Orison awoke with shattered recollections still taunting him, even as they faded, coaxing him to recall forgotten memories of a fugitive child. Struggling to hold on to them long enough to mull over later, he looked around to see his room foggy and mysterious. Such an event wouldn"t be out of place for this time of year if he weren"t on the second floor.

He girded his wits and courage to take a look outside his window to see that the whole town was covered in a misty gloom. Orison fought against the subconscious desire to wake everyone and looked for what he a.s.sumed would be his escort. Only a few seconds later a small shadow broke away from the rest between two houses across the street to glide through swirling fog.

Two faintly luminescent red eyes looked up at him from the ground beneath his window. As the small, red eyed figure began rising up to him free of any signs of magic, Orison clenched tightly against the rising urge to flee in gibbering terror. At that moment, he fully realized the connotation of his brother"s request because voluntarily following a n.o.ble vampire anywhere was far more than just foolish. It was generally suicidal or permanently d.a.m.ning.

As the figure in misshapen robes crested with Orison"s window, a sonorous girl"s voice said, "So you are little Vinny"s brother?" Underneath a second deeper voice, almost inaudible, simultaneously whispered, "Your eyes are very pretty. Can I have them?"

Barely avoiding a reflexive response of yes, Orison answered, "I"m a certain you know the answer to both of your questions but to humor your ladyship, I am a brother by law to someone who might be called that by those close to him. I"d prefer to keep my eyes for now. They are terribly useful."

One angelic and one monstrous voice laughed softly as a small clawed hand reached out from underneath the robes, offering it"s open palm, while it said, "So very careful. So very wise. Will you follow me into darkness, into d.a.m.nation?"

Orison suppressed a chill as he reached for the hand and said, "Darkness and d.a.m.nation are as much a place as a state of being and I have walked out of both once before. I place trust in my brother when I take your hand, not you."

Pulled into a body no larger but far stronger than his own, Orison"s vision was filled with fog and his nose with the scent of earth and iron as the dual voice intoned, "A dangerous game you play, a deadly one. I like games, -to win them. You have your safe pa.s.sage, -within the set rules. I hope we have a chance to play again after tonight, - to taste you."

With the voices so intimately intertwined, Orison knew he missed some of what each had said but hoped he heard enough that his understanding meant he was safe for the time being. With a silent prayer that tonight"s risk would be worthwhile in the end, Orison forced as much of the screaming tension out as he could.

The agonizing stillness that could have been a short or long time, finally ended in an exhaling of disappearing mist that revealed a large, torch lit cavern. Once the sounds of popping gristle and snapping bones stopped, the figure lowered it"s hood to reveal a beautiful, doll-like face.

She said, "Follow me carefully and do not step where I have not."

Orison didn"t immediately follow the creature masquerading as an angelic child, saying instead, "I cannot see well in here but my sensitivities to magic aren"t affected by light. Why would you intentionally step a mere finger"s width from a spell trap? I honestly don"t feel up to playing hopscotch with that high a stakes. If need be, I"ll wait for my brother here."

Frowning, she said, "Follow the ledge to your left. Parts are hidden with invisibility magic. Don"t cast any spells while you walk it." Turning around in a huff, she skipped and hopped along her own route.

Sighing heavily, Orison walked the sketchy ledge both seen and unseen, avoiding touching the wall even when it became a tricky balancing act. He knew he didn"t see them all but there was at least one magic trap at each such place. If not for Morrel"s training, he realized, this route would have been nearly impossible to finish without injury or possibly even death.

Upon reaching the top of his trek, Orison spotted Venito sitting on a bench in a dusty alchemy room. Before greeting his older brother, Orison looked around the room with wistful pity. The previously top quality equipment had fallen into disrepair.

Noticing his little brother"s evaluation, Venito said, "In its height, this enclave held two master alchemists. I would have enjoyed hearing their lessons."

Silently, Orison pulled out one of the two most precious books he brought with him. After having used the alien magic upon the skill books, not all had disappeared. Some of them changed and in doing so became more like proper books in their field. It"s contents were locked into his mind for all time so he saw no harm in giving it up after he had verified that no new information was contained within. He felt it was the least he could do for this unintentionally abandoned son and brother.

While Venito flipped through the book dubiously at first and then with child-like glee, Orison used magic to clean and mend the equipment. By the time Venito was able to tear his eyes away, he was stunned once more by the restored alchemy room. Orison sat down and focused on refilling his magic tank while Venito inspected and fiddled with the equipment.

A few minutes later, Venito turned to Orison and said, "Is this the legacy you spoke of? It wasn"t what I expected but it"s quite nice. A real treat, honestly."

