Chaucer and Marina were waiting... waiting for the help they needed.

Marina was pregnant with a child whose amazing powers were already showing. Chaucer, as a former Cleric, was easily able to see this. The psychics had, the midwife, and the many mages all said the same thing.
This baby was going to be strong.
The royals needed help.
Though their Kingdom revolved mainly around a scholar’s paradise, many problems arose. Regent Chaucer was always busy, and Marina was worried about trying to raise such a metaphysically strong child on her own...

They had heard of an island. A very small, very remote, very ignored island. The only inhabitants were a race called the Occultations. They were supposedly very strong when it came to magick, so Chaucer had sent word out that his wife and him were in search of aid.

“I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Marina.” Chaucer assured his wife, hoping he was right.

“I know... I worry, I guess. I mean, are we so sure we cannot handle things on our own?” Marina wondered.

“Of course we can. But we want what's best for our child. These visitors may come and decide they aren't of any use or need at all, or it might be decided that they are. For the first few years, till we are sure of the baby’s powers, it's safest for the child if we have someone familiar with Elementals around.” Chaucer said, repeating the same thing they had been talking about for months now— and they were simply out of time.

“Alright... If this aid is gone before our baby turns three… they won't be remembered anyway,” Marina noted.

Chaucer nodded, “Exactly. Two or three years of insurance to be sure our child gets everything they need.”

The two royal figures sat back; watching the door and waited for... they didn't know what.

Three figures approached the two large throne room doors, and the guards evidently recognized the man in the lead right away as without a word they began to open the heavy double-doors. The man they had recognized was the official envoy sent to the island.

To his left was a man dressed in a dark blue cloak with a large hood that hid his head and face quite well. To the messenger's right was a man of the exact same height and build, but wearing an emerald green cloak.

The doors were fully opened, and the official continued forward. The cloaked figures keeping a step behind him. They walked the long red carpet until they were only a few meters in front of the two thrones. At which point they halted, and the envoy bowed low and straightened up slowly.

“My Lord and my Queen, may I present Master Eclipse and Master Ellipsis. The Occultation representatives.” The man said, while the two figures lowered their hoods revealing two pale, black-haired men that looked completely identical... After speaking, the envoy bowed again and then walked to a side of the room and stood at attention.

 It was King Chaucer who spoke first, “Greetings. I hope you didn't have a terrible time getting here?”

Marina was looking at the two strangers, noticing how very identical they appeared. She decided that they must have the same clan, and that clan must all have similar appearances… or they were siblings… twins, perhaps? She had never seen even a pair of twins who looked that identical, though.
“We're not completely sure your voyage here will be necessary...” she admitted.

“However, it's in our nature to learn all that we can and to be cautious! Chaucer finished for her.

“Yes, our only real concern is—.” As if on cue, the tremors began.
The ground below the queen's chair shook and glowed with red heat for a few seconds before fading away.

Chaucer waited for the disruption to cease before he explained, “... That.”

Marina took a moment to catch her breath. “It's nothing, really... but the readers tell us my child will be magickally strong, possibly an Elemental, and my husband's abilities deal mainly with knowledge— research, translations; very few elemental abilities, and I myself have only healing magick, and that, of course, of the Water Dragon's Legacy. My aquatic abilities, though, do not seem to match an Elementals... we wanted to be sure we were prepared.”

“I believe our child’s powers are elemental… we’re simply not used to that. While our palace is very elemental, we were not born with such gifts. We were told you would be able to tell?”

Eclipse and Ellipsis looked at each other and Ellipsis gave a single nod, Eclipse then stepped forward a single step. “My good lady…” he started, with an even and calm tone, “We were aware of this child's power before the boat even reached your shores. I lend credit to your readers, they are quite right to conclude that the child will have strong elemental magick abilities. We sense great and dangerous power from this child.”

Marina noticeably stiffened. “... Dangerous?”

Chaucer looked around as if hoping someone would appear to explain this to him. “Dangerous... how?”

