X
Unfamiliar Zero
Chapter 7
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A dense cloud of dust and smoke hung in the air between the stone pillars, obscuring Louise's sight as her eyes fluttered open. Feeling suddenly out of breath, she gasped for air, causing her to cough violently as the particles in the air entered her lungs. When the coughing subsided, she realized that there was a ringing in her ears and a wooziness that made the world feel unbalanced as her head throbbed in sync with the furious beating of her heart.
Groaning, she tried to move and discovered that she was sitting on the floor with her back pressed up against one of the stone pillars. She vaguely remembered being thrown back into it only a few seconds ago by the blast, and the memory of what happened caused the back of her head to spike with a sharp pain where she had hit her head against the stone.
She reached for the back of her head and felt a wetness on her fingertips while a shot of pain coursed through her, emanating from the wound. Bringing her hand to her face, she smelled the iron of her blood before she even saw it with her eyes.
There was a sudden rush of wind and the clouds of dust and smoke dispersed, revealing a dark mark from the explosion on the stone floor a few feet away from Louise. The ugly mark of her shame that now stained these once unblemished stones.
Her pink eyes traveled to the solitary figure of the Night Queen, looking none the worse for wear, standing exactly where she had been right before Louise's failed demonstration. The young girl swallowed hard, noting the red eyes that glowed and seemed to narrow at her in an almost predatory fashion.
"You're hurt," said Lady Elena. Her voice sounded strange, like she was in a trance.
Louise looked down in shame, thinking that Lady Elena was probably so shocked at her ineptitude that she was acting this way. Her secret was out now. She was a failure of a mage, incapable of even simple spells. She could already imagine being sentenced to spending the rest of her miserable life as a maid, never to achieve her dreams and relegated to join the masses of forgotten souls who made no mark on the world worthy of remembrance beyond a generation or two from their friends and family.
"Let me. . ." began Lady Elena from where she stood, but then suddenly appeared kneeling beside Louise in a rush of wind as she continued, ". . . take a look at you."
The vampire's pale hand reached out, her blood red fingernails long and elegant, yet sharp like talons. Gently, but firmly, she grasped the hand with which Louise had touched her head wound. The girl had been meaning to wipe the blood off her fingers onto her now tattered and dirtied maid outfit, but the Night Queen stopped her. Instead, Lady Elena pulled Louise's hand up to her face and stared intently at the blood-covered fingers of the younger girl.
Before Louise even realized what was happening, a wetness engulfed her fingers and something slippery slithered around them. She stared with stunned silence at her fingers now well into Lady Elena's mouth, her tongue licking them clean as she began to suck on them. Louise's heartbeat hastened and she felt the heat rising across her chest and up to her face. Her breaths grew short and quick. She wasn't sure what to think or how to feel. What was Lady Elena doing? Why was she doing this?
Lady Elena moaned in ecstasy, her black lined eyes half-lidded as she pulled her head back and released Louise's fingers from her mouth, a trail of saliva stretching in-between before being broken off by the vampire licking her lips. She continued to hold onto the girl's hand and smiled as she gently rubbed circles with her thumb on the girl's soft palm.
"You really are delicious, you know," said the vampire, her voice a little lower. A little more sensuous. It made Louise shiver unexpectedly.
Louise swallowed and tried to look or turn away, but she couldn't. Her pink eyes could only stare at the glowing red orbs of the beautiful woman in front of her. It was almost like a compulsion. Just like before, in their first encounter, her body refused to move. Frozen in place and refusing her commands as if it no longer belonged to her.
Lady Elena inched closer. Their faces perilously close, warm breaths intermingling.
Louise's heart thumped louder, so loud that she briefly worried that it would explode. She could feel the sweat forming on her skin as her body continued to heat up, some places more than others. Her skin tingled where Lady Elena touched as the vampire slid her hand up Louise's arm and up to caress the side of her neck and face.
"Turn your head," Lady Elena said in a voice soft as velvet, crimson eyes blinking slowly.
