"Hey, Giorno," he heard Fugo's voice. He was knocking at his door. "Could you let me in? Trish is changing."
Giorno slowly got out of bed, dragging his feet to the door.
"Giorno, please hurry. I'm in my pajamas."
He opened the door. Fugo had his arms crossed.
"Took you long enough," he said before entering.
The Breton closed the door. "Why can't you watch Trish undress? You're together, right?"
Fugo blushed and turned his head around to face him. "We haven't been together that long!"
And then the Imperial started undressing, making Giorno blush and look away. "You're undressing in front of me." Curious, he peaked a little bit, looking at the lean muscles on his back. Eyes scouring down, his underwear didn't cover his cheeks. Thankfully, Fugo wasn't looking in front of him to see his flushed face.
"That's different. You and I are both men. It's okay."
Fugo first put on his green gambeson and then his steel armor. He headed towards the door. "If you need me, I'll be downstairs, waiting at the table." And he left.
Now it was Giorno's turn to change. He wore his usual pink robes, took his bags, and went downstairs.
Sitting at the table, Fugo had some sliced bread and a jar of jelly, but he wasn't eating. Giorno sat across from him and brought out his breakfast. It was some cornbread. Before he could eat, the other stopped him.
"Wait til Trish comes back," he said. "Anyways, I'm sorry if Trish acted coldly towards you. She was like that when I approached her after this one arena match."
"What are you talking about?" Giorno replied. "She was nice to me."
"What? How when I talked to her, I—ugh, whatever. I guess you get special treatment."
"I think she liked my pink robes." He smiled inside.
They heard footsteps approaching them. It was Trish, and she was wearing a white and purple dress. She sat down with them and sighed. "Fugo, dear, could you hand me a slice?" she asked. "Giorno, that tea you had for dinner last night, do you have any more?"
"Sure, but I'll have to brew some more."
Giorno got up from his seat, asked the barkeep if they had two empty glasses, and sat back down. He poured some water out of his canteen at the table into the glass. Next, the Breton sprinkled the dried rose petals on each of the cups. He heated them with magic.
"Magic is so useful," Trish commented.
They ate their breakfast and went on their way, traveling on the Black Road, heading to Skingrad. When they were on their way, they noticed fresh bloodstains in the middle of the road in Fort Ash.
"The guards should do something about this fort," Trish commented. "There could be bandits inside."
"It can't be bandits," Fugo said. "They'd be outside right now, guarding this place. It has to be goblins."
Giorno knelt, examining the blood on the ground. Bloody footprints painted the stone pavement; its fading trail led to the entrance. The blond looked at the door that creaked open. A bloody fingerprint was on the door frame.
"You think somebody could be inside? What if they're hurt?" Trish questioned.
"It's none of our business. Let's go," Fugo said.
Giorno stood up and moved, but he still kept his eyes on the door.
"You're right. It stinks," Trish complained. "It smells like something died in there."
As soon as she took one step, a vampire burst the doors open. The vampire was an Imperial woman with long blond hair and red lips. The dress she wore was colored a fading black with bloodstains. She was sizzling in the sun, and smoke arose from her searing flesh. In a blink of an eye, she grabbed Trish and retreated inside the fort. Fugo and Giorno heard her screams echoing.
The golden blond's eyes widened. "Damn it! We got to do something!" he shouted as he shook Giorno.
"Calm down! She can probably handle herself, but we must hurry."
"Probably? All she can do is summon a dagger and some armor. She can't handle herself."
"Perhaps we should've gone to Skingrad first," Giorno spoke quietly to himself.
"I'm going in!"
Fugo charged in.
"Wait!"
Giorno followed him.
Inside the fort, a pile of skeletal remains greeted Giorno. Fugo must've done deeper inside. However, he felt he shouldn't rely on him clearing the way. If there's one vampire here, then there must be more. Unfortunately for them, the Grand Champion will cut them down. Already a couple of feet inside, there was a pile of dust.
