His Name

*Lucretia's POV*

He altered the dance to a swaying slow dance and commented, "You are very light on your feet."

"I did say I was willowy." I replied.

"And just like the willow tree, beautiful in the pale light." He said.

I wondered if he missed his heart beat. But I didn't think I should ask. Being a vampire, he would easily be able to take note of my own slow pulse. "Is there anything else you miss from when you weren't a vampire?" I asked.

"Well, for the first few hundred years, I missed eating. I fixed that. But I still miss laying out in an open field and just watching the world go by. Now, I get antsy." He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because of my many responsibilities. Whether I attend to them or not." He said. "I also miss dreaming. Dreams were always truly bizarre."

"My nanny used to tell me about her dreams. They sound very entertaining. She could never figure out why the sun came from the trees in her dreams. Or why the moon danced in rain." I told him. "Sleeping must be nice."

"It can be. But there are also nightmares. Those are no fun. They tend to stick with you much longer than a dream." Phintias said.

"What do you like about being a vampire?" I asked.

"Long strolls on the beach in the moonlight." He answered. "I've gotten to see kingdoms rise and fall, dictators come to power and rebels tear them asunder. I've met fascinating people. I've watched them all die. But I also get to see all these wondrous fashion choices people make."

"You aren't sick of life?" I asked.

"I used to be. I felt I'd seen it all and met everyone I'd possibly want to meet.. Got a little gloomy for a couple hundred years. But even gloom can't last forever. Someone will always pull you out of it. In my case, they pulled me out of it and I was kicking, screaming and biting the whole way. I do believe I wrote out a couple thousand gods' awful poems." He replied.

"Humans are interesting because they are short on time." I said. "I can't imagine your point of view and how it's changed having been human before."

"You stop planning day to day, it turns into month to month, year to year, and decade to decade. Hells, there is a plan I've had in the works for two hundred years. I don't know if it'll ever come to fruition." He responded.

"I'll save my curiosity for now." I tell him.

"Alright, if you ever have more questions, ask away." He said. "Might I ask you a question?"

"Of course." I replied.

"How do you enjoy spending your days?" He asked.

"In the sun," I said sheepishly. "Truly, I liked to watch the sea and spend time with my favorite people, avoiding those who I didn't like much. I like to read and create things and play with magic. Lately, I've been following Plight and Sienna around. Dean was amusing, too. He took me down the water slide and showed me the town from the top of the water fall. It was fantastic. That town, brother and his friend Sarial are the founders."

"Now that sounds like a interesting place. I've never been on a water slide before." He said.

"Yes, it was great fun. Wait, can you?" I asked. "It is running water."

"Yes, running water isn't a particular problem." He said.

"You are strong, then." I replied.

"I would certainly like to think I am." He said.

I smiled at him as our dancing came to an end. "You're a lovely dancer."

"Years of practice. I also know how to play the violin." He said.

"I learned the piano. Elegance was very valued in my late family." I replied.

"I can play the organ." Phintias said.

I laughed lightly and said, "The organ is a bit intimidating to me."

"I've used it for dramatic responses, and entrances." He said.

"It certainly is dramatic." I agreed.

"Oh, one day you'll have to see it all together, the organ, the mist and just the right room." He said.

"I am sure I will see whatever suits you." I said. "I'll finish looking through the clothing."

"Alright, we can keep looking around." He said in a light tone, nearly playful.

I finished looking through the clothing, deciding on a few different dresses. Even if I didn't venture out much I'd still like to be comfortable and look lovely. The red dress was absolutely going to be mine. It was the sort that would accentuate my curves. The neckline would reveal my scars more clearly, but Phintias had yet to comment on them.

Perhaps it didn't matter to him that I was scarred. That would be ideal, wouldn't it? I missed the closeness the dance had provided. I was sure he'd tell me his expectations at some point, it needn't be rushed. We'd just met after all. And I'd already showed him a weak and unsightly version of myself. He didn't seem bothered by that either.

Of course, desiring a wife could just be like an accessory to him currently. I could work towards something more ideal in the future. For now, I'd just need to make myself happy with whatever his whims are. After all, he'd helped us a lot already. Even if he considered it natural for a fiance to do, I could still be obedient to thank him. How was that going to work exactly, though?

With the future feeling uncertain, though decided, we left the room to continue the search. We didn't find what we were looking for at all. There was nothing that obviously marked any of these rooms as any particular Acheron. Go figure that they didn't label their doors. We did find a nursery room at the end of the hall, though. It had three or four cribs and an area for older kids to play.

