his human mother in his mind. Bloodthorne had not known any arcana when he and Xander met, though he’d not even been speaking age back then. Xander had asked Diana why her son couldn’t fight back over Bloodthorne’s sobs after a failed sparring attempt. Diana had cooed patiently that her own son was just too young, and then she’d given him a cuddle that made Xander’s chest feel exactly as hollow as it did now. He hadn’t understood—Birzuma had taken great joy in teaching Xander blood arcana well before even the Chthonic alphabet.
