In love with Vlad since 2015

There was a land in Kadath guarded by an old dragon. This dragon loved humans so much that he would do anything to protect them. He would as much offer his own blood and flesh for them as the dragon discovered that they could treat human ailments with it.

They called him Salvador, "Savior", and deemed him as their guardian. Humans who live there realize Salvador gives himself so much to heal people, so they assign a Keeper to "keep him in check and in good health". It was like that for hundreds of years.

The newest Keeper, Kirie, was an adult nearing her 30s. Usually, Keepers tend to be quite younger because they needed to be more alert and strong to handle the old dragon but Kirie's abilities have proven to be quite useful in keeping the dragon in check. The Mystia committee discovered Kirie have excelled in her own healing abilities and even managed to heal non-human entities. The dragon was weakening, so they decided to forego the usual methods and processes of assigning a new Keeper to hopefully help Salvador regain his strength. Salvador had overused his abilities and himself in the last 20 years that he has grown quite weak, so emergency Keeper reassignment needed to be done.

Kirie has seen Salvador quite often when roaming around the capital city. Perhaps he was her motivation to improve her abilities; so that she could help him. She was part of a school of mages that excel in specific magecraft, with hers being healing and reconstruction. When she was summoned by the Mystia Committee through a letter, she got nervous. The letter has informed her to go to Mythag, a place known to train Keepers.

Salvador has informed Doll over the communicator to request an audience with her for something important. Piqued, she allowed him to visit her the next day in her office after class hours.

And like what they agreed upon, Salvador visited Mythag and went to the front of her office at the time class hours have ended. They went inside the office and Doll has offered tea to her guest. Salvador did not wait any longer for his question.

"Ms. Doll, pardon my sudden visit and intrusion. I would like to ask if there are any places in Mythag where I can grow a flower garden?"

A flower garden, an interesting concept. Surely Mythag has their own gardens around the campus but Doll believes there's something more to that.

"Mr. Salvador, this is quite a peculiar request, especially coming from you. I'll do my best to find a suitable place for this plan of yours. You said this is a gift for the Keeper?"

"Yes, Ms. Doll. A place where she can relax in the premises of Mythag. But it may be used by everyone when it is all done, that is what I aim to do."

"Truly an exemplary Awakener you are, Mr. Salvador. And truly very observant too. You know, Kirie hasn't been relaxing well, so to speak. Perhaps an indoor garden is indeed a good way to lessen her stress levels without stressing too much on going outside of school premises."

Salvador shown a small smile, as if he was quite excited for this plan of his.

"Indeed. It would be of great help if you could help me make this idea real."

"Alright. Let me just get some floor plans and some room assignments from the books here..."

Doll has flipped pages of the floor plans of rooms of Mythag that were readily accessible to faculty and instantly found a vacant room that would have the optimal natural light and floor area for Salvador's plans. The problem is that this room hasn't been used for a long while.

"It seems that I might have found a perfect room for you, Mr. Salvador."

Despite his blindfold and his calm composure, Doll can feel Salvador is beaming with excitement. Minor changes in his facial expression and body language really says alot.

------ ◇◇◇◇◇ ------

Doll has escorted Salvador to the said room. It was a room situated at the ground floor of the university, near the botanical areas. It used to be the main biology room but it was too small to hold the classes there anymore due to the number of specimens and the needed area for experiments. Mythag University has grown since the room was made, now just a relic of its time. Doll thinks that an indoor garden in the old biology room would be a lovely way to revive it.

Salvador grabbed the door knob and turned to open the door. As he opened the room, a stale smell was overwhelmingly present and some dust particles wafted out. Salvador staggered a bit, then he dusted his cloak and maintained his composure and continued to go inside the abandoned room. He covered his mouth and fanned the dust away as he moved inside the room.

It was decently sized, when he felt his way around. The All-Father's gift also gave him a certain sense of having some kind of depth perception from his surroundings despite not being able to truly see them. He felt some sunlight, showing that this room has wide enough windows for natural sun. The room also had natural lighting from above. Truly a room fit for his plans.

It's the semestral break in Mythag University. All academic responsibilities have been concluded for the current semester... In regular schools, it would've meant summer break and actual freedom from school, but in Mythag, it meant that only the school works were done, investigations given by the school are still done at this break.