Louise tried to resist, but it was no use. Her head turned on its own, she was sure of it. Or at least she thought she was sure. Maybe she did obey on her own volition. She didn't know anymore. Everything seemed a little hazy, almost like a dream. She could feel Lady Elena's warm breath on her exposed neck as the hand to her face continued to gently stroke her cheek, both sensations sending more shivers through the girl.
Louise's thoughts turned to their first meeting, of how she had tried to bite her. Was it going to happen this time? She didn't even know anymore if she wanted it to happen or not. Would it really be so bad if she did?
Lady Elena's other hand reached up to the wound at the back of Louise's head, parting her pink hair and running her fingers across the wounded scalp beneath. It stung and Louise winced as the pain lanced through her head from the source.
"Does it still hurt, my dear?" Lady Elena's sensuous voice tickled her ear. "Are you still in pain?"
Louise could only nod.
"Don't worry." Lady Elena's lips pressed softly against Louise's neck. "I can make it better." Another kiss, a little higher. Then another. Her tongue darted out, tracing lines across the side of her neck.
Louise's mind was trying to make sense of it all, trying to keep what little hold of herself that she could, and yet the stimulation of her senses was proving to be too much. A quiet moan escaped her lips. She felt embarrassed to even hear it, let alone that she had actually made such a sound. This was all happening too fast, and yet so agonizingly slow. Things she had never really thought about or experienced before.
"Just a little more, a little taste," whispered Lady Elena, sounding eager. Her grip on the girl tightened as she pulled her a little closer.
Louise felt a slight pain in her neck as Lady Elena sunk her fangs into her and she let out a gasp at the sudden pain. Two sharp points pierced into her skin, feeling like simultaneous stings from some large insects. But the pain quickly passed, replaced instead by a steadily rising feeling that was strange and almost euphoric. She was very aware of Lady Elena's face pressed up against her neck, and there was a wetness around where the pain had originated from.
Then a trickle of something began to slide down her neck. Was the woman sucking her blood?
Before she could even begin to wrap her head around the absurdity of the situation, the sound of rushing wind echoed in the distance and quickly grew louder. Then, formless shapes of dark shadows snaked through the air between the pillars from all sides and began to circled around the pair of women. The return of the shadow fiends appeared to shake the vampire queen out of her trance, her hands falling away from the girl as she moved her head back and blinked rapidly, as if coming to her senses only now. Blood trickled down the side of her mouth.
The vampire then let out an amused snort and shook her head, her lips twisting into a rueful grin. "I really should have my fill before I spend any more time with you in the future. Yours is almost too intoxicating to resist otherwise."
She wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand, and then proceeded to lick it off that hand. Then, she reached out and wiped the blood away from Louise's neck before licking that off herself too. When she was finished, she stood up and faced the circling shadows. "Well?" she said to them expectantly.
Louise found that she could move again and immediately hugged her knees to her chest, staring down at the ground as she tried to process what happened. Her hand touched the side of her neck where Lady Elena had bitten her. She felt two small scabs already formed where the vampire's fangs had pierced her skin, and the area was still slightly damp with saliva. It was hard to believe she was really bitten. Who went around biting people's necks?
Considering how adamant Lady Jade was that she not get bitten during her first encounter with Lady Elena, Louise thought that it would be worse than this. Yet the experience wasn't nearly as bad as she expected. In fact, if it wasn't for the strangeness of the situation, it might have even been pleasurable given how it felt in the end. As the thought crossed her mind, she suddenly felt appalled at herself for even thinking that.
No. She shouldn't think that getting bitten by someone else was a good thing. Certainly not. It would be crazy to think otherwise. Especially if the person biting was also drinking her blood like she was some kind of walking and talking beverage. She reminded herself that Lady Jade was against her getting bit, so there must be some consequence to this that she didn't yet know. But what?
