All colors will agree in the dark
Petite fingers grasped the cool leather fabric on the trembling upper arm of the visibly agitated vampire and tried to tear him away from the screaming, struggling child. "Dettlaff! Stop it immediately! Can't you see it's just a little child?!" Still drunk from sleep, Livia's exclamation did not have the intended effect and went down next to the panicky cries of the child.
The person addressed bared his teeth and snarled at Livia like a wild animal, while he freed himself from her grip with a flowing movement. The young woman's heart stopped for a moment at this bestial sight, while she, with her eyes wide open, was unable to avert her gaze from Dettlaff. The frightened reaction of the young alchemist, however, made the vampire pause for a moment, which did not escape the supposed victim. With surprising speed, the child bit Dettlaff's forearm, wriggled out of its iron grip and ran head over heels from the room down the creaky stairs to the ground floor.
As Dettlaff tried to stand up, Livia reached for his upper arm again and tried to suppress her fear of him. The trembling of her body nevertheless revealed her anxiety, while already isolated clouds of red smoke surrounded the vampire. "Dettlaff, I beg you! What is going on here?" His white-transformed eyes rested on her while he had visible problems controlling his anger. "You were attacked in your sleep and now you're letting this creature escape!"
Confusion and perplexity spread across the alchemist's face as thoughtful wrinkles spread across her forehead. "It was only a child." "Not human." Before Livia could reply, a bright, girlish voice emerged from the lower floor, loudly expressing her anger. "What a bully! I'll get him for this! Let him come near me once more, then I'll clip his hairless wings! He is allowed to live in my house for free and behaves like a drowner who has gone wild!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! He shall get a thousand furuncles on his white ass and never get rid of them! Just you wait!..." The malicious curses went on incessantly while Livia continued to look at Dettlaff in a bewildered way. A deep growl escaped him while he, almost roughly, with his clawed hand, pushed Livia's narrow shoulder to the side. "I'll be right back."
"No, you won't! I'm going!" The almost overwhelming aura of anger that surrounded the vampire intensified even more and seemed to become tangible. But before he got the chance to turn it against Livia, she struck his claw from her shoulder and ran out of the room. The blonde-haired woman heard Dettlaff's enraged outcry behind her as she hurried down the stairs, already taking two steps at a time. She did not have to search long for the uninvited intruder. The little girl's curses had not let up and if Livia hadn't been afraid that at any moment an angry higher vampire would tear her house to pieces, she would have had to smile at one statement or another.
"... trim his claws so that he can no longer scratch his ass satisfactorily when it itches there! After all, not everyone can do it like..." Livia liked the bright voice, and as she approached, she raised her arms in a calming manner. "Hey, I'm sorry that Dettlaff grabbed you so roughly. But...," the alchemist was now standing directly behind the little child, crouched down and continued in as gentle a tone as possible, "perhaps you would tell me what you were looking for in our house?"
Livia heard the child panting loudly, theatrically, before she turned to her. Huge saucer eyes, which seemed to consist almost entirely of a black iris, an unhealthy looking pale skin colour, the face wrinkled in stark contrast to the child's body, only an old sheet as a dress and a wreath of leaves with a daisy rounded off the unexpected sight that the alchemist was presented with. It was at this moment that it dawned on Livia, whom Dettlaff had already mentioned in advance that she was not a human child, and regretted her rash action.
The little creature tilted her head slightly and looked at Livia full of curiosity. "Dettlaff? Is that the name of this uncouth bat?" Still overwhelmed by the whole situation, Livia merely nodded and continued to stare at the creature in front of her with eyes wide open. The unrestricted attention seemed to please the little girl. Satisfied, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and stretched her chin forward. "Do you like my appearance? I have dressed up properly for our first meeting. I had to search for the daisy for an incredibly long time. Novigrad isn't very suitable if you are looking for pretty flowers. You can believe me on that. The merchants' carts break up the ground so that hardly anything can sprout. But a little further out I finally found what I was looking for. Oh! This is really an exciting story, would you like to hear it? Because I came across a group of drowners at the river! I was scared, believe me. Those big bubble eyes approached me and thought that they would have an easy time with me, but I was a real pushover. Because I...", the creature made a dramatic pause and underlined this with an excessive hand movement, "can... run super fast!" At the end she jumped up and looked at her conversation partner expectantly.
