It had been a fortnight since news of a new family moved into Kurayo, but as with many things as of late, Nemesis simply let it be for the time being. Much of his free time had been devoted to both his wife and child but every now and then he would hear things of the newest flock in passing. Tidbits here and then and while it would only captivate his interest for moments before he moved on, the elder vaewolf would hear quite intriguing things. There was only two of them, a “lord’ and his lady, nothing too out of the ordinary. In fact, it didn’t seem like it was worth his time had he not heard what the pair was like. The man was said to be a greedy little schemer and his lady was one that doted on him ever so much. The descriptions of the pair though were what made his blood run cold, but it was much more of the woman’s than the man.

It was quite a longshot and even he couldn’t believe he would waste his time on such, but something gnawed at him to at least see what this couple was like if nothing more than to ease his mind of nigh impossible things. After he made sure that his family was alright for the evening, he left for the address. He was sure that it was just a coincidence but he knew that it would continue to nag at him long before it would cease unless he did this.

—

Ever since they made it through the hell that was that damn pyramid, Desmond and Saffron came back with more treasure than they could ever dream of. For the vampire, it was about damn time that they got theirs. There would be no worrying about finding a place to spend the night or worrying about money anymore. In fact, after they sold off what they didn’t like (which was a lot for him on his end), they returned to Kurayo, the home he had started out with nothing. How fitting that he would come back better than before and soon they were able to buy themselves a lavish house in the upper districts.

Desmond was gleefully counting some of their fortunes, some of which was already invested to make them more money and keep them on this life of leisure. There was not too much mind placed on what Saffron would buy for herself or the dragon- hell she could have splurge as much as she wished but he was sure to keep it so that they wouldn’t be completely screwed.

“This was the life that we deserved, darling!”, he spoke as he played with one of the towers of coin in the living room. His own wares had been changed from the tattered and ragged clothing into one that was fitting of a real lord’s. His hair was neatly trimmed and his overall demeanor was more pleasant than before. When the knock at the door arrived, he managed to look up from his playing and towards her. “Get the door, please. Probably another neighbor bidding us a welcome here.” It was rather annoying but they had to play nice while living out here, he supposed.

Saffron was sat on the floor with Allura. She had meat chunks in her hand and was pretty much treating the dragon commands. They were useful ones like when to breathe her ice breath and when to fly. She had gone out of her way to find someone to tell her the type of dragon Allura was. Only to find out that the small dragon would only stay the size she was. Though that was fine as they had moved into the upper district of Kurayo. It was her second home now and while Desmond spoke she smiled up at him.

Her strawberry curls were washed and put up with lavish pins. Jewels were around her neck and she looked like a real lady of the house in a wine colored gown. Even Allura got fancy meats but Saffron was sure not to spend overly too much of their new fortunes. Her “husband” was rather anal about their finances and she couldn’t blame him.

She had planted a whole garden outside though her strength was still a bit too much at times. There were broken stems and branches but they would heal with time. “Okay,” She got up off the ground. “Come on Allura lets say hell to a new friend!” Saffron who was absolutely gorgeous had garnered the attention of many of the nobles around them. She was friendly and new, which in some of their minds made her a target. They were kept back by Desmond who was gently reminding them that she was not to be messed with.

Saffron who was small opened the door and looked up at this newest neighbor. “Hello? How can I help you? This is the Blackwood residence. My name is Saffron Blackwood.” She was meek as she looked up at the tall white-haired man. Allura squealed up at him and Saffron chuckled. “This is Allura. She is harmless I promise.”

The moment the door opened, Nemesis had thought that the voices that plagued his mind about this couple would be silenced once and for all and he could go on with his life. But when his eyes laid upon the lady of the house, he was afraid that the outcome he sought was wrong. She looked exactly like Saffron and her introduction only made it worse. He just stood by and stared at her for the longest time- her naiveness was still there, although it was much better than it had been back then aside from that, she looked nearly the same.

“Saffron? Then I suppose you are familiar with a Desmond?”, he asked as he gently pushed her aside and entered the house looking about. “I am Nemesis Volkov. You can call me a friend of sorts.” As he looked around the house, Desmond caught sight of him and stood up. “Hey! Who are you?”, he demanded and Nemesis looked towards his direction. The man that had once been his most faithful servant and friend was here, but it became apparent to see that he was a shadow of his former self. It was a pity to see him with all that coin and he seemed to have lost his warrior nature.

“Desmond?”

“Yeah, you know who I am, but I don’t know who the bloody hell you are!”, he retorted as he marched up to the vaewolf only to be met with him unsheathing his sword quickly and using the flat side of it to strike at his hand. “Ow!”, he cried as he shook it, trying to alleviate the pain.

“By the gods, I would have never thought to see you as a fat cat.”, he replied with steel eyes before they latched onto Saffron. “Has he always been so money hungry?”

“Look here, you…” Desmond pointed his finger squarely at Nemesis only to receive the same punishment again and responded in similar fashion. “What have you two been up to? It’s clear that neither of you has met your alternate forms, or at least absorbed them…” Or maybe they had and were just the dominant ones. “Think of me as an old friend who brought you two together once an upon a time.”