From the swirling shadows around them spoke strange voices, interrupting Louise's thoughts. No, that wasn't right. The echoes of voices spoke, as if they stood on the other side of a vast chasm shrouded in mist. There were a few of these echoing voices, and they made obscure sounds that seemed to mimic words. Louise almost thought she imagined it when she understood them, their words winding themselves into her ears.
"Master, we have found one of whom you seek. . ."
"There is only one. . ."
"... a creature of the deep earth. . ."
"He speaks to the stones. . ."
Louise glanced up to see Lady Elena grinning at her.
"Looks like we've found ourselves a long lost dwarf, my dear. Let's go say hello."
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Bartho silently stalked through the empty halls of the great keep, deep in thought. A gloved hand stroked his prominent chin as he deliberated over the most recent few days of his more than two hundred years of service to his esteemed master. Arguably the most interesting and exciting days for them in at least a few decades.
He had served Queen Elena long enough to know, with some confidence, how she thought and felt at any given moment that he was allowed in her presence. For a while now, he was well aware that his queen was bored. Terribly and undeniably bored. Yet of all her subjects, only Bartho was able to discern her true feelings, to see past the impeccable façade she put up when she stepped out of her room to attend to her responsibilities as Night Queen of Nifleheim.
Bartho liked to think that he was the best possible servant, able to more often than not anticipate and act on the needs and wants of his master before needing to be told. And, being the loyal servant that he was, Bartho had also tortured himself over how to help his master overcome the immense boredom that she felt.
Unfortunately, his options were limited. He could not go too far or too big in his efforts, lest he somehow serve to upset his master instead of make her happy like he wanted. But the few plans he did put in motion over the last few decades to help alleviate his master's boredom did not work as well as intended. They ended up being too small, too easy to resolve, and had served as only the barest of distractions for his master, cunning and powerful as she was. He even wondered if perhaps she knew it was him pulling the strings from the shadows, though she never let on if she did.
Now, since that fateful night that he was instructed to call up the vaunted Night Guard for an expedition the likes of which hadn't been seen in more than fifty years, everything had changed. No longer was his master bored and going through the motions of her duties as queen. No longer was she pretending to be fine when she was not.
Instead, she was energized. Excited. Eager, even. This was the same master he remembered fondly when he first began his service to her more than two centuries ago. The master who had yet to conquer and claim Nifleheim as her own and stand at the pinnacle of vampire society.
Yet, as happy as he was for his master's newfound happiness, Bartho could not help but feel troubled.
Everything had changed so suddenly. They now effectively lived in the keep of the formidable Black Fortress, with his master rarely returning to the mansion or the palace back in Nifleheim. Not to mention that some of the Night Guard were acting as mere sentries along the lengthy outer perimeter, which seemed a waste of their talents. Surely nobody would be stupid enough to attack this place, regardless if it was long since abandoned.
With the queen spending less and less of her time in Nifleheim, she pushed many of her duties to her subordinates and withdrew from the public eye, all of whom had no idea why she was doing so. Already he heard of whispers passing among the nobles and the commoners about the dramatic shift in the queen's behavior. There were rumors of illness or weakness. Some even spoke of scandal. It was enough to make his blood boil.
Then there was the matter of the humans the queen now kept company with. Lady Jade, a human so powerful he could not help but doubt if she was actually human at all, and Louise, a frightened and clueless girl whose only redeeming qualities seemed to be her somewhat attractive and unique appearance. And perhaps her blood. He begrudgingly admitted that the girl's blood did have a particularly enticing aroma, though he did not think his queen's obsession with the girl was purely because of something so trivial. No, there had to be something else, something that he did not know.
He could understand why the queen spent time with Lady Jade. The woman's aura was undeniably formidable, and his master and the human warrior seemed to have a history with each other that spanned for some time before even his servitude to the queen. The fact that a human could have power that might actually rival that of vampire elders like the Night Queen was of course deeply concerning, despite the two of them being friends. He did not like to think that if their relationship ever soured, the life of his queen might be in jeopardy.
