As Vincencio took charge of intercepting whatever their target's attempt, he pretended to be frantic and devastated as he looked for his wife.
"Have you seen her?" Vincencio asked in his worried tone, despite how untrue it was; he made it work since some officers flinched in his tone.
"Sorry, Sir, we came too late," one of the officers replied nervously, not meeting his demanding glare.
"DAMMIT!" He clicked his tongue, annoyed by their late response.
"Don't lose hope." Another officer said to a devastated father and husband.
"FINE HER THEN! FIND WIFE AND MY DAUGHTER!" He snapped, shouting with his imperious, demanding voice, making all of the officers who were near him flinch and cower before adding a warning, "ONE MORE FAILURE, I'LL BE TAKING IT FROM HERE. ARE WE CLEAR?!"
"Calm down, sir." Another officer tried to calm him, but he was being a demanding boss.
"I SAID, ARE WE CLEAR?!" He repeated firmly, glaring, putting pressure on the officers before adding his frustrated feelings, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE LOSING IMPORTANT PEOPLE, A PERSON IN YOUR LIFE. SO DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN AND DO YOUR FUCKING JOB."
Vincencio stormed out, pretending to be a frustrated and furious husband searching for his daughter and now his wife, too. He walked around while being tailed by some officers, checking the area as well. However, Vincencio was a werewolf and could clearly sense that three nomads and two rogues were about to chase and track the car's trail, leaving the woods. Knowing what they were after, Vincencio's corner lips crept upward, faintly but quickly masked it with anger.
"Make sure to check the perimeter and find them. I want them alive." He commanded firmly as he made sure it was clear enough for the five night creatures to stop on their attempt before thinking proudly of his move, "Nobody will get into my wife's way. Not in my watch."
As the officers gathered every possible evidence they had found around the area, Vincencio decided to take a break and head home. But before he did, he went to the nearest café, where he sensed a vampire and a werewolf that had been expecting him to come and meet them in person.
"Why did the infamous Immortal Bloods come to pay me a visit?" Vincencio asked immediately as soon as he stood at their booth near the window.
"Nothing but our daughter gave your wife the med, am I right?" Celestial Ceres Aspire-Marshal replied with a smug look on her lips as she put down her cup.
"Have a seat, Vince." Frizabelle Aspire-Marshal said with a gentle smile before adding, "I hope my wife doesn't irritate you like most of the people who had met her before you."
"Well, her knowing grin is still as sly as everyone said, but I'm not affected by it. But, maybe my wife will be okay with the killing part if they're on the same page." Vincencio answered, smirking, making Ceres laugh amusingly.
"Just by hearing that, I like your wife already." She admitted, but there was a glint in her eyes that spoke something else, and Vincencio knew it.
Immortal Bloods, particularly Lady Ceres, had an odd effect on anyone they met; changes. And now that Vincencio met them, he felt a little concerned about how the changes would affect his married life.
"Let's get to the point and tell me, why meet me?" He went directly, obviously concerned about what they had for him.
"Get ready to be punished." Ceres teased, but Vincencio already knew that part.
"Already doing that." He replied, not caring about that either.
"Then get ready to face and meet your wife's true fate." Frizabelle dropped the bomb, making Vincencio's ears twitch.
"Meaning?" he wondered curiously.
"Her vampire side," Ceres answered smugly, which slightly got into Vincencio's nerves, but he still listened attentively. Then Ceres continued, saying, "She might be a Halfling, but she came from one of the strongest vampire families that have been serving and working with the Aspire clan."
"That explains her clever mind and dangerous stunts whenever she took her hunt as a game." He nodded in understanding where his wife's vampire side's cleverness came from.
"Are they now playing the layering defense?" Ceres asked, grinning, but Vincencio's frowning made her continue, saying, "When I say layering, it means a layer of different types of security defense which had been working for whoever learns them."
"Ah, yes. They were having fun with it." He confirmed while nodding before wondering, "Why? Did this meeting have something to do with it?"
"Yes, in a way that you need to hurry up and be with her because once she starts facing Rudolf Strange, it will put her in grave danger," Frizabelle answered him this time much clearly than her wife.
"How can Rudolf be dangerous when she's a slayer?" he wondered.
"Rudolf is already losing his sanity, and his cleverness in medicine will fall into the dark, which could endanger your wife." She answered before taking another sip from her coffee.
"I thought he was dying?" he asked curiously.
"He is. He's already losing it, and the more he does, the more it will put your wife in danger." She answered again before her wife could annoy the man more and continued, informing, "You have to be on her side before it happens because meeting Rudolf's deceased wife, a promise must be made. She needs to do it before Rudolf loses himself completely."
Vincencio quickly frowned, trying to think what his wife exactly did while Skylar checked the Black Tower Prison, and he was in the underground meeting. However, nothing was coming into his mind.
"What did my wife promise his deceased wife?" He asked carefully, hoping they knew the answer.
