It was good when Damien said he wouldn't run off first chance he got. It meant there was still hope he could get Damien on his side. If it didn't work out, he would have to find someone else to replace Arya so he could honor his arrangements with his friend.

"If that's what you want, that's how it'll be," he said with a slight smile. He would spoil the boy to make sure he stayed around. As if on cue, Arya arrived with Damien's ring, really pleased about something. He didn't even want to know what she'd done to be in such a good mood. "As promised, here's your ring. Charmed and ready for use." She obviously wanted her own ring back, but it was nice that she'd gone to such lengths to make Damien feel at home.

He nodded and before he could even go to his new room, Arya came in and annouced that his ring was ready and wanted hers back.

He smiled and took the ring off and handed it to her."Thank you." He said.

He took the ring and put it on. He was so happy that he had his own ring now. He headed to his new room and put the chest against the bed. He went through everything and it reminds him so much of home.

Now that Damien was getting settled in his room, Arya smiled at him and pulled Marcus with her so they could give the boy some privacy. They had arrangements of their own to make both for the funeral and the upcoming gathering that Damien now would be required to come with them to. It would be the last thing they did before they packed up and left the castle. These northern European castles always gave her the creeps, so Arya personally couldn't wait to go back to the land of marble and familiar surroundings.

The funeral was quiet and brief. Arya and Marcus had dug the grave while Damien was still in his room and she had been out picking flowers as she figured it should be a proper burial with fresh flowers and all. She didn't always have to be cynical, now did she? And afterwards, she apologized to Damien as she rushed him to get changed into dress robes. "This time we do get to run. Nighttime is great like that," she chuckled as she left the room to get dressed herself.

Once the older two were ready, they were just waiting for Damien before they could sprint to where they were going without even breaking a sweat. "You both look lovely, time to meet some of our oldest friends Damien."

The funeral was brief. It gave him some closure to his mothers death. He laid the blanket that she made for him in with her an left a single rose on her grave.

After the funeral, Marcus said that they had to go and met some of his old friends. He didnt quite know why he had to go, but he got dressed anyway and tamed his shaggy dark hair.

"Ready." He said.

Once they were all ready, Arya grabbed Damien's hand as the older two had agreed it was less scary if she be the one to lead him since Marcus could be a little much at times. Also, she'd meant what she'd told the newborn earlier that she would help him get by as a means to get what she wanted in return. It didn't take them too long to run to where they were going, and the blonde vampiress let of of Damien's hand, placed a kiss on Marcus's cheek and wandered off into the crowd. She had friends of her own to catch up with and her maker didn't want her hovering while he introduced Damien.

"Remember how I told you to try not to read minds?" He asked, whispering so only Damien could hear him. "Now would be a great time to try to use your gifts for your own safety. Just don't try to read me, and don't let anyone know if you've read them." Putting on a confident smile, he guided Damien through the other vampires to the humans lined up as donors. He saw an old friend there, from when they'd lived in Germany and they started catching up.

From the corner of his eye, Marcus watched Arya dance and enjoy the company of a few of their old friends and he didn't like it. He would've done something about it too if someone hadn't reached out to touch Damien. Without thinking, he grabbed the man's arm and broke his fingers before letting him go. "Sorry about that," he muttered to Damien and placed his hand on his shoulder. He would've just wrapped a protective arm around the boy, but he had a feeling he'd just be pushed away and he didn't want that. It would make it so much easier for others to try something with the newborn.

Once they arrived, Arya ran off and joined what looked like old friends. He blinked and didn't really know what to do other than to maybe just stand to the side and hopefully not be seen.

He looked up to Marcus, hearing the man tell him that this would be the perfect opportunity to try out his new power. He only nodded and didn't try to focus on anyone as he looked around the room. Their was so many voices going on at once. He did look at a sma group of males that looked to be in their mid thirties, they smirked at Damien and when he heard what they were thinking, he had to look away from them and turned the ability off.

"Bunch of perverts..." He said and jumped when Marcus broke someone's hand who had apparently reached out and tried to touch him.

One of the males from the groups actually approached them, asking him his name. He glared at the man, but introduced himself. The man grabbed his hand and gave it a kiss, complimenting on how lovely he was.