That girl Louise, on the other hand, seemed like a complete waste of time. Both for him and his master. Bartho could not understand why the queen seemed so interested in the girl. She was clumsy, inexperienced, and unsure of herself. Plus the girl practically oozed fear whenever she was around Bartho, and he wasn't even trying to scare her anymore like he did that first day they met. How could the queen even stand to have that girl in her presence? What was that girl even doing here in the first place?
Lastly, and probably the biggest reason he felt troubled, was the unbelievably strong aura he had felt since arriving here. An aura that, to his disbelief and dismay, continued to grow in magnitude as time went on. It came from a being that he had not yet seen, one who had locked itself in the highest level of the keep with protective spells that seemed unbreakable before he could even lay eyes on it. He wasn't stupid enough to ever try and break in, of course, though he would be lying if the thought didn't cross his mind. If only to sate his curiosity.
He had a very good idea of what, and who, the entity was, given the circumstances, but as they say, seeing is believing. And he very much wanted to see for himself what had called the Night Queen out to this bleak and deserted fortress from a bygone era. Could it really be. . .?
Bartho froze midstride. His head slowly angled upwards as his eyes narrowed. The aura in question had suddenly vanished. After feeling its presence for the last few days, its absence was unmistakably pronounced. He wondered if perhaps the being in question had heard his thoughts, but then shook his head. A foolish thought. It was likely only coincidence. Right?
Regardless, he had best investigate what happened. He was now assigned to the keep and was therefore responsible for it, and if there was trouble brewing he needed to know.
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Kaji strode down the winding steps and through the empty halls with purpose. Behind him, Jade followed closely, trusty spear in hand. They arrived at a set of arched double doors made entirely of metal. A strange sight, considering that most of the doors in the keep were crafted out of wood, or a combination of wood and metal. Flanking the doors were two stone statues of armored demonic warriors standing an imposing eight feet tall. One wielded an axe and the other a spiked mace.
The solid metal doors themselves were molded with great detail into a depiction of death and sorrow on some unknown battlefield. At the center of each door was a protruding metal bust of a demon skull, complete with horns and fangs and looking like they were both howling in anger.
The stone framing the doors was carved all around it with ancient runes, and he could feel the magic emanating from the protective wards and enchantments that they powered. Taking a closer look, he was pleased to note that they were still strong and working properly.
"Jade," he said, without taking his eyes off the doors in front of him.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"Please tell him that if he intends to follow us through these doors, it will end very painfully for him."
Jade nodded once and turned her head to stare into a shadowy corner of the room they were in. More shadowy than the other corners, if one were to look closely.
"Bartho," she called out the vampire butler, "You cannot pass through these doors. Attempting to do so might actually kill you." Her words were blunt and matter-of-fact.
A few seconds ticked by with nothing happening before the butler finally materialized out of the shadows. He immediately dropped down on one knee and bowed his head, staring intently at the floor while he brought a gloved hand up to his chest.
"Please forgive me for my rudeness, Lady Jade," he said.
"You've been following us since we exited the grand staircase," said Lady Jade, looking at him for an explanation.
The vampire seemed at a loss for words for a moment. "Yes, my Lady. I sensed the sudden disappearance of a powerful aura that has been present since I arrived here, and I thought that there might have been some trouble."
"And when you saw that there was no trouble?"
Bartho lowered his head even further. "My. . . curiosity got the better of me, my Lady. I apologize."
Kaji briefly regarded the vampire butler. The shadow meld he used to conceal himself was very well done. Almost commendable, really. Most people would have probably never noticed the vampire, or would at least have not known his precise location. Jade was not like most people, however. And Kaji was a Demon Lord.
Jade rapped the butt of her spear on the floor, the sound echoing sharply across the stones. "I am not the one you should be apologizing to. You are in the presence of my master, and the master of your Night Queen. I'm sure you're smart enough to have realized who he is by now."
Kaji spared an amused glance at his trusted servant. Some might mistake Jade for being overly dramatic, but he knew well enough that she was absolutely serious about subordinates observing proper protocol and conduct in front of him. Personally, he did not mind in the slightest that the vampire had been following them. It wasn't like he was doing anything that should be kept secret.