It's not much for Mythag students, especially for the Investigators and Keepers, but it is still a long break, nonetheless.

Kirie already had her plans in this short freedom... and that's to visit Salvador more frequently at the Church and help out with stuff there. Ramona already expected this, so she had let her be and told Kirie that she'll contact her when Mythag needs her back immediately. Ramona decided to continue working with the professors of Mythag inside the campus and to watch over her father who's been planning things according to the other staff members during the semestral break.

"Finally, freedom from Professor Doll's stern comments and the worries of late papers..." Kirie mumbled to herself.

She fixed her skirt and sleeves and went towards to the Church of Redemption. She had already messaged Salvador to inform him of her visit beforehand. Just thinking of seeing Salvador greeting her at the Church doors fills her with such glee. Every step forward, filled with eagerness to spend her summer days along with Salvador. She has yet to ask his availability on the next few days but she will do her best to help him as much as she can.

Kirie was always wondering about her affliction.

There are nights where she can't sleep due to the pain it causes. Her body would feel like she is drowning in thick black liquid, and when she looks at the mirror, she would see her face and limbs would be covered in it. She would attempt to rub or wash it off but it never gets washed off...

When those things happen, the things she learned about herself tend to be forgotten and she would need to relearn them again.

This was a constant in the years she was awake.

She tried to work around it as well, by taking down notes and even drawing to circumvent things since this affliction is quite related to dissolution. But it always get hit when the symptoms get worse.

There are times that Kirie isolates herself when it gets to a point that she feels like a burden to everyone.

When this happens, Ramona would be on standby to watch over her vitals. She knows that Kirie needs her space but too much might be harmful for her.

"What's the use... I just kept starting all over when this happens. I get incapacitated when my symptoms flare up and it's horrible! They tell me it's okay and it gets better but what if it doesn't? I don't really want to be a burden anymore. What's the use of being alive when living is this much of a hassle..."

Kirie gets overwhelmed and cries. She holds herself close. The pain and her visions aren't helping her state right now.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have agreed to be a Keeper... Keepers have to have good mental states right? How did I pass it anyway? Perhaps living as a normal citizen or school worker would have been better... it hurts... I don't deserve to be a Keeper. The more I think about it, the more undeserving I am... I don't even know if I am even a good Keeper anyway. I don't deserve to meet new people. I don't deserve to command these Awakeners. I'm not good enough. I'm not good at this..."

Three knocks were heard at her door.

Kirie sobs still but fixes herself a bit and goes to the door. She opens it ajar to see who was knocking. It was Ramona, with some sweets and tea.

"I brought you some of your favorite sweets, Kirie. And the tea we got during our shopping in the town a few days ago. May I come in?"

Ramona looked at Kirie, she was very much in her worse states. Her curly hair even messier than her usual bed hair, her eyes looking very tired and her face with marks of black liquid trailing on it.

"...okay."

Kirie opens her door to let Ramona in. Ramona would then place the tray of the food and drink she brought on Kirie's dorm table, which looked like it wasn't been touched for the day.

"Would you like to have some tea with me, partner?"

Kirie was dazed. She wasn't hearing Ramona's words.

Ramona would have to do something different to try to snap out of Kirie from her downwards spiral.

She went to Kirie's side and slowly brushed her messy hair.

"Kirie... you know, you always had lovely hair. How your curls would bounce as you pass by the halls."

She would then put her hair into a ponytail, grabbing one of Kirie's hairties on her desk to tie it up. She would then go in front of her and look at her in the eye.

"You are good enough, Kirie. We wouldn't want you to go anywhere else."

Kirie finally looked at Ramona's eyes as well. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.

Ramona went and hugged Kirie. Kirie's tears fell on Ramona's cheek. She hugged her back.

"I'm sorry you all have to deal with me like this. Thank you for being you, Ramona. You really are amazing..."

"Now, now, Keeper. We should actually get into eating the sweets I brought for you. Murphy freshly made those just for you!"

Kirie giggled. Ramona broke the hug and looked at Kirie with a smile.

