It had been a thought that crossed the Lord’s mind quite a few times but up to this point, he had been preoccupied with worldly dealings as well as adjusting to the changes in his personal life. As he stood out in the courtyard, surrounded by the eerie beauty his hand had crafted, he looked upon his two ravens waiting patiently for his word. While Nemesis appeared as find as ever, internally, he was conflicted in pressing forward with the idea. Eventually, he gave into himself and turned his attention to the pair. “Crowe, inform Angela that we will be arriving soon. Maalik, go and bring Celeste with you to Elysia as soon as possible. Go and make haste.”

Both of them flew off once the commands were made and made the journey to their respective locations. He took a few moments to collect himself before he gated himself to the goddess’ realm. Although he had spent quite a few nights at her home, it was uncommon for him to show up in the middle of the day with all its radiance and colors. Regardless, Nemesis stood at the base of the palace, his mind drifting off to elsewhere. Arms were folded and his fingers drummed softly against them as he waited for his wives’ arrival. They wouldn’t have a clue of why he wanted to meet with them- no one would but himself.

When the other parties made it, he gestured with his head to dismiss both Crowe and Maalik so that he could be alone with Angela and Celeste. “I suppose that it been long enough that I have kept certain things secretive about my life. Of my former life before I had met either of you.” The vaewolf signed and lowered his gaze ever so bit. Speaking of his past life was one he didn’t take glee in; there were many scars and bad memories that were to be unwrapped today. Perhaps more than what they could handle but they had to move forward. He couldn’t be bound by the chains of his past if that was to happen. “Before I begin, are there any questions either of you has for me?”

Angela was in the middle of surgery when Crow arrived. Her eyes batted a bit towards him as she took her scalpel and finished up what she was doing. “I’ll meet him. Must be important,” Anglea hummed as her healing magic took fold in the room. Clergy members took the man who was healing nicely now and left her side. Changing with a snap of her finger she made her way out to meet him.

Wisteria was breathing heavily as she ran past her mother who had a sly smirk on her face. “DA!” Wisteria clung herself to Nemesis’s leg and smiled with a grin up at him.

“Wis, you get two minutes worth of hugs then you have to go okay? This is business,” Angela booped the small child on her nose before she hugged Nemesis some more. Celeste wasn’t that far behind as she gated in.

“Color me surprised when I was asked to come here during the day~” Celeste looked beautiful just like Ang did but in a more dark and mysterious way. The sunlight shined off her light skin highlighting the silver flecks.

Ang looked up at the sky and hummed a bit, “Alright, hug time with Daddy is over. Scoot your butt that way,” Wisteria held a sad face as she tapped on her butt. She moved reluctantly. “Maalik and Crowe are both here~” That got a smile out of her as she ran towards them. Ang gave an apologetic look before motioning towards her garden.

“If we are going to be made to be uncomfortable I suggest we take a seat in my tea rose garden. Might help the nerves,” Angela was a dutiful wife who saw that her husband wasn’t comfortable and Celeste was right behind her as they both took him by the arms and dragged him.

“Tell me the direction and I shall drag~” Celeste cooed softly.

“Just one step in front of the other,” Ang hummed as the world rippled like water and they found themselves alone in a very posh tea garden. Angela took a spot at a small table. “Come sit and no I really don’t have any questions for the moment.”

Celeste nodded, “I have too many questions most of which you will probably explain to us… So I will abstain from asking for right now.”

The little one had joined them for a brief time, providing the Lord with a welcoming distraction. His hand fell upon Wis’ head and patted it softly as she held onto his leg. He smiled back at her and allowed for her embrace up to the point where Angela had sent her off to be a menace to the unsuspecting men inside. “Forgive me, love. I wouldn’t have called for you if I hadn’t thought it important enough”, he apologized to Celeste. She was akin to a housecat, performing whatever experiments and studies that kept her locked away. There would be days where he wouldn’t even see her until she was finished. Angela was much more…reasonable if by a small amount in comparison. Still, she had her own vices in that regard and he humorously pondered whether it was a blessing or a curse to have wives as devoted to their work as they were.

Once Wis had departed, he found himself eying both women as they took an arm each from him and dragged him off elsewhere. He groaned but put up no resistance towards it as they had their way with him until they reached the spot Angela had selected for continuing the conversation. He sat down and waited for them before he began.

