I DO NOT OWN EMINENCE IN SHADOW, HOWEVER I DO OWN ANY OF THE ARTS SHOWN IN THESE FICS.
Viewer Discretion : This Special 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.
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Special Chapter 7 : The Shadows (1.5/3)
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Rando gasped for breath, his stamina abruptly reaching its limit as he leaned on a brick wall for support.
G-Good news.. He managed to lure Remidio Brandoquinn to where his parents would be.. A plaza full of stores and stalls, you could even call it a mall due to the size of it.
Moreover, there was a line of carriages on one corner. Probably the transportation used to travel from the port to the main city/town of Okeanos. There he saw his parents alongside that creepy guy talking to some people, probably business-related.
They'll probably use these carriages to travel to wherever they're going to do their work.
"Hehehe..." A low giggle came from directly behind him, causing him to freeze up.
Welp.. That's the bad news to his good news, Remilya had managed to catch up to him.
Heh, at least he could proudly say that despite her superior physical abilities, she was easy to juke. Allowing him to get to the plaza while avoiding her. But it seems this is far as he goes.
"WATAH!" Remilya's hands shot towards his sides to shock him.
"GUH!" Obviously, like anyone else if they were suddenly tickled by their sides, they would flinch. And so he did.
Rando jumped backwards and snapped at Remilya. "Could you NOT do that?!"
"Oops, sorry." She shrugged, before she finally realized where they were. "Whoa! This place looks amazing!"
"Yeah yeah, you would have noticed that we left the port way earlier if you weren't so focused on shanking me with a toy knife." Rando said while rubbing his sides.
"Also we've wasted enough time, we should go to mother and the others."
"The others..? Oh crap!"
"You just remembered we only came here to accompany my father and NOT play, did you.." Rando Deadpanned, his expression just as flat.
She blushed, embarrassed by that. "S-Shut up, we should go to them now or else they could leave us here!" She started jogging to where his mother was.
"You're the one who got carried away and started zooming across the port, then started chasing me for what seems to be one of your stupid shenanigans again." He quipped, jogging beside her.
"Shaddap."
When they got close enough, Lelaine hastily approached them and leaned down, seeing their exhausted forms – Mostly him, he's never seen Remilya sweat or be exhausted before – And frowned.
"What have you two been doing?"
"Uhhh.." Remilya raised a finger to say something but was beaten to it by Rando.
"I had to babysit again to someone two years my junior." Rando answered with an annoyed expression.
"Shaddap." Remilya quipped, pouting at him.
"No-..?" Rando stopped whatever he was going to say when he saw his mother visibly relax, before she had been unbelievably tense, but now she was giggling. The reason for her sudden laughter was because of their Childish display. Perhaps seeing something normal allowed her to temporarily forget the monster that was Belmo.
Seeing his mother back to her usual self gave him at least a small amount of relief as well. "Mother?"
"Y-Yeah? Sorry Rand, I was just thinking about you two." Lelaine slowly stopped giggling, smiling at her son.
"...?" Rando tilted his head in confusion. Something was definitely off. "Is something the matter.. Mother?"
Lelaine perked up, and coughed. "Nothing, Rand. Let us go now." Patting herself, Lelaine regained her composure and peered over the two. "We should go now, they're.. Waiting for us."
Lelaine turned and walked back to her husband and Belmo, Remilya simply nodded and followed after her while Rando narrowed his eyes for the umpteenth time today.
Catching up to the others, Rando patted his clothes of any dust. Any dirt on a noble would be deplorable and a disgrace, if there were other nobles going to be present to the place they were going to, then it wouldn't be proper if he was dirtied, no offense to Remilya but did she really have to throw those knives with such force that they even kicked up dust..?
He saw his father get inside one of the carriages, followed by his mother who was calling for both him and Remilya. Before he went inside the carriage he wondered where the hell Belmo would be, there was no way in hell he's getting in a carriage with him. Thankfully, he caught a glimpse of the creepy man getting on another carriage, that alone gave him a peace of mind.
However, for a brief moment, their eyes met. He immediately looked away, he felt disgusted just looking at him, seriously what was he..?
That thought was on his mind for the rest of the trip, which was damn long, he wondered how far was their damn destination for it to take more than an hour. During the rest of the trip, his parents stayed quiet, looking at Remilya with.. Sympathy? Regret? That really weirded him out, and raised his growing suspicion on Belmo.
Remilya on the other hand was the complete opposite, she was merrily getting along on this trip, she'd been looking outside the carriage windows for a while now, enjoying the unique scenery of the province and its local traditions probably.
