by Arantes
Albedo jumped and came down with a punch, but before he could hit Aleister, he was gone, his body turned to white ashes. He teleported. It was clear he had no intention of going anywhere with this mad man. Albedo focused his eyes on the power of the Elder, but there was no sign of Aleister. I can’t sense him, did he teleport out of here? No one can escape from the power of the Elder. Aleister had teleported before Albedo could hit him. Suddenly he heard a loud laugh, he looked up at the ceiling; Aleister was there standing upside down. He can walk on walls? And why can’t I sense him with the Elder?
“Are you relying on that pathetic power called the Elder to sense me? You truly have lost your memories. Tell me something Albedo; can a king reach a God?”
Albedo was puzzled with that question as he watched Aleister standing upside down; he understood what Aleister meant but did not at the same time.
He responded in perplexity, “What so ever do you mean?”
“A king cannot reach a God!”
Aleister jumped from the ceiling, coming down fast towards Albedo, “Fire,” Albedo released flare from his hand, but Aleister disappeared and reappeared in front of Albedo while his hand shot the flares. Before Albedo’s fire had left his hand, Aleister had already teleported. Albedo’s eyes were quick enough to catch Aleister vanishing, but his body was to slow to react. This man was too fast. He caught Albedo with a lower punch, sending him to the other side of the room. His punches felt like being hit by iron, knocking the air out of him. Not even the Xs were this strong against when they hit him.
What? This is impossible. How can someone teleport and move that fast? The power of the Elder was useless; its sensing capability didn’t work on Aleister. He was too fast, much faster than Albedo was.
Albedo now lay on the ground feeling the pain.
Aleister guffawed loudly. “Dawson, earlier when you sensed my presence, it was similar to the power of the Elder. But you and I control a power much higher than you can imagine! Now won’t you join me so once again we can take our rightfully place in this world!”
Albedo responded, “What are you talking about? What power? And, why are you calling me Dawson?”
Aleister walked towards him.
Albedo’s hands were now lit up from his despair. The Elder had transformed. He was going to use the new-found power against Aleister. He got up quickly and hit Aleister with it. Aleister responded with his fist, not bothering to dodge his slow punch or use his Reawakening. Their fists met half way and Albedo could feel his left hand crack a little.
Aleister shook his head in disappointment. “How many times do I have to repeat myself Dawson? A king cannot reach a God; the power that you are hitting me with is useless.”
Albedo wondered how could a Pureblood who’s not using the Elder match his strength while he’s using the Elder’s full capacity.
Aleister said, “Are you wondering why you are still weak while you’re using the power of the Elder? It is because the Excitaret Quad needs blood for it to sustain its strength and capacity, just like your abilities lack luster without fulfilling your thirst. Without blood a Pureblood may as well be a mere powerless parched vampire, the same goes for the Elder.”
The last time he drank blood was when Sonia was there. He had remembered Sonia telling him that he needed to drink blood at least once a month. The power of the Elder had drained so much of his energy fighting the Xs. Regular food had given him some of his energy back, but blood was what the Elder lusted for.
Aleister grabbed Albedo’s left arm and threw him in the air and teleported. Aleister reappeared behind him while in mid-air and struck him to the ground. He was the fastest Pureblood that Albedo had ever met, even faster than Sonia, but that didn’t stop him from trying to fight back. The power of the Elder was now gone and once again he felt the dizziness.
“What’s the matter Dawson? You’re slow. A power is only as strong as its wielder and without blood, it cannot prosper properly.”
Aleister’s strength made his look like a toddler. All my training was for nothing, Albedo thought to himself. This man came out of nowhere and made him look feeble.
“Let me ask you a question, Albedo. Why do you want to stay here among these humans who hate our kind? Why not come with me instead, isn’t that your dream?”
Aleister was right, it was his dream to leave this place and explore the world.
“It doesn’t matter if they hate me or not Aleister, I will protect all of them!” said Albedo with determination. After the incident with the Xs and Vincent, he started to think maybe this is where he needed to be.