Bartho spoke with the barest hint of worry in his voice. "My humblest apologies, Demon Lord Arkajian. I did not-"
"It's fine," Kaji cut him off with a lazy wave of his hand. "You serve Elena, yes?"
"Yes, Your Lordship." Bartho continued to stare at the floor. "Please allow me to humbly introduce myself. My name is Bartholomew Falzen. I am the first and oldest of the Night Queen's many servants, serving currently as her personal butler. She has recently assigned me to carry out my duties here at the keep, which is why I am here."
Kaji's interest was slightly piqued. "And what duties does the Night Queen's personal butler carry out, I wonder?"
"Anything and everything, Lord," replied the vampire.
Kaji glanced at Jade, who shrugged.
"I know that he can cook and clean," she offered.
"And spy, apparently," Kaji said with a slight grin. Given the vampire's stealth skills, Kaji did not doubt that the butler was also used for more hands-on tasks such as assassination, sabotage, or perhaps even stealing or kidnapping. Although it was more likely that most of his time was spent countering any such efforts by Elena's enemies, which is why he was here instead of out in the field.
Bartho nodded. "I do whatever my queen commands, Lord Arkajian."
"What if she were to order you to kill me? Or Lord Kaji?" asked Jade, her expression neutral.
"I. . ." Bartho hesitated. "I would caution her against such a thing, my Lady."
"But if she were to insist?" Jade pressed him, and Kaji looked at the vampire with keen eyes.
With a sigh of resignation, Bartho said, "Then, my Lady, I have no choice but to do my best to carry it out."
Kaji chuckled. "Smart, loyal, and obedient. Ideal traits for a servant. Very good. I see why Elena keeps you close."
"Yet he would die so readily to attempt that which is impossible for him to achieve." Jade sounded unimpressed.
"I would gladly give my life for my queen," said Bartho with conviction.
Kaji turned to his own most trusted servant. "If I were to order you to kill Elena, would you be confident you could carry it out without the risk of getting yourself killed in the process? Would you not be prepared to die trying to fulfill such a command?"
Jade looked away, her lips forming into a frown. "That's different."
"Is it?"
"I'm closer in power to my target, so it isn't an impossible task."
Kaji chuckled again, then turned to Bartho, who he noticed seemed to have tensed. Perhaps at the mention of possibly killing his master. "Oh, don't worry. I don't have any plans to get rid of Elena. As long as she continues to serve me well, she will always have a place at my side." He paused as he returned his attention to the doors and the task at hand. "Now I suppose it's time for you to take your leave, vampire. I have things to do."
The vampire got to his feet and bowed once more before heading back the way they came. This time walking normally, perhaps thinking it would be rude to leave in any other manner.
"Oh, Bartho?" called Jade, causing the butler to hesitate as he was just about to exit the room.
The butler turned to face her. "Yes, Lady Jade?"
"I. . . there is something I need to speak to you about. Come find me later."
Kaji half-turned towards her and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Bartho inclined his head. "Understood, my Lady." He quickly left after that.
When Jade didn't explain herself, Kaji decided not to inquire. There was no need for him to know everything his subordinates were up to. He was not fond of micro-managing, and he trusted Jade completely.
Raising his hand, he focused his magic on the doors. The eyes of the demon heads on the doors began to glow and blue flames burst forth from their gaping jaws. Even the eyes of the statues flared to life. Then the doors began to swing open, rumbling as the room shook slightly.
A bright light shone from beyond the doors, coming from a massive tear-shaped violet crystal at least fifty feet tall and suspended in the middle of a circular pit that appeared to have no bottom as it extended down into darkness. Dozens of smaller crystals of varying sizes and colors hovered in mid-air all around, orbiting the giant crystal that dominated the space.