Since there was nothing else besides bedrooms in this part of the home, we headed back downstairs. I refused to believe that our family would toss away such crucial information. While I was contemplating what to do next, I noticed Sienna had a peculiar look to her face. I didn't need to ask her why, though.

"So, it looks like the stairway you use is important to where you end up. Shall we try again?" Sienna asked.

"How can you tell that?" I inquired.

"I'm a Celadrin. We can tell if something is hidden near us." Sienna said.

"That's handy." I commented, thinking it over.

"The Fountain also has some hidden something to it." Sienna said.

"Can you tell how to access it?" I asked.

She reached over the lip of the fountain and pressed something. It rose up, then slid back. Revealing a staircase leading down. Unlike the house, it wasn't lit or grand. We all went down the stone steps. The walls were unadorned stone bricks. The ceiling much the same as the walls. It went one for a hundred steps until we reached a flat open area.

Once Plight and I stepped onto this zone, runes lit up red and circled out. Torches flared to life with blue flame. There was a podium with a large magic circle in the middle. And five sarcophagi against the right wall, and one grave far to the left, in a neglected corner. On the podium lay a book with a knife and a writing utensil next to it. This was obviously some kind of ritual room.

More unpleasant memories for Brother to relive. I looked through the book briefly, no name mentioned. It did detail how they figured out which child was most likely to have the Ancestor possessing them, and I'd meet the criteria, if what the Ancestor said was true. Which means, like Plight, I would have been 'boxed' up and left for dead. There were better, faster, ways to die.

It was apparently not an entirely common thing for the Acheron's to simply be capable of walking in the sunlight freely or shape shift even. The abilities had dulled over the generations. By the time my birth took place, they didn't have many of the abilities I've always had. Or they were lesser. Shapeshifting into other humanoids is not one of their common abilities, though. As it was only mentioned once. And specified as humanoids.

Unnerved and a little weary, I headed back upstairs behind the group. We went up the stairs from the other side, this time. And sure enough, the rooms were indeed different. Several were still personal rooms, but at the far end there was a secret room that required my ring as a key to enter.

We'd finally found Lazarus's personal rooms now. Even this secret room had secrets in it. Sienna and Phintias sort of raced each other to point them out. I wasn't sure if it was for his own amusement, or ours. It may have even been a mix. I opened one such place, it required my ring to open, just like the room itself. Unlike the room, it also pricked me in the opening process. It was much like the safe in Lazarus's office. This one contained a notebook.

I took it out, and an unidentified man's voice spoke, "I have not given you permission to handle my things."

I blinked, and looked at the safe, then the people present with me. Behind them, an odd mist was manifesting. "Uh oh." I said, eyes widening. I attempted Shape Water and Gust before realizing it reeked of undead. A goop of it rushed me encircling my hand and shredding the bandage Plight had wrapped there, getting at my bloody palm. Simultaneously, Sienna was swarmed and began to bleed.

I felt it's unyielding draw on my blood, and was sure Sienna did, too. I was uncertain on what to do with it. Even with it being undead, if it wasn't lesser I couldn't issue an Order. Brother cast Inflict Wound on the mist surrounding Sienna which destroyed it, while Phintias used Disentgrate on the other which reduced it to ash.

As I was surprised by my fiancé's magic I realized the two were not the end. A much larger, much redder mist spread about the room. The drain was quite significant this time. I had mostly defensive spells, or spells that would affect the people with me, as well, so there was not much I could do. Still, I cast Witch Bolt, since that would allow me to at least defend myself a little. Luckily enough, the men seemed uninteresting to this larger mist, since Sienna and I bled already.

The men cast spells again, Plight's to heal Sienna, after Sienna did a Psychic Lance spell. I wasn't able to concentrate on a spell at the moment. With the final drain being done on us, before Phintias's next spell ended it, Sienna about collapsed. I looked at my palm, mildly annoyed. The tightness in my throat from thirst was ignorable at least.

"Ok. Let's not touch anything else and take a little down time. Plight and I can take watch while you two rest." Phintias said, seeming concerned.

"Yeah, I'll have a nap." Sienna said. The green streaks in her hair turned a warm autumny red.

"This family is incredibly mistrusting. They are so willing to let their people be mauled by mist." Plight said.

Phintias settled into a chair, staying vigilant while comfy. Mischievously, I went and sat on his lap without a word to him about it and said, "Unfortunately, Brother, vampires are quite known for such things."

"I'm aware." Plight said.

