Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain or any other identifiable pop culture references.

Review responses: Insert standard speech how I don't want to forget or offend anyone.

Lunatic Pandora: Interesting you should mention that, because Janos used to know some healing spells back during the war, but he's actually forgotten them.

Varyssa: That wasn't a gerkin. Have you ever tried a jalepeno? Those things hurt. ;)

Soul of Ashes: Hopefully your keyboard is better now?

BearVsChris: Um, the cats are one of those random plot points that end up being pointless because I don't do anything with them.

Tomlette: I'm glad you liked that pic.

Cemeterry-Man: Rambling is fine, inspiration comes from everywhere. As for building up to something, I think I'm ready to think about plot developement again.

RavenWolf: I've got the perfect part for you. Can I call you Raven in it?

On that note, an announcement about the fan invasion. It's in the queue for number 13. (It might go in 14 if I divide the chunk.) There might still be room for more, and I've got a couple of OC's who can be replaced.

Btw: Thanks also to the invisible readers that I've tripped over lately.


While Janos and Raziel were discussing some of the minor differences between the games and Raziel's actual memories, Kain took an opportunity to speak with Jennifer alone.

"What is the secret of your power?" Kain asked.

"Why are you asking, Kain? You have a reputation for stealing other people's disciplines," Jennifer said.

Kain's eyes flashed dangerously. "I did not steal those skills. As Balance Guardian, I was supposed to have a mixture of the powers enjoyed by the other guardians. Had I been aware of my role, I also could have resisted their original manipulations."

"I don't know how I manage to call people out of video games," Jennifer admitted. "I just follow my instincts."

Kain watched as Jennifer treated her poison ivy rashes. He noticed the way she hissed in pain as the medicine stung her skin.

"Is this a case of the treatment being worse than the disease?" Kain asked.

"No," Jennifer said through gritted teeth. "It's only a case of the treatment being worse than eating jalapenos."

Kain snorted in lack of sympathy. Still, he decided to help Jennifer fix her bandages.

"If I asked you to bring someone out, would you do it?" Kain asked.

"Perhaps," Jennifer answered. "Who did you want?"

"I was only wondering," Kain said smoothly.

Jennifer thought for a moment about who Kain would want. She called one word to Kain's back. "Purple."

Kain froze, turned, and looked at her.

Jennifer grinned mischievously at Kain. "Dumah. You want to knock him around for being such an idiot, don't you?"

"Any insult to my brood is an insult to me," Kain growled.

"I apologize," Jennifer bowed formally. She had a feeling that Kain knew exactly what she was really talking about.

Jennifer came back out to the lounge and heard the last bit of conversation between Raziel and Janos. "So now you know just about everything about me," Raziel said.

"Does he know what happens to you when you get drunk?" Jennifer broke in.

"Even I don't know what happens to me when I get drunk," Raziel retorted.

"I've got a bottle waiting if you want another try in figuring that one out," Jennifer joked.

To her surprise, Raziel agreed. Jennifer was secretly glad that she actually had many bottles, as the stress of the last few days demanded much booze to wash it away.

Janos had some small idea of what alcohol could do. He had made the mistake of preying on a drunk once or twice before, though he had never had an opportunity to drink it directly. Even so, he matched Kain and Jennifer drink-for-drink.

Raziel's drunkenness caused him to lose his form. He complained loudly when Jennifer took his drink away.

"It's wasted on you," Jennifer said without a trace of unkindness. "How are you going to drink it?"

Raziel screwed up his eyebrows in concentration. He was having trouble thinking through his drunken haze.

Azrael laughed. Finally there was something where he could exceed that demon's capabilities. His celebration was fleeting. A short time later, he ran outside and began puking.

Janos began crooning some strange melody. Jennifer was reminded of some Irish rebel songs. She guessed that perhaps it was left over from the war, sung in times when it was going well for the ancients.

Raziel was drunkenly arguing with Kain. "I can still take you," Kain punctuated. They both stood and began struggling, but due to their inebriation they only ended up falling over each other.

Jennifer woke up in Janos' arms. He had her pinned in a tight but still comfortable embrace. Janos muttered softly in his own language as he snuggled against her; then he froze. His bright yellow eyes snapped open. Janos pawed desperately at Jennifer's neck, looking for any sign of a wound. Then he pushed her away as he jerked into a sitting position.

"Whoa, it's okay," Jennifer said gently. "Nothing happened."

Janos was visibly shaking. "I thought…"

Jennifer tried to reassure the hysterical angel. "Nothing happened, I remember. You just got a little wacky, that's all."

"Why didn't you stop me?" Janos asked.

"Well, you're so much stronger than me, and the others had already passed out," Jennifer shrugged. "The bear hug was a little odd, but I didn't feel like it was worth blasting you. If you had tried anything I really didn't like, I would have set your hair on fire."

Janos' expression was haunted. "For a moment, I was afraid that I had woken up with a corpse."

Jennifer noted the lack of identity in that statement. She had a distinct feeling that something like this had happened before with gruesome results. "Why are you upset, Janos?" Jennifer questioned.

Janos shrunk away when Jennifer tried to touch his arm. "I don't wish to talk about it right now," he said as he slid off the bed. "I doubt you'd understand."

