SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2014

The last few days since leaving that lab had been a blur for Gaius. He had fallen asleep as soon as the most immediate danger passed, and then woke up in a room warmer and cozier than what he had become used to. There were magical and medical supplies stored in various places, but the room was furnished with wooden furniture, warm colors, and whatever greenery would grow in a place with so little natural light. Was this a mage’s private ward?

He woke up not knowing if he was feeling better or worse than he felt in the days prior to his rescue. He was lucid, and only a little groggy, but that made it much easier to notice just how weak his body really was after being in captivity for so long. He’ll probably need to use a good part of his magic enhancing his own body until it could function on its own again. At the very least, his magic was regenerating quickly enough to pull something like that off without exhausting himself, but that meant he wouldn't be able to do anything too outrageous.

He was still wearing the uniform that he was brought here with, straitjacket included. He noticed a fresh change of baggy clothes on a desk at the corner of the room, and full-body mirror next to his bed. Good, he needed to start by checking and seeing what kind of damage was done to his body over the past few months. He stood up and removed his coat and shirt, making note of everything mentally. He was as emaciated as he expected himself to be, but that wasn’t what he was worried about.

The web of dark tendrils extending from his heart could have been mistaken for tattoos. However, it may be more accurate to say that it was what was left of his heart; When he felt his chest, it wasn’t beating anymore. Gaius previously had the chance to see the network of roots that had started to spread from his heart while he was being experimented on, and it seemed to have expanded into the rest of his body since.

This may be the first time he’s seen a plant that he didn’t want anything to do with. He never should have brought that damn flower back to HQ.

"What's the matter? You're alive, aren't you? The others created so much trouble for me when they dropped dead, but you've always pulled through for me~"

Gaius was getting nauseated thinking about the whole thing, and forced himself to stop looking at the mirror. After quickly washing up, he changed his shirt and undergarments while keeping the same pants and coat. As much as he was ashamed to admit it, keeping the straightjacket off for too long made him uneasy; The coat had only been taken off of him when he was about to undergo a particularly horrifying test or procedure. That, and it did a good job of hiding whatever was going on with his body, at least. 

He looked over to the clock; it was eight in the evening. It was still early for nocturnal standards, but if his savior wasn’t up, he could keep himself busy exploring the house. But when he opened the door, Charlotte was already in the nearby kitchen, wearing sweats and a t-shirt while she was preparing an excessive amount of scrambled eggs. Just like in his room, the shutters were completely opaque. Despite that, the home looked exceedingly typical for a suburban home.

“Good to see you’re a functioning human being.” Charlotte watched Gaius approach and looked over to him in an attempt to read his body language. He didn’t seem physically tired to her, but there were signs. His eyes were sunken in, and the area around them was dark. There were also small signs that he was only somewhat cared for, such as chapped lips and hair that needed to be cut. 

“Good morning. Or good evening?” An awkward pause, as Gaius realized that he hadn’t actually interacted with nocturnal all that much during his time at Eclipse. He moved on, not wanting to embarrass himself. “Thank you. For everything.”

“I should be saying the same thing.” Charlotte smiled as she finished breakfast, putting a normal amount of food on one plate, and then about three times that on the other. She pointed over to the small table adjacent to the kitchen, and immediately started heading over there herself. “We have a lot to talk about. Sit.”

Gaius sat down first, watching her walk over, and wondering if she was really going to eat that much herself. All of the vampires he had met in his dealings ate somewhat less than usual, what with the blood drinking at all. He wondered if the artificial sunlight was still affecting her. He speculated right up until she placed that plate in front of him.

“Uh….” He was trying to think of some sort of objection to the mountain of food he was staring down, but there wasn’t anything he could say without sounding impolite or ungrateful.

“You’re freakishly skinny, and there’s something black creeping up your neck.” Charlotte stated the obvious. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but you’ve got some sort of parasite. We’ve probably got something that can kill it, but you’d be better at identifying what’s in my old man’s lab than me.”

