FicWad

Chapter 28



Ryuu now stood in the small village over which Castle Bren dominated the view. It loomed over them in such a fashion as to give the impression of just who ran things in Transylvania. None knew of the massive fortress that lay below it, and into the hill above. One could be lost for days if they were lucky enough to infiltrate. Ryuu sighed, and glanced at the castle, and walked bluntly towards it. The village seemed eerily quiet, as it seemed dead and dark. Ryuu glanced around, staying on edge. With his hand gripping the hilt of his katana tightly, he continued walking towards the castle and out of the village. He was then greeted by childish laughter and giggles echoing off the hills and canyons as he approached, and so much so, that it was disorienting, the sound seeming not to have a pinpointable source. Ryuu ignored it, treating it like a hellish illusion and kept walking. "What is wrong?" one of them said, echoing, "We just want to play with you. Teeheehehehehehe."

"I'm not here to play!" he thundered, "Tell me where my bastard brother is, and tell me where Chiyuki is!"

Several voices could be heard now, saying, "He's no fun... He's an old fuddy-duddy... Work, work, work, and no play... Play hide and seek with us..."

Then one voice said, "He speaks of his brother? I thought he murdered him! TeeHeeeeeeeee."

Ryuu sighed, "Yes, I did, now tell me where the other one is, so I can finish it up with his death."

Out of every corner seemed to come an army of children. However, each and every one of them had glowing red eyes and a devilish look on their faces, and they were all heading towards him. Ryuu watched carefully and asked, "What do you want?"

They all said as one, "To play with us, forever...and ever...and ever..."

They all started to encircle him and approach. Worse, many looked like they were children from the village.

Ryuu tried to drown out his disgust and shouted, "No one will play with you when you behave like that, now listen to your elder and tell me where Dracula is."

"PLAY WITH US!" they all shouted, now sporting fangs and they started to rush like a troop of baboons.

Ryuu tried to dodge them all, without striking. When he realized how futile it was, he smacked them back with his sheathed sword and its handle. Just when it looked like he was going to be overwhelmed, a few hands grabbed him and pulled him back. Suddenly, it was dark, but there was awarm, female voice saying, "Fear not, you are safe."

Ryuu glanced around and growled loudly, "Where am I!"

A torch was brought, and in the cave were two different kinds-there were some with a third eye in their foreheads, and others that seemed to have their canines, upper and lower-pulled out. Ryuu glanced around and said, "Thank you...but I must find Vlad, and kill him."

"Then, come with us!" said an old one with the third eye,"We shall guide you."

Ryuu nodded and got up to follow them, not questioning who they were...he had a good idea anyway.



After about 20 minutes, they led him to what looked like avillage underground. He said, "This is where our great future queen has given us haven, and right under the beast's nose!"

Ryuu glanced around and said, "This is a good hiding place."

He finally asked, "What were those children out there?"realizing he might as well keep up conversation, and stay slightly friendly. An elder man then said, "Unfortunately, they were many children of the village that Vlad had gotten to. They're ravenous animals now, acting as a perimeter guard. Believe me, if you had killed them, you would have done them a favor. But, come now, and refresh yourself. We have plenty of Stigma for you to build your strength. If you plan to fight Vlad, you will need it."

Ryuu nodded, "I'll rest for now, but I won't promise it will be very long."

As they led him to what looked like a tavern, if it weren't for what they were, one could have sworn they were humans. The fangless ones were the most curious. There were even parents with children, no less! Ryuu glanced around and thought out loud, "Given the place you live, the people look relatively happy."

"We thank the princess for that," said one happy child, taking his hand, and obviously fangless, "Because of her, we can be at peace. Even when she finishes the Bund, we may have to be in hiding, but in time, we shall be accepted."

Ryuu blinked, and smiled slightly. "So much faith in one vampire," he thought.



As the limos went their way, everyone was trying to stay focused on the upcoming task. Keelin was staring blankly as if lost in thought, and then announced to everyone and no one in particular at the same time, "Chiyuki could be pregnant."

The door handle that Ren was holding now came off in his hand. "How would you handle that?" Keelin asked Ren, playing off the pun.

The handle was now bending in his hand, visually showing how he would handle it. "I'm talking about the kid, not Vlad," was her terse response.

Jean-Claude said, "I think he's enraged over what Vlad did, and he is not necessarily in the mood to contemplate that."

Keelin shrugged and said, "As would anyone, obviously, but planning for the future just in case is a good prospect. One you should start doing, just in case."

"After I slit Vlad's throat and pull his tongue through the hole!" snarled Ren.

