Chapter 2 : Moon-light princess
My eyes open. The stars are within reach of the hand.
The sky over the deep valley is so high and clear that it seems to be the only place in the world.
There wouldn't be anywhere else in the world that is as close to the heavens as this land.
This is a high land, but if you simply compare the heights, then there are other lands that can boast their altitudes other than this.
The real reason that this land is close to the heavens is because this is where 'they' were born and this is where 'they' were slaughtered by *****
When I wake up, it's still night. The moonlight highlights the bloody scenery.
I take a look at my surroundings. Instead of the man with his throat cut there is some kind of weird puddle. Chloé is lying on the ground with the woman with golden hair sitting at her side and watching me as I wake up.
-Ah, finally! You made me wait you know. She tells me immediately.
Still in a daze, I don't answer.
-Hey, do you listen when I speak ? She stands up and puts on an angry face. I just saved your life so it wouldn't hurt to be nice a little.
I ignore her and walk in the direction of my friend before putting myself at her side to see if she is hurt. She doesn't seem to have any injury except maybe some kind of two tiny holes on her neck, but it has already stopped bleeding.
After my examination, I turn myself in the direction of the golden haired girl who is now upset at me.
-So what the fuck is going on? I ask her. She looks at me with her eyes wide open.
-Eh master, you're really mean to act like that at your first encounter with a new person who just saved your life.
-What's that with this master thing anyway? Why do you call me your master? I don't even know who you are.
She stares for a second at me and answers: I am Arcueid Brunestud, princess of the true Ancestor and Berserker-class servant. Nice to meet you... She stops
-Luke, my name is Luke Valdant and so why do you call me master?
I am starting to get frustrated by this whole situation so I hope she will answer quickly in order that I can put Chloé somewhere safe and go back home.
She tilts her head like a little pigeon.
-Eh? You don't know about masters?
Now I'm really pissed off. "NO! I'm telling you I don't understand a single thing about this whole stuff! "
She puts her hand closer to her mouth like she's thinking about something.
-Ooh...So this is an accidental invocation. Nice, I will be teacher Arcueid now! You will need to listen carefully my new student.
She puts on a joyful smile like she is enjoying herself and puts her hands on her back. Since she is finally gonna explain, I ignore her weird attitude and listen.
-So first of all, do you believe in the supernatural ?
She asks straightly and I answer without a doubt. "Yes" I had visions of the future and even the past for several years now, so I already believe in those kinds of thing. I still don't trust her so I prefer to not tell her about that.
-Good, so let's begin. First, you need to know that magis, vampires, exorcists and all these kinds of thing exist. Magi use spirits called familiar that have some kinds of power, but must obey their magi and are receiving energy from him. Servants like me are powerful heroes of legends, plus some exeptions like me who are summoned as one of those familiars, but are extremely powerful. And you, you are my master who supplies me with magical energy. Servants can almost only be summoned during a Holy Grail War. It's a war that takes place in a city where seven magi each with a different kind of servant with different abilities are gonna fight until one of them wins and obtains the Grail to fulfill his wish. There are seven kinds of servant. I am Berserker, which basically means that I am really strong and can go on a rampage, there is Saber who fights with a Sword, Lancer, Archer, Caster, Rider and Assassin. And so now I will obey you and we will defeat the other masters in order to gain the grail. Oh also, this symbol on your hand means you can use it three times to boost my capacity or give me an order.
I stare blankly at her. I don't know what she was expecting, but just giving me this much information was certain to short-circuit my brain.
-So? Do you have any question? She asks, waiting for my answer.
When my thoughts are back, I answer her : You don't often talking to people do you?
She immediately looks at me with a shocked face as if I was reading her mind. "How do you know that? Did you spy on me?" She then takes a suspicious glare "No I know, it's Ciel isn't it? I know she doesn't like me so I'm sure she orchestrated all of that, somehow." She has a weird gaze after saying that.
-No no, I swear I have nothing to do with this Ciel. I try, sensing a menacing aura around her.
-And how did you know about my lack in social skill?
-Well, it's pretty obvious you know, you are acting like I'm supposed to know everything and all your reactions aren't exactly what we can call normal.
