Hi! Yes, here I am once again with a bonus chapter for all of you. Once again, we invented this one while we were having a telephone conversation, but this one isn't as long as the first one... (don't blame us, we love to talk about what happened during that day's campaign and if I have a question about what had happened, I become Gea once again, and he becomes "know it all" Sianodell).

I hope you enjoy it!

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Intriguing Thoughts

(Bonus Chapter 2)

The boat moved slowly away from the island as we headed back to New Shanghai. I was just taking a walk around the ship's deck when I found Sianodell standing at the ship's prow, leaning against the handrail. He did not seem to have noticed that I was there, he just kept staring blankly ahead, with a worried look on his face.

-Hi- I said, as I approached him. –What is wrong? Are you alright?

-I was just thinking- he said. –There are many things I still do not understand from what happened back inside the mansion... Did you know that Talmios was that other vampire's disciple- I shook my head. –When he got into my mind to control it, I also got into his and I saw what he was thinking of... He was willing to redeem his master who, even after all the years that had passed from what had happened up until today, went back to that house to receive his punishment... I heard his master was begotten inside that house but, for some reason, he did not do the same with his girlfriend... He just repented about it when he was about to transform her and killed her immediately. Anyway, I could not tell any guilt in his face... It is strange, but I could swear his expression was that of rejoice- he took a deep breath. –It is also strange the way feelings change and why, even when the ghost said she hated him, she never destroyed him if she had many chances to do it.

-Maybe she did not hate him as much as she said... I do not know, maybe she did not hate him at all...

-Maybe you are right- he said, but he did not sound yet relieved. –I have heard about the Galanodell family; they belong to a pure vampire stock. You know? The interesting thing about vampires is that their darkness at least makes sense. Vampire spawns are tied up to blood lust and they are said to be turned into stone if they surpass the limit of the blood they can take... I have read some things about vampires and vampirism... it is said that it is some kind of sickness arising from a devil's blood. At a start, those vampires who bragged about their pure ancestry were destroyed; turned into stone for they gave up to blood lust... But some others have kept on their darkness path for centuries- he turned to stare back to where he was staring before we began to talk. –Maybe Galanodell was looking for some kind of redemption... though I cannot understand what kind of redemption he might get in his world.

-That is something I cannot tell, either... I guess we will never know.

-Do you remember those cameos we found back there at the mansion-he suddenly changed the subject. –They were actually brooches. If you look carefully at the painting, there are a few people who have one of them... Galanodell had one.

We finally reached New Shanghai. Our way to the airport was uncomfortably quiet... We just kept walking silently. A lot of scary questions were beginning to draw up in my mind...

-Mission accomplished- Sianodell said, as he sat down next to me in the plane that would take us back to the University. –The painting has been safely delivered.

-I still do not understand why they wanted it.

-Well, the Yakuza would not talk much... They just said they did not dare to go to that place because it was haunted. They actually wanted the painting since it is full of mysteries, specially concerning those brooches. How many cameos were inside the chest that we found in the house?

I carefully took the small chest out of my backpack and opened it, revealing its content.

-Six- I answered.

-There were seven in the painting- he said, as he looked at the cameos inside the chest. –The amethyst is missing... Did you know the amethyst is said to be the stone of darkness?

-But... where may it be? Do you think Galanodell kept it?

-I am not sure... Maybe- he lowered his voice a little bit. –Do you remember the last conversation we had? What I told you about a certain thing I was going to investigate?

-You mean that strange migration of celestials toward the Material Plane- I asked.

-I have been making some research about it... I have asked that celestial we found at the University to see what he could tell me about it. He said there is some kind of devil that is throwing them out of heaven... Their patriarch died and that gave rise to something I do not understand, but they have a name for it in their own language...

After a long silent minute, he smiled and looked at me:

–I wished we were back at the University, and maybe I could invite you for another teacup... I have good memories of that night.

-Thanks- was everything I could answer. Sometimes I really wondered if he meant what he said.

I looked out the window and remained that way for a couple of minutes... A terrible thought had been bothering me ever since we watched that shadow dance at the mansion and it began to bother me again when I began to talk to Sianodell back on the ship. That shadow that stood in the middle of the room and killed all the others... was it...?

-Is anything wrong- he asked, bringing me back to reality.

-I was just wondering about the shadow dance we watched when we were back in the mansion... Do you think the Kihlstrom family had something to do with the massacre that happened there?

