There I stood before a small store, the best one, or so the rumours said, of its kind in the whole of this Coronian city. A small window endearingly advertised wares of all types, from sweets to beverages. They were arranged in neat rows, had clear labels upon the front of whatever vessel held them and were in an array of colours. Yet all with one particular source of creation behind them: magical science.

My eyes slowly drifted upwards, past the lining of my hood, to read the sign that swung lightly in the wind. 'A Single Drop’ it read. Not a very obvious name that denoted an alchemist shop, but by reputation I knew it to be one. Rolling back my shoulders before straightening, I looked boldly at the door and then nodded once to myself, before setting a hand on it.

And into the den of magical wonders I strode, hoping to find a solution to my pain.

The problem of being half Uniano was that I needed to go and hunt for that vital source of energy that I needed:- blood. My housemate was not an option as he was a metal demon. Through my companion Mikhail's veins flowed some form of heated metallic material that I could not fully comprehend. Though the conversation had never fully been breached I had seen the way he bled, from the few battles we had been in together. So, he was not an option. In the past three thousand years, when I had been a prisoner and slave, I had been brought what I needed for sustenance, and now I was beginning to understand the benefit of being taken care of - even if I had been a mere traditional property.

When I (we) had first arrived in this continent I had met various people who had been willing to let me drink from them, including a demon hermit and a very sexy drow. But in the more civilised areas requesting to drink from someone was apparently a little taboo. And so, recently, I had tried stalking, and drinking when someone was asleep. That didn't work. That donor now had nightmares. And then I had tried animal blood. Nowhere near as good, and it required far more to keep me from falling over. Right now I was on my fourth day without blood at all, and I was beginning to feel the effects - from a dizziness that came and went, moments where I could not see or hear at all, and tingling feelings in my pale fingertips. I was holding myself together with sheer force of will, and knew at some point I would faint.

Therefore, I turned to the favoured Alchemists and pushed open the door with what might I had. As I looked in I saw a small store, with a good sized worktop, and more shelved baring similar items than outside. I stood in the middle of it all, a woman cloaked and mysteriously pale, streaks of white hair falling loose. Iit my lip, curling my shaking hand into a fist as my eyes roamed around the one place that could help me.