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Chapter VII: The Duke

"Perception is a funny thing. Sometimes, when we act like ourselves, we end up appearing as someone else to the rest of the world. There is no true way of knowing someone. Even if you give yourself over to that person, you can never truly know what they are thinking.

_ "I thought I knew what Eton wanted. I thought I knew him after less than two days and I already wanted to say I love him. Damn was I an idiot and damn was I lonely. I guess I was so desperate to be with someone that... well... I didn't think things through. I just saw what I wanted to see._

"It was times like those that I wished I was more like the Chronomancer. Thank the gods those times don't happen very often."

"Isn't it a little early to be drunk?"

Harm cracked one eye open and peered over his arm. Tanar's broad features regarded with him a mixture of mirth and pity as the enormous Dire Wolf flicked at ear at the Equian bartender. That simple gesture had the equine nod and slid over a mug of frothy amber beer.

"I've been here for hours..." Harm murmured.

"And it's currently seven in the morning," replied Dire Wolf. "Taking full advantage of the all night bar, I see."

The Wulfun grunted and regarded the array of empty shot glasses that sat in front of him. "Time just seems to fly when you're drunk off your ass."

"I would have thought the excess Time you stored up from Clockwork would have taken care of that." Tanar regarded the mug. "Ahem."

Somehow still managing to see clearly, Harm reached over to the mug, pulled it to himself and took a long drink before sliding it onto the floor where Tanar could reach it. The Dire Wolf gave him a foul stare before leaning down and lapping at the brew.

"I used up all my Time last night."

"Really? Go on an all-night bender? What was the occasion?"

"What?" Harm blinked at him a couple of times. "Oh no... I meant the night before. And I spent it getting fucked up the ass by a seriously hot Lupus."

Glass shattered behind the bar and the bartender quickly bent over, scrambling to pick up the pieces. Harm snarled and turned away from him and Tanar. The haze of drunkenness didn't get rid of the horrible, itching feeling all over his body like he had a thousand ants crawling underneath his flesh. His imagination went wild with that sensation; miniscule versions of Eton were digging their claws in his muscles, bones and veins, adjusting them, twisting the bonds of his DNA to that of a Lupus. His body involuntarily shuddered.

"Is that not a good thing?" Tanar asked. "If you were ever going to find someone to truly break out of your little shell of denial, it would be Smallfang."

"It wasn't Smallfang."

"Huh... Really?"

Tanar's surprised tone sparked something in Harm and he slowly twisted his head back towards the Dire Wolf. Despite being incredibly drunk, he put an enormous effort into looking suspicious and puzzled. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

Tanar shrugged. "I just didn't think Smallfang would go through with it."

His stupor was quickly fading. He propped himself up on his arm, his world taking a little spin before it stabilised on Tanar's dismissive expression. "What do you mean?"

The Dire Wolf shrugged. "Smallfang talked about how he wanted to give a relationship with you a try but he considered you... 'immature'."

"Immature!?" His cry was far louder than he had expected. The bartender was slinking away further and further away from him. He could almost feel the Lupus genes creeping through his system, fuelling his anger and turning him into the raging animal that he knew was just barely kept inside.

"Said something about your perception of Lupus being based entirely on hearsay and rumour." Tanar said. The Dire Wolf shoved his muzzle into the mug and lapped at what remained of the drink, slurping loudly. To Harm, it was almost like the crashing of a waterfall pounding against his semi-drunken head. A low growl came from the Paladin when he pulled back and found his muzzle stuck. The Paladin pawed at it. Big blue eyes regarded Harm pleadingly.

The partial Lupus reached forward and yanked the mug away, fangs bared. "What else did Smallfang say?"

"He said that for some reason you've got it in your head that you need to define your identity around sex and your idea of a relationship is based entirely around romantic gestures that do not exist in reality."

Harm's anger only mounted. "And what did he do about this?"

Tanar curled up at Harm's feet, peering towards the door. "He found another Lupus and conveniently guided him to where you were. I believe he hoped that you could get the 'immaturity' out of your system with a failed relationship and then he'll come in, sweep you off your feet and be the comforting shoulder to cry upon."

Harm's fist closed around his shot glass. "That -"

Crack!

Sharp pieces of glass bit into his palms. He was far too angry to gasp in pain. The doors to the bar then suddenly swung open and the scent of frozen pine with a metallic twinge instantly brought images of the scarred Lupus he had befriended back at Clockwork. His eyes switched to the door where the Lupus entered, waved and smiled at him brightly as he approached.

