Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods

by Arantes

Sonia and Albedo walked in the throne room to find the King and Angelione there. It wasn’t until ten or twenty minutes had passed that Dante and Axil showed up. Axil and Dante did not know the reason King Victor wanted Aleister so much, other kings had given up on finding him. They were still the only ones in the shadows of Albedo’s true identity. It wasn’t that Axil and Dante weren’t trust worthy, it was how they would treat their friend after finding out his past.

  “Good, you’re all here.” The King looked anxious today. “The man you are going after is none other than Aleister, one of the Kings of Awakening.” He paused before he continued, “Let me remind you that he is very powerful, and very smart, so don’t fight him by yourself. Aleister had been spotted in a small kingdom known as Conalian, ruled by Queen Matilda.”

  Angelione was not convinced Aleister was spotted by accident. He believed this was his plan to bring Albedo to him; this was a sign that he was ready for what was to come next. “My lord, this could be another one of his traps to bring Albedo to him.”

  Albedo looked at Angelione and said, “I’ll be ready for him this time.”

  Axil and Dante looked at each other, they had asked Angelione why Aleister was after

  Albedo so much, but he simply said it was confidential. They had asked Albedo, but he

  said that he didn’t know.

  “Is it really a good idea to send Albedo with us on this mission?” said a concerned Angelione.

  “I have thought about that. Sooner or later he will come for Albedo, so let’s go to him. If Aleister is sending us an invitation, then let’s not make him wait any longer.”

  “He’s not going to be by himself, master Angelione, we’re here too you know,” said Dante. “If Aleister is after our friend for some reason, then we’re going to help him fight.”

  Sonia looked at the two with joy. “Is this what the two of you have decided?” Even though they don’t know what’s going on, they’re still willing to protect their friend.

  They nodded yes.

  “The Queen of Conalian will be expecting you.” With his sword he gave them his permission.

  “Everyone ready?” asked Sonia.

  “Ready,” they all answered. Their biggest mission had begun.

  ***

  Absolute walked the dark hallway holding a candle in his hand. Today he was sent a letter from L himself that the Society was ready to see him. The hallway was narrow and dark, and he had been walking for at least five minutes now, he wondered if he was going in a circle. There was no end to this damn hallway. How long had he been walking behind L? The dark made it hard to see. Absolute wasn’t the bit scared at all; in fact he enjoyed the dark. There was something about not being able to see that thrilled him. But somehow this darkness felt different, it was eccentric and ominous in a way. It felt as if the shadows were watching him, every step and move he made. L was a couple feet away from him. He was only able to see a faint shadow of him. Absolute’s light didn’t reached L’s body; the faster Absolute moved the faster L moved, somehow not wanting the light to reach him. Strange, he thought. Since he had been walking behind L, he noticed the man had not said a word to him. As he continued to walk he noticed something odd about this shadow. Whenever his light illuminated his area around his body, it’s as if the shadows ran away in fear from his light, as if it was alive. Really strange.

  He stopped worrying about the shadows strange behavior and focused on L’s neck. Absolute licked his fangs a few times. L’s neck looked tasty in his eyes; he imagined what it would feel like to drink his blood. He had wanted to since they had first met.

  Absolute was a bit thirsty and he could no longer help it! He must bite this man! But he knew he had to do it with caution and he must do it hastily. L was strong and fast, Absolute knew that for a fact. Absolute’s arm may have healed from their last encounter, but he could easily do it again. Today L had to die and Absolute had to be the man to kill him. Too much waiting and anticipation could get him killed. He launched himself at L, his fangs aiming for his neck, like a snake launching itself at its prey. When his fangs reached L, they passed right through L’s neck. His whole body passed through him as if he had walked through air. Absolute was startled, wondering what just happen, when he looked back, L’s body slowly disappeared like a shadow. Absolute was left standing in the hallway alone with the candle in his hand. So, I was right, this must be some kind of ability of his. A big laugh came from his mouth, “That was very deceitful of you!”

  L showed himself behind Absolute. “So you figured out this darkness is an illusion created by an ability?”

  “So, am I to assume this is your ability?” This ability fascinates me.

