Chapter 261 - A Letter From The Past

There was another change that the time brought to the world. Well, time and a certain person's efforts. Eve Ziffer never stopped improving on her designs of a calming seal. Sometimes, she would visit to consult me and my superior vision. On one of these occasions, she admitted she believed that research into seals that could suppress vampire instincts would be a key to suppressing the condition of her telepath partner.

Her other motivation was as simple as perfectionism.

Either way, while the first version of the seal was bulky and needed an operator and an entire network of seals, both flaws were eradicated with time. Eve also made the seal to spread out excess anger instead of bottling it in, which removed a danger of explosive outbursts after the seal was turned off.

When the seals were compressed to the size of a locket and able to work without a witch having to interact with them after creating one, this was when actual interest towards them began to spark. Eve sold the designs to several covens and enjoyed the huge heap of money she got from it, while said covens enjoyed the huge heap of money they got from vampires who wanted a seal like that.

For some of them, like the government investigator ones, it was a necessity. For others, it was luxury, and a promise of a companionship of sorts they never had before. Because before, there was no witch so bold and daring to create a thing that could do what nothing else could and bring a semblance of true unity to vampire kind.

Even now, the covens could've been easily tried to destroy Eve and her invention instead of buying the schematics, if not for the support of the vampires who already had the sights on it. That, and the general flow of change that was around. What was one more in the pot?

That change didn't affect me much, too. At most, I saw more of Avarice around. With her connections—to me, that is—she and Anon were some of the first vamps to get their own seals, and while Anon still stayed not too far from JJ for his probation period, Avarice often would come to visit.

For business stuff, of course. She actually wanted to invest in my shop. This sort of talk was something she had to do with JJ, though—I was the items person, and he was the numbers person. Math only made me drown.

And if after doing business Avarice had time to find her nephew and teach him life or whatever she did when left alone with him, well, that was what people like her did. I found that sort of denial cute. JJ found it foolish and insisted that denying yourself to the world around you could only lead to losing yourself entirely, and that Avarice would have to learn to open up more, eventually.

We both agreed that it wasn't really our place to talk.

And then, one day, an unexpected missive came with our correspondence. It was a paper letter and came with a courier—the only way to make sure it would come on time with how "well" postal services in Russia worked. It read:

[My dear Osier.

I've heard a lot about your exploits since the last time our paths crossed. I always listened the rumours about you with mixed feelings. The way you chose in the eternal life I gave you wasn't something I expected you to follow, but I couldn't deny that you truly became a noble vampire, unlike some rabid dogs who could only maul everyone they see. While my original motives for giving you the touch of undeath didn't include the bettering of our race, I believe I made a good choice from that perspective as well.

So it was a pity to hear that you disappeared somewhere, possibly forever. As it is always a pity when a worthy person ends their days. I was glad to hear that you were alive. But what I heard of you, and Diana, afterwards…

The saying "still waters run deep" fits you better than anyone else I know, Osier. For centuries, you would be quiet, but when you strike, the reverberations of your actions go through the entire world. Truly, what you do or don't do, should be a no concern of mine. Our paths had separated long ago, but something in me called to make the journey I made.

Osier, I wish to see you one more time, out of old sentiment and new concerns. I knew you changed much since I left you, and I know you must've changed since then, too. You now hold a special influence on the world, something very few do. As your sire, I feel myself responsible for evaluating whether you will use that influence in the ways that will harm or benefit our race.

I would also like to see Diana as well. I'm sure we will find words to exchange. There will be no promises from me, though, that the entire conversation would be in a slightest bit pleasant. You both have a right to refuse and ignore that letter. If you don't, the time and place for the meeting are attached to it.

—Maria]

There was no need for her to leave a signature. There was only one person in the world who called JJ by that name, and judging by his expression when he read the letter, he wanted not to just ignore it, but to tear it into pieces.

Instead, he took a deep breath, set the letter aside and rubbed his face with his palms in a strangely human gesture of tiredness.

"Are you alright?" I put a hand on his arm and searched his eyes for a hint of what he was feeling. "I feel like this was a sort of letter you were supposed to read on your own…"

"No, no." JJ dropped his hands and shook his head. Then he turned to me and took my free hand in his. His eyes didn't raise from my fingers as he spoke. "It's better with you here, ma chèrie. How should I put it into words… You think sometimes that you put some things away, that you dealt with them a long, long time ago, but then something would happen and you find out that they were closer than you thought. It wasn't even the letter itself, but the realisation that now Maria could just decide to come visit me, and as soon as she clears her guesting rights, there's nothing stopping her."

"Is she that terrifying?"

"Terrifying? No, she isn't." JJ rolled his shoulder in a dismissive gesture. "She can be quite nasty when she feels like it, but I'm not a little boy who will run crying after a few biting remarks. No, what distresses me so is everything I associate Maria with. My darkest times…"

I reached up to lift his chin up with my fingers and catch his eyes. "I know that this is kinda obvious, but they are in the past. You are the Jean-Jacques I know, and not some evil Jean-Jacques that there once was."

He smiled at me. "Sometimes, even the most obvious things have to be said aloud to be added weight. Like the fact that you are the light of my heart and that I love you so much that your presence at my side alone makes even the deepest shadow look like the harmless things they truly are."

Now it was me who averted my eyes, with a slight blush creeping up to my cheeks. One day I would think I will get used to JJ's compliments, and then he will give me one with that casually sincere look and will feel like a dump schoolgirl again. And have no decent response.

"Thanks… you're welcome." I cleared my throat and peeked at JJ through my lashes, only to see him smiling at me with no small amount of amusement mixed with adoration. For a moment, I had to pause to gather my thoughts that were momentarily muddled by the sheer beauty of that look on him. "So, do you want to see her or what?"

That enthralling expression dimmed, to my great regret. For several seconds JJ didn't speak, before, at last, nodding resolutely. "I do. I don't know how it will end, but if I won't go, I know that questions of what she wanted to say, or ask, will plague me for a long time."

"Then I will go with you." I grasped JJ's cool hand tight and smirked. "I have a feeing Maria wants to engage in that nice girly activity of spitting venom at each other. And while normally I try to avoid that, frankly quite pointless from my opinion, kind of stuff… for Maria, I am ready to make an exception and bring the biggest tanks of venom I can find. I think I will even ask Avarice for some advice on the matter. I'm sure she has experience.. So, if it's a spitting match she is after, it will be a tough one for her."