"Now cheer up a bit! Remember, we're all here for you. The Awakeners think of you as a good Keeper, and I think of you as a great partner. Not everyone can be strong or perfect all the time!"

"You're right."

They went to the table with the tea and sweets.

"Now, let's eat!"

"Yeah! Murphy's sweets are always amazing... these ones look amazing as well!"

They spent the rest of their time of the day just chatting and reminiscing about old investigations over tea and sweets.

"Okay, I have distanced myself quite alot from the others. Just a little more and I will manage to catch the beast that has been lurking and wreaking havoc in this town."

Kirie looked at her surroundings and then the contents of her bag. It contained her Silver Key , her notebook, some other school stuff and her butterfly knife. She knows she could just summon an Awakener to trap and kill the beast but Mythag has issued a note to capture the beast alive due to it's odd genetic makeup for analysis. Kirie thought of all the possibilities to trap the beast but most of her current Awakeners have no ability to trap it. Aigis is still not too used to being in investigations yet, especially as time-sensitive as this one. Kirie has made a mental note to try and convince her to join her in training some time.

Mythag taught their students multiple ways to trap moving things, but it always requires multiple devices to do so. Sadly, for Kirie, she couldn't carry that much items in her bag and she wasn't even sure how big the beast was. But that was the specialty of Mythag University training, all their Investigators and Keepers are trained to expect the unexpected, to follow through and finish the investigation, even if they need to cut some corners for some plans and steps.

Kirie had some peculiar trapping spells from her classes and previous investigations and one of them involved some sort of drawn markings. It didn't need much except have ample space, big enough rocks... and her own blood. There are probably better trapping spells written in her notebook but it wasn't the time for finding the optimal one. She is also aware that the beast tends to be attracted to fresh blood, so why not try this one for a two birds with one stone, but this time it's two purposes for one technique. Time is of the essence. Sometimes she just wished Salvador was nearer to her for backup but she knows she shouldn't keep on depending on him in these kinds of chases.

She flicks open her butterfly knife to let it show it's blade and adjusts her grip to its handle. She removes her right glove and grabs the sharp edge of the blade.

It stings. But she needed to draw enough blood to draw a sigil on four palm-sized rocks. 'How does Salvador even bear this pain? I only made a small deep wound on mine and it already stings alot...'

And she managed to draw the sigils exactly like in her notes. She drew a box on the ground and placed the bloodied rocks at it's corners. She then said a small chant to activate the sigils.

Hurried steps get nearer to her as blood dripped from her right palm. It was still flowing despite her attempts to close the wound. She focused on the direction where the steps were coming from...

...Then finally, the beast pounced towards her direction. It was a quadrupedaled beast that looks like a... big cat(?) with silver fur. It had sharp, bloodied claws, with fangs all bloodied as well. The shine on it's fur looked beautiful despite having some blood splatters on their limbs. No wonder it was hard to catch this beast. The beast was quite hard to see in daylight and blends in the darkness too, as if it was transparent. Perhaps that is the reason why Mythag wanted the beast to be taken in alive, to know the properties of it's fur.

It landed right in the middle of the drawn box by Kirie. As it's feet touched the ground, multiple black bars have encircled the beast and closed itself in mere second. The beast capture was a success.

Kirie approached the captured beast and tried to calm it down. The beast sensed that the blood was coming from her and looked at her with interest and for some reason, it was immediately amicable to her. It was kind of cute in a way.

She was feeling quite faint already due to the blood that she lost. She took out the Silver Key and... tried... to...

Her eyes and her body couldn't hold on anymore.

"Ah..."

When she fell, she felt strong arms holding her safe.

"My Pale Flame, there you are. All of us are looking for you... That smell... I am glad to have finally reached you."

"Sorry for being reckless there... Adrenaline rush, I guess."

He took her bleeding palm and gave a small Blessing.

"My Pale Flame, please lessen recklessness that involves bodily harm when I am far away. You are still human, Kirie. It can kill you."

"Says the person who constantly does that to himself."

"That is true, but I have my reasons."

"I know, I know, just kind of amusing to hear those words coming out of your mouth, haha!"

"...Are you better now, my Pale Flame? Does it still bleed?"

