by Arantes
Life was not always easy and relaxing for Dante, he was born on a farm close to Inferno. His family was proud farmers. Each morning, Dante would get up and go feed the animals. He hated that life, but thought there was nothing out there for him. At eight years old, he started showing signs of his ability, just like his brother, Adam.
Adam had been training his whole life, in the hopes of one day pursuing his dream of becoming one of King Victor’s warriors. However, Adam was born with a disease, when he used his abilities; it took a toll on his health. Adam quickly noticed Dante’s ice ability surfacing at an early age and wanted to train him. Their parents, who are Purebloods, were not born with any ability. Their grandfather however was a great ice wielder, a great warrior who served under King Victor’s father.
One night Dante was asleep as Adam walked into his room and said, “Hey little brother, I have something to show you.” Adam took Dante to the lake; there he put his hand in the water, turning it into ice. “Impressive, huh little Brother? I can freeze any liquid that I touch.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!” said young Dante. “You are going to be a great warrior like grandpa.”
Adam laughed. “That’s nothing. Grandpa was able to create ice with no water, and one day you will do it too.”
Soon enough Adam started to teach Dante how to control his ability; he knew he could not be the warrior his grandfather was, but thought Dante could. With his training, he could turn Dante into a powerful force.
Two weeks passed since that day and Dante and his brother sat on the grass and gazed at the moon.
“Hey Dante, look at the moon, see how beautiful it is. One day, if you work hard, you might become a Black Reaper,” said Adam.
Young Dante looked at his brother and said, “Was grandpa a Black Reaper too?”
“Yes he was. He was even an acquaintance of Dragan; the most powerful Pureblood the organization had ever emitted.”
Dante loved his brother, but he did not care about his ability, or the training. He was just happy he had a means of getting closer to his brother. However, their parents were not happy about Adam’s decisions to train Dante.
“You will not use my son to fulfill your ambitious dream Adam!” said his father angrily.
“Why can’t you understand, I’m doing this for him. Do you want Dante to be a farmer for the rest of your life?” said Adam.
“What’s wrong with being a farmer, son?” replied his father.
Adam wanted more out of life for himself and Dante than to be a farmer’s son. He had tried to join King Victor’s army, but was told no because of his condition. They told him if he continued to use his ability, he would die. “Look father, Dante has the potential to put our family’s name back where it belongs; alongside one of the greatest Kings this land has ever seen, just like grandpa did.”
Dante was secretly listening to the argument.
As Adam continued to get angry, his chest started to hurt and blood dripped from his mouth. He noticed he was bleeding. The stress was too much for his weak heart as his chest started to hurt him. Dante quickly rushed in and they took him to his room to rest.
“Now do you see, son? Do you see what your ambition is doing to you? If you continue like this, you won’t make it five years. Your heart was not meant to take this type of stress.”
His parents had made him swear not to continue to train Dante, or use his ability ever again. He was told if he stopped using his ability, he could live for at least five years. But to a Pureblood, five years is a hoax.
A couple days passed and Dante’s father sat at the table with him, hoping he could enlighten Dante more on Adams’s situation. Dante knew what was going on, but he was still a child. “Hey father, how come you don’t have ability like me and Adam, you could’ve been a Black Reaper?”
His father answered, “Not all Purebloods are born with abilities Dante, remember that. And besides, to tell you the truth son, even if I did I don’t think I want to be a Black Reaper like father was. Sometimes I would rarely see him. He was always going to foreign lands on missions. When I was lucky I got to see him once a month.”
This had Dante thinking, he was glad his father was a farmer and thought it wasn’t so bad.
“As sad as I was Dante, I was very happy. Thanks to his efforts he was keeping us safe, along side of one of the most powerful Purebloods, Dragan and Cecelia,” said his father with pride and admiration.
The next day their parents were gone and Adam was making dinner. Besides his mother, Adam was the best chef in the house. Dante helped him chop the potatoes and onions; cooking with his brother was always fun.
“Hey big brother is it true that you’re going to die if you continue using your ability?” asked Dante with sorrow in his eyes.
Adam didn’t know how to answer. “I’m not going to die Dante; it’s just a lie to keep me away from building our family’s name again.”
Even though Adam had promised his parents he would not continue to use his ability, nor train Dante, he broke his promise and continued to secretively. Fourth years had passed since then. Dante was becoming stronger, and Adam was slowly becoming weaker.
As Dante grew, he started to understand life more and more, he became more aware of Purebloods, humans and vampires. On Dante’s twelfth birthday, his mother had thrown him a party. Dante couldn’t be happier, right up to the point where his brother fainted at the table.
“Adam, wake up, Adam!” Adam was taken to his room with Dante and his parents by his side. They could see it in his eyes, the end was near.
“Hey little brother, don’t worry about me, I’m alright,” said Adam. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. At early dawn in the morning he woke Dante up and took him to the forest to teach him one last thing before he died. Adam knew this was the end for him and he was running out of time. “Attack me Dante, and prove to me all my days of training have paid off.” Adam wanted to fight Dante, for one final test.