Wow, he works fast, Giorno thought.
"Hide!" a voice echoed across the stone halls.
A vampire was sprinting towards the exit, but Giorno incinerated him before he could get out. He placed his dust in his pockets.
"Another 250 Septims for me," Giorno commented to himself.
Before continuing forward, he cast a spell to detect the undead. He snuck around, hiding in the shadows. He was sure vampires could see in the shadows, but it made him feel safe.
The path split into two, but he couldn't progress through the locked iron door, so he went down the hall to the right. He was in a room with old wooden caskets. One of the vampires was inside, either sleeping or hiding. Giorno lit the coffin, causing the vampire to jump out, screaming. It was an Orc vampire. He wore heavy armor and carried a morning star.
"There's no way I can defeat the Grand Champion. Ugh!" he screamed in agony. "But I know I can kill you!"
He slammed his morning star where Giorno stood, but the Breton dodged it and cast another fire spell. His armor absorbed it. In response, the Orc hit his sides. The force was so strong that it knocked him to the ground. Giorno got on his hands and knees to recover. He brought a hand to his side, feeling the blood seep through his robes. Next, Giorno began healing the wound, but the Orc approached him. He raised his morning star in the air. At that moment, Giorno conjured a sword and pierced his exposed neck. The weapon the vampire held fell into the pile of dust.
He sighed and lay on the floor, chest heaving up and down. He slowly got up, summoned a flame atronach, and continued forth. Giorno ordered the atronach to attack any vampire he spotted, collecting dust on the way.
Going down the stone halls, he spotted Fugo kneeling surrounded by dust. The golden blond caught his breath. Once he got up, he turned around to face Giorno.
"Where were you?" he demanded.
"I was following behind," he answered. The life detection spell faded, and he cast it again. He looked around and spotted the locked iron door. "You could've at least tried and opened the door."
"Sorry, I was in the middle of fighting these things." Fugo noticed the stains on his robes. "What happened?"
"I made a mistake of wakening an Orc vampire. I healed my wounds, but the stains remained. The scent of it might arouse the vampires. Let's stick together, please."
"Alright, but don't hold me back. There's a door past the dart traps. I think Trish might be in there."
They entered the door, which led to an old prison. There were skeletal remains of prisoners, but that wasn't the entire room. They went down the stairs and avoided the tripwire at the bottom. Activating it would have triggered the swinging maces.
"Fugo," Giorno whispered. "There are some vampires cloaked. I'll light them up, and you'll finish them off if they're not dead by then."
He cast a fiery explosion. The blast killed three of them. One of them was burning and screaming and died shortly after. The one furthest away was also burning but still alive. That changed as soon as Fugo pierced his sword through him. Giorno collected the piles of dust. Fugo watched him.
"Trish is in danger! We should be hurrying," Fugo said.
"Have a little faith in Trish," he replied.
"Let go!" they heard Trish yell.
They immediately rushed to the end of the hall, which led to the kitchen. Cobwebs covered the hearth fire and the tables, except the bloody table in the middle. A partially nude Khajiit's body lay on it. Trish was behind the table with a pile of dust in front of her. Her dress was filthy and bloody.
"Trish!" Fugo ran towards her and squeezed her tightly. "I'm sorry. I should've been more vigilant."
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken, that's all. Could you guys turn around and let me change? I'm not going around looking like a mess."
They got out of the fort and started running towards Skingrad. The kidnapping took some of their time and made them skip lunch. By the time they arrived in Skingrad, it was dark. They went to the closest inn near them, the West Weald Inn. They quickly ate the lunch they couldn't eat and went straight to bed.
It was 5 AM when they woke up. Fugo went to Giorno's room to change while Trish was changing. Once finished, they went downstairs to the dining room. Since they ran out of food, they ordered something from the bar.
"Do you all have enough money?" Fugo asked.
They nodded.