As for him, he just took a nap for the rest of the trip, tired from being chased around by Remilya back at the port.
It didn't take any longer for the carriage to stop, Rando immediately noticed the elongated range of the mansion fences they've just entered, so to say he was actually surprised when he got out of the carriage. Because hot-diggity damn.
This place wasn't a mansion, it's a whole damn campus! Even so with the unbelievably large mansion just a few dozen yards away from them. This place was humongous, is this a place for nobles to run a masquerade? It could probably count as a small fortress at this point.
"Whoaaaaa!" He turned to his right, It seems that Remilya was just as flabbergasted as he was.
He'll have to sight-see later when he has free time, but first. He needed to ask his parents if this place was holding some kind of event, because why else would they go to such a ginormous mansion in the guise of a business-related work.
He tugged at his father's sleeves who was talking with.. That creepy man. "Father, Is.. there some kind of event? Aside from Oshiana's Grand Opening of course."
Before his father could even talk, the creepy man cut him off. "How insightful of you, Young Rand. Why indeed there IS an event happening here, it is more or less connected to the Grand Opening of Oshiana."
That explained his father and mother's extravagant clothing, but how come his mother made him wear a suit vest..? he got his answer and pulled away from Belmo after thanking him.
Moving on from that guy, that man never told him what kind of event was taking place, his parents didn't bring a mask so it wasn't a masquerade, what's stranger is that fact, why didn't they bring a mask? Okeanos is a part of Oshiana too, pretty sure the Nation-wide Festival should apply here too, the locals had masks themselves.
And why would they have an event now of all the time? The only conclusion he could think of right is this is either a ball or a gala, a ball is more unlikely since it's already a part of the Festival to be merry.
A gala then? But for whom? Belmo? His parents ARE nobles but that didn't mean they had that much of a business to begin with, taxes from their land already fills their wallets, and as far as he knew they weren't in a shortage.
In conclusion, it's either Belmo or another business partner who had this entire thing going on. But why include father? His father was never too ambitious for money...
They soon entered the gigantic mansion, immediately he was greeted by the extravagant interior of the mansion.
Not bad...
Semantics for later he'd suppose, it was a rarity to be in such a big structure such as this, as a noble he needed to appreciate the very root of this mansion and it's design.
His eyes traveled to Remilya who had sparkly eyes.
Well, it looks like he'd have very little time to do that, if this was indeed a gala then he'd have to make sure Remilya didn't cause any trouble, this was going to be exhausting...
Ugghh....
++--------------------++
She was amazed by how big the place was, like seriously, this place was STACKED! Remilya's head darted from left to right while walking alongside the Omadolcnte Family.
This mansion – If it was even right to call it a mansion, this should be a palace – Was also filled with people, it made her feel self-conscious despite having gone to the Festival's Grand Opening.
It seemed that whatever this business Mr.Nicholas and Mr.Belmo was doing was bigger than she'd thought, hopefully she didn't hold them back and made them late by dragging off Rando-kun with her.
Getting closer to a dual-wooden door, she could hear chatter of countless people inside with piano music playing in the background. Mr.Belmo walked forward and opened the door, they were immediately greeted with the sight of various individuals – Likely Nobles – interacting with one another, feeling nervous she played with her skirt and made sure there wasn't any dirt on them.
She was so glad vampires – Or well, Dhampir in her case – didn't sweat, otherwise her smell would be all over the place after running around. Her nose briefly scrunched up, smelling Rando's strangely clear and good smell despite having run away from her.
Eh, she'll just chuck it up to some kind of Noble thing.
She picked up her pace and stayed near Rando's side after seeing a group of nobility children, some being a few older than them, as much as she liked to imitate a noblewoman, she didn't have the guts to actually try it out against real nobles – With a few exceptions like when she's excited, gosh, she could still remember beaming at Mr.Belmo and Mr.Nicholas for allowing her to come with them to Okeanos.
A few nobles stopped chattering when they saw Mr.Belmo at the center of the room, they approached the well-dressed handsome man and started talking about something she couldn't hear from her position.
Mr. Nicholas stayed still in his position, his hand gripping so tightly it was bleeding, airheaded as she was, she wasn't blind to subtle things. She knew Mr. Nicholas had been gripping his hand so hard it was bleeding even back in the mansion, why was he doing it? She didn't know, but it was likely something Mr.Belmo said, she may hide it under her cheerful personality but her instincts were screaming whenever he looked at her.