“Thank you, but there’s no getting rid of this. At least not with a method that crude.” Based on what he saw and felt earlier, he was absolutely sure that Charlotte’s proposal would kill him outright. The angelroot had made itself a part of him, possibly at the expense of any organs that used to be in that general area. He would just have to accept what's become of him, while doing his best to keep the plant from killing him. He started working on the mountain of food sitting in front of him.

“Well, in that case, you better eat as much of that as you can before it starves you to death.” She started eating herself, leaving Gaius to wonder if that could happen, and how soon. The labs kept his diet very strict, and there was always this hunger no matter how much he had been given. But then again, his portions were never quite this large.

It was at this point that he noticed a photo on the wall of a child and a man. Most would assume the slender strawberry blonde figure was a woman, but Gaius recognized him immediately. As for the younger girl, she did look an awful lot like Charlotte. She looked like she had already been exhibiting signs of vampirism at that young age, but that can’t be right, can it? Nobody would turn a girl that young; even if underaged vampires keep growing to adulthood, a vampire that young couldn’t take care of itself. There must be another explanation, surely.

“You know Mr. Darwin?” Gaius asked. It wasn’t just an attempt at small talk. Both of them had a lot to explain, and he had a feeling that gently probing for information would be easier than asking any questions he had directly, at least to start.

“He’s my dad.” There was a bittersweet smile on her face. “And you?”

“He was something like a colleague. He was a family friend of my wife’s, and helped with some less sensitive projects as a consultant.” That was the simple version. All he really understood was that he was expelled from Eclipse, but was a friend of his wife’s family and thus stuck around. They had a mutual professional respect, but that was about it.

Charlotte grimaced at that news, but she kept pressing anyway. “What kind of projects?”

“He was involved in the earliest stages of the last one I was involved in.” Gaius subtly reached for the space where his heart once was. “We needed someone experienced in biological magic, and everyone referred me to him. I didn't want to get help from someone with that kind of history, but..."

There was actually very little that magic could do on its own. A mage using their bare hands could manipulate life and energy, but that wasn’t as expansive as one would think. Most of the more spectacular feats need specific materials, rituals, and other preparation. Being an adept mage also meant becoming a sort of engineer, and occasionally scientist. And it meant that any kind of material of magical origin was invaluable.

"The project was too sensitive to let someone exiled from the clan work on, so he was removed, and that’s the last I’ve heard of him.” He was trying not to think about the events in his life that happened around the same time, but was failing miserably. Compared to what else had transpired, not having to deal with Sinclair was a relief to him. He was rapidly losing what little appetite he already had, but somehow kept eating.

“Do you know where he was last?” There was a clear, hopeful tone in her voice.

“He was at HQ when I left on the expedition on my own. I never heard about him leaving, but when I got back, I had… my own problems to deal with, so I didn't pay attention to his dealings.” Gaius shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

Charlotte nodded forced a fake smile “He’s probably still wrapped up in Eclipse’s business, but he knows way too much to use as a test subject. So he wasn’t involved in whatever they were doing to you?”

“I never saw him or heard anything about him during all of this.” Gaius shook his head and set down his fork. He knows that he didn’t do anything to cause her mission to fail, but it still stung knowing that she was looking for her father and ended up rescuing him instead.

Charlotte shook her head. This was more information than she could have reasonably hoped for from him, so why did it sting so much? She stood up, though cleared nothing from the table. She wasn’t leaving, but she was more comfortable like this. “I get it. Your dead brother-in-law took priority.”

"It was... well, it was more than that." He had been one of the few people fond of his late brother-in-law, but this was when his plans for the future all began falling apart. He wasn't ready to talk about any of it, and needed to stay on topic.