"Bringing Rudolf back to her," Ceres answered, grinning slyly, making Vincencio shiver. But she earned a secret pinch on her side from her wife, Frizabelle, before continuing like nothing was hurting her side, "Meaning she has her word being a bridge between the living and the dead."
"Vince, you're wife's path isn't easy, that's why you need to be at her side." Frizabelle quickly asked, hoping Vincencio would do it. He nodded, but was still confused about something.
"Are you telling me that she's a mediator and a slayer?" he guessed.
"Vincencio, you're clever too, but sometimes you're slow." Ceres chuckled, teasing the man for being a little slowpoke.
"I don't want to hear it from you, Lady Ceres." He refuted, rolling his eyes from annoyance.
"I know, but it's good to tease." Ceres chuckled teasingly before she went serious when Frizabelle pinched her side hard, making her wince a little. She sighed and seriously continued what she must share, explaining clearly, "Anyway, Skylar's slayer mode always had two faces, one is a dead-end or in short, a killer, and another is a chance giver, a second chance to change lives. She had been doing that before you two reconnected, and the moon had given her the path of a mediator like us. But like my wife said, it's a difficult path because you can't choose between options, Skylar must always stay at the grey line."
"But your job is different from hers; you change people's lives." He pointed out.
"That's our effect, but it will always be on the person if they are willing to be good or bad. Our work did not completely come from us. It came not just from the moon but from the highest heaven as well." Ceres explained briefly their work as a mediator before telling him about his wife, "However, your wife is different and similar to us at the same time. She must walk in the same path as a mediator, but what type she will be is still hazy to us. But Vince, being a mediator is the only path rightfully hers, and there's no other way around."
"Based on what you heard about my wife, what type of mediator will she become?" he wondered curiously about what they think about her wife's fate would be.
"She'll be my mother who doesn't sit in one place. So, don't be surprised if she has to travel to do her task as a mediator." Ceres answered, chuckling in amusement.
"Will she abandon us?" He wondered, voicing his trouble in case it does happen. The couple looked at each other before sighing.
"You shouldn't be thinking that, but the answer will depend on how strong a pillar you will be," Frizabelle answered gently, making Vincecnio nod, but his eyes were still doubtful, worried. She sighed before adding some assurance, "To assure you, if you're her home, she'll come back home in your arms. Always."
"Also, at the right time, you might have joined her, like my father did, that's why I haven't met them ever since I was born." Ceres added firmly, but her sly smile never faded before continuing when she noticed curiosity in Vincencio's gaze as she mentioned her family, saying, "And don't ask my family background. It's for another tale to tell."
"Go, Vince. Do what you have to do now and be with her as soon as you possibly can." Frizabelle smiled encouragingly, making him take a deep breath before smiling.
"Okay." He nodded, standing up from his seat, bowing before excusing himself, "I'll go now."
"Remember, her true fate is about to wake up, and you need to be there when she does." With firmness, Ceres reminded him quickly.
Vincencio nodded and left the café without looking back. He headed home as soon as possible and quickly checked the updates of their lethal game against their real prey, Rudolf Strange. However, after checking on how smoothly their plan moves, he drifted to the message that the Immortal Bloods left for him to remember.
'Her true fate is about to wake up, and you need to be there when she does.'
"I know that I'll be there at her side, but can I?" Vincencio thought deeply but quickly groaned, slapping himself to stop thinking negatively. With clenched fist, he decided firmly, saying, "I can do it. For her, for our family that we're building, and for myself. I'm not going to let her go. She's mine, my wife, and the mother of my children, and our home.
He suited up and, being in Night Hound mode, he chose to use his wife's motorbike from her workshop. He grinned slyly beneath his mask and drove it, not caring if Skylar would be mad at him. He just drove it to the venue where he was assigned to be and be a sneaky shadow.
"Hm, it's a right call not to let them follow them." Night Hound thought as he carefully sneaked into the shadows, trailing the five creatures he sensed earlier.
They ended in a certain household. It was barely abandoned with fading colors, tall bushes, and dying trees. Night Hound could picture that it was once a lively house, but it was dying like its master. Inside, everything was filled with dust and dirt, but the nomads and rogues talked about ending Fredric Rusco for what he did to them, but they weren't their target. Night Hound sneaks further, searching for their boss, but luckily, he hasn't returned yet, and since the house was small for a married couple who planned on starting a family, he easily reached the master bedroom.
"Let's see what you're hiding." He thought smugly. He sneaked inside without being caught, which was a miracle since the house was surrounded. However, he was taken aback as he entered the master bedroom. It was not clean, but it was enough to distinguish between things that were untouched and those that were moved. Like the two small frames of a happy married couple and a happy married woman. "Is this his wife?"
Sensing somebody's presence, Night Hound quickly hid himself further in the shadows, and Rudolf walked inside the room. From the shadow, he carefully watched as Rudolf moved around the room. He grabbed the frames and lay down on the bed, clenching them both closer in his chest, crying silently.
"I'm getting close. I'll find your remains and bring you back. We'll be together again."
"Did he plan on resurrecting his dead wife?" he guessed deeply in his thoughts after hearing his sorrowful wish.