A/N: Okay...I'm glad that I'm getting good reviews on this story...although I would prefer if at least one person would bother to review twice? I mean, if you really like the story and want me to update, then please leave a review.

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IV

"So let me get this straight. You want to kidnap the most heavily guarded princess in the world, so you can find a couple of eggs that hatch once every one billion years – which are probably just a legend, mind you – then return the princess, collect the ransom, and go back to your normal life?"

Fred looked thoughtful for a moment before saying cheerfully, "Yeah, that's pretty much it!" He smiled from ear to ear, making Chase only sink deeper into bewilderment.

"Unbelievable," he muttered, putting his hand to his forehead. "Unbelievable, unbelievable. I just can't believe it."

"You've established that," Fred pointed out, matter-of-factly.

Chase was, as I'm sure I don't have to state, astonished. In fact, he was well beyond astonished; he was downright confused. The fear that had taken hold on him upon his meeting with the vampire was long forgotten, even after the events that followed. (Fred had put a hand over his mouth to silence him and pulled the wizard into the forest – which, as I'm sure you can imagine, frightened him quite a bit.) "I don't…" he began, "I don't think I…understand…"

"Don't see any reason why you should," answered the other with a shrug. "The ransom money is all yours, you know; I have no use for money. Of course if I decide to hire someone else to help us perform my dastardly plot," (Fred snickered inwardly), "you'll have to share the ransom with them. But I imagine it won't be too much a loss."

"But…why would you need a Crystal Dragon egg?"

"None of your beeswax." Fred stuck out his tongue, revealing once again his razor sharp teeth.

The wizard's fear was revived upon seeing these, and he gulped rather loudly. "W-Well, Mr. Vampire, sir – "

"It's Fred."

"Right. Fred." Chase forced a smile. "While I respect your plan entirely, I just don't see how it could ever work. I mean, this is the princess of the Crystal Kingdom we're talking about!"

Fred frowned and tipped his head slightly to the side. "Soooo…?"

After a moment's silence, Chase asked, "Do I have to answer now?"

"Hate to break it to ya, but I don't have time to wait."

Chase closed his eyes. He squeezed them shut very tightly, as if he was a little boy making a wish on his birthday. It wasn't his birthday, and he wasn't quite a little boy anymore (despite the beliefs of many of his teachers), but as he stood there with his eyes closed he made a wish. He wished so very, very hard that when he opened his eyes, the vampire would be gone, and he would be at home with the sun shining through his window, lying in his comfortable bed with a warm breakfast on his small coffee table in his room, and maybe even a steaming cup of hot cocoa. And some whipped cream would be a nice touch.

Alas, when he opened his eyes, he was still in the dense forest, holding nothing but the few objects he took from his room at the school. The vampire was gone, though, so he guessed that was something.

Or it was until he remembered something.

He didn't have any money.

"Fred!" Chase called suddenly, hoping he hadn't gone far enough to not hear him. "Fred, er, the Friendly Bloodsucking Vampire!"

The aforementioned popped up behind him, nearly scaring him to death. "You called?"

After taking a deep breath, he told him his decision. "I…I want the job!"

The other threw his fist into the air, startling Chase and making him jump. "Sweet!" he yelled, smiling like there was no tomorrow. "We are so gonna be partners in crime, Chase!" He trotted merrily along, and the other followed behind, still in a state of bewilderment.

He wasn't sure why, but something about the way the vampire said his name made Chase feel more comfortable around him. It was like he had known him forever, even though they had just met no more than twenty minutes ago. He didn't even flinch when the other punched him in the shoulder playfully – he wondered, after a while if the ability to make his fear go away was a strategy of the vampire's, so that he would be off guard when he was attacked. But Chase decided that if he were going to suck his blood, he probably would have done so a long time ago.

"So how old are you, Chase?" Fred asked, interrupting his thoughts.

The wizard was a little surprised. "Fifteen years," he answered, pausing for a moment before asked him the same question.

"Me? Oh, about…like…hell, I don't know." A shrug. "I stopped counting after a while."

"Surely you must remember," Chase said with disbelief. "How can you forget your own birthday?"

"It's not like it's a big celebration," he answered simply. "If I had to guess, I'd say five Red Moons."

Chase raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

"What, are you a moron? A celebration, like a party or – "

"No. I mean, what's a Red Moon?"

"Oh." Fred grinned sheepishly. "You know, like when the moon is all black, and then it turns red for a few minutes and gives power to all the vampires."

Chase was amazed. He never learned that in school. "Is that how vampires measure time?"

"Yup. Under normal circumstances."

"So…if you had to guess, how many years old would you be?"

"Years?" he repeated, wrinkling his nose. "I don't know. I've never been good at those. If you ask Gnai, he'd know."

"Ngnn-aa-ee?" repeated he, playing with the strange sound of the name. "What's – "

"None of your beeswax!"

Fred, whose cheeks were a light tint of pink, hit the other on the back of the head as if he had just done something shamefully foolish. After toppling over with a yelp, Chase rubbed his head with sensitivity and decided not to ask any more questions.

However, he chose against that decision after a few moments of walking what seemed to be aimlessly. "Uhhh, Fred?"

"Yes?"

