men capture the vampires and drain their blood to help with those very incantations.”

She stiffened, starting to blanch, “O-okay, well then I guess I’ll try to summon a knife or something cuz I don’t think an apple from my backpack is gonna cut it...Get it? CUT it? Since we’re slicing and dicing me like deli meat?” Her smile was pained, but she clearly could not resist making the poor joke regardless of the situation at hand.

“You are not capable of such things,” I shook my head impatiently, realizing that the only way to move forward would be to use the weapons I had at my disposal. I looked down at my clawed hands in disgust, knowing what had to be done.

“Hey, I’m a lot stronger than you give me credit for!” she exploded, rounding on me and poking a finger into my chest. “You shoulda seen how I took out that last stone dude! All I had to do was POINT at him and he went DOWN!” Here, she faltered, her eyes flickering to the ground before returning to me and doubling down, “Yeah, I passed out afterward, but sometimes being a badass is exhausting, okay?!”

“It has nothing to do with power,” I said, taking a small step away from her to avoid her finger jabs, “Making something appear requires a mastery of the item you wish to summon. You lack an observant eye, and you would have to meticulously know the details of a knife before bringing it into fruition.”

“I’ll show YOU observant, Mr. Know-It-All!” She screwed up her face and squeezed her eyes shut, her cheeks reddening. After mere seconds, she gave up, letting out the breath she was holding. “Fine — I can’t do it. So what the heck are we going to use to cut me open?”

I clenched my grotesque claws, resolute in my decision. Before she could protest, I roughly took her hand in mine, angled it over the basin, and flipped it so her palm was facing upward. She looked up at me, sapphire eyes wide, managing to pale even more.

With my other hand, I clamped down on her small wrist so she couldn’t draw back. “I’ll be making a small incision at the center of your palm, alright?”

She swallowed hard, then nodded once, a determined look on her face, though I could feel her shaking in trepidation. “Fine, just don’t enjoy it too much.”

“No promises.” I made a quick slit into her hand, then tilted it sideways so that the steady stream of blood would run directly into the basin.

“SON OF A SHIT!” the girl erupted, louder than I had ever heard her, as she tried to yank her hand back, but I’d expected as much. My grip was firm. It was difficult to tell just how much blood she was losing, as the bowl was enchanted to greedily absorb every drop that touched its surface.

I would have to time it so that her wound would not be open long. If I thought she were in danger of losing an excess of blood, I could always go back into Uschtenheim and find an animal that we could use instead. It was not ideal, but Janos would still be at the mountain’s top after all of this was said and done. Vera would not be if I was not careful.

Surely this was a way to provide sustenance to the ancient vampire, who struggled to leave his fortress and feed with all of Nosgoth seeking his demise.

“Classy,” I admonished, adjusting my hand so that I could apply pressure to her wound in an effort to get the blood out faster. She winced, her knees buckling a little in pain. “I do not think I have ever come across someone less lady-like.”

“Oh, sorry MY SWEARS offended the dude that KILLED HIS BROTHERS,” she rolled her eyes, using her other hand to point at her wounded palm. “Ya know, it’s MY blood that’s helping us get farther; you could AT LEAST thank me!”

“Thank you,” I said shortly, dropping her hand as soon as we heard the lock on the door click. “Best not to try and heal yourself. You’ll need all your strength in case we have to fight Janos.”

“But it won’t stop,” she whined, cradling her oozing hand with a frown.

I took off my cowl so I could use it to fashion a makeshift bandage, and noticed for the first time how dirty and stiff it was from the years of death and grime it had seen. I hesitated briefly, embarrassed by the state of it, but the girl’s still-bleeding palm needed covering.

I ripped a small strip of the dirty fabric off from the end and threw the rest back over my shoulder, returning to her side to wrap her hand up. She flinched a little at first when I came at her with my claws again.

It was not a new feeling for me to have this revulsion at my own monstrous appearance. However, this time, it was accompanied by a foreign pang of sadness.

Humans and vampires alike had reacted in disgust and fear upon viewing my rotting corpse, but there had been moments I shared with this overconfident, absurd little being that I briefly forgot I was an aberration ― usually, due to marveling at her flagrant stupidity.

The sadness immediately flared to indignation. I reminded myself that I did not care about the opinion of this insignificant, thickheaded woman, and had no reason to experience such a sentiment.

When I had roughly finished tying the tight knot on the top of her hand, I drew back a great distance and returned my cowl to its rightful place over my face.

“Oh, and thank you too, Nurse Raz,” she said grudgingly as she turned her hand over to inspect my handiwork. “I never noticed you had straight-up CLAWS before. Crazy!”
The fear with which she had gazed upon them earlier had subsided and given way to that bright-eyed wonder that often came across her face.

“Perhaps you may remember someone correctly pointing out your lack of observation skills.” I mockingly reminded her, pushing open the door before me.

“Are you SURE you can’t bleed? Cuz I got a fist that’s NOT cut up that I could hit you with if you wanna test it out!” she glowered, raising up the hand that was not bandaged.

I was equally disappointed and relieved that the bloodletting had not affected her boisterous spirit.

Chapter Text

Vera III

JEEZ, my hand hurt. I squeezed it into a fist and could feel it throbbing through the wrap, which was starting to redden with more blood. Ew. I flipped my hand back over and poked at the knot Raz had tied. It was weird that the same claws that had cut me had made the perfect gift wrap bow on the top of the bandage.

“Are you ready to continue?” Raziel asked more patiently than usual. I guess my guilt trip about the blood had worked. I decided to really milk it.

“I don’t know, I feel pretty weak…” I whispered dramatically, throwing the back of my hand to my forehead as if I was going to faint like some old-timey woman in the 1950’s.

“You really don’t get any less trying with time, do you?” Raz deadpanned, his eyes narrowed, as he turned and pushed the door open to the next room.

“Nope!” I beamed, taking one last look into the magical cereal bowl before following him. “I only get more awesome with time, like cheese or Keanu Reeves!”

In front of us stood a set of cool double doors made of gold with little designs on them. When I squinted at them, I saw that the designs were of actual people with giant, bird-like wings. Raziel DID say that Janos had them, but I guess I just pictured something like the little baby wings off my skeleton friend’s back. Nope — these were LEGIT. Some of the bird people were reading, some were building, some were fighting these creepy looking deformed dudes on the ground and in the air.

“I’ve made it to boss battles in video games before and this looks like it’s GOTTA be the last stop before that Janos guy, right?” I asked excitedly, tracing my fingers over some of the little gold dudes. “There are the Fanciest of Pants doors.”

“I’m certain.” Raz seemed like maybe he wasn’t so certain, but I bet it was because he had to be at least a LITTLE nervous. He had talked about his destiny like a broken record, and we were either gonna get it out of Janos all casual-like OR by beating it out of him. I knew what MY destiny was after I saved Nosgoth and beat Moebius, and that was a four-course meal at Chili’s and never looking at another fruit again in my life.

“It’s best for me to go in first, Vera.” Raziel stepped forward, puffing his chest out like he was the only one of us who had done anything heroic in the last 24 hours. “Be on the defensive. I don’t want to have to worry about you if your powers decide not to work again. I refuse to be sent back to the Spectral Realm after coming all this way.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna have to worry about YOU! What if you did all this for Janos to tell you your destiny is just to play your ribcage like a xylophone in his jug band forever?!” I snapped back, offended.

I wasn’t gunna show it, but I did feel kinda anxious and jumpy. Vampires were REAL and I was about to see one and maybe FIGHT one! The bum magic that came from my hands didn’t make me feel powerful enough to take someone on half the time — it made me feel tired and was as unreliable as my parents had been when it came to remembering to pick me up from elementary school back in the day.

Still, I held my fists up, ready to punch a vampire square in the mouth if my powers decided not to work, as Raz pushed the doors open. I had done just fine without magic for almost 18 years, and even if I hadn’t ever been in a fight with some supernatural creature before, I’d survived food poisoning THREE separate times from my favorite Chinese Buffet, so I knew I could handle this.

A figure with those gigantic, black bird wings was standing a good distance away from us, facing outward toward a wide-open (and cold) view of Nosgoth. Man, those little people on the doors did NOT do those huge wings justice! I just wanted to go over and touch them, but I held back, taking in everything.

