Okay, so, I've been struggling somewhat with my Legend of Drizzt crossover. But I've been trying to get it to work, inbetween work on my new crossovers with Elden Ring and TenSura.

I decided to change things around, and in fact, I decided to give it a new title. Mislike Me Not for My Complexion is a reference to the first line spoken by the Prince of Morocco from The Merchant of Venice, but it works both ways. Vierna, as a Drow, would be feared on sight for her complexion, but by the same token, she and other Drow would hate humans for their lighter complexions.

In the end, this chapter is pretty much a continuance of what you guys read in Shadow Renaissance, but with a change in setting. Instead of just after Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, it begins at the end of Year 3. This is because I want to give Vierna something to do, and what that is is going to be her actually attending Hogwarts, albeit in disguise to make her seem younger.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy...and aren't too shocked by the twists at the end of this chapter...


MISLIKE ME NOT FOR MY COMPLEXION

CHAPTER 2:

VIERNA AND VAGUS

If there was something she thought she would never hear again, it was Bae'queshel music(1). True, she hadn't heard it that often, it was a little-known art, and one that she had only heard a few times in her century of life, but even that was enough to calm her down. True, the previous time she had heard it, it had been played by someone who turned out to be human. A deceiver who broke her heart, and yet…and yet…his death, at the hands of assassins of House DeVir, affected her more than she truly wanted to admit.

She didn't want to think about that. She was Vierna Do'urden, a Priestess of Lolth in training. And yet…if this was truly him, if this wasn't some falsehood…then perhaps there was some small glimmer of hope, after the Yochlol turned on her.

He was playing it on that strange harp of his, the one he used. It helped soothe her. Not because of any compulsion in the music: this was a pure music, one that didn't have any magic component. No, it was the simple familiarity, because it reminded her of him. And that instrument…wasn't that his?

It had been but mere days before she was to graduate as a Priestess of Lolth. She would admit, she had been anxious about that, not about gaining the prestige, but the traditional ceremony of being mated with a Glabrezu. For all that it was a great honour…given the way Briza taunted her about it, and the way Maya shivered at its mention when she thought nobody was looking…some small, cowardly part of her was glad at that.

She didn't know exactly how she got here, only that she had been taken. She might have heard a small popping noise prior to that, but that was it. Otherwise, she had no idea how she got here.

Though who would mourn her? Not her mother or sisters. Malice and Maya would sneer at her making a mistake, and Vierna had the feeling Briza would be fine with one less High Priestess of Lolth in the family, to avoid detracting from her own prestige and authority. Neither her sperm donor nor the Secondboy-turned-Elderboy would care.

Maybe Zaknafein would care. He had odd qualms for a Drow, and he tried to reach out to her before. Indeed, he had arranged the meeting between Vierna…and him. Drizzt would certainly care, damn his soft heart. But that heartened her. The brother whom she had raised with a hard hand would probably be the only one to mourn her disappearance. Weak-hearted fool, and yet…and yet, Vierna found that better than nothing.

Was this truly Vagus, though? She didn't know, and given how they parted, she wasn't sure it was such a boon to have him here once more. She had trusted him, only for him to betray her by revealing he was a damned human. And then, he was slain, by assassins working for House DeVir, or so it was claimed. She had to admit, despite the betrayal, she held enough feelings for him (weakness!) to feel some vengeance when she helped her mother and sisters put paid to House DeVir that night.

And yet, the Yochlol had told her that her mother ordered Dinin to murder Vagus. And had kept it from Vierna, deceived her, instead of confirming her hurt feelings! Turmoil roiled within her. Had her mother betrayed her? And she suspected she was on another world, the Yochlol had told her as such, but…it was still hard to believe, even with the tales she heard of other planes and the Sea of Night.

No, don't panic. Do NOT panic. There may be ways back home. For now, gather information, find a way back, and then use it. If they didn't know what a Drow was, then she could use that to her advantage. Patience was a virtue, even in the chaotic chambers of Menzoberranzan

Still, she needed answers. "Where am I?" she asked.

It was the blonde human girl who answered. "You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Well, more correctly, you're not in the Underdark. You're not even on Abeir-Toril anymore. You're on another world, specifically a chamber deep beneath a school for wizards and witches."

"When I want you to speak, I will ask you to, iblith," Vierna retorted.

"You asked a question, I answered," the girl said. "And my name is Luna. Anyway, the light should be tolerable for you. I know Drow are light-sensitive."