Despite all that, she shrugged it off as some weird adult thing, Mama had once told her about nobles who were snakes, people who were up to no good. Maybe Mr.Belmo was one of them? Unlikely, he was too friendly, he didn't give off the feeling of being a manipulator of such kind. She could see a few similarities to the novels she reads though, but she wouldn't judge things based on something she'd read, her instincts going ham is probably just some kind of vampire thing. Probably caused by Mr.Nicholas' nauseating blood... Okay, she might wanna stay away from him for the time being, it's making her dizzy.
She was taken out of her thoughts when she heard the barely intelligible voice of her Auntie Lelaynee, she turned around to see her whispering something to Rando, who's eyes widened and looked at his mother.
Auntie Lelaynee nodded at Rando who hesitantly nodded after a few seconds, he walked back next to her and crossed his arms.
Huh, guess she was too distracted with her thoughts she didn't even realize Rando had left her side..
Looking at him, he was now full-on frowning with furrowed eyes.
Did Auntie Lelaynee scold him? If so then oops, if she had any reason for him to be scolded then it was her fault.
Though she was sure he would be upset at her if that was the case, instead he leaned close to her and crossed his arms.
Huh, maybe he's nervous with the amount of people here..
GASP!
That'd be actually so cute and funny, maybe he's sticking close to her because he's actually nervous?!
Hahaha! Another vulnerability to Rando she can use as teasing material, oh yeah it's all coming together. She'll be able to get back access to those sweet books by embarrassing him.
Before she could further Rando's inevitable doom for taking away her books from her, Auntie Lelaynee came to his rescue by tapping on her shoulder.
"Yes Auntie Lelaynee?"
"Little Rem, would you mind if you and Rand go spend the rest of the Gala with people closer to your age?" Lelaine said, pointing to the group Remilya saw earlier.
Ohh! So it wasn't a masquerade but a gala, that makes sense, it's to raise profit after all. Why couldn't they have gone with that earlier?
Rando was close enough to hear what his mother had said, it didn't surprise him as he had already come to this conclusion minutes before arriving. But who was gaining from this gala? He's surprised a whole lot of nobles even came to this event when the Water Spirit Blessing festival was still in effect, a majority of Oshiana's nobility was celebrating the Festival, so for at least a hundred of them to be here was a surprise.
Before he could continue on his thoughts, Remilya grabbed his arm and dragged him to the section where other younger nobility were. Hot shit, dealing with other nobles his age was a pain in the ass, they will literally judge everything about your existence if you're not as high as their rank, with Remilya present, it was no doubt going to be chaotic.
"Remilya-tan! Don't suddenly drag me off somewhere!" Rando complained as he was being pulled by the shorter and younger girl.
"You were spacing out for more than a minute, dummy, I had to move you or otherwise you'd stand out!"
He was spaced out for that long? No wait, Remilya actually did something intellectual for once! What the hell?!
Remilya, did in fact, make an intellectual move for once, UNINTENTIONALLY. Since she thought he was nervous around other people, she thought that he wouldn't make any move to interact or talk to the other younger nobility, her misunderstanding reinforced by the fact Lelaine had asked her to take Rando with her. (While in reality, she was worried for both of them.)
"Remilya you might wanna let go of me first!" Rando snagged his arm away from Remilya's grip somehow. "Listen, those idiots over there will judge everything you do, so whatever you do. Don't do anything stupid." He said, pointing to what was the equivalent of a gala's kids section.
Remilya looked at him, before nodding.
"Good, augh.." At least she listened, all that's left is to endure the inevitable pain the ass he'd have to deal with. "This is going to suck-"
"-Greetings! I'm Remilya Vlodquinn, it is a pleasant afternoon meeting you all." Remilya walked up to the table where a few kids older than them were dining in, greeting them with a lady's bow.
HEEEEEY! SHE DIDN'T LISTEN AT ALL!
Rando immediately increased his pace to catch up to Remilya and protect her from any incoming criticism by the frighteningly annoying people.
Except, they weren't as he thought.
"Greetings!"
"Afternoon."
"Pleasant Afternoon to you as well."
"A pleasure to meet you, beauty."
What.
Multiple greetings and waves were given to Remilya rather than the usual criticism, hell, some of them immediately went into trying to get her hand. That last bit made him raise an eyebrow, but hey, if they were this friendly then maybe this Gala wouldn't be much of a headache to him.
"Remilya-"
"Who's this peasant looking boy?"
"Who invited him here?"
"Flee, we did not invite someone like you here!"
Nevermind, he fucking hated nobles. What's with the sudden change in attitude!? They were all flowery and niceties with Remilya, is there something on his face!?
Remilya, who was being showered in praises – For some reason. – Ran up to him and grabbed his arm, introducing him to her new group???