Eclipse looked down for a moment as if hesitating. “Well, your majesty, over four centuries ago a child of similar talents was recorded in our people's history. Earthquakes and strange happenings began to occur much like in your case, getting steadily worse as the months went on. The parents refused the help of the council, despite our warnings and offers to help control the child's power.

“His father's opinion changed after the... very difficult birth. I'm afraid there was a terrible increase in the power of the uncontrolled bursts of magick. The mother and three midwives were killed...burned alive...”

Chaucer and Marina stared, horrified at the thought.
“You… think this could be similar?” Marina shivered.

“What do we do?” Chaucer asked, his voice pleading for an answer. “We'll do anything!”

Eclipse smiled to himself, in his mind, for the briefest moment, though no sign of it showed on his face.

“I am fairly sure these two cases are very much similar... in fact, your case may in fact be considerably worse...if nothing is done...” Eclipse said, his voice trailing off, as he seemed to lose himself in contemplation and seeming to forget the King's question all together. This was going to be all too easy.

“… So?” Chaucer prodded. “What do we do?”

Eclipse acted as though he had been pulled from his thoughts. “Well, we have special spells and techniques that are designed for cases such as this. We should be able to control the child's power, so that even the birth will be safe.” Eclipse answered, reassuringly.

Marina relaxed slightly, “Whatever is necessary.”

“Yes,” Chaucer agreed. “Would this require us going back to your village? Or can this be done here?”

“How long would this take?” Marina asked. “I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I just want to know.”

“Ah, yes...” Chaucer considered that a moment. He didn't want to force his poor wife to travel to such a far off village.

Eclipse and Ellipsis shared a look and, for the first time, Ellipsis spoke. “The spells require at least one member of our people, capable of at least...” he paused a moment, “…well a certain level of skill.”

“Yes, but the less the experience, the less safe....” Eclipse added, speaking more to Ellipsis than the rest of the room.

“Of course,” Ellipsis conceded. “Remember what happened the last time? Four hundred years ago?”

Eclipse nodded, and gave an obvious yet subtlety engineered glance to the King and Queen; one that showed concern, before he turned back to them.

“You would not have to travel to our land, but at least one of our people would have to stay here, for as long as... needed.” Eclipse said matter-of-factly.

Marina's eyes narrowed the slightest bit, not liking the idea of having someone she didn’t know around her child all the time, but Chaucer panicked. “What happened four hundred years ago? Can you prevent it?”

Marina was noticeably worried, but was doing a better job at containing it than her husband was. She didn't care about four hundred years ago, she cared about now! These two men were unknown— their race was unknown, their practices... all of it was new! Would she really want such mystery around her child all the time?

“You really think it's that bad? And if so… why, the dragon gods have always protected us. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with them, but we believe in them completely. Would they not protect us now? No harm has ever come to Daguerreo.”
In all truth... worship of the Dragon Lords was done more out of habit than anything else. They were scholars and most considered themselves far too educated to believe in such silly mythology... however, from time to time the topic came up. And, what with the Royal Figures supposedly having been chosen by the Water Dragon Lord so many eons ago, it was expected they at least half heartedly believe it. Chaucer wasn't sure he did... He was King, yes, but by marriage. He had been royalty, a regent of a territory owned by Daguerreo but, at the time, not a full part of it. He had always loved Marina, who had been Daguerreo's Princess at the time, and to combine the mountain island they both married and took the positions of King and Queen. He did not have any of the abilities directly handed to the regal like by the Water Dragon Lord... so it was harder for him to see the stories as anything more than legends to be locked into memory for events where they needed to be brought forward. Beyond that, they were stories with perhaps a hint of truth.
After all... Daguerreo had always seemed to be protected, somehow.

Ellipsis spoke again; he couldn't answer both questions at the same time, however, “We are no stranger to the dragon gods. Dragons are very close to our people, too. You might say it is where we get out powers... However, your child's energy conflicts with the element of the dragon god that protects this place...”

While he was talking, Eclipse reached out with his mind, touching the unborn child. It took very little effort to implant a simple thought of panic into the not fully developed mind. The child had no control over its power at all, and the panic quickly became another tremor, much stronger than the one a few moments ago.