"It's as if it never happened. Thank you... and sorry about that. I promise to be more careful next time."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Salvador's arms and cloak covered Kirie in the sudden strong embrace. She was fairly shocked and a red flush covered her face. Good thing Salvador couldn't exactly see her right now.

"I was quite scared of what would happen to you while I was far from you, Pale Flame. I am glad you are quite alright."

"I am glad you found me as I was needing your help... Perhaps we truly know each other quite well..."

The black cage binding the silver beast has shifted into a more transport-friendly cage, and the beast has finally fully calmed down... it even looks like it fell asleep while the two were talking.

"The beast's soul looks... unique."

"Indeed, even it's physical properties are very interesting. Just super glad this makeshift binding technique really worked. Even worked better than I thought! I'm feeling much better now, Salvador. Thank you once again for your help."

"It's a pleasure to help, as always."

Salvador always believed in the Scriptures.

The All-Father have promised a Pale Messenger marked by the Pale Fire. It is the core of the teachings of the Chantry of Life. To keep doing good for the Pale Fire will be there to guide everyone to Paradise.

Despite the suffering he endured, he believed in it thoroughly. Bound by it, even. That desire to actually meet the Pale Flame is what kept him going. He knew that they will meet one day. The All-Father promised that to him. Despite that, he died before he managed to meet them.

Then, he was awoken anew, approximately 300 years after he died. In the home of the All-Father, he knew that this new life was his new calling. To serve Him once more. That longing to meet the Pale Flame still lingered in his being but he was not truly sure if he ever missed his chance or not. The fact that he lost his true sight made his chances lower to decipher the Pale Flame, or perhaps, maybe raised his chances? The new kind of sight he was blessed with was to see the light of souls. An interesting gift in replacement of normal sight.

He continued his service to the Chantry of Life in Londinium and was even granted to step up to the ranks of Bishop, replacing the old bishop that awakened him, 10 years after he was awakened. During one of his rounds around the church as a newly-appointed bishop of Londinium, he saw something peculiar.

An actual pale fire in the sea of specks of light. It was so different that he knew he just had to go nearer. Is this the Pale Fire that was promised?

As he finally reached the loaction of the pale fire, he found out that the person that had it was fast asleep while sitting on the farthest pew of the church, their flame calm. Then, the flame dimmed a bit. Hm.

He reached for the person and tried to wake them up.

"Child, it seems that you have drifted to sleep. I don't see you around here often, are you perhaps new here?"

He heard ruffling of clothes and how the person must've been deeply asleep before he woke them up.

The flames of the person are in disarray, dimming and flickering in small movements. Something is not right.

"Are you alright, dear?"

The person with the pale flame wanted to speak, as he heard a soft gasp in front of him but it also seemed to be in slight confusion. Are they in pain, perhaps? But nonetheless, he decided to grant a small blessing to them by placing his hand on their head. If they really were the Pale Flame that he was looking for, then it would not be of vain to use it. He felt that the person in front of him calmed down. He smiled, filled with much relief that the person in front of him is now safe.

"Th-thank you, sir...", said the person with the pale fire.

A lady, it seems.

"In this place, everyone is welcome. Perhaps the All-Father guided you here. Welcome, dear lamb."

Her flame is now flickering healthily. He is glad to finally meet this person. The lady's voice is soft and calm, truly has the aspects of what he expected from someone that would be the Pale Messenger but it seems that this lady is still quite unaware of their status.

"Nice to meet you, and thank you for the welcome as well... but I need to go now. Sorry for falling asleep in a public place..."

Her voice sounded really embarrassed for this mishap.

"Do not worry, little lamb. Your comfort is always the All-Father's priority. You are always welcome to rest in His house. May you have a safe trip back to where you came from."

"Thank you, sir..." She stood up and "bowed" at Salvador and walked towards the exit.

He saw her flame go further away, as she left the Church premises. He smiled, as his heart was filled with hope.

"What an interesting individual..."

Perhaps the promise that the All-Father gave has finally been fulfilled, in one way or another. He knows that they would meet again in the future, he just feels it.

Kirie looked at her homework sheet given by Professor Doll. It says: "Explain the Gnosis Index and it's peculiarities in essay form. Limit your answer in one sheet of paper only. Due on our next Awakener Physiology class."

