Chapter 7
Earlier.
"Huh?" Garou said in great confusion. Jima explained his request to Bad and asked that he save Snek from a terrible fate. Bad wholeheartedly agreed to the notion, yet Garou thought it over. "If you are going to do this, we better make sure you make an entrances so that everyone knows, you're the real deal!"
"Really? You don't think me showing up will be enough?" Bad asked.
"Nah, you need to display to the nagas without words that 'yeah, I'm the goddamn king of the shadows'!" Garou stated. "Let's head home and work on that before you leave."
Bad was quick to get them home, with Zenko's help they found the perfect entrance he needed to make to save Snek. With a nod, Bad excused himself and vanished into the darkness. Garou sighed aloud. "We can't catch a break kid…" he said to Zenko.
"We were warned earlier about the vampires. What do they want now?" she asked.
"What else? To kill me! Everyone wants the power my father possessed. The thing is, I don't think it's as strong as the others think it is. All it does it make you crave more and more blood. You're never satisfied. That or that's exactly what they want. The ability to keep drinking without fail, to constantly thirst and urge for more…" he paused and looked away as Zenko stared at him with wide eyes.
"No one ever told me that before, I thought all vampires were like that, and your dad was just thirstier than others…"
He shook his head to it all. "There was a rumor my family told me of, I even heard it from the werekin when I was young. They said my father brought this curse upon himself. When he was mortal, he lived on a simple farm with the people. Yet water was scares to say the least, they continued to suffer for it until they pleaded with the king of the land to give them some from the reserves. They were denied. My father was young and determined, he began to raid the reservoir at night. Never for his own greed but that of his people. Women and children were given enough to drink, the next night the men, then any time after he would try and get the livestock the needed drink. He never thought of himself, he always did it for the benefit of the people, however, he neglected his own needs."
Garou paused. "He was caught one night and brought before the king. He was to be made and example of, the king possessed a powerful mage and cursed my father. "You adore the night, now live in it. Never again will your thirst be quenched, live with it for as long as you live…" the mage then smirked. "May you never die a mortal's death… bring about the demon in man, the greed of darkness and forever thirst!"
Zenko froze to the tale as Garou explained. "I thought vampires…"
"There's more than one way to make a vampire a vampire," he explained. "My father was cursed with immortality, when they imprisoned him, he was so thirsty he drained his cellmates of blood. Then, he found the strength it allowed him to tear off the metal bars. He went from cell to cell draining the people dry, when the guards came. He drank them too. When he escaped, he summoned his blood drain ability, he could give a human a small nick on their skin, if he could hear their heartbeat he could cut them… it was the whole kingdom that suffered. He drained them in a single night, but still, he was thirsty."
"He got really strong because of that?" she whispered.
Garou nodded. "He could only grow stronger as the strength he took that night became his own, even the power of the animals he drained dry allowed him to grow stronger. I never did know how long my father lived for, but he endured in isolation for years, until he met mother. Perhaps she was the first person to not fear him, that or it was the first moment of affection he was given since the transformation. Either way, somehow his blood craving calmed. I tend to think father worked on his will power to try and curb his feeding. Yet now, vampires want this. They want the quickest and easiest way to grow in power, what better way than to do what they do best, drink blood."
Garou was startled as her hand slipped over top of his, she held it to comfort him. For some reason, it made him smile. "I see now why you needed my brother… but if your dad was cursed, how did he learn about finding a person whose blood would keep it at bay?"
Not even Garou knew at the time, perhaps it was during his travels or when he began to talk to the other vampires when it came out. Either way, he was glad his father told him of it. "I wish I knew, but I cannot tell you how grateful I am to Bad. Even now, I don't have to drink that often, I even find myself drinking less too."
She nodded her head. "Just as long as you keep your promise to me, you won't harm him and now I ask of you to help him. He's something different now, but he is still my big brother!"
Garou crossed his heart to her. "I promise," he said. The smile soon vanished. "Now, we just have to keep him hidden for the time being, he has yet to learn how to control his aura around himself. It's like a dense fog… no offence, he is a little dense too!"
Zenko pouted. "Even so, but his heart is far bigger!" she protested.
He snickered. "There's no denying that…" He sighed aloud. Bad was gone for some time before he returned again.
Him appearing out of nowhere was starting to freak Garou out! "Shit man, put a bell on or something!" Garou protested.
Bad smirked. "You never did, and if I did wear a bell, you would be wondering where the hell is that bell sound coming from!"
As Bad relaxed and his shadow king form faded away, he looked at Garou oddly. "I got something that will hide my power for the time being, it works for 24 hours, but I can't summon my shadows or use darkness…" he explained and showed off the seven vials of potion in his hands.
"You sure about this?" Zenko asked. "I mean, couldn't we just work with Bad on hiding his strength?"
"Too little time and if it somehow spikes during a session, we're screwed. At the moment, the potion is what's best." Garou explained. "And we might want to hurry, I've been sensing scouts for the past hour."
With a nod, Bad turned to the clock. "Meh, close enough." And downed his first bottle.
His face soured. "Yeesh! Tastes awful!" Yet it was noticeable. Garou didn't sense any of his Shadow King power the least bit.
Garou did a quick walk around of him, even tasting his blood and taking in his scent. "You smell like you did before the Shadow King took you, even the flavor of your blood has converted back… that's some powerful shit!"
"Yeah, well I got to take this every 24 hours to hide the Shadow King's power. Zenko, you still have the dragon with you, the others have promised to only call upon me if it is urgent." Bad explained.
"How do you feel big Brother?" Zenko asked.
He appeared a little conflicted. "It feels good, but at the same time… I also feel naked now… I mean, I can kick anyone's ass, that's a given, yet, with the Shadows… I felt unstoppable"
"No shit…" muttered Garou. He crossed his arms and sighed. "We need to keep a close eye on this, despite the no contact rule in ragnarok, it doesn't mean the elders will play fair, besides. Just because vampires can't attack, doesn't mean their underlings are unable to. You know, familiars, slave creatures… all that fun stuff…"
"Bring them on!" Bad announced with great pride. "I take down monsters, this will be nothing!"
"Yeah well, remember, monsters run wild. Underlings are trained!"