"Hunter! Tanar! I have news!"

"So do I," growled Harm as the Lupus approached. He was seeing triple at the moment and was swaying slightly but his anger seemed to burn out the traces of alcohol still in his system.

"Oh?" Smallfang replied, seating himself on Harm's other side. "You go first."

Tail whacking loudly at the base of the seat, he said, "I got fucked last night." He drew some sick pleasure from Smallfang's crestfallen expression... or he was just feeling sick. "Yeah, with the Lupus that you set me up with! We did it all night long! And you know what? I ran out of Time! Now I'm infected! I bet me and Eton are mated, now right? Too bad your plan worked too well!"

Smallfang's eyes became filled with confusion. "Plan? What plan?"

Harm was on his feet, looming over Smallfang though they were pretty much the same height even though the Lupus was sitting down. He staggered a little, having to support himself with a paw on the bar. "Don't pretend you don't know! You saw that I was deluding myself with these romantic wishes and my need to define myself with how many guys I've slept with!"

He was suddenly aware of dozens of eyes staring at him. His anger was reaching boiling point and he didn't care who heard. "Yeah, that's right!" he barked, flashing his fangs at the others. "I'm gay! Want to see how gay?" He seized Smallfang's cheeks and pushed their lips together in a single, two-second, toe-curling, heart-bursting, orgasmic kiss.

The moment he pulled away, Smallfang almost fell back in shock.

"That's probably the closest you'll ever get to kissing me, buddy!" Harm barked. "Because I like Eton even if he did shoot his load into my ass eighty times last night!"

"Eighty?" Tanar interjected, sounding almost impressed.

"We both regenerate fast." His eyes flicked back to Smallfang angrily. "So too bad. If you'd just been honest with me, you could've been my mate!"

Smallfang looked utterly baffled... then he lifted his paws slowly. "One moment..." he said, surprisingly calmly. "What exactly did you think I did?"

Anger gave way to confusion though it still continued to seethe beneath the surface. "You thought I was sexually immature and drunk on delusions of romance. So much so that you went out of your way to find another Lupus two nights ago, tell him where I was going with the full knowledge that he will have sex with me over and over and over again! On top of that, you were hoping that my naiveté will lead to a failed relationship and only then will you come sweeping in on your white horse and shining armour to sweep me off my feet with your consoling shoulder!"

Smallfang angled his head to the side while keeping his eyes on Harm. "But two nights ago, Tanar and I were exploring the lower city. We were invited to dinner with the Apex Clericus Solis but Aria nor Elena never appeared so we were waiting at the gates until we eventually decided to go for..." Smallfang peered past Harm at Tanar. "What was that food called?"

Tanar was looking rather pleased with himself. "It's called a fruit flambé. Rather delicious. You should try it, Hunter. We had some insect dishes as well but they were not really my thing. It was interesting nonetheless."

Harm's anger was slowly starting to peel away and in doing so, his head cleared enough to allow for the cogs and gears inside of his mind to start working. Still drowning in alcohol, however, they were ticking away slowly.

"Wait... So you didn't hunt down another Lupus and convince him to go to the baths that one night?"

Still appearing puzzled, Smallfang shook his head and offered a helpless shrug. "No. I was not even aware there was another Lupus in the city. I thought you would join us at the dinner with Lord Phalgymr but we did not give it any second thought when neither you, Aria or Elena appeared."

Harm's eyes were slowly drifting away from Smallfang, across the many faces openly staring at him and then finally to Tanar who was smiling at him innocently. That exaggerated expression of virtue practically screamed of his guilt.

"What did you do?" he growled.

Tanar stood, his smile fading. "Think about it this way, Hunter, between Smallfang and I, who is the Paladin? Who else could have contact with Eton apart from him? In fact, between us, who is more likely to be in contact with Eton?"

Harm's anger was starting to bubble up again. "It was you?"

Seemingly proud of himself, the Dire Wolf puffed out his chest as he sat proudly and said, "It was really quite easy, you know. I took Smallfang to dinner that we were actually invited to. Aria and Elena's absence was just a happy coincidence. I already knew Eton since he's here to escort the Apex Clericus Solis and it was simple to meet up with him and direct him to you."

"How could you have planned that!?"

