charles paced back and forth in his private sanctuary. it had been too long, he’d forgotten the way. he wanted to help Balde, but he was unsure how, the initial steps had been simple enough, at least from his point of view, but now what?  he needed to encourage his spiritual growth. that was much easier said than done. should he convert his religion? he disliked the idea, religion in and of itself was too confining, the practice of magic, usefull but how to make it a spiritual exercise? the old standbys, sex, drugs, etc as a means to transcend the flash… that might not go over so well as he was being watched and judged so closely by the rest of the town, and he’d lost Mandy too. He was happy, she would do well he thought, but somehow it made him feel as though he’d failed in his self assigned task of helping the people of this town.

He needed to connect more with people, become a facilitator, but how? Jasper seemed to quite nicely fill that role with powers beyond what Charles himself could understand. perhaps making his own deal with Jasper?  but what to ask for?.  every answer seemed to bring with it twice as many questions. It had been a while since he felt such confusion. It reminded him of his first days among the undead, and how his sire had taught him.  Constantly vague and mysterious, making charles seek out his own truths with only the smallest hints to help him along the way. Maybe that was it, to let blade choose his own path and simply be there to guide & support him. Eventually he would offer him the embrace, once he was ready, but that was a ways off as of yet, though the boy showed much promise. He chuckled as he felt like yoda.

that’s it, atonement, he knew now how to start, what exactly to do,  Mandy and her father may not like it, but they were not his main concern, blade was, and this would be good for him. He would learn both power and humility in equal measure, at the same time. he had already made peace with himself, time to make peace with mandy. He picked up the phone to call Blade