The Shadows (2/3)
I DO NOT OWN EMINENCE IN SHADOW, HOWEVER I DO OWN ANY OF THE ARTS SHOWN IN THESE FICTS.Viewer Discretion : This Chapter contains immense amounts of angst and suffering to the point it feels it's a suffering-porn. (THE SHADOWS) Chapters are a point of plot for the characters and there will be no more chapters like this in the future, it is only this once that we have such scenery. You may not like this special chapter because of it, you have been warned.--------------------------------------------------------Special Chapter 7 : The Shadows (2/3)-----------------------------------------------------Mary drew circles on Elizabeth's back, letting her Ladyship cry on her. They returned back to their house after spending a few hours looking for Remilya's whereabouts.Lady Elizabeth has been sobbing non-stop for a while now, for good reason obviously. With all the time she's spent with her, It always hurts seeing her Ladyship like this...The last time she was this bad was when Remilya nearly died as a baby, only this time it's ten times worse.Each of her sobbing was anguished, pained by her mistakes. They say karma will bite your ass in the worst ways possible when it builds up, it seemingly did by catching her off-guard last night and said some things she should have not said while Remilya was in a close proximity.She herself was suffering from her own uselessness, she could have managed to stop... this from happening, but what else would have that done? Delay the inevitable time when the Young Mistress finds out about Lady Elizabeth's secrets? Delay it by what? Months? Years? The fallout would have been worse way later on if that was the case.Still... Her ladyship may as well have asked for this, as harsh as it was. What she did was wrong, she won't deny that, but all her intentions were all good at heart. Not a single conniving intent on her. She sighed, even if her Ladyship had made such a terrible mistake, she'll never leave her side, she was loyal to her after everything.It didn't take long for Elizabeth to stop crying and slump down on her, her eyes lifeless, large heavy bags occupying the space below her reddened tired eyes. She looked depressed, obviously enough.She didn't say anything other than space out for a while... Eventually her mouth opened as she dryly said. "Mary... I deserve this, don't I?""Lady Elizabeth..""My daughter likely despises me now. I kept her away from her father because I was being a selfish woman, selfish enough to deprave my..." She swallowed painfully, she didn't dare call him her husband. "Good sir, I deprived him of our child's childhood and kept them from meeting... I failed Mary, I failed as a mother..."She pulled back and looked at Mary, who had herself had a pained expression, mostly out of her Lady's current condition. "Just like how I failed the Haven... I promised that I will search for it and yet..." She sighed, "I'm useless, please leave me here and go somewhere else, all I ever bring is suffering to those close to me."Mary stared at her.Elizabeth looked back with lifeless eyes.Mary sighed, grabbing her lady by her shoulders and inhaling, she pulled her back as if staring into the ceiling of the house. Elizabeth tilted her head, wondering what she was about to do.BAM!When Mary suddenly slammed her head on Elizabeth's, startling the older girl. She looked at Mary with a shocked and dumbfounded expression. The woman who had just headbutted the Blood Queen sighed and glared at her Ladyship, tired of all of this shit. This was not her first rodeo with an Emotionally broken Lady Elizabeth, and it will NOT be the last!"Lady Elizabeth, how MANY times do I have to tell you this..? Get your silly head out of the fucking gutter." She cursed, the Blood Queen's eyes widening slightly at being cursed at. "I will NOT leave you behind, you hear me? Lady Elizabeth, I cannot stress this enough when I say that mistakes are a part of being a mother. It is then that you are challenged by life itself if you are indeed worth being the parent of a child, it is up to YOU if you truly love your own child."Mary paused, before she continued on. "And what about the Haven? You never failed them, you never failed us! That was Crimson's doing. Failing as a mother is fine, that just means you have to pick up on your failures and LEARN FROM THEM!" She shook her violently, trying to get the point. "Are you truly the mother of Remilya Vlodquinn if you're just gonna end it like this? Are you just gonna give up like that!? After everything you went through you're just going to let it all end and be a crybaby when what you should be doing is fixing it!? The Blood Queen I knew and served didn't give two shits about giving up, the woman I served persevered through all the obstacles that tackled her and kept going! Where the hell is that ELIZABETH THAT NEVER GAVE UP!" Mary screamed, very loudly. Thankfully, that seemed to shock Elizabeth out of her depression, but not entirely.She needed a little bit more push."I will keep telling you this over and over when you fail as a mother, Lady Elizabeth, IT'S A PART OF LIFE! You're a new mother for fucks sake, you're basically a millennium old teenager who's a hopeless idiot when it comes to love and anything else related to household chores. If you fail then you just get back up and fix that failure of yours!" Mary took a small break to catch her breath, before she continued again. "And besides, is your faith in Remilya that low?"Elizabeth ached, her will wavered for a brief moment, she opened her mouth to say something but was cut off. "It's obviously not, right? You're her fucking mother, if it was your relationship with her would have even way back when she was a three years old. She may have run off, but that doesn't mean she actually hates you until you talk to her, stop making up CONCLUSIONS BASED ON SPECULATIONS WOMAN! WE'VE WASTED HOURS WHEN WE COULD'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR INSTEAD OF SULKING IN HERE!" Mary screamed the last part.She held firmly to Elizabeth's shoulders, looking at her dead in the eye. "ANSWER ME! YOU'RE HER MOTHER RIGHT!? DO YOU NOT HAVE FAITH IN YOUR DAUGHTER YOU STUPID IDIOT!?!"Elizabeth reeled back from the volume Mary was screaming at, she slowly grit her teeth as she furiously looked at her subordinate. "I'M HER FUCKING MOTHER! OF COURSE I DO!" She screamed at the same volume."ARE YOU NOW!? THEN WHY IS IT THAT YOUR HERE SULKING LIKE AN IDIOT INSTEAD OF FINDING YOUR DAUGHTER!?""I DON'T KNOW!"A tick grew on Mary's forehead as she raised her volume even higher, commencing their own recent style of counseling, a match of screaming the hell out of each other."IF YOU DON'T KNOW THEN FIGURE IT OUT IDIOT! YOU'RE HER MOTHER RIGHT!? AND YOU HAVE FAITH IN YOUR DAUGHTER THAT SHE WILL NOT EASILY LEAVE YOU!""I AM AND I HAVE FAITH IN HER!" Elizabeth howled angrily.Mary smiled, seeing that her method had worked just like before. "THAT'S RIGHT! YOU'RE HER MOTHER! YOU HAVE FAITH IN HER LIKE YOU SHOULD!"Both of them stopped, gasping for breath as their screaming much of intervention had finally gone to a close. Elizabeth was visibly more composed now, her eyes burning with the same old determination and will she had, this sight made Mary smile. 