Author's Note: Started a new job that is stealing my precious writing time. However, I hope you enjoy this filler chapter, and review. Claudia Moon, and Moon Manor belong to Amissa who also owns my heart and undying devotion. Also, any surprise about Kaiser's little...addiction?

Chapter Seven: The Legacy Birthright

Gideon learned more from Sydney in three days then he had during the months at the Academy. The Seer seemed to know more of the matters of men then people twice his age, and occasionally Gideon could see the weight of such knowledge resting in Sydney's eyes. Sydney had shed the crimson robes for Auror blue, a subtle changed that seemed to make all the difference. In Navy blue, Sydney was commanding, compassionate and majestic. Now he was Kaiser's heir and looked every bit the part of it: from the thick commanding presence- to the darkness of his eyes as he bore a terrible secret.

Gideon tugged on his uniform and wondered if all novices felt this way in Sydney's presence. He was trailing a few steps behind Sydney, casting nervous glances at the Seer's head and then looking down to study the floor. Once bored of the pavement, Gideon would repeat the process all over again.

They were in Wales now, traveling deep into the forest to a place Gideon had never been before. Sydney had told him as an afterthought they were going to meet someone familiar, someone who would know where to find Rio and her prisoners. At first, Gideon had thought it would be someone dangerous and exciting, like an underworld boss they would have to 'shake down' but about an hour into this trek, from Sydney's apparent ease, Gideon had determined that this mystery helper was probably nothing more exciting then another Auror.

"If you have any questions for me." Sydney suddenly deadpanned as they walked. "You can ask them. I don't bite."

"I'm fine, sir."

"Just call me Patrick. Or Ness. Caesar called me Nessie, if you feel the need to make up childish monikers."

"What was he like?" Gideon asked the only thing he could really think of. He knew this was probably a sensitive subject for Sydney but the truth was that this Seer was irrevocably linked to Kaiser in Gideon's mind and to better understand one, he needed to know the other. "At work, I mean. He always seemed bigger then life to me. What was it like to work with him on a regular basis?"

The Seer stopped, turned and regarded him. There was a measuring look on his face, but a kind one. Nevertheless, Gideon worried that had overstepped his fragile relationship already. Sydney tilted his head slightly, in thought. "He liked ice cream." He said simply before beginning to walk again. "Sabine was always getting mad at him for leaving empty cartons in his desk drawers or around Akel Dama. He was kind of a slob really, file folders and paperwork everywhere." He glanced over at Gideon with a smirk. "Do you remember coloring with him when he was bored with work? He'd keep these huge collections of crayons in his desk, and when he got stressed, he'd get you guys and Severus into his office and give ya'll his work pile to complete. At Hecate, he'd use to take the crayons into the orphanage. I remember finding him hours later in some room: Caesar himself, the Lord of Hecate, on the floor drawing with kids..."

"I remember that." Gideon smiled at the memories. "If Babbitt wasn't around, he'd let us draw on walls too."

"He wanted such a big family. I use to think that was so crazy too. The way he'd go absolutely nuts over kids." There was a long silence between them, before Sydney spoke again. "I use to color with him too, you know."

Gideon frowned. "Oh?"

"When I was a boy, I was a lot like you. Use to follow Kaiser around like a puppy, just waiting to get his attention and we were one of dozens." Sydney had slowed in his march, cueing to Gideon that they had just about reached their destination. "His soft spot was always families and the harder the lives the families went through, the more Kai wanted to protect them. A lot of people owe their existence to Kaiser's benevolence. Like the one we're coming up to now."

"How so?"

"The Auror we're looking for now, Malachi Smith, has a son he adopted. It was Kaiser who convinced Malachi to take the kid in when he was orphaned." Sydney ducked under a low-lying branch and stepped into a clearing that suddenly blossomed in the moonlight. "And hopefully we can get a direction about where to go next from the son."

"Intelligence isn't giving you anything new I take it."

Sydney made a vague disgruntled sound, "I trust the Moon more then Intelligence."

Gideon turned over to glimpse the house and gasped. The house was typical of England's countryside. Not over-indulgent as Elysian Fields was, or as imposing and palacial like Akel Dama; this home seemed content to appear lovely and unassuming in it's grandure. Gothic masonry curled from the trim as iron work crept over some windows, intermingling with plant life and dark moonlight. The design of the iron struck Gideon as interesting but at first he could not tell the reason. There was a dark pallor over the home, that was true and Gideon had intended to dismiss it as age and the style of home, but as they walked closer Gideon could sense there was something stronger that lurked in the home. Something ancient and powerful that made the ironwork sensible, not as display, but rather protection. But Gideon couldn't tell if the iron bars were meant to keep him out or whatever it held in.

And he wasn't certain, he even wanted to know.

There was a rustle in the woods beside them and low rumbling growl from somewhere deep into the darkness. Gideon tensed and dropped his hand to his wand. Gideon had been so enraptured by the vision; he barely became aware of Sydney's amused grin and blushed from embarrassment. The Seer laughed as he began to walk again, finding the stone path that led to the home. "Don't mind the wolves. They probably won't consider us a threat."

"Probably?"

