“Get away from her!”

Serenity turned towards the voice to see a completely incongruous sight: Marti was still dressed as an ordinary receptionist, but she held a dagger and it was clear she knew at least something about how to use it. She didn’t seem willing to back down easily, so when she took a step towards him, Serenity took a step back.

He didn’t know what had set her off, but if there was a way to defuse the situation without a fight, he’d prefer it.

“Marti?” Rin sounded confused and exhausted.

Maybe the reason he hadn’t been fully healing Syri was exhaustion instead of Healing incompatibility?

“He’s a Dark mage, Rin. He might even be the one that set that curse, come here to break it so we’ll be grateful.” Marti took another step forward; she seemed inclined to get between Serenity and Syri. Serenity yielded the space.

Where could he start? Why did she think he was a Dark mage? He didn’t even have Darkness Affinity; he’d have to fake it with Energy or Void! “I don’t do curses.”

“Why should we believe you? You just did something to Syri!”

A voice Serenity didn’t recognize spoke over the end of Marti’s statement. “Calm down. Really. Can’t a girl catch a nap here?”

Everyone froze and looked at the woman on the bed. Yes, she was clearly the one who’d spoken. Syri sat up and swung her legs off the side of the bed. “I feel surprisingly not crappy for as terrible as Rin looks. Admittedly, I still feel pretty bad. What’s going on, and why are you threatening one of the people who just healed me?”

There was a long, tense silence as Serenity waited to see what would happen next.

Marti seemed to slump a little, but she didn’t stop watching Serenity as though he were a threat. “He did something. It was definitely Dark magic. Seemed a bit cold, too. I don’t know what it was, but that’s not normal when you heal. And I’ve seen you break curses. That wasn’t any curse-breaking I’ve seen. He was doing something.”

Syri nodded. “I only saw it from the inside, but there’s more than one way to break a curse. I finesse them and take them apart like undoing a knot.” She turned to Serenity. “That’s not what you did. You’re not used to healing, are you?”

Did I do something wrong? No, it worked, so what’s she talking about? “Uh, no? I don’t have a Healing Affinity…?”

Syri grinned. “Thought so. You’re just like other combat specialists with a healing ability. No idea of how to pace yourself. You two just stand there for a minute.”

Syri closed her eyes. Serenity couldn’t tell what she was doing, but he had a general sense that she was doing something with her magic; even though he didn’t have a specific ability to sense Death magic, he could still feel something.

Several minutes passed while Syri sat there. Marti shifted her feet periodically, but didn’t put her dagger away, so Serenity stood where he was. Eventually, he decided to lean against one of the walls. It felt chalky and some of the material seemed to rub off onto his armor, but the wall itself seemed to be sturdy.

More time passed. Serenity didn’t get particularly tired standing there, but he did get kind of bored. It didn’t seem like there were going to be any issues, so he sunk to the floor to sit while he waited.

Shortly after that, Marti’s dagger disappeared. Serenity was sure she’d put it away, but he couldn’t tell where it went.

She was either a sneaky type or she had a nicer storage item than Serenity’s belt. Either was quite possible, but Serenity’s guess was that she was a sneaky type, because a storage item would have let her use something better than a dagger - and the people who preferred daggers were usually sneaky types anyway.

Serenity felt a thread of Death magic travel around the room. It looked like some sort of sensory spell, but without magesight, Serenity could only detect the portion of it formed from Death magic and it looked oddly incomplete. He watched it move around the room; it was more interesting than the silence (and occasional snore from Rin) that otherwise filled the room.

Syri eventually moved again, disturbing Rin. Rin started and fell on the floor. Syri stretched and stood, then looked at everyone. “Why are you all still here? Rin, get your butt in bed.”

Rin blinked sleepily at her. “...Was.”

He climbed back on the bed, then Syri led the rest out of the room. She shooed Marti away, telling her she was fine and Marti should get back to watching the front. Serenity thought Syri wanted to talk about healing the other cursed people, but when they were finally alone in another sparsely-furnished room, that wasn’t what she said.