Aleister had a grim look on his face.
Albedo continued on, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a vampire or a human, if you need my help, then I’ll help you.”
Aleister started to laugh now, “Did you say to protect these humans! If it wasn’t for me they would have been extinct thousands of years ago!”
“What do you mean Aleister?”
“Don’t you remember, Dawson? If you don’t then you will just have to remember on your own.” With that, Aleister unleashed his ability. “WHITE FLAMES!!!”
Multiple fireballs were coming out of his right hand. The same one Angelione had to deal with; Albedo was too slow to dodge them all. These fireballs were different from his. Albedo’s fireballs are able to explode, but these felt different when they hit their target. As the white flames hit his body, he felt himself getting weaker.
Aleister teleported once more and grabbed Albedo by his neck and started punching him. That same sick look on his face reminded Albedo of Gregory. His mouth started dripping blood.
“So Albedo, let’s play a game! Let’s see how many punches you can handle in 10 seconds.” 2 punches, 5 punches, 10 punches, 20 punches; it was fast and impossible to dodge with his strong grip around Albedo’s neck. Aleister threw Albedo on the ground and said, “You’re weak, but there’s power inside of you and I’m going to beat it out of you! That last ability I used on you was nothing. The next time will burn.”
Albedo was taking a hard beating; he lay there, unable to fight back. The white flames that he hit me with, for some reason are making me weak. It drained my energy, I can’t use the Elder with this level of energy, but what does it matter anyway, it’s useless against him.
Aleister started taunting him, “Come on Dawson, or should I call you Albedo. You have to get serious now or I might actually kill you… hmm I know what will wake you up. That girl that you love so much, Sonia I believe was her name, your king sent her after me.” With that he grabbed Albedo’s attention. “You should have seen the look on her face when I killed her.”
Albedo’s rage was stronger after hearing what Aleister said. “YOU LIE!” he got up and his eyes started glowing! He felt a burst of energy rushing out of him, similar to the Elder. He looked at his hands with his glowing eyes and everything was shimmering light just like the vision of Elder sensing the colorless halo like hue around a person’s body.
Aleister looked content and quickly said, “White Flames!”
Albedo felt faster and stronger, he saw the white flames coming his way. Dodging it was much easier now, but Aleister still had the upper hand. With tears in his eyes, the thought of losing Sonia made him stronger.
“That’s it Dawson, feed on the hate to increase your power, she begged me not to kill her!” Aleister continued to push his rage to the limit. More Fire was ready to come out of Aleister’s left hand, but before he could use it against Albedo, he heard a voice, “Fire!” targeting him. He jumped in time before the blast of fire hit him. The fireball created an explosion and tremors the ground.
Albedo’s heart beat faster when he saw Sonia standing there. The tears were gone; the glow in his eyes disappeared before Sonia could see it. He looked at her in astonishment and joy. He had let Aleister trick him into believing she was dead. “Sonia, I thought you were dead,” said Albedo weeping, he wanted to cry again but Sonia’s face was solemn.
“Albedo! Fight w
ith me!”
He looked at her as if she was crazy.
“I said fight with me!”
His body was in bad shape, but he found the strength to get up. He was ready for round two. He hated the fact that Aleister made nothing of him.
Aleister stood on the other side smiling.
“Hey Sonia, who is this guy exactly?”
To Aleister’s surprise Albedo was back to his old self, just seeing her, the hate in his eyes was now gone.
“His name is Aleister; he’s wanted by all the Six High Kings. He’s one of the most wanted Purebloods in Nacune, he’s powerful and dangerous. There’s a big bounty on his head.”
A smile crept onto his Albedo’s face. “It doesn’t matter if he had a billion Gold on his head, because I’m going to make him pay. Do you hear me Aleister!?” His confidence was building back up; he was ready for another round. The excitement showed on his face. Sonia noticed how fearless he was against Aleister. Even after she’d told him how dangerous and powerful Aleister was.
