She was on a mission. The tasure, a glinting piece of stained glass, lay only a few feet before her. Achlys put her new abilities to the test and began to crawl at top speed. She moved out until she was only inches away from her prize, and then she was scooped up.

"No, no, little bug," Elise said as she picked up Achlys, "that is not a toy for you."

"Beh," Achyls grunted, her legs still kicking.

"Karthus," Elise chided, "this place is far too filthy to let a baby crawl around. What have you been doing all this time while I was away?"

Elise waved a free hand towards the glass. A spider emerged from the shadows and began to carry away the offending object.

"I have been raising her," Karthus answered her, "an activity that has consumed me entirely. I have made our chambers clean but there are still much of my cathedral I have not been able to tend to yet."

"And so she risks getting her tiny hands lacerated."

"If you are so concerned, will you be cleaning?"

Elise let out a small chuckle.

"Of course not," she said, "such a task is not worth dirtying myself for."

"You complain of the dirt here before you go digging through a ruin."

"Because I gain nothing from cleaning your mess. From what I've heard, Hecarim is now sworn to protect her. Command him to assist you."

"We both know that that would be a foolish endeavor. He would crush that glass shard beneath his hooves and call the pulverized pieces clean. I am attempting to involve him as little as possible."

They both looked at the child still fidgeting in Elise's grasp. Achlys insisted on being returned to the floor and, after a quick survey of the ground by her guardians, they consented. A smile crossed Elise's lips.

"Before you know it, she will be taking her first steps, saying her first words, manipulating her first victim."

"I refuse," Karthus cut her off, "I deal in the truth, Elise. I will not teach her to be a deceiver."

"She will need to learn to deceive so that she may also recognize when she is being deceived," Elise explained, "you may insist that way you say is the truth, but what about the others out there."

"Do you believe that Thresh will try and deceive her? No, he prefers the uncaring truth to comforting lies."

"It is not him that I worry about, but others. You have heard whispers in the Mist about Hecarim. We know he was a traitor in life, and even beyond him, there are others here who would lie to her. Hungry predators."

Karthus's face contorted to a scowl. His tone was tinged with annoyance.

"I assume you would now go on to tell me that the mainland will be even more treacherous, that all the living would wish to pollute her."

"Not all the living," Elise corrected, "only most of them. If you care for her safety, this is something she will need to learn."

As her guardians discussed to prospects of teaching her guile, Achlys set off to explore. She soon found Elise's spider crouching in the shadows & wrapping the glass with its silk. Achlys approached it. Irritated with the baby encroaching upon it, the spider raised its front legs & barred its fangs as a threat. One of Karthus's wraiths was at Achlys's side in an instant. It screeched at the spider, causing the hairy creature to bolt away.

The noise also attracted Karthus's attention. The lich looked over to Achlys and saw that she was leaning upwards and now grasping at the undead before her. Her fingers passed through the wraith's misty form, though occasionally they caught onto it as though it was her plush toy.

"Mmmm, mmmmm," she mumbled.

"She wants her Grimm," Karthus explained.

From the folds of his robe, Karthus produced the plush wraith and gave it to Achlys. She cooed happily with her toy now in hand. At once she busied herself by rolling to her back and attempting to pass Grimm from one hand to the other.

"You went and made her a toy before I could return to get her a proper one," Elise commented, "I would feel insulted if the expression on that thing didn't amuse me so much. Art is not one of your gifts, stay with your orations."

"She enjoys my orations and Grimm's face the way they are. I am not raising her to be shallow."

"Of course you aren't," Elise said with a breath of sarcasm.

The woman rose to her feet and her spider scuttled back over to her.

"My ship departs soon," she said, "even with her Grimm, did you still want for her to have another?"

"She would appreciate it," Karthus answered.

Elise smiled, knowing how he was trying to betray his gratitude. She went over and picked Achlys up so she could give the baby a parting hug.

"Say goodbye to 'Auntie Elise' because when she returns, she will have gifts for you," Elise cooed in Achlys's face.

"Auntie Elise," Karthus scoffed.

"Well, I'm not her mother."

"You aren't her aunt either."

"Then I suppose you aren't taking the role of her father? Poor little Achlys, left adrift without a family."

Karthus paused for a moment. He hadn't considered this. Did this child need a parent? A father?

"Father," the lich thought.

What meaning did that word have to him? He knew the basic definition of the word and he had heard the living call it to one another, but did the concept apply to him and Achlys.

"The last time I used that word, I remember,"

It was the same ramshackle building. Two men with robes and staves stood on either side of him, and before him another man was hunched over a table. He had a bottle in his hand and more were scattered around the room.

"They're all dead," said the voice of a young man, "and I am not staying here. I have a gift to share. Good-bye, Father."

Karthus took Achlys into his arms as that memory faded.

"I never said that I would not be her father," Karthus answered.

"and I will be better than that man," he continued in his thoughts.

"I am her primary guardian. I will be raising her. I should be her father."

"Then raise her well until her Auntie returns to spoil her," Elise said with a smile, "good evening, Karthus."

She departed, but Karthus did not even give her the attention to return her parting words. His attentions were squarely on his daughter.

"Father," he said aloud, "I will be your father, Achlys."

"Fffff," Achlys hissed.

Thank you to all my readers who are being patient with me and my slower upload schedule. August has been an incredibly busy month. I hope things will slow down in September so I can return to a more regular upload schedule. Thank you for your understanding.

-Gwoo