Interview with a Ghoul
Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario Vampire or any part of its franchise. I would also like to thank lord of the land of fire for giving me permission to write this.
Also, I do not own the Dovah language present within Skyrim, I just needed a source of inspiration.
This is a sequel to The Unsealed Vampire story by lord of the land of fire.
Enjoy:
The rebuilding of Lilith's Mountain was progressing rather rapidly. It had only been three days since they first arrived and chased out the Incubi and Succubi and they were already laying down the foundations for what appeared to be soon a prosperous human settlement.
It had been agreed that the humans settlers would be able to build only on the ground level of the hollowed out mountain and that any structure was not to exceed 50 meters in height, the dragons were quite adamant about keeping the upper levels of the mountain for themselves. Apart from a few strict rules, however, the dragons were quite gracious hosts and easy to live with. And as a thank you gift, they were even willing to grant the human group a small section of the mountain they could transform into their new headquarters.
As for recruits, most everyone that was enslaved either immediately joined the group or demonstrated they would be more than willing to help in any way possible. One good thing that could be said about the Incubi and Succubi is that they had a preference for capable humans, the captives' jobs ranged from doctors to engineers and most everything in between. Making the establishment of a new colony, and of a new HQ, that much easier.
While the new recruits were being trained, and while the civilians were building their future homes, Tsukune was taking part in a quite different activity altogether. Tsukune needed to understand just what had happened to him. He couldn't recall anything from during his time as a Ghoul and would've never even suspected something was amiss if his men hadn't told him over and over again how scary he was when he changed. The leader of the dragons, who coincidentally was the one who performed the unbinding ritual, a dragon by the name of Alalokdilon, advised Tsukune to meditate in order to better comprehend his predicament.
In appearance, Tsukune was confident about everything, there didn't seem to be anything that could faze him. However, he was positively freaking out on the inside. Think about it, he just started to lead a group of human fanatics hellbent on freeing humans from monsters while at the same time dodging a terrorist organization and the latest alliance they had forged was with a race of magic wielding dragons against said organization. To top it all off, he also has a schizophrenic vampire girlfriend and all around love of his life that has made him into some sort of half monster. Doesn't something about this seem wrong to you? Indeed, he really needed to center himself.
It was during one of these meditation sessions that it happened. As per usual, he would walk into one of the many abandoned parts of the ex-metropolis that was still left somewhat standing. The surrounding area was quiet and a sense of dread covered the once densely populated streets. This feeling of dread would only be amplified by the ruined vestiges of skyscrapers and torn concrete sidewalks that spanned the location.
The dragons didn't bother coming here, probably too painful of a reminder of the ones they were once enslaved too. As for the humans, they hadn't moved to this part of the city yet which only left the single figure of the brown haired boy amidst the debris and corpses.
After finding a location that was both sheltered from any possible interruption and somewhat open enough to let him take in the scenery, he got to work. He sat on the ground and closed his eyes, slowly breathing in and out, expanding his mind and putting his body to rest.
A half hour into the exercise, he slowly drifted off into unconsciousness, letting himself fall deeper and deeper into the darkness of his own mind. The place he woke up in or, more accurately, regained conscious in was odd to say the least. Pitch black darkness seemed to cover a vastly unending space as far as the eye could see apart from a small area he was standing in that was dimly lit. There was no trace of a light bulb or any similar object as the light seemed to be coming from a source of light miles away from Tsukune's location. The ground seemed to be made out of marble and was cold as well as soft to the touch.
The only thing that decorated the place somewhat were two chairs set up in such a manner that the two occupants of said chairs would face each other.
One of the seats was occupied by a hunched over figure that seemed to be in deep thought or contemplation. Tsukune was unable to make out the man's features as they were hidden by a hand that supported the mysterious man's forehead, the man's pose was much like the Thinker's pose.