  L started to laugh, “Perhaps.” I said, it’s an ability, I’ve never said it was my ability.

  “This ability of darkness is very interesting,” said Absolute. “But I’m guessing that this was some kind of test. If I had failed that is, you would have killed me.”

  L was impressed, Absolute had figured out this illusion of darkness. All along he was following an illusion, while the real L walked behind him ready to kill him. This was a cruel test by the Society.

  “We needed to know if you truly were one of us. To be a member of the Society, you must be courageous, you must possess an intellectual mind, and of course you must be strong.” L came closer to him, the real L. “My associates and I are very skeptical in choosing our next member.”

  This was a simple but dangerous test, “And how many members are there?” asked Absolute.

  “Join us and find out.” L touched the wall of darkness and a door appeared out of nowhere.

  Absolute wondered if the door was there all along, censored by the shadows, or maybe some sort of portal perhaps. He needed to find out about this ability, it intrigued him.

  L slowly opened the door, which made a squeaky noise. Absolute was in with no hesitation, he was a bold man. He stepped inside the room, the door behind him disappeared like the fake L had. L told him his candle wasn’t needed anymore. Inside was as dark as the hallway. Light streamed in through a small window, casting eerie shadows on the walls. For some reason Absolute felt a bit edgy, it wasn’t that he was scared. The man felt like something was sucking something out of him, but what? He looked down at his shadow and saw it wasn’t moving in synced with him. He looked around and could scarcely see two more people in the room. One was sitting on the left side of the room in a big chair, and the other sitting on the right side of the room also in a big chair. The small light from the window illuminated the center of the room only.

  “Are you nervous?” asked L inquisitively.

  “If you’re hoping for me to be afraid of this darkness, then you are surely mistaken,” said Absolute casually.

  L gave a faint laugh. “C’mon, let me introduce you.” He led Absolute to the member sitting on the left side. “This is D. D, this is our new member, Absolute,” said L.

  Absolute observed D carefully. D had on a black cloak, and as the hood covered his face, it was surrounded by darkness. This shadow that concealed his face, he must be the one with the ability. He followed L to meet the one on the right side of the room. He knew right from the bat this was a female member. Her leg crossed over the other one with her arms resting on them. She had on a white cloak and a purple mask with the symbol V on the left side. Must be her name, he thought. They all had mysterious names; V, D, and L. V also had long purple hair that rested to her back. Absolute stared at her. He wondered if all the members were this mysterious. “Well how do you do beautiful?”

  She said nothing.

  “Don’t mind her, she doesn’t talk very much.” The girl barely looked at Absolute until L put a hand over her shoulder.

  “Enough with this, we’re not here to look at how beautiful she looks!” said D with a hateful voice.

  L gave him a fearful look. D snorted and looked the other way. He of course knew not to make L angry, he looked like a monster, body wise that is.

  Absolute l
ooked at V and said, “So does ‘V’ mean anything?”

  The girl wanted him to stop bothering her. “V. It’s for Violet,” her voice sounded dull, as if she was a puppet in a way.

  Her name spins around Absolute’s head. “Violet! What a delightful name,” said Absolute with a thrilled face.

  “That will be enough. We must go and get started,” said L.

  Absolute looked confused. “Go where exactly?”

  L looked over D and nodded his head to him. D got up from his seat.

  “Your ceremony is about to begin, you are planning on becoming one of us right?”

  Absolute nodded his head and D walked closer to the wall behind him now. Absolute’s eyes followed as Violet followed D. Absolute now started to hear the shadows making noise again, sort of a squeaking sound. The shadows around the room started coming into one place as D touched the wall. The shadows started to spin in a circle guided by D’S hand.

  What is he doing? Thought Absolute.

  Violet walked through the spinning shadow, and then she was gone.

  “Impressive, huh? Our friend here can create a portal out of shadows,” said L.

  Absolute licked his lips in excitement. Yes, very.

  L now walked through the portal, leaving D and Absolute to walk in last. Absolute made his way now to walk in.

  D looked at him and could see his thrilling face. “Now now, what’s with that look?”