She continues to glare at me and then makes a bright smile: "Okay, I believe you. Now that this is done, let's kill the girl." She says happily while pointing at Chloé with her finger.
"What?" I ask, without understanding what she's talking about. She repeats "Now that you have awakened, I can kill the girl so that is what I'm gonna do."
"Stop. Don't touch her!" I say as she is heading towards my lying friend.
-Why would I stop? Oh right, maybe you know her and you want to say goodbye before.
I can't believe she can say that with such a face. "First, why would you even want to kill her?"
-Because she has been bitten of course.
-What? Why would you kill someone because of that?
-Oh right, I forgot that, don't worry I will explain to you after taking care of her.
She continues walking.
-NO STOP! You said I was your master so I order you to stop right here you stupid blonde. Are all servants as idiotic as you? No wonder you never had any friends! Or maybe they left you because of that!
It seems my bait worked because she stopped before turning in my direction. However, her eyes are yellow and full of hatred. I feel a chill running down my spine. I try to speak and tell her that it was just so she can explain the situation but my lips can't move. When she walks in my direction I try stepping back but my legs don't move. She stands before me with a scarily angry face.
-I can accept that some people call me stupid, but if you talk about Shiki like that, I will kill you right here, understood?
I can now move my lips. "Yes, yes alright, I withdraw what I said, but first explain this bitten thing, please." I tried to stay calm, but she really looked like she was gonna kill me only because I said she had no friends. She must really like this Shiki to react like that.
She then starts to explain while I am still immobilized.
-In fact, it's pretty simple : vampires exist. There are two kinds and the one we encountered before is of the classical kind called the Dead Apostles. By classical I mean that they are the vampires that you already know in fiction with all the blood sucking, sunlight and weak to religious stuff. And so the guy who bit your friend is a vampire and she will become one too if I don't kill her before it happens. You must also know that a vampire can't resist drinking blood and I will kill her no matter you do. I'll allow you to say goodbye before it, but that's all.
After saying that, she lets go what was holding me and I fall on my knees. A VAMPIRE ! Of all things, why would this kind of thing happen to me... I'm just a normal high school student with little vision powers but that's all. I have done nothing wrong to deserve something like that.
No, wait...I must stop and concentrate...If magic stuff exists there must be a way to cure her before it's too late like in the novel of Stocker. Yeah, I remember there was this guy who already knew everything about vampires and he knew how to heal people bitten by them before it's too late.
-Alright Arcueid you know what? We will go around town and look for someone to save her. You said that all masters are magus right? So we are gonna go around town and look for one of those masters and see if he can save her.
-Are you stupid? There is no cure. Some people have already tried and none of them achieved this so if this is all you have to say...
She starts walking in the direction of Chloé. I understand that nothing I could say is gonna change anything and I start panicking. I scream "DON'T DO ANYTHING TO HER" from the bottom of soul while running in their direction. At this moment, the weird symbol on my hand of which Arcueid talked earlier is shinning and a part of the symbol disappears. At that moment, the blonde woman stops and looks at me with a half-angry, half-shocked face.
-Did you just use a command spell?...
...We stare at each other. I'm not exactly sure that I understand what she's talking about and she can't believe that I did whatever I did.
She talks to herself "Did he just used a command spell to protect a monster he is friends with?" She looks up at the brightness of the moon and sighs. She then looks at me. One could almost believe that she was the phantom of a princess. The moonlight perfectly illuminates her white figure and her short hair is floating in the wind.
An image I don't remember overlaps perfectly the scene with a woman looking-like Arcueid but with a long dress and long hair in a field covered with flowers. At this moment she says : "Looks like I am again partner with and idiot protecting the one he likes without care for himself, even if the one protected is dangerous."
She then smiles and obeys the order without complaining further. I can't understand what she's saying, but if she decided not to harm my friend then I'm happy.
After explaining to me that the command spell she talked about was the three orders, we took Chloé to her home and Arcueid did something to her parent in order so that they take care of their daughter without even noticing the situation.
I don't like the idea of hypnotising people with some kind of mystical powers, but here there is no other choice. If we just bring her to her parents, we would need to explain the situation to them. They will maybe even try to bring her to a hospital, which Arcueid said was a bad idea because of all the blood in those kinds of places.
We then decided to roam the street and search for someone who could help Chloé.