Vierna wasn't sure what this meant. Much of her was still warring with herself about this. Vagus had been a deceiver…and yet, despite herself, despite her feelings towards humans and other lesser beings, there had been an ember of…affection? It was certainly not unlike the feelings she felt towards Drizzt, but different.

The Yochlol had rejected her, made her disfavour with Lolth VERY clear when she hesitated to agree to killing Vagus. Killing him now may not regain the Spider Queen's fickle favour. Her mind, honed with not only tuition but a century's experience not only by the labyrinthian politics of Menzoberranzan, but her own family, taught her this much.

What was more, she knew that, thanks to her studies while working to become a Priestess of Lolth, reincarnation was a very real possibility. There had been a few documented cases of it happening before(2). But it meant (assuming it was true) someone familiar, someone who knew her, was here on this world.

As for getting back…well the girl might know, but what would be the point of interrogating her? Now that she had calmed down a little, she knew that returning home would be difficult at best. She had lost Lolth's favour, and her family may…no, would target her to regain it. She could be slain in anywhere in Menzoberranzan and it would mean nothing.

And where else was there a place for someone of her disgrace? The Drow were rightfully feared throughout the rest of the Underdark. But that meant she would find no refuge with the more…civilised, as debatable as that term was to a non-Drow, peoples of the Underdark. Most would seek to slay her, while others, like the accursed Illithids, would enslave her, or perhaps use her as a means of reproducing.

And the Surface too feared the Drow. She knew enough from what Vagus had told her, masquerading as an exiled Drow taken into the Bregan D'aerthe, that Drow were treated with fear and contempt. She knew of Waterdeep and the cities of Calimshan thanks to Vagus. They barely tolerated the likes of Jarlaxle and his mercenary band.

No, this wasn't an ideal situation, but maybe she could make it work. She hesitated to say she was safe, but if this was Vagus, he still seemed somewhat well-inclined towards her, foolish though that was. The girl was a fool, but still seemed to view her not as an enemy. Two people, fools that they were, as allies. Honestly, it could have been worse, much worse. She could be dead, or being tormented by the Spider Queen and her handmaidens.

For all that she felt despair at her situation, Vierna was a Drow and a Do'urden, a proud opportunist. And despite her fallen station, she had survived, and she intended to do so, if only out of spite. And if this truly was Vagus reborn…well, maybe, just maybe, it would be pleasant. She had liked speaking with Vagus, despite herself. While she had thought him soft and weak for a Drow, he was still a tolerable human, assuming his talk of being an assassin was not all lies.

So, she gathered herself together, tamped down her grief and fury and uncertainty, and acted with the certainty that would have been expected of her given her station.

"If that truly is you, Vagus…how much of what you told me were lies?" Vierna asked.

Vagus rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Surprisingly little. I just changed where I came from and a few details. I actually came from Calimshan, specifically Memnon, not Dyon G'ennivalz. I was recruited by Jarlaxle in Waterdeep. I did tell the truth that I had fled my family due to a dispute over inheritance, and stole Failnaught from them. And despite that, I did continue the family tradition of assassination. Just on my own terms. Besides, I spanked Dinin's arse pretty thoroughly. I may prefer striking from the darkness, but, well..."

Vierna tried, and failed, to stifle a chuckle at the memory. The Secondboy-turned-Elderboy had been humiliated by Vagus quite handily. Dinin had skills for a male, but Vagus fought even dirtier than the average Drow. Even without that harp of his, the battle had been one-sided and humiliating for Dinin. Maybe it was partly Nalfein's mocking of his younger brother at the time that led to Dinin killing him during the massacre of House DeVir. Then again, it could have purely been ambition.

Still, something she needed to know. "The handmaiden of Lolth said my mother directed the blade that did the deed, and that Dinin wielded the blade. Is that true?"

"The whiny little Secondboy I spanked, I know. I'm sure he leapt at the chance for payback. But yeah, he boasted to me about Malice giving him the okay to do so. And they would claim that House DeVir was responsible, thus covering from Jarlaxle's retribution, as well as giving a reason to go to war with them. No doubt his mother knew, but waved it off, that wrinkled old prune."

"Wrinkled old…what?"

"Oh, right, you didn't know. I honestly had to pry it out of Jarlaxle, though I figured parts of it out sooner. Similarities between the face. Jarlaxle was born Jarlaxle Baenre. They tried to sacrifice him to Lolth, but the dagger shattered on him. Long story."