What unnerved Tsukune, however, was that the man was very steady, he didn't move an inch after hearing Tsukune's echoed footsteps towards him. Taking a hint, he propped himself down unto the chair that faced the man and continued observing him.
The mysterious figure responded immediately by straightening out his pose and looking directly at Tsukune. He was a near identical copy, same height, same build, same exact body apart from a few alterations. The hair had taken on a darker tone, making it look pitch black, the eyes that should have shown a kind and compassionate look were replaced by two dark red eyes, slitted just as a vampire's eyes were. His face was covered in tattoo marks and strange writing that left no doubt it was arcane. As for his clothes, they were the same as Tsukune's, no modifications, no alterations whatsoever.
The two men's eyes locked for a few seconds before Tsukune broke the stare and took in the other man's appearance one more time. The reaction elicited a smirk from the doppleganger. Unlike his apparently nicer counterpart, his smiles did not show any warmth, it only held a cruel and mocking gaze that bordered on animalistic. It looked like he was getting ready to attack and devour poor Tsukune, and yet, he refrained from doing such and instead opted to have a discussion with his friendlier twin.
"Aren't I a sight." he began, his tone was dark and the words that came out seemed to echo themselves in his throat, and yet there was the faintest resemblance of Tsukune's voice in his own. "You weren't expecting me to be so handsome?" he added with a grin that turned into a full fledged smile as he began laughing at his own joke, even his laugh was a twisted rendition of Tsukune's.
"Obviously, you are me." Tsukune mused, ignoring his evil counterpart's attempt at a joke. "But what exactly are you?"
The question seemed to spur the evil twin out of his self induced fit of laughter before he turned his attention once more towards the one facing him. His smile never wavered as he took a few seconds to examine Tsukune, judging him in the process.
"I'm one of a kind." he responded enigmatically.
This was starting to get annoying. "Please, give me a straight answer."
"Why are you in such a hurry? You don't need to be anywhere for a good 4 days." he replied. "Come on, indulge my desire for speech. I promise it will be most informative."
His other self was right, he had time. Might as well play the game and act cordial. "Okay, you say you are one of a kind. What does that mean exactly?"
The change in pace appeared to have calmed down Tsukune's alter ego a little bit, he no longer looked like a cage animal. Instead, he regained a bit of composure and in doing so, gave off an air of superiority, akin to that of a vampire's yet somehow slightly different.
"I-We are one of a kind, many have resembled or do resemble us but none are quite exactly like us." his answers were becoming more puzzling by the minute.
"What are you?" there was little chance he would answer directly but he still had to try.
"We are akin to a species commonly known by the name Ghoul." by now, Tsukune was almost completely convinced his other self was messing with him.
"A ghoul?" he asked dumbfounded. "What the hell is a ghoul?"
"A Ghoul is a created when you mix vampire flesh or blood with a human or a weaker monster's body. This creates a savage beast capable of incredible amounts of carnage at the expense of, however, the capacity for mental prowess. In other words, you get something amazingly powerful yet not to bright."
Something wasn't right about his explanation. "Wait." replied with a certain amount of skepticism mounting. "If that's the case, how are you even capable of holding a civilized conversation?"
"Complications, my dear friend, complications." noticing his listener still looked skeptical, he pressed on. "During our turning, something quite unique has occurred that, as far as I'm aware, has never happened before: A vampire was interrupted while injecting blood into a soon to be host."
"So what?" it still didn't make any sense.
'I agree, that alone wouldn't change anything apart from bruising the pride of the already quite egotistical monster that turned us but." it was clear from the way he spoke he viewed vampires with a certain amount of disdain. "Since the vampire was unable to stop on her own, she was unable to seal the wound she made on our neck. Thus, letting a bit of vampire blood leak out of our system through the wound when our head accidentally tilted to the side. Since our body was expecting to receive more vampire blood, our body adapted in anticipation. In doing so, it became more resistant and allowed us to remain as intelligent as we were before the change. Think about it, had we had just a few more drops of blood in our system, we would be rampaging the world until someone put us down."