Sonia’s fear of Aleister was fading, thanks to Albedo’s courage. She felt different now than when she encountered him with Angelione. She smiled and Aleister’s grip of fear started vanishing. “Wait Albedo! Before you go again; remember I told you to never take off your training gear? Take it off now!”
Sonia and Albedo used to train with training gear, which weighed hundreds of pounds. He took it off. She grabbed a flask of red liquid out of her back pocket and gave it to him. I bet he hadn’t been drinking his blood like I told him to!
Albedo sniffed the flask and began to ask her what it was as he shivered. When the smell entered his nostrils he immediately could tell that it was blood. He drank it and his body felt a burst of energy flowing through his veins. With the gear removed, his body felt less light, he felt like the cherry blossoms dancing with the wind. Thanks to the blood he felt stronger and faster. This time, using the power of the Elder will suffice.
Aleister on the side smiled and said quietly to himself, “He’s learning.”
Albedo cracked his knuckles and stretched his legs and arms. “Get ready Aleister.”
Aleister smiled, this fight excited him. “It’s been a long time since I had to use that gear myself for training.” He looked at Sonia and said, “Sonia, I see that you have returned. You made a mistake on coming here all by yourself. I see why you’re a member of the Black Reapers, you figured out who I was after and you came back as swift as you can. But I promise you, I will kill you this time.”
That caught Albedo’s attention with a smile, “no you won’t Aleister.”
Aleister teleported behind Albedo, there he swung for a punch but Albedo was now faster as he blocked it. His body had become twice as stronger and faster as the Elder floated through his arms. Sonia saw the light around Albedo’s hand and wondered when did he improve this much. Albedo had seen right through Aleister’s movement, which surprised Sonia. His speed was now equal to Aleister’s. As much as Sonia was surprised that Albedo was this fast, she remembered how hard it was for her and Angelione together to fight against Aleister.
Aleister said, “Well what do you know, you’re not as bad as I thought!” he had a smile on his face, like he was enjoying it. “Don’t get your hopes up yet.” He teleported again but this time coming from above of Albedo.
Albedo grabbed Aleister’s left hand this time as he struck from above. Aleister had made a mistake, allowing himself to get caught; no way he can teleport now. Albedo delivered a punch. Aleister felt the powerful blow, sending his body flying in midair. He landed on his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth.
When did he become so strong? He’s finally able to control it, thought Sonia. “Albedo please let me fight with you!” He looked back at her surprisingly. “Please, I have to redeem myself!”
Albedo had used all that Jarvis and Sonia had taught him. He was becoming smarter and better as a Pureblood. “C’mon, let’s finish this!”
Aleister got up with one last effort. “White Flames!”
“Albedo, be careful, if those hit you then you--” before she could finish Albedo released his flare. White Crimson Flame against Red Crimson Flame. As the flare clashed against each other the room lit up and a powerful wind started to blow. Thanks to the Elder Albedo’s Red Crimson Flame was able to go head to head with Aleister’s White Crimson Flame. Sonia stood and gasped in utter shock, wondering when he learned to use the power of the Elder to its fullest.
The lightning in his hands could only mean one thing, she thought, he was becoming the Elder’s master! He also possesses the Red Crimson Flame. Albedo, how strong are you becoming?
Albedo looked at her standing there and said, “Are you just going to stand there and watch? I know about his white flames already trust Me.” said Albedo in amusement.
Sonia stood next to him and released her fire. She used her flame as well, their flames combined as one. Albedo, when did you learn all this, when did you learn how to use my ability?
The clash of fire created a powerful explosion, smoke covered inside of the castle and their flames came to a halt.
As the smoke cleared, an evil smile appeared on Aleister’s face. “Good, Albedo! Your power is growing as expected!”
Sonia took out her daggers ready for him to use his teleportation. With Albedo on her side she was cockier than ever. Albedo’s newfound strength had taken Aleister’s grip off her heart. She even wondered why she was so afraid of him anyway? Albedo had no fear in his eyes for him, he was fearless.
