Chasing Echos pt 1

A small snap of green flashed against the dreary grey stone of the walls. The high wind whistling through the open doorway as three figures appeared in the watchtower. 

The distant crashing of waves and the distinct smell of salt reached Lucius' senses. "Where'd we end up, Serana?"

"The watchtower." The vampire replied. " It has long been abandoned. So we should be safe to move from here."

"Hn," Lucius nodded. "Well? You go, we'll follow." he urged Serana with a small glance to the ashen girl behind him.

"What would a group of ancient vampires need a watchtower for?" Ciri asked, "I would've thought you'd sense people on your own island."

"Well, you're not wrong... But like the small dock I hope we can use, these things were made by those who lived here before us." Serana answered, checking the bridge was clear of any watchman. "Okay, we're good to go. Follow me."

"And you're certain your father isn't going to spot or detect three powerhouses sneaking under his castle?" Ciri whispered to the vampire, as they started to climb down the ice covered rocks towards the docks.

"Well I hope he wont." Serena avoided Ciri's eyes and she hopped down to the mud and gravel ridden beach. "He's rather arrogant and doesn't check on these things."

A loud thunking of metal greaves made the two girls shoot up in surprise, as a head of flowing white hair shot past them and landed next to Serana. 

"It'll be fine," Lucius waved them off. "The only real danger he can pose to us, is if his master gets summoned... And theres no chance of that happening."

"Sure, whatever you say dragon boy." Ciri winked.

"Now come on, lets find the mummy vampire and get this shit over with." Lucius ignored the orange glare aimed at him and began walking on the grit that crunched with his every step.

"Were you and your mother close?" Ciri made conversation as they followed Lucius.

"Before my father became obsessed with the prophecy, mother and I spent quite a bit of time together. She was very fond of her alchemical garden in the castle courtyard. She taught me quite a bit about cultivating quality reagents." Serana replied. "What about your family, Ciri?" 

"Which one?" She laughed lightly. "My mother is one of the strongest sorceresses where I come from so I suppose we have that in common. A crazy father too..."

"My mother... She saw me more like a protege than a daughter." Serana mumbled.

"Yen probably saw me like that too at first." Ciri mumbled back. "Hey, what about you Lucius?" Ciri called forward as the elf came to small stop at a stone brick wall.

"Hmm? My mother taught me most of the basics of all magic trees as a small child." Came his disinterested reply.

"What were your parents like then, other than the magic lessons?" A curious vampire asked.

"I loved my mother and my mother loved me." He spoke and at the same time sent four white bolts of fire forward to kill skeletons. "My father didn't like me, and I didn't know why." 

"Do you know how he's doing now?" Ciri wondered as she watched the bones scatter to the ground.

"No, except the fact not many people hear from him any more." Lucius replied with small twitch of his curved brow.

"O-oh, I see." Serana whispered. "Lets just keep moving, shall we?"

Moving past the fallen bones, and ash of the undead, the three of them made their way up the old cobbled steps of the dock to a small inlet with an oaken door.

"So what kind of enemies can we expect down here?" Lucius probed as he held open the wooden door for the girls. 

"Thank you." Serana thanked quickly as she walked in. "Mostly undead and some spiders."

"So nothing special then..." Ciri pouted with a clear hint of boredom, following behind the vampiress.

"We may run into some gargoyles but that shouldn't be a problem for wither of you, no?" Serana smiled back to them.

"Nope." Ciri replied popping the p, as the echoing sound of her sword being drawn rebounded of the damp walls.

"I've not seen many animated gargoyles... They could be an interesting piece of study." Lucius hummed. "There's a vampire on the other side by the way." He casually informed.

In response Serana kicked the door of its hinges and watched as the wood flew into the feral bloodsucker, trapping it under the debris. Ignoring a flash of green that sliced a dog in two and a bolt frying another. 

"I say, we are very efficient aren't we?" Lucius smirked. 

.

.

.

"Past this should be the courtyard, from there we can figure out where she went...Hopefully." Serana said sombrely. 

"Hey, Serana." Lucius caught her attention. "It's nice to be hopeful, just don't get ahead of yourself okay?" He said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, as Ciri nodded behind him.

"I know. I'm not a little girl remember." She huffed, and walked on through, hiding a gasp when she got a good look at what was left of her mothers work.

"Oh, it's all dead..." Lucius heard Ciri mutter, causing him to deadpan at her.

"I used to walk through here after evening meals. It was beautiful, once. This was my mother's garden. It... do you know how beautiful something can be when it's tended by a master for hundreds of years? She would have hated to see it like this." Serana paced around the courtyard as she rattled on. "Wait." She stopped abruptly. "There's crests missing on the Moon-dial."

"Moon-dial? What's the point in a Moon-dial?" Ciri asked.

"That's the thing... what's the point of a moon-dial? I always wondered why she didn't just have the whole thing ripped out. But she loved it. I don't know. I guess it's like having a piece of art, if you're into that sort of thing." Serana replied with crossed arms and a creased brow.

"So find the missing crests then?" Lucius' rhetorical voice rang out. "The courier-born strikes again." He muttered to himself, earning a set of giggles.

"Let's look around for the missing crests. Even in this mess, they should stick out." Serana said with a palm over her smile.

"You mean these things?" Ciri said holding up a crescent moon.

"Yeah I got another one here." Lucius added. "Your mother wasn't very good at hiding these things..." he deadpanned.

"Uh..." Serana stood by the dial in shock. "Maybe she was counting on my father's arrogance too?" She weakly argued.

"She was probably counting on you understanding how she thinks, Serana." Lucius soothed. "But, it's starting to look like we'll find her at the very least."

"Yes, you're right. We have something to go on." Serana perked up.

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Sorry for the late chap boys and girls. Freshers in Uni has killed me.

4 nights in a row I got pissed drunk, and I was sat alone in my room with Covid. Fun.

Kinda wanna start a GoT fic... Thoughts? It would likely be on Ao3 because they have a better audience for that kinda stuff.