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

A large wolf suddenly appeared on the flagstones before them, just to prove Sydney's joke had some merit. It leered at Sydney for a long time, then shifted his attention to Gideon and rested his gaze there for a moment. It seemed to be debating the situation and upon deciding that they were safe, turned and began to lead them to the house. Sydney chuckled again. "See? They have such a cooler welcoming committee then I do. All I have is a goat at my ranch."

"And your goat likes to attack your guests." Came a new voice from the entryway.

Gideon jerked his attention from the wolf, to the doorway, surprised to see the figure of Claudia Moon waiting for them. The woman wore a dark gray dress, with her hair interwoven into a tight braid and resting over one shoulder. A thick black ribbon glimmered in the moonlight from the plait, and was the only sign of adornment the woman had. Coming closer, Gideon could see care lines had deepen on Claudia's face, making her appear tired and nervous and nothing like the cool, composed woman she always seemed to be. She ignored Gideon, and addressed Sydney. "Have you come to arrest me?"

"Do I need to?"

"The Nigen seem eager for Kage blood." Claudia whispered. "Who am I to disappoint?" She turned to walk inside and Sydney and Gideon followed. She took them to a quiet parlor, where a low burning candle waited on a table beside an opened decanter. There was glass there that Claudia took up again, and sipped. She apparently had been drinking for some time. She turned her glittering eyes to Sydney. "Tristain and Caleb are in his study. You know the way."

Van Ness drew himself up and exited the room without so much as a word. Gideon stayed behind for two reasons, he had some innate knowledge that whatever would past between Moon, and Van Ness was out of his scope of comprehension, and second, (this was learned from his mother) if one truly sought information and power, go not to the men of influential homes- but to the wives.

"You could have gone with him." Claudia spoke softly, as she sipped her drink again and walked to one of the window. She had assumed Gideon's hesitation came from shyness. And for his part, Gideon would play it that way.

"I had nothing to offer your husband." He said easily, crossing the short distance to Claudia. She turned and tensed as he approached, only to flinch as he took the glass from her hand and watched as he walked to the table to refill the drink. "Besides, you look like you could use some company."

"I have no need of Maho." Gideon offered her the glass, ignoring her statement. It was an invitation for her to share, if she chose to.

And it was his luck that she did. She seemed desperate for it. "Do you know what Maho is?" She didn't wait for a reply. "It's a shorten term for Mahotsukai- Magical humans. The Kage use it, as humans would refer to a Robin as a bird. It's a blanket term that holds no warmth or dislike for the object but merely seeks to label it." She shook her head in disgust. "I don't like that word."

"Then why use it?"

"Because what else can I call you? You humans have such an obsession for naming things yet you take no care in it. You don't understand the power you possess when you name something. That is why you need us. To make sure you don't abuse your power."

Gideon shifted and poured himself a drink. "Is that what Rio told you all?"

"Rio." Claudia whispered tenderly. She muttered something under her breath that sounded faintly Runic but also distinctly different- and old. "Rio never said anything our Ovates wouldn't have said. She just said it so you could hear it." She turned her drunken eyes to Gideon. "We're not human, you know." She told him sternly. "Nor are we some mixed breed cult like you call us. We were once a proud people, as strong and as unique as the Veela or Merpeoples. We had a history, a culture." Her eyes dimmed. "Then the Maho came with their wars. They destroyed us till we were nothing, and were force to become a parasitic race like the Vampires or Werewolves."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have to know why." Claudia said suddenly. She sound frantic, and sad. "We are dying out. Slowly, and painfully, we are dying out. Rio thought she was going to help us. We wanted to believe her..we were desperate... She said if she could harness the power from the Maho's Avatars, she could somehow..."

Gideon frowned as Claudia's words begun to sink in. He took a step forward, careful not to break the spell of Claudia's musings or rouse the woman into wariness. But she knew. She knew something desperately important and he suspected, she wanted to tell him. "Is that what's happened?" He asked. "Is that what she's doing now? Trying to save you?"

Claudia looked for a moment like she was willing to answer but instead shook her head, resolved in her silence.

"Do you know where she is?" Gideon pressed, taking another step to close the distance between them. "Claudia, I have to know..."

"I cannot tell you." Claudia turned on him, startled. In a moment her disorder became cold and well-seated hate. She narrowed her eyes and stepped back from him. "We are to protect our own. I will not betray mine."

"But she's already betrayed you." Gideon countered. "Claudia, she murdered an Auror, and his Companion...and if that doesn't matter, look what's happening to your people because of her."

"She said she'd help us! She said..."

"She lied."

Claudia looked strikened. She inhaled deeply and muttered something again in her language that sounded like it could have been a prayer. She then turned and nodded slowly. "Alright. I will tell you what you want to know but know this, I will die for this betrayal, me and probably my family as well. Understand that before you ask me again. You'll have to know that, and more importantly, you'll have to live with that."

"With what?"

"With the knowledge that no good deed goes unpunished in this world. Understand that, Auror, and you will save yourself a lot of heartache." She straightened herself up and inhaled. Gideon could see she was preparing herself for her fate, gathering around her all the strength and power a daughter of the Kaga possessed and presented herself now, for what she was: a matriarch of a grand house, and a proud, fearsome creature that bowed to no one.

"Now," She whispered. "What do you ask of me, Human?"