  Absolute gave him a chilled laugh, “That ability of yours is marvelous!” He put a hand on his chin and said, “I wonder what would happen if I killed you right now?”

  D gave him the same laugh, “Well I don’t know how about we find out?”

  Both men were hungry for blood as they locked looks at each other, and there would be no one to interrupt them.

  “But as much as I want to kill you, I don’t think L will find it in him to forgive me. You see, our master wants you in our Society, not me, nor he, not even that witch they call V,” said D with an odious tone against V.

  “I must be pretty special for your master to send for me. Well then, I’ll see you on the other side,” Absolute walked through the portal and disappeared.

  “Yes we shall.”

  ***

  TheBlack Reapers have been traveling on their horses almost all day now. Conalian was located between Atnius and Odeon, a small kingdom that used to thrive a long time ago. Back in its old days, it was known for its agriculture, providing food sometimes to its neighboring Kingdoms. Now the Kingdom had died and lost its credibility. Now it was no longer able to produce food to keep its relationships strong amongst other kingdoms.

  They rode in the woods and their horses made the ground tremble. Dante looked at his friend and wondered how he was doing. “Hey Axil, are you nervous? I know this land is where you were born?”

  Axil maneuvered his horse, avoiding crashing into a tree while looking at Dante. “No, I’m not.” This land, this is the land that raised me and turned me into Axil. This was the place that master Angelione had found me and brought me to Atnius, to serve one of the greatest Kings this world has to offer.

  Behind Axil was Albedo sitting behind Sonia on her horse. He thought that Albedo needed to learn how to ride a horse one day. A true Black Reaper possesses many skills. After an hour or two, Axil looked ahead and could see the gate and the castle, for some reason something felt different.

  Angelione gave Axil a nod saying they needed to go ahead first. Angelione, wanted to avoid the last accident. They arrived at Conalian Kingdom, there the guards were at the gate and they came to a halt. Angelione took off his red mask and said, “We’re the Black Reapers, and we---“

  “We know who you are, please come in,” said one of the guards, cutting Angelione off.

  Sonia thought about how different the reception was, having visited King Henry, where the guards had attacked her at the front gate. Henry of course was a High King, which meant that he had thousands of guards guarding his gate and cities. As soon as the gate to the kingdom was opened, a massive air of fog went by them.

  “I’ve never seen this much fog before,” said Albedo.

  “Me neither, and I grew up here,” said Axil. What’s going on, this is strange.

  They were barely able to see the street and the houses. One of the guards ensured them that the fog will clear up in the morning. They made their way through the bridge and headed for the castle. This bridge was old and rusty; it felt as if it was going to fall apart.

  What happened to this great city? Thought Axil.

  “Right, this way, her majesty is waiting for you.”

  They made it inside her throne; the castle was a bit old. They could see the dust when the gate was lowered. Spiders made it its home and left their webs as their marks. They made it inside the throne room where the Queen was sitting on her throne. She had gray hair that sat on her neck, her body looked frail. She must be at least four thousand years old.

  Queen Matilda looked at the five and said, “Welcome, I hope you had a good trip.” She gave a smile that felt deviant.

  “Thank you for allowing us to help,” said Angelione. Any opportunity to go after Aleister he was going to take it.

  They all introduced themselves to the queen. Sonia and the others let Angelione do all the talking, but all they wanted to hear - especially Albedo - where Aleister was.

  The queen wanting to get straight to business said, “Let’s get this started. A few months ago Aleister was spotted in a small town outside from here. When my men got there, at least two hundred men were dead. Those men include a bandit name Alvin, wanted for stealing and murder. Aleister also had managed to kill his brother, Johnny who once was an assassin.” I don’t think they need to know he was my assassin who went rouge, so in a way I should be thanking Aleister. “After that he had disappeared and no one had spotted him since, until recently he showed himself back, this time in my city.” The queen did not look too happy about Aleister coming into her city.

  A warrior walked inside the throne room. He was about the same age as Albedo, same height as Axil, with deep black eyes and black hair. He walked over to the queen and she introduced him, “This is Drake, he will assist you in the pursuit of finding Aleister.”