When Livia noticed that it was now her turn to answer, she blinked a few times before hesitantly starting. "Oh... Wow... you're really... brave?" To support Livia's statement, which was more questioning than ascertaining, the creature nodded violently. "Yes! Yes! I am!"
"And um... what's your name? "
"I'm Sarah, and I live here in this house." Inwardly, Livia writhed because of this messed up situation. One question being answered, there' s more inconsistencies. As far as her mind allowed, the young alchemist wanted to proceed systematically to shed light on the situation. She also wondered inwardly what Dettlaff was doing in the meantime. Did he remain in the bedroom full of rage at ..., yes, what was it? He thought she was being attacked, but even this circumstance was beyond her imagination.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Livia." Sarah's eyes seemed to glow. "Livia! What a beautiful name! Shall we be friends? I always wanted to live with others. " Carefully, without dampening Sarah's euphoria, Livia picked up. "I think you already know that I'm human and Dettlaff is a vampire. But what kind of being are you? I must confess, I've never seen anything like you before."
Sarah brushed off with an impatient hand movement and did not let Livia out of her sight. "I am a godling. Do you have something on your ears Livia? Do we wanna be friends or not?" Livia stared in bewilderment at the cheeky godling, who was visibly agitated and waiting for an answer from the alchemist.
"I think we can do something about that, but..." Before the blonde-haired woman could finish her sentence, Sarah jumped joyfully through the living room and threw one or two books from the shelves. "Thank you! I've always wanted a friend! What do we want to do today? Shall we explore Novigrad together?"
Defensively the young woman raised her hands and shook her head. "How do you know Dettlaff is a vampire and what exactly happened between you two in the bedroom?"
Sarah picked her nose and, after looking briefly at the affected finger, wiped it off her clothing. "Well, as I said before, I am a godling. We have the powerful ability to see the true nature of any mortal being with our inner eye. Another unbeatable characteristic of us is that we can also influence the dreams of others. I can draw your most ardent desires or even your greatest fears from your subconscious and make them seemingly real in your dreams. And I think that I am quite good at it! You should have seen your red posterior! But just before the climax came Borelaff and had to ruin everything!"
Livia recalled the dream in her mind and noticed a budding heat on her face. Embarrassed, she cleared her throat before answering in a trembling voice. "It's called cheek, not posterior, and I'm not entirely sure if you're really a master in this skill. Let's generously disregard the beginning of the dream, but what was that about the end? This hideous monster, which had suddenly taken Dettlaff's position and...", the young woman's voice failed and icy cold came over her. Was she wrong or had she not seen this creature before? The creaking of the floorboards made her flinch. As she turned to the sound, the surprised expression of the godling escaped her notice, which shortly afterwards changed into an amused grin.
The vampire's features were now human again, but the depths of his blue eyes were seething with unbridled anger. His hands clenched into fists, so that his nails cut into the white flesh of his palm, while his jaws seemed to burst with tension. In stark contrast to his extreme body language, the vampire's voice was surprisingly calm and restrained. " Enough. Livia, stay away from this creature."
His gaze glided towards the surprised godling. "I will grant you this one chance. Leave here and never show your face again, and I will spare your life."
Sarah blinked confusedly several times before stamping her foot furiously. "YOU want to threaten ME in MY house? YOU should be grateful to me for letting you live here! YOU call the dream I spun for Livia an attack? And in this dream YOU even had the leading role! A confident smile lay on the godling's lips, while Dettlaff exhaled loudly from his nose. "Livia found the part with you extremely pleasant, but unfortunately a disgusting hairless monstrosity with huge wings had to squeeze in and ruin all the fun." With pursed lips and an innocent expression in her eyes, Sarah looked at Dettlaff.