"My legs are sore," Trish complained. "Do you think the guildhall is open at this hour?"
"They're always open," Giorno answered. "The sooner, the better. Let's finish this."
She sighed and got up from her chair.
"I'll be here if you need me," the golden blond said.
Fugo looked at the stairs leading to the cellar. He wondered what his master was doing. Curious, he got up from his seat and went to the cellars. Like always, Sinderion was making potions at his desk. Holding an elixir in his hand, he turned around, facing Fugo, and dropped it upon seeing him.
"By the Divines! Fugo, is that you?" the High Elf asked.
"Yeah, it's me."
The elf sat on a chair nearby. It was a spot where he sips and enjoys his wine. The Imperial sat down near him.
Sinderion poured a glass of wine for Fugo and himself.
"So," the elf spoke first, "how have you been?"
"Alright."
"Just alright?"
"I'm getting involved with Mages Guild tasks again. And before you ask, no, I didn't rejoin them. I'm just helping someone."
"I think I know who you're talking about. It's that pink-haired girl, right? I saw you entered the inn last night. Who's the other guy?"
"One of the guys from the Mages Guild."
"You should think about rejoining them. I heard the new Arch-Mage, Avdol, is different. He looked at your case—"
"Please do not bring that up." Fugo ran out of wine. He poured more out of the bottle, but it was now empty. "The bottle is emptied. Want me to fetch more like last time?"
"No need. I got plenty more. Say, would you like a bottle?"
"Sure. Never know when you're going to need a drink."
Sinderion got up from his seat and approached one of the racks. "Surilie Brothers Vintage 399, Tamika Vintage 399, or perhaps some Shadowbanish wine?"
"You have some Shadowbanish wine?" Fugo questioned. "Are you sure you want to give that to me?"
"Of course, my friend and apprentice!" Sinderion headed back to his seat and gifted it to him.
"Thank you, master," Fugo said. "I should head back upstairs. My friends should be back."
Fugo got up and left, heading upstairs. He returned to his seat only to wait a few minutes for them to return.
"So," Fugo spoke first, "what's our next task?"
"We have to kill vampires in a cave," Trish answered.
"What? Again? The Mages Guild shouldn't be involved in vampire hunting," he argued.
"Don't worry, I know a few more destruction spells now," she said.
"Okay, but you'll only be using flare, and even you knew how to cast that before joining the Mages Guild."
"But I learned how to cast an even stronger fire spell!"
"Alright." Fugo got up from his seat and walked to the exit. "Let's turn those vampires into a pile of dust. Which way are we heading?"
Giorno brought out his map. "It's north of Shadeleaf Copse, near a home and a shrine to Molag Bal. We're heading to Serpent Hollow Cave."
Clouds covered the sky, dampening the moods of the three.
"I hope it doesn't rain," Trish said. "Why can't I just incinerate a training dummy instead? This doesn't seem like the type of work a novice would do."
"It was usually trivial tasks before," Fugo said. "Giorno, is there a reason why a novice needs to delve deep into some cave nobody cares about?"
The blond Breton sighed. "I was lucky to get into the Mages Guild before any of these changes happened. Look on the bright side. You'll be stronger than you were before."
They were near the cave, but they weren't the only ones there. A man dressed in all white and wearing a black and white top hat stretched and took deep breaths. Another man, one with long dark hair, stood near him, wearing a purple cloak and a blackish blue shirt and pants. He wore leather boots and kneecaps.
The man with the cloak spotted the three, poked his friend, and whispered in his ear. The man in white stopped stretching to turn around and face them. He smiled and waved.
"Hello there!" he yelled. "Don't be shy. We're vampire hunters!"
"Should we approach them?" Trish whispered. "That guy in white seems weird."
"That's Will Zeppeli, a master wizard, a rank below Arch-Mage," Giorno whispered. "He's also a part of the Fighters Guild. As for the guy next to him, I have no clue."