"Gnosis Index is the scale they use to measure.... what again?"

Kirie is more accustomed to thinking "oh, it's the stability of the awakener's spirit particles in the silver" but she knows it's honestly more than that... or is it?

Looking at her Awakener files, the Awakeners with the highest Gnosis Index are Salvador, Tulu and Daffodil... all of which seem to be fairly independent and don't really need to constantly reinforce the link. The other Awakeners are at the 20+ range...

"Why is it 20+? What is 0 to the Index anyway? Some of them even have no info on their indices as well! What gives!"

Sometimes she wonders why is it even needed when not all of them are even documented on the scale of their Gnosis Indices. She furrowed her brow while looking at the sheet of paper once more.

"Ugh, my head hurts... I really don't get it at all!"

She wrote on her scratch paper: "Gnosis Index is an academic and research joke at this point."

Of course, Professor Doll would not like that answer and would probably hit her head for treating the homework as a joke when it is indeed being studied in Mythag.

"I'll... probably sleep it off first. Perhaps I can find a proper answer in the next few days. The next Awakener Physiology class is next week anyway."

Kirie has a habit of observing everyone's actions a little too carefully.

She would notice when Ramona is a bit too tired from the previous night of investigations when she doesn't send a message at her communicator at exactly 8 o' clock in the morning to tell her to not forget about the homework to be submitted to Professor Doll.

She would notice Aigis was in a good mood and had a good meal when she receives twice the amount of stuffed animals that Aigis told her that she would send to her doorstep.

She would notice Jenkin had made a killing the previous night when she was kind enough not to skip classes for the day and even treated the other child awakeners to lunch at the Awakener cafeteria.

She would notice how Thais would have her horns all polished up when she would tell her that she would like to spend time with her the whole day.

She would notice how Ogier's face gets easily flustered when people compliment how good of a fighter he is and how he would politely say that he's still learning to be better.

She would notice that Doll is in a good mood when she lets her pass her homework a day after it was due (with permission, of course).

But for some reason, she couldn't exactly read the differences on Salvador's actions.

Salvador was kind to everyone in Mythag, his actions never favored anyone. He would listen to anyone, awakener or not, with equal fervor. Everyone, in turn, would listen to his advice as well.

Sure, there's the whole "Pale Messenger" deal that he has been talking about towards her but to be honest, she doesn't truly get it. She thinks it's kind of a delusional thing but knowing about the concepts of Aeons and Supreme Wills, sometimes she just accepts it as fact.

But there are times when he instantly turns around to her direction to greet her even when talking to someone else in Mythag, or when he asks for her time alone in the communicator or letters. To meet as friends.

Then the way he talks and smiles at her as they talk to each other. The way how he sometimes asks to hold his hands. Sometimes, she sees a slight blush on his face.

Her heart raced even faster. She always knew she liked him more than she should.

Everytime Salvador casts "The Blessing" during investigations and battles, the stone tablets that hover behind him glow in pale blue light, lighting the markings of these tablets to cast their healing.

This otherworldly light was also present when the Keeper and Salvador first linked to each other.

A pale blue light, a mark perhaps of the All-Father's prophecy is all too familiar to Salvador.

He has seen this light even before he was awakened. This light was his salvation. The answer that the All-Father gave him in times of strife. It was comfort yet a curse. Despite that, he accepted that this light will always be there and this light will always need blood offerings to be seen once more. The payment may seem to be steep to others but in his eyes, no payment is too steep for the wellbeing of all the people he loved.

But for the Keeper, seeing this pale blue glow reminds them of Salvador's own light and warmth. They always knew Salvador was one of the kindest people they have ever met, even more evident that even Mythag students and faculty would seek him due to his comforting presence. A healing glow that he himself has, even without using The Blessing. The Keeper could only look in awe and bask in his glow when they spend time together. They would wish that they could just stay in his warmth for a long time but that is only a luxury perhaps the church goers can have.

As a Keeper, they knew calm, peaceful days are the minority. To go to investigations is the main job. To handle and neutralize dissolution is top priority. To indulge in such peaceful warmth for a long time is a crime for those who are suffering. This is what the Keeper signed up for in the Keygrave ceremony.

