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Abolish was uncertain as to why he had volunteered for this mission. This assignment was meant to be nothing more than research which was something he usually didn’t do, and yet there was something in his brain yelling at him to come here. So he did. All of this just ended up being a huge inconvenience.
The town was full of erratic, fanatic people who couldn’t take care of themselves, with only a few at least somewhat competent exceptions. The negative part about it all is that Abolish was certain that someone within the town was probably a vampire, just going off his theory about how the beacons worked and his mission briefing. It’s only to be expected that while looking for the cure to vampirism he would find a vampire.
Who the vampire was, he wasn’t certain of, though Owen was a strong contender on account of apparently growing up in this clearly abandoned town and not being an elderly man. But other than that, Abolish had to keep his mind alert and focused. Which he was usually incredibly good at. The keyword here being usually.
And all of it was this guy's fault, Scott. The noble claimed to be trying to find out how the lower classes lived, but Abolish’s personal theory is that he was probably disgraced by his family. Why he wasn’t certain. It just seemed more likely to Abolish and he’d thought about it a good amount. He'd thought about Scott an even larger amount. The agent wasn’t sure what it was about the noble, but there was something that made him just so interesting to Abolish's brain. He wanted to be around Scott and learn more about the noble.
Which is why when Scott asked him if he wanted to explore with him together, look for more of those magic books, just the two of them, he hadn’t even hesitated. Abolish had just asked for a moment as he was finishing up baking some bread for his breakfast. He’d offered Scott some to but the noble politely declined claiming he had already eaten. Then they had set off.
“Hey, Abolish. Can I ask you something?” Scott inquired while they were walking in a dense part of the forest together.
“Sure.” Abolish shrugged, keeping his face in its signature neutral expression.
“Can I see the mark on the side of your neck please?” Scott asked in a sweetly manor.
Wait! How did he know about that! Abolish always made a point of wearing high collars for a reason, “How do you?…”
“I saw the top of it once briefly as you were readjusting your collar, and it just had something familiar, and I wanted to double-check,” Scott said, with a disarming smile.
Abolish didn’t know why he just did what Scott said. Why he pulled down his butler uniform's collar. Why he showed the noble the symbol he dreaded on his body. The symbol that proved he owed a strong sorcerer something. The symbol of his mercy debt. A debt that had been passed through his family for so many generations that not even Morcant knew who his ancestors owed the debt to.
“So I was right after all,” Scott said as his smile suddenly turned wicked, and dread washed over Abolish for but a second at his reaction.
“About what?” Abolish didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know.
“You're indebted to me,” Scott said with a coy smile…. This was bad.
“No…. You’re not human,” Abolish said as he accidentally let his eyes grow just a tiny bit wider. The realisation dawning on him, Scott definitely would notice.
“Indeed I'm not. I'm the vampire lord of this land, Scott Goldsmith.” Scott introduced himself again with a flourish. He was enjoying this.
“What's my debt?” Abolish asked, if he knew what he owed Scott he could give it to him and break the debt.
Scott thoughtfully inclined his head as he looked at Abolish's face before answering honestly, “I don't know, I had quite a few people still owing me things, and I have no idea which of them your ancestors might be, so unless you know the name of who came about 600 years before you, I'm afraid I don't know.”
“That’s not reassuring,” Abolish commented, though he couldn’t really fault Scott for this if it truly had been this long.
“Sorry,” Scott said with an apologetic smile that somehow still seemed genuine, “for what it’s worth I always thought it was stupid that magic debts get passed on. That should be a person's only problem if you ask me, not a bloodline thing.”
Abolish appreciated the sentiment, even if he didn’t say so, before asking, “So what do we do now?”
“I have a proposal,” Scott offered as his smile shifted back in a way that screamed business.
“I'm listening,” Abolish encouraged.
“It is clear that we’re all stuck here and whatever else the beacons are doing it’s different between vampires and humans, sooner or later a fight will break out between the two especially with erratic people like Martyn in town and human hating Owen on our side.” So he was right about the lumberjack being a vampire, Abolish thought before Scott continued, “so how about this: you join the vampire side, we work together until were free and then your debt will be paid, Deal?”
Scott stretched out his hand, for a handshake, as his eyes started glowing red. If Abolish was to accept it the debt would change, and he wouldn’t be able to go back on it. But as he thought about it. Thought about the people that had gathered in that town, thought about the debt he wanted erased, thought about the idea of working with the competent person that Scott had proved he was. The choice was simple.
“Deal,” Abolish responded, as he shook Scott’s hand. Red magic glowed around the handshake, binding the new condition for the debt. For now, they would work together. And Abolish was uncertain why but his mind really liked that idea.