"Giorno, is that you?" Will yelled. "Join us!"
The Breton felt compelled to stand next to him.
"Hello, Mister Zeppeli. How's everything?" Giorno attempted to make small talk.
"Perfectly well! Who are your friends?" He looked at the two, who were a few feet away. "Wait, don't I know that other guy next to the elf?"
"Yes, you do," he answered.
"I see… Hey, you two, get closer to us! The more, the better!" Will waved at them.
The two walked towards them.
"Will," Fugo said, "who's the guy with you?"
"This is Straizo. He and I are a part of the Order of the Virtuous Blood."
"Greetings," Straizo said. "Who are you two?"
"I am Fugo, the Grand Champion and former member of the Mages Guild. This is Trish. She wants to join the Mages Guild. I'm here to help her. We're here to exterminate the vampires in this cave."
"We're here because we were tracking down a powerful vampire," Will explained. "And your lady friend is hoping to join the Mages Guild. Quite a difficult task for a novice to complete. How about the four of us pave the way for you, and you'll take care of the strongest vampire there? Does that sound good? How many vampires have you slain?"
"I guess, sure. I think I killed over 10," Trish answered."
"10? How did you manage to slay so many?"
"Teekeeus made me go into a vampire lair."
"Hmm, maybe I could contact the other guildhalls to give you a simple task. Which ones of you not been to?"
"I haven't been to the ones in Anvil, Bravil, Cheydinhal, and Leyawiin."
"Hmm, none of those guildhalls specialize in combat." Will started to mumble. "Except maybe Leyawiin, the guildhall specializes in mysticism, but that's because of the reflect damage spell. No, no, that doesn't count."
"Maybe they could help us kill four specific vampires," Straizo said.
"No, I don't know if we should get them involved in our quest to rid this world of vampires," Will replied. "Let's just enter the cave and be done with this."
"Wait!" Giorno stopped them before they could go. "We have some vampire dust. Could we trade them for Septims?"
"Sure!" Will answered. Giorno gave him the dusts. "My, that's a lot. You got yourself enough coins to buy a horse. Alright, does anyone have any more dust? No? Okay, let's head in!"
Will and Straizo went in first. The three followed behind them.
Darkness surrounded the cave, causing Will to cast a spell to light the dark. A hanging upside-down rotting corpse greeted them, causing Trish to scream.
"Relax, little lady." Will tried to calm her down. He approached the hanging body. "Hmm, seems like they drained his blood. I can't tell if this is a man or woman's body, an elf or a human. Someone slit their throat. Tsk, tsk, poor fool."
"Monsters," Straizo commented. "We should press forward. Who knows if they might have someone alive."
They moved ahead into a big part of the cave. There were three vampires, and they stood no chance against the master wizard and his friend. As for Trish, Fugo, and Giorno, they watched. Will's fireballs lit up the room entirely.
"Giorno, if you see any chests, you can open them and keep the treasure," the master wizard said. "I won't judge you."
There was only one chest, and it was already open. The Breton took the coins, anyways. There were other things, but it was mostly junk.
As they trekked further into the cave, eradicating the vampires, Giorno felt a powerful presence.
"Oi, the paths split into two," Will noted. "I believe it's best if we split up. You three, my clairvoyance spell tells me the vampire we were tracking is to the left. Since Trish wants to be part of the guild, you should let her deal with it. Should she become overwhelmed, I expect you two to jump in."
"Just wondering," Giorno said, "do you know the vampire you're tracking?"
"No, I just had this strange feeling this one morning. I'd say it was about a few days ago. I had this urge to go northwest, but I felt the vampire moving south."
"Wait, you based this off a feeling?" Trish asked.
"Well, yes. I don't know why I felt this evil presence so strongly."
Giorno cast his clairvoyance spell to find his father, which led left, the path the three were heading to anyways.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Fugo said.
"I have that feeling, too," Giorno replied.