'So that means..."
"Yep, Fate screwed with us again." the ghoulish Tsukune interrupted. "But before you go thinking we are super strong creatures capable of laying waste to cities, I must specify this does have its drawbacks. From what I could estimate from within the confines of our mind, I am weaker than you average Ghoul. If that weren't the case, our nature would've overpowered us and made us into a standard Ghoul. Are you following me so far?"
"Hold on a second." something just wasn't right about this. "First of all, if we are the same person, why are we talking to each other like we are different entities. Second, if you are me, how do you know so much about this?"
"Both of these questions have very simple answers. The first answer is: You are schizophrenic." he answered bluntly.
"Say what now?" he was pretty sure he was just insulted by something that claimed to be a figment of his imagination.
"Since we maintained our mind after being turned, and since it is psychologically impossible for someone to handle the stress of being a murderous abomination while at the same time holding unto principles of human morality which is the strictest of them all, our mind fabricated what it perceives as an outside presence, me, to personify all that you should be. If you're wondering why you aren't simply me, well, a lower amount of blood also means that our brain was able to resist the pain of the mental transformation. Keep in mind that I'm deducing half of what's going on here."
"I suppose that's an acceptable answer." he carefully replied, not exactly sure of what he just said. 'But what about the you knowing so much part?"
"One word: Blood." he answered quite simply.
"Blood?" Tsukune repeated.
"Yes, blood. Since our mind decided to separate me from you, and that I am incredibly in tune with the blood that now flows through our veins. I remember things that you don't."
"Remember? Hold on, this still doesn't make any sense."
The Ghoul let out a sigh before continuing his explanation. "I remember the life of the one who injected us with their blood. Her entire life up until injecting her blood into us is recorded in it, all her knowledge, all that she lived through is now available for me to remember. What do you think I've been doing for the past few days while you were off dragon hunting?"
"So you remember everything that Moka has done, knows, or has lived through?" this was giving him a headache.
"Precisely. I didn't just pull out this wealth of knowledge from my backside. You could even say I know her better than she knows herself."
"Okay, this is just too weird. If you are as bloodthirsty as you say you are, why don't you just possess me and go on a rampage?"
"Because I'm smart enough to know that if I do that, I will most probably get annihilated before I even do anything. Vampire law prohibits our existence and orders us to be exterminated on sight. I like to live more than I like to kill. Also, I can't stay out for too long before our mind crams me back inside. Besides, I like riding shotgun, being in here while you're out there. In fact, this little crusade we are on is most entertaining. Tell you what, I'll help you out a little for all your hard work today. During our next outing, I will come out and take care of things. Show you how you handle an operation properly. What do you say?"
What could he say, he was curious to see what his alter ego would be like on the outside and believed that as long as he was capable of coming out, there wouldn't be any chance for violence. There was no risk, right? "Deal."
The last Tsukune remembered before being thrown back into the real world was shaking his alter ego's hand and asking him one last question. "What should I call, since naming you Tsukune would be very confusing."
This question made the creature pause and ponder the issue for a few seconds before responding. "Since I am supposed to be an intelligent Ghoul, I want a name that reflects the barbarity of our nature along with the sophistication of our mind. Call me... Reaper."
And with that, Tsukune came back from his meditation, leaving within the confines of his mind an intelligent Ghoul that began making preparations for his big debut in the outside world. He was looking forward to creating some carnage. And at what better place to kick things off then at a vampire ball.
The funny thing was, vampires were so arrogant, they were holding their little get together right in the middle of their worst enemy. Perhaps they were overly confident nobody would try and touch them, maybe they just wanted to do this as a giant middle finger to their natural enemy. In any case, those vampires were too arrogant and prideful for their own good, they needed to be knocked down a few notches. This ball was being sponsored aboard a yacht that, according to the document, would be sailing in the middle of international waters.
Carnage Ahoy!