𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑶𝒛𝒆𝒓𝒂 didn't expect his Guardian, and half-sister, to knock at his door, alerting him that she was there, two hours earlier than usual.

It wasn't routine, and Daphne was anything but a breaker of routine. So naturally, he expected the worst. He was still in his black pyjamas, colourless like the rest of his clothing despite the ability to wear any colour shirt under they uniforms.

He opened the door to his private and solitary dorm, a dorm he had the ability to share but no one wanted to with him, to find Daphne standing there with her uniform on, clearly already having done her sun setting training ritual.

"Is everything alright? You're here quite early." Christian asked worry, peering over shoulder, out into the hallway, half expecting there to be chaos, half expecting there to have been a breech in the Academy.

"There was someone already at the training area." Daphne replied, meeting Christian's icy blue eyes momentarily, "A new Guardian, he's Russian, name's Dimitri Belikov. He reminded me of Moira..." 

At her explanation and the way Daphne's voice went low and soft, Christian understood why Daphne had appeared much earlier in his dorm, the two of them hadn't always been close but because they were closer now, much closer than any Dhampir and Moroi friendship, they could tell when the other was in pain.

He pushed the door open further so that Daphne could enter without having to squeeze through a tiny gap in the door.

"He's here because Kirova needs more help tracking down Dragomir and Hathaway. But he is a promised Guardian, which means he was protecting someone. And he did say that nobody from the Academy died." Daphne rants, her dark brown eyes staying on the floor as she speaks.

"You think he lost his charge." Christian asks, although he isn't really asking. He knows that's what Daphne's thinking, that's what he's thinking. That is what a normal being in their universe would think if they heard the situation.

"You relate to him." Christian predicted, watching as Daphne sat on the edge of his bed, her face still facing the floor.

It pained Christian greatly to think that in the 10 years that had passed since he lost his parents, since he nearly lost Daphne, that Daphne hadn't fogiven herself, despite having only been a child herself, a novice with little to no training on how to defend herself, much less others.

That even now, after training harder than anyone her age and older. After forcing herself to mature faster than she should, after forcing herself to push her limit to the brick of exhaustion, death even, she felt weak, as weak as when she was seven years old.

"Talk to him then, train with him. Share your pain, help him heal and heal your herself." Christian attempted to help, kneeling in front of her, reaching for her hands. Grabbing her hands in his gently. "I haven't hear of him as a person but him as a Guardian, he's one of the best there are, falling second to your family, maybe third if you count Janine Hathaway."

"He knows my uncle, Christian. He knows what happened." Daphne laughed, a laugh that didn't reach her eyes and was a mock to herself, "He won't want to train with a failure of a Dhampir Name like myself." 

Christian looked at his half-sister, at his dhampir sister, a girl with whom he would normally have no relation with, would their Community nor have shunned him, would they have stripped him of his title were it not for his aunt.

Christian was in pain for his sister, his strong sister, who would not stand for anything, who would fight for everything she believed, who would train until she dropped and fight for him until she last drew her breath.

His sister that looked so weak and defeated, a sight that was reserved for him and his aunt only, a sight that did not come out often as Daphne didn't allow anything to get under her skin.

But death wasn't anyhing, death was a sticky and sickly and horrible stench that seemed to look for her and reach out for her when it found her. 

And Christian knew it, he'd seen this a few times.

The effect it had on her.

"You are the epitome of the Seong name. Brave, courageous and strong. Dedicated to your Moroi no matter how stubborn we might be. You nearly died laying down your life to protect us, and yet you train to do it over and over again without a fault. You survived and you are ready to face death with a silver stake and a grin and call him lover while you dance with him." Christian complemented her.

Lifting her chin slightly until dark brown met icy blue.

"Your uncle has survived attacks with the help of others, you protected Aunt Tasha, Vanya and I, at the mere age of 6 and survived, how many Dhampirs can say that, how many Seong's can claim that." He whispered to her. "Vanya passed not because you failed, but because help arrived too late."

Christian knew his words would do little to help Daphne with what she was feeling, but he also knew that she needed to hear the truth. Daphned was, and will forever be, the youngest Dhampir to ever be marked. 

A short silence ensued around the two, silence that was welcomed by Daphne as she was allowed to calm the raging emotions within her. But the silence didn't last long, because like always, and between siblings, teasing came along.

"When did you become so mushy and wise?" the teasing question fell from Daphne rosy lips with a small croaky tone, indicating that she'd been crying.

"When you were out getting buff and ready to take over the world." Christian replied with an honest smile, leading him to be pushed backward by Daphne.