I guess it made sense that the dude wouldn’t have windows and instead just had a room that was straight up outside to fly in and out of, but it was wild to see. There were two marble-looking pillars on either side of the half-circular room, making it look fancy while it branched off into a ceiling and walls for the rest of the room. The half with a ceiling was actually decorated, but everything in it looked pretty dusty, especially with the dim sunlight coming through. There was a small library, a gold box, and a long, wood table that had some of the same gold candlesticks on it from the last room we were in.

“Janos Audron?” Raziel asked cautiously, moving forward a few steps.

I wasn’t sure what distance he’d meant when he told me to hang back a bit, but I also thought it was dumb, so I stayed right on his tail. I was gunna be in on the fighting action from the beginning this time, since I hadn’t been able to with the rock dudes. I even had my genius first move planned out already - I was gonna grab a handful of those black feathers and pluck them out like a chicken. Raz kept his arms out and backwards, protecting me, even though he totally didn’t need to.

Janos turned around and smiled at us genuinely. There wasn’t a single part of that face that looked evil. Whew. I lowered my fists, immediately relieved that it looked like I wouldn’t have to fight anymore today.

Janos was blue, like Raziel, only lighter, and his yellow eyes (which would’ve looked creepy on anyone else) actually seemed warm and were almost as charming as his smile. He was like some kind of goth angel. Also like Raz, he had GREAT hair. It was styled back, but relaxed, and mostly black with silver streaks in it. I didn’t think vampires could age, and his face definitely didn’t have any wrinkles or anything, so I guess the silver was just a highlight from being outside so much? Either way, I was a big fan.

“Psst, what a silver fox hottie, am I right?” I hissed loudly to Raziel, whose stance of protection turned from me and moved quickly to Janos as he whipped around.

“I’ve no idea what any of that means, but based on your tone, I am only going to ask once that you behave yourself,” he threatened quietly, pointing a finger-claw at me, but those things didn’t scare me, especially after I saw the cute little bow they tied on my hand.

“Hey, I thought my antics were a…what was it? A welcome receptacle for your yellow thoughts…or whatever it was you said a couple rooms ago.” I quit my whispering to shrug, then waved at the vampire who was still smiling politely, even though he looked confused, “Hiya, Janos!”

I was loving the embarrassed and annoyed vibes that Raziel was giving off with the little bit of his face he had showing. Those white, pupil-less eyes were expressive, and they were expressively mad at me.

“It’s heartening to hear my name spoken without contempt after all these years.” Janos’s voice was soft and kind, with an accent that sounded kinda like Dracula’s. I didn’t expect the whole vampire thing to be so cliché, but I had heard the Monster Mash enough times to be comfortable with it.

“Raziel, what have they done to you?” Janos asked sadly as he crossed the room, taking in Raziel’s skeleton self with horror and sadness.

“You hardly notice the whole zombie thing after a while, don’t worry,” I waved it off, excited to ask the vampire a buttload of questions. Raziel said this guy had answers, so I was gunna put that to the test. “Hey, how come in the shower, the conditioner ALWAYS runs out before the shampoo?! Also, when will I die? Will it be mid-wave at the camera on a roller coaster that came off the rails like I always imagined? Are you psychic? Well, I guess you wouldn’t be, to not expect ol’ Blue Bones here to look like he does but you have to AT LEAST know my name if you knew his, right?”

The hot vampire turned, drawing his head back a little in surprise at all of my questions after looking me up and down, and then paused, shaking his head, “No, I do not believe I know who you are. Are you a former Sarafan who has had a change of heart? I am Janos Audron, though it seems you already knew that.” He bowed. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Former Sarafan? Ok, you are definitely NOT psychic. I’d NEVER work for that crusty geezer!” I wrinkled my nose, totally insulted. Why would he even THINK I’d associate with some gross old — oh. The ugly clothes. “I’m Vera, and I’m only dressed in this hideous outfit cuze that jerkface Moebius kidnapped me and put me in it! I escaped from his castle though ‘cuz I’m a super powerful sorceress!” I flexed my lack of arm muscles as Janos clapped excitedly.

“Then how fortunate it was for you and Raziel to have met!” Janos turned back to Raziel, who very obviously didn’t agree. He looked impatient that I had gotten Janos’ attention before he did, and was glaring daggers at me. I knew he wanted to get down to business about his life story, but I couldn’t help it that I was way more interesting than he was! “I am not psychic, nor does my knowledge stem from anything other than my living through Nosgoth’s history. Your presence here and foreign speech pattern both are rather interesting mysteries to me.”

“Believe me when I tell you they are mysteries you care less and less about as her non-stop prattling fills your every waking moment.” Raziel said sulkily, continuing to be a Bitter Betty. It wasn’t a good look for him.

“He’s just upset because he doesn’t get my amazing references.” I explained with a shrug, “For example, Janos, you’re looking as tight as Captain America post-super serum and I gotta say - I respect the gains.”

Seeing the vampire so close to us, I couldn’t believe how JACKED he was. I guess when you only have like twenty books and no friends, you’re gonna have time to do some push-ups and crunches. He was wearing a white flowy robe with black shoulder pads and no undershirt, just showing off those abs casually in the freezing cold, and tight black pants with a gold belt.

“Thank you for what I believe was a compliment.” I could tell by the confused smile on Janos’s face that he probably didn’t get my references either, but at least he was nice about it. “As a sorceress, Vera is an incredibly useful ally to have, Raziel.”

“I do not know that I’d go quite that far,” Raz scoffed, unamused. “I rescued her from a few Sarafan dogs and she hasn’t left my side since. I do believe she’ll be capable of quite a bit of impressive sorcery in time, but her powers are oddly erratic and drain her far more than what I’ve been led to believe is normal with magic users. She claims to not have even heard of Nosgoth prior to Moebius’ kidnapping. My working theory is that he saw something in his future he did not like and brought her here in a desperate attempt to change the way things play out. I told her I was coming to you for answers, and she was hoping to get the same. Until then, she is more of a nuisance than an ally.”

I rolled my eyes at his lame version of the story. “He’s not telling you about the time I heroically swept in and saved him from a huge chunk of mountain that practically crushed him like a pancake!”

“Perhaps you don’t agree just yet, Raziel, but it seems my statement still stands. It was fortunate you two met.” Janos said, sincerely, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. Raz cringed a little at the contact, but a lot less than whenever I touched him.

Man, this Janos guy seemed so NICE and friendly. It almost made me forget all the terrible things he put us through to get here. ALMOST.

“Say, what gives? You can’t really be this chill.” I started suspiciously, pushing his arm off of me. “It doesn’t make sense! Why would you make us face the busted scary stairs, the stone monsters complete with dumb riddle I was genius enough to solve, AND THE BLOOD BOWL?!” I had been counting off the trials with the fingers on my wounded hand, and then turned it around to show him what he’d caused. It was still bleeding and dripped a couple of drops down onto the floor.

Janos looked at the drops like they were a plate of hot wings, then swallowed, snapping himself out of his hunger. “My goodness, I’m so sorry to have put you through all of that.” He inspected my hand, concern and guilt on his face before touching it lightly, “May I?” he asked softly.

“Uh, sure thing.” I didn’t really know what he was asking to do, but I held out my palm. He pulled off Raziel’s bandage and tossed it to the floor, then put his hand against mine, slowly entwining our fingers, focusing intently.

Well THAT was not what I was expecting. I felt my cheeks blush at the intimate touch.

It wasn’t so much that Janos was good looking (which was true), but that I had never even held hands with a dude, and here we were lookin’ like that scene from Tarzan except with no Phil Collins playing, and Raziel off to the side, crankily staring from me to Janos.

“The least I can do is heal this for you,” the vampire said apologetically, muttering a funny sounding language to himself, before our hands began to glow. His touch had started out freezing cold, but after he started reciting, I felt heat against my skin.

“I can’t say I know exactly what you’re referring to regarding your trek here, as my son Vorador enchanted this castle to protect me. When you’re the most hated creature in Nosgoth, certain measures must be taken...” Janos paused, and sighed heavily. “The stairs however, have been there since the humans and my kind were on the same side…I’m sure he loved quite literally destroying that bridge. My son’s hatred for humans consumes him.”

“I saw the brutal way the humans hunt and kill the vampires outside the stronghold and all around Uschtenheim...Their bodies were beaten and skewered on pikes like animals. I’m sure their intention was for you to see the carnage from here.” Raz’s tone was fast and cold as he kept eyeing our hands. “I find it hard to believe you do not hate them as well.”

