As he started to set up the site, opening up and spreading the blanket onto the ground and preparing some of the items from the picnic basket, Raeguel wondered about all this. Melina was very nice, and he did owe her his life, but was what Nerezza had been saying was truly the case? He was well familiar with how some women in his life had confused lust with love, and if this was the case, it wouldn’t have been the first for him. Or maybe he was just overthinking things because he wasn’t sure how to handle it. If her feelings were as deep as he was told, he didn’t know how he would respond. Genuine love had been a rare thing in his life that he was sure that only came once to him. All other sorts were either confused with lust or an unhealthy obsession of a couple of women in his life. He did remember that she tried her best to get him out of his shell back when he first came to the temple. Perhaps his daughter was right and he was just being a stick in the mud about all this.

Dressed casually in a red shirt with black trousers and boots, his hair pulled into a long ponytail down to his shoulder blades, he felt strangely out of place which was a feat for himself. He was used to seducing and stringing people along, but in this case it felt foreign to him, like he was in a new land where he didn’t know the language or customs there. Perhaps it was empathy that stirred in him, a feeling that he had let drown into the back of his mind and heart for so long that it was strange to feel it resurfacing after all this time.

Golden orbs lifted up towards Melina’s direction the moment he heard her speak up. “Why, yes”, he managed to say as he started to pour the bottle of wine into two glasses. “I had Lucian come and tell you while I…well…set this up.” Raeguel gestured to the picnic, and beckoned her to come over. “I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me…and my children. I don’t know of how much of a bother it must have been.” The daywalker gave her a friendly smile and offered her the second glass. He hadn’t missed her blushing earlier and wanted to make her as relaxed as possible. His eyes looked down to her form and shook his head, “I didn’t mean to take you away from your fun.” Raeguel then pointed to the petals all over her and sat down onto the blanket and patted at a spot beside him so that she could join him.

He was always so formal and to be honest, Melina had never met someone like that. The Rosenites were very open and honest people but they lacked a certain grace that Raeguel had. A smile appeared on her face as she watched him fill two wine glasses. “It looks very lovely and well thought out.” She tried to compliment him the best she could as she started her way over.

His words are what paused her though as she blushed once more. “It was no trouble. I could never let kin of my lady suffer. Any good clergy member would do the same thing.” Perhaps that was a lie as the blush deepened and she shyly turned her hazel eyes from him.

Her clergy outfit that she usually wore had been dirtied. She found herself in a light cotton dress. The dress itself was very light and not frilly at all. Modest wasn’t the word but more so plain was. It went to her knees and she found herself yanking on it nervously around the daywalker. A smile remained on her face as she tugged on the edge.


She seen the flowers on her and immediately freaked out. “OH! I wasn’t doing anything. I’m sorry for being such a mess.” She quickly brushed herself off. “I wouldn’t want to get it all over this nice picnic you have set up.” Her words were running into each other and she wore that she messed up a few of them as she quickly sat down by him as the last petal flew.

Her long hair was pulled back and tied up with a plain ribbon. “I’m sorry that I look so plain, I suppose is the word. Iva got my clergy outfit all muddied up. She is excited about the prospect of having a sibling.” She chuckled about the little golem and watched him softly. The blush never really went away.

“So why the picnic? Some kind of celebration of some sorts?” Worry spread across her face as she thought about it more. “You aren’t leaving are you?” Was it good-bye? Was she over thinking this kind gesture? Again she bunched her hands at the edge of her dress. Her hazel eyes were avoiding his now as she felt silly.

“Thank you, Melina. You are far too kind”, he replied as he watched her come over to the spot. “I never been one to call myself a chef, since I had no real need to cook. But I gathered whatever I could that wouldn’t result in me setting the kitchen on fire.” he chuckled lightly in his continuing attempt to make her feel at ease. So far he was seeing what Nerezza and the other girls had from Melina from the way she shied herself away from his gaze. The more it carried on, the more that Raeguel was starting to understand that he had been oblivious after all. For one that had once gloated about knowing when people kept secrets from him, he felt pretty foolish for not see this when it was right underneath his nose. Still, he kept face and continued to play host. He took out some plates with an assortment of fruits, meats and cheeses and two loafs of bread and settled them down around them. In comparison to much of the attire (or lack of) that the Rosenites wore, Melina herself was fairly practical. It had been a fresh change for him especially since he was used to the opposite for a very long time from both the inhabitants here and back home in his clan. It wasn’t hard to notice the dress she wore, after all it was the very thing that she kept pulling at but again he kept an observant eye without being too obvious.

