Warning: PTSD in this chapter.
"Again I would like to apologize for my father's behavior." Cana said as she served all but Wendy a drink. "He's a hopeless lecher and he has the slap scars to prove it but he is right about what he said to you two girls."
"He is?" Lucy said skeptically.
"Yes. You're definitely not ready to take on someone like Regine and nun girl over here will have vampires flocking after her like chicken hawks to a spring hen."
"But why is it just me who's in danger because I'm a virgin?" Juvia said.
"Yeah Gray's a virgin too so he's probably in as much danger as she is." Natsu said.
"Natsu!" Gray snarled angrily while blushing.
"Hey it's not like it wasn't obvious. You won't even look at a woman's undergarments."
"Shut up!"
"A man in his twenties who's still a virgin?" Cana said. "I respect that."
"You do?" Natsu asked.
"Trust me when you have a father like mine, you realize that men who control their hormones are actually much more strong willed and respectable." She said. "Anyway even though you're a virgin too little miss holy here is at a greater risk because the thing about nuns is that their virginity is obvious. One of the requirements of women in her position is to be a virgin and to remain chaste. So if Regine or any vampire recognizes her as a nun then they know that nine out of ten she's definitely a virgin."
"But why is virgin blood so valuable?" Wendy asked. "Isn't all blood the same?"
"Uh no it's not." Natsu said. "Blood can have a different effect on a vampire based on who it's from and/or how it's put into a vampire's system. Virgin blood happens to be the most sweet and invigorating because it's pretty much the only pure thing they can touch."
"Why is that?"
"Because everything else pure in this world is holy." Gildarts said regaining consciousness. "And vampires can't touch or consume anything holy. The bible, the cross, the crucifix, holy water, they're all pure but it comes from the religion of Christ therefore it's a repellent to nosferatu. Virginity on the other hand is a purity that comes from human beings and vampires can touch anything human."
"Well in that case I probably don't have to worry so much after all." Juvia said. "For some reason my blood contains holy water."
"Really?" Gildarts said. "Were you born with it?"
"Apparently. I never had any transfusions."
"Interesting. I've only heard of one other person having that kind of blood."
"Who?"
"I don't remember the name. I heard it from some passing convent, some woman who lived centuries ago had been blessed by heaven so she had these markings on her body, her blood was holy water, and her hands could heal. I don't know, sounded looney to me and to tell you that truth I'm not entirely sure if it's possible for someone to have holy water for blood but I could be wrong." He turned to Natsu and Gray. "As for you two, what exactly do you two do?"
"We're agents from an organization that kills, contains, and/or rehabilitates supernatural evils." Gray said.
"Have you ever fought vampires?"
"Duh it's part of our job." Natsu said. "I've been doing it for eleven years."
"Eleven years huh? Impressive. But have you ever gone up against anything like Regine? You know an early vampire?"
"No but I think I have a pretty good idea on how her kind works."
"I don't think you do. Creatures like her don't just attack physically, they attack mentally and psychologically. She has these mind games that she plays and it is scary beyond all reason how she can get inside your head and twist your thoughts."
"Thanks for the warning pops but I'm someone who's mind is completely in control of myself and cannot be infiltrated or screwed with."
"Is that so? Follow me in the back room won't you?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to test something."
Everyone including Cana was puzzled by Gildarts request but Natsu did what was asked of him. The two went into the backroom where it was completely empty save for an execution block.
"What are we doing in here?" Natsu asked.
"Just be quiet watch what I'm about to do carefully."
"Why?"
"You'll find out."
Gildarts moved the block closer to him and then took off his leather belt. Next he got into a position that looked he was trying to hold someone down. Natsu only stood their confused and nothing changed until Gildarts raised the arm that held his belt and brought it down to lash that block. Up and down that belt kept going, beating that block, making that lashing noise.
He heard it again. That same lashing noise that whistled from the whips as they came down to break through the skin of his bare back while he lay trapped in a stockade. The feeling of the hot sun burning his bleeding wounds and increasing his desire for water even though he had been denied it for days. The spears being impaled into his arms and legs repeatedly, all while those Turks laughed at him without pity and remorse. Torturing him for days but not enough to kill him because they wanted to keep him alive for as long as they could and make their twisted pleasure last. He just laid there suffering and crying out for help or mercy from anyone but all he received was laughter and lashings. The laughter. The lashings. The pain. The blood. It was too much.
His eyes turned red, he bared his fangs, he took on a more gruesome appearance as his vision replaced Gildarts with one of his former tormentors. He let out an inhuman shriek as he lunged to tear out Gildart's throat only to suddenly bound by chains that came flying from the middle aged man's sleeves. He tried to break loose but those chains had a grip on him that couldn't be broken by him alone. He hissed and screeched like some rabid wild animal desperately trying to get loose so it could go out and kill. His eyes were filled with such a deep hatred and at the moment his mid was no longer there.
Eventually the others heard the noises and Gray decided to look into it. He was not really alarmed by Natsu's appearance because he was used to seeing him as this bat monstrosity.
"What did you do to him?" Gray asked Gildarts.
"I merely experimented to see if he had PTSD from that Turk war he fought in centuries ago." Gildarts said.
"You knew that he was in that war? Wait if you know about that then you must've known that he was a-"
"A vampire. Yes I knew."
"How?"
"Oh please, I was Archibald's apprentice. Do you honestly think that my old mentor never told me about Natsu Dragneel, the vampire he spent years hunting? He told me everything he learned about him. Everything. Including who he was before he became a vampire. Although I never knew what Natsu looked like until now, I would never forget that name."
"Still could have been a coincidence. If he could have been just some random guy who had the same name."
"A random guy named Natsu walking around with Archie's granddaughter?" Gildarts said. "No way that's a coincidence."
"Alright you got me there. But why did you set him off like that?"
"To prove a point and I'll explain it once he calms down."
"You mean you're not going to try to kill him?"
"Well I figured if he hasn't slaughtered the descendant of his arch enemy then I figured I was in no danger. Should I kill him?"
"You really shouldn't be asking me that, but our boss wants him alive so don't stake him and don't let the women see him like this. They're not ready to see his more nightmarish side yet." He turned back to see that bat creature struggling to get out of those chains but each attempt proved to be futile. "Will those hold him?"
"Yes. Years ago I paid a gypsy to hex them. They'll hold anything as long as it's feeling extreme rage or stress. Once he's completely calm the chains will release him."
"Huh...Where can I get one of those?"