Dead bodies all around Sneeze Town?! I mean, don’t get me wrong, vampire kebobs weren’t something I WANTED to see - the decor choice seemed tacky, and also, oh yeah, SUPER DISTURBING - but how had I missed all that?! Still, Raz was being ridiculous.

“Are you REALLY accusing this super nice dude who’s fixing the hand that YOU busted open of hating humans, aka, ME?!” I asked incredulously, pointing to my face with my one free hand, “Who could EVER hate this adorable mug?”

“The humans fear what they do not understand, Raziel, and they despise what they fear. I cannot hate them.” Janos looked to me with a shy, sad smile. “Moebius is a very persuasive leader.”

“Psh, clearly you haven't listened to him talk for hours on end. He put me to sleep with all his dumb stories.” I wanted to yawn just thinking about it. Sometimes after his visits, I’d pass out until the next day. Now THAT was true boredom.

“I’m sure her wound has healed by now. It was shallow. I made sure of it,” Raziel said icily, and Janos let go hesitantly. I looked at my hand and yup, it was completely back to normal.

“Thanks for that! Look at this baby - good as new!” I beamed, curling my hand into a fist and then back out again with no pain at all. I was digging this guy more and more with every minute!

Janos wasn’t looking at my hand anymore, but making pretty intense eye contact with me, his face scrunched up in thought. “You seem so familiar to me, young one. I wonder.... You said your powers are sporadic?”

“Yeah, it’s super annoying, it’s like...” I was about to go off, but Janos’s hand shot out and cupped my face like he was going to kiss me. As much as I thought he was a DILF, I was NOT ready to have my first kiss here with this angel dude. Between this, the eye contact, and the handholding, it was too much. I at LEAST wanted dinner first.

Janos started muttering that same language he had when he fixed my hand. I tried to draw back in shock, but his jacked arm muscles were refusing to give me control of my head back.

I brought my hands to his wrist and tried to use my magic to burn him to make him let go with no luck. Of course my powers wouldn’t work when I needed them to. Again. I tried to kick him in the shins, but felt a weird tingling rush through my body that wasn’t letting me do anything but shake stiffly, like the time I stuck a fork in an electrical socket as a kid.

“Let her GO, Janos!” Raziel exploded, pulling on Janos’s arm to try and pry him off of me with no luck. It was those stupid, strong muscles. Raz didn’t stand a chance.

Janos ignored Raziel completely, drawing his other hand up. He jammed a thumb against my forehead, continuing to mutter softly. I felt a burning, migraine-like pain and saw white.

Ok, at this point, I would’ve preferred the kiss.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and I realized I could move again. I was gunna try the trusty ol’ shin kick a second time, but Raz’s expression stopped me in my tracks. His hand slid off of Janos’s arm in shock, eyes widening while he stared at me.

“What is it? Do I have something on my face?” I went to bring my hands up to wipe at my mouth, but saw there was a dark purple current running through each one of my fingers, just like when I’d felt all that power come through me in the room with the stone monsters. I yanked back my sleeve and saw it was flowing all through my arms too.

“A seal,” Janos declared, pulling away from me abruptly. The purple, electric stream stopped, and I immediately felt super drained. “Someone has placed a sealing spell on you.”

“Ok well, seal spell or walrus spell or whatever slippery zoo animal, I need to sit down or I’m gonna pass out.” I said weakly, trying not to barf, trudging slowly to the long wooden table and pressing my fingers into my throbbing temples. It was weird that a vampire who only drank blood and had no one to come visit had a dining room table nicer than my family’s, but I didn’t have the energy to ask about it. Janos joined me at the table, sitting on the other side. It didn’t feel like enough distance after all the crazy stuff he’d done to me.

“I’m sorry to have invaded your personal space like that. A seal is a very powerful spell that’s not always easy to detect.” His stupid, handsome blue face was grimacing apologetically as I glared at him, but I wasn’t in the mood to forgive him yet with this massive headache and noodle-y feeling in my arms and legs. I put my head in my hands and groaned, only half-listening to the rest of his explanation.

“It’s actually a spell that the Ancients originated. When the humans revolted, our stronghold was raided. The few remaining Ancient Vampires were murdered. Vorador and the others drove out the human forces, but they took so much from us. I know several of our books were stolen, and I’m betting a book of ours was what Moebius used to put a seal on you.”

“Are you able to break it? It would be much less onerous a task traveling with a sorceress who is consistent and competent.” Raziel sounded super hopeful, and when I raised my head up at his insult, I saw they were both squinting at me like I was the weirdo of the three of us, not the bird dude or walking dead guy.

“Unfortunately, I am not,” Janos sighed, looking at me apologetically again. Nope. I still wasn’t gunna budge on the forgiveness, no matter how pretty those yellow eyes were. “It can only be broken by whomever placed the seal, or generally, it is set to break after a specific amount of time. I believe that is what we are looking at here. I can sense that the seal is very weak as it is, which is why she is able to use her magic at all. My guess is that it won’t last much longer.”

“Moebius undoubtedly wanted to keep her weaker until he was positive she was under his complete control,” Raziel thought out loud, talking about me like I wasn’t even in the room. “He was not counting on her and I crossing paths just yet.”

“Most likely not. And as I said, the seal is nearing the end of its life. Perhaps some important date is coming up in his planning?”

I stuck my finger up to say that YES, ACTUALLY, THE most important day of the year was coming up, but Raziel cut me off.

“On our first meeting, she did obnoxiously reiterate that she was going to be 18 within days.” He mused, continuing to ignore me.

“That must be it, then! I’m almost positive her seal will break on the anniversary of her birth.” Janos and Raz both looked super pleased with themselves that they had figured it out, but I was getting more and more aggravated.

I don’t know which I preferred — being looked at like a freak or not being paid any attention at all. Oh wait, I knew the answer to that one from my time in high school. I cleared my throat, the weakness I felt starting to fade away as it was replaced by anger.

“Am I going to have to light up like a purple Christmas tree again for you guys to talk TO me instead of ABOUT me right in front of my face?” I asked loudly, flailing my hands around, which began to spark orange. “ESPECIALLY when, yeah, it IS almost my 18th birthday, thank you very much! I accept gifts, cake and checks payable to Vera Lynn Shard, Sorceress Esquire…”

Janos stared at my glowing hands curiously. “I apologize for not being able to assist you more, Vera. But I can tell you that with the amount of power I felt radiating beneath your seal, you won’t need much help from anyone when it breaks.” He turned back to my skeleton friend, but I noticed he pivoted a little so he was including me in the conversation this time. Good.“I do have more pertinent information for you, however, Raziel.”

I guess it was good to know my magic wouldn’t be untrustworthy forever, but I felt disappointed it was all I had learned from the guy. I still had no clue why Moe visited me and brought me here, or how I got my powers. It WAS awesome to know I had an epic Birthday present coming my way when this seal broke though!

“I can tell you’re impatient,” Janos continued, addressing Raz, “But I think giving Vera a brief history lesson first will benefit you both. Perhaps it will fill in some gaps for you as well.”

Raziel shifted anxiously, still thinking he was too cool to take a seat at the table with Janos and me. “Alright.”

“Long ago, our race was a powerful one. We were magically inclined, and our wings helped us build architecture like this building and the Sarafan Stronghold, which housed the human soldiers that were not yet our enemies. We worked hand in hand with humans, who prayed to the same God as us. Another powerful race, the Hylden, refused to acknowledge our God. They considered themselves a more advanced society, beyond the need for a deity. Admittedly, some of my brethren did not react kindly to this. However, the Hylden decided to escalate the situation.” The vampire looked sad, his eyes far away.

“Seriously?! Even OFF Earth people fight about useless stuff?!” I couldn’t believe it. This place had magic and vampires and ghosts and people wanted to fight over different opinions?! I mean, I had almost gotten into a fist fight arguing over which season of Malcolm in the Middle was the best with Ayla once, but the keyword there was ALMOST.
Raziel glared daggers at me for my interruption, but I stuck my tongue out at him.