Raeguel’s facade dropped though as Melina overreacted at the petals on her. He had to remind himself that she was still fairly young, even for humans. She had just entered womanhood, but even so she was mature for the most part so it often made him forget her age. “I didn’t mean to upset you”, he spoke as he picked off one last petal that was by her shoulder. “Do not fret about it. It’s fine”, he dismissed it with a wave of his hand while the other went to fetch him the red wine. He was starting to ponder if this had all been a setup from the start, and if so, who was the ringleader in this. Raeguel could only imagine that had there been one, there was only one person that fit the bill.

Again, he shook his head wanting to dismiss her worries. “This was a spontaneous thing really. It’s alright, I promise. At least you are modest for the most part. I’d prefer that over you strolling about nearly naked”, he said with a ghost of a smile before downing the wine. When he heard about the latest addition to the Rosenites, he tilted his head. “Another? I swear there’s no rest for that woman. Still, that’s no excuse for the little one to be running amok. Tell you what, she does it again, just let me know.”
The girl was full of questions, some of which had him perplexed with her guessing what this was all for. Even more so was that she looked distressed as she thought he was leaving this part of the realm. For a moment he kept silent and filled his glass again. It was plainly obvious to him at this point that the rumors seemingly true. Raeguel would eventually leave this place, though never for good as long as his children were here. If anything, at least Lucian would be here since he seemed content on being a shut-in here; Nerezza, was the other hand, would likely be with Kaiser, wherever they would be at. “I suppose this is for a celebration of sorts. My daughter just got engaged. I’m guessing you heard of Kaiser, her teacher?” He suspected that she had; most of the inhabitants here had and probably heard all the stories about the two. “And no, I’m not planning on leaving, permanently anyway. I do some traveling here or there, but I do manage return for the sake of my children. But there is another reason for this- I do recall that you wanted me to accompany you here again, and I thought a picnic would be wonderful for us.”

“You shouldn’t stress Melina. You are too lovely to let yourself stress over things”

Melina laughed a bit and smiled at him. “Next time, maybe I can cook for us. Lady Angela has taught me a lot about cooking.” She took a moment to blush. “Though,” She thought about it. “Do people taste different depending on what they eat?” It was a random question but she followed it quickly with a blush. 

She began to panic as he thought he upset her. “No, you didn’t upset me Raeguel. It’s just embarrassing a bit. You should have seen me before Lucian came to get me.” She didn’t bring any clue on what she might have been doing. She blushed as he took the last petal off of her. “Thank you.” She took her glass of wine and sniffed it. It smelled good.

When the subject came to the goddess Melina laughed and gave him a funny smile.  “This one was a surprise. Drae and herself were honestly really shocked.”

After her panic, she settled down and gave him a frown. “I’m sorry for being in a panic.” She nodded about Kaiser. “I’ve heard about it around the temple. It’s wonderful for Nerezza, not many Rosenites get married.” Her fingers relaxed at the edges of her dress and she gave a smile. “That will be nice. I wish I could travel outside of the temple. Maybe eventually Lady Angela will find a way for me to be able to go with you, if you don’t mind of course.” It would probably take her entire human life for there to be a way but she tried not to dwell on it.

“This picnic is wonderful.” She seemed to be calming down. “Will you tell me about Revaliir on the outside?” She took a piece of fruit and offered it up to his lips with a blush. “I don’t mean to be so jumpy about everything. I’m just not use to talking to men very often.”


She knew he heard the rumors. “I’ve just been freaking out over… well how I feel when I’m with you.” She blushed and looked away. “Your daughter has a way of rubbing it in with the  other twins.” She laughed lightly. “The petals were me trying to figure out if I should bring it up.”