Phintias placed a hand on the small of my back and said, "Are you comfortable enough to rest there? I am a little boney."

"Your body temperature is lower than mine, but I had not noticed if you are boney or not." I replied. "Rather, I was expecting to be scolded for being cheeky."

"Are you kidding me? I take this as you're alright with me." Phintias said.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, twisting slightly to look at him. "I agreed to marry you."

"You agreed to marry me before you'd even met me. Confidence this does not build." He replied.

"... How long have you been anxious? Or have I misunderstood?" I asked.

"I've been anxious since I was contacted saying you'd agreed." He said.

I found this to be utterly charming. "That's kinda cute." I told him. "But probably a little torturous for you."

"A little torturous? No, it was very torturous and I did it all to myself." Phintias said.

"But why, you silly thing?" I asked.

"Well, that answer is very simple. I am very old and thus prone to bouts of panic." He answered.

"I do not think you've got to worry bout such a thing." I said.

"Well, I believe that weight has been lifted from my shoulders. What are you going to do to relax?" He asked.

I lifted the notebook and said, "Snoop."

"Well, snoop away. Let me know if you find anything interesting." He replied.

I made myself more comfortable in his lap, to where I could lean on him. It made me anxious, still. But as he didn't chastise me for my behavior, I actually did relax and opened the notebook.

Upon opening it and looking at the first page, I discovered it to be a diary. The first page was as follows:

[My Love has given me this journal so that I may relate my thoughts and feelings here. He is a lovely man with a proclivity for violence. Never has he been so much as even unkind to me, this man who is so deeply mired in blood and death is sweeter than a kitten to me.

I think I shall write of our life together here. What better way to pay him back for this beautiful gift? I've selfishly told him I wish to marry and have a family with him. He'd seemed rather put off by the idea, but he still visits me and keeps me company. I will persuade him yet.

Amelia.]

I checked the next couple of pages. Clearly it was a young woman very deeply in love. Was this Lazarus's wife? I looked through a few more pages that detailed a wedding and how happy she is. A couple more pages in and it detailed how she was pregnant now and Vaelles seemed dearly anxious. Several pages later and there was a well done sketch of a man with that portraits features and a baby, titled Vaelles and Xallen.

I showed the sketch to Plight, to see what he thought. "It's very well done. I don't recognize these names, though." Plight said.

"They were not in the family registry." I agreed.

"I wish we could place how old this journal is." Plight said.

"There aren't any dates in it." I said, "But there are people who can figure out the age of a material. There's also words that have not been used in several hundred centuries, though. 'Zutre' has not been used to punctuate a sentence to show excitement since 'teta' started being used. And 'teta' is considered archaic."

"I know a few people who are quite skilled at dating books." Phintias said.

"That would be fine." I said, looking through a few more pages. I figured, this may well be the founders of our family. Wouldn't that make Vaelles the ancestor's name? I noticed something odd. Three fourths of the way through the book the writer changed.

Frowning, I look back through. A few entries before the writer changed, there was an smudged entry. The letters were warped as if Amelia had wept while writing the entry. Their second born, Antinus, had attacked Vaelles. Vaelles didn't care in the least, but she was greatly upset by the fact. The next few entries detailed Antinus growing distant and spiteful towards the family.

Then a blank page and the new writer. The new writer tells how their second eldest brother attacked their father, couldn't do anything to him, then several days later killed their mother, Amelia. Their mother could not be resurrected due to the way Vaelles had turned her into the first vampire of our sort, making her impervious to weaknesses of other vampires and still very alike to a human.

While Vaelles was grief stricken, Antinus had killed their father, too. With his dying breath he vowed to come back and destroy Antinus. Xallen, Auvrinder and the new writer, Kirsali, killed Antinus. Had they known that their father truly would come back in Lazarus's child, our great grandchild, Lahzir, they would have been sure to leave Antinus alive. As it was, their father's rage was deepened and he turned it back on the world, vowing to destroy every living thing.

"Oh, damn." I breathed, closing the book.

"Did you discover something in the book?" Phintias asked.

"Yeah. I regret being nosy." I answered. "Vaelles and Amelia are the ones who founded our family. Their second son tried to kill him, failed, and so killed Amelia. Amelia was unable to be revived, and while Vaelles was grieving her, the second son murdered him. Vaelles told them he'd return to end that son, but the remaining siblings avenged their parents. When Vaelles emerged three generations later, he swore vengeance against all living things, which may have just been his nature that Amelia had quelled."

"Well, it would seem we found your name. Well, technically His name." Phintias commented.