Keelin chuckled, "How amusing..." and trailed off.

Everyone just sat silent again, concentrating on the fight to come. Keelin shrugged and said, "Whatever..." being that it was Teresa hoping to add to their strife, and not succeeding, and went back to staring out the window with the faintest smirk on her face. Jean-Claude then stared at Keelin and started to think. "Your highness," said Jean-Claude, "What about Keelin?"

She looked her over and said, "We shall give her something to suit her."

She was then handed a Girka knife and then told, "To someone your size, it will be like a sword, fast, and deadly. Considering what you can do, you will be deadly with it. However, because you have to learn to control it, you shall stay by my side."

Ren looked askance at this, but Mina said, "...and she will be in the front with me."

All of Earth Clan looked at her, but she said, "You know Icould more than handle it."

"But if they see your true form..." said one, but she cut him off sharply and said, "They shall NOT see!"

Keelin tossed the knife between her hands and then asked, glancing up, "Okay... And your true form?"

She looked at Keelin firmly and said, "Only IF you need to see it, childe!"

Keelin shrugged and waited, almost tempted to break out with the childish, "Are we there yet?"

Jean-Claude noticed the mischievous smile on her face and said, "Just what we need-a bouncy hyperactive child on a war mission!"

Keelin smiled brightly and waited.



They brought Ryuu into the tavern, and there were several styles of folk music being played reflecting each culture from which everyone came. A tumbler filled with Stigma was brought, and a pitcher kept at body temperature in case he wanted more. Ryuu blinked and glanced at it, remembering the taste and feel of the liquid and wanting it now. They slid the pitcher to him and said, "Drink up!"

Ryuu did so, shuttering as he drank it, though he had more control then other people, so he could keep is face from showing anything. "Now, you are in the deepest part of the fortress," said the man, "The area is triple the size of the castle outside, meaning three times the length, width, and height. Thus, you have nine times the volume. Where Vlad hides is as hard to find as our beloved future queen's special room. However, if you can find a Beowulf, your chances increase exponentially."

"Sounds daunting," Ryuu said, nodding.

"If you are here to kill that dirty beast Vlad," responded another man, "we know that Mina cannot be too far behind. We know you can do it."

The Selibri and Fangless children all cheered and hugged his legs. "Kick his butt, big brother!" they all shouted enthusiastically. Ryuu grinned and said, "I well on plan to."

He then got up and glanced around, "Now, where is the Beowulf?"

"Go exploring," said the elder, "Because, if you start snooping around, they will find you."

"Good," Ryuu said, "Err...which was is the exit?"

They led him to a panel in the rock that looked like the rest of the cavern and it opened up. Ryuu blinked, and nodded, then followed it out, glancing around. The hallway now looked like an elegant castle of the late medieval period. Ryuu sighed, stuck his nose to the air, and tried to smell out Chiyuki. There was no scent, but there was the sound of some kind of electronic motor overhead. It was a video camera. Ryuu growled lowly and ripped the camera down, crushing it. Wolfgang was in the control room when the screen went static, and he said, "Good, he's here. That means her highness is not going to be far behind. Send a greeting party for our guest."

With that, a squad of soldiers went to that area, but as so not to be detected and tip off Vlad that anything was amiss. Ryuu glanced around, and listened for someone coming. His enhanced sight could see five silhouettes approaching; all armed with high powered HK-417s, but at their sides and not pointed his way. Ryuu, even then, took a fighting stance and had his hand on the hilt of his katana. One said, "Tell us, leech: what is your purpose here?"

"To kill Vlad, and save Chiyuki," Ryuu snarled, "and if your here to stop me, you are all going to be going to a pet cemetery."

They looked at one another, smiled, and put their weapons on safety. They said, "Come with us, if you want to live."



The maids got out and started wringing out their dresses and aprons and said, "Milady, we have been assigned to you, and are at your beckoned call. Whatever is within our power to get for you, we shall."

She pondered this, knowing what she wanted was way beyond their power, and she said, "I'd much rather get it myself, but seeing as Iprobably can't leave this room... I'm kinda hungry...what is there to eat?"

"Are you capable of eating food?" asked Nelly, "Our kitchen is well stocked and supplied for guests that eat, and the Beowulfs, of course. We also have plenty of Stigma. That has to be the best thing the princess ever came up with."

"I'm capable" Chiyuki responded, and then asked, "...and Stigma?"

"I figured the princess introduced you to that," said Nero, but Nella said, "I think she was here at that time."

