Author's note: (Bored, sees the review Maid of Many Names has written) YAY! I've got a review! (Starts dancing in joy for a while. When calms down, reads it) Yeah, I found myself with my jaw on the floor when I didn't find any fanfic about this game, too. That's exactly why I couldn't stop thinking about writing something -anything- about it. Since I didn't find any fanfic, I thought there weren't any readers, though; so that's why I decided on a crossover blending another world for which I already had a story like this in stock.

For the ones who don't know about it, I'll try to explain everything and, for the ones that, like you, have played the videogame, I'll be throwing in some events, objects and characters directly from that masterpiece. Hope you like it and, if any character comes close to Mary Sue, PLEASE, WARN ME! Thanks.

Disclaimer: (Vein on the forehead starts convulsing like Vernon Dursley's) I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THAT! (remembers he's the one who has written 'disclaimer:' to begin with) Hum... Yeah... Eh... Sorry.

My eyes opened wide as soon as the sun disappeared in the horizon. I was in a poorly decorated bedroom: there were only the bed I was lying on, a wardrobe to my right and, between them, a curtained window.

I got up, exited the room by it's only door and walked to the left. I passed the bathroom and descended the stairs to my right. Once I reached down, I turned right walked the hallway to the end and got into the kitchen. There, I retrieved a glass from the fridge and a knife from the shelve and went through the other door, to the living room. I picked up a potions book and left to the first floor.

From the stair's end, there was another hallway with four doors: the nearest let to the bathroom; the second, to my bedroom; the third was a spare room. I went to the fourth.

I closed the door behind me and made sure the room was alright. The only window was sealed (the bricks on the wall showed where it had once been, but nothing else), and the lamp that hung from the ceiling didn't lit the empty room properly. That's why I had chosen it for this particular use: furniture would only be a nuisance and curious eyes weren't something I wished.

I knelt, placed the glass on the floor, my left hand above it and made a deep, long cut on it. I waited for the glass to be filled and stopped the bleeding, letting my undead body close the wound I had inflicted it (kindred heal much faster than humans). Satisfied, I soaked a finger in the blood and, with it, painted an X on the door. "Ego protego... Cubiculum protego... I protect this room with my blood. Ego protego... No one enters, no one knows. Cubiculum protego... I choose the exceptions, no one else. Ego protego... Only the sun, high on the sky, shall break my words. Cubiculum protego." These words, I whispered them under my breath, completing the protecting ritual. Maybe it could be simplified by just saying cubiculum protego, but by saying the whole thing one could ensure it was really safe: not even a werewolf would be able to break that door now.

I turned and watched the room's floor. There was a three feet diameter circle at it's very center. It displayed an intricate image mixed with ancient words and runes, all in red. Glass in hand, I knelt before it and poured the glass' contents along it's outer rim. I stopped when there was only a single drop left. "Glyph, you who have been made by my blood, open." And, with that, I poured the remaining blood drop on it's center.

The red liquid fell to the ground and expanded in a circular motion, filling the whole glyph in red. "L.A. The chantry. Maximilian Strauss." The red surface started to change it's color until I could see a ceiling through a red haze. "Max? Are you there?"

"... sky, shall break my words. Cubiculum protego." Max had just finished his protecting ritual. "Robert, I sense you have widened the glyph's channel. May I know your reasons?" Max's bald head appeared inside the circle on my floor. It was like looking at him while wearing red glasses.

I showed Max the book I had taken from my shelve. "Already memorized it and tested the simplest one, without my body rejecting the non-blood liquid. They work without needing magic and some of them can be very useful."

"You know a single kindred cannot widen a glyph enough for matter to pass through it." Max's hand went to his goatee while he lost himself in his thoughts. "Nonetheless... You have widened it enough for me to be able to finish the job. Provided you, the owner, let my blood alter your work."

The only drawback it could bring was that Max'd be able to reopen or close the gliph whenever he wanted. "That would be a welcomed improvement." At hearing my words, Max bared and cut his wrist, pouring some of his elder blood into the glyph I had made.