What most people didn't realize was that it had taken quite a few centuries for Arya to earn most of the older ones' respect and to be treated like an equal despite the fact that they were the same age just about. They'd treated her differently because she was a woman until she'd finally proved once and for all that she was not some fragile creature they could just walk all over and try to make passes at. Marcus was proud of her for that, and now she could enjoy some time with friends without them constantly trying to get her to do things she didn't want to. Maybe if Damien learned that too, they would leave him alone.

"Sadly most of these people are," he responded right before he broke the bastard's hand. It would heal in a few minutes so it wasn't a big deal, besides the man needed a warning. He wasn't much happier when one of the other guests had the audacity to grab Damien's hand, despite the previous show of aggression towards unwelcome attention, and actually kiss it. This time he did bring his arm around Damien's shoulder, clearly stating that the man should leave them alone.

"Don't say I didn't warn you to keep an eye out," he murmured into Damien's ear. Deep down he was glad they were doing this so soon after their argument that morning since it would prove his point that other vampires would most likely just force Damien into bed with them rather than taking his own thoughts and feelings into consideration. It wasn't that often that a newborn was allowed to say no to their maker, and Marcus wanted Damien to be free from the kind of pressure that haunted one of the other newborns being introduced there that night.

Across the room from them, a young girl was being paraded around, clearly frightened of the situation. In end end, the old perverts were allowed to touch her and kiss her all they wanted until Arya became aware of the situation and claimed the girl for herself. Making sure Damien saw the girl as well, Marcus watched Arya patch together her ruined dress the best she could before she smacked the hell out of the girl's maker for treating the girl like meat. Leaving it up to Damien whether he wanted to tag along or not, Marcus was across the room in a second and grabbed Arya's hand before she could do any more damage to the guy already crawling away from her on the floor. She would suffer for the humiliation later that night, even if she was doing the right thing by the girl.

He felt a arm around his shoulder then and looked to see it was Marcus. The man quickly dropped Damien's hand and gave the newborn a smile before walking off.

He looked to Marcus and then watched a scene unfold. He was almost going to stop the sickening display but Marcus and Arya beat him to the punch.

He then felt a arm around him and crashed into another male."We'll, well quite a pretty boy we have." He said and smirked. Damien glared at the man, it wasnt until he was forcefully kissed that he hit the guys but it didnt deterred the man."Mmm a virgin......your even more worthy to take..." The man whispered lustfuly in his ear.

It didn't take Arya long to pull her arm out from Marcus's bruising grip and smirk slightly at her maker. "I was just going to teach him a lesson... Just like you're about to with that creep across the room... Please?" She pleaded with him and smirked when he caved. Arya got to drag the man and his newborn out of the main room and into one of the more sound proof rooms to punish the man and treat him just like he would have treated his newborn.

Marcus sighed heavily when he saw Damien being kissed by another vampire. Would the drama never end? He was back at his newborn's side instantly and pulled the man away from Damien and slammed him into the wall, holding him there by his throat. "Touch him again against his will and I will personally tear you limb from limb," he snarled and threw the guy across the room. Approaching Damien, he carefully tilted his head up so their eyes met. "You OK?" he asked, searching the newborn's face full of concern.

Arya returned then, her beautiful dress now ruined as it was stained with fresh blood and she walked into the room giggling slightly as she licked her fingers clean of the red substance. Needless to say that she was given a wide berth as she crossed the room to stand with her family again. It wasn't like she'd killed the vampire, she'd just bled him out to weaken him for a while. Speaking a bunch of names, a line soon formed of the two elders' friends and acquaintances to formally introduce themselves to Damien. There were only six or seven of them present at the moment and the rest of the party were strangers, that didn't mean that Marcus's dysfunctional family shouldn't be taken seriously.

When the introductions were finally over, the blonde sighed in relief. "Now?" she asked Marcus and he merely nodded. "Now we can leave, if you want to," he replied and kept a close eye on Damien.

His eyes widen when the man whispered he was going to take him away from Marcus. Speaking of Marcus.....the man was at his side in a instant and he watched as Marcus slammed the man into the wall, threatening him.

"I'm fine...." He said.