She had a feeling that getting more out of Gaius would involve gaining his trust. That was going to be a long process, so she let up for now. Charlotte knew tell he had questions, and could already tell what some of them were, so it was her turn to start talking. “You probably noticed that funny looking childhood photo of me. The situation with my precursor is… complicated…”

She chuckled nervously, which only served to concern Gaius even more. He finally had to put down his fork as he looked directly into her eyes. “Who would even think of turning someone so young?”

“That’s the thing.” Charlotte broke eye contact. “I was never turned. Gaius, do you know why my old man was expelled from your clan?”

“He had been looking into cloning experiments. They never gave me the details.” Gaius’s heart started to sink. He was starting to connect the dots, but he wanted to be wrong so badly.

“And that’s where I come in. Since I was born this way, he was the only family I had.” Charlotte’s smile was bittersweet. With neither of them comfortable enough to react to what she just said, she took a breath and continued, as she started pacing around the small kitchen.

Gaius's eyes started to widen. Suddenly, things started making sense. Sinclair was much more powerful than anyone had told him, but he had used that power for something bordering on unnatural. But for what? If he just wanted a daughter, there were safer and less morally questionable ways of that.

“I guess that doesn’t change the big picture, huh?” Charlotte leaned backwards against a counter and started staring at the wall. “I’m sorry, but your girl being in charge of Eclipse complicates everything. I don’t know what she wants with my old man, but judging by what she was willing to do to you? I’m gonna guess she’d be willing to do anything to get what she wants out of him. So... thanks for listening.”

Gaius needed a moment to take everything in. There was one thing that Hikari may have wanted from a mage of that caliber. But she wouldn’t be that insane, would she? He decided not to speak up for now, not until he had more evidence for his suspicions. For now, he’ll find a way to change the subject. “So what’s your plan now?”

Charlotte noticed that he was trying to avoid talking about this further. She wouldn’t get anything if she pushed now, so she’ll just move on. “Not only did the bastards get the jump on me, but my old man wasn’t even in those labs. But he's still with Eclipse, I know it. I need knowledge, both on where he actually is, and how to counteract any tricks they have up their sleeves.”

Oh right, the lights. Gaius cringed silently. He had designed those things to be used in agriculture, not to be used for war crimes. “If you know of a good hiding place, I’ll try to lay low until you need anything.”

“If you want to help, you’ll stay right here.” Charlotte crossed her arms insistently. “And you should probably forget about hiding. You can stay in if you want to, but you’ll be better off out in the open where Eclipse will have a harder time making you go away.”

After pausing in surprise, Gaius made a noise that sounded a bit like an affirmation. She had clearly thought things through, and he owed her a lot. Not to mention, he didn’t have anywhere else to go at the moment. “I accept. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

“Well.” Charlotte’s eyes lit up. “Before we need to do anything, you need to learn how to act like a human being again, so we’re going on a few errands. Then, I’ll show you around my old man’s lab, it’s yours until he turns up.”

She got up and began walking away. “I’ve got some chores to get done first though. See you in an hour or so, and you better eat all of that.”

Gaius sighed. She hadn’t even eaten what she gave herself, and she’s expecting him to eat all of that? Would she let him off the hook if he offered to help with whatever she was doing? Well, he had an hour, he can probably do this if he paces himself. It wasn't like he was actively resisting the urge to eat like he had tried to in the labs.

Alex sat in the dining area of the fast-food restaurant. Surprisingly, naturals always found his appearance less off-putting than his fellow mages. His black hair had been dyed red in a few places, and the fox ears that he had given himself were purely cosmetic, but still quite real. But to naturals? He was just a funny cosplayer in a black cloak and fake ears. Naturals truly did just ignore or dismiss anything unusual, didn’t they?

He had come here for some chicken nuggets, but that somehow turned into listening in on employee conversations. Mostly, the conversations about a woman who showed up at night in a black van, and was very friendly with the female cashier who worked that shift. He knew that he was hot on the vampire's trail, and while that wasn’t enough to definitively conclude it was his mark, but he had a low-risk, high-rewards opportunity on his hands, and he wasn’t going to pass such an easy opportunity up.