“A war was started.” Janos continued, too distracted to react to my comment, “There was so much bloodshed. We got wind that they were developing a device to somehow destroy every creature that wasn’t Hylden. That could not happen. We all contributed, but nine of our race used their power and banished the Hylden to the Demon Realm. They were the first Circle of Nine. The Pillars stand to keep the Hylden locked away forever and always. They are integral to the salvation of Nosgoth. From the beginning of time, Raziel was prophesied as the savior for the vampire race, returning the Pillars to the correct ownership and taking them back from the humans.”

“Is it cuze he’s blue too?” I asked, kinda jealous that I was traveling with some savior of a whole race and I was just...brought here by a creepy old dude with bad fashion sense. Raz had told me he didn’t even care what happened to Nosgoth HOURS ago, and here I am ready to save it with no credit at all?!

“I did not think my resemblance to your race was purely coincidental when I saw the murals.” Raz said quietly, seeming like he liked his prophecy as much as I did.

“So, lemme guess the next part of this story - you guys won the war, then humans turned on you ‘cuz we’re two-faced bitches?” Maybe that was why there wasn’t a prophecy about me - cuze no one liked humans after the dumb war!

“Not exactly.” Janos still looked super bummed, “The Hylden cursed the Ancient Vampires with their last breath on this realm. They gave us eternal life.”

I snorted. Why was Janos being all doom and gloom about THIS part? “Uh, sounds like they don’t know what a curse is. Living forever sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me! You could take advantage of Olive Garden’s unlimited breadsticks and salads FOR. ALL. ETERNITY.” My mouth watered just thinking about it.

“Eternal life comes at a price. Food no longer sustained us and tasted horrible. We were given a bloodlust, and soon found out we were sterile as well. The biggest blow was the inability to hear from our God any longer. We were no longer a part of his Wheel of Life, so he abandoned us. Some who had survived the battle committed suicide by self-decapitation or impaling themselves - as the Sarafan do to them now - for the idea of going through life without the guidance of our God was too much to take.”

“Hardcore…” I muttered, touching my hands to my very-intact neck. I could barely handle when I gave myself papercuts - I couldn’t imagine chopping my own head off! Especially over something dumb like hearing some dude talk about a wheel...Waaait a minute. The words he had said clicked suddenly, “Wheel of Life?! Are you serious?! Raz, isn’t that what you said that old Maybe-God-But-Definite-Butt called it? That HACK was the reason you guys fought?!” I yelled in disbelief, slamming my fists on the table. Raziel didn’t really react - I guess he wasn’t surprised to hear that his enemy had been causing people problems for FOREVER.

That stupid squid and Moebius seemed to like drama and bullying people as much as my high school nemesis, Tori Fields.

“Whether or not you agree, it does not matter. It is not an argument I wish to have again.” Janos shook his head, intent on finishing the story, “Because we could no longer conceive and were dwindling in number by the day, the Pillars began choosing humans as guardians. Those of us left made an agreement with the humans. Those who were born with powers would come of age, and then be turned to vampires in a ceremony. We felt humans were a weaker species, more susceptible to manipulation and outside influences… No offense.” He turned to me quickly.

“It’s fair,” I shrugged, thinking about all the stunts from TV shows I had attempted that ended in broken bones.

“All complied except two young men — one being Moebius — who led the coup against us. And thus began the age of The Vampire Purge.”

The more I heard about Moe, the more I wished I had decked him when I had the chance back in New York.

“I still can’t picture that guy looking less than 104 years old and without leaning on his stupid walking stick.” I grumbled, daydreaming about how many times I coulda tripped him or spilled hot tea on his crotch.

“That is no walking stick,” Janos said warningly. “His staff is where his magic funnels through. It also allows him to incapacitate vampires completely.”

Raziel was weirdly quiet, before saying in a monotone, “So Kain and Vorador were right then? I really am some kind of unholy vampire messiah meant to help the vampires reclaim the Pillars…”

Janos’ expression softened as he shook his head, “Unholy? No. Messiah? Perhaps.”

“I don’t like that word. It reeks of martyrdom.” Raziel stepped away from us to look out over the open view of Nosgoth. I could tell he was getting lost in his thoughts again. I didn’t understand half the complicated stuff that was going on, but wanted to remind him that he wasn’t facing it all alone anymore.

I pushed away from the table and joined him at the open part of the room, staring out into the sky that was starting to turn shades of pink as the sun set. I realized that meant that I survived almost a whole day in Nosgoth.

Whatta day! I had become friends with a vampire and a skeleton and found out I had magic powers! There was still so much to learn and so many more butts to kick! With these two by my side, I knew we’d be able to accomplish anything. I was even almost over the fact that I probably wouldn’t see a birthday cake on my big day now that I knew my powers were going to be INSANE!

“I don’t know what martyrdom is, but it sounds bad,” I piped up, startling him out of his thoughts. “There’s none of that here — just three superheroes out to save Nosgoth. You’re coming with us to help take down Moe, right, Janos?”

The vampire was super nice, but also if he could fly us everywhere, that would be an awesome perk. Having to get down all those stairs and the mountain again was a big fat NO THANK YOU from me.

Janos smiled sadly, also pushing away from the table. “The Sarafan have been mustering their forces in the village for quite some time. I fear our time together will be bitterly short, but please know how much I’ve appreciated it. You have a long journey ahead, and the last thing I wish to do is put an even bigger target on both of your backs.”

“Janos, please continue with your story, although I believe I know what comes next.” Raziel, who didn’t seem even a little bit comforted by my comments, spoke quietly, still facing the sunset.

Continue? Wasn’t that it? I mean, it seemed like we had made it to where we were now. Raziel and I were gunna help the vampires out and save the Pillars and Nosgoth. Easy peasy.

“Of course.” Janos started again. Ok, nope I guess there was more.

“At the time of the binding of The Pillars and the banishment of the Hylden, there was the Circle of Nine. I was summoned to be the tenth guardian — the keeper of the Reaver. I have only been able to sustain myself here due to my obligation to you and my guardianship of the blade. My hope has faltered on occasion, but seeing you both here makes it all worth it. The binding of the Pillars must be secured. The Hylden, already intent on wreaking havoc, have gone even more mad from their years in the Demon Realm. And every day, the Pillars and the binding securing the Hylden from the Material Realm grows weaker.”

“Demon Realm?! How many dang realms are there?! Is Nosgoth like some multi-layered cake only instead of frosting there’s just...more crazy layers of monster?!” Raz had told me about the ghost realm below this one, but now I was finding out there was one filled with demons?!

“The Reaver is the key to all of this, isn’t it?” Raziel asked, continuing to rudely ignore me, an edge to his voice that made it sound like the Reaver wasn’t anything good. But wasn’t the Reaver what he’d called his sword-y arm earlier? Man, I was so confused.

“That’s right. Here, come with me, both of you.” Janos started leading the way over to the dulled gold chest against the wall I noticed when we came in. Raziel seemed EXTRA uncomfortable, walking so slow that I beat him to the dusty box. I didn’t really get it - when we first got here, he was impatient as all heck, and then he found out he was some savior, and now he was taking his sweet time. I was super curious to know what was in the box that made Raz so bummed, and made sure I was as close as possible as Janos opened it up….aaaaand was immediately disappointed.

There was just an ugly silver sword that looked like it had been designed by Ed Hardy chilling on the velvet inside. It had a skull above the handle that had four prongs coming out of it and instead of being straight like a normal sword, it was wavy — like a snake or something, but solid. Janos picked it up and held it out for Raz, who barely looked at it. I did a double take to make sure there wasn’t anything else in the box besides the ugly weapon.

“Please....keep it away from me.” Raz turned away, which is what I wanted to do because the thing was dull and tacky, but even I wouldn’t have been THAT rude to Janos trying to give me a present. I woulda taken it and then tossed it off the cliff when he wasn’t looking if I found out there was no gift receipt.

The vampire looked hurt as he put it back in the chest. I felt bad, and tried my best to cover for Raz, “Yeah, this thing IS neat and everything, but Raz actually already has a fire sword that he can bring out of his arm! It’s really cool, so you can keep this one and be sword buddies! It’ll be like friendship bracelets!”

We heard a loud slam outside the fancy doors and Janos bit his lip, “I fear you have been followed...”

Oh, crud. I realized with a sinking feeling that, YUP, we had totally cleared the way for anyone that wanted to try and make it to the vampire.

Janos turned to Raziel, putting a hand on each of his bony shoulders, “I’m sorry I can’t guide you any more than this. Take care of each other.”

