The Reaper seemed to be confused, unable to find the place from whence he had been interrupted. His silvery eyes seemed unfocused and he looked at nothing in particular, mumbling unintelligibly. Makoto's eyes continued to drift nervously from the vampire lord and the pile of gore on the floor nearby. A pool of blood was slowly making its way towards Makoto, and after a moment, she needed to move her bare feet before the pool touched her.
The movement seemed to draw Meier Link's attention. "Ah! How did you come to be in this condition, my sweet one? Does my nephew not provide you footwear?"
Then the Reaper turned his attention on Ren. "You dare?! To let her go about so lacking in basic comfort?! Are you a savage!? To deny her shoes?! To let her face this world un- un- UNSHOD?!" The chain rattled menacingly, and Makoto gained the frightening impression that Ren's family connection was the only thing keeping him unattacked, at least for now.
"Lord Link," said Makoto suddenly, "it was not his fault that I lost my shoes! I lost them to ghouls"
Meier Link focused on Makoto. "Not his fault? Ghouls? W- well, I see. Most reasonable. Ghouls truly are a blight. To steal the shoes from my great-grandaughter. Unacceptable. Unconscionable. Untenable. Untrackable. Un- un…"
Granddaughter? She looked at Ren while Meier Link mumbled to himself and Ren returned a wide-eyed stare and gave her a tiny shrug. Makoto wasn't sure that meant that Ren didn't know or if he felt he couldn't yet talk to her. It was possible any word spoken by Ren could draw the Reaper's immediate and violent reprisal.
Makoto didn't think that she was under the Reaper's ban on speaking, but based on the vampire lord's earlier attack, he was perhaps more aggressive when he was confused. If she could focus his attention, perhaps in a positive way, maybe that might stabilize this situation. A bit of small talk and diplomacy. Like entertaining some important party guest. She had practice doing that.
"I- it really is a pleasure to meet you, My Lord?" offered Makoto, gaining Meier Link's immediate focused attention. He stared at her a moment, quietly.
"Ah!" said the vampire lord, his face brightening. "You must be Edith! I've so desired to see you, my dear. Do you know? You have your grand-mother's chin? But your eyes. Your eyes! It's like I am looking at my dear Charlotte again."
He sighed deeply and beamed warmly at Makoto, blood dripped off the slack chain in his arm and struck the tile floor audibly. "Ah! And I brought you a gift!"
"A gift?" blurted Makoto. "Why thank you, but whatever for?!"
"Why for your birthday, you silly crane! Have you forgotten your own birthday?!"
The Reaper moved forward and offered the cardboard box from his other hand. He looked again at Makoto's bare feet. "But I think you must have been told what it is, because you seem ready to put it to immediate use! Nephew! You scoundrel! You can't keep a secret, can you?" He gave Ren a warm wink while Makoto accepted the cardboard box.
"I said:" said Meier Link, his voice changing suddenly to a deeper and darker growl. "Can you?"
"U- uh," said Ren, "Yes, I'm sorry, Uncle. B- but she was just… so excited…"
Meier Link laughed happily, his voice light and benevolent again. "You just couldn't say no to her? Well, I can understand that. I can't say no to my sweet Deborah, either. You look so much like Edith you know? But I suppose you don't know who that is, but she was your great-grandmother, Deborah. Can you believe it? You have her chin, but your eyes. Your eyes! It's like I am looking at my dear Charlotte again."
It was clear to Makoto that Lord Meier Link was very confused, perhaps all the time, but he seemed happy in this confusion, at least. She opened the box with some trepidation, but under some faded brown tissue, there was a pair of shoes. Feminine shoes with a small walking heel pad, seemingly made from a leathery fabric that reminded Makoto of Ren's own boots. But these were clearly more of a style that Makoto might wear to a semi-formal luncheon, or some such.
"They're beautiful," said Makoto, and she meant it. The craftsmanship was plainly exquisite. The rim of the sole was embroidered. The stitching of the leather-like fabric wasn't just stitched, it was also a pattern of continual running horses. They were more work of art than shoe. And… strangely… they looked to be right about her size… she had half-forgotten the current danger of the situation when she said: "May I sit and try them on?"
"But of course! Let's have tea, as well!" said Meier Link warmly. "You! Nephew! Fetch us tea! And when you have done: clean up this mess on the floor! Some fool must have dropped a chalice!"
