(A/N): ...Foreshadowing. A little bit more backstory, some information on the vampire and vampire hunter communities.

Leo

A nun? A nun?! Lisbet was a fucking nun?! What kind of- I don't even know what to- Clearly, 'a long story' was a hell of an understatement.

"'A long story' as in it'll take a long time to tell me, or 'a long story' as in it took place over a long time?" He considered this for a second.

"I mean... the nun thing, and the stake thing- well, the burned at the stake thing-" There was a difference? Oh. Oh, maybe he meant 'stake' as in wooden stake. Hopefully Lisbet hadn't had much experience with either kind. "-were fairly quick- at least in retrospect- but... they're hard to explain, especially to someone who doesn't understand the way things were, back then. And... it'd probably be better for you to hear it from Lisbet. I'm sure she'd prefer it." I hesitated, before nodding.

"Alright, yeah. I'll ask Lisbet about it at some point." He nodded.

"Anyway... Lisbet and I got... close. Well, as close as a novitiate nun and a deacon- fake deacon- could appropriately be in those days." He paused for a second, clearly thinking about it. "Maybe a little closer than was strictly appropriate." His lips quirked up at the thought. "I was trying not to push things, but even back then, my boundaries were a little... lax, compared to most. Every time I got too close, she would pull away. It... it would take a second, but she would pull away." And nearly being burned at the stake changed that, somehow?

"So what changed?" Jerremyah shrugged.

"Other than just... time? Well, near the end of my mission, I was... discovered. Revealed as a vampire. There was a, uh... a test, they did. I thought it was meant to be used on two other members of the church, but... it was a trick. The Bishop- the one running the operation- had apparently been suspicious of me for a while, and when he gathered us all around to witness the test, he had one of the people who was supposed to be being tested, sweep the basin of Holy Water off of the table- and onto me. Of course, I burned- and I was exposed for what I was." Ouch. He grimaced too, but I couldn't tell whether it was because he was remembering the pain of said event, or Lisbet's reaction.

"And how did Lisbet take it?" He winced, then hesitated before speaking.

"Not well. Better than I expected, but... still. Not well." I bet she hadn't.

"So... what happened after that? Did you take down the Bishop, and his Holy Water production scheme?" Jerremyah shrugged.

"The Bishop, yes. That iteration of the scheme, also yes. But... those sort of things pop up from time to time. The Hunters have only gotten more and more dangerous now that a lot of things can be automated. Not everything- not blessings, but... a lot of things." I suppose that made sense.

"And what about vampires?" He seemed confused by my question.

"What about vampires?" I shrugged one shoulder.

"You said Hunters got more dangerous with the advancement of mankind- of technology- what about vampires? Are we at risk, or are we changing, to keep the playing field even?" Jerremyah blinked, seeming stunned that I would ask such a thing.

"...You know, sometimes I forget that the Ellwood's were a Hunter family, but your brain is... Hunter's have this uniquely strategic sort of mindset, and I've seen it come out in you, sometimes. Like when you took charge, and inducted me into the clan, even when Lisbet was resistant." I froze for a second, shocked, before weakly, I shrugged.

"Yeah, well... I've got it on both sides. Hey, I'm even worse than Elaine is." ...Saying Elaine was 'bad', in any sort of way, left a bad taste in my mouth. He brushed past that comment, eyebrows furrowing.

"'Both sides'? Your mother was a Hunter?" Actually, I wasn't sure on that front.

"My mother, I don't know. My grandfather, Anthophilius Meliflua, definitely." And Jerremyah stiffened, wide eyed- aghast.

"Anthophilius Meliflua- he's your-" Oh god, not again. Clearly the Hunter population must be fairly small, if every Hunter I mentioned was notable enough for Jerremyah to know by name.

"Yes. But as you heard yesterday- I'm not fond of him, just as, I'm sure, he isn't fond of me. He wasn't even before they knew what I was, so I don't have any delusions that he's miraculously somehow come around." Jerremyah hesitated, looking torn between... between what? Between his- most likely well deserved- hatred of Hunters in general, and specifically for my maternal grandfather, and... something else. He almost looked like he... felt bad for me, but that couldn't be right.

"And you weren't-" He hesitated. "Did you receive any... training?" I shrugged.

"Not anything that was labeled as such. There was a lot of disparaging language- hate speech- that was thrown about, but that wasn't exactly rare in that house. There was an emphasis on a logical mind, discipline, and physical fitness. Mia and I got the same sort of treatment, at least in that regard. I don't think she was ever supposed to end up Hunting, but... maybe I was. I could see that happening, if I had stayed. I was supposed to be the heir to both families, after all, and... I don't think the Joannis's hands were clean- and stake free- either." Slowly, Jerremyah nodded.

"You know, it's odd- and, don't punch me for this-" Uh oh. "But if you had never been discovered, and Elaine had still been under Tarea's thumb-" Now it made sense why he requested that I not punch him. "-then there's probably a good chance you two would have been paired off." Paired off? "For marriage." Oh. Right. That.

