Forbidden forest
17th April 1664
3rd person POV
Encre
As Encre turned to the shadow that was following them for some solid 30 minutes, he quickly came to a halt "You can come out now? "
Those words pierced through the persecutor "So you knew I was here?" He said, looking to the side while searching for something "I even made sure to hide my magic."
The 'shadow' was finally showing his whole body.
He was a skeleton with clothes similar to those of a butler, a white shirt with a Windsor cut, a waistcoat above it, and a bow tie, the only thing that drove his looks away from those of a typical butler was a beret he wore covering one of his eyes, the left one precisely.
(Found this image in the undertale amino app, please imagine the beret's covering his eye)
The newfound skeleton took a step forward before being forced to stay still. Encre was not letting this butler get closer than he already was, for his, and the vampire child safety that is, not in a million years would he let a child of any kind suffer while under his care and thus he needed to quickly figure out who this skeleton was and how much of a treat they were.
'He doesn't act rashly that's for sure, but who exactly is this skeleton, awake during the night at a forest known for being full to the brim with vampires? ' Encre truly shouldn't judge the 'butler' if he was committing the exact same deed that the one in front of him was. He, himself was not a good example of how people acted in the presence of the, oh so-called blood-sucking monsters.
'Perhaps he serves a noble family who doesn't belong to the kingdom since I haven't met this person in the king's gathering. He's also most likely not from the village.' The artist concluded.
"So who do you work for? " Encre started "You seem to be very talented and you following me doesn't seem to be a mere incident."
"That's information that I cannot leak." the man replied.
"So a stranger started following... me, just because" Before the other could continue whatever he was going to talk about Encre made a statement that leads to almost spilling the whole vampire's existence to the man in front of him, for all he knew he could be a vampire hunter in his free time, that if this person had the freedom to do as pleased even as a butler.
"Are you sure you didn't mean us?" The assumed to be butler asked.
Keeping his poker face, Encre proceeded to retort his question "No. Not at all." He scoffs under his breath he was too quick to answer. One look at the butler's face made him shiver in a cold sweat, he knew it, Encre wasn't 100% sure, but all his instincts said so, that this man knew that he wasn't alone at the very least, probably not the vampire part, but you could never be so sure.
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The small vampire was at first taken aback at the sudden stop, followed by questioning and passive-aggressive speech that was prevenient from both sides. After the initial shock passed he took barely a bit of his head out of the sachel. Looking around he started to recognize his surroundings, then he recognized the voice and inspected it while Encre and the other person were still bickering. As soon as his eyes landed on the skeleton who was wearing a butler outfit, he jumped out of Encre's sachel and turned back into his human-like form "Suave! ".
"So it was you, thanks Fallacy your back prince." Suave responded, a sigh of relief leaving his mouth afterwards.
"Well then, Mr I'm-here-alone, who are you and what are you doing with the young master?" He asked even more wary of Encre.
Encre sighed "Do you know him? Is he really that Suave guy you were calling? " he asked the now skeleton-like child, ignoring the other's question.
Suave felt a bit attacked but did not make a move towards the artist, Jasper looked at Encre and nodded, this action getting Suave's attention as it wasn't normal for Jasper to trust, not even a bit, anyone who his father hasn't met before, him being thaught and experiencing such pain in the first years he was alive in this world, all because he trusted the wrong person.
Encre smiled to both this time before finally answering the butler "I'm Encre, glad to make acquaintances."
Suave still didn't let his guard down, the person in front of him was previously with his young master after all. Besides, this skeleton could hide his magic and presence as well as detect others who had theirs hidden. The sudden change of treatment he received, just because Jasper knew him, didn't help to ease his suspicions either.
"It's ok, I kinda trust him. At least enough to not make any move in which we end up injured." Jasper made known to the butler.
"Very well." Suave answered still not letting his guard down, not even for a little "I'm Suave, butler to the father of this little trouble maker."
Encre giggled a little at this butler's amusing behaviour while Jasper had a hurt look splattered on his face.
"So little Athanasius, you actually speak, such a shame I didn't get you to talk to me." Encre said, closing his eyes, his imagination running wild at the thought of the guest's face, who had found them, "I guess this is where we separate ways."
The little vampire opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, protest even, but didn't know what to say, the man in front of him had saved him not once but twice and looked like he was willing to save him a third time if the person following them meant ill intentions, he had at least to give the other a 'thank you' or ask him to meet his father, to prove him he trusted this man, but words, those didn't want to leave his mouth and so, the little vampire ran to the painter and tugged on his shirt, muttering something.
