Meeting Vampire

*Lucretia's POV*

Thankfully, the most eventful that our travel turned out to be was hunting for food. We'd only spend an hour or two on the ground each time. And bathing. Sienna didn't want to go very long without a bath, and, frankly, neither did I.

Well, I suppose there were some sand storms we had to be careful with. It put us off track a few times. But Bellam and the other pegasus were amazing enough to take us above the clouds so we didn't need to fear being knocked off or slashed by the winds.

Plight and Sienna also checked on the communication device every day. Just hoping it would go off. Sienna also used Sending to get news as well. Thus far, there had been no results from anyone's actions. This was terrifying to them all.

It took a week to reach Ymir's Town. We weren't really sure about how to find Phintias, but Sienna cheerfully asked a guard where the library was. Following those directions, we headed to the library, where we should probably find Phintias.

The town was made of stones, sandstone likely. It was charming, and looked like clay was used for decoration on the house was great. Interestingly, there was green on a lot of the buildings, too. There were many humans here, a few Tieflings, Tabaxi, Halflings, Dwarves, Gnomes, Lizardfolk, orcs, and some races.

I was surprised by the multicultural atmosphere. I wasn't sure if it was similar in other places or not. The cave had several human type people in it. Half elves and half orc children. Mostly humans, though. Dueling Rivers had many dwarves, that's where the Dwarven workers came from, and they had Halflings. I hadn't really gotten to look around the Capital, though.

As we reached the library, clearly marked as the library, I felt anxious. There was a palace covered in plants and greenery, I could tell Sienna wanted to play in the foliage. Instead we entered the library.

Looking around as we entered, I found that there was a staggeringly large amount of books here. Bookshelves formed hallways making it a maze of books. After a couple of turns, we found a desk where a human was reading. There was a sign indicating this was the place you checked books our from.

This human had brown hair and grey eyes. He was short to me, but probably a decent height for a human. He wasn't particularly attractive, with an overly big nose, and small shoulders.

Sienna approached and said, "Excuse me, we have come to see Phintias."

"Phintias? Ah, alright. I'll let him know, can I have a name to pass along?" The human man asked.

"Sien." Sienna replied. "It's not incredibly pressing. We'll have a look around."

"Very well. Bring any you'll like to take out, and I'll handle that when I return. If you're new, we'll have to make you a library card." He said, then he stepped away, going through a door behind the desk.

I followed Plight and Sienna while they wandered through the books. We came across an area that had books on magic. Sienna started looking through the books, and Plight was watching for Phintias. Though, we didn't know what he looked like.

I joined Sienna looking at the books, especially the one she took off the shelf to peruse. It was quite interesting, actually. It was about the theory behind children born with magic and how they differ from those who study to learn magic.

After fifteen or so minutes the man we were waiting on found us. So assumed because he is a vampire, I could smell that. He wore dark eclectic attire, that didn't exactly match together. He was very pale, and very tall, about six foot seven. Plight had to look up to him. His black hair was purposely messy, like if styled with just his fingers, and bore greyish streaks at the temples. His eyes were a brown, they looked like they could easily become golden in the sun. Like all noble vampires, he was attractive.

"Welcome, to my library. I heard someone was looking for me." He greeted us, further proving to be who we thought he was.

Sienna giggled. "You're put together like a child playing dress up."

"Thanks," He replied, "It's what I was going for."

Hearing his response, Sienna and I burst into giggles and laughter. Plight smirked slightly, then tried to cover it to hide his amusement.

"Are you Phintias?" Plight asked, once he'd got himself under control.

Sienna tried to recover from the laughter. It was just giggles now, and I sobered looking at them.

"Yes, I suppose I am. Unless you are here about my tab, then it's him." He pointed over his shoulder. "But all jokes aside, yes, I am Phintias. How may I be of assistance?"

"I am Sien, that is Plight, and this is Lucretia." Sienna introduced us all.

He looked at me, "Ah, my soon to be, hopeful wife."

"Yes. We've just arrived and came to greet you." I said, then I gave a polite bow that showed my station in the vampire world, and continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Phintias Vanidestine. I am Lucretia Acheron, and I am glad that my previous discourtesy in declining your invitation has not offended."