"Everyone! This is my friend Rando! He's a noble higher than me! He's shy, but don't let that stop you from befriending him!" Remilya spat some bullshit while she pushed him into the spotlight.
Shy WHO!?
Is she misunderstanding something!?
++--------------------++
Lelaine may have considered herself a good person and a good friend, but sometimes that was challenged when a difficult obstacle confronted her.
Such as whatever they should do here, they've quite literally doomed Remilya of whatever horrible thing was going to happen to her because of Belmo, she hated this.
Hated having to follow through with something that will cause suffering for someone, or in this case, a whole family.
She wanted to fight back directly... So baaddd... But that meant her family being In danger. She already made the decision to be rebellious as much as possible, but anymore would cause the death of her family. Something she didn't want.
Everything was so complicated, her family was in danger here!
Just WHY, why did this man named 'Belmo' have to come to their lives. Why couldn't he just leave her family alone... Family.
Family... Family... Family, huh...
Her eyes traveled to both Rand and Remilya.
Right, don't falter Lelaine Omadolcnte, you've already made your decision when you gave Elizabeth that paper.
'You owe me for this one Elizabeth, my son better make it out of here alive.'
++--------------------++
Nicholas had a congruent personality, he did not like oppression of any kind, nor was he the type to stand by when people were potentially in danger. But that changed when his family was on the line, he felt powerless.
He'd never felt so helpless ever since Belmo came knocking into their door, threatening his family for obedience, it wasn't so bad at first but when he came into light of what he was planning, on who he was trying to involve? That was out of the line.
He'll do anything to protect them even if it costs him his life, but... Was a part of that cost a small girl who didn't even know she was in danger...?
Elizabeth Vlodquinn and Mary Vlodquinn were good friends of his. He liked how the former was honest with her actions, utterly unclouded and not blinded by power or such – He had seen how rich she was before – The woman was true to her heart. Little Remilya on the other hand was like a daughter, or a niece to him, the girl was simply just so excitable. She was good for his son who beforehand was quiet and restrained to a shell, after meeting her he slowly opened up and started talking to people, even making new friends!
He didn't even know whatever the hell Belmo was planning with the Vlodquinns, it was obvious enough that it wasn't something pretty given the fact he's been observing them for years, he and his wife already drew up a few conclusions, like Belmo trying to kidnap and sell them, Elves were a dying race after all... Sadly it wasn't that easy, why observe them for such a long time when all he's going to do was sell them, he had the kingdom under his control, the disappearance of one didn't matter to him.
So that meant Elizabeth had something on them... Goddess, why is this all so complicated! Why couldn't it just be the usual boisterous and arrogant noble problem!?
He sighed deeply, his inner turmoil growing by the second as his will weakened by a fraction.
It's just that.. His son, his wife.. Why did Belmo have to come-.. Huh?
Warm hands gently clasped over his bleeding hand, his eyes found locked with his wife's own.
Lelaine's eyes glinted in determination, before it darted to the table where their son was, before returning back to his. She nodded, sending a silent message to him.
Right, he wasn't alone. Lelaine had already decided to fight back even way before him, she told their son to take Remilya away the moment they gave him the signal, she even slipped Elizabeth a letter way back at the Festival's Grand Opening.
He grit his teeth. 'What am I, a coward..? Heh.' ', That's the woman he fell in love with right there, strong at heart, fast to make decisions. When he was agonizing about what kind of decision he was going to make, his wife had already made one. He made his decision as well.
He said he'd protect his family whatever the cost right? Well, too bad for Belmo.
He and his wife considered the Vlodquinn's a Family.
He clenched both of his fists, gathering his courage to confront Belmo who had been talking to other nobles for a while now.
He stomped towards him with hidden determination, his eyes sharp and features strengthened. Lelaine stayed a reasonable distance between him and their son, if things went for the worst, she'll be able to run away with their son and Remilya.
Belmo stopped whatever he was doing when he heard Nicholas getting closer.
"Ah, Nicholas. How may I help you, friend?" His eyes flashed malignantly.
"What are you planning with her." Nicholas did not beat around the bush, he narrowed his eyes dangerously, referring to Remilya.
Belmo looked at him with a slightly shocked expression, before he smiled ironically. "Ah, finally decided to fight back, did you? What a pathetic man, it took you long enough." Belmo mocked, gently swirling the glass of wine in his hand.
He sipped the glass, side-eyeing Nicholas.
"I'm using that thing over there as a token to victory." Belmo answered after drinking.
"A token.. To victory?" Nicholas questioned, his eyes becoming fiercer after hearing him call Remilya a 'Thing'. "What the hell are you talking about..?"