Encre's eyes sparkled at the sudden action while Suave was there watching the things unfold in total shock.
"Of course little Athanasius, I'd love to." Jasper and his butler were surprised as he seemed to understand what Jasper said, even if he mumbled it in such a low voice.
Jasper quickly shook it off as he grabbed Encre's hand to lead the way.
✩𖦹 -------------------- 𖦹✩
On their way to whatever place Jasper was taking Encre to, the tension was incoherent, mainly due to the artist's presence, sometimes he was happily talking, although mostly to the small vampire, and in a split second he was calm and cold divagating greatly to what was spoken to him.
Even so, the artist was trying his best to listen and respond to the pleads Jasper gave him, the little vampire was fast to catch up to what actions gained the artists' attention, like small whines that he let slip his mouth here and there when he required a bit more attention from the other.
The little vampire was getting comfortable with the presence of the new skeleton, almost as if he filled a role Jasper had longed for.
Upon arriving at the place Jasper was dragging Encre to, he let go of the latter, allowing him to examine the place he took him to, it was either a king worth castle or a really healthy and favoured noble mansion, the exterior was dark, but not black, it had a variant of colours to try and match those of the forest, although it looked like a poorly done job.
Encre kept a straight face, but the thought itself of such a horrendous act towards those who were artists couldn't leave his mind 'This is so bad I can't believe the guards haven't found it yet, does it have any sort of magic that allows this to stay hidden? ' The artist then noticed something written on a wall, he made a mental note to check it out, maybe confirm his theory, but as he knew he was kind of - never admitting that he was extremely - forgetful he also wrote it down on his satchel.
With that he restarted admiring what he concluded was a castle, what he thought was originally wood was in fact stone, explaining why the job wasn't properly done as the pores of said stone made it harder, but that wasn't an excuse for what was done to this masterpiece of architecture.
He came back to his senses when he felt a tug on his shirt "Is there something you need, Athanasius? "
"Just wanted to say we're about to get inside, besides I've been meaning to ask " Jasper started "Why do you keep calling me Athanasius? " he interrogated as they walked inside the castle.
Encre smiled at him "I'm sure you have a library in this castle, correct? " The vampire nodded listening carefully "Pay a visit to the library then, search for a book with name meanings, it should be in Latin although Greek should also do the trick! "
Suddenly Suave fake coughed a little to get their attention.
"You're back already? " Encre asked "You noticed I was gone? It seemed like you were completely focused on young master though, you even closed your eyes!"
Encre just smiled at him "I cannot reveal how I do it now, can I? " He said walking beside the two while they got inside the castle, receiving an eye roll as the answer to his question "Anyway, who is this gentleman you brought with you? " he said pointing to a dark spot in the shadows, so dark that you couldn't distinguish shades.
"Pointing is rude you know?" a tall skeleton-like figure said approaching them "But, I'll give you a score from how you could tell I was here."
"Was I not supposed to? Although I couldn't in fact see you, letting out such aura would let you be known from the other side of the entrance." The artists' answer was deemed pleasurable from the other figure's response.
Now turning to the little vampire the skeleton spoke once again "You've brought such an interesting person inside, but" he paused for a second his smile dropping before sighing again "That does not mean you can just disappear and reappear as you wish, I was worried about you, I haven't heard from you in days, I was about to send a search party." The skeleton paused yet again "You're grounded.".
Jasper could only agree to what was said. They were facts, one's who involved him and his safety above all. Suave stood still, a stern look plastered on his face, and Encre? He was containing his giggles.
When Encre turned to face the new figure, an unspoken question paired in the air 'Who exactly are you?' a hint of curiosity as well as concern hidden in it.
Getting the hint Encre introduced himself "I'm Encre, royal painter of the closest village, but feel free to discard that, not like I like the current royal family or something like that. Glad to make acquaintances." A nod came from the other.
"Well dear guest, I am Fallacy. The king of the vampires. It's a pleasure to meet you."
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Author Notes:
Happy Halloween!
Hope you liked the chapter.
The images do NOT belong to me, the credits go to the respective owners.
I'm sorry I disappeared for a while yet again, I'm trying my best to be able to have time to write while I have the chance, but it's hard.
Total word count: 1967