(A/N): Remember when I said I would be bringing up plot points of varying importance? Yeah. The chapter name will make sense by the end of the chapter... or it won't. Idk I tried.

Leo

What the hell was that supposed to mean? My father always made it seem like an inevitability one way or another, like I couldn't do anything about it. Now, here Herc was, telling me all I needed was an 'anchor'?

"What do you mean, an anchor? The way my- dad, talked about it made it seem like it was set in stone, not like I had a choice." I swear to god, if I asked Elaine to kill me and I had a choice this whole time...

"Choice is a strong word." What the hell is that supposed to mean? For someone who had been straight forward up until this point, now was a hell of a time to get cryptic. "If I had been asked to choose when I was sixteen, I would've chosen to stay human, to be with my mother. She passed when I was twenty." Oh. "I think I knew she was sick, deep down. I had no friends, no significant others, no other family that I knew of. I think, knowing she was sick, she wasn't a strong enough anchor to keep me mortal." He didn't seem all that emotional about it. Then again, according to his letters, that was something like seventy years ago.

"How do you know you weren't going to change either way?" He shrugged.

"I don't know, not for sure. But, from what I know of Nicholai's other children- our half siblings- all the ones that held strong connections- family, friends, lovers- they all stayed human. Or, as human as we can be, anyway." What?! This was a revelation and a half.

"What?! But- Did you tell dad that?" Herc nodded, but he didn't look happy about it.

"Yes, of course I did. He said I had no proof, and just because they had something in common didn't mean that was the reason they kept aging at a normal rate. He even brought up my mother, and how if I loved her so much, why didn't I stay human?" He did seem upset by this.

"I'm... sorry." He looked surprised by my apology. "I know he wasn't the most... tactful, person sometimes." Herc shook his head.

"I don't think you fully understand. Nicholai... He was a very different person before you, Leo." He was? "Raising you changed him... you have to think, you were the first child he actually cared for, physically. He didn't even know I existed until I tracked him down, well after my change." Well I guess that explains why I didn't know he had any previous children until after he had died.

"I was almost nine when he took me in, how much could he possibly have changed in six years?" Herc shrugged again.

"Before I heard about you, I never would've expected him to step up and take in a kid, even one of his own." Wow, really?

"And I still had to fend for myself most of the time, food wise I mean." It was a joke, but I still appreciated Danniel's hand on my shoulder.

"That doesn't surprise me." I felt bad that Herc had such a negative impression of our father.

"It's not like he did it on purpose, he just sort of forgot that humans have to eat. I mean, you said yourself that you barely remember what its like, and you're almost a hundred and fifty years younger than him." Herc frowned.

"And I'm not planning on taking in any illegitimate children any time soon." He shook his head. "Look, I don't want to fight. We both knew very different sides of our father." It was a huge compromise on his end to call him that, and as much as I appreciated the sentiment, it didn't feel right.

"You don't have to call him that. I know he wasn't much of a father to you, I just... didn't want to worsen your opinion of him by portraying my situation the wrong way." Herc's face softened, and he rubbed the back of his neck in an almost sheepish gesture.

"Well... Clearly he couldn't have been all bad if he raised someone like you." Hello awkward silence, we meet again.

"So, uh... you said the change starts at sixteen?" Good old Lisbet, knowing exactly when to change the subject.

"Yes, right. As you can tell, I'm not a teenager." Herc said, gesturing to himself in all his studded leather jacket glory. "Can't tell how old I am exactly, but I'd guess between about twenty two and twenty five." I would've guessed twenty three if pressed, so that sounded about right. "I never stopped aging until I was about forty, when I looked like this. I just seemed to look the same for a lot longer than normal, then move on." Jo interpreted that one for me.

"So you looked sixteen for a couple of years, then seventeen and so on?" Herc shrugged.

"Pretty much, yeah. From what I could tell from the other, those that stayed human had one larger change at sixteen, while those that become immortal kept slowly changing throughout the years. Not all of them are my age, most are older. None older than mid to late thirties though, I'd guess." And onto the question I really didn't want to ask.

"How... How many of us are there?" Herc took a second to consider this.

"Currently living, including us? Nine." Nine?! Currently living?! Jesus Christ put your dick back in your pants you dead bastard!

"Nine? I'm sorry, but- nine?!" Herc nodded like he felt much the same way.

"Six immortal- including me- and three human, including you. If it makes you feel any better, your closest sibling in age is in her fifties." Not really, no. "I'm the youngest living immortal-" There's clearly a story there. "Which is why I'm the one here right now. Everyone else hasn't been in contact with Nicholai for a long time, if ever." If ever?

"Wait- So... there are people who don't know who he is? They don't know he's dead?" Herc winced, looking like he wished he had phrased it better.

"The immortals all know- you get curious about who sired you eventually, you know?" I tried not to look at the twins when he said that. "The oldest living human doesn't know. She's in her late seventies, she was adopted after her mother died during childbirth. Nicholai kept tabs on her once he found out about her, but she was happy. He didn't want to tell her then, and I thought it would be wrong to tell her now. Contact her just to tell her the vampire father she never met was murdered by her uncle?" Yeah, that probably wouldn't have gone over well.

"And- the immortal ones? None of them wanted to visit his grave?" Herc shrugged helplessly.

"He was never there for them. I can't guarantee they'll never want to visit, but as of right now... I wouldn't hold your breath."

(A/N): Leo: Lisbet knows exactly when to change the subject.

Lisbet, 5 minutes earlier: Leo's in lurrrrve!