Tanar smirked and angled his flank to Harm, showing off Blade Legion. "Every Valour has hidden abilities. Just as Andy's Celestial Crime can tear through space and time, Blade Legion allows me to drop little drones that allow me to view other areas even miles away. I merely spied upon you while I spoke with Eton. I guided him to you before taking Smallfang to the dinner invitation. He slept in my room seeing as you were already fast asleep when I returned and with one bed in your room, that would have disturbed you."

Harm shook his head. "How does that even work? You would have had to spoken to Eton to head towards the baths and then rush to Smallfang! But I was walking for at least an hour and I'm pretty sure Smallfang didn't take an entire hour to bathe! Either way when I came back to take my bath, Smallfang wasn't there!"

The Dire Wolf's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure you're drunk?"

"About 90% of my body is saturated in alcohol but I'm just so pissed at you right now that all my anger is boiling away the alcohol. Answer the question!"

Impressed, Tanar said, "I happen to know that Eton is terrible at directions and is a very manly man. Too proud to ask for directions. I gave him directions to the baths at the foot of our hotel and assuredly, he got lost." Tanar's ears angled towards Harm. "Bet you didn't know that before you decided to try and make it rain, did you?"

Harm's eyes went wide and a blush crept onto his features. "You saw that!?"

"Oh yeah."

Smallfang tapped his shoulder. "You tried to make it rain so that you could be with this other Lupus?"

Harm winced loudly and turned towards him. "I know how this sounds... Shit, you must think I'm a total slut but... Eton just... he..."

Laughing softly, Smallfang patted Harm's should and said comfortingly, "I understand. There are people out there who with but a word or just by stepping into the same room as you will steal your heart without explanation." Smallfang sighed wistfully and rested his chin on his knuckles, staring off into the distance. "My father fell prey to the same curse."

"You're father...?"

"I was born, you know. I wasn't created through some dark magic."

In that moment, Harm realised his mistakes. The weight of it all - and partially his drunkenness - brought him crashing back down onto the stool. Eton had been right. He had been viewing the Lupus under some horrible stereotype and built their entire relationship based on that even without knowing it. Smallfang wasn't some dark construct made built for war. He was a living, breathing person who was subject to rumours and speculation just like everyone else. Ever being the idiot, Harm had listened to those rumours and took them as truth.

"I've been an idiot, haven't I?"

Tanar nodded and flicked his ears. Three mugs of beer came sliding in front of them, the bartender quickly going back to cleaning a polished mug with his own ears perked in their direction. "A colossal one. Ahem."

Harm shot him a foul stare. "You manipulated me." He swiped the beer and handed the second mug to Smallfang. "You get to go thirsty." He sighed and turned towards the bar, staring at the frothy surface of the beer.

"I was looking for romance... and it turns out I just sort of fell into it... Then there's the fact that I really don't know anything about Eton... or what it means to be a Lupus." He sighed heavily and rested his chin on the bar. "And now... I'll get to find out." Angling his head towards Smallfang, he asked, "How long does it take for the transformation to kick in? Is it painful?" Hunter paused for a few moments before he finished "Actually, don't tell me. I'd rather not know..."

He saw Smallfang exchange glances with Tanar before he felt both their gazes fall on him.

"You realise, of course, that getting fucked by a Lupus doesn't turn you into one, right?" Tanar asked.

That horrible shivering feeling returned and Harm straightened. "What...?"

"If we could turn every man by simply having anal sex with them, our numbers would have overrun Incendius," Smallfang said. He was smiling as he tipped his beer to his lips. "To transform into a Lupus, you must ingest the blood of a Lupus that has been cast into a Snow Chalice and had one of our shamans cast a spell upon it. Then, you must have had to kill another man within thirty days."

Harm straightened, his eyes wide. "Wait... What?"

"We must kill to turn completely," answered Smallfang grimly. "It is a sign of our devotion to our cause and calling. If by thirty days you do not kill another man, you will not turn and you will have to take another drink. Most Lupus will not allow a second chance, however. If you cannot slay another within that time, you do not have the heart to make that commitment."

"No, that's not what I was 'wait, what'-ing about." Harm leapt to his feet. "Eton got angry at me for saying that he infected me! Why would he get pissed when that's not the case!?"

Another beer slid over to Tanar who tried to grip it with his jaws but failed miserably. "Maybe because you're looking at him with a terrible stereotype? Or maybe it's because you put a condition on your relationship based on a terrible stereotype?"