Belmo simply swirled the glass with so little content left. "Nothing that concerns you or your family." Belmo brought the glass up to drink the rest, but paused when an idea came to his mind.
"Humour me this one, have you heard of possession?" Belmo asked the topic out of nowhere.
Nicholas frowned, of course he's heard of possession, who wouldn't?
"Bah, what am I saying, of course you'd know." Belmo jokes, "Then what about Vampiric curse?"
"Where are you going with this..." Nicholas grits out.
"Humour me."
He frowned even further, the man already started to play with him using words.
"It's an illness caused by vampirism." He answered lightly, attempting not to get caught in Belmo's game.
Belmo opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but refrained.
"Brainless fool." Belmo muttered, "You see, I'm a researcher Nicholas, I love knowledge as much as I love power. Sadly, a few years ago a dear former superior of mine was killed in battle. That thing over there is the spawn of the very person that killed him... Getting revenge on him was impossible, so I thought.. What about his family?"
Nicholas wanted to snap at him, this was about revenge?! If it was then Elizabeth and Remilya were completely innocent, he should leave them out of it!
But he was given a chance to talk. "Before I exact my revenge on him through his family, I wanted to research his wife and child, prime subjects for knowledge, a treasure trove of mysteries waiting to be discovered." Belmo opened his palm, his eye-sight matching his palm with Remilya on top of it. "The wife, The Queen of Vampires, the very Blood Queen herself. And probably one of the rarest beings to ever walk on this plain world, the child of a progenitor vampire."
Nicholas' eyes widened. Queen of Vampires, Elizabeth!? If that was true then it made sense why Belmo was so cautious of her, but it was also difficult to believe that someone so benevolent such as Elizabeth would be the Blood Queen from history, and Remilya is a progenitor's child? That's quite literally unheard of.
"It kept getting better, not only I would be able to take revenge on that manfrom the shadows, I'd get to research a progenitor's child who not only possesses vampirism, but also shows symptoms of possession!"
Possession and Vampiric curse? Wait, that's also unheard of. Vampires in history were never recorded to have symptoms of possession because they already had vampirism, there were a few dhampirs in history as well but they weren't a progenitor's child and did not display a combination of possession and vampirism.
"She is a combination of two magnificent factors, such knowledge undiscovered within a small girl! But of course, I can't simply take her away and do as I please." Belmo turned his attention to him. "I'm sure you've concluded some conclusions yourself, as to why I used your family to gain knowledge about the Vlodquinns, and why I was so cautious with them."
"Elizabeth." Nicholas guessed.
"Correct! Kidnapping her child meant a death wish, that woman could raise destruction to a whole kingdom on her own if she wanted to, and yet she's here in Oshiana, hiding within a bunch of cattle, degraded into a shit-poor of a mother." Belmo slandered.
"..."
"Not only that, she was the wife of that detestable man within the shadows, taking revenge on her was granted as well. Defeating her meant that I would be able to take revenge on her... Partner, as well as having access to her daughter." Belmo dramatized, "Defeating the Blood Queen will, of course, be a nigh-impossible feat."
"No shit." That thought gave him hope, Lelaine slipped Elizabeth yesterday a letter did she not? Hopefully the Blood Queen will read it and get in here in time.
"Without preparations that is." Just like that, Nicholas became uneasy. "Tell me Nicholas, if a man like you could sweep through an entire army of foot soldiers alone, will you be able to do the same when you're too busy protecting someone who's too broken to do anything?"
Nicholas' breath caught in his throat as Belmo grew a smile that brought shivers to his spine, he immediately understood the implication, except the last part of someone being too.. Broken?
"What did he mean by 'broken' is what's currently going through your mind is it not?" Belmo cackled. "Simply put, when I asked you about Vampirism and Possession, did you not think about the implications and the factors present within this very mansion?! Civilians easily folded like fine paste and an emotional breakdown followed by taking the lives of the innocent!"
He cackled dangerously, Nicholas wanted to take a step back but refrained, standing his ground.
"Simple! Bloodshed and Anguish!" Belmo said a little louder, stretching his arms wide, a few of the nobles nearby looking at their spot. "What do you think will happen if a Little girl who's been reported to have incredible power and yet poor control, fights in an environment where both will be present the moment she misjudges her control!?"
As Belmo said this, his hands glowed. His magic suddenly became erratic, yellow light rumbled from his body.
Lightning thundered and came to life. "IT'S TIME TO COMMENCE PHASE 1"
Nicholas' eyes widened again, survival instincts took place as he angled himself and dived to the right, Lelaine doing the same.