He had to think long and hard about her question. It was a strange one to ask, but it made him have to think back to plenty of feedings and he was truly unsure about whether or not food played a factor. “I couldn’t say. I could taste differences in blood between people, but I never seemed to question it before. It may have to do with that though.” Some had tasted bitter to him while other were sweet on the lips; he had assumed that it had to do with one’s own purity but now he suppose that was just the monster’s way of thinking. He tried to keep from feeding on others for as much as possible, but every now and then he would have to retort to either feeding on the wicked or a more preferred option, blood wine. Thank the gods that it existed here as well.

Raeguel had wanted to calm her down, but felt it would do nothing more than to alert her even further. On some level though, he found her behavior somewhat funny. He had been used to the grace that his admirers possessed, particularly since they were mostly on the supernatural side or that they had been noblewomen that he had tried to make use of for his own advantages. This was a situation that he hadn’t dealt with before, so he was playing it by ear. There was a part of him that still believed that Melina was better off without him playing a significant role in her life. He was cursed in such affairs and he believed that if anything came from this, she would get hurt like all the others. Plus there were far better men out there for her than him, no matter how much Nerezza or anyone else believed otherwise. “I see nothing wrong with it”, the daywalker insisted, “It’s only petals. They come off very easily.” He still had no idea of what she had been up to around the time his son fetched her. As they started to take to the refreshments, he felt a bit more at ease as Melina started to enjoy it herself. The awkwardness was melting away from the situation, bit by bit. He had no idea of who this Drae was, other than possibly one of Angela’s suitors, but then again he had never pried that far into her personal life and nor would he. Only their twins, some of the other children he was aware of and Melina were of his concern in that situation. “Best of luck to them. The world is full of surprises, and it never cease to amaze.”, he replied, taking in a piece of cheese and flung it into his mouth. He merely mumbled to himself as far as the engagement went; he supposed that it was the best course of action- his daughter was smittened by her teacher and he seemed to share similar feelings for her, but hadn’t acted on them due to pacts and his own mannerisms.

“Well, this one will be getting married and hopefully they will find happiness for the rest of their lives. That is all I could ever want for my children.” It was something that eluded him his whole life, chasing after impossible dreams that were nothing more than terrible nightmares for others. At least for Nerezza and Lucian, they still had a chance of capturing it. Popping another piece of cheese, he looked at her curiously and quietly pondered among himself. “I’m supposing it’s due to your curse, no?” It slipped Raeguel’s mind nearly that Melina was afflicted with the curse induced by her own blood. It was a shame that she was like that of a caged bird, even if it was for her own good. Sipping at some wine, Raeugel found himself not feeling right about this all over again. “I think she will find a solution to it, Melina. And when she does, I won’t mind escorting you around.” Much of this realm was still a mystery to him, but he suppose that he could at least show her the sites he had been. Much of it did remind him of home after all.

The more they talked, the more relaxed she seemed and he was at least comfortable with that. “I suppose some of the places remind me of where I had came from. There were also places the likes of which I never saw before.” He would have continues on, but Melina teased him somewhat with the fruit and instinctively he bite at it without second thought. But soon his thoughts about the whole thing with her came back and it didn’t really surprise him when she all but confirmed the rumors to be true. His demeanor shifted and there was an eerie quietness about him as his gaze fell away from her. He didn’t know how or why she felt that way about him, perhaps it had to do with her lack of experience with men. Eventually he knew that this would come sooner or later, and now he would have to face this particular set of demons.

“Melina.” It was difficult for him to find the words to explain, Raeguel wasn’t even sure if there were any right words for this. “If so, may I be so bold to ask why….why me? I am sure if you were to truly hear of my legacy, you would feel different.” His gaze slowly lifted to look her in the eyes, there was shame trailing off in his voice for all that he had done. “I have killed and slaughtered for centuries- there is so much blood on my hands. That…and it never ends well for those that get close to me. Nothing but death and decay.”

It had nothing to do with the fact that petals could in fact come off so easily. Her hazel eyes watched him for what seemed like a long drawn out moment. He had no idea what those petals truly meant but what he said only made her turn to laugh. Melina nodded a bit and smiled. “Apparently, Iva says the baby is going to be a boy. Angela and Drae were ecstatic at it just being alive.”