"Offended? I thought you didn't want to because I looked slightly older." He commented, swiping casually at his hair. "You can relax with the formal speak and the formalities. I gave up on that long ago."

"Very well... that was a joke about your age, wasn't it?" I asked.

"Yes," He said, seeming thrown off by my seriousness. "It was a joke."

"Oh." I said. "I am not used to our sort joking around. And Plight and Sien are not used to our sort at all."

"Ah, so I shouldn't show off.. my special endowments?" He asked, "Some people just consider them novelties. But that's quite alright. I'm being a terrible host. Come, come, let me take you to the study."

Sienna put away the book we'd be reading. She then petted Plight's arm, reassuringly. We readied ourselves to follow him and he led us to his study. Sienna grinned at Phintias and said, "Are you only playful? We're quite fond of Lucretia. She's sweet."

"Well, I am certainly hoping to get to know her on a deeper level. And hopefully she can put up with me long enough to find out if I am someone she wants to get to know." Phintias replied.

"You would not happen to recall the way to reach the Acheron's old home, would you? We have reason to wish to go there." I asked him.

"Well, I do so happen to remember.. that they were in the Underdark. Do you need a precise location?" He asked.

"Preferably." I nodded, "It is ok if you do not know."

"Well, before I give you information that may send you to a very, very dangerous area, why do you wish to go?" He asked.

"It has to do with a pesky ancestor of mine. He is trying to rear his head in a most uncouth manner." I told him, not sure if Plight would be comfortable with him knowing about him. So I made it sound like my problem alone. "I wish to learn more of him by combing through the relics of my birth place."

"Yes, I had heard about some ancestor your family had a problem with. I thought they had taken care of that long ago." Phintias replied.

"Sort of, but not efficiently as whenever an Acheron has strong blood he can appear with them." I said.

"Mm. Well that's a problem for any living being. He's not a fan of them." Phintias commented.

"There is a potential to be rid of him if his name can be found." I replied.

"Well, unfortunately I don't know the name. That was a closely guarded secret. I think I have a book with the old teleportation sigils I used to use." Phintias said. "Let me see if I can go find it."

He left the room to go find it. After a minute I said, "I did not know how much you wanted said."

"That was a fine plan to get him to understand the situation without revealing to much." Plight replied.

"Do you feel comfortable? You seem a little stiff." Sienna commented. "Really, you both do, for different reasons."

"I am fine. I am very used to behaving around other vampires." I told her.

"I can't get a feel for him." Plight said.

"I would imagine that is by design." I pointed out.

"I think he's funny." Sienna said.

"I am certainly not getting a bad feel from him, it's just.. I wish I had been able to meet vampires like you Lucretia, and him, long ago." Plight said.

I shape shifted into one of my late sister's forms and said, "Why is that, Brother?"

"What are you doing?" Plight asked.

"Looking like my sister, Emily. It is a prank of sorts. But why do you wish you would have met those like him and I?" I asked.

"Because it would have been far nicer for me to have run into someone a lot more kind." Plight said.

"I thought you said you don't like to look like others?" Sienna asked.

"Emily is not alive any longer. It is uncomfortable. But I think it may be amusing." I replied.

"Did you like that sister?" Sienna asked.

"Goodness, no. We did not get along. She was always pulling my hair and setting my books on fire. I really do not like fire much. Even when she married we still did not get along." I told her.

Phintias returned after about fifteen minutes. He entered the room and said, "Oh...? Hello. Has anyone seen my wi- fiancé?"

"Probably, yes?" I answered.

"Then, might you tell me where she is? Is she hiding? Is this hide and seek? I was never any good at that, but I'll give it a shot." Phintias said.

"It would not be a very fun game of hide and seek for you." I replied, returning to my actual appearance. "Since I do not have a time limit with the shapeshifting."

"Oh, you sneaky one." Phintias said. "You are right, that would be a bit unfair I would say."

"Did you not know, truly?" I asked.

"Truly, I did not. Had a hunch, but if you base action off of hunches it typically leads to terrible things." He replied.

I frowned a little. "Did you find the sigils?" I asked.

"Oh, yes I did. Well, I found the book they are in I haven't found the actual sigil just yet." He answered.

"Thank you." I said, I looked at Plight and Sienna with a pensive expression, "This may be a touch impatient, but what do you know about me in particular? Did the Zelaria's tell you anything?"