This was the heart of the fortress. It was from here that the entire fortress city drew energy from. To power the wards, the defenses, and to give the very stones some semblance of consciousness. There were other benefits to the inhabitants as well, minor ones such as increased mana regeneration and power amplification.
"The crystal has lost a lot of energy, but it remains in perfect condition otherwise," Jade reported as they walked into the chamber.
The doors swung shut behind them, with Jade stopping and keeping vigil by the door as he moved closer to the center.
Kaji looked around, studying the other crystals with his own eyes, before settling once again on the giant crystal in the center. The entire chamber was suffused with magical energy, but he had to agree that it was considerably weaker than he remembered. He raised both hands, palms facing towards the crystal, and concentrated on it.
First, his eyes began to glow. Followed by his hands. Then so too did the crystal. He smiled as his consciousness dove into and felt the magic embedded into the crystal.
"Elena's warding has gotten better," he noted. "But there is still room for improvement."
Even for him, it would take some time to take down the wards that Elena had put up and then rebuild them to his own liking. And he needed to be delicate, lest he accidentally damage the crystal. It was an ancient thing, after all, and difficult to work with if not done correctly. While he was at it, he might as well check on everything else connected to the crystal as well.
It was time to get to work.
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Louise rubbed the side of her neck as she followed Lady Elena, the Night Queen a few steps ahead of her. Further in front and leading the way were the shadow fiends, their dark, smoky figures swirling almost restlessly.
They passed through several different halls and tunnels of all sizes, their footsteps echoing with each step. Everything they saw was carved and built with the same great care and impressive attention to detail that it made her wonder if all the dwarven cities were really like this.
Despite the fact that they were going to meet a dwarf, and that there were strange shadow creatures leading them there, Louise couldn't stop thinking about what Lady Elena had done to her. The wound was already scabbed over and didn't hurt in the slightest, but it did feel tender to the touch. Even without a mirror, though she wished she had one so that she could get a better look at it, she could tell that the wounds were small and probably barely noticeable. But the fact remained that she was most definitely bitten, and Lady Elena had drank her blood.
Why? Why had she done it?
Louise stared at the back of the blonde's head, hair falling in perfect waves down her back. She wanted to ask her, to find out the reasons for what she had done, but she could not bring herself to say anything. She was still nothing more than a servant here, and servants were not supposed to question their betters. That irked her to no end.
She took a deep breath, her hands balling into fists momentarily before she managed to relax somewhat. She needed to think of something else. Turning her attention back to their surroundings, Louise tried to focus on the dwarven architecture and craftsmanship and partially succeeded in keeping her mind off of the incident.
They walked onto a long and narrow bridge over what appeared to be an underground ravine, the bottom of which could not be seen. Off to their left were several giant wheels built into vertical shafts at the end, or perhaps the beginning, of the ravine. They resembled water wheels, yet they were still and silent. There was no water to make them work. Above the shafts were massive stone slabs that looked like gates, which was probably where the water was supposed to come from. But they were closed.
To their right were more bridges, some actually lined with working lights, crossing the ravine at varying heights, and the sight of it really served to drive home how extensive the dwarves had built this underground city beneath the fortress. A city beneath the city. One that could easily be home to thousands, yet was lifeless and empty as the city above.
They finally stopped in front of a set of doors flanked by several columns carved into a large and otherwise perfectly flat wall. The area around the door was carved with glyphs and patterns that seemed to depict death and the dead. The shadow fiends said that the dwarf could be found within.
Lady Elena raised her hand. "You've done well. I have no more need of you," she said as she flicked her wrist at them and the shadow fiends suddenly disappeared in a brief gust of wind.
Louise rolled her wand between her fingers again. It was difficult not to be envious of how easily Lady Elena commanded magic. Especially after yet another of her own magical disasters.
"You seem troubled," Lady Elena said, half-turning towards her.
"I-I'm sorry, Lady Elena," she stammered quickly, looking down at the floor.
"Sorry? What are you apologizing for?"
Louise opened and closed her mouth. She wasn't sure. Why was she apologizing? For looking troubled? She hadn't done anything wrong, yet here she was apologizing as if she had.