The baby wasn't sure at all of what was wrong, just that there was something to fear, something wrong. Something that had to be stopped!

“…and so you see... the... guardian of...” Ellipsis was interrupted as the tremor got worse, and a chandelier fell from the ceiling, and shattered on the floor, nearly crushing a guard.

Marina shrieked as the chandelier fell, and Chaucer leapt from his chair, trying to get away from the cause of the eruption. The ground shook, the walls shook and the water in the many fountains and passageways started to boil! Steam filled the narrow hallways and the commotion caused panic that was evident from the screams that could be heard outside the throne room's doors.

Marina was at a loss, usually when there was a problem she calmed herself down and took slow, steady breaths that often calmed her baby. She thought comforting thoughts and just did her best to stay calm. No matter what she did now, she couldn’t get the tremors to stop. Her aquatic abilities were no match for this; she couldn’t even cancel out the sudden display of power. She felt herself growing tired just trying to remain calm. She felt exhausted, yes, but the worse was the heat. She felt like she was burning alive from the inside!

“I can’t…” she panted, loud enough, or so she thought, that only her husband would hear. “I can’t make it stop…!”

Ellipsis moved forward. “Remain calm! We shall help,” he announced as Eclipse ascended the steps to the thrones.

In sharp contrast to the rest of the palace, Eclipse was perfectly still and calm. He faced the Queen and closed his eyes, then slowly began to raise his hands in a kind of 'don't shoot me' gesture, but lower, and closer together, mostly facing the unborn child. At the same time, he began to implant the feeling of profound calm in the baby's mind...

The first thing to stop was the shaking. It was as if the earth had changed its mind about moving.
The steam in the air slowly settled as the bubbling ended. It formed a sort of mist that cloaked Eclipse as if it were his very aura, then it peacefully vanished.

Marina stared, hardly breathing. It had all been so terrible, and then had ended so fast. And this man had stopped it… when she couldn’t, he had.

“Such power, you must surely be favored by the dragon gods!” Chaucer was in awe. “Of course, a place here can be set up for you to stay— you must help us!”

“You… are the strongest from your village?” Marina managed to ask. “Would anyone else be able to control this?”
It had been bad, she had lost all control, she had felt the struggle and was amazed Master Eclipse was able to silence it.

She resolved, then and there, that if having a stranger around was what it took then that is what they would do.

For the sake of her child.

Eclipse lowered his hands and opened his eyes, he gave a nod. “You do realize it could be...years, before the child is no longer a danger to himself or others, and is able to control his powers himself?” He asked. Eclipse did not say "themselves" or "they" in reference to the child anymore. He knew it was a boy, now. He could feel it's aura and there was a distinctness there that only males had. It was a boy, and it was a very powerful Fire Elemental. That was all that mattered, really. It was all he was after, a strong Fire Element... and with stupid parents; he'd never had an easier time getting this close. However, he knew that saying "he" was used a majority of the time, so anyone hearing him would assume he was just being generic. “It would take a lot of training for your child to learn to control his powers...”

Marina didn't like that... Years? Surely it couldn't take that long... three or four... yes, three or four years would be fine...
She nodded, slowly.

Eclipse smiled inwardly again.

Excellent. He thought to himself. Still, he wanted a more official offer than a nod, so he turned to the King, an obvious gesture inviting him to add something.

As if on cue, a chunk of the ceiling fell on the already shattered chandelier. Unknown to most people in the room, Ellipsis had...helped it. Nevertheless, it served as a nice emphasis to Eclipse's look. His silver-gray eyes looking much like the glass that was heard smashing.

Chaucer regained himself and walked over. “It is openly apparent now that we’ll need your skills, Master Eclipse. Whatever it takes, whatever you require, I am sure can be supplied, just name it. We need your help.”

Marina wondered about the sudden outburst… was it because of these new visitors? Yet they had ended it, and that was all that mattered… so long as her child was safe, what else mattered?

Eclipse nodded. “Very well, I shall stay... Ellipsis and I will prepare a spell right away to stop the earthquakes... for the time being,” he informed the King and Queen.

Success! He thought to himself with an internal smirk.