His heart sank. "I'm been an asshole..." He shot a foul stare at Tanar. "Don't."

The Dire Wolf turned his ears away. "Wasn't going to say a thing."

"I've got to find Eton." He staggered the moment he tried to step away from the bar. Smallfang's strong paws kept him up.

"Maybe you should sleep it off first?" suggested the Lupus. "Can you make it to our room?"

Harm nodded shakily. "Y - Yeah... I can." He managed to give them both a shaky smile. "Thanks, both of you. I... I think I'll go take a nap."

The Wulfun staggered out of the bar, somehow managing to keep himself upright despite the fact he had been drinking through most of the night. He passed through the bar doors, his fluffy, white tail vanishing behind the wooden frame.

"You aren't heartbroken?" asked Tanar.

Smallfang took the mug Harm had stolen for him and handed it to the Dire Wolf. "I do not think so. I was pent up and desired companionship. After all, I was in an alien land, almost died and being chased by dark creatures. I felt alone. Now though..." Smallfang leaned against the bar, staring out to where Harm had disappeared. "I believe Hunter would be a better friend than a lover. He is far too..."

"Naïve?"

"Neurotic," chuckled Smallfang. "He has a penchant for overacting and making a scene out of nothing. He can still be insightful but..." The Lupus shrugged. "My attraction to him was based on a rough sketch, a shell of the true Hunter and one that was based on very little exposure to him and a lot of his combat prowess." The Lupus smirked. "Call it a stereotype if you will but we Lupus value physical strength and appearance."

"Just like everyone else," Tanar answered. "Anyone else catch your eye?"

Smallfang shook his head sadly. "At this stage? Unfortunately not. Maybe one day but not now."

"Well, you'll have eternity, Your Highness."

The Lupus scowled. "Don't call me that."

*****

A faint buzzing roused him from a dreamless slumber. Harm groaned and rolled over to his side, grimacing as the twilight streamed in through the amber windows. He almost wished Mirecragg had some sense of day and night so he could tell the actual time of day. The buzzing continued and he peered over at the bedside table where his Telecube sat. It was announcing he had new message.

He sleepily reached over to it, just feeling the thickness of his tongue and the throbbing headache that pounded inside his skull. Even the soft click of the opening the cube was like a thunderclap in his ears. Though bleary, bloodshot eyes, he read Daniel's message.

'There is only so long before I have to ask how the hell was it. So... How the hell was it?'

Harm managed to shake off some remnants of the bender he had partaken for the majority of the previous night to type a message.

'I had hot gay sex all night and then I said something stupid and messed everything up.'

The reply took a few seconds to come back.

'Oh, so you like this guy?'

'I had sex with him. Of course I like him.'

'I meant like-like.' Harm chuckled at the pause. The next message was more specific. 'There are people out there that just have sex because it feels good or just because they can. Some use it as a weapon. Why did you have sex with that guy, Harm?'

He felt Daniel's concern even thousands of miles away, the expanse of the void between them and legions of demons between them still touched him.

'Because I like him. He's a lot like me and there's just something about him that makes me smile. I like him, Daniel...'

'Should I be worried? Joking.' Daniel took a minute to compose his next message. 'Hey, you're a great guy, Harm. Little screwed up but you'd make anyone, man, woman, transsexual, hermaphrodite or miscellaneous happy. If you like this guy, do your usual thing when you want to apologise.'

'My usual thing?'

He could almost hear Daniel laugh. 'Come on. Remember on my tenth birthday when you broke the toy action figure I just got? What did you end up doing the next day to make it up to me?'

Harm smirked to himself and sighed heavily. 'I tried writing to the actual 'Mr. Mega' to get him to come to you and say the apology I had written. When my dad told me it'd take at least a day before the mail would arrive, I tried to make an action figure myself out of sticks. When that fell apart, I researched plastics moulding. I even tried to walk all the way to the toy factory.'

'Which was on another Station!' Daniel must be laughing now. 'Your father thought you had been kidnapped and your mother thought you ran away. They were about to call a search when I found you at the bus stop.'

Those memories brought painful tears welling up in his eyes. 'So... you want me to do something overly extravagant just to apologise?'

