Zeidler Manor

It was a rainy day. Iban walked down the staircase to put the kettle on as usual. The third to last step creaked as always, an annoyance, but it let him know he'd reached the bottom. Once he gets into the hallway toward the kitchen he hears a knocking on the door. He grumbled,

Who could that be? Maybe Silas or Analise are trying to convince me to leave again. I'm not going anywhere though, I plan to die in this house.

He made his way to the door and felt a familiar presence he hadn't felt in a long time. "Ranis? I told you not to come around here!"

He opens the door with his cane raised, prepared to swing at his disowned son until he hears the voice of a woman.

"Hello. Sorry for bothering, it suddenly started to rain and we were wondering if we could come in."

"Ahh, I'm so sorry if I scared you. I thought it was someone I knew... ehh... doesn't matter. You said we, how many are you?" He places his cane back on the ground and opens the door wider, in better light it can be seen that the old man is blind. Iban was a tall man, though his stance was slouched from relying on his cane for some years now, his hair was grey, short, and combed back neatly. His beard is kept neat and clean cut for an old hermit, giving evidence that somebody has come over recently to give him a trim. The old man was maybe in his 60s or 70s from his appearance.

"It is my Mother and my self only." Skarlet answered Iban.

"Ah, alright, no need to stay out in the rain, come on in, I was just about to put the kettle on. I must have more cups sitting around somewhere." Iban retreats inside the house, "Close the door tight behind you, the frame isn't right for the door anymore so it doesn't always close right."

Skarlet looks over to Empress Naoki for confirmation if this man looked familiar. They had followed the directions exactly, and he was indeed a man living on his own. If this man was the father of Céline Zeidler, she wanted to hear what he had to say. 

Unknown to Iban, Ranis actually is nearby watching, chilling on the porch bench. He looked just like he did in Skarlet's dream, only he had a slightly different outfit on. He'd give a small wave and raise his feet to rest on the wooden rail, he would speak to Skarlet later. 

"Merci, Monsieur." Enters and closes her parasol.

"Pardon the mess, sometimes I knock things over trying to get around. My children only come around once in a while to check in on me." Iban heads into the kitchen to start boiling water for tea, everything in the kitchen was neat and organized so that he didn't have to see what he was doing, it was all motions he had practiced for years and could do without sight.

Along the walls are some framed pictures of the Zeidler Family. Pictures of different generations, Iban's father and uncle and their father before them, and the current generation. There are many individual pictures of his children when they were young. In a family picture, the full family of Mom and Dad with their 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls.

Skarlet takes the picture and walks toward Iban, looking at the picture she can see one of the girls closely resembles her, it must be Céline. "This is a picture of your family monsieur? They look very nice in this picture."

"Oh? Oui, that is my family: Celia my wife, My eldest children Ranis and Valera, The middle children Anton and Analise, and then the youngest, Céline and Silas." In the picture, Ranis appeared to be the oldest at 20 and Valera at 18, Anton was 17 while Analise was 13, then Céline looked to be 6 while Silas is 5. This was the only picture of Ranis in the house that wasn't slashed to remove his face. Skarlet passes the picture to Naoki to examine.

Ranis was still relaxing outside on the bench, feeling the rainy breeze.

Skarlet walks to the kitchen and sees a mirror, it's a good thing this man is blind, not only would he notice certain features about her, but he'd also see that she doesn't have a reflection. Skarlet places her hands on the boiling kettle so that she can absorb some heat into her hands and backs up. She looks over to notice the old man having trouble searching for the extra cups. "Here, I will help you monsieur."

Skarlet places a warm hand on Iban's shoulder and reaches up to grab the cups needed.

"Ah, Merci. Analise must have placed them back in the wrong place, I could reach them."
***
Tea is made and served as everyone takes a seat in the sitting room. Skarlet and Naoki on the couch, Iban in his chair fitting for a patriarch. The interior of the house and this room would be familiar to Naoki since she's been in it before, though everything is in opposite locations since during Skarlet's Dreamwalk everything is mirrored.

"Ah, the tea is done." Iban reaches for the kettle.

"Wait! Let me!" Skarlet grabs the kettle before Iban almost scalds himself. "Sorry, I just figured, it would be better if I served the tea, Mister. Please, take your seat."

"Oh, thank you. You're right, I would have probably made a mess. Heh." Iban sits down in his chair. Skarlet puts the Kettle on the platter and brings it over like she is used to from her job at the Midnight Sun, she then expertly serves the tea. Skarlet then takes a seat. "Monsieur, do you really live on your own? What about your children?"

