A week had passed quicker than Eleanor could ever imagine, but her late nights training with Wilson were starting to take a toll on her; but progress was most definitely made. In only a week, she was taught the vital parts of fighting and how to deliver a good punch. Not too bad, if she could brag. Although, her physical fatigue would eventually catch up on her. But for tonight, just for tonight, he would be left alone by the Wilson.

It was the night of the showcasing.

She was in her room, dressing in variable dresses that laid before her. She decided that she might as well look decent for the thing, and decided against a suit. But that didn't mean she would dare dress in anything she hated, and immediately threw out any colourful dress she owned. Now, she had a line of black, white and gray dresses laid out before her. She needed one that wasn't too frilly, yet had a high back.

Eventually, she decided on a black sleeveless mini dress, the back high enough to hide the majority of the black spot. The rest would be covered by her silver hair. But of course, this was Eleanor, and she wore black and white striped stockings along with black sneakers. Well, she tried.

Her parents had managed to fish out quite a lot from Eleanor, including the fact that the casing was at the Wayne Manor. They had been reluctant but had decided it would be best if one of them at least could have a look inside. It was way too early to attack yet, otherwise, this would've been a perfect opportunity.

On passing out, she could hear the faint voices of her ridiculous parents downstairs and quickly slipped out of the manor. A limousine was waiting for her, as well as her designated driver. She slipped in and they quickly left. On the way over she could feel her excitement grow tenfold. She was going to see the Staff of Anubis. The Staff of Anubis! She could only hope it would be as magnificent as the legends.

Damian had told her that it started at four, but that she could come a half hour early to meet his father officially. After having heard about each legend the staff entails, Damian could easily figure out how important this night was to her. As they pulled up in the driveway, the Wayne Manor's butler opened her door for her and allowed her to climb out.

"You must be Mister Alfred. Damian has mentioned you to me," she said as she smiled at him brightly. Alfred seemed to let out a breath of relief, for whatever had made him uneasy.

"It is an honour, Miss Griffin," Alfred said with a smile. It was then that Damian made his entrance from the front doors.

"I see you have not managed to get lost," he said in a teasing manner, referring to an inside joke they stared throughout the week. One where she would not be able to discover the manor.

"You have no idea how many U-turns we had to make to get here. This place is in the middle of nowhere!" she exaggerated, causing Damian to slightly laugh at her. Alfred stared at the young master in an expression near horror, before smiling at the happiness Damian finally showed.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to my father," Damian said, nudging his head towards the manor. He waited as she took up the stairs until they entered together. As they did so, Alfred couldn't help but smile.

"-then this is the main hall, and then this is the ball room where the casing is," Damian explained as they walked, together entering the ball room. Inside stood a platform with a standing microphone and a large glass case, a white sheet covering it. Around the sides stood formal tables, platters spread across. In the middle of the room stood a large man, most probably the older Wayne, checking a last overall.

"Father," Damian addressed, and Bruce turned to regard his son, as well as the newcomer. "This is Eleanor Griffin. I told you about her,"

"It is an honour, Mister Wayne," Bruce was taken back by the female but quickly smiled. He headed over.

"The honour is all mine, Miss Griffin," he said with a nod and a smile. "My son has told me quite a bit about you,"

"All good things, I hope," Bruce shrugged.

"Only," satisfied with the introduction, Bruce bid her a nice evening and went to greet his slowly arriving guests.

"Your dad seems nice," Damian scoffed a little.

"He is, but he is quite strict," he answered, folding his arms across his chest.

"To be expected," Damian only nodded. "So what of your siblings?"

"They should be around here," Damian said, turning his head around to look at the room. Whilst he did so, a figure swept behind them and raked his arm around Eleanor's shoulders.

"You must be Eleanor. I've heard almost nothing about you. I'm Timothy Drake. You can call me Tim," the sudden man said, winking at her. She frowned at him.

"Drake!" Damian hissed and pushed him away, causing him to take a few steps back.

"Wow, wow, chill little man. I was only introducing myself," Damian sighed heavily. Eleanor leaned towards him.

"Brother?"

"Unfortunately," Eleanor stood up straight and smiled at Damian's adoptive brother. She struck out a hand.