Remilya furrowed her brows in confusion, there seems to be some kind of commotion happening where Mr.Nicholas was.
She could see Mr.Belmo and Mr.Nicholas talking about something from her position.
Rando was too busy deflecting the jealous eyes of his peers behind her – Not exactly sure why said peers were jealous, they all gave him the stinky eye when she told them he was her friend.
Her nose scrunched up, smelling the intensive emotion of Mr.Nicholas from all the way here. She could tell he was angry, furious even, but for what reason..? The smell of blood also grew by the second, it made concentrating a little difficult.
Getting curious, she deafened most sounds and focused solely on Mr.Belmo and Mr.Nicholas' conversation, an ability she had thanks to her unique lineage. It was something she rarely used because she found it annoying overhearing details she did not appreciate nor needed to hear.
Eavesdropping on two people, just like how she eavesdropped on her mother, Ironic.
"Tell me Nicholas, if a man like you could sweep through an entire army of foot soldiers alone, will you be able to do the same when you're too busy protecting someone who's too broken to do anything?"
Hold on, What was Mr.Belmo talking about..? Is he talking about some philosophy or a novel?
"What did he mean by 'broken' is what's currently going through your mind is it not?"
The same thought was going through her mind, but instead she was more confused as she didn't have any context behind their conversation. What she was doing was really rude right now, they were clearly just having some disagreements on their work, although why the use of metaphorical words.
She closed her eyes as her sharp-ears flickered, senses humming low as she lowered her hearing-
"Simply put, when I asked you about Vampirism and Possession, did you not think about the implications and the factors present within this very mansion?! Civilians easily folded like fine paste and an emotional breakdown followed by taking the lives of the innocent!"
-Her eyes immediately opened, her red-eyes finding itself looking at Belmo in shock.
What..How did he-
She gulped nervously, maybe it was just a coincidence!? Her eyes caught the small glint of light being reflected from various places, within the crowds, from the staff's corner and even the ones on the upper floor.
'Nobles!? No, even the butlers and maids... What were those glowing-' Her eyes caught the tell-tale shape of a weapon.
Swords? Knives..!?
They all glinted silver, she gripped the elbow-rest of her chair in fear, she did NOT like the feeling those things were giving off. Rando from beside her finally noticed her now visible panicking.
"Remilya-tan..?"
She didn't turn around to face him or say anything, her eyes now landing on Belmo. Her ears solely focused on whatever he was saying.
"Simple! Bloodshed and Anguish!" A sweat dropped from her temple, she couldn't tell if the man was actually up to no good or if he was acting something out. No, no, no. Calm down Remilya, remember, deep breaths. No one else knows what you are, only Mama and Auntie Mary, if these people knew they would tie her up and Impale her heart.
She grew even more uneasy, now standing up from her seat. The other children were now looking at her with concern, Rando even more.
It's impossible that Mr.Belmo would know, her ears could be mistaken for an elf's and she didn't drink blood anywhere else other than at her house.
If.. If Rando, Auntie Lelaine and Uncle Nicholas found one what she was, w-would they try to kill her..? No, no, no, no, no! That won't happen, it's impossible! She never gave herself away-
"What do you think will happen if a Little girl who's been reported to have incredible power and yet poor control, fights in an environment where both will be present the moment she misjudges her control!?"
Huh..? L-Lose control?
Upon hearing his words, Remilya instinctively knew WHO he was talking about, who else would fit the bill in this very mansion. Her mind traitorously imagined what would happen if she did use her magic in a... Environment full of people.
Y̷O̵U̶ ̴K̴I̴L̵L̴E̵D̴ ̸T̸H̸E̵M̶ ̷A̸L̶L̸,̴ ̴E̸A̸T̸ ̷T̴H̴E̵I̷R̵ ̶C̷O̴R̶P̶S̷E̸ ̸A̶N̶D̵ ̵D̶R̴I̴N̴K̸ ̶T̶H̵E̸I̷R̸ ̶B̸L̵O̸O̵D̴!̴ ̷F̸A̶L̷L̴ ̷I̵N̵T̵O̵ ̶Y̷O̴U̴R̴ ̷T̶R̷U̷E̴ ̵N̴A̸T̸U̵R̷E̸–
Shivers ran up through her very being within a split second. Out of pure instinct, faster than anyone could see other than Belmo she grabbed the chair she previously sat on and imbued magic on it. Red mist from her body came to life, the chair had now grown a mask of red cloudy mist within an instant. She dashed forward and stood in front of Rando and the others to protect them from the dreadful feeling she was feeling. Suddenly, a bright yellow light came from Belmo's position, Remilya brought the chair in front of her in a swinging motion.