“No brother, you’ve done enough. You need to rest or you…” Tears started to fall from Dante’s eyes.
Adam attacked him. “If you don’t fight back, I will hurt you Dante.”
But Dante refused to fight back. All he could do was dodge and block.
“Dante please, I beg of you! This is my last request! As your brother and your master, we both know it’s over for me; let me die doing what I love to do.” Blood was pouring from Adam’s nose, the end had come for him, and fighting was his last wish.
Dante wiped the tears from his eyes. If this was his brother’s last wish, the least he could do is deliver it to him. As the fight got started, both ran towards each other, but before Adam could get there, his body gave up. He fell.
“Brother, I’ve got you, you’re fine now!” Dante held him and started crying.
“Don’t cry little bro, training you was the happiest time of my life. If this is the end for me, then I gladly accept it.”
“I can’t do it without you Adam, I’m not as strong as you are!” said Dante.
Adam smiled, “You are stronger than I could ever be Dante. You have been blessed with an outstanding ability. Use it to protect the King and this land.” Adam stared at the red moon, his hand on Dante’s face. Slowly his eyes were closing. His hand fell. Adam died that night in Dante’s arms.
A funeral was held to honor Adam. Dante had made up his mind to join the king’s army. His parents were not happy about his decision. The king had shown up to show his respect. Two weeks later, Dante joined King Victor’s army, and two days later he was quickly promoted to train with Angelione as his apprentice by the king alongside a newcomer named Axil. King Victor had recognized his strength and remembered how powerful his grandfather was. Dante had been blessed with an outstanding ability. He had not forgotten what his brother had taught him; to protect the King.
Chapter 14
Enter Axil
Dante and Axil arrived at Albedo’s house. His father welcomed them and told them he was in his room.
&
nbsp; “You look familiar, you know,” said Dante as he stared at Albedo’s father.
Joshua laughed. “I just have one of those faces. You must be Albedo’s friends.”
Dante stared at Joshua as if he had seen the man before, but where?
“Dante, Axil, Welcome, come on up.” said Albedo with excitement as he came downstairs.
Sonia had let Albedo know Dante and Axil would need to stay with him for a few days for safety. Albedo agreed with Sonia and hurried to request from his father that they stay for a while. His father reluctantly agreed. They walked into Albedo’s room and Dante already hated the house. He was so use to living in a castle with beautiful servants serving him. He hated the candles lighting up the room; he was used to electricity. He was used to switching of the light switch instead of blowing out a candle. Axil however hated it all; he could careless not being in the castle. He wanted desperately to show his strength.
Dante sighed and said, “You do realize you don’t have electricity right?”
Albedo was lost then he realized Sonia had told him about light bulbs. “Are you talking about those glass things with wires and stuff?”
Dante started to laugh, he had never heard of anyone saying they have never seen a light bulb. “We’ve got to get you out this house, you seriously never seen a light bulb,” he continued to laugh.
Albedo wondered what was so special about them, candles worked just fine to him.
Dante stopped laughing and said, “If you’re going to be hanging out with us there’s a lot I have to teach you.”
Axil stood by the window and stared into the vast forest of trees.
“So tell me Albedo, what kind of ability do you have?” asked Dante.
Albedo blew out the candle and lit it back up with his fire. He used it carefully around his hand and the room illuminated.
He has the Crimson Flame ability, thought Axil and Dante.
Dante took his cup, which was filled with water and froze it. It always excited Albedo to see a new ability. To him it was a teaching process. He looked at Axil who stood there quietly and wondered what kind of ability he had. Dante and Albedo seemed to be becoming friends very fast. Axil on the other hand, had a frown on his face, as usual. Albedo wondered why he always looked so unhappy. Was he trying to be cool or was it something deeper than that.
“Don’t worry about him, it took five years for him to talk to me,” said Dante noticing Albedo looking at Axil. “So, why do you think Aleister is so interested in you? Do you have some sort of special ability that the rest of us don’t know about?” Last time I checked they said Aleister was one of The Kings of Awakenings.
“Not that I know of,” replied Albedo. That guy was so powerful. His stomach felt queasy talking about Aleister. “Hey Dante, have you ever heard of the Crimson Flames?”
“Why do you want to know of such a thing?” asked Axil surprisingly.
Albedo noticed how his expression hadn’t changed.
“Well I’ve heard a couple details from master Angelione. Let’s see, he did say something about them having different color. The Crimson Flames are an ability out of this world, imagine an ability with abilities,” explained Dante.
Albedo had remembered his energy being drained after getting hit with the white flames. “A strong Pureblood possesses two or three unique abilities if they are lucky enough to
be blessed with. But the Crimson Flames blessed its users with different types of abilities. But to tell you the truth, the major differences between them is that one is hotter than the other one.”
After Dante and Albedo had a long talk, that night he and Axil slept in the extra rooms. The next day, Albedo’s mother asked them to go to the market and buy her some groceries. Dante looked at Albedo’s mother and wished he knew where he recognized her from also. After a while he gave up and said to himself it was giving him a headache.
They made their way into the market. Albedo hoped the people would forget what happened when Jarvis was training him.