Vierna gaped at Vagus for having the audacity to name Matron Yvonnel Baenre, the effective ruler of Menzoberranzan, as a 'wrinkled old prune'. Compared to that, learning that the cocky leader of the Bregan D'aerthe was Matron Baenre's son was a smaller shock. "And you call Matron Yvonnel Baenre…a wrinkled old…prune?" she asked.

"Well, she's old and wrinkled, and honestly, like prunes, she gives people bowel movements. Jarlaxle agreed with me."

The human girl cackled, and Vierna, to be honest, was torn between horror, fury, and laughing herself at the sheer audacity. Vagus' irreverent humour had always been one of his most endearing traits, even if it was also one that had grated with her before. Of course, had it not been for the Yochlol making it very clear that she had lost Lolth's favour, she would have been just horrified and furious.

Then again, Yvonnel Baenre was known to make people soil themselves in fear, so it was not a wholly inaccurate jest. Just ridiculously irreverent. Dangerously so.

Vierna hadn't realised how much she had missed his irreverent tongue until now. Then again, she had shut off her grief at his passing, all but buried his memory. That memory still tried to resurface. Even now, she saw his lavender eyes, eyes she had seen in Drizzt when he was first born. And she remembered her mother's words when Drizzt was born.

"He is your brother. When he grows older and his eyes pierce you so, remember, on your life, that he is your brother," Malice had said. Vierna knew then it had been more of a taunt than a warning against incestuous feelings. Drizzt's eyes were so much like Vagus', someone she had some feelings for, she had to admit.

What had she felt when she saw those eyes? Nostalgia, perhaps. Maybe that was what led her to raise Drizzt with what Briza saw as softness. Briza would use the scourge all Priestesses of Lolth carried as 'inspiration', not as punishment. Then again, Vierna had whipped Drizzt for inspiring heretical thoughts in her. And yet, he seemed to be on better terms with her than he did with the rest of his family, save for Zaknafein.

"Vierna?" he asked, breaking into her reverie. "Are you all right?" As she opened her mouth to issue a vicious retort, he shook his head. "Sorry, stupid question, of course you aren't. But…you're alive and well, right? Isn't that what matters?"

It was strange how his words echoed her earlier thoughts. So, eventually, she said, "Yes…I suppose it is." And then, albeit reluctantly, she admitted, "…It'll be good to have a familiar face, Vagus."

He gave her a smile, before gently embracing her. Just like he used to in disguise. Something she often rebuked him for back when she thought he was a Drow mercenary. And yet, as much as she wanted to repulse him, to push him away…she couldn't.

She didn't know it, but a chink in her armour, an armour thrown up by over a century's worth of indoctrination by her family, the Priestesses of Lolth, and the Spider Queen herself, had been worn open. Worn open by Vagus. And even now, it was being worried even more open, little by little.

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves again," the human girl said, clearing her throat. "How about you go first?"

The impertinence of this human…still, Vierna decided to humour her. "Very well. I am Vierna of House Do'urden."

Luna smirked, before she made a gesture. Vierna stared in astonishment when she saw her transform into a Drow…no, not quite. Her skin, once pale, was now darker, though not as dark a shade as her own. A Half-Drow, that was her first instinct…and yet there was something more than just a halfbreed there. It was like the presence of Lolth, and yet not. And Vierna realised this was more than just another human.

"Hi. I'm Luna Lovegood…I guess you can call me the Dancer's Daughter. I don't want to spoil too much of the surprise yet." She then turned to Vagus. "And did you ever tell her your real name? I mean, in your past life?"

"…No. I'd forsaken that when I forsook my family," Vagus said. "In this life, I am Harry Potter. When we knew each other…I called myself Vagus, for 'wanderer'. I had abandoned the birthname of Apollyon Entreri long ago…"

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

Whoa. Quite a few bombshells there. We'll discuss a couple of things later on, but a few points sooner.

Firstly, Luna is technically not half-Drow. Those familiar with the Forgotten Realms might be able to guess who her mother is. I'll explain the details later.

Secondly…Vagus is actually a relative of Artemis Entreri? Yep. In fact, he's his great-grandfather through his bastard child. I chose the name Apollyon because it's reminiscent of Apollo, who, aside from being the twin brother of Artemis in Greek myth, is associated with songs and healing. Of course, Apollyon is also the name of a demon. In other words, don't fuck with him.

1. This is actually a real bardic school amongst the Drow, albeit a rare one.

2. This is my nod to at least one notable character being reincarnated in the Legend of Drizzt books.