“Mistress, can you grant me a name?” the newly minted vampire asked, looking at me with crimson eyes that seemed to sparkle in the dim gloom of the cellar. Hopefully, that was the only part of her that would ever sparkle, otherwise, I would be the eternal sinner who brought sparkling vampires into the world. In that case, the only solution would be to make her not only the first but also the last of her kind, which sounded a little sad to me. Creating a race of my own, only to doom that race to extinction because I didn’t quite get it right? No, not unless I had to.

“Isn’t Chantalle your name?” I asked in response, not sure how she conceptualised her life before the change in connection to her existence now. She remembered the before, claimed to not remember anything between then and now, and had her present. And some thirty minutes of past, in her current state.

“It used to be,” she gave me a sad pout, before continuing, “I used to be Chantalle, daughter of Kira. I used to be human. Now, I’m no longer either of those, I’m your creation. Your daughter and the first of my kind. I would like to have a name that matches this.”

For a moment, I didn’t reply and considered her words. I could empathise, easily so, given that I used to be Samantha until I had taken on the Legacy of Morgana, a Legacy of my own making. Now, I didn’t feel like I was Samantha but I also didn’t consider myself to be Morgana. More than once, I had considered taking on a new name, to separate my existence before the change from my current existence. Even now, as the changes from human to Firn Elf were taking effect, I was considering whether or not I was Samantha.

As of now, only the name Samantha and the contact with Mrs Wu remained of my identity as Samantha. Much more of who I was now, came from the Legacy of Morgana, which felt separate from the identity of Samantha. The two were linked, but they were not identical.

“I think I see what you mean,” I admitted, studying her. Even now, she was in the cage, trapped like an animal. She hadn’t complained, but I didn’t think she was comfortable. Looking around, I noticed a set of keys hanging on a nail, one of them looking like it would fit the padlock keeping the cage close.

Making a decision, I retrieved the key and stood before her closed cage. If I wanted to give her a new name, she wasn’t the only one who would change. I, too, needed to acknowledge that I wasn’t who I used to be. That Samantha Jade Jacobs was gone but that I also wasn’t Morgana. I was turning into an amalgamation of both and I felt that my name should reflect that.

Jade Morgana, a name uniting both parts that made up my current existence and fitting. Speaking out, I tried to make the world listen to me. Not with my magic, simply with my conviction. I was who I decided to be. “I am Jade Morgana,” I intoned and for a moment, nothing happened. Nothing overt, no earthquakes, nothing. But when I looked into my status screen, I could see that I had a new name.

From her cage, the vampire was watching me, looking a little confused at my sudden declaration but I wasn’t sure if she had even known my old name. Not that it mattered. Standing before her cage, I continued to speak.

“In a moment, I will open your cage. You can step out of it and into your new life. You will have a new name, one bestowed by myself,” I told her, getting a wide-eyed and hopeful look in return. A happy, hopeful vampire with sparkling eyes. That needed a name. Hopefully, the name I had chosen would suit her.

“Step out of your cage, step out of your old life. From now on, you will be known as Carnelia Morgana,” I intoned, feeling the formal ceremony necessary to signify the new start. She did as I told her to and while there wasn’t any physical change, I could feel something. I wasn’t sure what, it didn’t feel like any magic I had ever experienced, neither arcane nor divine, but there was something. Just like before, no overt change, but something subtle.

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“It’s a nice name, Carnelia. Thank you,” she gave me a smile as she crawled out of her cage. I reached out, offering her a hand to stand and when she did, I was feeling a flash of jealousy. She was almost a head taller than me, even if her body looked a little starved right now. She would need some sustenance and I doubted blood would be enough, even a Vampire’s body needed the basic building blocks to make new flesh, blood and muscle. Protein, carbs, all the good stuff a body needed in order to be strong. Sadly, I didn’t have any at the moment and didn’t think I should leave just yet, not without setting down a few ground rules and assumptions.

“First of all, on the topic of names. Would you like a nickname, to go with your new name? Or would you like to be addressed by your full name, at least outside of this compound? Here, you will have to answer to the name Chantalle, just like I will continue to answer to Samantha. Otherwise, there will be questions I’m not yet willing to answer,” I asked, as I realised I also had to do something about Observe. If she was Observe’d and it came back as Vampire… I had no idea what would happen but I doubted it would be good. Kira had asked me to help her child, to heal her. Somehow, I didn’t think she had this in mind.

“If it is just the two of us, could you call me Lia?” she asked, looking quite excited at the prospect.

“Lia, yes, that works. Now, Lia, I need to try something. This will most likely feel unpleasant but it has to be done,” I told her and used Observe, not even trying to conceal my action. She immediately let out a hiss of displeasure, while a blue box appeared before me, telling me that she was a Vampire, just like I had feared.

“Well, it worked. And you’ll have to learn something, real quick. How to block Observe, that’s the ability I used on you just now. Almost everyone has it, at least as far as I know, and if someone Observe’s you and learns you’re a vampire, things will get troublesome. So, you’ll learn how to block it and nobody needs to know about your new race. The name has far too many troublesome connotations,” I sighed. Luckily, Lia had inherited my affinities, though not the Natural Mage Trait. Hopefully, she would be able to learn how to block Observe without it, and learn to do so fast. Otherwise, I’d have to come up with some external way to block it, something like the cloak of twilight I had used on Mundus, only woven into an item.

“Now, Darkness Magic…” I began, after having her sit down next to me in one of the dark corners. She needed to learn, even if my body was slowly shutting down, exhaustion and blood loss taking their toll on me, to the point that my speech became slurred.

“Honey, you’re alright?!” an excited voice ripped me from the comfortable darkness of unconscious, forcing my mind back into wakefulness. I must have fallen asleep, or maybe I simply passed out at some point and now, Kira was checking on her daughter and me.

Blinking my eyes open, I realised that Lia, Chantalle, had turned my cloak into a makeshift pillow and guarded my sleep. Currently, she was facing Kira in a half-defensive stance, while Kira had wrapped her arms around Chantalle, sobbing into her shoulder.

“Mother,” she began, speaking quietly, “please, calm down. You’ll wake… Samantha up,” there was a small pause, making me think that Lia wasn’t sure how to address me. Curious how their interaction would play out, I stayed still, letting the newborn vampire do the talking.

To my surprise, Lia managed to hold the conversation quite well, at least once she managed to talk Kira down to speak in barely more than a whisper. I could still hear them just fine, but they were making an effort. Listening to them was incredibly interesting and it made me realise that Lia wasn’t truly a newborn, she had taken in her memories and was using them to almost frightening effect.

The tale she spun was well-crafted, appealing to emotions far more than to logic. She spoke about being trapped in darkness and how I had pulled her out. That she was, at least for now, sane and lucid but it wouldn’t last, that she needed me to remain this way. She carefully laid the foundation to remain by my side, to the point that nobody, not even Kira, would question if Lia followed after me.

Listening to them made me realise just how easy manipulation came to a Vampire.

I would have to make sure that skill wouldn’t get directed at me, or I’d be in trouble.