Serenity had expected the Messenger to be gone longer. He’d hoped to have everything taken care of before Desinka’s father returned, but naturally he’d arrived at the worst time. “Come on in. Ah, I don’t suppose you have any tea? I could use the water.”

Serenity didn’t actually need any water to replenish his blood supply; his healing took care of that. Still, he hoped it would work as a tension-defusing joke.

It didn’t.

Rakyn didn’t seem to even notice; instead, he took a couple of steps towards Serenity and Desinka, then stopped, staring. “Desinka? What are you doing? Why are you -”

Rakyn stopped moving forward and stared at where Desinka’s mouth rested on Serenity’s shoulder. His expression changed from confused to worried, almost desperate. “Desinka…”

Serenity shook his head. “She’ll be fine. Well enough, at least. There was a curse; it’s gone now, but that’s not all he did to her, and it’s going to mean some hard choices.”

Desinka was still drinking his blood, but she seemed to have slowed down. Serenity was glad he had as much healing as he did; the amount she’d drunk might have been dangerous for someone without healing. He suspected that she hadn’t been getting enough from what the man had given her; he’d probably been underfeeding her in an attempt to get her to bite her father without having to command her to do it.

That would explain the curse; it probably granted the control some vampires gained over their victims to the man who commanded Desinka. Serenity wondered if that man could tell when the curse was broken; he’d be perfectly happy staking that vampire - assuming he was one and that this wasn’t all some complex curse. Desinka didn’t deserve to be killed, but that man certainly did.

Rakyn tensed and clenched his fists. “If you’re going to tell me I have to kill her…I’ll take her out of the city-”

Serenity couldn’t suppress a smile. That was exactly the reaction he’d hoped for; Desinka’s father wanted to protect his daughter. “No. I wouldn’t be feeding her if I thought she wasn’t salvageable. She’s done very well so far, and I think we can get through this. You’re going to need to help her.”

Rakyn would need to help Desinka not for her sake, but for his. Helping her would mean that he was involved in her future and give Desinka a better chance of not being completely cut off from family.

This could so easily have gone the other way. Serenity was glad he wasn’t having to fight Rakyn to keep Desinka alive - and that Desinka herself had held out long enough for it to be possible to help her.

Desinka wasn’t done yet, and Serenity knew that sitting there watching his daughter drink a stranger’s blood - even if all he could see was her mouth on Serenity’s shoulder - was unlikely to make him happier. He needed a distraction. “Rakyn? Desinka mentioned you have tea?”

Rakyn was still in the small kitchen making tea when Desinka finished. As she pulled back, Serenity could see that her fangs were still extended and lightly coated in his blood. He caught a hint of the delicious coppery scent before Desinka licked her fangs.

Serenity’s injury had healed almost immediately when Desinka let go, so he pulled his armor back on; it was more comfortable worn normally than tied around his waist, and he was confident Desinka wouldn’t need more blood for a while.

Desinka seemed drowsy, but while he was pulling his armor over his shoulders, her hand went over her mouth and her expression changed to one of horror. “I bit you. I, I have fangs. I lost control. I-”

Her hand stayed over her mouth even as she spoke.

“Sit down and relax, Desinka. You needed the blood.”

As Desinka sat, she stared up at Serenity. “You knew. That’s why you said that. You already knew.”

“What did he know?” Rakyn emerged from the kitchen holding a steaming pot and three mugs.

Desinka didn’t immediately reply. Serenity saw her turn to him in what seemed to be a silent appeal.

Serenity took a moment to decide how to answer the question - how to tell Desinka’s father she’d become a vampire - while Rakyn set the tea stuff on the table. He silently offered the second chair to Rakyn; Serenity didn’t need it as much as Rayn would soon.

By the time Rakyn sat down, he’d come up with a way to start. It probably wasn’t the best way, but Serenity couldn’t think of a better option. “I’m a dhampir. That means a lot of things. In this case, it means that I knew something of what happened to Desinka.”

Serenity waited for either Desinka or her father to respond, but Desinka just looked at her hands while Rakyn took a sip of tea. His hands were tight on the mug, so Serenity had the feeling he was controlling himself, but he didn’t speak.

“Have you ever heard of a ‘bloody red vampire’? It’s not a subtype I’m familiar with.” Serenity had thought he knew most of the types of undead, but if there were some he’d missed, vampire subtypes wouldn’t be that surprising - especially if they were weak subtypes. He’d never liked having vampiric servants, and the only vampire friends he’d had were strong.

Rakyn looked like he’d been hit. “Yes. Bloody reds came out of a small dungeon west of here, then spread, a couple hundred years ago. They could spread their vampirism easier than most, even to regular humans, but they were all insane bloodfiends within a month. I thought we’d killed them all. I guess there are always more.” He gleaned at his daughter before turning back to Serenity. “Please tell me that’s not what’s happened to Desinka. Please.”

Rakyn seemed to be begging. Serenity wasn’t sure how to respond, and after a moment he turned to his daughter. “How … how thirsty are you?”

