Erik landed with a soft 'whump' sound, his wings falling back and fading into the duster he wore: black, shoulders cut along the seams, left arm missing. He wasn't sure how his apparel did that, but he also didn't really care. It was probably just the Dark Wavelength. He now found himself in a small forested glade, near the moutains.

"I wonder where they went...the Dark Perception let me follow them to around here, but they faded out a while ago...been flying for a whole night and day to find them, too," he complained to nobody in particular. To his surprise, someone answered.

"Poor child. I thought I taught you better than that," the dark voice said, and Erik sneered. He would know the voice of his "Master" anywhere, memories missing or not. Closing his eyes, he brought himself to the Inner Sanctum.

Inner Sanctum

Erik stepped out of the darkness and into the pale violet light of his own soul. Dracula was already waiting, back turned to him, hair greased back and wearing a solid black suit with a blood red shirt. After lighting a cigarette, the man turned to Erik, taking a drag and releasing the smoke with a sound of almost blissful satisfaction.

"You know, being reduced to your own Wavelength can be something of a boon when you think about it. I don't have to worry about eating, though to be fair I didn't have to do that anyway. That, and whatever I want is in my grasp. All I have to do is...think it," he said, smiling his knwing smile and looking Erik in the eye with his dark red eyes.

"What are you doing here? If I recall correctly you died. Killed by that Shinigami in Death City."

"Recall, do you? Funny that you recall much at all, really. With most of your memories...sadly forgotten," Dracula replied, and Erik glared. How could he know about the missing patches in his memory?

"Aha...knocked into stunned silence, hm? Very well, I'll answer the question on your mind: yes, I do know about the missing portion of your memories. And no, I don't know how it happened. What I do know is that, over time, I'm sure I can help you recover them."

"For?" asked Erik, knowing that the Count wouldn't simply do it out of the goodness of his heart. Hell, Erik wasn't even sure he had a heart to begin with. At his words, the vampire laughed a dark, chilling laugh.

"You know me so well," he said with faux fondness, holding a hand over his chest, "of course you know my...eheh...services won't come cheaply."

"You know, I've repaired my soul before. I remember that. Why not just purge you now and do it myself?"

"Because you don't have the time. Or a choice, really. Besides, all I ask is residence in your soul. Not too taxing, right? But I believe I will have to wait for your answer, as we aren't alone anymore. Tootles," Dracula answered, and Erik felt himself eject from his soul...his own soul no less.

Back in the forest

Erik found that he had continued walking while he had his little discussion with Count Dracula. He was now standing amidst many trees, the stone face of the mountain breaking only for a rocky path leading up and into the mountains: a pass. Directly in front of him stood the man that had helped to free him.

"Hello, vampire. It took you long enough to get here," he said, sneering as Erik walked up to him.

"Yeah? Well, I'm only here because I owe you one. Now, where's this 'Darkholme'?" Erik asked, and was answered by the man gesturing back and up. Looking, Erik saw that there was a huge mansion sitting high on the mountain, seeming to balance just barely on a large precipice.

"I'm here to introduce you to the others and to Lady Minake, so you'll be sure to watch your manners while inside, correct?" asked Arturo as they began to walk, making their way up the moutain pass quickly.

"Yeah, yeah," replied Erik, putting his hands in his pockets. The rest of the trek was silent, neither having anything to say to the other. When they finally reached the doors: large and made of a well tarnished, dark wood. Arturo reached forward and pulled the door, leading Erik inside.

The foyer was large and about what you would expect of a mansion: a large marble staircase leading to an upper floor, a wide open area, a crystal chandelier for lighting, and a few exstravagent tables, one of which seated three people: a girl in a light blue witches hat, Cyclone, whom he recognized from Shibusen, and Amelia. It was this last one that caught his attention. He was sure he had watched her die...hadn't he?

"Welcome to Darkholme, vampire. Lady Minake should be making an appearance shortly, so make yourself comfortable until then," Arturo said before making his way to sit next to Amelia. Meanwhile, the girl in the blue had bounced over to him.

Getting a better look at him, he was able to take in more detail about her appearance. The hat was well kempt with two dark blue rings around the top, the rim being of the same color and material. Two rings hung from the rim as well, one silver and one gold. Lastly, the hat had a teardrop on the front with VI, the Roman Numeral for six, in the middle of it. She also wore a blue button up, the top few undone, that was tight fitting enough to show off what little bust she had, and over that she wore a similarily tight fitting vest the same dark blue as the rim of her hat, with a clasp in the shape of a teardrop. Her shirt was untucked and hung just over her dark blue frilled skirt. She wore no shoes. Her hair, or at least what Erik could see of it, was short and black, hanging down just back her cheeks, just out of her face. Her eyes were a watery blue, and they were, or at least trying to be, seductive. A coy smile played on her lips. Lastly, she wore a pair of crystalline bangles on her back, and on her back was a staff, with a large sapphire gem on the head.

"Hi, my name is Kylee Waters!" she said, her voice light and bubbly, echoing through the mostly empty foyer.

"Erik Altezio," the vampire muttered, taking the hand she extended and feeling awkward as she gave it an extra little squeeze that he had to admit wasn't necessary. From what he could see of her soul wavelength, she was a witch. She turned to Arturo then and laughed.

"You didn't tell me he was so cute!" she whined almost childishly, "I would've volunteered had I known!"

"Don't whine, my dearest daughter," came a refined voice from above, and everyone looked up to see a woman, barely middle aged by appearance, began to make her way down the stairs. She wore a white and gold dress with many folds and frills. The shadows on them were accentuated by the color. Her hair was long and blonde, and her eyes were a pale violet. Erik watched as Cyclone disappeared from his seat and was immediately next to the woman, holding a hand out to help her down the stairs. At the bottom, she approached Erik and Kylee, who pressed herself close to the man.

"I'll talk to you later handsome," she said, before skipping away, through a door next to the stairs. Erik couldn't help but feel awkward.

"Don't mind her," the woman said, now standing before the vampire, "she's at that age, you know. Anyway, I am Minake, but my children call me Lady Minake. I don't mind: it makes me feel important."

"You are important, milady," said Cyclone, still by her side.

"Right. Well, you know who I am. And you know what I am. What do you want with me?" asked Erik, folding his arms as he released his wavelength, letting it begin to spread through the building.

"Well, we're all outcasts, aren't we?" Minake began. She looked him in the eye and, for the life of him, he couldn't see any dishonesty in her eyes. "You're the last of your kind. Plus, I feel I owe you for what Lilith did to you." At this, Erik ground his teeth. That he remembered just fine.

"And, of course, you have your uses," she finished, smirking. Deep in his soul, Erik heard Dracula chuckle.

"Called it."

Yup. Took forever, and I'm sorry. But it's coming along, slowly but steadily. Be sure to R&R preese.