'That's what makes you so charming! How about in high school when you broke your leg and you couldn't join the hockey team with me? That wasn't even your fault and you still went out of your way to work two jobs to try and get that surgeon to cast the spell to repair your leg! When you found out it would take thousands of credits, you went out of your way to use the money you had gained to buy me an autographed jersey from one of my favourite teams! Then, when that failed, you booked an ice hockey rink for us for one night where I could shoot at you while you were the goalie!'

Harm had to laugh. He remembered that. He nearly killed himself working those two jobs. Even more so when he somehow managed to stand and get pelted with hockey pucks by Daniel who had a very strong arm. He also remembered the reason he did all those things... it was because of his feelings for Daniel and he was always so desperate to ensure the Draconis was never mad at him for long.

'Just do what you always do, Harm,' Daniel advised. 'If you like this guy, you should show him exactly what he's getting into. If he doesn't like the crazy, over-the-top apologies you cook up, the half-baked fixes that spawn from paralysing anxiety attacks and moments of confusion where it is impossible to tell lies from truth with you then you can at least get him to forgive you.'

It broke his heart to read that message. Daniel just got him. They were the best of friends and Daniel just knew him inside and out. The Draconis was his better half, the sun that guided him through thick and thin. Yet, despite that, despite just how close they were, they just couldn't be 'together' as a couple. He knew that. They both did.

He began typing but thought better of what he was going to say and erased it quickly. After some thought, he sent a message saying, 'How did you do it? How did you know that chasing another person was worth it and you weren't just attracted to them because of their body?'

A minute passed... and then another.

"I thought so..." he murmured softly, shutting the Telecube. The moment he did, it vibrated in his paws. Surprised, he opened it to find Daniel's response.

'You know what? I didn't. It was sort of hit and miss. You just have to try.'

Harm recalled Elena's advice.

'Let it go'.

Matched with Daniel's titbit...

'You just have to try...'

Slowly, he began typing his thoughts down.

'You mean... Just go for it and never regret the decision you made?'

He hit 'send'.

Daniel responded almost immediately. 'Yeah! Though I'd put it into something more poetic. Maybe something like 'make you own path but never look back.''

Harm snickered and typed his response. 'Too corny.'

'Oh yeah, smartass? How'd you put it?'

He already had the answer. Two words. 'Own it.'

He could sense Daniel's confusion. 'Whut...?'

Harm typed one last message before shutting the Telecube off. 'I'll tell you later.'

He immediately leapt off his bed and turned towards the door. Shinniah was standing there, regarding him with those bright, red eyes. The sight of her killed his bright mood almost immediately and he growled at her.

"What do you want?"

She did not show any signs of offense to his rude greeting. "Duke Dalzemor is making an appearance a not too far from here. Andrew will tell you more."

At that moment, a knock came to the door. Harm eyed Shinniah warily before pulling open the door to reveal Andy.

The Leomian's bright, blue eyes shone and his face split into a dazzling, overly excited grin. "Cool, you're up. Tanar and Smallfang said you might be unconscious from drinking too much."

"I can hold my alcohol," Harm rumbled. "Besides, the beer here is more fruit than alcohol." He shook his head. "What did you want?"

"Duke Dalzemor just made an appearance!"

Harm frowned at Andy's enthusiasm. He doubted Andy was excited because he hoped to assassinate the Vampiri duke. "I don't see why you're so excited."

"You haven't heard?" Andy sidestepped, inviting Harm to follow him down the hallway. Harm put on his boots quickly before following. "Duke Dalzemor is actually a huge proponent for Vampiri relations with the rest of the world! He's pretty much the talk of the city right now! Has been for the past five months! He has always kept his identity a secret though. That's what made him such an enigma but also an incredible influence on the world."

The idea of this charismatic, influential man who was promoting revolutionary ideas but hiding in the shadows would be fairly enticing. But something felt a little off about it...

"Wait, how did he promote his ideas if was never seen?"

"It started out with letters," Andy answered as they entered the atrium. People of all shapes and sizes were clamouring out and pushing one another to fit through the doors. Harm and Andy hung back, watching the fanatical scramble to catch sight of the illusive duke. "Apparently, he handwrote thousands of letters and left it in people's mailboxes. Then, he started sending mail to the other influential people in Mirecragg. The news outlets caught wind of it and began publishing his stories. Everyone thought that 'Duke Dalzemor' was just an alias and then he began holding balls and galas in his private residence in the lower city and everyone knows only the really rich or nobility can get permanent places down there."