Livia recognised the urgency of the situation and cleared her throat loudly before Dettlaff could start destroying everything and everyone in his immediate vicinity like a berserker. "Well, now that this is your house and we are allowed to live here, perhaps it would be best if you showed us all the rooms and explained where we can put our belongings. I would also be happy to get to know you better." To push the absurdity of this situation even further, Livia clapped twice with feigned enthusiasm before turning to one of her pieces of luggage.
"Livia! This decision is..." "A lot better than the bat shit that this rude booby is spouting. Follow me! I'll show you around."
The tour of the house took place without the vampire, who remained in the entrance area, leaning silently against the banister. This house, no, the whole situation was a farce and would end sooner or later.
In the meantime Sarah was in the bedroom with Livia and told the alchemist some of her most exciting stories. Among other things, the godling came to talk about the white wolf, who had also visited this house. Thanks to her powerful abilities, however, she was able to put the wolf to flight. "With shaking knees, he ran away head over heels, you can believe me and if I am not mistaken, his hair has also become a bit whiter. You see," the narrator took a dramatic pause for effect, "I am extremely powerful."
A furtive smile lay on the alchemist's narrow lips. She crouched down in front of Sarah and looked into her big eyes, which contained an expression of childlike openness. "You know, when I listen to all your stories like this, I can't help but think you are a sweet little girl who can still be very cheeky from time to time. Few would dare to challenge a vampire, let alone approach one. I'm not sure whether your approach to Dettlaff is brave or rather imprudent."
"Well," Sarah stuck her head up against Livia's, "That makes two of us, don't you think?" A few seconds went by in which the two of them cast conspiratorial glances at each other.
Sarah pointed to a richly decorated wooden box lying on the chest of drawers and looked at Livia with a questioningly expression. "Do you have a treasure hidden in it?"
Full of enthusiasm Livia jumped up and approached the box. With a sweeping movement she picked it up and turned to Sarah again. "Well, I could show you the treasure, of course, but..." Sarah's childlike curiosity was aroused. "But?" "No more dreams of fatigue and strange monstrosities."
Was the young alchemist mistaken, or did the godling really seem to be sulking? After a while Sarah sighed with resignation. "Okay." The mischief flashed in her eyes before she continued. "Then you'll just have big breasts, while the traders will be drooling and longing to be allowed to touch them." Unconsciously, Livia pressed the cassette more firmly against her upper body. "Sarah!"
"I got it. In future, I will not interfere with your dreams, EXCEPT if you ask me to." With narrowed eyes, the alchemist examined the godling before putting the box on the floor. Sarah sat down opposite her on the floorboards and never let the box out of her sight. "Here is my greatest treasure! Look at it."
When Sarah saw the Gwentcards, she gave a loud cry of joy. "I love card games, but unfortunately I only know this from hearsay. Would you teach me?" Livia was on fire and seemed to have completely forgotten the turbulent morning, including an angry vampire. Sarah's gaze paused briefly during Livia's voluptuous explanations before a confident smile formed on her lips.
Soft candlelight lit up the rooms and created a pleasant ambience, while the regular rustling of paper sounded. Occasional giggles broke through the otherwise monotonous soundscape, closely followed by a barely perceptible creaking of the huge bed. "This is insanely boring! You are more occupied with reading than with working on the caldron. Mandrake roots here, some blood there, no wonder this old vampire likes it, but you could do much more exciting things! We could go fishing!"
Livia laughed out loud and gently pushed Sarah off her back so that she was now lying in bed next to her. "Did you surprise Regis as much as you surprised us?"
"No. He noticed me immediately and greeted me very politely." Sarah moved her face closer to Livia and continued talking in a conspiratorial voice. "He bowed to me and asked me if I would agree to have you and Dettlaff as my new roommates! Until now I thought vampires were stupid creatures, but Regis is so... nice!"