"A few seconds ago, you were casting a spell. Do you think your father is here?" Trish asked.
"Yes, he's here," he answered.
"Wait, your father?" Fugo questioned. "We should hurry before something happens to him. If he's been bit, you can cure him, right?"
"So long as he does not turn." However, he believed that he had turned.
"There's a cure for that, too, right?" Trish asked.
"Yes," Giorno answered. "I heard it's quite difficult to cure, however."
"A shame. Is there no other way?"
"I don't think so. We should move on. The sooner, the better."
They continued. There were torches now, and they no longer needed to rely on the candlelight spell. For some reason, there were Worm Cult banners around the walls.
"Have we run into any necromancers?" Fugo asked.
"No, the Worm Cult is pretty much gone. Only a few practice necromancy now," Giorno explained. "I haven't run into one in a while. I wonder why one is here now."
"Do necromancers heal vampires?" Trish asked.
"They can cast healing spells, but so can vampires," Giorno answered.
They were getting closer to the end of the cave, which led to a big area. Coffins leaned on the walls or laid on the ground. The stench of death was intense, making Trish cover her nose. Above them seemed to be another floor. Two people were standing there. Both were facing away from them, but one was kneeling and the other one, the one shrouded in darkness, seemed like he was ready to leave.
Giorno cast his clairvoyance spell, and it led to the shadowy figure.
"I always felt like someone was tracking me," the shadowy figure said.
The man kneeling got up to turn around, looking down at them. He was a brunette with long hair and wore a robe with the Worm Cult symbol. "I think they're here to kill you, master."
"Not all of them, just those two," he replied. "You, the blond in pink robes. You were trying to find me. The smell of your blood is familiar. You're a child of mine. I'm not sure where your mother is, but what would you say about living for an eternity?"
"Is he—" Fugo couldn't finish.
"My father? Yes, he is," Giorno said.
"I don't know what to say," Trish said. "I'm so sorry."
"Silence, you two!" the brunet yelled. "Let them speak."
Giorno glared at his father. "No, I won't join you. You should get yourself cured."
"A shame," his father said. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me. Vanilla, get rid of those two. Leave my son alive."
He walked away. The brunet cast a spell from his hand. A green ball of light hit Giorno, paralyzing him on the spot. Next, a beam of purple struck the coffins, awakening the dead.
"Giorno!" Trish cried out.
"Trish, there are zombies around us!" Fugo warned. "The paralyzing spell should wear off once we finish them off."
Fugo and Trish had their backs against each other. The Grand Champion had his sword out and was ready to cast a spell on the other hand. Trish attacked first, hitting the nearest zombie with a fire spell. Meanwhile, Fugo slashed a zombie that charged toward him. Another one came charging. He swung his sword, but the zombie managed to block his blow. Fugo cast a fireball in his other hand, blast sending the zombie flying. The rest flung themselves towards him, but it was futile, and they died quickly. On Trish's side, she was close to burning all the zombies up, but her magicka was low. Luckily, Fugo helped and slaughtered the last few zombies. Once the fighting was gone, Giorno got back on his feet.
"Ugh, my eyes," Giorno whined. He blinked a couple of times.
The three of them heard footsteps coming toward them. It was Will and Straizo.
"There are zombies here?" Will questioned as he examined the scene in front of him. "What happened?"
"The vampire got away, and he was with a necromancer," Giorno answered. "This presence of evil you talked about before. Do you know who that vampire is?"
Will was silent for a few seconds. "I don't think it could be him. You should come back to the Arcane University once you're all done. I need to think. Straizo, I believe you can handle him. Go after the vampire. I'll be at the university."
"Hold on, if the vampire is outside, won't he die from the sunlight?" Trish asked.
"This vampire is different from the vampires here," Will answered.
Silence filled the cave, and they all left. Fugo, Giorno, and Trish returned to Skingrad. Straizo chased after the mysterious vampire, and Will returned to the Arcane University.