Harm raised an eyebrow at the Leomian. "You listen to a lot of gossip, don't you?"

"What do you think I've been doing the past few days?" Andy seized Harm's arm tightly. "Oh! I found this amazing manicurist! She did my claws!"

He raised his other eyebrow. "Don't take offense to this but... are you gay?"

The Leomian shrugged and let go of his arm. "I'm an academic at heart. I am open to any and all avenues of knowledge."

"So...?"

"Bisexual," Andy said with a shrug. "Not sure which gender I prefer though. Haven't really had the opportunity to explore. People see these two pauldrons and they automatically think 'Templar'."

The crowd only seemed to be getting bigger. Everyone was clamouring to leave. It fascinated him just how eager all the people of Mirecragg were to see Dalzemor. It was a little uncanny.

"Why don't you take off your Valour and pauldron, then?" Harm asked. "I know Eton takes off his uniform."

"And how do you know that."

The question disarmed him as he realised the answer was 'because for the better part of a day, I was wearing his spare clothes'. "He told me."

By stripping in front of me and then ravaging me with his hot, muscular body...

"I... see," Andy said, trying to hide a laugh. "Well, I can take off my pauldron but Celestial Crime... not so much."

Harm regarded the Initiate with shock. "Wait... You can't take it off?"

Lifting his right arm, Andy let the black metal of Celestial Crime glisten in the soft light of the atrium. "My mother used to joke that I came out of the womb with it. Fact is, about ten years ago, it was brought to Diatollia, which is where I grew up by the way. As is custom, it was paraded across from town to town, house to house by the Church and anyone willing to touch it has a chance of being its chosen wielder. I touched Celestial Crime and it bound to me ever since, unwilling to let go."

He winced. "It must be really hard to bathe..."

Andy was surprisingly dismissive about the topic and shrugged. "Eh, you make do, right? I mean, having a Valour that can tear holes in the space-time continuum and allow you to cross vast distances isn't so bad. Besides, now I have an excuse not to take a bath!"

Harm frowned and edged a little away from the Leomian. "What are you, eight?"

"You're only as young as you feel!"

"I think considering how you're sexually curious and you feel like you're a preteen, judges all around the world would have to redefine the term 'paedophilia'."

Andy smirked and turned his head back towards the crowd. "We all have our burdens to bear. Some people say that having a Valour is a gift but it has its consequences. Neither Tanar nor I can take off our Valours but for Tanar it's more like he doesn't have thumbs. Aria's Valour, Gungnir will always strike something as long as it has tasted the blood of a foe once. Even if she were to throw the spear in the opposite direction, it'll make its way back to the target whatever the case." His blue eyes switched to Harm. "And you've got a Valour that completely disintegrates anything the blade touches."

"Except me."

"So you can touch the blade and you won't die?"

"Would be kind of stupid otherwise, wouldn't it?" he responded.

Andy shrugged. "I suppose. Something else to add to the biography." The crowd was starting to thin as more people streamed out into the streets and less piled into the atrium. He flicked an ear in the direction of several young women who were excitedly chatting amongst each other with the starry-eyed expression of fangirls about to meet their idol.

"From all this attention," Harm began, "you'd think this Duke is someone really popular."

Instead of a sadistic bastard who tormented an entire city with his cronies... but for what?

"Some kind of romantic playboy apparently," Andy said with a shrug. "He sends letters out to all the lovely ladies of Mirecragg with his signature golden rose. He is an accomplished wordsmith. I've read some of his letters."

Harm flicked the Leomian a startled stare. "You got a letter?"

"No." Andy grinned broadly and wiggled his right paw. "When you have a Valour that can rip through the fabric of the space-time continuum, pickpocketing and thievery becomes very easy."

He backed away slightly from the Initiate, utterly surprised at the answer. "Wait... are you telling me you stole those letters?"

"Stealing implies that I kept the letters." Andy tapped the side of his head. "I have an eidetic memory. I just need to look at a letter and I'll recall it precisely." Stroking his goatee lightly, Andy said, "He isn't lame and constantly lathers flattery on a person. He actually goes in for personal detail. Each of the letters actually goes into great detail about recalling events where he supposedly 'spied' on the lady in question and compliments them on how they were dressed and targets their insecurities."

"Targets their...?" Harm frowned. "Wait, wouldn't that turn off a person?"