  There was something about Drake that disturbed Albedo, so he decided to use his Elder, when he did he could feel evil within him. That guy has an evil aura. He tried to sense the Queen but I couldn’t. He though, she is the queen maybe she has the Elder also.

  “What happened to this land? What happened to the noble family?” Axil avoided telling her his last name.

  The queen looked at him and started to laugh, “Look around you! Don’t you see the fog outside of my castle? With it came its curse. Our land has been dried out, no longer able to produce food. And as far as the noble family, what did you expect was going to happen to them. They all got up and left this land, they sucked this land dry and made their gold, but the minute this land could no longer produce they all vanished.”

  Axil didn’t really care what happened to his old family really, he was just curious. Why am I not surprised they got up and left. They only know gold and power.

  “My servants will show you to your room, anything you need, don’t be shy to ask.” The queen had no love for the noble family; they had left her to rot by herself. She watched as the five were being escorted to their room. Albedo caught her attention, she stared at him. There was something about Albedo that was… unexplainable, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Drake, keep your eye on the one they call Albedo. There’s just something different about him.”

  ***

  Dmitri followed Aleister inside an old house, just outside of the queen’s castle. He could see Aleister was moving forward with his plan. He had sent for Albedo and the King foolishly had delivered him to him. Albedo, how much he hated Albedo. He could remember Albedo using his Elder to kill his clones; the Xs. Aleister had sent him there just like he had sent Vincent to fight against Albedo to make him
stronger. Dmitri however, had ordered his clones to kill Albedo instead, not wanting another Kings of Awakening to become too powerful. That day Albedo had made a fool out of him, showing him how feeble he was compared to an Excitaret Quad’s power. His loyalty for Aleister was slowly ebbing away. Aleister would probably kill him when he’s done using him. The thought was on his mind every second. I can’t allow him to become too powerful, not him nor Albedo. Albedo has yet to learn the true power of the Reawakening. Even Aleister himself hasn’t mastered its full potential. If this is so, then I have a chance of killing him.

  “Master Aleister, he’s here, they arrived not too long ago,” said Dmitri.

  Aleister looked back at him, but of course he had already known they had arrived. The time has come. I can feel the others; the seal is slowly breaking away piece by piece. Soon, just soon we will rise once again. Aleister had a smile on his face. Can you feel it Albedo? The power calling out to us, our brothers are anxious to awaken!”

  Dmitri was running out of time, he had planned to kill Aleister before the others could awaken. Waiting for the right opportunity; waiting for Aleister to let his guard down. When Aleister dies, Albedo will be easy to deal with; he could go after him next. And then wait for the others; at that point they won’t put up much of a fight against him. Dmitri had noticed over the years that Aleister was having a hard time controlling the Reawakening. He may have been able to control it in the pass life, but somehow Aleister wasn’t utilizing it properly. Was this some kind of an effect? Could the seal have somehow locked away his true strength? He had decided to go through with this plan, prowling in the shadows, and waiting for Aleister to make a mistake so he could take his chance and strike him. This was a plan he had been making for many years. He had wanted to include Vincent to help him do it, but that buffoon was so loyal to Aleister that the very thought would had insulted him.

  ***

  Albedo could hear the voice calling out to him, for Dawson to awaken. The closer he was to Aleister, the more frequently he could hear it. The nightmares had continued, he knew this was Aleister calling out to him. He woke up quickly. “I need some air,” he said and went outside. He wanted to go up on the top of the castle, but decided it wasn’t such a good idea since this wasn’t Victor’s castle. Sonia and the other’s rooms were a couple doors down from his. He stepped outside of the castle and headed for the bridge, a night of walking was what he needed. The guards guarding the castle paid no attention to him; he was a grown man after all. If he needed to go outside at nighttime then that was his damn business. The bridge was foggy, but vividly he could still see the moon. Staring at the moon always eased him whenever he had those dreams. He closed his eyes to feel the wind pass through his hands, his hair, on his face… and then the mood changed. He could feel Aleister’s presence; his heart began to beat again, a burning feeling inside of his stomach. This was not the Elder’s sensing; it was the Reawakening.