'She's back again.' Oh, and she almost forgot the most important of this.She raised her hands slightly before slapping them back down on Elizabeth's shoulders, returning back with her glare. "Now repeat after me Lady Elizabeth, we damn well both know that this won't be enough."Elizabeth gulped with her angered expression, nodding at Mary."I am a shitty mother and terrible partner, I acknowledge that and I will fix that title no matter what, repeat all of that." Mary raised her hand, threatening her if she didn't comply. Elizabeth looked at her raised hand with a wary expression, she still remembered the times Mary slapped her for being an idiot just like what she is being right now.Though didn't Mary also say to never call herself a terrible mother..?"D-Didn't you tell me not to call myself that though?"Mary reeled her palm threateningly.Elizabeth caved in easily and didn't question it."I am a shitty mother and terrible partner, I acknowledge that and I will fix that title no matter what."Mary stared at her for a few seconds, as if she was not satisfied with her answer. Elizabeth thought that she needed to repeat it until Mary slowly smiled."Good, now what are we waiting for? You've made mistakes and you still have to fix them, Lady Elizabeth." Mary's smile was soft. Elizabeth's previously tense form slacked, smiling at Mary, she nodded and wiped her face. That's right, she needed to fix this whole mess caused by her own actions, she was going to find her daughter first then after that... Maybe find Shadow-kun and apologize sincerely to him.Both red-heads fixed themselves up and prepared to look for Remilya, but before they went outside Elizabeth gave Mary an incredibly grateful look. "I believe I said this countless times before but, Thank you for being with me, Mary."Mary's soft face looked at her for a second, before she smiled. "And just like all the times I've had to repeat it, you're welcome, Lady Elizabeth. Now let's go look for an incredibly playful princess."Elizabeth opened the door, feeling more refreshed and composed. She felt grateful for having such a loyal and good friend like Mary, she was definitely one of the most important people in her life. "I suppose so, that child of mine might be eccentric, but she's never really been the type to hold a grudge, right?""Mhm." Mary agreed, they both raised Remilya after all.Elizabeth nodded to her, they soon later split up looking for Remilya in various places within the kingdom, even if Evening was setting down soon, maybe an hour or two, the afternoon sunlight was still bright. Restraining her from using her full strength to search for Remilya.Elizabeth landed on a roof with her umbrella. She sighed, really, that girl knew how to hide her presence when she wanted to. She wasn't sure how her daughter had managed to learn suppression to such a degree while still being terrible at controlling her magic, which was strange since it should be instinctual for vampires, maybe it's because she's a dhampir?She patted her skirt, while patting her dress she noticed that there was something stuck within the edge of her thigh-high... Was that the paper Lelaine had slipped her last night..? Out of curiosity she took it out and opened the letter.Her eyes caught the details before her eyes suddenly widened, with an incredible show of power, she traveled across the city hopping up and down with bursts of speed. In her hurry, she didn't even notice or feel a certain masked man who himself was too occupied trying to roll a 7's on a slot machine inside a casino.Seriously, the two idiots didn't even sense each other despite their great strengths.Running as a red blur, Elizabeth arrived within the Omadolcnte's mansion a small distance away from the kingdom, she bursted inside their home by jumping through the mansion's window and landing perfectly on her high-heels.When she saw a maid whom she was very acquainted with. Anita gasped in shock at her sudden arrival, the scattering of glass SHE had to clean up shocked her even more."Elizabeth-san--'' Whatever she was going to say was cut short when Elizabeth got close within her personal space."Where are they?! Was Remilya here?!" She asked without pause, Anita's shocked eyes paused for a moment, before she steeled them, the maid seemingly aware of what she meant."Indeed, Remilya had arrived here in the middle of the night crying about... Well.." Her eyes darted to the left.She sighed, she didn't have time for this. "I know, I'm trying to fix it. But Lelaine sent me a concerning message so I ran here as fast as I could.""If you're looking for them, they traveled to Okeanos no soon after.. That man had arrived." She seethed out, almost disgusted just referring to that man."His name was Belmo Ontrippofz right?" Elizabeth asked to confirmAnita nodded in confirmation.Elizabeth nodded as well, thanking the maid for her answer. "Thank you, At least I have an idea of where-" Her eyes widened as her senses suddenly picked up something very unpleasant.S̴̠̃H̸̡̀E̴̬̓ ̷̮̈́C̴̠̈́R̶̰͊Ä̴͕́V̵̍ͅḚ̵̒D̵͎̽Her head whipped towards a certain direction where Okeanos would be. 