"Finally, a step forward." Plight said.

'You can't save him.' The Ancestor's voice mocked through my mind. I would certainly like to communicate with him, I thought. "What is the next one?" I asked.

"Sienna and I will have to return to her mother to see what needs to be done next." Plight said.

"I can open a temporary portal back once back at Phintias's. I wrote down the glyph to the entrance of Hearthstone Town." I said.

"That would certainly make the journey back much faster. We'd appreciate that greatly." Plight said.

"You will tell me when you all decide what to do with Azerime's broken circle, right?" I asked.

"Of course. And you'll tell us when you two set a date, yeah?" Plight asked.

"That's obvious. You're my brother. You must attend." I said stubbornly.

"It would take all nine of the hells to stop me." Plight smiled.

"I hope there will be news on your friend." I said.

"I feel, wherever she is.. She is giving them more hell than they are giving her." He said.

I looked at Phintias and asked, "What would particularly anger you?"

"Several things can anger me. I feel the thing that could anger me the most at this particular moment is if someone burned down my library with you in it." Phintias replied.

I shuddered. "What can I do to anger you?"

"To tell me that this is all some kind of sick joke." He answered.

"...Explain." I said, puzzled.

"The marriage agreement." He replied.

I stared at him blankly for a moment and said, "I have made a commitment to marry you. Unless you begin hurting me I do not intend to change my mind."

"I am glad for that, but you asked what would make me angry. That is what it would take." Phintias said.

"I am only afraid of making others angry." I told him.

"I'm sorry you have such an ingrained fear. You must have suffered a lot." He said.

"I press boundaries. Most usually not intending to." I replied.

"My boundaries melted away years ago." Phintias told me.

"I suppose that is true, or I would not be in your lap." I noted.

He laughed and said, "Indeed, indeed." He covered his mouth suddenly, "I should keep it down. Someone's still trying to sleep."

I looked at my hand. It's healing was painfully slow. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against his shoulder, pretending to be capable of sleep. My heartbeat was far slower than normal. From the blood loss. It wouldn't kill me, but it was exceptionally uncomfortable. I didn't want to put either of the men in the same state I was in, so I opted to tolerate the pain and discomfort until I could do something about it.

Since they wanted to wait here, we would do that. And I would cast the magic for them to leave me there with when if was time to do so. I took my toy out of my bag and cuddled it. Soothing myself with the toy I've treasure for almost two hundred years. I truly didn't care if he was a few hundred years old or if he had thousands of years to his life already. As long as he didn't hurt me and was gentle to me, I could live happily at his side.

Anything else was just a bonus, like the fact I was being allowed to sit in his lap and ignore the etiquettes that vampires placed such high importance on. Or that he still wore that very girly headband I'd placed on him. I giggled lightly to myself thinking about it. He'd not even been bothered when someone else pointed it out to him. He'd put it back on even. How silly!

Phintias readjusted his hand that was on the small of my back to place it more casually around me and he began to hum a mellow tune. After a few more hours Sienna woke up. She sat up from where she was and looked at Plight then Phintias and myself.

"Good.. whatever time of day it is." She said.

"That's a good point. I have no idea." Plight responded.

"We found out bout the Ancestor. Do you want to read the diary?" I asked Sienna.

"I can look at the pages, and then I'll have that with me when I summon Galdur's Tower." Sienna replied.

"That sounds incredibly handy." I said.

"So, whatever you scan, you have an ability that let's you full on read later?" Phintias asked.

"At my convenience. As long as I looked at it, when I summon the tower's study it's usually there. A mix of any of the books I've looked at. The study get's to be a lot larger in the Fey." Sienna nodded

"I find I must agree with Lucretia. That is handy." Phintias commented.

"It's a wizard spell that Dryad taught me." Sienna said.

"I never spent a lot of time learning spells to summon other things." Phintias said.

"Well, I did because I wasn't able to make friends any other way." Sienna said.

"What?" I was shocked.

"Yeah. Sarial and Plight are my first living friends. My twin doesn't count." Sienna said.

"Why?" I asked baffled.

"Because Elves are stuck up and superficial and I look like my human father, and I'm alike to him in many ways people say." Sienna said.

"I can relate to that in a way, except I befriended a lot of the humans that worked for the family, much to Father's ire." I said.

"Yes, I don't believe that entire household got along with humans." Phintias said.

"They thought the servants lowly in comparison. Father made sure they were treated well, at least. He tried to instill that humans are not cattle. I did not have that mindset to begin with, so his breath was wasted. What he should have done was teach Colt to be humane." I replied.