Ren went stiff and looked alarmingly at Makoto, then he stood, hesitantly. Makoto surmised that he didn't want to leave her alone with Lord Meier Link. She wasn't too keen on the idea either.
"What are you waiting for?" snarled the Reaper. "Go! Go I say!"
Makoto nodded urgently at Ren, telling him to go. Meier Link only seemed aggressive toward Ren, so perhaps she could keep him occupied while Ren went and fetched tea. Which seemed a very un-vampire thing to drink, but even Ren had a cup of tea with her back at Niijima manor. Perhaps humans and vampires shared a strange love of the drink. Or, perhaps Ren would just forget the damn tea, assuming there even was any, and figure out a way to get them both the hell out of this situation. If he wasn't trapped within Meier Link's line of sight, he would have much more leeway to act on some plan.
"At once, Uncle," said Ren with a polite bow, and he strode away.
Meier Link watched him go with a scowl, which worried Makoto. She wanted to get his attention back to her. "I've never seen such shoes as these," said Makoto, truthfully, "They are beautiful."
Meier Link's attention drifted back to Makoto and he immediately had a beaming and doting smile. "I'm sure not, Lily. These are no longer made, in this day and age. Fallen out of style. Nothing is made by hand anymore, you know. But these were made almost two thousand years ago, can you believe it?"
"Two thousand?" said Makoto, injecting a bit of incredulity in her voice.
Her mind raced, trying to figure out what Meier Link might expect. It didn't seem like he thought she was a vampire of any kind, so he must realize she was human. That should be obvious to anyone looking at her. So he must be confusing her with other humans he knows. Or perhaps knew? If Ren was right in that his own Mother was about 64,000 years old, then Lord Meier Link should be the same age.
"Yes," said Meier Link, answering her fading question about the shoes being 2000 years old. "And do you know how old I am? About 45,000! Give or take a century or two. One does lose track."
Makoto has no reason to disbelieve Ren's claim of his Mother's age. So Meier Link was either lying about his age right now- or the vampire lord has lost track by a wider margin than he realized. By about, oh, just 20,000 or so.
"That's amazing, Lord Link!" said Makoto, trying to keep the vampire lord talking. "What was it like back then?"
"Oh! It was all much better back then, let me tell you, Lily. Everyone worked together! Everyone was focused on one great task! A world united! All in service to the Sacred Ancestor! A golden age!"
Makoto felt a thrill of excitement. Lord Link was beginning to ramble about subjected she wanted to hear about. "What was the Sacred Ancestor like?"
"Oh, he was…" Lord Meier Link seemed to hesitate, "...very unlike us. And anyway, he spent almost all his time inside the Black Cloister. Inside the great Ark. Only we who worked inside saw him, and then only rarely."
"Worked inside?"
"Inside of the Ark! I was trusted with the engines, you know? Ah, but when I see your eyes, Edith, it's like seeing my Charlotte again…" Meier Link's unfocused and his attention seemed to drift.
Makoto wasn't sure what Meier Link had spoken of, but she had some new words: black cloister and ark. And apparently, if she surmised correctly from the vampire lord's rambling, that he was an engineer. So perhaps the ark was some vessel that the Sacred Ancestor had used to cross the oceans.
She took the chance to look over the Reaper's shoulder and saw that Ren was nowhere in sight. Where was he? Had he actually gotten to look for tea?! Couldn't he have, perhaps, cut off this vampire's head from behind- or something?!
Then again, Lord Meier link was Ren's uncle, and Ren did hunt vampires- but he didn't hunt all vampires. He apparently only attacked those who were enemies of his clan and his Mother. So- that meant- Ren probably wasn't even thinking of cutting off the Reaper's head because the Reaper wasn't exactly an enemy.
Or maybe Ren just plain didn't believe he could actually pull that off, even with Meier Link distracted and focused on Makoto. Just how powerful was a progenitor? They must be killable, yes, or they would all still be alive. But then again, a full grown dhampir had essentially exploded with a swing of the Reaper's arm. Makoto took a bracing breath and decided it was safer to bring active attention back to her.
"I'm going to put the shoes on, Lord Link."
"Ah! Yes, yes of course! All ready for them, I see. Such delicate feet, but so filthy! Victoria, have you been running around barefoot all day, waiting for your gift? Well, no matter. The shoes wash well enough. That's nightsilk, you know. Practically indestructible! A gift from the Sacred Ancestor to his children!"