Jennifer let Janos walk down the hallway before she came out of the bedroom. She found Raziel and Kain still in the lounge. Raziel was unconscious, but his claws were hopelessly tangled in Kain's long mane. Kain was sitting on the floor; the irritated vampire was effectively trapped.

"Don't just stand there," Kain growled.

"In a minute," Jennifer said. She went outside to check on Azrael. She had remembered his overindulgence and became worried.

Azrael was hanging over the porch railing. A quick glance at the ground showed that his stomach contents hadn't included any solid food. Jennifer hesitantly prodded him.

Azrael snapped into consciousness and tried to bite Jennifer. However, his nausea from the night before caught up with him. He pushed Jennifer away and began heaving anew, even though his stomach was already empty.

Jennifer backed away and decided that Azrael would have to deal with his problem himself. She went back inside to free Kain.

Jennifer gently took Raziel's wrist. He mumbled incoherently but did not wake up. Kain winced as Jennifer patiently teased his hair from around Raziel's talons.

"I'm actually glad that Raziel doesn't have a way to get too drunk," Jennifer said.

Kain just rolled his eyes at Jennifer. He just wanted to get out of this unscathed, and that included damage to his hair.

"Can you imagine the wraith trying to puke without any guts?" Jennifer asked Kain quietly.

"I would not wish too," Kain said, uncomfortably aware that the creature in question was disturbingly close to him.

Jennifer took the hint and finished untangling Kain's hair in silence.

Kain spent some time tending to Azrael's illness. It turned out that the vampire had managed to give himself alcohol poisoning. Though Kain complained about having to give up some of his blood, he did so tenderly.

Raziel eventually awoke from his stupor. He spent much of the day 'in meditation,' but Jennifer guessed that he might've been brooding or something equally negative.

Jennifer did spend the day in a similar fashion, though she could prove that she was actually meditating. She sat in the backyard and wove intricate melodies out of magic.

At some point, Janos wandered to the place where Jennifer was sitting. Jennifer nodded in his direction, but did not interrupt her tune. She let it die when she realized that she wandered into whatever song Janos had been singing the previous night.

Janos sighed. "Alcohol is truly evil stuff."

"What makes you say that?" Jennifer asked.

"I made a fool of myself," Janos said in embarrassment.

"You got off lightly, compared to the rest," Jennifer grinned. She sighed and let her voice take on a more serious tone. "Alcohol doesn't make you do things, it allows you to do things. You simply did some of the things that you had denied yourself."

Janos grimaced. "Things that should never see the light."

Jennifer shook her head sadly. "Sometimes I forget that the ability to think is one of the very few things we have in common," she said gently. Jennifer watched as Janos' throat twitched in response. "That was part of the problem this morning, wasn't it?"

"I had been taught that to consider such a thing with an outsider is a depravity," Janos said painfully. "Long before my time, others of my race let themselves be seduced. The results were abominations." Janos grimaced in revulsion. "There were times when I let myself get too hungry. I would lose my mind to the blood thirst and do terrible things. The worst was when I fell to that other craving; the one that should have been dead, like those who fell victim to it.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Jennifer said.

"You would condone my wanton behavior?" Janos asked.

Jennifer sighed, "I can't really imagine what it must have been like to be you, but I believe that I would have done the same thing."

"Doesn't it bother you that I've killed your kind?" Janos asked.

Jennifer stared into his amber eyes. She forced herself to see the blue skin and alien features. Janos' questioning gaze did not reveal his fangs, though Jennifer was positive that they were still there. Finally, she answered him. "It should," Jennifer admitted. "Really, as long as I'm not on the menu, I don't care."

"What would you do if I still craved your blood?" Janos asked.

"I probably wouldn't let you stay here," Jennifer said thoughtfully, "though it's not like you could take my blood by force anyway."

"Are you so sure?" Janos asked.

"You saw Kain try to kill me yesterday. He couldn't," Jennifer said with assurance. She held out her wrist, the blue lines of her veins standing out clearly underneath the pale skin. "Try it."

Curious, Janos took Jennifer's arm and dragged a sharp thumbnail across her wrist. All he left was a slight mark.

"Azrael's the only one here that has the ability to hurt me," Jennifer said. "Really, having him here makes me nervous sometimes."

"You let him stay here, even though it is only an oath that keeps him from hurting you," Janos mulled aloud. "Have you been blinded, child?"

"I suppose my sense of judgment is a bit skewed," Jennifer admitted. "It's complicated."

"I don't think it is complicated at all," Janos said. "My sense of smell is quite keen. I know that even if I could be interested, you are taken."

Jennifer was a little embarrassed by Janos' comment. "Why doesn't our involvement bother you?

Janos sighed as he thought of how to explain. "I leave the fledglings to their own decisions once they've reached a certain age. They never seem to share my views on the matter, anyway." Janos dismissed the memory with a wave of his talon. "Besides, there are as much similarity between you and him and there is between him and me."

Jennifer gasped in alarm. Janos' tone sounded a little too defeated. She grasped Janos' wrist and stared into his eyes. Jennifer's concern was written clearly on her face.

Janos' confusion diffused Jennifer's fears. She let go of his wrist and said, "I'm sorry. I thought… Well, I don't know what I thought… You're okay, aren't you?"

"Your concern for me is unfounded," Janos said, "this time."

Kain decided to resume his wanderings that evening. He stayed just long enough to make sure that Azrael would survive.