1/16/05 Disclaimer: I'm so sick of writing disclaimers, don't sue me. Notes at bottom.

Raziel sat on the chandelier above Vorador's dining room and stared wistfully at the light globe recessed in the wall at the far end. He had reasoned that the gargoyles that disrupted the portal to the water shrine had something to do with the statue of the vampire hero below him. Indeed, Raziel had found a font for the elemental power of darkness and used it to extinguish the globe of light behind the vampire hero. The rest of the orbs were proving more difficult since they were protected by another variety of gargoyle that impeded his progress. Raziel guessed that he would be able to get past them in the spectral realm, but there was only one font on the patio, and the Reaver would lose its enhancements as soon as Raziel abandoned his physical form. Perhaps this is what Sarah meant when she said the he wouldn't have access to the fonts.

"What are you doing?"

Raziel peered over the edge of the chandelier to see Vorador staring up at him. "I don't feel the need to explain my actions to you," the wraith spat.

"It's my business to know what goes on in my own home," Vorador declared. "As it is, I don't trust you."

Raziel leapt down from the chandelier without bothering to slow his decent. Inwardly, Raziel felt a little ridiculous when he had to use his arms to support the tatters of his ruined wings. "What are you implying?" Raziel asked, though he could guess what Vorador was going to say based on their conversation nearly five centuries into the future.

"Janos doesn't seem to see it, but I do," Vorador sneered. "You look like a demon."

Raziel could not deny his appearance; he had thought the same thing before. "You have nothing to fear from me unless you choose to be my enemy."

Vorador sighed and considered the statue of the vampire hero with its one dark flame. "You seem to be having trouble."

Raziel frowned inwardly. "Have you come to offer advice?"

Vorador quirked a scaly eyebrow at Raziel. "I didn't design these trials."

Raziel turned on his heel and left the dining room. He decided to see if Sarah was forthcoming with the answer to his current problem. When he didn't find her in her room, Raziel explored the manor until he discovered that Sarah was in the library. Raziel entered silently.

Sarah was sitting on the floor in front of another statue of a vampire hero. The girl was staring intently at something on the left wall, and then she would hunch over a piece of paper and scribble carefully.

Raziel was just about to reveal his presence to Sarah when he noticed Kain sitting in one of the upper alcoves. The silver-haired vampire was peering over the top of a book at Raziel. With a well-aimed leap, Raziel landed in the alcove in front of Kain.

"I never expected you to play nursemaid to anyone," Raziel said quietly.

"I'm not going to leave her unguarded until those cuts on her back heal," Kain said.

"She'd be safe enough locked in her room," Raziel pointed out.

Kain nodded in concession, but stated, "She is not a prisoner."

Raziel glanced around the room. He guessed that he would need the Reaver to be imbued with the element of light to activate the globes, but he couldn't see an appropriate font. He slowly walked towards Sarah.

The girl's charcoal stopped moving and she peered cautiously at Raziel. The wraith could now see that Sarah had been copying the mural of the vampire hero. Her drawing was completely accurate.

"I cannot open the gateway to the water shrine," Raziel stated.

Sarah stared at Raziel's hoofs. She never imagined that the messianic wraith could become so helpless because of a simple alteration to his destiny. She spoke almost too quietly for the vampires to hear. "Start in a graveyard near Ziegsturhl."

At Raziel's confused look, Kain supplied, "The forbidden grounds."

Raziel pulled his eyebrows into an echo of a smirk. It was a shame that he would be five centuries too early to invoke the same transgression on Kain's crypt as Kain himself had to Raziel's tomb. Raziel left without saying a word.

Kain stood behind Sarah. Their height difference caused Sarah discomfort at the best of times, but since she was still sitting on the floor, Kain towered menacingly above her. Sarah froze, hoping that the vampire would simply leave.

"Have you gained any further insight on sparing Raziel?" Kain asked.

Sarah swallowed. "He cannot escape his destiny, only postpone it."

Kain walked around Sarah and crouched down in front of her. "I could have freed him from the blade if you hadn't interfered."

"It didn't work," Sarah said.

"Why didn't it work?" Kain asked.

"Because the Soul Reaver has always been Raziel," Sarah said.

Kain frowned. "This library has scraps of prophecy, lost histories, and other clues that might give insight. I suggest that you start searching for the ones that would prove you wrong."

Even though she knew it was futile, Sarah honored Kain's request. Even with Kain's reluctance to harm her, Sarah could not help thinking of the peasants in Blood Omen 2, especially the ones that were shaken while being choked. Sarah poured over the books as much as she could during the hours when the sun's rays penetrated the thick canopy of the swamp.

After several days, Sarah's back healed, and Kain decided that it was safe to leave the girl in Vorador's protection.

For some reason, I can't see my screen very well, so please excuse the typos.

Respect, fear, the result is the same. Kain still wishes that he could just beat the answers out of her, I think.

Let's see, "Even when I did care about what happened," I wonder where the hole that's causing it to be unclear is... Sarah can readily quote from the LOK games, even BO, which says that she's a big fan. She says that she's thought about Raziel's imprisonment a lot, indicating someone who is a little bit dissapointed that it had to come to that. Now, Sarah is mad at Raziel because she knows that the wraith and the sarafan are the same being. Some people I talk to in real life say that the worst crime that someone can inflict on another and then be forgiven for afterwards is the theft of something that means a lot to the person. By that reasoning, Sarah would probably rather that Raziel move in with Turel so he can get stomped on for the next millenium.

Here's something I'm concerned about: 1, Is Sarah becoming too verbal too quickly. (I kind of figured that her refusal to talk was going to make the story drag.) 2, Is Sarah becoming too helpful? (As Kain feared, she could be intentionally leading Raziel to the most painful alternative. She is telling the truth about not being able to figure out how to change it.)

Lunatic Pandora: Thanks for your observations, it's good to have another set of eyes.

Varyssa: Thanks for the cake. I'm sharing it with everyone because sharing gives me the warm fuzzies. Actually, angst is the source of my power most times, I just have to be careful how I use it.

Istari: All right, if you promise not to hurt yourself. This is the katana that I used when I needed to remove large chunks from "Razzy Plush." On that note, it probably needs sharpening.

Thanks to everyone else that doesn't know what to say at the moment.