She brought the wine to her lips and sighed nodded. “I do wish them the best. It is more than I could ever wish for living here.” She nodded to him and watched him with gentle eyes before downing the rest of the glass. “Yeah, whatever it may be.” A grin appeared as he gave her his word he would take her about. “I would really like that.”

She appeared less jittery now around him as they calmed down. “Will you show me everything?” She leaned forward towards him a bit. “I want to see it all… even tiny grass knolls.” It was real unlike here. Well here was a real but when Angela’s time did come… it would die. A realization came to her mind and she was filled with a deep awkward silence for a moment. The day Angela fell, her family would die.

She snapped to when he called her name and she gave him a small smile. She listened to his words before leaning forward and gently cupping his chin. “My family for generations took the lives of innocents to sacrifice them for power. They murdered and pillaged. For a thousand years, they did so before falling to Lady Angela.” She shook her head lightly at him. “If they can change so can you. Look at you Raeguel. It isn’t about what you were but what you are now.”

She took her hand away and frowned. “I like your resolve. You do whatever you must for your family. You are smart and honorable despite what all has happened. You do not stare at me with hungering eyes like one would say to me. You talk to me and listen to me. Despite me not having anything to give you, you listen. I’ve never had that before except when my lady wants to be around. It’s very difficult to consider this living Raeguel. You? You are living and even though you are practically shutting yourself in, or you were, you have a lightness to you. I like that.”

She appeared anxious but she calmed down. “Angela… already told me a lot.” She looked away. “But that wasn’t the you now. We all pay for things. You have a new life here, and while you want to pay back for everything you have done… The world here does not think you owe it anything. I don’t think you owe it anything. You have been nothing but a kind and gentle man, even if that was different… You are different now.”

She took a moment before leaning forward and pressing her lips against his forehead. “You are a good father who would give anything to save the souls of his children… That’s all I need to know about the type of man you are.”

This was as awkward of a situation as it could get for Raeguel. There was hardly a situation he couldn’t figure a way out of, a question that he couldn’t find the answer to. And yet, for all that he was, he was left defenseless in the hands of a young woman now. Nemesis would have found someway to avoid all this but he could not. He didn’t want to solved this the way he would have- that would only lead to more pain and grieve. Melina deserved better in his eyes- so much more than what he had to offer. A former tyrant and murderer, a thief and a violator. He was everything in the book of vile words and then some and yet it didn’t deter her. Nay, if anything it only fueled her to show him that he was not the monster he was before. Every touch presented to him was met with some form of small quivering from his body as he tried to make sense of her, of all that she spoke of.

If anything, she was a saint and beckon of light for him. It only made him feel all the more guilty that he had inadvertently gained her affections. So much that it was damn near impossible for him to even gaze at her. He couldn’t recall a time that he felt this way, so confused and wayward in this situation. All his senses were telling him to flee from her and to get away; perhaps then she would be able to find someone better. As her words reached out for him, Raeguel was starting to wonder why he was afraid. At first he believed that it was a mere infatuation, some young lust on her behalf but now he was pondering it wasn’t her at all that was mistaken, but rather himself. Perhaps he wasn’t trying because he was afraid of the outcome, that all that even showed him some form of love ended up getting hurt.

Andrea. Azrail. Amisi. Morrigan. Zora. Reaver. Desmond.

All that had associated with him one way or another had perished in some gruesome fashion or were never seen again. He looked on with a blank stare as he thought about his demons. Yes, he was fearful of what could happen to those that tried to get close. He didn’t want Melina to end up on the long list of people he had failed. His golden eyes became misty with tears slowly rolling down them before he forced himself to look at her finally. “I…I’m not that person anymore. I don’t want to be.” He wiped at his eyes and looked onto what was on his hand; Raeguel remembered the last time he cried was when he was first turned and abandoned by those that he needed the most. His own father was the one that threw him out and he allowed sadness and madness to take over him. “I have caused so much pain to those that don’t deserve it. I have hurt those that tried to love me, how do you know that it won’t happen with you as well?” There was fear in his still watery eyes, of something, anything that could happen to her. He chuckled a pained laughter as she spoke about a lightness in him; that was something that was a shocker to him given that for the longest time he could only thrive in the dark. In an attempt to calm himself, he poured some more wine into his glass and downed it as he tried to calm himself. “I want the world to be a safer place. For my children and everyone else. You especially. You…you all are all I have in this world. You do not owe me anything- Melina, you gave me life. I am forever in your debt.” Several unneeded breaths afterwards, Raeguel was starting to feel better about the conversation. “I guess I got used to never speaking about my feelings. It was something that I thought that would only get in the way of my goals. I wanted to see the world burn, but now…now I want the strength to protect it. You are right, I am different. I have people that I need to fight for.” She had been right the entire time; he needed to stop feeling sorry for himself and move forward. He would never be able to make it up to the people he had wronged in the past, but now he could see to it that this world didn’t suffer under the boots of people like Nemesis. He froze in place as Melina moved in kissed his forehead, leaving him motionless until she pulled away in which he grabbed her out of instinct and gave her a brief kiss, his lips brushing softly against hers before he released her.