Nelly then said, "It is a synthetic substance the mimics every aspect of blood, including the smell, taste, and effect on a vampire. There is no distinguishing between the two. Because of this, we no longer have to feed on humans, and that is a part of her plan to help remove the fear. If humans know they are not hunted anymore, then they will be more likely to accept us. They mostly do now, if you keep up with popular media."

Chiyuki nodded, "Sort of...I'm not much of a media or news person."

"Humans are starting to accept us," said Nero, "There are even two television series on right now that make heroes out of vampires. Mina saw the trend and figured that the time is right. The world does not see us really all that evil anymore, generally speaking."

Chiyuki sighed and said, "Even then, those shows are just out to appease to teenage girls, not to the entire populace."

"At first they were," said Nella, "but you have live series, books, cartoons, comics, and the Japanese side of it, where the fan base is far more than teenage girls. Of course, we are partly responsible for that, but, the thing of note is that there has been at least two generations brought up in that, and as a result, things stand better for Mina's plan. Don't think there won't be a fight. Oh yes, there will be blood. Yet, you cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. However, she would not have taken the steps she has as of recent days without first making sure that it would not result in our extinction. The threat is no longer human, dearest one. The threat is from our own."

Chiyuki nodded and said, "Yeah...but that's only because the vampires appease people with the beauty and immortal life. As much as I think Jean-Claude and your queen can solve it, it's just hard to grasp being accepted."

Nero then said, "Yes, and they also said Galileo was insane, the sun went around the earth, you could never make a light bulb, they told Robert Goddard that you could never make a liquid fuel rocket that would work, much less leave the atmosphere, and told Einstein that quantum mechanics and string theory were nonsense. Yet, only 100 years later, Galileo was proven right, we are finding planets around other stars, we now have neon lights, not 40 years after what they said about Goddard, the Russians put a man in orbit, and seven years after that, we were walking on the moon, and now we have nuclear fission, and have almost come up with the grand unified theory of physics. When you are attempting something that has never been done, there will always be those that will say it will never be done. That was only because they could not wrap their minds around it. Yet, if we listened to them, we would still be banging rocks together to try to spark a fire. It's all on how you look at it, your imagination, and how far you can dream. Sad thing is, for every one of those events, Mina was alive for most of it, and Vlad was there to see all of it and tell it to us. This is why the princess believes...no, KNOWS that this dream shall be reality."

Chiyuki sighed, and smiled. She could not argue that down. "She sounds like Jean-Claude almost," she said, "You all sound like him: the determination, and the faith in something. Its inspiring and it gave me a sort of faith in him."

"I think he would then say to you that faith is the substance of what you hope for, and evidence of things you have not seen,"responded Nelly, "Faith makes you act and dare to believe where desiring only solid proof all the time just make you sit and let the opportunities pass you by. He thus must have something he has seen to make him believe, as have you. You say you cannot put your mind around the Dream, and yet, he is evidence of what could be, though you just cannot see it as yet. It is that hope that can drive you to great things. The question becomes: how willing are you to suffer for the cause. How willing are you to experience pain that others may have pleasure? Are you willing to lose all that all others may gain everything? If that is Jean-Claude, I know it is Mina, and that being the case, you might as well try to stop the tide."

Chiyuki blinked and then could not believe herself. "Willing to sacrifice for the dream? Yes...Otherwise I would have left a very long time ago."

"Then if you can do that, you know it can happen," said Nelly, smiling with a motherly smile, "Now, would you like food, or the Stigma?"

"Stigma," Chiyuki said.

"That, we have on hand," said Nella, who went to what looked like a fridge, but it was actually a proofer set to 100 degrees. They pulled out a bottle and poured some for her. "We keep it at that temperature so it will be perfect when you drink it."

The smell and look were indistinguishable from blood. Chiyuki lightly tasted it, and then lost her taste buds to the overwhelming feeling of it. "Uwah~!" she said, putting her knees and thighs together, but her calves as far away from each other as she could. "But the type of vampires we are, we hunt a type of person, and drinking their blood is good for them," said Chiyuki as she enjoyed her glass.

They all pondered that for a minute, and they said, "That does pose a problem. Perhaps the princess can make an exception once the Bund is complete."

"Perhaps," Chiyuki agreed.