'W-What was that? Was that Remilya I felt just now?' She grit her teeth, storming off from the mansion with Mist form despite being under the sunlight. Sunlight barely hurts her nowadays for some reason, except when she stays under it for more than five minutes, any more than that and she'd start to get weaker followed by burning. She merely chucked it up to the effects of Shadow's 'IamouRekoveriAtomic'."Tsk, why did things suddenly have to become so complicated?" She just had a very consoling and heartwarming moment with Mary, all she needed to do was find Remilya and apologize to the girl.Then she read Lelaine's letter.For fuck sake.She flew towards the kingdom, now flying instead of running, a few seconds later she finally met up with Mary again who was at the Portside. They looked at one another, so it wasn't just her that sensed Remilya just now."Lady Elizabeth, that feeling just now it's-""-It's Remilya, she's fighting..." Elizabeth couldn't access her connection with her daughter whenever she hid her presence, for some reason she still couldn't despite already sensing her now... And... Was her daughter always that strong? Her current strength was slightly below Mary's true strength despite being a six year old.That wasn't important right now, she needed to get there as her daughter was actually fighting for real from what she could sense."Lady Elizabeth, you should go after her, I'll simply follow after you."Elizabeth looked at Mary with uncertainty. "Are you sure? You know I could just carry you.""I would only slow you down, please go on without me, I'll simply catch up to you.""Really..? I mean I could literally just carry you using my clones or something.""And how fast would that take compared to you using your maximum speed to get there rather than taking me with you? And what kind of difference would there be if both of us were there compared to you being in there alone." The woman didn't even flinch at technically calling herself useless.Elizabeth opened her mouth to argue, before she realized Mary was right, she was easily one of the strongest beings to walk in this world, what difference would there be if Mary was present or not.She merely nodded at her, "Fine, I'll go on ahead." Her magic swirled as her body became mystified. Wind blew up from the port as a powerful impact blew back the surrounding water, Elizabeth fired off towards Okeanos with immense speed.Mary covered her face from the gusts of wind, before lowering it. She stood there for a few seconds."Now what." She said, realizing she couldn't use mist form to fly. "Shit."She looked around and saw a nifty looking unoccupied dingy.After a few seconds of consideration, she caved it. "...Fuck it." ++--------------------++Remilya bounced off a wall as she was ragdolled into it, she instinctively ducked from a lightning-magic enhanced fist, the wall behind her growing cracked-lines.She swung wildly with her magic towards Belmo, it hit him across the chest... Which did nothing. She cursed."Is that all?" Belmo mocked, his words were cut off short when a red light exploded from beneath as Remilya wildly raised her magic, a smoke erupted from where Belmo previously was. He later jumped out of the smokescreen unscathed, wiping off a few dust that got into his suit.Remilya heavily panted for breath, she wasn't sure how long the fight had been going on for, but she could already feel her exhaustion hitting in, she wondered how main characters of novels dealt with this.She didn't even have a sword, nor did she know how to properly use her magic.She looked around her and sweatdropped, the room was a complete mess, the innocent people inside were all huddled at the corners of the room. If one hit from her missed she would accidentally kill them.She needed to get them all out.Putting magic into her fist, she turned around and dashed towards one of the exitways, her fist reeled back to punch a hole through the mansion. Unfortunately, her plan was so obvious that Belmo simply appeared in front of her and swept a kick across her face, causing her to go flying."Remilya!" Rando yelled in worry from the sidelines, helping both of his parents who were injured"Is this really all you can do..? Vampire child?" Belmo said, walking towards her.Shit, she needed to do something... But what? The man had her overwhelmed in every way possible, he was even way faster than her.She grit her teeth, if only the people here were out she could release most of her magic out without blowing them all away.Wait, that's it!She raised her magic higher than before, letting it out of control intentionally as the mansion walls cracked. Belmo looked around and hummed in approval, the girl was trying to wear down the mansion for a hole to appear."Hmph, clever yet naive." He said while disappearing and reappearing in front of her for a punch. "You don't seriously think I don't see what you're trying to pull off did you?"Remilya caught the end of his fist as she went flying, instead of gasping for pain like usual, she had the audacity to smile this time around as she intentionally let her magic to go crazy, thanks to the pressure of her magic being constantly let out, her acceleration towards a wall increased, she slammed straight into it and flew outside like a ragdoll. Blowing a giant hole inside the mansion."I-Idiot, I wasn't trying to wear down the walls and wait for it to break. I needed you to hit me so I could use that momentum to break down the walls." Belmo was a little shocked at her plan, it wasn't anything big but it was definitely clever for a little girl."And what would this accomplish? Well, I might as well use this opportunity for myself." He said, while sending a glaring message to his subordinates inside the mansion. "You've already had your turn tricking me girl, I think it's my turn to do that now." He said while walking through the rubble."...?" Remilya raised an eyebrow, her body felt light despite the bloody injuries she was sporting. Something her vampiric lineage was to thank for, her pain receptors were being lessened thanks to it."I have decided that your friend Rand Omadolcente will die here." Belmo said nonchalantly, Remilya's blood immediately boiled as she disappeared with her mist form, reappearing in front of him, she reeled back an arm and stroke a punch at him, Belmo easily caught it like the previous ones, except this time it was at a higher intensity that the punch created a shockwave that blew away the people inside the mansion.Her eyes widened at what she'd just done, before she suddenly struck in the stomach, causing her to heave in pain. She would have fallen down to the ground if not for Belmo blasting her away before she could even hit the ground. She bounced off of it lightly, only to be met with a kick in her stomach launching her away like a ragdoll across the Mansion's open yard.She really needed to stop holding back now, this guy was actually going to kill her. She started raising her magic uncontrollably and launched herself at him. She flew across the yard like a shooting star, whistling across the wind as she clawed at Belmo, who met her blow with the end of a sword.Their entire surrounding exploded in a crater as they disappeared, they blurred across the gigantic yard of the Mansion. Parts of the yard randomly blew up where they met each other's blows, Remilya was now