Orison smiled weakly and said, "Not quite. I mean it"s part of it I guess but that"s more because out of all this," Orison gestured around the cavern then continued, "It"s something we can share. I"m not much for killing. I won"t shy away from the need but I wouldn"t want to do it for a living... I do like alchemy though... Don"t think I look down on, you know, being an a.s.sa.s.sin. Much like other jobs that have existed since the beginning, there will always be a want or need for them.

"I think father wanted brighter things for you but I also know that since you chose this, he wouldn"t want you to do it without the very best he could supply. Above all I know he"d want you to be happy. When he came home to find what had happened, he was inconsolable. Mother and myself were only an attempt to try. In the end, his choice to go to the land of souls to face his destiny had more to do with the loss of you than anything else."

The doll faced girl stepped out of the darkness and said to Venito, "He tells the truth. It"s also personal and emotionally painful for him to tell you but lacks any sign of jealousy or hatred that should be there. Your little brother is hard to read. Most are like open books and he"s a locked grimoire with secret pages. I"d love to pry him open piece by piece."

The hard sh.e.l.l of Venito"s cracked and a little vulnerability shown through as he said, "Then why didn"t he try harder to find me? Did he just a.s.sume I was dead and didn"t even bother?"

Orison dismissed the idea of answering craftily and just decided to be sincere as the limits and his own reservations would allow as he said, "He was powerful. He roamed the entirety of these lands as if it were his personal possession, treating the whole world as if it were a game but he was empty. I don"t think that he was capable of loving anything in this world as a person should but I do know he cared about you.

"I couldn"t tell you exactly why. I think something about the way he met you and what he did made you stand out in his mind. I think something about the rage and grief that would drive a child to call for someone"s death somehow resonated with him. He was thoughtless, capricious and emotionally removed from everything but I KNOW he cared about you more than he cared about anyone else in this world. Don"t tell my mother any of this, please. She"s suffered enough."

Red eyed, Venito looked to the monster girl who nodded and said, "All true. He even pities you." The monster girl"s mouth split in a malicious grin as Venito"s faced twisted from sorrow to an ugly slow burning rage.

Looking at the vampire blandly, Orison said, "Only so far as as what he had to endure because of father"s mistakes."

She smiled wider and said, "Not entirely true, you also feel guilt. I wonder why that could be?"

Orison said sadly, "I feel burdened by father"s mistakes. I"m willing to accept the good with the bad when it comes to myself but for Venito and my mother, I"m still struggling to find ways to somehow make it all right even though that"s impossible. The past is the past. Nothing that I can do has the ability to erase what was."

The smile that adorned the monster"s face slipped back into a frown as she said, "That"s completely irrational."

Holding back the urge to scream at a vampire who was capable of ending him with little more than a thought, Orison said, "Emotion is literally the ant.i.thesis of rational thought. That"s why people who hold the ability to discern so called "truth", are capable of painting a person in the colors of a villain or a saint at whim. Distorted by the lens of their own perception and painted with their bias, such an ability is only reliable to its wielder, only useful as a reference to anyone else... Now tell me, precious. Do I think I"m lying about that?"

The fake girls frown dipped into a scowl as monstrous features blurred her face as she said, "Now you tread dangerous grounds-smells tasty."

"Are you his master on the path of silence?" Orison asked.

The creature nodded and Orison continued, "Then I beg you not to try and strip away his humanity. It might make him a better a.s.sa.s.sin but but the Order of Silence was so much more than that, more than being good at killing. Forgetting that, killing their emotions to make them better killers is what destroyed The b.l.o.o.d.y Hand."

Underneath the scowl, Orison could detect a trace of sadness as the girl said, "What do you know of such things, child?"

Orison shook himself out of his moroseness and said with false cheer, "Less than I could but far more than I want to. That, however, is not why I"m here."

Reaching into his robe and pulling a package out of his s.p.a.ce, he handed it to Venito, ignoring the vampire"s dubious stare.

Venito looked at the large package in his hands and said, "How did you-"

With feigned mortification, Orison interrupted with, "You wanted a magic trick? I gave you a magic trick... Or must I also apologize for taking a figurative thing too literal?"

Venito blinked for a moment before it dawned on him that his little brother was paraphrasing his own words back at him from earlier in the day. Feeling a little too emotional to be witty, he opened the package but didn"t get far before he almost dropped the whole thing on the ground. Even the vampire girl"s hand flew to her mouth and contained a slight tremble.

The vampire looked at Orison in amazed confusion and said, "How could you bear to give such a thing away?"