"Voce et voluntas sati non sunt. Your master made you, I fed you. Hear my command: let my blood enhance your power." It was my cue to follow the ritual.

"I'm your master and he is too," I cut my index finger and a small amount of blood fell to the glyph's center. "Voce et voluntas sati non sunt: let the mater flow through you." Air flew from the glyph and its surface changed into a more liquid-like appearance. "Euhh... Has it worked?"

Max got up and disappeared from my field of view. "I've recently received a spare copy of healing rituals." His face returned into he glyph. He had a book in his hand. "Let's see how this works." He placed said book on his end of the glyph and it came floating towards me. Once it had come close enough, I reached my hand into the 'hole' and took it.

I flipped through the rituals book's pages and found out it hadn't been altered by passing through the glyph. "Excellent. Do you want the potions book now?" Max simply smiled while I placed my book on the glyph's very center. It sank until it got to my regent's arm reach. Then, he took it and, repeating my actions, flipped through his new book's contents.

"You have successfully secured new knowledge for our clan, Robert Kellehan. You can no longer be referred as a fledgling: you are a full, independent member of our clan's pyramid." I had proved my loyalty to the clan before, and I had been accepted; but now I was 'independent': I had gained the right to become primogen (if given the case I decided to stay in a city where I was the eldest or most powerful of my clan who wished to hold the title) and I could ask a Prince permission to sire. I had been waiting for this moment for five years. "Now, formalities apart: do you require anything from this chantry?"

I kept thinking for a moment until I made up my mind: "There will surely occur direct confrontations. I'd find useful to have my Odious Chalice with me." This time, Max did look surprised... His emotions had always been difficult to read: was it anger or wariness on his face? Or maybe, I almost hoped, it was a visual effect the red surface separating us gave to his always relaxed expression?

"The Odious Chalice, you say? And why would you wish to have a Tzimisce's doing on your hands?" The Tzimisce were a kindred clan that had mastered the power of Vicissitude (crafting flesh and bone at their will). They powers were amazingly horrifying; and the relationship between our clans was that of the sun and a vampire.

"I like to give 'em their own medicine." I paused to emphasize my next words: "To use my enemie's powers against them." Max's expression relaxed at hearing this.

"Oh, you certainly learned your lessons well, Robert. But remember this: while the Odious Chalice will take the spilled blood during battles and allow you to drink it, the chalice will also decrease your thaumaturgy's effectiveness, for it won't find any difference between your blood and your enemies'."

"Not if I put it into a plastic bag when I need to use strong thaumaturgy." Max chuckled at my response while he got up and disappeared from my field of view, only to return a moment later with something circular in his hand. He passed the object to me and I put it aside.

"May your blood last you long." With that, he closed his glyph's end. The circle on the floor got drained from its periphery to the center, leaving place to more and more floor painted with red marks.

I grabbed the object and unwrapped it from the white plastic bag it was enveloped with. I was greeted by the sight of a piece of semi-rotten flesh with what seemed like a pig's eye staring directly into my eyes: the Odious Chalice. Its smell didn't betray any trace of blood: it was empty. I suddenly remembered I hadn't refilled it since I had needed to drain it dry five years ago, during the Blood Hunt.

I enveloped the chalice again, took the glass and knife to the kitchen, went back upstairs, dressed up and put the chalice in my coat's left pocket. My wand was in the right one.

I descended the stairs and went to the living room's desk. I read again the letter I had received last night and smiled: two hours to go to Hogwarts. I had been the Dursleys' neighbor for a single week, but I was really itching to get out of Privet Drive.

I exited home and walked down the street. I took that weird magical bus and, five minutes later, I was in a very concurred street in the middle of London. Damn it, I WAS famished. I started looking for preys almost immediately.