sweating heavily while Belmo was still fresh as new.Gritting her teeth, she exerted more output into her mist form which was similar to her mother's. She could propel herself using red mist for its flight ability, while the rest of her body was solidified and enhanced by the flowing magic. A feat she acquired without knowing, despite that it still didn't do much to help her in her fight against Belmo."This is such a disappointing performance, Remilya Vlodquinn, your capabilities are all utter trash compared to what I initially thought." Her magically enhanced punch was blocked."Each of your blows exceeded so much magic, and yet the force behind them was nearly non-existent, you couldn't even use your power properly without wasting them." He says as he blocked another hit with his knee. " You're practically a glorified firework, nothing but a bluff on your exaggerated blows, the destructive capabilities they showcased were impressive and yet there was barely no force behind them."He caught her stretched out arm when she tried to punch him, he pulled her closer to him, giving her a closer look at the intimidating man. "You're nothing but a hellspawn bred for destruction."Remilya grit her teeth in annoyance, she willed more of her exhausting magic towards her feet to gain more speed.Zipping through the sky and pseudo-flying at the speed of sound, she willed her crimson-colored magic to her hands and clenched them with an iron grip, her red-slit eyes glowed everytime came into blows with Belmo. The man landed on a random part of the mansion and swiveled from a wild swing by Remilya, the entire structure exploded in a very flashy fashion. Remilya whipped back into the direction he dodged and followed with another amateurish swing.Trees, parts of the mansion, the landscape and the yard itself were all caught in her destructive wake, each time she missed a blow, a whole chunk of the very expensive private land was removed from the map. Remilya became a swirling death of red-crimson arcs of slashes and punches, everything she hit exploded with a violent force. It was impressive, if she had fought the likes of Claire Kagenou or Rose Oriana, she would have been a very competent opponent.In terms of magic that is. Not her combat skills, the girl did not know how to fight, she didn't even know how to throw a proper punch. All she was currently doing here was a predictably patterned attack guided by her vampiric instincts, Elizabeth nor Mary never trained Remilya for combat and refused from ever doing so, they weren't a fan of the idea of Remilya getting into a life-or-death fight despite how inevitable it was.Unfortunately, their overprotectiveness may have cost her a good chance of being able to come out victorious in this one-sided fight.Remilya flew high into the sky, coming out of a smokescreen she created after missing an attack. She gathered her red and crimson colored magic that briefly sparkled black – Something that shouldn't be happening, unfortunately she didn't notice it – and brought them all into her right open palm then compressing with a closed fist.Belmo saw this and curiously observed as Remilya's out blood condensed into a small orb, she pointed it at him heavily panting.Despite being the daughter of the man who follows the holy copyright disclaimer under the section 107 of copyright act 1976, she found herself using blood magic – Something she's never been able to use up until now – in a very similar fashion to her mother's and screamed out the very first thing that came into her mind."CERO!" A red beam of magic using blood as a medium fired towards Belmo, the man smiled like a lunatic and raised his hand. The beam of blood hit him with such force that it briefly pushed him back, for he crushed the entire thing with one hand and blew her away with a gust of magic."Magnificent!" He cackled like manically "Despite your lack of combat experience, your competence with magic is outstanding! Your initial strength from before we started fighting is now stronger by half a times now, no doubt caused by your possession and vampirism working together to empower you! I can even feel your magic overload constantly being refined by your vampiric lineage." He suddenly disappeared in a blur as he finished, zipping across the distance between him and Remilya within an instant. "Though unfortunately, your lack of mastery and control over your magic is making a majority of your drastically rising power into waste. That vampire technique just now was very unrefined and rough, not a single concrete base and easily canceled." 'Strange though, it seems she's incapable of healing herself, that or she still hasn't learned it.' Belmo noted inwardly."Look at you, already gasping for breath after using one blood technique." Remilya frantically blocked another leg sweep from Belmo using her newly learned but terribly undefined blood magic by creating a curtain of blood.Her protective barrier was instantly destroyed by the man and was struck into the ground, creating a crater after violently colliding with the ground. The little girl grumbled something before bursting in a show of red aura, flying towards Belmo.A few dozen more clashes erupted around the yard, completely destroying most of its beauty and form. Belmo stopped clashing with her and landed near the mansion walls again, he slid back while dodging a hammering strike from Remilya which made a small crater where he previously was."Fool." He mocked, as he dodged.He continued sliding backwards, In her blindness of being too focused on keeping up with Belmo, she didn't notice that she was flying towards him with maximum strength, completely missing out on a handful nobles vacating from the hole she'd created for them to escape through.Her eyes widened fearfully.She'd meant to buy time for them to escape through that hole, and yet she was lured back here.And now she was closing in on Belmo with full strength, who stood still, the innocent people DIRECTLY behind Belmo who were all moving slowly in her enhanced perception.N-No! They're too close!Remilya panicked, unable to pull back her attack as she collided with Belmo.BOOM!The collision kicked up a giant storm of smoke and dust, Remilya skipped through the wooden floor like a stone as she eventually came to a stop. She coughed out a few spittles of blood and looked around for Belmo, there were still a few more people inside the mansion trying to get to the exit, namely Rando and his family, she relaxed when she saw they were fine. The smokescreen disappeared not too soon after she poured out