“Janos, wait…” Raziel didn’t get to finish before he just disappeared into thin air. NOT AGAIN. Janos put his hands on my shoulders next and I expected the same treatment, squeezing my eyes together, but instead, he wheeled me around and pushed me forward.

“Vera, hide behind this chest.” He indicated to the gaudy gold box with the Reaver in it, and I didn’t fight him because of how serious his tone was, ducking behind it obediently, “Whatever they do, do not move.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, the door burst open. Six guys wearing armor and carrying giant swords had kicked the door in and were looking around, on the defensive.

It was funky armor - mostly covering their shoulders, wrists, chests, and feet. Each guy had a different color-coordinated undershirt and pants. I guess it was to tell them apart since they all looked the same when they had their dorky helmets on. They must not have liked the helmets either, because they all took them off, revealing super smug expressions on each of their faces.

These bullies really wanted to be cheap and make it six against one? Well, it was about to be six against two.

I tried to jump up from my hiding spot, but was frozen in place, then tried to yell but nothing came out of my mouth. Janos, what did you DO to me?!

“Turel,” the guy leading them barked to one of the others, and they all snapped to attention.

The leader had shorter, dark hair that was parted in the middle and was dressed in red, with the most hittable, stupid smirk and the most blood-thirsty looking eyes. He wasn’t the tallest or biggest of the gang, but for some reason, he was the one they all were looking to. He gestured to Janos, and the guy with the long black hair in the green undershirt that must’ve been Turel stepped forward with Moebius’s ugly cane.

He pointed it at the vampire, and it lit up like it did the last time I saw Moebius. Janos fell to the floor in pain.

NO! I tried SO hard to fight against whatever Janos had done to keep me in place, but his magic was way stronger than mine.

“Dumah, Melchiah, grab his arms and put him on the table,” their smug leader instructed the two biggest guys, one in purple and one in orange, who grabbed Janos by the arms and threw him down on the table knocking the candles to the floor.

“This is my favorite part,” the redheaded guy with pointy features next to the leader said gleefully, lifting a sharp-looking weapon up. He and the leader took each side of it and stabbed it into Janos’s chest, who let loose the most pained, shuddering mix between a gasp and a scream I’d ever heard.

Blood spurted from him, covering them all in it, as they used the device to stretch open Janos’s ribcage, which I heard crack. I wanted to tear my eyes away from this bloodbath and throw up everywhere, but Janos’s spell wouldn’t let me even look away.

The leader grabbed out Janos’s heart from his living body. “Look how the demon’s black heart still beats!” he cackled maniacally, and they all joined in with laughter except the one in blue, who was busy wiping the blood off his grossed-out looking face.

“Great job, Raziel!” the redhead called out triumphantly.

Raziel?! I guess my Raz had said he and his brothers were human during this time but... HE was the one that murdered the sweet vampire?! I did a double take at the leader and saw that maybe he DID look like my blue friend, only his features were cruel. His huge smile spread from one ear to the other as he eyed Janos’s still bleeding body. He was so much creepier than the skeleton I’d been traveling with who thought he looked like a monster. THIS was a monster.

“Yes, great job, truly a fair fight,” the guy who was dressed in blue said in a sarcastic tone. “Now can we leave?”

I barely heard him, my ears were ringing so loud. I had never lost a friend before, much less seen one brutally murdered in front of my eyes, and didn’t know how to process any of it. I felt Janos’s spell break and I threw up all over the floor, feeling extra shaky because I knew what the spell failing meant. He was gone.

“What was that sound?” Human Raziel demanded, his features twisting into a scowl. “Rahab, since you want to comment on my leadership while contributing nothing to the mission as always, go check behind that chest.”

I heard footsteps coming toward me and shot up, probably looking deranged between just having puked and having red eyes from the tears that threatened to pour out. I choked them back to seem intimidating. “You’ll pay for what you did to him!” I screamed, and the guy who they called Rahab frowned and cringed out of annoyance at my volume rather than seeming threatened at all by me.

“Oh, a girl! Perfect! We know Rahab — she’s more terrifying to him than Audron was!” Human Raziel snickered and all the other guys laughed again. Rahab, who was facing me, tensed and scowled.

“The Reaver is in this case,” Rahab said, refusing to look at me. “Let’s just leave the girl — I’ll grab the sword. Between that and the Heart of Darkness, Moebius will be more than satisfied.”

“No,” Human Raziel said gleefully, clearly loving ordering his brother around, “Zephon will grab the sword. You grab the girl. Moebius would love to find out what she knows, I’m sure… After I’m through with her.”

I didn't know what that meant, but the way he was looking at me made me want to throw up again. Rahab sighed heavily and came towards me like I was the last thing in the world he wanted to get closer to.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, and the purple electric current from earlier shot out of my finger.

“What in the hell?!” Rahab ducked quickly, and the electricity missed him, hitting a chunk off of one of the stone pillars that was holding up the ceiling.

“Did you see that, Raziel? It was like lightning from her fingertips!” The hulking, bald dude who looked like a thumb pointed at me. Damn it. All I wanted to do was deep fry these monsters to avenge Janos! Was that too much to ask?!

I tried to send out another spark of electricity at Rahab as he got closer, but nothing came out.
Stupid, stupid powers. Oh well. I always had plan B, my two trusty fists - Rashida and Jones. I stuck them up and out, ready to fight.

The stupid Sarafan goon looked down at me with raised eyebrows. “Are you serious?” He asked, and when I nodded, he gestured to his weapon, “Let’s say I didn’t have a sword or wasn’t highly trained in combat. Your lightning show seems to be over now, Little Sorceress, and you look like you’d blow over with a slight breeze. Let’s just make this easy on the both of us. Surrender.”

“NEVER!” I screamed, glowering at him as he rolled his eyes. “Fight me, you big wuss!”

He sighed like I was more of an inconvenience than threatening, but I knew deep down he was quaking in his armour. I watched him undo his sword from his belt, and thought he was gunna drop it to the ground so we could have a fair fight, but instead, he held onto it, even though he was leaving it in its case.

“What’re you gonna do with that?!” I demanded, continuing to try and get my closed fists to do anything more than shake out of anger. If he was gonna be unfair and use his weapon, I was gunna keep trying to get my powers to do SOMETHING.

“Shut you up,” he said simply, looking bored, and turned the sword around so the handle was facing me, raised up above both of our heads.

“Do you even know how to use a sword?! Even I know it’s pointy end out, idiot!” I snickered, but he still didn’t seem fazed.

“I did warn you,” he said, before bringing the heavy handle down on my head. I felt a sting of pain before everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Vera IV

I woke up with a jolt and tried to sit up, but fell backward, realizing that my hands and feet were tied together. Well, THIS sucked. It was the second time in two days that I’d woken up in an uncomfortable bed that wasn’t mine and I was NOT here for it.

WAIT. The first time this’d happened, Moe The Perv had undressed me!

I looked down in a panic, but noticed in relief that my lame outfit had stayed the same, which was about the only plus in this situation.

My stomach started to knot up again, and I swallowed down what was almost more puke as my throat burned. I had watched someone DIE in front of me. Someone nice and cool, who yeah, maybe had questionable taste in swords, but who didn’t deserve any of what happened to him.

But maybe it wasn’t too late! Janos’d fixed up my busted hand like it was nothing! If the seal on me was close to breaking, maybe I could use my powers to heal up what those murderers did to him!

“Janos?!” I tried to sit up again, doing my second crunch of the year, and thrashed against the ropes, looking around wildly for a sign of the blue vampire.

I couldn’t see much, but I could tell I wasn’t in his room anymore. I was in a small, cold and windowless one with a table next to me stacked high with books that smelled like mold. It might not have been the room Moebius’d trapped me in, but it was similar enough that I knew where I was. Crap.

Those psycho Sarafan had said they were gonna take me back to the Stronghold, and that must’ve been exactly what they did. I couldn’t BELIEVE I’d done all that walking just to be brought RIGHT back to Moe’s house!

God, my head hurt. That jerk at Janos’s had been so scared to fight me fist-to-fist that he’d bonked me with his sword instead. It was the only way he woulda won, and he knew it, too, so he brought out his weapon like a Cheater McCheaterson.