"Unfortunately nothing much along the lines of something I would consider important, such as you have delicious blood. I'm not sure why they included that in the marriage proposal. It shows how little they knew of me." He replied.

"Yes, the Zelaria's son did quite enjoy cannibalizing me." I said, looking at Plight apprehensively. "What did they try to sway with that?"

"I believe they were just trying to make you more tantalizing." He replied.

"Was that necessary for them to do?" Sienna asked. "What were you after?"

"Well, if you want to boil it down to the knit and gritty, I was after my own family. The ones who turned me have long since been dead. So, I wanted to start my own." Phintias explained.

"That's very forward of you." Sienna said, "You wanted to marry any girl from that family?"

"By the gods, no. Lucretia in particular." Phintias replied.

"Then it's not because she is from a more superior bloodline than most other born vampires?" Sienna asked.

"Young ones, I have been around for a very long time. I am not after anyone's blood." Phintias said.

"Hmm. I believe you." Sienna said and hugged me, "Lucretia deserves good things."

He looked at me and said, "I believe she does, yes."

I had returned Sienna's affection. "You are very blunt, Sien. You could easily offend others, you know?"

"I'm not worried bout that. If I had, Mother would handle it." Sienna replied, cheerfully.

"If you all excuse me for just a little bit, I will find this glyph and get it started." Phintias said.

"Thank you, Phintias. I appreciate your actions." I said.

He gave a deep bow and said, "It has been nothing but a pleasure for this one to be of service."

I used Mage Hand to poke him. "I am sorry to bother you for you to be of service." I said.

He smiled broadly, ran a hand through his hair and said, "Well. I better get to it then."

I looked back at Plight as Phintias left. Sienna glomped Plight. "Feel better?" She asked.

"For now. For now I feel better." He nodded.

Having not much else to do, but unwilling to snoop, I took out the last of the yarn and started crocheting. Sienna watched me do so, chatting about some random silly thing Undine has done in the past. Plight watched us, too.

I idly wondered about his desire for his own family. Being alone isn't something I had much experience with. I always had someone I could be near if I chose to. Until they were all gone. I still had Plight, now. I can admit to being anxious that I won't see Plight or Sienna again once they leave. I'll be alone again, with only Phintias to rely on.

He didn't seem very strict. More like, he's a jokester. Nothing wrong with that. I was often scolded for not being serious enough. Or for playing about to much. I wondered, does he mean for me to be an equal in his family? Or the door to his family? He is a turned, so his ideals on the matter may differ from the typical vampires. I would question him later on. Sienna had pressed him enough already.

By the time Phintias had returned I had crocheted a teal headband with blue roses for Sienna, and a pink headband with red roses for me. I was just finishing mine up when he'd walked back in.

"I have found it. Aren't those quite stylish. Do I get one?" Phintias asked.

"I have ran out of yarn. I could get some yarn and make you something." I offer.

"Easily done, but anyway, I have the glyph." Phintias replied.

"Yes? Does it work?" I asked.

"Well it did the last time I used it." He said. "Granted, that was about three hundred years ago. I suppose I could ask the sultan to borrow a mage for a little while, a magician."

"Do you need to? I do know a fair bit about teleportation circles and glyphs. I can confess to gaps in knowledge, though." I say.

"Well, a basic understanding is all you really need to activate a glyph." He said. "Are you wanting to do it now, or are we wanting to set something up?"

"Well, I'm sure you know the Underdark corrupts teleportation. Without a semi permanent circle put down I wouldn't be able to guarantee a swift return." I replied, "So setting something up would be better. Plight would like so, for his lady's sake."

"I suppose I do have a spare room in the basement we could use to set it up." He said.

"Thank you." I tell him, "I am most appreciative."

"I am pretty sure, as your fiancé, I am supposed to be helpful." Phintias said.

"Is that the case? I am not sure that is a rule." I smile at him, "I think it may be a personal quirk of yours." I stood and approached him putting my headband on him, since I had completed it.

He tilted it slightly and said, "Well, does it suit me? Should I go meet the Sultan with it?"

"Hm. The red is fine, but the pink is a touch dainty for your looks." I replied. "But I don't think anyone would be concerned if you went to see him looking like this, if it in a common style of yours."