It was true that Saffron was naive but she didn’t know better. “Desmond is my husband.” She said it confidently but she also sounded unsure because she didn’t know this man. Desmond had never gone out of his way to teach her to know better. That was something that Desmond thought would come to her eventually. “Desmond says that we have no friends,” Saffron muttered a bit as she trailed behind him. She wasn’t so used to anyone who would do such a thing gently to her. Or rather to her at all. Desmond had always been there to rip someone’s face off and yet the feeling from this person told her not to underestimate him. He was old… It made her hair stand on ends.

“DESSIE DON’T!” It was Saffron who yelled when Desmond marched up. There was a low growl that emitted from her. She wasn’t telling him not to do it because the man said he was a friend. She was telling him because Nemesis was clearly out of their league. It was different from DaeLuin where Desmond had been the voice of reason and Saffron had been the impulse. They were alike yet not.

Yet Desmond like always didn’t listen to her and Saffron let out a sigh. She put her hands on her hips. “He has been lately,” Saffron answered low but it was more of a submission than out of being naive. She knew when to roll over and not aggravate those she couldn’t handle. Even Allura was being submissive with her master. Her eyes shot at Desmond showing that she knew what she was doing at this point. This character. This Nemesis, she would not defy him, it was a dumb move.

“Desmond, stop.” She offered it up once more. She was his voice of reason. “We don’t hold any cards in this situation.” Unfortunately. “Pyramid digging. Getting lost in haunted woods. That sort of thing. Alternate form? In the five years, I’ve been with Desmond no such thing has happened and I’ve never seen you nor heard of you before.”

Tilting her head she examined him and found no lie in his eyes. “You’re telling us the truth then? This crazy fantasy you’ve woven and given to us?” Her eyes and facial features changed from innocent to serious as Allura flew and nested herself in a bed all of her own in the corner of the room. “Let’s hear him out, Desmond. I don’t think we have much choice in the matter.”

Like a good lady of the house she went and fetched some bloodwine for them. She offered them up and set the tray on the table. If it was one thing she had learned in the time they were in this manor it was how to entertain. “Tell us about these alternate forms. Whatever it is you are telling us… You believe it and are not lying… At least that I can tell. In a city like Kurayo if there’s one thing Dessie has taught me it’s that we need all the ‘friends’ we can get.”

Desmond didn’t like being told what to do and certainly didn’t have fond feelings for someone just barging into his home and was strolling about like he owned the bloody place. Of course, he was going to respond accordingly, even if Saffron was upset with him. He could sense that the “gentleman” was one of those elder vampires that thought that they had seen everything, thus knew everything and he wasn’t going to have any of that.

The sword struck him as quickly as it came out from nowhere and he licked his wounds why the man insulted him so. “A fat cat?!” His temper only worsens as Nemesis spoke to Saffron as if she was the one in charge. How freely he spoke to her, and the jealousy started to build inside him once more. But it seemed pointless once his guest struck him again as if he was a mere child and he was the parent in this scenario.

“You are one daft man…alternate forms? Coming into someone’s home and sprouting such crap?” Desmond looked at him with a somewhat confused look on his face. Saffron took the time to answer and entertain this ludicrous idea. “Don’t fall into this trap, Saffron. I don’t know how the devil he knows our names, but he must have spies or something. Being a nosy bugger will do that to you.”

“Hardly”, Nemesis responded as he watched the dragon fly away from the bizarre scene, barely paying Desmond mind. “I know that you two may doubt my words, but it matters not. It’s clear that you both hadn’t met with the selves I am familiar with. Such a shame really. The vampire’s narrowed his gaze and then looked to Saffron as she wanted to hear more of this. Gods, he loved her but sometimes she was too trusting, especially now. If he could have it his way, he would have thrown him out, but between his age and apparent skill he had exposed so far, it would have been a pointless struggle.

As much as he didn’t like it, he had to play the game for now and when Saffron returned with the refreshments, he took his glass and drank it while the elder took his own and spoke,“I guess there’s no harm. The Desmond I knew was a great warrior and my personal right-hand man. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything as the such in you…” He scoffed but didn’t speak- him, a knight? How laughable! “And you, dear Saffron- I would think that you have improved over the naive and love-stricken girl that wanted to do everything possible to grasp his attention. Your former selves were apart of something greater, a family whose bloodline is the original back home. We all were, but things had changed and clearly more so for the two of you. You seem to be the smart one in this couple, girl.”

“This is ridiculous. You think that I would be taking orders from you? I don’t care if you think you are out here with an open hand. That hand could turn to strangle us in the long run.” He then turned to his wife, “Saffron, you can’t seriously be believing this, right?” He fell onto one of the couches and threw his head back. This was simply stupid but a small part of him for some reason felt as though this fella was telling the truth. But it couldn’t be true, right?

“Friends we can be, provided that you listen to my word”, the vaewolf spoke, “You will need much to survive in this world around us. Otherwise, you will be devoured for all you lot are worth.”

“Really now? We have dealt with plenty of things and we are still standing, right Saffron?” He sighed and rubbed his temples as for some reason, this man’s voice seemed…familiar. Perhaps in passing somewhere? Downing his drink while Nemesis took a few sips, Desmond gestured to her to come sit with him while he tried to process all this. “I have lived in Kurayo most of my life. No, not as a noble but as a person from the lower district and I have fought to get where I’m at right now. She has a similar beginning out in a farming community and we have been together ever since, through thick and thin. You telling me that our fates had been replayed and differed elsewhere?”