He looked out into the crowd, many people now knew better than to try and touch him. Finally he had to sit down and a line of people introduced themselves.

When Marcus announced that they were going home, he was happy. He wanted to just leave. He had no idea that vampires could be that vulgar towards newborns.

Once they headed home, he looked up to Marcus. "I want to take a bath." He said. He wanted to get the smell of those other vampires off him.

Marcus knew full well that people would continue to try to take Damien away from him until his fledgeling learned to stand up for himself and not just be an innocent victim. It was a lesson he needed to learn on his own though rather than having it forced down his throat as there were plenty of other, more important things they had to teach him first. Standing up for himself could get him in more trouble than do him good at the moment.

When they finally made it home and Damien announced that he'd like a bath, Marcus nodded and Arya got started on heating up the water for him. Another great part about her acquired gifts was that it helped speed things up a bit and soon they had filled the tub with water just the right temperature for a bath. "I'll leave you to it," he said as they left the room. Fresh clothes were laid out for the boy and they figured it'd be best if he bathed alone. What with his shyness and all.

While Damien was bathing, Marcus occupied his time with cleaning away the blood on Arya's face and neck while they silently discussed what had happened at the party. Not about Damien, but Arya's behavior and the vampire she had weakened like that. How that would reflect on her in the future was unknown as of yet, but at least that particular crowd of vampires knew not to parade young, frightened girls around when Arya was there. She'd wanted to go at the ones hurting the girl as well, but she knew she'd never get away with it.

When Arya was cleaned off, she stripped out of the dress and walked to her room in just her undergarments to put on a new outfit. A more practical one this time. She wasn't shy and she had nothing to be ashamed of, so she'd just go about her business as if it was nothing. Marcus opened a book and started reading.

Once Arya had set up his bath for him, he waited till she left and took his cloths off and got in. He smiled at the warmth and picked up what washing materials that were available to him and washed down his body.

He started to recap what had happened tonight. He had a had feeling that people were going to continue to take him away and he wasnt having that. He started to remember what had happened to that girl, if Marcus didnt care would that have been his fate as well. The thought actually angered him and it wasnt until the water started to splash around him did he calm down, but not because he was actually over it, but why was the water splashing?

He looked down at it, concentrating and sure enough he produced a small wave. His eye widen at this. He could control water?? He cupped a handful and wanted to produced a water ball. He giggled like a child and started to toss the water ball back and forth.

He finally got out and wanted to show Marcus what he could do. Once he got dressed, he found the man reading a book.

"I have another gift." He told the man. He reached into a bowl with water in it and concentrated, making a ball of water that floated a few inches above his hand. He lightly tossed it like a regular ball to his other hand.

Marcus was really fascinated by the book, he didn't even notice Damien walking back into the room until he announced that he had another gift. Putting his reading material away, Marcus looked up at his fledgeling and watched rather fascinated how he manipulated the water.

"Quite impressive," he said and got up, smiling at Damien. "This gift isn't one you need to keep from everyone. It won't put you in more danger than you were tonight and you can practice it any time you want." Walking up to Damien, he placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"I'm proud you turned out so gifted." Marcus was exhausted; unlike Damien that had slept the previous night, Marcus hadn't rested since he turned the boy. It was high time he got some rest now.

He smiled as he made sure the water held its shape as he tossed the ball again to the other hand. He wondered if maybe he could control other elements but decided to wait and see because the other elements were alittle bit more destructive than water. He listened as Marcus told him that this gift he could use openly rather than keep it a secret like his telepathic ability.

He looked up at the other when he kissed the top of his head and couldn't help but to noticed that Marcus looked tired."You should sleep you look tired." He commented and placed the water back into its bowl.

Marcus sighed slightly at what Damien said about getting some rest. He didn't want to leave the boy alone for the rest of the night either. "Will you be alright on your own for a while?" It seemed like Arya was just as tired, at least she hadn't come back out of her chambers so he assumed she'd be sleeping as well.

If there was one thing he knew was fairly certain, it was that they were safe where they were. No one had bothered them during their stay and the guards were the finest money could buy so they had no reason to betray them. He was just worried Damien would get bored all alone or end up hungry.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to come finding me," he said with a smile and walked towards his chambers and the bed that awaited him.