“My apologies for not greeting you correctly, Lord.” Syri bowed her head towards Serenity.

Wait, what?

“I’m not a Lord,” he denied. The Voice had called him a Nascent-Lord on the Crystal Seed, but that wasn’t the same thing. He was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything to end up an actual Lord. Didn’t that require land or something? Maybe people that owed him fealty - more than Moira?

Serenity pulled up his Status quickly and checked. He didn’t have the title of a Lord, so he definitely wasn’t one.

Syri seemed startled. “You gave it up? That command - you’re fresh out of your family compound, aren’t you? You really shouldn’t do that unless you want people knowing you’re from a Noble Dhampir family. That’s information you shouldn’t give out, people will look into who your family is and may use it against you or them. Dhampir are allowed in the Shining Caverns, but there are still a lot of people who don’t like us.”

“I don’t - they aren’t - My family isn’t Dhampir.” Serenity didn’t want to claim to be a Dhampir Noble when he wasn’t. He didn’t want the expectations or entanglements that came with - not to mention the issues that could happen if such a masquerade were discovered.

“You’re not a Hunter. Hunters can’t do that, it’s a-” Syri stopped and seemed to pale a little. “Forget I asked. Please.” She seemed to be trembling a little.

Serenity watched her for a moment before he realized she was afraid. “Whatever you’ve thought of, I’m not that either. I’m not going to get offended at a question. I might not answer, but I’m not about to hurt you.” He cast around for a way to get off the dangerous topic. There was an easy way out. “Why don’t we talk about how we’re going to handle the others? If you can break the curse more easily than I can, do you need my help?”

Syri started to answer, then sighed. “I’m taking this all backwards, aren’t I? There are others?”

Serenity was about to answer when there was a knock on the door.

He was still standing next to the door, so he opened it to see a woman he hadn’t yet met. She was short, blond, and appeared to be in her twenties, but wore well-used armor and he could smell the oil she’d used to prevent rust. She wasn’t someone to underestimate.

She looked past him. “Syri. It’s good to see you’re up and moving. Marti told me we had a new member break the curse on you. Did he get it all?”

Syri stared at the floor next to the woman’s feet. “Yes, Guildmaster. I’ve confirmed it.”

She nodded and turned her attention to Serenity. He suddenly understood why Syri was staring at the floor. There was a force to the Guildmaster’s attention. It was obvious that she was several Tiers higher than he was, and had the authority to go with her power. He should yield to her before -

Serenity suppressed a growl. Yes, she was more powerful than he was - but he wasn’t going to cower before someone simply because they were powerful, and used some sort of Skill to make their power obvious. That was rude, though certainly permitted if the power difference was great enough.

He had his pride, and while he might bend if needed, he wasn’t going to roll over and play dead if it wasn’t necessary. Serenity inclined his head in a polite greeting shared across a number of cultures in the wider universe. “Guildmaster.”

There was a slight smile on the Guildmaster’s face as he felt the impulse to look away from her subside. “Yes, I’m Guildmaster Irene. You are?”

“Serenity.”

“You came here with Katya? She’s not the one of her little group I’d have expected. Zan, possibly, or Hale. They handle the little headaches better.” When Serenity didn’t reply, she nodded. “I’d like to see you and whoever you’re working with back here tomorrow. It’ll be paying work; go ahead and bring other Rising Phoenix if they need the work as well. I’ll tell all of you why then, but it’s because of this curse. For tonight, enjoy yourself - but not too much.” Guildmaster Irene nodded sharply, stepped past Serenity into the room, and turned to Syri.

Serenity hadn’t seen such a clear dismissal in years. Still, that meant it was a good time to go check out that bathhouse. Hopefully they’d still be open. Was it possible they might serve snacks, too?

He was a few steps away from the door but still within hearing range when the Guildmaster asked, “So, are you going to be adding him to your pack?”

Serenity could barely make out Syri’s response. “A Named first-generation that can look you in the eyes? Not a chance. He’d take them away from me. You know that can happen with some dhampir, and he’s no Hunter. I don’t know where he came from, but...”