25 VAMPIRE PRINCESS

BANG!

CRASH!

"Uoooooooooooohhh!!!"

Listening to the ensuing battle happening outside the room, the figure trapped in a slab awoke from her slumber. For who knows how long she had been trapped in this room for, how long her body protruded from the slab as her arms and waist down was consumed by its matter.

And for the first time in what she could only guess at as years, she finally heard a noise other than her breathing. She tried desperately to yell for help, but as she had not spoken since her entrapment the only thing she could let out was a faint whimper.

".....Please….. help me….." She voiced out repeatedly. As for whether what did battle with the guardians of her room was friend or foe, she did not care. She merely jumped at the last bit of hope that whoever or whatever was outside her room would free her.

KACHA

The hope in her heart rose to an all time high as the doors to her prison opened slowly. Light spilled into the room as for the first time in centuries it became something other than a desolate and dark chamber.

And as if welcoming the new visitor, the tall majestic pillars made of marble that lined the room on its sides illuminated with large purple crystals that suddenly appeared above them. Her eyes traced the red carpet that spanned from her slab to the two majestic doors.

Then, her eyes locked onto the figure that stood between the doors. The figure she presumed to be male stood at 5'11 in height adorning a brown mantle that draped over his shoulders and reached his ankles. Her eyes lingered on the helmet with two protruding horns that faced forward on either side, then to the lion like mane of red hair that traveled from the top to the back of its head.

She guessed that it was the hair of a monster that was proudly displayed on the top as a sign of strength. Her eyes traveled down as they were attracted to the silver chest plate adorned with blue lines coursing through it, the way it started pointed out from the top and smoothened out as it reached his bellybutton made her nod subconsciously as her eyes looked down to the rest of his body.

The figure held his silver gauntlets to his sides as she observed what she presumed to be magic circles that were carved into them, only in all of her continuous studies she had never seen magic circles with similar patterns ever before.

She looked at the knee guards made of the same steel briefly and the multiple sections they were separated in for increased mobility And finally, the half-leather half metal-boots he adorned on his feet, seemingly imbued with the same marks as she snuck a peek with every step he made.

And then, the figure stood right before the steps to her slab.

"Huh, the first set of majestic grand doors to not lead me to an empty room, at first I thought I was gonna have a melt down again, and yet here I am face to face with another person….."

The surprise the figure showed first when entering the room was masked by his helmet, however the joy in the first half of his words were as clear as day to her.

"What do you say, assistant, is this a boon or a misfortunate situation we've happened upon?"

She looked around the room, from his words it seemed he was speaking with another person and yet as far as she could tell he was alone. Her eyes lingered on the bandages that covered his legs and arms, she questioned the use of them as it was clearly apparent to her that they sat over his apparel rather than the place that should be wounded.

But never minding these details she spoke out softly to the man with her hoarse voice that she hadn't used in years.

"H-Hello, *cough* p-please help me…"

The man looked down at her briefly before muttering to himself. He ignored her perplexed expression as he climbed the steps to reach the same level as her. Then without another word spoken, they stared at each other.

"....."

"...."

The air froze for a moment as they played this unagreed upon game of a staring contest

"*Cough*!" However that contest was broken by the girl, who couldn't help but feel her throat dry.

Seeing as how he became victorious in this first bout, the man laughed aloud ignoring the disgruntled expression of the girl.

"Ghahahaha!"

The girl's former impression of him being a stoic hard-boiled adventurer cumbled instantly as she heard the youthful laughter project from his helmet.

"Ah, I apologize, miss. It's just that I was a bit stunned at having heard another person's voice after who knows how long. But I suppose looking at the condition of this place you probably have been in the same predicament even longer."

The figure's previous rude tone shifted to a more courteous one as he bowed in a gesture of good faith, it was this change of attitude that left her at a pause.

"*Cough* *Cough*!" She tried to respond to his words only to be thrown into another coughing fit.

"Hm~?" The man seemed to contemplate something before rummaging through his satchel, then with a swiftness that stunned her, he pushed a canteen into her face.

"C'mon, drink up." The man spoke to her patiently before rattling the canteen in her face, seeing no reason for him to harm her, she tilted her head back as he pushed the canteen towards her mouth.

GULP GULP

He only smiled wryly while feeling the weight of the canteen vanish exponentially. But seeing some vitality return to her face, he only hummed to himself before putting it away.

The girl sighed satisfied before looking into the eyes of the one who stood before, it was in those blue eyes of his that she found a bit of comfort in her heart. But seeing those eyes through the slits of a helmet only boiled her curiosity.

"Now, what should I do with you…." The man whispered aloud.

