Chamber

'A worthy endeavor.' Was the only thought swirling through Vlad's mind, as he stood tall and proud with his chest out, waiting for his Wednesday to praise his flawless execution, once again.

However, he learned quickly that he would have to be patient. It was clear that his paramour had not yet become accustomed to doling out gratitude to those who do her right.

Nonetheless, Vlad was a patient man...although.

Before Wednesday and the rest of the Addams could set off on a march to a graveyard in order to exhume the corpse of some side character, Vlad wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the floor of the nightshade's underground meeting space.

Did he know there was another section below the already secret chamber? Maybe.

Will he admit to not knowing if he didn't? Never

Will he act as if everything is already in the palm of his large, mighty hand? Obviously.

He plopped Wednesday down, releasing her, as soon as their feet were about to touch the dry muddy ground, his senses already detailing every inch of the hidden chamber beneath the hidden chamber, that he definitely already knew existed.

So that's where that was.

However, more important matters needed to be addressed.

Vlad narrowed his eyes at his lovely one and he could tell that she was overflowing with curiosity at his abrupt handling...the calm look on her face as she looked at everything in their surroundings but him, was surely just a stalling tactic to calm her steady heart.

'Hmmm. Steady heart. Her heart is steady, as if I did not just whisk her away. Her level of adaptability is commendable, or am I just becoming repetitive? Has she developed an immunity to the shock of being practically teleported the same way one would grow accustomed to their friends constantly popping out from behind cakes to yell surprise if they celebrated birthdays once a week? As Sam Wilson once said, be better Vlad."

Nonetheless once again, Vlad continued forward, unperturbed. He was not the weird one. She was.

"Do you know what this place is supposed to be?" He heard her monotoned voice speak out, as if she were asking about the lunch menu at an arby's and not what seemed to a crypt in all its simplistic glory.

There were no decorations.

No adornments on the walls of the concrete walls of the cylindrical room, that seemed to be an extension of the one above it, only with a thick cement floor separating the two.

It was pitch black. Not a single speck of light produced in the sealed chamber.

Not really an inconvenience for the two who could essentially see clearly in the dark, however, Vlad lit a purple flame from his hand, both for the ambience, and...

Instantly the once decrepit and stale sealed chamber took on a different feeling. One of movement, and long forgotten activity.

Images began to appear one after the other, depicting events showing the creation of the very chamber in which they currently stood.

It began with some unknown individuals, seemingly molding and shaping the space using only their energy to dictate the molding of the earth. Then, came others, carving what Vlad knew were runes into the mud walls of the space, covering every couple of paces in a complete circle of the space. After that, someone familiar appeared. She was older than she looked when she was last seen, however that did nothing to take away from her beauty. However, there was also a weariness to her that could not be hidden. Goodie was tired it would seem.

Goodie alone stood in the chamber, her eyes closed, seemingly just standing there. However, Vlad could feel her intentions, even through the remembrance that he had called forth.

Goodie poured out the energy from within her body. Painting the room in her essence. The runes coming alive. Based on what he knew, they appeared to serve the purpose of not only keeping others out, but also sealing something in. What that something was, became clear the next moment.

A lone casket. The exact one that still rested in the empty space was lowered. Its design simple, however the runes etched on its casing that were used to constantly replenish lifeforce, were anything but simple. Even in his time, they were only known by a very few. Goodie was truly as capable as he believed.

What happened next was no mystery.

Goodie made her way inside.

All alone.

While the chamber's roof was steadily being sealed and the floor for the nightshades meeting room was being constructed.

No pomp. No farewells. Just a woman, being laid to rest, but not yet truly dead.

"I do not understand, Goodie." Vlad spoke out, seemingly to no one. No one but the white-haired beaut that popped her ass into view beside the casket.

"If you truly did not want to live any longer, why go through all the trouble of sealing your very being in this place? This lonely place. Ah, I see," he continued without break, answering his own question. "Crackstone. Because you sealed Crackstone within his own body where he could only lay there trapped in darkness, you decided to seal your own lifeforce just in case you were needed when the ant was inevitably revived by some kook. However, while he is trapped in his body with no respite, your circumstances are different. This chamber is sealed in a way that it is undetectable from outside, meaning no one without knowledge would not know to look, however that does not stop you from venturing forth and also connecting to the other side. Literally, the only thing that truly stops you from extinguishing your lifeforce and passing on, is your own choice."