BOOM!
Suddenly the chair exploded, her red mist-like magic protected anyone behind her with the exception of herself.
She felt everything as light, her world had gone white for a brief moment. She was sailing through the air, she realized. The force from whatever had hit her blew her away like a ragdoll.
She immediately fell back to the ground as gravity took place, her back violently colliding with the ground. She tumbled through multiple tables and... Soft things, people.
When her velocity finally ended, she immediately stood up and examined the room. The people she tumbled on unintentionally were all fine thankfully, just on the ground unconscious, Rando and her new friends were all safe too. Aside from a few splinters on their arms.
W-What hit her!? She felt really painful for a moment there.
The piano in the background came to a stop, the giant room fell into silence as everyone – Except the people with the swords and knives. – looked at Belmo in shock, the room stayed that way for a few seconds
The deafening silence came to a stop when Mr.Nicholas appeared behind Mr... No, that guy Belmo with a sword raised overhead, ready to slam down on Belmo's skull.
"Lelaine! NOW!" He screamed, he brought his sword down, only to be met with resistance as he was gut punched by something moving at lightning speed.
"RAND! GO!" Auntie Lelaynee screamed from the side, Rando-kun already running towards.. Her?
Rando grabbed Remilya's arm and started running away, pulling her away while she was still in a confused state.
"R-Rando-kun!? What's going on!"
Rando didn't answer, and instead kept his eyes towards the exit. He kept running towards it with Remilya in tow. But before they could even go near it, a few men blocked their way, all wielding.. Swords that gleamed silver.
Her breath came stuck at her throat, seeing them.
She could hear Auntie Lelaynee from behind her, likely swinging a sword from how she howled. Just like Uncle Nicholas, she was suddenly blown away by something.
The both of them came to a stop when one of the butlers wielding a sword pointed it at Rando. "W-What are you all doing!?" He screamed in alarm.
Apparently his scream was enough to snap out the rest of the nobles inside the mansion, they all started screaming at Belmo, terrified and in horror of what he was doing. A few complained to the staff but were subdued immediately by being knocked out.
"Belmo what the hell are you doing!?"
"Explain this at once!"
"What are you doing!?"
"M-My arm! It got burned by something!"
Various complaints came from the crowd, Remilya's eyes remained implanted on Belmo's form. When she suddenly came into contact with his eyes, she shivered in fear.
Bringing his arms to himself, magic seeped out as he inhaled. Suddenly his magic became sharp and took the form of lightning. "SILENCE!" He screamed, lightning came from his body. The unfortunate nobles that happened to be near him were all... B-Burned..!
The room came to a silence again, mostly out of fear from his command.
"M-Monster." She muttered under her breath, his power was suffocating, terrifyingly so. Rando, who was holding her hand, shook uncontrollably.
"Better." Belmo tapped on his shoulder, cleaning a few non-existent dust, he looked at Remilya which caused the girl to tremble. "So girl, Do I have to spell it out for you or you will do it for me..?"
"U-Uh."
He smiled, not giving her a chance to say anything else, he cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice. "Everyone, all of you may be wondering.. Why am I doing this? I won't waste any time and cut to the point." He pointed to Remilya. "You may all blame it on that foul red-haired monster over there."
"M-Monster.. Me?"
She immediately became the general-attention of the room, all eyes currently on her, she couldn't help but gulp in fear.
"Of course, You, my dear.. is a detestable vampire are you not..?" He smiled as he said this. Remilya's heart fell, her eyes immediately darted from left to right. The people were already looking at her as if she was some kind of monster.
"V-Vampire?"
"L-Look at her ears!"
"Monster!"
YOU'RE A MONSTER, YOU SHOULD BE KILLED.
BURN HER.
STAKE HER AND ROAST HER ALIVE.
LET THE SUN CLEANSE HER.
She started hyperventilating, w-what does she do!? S-She promised her mama about her vampirism. P-People are gonna start hunting her down now, she'll never be able to live a good life, everyone will avoid her like a m-monster.
N-No, please..
Remilya fell down on her rear, looking at the people with fear. S-She didn't do anything bad, please d-don't kill her..
She wanted out of here. Like right now, please.
She wanted her Mama, her Auntie.
Just get out of here, it scared her.
S-she wanted-
Suddenly, a familiar pair of hands gripped her shoulders as a boy faced her.
R-Rando... H-He's going to hate her, her friend, her best friend.. She didn't wanna lose him, but now that he found out she was a vampire h-he's going to..
"REMILYA! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Huh?
Remilya blinked, looking at Rando.