"Um... Maybe. But... I probably wouldn't have been a good match for her, after spending the extra years stuck in that house." Jerremyah shrugged.

"Maybe. Or maybe, after she spent so many extra years with her father, you two would be a perfect match." Um... right. Moving past this uncomfortable hypothetical situation... Hey, at least he didn't seem as negative about her now.

"...Anyway. About- about the vampires." Jerremyah smirked slightly, before his expression became serious.

"Vampires have one advantage over the Hunters- well, we have a lot of advantages, enhanced abilities and such, but... above all else, the turnover rate is better. No dying of old age, no diminishing abilities with age- the opposite, in fact. Hunters- of Hunter families, anyway, not New Blood Hunters- need time to- well. Reproduce, grow up, get their training in. Depending on how young they start-" He eyed me, and I wasn't sure whether he was alluding to my possible, alternative, Hunter lifestyle, or Elaine's. "-they only have- what? Twenty? Thirty years? Before they get too old to do any sort of active Hunting." But only active Hunting.

"And vampires can be fully turned in just a day or two- yeah, I get it." He nodded. "So there are a lot more vampires than Hunters, which begs the question- why bother? It's not like they can wipe us all out." Jerremyah shrugged.

"Most of them don't want every vampire dead- or, well, deader. They just want to take out those who kill or turn humans often." I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Like y-"

"Don't start." As he cut me off, I grinned. "Hunters are just as varied as vampires. For every Hunter that wants to wipe us out, there are Hunters that only ever hunt vampires that make themselves known to them. They don't go looking for trouble, but even if the vampires they encountered aren't violent, they might still try to kill them." My eyebrows furrowed.

"And which is Tarea Hugar?" He stared at me for a second.

"You know, it's odd that you ask after her Hunter connection, before your own." I glared at him, and his lips quirked up. "Hugar is... a trainer. A builder. A coordinator. He brings in new recruits, trains them, trains younger members of the more... involved, Hunter families. He's... not, low level, exactly, but he's... upper administration, not the CEO. Anthophilius Meliflua is... on the board of directors, at the very least." Oh, great... "Hugar wants the vampires to stop killing people- not just 'too many' people, but anyone- which isn't really possible. Still, at least he doesn't want to wipe us out just because we're not human." I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"But Anthophilius does." Jerremyah winced, and shrugged.

"I've never personally encountered him myself-" But it sounded like he, and maybe Greygorry, had encountered Elaine's father. "-but I've heard that he's..." He grimaced. "He's not just coldly logical in the service of the safety of the human species, he's... cruel, to say the least. Hunters have tortured vampires before, for information on where their clan is hiding, or... other reasons, but... he takes it to extremes." ...Of course he did. God, no one in that family was quiet about their cruelty, were they?

"That doesn't surprise me." Jerremyah's eyebrows twitched upwards. "He put everything he is into my mother- so no. The idea of him torturing people doesn't surprise me. He's always hated anything other than purebloods." His eyebrows furrowed.

"Wait... didn't you- wasn't your grandmother, your mother's mother- a full blooded veela? Wouldn't that mean-?" I grimaced.

"Yes. My grandmother, Anthophilius's wife, is a veela." He took note of my use of 'is', rather than 'was'.

"'Is'? So, she's alive?" I hesitated, then shrugged.

"As of when I got Mia out, yes. She's worse for wear- she's never been entirely... right. I think whatever he did to her- well, it had an effect." He frowned.

"What he... did to her?" I winced.

"I don't know the details- my mother thought I was too young, but I heard whispers from the staff here and there. I doubt he was kind to her- and even if he was... it doesn't excuse what he did." Jerremyah eyed me warily.

"'What he did'?" I lowered my gaze to my feet, kicking the ground.

"She's only... hmm, fifty one?" I saw him jolt, even with my eyes lowered.

"Wait, so- how old- you're fifteen, and your mother-" I met his eyes, but kept my head lowered.

"My mother was twenty when she had me- her mother was sixteen."

(A/N): Jerremyah: 'In an alternate timeline, you and Elaine could be in an arranged marriage.'

Leo: 'Uh... anyway...'

So, I think I've mentioned this before, but I know NOTHING about religion, or churches, or how they work. I know even less about the Anglicanism, and the Anglican Church, which St Brigid's is. I know EVEN LESS about Anglicanism and churches in the mid 17th century, which is when that part of the story took place. I've done my best to research, but it's honestly very confusing to me, so, if you see something off, PLEASE let me know (politely please, I'm trying my best!)

I used the term 'bishop', as the designation of the person who was in charge of St Brigid's- from the research I did, I couldn't figure out whether bishop or archbishop was more appropriate, but I figured that it would be better for me to use the lower designation- bishop- rather than the higher one- archbishop- because if I'm wrong, it just means he's lower in rank, whereas if I use one that's too high, he wouldn't be at the church in person, most likely. Just know he's the leader of that particular church.