Between the lump on my noggin and my nonexistent abs, I was having trouble holding myself up for long, but lucky for me, the bed was shoved into a corner of the tiny room, so I was able to shimmy myself up against the cold wall. It also gave me a better view of the dump I was in.

There were two massive bookshelves against the wall that were jam-packed, with a sword and a set of bloodstained armor hanging in between them – the same sword and armor that the Sarafan douches had on when they busted into Janos’s room.

I looked away when I felt the sting of tears in my eyes, but it was too late - I’d opened up the floodgates and the scene just wouldn’t stop playing out in my head. It wasn’t fair. Janos had forgiven humans for the way they treated him and they’d come in, tortured, and murdered him.

And I hadn’t been able to do anything about it but watch it happen. I’d felt so USELESS. I still did, and not just ‘cuz I was tied up. Janos had believed in me and was one of the only people I’d met who didn’t seem super annoyed by me...being me. And I couldn’t save him.

“I don’t think the vampire is going to respond, seeing as how there’s that teeny, tiny, not -having-a-heart-anymore issue.” A dumb, sarcastic voice jolted me from my thoughts.

I whipped my head around to glare at my kidnapper, filled with even more rage at how casually he’d mentioned my friend’s death.

It was the same douche who’d hit me with that cheap sword shot at Janos’...Rahab. What a stupid name. What a stupid guy. He was lounging in a chair all casual, legs crossed, not even looking up from the book he was reading.

He was surrounded by even more books, notebooks, pens, and tons of…wait, were those TEA CUPS?! Yeah, they were — I guess murderers enjoyed their tea and crumpets before CUTTING HEARTS OUT OF PEOPLE — stacked on top of each other or on top of books or just about everywhere. This nerd clearly didn’t have a social life besides killing innocent vampires.

When I’d first sized him up, I thought he was shorter and scrawnier cuze he’d been standing near the two giant dudes who threw Janos on the table, but I could tell now he was tall and at least a lil muscle-y. It didn’t matter, though. Everyone was taller than me, and I was still gonna fight him for what he did. I was ready to whip out my wrestling moves and hurl myself at him, hitting him with The People’s Elbow.

“You monsters MURDERED the nicest guy in the whole world and now you’re gonna make stupid jokes about it?!” I spat at him, trying to pull my hands apart to see if I could weaken the knot. It wouldn’t budge. I did the same thing with my feet — nope. This guy must’ve been a part of Nosgothian Boy Scouts for how aggressive this knot was.I finally tried my magic, knowing it was a lost cause, and of course, it was. Not even a fizzle came out of my fingertips. I continued glaring at the guy instead, hoping I could make his big head explode if I thought about it hard enough.

He wouldn’t lift his head up, but his bright blue eyes moved from the book to me. He had sounded so smug when he talked, but he was frowning while he looked me up and down.

“I AM sorry my brothers killed your vampire lover, Defunct Little Witch. Not because Audron didn’t deserve it; for thousands of years he murdered and drank the blood of our men, women and even children…” he paused, then sneered at me, “but moreso because you’re ruining my silk sheets with your tears.”

I frantically rubbed my eyes on either arm as much as I could to get rid of the liquid evidence. These weren’t SAD tears leaking out of my eyes like a busted faucet — these were angry tears! He didn’t deserve to see me crying, he deserved to see my fists in his face!

I would’ve given up my most prized possession — the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto shaped like the DeLorean from Back to the Future that I’d had in my closet for 8 years — to hit him for his dumb jokes. For killing my friend. For everything.

“First off, he WASN’T my lover...that word will never NOT be gross, by the way...Janos was my friend — and a really good one!” I snapped, raising my steadying voice and getting more and more angry at the guy’s stupid smirk that wouldn’t go away. “Second, there’s no way those stories are true! Anyone who listens to Moebius is an idiot!”

Rahab closed the book he was reading, looking around to make sure he put it on a specific stack, like the giant mess all over the floor was organized in some way. “Let me break it down for your small mind. Vampires feed on human blood. When humans lose enough blood, they die. Audron was the most bloodthirsty of all of them. Simple enough for you?” His speech was super slow like he was talking to a baby, as he gestured tiredly to one of the stacks that was on the floor. “The history books all say…”

“Screw the history books, nerd! They’re wrong!” I had had enough of his stuck-up attitude and wanted to knock him down five pegs. “Is THIS simple enough for YOU?!” I flailed and grunted, hoping I could throw myself at him by sheer force of will, wriggling away from the wall...until I fell right off the bed and crashed to the floor. Not my original plan, but I’d go with it. I started rolling around to try and get closer to him, but only managed to stay like a turtle stuck on its back, no matter how hard I tried to thrash free. Even stuck on the floor, I wouldn’t give up. He was getting his butt kicked one way or another - I’d start by biting his ankles.

“I’ve seen more grace in rabid animals.” The guy was laughing at me now, and my rage burned so hard, I felt it flowing through my whole body. He watched me as I wiggled for a few minutes, then sighed, and started walking towards me muttering, “And more dignity as well.”

Was he going to try and get me up? I didn’t want his HELP — I wanted to gnaw his nose off his face!

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” I screamed again at him, pissed that I couldn’t blast more lightning at him like I’d done at Janos’s castle. Yeah it’d missed, but nothing had been sweeter than the look of panic and confusion on the guy’s face when I’d done it — he was clearly used to being a know-it-all, and THAT was something he hadn’t expected.

“As much as I’d love to leave you to get acquainted with the dust under my bed, your cacophonous snorting is both disgusting and distracting,” he paused and grimaced before throwing me over his shoulder, ignoring my protests and attempts to kick, punch, or bite whatever was closest to my face.

He threw me roughly back onto the bed before he flew back to his chair on the opposite side of the room. “It would be in your best interest to quiet down, Little Sorceress. Raziel seems to have forgotten about you in all his glory — coming back with the Heart of Darkness and The Reaver — and while you’re not exactly his type, the minute he remembers you’re here, he’ll take you back to his chambers like he does all women.” Here, he rolled his eyes, “When he’s bored with you, you’ll be brought to Moebius.”

Bored with me? All women? Did he mean....sex?! Gross! “I don’t want to do anything with that cocky jerk!” I flared, paling. I wasn’t about to lose my virginity to some selfish ass — wasn’t that what college was for?!

“Looks like we have one thing in common at least,” Rahab grinned again, before reaching over to a pile of books on his left and grabbing the second one in. He cracked it open and started reading, like our conversation was over.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, squinting my eyes at him, “Aren’t you guys brothers? Plus, you all have your stupid little color-swapped matching outfits.” I gestured with my head to his light blue body-suit that looked extra stupid without the armor on top of it.

“If you’re going to keep interrupting,you could at least stand to be as interesting as my book.” He closed the book and sighed at me like I was the BIGGEST inconvenience. “When you’re a part of a military force like I am, they don’t exactly let you choose what to wear — uniformity is the goal. And they are my brothers in arms. Nothing more. I wasn’t even supposed to go on the expedition to the vampire’s castle today. I’ve never been interested in guts and glory like those sadistic goons.”

He saw me continuing to scowl at him and shrugged. “Believe me or don’t, I don’t particularly care. I was set to train with our paladin, Malek, while my brothers got to play at being heroes.” His face hardened and his tone went sour. “On their way out, Raziel tried to imply that the reason I hadn’t wanted to go was cowardice. I replied that maybe he could bore the vampire to death with all his ridiculous bragging and long-winded tales. Next thing I knew, I was being commanded by the big idiot Dumah to suit up or become vampire food…. Raziel is the bane of my existence.”

Dang. The Raziel of this time SUCKED. I was definitely glad I hadn’t ended up in his room, but that didn’t mean I was thrilled to be where I was with Mr. Sarcasm.

“Sooo…if Raziel wants to...do icky stuff with me…” I trailed off uncomfortably, “what are YOU gonna do with me? If I don’t get out of these stupid ropes and beat you up first, I mean.”

He scoffed at my comment, but he was in for a BIG surprise if I could wiggle out even one PINKY. “I plan on disposing of you as I do all pests that find their way into my room — spiders, flies, and the like. Trap them,” he gestured to my tied limbs, “and release them outside of the stronghold after my brothers have gone to bed.”

A loud crash and laughter erupted from outside the room suddenly, followed by cheering.

“I just may have underestimated how late they would be up celebrating the vampire’s death.” Rahab glowered at the door in disgust, followed by another super dramatic sigh.