"Oh right, I was going to ask. . . what spell were you trying to cast earlier? I couldn't quite figure it out, though it looked like a simple spell."
Louise gripped her wand tighter. "I. . ."
"I mean, whatever it was, you pushed so much power through your wand that the spell practically fell apart before it could even take effect. Hence the explosion," remarked Lady Elena, looking thoughtful. "But I'm guessing that's happened before, hasn't it? That's why you were so hesitant to show me your magic. Or was that what you were trying to accomplish from the start? Causing an explosion? Because if so, then well done. That was quite an explosion from such a small spell. An inefficient use of your mana, though."
Shocked, Louise stared at the vampire, who had finally turned fully to face her. "N-No! I didn't mean. . . I-I wasn't trying to cause an explosion!" Her mind was racing. Why had no one told her before? Her spells were failing because she was overloading them with magic? She didn't even consider that a possibility.
Lady Elena smirked. "I thought as much. Though judging from how easily you can dump magic into your spells, I'd say you are most definitely suited to combat and destruction magic. But you will definitely need to learn to control the flow of your magic, even then. Especially if you want to cast other spells, and also be able to cast more spells before you run out of mana."
"I can. . . fix it?" breathed Louise. Her heart thumped in her chest. Was Lady Elena being serious? Could she really hope to be a real mage?
"Oh yes, most definitely. It won't be easy, but with lots of practice and proper instruction, you can learn to control your magic and cast spells without them blowing up in your face. Unless you want them to, of course." The lady smirked mischievously.
Louise immediately bowed at the waist, hands clenching around her wand. "P-Please teach me!" She didn't care how hard it would be. She didn't care how long it would take. If there was a clear path to becoming a proper mage, she would take it at all costs.
"Hmmm." Lady Elena stepped closer. "And what are you willing to give me in exchange? My services don't come cheap."
Louise's mind went blank as she tried to think of a response. There really wasn't anything she could offer Lady Elena that the vampire either didn't already have, or couldn't get herself. Louise had nothing to offer. No money. No influence. No special knowledge. Nothing at all. Nothing except. . . Her eyes widened.
"I don't really have anything of value, but perhaps. . . I can offer you. . . my blood?"
Lady Elena sighed, bringing a hand up to massage the bridge of her nose. "That. . . won't be necessary." She actually sounded unsure, which was a first. Then she turned away from Louise and walked towards the partially opened doors. "Fine. I'll teach you. But in exchange, you'll owe me some favors in the future. And no matter what the favors are, you'll have to agree to them. Refusal won't be an option. Is that clear?"
Louise nodded eagerly as she breathed a sigh of relief. She was honestly expecting to be turned down, but the vampire had surprised her. Despite the open-endedness of these future favors, she had no problems with the deal. She would be learning how to properly wield magic! That was well worth any price these favors turned out to be.
"Don't get me wrong," said Lady Elena, as if to temper the girl's excitement, "You're still pitifully weak, little girl, but your magic is stronger than I originally thought. There might be some hope for you yet."
"Th-Thank you," Louise managed to say, not taking her words as an insult at all. She understood more than anyone else just how weak and pathetic she was, but with proper magic she knew that she wouldn't stay weak for long. She believed that with every fiber of her being.
"Oh, and about what happened between us earlier. . . Let's pretend it never happened, okay?" Lady Elena flashed a quick smile then she stepped through the partially opened doors, leaving Louise alone outside, gently rubbing the side of her neck.
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Author's Note: As always, please let me know what you think. I've pretty much created this world from scratch, however it is without a doubt heavily inspired by a wide variety of other media and properties, many of which you'll probably recognize some shades of. I am really having fun creating a whole world simply for the heck of it and smashing a lot of things together that I have picked up over the many years of reading books, watching films, and playing games.
Things will get much busier, more exciting, and a bit more complicated from here on out. Hopefully I'm able to write it as well as I've envisioned.