a little bit of magic to create gusts of air, she was immediately locked in on Belmo's unscathed figure... Before her eyes caught the sight of... something red painted everywhere... with a bunch of white small objects and red squishy things... Her eyes widened in horror, her clenched fist slacked open as she whimpered.It was everywhere, red and sweet blood currently smeared everywhere, body parts, organs and bones lay scattered everywhere.Red.Red.Red.Red.RED Everywhere.BLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBLOODBlood was everywhere.She shakily looked at her hands, it was covered in blood.She just killed, accidentally killed a lot of people after she collided against Belmo with her poor-control for magic.Her mouth drooled for a moment, the smell of blood becoming nauseating, she immediately wiped her mouth away with her forearm and felt disgusted at herself.O-Oh god..Remilya trembled.Black spots and a few budding black lines sprouted from her glowing chest. Her purely red and crimson magic slowly grew a black complexion to it, her emotions becoming unstable after she had just killed so many in an instant.She started hyperventilating in fear.However her breakdown was interrupted when Belmo came her way, clapping his hands with a satisfied face. "How cruel, Remilya Vlodquinn, No remorse for those you should be saving." he cackled, her fear-stricken eyes going back to her bloodstained hands. The color of magic grew darker by the second, taking a black-lightning-ish kind of form.Belmo clapped even harder, "That's it! Lose to your emotions! Show me the perfect tandem of Possession and Vampiric curse!"She took a few steps back, if she was scared back then, she was now genuinely terrified of this man."S-Stay away.""Stay away? Shouldn't I be the one saying that? Monster?" He grinned, "Look around you girl and see the reactions of the people you were supposed to be saving."Remilya shouldn't have really done what he said, but due to her growing irrational mind she followed what he said. People were looking at her as if she was some kind of tyrant now, some of them glaring at her furiously... A few were crying holding onto d-dead bodies of their.. Relatives and friends. Crack! Something in her mind cracked a little.She looked at Belmo with a horrified expression, her heart weakened with each second she was in this room with him. Her ears flickered when she heard the familiar voice of a boy."Remilya! Run! You can't take that man on!" Rando screamed from the side, hearing his voice gave her a little reassurance and hope, he still didn't hate her."It's true, you could simply run off.. But that means leaving these people to die by my hands, wouldn't it?" Belmo said, raising a hand towards her.Remilya hyperventilated, her mind grew tired with everything going on at the same time. She couldn't even bring herself to speak properly, he's right, she could run, and she REALLY wanted to.But that meant leaving Rando, Auntie Lelaynee and Uncle Nicholas to die, along with all these people.Her mouth shook as she tried to open it, when she did, it took a lot of effort to mouth a few words."W-Why.." she said weakly.Belmo stopped walking towards her and furrowed his eyebrows, "Why what?""W-Why are you doing this?""Hmmm.... Why, you ask? It's very simple, it's for revenge and knowledge." His lightning-like magic called from his form. "I won't go into specifics about a child like you wouldn't need to know, but do know that you are merely a subject and I'm running a few tests on the field. . ""S-Subject... You're talking as if I'm some kind of new research project.." She glared at him furiously, "People are d-dead because you involved them here! If you were here for me you could have at least taken it somewhere!""Hmph, so quick to blame, you're talking as if I'm the one to have killed them." He smirked condescendingly.Remilya faltered, "Y-You did–""--But I did not." he cut in, "You were the one to have dealt the blow that killed them."He raised his hand and waved to the impromptu exitway she created by slamming into it. "Look around girl, traces of your destruction are everywhere. I did not cause that, you did." He kicked a man's corpse that was barely recognizable due to the force of Remilya's attack; if the people that Belmo had used as bait were at least competent magic users, they wouldn't have turned into a smear across the walls. Unfortunately, they were not, they were simply random nobles Belmo had sweet-talked and manipulated into coming here.Remilya's eyes flickered to the gorey mess she'd created, fearfully taking a step back."When someone fears something, they will think irrationally and start looking for a way to vent that fear into something.. Or to someone, just like how you are blaming me for your own actions, I'm quite sure I said this not too long ago." He smiled coldly.Remilya was shaking, unsure of what she's supposed to do here, she tried to push out the thought of the people she accidentally killed. Sadly it wasn't as easy as she wanted to, all those people had lives of their own, they had families and relationships, dreams and wishes they could have fulfilled, but now that was impossible since she took that right permanently.Innocence slowly cracked"Y-You..." Remilya looked at him, grasping for her waning innocence and naivety. "W-Why would you do this..? You're making use of people's lives and throwing them away like.. Trash, just to w-what, test me..? Make fun of me?""Ah, finally saw through what I was doing, did you?" Belmo concluded. "Indeed, If I wanted to make you my research specimen I could have done that the moment we saw each other, the Omadolcnte family wouldn't have been able to do anything either way.""A-And you still–""Involved all of these people by Inviting them and bringing you here? Hmph, a foolish question." He laughed, "I've already said it before, you're both a research specimen and bait here, and I'm simply commencing my experimentations live, these fools around us? They're nothing but the roaches inside a testing box, and you're the monster to perish them." He said all of these loudly, loud enough for the people trapped inside to hear.After he said that, everyone in the gala was quiet. The silence was deafening, no one emitted a sound or said anything. Mostly because they were just referred to as nothing but disposable trash to this man's eyes.The Omadolcnte Family glared from the side, Rando looked furious as well, his mouth was twitching. Finally snapping he opened his mouth to scream out something."YOU--" Whatever he was going to scream out was interrupted by a furious roar."