The young alchemist could no longer pull herself together and sputtered with reddened cheeks. " "Nice" would not have been the term I would have chosen for Regis, but yes, I know what you're getting at. Dettlaff is practically the exact opposite of him."
Sarah stopped briefly and after a few moments grinned even wider. "Oh, you know, I think Dettlaff and I can still become very good friends." Surprised by this statement, Livia looked at the godling before she closed the huge tome in front of her and got up from bed. She carefully pushed it back into the tastefully decorated bookshelf and peeled off her linen dress. Her underwear landed carelessly in the corner of the room as she paused briefly and looked around the room in search. "You know Sarah, we've only known each other for a day, but I'm glad I met you here. Alchemy may seem boring to you at first, but maybe I will manage to convince you of its beauty. It is an indescribable feeling when you can help others with your abilities. Have you seen my nightgown here anywhere, Sarah?"
The godling had also left the bed and wandered aimlessly through the bedroom. "Oh, this with the abilities I believe you. Helping others is my speciality, you know? You can thank me later."
"What do you mean ...", the alchemist turned to Sarah with a confused expression and could see that she was on the other side of the room and was triumphantly circling the nightdress over her head before it landed on the floor. At the same time, Livia noticed from the corners of her eyes that red smoke was gathering in the doorway and the doorknob was being slowly pushed down. She was horrified when she realised that she was standing in the room completely naked and had no place to hide.
Sarah disappeared silently and a short time later, the bedroom was in total darkness. Behind her, the alchemist heard an amused "You're welcome." before the room became completely silent. Livia thought she could see the outline of Dettlaff in the doorway before she spoke. "Wait! I have everything under control. Just give me a short moment and...", while she spoke, the petite woman walked carefully through the room, hands outstretched wide to look for objects that might help her find her way.
Livia thought she had almost reached the bed when she caught her foot on the small bump and went down with a muffled sound. Moaning, she turned on the floor in pain and was at odds with herself as to whether or not she should be grateful to Sarah for her "help". "Livia." Dettlaff wanted to approach her, but paused instantly when Livia raised her arm with a vehement movement. "No! Not one step closer! I have everything under control. I just slipped, that's all, honestly! Stay where you are, don't let anything else happen to you!" Crawling on all fours, she continued on her way until she could feel the familiar fabric of her nightdress under the palm of her hand with irrepressible relief.
Quickly she pulled it over her head before continuing her way to the candle, when a small cool hand touched her shoulder. "I'll take it from here." Shortly afterwards the bedroom was immersed in warm light again. Because of the abrupt difference in brightness, Livia squinted her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and gazing confusedly at the doorway. "Wasn't Dettlaff just here a moment ago?"
Sarah merely shrugged and pointed to the bed. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" The woman was chewing indecisively on her lower lip. "You could tell me some great Gwent strategies."
The cool light of the moon shrouded the buildings of Novigrad in a ghostly veil, while in the narrow alleys an all-consuming darkness reigned. Scarcely clothed women stood at the entrances to these side streets and, with sweet words and inviting gestures, managed to convince the male passers-by of their charms and led them into the womb of darkness from which the animal sounds of lust emerged. Novigrad, the metropolis, invites you to a nocturnal, adventurous ride, the outcome of which is always uncertain. Only the gentle morning rays can reveal what the all-consuming darkness had hidden.
Livia snuggled up in the soft down bedding and let the day run out again before her mind's eye, hoping fervently that tomorrow she would have the opportunity to talk to Dettlaff alone about the new circumstances. Sarah lay restlessly beside her and giggled muffledly at regular intervals before turning to the young alchemist.
"Livia?"
Still lost in thought, the addressed person answered half-heartedly with a "Hm?". Again the excited giggling filled the room before the godling continued. "You do know that vampires can see everything in the dark?"