"Where are we going?"

Fred thought. "Hmmm…I'll check!" Humming, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small bronze compass that his brother had given him. When he returned to the Vampire Kingdom, he would have to give Gnai his greatest gratitude. Without this little trinket, he would surely be lost.

"We're going east," he answered after a while. "That's the right way, isn't it?"

Chase shrugged. "How would I know?"

"You've been schooled, have you not?"

Suddenly, the wizard felt his face burning up. "W-Well, you know how school is."

To his relief, the other just laughed. "Yeah, I wish. I can hardly read." He noticed Chase's look of surprise and continued. "I mean, not many of us – vampires – are very educated. It's not a high priority."

Chase nodded, but couldn't quite shake off his astonishment. Everything he had learned from Fred in the last few minutes was more than he had ever learned at school. This whole dropping out ordeal was becoming better by the second!

"But, neither of us know how to get to the Crystal Kingdom," Fred went on, "so that could be a problem. I'm pretty sure it's east and a little to the north from where I've come from, so we should be heading in the right direct – "

Something – or someone – rushing past them from behind, interrupted him. Taking both boys by surprise, it caused Chase to topple over and Fred to lean forward a bit.

Suddenly, the vampire seemed go into a state of panic. "Where is it?" he demanded frantically, "Where did it go?"

Chase stood up and brushed himself off, slightly irritated. "What?"

"My compass! It's gone!"

"Aw, crap," the wizard exclaimed. "That thing must've snatched it. Now how are we gonna – "

"Use magic!" he ordered.

"Huh?"

"You're a wizard, aren't you!" Chase could've sworn his eyes were glowing red. "Use your magic to stop it!"

"Uhhhh…right." Suddenly, dropping out of wizard school seemed like a very bad idea. Still, he was too chicken to turn down a peeved vampire, so he took his wand in one hand, aimed it in the direction the thing had gone, and attempted to utter a few magic words. "Zaph lin – n-no, wait, that's not right…Zepheena rin, ou!" And with that, to his surprise and delight, the creature appeared in front of them.

Fred tackled it. "Give it back!" he shouted, pinning it to the ground.

The wizard got a good look at "it" for the first time. It was a male with dark skin and no hair, nearly six feet tall – quite a bit taller than the boy on top of him, which looked rather funny – wearing dark clothes of fine quality. If it weren't for his pointed ears, Chase would've guessed he were merely human, so he came to the conclusion that it was an elf, although he didn't know whether it was a Dark Elf or and Elf of Light. He prayed that it was the latter.

Fred, however, had other things on his mind than what species it was. "Give back what you've stolen!" he shouted.

The elf looked to be in a state of shock, but quickly recovered. "I didn't steal anything!" insisted he, angered. "Now, if you'd kindly remove yourself. I'm in a hurry."

"Not until you give it back!"

Seeing he wasn't going to cooperate, the elf easily kicked him off of him, and Fred flew back as if a strong wind had blown him. "Now," said the elf, standing, "if you'll excuse me, gentlemen – "

"Not so fast!" Chase pointed his wand at the elf, too surprised that he had managed not to stutter to notice his acquaintance clutching his stomach in pain.

The elf stopped, surprised.

"That's right," he continued. "If you try to get away with our compass, I'll just have to turn you to stone." After a moment he added, "Because, after all, I'm a master magician!" Fred looked up and nodded in agreement. The wizard didn't mention that he had only meant to slow the elf down, not make it appear in front of them.

Still, how was the elf to know that? He gave a defeated sigh. "All right. Perhaps I snatched your compass on accident. But if you're going to search me, do it quickly; I'm in a hurry to find someone."

Chase began to approach him warily, until Fred said something that surprised him. "Hello. My name is Fred the Friendly Bloodsucking Vampire. Would you be opposed to kidnap someone?"

Both Chase and the elf stared at him in incredulity.

"Yes," the elf answered simply.

"You must be Dark Elf," Fred continued as if he hadn't heard him. "Your powers are limited these days, hm? Do you have any idea how to find who you're looking for, or what you'll do when you've found them?"

The elf had to admit, he didn't. "What's your point?" he asked distrustfully.

Fred smiled and proceeded to explain his plan, while Chase tried not to scream from the terror of finding out this was a Dark Elf they'd encountered. "Now I don't know their full powers," the vampire went on, "but I'd image with a Crystal Dragon egg you could track down this person you're searching for."

For a long moment, the elf thought. Chase hoped for a while that he wasn't going to answer, but finally he said, "We won't harm this princess?"

"Nope."

"Then it's a deal."

"Awesome!" Fred exclaimed. "What's your name? This is Chase, by the way. He's a wizard. You have to forgive him; he's kind of a wimp."

"I am no – " he stopped suddenly. "I-I mean, how nice to meet you – I'm sorry for c-casting a spell on you earlier!"

The elf seemed indifferent. "My name is Set."

"Set? That's kind of short," Fred commented.

Set ignored him, grabbed a small objected that had snagged onto his shirt and handed it to the vampire. "My apologies," said he. "Now let's get going."

Fred grinned like an idiot and started toward the direction of the Crystal Kingdom. Warily, Chase followed uncertain of their solemn new companion.