Silver.

Mythag University have been researching the use of Silver in their technology ever since the university's inception.

But this is the first time they encountered a being, no, a person with actual hair made of silver.

How is it possible? Then again, finding her in the ■■■■■■■ explosion was already a mystery on itself, this person might be not a person at all.

A young lady with hair made of pure silver. But the impurities and imbalances of her body makes her hair susceptible to contamination as her body also produces black liquid that are just like dissolution slime. The lady is still unconscious but at least the researchers know she is still alive.

To know more about this girl, is to make her body be stabilized enough to help her awaken. The conflict of silver and D-slime truly is like an oxymoron in her vessel. They are determined to see her eyes open.

Researcher ■■■■■ spearheaded the research, analyzing the girl's vitals and genetic makeup. Despite the two huge anomalies in her biology, she is still mostly human. Perhaps a unique human. But as more tests and days go by, with days comes to weeks, to months and years... the girl still hasn't woke up from it's slumber.

They slowly determined that perhaps the amount of black liquid and the balance of silver might be causing this. Perhaps her whole being needs something much different than what normal humans would need to wake up. So they experimented even more.

-----

In the three years they have worked on her, "she" has finally woken up from her slumber. They gave her the name "Kirie", a name fitting for a being of miracle. Her hair isn't fully silver anymore, as it has patches of black along it's silvery streaks.

It took her a bit to adjust to being awoken, as her 3-year slumber have made her truly weak. She slowly learned how to walk and eat on her own, thanks to the doctors in the university.

They also made her officially a student, but wasn't allowed to interact with other students as her own wellbeing and physical health weren't stable enough to be introducing new variables. Within the year, she was able to move to places on her own and do many things on her own, to the relief of the researchers.

Slowly, they allowed her to go beyond of Mythag, as long as she was monitored remotely by Mythag in case of emergency. She wandered through streets of Londinium, where the smell of food were all around.

She eventually found herself in front of the Church of Redemption and went inside.

Feelings of wonder rush into her as she looked all around. She eventually sat on the nearest pew to absorb the awe that she felt. There were songs that played in the farther areas of the church that resonated all around the place that was soothing for her. Slowly, she drifted to sleep.

--------

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw a figure towering over her. Her eyes are not focusing well immediately.

"Child, it seems that you have drifted to sleep. I don't see you around here often, are you perhaps new here?"

She squints her eyes. Despite the multiple attempts to clear her eyesight, it remains blurry.

"Are you alright, dear?" Said the deep, caring voice.

She was embarrassed to admit she needed help. Then a slight blue light have appeared in a flash, that after it's appearance, stabilized her eyesight. She sees a man's gentle smile in front of her. She was still quite shy to look fully at the man's face.

"Th-thank you, sir.."

"In this place, everyone is welcome. Perhaps the All-Father guided you here. Welcome, dear lamb."

She looked at her pocket watch. It was getting late.

"Nice to meet you, and thank you for the welcome as well... but I need to go now. Sorry for falling asleep in a public place.."

"Do not worry, little lamb. Your comfort is always the All-Father's priority. You are always welcome to rest in His house. May you have a safe trip back to where you came from."

"Thank you, sir..."

She did a curtsy and hurriedly left as she was aware of the curfew that was imposed on her by the university. The Priest that saw her off made a small smile on his face.

"What an interesting individual..."

----------

When she arrived in front of Mythag's gates, the researchers were looking sternly at her.

"I'm truly sorry for being late, sirs and madams. I really did not mean to fall asleep outside of Mythag. I accept any kind of punishment for my tardiness..."

She immediately was taken to the lab to make some tests on her. She didn't really mind it as she was used to this but she was quite unsure why she was thoroughly examined once more... perhaps it was due to her passing out during the trip outside Mythag.

The researchers found out that the balance of Dissolution and her Silver essence within her changed drastically while she was outside but was eventually balanced out by some sort of miracle during the trip as well.

Ever since that day, she was not allowed to go out for a while until she is able to fully go without her chemical imbalance being a detriment to her trip.

During those days being quarantined, she couldn't forget the nice man whose voice comforted her in the church and helped her when she was having a bit of trouble...