“That won’t be necessary,” said Aleister. “If this fight continues, the two of you will turn into ashes.”
Albedo wondered what he meant by that. “Oh really, Aleister,” said Albedo inquisitively.
Aleister replied, “You noticed I didn’t use my transformation right? Just like you I possess one of the Excitaret Quad. I’m stronger than you and not to mention my Crimson White Flame is hotter than yours.”
“You’re bluffing.” said Albedo
Sonia put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s right Albedo. His flame is more powerful than ours. There are four types of fire abilities in this world known as the Crimson Flames. Blue is the strongest, then there’s the one he has, the white, green is the third strongest, and then last there’s ours, the red flames,” explained Sonia. Even if his fire is hotter than ours, we can still beat him.
“Albedo, the next time we meet I won’t be holding back my power.” Aleister’s body began to breakdown to white ashes and floated away.
“I’ll be looking forward to it,” said Albedo eagerly.
Half of Aleister’s body was gone and the only thing left was the right side of his body and face. Aleister said before he disappeared, “I’ll see you around, Dawson. Remember, a king can never reach a God. In the mean time Sonia, you’re doing a great job teaching him, but know this; I will come for him again!” Aleister was now gone.
Sonia stared at Albedo as he did the first time he’d met her. He had a smile of excitement on his face. He could have died, but did not care. It was as if he was enjoying the battle, just like Aleister was.
“That was only half of his strength, I can’t wait to fight him at a hundred percent one day,” said Albedo with joy on his face.
Sonia continued to gaze at him, surprised at how much he had changed over such a short time. “I only left for a week or two, and look how much your power has grown.” said Sonia.
Albedo didn’t care about his power or abilities; he grabbed Sonia and gave her a hug, he was happy to see her. She hugged him back, and as they hugged under the red moon, they both felt harmonious. Whenever he was around her, his world was at peace. Nothing mattered to him.
“Ok, ---you---can let go now.” “It’s nice to see you too,” she said with a smile as he suffocated her.
He started to blush. “Sorry didn’t mean to hug you that long.”
Deep inside of her, she knew she was starting to feel for him what he felt for her. Everything Aleister had
told him a few minutes ago was all irrelevant to him.
Chapter 13
Enter Dante
The king had asked Dante and Axil to go back to Inferno for a while. In the mean time Sonia had left Albedo after a long battle against Aleister and went back to the castle to report to the King. Dante and Axil now makes their way to Albedo’s house.
“I can’t believe we have to go babysitting. When are we going to go on a mission?” said Axil annoyed. Small veins appeared on his forehead, he wanted to test his strength against a formidable opponent.
Dante noticed the vein and looked away quickly. All this stress will make Axil an old man one day. “We’ll get our chance one day. In the mean time; let’s enjoy the fact that we don’t have to train with Master Angelione. His training routines are brutal; the guy has no compassion for the body.”
“I don’t understand why we have to be his body guard,” said Axil angrily. They passed by the cherry blossoms. Axil not even concerned with how beautiful or how good it smelled.
“Don’t you remember what Sonia told us? Some powerful guy is after him.”
Axil was not very happy about the fact that he had to be Albedo’s bodyguard. A Pureblood of his caliber should be a Black Reaper by now, not a bodyguard or an apprentice. Dante on the other hand, loved the idea. He was known for being a bit lazy, so a job that meant he could sit and do nothing was perfect!
“Think of it as vacation for all the hard training we’ve been doing. Let’s face it, my beautiful face can use it,” said Dante as he smoothed his skin with his hand. Dante was also known for been a good looking fellow according to the ladies. Women old and young could not keep their hands off him; he wasn’t too fond of the idea of fighting all the time. Once he’d joined the Army, they soon realized he wasn’t average. He was quickly asked to train with Angelione in hope of one day becoming a Black Reaper. The King had seen potential in him. After years of training and shaping his skills, his ability to control ice was outstanding. His speed and strength surpassed most of King Victor’s Purebloods.