“Thank you Melina.

She blushed at him lightly and gave a smile. “I’m not all you have Raeguel. You have your children as well. They, who love you above all else.” She understood what he met though as she reached over and gently took his fingers in her own. It was an odd feeling for sure. It was a good feeling.


It didn’t take much for the girl to be in shock as they kissed for the first time. Her face had to be more red than Angela’s hair at that point. “You don’t need to thank you.. I only told you how I feel. I told you the truth.” She stayed close as her body was extremely dizzy.

Though something caught her attention as the red headed figured came out clapping. “I was hoping, maybe slightly that you both could help each other out.” She pointed at Raeguel. “And before you say anything, I had nothing to do with how the girl feels. You two ended up at this point on your own accord. HOWEVER, I do have good news.”

A smile crossed her face as she stared at the two love birds. “Melina can leave the temple. I never had someone I could actually count on before but I wanted to make sure that you two would get to this point. It always came down to someone Melina could love.” 

A thought look crossed her face as she smiled wider. “Raeguel, I can bind Melina to you, however, you would have to feed her your blood. What I can do, is bind you to my temple, let a portion, a sliver, of magic from it enter you. Enough to bind her, it, and you. It will last as long as I live and am Goddess. Whenever you want to take her out you can feed her your blood. HOWEVER, there will be a duration. You must get her your blood every twenty four hours or the curse will start to kill her.”

Melina had a look of disbelief on her face, "I.. I can leave?"

"You can leave." Angela nodded, "but only if Raeguel takes you. Oddly enough I've been looking into this curse for years. Only a vampire, old enough, can help you. Raeguel just happens to be old enough to control the powers surging in his blood from my temple. He can't use it but I will inhabit him. Basically, he will become a holy place without actually being a place at all. If he wants to."

The moment Angela came into the picture, Raeguel did nothing but rub at his temples. He had suspected that she had tried to set him and Melina up together, and while the Goddess refuted the claim before it could pour from his mouth, he wasn’t completely convinced yet. Remaining by Melina’s side, he glanced at Angela with a questioning look to what good news she had planed. When it came down to her being able to leave the temple, he looked towards her and noted the disbelief. After so long, she deserved to see the outside once more and the solution seemed so simple. That was until he had honestly given it some thought. “My blood? I am sure that it is powerful, but…to feed it to a human?”

He had never heard of such a thing before, at least without trying to turn the person in question. Then again, the twins’ existence had been an abnormality as well. The concept just seemed ludicrous, not to mention he being some sort of lab rat in this. There was much behind that bloodline and plenty of it spelled out disaster that he knew quite well. “The power behind it is what caused for my sire and my sired to become mad, or at the least had brought it out from the recesses of their minds. How do we know what it will do to Melina?” He was a prime example in his past- Nemesis had already been crazed long before he had a drop of the Blood in his veins. It had only served to make him all the worse and that was saying something. What effects would it have on her? He was somewhat troubled by images playing in his head of her falling into the very same trap of murder and darkness, unable to stop the killing and the descent.  

Raeguel wasn’t rejecting the idea, but he was attempting to think ahead of this in case something was to go wrong. He had to hope that Angela had already saw the potential danger and knew of how to counteract it.  He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently against his own.  He wasn’t going to be the one to deny her freedom, but he was also looking out for her. There weren’t too many people in his life now, and those that remained, he would protect with everything he had. “I do accept this, though I am weary of what the Shiran blood will also do to you. But I will not have you kept here for the rest of your days, Melina.”