It took a moment before Desinka answered quietly. “I’m not. I feel better than I have since before I was injured.” She looked up at her father and Serenity could see the puzzled expression on her face. “I know what a bloody red is, you’ve told so many stories, but … what’s a daywalker vampire? Is it just one that can stand daylight?”

“Daywalkers are myths to scare children. They don’t exist, they can’t possibly be.” Rakyn turned to Serenity, and despite his firm statement it almost looked like he was hoping he was wrong.

Serenity looked at Rakyn rather than Desinka as he answered her question. “Daywalkers exist. They’re rare and tend to be very different from each other. Some truly don’t have a problem with the Sun, while others are simply highly resistant. Some are slightly stronger, sturdier, faster humans who drink blood occasionally while others are Powers in their own right.”

“Then-I should accept?” Desinka sounded hopeful.

Serenity snorted. “I’m not going to answer that. Show your father the notification if you want advice. It’s not advice I should give.”

[Bloody Red Vampire bloodline overwhelmed]

[Permission requested to:]

[Replace the Bloody Red Vampire bloodline with the Daywalker Vampire bloodline]

[This will replace your current (unknown) Sire with Serenity]

[Accept / Reject?]

When Rakyn saw the notification, he actually laughed in understanding. “Not ready to be a dad?”

“Not yet,” Serenity admitted. “But it’s more than that. A Sire can command. I can’t - I won’t tell Desinka to accept that. Not when it’s me.”

Rakyn huffed. “You should. It’s an easy choice. Accept it, Desinka.”

As Desinka slumped in her chair after approving the change, Rakyn turned back to Serenity. “Whose are you? Who do I owe this to?”

Serenity blinked, unsure what Rakyn was talking about. “We’re looking for where that package came from so we can figure out who sent it to the Healers’ Guildmaster and probably abducted everyone from the Hall of Healing. We were sent by Guildmaster Irene, I thought Hale explained that?”

Rakyn shook his head. “He did, that’s not what I’m asking. Why are you here? I can recognize an Avatar when I see one.”

“Avatar? What do you mean?” Serenity was pretty sure Rakyn didn’t mean a character from a video game or a blue alien.

“You were here when we needed you most with strange skills that are just what’s needed, but it’s more than that, that could be luck. The amount of Death energy is lower near you, which is a sign in its own right, but that could be something else as well. No, the important thing is that the world pays attention to you. Most people don’t notice, but I’ve been around, and that only happens for a few types of people. People who are higher Tier than the world, who can cause destruction that would affect the World itself. You aren’t, though, so,” Rakyn shrugged. “You must be an Avatar. I want to pay my respects to whoever sent you.”

He must mean an avatar of a God. Or maybe the projection of someone so powerful they can no longer walk on a planet of this Tier. But - Tzintkra’s a graduated-Tier planet. It ought to be able to stand up to a pretty high Tier, at least compared to me or Rakyn. No, he must mean a deity’s avatar.

Serenity was about to say that no one had sent him when he realized that wasn’t exactly true. Ending up here was simply luck, but he had been sent to Tzintkra. “I don’t follow a God,” Serenity stated. It came out a lot harsher than he’d intended. “I don’t like the idea of depending on someone I don’t know. I’m no Avatar, and if you’re going to thank someone for sending me here, thank Hale - or thank the Voice. It’s the reason I’m on Tzintkra, after all.”

Serenity pointedly turned away from Rakyn to check on his daughter. Desinka was stirring; the only visible change was that Serenity couldn’t see her extended fangs anymore. They hadn’t retracted after she’d bitten him, but they were gone now.

“Stop intimidating him, Dad.” Desinka glared at her father. “Tell him what he came for and let’s start figuring out what we need to do next. I want to stay with Ron and the others, but this is Tzintkra and I’m a vampire. I, I don’t think it’ll be possible. I think that means I can’t use a Caverns exit, and there’s no way I can group with a Caverns group if I can’t. So I need to know where I’m going and if you’re coming with me. I don’t even know how to get to the Necropolis except through the Catacombs and I won’t make it to the Catacombs on my own and-”

“Dessi. Dessi, stop. We’ll figure it out. We’ll move to the Necropolis if we have to. I’m not a necromancer, but surely they have people who aren’t.” Rakyn turned from the fierce man demanding answers to a doting father at his daughter’s agitation.

It made Serenity like the man more. Yes, he’d done something terrible when he delivered the box, but he hadn’t known what was in the box and he’d done it for his daughter.

It was almost a surprise to Serenity when he heard his own voice trying to calm Desinka. “You can go through Catacomb doors to the Shining Caverns. You may not be able to open them, but once they’re open you can go through them.”

It was likely Serenity himself wouldn’t have been able to open the Shining Caverns portal from the dungeon he’d explored with Katya and Raz; he was mostly undead, and that would likely put him over in the Necropolis, even if he didn’t qualify for the Necropolis as a necromancer and DeathLord anyway. He’d refused to acknowledge the DeathLord title, but he was sure the door would still work.

No, on second thought, he’d probably have been able to open the door to the Shining Caverns. That was what Ghost in the System did for him, after all.