Two hours and three bitten necks later found me running home again from the point where the bus had left me. I was late... I didn't know this McGonagall witch too well, but I just knew she'd be pissed. I dashed to the door, unlocked and opened it, entered, closed the door, locked it (why

did I have to do so many things every time I was in a hurry? Sometimes I wished I'd be one of those vampires who could count in Celerity. Man, those guys could always be real fast.) and walked into the living room, to my left.

Sure enough, as soon as I stepped into the living room, I was greeted by the ever stern Minerva McGonagall, with a very angry look on her face, wand in hand (I took note the wand wasn't pointing at me, though) "You took your time. Isn't punctuality a part of polite kindred customs, maybe?"

I amused myself giving the human an exaggerated bow. The awkwardness her heart rate always betrayed she felt whenever I showed extreme courtesy only made me be unable to stop doing so. It was fun, and it wasn't that it'd hurt the woman to see that a younger bloodsucker could be more polite than her, anyway. "Good evening to you too, ma'am. I apologize if I wasn't able to do everything I had to before the sunset but, you see, my skin is a bit sensitive and feeding takes its time -especially if you don't wish to drink too much from anyone." I paused a bit and, when she was going to start speaking, I cut her off: "As I remember, human don't wish to rush their meals too much, either."

McGonagall's mouth snapped shut. It opened and closed again, trying to vocalize something her mind hadn't processed yet. I decided I had had my fun that night and it'd be best not to joke about her current speechlessness -I didn't seek to have her as an enemy, after all. "Students are starting their next year at Hogwarts in a month." McGonagall had decided to bring the conversation into business territory. I accepted her silent call for truce with my silence and full attention. "Dumbledore has requested that you come to Hogwarts and upgrade its defenses as you can. The Magic Ministry has allowed us to take this course of action."

"Protego branch isn't my specialty, and I'm not familiarized with the magics that have been already used to defend the castle; but I could put some traps indoors." I suddenly remembered we were talking about a school. "I'll have to stick to selective thaumaturgy, though... They won't be too strong, so it'd be better to cover the whole school."

McGonagall's lips suppressed a laughter at hearing my commentary. "The whole school? In four weeks? I'd advise you to wait until we arrive there before saying something like that." Was she insinuating I wouldn't be able to cover it in a whole month? Bah, come on. How big could it be? "Are you ready?" I nodded and she walked over me and took my left arm. I panicked once I remembered what she was planning on: apparating. My hopes of it being less hard than the first time banished as soon as the pressure started.

This time, though, the beast did something I'd have never expected: instead of trying to control me and break free of the invisible chains that where crushing my body, it seemed to remember the experience would be over soon and, simply, cut my mind of the rest of my neuronal system, isolating me from the feeling I hated.

It was strange: I could think clearly and coherently, but I couldn't feel or do anything. Like if I had no body. I freaked out and struggled against the isolation the beast had imposed me. Slowly, but steadily, I regained my capability to perceive my surroundings, though I couldn't move: I was just frozen wherever it may be that I was. I felt McGonagall tapping my shoulder impatiently, "Wake up, already!" Her voice arrived my perception sense blurred, as if I were inside a swimming pool. "Vampire? Are you alright? Wake up!" She nipped my cheek.

The faint pain managed its purpose to snap me out of unconsciousness. "Eh, oh? Yeah, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean 'what's wrong'?" McGonagall seemed both incredulous and slightly pissed. "You've been out cold for ten minutes without any apparent reason, so don't give me that line."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, "can we, please, continue?" The witch decided to let me be but, as we started to move, I couldn't keep my mind out of the incident: first time, I nearly frenzied; the second, catatonia... What was happening to me? Apparating... It was just like... But it couldn't be that... My course of thought was abruptly interrupted by the sight before me.

So... How was it? For now, I'll let you guys imagine what's the matter with Robert's recent paralisis (I'm not writting about this subject 'til chapter 9, or so). Sorry this chapter took so long, I'll try and make it up by being faster at uploading the next ones. Thanks again to my sole reviewer and, to whoever is reading this story without posting any reviews; come on, it's not so hard, just click on the link, write if you liked my story or not so far, and click to 'post review'. You can do it!