"T-Thank you so much for your help." She said hesitantly. It was difficult to gauge his emotions through the helmet but she continued along with her words anyways. "I was betrayed."

In reaction the man only tapped his fingers rhythmically on his other gauntlet.

"I am one of the original, atavistic vampires. Because of the powers I was gifted with at birth I worked hard for the sake of my country and my people. But because I had so much power everyone was afraid of me, they thought I was dangerous. They couldn't kill me… so they decided to seal me here instead….." The girl spoke desperately, as if trying to convey her heartfelt emotions to the man in front of her.

"A vampire huh…." Ignoring the second half of her words the man only sat on the ground before holding his fist to his chin.

She wasn't sure what he was thinking but by the murmuring of his voice and the way he pensively tapped his chin she could only guess he was curious about her race.

"Please, save me." She begged softly, breaking the man out of his train of thought.

The man only stared back at her silently before looking down at his chest. Then, as if to erase all the tension in the air, he arose from his seated position and let out another hearty laugh.

"Very well! I shall accept your request! However… there is one condition…" The joyous atmosphere vanished instantly as the tone of his voice made her tense up.

"P-Please, I'll do anything!" Her moments of hesitation were broken immediately as she declared her determination to escape from this hell.

The man inched closer to her, closer and closer, almost to the point where the horns on his helmet were about to collide with her golden blonde hair. Then, holding up a single finger in front of her face, he jumped back and spread his arms wide into the air.

"Sounds like a deal! Welcome to the team, my new assistant!" He spun in a circle as he waved his arms about, his mantle flying behind him as he came to an abrupt stop. Then without another moment of hesitation, he placed both of his palms onto the slab she was encased in.

BZZZZZT! BZZZZZZT!

Sparks flew into the air as she stared at his nonchalant figure. And in a few seconds later the slab dissolved as her body fell from it.

SPLAT

The sound of her naked body slamming into the marble floor resounded through the room as the man who she had expected to catch her kept his arms in front of him, as if still touching the slab that stood there previously.

The man only stuck his hand out to raise her up as he resisted her glare. She accepted the hand begrudgingly before holding onto it firmly.

"Hm?" He only hummed curiously as he tried to shake his hand away from her grasp. The girl switched to using both of her hands to restrain him, however her weak body that had gone without any sustenance for the past few centuries failed to aid her much in her stubbornness.

Freeing himself from her grasp, the man only took a few steps back before his hands glowed with the same sparks that had shone when he was freeing her from the slab.

Seeing his reaction she swung her arms furiously in front of her body in an attempt to show that she barred no hostility.

"W-Wait, I didn't mean anything by that! I only wish to know your name!"

"My name?" The sparks vanished almost instantly as he responded back to her pleas. Then with the same arrogance as he once had before, he flicked his mantle behind him and presented himself once more. "My name is Ivan Korei! The Alchemist who will one day recreate life itself!"

The girl ignored his ridiculous introduction, instead opting to murmur his name repeatedly so as to not forget it.

"---Ivan, Ivan, Ivan….."

Stuffing down the dissatisfaction in his heart, Ivan threw back a question at the mysterious girl that stood before him.

"Now, for you who resides in this hell, what might your name be?"

"----Give me one…." She pleaded, electing to hold his hands once more.

Ivan stared at her for a moment, before immediately understanding her intention behind throwing away her old name.

"..... How about "Yue"?" He said hesitantly.

"'Yue'?" She asked inquisitively with a tilt of her head.

"Ah~ it's short and easy to remember!" And with no shame behind his words he declared his reasoning.

The joy she felt at having been given a new name vanished almost instantaneously.

"-----!" Her complaints got cut off immediately as a huge wall made of marble grew from the earth beneath them and sealed off the entrance to the room.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"I apologize, Yue. But it seems someone did not appreciate me freeing you." Unequipping his mantle, Ivan threw it around Yue's shoulders as he walked up to the wall to see whatever it was that attacked them.

He stared back at her before opening a hole large enough for him to fit through. "I'll be back soon. Then we could get the hell out of this place together! Ah~ opening a shop out in the outskirts of a town and living off the profits my products make. Peacefully indulging in my free time doing research, ain't that the life?"

And ignoring her pleas, he closed the hole back up as he made his way through.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I started at 7 AM, then stopped and continued at 4PM, and after a break I have come back to finish this off at 8PM. Usually these take at least 2 hours to write but today was just one distraction after another.

And as my process changed throughout the day so did my ideas for this chapter, so I hope this wasn't some unintelligible mess and you actually enjoyed reading! There had to be some good in here.... right?

But hey I want to thank you all for reading again, may you have a great day/night! Arrivederci!

If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister

Discord: https://discord.gg/tQ5TWbYd9t