--YOU'RE INHUMAN! YOU'RE TELLING ME HUMAN LIFE MEANS NOTHING TO YOU!?" This time it was Remilya that screamed furiously, her fear was momentarily overwhelmed by genuine anger. "These people have lives and dreams! They are not just some testing dummies you could use for your necessities and play with their lives!"Her voice rang out through the room, the nobles, the staff and pretty much everyone who wasn't a part of Belmo's forces looked at her in shock, not expecting a vampire to be saying these."Oh, but I can." Belmo replied coldly. "For example, the Omadolcnte Family, I've been threatening and making their lives a personal-hell for I am forcing them to give me information about you and your family."He waved his hand. "Another example would be the Justadedfimly Family." No one in the room recognized that Family name.One of the nobles dared ask. "W-Who..?""Exactly." Was all Belmo needed to say for the implications to be sent.Remilya's naive childish mind couldn't just comprehend this man no matter how she tried, she read villains from Novels and she understood them a little, but that was fiction, a creation created by an imaginative mind. But that was all, it was fiction, there was no way that someone could be so... So cold and apathetic, cruel and so little care for human lives.As much as she loved fiction, there was no way people like these actually existed... Right? Apparently not, because there's one right in front of her.B-But.. Nobody is born evil, maybe he's doing this because he lost someone? Maybe he wants attention and love? Maybe he's suffering from something? There's no way someone could be this cruel just for the sake of research, he did say he was doing this for revenge right..?"D-Did someone hurt you..?" Remilya asks weakly.Belmo stopped his condescending monologue and look at her with a indiscernible expression"Did you lose someone..? Is it because of.. Tragedy? Pain?" She kept saying things that confused Belmo, it didn't take long for him to get what she meant. "T-There's no way someone would take pleasure in something like this.."He snickered, then slowly transitioned into laughter. His laughter echoed throughout the entire mansion, he couldn't help but rest a hand on his face as he laughed. His laughter then slowly died out after a few seconds. "Oh, I did lose someone I respected dearly.. However.. Tragedy? That naivety is.." He trailed off.Suddenly his magic exploded from his form, similarly to how one would power up. His magic took the form of lightning again, Remilya saw all of this happen within an instant as he laughed wildly again."TRAGEDY?! WHAT IS THIS? A FANTASY WORLD!?" He laughed hysterically, Remilya faltered as everyone inside the room except her was blown away by the sudden gust of air.Suddenly, goosebumps traveled her spine as she felt her instincts scream out danger. She looked back to Belmo and saw him conducting his thunderous magic everywhere, by everywhere she meant IN EVERY DIRECTION. 'This is bad! If I don't do something, everyone here will be burned to death! ' she screamed out inwardly, she crossed her arms near her face. She concentrated on the feeling she felt before when she used blood magic, the same feeling of pulling something from inside you, she grasped that feeling again and felt herself tire out extremely fast.Conjuring magic out, she stretched her arms wide and released her magic. Solidified blood with magic flowing through them covered the areas where the innocent people were, the people closer to her were fortunate enough as the blood curtain closer to Remilya was stronger, the same couldn't be said for the people on the edges of the room. The protective barrier of sorts on the edges broke immediately, either electrocuting people to death or burning them.Nicholas grabbed a sword that was randomly on the ground and used it to shield himself and his family from the lightning strikes, unfortunately all he did was be a simple meat shield as he was blown back.Seeing that people were dying Remilya panicked and brainstormed on what she should do next, suddenly an idea sprouted as she wrapped solid blood near the people around her and lifted them all up, forcefully throwing them all out of the broken wall.Not too soon after, Remilya was hit by a blast of electricity. Causing her to go flying into a wall, she landed violently into the ground and took a glance at Belmo's electrifying form.He was still laughing, Remilya noted.Lightning prattled and exploded from his form as he continued to laugh maniacally, completely different from his previous calm and collected self. "I AM NOT THE WAY I AM BECAUSE OF TRAGEDY! I AM WHO I AM BECAUSE I SIMPLY ENJOY IT!" His scream was magnified by his magic, as the black and red magic shaped-like spasms of electricity danced dangerously.Remilya was visibly shaken by the volume of his voice, not expecting the man to become so... deranged all of a sudden, she became more afraid."Let me explain it to you and your feeble mind, girl!" His intensity lessened, the swirling gusts of wind also lessened in intensity as Remilya managed to grab ahold of herself. "Every race, be it Human or Elf, Beastkin or something otherworldly, all of us are THE SAME! We are all cut from the same fabric. A blueprint used over and over for the same template but with different outcomes. Have you ever wondered why an artist was passionate about their occupation!? Obviously they enjoyed it! Why does Pianist love music!? Because they loved it! WHY DOES A MURDERER LOVE EXTINGUISHING THE LIFE OF ANOTHER!? BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY LOVED IT! THEY TASTED THE RUSH FOR DEATH AND THEY CRAVED FOR MORE!"Remilya began channeling magic throughout her body to resist the gusts of wind that threatened to knock her away, while all listening to Belmo's ranting."When a human comes across something new and enjoyable to them, they will feel a rush of euphoric excitement. A rush for wanting more! The same way a child would find something new and become addicted to it! Once they become addicted to it, they will continue to keep wanting for more, to keep feeling that rush! You wanna know why those so-called heroes from history and even the current ones saved people!? That's because they enjoyed it! No matter how much they would deny it, the truth is everyone is the same spiritually. Our blueprint... No, OUR SOULS! THE TEMPLATE OF THE SOUL! Every soul is different but all the same, how come we're able to find things we enjoy? How come we are able to find paths of our own? How come we are