Chapter Ten - Abisul Întunericului
It seems that Dracula has made his move and the military is on the move against him, but hasn't had much success due to a strong barrier he erected with powerful magic. I must admit, I was not ready for someone this strong. Kiname had to leave with Dimiki again, going back into that strange portal---but we did spar. We had to spar on Master Thais' grounds, the use of Munakou in front of his loyal kin blowing their minds. Now they knew exactly why we were in a completely different league than the vampires of this city. Dracula himself, however, had a long time to build his strength and delve into dark arcane power whilst I had little time to grow and little knowledge to work with until now. I am alone again, alone to complete this Queen's Trial, Dimiki ambushed me with.
Vlad must've sensed that I was alone in the night, because he appeared in my penthouse, once I returned from my sparring match with my brother.
The moment I saw him in my penthouse, I did not attack. I just watched him for a moment, most likely with a dubious gaze. He was looking at me with an unreadable expression, but one that was not harsh.
"That was your brother, was it not?" he asked me, the first words out of his mouth since his appearance in my home.
I frowned and slowly nodded. "Indeed."
He looked over to the island where I left my weapon. He didn't dare approach it and also looked at it with a confused expression, before turning back to me. How confident to turn his focus away from me, but no, I'm not going to mess up my penthouse fighting him here.
"I'm guessing that will be the weapon you will use in our next battle then?" he asked me. Why did he have such a cordial tone... one of... amicability? No, this is a guise. He wanted something from me. I answered him again with a slow nod, before asking him a question now, "What is it that you want, Vlad. Why are you here?" He seemed to hang on every word I said! What was going on here?
Dracula finally spoke his peace, "I want you, Asuya, to be my queen. I've... not felt this ache in my heart since Anastasia. It is part of the reason why I retreated as I did not know why I was feeling this way."
I was stunned by his confession, but I was more stunned by the fact that Walter walked in right when he made it.
Walter was right angry and that made Dracula angry. Both of them showed their true face---the face of bloodlust! I had to say something, so I said, "If you hurt Walter, I will never forgive you, Vlad. Never."
Dracula stood up from his low stance, dusting himself off. It seemed he modified what he was wearing with hemokinesis, giving off a more majestic and dangerous aura. Walter always wore that fifties detective outfit with a splash of red in his tie and fedora sash.
Dracula laughed with that booming laugh of his and muttered, "You think yourself worthy of one that carries the title of Queen? My Queen? I have never seen a vampire as weak as you---yet with such a strong ability. Has my blood been reduced to this? One vampiric special ability, no magic cultivated, physical abilities a little more than a human, those of which we feed from as cattle? You disgust me---Walter was it? I will never utter that name ag---"
I cut him off, saying, "You will in my presence. He has been more than kind to me and I do love him."
Walter mocked Dracula's words, saying, "Seems I'm not so bad after all, Drac. Why don't you leave? You have overstayed your welcome."
Dracula nearly transformed into this dark beast looking thing when he spoke again to Walter, "You only speak to me this way, because my future queen is here! Without her, you would be ash, you little runt!"
Walter had the look of genuine dread upon body language and face once he saw glimpse of that form. I simply stared at Dracula with a gaze that carried my feelings directly to him. Irritation. Disappointment. I'm not sure why I was not scared of him.
Dracula stared at me, then to Walter. "Do you like those lesser than you, Asuya? Those that will never reach your status in beauty, strength and capacity for love and a body that exacts perfect lust from those that gaze upon you with the utmost focus?" I didn't like where this was going, because I felt genuine jealousy from Vlad, yet another trait I scoffed at. Did he have these horrible traits when Anastasia was alive or did her lost turn him into a being of madness?
"Do you not trust my senses, Vlad? Do you not think I can discern someone's worth? Let us stay cordial, no need for violence in my home. Please?" I asked in the most polite tone I could muster. Dracula smiled a little at that effort I made, then looked to Walter for a moment. "I suppose if she sees something in you, perhaps your presence is worth toleration," he comments. Walter stared at Dracula with an unreadable expression, but I could feel disdain for Vlad seething off of Walter and Vlad probably felt it through hemokinesis, which made Vlad chuckle.
We all sat down at the kitchen island with uneasy tension in my penthouse. Vlad turned his attention back to me, looking me over as if he was undressing me, which wasn't difficult, because he caught me with just my nightgown on. "You look ravishing, my dear," Vlad managed to say with seething lust in every word.