"Why are you sitting down on your ass!? YOU KNOW DAMN WELL NONE OF THESE THINGS PEOPLE ARE SAYING ARE TRUE!" He shocked her aggressively.
She blinked again. "E-Eh..? Rando-kun..? You don't hate.. Me?"
"Of course you Idiot! I'm the one who deals with you everyday, I know you better than most! Except your Mom!" He forcefully pulled her up to her feet, the severe compliance of people still ringing.
He's right, she's never hurt anyone before, just because she was a vampire – Or a Dhampir – didn't mean she was a bad person! Did that stop people from looking at her as if she was some kind of alien? No, but it well damn made her regain her composure.
"Adorable." One word came from the man within the crowd, everyone else split apart and stayed away from him when his magic erupted again, bringing the room to another silence. "Funny isn't it? Human nature, when they're afraid and angry, they will find a beacon to vent all that emotion on, no matter how young or who they were. They will do it for selfish reasons just to make themselves feel comfortable." Belmo strode forward to their location.
"W-Where's my mother and father!?" Rando snapped from her side.
"I wouldn't worry about them right now if I were you." Belmo's eyes landed on Remilya. "I must commend you for being able to take my initial attack, girl, sadly you have no control over your power."
He then waved his hand. "From what I've heard... You were the kind of child to read stories and novels, have you read about a scenario like this before..? No? Well, I'm sure you already know what you should do now... With you being the only one capable of fighting back in this very room, no one else has the power to fight back."
W-Was he insinuating... No, he was right, she was the only one in this room who could fight back against this guy from what she could tell.
One defining trait she inherited from her Mother was being protective of others, the same way Elizabeth had ruled over The Haven in her time and protected its inhabitants. Despite her childish notions of acting and imitating a villain or an eminence, Remilya was never the type to stand by while someone got hurt, this trait of hers magnified and nurtured by Mary.
"You don't have to say it, even if they hate me I won't stand by and let you do as you please." Remilya says as she stands in front of Rando. "It's clear that you're not just doing this because you have something against me, you're doing this for something else and Involving all these people!"
Belmo clapped. "Bravo, the child can read the mood and bark a few words." His hand rested on his sword's pommel. "But are you sure of your decision girl? A vampire like you would have taken advantage of this and killed all the people for blood, a simple.. Buffet if you may.."
Remilya scoffed, widening her stance as she tried to use magic properly. "Pfft.. Only Siths deal in absolutes, and I'm sure as hell not a selfish person."
Rando groaned from behind her, ticked off by her untimely joke. "Really? At all times?"
"Shush, let me have this."
Belmo didn't understand the reference but understood what she meant either way, he raised a hand up. "Siopilos, come."
Remilya perked up when she saw another individual suddenly appear next to Belmo, the man was wearing black clothes befitting a ninja with a few armored parts, his face covered with a mask.
Belmo mouthed a few words to Siopilos, the very same man who was able to sneak up on Elizabeth all those years ago, and the very same person who delivered Belmo information.
Siopilos bowed, before disappearing with a burst of speed.
Remilya's eyes narrowed, he didn't actually whisper or say anything to that weird ninja. And had instead mouthed it for the man to lip-read. So that meant he was aware of her superior hearing.
Belmo returned his gaze to Remilya, "Now then, show me what you can do. Girl." he says as his magic unnaturally took the form of lightning again.
Rando, feeling helpless and annoyed at his uselessness couldn't help but ask. "Remilya.. Are you really going to fight him..? Can you even fight?"
"Are you sure.. You're not going to lose?" He asked worriedly.
Despite the situation, Remilya's mind had just about enough childishness to register the last part of what he said, her stomach tickled, getting another opportunity to make another reference before her first real fight. Remilya brought her hands together before taking a stance she's read before.
"N-Nah... I'd win." She said, putting on a brave front despite her actually terrified feelings. This was her real fight after all, she didn't have an actual experience when it came to them other than reading them from books.
She was freaking scared, but if she didn't fight these people could get hurt by whatever that guy was planning.
Her eyes briefly landed on the people with swords and knives blocking the exits, preventing people from getting out, they didn't seem to be doing anything else other than stand so she focused her concentration on Belmo.
Using her usual display of magic, she used Mist-form and disappeared in a cloudy-red mist and reappeared in front of Belmo with unbelievable speeds. Her arm reeled back, ready to punch the lights out of Belmo.
She struck, her clenched fist finding purchase on something solid. Belmo had managed to block it with ease using his forearm.
A small shockwave erupted from where they were as a singular drop of sweat fell from Remilya's brow..
The fight had begun.
CHAPTER END