ABLE to learn and grow!? And not differentiated!" Belmo dug his boot at his last sentence, disappearing in a burst of speed and lightning.Remilya's eyes briefly widened before she was suddenly blown away by something HEAVY hitting her chest, she groaned in pain clutching her stomach where a footprint was literally embedded to her.Belmo lowered his leg, and continued his speech. "Simple, all of us are mere outcomes from the same template. I am the way I am because I simply enjoyed the search for knowledge and power, to research and experiment on things this world can offer! That is the work of a madman! I have no doubt that your father, no matter how much of a monster he is, is also the same. This template of the soul applies to everything else I'd say." The intense force of his magic slowly disappeared back into his body, while Remilya slowly recovered from the blow that launched her away.Remilya didn't try to stand up, she remained in a crouched position as she listened to Belmo who was now ambling around her."Free will? That's but a mere fantasy, when the Template of the soul learns, it shapes our will. The very person we become today is because of that Template. Expose someone to tragedy, anger, agony long enough. They learn to Hate. It's something that can be passed on!" His maniacal appearance slowly transitioned back to his former, self-composed self."It is simply altruistic in nature, why? Maybe for the nature of survival. You, little Dhampir, is a child who's template was simply exposed in an environment of love and idealistic fantasy despite your true nature."Feeling less and more dreadful about this situation, Remilya realized that this wasn't the time to play games. His speech about this 'Template of the soul' also got her thinking, obviously she was having trouble comprehending – Same for the other people in the room, she still understood what he was babbling about. Simply put, buy a book you like, and you read it. Other people see you enjoying it, they buy it and read it for themselves. Bully someone? They'll learn to hate and start bullying others too. Found a new hobby? You keep doing it because you enjoyed it, until you keep doing it because you want to experience the rush of enjoying it more, or in other words.. Passion.She grit her teeth, that still.. Didn't make it right for you to trample on other people's lives though.. Right?Inwardly, she knew the answer to this. But she didn't want to think about it, because it would just simply lead back to that 'Template of the soul' he was talking about.She hated to admit it but, his logic was... Profound.Remilya slapped her cheeks together, shaking herself out of her thoughts. She could think about his 'Templates' later on after she gets the nobles and Omadolcnte family out of here alive.She raised her magic once more, preparing for another assault of attacks against the man. Although, she faltered ever so slightly. Something Belmo didn't fail to notice, he smirked condescendingly."Ah, I see.. For a child as young as you, you understand what I mean don't you? I'll simply speculate it as part of your superior biology compared to humans." Belmo reached to his waist and took hold of his sword.With a shining gleam, he slid his sword from its sheath and drew it. The metal gleaming bright and whistling. Remilya's instincts screamed again. That sword, it was dangerous, she could feel it in her very core that if she were to be hit by that it's going to hurt , the damage would not be pretty.Can.. Can she do this? The man had been toying with her ever since the start of their fight, she could even feel her magic waning with each second she used it, she's going to be empty within an instant if they clashed again.All the mental stress caused by her accidental killing of the people in this gala was wearing down on her mental fortitude, as well as the speech given by Belmo, her mind was NOT in a good state. And to make matters worse, this is all within hours after having that fallout with her mother, Remilya's current mental state was already strained way back at the port and was desperately looking for distractions to keep her mind occupied until she healed again, unfortunately for her she was caught in a bad time by Belmo who was aware of her falling out with her mother during the Festival.The Cult of Diablos' researcher's plan was going smoothly as he planned, only being helped further by their family drama.It won't be long until she snapped if this continued on.Remilya tried to mentally prepare herself for whatever was going to happen next, the madman had already implied he wasn't going to kill her but rather research her, that implicated a lot of things she wished not to imagine.Preparing herself for one last stand, she willed her magic forthwith. She was still oblivious to her magic having gone from purely crimson to having a black and red aura stacked with each other."Still going to resist huh? Wonderful, Remilya Vlodquinn, keep resisting until you break so that I may exact my revenge properly." Belmo clapped his hands.She prepared herself for any assault that may come from the man, suddenly, her ears caught the voice of someone calling out to her."--milya!"She glanced to the side, it was coming from the hole she threw the people out."Remilya!" Calling out from the hole was Lelaine, clothes haggard with her blood slipping down from her head.Auntie Lelaynee? She's hurt!"Auntie Lelaynee! Stand back!" Remilya screamed out, "Please.."The woman ignored her pleas and stepped inside the room, struggling to hold herself while leaning on a sword. Nicholas appeared not too soon after, clinging onto the broken edges of the gigantic hole, the man wielding a sword himself, his entire left side was fried, flesh roasted by extreme heat.Remilya trembled again, guilt pressuring her for not being able to protect them properly.The blonde father of Rando spoke with a hoarse and tired voice. "You seriously didn't think we'd let.. Such a young girl fight for her life, did you? A fight to the death is for adults, not kids.""Run and take Rando, Remilya. We'll buy you as much time as we can... However low it is." Lelaine agreed with her husband."N-No, why would I do that! He's here for me, please leave!" Remilya begged, not wanting them to get hurt, neither side wanted the other to fight for their life and get hurt."Stall me Nicholas? You're hilarious." Belmo mocked from afar."If stalling you is the last thing I will do alongside my wife and buy time for Remilya and Rando to run away, then I'll gladly die doing so." Nicholas grit out."I'd say