"Makes me wonder how truly terrible he was." Phintias said.

"He was a terrible bully that liked to watch others be in the pain he inflicted." I explained. "He got angrier if there was no reaction."

"That certainly explains why you would expect people to be angry at the things you do. Or in this case, don't do." Phintias said.

"Oh, I was all the time ignoring standards I was meant to follow." I said casually.

"At least resent them for your ill treatment." Sienna said, then turned to Plight, "I suppose you wanted to return to Amilessë?"

"I do believe it is time we return now that we have this information. Hopefully she will know what to do next." Plight said.

"If I open a portal, what about the pegusi?" I asked.

"Oh, I can just dismiss Bellam and tell Alexion to dismiss his... Oh right. You know my father Phintias!" Sienna said.

"I know several people. Would you mind narrowing it down?" Phintias asked.

"Alexander Lockeheart, a bard." Sienna answered.

"Oh, yes. I know Alexander. He is a man of wonder and musical prowess." Phintias said.

"Yes. Adya said you're a good and quirky fellow." Sienna said.

Phintias laughed and said, "There are several people in high places that would agree with that assessment." He looked at me and said, "What do you think, am I quirky?"

I shrugged and shook my head, "I don't know yet."

"Well then, I will agree with him. You are indeed quirky. But I will also agree that you seem to be a good person." Plight said.

"Devil's often help people, too. Only time reveals of it'll bite you or not." I point out.

"Well, this may not help my case. But I guarantee you, I bite." Phintias said.

"As long as you keep those fangs out of my sister, we'll be fine." Plight said.

Phintias raised his hand in a surrendering sort of way, "As you say. You are the eldest Acheron."

I wasn't sure if I should speak up or not. But perhaps, I shouldn't resist. "Brother, don't you think since he will be my husband, that there would be a different way he'd wish to pierce me?" I said this without an expression. Plight's jaw dropped open in shock. After a second I looked at Phintias and said, "Friendly fire is often surprising."

"And often the most brutal." Phintias replied with a broad grin.

"I think I understand how Ada felt when I told him you were my lover, Plight." Sienna commented, amused. "Was there anything else we wished to do here?"

"I would love to learn more of my family. But I will have to entrust that to my sister. " Plight said.

"We can come back anytime, silly. Don't act like it's goodbye time." Sienna hugged Plight.

"You're right. It's not a goodbye. It's see you in a little while." Plight agreed with her, hugging her back.

I got up from Phintias's lap, cautiously, incase he meant to prevent me from doing so. He did not. I put away my toy, then I offered Phintias my hand to help him up from the chair, out of politeness.

"Ohh, thank you." Phintias said being a ham, adopting the tone of an elderly man, while taking my hand,"These old bones don't work how they used to." Slowly starting to rise.

Since he was going to play that way.... I lifted him up by his shoulder with my other hand. Keeping my grip gentle, but firm. "Well, there you go then." I said, letting him go once he was standing.

His expression scrunched, as if he was trying to make his face look older. "Just you wait until I am so old that really is how I'll have to get up." He was still joking around, I see.

"I believe that can be reached." I replied, off handedly.

"No, I'm still ok with being immortal." Phintias replied. "Thank you for the offer, though I suppose."

"Good, I think I would have to become quite cross with you otherwise." I told him.

"I have no intentions of marrying you just to leave you." Phintias responded.

"I think your ancestor was wrong about you being weak." Sienna said. "Your strength is just different than his."

"I am simply not prone to violence." I said, starting for the exit. Then I paused and slipped the ring off my finger, offering it to Plight.

"I was kind of hoping you'd forget about that." Plight said.

"You'll be fighting. It will help keep you safe, which means you can protect Sienna better." I point out.

"Alright. I will take the ring." He said, taking the ring. "But please stay safe."

"I do intend to avoid danger as much as possible." I replied, turning back towards the door. "Let's return so you can accomplish your goals."

"Yes, let's." Plight said.

We returned to the portal room, without issue, I was able to open the portal to return to Phintias's home. Then took out the glyph I'd drawn from the cave, as well as the diary so Sienn could look it over. It didn't need to be permanent so I simply drew it out, where it wouldn't bother the glyphs to the Acheron home, and cast the spell. It worked without issue.

I sent them off with smiles and hugs. Seconds after they and the portal vanished Sienna cast Sending to let me know they made it. I retorting that of course they did, but thank you for telling me so. I told Phintias they let me know they'd made it fine.