Makoto pushed her feet into the shoes, and to her amazement, they were both the perfect size- and incredibly comfortable. The inner fabric closed over her skin like a cocoon of smooth, slightly cool silk. And as she watched, the top of the shoe actually sealed gently around her ankle, effectively fastening themselves up of their own accord.
Makoto was astonished. "T- they're magic?! Magic shoes?"
Lord Meier Link burst out laughing. "No, no not magic, I assure you, Lily. Just very good shoes that everyone forgot how to make. Here, let me show you how-"
The Reaper reached down with his bare hand to adjust her shoe in some way and accidentally brushed the top of a knuckle against a tiny part of Makoto's bare ankle. A strange electric thrill ran through Makoto's body, and something similar seemed to happen to Lord Meier Link, his hand jerked away in surprise. A strange image flashed before Makoto's mind, like the single frame of a film swapped out, and she saw two beak-nosed men shaking hands with one another, and then it was gone.
"W- what?" mumbled the Reaper, rubbing his forehead, then he looked at Makoto eyes that seemed to really see her for the first time. "You are not dear Deborah… what is your name, child?"
Unsure of what happened, but knowing of no reason to lie, Makoto answered: "Makoto. Makoto Niijima."
"Makoto," said the Reaper, slowly. "And you mother? What was her name?"
It took Makoto a moment to remember it, as she was always Mother in her own cognition. "E- eriko.."
"Eriko? And her mother? What was her name?"
"Anri," said Makoto, pulling that name deep out of memory.
The Reaper blinked confusedly. "And her mother?"
"I'm sorry, Lord Link. But I don't know."
A growing expression of revelation seemed to be evolving on the Reaper's face, he looked concerned, confused, and sadly grim. "What year is it, Makoto? What age is this?"
"It's 896 of Liberation," said Makoto, uneasily.
"What?" said Lord Meier Link. "What is-"
"It's thirty-nine oh forty-five, Uncle," said Ren, stepping back into the room. And yes, miraculously, he had a tea set with him.
The Reaper jerked his head towards Ren's voice, wide-eyed, but for once, he was not angry. "39045? Truely?"
Ren set down the tea set on a chair nearby. "Yes, since the Night of Blossoms."
The Reaper fell back into a chair with a thud, his eyes a bit startled. "I- I see…. Of course, it is. Naturally."
A long silence ensued, and Ren poured the Reaper a cup of tea. The chain rattled as the cup was accepted. The presence of the chain seemed to surprise Lord Link, he glanced from it, to the pile of gore of the man that he had killed- and didn't seem to find that particularly concerning. He sipped at his tea, his eyes looking off into the distance.
"Makoto?" said Ren, raising his eyebrows at her. "Didn't you say you needed to use the restroom? I can show you where it is."
Makoto almost denied it but realized what Ren was doing. He was providing them an escape. And while she wanted to both talk to this progenitor vampire and read the books in this ferry station, she now better understood what Ren had meant about how crazy Lord Meier Link was. He didn't seem threatening to her, but she couldn't be sure that wouldn't change. Meanwhile, Ren had seemed in very real danger from the volatile vampire lore, Uncle or no. Going along with Ren's escape plan was definitely the right move.
"Yes, thank you, Ren," she said, and saw the Reaper's eyes going back and forth between them. "Please excuse me, just a moment. Lord Link. I can't wait to walk a bit in these wondrous shoes, too!"
The Reaper beamed at her. "Of course, of course, Edith. Go, go."
Makoto stood up and gave her best formal curtsy which seemed to greatly please the vampire lord, and she followed Ren off towards the ferry station exit, the Reaper mumbling about her eyes to himself as they walked quickly away. She and Ren were of one mind and knew exactly what they were to do: they walked urgently to the moving stairwell, went up it at a fast trot, and burst out into the noon-day sunlight.
"Let's wait for the ferry out here, all right?" said Ren, his eyes already scanning the surrounding area for other people.
No one was in sight. Only long grasses and small trees waving in the wind coming off the ocean. It was a thoroughly opposite place from the dim, blood-filled ferry terminal wherein the Reaper sat, drinking a cup of tea. Out here was definitely better.
"Yes," said Makoto, her heart still beating quickly. She looked down at her shoes. They were a gleaming black that shone like they had been freshly polished by the cobbler only a day ago. She hadn't gotten anything that she wanted from the Reaper or the library, but for the try, she'd gained one thing that she'd needed.