Sylvester

As they had agreed the previous day, Mikoto has departed in search of talented aspiring authors to invite into Enchanted Gardens to receive essential, desperately needed guidance. Lauriel bid his goodbye, as he turned towards four hourses tied to a golden chariot that waited for him before they departed just as the sun began to rise.

Mikoto watched his departure, which was always a sight to behold. The chariot was made of pure gold that resembled the color of the sun itself, while his horses were even more magnificent. Two of them were male, black as night, yet their mane reflected all the colors, shining brightly. Two females were even more remarkable as they were the color of champagne, shimmering. As they moved under the sun's rays, fast as lightning, one would feel their lips smile on their own by observing such beauty.

Once Lauriel left, Mikoto set on the road as well. Even when she did not traverse in the extravagant chariot, it was far from walking. She flew through the clouds making her body light as a feather and fast as the wind, faster than a human eye could notice. While gliding through the sky, Mikoto was deep in thought - as to how to accomplish her task most efficiently. Various ideas crossed her mind - she could search through recently written works and invite the most promising writers, or make it so it appears as if she is a publisher, then search through the works submitted to her. Both were decent, but she knew that was not exactly what Lauriel was looking for.

With his power, if any decent writer would be blessed for their talent to blossom it would happen, but that exactly was the problem - their talent is fixed, it cannot grow beyond what exists.

Mikoto sighed. Lauriel was a lot of things, but he was right about this particular matter - great authors appeared less and less. And it was not because of lack of talent, but because of more mundane things, like laziness, lack of persistence, and waste of talent on overused, washed-up topics in the chase of money. They have been destined for more, and if they only were willing to work hard, and strain themselves, they would already have received the Blessing for their art.

So her job was to discover real talent. And it was no small feat. She needed to meet them in person, every single one of them, then decide on the spot if they should be invited.

Only, to begin with, writers were generally beings that enjoyed solitude, a cup of coffee, and their home environment. Finding them outside was virtually impossible unless they wanted to be found. None of them frequented busy places, like cafes, bars, shopping centers, and such. And even if one ventured outside, you would need to be extremely observant to find one, hiding between numerous other, regular creatures.

Once you successfully pluck yourself a writer, one should approach it carefully - on top of being snuggled into blankets, beds, couches, or other possible comfortable spots, they were snarky, secluded, and might refuse to even speak if you interrupted their work. Or so lost in thought that you might scare them out of their comfort spot by suddenly dragging them from their world into reality.

The best, tested approach is to alert them to your presence, then bribe them with an offering. One should not be less but utmost careful with beings that spend their free time investigating ways to murder someone and leave no evidence behind - they probably have at least three for such absent-minded fools who crash into their presence with no previous thought.

Reaching a conclusion, Mikoto decided to descend lower and start with the first settlement she reaches - which was a giant metropolis with over one million people. Sighing, she began the colossal task in front of her.

***

Lauriel glided over the sky, horses pulling the chariot, on the way to the first mentor he planned to invite to Enchanted Garden. He slightly squinted his eyes as he was lost in thought over how to convince him. Mikoto was a master at such feats, but gathering writers was a distinctively more important task. If her skills can be used for both, it was better to have more candidates than mentors.

Chariot started to descend at sunset, lowering Lauriel down into a small city. Once on the ground, Lauriel walked through the night, glancing at the streets here and there, only enough to guide himself to the graveyard. It was closed, doors locked, but it did not represent a bigger problem to him, as he jumped over the fence. Inside, he walked towards the white marble crypt slightly grown into the ivy, careful not to step on the graves. The night was peaceful, with a pleasant summer breeze in the trees. Lauriel knocked on the door and patiently waited.

For a few seconds, nothing happened, and no movement could be heard, but then the doors opened, and a blond man with short hair and blue eyes walked out. His features were white as if the man himself was made of the same material as the crypt he came out of.

"Good evening, Sylvester," greeted Lauriel as soon as the man opened the door.

Sylvester took one look at him and smiled - showing very long fangs, extended. The expression made him look even more handsome, but at the same time more terrifying.

"What do you want?" said Sylvester in a deep, slightly threatening tone of voice.

A lesser man might be afraid. Lauriel rolled his eyes.

"There are no humans around for you to scare, Sly, drop the act."

Sylvester crossed his arms and leaned on the doorframe, a smile disappearing from his face, replaced by a serious expression.

"I know you wouldn't bother coming here if you didn't need something. What do you want, Lauriel?"

"I am opening Enchanted Garden," Lauriel said, but before he managed to explain, a grin returned on Sylvester's face.

"You want me to come with you as a creator?" he asked in an excited tone of voice, in ridiculous contrast to his previous exaggerated bariton, interrupting.

Lauriel internally sighed.

"No, not as a creator. As a mentor."

For a split second, Sylvester hissed, losing control. His handsome features twisted into a face made out of nightmares - marble skin seemed as if it broke, as black veins bulged out, dead eyes, black as night staring into Lauriel, two bottomless pits without a capacity for empathy.

"You want me to go as a mentor?! TO READ that pathetic excuse for 'good' writing that passes today as written art? ME?"

Lauriel did not manage to reply as the vampire returned to his crypt and slammed the door which caused the marble to shake along with its foundations.

Lauriel felt as if his heart sank. He knew it would be difficult. Not that he did not understand. On occasions, he could barely make himself read it, and now he had to convince others to join him in that tedious task.

Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.

"Mikoto will also be there."

In a gush of wind, Sylvester appeared next to him, suitcase in hand, face as handsome as it was when he answered the door.

"Which way?"

Lauriel smiled. 'That is one.'