He then turned his sights to Angela, “Will there be any sort of side effects from me feeding her vampire blood? I have to say that this is all new to me.”

Angela looked at Melina and took a great sigh. “So, she hasn’t told you yet.” Melina looked down at her feet for a moment and shook her head. “That mark on her? That’s a curse mark from being purified. It goes away slowly over centuries, for every century one lived as a vampire. Melina’s family took the plunge a long time ago as skilled necromancers, you already knew that, but they weren’t always human. I had vampires from a god in Parvpora come over after they learned a new god of Death arrived. They had lost theirs long ago. It was a family, blood, that had taken the bite together.”

Melina looked away and chewed on her lip. “The sins of Melina’s family go far back, she is accepting of you because she knows what you are going through.” Angela came over and hugged the girl. “No need to be afraid. I know you don’t like to talk about it. You can tell him the rest when you are ready. Anyways, the only way to purify a vampire completely, and grant them the ability to have children again, was to do the curse mark. They were willing and me, being well, me I did it. They had something I wanted. My temple would be their salvation. I didn’t know they would be so hurt by everything.”

Angela paced back and forth. “However, that was the only way to do it. So I’ve been searching for years, in fact, of a way to liberate Melina’s family. Come to find out the only way to give them freedom is to give them the one thing they were running from.” Angela waved her hand at Raeguel. “Your blood and her blood are equally matched. Trust me. The girl’s blood retained all the power that her ancestors managed to take from living forces. With each new member of the family completing their cycle, that power goes away, it’s part of the deal.”

“My point is, your blood can’t hurt her mind. If anything it might make things a bit more clear to her. The first member of her family that went through it, went damn mad. We had to kill him. It was Melina’s great grandfather.”

Melina spoke up, “But, the rest of my family was fine. See he had it the worst because he was the leader of the cult. He was the most powerful of my family. When they had decided to become vampires, they didn’t seek a vampire out, they went to see a god for it.” She whimpered a bit. “It wasn’t until Angela turned to the light side of where she is now, that we came to our senses.”

Shaking her head at Raeguel, Angela smiled. “The price for their freedom has already been paid. Vampricy cannot effect them, except in this way. I’ve been experimenting..” Angela looked at Melina for a moment and sighed. “Your cousin wanted me to find out so you could be free.”

Melina looked down again and nodded. “He was sick.. there was nothing for him to lose. What happened?”

“I took him out to Adeluna. He was fine and we knew you would be once we found someone to support you like I had him. But, he wanted you to find someone who would make you happy. Raeguel isn’t lying when he says his blood is strong, but if my theory is correct your vampire family was on the same level his was. All we are going to do is ignite the little bit of vampire power in her blood. Because it isn’t from her family, it shouldn’t have another effect other than letting her leave this place. This is a sin she never should have been paying.”

Melina gave a smile and looked at Raeguel. “I was going to tell you about it. I just didn’t know how to bring it up. I didn’t want you to think there was something more wrong to me than what there was.”

Angela turned on her heel and looked back. “And no my blood did not kill her cousin. He was dying of a mortal, very human, disease. Come along. I need you to drink from my cornucopia.” She beckoned them both to follow her into her room.

The room itself was tore apart. Mostly because of Iva and her night terrors. Her golden cornucopia was floating in the corner of the room. The fireflies around it dances as if stuck in that particular spot. “This is the heart of my temple.” She touched the cornucopia and smiled. “I’m only going to give you a bit of a taste.” She took some things from the walls and smashed them into the golden horn. She began to hum as magic poured into it. The smell of something sweet began to fill the air. “Hope this tastes good, this I’ve never done before.” 

Melina quickly took Raeguel’s hand as if her goddess was scaring her a bit.  Angela took a book and like magic melted it into the cornucopia. “Let’s see… other little things I can put in there. OH YES!” She took some of the flowers she grew and threw it into there. “Okay, drink.” She held the cornucopia up to Raeguel. “It might taste weird.”