"Eleanor Griffin," Tim smiled and quickly shook her hand. "I've heard about you around the academy," she commented.

"About how epic and smart and good-looking I am?" he responded, holding his chin with a cocky grin.

"How you skip classes, how your girlfriend brutally broke up with you and how you messed up last year's play," she said, folding her arms. Tim laughed nervously at this. Eleanor, however, quickly made the connection. Tim was also one of the smartest kids at the academy and was the go-to guy when you lost something. He always manages to find lost items. Also, even with his small exterior, he was incredible in gym. One of the fastest and best physically healthy children you could find with, although not much flexibility, incredible coordination of his body. If Eleanor had to make an educated guess, he looked too young to be Nightwing. Red Robin it is then.

"I'm going to go grab something to drink," she announced, moving to the tables. As she walked away, she listened to their passing conversation.

"How'd mess up the play?" Damian questioned with a frown.

"Clayface was attacking and that's what you're interested in?" Tim questioned.

"Well, that and I'm quite curious how you'd managed to get a girlfriend in the first place,"

"You!" Eleanor wanted to laugh. She quickly grabbed a tall glass of water and headed back to Damian. Tim had left.

"He is... interesting," she commented taking a sip to clench her thirst.

"You have no idea," Damian groaned. "The other one isn't that bad,"

"Do I know him as well?" she questioned with amusement.

"Maybe not. He graduated two years ago," she nodded. Slowly, people began to fill the room with their most luxurious outfits and priceless jewelry. But there Eleanor stood, maybe in an expensive dress but with sneakers and striped stockings. She didn't seem to mind.

"Dude, I want to see it," she groaned, looking towards the glass case.

"You have no patience," Damian commented.

"Not for something this exciting. I had to hold myself from barging in here the last week and demanding I see it. Also, I'm quite curious to know what you're going to do with it," she said.

"Probably donate it to a museum," he shrugged. She chuckled. A static squeak sounded and everyone turned to see Bruce Wayne turning on the microphone. Everyone quieted down until silence hung in the air.

"I thank you all for coming here tonight. For those of you who are unaware, I am Bruce Wayne; master of this manor. I am sure you have familiarized yourself already with the surroundings, but if you have any questions, do not be afraid to ask. I take pride in being able to help. But now, for the reason, we are all here. It is my great pleasure to be your host for this historical event, this revelation. If any of you have done research about this particular artifact, then you would have discovered that the 'Staff of Anubis' is a relic that has been lost in time.

Anubis was an Egyptian God of the embalming and the afterlife. When he died and left his soul with his Earthly objects, he sealed everything within his tomb. When his tomb was discovered, all artifacts inside was accounted for as prescribed in hieroglyphs; except this very object here tonight. It is said that the Staff of Anubis is what granted this mighty god the power over the dead and the ability to enhance his necromancy skills. The gemstones on the artifact, as you will see shortly, are said to be peace offerings from varies other gods who wanted clemency from Anubis as well as the pledge to not fall victim to his wrath.

Ladies and gentleman, I could go on about the history of the artifact and the speculations behind its disappearance. But what is really interesting, is where we discovered the artifact. It was found in the Mount Tahat, the largest mountain in Algeria. Algeria is two countries to the left of Egypt, thus has it traveled a very long way. Wayne Enterprises was in Algeria to assist for the safe preservation of the cave paintings discovered inside Tahat, and an accident had caused that an interior cave wall topple down. Although one of our dearest co-workers got injured, a new cave room was revealed and there we discovered the staff, on top of an old altar.

That's why I ask of you, as you gaze upon the staff, to take into account all of the unknown adventures the staff had gone through; adventures we do not yet know about. Now then, without further ado, I present to you the 'Staff of Anubis'!" and in that moment, Alfred pulled off the white cloth and the staff was revealed. Gasps rang through the air before claps became the overall sounding. Eleanor, however, was frozen to the bone.

The staff was pure back, and the thickness of it meant that a grip could be held. The cross and loop on top of it were larger than the normal ankh, making it all the more menacing. The gemstones surrounding the topside were all different, one not the same as the other. Eleanor was sure that if she had an afternoon with it, she was sure to decipher which god had given which gem. The immediate one she could tell was the largest, circular gemstone in the very middle of the cross and loop's binding. It shone a bright yellow, clearly from the Sun God, Ra.