“Wow, this place is so different to what I’m used to,” said Dante.
Albedo laughed lightly. “You’ve never been to a market before?”
“I have, this one is just different that’s all. In the capital people move faster when they’re buying. Here, it’s a different story; everyone is in slow motion if you ask me. I suppose that’s how humans move, slow and calm,” said Dante sarcastically.
“This place is horrible,” said Axil.
O, so he is capable of a conversation, thought Albedo. “You could at least wait until I’m gone before moaning how much you hate this place.” said Albedo jokingly. As they walked, a woman came up unexpectedly and grabbed Albedo and covered his eyes.
“Guest who?!”
“Natalia!” he guessed.
She laughed and was pleased to see him again. “How did you guess so fast? You must have people reading ability.”
Albedo laughed with a hand over his head. “No, it’s just that you smell very nice.” She did have an outstanding smell that Albedo love.
She noticed his friends and wondered if they were Purebloods, because they sure look like it.
Dante, who thought she was beautiful, quietly asked Albedo, “Hey buddy, how did you meet a beautiful girl like that?”
“I can hear you. If you must know, he grabbed my butt in our first encounter,” said Natalia.
“You did what?! That’s no way to treat a lady, you know.” Dante and Axil were infatuated and a bit jealous.
“Wait guys, it’s not what it sounds like. It was an accident, right Natalia?”
“I don’t know, Albedo. Was it?” she smiled. “Leave him alone boys, he didn’t mean to do it, but he knows what’s going too happened if it happens again.”
Albedo touched his cheek; he remembered the pain when Natalia slapped him.
While they were talking they could hear a scream for help. “Help, someone just stole from me!” shouted one of the market traders.
A man had stolen a bag full of food. Axil and Albedo quickly ran after the thief, which only took them a few second to catch up. As strong as Axil looked, he was just as fast
Axil caught up to him first and grabbed him with force. “Got you!” As he was about to hit the thief, Albedo quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.
He’s very strong, Albedo thought to himself.
Axil’s arm felt like steel, each arm could crush a mountain with a punch.
“He stole what’s not his, this is his punishment!” said Axil with anger on his face.
Albedo had extra gold in his pocket; he gave it to the thief and told him to pay for what he stole. Axil was furious with Albedo and grabbed him by his shirt. Dante and Natalia came to the scene while Axil started to speak. “Why did you let him go? We had him and you rewarded him for his criminal act!”
Albedo looked at Axil, face to face, and smiled. “He was hungry, so I fed him.”
Those words, thought Axil. He let go of Albedo, he was stunned. He was not expecting such an answer. “What did you say?”
Just when Albedo had stopped surprising Natalia, here he was again. “Are you guys alright?” Asked Natalia.
“Hey Axil, you ok?” asked Dante.
Axil was still stunned at Albedo’s kindness. “Did you hear his answer? ‘He was hungry, so I fed him.’” Albedo had somehow reminded Axil something he forgot. Someone once said that to me when I was much younger, I never thought anything of it, but now I understand the meaning.
Natalia smiled at their bravery. She had the most stunning smile Axil had ever seen. After a few minutes passed Natalia took them to a local restaurant. Natalia was happy to see him and meet his new friends. The smell of the fish had attracted them. Albedo had never eaten there before and now he wanted to everyday.
Axil had his eyes on Natalia. She’s stunning, but she’s a human and I’m a Pureblood. It wasn’t forbidden for a human to love a Pureblood, but others would find it strange. It wouldn’t work out, he thought to himself,
besides he had no time for love.
“This is really delicious, I want another one,” said Dante. He gave Albedo an eye, saying Axil had a thing for Natalia. Dante knew Axil was a bit shy when it came to women, especially beautiful ones. He couldn’t care less that she was a human, beautiful ladies to him were beautiful ladies.
“So do you come here often,” Albedo asked her.
“Whenever I have time, which is rarely,” said Natalia.
Albedo and Dante continued to give Axil hints to talk to her, but he was just too shy to do so.
“So do you guys leave around here?” asked Natalia curiously.
All three looked at each other, Albedo responded. “I live up the mountain.”
“So you must be Joshua’s son,” said Natalia. She knows because Joshua was the only one with his family who were brave enough to live there.
After a long fun get-together with Natalia, the three went home so Albedo’s mom could prepare the food.
“Did you have any trouble at the market boys?” she asked.
“No trouble at all,” said Albedo.
His mother cooked their meal and they all came to eat. Albedo never had brothers before; in fact he never had any true friends either. He always felt no one understood him, but now he’d found some that understood him just fine. They were his fantasy come true sort of. He had always admired vampires and Purebloods and now he was associated with them, not to mention he was one of them.
“Thank you for the food, it was delicious,” said Dante, Axil and Albedo.
“You boys are welcome. Don’t forget that you helped make it.”
Axil was starting to warm up to Albedo, which surprised Dante. It took Albedo just a few hours to befriend Axil, when it had taken him ages between Axil and himself. Underneath he was happy that Axil was letting his guard down. It seemed that Albedo had that ability, an ability that couldn’t be learned, but something inside of him.