"Well, I can't say it's exactly common, bizarre, certainly. But a pink headband is a little out of place." He said.

I laughed and said, "I would think a dainty headband would be out of place, regardless of color."

"I dunno, if you make it black, give it some... Yeah, no. You're right." He said.

"Hmm. A rose crown wouldn't look terrible." Sienna pointed out.

"A rose crown with plenty of thorns! ..The soft yarn thorns." He replied.

"Plight would look good with an alleha and milorte wreath." Sienna said, "I think purple roses would be nice for Phintias, and white camellia's would suit Lucretia. See?" She brushed back my hair and a dainty white flower blossomed for a few seconds, before disappearing.

"Gorgeous. I think you are right." Phintias agreed with her.

She went over to Plight and cuddled his arm.

Phintias led us down to the aforementioned room in his basement. He showed me the glyph and I went about putting down the anchoring glyphs, with the one he'd shown me in the middle. As soon as it was complete, I tried to open it, even using more mana than it should have taken. It failed.

I didn't get angry, or upset, having felt the magic fail. "It will not connect." I said, after a moment. I looked into the arcana behind it then said, "The circles that were established are damaged. I am unable to fix it from here. I would need to look into a way to overwrite the... lets call it permissions."

"Do you remember any kind of clue on how to get there through the actual Underdark itself?" Plight asked.

"Unfortunately, no." Phintias said. "I haven't been there in quite some time. And unfortunately the Underdark isn't a very.. stable place. It has a tendency to change every few years. And I haven't been down there in much longer than a few years."

"Do you know of anything that might help someone traverse the Underdark?" Plight asked.

"Besides a strong exploration party... not really." Phintias replied.

"It is ok, Plight. I will study some tomes and figure it out. Phintias has a lot of books." I say, hoping to sound more confident than I was. "I can also try and look into grimoires. They are very handy for magic problems."

"They certainly can be. But theu can also cause a fair bit of problems. I have quite the selection of problematic materials. Best be careful. Anything with an 'X' on the front of it, probably just leave it alone. One of those 'reader beware'." He said.

"That is fine, if it's curse related, her brother is a paladin." I say.

"Well, that will certainly do it." He agreed.

I nodded. Uncertain what to do now. I didn't really want Plight and Sienna to leave. I'd gotten attached to them since I met them. I looked at Phintias who was still wearing the headband and giggled at him.

"Plight, lets go check out this town." Sienna said.

"Oh, yes. A lovely activity that we can all do, the Arena! The champion is set to fight today." Phintias said.

"That's Adelaide Cross, isn't it? The champion?" Plight asked.

"How do you know that name? It'd not exactly common knowledge." Phintias responded.

"She is my friend Sarial's mother." Plight answers. "She said her mother, Adelaide, is the champion."

"Well, that is an interesting story. Your friend is supposed to be dead, then." Phintias replied.

"That is what Derek told Adelaide. In truth, she was adopted into another family." Plight said.

"Well, I am certainly not going to be the one to tell her. I like my limbs where they are." Phintias said. "Maybe from far, far away through a Sending spell, but not while I'm in town."

"Sarial was kidnapped." I pointed out. "She's suspected to possibly be in the Underdark or Fey. We aren't sure. Her family is hunting for leads."

"Ah," Phintias said, "That's very unfortunate. As Lucretia stated, we would have to force a glyph connection. There's only one guy I know who is obsessed with magic to the point he could get that done. Problem is, he's a looney who seals life times of memories away, all the time."

"The star memories!" Sienna gasped, excitedly, "You mean Archimedes, right?"

"I see you've had the opportunity to meet him. I do hope no one stuck their fingers in his pocket." Phintias commented.

"Cause of Carl? No. But he showed us Carl. We killed the Bloody Hawkes who were terrorizing East Haven, and the guards." Sienna said. "We hadn't met Lucretia, yet. She didn't get to meet Archimedes."

"Well, we're going to have to meet him to get this handled." He said. He pulled a star from the bool of sigils. "I was using this as a book mark, but it seems he will be needing this one back."

"I can make you a new bookmark from yarn." I offer, unsure if it would please him. "If it's the very fine sort of yarn, it will not even bother the book."

"Darling, you are adorable, and I would love to see what you come up with." Phintias said.