“So, lemme get this straight, you have a problem killing gross spiders but not super sweet vampire men?!” I demanded, totally confused by what this guy’s deal was.

He stared blankly at me again like I was an idiot (which was something I was getting REAL tired of) and put his hands out like he was weighing the options on scales, “One helps the environment, the other drains humans of their life force. Hmm. What a tough call…” he paused, then grudgingly added, “besides, not that it matters, but Raziel would tell you I didn’t kill the vampire — that I merely tagged along on his grand hero’s journey.”

“Oh, yeah, ya just WATCHED your buddies kill Janos and then KIDNAPPED ME. You’re such a GREAT guy.” I said as condescendingly as I could, trying to outdo his attitude with my own.

His eyebrow cocked up in judgment, “And what did you do for your supposed friend? Besides expel fluid from your mouth and eyes? Oh, let’s not forget your penchant for spewing tired and hollow threats...Your seat was far closer to the action than mine was, but Janos still ended up thrown on that table and…”

I felt my whole body start shaking as the anger and shame built up inside of me. “STOP IT!” I screamed, trying hard to fight the sting of tears again. I didn’t want this jerk to have the satisfaction of seeing me cry again. “I tried, ok?! I couldn’t move!”

The guilt felt like a giant elephant sitting on my chest. All I’d wanted in that moment was to save the day with my magic, but I hadn’t been strong enough, and lost my friend because of it.

Rahab cringed at my volume and glanced at the door nervously. “If you don’t quiet down you’ll cause your own demise, foolish girl. I know you don’t understand much, but you underestimate the gravity of the present situation.”

“Anything is better than being stuck hanging out with some creep like YOU,” I spat, then narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him, “and what the heck do you care anyway?”

“I don’t.” He said simply, then tried to puff himself up like some kind of big shot, “Not about you. But being the only priest of the Sarafan who actually respects his vows, I am held to a certain standard of honor, and if there is a pathetic woman in need of assistance, it is my duty to step in.”

I was so mad at how hypocritical he was that I couldn’t even laugh at the word ‘duty’.

“You REALLY wanna talk honor when your armor over there is still covered in my friend’s BLOOD?! I mean what kind of sicko...wait, what’s that?” I was ready to go off on Book Boy when I noticed for the first time that his armor had two huge blobs going down each side of the front. Were those animals? Not just animals but… “Are those…seahorses? Seriously?”

Turns out murderers liked tea, books, and watching The Little Mermaid in their spare time.

“They are.” Rahab said defensively, “I didn’t realize enjoying the ocean and sea creatures was so scandalizing.”

“Ok, but you KNOW there’s a difference between slapping a giant shark on your armor and lame lil curly-Q seahorses, right?!” I snorted, realizing that both my captor and older sister were horse girls.

“Raziel mocked me for the very same. I don’t expect either of you to understand subtlety,” the snooty guy huffed. Man, was he picking a super weird hill to die on.

“What we’re NOT gunna do is lump me into the same category as that murdering psycho who needs to steal women to get them to spend a second of time with him!” I made a disgusted face, and Rahab actually chuckled at my joke, proving that he could find something funny other than his own lame ones.

“He...doesn’t usually need to steal women, but your mutual disdain for him is a breath of fresh air.” The seemingly shy smile that stayed on his face was almost the opposite of his smirk - it made him seem genuine and…nice?

I wasn’t sure if I trusted the guy, and I definitely didn’t like him, but he WAS kinda right about not having killed Janos directly. He really didn’t seem to care about anything other than books, seahorses, and hating human Raziel, and I could get behind that last part at least. “Soo, why are you even a part of the stupid Sarafan? They all looked so excited when they cut Janos’s heart out. You’re the only one who looked like you wanted to lose your lunch.”

“Oh, you mean like you actually did? I meant to thank you for adding your own twist to that putrid ‘freshly murdered vampire’ scent,” Rahab said sarcastically, then thought for a second, like he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to tell me. “How do you know Moebius?”

“That old fart kidnapped me and trapped me in this castle not even a whole day ago. He’s the WORST. And the reason I’m in Nosgoth. I got out of here, and then you losers brought me back! You personally may not have killed Janos, but that I CAN blame you for!” I made to cross my arms over my chest, but remembered I was tied up again.

“You weren’t exactly easy to carry, you know. You’re small, but when you’re unconscious, it feels like you weigh as much as my whole book collection,” Rahab shot back, a smirk returning to his face, “Only you’re far less interesting. Also, you drool.”

“You’re lucky I’m too far away to head-butt you!” I growled through gritted teeth, clenching my fists.

“There’s luck, and then there’s strategy,” he chuckled a little, and then his smile faded. “I’m here because Raziel is the second bully in my life. After my younger brother was born, my father told me I was to finally make the family proud and join the Sarafan priesthood, or don’t bother coming home again.”

“That’s awful,” I said, surprising myself by actually sounding genuine. But I DID feel a little bad for him. My parents ignored me most of the time, but they never straight-up bullied me into hanging out with Moebius more than once a year. I didn’t wanna think about having to listen to him talk EVERY DAY and on top of that, dealing with the murdering band of boneheads he had to call his bros.

“You know, up until this very moment, I viewed that as the lowest point of my life. Now I see that being pitied by a girl who cried so hard she vomited is truly my rock bottom.” He scowled when he saw the bummed look on my face, but my feelings changed pretty dang quick when he whipped out the insults again.

“Puh-LEASE. The ONLY reason I feel bad for you is ‘cuz you look super dumb in your onesie. Does it have one of those butt flaps in the back or do you have to take the whole thing off to use the bathroom, like a romper?” I snorted, instantly regretting feeling bad for this smug jerk.

“I wouldn’t talk about ‘looking dumb’ if I were anyone’s hog-tied and yowling captive…” He paused, looking away from me. “I don’t need your sympathy regardless. My brothers and I are the most elite members of the Sarafan because our families are wealthy patrons. We get whatever we ask for whenever we want it...and for an order of priests, this group is very self-indulgent.”

“Psh, well, I know what I’D want, and it wouldn’t matter what else he could give me — I’d want to never see Moe’s stupid wrinkly face again...and also a t-shirt cannon.” I nodded knowingly, having put some serious thought in the matter.

“Yes, well, however prune-like his face is, an established sense of security is worth it to me,” Rahab said distractedly, lost in thought. “He kidnapped you because of your powers, I presume. Why would he not have tasked any of us with finding you and bringing you back after your initial escape, I wonder? Though it would hardly be the first time that geriatric soothsayer has kept us in the dark.”

“Yeah, like I said, he’s the worst. So, since we agree on that, can you untie me now or what? You know my powers aren’t working, and it’s not like I want to risk running into one of the dumb-dumbs out there,” I gestured my head to the door as another chorus of laughter erupted outside and held up my tied wrists expectantly.

“I suppose you make some valid points.” It seemed like Rahab had to keep convincing himself to get close to me, like I had cooties or something, but he came and sat next to me on the bed.

Now that I wasn’t focusing all my attention on hating him, I was able to take in his appearance a little more. He must’ve been in his mid-twenties or so, with tan skin and black hair pulled back in a small ponytail that made his ice-blue eyes stand out even more than they already did. There were a couple of scars on his face — one that went from above his top lip to his chin, and one that took out a hunk of his eyebrow on the opposite side. He started fumbling with the rope at my ankles, his sharp cheekbones turning pink.

“Hey, why’re you turning so red? Is your little ponytail too tight?” I guessed, which he ignored, continuing to struggle with the knots.

As I stared at him all up close and personal-like, I had the genius thought that it might not be a bad idea to have him on our team.

“Ya know, if you really don’t like Moe or being here, I was trying to get Janos to join our team before you...I mean, your brothers…killed him...I just gotta let my friend know you’re good people — I’m sure he’ll be busting in here soon to come get me, and you can come with us. We’re gonna take on Moebius and the Elder God and save Nosgoth! You’ll be able to fulfill what’s gotta be a lifelong dream of telling your boss to SHOVE it!”

I knew my Raziel had to be just as torn up about what happened to Janos, and even if I wasn’t SUPER sure about him coming back JUST for me, they had taken the sword Janos said was MEANT for Raz, so he’d definitely come even if he didn’t seem to want it...right?