"Incredible," she mumbled, but Damian caught it. He smiled at her. Conversations broke out within the crowds, and after a few minutes, Eleanor turned to Damian. "It's incredible how well kept it is. Not at all deteriorating," Eleanor would have accused a replica if not for the strange overpowering effect the gemstones gave off. It made her uncomfortable and nervous. Was no one else feeling that?

"My father expressed his surprise about when he found it. It had looked too good to be true," she nodded at this and continued to stare at it. Everyone around her seemed to continue with the part, not caring in the slightness about the value that laid before them. Damian had recently said that he would go collect some finger snacks for them and left. He had not yet returned.

The uncomfortable feeling grew within Eleanor as she stared at the relic. As time passed, she could have sworn that the glow that the gemstones were giving off was increasing. She checked to see if the lighting of the room had changed, but it had not. She wanted to wave it off as her imagination, but a sudden sparkling feeling in her spine made her stiffen. The black spot felt numbing, but also like it was clawing at her normal skin as if trying to move. It when that Damian reappeared.

"You okay?" seeing her strange expression. Her head quickly shifted to him before she looked out over the grand hall.

"Where did all these people come from?" she said in a whisper to herself. He looked at her strangely but she just shook her head. "Sorry. Can we... get out of here for a second? It's becoming overwhelming," he nodded in understanding. The duo weaved themselves out of the crowd and exited the room. Damian handed her a small plate with little snacks, and she took it eagerly. Damian continued to pick up the house tour from before and explained to her some of the histories he knew.

"And then this is the garden," he said as they exited through the back of the mansion. Damian had luckily removed all of his targets before anyone arrived. He led her towards the gazebo where they sat and picked at their small foods, conversing as they discovered more about one another.

"My parents never allowed me to get a pet. Says they stick too much," Eleanor grumbled, but Damian seemed happy by this topic.

"I have pets, three of them. A cat, a dog, and -wait for it- a cow," she was taken back by this.

"You have a cow? Geez dude. What are their names?"

"My dog is Titus. My cat is Alfred the Cat, so I call him Pennyworth. My cow is Ba- mbi. Bambi. My cow is Bambi," Damian quickly saved before having to explain why his cow was named Bat-Cow.

"How'd you get your dad to allow you to get a cow?" she asked with a frown. He chuckled at this.

"He liked the cow. It was... flamboyant," Eleanor could only chuckle. Soon the two returned to the hall, the music playing softly in the background. The two had returned their plates and now stood in the corner of the hall, chatting away like there was no tomorrow. Soon the music changed and everyone began to rise onto the dance floor. Seeing a figure bend beside her, she turned to see Damian bow at her with his hand out.

"Would you honour me with your presence for a dance, milady?" she folded her arms with a look of cross.

"Alright, but you better not complain if I step on your toes," Damian chuckled and she smiled at this, accepting his hand. She allowed herself to be lead onto the dance floor. While two of their hands were intertwined, the other two were on the waist and shoulder respectively. They lightly swayed to the music.

"So when's your birthday?" she suddenly asked. He chuckled softly.

"Four weeks," was his response.

"What, seriously? That's awesome. What do you want for your birthday?" she questioned. He thought for a second.

"Nothing. I'm happy. Besides, I don't like to make a big deal of my birthday," she thought at this.

"What about another cow?" she suggested.

"I don't think Bambi would like another friend. She has already enough on her plate with Titus and Pennyworth," he answered.

"Really? Are they trouble?"

"Yeah. Just last week Pennyworth brought me another dead creature to deal with," her face scrunched up.

"Hopefully something small,"

"An owl, actually," she seemed confused at this but shook her head.

"How lovely," they fell into silence as they swayed together. Eleanor eventually moved her other hand to join her first behind his neck, he following the lead in gently holding her waist.

"You're not that bad of a dancer," he commented.

"I had classes as a child. My parents, you know," he nodded.

"My mother taught me," he said.

"What happened to her?" Eleanor questioned, silently.

"She left me," she didn't press the matter.