I turned a little pink. Determined to pick out yarn again. Sienna said, "How do you plan reaching him?"

"Reaching someone like Archimedes is always the easy part. It's getting him to do what you want him to do that is the hard part." Phintias replied.

"That shouldn't be hard. He seemed reasonable." Sienna said.

"Well he may have sealed way more than I thought if he seemed reasonable." Phintias commented. "I'll send Archimedes a letter via transfer scroll detailing what's going on and what we need. Then I can show you all around town while we wait on him."

"That sounds lovely." Sienna said.

He took us back upstairs to write and send off the letter. Once that was done he took us out into town, all the while the pink headband with red roses still graced his head. We checked out the stall vendors and shops first. I took the chance to purchase some more yarn, which included the very thin yarn that was akin to thread. At the very least, the connection was made of where Phintias's headband came from with the seller of the yarn.

Phintias remained oblivious to the questioning stares. I did notice he shielded his eyes often and preferred to be in indirect light. His eyes were especially sensitive when we got close to the sea, but he showed it to us anyways. Ymir's Town is nestled against the sea. This reminded me of my home that I grew up in. I felt tears drip down my face as I looked out at the water. I'd never see my home again, it had been destroyed.

Phintias pressed a hand on my shoulder and said, "For most memories come and go with the tide, but for beings like us, we can do naught but accept them as they are."

I nodded. "Just miss it a little. Looking at the sea reminds me of home, before it was gone."

"Hopefully, we will be able to replace that sadness with glee and new memories of the sea." He said.

"It is fine." I made myself show him a smile.

"Alright. If you say it is fine, then it is fine. Let's go see if we can't catch your friend's mom whooping someone's ass." He said.

With that said, he took us to the Arena. I didn't bother telling him that I didn't really like violence. I hadn't even killed anyone until we killed those trolls. Either way, we were headed to see the champion fight.

When we reached the Arena the ticket person said, "Well, well Mr. Phintias, that's a nice headband you have there."

Phintias took it off, and looked at it. I flinched thinking he was going to get angry with me, but he didn't. He put it back on and said, "Thanks I like the attention to detail she put in it."

I had certainly not expected that reaction from him. He obtained the tickets and we all headed inside to view the fights. We saw several matches until it was Adelaide's turn.

It was incredibly brutal how she broke down her opponent before killing them. I may have been nervous of the excited crowd. I just crowded near Phintias a little, holding his arm. I'd not experienced so many people being so lively in one enclosed area before. I was not sure it was a good thing.

Sienna was able to vibe with the crowd, enjoying herself because if the energy they put off. Plight was apprehensive towards the violence, but not very bothered by the people's amusement. Phintias seemed mildly amused at best at the fights, until the champions fight. Then he was more contemplative, even while he patted my hands that clung to his arm.

After the fights were over, we were headed back to Phintias's when we heard someone shout in pain, "Ah! My fingers!"

"I do believe Archimedes has arrived." Phintias said, amused.

We turned towards the situation, seeing an elderly man talking to his pocket. "Now, Carl, you should have done that. Good boy."

"Archimedes!" Sienna greeted him, "How are you?"

flipping his robe away from the bleeding person, he said, "I've been wonderful, I've had lunch, Carl's had lunch. I hear someone is in need of my assistance. It's not every day Phintias calls on me for help."

"Indeed, my fiancé's companions here, are trying to reach somewhere in the Underdark, and we are having a bit of an issue with a glyph." Phintias explained.

"I'm sorry Phintias. I seem to have misplaced that life time." Archimedes replied.

"Yes, old friend, you did. And I have it." Phintias said, taking out the star and handing it to him.

Archimedes accepted the star and a spot on his robe, around the sleeve, began to glow. He gently laid the star on the glowing spot. Stitches reached up from the sleeve to sew the star back into place. His eyes went completely white for a few seconds, then he inhaled sharply and said, "I remember. Man, oh man, that was a lot of books. What could I help you with, in exchange for this lovely burst of memories."

"The glyphs we have are being blocked by the damaged ones that were previously laid. the grounding and permissions are entirely skewed." I explained. "I don't know how to overwrite them."

"Ah, yes, I can help with that." Archimedes commented. "Show me where you've got this glyph put down and we will see what we can do." With that, Phintias took us all to his library and down to that room in the basement once more.