Iban careful takes a sip of tea, he didn't add anything to it, no sugar or cream. "Yes, I've lived on my own here for some time. My wife passed 10 years ago and since then my children have all either died or grown up and had families of their own. Hmmm."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, my Celia died of grief, we had lost two children in two years. Our youngest daughter Céline disappeared one day, then the next year my 2nd son Anton died of pneumonia. Our oldest daughter Valera had already died 3 years before that. Now it's my youngest child Silas and my 2nd daughter Analise, Silas is a Scholar at the College and Analise lives with her husband and her 2 kids in Niréal. They both come over sometimes to check in on me and clean up the house. I'm glad to have met my grandchildren before my sight left me."

Hm. Sitting there on the couch, sipping her tea, Naoki follows these developments with her swiveling ears, ingesting and digesting the information as it comes.

The first thing that Naoki wonders is if Skarlet and Ranis have a similar sort of ‘aura’ that Iban is picking up on. On the one hand, it’s plausible in that he mistook Skarlet for Ranis. On the other, Ranis was standing there on the porch at the time. But that isn’t of any particular consequence, she supposes.

What’s more interesting to contemplate, however, is why Ranis seems to be sticking around The Zeidler Estate. Iban’s postulations, having met with the man before, strike Naoki as not particularly probable. With the understanding that Ranis is almost certainly a vampire of considerable capabilities at this point, Skarlet’s question about simply killing Iban is a valid one- Naoki thinks that if he wanted to, he would have by this point.

And the bit about taunting him is perhaps a bit delusional, Naoki thinks. Which begs the question, why is Ranis hanging around? Something to ask him, Naoki supposes, assuming he’s still about as they exit.

Figuring that Iban’s understanding about sacred barriers- as untrue as it may be, is part of Ranis’ master scheme, Naoki thinks it probably best not to earn Ranis’ ire by attempting to dispel the notion, and once again finds herself sort of at a loss for something to say. She really ought to say something, she supposes, but in a rare turn of events, finds herself at a loss for words. Without knowing the truth of the matter, Naoki finds herself ill-equipped to attempt to comfort or placate Iban. Instead, Naoki opts to go for a bit of a gambit, speaking in artificially-broken Gauldish to voice her inquiry, “Have you spoken with Ranis recently? What does he have to say?”

"Well sir, the rain has stopped, we'll be going now. Thank you for hosting us."

They'd exit the house and Ranis was still outside.

"Bonjourno Madame, Mademoiselle." Ranis greets both women and stands up. He begins to walk away from the house so that they can speak more comfortably.

"So you're my brother?" Skarlet didn't remember him at all, but felt a connection with him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yes, it comforts me to see in person that you are well. What did you think of him?" Ranis asks about the encounter with Iban.

"He is a blind old man that I feel no attachment to. I don't hold a very high opinion of him, I never planned to remake a connection with him anyway. I'd rather him just keep believing his daughter is dead, because of how he speaks of you, it wouldn't be beneficial to reveal such." Skarlet speaks plainly. She then inquires to her brother, "Why haven't you put him out of his misery? There's nothing stopping you."

Ranis nods, "You don't hold any memory of him, so I don't blame you for not thinking much of him, I locked away most of your memories to protect you when I shared the curse with you. I still remember the man he once was though, he was a good man, a proud man. Even if he holds only contempt for me he is still my father, that is why I protect him. I kill bands of brigands and I've had the estate put into my ownership so government won't just take the house from him. Once he passes I will hold a funeral for him with the rest of my family, then I will move into the mansion and fix it, perhaps live here a few hundred years before giving it to someone else.

"Perhaps it would be merciful to just kill him, but I don't have the heart to do it. In any case, I've been checking his health every now and then to learn of his health. His heart is becoming weaker, he will die within a month."

"I see. I understand then. My business is done here unless you have more to say." Skarlet is satisfied with the information she's gathered on this trip. She understands more about her origin and now knows about her brother.

"Oui, before you go I want to advise you. We, vampires were put here on this planet not to be cursed souls, but to play the role of equalizer. We have been made the ultimate predator in order to keep balance in the world. Our primary prey is humans, because they always have potential to overpopulate. It may sound sinister, but there is a good reason for this beyond the perception of mortals. We kill in order to keep the population in check and to save the ecosystem. When humans get too large in number they destroy more to sustain themselves because they have no natural predator, we fulfill that role. As long as there are only a few of us, populations can be curved to be reasonable. I advise you not to create any more vampires, you are the only one I will create, do not do as I have unless you feel absolutely compelled to do so, but pick the right being if you do, someone who won't go berserk and can control their instincts. Only take what you need and you can sustain yourself forever without being sought after by vengeful masses." Ranis was done. "Be good, little sister."

Ranis walks into the shadow of the tree and disappears, seeming to melt into the shadow.

"Au revoir! I'll remember what you said." Skarlet waves goodbye. "Mother, let's return to the city."