Andy gestured towards where some couches were positioned and they seated themselves on the feathery cushions. "No, he actually points them out knowing full well that his target knows about them but then turns that insecurity into an ideal of individuality and makes them feel better about themselves. For instance..." He eyed Harm. "I'm going to say... you really like your tail but you hate your jaw."

Harm was halfway out of his seat. "What kind of bullshit is that!? Every Wulfun is proud to of their tails! It's big, fluffy and great to cuddle with on cold lonely nights! And my jaw is perfectly fine! Not at all slim and fox-like."

Realising what he had said, he sat back down and growled.

Andy was smiling softly at him. "What if I said Dalzemor would have told you that if every Wulfun was proud of their tails, it would not separate you from others but the fact that you have a jaw reminiscent of a Vulpunus makes you utterly unique and outlines your gentler side?"

He shifted in his seat to hide the slight tingling he felt in his chest. "I'd say that was fairly creepy..."

"But?" urged Andy.

"But... nice to hear... Thanks." Pushing the odd sensations away, he gazed at Andy after a faint, gruff grunt. "How'd you know?"

Smiling brightly, the Initiate said, "I wanted to be a psychological profiler before I got my Valour. People fascinate me." The Initiate's blue eyes narrowed dangerously and obtained a dark, ambitious spark. "But no one else fascinates me more than Harm Chronos."

"I'm -"

"The other one," Andy interrupted, a faint smile crossing his features. "He trained me, you know. Taught me for a year. I tried to get a read on him but he knew exactly what I was like and he led me on so many paths and so many distractions that by the end, I was convinced I needed to learn from him. Then, he pulled the ultimate trick by using me. Everything I had learned, everything I knew about him, it was all a perfectly orchestrated act to get me to learn an even deeper lesson and to get me to do what he wanted."

Andy leaned forward, peering into space with his eyes afire. "He is the greatest enigma for a profiler."

Harm opened his muzzle to mention just how creepy that sounded when he began connecting the dots. A picture formed in his mind but he needed to sit back a moment, stare into Andy's ambitious eyes and piece things together a little longer. When Andy's eyes flicked towards him, he decided to take a stab.

"You think Dalzemor is the Chronomancer, don't you?"

Smirking, Andy stroked his goatee a little more. "It's a working theory. The thing is, Lord Chronos is way too smart to just let me track him like this. I mean, he clearly used Nephilis as a messenger. She pointed at me and told me I would be her undoing."

"But you weren't."

"Exactly!" Andy's eyes were bright, wide. "So that leads me to believe that Lord Chronos meant something else in the message."

This kid is a little obsessed...

"Have you ever thought that I was just awesome and smacked that bitch?"

Andy shook his head, eyes gazing once again at the crowd. "No. He's too smart for that. Too good."

Unsettled by Andy's reveal, Harm turned his gaze away from the crowd and towards the rest of the hotel, searching for something to distract him. A frown crossed his features when he spied the clerk behind the desk was just standing there, staring blankly into space. For a second, he thought the human's eyes flashed bright red but he dismissed it as a trick of the light. The clerk suddenly jerked, let out a sigh and joined the rest of the crowd.

Guess he was just contemplating whether to join the rest of the group or not...

A loud cry suddenly ripped out from the crowd. Harm snapped his head back towards the double doors in time to see several Vampiri dressed in jet-black armour wearing scowling bat helms push aside the crowd. Arms desperately grappled past each of the armoured figures, scrambling for the person that the Echoes were guarding.

Echoes.

A growl rippled from his throat and he was halfway out of his seat when the Echoes immediately made their way towards them. Andy had an innocent, bright smile on his face, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. The Echoes immediately surrounded them, their hands resting on their swords while dark shields hung from their arms. Harm could feel their empty gazes prickling his flesh.

Wordlessly, two of the Echoes sidestepped, revealing a tall human dressed in a blood red cloak and finery. He seemed very young but there was a dark menace in his eyes that made him appear so much older. His lanky features fitted a teenager just getting over his growth spurt.

"Can I help you?" Harm snarled. The crowd had stopped their squealing.

The man smiled, lifting the diamond topped cane he was holding and pressing it against his chest. "My apologies, you do not know who I am, do you?" The noble bowed, sweeping his blood red cloak out behind him and peering up at them from under his brow.

"My name is Alexander Dalzemor, Duke of Underwing, noble of Mirecragg."