“Very well. I was born as Nathaniel Silvercross and for much of my life, my father guided my fate. He was the one that wanted more power and used me as an instrument by my own knighthood. As he spoke, the shadows started to swirl low about them, slowly at first, but with each word spoken, the Lord of Shadows stirred them greatly, causing them to rise up around them until colors started to form around it until it appeared as though they were no longer in Angela’s realm but of a different one. One that would be unfamiliar to his loves, but oh so recognizable to him. A town, once lost to the ages, was their new surroundings and a particular little boy with black locks and brown eyes was being scowled by an older man, for nothing more than playing with his sisters instead of practicing his lessons. Then things got more physical as the man slapped the boy harshly across the face and caused him to stumble onto the ground. The sight caused Nemesis growl softly, baring the tip of his fangs but otherwise remained motionless in his seat. The man picked up the boy by the collar of his shirt and threatened to do much more than that if he hadn’t done what he was told. The boy sniffled a bit but kept himself from crying. He knew it would only get worse if he did. He nodded and was shoved a bit before the man sent him off. “The man was never easy to deal with, at least in my case”, he spat, his eyes lingering on the man that was his own father. “I was a means to an end, and that’s all he cared about. To others, he was a respectable man, but to me, he was my personal nightmare.

Nemesis had the shadows shift them to a new time, a new location. This time they would see the boy as a young man in the midst of his knightly training. Although he was proficient in swordplay, horse riding, and strategies, his arrogance was heavily out for view, even against his superiors. Nemesis covered his face with a palm as he endured listening to how cocky his former self was. He had believed himself to be smarter than the others and wanted his ceremony to officially become a knight. His teacher merely laughed and told him that he would one day get his fellow men killed because of his attitude. Not dissuaded, the boy continued to make a fool of himself in arguing against him.

“I suppose in my youth, my father had more of an impression than I had thought. Still, I found myself to be responsible for my own actions after I became a squire. Despite my behavior, I would become a knight a few years later.” He would frown upon the next vision they would see as an older Nathaniel was in the middle of a patrol one evening and suddenly the air was filled with dreadful screams that made him ride back to the outpost where his group was waiting. Or were before they were attacked by vampires. He would try and unsuccessfully attack, only to get fling with the greatest of ease away and as he tried to get back to his feet, one of them snatched him up by the throat with one hand. After a while watching the young man struggle to no prevail, the vampire spoke to him, and Nemesis mouthed the very words that etched into his mind even now.

“Perhaps there can be some use in you, boy. You have a choice, join us or perish as these men had”

Fear set into Nathaniel, much like how it had when he was younger and dealing with his father. Regrettably, he gave in due to the fear of dying as a meal to these awful things. The vampire smiled and brought him in close before his fang met with warm flesh, and fed until it grew cold and fed the barely alive knight with his own blood.

The next sight was of Nathaniel in a dark room, laying on a bed. His dark hair was replaced with that of white and as his eyes finally opened, they were the crimson that most knew of him by today. It was explained to him by his new master that there would be no going back to his normal life and that he would serve his new family, the Augustus House. They would see the panic in his eyes as things were explained and before long, he fled. He fled out of the house and found himself in pain from the sun’s rays as he scrambled into the woods and a nearby cave. His mind fractured due to the events of that faithful night and when the sun finally laid to rest, he scrambled back to his home and was immediately thrown out by his father and called several things, including a monster. Unable to accept his fate and his heart falling into the darkness, he set his former home on fire and watched as his family barely escaped, but his father wasn’t as lucky. His screams would be fed into the night sky and Nathaniel would make his final farewell to those that had known him. He accepted the darkness within him and returned to his master’s home where he was waiting. “Despite it all, I found Reckor to be more of a father than my blood one. He had seen the potential in me and helped me to find my place in the world. They all did”, he spoke as he gestured to the host of vampires around them, including a younger Reaver.

The wives watched as Wis brought about a certain peace to their husband. He was stressing over something unknown to them and it was slightly comforting to see the child bring a bit of joy to him. Celeste waved him off with a smirk, “Oh please, it wouldn’t kill me to leave the house every once in a while even if I do complain about it.”

“Oh, you really complain about it. I think you almost bit Nemesis the last time we asked you to come with us~” Angela teased while Celeste shot her a glare. Though the goddess was right and eventually Celeste settled into helping her sister wife forcible move their husband.

