Chapter 33: Birthday celebration

 Two weeks passed by Darius in a blur. For the first time, he was going to go to Baskia. Anastasios had gotten special permission for the demon boy and his elven father to come and join the celebration.

 Darius looked in his full-length mirror, and stared at his clothes critically. They were brand new, as he had managed to sell some of the improved runes to bounty hunters who didn't want for him to prepay, or over pay. 

That said, his Basilisk blood supply was running out. It won't be long, until Ulric and the other bounty hunters came back with different blood bottles, but until then, Darius had to have priorities, when it came to which runes he made with the beast's blood. He nodded to himself, when he righted his cuffs for what felt like the hundredth time. 

With that done, Darius rushed out of his room, not forgetting to pick the small ring box with Anastasios's present on the way out. He smiled at the white bow, which the florist lady had told him that symbolized marriage, and he went in the direction of his father's room. Andiel was still putting on his jacket, when Darius walked inside. 

"Dad, I am done," Darius said, and Andiel looked at him. 

"Well, good to know. Looking forward to your first birthday celebration?" The elf asked, a smile on his face. "It was nice of the prince to share his birthday with you like that." 

"We are soulmates, why shouldn't we? Come now, dad, be quicker about it. The teleporting array will appear at any minute," Darius urged, and Andiel chuckled. 

"It won't close without us passing through," Andiel protested, but he finally got his suit's jacket on. With the two of them in matching suits, they looked like they were going to be going to a bank, rather than a birthday celebration.

"I will take no risks," Darius said, determined, as he took a hold of his father's hand, and got him out of his room. The two exited the house, with Andiel stopping only to lock it, and the teleportation array appeared. 

"See? What did I tell you? We were nearly late," Darius said, and he let go of his father to run to the array. Andiel followed in a more sedated pace. He knew for a fact that their arrival would be hours before the actual celebration, so Anastasios and Prisila could show Darius around the castle.

The elf got in the array, and took a hold of his son's hand. He, too, had two presents in his bag, plus a box with lemon cakes for the young princess. It simply wouldn't do to leave the young girl feeling left out. 

When the two blinked, they were in a foggy courtyard. There were glowing mushrooms, as big as trees, everywhere. They, along with some glowing moss that clung to the ceiling of the underground realm, seemed to be the only source of light in Baskia. Before Andiel could look around and take in the sights, a little blur ran up to them and tackled Darius to the ground. 

"I missed you! You will stay for the night, right? We can bunk together in my room, and..." Anastasios heard a cough, and he noticed Andiel. "Oh, uncle Andy. Mother had a room prepared for you. You will stay the night, right? Both of you?" 

"Well, if you already went through the trouble," Andiel said with a smile. "I accept, Nastia." 

"You told him the pet name you saddled me with?" Anastasios looked betrayed at Darius. 

"Dad has been calling me Dari for the past two weeks. So, I felt that it would be only fair," Darius murmured, and poked out his tongue at his friend. 

"Nastia, why did you run ahead," came Prisila's voice from a bit further away. The young princess was walking between two adults, a man and a woman, who looked like her and Anastasios. Andiel bowed respectfully to the king and queen of Baskia. 

"There is no need for that," the man said, as he looked at the hug pile that his son and his son's friend were making. He chuckled. 

"Nastia, up with you! If you get your clothes dirty, you can forget about the cake!" The woman scolded, and Anastasios sprung up as if burned. 

"Mom, I must have cake on my birthday," the vampire prince protested, but the woman just went to him and inspected his clothes for dust and grime. She cleaned some dust off his goblet, and then looked at Darius. 

"And you must be Dari, of whom we all have been hearing so much about? It is a pleasure to meet you, my boy. My name is Antoannete Vicente. But you can call me mom," the queen leaned in, and cleaned a smudge of dirt from Darius's nose. 

"I can?" The demon boy asked, voice full of wonder. 

"Well, you are this rascal's soulmate. Prisila told me all about it," Antoannete said, and chuckled as her son frowned. 

"We are not soulmates, but destiny brothers," Anastasios protested, but Antoannete just tugged at his ear. 

"If I hear you speak like that again, I will wash your mouth with soap! A demon always finds their soulmate. They can smell them, and their noses never lie," the queen said, and then looked to her husband. "And this is my husband, Octavian Vicente, but you can call him dad." 

"I already have a dad," Darius protested, but Octavian just chuckled. 

"Well, now you have two. Nothing wrong with that? Or, do you feel like your father is going to feel slighted?" Octavian asked, and Darius looked at Andiel. 

"Well, I suppose that, since they are your future in-laws," Andiel said, uncertain if he should be following along with this. 

"You are all impossible. Dari is not my soulmate. I will never marry," Anastasios protested once more, and his ear was tugged again. 

"Oh, Netta, don't be too hard on the boy. I remember a vampire lady who was much like him, at this age," Octavian's lips turned up in a slight smile. 

"I didn't know that you are my soulmate, at the time. But you did, and were as stubborn as a mule. Always followed me around," Antoinette said with a fond smile.  

"I have to show you the castle," Anastasios said, wanting to change the subject. "Come on!"