Walter spoke up, looking at Vlad, "Why did you reveal the supernatural to humanity? Was that really necessary? Many of us will die because of that." Vlad looked to Walter again. "Survival of the fittest, my boy. I will not tolerate weakness of the blood. Those that I deem weak, I will take their ability for myself if useful, destroy the carrier and move on until I find those suitable to create my pantheon. Asuya will be the first of my pantheon, a beautiful representation of what I look for. Those of my blood have squandered chances to be stronger, to delve into arcane knowledge and use it to take over our humanity and cultivate them as cattle. Our food would not be disrespected, in fact, most dignities would stay in tact, until it was time to fill the blood capacities of our kin. The vision of my world isn't so bad, but humanity must learn their place. Below us and as our food. They cannot hope to be more than that. Not against beings that can fly faster than their jets, missiles and bullets. Have enough strength to lift their vehicles, crumble their buildings and laugh at their monuments. They are nothing to the likes of me and that of my future queen."
That was quite a monologue, but it was time for me to interject. "Vlad. I want you to know this with the utmost understanding. I will never be your queen. Your arrogance is repulsive and that alone makes me disgusted with you, but it is your vision that you so thoroughly expressed that solidifies my feelings. If you think I will let you treat humanity like cattle---" Vlad interrupted me.
"Asuya, do not be naive, my dear. What have humans done with their lives up until this point? Murder, abuse, cannibalism, war, famine, pestilence, slavery, genocide... and you are telling me they do not need to be cultivated as food rather than ravenous against each other? Against the Earth itself? All for their selfishness?" he monologues again.
"And what you want isn't selfish?" I asked. Vlad counters with, "Gods are not selfish, we only seem so to the weak, but we only want what is best for them! All violence would cease against their own and---" I cut him off this time. "And all violence would be focused on you, as it is now. Don't you see, Vlad? Humanity never quits. No matter how many you kill, no matter how many your kin drink, they will find a way to stop you even without me. Van Helsing did it once against you and someone else down the line would do it again somehow. They will never stop until you are permanently consumed by death."
Vlad seemed to find himself in a pensive, frustrated state, staring at my weapon.
"Stop this, Vlad. Your dream may come true for a time, but in the end, you will only find death..." I said with a little concern in my voice---a vast mistake against a narcissist. Vlad glares at me, then looks to Walter, before he stands up and quietly goes upstairs where the hot tub is outside and flies off as bats---bats that move incredibly fast!
I look to Walter now and he was frowning at me. "Asuya, what's going on? What is this about you being his queen?" he asks. I didn't expect that question, so I informed him, "Walter, he's a narcissist. Didn't you understand that when he spoke to you as he did? He wants what he cannot have and to him what he cannot have does not exist. In fact, I know what he's going to do. He's going to try and show me that his world will exist, build it around me so that he has proof of concept and he thinks that will force me to his side." Walter nodded and held up a hand in defeat while his wrist still rested upon the counter. "Sorry---my apologies, I just... that was beyond strange." I smiled to him to reassure him and said, "No worries... his presence is jarring even to me."
Walter changed the subject. "So you love me, hm?"
I paused, before I chuckled a bit, saying, "So you caught that? Well, I didn't lie, Walter. We have cultivated years of knowing each other and love was the result for me. What Vlad is feeling is lust---both lust for power and lust for me. That does not hold a candle to real love."
This caused Walter to get up from his seat and stand over me, before he gently used his curved right index finger to lift my chin up to kiss him and that was one of the most passionate kisses I've ever experienced, even better than the first one we shared in the hotel room! He didn't break the kiss at all this time, throwing his hat to the side. I know he wouldn't believe this if I ever told him, but I've never been intimate with someone before. I've come close twice, but never further than kissing and touching. Walter was indeed touching me, but he was being a little more considerate of my sensitivity and oh how good it felt! My chest became tight and my breasts were slowly becoming erect at the tips. They were heavy and as big as my head if not slightly bigger, shaped like drops of water and yet were more perky than any human with such size thanks to Sil anatomy. That is what Walter targeted first. He leaned down and lifted my right breast that was still covered by my nightgown and didn't even uncover it while trying to gently pull at it's tip with his teeth to bring it erect! I moaned with a little wince, not from the pain of his bite, but from trying to hold back my body from doing what it did before! With his right hand, he teased my left breast, uncovering that one and kneading it with a more lustful touch---I think he wanted that reaction from the hotel!
Then, something strange happened.