-It is possible- he answered. –When you left me back there, Talmios returned, let my mind free and told me to get up there and help you... I had some time to examine the shadows and I saw your father's shadow... I know he is a Kihlstrom, you did not need to tell me- he said, as he saw the expression in my face. –But he was still too young... He could not have done it, which means you have more family than you have imagined.

-You are starting to scare me.

-You belong to a great stock- he said. He was not really helping to calm my fear down. –Thanatos Kihlstrom was the heir of the family's legacy... I heard he brought something beyond every possible imagination back from death. That was the reason why the king was overthrown... and getting to do it was not something easy. You know the king was not only respected for his political power. He was respected for the power he could control with one finger... the power that the greatest wizard would want.

-Interesting...

-It is also curious that of all the places he could have picked to build his mansion, Ian Strauss decided to build it upon the palace's ruins... But he did not destroy what was left of the palace. He literally built his mansion upon the ruins!

-What else can I tell you?... He's a strange man.

-Yes, I know. No one yet knows where and how he got that little fortune of his.

I smiled, but a single thought erased the smile from my face.

-I am also wondering... if there is any kind of relationship between Árama and that Galanodell vampire...

-I think there is much more than what we know- he answered. –You see... As far as I could see, that party took place during the Resurrection years... It was not so long ago. So, where did Árama come from? I have heard a lot of stories about her: The drow daughter of a living-dead- I felt a terrible shiver running down my spine. –Her story is very well known in those worlds ruled by darkness, but the secret of her existence is kept within the Kihlstrom family...

-Why does it always have to do with them- I asked in a low but very annoyed voice. I was really getting tired of listening to my family's "great" deeds.

-Well, they are also very famous down there- he said. –Everyone knows who the Kihlstroms are.

-Well, what a fame- it would be hard to calm me down from then on... you know my family is not my favorite conversation topic, specially now.

-Yes, I know. I should have said "not famous".

-Better say "negatively famous"... That is part of the reason why I do not carry their lastname.

-That is a shame- he said. –That could give you a few extra points in the underground.

-Well, maybe I do not want to have them- I answered, still angry. I swear that if I could get up and leave, I would definitely had.

-Think whatever you want to- he said in a low voice.

-What do you mean?

-That someday that darkness you hate so much will take over you- he answered. I felt a shiver running down my spine... What did he mean? –It is like the flame you produce- he stated. –The flame you can produce right now is week and the shadow around it is big, but as you become more powerful, the flame will become larger, but so will happen to the darkness of the shadow around it. The question is: If you are given the chance to have such a power, will you resist the temptation?

-I do not know- I answered unsurely.

-Yes, I know it is a hard question and I would not even know what to do if I was asked the same question, but the answer resides in your conviction.

-All I know is that I do not want to be like them.

-That is good- he said, I could tell a little satisfied smile on his face. –That pathway can only bring you death... But look who's talking about death!

-What do you mean?

-Well, I am a Necromancer too- he stopped suddenly and corrected what he had just said-Well, not technically... But I know some stuff. Anyway, I cannot learn much more about it.

-You have already told me something about that... But I still do not understand why.

-I do not know... I just cannot- he answered. –My master told me so. He said that as I become stronger, it will be tougher for me to learn anything new, at least in magic (specially Necromancy)... Anyway, I am happy with what I have achieved up until now and what I have learned... it turns out practical sometimes.

Once again (like the first time we had this kind of conversation), I felt kind of sorry about him, but I tried to give him a comforting smile, though I do not know if it worked...

I really did not know how he had achieved it, but he was getting to have me changing my mind about him... I had begun to feel some kind of sympathy toward him, though I know I did not like him at a start... He even made me worry about him in a way I would have never thought I could!

But there was still something about him... so many things, so many secrets, and I still did not know how much of what he said I could believe...

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Wow! I'm finished with my tenth chapter! I cannot believe it! I'm so happy! And finally, a short chapter!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review to tell me what you think about it (specially what you think about my little couple Gea-Aramir, though I know she's still a little too distrustful about him). Ah, and this time don't worry, Bahamut, you can read it...

I'm sorry, but next week I will only give you one chapter. Today we did not have our usual Thursday campaign because my boyfriend is working on the party he's planning for next Saturday, so you'll only get chapter eight.

Ok, that's all! Please review!

Ruby.