Nero added, "You see, once someone lives in the Bund, they can never leave it without special passports. If they sneak out, the Beowulfs will work with the local police in Tokyo and Japan and hunt him down. To leave without permission is death. I know it seems harsh, but if there is to be peace, the humans have to be assured that there will be no threat from us whatsoever, and that we can manage ourselves. This is not to say that she will be iron-fisted in her approach to that, in that she will not be like some kind of communist leader and keep people prisoner in their own country, and let few out. But she just can't let us come and go as we please, or the whole thing loses meaning. If they do not want to live there, then they will have to answer for their own actions, and they shall have no help from the Bund if they choose to misbehave. If the humans ask for help to stop them, then she will give that help. Believe me; she has been calculating this for some time. Yes, it probably still needs work, but there will be at least ten years before the Bund is complete enough for us to live on it, so if there are faults with it, we can resolve that. Nothing is ever perfect, but we can sure try. Perhaps she can let you, the living vampires, and the Clan, be the physical extension of the Bund worldwide, and act as a police force for her-a secret service, so to speak. We would need eyes and ears to ensure that those of our kind, who only have power on their minds, would not try to stop this. This is why the threat is greater from us than humans. I am sure you could imagine what kind of power and control they stand to lose if she succeeds and manages to consolidate her power into something that can be controlled, and kept from putting the world into fear. The Bund will essentially be its own country, with currency, laws, military, commerce, and so forth. We even hope to put a delegate in the UN in a few decades if things work out."

Chiyuki nodded and listened. She then said, "It sounds like a whole Vampire country, how are you going to fit all the vampires onto one place, and particularly when some people enjoy living where they do?"

"The island is huge," said Nero, "It is about twice the size of Manhattan, and it can easily hold about 4 million. Besides all that, vampires will not be forced to live there, but they avoid doing so at their own peril. If they behave, then there will be no problem. If they can live off this stuff, (and it will be available in the market for them,) and behave, then fine. If not, they have to answer for their own crimes. However, and sadly, you know how our kind somehow culls itself, and how rough that can be. Yet, with no fighting for power amongst ourselves, or that being greatly lessened, that will stop, and, numbers can be maintained. There will be few vampires out there that could make more, and, if they did, they do so outside the sanction of the princess. They would be given the option of living in the Bund as well. Like Isaid, there are a few things yet to work out, but we have a bit of time. Yet, yes, it will be a whole country, like Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Lichtenstein; though I wouldn't see us making any Olympic teams anytime soon."

Chiyuki nodded, "Sounds reasonable."

"I guess you living vampires might be the key to it all," said Nero.

"Well," said Chiyuki as if in thought, "We have people who can change undead to living vampires."

They all looked at her with wide eyed shock! Chiyuki blinked and said, "You didn't know this?"

"No," said Nelly, "We hardly know anything about your world. You hid from everyone so well, including us."

Chiyuki then said, "Well, I can't explain it as good as, say, Jean-Claude could, or Ryuu, but I do know. There used to be Karin, who was the Fount of Life. And then some how she passed to Fount to Innocent, and then they had Sophia, and Karin and Kenta had Kannon, and with Jean-Claude's kids, it's like having a bunch of Founts, except much, much more powerful."

"No wonder the princess doesn't want them out of the way,"responded Nella, "According to her wishes; she wants them as new nobility. She has even said that whichever one that you call your empress would have authority over the world of the night second only to her own, and that the others would help her rule it. If that little idea of being the eyes and ears in the world is what happens...that explains everything!"

Chiyuki pondered, "I suppose, but having someone of a higher standing the Sophia seems preposterous though..."

"Mina sees her as a peer," said Nero, "and possibly one of only a few on the face of the earth that could understand her. The only reason for the higher standing is that Mina has been around for a couple of centuries, and I would wager that your Sophia would admit that she has much to learn from her, because, if anything ever happened to Mina before she had offspring, then Sophia would take over."

Chiyuki nodded, and blinked in shock. "I sense Keelin," she said, wide-eyed, "My daughter is here? No, she shouldn't be! Why is she here?Ryuu was supposed to protect her!"

"I don't..." Nelly tried to say, but there was a buzz in her pocket, and she pulled out a cell. "Yes...okay...how long? Right, I'll get Nella on it right away."

There was some movement by Nero near the wardrobe, and she opened it up to all kinds of battle clothes as Nelly said, "All the cameras are off, but for the next fifteen minutes. Your Ryuu is with some of Earth Clan, and Nella is fetching your sword. The elite eight have come with the princess and your friends. We have a small window, so be ready."

Chiyuki got up filled now with energy. "Where is my old kimono?" she asked.

Nelly brought it over and said, "We are so glad we were able to get all the stains out."

This was said just as Nella entered with the katana. "Thank you." Chiyuki said, slipping it on, pulling her shorts on, her shoes with her sandals, and she was about to put her hair up in a bun, when she thought better of it(with the marks on her neck and all) and put her hair down.