Eclipse and Ellipsis were permitted to stay as advisors to Marina.
The quakes did stop completely.

And the child was born without complications.

“He's wonderful!” Marina smiled, looking down at her baby.
Midnight black hair and reddish-brown eyes. He didn't look much like his parents, just enough for the Dragomir line to show through. At first glance, it seemed like there was no resemblance between the child and his parents, but when you truly looked, you could see Marina's long eyelashes and almond shaped eyes along with Chaucer's small nose and diamond shaped face. The perfect Prince, matching every ideal for beauty in Daguerreo, even if his coloring was not a perfect match with his parents.

He was a Fire Elemental, that was apparent and Master Eclipse had confirmed it along with the readers.

“What should we call him?” Marina asked.

“We could name him after my father? Haslan.” Chaucer put in.

Eclipse made a disgusted face, unseen by the two rulers.

“Maybe after my grandfather? Ambrose?” Marina said.

Eclipse shook his head.

They didn't understand yet— this boy was his. The black hair was proof enough that Eclipse's magick had been working.
Nevertheless, the child's parents would ignore it; think it was just dark brown, or that it would get lighter as he got older.

Eclipse knew better... Eclipse was very good at getting what he wanted.
Ellipsis looked the baby over. He didn’t understand the big deal Eclipse made over it; it was just a baby and Eclipse... loathed children. Eclipse couldn't stand to be around anyone of his own species under twenty five, and then only if they were useful to him and/or a Pure Occultation.

It was true this child's firepower was abnormally strong… but what of it? Power like this often dimmed as they got older... Even though the boy was an Elemental, it was hard to believe this amount of power wouldn't fade. It was too young to tell for sure and it would take a while for it to become old enough for them to be sure.
Hardly worth the time they had spent on this mountain already... Ellipsis knew Eclipse's plan, though. He had been on many trips like this before, but never when the child was so young… he himself had never been with Eclipse while after a child; usually just teenagers and adults.

“You're sure about this?” he whispered to Eclipse.

Eclipse nodded, though most of his attention was focused on casting hateful glares at the King and Queen.

“He has parents, Master Eclipse...” Ellipsis reminded.

He did not like this idea at all, though he hadn't from the very beginning... this all seemed wrong to him, they could be taking a perfectly innocent child— and this time the child had non-Occultation parents; it had parents who obviously loved and cared for it... and would notice the baby missing.

Eclipse looked back at him and smiled slightly. “You, Ellipsis, of all people know I get what I want.”

Ellipsis knew indeed... knew every time he looked in the mirror and saw the face he'd always had... and then at Eclipse and saw what he'd lost.

Eclipse looked back at the two regal figures.

“Ambrose is a good name... How about Conner as his middle name?” Chaucer grinned.

Eclipse shook his head, taking charge. He already had a name for his child.

Dracula. Dracula Vladimir Dragomir. He whispered into the parent's minds, over and over, pressing the name into their every thought.

“Dracula...” Marina got a twisted look on her face, not liking the name.

Dracula Vladimir Dragomir. Dragon, Prince. The renowned dragon prince, Dragomir. Eclipse kept beating in that name.
He made rhymes in their heads, pictures, and eventually forced them to like the name.
The last name, the family name, couldn’t be changed. It meant 'precious' and Eclipse was... relatively fine with that. The child never had to know what it meant.

“Prince Dracula Vladimir Dragomir.” Chaucer finally said, deciding.

Yes! Eclipse grinned to himself, My little Drake.

As the years passed, Drake's abilities 'slipped' every now and then. Eclipse made sure of it. Eclipse had even convinced Chaucer to give him the tower on the west wing of the palace; the entire tower was his, connected to the palace by only a platformed hallway that went over the airship dock.
He'd gotten it, and convinced the royals that Drake's room needed to be in that tower as well. It had been difficult, at first. Separating the child by such a great distance was not favorable in the royal's eyes... but with so many priceless books, the King was very concerned about the grand libraries burning down... Eclipse made sure a few books were scorched every now and then; Drake's flame abilities really were admirable... he was nearly ready for the test. This time, Eclipse was sure he'd found the right fire element.