It would appear that it was time to learn about who Nemesis had been. Angela was aware of some of it but not a lot of it and she could only imagine that Celeste was just as much in the dark as she was. She knew his name was Nathaniel because that was the name he had used in Mooncrest so many moons ago. The goddess got comfortable in her seat while Celeste chose to sit on the edge of it. She was content listening and learning. These were things she had wished to know for a long time and finally she was getting her answers.

While Celeste’s emotions were hidden besides her fingers gripping at he chair, it was Angela who visibly winced whenever the child was hit. Her domain of motherhood didn’t allow her the ability to hide her discomfort in it but she didn’t shy away. She wanted to learn about her husband and the man she had children with.

Angela was actually chuckling at how cocky he was and Celeste had a quirked brow. She had never known her Nemesis to be that cocky and not be able to back it up. How different or rather grown he had become. She could see Angela was getting a kick out of it.

The women lost their facial expressions and the giggles stopped as the next scene unfolded. The tale of how Nemesis came to be was about what they expected. This was how it normally went. “Makes sense. Despite how it should seem vampires sometime have more of a familial sense than some humans do,” Angela spoke as she summoned a shawl and wrapped it around herself. Celeste nodded in agreement and tilted her head as she thought.

“The story doesn’t end there we all know this Nemesis… What is it that is spooking you so?”

“I agree with Celeste… You relaxed when Wis was around but you tensed right back up after she left. What’s wrong? Maybe it would be best for you to continue and get it all off your chest.” Both wives were concerned about their husband. He was normally strong and his emotions were hidden neatly into a box.

He was hardly surprised to see Angela's reaction; it was her domain and all to want to protect children from the reality the world would toss them into. Celeste's was equally as predicable; she could control herself with few exceptions, like back when they had traveled back to her homeland and found the villagers alive again. Simply put, he detested his father, even to this day for he was the one that made Nemesis the monster that he was, not Lord Reckor. He did hold a slight grumble with how overzealous he was in his youth. The boy was a far cry from who he was now. He did manage to shoot Angela a narrowing stare while she partook in finding amusement. "Do not tell anyone of how I was, especially the children…" 

The next part played out and it was a familiar that he had shared with both women at previous times of his life. Only now they were witnessing it first hand. His homecoming into the Augustus Family. They wanted to know the point of this show and tell, and he couldn't fault them. After all, why bother showing them all this from his past? He remained stoic as he dismissed the scene and played into the next where an older version of himself was with a pretty brunette vampiress. They would have no doubt of who Andrea was, but they would also see the slithering snake of a brother Logan pining over her and the two constantly threatening to come to blows at times. Then the scene came of him finding her lifeless body and looking at the overlookers, Reaver included as his own anger festered. They all knew who did it, and before Nemesis could react, they restrained as he cried bloody murder for Logan. The shadows shifted to when he learned that Logan would simply be excommunicated and Reaver wasn't at home. This would be where they'd see Nemesis slip into madness. He'd looked to Celeste, who unlike Angela, had never known of his insanity. Perhaps it would even shock the goddess as by the time they had met, he didn't really show any symptoms aside from the angry fits he occasionally had. His movements were erratic and his face carried a grim, disturbing look as he would do as he had to his other family and set it ablaze, trapping all that was in there, the murderer included. He would watch until the sun rose and came back that evening to see nothing but carnage and ash. 

Once that played, they would be greeted with glimpses of him terrorizing his home country, spreading needless destruction and death for years and years until he heard the story of a goddess of lies looking to expand her family. With that, Nemesis called off his power with a wave of the hand and dispersed it all. He grew quiet for a minute or two before he closed his eyes. "I don't want to slip back into that." His voice was barely higher than a whisper. "I share this with you two because I wanted to hide anything anymore from you two. My worse fear…is not of death. I have mentally prepared myself for the day that it comes and will willingly accept it. But what I fear most is becoming a monster again, should something happen to either one of you."

He opened his eyes and they were misty. Still, his voice was in perfect control as he sought for the words needed. "Serafina was an eye-opener; when she and I had that huge fight, I lost all self-control I had spent eons building and I nearly killed her without a second thought. I do not what to be something that will destroy either of you or any of our children."