If Vlad were to be asked, he would say no, no he does not like to monologue. However, there are times when one must show respect to certain efforts and that is the only reason Vlad decided to educate the audience on the matters at hand. Certainly not because he was impressed and couldn't help but ramble out his deductions and conclusions. Certainly not.

"You are correct, my liege." Goodie spoke, slightly bowing her head at the end.

Vlad's eyes that shined like the sun, widened for a brief moment. True surprise. That was rare.

"Why call me your liege, Goodie? Unless, you have finished considering my offer?"

Wednesday looked between the two, speculative, but observant and patient.

"I call you my liege because you are the liege of most who came after your time ruling this planet. And as for your offer...I do not mind...if my liege commands."

'Hmmm.' Vlad had an inkling. A tingling. There was something about the way she was speaking that was prickling him. Something familiar. Something he couldn't quite place.

However, "Hahaha, I can hardly call myself your liege, Goodie. After all, when your battle was fought and those you loved laid to rest, I was not there. I do not presume that simply because I am who I am, that I have the right to call myself the lord of all who came after. I mean, I do, but no part of me expects others to simply acknowledge it. Not without some good ol' fashioned subjugation anyway. You know I am too humble to simply assume fealty, so what brought this on?"

Goodie looked at Vlad for a moment. A moment that could have been said to stretch a little too long with an expression on her face that matched the one worn by her look-a-like, his little death. If he were anyone else, he would think those blank looks indicated that they did not believe his words, though that was obviously nonsense. His charisma is way too high for him to not be believable. They were probably awestruck by his humility. And why wouldn't they be?

"I have seen how you care for my descendant." She motioned with her head towards the beauty standing beside Vlad, watching. "I have seen the way you interact with those around you and the world. For all of your seemingly limitless power, there is still a humanity to you that is undeniable. I do not know how that could be. I would like to stay and observe more closely."

A smile began to make its way on to Vlad's face as he spoke out his new observations. "You're bored, right. Originally, you stuck around to finish what you started, or at least have a hand in finishing what you started. But now, with me here, you basically have nothing to do and no purpose to serve. You're bored, right. It's okay, no need to sound deep with me, Goodie. Boredom is the bane for all those long-lived individuals and it comes for us all, eventually. No worries, there is a lot for you to do in the new world that has been formed in your absence. Have you tried pizza?"

Wednesday could see the twitching lip of her ancestor, and the laugh that threatened to escape from the pit of her stomach as a result had to be ruthlessly devoured before she ruined her image. Wednesday Addams does not laugh. Not unless it is standing on the slain corpses of her enemies...okay, that might have been a little too dramatic.

Wednesday scanned her eyes over Vlad's magnificent figure out of the corner of her eye, as he continued picking on her ancestor. She reasoned that perhaps he was rubbing off on her. Overly dramatic is kind of his bag. Though, the thought of him rubbing off on her was not at all unappealing as it formed an image in her mind.

'Stop that,' she commanded her mind and body. She was behaving like one of those overly horny walking hormones that she was imprisoned with in her other schools. 'Control is important. I decide when I get turned on. Wait, that was not right. I decide, where I get turned on.' She thought to herself. Though, looking around at the moldy and stale crypt, she could not help but acknowledge how truly romantic a location it was. 'Perhaps Vlad would be up for...that is enough.'

"Did you bring me down here, simply to tag along while you had a chat with my ancestor?" She asked.

Vlad immediately swirled to face her fully, his body leaning forward slightly with his eyes narrowing dangerously...attractively. 'Shit.'

"No gorgeous, that is not why I snatched you down here. Meeting Goodie was a bonus. I brought you away from the onlookers in order to impart some righteous retribution on your candy ass." If it had not previously been mentioned Vlad was not a man, so therefore he had no requirements to be a patient man.

"Where is the 'excellent work, Vlad, you got us out of there lickety-split'." He spoke out the sentence in a monotoned voice that perfectly replicated her own. "I would have even accepted a quick peck on the cheek and a quick flash of one nipple as a show of appreciation."

Vlad looked at Wednesday, his eyes aflame with justifiable fury. Her own eyes narrowing in response.

Without taking even a full ten seconds to form her conclusion, she spoke out.

"Where are you going?"

Vlad could not help the half-smirk that played at his lips.

'She knows me well.'

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(A/N: Additional chaps are on patreon.com/TheGreatestHunter . Check it out, now.)