He stopped touching me altogether and stood up. His eyes were glowing red, but he was standing there in a stoic manner, he then, walked upstairs and left the same way Vlad did, but instead of bats, he was jumping from building to building!
You will be MINE, not his.
That thought played in my head over and over and over! I got myself dressed as quickly as possible in a sweater and a skirt and followed Walter with speed that far surpassed his, catching up to him. "Walter? Please talk to me!" He wasn't listening! I could feel it now. Vlad was calling all of his blood back to him to sort them all as he said he would do! No, this was more than that. I could see even humans going to him and the energy draw spanned far beyond this city and all culminated near Bannerman Castle. This was like a nightmare! I could not stop this at all! Did he have such vast ability over blood that I could not hope to impede, let alone stop completely?
I had to leave Walter in efforts to try and stop this. Though I was not strong enough to lift my weapon yet, I had to at least try and confront Vlad!
My speed got me to Bannerman Castle quickly and once I got there, I could see the huge barrier surrounding the castle. A blood barrier it seemed. I smiled as I thought back to the jiangshi that made the same mistake with an ice enchantment on their blades and drew on the barrier's main ingredient. Once again, blood is fifty percent plasma and plasma is ninty percent water, give or take a percent or two! Water is what I had ineffable dominion over and I used that to break through a part of the barrier, letting myself into Dracula's stolen castle. Once inside, I was disgusted by all of the blood on the walls and dead bodies of those that tried to stop him. He made himself a makeshift throne room nearest to the entrance as the castle was built as a Scottish-style warehouse for military surplus business, not as a royal residence. I've been on a tour or two.
Once near his throne, he was surrounded by five dead bodies of what looked like Dracula's Heart cult members, ones that sacrificed themselves to allow Dracula to cast this horrid spell! The spell symbols were on the ground, keeping him behind a barrier as well. I broke through that barrier like I did with the one outside and as I did, Vlad awakened from the trance he was in and caught the right punch I threw at him. This, however, was not one of those corny movies that give the villain an unknown advantage. He may have caught my punch, but he did not see my foot that landed square on his jaw, causing him to bounce off of the ceiling of the castle, back to the floor, leaving a nasty blood splat where skull violently splintered wood. He lay there and either he was playing possum or he was actually hurt!
It was the former.
I didn't care if it was either, using my "Munakou Conquer" ability to keep him down. Still, he was strong enough to reach out and when he did, something stopped me from moving! He then got up, grinning at me, clashing against my ability and yet, standing with relative ease. "My queen, you are quite strong, as per usual, but I could feel the chaos and void within your energy. I spent much time in such a place filled with such aspects to not know that feeling well. How about I send you there? In fact, how about I send you and some cattle there to toil in sensory deprivation until I am ready to bring you back and see the world I've created? See that I was right all along!"
No! I had to get out of whatever had me unable to move! This was not hemokinesis. This was something else entirely, something made up of arcane energies that I could not place! This did not manipulate Munakou or Mithic Energy as nothing could do so except one of my kind, but these arcane energies surrounded me like an arcane barrier. Maybe I was wrong about him not having an advantage, though not an unknown advantage. This was experience in the arcane, experience that far surpassed my own!
A terrifying sound blast my eardrums behind me and soon, I could sense nothing at all---no, that was not true. I could feel chaos energies and darkness absorbing into me! That is all I felt as I could see, hear, touch, taste nor smell nothing. I heard Vlad say something before I was fully absorbed into this nothingness:
Abisul Întunericului.
I was not very familiar with that language... but in my native tongue, this would be called "Mouguru rai Dizukunaso" or "Place of Darkness".
Suddenly, I could hear sounds of screams! Screams that did not cease and were from many different people! I could hear my employees from the Valentian Distilleries, including Phil! I could hear Walter! How did Vlad know of them?! Was it the two Masters on his side that gave him the knowledge?! I have gravely underestimated this foe and he capitalized on my failures seemingly with ease!
Hours passed and I could still hear their screams. I fought to release myself from that stasis spell, to no effect.
I no longer knew how much time passed, yet the screams never ceased. I struggled against the stasis spell as did my morale and thanks to the properties of Munakou, the arcane energies that stopped me from moving finally disappeared as if a spell that ran it's course prematurely.
Still, the only sense allowed to me was hearing, just to hear the screams... horrible screams! This was torment beyond anything I could ever imagine. I cried uncontrollably from the pain of what I heard and felt through my empathic abilities. I had to fight this, go towards the screams I heard, but not now.
I had no constitution left.