Orison looked at her in genuine surprise and said, "You"ve seen how I feel. How could I bear to keep it? Since he chose this path, it unquestioningly belongs to him."

Venito undressed in front of the vampire and his little brother with the negligent air of someone who had forgotten he wasn"t alone as he donned the a.s.sa.s.sin garb made of unknown leather, bits of dull metal and black silk that seemed to eat the dim light around it.

In reality, Orison had considered using it himself or giving it to his mother after learning Mend. It would have only been a little tricky for him to come up with another valuable gift sufficiently impressive for his brother but ultimately Orison believed it to be exactly where it belonged in Venito"s hands. It was more than just guilt or sentimentality, however. There were people in this world with long memories and even a random master mage could easily discern the intentions behind such an enchanted garb.

In this world, the worth of the enchantments alone would make it something a person could not wear openly unless they were powerful. It"s historical significance as a symbol of leadership to one of the most feared organizations that ever existed, relegated it to a collector"s item for a king or archmage. No one else would dare own it as a.s.sa.s.sins still answered the gruesome ritual summons the order had established countless years ago, member or not.

Under the excitement, Venito had completely dropped his affected maturity and gamboled around like a child for a moment before he stopped, embarra.s.sed. He walked over to his little brother and stood awkwardly in silence, not knowing exactly what he should do. Eventually he managed an emotionally charged but lamely offered "thank you" before lapsing back into stiff intensity.

In an effort to end the stalemate, Orison reached up to pat Venito"s shoulder. The older brother, mistaking the action for a more intimate familial gesture, dove into Orison and executed a maneuver that had more in common with a tackling grapple than a hug. To the casual observer, Orison"s red rimmed eyes and thumping taps on the back mixed with Venito"s crushing vice of arms might appear heartwarming. In reality, Venito seemed under some strange misconception that the more vertebrae temporarily separated during a hug, the more sincere it was. And he was determined to pop them all, from neck to tailbone.

As Orison"s taps became steadily weaker and the dark spots in his vision started merging, Venito finally accomplished his goal and let go. Stepping back with a satisfied smile on his face, Venito was emotionally moved as he saw Orison wipe half formed tears from his eyes, the effort of forcing his lungs to move in and out easily mistaken for an attempt to hold back hitching sobs. The vampire girl, overlooking the display, alternated expressions between wistful envy and schadenfreude.

Executing a charming giggle that gave Orison unpleasant gooseb.u.mps, the vampire said, "Little Vinny, the night is not long this time of year. Since I a.s.sume he"s managed to not disappoint, do we not have a main event scheduled before I must return him?"

Venito nodded and said enthusiastically, "Yes, that"s right! Thanks for everything tonight, big sister Portia. It means a lot to me."

Seeing a faint blush rise on the little monster"s face as she led them further into the abandoned sanctum, Orison thought to himself, "I feel for you, brother. A legal loli monster yandere is one h.e.l.l of a final boss for your future love life." When she looked his way with a confused frown on her face, he quickly masked his emotions with the mild irrational anxiety railroad crossing and stop lights used to give him, a feeling her eyes elicited in spades.

The slightly better lit back alcove they stepped into, once used as one of multiple bedroom cubicles for b.l.o.o.d.y Hand members, currently contained two men. Both of them were naked except for a a black bag over their heads. Manacles around their wrists and ankles were locked onto a bar behind them that had them both unable to move from the kneeling position they were in.

As Portia removed the hoods to reveal the gagged men beneath, she said, "Since you have no desire to join our august company as a member, Little Prayer, then this ritual will be dedicated to brotherhood of a more mundane sort. Since you do not share blood of birth then by reckoning of the order"s way, you can mingle blood of murder to seal your connection. Little Vinny shall spill the blood of this disgraced legate to avenge your wrongs and you shall slay the head of House Riven to avenge his. It will also be a sign of goodwill and friendship between yourself and our family of brothers and sisters."

To buy himself some time to think, Orison said, "That legate has information I could use. Would it b-"

Portia sneered and said, "Already obtained... Or do you think yourself more capable than I of wresting knowledge from an unwilling mind?"

Orison"s mind spun it"s cogs until an epiphany settled on him. Knowing he would need to accept this without anymore hesitation or risk souring positive impressions, he asked, "Before we begin, I"d like to know. Did the head of House Riven send a man with the honor guard to kill my mother at that soldier"s discretion?"

Portia recalled for a moment then responded, "Now that you mention it, though not directly, he welcomed the possibility and sent a soldier with a hatred of Bastet."

Orison"s eyes narrowed at the abused man and said, "Then, not only am I eager to cement this brotherhood and friendship, I have an idea how to get the most out of it."