the same for me, Remilya go, take Rando with you and run." Lelaine agreed, holding the European-styled sword with a fencer's stance.Belmo couldn't help but laugh madly at the stupidity of the couple, as noble as their intentions were, they were weak. The best they could do is buy Remilya a second or two."A-Auntie, Uncle, Please!" Remilya begged them again from the side, afraid to lose people important to her."AHAHAHAH! This is magnificent, two idiotic couples sacrificing themselves while the inhuman hellspawn is trying to save them, you all make a grand job of playing clowns."Lelaine glowered at him, she then glanced at Remilya with pleading eyes."Please, leave and run back to your mother with Rando."Remilya trembled even further, her heart and will waning very fast. "P-Please.."They didn't listen to Remilya's pleading, the couple slowly limped themselves in front of Remilya, forming a barrier. "Tell your mother she's a wonderful woman, and that I hope that she reconciles with your father so that you all may live happily." The woman practically said her last will to Remilya, smiling hopelessly, she already knew that she wouldn't make it out of here alive, although she was glad she was dying alongside her husband.Nicholas shared the thought, happy to die alongside his wife and help out someone they consider a family.Remilya closed her eyes regretfully, the tears she'd been holding falling free. "I–I can't.. Please.. I don't want to lose you all..""Go now, Remilya. We're practically half-dead already." Said Nicholas, holding his sword with one hand."No.. Please.." She begged, she felt helpless and furious at weakness. She wanted to save them and see everyone out of here alive, not have them be sacrificing themselves just for her to escape. The worst part is that she wanted to cling to their wishes, a ticket for her to get out of here, to finally escape the hellish thing she was wishing to get out of.She hated that, she hated that there was a part of her that was selfish enough to think of leaving them behind. She silently begged someone to help her, she didn't want to lose them but she also did not want to be here any longer.Please.. Someone.Just.. help.. I don't wanna lose people Important to me..She could hear Lelaine saying something, her voice was muffled sounds to Remilya, her mind falling deeper into the darkness, her hope slowly dying out.Please."Remilya, what I told you.. Please tell her that." Lelaine winked, not helping to shake Remilya out of her inner suffering.Please...The Dhampir clenched her fist so hard it started bleeding, this feeling of being weak, she hated it..Belmo slowly walked towards them, prepared to slaughter the Omadolcnte family.Please...The couple tensed, preparing themselves for their last dance with each other.Please.....!Belmo's magic cracked and became rough.PLEASE!SOMEONE.HELP.I DON'T WANNA LOSE ANYONE!...Silence, no one huh.. Is this how the world is..?Just a cruel reality..?She could feel Belmo preparing to burn the couple to smithereens, even if she blocked it the couple would still die, she wasn't strong enough to block out his attacks completely.Her foot angled to the exit, her body followed soon. She tilted to walk towards it, everything felt slow for her, was she.. Really going to leave them..?Leave them to die..?She guessed she was.She hates this.Feeling weak that is. 'I guess there IS no knight in shining armor or heroes in real life– Huh?' Remilya paused, her head whipping to Belmo's general direction. Her mouth slacked open.T-This feeling..!"I think it's better if you tell me that yourself, Lelaine!" A booming voice reverberated throughout the entire mansion, a VERY familiar voice that gave hope to everyone that knew it, and dread to those who feared it.The sky suddenly became red, Belmo alarmingly looked upwards towards one of the gigantic holes made by Remilya's destructive output. Suddenly countless red javelins rained down on Belmo as the man frantically used his speed to dodge away, a few seconds later, the cloud of dust kicked up by the rain of blood javelins cleared. Revealing the man, panting heavily, the man managed to dodge all of it thanks to his speed."Y-You're here.." The man said with a weak and trembling voice.The doors leading back to the main hallway of the mansion exploded with a flash of red sparkling colors. A red miasma slowly seeped out from the broken wall.Belmo sweated heavily. "Blood Queen!" He screamed.Remilya immediately retained her hope, her eyes gleaming with joy and happiness.It looks like she judged way too quickly, there aren't knights in shining armor. Instead there are supermoms in vibrant dresses. ++--------------------++Belmo gulped heavily, he could feel the FURIOUS emotion of the woman behind those walls. His body trembled just from the pressure that beast of a woman was emitting..."Blood Queen? Who's that?" Footsteps reverberated from the destroyed wall, the confident voice of a woman slowly getting closer, the woman walked past through the broken wall, the vibrant voice of the woman giving hope to Remilya and even the Omadolcnte Couple.Pausing in her tracks, the woman tapped the ground with her foot, then slowly lifted it a few inches above. Red high-heels stomped down with a force of a goliath, a small shockwave erupted throughout the whole mansion.Extremely smooth, long, red hair flowed like water as wind picked up from the force of her shockwave causing the wind to pick up, there were a few tell-tale signs sunburn on her body which were all now healing.A hand stretched outward as blood unnaturally flew toward a single point, a singularity of blood gathered around the outstretched arm.Magic swirled as the hand clasped. For a brief moment, the world became illuminated, a tint filter of crimson with the world's true colors slowly returning back as magic seemingly tried to escape the clasped hand.As if reaching its limit, her hand snapped open. Magic exploded, blooming like a flower within its season.The complexion of the world's natural colors returned."You seem to be mistaking me for someone, the one in front of you is someone else..."A blood red scythe was conjured into existence, soft delicate hands clasped around it. Like a certain man from the Shadows, the Blood Queen made her entrance.Stylishly.However she did not come here as Elizabeth, The Strongest Vampire in existence.She came here as a mother, hoping to fix her mistakes."I'm just a shitty mom and a terrible partner, looking to amend that title! Elizabeth Vlodquinn!" Elizabeth announced, striking a pose with her scythe.
CHAPTER END