12 I'm just wild about Saffron

Cerberus's shouting immediately made Zion materialize in front of him. "You saw her wereform?" Zion tried to calm Cerberus down.

"I was there." Cerberus gasped. "I was in her dream. I saw her form, she told me.." Cerberus started bleeding from the eyes and his voice cut off as he struggled to breathe.

Zion, uncannily calm reached into their cloak and grabbed a pocket watch which they opened and then closed while saying 4 words in Draconic before putting it back in their cloak. Time immediately froze. Disappearing in a plume of green smoke, Zion rematerialized in their lab. Frantically searching they opened all the drawers with magic and started pulling things out telekinetically. "No, no, no, No, NO!" Zion shouted as they looked through countless items.

Going through a large, old trunk they grabbed what looked like a snow globe. They held it and chanted in Draconic as it turned a glowing blue then they threw it in on the ground where it smashed into tiny pieces.

Wind immediately picked up and blew out all the windows and doors of the house. Zion ducked down and found shelter under a large table. Holding on with one hand they extended their index and middle fingers from their free hand and quickly moved them in a horizontal line in front of them as if to cut something off while saying another 4 words in Draconic.

Everything stopped for a moment and then the explosions the wind caused reversed and the entire house folded into another dimension and then back out into another location covered in snow.

Pulling themself back up and bracing against the table glowing green fluid dripped out of their nose. "Secretum meum; meam incolumem custodiat." They said trembling and then fell to the ground.

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Contessa wasn't exactly thrilled being stuck in the ground all night with the undead Nyx. She was equally less thrilled to find herself left alone after Zion told her about how they met the Fae King. It was so boring being by herself. It's not as if Nyx would entertain her.

Vampires sometimes learn magic, but their abilities are limited because magic often relies on the cultivation of the soul and vampires quintessentially lack them. True vampires are born, usually from other vampires, but sometimes as a fluke to 'normal' humans. It's very difficult to make a vampire, the process often results in failure, and even when they are made they often do not adjust well socially; they tend to be more impulsive not always knowing how to contain their bloodlust.

It's also true that Vampires don't typically want to make more of their own. Being immortal without souls turns mind numbingly boring after a while and the last thing someone with ennui wants is to listen to someone else bemoaning their own ennui. There's nothing more boring than hearing someone else talk about their own boredom.

What does bring vampires together is shared hobbies like drinking blood. But other than that they'd much rather spend their time with delicious humans.

Contessa and Zion's sort of friendship happened in an unusual way. Vampires are sometimes fascinated by liches because liches have souls, but are still undead. As a result of the effects of immortality they share some of the hobbies and vices of vampires, but also have the souls of humans. It's almost like a human they can relate to. Not only this, but liches are well versed in magic.

Zion had been frequenting a crocus field that fairies would often fly over. The fairy dust naturally shed over the years found its way into the soil which then imbued the flowers with magical properties. Zion would collect the saffron for a variety of potions, spells and rituals. It could even be used in alchemy.

Contessa liked hanging out in the field because fairies were even more delicious than humans. She would bewitch the fairies because she was quite beautiful and very charming and they would often line up to feed her. At some point it started getting out of hand and attracted the attention of the Fae King which, of course, pissed off Zion who wanted to keep collecting saffron without being disturbed.

The Fae King had staked Contessa out in the sun as punishment. Zion wasn't particularly moved to help either, but Contessa was so witty in the way she mocked the Fae King as he left her to die that Zion couldn't help but feel entertained. Being a bored lich, this was all they could have hoped for. So, producing a contract, Zion freed Contessa on several conditions.

Contessa remembered having to constantly gather the crocus threads after that, being summoned at Zion's whim... And while it could sometimes be a chore, it was never once boring. But this, lying awake in the cold ground with an unconscious, undead goddess was starting to get there.

Contessa tried to make contact telepathically with Zion, but there was no answer. Minutes turned into hours as Contessa grew more and more impatient. So she did the only thing she knew to do when she was bored, she tried to leave and find something else to entertain herself. However, Zion had already anticipated this and their contracts were already binding. The second Contessa tried to escape magical roots grew around her, restricting her movements. Zion really knew her too well.