“Go up against the Time Streamer? Clearly you’ve failed to notice one of my more defining traits is self-preservation. No — enjoy your suicide mission. I’ll be here continuing to hold out hope that my brothers’ nightly routine of drinking too much ale and practicing sword fighting ends in tragedy.”

“Fine — it’s not like we can haul 5,000 books around with us anyway.” I scowled at his rejection, regretting offering him up a space on Team ‘No Moe.’

After he finished untying my legs I held out my arms. He shook his head and put a hand on them, pushing them back down.

“I don’t trust you THAT much, Little Sorceress,” he cocked an eyebrow, smirking again, but still blushing. “and YOU place too much trust in your friend if you think they’ll be able to break in. This Stronghold is well-guarded by the best of the best...and Raziel.”

For the first time, I was worried about my Raz getting through. Janos had made him disappear because he thought these guys would kill him. Raz had told me that he technically COULDN’T die, a memo I guess Janos didn’t get, or maybe the vampire knew something about the soldiers I didn’t.

I wouldn’t be surprised. There was a LOT I didn’t know about my OWN world, like how dryer sheets worked or what the heck a 401k was, and Nosgoth was even more confusing.

Rahab was trying to be subtle, but I could tell he was scooching farther away from me toward the end of the bed and I wasn’t gonna let him get away with it.

“Why do you keep sliding away from me? Do I smell? It’s not like I could put on deodorant before I was kidnapped and I SWEAR, these clothes stank to start.” I sniffed at my armpits, not loving the odor. Good thing Raz wore a scarf over his nose, because I had a feeling Nosgoth didn’t have a Walmart around to pick up some pit protector.

“Yes. That’s it completely. Your stench is repugnant,” he answered flatly, looking away from me.

“Oh, SO sorry we can’t all smell like moldy books and soggy old tea bags!” I gestured outward to his mess of a room with my right foot since the jerk refused to untie my hands, resisting the urge to kick him in the shin.

He was totally being dramatic, ‘cuz it’s not like my B.O. was THAT bad. I’d smelled worse after gym class!

“I’m so sorry my room doesn’t have the ambiance you desire,” he said dryly, then rubbed at his upper arm, wincing in pain at what must’ve been a bruise. “I leave my room only when I have to. The less interaction with those arrogant fools, the better… My mouth will always get me into trouble… After sword practice last week, I told Zephon that if only his brain were the size of his nose, he might actually be first-in-command instead of second.”

I snorted, realizing that this guy and I weren’t so different. No one appreciated my hilarious jokes, and even though I was MUCH funnier, he had sass down to a T. I thought about the scars on his face and wondered if they were from fights with vampires or his brothers. Either seemed pretty likely.

Suddenly, I remembered that human Raz had said something about Rahab that made them all laugh when he was coming to kidnap me....what was it? Something about...being more scared of women than of the vampire?

“Wait a minute — are you afraid of me ‘cuz I have boobs?!” I demanded incredulously, piecing it all together.

He did his signature eye roll, “Please, if I were afraid of creatures with breasts, I would be infinitely more terrified of Dumah than you.”

“Okay, rude… If that’s not it, then what the heck is, then?!” I sulked at his jab, bringing my tied up arms into my chest self consciously. It was true that I barely had boobs, and being almost 18 meant that my dream of sprouting any was preeetty much dead. “I heard Raziel say women freak you out. Are you just jealous that my locks are more lucious than yours?”

“No.”

“Are you sad that you have a deep voice so you’ll never be able to reach the high note in ‘Take On Me’?”

“I have no idea what any of that means, nor do I care to learn.”

“Is it because…”

“Enough.” He knew I wasn’t gonna give up until he told me, so, after shifting uneasily, he cleared his throat a couple times.

“I have brief talks with the servants around the castle, but...I have never really interacted with a woman before you today,” he said awkwardly, then when he saw my mouth drop open, he snapped, “out of choice! I was sent here from a very young age. I’ve never been interested in competing with Raziel or the others. I hate most people and prefer my solitude to read.”

“Oh.” I was NOT expecting that. I didn’t even consider MYSELF a woman half the time — it was crazy weird to think of a guy getting nervous around me just because I was a chick. “Well, stop acting like a freak, ‘cuz I’m just...Vera, and I’m like you. Except, you know, cooler in every way possible.”

“I don’t know what your temperature has to do with anything, but it is nice to finally have the name of the boisterous woman who has been on my bed for the last several hours.”

He actually stayed on the bed this time instead of practically diving back to the chair on the other side of the room. I guess I’d loosened him up a little. “I am Rahab, but I’m sure you already know that, especially if you saw the embarrassingly massive and self-indulgent portraits of my brethren and me out in the upstairs gallery upon your escape last night.”

“What?! No way!” I snorted, upset that the only murals I had seen were the stained glass windows of these dudes in their armor, killing what I knew now were vampires painted to look like they were the big scary bad guys.

“I will show them to you on our way out tonight. Raziel spent hours making sure each individual hair of his was in place. I think he had the artist repaint his at least three times, though his expression still stayed the same — he thinks flaring his nose and scowling makes him seem regal, but instead looks as if he smelled a cart full of manure.” Rahab and I both started snickering. I couldn’t wait to see these portraits and roast these guys to oblivion.

I felt relaxed enough to stretch out my legs, enjoying the feeling after they’d been kept together for hours on end. One of my feet toppled over one of the insane number of piles of books, causing another stack closer to me to wobble. This stack had a HUGE plate of food chilling on top of it, and I’d never wanted anything more than I wanted that plate right then.. I saw bread, turkey, ham and some cheeses and perked up — much better than stupid fruit.

“Hey, I think for all the trouble you’ve caused tonight, you at least owe me some of that food,” I said forcefully, determined to get something in my stomach before Raz and I went on our merry way.

Rahab seemed confused as he looked around, but then noticed the plate and brought it onto the bed. “Oh, yes, I had forgotten it was here. Help yourself.”

There was a beat of silence before we both looked down at my tied hands.

“I am not hand-feeding you,” he snapped, and as much as I didn’t WANT him to feed me, I also desperately wanted it all to get in my belly.

“UGH, fine, then can you just put it in my backpack?” I pouted, rationalizing that eating it later was better than not getting it at all. Wait. Where WAS my backpack?! I realized with a jolt that I didn’t feel the straps on my shoulders. “Where is it?!” I asked, flailing around on the bed again to see if it was behind me.

Nope. Just a stupid lumpy pillow. Yeah, it may have only had a couple of oranges and some cool sticks I’d found from the swamp in it, but I knew it was gonna come in handy at some point of our journey. I needed to find it. I shot up off the bed and onto my wobbly legs, whipping my head around to look for the sack. Nope. Just stupid piles of books everywhere.

Between my frantic side-to-side movement, and weak legs, I lost my balance and keeled over on the bed…face-planting right in Rahab’s crotch.

“It’s right here, you spastic madwoman!” He tensed and pushed me off him so hard and fast that my head bounced off a particularly sturdy stack of thick hard copies.

“Ow!” I yelped, “that’s where you hit me with the sword earlier, you ASS!” I twisted my legs to kick him a few times in the shin.

He ignored my feeble kicks, still red, and yanked my backpack from where it had been hanging on the bedpost, slamming it down at the center of the bed. When he realized I wouldn’t be able to put the plate in the bag, he sighed again loudly.

“For God’s sake…” he mumbled, dumping the whole plate into my pack. SCORE! I hadn’t expected him to give me ALL of it!

A loud banging interrupted my happiness and made both of us jump. “Get your armor on, Rahab! There’s been a break-in!” a gruff voice shouted from behind the door.

That HAD to be Raziel!

Rahab hopped off the bed and quickly began suiting up with the armor on the wall, grabbing the sword that was leaning next to one of the built-in bookshelves in the wall.

“I told you my friend was going to bust me out!” I gloated, sticking my tongue out at the soldier.

I was relieved to know Raz’d actually come...I mean, I was a good 85% sure he wouldn’t have been able to stay away from my lovable self, but it still was great to have the confirmation. We were gonna kick all the Sarafan butts we could for what they did to Janos!

All except Rahab, at least. He might have been sassy, but he was okay people as far as I was concerned.

“Stay here,” Rahab gruffly demanded on his way out, slamming the door behind him.

Yeah, okay, like THAT was going to happen.